Wartime Reverie

Phisoxa seated herself down at a chair in middle of the table on the left side of it and Shero followed suit and sat down next to her. Phisoxa then placed her bag down next to the legs of her chair. " I wonder what they will be serving..." Shero wondered aloud as sat down.

 

"Voices?" Allen looked up and then quickly down again as one of the creatures jumped at him. "Nope, I'm still plenty sane. Unfortunately for these guys." Allen did a wide sweep with his blade and took out several of them, changing his strategy to a mix of offense and defense. There were enough of them now that he could fight back and still have plenty to study. "And don't worry; I don't see this as hopeless, I'm just studying my opponents. Watch this." He made several small blades of light and spun them around him, eliminating at least a dozen of the monsters. "Heck, I could beat them blindfolded."

 

Just as Allen said that, one of them grabbed his legs from underneath the ground. And started to drag him down into a pool of darkness. The man quickly tackled Allen to get him out of it. As they got up, several more creatures appeared. The man put his back to Allen's back as an army of the creatures appeared. "See, the problem is that whenever I've cut down the creatures I'm not sure if they are really dead. Sure they disappear, but then only more appear. I'm not sure how they do it."

Suddenly a beautiful woman appeared from afar. However, she walked towards the army of shadows weaponless. The creatures noticed this and went for the quicker meal. The whole army rushed at the woman as she non chalantly walked towards them. With a flick of her finger, however, they were all destroyed. She walked up to the man and Allen and said "I see you found him! Good job Raxtion! I could sense there was a newcomer here, but I wasn't sure where exactly. Welcome to this planet stranger, what's your name?" she extended her hand to shake his.

 

"Allen." Allen was unsure how she had defeated the creatures, but he was grateful that she had. True to his nature though he didn't show it, instead trying to appear as calm and emotionally detached as he could. He took her hand and shook it. "Allen Tor. And you?"

 

"My name is Alicia." said the woman as she shoke his hand. "And there is no need to hide yourself from me. I see everything." Alicia said holding his one hand with both of her hands. She said this to him to comfort him. Seeing as how he put up a barrier of coldness. "I know you are wondering how I can see right through you, it is because I am special."

The man came up next to her.

"Ah and this is my fiance Raxtion." Alicia said as she held up her hand and looked at the wedding ring.

Raxtion blushed a little "Now, she can see through you because she is a goddess. I'm not kidding, she is the goddess of peace." Raxtion then decided that the introductions were over with and decided to ask Allen some more important questions. "Now, tell me, Allen. Why do you come here? What is it that you seek?"

 

Allen was uncomfortable at the idea that she knew he was faking his cold attitude. He had spent years learning his detached facade and this was the second person in two days who could see right through it. Nevertheless these people clearly had a role to play in saving this planet. "Well, this is probably going to sound crazy, but I'm here to save your world. I'm supposed to find the source of the darkness that's threatening this planet and eliminate it."

 

Mixt broke off from the crowd and followed after the officer. He had been debating how to bring up the matter of being in the royal house, and interested to see if they had even known. That statement settled two birds with one stone. Opening the door, he said. "Rather nice ship you've got here. But I have one correction to make. But I can't blame you as it only happened earlier tonight" Mixt pulled out the Eclipcion royal emblem and held it up. "You do in fact have nobility on board"

 

Raxtion and Alicia looked at each other in shock.

"He is telling the truth, though it is odd to hear." said Alicia.

Raxtion then put his arm around Allen. "Look, buddy, since you are here, why don't you come with us. There is something we have to show you anyway."

Raxtion and Alicia escorted Allen across the wasteland and to a massive city, complete with skyscrapers and massive odd looking structures. There were temples and bussiness's. The city was the very eutopia that every kind of creature hoped to create. There were cars and electronics of all kinds. All of them were energy efficiant and pollutant free as well. As people started seeing them, people of all kinds came up to Alicia begging for help, healings, and blessings. Alicia stayed behind and helped them all, but not before calling out to Raxtion "Go ahead, I will meet you two up later!"

Raxtion turned to Allen. "You know, I love that woman... but when that stuff happened on our dates, I got so upset. So eventually we went out of the city to date. But now I don't mind it so much. She is just so good to everyone. If only these monsters would go away, then everything would return to normal."

Raxtion and Allen arrived at their destination which was a massive oval construction with a gathering around it. "Allen, this is the Black Comet. We call it that because when we release it into space, it has an energy cannon that will destroy the darkness plaguing our world once and for all."

A committee was gathered at the front of the comet. A person of obvious high standing yelled out into the crowd "THANKS TO HIS GENIUS, I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE BLACK COMET IS FULLY OPERATIONAL AND WILL BE READY FOR USE IN UNDER 48 HOURS! NOW, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE THE GENIUS HIMSELF! CRATO!!!"

The crowd went into an uproar as a short man in a black robe took the stage.

The man however, did not yell as the man before, but instead spoke in a soft calm manor, but still was able to be heard. "How long have these monsters ravaged us all? How long have they killed our loved ones? WELL, NO MORE!!! Thanks to the creation of this comet, I am positive that all the darkness in this world will be destroyed! I promise you that!"

"See, we don't need any help, we've got it under control. However, you are welcome to stay with me and watch the comet do its work." said Raxtion smiling "I will be up in the comet myself, operating it."

 

"I tell you its a bad idea to rely on that thing" Said a man who came up behind Raxtion, he looked at Allen for a second before muttering something that sounded like 'Legion' before sighing "Anyway, as I have said the darkness is not something you destroy without destroying everything else my friend, haven't you learnt that?"

"Are you going to say your a Noble?" the Officer said joking as he approached the bridge.

 

Allen thought for a moment. Legion had told him that this planet needed his help, but if they had things under control then why was he here? He needed to think about this. He turned to Raxtion, almost asking him a question, instead though he decided to speak with the scientist, Crato. When the other man mentioned Legion he began to turn towards him, but Allen would likely have less time to speak with the scientist, so this new man could wait. He moved closer to where the men were speaking to the crowd from and shouted so that Crato could here him. "AND HOW DOES THE COMET WORK, EXACTLY? HOW IS THIS THING SUPPOSED TO DESTROY ALL THE DARKNESS IN THIS WORLD?"

 

"Ah! Torxber! What a surprise! How are you old friend?" asked Raxtion giving him a huge. Raxtion then stopped and looked at him "Ah, good ol' Torxber, still as doubtful as ever. Just listen to the response Crato gives to the boy."

"Yes and no." Responded Crato "You see, before just recently, darkness existed in this world, but did not manifest. The manifestation of darkness has been caused by an unusual spike in dark activity. The Black Comet doesn't neccisarily destroy all of the darkness, but it greatly reduces it by firing a concentrated beam of natural light. It will appear brighter for a couple of days but that is the only effect it will have on the people. On the darkness, however, it will cripple their forces. They may manifest again, but then we will have the Black Comet up in the sky ready for their attack and cripple them again."

Raxtion turned to Torxber "There? Does that satisfy you?"

 

"No, that's a stupid question, your plain hinges on this one weapon to work, but how can you be so sure it will work? What guarantees do you actually have, how do you know you and your people won't be the real targets, I have asked these questions before and tried to warn you, but every time my questions have been ignored, I know this will only end badly" Torxber said to Raxtion.

 

"No, I'm not going to. I already have proven my identity and I don't intend to repeat myself. Now you have a choice. You can believe me and treat me as such. Or you can deem me a liar and lock me up for counterfeiting the seal. But I do hope you realize that choosing the second option wrongly won't bode well for you in the future." Mixt said sternly. He decided to go for broke on convincing the guard. If he failed and got thrown in a cell, at least he'd be separated from all the other idiots.

 

"THAT'S YOUR PLAN?" Allen was beginning to understand why Legion sent him here. "JUST HIT THE DARKNESS OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH SUNLIGHT EVERY TIME IT STARTS TO GROW STRONG AGAIN? HAS IT OCCURRED TO YOU THAT YOU'LL BE FIRING THESE BEAMS AT THE PLANET AS WELL? HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE DAMAGE YOU'LL DO TO THE WORLD IN THE PROCESS? OR THAT YOU WON'T REALLY FIX ANYTHING? THAT YOU'LL BE TREATING THE SYMPTOMS INSTEAD OF THE DISEASE?"

 

The crowd began to become restless.

"It is, of course, a temporary strategy. The odd and new uprising in darkness is the problem. Once we root that out, we may never need to use the Black Comet again." explained Crato "You obviously haven't seen these creatures at work, they have killed off villages, destroyed our economy. Left people behind fighting for their lives. We need to regroup our efforts before we do anything else. And the only way to do that is to give ourselves a temporary reprive from these vile beasts. With that reprive, we will find the source of this darkness and extinguish it forever."

The crowd cheered again, liking the ideas Crato had established and the idea that he was ready to act on them.

Raxtion looked at his friend and then for the first time genuinly considered what he had to say. "Listen, Torxber, I know you are only looking out for me. But this is the only plan we have left. What else will get rid of the darkness? I'm sorry, Torxber, but I have to side with Crato on this. He seems to know what he's doing. I even studied under him for a bit. He's a very knowledgable man." Raxtion patted Torxber on the back "Come on man, let me buy you a drink. You and I never could agree on politics."

 

"I have been in your position friend, I know its hard but the road you walk down will only end in tragedy" Torxber said as he turned away. Raxtion was basically a younger him "This is the last time we will see each other my friend, good bye" Torxber said vanishing.

 

Allen noticed the crowd beginning to react to what he was saying and had an idea. He spoke clearer now, and louder, making sure he could be heard by as many as possible, and not just by the scientist. "AND WHAT IF YOU DO HAVE TO USE IT AGAIN? WHAT IF YOU CAN'T FIND THE SOURCE BEFORE THE DARKNESS MANIFESTS AGAIN? AND WHAT IF TO 'REDUCE' THE DARKNESS YOU HAVE TO FIRE IT INTO A POPULATED AREA? MAYBE THE BEST WAY TO GIVE YOURSELVES TIME TO FIND THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM IS TO TARGET A MAJOR CITY? ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE PEOPLE'S LIVES FOR A TEMPORARY SOLUTION? AND HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE IDEA THAT MAYBE YOU DON'T TAKE THE CREATURES DOWN AS LONG AS YOU EXPECTED? I'VE FOUGHT THESE MONSTERS, AS SOON AS YOU TAKE ONE DOWN, THREE MORE APPEAR TO REPLACE IT. WHAT IF THAT HAPPENS WITH THE BLACK COMET? WHAT IF YOU JUST REDUCE THE DARKNESS ONLY TO HAVE THE PROBLEM IMMEDIATELY COME BACK STRONGER? WHAT IF YOU JUST MAKE THINGS WORSE?" He spoke with conviction now. "THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY."

 

Raxtion stood in puzzlement over Torxber's words... He wanted to believe in his friend, but he also wanted to believe in the Black Comet.

"I can see you clearly now." said Crato "You are just a boy. Like I already stated, the Black Comet will not harm people. I could fire it in a populated city anytime I want and no causalties would be done. I'm done taking questions from you. I must now get going to put the finishing touches on my plan." said Crato as he exited the stage and walked back into a complex of sorts.

The crowd cheered for him as he left.

Raxtion put his hand on Allen's shoulder. "Don't worry, I know you only meant well."

Music:

Alicia came over from behind Raxtion and kissed him on the cheek. "Has our lord and emperor, the all mighty Crato gone back into his throne room?" she said with sarcasm.

"I don't know why you dislike him dear, he is helping us." said Raxtion with a smile on his face. Raxtion disliked debates, but he loved his wife, which is what made him smile. He kissed her on the lips this time, but made it a simple peck.

Alicia then looked at Allen. "I just don't trust him is all. As soon as this darkness showed up, so did he. Its all very suspicious."

Raxtion gave her a look "OH, Alicia, he was an old magician who talked about the evil coming for years. It just so happened that he predicted it, and everyone seems to think he's the only one who can stop it. And I believe in him too."

"Alright, Love." she said as she pecked at him again. "So, Allen, what do you think of him?"

 

"He's either an idiot or a liar, either way he can't be trusted. I've had studied light magic enough to know that a concentrated beam of natural light could easily harm people, even kill them. And if she-" Allen gestured at Alicia- "doesn't trust him, doesn't that mean something? I mean, she can see right through people right?"

 

Alicia and Raxtion both looked at each other.

Alicia then turned to Allen and said "Well... not exactly. Unlike you, I could not see through Crato. It was odd, but he is different than the rest."

Raxtion didn't like all this bad talk about Crato and said in response "Hey, this guy is our last hope. We've exhausted every other option. What else can we do?"