ARSTAR ((an rpg game))

[Communist]

(( Chronology is whacked. Editting needs to take place! I've kept track of chronology so far, much more, and I'll explode.
Current order to do: (is for me, I haven't a clue about some of you others.)
Emmy sword Training
David + Jess in 'that scene'
enter the weaver
Jess and David picking up Samantha (not finished yet)
Sypha and David
Then that convo between Sypha, David and Jack

That's how time is organised for me. Look at them, and organise your own around them. I'll be posting them up, editted soon.
This has been a friendly' Communist is sick of editting' announcement. EDIT: Pretty much done.))

[Communist]

Emmy sword training

David, hair grey, mind strong, woke up with a start. He was back at the altar of mind. He stood- and waited for Emmy to appear.

Emmy walked from the shadows of the Altar stone.
"Hello, David."
"Hello Emmy. What's up?" he asked politely.
"Nothing much." she brought out her sword. "I wanted to learn some sword skills...and how's the love life?"
David flushed. "Well. Yeah." he said. "S'good."
He quickly backtracked. "Sword skills? Are you sure you want a sword? Normal swords are boring." he said.

"I don't have a normal sword." She tossed her sword at David. "see for yourself."

David catched it from the air easily, and spun it around. He noted some funny things about it. "Hmm. Runes."
"Atonement." read David. "I guess it's a magickal sword, then. But as I said, swords are boring, really. Sure you don't want something else?"
"I have my umbrella, but I know how to use that." she said.
"I think this sword may come in handy." Her eyes glimmered. "it's very special."

David shrugged. "Suit youself." He drew out a shamshir from behind his back. "I'll go slowly, but I want to see how you fight now. See what style you have- then I can help you."

"Alright..." She focused, and swung at him. (down to up. diagonal slash.)
David stepped backwards, and slashed forward, with his longer reach. (Horizontal)
Emmy twisted the sword back, and met the blow with the flat of her sword. (block.)

David unleashed a series of fast blows, testing her defences. (Overhead above to left diagonal, left to right slash, thrust, low slash right to left, feint left, right blow)
Emmy rotated the sword to match each blow. (11O'clock, 9O'clock, 6O'clock)
However, she was fooled at the feint, and was stuck down. "owwww..."

David let up. "Nice work there." he said. He paused.
"Ok, firstly, when you block, don't have a rigid arm, like you did" David began.
"Have a little give in it- not too much, but enough to take some of the force of the blow. Or else you'll break your arm."

"Next, thrusts. If I was trying, I'd have skewered you. You have to brush the blade aside, and also step away as well- because a thrust is the hardest to defend against."
David paused. "Make sense?"
"Yes..." Emmy was slightly out of breath. "...off-topic, I know, but anything interesting happen on your little trip with Jess?"

"...And if I have a two handed blade, don't try and parry that... step out of the way, or you'll break your arms, and your weapons" David was still talking. He paused. "Oh right." he noticed Emmy. "Jess? Well. Uh." David flushed again. "No. Nothing. At. All." he said.

She laughed. "David, you have no romance. None at all." David said nothing. She was right, after all.

"Hmm. Don't you wish /something/ would happen?" She looked at David with a sad face.
David looked at her sideways. "What do you mean?" he asked. He remembered something. "We fought a lot of bandits!" he said. "That was romantic?" it was said as a question.
"Well, I suppose if you were slain hugging, it would be romantic...but, no. Not really romantic. Honestly, you should just... make her a little meal, and spend some time chit-chatting. Even /that/ would be a step up for you, David."

David twitched a bit at the slight. His hair turned black for a moment. Vade slyly put in "He saw her naked, you know, Emmy?", before David managed to wrest control back. "Ahem" he stammered.

Emmy laughed. "well, how did you react? That isn't very romantic, but it's a funny memory. How did it happen?"
"I'm not saying." he said, blushing like he never had before. "I wish he hadn't said that, actually. "
"You can't be embarrased! You need to be strong, and out going! (like Jack <3 she thought.) " She sat down, and and made David sit down.
"Why are we sitting down?" asked David.
"Because we need to have a serious discussion about you and Jess." Emmy stated.



David frowned. "I don't see why. It's not like we've got any problems. Do we?" he asked.
"Well, if you ever want to further your love life, yes, you do have a problem."
David 'hmm'd, but said nothing more.
"Well? What do you think is the /depth/ of her love toward you? Do you think she would leave you for another, cuter, stronger man?"
"I don't think she would. I already tried to dump her- I told her I was too old for her. She didn't want to leave. It would break me heart, yes, but part of me wants her to be happier with someone her own age." David's voice was even, but somewhat strained.

Emmy sighed. "In my opinion, Dave, age doesn't matter. ...but what about Vade?" She stared intently at him.
David too, sighed. "I really don't know."

"I don't know how they'd go with each other. Vade could go physcho anytime, and well..." he trailed off.
"...anytime? You can't control him?" She frowned. "that's not good."
"Well, sorta. We speak in my head. Sometimes, he's almost normal, but othertimes... well, he just wants blood." David leant back, and continued. "We're trying to work out an agreement. I might not like it, but he's part of me. And visa versa."

"An agreement?" She leaned forward. "...of what sort?" She looked down. "Because sometimes the agreement may not be good...."

David looked away for a moment. He spoke. "He gets to come out sometimes- as long as he doesn't hurt anyone I know..." It was clear David was trying to hide something.
"I think you're lying. Do you want to know mine?" She smiled

David nodded. "Shoot."
She looked straight at him. "Blood. Death. She wants to come out, and she wants to kill things. Anything, anytime. If I don't kill a human at least every month... She gets mad."

David nodded again. "I have to let Vade feed every few weeks. Or he'll emerge himself and claim it anyway." he smiled. "We're sort of similar. But at least you aren't half-vampire. I used to love garlic, you know?"
"Oh. I love garlic! I bet, if you could have Vade recess far enough back, you could eat it again."
David shook his head. "That won't happen. Vade has always been with me, since I was a child. He would... whisper things to me. "Go there. Do this. Kill him." he would say. He didn't have a name, and I wasn't a vampire... but he's my darker side. I must cope with him."

Emmy frowned. "We are not different in that way... But my other side came out even when I was little. I think... she started to come out when I was 3... She wasn't as powerful, but she still killed things. Squirrels, or whatever else got in our way..." Her gaze grew distant.
"I even killed my best friend, once."

David frowned. He wanted to know more, but was intelligent enough not to ask. Whatever you did in your past, you dealt with it yourself. "Emmy?" he asked gently. "You were trying to tell me something about Jess and I." he said.

"Right." She snapped out of her trance. "Next time you see her, I want you to kiss her."
"I've already done that!" protested David.
"Again." She paused. "and when that happens, I want you to tell me how you felt, and how she reacted." She stood up. "May we continue with my training?"

"Ok, I'll do that." David also stood up, and handed Emmy a dagger. "Now, training. Here- thrust at me."

She lightly stepped around David and thrust towards him (side-step to left side of David, then thrust)
David stepped right, reached out and grabbed Emmy's wrist as she thrust. He pulled hard- and pulled her over.
"Don't over-extend yourself, Emmy." he said.
"If you do, you leave yourself open- and then bad things happen." he gestured. "Try again."

Emmy ran forward, placed a palm on David, and with the other, stabbed him with the knife (forward, thrust.)
David flicked his hand around- and caught the blade with his swordbreaker. He nodded at Emmy. "Good. Now give that one back, and pick up that monstrous blade you own."

Emmy walked over to the blade lying on the floor, and picked it up. "You know, I fight much better with magic."
David shrugged. "Magick's no good if your head's been cut off. And this was your idea in the first place."
Emmy sighed. "I suppose. But I don't think that a sword will help if your head is cut off, either."

She brought her sword up, and entered a battle stance. "So what now?"
David drew his sword-breaker, and his stilleto. "Attack with with all you got. But no magick."

Emmy stepped once, then ran forward at David. She slashed twice. (Chatge, slash left to right, right to left.)
David held both the daggers in an 'x' shape, and used it to brush aside the blade both times, forcing it away from his body.


The battle continued as thus, until Emmy was exhausted.

"That... was fun. Thank you, David."
David smiled. "Thank you Emmy. You won't ever be a professional, but you should be able to beat amateurs."
He laughed. "And thanks for the advice about Jess."
Emmy was indignant. "You shouldn't mention that the best someone can do is beat amatures. I was actually a pretty good sword-maiden back then..." She smiled. "remember, Come to Edge as soon as possible!"

"I might swing around to another island on the way- but that's where we're headed- Edge." David beamed. "Alright, Emmy- you're not a bad swordsman at all. Try sparring with Jack for a while. Jess and I will come back soon. Then you'll see what good is."
Emmy laughed. "say hi to Jess for me, ok?"

And with that, she vanished.

David turned, and vanished as well.

Above, a silent onlooker. Different from the last one.
"Hmm." said a featureless being. "Keep an eye on those two." A whisper, and it was gone- but who and what was it?

Summary: David and Emmy at the altar of mind again. Training. Good advice given.

And that bloody scene with David and Jess you've all been waiting for

David, Jess, and the seven remaining villagers slowly pulled into the town dock, and disembarked. There was a crowd, but it was silent- as the bodies of the dead villagers were pulled off the boat.

Mayor Grimmald joined the pair, on the boat's foredeck. "I know it's a sombre time,but I'd like to thank you." he said, softly.
"You have my word that our village will help you whenever you need it."
"Thank you." said Jessika, lost in her own thoughts
David took Jessika by the arm. "Mayor Grimmald, Jessika and I are quite tired. Do you mind if we borrow a room for the night?
We can sort matters out tomorrow."

Grimmald nodded. "There's one out by the west of the town, with a red door." he took a key from his pocket.
"There you go. Come see me in the morning." Unknown to Jessika, he winked at David. Then, he turned away.

Jessika followed David to the room, which was far away from the other villager's accomodation, out by a small sunflower field.
David unlocked it, and Jessika went in and crashed on the bed.

David grabbed Jessika firmly by the rear, and pulled her in towards him- and put his lips to hers.
Jessika's eyes widened; she hadn't expected all this at once. She kissed him back, and David reacted as well, pushing harder into her.
David held onto her firmly. After a few minutes, he pulled back- to breathe.

"Jess", he said, slyly. "I saw a bath downstairs. And I'm still covered in blood and dirt. Would you...?" he left the question in the air.
"Sure" she said. She slinked down the narrow staircase and started heating the water.

He waited patiently. After a few minutes, she called for him to come down.

David has taken his armour off, and now wore a simple white habit he had found in the house. He eating a lemon.
"I tell you" he said, noisily. "These were so worth it. These are great!" He continued chewing with great vigour.
"David, I'm waiting here!" she called up, laughing.

David casually walked downstairs- mentally saying "play it cool. Play it cool, right?"
He reached the bath, and saw Jessika in it. "Ah, excellent." he said. He moved his hands to take of his habit.
"Do you mind if you turn around for a second?" mentally, he groaned. That wasn't cool at all.

Jessika laughed, but kept watching him, a fierce hunger in her eyes.
David flushed. "Er, please?" he asked, pleadingly
Jessika rolled her eyes, and turned away.

David quickly took off the habit, and slipped into the bath across from Jessika. He sighed. "This is very nice." he said, mentally cringing at the dialogue.
Jessika stared at David hungrily, and jumped forward onto him, kissing him vigorously.

David leant back, suprised by this event. Then he shrugged, and hugged her close to him, still kissing her.
Jessika stared at David hungrily, and jumped forward onto him, kissing him vigorously.
Jessika put her arms around his shoulders, carressing his smooth broad shoulders. After a few minutes, she stopped and looked at David.
"I want to do it" she said simply.

David frowned. "Um." he began. He was about to say "Let me ask Emmy first", but in a fine example of self-preservation, his brain quickly acted. "Um" he managed again.
"Hold that thought" she said. She got up out of the bath, and David looked up at her naked beauty. She walked upstairs, water dripping off her.

avid leant back in the bath, and assumed a medititative position. "Should I? She's too young! What is she gets pregeant? What about Vade?" kept going through his head.
"Hmm" he said out loud.

Jessika padded down the stairs again, two large glasses of champagne in her hands. She handed one of them to David, then slipped back into the bath.
Jessika gulped down half her glass, then put it aside. She looked intriguingly at David.

David sniffed the glass- it seemed that his was suspiciously fortified. "If you're trying to get me drunk first, I wouldn't recommend it." he said.
"I can drink a lot, if you remember. Even the fortified stuff." he studied her reaction.
Jessika sat there, saying nothing, a hungry look still on her face. "That's not the answer I want" she said in a flirtatious voice.

David laughed- he loved her brutally direct manner her- even if it made him feel somewhat awkward.
He blinked, as the realisation that he well and truly loved her hit him- and that he didn't want to lose her one bit.

He smiled, picked up his glass, and drained it in one gulp. Then he looked at Jessika.
"Well." he said.

Jessika moved up to him and started kissing him passionately, and David kissed her back too.

David looked firmly into Jessika's eyes. "Jess..."
"I'd do anything for you." he smiled. "Let's do this together.", he said, laughing.

He pulled Jess in very close, and blew the candles out.

Summary: Jess and David do stuff. Yeah. (( David's not regretting it. Communist is, a bit. Just look at Bio's sig! ))

[Yoshimo]

((Communist is, a bit. Just look at Bio's sig! ))

((Now the world will know what has happened between Comm and Uzi.))

[Universezero]

((Woah, guys. Can we just stop using the pastebin so much? Just edit it and post it on the forums when the right time comes. It'll make it easier for everyone.))

[Drathmoore]

Right then, two conversations in the editting pipeline:

Sypha and Jack vs. Vade (Which is the last one listed by Communist).

Emmy with Jack, Emmy vs. Jack, Emmy and Jack.


Neither are done yet, but I'll post them when the rest of the conversations listed by Comm are done, just to keep the chronology good.

Unless you're sticking them in the above post, which means I could post here...

[ChaoStar]

((Scratch that whole thing about the altar collapsing. It's too early. Also, I'll put some time in organizing the story on the Wiki. This forum will most likely become only for discussion. The following event happens after I have my adventure with Anrah.))

Exunt Anrah

They ran to the ship, where they boarded.

(in Jack's room.) Jack yawned. The ship must've landed while he was sleeping, and when he woke up, Emmy was gone. He had decided to wait until she came back. He was walking through the hallways when he spotted her. "Emmy, there you are!" Jack called over.

"Oh, hello, Jack. This is Anrah. The person I was looking for." Anrah stepped forward and shook Jack's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Jack said, shaking his hand. He smiled, but deep down knew of Anrah's fate. "We should show him his cabin. This way, please." She took Anrah by the arm, and led/pulled him down the hallway. Jack shook his head. "This isn't going to be good..." He said to himself. He swiftly followed the two. While they walked by the entrance of the library, the door to the library swung open in front of the group, hitting the wall with a sharp thud. Takkun stepped out stretching, talking to himself, "man, magick books get boring fast" Takkun stopped mid-stretch, realising he was being watched by emmy, jack and.... "who's this guy?"

"If you think that, you're quite a shallow man." Emmy retorted. "This, is Anrah. Our yummy friend." Anrah looked at Emmy. "...Yummy?" He said quietly. Jack just shrugged at Takkun, with a face of 'no idea'. Takkun's eyes widened, "yummy?" he glared at the new arrival, then back at Emmy, "thats quite an age gap there."

"Three years isn't such an age gap." She motioned down the hallway. "We're just taking him to his room. so if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way."

"Three years? he looks older..." Takkun mumbled to himself. Jack just smiled. 'He doesn't have a bloody clue' he thought. Emmy began walking down the hallway. She stopped at one of the doors, and opened it. She walked inside with Anrah. Takkun shrugged, "Man I need a break" he turned back to the room which Emmy had entered, "I'm going to go out for a walk, I'll see you guys later!" Takkun turned and walked along the hallway, heading for the exit hatch. 'I hope this place is more hospitable than Delacrimo.' he thought to himself. Emmy showed Anrah his room. "...and here's the bed." Anrah turned to Emmy. "Thanks a lot for what you've done for me. You're the nicest, (and weirdest) girl I've ever met." Anrah said. Jack looked at them both. "Hmm... Sounds like I missed a lot while I was asleep. Again." Jack sighed. "Care to fill me in?"

"Well, I came across him while I was exploring the city. We had some adventures, got another orb, and found Astral." Emmy flashed a small bit of fire from her fingertips.

"You found Astral? Damn... I would've loved to have been there for that one." He smiled. "Judging from that fire things went well?"

"nah. not really. Only got a tiny bit of her." She looked at Anrah. "However, I got him." Anrah was looking at Emmy with a puzzled look. "Only a little bit? Ah well..." Jack replied. He looked at Anrah. "I see.."

"Well. Shall we start?" She leaned over to Anrah, with a blue glint in her eyes. Anrah's expression turned to horror. "Let me go!" he shouted. "Jack, help me keep him still!" Emmy was stuggling to hold him down. Jack came over, and held his arms. "I'm sorry about this Anrah. I truely am. But, there is no other way..." Try as he might, Anrah couldn't escape his grip. The Control Glove held so tightly that it slightly crushed his left arm. Emmy Leaned forward, and touched Anrah's forehead. "Let's see if I can do it right, this time." A bright light shone from Anrah's eyes, and it went turned into strands, which twisted around Emmy's arm. "it's begun." Emmy said. Jack held Anrah tightly. He couldn't watch. This continued for several minutes, and at last, Anrah fell limp. "ooh! I think I got it to work! Somewhat..." Jack looked again. "Is that how it works?" Jack asked, disturbed at the limp body that lay before him. "Yes." Emmy sighed. "This time, I didn't end up killing him. However, I erased all of his memories, and he's in a coma. I have no idea when he might be coming back, so I'll store him in a stasis Orb." She put her hands to her head. "eerrggh. Can you leave the room for a bit?"

"Yes. Sure," Jack replied. He walked towards the door, but turned around, and smiled. "He lives. So might Jess" He nodded to Emmy, and left. Some amount of time past, and Emmy opened the door. She was taller, and her features were more defined; she was older. (and a little more developed in certain areas.) "Hmm... So absorbing someone makes you grow older?" Jack asked. "No. I'm just replacing lost energy, from that amount of power I lost from Macrone." She pointed to Anrah. "We should get him in stasis." Jack looked at the comatose Anrah. "Yes," Jack replied. He bent down, and picked up Anrah, hefting him over his shoulder. "Alright. This way." She floated down to the library doors. "The stasis chamber is in one of the side rooms in here." She opened the doors. Jack slowly followed Emmy to the stasis chamber. He lay Anrah down inside. Slowly, the cover of the orb rotated, and closed. Emmy placed her hands on the orb, and closed her eyes. A red light filled the orb, and Anrah floated up to the center of the orb. She remained there, focusing, and then opened her eyes. "Perfect. Our work here is done."

"Emmy... I've been wondering, if absorbing these guardians gives you power, then..." Jack hesitated for a second. "Doesn't that give 'her' power as well?" She looked at Jack. "Yes. But it matters nothing to her. She uses magic beyond our comprehension. She uses the power of the Darkness." Jack shrugged. "The power of Darkness, eh? Sounds friendly..." Jack said sarcastically. "She wants what she wants. Besides that, she's rather friendly." She frowned. "I feel really bad about what I did to Anrah, though." She leaned against Jack. Jack put his arm around her. "You did what you needed to do. And look on the bright side: he's still alive. One day, he'll wake up, and live a completely fresh life, unaware that he was ever the guardian of Life" Emmy kissed Jack. "What do you think? I think it doesn't look too bad now. I think I'm 16 or 17 years old, body-wise. Even better, I think I can do better with Jess. She might not even fall into a coma." Jack smiled. "That's the spirit. Speaking of Jess, you don't look too dissimilar from her now, age wise"

"That's because we're the same age." She took Jack's hand. "Come on, lets go see Edge, together."

Summary
Anrah is absorbed. Yay life magic! Emmy turns 16ish.

[Communist]

Enter the Weaver

Emmy got up. She grabbed the veil, and then summoned a shard of light. Spearing the veil, she put it on.
A haze of noise surrounded her, and she appeared to where she wanted to go -
she was on a large floating rock, where in the middle was a glowing white rock.

It was in the form of an Altar, of course. This was, The Altar of Magick.

She crossed her arms, and waited for David. Her hair was grey, and her eyes were blue... There was a haze of light surrounding her.

There was a flash from the other side of the altar. David appeared-lying down, and, so far as any could tell, fast asleep.
Emmy ran over to David. She grabbed his arm, and stood him up. She shook him gently. "Wake up, friend of Emmy."
"Wha?" David said drowsily. He slowly roused himself. "Oh man, where are we now?" he moaned, when he'd looked around.
"The Altar of Magick. There is something we must discuss." The alien voice said.
"I hope you know what you're interrupting... wait, are you Emmy?" he asked.
Emmy crossed her arms "I'm Emmy, but I'm not Emmy. I'm just as Emmy as that twisted manifestation of hatred you fought with earlier"
She said, referring to the evil persona of Emmy.

David said nothing.
Emmy stared at David. "What was I interrupting, anyway?" Her eyes reverted to purple for a few seconds.
David shrugged. "I was asleep." he said flatly.
"Oh, don't worry." Her eyes were back to the ice blue of before. "You should be back in a while.
If not, I'll turn back the outside time."

Emmy frowned. "Do you trust me, David?"
"No." David said, straightfaced. "But for that great advice you gave me, I guess I will just this once."
"ok" She came closer to David. "The essence of magic is corrupted.
All of magic is being twisted, and even worse, monsters are escaping from rifts created by the distortion of magic."

David groaned. "Are you sure you don't want advice on boys? I can tell you what they like.."
"I'm not Emmy." Her eyes flickered back to purple "Although, that's a good idea. We'll talk later."

Her eyes reverted. "I'm here for two things. One, to tell you that you must come to Edge as soon as possible.
Also, there's a Flow mage around there, that you should pick up. I have reasons to think that she's a guardian. She dwells on the other side of the island you're on."
She brought out her sword. It was glowing white. She pointed it at David. "I'm also here to test you."

David didn't move. "I can pick up the mage. I'll need a better description, but give me one, and I can."

She handed David a small, spherical, blue object. "This will glow when you near her. it should be obvious.
Her eyes will be a dark blue, like the depths of the ocean...and she's the only on living there, besides her grandfather."

Emmy again pointed her sword at David. "Draw."

David made no move. "I have some clue of what this test is, I think. I will not draw." he stated.
'Emmy' crossed her arms. "As Emmy's good side, I must test people she trusts her life with. She trusts you, you know."

David, likewise, crossed his arms. "Well, why can't you trust her?" he queried.
She stared blankly at David. "She's naive. She trusts people who might not be worthy."
David nodded. "Just like Takkun, really." he sighed. "But I still won't attack you here. It feels... wrong."

Emmy laughed. "Well. Then you may want to defend yourself."
She leaped at David, and slashed at him (Leap, horizontal right to left; sword cutting.)
David took a step back, and ducked under the gleaming blade. "I won't fight you Emmy" he repeated.

Emmy let the blade continue it's swing, and rotated quickly, and slashed at him again; forcing him closer to the edge of the floating rock.
David ducked under this slash as well, and stepped close to Emmy- too close for her to be able to use the blade with any effectiveness.
"What purpose does this serve?" he asked.

She struck out with her left hand, and pulsed him. (light wave.)

David fell over, and rolled to the side to avoid any sword-blows. He twisted himself, and stood up again. "Why?" he yelled. "Why?"
She raised her sword to the air, and brought it down, pointing out from the floating rock. "See."

David looked out. "What? See what?" he peered out over the end of the rock.

More rocks were floating up, and were creating a pathway... out. Emmy sheathed her sword.
She stepped to David, and took his hand. "Come. You passed the test, I suppose."
David said nothing. It appeared that every Emmy was really out to kill him. Together, they stepped across the pathway.

The Pathway was endless.

While they were walking, Emmy's eyes went to purple. "So. anything fun happen with Jess?"
David nodded. "I kissed her, as you said I should.Her eyes went wide, and she kissed me back. That was her reaction."

Emmy's eyes clouded. "David, I think I have problems."
David grinned. "I know you have problems, Emmy." he said.
Emmy looked at David. "I'm being told I have to eat Jess."

David looked at Emmy. "What? Why? I can't let you do that!" he almost yelled.
"David... Jess may be the guardian of Pale magic. I don't want to, but as of now, the only way to fulfill my job is to absorb her..."
Emmy was on the verge of tears. "...and if I don't, worse could happen. I'm torn between responsibility, and my comrades."

David looked down. He collected himself, and spoke. "You know I'll have to kill you, if you try and eat Jess." he said, his voice choking.
Emmy looked at David. "...and that's the worse part. You don't know how powerful 'she' is."
"I don't care!" yelled David. "I love her. I won't let you hurt her." his eyes were full of tears.

Emmy's eyes turned blue. "They say it's quite painless, actually. Of course it's never true. David, my job is my job."
She looked forward. "We're here." In front of them was a portal, swirling white, with lines of color.

David stopped. "If that's your attitude, I will not help you now." he stated outright.

Emmy turned her head. "I don't want to hurt Jess. But if there is no other way, I will do what I have to do." She embraced David. "I'm sorry..."

David didn't move. "I will do what I have to do as well. But Jess is my first priority, understand? Even before me, you, or the whole world."
David shook his head. "We'll work on this later." he swung to face the portal. "What's in there?" he asked.
"The Core of Aegis." She walked through.

David followed her. "That would be the core of your arrogant sky-people, yes?" he asked.
She laughed. "Arrogant, no. Secluded, more likely." She pointed up. A massive sphere swirled in front of them. It was easily as big as a thousand Juggernauts. It swirled with all the elemental colors, but something was wrong. There was... a sickness. Some taint, that made it so wrong.

David finally drew his sword. "How do we fix this?" he asked, somewhat wearily.
"Nothing." Emmy looked at David.
David frowned. "Do I have to bring the Juggernaught here?" he asked. "With the others?"

"Here?" No. We need to meet at Edge first. But this is where we'll infiltrate Aegis. "
She frowned at David. "The solution is to find all the guardians, and tap into the true core of magic."
She held out her hand, and started counting. "We've found some already. One, Astral. Two, Jess, possibly. And third... Me. I'm the supposed 'leader' of the guardians. ...I'm the one who has to absorb their powers..."

David nodded. "So I bring everyone here, and you absorb them, yes?"
"No, David. We need to liberate Aegis. Then Seros. The corruption of the heart of magic isn't too bad yet."

Emmy walked over to David, and kissed him. "See you soon." She then disappeared.

David turned. "I'm sorry Emmy..." he whispered to himself. "But I'm not bringing Jess, or that Flow Guardian to you, just so you can absorb them."
He focused, and then he too, disappeared.

Summary: The 'good' Emmy appears. David's there. Revelation that Jessika might be a guardian, yadda yadda, cool stuff, magick is being distorted.

Sypha and David

David was running fast. "Where, where, where is it? Leave it, where? What?" he was muttering to himself. "Where are those lemons, too? I hope they were loaded on the boat,er, ship."
He sprang across the pier onto his boat, and almost coathangered himself on the mast.
He ran downstairs, into the storeroom. Quickly, he began to pull things out of the way, searching frantically for something.

"Oh hey, it's David. What exactly are you looking for?"

David turned quickly, dagger appearing in hand. He peered about the dark room. "That sounds like... Sypha? Is that you?" he asked.

"The one and only."
"You seem... tense."

David peered about again. He still couldn't see Sypha. "Tense? Probably. I probably am. What are you doing here?"

"Uh, nothing much."
"Just waiting for something interesting to happen.
Must have slept through all the good stuff." At this, he walked out and meet David.

David raised an eyebrow. "If by good stuff you mean me finding I'm a half-vampire, a creepy little girl appearing and almost killing everyone, Jessika and I killing a small army of bandits, and Jess and I..." he trailed off here. "Yeah, you missed some good stuff, alright. How did you sleep through it all? The battle was on this bloody boat!"

"I met the creepy little girl."
"Other then that, I've been exhausted as of late."
"I just needed a good rest to restock ether."

David asked "Ether? What have you been doing that required you to sleep for almost a week on end?"

"Uh, training."

David shook his head. "Emmy, right?

"That little girl drained half of my life."
"Then, after I smashed her over the shoulder with a staff of ice, she shot a laser at me that nearly proppelled me through a wall."
"Oh yeah, she also invited me to train with her. I was on the Fenrir when this happened."

"Emmy and I are all for fights. First time, she shot me through the head with a blot of light. Second time, we both stabbed each other through the chest."

"Hmm. Pretty intense. Anyway, the laser light show was augmented by some dress."
"Hurt like hell."

David nodded. "Yeah, that girl... she's not normal... but hey, that was all magick training, right?" he asked.

"Are you any good at physical fighting? Because magick's no good if your head has been cut off."

"Uh, I'd rather not go head on head lest I lose my head."

At this, Sypha wandered upstairs, with the intent to get off of the ship.
"See ya Dave. I need some fresh air."

David turned, and picked up a small bottle, filled with a pale crystal liquid. He stuffed it in his pocket, and followed Sypha upstairs.

As Sypha got upstairs, he stopped from a bit of shock.
"Huh. I didn't know we left port."
"Anyways, what did you put in your pocket?"

David showed the bottle with a flourish. "It's something I need for some enchanting work I'm doing. It's a very rare metal called laurium. It's a liquid at room temperature."

"Ah. I've heard of that once before..."
At this, Sypha gazed off, with a spacey look in his eyes.
The far off look quickly took to anger. The air around noticeably dropped in temperature.

David backed off a bit. "You alright there Sypha?" he asked, cautiously.

Sypha snapped back to reality. The air slowly started to warm.
"Uh, yeah... Just a bad headache..."
"I uh, need to rest a bit... more." At this, Sypha stumbled back downstairs.

David ran to Sypha. "Are you sure you don't want to meet the crew first?" he asked him.

"I guess I can..."

David smiled. "Jessika's asleep, but I can show you the others." He gestured her into the cabins. A tall thin man was sitting on his bed, sharpening his knife.
"This is Griffin." David introduced. "He doesn't talk much, but he's a very nice man."
Griffin looked at Sypha, nodded, and went back to his sharpening.

"Nice knife. So Dave, the rest of the crew?"

David turned, and bumped into a short wiry man, with a weasel face. "Ah, Silk. Nice to, er, see you. Silk, Sypha, Sypha Silk." he said, gesturing.

"Nice to meet you. So... what do you do around here?"

Silk smiled, and his nose twitched. "I'm very good with a knife" he said, modestly. "And I'm the world's best thief."

"Ah ha. Well, I'm good with a spear, I guess. Not much else." Sypha walked onwards after saying this.

David grabbed him. "You might want to check to see you aren't missing anything first." he warned.

"Nothing of worth on me anyways. A good thief would see that from a mile away."

Silk smiled, and produced a small book from behind his back. "What about this?" he asked.

"I'd rather forget some of the stuff in there anyways. You can ead through it, but it's of no worth to anyone but me."
"See, I can't remember anything more then the last 6 months of my life. That book has 2 years of my life written in it so I don't forget."
"Check, the only thing that might interest you is the notes on alchemy."

Silk shrugged, and handed the book back. "I can make my own gold much faster than alchemists." he said.
David cleared his throat, and look at Silk. Silk feigned innocence.
David glared at Silk, who slowly pulled out the crystal vial, and handed it back to him.
Silk then pulled out David's rings, and handed them back too. Soon followed his belt, his daggers, and his heavy purse.
"Thanks Silk." said David. "Hey, it was just for practise, ok?" said Silk.
David grasped Sypha's shoulder. "alright. Let's go check the others."

"Alright, onward then."
Sypha stopped for a moment.
"Anyone here good at alchemy?"

David looked at Sypha. "Alchemy? No." he stated.

"... Alright... Then whose next?"

David raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He lead Sypha upstairs to the wheel, where the last three crewmen stood.
David introduced them. "Mercelli, our expert navigator. He knows this ship better than I do." "Pleased to meet you." said Mercelli, in his thick French accent.
"Stanford, a talented swordsman..." Stanford nodded.
"... and Eagle, a talented marksman." A woman of stunning beauty smiled at Sypha. "Hi there!" she said warmly.

"Hello. I'm Sypha. To be honest, I'm surprised."
"Most people wold run screaming if they saw someone like me." Sypha sighed.

David explained. "These aren't 'most people'. Most of them have their own problems..." he said ominously.
David looked blank for a moment, then suddenly shook out of it. "Anyway, that's the crew." he finished.

"Alright. See you in a week or so. I'll be in the storeroom. Get me if anything interesting happens."
Sypha walked down to the storeroom after this.

David walked with Sypha down the stairs. "One last thing..." he said. He drew his sword, and made a lazy swipe over his head. "Defend yourself!" he yelled.

Sypha quickly spun around with a halberd that seemingly appeared from thin air. The halberd went crashing through the air towards David's neck.

David stepped backwards, beyond the reach of the deadly weapon. "A halberd?" he asked. "An odd choice for one such as yourself..."

The halberd shattered into a million pieces, and then a spear was produced next.

David stared at the spear. "Where are you getting these from?" he asked.
He stepped forward and unleashed a deadly series of blows.

Sypha quickly sidestepped the blows, swiping the spear near Davids face. It missed, but barely.

David dropped the massive sword, and pulled two daggers out. He brought both of them up in an attempt to get to Sypha's neck.

Sypha ducked, and just in time. The two knives met, and quickly froze together.

David frowned. "That's cheating a bit, don't you think?" he said. He dropped the two daggers, and drew his special third one out. "I wouldn't try that with this one." he said.

Sypha frowned.
With a slight step to the side, he attempted to grab the hilt of the dagger.

David saw Sypha reach for the dagger. He grabbed Sypha's reaching hand, and pulled him over, onto the ground. He spun quickly, crouched, and held the dagger at Sypha's throat.

"... Fair enough. You win."
In a blinding burst of speed, Sypha got out from under the dagger and Davids grasp and got up.
"Ugh..." Sypha started to wobble a bit. He didn't look to good.
"What... happened...?"

David looked worried. "Are you alright?" he asked. "We just practised fighting."
He looked at Sypha. "You don't look good at all." said Captain Obvious.

"I remember the fight..."
Sypha looked as if he were about to topple over.

David stepped forward and steadied Sypha in his arms. "Has this happened to you before?" he asked.

"... Not that I remember... It might have."
Sypha passed out in Davids arms.

David shrugged. He slung Sypha over his shoulder, and carried him off to a cabin.
He set him down on a bed, and stared at him. "You're part dragon... and have memory loss... and strange mood changes. " he murmered. He sighed. "Whatever. Another misfit welcome to join our band of misfits."
He turned away, closed the door, and left.

Summary: David and Sypha meet again. Stuff happens. Crew introduced.

[Drathmoore]

Sypha and Jack vs. David

David looked over the body of the recumbent dragonoid. He shrugged again, and slipped a small amulet from his pocket. He put it around Sypha's neck, and went off to sleep. "If Emmy comes calling again, you can come with me..." he said.



Jack awoke from his deep sleep, finding himself in a small bedroom. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around. His sword, hat and Coat hung on the end of the ornate bed, while the Control Glove lay on a small, wooden bedside table beside him, along with a sandwich and a open package. Jack yawned.

"What happened?" he said, his voice still tired. He attempted to remember his last moments before winding up in this room. He remembered a round room, with a dummy. The training room. Scouring his mind, he remembered Emmy was there... And the Control Glove on his arm...

"Hmm... Note to self. Don't overuse magick." He muttered to himself. Looking around again, he said "I guess Emmy must've brought me here afterwards." He smiled, and started to get out of the bed. His leg hit something.

Pulling down the cover, Jack revealed Emmy in the bed, sound asleep. Shocked, Jack stopped for a second, and then slowly got out of the bed, trying to make sure he didn't wake her up. Confused, Jack put back on his hat, and attached his scabbard to his belt. He then looked at the parcel, and took out a letter ((See end of post for letter)). He read through it, and looked inquisitively at the package. Reaching in, he pulled out the crossbow noted in the letter. He checked it. Fully loaded. He then took out the red bolt, and looked at it for a second.

"So this... David, do you really think I would use this?" Jack sighed, looking at the small packet of destruction he had been handed. "I'll save this for now, although I doubt I'll ever need it..."

He placed it in his inside coat pocket, and put the trench coat back on. He looked over at Emmy again, noticing the hood that lay beside her.

"What is this?" Jack picked up Emmy's hood. It was small, and purple, but something about it seemed... odd. As if it was surrounded by some sort of aura. While it seemed like just a small bit of fabric, something beckoned for Jack to try it on.

He looked back to see if Emmy was still asleep. It could be slightly embarrassing, a grown man getting caught wearing a small purple hood. After confirming his suspicions, Jack took the hood, and put it slowly on his head. He began to think 'This is stup-' His voice was cut off, and he started moving, without moving. He could feel himself being pulled with incredible force, as if his mind was being yanked from his body. He passed through the walls of the Fenrir, and started going upwards, and upwards, towards a flash of light, and landed... On a large stone platform. It was suspended over nothing, as if in the middle of space, surrounded by stars and planets.


David groaned, and opened his eyes. "Oh great, here again." he said. "Emmy? what do you want this time?" he asked, without looking for her.

"David, long time no see" Jack beckoned to him, smiling at his friend. "So why are you calling me Emmy? I thought Jake was bad enough..."

David brightened up. "Jack! Did you steal Emmy's hood? That was why I was expecting her, you see... I gave that hood to her. We met here a few times before." He stepped forward and crushed Jack in a monster hug. "You were quite ill, last time I saw you. Are you fine now?" he asked.

"Yeah" Jack struggled "I'm fine." Jack replied. He waited until David loosened his grip, and looked around. "Where is 'here' anyway"

"The altar of mind, I believe." said David. "All mind magick springs from this place." he turned, and looked out. "And I'm expecting a third person to appear, actually."

Seemingly materializing out of thin air, Sypha appeared near to the two. "Whoa... Am I dreaming?"

"Sypha!" cheered David. "Nice of you to join us. Why did you pass out, by the way?"

"Uh, last thing I remember is you having a knife at my throat."

"Oh! Jack! This is Sypha. He's part dragon, or so I'm told." David exclaimed. Before waiting for Jack to reply, he turned around. "Sypha, this is Jack. His father was a brilliant inventor. And Jack is too, I'm sure."

"Hmm... Nice to meet you" Jack looked at Sypha, surprised at the creature that stood before him. He had never seen a dragonoid (?) before. Jack started to put his left arm forwards, but remembering that he had the glove, he stopped, and put his right arm forward

"I'd rather skip the formalities. And saying I'm part dragon seems like a sort of high praise." Sypha said, slightly angered by the last statement. "Nice to meet you.""

"Well, it's unique." Jack smiled. "David" Jack said, turning back to him "I thought your hair was white, and now, it's grey..." Jack's voice was slightly confused. "Care to explain?"

David sighed. "Turns out I'm 'unique' as well. I'm half-vampire. My other half became a person within me. He's named Vade." David explained. "At the moment, I'm, well, both of me. But with David's temperament. Probably better that way."

"A dual-personality? How long have I been asleep for..."

David shrugged. "I don't sleep a lot."

"Well, it wasn't exactly my choice" Jack sighed. "More of an overuse of magic on my point."

"Alright, well I'm the one who knows how to overuse magick." Sypha commented. "I'm almost certain that that's how I passed out."

"What happened, anyway? I mean, I'm now, or was, aboard the Fenrir, and there's no sign of Delacrimo"

David smiled, and said nothing. He turned around and danced a little jig.

"Right... He's gone insane..." Jack sighed. "Brilliant..."

David kept dancing.

"So... You said this was the origin of Mind magick?" Jack said to them both.

"I don't know." Sypha replied. "I've never been here before. It feels slightly empowering though."

David was strangely, still dancing away. It was mesmerising to watch.

"Can you stop dancing already? It's getting annoying" Jack snapped.

David shook his head out, and looked at the pair. "Sorry, what?" he asked. "Yeah, this is the Altar of Mind. Why do you ask?"

"Because... I want to try something..." Jack moved his left arm forward, showing the control glove. "I believe you once knew my father. So do you have any idea what this is?"

David looked pained at the memory. "Yeah... it was the last time he saw him..." he began. "We'd finished a whole bunch of inventions, and the Juggernaut's weapons all worked fine." he frowned, and said as an aside- "Though the steam cannon still needs some work..." David paused for a second. "Yeah, he came to me, with the beginnings of that glove on his hand. He said it could... control time, or something. Or would. But I couldn't help him with it..." David trailed off.

"Hmm... I saw him before he died" Jack sighed. "He wanted me to finish it, saying that it could be upgraded... So... Perhaps..." Jack walked towards the centre of the altar. "If I'm right..." He put his arm towards the centre, outstretching his hand. The Glove began to glow, and absorb the energy in the altar.

David quickly jumped forward, and pulled Jack away from the altar. He shook his head. "Jack? Do you have ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ALMOST DID!?" he screamed.

"Yes. I was reading some of my father's workings, speaking about absorbing the elements" Jack started. "I assumed that if this is the origin of Mind, then-"

David shook his head at this. "This is the altar of mind, yes." David said, angrily. "But if you attempt to absorb it, one of two things will happen: First, you take all the energy from it, and so totally destroy the entire magick class of Mind forever..." David stated, his words hot and biting. "...Secondly, and more probably, you take some energy, overload that thing, and kill us all in the resulting feedback."

"Even I figured that one out." Sypha stated.

"Yes..." Jack said, slightly embarrassed at his stupidity. He shrugged it off. "Well, there's more than one way to skin a cat" He took out a black orb from his pocket. "The hood isn't the only thing I borrowed"

David looked at Jack. "What are you doing with that?" he asked him.

"I'm going to take a slight bit of Mind ether from here, and study it" Jack began, crossing his arms. "From what I've read, using the power of every element is what is needed to power this thing up completely" Jack closed his eyes. "But, applying that directly from the altar is suicide, as you pointed out, so I just need to figure out how this all works..."

"Hmm." Sypha snorted. "You figure out how it works by using it. If you don't have, tough luck." Jack shrugged off the insult.

"What do you want to figure out though, the glove or Mind Magicks?"

"The glove, and it's reaction to magick" Jack replied. "How much is needed, how to apply it, whether I need everything first..." Jack smiled. "And, I can try it out if you want, but last time David stopped me" Jack chuckled.

"What exactly are you implying I do?"

David frowned. "Get over it." he said, brusquely.

"Heheh... You know I wouldn't endanger everyone's lives. At least, not willingly" Jack looked at the orb, which had turned a dark purple. "Seems like this has done it's job already. Interesting." He put it back in his pocket.

David drew his null-blade, and advanced towards the altar. He paused about a foot away. "Actually, that's a really bad idea." he said to himself. He put the dagger back, and turned to the others. "Ignore me!" he said. "Everything is fine."

"Whatever you say captain." Sypha stated sarcastically. As a precaution, Sypha drew a spear of ice, only to have it instantly fade out of reality. "Uh... Ok. It seems that only Mind magick works here."

David gestured, and a light shield appeared above him. "No, seems fine for me..." he said.

Jack moved his hand forward, and rushing wind came from behind. "Seems alright with me as well"

"Hmm. I must be out of power." Sypha replied. "I think I'm still passed out from some spell or something."

David looked around, and began dancing again.

"Hmm... I guess this must be Vade before us" Jack said, interested."It's certainly not David" Sypha walked up to David and shook him a bit. "So... Is this Vade I'm speaking to then?" Jack asked.

"Let's see who you are then" He said complacently.

David laughed, and his hair noticeably darkened. Without any other noticeably effects, Vade appeared. He giggled. "Jack, and Sypha! Nice to meet both of you!"

"Hello Vade." Sypha replied.

"Hmm... Nice to meet you too" Jack seemed wary. He didn't seem that different from David, apart from being slightly more insane

Vade drew his long zweihander from behind him. "The only way to get to know someone is to fight them!" he announced cheerfully. "And if I kill you, I won't be wasting any effort getting to know you!"

He smiled, and his long fangs exposed themselves. "Isn't that good news?" he asked.

"Not really." Sypha answered cynically. "I'm out of magick, and all I have is some crude dagger. Maybe later."

"I'm assuming you're not going to take pacifism into the question here then..." Jack sighed. This didn't look too good

"You don't have a choice here, really." Vade laughed. "But, you can have the first shot! My treat."

"What the heck." Sypha said. "I figure that this being the alter of Mind will give me an advantage." Sypha sent a huge Psywave towards Vade's direction.

Vade's left hand quickly dropped off the broad blade, and brought up the Null-blade in the other. The psywave hit the Null-blade, and stopped there. "Right, that's your shot." said Vade. "Jack?" he said. "Your turn."

"So... If I don't attack you" Jack smiled, "then technically you can't attack me. Unless you're not a man of your word"

Vade smiled. "Believe me. I'm not." He muttered, and flung a giant black orb at Jack's head.

Jack jumped to the side, out of harm's way. "Somehow I expected that one..." He put his hand forwards, to charge up a shot. He then stopped. "Shoot"

Vade held the null-blade questioningly in one hand. "What?" he asked.

"Obviously, I would open fire. But..." He fired a blast of water at Vade, smiling.

Vade laughed, and caught this one on his null-blade as well, dispelling it. Jack's smile dropped. "Had enough fun with magick now kids?" Vade asked, dryly.

"Damn it..." Jack put his hand up, reaching for his head. "Well, looks like I can't play right now. I'll see you some other time:" He grabbed his head, smiling. It quickly turned to a look of desperation, as his hand searched his head. "Dammit! Where's that hood?!"

"Well, let's get to it!" Sypha ran at near warp-speed towards Vade. Landing behind Vade, he grabbed on to his neck. Vade fell to the floor, and began to use his long body to bash Sypha between the floor and his back.

Jack drew his blade. He was still unconfident in his skills, but had to fight. He ran forwards, and charged at Vade. Vade waited for Jack to get closer, and then kicked at the hand holding the sword.

The sword flew threw the air, out of reach. Quickly, Jack swung his other arm around, in an attempt to grab Vade's leg. Taking the recoil from the kick to his advantage, Sypha slammed the dagger he had down on Vade's neck. Connected, but to the side.

Vade winced, but grabbed Sypha's hand, and threw him away. He rolled, and stood up. Vade appeared to notice a dagger sticking out of his neck. He grimaced, and pulled it out. "Vampires, don't-cha-know, are somewhat difficult to kill."

"So Vade, I hear that healing the undead has just about the same effect as poisoning a living being." Sypha started. "I usually wouldn't put something to heal on a dagger, but I figured it would pay off this time. It heals slowly over time, enough to regenerate lost limbs. I hope it helps you."

Having missed his leg, Jack pulled back his arm, and attempted to punch Vade. He ducked under Jack's punch easily. He now pulled out his two daggers. "Right. It's my turn." He stepped forward and sliced rapidly at Jack.

'Crap' Jack thought. With the glove, he started to block the dagger blows, hitting each one out of the way. Until one hit him in the arm, of which another got him in the chest

Vade smiled, and jumped back. "You can use that dagger on him, or me Sypha. Your choice."

"What? The one with the healing potion? I already jammed it into your neck." Sypha pointed out. "Anyways, take this Jack." Sypha produced a vial with a milky fluid inside. "Bottom's up."

Jack drank the potion. He stood up, and sheathed his sword. "David. You almost killed me"

Vade had collapsed to his knees, hands to his throat. His throat was...burning... But Vade, strangely, kept laughing. "Arghaarghhahaargh!" He leapt up, and unleashed a godly blow with his zweihander upon Sypha.

Sypha launched a mind assault upon David, seeing that his null-blade was down. Vade smiled "I'm insane. Reaching into my mind might cause you to be, as well." he continued the swords deadly path towards shearing Sypha in half.

"Insanity is part voluntary. Subconsciously it's not. Now, what about what you sense?" Sypha launched a sensory overload at Vade, Blinding him and deafening him at the same time. The noise was unbearable, and it nicked the back part of his mind, and he went into a seizure-like frenzy.

Vade smiled again. "It's all... so beautiful..." he said. Then he fell down, and hit the ground with a thump.

"Sypha! Now! Call back David while he's still down!" Jack called, still in pain.

Sypha delved deep into Vade's mind. Thoughts of everything horrible came and went. He found the bit of him left that was David, and urged him to resurface.

David burst out with a flourish. "Oh, thanks guys! Thanks!" he burbled. He put his hand to his neck. It was burnt. "Ow" he said, and fell back down.

Pretty long one...

Summery
Jack 'borrows' Emmy's purple hood, and visits the Altar of Mind, pulling David and Sypha there with him. After a quick reunion with David, and Sypha and Jack exchange greetings, Vade decides to join in. He challenges them both to a fight, and promptly proceeds to dealing out the pain. Jack gets stabbed, Sypha heals him with a potion, and lauches into Vade's mind, calling back David.

And now that I'm back home...

Jack and Emmy: A Tale of Two

Jack woke up on the floor of his room, slightly dazed. He leant forwards. "It must've all been a dream..." He sighed with relief, only to notice the purple hood on the floor next to him. Jack reached into his pocket, and took out the Gold orb. "So it wasn't..."

Emmy turned over in Jack's bed. "mmmff."


Jack turned to face the noise. He got up and walked over to his bed. He took the hood, and placed it beside Emmy. Whilst he may have been healed, he could still feel the sharp pain in his chest.

Emmy awoke. "Good morning..." She saw the hood. "were you using this?" she gestured at it.

"To tell the truth, yes, I borrowed it" Jack replied. "Even if I said no, your amazing guessing talent would've said otherwise"

She laughed softly. "So... How's the glove working?" She stood up.

"I remember reading one of my father's works, about one of his theories on this thing" Jack started, lifting up his gloved arm. "He speculated that if energy of all ten magickal affinities was focused into it, it would become complete" He reached into his pocket. "And so, I have this." Jack took out a small gold orb. "Sorry for borrowing one of your black orbs"

"No problem. You know, you're missing the 11th magic..." She focused, and a stream of light flowed, and hit the Orb. It vibrated.

"Eleventh?" Jack inquired. "I thought... Light was one of the ten."

She chuckled. "No. People confuse Light magic with Life magic." She raised the now brilliant Orb. "Light magic, also known as Primal magic, is the basic form of magic. No elements, just magic."

"Hmm... So Mind, and now Primal..." Jack said, taking back the orb. He stared at it for a second. "Funny, the elder never stated about that one..." He looked out of the window, towards the open sea. "I wonder what happened to him anyway, considering we're not on Delacrimo anymore."

Emmy's eyes clouded. "He... Died." She glanced down. "He was, in fact an evil person. He wouldn't tell you anything of use."

Jack looked at her for a second, seeing that she didn't look joyed that he had mentioned the elder. He hesitated, but then asked "So... What happened then?"

She looked at Jack. "Do you really want to know? Sometimes the truth isn't the most pleasing path."

"Hmm..." Jack crossed his arms. "Same could be said about my father..." Jack looked at her, and reconsidered. "But, if it is truly that bad, then it's fine"

She frowned. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to know." She was on the verge of tears. "I killed all of them. Every living thing in the village, was completely eradicated."

"Everything?" Jack asked in surprise.

"If we were to go back, all that you could see would be destroyed buildings, painted red, with the blood of the slain." A tear rolled down her face. "and I couldn't stop myself..."

Jack was taken back. "Destroyed buildings? How pow-" Jack stopped, realising that would only make things worse. "Emmy. I'm sure that whatever you did, you had a reason for it."

She frowned. "I didn't have a reason. It's the monster in my head." She tapped her head with her finger. "How powerful? Well, do you remember how I also 'eat' things, like those trees? Well, I use a different sort of magic. It's mostly referred to as 'dark' magic. It's not magic at all..." She paused for a second, another tear rolling off of her cheek. "...but anti-magic, meaning I have unlimited use of it, body willing."

"Anti-magic. Could yo-" Again, he shrugged off his inquisitive mind. "Look. Everything has a reason Emmy. Either you were provoked, or protecting someone, or something"

"Thank you, Jack..." She stepped forward, and hugged him.

"It's okay" He said, returning the embrace. "But... on a side note. Where are we exactly?"

"We're flying over the ocean. Using the magical properties of the absorbed sanguine chest, I refuelled the ship." She sat down on the bed.

"Absorbed? So it was destroyed?" Jack asked.

"Of course. Absorbing something completely kills it."Emmy replied.

"Hmm... I was more noting the fact that it was actually destroyed. But... it's affects seem to remain" He sighed. "Have you seen David recently. Or, Vade?"

"Yes, I stabbed him through the chest a bit."

"Hmm... He did the same to me. Was Vade a result of that chest?"

"No. Vade was always there. The Chest only powered him."

"Ah..." Jack looked out of a window. "So then, where are we heading?"

"Aegis. The sky-continent. Well, first we need to stop by a weapons bunker in Edge." She hesitated for a second, but decided to ask. "...Jack, how old are you?"

"My age?" Jack looked at her, confused. "...25. why?"

She smiled. "We're about the same age."

"Same age? But you look..." He stopped for a second. "Wait... Yeah. The age thing." He thought for a second. "But... A queen at her 20s? You're quite young to be a ruler, no offence" He smiled. "I mean, over here, they don't call them Elders for nothing. How come you're a queen at this age?"

"No offence taken. My mother was assassinated, so I was Queen early. Also, I think it's better to have young, fresh minds be the leader of the populace, instead of older, more stubborn ones."

"I see... I'm sorry about your Mother" Jack said, guilty in bringing up the topic. "But... If you're here, then who is ruling in your place? Someone must be looking after the throne in your absence, shouldn't they?”

"Of course. My second in command should be ruling. Her name is Laura; one of the most powerful nature mages around." She frowned. "However, I'm more inclined to say that it's Astral, who would take the advantage of my disappearance to claim the throne again."

"Astral? I'm guessing that from the way you spoke, she's not the best person to rule... Heheh... She isn't old and stubborn, is she?" Jack said jokingly.

"No. She's around my age. She murdered my mother."

What was originally humour immediately turned into guilt. "Oh... I'm sorry" Jack repeated. "I'm guessing she was after the throne to begin with then,"

"Of course. I was not good enough at the time to stop her, but I was good enough to force her out." She paused again. "...Jack, you don't have to be sorry. None of us ever thought it would happen..."

"Is this why we're heading for this weapons bunker then? Or do you have something else in mind?"

She was silent. She spoke after a while, "There are some things in there that might aid us greatly." She went silent again, but then she smiled. “Also, remember how I said I was working on a sort of armour, just like you? I finished it." She stood up, and took Jack's hand. "I'll show you."


They walked in silence down a couple of hallways, and came to the library. "Wait here, ok?" Emmy asked Jack, before she went into the library. After a while, she emerged, wearing a black dress, that seemed to flow, like it was woven of strands of pure darkness.

"I would argue that it's not exactly 'armour', per say" He said, looking at the dress. "But then again, I've never seen Aegis armour before. It looks good, though”

She blushed. "Thank you." She stood still, showing off the dress. “This isn't armour. It's just a magic amplifier. " She fingered her pendant. "It restores me to my full power, when I wear it."

"A magic... Amplifier? But... Your magic is incredibly strong to begin with. Add that with full power and..." Jack looked confused. "Is this normal of those from Aegis?"

"No. I'm unique. There are others like me, though. Some people are born with nigh infinite amounts of magic inside of them." She looked sad again.

"That sounds like an amazing gift Emmy.” He started, but he looked at her. “But, why does that make you sad?"

"Because my purpose is to absorb all of those other people like me. I'm alone. Even worse, I have reasons to believe that Jess may be one of those people."

"Thats.. Terrible..." He frowned. "I'm sorry. That's a terrible fate to face. Absorb or be absorbed..." His voice trailed off slightly. "Why must this happen then? Why must you absorb these people?"

"Because the essence of magic is being corrupted. My purpose in life is to fix that. Astral happens to be one of the people I must absorb. She's the guardian of Burn magic." She leaned against Jack. "Why must destiny be so cruel...?"

"Unfortunately," Jack started, thinking of his father "Fate conspires against all of us... I guess we must all find ways of dealing with it, somehow". Jack thought for a second. "So... You think Jess is one of these people as well?"

"Yes. She may be the Pale guardian." Changing the subject, she took out the veil. "Would you like to see how the dress works?"

"If you wish. It'd be interesting to see you at full power"

She smiled. "we should head back to your room, then."


Back at the room, Emmy took out the veil again, and speared it with a shard of light. "Alright, take hold of it."

Jack took the shard, and held it in front of him. He watched Emmy intently, intrigued at what she would do next. She waved her hand over the shard, and the room faded out. She woke up on the other side of the Altar, and waited for Jack. He awoke beside Emmy. He sat up, and looked around. "Another Altar?"

She stood up. She was about as tall as Jack, she noticed. "Yes. The altar of Magic, or light."

Jack turned to face Emmy, and noticed that she had changed. She was older; about the same age as Jack. "Emmy? Is that...?"

"Yup. It's me. Same as always." She smiled.

"So this is what you really look like, huh?" He paused for a second. "You look nice."

She blushed. "Thank you."

"So then" Jack said, looking around. "Is there something here you wanted to show me?"

"Yes." She flew up into the air. "Defend yourself." She swiped her hand at him, and countless shards of light rained upon him.

"What?!" Jack shouted, looking upon the rain of light that approached him. He raised his left arm up, using the Glove to shield himself, while attempting to dodge the rain.

Emmy frowned, and the shards vanished. "You should be more creative! Let your magic flow through you!" She pulsed a wave of light at him.

"Heheh, if you wish then" Jack said with a raised voice. He drew his sword, and slashed it through the air, shouting the words "Razor Ventus!" A blast of air fired straight at the pulse of light.

She glided to the side, and pointed at her beam, and it split into tiny strands, which twisted, and writhed toward Jack. “Unda Amnis!" Jack shouted, pointing his left hand at the oncoming light. A blast of water catapulted towards the light, in an attempt to cancel out the attack.

Emmy sighed, and the light vanished. She stood in the path of the water, and let it come to her. When it hit her, it swirled around her. She smiled, and raised her arms. The water darkened, and flew at Jack.

"Aer insulto!" Jack leaped up, narrowly dodging the blast of water speeding towards him. At the peak of his jump, he launched another blast of air at Emmy. Emmy dropped to the ground, and several massive stones rose from the ground, and flew at Jack. "Let's step this up, shall we?" Emmy asked.

"Heheh," Using the wind, Jack fired himself at the boulders. On contact, he jumped off of them, bouncing between each one, and finally propelled himself towards Emmy.

Emmy stepped forward, and met Jack in mid air. She laughed, and lashed a strand of light, which latched onto him, and brought him to the ground. "Ouch" Jack said, hitting the floor hard. He got up, and charged his power, waiting for Emmy to make a move. Emmy stood still. Slowly, all the stars behind her went out. A wave of darkness engulfed Jack, and he felt it sap his energy. The pain caused Jack to fall to his knees, unable to move. In desperation, he attempted to draw in energy from the altar to counter the darkness surrounding him. The darkness cleared. Emmy clapped her hands. "Good! You're doing well!"

A massive bolt of light whipped at Jack. Jack, having just recovered from the darkness, was completely open. He took the hit, sending him flying backwards. His right arm in serious pain, he got back up again. "Don't give up!" She lashed another one at him. Jack jumped to the left, the bolt just catching his right arm again. In desperation, he pulled out the orb from earlier, and placed it on the Glove.

"Time it took this thing for a proper test drive!" He shouted. The Glove began to glow, absorbing the energy within the orb. A mixture of White and Gold flew up his veins, before spreading out over his entire body. Just as quickly as it started, the colour faded out. Jack looked at Emmy with a smile.

"Aaah. Finally a chance to see the glove in action." She lifted her arms, and a torrent of white light launched at Jack. "Hmph" Jack grunted. He fired a torrent of water at the incoming blast, mixed with the light energy he had just absorbed. The light vanished, and the water continued on it's path. Emmy dodged it, and latched onto the energy with a string of darkness. She swung it around, and it headed toward Jack.

Jack launched himself into the air, easily dodging the attack. Using the wind, he briefly hovered above Emmy, and swooped down at her.

Emmy was taken by surprise, and was thrown to the floor. Jack landed down beside her. "Good enough for you?" He asked, panting.

"Yes. Definitely. " She sat up on the floor. "Rather exhilarating, actually."

"Just... Next time... Warn me before you're going to do something like that." Jack said.

"Alright." She smiled at Jack. Jack stood there, still trying to catch his breath.

"So... Does it work?" He asked. "I mean... I couldn't actually tell, considering I was trying to keep myself from being impaled..."

"Yes, it does. Normally, without the dress, I wouldn't be feeling so well. Most likely, I'd have a fever, and a nosebleed."

"Heh..." Jack tried to put his sword back into his scabbard, but was unable to move his right arm, due to the lightning. The sword had fallen to the floor, and his arm was completely numb.

"Oh... Here, sit down, and I'll fix that." She motioned for him to sit down.

Jack shuffled over to where Emmy was sat. Now that the adrenalin had left his system, he could feel the effects of the lightning. They weren't pleasant. Slowly, he sat down beside her. Emmy leaned over and gently touched his arm. Quietly chanting the incantation, she sent a few strands of light to his arm, and they passed inside of him.

"There. You should be better, now." She then leaned over and kissed him suddenly on the mouth. Jack was taken by surprise by Emmy's kiss. He started to pull away, but after realising what was happening, moved forwards to return it. "I love you, Jack." She pulled away.

This also caught his by surprise. "You... Love me?" He asked in a slightly confused, slightly high-pitched voice.

"Yes, Jack. I love you." She smiled a little at Jack's surprise.

"Erm... Well... Er..." Jack was caught off-guard, unsure of what to say. "I... Er..." Giving up on trying to speak to her, he moved forwards and kissed her. It was Emmy's turn to be surprised. She wrapped her arms around him, embracing him tightly. Jack sat there, returning the kiss. He could feel Emmy squeezing him, but unlike his hug from David earlier, it felt nice. Emmy released Jack, and stood up. "Do you feel better, now?"

Jack was speechless. He could only stand up and nod stupidly. “Alright, then. Lets go.” She took his hand, and the Altar faded around them.


Jack woke up. He was laying on the floor of the bedroom again. He stood up, awaiting Emmy. Emmy appeared on his bed, and she let out a sigh. "Back to this body, again."

Jack just looked at her for a minute, still in shock of what happened. Finally, he spoke. "Emmy?"

"Jack?" She responded.

"I don't want to be rude if anything, but... I'm not sure if... Well..." He gulped. "You look 13... Which... Well..."'

"Well, that's ok. I'm growing up rather fast. By the time I absorb Astral, I'll be around 20." She sighed. "For now, I'll be still a girl."

"I love you, but... We can't exactly show it when people are around. Not now" He sighed, "I look old enough to be your father at this point..."'

"Well, look at Dave and Jess. They're farther apart than we are!" She laughed. Jack laughed as well, but more of an awkward laugh. "That is true..." He smiled. "Things will sort themselves out in time. I know it"

"Yes, they will." She fell silent, and listened to the calming hum of Fenrir's engines. Jack crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "David and Jess..."

"Wait a second..." He said, his eyes opening quickly and a look of disbelief on his face.

"Hmmm...?"

"David and Jess? Seriously?"

"Well, yes. I think Jess is 17 years old, and David is around 30 something."

"No, not that. It's the way you said it. They aren't... Are they?" Jack replied, confused.

"Oh yes. They're very close. Any person observing them would notice that." She laughed softly.

"Really? The last time I saw them, they weren't exactly lovers..." He sighed, shaking his head. "How long have I been asleep for..."

"Quite a bit. You shouldn't nap so long."

"Heheh... Nap? You make it sound like I had a choice..."

"Ah. Well, you should train your magic endurance. Falling asleep after one powerful spell? ...And for so long?" She pointed at Jack. "I missed you, you know."

Jack felt guilty at Emmy's statement. "I'm sorry... I'm new to this magick stuff. And I wasn't exactly expecting to cast a spell that strong..."

"True, true. She dropped her arm." She turned her head at Jack. "Why are you standing up? Why don't you lie down with me?"

Jack silently walked over to the bed, still feeling guilty. He lay down next to her. "The flight should take a few days, so we have a lot of time to practice and enjoy the peace." She smiled at Jack.

Jack lay still. "I prefer peace to raining shards of light" He smiled.

"Hmm. I think they're nice- just not directed at me."

"Heheh... I guess" He replied.

Emmy yawned. "Wow. I'm tired. I'm going to take a little nap."

"I might..." Jack yawned. "...Join you in that one."

Summery

Again, a long one... Jack reappears after his battle in the Mind Altar, and accidentally wakes Emmy. They talk, and Emmy decides to show Jack the dress, and it's power. Bringing them to the Light Altar, Emmy attacks Jack (as the best way to show off it's power), which finally leads to him using the Control Glove to beat her (I say beat, but we all know what would've happened if she was properly trying to kill him). They finish, Emmy expresses her love for him, and Jack does the same.

Jack and Emmy in Edge

Jack stretched his arms, yawning. He awoke in Emmy's bed. He turned over to check if Emmy was still there. Emmy was still lying there, peacefully sleeping. It was morning, and the sun was shining through the water, creating a rippling effect on the door.

Jack smiled, and slowly got off the bed, trying not to wake Emmy. He put on his coat, and went to take a look through the window. There were a few fish swimming by in the clear water. Some hid between the rocks, others searching for food. It was completely different to the waters of Seros.

There was a motion, and Emmy awoke. She yawned and stretched, but stopped abruptly mid-yawn. "You know, I don't really see the attraction of yawning and stretching." She continued stretching, And massaged her neck. "Morning." Jack said, turning around. "I dunno, I find yawning contagious."

Emmy smiled, and joined Jack fish-gazing. "The fish around here are really interesting to watch." "There sure are a lot of them. Quite a different turn from Seros" Jack said, putting his arm around Emmy. "What's Edge like, then?" He asked. Emmy leaned her head against him. "Edge is just a city. The island is called Telnormar... it's mostly desert all around. The only habitable places are on this side of the island."

"Mind if we take a look? Last time I was asleep," Jack smiled. "Meaning that I missed all the fun with Astral"
"Hmm. Well, I suppose we can." She went over to her desk, and opened a drawer. She pulled out two pouches. They clinked. She tossed one to Jack. "Spending money, just in case."
"Right then. Let's take a look, shall we?" Jack said, reaching for Emmy's hand.

She took his, and they left Fenrir. When they were on the docks, she looked back, and said "Look. I put an active camouflage on the ship, so nobody will suspect anything." She paused for a second. "...Last time, I had a bunch of guards after me, so if they saw a little girl of age 12 running around, with an elaborate ship, they'd arrest her. Of course, that little girl isn't around."

Jack stared into the space where the ship was. "How the... What the... How?" He turned to face Emmy. "That is... Amazing. More magick?" He asked. Where Fenrir had been parked, was anchored a rather plain, metal shape. It was shaped a long box, with many spherical assets. On the back, was folded two large wings. "It looks like one of the earlier ships that we have. More commonly found in Edge. Edge isn't a very rich territory." She looked skyward. "Anyway, you should look up. It's an amazing sight." She pointed upwards. "Aegis is above us."

"Whoa..." Jack remarked, looking at the continent in the sky. He was surprised he had missed it in the first place. He could see large pieces of rock jutting down towards them. The Sun shone through the gap between the horizon and the floating continent. "Amazing..." Emmy smiled. "It's huge. and best of all, it's almost always shady here." she pointed in the direction of the city. "Even in the desert, there isn't much direct sun. So it's often dark here, eh?" Jack replied. "I guess it must get cold in Winter... Which way should we go then?"

"It does; the sea breeze doesn't help with that. We should start in the city. Look around at shops, avoid pick pocketers, and gangs. This place is about the worst you can see. What we're here for? We need access to Aegis. Aegis is protected by a force field that only people registered with the Queendom can go through.”
"And so, how do we register then?" Jack asked, looking at Emmy.
"Well, we'd have to be citizens of Aegis. so instead, we have to break into the facility, and break through the shield by force." She had a grim look on her face. "However, I wouldn't mind getting a bite to eat, first."
"Some breakfast would be nice" Jack replied. He thought for a second. "Wait... Break through the shield? And how do you plan on doing that?"
"We'll need to hack into the system, and authenticate Fenrir. As soon as the juggernaut arrives, we can use Fenrir's short range teleportation system to bring them up there- through the force field."
"I say we run the details over breakfast. Any good places here?" Jack asked.
"Hmm. There was a good place, actually. Grannie's Eatery." She smiled. "Really good eggs and bacon there."
"Hmm. Sounds good." He held Emmy's hand again. "Right, which way?"
"Oh. Right this way."

She took his hand, and led him down a few crowded streets. "These streets are only for bicycles and pedestrians. No machines, no vehicles." They continued walking until they came to a restaurant with a sign that declared "Grannie's Eatery"
"Looks nice." Jack said, looking at the restaurant. He opened the door. "After you,"
"Thanks" She smiled and entered the diner. It was rather full, and smoky, with the smells of meat, and other breakfast foods. By the counter, was a woman, who looked 50 or so. Emmy whispered to Jack "That's Cordelia, the founder of this restaurant. ...and now that I think of it, I do look a lot like my old self. She might recognize me!" Emmy has a worried look on her face.
"And... what happens if she does recognise you then?"
"I have no idea. Let's find out!" She led Jack to counter and sat down. She waited for Cordelia to be done serving the other customers, and ordered their meal. Bacon, Eggs, and freshly made bread. With some rose tea. They both sat down at a table near to the side, and sat opposite each other. "So... Run me through again what you were saying earlier"
Emmy lowered her voice. "We need to get to the building where they register ships, so that they can pass through the shield. Really, we don't even have to come in that way. But the ship has to get through. So we break into the building, and hack the system. simple enough."
"Why do I get the feeling it won't be as simple as you say" Jack sighed. "Shouldn't Fenrir already be registered" Jack said, lowering his voice further incase anyone knew of the ship. Cordelia returned with the two steaming plates. She had overheard Jack talk about 'Fenrir' , and she was intrigued.
"Ye be talking about the tale of Fenrir? That be a very sad tale, young fellow."
Cordelia looked at Emmy with a mixture of wonder and surprise. She shook her head, and cleared the thought out of her mind.
"Hmm... My friend here was just telling me about it." Jack replied, not giving anything away. "I'm from one of the distant islands, and just come here to visit."
Emmy looked at Cordelia. "Hello, Cordelia. I'm Emmy." She smiled. Cordelia was aghast. "So it /was/ you. I'm sure you know the state of Aegis, then." She sat down on a chair.
"That... doesn't sound good" Jack said, turning to Emmy.
Emmy glanced at Jack, then asked Cordelia. "What's happening? I haven't heard anything. So something must be happening."
Cordelia poured herself some tea. "It went just as you predicted. The armies have split up." She stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I have to serve the other customers"

"Wait," Jack said, calling to Cordelia. "Please, could you explain. What do you mean 'split up'?"
Emmy looked at Jack "Shut up!" She hissed. "She left for a reason. What she meant is that there's a civil war. There are six generals, Zeffie, Baldur, George, Annie, Jonathan, and Astral." She sighed. "Most likely, it's three against three. Zeffie, Annie, and Baldur on my side, and George and Jonathan with Astral."
"If that's the case, then we'd better get there as soon as possible." Jack said. He stopped to eat a slice of bacon, and then continued "We don't want to get there to find that Astral has taken over..."
She smiled at Jack, and started eating her bacon. She put some hot sauce on her eggs. "If, Astral wasn't queen, the war would be all over the place. Everyone would know. No. The war is a rebellion. Astral is already queen."
"I see..." Jack said, cutting up his egg. "So this is why we're heading to the bunker?"
"No." She dipped her bacon in her egg. "In the bunker, are some valuable weapons, that would be nice to have, anyway."
"Ah..." Jack replied. He had a sip of tea. "So, what is exactly in the bunker, weapon wise?"
"Experiments; mostly. Like, a suit of armour, my mother made. It operates like the Control Glove, actually." She thought. "Magical swords, enchanted to wreak destruction. Vehicles, golems, things that go boom, magic weapons, you name it. Most of it doesn't work, though."
"My father probably would've loved to have seen it," Jack said, finishing his plate. "I hope Astral doesn't have access to it."
"Of course he would have loved to see it all. Astral hasn't cracked it yet. It's coded so it'll only open for me."
"Hmm... Sounds interesting" Jack put down his cup, and waited for Emmy to finish.
Emmy finished her meal, and waited for the bill. Soon enough, Cordelia came over, and handed them the bill. Emmy took out her pouch, and put the required amount of gold and silver into the folder.
She left it on the table, and turned to Jack. "Alright, I'm finished here. What did you think of the food?"
"It was quite good, actually" Jack replied. "Much better than that of Seros. But not as good as the fish last night." Jack got up. "Where to now then?"
Emmy smiled at Jack's compliment. "I actually don't know where. What do you want to do?"
"Well, I think we should wait for Takkun to wake up before we head to sort out this registry, so how about we explore Edge for a bit?"
Emmy considered this. "Yeah, that seems reasonable." She looked at Jack. "I think there's a nice park around here. Do you want to go there?"
"Sounds lovely," Jack said, getting up. He held out his hand for Emmy. Emmy took it, and they weaved through the streets.

Jack and Emmy continued down their path, passing a variety of shops and buildings. The streets were bustling, full of different people. Some rushing to get to places, others watching the Sun while it remained before it disappeared behind Aegis. The two continued walking, unaware that they were being followed. Taking her by surprise, a man grabbed Emmy by the arm, twisting it round. With his other arm, he brought a knife to her neck. People stopped and spread out, forming a crowd. Emmy closed her eyes. She had to focus. Then, she felt something else. Something twisted, like a fault in her mind. She felt nothing, she saw nothing, and she heard nothing. A haze of darkness clouded her vision, and then she heard the screams of the onlookers.

Jack looked on. From what he could see, the man held Emmy with the knife. He prepared to draw his sword, but stopped after seeing Emmy begin to relax. She closed her eyes, and then re-opened them- they were red. She grinned, and a wave of Dark energy lashed out from within her. When it hit the man, his flesh was ripped off violently, and he collapsed to the floor, a skeleton in a pool of blood.

Emmy heard the screaming of the fleeing crowd, and she snapped out of her trance. She felt really dizzy, and she tottered a bit. She spotted the remains of the man, and she was horrified - it was just like the village in Delacrimo. She lost her balance, and she fell down on her knees. Then, everything was gone. Jack rapidly knelt down beside her. "Emmy? Emmy!" He tapped her shoulder. "Anybody in there?!" He asked desperately. He looked up. Yes, people were fleeing now, but sooner or later some sort of authority is going to arrive. He picked up Emmy, and carried her over his shoulder. Struggling, Jack attempted to get back to the Fenrir as fast as possible. Emmy shifted a little on Jack's shoulder, and groaned in pain.

Jack stretched out his left arm, summoning a gust of wind behind him. Using it, he lifted himself and Emmy above the panicking crowd. "Much easier than going through it" Jack said to himself. A crossbow bolt whipped by him. Down below, was a troop of guards. "Oh, bloody brilliant..." Jack muttered. "Stop!" Jack shouted at them. "Or... You shall suffer the same fate as that mugger!"
Emmy came to. "Uughh. Guards already? I'll see what I can do. " She coughed. Meanwhile, the bolts kept on coming.
"There goes diplomacy... Was never too good at that" Jack said to himself. He swiped his hand across, blowing the bolts off-course.
Emmy closed her eyes, and a bolt of dark energy struck the guards. It missed some of them. The rest, were vaporized. Emmy coughed again, and blood trickled out.
Jack turned his head around, seeing Emmy coughing blood. "Hang on," He said to her, holding up his left arm.
Jack pulled back his arm, and swung it down, sending a gust of wind down at the guards. While not harming them, it did knock them over.
Emmy was feeling worse by the second, but she knew she had to help. She blasted several small balls of dark energy at the guards. The guards who were hit, stayed still, on the ground. The rest, now only 5, got up. Emmy coughed violently. More blood was dripping out of her mouth, and some was coming out of her nose.
"That's it." Jack said, feeling Emmy recoil after every cough. "We're getting out of here." He drew his arm backwards, and lunged it forwards, creating another gust of wind, this time much more powerful. Holding Emmy tightly, he launched them in the direction of the harbour. Jack could feel his magic diminishing, but he forced the gusts to continue.
Emmy lifted her head a little, and saw that they were near the harbour. A strange portal appeared in front of Jack, and they both broke through.

Jack and Emmy broke through back into his bedroom. He landed on the floor, hard, causing him to lose grip of Emmy. She was thrown onto the floor, where she lay; still. Jack struggled to his knees. He crawled over to where Emmy lay, looking to see if there was anything he could do. Blood was flowing from the corner of Emmy's mouth, and pooling on the floor. Her skin was very pale. Jack touched her forehead. It was hot. "Emmy? Come on!" He called, shaking her shoulder. Emmy shuddered, but didn't awaken. Jack looked over her, confused. In desperation, he kissed her, to see if he could get her to wake up. He collapsed on the floor beside her, exhausted. When he collapsed, the orb for the control glove touched Emmy. A small trail of energy went from it, to Emmy.
Her eyes opened. "Ugggh. What happened?" She looked at Jack, and remembered. She stood up, and walked toward the desk, and pulled out a towel. She wiped off all the blood off as best as she could.
"Glad to see you awake" Jack coughed, laying on the floor. "You had me worried there for a second"
She smiled weakly. "Yeah. I was worried too..." She knelt by Jack, and touched his forehead. "Better? I replaced the magic you used." She got up, and headed toward the door. "I need to absorb some more. I'll be right back, ok?"
"Heh... Okay." He smiled, lifting up his head. He dropped it back to the ground, and lay there.

Emmy walked through the halls, heading for the Core room. She was wondering where Takkun was, but then she realized he would be in Edge. They had the entire ship to themselves. She smiled at this thought. She reached the hatch leading into the engine room. She walked to the octagonal control panel, and touched the massive Orb, which held Fenrir's power supply. The meter decreased from 89% to 68%.

"Argh... My head..." Jack moaned. He rolled over onto his front, and slowly got up
Emmy walked into the room. "I'm back!" She said cheerfully.
"Hey" Jack said, using the end of the bed to support himself. "All better then?"
"Better than ever!" She ran over to Jack, and hugged him, toppling him over onto the bed.
"Brilliant" Jack said in a slightly surprised manner, as he was being taken down. "Glad to see it" He smiled.
She smiled happily, and squeezed him, lying her chin on his shoulder.
"Just one thing..." Jack said, looking upwards. "Next time you attack someone, make it a little less fancy"
She let out a muffled laugh. "Alright. But you try telling /her/ that."
"Fine then," Jack replied. "I'll give it a shot, next time I see her"

"Mmm." Emmy lay content, embracing Jack.
Jack closed his eyes, with a frown on his face. "I'm sorry... I couldn't help you back there"
"You helped as much as you could, Jack. She's not easy to control."
"No, I mean..." Jack hesitated. "You were dying out there..."
She snuggled against Jack. "I'm alive now, aren't I?"
Jack smiled. "True. True." He lay still for a second. "You think Takkun noticed any of it? I wonder what he would've thought if he had seen it..."
"Let's hope not... but he may have seen it, but he isn't back at the ship, ready to confront me, either." She lay silent for a bit. "We're all alone here..."
"So we are" Jack replied. He remained still, relaxing in Emmy's embrace. Emmy said nothing. She leaned against him, and listened to the rhythmic pattern of his breathing. Jack lay quietly, and wrapped his arm around Emmy. Emmy lay against Jack. Her breathing quickened. She felt slightly embarrassed. "Something wrong?" Jack asked, feeling her breathing as it increased in speed.
"No. It's nothing..." Her cheeks were hot. She had never felt this way before.
"Good" Jack smiled. He didn't know what to say, as he was new to these feelings as well. Jack lifted his right arm off of Emmy's back, and moved it through her hair. It was slightly curly, and smooth. Emmy gasped softly. Jack brought up his left arm, and took off the glove, as not to hurt Emmy. He placed his right arm around her, while stroking her hair with his left.
Emmy sighed contentedly. "Jack, ...I've never felt this way before..."
Jack smiled. "Neither... Neither have I Emmy." He stuttered "It... It feels good"
Emmy raised her head,and looked at Jack. Her cheeks were a dull pink. She leaned forward, and kissed him softly. Jack returned the kiss, stroking her hair more. With his free arm, he rubbed her back a little. Emmy arched her back. She looked at Jack.
"I don't ever want to lose you, Jack." She caressed his face. "Be strong for me..."
Jack stared back at her. Emmy's words gave Jack a sickening feeling, remembering how close he came to losing her earlier. He brought himself to a smile. "I will. I promise"
She lay her head on Jack's shoulder. Emmy's breathing steadied, and her eyes closed. She fell asleep with a light smile on her face. Jack closed his eyes, and wrapped both of his arms around Emmy. "Don't worry..." He whispered. "...I promise.” He rest his head against hers, and drifted into sleep.

Summery
The two arrive in Edge, and take a look around, discussing the plans for the registry. After hearing word of the civil war, they look around more, when an unfortunate mugger jumps Emmy. Not the best plan in the world. Dark Emmy comes out to play, panick spreads, and Emmy and Jack battle guards from the sky. In desperation, Jack sends them towards the harbour, Emmy opens a portal, and they wind up back in Fenrir. Revived by the Control Glove, Emmy restores her own and Jack's magic, and the two lie on the bed together (however, not going places where it probably would have been better from a story perspective but didn't due to my bad writing. Well done, me.).

[DoctorAperture]

http://arstar.wetpaint.com/page/Red

ma stuff

[Yoshimo]

((Me and Tweak were doing some RPing. Was actually fun. Anyways, we couldn't finish, so I'm going to store the rest here. http://pastebin.com/m1fc7aa45 ))

[Communist]

Vade and Oliver

Nightime. The juggernaught slid effortlessly over the waves, heading along slowly but surely towards their next destination. Inside the cabins, something stirred...

Vade slowly got up, and eyed Jessika next to him. Tempting, yes, but he had a mission here. He bounded out of bed, downstairs to the armoury, avoiding waking all the other crew members.

He arrived, and his eyes lit up at all the weapons. "Yes... no... wait." he paused. He bent, and picked a few out that he liked. "Mace, nice... guisarme... pointy..." He went through a massive pile, chucking some into one pile, and other back.

When he finished, he stood back and looked at the pile. "Hmm. What to do with them?" he mused. To help think, he began to dance around. "Got it!" he yelled. He grabbed the billows, and heated the furnace up.

When it was heated, he grabbed his pile of weapons. Starting from a pole, he put an axe on one end. Scythe on the other. From there it exploded- everything in the pile was taken apart, and put into the pole- making something monstrous. For a final touch, he put one of David's old swordbreakers onto one arm- it didn't look great, true, but it looked deady.

Vade stood back, and giggled. A monstrosity gently cooled in front of him. "It's so cute!" said Vade, happily. "I shall call him Oliver. He will be my friend." he announced. A thought struck him. "David" he said, mentally nudging the sleeping white-haired half of him. "I want some runes, on this."

David groggily woke up mentally. "What? Huh? Runes?" he replied, still half asleep. "Yeah. Make it sharp, and unbreakable."
"Why should I help you?" came the grumpy reply.

Vade paused. "Alright. If you do, I promise I won't hurt Jess, or any of the crew. Unless it's self-defence."

David looked into Vade's mind- he wasn't dishonest, here. "What about Sypha?" he asked.
Vade pouted.
"Alright. I'll take what I can get from you, snake." David replied.
Vade smiled. "Thank-you David" he replied, winsomely. "You might want the body for a while."

David appeared now, and looked at the weapon. "What is this thing?" he asked. "Oliver!" replied Vade, now in the background. "Yeah? I call it the Laughing Bastard." said David. "Cause it's just like you." Vade shrugged. It was true.

David took out a small chisel, and began to inscribe runes along the handle. After an hour, he stood back, drenched in sweat. "There." he panted. "Four runes." he ran his hand over- the runes glowed, and faded. "Enjoy it." he said. "I'm going back to sleep. Put my body back where you found it." And with that, he gave Vade control, and mentally began to sleep again.

Vade smiled, at the sight of the weapon, with it's runes. "Fear, sharpness, unbreakability, and... calling? Odd. " he said. "Time to test it."

First, he hit it on the anvil- CLANG. Neither the anvil or the weapon broke. "Right, good." He put it down a small distance away. Turning, he crossed the room, and stood before a straw dummy.

"Oliver!" called Vade- the weapon glowed red, and appeared in his hands- despite being on the other side of the room. Vade smiled and blurred- a few seconds later, he reappeared. The straw dummy fell into five uneven chunks on the floor. A groan, and the wooden supports holding it fell apart too. Vade smiled. "I think this is the beginning of a very good friendship!" he said to Oliver. He put it down, and covered it with a cloth.

Then, he went back upstairs, and lay down next to Jessika- before slowly relinquishing control. Slowly, he dropped off to sleep.

Summary- Vade makes http://arstar.wetpaint.com/page/The+Laughing+Bastard this.

[ChaoStar]

((Vox won't be able to join in a while; I don't think we'll be heading to Seros anytime soon. Also, I think we should close applications for now... because it'll get really hard to have us all on the IRC at the same time. Unless if we plan on splitting up. Permanently. Just my two copper pieces. I edited the Red introductory convo. Of course, it's in the near future. Hasn't happened yet. We seriously need to organize... ;_; ))

Red, Emmy, and Sypha|unfinished

Red smoothly strode into a bar and looked around; Red noticed that it wasn't as well kept as where (s)he had woke up. Red continued, and sat down at a table, and stared into space, thinking. After Red had finished eating, the waitress asked for the bill, quite perplexed. Red waved her away, casting a spell on her mind.

Emmy strode into the bar, and quickly ordered something to drink. She walked over to a table, but she saw that they were all taken. She saw an interesting person in red robes, and sat down across from him. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked politely. "Of course not" the person responded.

"Thanks." She began drinking her wine quietly. "What is your name?" Red inquired.

Sypha, parched after walking around for so long, decided to enter a bar. He had seen Emmy walk in a bit earlier, and wondered what she was doing. Scoping out the area, he found her sitting next a an odd person dressed in red. He walked over and asked Emmy what she was doing. She looked up, startled by Sypha. "Hello, Sypha. I'm just sitting at this table. The person-" She gestured at Red "looked interesting, so I sat over here. Care to join us?"

" I still have not gotten your name" Red stated. Emmy smiled. "I'm Esmeralda, the current Queen. ...and you are?" Red tilted his/her head. "I do not have a name" Red responded. Then, after looking down; Red said "Maybe you can call me Red" Emmy grinned. "Red? That's a silly name. You should choose a name for yourself, so you can blend in!" Emmy was very interested in this strange being. She licked her lips at the thought of the potential magic Red might contain.

"A... Name... For myself?" Red slowly responded "seems... silly" Emmy raised her eyebrows. "Does it? I think it's rather useful to be able to blend in with the locals. Doing so, it gives you a tactical advantage- you won't be as easy to trace."

[DoctorAperture]

http://pastebin.com/f5e166172

A back and forth between me and bio... got some plot development too

[Yoshimo]

I quit. CS pisses me off so much that I just can't bear to go on. Tweak, I'm sorry but I just can't do it anymore.

[Communist]

Sammy and Vade

A short while later, the pair arrived at the somewhat desolate hut overlooking the bleak penisula. The winds howled across the rocks. It was a thoroughly miserable place.
David looked at Jess, stepped forward, and knocked at the door- which promptly fell inwards. "Eurgh. This is creepy." David remarked.

David looked inside "Hello?" he asked, cautiously.
"Hmm... Who's there?" An old voice answered. "Samantha, could you get the door?"
Quickly, a young girl came to the entrance, and saw the strangers. "Why, hello."

Jessika's eyes flashed, and she fell to the ground suddenly.
David ran over to her, and checked her pulse. Just out cold.

He stood up. "Ah, yes, hello, my name is David" he introduced. "This is Jessika" he said, gesturing at the recumbant woman.
He pulled out a small blue sphere from his pocket. It glowed brightly. He smiled. "May I come in?"

"Yes, please do! It's nice to have visitors ro our humble abode. My name is Samantha." She curtsied, and led them to the Table where her grandfather was sitting. "This is my Grandfather, John."
"Hmm... Visitors" the old man replied, sat comfortably in his chair. "Yes, we haven't had visitors in a long time. Do make yourselves comfortable,"

David pulled back a chair and sat down. "Nice to meet you" he said pleasantly.
"So then. You don't look like normal travellers" He replied. "What brings you to our home then, er... what was it..."

David smiled. "Well, truth be told, I came because of your daughter." he leant forward to the old man's ear. "I've heard she can do amazing things. Things no-one else can. Is it true?" he whispered.
"My daughter?" The old man replied, slightly confused. "I haven't heard from my daughter in years..."
David was nonplussed. "Sorry, I meant your granddaughter. My mistake." He looked a bit guilty.

"What are you talking about... David, right?" She looked puzzled, but inside, she knew what he was asking about. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go for a bit."

David frowned. "I think you should stay. I have a few questions. What do you think of this, for a start?" he held out the luminous orb.
"It's a bauble of sorts." Samantha took it in her hands. "It's a rock, enchanted with Flow magic."
She closed her eyes. "It was made to find someone, me, in fact." She looked at David with a strange look. "Who gave you this?"

David smiled. "I can take you to meet her, if you want." he said.
"I'd like that, really." She smiled; but she was troubled. Whoever this was, they knew everything about her.
"If thats alright with your grandfather, of course." He looked at him questionly.

"I wondered when this day would come... When someone would notice her talents" The old man sighed.
"Samantha, I wouldn't trust this man. He seems a little odd," He said, squinting. "I don't want you getting hurt..."

"I think I should be fine, Grampa." She patted his shoulder. "Even if he tried to hurt me, I don't think he could. Whoever gave him this stone wants to meet me in one piece."

David smiled, but said nothing.

"Hmm... But who, and why?" the Old Man said, leaning forwards.

"We can... make her a better person." David said. "Because we want to save the world". he concluded.
It sounded a bit trite, and lame.

"Make her a better person?" He stood up, enraged. "That's the worst peice of rubbish I've heard"
"Out with you!" He said. His leg hit a small table while he walked forwards, cutting his frail skin.

David blinked at the sudden blood.

A moments silence. Vade licked his lips. "That looks ... tasty..." he began.
"Right. One chance. The girl comes with me. Or you die, and she comes with me anyway." he said, slowly. He licked his lips again "Well?"

Samantha walked over to the sink, and turned the water on.
"Stay away from my grampa!" A column of water rose from the sink, and blasted Vade through the wall.

Vade groaned, and stood up. He took hold of his head, and twisted it back into place. "That wasn't very nice." he said.
He drew out a shimmering dark blade, and his stiletto with the other. "We need you. We need you to save all magick." he rasped, moving forward slowly.

"John!" he called. "We need your grand-daughter."
John picked up a walking stick, holding it like a weapon. He knew he couldn't fight, but had to protect his granddaughter somehow.
"Samantha! Run!" He called.
Smantha looked at John. "I'm going with them. just please, stop fighting!"

The Old Man lowered the stick. "Okay..." He muttered. "Just make sure that she comes back in one piece as well"
Vade stepped forward, zweihander held firmly in both hands. "I only gave you one chance" he said.He scythed the blade around at the old man's chest, hard, and fast.

A look of horror came over his face. John looked down. His shirt was torn, and blood ran down across his legs. He could feel himself falling backwards, and hit the ground hard. He could see his legs beside him.

"Sam-an-tha..." He gasped, desperately searching for air. "Ru..."
Samantha looked at Vade. "You will pay for that. Mark my words."

Vade smiled. "I've heard that so many times it just doesn't work anymore. Now, will you come quietly?" he asked, Null-blade held in front of him
"Oh, Gladly." She followed him.
Vade's eyes narrowed. "Funnily enough, I don't trust you." He swung the hilt of his zweihander at the back of her head, attempting to knock her out.

"A blast of water slowed the sword, and she ducked out from under it. She stood at a distance from Vade, and said "That doesn't matter."

Vade threw his stilleto, then quickly his threw stiletto at her, spinning the hilt so as to hit her with the pommel.
A geyser erupted from the sand, and blew the small weapon towards the sky. "Let us go. I'm not here for fun and games."
Vade judged the distances and caught both blades as they fell back down to earth.

"Alright then. You go first." he gestured out the door.

She walked out, slightly wary of Vade.
Vade followed close behind- then suddenly, clapped his hands together on Samantha's temples, from behind.
Samantha collapsed in his hands.

Vade laughed, until it hurt. He picked a piece of wall of his arm, and slung Samatha over his shoulder. "Hmm. What a bitch. Just like Emmy." Vade muttered to himself. He bent over, and picked Jessika up- slung her over the other shoulder.

Vade straightened. "Two women on my shoulders. Oh yeah." said Vade. And he skipped all the way back to the Juggernaught, happy with his work.

Summary: David goes to pick Samantha up (This was earlier, before some of the other stuff.). Vade emerges at blood, kills Sammy's grandfather, and makes off with her person.

[Communist]

(( Double-post! This is madness! But to remind people that stuff still goes on...))

Jess and David Arrive at Telnormar. And Jack's there! Emmy and Takkun turn up later too!

The call of the seagulls woke David. "Seagulls..." he muttered. Stanford burst into the room. "Sir, we've spotted land."
"Excellent." replied David. "I'll be up in a moment."Stanford departed.
David hoped he hadn't noticed that Jess was with him. Or that they were both naked. He probably had.
"Jess, time to get up" he said, playfully swatting her backside.

Jessika poked her head up from under the bedspread and looked around like a dazed cat. She saw David and smiled, yawning.
"Good morning David" she said invitingly, resting herself back onto David's chest.
David smiled. "We've spotted land. We'll be landing soon. We'd best get dressed, and up on deck." he said.

Jessika lay back onto her pillow, closing her eyes and feeling the morning sunshine already on her.
"Throw me some clothes, will you?" she asked lazily.

David stood up, and got changed. "Don't be so lazy." he teased her, pulling his pants on.
He went over to the clothes rack, and grinned, though Jessika couldn't see. He ran his hand over her clothes,muttering.
Then he threw them to her- they were all bright pink. "Happy?" he asked.

Jessika laughed sarcastically at him, and threw them back at him via a large ball of compressed ice.
The ball of clothing and frozen water hit him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

David recovered his breath, and changed the clothes back. He threw them to her, and smiled.
He muttered under his breath, and went upstairs.

Jessika slipped on her pants; a dark navy coloured pair she'd picked up from a travelling salesman back on Seros; not that there was much of it to travel.
She slipped on her bra and pocketed a few strength potions inside it; you never know when you might need it.
She climed up the stairs and looked off the side of the boat at the new island.

Telnormar was expansive; a huge city lay out before her on a parched and golden land.
It was scattered across a low lying plateu that crammed huge apartments everywhere, and a huge cloud covered most of the sky.
'Odd cloud' thought Jessika, as they approached the docks.

She walked up to the steering wheel where David had taken control of the ship.
As she walked up to the wheel, some of the men were giving her strange looks. She ignored them.

"Where's Mercelli?" asked Jessika. "I thought he piloted the ship?"
David nodded. "He's over by the anchor. That's somewhat more important." he said. "Nice island, hey? Shame about the cloud." he said.
"Yeah, I was wondering about that..." she said. She trailed off, and asked another question. "Why are all the men looking at me weird?"

David smiled. "Because of how beautiful you look." he said, slyly.
Jessika knew instantly by his devious tone of voice that he was up to something. "What have you done, David?" she said sternly.

"Oh, here we go!" he said, ignoring Jess. "Lower the anchor!" he yelled.

Mercelli lowered the anchor, and the boat pulled to a halt by the side of a small pier. "That was fun." said David.
"Let's go see the customs officers."

There was a shrieking from behind as David was just about to jump off the boat.

"My hair!" Jessika yelled at him.

David looked back at her, and jumped even faster- hitting the ground running.
He bolted very very quickly into the customs office."HelloIhaveaboatI' Dliketomoorithere'stengoldpieces" he said,
- very quickly, throwing down a few gold pieces. He turned, looking about nervously.

As he did a huge gush of air rushed past him. He was suddenly paralysed, and couldn't move.
Jessika jumped down from the top of the ship about ten metres and landed perfectly next to David.
She looked him straight in the eye, and he knew what she was saying.

Jack slowly creeped through the dark alleyway, making sure to look through every exit.
He hurried along, making sure not to keep to one place for two long. "Where the hell is she?" He muttered.
Approaching another exit, he poked his head out, to see if she had returned to the docks.
What he saw was a woman with pink hair, shouting at a block of ice.
"That looks like... But... Can it?" He questioned.


David shivered. "C-c-can't you t-t-take a j-joke, Jess?" David asked. "And w-when Jack's s-standing over there, as w-well!"

Jessika's head shot over the scenery, and her eyes fell upon Jack. "Jack!" she yelled out in surprise.
As she said this, David muttered a few words and Jessika's hair went back to normal, forgotten.

Jack looked across the dock. "So it is them..." He signalled them over, looking to make sure no one was watching.
Jessika looked around, then ran over to Jack, touching David on the way past to unfreeze him.

Suddenly, a huge hand grabbed onto her shoulder. "Oi! What are you doin'?" he asked.

David spun the man around holding onto Jess, and held a knife at his throat. "What do you want?" he asked, dangerously.

"I think you know what I want," The man said, grabbing David's arm. He tried to push the knife away from his neck. No use.

David shrugged, and slit the big man's throat. "Don't touch Jess." he warned the dead man.

"Yeah... The locals don't take to kindly to that..." Jack said, walking out of the alley-way.
He looked around quickly. "You might want to follow me, before guards come.
They see you with me, and well... Let's just say it won't be pleasant..."

David nodded, and put his bloody blade away. He took Jess's hand. "Alright. Let's go." he said. "Where to, Jack?" he asked.
"This way," He said, gesturing them to follow him. "We meet with Emmy, and then get back to Aegis."
David sighed. "Urrgh. Emmy." he said.
He shook his head. "Alright. Vade's looking forward to Aegis, he assures me. "

Jack kept walking. "Don't be so bad to Emmy. She doesn't deserve that."
David raised an eyebrow. "I guess you like her as much as she likes you, huh?"
"You know then?" He said, twisting his head slightly. "You could put it like that, yes."
David smiled, keeping pace. "Where's this ship, anyway? The... Fenrir, was it?"
"It's above us, on Aegis." He said, looking around the corner. "And I'm not sure exactly.
Emmy calls it Fenrir as if it was a person, without the 'the'"

Jessika, having walked silently behind the two men, suddenly asked a question. "Do you know what it's like on Aegis?"
"A little bit... Not much. We flew above it in Fenrir, but it was getting dark by the time we got there."
He said, looking about. "From what I could see, it was amazing."

Jessika nodded slowly, looking around the empty streets. "What are you planning to do there, Jack?" she asked.
"Emmy needs to find Astral, a woman who may have taken over in her absence, and conviniently the Guardian of Burn..."
He thought for a second. "She also spoke of a weapons bunker, which sounds like it might outclass the Juggernaut's Armoury..."

David grinned. 'Of course, she would say that. And you haven't seen the Juggernaught's full armoury. Or Oliver, for that matter."
"Oliver? Who's Oliver?" He asked.
"Nevermind" said David. "Are we almost there?"
"Almost... We should be meeting with her soon..." Jack replied. "Sorry for the trip through these side-streets. Best I could do"

They spotted Emmy (now older, thanks to the absorption of some guardians) leaning against the side of a small, rectangular metal shape, with a large glass window in the front.
"Too bad Takkun isn't here for the reunion..." Jack muttered. He walked up beside Emmy, and kissed her, putting his arm around her.

David hid a grin behind his hand, and looked over to Jess.
Jessika glanced back at David, but stood her ground. "Long time no see, Emmy" said Jessika.
Her voice was cheary, but there was a small hint of coldness in it. David noticed this, but said nothing.
Emmy let go of Jack, and looked at Jess. "Yes. Long time, Jess." She smiled.

"Jess, it has been a long time hasn't it..." Jack said, slightly shocked at the realisation.
"The last time I saw you was... When we arrived at Delacrimo."
"I know" said Jessika. "It seems like an eternity ago..." She looked over at Emmy, smiling oddly. "Did you get a haircut or something, Emmy?"
Emmy laughed. "Yes, I did actually!" She grinned. "How could you tell?"
"Oh, something about the gaining several years does that" replied Jessika, her expression brightening.

David glanced around- heavy footsteps could be heard from behind him. "I think they might be onto us." he warned the group. "So, er, can we leave? Now?"
"Oh! Yeah." She put her hand on the side of the ship, and it slid open. Emmy climbed in. "Get in, all of you!"

David nodded. "I'll distract them. You lot go ahead, I'l catch up." He drew his sword, and gestured for the others to get going.

"Is it just me, or does he love violence?" Jack sighed. "Right, in we go," He said, climbing in.

David saw movement out of the corner of his eye- and ducked to avoid a sudden sword-blade rushing towards him.
He swung his own blade in return, and killed his attacker. "Go! I'll find my own way up!" he yelled, as troops began to pour into the small area around them.

"We're not going there! There will be enough combat when we arrive where we're going- across the desert! Grab onto the rope!"
She tossed down a rope. "Jack, Jess, help me hold on to David."

David smiled, and ignored the rope. "I told you, I can find my own way up!" he said.
He sliced a man's head off, and charged into a larger group heading towards him. "Just go now!' he screamed

Emmy sighed. "If you really want..." She waved her hand, and the rope caught on fire. She closed the door.
"What's he thinking?!" Jack remarked loudly. "Us two were nearly killed by those guards... He'd better have something up his sleve..."
He turned to Emmy. "What did you mean 'there'll be enough combat where we're heading'?"
"Well, there /is/ a civil ear over at Aegis. We'll be helping out, most likely." she avoided the topic of the bunker.

Meanwhile, David was still fighting. Weaving and cutting, a small mound of bodies now surrounded him, where he stood.
"Maybe this wasn't a good idea" panted David, hewing another man down.
A trumpet- and troops clad in ornate armour entered the small square around David- and the others disengaged him.
A sudden movement, and all the new troops raised crossbows at him. A man with black armour entered, and looked directly at David.

David slowly dropped his sword with a clang, and knelt, putting his hands on the back of his head. "I surrender."
he said, knowing all those crossbows would take him out in a moment, otherwise.

The black-armoured man walked forward, and said. "You fight well. But not well enough. Take him away!" he gestured.
"Yes General George!" said his lieutenant.
David held his hands out to be shackled. "I'll be eating your liver tomorrow, general." he said.
The general replied. "Well, we can schedule your execution then, if you like." He gestured again. "Take him away."
David felt a blow to the back of his head, and blacked out.

"Dammit..." Jack shouted. "Emmy. Does this thing have any weapons? Can we not help him at all?"
Emmy frowned. "No. this is just a scout ship of sorts. No weapons at all. He'll break out. I know he will." Emmy turned the pod, and turned up the throttle. The ship lurched, and glided forward, quickly.

Jessika approached Emmy. "Were are we going to head now?" she asked.
Emmy stared straight ahead. "around the center of the desert, there's a bunker, full of expiremental weapons.
We're going to head there, and pick up some stuff, that may help us."
"After that, we just press this button-" SHe pointed to a purple button on the dashboard "...and we'll be in Aegis.
David will have to find his way up, but he said he could..."

The ship glided over the endless dunes of sand... They sat in silence, and watched it go by.
At last, Emmy spotted a large, grey building, half sunken in the sand.
"There it is." She dipped the nose of the craft down, and they descended softly. They landed near it.
"So this is it, huh? I expected more..." Jack smiled. "I'm guessing a place like this would be defended, wouldn't it?"
Emmy shook her head. "No, it isn't defended. There are some systems that handle the items, though." "Shall we go in?"

Jack stood up and took off his coat, placing it on the seat. "Bit hot, isn't it." He remarked, stating the obvious.
He opened the door, quickly stepping back as a blast of hot air came in through the doorway.
"Very hot..." He muttered. Jack jumped out, and looked about. He could see some sort of figure in the distance.
"I thought trees didn't grow out here," He called.

The sand crunched under Takkun's feet as he trudged across the open desert, protected from the sun's harsh rays by his light-weight trenchcoat, along with a scarf, which shielded his face from the sand that was whipped across the desert by the powerful winds.
He was so lost in his mind. He was slowly dragged out of his thoughts by the growing sense that something ominous was near.
Turning round, Takkun saw a small pod-like ship rushing above the sand in the distance.

"I don't think it's a tree. C'mon, let's get inside, before we get buried.."
"Go ahead, I'll check this out," He said, lifting up his hand. "It's not exactly like I can get buried here anyway."

Takkun noticed two fugures standing by the ship, one of them turned, heading towards him.
Takkun muttered something under his breath, suddenly a huge gust of wind picked up.
Takkun opened his coat wide and jumped forward, the wind extending the length of his jump to 5 metres.
He repeated this, bounding towards the ship.

Takkun muttered again, and the wind died down.
He was now only about 50metres from the ship, suddenly he recognised the figures, he waved, shouting, "HEY GUYS! LONG TIME NO SEE!"
He continued walking to the ship.

Emmy shrugged. "Come on, Jess. Let's get in." She walked over to one of the walls, and pressed her hand on the big circle of the Aegis crest.
The wall slid open, and she walked inside.

"Is that... Takkun?" Jack said, running forwards. "TAKKUN! NICE TO SEE YOU!" He shouted back.
Takkun sprinted the last 20 metres. He stood beside jack, beaming, "I'm sorry I didn't give you more not...",
he stopped mid-sentance, noticing the bunker, "whats... that?"
Jessika jogged in behind Jack, and nodded at Takkun.
"This?" Jack said, pointing at the bunker. "Some sort of Weapons Bunker that Emmy's been going on about. Apparently filled with experimental weapons that will help us."

Takkun looked at the worn bunker. A brick fell off the top of one of the walls on top.
He looked back at jack and jessika, "That? It looks a little..." he faded off. Takkun shook his head,
"Fine, I've had enough of wandering on my own, Lets go in then."

The inside of the building was dark. The door closed behind them, and a small orange light flickered on, above them.
The skittering of tiny claws could be heard around them.
The room was mostly empty, with doors leading to different rooms, each with faded labels on them.

Takkun entered the bunker, he could just about make out a figure walking in the dark, he equiped his halberd, sneaking towards the figure, he shouted out, "who is that?"

Emmy turned around. "Oh, Hi, Takkun. I'm Emmy. Remember me? It's been a while..." She laughed.
Takkun was taken aback, he noticed she was taller than she had been before, "your voice... whats happened Emmy, you sound... older."
Takkun relaxed, lowering his weapon, pacing towards emmy.
Emmy smiled. "I am older, Takkun. I'm not a little girl." The skittering increased, and some screeching could be heard.
"Emmy... Seeing as you know everything there should be about this bunker... Is that normal?" Jack asked.
"Because I have a bad feeling about this..."

The screeching grew louder. "No... I-" Before she could finish, the room was full of flying sand-like particles.
"What the?!" Jack shouted. He raised his left hand, summoning a blast of wind at the particles.

Takkun muttered under his breath, a bubble of wind blew from takkun, creating a weak shield.
Takkun turned to Emmy and Jack, "stand next to me, hopefully this will hold them off"

The particles receded, and clumped together. Several large humanoid figures formed from the air. Emmy was lying on the floor, unconscious

"Emmy!" Jack called, crouching beside her. After checking her, he got back up. "Look's like we're on our own for this one, Takkun!"
He said, drawing his sword.

The humanoids were tall, and thin. Where their faces should be, was a rounded glass, like if there was something inside.
It glowed blue with an inner power- and one swung it's long arm at Jack.

Jack leant back, narrowly avoiding the arm. As it passed, he grabbed it with his left arm, and brought down his sword on it.
The sword cleanly cut through, and the arm fell to the floor, crumbling into the same dust as before.

Takkun stepped towards one of the creatures, aiming his halberd's blade at one of the metal creatures knees, where he could see a blue glow between the lower and upper leg.
He swing with all his strenghth at the joints of the creatures legs. The construction collapsed, twitching.
It melted into dust, and reformed into a new one.
Two others closed in on Takkun, and grabbed at his halberd.

Takkun tried to break free, but their grip was two strong, suddenly, one of the creatures seemed to whisper, a face faded into veiw on the glass face of one of the creatures, it mouthed the words 'Help me'
Takkun's eyes widened, he turned to Jack, still struggling to break free, "JACK! THESE CREATURES AREN'T MINDLESS DRONES!"

"Don't play with my conscience here Takkun, I've had enough to last me a life-time!" He called.
He slashed his sword through the air, sending a cutting wind towards two approaching him.
Each creature froze, and tilted their heads. They crumbled to dust.

Summary Jessika and David finally arrive at Telnormar. Jack's waiting for them on the deck. Jessika gets annoyed, because David turned her hair bright pink. David kills a man who touches Jess. Jess, Jack and David go to meet Emmy, and together they escape in a pod- but David stays behind to buy them time, and is captured. The rest is without David, and so relatively boring. Takkun appears, and together the David-less gang investigate a weapons bunker, and are attacked by some weird thingies.

David's execution

Darkness. David groaned, and opened his eyes. He was in a tiny cell, with no windows.
He had been stripped down, and now wore simple brown pants and a shirt. After a quick check, he smiled. He still had his one-shot.
It was well hidden. The cell door clanged open. Three men entered, crossbows leveled at his head. David remained lying on the ground.

"Get up" said one. David stood, and followed the man, while the other two took position behind him. Walking along a darkened cell, David's head was blank.
He had no idea how he'd get out of this one. They lead him out into the sunlight- brilliant. With a gasp, David saw... the edge. He realised something- they'd taken him up to Aegis.

General George stood on a balconey overlooking the ring David stood in. "Ah, my young rebel. I hope you're ready for your death.
It will be followed by several more, I fear." David looked around, and saw several other cages filled with what he rightly presumed to be 'rebels' who supported Zeffie.

He looked up at the general, and saw a similar man standing next to him. This man caught his gaze, and smiled. "General Jonathan, at your service."
he said, bowing. "I heard you killed a fair few of our men. I hope you die slowly." he hissed at David. David feigned a smile, but said nothing.

On another balconey, a dozen men with crossbows aimed at David were placed. David shook his head. If there was a way out of this, he didn't know it.

He was gestured onto a wooden platform in the middle of the ring. A man clad in black, with a black hood stood there, sharpening a large axe.
His costume was noticeably bloodstained. He saw David, and said "Ah, the victim. Pleased to meet you. I'll be your executioner today."
David shook his head, and said nothing.

A dark whispering in David's mind.

He looked around. Maybe, it was possible. He had nothing to lose.
General George stepped forward- just as a large crowd of soldiers, on their break, poured into the seating around the ring.
"Here, my men, we have a captured rebel. He killed two dozen men yesterday..." Boos broke out from the soldiers.
"And now, we will kill him." he paused, and look at David. "Got any last words, scum?" he asked.

David grinned. "I fear your Queen won't be happy with you." he said. "Oh yes, she's back! I would be worried, but you'll all be dead by tommorow."
said David, laughing insanely. General George's lips tightened- this wasn't good news. General Jonathan stepped forward.
"No more lies. Off with his head!" he screamed.

David smiled. "You made one mistake!" he yelled. "You didn't bind my hands!"
With this, he rolled off the platform onto the dirt. A moment's silence.

Vade, laughing insanely, sprang up from where he was. "You're all going to die!" he crooned. In his hands, the one-shot.
Vade pointed it at George, smiled, and pulled the trigger.

It was a good shot, but a gust of wind pulled it off target- and the long metal spike in the weapon shot wide.
General Jonathan screamed as he was knocked back. A moment later, blood poured everywhere
- the spike had picked up the unfortunate general, and gone right through his head- and impaling him against a wooden rail,
the brutal hole in his head easily visible.

The soldiers reacted, and grabbed their weapons, making to leap into the ring. On the other balconey, the crossbows twanged.
Vade rolled again, but took a crossbow bolt to the chest. He roared, and pulled it out. "It will take more than a crossbow to stop me!" he screamed.
"Oliver!" he called.

Vade ducked- the executioner had taken up his axe, and swung it at his head. A red glow, and Oliver appeared in Vade's hands. Vade grinned.
"Now we can begin." He moved his hands, and swung the mace end at the black-clad man. It hit his head with a sickening splat- the
executioner collapsed, twitching. David brought the axe down on the man's chest- turning it into a ragged mess.

Vade laughed. "Fun!" he screamed. By now, soliders were pouring down into the ring. Vade, giggling, ran into them, Oliver twirling in his hands.

Vade was dancing, almost. His movements were fluid, ducking, weaving, slicing around the clumsy enemy.
He would get hit by a slash, but shrug it off, and kill the attacker. After a few moments, the group fell to the ground, corpses mutilated by the horrible weapon.

A twang, and the crossbows fired again. Vade span Oliver around in his hands- and the bolts bounced off it.
Vade span, and jumped at the balconey. Throwing Oliver forward, the hook caught on the edge- and Vade clambered up the balconey.
Landing amongst the crossbowmen, he smirked.

Those waiting for Vade below on the balconey were covered in blood and bone. And a few chunks of flesh. Vade laughed the whole time.
Then he leapt down, twirling Oliver around as he fell. He landed, and rolled into a handstand- catching Oliver with his feet.
He span Oliver with his legs, and took out a few cautiously advancing soldiers. With a movement, he threw the Laughing Bastard up,
and jumped up himself. He caught the weapon midair, and brought it down as he fell- cutting one man clean in half vertically.

Vade, coverered in blood, bone splinters and brain matter, cackled. Most of the soldiers turned and ran at the sight of this
wrathful apparition. Vade bounded around the ring, annhilating the soldiers, and opening the cages with the rebels in them- who ran as fast as they could from him.

Vade brought round the multi-bladed end of Oliver, and opened a man's chest up in seven different spots.
As he fell, Vade paused. The last few minutes had been murder- literally. He was himself bleeding heavily, and had about three crossbow bolts
sticking from his back. He looked around. There didn't appear to be anyone left. Vade giggled. "That was so much fun!" he screamed, to the air.

A movement from behind him. General George, holding an odd tube, and two more soldiers. Vade laughed insanely.
"George! I'm going to eat you!" he promised. General George pushed his two men forward, and began a spell.

Vade leapt forward, swinging Oliver. One of the men was cut in half by the scythe, the other had his head taken off with the axe.
Vade paused in front of General George, puzzled. "What's that tube?" he asked, curious.

General George paused. "It's a wolfstrike tube" he said, and kept muttering. Vade's eyebrows raised. He shrugged, and swung Oliver.
A loud ring. George, holding a sword in one hand, and still muttering the words, had blocked the laughing bastard.
Vade hissed, and began a series of rapid slashes. George, unphased, blocked them all with the single sword.

Vade screamed, angry "Why don't you die!" he demanded. He moved his hands on Oliver, and brought the axe end down in a mighty blow on George.
George finished muttering, dropped the sword, and pointed the tube at Vade. He said a single word- and the tube fired- a deep yellow beam
took Vade in the chest.

Vade paused mid-strike, and dropped Oliver. Meanwhile, the wolfstike tube began to melt. George threw it away.
Vade blinked- he was David. A cough- Vade again. His hair began to blur as he rapidly switched between the two.
He fell to his knees, gasping. A tearing- and David and Vade looked down. His clothes tore- and, as he looked at his hands,
hair began to grow out at a rapid rate.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" yelled David and Vade together- and, with incredible agony, they
folded up, and howled. A white flash- and David disappeared. In his place, stood a big wolf with purest white fur.

It looked down, seeing itself for the first time, and howled. A blink- it became a large dire wolf- with pitch black fur.
General George stood back, smiling. "And now you're just an animal" he said. The wolf growled, and leapt forward- landing on George.
With a sickening crunch, the wolf crushed General George's neck between it's large teeth. Then it moved down, and slowly began to bite into
the fast-dying man's chest. General George's last thought was that David was right- he was eating his liver today after all.
Then he passed into the darkness.

Afterwards, white fur again present, the wolf surveyed the damage. The small military camp on the edge of Aegis was abandoned.
Bodies were piled everywhere- and the stink of death pervaded all. David looked at himself again, and growled.

Suddenly, he raised his nose to the air, and sniffed. Jess. David sniffed again. It was Jess alright. She was unforgettable.
As he turned to leave, he noticed a flash. Around his neck, on a silver chain, was his love ring. The wolf made a face like a grin-
"I'll find Jess." promised David.

A blur, and David-wolf was off- sprinting across the desert that the camp bordered, wolf-tears streaming down his eyes.
He stopped, and howled. "Jess..."

Summary David goes to attend an execution. His own, apparently. Stuff happens. Vade comes out and kills lots of people with Oliver. And, a SUPRISING TWIST OCCURS.

[Drathmoore]

Right. First off, is the end to the fight above:

The Fight Ends

Each creature froze, and tilted their heads. they crumbled to dust. The dust sifted slowly, then rushed toward the unconscious body of Emmy.
"I don't think so!" He called, pushing his hand forward. He blasted air at the dust, attempting to push it away from Emmy. The dust recoiled, but recovered, and continued on its path. Upon reaching Emmy, it covered her, and then stopped.
"What the...?" Jack asked. He rushed over to Emmy, and looked at the dust that just lay on her. Crouching down, he went to move the dust off of her face. The dust would not move.
Takkun stepped towards emmy, he looked at the dust on her face, "Do you know what that is Jack? It doesn't look... normal..."
"No idea." Jack said, not moving his sight from Emmy. "Although, I don't like the look of this. We have no idea what this could be doing to her, and due to that, we need to get it off her. Fast."

Emmy slowly got up. She outstretched her arms, and more dust covered her, soon forming what seemed to be a suit of armor. A large, wide, sword appeared in her hand. She swung it at Takkun. Takkun tried to dodge out of the way, but the suprise of the attack had caught him off gaurd, the sword cut into takkuns right shoulder. Takkun cried out in pain, stumbling back a few steps, clutching his shoulder. He clenched hhis teeth, then drew his halberd, raising it in a defensive stance.
Jack raised his sword infront of his halberd. "Don't try anything." He said, sternly. "Any attempt to attack this stuff may hurt Emmy!"
Emmy took a clumsy step forward, and swung at Jack. Jack raised his left hand, using the Control Glove to shield the blow. As it recoiled, he attempted to grab the blade. The blade slipped from Emmy's armored hands. Emmy lurched back, and attempted to grab Takkun by the throat.
Takkun held his halberd steady, far out in front of him in the hope it would hold emmy off, takkun suddenly felt a stab of fear, 'What If she can still use magick in this state?' he thought to himself.

Jack looked about for a second, looking for anything in the room that could aid them. On the floor were several vents, covered with metal grills. "Perfect." Jack muttered. He turned to Takkun. "Hold her off for a minute! I have a plan!" Emmy lurched at Takkun; and let out a low, mechanical roar. Light flew from her fingers.
Takkun's eyes widened, "Oh s***...". Takkun dived onto the floor, managing to dodge the light beam, he rolled to the right, getting away from the attack. He stumbled up, the pain still throbbing in his shoulder, sending a shock of pain through his body whenever he moved. Takkun clenched his teeth, anticipating the next attack.

Jack had reached one of the vents, and grabbed it with his left arm, attempting to pull it out. He was successful, but had squashed it slightly in the struggle.

Emmy lurched at Takkun, and reached for his neck. Sparks of light flew from her fingers.

"Takkun! Get over here!" Jack called, hefting the large piece of metal.

Takkun jumped out of the way of emmy, he then twisted round, kicking emmy to the floor, "Jack, I'm a little busy here! Unless you want to take over fighting emmy, your on your own!"

"I said not to-" He hesitated. 'Now's the chance!' He thought. He rushed over to Takkun, holding the metal in his arms. Emmy scrabbled at the floor, making screeching sounds, with the metallic armor.
"Takkun! Take this!" He called, offering him the vent. "And get some charge going through it. Now!"

Takkun reluctantly turned from Emmy, he held the vent in his hands, muttering a few words, a charge passed from his hands into the vent. Emmy started to lean, stepping forwards in a losing battle against the magnet. Using this chance, Jack ran behind and grabbed Emmy, wrapping his arms around her to hold her back. The dust started to pull away, slowly building up on the magnet as it came off of Emmy. As more and more fell off, she began to go limp, her arms dropping first, then her head. Finally, she dropped into Jack's arms, still unconcious.

A blue gas sifted out of the dust, and slowly wafted upwards as it dissipated.

Summery
Emmy gets attacked by robot dust, coating her in metal armour. He fights Takkun and Jack, losing her sword. Jack runs off to get a metal grate, and brings it back, making Takkun run an electric current through it. The resulting magnetic field strips Emmy of her armour, leaving her unconcious again.




Note: Both of these RPs take place before Comm's last post.

Warning... This is HUGE. About 3 RPs that were cut off put together...

Enjoy!

The trip to Aegis

Jack awoke. He was back in Emmy's bedroom again. Looking down, he saw Emmy on top of him. "I... can't move" He whispered.

Emmy shifted a little. "good morning." She looked out the window. "We should go and get Takkun. today is the day to storm their base."

"Sounds like fun" He replied. "Still can't move..."

Emmy sat up. "Of course you didn't mind, did you?" she asked sweetly.

Jack smiled. "Of course not," He replied.

Emmy stood up, and unbuttoned her dress. She walked over to her closet, and took out the black one. She carefully put it on. "Alright. Ready" She said, while putting on her amulet.

"Okay then." Jack said, in a little shocked by what he had just seen. "Let's get going then" He said, getting up. His voice still seemed off.

Emmy waited by the door. "You should get equipped. Bring all the weapons you can."


Jack put back on his coat. "Sounds like a lot of fun" He said, attaching his scabbard to his belt. He then fasten the crossbow to his back. He checked his pockets. One had the orb, another had the red bolt. "Yep. Ready" He replied

Emmy smiled, and walked out of the door. She headed for Takkun's door. Upon reaching her destination, she saw that there was a note taped to the door. The writing on the note was smudged - as if it had been written in a rush. The handwriting scrawled across the paper, 'I've gone to find myself. Don't worry about me'

Emmy read the note again. "I guess we won't have Takkun's help. He's gone on a self-discovery trip..."

"Looks like we'll have to go ourselves then." Jack sighed. "It would've been handy to have the extra pair of hands."

Emmy lit the paper on fire. It was consumed rather quickly. "Well, we've got no time to lose!" She quickly glided across the hallway, toward a hatch. "mind you, now we have to be careful. The guards will be looking for us now."


"Very, very fun" Jack muttered, following

Emmy and Jack ran through alleys, weaving through the crowds. A few times, they had to stop and hide a few times, but they made it. In front of them, was a squat brick building, with a sign that read "Registration Centre"

"So this is the place." Jack said, as if asking. He looked at the building before them "Well, if we're sneaking in, that means the front door is out of the question..."

Emmy laughed. "There isn't another door. The plan is that we walk in, and kill everything that gets in our way." Emmy brought out her umbrella, and pointed it to the doors. "Charge!'

"Emmy, wait!" He called after her, drawing his sword.

Emmy stopped. "Yes? There isn't another way, if you were wondering."

"It's not that easy," Jack replied, looking at her. "What do you think they'll do after we've left?"

Emmy shrugged. "They'll all be dead."

Jack sighed. "Those that come afterwards. Somebody will notice! And anybody would know to either fix any changes, or stop all traffic to Aegis." He crossed his arms. "Look, let me make a deal with you,"

"...Alright." She grabbed him, and hid behind a building. "What sort of deal?"

"We try my approach first, and try to get in undetected," He replied. "We get caught, or alert them in some way..." Jack smiled "Then we'll do things your way,"

Emmy smiled. "Alright. If you want to know, it won't matter if anyone comes after. As soon as we finish, I'll fly to Aegis. You'll have to stay here, and meet Jess and David."

"But then..." Jack said, confused. "How do I meet back up with you?"

"I'll fix the teleportation system on Fenrir, and bring all of you up to Aegis."

"Any sort of place we need to go to? Or any certain time we need to be there?"

She passed him an orb, which glowed purple. "You can use this to talk to me. Just say my name while holding it, and it'll activate." She tilted her head in the direction of the registration centre. "Shall we get going, then?"

Jack looked at the orb for a second, and put it in his pocket. "You amaze me, have I told you that?" He looked out from behind the building. "Right. Let's go"

She smiled. "I don't think you've told me that, no. " She motioned for him to go first. "I'm not an expert at sneaking around, lead the way, please."

"There's a first time for everything," He replied. He grabbed her arm. "Now," He muttered, pulling her to the door. 'Yes... A first time for both of us' He thought. He opened the door slightly, and looked inside. "Looks clear," he said.

Emmy frowned. "Of course it's clear. It's meant to be safe now. We should just walk in, until we need to sneak into the main office."

"Er... Yes. I knew that," He smiled, looking back at her. "We just need to... Er... Make sure no one sees us go in, so that er... There's no suspicion when we seemingly disappear,"

Emmy covered her face with her hand. "I don't think you've done this, either?"

"Nope, never." He said, turning to the door. "Come on,"

They walked into a large, white office. Near the entrance was a desk, which behind sat a bored looking man, seemingly in his 30s. Emmy walked over to the man, and greeted him. After a few moments of chatter, the man slumped forward, dead.

"Emmy, what did you do?" Jack said to her, a frown on his face. "Was that really necessary?"

Emmy looked down. "No. I'm sorry, I can't really stop myself at times."

"Why do I get the feeling that we're going to be fighting people sooner than I'd like" Jack sighed. "What's done is done. Come on, at least we can get past him now"

They continued merrily on their way. Eventually, they bumped into a secretary.

"Yes, er, excuse me, ma'am," Jack said, slightly in fear of getting caught, slightly in fear of what Emmy would do if they got caught. "We were told that the registry was having some problems recently. Could you show us where the main office is?"

She smiled. "Gladly." She led them down some more hallways, and stopped outside a door. "This is the place. Don't do anything weird, though." She scurried off.

"That went better than I expected," Jack said, smiling at Emmy. "Let's do this then," He said, moving towards the door. The main office was huge. In the center, was a large machine, that extended toward the ceiling. Surrounding it, were a lot of desks, where people in suits worked.

"Great..." Jack said to Emmy. He thought quickly. "Excuse me, anyone? I've been having some complaints... Something about a particular ship not being registered after numerous tries..."

One man looked at Jack with eyebrows raised. "There are no faults in our system. If the ship is not registered, then it doesn't need to be fixed." He looked through his desk, and handed Jack a form "Fill this out, with proper proof of citizenship, and we'll clear your ship."

"Right... Yes... Of course," Jack replied. He turned to Emmy. "Have any sort of tricks up your sleeves?" He whispered.

Emmy smiled. The man's chest imploded. "Start the massacre."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," Jack sighed, drawing his sword. "I'm not going to like this..."

Emmy shrugged, and brought out her umbrella. "We have to keep them from escaping!" She raised her arm, and a stream of energy flew out, and killed some more. They were bringing out crossbows from their desks, and swords.

"Who fought men in suits could fight?" Jack joked. He slashed his sword through the air, sending a blast of wind across the room, knocking files, chairs and people over

"I did!" She leaped over a desk, and stabbed one, while blasting another.

"Then again, I was the one that always thought that young girls with umbrellas weren't very dangerous..." He called back, sending another blast at a small group to the left.

She laughed. "Never underestimate the power of the Umbrella!" Launching into the air, she blasted a group that was trying to escape.

"Heheh... A fatal flaw" He laughed, bringing his sword to meet a man running towards him. He sidestepped the swipe, and counted it by lunging his sword into his chest.

Emmy landed, and stabbed someone who was behind Jack "careful, there."

Jack put his hand up behind Emmy, stopping the incoming crossbow bolts with the wind. "And the same to you," He smiled.

Emmy launched another wave of energy. "I think we're almost done!"

Jack sent a pulse of water at the door, stopping a few in their tracks. "I sure hope so," He replied.

Emmy touched Jack's hand, and sent a whirlwind across the room, smashing any survivors to bits. She knelt down, tired.

"Whew..." Jack said, looking about. "That was... I don't know exactly how to explain it... You okay?" He asked Emmy.

"Yeah," She panted. "I'm fine. You thought it was fun, didn't you?"

"A little bit..." Jack said, looking down upon the carnage that had been inflicted. "Is that... Right?" He shook his head. "It was necessary..."

"What must be done, must be done. Don't dwell on the past, and move forward- it's the only way to live." She stood up, and dusted herself off. "Alright. The main terminal is over there." She pointed to the big machine. "Guard the door while I verify Fenrir."

Jack smiled. "You're right." He moved over towards the entrance, looking down the hallway.

Emmy sat down, and began her work. "Hey Jack?"

"Yes?" He replied, turning his head slightly.

"Remember that secretary? Kill her. She'll cause a lot of trouble later."

"Although I don't like the idea..." Jack sighed. "I guess you're right. However, she won't be able to see the damage from a distance, so either she comes close, and I'll... deal with her, or we'll have to find her on the way out..."

Emmy sighed. "This is taking a bit longer than I expected. How about you kill everything here, then?"

"Emmy... I don't want..." He sighed. "But what about you?"

"I don't know..." She put her head on the desk. "I can't really think straight, right now...."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jack asked, turning around.

"No. I'm definitely not alright; but no matter what, we need to continue." She lifted her head, and went back to the machine.

"Emmy..." Jack replied, quickly glancing around to see if the hallway was clear. "What's wrong then? Although, this might not be the best time to ask..."

"I don't know. I'm just sick of all the killing. I know I'm contradicting myself, but I hate it." She leaned closer to the screen. "Oh, cool. I think I'm close to being finished."

"You're not contradicting yourself." Jack replied. "Finding killing fun is /her/ opinion, not yours."

Emmy stood up. "I suppose, but if it's her opinion, then what is /my/ opinion? What do /I/ think?!"

Jack stepped backwards. "Emmy. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed like that."

She stepped closer to Jack. "Jack... I don't know what to /think/ I feel like I'm lost inside of myself."

Jack stepped closer to her. "Emmy..." He said, looking at her. "...Don't worry about /what/ you think. Just..."

He smiled. "Just move forwards."

Emmy stepped closer to Jack, and smiled. "I'm finished. We should get going."

He stepped closer, and kissed her. "Right then... Moving forwards"

Emmy embraced Jack for a bit, and then let go. "We should really go." She grabbed his hand, and ran through the halls, Jack behind. "We need to get to the ship, /fast/ "

Jack ran behind, looking to the sides of the hallway. He looked back to see the secretary back at the doorway of the main office, facing the destruction. "Emmy! Stop!" He said, pulling her lightly.

She stopped, and turned around. She saw the secretary. "Ah. I see." She closed her eyes, and the ceiling caved in on the horrified secretary.

He looked at the fallen ceiling. He shook his head. "Come on," Jack started running forwards, this time with Emmy behind, silent.

They ran to the door, and exited the building. He pulled her behind the same building they went behind before they entered. "You best head for Fenrir then. I'll wait around here, hidden, and await Jess and David's arrival." He paused for a second, looking around. "I'll meet them at the docks"

Emmy looked at Jack. "...Come with me, at least for now. I need you, Jack."

Jack looked at her, and nodded. "Okay,"

She leaned against Jack. "Thank you." She groaned, and put her hand to her head. "Argh. My head is pounding." She began walking with Jack toward the harbour.

"Hmm..." He said, walking at her side. "I'm guessing that's not just a normal headache..."

She put an arm around Jack. "I'll be fine."

"Good." He replied, placing his own arm around her.

They arrived at the docks without a problem. She boarded.

Jack followed her on. "I would promise to be not long, but I don't know exactly when they'll be here,"

Emmy smiled at Jack. "They shouldn't be here until tomorrow, actually. I've been scouting their position, using my Flow magic." She walked with him to the control deck. "So we're going to fly to Aegis, before they revert the changes I've made."

"Hmm... Though how do I meet Jess and David?" Jack said, looking at her.

Emmy laughed. "We'll both meet them. I have a small ship that we can fly down there."

"Heh, you really do amaze me." Jack said, smiling. "Right then, let's get this ship moving"



Emmy slid over to the controls, and flipped the ignition. Slowly easing the throttle, the engines began humming. The ship slowly lifted from the water.

"Hmm... Seems like a nice place..." Jack started, looking at Emmy. "...Too bad we'll probably be killed if we were seen there again."

Emmy shrugged. "Edge is the worst place to be. I don't really mind."

"Heh..." Jack said. He looked at the controls. "The last time I was in this room was just before we first met."

Emmy looked at Jack. "Would you like to fly the ship?"

Jack smiled. "I'd love to. Although, I don't have the slightest clue how to,"

Emmy slid her chair over, and motioned for Jack to take a seat. "It's rather easy, really." She pointed to a small orange switch. "That's the ignition." She pointed to a lever to the far right of the panel. "That's the throttle," She pointed to the sphere in the center. "and that, is the steering orb. However, if you can't use that, this is the..." she popped something from under the platform “...steering wheel. The rest of the stuff isn't needed for a normal flight."

Jack smiled. "I think I'll use the wheel. I'm not used to orb control." He grasped the wheel, turning it slightly to the left. "This is amazing."

Fenrir glided to the left, skimming the water. "Pull back, to go up." Emmy advised. "We need to get to Aegis. The safest way would be to fly close to the bottom."

Jack followed Emmy's commands, pulling back on the wheel to launch Fenrir into the air. The ship kept climbing until it was near the bottom of the floating continent. From the bottom of Aegis, large pillars of rock, miles long, reached out, as if trying to reach the sea below. Each were big enough to be classed as a mountain in their own right. Water rained downwards in several places to the right, where rivers met the edge of the land.

"Perfect. Just keep it level, so we can reach the edge, and fly to a safe haven." She sighed. "It's a wonderful sight, isn't it?"

"It's incredible" Jack said, staring at the large rocks. The ship started to drift downwards, until Jack realised that he had accidentally let go of the wheel. He grabbed it, and pulled it back. "Sorry, lost my concentration..."

She patted his shoulder. "No problem. Safety's on, anyway."

"Heheh..." Jack awkwardly laughed. He turned the wheel to the left, preparing it to turn around when it got far enough from Aegis.

Emmy leaned on Jack. "Of course, we could just turn auto-pilot on." she laughed softly.

"Aww, but that takes all the fun out of it," Jack replied. "Then again, it would probably be the safer option. So how do we turn the auto-pilot on then?"

Emmy touched the Orb, and closed her eyes. "This will do it." She stood up, and stretched. She walked out of the room, leaving Jack all alone.

Jack stood up, and moved closer to the window. The view was most certainly amazing; the glimmering sea below, the floating continent above.

He looked at his hands. "I know I had to... But... To find it fun?" He turned around, and left, looking to see where Emmy had gotten to.



Emmy had gone downstairs; her head was hurting. She supposed she should switch from her black dress - just in case.

"Emmy?" Jack called. He looked about the hallway, poking his head into various rooms.

She took off her dress, and flopped down on the bed.

"Emmy?" Jack called, poking his head into the bedroom. He saw Emmy on the bed. With embarrassment, he pulled his head out of the room, accidentaly smacking it into the side of the door.

Emmy quickly got up, and got the blue dress back on. She opened the door, her cheeks a bright red.

Jack rubbed the back of his head. "Ouch... That hu-" He looked up to see Emmy in the doorway. He went red. "Sorry! I was just looking to see where you'd got too!"

She smiled at Jack's embarrassment. "No, it's ok. I'm sorry, I'm just really tired after the events at that office place." She looked at Jack worriedly. "Are you ok?"

Jack took of his hat, and rubbed his head a bit more. "Yeah... I'll be fine." He cringed after rubbing it too hard. "But... What about your head? Didn't you say it hurt earlier?"

Emmy's eyes flickered. "No, I'm fine."

"Okay then," Jack smiled. He brought his hand around, to find if there was any blood. A few small drops rest in his palm. "Nothing too bad, luckily"

She frowned. "I hope you didn't mind... what happened back at the registration building. You seemed... disturbed."

"I just... Don't like killing." Jack replied. "To be honest, I'm not really a fan of violence of any kind" He said, changing the subject slightly.

Emmy's eyes flared red. "But, you enjoyed it, didn't you?" Her yes went back to normal.

"That's what I don't understand..." Jack said, looking at Emmy's eyes.

Emmy frowned. "I know how you feel. I've been doing this a lot more than you have... and I enjoy it." She said, disgusted.

"Perhaps... That's normal..." Jack said, slightly confused. "I know David definitely had no problems attacking people..."

Emmy sighed. "I don't think that's David. it's just some twisted monster inside of him. Vade." She receded back into the room, and sat on her bed.

"I'm not so sure it is." Jack replied. "We had an encounter with some Seros Shockers before we left the island, and David was well away"

Emmy looked at Jack, who was still standing by the door. "I suppose." She lay down on the bed, and put a pillow over her face.

Jack walked up to the bed, and sat down beside her. "One day..." He said to himself. He took off his coat, and lay down beside Emmy. "Heh... I remember once walking in one my dad, when he was building another of his inventions. I asked him what it was, and he said that it was a crossbow. I asked why he was building one, and he said to me, that unfortunately, we had not reached 'the day'... The day when we'd need no weapons, where there would be no killing. Just everybody living in harmony." Jack smiled. "You said you needed to absorb the guardians to stop the corruption of magick, right?"

Emmy shifted the pillow of of her head. "Yes. That's what I'm here for. My purpose in life, I suppose."

"During my teenage years, I lost belief in 'the day', especially after I lost my father... But after meeting you, it rekindled my hope in it. Perhaps that is 'the day'. I can't explain why, but I feel it. I know it. And" He turned to face Emmy. "I'll do anything to bring that day about." He smiled for a few seconds, before drifting into a frown. "But... What will happen to you, Emmy?"

Emmy hugged him. "I'll be fine, Jack. ...I'll be fine."

Jack smiled, and returned the embrace. "I don't care what. But I'll do anything for that dream." He hesitated. "For you"

A tear fell on Jack's shoulder. Emmy shuddered. "Jack... The dream will never come true... I've learned it from experience..."

"Perhaps," Jack replied. "But that won't stop me fighting for it."

Emmy was still.

"Because, it means I'm still fighting for you."

Emmy squeezed Jack "I just don't want to lose you..." She let go. "I think it's better that we just live our lives in the chaos of life, instead of trying to stop it... because if everyone did so, we wouldn't have to worry about war and death."

"Heh... Too true" Jack replied. He lay on his back, and looked up. "If only everybody thought that way..."

Emmy sighed. "If only..."

Jack laughed. "Then again, if /everybody/ thought like that, we'd all be the same."

Emmy stood up. One of the buttons of her dress was off. She walked over to the window. "Wow. I forgot how gorgeous the view was, here. From the window, the ocean glittered under the shadow of the continent, and the pillars of rock jutted out, from above. Some, had fallen into the water, and rose from there.

Jack got up, and walked over to beside Emmy. "Wow. It is gorgeous" He said, looking out of the window. "If the view is this good under the island..." He turned to Emmy. "I wonder how good the view is /over/ Aegis"

Emmy sighed, remembering. "It's really nice; from what I remember. You'll see it, as soon as we get there- in 7 hours. "

"Seven hours, eh..." Jack said looking at her. "And I thought we were close to the edge..." He looked at her for a few more seconds, and then turned back to the window. 'Should I tell her about the button?' He asked himself.

She leaned against the window. "Yeah... Seven hours to the edge, then a couple more, to land."

Jack hesitated, but decided to speak. "Er... Emmy. Your dress... One of the buttons are undone..."

She blushed. "Oh, um... could you get that for me? I can't really reach it easily..."

"Yeah, sure," Jack said, walking behind Emmy. He reached for the button, and pushed it through the dress, being careful not to pull it too tight. He stood back up. "There we go,"

She smiled, and turned to Jack. "Thank you."

Jack nodded. "Glad to have been of assistance," He smiled.

Emmy smiled. "What's your favourite colour, Jack?"

"Favourite colour?" Jack asked. He pondered on it for a moment. "Hmm... I'd have to say dark blue."

Emmy thought a bit. "Dark blue? That's a nice colour." She snapped her fingers, and a blue dress appeared in the open wardrobe.

"That's an interesting ability, being able to summon dresses at will..." Jack joked.

Emmy laughed. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"Anything else you can do by snapping your fingers?" He smiled

Emmy thought a bit. "I don't know; actually. I've never tried..." She snapped her fingers, and the lights went out. Again, and they came back on. "Not much, I suppose."

Jack stood still, his mouth wide open. He didn't move.

Emmy looked at Jack, eyebrows raised. "...what?"

He remained still, as if paralysed.

She leaned forward, and kissed him.

He moved forwards, and returned the kiss. After a short while, he pulled away. "Looks like my trick didn't work," He smiled.

"Oh?" She was puzzled.

"You know. The click, and standing still." He put his arm around her.

"Aaah." She laughed. "You know, it's nice, having so much time alone together."

"Yeah, it is nice." He said. He kissed her, and then pulled back. "I hope having Jess and David around doesn't reduce the time we get like this"

Emmy leaned against him. "I bet David would love to pry into our relationship." She laughed.

"Heh, I doubt he'll be able to do much" He smiled.

She sighed. "It's nice being back home. Don't you miss Seros at all?"

"Not really, I must admit" Jack sighed. "It wasn't that nice a place at all. Smog and mist all over the place, an overcrowded and polluted city... Although there was this really nice lake. Absolutely stunning in the moonlight. I'll have to take you there sometime..."

She smiled at Jack. "That would be great, Jack."

"Apart from that, there's not really anything else... Unless you want to try MeriWheat" Jack laughed. "And I wouldn't recommend that!"

Emmy laughed. "I wouldn't mind. Something new is something new, after all." She closed her eyes.

"Sure you want too? It's basically cardboard."

"Mmm. Cardboard." she giggled.

Jack laughed. "It was in everything. I think I might now be slightly flammable... Don't try that!"

She laughed. "I couldn't bring myself to hurt you, Jack." She unravelled herself from Jack's arm, and jumped onto her bed.

Jack smiled. "Neither I to you" He said, walking over to the bed.

She stared at the ceiling. "I wonder what the others are doing, right now?"

"Takkun, probably off on some wild adventure in Edge, or more likely hearing about the chaos we caused... David and Jess, on their way here... But who knows what they're doing /right/ at this moment" He paused. "And Sypha? No idea. Probably still in the Juggernaut storeroom."

She flipped over, and faced Jack, propping her head up with her hands. "Hmm. I bet they're enjoying themselves rather nicely, right now." She smiled. "Sypha is so funny."

"I've only met him once. Quite spiteful..." Jack started, looking up. He looked back at Emmy. "Then again, we were both getting our arses handed to us by Vade"

Emmy tilted her head. "True enough. He does have problems."

"Who? Sypha or Vade?" Jack asked. "Vade definitely has problems..."

She played with a strand of hair. "Sypha. He's... disturbed."

"Hmm... Not as much as Vade if you ask me." Jack drew his sword. "Yes, hello." He said in a deep tone, mocking Vade's voice "The only way we can really introduce is by fighting. Hi-yah!"

Emmy flicked her hair away. "Actually," She laughed, "I have to agree with him. Fighting someone, even as practice, lets you know how they act, and think. You can see into their morals, by how they react when they lose, or win."

Jack sheathed his sword. "Maybe..." He smiled. "...but I prefer the old fashioned way. Of /speaking/ to people, rather than chopping their heads off to see if they are /worthy/"

Emmy's eyes flickered blue for a second. "Yes, of course." She put her hand to her head. "Urrrrgh. Headache." She plopped her head, face down, on the blankets.

Jack sat down on the bed. "You sure you're okay? That headache seems to have been coming up a lot today..."

Emmy looked up. "It's ok. I'm fine... it's just a passing thing..." she lied.

Jack looked at her for a second, and decided to lie down beside her. "If you think so..." He said "But it seems to have been recurring a lot..."

She leaned her head against his. "I told you, I'm fine!" she whispered.

"Okay, okay..." He said, looking upwards. "As long as you're sure... Headaches are a pain when trying to invent" He smiled.

Emmy laughed. "I bet!'

"Argh... You come up with some brilliant ideas, and when you try and flesh them out, headache."

The sun had begun to set, and the sun was visible between the underside of the continent, and the ocean horizon. Emmy sat up. "Look at that... This is something you see only once in a while..."

"Wow..." Jack said, turning his head to face the window. "Heh... In Seros you were lucky to ever see the Sun... All the smog and cloud... It's good to see how beautiful things really after leaving there."

"Indeed..." She wrapped her arm around his neck.

"So how long do you think we've got?" He said, sitting up. He put his arm around her shoulder.

"Hmm. I'd say 6 hours, total.”

"6 hours... What do we do for 6 hours?" Jack asked.

She looked at Jack. "I have /no/ idea." she laughed.

"Heh. Neither do I." He smiled.

Jack looked at her for a second, and noticed her back again. "Emmy... That button's come undone again..." He said. "Are you doing that or is that dress faulty?"

Emmy twisted her head around. "This dress has been around for a while... It's a little faulty." She blushed.

"Do you want me to get that for you again?" He smiled. "Although... It does seem kinda pointless if it's just going to come undone again"

Emmy leaned closer to Jack. "just leave it. Doesn't matter much, anyway..." She said softly.

"Okay, if you wish." He replied, moving forwards to kiss her.

Emmy closed her eyes, and kissed him back. Yet another button loosened.

Jack moved back a second, noticing the button. "You /sure/ you're not doing that?"

Emmy smiled. "Of course not." she said sweetly.

"I dunno..." He said, smiling back. He moved forwards, and gave Emmy a short kiss. "So... Six hours... What me to do anything then?"

Emmy opened her eyes. Another button loosened. "What do /you/ want, Jack?"

"...I love you Emmy" He smiled.


Jack yawned, stretching out his arms. He looked about the room, noticing Emmy asleep beside him. He looked to the floor, noticing his waistcoat beside him, and his shirt for some reason at the other end of the room. He remembered why. "Ah..." He said to himself, picking back up the clothes that lay beside him.

Emmy stirred. "Mornin...?" She said, half awake.

"I think it's night still..." Jack replied, yawning again. He slipped out of bed, having stuck his trousers on. "Think we've got to Aegis yet?"

Emmy rolled over, now awake. She sat up. "Yeah, I think we are. Look!" She pointed out the window.

Jack pulled his shirt over his arms, and walked over to the window, leaving it unbuttoned. "Looks... Well" He paused. He turned around. "Like we've come at the wrong time... I can't see a thing...” He paused in thought. “Maybe it might be easier on deck... Shall we take a look?"

Emmy stepped out of the bed. She bent over and picked up her dress. She frowned, and walked over to the wardrobe. She snapped her fingers, and a dark green dress appeared. She smiled, and began putting it on. "Yeah, the deck might provide a better view. I'm surprised you couldn't see it though... I can see it clearly."

"Clearly?" He asked, slightly confused. "Again, you amaze me. It's pitch black out there... Although that may just be because of the light in here..." He smiled. "Ready when you are,"

She finished buttoning the back. "Ready!" She glided next to Jack. "It's really beautiful, you know..." She leaned against Jack.

"Let's go and see it then." He smiled, grabbing her hand. "The anticipation is killing me..."

Emmy led the way, and they made it to the observation deck.

"Wow..." Jack said, walking up to the window. "That is beautiful..."

Dimly illuminated by the moons, a large forest flew under them. In the distance, a large lake. Many rocks jutted out from above the trees. A river slowly ran under the trees, and glistened through the gaps in the canopy. Emmy sighed. "It's... wonderful to be back."

"A place like this?" Jack smiled. "I'm surprised you left. This is wonderful..." He looked about from the window, looking over the whole area that was visible.

"I left to protect what I loved." She put her hand to her head, and her mouth contorted in pain.

He looked at her. "Something wrong? Another headache?"

Her eyes flashed different colours. "...Yes. I'm fine."

"You're starting to scare me a little here, Emmy." He muttered to himself. "Don't you have any medicine aboard this ship? Surely there's at least some sort of emergency cabinet or something?

Emmy looked at Jack. "Jack, I'm /fine./ I'm not dying..."

"Sorry if I'm going over-the-top a little," Jack sighed. "I just want to make sure you're okay. That's all..." He trailed off slightly.

Emmy patted Jack's hand. "I'll be fine."

Jack caught her hand, and turned to face her. "I'm sure you will be. As I said, I just want to make sure."

Emmy looked at Jack. "I'm fine, when I'm with you. I know I'll be alright."

Jack smiled, and kissed her. He pulled back, and spoke. "I'm still wondering how you pulled off that button trick,"

Emmy laughed. "Magic. I've learned how to get dressed with my eyes closed. The things you learn..."

"You'll have to teach me that one day." Jack laughed. He turned back to the window. "So... Where exactly are we landing then?"

Emmy turned as well. "A crater. It used to serve as a training place for people like me..."

"Hmm... What about this small ship then?" Jack asked, turning his head to her. "And... How will this one pass through the force field?"

Emmy sighed. "Well, we have to fix that, before we can get it to work. But it will be teleported through the force field. I left a receiver, so it'll land in Edge."

"What do you mean... 'Others like you'?"

Emmy smiled. "People who can harness Primal magic. Zeffie is one of those. They're pretty rare, though."

"Is it possible to learn how to use Primal magic, or do you have to be born with the ability?" Jack asked, interested.

"You have to be born with it. Most say it's a sign that you are favoured by the Maker... Others say it's a curse..."

"Why would it be a curse?" Jack asked, slightly confused.

"Primal mages are destined for great things. Our phenomenal power makes us ideal targets for armies and kidnappings. ...and at the start, it just flows from us... accidents happen."

"I see..." He said, looking at her eyes. "It seems everything that appears gold is merely made of silver... Or however that saying goes..."

"Correct..." She looked down.

"But... I'm not sure if that's completely true. There are a few things that seem to contradict it..." He smiled. "For example, yourself"

She looked up at him. "...You wouldn't want to be me..."

"At times I wish I was..." He replied, looking back. "Part curiosity, part..." He trailed off again.

"Part...?" She asked.

"Part jealousy, I guess. Your destiny is to stop the corruption of magic; something which is of great importance to the present and future."

Emmy frowned. "...Which requires me to kill innocent people. If I could trade it off... I would, but that's not possible."

Jack sighed. "Things are never as easy as one hopes... I can see what you mean now... Nobody ever realises the hardships these 'chosen' people undergo..." He looked back up at her. "What about this pod then?" He asked, changing the subject.

Emmy's eyes clouded. "Thank you for seeing what I see." She looked up. "Right. The pod. It needs it's engine fixed. Shall we get to it?"

Summary

Emmy and Jack wake up, and go to storm the registry office. After killing a room full of people, Emmy updates the registry for Fenrir, while Jack reconciles about the course of action, and accidentally angers Emmy. They leave, and return to Fenrir, where Emmy decides to change the plan a little, giving herself and Jack some time alone. They talk about the others, and eventually certain *cough* events take place. They awake during the middle of the night, to find themselves over Aegis.

Jack and Emmy meet General Zeffie

-On a hill, overlooking the crater-

It was Zeffie's turn to watch for anything important. She smiled at the serene night. This was the best time for a flight. She stretched out her arms, equipped her bow, and sword; and slowly rose in the air. She picked up speed, as she flew higher into the air. She did a back-flip, and scanned the ground, for anything interesting.

-Back in Fenrir's control deck-

"So..." Jack said, looking about. "Where exactly are we landing again?" He turned to face Emmy. "And how can you see in this anyway? It's impossible..."
"I'm used to it. We're landing in that crater-" She pointed to the low right "over there."
"Over there eh" Jack squinted. "Do you mean in the large blob of darkness, behind the large blob of darkness or to the side of the large blob of darkness?"
Emmy laughed. " In front of the large blob of darkness, actually." Fenrir dipped to the right, and the ground steadily grew closer.

"Hmm..." Jack said, turning around. "You said that engine needed fixing before we could get down to Edge again, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did. Although, I'd love to go for a nice night-time stroll, too."
"Hmm... It would be nice to take a look about..." Jack said, looking upwards. "Right then." He offered his hand. "Shall we?"
She took his hand. "Let's hope you don't trip on something." She laughed.
"Let's hope you don't make me trip on something," He laughed back.
"Don't tempt me!" She grinned.

They exited the ship. All around them, were sheer cliffs. In the distance, a small trail led the way out of the crater. Closer, were large boulders, and the ground was covered in a fine crystalline dust. "At least I can see better out here..." Jack muttered to himself. "So this is where they used to train those of the Primal affinity then? How would they train people here?"
Emmy raised her hand, and a pillar of glass rose from the dust. "Yes. It's quite an amazing sight. This place is where we trained. Combat, practical use, theory... You name it, we did it."
"Hmm... That's interest-" He paused, looking around for a second. "Do you hear that?" He asked, turning to Emmy.
Emmy cocked her head. "Yes... I do, actually." The wind blew around them, and swirls of dust blew around their feet.
"That's no ordinary wind..." Jack said, looking up. A small dark figure hovered up above, and quickly swooped out of site. It was too dark for him to see. "Where... where did it go?" Jack asked, looked around again.

A childish laughter came from behind them. Emmy turned around. A small figure landed a couple of meters away. Emmy's eyes widened. In front of her, was a short girl of 14. Her hair, which was a dark green; was tied into a ponytail. She brought her arm up, which was rather tanned, and her palm faced Emmy. With her other arm, she unsheathed her sword.
Jack hovered his right hand over his scabbard, while slightly raising his left hand. "Who are you?" Jack asked, slightly confused yet slightly interested.
She smiled. "I'm Zeffie. May I ask who you are?" She frowned at Emmy. "...And why are you with someone who is impersonating a dear friend of mine?!" Her green eyes glittered.
"Impersonating, you say?" He said, crossing his arms. "I don't know about that... My friend Emmy and I were just going for a walk..."
Zeffie did not drop her stance. "Emmy? She's been gone for more than ten years! I'm really sick of you people... Which general are you under; so I can send my complaints?"
"General?" Jack said, smiling. "Sorry, I'm a tourist here. I don't serve under a general..." He turned to Emmy. "...And I doubt Emmy here does either." He turned back to Zeffie. "Perhaps then, if you do not believe that this is Queen Esmeralda standing before you, you would like to ask her something that only the Queen of Aegis would know?"
Emmy rummaged through her pocket, and pulled out her wooden flute. "Zef, it really is me." Zeffie's hand wavered. Emmy put the flute to her lips, and played an eerie melody. Jack listened to the tune, watching for Zeffie's reaction. Zeffie charged at Emmy, and embraced her tightly. "You came back! I'm sorry, Em... I lost faith in you."
Jack smiled. "And you didn't believe me..." Jack muttered to himself. He waited for Zeffie to loosen her grip on Emmy. "I'm Jack, by the way. Jack Egwelln"

Zeffie let go of Emmy, and shook Jack's hand vigorously. "Nice to meet you. This is a really great day for all of us! So... what magic are you?"
"Er... Atmos and Flow" Jack smiled, awkwardly. 'This kid's got a little too much energy...' He thought to himself.
She smiled. "Perfect. A deadly combo. Are there any others with you...?"
Emmy put her flute away. "Yes, actually. We were going to head back to Edge, and pick them up. We'll be back soon."
"Yes... A woman of similar age to Emmy's appearance, and a man of around 40..." He said, looking upwards in thought.
"...and a hot tempered boy." Emmy added. "but right now, It's just Jack and I. How's the battle going?"
Zeffie looked downcast. "We're losing. Not badly, but we're not going anywhere. The capital isn't even in sight of where we've made it."
"Hmm..." Jack said, looking at her, and thought. "However... I think things might turn from here..." He smiled. "For starters, you've got Queen Esmeralda back. That's surely going to be a large boost of moral, plus possibly a slight dip in the enemy moral..."
Zeffie and Emmy laughed simultaneously. Zeffie eyed Jack. "I don't think you know the full extent of Em's powers, do you? With all of us, most battles will turn into massacres." Emmy looked sad. She looked at Zeffie. "Of course... It's best not to kill as much people, because they're our own, Zef."
"Hmm..." Jack looked up. "I don't know how Vade would react in battle, either..." He muttered. "However, Emmy. They don't know what you're going to do. Therefore, we have the advantage."
Emmy nodded her head. "True. Very true." She gestured toward Fenrir. "I think we should get going, though. Zef, if you want, you can use Fenrir as a better shelter. Just keep it clean, alright?"
Zeffie bobbed her head enthusiastically. "Sure thing, Em!" She flipped back, and flew off.

"She sure did seem excited to see you again," He turned to her. "Old friend?"
Emmy smiled. "Very. We both trained together."
"Best friends then?" He asked, inquisitively. Before waiting for an answer, he held out his hand again. "So, shall we walk on?"
She took his hand. "You could say we were best friends. There was really nothing we didn't tell each other. She gestured at a spot farther away. We did some amazing battles here. It was I who promoted her to general. We even share the same magic..."
"Hmm. I guessed she was a Primal user..." Jack said, looking off into the distance. He looked back. "So she's been a general for more than ten years then? Amazing..."
"Yes. She's actually a year older than me." She thought for a bit. "How did you guess she was a Primal user?"
"You told me." He smiled. "We trained together... We did some amazing battles here..."
"...Ah." Emmy touched her head. "We should get going."
"Right then. You know this place much better than I do, so do you want to lead?" He asked.
She laughed. "Alright." They walked for a distance, and retreated into Fenrir.

Summery
After landing the Fenrir, and walking about a little, Emmy and Jack are approached by a flying young girl with a bow. This turns out to be General Zeffie, one of Emmy's closest friends. First refusing to accept that her long-lost friend was standing in front of her, Zeffie came to realise that her friend had returned after Emmy played a short tune on a flute. She flys off into the Fenrir, while Jack and Emmy continue on.

At this point, Jack and Emmy head back down, on their path to meet with the rest of the group.

((As for current conversations in the pipeline:

Emmy and Jack in the bunker, and the Armour.
David, Zeffie, Emmy and Jack together, with Emmy getting drunk and flinging David around the room (Good times...).
The Birth of Melissa.))

[ChaoStar]

(( I think we're missing something, somewhere... hmm. ))

[Aphex]

the most exciting convo ever in arstar. awesome.

convo (RAW)

<aperture> ************************
<aphex> third quote aperature
=-= aperture is now known as red
<Ishkur> I still have to figure out how to come back .=/
<red> bio
<Emmy> You should ask first.
<aphex> your coming back
<aphex> :D
<red> want an adventure with me?
<aphex> **************************************

[DoctorAperture]

First, that was beyond epic... truely heartrending story telling

http://arstar.wetpaint.com/page/Sam+Vimes My new character

[ChaoStar]

(( So, Red is dead? Ok. we should delete that page, then. ))

[DoctorAperture]

I want to use red for something else... just keep him as unplayed

[Drathmoore]

(( I think we're missing something, somewhere... hmm. ))

Yeah, found it. When Jack and Emmy first get to Edge. I'll edit an earlier post to try and get it in the right time area.

[Universezero]

Jessika walked through the aisles of the immense armoury, stunned by the huge piles of swords and spears and daggers and everything that any solider could ever want. She saw stunning blades and overwhelming axes, but she passed them by. She knew that if she was going to get a new weapon, it had to stand out. It had to be special.

She continued walking and found herself in an unlit area full of dust. As she stepped, clods of lint and dirt were brushed aside out of her boot's path. Then she saw it.

On a small, dusty pile of aged armour lay a sleek double headed sword. Dust covered it, but it's finess and beauty could clearly be seen in the long, sharp metal blades and the intricate handle carvings. She picked it up and looked at the carvings; a fox wove it's way slyly around the handle and up part of one of the swords. She wiped the blades and saw it in it's full as it gleamed in the half-light. She swung it around and felt as the sword extended itself off her arm, like it was attached to it.

'Perfect' Jessika thought.

She leaned down to pick up the sheath lying nearby, and felt an acute pain in her stomach. She stood up from her stooping poisition and gritted her teeth. After a few moments, it was gone.

She picked up the sheath and headed upstairs.

[Drathmoore]

Aegean Armour

Emmy shifted, and struggled to her feet. "Oh my. Malfunctions."
"Malfunctions?" Jack asked, helping her up. He shook his head; there were more important things to do first. "Emmy, are you okay?"
She dusted herself off. "Mmhm. Fine. Although, I wouldn't say malfunctions more of... 'ghosts in the machine'" She laughed.
"Heheh..." Jack laughed awkwardly. The idea of ghosts seemed stupid, but after the inclusion of magic... Who could tell?
"But... You just went unconscious... Just like that" He said, snapping his fingers.
Emmy shrugged. "We're fine, so it's ok."
Jack sighed. 'It would really help if you talked to me sometimes' He thought...
Emmy looked around. "Let's get going. There's a room I need to get to."
"Right. Lead the way."
Emmy pointed across the room. "Takkun, take care of Jess for us, will you?" Takkun nodded, and went over to Jessika's side.
"Right... This room then... Is this the actual weapons part of the bunker then?" Jack asked, looking at Emmy."Or were those machines the weapons?"
"The machines were just the sentinels for this place. Each of these rooms hold different types of weapons." Emmy walked briskly toward the door.
"I see..." Jack replied, following. "...And how many are actually in use?"
Emmy opened the door. "None. All the weapons here are in storage."

The room was dark, with a small bulb illuminating the main feature of the room- An ornate suit of armour, hanging on a rack. On the far wall, hung three swords, two, smaller than the third, and blunt on the end. The third was the size of Emmy's arm, and was rectangular, like the others. However, the end of this one had an edge. Also, near the bottom of the blade, close to the hilt, was a large hole.
"This is pretty interesting..." Jack said, walking into the room. He paused. "Considering the fact that this is high-tech and important stuff, and due to those machines... This room isn't trapped or defended, is it?"
"Nope." Emmy walked over to the swords, and examined them, smiling.
"So... What are these then?" Jack asked, walking beside her to the swords. "They're pretty odd-looking swords..."
Emmy picked up the larger one. "They're mine. I made them."
"I... Er... I meant odd as in different." Jack replied, changing his words to avoid coming across as insulting. He looked more closely at the longer blade. "So... What's goes in the hole?"
Emmy put the blade down, and grabbed the other two, one in each hand. "The big black orb I have. It's not finished, though... so I'll have to do that first."
"Hmm..." Jack looked on, curiously. "These two... What's so special about these ones then?"
Emmy lifted the one on her left. It was a darker metal than the other, and it had blood red runes etched into it. "This, is Vengeance. It focuses on my dark magic, and offensive spells. Good for getting things done." Emmy lifted the other. This one was of a lighter colour, and had light blue runes etched into it. "Atonement. Focuses on Light magic, and accuracy. Amplifies defensive spells, too."
"Vengeance and Atonement..." Jack repeated. His head turned to face the ornate armour. "What about this then?”

Emmy walked to the armour, and touched it. "This, is my mother's last project."
"Last project?" Jack asked, looking at it. "What is it designed for then, if you don't mind me asking. I'm guessing it's not just run-of-the-mill armour...
Emmy touched the holes in the center of the armour. "Amplification of physical and magical powers. I suppose it's a lot like the Control Glove."
"Wow..." Jack said, looking closer. "I'm amazed that two people came up with the same idea separately... Your Mother though was going for the complete works, though, from the looks of things. Defending the user as well as amplifying them."

Emmy ran her finger along one of the arms. "I bet this could fit you. What do you think?"
"You want me to wear this?" Jack asked, confused. "But isn't this your Mother's final work. I don;t want to spoil it or anything..."
Emmy smiled. "I think she wouldn't mind. I wouldn't use it, anyway."
"If you want to try it, I have no objections," Jack replied, curiously looking at the armour. "It would be an honour, actually"
Emmy picked up her swords, and slid them into her pack. She took the sword with the hole, and strapped it onto her back. "Do you need help getting into it?" Jack stepped forwards, looking at the arms of the armour. He went to go for the breast-plate, checking to see how heavy it was.
"I might need a little help, yeah..." He said.
Emmy laughed softly. She walked over, and made a complicated gesture. The Armour opened up, so Jack could step easily inside. Jack walked forwards, and took of his hat; amazed at the armour. He moved inside, raising his arms slightly. The armour closed around him, and the visor dropped down.
"Of course," Emmy smiled "It might be a little difficult to move about in right now..." The weight took immediate effect, causing him to instantly drop to his knees. Slowly, Jack struggled back up.
"A little... seems... like an understatement..."
"Don't be a weakling!" She stepped forward, and placed her black orb inside of the chest of the armour. Instantly, the runes etched into the green armour were illuminated.
"Weakling?!" Jack strained. "I'd... like to see you... wear this!"
"Gladly." She smiled, and twirled her finger. The armour opened.

Jack stepped out, exhausted from the weight. "I'm going to regret saying that, aren't I" He muttered.
She laughed, took off her sword and pack, and stepped in. The armour closed around her. She took two steps forward, and flipped backwards.
"Alright, alright. Stop rubbing it in." Jack said, looking at her. "Tell me how you're doing that. Even a person like David probably couldn't wear that stuff..."
She laughed. "I had put in the orb. I just waited until all the systems were brought on-line."
"Right... Mind if I give it another shot then?" Jack replied.
The armour opened, and Emmy stepped out. "Of course, it still doesn't function too well."
"Hmm..." Jack said, stepping in. "What do you mean by 'doesn't function too well'?"
The Armour crackled, and zapped Jack, causing him to shout in pain. "...like so. Bugs, and it isn't too powerful, either."
"Ouch..." Jack whimpered, recovering from the shock. He lifted up his left arm. "I wonder... Do you have anything to connect the two together? The Glove and the Armour?"
Emmy knelt down, and rummaged through her pack. "Ah, here it is." She tossed him a set of crystal cables. Jack took one of the cables, and attached it to the Glove. Taking the other end, he attached it to the arm of the armour. He took another cable, and did the same thing, although shook due to another shock.
"That... Seems better..." He said, recovering from the second shock.
Emmy walked over to the armour, and took out the black orb. She knelt down, and began muttering softly, placing her hand on the sword.
Jack struggled under the weight again. "You... Could've... Gotten me out first..." He said, looking over at her. The weight seemed lighter this time though. It was still heavy, but not as heavy. The markings on the back of the Control Glove disappeared, and then faded back again.
Emmy smiled. "You should build some muscles, then."
"I'm fine how I am, thank you" He replied, somewhat annoyed by the comment. He felt he had to prove he could wear the armour. "I think... I think I'll be fine for now, actually." He replied.

Emmy smiled, and blasted the sword with a wave of light, then a consecutive wave of darkness. She raised it, and said "Destiny."
"Destiny?" Jack said, slightly struggling. "Atonement, Vengeance and Destiny?"
"Right. This one is balanced.”
"Ah... So Light, Dark, and Neutral..." Jack looked down on the blade. "I'm guessing this one's mixed in offence and defence, then?"
"Correct. We should get going, then."
"Okay..." Jack said. He took a step forward, causing his foot to slam down hard on the floor. He accepted defeat. "Emmy... Could you put that orb back? Please?"
"Aaah." Emmy looked at her sword. "I can't do that. But, I'll charge it, so you, who are so weak, can move." She teased. She lifter her hand, and zapped the arm where the control glove was.
"I'm not weak!" He called out. "I'm just... Er... Alright. I'm weak."
Emmy got up, and headed back to the ship.

Summery
Jack and Emmy leave Takkun and Jessika breifly in the Bunker, as Emmy shows Jack her swords: Vegeance, Atonement, and Destiny. She also shows him the armour, of which she tricks him into trying it on without power. She gives it to him, and they leave for Fenrir.

Metal Gear Davolf, Melissa's Birth and Melissa's Awakening. Oh, and a tiny bit of Dark Emmy action.

The sound of running fans filled David's ears. Slowly, carefully, the white wolf awoke. He yawned, and all his long canine teeth were briefly exposed. Where was he? Oh yes- the Fenrir. He'd snuck aboard the other day, following Jess. Slowly, he stumbled onto his four feet. Twice as many as normal. He was beginning to get used to being a wolf. It was almost fun. David raised his nose, and sniffed. Meat. He trotted off, searching for the boxes. He found one, and tipped it over on the floor. A loud clang. The wolf whimpered. He hoped no-one had heard that.

"Huh." Jack's awoke with a start. He lifted up his head, looking about the area. Yawning, he slowly got out of the bed, blinded slightly by the light. From what he could see, there was nothing that could've awoken him. He paused for a second, only to hear a faint whimpering. Emmy wasn't there. Her side was cold, and untouched. "Is it really that late?" He asked himself, yawning again. He left the room, looking for Emmy.

David put his nose into the box, and eagerly began to munch on the old jerky within, savouring the salty flavour. Suddenly, his ears flicked. Footsteps. Looking around, David saw the perfect spot. He jumped up on a box just behind the door, to ambush whoever was coming his way. Zeffie walked in, peeking around the corners of the door. She drew her long bow, and readied it. She cautiously proceeded in.

Jack looked about the area; his search proving fruitless. More noises came from below, and then stopped."What's she up to?" He asked, walking towards the stairs.

David growled. He hadn't seen this female before. Quick as lightning, he leapt forward, knocking Zeffie over, and landing on her chest- growling deeply at her. Zeffie lay still, as if stunned.

"Emmy?" He called into the room. He heard what sounded to be someone falling over. He walked in, to hear growling. "Er... Emmy?"

David peered into the females eyes. She was faking it, no doubt. He leant forward, and opening his jaw, put his teeth at her neck...

Zeffie twisted, and kicked David off of her. David flew through the air, hit a wall, and slid down it, whimpering. Zeffie brushed herself off. "You'd have to do better than that, to beat me, Wolfy" She giggled.

Jack walked forwards, looking about the boxes. Passing around the corner, he stopped momentarily as Zeffie came into sight. He moved towards her. "Hey Zef. Have you seen-" He turned to see a Wolf whimpering beside another box. The wolf turned over, the love-ring around his neck visible, and groaned. Slowly, David staggered to his feet- only to walk into the wall and fall over again. It was quite pathetic
Zeffie giggled. She turned to Jack and asked " Do you know this cute little Wolfy?"
"I'm afraid not." He said, looking at her. "In fact..." He edged closer to the creature. "... I don't think I've ever seen a wolf before. I've only ever heard of them."

The wolf staggered to it's feet again, and slowly dragged itself over to Jack. It looked up into Jack's eyes, and rolled it's neck around- revealing the ring to him.
"That's... Odd..." Jack said, moving closer. He cautiously moved his head towards the Wolf's neck, inspecting the ring closer. "Jessika and..." Jack paused. He stood back up, and turned back to Zeffie. "There's two conclusions I find from this. Either, this wolf killed one of our companions, David, and has somehow got this caught on him..." He said, pointing at the ring. "...Or, this is David."
Zeffie took a flying leap and landed on David's back. "Hmmm. I bet Emmy could tell which." She kneed David. "C'mon, Wolfy, go!"
David collapsed from the knee to his side, gasping.
Slowly, he got up, noticing the woman on his back. He rolled his eyes, and slowly walked forward. Right into the door. A whimper again. He gestured at the door with his head.
Jack shook his head. Realising that the wolf hadn't turned around in an attempt to viciously maim the small woman who had jumped on it's back, the Wolf must be David. He walked forwards. "Yeah, er, sorry about that" He whispered. He turned back around, walking towards the entrance. "I wonder what Jess is going to think of this,"
Zeffie petted David's head. "good boy." She directed him in the right direction.

David slowly trudged onwards to where Emmy was to be found. He contemplated that his life had reached an all new low, giving rides to little girls. He shook his head, and trudged on.
"Where did she get to..." He said, looking back through doorways. "Wait..." He walked into Emmy's bedroom, and came out with the hood. He held it on his hand, and moved it towards the Wolf's nose. David sniffed the hood, and looked up into Jack's eyes. He cocked his head at him, asking an unseen question. "David, come on, show us the way." He said, looking back at the Wolf. "And yes, you have to. Consider it making up for stabbing me a while back."
David growled at Jack, but led the way to Emmy.

Reaching the Dining room, he head-butted the door open. One more humiliating act. Emmy was leaning back on one of the chairs, many bottles surrounding her. She was holding her head.
"Emmy, tha-" Jack said, looking at her. He paused, noticing the bottles that lay and stood around her. "Right... You okay?"
Emmy didn't look up. "Of course I'm not!" She snapped. David leapt forward to Emmy, Zeffie still on his back. He jumped up, and slowly ran his long sloppy wet tongue up the side of Emmy's face.
Zeffie landed on her feet. She laughed. "Awww, how cute!"
Emmy patted David. “Nice to see you too.”
Jack picked up one of the bottles, looking at the label. "Gin..." He put the bottle back. "Right... I'm surprised your still concious. Must be all that Aegis wine..." He muttered to himself. "Although, that's enough now. I already suspect you're going to have a thumping headache later..."
Emmy laughed bitterly. "I already have one."
Jack stood still for a moment. "Headaches..." He muttered, his hand to his head. After a short wait, he moved his hand back down. "That could be... I hope not." He muttered to himself.
David leant over to Emmy, and sniffed her breath. He recoiled, from the strong scent. Slowly, the wolf moved it's neck around- and then, using it's paw, flashed the love-ring at Emmy, hoping she'd recognize it. Emmy's eyes widened. She hiccuped. "You're David?" She laughed. The wolf nodded emphatically.

Jack crossed his arms. "Headaches..." He repeated, looking at Emmy. "I can think of three situations considering your headaches... Number one, you're suffering from a migraine. If that's the case, stop drinking and get some sleep. Number two, it's a side-effect of absorbing the magick of the Guardians. There may be too much for you to contain or something, I'm not too sure on that one..." He paused. "Or Number three, which is the most worrying, is that it's a sign something is about to happen to you." Jack sighed. "Something bad, if I'm right. I remember a Psychic once telling me about the ways of which they could 'perceive' the future. Of course on Seros, there was no magick, so they couldn't actually see the future... But this one told me of an old saying passed down through their family; a way of seeing terrible events in a person's future... Something bad can affect a person before it happens, as well as after"

David started pawing one of the bottles. After some fiddling, he picked one up with his mouth, and drank the whole lot in one go. The wolf grinned a toothy grin, and went for another bottle- pausing to note the raised eyebrows of Jack, and Zeffie. Emmy didn't seem to care. The wolf made a complex motion like a shrug, and downed this bottle as well.
"...Okay..." Jack said, looking back at the wolf as David drank his second bottle. 'I wonder what a wolf is like drunk' He thought to himself, quickly shaking his head as he began to stray from the topic at hand. "Yes..." He turned to face Zeffie, who was probably the only person left in the room who even at a long-shot would understand his explanation. "If I put it this way... Think of a person's life - in this case Emmy's - as a river, and a large event as a rock. If you were to throw the rock into the river, it causes ripples. But they don't just go one way. They go both forwards and /backwards/.
Zeffie raised an eyebrow. "I think I understood that... just..." she said. "So either something bad has happened, or will happen, am I right?"

David started on his third bottle. Emmy snatched the bottle away from David, and drank it.

"Sort of..." He said, turning his head towards Emmy. He paused for a second, looking at her, and then turned back to Zeffie. "But it could as easily be one of the other two reasons, as well"

Emmy laughed. "Or it could be a whole other reason!" She hiccuped.

“It could..." He said, facing Zeffie. "Does she normally get like this?" He paused. "Sorry. I mean /did/ she normally get /drunk/ like this?"
Zeffie looked at Emmy, happily finishing her 18th bottle. "No, she doesn't. Whatever it is, it must /really/ hurt. More than that whopper of a hangover she'll have in a while..." She frowned.
"Hmm... It must be those headaches..." Jack said, looking up in thought. He turned to Emmy, walked over, and crouched beside her. "Emmy... I need you to put down the bottles and talk to me about this. Please?"
Emmy put down her bottle, and leaned over. "What?" she said darkly.
"You said that these headaches could be for another reason... What would that be?" He asked, looking her in the eye. Emmy was silent. She picked up another bottle, and unscrewed the top.
Jack moved his arm forwards, gently placing it upon her as a gesture to stop. "Em-... Esmeralda... I can't help you unless you speak to me."
Emmy took a swig, and looked at Jack seriously. "There isn't anything you /can/ do."
"You and I both know you can't prove that until you tell me." He crossed his arms. "You never know."
Emmy drained the bottle. "I do know. ...I know well enough." She laughed bitterly.

David started on his fifth bottle. The wolf licked it's lips when it finished, and padded over to Zeffie, nuzzling her side with his soft furry face. Zeffie petted David. "You shouldn't drink too much... There won't be enough for me!"

Jack rubbed his temples, yet fought to hide the frustration his face was starting to show. "And how would you know that then?" She was silent.
"Emmy. Please." His voice came through as almost begging. "This is important. I really need to know this."
"Nope. You don't." She started on her 20th bottle.

Jack stood up, turning his head in defeat. "She's too drunk; I can't get through to her." He said, turning to Zeffie. "It's as if I'm talking to a different person. Perhaps you could give it a shot. Or at least distract her as I get rid of the alcohol..." He turned to look at Emmy quickly, and turned back. "It can't be doing her any good."
Zeffie looked away. "If you take it away, she'll be rather mad. I'm going to pass on that... Also, Jack. Have you ever considered that she's not telling you for your own good?"

The white-furred David went over to Emmy, and looked her in the eyes. He frowned. A sudden movement- David headbutted Emmy in the chest. Emmy toppled over, and her half-empty bottle flew out of her hand.

Jack rushed over, catching Emmy in her fall. He looked over to David. "What was that for?" He asked, glaring at the wolf. The wolf raised an eyebrow- did he expect an answer he could understand?
He glared for slightly longer, sighed, and turned back to Zeffie. "Sorry about that." He paused. "For my own health? Yeah... I thought that but... I kinda get persistent when I'm worried..."
Zeffie looked up. "This could be more serious than we take it for." Emmy stood up. Her eyes were glazed over.
"That only makes me want to help her more, saying that..." He sighed.
Emmy put her hands to her head. "...They won't go away...!"
David went over to Emmy, and began licking her forehead with his big soppy tongue, grinning while he did so.

Emmy's eyes flashed red. "Enough. I'm in control now." Her voice became darker, and reverberated a little.
"Your eyes..." He paused. "David. Stop, now." His voice came across as stern, but worried. The wolf sniggered, and moved back slowly, noting her red eyes with trepidation. "I'm guessing 'I'm in control now' isn't a good sign." Jack said, his voice slightly stronger. "So... Am I talking to who I think I'm talking to here?"
"Me." Emmy said.
"Hello, me." Jack said, a confident smile on his face. "So... You're the other Emmy, correct? 'Other' as in the personality I haven't met yet."
Emmy smiled. "We've met."

David growled loudly, and took a stance by Jack's side, moving and swaying back- ready to pounce.

Jack put his arm infront of the wolf, glaring down at him. He was confused about what to think and what to do. While the person standing before him was Emmy, at the same time it wasn't. He took a breath, and spoke. "So. Why is it that you're like this then? Why do you have multiple personalities, me?"
"What, Emmy didn't tell you? We're all Emmy. I'm her darker side."
"Yes. I was aware of that. But normally, one's darker and lighter sides are just subconscious; little voices in the back of the head. Yet... Emmy's darker and lighter sides have separate minds. As if two people..." He looked straight at her, and crossed his arms. “What I was asking was how you came to be like this; two separate minds instead of one collective conciousness."
Emmy tilted her head. "Magic. We're all manifestations of the wills of her magic." She giggled.
"We're? So, are there more than two then?"
"Well, just two, really. One for her lighter magic, one for her darker magic." She twirled her finger around, making dark trails in the air.
"Hmm..." He paused for a second, in thought. "Two minds, one body... Interesting." He looked at her. "So I'm guessing that whenever Emmy, or 'light' Emmy, gains power from a Guardian, you do too?"
Emmy frowned. "I suppose. We grow in power as her magic becomes truer, and more complete." She was spinning her finger faster, making a disc in the air.
"More complete..." He repeated. "So, what happens when your magic becomes 'true' and 'complete' then."
She laughed. "Who knows?"
"You do." He smiled. "Emmy's already told me what happens when /she/ becomes complete, but I want to hear it from you."
Emmy smiled, and said nothing. Zeffie spoke. "Death. She exists to bring destruction to our world."

The wolf here snarled- this didn't sound good at all. Angry, uncontrollable, the wolf leapt forward at what it perceived to be the threat. Emmy swept her arm aside, and a bolt lashed out at the wolf, knocking him aside. "You speak true, Zeffie." She giggled.

Jack looked over at the Wolf, shaking his head at David's stupidity. He turned back to look at Emmy. "Hmm. I thought that's what you would do; bring destruction. Everything is balanced..."

David shook himself off, and stood up. He had been hurt, and wasn't happy. The beast within him took over. He howled and launched himself at Emmy again, teeth bared. "Heehee. You don't give up, do you?" She pulsed a beam of energy at him. The wolf flew back from the beam, hitting the wall. It whimpered, but rose to it's feet, and leapt again, with David's abject suicidal determination. She blasted him repeatedly, giggling.

"David, are you trying to get yourself killed?!" He shouted. He shook his head again, and turned back to Emmy. "There's something I want to try though..." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a hand-sized orb, coloured purple. "So... If I was to say /Emmy/, would I get the voice of the dominant mind?" The orb began to glow, and started to create crackling noises. All of a sudden, insane laughter emanated from the Orb, but was soon replaced by silence.
"Right. That answers my question then." He said, putting the orb back into his pocket. His voice came across as slightly disappointed.

David, blood pouring from his front leg, staggered to his feet again. He swayed, but somehow, found the energy to leap again at Emmy, with all the ferocity of the first leap. Emmy laughed. She sidestepped, and caught David by the leg. "I'm find-" She was cut off, and her eyes lost their glow. She dropped David.

Jack cautiously took a step forwards. "Emmy?"
Emmy fell on her knees. "...why?"
"It's okay." Jack said, kneeling down beside her.
The wolf, bruised, battered, and bleeding, once more staggered to it's feet. This time though, it slowly walked over to Emmy and Jack. He leant forward, and licked Emmy's face again. Then, with an great thump, he collapsed next to Emmy, exhausted by the beating he had taken.
Emmy touched David. "...I'm sorry." She turned to Jack. "..."
"Emmy... I need to speak to you..." Jack looked at her. "But first, we need to at least help him." He gestured towards David. "Even if he was being stupid..."
Zeffie walked over to David. "I'll take care of him. Don't worry, he'll be fine!"
Emmy looked at Jack. "What?"
'How can... I can't put this harshly, can I?' He thought to himself. 'Even if she did lie to me, I can't go at her after that...' His mind settled. "I'll speak to you later." Jack said to her. "Right now, I think you should recover."

"Jack... I need you to do something." She paused. "Even if it is really difficult... would you do it? For me?"
"Anything." Jack said, looking back at her, and grabbed her hand. "I don't care what it is, I'll do it."
She stood up. "I want you to kill me."

David's eyes widened on the floor, and he started. With a jolt, he jumped to his feet, and looked at Emmy oddly. Why? his eyes said.

"I... But... I... What... Can't..." Jack stuttered, unable to answer. His eyes dropped to the floor; regretting how the blindness of his love had led him to say he would do 'anything'. A thought struck his mind. "Then what about your destiny? Your life purpose, as it were!? What happens to everything if you die?!” He came across as shouting, although he was merely just confused.
She frowned. "Honestly, I don't know."
Jack remained silent, looking straight ahead. "Is there nothing you can do... To rid yourself of her?"
Emmy closed her eyes. "I don't know, but I can't live with myself, even if I could..."
"Don't speak like that, Emmy..." He frowned. "Even the harshest wounds can heal over time, and I will help you."
Emmy frowned. "It's not what I have done, but what I could do."

Zeffie stepped forward. "Emmy... Can't you seal your magic, so it can't be used? You once told me of a spell like that, I think."
"Seal... Magic?" Jack asked, confused. "You can do that?"
Emmy's eyes lit up. "That could work, yes."
"If that's possible, then lets give it a shot." Jack said, his usual bright persona returned to his face. "How exactly do you plan on doing this then? And do you need me to do anything to help?"

Emmy summoned Destiny. "Yes, I'll need your help. Just chant along with me. You'll know it, as soon as we start." She fit her large black orb in the hole in the sword. She held it, pointing up, and instructed him to stand on the other side, and touch the Orb. Jack walked opposite her, and placed his hand upon the orb. The room vanished from below them, and a large sealing circle appeared below them. Emmy looked at Jack "Are you ready?"
'I have no idea...' He thought to himself. He looked back at her, meeting her eyes. "I'm ready."
Emmy closed her eyes, and started singing. "Just sing along," she projected to Jack.
Jack's eyes closed. From that point, he began to sing. He was unsure how or why, but the song, while being new, seemed somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it before and merely forgotten it.
Emmy's eyes opened, and light flowed into the Orb, etching white runes on it's surface. "This will take a long time, Jack."
"I've got time" He smiled. "I don't care how long it takes, as long as it helps you."
Emmy smiled. "Do you have any family back at Seros?" She projected, quizzically.
"Not that I know of..." He replied. "It was just me and my father."
"What happened to your mother, then?"
"I..." Jack paused. "I... Don't know... I don't think I ever met her. But... Considering the fact that I spent the last nine years alone, surely she must not be with us. She would've helped, otherwise. I'm sure of it."
She sighed mentally. "That's odd. Have you ever wanted to become a father, Jack?"
"I... I must admit, I've never really given it some thought..." He closed his eyes, only for them to abruptly open again. "Wait... You aren't saying that, when we..."
"No." She cut him off.
"Ah..." He said, closing his eyes again. "So... What about children then?"
"...nothing."
"I see..." He replied. "Any reason why? Or is that a bit too personal?"
"I've always wanted a daughter."
"Hmm..." Jack said, in thought. "Much better than a son, judging on the stories I've heard of my childhood" He smiled.

She smiled. A vortex of light formed around them. "It's pretty, isn't it?"
"Yeah..." He looked about. "So is this all the power you've absorbed?"
Emmy looked down. "This is all of my power, sans a tiny bit."
"Well... When you put it like this, it's amazing." Their surrounding turned into a blinding white.
"...it is..."
"You said there'd be a tiny bit of magic left, right? How much do you mean by 'tiny'? I mean, that could be a huge amount to someone like me."
A dark trail was flowing into the sword, creating a contrast with their white surroundings. "Around 7 days of magic. It's not much, but it'll work well enough for me."
"Heheh. You can always absorb more, right? It can't be that hard to find trees"
Emmy laughed. " Days of magic being a way of measuring power, Jack. Magic in Aegis is measured by time, the amount of time someone can stream a half a meter beam of whatever affinity they use."
"Aah..." Jack replied, slightly embarrassed. "I'm new to this magic stuff."
"That's reasonable. I've never seen our system used anywhere else." The dark strands were forming into a small vortex. Jack remained mentally silent, looking at the whirlwind of dark magic. Emmy looked at Jack, troubled.
Jack kept his focus on the vortex, watching it as the dark energy swirled around. He caught a glimpse of Emmy out of the corner of his eye, and turned to look at her. "Something wrong?"
Emmy shook her head. "nothing..."
"Sure it's nothing?" He asked. "It doesn't seem like it..."
She smiled. "Nothing of importance."
"Okay..." He replied. "But, seeing as we're going to be here a while, it wouldn't be a bad time to talk about it."
Emmy closed her eyes. "Remember how I said I had always wanted a daughter?"
"Yes..." Jack replied, puzzled.
"... That can never happen."
Jack paused for a second. "Why not?"
The Vortex grew larger. "I can't. It's physically impossible for me..."
"I'm sorry..." He gave it a little more thought. "But... That doesn't stop you having a daughter..."
"No, I suppose not." Emmy twisted the sword, and planted the blade in the ground. Their chanting grew louder.
"I know back on Seros there were many children left homeless..."
"...but I doubt they would be the one for me..." She replied. Multicoloured beams shot out and hit the Orb. "If only..."
"You never know..." He closed his eyes. "You never know..."
Emmy smiled, and their surroundings were filled with light. "...Melissa..."
"...Melissa... What a nice name..." Jack replied

Emmy stopped chanting, and Fenrir re-appeared around them. She sighed contentedly.
Jack smiled. "How are you feeling, then?"
She frowned. "Well, my head isn't hurting, but I don't feel so... full."
"Hmm... Dinner then?" He asked, sidetracked. "..Or whatever meal it is now. I'm not quite sure what the time is..."
Emmy laughed. "I meant in magic. I feel... Weak."
"Hmm... So... Where are the nearest trees then?" He joked.
Emmy smiled. "I'll have to stay this way." She yawned.
"I guess." He smiled, looking at her. He looked at his hand for a moment, and then looked back. "I just... Don't understand something though. I felt as if I was slightly drained during that as well... Is that normal?"
"Oh?" She smiled. "Yes, that's normal."
"Okay. I haven't the foggiest about these seal things..." Jack commented, shrugging his shoulders. "It did seem weird though..."
"Hmmm." It was obvious that Emmy was hiding something.
Jack looked at her. "What was it, Emmy? There was something more than just a seal, wasn't there?"
"You'll see." She said sweetly.

"Erm..." Jack stood still, confused at the statement. Something had definitely happened, of which involved some sort of draining of himself. He looked over himself to see if anything had changed. After failing to spot anything different, he started to look about the room. Emmy watched Jack, smiling. Jack kept looking about. There was definitely something up; Emmy was smiling. "Emmy... This had better not be some sort of..." He looked behind the seat Emmy had been in. "...Trick?"
Emmy looked surprised. "Trick? Since when do I trick you, Jack?"
"You fooled me a little with the button trick." He smiled. "So what is it then... What happened during the sealing?"
Emmy laughed. "Come to the library with me, and you'll find out!"
"Right then. Let's see what this is." Jack said, still confused.

Emmy walked off ahead, leading Jack by the arm. She was pretty excited which must mean that something had happened. She seemed to be hurrying as well. Zeffie followed the two, leaving the healed drunken Wolf on his own. They reached the Library. Emmy dropped Jack's arm, and walked into the room. She spun around happily.
"You're really seem... Excited... You're not still drunk, are you?" Jack asked.
Emmy stopped, and glared fiercely at Jack. "No."
"Right..." Jack said, stepping back slightly. 'Brilliant going.' His mind shouted at him. "... So, what is it then? What's up?"
"Well..." She brought out her sword. "Zeffie, you might want to clear out of here." Zeffie nodded, and went out, closing the doors.
"Destiny?" Jack asked, looking at the blade. "What are you doing with it?"
"Stabbing you until you die." Emmy said grimly.
"About one minute ago you asked me "Since when do I trick you?"..." Jack said, shrugging. "...And I'm guessing 'Right now' would be a good answer." He paused. "...Hopefully"
Emmy laughed. "Of course." She walked toward a door on the left.
"Heheh..." Jack laughed awkwardly. He followed her to the door. "So is the source of your excitement through here then?"

Emmy walked into a large room. It was empty.
"Hmm..." Jack crossed his arms and closing his eyes. "So what /are/ you planning to do with that sword?"
Emmy walked into the center of the room, and brought it down, planting it in the metal floor. "You should stand back, as well."
"I wonder what you're planning to do..." He said to himself, stepping backwards while keeping his eyes firmly on Emmy.
Emmy raised her arms, and a large seal appeared on the floor. It swirled with an inner light, and beams of light flew from the Orb.
Jack raised his arm to shield his eyes. "What are you... Are you using energy from the seal?"
Emmy briskly stepped to where Jack was, avoiding stepping on the lines formed by the magic circle. "Hmm. You're catching on, finally."
"I've been taught about engineering, not magic." Jack sighed. "But what are you using the energy for?"
"Melissa." She said simply.
"Melissa?" Jack repeated. "Melissa..." He paused. "... You've got to be... You can't do /that/ can you?!"
"Hmm?" Emmy was puzzled.
"Using the energy of the seal... For Melissa..." Jack paused again, thinking about what he said.
Emmy smiled, but didn't say anything.
Jack looked at the light. "I'm... Not sure if it's possible... But, you aren't... /Making/ Melissa, are you?"
Emmy closed her eyes, and spread her arms. the light intensified. Jack twisted his head a little to stop the light from reaching his eyes. The light grew brighter. "Emmy? Where are you?" Jack called, moving his arm to search for her. All he could see was the white light.
Emmy put her hand on Jack's shoulder. "Right next to you."
"Okay..." He said, slightly relieved. "...I don't mean to be impatient or anything, but how long is this going to last?"
Strands of darkness streamed around them, making a contrast with the brightness. "It should take a little longer."
"So, answer me then? Is this... Melissa?" He asked, dazed. "Or is that a surprise?"
Emmy said nothing. The darkness grew, and the large circle could be seen.
'This doesn't... Make... Sense' Jack thought to himself. "Alright then... Making a person... Does that mean I should stop calling you Emmy and start calling you a goddess?"
Emmy looked seriously at Jack. "Don't say that. I'm not a goddess. If the Maker doesn't approve, it won't happen."
"Hmm..." Jack paused. "Yeah, sorry."
The room was dark, and only the Seal could be seen. "It's a rather big Seal. I'm proud of it."
"Yeah... It is rather big..." Jack replied, unsure of how to compliment Emmy about the seal.
"...and now..." She closed her eyes. The Seal rose, and formed a sphere around the sword. Jack watched on, stunned. The sphere twirled, gathering speed.
"Amazing..." Jack said. It stopped, and shone with an intensity. "It's over..." Emmy gasped, tired.
Jack looked about. "I... Can't..."The room slowly went back into focus.

Lying next to the sword, was the form of a small girl, covered in a shining robe- what was left of the seal. Jack rubbed his eyes. "My eyes... Haven't I asked to be wa-" He stopped, looking at the girl on the floor. "No..." He said, disbelief coming through in his voice. Emmy lay back against the wall. gasping for air. "Are you okay?" He said, turning to look at Emmy.
"Yeah... Just tired. Seals tend to drain a lot of power." She panted.
"I guess it doesn't help sealing away most of your power..." He noted. "But..." Jack said, turning to the girl. "How..." He turned back again. "You amaze me, yet again."
Emmy said nothing, and walked over to the reclining girl.
"She's... She's beautiful" Jack walked up beside Emmy, placing his arm around Emmy. "She looks just like you"
"I wonder what colour her eyes are...?"
"I guess we'll have to wait until she wakes up to find out..." Jack beamed. He paused for a second, and thought.
Emmy knelt down, and caressed the sleeping girl's cheek. "...Melissa..."
"Hmm..." Jack thought for a second longer. He reached up, and took off his hat, smiling.
He took his hat, and placed it on Melissa's head. "A bit big... But it suits her." He beamed. "What do you think?"
Emmy laughed. "It looks nice!"

The sleeping girl shifted.
"Melissa..." He repeated, still smiling. "Maybe we should get her to a bed. Might be more comfortable than the floor." She rolled over, and her long white hair splayed on the floor. She opened her eyes. They were blue, Emmy noted. "…"
"Hello," Jack said, unsure of what to say to the child.
The girl blinked. "Hello." She said, imitating Jack.
"I really don't believe this..." Jack muttered, beaming. "I'm Jack. I'm your Dad."
"Dad?" She blinked.
"Yes," He smiled. "Dad." He paused, looking at the young child. 'I never thought I'd be saying this so early...' He thought.
Emmy smiled. "I suppose you really can't predict these things, can you?"
"Heheh... No." He said, grinning back.
Emmy looked at Melissa. "can you stand up?" She looked blankly at Emmy. Emmy smiled, and offered her hand to Melissa. She grabbed it, tentatively. Emmy pulled Melissa to her feet. She wobbled.
Jack laughed softly. "It's okay." He said to Melissa. "You'll get the hang of it."
Melissa was puzzled. "...hang of?"
"Er... Standing. You'll be able to stand on your own."
"Ah." she understood.
Jack smiled. "This might seem an odd thing to ask..." He thought, thinking. "But... How much do you know?"
Melissa frowned. "I don't know what you mean."
"I... I think that answers my question" He replied. "Don't worry, it's fine."
Melissa frowned. "What is fine? I don't see anything fine."
"It's okay," Jack replied, looking back. 'Hmm... I guess being born from magic... Not the best way to start off' He thought to himself.
"...born?" Melissa was still puzzled. Emmy laughed softly.

A scraping from the hall, and David the wolf padded around the corner into the library. He saw Melissa, and cocked his head, puzzled. Where were all these strange women coming from? He looked pointedly at Emmy.
"Aah..." Jack said, looking at the wolf. He turned back to Melissa. "This is David. Slightly obnoxious, smells a bit, but he's a good pet" Jack smiled.
Emmy laughed. "He's normally not a wolf, though." She beckoned for David to come forward.
David, frowning at Jack, entered the room, and went over to Melissa. He sniffed her. She smelt good. David wagged his tail, leapt up and licked her face. Melissa recoiled at the wetness of his tongue, and fell over.
"Be a bit more careful." He muttered, walking over. He helped Melissa back up. "Don't worry, he's just happy. You can tell from the tail" He said, pointing to David's wagging tail.
"So... when someone wags their tail, they're happy?" She asked.
"Not everybody... Only Dogs and Wolves." Jack replied. "Most of us don't have tails."
"...ah." Melissa mentally noted that.
"Of course, as Emmy said, he's not normally like this. He normally looks like a person." He glanced over towards David. "Although..." He smiled. "I think I prefer him this way."

David growled at Jack, and frowned. He was walking thin ice. He turned, and from the shelf, took a book between his teeth. He went over, and dropped in down in front of Melissa.
Melissa bent down and picked it up. After figuring out how it worked. She held it in her hands, and started reading at an abnormal speed, flipping through pages quickly.
Jack looked on, stunned. "That's..." He paused, and turned to Emmy. "Is that something she got from your side of the family?"
Emmy shrugged. "I'm a fast reader, but not /that/ fast."
"Then how..." Jack said, looking back. Melissa looked at the wolf, smiled, and picked up the second book, quickly flicking through the pages.
Emmy looked at Melissa. "Do you think she knows magic?"
"Maybe..." Jack said, focused on the girl as she put down the second book. "Are people born able to use magick, or do they have to be awakened though?"
Emmy thought for a bit. "I suppose she'd have to be awakened."
"Hmm..." Jack said, turning to Emmy. "How exactly would we do that, then?"
Emmy looked at Jack. “Remember the Elder back at the village?”
"Yeah..." He said, looking up in thought. "Some sort of chant... I call this person... to the powers... I can't quite remember. Something like that."
Emmy laughed. "The chant is for show."
She looked back at Melissa, who was reading yet another book on magic.
"You do know..." He smiled. "At this rate she'll be through this within a week." He looked around, and then looked back at Emmy. "So if the chant is for show... Then how is it done. More importantly, can we do it?"
"Well, I suppose we can. More importantly, does she want that? Some people don't want their magic."
"Melissa?" Jack said, turning to look at her. She dropped down the book, placing her finger on the page to mark where she was. "What did you think..." He reached for the 'History of Magick'. "...of this book?"
"It was simple, and left many things unexplained." She looked around, and picked another book. 'Lore and Legends of Aegis' and began to read that.

David looked at Jack's face, then at Emmy's. Finally, he looked at Melissa. Understanding dawned. The wolf sniggered, and slunk out of the room, content.

"What of the ideas? Do you like the idea of magick?" Jack asked, unsure of how to present the question.
Melissa looked up. "I would love that."
He turned to Emmy. "I... Don't quite know how to awaken someone. I'm guessing from the way you talked about it earlier you do?"
"Yes. I do." She stepped toward Melissa. "Kneel."
Melissa looked back, slightly confused. "Kneel?"
Emmy nodded. "Kneel."

She put down the book, still confused. She stepped forwards, and knelt down infront of her mother. Emmy took off Melissa's hat, and tossed it to Jack. Placing her hands on Melissa's head, she closed her eyes, and focused.
Melissa closed her eyes, recalling what the book said. She relaxed. Her eyes shot open again, traced with magic seals. Another appeared on her forehead. Her eyes went a crystal white.

Inside her mind, everything was dark. She was floating around in nothing. A seal - the same one as the one on her forehead - appeared beneath her, and a ticking began to sound. The ticking grew to a steady rhythm, she felt in tune with herself. The darkness around her began to stir, and the seal started to fade. The ticking started to increase in rhythm.

Melissa's eyes started fading back to normal.

She awoke from the trance, and stepped back. She sighed, feeling the power inside of her.
"How do you feel?" Jack said, looking down at the young girl. 'Did that really happen when I was awakened' He thought.
Melissa looked at Jack. "It happens differently for each person, Jack. I feel..." Emmy butted in. "Alive. You feel alive."
"Okay..." Jack said, confused at why Emmy butted in. He turned to Emmy. "I must admit... I'm curious. What affinities does Melissa have?" His voice sounded like an eager school child.
Emmy shrugged. "ask her yourself."
"Melissa?" Jack asked, turning to her. "Do you know what affinities of magic you have?"
"Nope." She smiled.
Jack crossed his arms. "This is a conspiracy..." He muttered. "Fine then, I'll put it this way..." He raised his arm. "Can you do..." A sphere of water appeared in his hand "...this?"
She raised her arm, copying him. A shroud of darkness appeared. "I think not."
"Darkness?" Jack said, looking at her arm. The water dissipated back into his hand. "Heheh... Looks like you take after your mother." He smiled.
She blinked. "So, what can you do? I don't know how to use magic much..."
"Me?" Jack asked, looking back. "For the record, I don't know how to use magic much myself... But there are a few things I can do..."
He raised his arm, causing him to hover slightly in the air.
Melissa did the same. Nothing happened.
"Hmm..." Jack said, dropping back down. "Guess you can't use Flow or Atmos..." He looked at her, and then turned to Emmy. "What about Primal?"
Emmy rolled her eyes. Jack didn't know anything... "Melissa, just try to do something. Let your magic flow through you."
Melissa relaxed, and began to channel her magic. Nothing seemed to happen.
Jack started to speak, although it seemed odd. "Maayybee I shoouuldd haavee trrieed aasskingg herr thaat..." His words seemed deeper, and lingered on. Melissa began to giggle at his speech.
Emmy broke down laughing. "Aaaah Jack."
Melissa shook, and she stopped channelling. She sighed. "That's very tiring. Is magic normally this exhausting?"
"Not normally that fas-" Jack paused. "But... You weren't doing anything. How come you're already tired?"
Emmy laughed. "Jack, you didn't notice how slow you were going?" Melissa sat down on one of the reading chairs, and closed her eyes.
"Slow? What do you mean slow?" He said, looking back. "You were moving erratically!"
"Her other affinity is Time, Jack. She slowed down time!"
"She..." Jack started, turning to look at Melissa. "...slowed down Time?" He looked at the Control Glove, and then back at Melissa. "Incredible..."

Melissa opened her eyes. "What's that?" she pointed to Jack's glove.
"This?" Jack said, lifting up his arm to reveal the entire glove. "It's called the 'Control Glove'. It was built by my dad." He paused. "Your Grandfather..." He smiled.
Melissa frowned. "It looks like a crude amplification device. Doesn't look super useful, in my opinion. There are plenty of better ways to amplify one's magic."
Jack stepped back slightly. "Heheh... Probably not. But where did you learn about amplification devices?"
Melissa tilted her head. "Books. I've been reading a few of them, while you've been chit-chatting."
"Hmm..." Jack said, looking at her. He glanced at the Control Glove again. "I guess you could say it's a bit crude... But it makes me wonder... If that's why you have the affinity of Time..."
Melissa laughed. "Of course not. It is funny, though."
"Hmph. Suit yourself." He shrugged. "However, when it's finished, I /should/ be able to do the same thing."
Emmy laughed. "I doubt that, Jack."
Melissa was flipping through another book. "She might be right. It is most likely impossible to do such a thing."
"That's what is was designed to do." Jack replied, defending his father's work. "Taking parts of the main affinities of magic, and bringing them together to allow the user to access the power of Time..."
Melissa flipped through more books. A small pile was forming on the table. "But if Time is another affinity, then...?"
"That's the one part I don't get on the design..." Jack sighed. "But... It isn't like my father to design something unless he knows it will work. Perhaps there's something he based his ideas on..."
Melissa looked through some of the larger Lore books. "However, he may have been wrong. A myth is only half true."
Emmy nodded. "...She'll get through this library really fast..."
"I retract a week..." He turned to Emmy. "I give her two days, tops."
Melissa smiled. "I love this place."
"Hmm..." Jack nodded. He looked at the hat, and walked over to where Melissa sat. "I do believe this is yours, Melissa"
She smiled, and she put it on her head. Her eyes drooped. "...I'm sleepy."
"Time to go to bed then?" Jack asked, looking at her. She didn't respond. She was already asleep, book in hand.
Emmy laughed. "She's a fast sleeper, too!"
"Hmm..." Jack softly laughed. "Which bedroom should she have, then?" He asked. He looked down at the book she was holding, and then back up. "Preferably one with a bookcase."
Emmy thought. "I bet she would just sleep here."
"Heheh... Yeah. It would suit her." Jack said, laughing. "...Although a bed would probably be more comfortable."
Emmy yawned. "I'm tired, too."
Jack stretched his arms. "Hmm... I feel slightly drained myself..." He replied.
Emmy sat down on a chair opposite to the sleeping Melissa. She leaned back and closed her eyes.
Jack sat down beside her, and placed his arm around her. "I don't know..." He smiled, closing her eyes and leaning on her slightly. "Perhaps this is more comfortable than a bed."
Emmy didn't reply, because she was fast asleep.

Summery
David sneaks around, and gets caught by Zeffie. Jack finds the two, who join him on his search for Emmy. They find her, drunk. Jack tries to talk to her, and David trys to get drunk himself. Dark Emmy comes out to play, and after revealing her destiny - to destroy everything - she flings David around the room (in self-defence, technically). Emmy comes back, asks Jack to kill her, and gets persuaded not to by Zeffie, who offers a new solution; to seal away her magic. With Jack's help she seals it away. Emmy then leads Jack to another room, and uses some of the excess energy left infused within the sword Destiny, and a bit of energy from herself and Jack, to create their daughter, Melissa. Melissa is awakened to her magic, finds a love in books, and all three (Jack, Emmy and Melissa) fall asleep.

Ice Cream and Melissa's awakening

"Mmmm..." Jack yawned, waking up. "Damn... I liked that dream." He muttered, rubbing his eyes. He looked about. Melissa was awake, flipping through a book entitled "Mastery of Seals, volume 2" Emmy however, was still asleep.
Jack scratched his head. "Morning." He said to Melissa. He glanced at the book, and then at the pile on the table beside her. "How... how many have you been through already?"
She looked up. "Only a few. I've just woken up, you know."
"Only a few..." He repeated, smiling. "I'd be lucky to get through one of those within a day..."
Emmy shifted, and muttered "Jack... Mother... alive...?"
Jack turned to look at her. "You're awake?" He asked, avoiding the statement.
She was still asleep. "I don't think so, Jack." Melissa was looking at the sleeping Emmy.
"Hmm..." Jack nodded. "Ah well. She's cute when she's asleep." He smiled, getting out of his seat.
Melissa's stomach growled. "Ah. I think I'm... 'hungry' Jack, do you know where there is any food?"
"I..." Jack paused, thinking for a second. "I think I know where the kitchen is. Let's take a look, shall we?" He held out his hand.
Melissa got up, and stood next to Jack. "Is there anything wrong with your hand?"
"No, nothing wrong." He smiled. "It's just normal for parents to hold their child's hand.”
Melissa gently took hold of Jack's hand, feeling odd about it.

"Right then... This way." He said, pulling her lightly forwards. He tried not to move to quickly in case it caused Melissa to topple over. He led her through some of the hallways on the way to the dinning room.
"...These hallways are large..." Melissa wondered.
"Yeah... The whole ship is pretty large," Jack replied. "I haven't seen many of the rooms here, but I wonder why this thing needs so many... We'll have to ask your mother about that one." He smiled.
"Where is 'the kitchen', then?" Melissa was looking around interested in the multitude of doors.
"Somewhere about..." Jack said, stopping. "Wait, no. This way." He said, turning back and then turning a corridor they originally passed. "It's easy to find"
Melissa smiled. Something occurred in her mind. "Daddy, what was Mummy saying in her sleep?"
"That? Nothing. I'm sure she was just having a dream." He replied hastily.
"I'm only guessing, but I think you're hiding something" Melissa looked away.
"What do you mean hiding?" Jack replied, slightly annoyed. "She must've been dreaming. Perhaps she was talking to me, saying 'Jack, I'm a mother. I feel so alive."
"...and now you're annoyed at me. You don't have to hide anything from me. I can understand." Melissa looked up at Jack, and the hat was tilted somewhat.
"For someone who was born just yesterday, you're pretty clever." He smiled, before moving to a frown. "She /must/ be dreaming. My mother died a long time ago..."
"Some books say that people are most in tune with the world during dreams... You can never be sure." Melissa smiled.
"No... She's dead." He replied, slightly annoyed again. "She would have to be..."
Melissa tilted her head. "Why do you insist that she's dead, though?"
Jack stopped, and turned to look at her. He had a mixture of anger and sadness across his face. "When I was about 18..." He started, in a deep, somewhat depressed voice. "...I hit a major problem. I was working to survive, and had a very hard time coming up with anything at this point. I took various jobs, such as working on different machines and products, but still had barely any money to eat. I almost starved." He stopped to recall more memories of the incident. “It became somewhat public knowledge. If my mother was alive, she would of stepped in at this point and helped. No human mother could just leave her son to die like that..."
Melissa felt a pang of sympathy for Jack. "That's horrible! So... why do you not want to meet her? It might be that she had been imprisoned or incapacitated, somehow."
"Hmph. If those were the case, then my father would've told me about it. Instead, he always insisted she was dead, even when I asked him about the rumours that floated about..."
Melissa looked away, "Or perhaps he didn't want you to know the truth. Maybe she would be better off dead..." she said in a dark tone of voice
"I doubt it. My father wouldn't have lied to me about something that important. He would've mentioned it as he was dying..." His thoughts went back to Delacrimo. "Even if she was alive, she wasn't around when I was young. She wasn't around as far as I knew. So as far as I'm concerned, I don't have a mother". His voice had darkened as well.

Melissa looked down. "Are we almost at the kitchen?"
"Yeah." Jack's voice brightened a little. "Just through here." He said, opening a door. He looked inside, noting the beds. "Wait..." He walked over to the next room, and checked through the door. "Sorry, I meant in /here/ ".
Melissa walked through the door. "This place is nice." She pointed to the fountains behind the bar. "What are those?"
"Ah... Alcohol." He said, looking at them. "These are adult drinks, I'm afraid. Although I'm sure there's some squash or juice around here somewhere..." He said, looking behind the bar.
"Alcohol? I see..." She pointed to the double doors that led into the kitchen. "Where do those doors go, then?"
"These go to the kitchen." He replied. "There'll be some food in here somewhere. Do you want to come in or wait here?"
Melissa's eye's sparkled. "I would love to go in there!"
"Right then." He smiled, reaching for the door. "You first."
Melissa pushed against the doors, but couldn't open them.
"Don't worry." Jack smiled, pushing against the door handle, opening the door to let Melissa pass.
Melissa mentally rebuked herself for being so weak. She looked around, happy at her surroundings. "...It's beautiful!"
"No wonder Emmy kept me out of here that night..." Jack smiled. He looked around, looking for the fridge. "She definitely likes red..." He muttered to himself, looking at the walls.
The kitchen was large, and held all the cooking appliances you could dream of. To their left, was a large refrigerator, and on the right wall was a large rack, of which were countless knives, from small butter knives, to ones that could operate as swords. Melissa walked up to the rack, as if in a trance, and touched some of the medium sized knives.

Jack continued looking about, opening cupboards and drawers to see what there was. He glanced over to Melissa. "Don't touch those, Melissa." He called over, before going back to looking about.
Melissa didn't hear Jack. Something in her heart compelled her toward them. She unhooked one of them, and gently twirled it around. She laughed sweetly.
He looked about a bit more, bringing out a cookery book that lay in one of the drawers. He opened it and started glancing through, looking for something /he/ could make. He glanced over to Melissa again, and saw her twirling the knife. "Melissa. Put the knife back, before you hurt yourself." He called sternly. She didn't hear him. Her eyes were glazed over.
Jack stepped forwards, and walked towards her. He stopped behind her. "Melissa. The knife please."
She snapped out of it, and stood still, smiling at Jack blankly.
"Melissa... I need you to give me the knife." He held out his hand, open. "I don't want you hurting yourself..."
Her blue eyes glinted, and she threw it up. As it fell back down, she caught it by the blade, and handed it hilt first to Jack. "I'm sorry... I don't know what got into me..."
He took the knife, slightly stunned. Shaking his head, he put it back with the others. "As long as you don't do that again, I'm fine..." He replied. 'Must've gotten that from Emmy as well...' He thought to himself

"So, where is the food here?" She forced herself to stop thinking about the shiny knives behind her.
"In these drawers, and in that large cupboard over there." He said, pointing across the room. "Do you want to take a look for anything that you might like?"
She glided over to the large refrigerator. "What about here?"
"Yeah, in there too." He said, looking over. "I suggest you try little bits of the food, and see what you like."
Melissa peered in. "There's... a lot of... meat." She looked further. "Ah! This looks good!" She pulled out a small cardboard box. "...If only I knew how to open this." She struggled with the box.
Jack walked over, and smiled. "Try sticking your fingers into the little gap, and pulling off the top."
"...ah." She managed to pry the box open. "She stuck her finger in the substance inside, and tasted it. "...It's sweet..."
"I see you've found the ice-cream." He smiled. He walked back over to the cupboards, and looked about inside them, eventually pulling out a few bowls.
"Ice cream? Why is it called that? I don't see any ice..." She frowned.
"It's called Ice cream because it's cream, but very cold, so it goes solid like ice." He smiled, looking for some spoons. "Well... Not /as/ solid as ice, but it goes solid."
"I see." The knives caught her eyes again, and she had to focus to avoid going over there again.
Jack walked over to her, and reached for the ice-cream. He tugged at it, trying to get it off of Melissa. She was still in her trance however, and held on tightly. "Hellloooo?" Jack said, moving his hand infront of her eyes.
She shook her head vigorously, lashing Jack with her hair. "Sorry. I lost it there." She passed him the box.
"Hmm..." Jack said, looking on at where she had been looking, catching sight of the knives again. He walked over to the bowls, sticking a spoon into the tub.

Melissa looked down at what she was wearing. "I should get something else to wear. The remnants of this seal will erode completely in a day..." she thought.
"Did you say something?" Jack asked, confused. He had finished with one of the bowls, and moved another along.
Melissa looked up. "I wonder if mother has woken up yet..."
"Possibly..." Jack said, as he finished with the second bowl. He brought a third along. "Not the best breakfast..." He muttered.
"Breakfast? You have to eat food to sustain yourself?" Melissa was puzzled.
"Yes..." Jack said, closing the tub. "People normally do. The only exception I can think of is your mother."
"Ahah! That's the secret to her excellent figure!" she exclaimed!
"Possibly..." He smiled. "I'm not sure if it works like that, but then again I'm not sure how it works at all." He held forward a bowl for Melissa. "Let's go check on your mother then."
"Shouldn't we get her some, too?" Melissa thought for a bit. "After all, it's probably her favourite, if it was hidden like that..."
"I've got two right here." He replied. "One for me, one for her."
Melissa blushed. "I didn't see that." She caught site of the knives again, and rushed out of the doors, bowl in hand.
'What is with that girl and those knives...' He thought to himself, slightly weary. He opened the door with his back, and followed after her. Melissa was nowhere to be seen. "She runs fast..." He muttered to himself. "I hope she doesn't trip over... and that she knows the way..." He sighed. He walked back down the corridor, looking to find which way to go. "I hope I know the way..."

A large portal appeared before him. Melissa stepped through, and gently tugged Jack through.
Jack, caught by surprise, jumped slightly. One of the bowls flew out of his hands, and rocketed quickly towards the ground. He narrowly caught it. "I wish people didn't surprise me like that..." He muttered. He looked at Melissa. "How did you do that? He asked, inquisitively.
"Magic. Now go on. I can't hold this open forever, you know."
Jack walked through, looking at Melissa surprised. 'Another ability from her mother?' He asked himself in thought. 'Did she even get anything from me?'
Melissa twirled her hand, and the portal closed. Emmy was standing there, and grabbed a bowl from Jack. "Stealing my favourite ice cream? How cruel." She laughed.
"It was all Melissa's idea! I was just a pawn!" He said in an exaggerated voice, laughing at the end of it.
Emmy raised her eyebrow. "I'll let it slide. At least you brought me a bowl!" She dug in, happily. Melissa sat next to her.
Jack followed suit, sitting on the other side of Emmy. He leant over, and whispered, being careful that Melissa didn't hear as she ate the dessert. "I need to talk to you about something..."
Emmy was intrigued. "What?" she whispered.
"She's... Somewhat transfixed by the knives in the kitchen..."
Emmy was silent. "That's interesting. She didn't try to kill you, did she?"
"No... Nothing like that. Although, she did toss one up and caught it quite skilfully..." He paused. "I'm not sure what to make of this one... On one hand, it's pretty dangerous, but on the other, it's quite a skill... What do you think?"
Emmy looked over at Melissa, who was absorbed in her ice cream. "We should talk in a more private place."
"Hmm..." He turned to Melissa. "Melissa, me and your mother need to check something quickly. Do you mind staying here for a minute?"
She didn't respond, but her eyes shone understandingly from under her hat.

Emmy stood up. She led Jack into the same room where Melissa had been 'born'.
"Hmm... It was quite odd how she acted..." Jack started, looking at Emmy. "She was almost like a magpie, attracted to something shiny."
Emmy sat down on the floor. "It's normal, I suppose. The problem is... I never expected this to happen so early..."
"So early?" Jack asked, confused. "What's happening to her then..." He was weary of the answer.
"When I was a bit older than her, I had a sudden fascination with swords- and umbrellas." She twirled her finger in the air. "I could do amazing things with them. Once, I even defeated the most skilled sword master in Aegis..."
Jack crossed his arms, shocked. 'Incredible. That skill? All of a sudden?!' he thought. He paused for a second. "So you're saying that she's becoming incredibly skilled with knives?"
Emmy nodded. "Correct. It's... her destined weapon, I suppose."
"Hmm..." Jack closed his eyes. "Knives... She'll be a brilliant cook." He smiled. "Seems like a bit of an odd weapon choice, but I'm not sure if she can help that..."
Emmy thought for a bit. "Jack, I've never seen you use a weapon, really. What do you use?"
"My weapon?" He paused, and drew his sword. "This is it..." He said, showing the blade. "I forged it a few years ago, although I haven't used it that much, so I'm not terribly skilled with it."
Emmy thought, and brought out her umbrella. "I bet I could help you train, if you wanted. We'll all need to improve our combat skills."
"Hmm..." Jack thought for a second. "I think... I think we should help Melissa first, with her abilities." Jack replied. "I mean, she's got a gift, of which should be built upon, right? I can always train later on."
Emmy put away her umbrella. "Right. Knives..." She smiled.
"Heheh..." He smiled back. "Not to mention her magic... Time is probably an incredibly powerful asset. I'm still surprised that she has that..."
Emmy's eyes brightened. "Right, where /did/ she get that?" She opened the door. "come on, we should see what she can do."
"Hmm..." Jack followed her. "You can easily train her about Dark Magic, I would've thought, but Time..." He paused again. "...I guess the only way we could train her about that is just training her with how to use magic in general..."
Emmy brought up her hand, and several silver knives appeared. "I meant with knives." She grinned.
"Where the hell did you get those from?!" Jack blurted out, shocked. 'Looks like you know your fair share about them already, Emmy' He thought,
"I know my share of weaponry too, you know." She walked over to Melissa, who was reading 'Mastery of Seals volume 3'
Jack sheathed his sword, and followed her over. "Seals?" He muttered.
Melissa nodded, absorbed in the book. She was tracing the graphs and formulas with her finger.
"Seals..." Jack repeated. A thought struck his mind. "Heheh..."

Melissa took a bookmark from the table, and placed it on the table. "I think I know what you're here for, Mother. Is it already time for my 'rite of passage'?" Emmy nodded.
"Rite of Passage?" Jack repeated, eyes wide open. He turned to Emmy, and smiled. "She's good."
Emmy pointed to a book near the top of the stack. 'Traditions and customs of the Aegean people'
"Hmm..." Jack said, sitting down. "This should be interesting..."
Emmy tugged at Jack. "No sitting down! We're heading back to that room." Melissa got up, and stood next to Emmy. She had a worried look on her face.
"Hey. I don't know how these things work. I thought it was happening right here..." Jack whined, getting back up. He looked over to Melissa. "You okay?" Melissa nodded.
Emmy clapped her hands. "Great! Melissa, you should drink..." She produced a small vial of a glowing white liquid. Melissa nodded, and drank it. She smiled. "I feel... more... Alive!"
"What is that stuff?" Jack asked, looking at the vial.
"Water, infused with magic. To a magic user, it's really useful." She took Melissa's hand, and led her to the room which she and Jack had been in.
"I see... Leaving me behind are we..." Jack muttered, following along. "Do you need me to help?"
Emmy looked back at Jack. "Well, you should be there for her."
"I'm always here for you, aren't I, Melissa?" Jack asked confidently.
Melissa smiled. "Of course, daddy!"
Jack smiled and looked back at Emmy, smug. "So then... How's this all going to work then?"
"I told you. I beat the most skilled sword master in Aegis." She grinned.
"Perhaps." He grinned back. "I haven't had the need to train with a blade."
"I hope you're ready for this. This is one of the most important events of Melissa's life." She walked in. "Let us begin."

She summoned a table. Several knives of different lengths appeared on it. She nodded to Melissa. "You know what to do."
Melissa nodded. She gathered them all up, and they vanished. "May the Maker give me strength." she said solemnly.
"Hmm..." Jack noted, watching. 'It seems quite close to their Religion... Perhaps the Maker truly does provide them with strength...' He crossed his arms. 'I know Emmy's pretty strong. But is that due to the Maker or some other reason... I think the latter.'
The table vanished. Melissa held one of the larger, silver knives. "I, the student, pledge my loyalty to my mentor."
Emmy summoned her sword, and raised it. "I, the mentor, pledge my loyalty to my student" She smiled at Melissa. "May you do well."
Melissa bowed. "The Maker will lend me strength, if it is so. Let us dance."
Emmy grinned. "Yes, Let us dance."
"Er... Small question here. Do I have to dance?" Jack asked, looking serious. His seriousness quickly changed to a grin.
Emmy nodded. "All help would be appreciated, Jack."
Melissa stood in the center of the room. Her hair trailed behind her, and her blue eyes glowed fiercely, under her hat.
'Hmm... Perhaps...' He thought briefly, and walked across. He stood across from Emmy, with Melissa halfway between them.
Emmy grinned. "I love this part!"
Melissa spread her arms, and closed her eyes.
Jack watched on, curious. “Love this part...? What's going to happen...”
Emmy shrugged. "You never know! It's always up to the student."
"Up to the..." He paused. "This'll be interesting..."

Melissa stood still, not doing anything. In truth, she was partly scared. She was unsure if she could defeat them. She calmed herself. She had to focus. Jack watched on, unsure of what to make of the ceremony so far. Something seemed odd about it, but he couldn't pick up exactly what it was...
Emmy frowned. "Normally, they do something by now... I wonder what she's up to..."
"That doesn't... That doesn't sound good..." He remarked.
Emmy frowned. "Well, I wonder what would happen if we were to strike first? Care to try, Jack?"
"Strike first?!" Jack repeated, shocked. "What?! You never mentioned that!"
Emmy shrugged. "Why not?!"
"Hmph." Jack crossed his arms. "If this is part of the training then..." He stepped forwards, unarmed, and moved to strike Melissa.
Melissa turned, and threw a knife, which caught on Jack's shirt. With her other hand, she produced another knife. She turned back, and faced Emmy.
"You... Could've warned me about that..." Jack said, placing his hand over the cut. He moved his hand up, exposing the drops of blood that lay on his hand. "That stings..." He remarked.
Emmy laughed. "If you fight like that, you'll get killed!" She swung her sword at Melissa. She created a portal, and fell through it, landing behind Jack. She created a fan of daggers and threw them at him.
"Heheh..." Jack said, the daggers reaching close, and then flinging off side-ways at odd angles. "That time I was expecting something." He drew his sword. 'Just like the altar...' He thought.
Melissa's eyes had the same glazed over look from before. She flung out her left arm, and a massive octagram appeared on the floor. She took out a small, black knife, and threw it to the floor.
"What?" Jack stated, confused. He jumped backwards, and looked at the blade, curious but weary.
The Knife multiplied, and rose. A small cloud of knives rose around her. They fanned out, and flew in every direction. Melissa let out an exhilarated laugh.
"What the hell?!" Jack said, looking on at the young girl. He placed his arms forwards, putting a wall of wind infront of any stray knives heading in their direction.
Emmy stood her ground. "Brace yourself, Jack! She's getting serious!"
Melissa nodded, and traced lines in the air. Several pentagrams appeared, and shot beams at the both.
"Come on!" Jack said, running over and grabbing Emmy's hand. Before waiting for any reply, he launched them across the room, dodging the blasts.
"Impressive!" Emmy laughed. "I wonder what's next?"
Melissa giggled. She revealed another knife, and threw it at the ground. The ground began to shake lightly. From nowhere, knives began to shoot out of the ground around them.
Emmy grimaced in concentration. She swung her arm out, and created a haze of light around their feet, and it deflected the knives. Melissa nodded, and the knives stopped. She brought out a very large one, with a serrated edge. Dark flames engulfed it.
"How long can she keep going?!" Jack shouted, looking on at Melissa. He turned to Emmy. "Something tells me this isn't going to good..."
Emmy shrugged. Then she saw what Melissa was doing with her other hand. Her eyes widened. "...I think it's already over..." Melissa smiled, and ran toward them at impossible speeds.
Emmy lifted her sword, but it was too late. It was knocked out of her hand.
Jack raised his arm, to create wall of air, but he was also too late. A blow from Melissa sent him flying across the room.
"I'm... Okay." He moaned.

Melissa took his sword, and walked (at normal speed) to the center of the room.
Emmy helped Jack up. "It's over."
"Argh, my shoulder..." Jack said, rubbing where he had landed. "Damn she's good..."
Emmy summoned the table again. She nodded. "she is..."
Melissa put the weapons on the table, and ran over to Jack, and hugged him.
Jack returned the embrace. "I'll admit, you did surprise me there with that last one. You did very well."
Emmy nodded. "I'm proud of you."
Melissa smiled. She was overjoyed, and somewhat surprised, that she had passed.
"I just have one question." He pulled his head back. "Can I have my sword back?" He started to laugh.
Melissa stepped back, and nodded. "Yeah." She yawned, and passed Emmy and Jack their weapons.
Jack smiled. "Looks like that took a lot out of you..." He noted, standing up. He rubbed his shoulder a bit.
Melissa nodded. "I'm tired." She saw his shoulder. "Oh... Let's see what I can do about that..."
"It's fine..." He said, rubbing it. "I just landed on it badly." He raised his arm. "See, it's- ARGH!" Jack jolted in pain. His arm flopped down, and remained motionless. "Alright... Maybe not."
Melissa nodded. "Can you kneel down, so I can get a better view."
"Erm... Sure" Jack said, lowering himself down to her height. He undid one of the higher buttons on his shirt, allowing him to expose his shoulder. Melissa closed her eyes, and focused. "Boundary of pain, Seal of life... let's see..." A white circle appeared above his wound, and bathed it in a brilliant light.
Jack closed his eyes. His shoulder was rife with pain. And, all of a sudden, it started to fade. His arm felt cooler, and refreshed. He lifted it up slightly, and moved it back. It wasn't fixed, but at least it didn't hurt. "Hmm... Amazing..." He commented.

Melissa closed her eyes, and started to fall. Emmy caught her. "I think she's amazing." Emmy stroked Melissa's long, white hair.
"She is amazing... Just like her mother." He replied, looking at the two. He stood back up again. "Time we got her to a bed, I think."
Emmy nodded. "Where should she sleep?"
"Any bedroom by ours, I guess." He replied.
Emmy thought for a bit. "She could sleep in the library, though. It's her favourite place to be."
"Hmm..." Jack gave it some thought. "Yeah, you're right. She really does love her books..."
"Right, so she should sleep there!" Emmy exclaimed
He walked over, placing his arms forward to carry Melissa. His shoulder clicked, and his arm felt weak. "I'm... not going to be able to lift her with this shoulder..." Jack sighed. "Do you mind taking her?"
Emmy nodded, tired as well. She picked up the girl, taking off her hat.
"She's cute when she's asleep." He commented, smiling.
Emmy stroked Melissa's hair. "I wonder where she got this hair colour from?
"Hmm..." Jack thought for a moment. "I... Can't really think of a reason... Unless it's some sort of symbol..."
Emmy shrugged, and stood in front of the door to the library. "Can you open that for me, please?"
“Yeah." He moved forwards, and attempted to lift his arm to meet the door, which resulted in more weird feelings coming from his shoulder. His arm refused to budge. He switched to his left, and held it open.

Emmy walked through, and gently placed Melissa on one of the larger seats. "How's your shoulder?"
"It's... Not exactly pleasant." He replied. "There's no pain, but... I can't move it. I think trying to move it earlier might have dislocated it..."
Emmy nodded. "That's a pain. Here, sit down on that chair." She pointed to an empty seat.
"Okay..." He said, walking over and taking a seat.
Emmy stood behind of him. "Be calm, and don't think about the pain, alright? This shouldn't hurt too much."
"...I know where this is going..." He said, relaxing in the seat in an attempt to make things easier. "Melissa's seal will help though; it won't be that bad...”
Emmy rubbed his shoulder with her hands, slowly pushing it. Then, taking her hand, she hit it squarely. There was a loud pop.
Jack's eyes squeezed shut, and his left fist clenched tightly. While there was little pain in his shoulder, the surrounding areas screamed.
Emmy sat next to Jack. "See, didn't hurt too much!" She leaned against him.
"Thanks to that seal..." Jack replied, slowly testing to see if his arm worked again. The pain washed down his arm and through his body like the aftershocks of an earthquake.

Emmy laughed. "It was pretty amazing."
"It's incredible..." Jack started. "...but at the same time, pretty odd... She's so powerful for a newborn..."
Emmy stopped laughing. "Jack, you don't even have a reference point for that. So why are you making generalizations?"
"Sorry." Jack replied, unsure of why Emmy reacted in such a way. "However... I mean, when I was awakened... And even to this day, I'm not as powerful as her, and I'm a grown adult. That's what I'm finding odd..."
Emmy leaned back. "Well, you're a man. Women are usually more powerful than men."
"Perhaps... But a child?" He questioned. He snapped back. "Sorry, this is petty of me." He looked forwards, and dropped his view. "Questioning why I'm weaker than my daughter, and not congratulating her on how she's more powerful than me..."
Emmy was silent.
Jack sighed, and then changed to a smile. "Well then. I'll just have to get better myself." His smile became more of a grin.
"Mmhm." Emmy closed her eyes.
Jack lifted his arm about, and moved it around a little bit. A small pain ran through his arm, causing him to stop. "Hmm..."

Jack looked over at Emmy. Her head had dipped down, her eyes closed. "Typical..." He muttered. He placed the hat back on Melissa's head, and moved back over, placing one arm underneath Emmy's knees, and the other around her back. "Come on you..." He whispered. He lifted Emmy up, causing his arm to hurt a little, of which he ignored. She murmured a name. "Corona..."
"...Corona?" Jack repeated, walking towards the library door. He sighed. "You aren't planning on having another child already, are you?" He opened the door, and proceeded down the hallway.
Emmy murmured "Jack's family?"
He started to recall Seros... Rumours that passed around during his childhood, before dismissing them and shaking his head. "Yes. You and Melissa" He replied to the woman asleep in his arms.

Summery
Melissa becomes hungry, and so her and Jack seek out the kitchen. Melissa becomes obsessed with the knives, of which she skilfully tosses up and catches infront of Jack. They go back to the library to find Emmy, who discuss Melissa's knife obsession. This leads to Melissa's training of knives. Melissa passes the test, and Jack has his shoulder dislocated, and then relocated. Melissa and Emmy goes to sleep, and Jack carries Emmy to their room, with Emmy muttering things about Jack's family.