Shipwreck

Lilian felt herself retreating. Finally, she gave way to fear and made to run back inside the rice storeroom, but Cedrics quick hand found her slender neck. Choking and sputtering, she tried to free herself from the Knights metallic grip.

"Going somewhere?" Cedric sneered.  "I believe I cannot permit that, little girl, because youre stuck here. And my dear little sister is nowhere around here to protect you, so I might as well finish you now!"

Lilians eyes grew wide as she saw Cedric lift his katana to kill her. She shut her eyes tightly.

Brother

"SPEAR BOOMERANG!"

A Thornecraft Fire Lance whizzed through the air and found Cedrics hand. The perfect blade of Steel and Silver pierced through Cedrics gauntlet. He roared in pain and dropped Lilian, who quickly scuttled toward her timely savior: Lady Recia.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Lilian cried as she stood behind Recia, hugging the lady by the waist. Recia shielded her from view protectively and her Fire Lance returned to her hand in a whiz.

"So you defy me directly, dear little sister!" Cedric hissed, clutching his wounded hand.

"You are going too far without thinking, Cedric!" Recia answered in a rage.  "Kill this girl and war follows! Youre mad! Touch the kid again and I swear youre going to answer to me!"

Cedrics eyes narrowed into slits as he picked up his katana. Lilian hugged closer to Recia, staring unblinkingly at Cedrics sinister form.

"Are you going to fight me now, Recia?" said Cedric, his voice deadly.

Recia readied her lance.  "Go ahead! Better do it now!"

Recia gently pushed Lilian away. The latter back up into the wall, staring at the scene before her with fear. Recia and Cedric circled each other like wolves, sensing and feeling who would attack first.

"HRAA!"

Cedric attacked in blinding speed. Sparks flew as the blade of his katana clashed with the body of Recias spear. From where the blade touched the spear ice formed, spreading. Recia was fast retreating backward, the spurs at her heels digging into the floor, and an insane smile lit Cedrics features.

"Oh no you dont!" Recia shrieked.

She lifted her right leg and kicked Cedric hard in the torso, making him double back and spit blood. Recia spun her lance, and it burst into flames. Strangely, the flames did not burn her. They just stayed briefly, melting the ice from Cedrics katana.

It was Recias turn to attack. She charged forward, lance spinning fast above her head.

"BASH!!"

Lilian screamed. The Fire Lances blade came crashing into the floor, missing Cedrics left ear by two inches. The Bash was powerful, as it exploded loudly and created a small crater in the floor. Bloody scratches appeared on Cedrics scowling face.

Cedric quickly got back on his feet by doing a backflip. He charged forward again, hacking and slashing violently. Recia fended off her brothers blow effortlessly, but her Fire Lance was quickly freezing in her hands. She kicked him off again and used fire to remove the ice.

Lilian was watching the battle mutely. Werent Cedric and Recia supposed to be siblings? Why were they fighting like this, like they didnt know each other? Didnt they love each other?

"SPEAR STAB!"

"COUNTER ATTACK!"

This time, Recia was blasted off her feet. She crashed into the wall and fell to the floor unconscious, blood trickling from her nose. Lilian gasped and quickly went to her side, trying in vain to wake her up. Cedric looked down on his sister with boiling hate and disgust.

"Had you not been my sister, I would have cut off your head this instant." He said before leaving with a swish of his cloak.

Lilian was sobbing as she took Recia in her arms.  "My lady, please wake"

Footsteps could be heard. Around the corner, Louisa and two others emerged, horror on their faces. Louisas companions were the same Assassin and Wizard Lilian overheard earlier from the broom cupboard.

"Lady Recia!"

"My lady! Goodness, what happened?!"

"My lady! Lady Recia!"

Lilian watched helplessly as Louisa took Recia from her and tried to wake her up. Seconds later Recia stirred and woke up. She touched her head gingerly.

"No, Im okayjust smashedlet me go, goddamn you! I said Im okay!"

Recia stood up and shook her head. She shifted her gaze to Lilian. When she saw that the Novice had been crying, she smiled kindly and bent to wipe away the tears.

"Im okay, see? He cant hurt meIm a Knight like him." Recia told Lilian.  "Knights greatest enemies are Knights like themselves."

Lilian cried bitterly and threw herself to Recia.

"OUCH, GODDAMN YOU!"

Recia balled her hand into a fist and slammed it into Diegos face. The Assassin toppled off his seat and landed on the floor in a faint.

"My lady, if you keep doing this to us well never be able to treat your wounds." Deimyx the Wizard said in disapproval.  "Please, stand the sting for a whileit wont hurt"

"Ah, shut up!" Recia slapped off his hand. She stood up and looked at Lilian, who was sitting looking out of the window.  "Whats the matter?"

"I was thinking" Lilian tore her gaze from the sea.  "When my brother comes to take me away, will you all come away with me?"

Deimyx, Louisa and the newly awakened Diego exchanged glances. Recia blinked.

"What do you mean?" said Recia, knitting her eyebrows.

"You dont like this place, dont you?" Lilian said softly.  "I can feel it. And I heard Mr. Diego and Mr. Deimyx this morning. You cant leave this guild because leaving it means death for all of you. I know Altair will come for me. I shall wait patiently for him. But I want to give you a chance. When he comes, will you come away with me?"

Deimyx, Diego, Louisa and Recia could not answer.

"Would that be okay?" Diego asked.  "I mean, I can be an extra baggage, but if Altair does not want"

"Yeah, I wanna come to!" said Louisa, standing up.  "Ive had enough of this place!"

Deimyx just smiled mysteriously. "Personally, I want to talk with Altairask him about how Master Nerva died. For that chat I have to come away, which I would gladly do so."

Lilian turned to the remaining person in the room. Recia returned her gaze somewhat dolefully.

"I dont know, Lilian, I am sorry." She said.

Lightning flashed in the night sky. Deimyx stood up and went to the window.

"What a violent storm we have there." He said.

Somewhere deep in her heart Lilian felt fear. Fear for Altair, who was currently in the middle of that storm fighting for dear life.

It was a nightmare. The weather changed suddenly. The sky was clear just hours ago, but now it darkened so much it looked like the end of the world. Huge forks of lightning flashed the sky and thunder rolled so loudly it hurt ones eardrums. The waves had gone monstrous, giant crests waiting to swallow anything that stood in their way.

 Mayflower was caught right in the middle of this entire catastrophe. The seemingly frail ship was being tossed about by the gigantic waves. The rain lashed unpityingly on the crew and on some of the passengers who rushed to help keep the ship in one piece.

The ship rocked, tumbled, bounced, flew, tossed, flailed and smashed over the lethal and rampaging sea. Earlier that night three of its five sails had already been knocked down. There were no Acolytes or Priests on board, and the passengers were going mad with fright.

"I dont wanna die! I still want to be a Wizard!" a female Magician was sobbing.

"God help us!" a Merchant prayed wildly.

"These fools!" Signy was shouting.  "Dont they know wed all die if they keep doing nothing but whine like babies?!"

Altair was too busy to answer. He was holding on for dear life on ships central posts, which supported the sails. The winds were blowing so strongly that it threatened to carry him away. But he was more afraid for his sister. What was happening to her? Was she okay? Did she eat? Where was she? Did she have any decent place to sleep in?

"Where the hell is Nervy?" Altair shouted to Signy.

"Do you think he can stand this?" Signy yelled back.  "Id probably say hes out cold in the cabin right now!"

Signy guessed right. At that very moment Nerva was in the farthest corner of their cabin, hugging himself. His face was very green.

A strong gust of wind slapped the Mayflower relentlessly. The ship gave a wild wobble, making everyone scream. Because of the confusion and the raging storm, the captain had no time to steer to safety, and all that they heard was the deathly crunch of wood against solid rock.

Below deck, things had gone from bad to worst. Water was seeping through the large, unfixable hole, quickly flooding the ship and starting to drag everyone to an untimely and unwanted watery grave.

"WILL YOU JUST LET ME SAVE MY SISTER!" Altair shrieked at the dark clouds and howling winds.  "DAMN YOU! WILL YOU JUST GIVE ME A CHANCE TO SEE HER! GODDAMN IT!"

All around them the waters were rising. A huge wave smacked the ship, raining down icy-cold water on the people outside. Cargoes were swept away and fell into the sea. The passengers were losing hope, and so did the crew. It would take a miracle to save them; a miracle that would surely never come.

Just then, Nerva emerged from the cabin dragging Signys falcon and his Peco-peco with him. He staggered as if he were drunk, swaying heavily with seasickness and nausea. He looked around blearily at the horrifying scene. He had to do somethinghe had tosave these peoplethey didnt know how horrible Death could get

Bile rose to his mouth. He doubled back and threw up, but the heavy rain washed away the muck and slime. He blinked under the fierce bolts of lightning. The two birds were cawing and thrashing madly against his grip but he would not let them go.

His feet had knocked down a package. About a hundred Blue Gemstones spilled on the floor, gleaming under the lightning. Nervas head exploded in pain. He had to do something. He picked up the nearest gem he could reach and did what was probably the stupidest and most ridiculous miracle everyone on Mayflower could have asked for.

"WARP PORTAL!" Nerva screamed madly, clearly losing his mind.

"Hey, handsome, no use doing that, were all going to Hell anyway!" one of the crew joked.

"Hell, no!" the Magician screamed.  "Look!"

A Warp Portal emerged on the decks floor, outshining the fierce bolts of lightning. Nerva groaned, picking up yet another gemstone.

"WARP PORTAL!"

And another gemstone.

"WARP PORTAL!"

The people aboard the hopeless ship only exchanged a few glances before running into any of the three portals. Many even had the time to take their bags and pets with them. Signy grabbed Nerva (the falcon) from Nerva (the Wizard) and jumped headfirst into the first portal. Altair, hugging his backpack and hammer, followed next.

Nerva, sick from head to toe, dragged his thrashing Peco-peco and jumped in last before their hope vanished.

And with that, the Amatsu Sea swallowed the Mayflower in one large, wet gulp.

Wet. That was the first feeling that greeted Altair when he opened his eyes and tried to sit up to be able to look around. His whole body was aching terribly. It was still nighttime, and the storm was still raging some thirty or twenty kilometers away from where they were.

But wait a minute, where the hell were they?!?

Altair looked around. He was quite alone in the island except for Nerva and Signyand some unexpected companions: the falcon and the Peco-peco. Every single one of them was still out cold.

Signy woke up next. Her first concern was her falcon, and when she found Nerva (the falcon) alive she was most pleased. Then she turned to Altair, who was just as soaked as her.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, Im fine" Altair replied.

She looked at Nerva next, who was alive but still in a faint. Then she returned her gaze to Altair.

"When did he learn to open Warp Portals?" she asked Altair.

Altair then looked at Nerva. Something was really strange about him. Then he returned to Signy saying, "I have no idea."

"I know Nerva can perform all the techniques of a Swordsman given his family background and his history" said Signy.  "but Warp Portal?"

Nerva woke up. He sat up, touching his head and wincing.

"Nervy?"

He gave a start and faced Altair.  "Huh?"

"Nervy, since when were you able to open Warp Portals?" Altair asked.

"Im afraid we all like to know that." Signy nodded in agreement.

Nerva looked at his hands.  "Idont knowit justcame to me."

Signy and Altair exchanged glances. Things were getting stranger and stranger.

And then Nerva was fast on his feet, looking at something behind Altair and Signy with bulging and widened eyes.

"Talk about luck." Nerva spoke. He pointed.  "The Red Roses castle."

The Blacksmith and the Huntress spun their heads. Looming some 120 feet above them, standing on a cliff of solid granite, was the famous fortress of the Red Roses.