Adventures in Felarya 2: Darkness Rising

Alright I've got my prologue done and here it is.

Prologue: The Guild Calls

I'm finally home. After so long I'm finally back. But does anyone still think I'm alive? I was gone so long and now I'm back... I thought to myself as I walked into Chicago. I went straight to the museum and entered. I kept going and knocked on my boss'es office door. "If you're here to apply for the position forget about it. I already have a replacement." My boss said through the door.

"Actually I'm back from Felarya. I have the info on the desert you sent me for." I said.

The door opened and my boss was behind it. "Tyler you're alive! I thought you were never going to come back!" He said. "Well then since you took so long I guess you should only take a little bit of the profits."

"ARE YOU NUTS?! I RISKED MY LIFE IN FELARYA AND YOU ONLY EXPECT ME TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF PAY?! I QUIT!! YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANY OF THE STUFF I GATHERED!!" I ranted. I left in huff for the exit and was stopped by a reporter.

"Hey what's wrong?" She asked.

"My boss sent me to Felarya and I risked my life there trying to get the info he wanted on it then when I finally got back he only said that he'd let me have a little bit of the profits." I explained.

"Hmm... well I've been looking for a good front page story and it seems yours might just make it. Would you care to tell me the whole story?" The reporter asked.

"It depends... do I get paid?" I asked.

"Well if all goes well you'll get 500$ at the least. I can guaruntee that." She said.

So I told her the full story and next week the newspaper the reporter worked for had said she worked for had my story in it. And at noon I had a call from an unfamiliar number. Oh God don't let it be a telemarketer I thought to myself as I answered. "Um hello?" I answered. "Who is this?"

"I'm with the Felarya Guild. I saw the article in the paper on and I thought I should have you join." The voice said. "We share all the money made on our discoveries evenly."

Hmm... sounds good... but what happens if the way I get to Felarya from here closes up? What then?" I asked.

"Well that's not a problem. We have a portal to Felarya in the forest south of Chicago. It won't ever close up." He continued.

"Well... I'm pretty strapped for cash... and it is my dream to explore the unexplored... let me think." I said.

"Of course it is a pretty big decision. I'll give you a week to decide." He said. "When you decide call the number on your caller ID."

So I had asked my wife what I should do and she said I should go for it.

After the deadline finally came I called. "Alright I'm in." I said. "Good. I have a job for you to do. We plan to begin an expidition to Felarya and we don't have a map. We need you to make a map of Felarya for us." He said.
"Alright. I'll go soon." I said. I got my supplies and headed into the forest.

So how do you like it? I'd post more but I need to get my chores done. I'll have chapter one up soon. Here are my characters on my character thread. https://felarya.forumotion.com/stories-discussion-f5/adventures-in-felarya-2-running-from-the-law-character-bios-t1643.htm#50919

Also I changed the title to Darkness Rising because it fit better. Originally it was meant to be just that but it changed eventually. That's what happens with beta. Never get too comfortable with it.

Okay I'm sorry it took so long to get this out but I had more difficulty getting this done than I expected. So here is Chapter 1! Also I put in a fryad. Just a little something I thought of due to a typo when I typed dryad.

Alright, this is the start of my next adventure. I just hope I can map up Felarya and be done with it... I don't need to eaten or something... I thought. Alright. Seems I'm at Jewel River according to my lesser map... I guess I should map the Dridder Forest region first. So with that I was off. After 3 hours I began to feel uneasy.

What the heck? Why do I feel like somethings watching my every move... oh God no... God no don't let it be a predator...

"So what'cha doin'?" A loud feminine voice called out. I gulped and turned around.

"Oh thank God... I've only been here a few hours and already I'm imagining things..." I stated.

"Oh you're not imagining things. I got you caught." The voice continued. My eyes widened as I looked around nervously. I gulped and looked up and to my surprise I found a giant dryad.

"Oh God no..." I said as I stared at the naked body. I nervously stared at the dryad shocked at her. How?! How did I let my guard down so much that I didn't notice something right next to me?! I mused. I backed up slightly and then began to run.

"Not so fast you tasty morsel." The dryad called out appearing as a tree right in front of me.

Oh crap... I'm screwed... this dryad knows how to use illusion magic and I have no clue where she truly is! I mused. Soon I felt myself being lifted in the air.

"WHOA!! PUT ME DOWN!!" I yelled.

"You seriously think I'd let my dinner escape? You are foolish to have come here." The dryad stated.

"PUT ME DOWN OR I'LL HAVE YOU FEEL THE BURN!! I KNOW FIRE MAGIC AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO BURN YOU TO ASH!!" I threatened hoping she would get scared.

"Mmm somehow I doubt that..." She said.

"WELL YOU ASKED FOR IT!! INFERNAGA!!!" I encanted creating a firey vortex around me and my captor's large hand. As the smoke cleared something caught me by surprise.

"Hmm... thanks I was feeling a little cold." The dryad said, not the slightest bit burnt.

"HOW?! YOU'RE A PLANT PERSON!! YOU SHOULD BE PILE OF ASH RIGHT NOW!!" I screamed styuggling in her hand.

"Oh how naive you humans are... even with magic like that because I'm so large you can't hope to burn me in the slightest. Plus the fact that I'm a fryad." She said.

"FRYAD?! OH GOD THIS DOESN'T LOOK GOOD!!" I said.

As I struggled and kicked the fryad showed me the red cavern that was her open mouth.

I gotta come up with something quick! But what?! She's immune to fire and she's one of the biggest predators I've ever seen even on Felarya!!

"Alright I'm getting bored of torturing you so I guess it's snack time!" She said.

Immediately after that she popped me into her mouth. I kicked and screamed but much like the times when I had been inside such a creature's mouth it was useless.




GOD NO!! I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!! BUT ALL MY MAGIC IS USELESS AGAINST THIS FRYAD!! WHAT CAN I DO?! I thought adrenaline pumping through me. Of course! I've got a knife in my backpack! Let's see how she handles a bloody mouth! I pulled off my backpack and desperately searched through it. However soon after I found it her slimy toungue had pushed me around in her mouth spilling most of the contents, including my knife, down her throat. As she swallowed my gear she had began coughing up a storm and in a flash I was free. Realizing this was my only chance to escape I didn't mourn for my lost supplies and took the oppertunity to run.

"Oh God... I think I lost her... I gotta be more careful next time..." I said gasping as I leaned on a tree. "Come to think of it where exactly am I? I better consult my lesser map for this." I said. I searched through my backpack when I realized something was horribly wrong. "Oh crap... she swallowed my map and my compass... figures..." I said. I continued through the forest for three hours until I found a village with a large dome in the center.

"Yes! A village! Maybe I'll be able to get some supplies there... if the inhabitants don't try to eat me." I said realizing my luck. I continued walking in and found that this village was full of nekos. "So this is Neko Village... well that's something. I ought to be able to get some supplies here." I thought aloud. I walked through the village looking for a shop. After twenty minutes of wandering around I finally found what I was looking for. "Neko Adventurer's Palace. This looks promising." I said reading the sign above the door. As I walked in I ws greeted by friendly looking neko. "Hi there traveler. How can I help you?" The neko asked me.

"Well I'm looking for a survival knife, a compass, and a map of Felarya if possible." I said.

"I have a wide array of knives, and compasses but as for maps I only have one and it's not very detailed as it only shows the basic layout of the center areas of Felarya." He said.

"Well that's not a problem. Every little bit helps. What do I owe you?" I asked.

"Well all in all you owe me about 20 diamonds." He said.

"Holy crap that's way too much! I don't even have a single diamond!" I said.

"Hmm... weeeeeeeeeeellllllll I guess I could just give it to you... if you do a little favor for me." He said.

"Alright then, I'm willing to work for my stuff. What do you need me to do?" I asked.

"I'm not sure you'd be able to handle this but... I need you to take care of a little infestation I have here." He explained.

"Infestation? What kind of infestation?" I asked.

"Gremlins. Nasty things. They're tearing up my private diamond storage room. Those things just hate the light and enough of it'll actually kill them. Problem is though... my diamond storage room has no windows or skylights. Not even electrical lights and there is no device I have or can find that can actually kill a gremlin, so they're pretty much doing whatever they want in there." He explained.

"So light will kill them... well that's not a problem. I know a spell or two that should get those gremlins out." I said. "So tell me where is your diamond storage?"

"Well its under the trap door that's right behind you. It's got a lock on it so I'll unlock it for you." The neko continued. And that he did.

I headed down into the neko's diamond storage room when things became rather eerie. A strange chattering noise filled my ears. "Ugh... this is so creepy. No wonder that guy didn't think I'd be able to handle it. I'm not even sure I can handle it." I mused as I delved deeper into the cave like storage.

After ten minutes of walking down something shot past me. "WHOA WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" I said in fear. "Okay I guess I better use a spell before I get killed. ILLUMINAGA!!" I encanted causing the room to light up. A bunch of creepy creatures were revealed each with a dangerous weapon from crossbwos to chainsaws. Those creatures began to melt into a puddle of black goop.

"Ugh... I can't tell wheather to be really creeped out or to barf..." I said noticing how creepy and disgusting it was. "Huh? What's this? Some sort of wand? Maybe this'll enhance my magic? Okay then... AQUARA!" I said as a ton of water filled the cave revealing a ton of sparkling gems. "Whoa... that was level two magic looking a lot like level five... well as useful as this thing seems I can't keep it. It probably belongs to that neko anyways."

After twenty minutes I was back up at ground level. "So I take it everything went well?" The neko asked.

"Yeah. Those things were so creepy... they had really dangerous weapons like crossbows and chainsaws. And I found a wand there too. Pretty nice if you ask me." I explained handing the neko the wand.

"Okay... I know that this is a very good wand here but I can't keep this because it's not mine. I don't know how it got in there but I know it's not mine. I don't even carry wands at all. I guess those gremlins took it from someone and I suppose it's better that you keep it. After all a sorcerer like yourself would be kicking himself if he passed up one of those. And as promised I have your supplies ready." He explained.

"Well thanks. I gotta make sure to get some diamonds in case I ever lose my gear again. Bye!" I said as I left the store. I began walking through town when what looked like a neko cop stopped me.

"You are under arrest. I have proof that you assaulted the king." He said.

"What? You gotta be kidding me! I have not once harmed someone that didn't try to either eat me or kill me!" I defended.

"Silence! I have proof that you assaulted the king and I will not take your excuses or false alibies." He said.

"This is crazy! I've only been here for three hours! And all I've seen here so far is that shop I just came out of, the manager, and a ton of gremlins!" I continued to defend myself.

"SILENCE! YOU ARE RESISTING ARREST AND THEREFORE YOU GIVE ME THE RIGHT TO STUN YOU!!" He said. "THUNDAGA!!" A bolt of lightning came around me and I passed out.





"Ugh... Where am I?" I said much later waking up. I looked around the room to find that I was in a cell at some jail and my wand and backpack had been taken away.

"Okay... so that ass accuses me of assaulting some king, shocks me with enough lightning to put me out like a light, and then locks me up?! I can't believe it..." I said shaking my head. I started to walk to the bars that held me when I was stopped by something stuck around my ankle.

"WHAT?! A SHACKLE ATTATCHED TO A WEIGHT?!" I said as I realized the thing that bound me. Soon after I my shackle as well as me were lifted to the ceiling. "WHAT THE HECK?! MAGNETS?! WHAT THE HECK ARE THE GOING TO DO TO ME?!?!" I yelled as I struggled to free myself of the ceiling. Soon it started to move and I was carried out into what seemed to be a gigantic stadium. I was dropped in and as I rose from the ground I heard cheering from the stands. "Oh crap... I'm screwed. Whatever their going to throw my way I'm gonna die..." I said analyzing my bleak fate. Soon the area on the other side was opened and from it emerged a giant fairy. "OH CRAP I'M SO DEAD!!!" I yelled as I desperately tried to lift and pull the weight. The fairy came close to me and sat down and sighed. Okay I know I should be fearing for my life right now but that fairy seems kinda depressed... maybe she's tired eating people? Oh God I hope that's the case...

"Umm... wh-wh-why do you look so depressed?" I asked her hoping to find a reason.

"Really? You really want to know why I'm so depressed? I'm touched. Everyone else just tried to run away. But the thing is... I'm a prisoner here too. Really I'm not going to eat you or anything and I haven't done that to all the other people they threw my way either..." She said in a hushed tone. "I see... those nekos are such lunatics... they even charged me with assaulting some king and I hadn't even been here for an hour when it happened. I guess we need to find a way to escape..." I said, continuing my conversation with the giant fairy. "I have an idea. But I need you to trudt me on this... you'll have to actually eat me." I said.

"What?! Are you emo?! I'm not going to do that! It goes against every fiber of my being!" She said continuing her hushed tone.

"I know it's strange but I have a plan. If you want to escape you'll have to actually eat me. Then I'll cast a wind spell to get you to burp me up and then we can plan some more. Just give me a sign when the coast is clear... like umm... oh! Just say the panda dances at noon. Now then we'll have to make this look believable so I'm going to have do some acting." I explained.

"Alright if you're that willing to risk your life to get us free then I'll do it." She said. "But I'm going to break off that weight first. I'm getting a stomachache just looking at that thing." She said. So after some acting the plan was set into motion and soon she gave me the code.

"AERORAGA!!" I encanted causing her to burp me up and landing me face first on a bar.

"Owch!! Dang it that hurt!!" I said as I rubbed my face trying to ease the pain. I turned around and found that the fairy was chained up. "Whoa!! They chained you?! Let me take a look at those things..." I said. I went over and examined the chains binding the fairy to the wall.

"Yep those things are pretty solid... but I think I might be able to get them off of you." I said.

"Yeah and how do you plan on doing that? Not even I can break these things and I doubt you could break them." She said.

"True I know I couldn't break them but I might be able to weaken them just enough for you to break them." I explained. "Just give me a second to weaken them with some fire and water." I said.

"What? But I thought your speacialty was wind magic?" She asked.

"Well that's not necessarily true. While I do know my way around wind magic I also know my way around fire, water, and earth magic. And if I heat and cool it enough times it should weaken." I explained. So I went to work on weakening the chains and finally the fairy was free.

"Alright there you go. You're free of those God awful chains now. And now comes the hard part: getting out of this cell." I said.

"Well I could probably break them. They're pretty rusty." She said. So that she did and down they went.

"Nice work. Now let's find our way out of here." I said.

"Just hold on a minute. One of my friends is trapped here as well plus the corridors around here are too small to support me in my current size so let me just shrink myself." She said.

"Alright. We'll free your friend too. I can manage that." I said as the fairy shrank herself.

"By the way before I forget what's your name?" I asked.

"It's Lucy. What about you?" Lucy asked.

"My name's Tyler. Alright then let's get out of here." I said.






So what do you think? Pretty long chapter huh? Well don't worry I'll try to make sure that they won't be quite this long.

Lucy and I went through the corridors opening every door carefully making sure not to miss anything important. After ten minutes of exploring we found a room with all kinds of items inside.

"Okay Lucy I say we take advantage of this and see if we can find our stuff." I said. She nodded and we began to search until I found my backpack and everything else accounted for and Lucy found her clothes.

After that we continued to search through the corridors until we heard a groaning noise. I motioned for Lucy to stay close and follow as we searched for the source of the noise. We conitnued for ten minutes until we found a neko on the floor, behind bars.

Lucy rushed over. "Benjamin! Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah... I'm fine... I just slammed into the bars too hard... but never mind me... you need to escape and quick!" He said.

"I'm not leaving without you! And besides we've got help! I met a mage who's willing to help us!" She explained. "So Tyler do you think you can weaken the bars like last time?"

"Well I ought to be able to do more than just weaken the bars now that I've got my wand back." I explained. "Fira!" I encanted causing a small puff of flame to issue forth from my wand melting the bars entirely. "And that is level two magic."

Lucy rushed to her fallen friend and helped him up. The neko walked towards me and put out his hand. "Tyler was it? It's nice to meet you. My name's Benjamin and thanks for helping me and my friend out." He said.

"Your welcome Benjamin. I'm glad to help." I said as I took his hand and shook it. However as soon as that happened I felt a sharp pain take over my hand. "Ouch! You son of a gun that hurt! Thanks to you my hand is bleeding! I have half a mind to reduce you to a pile of ash you know!" I exclaimed my anger taking over.

"Oh God I can't believe it! That was the oldest trick in the book and you fell for it!" Benjamin said laughing his ass off.

"Sorry to break up this little party but I can't let you be free." A voice said. I gulped as I looked behind me to see a neko guard.
"I wasn't planning on this but it's high time I gave you a little taste of revenge. I'm going to enjoy this!" I said as I reached for my wand. "FIRAGA!!" I encanted creating a swirling vortex of fire to engulf the guard leaving behind a pile of ash. I said. I walked off as he and Lucy followed.

After ten minutes we found an emergency exit sign above a door at the end of the hall. "Woo hoo! We're home free!" Benjamin said as he rushed ahead.

"BENJAMIN STOP!!" I yelled as he ran to the exit. I ran after him in hopes of catching him but an alarm sounded just as I was about to grab him. "RUN!!" I yelled as Lucy ran ahead of us. We followed suit and ran out of the city.

Thirty minutes later we were in the forest and out of breath. "Benjamin you idiot! You didn't think it was odd that there was a marked exit with nothing guarding it?! I swear you'll get yourself killed anywhere you go!" I exclaimed.

"Sheesh like you knew any better. You were running full steam ahead for the exit." He defended.

"I was trying to catch you so you didn't trip an alarm doofus!! I understand you wanted freedom badly but you can't just do anything you please! That kind of stuff will get you killed!!" I screamed.

"ENOUGH WITH THE YELLING!! Can't you two just learn to get along?! You've nown each other for less than an hour and yet you fight?! I can't take it!! I just can't!" Lucy ranted leaving a feeling of fear in the air.

"Lucy's right Benjamin. We need to work together if we want to survive. Fighting will only bring us closer to getting imprisoned again. And especially here in Felarya we can't be fighting or chances are we'll end up a meal for a predator or something." I said.

"Well I'm not working with you! You're just a mage who thinks you're better than everyone just because you can do magic! I'm not working with an elitist like you!" Benjamin yelled as we began to get violent.

"THAT'S IT!! I CAN'T WORK TOGETHER WITH A MANIAC LIKE YOU!! I COULD'VE JUST LEFT YOU IN THE CELL BUT NO, I HAD TO SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS BECAUSE I ACTUALLY HAD AN OUNCE OF PITY FOR YOU!!" I screamed.

"ENOUGH!!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs. She lunged at us and slapped us both. "Do you two not understand?! If you two can't learn to harmonize then we won't last more than five minutes out here!!" She screamed.

"Alright fine! I'll play along for now!" Benjamin said.

"Well since our best chance at staying alive and free is working together I'm willing to do anything. I've got an idea as to where to go." I said.

"Well then tell us!! We don't have all night!" Benjamin said.

"I was going to! Anyways I'll bet that the nekos can't catch us if we get to my homeworld. If we get to the mouth of Jewel River we should find a portal which will bring us to my homeworld." I explained.

And after seeing that everyone is in agreement we went off to the mouth of Jewel River.

Fryad.. heh
I think your story is nice, but there is a lot of things happening there in a too quick time. You jump to one situation to another which make it a bit hard to follow in my opinion ^^;

As we continued through the forest the humidity suddenly rose.

Seem's it's going to rain soon. But why did the humidity get so high so fast? I mused.

"Is something wrong Tyler?" Lucy asked. "It seems like you're pretty confused."

"Well there is something that's bugging me... I'm just really confused as to why the humidity rose so much so fast. Haven't you noticed it?" I explained.

"Now that you mention it, it is pretty humid. I wonder why it rose so fast." Lucy said.

"Oh God. This is Felarya for pete's sake! Probably just some wizard messing with the weather or something!" Benjamin said apparently annoyed by our confusement.

"Well regardless we ought to find a place to stay for the while because if my instincts are correct it'll start raining pretty hard soon." I explained. Everyone nodded in agreement as we continued through the forest.

In about thirty minutes it started to rain as we kept on going. And soon after that we found a mansion in the forest.

Well that's odd... who puts a mansion in such a dangerous place so unprotected? It just doesn't add up... I mused as my friends noticed the place.

"Score! A mansion! Come on we're not getting any dryer!" Benjamin exclaimed with glee and impatience as he ran into the mansion. I followed Benjamiin and Lucy into the mansion which seemed no dryer or less humid than outside.

Okay this is so wierd... a mansion in the middle of a freaking Felaryan forest that's no more sheltered from the elements than the outside... and why do I get the strange feeling that someone's right next to us? Suddenly something clicked in my head that horrifyed me.

"BENJAMIN, LUCY, RUN!! THIS ISN'T WHAT IT SEEMS!!" I yelled, beginning to panic. We scrambled to the door and as I opened the door everything morphed into what seemed to be a gigantic mouth.

I screamed as I looked desperately around the cavernous organ. The toungue wiggled and shook us all off of our feet. I scrambled to my feet and began to pound on the walls. A scream split my ears as I looked back to see that Benjamin was being pulled down the giant predator's throat.

I ran over to Benjamin and grabbed his saliva covered hands to try to pull him up. However my attempts were futile as the strong throat muscles pulled me down with Benjamin.

"LUCY GRAB THE UVULA!" I shouted knowing I wouldn't be able to escape without any help.

"THE WHAT?!" Lucy shouted back.

"THE DANGLY THING ABOVE ME! GRAB IT!!" I shouted. Lucy ran up and grabbed the uvula causing the creature to gag and cough us all up onto the ground, dazed, but alive.

"I never thought my prey would be so resourceful!" A familiar voice remarked. I turned my head and to my shock I found the very reason I went to Neko Village.

Oh God not her again! I can't do squat to her! I thought as I stared in pure horror.

"RUN!!" I yelled as I scrambled to my feet. We all ran for dear life and each and everyone of us was caught in one fell swoop. Lucy under her feet, Benjamin in her hand, and me in the other hand.

I struggled and kicked frantically giving in to a major panic attack. Eventually my energy ran out entirely and I lay limp in the fryad's hand. I could only watch helplessly as she at my friends one at a time.

"You die here..." I said calmly as a mysterious black aura began to envlop me. Wh-what's going on?! Something's possessing me! I can't get control back! My body effortlessly broke free of the fryad's grasp and jumped to her gut with amazing speed. It punched with what seemed to be little effort causing the predator to cough up my friends.

Next my body flew up to her chin and punched flinging her into the air following the predator through it's trip in Felarya's atmosphere.

"NO WAIT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the fryad screamed as my body kicked her head right off of her shoulders. The black aura faded and with it the power and control over my body. I plummeted down to the ground headfirst and passed out on the trip back down.



Well do you like it? That black aura sure does add mystery doeesn't it? Also don't worry. You can safely assume that Tyler survives. Also I think the music in the link below perfectly fits the part where Tyler is stunned by the fryad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lZp2RIBQZ4&NR=1

Although then again I have no doubt in my mind that it's too dramatic.

Am I... am I alive? I thought, beginning to wake up. I opened my eyes and saw that the forest was much thicker than before here.

"Tyler! You're awake! Thank goodness!" A familiar voice rang out. I looked over to the source and found my fairy companion by my side.

"Really?! He's awake?! Oh thank God!" Benjamin said as he rushed to my side.

"Are you alright Tyler? Can you move?" Lucy asked with a feeling of concern in her voice.

"I'm fine. Just a little sore as all. But I'm kinda confused... last I remembered I was falling from the sky at mach 5. What happened to that?" I asked going over the things I remembered last.

"Well it's not surprising you're confused. You passed out in the air. Lucy flew up and caught you just in time." Benjamin explained. "Now then let's get a move on! We need to get to your homeworld pronto!"

"Agreed. Just let me get my stuff and we can get on out of here." I said as I searched for my backpack.

"Tyler it's no use searching for it because Lucy's wearing it. She sorta took the role of 'leader' when we figured out you wouldn't wake up very soon." Benjamin explained.

"Oh. Well regardless let's get going." I said. And we went to the north until we found a clearing and a portal.

"Alright this is it! We're finally here!" I said. We walked to the portal and I was barely three feet away when it exploded in a flash of energy.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" I shouted as I was pushed back by the shockwave.

"We knew you would get here." An ominous voice called out. I turned to the source and found a neko. "You're surrounded and there's no way to escape." He said as a ton of other nekos encircled us all.

CRAP! So close and yet so far!! I thought as I began to think up the best escape route.

"Give in to our master and we might let your precious 'friends' live. Submit to the dark power of the Queen of Darkness." The leader said as they all morphed into cyclops.

Queen of Darkness?! So she's the force that's trying to possess me?! But how?! I killed her almost a month ago! I thought as I was filled with a feeling of dread. Suddenly a black aura came over me and I was losing control of my body again.

NO!! You don't own me!! I can't let this happen! I thought to the Queen as I fought her. I slowly reached into my backpack and pulled out my knife.

God I hope this works!! I thought as I swung the knife at my leg spattering blood all over the place and freeing me from her grasp.

"TYLER!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Benjamin demanded as I winced in pain.

"He's risisting. Troops apprehend him! But don't kill him! The queen needs him as her vessel!" The leading cyclops called out as they began to close in on us.

"Firaga..." I encanted weakly aiming at the leading cyclops. A small ball of flame burst out and fizzled in the air.

"You call that magic?! I'm starting to wonder how you defeated our queen... but no matter! You have resisted and thuus your friends shall suffer.

"No... I can't let this happen... I have to... protect them..." I said as my strength ebbed away. I pulled out my wand and steeled forth all my might.

"ILLUMINAGA!!" I encanted as as burst of light shone scaring the cyclops away.

I collapsed in the ground as my friends rushed over to me.

"Tyler are you alright?!" Lucy asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm fine... but... I need to explain something" I said as I drifted off into unconciousness again.

"EXPLAIN WHAT?!" Lucy demanded as I passed out.





Well what do you think so far? Pretty exciting isn't it?! Just you wait for the rest!

"Tyler... Tyler... listen..." A voice beckoned, waking me up in a foggy area.

"Ugh... What is it?" I called back weakly.

"It is I, Crystal. I need you to listen to me." The voice said.

"Crystal?! What is it?" I asked now fully awake.

"I need you to... go... to the top of the Great Tree... there you shall be able to... free yourself of the Queen of Darkness." Crystal explained.

"What? I need to go to the top of the Great Tree? Then what?" I asked beginning to become confused.

"You must... use your... strongest light spell... and you... will be freed..." Crystal said as my vision began to drift off.

Suddenly I awoke inside a large dim cave overlooking a lake. "Okay this doesn't make any sense. What am I doing here? And where are Lucy and Benjamin?" I mused as I stumbled to my feet.

"Oh so you're awake. I was beginning to worry." A loud voice boomed. I gulped and looked for the source of the voice and found nothing.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you. I simply wanted to make sure you were okay." The voice continued. I continued to look around when I saw a gigantic figure in the water not too far off.

"Um thanks for taking care of me." I said, addressing the mermaid. "Have you seen a tall neko or fairy with clothes anywhere? I really need to find them."

"I'm sorry but I haven't seen anybody like that. Are they friends of yours?" The mermaid asked.

"Yeah they're my friends and I'm pretty worried about them." I explained.

"I see. I can help you look for them if you want." The mermaid said.

"Well thanks! I appreciate it." I said accepting the mermaid's offer. And with that we set out on the lake searching for my friends.

Eventually after about a half hour of searching we found a small boat and in it were a dridder and my friends tied up in a web.

"There they are! In that boat!" I said as I spotted them. The mermaid swam gracefully in the water as we approached the boat. She grabbed the dridder and tossed him into her mouth swallowing quickly.

My friends screamed as they saw this. "Hey pipe down! She's not going to try to eat you!!" I yelled over their screaming.

"Tyler, is that you?! What the hell are you doing with a mermaid?!" Benjamin demanded as I jumped into the boat.

"Well she took care of me while I was unconcious and then she offered to help me find you guys." I explained as I freed them from their silky prisons. "And why were you tied up like that?" I asked.

"Well that dridder tried to get us all. We were trying to find a safe place to rest and it tried to coccoon us all but it aimed wrong and it blasted you all the way here apparently." Benjamin explained.

"I see. Well I guess you should be on your way. Be careful not to get attacked like that again." The mermaid said as we rowed the boat to the shore.

After an hour I decided to tell them what I needed to do. It was akward but I had told them of what was happening.

"I see. So I was right after all..." Benjamin said mysteriously in response.

"Right about what? What are you talking about?" I asked becoming confused.

"Well I was right about you Tyler. When you came to free me back at Neko Village I suspected that you were the right person to help me." Benjamin said, not seeming to make things clearer.

"Help you with what? Why are you being so mysterious all of a sudden?!" I asked, begginning to get angry.

"Well I knew that some dark entity's minions had killed off the government in Neko Village and was using it as a base to try to destroy the Multiverse. They kept going on about their lost queen and such and how they couldn't find the guy that her spirit had latched onto. They kept saying that he must've been an amazing mage to keep hidden for so long. I tried to drive them out but I failed and they imprisoned me and Lucy in that new dome they built to keep us from interfering." Benjamin explained.

"I see... well then there's only one thing to do! We've got to get rid of the Queen of Darkness once and for all!" I said dramatically.

END OF CHAPTER!

We're almost there. The Great Tree at last. I thought as the Great Tree became larger and larger. Suddenly I heard a noise not far behind.

"Guys, be on guard..." I whispered, raising the awareness of the stalkers that I had sensed. I slowly reached for my wand as I braced myself to face whatever was following us.

Suddenly two figures came out of the shadows and with amazing speed they grabbed us all in a flash. I looked up at the predators that held us were none other than Lissa and Crisis.

"Lissa! Crisis! Long time no see! We really need to stop meeting like this." I said smiling at my two friends.

"Dude why aren't you panicking?! Don't you know what these two have in mind?!" Benjamin snapped at my comment.

"Well normally yes I would be trying to escape but Lissa and Crisis are my friends. I know they wouldn't try to eat us or anything." I explained to Benjamin as Crisis and Lissa put us down.

"So what brings you here Tyler? Did you miss us?" Lissa asked.

"Well of I course I missed you but this isn't exactly a pleasure visit." I said as the five of us began walking towards the Great Tree.

I explained the situation as we continued to the Great Tree.

"I see... well if you're going that high you'll probably need some help. And I'll bet Anna might be willing to lend you something." Lissa said as we neared our destination.

"Hey Anna we're back!" Crisis called out as we arrived.

"Hey Lissa, Crisis. How did hunting go?" Anna asked.

"Well it went alright. We even found Tyler." Lissa answered.

"Really? Well that's great. How is he?" Anna asked, working away on a device.

"Well why don't you ask me for yourself Anna?" I asked pointing out my presence.

"Oh sorry Tyler I expected to see you on Lissa's shoulder." Anna said.

"Well anyways I'm not here to catch up, Anna. I need to get to the top of the Great Tree and I was hoping you'd be able to help me out." I said

"Oh. Well I'm willing to lend a hand. In fact I've been working on a jet pack that runs on sunlight recently. I'm willing to lend it to you if you make sure to bring it back to me." Anna explained as she continued to tinker with the device in her hands.

"Oh is that all? I'll make sure to get it back to you, Anna." I said.

"Alright then. Just don't use it for prolonged periods of time because it'll overheat pretty quick." Anna explained.

"Alright. Now then guys let's get going!" I said.

"Umm who are you talking to Tyler? There's nobody around here except us." Lissa said.

"Huh? Oh come on! Lucy! Benjamin! I told you that you didn't have to be afraid!!" I yelled, addressing my hiding friends. Benjamin and Lucy came out from their hiding spot behind a tree.

"Sorry we just don't know how trustworthy they are Tyler." Benjamin said.

"I told you that you didn't need to be afraid so why didn't you trust me?!" I demanded. "Well regardless we have climbing to do so let's not waste any more time." Benjamin and Lucy nodded in agreement and with that we began our journey to the top of the Great Tree.

Finally after two days of climbing the three of us had reached the top of the Great Tree. Finally! After so long I can finally stop all this once and for all! I thought as I had reached for my wand.

"Well then Benjamin, Lucy, cover your eyes. I don't want to blind you." I said, warning my friends of the blinding light that was to come. "ILLUMINAGA!" I encanted, causing a blinding flash of light.

Is that it? Am I free now? I thought. Soon a figure came flying towards us. Oh God is that a harpy?! The figure was a gigantic, fully clothed angel who had apparently seen the flash.

"Hi there! Did you signal me?" She asked.

Signal her? Is she how I get rid of the Queen of Darkness? I thought.

"Okay listen I'm really busy and whatnot and really I can't afford to waste my time here. Just tell me: are any of you three troubled by evil or something?" The angel asked.

Okay now I'm positive. She is the one who can help me get rid of the queen. Ithought. "Yeah I guess. You see I was told that if I came her I would be able to get rid of a malicious spirit that keeps trying to possess me." I explained.

"Oh. Well I'm happy to help." She said.

"Great! Thanks for helping me out." I said.

"No problem. I'm always up for a snack." She said.

"Wait what?! A snack?! But I thought you were going to get rid of the spirit that's troubling me!" I said as I began to fear for my life again.

"Well that's how things go. I eat someone that's imbued with darkness and that darkness is turned into light." She explained. "And besides you said you wanted me to purify you so I'm going to do it."

"Well that wasn't what I was asking for!" I said. The angel picked me up and began to bring me to her mouth. I was beginning to panick when the black aura surrounded me again. This time however the black aura went into her mouth and the angel dropped me.

She closed her mouth and began to scream as a black aura surrounded her and soon gave her a close likeness to the Queen of Darkness.

"Fools. You seriously thought that you could trust that dream?! Hah! I was in control of it all. Everything that happened between you and I was part of my plan. I was never at full power and you brought me to it!" The angel said.

So everything that happened was part of her plan?! Me reducing her to ash up to now?! But how?! I thought in shock as the queen began to shrink to our size.

"You no longer are of use to me so you must die!" The queen said as she blasted us all with dark energy.

Ugh... so stupid... I can't believe I actually helped the queen! I thought as I got up. Magic'll just get us killed so the only thing I can do is fight hand to hand... I rushed up to the queen and swung a punch at her which she immediately blocked.

She had grabbed my wrist and effortlessly began to crush the crap out of it. As screamed in agony from my now broken wrist she had began to shrage up a ball of dark energy and fired it at me from point blank range tossing me back several yards.

I gasped as I struggled to my feet. I charged at her again andshe immediately kicked me back down.

"Do you not understand how powerful I am mortal? You have no chance of surviving as well as your pitiful friends. But you are moderately powerful as well as determined. What do you say to join me?" The Queen rambled as I struggled back to my feet.

"N- no way... NOT IN A MILLION YEARS YA HEAR ME?!?!" I yelled as I charged in for another attempted attack.

"Oh well. I'll still have fun toying with you anyway." She said creepily. As I was just about to swing at her again she had grabbed my neck and began to crush it.

"Do you not understand? You're like a mere insect to me now! You can do nothing to me!" She said as I struggled to get free. Lucy charged at her and like I was before was knocked down effortlessly.

Then all of a sudden her grip was broken as Benjamin had snuck up from behind her and struck.

"IMPUDENT WORM!! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE DEALING WITH?! I AM THE QUEEN OF DARKNESS AND YOU ARE A MERE MORTAL! YOU HAVE ONLY DELAYED YOUR FRIEND'S DEATH AND SPED UP YOUR OWN!!" She yelled as she punched him crashing him into Lucy.

Suddenly a golden aura surrounded me as I was filled with immense power. "Leave... them... ALONE!!" I yelled as I charged against her. I swung at her and knocked out several of her teeth.

"IMPUDENT WORM!! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE ME!! FOR THAT YOU WILL SUFFER!!" She yelled. I charged her again this time punching her into the sky. I jumped up and kicked her down and landed gracefully despite my injuries.

However she began to charge up another ball of dark energy and unlike before, it was incredibly powerful even sending me back a little with the wind it created.

"FOOOOOL! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!!" She yelled appearing to become demented. She blasted it at Benjamin, Lucy, and I blasting us all away.

Ugh... where am I? I thought as I came to in a dense, dark forest. I looked around for Benjamin and Lucy but found nobody. Hmm... that's strange... where are Benjamin and Lucy? And where am I? I need answers... I thought as I stuggled to my feet. I quickly became dizzy and puked. Ugh... that's right... I'm still injured...

I managed to keep myself stable as I wandered through the dark forest. After ten minutes a scream split my ears. "THAT SOUNDED LIKE LUCY!" I said. I quickly ran through the woods despite my nausea and injuries until I found a little girl running away from a giant slug girl.

The slug girl had then spat a jet a sticky saliva at the girl tripping her up and subdoing her. I quickly rushed in without thinking and began to try to pull her up off the ground. In ten minutes I had freed her but the slug girl fired another jet of her sticky spit at me, sticking the poor girl on my back as well as gluing me to the ground.

I struggled to get up but in five more minutes the slug girl picked us up and separated the little girl from my back. Her stomach was growling intensely and she had put the little girl in her ever gooey mouth. I struggled to get free as I was determined to save her as she swallowed her.

She had looked me over a few times, apparently wondering if I was worth eating. I continued to struggle, desperately trying to break free of her grasp. With each passing second the sounds of digestion in her stomach and the little girl's screams became louder and more intense, almost to a point of being earsplitting.

I kept on fighting until I had figured magic was the only way to break free. "ILLUMINAGA!!" I encanted creating a dazzling display of blinding that that even made me feel dizzy and weak. She had dropped me and I had collapsed, too weak to move.

After regaining visibility she picked me back up and stuffed me into her mouth. She twirled me around apparently wanting to experience my full flavor. Then she swallowed as I began to fear for the worst. I desperately tried to stop her powerful throat muscles frompulling me deeper in but to no avail.

I had ultimately dropped inside her dark, noisy stomach and began to think of a way to free myself as well as the little girl before we were digested. I banged on the stomach walls and thrashed about trying to get her to puke but sadly that too was meaningless. Soon I became much weaker from the fumes of the deadly acid and began to pass out when I had figured out a plan of escape. I summoned up all my might and cast my strongest water spell.

"AQUAJA!!" I encanted, causing a massive flood in the slug girl's belly. Soon her stomach was completely filled with water and as a result she puked the two of us up. Fortunately the slug girl had done so in her sleep giving me a chance to escape. I picked up the poor unconcious girl and ran as fast as I could go, eventually finding a decent sized cave.

I set the girl down and I shed a tear for the little girl. I had no idea who she was but I felt I knew her somehow. After twenty minutes or so the girl had awoken and began to cry. I put my hand on her shoulder reassuringly and said "Don't worry. Your safe now."

Her wailing paused as she looked up at me. "Wh-who a-are y-you?" She asked obviously shaken up.

"Who am I? Well I'm Tyler." I said calmly. "And who might I ask are you?"

"I-I don't know. I lost my memory a while ago and then that giant slug thing attacked me. I was so scared!" She said as she began to tremble.

"Hey don't worry. It's all over now and you're safe with me. In fact I'll even see what I can do to help you get your memory back." I said.

"R-really? You'd do that for me? Thank you. You're very kind." She said.

"Alright then while getting your memory back and getting you home is really important I also need to search for my friends. I need you to come with me so that way I know you're safe." I explained.

"Alright. I trust you." She said. So we snuck out of the cave and began to search the forest. After twenty minutes my senses were beginning to dull as we continued through the unidentified forest.

Eventually I heard rustling and immediately perked up in order to take on whatever was stalking us. I reached for my wand at my belt and found that it was missing. Crap! As if being so drastically weakened wasn't bad enough I had to lose my wand somehow! I thought as I was ready to rush the little girl to safety.

My head began to spin from my forced sense control and I had began to feel nauseus again. However fortunately the source of the rustling turned out to be Benjamin and another little girl.

"B-Benjamin! I'm glad to see you're alright!" I said as I fought my weakness and nausea.

"Well I'm just glad that we're still alive." Benjamin said as he seemed to notice the little girl I was with.

I too noticed the little girl he was with and noticed an astonishing similarity. "Benjamin, tell me: did that little girl lose her memory?" I asked trying to confirm my suspicions.

"Y-yeah. How did you know?" Benjamin asked apparently shocked by my observation.

"Yeah how did you know I lost my memory mister?" The girl asked apparently becoming confused.

"Because this little girl lost her memory too! And they both sound exactly like Lucy!" I explained.

"What are you trying to say?" Benjamin asked, becoming rather confused.

"What I'm trying to say is that maybe, just maybe, when that dark energy burst blasted us all out here Lucy was split into seperate people!" I said.

"Okay that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Benjamin exclaimed.

"Ridiculous or not it still seems so. Although I only wonder how to get Lucy back to normal..." I said as I began to enter my thinking cycle.

"I should be able to answer that." A voice boomed through our ears. I searched for the source and found a giant dryad.

"You don't need to be afraid. I'm only here to help those who've become lost in this forest. Anyways I can indeed confirm that those two little girls are part of your friend. There is nothing that happens here in Chidokai Forest that I'm not aware of." She explained. "Anyways the only way to get your friend back to normal is to find the last girl that your fairy friend split into. I have observed her and currently she is hiding inside a hollow tree to the south." She continued. "Once you've found her you then they well be come back together into your friend." She finished.

"Wow. Thanks for all that. I guess we should go before she starts moving off." I said, thanking the kindly dryad.

"Wait. Before you go I'll connect you to my dryad sense. It's a special sense that allows me to see everything in the forest and I can link any being to it for telepathy in addition to letting them see, hear, and over all sense what I can through it." She said.

"Really?! Thanks!" I said.

"Your welcome. It seems your group would benefit the most if I connected you so please stand still for a few seconds." She explained. I did as I was told and immediately I could see everything that happened from the slug girl still snoring away to the cave that I had taken refuge in mere moments ago.

"Awesome! This is so cool! I can see everything around here! Thanks!" I said.

"Once again your welcome. But time is of the essence. There is a predator approaching your fractured friend quickly." She said. And with that we were off. I followed the dryad's directions and ultimately we found the last remaining persona of Lucy in a matter of minutes. The three had come together and morphed into a somewhat dazed Lucy.

"It's nice that you found your friend but danger approaches fast. If you don't hurry you'll likely end up attacked by a giant dridder!" She warned. I nodded.

"Guys we need to get out of here fast. There's a giant dridder headed our way!" I said, passing on the dryad's warning. "Follow me." So that we did. however it wasn't long before the very dridder we were warned about had caught up to us. With the help of the dryad I plotted a relatively safe route back to the dryad.

Eventually we finally got back to the dryad whom had finally cut off the link between myself and her dryad network sense. "Well thanks for the help. Now if you'll excuse us we need get moving." I said.

"Wait a second. It's almost dark. Chidokai forest is much more dangerous at night. You should stay with me for now. I can hide you pretty well with my magic." She said.

"Dang. You're the nicest dryad I've ever met. And I'm not just saying that because all of the other dryads I met tryed to eat me." I said. "Thanks for everything."

"Your welcome. I'm just glad to help. And also I know of your goals and trials. I've been watching you for quite some time now." She said.

"Really? How long?" I asked.

"Ever since you met up with your naga friends around the Great Tree. I've heard tales about you through the dryad network and I must say I'm rather impressed." She explained.

"Well what do you know! I'm famous!" I remarked, beginning to feel a like a celebrity.

"Hello." A voice said eerily. I had woken up in a misty area with not a tree in site. I realized the voice to belonged to the Queen of Darkness and immediately I had rushed in and punched her with all my might.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!" I demanded.

"What does it look like? I'm here to kill you." She said as she got up from my blow. She suddenly transformed into a gigantic monster and grabbed me starting to crush me. "I'm going to enjoy this..." She said eerily as I let out a quited scream.

"AGH!!" I yelled as I woke up in the forest in a cold sweat. Oh thank God. Just a nightmare. I thought as I looked around, finding that everyone was still asleep. Doesn't seem as though it's morning yet. Benjamin and Lucy are still asleep... I thought.

Suddenly my stomach had growled. I'm getting kinda hungry. Well I suppose a little foraging won't hurt much. I thought. I got up and slipped into the woods. After twenty minutes I came across a bush with bright red berries.

Score! Some berries! I guess I'll just help myself. I thought as I began to pick them. However suddenly I felt a strange presence. What's this? I feel like something's watching me... or someone... I looked around and suddenly the earth shook violently.

"WHOA!! WHAT THE HECK?!?!" I yelled as I got up from the ground. To my complete despair I had found the source of the quake as I looked around: the slug girl from before. I gulped and I slowly backed away and began dashing back to the safety of the camp near the dryad.

Suddenly she spat a jet of spit at me which completely stuck my feet to the ground. I tried to slip off my shoes but they too had been splattered with her spit. "AQUAGA!!" I encanted firing a jet of water down on my feet.

However it did nothing to the sticky spit. WHAT THE HELL?! THAT SHOULD'VE GOTTEN ME FREE INSTANTLY!! I thought as the slug girl slowly approached me. Only one thing left to try... "FIRAGA!!" I encanted, issuing forth a large ball of fire from my right hand. The slug girl however quickly countered it with a jet of her saliva and this time covered me completely in it.

Yuck! She slimed me! I thought as she continued to approach me. I struggled to free myself from my binding on the ground until I had fell to the ground. I continued to fight the sticky spit despite how bleak it looked until finally she had picked me up by my feet and held me upside down.

"Um listen I-I have some berries. They're all yours if you let me go." I said, trying to bargain with the predator.

"Not happening! I hate berries and besides I need meat!" The slug girl said, refusing my offer. I gulped and began to try to break free of her grasp. "Struggle as you might you're not getting away from me this time!" She said as she began to lift me over her mouth. She dropped me and gulped quickly.

Soon I landed in her stomach acids and immediately noticed they were stronger than last time. WHAT THE HELL?! IS SHE ON DRUGS?! I thought as I began to struggle in her belly.

"AQUAJA!!" I encanted which caused nothing to happen. WHAT?! NOTHING?! I'M SCREWED!! I thought as I was beginning to become dizzy. Suddenly a bright flash of light had come and when I regained visibility I was right next to a temple in a temple in the middle of nowhere.

"Okay that's wierd... one second I'm inside a slug girl and the next I'm here in front of temple temple?" I mused aloud.

"Come.... inside...." A voice beckoned from deep in the structure.

"Whoa... wh-where did that come from?! But... it seems... important somehow... I wonder why that is..." I mused.

"Come... inside..." The voice called out again.

"Well whatever it is it saved for a reason..." I mused. "Alright mysterious voice I'm coming!"

I wandered into the front door of the temple and immediately noticed that it was filled with a sense of dread and dispair.

Ugh... what kind of creature lives here?! It's so creepy and filled with dread... I thought as I went down the half lit corridors.

"Come... through the door..." The voice beckoned from behind a gigantic ominous door. I gulped and slowly pushed open the door being cautious of whatever may have lain behind. Inside I found several cyclops digging at the walls, apparently looking for something.

Okay I think I know what's going on now. I think the queen had some of her minions come here to search for something... but what? I thought as I looked through the half open door.

Suddenly the wall they were digging at crumbled and behind it was a fairy, apparently in some sort of coma. I snuck in perfectly keeping my eyes on them and they suddenly gathered around the unconcious fairy.

They then started to drain light from her transforming it into darkness. Suddenly a scream split my ears as they continued to drain the light, turning it into darkness. "Firaga!" I encanted, issuing forth a stream of fire at the cyclops and stopping their apparent reversal.

"Hey it's that guy!" The leader said.

"What?! No way! I thought the queen killed him!" Another said in shock.

"FIRAGA!!" I encanted with all my might, issuing forth a powerful stream of fire at them reducing them to a big pile of ash. I sighed in relief. "Alright mysterious voice is that it? Is that all you wanted from me?" I asked.

Suddenly the fairy woke up. "No, that's far from it, I'm afraid." The fairy said. "However I am getting ahead of myself. I am Nemyra, the queen and guardian of the Fairy Kingdom." She said.

"So you were the one that brought me here?" I asked.

"Indeed I did. I and the other guardians need your help." Nemyra explained.

"Help? But I thought guardians were like protective gods? If you can't do something then what could I do?" I asked becoming confused.

"Let me explain this to you Tyler. Long ago I, the other guardians, and the one you know as Crystal had teamed up to save Felarya and the other worlds from Déméchrelle, the Queen of Darkness. We weren't able to completely destroy her but we were able to seal her away and hoped that she would never awaken. However as you know, recently she had awakened and began to wreak havoc once more, and used you as part of her plan. Her minions are now sapping the light from us guardians and reversing it into darkness. In order to stop her evil plans you must restore all the guardians' light." She explained.

"Okay. I'll do it. Together we'll all stop the horrible design of Déméchrelle once and for all!!" I said.

"Excellent. But be warned. You need proof if you want any of the other guardians to believe you." Nemyra said.

"Proof? What kind of proof?" I asked.

"Magical proof in the form of a spell known only to a specific guardian. I will teach you mine." She said. "It is a powerful spell that activates a light imbued being's hidden strength. In fact you've even used a few times without noticing it." She explained.

"I have? When?" I asked.

"Twice. Both times during an encounter with Déméchrelle. But it is rather dangerous. The more frequently, and longer you use it, your life force will diminish. It is so dangerous that in fact it will even kill most mortals if they try to attempt it instantly." She explained. "You must only tell them what it does and present this wand." She said, popping a wand out of thin air. "This is a sacred artifact sought after by many. Also I would advise sharpening your magical skills. Felarya is dangerous enough without Déméchrelle and your magic may easily be countered by some predators." Nemyra finished.

"Wow. Thank you for your wisdom Nemyra. I'll get going right away." I said.

"Wait. Before you go I must tell you to wait outside my temple for your friends. They too, were chosen and you must have their help if you hope to carry out your task. Whence you've been reunited head to Negav. There, you may find the path to a guardian by the name of Mercreti." Nemyra said.

"Alright. Thanks for everything Nemyra! I'll just get on out of here and wait for my friends." I said.

"Ah but it is I who should be thanking you, Tyler." Nemyra said.

As my friends and I continued through the forest the glint of an object from a bush caught my eye. Hm? What's that? I thought, looking in it's direction. I began to walk towards the bush and found a gem the size of my head, teal in color with red veins running through it. "I wonder what this is..." I wondered aloud causing a gasp from Benjamin and Lucy.

"Tyler that's ascarlin! Do you not know what that thing is worth?!?!" Benjamin asked, apparently shocked by my lack of knowledge of the strange gem.

"Well no I don't. I'm not native to Felarya remember?" I said calmly.

"Even so, it's legendary in just about every single world! It's worth a dozen times that of diamond of the same size!" Benjamin said. I gasped at the immense value of the gigantic gem.

"Well I guess we lucked out then. Who knows, we ought to be able to stock in Negav with this thing." I said, not really stressing the value of the beautiful gem. "Wait a second... I think I saw this before..." I said, beginning to think deeply. I gasped and pulled out Nemyra's wand and realized that it was fitted with ascarlin. "Whoa... that's wierd... I wonder why this was fitted with ascarlin..." I wondered aloud again triggering another outburst from Benjamin.

"THAT'S BECAUSE ASCARLIN BOOSTS THE POWER OF MAGICAL ARTIFACTS, IDIOT!!" Benjamin yelled in my face.

"Okay that was rather uncalled for..." I mumbled under my breath. So with that we continued heading east past the Great Tree. After an hour of traveling we came across a large area protected with what seemed to be a large airport.

"Well that's odd. What's with the airport?" I wondered aloud.

"Oh that? God Tyler you sure are a class A idiot when it comes to Felarya..." Benjamin sighed. "That's the Felarya Express. Basically you pay to ride on aircraft to various places around here as well as a few other dimensions." Benjamin explained.

"I see. Well maybe we could book a trip to Negav. It's probably a lot safer and much quicker than walking." I said.

"Yeah I second that. I'm getting really tired of walking." Lucy said. So we headed over to the Felarya Express and booked a flight to Negav with my massive ascarlin, causing the lady behind the counter to faint. With that we boarded the blimp and waited for it to take off.

After three hours we had started to pass by Frost Peak when the intercom came on to point it out. However abruptly during the message an earsplitting scream was heard. Then over the intercom a rough voice had begun to speak.

"This is your captor speaking, ya bitches. I along with my crappy partner have you all trapped. Don't try any funny business or we will make sure you suffer much freaking longer when we eat you." It said. Immediately everybody began to scream and cower while I noticed a redhaired fairy in an air vent above me. She shrank us all and went away into the vent.

I hopped off my seat and began to stealthily make my way towards the door to the cockpit, hoping the pilot wasn't already turned into a snack. Suddenly the intercom came on again and with it the rough voice.

"Oh lookee here we have a little hero!" It said as I tried to open the door. It opened but behind it was a harpy with the intercom microphone. I gasped as she reached for me with her bird foot. However, due to my training prior to leaving Nemyra's Temple, I had dodged her clawed foot and pulled my wand from my belt.

"Take this!!" I shouted as I created a stream of fire from my wand which she immediately snuffed out, using a wash of water magic.

"Hah! You're foolish to try to resist, you damned prey you!" She cussed. I cringed at the thought of her being able to counter my fire magic as well as her rough, cussy, rude, personality.

I took a step back and rushed at her. I jumped up, immediately creating jets of fire from my feet allowing me to hover as well as boosting my speed. I let the jets cease and punched her in the gut, sending her flying into the control panel. Electricity arked into her body as she screamed in pain and the blimp began to fall.

"Damn you!" She cussed as she shrunk down to the size of the fairy I saw before. "Come on Macy, you bitch! We're leaving before this thing comes down and kills us all with these guys!" She hissed as she jumped out a half open window, followed by the same redhaired fairy I saw before. Just before she followed out she winked at me, returning us all to normal size and flew away.

I was dazed, but immediately realized that the blimp was going down fast. I immediately jumped into the pilot's chair and tried to steer the gigantic air vessel. However due to the damage to the control panel all I could do was get an evacuation done. With the pilot and the crew most likely being digested by the harpy that had caused all this it was up to me.

"ATTENTION EVERYBODY!!" I yelled into the intercom. "THE BLIMP IS GOING TO CRASH AND UNFORTUANTELY THERE IS NOTHING ANYBODY CAN DO TO STOP IT!! WE NEED TO ABANDON SHIP IF WE WANT TO SURVIVE!!" I continued flipping through a large emergency situation book. "THERE ARE PARACHUTES UNDERNEATH EACH SEAT! GRAB ONE AND JUMP OUT!!" I explained. And with that I got up and followed my own instructions. However it turns the harpy and fairy didn't quite leave the area of the blimp yet as they had grabbed all the other passengers, promptly eating them.

Yet again, before leaving the redhaired fairy faced me and winked at me, as if signaling we would meet again some day.

I slowly got up, shivering like there was no tomorrow, shaking off a thin layer of snow, and looking around my surroundings. "B-B-B-Benjamin?! L-Lucy?!" I called out, noticing my friends weren't around. "Where are you?!" I continued to shiver when I realized I could do I fire magic.

I summoned a dome of flame around me to warm up when an earsplitting scream rocked my ears, dousing my protective dome. I quickly came to realize that the scream belonged to Benjamin and ran to the source. I searched, my visibility low, as I heard Lucy scream as well.

Suddenly I ran into a block of ice and realized that Lucy was frozen inside. "Lucy!" I gasped in shock. "What happened here?!" I asked rhetorcally.

"Oh it seems I have another snack..." I voice called out. I looked around and suddenly felt a rush of snow and ice come on my back. I turned around, my movement impaired by my now frozen back.

"Oh c-c-c-crap... a f-f-f-f-frost sprite..." I said as I spotted the body of a fairy seeming to be made of snow and ice.

"Wow I'm honored that you know about my kind! But sadly you'll be joining your friends as my popsicles pretty soon." She said.

"W-w-w-we'll s-see about that!" I said. Frozen though my body was I wasn't going to give in.

Suddenly the frost sprite had flown up into the air with such grace and beauty that I almost forgot the danger I and my friends were in. She fired down a beam of what seemed to be ice energy and I fired up a beam of fire to protect myself from getting frozen.

However the forst sprite's strength proved much too strong for me to handle as my fire was getting pushed back and even pushing myself into the thick snow. I pushed it back with all my magical might and burned the fairy as my fire reached her hand.

"Why you little bitch! You burnt me! I was going to go easy on you but now you've forced my hand!" She yelled as a surge of incredibly cold energy rushed over me. Suddenly she dissappeared but as suddenly as she dissappeared she reappeared behind me and froze my legs in a block of ice.

"I guess it's time to break out the big guns now!" I said as I burst a large blue jet of fire from my hand at the ice that bound me. To my complete and utter shock and dispair however it had frozen into ice on my hand.

"What the hell?! Fire melts snow and ice! Snow and ice doesn't freeze fire!!" I shouted as I stuggled to break my strong, icy prison.

"Well I guess I'll show you what'll happen once I freeze you completely. After all it'll be pretty scary for you!" The frost sprite said as I continued to struggle with my icy encasement.

She grabbed Lucy and put her in her mouth headfirst and began sucking on her. My eyes were frozen to watch the horror that was going on. I forced my unfrozen hand and aimed a stream of fire at her only to freeze that hand as well.

I immediately began to take in a deep breath and exhaled a temendous amount of fire which burned so badly I stopped before any of it even reached the tremendous fairy/elemental. My eyes still fixed to the horrid sight of Lucy being sucked on as a popsicle, steam began to rise from the sprite's feet.

"Ouch!!" The frost sprite yelped as she spat my fairy friend on to the ground, partially thawed. "Who's doing that?!" She demanded.

"That would be me! The Young Maiden at your service!" A young, sweet sounding voice retorted. I looked at the sprite's feet to see the red haired fairy from before but this time no larger or smaller than myself, judging from the distance.

Her hands were pointed at the frost sprite's feet, issuing forth two streams of purple fire.

"AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!" The frost sprite screamed. "I'M MELTING!!" And that she was, for her feet and legs had dissappeared into a puddle while the fairy was working away at melting her upper body. In all this I had realized her eyes were a bright crimson in color.

Suddenly the apparently pyromaniac fairy had jumped into the air and just above the frost sprite's head. The large sprite screamed as the Young Maiden had charged up a ball of white hot fire in her hands and shot it down at her, completely vaporizing her, the ice surrounding my legs, the ice surrounding Lucy, and revealing a perfectly thawed and roasted Benjamin.

I slowly got up and it quickly registered in my head the reason that fairy had saved us all. "So that's why you saved us isn't it?! You saved us from that frost sprite just so you could eat us!!" I yelled as I fired up my hands.

"Relax I'm not here to eat you. In fact to be completely honest I've already eaten too much!" The fairy said calmly.

"Then where's your harpy friend huh?! Waiting for the right time to come in and eat us?!" I demanded beginning to feel rage burning within me.

"Oh, her? Well she's not going to be doing and swooping anymore I can guaruntee that!" She said spiritedly.

"And why's that?!" I demanded.

"Because she's in my belly!" She said with a giggle as she patted her belly. Suddenly my fear and rage turned into shock and more fear as the fire on my hands dissipated, leaving behind a slight trace of burns.

"B-but wasn't she your partner?!" I asked.

"Actually I had my sights set on her ever since the first day of my trial. I've already got what I need from her and I figured she'd make a nice snack too!" The fairy said, pointing to the top of her head which was adorned with a light feather. "Anyways take this." She said as she tossed a red crystal at me, which hit my forehead and landed in the snow in front of me. "A little momento and tool from I, the Young Maiden!" She said as she shrank down and flew off.

"What the heck was that?" I asked as I picked up the glistening red jewel.

"Ah! There it is! Negav isn't too far away now, guys!" I said as Negav had become a large, towering, walled, mega stucture. And we continued through the forest in hopes of finding Mercreti. Soon we had ventured past the walls and into the relative safety meglopolis. After twenty minutes of searching we found a building which obviously was some sort of bar.

We went in and I sat down on the western style chair. "What can I do ya for travelers?" The bartender asked me and my friends. "What do ya want?"

"Information." I said bluntly, avoiding any sight of achohol as not to set off my instincts.

"What kind of information?" The bartender asked.

"I'm looking for a girl by the name of Mercreti. Ya heard of her?" I asked, still avoiding the sight.

"Yeah I heard of her. But more importantly I've heard of her parents. After all they're part of the Ps'isol Magiocrats who govern Negav. They even invented the Isolon Eye." He said.

"Well spill. Tell me what you know." I said, beginning to plug up my nose from the scent of the achohol in there.

"Buddy are you feeling alright? You don't look so good. You tryin' to quit?" He said, noticing my avoidance of any sense of achohol.

"I'm fine." I said in a nasal voice. "Just tell me what you know about Mercreti." I said.

"Alright fine. But if you want that information you'll have to buy something." The bartender said.

"Alright fine." I said as I looked through my backpack seeing if my change from the large ascarlin I paid my ride for was still there. And sure enough there were still a large amount of diamonds in there.

I looked things over and saw only achoholic drinks. "Benjamin, Lucy you want something? I'm buying." I said, not letting my rage over achohol hinder my progress.

"Umm yeah I guess." Benjamin said. "I'll have a beer." He said.

"Alright then one beer coming at ya!" The bartender said as he expertly slid a mug of beer to Benjamin.

"Alright now I'll tell you. Now shockingly while Mercreti is the daughter of a Ps'isol Magiocrat she was never really well protected." The bartender began.

"Never really well protected?" I asked trying desperately to keep my cool.

"Yeah. For some reason nobody bothered to protect her from all the thugs and lowlifes around here and really there was never any real need. That's because she's been seen literally pwning all the people who tried to get her." The bartender continued.

"Interesting. Continue." I said.

"She up and dissappeared three years ago and nobody's seen her since she last got attacked by a fool neko." The bartender said. "Damn cat people. They always think they're better than us humans because they're supposedly faster and stronger" He said. Suddenly Benjamin slashed his face.

"Benjamin take it easy! I don't like racism either but we almost had everything we needed!" I yelled, some of my achoholic rage leaking out.

Suddenly the bartender disappeared. "Great! Now he's probably going to call the cops! We better get outta here while we can." I said as I regained control over my emotions. So that we did and we continued through the streets of Negav.

"Hey Tyler I've got a question." Lucy asked as we walked on.

"Shoot." I said.

"Well back at the bar you were looking down and you had your nose plugged. What was that about." Lucy asked with a concerned tone of voice.

"I was hoping to avoid that... but I suppose you won't stop until I tell you." I said. "When I was a little kid my parents were killed by a drunk driver. Ever since then I get enraged whenever I sense achohol in some way." I explained, keeping my calm somewhat emotionless expression.

"Oh I'm so sorry..." Lucy said as she put a hand on my shoulder.

"Anyways we need to find Mercreti." I said, which was somehow amplified.

"Excuse me travelers did you say you were looking for Mercreti?" An old, shrivelly voice called out to us.

I headed over to her. "Yeah. Why do you know something?" I asked the old woman.

"As a matter of fact I do. Why I've seen her around Fairy Pond up north of here just last week!" The old woman said.

"Thank you for the information." I said. And so we headed north to Fairy Pond. After several hours of traveling we finally made it and found a little girl pacing around on the water's edge.

"Hey! Do you know where I can find Mercreti?" I called out to her. Suddenly she rushed up to my and blasted me into a nearby tree with gale force winds.

"Why have you been looking for me?!" She asked as she pinned me to it by manipulating the tree's branches with magic. I reached for my wand, entrusted to me by Nemyra, and held it up by my face.

"The spell... it activates a light imbued being's... hidden power..." I managed to choke out. Suddenly the tree's grasp on me let up and I collapsed onto the ground.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Mercreti apologized. "It's just that things have been so dangerous lately and-"

"Save it. I know the story so you don't have to repeat it." I said as I brushed myself off. Suddenly the image of Mercreti faded a little.

"I'm sorry. This is only an image of me. The cyclops have already begun to drain my light. They're doing so in a hidden cave at the bottom of Fairy Pond." Mercreti explained.

"Well that's not good. Looks pretty deep. The pressure would probably crush us before we could get to the bottom. Plus even if we found a way around that we'd drown." I said, going over the circumstances.

"Tyler do you know nothing about Felarya?!" Benjamin demanded, getting a rather angry look in his face. "Fairy Pond has a spell on it that prevents drowning! No matter how hard one tries they'd never drown here!"

"I see. But still the pressure of the water at those depths would definately crush us to death." I said.

"Pressures?! What are you blabbing about?!" Benjamin demanded.

"The pressures of the water. Water is heavier than air and being under 100 of water is really dangerous to something that isn't well adapted to high pressure. Heck it would kill a person." I explained.

"Well still there has to be a way!" Benjamin exclaimed. "You some way to get something that we could use to get to the bottom! Some kind of submersible!" Suddenly something dawned on me.

"Of course! A submarine!" I shouted, feeling like a scientist during a eureka moment. Suddenly I stomped the ground raising a large rock.

"Um I'm afraid to ask but what's that rock for?" Benjamin asked, beginning to show signs of nervousness.

"All the better to crush you with cat man." I said, laughing like a maniac as Benjamin gulped. "No not quite. I'm going to make this into a submarine!" I explained as I stomped the ground again forcing up a somewhat smaller rock.

"A submarine?" Lucy asked, a confused look on her face.

"Yep a submarine. The people back in my homeworld use them to explore all the various oceans, lakes, and other deep parts of water that they can't get to without some sort of help. Granted they're alot more advanced than this one and made of metal but a rock one ought to do just fine." I explained as I chipped away at the large rock with my smaller one which quickly shaped it.

After thirty minutes of tireless working and magical shortcuts I had finally crafted a submarine with the name 'Seaworthy Felarya' etched onto the back. "Hey guys come take a look at this!" I said, waking up Benjamin and Lucy.

"I call it Seaworthy Felarya!" I said simply.

"Yeah two things." Benjamin said. "First this is a lake not a sea. Second is this thing safe?"

"Well yes it's perfectly safe." I said. "So hop in." I said, opening the hatch. I hopped in myself and used some earth magic to get us in the water where we bobbed on the surface.

"Okay so this thing floats?!" Lucy said amazed.

"Yep. One of the marvels of buoyancy!" I said as I opened a hatch on the rear with the use of my magic.

"Okay now you're making stuff up. Buoyancy? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of." Benjamin said.

"Well be that as it may buoyancy is very real and with the use of it I can make things float or sink on the water. It's all about how much water and air something has in it. If it has more water than it does air it'll sink and vise versa if there's more air than it does water." I explained as we hit the bottom.

"Okay now what answer man? We're stuck here on the bottom of Fairy Pond and the cave is to the right and above us!" Benjamin complained.

"I planned for this situation Benjamin." I said as the earth moved us directly under thecave entrance.

"Okay then how do we get up there?" Benjamin asked.

"Again I planned for that." I said. I opened the hatch on the back again and with the use of my water magic I forced it out as I closed the hatch again, lifting us to the entrance of the cave. "Never doubt me." I said simply as I opened the hatch and went into the cave.

"Stay close." I said as we went deeper into the cave. Soon we happened upon a wierd room with a black fire and Mercreti's real body about to be thrown in. I rushed in and with a deep breath exhaled a strong wind which blew out the fire and Mercreti out of the cyclop's hands. I rushed in and fired up my hands flaming every cyclops in sight until every last one was a pile of ash on the damp cave floor.

With that Mercreti woke up and told us the next guardian we had to find was the dimensional chimera, Notys, at the bottom of Topazial Sea.

"How much longer do you think he's going to stare at the ocean, Lucy?" Benjamin asked as I looked out at the crashing waves, crafting a plan.

"Not sure. It might go on for a few more hours." Lucy replied.

Hmm... rocks'll sink... light stuff'll sink when we get in plus it won't last an attack... if only there was a way to get something durable like rock to float... I thought. "ARGH!!" I yelled as I threw a rock into the ocean.

I began to stare at the ocean again when the rock floated. My interest piqued as I waded out into the ocean to pick up the rock and examine it closer. The rock had tiny almost microscopic holes in and I gave it a good squeeze.

The rock hadn't been damaged at all and instantly I had to firgure out how to create such a rock.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT THERE?" Benjamin called out. I realized I had been lost in my thoughts. I waded back in and shook myself off.

"Sorry about that. I just think so deep so quick and then I lose awareness of what's around me." I said. "But I made an amazing discovery!"

"Amazing discovery? Like what? Brain coral?" Benjamin retorted.

"Just watch this." I said as I lead them to the beach. "Alright. So then see this rock in my hands?" I said as I pointed out my porus rock.

"Yeah what about it?" Benjamin asked.

"Just watch what happens when I throw it in the water." I said. I threw it in the water and like before it floated to the surface. I waded out again to get it and brought it back. "See? It floated to the surface!" I said with excitement.

"So? That's not going to help us much!" Benjamin said.

"Actually that's where I disagree. You see, this rock has a lot of tiny holes in it and there's a type of rock on my homeworld called pumic which floats on water just like this." I explained. "And what's more I might be able to make a boat out of it! All I'd need is a large rock to start with and then we'd be sailing!"

"Okay fine. Play with your rocks for now. But I'm going to go find something to eat. I'll be back soon." Benjamin said.

"Lucy would you keep an eye on him? So he doesn't get himself killed?" I asked.

"Okay I'll keep an eye on him." Lucy said as she began to shadow the neko.

I stomped the ground raising a large rock from the Earth. I began punching holes into the rock and started shaping it with a smaller rock. I had carved out a decent sized boat for Benjamin, Lucy, and myself and pushed it into the water. However unlike the porus rock I had thrown the boat sank as it sucked up the water like a sponge.

"Ugh... I can't believe it! I spent so much time and effort on that thing and it doesn't even work! What am I doing wrong?!" I yelled into the air as the water lapped my feet. Suddenly I heard a sweet melody of music draw me into the forest.

I followed the sweet sound until I eventually found a young neko girl with a harp as the source, right next to Benjamin and Lucy, and right in front of a hungry looking naga. "Aww! You're so talented! I'm so happy you decided to give me a performance!" The naga said after the young neko stopped. "Tell you what: I'm going to go away now and let you go back to your village. And if I see any other hungry predators headed your way I'll make sure they don't get to you. After all I don't want you or the rest of your kind to get eaten!" She said as she took a scale off her tail and dropped it in front of them.

"Thank you. I'm glad to have pleased you with my music. If you come by Rosic Neko Village I'll be more than happy to treat you to another song." The young neko said.

"Alright. Now then if you'll excuse me I've got to get back to hunting." The naga said as she slithered off.

"Hey Tyler!" Lucy called out to me. "Did you already finish that boat of yours?"

"Yeah I did." I said as I walked to my friends. "But it didn't pass it's maiden voyage." I said with a sigh.

"It's what?" Benjamin asked.

"Maiden voyage. As in a test run. It sank into the water." I explained. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyways who's this?" I asked, turning my attention to the young neko.

"I'm Lola. It's nice to meet you." She said.

"Well it's nice to meet you Lola. I'm Tyler." I said as I extended my hand. Lola grabbed it and gave it a gentle shake. "So Lola what brings you out here? And why were you singing for that naga?" I asked.

"Well it's part of my trial. I have to stop a predator from eating me with music and return in order to pass it." Lola explained.

"Wow. That must be pretty difficult considering how hungry predators around here can be." I said.

"Actually for most it's not that difficult. Music comes naturally to us, Rosic Nekos." She explained.

"Rosic Neko? What exactly is a Rosic Neko?" I asked curiously.

"Oh God Tyler not again..." Benjamin began. "The Rosic Nekos are a tribe of nekos who protect themselves through the use of music. In fact they make the best music in all of Felarya!" Benjamin explained.

"Okay. So anyways I'm going back to the beach to try to figure out why my boat sank." I said.

"Um excuse me but maybe I could help you." Lola said.

"Okay. I'm willing to take some advice. I don't exactly have anything to lose." I said.

"Okay. So you might not know by looking at me but I really like to fish off the coast of Topazial Sea. And I do so by making boats once I'm at the beach. Now do this by making a boat out of wood. And because Topazial Sea is so dangerous I coat it in mud made from the soil around here. I then let it dry and then I'll sail again." She explained.

"Wow. Thanks for the advice Lola. I wish you luck on getting back home." I said.

"Your welcome. I hope your journey is a safe one." She said as she walked off with her harp.

Well she doesn't know us. We always find trouble one way or the other. I thought. After another hour of hard work on the beach I had finally crafted a boat that would serve us well.

"Alright it's time to set sail on the Seaworthy Felarya II!" I said as I stuck my hands in the water and created cyclones, pushing us out to sea.

Hmm...

Well, it's obviously unapologetically silly, and I can see you're doing your best. You work fast, mister, too... you're posting those things within HOURS of each other... maybe it would be better if you gave us time to read?

Then again, Tyler is starting to come out as overpowered. I like a guy carving a rock boat at cartoonish speed as much as the next, and I appreciate you skipping pointless battles with cyclopses... but you should try something else than just "he came and burminated them all".

Stabs wrote:

Hmm...

Well, it's obviously unapologetically silly, and I can see you're doing your best. You work fast, mister, too... you're posting those things within HOURS of each other... maybe it would be better if you gave us time to read?

Then again, Tyler is starting to come out as overpowered. I like a guy carving a rock boat at cartoonish speed as much as the next, and I appreciate you skipping pointless battles with cyclopses... but you should try something else than just "he came and burminated them all".

Yeah I just have a lot of time on my hands and I daydream them to see how they play out. And he used magic to speed it up. Also there will be twists here and there aside from him coming in and anhialating them.

again I think you are going a bit too fast, jumping to one situation to another.. it's a bit confusing ^^;
And you main character is a bit powerful I think.. being involved with guardians is generally not a good idea I believe >>

Karbo, you mean a bit too strong. Not a bit strong. That means something completely different.

But I disagree about the guardians, they need some love too! No one ever uses them anymore! Those guys must be picking the dust off their navels and sticking their heads in the oven in boredom. I'm sure he had to offer them a bathroom... and some oxygen, after their long stay in the large, dark, damp room where you've been keeping them, big K.

WARNING!!!! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS EXTREME VIOLENCE AND BLOOD!!! READER DESCRETION IS ADVISED!!!










Ugh... I wish I put a sail on this thing... I thought as we continued over the waves.

"Hey Tyler! There's an island over there!" Benjamin called out from the other side of the boat.

An island? Well I guess we should stop there... I thought. Suddenly the cyclones in my hands dissapated. Oh crap! This isn't good!

"Hey Tyler, why did we stop?" Lucy asked.

"Um... I sorta ran out..." I said, becoming embarressed.

"Ran out?! What does that mean?!" Benjamin exclaimed.

"It means I did too much magic and now I can't do any more for now..." I explained nervously.

"What?! Don't you have a backup plan?!" Benjamin exclaimed.

"Unfortunately no. I didn't think this would happen before we hit an island." I explained.

"Well thanks to that fatal miscaculation we're sitting ducks!!" Benjamin exclaimed.

"Hey stop fighting you two! We've got much more important things to deal with right now!" Lucy yelled over us, pointing towards several figures running over the water.

I looked at them and a chill ran up my spine. Damnit! Cyclops! And at the worst possible moment! I thought.

Suddenly I felt a presence behind me. I turned around and found a cyclops wielding a gigantic battle hammer behind me. He smirked and swung it at me, flinging mme into the ocean.

"TYLER!!" Benjamin and Lucy screamed simultaniously.

I bobbed to the surface, gasping for air. Suddenly he smacked me again with his hammer, sending me down into the briny sea.

My lungs burned as I sank like a stone. Suddenly I felt a stabbing pain in my forehead. I screamed, allowing water into my lungs.

What the hell hit me?! I thought. Suddenly I had felt something much akin to electricity surge through my body. I screamed again allowing even more water into my lungs.

Pain filled my body and suddenly my back felt like something shot out of it. Did an arrow pierce me?! I thought. No... it can't be... there isn't any pain like this anywhere else

Suddenly everything heated up. The water was becoming hot as well as my body. The feeling was much akin to being in boiling water, I presumed, but also rather numbing as well.

My eyes opened suddenly, against my will and the pain of the salt water rushed in. Against my will I shot up out of the water. I slowly floated onto the surface of the water, my lungs burning and every part of my body in immense pain.

I saw several hammer wielding cyclops in front of me and I pointed my finger at them. I saw a ball of blue fire form in on my finger. The ball sent shocks down my arm and through my body as though it was electricty.

It launched off my finger, blasting me backwards into a stone structure and killing all the cyclops that were in front of me. When I finally stopped pushing the structure back I collapsed onto wet sand.

"Whoa... what was that?! Why did you hold all that back Tyler?!" Benjamin exclaimed. "Tyler? Are you alright?"

My vision was becoming blurry, and my strength fading. I lost conciousness.










Ugh... where am I? I thought, waking up.

"Oh thank goodness! You're awake!" Lucy said. I looked around and found my fairy friend by my side. I chuckled weakly and smiled at her.

"Where are we?" I asked weakly.

"We're in a cave on an island on the Topazial Sea." Lucy said. "That blast of lightning sent you flying into the boat and it propelled us onto the shore of the island Benjamin spotted."

"L-lightning?" I asked, becoming confused.

"Yeah. I never knew you could use lightning magic." Lucy said.

"Well neither did I..." I stated. "Oh wait a second. Where's Benjamin?" I asked.

"Somewhere on the island. He said that he had too find food and water since our rations are so low." Lucy explained.

"What?! Doesn't he know that Demechrelle's minions are probably searching for us right now?! He's gonna get himself killed!!" I exclaimed.

"He does know that. I tried to reason with him but he said that you'd want him to do it." Lucy explained.

"Well we have to find him!" I exclaimed.

"Actually we can't do that. If I leave you here then you're vulnrable. If I take you with me then I won't be able to defend us from possible attacks as well." Lucy explained.

"Well then you can shrink me and carry me around! What about that?" I suggested.

Lucy just shook her head. "I'm sorry but that's not an option. I damaged my wings when you slammed into the boat." She explained. "We have no choice but to wait here."

"Well I can't just lay around here and let my friend get killed! Whether you're coming with me or not I'm going to search for him!" I said, forcing myself too my feet.

"Tyler lay down! You're really banged up!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Sorry but I can't just lay around here, doing nothing! I've got to find Benjamin and that's that!" I said. I rushed out of the cave, dispite my injuries. Suddenly a scream split my ears.

I ran towards the source and suddenly I found myself inn front of a dome of dark energy with Demechrelle and Benjamin inside.

"BENJAMIN!!" I yelled as Demechrelle kicked him aside. He was groaning and trying to get himself up on his feet but failed. I pounded on the dome and suddenly it expanded and closed me in.

I collapsed from the extreme agony I was in. I huffed as my vision began to become blurry.

"Ahh... fresh meat..." She said.

"You won't get away with this Demechrelle! I beat you once and I can do it again!" I said struggling to stand up.

"I'm not Demechrelle. I'm simply one of her elite minions." She said. "And she gave me the special task of disposing of you and your three allies after I inhabit the body of Notys, which I've already accomplished. Master Demechrelle said I can do whatever I want with you do long as you die. And I was thinking about how I dispose of you for a long time."

"But now I've decided that I'll knock the fight out of you three one by one. And then when all three of you are down I'll eat you all." She continued. "And on top of that I'll make sure you don't pass out. I want you to suffer when you three die."

I was stunned by this minion's plans. I couldn't move anything.

"TYLER! BENJAMIN!" A voice called out.

I turned around and found Lucy banging on the new border of the dome. "LUCY RUN! SAVE YOURSELF!" Benjamin and I yelled to her simultaniously. Then the dome expaneded again and Lucy was now trapped with us.

Demechrelle's minion moved towards Lucy, who was now stunned as well, and she stopped. Benjamin was on the ground holding onto her leg with his claws.

"Oh so you want to play some more kitty? I'm happy to appease you." She said. Suddenly she grabbed me and swung me on top of Benjamin, injuring the both of us.

"That was fun. If you want to play even more I'll be more than happy to do so." She said in a cruel tone. "Now to play with my newest toy..."

She slowly moved towards Lucy and she lunged at her, using me as a weapon again, letting go just as I made contact. Lucy and I were flung deeper into the dome.

"That's enough!" I exclaimed. "I've had enough of your crap! Leave Benjamin and Lucy out of this!" I said as I forced myself up to my feet.

"Oh you're pretty bold to talk like that with such serious injuries! And I must say I'm surprised you're even able to move at all. Maybe I should play with you a bit longer..." She said in an evil tone.

"Even so I can't let you act like we're just toys to violently play with. It's about time someone taught you manners and I guess I'm the one to do it!" I said, a small portion of strength returning to me.

I lunged at her and swung back my arm but she disappeared right before my eyes to be replaced by Lucy. I tried to stop but it was too late. I had punched her right in her face.

"COWARD! Warping out of the way is one thing but to put my friend in your spot?! You're a coward!" I exclaimed.

The minion rose out of the ground right underneath Lucy, engulfing her.

What the hell?! I can't believe it! I just helped her fulfill her plans!! I thought.

"Very good. You put two and two together!" The minion chuckled in an evil, mocking tone.

Suddenly my strength ran away from me and I collapsed on the ground. The minion walked up to me kicked me across the ground. My vision was becoming blurrier and I was beginning to see three of everything.

"You are proving to be a pitiful host..." A voice said from nowhere.

"Wh-who are you?! And what do you mean by host?!" I demanded the voice.

"Who are you talking to? There's nobody here except you, me, and your allies." The minion said.

"I am the spirit that dwell within the Crimson Crystal... you are a host, weak of body... normally I wouldn't lend assistance to such weaklings such as you but seeing as if you die I die with you... and since you seem so resourceful and smart I'll permit this just once... The voice said.

Suddenly I felt power surge through me. Lightning arced around my body. On one hand I was filled with rage and power but on the other I felt on fire. I felt the minion's presence behind me.

I turned around and saw all three of her swing back her arm to punch me. But before she could make contact a large arc of electricity countered her blow, sending her back. She coughed up a shrunken Lucy in all the chaos.

"So you're that strong huh?! No wonder you managed to kill my minions!" She said, wiping spit from her mouth. "Well I guess it's time I stopped holding back!"

Suddenly the minion disappeared and reappeared behind me with lightning speed. I turned around and saw her swing her arm back. I did the same and our fists landed on each other's faces at precisely the same time, flinging us both in opposite directions.

I had flown and almost landed on Lucy.

Crap! I can't let the reactions of the battle harm them! And I'll bet if I put up and earth wall it won't do any good! I thought, clenching my fists.

"You okay Tyler?" Benjamin asked. I turned around and saw Benjamin holding Lucy in his hands.

"I've been better..." I stated. Suddenly the minion came up behind Benjamin and swung back her arm. "BENJAMIN, BEHIND YOU!" I shouted as I directed an electric arc to the minion, stopping her cold.

"Benjamin, it's too dangerous for you and Lucy to stay here! You have to run away!" I said.

"What?! No I won't leave you here alone!" Benjamin exclaimed. "She's too powerful! I managed to survive long enough to know that she's too much for even you!"

"Benjamin if you stay here you'll get killed by the reacions! If that happens then all is lost! I'm probably gonna die anyway but you've got a chance at survival! Get outta here and let me take care of this!" I demanded.

"Oh boo hoo! Such a heartwarming moment! I hate heartwarming moments!" The minion said. She summoned a sword of darkness and rushed Benjamin. Immediately without thinking I pushed Benjamin out of the way and took the blow full on. I collapsed on the ground and coughed up a puddle of blood.

"B-Benjamin... are you... alright?" I asked weakly.

"You... you saved me... you took it head on..." Benjamin said in shock.

I forced myself to my feet and faced Demechrelle's minion. This is my last chance... if I don't manage to succeed then all is lost... I thought, beginning to shed a tear. I just hope they'll find it in their hearts to forgive me...

"Oh waah! Enough with the soap opera already! I've had just about enough of your sappy crap!" The minion said.

"Alright! While I'm gonna die, I'm certain of that now, but I'm taking you with me!" I exclaimed. "TO HELL WITH YA!!" I pointed my finger at her and fired a beam of light at her. She dodged just to my expectations.

"HAHAHAHA!! IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!" She exclaimed. I twisted my arm and the beam had moved with it's movements. I pulled back and the beam wrapped around her.

"AHHH!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET ME GO!! THAT THING STINGS!" She demanded.

I pointed another finger from my other hand at her and began charging up my final attack: an immense ball of light.

"WH-WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THAT?!?! PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME!! SPARE ME!!" She said.

"SPARE YOU?!?! YOU MUST BE INSANE TO THINK I'D DO THAT!! YOU'VE PUSHED ME FAR BEYOND THE POINT OF SPARING YOU!!" I exclaimed. I pulled back on my beam arm to bring her to point black range. "DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" I screamed as she was pulled to the ideal range.

I fired my ball and in a flash of blinding light I was blasted off the island. I had won. But at a great cost. I made the ultimate sacrifice for my friends, my family, and all the worlds.

And also I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I was beginning to have some doubts on whether or not my story was worth continuing and when I decided I should keep it up at least untill the end I had quite a bit of writers block.