The Restoration Quest, Renewal
by Richard B. Sampson

It has been a little over four years since my brother killed our father, and my mother and I had to go into hiding. My skills have slowly begun appearing, and I have started to use them more and more so I could stop my brother. I still remembered the day I had fallen ill when we were just four. My brother, KLar just looked at me, and silently laughed. Over the years, he orchestrated things to happen so that both my mother and father thought I was evil. Now, he was the head of the 'Route of Rigge', whose sole purpose in life is to kill my mother and bring back the Hani. As of recently, I started developing some of the beast abilities, such as a scream to knock out people. I had approached my mother with an idea only days ago. It was to search out the 'Route' and stop my brother. She had suggested to me about wearing a cloak of white, even over my white wings, to give the appearence of a banshee. I wore a mask over my face to hide my identity from people, and over the past few days, I became known as the White Wraith by local in the area. I had discovered that more towns had appeared in our world, full of monsters, and since I appeared to be one, they never threatened me. I enforced their laws and became an icon of justice.

As I was returning back to the entrance to where my mother and I had lived for the past years, I saw a troop of monsters, and the 'Route', dragging my mother's unconscious body out. How did they find us? Isis had said we would be safe in that sancutary. Instantly and instinctively, I flew down with a scream. In the panic, I heard half the monsters scream, "The White Wraith attacks us. Something is wrong. Is the 'Route' evil, or is the woman evil?" I had apparently become a good icon of justice.

I swooped down to so I could shout at them, but then one of the 'Route' members flew straight at me. I started to swerve out of the way, but they hit me in the stomach, sending me backwards. When I stopped, the member removed his hood. I instantly recognized my brother, KLar. He said in a cocky tone, "Hello JaNa, I was hoping to run into you. Ever since these monsters told me about the White Wraith, I figured it was you."

"Don't think I am letting you get away with Mom, KLar. I know you can't threaten to kill her, for you need her." He just smiled. I wanted to give him what he deserved.

"I know that, JaNa. She has to be killed in the right place, the sacred place, but you can't stop us, or else." He didn't scare me, and he couldn't intimidate me.

"Or else, what? You don't scare me. There is nothing you can do that can stop me." He nodded and one of the other 'Route' members pulled out a small silver box. The pushed something on the box.

"Sister, dearest," he said in a villianish tone, "you have one minute to get to Ki's Temple and save Lynn. A bomb, placed at the corner of the foundation, is going to go off, and all those people are going to die." I saw he wasn't joking, but until now the 'Route' would have never attempted this. I had no choice but to save Lynn. I flew towards the temple, and left my brother to take my mother away. As I approached the temple, I heard the explosion, and it started to collapse. I flew into the temple and saw all the people running. I grabbed Lynn, and one of her attendants, and flew out of the temple. As I left the temple, it collapsed, and I knew there were some people still inside.

Lynn looked at the temple as it collapse and asked, "Who would do such a thing?"

As I place Lynn and her attendant down, I removed my mask and said, "My brother." Lynn had looked shocked when she saw my face, and heard that KLar had done this.

Lynn finally spoke by saying, "You mean that the 'Route' is behind this. Is your mother dead?"

"No. My mother was taken by the 'Route'."

"It might be your own fault."

"What?" How could Lynn accuse me of allow this.

"If you are the White Wraith, and your brother deduced this, he could have tracked her down due to the town's stories." I then realized that she was right. My hopes to hunt down my brother put my mother's life in danger. I almost wanted to end my life, but then remembered how many people would be in trouble if St. Marius was brought back to life, and if he had mom's body. I shuddered at that thought.

I faced Lynn and asked, "What should I do?"

She thought for a moment and told me, "Go to the Final World and see Rich. He may know what to do." I nodded and took to the sky. I just wondered how much time I had.


It had taken me hours to fly to the pillar, and to cross the celestrial world. When I finally reached the Final World. I remembered the Inn where Rich and his family lived. I entered the Inn and saw that it had been vacated. I didn't know where they had gone, but something told me that the 'Route' was invovled with their disappearence. I started examining the place, when I heard a noise. I turned to face one of the 'Route' members. Instantly, the member of the 'Route' attacked me. The attack was brief, since I knocked them down with a scream. I walked over to the cult member and removed their hood. I was sickened to see who wore it. It was the guy I had dated at home. All the time I had known him, he said he wasn't a member of the 'Route'. He just looked at me, and said, "Surprised, love." He had backhanded me, and I flew right into the wall. In seconds, he was on top of me. "Your brother told me you would be around. Now we can catch up on old times."

He had grabbed my mask and removed it. I looked at him and said, "When did you join the cult?" I was upset at him for even joining the cult.

He brought his face closer to mine and said, "I always was a member, from the day of my birth. If you want to know, it was your brother's idea for me to date you. I was perfect for the job."

I suddenly couldn't speak straight. I fumbled for my words and couldn't help but notice my breathing increased. "W-why i-is th-that?" He then kissed me, and for some reason, I was enjoying it.

"It is because that I have the magical ability to charm. How do you think you fell in love with me the first time." He kissed me even deeper, and said, "I could do this to any woman, but you were chosen for a reason. Now, I get to keep you out of the way until the full moon, and I think you will want to do something intimate."

He was right. His charm ability was working its evil on me. I wanted to stay with him until time ended, but I couldn't fail Mom. I then realized that he was kissing me with passion. I had to stop this, and soon. Fighting with all my might and will power, I brought my knee up to hit him right were it counted. He doubled over in pain, and I knocked him off his feet and grabbed my mask. I flew out the door and off to the pillar. As I had left the Inn, I could see some of the 'Route' running toward the Inn. Apparently, I was supposed to by my old boyfriend's side. Just as I had reached the pillar, I could see the demons coming after me. I flew as fast as I could and made it to the pillar, with no time to spare. I thought about it for a moment and realized that I had only two days to rescue my mother, but were could she be. I reached the Celestrial Temple, knowing that Isis could find Rich, and collapsed at the door.

*************************************************

When I awoke, I saw Isis standing over me. I then realized that I had been asleep. Was it too late to save Mom? I looked at Isis and said, "How long have I been asleep?"

The goddess put her hand on my shoulder, and I felt relaxed. She then said, "Only for 10 hours, and we have to hurry. The full moon is 10 hours away. If you don't hurry, you will lose your mother to St. Marius."

"How? I thought that could only be done at the place of his death, at the Mana Net."

I heard my mother's friend, Rich, speak. "Apparently your brother has a device that can hold St. Marius' spirit. After seeing the ceremony only a few days ago, I brought my family here."

Isis then said, "What the 'Route' has is a Spirit Sphere. It captures a spirit and during a special ceremony, it exchanges a soul with the spirit, but on a full moon, it seperates the main elements of the being." I didn't like the sound of that.

"What exactly do you mean by 'seperates'?"

"The ceremony seperates the person into all eight of their components, Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Mind, Magic, Spirit, and Body. If there is not a vessel for each, the being dies without death."

I shook as I said the next words. "What does that mean?"

"It means your mother will no longer exist. When you die, she will not be there. When the world ends, she will not be there. It will be as if she was never born." I was horrified by what Isis had just said. It sounded like there was no reason to life. I was scared to think that was the case. "You don't have long to save your mother."

Rich then spoke up. "If I know St. Marius, he will keep all aspects of her alive. If each of her components hold a fraction of the powers that she possess, he will want to control all of them." Isis had a look of fear on her face. I knew of all the power's Mom had, and eight beings with that power was a dangerous thought.

I grabbed the mask from were Isis had laid it, put it on and said, "Then let's hurry. My mother doesn't have much time. We have to get to the temple." Isis shook her head and sighed.

"The ceremony can only be held at the place of the Sphere's creation. That is on the top of the Palace of the Ancients."

Rich looked at her and said, "Where is that?"

"It is what you now call, the Ancient Ruins." My hopes collapsed at that moment. I had been close to where they had taken Mom, and left the area. Time was against us. Rich, his children, Li, and myself then rushed off. We had less than half a day to reach her.


When we finally arrived in my homeworld, I noticed that night was approaching. The cult had sent resistence to detain us, and now we had under two hours to get to the Ancient Ruins, and get to the roof. I led the way to the temple, and it didn't take us much time to reach the ruins. Apparently, my brother was not expecting me to get past all the guards. We all entered the ruins, traveling up the stairway. As we headed up, there was a flash, and I felt a hand drag me into a room. As I recovered my sight, I was looking into the eyes of my so-called boyfriend. He had an evil grin on his face, and he said, "Miss me." I was starting to have trouble standing.

I looked at him and spat in his face. "There is no way you and your evil cult is going to stop us." He put his arms around me, and pulled me close to him. I tried to resist, but couldn't.

"You are mistaken. It is your mother, and yourself that is evil. I know you won't be saved like everyone else will be. I thought you might like a last chance at happiness." I tried to get away, but he got closer. He smiled that evil smile of his again and started to kiss me. Almost instantly, my thoughts returned to normal, and a shocked look was on hid face. I then saw Lena, Rich's daughter standing behind him.

"Lucky I had a Death spell, I hoped I would never have to use it, but it appears I had to." She looked a bit upset.

I walked over to her and said, "Thank you, I was defenseless. But we must hurry, or we might all be killed." She nodded and we ran out of the room. I had rejoined with everyone and we continued to the top of the ruins. We had just reached the top of the ruins when a whole line of cult members ambushed us.

My brother looked in our direction and smiled. He said, "You're too late. The time has come, and St. Marius is going to return." I then noticed that seven Elbiots were around my mother, and the Spirit Sphere was above her head. This was also when the ambush had turned into a full fledged fight. It didn't take us long to find out the outcome, because there was flash of light, and my mother's scream.

Just as soon as the scream ended, the cult stopped and my mother stood up. She looked at us and said in strange voice, "I have returned." I then knew that my brother had succeeded. The Elbiots flew off to were ever they called home. "Now, for all of you, I have a special treat, your death's." I saw a fireball, so large that it would leave nothing behind of our bodies, form. It was then that Lena casted a spell and everything changed over to the Celestrial Temple.

Isis turned to us and said in surprise, "Where is Vet?"

I couldn't say it, but Rich found the strength to answer the question. "In seven Elbiots, and her body is host to St. Mairus." She sighed, and Rich continued, "It won't take long for him to get here, so we better leave."

Isis sighed and said, "There is only one safe haven from the Elbiots. The ancient droids cannot reach the Dimensional Hub. Besides, we can find out were all of the Elbiots will head."

Li, Rich's wife, asked Isis, "How can we find that out?"

Isis then said something that sent a chill in all our bones. "Rotat is there. The mystical seer can answer the questions, but once he answers them, we must leave." She then waved her arms, and we floated upwards from the Celestrial Temple, but how far would we float?


Written In Stone
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance.)
=====================================================

As Isis took us up to the Dimensional Hub, I could swear that time wasn't passing at all. It seemed that only two days had passed since we had left the Celestrial Temple. When we finally arrived, I looked around and said, "Isis, can we eat?" I was famished, as was my parents and brother. Even JaNa appeared hungry, but there was something different about her.

Isis looked at us and said, "I think that would be best, Lena. We have not eaten for two years." I was shocked by this. Two years had passed since KLar had succeeded. That meant that another two years would pass until we returned. Four years that KLar, St. Marius and the Route of Rigge would have to control the world.

My father looked at Isis and said, "Why didn't you mention this when we headed up here?"

Before Isis could reply, a man in a strange suit appeared. He said, "Because she knew you would object. It has been what, 5000, 10000 years, Isis. You have a question about your path."

Isis bowwed in reverence and said, "Yes, Rotat. Can you help us?" She was actually afraid of this entity. This entity knew the future of the entire world, and could tell anyone what they where going to do.

The figure turned and walked into a doorway. We followed him, and Max came over to me. "Lena, do you think he can tell us about our futures?" I rolled my eyes. He had heard the stories as well as I had.

"Max, according to legend, he is even older than our world. There are some who say Rotat is older than time itself."

"I thought time began when the world began."

"Father told us that Vet dreamed of past lives. So Rotat could have seen those worlds that occured before ours."

JaNa then said, "Do you think that might be the case? That one my mother's past lifes was in another timeline."

My mother then said, "That depends on the timeline. One timeline supposedly had some individuals that could not enter the realm of spirits because of there lifes were so tragic, or evil."

When we finally entered the door, I noticed that everyone was sitting on the floor and Isis was standing on the center of an eight pointed star. As we sat down, Rotat walked over to a panel. It was black and bordered in gold. I watched as a light shined one the star, and then on the panel. The panel changed into an image. The image was a man pointing to the ground with one hand, and pointing a wand skyward. There was a sign over the head, like an eight on its side. In front of the man, there was a table with a cup, a sword, a wand of sorts, and a coin with a star on it. Rotat look at it and said, "The Magician is your objective. I can see the eight seperate parts of the Magician. Is that your lost member?"

JaNa spoke up. "Yes. That's my mother. What more can you tell us?"

Rotat said, "There are many parts of this fortune." The image changed to a hand from the clouds. In the hand was a sword pointing skyward. "This means that your first part is to the World of Air, ravaged by the harsh winds."

My father then said, "Where is the next part?" The image changed to an angel with a horn and spirits standing in boxes.

Rotat looked at it and said, "Judgement. This must stand for the realm of Spirits. The second step will be the land of the dead, beyond the Final Passage. But, there is more." The image faded and changed to a man, upside down on a wooden tee. "The Hanged Man, the sign of a meeting, with someone from the past most likely."

JaNa had a look of hope on her face and said, "Father's spirit, but why?"

Rotat then said, "The dead know about the future to a point. It may be a warning about something. That is usually what the image of The Hanged Man means." The image then changed again. The hand had returned, holding a coin with a star on it. "The Ace Of Pentacles. This means that the third step of the journey is into the World of Earth. This can be very dangerous." The panel then changed again, this time revealing a woman standing over a lion. "Strength. This might signify the power of the chaos of that world. Quake are always changing the lay of the land."

My mother then said, "Rotat, where will the fourth part take us?" She was a bit worried. I thought that being away from the world for what would be four years was the problem.

Rotat looked at her and said, "You have right to worry." The image changed to that of a man on a chair, being drawn by two sphinxs. "The Chariot. That must mean that you will travel into the Mana Net. But, there is a problem." The picture changed again, into the form of a man on the ground. Ten swords were in his back. "The Ten of Swords, which means a loss in the family. My guess is that one of the family that is in Isis' group with die, or disappear." I didn't like the sound of that.

My brother said, "You mean that my sister, my parents, or myself might die, or worse?" Rotat nodded. I couldn't bear losing any member of my family, and neither could Max.

Rotat just said, "The loss may be death, and it may not be." The shock was still evident, but Rotat continued on with prediction as the image change. Now a hand holding a cup of water was on the panel. "The Ace of Cups, which means you will head to the World of Water." The image changed to that of man sitting in a chair, holding an Anch. "The Emporer. This can only mean that you will enter the world of the Mind after that."

My mother said, "The world of the Mind, but that doesn't exist, does it?"

Isis then said, "I didn't think it did."

Rotat then said, "After you came here with your father, and the evil Ancients were stopped, a strange event occured. A giant metal mass started to form, and orbit the same path you took to get here."

My father then said, "I wonder if that explains all the disappearing robots over the course of our world, as well as some missing people."

My mother then said, "I remember Ki telling me about some of the Ancient texts and how they described abductions by strange beings. These beings were part organic, part robotic, and had a crystaline structure around their bodies. Anyone abducted was never seen again."

Rotat then said, "That is the home of those beings, but now they are in hiding. But something is strange there." The image changed to a horned creature sitting in a chair. There was a star in it's horns and two people at the chair's base. "You will gain an ally, who is an enemy of Isis. That is what The Devil image means."

Isis looked scared and said, "One of the evil Ancients."

"He cannot harm you. He is bound by a higher evil, and is probably helping you for it's benefit." To me, this seemed very illogical. The panel changed into a new image. This image had that of an eight pointed star in the sky. "The Star. This must mean that the solutions to the realm of Mind is illogic. The answer must make no sense."

I looked at the card and said, "It must be something totally strange to confound a computeristic mind."

"Yes. You must use logic against it. Now for the next part of your quest." The panel changed images again, and a hand in the clouds was holding a wooden rod. "The Ace of Wands, which is the sign of Fire. You will enter the World of Fire, and it will take all of your skills to survive this trial." The image then changed to a man holding a scales and a sword.

My mother then said, "Does that mean the battle with the forces of evil?"

Rotat then said, "Correct. That is the image of Justice. This is the deciding conflict. As with all conficts of this magnatude, there is one outcome." The image changed to that of a skeleton on a horse. "The Death Image, which stands for change. Like this, it means that there will be a change for the better."

Isis then said, "Then everything will return to normal." She sighed and I noticed that the panel was changing again. This time, a pillar appeared. Rotat gasped, and at that time, everyone was in shock. This surprised us all. Isis asked, "What does this mean?"

Rotat just said, "The Tower means death. Somewhere after this quest, you will join your father, permanently." Isis jumped out of the circle and ran out of the room. My family and JaNa ran out to follow her.

I walked over to Rotat and asked, "Sir, can you tell me about my future?" He nodded and I walked into the circle. I was incircled by the light and I saw the panel change. The image changed to a woman holding one of the Pentacles.

"The Queen of Pentacles. An intelligent and brilliant woman. This could stand for you, or for someone you will encounter. The panel must reveal more in the next image." The image changed again. This time, it became an arc of ten cups, but it was upside down. Rotat just looked at it and said, "Reversed Ten of Cups. No image I have had on this panel has been reversed. Leave now." He chased me out of the circle and out the door. He slammed it shut.

My mother walked over to me and said, "What happened?"

"He said the image was reversed." I was scared at what that meant.

Isis just looked grimly and said, "We must go. The longer we stay, the more havoc that the 'Route of Rigge can cause." She then started our trip to the world far below us. The images I saw meant something, but I couldn't determine what?


Ill Wind
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance.)
=====================================================

I looked on in horror as we finally approached the world. My temple had changed. It was a darker shade than it had been. Even the celestrial world was dimmed in light. The evil of the 'Route' had taken over the world. I had thought that my people would fight them. I heard Rich remark, "This is awful."

JaNa then said to me, "Isis, how could this have happened? Could my brother have done all this." I think she knew that he could have, but with St. Marius using her mothers body as vessel, it could be said that it was St. Marius' work.

I looked at her and said, "Yes, but hopefully, there are some worlds still free. I can't believe that the cult is in control of everyone. With luck, we can get to the World of Air without resistance."

Lena then said, "Do have a plan if were spotted?" I looked at her and she just pointed down. I glanced to where she was pointing and saw two figures standing at the door to the temple. I saw the black wings of KLar, and the red hair of Vet's body. KLar was pointing up and I knew that they saw us.

Vet's hands started to glow and Li shouted, "Brace yourselves. St. Marius is going to attack." A green ball of energy started to fly toward us. St. Marius had used Vet's Force magic. When it struck us, we all went flying. I used my magic to brace our fall. If we would have hit the world at this moment, we would have died. I looked around and saw that we weren't far from the path to the world of Air.

I stood up and said, "Hurry, we have to get to the path, before any of the cult approach." As we started to run for the path, the two demons, Oy an Vey, attacked. KLar had also flown around, which meant St. Marius was not to far away. One of the demons started to fly straight at me. I saw as more of the cult was approaching.

The cult was advancing when I heard Vet/St. Marius say, "Give up, Isis. Your time is up. All of your loyal people are dead." I didn't believe it. St. Marius was trying to make me give up. I knew Radr wouldn't give up. I raised my hand and casted a blind spell. I saw that every one had grabbed at their eyes. They couldn't see.

I looked at my group and said, "Hurry, now is our chance." We all ran onto the Mana path, and we started to run to the Air World. I watched as the stars shot by. In no time, we were at the door to the world of Air.

As we caught our breath, Max said, "How long were we on there?" I under stood why he said that. Last time we took a trip like that, we were away from the world for four year.

I comforted him and said, "No time has passed. Mana paths were constructed for speedy access to all parts of the worlds. This is the same stuff that the Pillars of Sky are made of."

I saw the look of confusion on Rich's face. "Is this the same stuff in the Mana Net?" I knew what he was hinting at. Radr could travel on the Pillars, but not in the Mana Net.

I shook my head and said, "This stuff is a hybrid of the Mana Net, so that anything can travel safely on it."

Li looked back toward the Celestrial world and said, "Then why aren't the cult following us." I was concerned about this as well.

It wasn't until JaNa spoke that I realized the answer. "It's because they have someone over here already. The Elbiot with my mother's Air Component in it." I nodded in agreement and then she said, "Then let's stop it. I want my mother back." Her voice didn't sound as an adventurer at the time. It had more of the sound of a little girl.

I openned the door and we all entered the world. Instantly we felt the gusts of wind pulling us to the edge of the cloud the door was on. It was not a large cloud, but we could all stand on it. I looked at our group and said, "We need to fly to the Cloud Tower in the distance. That is the only building in the Air World. I can carry one person with me. JaNa can you carry Max." She nodded and I turned to Lena and said, "Do you have a flight spell?"

Lena paged through a book and said, "Yes." I was glad for that. Something told me that we all needed to fly over there, and that JaNa couldn't handle carring more than one person. I also knew that the spells I had would only alow me to carry many people over a vertical distance.

Li then said, "I'll go with her." This had meant that I was to take Rich. We then all took flight. It took us about an hour to fly there. During that time, Li said, "Isis, why is sky pitch black below us."

I answered Li's question and everyone gasped. "Below us, in the dark sky, is a gateway to the land of demons. If anyone of us were to fall in, it would mean the end of our lives. These gateways lead to the Elementals, a special breed of demons. They each have a power of an element, and the element worlds is where they draw their power. The main demon world is always attacked by the Elementals, which is why the demons escape into our world."

JaNa looked at me and said, "Would they attack us here?" I understood her fear. I shook my head and she looked releived. After a long silence, we reached the cloud tower.

When I openned the door of the tower, a strong gust of wind started to blow. I realized what it must be. "The Wind creatures have been gathered into the tower. We must fight our way up." As we worked our way up. The Wind creatures had increased their attacks.

Just as we were about to reach the first roof, a Wind creature came up behind us. It spun so fast that a gust of wind hit us. "My sword," yelled Rich, and I turned to see his sword flying away, as well as Li's and Max's. I then saw another Wind creature appear and swallow the swords. It then started to spin, pulling us towards it gaping maw. In it, I saw the swords spinning.

JaNa looked at the creature and said, "We'll be cut to shreads if we don't do something." She started to flap her wings and hold us back, but the creature increased it's spin. "I can't fight it." She then collapsed to the floor and the wind started to drag her toward it.

"No." Max yelled and grabbed her, trying to keep his balance. "I won't let you die." I saw it in his eyes. I saw that he cared for her, that he loved her. I then saw Lena cast a spell. I didn't hear it, but all of a sudden the wind came to a stop.

Lena looked at me and said, "Calm spell, but it won't last long." We left the area, recovering our weapons, and went to the first roof. On the roof, I saw the gap between the two towers. Lena then said, "I think my mother and I should stay behind. I can keep the wind's calm, and mother can protect me."

I turned to JaNa then and said, "Are you up to the rest of the trek?" She nodded and I then said to Li and Lena, "Be careful, fall into this gap and you fall into the demon world." Afterwords, I grabbed Rich, and JaNa grabbed Max.

When we reached the door to the second part, JaNa looked at Max and said, "Thanks for saving me." I saw the look in her eyes, and could tell that she was falling in love with him.

We enter the second part of the tower, and I heard footsteps. With the footsteps, I heard a growl. I turned to the group and softly said, "I don't like the sound of that."

Rich looked at me and said, "What is it, Isis?" He had talked a little softer than he usually did, but the roar told me that Rich had been heard.

"An Ancient, and Isis no less. The hunt is on. When she dies, Air will rule her world." The words had bellowed through the building and I was scared. I started to run through the tower, working to get to the top.

Max looked at me as his father, JaNa and he followed and said, "What is it?"

I didn't dare look back, but stayed alert. "A Fiend. When the Ancient's fought one another, the Elemental Fiend's of our realm became corrupt, attacking good and evil in hunts. There are four in total, the one that hunts us is Byak-Ko, the White Tiger, Fiend of Air."

"Why haven't they attacked in so long?" Rich asked.

"Because, they had been trapped in the World of the tower, which I had sealed off. That can only mean that they were defeated, and that that world has returned to light. Now we will nead Vet's Air Essence to help us defeat him." We eventually reached the second roof. There was a gap to the central chamber, where the Elbiot would be, but we had to get there. I had started to cast a flight spell when a blast hit my back, knocking me to the edge of the gap. I stared right at the White Tiger as he advanced, to knock me to my doom.

"This day has been a long time coming. The ancient's must die. The prophecy states so." I was about to ask what prophecy when a loud shreek stunned Byak-Ko. I saw the JaNa was using her screaming ability, and Max was attacking the beast.

Rich helped me up and said, "We have to get Vet's Essence to help them." I nodded and flew the two of us to the central chamber. When we entered, the room was draped in white. I saw the Elbiot at the far wall.

It raised it's arm to fire on us, but then, the featureless face changed and appeared to look like Vet. It was all white, but it said, "Isis, don't strike the brain. My essence is trapped in here. Strike the machine's mind." I knew what that ment. Then the face disappeared and the voice of the Elbiot said, "The Elboit of Air shall whirl you out of existance."

Just as it was about to fire on us, a cloaked figure attacked it. Rich ran to stop the attack. The attacker was aiming for the Elbiot's head. All the figure yelled was, "For the master, I shall kill you, and the Elbiot." I didn't know who was attacking, but the voice sounded familiar.

As they fought, I ran over to the Elbiot and held out my staff. I rammed it right into the chest, where the Elbiot's main processor was. I remembered that the Elbiot's mind was were a being's heart would be, but it's memory was in it's head. The voice on the Elbiot change, as did the face, to that of Vet. She looked at me and said, "Disconnect the head, and my Air Essence will be safe." I did as she said, knowing that she would know how to preserve her Essence. Soon the head started floating on its own.

Rich then said, "I managed to stop our unknown attacker, but take a look at her face." I walked over to the cloaked form and saw the face. Half was covered in metal, part of which had a crystal like strand through it, but the remaining part of the face I recognized. He noticed my face and said, "You know her. Who is she?"

I didn't answer, but lead him out the door. We returned to the rooftop where Byak-Ko was fighting JaNa and Max. He was about to get the upper hand when I said to Vet's Air Essence, "Your powers over Air can stop him." She appeared to understand, and all of a sudden, Byak- Ko disappeared.

JaNa looked over at us and cried, "Mom?"

I just looked at her and said, "Only part of her. Now we better get Li and Lena and head back for our world. I know where to go for the next part." We headed down and got the rest and then set out on the long trip back.

On the way, Rich asked me, "Who was that, or better yet, what was that?"

I looked at them and said, "Crystoids. They appeared along time ago when some of the Ancients, in an attempt to defeat the Evil Ancients, and the Fiends, combined there bodies with robots, becoming Cyborgs. This cost them their magic abilities, until a Magic crystal was grown and bound to each one. They became known as Crystoids at that time. Crystoids cannot reproduce, so they abduct people, making them immortal and merging them with their now evil leader. They cannot refuse the will of the evil and slowly they forget their lives without the leader and bretherin. The one that you killed, Rich, was my older sister, Gaia." I saw the looks on all their faces. They were shocked. I then said, "They started to become sighted in abductions when the metal mass appeared. Some legends claim that is their home."

Rich then said, "And since they attacked the Air Elbiot, they must view all of Vet as a threat. I wonder if they have attacked St. Marius at all, since he is in Vet's body." I had wondered that as well, but we would have to hope that if they did, they wouldn't succeed. We had to get to the Final Passage, to rescue Vet's Spirit Essence.


Facing Fears
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

After recovering my mother's Air Component, we had returned to the path to the Celestrial World. Almost instantly, we arrived back at the Celestrial World. Judging by the inactivity in the area, something was happening. I decided to ask, "Isis, where is the Final Passage located?"

Isis, who started moving through the Celestrial World said, "The Final Passage is located in the Underworld of Pureland."

I noticed that Rich had thought of something. He then said, "Isis, that was where Odin's world was located above. Did he choose that land for that reason?"

Isis then said, "Odin was just one of several evil Gods that invaded Pureland. He kept our dead from going to the final passage, giving them immortality, as it made him stronger. That was why I felt it nesessary to disconnect Pureland from our world. If they realized the power he was claiming, this world would have been destoried." Isis stopped talking and glanced in a direction.

We all realized why no one was searching for us. It appeared that they were preforming an execution. Horror took over my mind when Max said the name of who was being executed. "It's Lynn." We got nearer, but not close enough to be seen.

I saw St. Marius in my mother's body. He said, "You, foul being, practice the beliefs of the evil goddess. You must pay for your heresy."

Lynn shouted defiantly, "You are the heretics. You follow the path of evil." A guard gagged her mouth. She struggle defiantly against it, while another tightened her bonds.

St. Marius then continued, "You are destined to fall into the clutches of the demon world. With luck, you may be caught by an Elemental. They create harems." I saw Lynn's eyes go wide. I realized what that ment. The Elementals must have some way of preserving mates.

I turned to Isis and said, "Isis, I need to save Lynn. It was my fault that she lost her temple, and now I must save her life."

Isis nodded and said, "We'll head to Pureland. When you catch her, bring her with you, but be careful. Go down too far, and the demons will come for you."

I turned and dived under the world. Just as I had dived down, I saw them toss Lynn. I followed and caught her. She looked at me, and as I took the gag off, she said, "Where have you been for four years? Your mother is claiming to be St. Marius."

"She is. Her life force was split up, and Isis, myself, and Rich's family is gathering it back together." I heard shrieks and looked down. I saw demons flying up to catch us. I immediately flew back to the world and into the Pillar to Odin's former world.

When we reached the site of his palace, I saw Isis. I flew down to her and she said to Lynn, "Are you alright? And what about your followers?"

Lynn answered back, "I'll be fine. Everyone is in the fortified guardian base. We still have spies in the 'Route'. I was going to get information from one when they trapped me. Also, my natrual father still has his fortress in the desert world. Some of us have been hiding there."

Rich looked at her and said, "Who is your father?"

Lynn then answered, "Mask."

Isis looked at her and said, "Nothing is known about Mask. I don't even know how Rich's father chose him as his most trusted fighter. I can't even figure out who his parents are, or were."

Li then said, "Isis, we should get her back to the base."

Rich then said, "My father said that he had a magical Door that would take him straight to the Guardian base if needed. We can leave her with him." Isis nodded and made a motion. All of a sudden, we were floating. She was floating us down to Pureland. Rich then said something disturbing. "Isis, I wonder if the entities are still there?"

Isis gasped and said, "They are, but they never venture into the underworld. We have to get into the underworld, and fast."

Rich just replied, "My father is residing in one of the towns that has a path to the underworld. I just can't remember the name."

Isis said, "I use my magic to guide us to him." I watched as we started to float toward one of the towns. I then noticed that as we neared the town, a darkness was passing over us. I looked us and saw a hideous mass floating above us. I screamed, and Isis looked up. "Xagor."

I heard a voice say, "Prepare to die, Isis." Bolts of lightning started shooting all around us. We nearly made it to the ground as a bolt of lightning soared past our heads.

Suddenly, I heard my mother's voice. It was her Air Component speaking. I had pulled the head of the Elbiot out of my pouch. I had placed it there when we headed back from the tower. Her whispy voice just said, "What is happening?"

I looked at the airish form in the head and said, "One of the invading gods, stuck in this world is attacking us." All of a sudden, a great whirlwind appeared from the box, and Xagor went spinning.

The wind stopped and Xagor went spinning away. My mother then said, "That took alot out of me. I will rest. Wake me when you get my Spirit Component."

Isis just looked at the head and said, "Thank you, Vet, but don't try that again until we merge you with your Spirit Component." I placed the head into my pouch and Isis said, "If she uses all of her powers, she may die..."

I just covered my ears and said, "I know. Will merging with her Spirit Component revitalize her." Isis nodded and we finally reached the ground.

Rich looked over in a direction and smiled. "Father. Mother. How are you?" He hugged both of them.

Rich's father looked at him, and then us and bowwed. "Isis, what are you doing here? It is not safe for you down here in Pureland."

Rich answered the question for her. "Dad, much has changed since you were in our world. You know of the 'Route of Rigge'." His father nodded and Rich continued, "They have taken over."

His father was surprise. "They can't have taken over. They can't bring their so-called savior back from being cursed."

Rich just looked away. I notice he had difficulty saying the next thing. "Vet and I defeated the Hani. Vet delivered the death blow and the 'Route' vowwed to use Vet's body to bring the Hani back. Her daughter, and my family, as well as Isis, are gathering her components."

I noticed that Rich's father was abit dumbstruck. "What about the Guardians? Are they still around."

Lynn then answered, "They are hiding deep under the base, sir. I was hoping you can get me there."

Rich's father looked at her and said, "I shall send you to the base, but I can only use the door device that I have two times. I shall send you back with all of them." He turned to us and said, "I shall have Lynn stay with us until you return. I take it that you are heading into the world of the Dead."

Isis nodded and said, "Yes, we have to travel down the Final Passage."

"Be careful down there. All of your slain enemies, as well as friends, are down there. If they kill you, you will be stuck down there, as their servants. If you are going to die, deliver the deathblow yourself, and do not use a death spell, for it will make them stronger.

Li then said, "Let's just hope that there are no Crystoids down there." I saw that Rich's father's face went white as a sheet.

He looked at Rich and said, "Crystoids attacked you?"

"We just had a run in with them, but you don't have to worry," Rich replied. I noticed that Rich's father was worried. We all started down the path to the underworld when I noticed that Rich's parents had pulled Isis aside. I stopped and listened.

Rich's father said, "Please Isis, don't tell him about his brother."

Isis was surprised by this. "I thought that Rich was an only child."

"No, it was when Mask arrived that the Crystoids attacked the guardian base. That was when we moved underground. During the attack, my first son, Eric, was taken my the Crystoids. Rich was only a baby at the time. He would hate me for this." I was amazed at what I had just heard. Rich was not an only child. I started down to the underworld as I thought about what that meant.

Meer moments later, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Isis. She looked at me and said, "Do not say a word!"

"How did you know I was listening?"

Isis just looked at me and said, "I heard you. I tell you not to say a word because of the safety of all. Nobody but the guardians must know of the Crystoids. I doubt that even the Route knows about them." I finally understood how dangerous the situation was, but I questioned the reasoning.

When we finally reached the rest of the group, there was a giant being guarding the steps. Li just said, "I have never seen a creature like that before. I don't think we can beat it."

Lena was paging through a book and said, "I have it. A Morph spell. If it works, we will look like those beings." She cast the spell and we all appeared to transform into the giant being. We past by the being with no problem. Isis then led the way to the Final Passage.

Eventually, I saw a town. At that time, Isis said, "These creature built their town over the entrance to the Final Passage." When we entered the town, we saw the passage, but many of the beings of the town were gathered around it. In our disguise, we joined the group.

I then saw, what appeared to be the leader, holding a being in its hands. The being looked similar to what a Crystoid would be, except that it had no crystal in it. The leader then said, "As we came to this world, we came to help our bretherin. As was dictated, 12 sacrifices a year for 20000 years, and our mother's forces would come through the mystical portal of the dead, sealing it off and condemming all the inferior creature to serve our mother. Today is the first day of the final year. This inferior will die to feed the mother."

"Noooo!" screamed the Cyborg, as Isis had discribed them long ago. "I don't want to die as food. I don't want to feed her. I don't want to be a meal."

The head being said, "You are inferior, and thus you must be food or slave. The mother has slaves and minions, so you must be food." The being then turned to the entrance to the Final Passage and said, "Our Mother, send your messenger to bring you your meal. May their spirit nurish you, and their body feed our waiting bretherin."

I watched as the portal and a gem above it turned bright red. Soon a giant claw came out, and then another. Finally, something twice as tall as these beings were came out. It stood on two treetrunks of legs and was all white. It had a face that was all teeth. I heard the Cyborg scream in fright and pain as the monstrosity grabbed them. I then saw blood oozing from the claw. It disappeared and the portal returned to normal. The rest of the beings disbanded, but we remained. Eventually, I heard Isis say, "I never thought that what Rotat told me when I saw him the first time was true. I thought he was lying, but now I have seen it."

"What did he tell you?" I heard Rich ask.

"I will tell you when we enter the passage. It is safe to enter." I was a little hesitant to enter the passage. I wondered what that creature was, and if it guarded the Final Passage. Everyone else started, but I didn't move.

At that point, Max came over to me and said, "Don't worry. I won't let you die. I will protect you." I started in with him. Ever since this quest began, I was starting to have feelings for him.

As we started down the passage, Lena dropped the Morph spell and said, "What was that creature, Isis?"

"You know how Rotat is older that our world." When we all nodded, she then said, "That is because Rotat is an Eternal, not an Immortal. Eternal are beings from worlds totally out of dimension leaps. There are two forces of Eternals, the Elders and the Greats. The Elders are creators, and they created life to inhabit worlds. They tend to create a limitless supply and then leave the worlds to manage it. Rotat is an Elder, and it is sworn amongst the Elders that they can only inform of the Greats, but not interfer."

I then looked at Isis and said, "And those giant beings, and creature, were Greats."

"The beings are called Dwelgs. I heard legends that they plan to bring their mother into this world, making it corrupt. Corrupt is different than evil. Where evil has death to look forward to, corrupt people and beings are forces to the pits of the head Great. The head Great is the mother of the Dwelg, the mother of all corrupt beings, and that thing you saw was only one of the small ones. That was a Dimensional Shambler. It is sent into dimensions as an instroment of genoside. According to tales, just one of them could destroy everything on a landmass." Isis started to cry. "And soon, our world will be doomed to corruption."

I turned to Isis and said, "What if that gem was removed? Wouldn't that stop this menace of the Greats?"

Isis looked at me and said, "That gem is not a gem, but the eye of the head Great. I only heard about it from Rotat. He was told to tell the deciding members about the Eternals' existance. He told me that one of my followers would be able to stop the Greats, and that they would do it twice. He told me that they could hold the 'Eye of Shub'. He also told me that to say the full name of the head Great was to lead to enslavement."

Rich just looked at all of us and said, "We'll take care of that gem, after we get Vet's Spirit Component back." We all nodded and headed down the Final Passage.

Eventually, I noticed a bright light, and I saw someone beconing us. When we reached the being, they looked at us and said, "You were not suppose to enter yet. Your spirits are still in your bodies." It then looked at Isis and said, "Isis, it is not your time yet. Your father has told me that much. I was surprised to see you pass through the wall where the door was." I turned to and saw a wall, with a large door in it. How could this being not see the door, unless the dead can't return through the door, but how did St. Marius do it. The being then said, "There is someone saying that you were coming here, but ever since the Elbiot took over, all the evil, except for any Hani, has been preparing for you."

Rich turned to Isis and said, "You mean that since St. Marius was a Hani, his spirit would never come down here."

Isis turned to him and said, "His spirit should have come down here, unless a spell was cast on him before he was cursed."

We all turned when I head a familiar voice. I turned and saw the spirit of my father. "Papa," was all I could say.

He looked at me and said, "JaNa, how are you? You don't know how relieve I am to know that every day, you still haven't joined us. I knew you would come to save your mother. The good forces down here have had to hold back their attacks on the Elbiot. Only you and your beloved can save her Spirit component." My beloved, did he mean my former boyfriend. Did he know of what I had found out. I was about to question him when he turned to Rich and Li, "Rich, Li, I hate to tell you this, but it must happen that one of your children must be taken, but they will not die."

"What do you mean? Will they be abducted by Crystoids? Teleported someplace where we will never find them?" I could tell that Li was frantic. Rich started to calm her down. Lena looked shock, but Max came over to my side.

When Max got close to me he said, "I need to tell you something, but I don't know if I'll have time to tell you later. I..." His words were cut short when there was a loud explosion. We all turned to see a group of beings all standing there.

Isis recognized the leader of the group, as well as Rich. All he said was, "Apollo!!"

"Yes. And now we are all going to have a chance to torture you for the rest of eternity. Imagine dying every day as our willing slaves. Prepare to die and become our slaves."

Rich just drew his sword and yelled, "Never!!!" All of a sudden, a battle so great insued. I used my scream ability to hold back some of the Evil Gods, but Rich jumped in to attack. Isis and Lena were casting spells, and Max and Li were helping Rich.

The battle was definitately going our way. But then I remember what my parent's said about the power of these gods. I realized they were holding back on purpose. I was about to warn everyone when I heard someone behind. I spun to attack them, but they hit me. The last thing I heard before blacking out was, "Time to catch up on old times, and remember what we could of had."


I awoke to a cold and clammy feeling. I openned my eyes and saw that I was in a room with walls covered by a black ooze. I saw a light in the back of the room. I tried to move, but then I looked down at myself. From my neck down, I was covered by the black ooze. I was stuck in the wall. I then saw an even scarier sight. On a table in the middle of the room was all of the possessions I had with me, including all of my clothing and armor. One thought scurried into my mind. A demon had me. I could belief that I was going to perpetually die as a demon's mate. Then I heard a voice as another black form arose from the floor. It formed the face of someone I didn't want to see. "Well, JaNa, it's time to catch up on old times." I realized who it was. It was my former boyfriend, who Lena killed with a Death Spell. I was starting to hope it was a demon. The face came towards me, but I turned away. It then said, "I know you, JaNa. You can't resist me, and once I control you, the others will fall."

I could tell he still had his powers, but they weren't as strong as they were. I was still in control of who I was as I said, "You won't control me."

"We shall see." All of a sudden, the black ooze in the room started to pulse. I gasped in shock and that was when he brought his face to mine. All I could remember was him kissing me as I blacked out. In a instant, my eyes were openned again as he said, "Just think of that going on for a few hours. Eventually, it will kill you, and then you will be mine forever." I couldn't even figure out what had happened. He just looked at me and said, "Do you submit?" I didn't even feel like I could verbally reply, so I just spat at him. He just smiled. "I was hoping for a negative reply." He started the pulse up again, but just as it started, it stopped. I looked at his face as it fell to the floor. All he said was, "Not again."

I looked over and saw Max, with a sword drawn. He had beheaded the monstrosity that I had been my former boyfriend. He ran over to me and said, "JaNa, are you alright?" He started pulling at the ooze and said, "When I saw this mass attack you and take you away, I thought you were dead. I didn't want to see you die, not before I told you that I love you." I was so thrilled to hear that that I forgot the state I was in.

I looked him straight in the eye and said, "I love you, too." He reached up and kissed me. I then fell the ooze sliding away from me. I looked over to my wings to see the tops of them visible again. I then realized my situation again. I looked at Max and said, "Could you please turn around and toss me my stuff. I'm not in proper dress under this ooze." I saw him blush and then turn around. When he tossed me my armor, I was free of the ooze and fell to the ground. I quickly got into my clothes and armor and went over to Max. When he turned around, I kissed him again and said, "Thank you. I couldn't begin to picture eternity as his slave."

He held me in his arms and said, "I couldn't bear being without you. I hope we can make the best of the time we get." I nodded in agreement.

All of a sudden, I hear a mechinical voice say, "How touching, but it is sickening. You must be terminated." We turned to see the Elbiot. I realized that that was what caused the light. The faceless head of the machine changed, and I saw my mother's face. She said, "Daughter, the shield of the spirit will protect you, but strike the bot with the venom of the spirit." The face disappeared and the Elbiot said, "I shall destroy you." All of a sudden, the Elbiot lauched an attack at us.

I saw Max go to attack, but I grabbed him and said, "Wait, I understand." I held him and kissed him. He was surprised, but he returned the kiss. The attack came straight at us, but stopped not too far from where we stood.

The Elbiot sounded stunned, and said, "What in the name of St. Marius happened?" I felt hatred flow through me as it said the name, and I struck the foul machine with a sword to the chest. It collapse and my mother's face appeared and said, "Thank you. Now get me out of this thing."

I took out the Elbiot head with the Air Component in it and attached it to the head of the defeated Elbiot. I heard my mother's Spirit Component join with the Air Component. During the joining, Max said to me, "Why did you kiss me like that? We could have died."

I smiled and hugged him. I whispered into his ear, "Love is the shield of the Spirit. With love, you can fight any obsticle, and Hate is the venom of the Spirit." I released him, and then disconnect the Elbiot Head.

I saw a new form in the head as my mother's Air/Spirit Component said, "Now there is something to be done about that gem. Your father says it is the doom of all." I realized what she was referring to. I nodded and Max lead me back to the group.

When we arrived, I saw Rich look at his son and say, "Max, I thought you were dead."

"I had to save JaNa. We just rescued Vet, but now we have to get that gem." They looked at us in shock.

Li turned to me and said, "You and my son are in love?" I nodded and she just hugged me. "You seemed right for each other, after we found out what happened."

Isis then lead us out the Final Passage. Lena morphed us again and we arrive in the town in the middle of the night. I pulled out the Elbiot head, and Isis said, "How do we get that gem?"

My mother's Air/Spirit Component just said, "Mortal Magic is the key." She returned to her slumber and I heard Lena swallow. She was the only one who could grab it. She chanted a spelled and a ring of red went up and brought the gem to her hand. She placed it in a bag and closed it up.

She looked at us and said, "Let's leave this area. I'd rather deposit this in the Guardian Base Vault if that's alright." We all nodded. As we left the town and headed for the steps to the surface. When we reached the surface, Lena removed the Morph and we headed to Rich's father.

When we arrived, he looked at us and said, "Did you rescue her?"

Rich looked at his father and said, "Yes, and saved our world from a bigger threat." His father's eyes went wide, but Rich just said, "I tell you after we stop the Route, now send us to the base." His father nodded, and pulled out the door. He openned it, and Lynn went in first, and we all followed. When I passed through the door, however, I collapsed in complete agony. I couldn't figure out what was happening. Two guards placed me on a table, and Max was by my side. We were travelling down a hall when I blacked out from the pain.

The Quest Continues....


Eternal Eye
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

I couldn't believe what was happening. The second we all arrived at the Guardian Base, JaNa had fallen ill. Only hours ago, I told her how I felt about her, and I had rescued her from the creature that held her captive in the Spirit World. I couldn't help but think that that thing did something to her, but what. She had collapsed in pain when they were taking her to an examination room. I waited outside the door for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally, a man exited the room and walked over to me. He looked at me and said, "Are you related to her?"

I replied, "I am her boyfriend."

The man had a solemn look on his face. "I am afraid that something in the Spirit World did something upsetting to her."

I was starting to get scared. "What happend to JaNa?"

"A dead creature raped her. It probably happened and she didn't realized what happened." It all hit me. When I rescued her from the creature, it was part of the walls. It was the black ooze that covered her body. I remembered that Lena told me about a man who attacked JaNa in the Ancient Ruins. That must have been him.

"So what's happening?"

"The dead tissue is starting to replace her living tissue. As of right now, it might be easy to cure, but if we don't stop it soon, we may have to replace parts of her body with metal and make her a Cyborg."

I thought about what life with JaNa would be like if that was the case. I could adapt, but my heart began to race as another thought seized my mind. "What if you're too late for that?"

"We will have to kill her. At that time, her spirit would be consummed by the condemned dead shell, doomed to unrest forever. It is neither dead, nor alive. It exists, but doesn't exist. Eventually, the dead tissue decays, but the spirit of unrest is sent to the Void." I didn't need to hear that.

"Then save her." I turned and walked away. I was upset, but I knew I would be in the way if I stayed. The lower levels of the Guardian Base were like another world, all mechanized. I walked by the Great Vault, where most of the Ancient artifacts were kept. In fact, I knew that soon Lena would put that gem in the vault. I couldn't help the sence of dread that over came me when I thought of the gem, and even the Dwelgs.

Eventually, one of the guards came up to me. She was a human, but she had one of the highest ranks in the Guardians. "Max. Radr and all the rest want you in the main computer chamber."

I nodded and followed her to the main computer room. I had never been in the room before, but Isis and my father said it was remarkable. All I knew was that Radr was one of the people who help my father in the quest for the Magi, and now he was the main computer of the Guardians, as well as the leader. When we finally entered the room, I saw my father look in surprise at the Guardian and said, "Meg, is that you?"

I noticed that the woman nodded and then Radr said, "YES, RICH, IT IS MEG. HER SISTER WAS A GUARDIAN UNTIL TWO YEARS AGO."

My father looked at her and said, "What happened?"

Meg looked at him, "On an attack that the Route made on one of the still free lands, she was fighting with the Guardians. During the attack, strange robotic beings appeared and captured several Route members. At that time the Guardians started attacking the robotic beings. My sister was captured."

I looked at them and said, "Your sister was taken by Crystoids."

Radr spoke up and said, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THEM?"

Isis just looked at him sternly and said, "We've encountered them, Radr. I had to tell them."

My father walked over to Meg and said, "I didn't know. I was surprised to find out you had a sister."

Meg looked at him sternly, and said, "If you would have taken me on the quest when you left all those years ago, I could have saved her."

He looked at her and said, "I choose who I choose for a reason. Radr could adapt and become stronger. I had chosen Skiz because he was a monster and could become stronger. Vet had her magic abilities."

"And look at them now. Skiz is dead. Vet is killing people, and Radr is confined to Immortality."

"LT. COMMANDER MEG!" She stopped talking and stood staight when Radr spoke. "I HAVE NO REGRETS ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME. SKIZ DIED PROTECTING VET FROM HER SON. AND IT IS NOT VET'S FAULT FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING. ST. MARIUS HAS POSSESSED HER AND LEADS THE 'ROUTE'."

"Sir, I mean no disrespect, but I, as well as others, believe that if this ends, Vet must be punished." When I heard that, I was glad JaNa was in the medical area. "She is too powerful to trust anymore. We should prevent this from happening again."

My mother then said, "You cannot mean to say that when we stop the 'Route', you are going to punish Vet for what Marius did while he had control of her body." My mother had seen how things occured when she first met my father.

"LI, I AM IN NO WAY ABLE TO SAY YES OR NO RIGHT NOW. I MUST WAIT FOR TIME TO PASS. JUDGEMENT CANNOT BE MADE YET. BUT FOR RIGHT NOW, WE MUST EXAMINE THAT GEM THAT LENA HAS. IF IT IS A THREAT, WE MUST FIND A WAY TO PREPARE AND STOP IT. GUARD, COULD YOU BRING THE GEM TO ME." I watched the guard walk over to Lena.

Lena pulled out the 'Eye', as Isis had named it, and said, "Take this vile thing away. I don't ever want to see it again." As the guard touched it, I saw my sister's eye go wide.

The guard pulled away from the 'Eye' and collapsed. He then screamed, "What's happening to me?" I watched as his arms lengthed and his body grew in bulk. His whole features change, and then he faced us. He started to leap at my father, but Isis let loose a blast of lightning that exploded the being that was once a guard.

When the blood was done flying, my father looked at the scene and said, "Radr, do you have any idea what happened?" "APPARENTLY, LENA CAN'T GIVE THE GEM AWAY. WHAT IS IT CALLED?" Radr responed.

"It is called the 'Eye of Shub'," Isis said with an errie calmness.

Radr just replied, "THE 'EYE OF SHUB'. I READ ABOUT THAT IN A BOOK WE FOUND. IT WAS WRITTEN BY ONE OF YOUR PEOPLE ISIS, BUT LONG BEFORE YOU WERE BORN. IT WAS FOUND IN ONE OF THE DEEPEST LEVELS OF THE NASTY DUNGEON. IT TOLD THAT IF ONE LOOKS INTO THE EYE, ONE CAN SEE THE SUPER-DIMENSION WHEN THE 'GREATS' LIVE. IT ALSO STATES THAT THE 'GREATS' AND 'ELDERS' HAVE LIVED LONG BEFORE OUR WORLD BEGAN."

"How is that possible?" Isis said as if she didn't understand. "The beginning was when Redor and Shoac were fighting to keep balance in the universe."

"ONE STORY IN THE BOOK STATES THAT IN AN ATTEMP TO CONQUER OUR DIMENSION IN THE BEGINNING, THE GREAT KNOW AS SHUB CREATED A POWERFUL ENTITY THAT WAS EVIL. THE BEING WOULD WORK TO BRING THE DIMENSION TO EVIL. ONE OF THE HIGH ELDERS FELT IT WAS NEEDED TO HAVE A COUNTER, SO THEY CREATED AN EQUALLY POWERFUL ENTITY THAT WAS GOOD."

I looked at Radr and said, "You mean to say that this Shub character, or as the Dwelgs call her, 'Mother', created Shoac."

"YES, BUT SHUB GAVE SHOAC THE ABILITY TO REASSEMBLE HIMSELF IF HE DIED. THE ELDER'S DID NOT GIVE REDOR THAT OPTION BECAUSE THEY NEVER BELIEVED IT WAS NEEDED. AFTER THE TWO KILLED EACH OTHER, THE SEPERATE PARTS OF SHOAC WAITED FOR THE RIGHT TIME TO REJOIN OUR WORLD, BUT THEY MUST ALL BE PLACED IN ONE BODY, AND ONLY ONE PART KNOWS HOW TO DO THAT. ONCE IT IS REUNITED, IT IS TO BRING SHUB INTO OUR WORLD."

Lena then said, "But this gem created a portal to Shub's world at the Final Passage."

"ACCORDING TO THE STORY, WHEN SHOAC AND REDOR DIED, AND WHILE SHUB WAS WAITING, SHE GREW IMPATIENT AND PLACED 7 OF HER EYES IN THIS DIMENSION. THE DWELGS WERE SENT WITH THE 'EYE OF SHUB' SO THEY COULD SEND HER VICTIMS. WHEN ENOUGH WERE SENT, SHE WOULD ENTER AT THERE POINT OF LIVING. BUT THEY CANNOT DO THAT ANYMORE, BUT IF WE CAN FIND THE OTHER 6 EYES, WE CAN POSSIBLY PREVENT THEM FROM BEING USED."

Isis looked at Radr and said, "What do you mean by that?"

"ANOTHER PASSAGE IN THE BOOK STATES THAT SHUB WOULD RECRUIT A MEMBER OF HER ENEMIES TO CREATE THE ULTIMATE GATE. THIS GATE COULD NOT BE DESTROIED, BUT COULD BE PREVENTED BY THE SACRIFICE. THIS SACRIFICE IS NEVER MENTIONED, BUT THE RECRUIT WOULD SEE A SIGN, BUT EVEN THIS IS NOT MENTIONED. MAYBE LENA WAS CHOSEN TO PROTECT THE EYE FROM THIS TRAITOR." I noticed that my sister nodded, but I could tell something was bothering her. Radr then said, "LENA, COULD YOU HOLD THE EYE UP TO THE OPTICAL SCANNER." I saw a lens open up, and Lena held the 'Eye' up to it. Then, I heard Radr go, "THIS IS HORRIBLE."

I looked at the monitor and said, "What is it?" My mother gave me a stern look, but I also saw that she was intrequed as well. Soon the screen flashed to life as we saw into the Super-Dimension of the Greats. Walking around and into sight was a Shambler, but the creature was bearly the size of a toy doll. I was scared to think that Shub was so tall that a Shambler was a flea in comparison. Creatures emerged from the lava surrounding the area, serpentine in nature, and swam in it like it was water. Soon the view looked upward, and I saw the Shambler that had taken the Cyborg in the Dwelg town. It still heald part of them there. I then noticed the walls zooming by, and eventually, the Shambler was level with the view. I had also seen other huge being, probably half as tall as the chamber we were viewing. I couldn't begin to describe them. I turned away from the screen. I noticed that everyone had, except for my sister.

Eventually the visions stopped, and Radr said, "THIS IS DISASTEROUS. IF THESE IMAGES ARE CORRECT, WE CAN ONLY HOPE TO MAKE SURE THAT SHUB CANNOT ENTER OUR WORLD."

Lena put the 'Eye' back in her pack but then said, "Radr, if you scan the 'Eye''s structure, you may be able to find the other six." My sister had hit upon a remarkable idea.

Radr responded, "IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME, BUT YOU MUST REMAIN HERE UNTIL IT IS DONE. THE REST OF YOU SHOULD REST UP." I noticed that Lena stayed behind as we all left the room. I decided to go back to the medical area. I was hoping that they managed to save JaNa.

When I arrived, the doctor was standing there. He saw me and said, "I'm glad you came back. She has been asking about you. She keeps rambling that it could have been worse. What does she mean?"

I looked at the doctor and said, "The spirit that did that to her was someone with the 'Route' that was assigned to stop her. From what my sister told me, the man had a charm ability that allowed him to control any woman. I think he wanted to kill her in that way so he could do that to her forever."

The doctor just looked at me and said, "I understand. To picture that happening to someone for eternity is an awful thought. That must be why she has been asking for you. We did, however, tell her what had happened, and we did save her body. She can leave the area, so you can take her with you when you leave."

I nodded and entered the room. On a table was JaNa. She sat there, a little scared, but who could blame her. When she saw me, she jumped up and ran over to me. She hugged me and said, "Thank you. I didn't know what had happened to me, but you saved me from something worse then what had happened."

I held her in my arms and whispered, "I know. I will always protect you. I love you that much."

She looked up at me, and I saw tears in her eyes. I knew why they were there. She was afraid that she was going to lose me. In my heart, I was afraid of that as well. She then said, "Please, don't leave me alone tonight."

I held her in my arms and said, "Alright." I then lead her to where everyone's rooms were.


When I woke up in the morning, I remembered everything about the last night, mainly because I was not in my room. I turned and faced JaNa. I notice that she was still asleep, but was her mind full of the thoughts that were running through mine. My parents always told me to wait until I was married before I do something like this. It was drilled into my head, but it was after the fact. I had spent the night with JaNa. The strange thing was, for some reason, it felt as if I did nothing wrong. I heard her stir and turned to face her. She kissed me and said, "Good morning."

I was nervous when I said my next words. "JaNa, how do you think everyone is going to react when we tell them."

She then became worried as she sat up, holding the sheet over her body. "I don't know. My parents brought me up to believe it is best to wait until after marrage, but I didn't think it was right to wait. What if we die tomorrow?"

"Both our parents faced death before they got married."

"My parents were no older than you were when they fell in love. As for your father, he was in his 30's before he fell in love. What may be right for them, may not be right for us? Tell me, does it feel right?"

I looked at her and nodded. "But, they may not approve."

She leaned over and whispered in my ear, "They don't need to know." She was right on that one. Besides, she was old enough to live on her own. And age meant nothing, my own father was almost 2000 years younger than my mother, and people always did live long lives. Some humans have lived to be 5000.

We started to kiss again when I heard Radr's voice. "JANA, MAX, RICH, AND LI, LENA AND I ARE DONE WITH THE STONE. ISIS HAS SAID THAT IT IS TIME TO MOVE OUT. YOU ALL MIGHT WANT TO TAKE A ZONEHOME WITH YOU. IT MIGHT KEEP ALL OF YOU SAFE FROM THE 'ROUTE'." I almost panicked when I heard that, but then I realized that Radr was talking to everyone.

I said to JaNa, "We better get ready, or else everyone might check on us." She nodded and we quickly got dressed. Moments later, we had joined everyone else in the exit of the Base.

My father turned to all of us and said, "I think it is time for us to go the Earth World. I hope it won't be like the World of Air." With that, we were off to retrieve Vet's Earth Component.


Earth Shaking News
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

It had not been long after we had left the Guardian Base that we ran into trouble. My husband held up his hand as we looked out over the Celestrial World. It was a band of the `Route'. They were on patrol. My husband just said, "This is not good."

Isis looked out and said, "I agree, considering that they are heading right in front of the path we have to take."

My son looked out and said, "Do we attack them, or should we wait and see what happens?"

JaNa looked at him and said, "If we attack them, they will call for reinforcements, and who knows how close they are?"

Lena looked at her and said, "I might be able to cast a Blind spell on them." I then noticed something. My husband looked straight at the lead man. First I saw a look of disgust and then I saw a smile.

I then heard the lead man of the `Route' patrol say. "It's all clear here. We should check the way to Pureland again." The man motioned them all away, but turned and faced us again. He must have been a spy with the Guardians. He nodded and left.

Rich, my husband for many years just said, "Remind me to ask Radr how many of our school friends are in the Guardiands?"

I looked at him and said, "You knew who that was?"

"Yes. His name is Joel, and he's a good man." My husband then led us to the path to the Earth World.

Isis then and said, "Joel, I remember hearing about him."

Rich turned and said, "What?"

"For years before your victory over St. Marius, he was having visions. He wrote them into songs. Strangely enough, one of his first songs was about the death of St. Marius."

Rich just looked shocked. He then said, "Do you think he might have many other songs?"

Lena, just looked at my father and said, "You don't think he's a prophet!" Ever since our visit to Rotat, and the recent events with the `Eye', my daughter started to loose faith in prophecys.

My husband turned to her and said, "I don't know, but I hope that some prophecies never come true." We then continued on.

Eventually, we reached the Mana Path to the Earth World. As before when we headed to the World of Air, the stars of the celestrial world shot by until we arrived at the entrance to the world. Isis looked at us and said, "Be careful, we will have to becareful of a few things. First, quakes may cause the ground below us to brake. If we fall into that, we fall to the demon world. Second, since we encountered Byak-Ko in the Air World, we will most likely encounter Gen Bu. Third, we might have to deal with the Crystoids."

My son, Max, said, "Who is Gen-Bu?" I had to agree, what was the role of these creatures in the scheme of things.

Isis sighed. This was something that worried her alot. "The Fiends each are equal in power. Each controls an element of our world. When they hunted my people, each would claim a victim. When the Ancient's left, the Fiend's started fighting on who would kill me. They have a prophecy which states that whoever of them kills me will rule my realm, but they fear a second part of the prophecy."

Lena looked at Isis and said, "What part is that?"

"That someone else will kill me, for if that happens, they are sent off. If someone else kills me, they join together, and then split apart, becoming four worse problems than they already are. The only thing about that is they return from the split at a time of great problems." I couldn't help but swallow. It sounded as if their return was the begining of the end.

I turned to Isis and said, "But who is Gen-Bu?"

"Gen-Bu is the Black Turtle. He is the fiend of Earth. It is said that the force of his footfalls in this world is what causes the ground shattering quakes." I started to think of what that meant. We then entered the Earth World. It appeared to be an endless expanse of ground. There were small cracks running along the course of the world. In the distance, there was a group of mountains. We headed for the mountains.

Halfway to the mountains, a man-like form started to approach us. Max looked at it and said, "It must be an Earth creature." We all started to attack, but with every one of our attacks, it struck us with a painful blow.

One blow sent Lena flying. I turned to the creature and struck at it with a vengence. No mother wants harm to befall her children, and I was no different. As I struck it, it knocked me down to the ground. I then heard Lena yell, "That's my mother." All of a sudden, a fireball the size of the creature shot from her arms and destroied the creature. I was stunned by the force of the fireball.

My husband walked over to her and looked at her. "How did you do that?"

There was a look on my daughter's face, one that I could identify. "I don't know. I just could. I wonder if it has anything to do with that cursed gem. I wish we never found the thing." The `Eye' scared her.

Rich just said, "But if we didn't find it, we would have a problem that we can't handle right now. Now, we need to get to those mountains. I have a feeling that.." His sentance was cut short by a quake. Isis started to float. Lena cast a float spell and elevated herself and my husband.

JaNa grabbed Max and then said, "I'm coming to get you, Li." I started to stand up, but that was when the ground went out from under me. I started to fall, but I grabbed the edge of the ground.

"Li!!!!" my husband shouted. I understood his fear. If I lost my grip, I would fall to the demon world. I glanced downward, in hopes that I would see a ledge, but to my horror, I saw an Elemental. It looked straight up at me, and I saw a grin on it's face. My abilities froze in fear. I felt something at my hand and looked up. It was JaNa.

She grabbed my hand and said, "I'll get you out of there." She glanced down at the creature and said, "Not today, ugly." With all her strength, she pulled me out of the hole and we flew over to the mountains. We landed on the foot of the mountains and were joined by Isis and the others.

My husband just held me and said, "I was afraid I lost you."

I went to respond, but I saw something. I looked up to see a giant turtles head. It looked at us and said, "Well, maybe I will get to kill Isis today." It was Gen-Bu, and he appeared to be as big as one of the mountains. I then saw our objective. The Elbiot was riding Gen Bu. It appeared to connected to the fiend.

The Elbiot just looked at us. "Destory them." Just as the command had been issued, Gen-Bu lunged at us.

We all jumped to opposite sides, but my husband then saw something. He shouted out, "Crystoid." I turned to see it was right near Lena. The thing started to approach her, but stopped. It looked in my husband's direction.

It then turned and ran off. I had seen a look on it's face. It was that of recognition, but how? I then noticed that everyone had their hands full with Gen-bu. I jumped up to the shell of the giant turtle and stood face to face with the Elbiot. Suddenly, I saw it's face change. It was Vet's Earth Component. "Knock me down." The face shanged back and said, "Prepare to die."

I looked at the Elbiot and said, "Not today." We started into a Jyudo fight. It was a one-sided battle, because the Elbiot could not keep up with my moves. Soon, I knocked the Elbiot from the shell. I heard a crack and I gasped in horror. Did I kill Vet? I looked down to see the body of the Elbiot, impaled on a stalagmite. I jumped down, just in time to see Gen-Bu collapse, but I was checking to see if Vet was alright.

I heard Vet's voice speak again, "Thank you, Li." She was alright. I was relieved to see that I hadn't destoried her Earth Component.

JaNa came over and attached the Elbiot head that held the Air/Spirit component and said, "Time to rest, mother." In a short amount of time, all three were in the Elbiot head.

We all gathered around Isis and she said, "We should leave. The Elbiot had gotten control of Gen-Bu, and soon the effects will wear off. We must be near the exit before that happens."

My husband then said, "We must rest before we attempt to head to the Mana Net. We should use the Zonehome right near the exit of the Earth World." Everyone nodded and we headed back to the entrance of this world. Once there, my husband set up the Zonehome and we entered. There were four rooms in the Zonehome, and Isis took one. Lena took another, and I noticed that Max and JaNa were entering a third. My husband and I then entered the last. It was odd seeing the interior of these devices again. It was like being home instead of on an adventure.

After a short bit, I looked out the window onto this world. I never knew how much strife occured to keep our world at peace. I felt my husband come up behind me and hold me. I asked, "What are you thinking about?"

He kissed me and said, "How nice it would be to return to a normal life again?" He had grown used to the life of a family man. He loved it, but that was soon to be gone.

"Rich, do you think that Lena might be the one to be taken from us?" I couldn't help but think of the gem she was condemded to hold.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Skiz said that we would lose one of our children, but they would not die."

"Do you think it would be Max?"

"I think they are both afraid of that, but more so JaNa?"

I turned to face my husband and said, "You don't think that, our son has..?"

He put his finger to my lip and said, "It is possible. They are in love, and they are afraid one will die. It is fear kicking in, and it is natural. Times are changing." He was right. After all of this was done, the world would be different.

"What do you think will happen to Vet? I mean, if she is tried for Marius' crimes, how will JaNa take that?"

"Not, well, I'm afraid. She was in the infirmary when we talked with Meg and Radr. That might not set well with her. If that is the case, we will take her in." I nodded in agreement with my husband and we then turned in for the night.


In the morning, I heard my husband talking to Radr. I walked over to his side and saw the communictions unit. I heard Radr say, "HE INFILTRATED THE ROUTE AFTER HE JOINED. HE HAS BEEN A BIG HELP. HE WILL GET YOU IN TO THE TEMPLE AND TO THE MANA NET."

He deactived it and said, "Well, I found out why Joel was in the Route?"

"Why is that?" I asked.

"He is a guardian spy, and he is going to sneak us into the Celestrial Temple so we can enter the Mana Net." Now I knew that one of the most dificult parts of our quest would be easier.

To Be Continued...


Ouroboros: Part 1
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

When JaNa and I awoke that morning, my father told us of the plan. His friend from school, Joel, would help us sneak in and out of the the Celestrial Temple. We needed the help in getting in and out. JaNa then said, "What if we run into St. Marius or my brother, or even those two demons? They won't be fooled so easily."

My father only said, "Joel said that he would help us through. I have no doubt in my friend. He has been helping the guardians for a long time."

My mother then said, "Besides, if I remember the temple correctly, we won't go as farth as the chambers where those two would be residing." I had to give my mother credit. She was being optimistic, but there was one thing on both my mind and my sister's mind.

My sister, Lena, said it first. "But, what about Rotat's prophecy." I saw JaNa almost started to cry, but I held her. "And even what Skiz's spirit said. One of us is going to disappear. And we don't even know where to."

I looked at her and said, "Maybe, but who knows what will happen to who goes missing. For all we know, we could end up just missing for a year's worth of time, jumped ahead one year."

Isis then said, "Be quiet. I have thought this over. We shall go, but we will be extra careful. Rotat told us it will happen, and it will. He has never been wrong before."

My father looked at her and said, "Are you hoping he'll be wrong this time, because he did foresee your death." Isis just stared at him and we left the Zonehome. We didn't have to worry about Gen-Bu as we made our way back to the door to our world, but we did worry about his occational quakes. We could still fall through the land down to the world of the Elementals. When we finally went throught the door, their was a member of the route waiting for us there.

My first reaction was to strike at the Route Member, until he removed his hood. "Rich, how are you old friend." It was Joel. He then nodded at Isis and said, "My Goddess, I am glad to see you are still safe."

Isis just said, "We will all be safe when the route has been eleminated."

Joel nodded and then said to my father, "Rich, it's been a long time and while we still have relative safety, could you tell me who your compainions are?"

My father just nodded and said, "Alright, this lovely woman next to me is my wife, Li. She is, well, was the innkeeper from the world of the Final Dungeon. She was also Ki's sister."

"She is Ki's sister. Ma'am, I am honored to meet you."

My mother just said, "Thank you, and thank you for helping us save Vet."

My father then motion Lena forward and said, "This is my eldest child, Lena."

I noticed something in the look he gave her, but I couldn't identify it. "Nice to meet, you. It looks like you have a great burden on your shoulders."

My sister just nodded and said, "I have to guard an evil gem. I wish I didn't have to do it." I noticed the look on Joel's face then. He knew something. Isis did say that he had the power of prediction. Had he seen what had happened to her with that gem. Was she the one to disappear?

My father then motioned me and JaNa over and said, "And this is my youngest, Max, and his girlfriend, Vet's daughter, JaNa." Joel gave me the same look that he gave Lena, which puzzled me even more. He then said, "I see that you look like your father. I hope you will be able to find Vet's Mana componet in the Mana Castle." He looked at JaNa then turned to my father and softly said, "Does she know?" My father shook his head, and Joel didn't say a word.

JaNa whispered to me and said, "What did he say to your father?"

I didn't want to lie to her, but I didn't want her to be upset, so I did lie. "He might have wondered if you were like your brother."

"I could have told him that."

"I know, but would he have believe you." She nodded in understanding.

Joel then handed us cloaks. He said, "Put them on. Something in the Route's cloaks allow them to walk in the Mana Net. I don't know what it is, but it does the trick. Keep your heads down at all time, and be careful. Don't talk and listen to me. Once we hit the Mana Net, I will wait outside it. Do you all understand?" We all nodded and put the cloaks on.

We returned to the Celestrial World, and headed to the Celestrial Temple. As we walked, no Route member stopped us. Occasionally, one would say hello to Joel, but that was all. It was the least resistance we had in getting through the Celestrial World. We entered the Celestrial Temple and made our way to the elevator, when we met our real opposition. I heard the voice of KLar say, "Joel, who are these members?"

I reached for my sword but Joel then said, "They are members who have just joined, Annointed One. I am going to show them the castle that our leader had before he was so cruelly murdered."

There was a pause until I heard him say, "Alright, but make sure they are here for the meeting tonight. Our leader, St. Marius, has a plan to destory Isis and her band of rebels, and it all involves destroying the Elbiot in the Mana Net."

JaNa almost screamed but she held it in. Joel then said, "But won't it object, they have been helping us sir."

I heard KLar say, "It was the Elbiot's idea. It know that 3 of them have been slain, and since we can not reach the other three, this one suggested we kill it to prevent our failure."

Joel said, "I understand your wisdom," and led us down the elevator. When we got the bottom, Joel said, "You don't have much time. You must get in there, get to the castle and rescue Vet. If you don't do that quickly, and get out in time, we will all be found out."

My father looked at Joel and said, "Don't worry, we have been through that place before."

Joel then said something, "Be careful of the snake that guards it." We all looked at him strangely, and he said, "Trust me." He turned and watched for anyone coming. We enter the Mana Net and began the long trek to the Mana Castle.

We moved fast and during the walk, my father said, "I wonder what Joel meant by beware the snake. Why should we be afraid of a snake?"

My mother said, "Maybe it's a giant snake. Like a Hydra." That would be understandable. A hydra was a most evil snake.

My sister then said, "We would have seen it by now. Maybe its a constrictor of sorts."

JaNa looked at her and said, "Those are drawn out by loud sounds. There are tales of creature from one of the past timelines floating in this world."

Isis looked at JaNa, and said, "Very few of them have been seen except in the world of Fantasy. They are not allowed to leave that world. I just hope that it isn't what I think it is."

As we neared the Castle, I said to Isis, "What is it you hope it isn't?"

She stopped us all and pointed, "That." I looked where she was pointing and almost laughed. Floating in the air infront of the door was a small garder snake with it's tail in it's mouth. It formed a circle. She then said, "Ouroboros. I heard tales of it, but never wanted to see it."

My father just said, "Ouroboros. What is that?"

Isis just said, "It sleeps in all times, all places, everywhere, everywhen. It has no future, and no past. No one dare disturbs it."

JaNa looked at Isis and said, "Why?"

Isis just kept looking at it and said, "I don't know. Nobody ever found out."

Our quest to save Vet was in jeopardy. I looked at everyone and said, "I don't know but we have no time to look for another way in the castle. I'll risk moving it."

JaNa grabbed my arm and said, "What are you doing? You don't know what it will do to you. I'll lose you."

"JaNa, I love you. I'm prepared to make any sacrifice for you. I want you to see your mother again. What ever happens to me, I will find you and see you again. I love you that much." I kissed her and moved toward the snake.

My parents both yelled at me to stop. I even heard Isis yell at me, but I felt I had to do this. As a neared the snake, I heard a voice say, "We will be waiting for you." I looked at the snake. It said that. I didn't understand, but I decided to ignore the words. I grab it and it said, "We had waited for the day of this event, ever since we will come here so long from then." This thing was talking of the past as it was the future. All of a sudden a felt a surge of magical power as we flew in some sort of tunnel. As we flew I saw a crystaline thing form. It flew straight at me and knocked me out.


When I awoke, I looked around to see I was in the middle of a battle. I felt my face only to find a mask there. Where was I? I then realized what Ouroboros had done. I saw many Crystoids fighting my grandfather, only he was younger, and a young man was next to him. I thought it was my father. Then the Crystoids grabbed the kid. Another attacked my grandfather and knocked him down. I ran over and attacked the Crystoid. My grandfather looked at me and said, "Thank you, sir, but save my son, Eric."

I was surprised. I thought I had no uncles. My father never mentioned one. I ran to save the young man, when the Crystoid fired at some rocks. A woman was standing under them. I relized who it was, it was Lynn's mother. I realized at that moment what Ouroboros had truely done. I ran as fast as I could and pushed her out of the way. She smiled and thanked me. She was lovely. I hated to, but I had to do what time dictated. She then said, "You are a handsome young man."

My grandfather walked over to me and I said, "I'm sorry, sir."

He looked at me and said, "It's ok. It was a tough call. I'm glad I have another son. What is you name, young man?"

I looked him straight in the eye and said, "My name is Mask."

"Well Mask, I think this lady likes you."

"Thank you, sir. Can I call on you for a favor one day?"

"Anytime, by the way would you like to join the guardians?"

"Yes, sir. I think that would be best." I saw the woman smile. This was going to be odd, but who could I tell about this whole situation without upsetting time. I thought about it, but in time I knew who I should tell. I know that in some years, my father would help me, and then I would tell Vet the truth some years later. That was how it would be.

*********************************************

Ouroboros looked out at the scene. They knew that they will meet Max, and bring him to this time to be Mask. It was the least they could do. They had destroyed a whole time line sometime after this day, and will destroy it before they will meet Max. All the events were nothing more but a circle to them. They were never born, they would never die. They would constantly pay for the crime the will commit, and constantly commit a crime the would forever pay for. They were above Eternal, they were Constant.


Father's Fury
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

"MAX." It was the only words that came from my mouth as I watched my son disappear from sight. There had been a flash of light and both he, and the Ouroboros creature were gone. I heard someone sobbing. I turned to see JaNa in my wife's arms, crying for all she was worth. I could tell long before that the two were in love.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Isis there. "I don't know what to say, but he did it to save Vet." I nodded in agreement to what she said.

I saw Lena walk over to me and say, "I think that Max would want us to keep going. To get Vet's Mana Component back."

I nodded with the last statement and said, "You're both right. We must get to the throne room of the Mana Castle." I then saw a look of concern on my wife's face. I walked over to her and JaNa and said, "What is it, my love?"

My wife, Li, looked at me through tear filled eyes, and said, "Do you think we should try another route to the throne room? I mean, the Elbiot has probably set up many traps for us." My wife was right. We had been to the castle before, and if the Elbiot had accessed that knowledge from Vet's mind, which given the time it mostlikely had, there would be a slew of traps waiting for us.

"Egad, you're right. I wouldn't be surprised if there are traps galore waiting for us." I turned to Isis and said, "Is there any way in to the Castle, other than the front entrance?"

She shook her head and said, "No, but there is secret passages in the castle. One right inside the door contain's a warp to the throne room." I was shocked when I heard that.

"Isis, when Li, Vet, and I came on the quest to stop St. Marius, why weren't we told this." I saw a grim look in her face. I knew it wasn't going to be good.

She just sighed and said, "The castle was created by the Evil Ancient's, which was led by one man. He had created this castle, and he and his fellow Ancients got their excess power from the evil one, the one we must never name."

My daughter Lena just shuddered. "You mean they made a deal with Shub." I saw Isis nod. "What happened to the leader?"

Isis closed her eyes when she related the tale, "My father chased him into the passage from the throne room. They entered a gateway and entered the realm of Shub. They realized the trouble they were in and quietly made their way through the passage they entered. Eventually, they came to the exit, which is in a secret panel right near this door." She shuddered again and said, "They never found the leader of the evil Ancients, and feared that he was in league with Shub, or worse, a minion."

I could have sworn that my heart had stopped. My daughter then said, "Is the door only openable by Ancient Magic?" Isis nodded and I realized what that meant. Only Isis could open the door. Now we had to choose braving countless traps, or trekking through the most dangerous realm imaginable, and even I couldn't imagine it.

"The real trick will be entering and exiting the passage. If we take our chances by going the main route, we may get killed by a trap," I said cautiously.

My wife then said, "Also, by the time we turn around, the route might be on us." I nodded, because she had a very good point.

I finally said, "Isis, open the door. We have to take our chances going through that passage. And we might have to take it going back. I just pray that we don't have to fight anything in there." There was a concurrent nod as Isis opened that magical door. Beyond it was a panel of black magic. The door to one of the realms inhabitted by a very powerful evil, so powerful that we could not defeat it at all. As I passed through, I could feel the overwheming evil of the inhabitants, and I shuddered.


When we all had passed through into the tunnel. We had to tread very quietly, lest we would draw attention to ourselves. We were venturing through the realm of evil incarnate. As we walked, Isis grabbed us and pulled us into a small hole. She just said, "Quiet. Something is coming." I was scared but that changed to being terrified as the creature walked past. It was hidious with three legs as it continued down the hall. It had no arms, only long spike like forearms.

As it passed, I heard Lena ask, "What was that?" She wasn't the only one wondering about the creature. I could tell that we all wanted to know what the creature was.

Isis looked straight ahead and said, "I don't know, but it could be one of the beings that was abducted from our world. Even from another world." She looked out of the crack and motioned that it was all clear. We slowly followed out of the hole and followed her.

Finally, after the longest time, JaNa spoke. "I see water. Could water exist here in this evil world." I saw Isis go almost rigidly stiff.

My wife looked at her and said, "Isis, what's wrong?" It was apparent that something scared Isis worse than the three legged creature. I then heard a sound, which sounded like a swoosh of something rather large.

Isis just pointed to a rock formation, and said, "Hurry, behind it. We can't let it see us." This worried me. This truely spooked Isis. We ran to the formation. As we ran to reach it, I looked out over the lake and saw two glowing lights in the distance. I then realized what they were. They were eyes. One thing was certain, I didn't want to see what those eyes belonged to.

As the being neared, Lena ran for cover. My heart almost stopped when she fell over. It froze when I saw the `Eye' roll out of her backpack. It started to glow, and I was scared. The other eyes had gotten close, and I could see an outline, of a huge creature, which was either wearing a giant octopus on it's head, or it was its head. It stopped and turned around. I could hear that it was moving quickly. Lena put the `Eye' away and said, "I thought I was a goner."

I looked at my daughter and said, "We might just be goners. She knows were here now. I'm surprised that that thing didn't attack us, what ever it was."

Isis motioned and said, "Hurry, the gate is just over there. I'd rather be through it before it returns. That happens to be its most ambitious minion." She ran and I saw the gate before us. I counted my blessings that we were leaving this realm, and entering our world again. Then I heard the swooshing sound again. It was moving faster this time, and back toward us.

The gate was within jumping distance as Isis jumped in first. My wife and JaNa quickly followed. I turned to see that Lena had tripped again, and fallen. I quickly ran back and grabbed her. As I helped her up, I saw the creature that Isis was scared of. It was green, humanlike, with a squid for a head. I heard a sickening sound as it saw us. I ran, with Lena in tow, to the gate. As we ran through the gate, I heard my daughter whisper a word. "Cthulhu." Was that what that creature was, and how did my daughter know?"


When we reentered our world, Isis grab hold of me and said, "Did it see you?" She was almost frantic about it. She then uttered a phrase that chilled my blood, "Did Cthulhu see you? If it did, we might not be safe going back that way."

I just grimly said, "I don't know. Lena tripped, and I ran and grabbed her, and it saw us. I didn't know what it was."

Isis just said, "Cthulhu is the most ambitious follower of Shub. It would stop at nothing to overthrow her, and that means obtaining a foothold in our realm. No one knows how its mind works, but it tries to control those who it can. It also can help Shub if it means helping itself." I wondered if it already had it's foothold, but I was too scared to say word one.

I decided to change the subject to the real quest at hand. "Isis, how close are we to the throne room?"

It snapped her mind off the threat of the evil ones as she turned and said, "We are right behind the throne. We have to be careful. This Elbiot has all of Vet's magical abilities, even those she hasn't tapped into yet."

I saw a worried look cross JaNa's face as she said, "You mean my mother has abilities we don't know about?" When Isis nodded, she said "I know that my mother has untapped abilities, but how powerful can they get?"

Isis just said, "It was said long ago when Mutants first started walking in our existance that they could tap into Mana quite well, and some feared that they could tap into the highest levels of Mana itself. The eldest mutant once said that they hadn't reached all the levels, although they knew the magic was there. One such spell is know to be the Gateway, which allows one to travel amongst all the dimensions."

My wife said, "Could that mean they could open up gates to the realm of..." Isis held up her hand to stop my wife's thought.

Isis sighed and said, "I don't know, Li. I shouldn't have mentioned it. In the past of our world, when all the Humans, Ancients and Mutants existed, that fear almost lead to the extinction of the mutants. That hatred infected the celestrial world. It was like an evil, but when I was born, I ended it. I am part Human, part Mutant, and part Ancient."

A cold voice said, "And the intelligence of neither of them." There was a swift movement, and the Elbiot was standing where the throne had been. "Maybe you should go back the way you came." It fired a force bolt out. The target was Isis, but Lena jumped in the way. I was distraught as she flew toward the gate. I had lost one child, but not another. I grab her in the nick of time.

I turned and faced the Elbiot and said, "This ends now." I lunged with a rage of anger toward the Elbiot. I most likely would have stuck the head, not thinking clearing.

My wife grabbed me and said, "Look." I noticed it, the face of the Elbiot was changing. It was turning into that of Vet's like it did with all the others.

The component of Vet then said, "Trigger it. It will blow out the computer unit." I didn't understand what that meant, but then the face changed back. The Elbiot was back to it's evil self. "Not likely that will happen. I feel like a roast." I watched in horror as the Elbiot started to create a fireball.

At that time, I saw a glow eminate from Lena. She had cast a spell, but what spell was it. Then the Elbiot had started to glow. It looked shocked as she said, "You said trigger."

Isis said, "Everyone duck." We all ducked as the Elbiot exploded. All the spells were triggered at once. It was a remarkable sight, but I turned to see part of the Elbiot knock Lena back through the gate.

The head of the Elbiot landed next to me, and I heard Vet's Mana component say, "Thank you, but rescue Lena."

I stood up and said, "JaNa, take care of your mother. We must hurry. Lena's back in that evil demension. The explosion knocked her into that world." We had no choice but to re-enter that cursed path, and I was the first to jump in.


I looked out upon the cave as I entered the evil realm. I saw Lena lying close to the shoreline, and I listened. No slooshing. Did that mean it was gone, or waiting? I ran over to my daughter and said, "Lena, are you ok?"

She got up, shook her head and said, "Is Vet safe?" I looked back to see everyone else coming through the gate cautiously. I nodded, and my daughter said, "Then lets run out of here. I don't think they will be too thrill with two intrutions into their realm. They might take it as an invite to make a visit to our realm."

We all agreed with that and we ran through the path to the other gate. Along the way, we heard a roar of anger. I glance back and saw a Shambler. I saw lightning in its arms. "Faster," I yelled. In no time, we hit the gate and were back in our own realm.

Isis closed the door to the gate and said, "We must head to the Water world now." With that she lead us out of the castle, and on our way to the Water world. I hoped it would be more pleasent that the world we just left.

The Quest Races On...
Sinking Feeling
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

The quest to save my mother has taken a great toll on all of us. Now, while we saved her Mana Component, I lost my love. Isis had said we were heading to the Water World next. I hoped that would mean the quest was nearing an end. I didn't want to lose anyone else. As we headed to the exit, Rich stopped us and said, "Joel's not alone out there."

I looked in the direction of the exit and saw something we didn't want to see. KLar and St. Marius had confronted Joel. It was not a good sign. I watched as Joel threw something and smoke appeared. Suddenly he was in the Mana Net and running towards us. "The covers blown. That won't stop them for long."

I head Isis say, "Do you have a plan, Joel?" I had wondered the same as well.

Joel said, "Yes, I have a Door, directly to the Guardian base." He pulled out the device and openned the door. He just said, "Everyone, head through."

I watched as Isis, Rich, Li, and Lena went through. As Joel and I were about to head through, a magic blast hit right near my feet. I turned to see KLar and St. Marius facing us. KLar looked at me and said, "Give it up, JaNa, Mother will never get her body back. Our savior has it for keeps."

I looked at the two and shouted "NEVER!" It turned into a scream attack of such magnitude that it knock them all over. I ran in the door and Joel followed closing it.

As Joel closed the door I heard a familiar voice say, "THEY FOUND OUT." It was Radr. I turned to see that we were in the computer room deep within the guardian base.

I watched as Joel nodded and said, "If it weren't for JaNa's scream, they could have gotten here." I blushed when he said that. It was nothing more that what any of the others would have done.

Before I could say a word, Rich came over and said, "I think we better rest up. Tomorrow we venture into the Water World." At that, we were lead to our rooms. Ironically, I was in the same room I had a few days ago, when Max was still with us. The memories of what happened just shot though my mind and I cried myself to sleep.


I awoke with a scream that morning. I couldn't believe the dream I had had. I was falling, but I couldn't move. I just kept falling, and falling. I quickly got dressed and left the room. It was early and I was the first of the team awake. I went to the library and read up on the Water World. I learned it was home of Sei-Ryu, the Blue Dragon, the Fiend of Water. No one knew if it had a top, but at the bottom was the realm of the Water Elemental. It was said that in the Water World, people could breathe the water, and ice would sink. Ice would sometimes fall from above and enter the demon world, never to be seen again. I wondered about this when Radr said, "THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING, JANA."

I jumped in shock and said, "No, I'm trying to understand where we are going."

"YOU'LL HAVE ALOT TO PONDER. WHERE THE BLUE DRAGON LIVES IS A GIANT SEAWEED MAZE. HE IS DEAD CENTER OF IT, AND I BELIEVE THE ELBIOT IS WITH HIM." I knew that Radr was right. He was rarely wrong.

I asked a question that was on my mind. "Are we safe from sinking into the Elemental's domain."

There was a pause before Radr answered me. "IN THE MAZE, YES. IN THE CENTER, NO. NOW THE OTHERS ARE WAKING. YOU BETTER GET GOING. YOU HAVE A TREK BEFORE YOU." I nodded and left the library.

When I finally reached the group, I heard Li, Rich's wife, go, "Thank goodness. Did you sleep alright?" I nodded and she said, "Isis said we have to move quick. The Route will be looking for us now."

I looked at Isis and said, "Do you think St. Marius and KLar are getting scared?" I honestly hoped that they were terrified.

Isis looked at me and said, "I have no doubt that they will double their efforts to stop us. I just hope that they don't try to destroy the Elbiots. If they do that, we have no hope of saving your mother." I felt my blood run cold in that instant.

Rich then said, "We should go. We must move quickly to get to the entrance to the Water World. Hopefully, we shall be able to breathe in it like we did when Apollo held his world."

Isis said, "You had Magi at the time. I'll use my magic to allow us to breathe." I felt relieved and we made our way out of the Guardian Base. The real trick was going to be getting to the Water World. We knew that once we left the safety of the Guardian Base, we would be attacked by the Route. As we went to leave the Guardian Base, I noticed a fog begin to rise.

As I began to look for it's source, I heard Lena say, "I thought this might help us. The fog should allow us safe passage to the Water World." As we left throught the Pillar to the Celestrial world, I noticed that the whole celestrial world was shrouded in the same fog. At times, I heard us come within steps of the route, yet we got by them unthreatened.

After a thankfully quiet trek, we hit the mana path to the Water World. In no time, we were by the door to the submerged realm, and the fog in the distance had subsided. I heard Rich say, "That was a clever move, Lena. I hope you have some tricks to help us in the Waterworld.

I watched as Lena nervously said, "I don't know father, but I will try." Something was bothering her. I wondered if it is that gem she is forced to carry.

Isis then said, "Alright, everyone stay close. I'm going to cast a breathing spell on us, and then we will enter the Water world, able to breathe normal." This made me nervous. I didn't know how long the spell would last, and we might die before we saved my mother. I pushed the thought away from my mind as we entered the realm. I almost gasped in fright as the water was all around us. In the distance, I saw a greenish box. That had to be the seaweed maze.

Rich said, "Let's start swimming. We can't rest until we reach it." I realize what he meant. If we stop, we might drift down into the Demon world. I would rather avoid that fate. I struggled to swim, but my wings didn't help me much.

As Rich, Isis, Li continued, Lena looked back and said something. Soon, I felt like the water was pushing me. As I caught up to Lena, she said, "It's a spell called Willing Water." As it pushed me, we all were heading towards the seaweed maze. I couldn't wait. Soon, we would be able to save my mother's Water component.

When we reached the maze, Li just said, "We don't have long to rest. I wouldn't be surprised if the Elbiot is preparing for our arrival."

Rich just looked into the maze and gasp. "We can't rest. We have to hurry. Crystoid in the maze." I looked down to see a Crystoid rounding the corner. I realized the problem.

I moved fast to enter the maze. "We can't let it kill her." Soon I heard the other's following me. I concentrated on the threat to my mother's life. With every move the Crystoid made, I matched it. Every turn and twist, and soon we arrived at the center. As it approached the entrence to the center, it stopped. It was like it was looking for it's prey. I took that opportunity to strike. I charged it, knocking into the center of the maze. Before it could face me, I sent a sonic screen that knocked it out.

It wasn't until then that I heard Isis shout, "JaNa. Look out." I spun to face Sei-Ryu and the Elbiot coming toward me. I saw the dragon take a breath, and I expected to be roasted. I was shocked to be incased in a frozen prison.

I looked in fright as I felt it sinking. It was my nightmare coming true. I looked up as I saw the others facing the Elbiot as my Mother's Water Component just said, "Only a blow from above can save us." Then the fight began, as Sei-Ryu kept them all from helping me. I started to sob. I was going to be the victim of an Elemental.

The sinking seemed to pick up, as the water changed from blue to black. I was scared now. I was in the world of the Elemental. If I could have, I would have shook in fear. Soon, I felt the ice stop. I didn't want to look, but I was turned to face the Elemental. It was huge. I looked at me and just said, "I have been sent an angel in ice. I shall enjoy this." It started to strike at the ice with magic and force. I stared at the ice in amazement. It did not shatter. I thought I was safe from the Elemental. I hoped it would not break the ice. However, I hoped it would not drop me. I did not know what lurked under the demon plane. Would I sink eternally, or would something down there destroy me somehow.

I soon discover that I would find out. The Elemental had grown frustrated and dropped me. I started to sink again. I had seen the disgust in its eyes as it dropped me. It couldn't break the ice. I feared I would never get out of this ice, and that I would die in the ice. I watched as the ice began to pick up speed again. I was concerned. What if the ice wouldn't stop, or was I falling to an inescapable force. I heard tales of magic spells creating such a force. Some were thought as one-way portals to the realm of the Greats. I shuddered at that thought. I did not know how much time had passed. How far down would I go? I started to see the answer to my question. As I continued to fall, I saw the blackness of the water start to brighten. I thought I had reached some magical barrier. Maybe these portals looked like this? Then I noticed that the blackness gave way to blue. I managed to look below me. I couldn't believe it. I saw the seaweed maze. As I neared it, I could tell the battle was continuing, and that the Elbiot was not losing. I then remembered what my mother's water component said. As I continued to sink, I said, "Don't worry mother. I'll save you."

As I reentered the top of the maze, I heard Rich say, "What's that?"

It was then that Isis said, "I don't believe it. It's JaNa."

I looked down just as the Elboit looked up. It tried to back up, but the ice block landed right on top of it, preserving the head, and knocking out the Blue Dragon. Soon afterward, the ice broke. I looked at the head as my mother's water component spoke. "I see my gamble worked. I'm sorry I had to risk you like that. I was hoping to get the Crystoid. They have been persistant lately."

I looked at my mother's water component and said, "It's alright, mother." I attached the other unit I had with me and said, "You should rest now." Soon, her water component was back with the others we had collected. I then turned and faced the others and said "It was a long trip."

Li looked at me and said, "What happened that you fell from above?"

Lena just said, "I don't believe it."

I simply replied, "I found out if you keep falling down, you end up above where you are." It was odd, but true.

Rich just looked at me and said, "JaNa, when this is over, you will have the distinction of being the first person ever to have done that." I chucked and he then said, "Now about our Crystoid prisoner over there." I turned to see the Crystiod had just started to move.

I was about to attack when Isis stoped me. "Our next stop is the realm of the mind, and the Crystiod inhabit that floating metal mass. We might need him to get us up there and to the Elbiot." I didn't trust the thing, but Isis was right.

We all floated over the the Crystoid and Rich said, "Alright, Crystoid, who are you?" It turned and looked at us. I then heard Isis gasp.

The Crystoid just said, "I am Sharm. I was an Ancient like Isis. In fact, before my bondage to the Crystoids, I was the one who apposed her father. I came seeking you, to help us with our Elbiot problem." Right then, I didn't know what to think about the Crystoids.

To be continued....


Lena Of 7
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

I, as well as my family, JaNa, and Isis, could not believe that a Crystoid was asking us for help. During this quest to save JaNa's mother, and defeat the Route and St. Marius, we had learned of the existance of the Crystoids, and that they abducted people. My father just looked at the Crystoid and said, "Why should we help you?"

The Crystoid, who said he had been Sharm, said, "It is true that we have been at odds for countless years, but if we do not ban together now, we may end up in disaster. There has been a split in the Crystoids."

I noticed that Isis looked at the Crystoid very skepticly, and said, "What kind of split, Shram, and how did you become a Crystoid. You should have been executed."

The Crystoid just bowwed it's head and said, "I wish I had been, for I failed my mistress, Shub..."

I watched as my mother quickly kicked the Crystoid. "Don't you dare speak that name. I do not wish to join that evil creature." I understood what my mother meant. I feared that I was condemned to that fate, since only I could carry the ‘Eye’.

The Crystoid then continued. "My apologize. I forget that some do not see her the same as I do. You see, after my defeat at the hands of Isis' father, my mistress felt that I must be punished for my failure. Thus, I was sentenced to serve with my other fallen bretherin in the service of my new queen, Mistress Prime, the queen of the Crystoids."

I watched as JaNa just said, "But how do we know to trust you? You have tried to kill the Elbiots and in turn, my mother."

The Crystiod just looked at her and said, "As of recent times, the whole group has been split. One of the more impetuous ones, Sabaranub, decided that we must destroy the Elbiots, but Mistress Prime said that we must not, that to destroy them would be to destroy ourselves. Now there is chaos amongs ourselves. I was sent amongst our group to find you, and bring you to our home, so that you may save us, and your world from the threat of the Crystoids."

I noticed that Isis was about to object when my father said, "Do we have your word that this is not a trick."

The Crystoid looked up and said, "If I were here to capture you, I would have done so. If you fear you cannot trust me, if any of you is absorbed into those who wish to kill the Elbiots, you may remove the Crystal that gives me life." For some reason, I felt we could believe him.

My father gathered us all around and said, "I don't truely trust him, but I have no idea how we will continue. This might be what we need to save Vet's Mind Component.

My mother then said, "I agree, but we must be careful. Just because he says he won't hurt us doesn't mean that he hasn't got an ulterior motive.

Isis then said, "Unfortunately, it is the only way. I just wish that the only ally we would get in this part of our quest was a man that had not vowwed to kill my father.

My father then turned to the Elbiot and said, "Alright Sharm, we will go with you, but you must act as our guardian. You cannot let any of us be absorbed into your kind." When he nodded, my father then said, "Now, take us to your world so we can rescue our friend.

I watched as a metal plate opened on his arm and he said, "We shall arrive very soon." I watched as the Water World disappeared from sight, only to be replaced with the starscape of the Celestrial World, and mass of metal infront of us. Almost far below us, I saw the Celestrial Temple, and it had gotten much darker. Sharm then said, "We are at the entrence. The Elbiot has set up many traps along the way, so I advise caution." When he opened the door, we entered a mass of metal and crystals, intertwined with each other. I feared this place, because I felt like I was being watched more than the others.

After a few turns, and near traps, I head JaNa say, "This place is like a maze." There seemed to be a mumble of agreement through out the whole group.

Sharm just nodded and said, "The Elbiot over the years has taken our order and replaced it with chaos. Amongst all the walls was were we rested, and gathered our energy, awaiting the Portal." The way the Elbiot said portal put worry in me.

It was my mother who asked the question I didn't want to ask, "What is the Portal?"

Sharm then said, "Portal is the one who will come to us bearing the 7 powers. When the power of Shoac flows through them, and the signs of 4 are active, our mistress will breach the gate." I almost shuddered in fear. I felt as if he was talking about me, and I couldn't shake that feeling.

I started to ask the question that bothered me. "What are the ....." I trailed off as the floor fell from beneath me and I slid down a trap. I had become obsessed with the story that I stepped into a trap. As I slid down the path, I started to panic. I heard the voices of my friends and family far above. I was afraid I was going to slide out to my death. Soon enough, I slid into a room. I looked around to see 15 Crystoids, who were all advancing on me. They had to be of the other part of the Crystoids, the ones who wanted the Elbiot dead. I quickly cast a spell of protection, but the Crystoids cast a powerful Anti-Magic spell. I tried to get away, but one grabbed me and I saw nothing.

******************

I came through when my senses assulted me with sensation. It was as if they were hightened. I heard movement around me. I opened my eyes to a frightful sight. There were a few Crystoids were around me. I then noticed that I was strapped to a table. I looked down at my body, only to discovered that I was now a mix of robotic parts and human body. My arms were laced with robotics, as well as my legs. Around the middle of my body, I felt robotics working inside of me, as if they were under the armor that covered my chest, at least it almost covered my chest. There looked like there were four slots that were waiting for something on the 'armor'. Then I saw the thing that scared me most. A crystal was dead center on my chest. I feared that I was absorbed into their group. Then one of the Crystoids shouted, "It's the others of her group, as well as the one with the others."

Another Crystoid shouted, "No, it's too soon. Sabaranub wanted the Crystal in her for the absorbtion." Hope flew through me as I realize that the crystal that made a cyborg a Crystoid wasn't in me, but what was in me. I then realized what the gem was that I was looking at was the ‘Eye’. The Crystoid had implanted the ‘Eye’ into me. This worried me more than being a Crystoid. How could they do this, unless.. the Crystal they used came from the same source.

My thoughts on that were cut short when my parents, Isis, JaNa and the Crystoid, Sharm, arrived to my rescue. The Crystoids beat a hasty retreat, as my mother ran to my side, almost terrified. "My daughter, what have they done to you?"

Before I could respond, the Crystoid just said, "No crystal, they only got finished making her a cyborg."

My father almost shouted at him. "You must be blind. What do you call that?" He pointed straight at the 'Eye' now part of my body.

I then heard Isis gasp, and she grabbed a cloth and through it over me. "That's the 'Eye'. They must have grafted it into her."

I started to respond to her statement. "That's what they..." I stopped speaking as the cloth hit me. My senses assulted me with many sensations. They were too many to name.

The Crystoid yanked the cloth of me and said, "The mechanics that they placed in her have heightened all her senses. Only the cloths the Crystoids wear will not send her into a sensory overload. There should be one over there." He pointed in the direction that JaNa was standing.

JaNa looked behind her as my folks helped get me free of the table. I noticed that she found a sheer looking fabric. She looked at it, almost puzzled, and said, "Are you sure about that?"

He nodded as she handed it to him. "This fabric may not seem sturdy, but it is the only thing that she will be able to wear until she can adjust to the change. Most Crystoids were it for many years." This didn't fill me with hope of reversal of this process as he drapped the fabric around me.

When I looked at my new outfit, I could help but feel it had a lot of short-comings. I just said, "This fabric doesn't make me feel safe. It makes me feel like a harem girl."

Isis just said, "We'll try and manage to find something stronger, but for now, we must find Vet's Mind Component. I wish we could find a way to get to the Elbiot."

The Crystoid looked at my arm and said, "Lena, am I correct?" When I nodded, he continued by saying, "One of the devices on your arms will track the Elbiot, since it was installed by the ones who want to destroy the Elbiot." I tapped the device on my arm, and I saw a screen with a dot on it. It had to be the Elbiot.

I started to run in the direction of the dot. I looked behind me only to see I had was leading the pack. In almost no time, I was almost out of their sight. I realized that what was a run, was an unatainable speed to the others. I started to slow down, but I continued moving until I hit the wall. It was a very painful crash. All I could mutter was, "This is going to hurt until I get use to this."

Soon the others were upon me, and pulled me out of the wall I had crashed into. My father just said, "I think you better let us help you for a bit, Lena." I nodded and my father just said, "Now, point us the right way."

As I directed us closer to the Elbiot, Sharm walked over to me and helped me move along. As we continued on, he just said, "I'm sorry that this happen to you, but it may be a blessing for you. You don't get all the benefits of being a Crystoid, but you can take care of yourself, once you learn how to use you new body."

I looked at the Crystiod and said, "Once this quest is over, I will have my old body back." At least I hoped that would be the case.

I got scared as the Crystoid just said, "You can't remove it. You see, your body won't be able to resist not having the extras. Already it's adjusting. You have to admit that the extra senses are a perk." Oddly enough, he was making sense. It sounded logical. Then I realize that I was starting to sway from the right path. I shook myself to my senses.

I brought myself back to reality just in time to face the Elbiot. It sat on a throne, and watched as we entered. It looked down on us and said, "I shall not let your illogical actions ruin the plan of St. Marius." Then I saw it's face morph into that of Vet's face. The face of my father's friend just muttered, "Use what it holds dear against it."

I realized what it meant. I watched as the Elbiot pushed a button on their throne, and shackles started to attach to everyone. Reflex made me jump, and the new mechanics in me moved me out of the way. It looked at me in anger and I knew what I had to do. With all the rest captured, I just said, "Elbiot, I have a question for you, a question of logic."

The Elbiot didn't try and capture me, as I challenged it with something it held dear. It looked at me and said, "Alright, if I fail to answer it, you win, else you and your friends will be killed."

I didn't like the sound of that, but I had no choice. I then asked the question. "A king had an advisor from another land who was very wise and never failed him. The king did not want to lose the advisor, so he posed the advisor with a challenge. The king asked to see something he had never seen, and the king had seen everything. The advisor left and took no time in finding something. He handed the king a piece of paper with three words on it. He was set free."

The Elbiot looked at me and said, "What were the words?" I had grabbed it's intrest, and hoped that the answer would do what I wanted it to.

"The words were, 'I have failed.' Now how could his failure be his victory." I watched as the Elbiot started to think about it.

So the Elbiot started muttering, "It failed but succeeded, it can't have both. It can't have both. Failure is the absence of success." Soon, the Elbiot shut itself down, and we were all free. I used it's own logic against it. JaNa ran over to it's side and started to obtain Vet's mind component.

Everyone ran over to me, and Isis said, "That was good thinking, Lena, by posing that riddle, but how did you know it would work."

I smiled and said, "I figured it's logic couldn't accept both success and failure. Now how are we going to get out of here."

JaNa then asked a better question. "Also, how are we going to survive the Fire World. That is our next stop, so we can get my mother's last component."

I noticed that Sharm was looking at me as it said, "Crystoids have force shield generators to withstand the heat of most fires. We have ventured into the Fire World many times. All we need to do is extend my shield, and the one that is in Lena. I can transport us to the door to the world."

My father looked at the Crystoid and said, "Then transport us. You have as my word that when this ordeal is over, that if you continue to help us until St. Marius' defeat I shall let you return to your group, after that, we will be enemies again." The Crystoid nodded and soon transported us to the door to the Fire World. Soon enough, he was altering something on my arm, obviously altering the shield generator on my arm.

To be continued.


Phoenix
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people.
Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

I watched as the Crystoid fiddled with something on my daughter, Lena’s, arm. During our quest in the world of the Crystoids, she was almost transformed into one, and worse yet, the evil gem that fate had cursed her to carry had been grafted into her. When we discovered what had happened to Lena, the crystoid said that reversing the process was impossible. I walked over to Isis and said, “My Goddess, what will happen to my daughter now? Is it possible to reverse this disaster.”

Isis looked at me and shook her head. “I’m afraid that might not be wise. She is already starting to adapt to the changes. Taking them away would hurt her more than leaving them in her. Also, I don’t know how the Crystoids placed the ‘Eye’ into her, but if we try to remove the gem, well, you do remember what happened back at the Guardian base.” I felt a shiver run through my spine. What had happened to that poor man, I would not have wished on my own worse enemies.

My wife, Li, walked over to us and said, “I think we weren’t meant to have children. Look what has happened so far. Our son is lost, maybe dead, and our daughter isn’t human anymore.” She started to sob, and I held her.

I just softly said, “She is still our daughter, and I feel that Max is still alive.” I wasn’t certain, but I felt it was true. I just felt as if I had seen him before, but I couldn’t place where. I then looked over at JaNa. My son had meant alot to her. He had saved her life, and also completed her spirit. They were two children in love.

My thoughts were cut short as the Crystoid know as Sharm said, “I think we are ready to enter.” He then said, “But, I must inform you of some things. The protection spheres will protect up to 3 extra people, which means that all of us will have to split into groups, some with me, some with Lena.” I understood what he ment. The only way to make this trip was a two seperate groups.

I heard JaNa then ask, “Then, how will we get my mother’s fire component, if we are confined to these shields.” This raised a valid point.

Sharm just said, “I’m thinking on that. Maybe we will have to subdue Su-Zaku and the Elbiot. Since Fire is represented by hunger, maybe we might be able to starve them into a weak position.” There was an air of logic in the answer.

I then said, “I think it would be best if JaNa and I went with Sharm, and Isis and Li went with Lena.” Everyone nodded in agreement. I had my reasons, for I didn’t want Lena not to be with one of us, but I still did not truely trust Sharm. I put those thoughts aside when Sharm opened the door and we entered the Fire World. Even through the protective spheres, I could feel the intense heat.

As we continued into the world, I heard Sharm say, “Stay on the rocks, the Lava will liquify you in seconds.” I could see what he meant. As we continued along the path I could tell that the path we were on was mainly solid lava. I could even hear it flowing underneath my feet. I also saw various paths, and above use seemed to be a rock sky, but at points, I saw lava flow down to merge with the lava around us. I could even seen whirlpools where lava obviously flowwed down into the Fire Elemental’s world.

As we continued down the paths, trying to find the correct path that could take us to the fiend and the Elbiot, I heard JaNa ask Sharm, “How are we going to get my mother’s Fire component?”

I noticed that the Crystoid looked at her and thought for a moment. “I had been wondering if I could upload her Fire component into the others through my mechanics. It might be the safest bet.”

As he said that, my own suspicions kicked up again. “Are you sure it would be her Fire Component?”

He looked at me and said, “I understand your distrust, but believe me, the component of a person cannot be duplicated. It is part of who they are, and no cloning can duplicate that. It was proven long before the Ancients appeared.” I was taken back by what he said. Since I can remember, Isis was an Ancient.

As we continued down the path, I looked at Sharm and said, “What do you mean before the Ancient’s appeared?” I also noticed that Isis looked in my direction, and had a look of fear on her face. This was something that scared her.

Sharm then said, “It is said that somewhere beyond the docks of Edo is an island which contains the burial site of the last true Ancient, or as they had been called, Cetra. It is also said that kept in that burial site is the secret of their powers.”

I looked over at Isis and just said, “Is there any truth to this?”

I watched as she nodded and said, “Yes. The guardians know about this, and have been trying to prevent people from finding the tomb. No one should hold that much power, not even the Ancients.”

Then my daughter said, “But how did they know about this? And what about the stories of Shoac and Redor?”

Isis looked at us all and said, “The true threat was otherworldly. Not even one the Great’s or Elder’s knew about. When the Ancient’s stopped this man, they believed balance had return, but felt they needed to reorder the world to prevent this horror from happening again.”

I heard Sharm then said, “In the years after the reorder, the tomb was built at what remained of the old world. Many generations passed until all the power of the old world had been reassembled and placed in the tomb. Afterwords, the exact location of the tomb was never mentioned again. More generations passed, and any benefical nature of the powers in that tomb was lost, along with it’s location. Only two of those powers were left undiscovered, hopefully lost forever.” I realized that even the Crystoid was afraid of the power that was contain in those mysterious items.

Our talk was cut short when my wife shouted, “Look there.” As we looked to where she pointed, we saw the Red Bird Fiend, Su-Zaku flying straight towards us. On it was the Elboit. With every one of these worlds that we entered, the Elbiots had teamed with one of the Fiends. Now we had to defeat the Red Bird as well. We pulled out long range weapons and fired.

We watched in horror as something shimmered around Su-Zaku. It looked at us and said, “You failed to take my shield into account.”

Then the Elbiot looked at us and said, “Prepare to be insinerated. St. Marius’ rule is now and forever.” I watched in horror as the bird slowly moved in towards us. Then I noticed that the face on the Elbiot changed. It was Vet’s face, and it said, “Use its shield against it. Starve it to free me.”

As it switched back, I looked at our group and said, “What does that mean?”

It was Sharm who looked at us all and said, “Fire needs fuel, and oxygen to burn.” Sharm then looked over at Lena and shouted, “Lena, push the following buttons and aim for Su-Zaku.” I watched as Lena pushed a series of buttons as Sharm called them.

With the last button, I saw a hose like object shoot from my daughter’s arm, straight for Su-Zaku. It connected with the shield and I heard a hiss. I realized what was happening. “Keep it up, Lena.” I turned to Sharm and said, “But what if she kills them?”

JaNa was reaching into her bag and pulled out the Elbiot head with the rest of Vet’s components in it and said, “It won’t. I think that Su-Zaku will drop the shield, and that’s when Sharm will get the component. Am I right?”

Sharm nodded and said, “Correct, but we need to get out of here once I have it.”

I heard my wife say, “I have a door, but it leads to the Guardian Base.” I realized what this would mean.

I looked at her and nodded. “We don’t have much choice, have it ready.” As I finished speaking, Lena’s group started to move towards us. I watched as the flames on the Red Bird started to dim.

Soon, I saw the shield flicker again, and I heard a shoot. I watched as a cable shot from Sharm, straight to the Elbiot. When it connected, he said, “Got it, now to save her.” I watched and in almost no time, the Elbiot head that JaNa had set up connected to Sharm for this task fell off and an almost complete Vet appeared to be standing.

She looked around at us and said, “I’m almost whole. Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Mind, Mana, and Spirit, all together.”

JaNa picked up the head and said, “Not for long. Let’s get out of here.” I saw what she meant. Su-Zaku was furious and stared to head straight for us.

Li had the door set and ready. “Everyone, into the door!” I waited as everyone ran through. I made sure to be last, to close the door. As it closed, it disappeared in a puff of fire. We were in the Guardian base, but with several guns aimed at us.

I then heard Radr say, “RICH, DID THE CRYSTOID CAPTURE YOU, OR DID YOU CAPTURE IT?”

I looked at my old friend and said, “Neither. He is helping us, and when we save Vet, we have agreed to let him go free. In fact, if it wasn’t for him, we would not have obtained all of Vet’s components.”

I watched as my friend was processing the info. Then he said, “EVERYONE, ARMS DOWN. AT THIS TIME, WE HAVE TO BE ON THE SAME SIDE. WHEN THIS IS OVER, HOWEVER, THINGS WILL RETURN TO THE WAY THEY WERE.” I watched as everyone stepped down and left. Radr then said, “MY FRIENDS, YOU SHOULD REST UP. TOMORROW WILL BE THE DAY THE ‘ROUTE’ WILL FALL.” I watched as everyone of my friends left and headed to the resting area.

I stayed behind and said, “Radr, do we have to put Vet on trial. Hasn’t she been through enough?”

I watched as the computer that was once a robot pause for a second, and said, “I WISH IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE THAT, BUT PEOPLE FEEL SHE MUST PAY.”

I turned and headed for the door and said, “I don’t feel it’s wise. JaNa will suffer more with this.” I left the room, not waiting for a responce. As I walked through the halls, I entered the library of the base. What I had learned from Sharm and Isis had bothered me. I went to the search device in the room and typed in the word, “Cetra”. I came across an old tome, part of the Ancients’ text. I looked at the title. “Aeris. The story of the last ‘Ancient.’” I started to read it. It was almost midnight when I realized that I needed to rest. I closed the book and went to the room my wife and I had shared. I climbed into bed, without even waking her, but I still felt an uneasy feeling. What if this power from long ago could still exist? I couldn’t stop thinging about the horror that could come if someone could use that power.

Continued....


Restoration
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people. Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance. Special Thanks to Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
=====================================================

I was overjoied that my mother was almost back with me. We had spent the whole night talking about what has happened in my life. As I sat on the bed, the new form of my mother's components sat next to me, as she used to do when I was younger. As we sat there talking, my mother just looked at me and said, "There is something different about you." I didn't understand what my mother meant, but sometimes a mother knows things that even we as children don't know. She looked at me and then said, "You seem more like a woman."

I then realized that she must have sensed that I had had a man in my life. I felt myself blush as I said, "I didn't know if we were going to survive in rescuing you. I had been quite close to Max, but he's gone."

As I felt a hand on my shoulder, and knew it was my mother's. I looked at her and she said, "I know, but you don't have to fret. He's still alive." I was excited when I heard that. The man who meant so much to me was still alive, but where, and when.

I looked at my mother, perplexed and said, "How do you know?"

She smiled and said, "I can't tell you that right now. I don't feel the time is right." Why would my mother keep me from knowing about my true love, especially with all I've gone through.

I was about to ask her why she couldn't tell me when I heard Radr say, "ATTENTION ALL GUARDIANS. TODAY IS THE DAY WHERE THE ROUTE WILL FALL. REPORT TO THE WAR ROOM FOR THE PLANS FOR THE ASSAULT." I watched as my mother's spirit returned to the Elbiot head. I carried it out of the room toward the war room. As I headed there, I saw Lena aside of me. My friend had been turned almost into a Crystoid, and we now had a Crystoid helping us.

As we headed to the War Room, Lena said to me, "JaNa, I'm worried. What will we do when we reach St. Marius, and your brother?"

I looked at my friend through the quest and said, "I'm sure we will find a way to end this. St. Marius will be gone, and my brother will be stopped." I wasn't sure how it would be done, but I felt it would be done.

When we finally arrived to the War Room, I had seen that Rich and the Crystoid had been there for a while. I also saw Li waiting in the room as well. As I entered the door with Lena, I heard Rich say, "Glad you made it. We have found a way to dismiss St. Marius' spirit from your mother's body."

I felt more happiness in me than I had last night. I look over to Lena's father and said, "What's the plan? How will it work?"

I was startled when Radr told me. "I HAVE TO ADMIT, I AM SURPRISED THAT A CRYSTOID CAME UP WITH SUCH A PLAN. IT SEEMS TO BE ALMOST FLAWLESS." The word almost made me worry abit.

I then heard Sharm, the Crystoid, say, "When we reach the inner sanctum, this little weapon," and a strange weapon came out of his arm as he continued to say, "will fire a wire at your mother's body, and like a vacuum sucks particles out of a container, it will extract St. Marius' spirit out of your mother's body. Once out, your mother's components will have 30 seconds to rejoin her body or else the body will die." I didn't like the sound of that.

I heard another voice speak. "So what will happen to St. Marius' spirit." I looked to see that Meg was standing there, a displeased look in her eyes. There was something I just didn't trust, like she was trying to hide something, but I was made aware of her hatred for the Crystoids.

Rich then said, "Sharm says that St. Marius' spirit will be obliterated. It is the best thing we can hope for." I saw her frown. I think she wanted St. Marius to pay for these years of agony on so many people.

I heard another voice say in a calm tone, "I know that today, St. Marius' reign will end, and justice will be served." I turned to see Joel sitting in a corner. He seemed to be confident of the outcome, but I then remembered that Joel was a bit of a prophet.

Our chat was cut short when Radr said, "ALRIGHT EVERYONE. WE HAVE TO START THE ATTACK SOON. IF WE WAIT ANY LONGER, WE WILL LOSE. MEG AND JOEL, I WANT YOU TWO TO MAKE SURE THAT ISIS AND HER CHOSEN FIGHTERS GET INSIDE TEMPLE. ONCE INSIDE, MAKE SURE THEY GET TO ST. MARIUS' THRONE ROOM. EVERYONE ELSE, FIGHT OFF THE ROUTE AND KEEP THEM FROM SAVING THE MASTER." As Radr finished issuing his command, we all were off."


The battle had waged for almost a few hours. Both sides had casualties, but the main figures of the Route still hid in the safety of the desecrated temple. It took time, but the Guardians managed to break through the lines of the Route. We were storming the temple. Over the 5 years of our quest, the interior had changed, but we knew where to head. Standing on a platfrom high above us was St. Marius. I watched as the evil figure looked down at us and laughed. "I never thought you'd manage to get that far in recovering everything. It's a shame it will end here." Soon, St. Marius was blasting us with force bolts that I had not seen before.

I then heard my brother, KLar, shout, "Oy, Vey, get out here and slaughter my sister and her friends." Soon, the battle took a new turn as the demons took to the sky.

I watched as they started to dive bomb us, but Lena changed her arm into a machine gun and shot the demons out of the sky. As they hit the ground, Lena just said, "You're next, St. Marius."

I watched as KLar took to the air on his black wings. I flew up to attack him. I could not let him and St. Marius stop us. I reached him first and punched him hard in the gut. "That's for Dad."

As KLar went spinning through the air, I noticed a person run out of the shadows and over to St. Marius. I heard him say, "Maybe it's time to use that gift I brought you." I noticed that the man seemed to wear a black outfit, and had whitish hair.

I didn't like the smile that crossed St. Marius' face as he said, "What a good idea." I then saw him hold up a red marble. He then said, "Thirteen is an unlucky number, for those that are good."

I heard Isis gasp and shout, "Stop him before he can summon them." The marble scared her. It was then I saw the wire shoot from Sharm's arm. I quickly flew down and attached the Elbiot head to his arm.

After I had it attached, Sharm said, "It's over, St Marius." St. Marius looked stunned when the wire hit him. I also notice that the marble fell out of his hands, but the man who told St. Marius to use it had grabbed it and ran off.

As if distracted by the man running off, my brother turned to the man and shouted, "You coward. We can still defeat them." I watched as my brother turned and flew straight at the wire. He was going to try and sever it.

In one well timed attack, Li, Rich's wife jumped up in the air, delivering a spin kick that sent KLar flying into the wall. "You're not stopping this KLar. St. Marius has lost." I watched as the wire began to return to Sharm. The process was done, but the figure of my mother still looked a little groggy.

As KLar managed to right himself, he said, "Master, are you alright?" I was worried if the process had failed. I took to the air to stop my brother in case he tried to attack mother if it succeeded.

I found out soon enough as my mother finally spoke. "I am now, son." He was in shock, and I was in joy. St. Marius was gone.

KLar yelled in anger, "NOOOOO. You're suppose to be dead, non existant. I'll fix that." He went to attack my mother, but I stopped him with a sonic scream. He spun around and said, "Better yet, I kill you first and then all the rest. The Route will last forever." I didn't have time to counter, but he never had the chance to attack. I saw a wire hit him and realized that Sharm was doing the same thing to KLar that he did to St. Marius. I was almost afraid of a double cross.

As it finished, KLar's body fell to the floor, lifeless. I heard Sharm said, "No, the route is done. Now, I shall go. The evil's are gone, and I must return to my people." With that, the Crystoid disappeared.

I heard Rich say, "At least that horror is over." I could agree with him on that, but I was more preoccuppied with rejoining my mother. She was finally whole again. I flew to her side and hugged her.

She returned the hug and said, "I've missed you for so long. I'm glad that that is over." I glanced around to see light returning to the temple. It was Isis' power. She was making everything right again.

I faced my mother and said, "I am so glad. I must tell you everything, and then we can find Max, wherever he is."

I turned to face Rich, Li, Joel, Meg and the others come up to us. I could tell in his eyes that he was uneasy about something. He just said, "The rejoicing might have to wait, JaNa."

I didn't like the sound of that. I looked at him, a little bit shaken up and said, "What do you mean?"

I watched in horror as Meg put chains on my mother and said, "Vet, you are held responsable for the actions of St. Marius. You will be tried and sentence in accordance." I couldn't believe what I heard.

I just shouted, "NOOO. Don't do this to her. She's been through enough." It was like I wasn't speaking. I started sobbing and almost collapsed to the ground.

I felt Rich, Li and Lena at my side. I couldn't believe he had allowed this, but he said, "Believe me, JaNa, I don't like this either. We'll find a way to stop this misjustice. It will take some time." I looked at him and saw that he didn't like what was happening. I just hoped that it wouldn't be another 5 years until my mother was free again.

I looked up and said, "What will I do now?"

Li took my hand and said, "You are part of our family. You can stay with us until we get your mother free." I didn't want to be a burden on them, especially now that the quest was over and Lena has now a Cyborg, but something seemed distant in Lena. She didn't seem herself. She seemed to remind me, for some reason, of the man who ran off, and why was Isis so scared of that marble. But now wasn't the time to look into that. Now was the time to save my mother, again.

Finish??

The Return of Sephiroth