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I jogged into the stair well and met Cloud, and after he got his stuff together (he was a lot faster too, no gadgets and firearms) so we were off in less than fifteen minutes. I got an instant cash advance on the Exodus credit card, three thousand dollars, so we’d be good for awhile. Luckily, we’d filled the gas tanks on our motorcycles before getting to Nohin. Cloud also had a new one, not the old less-efficient Twi-LIGHT one.
We were speeding along parkways and through cities all day, and only took a break for dinner. We continued onward until midnight, when stopped at a hotel and got two rooms to spend the night. We set off at dawn after a light breakfast to get optimum timing. Exodus was probably after us by now. Once Maaya realized Skyevi’s Sword was gone she wouldn’t be able to let us be. Faith was all well and good until our deaths meant they lost Skyevi’s Sword.
We were in the heart of Nohin by that night, Nohin was an extremely large country that stretched over half the continent. Mazar was long and skinny stretching from coast to coast, mainly coast for there wasn’t a country above it only a lot of islands that belong to them, and Silva was a little smaller, but covered the west and south of he country. All around Geosprit to the south, west, and north west were large islands roughly the side of large city-states. There were roughly five to ten islands that composed a continent, since there were six collections of islands, there were six countries. They all composed the continent Isilanda, a form of “grand island” in one of the languages.
In the dead center of the Ceres Ocean, there were more island-group-continents. The one furthest west, Niveldon, was very close to Ragnarok. The island closest, Yizeru, was full of Mazarains. Niveldon was the second to last continent in the roughly straight line of them. There were seven, and the center largest island of each one was a perfect circle and the entire continent was also a perfect sphere. They were called the Spherical Line, since all seven had a perfectly circular center island and the other islands around it had smooth outer edges to be a perfect sphere. It was the source of many legends, since it was so perfect it was impossible to be natural.
Under Ragnarok there was Dalmara, the uninhabited continent reserved for wild life of all different kinds. It was roughly the side of Nohin, and left for the wild. It was only inhabited for a short while and abandoned in Skyevi’s day.
Since Mazar was previously Kremedkai, the country above Nohin in the far past, going to Michi would be hard since although it was on the east coast and against Nohin, it was still Mazar. I didn’t have much hope the Blood Crystal would be at the shrine it was during the war between Nohin and Gideon, since it was such a common legend there was a good chance Mazar pounced on it since there was no civilization near the shrine, on either side.
Since the countries of today were a little different from the continents of today, not all fourteen island continents would have relics. We’d need to get information on the old countries of Gaia, which would be easier said than done, but not impossible.
We continued onward until midnight, when we spent another night at a hotel. By the night of the third day, we were out of the Nohin cities and into the Kry Plains. The roads were dirt for awhile, than non-existent. It was all flatlands that had been left as sacred ground after the war between Nohin Gideon. We didn’t stop for the night until eleven, we decided it’d be best to get an early start and reach the shrine by dusk or night the next day. I saw with my laptop and started researching the old country layout and came up with instead of the seventeen countries of today, there were ten in the past. I made a list of relics we knew about and their country. Ragnarok’s land was one country, so we got the relic. Mazar used to be two countries, Mazar’s relic was the Key of Seventh Heaven and the country to the west of Kremedkai was the country to have the pendant. The pendant Kuraudo had given me, was the pendant Skyevi left at Michi, that she apparently got from the country west of Kremedkai. There would be another relic in south Nohin, since there had been a separate country down there. I also learned Silva would have a relic somewhere around the heart of the country, and in the south. The other five relics were distributed in the Spherical Line and the courtiers around Geosprit.
Amazingly enough I found a list of potential relics on a mythological website. The list read as following:
Skyevi’s Sword
Skyevi’s Bow
Skyevi’s Arrows
Skyevi’s Pendant
Skyevi’s Ring
Blood Crystal
Key of Seventh Heaven
Blood of Fayt
Infinity Tear
End of Time
I did a little reading on the non-obvious ones, and read the Blood Crystal was a crimson spherical jewel. Key of Seventh Heaven was a key made of pearl, and “Blood of Fayt” was a crimson crystal of some kind. Infinity Tear was also a diamond crystal. I was hesitant, the title of the final relics was more than a little intimidating. I clicked it and the only information the website had was that it was the final and most powerful relic. It had no information on what it was though.
Cloud tossed me my sword in its scabbard saying,
“Polished and sharpened.”
“I didn’t use it.” I said placing it down beside me.
“Faster the collection of the bet is completed, the better. You’ll be on my ass if I don’t do it though.”
“True.” I’d kept Skyevi’s Sword a secret, for it still lay in the material pouch.
“Find anything interesting out?”
“A list of relics, I don’t know if it’s right or not but it seems to be pretty accurate from what we know.”
He nodded and stood to stretch. I singed off, turned off my laptop and replaced it in its bullet-proof case and than into my abyss pack. Cloud walked over to me and I turned to face him saying,
“We need to find out which relics Trenxi has and which ones Mazar has, hopefully they only have one or two.”
“Mmm.” He said embracing me. I rested my head on his shoulder rather used to the situation. My cell phone will probably ring this time.
“Do you go along with this just to humor me, or what? Do you want me to back off?”
His hands rested on my shoulders and I looked into his eyes, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, since he’d surprised me. Instead of saying something intelligent, I said the first thing that came to mind;
“You have really bad garlic breath from those shrimp earlier.”
He just looked at me a second before letting go and laughing. I leaned against my motorcycle asking,
“Ever hear of Listerine? Or gum? Or a breath mint?”
“You always come up with something like that, it’s quite entertaining.”
I could just imagine what Maaya would say; “what guy in his right mind would try kissing a girl with garlic breath? Especially for a first kiss!”
I smirked saying,
“I am the wise ass of the year.”
“Of the lifetime, more like it.”
I didn’t sleep very well, and mainly because every time I closed my eyes I saw Trenxi, and Akiko. It was really strange; I’d tried keeping my mind off all that, but I was failing terribly. “End of Time”, that really bothered me. Blood of Fayt, though odd, wasn’t that creepy. Aside from fate being spelled fayt it wasn’t that creepy. Than again, there was information on that one. I suppose the title wouldn’t bother me so much if there was information on it.
I rolled over for what felt like the hundredth time, and tried getting to sleep.
Sora held her katana unsheathed at her side, and looked on at the seeming tranquil lake. She looked up at the full moon and sighed saying,
“Figures Neivila is attacked now.”
She sat down on the bank and leaned back, katana still in hand. She was tired, but knew she needed to get back to Neivila.
“Reluzera and I will rise so many questions if he didn’t leave Neivila for twenty years. We’ve been alive so much longer than humans live, it’s amazing the inhabitants of Neivila haven’t caught on that I’m the same Skyevi in their legends…”
Reluzera had changed though. Knowing my luck, he’ll be there when I return. He used to be so kind and fun-loving, now he isn’t even the same person I remember. He’s become an argumentative old war monger. I may be exaggerating a little, but if this persists…who knows though? This isn’t the same Reluzera I grew up with, maybe he died and was reborn again. I never did, and still don’t really, understand exactly what he is. Although his aura never seemed to change, he must of died a few times to be so different. That’s what he’s told me, but does he really think I still believe we are the same being?
He was able to talk me out of the harmonization, but his plan still has yet to come through. Why am I trusting him, anyway? I’m not the type to be trusting people like this, so why should I still ally myself with him?
She stood, casting her thoughts aside and slid her katana into its scabbard. She started along the path opposite the one she’d walked, and slowly made her way back to the place she’d called home for so long.
I jerked awake with a start, surprised and tense about something. My head was aching, and the dream was still hazy in my mind. The more dreams I got, the worse I felt. I got the dreams when we got a relic. Sora, Zeru, Skyevi- whatever her name was, kept changing with each dream. This wouldn’t be so confusing if they were all in order. In the one dream on her on Neivila, she was young and free-spirited. When she was at Michi and Nohin during the battle for the Blood Crystal, she was so world-weary. Same with when she was talking to the Mazarain king, I’d never really heard her think, so maybe this occurred after she collected the relics.
My dream kinda gave me a vague answer to my big question though; why the relics were where they were although in half the visions Skyevi was collecting them. I guessed the one where she was at Neivila happened first, the one with the Blood Crystal and Key of Seventh Heaven next, Michi after that, and maybe this most recent vision was the latest in the timeline. Reluzera, I guessed he was the Trenxi look-alike. The last vision still brought a few new elements into play though, like what did Skyevi and Reluzera do to keep themselves from aging? That’s what Skyevi’s line of thoughts hinted to, that they weren’t human for a very long time. What could of happened? If Skyevi returned to Neivila, is that when she killed Reluzera and than re-gathered the relics and tried to harmonize with them?
I glanced over to Cloud, who was still fast asleep. I was the only one to be restless, we were both fugitives with no allies now. Ragnarok, Exodus, Mazar, Nohin authorities will in the dark, but will conduct a missing person search probably. Maaya won’t have Exodus, so she’ll most likely turn to something as simple as that even though she knows it won’t help.
I sat up, irritable and wide-awake again. I knelled beside my backpack and started rooting around, trying to find a bottle Gatorade, but evidently Cloud was a light sleeper since he woke up with a yawn and asking,
“Restless, aren’t you? If you have one in that abyss-pack, I suggest you try to locate a sedative.”
I scowled saying,
“Mind your own business.”
“Since we’re going to be traveling together for awhile to come if you’re falling asleep all the time during the day, it’ll be a real pain in the ass and it will become my business. I can see why you’re more stressed than me, since you know everybody you’re leaving behind, but if you don’t rest sometime you won’t be able to keep your eyes open when driving never mind fighting off Twi-LIGHT, Exodus, or Mazarain attackers.”
“Go back to sleep.” I grumbled taking a slug of blue Gatorade and laying back down. I probably though restlessly for an hour or so, but I did sleep until dawn this time. At least I got five hours of proper sleep.
We set off early, and I spotted the shrine on the horizon before Cloud did. We reached at twilight, and I stood before it a moment, examining the old shrine. It was the shrine Sora was at in my first dream. I didn’t get any bad feelings, but Cloud did since he trailed behind me, less than enthusiastic to continue forward.
I grabbed the hilt of the other sword in the material bag, and pulled out Skyevi’s Sword scabbard and all. When Cloud recognized it, I could tell he was about to ask a question but didn’t. I held the scabbard in my left hand and drew the sword and walked forward slowly my sword out stretched.
Shouldn’t I be thinking “Skyevi’s sword” and now “my sword”? Guess it’s one of those habits that are beside impossible to break.
Evidently, the same thing that surrounded the church surrounded the shrine, but when I started walking up the small staircase, and the tip of the sword was under the roof, the aura disappeared since Cloud followed calming noticeably.
“I’m not going to ask what made you think that would work.”
I didn’t reply, just continued forward. The temple had wood doors, not the usual paper ones that were common in Nohin. It still stood there defiantly, a temple used as a war shelter. I held the sword out to my right, and the foreboding aura returned a little but receded again when I opened the door and held the katana out in front of me again as I entered. The room was dark, but I was able to see fairly well. I always had fair night vision, and the light streaming in behind me was enough to see by. There was another door before me, and I opened it and proceeded though a garden than though another hall until I reached the exact center.
There was a life-sized statue of a woman with long hair in the normal Nohin priestess-garb of the large shirt and pants, usually white and red for females, but the colors weren’t in the stone. Her hands were cupped together, as if she were holding something. She looked peaceful, her eyes closed. I walked closer to the statue and slid my fingers in-between hers. Shockingly, I felt a stone inside. Or more precisely, a crystal. I pushed it, and it fell out, hitting the ground with a tap. I blinked a second, looking at the little spherical rube in shock.
Mazar didn’t grab it already? How could something with beside no protection still be here? It was ludicrous!
“Akhy!” I heard Cloud yell. I turned around, the Blood Crystal tingling in my hand as a warrior in black shot forward. Cloud was locked in combat with another fighter with a katana in the other garden. I held up Skyevi’s katana in defense quickly, before this female assassin ran me through. I leaned forward, and pushed her off. She struck high with lighten-fast speed, and since not only was I off balance since I had the scabbard and Blood Crystal in my left hand, I was stuck one-handed for the katana. She was fast and strong, after a few loud clangs of metal, I had gotten used to combat with the long katana, and had the feel of it down. It was a game of balance and defenses, ever strike I made she blocked and visa-versa. I didn’t let myself get distracted with Cloud’s battle, although I heard the sound of swords clashing, so I could guess he was holding his own. Must be a pain in the ass though, he was amazingly fast with the big broadsword, but katanas and broadswords didn’t go well together. Especially if his attacker was as fast as mine.
I took a step forward quickly, and was got so close it got her off-balance and she took a step back, onto the grass, and tripped as her foot hit one of the rocks lining the path to the statue. She fell backwards on her behind with a thud and I held Skyevi’s katana to her neck asking cockily as her katana went flying,
“Any last words?” I looked her over, she wore tight black and there was a bandana that covered her mouth. She wore tinted goggles so I couldn’t see her eyes. I slid the scabbard into my belt on my right hip, so I wouldn’t draw it was readily next time as I did my katana. I pointed my katana at her nose saying,
“Off with the goggles, I call the shots here.”
She didn’t oblige, so I used the tip of the katana to cut the rubber between the two lenses apart, reveling her eyes and giving her a slight scratch on the bridge of her nose.
“I knew you’d be trouble.” I said darkly, recognizing the young Nohin girl, Mitsuko. Cloud had also apprehended his assassin, and pulled back her goggles. She looked down a moment, then met my eyes saying,
“I’m sorry, Akhy.”
Celes…I thought sadly, not surprised to see her. I should of known by the female assassins Exodus had caught up with us. I didn’t expect Mitsuko, but it made sense Maaya sent them both out at the same time.
“The reason Mazar never claimed the Blood Crystal is because Skyevi took their relic and hid it so they couldn’t enter the shrine. This place has the same spell that Neivila does as do all the other relic shrines.”
“Did Maaya send you, or did you leave of your own accord?”
“Maaya sent us to apprehend you and take Skyevi’s Sword and Skyevi’s Pendant back from you. We already have your little friend Kuraudo, and we know both you and Nimbostratus aren’t human, and two of Trenxi’s prime subjects. Maaya has no reason not to take you in to the labs to stay anymore, Ragnarok.’
“Are other Exodus forces with you?”
“No, we came alone.” She replied, I could tell she wasn’t lying. It was only partly because it was smart not to lie when somebody had their sword to your neck, but I noticed when I had my hand on Skyevi’s sword a few days ago I wasn’t able to deny that Cloud was my boyfriend. It was as if people couldn’t lie around it, but I don’t like to think of the complications if that is true and my deny was rejected…anyway.
“Were there Mazarain soldiers in the vicinity?”
“I don’t know. If they got wind you were after the Crystal and were ready to break the barriers, than they’ll be here shortly.”
“Get up.” I commanded, she obliged.
We lead them back, and with a nice amount of fuss from Mitsuko I tied her up with rope I had in my backpack.
“What don’t you have in there?” Cloud asked tightening the restrains on Celes’ ankles.
“The moon. A Sony Walkman.”
He shook his head, disturbed at my wiseass reply. What did he expect though? Ask a wiseass question, get a wiseass answer. Right?
Mitsuko glared at me as I closed the shrine door saying,
“You two get to stay there, once I put this sword back in its scabbard you won’t be able to touch the shrine. We have business to attend to in Mazar, you stay here until Exodus comes and find you. That is, if Twi-LIGHT or Mazar doesn’t find you first.”
I slid Skyevi’s Sword back into the scabbard on my right hip so I’d still automatically grab my normal katana. Cloud stood behind me and asked,
“You just want to leave them here? They’ll be killed! You know Mazar will be here before Exodus. I can see why you want to leave Mitsuko here,” Cloud added, “But Celes too?”
“Mmm. She’s a real bitch.”
I looked at the two of them, and added quietly,
“But I suppose you’re right.
I walked over leaned down next to Celes, and pulled her cell phone from her pocket and clicked in Maaya’s number. I pressed the little green button, and she picked up sounding panicked.
“Celes? Celes what’s going on?”
“Back off Maaya.” I said in my coldest and steeliest voice, “The Blood Crystal is ours now.”
I tossed the cell phone beside Celes, not hanging up so Maaya could track them and send out a search party so they weren’t killed.
“Akhy?” I heard her call over the phone, “Akhy is that you? What’s going on?”
I started up my motorcycle and nodded to Cloud as we sped off. We were out of site in no time.
“You did the right thing.” He said as we started heading north.
“Yeah, but it’s going to screw us.”
“To Mazar?”
“To Mazar. We’re after the ‘Key of Seventh Heaven’, it’s at the shrine of Michi on an island off Mazar.”
“But the shrine of Michi was supposedly swallowed with the entire island.”
“Don’t you love low tide?”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
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