Round robin. WAR OF LORE!

Karl 67 · **Posted:** October 24th, 2008, 5:45 pm

Karl 67 finally awoke. Last he remembered, he was running off from Alex 43 and Gia; off to do assorted errands, trying to establish contact with the Void Knights, whom he left when the balance of strengths throughout the Pest Control business was perfected. Void Knights and Monsters of the other world were in perfect odds. Valence had disappeared since the aftermath of the last adventure.

He needed to talk with the Void Knights, but couldn't. He didn't even know where he was anymore.

A wrecked ship in the middle of the ocean. Every sailor was dead, and Karl 67 was tied up and gagged. His crystal sword remained in his hang; something he grew to practice, as it was his best weapon.

The ocean itself was completely still, as if time had stopped there. The ship itself didn't even create ripples as it floated on.

Karl 67 cut himself loose and walked up to the deck. The sky was cloudless, starless, and black as it can get. The ocean reflected unseen sunlight.

"So, finally awake, eh?" came an unfamiliar voice. It was shrill and hoarse, like a fish gasping out of water.

"What?" Karl 67 asked.

"Scared, I assume? frightened?"

"Who are you?"

"I am an ally of many beings, including yourself, and others much like us."

"What do you mean by like us?"

"Your... disappeared friend, said friend's legacy and relatives, the makers of your sword, Psychosis Jakob... both parts of him anyway. There are others, but I shall go with the ones you do know about."

"What do Valence and the Blaze Elves have to do with anything?"

"Guthix is just another being much like that so-called "Zamorak" and "Saradomin", and "Zaros", and any other "deities" I could care to even utter the nicknames of."

"Where are you?"

"Watch your step, I'll say that much."

Karl looked down to see a stingray crawling on the deck with its wing-like fins.

"A... stingray...?" Karl 67 asked. Within seconds, it morphed into something humanoid. The light reflecting from the water showed the humanoid to have what looked to be a stinger growing out of its spine. It wore a helmet with an organic-looking tail. With the odd-looking diving suit and red snake-like eyes, it looked to be incredibly flexible; physically.

"More or less." it replied. It apparently had no mouth. Where it would be, there were gills. Karl then noticed that its mouth was under its chin.

"Just what do you want with me anyway?"

"Wanted to let you know that your other friends are in danger, and this existence as we know it is on the verge to drop straight into heck. That's all."

"Are you going to help?"

"The Unknown is involved, according to... an unnamed source... We'll need all the help we can get."

"Okay... whatever you are, what's the plan?"

"My name is currently unimportant. The plan so far is for you to get to Ardougne. The Void Knights won't be able to help."

"In that case, how will I?"

"You are much like your "brother", Alex. He has potential, and same with you. At least, that's what the unnamed source told me to say."

"How will I get there?"

"You won't. It'll come to you."

The thing was gone. Karl 67 remained standing on the wrecked ship, wondering just what the heck is going on.

Adbot · **Posted:** October 24th, 2008, 5:45 pm

Unbirthday · **Posted:** October 24th, 2008, 6:58 pm

Rain drops fall upon the river.

When will I know why I'm here?

Zac leans forward and begins to play tic-tac-toe with himself in the beginnings of mud.

I win again.

He sighs, leans back and rests his head on the grass.

A shooting star lights up the sky.

Zac jumps to his feet and staggers.

I bet it landed in camalot.

He then teleports to camalot.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** October 30th, 2008, 3:55 pm

"Are you feeling all right now?" Lawrence asked Darkrascal.

"I'm feeling great!" Darkrascal replied.

"Good." He said. He took her hand in his. "Everything is ready. Are you ready for tonight?" He asked her. She looked into his eyes. All the big and small details, from the her dress to table cloths at the reception, she approved of all the details. Yes! She was prepared for possibly the happiest day of her life.

"Mmhmm." She said with a big smile. They looked out the window with satisfaction as the sun began to set.

Alex 43 · **Posted:** November 1st, 2008, 11:22 pm

Grab something warm to drink, get somehow comfortable, and get ready for a battle of lost legends.

*CLANG!*

Alex was rather impressed with the quality of rithlyte. A deity's sword of impossibility making hard contact with a White Dragon's sword and nearly sending him flying, and it still stopped the blow with naught but a dent. Sparks (or 'something') did fly, though, so there was still quite an impact between them. Since the Unknown was now in a temporary lock with Gia, he would've driven his spear in and pierced it in an instant. Unfortunately, it sat hooked over Venos' shoulder blade, broken and useless, giving him the feeling that he was indeed quite helpless without that spear.

So, instead, he thrust forward with the sharper handle-end of Dex's staff, getting underneath Gia's sword and aiming for the Unknown's torso. But it was suddenly gone inches from impact! It was not only strong, but fast too!

Something in the back of his mind told him to drive his staff around and down behind him with both hands, and by obeying this 'something', he succeeded in meeting the staff with the Unknown's sword rather then his own body. Alex felt the jarring of the vibration and wedged his foot in Venos' left leg-brace to stay on board. Amazingly, like the sword, the staff too held without a dent.

It was as though they were built in the past to fight such a foe. Thank goodness they united in their time of need here.

"Allezyamos. You and the Holy Fighter keep our foe busy." Venos said, "I will attempt to contact our Lord. Request his aid."

If Alex had a heart, it would've skipped a beat.

"Uh, Venos ..." Alex began.

"No time. Keep it distracted! I must have focus!" it shouted, beginning to focus. It was serious, and the argument was over. No matter, it will have to find out for itself that Saradomin was out of reach.

Alex's staff clashed against the extraordinary sword of their opponent, and Gia followed up from behind. It spun around, almost in a typhoon, and knocked the both of them back. Then, it flipped its sword over and prepared to stab Venos, but Gia let loose with a series of sparks and it was forced to leap to the side. Alex recovered and clashed against it again.

"... no response. Why?" Venos was mumbling to himself, "My Master! Speak to me!"

The Unknown ignored Venos, and pulled Alex and Gia through a series of quick sword maneuvers. It was not only the Unknown itself that seemed to be out of this universe, but its attack style suited it well. Its sword and body positions went places that Alex and Gia could only call awkward, and the both of them had no idea how it could even be applying force in these strange poses. It twisted its arms all the way around, flipped the blade between hands and feet as though juggling it, and even at one point held it balancing on what would've been called its nose.

"RESPOND!" Venos was screaming now.

"It's not going to work!" Alex finally got the courage to shout back, "Saradomin's gone! I can't reach him either!"

"What? The agent's gone, you say?" Venos shouted.

"What do you mean 'agent'?" Alex replied.

"Forget it! We're on our own, you two!" Venos replied.

Yet another mystery. Alex was beginning to get very ... very ... VERY annoyed at this.

Venos suddenly dived, taking all 4 of them with it. Gia swung his sword and the Unknown ducked the attempt, and Alex was forced to stab at the Unknown to divert its attention away from Gia's exposed armpit. He succeeded, but only temporarily, and he too was suddenly exposed with another fast swing. The Unknown flipped its sword instinctively and prepared to drive it into the stunned Alex, but Gia followed up by continuing his spin and blasting away with his lightning-breath. The Unknown reacted, but rather then jumping out of the way and giving some space between them, it held its free hand up and literally removed the lightning with a shield-like void of nothingness.

It gave Alex the recovery-time he needed, and he leapt up, aiming for another section of Venos to land on and continue the fight at another angle. Gia twisted his sword around and drove it down at the Unknown, who sidestepped and allowed it to smash into Vanos' back. There was a clank, but no crack, and Venos hardly reacted except to flip its tail over and attempt to grab at the Unknown, who jumped the attack, but still didn't want any distance between him and his prey. Carefully turning himself in mid-air, Alex aimed for the base of Venos' tail and spread out, decreasing his fall acceleration to that of Veno's dive to maintain a careful distance and seemingly hover over them.

Gia swung again with another effortless dodge on the Unknown's part. The annoying creature was merely being amused by their feeble attempts as close-quarter combat. It definitely knew how to use its otherworldly sword, and even more-so how to dodge any other. Gathering up energy from his star, Alex thrust his hand forward and fired a lightning bolt, striking the Unknown in the back of the head while it brought its sword back up to attack. It flinched slightly from the impact, but seemed unaffected otherwise. However, it definitely felt it, and immediately jumped off Venos back and aimed at Alex, sword poised in front for a lethal stab. The Unknown apparently knew who he was, and therefore it most likely knew his strengths and weaknesses.

Gripping the staff with both hands, Alex swung it vertically to knock the sword off just enough to miss him by inches. One of its hands left the sword for the other to recover it, and reached out to grip Alex around the base of the helmet, holding him in a chokehold. Forced with no other alternative, Alex forgot all reasoning, gripped his staff tightly and unleashed much of his energy in a majiya-based shove upon the Unknown. It wasn't hurt by it, but even it was thrown off Alex and into the air away from him long enough for himself to redirect his fall and aim right for Venos.

The sandy desert floor came at them quickly, and once Alex touched down and gripped the base of Venos' tail section, large lightning-based wings spread out and they pulled out of the dive and back up into the air. Once again, Alex wished that he had practiced this mysterious art a lot more, and vowed to himself and Dex he would do so once they were safe from all this. Gripping the staff in one hand, he pulled himself up the vertically inclined Venos and got himself settled on with Gia and ready for another round.

And not a moment too soon. Venos suddenly corkscrewed in the air, and a flash of blue light missing them by mere feet showed the Unknown's diving attack that would've easily shattered Venos had it not reacted in time. From below, Alex saw it twist around in mid-air, and shoot right back up at them. With a roar, Gia jumped off Venos' back with his sword in two hands and fell towards the Unknown ready to intercept. At first, Alex was shocked that Gia might've forgotten he didn't have any wings as he fell, but at the last second, both foot-claws gripped the jagged end-segment of Venos' tail and he swung the sword from the sudden jerk of deceleration to begin another great clash of blades against the Unknown's. With sudden adrenaline, Gia swung and hacked away at the Unknown's seemingly endless torrent of strikes and blocks, but it just kept on coming at him.

Completing his rise into the air, Venos flipped over and pulled Gia up and over as well, flipping his tail up and landing Gia on his back. Then, Venos enveloped itself with the familiar yellow barrier of lightning and shot towards the Unknown in its own attack. The Unknown, rather then evading, shot headlong back at Venos, and the resulting collision nearly threw the both of them off. Alex slid forward and grabbed one of Venos' horns with one hand to stop himself from flying off, and instinctively, he threw out another energy-depleting effort and blasted the Unknown away once again with majiya. Taking advantage of this sudden stunning, Venos fired its own volley of lightning straight from its wings like a series of strings to tangle around the Unknown like a poorly coordinated puppet. Upon enveloping, Alex felt a harsh energy within the barrier, and an extreme blast shot through the lightning strings and into the Unknown, flashing his presence with a series of bright sparks and flares.

Alex didn't know if it did any damage to it or not, because when the strings faded from view, the Unknown wasn't there.

Gia brought his sword up and secured himself a position on the granite dragon's back. Fighting a strong fatigue from both majiya-based attacks, Alex checked his current potion supply for something, anything that would help. Gia's agility potion was all gone; probably still in effect from Venos since he did give it a rather large portion, and he was all out of energy potions. He did, however, have a potion that, despite making him incredibly dizzy, seemed to improve his accuracy. Or rather, luck. It proved this by being in a glass vial that, despite all this hardship, survived all the punishment he went through. He didn't want to risk it yet, though, so he left it alone. Another potion he had remaining was an airbomb potion, that upon exposure to the air, made the liquid explode. He'd aim it away from himself, pop the top, and let it fly off propelled by its own exploding and strike the target like a missile. It might help; he could use majiya to steer it. His last remaining intact potion (the rest had either fallen out of broken from the tunneling experience, and he discarded the broken pieces quickly) was the potion he tempted Karl with as a joke. He wondered what kind of effect it would have on the Unknown, but he doubted he would be able to get the Unknown to drink it.

Relying on Gia and Venos' abilities to fight, he got himself a good foothold on Venos back as it flew them along the swirling upside-down twister above them. That too was a portal of some kind. Where did it go, he wondered.

Venos read his mind, "I know what you're thinking, and trust me as I say this. Never, under any circumstance of any sort or degree, NEVER enter that portal."

"Why? What would happen?" asked Alex.

Venos shook its head, "A fate worse then death. No, a fate worse then no longer existing altogether."

Alex squatted a bit, lowering himself from the swirling clouds as though they were about to pull him in at any moment.

"Look out!" Gia shouted, pointing skyward. Squinting, Alex made out the speeding form of the Unknown shooting through the air within the clouds as though building up momentum for a charge. Alex and Gia gripped their weapons and Venos sped up, retracting its wings into a glide. Nobody knew what was going to happen next, but whatever did, it was going to be intense.

A beam of lightning shot from Venos' mouth in an attempt to slow it down, but it missed the Unknown. Either that, or it passed right through the attack. Venos fired, again and again, but it remained unaltered. All three of them could sense that the Unknown was going to unleash devastation upon them.

"The Void of Nothingness will consume you!" it shouted. Here it came! Alex held his staff forward and prepared to react. The Unknown shot up into the vortex, and the cloud pattern changed from rapidly swirling into itself to spreading out in 8 different directions. Something large suddenly burst out of the vortex right at them, and Venos immediately took off away from it at an angle. Keeping his eyes on it, Alex noted it looked like some sort of a matter-less comet, covered in a deathly blue hue and trailing blue lightning. It came at them fast, and even at Venos' incredible speed, it was quickly gaining on them. What's more, no matter how Venos turned and dived, it followed them.

Venos shot all around the desert, intend on keeping the vortex in range for some reason. Alex instructed Gia to breathe lightning on him as much as possible, since despite not being able to absorb Venos', he used Gia's as an immediate source of power. Gia obeyed, and Alex felt the electrical energy enter his body and revive his energy store. Once again, it was all down to whether or not he could manipulate his majiya enough to stop the attack. At least this time, he was definitely ready.

As Gia collapsed to his knees in exhaustion, Alex traversed Venos on his own, inching down its back and onto its tail. He had done this a few times with some other dragons, but never with a granite one. Undoubtedly it would be considerably tougher due to the extra weight and force behind its movements as it steered Venos through the air. His staff in one hand, he used the other as a friction-based brake as he allowed their momentum through the air to slide him down to the jagged tip, where he secured a foothold and slowly stood up. It wasn't really that different to other dragons, but this might be because they're going at a more extreme speed.

Venos had once again brought up its electrical barrier for that extra bit of speed, and Alex fought the energy run-off as he began his sorry-bit-of-practicing payoff. Venos was big, but the comet was so much bigger, and Alex feared there just wasn't even any matter behind it. But he remembered how Dex said that everything, even things that aren't solid, has a majiya content, and is thereby manipulable. He had only practiced on solid objects, though, so this was definitely going to be a challenge.

It loomed closer, almost as though it was speeding up on its own as well. Only a bit closer, and it would be in range. All he would have to do is stop its momentum enough so they could get some distance, and then take it out with a long-range ability. Only a bit ...

Suddenly, the comet split open in half, revealing their foe, who rocketed at him at thrice the speed. Shoot, thought Alex, the comet was only a diversion to separate me from the others since it knew I would use that ability against the comet! He couldn't react to the Unknown, since he was too focused on the comet to keep it away, so to avoid the attack, there was only one option.

He jumped. Off of the mid-air control of his contact of Venos and straight into the air over nearly a mile of naught but open air.

The Unknown came straight at him. He swung his staff down to block the sword. Still rising from the jump, he twisted it like he'd do a spear around and yanked it out of the Unknown's way. Then he aimed a kick right for its head and propelled off it.

Strange; has the Unknown gotten weaker? Or ... no, that's it, he got stronger. Gia's torrent of electric-breath revived him and brought him back into full fighting ability. That's right. Now that he was fully energized again, he could fight properly once more.

Not liking a kick to the face (is that really its face?), the Unknown extended some sort of its own whip-like string from the end of the sword, wrapped it around Alex's leg in midair, and yanked him back down towards it. He flipped over and brought the staff down again in defense to block the now-extended sword. This time, though, he let out a quick burst of majiya to shoot the Unknown back down again, charged up his own lightning abilities, and fired a volley of lightning bolts at it. But once again, it brought up that shield-like barrier and was not affected by the attack.

Falling was no longer a concern for him. He was a warrior. Destined to fight and die in battle, no matter the event or location. Flipping his staff into an attack angle, he flattened his body into the air and dove at the Unknown, who swiftly shot off to the side to clothesline him. Bad move, Alex thought as he flipped over, stuck his staff on his feet, and landed right on the blade with it. The blade, or rather the Unknown's arm was unable to take the sheer force, so it dropped and Alex grabbed the Unknown's neck in a chokehold, utilizing the remaining momentum in an attempt to destabilize it. As a response, it did a full head-long 360 and Alex was flipped over in mid-air. Flipping his staff up like a skateboard, he regained it and held it up to block the follow-up blade smash attack. Alex wasn't hit, but now he was falling faster from the blow.

The Unknown gave chase, and Alex momentarily flipped himself around and spread his body out to let the air resistance slow his fall. Then he quickly twisted around again and held his staff against another vicious swing against the Unknown. Left, right, above, the attacks came at extreme speeds, and with every blow, Alex feared either he was going to get hit soon, or his staff was going to break. Several extreme exchanges of force occurred as they fell before Alex finally caught the sword in the center and thrust forward with majiya, knocking the Unknown away. He wasn't far from the planet's surface now. Only a few more moments before contact ...

Once again reaching out with majiya, Alex yanked the Unknown towards him and wedged the staff in under its armpit. Because of the sudden jerking, it lost its immediate defense, and Alex went in for a strike. The staff pierced right through, but didn't seem to affect it much. To respond, it flipped over and double-kicked Alex right off, up into the air once again. Fortunately, Alex knew well enough to keep his grip on the staff, and it came out with him.

As he flew up into the air, attempting to stabilize himself, he thought quickly. There was something very wrong here. This creature was definitely a greater entity then he was. It had many more years of experience and many more times as much power as he did. Without even a thought, it could disintegrate entire chunks of the planet and whisk them away to another dimension. Not only that, but Alex had just gone through an extensive experience with a limitless barrage of tunnel-drilling and runoff. Not to mention he was wielding an unfamiliar weapon with a different weight and balance then he was used to. Clearly, in its favor, this was definitely an uneven match.

So why was he doing so well? His agility, his techniques, his moves, even his essence of timing were all to his own advantage. It was a one on one in mid-air against a creature that apparently wanted him dead for a very long time, and yet he was winning. Had he fought this creature before or something? Was he preparing for this moment?

Or was it just toying around with him; giving him that last bit of hope only to snuff him out in a whim in the end? Oh no, he wasn't going to let THAT happen ...

Below him, he saw the Unknown apparently draw some sort of power within his sword. It started flashing, and its color even started cycling around the visible spectrum. It was going to hit him with a high-power long-ranged attack!

"Taste your well deserved PUNISHMENT!" it shouted, and it fired.

It looked more like his sword's blade expanded to hundreds of times its length rather then a beam shot from it, but from the expenditure of energy around the base, it was undoubtedly a release of Unknown energy. The creature was an exceptional aim, and with such intensity would have vaporized Alex in a second. It was only his fortune and gratitude that he was snatched in mid-air by the Gia as he surfed on the speeding passing-by Venos, who immediately took off at a greater speed to dodge the beam altogether. With its great wings of lightning, it dove for some extra momentum, and then took off high into the sky once again.

The Unknown yelled a war-cry (or swore, it didn't really matter which), and fired another, instantaneous beam. Venos spiraled in the air to dodge it. Suddenly, following up the beam was another one, and Venos was forced to flip right over in mid-air and shoot downwards. Yet another beam shot out, threatening to clothesline the three of them, but Gia, still holding Alex, leapt off of Venos, using the force to separate them and allow the beam to pass in between. Once the danger was passed, Venos tilted towards them, and they landed once again on its back.

One more beam fired at them, but Venos once again pulled up from its dive and rocketed straight up, towards the funnel of clouds. Why was it hanging around that area, Alex thought, when it perfectly well knew the danger? Apparently out of energy, the Unknown gave chase, shooting at them with extreme speeds and landing another colliding blow against Gia, who forced his sword with one claw and used the other to squeeze its face. Dropping his sword (Alex dared not try to catch it), Gia whipped the Unknown around and smashed the back of its head against Venos' hard back, making it too drop its sword. For a moment, it looked like Gia had the Unknown pinned down and grabbed his sword before it slid off Venos to finish it off, but there was suddenly an explosion come straight from the Unknown and knocked all three of them away from each other (Skee remained fastened to Venos).

As they fell, Venos at first appeared stunned and unconscious, and the Unknown charged another beam attack against them, this time from its hand. The first one was a near miss, but the next one came way too close for comfort. He felt harsh, death-bringing energy pummel against his body and send both of them spiraling faster down towards the earth. One more direct hit, and they would be done for.

Then, to their relief, Venos jumped back to life, shot a ball of lightning to thwart the Unknowns attack, and swooped down to catch them. But suddenly, it was thwarted by the Unknown, who regained its sword and plunged it against Venos head. A barrier of solid lightning took the blow, and now it was Venos' turn for a one-on-one with this dangerous creature. It was good that their better warrior of the trio was now taking this opponent on, but that left Gia and Alex falling to their doom.

"Any chance of a majiya-related save?" Gia called to Alex, diving towards him. His voice was strained, as though he was enduring great pain.

"My head ... really hurts!" Alex painfully shouted back to Gia, "I don't know how much more I can do anymore."

"Don't try it, then! Just please don't zone out!" Gia shouted, but even as he said that, Alex was beginning to blank out. He had expelled way too much majiya, and that blow was last he could take. He was once again about to pass out, and before losing consciousness altogether, he felt Gia grab him and twist around to let himself take the majority of the inevitable impact.

No, he thought, I can't pass out! Not now! He forced his mind back into focus, fighting fatigue and pain and trying to regain control of his body.

... I'm glad you sought me out ...

Oh no, he was hearing voices again! But this one was new. He didn't recognize it anywhere. He fought to shun his curiosity and regain consciousness, but something lingered in his mind that, despite the situation, he needed to know what was going on with these strange audial visions.

... I don't want it to be like this ...

There's his own voice. Who was he talking to now? He didn't recognize the voice whatsoever, and yet he swore he heard it somewhere once before. Something also told him that this wasn't an event of the future this time. He had been through it before ... or somebody did, anyways.

...his is my choice ... bad one on my ... right thin...

... yes ... you will be punishe ...

... I don't care! Do it! My life is not nearly worth theirs!

OK, that's enough! Let me awaken!

... I am in your favor now. ... call on me, and I'll protect yo ...

Protect me? What? NO! I might wake up!

I MUST ... WAKE ... UP!

Alex's glowing transparent eyes shot open. They had not even been falling for 30 seconds, since Gia was still in the fetal position and the ground was yet to come close.

"Gia, let go of me." Alex commanded. No more play, no more jokes. He was now serious.

Gia obeyed. Alex jumped off of Gia, whipped his staff around, and grabbed him in mid-air with majiya.

"What are you doing?!?" Gia shouted, "You just said-"

"I know what I said!" Alex shouted back, "But this is the planet we're fighting for! Sacrifices will be made if they have to!"

Using all he could muster, he launched Gia straight up into the air towards the clashing Venos and Unknown. Despite his unbearable condition, his aim was true and Gia soared, sword in hand, right at the duelers.

Though not by much, he can survive the impact. He might. Gia can't. Better he continue the fight in his place.

Better everybody continue the fight.

"I don't know who you are, or where I know you from ..." Alex mumbled to himself as he fell into the night, eyes closed and braced for the impact, "But if you want me to call on you to protect me, I would rather you save your strength on me and protect the world."

"That will hardly be necessary."

Alex's eyes shot open. Was that voice in his head? Was he dreaming that? Is he dreaming now? Because for some reason, rather then falling, he was now flying. Some strange aura was covering his limbs, twisting in a series of strange, glowing shapes and patterns. It looked like a fiery light, but there was no feel or temperature to it. Just a strange kind of power.

This was the same light he summoned during his duel with Venos!

"Who are you?" Alex called out.

It didn't answer. It had faded just like the light did.

Alex no longer cared who it was now. He was shooting right towards the mid-air duel, with Gia now somehow perched upon Venos. Some force in the back of his mind was driving him into pure, devoted combat, and the only thing that would quell his unstoppable fury would be either victory or defeat.

He shot up at and slammed his staff into the Unknown just as it clashed against Gia's. He was back in the fight once again.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL ABLE TO FIGHT?!?" it shouted in surprise.

A newfound energy flowed through his armor. This was not Saradomin's power, but it was helping him. He kick-flipped against the Unknown's torso to mid-air dodge a horizontal sword sweep and slammed the staff back down upon it. It quickly recovered its sword hand and clashed against the staff, still unable to damage it. So much mystery engulfed this fight, and Alex was hoping that either they would resolve themselves, or the fight would end soon.

Gravity took over once again, and Alex curved his staff vertically along his body to prevent exposing any vulnerability points. He felt hard, fast contact below him, squatted quickly, and braced himself a foothold on Venos's back. Gia stretched out with a claw to help stabilize Alex, but it was not necessary. Taking advantage of the close-up with the Unknown,Venos swiftly curved its tail up and vertically whipped the Unknown over and in front of it. It was vulnerable now. This was their chance.

Alex leapt off the right end, Gia the left, and Venos quickly braked in mid-air. All three of them charged themselves; Alex focused energy to both hands, Venos wings condensed into a single ball of condensed lightning, and Gia inhaled with all his might. Alex didn't know about anybody else, but he was willing to risk every last bit of energy into this one final chance at victory. It would be fate's decision whether or not he succeeded or failed.

The Unknown didn't move. All three lightning attacks came out of them simultaneously, and for a long, unnerving moment, gravity abandoned the situation and kept the three suspended in a time-stopped event of finality. If this didn't do it ...

The attacks were done and over with, and an explosion of combined lightning and electrically charged particles erupted where the Unknown was. Alex thrust out with majiya to pull Gia towards him and Venos edged right to catch them both. The smoke dissipated as they secured a foothold and prepared for action.

It hadn't vanished. It stood there, almost in a bow of defeat. Its head was down and its eyes appeared lifeless. Its sword no longer resonated with the strange energies that gave it unique properties, and instead matched the black and blue glow of the motionless Unknown. Had they done it?

Right when Gia was about to roar in victory, it suddenly jerked back to life, almost as though held by strings. A newfound fury glowed in its eyes, and its sword exploded into a chaotic state. The air vibrated all around it in an eerie pulse, almost as though it was about to explode at an incredible intensity at any time. They hadn't killed it; they had made it mad.

But even as they began to make their final preparations for the inevitable, the chaotic energies dissipated just as quickly as they appeared. The Unknown flipped its sword around, and then, to everyone's surprise, re-sheathed it and crossed its arms as though it was victorious itself.

Then it spoke. Its voice wavered, as though spoken by a fading source, but it was still loud and clear.

"You really care about this planet that much, don't you? To risk your lives like this for those that wouldn't."

Was it bluffing? Had they really made an impact on it?

"I don't know what you mean when you said you never received payment," Venos shouted, "But we paid. If not to you, it went somewhere! Instead of taking it out on us, you should find where the original payment went-"

"I ALREADY KNOW where it went!" it shouted, irritated at Venos' not understanding the situation, "If you really want to know what happened to it ... ask HIM!"

Alex froze. The Unknown was pointing to HIM. Venos turned its head. All eyes were on him now. He felt weak.

"What did you have to do with this?" asked Venos, comparatively calmer, but still incredibly serious.

"I ... don't know." Alex truthfully said, frantically trying to think back when he had to foil some sort of payment. But nothing came up. He acted in Saradomin's name all this time, doing His requests, being His agent. If anyone was to be blamed for anything, it should be Saradomin! Something really didn't add up. Lots of somethings ...

"For what you have done, I should accept your own lives as a down payment just to buy your masters some time to pull together another one ..." the Unknown said, aggravatingly bring up its chaotic state again. All three of them flinched.

But it didn't last long. The state dissipated, and Alex could swear that, behind its undamaged mask, it was smiling.

"But even I enjoy the odd fight now and then. Consider yourselves lucky you won't have to."

The swirling clouds stopped moving. They dissipated. They vanished. Only the Unknown remained.

"Tell your masters they have a day." it warned, "24 hours. Perhaps even less. Same payment as intended last time; they'll know what it is. If they do not comply ... tell them I will take the planet whole. And everything that remains on it. Heck, they should be thankful I haven't gone after THEM yet for this ..."

Alex wanted to bellow out one of a thousand questions, but it had vanished. A sudden flash of light, and it ceased to exist in their realm. All that remained in its memory was the large endless hole in the ground below them, still sparking with thick black clouds and blue lightning bolts.

They had won. For now.

But the rewards were undesired. All three of them suffered extensive injuries and wounds. Even Venos was fighting to keep them airborne.

"Gia?" Alex asked.

"Yeah?" was Gia's response.

"Do me a favor, would you?" he asked.

"What's that?" asked Gia.

"Catch me." he said.

He knew Gia obeyed his request, despite the fact he didn't mentally experience it.

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** November 3rd, 2008, 7:58 pm

You do know that your post makes up 3/4 of the current page, right?

If I had a warm drink, I think your post would've required a refill or two

.....

"Sire, I can feel you, but where are you? I must find you. My search begins today."

-------------------------------

"He said it was in the Dark Lands, I suppose that is here." He said as he looked around at the desolation.

Everywhere was black, save for the fresh blood of a foolish Zamorakian mage who had just tried to kill him. The trees were obviously alive, though they looked burnt and charred - as if a dragon had been here, an angry one. Or did the trees just grow like this? No matter, he's not a naturalist, and studying trees is not why he is here. His job is to search for someone and...observe them.

"Now, if I was him, where would I make my refuge?" He said, walking further North, deeper into the Dark Lands.

As he reached the top of a small mountain he saw a Dark Fortress surrounded by a murky moat in the shallow valley below.

"Hmm, a capable suspect." He said as he made his way down the Fortress side of the mountain.

Before reaching the gates to the Dark Fortress, he was met by two warriors in black armor.

"Halt!" The first one said.

"What is your deed here, why do you seek the Dark Fortress?" The second warrior said.

"I seek Ecrenewal." He said.

"Who?" The second one asked with a puzzled voice.

"Your worst nightmare." He said with a grin.

He pulled a sword out of a sheath on his right side and stabbed it into the warrior on his right. Before the warrior on his left knew what was happening he had the Man's second weapon through him.

"Poor fellows, they should've been guarding Varrock...not Lawrence..."

-------------------------------

"It's gone?"

"Yes, we don't know how it happened but all of Varrock and Edgeville have literally been wiped off the face of Gielinor." Timrak said.

Skyrate and Timrak had returned to their normal selves a few minutes ago, right after everyone saw a huge light over the Kharid Desert.

"That's not possible. There is no spell that can do that in all the spell books of men or elves!" Karmadin said, slightly in rage at the news he had just received.

"It is possible," Skyrate said, "but this was no spell."

"Must have been a tormented Elemental's idea of fun." Karmadin said, "No offense, Michael."

"None taken, right Elise?" Michael said, looking at the girl.

"Nope! I know some people can be really mean, even our kind." Elise replied.

"An Elemental could destroy a city like that and even remove the earth like that, but they wouldn't." Michael explained.

"And there are no new known deposits of earth." Elise said, "There's no way the earth could just vanish, it would have to be moved to another place on Gielinor, which we're pretty sure hasn't been done."

"Very good, Elise" Michael said.

"Hmm, so what could've happened? If it's not a spell and not an Elemental then what is it?" Karmadin pondered.

"I know what it was," Skyrate said, "but I don't think it matters right now."

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** November 3rd, 2008, 9:22 pm

Kate saw the bodies of the two black knights coming back home.

"Um... Gee..." She looked around awkwardly before hiding the bodies.

"I'll tell mommy and daddy what I saw after their wedding. They don't need to get all worked up right now." She said. She then went inside to clean herself up and change into her dress.

Meanwhile...

The Zamorakian priest was getting things ready while Marie was rushing about in her blood red bride's maid dress, adding the final touches to Darkrascal's black wedding dress, arranging the final bouquets, just getting things prepared in general. While rushing to the kitchen she saw a figure in a gray cloak but thought nothing of it.

Lawrence was getting ready too.

"Congratulations!" A black knight or two would say.

Adbot · **Posted:** November 3rd, 2008, 9:22 pm

Alex 43 · **Posted:** November 7th, 2008, 10:46 am

Gia guided Venos across the stormy ocean towards their home. Because of their absence, the light of the star hung high above the roof no longer existed, but Venos easily spotted the waxed material reflecting off its glowing symbol cast over the waters like a searchlight. He missed having the ability to fly, but he didn't care too much. Being able to fly promoted freedom, and as far as he could tell, he had enough of that already.

The rain came down in torrents. Almost as though nature wanted to pose the mood that they had failed, despite their beneficial outcome. If they were to talk to nature itself, they wouldn't argue. Sure, there was a temporary victory, or at least a ceasefire, but at what cost?

Alex nor Skee stirred throughout the journey. Gia had dared not to unwrap the scabarite despite his vest most likely absorbing the majority of its blood. Once they were inside and Alex was awakened, he can doctor the poor creature himself with potion and practice. Alex too was greatly damaged; splits, buckles, scrapes, holes, everything that one could possibly do to a suit of armor had been done to him. Gia told himself the first thing he was going to do once he touched wet, moldy rock would be to heat up their large open-bowl furnace in the back and melt several ores of adamantite for him. That'll resurrect him faster then a double-dose of hyper-agility potion.

Venos' lightning-based wings flapped repeatedly to slow its descent, and before it even touched ground, Gia was running off with Alex in tow. Forgiving himself for lying to himself, Gia steered away from the furnace and quickly flipped open a large door to the side of the chapel, large enough for Venos to squeeze into, out of the rain. Then he ran over to the furnace, stocked it full of wet (not for long ...) logs and coal, threw a cartload of adamantite bars along with Alex into the bowl, and with exhausted and tired electric-breath, lit up a flame underneath. Even though it was raining, it wasn't long before the fire really came to life and the bars began to melt.

The bowl was raised just above his head, so Gia couldn't actually see what was happening unless he climbed the stairway around the furnace to peer within. However, with all the slippery rain and himself hardly able to coordinate proper footings due to fatigue, he settled on calling Alex's name once every two minutes.

"Alex. Hey!" Gia called for the twelfth time.

"Am I in heaven?" came the reply from within the bowl.

"Far from it." Gia responded, smiling.

The glowing, molten head of Alex peered over the bowl to check his surroundings, and Gia almost flinched. In his haste, Gia had forgotten to remove the plume. No matter, he had more. Alex looked around, verifying he was at the SWC, looked over Gia with a smile, and sunk back into the molten metal.

"Don't take too long," Gia advised, "Your scabarite friend needs attention too."

*PWWOSH!*

Probably should've kept his mouth shut ...

In an instant, Alex leapt out of the vat, still glowing a red-hot hue. The rain steamed off him and covered his general area in a large cloud of evaporated rainwater, but Gia could easily tell he was running right for the cooling basin. He had almost forgotten about Skee, and every second wasted meant he a second more dead. New or old water, he was plunging in anyways.

*FWOOOOOOSH!*

One huge cloud of steam later, the both of them ran inside the chapel. While Gia lit some light sources; torches, candlesticks, and chandelier, Alex relieved Venos of his comparatively light load, and set both soaking, indecipherable objects on the table.

The first one: his spear. A broken, buckled, crippled, tangled mess. To be able to do this to his spear and not sustain any damage, Venos definitely had to be a good warrior.

The second one: his friend. Wrapped up tightly in Gia's leather vest in an attempt to almost literally keep him together.

Alex darted between floors, grabbing potions and wrappings until his arms were full and one couldn't see his face anymore. His spear found a place on a nearby pew, and the table was now cluttered with medical equipment. Despite the hasty recovery and there being no doubt Alex was still immensely fatigued, he worked with desperate precision and speed. They could not do anything to help him, so Venos and Gia respected his request for silence and the both of them left the main room and back into the storm.

The rain didn't have any effect on either of them, but Gia still requested they sit by the warmth of the furnace. No point in letting those burnable items go to waste, he thought.

Venos stared into the fire for a long time, as though there was something burning that shouldn't be. Gia simply sat there, trying to get his thoughts reorganized. So many things happened so quickly, and for unknown reasons. Lots of what he heard and experienced made no sense. It was like the world and all its inhabitants suddenly decided to form together and hatch a conspiracy to confuse Gia as much as possible. Mission accomplished, he thought with disgust.

An hour passed, and the fire began to die down. Venos finally decided to make conversation. Or at least attempt to. The silence was just too unbearable. They were victorious, after all! They should be proud they took on a unknown deity and not only lived, but earned a ceasefire!

"Brethren, this is the first time in so long that I have ever seen fire burn." Venos said, "The magics that the Underearth summoned could create fire too, but it was not the same. There was heat, and light, but there was no fire. Nothing burned. Nothing turned to ash and charcoal."

Gia said nothing. He wasn't really listening.

"I have not seen the surface for many thousands of years." Venos tried again, "What has changed?"

"Not much anymore." Gia replied, a bit annoyed he was being robbed of his silence, "There's still conflict. There's still war. If it wasn't for our curiosity alone, we wouldn't even have found you. We'd be fighting. We'd probably even be dead now."

"Then you should be proud of yourself." Venos replied, "You're no good to the planet dead."

Again, Gia said nothing. A long pause followed.

"How are the rest of the kin?" Venos tried once more.

"Dead." was Gia's reply. He didn't like to be reminded.

"What? Dead? How?" it asked.

"War." was Gia's simple, depressed reply, "I'm all that's left. Me, and a small group of survivors. We don't even have any females among us anymore. It's only a matter of time ..."

"Oh." Venos replied. Oops, better stay off that topic, then.

Another long pause. It was silent, save for the large drops of rain splashing down on the rock, only to flow in small torrents off the edge and into the ocean. Every so often, a flash of lightning and a blaze of thunder lit up the sky. Neither of them were scared of lightning. It was their element, after all.

It was really strange how it always seemed to just rain in torrents after a major battle of some kind. It's like some ancient magic spell that was put into place a long time ago to sort of discourage fighting. Didn't really work out in the end, but their attempt and idea did deserve some commendation.

Venos tried once more.

"At least Saradomin has spread his sign about-"

"No, don't! Just- just don't say anything. Shut up." Gia said, shaking his head. He didn't lose his temper very often, and when he did, he wasn't used to it. He just wanted silence to think about this mystery, and here he was sitting with a creature that wanted the opposite, and no doubt already knew it all.

"I'm sorry," Venos said, bowing its head, "But I have been alone in solitude for such a long time. This is the first time I have actually begun to talk with someone."

"If you want to talk," Gia said, fighting anger, "Then tell me just what we went through. All of it! Spare no details! I want to know it all!"

Another long pause. Gia slowly turned his head to look at Venos, hoping that at least it'll solve a few mysteries for him. It was trying to remember something, but wasn't succeeding.

"OK." Venos said, shaking off the attempt and instead going with what it knew, "The creature we just fought ... it calls itself the Unknown."

"Yes, I know that. I'm not deaf." Gia mumbled.

"Apparently, what my master had told me is that it governs the universe. Planets, stars, moons ... life. Everything." Venos explained, "I guess you can almost call it the 'Boss of the Gods'."

"I thought that was Guthix's job. That He was the most divine."

"Guthix, he's- oh yeah. I mean, yes, He is. For this planet."

Gia looked Venos right in the eyes. They glowed much like Alex's did. In fact, when he thought about it, all three of them had glowing eyes. Probably no significance in that, but the coincidence was still interesting.

"There's something you're not telling us. A lot of somethings." Gia aggressively said.

Venos broke eye contact, "Yes, you're right."

Gia took immediate interest.

"But you're not supposed to know anything. Even about the Unknown is to remain a secret to mortal beings." Venos said, as seriously as it could express.

Gia twisted his leg over, ready and willing to rise at any moment. Both eyes were focused on Venos.

"I want to know as much as you can possibly tell me." he said, "Who is the Unknown? Who is Allezyamos. Who is ... this Sartranomin, or whatever his name is that you speak of? ... who are YOU?"

"I already told Allezyamos my story," Venos said quickly, "You'll have to ask him to repeat my words. I'd rather not."

Gia didn't move. He continued to stare.

"I can not tell you anything! I have sworn not to."

Gia still didn't move.

"Do you understand the trouble I'd get into if I did tell you anything? Not just me in trouble, but so many others ..."

He was frozen in place, almost like a statue. Venos moved its head slightly, merely indicating the notion of moving away from him, and he was suddenly on his feet.

"I WILL kill you if I have to tell you." Venos shouted, suddenly rising as well and posing in its scorpion-like battle-stance.

Gia didn't let Venos leave eye contact. He was willing to fight for information, even with his fatigued condition. Both dragons eyed each other down or a long period of time. A loud thunderclap roared overhead, and the mood was intense.

Finally, Venos gave up. It left its pose and settled down again. There was hardly any fire left in the furnace now.

"Fine. Fine. You've already met the Unknown, so I'll tell you about that. But NOTHING ELSE! It's that or nothing."

Gia hesitated, and then nodded. It'll have to do.

Venos sighed. It was already in trouble as it was. They all were. What's a few words, more or less?

"All right. The Unknown ... is just that. Unknown."

Gia settled down, and listened with full attention. A large raindrop got in his eye, but he didn't blink it out.

"If I told you ... there existed a race more powerful then any God the universe would ever know, would you believe me?"

Gia slowly nodded. At this point, he'd believe anything.

"There was once. A very long time ago. Longer then mortal life itself began."

Venos was continuously pausing. This was information he was left with just barely intact within its memory. Somebody long ago told him this. No doubt a Godly figure of some sort. Heck, for all Gia knew, this creature might have even been in league with the Unknown once. They knew each other quite well, and weren't afraid to attack each other with words.

"This race of creatures ... I don't know what they were called, they created the Universe. They entered the realm of reality by their own means, settled in, and began to create. They brought planets, matter, elements, physics, everything that exists into existence. Each one carried a different power, able to bring an entirely different concept into existence and have complete control over it. For example, one of them would be able to manipulate light. Another one would be able to control matter. Another can mold time. You get the idea.

Then, once the stage was set, they created life. Mortal life. Several types of mortal life. They couldn't create anything immortal, but they could create some things more immortal then the rest. They made Gods! They made galaxies! An inspiration to all and any to witness.

Then, they settled in with the mortal life. Mortals and immortals coexisting and making the most of life. With the mortal's numbers, creativity, and ambition, and the immortal's abilities and control, they were able to achieve amazing things together. It was perfection.

Eventually, though, despite having done all this, they had become bored of life, and so they allowed themselves to perish into nothingness."

"They killed themselves because they were bored?" Gia asked.

"Not at all. It's more complicated then that. When you are an immortal being, you have different views on life and existence then the norm."

"You're saying you're immortal?" Gia shouted, wide-eyed.

"Hah, I wish I was sometimes." Venos laughed, pleased with himself.

Then he continued, "Of course, they didn't want all they created to be for naught, so they multiplied themselves into new life forms. Not as powerful as to be able to create like they were, but maintaining their capabilities to control and manipulate to keep everything in harmony.

Unfortunately, unlike their ancestors, these offspring were greedy, and soon took the entire universe into control for their own selfish reasons. They took unfair advantage of their powers, multiplied themselves over and over, and the universe lost control. It was nearly impossible for any mortal being to survive anymore.

Annoyed at this, their ancestors cursed them."

"But, I thought they were dead!"

"Death is only a standpoint. Everything continues to exist, even after death. But I'm not to talk about that.

With this curse in place, they became a cursed race, unable to use their abilities anymore. Mortal life not only thrived from then on, but took revenge over them. They were forced into exile, never to be seen again. It was as though they never existed in the first place.

... and then ... the Unknown was born.

One of those creatures broke the curse over itself, and took control over what is called the Unknown. It is a realm of nothingness, where the existence of anything can be created or destroyed. Since it was the only one of these creatures to be able to do this, it took in all the power it could, and almost literally became as powerful as its ancestor of the Unknown was. It promised its ancestors that it would regain control of the universe and allow mortals and immortals to coexist like they once were again, and to prove this, it pulled out of the Unknown the semi-immortal creatures we know today of as Gods. Basically, it made life as the others were once able to, but gave them greater capabilities and the ability to govern segments of the Universe, like individual planets, galaxies, and stars.

Yes, this is the very creature we just fought.

At first, it worked out. Gods could intermingle with mortals, and the coexisting utopia of the realm of reality seemed close at hand.

But then, something happened to the Unknown. Nobody knows what.

It broke its promise.

It wanted it all."

Another thunderclap. Evil coincidence, Gia thought.

"Whether it just thought of it, or was planning it from the start, nobody knows. All of the sudden, when it almost seemed as though the universe could be perfect again, the Unknown suddenly struck. Taking complete control of the Gods, it started issuing payments for the ability to govern their planets, and 'punished' those that didn't comply."

Gia's eyes grew wide. "Payment?!?"

"Yes. Payment."

The Unknown mentioned payment. It wanted payment. It began to all make sense!

"What kind of payment?!?" Gia shouted. Only now did he realize ... did they both realize, he was on his feet, gripping Venos' visage with both claws, and holding it right to his own.

"A payment ..." Venos grimly said. Gia leaned even closer, pressing foreheads with Venos.

"... of ..."

Gia was focused. This could explain a lot if it all came together.

"... re-"

"Guys, come quick!"

Alex was shouting through the storm, but his voice was still clearly heard by the both of them.

"... of what?" Gia asked.

"... I'll tell you later. Next time." Venos said.

Gia and Venos stared into each others eyes for a moment, and Gia finally let go. The furnace was cold now. The both of them sprinted towards the chapel and out of the storm without another word.

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** November 7th, 2008, 8:13 pm

The door flew open.

"Come quickly! Jason has returned and he's wounded!" One of the Star Knights exclaimed as he burst through the door and then ran off.

Skyrate exchanged a quick glance with Timrak and Karmadin and then ran after the Knight with everyone else following him. Michael picked up Elise and followed.

"What's his condition?" Skyrate asked the Cleric that was attending to Jason. He had gotten there a full half minute before the Knight who had informed him.

"Stable, he's unconscious currently." The Cleric replied.

When Timrak and the rest got there, he asked the Cleric what happened.

"Well I pretty much only knew that one of our men had been severely wounded and would be here in a moment. I received this information a minute before he came in. I knew it was General Jason when I looked at him. I sent one of the Knights who had brought him in to fetch a few of the Generals. It was then that I found out that only you four were still here." The Cleric replied.

"I'm actually the one who found him." The Star Knight that had told them said.

"'Found'? Where was he?" Michael asked.

"I was going to the Study hall across the Tower's courtyard when I saw something teleport in. As I stopped to investigate it I saw that it was wearing the armor of the Star. I ran over to it because it had collapsed and looked wounded. When I saw its face I knew it was General Jason. I called for help to bring him here and one of the Knights ran ahead to tell the Cleric."

"Where ever he was, it was a hostile area." Karmadin said examining Jason's armor which lay on the floor in a corner of the room.

The breastplate had multiple dents and scratches, there were also a few jagged cuts in it. His plate leg armor was dented and mangled also, the Clerics must've had trouble removing it. His shield lay in two pieces, with holes in it and pieces missing from the edges. It was only held together by the arm strap.

"He also had a child with him." The Knight said.

"A child?" Skyrate said turning his gaze from Jason and the armor to the Star Knight.

The Knight gulped and looked away. Whether Skyrate was angry or just questioning the Knight in his own way nobody except Timrak really knew.

"Yes, a little girl." The Cleric said. "We've got her in a room with a nurse. At first we thought she was injured because she had alot of blood on her, but we soon realized that it was not hers, but Jason's."

"May I see her?" Momsrascal asked.

"Yes," The Cleric said, "she's the second door down the hall on the right. Just tell the nurse that you've already spoken to me."

"His sword is not here, only his scabbard and belt." Timrak said, holding up the empty scabbard, "Where's his sword?"

___________________________________

The Dark Fortress
___________________________________

"What a lovely cake." He thought to himself as he passed through the kitchen. The cake's frosting was pure black, it was trimmed with blood red frosting around the edges and red flowerets. The writing on the cake was also in this dark, blood red color.

"And I thought they only came in white." He said aloud. His voice caught the attention of a Black knight from outside the kitchen.

"What are you doing here? You're not one of the chefs." The knight said, drawing his sword.

"I am an expert pastry chef," He said, "and also one of your Master's distinguished guests. I don't think he'd be very happy with you if he found that you had skewered one of his guests." He said as he moved the knight's dull longsword away from Him.

"Shouldn't you return to your post? Don't want to let any revenant spirits come in and ruin the wedding." He said as he walked away.

As he walked to the chapel he past by a girl with a red and black dress. The dress had been sewn to look like the bottom lace was on fire.

"You look very pretty." He said, bowing to the girl.

She looked at the grey figure, she'd never seen him before but he felt familiar.

"Thanks," She said, "I can't see your suit with that cloak on but I'm sure you look handsome." she curtsied slightly with a smile, which was very odd for her.

She could see a smile on His face but the rest of His face was hidden by the shadow of His hood.

"I must be off." He said with a bow and then walked into the chapel.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** November 7th, 2008, 9:42 pm

The wedding was about to begin. Lawrence was quivering with joy as was Darkrascal. Everyone began to file into the church.

"Kate, don't run around in your dress. You could catch it on something and rip it." Lawrence said.

"Ok daddy." Kate looked down nervously.

"What is it?" He asked his daughter.

"Nothing." She lied. It would not be best to tell her father about what she saw an hour before. She went off to get her flower basket as she was the flower girl.

"Lawrence invited a rather odd guest..." Darkrascal said to Marie.

"I noticed him too on my way to the kitchen." Marie said.

"Ah well. We got less than half an hour to go before the proceedings." Darkrascal said.

"Good luck!" Marie said.

Karl 67 · **Posted:** November 8th, 2008, 12:05 am

The ship moved. Karl 67 could feel it. Immediately after that Stingray creature disappeared, the wrecked boat glided through the water without so much as sinking an inch.

The reflections of the water started to disappear. Most likely the Sun of where Karl 67 was began to set. Within two hours, the water only reflected slight light. It didn't seem like the moon, however. It looked more familiar than that.

Suddenly, the ship crashed. Inertia reacted very harshly. Karl 67 didn't even know the ship moved that fast. Either way, Karl was launched right off the ship. He landed with a thud on solid ground. The ground was familiar, much like the light source reflecting off the water.

The sky was no longer black nothingness. It consisted of a dark storm and a chapel he knew so well. He spotted a familiar White Dragon with another dragon-shaped being. Karl 67 attempted to stand up, but he suddenly felt his body heavily damaged. He looked at himself to see that his limbs were horribly torn. He attempted to fix himself, but no sound he could hear came out. His voice box was damaged as well.

"This isn't good..." Karl 67 muttered. He attempted to reach his sword with his mouth. The natural glow from his sword would be sure to attract attention, even through the distortion of the rain.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** November 17th, 2008, 4:38 pm

On her way to meet the little girl that was with Jason, she suddenly stopped. She sensed very strong and fresh holy energies that were very far away.

"What is it?" Elise asked her.

"I'm not sure. I think I sensed a powerful saradominist energy from very far away..." Momrascal replied.

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** November 17th, 2008, 4:41 pm

The human body is an amazing thing to behold, however the Elven body is greater still, especially when its normal biological recovery patterns are aided by magical or divine means.

"It's in him." A faint voice from behind them said.

Everyone turned around to see Jason repositioning himself in the bed so that he could sit up.

"Lord Jason, you should rest!" The Cleric said, trying to get Jason to stay laying on his back.

"Oh I don't need to stay like that." He said as his face squinted - he was obviously still feeling alot of pain when he moved, "I went through the classes with you, remember?" He said, settling.

The Cleric smiled and said, "Yes, I know. I'll be in the girl's room if you need me." The priest then walked out to the girl's room.

"Who's 'he'?" Timrak asked, putting the scabbard down.

"Some, undead monster thing. Let me explain..." Jason said.

The Lieutenant had come into the Star room and said that the Beacon of Canifis had been set off. This, as you all know, was very serious since Canifis is one of the main resistances for all easternling advancements. Knowing of the severity that this may be, I told the other Generals that'd I'd take a troop of 10 Star Knights and go to Canifis.

When I was in the armor room suiting up, General Vigroy came to me and said, "I want to come with you. If we both go then we won't need the 10 Knights."

I felt uneasy about this, but he insisted and I knew he was trustworthy.

After suiting up I told the 10 that Vigroy was coming with me instead of them.

Vigroy and I walked to the Teleportation room and then I asked him, "The other Generals know of the change of plans, right?"

"Yes." He said, "Are you ready?"

After a moment of hesitation, I replied, "Yes."

We teleported.

Almost instantly I had to draw my sword to block an attack. Only because I had my shield already equipped did I have a moment to draw my sword. I blocked the attack from the undead creature and then swung through its ribcage, slicing its spine apart, as I drew my sword up out of its sheath.

"What was that?" I thought to myself. As I looked at it the pile of now motionless bones I could identify man and canine bones. It was an Undead Werewolf.

I turned around to see Vigroy fighting against a monster of the same type. He killed it as I ran up to him.

"What are these?" He asked. It sounded as if he knew the answer.

"Undead Werewolves, I think."

I sensed something behind me and swung my shield around to smite the creature. In doing so I had smashed another Undead Werewolf to pieces.

"These are weak, any Necromancer strong enough to animate Werewolves would make them stronger then these.

Vigroy killed one more creature and we didn't see anymore. Was four all there were? No, the Werewolves would not be afraid of just four of these creatures.

All the piles of bones instantly flew back to shape and recreated the four creatures. However the piles of bones didn't seem to run out, the Undead Werewolves kept jumping out of them.

After there was three Undead Werewolves on each of us they started running into the buildings. Could these creatures count? Were they intelligent?

As I smashed a creature with a Holy smite from my shield I saw the General store burst into flames and five Undead Werewolves ran out. However I was too occupied to be able to save the house, for another creature had come up behind my and hit me on the back with its jagged scimitar like sword. Thankfully our armor is strong, so the blow glanced off. However the pain from the force of the blow didn't. I rolled forward on the ground since I was falling anyway and then jumped up, swinging my sword through the creature. Surprised, it fell apart.

I then saw our real enemy. The four initial piles of bones flew together in a whirlwind and formed a giant Skeleton. It must've been atleast twenty feet tall - and it had armor!.

By now I had lost sight of Vigroy, but the creature hadn't lost sight of me. It must've wanted me all to itself for none of its Undead Werewolf minions attacked me again. I took my stance, planted my feet, and eyed my opponent.

Weather by luck, curse, or fate, I heard a cry. Turning, I saw a child running from one of the creatures. Unaware of the closeness of my opponent, I shot a bolt of holy energy toward the Undead Werewolf, sundering it apart. Unfortunately, due to my absent minded act, my opponent was able to land a strong hit on my back, which literally sent me flying through the air for a few feet. Thankfully, in the direction of the child.

I ran towards the child, charging a holy spell as I went. Another undead creature ran up to the child, I released some of the energy at it, blowing it apart a foot before it reached the child. Upon reaching the child I turned around and shot the holy spell at my opponent. And not a moment to soon either, for if I had waited a millisecond longer he would've swung at me with his large, jagged, two handed scimitar and likely broken my shield arm or back.

I looked around for Vigroy but still couldn't see him. Was he lying on the ground, like so many innocent werewolves and visitors of Canifis? Or was he fighting inside a building? I didn't know, and I didn't have time to go searching for him. Normally Star Knights won't leave without their allies, but I couldn't protect this child, fight my opponent, and save Canifis and Vigroy if needed. I had to make a choice, the Child and my life, or possibly save Vigroy if he was in trouble.

"Vigroy is wise" I thought to myself, "he'll retreat if he needs to."

My opponent swung at me again, not dodging for fear of the attack hitting the child, I lifted my shield to block the attack.

My shield splintered in half, with shards flying everywhere. Knowing my imminent peril and almost certain doom, I grabbed the child in my stinging shield arm (shards of the shield had shot into it and it also felt broken or fractured, though I was still able to use it) and used a spell I had never used before, Skrealing's Piercing strike. My sword stabbed right through my opponent's chestplate as if I had stabbed a hay bale. When I tried to pull it out I found that it was stuck. Something in my opponent's chest plate must be holding it there magically.

The creature reeled back, stunned from my attack. It regained itself quickly though. Now weaponless, I looked around quickly and saw Vigroy standing in front of the bar which was burning looking straight at me. Another, dark figure, was standing next to him. Not having any more time, I said my Word of Recall and the world faded.

If I had waited a moment more I would likely not be here. For as I faded from that area I felt a pain streak through my body. My opponent had swung at me right before I teleported. Due to my teleporting, I did not receive the full hit.

"The next thing I knew was you guys talking about my armor." Jason said.

"It sounds like General Vigroy has turned to the enemy." Karmadin said.

"Or has returned. I have always sensed something about him." Skyrate said.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Jason asked.

"I didn't want you to doubt. I trust your's and your Father's judgement about the men of the guard."

"Unfortunately we were wrong." Jason said.

"He was deceptive, anyone would've fallen for him, he had no flaws." Karmadin said.

Michael picked up the back plate of Jason's armor and examined the slice through it. The metal was buckled slightly inward and there was a half inch gap in between the two buckles. He ran his fingers over the edge of the metal to test its sharpness.

For humans, or even Elves, this is an extremely foolish thing to do. Any metal edge is sharp and will cut the skin. An elemental, however, is not cut like humans or elves and does not have normal blood.

"Hmm, this is the sharpest unworked edge I've ever felt." He said.

Skyrate walked over and examined the gap. He did not, however, slide his fingers over the edge. For even though the cut would hardly hinder him, there was no need to get wounded for no reason.

"Yes..." Skyrate said in his mysterious tone, "this seems almost otherworldy.

"How's that possible? That's my armor." Jason asked, confused.

"The blade that did this was sharper then most mortal smiths can make." Skyrate said, "That's how it was able to cut your armor so finely. If it not for your chain underneath, we'd still be wondering where you were."

"Why didn't you use your crystal shield?" Karmdin asked, looking at the broken wooden shield.

"I...don't know. I always use my crystal shield. I have no idea why I didn't bring it." Jason said.

"I assume the Scaarz-Got is still in your room?" Skyrate asked, "Because it's not here."

"Yes, it should be. I didn't bring it because I figured Skrealing would be fine. I didn't expect such a fight." Jason answered.

__________________________________________

The Dark Fortress
__________________________________________

He talked to a few knights who were actually dressed up in tuxedos and suits. Some of them looked quite good out of their armor, you almost couldn't tell that they were part of the evil Black Knights.

He sat down in the aisle side of the second pew from the front on the right side.

Alex 43 · **Posted:** November 18th, 2008, 2:56 pm

"That light ..." Venos whispered, gesturing towards the rocky coastline.

Gia didn't need second-tellings. Momentarily disregarding Alex's summons, he sprinted over and lifted the mass of armor over his shoulder. The sword was also grabbed, peered at for a moment by the curious Venos, and joined them all as they entered the chapel; out of the rain, and into a storm.

____________________________________

"This doesn't look good at all." Gia said, staring at the sight before him.

The chapel interior had been transformed into something that resembled the lair of a mad scientist. Potions, torches, and even some odd machines were distributed all over, the pews were all moved to the side, and the entire chapel recession area had become one large platform with the table in the middle. Resting upon the table was a large, crystalline object, just barely hiding a Skee-shaped bundle of bandages and wrapping from view, and several markers all along the ground had been set up that appeared to be feeding in energy to the object, whose sides and edges swirled with strange, magical colors. If it wasn't for a tall, lone vial resting next to the heap, half-in and half-out, one would easily guess the crystal to be solid.

Alex himself was standing over the crystal, pouring several potions over it before shaking his head and rethinking his methods.

"Is this creature really worth it to you?" Venos asked.

"It was my fault he got into this situation," Alex replied, ignoring the rudeness of the consideration, "So I'm getting him out at all costs."

"What IS that?" asked Gia. Even he had never seen such a complex spell before.

Alex shook his head from something not adding up, and decided to risk the time to explain, "Skee's lost too much blood. The only way to immediately save him, or at least buy some time, was to put him in a stasis block while I worked on creating a substance able to either replenish the blood supply, or at least substitute in temporarily.

Unfortunately, Skee is an insectoid creature. They have exoskeletons, which take much longer then flesh and skin to heal up. His exoskeleton was barely holding together, with severs, cracks, and even chunks taken out of it. I patched it up as best I could, but it was almost like doing a jigsaw puzzle with several missing pieces. Again, as I said, he's lost too much blood to recover and heal on his own. It may take a miracle to save him."

Alex shook his head, trying to remove the thought enough to prevent him from getting sick.

"Without his skeleton intact enough to keep it all in during the fight ..." he said, gesturing towards a jumbled mess on the side.

Gia nearly barfed and Venos turned away. There was Gia's vest, but it was completely covered in scabarite blood. No sort of thorough cleaning will get the stains out of it, but it was still definitely usable. He would have to boil it for a while.

"Where did you learn to perform those magics?" Venos asked, curiously.

"Fairies." Alex replied matter-of-factly, "They are magical creatures. Whenever they are injured, it is usually due to a sudden drain of magic essence. To save them, they are usually put in stasis blocks much like this one to preserve them until a source is created and applied to them."

"You never told me you learned those kinds of magics." Gia said, puzzling over how they worked.

"It was a while before I met you." Alex replied, mixing two potions together and flinching as though it was about to explode in his hand, "I helped them expand their territory through a series of interdimensional rifts connecting their fairy rings to a series of real-space areas and creating almost another room within their own."

Gia tilted his head.

"... yeah, they are simple creatures, but everything else about them isn't." Alex shrugged. He was too busy to tell a story now. The situation was far too dire.

"What do you want of us?" Venos asked.

Alex remembered rather quickly.

"There's still a war going on, you two." he said, "Even without the Unknown fighting us for now, there are still Zamorak's forces. No doubt they are also concerned about the Unknown and are being pressured to accelerate their plans and conquer more."

"But the Unknown only said we had a day to extract payment, or else he'd take the whole planet!" Gia shouted, "How much time do we even have left?!?"

Alex only suddenly realized it. How was he not thinking anything of the short amount of time they had?

"Calm yourself, brether." Venos said.

"Venos, what IS that payment it wants?" Gia asked, suddenly turning to Venos.

Alex even took interest, "What were you guys talking about out there?"

"I'll tell you later," Gia said, "Venosyvan, tell us-"

"ENOUGH!" Venos roared, the voice alone shaking the walls, "I understand what you're getting at, but there's another fact you need to know before you get worked up."

Both of them paused. They were silent, but attentive.

"The Unknown, like us, also has an impression of time as an existence; hence its classification of days. HOWEVER, it was born and raised on an unknown planet with a much larger span, thereby making his 'day' longer then ours."

Alex and Gia looked at each other. Venos was just saying they had a little more time then they thought.

"How much longer?" Alex asked, only taking partial notice at the unconscious Karl 67 Gia was holding.

"About a thousand times longer." was Venos' reply, "A bit less, but not enough to be a considerable-"

"A THOUSAND?" Alex and Gia both shouted simultaneously, making Venos jump on the spot. Then they both sighed relief. The Unknown said they had a day, but as Venos just pointed out, that "day" really meant roughly three years. Should definitely be enough time to end this war and get this payment, since Venos apparently already knew what it was. Strange, though, that it was keeping it to itself.

"Well, that's rather convenient." Alex said, allowing himself to relax slightly.

"But ... how do we know he meant it in his time rather then ours?" asked Gia.

"He would've called it a 'rotation' rather then a day." Venos replied.

"You DO know the Unknown." Alex said, "How?"

Venos made a facial expression that Alex never thought a statue could ever pull off.

"I met with it once before." Venos said, "With my master ..."

Venos suddenly remembered something. It gestured towards the altar.

"... whom I must try contacting now. Excuse me if I may."

"Go for it. Good luck ..." Alex replied, shrugging. It'll just keep trying and trying all it wants. Who knows, maybe it'll find Saradomin. He's got a more important job at the moment.

Venos sternly turned its head a full 180 degrees to look Alex straight in the face.

"You really are Allezyamos, aren't you?" it said.

Alex paid it no heed and continued measuring potions. Gia saw what was coming, and decided to take Karl upstairs into a guest room for his recovery.

"The symbol, the essence, the color, and now the personality. A coincidence such as this is impossible from any other way of doubt! You ARE my friend Allezyamos! There's no doubt about it!"

Alex turned, almost wanting to just smack the statue.

"For the last time, if I was your friend, you'd think I'd know it?" he asked.

"So why don't you?" Venos replied without missing a beat.

"I don't know!" he refrained from shouting, "For all I know, maybe my memory was taken away or something. I'll tell you right now, as clear as possible: until you mentioned it yourself, I never knew the name Allezyamos before in my life."

"Ah, then why did you react with a jump when I first mentioned it?" asked Venos, sneering.

"I HEARD IT!" Alex shouted, making Gia jump upon returning, "I ... I heard it in a dream, OK?"

"... a dream?" Venos and Gia said simultaneously, then Gia spoke independently.

"You told me you weren't getting any more of those envisionments!"

Alex bowed his head. Despite the relief that the Unknown was one less thing to worry about, Alex still found it frustrating that he had to answer all these questions overtop the priority to save his friend. The stasis wasn't going to last forever. He was running out of time.

"Well, I am again." Alex said, "But these ones are different. All there is are voices, no pictures. It's as though I'm being talked to. Now, if you please, I've got a life to save here."

That wasn't quite true. He did remember seeing some strange tower vision as he was falling in the cavern. But all that was was a flash. Might have just been his imagination at the time.

There was silence for a while.

"He has envisionments?" Venos quietly asked to Gia.

"Yes, about the future." Gia replied, "He gets these visions while he's sleeping or unconscious, as brief as they are, and then sees them all coming when they come into reality. They're visions of what he's about to experience."

Another pause.

"Allezyamos had those too." Venos said.

A vial shattered. Both dragons looked and hoped Alex didn't just lose it, but the vial was entirely accidental. Alex muttered carelessness to himself as he zapped the spilled liquid with lightning until it was evaporated, and brushed the broken glass aside with his foot before continuing.

"Excuse me, brether, I must contact our lord now." Venos said, turning back to the altar and approaching it.

"Ain't gonna work." Alex called predictably.

"We'll see ..." Venos said without turning his head, "... Allezyamos."

"My name is Alex." Alex called back.

"Ah, ANOTHER coincidence?" Venos barked. Alex fell silent. All right, so it WAS him. Maybe he got amnesia or something. Big deal.

Venos bowed towards the altar and poured its yellow electric-based energy into the symbol of the altar. Aside from the energy, Venos was still in prayer, and now once again appeared to be an ordinary statue. Gia, caught between two bickering allies, decided to make himself useful and went to the kitchen.

For nearly half an hour, there was silence. Alex quietly worked on the resurrection of a doomed scabarite, Venos worked on contacting the God of the world, and Gia was making dinner. Lightning flashed out across the stained-glass windows, illuminating the room but for a millisecond, and a heavy thunder roared seconds following it. Another ordinary night, they would mutter to themselves.

Suddenly, Venos stirred. "Sartranomin?" it asked.

Alex looked up. Venos made contact with Saradomin?!?

"Sartranomin, it's me! Venosyvan. Long time no chat." Venos said, its face lit up with excitement.

Suddenly, every ounce of excitement transformed into aggressive concern.

"You're not Sartranomin! Who are you?"

All eyes were on Venos.

"No, I'm- WHERE IS HE? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH- ... WHO ARE YOU? GIVE ME YOUR NAME! ... what? I WHAT?!? Listen, you primordial anomaly, if you don't tell me your name in three- ... hello? SPEAK!"

Alex dived.

"... gaaaAAAH!"

Gia's waxed mahogany formula was better then expected. A sudden electrical blast against the wall behind him from the angered Venos hardly even burnt it.

"Was that ... the evil one?" asked Gia.

"No, something else." Venos spat, "Didn't recognize it. Didn't give me its name, but he did say Sartranomin was 'all right'. The nerve!"

"Let me try." Alex said, taking immediate interest. As hopeless was Skee's situation now, perhaps he could spend just a quick minute and work twice as hard after. Maybe a break was all he needed.

"Be my guest." Venos said, sidestepping away from the altar as though it was about to explode and heading towards the table to supervise the stasis spell.

Alex approached the altar, pulled his staff out, and focused. He didn't have his spear right now with him, but the staff will do just fine alone. He poured his own energy into the altar and focused.

"Saradomin?" he called forth.

Venos huffed unnecessarily loudly in the background. Alex ignored it.

"Saradomin, respond! Anyone! Please!" he begged.

A full five minutes passed by with no success. But he wasn't about to give up now that Venos made contact with someone who knew His whereabouts.

Itchlarin's words floated back to him, "Until you find him, you may allow me to be your Saradomin." Maybe he now knows something. Trying hard to remember the specific flow, he flipped up his staff and poured a different energy on.

After three tries, he was successful.

"Who calls forth my audience?" said the familiar voice of Itchlarin.

"It's me, Alex 43." Alex said.

A pause.

"You are Saradominist. You already have your God to look to."

WHAAAAAT?!?

"But, earlier today, you said you'd help me out until I find Saradomin!"

"Why would I serve one who doesn't even concern himself with the ancient lands?"

"Itchlarin ... but, this is impossible- ... are you even the real you?"

A surge of energy shot through the altar at Alex, and he was hit with what he could only call a wave of feeling that matched his own spiritual connection towards the God. Gods knew majiya, otherwise they wouldn't be so powerful as they are, and this one was all too familiar. There was no doubt about it. This was the true Itchlarin he was speaking to right now.

Which meant the other one was not ... but how? Why?

"Don't disturb me again." Itchlarin warned.

"Wait!"

But he was gone. Alex was frozen in place, hardly able to believe his ears. Or his thoughts. Or anything anymore. The world was falling apart around him, and nobody could tell him anything. He sat there, kneeling in a sea of confusion and hopelessness, wondering if anything will ever begin to make sense anymore. He could no longer smell anything, nor feel, nor even hear. All he saw was a large void of nothingness. Of unknowity.

"You too, huh?" Venos asked, apparently having just experienced the same thing Alex did. He heard it, but his mind did not, and he did not respond.

Something happened during that fight. Not the battle against the Unknown, but the fight in which it first appeared. Right after that was his first voiced envisionment. Since then, the whole world came apart around him. Forests, deserts, cities, and mountains, all ground into millions of tiny pieces and pulled into the sky, into the darkness of space and beyond. He no longer knew that place that bore him, that gave him life, and let him live. Was this the true power of the Unknown? Was it letting him live for less than three years with such unspeakable torment of mystery that any attempt to face him would end in an inevitable loss cast upon him by being unconfident? Was was he fighting for anymore?

He heard a crack under him and found he had stepped on a fragment of the vial he dropped. Lifting his foot, he found it was now no more then dust. He stooped down, lifted a pinch of the glass, and ground it between his fingers for a while, watching it fall back down to the floor. Each grain for itself. All of them once part of the same existence.

He got up. He grabbed a set of vials and started mixing again.

Gia came out with a large bowl of soup, but didn't dare to disturb him. He was working mindlessly now, almost unconsciously driven to at least try to make a spot of difference in another's life. He'll need some time to piece together some theories of his own, or at least hope and pray that Saradomin will soon return and tell him all.

He offered the bowl to Venos who, unable to stop himself, rudely snatched the bowl with its mouth and downed the entire thing in almost one gulp. Gia stared momentarily, a bit annoyed that he never got to drink any himself.

"Ah, forgive me for that," Venos said, "But I have not tried nor tasted food ever since my summon. It is very good."

Gia shrugged and returned to the kitchen. Soup is soup after all. He only need make another batch for himself. Besides, perhaps it was just for the better Venos got to experience, if anything for the first time in so long, one of his own creations.

Filling himself up, Gia went to bed. Venos curled up in the corner of the room and solidified, much like Alex did what he slept. Alex continued to work. It was all he could do anymore.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** November 24th, 2008, 5:38 pm

The wedding quickly began as soon as everyone was seated. Darkrascal and Lawrence went down the aisle.
"We are gathered together tonight for the binding of the two souls of our great Zamorak's servants Darkrascal and Lawrence." The Zamorakian monk bringing the two together said.

After half an hour later of their vows and gibberish by the monk...

"Darkrascal, do you take this vampire to be your unholy wedded husband, until permanent death do you part? In sickness and in health, in pain and in bitter joy?" The monk asked.

"I do." She said.

"And do you, Lawrence, take this Cat-woman to be your unholy wedded wife, until permanent death do you part? In sickness and in health, in pain and in bitter joy?" the monk asked.

"I do." He said. The rings were placed on their fingers and they kissed, finalizing everything. The black knights cheered from the aisles and clapped, congratulating the new husband and wife.

Alex 43 · **Posted:** November 25th, 2008, 1:45 pm

Morning's sunlight refreshed the two ancient dragons. Gia was abruptly awakened by Venos' shouting for him when the sun was halfway over in the horizon. The storm had passed and given way to a clear, cloudless sky, and upon seeing it for the first time, Venos suddenly became excited and jumped around like a dog about to be let out, shouting to get out of the "confined space". Gia ran downstairs, opened the door, and both of them, with new-found energy of excitement, dashed outside and up onto the roof of the chapel to get a good look.

Gia accepted the glowing warmth like he did every morning, but Venos almost seemed like it wanted to jump into the sun itself from the satisfaction of getting to see a morning once again.

"I never get tired of this view." Gia said, "It's one more reason to live out here, out in the middle of nowhere, without the restrictions of selfless responsibility."

Venos nodded with full agreement.

"When I was trapped in the cave, time had no meaning." it said, "The darkness doesn't change. Water does not flow. There's no wind or rain, or any of that."

They both watched the sun rise. Looking carefully, they could actually see it moving slowly, almost like it was rising up from the depths of the distant ocean. The reflection in the still, windless water made it appear to be several times larger, and the gradience of colors cast from the horizon threw the making of a painting into their eyes. It was almost too artificial to be natural, but it was nevertheless.

"Now that I'm part of time once again, I almost don't want to have to leave this place." Venos said.

"You don't have to." Gia replied, "You can stay here as long as you desire."

Venos shook its head.

"No, unfortunately I cannot." it sadly admitted, "Since I can not communicate with my lord, I must now find Him."

Gia tilted his head. "Find" a God? How does one do that?

"This is a journey I need to undertake alone, brether." Venos said, "No mortal is allowed to experience what I am about to go through. Not even one as pure as yourself. Once the sun leaves the horizon, I will have to say farewell to you."

A pity, thought Gia, Venos could have been a good ally.

"I understand." Gia said, trying to hide his disappointment.

They both watched the sun rise for another half-hour. It seemed to symbolize a rise, that there was hope for the world. They temporarily thwarted the destruction of the world at a heavy cost, yes, but now they have also rested and are once again in full spirit. The sun was able to rise, so why not them? The war can still be won so long as they can continue to fight and the sun can continue to rise.

"Just remember that should you need us, we'll be here." Gia finally said.

Venos partially stood up.

"Speaking of which, have you seen Allezyamos this morning?" Venos asked.

"Ale- uhh ... wasn't he working in the room you were in?" asked Gia.

"Yeah, he 'was' there," Venos said, "But when I awoke, he was-"

"WAAZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!"

Both of them nearly slid off the roof in surprise. Perched on the bar of the great glass symbol tower was Alex, glowing a hot molten red. His newly-perfected body was dripping the substance all over, save for the symbol which allowed the metal to run alongside itself. He was still missing his helmet plume, but any attempt to add one now would result in its immediate combustion and total waste. His visor was emotionless from the heat, but the emanated energy from his body and voice told them he was in a much better mood than last night.

"Alex! Did you do it?" Gia asked, surprised at his glowing appearance. A quick look to the side revealed the stoked furnace full of hot molten adamantite and footprints in the ground leading towards them.

"Halfway." Alex proudly said, "I haven't been able to complete the potion, but I have managed to patch up a substitute substance for his chitin and patch up the majority of his internal organs enough to remove the stasis and allow him to rest on his own. His body is physically better, but very fragile now, but since he doesn't have enough blood remaining to pull himself out of the coma, he won't stir."

"So why are you- ... so pleased with yourself all of the sudden?" Gia started, but Venos finished the sentence.

"Since Skee was all right by himself, I decided that it would be impossible for me to focus on finishing this potion without a proper rest, so I loaded the furnace of an overabundance of magic logs and coal and slept in it for ... I dunno, more then two hours, since the night was still black at the time. Man, did it feel good."

Alex turned to Venos.

"You really ought to try it out."

Venos hesitated.

"Ah, but Allezyamos, I am not made of metal-"

"Doesn't matter!" Alex proudly said. Gia blinked; Alex really must have internally recovered, since he didn't even regard Venos' calling him Allezyamos.

"I really don't think I-"

"Yes, you will." Alex sternly and playfully said, jumping down and grabbing at Venos, "Gia, help me out here!"

Something about Alex's newfound energy made Gia get up with the same and help him haul a struggling Venos off the roof and over to the furnace bowl, where with some unknown source of energetic strength, it was thrown right in. The molten metal splashed all around the furnace, and Gia had to jump to get out of the way while Alex embraced the splatter of adamantite magma with arms open. There was a silence for a few minutes, and for a moment, the both of them thought they might have killed Venos.

But then it resurfaced, covered in the sticky stuff, and let out a loud, satisfied roar of content. Alex and Gia echoed it.

"So, you're feeling better?" Gia rhetorically asked.

"Of course! I guess a rest to allow my mind to forget about these mysteries for now and focus on what's more important." Alex said, slowly allowing serious ambition to overwhelm his hyperactivity.

"What about Saradomin?" asked Gia.

"He's a God, isn't he?" he asked, "He can come and go as he wants, and I doubt anything can harm him. If we can beat the Unknown if we really try, then He can too. Besides, he's only been missing for a couple of days. If it was for months or years, then we should be worrying. I doubt He'll be gone for long, and then I can ask Him all about what's going on when He returns."

"And the Unknown?" Gia tried.

"We've got at least 2 years before we lose the planet." Alex said, "Better we spend this time training and unifying to a possible solution than crying over it."

"Sounds like you're at peace once again." was all he could say. Alex was back. Woo.

Venos's head was peering over the bowl lip to listen in, glowing much like Alex was right now. Alex jumped from the ground up and into the melting pot with it, shouting "cannonball!", and making Gia jump back once again from the extra run-off. The one real difference of preference between them was the method of baths they used; Gia enjoyed a cool dip in the ocean water that Alex simply hated doing, while Alex enjoyed this odd sort of 'hot tub' that Gia couldn't even survive in. Since Gia was standing there alone, he figured he might as well take to his own enjoyment and dove headfirst into the sea off the nearby coastline.

"Have you accepted that, with so much coincidence towards you, that you are Allezyamos?" Venos asked.

"Half-yes, half-no." Alex replied, "I've got no memory of being this friend of yours, nor do I know the name from so long ago. Saradomin never mentioned you guys to me nor referred to me with the name itself. Therefore I really can't say I am.

However, since you insist, perhaps I am a reincarnation of Allezyamos. Perhaps he died, and from his death, I was born. Either that, or my mind was erased somehow. I will wait until Saradomin's return and ask Him about it, and try to force a bit of truth out of Him for once."

"Hmmm." Venos said. It was more from the enjoyment of Alex's beginnings to accept this coincidence then the hot tub.

"What were you guys talking about up there?" Alex asked, "I woke up, and found the both of you perched up there as though you were waiting for something."

"We were watching the sunset for the first time since my placement." Venos said, looking towards the horizon, "It is more beautiful then any dream could pressure."

Alex nodded, his head the only thing visible from the surface of the liquid metal bath.

"Sunrises are good." he said, "It reminds me that I'm still a part of the planet, and that the planet is still a part of me."

A long pause followed.

"I'm pretty sure I heard you say you were leaving to Gia."

"I am." Venos replied, "Out to search for my lord. This is a matter of dire importance. For the sake of the world, if I don't let him know of the events that occurred last night, there will be some destructive consequence."

"It's the Gods who supply the 'payment' to the Unknown, am I right?" asked Alex.

"In a sense, yes."

"Then, I guess it's one less thing for us to worry about." Alex said, gesturing with his head towards the rapidly swimming Gia, "You'll find the Holy one, and he'll make the payment. Hopefully this time, without any problems."

"... yes. With any luck ..." Venos replied, somewhat less hopeful than desired.

Alex looked in its eyes. It returned the favor.

"... do you ... wish to join me in this quest?" it asked.

"I thought no mortal eyes could view-"

"I am convinced well enough you are the same as I am." Venos replied, "If anything, this quest will allow you to potentially regain your memory and learn just who you really were once in the past. Who knows, perhaps we might learn just why the Unknown never got its payment."

"I would ... really like to know that." Alex said, "But what about Skee? Despite getting him into a more stable condition, I still can't leave him unattended. In fact, I really should get back to him."

"Then bring him with you." Venos said as Alex jumped out, "Find the cure while we travel. Since he will remain unconscious, he will not witness what we do, and when he is revived, it's a simple matter of dropping him off with his own tribe."

Alex gave a thumbs up as he jumped into the cooling basin. Sounded like a plan, all right. He just had to tell Gia, gather everything up, probably eat something quickly, and they would be off.

"Hey, Gia!" Alex called, leaving the basin in the cool, clean metallic green color he is so well known for and walking out towards the coast.

Instead of Gia, however, he saw a boat. Nothing too big or fancy, just a small ferry with an eight-man crew and a captain. A messenger boat. Gia was being towed behind it, gripping the hull carefully with his claws.

"Alex, we've been summoned." he said.

"Summoned?" Alex asked, "By whom?"

"... the war, Holy One." said the captain, bowing regrettably. He had been enjoying the sunrise too.

___________________________________________________________

Feeding a sailor, 8 laborers, a spiritual warrior, and a granite statue with a seemingly never-ending hunger and enjoyment for his fabulous creations was not really much of a challenge to Gia. He emptied the downstairs pantries completely, had every feature of the kitchen running, and was bouncing back and forth around the entire kitchen frantically with amazing energy and precision. Nobody dared enter the room or take a specific order for the fear they would be run over, so they all sat at the table, ready for anything Gia would dish out at them. Of course, Alex cleared the room of the advanced chemistry set and carefully relocated Skee to one of the guest rooms. Alex did warn them that Gia was entirely vegetarian and against the consumption of living beings, resulting in a meatless breakfast for the lot of them, but after telling their stories of living months on dried chicken and salted pork, a vegetable-only meal would be like drinking cold lemonade after a diet of warm sea water.

That, of course, brought on heavy demand. Despite the facilities, mostly manufactured by his own claws, suiting the needs of making food in bulk, he had to bring about four whole rounds of prepared breakfast until he was able to have some himself. Sailors would always take advantage of a free meal without restriction to rationing, and Venos just couldn't stop himself from tasting (in bulk) as many things as Gia tried. Alex was the only one who didn't eat very much. He was once again deep in thought. Pondering a decision. His decision.

While the crew were entertained by Gia and Venos, mainly just by looking at the two, Alex and the captain headed inside. After a brief denial that sea captains, after so many years, were immune to vomiting, Alex began a quick clean-up, starting with the removal of Gia's blood-covered vest. After recovering from said denial, the captain spoke while Alex tidied up.

"You've been requested." he said, "To aid in the war by a fellow comrade you once fought with."

"At the Battle of the Eastern project?" he asked.

"That's right. You no doubt remember it." he replied.

Indeed, Alex did. The Tome of the Seven Worlds, the Eastern Project, and now this. It's impossible for a good warrior to retire from fighting, unfortunately. Even out in the middle of nowhere, it seeks him out and requests his assistance in something that the next generation should really be better at now thanks to the experience in the past many years. He had hardly trained, nor changed, save for his comparatively limited knowledge of majiya. Not just that, but Saradomin was missing at the moment. Pulling him into the battle now while he was only able to operate at a fraction of his true capability would definitely not be a wise decision.

On the other hand, until the world is at peace again could he be the same. No doubt, because of these summon-portals, they needed everyone they could get. Even with his more limited capabilities, he was still a good warrior, and could definitely make a large notch, if any, in the enemy's ranks.

"Didn't think they still existed." Alex said, "Usually in the life of a person, one war, and a retirement right after. They were lucky, even, to pull through two. But now we've got a third, and they're still at it?"

"The Mastery," the captain said, "Is a lot more dedicated then that. Since you left, a small group of previous members banded together with several organizations to form another group of elite fighters. One of the groups being the Order of the White Star."

The White Star. Alex had only slightly heard of it. He knew the name, and their resolve, but that was pretty much it. He gathered up the majority of the vials, filled and empty, and returned them to his own private room. Gia entered silently, without letting anyone notice.

"Who called for me?"

"They didn't say." the captain said, "They were hooded. But they showed me 'the amulet'."

Alex remembered it. A medallion rather than an amulet, it allowed the members of the Mastery to freely communicate with each other while all over the world. They used to have a large network set up where they could supervise practically the entire planet. Now, alas, it has somewhat disbanded from the destruction of the headquarters, but no doubt a few of the veteran members have re-devised a similar system somewhere for the same purpose.

"Most likely Jason." he thought, but just to make sure ...

"Where will you take us?"

"Elduvian."

Yup, it was Jason. Or Skyrate. One of the two.

Alex didn't pause upon hearing the kingdom. He paused from the tone the captain used. He said it with a tone of grim upcoming and suspicion. Alex had to agree. Jason, being so high esteemed, most likely wouldn't have to had disguised himself just to get a messenger to summon the duo.

"If I was to say no, what would happen?" Alex asked.

"I'm afraid ... we can not accept no." the captain replied, pacing away from him somberly. He was not making any threatening gestures. He was really telling the truth. He was needed in the battlefield.

Or with Venos. If he found Saradomin, it could definitely turn the tide on whatever situation the world got into without him. Not just that, but if he was to find out more about himself, he could possibly find some hidden, powerful ability inside him to make him even more versatile.

But if they were too late to save the world, or Saradomin was no longer a part of the fabric of existence, what good to the world would he be?

"I'll need to think about it." Alex said.

"What is stopping you from yes?" asked the captain.

"A ... private matter." Alex replied. He already knew that it would be wrong to tell anybody else of the events that occurred last night, nor the resolve that one of the individuals on the island had for the safekeeping of the world itself.

"I'll do it, then."

The captain jumped. Gia emerged from his eavesdropping part of the chapel and confronted the two.

"I'll go to Elduvian." he said in full finality.

"Gia? You're going to-" Alex started.

"Yes, I will." Gia replied, "It doesn't take a genius to know why you couldn't immediately say 'yes'. Venos wants you to ... join him. I think you should."

Alex nodded his head wordlessly. The captain stared, confused, but recalling Alex's mentioning it was a private matter, didn't say anything either.

"If the both of you are going, then there's no need for me to stay here alone when I could very well be helping to bring peace back to the world." Gia explained.

"Very well, we'll give you some time. But we will not leave until you give us a final answer." he replied.

A low rumbling shook the walls. Alex stared.

"... don't suppose we can get something to eat here, can we?" the captain asked, "We had to brave the storm, and lost the majority of our rations. We haven't eaten properly since lunch yesterday."

"I'm on it." Gia replied, "Get everyone in here, Alex."

And that was it. Alex called in Venos, explained the situation, and the rest of the messenger captain's crew dashed in on first mention of food. They ate their fill, patted their stomachs in satisfaction, and prepared for the trip back.

Gia spent nearly an hour just soaking and cleaning his vest, plugging his nose the majority of the time. Boiling sea water mixed with a few other specially prepared herbs was the best for removing blood, but something about scabarite blood proved difficult to remove. Perhaps it was just the thick, sticky quality of it that prevented it from leaking out of its host body. Nevertheless, after some hard work, Gia was once again able to wear his vest without making a face, and he sheathed his large, re-tempered sword inside its holster.

During that time, Alex was hard at work fixing his own weapon. Whichever he chose, he was nevertheless going, and with everything he could possibly need. His spear was the first priority, a new backpack of potions the second, and no matter which way, a section of herbs and ingredients he believed he needed to finish his new medicine for Skee, who too was coming either way. Once Gia proudly entered the smithy area to show off his nice, clean vest, Alex held up his fully repaired spear with pride, allowing the reflection of the sun's newly-risen light to reflect off both their handiwork. Once again, the both of them were now complete.

Finally, he was ready to go. He tied Skee up in a large blanket and tied that to his new potion backpack, carrying the both of them on his back at once. It looked very large and awkward, but it was comparatively light despite its size. His spear was held in both hands, new and ready to become useful again, and Alex felt the pleasant sense of reunification. Gia didn't carry a backpack, but instead settled on bringing nothing but his sword and vest as he usually did. The place was properly locked up, valuables secured and hidden with traps and spells, and they were set to go.

Only question for Alex now was; where to?

"So, did you make up your mind, yet?" the captain asked, approaching the both of them. Venos was following behind, eying Alex intently.

"Not really," Alex said, "But, I will soon, and when I do, I will arrange my own means of transportation there. You may return if you wish; I'm sure they'll need you as much as me to be there as soon as possible. Gia is going with you, though, so you're not leaving empty-handed."

"Or empty-bellied." smiled the captain, giving his compliments to Gia.

"OK, Gia, you know what to do." Alex said, tossing him the familiar half-filled vial of dark purple liquid. Excitement lit up his already-glowing white eyes.

"What is that?" asked the captain.

"Just get on board, grab the wheel, and hold on tight. Tell your crew to grab on with you." Alex said, nodding a farewell.

The captain looked skeptical and didn't move, so Gia swept him off his feet and hauled him aboard the ship with the crew, saying something about "you'll have to steer me, since I don't know where to go". Choruses of "what are you talking about"s came from the confused crew, who did what Gia told them to. Karl, who came out of the SWC looking strangely bewildered, suddenly noticed what was about to happen and had jumped on as well, not wanting to miss another ride. Once the potion was chugged in one gulp, the crew fully understood Karl's anticipation. Gia backflipped off the boat onto the coastline, jumped off the edge of the island right into the backside, and the both of them zoomed off into the distance at extreme speed, leaving Alex and Venos alone on the island.

"That was ... the same one that you gave me, wasn't it." Venos said.

"Yup." Alex nodded. Watching the captain and its crew unexpectedly experience his Hyper-Agility potion came as a strange satisfaction to him.

"I'm assuming, since you did not join them, that you wish to come with me?" Venos asked.

Alex shook his head. No, he hadn't made his decision yet. He just wanted them to leave with at least someone to remove the pressure and allow him to decide.

"Understand, Allezyamos, that once I leave, I may not return again, and you will miss your chance to learn the truth." Venos advised.

"I know, but if I don't help fight this war, there won't be any point to knowing anything." Alex countered, looking over the ocean and watching the remaining ripples from the mach-speed boat vanish.

Venos flexed its back, and its two great wings of lightning shot out into view. It flexed them for a moment before folding them in and kneeling down for Alex to get on.

"I'm sorry, but the longer you take means the less of a chance for either resolve to come into effect." Venos said, "You must make your decision now."

Alex flinched. He focused his mind and thought hard and fast. His past, or his future? Then, he finally chose, and backflipped on Venos back with his pack of potions, a wrapped-up Skee, and his beloved spear. He landed perfectly, struck a quick pose, and Venos shot its wings out, propelling it immediately off the ground. At high speeds, the both of them shot over the horizon and out of sight, once again leaving their one true sanctuary behind them.

Alex 43 now stands at a crossroad. Venos will embark on his quest to seek out the Gods, while Gia will follow the messenger and continue to fight the war at Elduvian.

Who will Alex join?

PM me with your vote! DON'T POST IT HERE ... unless it's subliminally part of the Round Robin (eg: "I sure wish that the great Alex 43 was here." mumbled a guard as he drew his sword.). I will make my next post soon.