P.S.S. "The Legend Of The Primal Keys"::Ch.2 b- Desolation [IC]

[Sutoratosu]

Let me find some good ass music for this...

"Beneath... beneath Lithania." the Boy managed in between his sobs, which had grown uncontrollable. His entire body racked with grief as he continued.

"Under the royal palace... the Sultan once had it stored there long...long ago. In the solar caverns." then the boy became lost in his grieving. it was obvious that Darius would get no more information out of the child.

[Felicity]

Darius walked to his companions and made sure they knew this information, then returned and sat next to Absaloms father opposite Absalom himself, prepared to wait for as long as needed. The boy needed someone to cling to, or something to focus on. Darius would at least be there if needed.

(Either Absalom takes up a vengeance and follows the group, or Darius remains with him until he is OK.)

[Ragnar]

Gideon looks away as Darius comforts the kid. Despite of his callous nature, Gideon somehow sympathize for the boy's lost, for he too lost his father at an early age, Gideon feels helpless and angered at the same time as he smears of Marcelos's blood on a nearby wall, cleaning the filthy blood from hands.

"Well, what done is done" he sighed. "Sorry we couldn't save your father, kid. we're only human, we could only save a few." he said and kneels down on one knee, leveling with the kid. "Thank you Absalom, you've been a great help, I know your father will be so proud of you..." Gideon said to his fellow young countryman as he looks down at the body.

[Sutoratosu]

Absalom eventually managed to stop his weeping. He stayed there for a few moments more, his tears drying on his cheeks. He spoke, his voice still a little shaky.

"I'm going to kill them all..." he whispered, still staring down at his father. He spoke again, his voice filled with the silent ferocity of a son who had just seen his parent murdered.

"I don't care how long it takes, who they are, who they know... I will find who did this. And I will give them a fate worse than anything the Sky Slayer has ever done. I will surpass even him in my vengeance." He looked up at Darius, there was pure hell fire in the boy's eyes. he meant every word he had just said.

"I'm coming with you," he said. He stood, walking away from his father's dead body and over to the naga warriors.

"Carry him." he ordered, pointing to Stratos. they all looked at each other for a few moments, not doing anything until their leader spoke up

"Do it..." he said. "Just do it..." They all rushed to fullfill the order, hoisting up the Sky slayer. The naga warrior stood and walked over to the lad.

"I heard your declaration, boy..." he began. "those are bold words. I am sssory for the death of your father at our handsss... but to kill an entire race of already dying beings?"

"Shut it, Naga." he snarled. the leader was surprised the boy even knew the name of his people. "I'm not after your scaled hides... I'm going after that shadow from earlier... I'm going after God himself. I'm going... after Marcelos." with that, he turned and began walking away, back down towards the bridge that connected the city to the opposite cliff face. the Naga warriors cast a few weary glances, then began to follow him.

((And no, he is not going to just leave without burying his father and giving him last rites first.))

[Ragnar]

Gideon stood up and looks around at his remaining allies and the destruction of this underground cavern, Gideon sighed and turns his attention to Darius.

"I think we should follow the boy in search of this Elixir and continue our quest" Gideon takes a long pause as he pick-up Boho's sunglasses and looks down, paying a moment of silence to their fallen ally. "I'm sure that what Boho wants." Gideon said as he keeps the shades.

"We should probably bury Zolivar too, i think he might be dead as well." Gideon assumed, as he taps Zolivar's unconscious body with one of his sword, checking if he's alive.

[Felicity]

As gideon soke, Darius was shocked at his words.

"You would give up on a comrade so easily?!!?" Darius rushed over to check Zollivars pulse. "He' fine, Bloody hell man." With that said, Darius tried to wake Zollivar. "C'mon mate, you're a man of the Sword. You can take this."

[Sutoratosu]

Zoliver was still unresponsive as Darius and Gideon tried to goad him into waking. His chest still rose and fell steadily; he was still alive... but he seemed to be out completely cold for the time being. Or at least... that is how things appeared from the outside. Absalom could be seen walking towards them from the lower levels of the city, thumbing through a mysterious book as he made his way. His father's bag was slung across his shoulders, filled with various supplies. The Naga Warriors followed behind, taking shifts carrying the Sky Slayer on their backs.

Neither did either of the two other warriors, or Absalom, or any of the Naga know, that their comrade was in the beginning stages of a fearsome dream...

***

The Sun was just beginning to set over the Horizon in Zoliver's vision. The Dusk was cold, a light snow was beginning to fall as the Sky began to darken. All around the small coastal town of his Birth, Koise, Lights were beginning to flicker on as people retired to their homes for the evening. The Streets were slowly but surely beginning to empty.

"Zoliver," a Young woman's voice called from a nearby doorway. It was his Younger sister. "Are you going to stay out here all night? it's not really any way to celebrate one's nameday..." His sister was a rather slender thing, barely 17 years, and standing at 5"5 with Raven hair flowing down her shoulders in a short braid. To candle light from their family home illuminated the space beyond the doorway, giving her a near Ethereal glow as the heavens blackened. The wind slowly began to pick up, the flurries beginning to fall a little heavier.

"Come inside," She insisted. her breath was visible in the dropping air temperature."You'll catch your death in this weather."

((You aren't gonna get it quick like Darius did... Oh no, I'm going to drag this out a little... there's a few things I want quashed about that constant smugness. I will take EVERYTHING from you right now... you hear me? EVERYTHING!!!

also, you can choose whether or not to name your living family members, but if you don't want to, then I won't have any issue giving them names myself.))

[Aurorix]

Zolivar was stunned to see his dead sister alive again, he rubbed his eyes contemplating about the last several months he had lived. Zolivar couldn't understand what was going on and he started to tear up. Was that all a dream, or did he die and went to the after life either way he headed toward his sister saying,

"Sorry, I don't know what i was doing." Then he noticed the cold temperature and snow, "Shit, was it always this cold. I'm gonna go inside and light the fire."

You can name them, I'm not good with names :T

Edited September 24, 2014 by EXLink32

[Sutoratosu]

"Alright then..." Alma said, turning to go back inside... then she stopped and looked at her brother again.

"Zoliver, What's wrong?" she asked. "Why are you crying?" The young man hadn't noticed that the tears welling in his eyes had begun to fal down his face in tiny streaks. He was crying without even being consciously aware of it.

[Aurorix]

"No reason, just crying for crying's sake." Zolivar said trying to hind the truth from his sister. "Anyways, you better get in too." Zolivar said entering the door of his old house.

[Sutoratosu]

Alma stepped out of the way as her brother entered the humble little abode, shutting the door behind him. The home was lit with several candles in the window sills and on the tables. in the Fireplace a blaze was already lit, filling the whole house with warmth. It was quaint, the family room. A Rectangular table wrought of heavy Oak wood sat in one half, several matching Chairs around it. Beside that was a small wood stove and miniature chimney, along with a water basin and tiny cupboard filled with a few plates and pieces of cutlery. Over by the fire place sat two more, simpler, chairs. a small woolen carpet was layed atop the stones of the floor. A broken broom sat leaning against the fire side of the mantel... along with a Long Barreled fusil. To the right of the Fire place the room tapered off to a small hallway where the Beds and individual rooms were located, one shared by Alma and Zoliver's other younger sister, Aria, whom was but some 7 years old, and then one for Zoliver himself, and another for their mother. To the left of the Table and small kitchen sat a passage way leading underground to his Mother's forge and shop gallery. his youngest sister poked her head out from the corridor as she heard the door shut. She was an adorable little child, Aria. though her hair was auburn instead of the pitch black that her older sibling's were, she still had the family facial features, along with rosy cheeks and eyes burning with the curiosity of childhood. Ecstatic, she ran over and giving her big brother a hug around the waist before he could react.

"Zoli!" she said excitedly, using the nickname she had come up with for him. "Happy Nameday!"

***

"The Back of your friend's head is split open" Absalom said as he stood looking over Darius and Gideon's shoulders. he continued his search through the tomb's contents. "I just thought I should point that out to you two..." if they looked, they would see he was indeed right. the ground beneath the young knights head was stained with shining red, as was his hair, matted with it, infact. As to how the hell the Naga's could've overlooked this injury when they had pulled him out...it was unknown

[Aurorix]

"Nameday?" Zolivar asked, "For who is this the day of names?" He said it in a way like he was joking just to make sure if it was well know it wouldn't make him look strange.

Edited September 24, 2014 by EXLink32

[Sutoratosu]

"Why, it's yours of course, Silly!" Aria said, still clinging to him.

"indeed it is," a woman's voice called. Footsteps could be heard from the passage to the forge, and up the steps came Zolvier's mother. A somewhat tall woman at 5"9, her face was lined with the stress of raising three children, two of which bastards, as well as managing the shop and forge from day to day. It was easy to see where Zoliver and Alma got their jet black hair when one looked at her, though it was beginning to gray in places now. Her eyes were tired, lacking the color they had back when she was a delightful twenty-something year old, but a Determined fire still blazed there, as it always had. A fire that would prevent her from ever simply giving up, no matter the obstacle placed before her.

No man in the house, besides her own son who was barely old enough to bring in some income? Fine, no problem, she just worked harder to make ends meet. The fact that Alma's and Aria's fathers were coming by asking to see them ,after they had both walked out on their little family, and her, just a year after either of them had been born? Not a problem, She would tell both of them no with the edge of her blade next time. The fact that her own husband had left one night before Zoliver was even four years old , saying his was going to get some tobacco for his pipe, and then never came back? No problem, if he wanted to walk out on his son and her, then fine. She had just told the boy that a pirate raid had happened in the middle of the night and that his father had been hauled off and killed by them. Better to make the boy think he was dead than to have to raise him with contempt for the man who sired him.

And the most convenient part? that night, there actually had been a Pirate attack on the town, although it was just down by the docks, no where even near their home, and wasn't anything more than brief skirmish between workers and the ragtag crew of a ship that was looking to restock supplies. No one had even been more than a little beaten up during the whole thing. But Zoliver didn't have to hear those details, and if she had it her way, she'd make sure he never did. Johnathan Zoliver Nix could stay dead in her son's mind.

"did you get the pie?" she asked as she pulled off her gloves and picked up Aria, far more than strong enough to support the small girls weight. "It be a shame if we couldn't celebrate your name day like you wanted because you were forgetful with the Errands..." The Pie she was reffering to was one Zoliver should've remembered well, an Apple Spice slathered in honey. He was supposed to have gone to the bakery and picked it up for tonight... and he had, it was in the small parcel in his hands right now in fact.

[Aurorix]

Zolivar noticed that he had a bag in his hand and proceeded to place it on the table. He opened the mysterious bag and wouldn't you know it, it was the Apple pie. The sweet parfume of freshly backed apples lingered in the air. While before Zolivar was curious, now he's wondering if he's just dreaming. Though if it was a dream it's not one he's gonna wake up from, he could spend a little more time with his deceased family, even for a little while.

"Yea, I wouldn't forget something as important as this." He said smugly to his mother.

[Sutoratosu]

"Still as smug as ever," His mother sighed. "And this from the boy who keeps forgetting that steel cracks when try to add hot ore to it..." She put down Aria, examining the pie that Zoliver had retrieved. It was still warm to the touch.

"Sit down you three," she said. "I'll get dinner on the table." His two younger sisters each took the places around the slab of Mahogany. There were three chairs left unoccupied, one for him and another for his mother... and the third for all three of the worthless men who had fled this house in the dead of night over the years, never to return... well, no, to be fair, two of them had tried. But the only one Zoliver's mother had actually ever cared whether or not would returned... hadn't.

Meanwhile, out at sea, not far from Koise

"Captain, a town," A young pirate said, handing a weather beaten, bronze telescope to an older man with graying whiskers and eyes cold as stone.

"I know," John said, annoyed. He pushed the Telescope back into the boy's hands, sending him on his way with just the wave of his hand. He was a big man, John, standing at just under 6"4 with a barrel chest. His arms were thick as pythons from the years he had spent out on rough waters, loading and unloading various cargoes from all across the world. His legs were stout and powerful, able to anchor him firm to the deck even in the fiercest of squalls. The wind howled softly in the young night, threatening to blow the woolen tri-quartered cap from his head while at the same time billowing his black, double breasted coat that reached down past his mid calves; something he had found to be necessary over the years in certain waters, with temperatures as low as they were now. But his most striking feature was his face. Specifically the long, jagged scar that ran diagonally across it's length, an injury from a bad fight long ago... but God himself couldn't have helped the other guy. His cheeks were weathered with the winds of time, as was his brow, rendering skin that was once young and full of vitality now worn and lined.

"Monroe!" he called from the Navigator's deck. down on the lower platform a lean young man of about 24 or 25 snapped to attention, saluting.

"Aye, sir," he said.

"Don't call me sir, boy," the older man quickly reprimanded. "This is the Dagger, Ship of the Silver Blood, not the damn Cithaloc Fleet."

"Forgivings, Captain," the man dropped his hand back to his side, breaking off the salute.

"How far are we from that village you spotted?"

"one hundred, maybe two or three meters, Captain. The Waters seem to be calm along there docks, it'll be easy for us to drop in and row our way in."

"A raid?" John stroked his whiskers. "Are you, a mere land caller, trying to suggest a raid to me, Captain John Zoliver Nix, that we conduct a raid on that shit hole of a coastal village?"

"Um..." Monroe took a few seconds to think, unsure of what was the answer that would keep him alive. He drummed his fingers against one another, as he often did when thinking.

"Y-yes sir," He finally managed. "I am suggesting a raid! if we pass up such an easy opportunity, it'll surely come back to bite us!" John stopped stroking his beard. The younger man took it to be a bad sign, especially as the Captain stared at him with those cold, gray eyes, seeming to peer into his very soul. The tension building inside him only relaxed when the Old Buccaneer let out a hearty chuckle.

"Well, then Boy!" he said "Looks like you learn well! Indeed, we pass up this chance now, and God knows when we'll get another." He turned towards the edge of the upper deck, bellowing out and addressing the rest of the Crew.

"Change course for the town, folks! We're going on a supply raid!"

[Aurorix]

"So Aria, do you know how old I'm turning?" Zolivar said cheerfully at his younger sister as to strike up conversation between the the girls and him.

[Ragnar]

"The Back of your friend's head is split open,I just thought I should point that out to you two..."

As soon as Gideon notice that Zolivar's head was bleeding, he gingerly rolls over the knight's body on belly, and applies pressure on it with a piece of cloth for the time being. "We need to patch up this wound.." he said to Darius.

[Felicity]

"We need to patch up this wound.."

"So, why not do it?" Darius sighed. "Do you have any medical supplies?" He asked Absalom and the Naga "I know some stitching from my childhood " He explained

[Sutoratosu]

"Here..." Absalom sighed as he reached into his father's bag. "At this rate though, the Sky Slayer will be dead and dust long before I find the passage I'm looking for..." a bundle of cotton bandages and a small needle made of animal bone dropped onto the street beside Darius. With that done, he walked away from the two warriors, again flipping through the pages... though this time he had began to chant something. They could not tell what language it was, Darius and Gideon, but it sounded ancient and powerful to their ears... it sounded forbidden. The text upon the Tombs pages began to blaze with light as he continued...

[Felicity]

Darius didn't particularly trust in the workings Absalom was using but he shrugged off his doubts, taking refuge in the endless amounts of trust he placed in people. Some would call him naive, but he'd retort by saying they didn't have his freinds.

"Gideon, why don't you accompany Absalom whilst I tend to Zol?"

With that, Darius set to work on Zollivar, hoping he had enough dexterity to seal the wound.

[Ragnar]

Gideon nodded and walks away as Darius tends to Zolivar's injuries, The Turk quietly follows and stalks behind the boy's back as he catches him offguard; whispering some mystical chant with his book. This should be interesting, surely this is no ordinary kid. Gideon thought to himself. The swordsman silently observes the boy and waited for something to happen.

[Sutoratosu]

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten...." Aria trailed off, trying to count on her fingers. Though she stopped a few seconds later when she realized she didn't have enough. "Um..."

"Twenty-one, Aria," Their mother interjected. "Tonight, Zoliver will be twenty-one years old... old enough to start his own forge." She pulled a few plates and bowls down from the single cupboard in the kitchen, along with a few steel utensils. She glanced over at Zoliver as she moved over to the wood oven, opening the door and pulling out the loaf of bread baking within, her hands insulated by a Fire Resonance. "Have you given any thought to what metal you'll specialize in? or do you intend to be like me and just work with them all?"

Down at the Docks of the village of Koise...

"Jacob..." Andrew said, looking to his co-worker. The docks were cold and the waters choppy that night. The snow still fell steadily. "Do you hear that? that... I guess I'd call it a scraping sound..." Jacob put down the crate he was lifting, looking around the area and straining his ears.

"No," he said. "You're probably just tired... completely understandable, considering we have to work from dawn till after dusk every day..." as soon as he finished the sentence however, a loud series of scraping noises filled the air. He stood up straight, scanning the pier. All he saw was shapes moving around in the shadows. The lightning in their part of the docks was rather poor tonight. "Who's there?" The man Demanded, pulling a short barreled fusil out of the breast of his coat. He held his finger tips low on the wick, prepared to conjure a flame at a moments notice. "Answer me or I'll open fire!"

"Both of us will!" Andrew added. he two had a fusil aimed into the darkness, albeit his had a longer barrel and required no wick. "Come out, Now!" There was silence for a moment. all movement sounds had ceased. then the creak of several boots stepping onto the wooden surface of the docks could be heard. Along with a man's gravely voice.

"I'm afraid that neither or you leave here alive," John said. both men turned to find the salty buccaneer standing directly behind him. as to how he could've gotten there in the first place without their noticing, neither of them had any idea. His salt and pepper hair hung out loose under his captains hat, blowing in a slight gust. He easily towered over both the Dock Workers. He leaned down, looking both of them right in the eye. "Unless you two want to put down your guns and just leave?"

"Fuck that!" Andrew roared. "I'll lose this damn job if you pilfer us on my watch! There's no way I'll simply stand by as you make off with everything!" He leveled his fusil at John, only to find a nice new battle axe protruding out of his bicep the next moment, quick as lightning. John dragged the weapon away from the other man's body, tearing the flesh on his arm in a savage scar. He finally freed the blade a moment later. Andrew dropped his gun, having lost all feeling from his shoulder to his finger tips.

"I...you...how...." He stuttered, fear in his eyes. that stroke had come far quicker than he had expected from a man John's size. And he hadn't even noticed the axe anywhere in the Pirate's possession until it was tearing apart his own arm. It almost seemed as if he had pulled it out of thin air. "You...you..." His voice quivered. he took a few tentative steps back, falling over the lip of the peir and into the water. seemed he had forgotten to mind his step.

"Andrew!!" Jacob shouted as he saw that his friend still hadn't come up. he turned on John, fire in his eyes. "You! I'll kill you!" he brought up his fusil, a small spark generating between his finger tips as his focus began to increase... which he promptly lost as John brought his axe around in a fearsome arc, cutting deep into the man's rib cage and dealing extensive damage to his vital organs. A slight gasp of air issued from his mouth as John braced his hand against the poor fool's chest, drawing his weapon back out of the flesh. The ruined body of Jacob feel to the wooden planks like a sack of potatoes.

"Come on, folks!" he hollered at his crew, all of them hiding in the shadows still. "Take everything you find on these docks, minus the dead man at my feet of course, and bring em to the ship! get to it!" A series of 'Aye captains' sounded out as his men moved out of the cover of darkness and began to inspect the various peices cargo around the place, determining how best to lift it and whether or not it would fit in the row boats. but little did he know that some of his crew had... bigger plans...

***

As Gideon watched Absalom preform the strange chant, the text in the ancient tomb began to change on the pages, merging and transforming, old words melding into each other an becoming new ones, pictures that were not there before appearing in blots of colored ink. a chorus of voices blasted forth from the book as it blazed with light.

"It was...just as father predicted..." Absalom said, grinning weakly. "speaking the ancient words opened the way to knowledge long since past..." his legs collapsed under his own weight as soon as the words had exited his mouth. The tomb lay still open by his side, it's glow pulsating. It seemed that whatever the boy had just done, the feat had drained alot from him. The voices still sang from it's pages.

"The elixir..." the boy laughed bitterly. "It's what Father and I had been after all this time, all these years... always searching for the next clue to aid our hunt. And now I've finally found where it might be hidden; I might have just completed part of the mission we shared... but..." He tried to stand, failing miserably. his vision was a little blurry after the attempt. "But... I never imagined this is how things would turn out... that instead of finding out it's location together...I'd be doing it alone...that I'd be doing it to carry on his legacy; instead of being by his side as we finally figured out this damn tomb..." The Boy's bitter grief filled laughter soon came to be mixed with some sobs that were equally, if not even more so, bitter and grief racked. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to keep himself together and stem the flow of his tears. Crying wouldn't bring his father back now; Nothing would. He would have to be strong... he would have to keep pressing onward without him. but even knowing these simple truths, things were not any easier emotionally.

[Aurorix]

"Nah," Zolivar said while leaning back in his chair. "Remember how I took alchemy in school, I was thinking about making tools that had effects like catching flames or electronically charge." Then the number 21 rang in his head, the day when his village was attacked. Zolivar got up and rushed into his room and put on the finest looking armor on and grabbed a sword and shield."Everyone, this may seem crazy but we have to leave the town, pirates will be attacking any minuet, we have to leave NOW!" Zolivar said coming out of his room dressed in armor.

[Sutoratosu]

Zoliver's mother and sisters kept about their previous activities as if the man had said nothing, hadn't even gotten up from the table. His mother was cutting the bread into slices, while his sisters giggled and gossiped as they waited. That's when he realized that the armor he had put on...wasn't even on him anymore. it was right back where he had kept it in his room. The next thing he knew, he was sitting right back in his chair. His mother glanced back at him as she opened the door of the wood oven, pulling out the loaf of bread baking there, her hands insulated by a fire resonance... again.

"Have you given any thought to what metal you'll specialize in?" She asked... for the second time. it seemed as if his actions in getting up from the table had never occured...like time had been wound backwards to a few moments before. "Or do you intend to be like me and just work with them all?"

thats when the Young man Realized...

there was nothing he could do here. Things were going to play themselves out EXACTLY like they had that fatal night...

((OCC:))

[Aurorix]

'Fuck now what, am I going to have to go through with this whole night again? FUCK THIS this is a dream right I could just wake up right now all I have to to is open my eyes. Zolivar tried opening his eyes in the real world but it wouldn't world but nothing happened, its like he's stuck in the dream. 'Well there goes plan A, well I guess plan B will have to be going along with this and maybe this time I can get a good look at the Silver Blood captain. All I have to do is tell myself this is a dream and not real how hard could it be right?' Zolivar said trying to raise his self esteem and bracing himself to live through this again. He sighed and said the same thing he said last time before getting the armor.