The Sorceress War Part I, Chapter XVI
AN: The character names?
I made them up mostly. Hmm, let's see now.. well, Raine, Julia, and Edea
were obviously Square's so no altering there. When the story is over, I'm
adding an author's comments chapter to explain a lot of things, so look there for
more details than this.
-Celeste: She had a lot of different names in the first draft
including: Michelle or Heather, but I picked Celeste. Why? I
thought about the stars and stuff like that. Also, it's kind of like Celes, who
Celeste is meant to look and act like a bit.
-Zion: General Caraway. He was pretty much stuck with Zion
either way I went. It had different spellings like 'Zeon' or something
similar. It means Heaven.
-Epsilon: Had the most name variations out of anyone. I
debated between Jason and Seth for awhile, but figured I needed to be more
original. Besides, there's a Seth is in The Fifth Sorceress War novel,
anyways.
-Andraia: Used to be Andrea, but I thought this way sounded
cooler. It was Andraia first after ::ashamed look:: a character off of
'Reboot' It sounded pretty. Her maiden name is Navradski. A girl at
my school has that last name.
-Lilliana: I think I always just saw her as that, and left it.
Frieda, her maiden name, just came out of no where. For a time, she wasn't
even part of the story during the first drafts.
-Lancer: He was always just Lancer. Picked because of his
weapon. Also a character name from Robotech: The Sentinels, but that's
not why I chose it.
-Corin: It was either that or Corvus. I just always thought
the name fitted him well. I don't know why.
Raine couldn't open her
eyes at first, but instantly felt herself bonded with her hands tied behind her
back. Her feet were loose, but she was afraid she would have hard time
getting up due to the powerful headache she had from the rifle wounds.
She was lying face down, as her forehead was pressed against cool
steel. She felt as if she had some sort of a hangover, because of
the pains in her head and eyes. Slowly opening her eyes, despite the pain
of her head, she looked around.
The first thing she saw
was Celeste, only about two meters away from her. She was bound in the
same fashion as Raine was, but the whip user was still unconscious.
Lancer seemed to be behind her, but his icy gaze met hers. He was looking
around in wonder, as he had just woken up as well. How those two had got
here, Raine had no clue. To her other side lay Epsilon, who also was
unconscious. There was a large red gash on the top of his forehead as well.
Hopefully, it wouldn't leave a scar.
All of them seemed to
be in a large dark room, devoid of any other life. Windows were in the
farthest wall, in front of a large throne like chair. The windows were
beautiful, or at least in Raine's opinion. They were stained glass, and
each depicted a sort of battle scene or hero. She could identify a few
legendary figures from the Centran Wars, but the rest were unknown. Many
included figures of humans with angel-like wings. She would have liked to
see them in the daylight, with the sun streaming through them, but it was still
night.
She groaned as she
tried to sit upright, as did Lancer. She was afraid to move her head due
to it's pain. She felt as if she was going to die or her head would burst
apart if she did so. After much struggling, she and the mage were able to
get upright, and take a more thorough look around. Large twin oak
doors were behind them, but they were bolted shut. There appeared to be
no way out.
Raine, despite the
bonds, was able to reach down to her spare comm. link and pushed the distress
button. That would signal that the four of them were in trouble, and tell
Edea to move in and rescue them. Hopefully the sorceress had kept the
link with her, and was already assembling the team together. She hastily
looked for their weapons, but found none. They had already been seized
and taken from them.
"Are you looking
for this, perchance?" Came a stern male voice from the throne.
There sat a red headed man, though the seat had been vacant only moments
before. In his hands rested Raine's katana. The rest of the weapons
now hung against the wall behind the throne, high up and nearly out of
reach.
He was dressed in black
leather armor, though across his shoulders and down his back was a red
cape. A large sword of unique design hung at his waist, the same on he
had used in Esthar long before. The hilt was green and a small but
efficient hand guard curved from the top of the hilt to the bottom of the grip.
It was shaped oddly yet gracefully, for several elegant long curves were in
it. It finished off at a point, and every so often there was a large
tooth at the top of each curve. He stood up and glared down at Raine with
his yellow eyes.
"Virados..." Raine stated dryly. She fought with most of
her strength to talk and keep her knees from buckling all together.
He nodded and smiled
elegantly. Bowing gracefully, his red hair falling in front of him as he
did so, he spoke in some foreign tongue. As he did so, a faint glow
surrounded Epsilon and Celeste. The two fallen soldiers slowly woke and
glanced around nervously. They suddenly levitated up and landed on their
feet. He flashed them a toothy grin and spoke again.
"Well, so nice of
the two of you to wake up. Welcome to my chambers." He
began. "I am Virados Nomair. I suppose you have orders to kill
me, correct? No matter, you couldn't do so if you had the chance."
"Hmm, you seem
confidant." Epsilon commented, smirking at the man before the group.
"Not confidant,
only logical. It is a fact. I am at a much higher level than you
people." He replied hotly, sending a glare in Epsilon's
direction. Virados slowly descended down the steps that led to the
throne, approaching them even further.
"Well,
well..." Virados began to say, looking at each one of them.
"... Galbadia decided to make the first move against us after all. I
knew that the barbarians couldn't hold themselves back long. They don't
know what they're in for."
"Barbarians?!"
Celeste demanded angrily. "We're not the barbarians! Your
country allied with Esthar, you knew what you were getting into by doing
so! Beside, Helios is more violent than any other country. You
claim us to be the barbarians?!"
Virados chuckled a bit
at that comment. "Helios was only trading partners with Esthar...
until now."
"That's a
lie!" Raine interrupted, "I overheard Adel state how you were
going to ally with them in the war! Don't deny it you bastard!"
"True, true.
But can anyone actually prove that? No, I don't think so. We swear
our neutrality to the Western Empires. However, now that Galbadia has
decided to send in a military unit, especially one to kill me, I
fell there is a need to... oh, stop the problem before Helios sees the worst
end of it." Virados replied, standing dangerously close to Raine.
After hearing no
arguments, he continued. "Any military involvement in our country is
considered aggression. Any aggression against us, is more or less
war. Therefore, since Galbadia decided to assault us," He paused to
laugh, "we have no choice but to counter. I have just declared a
state of war against the Western Empires."
"What?!" Lancer
couldn't help but outburst. So now it's inevitable. I felt early
on that Helios would somehow meddle into this war and cause nothing but
destruction for Galbadia and her allies.
"That is all you
three need to know." Virados said, looking at everyone aside from
Raine. "Guards! Escort these three people to the jail
cells. You can leave Miss Leonhart to me, however. I have something
left to discuss with her, and her alone."
The two guards who had stood
outside of the doors opened them, and entered the room. Grabbing Celeste
and Lancer by the hair, they dragged them off to another part of the
base. A third came in for Epsilon, who received a swift kick in the
stomach. The third took him away as well. The sniper casted a
helpless look back at Raine before the doors shut again. When Raine
turned back around, it was just her and Virados.
There was a moment of
silence between the two of them after that. They stared each other down,
evaluating the other's strength and power. To break the awkward silence,
Raine decided to let sarcastic remark drop. "Aren't you a little
young to be shooting for world domination? What are you --
twenty-three? twenty-four?"
"Twenty-six.
Remember, I was thirteen during the destruction of Caran?" Virados
replied, stepping back in front of her, hand on the hilt of his sword.
Raine's eyes darkened
at that comment. "Which, by the way, I haven't forgotten.
Despite how young I was when it happened. You're just lucky I've been
bonded, or else you would be keeled over on the floor with pain right
now."
He laughed at
her. "Yes, I'm sure. What a funny twist of fate.
You are ordered to kill the Shaduna, and yet she comes to you instead.
You'd be dead now if you were still my primary target. However, I have a
new objective this time."
"So I am the
Shaduna. You mind elaborating a bit on that fact, I'm still a little
fuzzy on the subject."
"You still don't
know what you are?" He said, looking at her in astonishment.
He scoffed and continued. "Well, I guess I won't have to worry about
growing powers or anything. You do seem a bit green, despite what you did
to one of my Orcs back there."
"Can I ask just
one thing?" Raine interrupted. "Why-- exactly-- did you
destroy Caran. All those innocent people died because of you! Do
have any idea what it's like to see you're family killed in front of
you?! Or to go through so much hell afterwards?!"
He looked into her eyes
and smiled. "Oh, sorry, did I hurt you by doing that? The
reason I destroyed the city in the first place is because they didn't tell me
where you were, my dear Raine. How does it feel to know that you
are the reason that your homeland was destroyed?"
She shut her eyes and
gritted her teeth as he said that. "Shut up."
"I suppose you
would like me to tell you what you are, correct?" Virados said,
crossing his arms and staring at her. After a few moments, she nodded
slowly. He chuckled to himself and looked up to the ceiling.
"Very well, I will at least grant you that...."
************************************
There was a loud
beeping sound near Edea. After being jolted out of her slight nap by the
noise, she frantically searched for the cause of her awakening. Looking
around, she spotted the comm. link near her arm. Grabbing in, she checked
the side. Raine wasn't calling, the light wasn't on. However, the
second blue light was lit near the bottom. It took her a moment to
realize what it was, and then began to panic.
"Oh my
Hyne!" she shouted, a little too loudly for the others tastes.
Julia looked over with
an annoyed expression. "What's the matter? Did you break a
nail or something?"
Lilliana reached over
and took the communicator from Edea. After looking at it for a moment,
she grew a shocked expression. She tossed it back to Edea, and looked the
others. "Hey, pay attention! Raine and the others must be
stuck, because she set off the distress signal!"
Julia, who had the
second highest rank out of the unit, took charge. "Get your
equipment together on the double! We're gonna break into the base as bust
Raine out of there! Prep yourselves quick, okay?!"
They all turned to
their equipment and began to assemble and ready their weaponry. This was
the last thing any of them had expected at all. Celeste and Raine were
both experts with infiltration, and the other two were at least fair.
Because of this, most had left their equipment in disarray, thinking they
couldn't possibly need it no matter what happened inside the base.
Nothing like this had happened before, or at least not recently, and they were
a bit worried about making a rescue mission. They didn't even know where
the other four were!
Andraia was starting to
panic as well. She had slung the twin handguns she brought over her waist
and strapped her nunchakus into their holder along her thigh. "I
can't believe this happened! Raine and Celeste are supposed to be really, really
good at this kind of stuff!"
"Okay, we can't
sneak in six people without tripping off some alarm, so guess what we're gonna
do?" Julia asked, a smile coming to her face after she slung her
staff onto it's holster on her back.
Edea groaned, "Oh,
we're going to storm in and shoot the living daylights out of everything in
site, right? Celeste and Raine would puke if they heard that plan,
they'll kick your butt if you don't get killed."
Julia shrugged,
"How am I supposed to sneak six people in? I can sneak around
with just me, and knowing me, I'll end up blowing up everything anyways.
Besides, with all of us, I think we can handle it!"
Okay, I think that
I'm ready. Julia thought. Let's see, I've got: four
grenades, my staff, my trusty grenade launcher with plenty of
ammo. A... cherry bomb? Heh... that's for Reinhart when we get
back.
"Okay, are you
guys ready?!" She shouted out to the others. After receiving a
hearty reply of shouts and agreements, she continued. "Let's go bust
the boss out of there!"
*****************************************
(This next part may be a little boring,
but it is needed for you to learn what Raine is, and helps grasp what the whole
series, not just book 1, is about.)
Virados crossed his
arms and looked at Raine with an amused expression. "I still can't
believe you haven't heard of the Shaduna before. Goes to show that the
Centrans can't keep a fact straight at all. It's not even a
legend?"
"Are you going to
tell me what it is, or do I have to whine?" Raine asked with a
smirk.
Virados rolled his eyes
and sat down at the throne before her. "All right, I'll tell you
what it is. Don't go into to shock or anything, it takes time for medics
to get up here, and I don't truly care if you die or not."
He cleared his throat
for a moment and began the telling.
"The Shaduna is
one of two. The Tyraduna and the Shaduna make up two parts of a
whole. In the eldest of Mysidian legends, Hyne was not the only
god. The two creators of the universe, Shajuk and Tyran, created lesser
gods to give life to the barren planets and moons. Hyne was one of these
lesser gods. However, he was unlike the others. He desired nothing
but destruction and suffering. He eliminated other civilizations, and
caused much havoc between him and the other lesser gods. One day, Shajuk
and Tyran had enough of his ways. They stripped him of his invincibility
and banished him to a planet that was far from the center of the
universe. Terra.
"Here, he learned
he could feel pain, but was ageless. He still had most of his godly
powers, therefore he created life on Terra. Eventually, his thoughts turned
to revenge. He created two races, one to be his soldiers, the other to be
his slaves. On the Southern Island of the Southernmost continent, Centra,
he created the first race. The Centrans couldn't use any magic or the
like, and he used them to construct palaces and cities in his honor. For
his warriors, he used the Northern Island, known then as Mysidia. These
Mysidians were magic users, and he gave them angelic wings to travel quickly
from place to place. They had a gift with nature, able to connect with
animals and beasts well.
"One day, not long
after the Mysidian founder Frionel Darknight united the several clans on the
North Island, he saw Hyne as a threat, and not a father figure. He could
see through his evil ways, and learned of his attempt to destroy Shajuk and
Tyran. He kept silent however, and let the Mysidian Empire flourish and
grow, until it was stronger than the Centran Alliance.
"A few centuries
later, a descendant of Frionel finally declared independence from Hyne.
He, angered by the Mysidian's seditious acts, declared war. Thus began
the Centran Wars, the most bloody war the planet had ever seen. During
the wars however, both Hyne and the Darknight family noticed strange
beings. These were two people, per generation, who could summon immense
strength into battle. They were identified with either blue or red
energy, a cross on their left arm, and eyes that began to glow the same color
when they used their powers in battle. These were the Tyraduna and Shaduna.
"Shajuk and Tyran
had learned of Hyne's ways on Terra, and allowed a fraction of their power to
go into two people. They had hoped that since Hyne no longer had his
invincibility, he could be destroyed by one of them. As you probably know
already, 'duna' is the Mysidian word for knight. Shaduna, the knight of
Shajuk, and Tyraduna is the knight of Tyran. The two gods had more
pressing matters to attend to, so they made sure that someone on Terra had the
strength to stand up to Hyne. If they were slain, the powers passed on,
much like a sorceress' does. But the Dunas are far stronger than any
sorceress could dream."
Raine took a moment to digest all of that information. The story
he had just told her was definitely Mysidian, since more often than not, they
had believed Hyne was evil instead of good. True, most Mysidian
mythology had been lost to time, but one this ancient had never been kept by
Centran philosophers. Most believers of Hyne had destroyed such texts, thinking
it was pure blasphemy.
"Are you telling
me I'm some sort of 'God Knight?' Please, my friends make up better
stories to get out of trouble. Why should I believe you?"
Virados laughed and
hopped down from his throne. Walking towards her, he smiled.
"Why wouldn't you believe me, Raine? The facts from the legend are
all present within you, correct? Your eyes turn a unnatural blue color
when you have adrenaline in you. You can call on powers beyond normal
existence, and the most stunning thing of all.."
He grabbed her coat
collar and dragged it down so that her arm was visible down to her
shoulders. He pointed to the cross on her left arm. "...the
Shaduna birthmark. It appears not long after the Shaduna comes of age, so
to speak. You are this being Raine, you shouldn't deny it."
Raine kept silent,
think to herself for a moment. "What about the 'Tyraduna'. You
said once that no one may oppose it. I take it the Tyraduna is my enemy
then, right?"
"Not so.
Truth be told, the Tyraduna left us about a year after the destruction of
Caran. We lost it, let's see... you were about seven or eight then
right?"
"Seven."
A new voice boomed at
the doorway this time. "And yet, you come, but you leave our
Tyraduna out of our sight."
Raine spun around to face
the new person. A man, tall in size but somewhat slender for a man his
height, was covered in a black cloak and hood. She couldn't make out
anything aside from the jaw of the man, since he was covered head to toe in the
black garment he wore around himself. His arms, covered in black
gauntlets, were crossed elegantly in front of himself, partially hidden by the
cloak. He was glaring at her, though she couldn't actually see so through
the hood. There was something ominous and evil about him, yet she
couldn't quite figure out why.
"Our Tyraduna?
Who exactly are you?"
Virados turned to her
with a graceful motion. "We are the Mysidian survivors."
*******************************************************************
AN: Things are
starting to take shape, and plot is coming ever closer. Let me just say
this right now: What Virados told Raine is not even the beginning of the
whole story on the Mysidians and Centrans. There is a hell of a lot more
about them that she had yet to learn.
Any ideas on who the
Tyraduna is. I've dropped a lot of hints, so it should be painfully
obvious. Right?