ＳＥＣＯＮＤ ＣＨＡＮＣＥＳ Archive of Entries (Tri-Town Showdown)
Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2014 8:34 pm
xxx • The Forest Dryad by Setsunasa - 9/1/14
Quote:
In a magical forest and a land of plenty, a little dryad is about to learn the true strength of overcoming fear.
Starting Items: - A small dogwood tree background, the home tree of the dryad. - The dryad's hair, long, wavy and brown that trails to the ground. It is decorated with the white and pink dogwood flowers. - A delicate, wrap-around garb of dogwood flowers. The clothing of the dryad. - A "floor" item of a lot of fruit and flowers, to show she lives in a land of plenty.
1st Evolution: - A seed of fear has been planted, borne to her lands by foreign winds. The seed is oval in shape with pointy ends, with roots that have thorns and spikes to latch onto any ground. - Stylized wind lines that have a couple dogwood flowers and petals flowing with it. - An arm pose that looks like one hand is up by the face to look like it's holding back hair being blown by the wind, and the other arm out delicately to brace against the wind.
2nd Evolution: - Dark brown and mahogany stranglethorns begin to grow, about the size of a small bush that ominously glow a dull blood red. The forest residents have tried every conceivable way to remove it but it always grows back. Fear and uncertainty spread, which only help the thorns grow. - There is a body-hugging outfit of spindly stranglethorns, a bit like a bathing suit. - A pair of eye contacts, reddish-brown pupils with a soft red glow, and a sharp black mascara line to look like thorns. - Another pair of eye contacts, soft pink eyes with a warm golden glow. These eyes look worried, as if the owner is unsure of the future. These are the dryad's eyes.
3rd Evolution: - The fruit of the land has spoiled, this is a arm pose where a black/gray apple is being dropped by outstretched hands. - Stranglethorn vines that swirl around the avatar. - The dryad chooses to turn her fear into strength and love for her forest. This is another arm pose that hold a strong golden glow close to the user's chest. - Dogwood flowers swirl around in a vortex around the feet and behind the avatar. - Leg mods with stylish thigh-high wood-like thin boots with pink dogwood flowers around the edges.
Final Evolution: - The stranglethorn vines turn into trails of beautiful flowers. - An arm pose where the arms are stretched out, as if touching the stranglethorn and purifying them. - Long, light golden, curly hair that belong to the transcended dryad. - Golden, translucent butterfly fairy wings. They look like large glasswing butterfly wings.
• Winter Leaves by Dumpling-San - 9/2/14 2nd PLACE
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Twelve men and women sat around a large bonfire, conversing about the weather, sharing stories, giving advice, and ranting. The fire glowed a serene orange color, and occasionally, sparks would shoot up into the sky and float down merrily. A light breeze rustled the remaining leaves. The smell of smoke was apparent in the crisp Autumn air. There was a full moon that shed its silky white light where the glow of the fire did not reach. Everyone was happy; the world was in a perfect place.
The man sitting at the head of the circle stood up briskly and brushed imaginary dust off of his billowing red robes. He had sharp blue eyes, fiery orange hair, and a kind smile. As he stood up, the other eleven people feel silent. The man cleared his throat and began talking in a hearty voice. "It's that time of year again everyone. The year's going to be over before we know it, so it's best to start thinking about the future and reflecting on the past." The majority of his audience groaned. A short stout woman with soft, lilac eyes and caramel hair stood up and spoke in a calm, clear voice. Her diction was sharp and precise.
"October, you always want to start planning really early, off the bat. Not everyone feels like reflecting. We should do it when December will sit at the head of the bonfire. That way, we;ll all be just a tad bit wiser than we already are." When she mentioned December, the girl gestured towards a quiet man with silver hair and eyes. He was staring off into the distance and wasn't paying attention. Murmurs of approval rose up from the rest of the seasons at the girl's proposal to push the planning session back for once.
October scratched his chin, deep in thought. A few minutes passed filled with deep silence. After a long sigh, October collapsed, defeated, into his chair. "May, you always were one to think things through. Perhaps you are right." After admitting this, May bowed before October. "Thank you."
A call from one of the months demanded they get on to sharing the monthly present. The rest of the group yelled out their agreement to get the show on the road. May smoothed her lime green robes and sat down eagerly. Every month, the different head would provide beautiful gifts for the others. That way, it would encourage giving and unity. Everyone got the same present as the others, but it had to be different from the last present given out. Last October, the gift had been and orange knit cap.
October reached into a old, beaten up sack at his feet and pulled out eleven presents wrapped in orange wrapping paper and tied with a neat, brown bow. Once everyone had their present, October counted to three, and they all opened them together. The present was a plaid apron with the colors red, orange, and brown. There was also a leaf pattern on some parts. A chorus of thank-yous rose up from the crowd. October's eyes lit up with delight. The meeting ended soon after that with a toast of champagne and a slew of good-byes. Next month, everyone would meet and see each other again.
November and December passed. A purple and white scarf was the present for November, and December gave out a scented candle to everyone. When December was at the head of the bonfire, everyone had such fun that they forgot to plan and reflect. They all parted ways, and a new year dawned.
It was certainly a catastrophe indeed. The weather was out of whack, and many buildings around the world were destroyed. Famines began to pop up frequently, and disease spread like a new fashion trend. Countless humans died that year, and the months were unsure whether the Earth would ever fully recover. A lot of land and cities were destroyed, many people were dead, homeless, or wounded. In addition to all of this, the economy in most countries crashed. The gifts that year were only given out by kind but shy March and fiery August. June and July, who normally shared August's spirit and peppiness became more introverted and quiet. April was rapidly losing weight and sleep. September, January, and February were always praying for a chance to begin again.
When October came around once again, nobody complained about planning. There was no conversation, no laughing, no stories. However, there was a present. It was a bracelet made of silver. Twelve charms dangled from it. There was a snowflake for January, a heart for February, a clover for March, a raindrop for April, a flower for May, a sun for June, a cake for July, a suitcase for August, a leaf for September, a pumpkin for October, a basket of fruit for November, and a glass of champagne for December. When every month put their bracelet on, October said: "Let this be a reminder to you all, we have power, great power and influence on the world. Never forget your responsibility, or else the tragedy will take place once more. The Heavens have granted us a second chance, let's not spoil it." After he finished, the twelve months, six boys and six girls, raised their glasses and vowed never to ever forget their responsibility.
• First World Problems of a Non-Gaia Cash User by Fellstar59 - 9/4/14
Quote:
This was it. Tis was the moment I had dreaded, the moment of truth, the moment that I would open it.
I had been saving up for weeks since that day I first clicked on my announcements and say with glistening eyes "New Chance Item: All or Nothing" that’s just what it was, all or nothing, I could walk out with billions of dollars or some lousy thousand dollar item, to think a few years back thousands of dollars had meant a lot. Art sold for 15k was high market and I a non-Gaia cash user could only dream. And yet now I had 3 billion and it seems that I am still one of the poor. I slaved over daily chance treats, easy offers and anything just to let me partake in the events on the site, and yet travelling at a speed of 7 Gaia cash per day I could only sit and watch like a newbie staring at the loyal’s bazaar.
And yet. That day I had made it. 499 gaia cash exact.
It was fate.
I clicked the button softly and yet the echo seemed to travel around the room as my gaia cash flew into non-existence and I received one mysterious risky item in return. All or nothing. One chance. I started to panic, my breathing going ragged, should I open this Item and risk the chance of losing it all, or do I play it safe, sell it to some poor soul who may suffer the unfortunate loss while I roll in their riches. Sweat beaded on my forehead, dripping into my eyes as I edged my shaking fingers towards the mouse. This was it. The moment of truth, I would open it. I would be brave, I would be successful, I forced my mind and body to obey me and clicked the colourful image, the image flickered (you won 1 g, sorry) tears pricked my eyes and I fell to the floor, I had failed! I hit my fists to the floor in defeat as my hair splayed over my shoulders weeks of dirt and grime from my efforts soaking each strand.
It was over. Or was it, I glanced up at the glow of the computer from my position on the floor. Wasn’t the screen a little too white? I clawed up to the screen. Could it be? I whooped with joy at my computers decision, promising that I would never again be annoyed when the internet cut out. I fiddled with my settings and logged on, and there in the special place in my inventory it was. CI: All or Nothing. I clicked the icon. “Do you wish to open?” No. Clicking the sell button I sent the demonic IC out into the Gaia world, never to return, I had been given a Miracle. A second chance.
• Second Chances RIG by Joyrose - 9/4/14
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Prince Charming has to fight the dragon to win his fair princess, but the dragon has destroyed his sword! Find a new sword for Prince Charming to give him a second chance to defeat the dread dragon! * Success brings the item Charming Armor (breastplate is default pose) with poses for gauntlets in heroic pose, gauntlets holding impressive sword, charming cape, helm, and boots. * Failure brings the item Scarred (Scar of Warrior, Duelist, Hero, and Rogue poses)
Stewart is a struggling student trying desperately to get his grades up so he can play in the big game. Tutor Stewart in his studies to give him a second chance to save the day at the big game! * Success brings Sports Hero item (jersey is default pose) with poses throwing/catching/holding football, kicking football, helmet, pants in black and white, cleats, arms up in victory, and football field background. * Failure sends him back to the classroom with the Homeroom item.
Suzie is a struggling student trying desperately to get her grades up so she can star in her school play. Tutor Suzie to give her a second chance to launch her career as an actress! * Success brings Diva (bouquet is default pose) with poses gold gown, blue dress, robe, long hair that cuts to up-do in blond, black, and auburn, and bright smile (which layers over other mouths). * Failure is the Forlorn Opera Singer item.
Sorcha needs to fix her botched spell casting before she’s kicked out of Sorcery School. Help Sorcha learn to cast the proper spells to give her a second chance at Sorcery School success! * Success brings Sorcery (magic hat is default pose) with poses matching robe open and closed, wand with various colors of magic glows, arm mod casting fire/lightning, and a drink with magical glowing smoke. * Failure brings the Witch of Noc item or Good Witch item.
Belinda is going blind and needs surgery to save her sight and continue to enjoy the beauty of the world. Operate on Belinda to give her a second chance at sight! * Success brings Seeing is Believing (mint green eyes is default pose) with poses of large, beautiful eyes in dark blue, dark purple, dark green, sky blue, and orange. * Failure brings the Blind Death item.
Dolls: SDPlus ### Prince Charming with crown SDPlus ### Stewart with black under-eye make-up SDPlus ### Suzie with jewels SDPlus ### Sorcha with long black hair with white streak, cuts to pure black SDPlus ### Belinda with eye bandages
• Powers That Be by CherryblossomGoodbye - 9/5/14
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In the first days of Spring, when young magicians are granted their beginning wands, they are given a set of rules to live by. To never use their magic powers for trickery, never look down on those without magic powers, and they must not, absolutely not, cast a spell from the tome of forbidden spells. (first evolution phase: small one-hand wand, large scroll of rules, tome of forbidden spells in a locked case next to avatar) A young witch by the name of Magi C. Ian is doing her best at practicing her magic. She’s in the library looking over the spellbooks for beginners and spots a large black book on a table nearby. Thinking one of the teachers must have left it out (and hey, who doesn’t need a little inside look at the upcoming tests?) she opens the book to a random page and looks at the spell that’s listed. She says the incantation and is instantly horrified at the results. The beautiful bookcases are now in ruins, with all books being torn to shreds or otherwise made unusable. (second evolution phase: library background, small white book of spells, magic incantation speech bubble above avatar’s head, tome of forbidden spells floating next to avatar, ruined library background) Magi loses her wand to the High Elder as he condemns her for using a forbidden spell. He takes away her magic ability and commands her to never return to the magic-learning wing, and that she must stay in the other half of the school for humans without magic powers. Magi is scorned by her classmates and teachers as she makes her way through the hall towards the other half of the school building. Just what was the forbidden tome doing out of its case anyway? (third evolution phase: Broken Wand on floor next to avatar, Aura of Magic Leaving avatar, School Hallway background, School Hallway Background with Classmates) Magi is doing her best in her normal classes, despite still seeing her fellow magicians across the courtyard practicing their spells. She does her best to ignore their jeers and trash-throwing, and continues with her studies. Still wondering why the forbidden tome was sitting in the library, Magi wonders if she can sneak over to the magical library to look, but discovers a teacher standing guard and hurriedly turns back the way she came. When she gets back to her dorm room, she finds a strange-looking letter sitting on her bed. Thinking it’s from the High Elder, Magi opens it, hoping she’ll be reinstated with her powers. (fourth evolution phase: Piles of Books at avatar’s feet, Homework Scrolls in hand, Mysterious Letter, Mysterious Letter Open) Magi finds that the letter contained a request. Upon the request’s completion, she will be given back her magical powers. Magi rushes off to complete the task set before her, to get a magical stone from a nearby ruins that someone had carelessly dropped. She wondered why whoever sent the letter couldn’t just ask the guards of the school to retrieve the stone, but she heads off towards her destination anyway. The ruins seem to be farther away than Magi had originally realized, and it takes her a while to reach the entrance. (fifth evolution phase: Mysterious Letter Open – in hand, Mysterious Red Stone in thought bubble above avatar’s head, Travelling Clothes, Travelling Clothes with Hood Up, Ruins Background) Magi has been in the ruins for days now, and she’s completely exhausted. She’s made it through all the traps and dangers to make it to the middle of the ruins and finally discovers what she’s been looking for : a red stone sitting atop a pedestal. Magi seizes the stone without a second’s waste and nearly cries with relief. She can finally get her powers back! Magi turns around and starts to rush out of the room, but a strange noise, along with a glowing light prompts her to turn back around. (sixth evolution phase: Dirty Travelling Clothes, Dirty Travelling Clothes with Hood Up, Inner Ruins Background, Pedestal with Red Stone, Red Stone in Hand, Innermost Ruins Room Background with Glow, Innermost Ruins Background without Glow) Magi looks at a cloaked male standing next to the pedestal, with one hand outstretched towards her. “You are Magi?” He asks, beckoning her to come closer. Magi hesitates, still clutching the stone, but begins to edge towards him cautiously. “I am… are, are you the one who requested me?” The figure nods, his face hidden by his cloak’s hood. “I could not retrieve my stone of power from this pedestal myself. That cursed High Elder placed it there to trap me in another realm. But you… you’ve gotten it for me. Allow me to return with you.” “But… you are a magician. I am not. Magicians shouldn’t talk to non magicians.” The cloaked figure shook his head with a smile. “No, Magi. I will accompany you back to the school. Things will become more clear to you then.” (Seventh Evolution Phase: Cloaked Figure next to Avatar, Cloaked Figure [I am], Magical Stone in hand, Magical Stone in hand – Glowing) Magi and the Cloaked Figure return to the school, and he leads her through the halls and into the magical wing. “I’m not supposed to be in here!” Magi protests. “You’re fine so long as you’re with me.” The cloaked figure responds, and takes her to the High Elder’s room. The high elder is livid and commands Magi to leave and to take this stranger with her, but the cloaked figure waves the High Elder further away with his hand. “You do not command me, and you do not command her.” He takes his hood back and reveals his face. “You who have sealed me away out of sheer jealousy, you have no right to take away another magician’s powers.” Magi is shocked by the outburst. The High Elder is forced to reinstate Magi’s powers and is condemned to leave the school by the young male magician. “Magi, how can I thank you. You’ve done me a great favor. Your spirit is stronger than you realize, and I hope I can help you realize that.” Magi denies having any amount of strong power but thanks him for the gift of her magical ability back. (Eighth and Final Evolution Phase: High Elder Room Background, Power Aura returning to Avatar, Cloaked Figure with Hood Down, Cloaked Figure’s Cloak for Avatar, Large Silver Wand in Hand)
• The Frogmouth's Keepsake by Emalthya - 9/6/14 3rd PLACE
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It was the knocking sound which attracted Emalthya to the tree. It wasn’t such an odd sound; it was late to be walking around and Tawny Frog Mouths made that noise when you were too close to them. Emalthya heard it warn her and, contrarily, crept closer for a look. Tawny Frog Mouths were so cleverly camouflaged against trees at night and she wanted to see it.
The Tawny Frog Mouth was silent when it saw her approach. She smiled at it.
“Hello!” she said in a friendly way. It didn’t quite reassure the bird, which remained frozen. Her foot nudged something on the ground and she picked it up. She couldn’t tell what it was in the thicker darkness beneath the tree branches and she retreated to the road to see it under the light from the streetlamps. The Tawny Frog Mouth watched her go.
“A… a” stammered Emalthya, brushing black dirt off the name label. “A Second to Midnight Invitation chance item,” she whispered. She had seen them lately, in the cash shop. They were supposedly about going to a big elegant party.
Emalthya put the Second to Midnight Invitation in her bag. “I should make some posts,” she said. She was sure anyone who lived around in this place would miss a CI. When she got home, she set up a lamp to take a good picture of the item to include in the ‘Found’ posts. She dug the invitation out of her bag and heard a tiny tearing sound.
“Oh, no!” The wrapping of the item had caught in the zip. She twisted the paper loose, but it required two hands and the Invitation slid to the ground, rolled across the floor and out of its wrapping.
Emalthya grabbed for it, but it was too late; the item activated with a flash of light. Within the light manifested a letter of rich paper.
You are invited to the Grand Gracious Ball! It’s short notice, you only have a few hours to get ready, but luckily there’s help from one of the guests of honour! Who is it? The handsome prince, or the glamorous princess?
HANDSOME PRINCE ://: GLAMOROUS PRINCESS
“Oh, uh, cancel! Cancel!” Emalthya said to the paper. The words HANDSOME PRINCE glowed golden and then it seemed to Emalthya that the paper grew until it covered her entire field of vision. Then it was gone and she was no longer in her house.
She was standing outside, next to a very shiny car and it wasn’t night anymore, but late afternoon.
“Emalthya, isn’t it?”
Emalthya looked around at the young man getting out of the driver’s side door. “Yes?”
He laughed, a little embarrassedly, as though he had expected her to recognise him. She thought she would have if she had ever met him before. He had blonde, J-pop hair, heterochomic blue-and-green eyes and a foppish suit with 1800s accents. He looked like he needed a runway, not a car. “I’m KageShale, you can call me Kage. I’m one of the guests for the ball?” he pointed to the paper still in her hand. “One of the princesses backed out at the last minute, so we need to get you,” he opened his arms in a showy gesture with a debonair smile, “ball ready.”
“That’s great,” said Emalthya quietly. She’d stepped in it now. She couldn’t cancel the item once it had started, it seemed. Well, there was nothing for it; she would have to work the cost of the item off for the owner. It would take ages, but otherwise it would be stealing. She set her face from worried to determinedly cheerful. If it would take all her spare time to pay off, she was going to enjoy herself. “Just great,” she said, more resolutely. “Where are we going first?”
“Clothes,” said Kage. Suddenly, they were getting out of the car, without Emalthya remembering getting into it, and looking at an exclusive store she could not have afforded to breathe the air of, let alone an item they sold. He opened the glass door (or it could have been crystal, she wouldn’t have put it past them to have crystal doors) and held it for her.
Inside, he pointed to each section of the store. “Elegant, Alternative, or Sexy?” The way he said it made it sound like it was a CI question.
“I think…” Emalthya hurriedly looked at the three sections. The elegant dresses looked lovely, but had so many plunging necklines. Sexy just looked like someone took some elegant outfits and cut strips out of them. Alternative looked short, but it had lace and frills, so that seemed more Emalthya’s speed. “Alternative,” she replied.
“That sounds nice,” said Kage and suddenly they were no longer in the clothes store, but somewhere which smelled like chemicals and had a lot of white surfaces and glaring lights.
“Where are we?” asked Emalthya hesitantly.
“Appearance,” replied Kage. “Seductive, Sweet, or Natural?”
Emalthya was beginning to feel anxious. This sounded like she would be changing her face. Seductive? It sounded like kissy lips and squinty eyes. Sweet sounded like goo-goo eyes and drooling lips. Natural couldn’t be any worse than those. “Natural,” she said.
“That’s perfect for you,” said Kage. Emalthya was noticing that what he said didn’t always match the conversation they were having. He looked like a user, like her, but maybe he wasn’t really real.
When the scenery changed, Emalthya was a little more prepared for it. They were now in some kind of warehouse, though it was cleaner than many she had been in. Without being asked, Kage explained their location.
“Accessories. Bold, Cute, or Companion?” He winked at her when he said the last one and Emalthya supposed her ‘companion’ would be him.
She took the bait. “Companion,” she said with a blush. It would be nice to talk to someone and get to know them, especially having someone who was undeniably very handsome hang out with her.
The background changed again. It took longer to reform this time and Kage and Emalthya stood in the evening air outside a brightly lit mansion. He had changed his clothes to something even more elaborate. He grinned at her.
Emalthya looked at her own clothes. She wasn’t disappointed. She wasn’t showing any leg or chest, which was a plus. Her dress was flouncy and swished when she moved. She smiled at Kage.
Instead of some trope about how pretty she looked or how much fun they would have, Kage asked, “You have reached the top tier. You can now take your item or take second chance.”
Emalthya thought about how nice she looked and how lovely it would be to go to a party with someone, but she finally understood that Kage was a program, and he wouldn’t be any sort of company. If she reset the item, she could give it back to its owner without having to repay them.
“It’s been wonderful,” she said to Kage. “Honestly, I’ve had fun with you. But I want a second chance.”
For a brief second, Emalthya thought Kage looked sad and rejected. Then, her vision went fuzzy and she was in her own clothes, in her own house, crouching over a re-wrapped Second to Midnight Invitation CI.
The posts went up around the general forums, advertising a found Second to Midnight Invitation CI. As she expected, she had a lot of people who didn’t own the item ask for it. Then, she had someone called Sinzistro contact her and she said she would meet him where she had found the item.
There was no Tawny Fog Mouth in the tree when Emalthya stood under it, waiting for Sinzistro. She would have liked to talk to it, to make herself less bored. She wondered if anyone would turn up; maybe she was having her leg pulled.
Then a puffing person hurried by.
“Sinzistro?” called Emalthya. The person jerked to an ungainly halt and staggered back towards her.
“Yeah. You’re Emalthya?” He was sweating and his clothes were out of place, almost like they were wearing him and not the other way around.
“Yes,” confirmed Emalthya. “This is where you dropped the Second to Midnight Invitation?”
Sinzistro nodded, catching his breath. “Around here, I think.”
Emalthya handed him the item with a small pang of regret. “I really hope it’s yours.”
Sinzistro grinned. “It is, I promise.” He suddenly looked awkward. “Oh, yeah, well I get that it seems like a girly item,” he said, mistaking her to mean she wouldn’t expect a guy to have a ball item. “There’s an arm pose I want. See, like this,” he put a clenched hand on his hip and the other bent like he was looking at his knuckles.
“Looks good,” replied Emalthya. “Hope you get it.”
“I probably won’t,” said Sinzistro. “I thought I’d sell it and give you a cut, since you found it.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to do that! It wasn’t mine to keep.” Emalthya hadn’t mentioned that she had used the item. Since it was in perfect condition, Emalthya didn’t think it mattered.
“Well,” said Sinzistro, putting the item securely in his pocket, “there’s a town games event going on. Want to come hang out?”
“Sounds good. Which team are you on?” asked Emalthya.
“Aekea!” proclaimed Sinzistro proudly. He shook his hand through his black fringe. “I’m usually a blondie, but I’m showing my pride.”
“I like it black” said Emalthya, remembering another blonde she had met recently. “I’m Aekea, too! What games have you played?”
“Oh, everything I can, but I suck at fishing, so…”
As they walked over to the games, Sinzistro and Emalthya talked. She couldn’t remember what they spoke about later on, but she supposed she could always ask Sinzistro when they saw each other in towns the next day to catch bugs.
• An Assassin's Pet by Ember Cain - 9/6/14
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Ember knelt on the grassy hill overlooking the campsite, watching the men that milled about below. A midnight breeze ruffled her long crimson hair, and in a huff she pulled out a black ribbon to pull it into a long ponytail, tucking the loose strands behind her elven ears. She returned her sharp jade eyes to the campsite and snapped back to attention. One of her targets had moved from his previous post. I should have been paying closer attention, Ember grumbled to herself. The four targets that remained around the crackling fire weren’t going to be leaving the warmth anytime soon, so all she needed to do was locate the last man and she could get her mission underway and then she could finally head home. Scanning the dense woodland, her eyes well-adjusted to the inky blackness of night, she gripped her dagger tightly and searched for the missing man. As she stalked through the woods she began to hear an odd noise near-by and felt compelled to follow the sound. Circling back towards the campsite she found her missing quarry, and she was not pleased. The man was tormenting a fox, toying with it before making his dark intent clear. “Not today, sweetheart.” She sneered as she stepped out of the brush, putting her dagger away and drawing her sheathed katana. The man went to yell, but was dispatched rather unceremoniously, falling limp and releasing the yelping fox. Ember crouched to check on the clearly terrified fox, only to have it swipe at her and growl pathetically in fear. She chuckled to herself, before cooing to the creature and telling him that he’ll be okay and to scamper off. She stood and brushed off her clothing, smiling at the slowly calming fox before heading off toward the camp. An assassin’s work is never done, and the rest of her targets needed taking care of before she could head home. She made her way back to the camp and snuck her way through the tents to the fire where she could hear faint conversation. The four men that she was looking for were right where she left them, and she couldn’t be happier. She began to inch forward, dagger in hand, but pulled back into the darkness as one of the man walked her way. Her clothing was specially made for this; it blended her into the shadows, rendering her virtually invisible. He passed right by her, moving deeper into the tent, assumingly to go to sleep for the night. This was her opportunity; she inched towards him once he passed out on his mat, and dispatched him silently. He wouldn’t have even felt a thing. Shame. Now she only had three left. Piece of cake. Ember quietly made her way out of the tent and towards the fire, but to her surprise the three men were waiting for her. Well isn’t this inconvenient, she frowned. She stood to face the final three men, they were big, but they shouldn’t come out to be too big of a problem. They drew their swords and charged her, she took one man down with ease, but was grabbed by the other two. She struggled and kicked furiously, but was being held pretty tightly, until the man in front of her squealed in pain, slipping in the grass as he flailed. Ember broke her other captors grasp as she looked on in confusion. She fought her captor to his death, and her eyes lit up as she turned around to face the last man. The fox she had saved in the woods had returned the favor by latching on to the final man. Ember laughed and gracefully took down her final target, smiling down at her little hero. She thanked the fox and tentatively pet his soft red hair, and stood to walk away. She made it just out of the camp before realizing that her new friend was following behind her. “Oh, are you coming with me?” she chuckled. The fox tilted his head. “Well then, you’re going to need a name buddy.” she paused to think, “How about Kit? Do you like Kit?” she smiled. Kit tilted his head and twitched his ears, yelping excitedly. “Good. Let’s head out then. I’m ready to go home.”
• Falling Star by PebbleDrop856 - 9/6/14 1st PLACE
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“Shoot for the moon. If you miss, you’ll land among the stars”
Delia Thesp, a young girl with a future so bright until the shadows of life consumed her. She lived on the outskirts of New York City, the city of big hopes and dreams. Unlike the many dreamers who come to the Big Apple, whose hopes often outweighed their talent, Delia on the other hand had a heart full of hope and flourished with talent.
Her talent, you might ask? A passion for theatre, a voice of angel, these were Delia’s greatest assets towards her dream of mounting the stage so many had sought before: Broadway. When people dreamed a dream as big as this, they often get discouraged by everyone. Not Delia. No, anyone who had seen Delia perform would know she was born for the stage. In high school, the lead role in every play practically had her name on it. She excelled in Dramatics, to the point when Julliard had accepted her into their musical theatre program. The future was bright for young Delia Thesp. Then a single night as passionate as her aspirations, a night so cloudy that they obscured the stars, decided her fate forever. And although the clouds hid it from sight, a star shot down from the heavens.
Three years past since that night. Delia sat in the chair by a two year old boy’s crib. Dark circles accumulated in her eyes as she sat to relax her body from a long day. She looked to the boy, his name David, and closed her eyes with relief that the boy had finally decided to fall asleep. On the mobile above his crib hung a picture of his father, Delia’s husband. He looked so much like him. Tears fell from her eyes, as she remembered the day she opened the letter from the army. The day she lost her true love, the day David lost a father he would never get to know. As the quiet tears fell onto her lap, a star came undone and silently fell from David’s mobile.
Three more years past. Delia was in her waitress outfit for an overly patriotic restaurant, where all the workers dressed as American symbols. Hers was a white dress adorned in fifty bright, golden, and reflective stars. It wasn’t something someone would wear in public, especially in the bright sun. Could be worse, I could be dressed as the Liberty Bell, she thought. David sat in their tiny apartment, eating a bowl of cereal. It was his first day of school. Another thing his father would miss.
Someone knocked at their door.
“Mom?” Delia said shockingly when she answered the door. When Delia had become unexpectedly pregnant with David when she was seventeen and in high school, her parents had kicked her out of the house. Delia and her lover stayed his parents until he enlisted in the army and they were able to get a place of their own. This was the first time Delia had ever seen her mother in six years.
“Your dad,” she said solemnly, not looking Delia in the eyes. “He – he passed away. Cancer.”
The tears welled up in both women’s eyes as they embraced each other in a long, comforting hug, one so tight that a star was torn off from Delia’s dress, falling to the ground.
Another three years past. Delia, David, and her mother sat in the tiny apartment eating breakfast. Her mother had decided to move into the city, into an apartment not too far from Delia’s. Six years of abandoning her put a mighty toll on her conscience. She had sworn never to leave her daughter and her grandson ever again. David left the house to go back to school. He was already eight, the years were going by so fast.
“Acting,” her mother said simply. The word seemed so foreign to Delia, reminding her of another life, nine years ago.
“What about it?” she answered dismissively.
“You were so good at it,” her mother said, with even more simplicity. “Julliard even wanted you.”
“That was a long time ago,” Delia answered, with even more dismissiveness.
Her mother rolled her eyes, and with a smile, she said, “Delia, listen for a moment. I met with an old friend here in the city a few days ago. It turns out, she’s a casting director for a new television series. I told her about you and –"
“Mom, stop right there,” Delia said, effectively cutting her off. “I can’t. I haven’t acted in ages and stage acting and screen acting are completely different things. Besides, I have David. I can’t drop everything, including him, to do this.”
“David is growing up, you’ve taught him so much about being independent. Besides, I’m here. I will always be here,” her mother said, standing up and looking Delia in the eyes. “Sweetie, you need to live your dream. It may not have been the exact dream you had planned nine years ago, but it’s still your dream to this day. You, out of anyone, know that life is not a straight path. It’s full of unexpected twists and turns. But that doesn’t mean you don’t stop hoping for what’s at the end of that path.”
“Mom,” Delia said, trying to interrupt her, but she wasn’t having it this time.
“You shot for the moon, Delia. And you didn’t quite get there. But that didn’t mean that you fell back to the ground. You were hiding. Hiding, among the stars that you landed on. And now, now you have your chance to shine. The only question is, are you going to take it?”
Three days past. Delia stood in a room in front of three people sitting behind a white desk, the look of critique in their eyes. Behind her was a large star laying on the ground, perhaps it was an old backdrop for an old set. Maybe it was even once part of the room’s wall. Nevertheless, it looked old and it seemed it had collected dust over the years.
As soon the casting director gave her the go, as soon Delia vanished from the room to be replaced with the character she was playing, two workmen behind her lifted the dusty star off the ground and mounted high onto the wall where it belonged.
• What kind of world is this? by ShieShyshoulder - 9/7/14
Quote:
Zoren, a man with a mission to find life in other dimensions, gears up and jumps in an opened portal. He witnesses trippy colors as he travels through the tunnel at very high speeds. A block catches up to him. Starting Items: -an interdimensional guantlet -a snazzy haircut -an interdimensional portal -a hightech cubic companion
The portal opens and spits Zoren and the floating cube out on a gellatinous surface that looks like tar. There he meets a sentient slime that seemed friendly enough. He approaches the slime and when he reaches out for it, the slime lunged at him, sticking to his face. Such ignorance. First Evolution: -a tar slime companion -a tar slime covering the face -a hand mod pulling tar slime apart -a glossy tar body/skin
Struggling with the slime, Zoren accidentally activates his guantlet, sucking them into a newly opened portal. The portal dumps them into a strange, new world where plant leaves are purple. Since he was covered in slime, the natives thought he was their god and worshipped him. A feast was held for him and he was fed all kinds of food and treated well, too bad their food was incompatible with him. Poor human. The next day, he wakes up inside an iron cauldron with warm water, yes, it was stew and yes it was a misunderstanding on his part. He runs away and hides under a thick fern, opening a portal to another dimension. Second Evolution: -a classy headwear for tribal occasions made of slime -a face the looks like he's sick and going to barf( purple face and rounded puffed cheeks) -a black iron cauldron tub -a purple fern mantle cover (purple pattern camouflage)
He drops on metal floorings with a rattling 'clank' as he stands up and recovers. He looks around and finds that this dimension has a lot of metal in it. He roams around to see anything else, with the slime behaving in his pocket and his cube floating above him. A machine being stops them, asking for their documents and when they didn't have anything to show at them, the being fires plasma at them. Eep. Cornered, his cube friend starting glowing and turned into a cannon, firing at the machine while the slime wrapped him in cover. He takes them away and tries to escape, too bad the gauntlet decided to be shut down right now, so they have no way of going back home. Third Evolution: -a metal floor item. -a Security Robot (companion) -a blocky beam cannon -a tar slime body armor
Zoren was captured and sent to an isolation room while his companions were being interrogated. The slime explains what exactly happened and the cube showed them what he was supposed to,be doing. The higher council of that world pardoned Zoren and fixed his guantlet. His cube friend was given a new function and the slime decided to follow him. He was free now and goodbyes from the machine beings were sent to him as he opens a portal back home. He walks out to a chaotic world and a giant meteor was heading their way. "Oh My G..." Final Evolution: -a pure white solid straight jacket -a blocky shield -a blocky leg mod -a tar slime cape
• Gift by Helix Derox - 9/10/14 HONORABLE MENTION
Quote:
The forest had always called her but she can never reach them. It was right there, overtime she looks out at her wooden window she can see them. Where the crescent moon shines with brilliant light and the soft rustle of the breeze. She would pull herself away from the window by her bed; get up and straighten her little knee length simple nightgown, walk across the wooden floor which creak ever so slightly. Opening the patched up wooden door to the outside and down the rotting stairs that will soon give way,but will never with her airy weight. Her young, thin and bony arms ,gripping onto the railing,collecting splinters on the palm of her hands. The soft,tall green grass caressing her knee, the soft breeze combing through her salt and pepper hair. Her stilt house behind her and the forest on her right, she turned and slowly made her way into the deep green.
Hushed chittering and squeaks with sleepy hisses were around her. It was so dark but the moonlight cleaved through the thick canopy, shining salvation in the dark. With each breeze the leafy greens claw at the moonlight,threatening to engulf the forest ground back into darkness. With shaky but precise steps, Ivory slowly made her way deeper. She has always done this; again and again, yet she could never reach the little blue glow. She will make it today, determination strong in her weary eyes as she kept moving on. Pulling her body which screamed for rest, she was reaching her limit. No,not again. She cannot lose her conscious now or she will be back home again. It was there again, the little blue light is so close to her and she can almost reach it. Her vision slowly grew dark and in her last desperate attempt lunged at the blue light as everything faded into darkness.
Ivory kept her eyes closed, she knows she is back at home again. She didn't make it, it was so frustrating, the constant tugging she feels from her soul. The little calls coming from the forest and overtime she could never find it. Her nose prickling and her breath shaking as tears slowly rolled down her closed eyes while the morning light laid itself on her. A peep and a small coolness touched her thumb,slowly she opened her eyes to the world and looked down. It looked like a little jellyfish, its little tendrils pulling itself up to sit on the back of her palm. Vibrant aquamarine crystal shards adorned its tiny cap. Was this it? Was this what she had been searching in the forest? It was no bigger than her head. She touched it with her other hand,seeing it made more peeping noises while wrapping itself around her arm. Smiling gently, even if she has no idea what is the little ones purpose she will enjoy its presence as much as she can.
It didn't look like an animal anymore. Ivory lived far from the village and the trips tire her.On that day she didn't make it back home.
It was soft and the breeze was strong. She touched the soft fine feathers as her body worked itself back to reality. What a large bird she was on,its downy light blue feathers shined gently in the moonlight. Large blue wings that spread beyond oblivion, adorned with a crystal crown and with a long flowing tail the bird flew graciously in the air showing Ivory the beauty not all humans have the chance to see. It brought back nostalgia of the times she could have journeyed with her family, to walk and walk but she didn't. Ivory wondered why she didn't take that chance. It didn't take her long when she entered her home to realize that this wasn't just a really big bird she was on. It was her jellyfish…That changed? Would this keep happening?What will it be like in the end? Her little precious blue curled itself on the creaking floor of her room, its tail draping itself over Ivory as she curled up on the bed,thinking of how she had overworked herself and almost lost her legs.If she lost her ability to walk she can never live again,or so thats how she felt. The girl thought of all the many opportunities that had gone by her for living alone and searching for the voice. The times when she work too hard with her legs and the many times she was given the chance to make it better, she ignored it all. Ivory soon fell into slumber,her legs tingling and the room filled with soft peeps. Everything was fine she doesn't need anyone.
Her legs stopped working.
It just did.
She couldn't walk anymore.
Fear gripped her heart mercilessly, it held onto her head; freezing her on the spot as her eyes were trained on her limp legs in front of her. It was cruel, it was painful. She couldn't walk, she couldn't feel. She couldn't take care of herself now. Where were the chances to redeem her abilities back. Where were the opportunities. Why didn't she take them when they were handed to her on a platter. Her tears fell as she sobbed uncontrollably, lady fortune was cruel with her wheel. She needed comfort,she needed help, she needed to rely on someone so she can live on.
Ivory had that someone.
She heard the clop and the huff, nudging its way in with its branching crystals. Ivory turned to look, at her blue light.
It was delicate, it was beautiful. Midnight blue hide weaved by the gods themselves with intricate white patterns. Smooth onyx hooves covered by its fine fur. Crystal antlers carved so perfect and precise. A deer fit to walk with the gods and it stood in front of her.Carefully, it nuzzles itself on her. This is her someone,this is her help, this is her ride. This is her protection from the gods.
xxx • The Tale of the Two Last (Place) Knights by Althea Dawn - 9/11/14
Quote:
Stage 1: Graduation
Today was the graduation ceremony for the 235th Knight Class of Crossed Swords Academy. A sea of blue uniforms was amassed at the foot of a large wooden stage as the senior students waited their turn to be knighted by the queen. At the very back was a young woman clad in red and black, colors that classified her as the worst student in her graduating class. She tiptoed forward and took a glance at the stage as the first student was knighted.
There stood a young boy named Chris dressed in a regal white and gold uniform that signified him as top of the class. He kneeled before the queen, and the queen spoke several words before knighting him. Chris was led off stage and placed before a legion of knights.
As per contract with the school, upon graduation, each student would be apprenticed under a veteran knight. The veteran knight would first be allowed to choose which student he would take under his care. Should the student have any disagreement with this, he or she is allowed one chance to choose another supervising knight. Should that knight accept, they will be paired. However, if they turn down the student's offer, the student will be placed with the knight that chose them.
He was immediately chosen by the man who seemed to be the leader of the knights, and he happily agreed. This cycle continued until Serah was the last one standing at the foot of the stairs.
"Serah Tyr!"
Serah pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes, revealing a scar across her left eye, and quickly stumbled up onto the stage. Looking around her, everyone was standing with their attention focused on her. Whispers could be heard from the crowd, but she could discern nothing. Sneering faces could be seen dotted among those already knighted. Her scar burned, as memories of the past few years crossed her mind. Reaching the queen, she kneeled before her and waited. The queen began to speak to her.
"Here we are at the final graduate. The last of the class is it?"
Serah blushed slightly and gritted her teeth as she continued to stare at the floor.
"I have some special words for you, young one. While it is true you may have ended this phase of your life at the end of the pack, it does not mean that it must become the story of the rest of your life. Once you begin your apprenticeship, you must work hard to push yourself to achieve a new standard. I am not saying that you will become the greatest knight in the land or nor am I guaranteeing that you will become anything at all. However, the effort must be put in if you truly want something."
The queen smiled and proceeded to knight Serah. In Serah's head, she took some solace in the queen's words, but despite all her efforts at the academy, her lack of talent and birth were things she had come to believe were insurmountable. Simply graduating had required immense dedication, effort, and endurance.
"Yes, your majesty!" Serah thanked the queen for her words and rose to depart the stage. As she turned towards the stairs, the queen spoke to her one more time.
"Oh don't worry about your lack of talent. You'll find yourself someone apt to reveal your true calling very soon."
Serah shot a quick questioning glance at the queen before stepping of of the stage and heading over to the last remaining knight. Or at least what was supposed to be the last knight. What she found was a rugged looking man. He was about a head taller than her and wore rusty armor and a tattered cloak. In addition, it looked like he had fallen asleep while standing. Or rather, he HAD fallen asleep as Serah could hear snores emanating from the large frame in front of her.
Any fire the queen's words had instilled in her immediately died out. However she stopped her train of thought and began to re-evaluate the man. Looking back at her own experience in the academy, she had been spat on and ridiculed for simply her birth and apparent lack of ability since day one. Not wishing to imitate the actions of those who she had been at odds with during her time at the academy, she decided that she would push judgement on whether or not this man that looked like a bum was actually a bum until later. Regardless of that, Serah needed to become acquainted with her mentor so she walked over to the knight and saluted.
"My name is Serah Tyr and I will be under your care, sir knight!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
Completely oblivious, the knight continued on in his slumber, blissfully unaware of his surroundings. Minutes passed by. Growing impatient, Serah took two steps forward and gave the knight a splendid uppercut to his chin.
"Uoaah!?" The knight woke with a start as he stumbled backwards in confusion.
"My name is Serah Tyr and I will be under you care sir knight!" Serah said in an slightly irritated tone as she resumed her salute.
Catching himself, the knight took did a quick lookover of Serah. "Hmm...looks like I ended up with quite the lively one. And last rank too."
The knight grinned and stood up straight while rubbing his chin. "You know, you really didn't have to do that. A nice tap on the shoulder would have done it.
Well my name is...um...Charles! Yeah, let's go with Charles! Call me Charles, none of this annoying sir stuff. Nice to meet'cha!" The knight extended his hand. "I look forward to sharing with you any trouble that comes our way."
Serah lowered her salute and cautiously shook his hand, unsure of what to make of this man. While not what one would call the ideal knight, or even a knight at all, he appeared to have a good heart.
"Well we should head over to the barracks and get some rest before tomorrow when your REAL training as a knight begins."
Stage 2: Apprenticeship (Serah's Story)
Charles pointed Serah in the direction of his barracks and the two walked on over towards the military base adjacent to the school. As they walked, Charles began giving his orientation speech to Serah.
"Well first thing you need to know. What'cha see is what'cha get, for the most part. I'm no star knight but I can swing a sword just as well as anyone else. Actually you'd probably be able to put me somewhere near the bottom if you were to rank all of us knights, but hey! I get the job done. Most of the time. Then again, you're also last in your class so we're both on the bottom eh? We should make a perfect team!" Charles joked.
Serah stopped walking as she heard the word "last" and began shivering with anger. Charles looked over his shoulder and was met with a pair of blazing eyes.
"I will not allow ANYONE to talk about me like that, even if that person is my superior! You can go on and call yourself last, but I will not stand for you to decide where I stand!"
Charles became startled at her sudden outburst. "Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down there. Okay! So we won't talk about las-"
Serah's angry glare intensified. Feeling as if Serah was trying to bore a hole through his skull with her eyes, Charles paused before finishing his sentence and made a quick swap in his choice of words."I mean, rankings."Scratching his head, Charles continued on and Serah trailed behind him in a sour mood.
Arriving at the knight's barracks, Charles led them to their rooms in the basement which were next to each other.
"Your stuff will be brought sometime later. I'll be in my room, so if you need anything, just knock. G'nite and see ya first thing in the morning! We'll start your training sometime before the sun rises, so get some rest early, alright?"
He tried smiling at Serah, but her frown remained glued to her face and Charles got nothing but silence. He sighed, said good night, and went into his room. Charles then poked his head back out. "One last thing. No coming into my room without permission or else I really will be mad! G'nite!
After Charles closed his door, Serah opened the wooden door to her room and walked inside, collapsing onto her bed. She looked around the room that she would call home for who know how long. It was a small space with only the bed she now lay on and several other small pieces of furniture such as a small table and dresser. A small window in the roof was the only source of light other than the flickering flame coming from a lamp that stood on the desk.
Suddenly, realziation of what she had just done to Charles struck her. Serah had been completely out of line and far more angry than necessary towards her instructor. Would she be reprimanded? Or even worse, dismissed? Serah rolled on her bed clutching her head worrying about what tomorrow would bring when she she heard a knock at her door.
"Oi Serah! Still awake in there!?"
Serah got up to see what Charles could still want at this point. Upon opening her door, her vision was obscured by a large piece of cloth that came suddenly flying in her direction and enveloping her.
"I forgot they don't provide blankets so here's a little something that you can use to keep warm. Alright, g'nite!"
Charles turned around and headed back towards his room.
"SORRY!"
"Hmm?" Charles turned around slightly confused. He looked down and saw Serah bowing before him.
"I was incredibly rude to your earlier without good reason and I ask for you forgiveness!"
Charles cracked a small smile. "Don't sweat it! We all have things we go off on. As far as I'm concerned, you're forgiven as long as you don't end up glaring daggers at me at the end of every conversation."
Serah gave a small sigh of relief.
"Buut..."
Serah immediately stiffened.
"I suppose you do deserve some sort of discipline. Alright! When you wake up tomorrow, I've got something special planned for you. Look forward to it! Meet me at the front door. Now get to bed or else neither of us will be able to wake up early tomorrow."
The two of them bid each other good night and went to sleep in their respective rooms.
Serah awoke the next morning in darkness. Stepping groggily out into the hallway, she found the chest that held her belongings lying open on the ground and her personal effects strewn across the floor. Sighing, Serah gathered up all her items and lugged the chest into her room. After getting changed she went up to the front door and stepped outside to wait for Charles. She heard rustling coming from the forest behind the barracks and turned her head to see what was there. Suddenly, a large shadow could be seen flying through the darkness towards her. Serah jumped back and took a defensive stance, unsure of what to expect.
"MOOOORNING SERAH!" bellowed Charles as he bounded out of the forest towards Serah with something in his hands. "Catch!" Charles threw his mystery object at Serah, who quickly dodged to the side, allowing whatever it was to smash through the front door. Cringing at the sight of the damage, Charles walked over the wrecked door to pick up the item which turned out to be a large boar. "Well, that didn't go the way I thought it would." He shrugged and laughed.
"What do you mean it didn't go the way you thought it would?! Were you trying to kill me?" Serah asked indignantly.
"No no no. I was just thinking I'd test how strong you were."
"By seeing if I could catch a flying boar?"
"I admit that it wasn't my best idea. It was really spur of the moment you see."
Serah sighed and held her head in her hands. She couldn't believe someone like this was actually a knight!
"Anyways, this is breakfast! And lunch! And dinner!"
"Do you mean to tell me that we're going to eat boar for EVERY single meal?"
"Hey! It's not so bad when you get used to it. But don't worry about breakfast just yet. We're going to do a bit of exercise before our meal. And because of yesterday, I'm going to make it just a tad bit harder. Normally we'd run one lap, but today we're going to run two."
"Okay, so what's one lap?"
"Once around the base and school."
Serah almost fell out of surprise. That perimeter of the academy and base grounds combined to be a little over five miles. She wanted to say something, but just looking at Charles amused face made her drained of any remaining energy she had left in her to argue with him.
As the two of them jogged, the sun began to sneak up above the horizon. The base came to life as people began waking up and stepping outside to begin their tasks for the day.
Passing another barracks, a loud yell could be heard from a window.
"Hey look! It's Tyr! You going to shed us some tears today? Ahahaha!"
"It's Miss Scarface! When will that scar on your face find its twin?"
"Oh hey, peasant! Try not to hold back your knight too much!"
Serah tried to block out the jeers from her peers and covered her eye. She sped up, running past Charles who had been a few steps ahead of Serah.
"Though I doubt that'll make much a difference. He's just as much as a loser as you are! A dirty orphan and a traitor. What a team!"
Traitor? Serah glanced back to see Charles smiling and waving at the people jeering at them.
Serah collapsed on the ground under a tree in sheer exhaustion after finishing the two laps. She relaxed in the shade as she lay on the cool grass untouched by the morning sun's rays. Thinking back to the two boys she had passed while running, she began feeling frustrated. If she still let comments like those affect her, Serah felt that she would never be able become the strong knight she always dreamed to be.
"How are you doing over there Serah?'
"Absolutely exhausted, no thanks to you."
Charles laughed as he walked over lugging the boar carcass behind him and passed Serah a waterskin.
"Here drink this while I cook some of this boar meat."
Serah gratefully accepted the water and drank it while watching Charles prepare the fire and boar meat.
"It's probably a bit late to ask this question, but is there a reason why don't we eat inside the cafeteria?"
Staring off in the direction of the barracks, Charles shrugged. "Oh it's nothing, I don't really like what they make in there and I prefer eating outside. The food tastes better!" Serah could hear him humming as he turned his attention back to the boar in front of him.
Some time passed before Serah was able to ask the question that had been plaguing her mind since their jog. "Earlier, I heard one of the the other knights call you a traitor...what do they mean by that?"
"Hmm...oh you mean while we were running? He probably heard from his superior about the little picture they stuck on my arm. Wanna see?" Serah nodded out of curiosity. Rolling up his sleeve, Charles showed Serah a tattoo that ran up his right forearm. As Serah looked closer, a cold shiver ran down her spine. It wasn't a tattoo, but a burn scar. The image of a broken sword with its blade piercing the sun had been burned deep into his forearm. This brand was rare as it represented the fact that a knight had committed the gravest sin possible, direct treason against the monarchy. What made it even more surprising was that criminals branded in such a way were usually executed shortly after, so finding a living person with the mark was extremely rare.
"Why do you have that?" It was difficult for Serah to believe that this happy-go-lucky knight could have done something as grave as commit treason.
Charles looked away while scratching his head and forced a quiet laugh. "Heh, a lot has happened during my life. I'll tell you someday, but you don't need to know right now. And enough about me! Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" Charles picked some meat off the fire and handed it to Serah. "Why are you so popular with your fellow classmates?" he asked jokingly.
"Please, popular is the last thing I am," Serah replied bitterly. "I was an orphan, left at the steps of the Academy when I was just a baby. One of the headmaster's maids named Carol found me and took me in as her own child as she was never able to have any herself. Carol was an extremely kind and strong woman. Since I was an orphan, I was always teased and bullied by the other children that lived on campus. She always comforted me when I came crying to her or held me back when I went after the others to take revenge. While she was only a maid, she always tried to help me resolve fights with children from the more privileged families. While it was usually futile in the end as they wouldn't pay her any attention, the effort she put in for my sake meant the world to me.
Carol took care of me until I reached the age of six when she died of old age. It's also because of her that I was even able to attend the Academy. With her dying wish, she asked that I be allowed to study there. Out of respect for her many years of service, the headmaster enrolled me into the Academy." Serah looked up at the sky with glazed eyes and smiled. "I owe her so much, but I'll never be able to repay that debt. This pendant is the last present she ever gave me." Serah pulled a golden necklace from under her shirt and on the end dangled a small golden sun with a silver sword inlaid on top pointed down. A small diamond in the pommel sparkled in the sun's light.
Wonder was written all over Charles's face. "That is an amazing piece of work! Where did she find the money for it? Those kind of things don't come cheap you know."
"I have no idea I never got the chance to ask as she died two days after giving this to me."
"She must have loved you a lot, getting you something like this..." Charles looked as if he was trying to remember something. Serah smiled.
"On her death bed, all she did was lecture me. Making me promise that I wouldn't be impatient or quick to anger, that I would treat others with kindness, and to become a splendid knight." Her smile suddenly became bitter. "But look at me now. I've done nothing but contradict that up to this point."
"Well, I began attending the Academy as a student that year with the dream of becoming a knight since that's all I've known, being raised at the Academy. Shortly after beginning my schooling, things went completely downhill. From the moment I began attending till the day of graduation, I was constantly bullied, attacked, and ridiculed by the other students. Being the only one without a family that was not of decent standing, I was viewed as an outcast who was not worthy of being there. Each year it got worse. I tried not to get into confrontations with the others out of respect for Carol by trying to ignore them as much as possible.
But one day when I was around 12, I was careless and they cornered me behind a shack on a rainy day. They held me down and brought their leader. He ripped my uniform with a dagger and took my pendant. Looking at it, he laughed and called it a fake. Cursing at Carol, he threw it into the mud. When I saw that, I couldn't keep my promise to Carol any longer." Serah clutched the the pendant tightly and and gritted her teeth at the memory of the event.
"I struggled to free myself of two boys pinning me down. After elbowing one in the groin, the other boy loosened his grip for a moment. I managed to break free and and charged at him, biting him in the left arm. In his surprise, he lashed out with the dagger in right hand and gave me this." Serah ran her hand down the scar on her left eye. "The boys saw the blood and just ran away in a panic. I stumbled over to grab my pendant and blacked out from the pain. Next thing I knew, I was in the infirmary. A gardener had found me behind the shack when he saw the boys running from the back as he was opening the door to the shack to get some tools. When asked about what happened by the nurse, I didn't say anything since I knew nothing would have been done even if I reported the incident."
"What was the name of the boy that gave you that scar?"
"His name was Chris, the top student in our class."
Charles whistled." Wow, you really can never tell what people can do. Especially if you look at that pretty face of his."
"Well, after that incident, the bullying died down. It was only a temporary reprieve though, as the verbal abuse and pranks started again. But at least they never tried to get in a direct confrontation again." Serah smiled ruefully at Charles. "Well that's my life story in a nutshell. In the four years after that incident, every day has been pretty much been the same cycle of ignoring insults, safeguarding against pranks, and trying to graduate from the academy."
"Well, story time went on far longer than I thought it would." Charles laughed and smiled kindly at Serah. "I guess you've had your share of troubles getting to this point and I'm sure that Carol would have been proud that you've gotten this far. But the sun's getting pretty high and we should get on to your actual training."
Getting up, Charles stretched a bit and pointed in the direction of the practice fields.
"Let's get headed over there and test how well you wield a sword."
"Alright." Serah slowly got up as she thought about various things. She hadn't expected to end up telling her entire story to Charles, but she grateful that he had listened through to the end patiently. Serah also felt somewhat relieved now that she had had the opportunity to talk about her past with someone. Having been shunned by the others at school ,she rarely talked to anyone outside of staff and focused on her studies and practical training. This was a refreshing experience for her, but something still irked her. Why did Charles have the brand on his arm...?
Serah found Charles testing some swords by the armory when she finally made it over to the practice fields.
"Here, try this." Charles lobbed a sheathed sword at her.
Drawing the blade, she saw that it was a standard issue practice sword that they used frequently at the Academy.
"Come at me!"
"Huh?" Serah looked up and saw Charles charging at her.
Charles slashed at Serah but she managed to parry the blow and struck back.
"Ohoho, not bad! Actually that's quite good coming from the 'last' of the class."
Catching her blade on his hilt, he twirled his blade around in an attempt to disarm her.
Loosening her grip on her right hand, she allowed herself to be disarmed and the sword was knocked up in the air. Charles smiled, assuming victory as he lunged forward, but Serah suddenly dodged aside and caught her sword in her left hand. She made a downward swing at Charles' open flank. Suddenly, Charles changed directions at inhumane speed and cut right through Serah's practice blade.
"Wha-what was that?!" Serah exclaimed in surprise.
"Just a little secret technique~ And speak for yourself! If this is your level of skill, the rest of your class must be monsters!"
Serah laughed at the notion. "Half of them wouldn't have been able to parry your attack."
"Then why aren't you ranked higher?"
"The Academy had its rankings based of a team system. Being a one person team didn't lend well to matches during practical exams. I managed to scrape by doing well academically, but practical exams were held to be more important and were weighed more when considering one's rank. This guaranteed that I'd never be able to rise out of the last place spot even if I was able to score perfectly on every exam."
"But with your skills, I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to defeat some of the lowest ranked teams by yourself."
"Oh, I did manage to win several rounds by myself. However, the teams above them would fix matches against each other to ensure that I would always have the least number of wins. Sometimes they would even hide or destroy equipment to prevent me from participating in matches."
"They really hated you, huh?"
Serah nodded and sighed.
"Well let's see what other surprises you have for me." Charles tossed her another practice sword and the continued to spar for several hours until Charles called a halt. Serah sat on the ground exhausted and frustrated, being unable to come even close to landing a hit on Charles.
"Hmm...well I've got an idea...but it'll have to wait till tomorrow. In the mean time I'll consider today's training over. It's probably long past lunch time looking at how far west the sun is. Guess it's dinner time! Off to finish the rest of that boar! You can probably head to bed after dinner too. Tomorrow's training will be a bit later than today. Just meet me by the armory around an hour or so after the sun rises." Serah nodded and they trekked back to where they had left the boar.
Serah left for the barracks after dinner as Charles began to make jerky from the remaining boar meat. After wiping herself down with water from the spring at the rear of the barracks, she changed into her night clothes and went to sleep, all the while thinking about the truth behind the brand on Charles' arm and the insane speed he had shown her during their first round of sparring. There was definitely something off about him and he was not the unskilled knight he claimed to be. But who was he?
The next morning, Serah arrived at the armory to find Charles holding a bundle over his shoulder while contemplating something.
"Good morning Charles!" Her greeting was met with silence as Charles seemed to be fixated on his thoughts."Charles! Chaaarles!" Still no response from the man could be discerned. Sighing, Serah rolled up her sleeves and walked up to Charles and prepared to deliver another uppercut. Stepping towards him, she released her fist aimed at his face. To her surprise his hand shot up and blocked her fist. She backed off and Charles seemed to have become aware of his surroundings.
"Oh heya there Serah!"
Not sure what to say after what just happened, Serah simply nodded her head.
"I got you a little gift." Charles pulled out a sword with a thin curved blade from the bundle he was carrying. "Ever seen one of these before?" Serah shook her head. "I guess not. The standard issue practice weapons are usually shortswords like the ones we used yesterday. This is a saber. Here give it a try." Serah took the blade from him and was astounded at how light it was as she made some test swings.
"Try cutting this." Charles pulled out a wooden dummy.
Serah slashed at the dummy and cleaved it in two in an instant. "How sharp is this blade?!" Serah exclaimed in astonishment.
Charles laughed. "So how do you like it? Nice, right? It should be a better match for you than the regular short sword. Being lighter, it allows you to take advantage of your natural agility. Though, you won't need that particular blade right now. Here, trade me for this one." Charles offered a similar looking saber to Serah and took back the first one. "The blade's been dulled intentionally on this one for training purposes so you can't kill me by accident. Well that's IF you can actually hit me." He smiled and pulled out a training blade.
"We'll see about that!" Serah smirked and lunged at Charles. - Several months later, Serah had become quite adept at using the saber. While sparring with Charles during one afternoon, she was able to successfully disarm him. "Hahaha, you got me good that time. I think you're ready for the next step. You know how I've had you sparring with your left and right hands? Since you're ambidextrous, I think you should be able to pull this one off." He walked into the armory and came out with a second training saber. "Try wielding one of these in each hand." Serah accepted the second rapier and looked somewhat puzzled. Charles looked amused as he watched Serah make test swings in an effort to figure out how to use the second blade practically.
"Here try this. Since you should be able to use both blades with equal skill I won't tell you which hand does what. You can either guard with one blade while attacking with the second. Or you can try something a bit more on the dangerous side and commit both blades to attacking with quick slashes at your opponent. Give it a try."
"Alright." Serah went in for an attempt to slash at Charles with the saber in her right hand, but the blade in her opposite hand was in the way and ended up being knocked to the ground.
"Not so easy is it? Well, you'll get better with a little practice." Charles bent over to pick up the saber and tossed it back to Serah who caught it and smiled ruefully.
"I think this going to take more than just a little practice."
Charles smiled and shrugged. "Better get started then."
Stage 3: A Break
Sarah woke up and smiled to herself. Today was a rare day off and Charles had promised to bring her to the capital city as she had expressed her interest in doing so sometime during their training. It had been a year since she had been placed under the care of Charles. Far from her initial impression of him, she had come to know him as an extremely carefree man, but he was also extremely kind and considerate of other people. He was very slow to anger and conversely, easily amused. But every once in a while out of the corner of her eye, she would catch a sad smile appearing for a brief moment before disappearing under his usual demeanor. And there was still the mystery of his brand that he had yet to divulge. Forgetting these thoughts, her mind moved to the trip to the capitol. Getting dressed in her regular uniform, she stepped outside to wait for Charles but met him at the door.
"Morning Charles, are you ready t-"
"No,no,no. You are not going out dressed like that. Today, you are not knight but a regular young woman. Don't you have anything else to wear?"
"No...not really." Serah looked down and shuffled her feet out of embarrassment.
"I've never had the need to go buy normal clothes. A uniform has always been enough for me."
"Hmm...no this won't work. Wait here." Charles went back and reappeared with small sky blue bundle. "Take this and change into it. You're still a girl in the end so you might as well dress like one every once in a while."
Serah took the bundle and to her surprise, unfolded it to find that it was a light blue dress and a pair of white pants that looked around her size. She eyed Charles suspiciously."Why do you have these?"
"Oh, it's a long story. I'll tell you some other time. For now just go get changed." Charles laughed and left to wait outside.
Serah sighed at his usual excuse and went to get changed. Amazingly, the clothes fit her perfectly, but she wasn't quite confident in how well she looked in them having never worn casual clothes before. She then spotted her pendant on the table. "Oh I can't forget you!" As she put it on, the golden sun felt oddly warm against her chest but she gave it no mind.
She presented herself before Charles, who gave her a once over and nodded in approval. "Yep, just as I thought. It fits you perfectly..." Charles murmured as one of his sad smiles appeared for a brief moment. "Guess it's time to head of to town. Here are a couple of coins to buy something. Let's go Rose!" He started dashing in the direction of the capitol city.
"Wait! Who's Rose!?" Serah asked as she scrambled after him. - "Wooow!" In town, Serah was blown away by the vast amount of merchandise and shops that lined every street. Looking through each window at all the clothes and accessories, she ran from store to store like a child who had been told they could have anything they wanted in a toy store.
Charles followed behind while laughing. "So she really is a girl after all." After spending a year training and talking with Serah, Charles had worried that she had been forced to mature too quickly due to her circumstances. She rarely voiced any personal desires and almost never expressed interest in anything outside of training. However, seeing her like this relieved him. As he walked along lost in his thoughts, Serah appeared in front of him.
"Look what I bought!"
Serah pointed to her head and a new sky blue beret sat atop it.
"Matches the dress at least. Nice find!"
"Thank you! I wish I could have experienced this sooner! There's so much to see!"
"Why don't we take a break for lunch? A friend of mine runs a restaurant near the edge of the city that has great food! There's also something I want to pick up along the way."
As they passed through town, the sun reached its pinnacle in the sky. Children ran around them, chasing each other through the streets. Many people could be heard haggling with store owners over prices for their goods. Others were sitting down at tables or on benches eating lunch. Some men could be seen taking a quick break from the day's work beneath the shade of some nearby trees.
"The capitol seems like a very nice place," Serah commented contently as she watched several children wrestling each other on the grass.
"Yep, ever since the queen stepped into power, the empire has enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity."
"I've only met her once and that was during the ceremony a year ago. She seemed like such a kind and refined person."
Charles began laughing as soon as he heard Serah call the queen refined. " Refined, eh? I guess she does have it in her to be like that when she needs to be."
"What do you mean by that?" Serah was surprised at how casually Charles spoke about the queen, almost as if he knew her personally.
Charles casually dismissed her question. "Oh nothing much. Here we are!" He stopped in front of a small store that had various spectacles and eyewear in the window. "Wait out here for a bit."
Waiting outside, Serah noticed she was drawing the attention of several people as they looked at the scar on her face. She quickly turned to look at the merchandise in the store window. Looking at the various spectacles, Serah wondered whether she'd ever need a pair.
Charles came out of the store and handed a small box to Serah.
"What is it?" Serah asked as she opened the box. What came out was a white eyepatch with a familiar symbol on it, the same as her necklace.
" I thought you might like one to cover that scar of yours. You still seem to be a bit conscious of it every time you're around others so I thought this might be something you could use! Oh, there's also a practical use for it I learned from another knight. If you take off the eyepatch when you switch into a dark place during a fight, you'll grow accustomed to the darkness much faster."
Serah thanked him as she put on the eyepatch. Charles pointed to an eatery behind him."Hey look there's the restaurant! Mmm....smells good doesn't it? Lunch is on me!"
"Alright!" Serah cheered and they walked in. Unbeknownst to Charles, his purse was about to undergo a horrifying experience. - "How can you eat so much cake," sulked Charles with his head on the table as Serah happily finished her third cake. She shrugged and and attacked the next one.
His friend laugh from behind the bar.
"Girls love their desserts. You should already know this."
"I know, but it's been a while since..." Charles stopped mid sentence, sighed and returned to moping.
The man behind the bar watched the two at the table and smiled softly. It had been years since he last saw Charles, and it looked like the girl beside him had somehow brought some light back into his life.
The sudden clinking of chain mail could be heard as three armored soldiers entered the restaurant. Each of them wore armor made of a white metal inlaid with golden accents. The symbol of a sun under a silver sword was emblazoned across their chestplates.
"Is a man named Charles in this building!?"
Charles turned around to face the group. "That's me. Do you need something?"
"We were asked to deliver this." One of the men handed Charles a sealed letter. "Now our task is complete. We bid you good day." The men saluted Charles and left the restaurant.
Serah watched them leave. "Who were they Charles?"
"Oh, just a couple of acquaintances." Charles opened the letter and Serah saw his face suddenly turn dark as he read it. He set the letter on the table with shaking hands. "This can't be happening..." Without warning he stood up. "Serah, we're leaving. Now."
The man went over to clean the table and threw Charles a questioning look.
"He's back." Charles exited the building as Serah followed him with a confused expression, unsure what had caused the sudden change in Charles normal behavior. The man had a look of disbelief that soon changed after he read the letter. His face hardened and he threw the letter into a fire.
"I'm sorry everyone! We're closing early for today due to some unforeseen circumstances! Make sure to come back tomorrow! Everything's on the house!"
After ushering out the customers and locking the doors, he put up the "CLOSED" sign and disappeared into the back of his store.
Stage 4: Asir's Story Start(Rose)
Having rushed back to the military base as soon as he could, Charles made a beeline for the armory. Meanwhile, Serah ran after him, completely lost as to what was happening.
Charles made his way to the back of the armory where the forge was located and was calling for someone when Serah managed to catch up to him. "JOHN!" Charles yelled over chorus of noise in the forge. A man emerged from behind one of the furnaces.
"Charles?! Is that you?! What do you need from me this time?!"
Charles beckoned him outside and began explaining the situation. "I need the key to the vault. He's back." John's face paled.
"Are you sure?"
"I got a letter from her confirming it."
"But how can you fight him? You don't have you-" Charles cut him off and pointed to Serah .
"She has it."
"Wha..?" John turned to look at Serah and saw the small golden pendant that had slipped out from under her dress.
"Alright. Here's the key. I wish there was more I could do, but you know how it is. Good luck." John handed Charles a silver key that had hung around his neck and saluted. Charles returned the salute and turned to Serah.
"Sorry, I haven't told you anything yet but I will once we get back to the basement."
Back in the basement, Charles opened the door to his room and beckoned for Serah to enter.
In his room, she saw a chest that was filled with items a young woman around her age would have.
Closing the door, Charles began to speak in a serious manner Serah was unfamiliar with.
"You've probably suspected something all along but my name isn't actually Charles and I'm not your average knight. My name is Asir and I am the former leader of the Crown's personal guard, the Knights of the Sun. Our crest is what you saw on the chests of the men earlier. It is also the shape that your pendant takes. As warriors blessed by the sun, those in the Order were bestowed with abilities beyond the capabilities of normal humans derived from a blessed item we are each given when we enter the Crown's service. Mine was a pendant, or rather, the one you're wearing right now." Serah stared at him blankly, unable to believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.
"Before I delve into what's happening right now, you need to know everything from the beginning. Before the queen stepped into power, her brother was the king."
"But I've never read any record of there being a king before the queen during my studies."
"You shouldn't have if the queen did her job properly. After a particular incident, she wiped all traces of him from our world."
"What was this incident?"
"My squad consisting of my two lieutenants, Jenna and Rose, ten well trained members of the Knights, and myself had been sent to subjugate a group of rogue pirates that had been terrorizing a coastal mining town. Normally, this would have been a routine mission that would have been dealt with quickly. Upon arrival, we found total destruction. Many buildings had been burned to the ground and the smell of burnt flesh wafted through the air. What was left of the town's populace hiding in their homes, too afraid to come out. All those brave enough to fight back had already been slain. We located two score pirates celebrating their victory and enjoying their spoils along the beach.
After observing them for a while, we ambushed them and were able to kill half their number immediately. However, once they noticed our presence, everything changed. The knight next to me charged at another pirate but burst into flames and burnt to crisp before he could manage three steps. Immediately, I knew that these were no ordinary pirates as they had received either the Blessing of the Sun or something similar. I warned my squad but it was too late and the battle progressed to a point where swords were no longer the weapon of choice. People on both sides began dying in horrific ways too terrible to describe.
In the end, we were able to kill everyone but the captain at the cost of the lives of the remaining nine knights. Jenna, Rose and I managed to corner the captain in a home he was using as his quarters. I demanded that he tell us how he and his crew were able to attain such power, but he just laughed like a fool and attacked us. We slew him and searched his desk, finding a letter stamped with the royal seal. It documented a deal between the King and the pirates, promising them the Blessing of the Sun in exchange for a percent of all the loot they would ever collect. As we searched the house, we also found a woman who had been held captive by the captain. She was in a terrible state, fading in and out of consciousness. I placed my necklace on her in the hope that the Blessing would be able to do something for her wounds and had Jenna bring her to a safer place...
(Continued on Next Post)
Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2014 8:40 pm
xxx • The Tale of the Two Last (Place) Knights by Althea Dawn - 9/11/14 (Continued)
Quote:
As we were leaving the building, I heard a scream behind me and saw Rose with a hole blown through her chest. I looked behind her to find the captain still alive and I slew that b*****d!" Asir spoke in a rage Serah had never seen before. His clenched fist shook on his knees as tears rolled from his closed eyes down his face. "I ran to her side...but there was nothing I could do. She smiled weakly at me...and tried raising her hand, telling me that if the king was really responsible for all this...I'd need the Blessing of the Sun to met out justice. Managing to slip her bracelet off, she told me to take it and avenge the lives that were lost today. I took it from her...and she smiled at me once more before passing on. At that moment, I swore to the sun that whoever was responsible for this would pay dearly."
Asir paused for a moment and looked at Serah with watery eyes. One of his sad smiles had arisen and the sorrow on his face was clear as day. "Rose was my daughter you know? Not by blood, but she was the closest thing to it I ever had. I found her outside the barracks when I was 18 years of age during the winter with a single rose placed over the bundle she was in. I raised her as well as I could and she took after me in a heartbeat. As soon as she was able to walk, she followed me everywhere. Rose was always watching me train and as soon as she was old enough to hold a sword, she pestered John for weeks to make her one so she could train with me." Asir laughed quietly at the memory.
"She was a prodigious knight and managed to be inducted into the Knights at the age of 16. She rose through the ranks quickly and became one of my lieutenants within a year. She was quite a beauty too. I think she once turned down ten men in a single day. Rose also had a quick temper, but she was good person and always helped anyone who needed it, even if they didn't deserve it. She was the best daughter any father could have asked for..." Charles became quiet as he lost himself in memories, his eyes red and his face moist from the tears.
"So this dress and the things in this chest were hers?" Serah asked quietly, still trying to grasp the magnitude of the story that had just been told to her.
"Yep."
Serah sat quietly, not sure of what to say next. Suddenly Asir stood up and bowed to Serah. "I need to apologize to you. When I first met you, you resembled Rose so much that I couldn't believe my eyes. I felt that maybe fate had given me a second chance. That night, I swore that this time I wouldn't fail in protecting the person who had been placed under my care. Up to this now, I feel like I've only seen my daughter in you and never truly seeing you as yourself. I beg for your forgiveness."
"No...you don't need to do that." Serah began to tear up herself. "I truly appreciate what you've done for me. Having no one to take care of me after Carol's passing, this is the closest thing I've ever had to having family. You've earned your right to be considered my father."
"Thank you Serah." Asir hugged Serah and returned his embrace. After a bit Asir tried returning to his normal jovial manner. "Well, we've gone way off track here and there's still a bit more I need to tell you but we still have a couple of days so I'll leave it until tomorrow. Go ahead and get to bed."
"Alright. Good night...Father..." Embarrassed, Serah quickly left the room. Asir looked through the small window in the roof as he lay on his bed.
"Rose...you've got a little sister now. She's so similar to you, you two could have been twins. Watch over her, eh?" Gazing at the night sky, he saw a small black shape appear in the night sky and it was growing larger. Charles wondered what it could be. Then, it hit him.
Stage 5: Asir's Story End/Preparation(Queen)
The next morning, Serah knocked on Asir's door. "Morning Father! You awake yet?"
Asir opened the door and Serah saw he had another letter in his hand. "You know, you calling me father feels really weird. But whatever makes you happy. Come on, we need to finish talking. We have less time than I thought." Serah entered Asir's room to find that everything in the room had been pushed to the wall that the two of them shared.
"Why did you move everything thing?"
"Because of this!" Charles twirled the key he had gotten from John yesterday and inserted it into a hole that had been hiding behind a bookcase. Gears could be heard turning and a section of the wall in front of them collapsed into the floor. " Welcome to the vault! The armory of the Knights! Or former armory I should say." In front of Serah was a vast assortment of various weapons and armor all made from the same white alloy that her sabres were made from.
"We'll talk in here while waiting for the others."
"Others?"
"Yep! We're going to need help after all."
"Wait, help with what?" Serah, as usual, had absolutely no idea what was going on in Asir's head and struggled to keep up with his pace.
"Well you know, storming a castle is pretty hard with only 1 person."
"Wha-...Wait, you're going to storm the castle!?"
"Guess I should continue where we left off yesterday. So, after I swore my oath of vengeance, I rushed over to the king's chambers to confront him about the matter. He merely smiled at me and drew his sword. At that point, I knew that what the letter said was true and drew my weapon as well. We dueled for a time, but I managed to ultimately kill him. However, with his death, all the items he had blessed lost their powers and the Knights lost any abilities the may have gained through the blessing.
Those who sided with the king immediately burst through the chamber doors after I killed him. Seeing as they were too late to save their king, they pursued me. I was captured and this brand was burned into my arm. As I was led to the execution stand, Jenna appeared from the crowd with the remainder of the Knights that had remained loyal to me when those bought out by the king revealed their true colors and defected from our order. After rescuing me, Jenna stepped forward with her true identity as sister to the king and next in line to rule.
She purged her brother from every record and with the blessing of the Sun inherent in her, altered the memories of everyone in the land so that the treasonous acts of her brother would be forgotten. Rather it would be as if he never existed. In addition, she erased any record of the Blessing of the Sun as she felt such monstrous abilities had no place in our world. She did make one exception though. Jenna privileged me with being the only one she blessed as I was the only one she trusted fully. However, with the brand on my arm, I couldn't move freely in public or people would begin asking questions. Thus I was delegated to my role here as a sort of guardian in case something should happen."
"Wow..." Serah just sat there in amazement. Asir's story was so amazing it felt like a fairytale.
"And now, the forgotten king has returned. It seems some people managed to avoid Jenna's efforts to rid the land of her brother's memory and retained their Blessing after the king's death. Apparently some idiot was able to find a way to revive him."
"How can you know that for sure?"
"I got a letter from the Jenna yesterday explaining that the forgotten king's forces had been able to secure tohe upper floors of the castle. They wouldn't be acting if they didn't have good reason to. Also, has the necklace around your neck been acting strangely?"
"Well recently, it's been rather warm despite being being left on a cold desk all night. I haven't really put much thought towards it."
"That warmth is a sign that the Blessing of the Sun is returning to it. However, the king is probably still extremely weak as he doesn't have an entire blessed army overrunning the city right now. We need to strike now while he is weak and make sure he dies for good this time."
A knock on the door was followed by 15 men and women filing into the vault through Asir's room led by none other than the queen.
"Glad you could all make it! Especially you Jenna. You sure you should be here? Shouldn't you be up in the castle monitoring the situation?"
Jenna laughed and shook her head. "Please! I wouldn't miss chance for anything. I haven't let loose in such a long time. Plus, I have the current leader of the Knights doing that for me. She's also acting as my double, so everything should be fine!" She walked over to a large white claymore and stroked the blade. "It's been a while old friend." Turning to Serah, she smiled. "You've really done well Serah! While I wasn't so sure I could trust you with this old man, it seems he's been able to do his job well!"
"Old? But he looks like he's barely thirty."
"Think a little harder dear." Then queen winked at her. "I'm sure he's told you about his daughter by now. You were born a year after she died."
Serah counted in her the 17 years of her life with the 17 years of Roses's life. Adding on to that, Asir found her at the age of 18 so he would be..."52?!"
"53 actually." Asir rubbed his head awkwardly. "I may look young but, yeah I'm pretty well on in years. Though my body is that of a young man. It's one of the perks of being blessed."
One of them men in the back chimed in. "Yeah, it's no fair he gets to stay young while the rest of us get old and wrinkly." They all began laughing. Asir looked slightly hurt.
"Hey it's not fair that you're only picking on me. The Jenna is pretty old too. She tur-" Asir abruptly stopped talking as Jenna punched him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.
"Tsk, tsk never talk about a lady's age Asir. This is why I tell you you'll never find a wife." She sighed. " You picked quite the man to be your father Serah."
"I guess, but he's a good one." They smiled at each other and began laughing.
Asir rubbed his stomach. " Well I guess everyone is here so we should be going. Serah, I told you that I would do everything in my power to protect you so I can't ask you to come with us. However, this is the man responsible for Rose's death and I will not suffer him live."
Serah put on a determined smile. "If you're my father and Rose is your daughter, then she's my sister. I will help avenge her death!"
"Thank you once again. Here take these, they were Rose's." Asir handed her two white sheaths with golden accents. Unsheathing one of the sabers, she held a beautifully crafted blade with the name "Rose" inscribed on it. Serah bowed to thank Asir. "I will treasure these forever."
The rest of the people there pulled out their old weapons and armor for one last fight. Once everyone had suited up, Asir made one last check and they all headed for the castle.
Stage 6: Castle Invasion/ The Forgotten King
Arriving on the upper floors of the castle, they found the current Knights of the Sun engaged with demonic looking beasts. Asir roared out his commands "Alright everyone! We're breaking through!" And with that they charged into the fray.
Serah watched around her as the enemy was torn asunder by the group of former knights. The man from the restaurant could be seen cleaving demons in two with a large battleaxe he wielded like a toy. While wielding the enormous claymore, the queen made the carnage seem sickeningly beautiful as she danced through waves of demons, obliterating anything that crossed her path. And there was Asir with his longsword charging straight forward through the enemy, his mind focused only on the thought of destroying the revived king. Surrounded by a group of such amazing people, Serah wondered if she would ever become as skilled as them. Redoubling her efforts, she cut a path forward with her sister's blades. - After an hour of fighting, they finally managed to reach the royal chambers. As Asir stepped forward to open the door he paused. "Serah."
"Yes?"
"I want you to promise me one thing."
"What is it?"
"Once we enter this room, if I order you to do something, I want you to do it. No matter how wrong it may seem."
"What do you mean?"
"Just promise me."
"...Okay..."
"That's a good girl." Asir smiled and opened the door.
"Asir...How nice it is to see you again..." A disembodied voice whispered through the room, emanating from a mass of dark smoke collected in the the."My best friend...well...that is until you put a sword through my heart..." An empty black face appeared and a faint smile was sculpted from the smoke.
"Curse you traitor! Your very existence shames the name of the crown!"
"Well...I suppose that is true...from your perspective. But you see, history is written by the victors, and once I dispose of you here...I shall be in the right!" The smoke suddenly solidified into the body of a young man wielding a spear who leapt at Asir. Jenna stepped in the way and blocked his thrust with her claymore.
"Dear sister! How nice it is for you to greet me! Though I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you too."
"You can go to hell scum!"
"Oh but I have! And I can assure you, it's a very unpleasant place. Far too hot. Why would I ever want to go back?'' He jumped back and readied for his next attack.
"Hmmm...there are so many of you...it'd be tiresome to take you on all at once." Snapping his fingers, he called upon the Blessing of the Sun and time froze.
Serah looked around her and saw that everyone else was frozen in place. Looking to where the forgotten king had been standing, she saw nothing. Suddenly she felt a cold breath on her neck.
"It seems that Asir has become attached to yet another fledgling...what a shame...to have to live through the same tragedy twice."
Serah turned around to respond but was too slow. She felt something stab her in the back. Time unfroze and she collapsed on the floor. Struggling to look around her, Serah saw that everyone in their group other than Jenna and Asir had suffered the same fate.
Asir turned around him when heard weapons drop and multiple bodies collapse to the floor. He saw Serah lying on the floor, bleeding profusely.
"NOOO!" He rushed to her side while Jenna held of the king. Asir held Serah in his arms.
"I'm sorry...I wasn't strong enough...to help you...avenge sister..." Serah gasped as she struggled to breathe from her punctured lung.
"No! I'm not going to let you die here! Not again!" Asir looked around him frantically for something that may help stop the bleeding.
"Ha...ha...it's..okay. I know that...there's on hope for me...at this point..." Her words grew fainter and fainter.
Asir thought back to everything he had ever learned over the course of his life but nothing he knew could help him. As a last ditch effort, he took of the pink bracelet he was wearing and focused all his thoughts and prayers into it, hoping for something to happen that would heal Serah.
Miraculously, the wound closed and Serah's breathing normalized. Relief spread across Asir's face. Serah looked down at her missing wound in amazement.
"Thank the sun..."
He put her down and stood up and turned around. He saw Jenna slumped over against the wall, but couldn't see the king anywhere. "Where are you, you monster!?"
"Now, now." Asir froze. "You don't have to yell. I'm right here. You're so bad, bringing her back to life, just so she can die again. What a cruel father. Oh yes and good bye dear friend!" Asir turned around to see the king raise his spear and stab him.
Asir clutched the spear in his chest and pulled it in. "Aaaarghh!" Bellowing in pain as the spear pierced through him farther, Asir grabbed a hold of the king. The king surprised by Asir's actions struggled to free himself. He snapped his fingers to freeze time but Asir smiled at him and snapped his own fingers, unfreezing time.
"You're not the only one with the Blessing of the Sun!" The king looked horrified as his greatest trick had been dispeled. "Serah! I need you to stab the king to kill him! Only someone who has blessed by him can kill him!"
The king smiled. "Who are you trying to fool. That girl couldn't have possibly received a blessed item from me. You killed me before she was born."
Asir returned his smile. "No, she couldn't have, but she has my necklace."
"No...no no no no!" The king's smile froze as he began to flail in panic, but Asir's iron grip on him remained firm.
Serah drew her blades and approached the couple but hesitated. "If I stab him, won't I end up killing you too?!"
"Don't worry about the small things! Just do it! You promised!"
"Bu-..but!"
"SERAH! STAB HIM, NOW!"
"Fine! I don't care anymore!" Serah ran towards the two of them and plunged her twin blades into the back of the forgotten king. The body instantly vanished into a cloud of smoke and a faint voice could be heard on the wind as a gust blew into the room, dispersing the smoke.
"Curse you Asir!"
Serah rushed to Asir's side. He was breathing heavily and looked very pale. Jenna had regained conscious and limped over to the pair. She looked him over once and shook her head. Serah saw this and couldn't believe it. "Didn't he use the Blessing of the Sun to save me?! Can't we do the same for him?!" Tears streamed down her face.
Jenna shook her head. "While the Blessing can control time and perform other miraculous feats, the power over life and death is not something one heir to the sun can hold or bestow. The only reason Asir was able to bring you back from the brink of death was that he had the Blessing of two heirs at his disposal. My own and that of the forgotten king."
"Hey..Serah. Don't worry about me. I've lived a good life and met many good people. I've also been blessed by two exceptional daughters. You also gave me a second chance to be a father again, to get things right this time around. You're also at the age where you can't depend on your dad anymore right? Hell, you've managed most of your life without one. So don't cry. At least send me off with a smile."
He raise his hands weakly and pushed her frown into a smile. Serah tried to hold it but she couldn't as her lips quivered as she cried. "Well, I'm off to meet your sister. I've got quite a few things to tell her about you ." Charles smiled,"Make sure you join us eventually, I'm sure she'll want to meet you. Just not too soon!" With that, Asir took his last breath and died.
Serah began yelling at Asir's body. "What's the point of telling me not to die and then going of to die yourself! You big idiot!"
Jenna watched Serah cry as she contemplated something. "Serah..?"
"...Yes..?"
"Do you desire at all to save Asir's life?"
Serah stopped crying and turned to Jenna. "Yes! But I thought you said it wasn't possible."
"Yes, it isn't possible to bring him back from the dead. But it is possible to save his life another way."
"How?' Serah asked through her sniffling.
"I have the ability to send you back in time so that you may relive your life again. However, this is an extremely perilous use of the Blessing. If something goes wrong, you will certainly die."
Drying her tears, Serah nodded at Jenna. "If it means I can save everyone, I'll gladly risk my life."
"Very well. Allow me to bless an item you carry." Serah handed Jenna Rose's sabers. Whispering several words into the weapons, she returned them. Serah took them and a warm glow emanated from them. "Congratulations, you are now the second person to have received my blessing. Now allow me to perform the ritual." Serah stood in silence as Jenna began chanting. A golden light began radiating from Serah's body and she looked at her hands in wonder. Jenna finished chanting and faced Serah. "I hope for you, the ending this time will be a brighter one. Good luck dear!"
"Oh one question your majesty!"
"Yes?"
"What was the forgotten king's name?"
Jenna laughed. "I'm not quite sure. It seems I've forgotten."
Then she blacked out.
Final Stage: Starting Over
Serah woke up suddenly and looked around her. It was dark and she wasn't able to see anything around her. She got out of bed to take a look outside. As she reached for the door knob she wondered why it seemed so high, but wasn't it the same as always? Stepping outside in her nightgown, she saw a funeral procession bringing a casket towards the cemetery. Some young boys followed the procession from behind and Serah heard bits of their conversation.
"So I heard the old bat Carol died yesterday!"
"Is that her in the casket?"
"I'm not sure. That's why we're following them."
Serah couldn't make out anymore as they had moved too far away. Thinking to herself, she wondered what the boys were talking about. Carol died? Without warning, everything came back to her in an instant and she collapsed out of surprise. Regaining her composure she gathered her thoughts and knew what she had to do.
The next day, she was accepted into the academy per the wishes of Carol and she set her plan to work.
Having already previously studied all the school materials to death, she focused solely on training her physical ability. While she remembered all the techniques Asir had taught her, her body needed to be conditioned to make use of the techniques. As years passed, the knowledge from her past life helped her breeze through her school life. She aced every exam, was skilled beyond belief for her age, and was able to avoid every trick and prank she had been subject to previously. At the age of ten she entered the forge one day looking for John who was surprised to be called out by such a small child.
"Hello there little lady, I don't normally see kids around here. Is there anything I can help you?"
"I need you to make something for me."
"Hmm..I don't normally takes orders from little kids but you remind me of somebody...and if you're anything like her, I'm probably just better off listening to what you want. Alright, so what do you need me to make?"
"I need you to make two sabers."
"Wow. Aren't you just a bundle of surprises. An unusual customer and an unusual order. Tell me little girl, why do you need them?"
"I need them to train so I can save Asir," Serah replied bluntly
John dropped the hammer he was holding in surprise. "Wha-...little girl...how do you know that name?" He sat down on the ground. "You're going to need to tell me your story."
Serah nodded, jumping up to sit on a nearby crate and told her story to John.
"Well that's one hell of a tale. Normally I wouldn't believe it, but you know way too much to be spouting nonsense at random. Hmm, alright I'll give you a hand." He took his gloves off and offered his right hand. "Let me introduce myself, my name is John and I'm the former forge master of the Kinghts of the Sun." Serah smiled and extended her small hand to shake his.
Serah soon became good friends with the men who worked at the forge and she could be found there when not training. Each year, she would receive a pair of custom made sabers from them to match her growth during the year.
With their help, she also had no longer any need for school loaned equipment, allowing her to participate in all her matches without fear of tampering or sabotage from the other students. Her prowess was unmatched and by the end of her time at the Academy, she was the undisputed number one. - Today was the graduation ceremony for the 235th Knight Class of Crossed Swords Academy. A sea of blue uniforms was amassed at the foot of a large wooden stage as the senior students waited their turn to be knighted by the queen. At the very front was a young woman clad in a regal white uniform with gold accents, honoring her as the top student in her graduating class.
"Serah Tyr!"
She stepped forward onto the stage as the queen called her name. Facing the queen she kneeled down.
"Congratulations on graduating at the top of your class Serah! May you continue to be successful in your future endeavors!" With those words, the queen proceeded to night her.
"Thank you Jenna!" Serah unconsciously thanked the queen.
Jenna's face lit up in confusion for a brief moment but it turned into knowing smile as she whispered to Serah.
"Good luck! May we meet in the future."
Serah smiled as she bowed to the queen and stepped off stage. She was immediately approached by the leader of the knights attending the ceremony.
"Serah, it would bring me great pleasure if I could have you as my apprentice."
"I'm sorry sir knight, but I've already decided on who my supervising knight is."
As she made her way to through the knights, she looked for the familiar face of the man who had given her a second lease on life. Hearing snores coming the back, she headed towards them. Arriving at the back, she found the knight she was looking for. This rugged looking man wearing rusted armor and a tattered cloak. The man who would become her father. She smiled and prepared a wake up call.
E.I.-Dual Ultimo
Stage 1: Graduation Long Blond Hair Blue Round Eyes (Scar Over Left Eye) Serious face Red and Black Long sleeved Uniform (Female) Red Skirt with Black Leggings and Black Shoes (Legs-standing at attention) Red Beret (School Emblem) Black Gloves With Crossed Swords sewn on the Back. Tattered Cloak Rusty Platemail Messy Short Brown Hair Rusty Greaves Standard Longsword
Stage 2: Apprenticeship (Serah's Story)
Blanket (Wrapped around) Blanket (Cape) Defeated Boar (Foreground) Defeated Boat (Background) Golden Sun Silver Sword Necklace (Normal) Broken Sword Brand (On arm) Practice Short Sword (Multiple poses) Practice Saber (Multiple poses) Dual Practice Sabers (Multiple Poses)
Stage 3: A Break
Sky Blue Dress (Short sleeves/Down to knees) Sky Blue Beret White Pants and White Shoes. (Legs Standing Normally) White Eyepatch with Sun under Sword Emblem Holding Plate of Cake Eyes Closed in Enjoyment/ Smiling(Scar Over Left Eye) Letter (Closed) Letter (Open) White Shirt Black Pants Arms (Pondering) Black Eyes Serious Face
Stage 4: Asir's Story Start(Rose)
Blacksmith's Apron Silver key around neck. Medium Length Black Hair Black Eyes Smiling Face Pink Bracelet Fitting Upper White Uniform with Gold Accents Medium Length White Skirt, White Leggings, White Shoes (Golden Trim) /Battle Stance Sheathed Dual Sabers (White Sheathes/ Gold Trim) White Cape (Gold Trim) White Beret with Sun under Sword Crest(Gold Trim)
Stage 5: Asir's Story End/Preperation(Queen)
(It's safe to say that literally everything white has gold accents or trims) White Platemail White Greaves White Claymore (Multiple poses) White Claymore(Stabbed into Ground) White Sheathes w/ Unsheathed Sabers White (Multiple poses) Long Blue Hair Long White Dress Light Blue Eyes White Armored Skirt White Greaves with White Leggings (Battle Stance) White Longsword
Stage 6: Castle Invasion/ The Forgotten King
Large White Battleaxe (Over Shoulder) Large White Battleaxe (Planted head down in to the ground) Black Spear (Multiple Poses) Smoke (Aura) Wicked Red Eyes Crooked Smile Smoke with Empty Face except Crooked Smile(I Am) Black Cape Black Tunic Black Pants Broken Crown Glowing Sun/Sword Pendant Glowing Aura Around Body. Timeshifting Effect Short Black Hair White Twin Sabres (Glowing)
Final Stage: Starting Over
7 Pairs of Dual Sabers of Varying Designs (Multiple Designs) Blue Eyes (No Scar) Happy Face White and Gold Long sleeved Uniform (Female) White Skirt with White Leggings and White Shoes (Legs-standing at attention) White Beret (School Emblem) White Gloves With Crossed Swords Sewn on the Back.
• Lyn Light by VerityHattress (Edited by Itchigotchi) - 9/13/14 [GoogleDoc]
Quote:
Summer was almost over for Percy, her long white hair flowed in the wind as she made her way through the field of tall grass toward the barn, which was falling apart. This year had been nothing but misfortune, so she’d ended up at her Grandparent’s farm for the summer. Being here had been a good experience for her- it had helped her clear her mind of the year’s unfortunate events. Within the week though, she would be sent to a new school to “redeem” herself, as her mother put it. This time, she was being sent to a private boarding school, instead of a living with her mother and attending a public one. She had hoped she could go to school near her grandparent’s farm, but they had completely denied it. No school wanted to take on such a terrible student- none except the boarding school, far away from her family. It wasn’t away from her friends however, because she didn’t have any, not anymore. As she walked through the field towards the barn, she noticed something in the grass. It glinted in the mid-day sun. Stepping closer to the object in question, she found a small white stone with carvings. She reached down and picked it up, white hair tangling in the breeze. Never before had she seen such a stone, or the carvings it possessed. Each mark on the stone was perfect, resembling the art one would find in the Middle East… or maybe not. It could be something from the Bahamas for all she knew. She placed the stone in a pocket on the outside of her messenger bag, zipped the pocket shut and continued toward the barn. Her grandpa would be either tending to the horses or sleeping in some hay barrels. Mostly likely he would be sleeping, but that wouldn’t be for long. .-⁞-. “Percy was your name right?” asked the girl on the top bunk with an annoyingly perky attitude, her head looking over the edge of the railing. She watched as Percy continued to try to unpack in silence “, weird name for a girl, in my opinion. Did your parents think you would be a boy? My parents thought I was going to be a boy, but they didn’t give me a boyish name!” “Can you just be quiet for ten minutes Serabelle? I am trying to concentrate.” “On unpacking? That’s dumb!” Her head disappeared back behind the railing of her bed, but her voice wasn’t gone “, you should do something more productive! I know you were accused of vandalizing your last school and setting it on fire, but that doesn’t give you the right to be a grumpy pants!” “I’m trying to get everything sorted out so that I don’t lose… wait a minute,” Percy stood up and backed up in order to see Serabelle, who was lying on her back kicking her feet in the air “, who told you that?” “The voice in your bag did when you were going to the bathroom earlier!” Serabelles’ legs stopped kicking as she sat up, turning to face Percy with her usual cheery grin “, It told me you didn’t really do it, but you were the only one found to be there. This school is your second chance of proving to everyone you are not a criminal, right?” Everything was quiet for the first time since Percy had entered the room. Percys eyes met Serabelles and she took a very serious tone. “What voice, Serabelle?” “The one from your bag!” Percy raised her eyebrow at Serabelle, then sighed and reached for her messenger bag. She checked the pocket she had placed the stone in less than a week ago, and noticed that something was different. Instead of the carved white stone, there was now a white a feathered dragon that was the size of at which the stone had been, with little wings starting to develop on its back! On its snout, and other places where no feathers grew, the markings from the stone could be seen. The white dragon looked inquisitively up at Percy as the light from the room came into its little hide-out and woke it up. Percy, on the other hand, had only one thought in mind “, why is there a dragon in my bag??” .-⁞-. This school year had been interesting for sure. Lyn Light (as the dragon liked to be called) made each day a surprise. Percy started out teaching Lyn not to speak or show itself to people during school hours, but a few months later Lyn gained the ability to turn into different items. It was much easier to hide the dragon after that, since items like scarves, necklaces, and shoes were customizable. Even bringing a jacket of your own was okay to bring to school during the winter months. Over the course of the months, Lyn began to grow bigger, but not by much. It was only the size of two fists now instead of its original size being that of the stone. Percy found that the hardest challenge was keeping Serabelle’s mouth shut about the dragon. Even though the two were best of friends now, it was still difficult. Serabelle was a bit of a blabber mouth, but the dragon was exciting after all! By spring, there were next to no problems concerning Lyn being found out. Despite the struggles at times to keep Lyn under rafters, the three roommates had become quite the group of friends. “Why do you stick around me, Lyn?” Percy asked her little dragon friend, cherry blossoms falling from the trees. Spring was coming to a close and school was ending “, now that school is about to end, Serabelle will be going back home to her hometown for the summer and I to my grandparent’s farm with you. Despite everything the three of us have been through this school year, why did you stay with me? Were you somehow magically inclined to?” The dragon, who had grown to the size of two fists in length within the school year, shifted its weight on Percy’s shoulder as it thought over what she was saying “, no?” “Then why do you stay with me?” After a few moments of thought, Lyn looked Percy in the eyes. A grin formed on Lyns’ mouth “, because you needed someone who believed in you, Percy,” Lyn finally replied “, everyone thought you were a terrible student, after you just-so-happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if the evidence wasn’t enough to send you to jail, you were still labeled as a criminal by everyone, even your mother! When I hatched from my egg and listened to you crying alone in that bus bathroom, I knew I had to be there for you. If no one was going to give you a second chance, I would.”
@Everyone: Thank you so much for your time and patience! I'm sending out the last of the critiques - if you haven't received yours yet, it will be sometime tomorrow or this weekend. I loved reading through all of your entries, and I look forward to hearing from you again. heart
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