Chapter 5: Temple
The battle between Sen and the girl had subsided. She was sniffling because she had lost and Sen felt a little guilty about attacking her. "Who are you?" Sen asked, curiously. "I guess since I lost I can tell you..." The girl began weakly. "My name is Amy." The girl said. "I come from Earth... I lived on that planet for a while until I stumbled into a portal. I ended up here and haven't been able to get back. I wandered for some time, not knowing days from weeks. I finally found a gigantic temple and went inside, where some nice people welcomed me. They said a very important treasure was in the temple. They gave me this staff and clothes and all I had to do in return was kill you..." She continued, beginning to sniffle again. "So what happens to you since you failed?" Sen asked. "They're going to strip me of everything and kill me!" She cried, tears flowing out of her eyes. Miu rushed over to her and tried to comfort her. "We can't very well have the death of a human on our conscious..." Revl pointed out, his arms crossed. "True. But it makes me wonder why she has power like this if she's from Earth." Sen muttered, thinking to himself. As he was lost in thought, Miu helped Amy up. "You can come with us, you poor thing." She told Amy. "Where are you headed?" Amy asked, still sniffling a bit. "To the temple you came from." Revl said without hesitation.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Sen asked after a long silence. "Think about it. They tried to kill Sen, who is The Chosen One looking for the rings." Revl started. "Plus, Amy said there was an important treasure there, which I'm going to assume is the Ring of Norm, one of the rings that you ware searching for. She also said that there were some people in the temple, which are most likely the temple guardians." He said, finishing. Miu looked a bit surprised that Revl had figured this out. "But then the question is this:" Sen started, his hand on his chin. "Can we get the ring? I mean, we all got destroyed by Cri, which makes you think that this will be any easier?" He said, looking up into the sky. Amy quickly spoke up. "THe temple guardians are only a little bit stronger than me. The only things that may pose a threat are the temple demons and traps as well as the treasure guardian..." She said. "Who is the treasure guardian?" Sen asked, looking at Amy. "I'm not sure... there are some rumors about the guy being a warlord or something..." She replied. Miu looked confused. "Warlord?" She asked. Sen was trying to think about who they were as was Revl. "It can't be SYN..." Revl thought to himself. "But the Warlords... they seem familiar." He said aloud. Miu looked at Revl. "How do you know all this stuff anyway?" She asked. Revl sighed. "I've been alive for a long time and learned a lot." He replied. "Anyway, I think we should get Amy to a safe place and then go to the temple." Miu said quickly changing the subject. "I'm coming too!" Amy said ignorantly. "Fine, fine..." Miu said, sighing.
"So where is this temple?" Sen asked Amy. The group of four had started to walk again, casually. Miu was silent again. "It's not far from here..." Amy answered shyly. She had taken a quick liking to Sen and Revl. Not Miu so much, though. As the group progressed and got closer to the temple, Sen began to get excited. "I can't wait to see what this temple is like!" He said. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised..." Amy commented slyly.
The four reached the temple within the next few hours. The temple was covered by many trees, invisible to the naked eye from all angles. It was impossible to sense it as well. "No wonder we couldn't find this place..." Sen muttered as Amy led them through the trees. When they reached the temple Sen and Miu had looks of shock. It was a gigantic, pure white structure with a large archway for the entrance. "That's the only way in... and out." Amy explained. Upon closer inspection, the others found that the whole building was trimed with a gold lining. "Wow..." Miu said softly. They began to walk towards the building but were soon stopped by a figure with a white cloak with gold trim on it. He jumped down from the sky, halting their progress. He had a hood on. "Amy... you failed your job and you brought Sen here? I'm afraid you're all going to have to be executed..." He said. Amy trembled a bit. "That's what you think!" She retorted softly. The man shot several arrows from his cloaked arms. Revl stepped in front of Amy and deflected all the arrows. "This will be... fun." Revl said.
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Uni and Miyun had met up when Uni had come back. "Uni-kun!!!" She said as she ran up to hug him. She tripped, causing her to land in Uni's arms. "Silly little girl." Uni said, laughing. She got back up and turned a bright red. "D-Don't call me little!" She said, still red. "Let's go get something to eat..." Uni said, taking her arm with his. She blushed even more as they headed off, most of the Zeroins moving out of the way for them. When they reached a cafe, a large crowd had gathered in the middle of the road. Uni and Miyun pushed their way to the front. A hooded figure and a strong Zerion were facing off. The hooded figure was wearing a brown robe that was similar to a monk's; it covered every part of his body. The Zeroin charged at the man with a large blade. The figure put his hand up and stopped the blade with ease. A soft white light began to glow from the stranger, causing the Zeroin to get sent flying. "Who is this guy? His energy seems familiar, but I don't know anyone who could've done something like that..." Uni said, trying to recognize the scent. Miyun also recognized the energy, but couldn't figure out who it was. The man was now surrounded by a group of angry Zeroins. They all attacked at once, but were stopped by the same white light. They looked stunned and were sent flying back above the growing crowd. The hooded figure began to let his energy disappear, walking away through a path created by the crowd. Uni began to make his way after the strange and pulled Miyun with him. "Who are you?" He asked. The man turned back to Uni. "That will become known to you soon enough." He said in a low voice. Miyun and Uni said nothing else to him as he began to walk away again, seemingly disappearing into the large group of people.
Hooded figures had also "plagued" The Third's and The Second's cities, but nothing like what happened in Orez happened in Liberius or S City. And that's just how Near had planned everything to happen. "These poor fools have no idea that I'm pulling the strings behind this whole operation... or most of them, anyway..." He said to himself. "I wouldn't say that." Cri responded from behind him. Near turned around quickly. "You're getting very sneaky. I almost didn't sense you. So what do you mean by that?" He asked, his hands in his pockets, yet again. "Look over the hill." Cri told him, pointing to a nearby hill. Near appeared at the top of it and looked down. He saw an enormous army marching towards him. When the general of the army saw Near, he stopped. "Ready your fire!" He commanded, raising his hand. "I will give you one chance to stop." Near said, pulling his left hand out of his pocket and raising one hand. "Aim!" The general continued, signaling with his hand, ignoring Near's statement. "Alright then." Near said, sighing. "FIRE!"
Cri watched in boredom as Near appeared on the opposite side of the arrows, all of them missing completely. But one had been delayed and stuck Near in the chest. "Very good. You've all planned, I see." He said, pulling out the arrow and snapping it in half. "Oh? And you've paralyzed my movement somehow..." He added calmly, not moving from the spot. The army was ready to charge and did, not giving Near any time to recover. A portal swallowed Near up and spat him out behind the rushing army. The army stopped hastily and Cri crushed a couple of the ones near him, sitting down afterwards. The army turned, ignoring Cri. They looked frustrated. Near put his hand up to the sky and began to swirl it around. The army began to charge again but their movements had been slowed. Near had nearly stopped the time and space around them. A dome of electricity formed around the army and the clouds became dark. Thunder began to boom and the dome came to life. The army had moved only centimeters. The clouds began to move towards the center of the dome. When they had gathered, an enormous bolt of lightning struck the ground in the center of the electric dome, spreading throughout the army. The skies cleared immediately following and the dome vanished. The army had been smelted into the ground, with more than half of the soldiers dead. "Clean up." Near said boredly, clicking his fingers. There was an explosion and the whole army was incinerated. "You overdid it." Cri muttered, standing up. Near just laughed as the ash covered the sky.
Back at the temple, the battle had began. The man in the cloak had fired several more arrows at Revl, who easily deflected them all. The man grunted a bit. Sen turned to Amy while the two were fighting. "Do you know who he is?" He asked. Amy thought for a second. "I think he said that all of the members who guarded the temple had one letter names... his name is Z, I think." She said, blushing a bit.
In the midst of the battle, Revl had gotten hit a few times by the arrows. He had simply pulled them out and snapped them in half, rendering them useless. "I thought you temple guards were stronger..." Revl mocked as he stood still. Z had a smirk on beneath of his hood. "Oh, but I am." He said, pulling down his hood. He had long silver hair that ran just past his neck and into his cloak. He had pointed ears and dark eyes. "Unfortunatley, this is all of my body I can show you." He said, sighing. "Any more would be a violation of the temple rule... Anyway." He said, holding up the back of his hand. A Z began to glow on his hand, facing towards Revl. A strange magic circle appeared on his body and Revl felt drained. Z picked up the bow he had dropped, firing an arrow at Revl again, straight for his heart. Revl managed to avoid it with his remaining strength. "Those arrows are magic. They drain whatever they hit when I tell them to." Z explained. Revl smirked. "Thanks for explaining. It gave me time to do this." He said, raising his hand. Several arrows of energy headed towards Z, who looked stunned. He tried to avoid them but was met by Ico, the blade which cut through him and left no mark. Sen pulled it out and flicked the blood off of it. "Strange..." He observed as Z fell to the ground in immense pain. Revl's arrows had passed by Z, but Revl had shot some more at him, finishing him. Amy looked away as Z died. "Ugh... I hate death..." She said in disguist. "Well let's head into the temple..." Sen said, changing the subject. They began to walk towards it, keeping on their guard.
