Return  Next - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

Before he knew it, people wanting to shake hands and congratulate him surrounded Joel. The king approached Joel and patted him on the back, then raised a cup full of wine and shouted, "Let the party begin!" As the king drank the wine from his cup in one swallow, Joel looked at the cup filled with wine that was passed to him and felt rather disgusted. The king exhaled after the gulp, and looked up and spoke to Joel with a strange smelling breath, "You, my good lad, you have proven yourself well! Becoming a part of my royal family has gifted you. At least drink to your health while there’s still some wine left!"

Joel backed off and said, "I think that one cup was a bit too much for you, uhh…" he looked at Celia and whispered, "Is this place always having a party?"

"Nope, my father’s just doing all of them to make us feel welcome." Celia told him.

Joel thought for a moment while looking at his cup, then took a sip. When he swallowed he gave a bitter face and cried, "Blah! Oh man, it tastes like dirty feet!"

"Silly boy, don’t you know? That’s how it’s made!" the king laughed, "The taste will grow onto you, though!"

Joel shook his head in disbelief, then looked over and noticed Koichi was still standing as still as a statue next to the throne. He watched over to crowd for any possible trouble like a vulture stalking its prey. He turned and looked sharply at Joel as his name was called out over the crowd.

"Woah, hey there Koichi." Joel said, waving at him, "What’s wrong? There’s music, dancing, food, drinks, the whole nine yards, and all you’re doing is watching?"

"I’m doing my job, looking out for other giant rats like you." Koichi hissed, "What do you want?"

"Eh, not much of a party guy, are you? Well, me either I suppose." Joel told him. He leaned against the wall next to Koichi, then asked, "Not yet anyway. Tell me, who’s it going to be if you catch the bouquet?"

"I think it’ll be…" Koichi started, he turned to Joel and swung his sword right before his face and stopped above between his eyes, "Christina."

Joel felt one of his hairs split, and he pushed Koichi’s sword to the side. He looked back up at Koichi and asked, "Christina? Who’s that?"

"My sword you dolt!" Koichi yelled at him.

"Oh, ho ho! You named your sword Christina?" Joel snickered at him, "I could just imagine what nights are like for you, heheh…"

"Ah shaddup, you know what I mean." Koichi said, turning back around to watch the crowd.

"Speaking of bouquets, hey, would you mind helping me get some flowers for Celia?" Joel asked him, "This place does have a flower shop or something, right?"

Koichi pointed out over the crowd to the main hallway and said, "Out there, turn left, five rooms down on the right is a hall that leads to the greenhouse."

"Alright, thanks!" Joel said, running out through the crowd.

He ran out through the hall to the left, counted five rooms and turned right. When he turned into the next area he found himself at a loss of footing. Apparently the place he was told to go to was still being built, and he fell two stories down, hitting the ground with a loud thud. He dusted off his suit and ran back up into the throne room to where Koichi stood and cried,

"You did that on purpose, didn’t you!"

"Maybe." Koichi said, snickering.

Celia ran up to the Joel and Koichi.

"Hey guys, what’s going on?" Celia asked them.

"Err, hi Celia. There doesn’t happen to be a flower shop or something around here, do you know?" Joel asked her.

"Flowers? Sure, follow me." Celia told him, "What for, though? You don’t have to get me anything, it’s a bit late for a bouquet."

"It’s never to late to try cheering someone up, I think." Joel told her as he followed her through the crowd, "After last night I figure you could use a bit of it."

"Well that’s okay… I’m not taking this as serious as everyone else is anyway." Celia told him.

"I’d say the same, I rather not have been pushed into this myself. I rather be out exploring the world as it is." Joel told her as they walked through the halls, "But my late friend appeared in my dream last night and told me that I’ve got to stick with you and pull us through this. I don’t know why, though, but she said she’d rest easier if I did go around with you."

"Thanks for the offer, but I just hope we stay travel partners for the time we’re away from the castle." Celia told him, "I don’t know if I could take this marriage thing. I mean, sleeping with a guy! What’s it all about?"

Joel remembered a week ago when he walked through the school halls with Sarralyn, and he looked at Celia and told her, "Well, if you really like the guy, love the guy, you probably would. It’ll come to you some day with someone. That’s what my friend told me, anyway."

Celia stopped Joel next to a door in the hall and said, "This is it. If you really want to do this, go for it."

He waved at her and smiled, then stepped into the garden. The garden was a long room with several windows on the ceiling and mirrors running along the walls. The use of the ceiling windows and the mirrors allowed sunrays to enter the room and bounce off each mirror to spread the energy among all plants. In rows along the floor were lines of different sorts of flowers, plants, fruits, and vegetables. There were potatoes, tulips, roses, tomatoes, carrots, apples, oranges, berries, and more.

"I know I saw something about girls liking roses, or something." Joel thought as he walked through the garden and saw a few rose bushes, "But I think that’d be too plain. I’ll get a variety pack."

He picked up a few roses, then he walked over to the next set of flowers and added some orange, violet, and blue kinds. He looked up for a moment, then reached back down for some white flowers from the other side. After rearranging the flowers he had collected into a fashionable bunch, Joel turned to leave the garden, but tripped onto the ground from some roots around his feet. He wondered where the roots had come from as he reached for them to free himself, but the vines began moving around rapidly and entangled his legs. A plant monster emerged from the ground and lifted Joel up into the air with the roots holding him, causing him to drop all of the flowers he had collected back to the ground.

"Aww geez. What did I do wrong this time?" Joel asked the creature.

He began using his weight to swing around and grab hold on the roots that were holding him and free himself, but he was stung by the arm of the monster when he grabbed them. He let go and cried, blowing on his hands. Even though his hands beat red with irritation, Joel brought his right arm foreword and aimed at the monster with his hand. His hand sparked and crackled for a moment, then a fiery beam shot out and blasted through the monster’s body. His legs were freed as the monster died and faded away, and he flipped to his feet and recovered his footing in a landing.

The beam he fired began reflecting off mirrors back and forth around the room and made its way to blasting Joel from the rear end. His face went red and he ran around the room with a fire on his butt, trying to wave it down and have the mad speed he was running at cool it off as well. As the feeling in his rear returned he picked up his flowers again and arranged them to the fancy order he put them in before and walked out to find Celia again. She blushed and her eyes seemed to gleam as Joel delivered them to her.

"T, thanks… you didn’t have to, but it was really thoughtful of you." She told him, "They’re so colorful, I was expecting just a bunch of roses like the other people were giving me."

"Well it was nothing, really! The buggers put up a good fight for them, but I got them!" Joel told her, smiling and laughing. He saw Celia sigh while looking at the flowers, then she looked away. He stopped laughed and asked, "Hey, why’re you still sad?"

Celia looked up at him and said, "They are beautiful, but…" she looked back at the set of flowers arranged him a rainbow for her and said, "They’ll die eventually. I don’t know if many other people could do this for me, but I wish there were a way to keep them. Not even healing magic could keep these alive, though."

"Hmm, I understand." Joel said. He crossed his arms and thought for a moment, then looked at her and said, "Hey, is there anywhere here I can get some paper, pencils, and something to color with? Maybe I could draw a portrait of you with those flowers, and capture the life of the bouquet for how ever long you want to keep them."

"Uh, sure, follow me." Celia said, nodding and feeling confused.

She took Joel down the hall several rooms, and inside they found canvases, art stands, and drawers of paints, paper, and pencils. Joel set up an art stand and put a small roll of paper up on it, then set up a chair in front of it and had Celia sit down. With a pencil and a sharp eye he began drawing her as he saw her before him. He curved his lines with the curling and swaying of Celia’s hair, and shaded in where she showed depth in her body and where the light failed to hit her. The bunch of flowers she held came just beneath her breast, and in her hands shot out both straight and jagged lines marking the stems, and smooth curves showing the petals and leafs for each flower. Joel reached over and picked out several colored pencils. In the picture, Celia’s hair and skin began to shine with the light that struck it from outside, her eyes sparkled with their blueness, her dress illuminated with a soft glow like the sky, and the flowers she held stood out with brilliance as if the picture was not a flat image of reality.

Joel creaked his neck and let out a deep breath of air. He turned the picture around and showed it to Celia, and she smiled at him with teary eyes that slowly rolled down her cheek and dropped into her flowers.

"Wow…" she cried, "You made my day… my week, Joel… How did a spikey-haired brute like you learn to draw like that?"

"I think I’m going to start taking that as a compliment!" Joel laughed. He calmed down a bit and told her, "I’m not real sure, actually. It just occurred to me that I could do that, but you were calling out for help so I answered."

"Well thanks, sweetie. I’m beginning to think this won’t be so bad after all." Celia told him, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

"That’s the spirit! Now how about we get back to that party?" Joel said.

Celia nodded at him, but before the two could leave the room Koichi ran in.

"Princess, thank God I’ve finally found you." Koichi said, panting, "We just received some bad news, and we need you in the throne room right away. I hate to say this, but we’re going to need you as well, peasant."

Joel and Celia looked at each other confused, then they looked at Koichi again.

"Geez, I’m flattered you’re asking for my help." Joel said.

"Shut up and just come with me, this is serious." Koichi roared. He stopped in his tracks and thought a moment, then said, "Wait, what were you two doing alone in this room anyway? And with the door shut for all things... you weren’t…?"

Celia blushed and Joel yelled, "Who do you take me for?"

Joel and Celia ran back to the throne room following Koichi, and they encountered a dead man’s body in the middle of the room. The king stood over the body, inspecting a deep hole that was dug in the back of the man’s head.

"Father, did you…?" Celia asked.

"No Celia, the man came this way." The king told her.

"The man was carrying the monster, or should I say, the monster had took control of his brain when it latched onto him." Koichi told the two.

"Hmm, yes." The king said, "He said that Zephelear, the monster king, would come two hours from now to take over our castle. He said that because we failed to hand it over last night he would bring his army of monsters to take it tonight."

"I don’t remember seeing any monster kings while I was around yesterday. But there was that one guy with the arm and weird tale." Joel said.

"Simon…" Celia said, "He was Zephelear? Was that why he sought me out?"

"It appears so, my daughter." The king said, "We must set up our battalions and prepare to defend ourselves if we wish to keep our home here."

"Okay then." Koichi started, "I want all soldiers on their guards. I want half of them guarding the inside of the castle, I want a fourth of them guarding the inner walls, and I want the rest to come outside with me to meet this army head on. Joel, I want you with my group so we can keep as much of this away from the castle as we can."

"I understand. But first I’d like to change into something more comfortable and get my sword." Joel said, nodding, "I don’t think I could fight with these noble’s clothes on."

He ran off and up to Celia’s room to fetch his clothes and sword. Shortly after he entered the room he noticed Celia had followed him up, as she had just entered the room as well.

"Hey, what’re you doing?" Joel asked her as he took off his sleeves, "You’re not here to watch me change are you?"

"Maybe." Celia told him, "I want to fight, too, so I’m going to put on my fighting suit again. This is my home, and I know how to fight!"

"I understand. Just watch yourself, okay?" Joel said.

Celia moved to another room and began changing from her dress while Joel began putting on his white shirt, black pants, and black jacket, fresh from the cleaners. He buckled his sword belt over and under his shoulders as before and sighed. He looked up and saw Celia walk out from her changing room wearing her purple fighting suit with the red band around her waist. She also brought with her a long staff that had a large curved blade attached on the top end.

"You look pretty set up. What do you call the weapon?" Joel asked her.

"Well, I’d like to call it a cross between a spear and a halberd…" Celia told him, "I knew a few tricks with it, so I’m going to take it with me." She put the weapon down for a moment, then walked up to Joel and wrapped her arms around him and said, "Please, brave knight, help us win this battle. Koichi may be strong, but he’s not an all powerful god!"

Joel’s memory shot back to before his fight with Tim and remembered how Sarralyn said, "If I’m a princess then Joel’s my knight here to protect me!" He looked down at her and stroked her hair and said, "None of us are, not you, not I. Promise me, though, if you see me start glowing in any way I want you to get as far away as you can."

"But… why?" Celia asked him.

Joel pushed Celia back and looked away and said, "I have this deadly force inside me, and it’ll take over my body when I reach my limits. It’s what destroyed half of the city I came from." He looked back at Celia and told her, "But I’m not going to let my friends die again! Not this time."

He turned and walked for the door, and Celia grabbed her weapon and ran after him. They made their way through the castle and met with Koichi outside. He had been standing out there since he had assigned orders, looking off into the distance and waiting for the arrival of the enemy.

"So." Joel said, looking at Koichi, "Are you and ‘Christina’ ready to make some sweet loving on the battle field?"

"Huh?" Koichi asked, looking at Joel confused, then he yelled, "Hey, shut up about that already!"

"Have you seen anything yet?" Celia asked him.

"No… wait, yeah, here they come." Koichi told them, "It looks like a lot of goblins, and…" he squinted his eyes, "It looks like some mavmeras, too."

"Goblins are familiar to me, but not mavmeras." Joel said.

"Oh that’s simple. A mavmera is a large flying creature much like a griffin, but they also have tentacles that shoot out from their body. They’re in my top ten list of some of the worst monsters on Earth." Koichi told him. He turned around and faced the line of troops behind him and yelled, "Alright, here’s the deal. I want you all to focus on the goblins and leave the mavmeras and the leader to Joel and I. We have a better chance against them than you do, so stick with the weaklings until you’ve killed them all."

"Yes sir!" they shouted back.

Koichi began to tighten up his gloves, then raised his left hand up high. The three blades attached to the top of his glove in the form of a claw glittered as the sunset’s light hit it. He dropped his hand and shouted, "Archers, unleash the first wave of attack now!"

The troops acted as their leader commanded them, and the men standing up above took up great bows and began shooting arrows at the army of monsters as they advanced into shooting range. The arrows flew far and reached the enemy, some missing and hitting the ground, others piercing the flesh of the goblins and mavmeras. They continued this rapid fire for several rounds and Koichi, Joel, and Celia watched many of the goblins fall, but there were still quite a number left, and the mavmeras still marched on with their master.

"What a way to greet their guests." Zephelear mumbled as an arrow shot by his head.

"It’s a pity these humans won’t know what hit them when the earth swallows them." His companion said, "Oh look, they’ve got Zareon with them, what fun. It’s time to settle our little score, so promise me I’ll have him all to myself."

"But of course, friend." Zephelear said, laughing, "As long as I get what I’m looking for I’ll be satisfied."

"Excellent. Now let’s have some fun while we have the chance." His partner told him.

Each side began charging at each other. Each soldier took his own goblin, and the three young warriors went for their own monster. With each pressing minute, each side grew smaller with each killing of soldier and goblin. Koichi jumped up at his targeted mavmera and landed on it, the ran down it’s back with his sword running through it. He jumped off and landed on a goblin that was charging for his men and crushed it’s body with his forceful drop. At the same time Joel had come face to face with his own mavmera. It shot its tentacles out at Joel, but he jumped back before he was caught in the attack. The tentacles crashed into the ground, and Joel jumped on them and ran up to the monster’s body. It turned it’s head at Joel and glared at him with its black eyes and snapped at him, but Joel leaped and landed on its head, then cut through it with his sword.

They seemed to be doing well against the force of monsters, but the man who had come with Zephelear was taking out the soldiers one by one faster than Koichi, Joel, and the rest could destroy each monster. As Joel noticed him, he saw he was of dark skin, red hair, wore a bandana with a feather on it, and wore white streaks of face paint over his face. He was smashing his victims with his giant pole, snapping their necks, and shooting them down with spikes that emitted from his hand. He turned and looked at Joel, grinned, and waved at him. Then he turned around and slammed another soldier in the face with his elbow.

"Back up, men, retreat to the inner walls!" Koichi shouted, "We need some back up!"

Koichi started making his way through goblins and soldiers to get back to the castle and inform the other guards to join the fight. As Joel heard this he put his sword back in its hilt and ran for the bridge, picking up Celia along the way in the middle of her goblin corpse mess before another could approach her. He trampled over goblin after goblin and crossed the bridge where he met back with Koichi. Joel put the princess down and stepped in front of them.

"What? What’re you doing, Joel?" Koichi asked.

"Stand back, I’m going to blow them all to hell!" Joel told them.

Joel positioned his feet on the ground, then put his hands out. His hair began standing on end and sparks shot from his hand, then a beam blasted out and through the castle gate. The beam rolled over the bridge with a high pitch sound like fire works and blew up the battleground as the monsters approached.

"Woah! You’re one of those demons, too?" Koichi asked, "You’re on our side, right?"

Joel looked back and grinned, "Yeah, don’t worry about it."

He turned to check the bridge again, and the dark skinned man emerged from smoke and fire on the bridge to smash Joel in the face. Joel fell back, but landed on his hands and sprang to his feet next to Koichi and Celia. The monster king and his army followed the man through the smoke, but the man put his hand back as to stop them.

"Surprised that your attack was only enough to tickle my funny bone, Zareon?" the man asked, looking at Joel, "Or, do you not remember me? I’m Ro-Ten, guardian of the earth force."

"What do you want, who do you want?" Joel asked, "My name’s Joel."

"Oh that’s a pity." Ro-Ten said, shrugging his shoulders, "Not only did your resurrection weaken you, but it blanked your core’s memory as well. You’re becoming more human by the day, but I won’t forget what you did to me. I won’t let you go this time!" he looked back and said, "This guy’s mine. The rest are yours."

The monsters spread out and the battle between the soldiers and goblins continued in the inner walls. Joel stood and watched Ro-Ten as he stood in front of him and battle raged around them. The wind blew through his hair and clothes wildly, then they charged at each other. Joel swung his sword as Ro-Ten swung his giant pole, and they clashed with a loud bang. Joel gritted his teeth at his opponent as they locked weapons, and he kicked his foot foreword into Ro-Ten and flipped backward. They both moved back, then attacked each other again, swinging at and dodging one another as the flames around the castle grew.

The castle walls crumbled as more goblins rampaged onto the battlegrounds and mavmeras stomped across the corpses of lost warriors who fought for their kingdom. The mavmeras clawed fiercely at each guard, and gnawed at their bodies as the little morsels they saw them as. Koichi slashed two goblins with his sword, then turned around and stabbed another with his claw. He looked up and saw the incoming mavmeras and ran for them, but was caught by a series of tentacles from one of their bodies. Other beasts saw this and shot for him as well, and Koichi became entangled by several of them. He felt as though his body was being pulled apart and crushed at the same time, but he wasn’t about to give up. He leaned foreword, then back, and then foreword again until he began spinning vertically in a circle. This caused each of the mavmera’s tentacles to entangle with each other and pulled them foreword towards Koichi. Their heads collided and the tentacles weakened, letting Koichi escape. He ran towards each of their front legs and clawed them, causing them to fall down foreword and unable to move.

Koichi ran to help out a few soldiers he saw in trouble, but stopped when he felt the ground rumble and break up. Giant worm-like monsters with pincer claws emerged from the ground and began assisting the other monsters. Celia was in the middle of two that rose from the ground as she was fighting off monsters. She jumped back to the right, then to the left, and then spun her weapon around and cut through another goblin to her side. She backed up and rammed one of the worms with the blunt end of her staff, then turned and cut off the one next to it. The worm left opened its jaws and lunged at Celia, but she brought her weapon up to keep from being eaten. Her weapon locked was locked with its vicious teeth, and it started to crack as the monster put it’s force down on her. A soldier ran to her and sliced off the worm’s head, saving her, but before she could thank him a worm burst from under the soldier and locked onto him with it’s teeth high up in the air. Celia shrieked and stabbed the monster in its center, and it fell down and dropped the soldier with deep teeth marks in his side.

"H, help… mee-he… uhn…" the soldier moaned, looking at her with his blood shot eyes and blood pouring from his wounds.

Celia ran to him and kneeled down with her hands over his wound and said, "Hold on, I’ll help you…"

His wounds began to heal and shut as she cast her words of healing onto him. He stood up and thanked her, then grabbed his sword and shield and ran back to battle. Koichi looked around and notice the monsters were gaining their advantage by the numbers again, and he called for a last retreat to the inside of the castle. Koichi, Celia, and the surviving men made a run for the main castle doors and pulled them open, but they were greeted by the corpse of every soldier left and an infest of monsters that broke into the castle from the back were surrounding them. Zephelear stepped up and threw the king’s body in front of them.

"I win." He said, smiling. He sighed and shrugged, then looked to the side and said, "But it’s too bad you had to waste all these lives, and this castle didn’t even have what I needed."

"Why you… you animal!" Koichi sneered at him, "I oughta…"

He swung his sword at the monster king, but his sword was caught by one of the monsters near him. The monster pushed the sword back to Koichi, and Zephelear told him, "Let’s not be sore losers now, my friend. I’ll do you all the favor of backing out my monsters since I couldn’t find what I wanted."

In the far back Joel and Ro-Ten were still fighting it out. They had knocked each other’s weapon out of their hands and were fighting with hand-to-hand combat. They had stopped their battle momentarily as they heard the monster king speak, and Ro-Ten said, "I’m not leaving this place until I finish Zareon off."

"Fine, suit yourself." Zephelear said, shrugging.

He disappeared and his monsters began retreating into the darkness. Joel and Ro-Ten turned and glared at each other again, and the others surrounded Ro-Ten to assist Joel in the fight.

"No, stay back! He’s mine." Joel told them, "He wants me dead, well he isn’t so tough."

"Yes, but I’m going to have to stop toying with your sissy feelings and show you my true inner strength" Ro-Ten told Joel.

Ro-Ten clapped his hands together in front of his chest, crossed them, the brought them to his sides. He tightened his knuckles, and his skin began to curl, scale, and harden. His new rock-hard shell shined with the light given off from the fires surrounding them. Joel gave a gasp of surprise as the sight of his opponent’s new figure and took a step back, but realized he was going against what he told his friends and stood his ground again.

"Come on, sucker, show me what you’ve got." Ro-Ten’s voice rumbled.

When Joel heard the challenge he made his move towards his enemy and shot him a punch in the face. His knuckle made a loud clang sound as he struck Ro-Ten’s face, but Ro-Ten remained unmoved. Joel quivered at the sight of his own harmless attack, then backed up his foot and tried kicking him, but his foot seemed to feel more pain than Ro-Ten’s gut. Ro-Ten smiled at him, then grabbed Joel by the shoulders and rammed his knee into his chest. Joel cried in pain and began coughing. Ro-Ten let go of his hold on Joel, and he staggered back, swaying in dizziness. He shook his head and looked up at Ro-Ten again and aimed his hand at him and tried firing him with his fire beam, but only sparks and smoke appeared.

"Koichi, we’ve got to do something!" Celia cried.

"I know, but… but I’m afraid…" Koichi told her, shaking in fear at the sight of the monster in front of them.

Joel gasped and turned his hands over and looked at them, confused. Ro-Ten walked up to him again and lifted him up by his shirt collar. He began punching Joel’s face from one side to the other, then he punched Joel in the middle of his face and knocked him to the ground. Joel stood up and staggered, looking at Ro-Ten with his bloody face, but he fell foreword to the ground again, twitching. Ro-Ten looked down at the fallen young fighter and laughed. He raised his arms up to the dark sky and the ground began to rumble. A large stone spike shot up from under Joel, running through him and lifting him up as it escalated. Joel looked down at his friends with faint eyes as his blood ran down the spike from his body.

"S, sorry guys… I guess I was wrong…" he said.

Ro-Ten looked over at Koichi, Celia, and the surviving soldiers and said, "Well, I’ve had my revenge. I’m going home now, unless you seven think you’re good enough to beat me."

Koichi gritted his teeth, growled, and put his hand on his sword’s hilt as if he were prepared to fight, and Celia ran up to the stone spike passed Ro-Ten, screaming and pounding on the solid rock that emerged from the ground. The rock began to break, and Joel fell down limply next to her. She pulled the spike out from his chest and held him close to her with her hand over his wound. Ro-Ten looked at her and raised an eyebrow, then realized she was casting a healing spell over him to help him recover from his attacks.

"Wha, woman? You dare cast a revive spell on my enemy?" Ro-Ten roared, "Such acts I won’t allow!"

He brought his hand up as to shoot rapid spikes at Celia and Joel as he did to other soldiers on the battlefield, but Koichi made a dash at Ro-Ten and jump kicked him in the side of his head. His aim was bumped off and the spikes shot elsewhere, and he felt his face. A red crack formed where Koichi smashed him.

"Hah, you’re just a softy when you’re against Koichi." He laughed, "How did you like my Volt Gash attack? You’re sure to be electrified no matter what you are." He turned and looked at Celia and said, "Quick, heal him up. I’ll hold the big guy off while you two recover."

"Grr, why you little punk… No matter, I’ll destroy Joel and his core just like before, even if he does recover." Ro-Ten growled, "You just got a free shot in, bud."

Koichi unsheathed his sword and began swinging it at the stone golem monster in front of him, pushing him away from Celia and Joel. Ro-Ten grabbed hold of Koichi’s sword with his hand, but Koichi slid it free through his enemy’s grip and rammed into him with his shoulder. He then preformed a back flip and caught Ro-Ten under the arms with his feet and flipped him over. He crashed down on the ground, and Koichi landed on Ro-Ten’s chest and stomped down on his head. When Ro-Ten came to his senses he grabbed Koichi by the leg and launched him away from him and stood back up.

Celia’s spell had completed its healing powers over Joel and wounds, and he began breathing again. He opened his eyes and smiled at Celia, then he rolled to the side and saw Ro-Ten still standing. He remembered what happened before, and he stood up and moved towards the monster. His eyes began glowing red as he approached Ro-Ten.

"So, you’re still alive? You want to kill me again? Well come on!" Joel told him.

Ro-Ten turned around as he heard Joel’s voice and threw his big fist at him, but Joel caught it and held him in his place. He began applying pressure on the hand, and the weird aura began surrounding him again. Ro-Ten’s hand started to crack in Joel’s grasp, and he dropped to his knees. When Celia saw this happening she ran to Koichi and the others and told them to get out of the area. The area around Joel began to break up and disintegrate as he let his power out to Ro-Ten. He kicked him in the head, then threw Ro-Ten down and blasted him with a burning fire. Ro-Ten rolled over and shook his head, then started crawling away in fear as his skin returned to normal. Joel looked at the man, knelt down, and put his hand to the ground. The area around Ro-Ten erupted and shot out lava and burning stones, engulfing him into a melting doom and death, screaming "No! Why, Zareon!!"

As his enemy’s body melted away, Joel noticed a shiny orb fall from Ro-Ten’s body and fade away like a monster would. The aura faded away from Joel’s body again, and he sat back for a few minutes to rest from all the fighting. He wiped his forehead clear of the sweat he had created from the heat of battle, and he stood back up to meet his friends. The sky cleared up, and it was morning again with a clear blue sky. Joel stood with his friends looking over the castle ruins.

"Men, Princess, and Joel, my worthy opponent." Koichi said, "We are the eight brave and lucky survivors of this catastrophe, but I must have us salute our fallen comrades for their attempt to help us stand our ground. If it weren’t for them we would not have survived that long." The young warrior and his five remaining soldiers stood straight and gave the dead a long salute. He then looked up at his men and said, "If any of you have a family to go to in another town I suggest you go to them now. If you don’t then you should stick together and try sharing living space. As for me I have been assigned to aid Joel and the princess with their journey, no matter what the cost. Now gather what you need from what’s left in the castle and let’s all be on our way."

The soldiers nodded at Koichi and moved through the castle to pick up their personal belongings. Joel and Celia walked up to the Princess Keep, and Joel changed into his red shirt and pants and put the rest in his bag as Celia picked out her own clothes for her travels. Joel found the portrait of her he drew the day before and showed it to her.

"Life is still filled with brilliance, just like this picture still is." He told her, "Keep it where ever you go and have it remind you of your beautiful self when ever you’re gloomy."

Celia gazed deeply into the picture of herself wearing the light blue dress and holding the bouquet of flowers in her hands and smiled. They collected precious gems from the castle to use as money on their adventure, and then met Koichi outside. He was looking like his normal stubborn self with his arms crossed and standing like a statue on the hill over the castle, but he broke out of it as the two passed him. Joel welcomed Celia and Koichi to his group and pointed onward. Their destination: Halfoam, the beach city across the border!

Return  Next - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20