Azure Wrath
04-12-2008, 03:41 PM
Prologue
“This is the tale of good against evil, as but many tales are. This is a story of a handful of heroes, whom are faced with great evil, as you find in most tales. A tale where evil will lose in the great battle against the forces of good, but where our heroes will have to sacrifice dearly to overcome the tides of evil. This is but another tale, similar to all of those that you heard from me... but it is another one, expanding on the previous ones, enriching the vivid image in your minds of the tales I have gotten to tell you so far. It is but another step forward, similar to all the others, but different in so many ways. This time it is a step taken on the waters of tormenting power. Yes... this is a tale set at sea.”
Rain pattered silently at the scale-like protrusions of the hull, while soft waves pelted against the side of the ship. A ghost-like breeze was stroking the mast of the ship and caused he great marine vessel to groan slightly, be it in pleasure or in pain. It was a silent night, it was a Friday night, it was no holy night. It was nearing midnight but the moonlight still trickled liquid silver onto the abandoned deck. The crew were all inside the ship, away from the rain, except for one who was keeping watch on the deck. They were on course and had a few days left before they would reach their destination.
“You see, in this story, our men at sea are in grave danger. The story starts on a calm, summer day, when they sail away from the port where they all said their goodbyes to family and friends. The trip starts innocently enough, with no worries and no hassles on the horizon, only soft cobalt waves and a golden shimmering sun with its hands of wind guiding their ship onto their path.”
In the lashing rain, a second ship silently shifted next to its target. The men aboard this second ship covered their faces with black cloth, leaving only their purpose-driven eyes open, which appeared like mercury under the necromantic moonlight. Moving swiftly, they leapt silently onto their target ship. Stealthily, they moved on the deck, staying out of the sight of the one keeping watch. The unofficial guard of the deck started his patrol, walking around the perimeter of the deck, to keep an eye open for any trouble and to see if they were still on course. He yawned and swept the rain from his face and slowly stepped forward, not knowing that he had company on the deck...
“You see, no matter how bright and happy the sun seemed on the day of their departure, the moonlight had to come and, along with the moonlight, the darkness. The crew knew this, but they were ready for what was to come. Or, they thought they were. They made precautions and plans, to ensure their safety... But, as it always seems to happen in these tales... evil always finds a way to slip through.”
On his patrol, the guard noticed something resembling footprints, trodden in the wet surface of the wooden deck. ‘Were they his footprints?’, he thought for a while... but his thoughts were fractured into pieces when someone hit him at the back of his head. The world turned black for this guard, while the new company on the deck bound him and propped him in a nearby corner. After the guard was taken out, more people shot up from the small boat, now leaving a sum of seven people on the deck, excluding the knocked out guard.
“Despite all the precautions they had made, problems seemed to find them. While floating innocently on the tranquil seas, a storm struck them, one possessed by the vilest of devils. They may have reinforced their masts, they may have planned to steer away from any storms.... but eventually, they were struck by the forces of evil.”
The old man’s story was interrupted when five men burst into the room where the ship’s crew were held. As they cracked the door wide open, the clock struck midnight, turning the night into Saturday. Immediately, all of the crew whom had converged around the old man and his story dropped to the ground, to avoid violence. Storming in harder than the oncoming clouds, the five men powered through the room, binding all of the crew, bar one young boy who ran out and dove into the water, seemingly too scared to handle whatever was about to happen.
After the crew of the ship were all bound up and secured in a room, the seven men gathered in a rough circle, back on the deck of the ship, still underneath the velvet soft rain.
“So far, so good. Seems this mission will go down well.”
“Yes... the boss will meet us at the abandoned harbour a few miles north of here. He should be very happy.”
“Yes... He will be. We’ve captured this ship....”
“...We’ve seized the Libra.”
Azure Wrath
04-23-2008, 10:46 AM
Afternoon shower
The waves were still as merciless as ever, relentlessly pounding against the vessel which was dwarfed by the almighty creators of this terrible storm. The boat was lugged up and down by the atrocious waters, while sprays of water showered over the deck, leaving nothing dry. The crystal clear water bore no mercy for the ship, as godlike hands swept more and more waves towards the ship, rocking it to the point of nearly tipping over. But it seemed that those hands had a small sense of mercy for this little ship, for the waves never fully drowned the boat. However, more trouble was on the horizon as a small, white tip peered out of the water. It took no genius to realize that this was nothing but trouble peeking above the water. And it seemed as if the waves were sweeping the vessel into the direction of this peak, which seemed to be only the tip of something much bigger... it was only a matter of time before the vessel would be struck and face impending doom...
Then, there was a loud knock, as loud as thunder.
“Anry! Will you get out of the bath, damn it! You’ve been in there for at least an hour!”
Kagirinai Jin’s voice was unmistakeable and he seems a bit agitated. Either that or he just really needed to use the toilet. Anry figured that it could be a bit of both, so she slowly started finishing up in the tub and stopped playing with the little toy boat which starred as the boat in her little twisted game.
“Ok Jin-sama! I’ll be out soon!”
Despite being a female, Anry didn’t take too long to finish up her cleaning. She had actually finished washing up a few minutes after she got in the tub, but she got distracted by the little toy boat, hence her being in there for the past hour or so. Her skin was now rose red and her fingertips had shrivelled up like a prune. As she got out of the tub, she quickly wrapped herself up in a towel to dry up, so the others could use the bathroom. Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized that the break she had taken from her shinobi work had a good effect on her. She had a sparkle in her eyes again and there were no more bags under her eyes. She had also picked up some weight. Not enough to make her look fat, just healthy. A good portion of the weight also seemed to have gone to her breasts, which she was secretly happy about. However, she didn’t marvel at herself for too long. She never was cut out to be vain, plus she had others waiting for her to finish up, so with the towel still wrapped around her, she opened the door. As she did, she was confronted by Jin.
Anry had pictured Jin standing outside the bathroom, grabbing at his bladder and hopping on his toes while waiting for Anry to finish.... but instead, the leader of her clan stood with a soft, yet serious, smile on his face. He also held a scroll in his hand which was a dead giveaway why he was waiting for Anryoku. She peered at the scroll and then looked at Jin with questioning eyes.
“Are you ready to put your forehead protector back on, Anry?”
“Hmm... I think I am.”
“Well... take a look at the scroll. I know that the last mission you were on troubled you... and you never told me about it. Though, the Raikage told me small bits about it. If you want to tell me about it, I’ll listen.”
“Well... Let me get dressed and then I will tell you about it.”
“Ok, sounds good. In that case, I’m gonna take a shower... and I need to pee... badly!”
After getting dressed, Anry sat in one of the many living rooms in the Kagirinai Manor. The entire room was dressed in rich wooden walls, brimming with a warm auburn glow, which matched the black furniture pretty well. Outside, the wind was blowing and the clouds were gathering, as they almost always did at the Hidden Cloud. Some birds were chirping in the garden, hopping from branch to branch, shaking the loose brown leaves as they went. Anryoku sat with the scroll in front of her, but she had not opened it yet. Images of her previous mission still hung in her head. Though it was more successful than her mission at Capricoso, the last one had left a terrible mark on her, leaving her with an immense uncertainty of herself. Could she tell Jin about Yku? What would he think of her? She had no idea, but she had not opened up to anybody since she came back from the tomb of Sagitarii. It had been nearly three weeks and she still trembled at the thought of that time.
Soft footsteps betrayed the silence in the room, as Jin soon entered, looking much cleaner, but still as kind and friendly as always. He sat down next to Anry and looked at her.
“So... you want to tell me what happened at your last mission?”
“Well.... Ok.....”
Azure Wrath
04-24-2008, 11:53 AM
Looking back
“Talk to me, Anry... Tell me what happened.”
Sitting down in one of many living rooms in the Kagirinai Manor, Anryoku looked at Jin and remembered that this man was the closest she had to a father. Her biological father was far from her real father, for nobody’s parents would ever kill their siblings... Anry was unfortunate enough to have seen her father kill her younger brother and that was also the last time she ever saw him. After running away from her home, she landed in the care of Kagirinai Jin, who had taken care of her ever since. He really was a role model to her and he was one of the many sets of hands who would pick her up when she had fallen. After looking in his eyes, which glimmered the same green as hers, she could feel that connection with him again and suddenly felt safe to talk to him.
“Well...where should I begin? I haven’t told you about what’s gone on in my life for a long time...”
“Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve spoken... But, the Raikage has been reporting to me about your progress, because I worry about you.”
“You do?”
“Of course I do... You’re a Kagirinai and you happen to be a really cute kid! Now, I know of what happened at Capricoso, especially with you and Luke.”
“Oh... how much do you know of that?”
“Well, I know you and your team had a set of objectives, but you got sidetracked by Luke, who was supposed to marry the princess in that town... and that you two fell in love and that it caused severe complications... and then, in the end, Luke....well, yeah, I don’t need to tell you that, do I?”
“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up...”
“Ok, but now... what happened with the last mission?”
Anryoku waited for a second or two, to fill her lungs, for it would be a long story.
“Well, our mission was to go to Camp Aryan, where we were supposed to help a man called Samuel Toukai with excavations. From the word go, the mission description was pretty vague, really. Myself, Hitame and a guy called Dimitry were assigned to this mission. Hitame and I are good friends, but Dimitry was a new guy... and, well, Dimitry and Hitame didn’t get along well... Nevertheless, we got to the camp, where the digging was underway. And after some introductions, we were taken to our tents, where we would sleep. However, that night, I had a terrible dream... I dreamt of a man, a man called Sagitarii, who held me captive in a great banquet hall, with seven tables, each one full of food and each with a piece of cloth covering some foreign orb... and each of these orbs glowed a different colour... Now I know what they were... but at the time, I didn’t. But in this dream, I saw another me coming forward... except, she looked like my opposite, my negative... and she was barbaric, feeding like an animal in the great banquet hall. Sagitarii, the man keeping me captive, held his great bow and arrow pointed at me, while ‘feeding’ the other me... And eventually, he told her that she would serve him and that she would help him find the Gatekeepers. After that, he shot an arrow through my head... and in my dream, I died. I woke up screaming the next morning, though the noise never left my lips. From that moment, it felt as if I was thrown into the back of my mind, as a prisoner within my own body... but I could still ‘control’ what I was doing... It just felt as if a magnet was drawing me somewhere... That morning, we were taken to the excavation site... and, Samuel showed us the First Hall... It was amazing... the entire room brimmed with a dull golden glow, with ancient ruins seemingly glowing from the walls. At the main wall, there were four circular recesses in the wall. These were holes for the Gatekeepers, which were needed to open the great tomb... and this was our mission. To open the tomb. Little did we know what lay behind it... After Samuel explained to us, everyone except for me left... but while I was alone in the room, I met a girl called Yku Rona. No one else saw her and thinking of it now, I should have realized something fishy... But she knew a lot of the Gatekeepers and offered to help me... and I accepted. Afterwards, we split up into three teams, each going for our own Gatekeeper. I went with Yku, Hitame went with Vohn Roy and Dimitry went with a guy called Sol de Mort. On my trip with Yku, I realized that Yku was not as innocent as she initially seemed... she seemed pretty obsessed with the Gatekeeper and pushed me harder and harder to keep up... And, well, after a long time, we finally arrived at a great forest in the middle of the desert, where the Gatekeeper was located. We travelled through the forest and all that time, that magnetic force just strengthened and tightened its grip around me.... until I saw the Gatekeeper. The orange orb, The Tiger... and the second I touched it, I lost control of my body, completely. I was taken back into my own mind and chained to the back of my skull, where I could only see through the windows of my eyes what was happening outside.”
Anryoku paused for a while, to see what Jin had to say about that... but oddly enough, he looked at her with caring eyes and waited for her to continue her story. He then gave her a reassuring smile which gently told her to go on with her story. His lips read ‘I don’t think you’re crazy, you can go on’ and it comforted her further. So, she took another deep breath and then continued.
“Well, from this point on, I was not in control of what I was doing... was just a passenger in my own body... and it felt terrible. But in this state, my body and I escaped from the forest with the Gatekeeper... the entire forest came to life and swallowed itself as we ran out of the place... And, when we got back, Dimitry told me that some excavators had seen ghosts and we had to check it out... after some investigation, we found that it was Sol de Mort and his accomplice, who had done this to scare the excavators away, in order to steal the Gatekeepers. After a short confrontation that nearly turned into a fight, Samuel Toukai arrived and stole the Gatekeepers which we all had there... and then he ran off to the tomb. We chased after him, but we were too late. He had plunged all of the Gatekeepers into the wall of the First Hall... and as he inserted the last one, a blade shot from the wall, impaling Samuel. At that moment, water started filling up the Hall and everyone but myself left... my body moved on its own and pulled the sword from Samuel’s body and then pressed the sword where it came from... and as I did, the water stopped pouring in... and the wall in front of me moved open... As it did, I was released from the back of mind and had reassumed full control of my body. Dimitry was with me at that time... and then we were allowed into the great tomb of Sagitarii.... except, it was empty... it had millions of ruins, running across the walls and floors and only had a pedestal in the centre with a black cloth over it. And as we walked into the room, I slipped into a dream world, where the ruins caressed me and told me a tale... a tale of the Seven. According to the ruins, the Seven are seven orbs, containing immense magical powers, which were intended to be used for good... but each of their owners got absorbed into them, corrupting them, turning them into items bearing incredible power, but terrible consequences. Avaritia, Gula, Invidia, Acedia, Luxuria, Superbia and Ira. Those are the names of the Seven, one created on each day of the week. The one in that tomb, the one with Sagitarii inside of it, was Gula, the Pearly Tuesday... However, Dimitry and I left it alone for the time being... we concluded that our mission was over... but then, I realized that I hadn’t seen Hitame in ages... Turns out that Hitame was poisoned when he went to get his Gatekeeper... and he was about to die. It was then, that I took Gula and decided to use its power to save Hitame. When I touched the orb, I was sucked into it, where I eventually landed in on a plane in an ocean of pearl... and on the horizon, I saw Sagitarii.... and he summoned someone to battle me, as a contest. If I won, Hitame would be healed... if I lost, I would have been consumed by Gula... but, Sagitarii had summoned Yku... who then revealed to be the other side of me... Suddenly, her skin dropped off, showing that she was the other me, my negative from that dream... and that it was her who was in control of my body, because Sagitarii was feeding her in exchange for her to release him... He and she had conspired against me... But then, Yku and I battled... it was difficult, to say the very least... but in the end, I won... and it ended with Hitame being healed and me escaping from Gula... And then, the mission ended. We came back here and, well, Hitame taken to the hospital to remove the last traces of the poison.”
For a few seconds, Anryoku remained quiet. She had told Jin everything, even the story involving Yku. Jin remained quiet for a while too, thinking about the tale, especially about the Seven.
“What happened to Gula?”
“Dimitry said that he buried it on our way home, so it should be out of our way.”
“Ah... well, I would have liked to have done some experiments on it, along with the Raikage... Oh well. Well, Anry, I want to discuss this story with the Seven with the Raikage a bit... while I do, I think it’d be good if you go and get Hitame from the hospital, so you can go on this mission. It would do you good to break from your current environment.”
“Ok... maybe you’re right... Hitame is leaving the Hospital today, right?”
“Yeah, I checked before I left... He seems really keen to see you. So, you should go get him and have some fun on this mission!”
Jin’s last words put a small smile on Anry’s face. He had actually made her excited about this mission. So with a giggle that used to be Anry’s trademark, she hugged Jin and ran off to the hospital with the scroll in her hand.
But once again, Anry was heading head first into a tempest of trouble...
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