Stealth

Art stepped back and forth, pacing around the room, completely unsettled, while all the others slept, he couldn't get Crystalis off his mind. His mind raced, wondering if he should just go alone, if anyone else was up for it as much as he was. He headed for the door, as soon as his hand landed on in Vixen's hand reached out and held the door shut.

"I know what your thinking and no, just no Art." Her other hand met his shoulder and her head shook back and forth.

"We can't just leave them. I know they are just computer programmed people but."

"None of us think that, we know and feel the same." Her head turned, feeling guilty for having given off the impression she didn't care just as much as he did, "Lets just rest and we will talk about it in the morning, if you are determined to go, then I will go with you." His hand let off the door and he took a big breath before agreeing to her words. Still, his night was restless as he sat, tapping his foot up and down and picking at the skin on his lip, waiting for the morning chimes so that the others world get up. Vixen sat across from him, not willing to go back to bed, not trusting that he would truly wait, she didn't blame him for this feeling and was honestly feeling the same a lot of the time but she had a healthy fear of what could happen if they went off alone.

Finally the rest of the group woke to the scene of Art and Vixen staring at each other, no words said but a complete understanding of each other, what words had to be said between life long friends who understood one another, the only difference was one was a calm, collected person and the other acted fearlessly on their emotion. Meekle gave them a grin at first, thinking of making some stupid, inappropriate joke but one quick look at them could tell this was much to serious a situation as the rest gathered around.

"I want to go save Crystalis. I will be going one way or another." Art didn't waist any time getting to the point, the group took a quick breath.

"Is that all, you had us worried something bad was happening." Meekle held his chest for a moment.

"Is that really the best plan right now?" Razah looked to him and then to Fenix and Vixen, to see if they agreed.

"Technically no, it is out of the way and we only have one piece of the relic left to get. How ever, sometimes we don't need to go with the best plans, even if the Legion got the last piece, we have five of them, they wouldn't have any way to use them, so now is a good time to try for it. Still, I don't think we are ready for such a conflict with them." Fenix head turned away from Art, feeling bad that he disagreed with him. In fact all of them did, in some way or form, other than Tophuu, who was more than willing to charge the gates and take back the city. Sadly, he wasn't willing to go in with out the whole group, thus only left Art and Vixen who promised to go with him no matter what.

Arts head fell, shocked that they weren't more up for this, he knew that their fear was the Legion man would be there waiting for them, he understood the fear but he just couldn't stop himself now. He got up and grabbed his stuff, his face looked sad for a moment but then he smiled at them.

"All right then, I will see you in a few days then." He wasn't even going to press Vixen on going with him but she did follow, the others stood there, wondering if this was the smart play, they couldn't go get the next relic alone could they? They pondered this thought for some time.

Vixen and Art made their way, talking strategy of how to get in, they thought the best way would be to dig out the hole and get in through the guild hall. They took Vaikuntha to Crystalia and started heading for the forest, not wanting to stop in any of the towns, in case Legion had spies or anything else. They headed in and found the caved in spot and started digging using powers and magic to make it easier to get through they got in, the place was even worse than before, all the buildings that were left standing were destroyed and the air was filled with dust from their digging and explosions to get through the wreckage. The area was quiet and there were no monsters to be seen, they got all the way to the guild hall and had to work at getting the hidden door open.

Their first look around the guild hall would show just how destroyed it had gotten when the Legion took over, there was nothing left to salvage inside, the wood of the floor was splintered and ripped up from the ground. It was as if it had been abandoned for hundreds of years, when in reality it had been only months sense they had fled the town. Their stomachs turned at the sight and each step was creaking and noisy. They tried as hard as they could and soon got to the window at the far end of the room and wiped the glass off to see what the outside looked like. It had already been about twenty-four hours sense they left the group, the sun was still not in the sky, dawn was barely coming and the streets were littered with Legion soldiers, they wanted to be as stealthy as they could. Their main mission was to find the leader and get rid of him before they took on the soldiers, they made their way to the door, having to sneak out. They watched, looking and waiting for their opening, when one of the soldiers passed them they made their way out, going the opposite way and making their way into an ally.

They met face to face with another soldier who called out, bringing the full attention to them. Turning around they ran into another ally across from them, feeling like they were back in the War Zone, something that felt like so long ago now. They bolted down the streets trying to hide, but it was to late, they knew they were there and weren't going to stop. Then they saw a figure that waved them on.

"This way." It told them, a large cloaked hood covering over the somewhat short person that helped them try and get away. They followed and he let them into a hidden door on the side of one of the buildings, as they got in they were able to take a breather in this small room. The man pulled his hood off, it was the rat like man from so long ago.

"You, you're the one who sold us out the first time." Vixens back hit against the door they came in, ready to run back out, figuring this had to be a trap.

"No, please understand, I was not selling you out, I was trying to distract them and I have been on the run ever sense." He looked nervous, twiddling at his fingers nervously but Vixen just didn't believe him. He tried to stop her but she grabbed Art's wrist and pulled him out of the door and the chase was over, they were covered in soldiers on both sides, though they put up a fight, the two of them in this small place just wasn't enough, the soldiers used spells on them to bind them and drag them off, they caught the rat man as well.

They were dragged to the dungeon where they were met by the man once more who laughed at them, his hand ran over his bald head and scratched at it a bit as he stepped back and forth in front of their cell before he turned and smiled.

"Well, it would seem you didn't have any of the relics on you, smart enough but you are foolish if you think I am going to just let you rot in here. No, I will torture you till you give up the rest of your friends and tell us everything we need to know. Four is much easier to deal with." He picked gunk from his nails as he talked, his eyes so lifeless as he tilted his head at them and a bit of green lightning shot from his finger tips and pulsed through Art, he held back his screams but he had to admit that hurt a lot.

"We aren't going to tall you anything." Vixen spit at him, which he gave a smile to, as if enjoying himself and the torment they were in. He then exited the room, seeming like he wanted to really enjoy himself. The soldiers stood guard the whole time, they didn't move or speak and across from their cell was the rat man who had his face buried in his hands.

"We are sorry we got you caught." Vixen tried to lean against the bar as she talked to him but the guard bashed a club against it as she did.

"I don't know why you all think I would do such a thing. I got taken away after I lied about where you were." He sniffled, as though he was truly saddened to learn that they didn't trust him.

"We had no idea, we just saw you talking with them and it made the most sense, could you ever forgive us." He gave them a slight grin.

"If we manage to get out of here it will all be forgotten."

"I wish we had a way to contact the others, tell them to hide or something." Art still shaking here and there from the shock treatment he had taken.

"What, no, they should come and save us." Vixen seemed shocked that he wanted them to run and hide.

"Look at us, we are trapped, even with everything they got us, if they get them they will get the relics." Art was feeling dizzy and he hadn't slept sense they left, he finally laid back in the cell, he knew he wasn't going to be able to stay up much more, what ever spell was done on him really drained him, not to mention the beat down they took from the soldiers. His eyes fell and he was out, Vixen and the rat man talked, he told her that his name was Grinble, he was one of the guild members and how everything really went down, but soon they also fell asleep.

Two days had passed, in that time the man had come to see them again and again, trying to get info out of them, with each day he would take their health down as low as he could, till they couldn't take any more and they were both feeling weak and beaten. A new set of guards came in the room, the others leaving as they all stood there for a moment and then turned and started unlocking the doors, Vixen and Art backed up in the cell as the guards came in, closing them into the corner of the cell, both of them nervous as they had no health to take hits right now.

One pulled off their helmet, "So this is where you two have been hiding." Tophuu smiled at them, the other threw their stuff onto the bed as they started to strip the armor, the group had come.

"How did you guys get here." Art asked as he swayed around, trying to get to his bag to get a potion, he had taken more damage so that Vixen didn't have to. Razah was quick to help him.

"Well, we followed soon after you guys, Fenix had come up with an idea but we had to find a ship to get here and by then it was to late to catch you guys." She filled them in on what was happening.

"Yes, just a few hours after you left we all decided to come follow, I was thinking we could use armor to sneak in, that would have given us our best shot." Fenix explained how he had the idea and that he wish he had thought of it sooner.

"We're sorry that we didn't come with you in the first place, we all felt so bad and seeing what you have been through, it took us a while to figure out you had been captured." Meekle continued to explain. As soon as Art could he got up and hugged them all, feeling bad that he left them like that and that they were all okay, but he quickly went passed them and unlocked Ginble's cell all the others confused as Art explained how he tried to save them twice now and how they were going to make sure he got out alive and healthy. He gave Grinble a hug as well, telling him how sorry he was for ever thinking that he had betrayed them.

Art and Vixen got their equipment on and bid Grinble a farewell, stating he could get out of the dungeon from here. He gave them a wave and was off, while they heard guards coming back down they rushed them and met them in the stairway, quickly dealing them them, as quietly as possible. They took a moment before going up the steps, wanting to make sure they were ready for this fight, all their health was up, even if Art and Vixen felt tired, it wasn't the time for rest, they needed to dig deep, they took a moment looking at one another, connecting and showing that they were both all in on this fight.

They made their way up the stairs, the castle was covered in a darkness, it was sickening to smell. The walls covered in dust and the halls were thrashed, there were few patrols that they dealt with as quietly as they could, taking them out quickly and trying not to raise any attention. This is when it dawned on them that this place never had a King, the question came to mind once again who the man they met was if not the King. But these were questions for another time as they made their way through the castle, checking rooms to make sure there was no one being held in them.

Their was a mimic in one of the rooms and they shook their head, thinking it would be a nice warm up and honestly all of them were curious as to why they kept popping up. They took care of it in no time, this one seeming much weaker, like the first one they fought back in the labyrinth but it was still worth it. They quickly moved on from this one and started heading towards the main hall, that is where they knew the man had to be.

When they got there, not wasting any time, they burst into the room, finding him sitting on the throne waiting for them. That grin over his face once again as his eye shined in a green color and he stood to his feet.

"Finally, you have come to play. I knew the rest of you would show up sooner or later. Oh, and my little pets have been set free, feeling back to full health are we?" He winked at them, knowing there was no way for them to be at a hundred percent at this time. His hand reached out, he was coming in serious from the start this time, the green smoke filled the area and his scythe came forward and he clutched it into his hands.

He was much faster than they expected, with room to move around this time he was going to let loose, his scythe flung around the room as his laugh filled the air. They had no trouble dodging these first attacks but it was just the beginning as they rushed in, he was able to dodge and parry just as well as they did, he was much more lively than the bosses they had fought before. They tried to dodge his spells, not wanting effects to linger on them for this fight but it was hard to dodge it all and with his quick moves he made it tough, they didn't have a chance to sit still, this made it hard for Razah to cast any of her spells, it seemed as though that was a big factor, he didn't want Razah to use her ultimate spell.

The fight got intense fast, they couldn't stop or slow down, his attacks were wild and he slung the scythe around but none of them stopped. They moved in full force at him, Meekle tried his time stop curse but it just wasn't working against him, he was immune to them. He finally stopped trying and went into his full demon mode, this time getting a notification.

"Secret Skill, Demon Armor." Along with the black smoke that took over his body, making him look like a demon, came armor, purple and gold that went on top of this demon mode, the helmet had large curled horns and his eyes glowed a vicious red as he shot in like lightning at the man. Each slash leaving red rips in the air, he was moving at the same speed as the man now and this gave Razah some breathing room to do her spell. Meekle pulled at his health, as though he was not only damaging the man but healing with each bit of damage he was able to do.

Razah went to her Goddess Dweller form and a beam of light shot at the man, along with hundreds of feathers that burst on impact with him. Meekle jumped back and they all waited to see if he was down and out. A evil laugh came from the smoke that was left over from the attack, Razah tried to heal up but his scythe flew at her, knocking her back and stunning her.

"I am Zellis of the Legion and you were fools to come here. You will be the first." His eyes beamed through the smoke and were directed at Razah. He rushed her but Fenix jumped in front of her, going into his Ifrit form and fighting Zellis off but just barely, taking chunks of damage as he did so. A clear look at him now showed parts of his skin melting off, he was a skeleton, muscle reached over parts of his body and a sick and gross smile left on his face but his skin was gone. He had grown slightly in size, his fingers were long and gripped at his scythe that he then swung, it reach the whole of the room and slashed into the walls.

They were all knocked off balance with that attack, he slowly started walking towards them, as if time slowed for all of them this time. His scythe scrapped on the ground behind him as he dragged it along and went straight for Razah. He was quickly knocked away once again, Cerberus growled and chomped at him, drool falling from the beasts mouth. Tophuu had got his summon off just before the time stop and it didn't have an effect on the beast that now battled with Zellis. His health was getting lower and lower but he gave no heed as he finished the beast off with much more ease than they did, it seemed that it just didn't have the same type of power at the moment.

It bought them time as they all felt free against but he had his eyes set on Razah still, he rushed her, moving with god like speed they all rushed in front of her, parrying his attacks and taking hits so she could get away and heal. Meekles form left him and they were all pretty drained from the barrage of attacks they let out on him so far.

"Ultimate skill, Master Trap." A large iron maiden wrapped around Zellis and closed in on him. Spikes were filled inside. "Secret Skill, Shooting Star." Arrows rained down on the iron maiden, breaking through it and it soon broke apart and left just Zellis hunched over laughing.

"This is so much fun. I haven't got to fight like this sense those stupid heroes." His tongue hung from his mouth. "One-Thousand Cuts." He spoke as he slashed through the air, suddenly they all started feeling as if they were attacked, even though he wasn't moving, his skill opened up and started cutting them all, their health falling quickly. "If I can't have her I will take what I can." He turned to the closest one to him, Fenix and rushed him, his scythe swung back and no one was close enough to stop him. Fenix was weak from the attacks and as the scythe came down on him it suddenly vanished, even Zellis looking to his hands to see where it went.

When he turned around he saw Art standing, a grip on his scythe, a bladed weapon that he was able to steal from his weakened enemy. His breathing was heavy and he looked a mess but he health the weapon and bared his teeth as he rushed in.

"Rising Strike, Rush Rock." These two skills knocked him into the air and then back down to the ground, "Endless strike." The scythe whipped back and forth at him, leaving marks of green in the air with each strike. The rest got up and followed suit with Art, attacking as they could, but Art didn't let up, he put everything into each strike. Meekle upping his attack power so that he could do even more damage as he let out skill after skill, having held back all his mana till that point.

Zellis tried to fight back but he had nothing left as he fell to their unstoppable attacks and when he finally was down and the fight was over, Art dropped the scythe and fell back, just barely catching himself, they had pulled off a fight none of them thought they could and beat back the top Legion member, or at least they thought.

It was time to clear out the town and find anyone still hiding or that needed help, they left the castle and when they did a smoke filled the room, a voice talked.

"Interesting, they have gotten much more powerful than expected." It seemed angry and Zellis body rose up, "You pathetic fool." His body was thrown into the wall and fell into pixels as steps around the room could be heard, "It will seem I will have to deal with them myself to get those seals. It is a good thing I was not so blind to your foolish ways and let you hold on to the relic." The voice laughed before it vanished into the air.

The group ran through the town taking down all the soldiers that were left, many seemed to be fleeing the area, rather than fighting back. The group hoped it was because they knew they were beaten. The towns people could hear all the fighting going on and those in hiding came out to see what was going on, seeing that the heroes had returned, many of them rejoicing and cheering them on. The people led some of the group over to where many of the towns people were being held, they had converted the chapel in town into a prison for them all, the doors and windows all barred up and guards were out front.

They were easy enough to fight off after the boss, none of these soldiers seemed to be much in comparison. They opened the doors, the people looked ill, just like those of Trinity and the group was disgusted with themselves, having let this happen to not one but two towns and who knows how many others that they didn't know about and hadn't seen or visited yet. They held their heads in shame as the people of the city gathered in the center of town with the group. The group fell to their knees and their foreheads met the ground.

"We are sorry." They all said together, silence went over the people as a few rocks were thrown at them.

"You should be, you left us here." The shame they felt in that moment was great, but those people were few, as others helped them to their feet and smiled, thanking them for coming back to save them, understanding that they didn't know and had so many things to do. That they were trying to save the whole world and that sometimes it isn't perfect when that happens. Still sense the game was more alive, all the people had their own feelings about this, it wasn't like the video games they played in the past when they were little, it wasn't like they were the heroes who saved everyone and everyone was grateful. They preferred it this way, they knew they weren't perfect and that they were far from true heroes, they didn't even know if this was a part of the story or if they were constantly changing how the story was meant to be.

Still, they did as they did with Trinity and helped clean up the city, all but Art and Vixen stayed up all night, they needed their rest and the others forced them to go to bed. In the morning they were greeted by many of the others of the town, seeing them return, the word spread quickly that they were there and taking back the capital. It seemed Grinble was partly responsible for spreading this word, even Ana come to greet them and thank them for what they had done. It wasn't the same though, the town was never going to be exactly the same as it once was but they still wanted to help put the town back together as much as they could.

After days of work they finally got to rest for a day, they spent it in the guild hall and spoke of what they would do when the story line was over and done. Talking about wanting to build a house for themselves, a giant one that they could live in, all of them thinking of where they would do this, most of them wanting to stay close to the capital. They talked about how they would earn livings and of all the adventures they wanted to take, the sites they wanted to see. It all felt so close that they couldn't help but think about it all and all the time they would have to do what ever they wanted to, it was almost scary to think about, they were so use to being constantly on the move that sitting still and having nothing to worry about almost felt odd.

Ana had the guild hall back up and running and even had quests available and they all talked of how they would definitely do some awesome quests once they were done with this story. Art talked with Ana and where she had been sense they saved her and they had gone off to get the rest of the seals. She told him that she had went into hiding so that the Legion couldn't use her against them, it seemed smart, as well as something the story would do to exit a character easily.

The next morning as they came down from their room Ana stopped them, handing them a letter from the guilds.

"Congratulations on freeing the city of Crystalis and their people. We would like to invite you as honored guessed to a parade, held in your honor for all that you have achieved, the end is in site and we would like to show our appreciation for all that you have done for the world. Signed the Guild Masters." They all smiled, they had worked hard and the end was nearing and they didn't want to turn down such a kind request. They ate and packed their stuff, getting supplied and readying themselves to leave.