* Guardians of The Sacred Orb

[CainZeros]

Marcus closes the spellbook, confident that he had the spell memorized. He places it back in his backpack and walks over to the fire. He sits down near Ty and Mia, picking up a bowl. "Restocking sounds good." She shouldn't know about that village. That's where the Tower is. How could she know about it? Unless... Marcus's jaw goes slack at the thought, his arms limp. The bowl he was holding drops to the ground and he sits, frozen in terror.  

[darkfae12]

She looks at Marcus a little grouchy that everyone keeps jumping. "What? What's wrong now?" Ty finishes up quickly and knaws at the bone, still looking at Marcus.  

[Maha clone]

She closed the music box and looked down at the cave. She heard something but thought marcus just dropped the bowl. She took out elven bread that she always had and nibbled on it but then she stopped. She put it back and stared at the castle again.  

[zepherion]

Mia was just about to finish her rabbit's leg but stopped to stare at Marcus. "Marcus? What happened?" Mia sighed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."  

[CainZeros]

"I think..." Marcus starts to say, terror choking his words, then cuts himself off. "Nevermind, it's nothing. Just my imagination running wild." He picks up the bowl, which mercifully had not tipped over when he had dropped it, and starts eating.  

[Maha clone]

AYu walked back into the cave. "I heard...don't laugh...a thunk like something fell. Is everyone ok?" She looked around and then at Marcus. "Are...are you ok?" She looked worried.  

[CainZeros]

"Fine," Marcus says, "Is there any reason I shouldn't be?" The young mage says his words carefully, slowly, lingering on each one to make his distrust about the fact that Ayu seemed to think he was in the most danger of being injured more apparent.  

[Maha clone]

She looked at him for a moment. "OK....whatever you say." She walked back to a wall in the back part of the cave. She opened up the album again and put her finger on her ancestor. She looked deep into the picture to see if she missed something. She looked at the books. She opened her eyes wider. She looked in her bag and pulled out the same book as the one her ancestor had. "Now this is weird."  

[zepherion]

Mia sighs. "Ok. You guys. I know we don't exactly know each other very well but we have to trust each other if we're going to travel together. So please don't hide too many things, ok?" Mia summoned up a bed of soft flowers for each of them and lyed down on hers. "Good night."  

[Maha clone]

Ayu put the book back in her bag. She looked at Marcus for a sec then looked down. "Ok, Mia we'll try." SHe sat at the back of the cave staring at Marcus. 'Why are you so unsure about me Marcus?' she asked him in his mind.  

[CainZeros]

"I'll do what I can," Marcus says, "But these might be very strange times indeed, and I just want to be completely sure I can trust everyone, for my own sake." He notices Ayu's gaze fall on him. She knows I'm hiding something. But what's she want me to do about it, come right out and say 'I think you might be sharing your body with my ancestor, so don't be surprised if you suddenly come up with a plan to become a god or something crazy like that'?  

[Maha clone]

Ayu starts to giggle and then starts laughing. 'Marcus darling what is you're problem! But could I really be sharing a body with you're ancestor?' She looks at her hands as the are shaking. She hides her face in her hands to keep the tears from falling to the cave ground. She starts to shake as the tears fall from her hands. 'What have I done?!'  

[CainZeros]

Perhaps not my ancestor himself, but the man who put the same ideas in his mind, a man who was supposed to have died long before that, but somehow preserved his soul, waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect body. If he did it once, I don't see why he couldn't do it again. The thought frightens Marcus visibly, although not quite as strongly as before. He does not even want to imagine what could happen if he is right, especially considering it would mean his new body is physically stronger.  

[Maha clone]

Ayu started crying even more and started to shake violently. She looked at her hands again in disgrace and she ran outside. She stood there in the rain crying. 'I hope this never happens to anyone ever again!' She sat at the edge of the cave against the rocks crying and shaking, just waiting to die.  

[CainZeros]

Marcus walks after her and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We don't know anything's happened. You've been around a long time. You could have known about the village you said was nearby before all the secrecy about it, and just forgotten about it until you told us about it. Prepare for the worst but hope for the best. In other words, get your a** in the cave and get some sleep."