Returning Home (Closed)

[Destrudo]

Darkness. It was everwhere, it had him surrounded. Destrudo twisted and turned, and no matter what Direction he looked in there was no escape, no light to flee towards.

Voices, everywhere, each and everyone of them the same, his fathers, each and everyone of them shouting at him.

Weakling

Loser

Moron

Love is only for cowards

You will never be what I am, you will never become any better than what you are now.

You can't kill me.

He shook his head.

"Stop it, its not true!" he shouted.

You did this, the blood is on your hands.

"No, I didn't want to do it, you made me!" he sobbed.

In the darkness a beacon of light appeared in the distance. A woman, shining with a beautiful light.

I love you

Destrudo awoke with a start.

He had already lost the first to battles he had been in since leaving home. Was his impressive strength another of his father's lies? His Leather suit had many holes in it. He could see his red Aura shining over his skin. He was the only one like him in the entire world, no friends, and as far as he knew, no family.

It felt terrible, being one of a kind. He didn't belong in this strange new land. He decided he would try to find his way home, back to where he belonged.

With a grumble he got to his feet, and went downstairs. He had found an inn in Radasanth, the largest city in Corone, called The Boarding House next to a place called The Flesh Failures. After Breakfast He stepped out into the streets heading towards the docks.

[Aiko]

Aiko awoke with a smile on her face. She had spent the past few nights at the flesh Failures indulging in the pleasures of the flesh. Now she stretched and yawned in her comfortable bed at The Boarding House next door. Radasanth was a large interesting city. Ever since losing her ragbaby, she seemed a bit calmer, even saner, though still given to the occasional bouts of insanity.

"Good Morning Edward." She said to her little doll of a knight sitting on a nearby table.

She got dressed silently, and gathered her things. The past few nights were a blur of booze and flesh.

Downstairs she noticed a sinister looking man in black Leather clothes.

What an interesting fellow She thought to herself.

She finished before him, and when he left, she followed, though with chainmail over a blue Kimono, she wouldn't be that hard to spot, especially with a Mace strapped to her back and a doll in her arms. Her Black hair covered a glowing jewel in her forehead.

She wondered where he was going.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo walked down the central road. He caught a glint of sunlight behind him.

The fool woman isn't following me is she? he wondered to himself. He turned down a side street and still she followed him.

He turned around.

"WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?" he shouted at her.

[Aiko]

"WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?" The man shouted at her with his scary voice.

Aiko visably shrank. She didn't want to piss the man off, she only wanted to learn more about him.

"You, you looked interesting, I was curious, and wanted to learn more about you. Are you going on an adventure or something? This world's awfully big to travel alone in. Maybe, maybe we could become friends or something." Aiko said.

Edward jumped down out of her arms and pointed his dagger at the glowing man.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo considered her words carefully.

"Why that's the weakest most lameest hairbrained excuse I've ever heard. I look interesting. As if. I DON'T WANT to be interesting, I want to be intimidating. I want children to take one look at me and run screaming for their mothers. I want brave world renowned adventurers to hear my name and quiver in fear. I want the very gods themselves to dread my coming. On top of that, what part of a solitary man walking down the street screams a need for company to you? I don't care how big or small this world is, I was perfectly happy being alone." Destrudo said in anger to her, though his last words were a lie. He was lonely.

He looked down at the doll.

"If you don't point that thing somewhere else we're going to play kick the can, with you as the can." he quietly threatened the doll.

After a moment of silence
"Alright, you want to come with me, fine you can help me find out if anyone knows where the lands of never-ending night are." Destrudo said.

[Aiko]

As he berated her for her innocent curiosity and offer of friendship, her shoulders slumped. She hadn't really meant anything cruel out of it. She was on the verge of tears.

Then he quietly threatened Edward, and edward, with a definate feeling of defeat, turned and pointed his sword elsewhere.

Aiko looked at this Giant man in fear. Was he going to try and hurt her?

"Alright, you want to come with me, fine you can help me find out if anyone knows where the lands of never-ending night are." The man said.

Aiko's Eyes brightened, and she picked up Edward.

"Okay!" She exclaimed happily. Then she realised what he had said.

"Wait, never-ending night, how is that even possible? That's gotta be like some super big massive enchantment or something." She said.

After a moments time,
"Anyways, my name is Aiko, and this is my friend, Edward." Aiko said.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo walked down the alleyways.

She introduced herself as Aiko, and named her little armored doll as Edward.


"My name is Destrudo. I am not one to idle my time chatting, so do me a favor, and shut up." Destrudo said.

Time found them a few moments later at the docks. Two ships had just pulled in, one from Scara Brae, and one from Alerar.

Destrudo looked around, and spotted a popular if not well known tavern under the name The Buccaneer's Den

The Buccaneer's Den? Sounds like a safe-house for pirates and thieves. destrudo thought.

"In there, that's a likely spot." Destrudo said.

[Xos]

Xos fell off the ship as it entered port from Alerar. Again he had sailed on the ocean, and again he did his best to keep the contents of his stomach inside, but failed.

He staggered to his feet looking for somewhere to regain his senses. As his hand pressed over his robes, which somehow managed to stay clean and white with only the decorations they were supposed to have on them, he noticed a glowing red man and young woman holding an armored doll entering an untrustworthy sounding establishment called The Buccaneer's Den. He decided that was as good a place as any to settle his stomach
and lurched towards the bar.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe sighed as the ship pulled in from Scara Brae. Sea Travel was so relaxing.

When it stopped she stepped off behind moonbeam, who raced around in circles excited to be off the ship.

She had no idea why she returned to Corone, other than that was the direction the wind was blowing when the time came for her to leave Scara Brae.

She noticed a weird glowing man entering a tavern followed by a odd woman holding an even odder armored doll, and a seasick looking man in unusual robes. She felt sorry for people that got seasick.

She looked at the name. The Buccaneer's den and then above it, she noticed a flock of circling seagulls.

"I'm pulled to the strangest places sometimes." she said.

She walked towards the tavern, moonbeam keeping close by.

[Aiko]

The Buccaneer's Den was loud and noisy. Someone was up on a stage playing old Sea songs about this or that horrible monster from the deep.

Sailors were everywhere. Some she was sure were legitamate merchants and business men, but some looked like they had ran from the law a time or two. Up on the wall hung a few wanted posters offering rewards for the notorious criminal scum that sailed the ocean blue.

The air smelled like salt, and many of the men looked like the last time they bathed was on accident when they were drunk. The women weren't so pretty either, missing teeth, eyes, and some were overweight. A couple of sailors lay in the corner suffering from Scurvy.

The wood was warped and bent and no longer identifiable as to what type it was due to all the moisture in the air. Parts of it was red, parts were browner, and some were whiter. One patch was black with mold.

Many of the sailors hooted and hollered at her and a wild looking woman and her pet as they entered.

"What're ye doin in a place like this Lassie? Fancy a ride on t' Captain's longboat?" leered one sailor.

"Arr, we be lookin' for t' land o' never-endin' darkness and unless you can help us, then aft off you scurvy dog!" Aiko said, switching to a Pirate personality.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo looked around, and surmised that many of these men were rough and ready wannabes, but what really surprised him was that the woman he assumed was some random city nutjob was actually a piratess, or so it appeared.

"That will be quite enough of that." He said. His voice seemed to attract much attention.

"I seek the land where night never ends, the place where daylight does not shine. It is a place above the ground, and accross many seas. Do you know where it is, or not?" he asked.

"Such a place is no more than a fanciful dream found in the bottom of a barrel of grog!" The bartender called out. He was backed up by a chorus of ayes.

"I was born there. Its called the Dark Empire of Noctum I know it exists." Destrudo said angrily.

[Xos]

"Now hold on a minute here. A place where night never ends, EVER? That just, that just defies logic. I mean, even in the Polar extremities daylight comes for at least a few months, but for night to never end? the world would have to stop rotating on its axis completly, which would interrupt the cycles of nature, and cause life to stagnate and die. Think about what your saying man. The enchantments alone would surely be beyond the strength of even the mightiest of Gods, heaven knows science couldn't do it. And how do you keep the land from cooling off and freezing, light giant bonfires?" Xos said freaking out over something so illogical.

"I think he needs a drink." one sailor called out to his fellows. The rest of the establishment laughed.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe listened quietly while taking in the atmosphere. She was surprised to see the strange man in white robes freak out over something that could have a perfectly valid explaination. She stood and put a hand ond his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, calm down, its okay. There's probably a good explaination for it. I wouldn't mind seeing this place for myself. You'd be surprised at just what nature can do." She said trying to comfort the man and stop his freak out.

[Aiko]

Aiko looked at the three.

"Well, its just as simple as going somewhere else and trying to find the answer, I mean, sure it sounds impossible, but so does the concept of death without concequence, and yet we have the citadel" she said.

The Tavern grew to a hush.

"I couldn't help but hear outside. Did you say you were looking for Noctum? I was there once, and I don't feel like returning, I barely made it past the notice of Leviathan the great water Serpant. True enough I just had Cannons and spears, but all the same, I will not sail into that creature's territory again!" A man said behind her. This man had a peg leg and a wooden hand, both made of Liviol, which gave rise to his name, Liviol The Pirate. His hand was enchanted to be flexable and let him use it like a real hand. He was dressed in a red overcoate hiding his tan pants and white stuffed silk shirt. He had a cutlass belted at his side. He was feared by many for his ruthless nature and the impunity with which he could take a life. He was on the board of criminals, a wanted man, but so far uncaught.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo looked at the two newcomers, and at Aiko.

"You doubt my homeland exists, you think I'm crazy! Fine, come with me then, and when you see it, you will owe me an apology. All three of you can come. Liviol, I'll use these three to protect your ship, and if you get us safely there, I will give you five Ziz feathers to line the belly of your ship, enabling your ship to fly through the skies like the legendary air monster the feathers came from. You will be the greatest of pirates, what do you say, are you willing to help me?" Destrudo offered, making a very tempting deal.

"Alright, I'll take ye, but at the first sign of trouble I', dropping you and your friends in a lifeboat and fleeing. Nothings worth dying in the jaws of Leviathan." Captain Liviol said.

"Their not my friends." Destrudo muttured.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe leaned over the Prow of The Red Triumph It was in many respects a powerful ship. Her sails were of red sack cloth, which was where she got her name.

Her length was 126 feet, her Keel, 106' 6 1/8", her breadth was 31' 8", her hold was 10' 1/2", her tonnage was 578 73/94 and held a crew compliment of up to 200 men, though Captian Liviol didn't employ quite that many.

She loved sailing over the ocean blue, and Captain Liviol was a masterful Sailor, who seemed able to make his ship positivly flow over the surface of the water.

Moonbeam was curled up next the main mast. The sea was calm, a good breeze was blowing, and Valanthe could feel that this good sailing weather would hold for at least the next three days.

[Xos]

Xos was leaned over the portside railing. The Sea might've been calm for some, but he didn't think so. He thought it was far to choppy. He noticed Valanthe leaning against the railing appearently enjoying the ride. He had no idea how she could enjoy the ride, but maybe some conversation would help him.

He crawled over towards her, hand over hand on the Railing. In the two days since they had left port they had come to know one another at least somewhat well. For instance he knew she was a druidess and had no idea who her real parents were.

"So what's your secret, why does the ocean feel calm to you, and feel rough to me?" he asked.

[Aiko]

Aiko came out on deck, Edward in tow. By this point in their journey everyone knew that Edward somehow moved on his own, and so they were not too surprised to see him following Aiko as she came out for some fresh air.

Aiko seemed able to handle sea voyages with relative ease, but the ocean was not what was on her mind. She wanted to ask Destrudo more about his homeland, but, she always grew to nervous around him to ask.

"So, how much longer?" she asked Captain Liviol.

"Three weeks, four if we stop to resupply." Captain Liviol said.

Aiko whistled in surprise. Most places took only a few days from corone, but an entire month of sailing?

"It would take longer if this wasn't a fast ship with additional speed enchantments." Liviol said. Aiko just shook her head in wonderment.

She joined Valanthe out on the prow just as Xos crawled over and asked his question.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo was up in the crows nest, arms folded over his chest, scowling at the ocean because it wasn't carrying them fast enough for his satisfaction.

He climbed down in time to here The Captain give the three week estimate, and scowled ever harder.

He grinned with a sick delight at Xos's misery, as he got sick over the side of the ship. The three seemed to be gathering at the prow, so he joined them there.

as xos asked his question, he wondered what sage advice the druidess would pass on.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe turned in surprise as Xos questioned her about something so simple.

"I just don't think about it. I listen to the ocean, the ship, the birds, when their around, all of it. I just listen, instead of watch." She said.

__________________________________________________ ____________

It had been a month. Captain Liviol came to depend on Valanthe for good weather. Many times she had been able to manipulate the weather just enough to get them out of the worst of some bad storms.

Today, as she looked at the clear sky trying to determine the weather, her eyes suddenly went wide and she gripped Captain Liviol in fear. He had been standing beside her waiting for a weather report. Her pulse quickened, and her heart throbbed. Her lips quivered as she parted them to tell everyone the dire news.

"A Hurricane is comeing. This one is supernaturally powerful, beyond what nature can make. The sky screams in agony and the ocean trembles in pain. This you cannot outrun." She cried. Whatever was doing this, was strong enough to give even the greatest spell casters a run for their money in terms of sheer power.

As she spoke, and the crew hastened into action, The Sky grew Darker, and the ocean grew rougher while trying to reach all the way up into the very sky itself. The Wind Blew Fiercly and lightning cracked through the sky.
Something was coming, and it was coming for them.

[Xos]

In the weeks since Valanthe had told Xos to listen to the ocean and not think about it, Xos had made progress in not being seasick anymore. And now, here it was one month later, and he felt almost normal. But then she said a Hurricane was coming. A HURRICANE! There was no way a ship like this could withstand a hurricane.

Xos watched as the weather turned nasty. As a wall of water towered over the ship, Xos just lost what self-control he had, and hurled right there on the spot.

"Boy, next time aim for the water, not me." Said a considerably messier Captain Liviol.

Xos tried to apologise, but had to run to the rail. A sailor lashed him to the side so at least he wouldn't be washed away. In the distance he thought he caught a glint of scale.

[Aiko]

A Hurricane? Aiko didn't have any idea what that was, but she did know that something reallty bad was coming, evidenced by the fact that the ocean had gone from peaceful to violent in a matter of seconds.

she grabbed Edward and darted below decks. Down there she helped the men fasten everything down.

She glanced outside, and saw something that could've been a giant sea serpant and an Ancient Water Dragon at the same time. She was about to ask what it was, but it disappeared beneath the waves, and after it was gone, she wasn't even sure she had seen it to begin with.

A shiver of fear ran down her back, was that the Legendary Aquatic Monster known as Leviathan the captain had spoken of?

[Destrudo]

Destrudo scowled as valanthe delivered the news about the Hurricane.

"Its going to take more than some silly storm to stop me." Destrudo said.

Almost in repsonse Thunder crashed overhead as the skies got darker.

"YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, YOU HEARD ME, YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" He yelled irrationally at the sky. Thunder crashed again and the seas got rougher, the wind blew fiercly and men scrambled to bring down the sails before the wind tore them. Finally, the ship was prepared.

"YEAH, WELL IF YOUR SO TOUGH THEN BRING IT ON!" He yelled again at the weather.

Destrudo paled as mountains of scale rose around the ship, and a massive cavern of fangs rose out of the ocean. The Cavern shut itself to reveal the head of HIM!"

"LEVIATHAN!" Shrieked Captain Liviol. Levianthan was well over fifty miles in length and nearly one quater of a mile in Diameter. He was something akin to a giant Sea Serpant, but had scales like a Water Dragon. His eyes sparked with the power of a Thunderstorm, his breath moved with the force of a hurricane. He was a force not to be taken lightly.

Destrudo shook himself and clenched his fist.

"THEN BRING IT ON IF YOUR SO TOUGH!" Destrudo shouted at the horror of the deep

"FIRE! FIRE! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS! TEN THOUSAND CROWNS TO THE MAN THAT TAKES DOWN LEVIATHAN!" Liviol shouted. As the 100 man crew launched into battle Destrudo ran at the legendary creature.

Leviathan let out a roar and lightning crashed from his mouth into the sky. He launched himself into The Red Triumph, and smashed the entire ship to smithereens. Destrudo caught onto the creatures back and began pummeling it.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe watched in amusement as Destrudo yelled at the weather. She hoped he got struck by lightning. That would teach him a lesson. Then she paled in horror, as the source of this unnatural storm showed itself.

Leviathan, no one ever honestly wanted to meet this creature face to face, unless they were crazy or blinded by dreams of glory.

But now Destrudo seemed determined to go on, no matter the cost, and as he charged the mighty snake, she found herself charging along beside him. Moonbeam was scrambling along not too far behind them.

She smiled, if she was going to die in the jaws of a giant sea snake, she might as well enjoy it. She leaped onto its back as it crashed into the ship, and began using the power of Ice to freeze it.

Moonbeam licked her jaws and then bit into Leviathan.

[Xos]

Xos quivered and trembled. Leviathan, he wasn't just something that could be reasoned with. Valanthe and Destrudo were going to tackle it, how could he do any less? He unlashed himself from the Railing, and grabbed the fins on Leviathan's back. He figured if he could make his way to the head, he could blast it to death.

He failed to notice his seasickness was gone.

[Aiko]

Aiko was below decks when Leviathan struck. Quickly she gathered Edward, but was thrown to the side as Leviathan crashed through the ship. She saw Xos, Valanthe and Destrudo all hanging on to its back. She leaped and grabbed onto the end of its tail.

She chuckled inspite of being in danger of dying. Edward was poking the giant creature with his wee little dagger for everything he was worth. He was trying at least.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo paused from his flurry of blows to simply hold on as tightly as possible. He noticed his blows were simply ineffectual against this creature.

He tried to rip off scales, but failed miserably. He couldn't hold his breath for much longer, they were moving underwater at high rates of speed, the underwater environment simply a blur.

Leviathan turned its head and fixed him and his companions with a murderous glare. Lightning shot down its body, and the shock was so great that it threw Destrudo off. He blacked out, giving himself up for dead.


He woke up sometime later on a strange and unfamilier beach, with a groan he sat up.

"So that was Leviathan." He said in a matter of fact tone of voice. Destrudo held some small measure of respect for the creature, obviously it was superior to him.

[Xos]

Xos admired the design of Leviathan's scales while he attempted without success to blow them off. They were designed to force water from the front of the creature, to the back. He kept the design in his memory. In effect, a design like this enabled Leviathan to reach very high speeds.

finally he wore himself out and could not cast another spell. Leviathan was looking at him, and fear knotted in xos's heart. a blast of electricity shot him off the creature with such force it knocked him out.

He woke up at an unknown time, on an unknown beach, not to far from Destrudo.

"So that was Leviathan." Destrudo said.

"Indeed, not the sort of thing I care to take on again anytime in the near future." Xos said, sitting up.

[Aiko]

Aiko, who was hanging on at the end of the tail noticed her companions not having any success. As the electricity shot down leviathan she let go before it hit her, and swam for the two guys as they blacked out. She grabbed one and began swimming for a shore she sighted in the distance, using the broken shattered pieces of the red triumph to float the unconious people to shore. Captain Liviol and his men were nowhere to be found.

An entire night and day had passed on this beach.

"I'm so glad you two are alive!" she cried rushing over to embrace them both.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe and moonbeam had also let go before the lightning struck them Seeing Aiko swimming for them let her know Aiko was safe. She helped Aiko get their two companions to the nearby shore.

During the night and day that passed, she located a bush full of edible berries, and even brought down a lone Male deer for meat.

"I too am glad you two are safe." she said.

Moonbeam sat not too far away.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo stood as Aiko rushed over to embrace him. He was confused and did not know why she would be holding him, and this confusion angered him.
He didn't know why he did it, but he put a hand on her back as well.

"Well, let us see if there is life here. Since there is daylight about, we cannot be in the Dark Empire." He said.

He lead them out through the forest, walking through the woods, and into a large plain. Night was approaching, and he stopped, he thought he saw something. He stopped his traveling companions.

As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, a bell tolled from somewhere, and the wind began to blow. Outlines of buildings and towers and large buildings appeared all accross the plain, getting stronger as night fell.

Destrudo's eyes widened and gasped in surprise, as outlines of people emerged from the buildings. The forest was disappearing behind them, and infront of them now in the darkness, was an entire city larger than Radasanth of Corone, but not by too much. They were in a square, and surrounding them were 12 guards pointing spears at them.

"Welcome to Necropolis, captial city of The Dark empire of Noctum. Where did you come from, The Holy Solar Empire of Lumos?" asked the captain of the guard.

"We came from beyond the sea. I came to return to my father's castle, and he was a very important man here in Noctum, perhaps you've heard of it." said Destrudo.

By this point a guard had recognised Destrudo and gone pale, he was whispering something to the captain.

"And, who would your father be." asked the captain, trembling slightly.

"My Father was The Shadow Lord, and he owned Castle Noctis Eternum." Destudo said.

"P-please forgive me Prince Destrudo, I had no idea." the man said.

Niether did I thought destrudo privately.

"Your Father's castle, its beyond Necropolis in the Valley of despair. There is a path on the far side of town." The Captain said.

"Good, then leave." Destrudo said.

The Guards scurried away.

"I had no idea." He said.

[Xos]

Xos followed Destrudo off the beach and into the forest. He tried to identify the species of trees, but failed. They cleared the trees, and made it to a large plain.

"Well, its clear you were right, at least partially. There is a Dark Empire of Noctum, and it does seem to exist only at night. I apologise." Xos said.

He looked around at the buildings. These might have been built in a variety of countries. He saw Alerarian, Coronian, even Raiaeran Archetecture. That temple looked like the Citadel in Corone, the building close to it looked Haidian. How did these people so far away learn the building secrets of cultures so far away from them?

In the distance he saw a temple crafted of bones flesh, blood, guts, amd various woods and stones. The design reminded him of a place called Ankor Wat.

"Necropolis, Home of The Dark Arts." Xos said dryly.

"You got that right sonny." cackled an old witch nearby in an evil manner.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe was startled by the appearence of the village with nightfall.

"So, this is Noctum." She said after the guards had left.

Moonbeam whimpered in fear of this strange place.
Valanthe found it unsettling too.

"So, your a prince?" she said, trying to take her mind off the city of darkness.

"Maybe we should get a move on to your father's castle. Standing around here gives me the creeps." said Valanthe.

She stood a little closer to Xos. A shiver ran down her spine as she spied the same temple Xos did, though she couldn't quite make out the same details he did.

[Aiko]

The Darkness seemed to bring out a new side to Aiko's personalities, enhanced by Necropolis, the city the exists only at night.

She dropped Edward into a pocket.

"We could've taken them anyways. They looked fairly inept." Aiko said, a bloodthirsty tone in her voice.

"So,then, lets get a move on to this castle of your fathers, and if anyone tries to get in our way, I say we gut them and eat them. Clearly their unfit to continue existing if they think to stop us." she aid a moment later.

She looked down at her doll.

"If I wanted your opinion buster brown I would've given it to you." She said to her doll.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo smiled as Xos admitted he was wrong. He noticed Valanthe and her Wolf were unsettled by the unnaturalness of Necropolis. Aiko's words and actions made him feel strange. Broken shattered fragments came together and sparked a new feeling he was unfamilier with. A feeling he had no name for, yet made him feel on top of the world. This both confused and angered him. He wanted this feeling gone, yet it refused to leave.

"Come on." He snarled.

He lead them through the city, and stopped by that same unusual temple Xos had noticed. Upon being next to it, one could see it really was made of flesh and bones, guts and blood as Mortar. Human, Elf, Dwarf, Neko, Dragon, other species, it was all here, mixed in with various woods, stones, and metals. The most disturning part of this temple was, it was breathing. The sides pulsated as all the lungs drew in air and expelled it.

Destrudo went inside. Veins and artieries throbbed as blood was pumped through them, each heart acting as a mini-pump. In the middle of the central collumn, rested a giant of a heart.

"Not even that is the main pump. A giant washed ashore, and in a raid we killed it. We fed it to the temple, which extracted the heart to add to the collumn to help it breath. It is one of three such hearts, but the main heart we killed a diety for. A dark evil nameless diety from another land. His hair was white, his skin was black. He preached balance and equality among all things, His skin was delicous, I ate it personally." said a priest.

"You have done well. What do you preach at this temple?" asked Destrudo.

"Only the ways of the Dark Gods." said the priest.

Something about this temple sickened him, yet made him deliriously happy at the same time.

He went back out and joined his friends.

He lead them on to the far side of the city, where a path lead out into the darkness.

[Xos]

Xos followed Destrudo through the city. Valanthe standing so close to him, made him feel kinda special.

When he actually got to the temple and saw that it was a living breathing thing, he hurled, loosing the complete contents of his stomach, and when he had nothing more to give, he coughed up stomach acid.

"And so the Temple takes its due." said a scary looking old man.

By that point, Destrudo had returned, and so he followed him on through the city, and the path that lead through the darkness.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe kept close to Xos, for some reason, he just made her feel better.

When they reached the Temple, Valanthe felt sickened, a feeling in no way helped when Xos threw up.

This building was very unnatural, she felt tears welling up in her eyes, it actually physically hurt her to be near this building.

She was glad when they finally made it to the wide open space and the path beyond. Moonbeam let out a howl in relief.

[Aiko]

When they reached the temple, Aiko grinned, and even giglled a little. It was all so beautiful. She skipped merrily into the temple. She danced and skipped around inside it, laughing and giggling.

"More blood! More Flesh!" She laughed.

Even a couple of priests were creeped out by how much she enjoyed the temple.

Seeing that Destrudo was leaving she followed him outside, and on an impulse, threw her arms around him and kissed him. This place made her deliriously happy. Blushing, she parted and followed them to the outskirts of the city.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo was still confused by the kiss Aiko gave him. It felt good, but still had no idea why she did it.

Either way, they had reached the Plains. As he walked along, he spied a tree that appeared so dry, that if the sunlight ever hit it, surely it would burst into flames on the spot. It had no leaves, and was bleeding blood. Another tree was wriggling in place, like a giant insect. It succeeded in uprooting itself, and ran accross their path, and then rooted itself in another spot, and continued wriggling. Destrudo shivered, that sure was a creepy tree, even for him.

_______________________________________________
Meanwhile, in another place....
_______________________________________________

"Milady, the one you told us to keep an eye out for, he has been spotted on the plains of Darkness, near the insect forest with three others and a wolf." Said a man to a woman.

This woman was radiantly beautiful, and seemed to shine with a light all her own. In this land upon which she dwelled, Night had not touched it, in as long a time as light had not touched Noctum. This place was the Holy Solar Empire of Lumos.

The woman shifted positions upon her throne.

"Keep an eye on them, if they appear to need assistance, render it with all possible haste." She said.
_____________________________________
Back with Destrudo and company....
_____________________________________

Destrudo was leading the way along the path, when suddenly an insect tree stopped in their path, but this one was crossbred with a carnivourous tree, this tree had a mouth, and its branches were like whips. It was immune to fire and Ice, and it had sensed five meaty objects moving accross its territory.

Destrudo stopped.
"What the hell is that?" he asked valanthe.

The tree lunged for him with a whip branch. It entangled him and lifted him off the ground, arms pinned to his sides.

He struggled with all his might, but it was useless.

[Aiko]

Aiko was also creeped out by the strange moving trees, but thought they were kind of interesting. Then the carnivourous insect tree showed up and nabbed Destrudo.

Aiko screamed Bloody Murder and grabbed her Mace, running at the tree and swinging her mace with everything she had. Of course, this was still a tree, with thick protective bark. She threw a ball of fire at the tree, but that didn't work. A branch whipped at her, she dodged and swung for the creature's mouth. wood chipped off at her hit and the tree screamed. A root lashed out and threw her back.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe was thoroughly creeped out by the bleeding tree, and then by the moving insect tree. When it uprooted itself and moved across their path, Valanthe screamed like a banshee and leapt into Xos's arms.

"Sorry." she said, blushing as she got down. Moonbeam panted with merriment, the closest she could come to laughing.
"Oh shut up." she told moonbeam.

Then the other tree attacked them.

"What the hell is that?" Destrudo asked her seconds before it grabbed him.

"About to Die." She said as she charged into battle. She noticed fire didn't work when Aiko threw a fireball, but she also was trained in Tree diseases, specificly for trees that fed on flesh.

She summoned a swarm of termites. They came out of nowhere and began eating the tree. It was the most effective attack she could think of.

The tree began whipping at itself with its branches trying to rid itself of the Termite Swarm. In the process the branch holding Destrudo was destroyed.

[Xos]

Xos wasn't the only one creeped out by the trees, and he was glad. The only thing that kept him from screaming and running when the tree moved accross their path, was the fact that Valanthe beat him to the punch.

Her body felt kinda nice to hold, he noted.

"No problem." He said as she apologised and got down.

When the tree attacked, he stood rooted to the spot in fear, but then Aiko and Valanthe rushed in to attack, how could he run when they fought?

He saw Aiko's Fireball disapear with little effect but her attack on the mouth seemed to work, then Valanthe summoned a swarm of Termites. Xos cast Arcane Blast on the tree creature's mouth, and smirked with satisfaction as it roared with pain. He cast an energy shield atound its branches, and for a few seconds, it was stopped from moving, but its thrashing against the Termite swarm was too great.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo closed his eyes. This was not how he wanted to die, eaten by a tree. He heard Aiko's scream, but thought it must be because the tree was attacking her. He opened his eyes when he felt something crawling on him.

TERMITES! His traveling companions were fighting for his life, buit why? He wouldn't fight for their's.

The termites ate through the branch holing him as Xos launched a magic attack against the tree.

With a thud he hit the ground. Xos cast an energy shield against the tree to hold it. It didn't work for long, but it worked long enough for Destrudo to free himself and stand up.

The tree was thrashing against itself, trying to rid itself of Termites.

"You want to eat me huh? Will bite this!" Destrudo exclaimed.

He round house kicked the tree, then delivered a One Inch Punch to it just above the stress line where's Xos's arcane Blast hit. With many screams and a crack the tree died, as its to half toppled over, within seconds, the termits demolished the dead tree and vanished.

He still didn't know why they fought for him, but he supposed he should thank them.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. Being eaten by a tree was not how I wanted to go out." Destrudo said.

He lead them on, and soon they came to a Valley from which no light shone. Not even the moonlight going in reflected off of anything.
It was pure dark in there.

"Welcome to my home, The Valley of Despair." Destrudo said.

Without any more words, he walked into the valley and disappeared into the darkness.

[Xos]

Destrudo was safe, and while Xos suspected Destrudo would not have helped them in return, Xos was still glad the man was here.

Destrudo disappeared into a Valley. Xos got a look at it shortly before heading into the impenitrable darkness. It was a long and wide valley, he estimated it at 175 miles in length, and 125 miles in width, though he could've been off, but not by more than fifty miles either way. Who knew how deep it was? As they decended into the darkness, not even Xos's remarkably keen eyesight could penitrate the veil of night.

Then they broke past the barrier of darkness. Xos began to lose hope of ever making it out of this place alive. He spied more insect trees, just as white and leafless as the first. He lost hope of ever seeing a normal tree again.

This must be why its called The valley of Despair, it sucks the hope right out of you Xos thought.

Then he caught sight of Castle Noctis Eternum. In the strange sourceless shadowlight, the Valley seemed to have no bottom. The Castle extended all the way into the thick shield of darkness. It was almost as long and wide as the Valley, missing its sides only by a Mile or two. Its sides seemed to have been made of a strange black Granite, held together by a blood colored Mortar. Gargoyles stood atop each castle roof top that was just beneath the Darkness barrier, and they adorned the sides of the walls, some were classic Gargoyles, some were in the form of terrible Demonic entities and spirits, and from each mouth issued forth a waterfall of a black thick liquid that just poured endlessly into the depths. Some windows were lit enough to see into the rooms they were on, and each room seemed decorated with Oaken and Aspen furniture, stained with a beautiful rosey finish. The doors seemed of wrought Iron and looked heavy to move.

Finally the path turned off and went towards a great Mithril Gate enchanted with many protective charms. As they walked, Xos noted that the Vallet seemed bottemless, only because the Black Liquid poring from the Gargoyles covored the entire Valley floor. Perhaps there was some sort of a pump in the castle that moved the liquid. xos reached out and touched some with his left index finger.

"CRUDE OIL!" Xos exclaimed with glee.

"Your father's moat is quite possibly the most valuble in the world, its made entirely of Crude Oil! I wonder how many Gallons are here, 4, maybe 500,000 Gallons? But then I doubt if even the most advanced althanians recognise the Value of Oil." Xos said, this last part, somewhat sourly.

As the Gates opened for them, One thing went unnoticed, at least by Xos. When they entered the castle, the oil stopped pouring from the Gargoyles, and all 300 Gargoyles turned and looked at the gates with glee. They melted into the walls, entering the castle via their own particular entrances.

[Aiko]

Aiko was glad that Destrudo was safe. She put her mace away and followed him as he walked off. He disappeared into a large valley shrouded in impenitrable darkness. Beneath the darkness was the largest structure aiko had ever laid eyes on. Its walls were of Black Granite. the faces on many of the Gargoyles looked familier.

"CRUDE OIL!" Xos exclaimed with glee.

"What? What is crude Oil?" Aiko asked.

"Your father's moat is quite possibly the most valuble in the world, its made entirely of Crude Oil! I wonder how many Gallons are here, 4, maybe 500,000 Gallons? But then I doubt if even the most advanced althanians recognise the Value of Oil." Xos said, seemingly ignoring her question.

She sighed, and followed them on, failing to notice that the Gargoyles seemed to come to life.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe smiled when Destrudo was freed of the tree. As it died she felt a sense of accomplishment. Something had attacked them with the intent of eating them, and together they beat it.

Then they went through the shroud of darkness. Moonbeam whimpered and let out the odd small howl here and there letting everyone know where she was.

"Its okay sister." Valanthe said. Then she gasped as sight returned, and she laid eyes upon the largest castle she had ever seen. She wondered just how tall it was, but with all that crude Oil down at the bottom it was difficult for even Valanthe to tell. The effects of the canyon hit her subtly, as she wondered if she'd even live to see her homeland once more.

The Gargoyles instilled a sense of fear within her, and she was taken by surprise when Xos shouted out about the Oil.

Concentrating on not losing her companions, Valanthe hurried along inside, the last to enter, did not notice the movement of the Gargoyles, nor did Moonbeam.

"What is crude Oil?" Aiko asked

"Its a slick substance that burns easily. I personally do not see much use for it beyond filling lamps, but judging by Xos's excitement, there must be other uses for it." She said, totally missing what Xos had said about its value.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo smiled. He was home. Xos seemed excited by the oil moat.
It was just as he remembered. The Black Granite, the Blood Mortar, the Gargoyles, all of it. Although he suspected the others were too dimwitted to notice, he noticed the Gargoyles following them with their eyes, and suspected they were going to join them on the inside.

Past the great Mithril Gate and onto the red carpet he lead them.

Inside was bright and almost welcoming as Golden Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, illuminating the vases containing roses on the table.

Destrudo lead them straight to his father's throne. He remembered it dimly, he knew it was white, but that was about it. All he knew was that it was his father's special chair where he greeted guests he considered important, but never knew it was an actual throne.

Through the great Solid Oak doors banded with Iron, Steel, Delyn, and Titanium, there it was. As it turned out, it had blackened slightly over the years, but it was whitwe, because it was made of human, elven, and dwarven bones and skulls. From its base issued forth a stream of blood that disappeared into the floor.

Aside from the Throne and Stream of blood, the Throne room was bare, the red carpet lead straight up to the throne, meeting the stream of blood. The lights flickered and dimmed, Destrudo clenched his fists. It was impossible, he had killed him.

"Welcome home, my wayward child. I see you have brought me some sacrifices to make up for your earlier Transgression; two virgins and a hoar, quite the selection indeed. I am pleased." Said a male voice from the gathering Darkness around the throne. At the spot where a nine foot man's eyes would be, if he were sitting on the Throne, floated a pair of white eyes. There was no color, no pupil, nothing, except a pair of white eyes, slits like an evil creature's eyes. There was no other detail, just the white eyes in darkness.

"Just be quiet and let me handle this." Destrudo whispered to his companions.

"I didn't come home to please you, I came to take your estate, my estate since I saw you die with my own eyes, only come to find out, my estate is an entire Kingdom and your somehow alive. These people are my escorts, vagrant fools who chose not to believe that my home was a land where light never shines." Destrudo said.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! I am The Shadowlord! I can tell a Lie so powerfully that it becomes Truth. Did you really think the sight of me dying was real, is it really that easy to fool you?" The Shadowlord asked.

By now there was no light, except the glow from Destrudo's Aura, and Shadowlord's eyes.

Destrudo lunged at his father.

"You think to attack me, to bring with you three to aid in my demise? have at thee then, may you be forever lost in the depths of my castle." Shadowlord said.

All was darkness, and then light. Destrudo found himself in a hallway all by himself. He had a feeling the other three were in a similar situation.

__________________________________________________ ______________
Meanwhile...
__________________________________________________ ______________

"Milady Empress, the four I spoke of earlier, they disappeared into The emporer of Darkness's Castle. Preperations are underway to sneak in a retrieve them." Said a man in shining armor. It was Mithril, but because it came from this land, the Holy Solar Empire of Lumos, it always shined with a special light, even in the darkest of places.

"You have done well my servent. My the light of truth shine with thee." The beautiful woman said.

[Xos]

Xos marvled at the architecture inside this bulding, and the doors leading to the throne room, magnificent.

Then he saw the throne of bones and the blood pouring from it. Xos's stomach clenched in sickness. then he noticed the light flickering and dimming, and he wondered what was going on.

"Welcome home, my wayward child. I see you have brought me some sacrifices to make up for your earlier Transgression; two virgins and a hoar, quite the selection indeed. I am pleased." Said a male voice from the gathering Darkness around the throne. At the spot where a nine foot man's eyes would be, if he were sitting on the Throne, floated a pair of white eyes. There was no color, no pupil, nothing, except a pair of white eyes, slits like an evil creature's eyes. There was no other deatail, just the white eyes in darkness.

Xos quivered in fear, never before had he even dreamed of a being such as this. Wait, how had he known Xos was still a virgin? Certainly he had never taken the time to pursue more intimate relationships, but that was because he was busy with his studies.

"Just be quiet and let me handle this." Destrudo whispered to them.

Xos nodded.

"I didn't come home to please you, I came to take your estate, my estate since I saw you die with my own eyes, only come to find out, my estate is an entire Kingdom and your somehow alive. These people are my escorts, vagrant fools who chose not to believe that my home was a land where light never shines." Destrudo said.

As Destrudo talked back to his father, Xos mentally prepared himself for the fight he was sure was coming. He wondered who he should side with, if he should even get involved at all.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! I am The Shadowlord! I can tell a Lie so powerfully that it becomes Truth. Did you really think the sight of me dying was real, is it really that easy to fool you?" The Shadowlord asked.

Xos stood, eyes widened. Was this man really that good at illusions? The Darkness had completly decended, except for Shadowlord's strange eyes, and Destrudo's Aura. He hoped no one attacked in the darkness. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"You think to attack me, to bring with you three to aid in my demise? have at thee then, may you be forever lost in the depths of my castle." Shadowlord said.

OH NO! Fear and panic raced through Xos like a runaway freight Train.

He opened his eyes, and found himself all alone in a hallway. Fear and panic were replaced by curiosity and cautious optimisim.

Behind him was a blank wall., there was nothing to do, but go forward. A simple rosewood table carrying a red porclene basin full of water sat at his side.

Down the hall he could see many solid wrought Iron doors and other hallways.

Slowly, Xos walked forward, unsure of this strange place.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe and moonbeam followed the group in. The castle seemed nice enough, but she hated being inside.

When they entered the throne room, she saw the throne made of the bones of formerly living things, with blood continually spilling from the throne. It, and the living temple back at Necropolis together struck a nerve.

"Those poor people." She said, with a tear in her eye.

The lights flickered and dimmed. Valanthe looked around to see what was happening.

"Welcome home, my wayward child. I see you have brought me some sacrifices to make up for your earlier Transgression; two virgins and a hoar, quite the selection indeed. I am pleased." Said a male voice from the gathering Darkness around the throne. At the spot where a nine foot man's eyes would be, if he were sitting on the Throne, floated a pair of white eyes. There was no color, no pupil, nothing, except a pair of white eyes, slits like an evil creature's eyes. There was no other detail, just the white eyes in darkness.

Valanthe blushed, sure she had never really pursued an intimate relationship, but, she had never found the right guy.

Until now she thought looking at Xos.

"Just be quiet and let me handle this." Destrudo whispered to them.

Valanthe nodded. Moonbeam huddled next to Valanthe.

"I didn't come home to please you, I came to take your estate, my estate since I saw you die with my own eyes, only come to find out, my estate is an entire Kingdom and your somehow alive. These people are my escorts, vagrant fools who chose not to believe that my home was a land where light never shines." Destrudo said.

Valanthe silently prayed for a peaceful resolution. She didn't really want to fight a man that could chase the light away.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! I am The Shadowlord! I can tell a Lie so powerfully that it becomes Truth. Did you really think the sight of me dying was real, is it really that easy to fool you?" The Shadowlord asked.

Valanthe kneeled down and hugged Moonbeam, who put a paw on her sister's shoulder. Both were sure they were about to die at the hands of something stronger than either of them.

"You think to attack me, to bring with you three to aid in my demise? have at thee then, may you be forever lost in the depths of my castle." Shadowlord said.

Valanthe stood to die fighting, and when she stood, she stumbled backwards in surprise, backing into a wall. She was in a storage closet somewhere. Moonbeam scratched at the door, wanting out.

"What?" valanthe asked herself, unsure of how she got to this place.

[Aiko]

Aiko loved the castle, it was so beautiful.

"Isn't it lovely edward?" Aiko asked her Doll.

"What do you mean abandon all hope? Edward are you high?" Aiko asked accusationally.

Then she saw the throne and the blood.

"Oh, just like Grandfather's" She said.

Then the lights flickered and went dim.

"Oh Destrudo you romantic you." She said.

"Welcome home, my wayward child. I see you have brought me some sacrifices to make up for your earlier Transgression; two virgins and a hoar, quite the selection indeed. I am pleased." Said a male voice from the gathering Darkness around the throne. At the spot where a nine foot man's eyes would be, if he were sitting on the Throne, floated a pair of white eyes. There was no color, no pupil, nothing, except a pair of white eyes, slits like an evil creature's eyes. There was no other detail, just the white eyes in darkness.

hoar? HOAR?! Ohh this thing was going to pay.

"Just be quiet and let me handle this." Destrudo whispered to them.

Aiko scowled but otherwise agreed.

"I didn't come home to please you, I came to take your estate, my estate since I saw you die with my own eyes, only come to find out, my estate is an entire Kingdom and your somehow alive. These people are my escorts, vagrant fools who chose not to believe that my home was a land where light never shines." Destrudo said.

Aiko gripped her mace, maybe she was going to have to bash some heads in before this was over.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! I am The Shadowlord! I can tell a Lie so powerfully that it becomes Truth. Did you really think the sight of me dying was real, is it really that easy to fool you?" The Shadowlord asked.

Aiko was impressed, that was almost as good as her family.

It was complete darkness now. She rushed to knock Shadowlord sensless. Together maybe destrudo and her could beat the Shadowlord.

"You think to attack me, to bring with you three to aid in my demise? have at thee then, may you be forever lost in the depths of my castle." Shadowlord said.

Aiko's heart nodded in fear, how did he know?

Aiko crashed into a solid wall.

She looked around, finding herself in a bedroom.

"Stop laughing." Aiko muttered to Edward. Clearly they had been teleported to diffrent parts of the castle.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo looked down the hallway he found himself in. it curved to the left, and there were no windows or doors.

This hallway, it was familier.

Blood Ran down the walls, down his hands, accross his feet.
"The blood is on your hands. Its your fault he died. Can a monster such as you really feel love?" The Shadowlord said all around Destrudo.

Tears ran down Destrudo's face.

"Its not my fault." he said.

Destrudo walked down the hallway. Apprehension gripped him as though it were a giant. There was a room here, a secret room on the left side.

Destrudo spied a brick that was ever so slightly off colored from the rest. The chances of finding it on accident were astronomical. One had a better chance of being struck by natural non-magic based lightning.

He pushed the brick in and turned it one-hundred Eighty Degrees to the right.
It retreated into the wall, taking many bricks with it, forming a square doorway.

Destrudo walked into the room, but his footsteps were slow and heavy, like a condemmed prisoner heading to his death.

He walked down the dimly lit corridor leading to the room.

He stopped, and listened quietly. He heard a baby, it was fussing as though it had just woken up and wanted mommy, or at the very least daddy.

Destrudo hurried down the corridor and made his way into the lit room.

He spied a cradle, a play pen, a rocking chair, blocks, teddy bears and other baby toys, baby clothes, and a little golden glowing ball of spiritual energy, trapped in the Cradle, above the skeletal remains of a baby.

Blood was on the walls, and floor, and all over the cradle.

Destrudo looked at his hands.

"It wasn't my fault." he said, his voice shaking as tears ran down his face.

"Please believe me, it wasn't my fault." He said, kneeling on the floor, eyes covering his eyes as tears streaked down his face.

A little boy with red hair holds a baby.

"...And we can have all sorts of adventures when you get older. I'll show you the room of the hunter, the imaginary Shadow beast of fear, the secret passages, all of it. Just don't tell daddy you love him, me or anyone." the boy was saying.

"you what?" asked a sinister voice. Darkness gathered in the nursery.

"I was just telling him how we can explore your house and grow big and strong when he gets older." the young red haired boy said.

"LIAR! I Heard you talk to him about Love! What have I told you about Love?" Yelled The Shadowlord.

"That only the weak feel love." the boy said, his knees shaking in fear.

"And is he strong, you are holding him after all. He can't even sit up on his own." Shadowlord said.

"N-n-no. At least, not yet, but he will be someday, he just needs a little time." the little boy said in earnest.

"Then by your own admission, he is weak, and deserves to be destroyed." Shadowlord said.

"NO!" The boy yelled.

With a sickening crunch, blood splattered on the walls, on the boy's hands, accross his feet. In tears he layed the body in its crib. With wide tear filled eyes he watched the blood flow.

"The blood is on your hands. Its your fault he died. Can a monster such as you really feel love?" The Shadowlord said.

"It wasn't my fault." the little boy whimpered

"It wasn't my fault, I never wanted you to die. I tried to protect you, to save your life, but I failed. Please, believe me. I, I love you, brother." Destrudo said.

He held his hand out to the glowing orb. His hand touched it, and the spirit coalesced into the form it once held in life, that of the baby. It gripped Destrudo's finger.

"Have you been trapped in this castle all these years? Come brother, let me take you out of this room, that you might escape to the afterlife, where you should be. May whatever watches over the departed souls of the innocent guide you to another life, a second chance with a real family, a better family than what you had with me and father." Destrudo said.

His glowing etheric body, his soul, held the soul of his brother, and carried it out of the room. Out in the hallway, the soul of his brother drifted away from him, and disappeared, on its way to Reincarnation.

"Goodbye, brother." Destrudo said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"I may despise the weak, but the newly minted, those that were just born, they at least deserve a chance to take a few years and become strong." Destrudo said.

He took a deep breath, and smiled, letting it all out. He walked away, a smile on his lips for the first time in many many years. If he had looked in a mirror, he would've seen, his ever present glowing red Aura, his Ethiric body that was his soul was glowing brighter, stronger, and even seemed to dance like a wildfire.

[Xos]

Xos walked forward from the wall he found himself infront of. He peeked in the doors only to find rooms furnished for a guest to stay in, each one the same, a plain bed, a plain dresser, and a room leading to the bathroom.

At least this place has indoor plumbing. Xos thought.

Finding nothing of intrest he walked down the hall, and found a stairway going up, on the next floor, for Xos had no clue what level of the castle he was on to begin with, Xos randomly took a hallway leading left for no real reason other than it held a window looking out at its end. When Xos neared the window it vanished.

"What the heck?" Xos exclaimed out loud to no one in particular.

He neared where it was, and suddenly a pair of arms shot out of the wall and grabbed him. The window reappeared, and opened into a mouth.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Xos screamed at the top of his lungs.

The arms lifted him up and pulled him towards the mouth. His arms were pinned down, unable to aim an arcane blast. He kicked but to no avail. The jaws closed around him, and bit him in half.

Xos screamed in pain and blacked out.

"Sleeping in class again Mr. Xilanthes?" asked a very familier voice.

Xos woke to find himself slumped over in a desk, as though he had been sleeping in a classroom. His robes were gone, replaced by a white buttoned shirt, and black slacks. He wore a black tie.

He felt his sides, and wriggled his toes in glee, he was alive and in one piece!

"Mr. Xilanthes, are you going to stay awake this time, or do I have to expell you from Kesingale university?" Asked the same voice.

This caught Xos's attention. He looked around.

Hey, this looks just like... Xos thought, but his thoughts were derailed, as he caught sight of the person speaking to him.

He was, he was home, at Kessingale, in a clas he took three years ago.

He hated this class, it covored every subject under the sun, and included Solar studies, which was the study of Stars.

But that wasn't what he hated. He hated the teacher, and that was who was speaking to him now.

He wore the same outfit Xos did, plus a White Labcoat. In the right front breast pocket sat three vials, one filled with a blue substance, one filled with a red substance, and one filled with a yellow substance. No one ever knew what was in those vials, but rumors circulated that if they ever broke, monsters would grow from the substances inside.

But that wasn't the most remarkable feature of the teacher. The teacher's head was enormous. It was at least three times the size of a normal human head. This teacher was known far and wide as The Brain, specifically because it was his enlarged brain mass that caused his enlarged brain. His head literally visablly pulsed and throbbed each second as the blood passed through his brain. His mind power was so great, objects revolved around his forehead just from the power of his brain alone.

Fear overtook every fibre of Xos's being. This teacher was the most difficult out of all the teachers registered with the intergalactic board of education. He demanded absolute perfection 100% of the time, and expelled from the university for life anyone and everyone who failed to meet such standerds. This was worsened by the fact that he was on the board of deans.

No one chose to take his classes. People were forced, either by limited selection or for punishment. Xos chose to take his class willingly, because he wanted the challenge. Now he was having trouble figuring out why he thought he could handle such a challenge.

"Yes sir, I'll stay awake." Xos said.

"good, now while you were asleep, I asked a question, what is the answer?" The brain asked.

But Xos wasn't paying attention.

Wait, was the world of althanas even real, did I dream I had made it to senior Graduation? Falling into a book and arriving in another world? How illogical is that?

"I ASKED, WHAT IS THE ANSWER? IF YOU DON'T ANSWER WITHIN FIVE SECONDS, YOU ARE EXPELLED FROM KESSINGALE UNIVERSITY, FOR LIFE!" The brain shouted.

"How can I answer if I don't even know the question?" Xos asked meekly.

"You should've stayed awake." The brain said with a cruel smile.

"Please, just repeat the question." Xos begged.

"No. If you cannot deliver 100% in my class, then I am afraid mr. Xilanthes, that you will be Expelled. From this moment, you are hereby.." The brain started saying.

"WAIT!" Xos interrupted, desperate.

"Before I found myself in here, I was lost in a dark evil castle. This wall, it, it ate me, bit me in half. How is that possible, that I die there, yet live here?" Xos asked.

The brain started to answer, but then stopped, and thought.


The entire class looked over when the door opened.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe opened the door and let moonbeam free, and followed her out.

"Sister, where are we?" Moonbeam asked.
"I don't know. We were just in that things throne room." Valanthe said.
"We should be quiet, lest an enemy hear us." Moonbeam said.
"We're using Wolfish, which is mostly body language and smells. How could we possibly get any quieter?" Valanthe asked.

But moonbeam never answered.

Valanthe readied her club. Somehow, she felt safer holding it.

Moonbeam and Valanthe walked down the hall, and entered a great ballroom. It was completly empty except for the golden Chandelier illuminating the great room.

Valanthe stood in the center of the room, something felt terribly wrong.

The floor shimmered like the surface of a lake, and the 300 Gargoyles they say when enetering rose from the floor.

"Moonbeam, FLEE!" Valanthe commanded moonbeam. Moonbeam fled at Valanthe's orders, out another door. Valanthe closed her eyes.

The Gargoyles spread their wings and arced their claws.

Valanthe used her powers to increase her strength, and her muscles bulged like a fearsome barbarians. Using another portion of her powers, Her club gained the properties of acid, harmful to all but Valanthe.

She opened her eyes and the gargoyles sprang to attack.

Left, Right, the gargoyles had her surrounded. She swung wildly, and the acid bit into the stone skin of the Gargoyles. The Gargoyles swung their claws, ripping into her exposed flesh.

She knew she would die if she stayed to fight them all. She battled her way to the door Moonbeam escaped from, felling a couple of Gargoyles here and there. She ran, and closed the door behind her.

She was in, a strange room. People were sitting in chairs with desks infront of them. On these desks were strange glass windows that they looked into. Words seemed to be inscribed on these boxless windows. Every few seconds, the writting changed.

"Magic." Valanthe whispered, not knowing these were really computers from where Xos came from. Then she noticed everyone in the room looking at her and moonbeam. The strength and acid enhancments died.

She noticed when man had an extrordinarily large head, and she burst into laughter because he looked so funny.

then she noticed Xos, without his robe.

"XOS!" She called with happyness.

He was towards the back, and top of the room. It reminded her of an arena. The Big headed man, Moonbeam, and Valanthe herself were all towards the front, on the ground. As one went back, the seats rose behind those in front, affording everyone a good view.

[Xos]

Xos looked from Valanthe, to the brain, to moonbeam, and back to Valanthe again. He repeated this several times.

"What? But how can you be here in KU?" Xos asked.

"The answer to that question, would also answer the one you posed to me earlier, and the one I asked you when asleep." The Brain said.

Xos thought while he stroked his chin with his thumb and forefinger, as though he were some great worldly philospher.

The brain turned to the doorway, as gargoyles shoved each other around to enter the room first. He closed the door with a thought and turned to Xos.

I can tell a lie so powerfully that it becomes truth. The Shadowlord's words crossed Xos's mind.

"Then, illusions are to blame. That wall with arms and a mouth was an illusion, it was actually probably a door, and that also means your an illusion too. Though, it was nice to see you alive again." Xos said.

He stood, back in his normal attire.

"What? No. Illusions are not." The Brain started to say, but the room faded away. Xos joined Valanthe at her side, as the walls disappeared. Xos and Valanthe found themselves just feet away from hundreds of bloodthirsty gargoyles.

"Something tells me their not here to make friends." Xos said.

He grabbed her by the arm, and took off running down a nearby hall.

He ran through one bedroom, and into a bathroom which also lead out into the hallway.

His only desire, his only thought, was to get away from the gargoyles.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe looked around in surprise as the man with the big head disappeared along with the class.

As Xos grabbed her arm and ran she tried her best to keep up.

"OW! your hurting me!" Valanthe complained.

Out in the hallway after the bedroom and bathroom, she grabbed his arm in turn and darted into a doorway.

She stopped dead, and pulled Xos to a stop.

They were back in the ballroom again, with all 300 Gargoyles. The ones she had smashed had reformed.

"A Circle?" Valanthe asked confused. But she remembered clearly running straight away from the ballroom.

"I hate this castle." She said, wishing she had never came in the first place.

All three hundred gargoyles burst into little stones, all of which came and clustered together into a giant pile of rock.

The doorways disappeared and the room seemed to expand into infinite size.

The mountain of stone trembled and shook and formed into a Gigantic Gargoyle.

"I am Gi-goyle. I require a sacrifice of blood. Prepare yourselves mortals, for soon you will meet death, ground between my jaws." The gargoyle spoke.

Valanthe gripped her club, but knew in her heart she could not defeat this thing.

[Aiko]

Aiko had been walking around the castle for quite awhile now. Going up floors and down floors, in bedrooms and out of bedrooms, through this kitchen and out that ballroom. She even found a couple of pulley based elevators. However, she was alone, completly aone, well, except for Edward.
However, he wasn't of much help to her.

She walked into one ballroom and stopped. She was behind 300 gargoyles.

She tried to back out of the room, but failed, as the doors were gone, and the room was expanding to great size.

The Gargoyles all broke down and merged into one single giant gargoyle, it called itself Gi-goyle. On its far side she spotted Valanthe and Xos.

Well, she wasn't going to let them die, not by some stupid stone sculpture's hands. She drew out her mace and took edward out of her pocket.

She rushe the back of its right leg, but Gi-goyle was so huge, all she could reach was where the tendon was supposed to be. Edward bravely attacked the heel of its left foot with his dagger. Gi-goyle stepped backward skightly with its left foot as it turned to face Aiko.

With a crunch and a squeal of steel, Edward was flattened beneath Gi-goyle's left heel.

"EDWARD!" Aiko cried.

[Destrudo]

Gi-goyle looked at his three opponets.

"So. You think to defeat me? I will grind your bones to a fine powder in my teeth." He stretched his gigantic wings, and rolled his massive arms, as though he were loosening up for some light exercise. He clenched his fist, and darkness swirled around him, shrinking him, turning him into the one entity Aiko feared above all others, one she had a close connection to.

A barrier stronger than any Xos could erect or tear down sprang up around Xos and Valanthe, forcing them to watch helplessly.

__________________________________________________ ______________

Destrudo had been walking for quite awhile. He knew how to traverse this castle without getting lost. He also knew where he was going. What person would not know how to get around their childhood home. But then, Destrudo knew what most did not, 90% of this castle was an illusion, as was the oil moat. It fed on your fears and worries. It knew your mind even better than you did, fortunatly, Destrudo didn't have much of a mind to effect.

He wandered into a room he had never seen before. It contained a single metal desk, an object with letters on it, paper running through it, and some sort of a black ribbon almost touching the paper. Next to the desk was a file cabnet. It contained three drawers, the bottom was marked failed projects, the middle was marked ongoing projects, and the top was marked future projects. The middle drawer was open, and contained a single object that hald many papers. Destrudo took it out, opened it up, and looked at it.

Project #1049 Profile:
Name: Destrudo Nil Libido, The Demons of Noctum, Lumos, and Chronus.
Age: 20
Hair, eye color: Blood Red.
Height, Weight: 7 feet 400 pounds.

Objective: To create a single being capable of facing the three legendary beasts single-handedly, in order to craft the greatest weapon of war in existence.

Overview of project progress (Written by Shadowlord)

In accordance with the Master's wishes I have given my son no love and at every possible juncture, beaten him, put him down, insulted him, and even killed his younger brother for no other reason then that it would hurt my son emotionally, scarring him for life. I have made him as strong as I can with my lies and illusions alone, and in a scuffle in which I faked my own death, sent him off to the lands on the far side of the world to be forged in the fires of
Civilization, Your majesty The Darkness already knows that the lands of Noctum and Lumos were already judged to be unfit, and that Chronus has been lost to the mists of time.

>>>Addendum: I have been tracking my son's progress in a place called Corone, and the sons of Aibrone worry me in that they might undo all the careful progress I have made. The tall one especially worries me, as he seems to be completly unafraid of Destrudo. In accordance with your wishes, I have cast the spell of longing to recall him back to our shores.

Despite all my efforts, I have been unable to locate either his sister, or his real mother.

Destrudo hurled the file against the wall.

"A WEAPON? THAT'S THE REASON BEHIND MY BEING?" Destrudo yelled.

"Ahh, so I see you found your file, my little demon." Shadowlord said.

"You basterd. Letting me live so you can make a weapon? And, who is this master you Keep referring to? You just somebody else's lapdog?" Destrudo said angrily.

"The Master is none of your business. Perhaps when you grow stronger you will meet him. As for you becoming a weapon, why shoul you care. Your not supposed to feel anything. Since you now know the truth, I'm going to stop thinking of you as my son. I will break you and train you and break you again until you become what I desire." Shadowlord said.

He appeared infront of Destrudo, an exact Mirror Version.

Destrudo punched his father right in the chest, who did nothing to stop it. the punch connected, but the leather clothes Shadowlord wore, were unnaturally hard.
"Stop your illusions and fight me as you really are." Destrudo demanded.

"Your not powerful enough, and anyways, these leathers are real. Their known as Shadow Leather, and in Darknes and Shadows they become hard as steel. They also repair themselves under these same conditions." Shadowlord said.

Destrudo clenched his fists. He was going to kill his father, again.

[Aiko]

Aiko's eyes widened as the dark powers consumed Gi-goyle, changing him.

Red, Green, and purple energies sprang up from the floor and into Gi-goyle. He had changed completly.

"Grandfather Hatred." Aiko said. She went pale and backed away in fear. Xos and Valanthe were trapped in a barrier of some sort and so were unable to help.

Not all things are lost forever. That which is gone can return to you again, but only if you return to the past and face that which took her from you in the first place. You must be strong though, and not let these empty people cloud your mind, these false beings that from time to time take over your persona. you must decide which is more important, not facing that which you fear and dread the most, or your daughter

The monk at the citadel had spoken these words so clearly, and Aiko remembered them now. She stood, maternal instincts coming into sharp focus.

"I want my daughter." She said in a tone that very clearly said she meant business.

"A mongrel dog like you? Please. The only way you'll get your daughter back is if you beat me, but the only thing you your good at beating is the rugs when you clean house and quite frankly my dear half the time even that simple task manages to defeat you. I don't want to hear any whining about how cousin Lust enchants them to entangle you, or brother Pride stiffens them so you can't beat them. All you do is whine. You whined about how wrong it was when I gave you a daughter, you whined all the way through labor, and you whined when I decided Calbrena was too big a risk to keep in the mansion." Grandfather Hatred was saying.

"I'm through whining. I want my Daughter, even if I have to beat the disenchantments out of your hide." aiko said. She rushed towards Grandfather Hatred, to swing her mace when she was within range and knock his head off.

"Very well then, if you insist on a martial demonstration then I have no choice but to kill you." Grandfather Hatred said.

He brushed the shoulders of his pinstripped business suit off, and tapped the end of his jewel encrusted Rywan cane on the floor. The light sparkled off all the Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds, and Diamonds.

Rock Spikes shot up out of the floor. To his great surprise, Aiko used their uprising as a catapult and sailed over them, coming down on hjis head hard!
A chunk of flesh fell off, and turned to stone.

Grandfather Hatred snarled and put a hand to his head, revealing that the top of his cane was made of Adamantine. He struck Aiko with his cane and she stumbled backwards, narrowly avoiding the spikes.

[Xos]

Xos banged his fist against the barrier. It was like his energy barrier, only stronger. It kept him in a small enclosed space with Valanthe and moonbeam.

"We need to help her, but this barrier is too strong for me. the way Aiko's fighting, you'd think she was fighting the real thing rather than an illusion. Is this being made of her memories I wonder? Where's Destrudo, anyone that can help us. She'll die if she fights that thing alone." Xos said. He was freaking out because he felt trapped.

[Valanthe]

"I am too weakened by the things I have done today to even illuminate my pinky, let alone try to break a hole in this barrier." She said.

Then she put a hand over his mouth.

"Xos. Hush. You speak too much." Valanthe said.

She leaned back against the barrier and crossed her arms over her chest.

"There is nothing for us to do but stand here and watch." She said.

She wanted to help Aiko out too, but was in a much more reasonable state of mind than Xos.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo and his father, Shadowlord were staring each other down. Without warning Destrudomoved first and grabbed his father's head bringing it down and sharply jerking his knee up to slam his father's head into his knee. Shadowlord's arms pinned Destrudo and Shadowlord stood Straight up with Destrudo over his head and then bent over backwards and slammed Destrudo on the ground. His feet Quickly followed and his knee rammed into Destrudo's groin. Destrudo doubled over in pain gasping for breath. Shadord stood up straight and proper. He clutched at his bleeding nose.

"You made me bleed my own blood. I never bleed my own blood. Your going to pay." Shadowlord growled.

He pointed at Destrudo and the Darkness became solid and wrapped itself around Destrudo. Shadowlord pointed upward, and Destrudo wrapped in the darkess still shot upward and crashed through the ceilings and up onto the lowest roof top. Shadowlord jumped up through the holes and joined his unconcous son up there.

"Poor little Destrudo, you pretend to be strong, but really your weak." Shadowlord said.

Destrudo groaned and hauled himself to his feet.

"Ready for round two my son?" Shadowlord asked sweetly.

Destrudo looked around to see where he was, and shook his head to clear his vision.

All he could see were rooftops, and most of the central castle rose through the Shield of Darkness. Shadowlord's attention was occupied with Destrudo, but Destrudo was more occupied with figuring out how he was going to survive. In the distance he spied sections of the castle disrupting, as though one mage were trying to dispell another mages illusion, but couldn't quite get it. He had heard of the Lumosians, were they here to defeat his father? If he could only occupy him long enough...

Destrudo turned to his father, he caught his second wind and felt ready to go.

"Yes, I'm ready for round two." Destrudo said, just as sweetly.

Shadowlord stretched forth his left hand to the heavens.

The Lights throughout the castle flickered and dimmed, and finally, there was no light within the Valley of despair.

"Then let us hope the lumosians can find their way in the dark, as we battle in complete and utter darkness, where my powers are strongest." Shadowlord said.

Nothing could be seen in any manner of sight, so complete was this darkness. Not even those who professed to have the power of seeing in darkness could see in this darkness, the power of the sense of sight was gone, completly.

Destrudo lashed out blindly in the darkness, but to no avail, the only thing that felt his blows was the empty air.

"How did you know about the Lumosians?" Destrudo shouted out in the darkness.

"A man's hom is his castle, and any real man knows when his home, his castlke, has been invaded." Shadowlord said.

Destrudo felt himself floating in mid-air. He was flailing about blindly with his arms and legs desperatly hoping to land a lucky strike on his father.

[Aiko]

Somewhere in the back recesses of her mind, Aiko knew this wasn't the real Grandfather Hatred, that this imitation before couldn't help her, but the illusion was too real for her to ignore, and so that part of her that knew the truth, was quietly ignored.

"So you shrew, you want a fight to the finish? you got it." Grandfather Hatred said.

He tapped his cane on the floor again, and the rock spikes receeded. He held his cane infront of him. Aiko stood up straight and rushed Grandfather, and swung her mace again, but he blocked with his staff. Grandfather spun around in a theehundred and sixty degree circle, and as he completed it he lowered himself close to the floor, and kicked out with his right leg. Aiko jumped to avoid it, but the kick still caught her feet, and spun her out, she landed flat on her back. She rolled to her feet, Adrenaline pumping through her veins. Swinging her mace she aimed for where the real Grandfather Hatred's heart would be, on the left side of his chest. a good sized portion of the fake Grandfather Hatred's body was smashed to peices, and resumed its normal size as it hit the floor.

Aiko leapt from rubble pile to rubble pile, gaining an aerial advantage as she leapt over Grandfather Hatred, as she landed she turned by swinging her mace with such force it dragged her body along with it. Grandfather Hatred leaped to the side to avoid the blow, but it caught his right hip, and severed his entire Right Leg. It crumbled to pieces, again, resuming its normal size.

Grandfather hopped around feebly trying to get his balance.

"If I can't have my Daughter, you can't live." Aiko said as she stood before her shattered enemy.

She swung her Mace one last time, and this time it completly crashed through the mid-section. The enchantments vanished, and Grandfather Hatred again became a destroyed Gi-goyle. Gi-goyle toppled over.
Realising her mistake Aiko tried to run, but was rooted to the spot in fear.

With a sickening crunch gi-goyle fell on Aiko, and his massive weight crushed her to death. as her blood spread upon the floor, the barrier fell.

With a flash, Aiko's headband disappeared, where, nobody knew.

Aiko the dollmistress lived no more. As her spirit struggled to rise and escape to the anti-firmament where it belonged, the powers of Shadowlord and his castle caught it, and consumed it, absorbing it. No one could ressurect her now.

[Xos]

Xos watched Aiko fight hopping she would win without his help. When the enemy was on his last leg, literally, Xos was elated, Aiko had beaten him on her own! But then, he resumed his real form, his true form, and fell on Aiko, crushing her to death.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOO!!!!!!" Xos cried out. As the barrier fell he rushed over to where she was, and began digging through the rubble trying to find her body, but tears filled his eyes, and he could not see properly.

"Why? What's the use of having this power if when push comes to shove you can't use it to help save someone? Why did she have to die, its so unfair. All she wanted was her daughter, why was that such a hard request to fulfill. If I had been able to help, maybe, maybe she would've survived." Xos sobbed. He stopped trying to dig and just buried his head in his hands. Despite his brainy personality he normally presented, underneath it, he just really wanted to help people.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe was also excited that Aiko was able to handle her opponet on her own.

She watched as Xos screamed and rushed over to the rubble pile. The four of them hadn't known each other for more than a month now sure, thanks to that long voyage aboard Captain Liviol's ship, but she wasn't effected as badly as Xos was. She figured he grew closer to people faster than she did.

Moonbeam howled a mournful howl, and then was silent.

Valanthe walked over and put her arms around Xos, and held him tight as he cried. Such a sensless death.

"Why? Life is not fair, that's why. Not everyone gets a happy ending, or even a full story. Sometimes their story is cut short shortly after it begins. Unfortunatly, Aiko was one such victim. She said she wanted her daughter back, I can only guess that means she too is dead. I pray they find each other in the afterlife, and start a new life together. A case such as Aiko's is sad, true, but why waste your energy crying when the monsters behind it are still out there, such as Shadowlord, and the real Grandfather Hatred. I don't propose we go journeying to a place beyond our comprehension just to fight an arch demon stronger than both of us combined, but at the very least, we can help Destrudo with his father." Valanthe said. She stood up, determined to make a diffrence in this evil place. She looked down at the pile of rubble.

"But, we can't just leave her here." She said.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo was floating in the darkness, helplessly. He felt punches and kicks assaulting him from all sides. He sighed with a hint of resignation, and despair crept into his heart. He was trapped.

Suddenly, he could see, and what he saw, was a young man a few years younger than him. He looked, familier, and very similar to Destrudo.

"Brother, Thank you for helping me out of my prison. Now let me help you. Time flows diffrently in certain places in the Anti-firmament, and so I have learned how to see past Father's illusions over many years in these places. Eventually you will know too, but only when you've become stronger. So for now, let me be your eyes." The spirit of Destrudo's younger brother said.

He stepped into Destrudo's body, and Destrudo's eyes adopted a golden glow. He saw the truth. He looked around for Shadowlord, and as he looked he saw the truth of his childhood home. Most of it was just an illusion, and that which really existed, was old and run down. In som places it had become so decreped that it had collapsed. This wasn't some mighty dark castle to be afraid of, it was merely an old ruin.

Then he saw his father, The Shadowlord, and was surprised, for Shadowlord had wrapped himself in lies and illusions for so long, that was all that was left of him, was just illusions. The original soul of Shadowlord had to feed off the souls of others to sustain its own existence, and its latest victim was Destrudo's traveling companion Aiko. As her soul disappeared into Shadowlord's soul, Destrudo clenched his fist. He had had enough of his father. Now he was going to avenge her and break his illusions once and for all.

Destrudo used his muscles, and his brother's energy to pull himself to a standing position, even though he was still floating under the powers of Shadowlord.

A punch came flying at him, Shadowlord was still in the mirror illusion of Destrudo. Destrudo grabbed his copy's hand and pulled himself towards Shadowlord, and to his own shock and surprise he flew at him as though he had been fired from some giant bow. Thinking quickly, Destrudo straightened his arm and clenched his fist, and succeeded in punching his clone in the face. He grabbed his clone's neck as he flew past. Shadowlord struggled to free himself, but the combined energies of his sons kept him trapped. Destrudo's brother used his own spiritual energy to turn the trio around and slow their decent.

Shadowlord and Destrudo traded blows like two dogs fighting over meat. a jab, and uppercut, a knee to the gut, but Destrudo didn't have his father's experience and strength, but neither did Shadowlord have Destrudo's heart or his brother's spirit.

Destrudo's brother gently dropped his brother to the castle rooftop, but let Shadowlord fall like a ton of bricks. Destrudo rushed over and grabbed his clone by the neck, and picked him up. He walked over to the hole his father had originally thrown him through, and as though he were goping to slam him on the ground, threw him through the hole, Destrudo's brother left his body and chased their father's body through the hole, pushing him downwards faster than Destrudo could throw.

With an explosion whose sound rippled throughout The Dark Empire of Noctum, and even into the Holy Solar Empire of Lumos, Shadowlord hit the desk in the room so many stories below. The body dissloved on impact, and Shadowlord's soul shattered into seven fragments and dissappeared.

Destrudo jumped through the hole, his brother slowing his decent to a safe falling speed. Destrudo picked up the shadow leathers worn by his father in his image. Destrudo wondered what was going on, as the leathers seemed to melt. They creeped over his old leathers, full of holes, and melted into them. Seconds later, it looked like Destrudo was wearing a brand new set of clothes.

"My brother, Destrudo. I must leave, for it is my time to be reincarnated, but I am certain we will meet again in another life. I never blamed you for my death, it wasn't your fault, you have nothing to feel guilty for. I love you too brother. Good bye." Destrudo's brother said.

"Goodbye, Sigmund, my dear brother." Destrudo said.

As sigmund, Destrudo's brother disappeared, the Castle began shaking. Walls were disappearing and others were crashing. with Shadowlord gone, there was nothing keeping the illusions in place.

From out of nowhere a man wearing armor that glowed grabbed Destrudo. As he grabbed him, everything went white.

__________________________________________________ _____________
At Xos and Valanthe....

Shortly after Valanthe's speech about helping to destrudo, men in the same glowing armor appeared nearly everywhere, they grabbed Xos, Moonbeam, and Valanthe, and disappeared, though a few dug out Aiko and Edward and then disappeared as well.
__________________________________________________ ______________
forty-eight hours after the defeat of Shadowlord and the collapse of Noctis Eternum....

Destrudo awoke in a room. Curtains made of green colored silk hung over the windows, but light, bright glorious light flowed in around them. He was in a bed in one corner of a room. He noticed Valanthe in another bed, and her wolf on the floor at her feet in anotehr corner, and in yet another, lay Xos.

The walls were made of sea green marble, the floor was made of tiles of the same material, and a painter had decorated the ceiling in the same manner.

Destrudo was still dressed in his new shadow leathers, and he surmised the others were still dressed in what they were last wearing as well.

He stood to go out the door, when he noticed the well dressed woman sitting at the foot of his bed watching him. She looked, familier, but he couldn't place her. She raised her left index finger vertically over her lips as a sign to keep quiet, in respect to the other three sleepers.

[Xos]

Xos was about to start digging again, when all these glowing knights appeared out of nowhere. As they grabbed him, he suddenly felt the urge to pass out. It was such a strong compulsion that he was helpless to do anything but obey.

When he woke up, he somehow felt better. He found himself in a sea green room, the walls and floor seemed to be marble, no telling what the ceiling was, but it was sea green too. He felt beneath the sheets, he was still fully clothed. then he sat up with a start. There was light, glorious beautiful sunlight pouring in from behind the silk curtains.

He sat bolt upright, the last thing he remembered was being in Shadowlord's castle. He looked around, there was Valanthe, moonbeam was at her feet. He looked around the room, there was destrudo, standing up, looking at a beautiful woman. By the way she was dressed and carried herself, he guessed she was someone special.

"Who are you, where are we?" Xos asked.

[Valanthe]

Right as Valanthe had finished speaking, all these glowing metal creatures came out of nowhere and grabbed her. She was tired from fighting and running, and the touch of this creature made her tired anyway, so she fell asleep.

Moonbeam tried to bite the hand that grabbed her, but found out that metal doesn't give like flesh does. She too fell asleep quickly.

They both awoke right as Xos asked his questions. Moonbeam stood up and stretched, and Valanthe stiffled a yawn. they were good questions, so she figured she'd just let the strange woman answer.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo looked at his two risen companions.

The woman merely smiled.

"I figured you all would have questions, and s I was going to have the teachers at the main library, a building known as The House of Lathan, on hand later to help me answer them for you, but these questions, I am sure I can answer. Let me start with where. You are on the tenth floor of The Temple of Hoyrel, a lesser Thayne that's widly popular in this area. Its also a palace and the seat of government for The Holy Solar Empire of Lumos. This is the Eastren wing reserved for The Royal Family." The woman said.

"Won't we get in trouble then for being here? None of us are members of the Royal family." Destrudo said.

"The Illuminated Empress herself had you put here." the woman said.

"why?" destrudo asked.

"Because I am Celeste, The Illuminated Empress of The Holy Solar Empire of Lumos, AND I am your real flesh and blood Mother Destrudo. I don't mind that your friends stay in this wing." Empress Celeste said.

Destrudo promptly bowed.

"Oh please, I never did like people bowing to me all the time. A handshake will suffice." Empress Celeste said.

Destrudo stood, and sat on the bed, as memories of being held by his mother flashed through his mind. She had that same honey sweet voice he remembered, and the scent of roses lingered in the air.

"I, I remember killing youm how do you live?" Destrudo asked.
"Your father always was good with illusions. I saw that event, I was very disapointed, but you have since made up for it." Why don't you three explore the palace and the city awhile. The sleep enchantment my personal elite guards used on you should be all gone by now, having run its course. the guards all know of you three, its ok, I'll still be about somewhere in the castle later." Empress Celeste said. She stood up, and as she did, she disappeared in a flash of light.

Destrudo looked at the other two.

"So, this place too, is my home? I hope you don't mind if I leave you two and go explore." Destrudo said. He opened the door.

The Guards nodded.

"Good morning Prince Destrudo." The Guards said.

Destrudo walked down the hall and disappeared. the walls, ceiling, and floor, all appeared to be white, with golden designs on them. There were no places for candels or chandeliers anywhere in sight.

[Xos]

Xos looked from Valanthe to the area where Destrudo and his mother had been moments ago.

"Interesting." Waas all he said. In truth he was quite shocked, and also curious. Where was Lumos in relation to Noctum? What was Lumos like? Curiosity was burning inside Xos, he wanted to know more. But then, he remembered Aiko.

"I wonder if they left Aiko behind." Xos said.

"If you don't mind, I too, want to explore by myself for now." Xos said.

He left the room in silence, and walked all the way down the hallway, where he spied an entrance to the roof. Making his way up he looked out over the rooftop, and gasped in amazement, the capital city was beautiful.

the Castle itself seemed covered in a crystaline sheath that exended all the way down the castle and temple out to the perimeters of the royal and sacred grounds. He knelt, and it was smooth and glassy to the touch. energy seemed to ripple through his body. He stood. The city seemed to be very large, and in fact was one of the five largest cities in the world. Other large castles, temples and houses seemed to be erected near the castle and temple grounds, though clearly for diffrent reasons, and they made a ring around the castle, beyond that, the city shot off in the four cardinal directions like four giant arms, each one a mix of houses and business. There was no localised Merchant center, and all government offices were in the palace. Xos looked, and the north arm seemed to join with the East arm, and the south arm seemed to join with the west arm.

Xos rubbed his eyes and shaking his head swore he was hallucenating, for it seemed like each arm shifted, and joined with all other three arms simulatainiously, and the shift back to normal.

He was about to turn aside and go down to the city itself when he spied an elderly wizard in a nearby tower in the palace and temple grounds.

He seemed to be motioning for Xos to come over to him. Xos waved back indicating he was on his way, when the guy made a strange gesture and Xos found himself next to the old man.

"Who, what?" Xos asked confused.

"My name is Arcime, I'm a very old wizard, I haven't seen a fellow wizard in nearly 3,000 years. Wait, your not a time wizard, what are you?" the old man said. He appeared to be part Dwarf, part Elf, and part human.

Xos was about to answer, when he stopped and thought. What was he? He wasn't a student of kessingale University anymore, so what was he? Most thought of him as a wizard of some sort, but wizards were so cliche, he wanted to be something new, something novel. He remembered the book that brought him here, and its strange and wonderful theories combining magic and science.

"I'm not a wizard, nor am I a scientist. What I am has evolved from the two paths of knowledge. I, am a Magiscientist, and my name, is Xos Xilanthes, it is a pleasure to meet you Master Arcime." Xos said.

Arcime seemed to think. He cast a strange spell Xos had never seen before, and grew hazy and indistinct, then he snapped back into focus.

"I can tell there's no point in being against this future, so I may as well embrace it. Welcome to my tower Xos, tell me, have your mastered magic yet?" The elderly wizard asked.

"Unfortunatly, I only know the beginning scraps of magic. Every once in awhile My magic fails, and I don't know if its just me, or if its because of something I'm not doing." Xos said.

"Are you meditating? That is important you know. If you don't know yourself, how can you ever hope to master the arcane arts?" Arcime said.

"I meditate when the mood strikes me, but otherwise, no, I don't." Xos said, a bit shamefully.

"Well start, and try exercising too. What element are you strongest in?" Arcime asked.

"Fire." Xos said.

"How original. A wizard that can use fire." Arcime said dryly.

Xos blushed, just moments ago he was thinking how he wanted to be diffrent.

"Quit your blushing and get over here, I'll help you master the basics. now, what all can you do?" Arcime asked.

"I can make an Atomic Fireball, manipulate magnetic fields, make small items, and when I'm really in a bind, fire a blast of pure arcane energy and make an energy shield." Xos said.

Arcime buried his head in his hands. It was going to be a long day.

He sighed and began to explain the basics of magic as he stood up. To his credit Xos listened closely and scribbled down notes on a nearby empty scroll of parchment.

[Valanthe]

Valanthe and moonbeam found themselves alone in the room.

"Well, no sense in being cooped up in here all alone." She said to no one in praticular, although moonbeam did stand up after she said this. there was the slightest trace of hurt in her voice that now when they had a chance to be together peacefully, everyone just ran off and left her alone.

She wandered through the halls, but nearly all the rooms were the offices of this ministry, or that officals waiting room. The queen was busy with administrative duties, though she did stop long enough to wave at valanthe.

Valanthe eventually found herself standing before the other half of the building, the Temple of Hoyrel. she decided to go on in, feeling it would be unwise to borrow a lesser thayne's house and not thank him in person.

She walked in the front of the Temple. there were monks here and there scurrying about on their own business. The temple was made with stone and wood, and a simple red carpet ran up to Hoyrel's alter upon which stood Hoyrel himself. He appeared to be sitting in thought. Not wanting to disturb the lesser deity, Valanthe took the time to look at how the building was created. It was built in much the same manner as any temple, having no unusual or outstanding features, but then Valanthe looked again, and noticed a feature that made this temple unique. It was built as if the entire building had sprang from a single point and just stayed that way. She noticed it all seemed to go past Hoyrel, and that's when she noticed there was an entire other Temple behind Hoyrel's.

She started to approach the door, when Hoyrel stopped her.

"Your the first person to approach me today, since no one ever seems to want to bother me when I'm thinking, but this is a philisophical questiom I'm pondering, and so has no right or wrong answer, and I need someone else's views on it." Hoyrel said. His voice was smooth and melodious, and valanthe imagined he could convince rocks to grow grass if he so chose to with that voice.

"I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I'll try, oh, and thanks for letting me stay in the royal palace, the Empress said it was her idea, but if the entire building is your temple, then really final say is yours." She said.

"well, thanks, but that's not what I'm working on. I ask you the following question Druidess. If you create nothing, is it still nothing?" Hoyrel asked her.

Valanthe could not guess at the ways of the gods, and why this one would be pondering such a notion was simply beyond her. But a question was still a question. She sat on a bench and thought.

"That is a very tough question, but then I think you have started in the wrong place. I think the question you need to ask is how one can create nothing." Valanthe said.

Hoyrel brightened considerably.

"Oh that's a beautiful answer, thank you! Just wait until the Elder Thayne hear this one. Call me an irritating pest will they?" Hoyrel said as he disappeared.

Valanthe was rather glad she didn't know the whole story behind his words.

She looked at the doors to the temple behind Hoyrel's. What was in there? She decided she would take a quick peek. this place was too nice to have something sinister hidden behind closed doors. At least that's the way it seemed.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo had been walking for quite awhile, he had never actually left the Royal wing, but instead had disappeared into a Library. It was of modest size, having only law books in it. It was Quiet, and empty. Destrudo was glad of this, and sat down to think. So much had happened while he was in Shadowlord's castle, and hwe needed time alone to absorb it all. Was he really just a weapon? He felt his sould purpose was to eliminate the weak, but was that really all there was to his life.

The door creaked open, and in walked a little girl that couldn't have been older than 12. she was a very pretty little girl, and everyone always said she looked like her mother.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'll come back later, I was just going to paint." she said.

She had golden curly locks, and deep blue eyes. She wore Red robes and a pretty smile. She had a calming presence that just seemed to put Destrudo at ease.

"No, that's alright." Destrudo said.

The little girl smiled and sat down, seemingly completly uneffected by him.

Destrudo noticed a golden circlet that blended in perfectly with her hair.

"Whose your father? He must be pretty strong for you to have a gold circlet." Destrudo said.

"My father's gone." The girl said simply.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Destrudo said, unsure of why he would be. Something about this innocent little girl threw him off his normal mode of operation.

"No, that's ok. I never knew him personally, but mother says he was a very bad man that liked to hurt people for fun, and do mean things to them. She says he took my brothers, Sigmund and Blaine." the girl said.

Destrudo thought of his little brother Sigmund.

"I had a little brother named sigmund once. But he got sick as a baby and never made it." Destrudo said. He lied about how he really died, not wanting to scare this strange girl.

"Why would you lie though? Something about you makles me think your lying." the little girl said. Destrudo froze, dod she have the [power to discerne truth from lies.

"I'd rather not speak of how he really died." Destrudo said.

"Ok. By the way, my name is Sephrena, what's your's?" The girl asked.

"My name is Destrudo." Destrudo said.

"that's a silly name." the girl said laughing.

Destrudo couldn't help but smile.

"Its the name my father gave me, but we didn't get along very much, he like to hurt people and do mean things to them too. I just found out though that my mother is still alive, and that she's the Empress." Destrudo said.

Sephrena froze in mid brush stroke. She had been painting a serene mountain landscape filled with flowers. She was remarkably good at painting for her age, and with a bit more practice, could master the art of painting.

"If she's your mother too, then that means your my brother." Sephrena said slowly.

they looked at each other, shocked.

[Xos]

Xos was quite amazed at the depth of his ignorance in how magic actually worked. He was surprised that what little he actually knew didn't get him killed. The Master Wizard was putting him through his paces and them some. Xos learned the proper way to breath, the proper way to meditate, even the proper way to exercise. It took most of the day and he hadn't even gotten to the actual magic yet.

Right now he was in the middle of meditation. Arcime stated that in order to master magic, he must first master himself, and in order to do that, he must become familier with his own mind.

Xos thought his own mind would be organised, neat and orderly. He never would have suspected that his mind was a cluttered mess. Thoughts were scattered everywhere, and looked to him, like scattered papers on a messy desktop. In one corner was a picture of Aiko, crushed under the rubble of Gi-goyle. Over it was a giant questionmark, signifying that he was still worried about what happened to her. He looked at the papers, and each one held massive amounts of facts. He couldn't tell if there was anything else, because there were so many papers.

He moved a thick book marked "Childhood Memories" and found a Medallion that had the symbol of fire on it. Near it was one that was marked with electricity, one that was marked with the symbol for the world, and one that was marked with creation symbols.

Xos gasped and opened his eyes. Arcime had him sit in a position he had termed "Lotus" and Xos was seated on a common rug. Xos stood and went looking for Arcime. He found him at the top of the tower staring intently at an hourglass.

"I found them, hey, what's that for?" He asked, both excited about his achievement, and curious about what Arcime was doin