History

[Eleazar]

((SOLO))
((Some sexual references and violence scenes. Reader discretion is advised.))

History: Chapter 1

Eleazar Lachrist breathed in a breath of fresh salty sea air as he disembarked the Michelle, the luxurious passenger boat that brought him from his hometown Moonglitter to the hustle bustle of the young journeyman’s capital, Scara Brae. As much as the young noble appreciated the lavishness of the ship, he was simply just happy to be back on dry land. He was also thankful that he could afford the expensive trip, considering his status as a noble in Moonglitter, but even more so once he stepped off the wooden plank onto the stony docks of the city. He inhaled yet another breath and the stench of rotting fish and sweaty men overwhelmed him. It stinks… really badly.

He expected that though. All the sailors in Moonglitter told him that Scara Brae was famous for three things: the glorious Queen Valeena, the novice adventurers waltzing around town, and the powerful odour of decaying seafood. Stepping out onto the pier, Eleazar realized they were right. Walking though the wharf, he blended in with the grandiose passengers from aboard the Michelle, for almost all of them were nobles like himself. Had it been some other day, on a much cheaper vessel, the young noble would have stood out like a sore thumb. Eleazar welcomed the change, though. At least here, I’m not famous.

Eleazar began looking for a place to stay, for he was weary from the exhaustingly dull trip. His searching eyes soon caught a wooden worn-out sign hanging lazily from a two-story building, painted with the words “Les Paves Ronds.” He walked unhurriedly toward the place through the crowd of mothers screaming for their children, loudmouthed merchants, colourful nobles, and aromatic fishermen. He tried really hard to hold his breath as he passed by. When he reached the entrance to the country-styled building, he opened two oaken wood doors to a peaceful inn. A little chime of bells rang when he entered. Over at the reception area, a chubby balding man gaily greeted him.

“G’evenin’, sir! Can I help ya with anythin’?” he hollered from behind the counter, a genuine smile plastered upon his round face.

“Yes, I’d like a room, please.” Eleazar replied cheerily, attempting to reflect back the man’s expression.

“Of course, sir! That be 20 gold a night.”

Still smiling, Eleazar found an opportunity to save gold and turned on his appealing charm. Averting his watery silver-blue eyes to meet the innkeeper’s hazel-brown ones, he moped and started to sigh. “Alright…” he frowned again and began. “Have you ever been on a ship before?”

“Nah, sir! Hear they’re not any fun.”

“Well… it’s true. I just spent almost all my gold trying to get a good ship… but it didn’t make a difference… and I have to meet my fiancée in Corone, too…”

“Fiancée?” The innkeeper’s eyes gleamed at the convincing sob story. He had a soft-heart and Eleazar meant to take advantage of that. “Well, then you need money ta get ta Corone… ship rides ta the mainland are expensive…”

“I know…” he sighed again, for Eleazar knew that the man was about to give in. He worked to maintain a deeply sorrowed face.

“Tell ya what. I’ll let ya stay the night for free.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, ya need the money ta meet your fiancée, betta use it for that then.”

“Thank you very much, sir!” Eleazar frown transformed into a merry smile as he took the keys the innkeeper reached out to him. He called out to the plump man as he walked towards the flight of steps. “I’ll never forget this! I’m going to tell my fiancée about this!”

The man smiled with pride at helping the young noble. “Yer room the second one to the right! Enjoy yer stay at Les Paves Ronds!” he called out as Eleazar happily ascended the stairs. Following the tenant’s instructions, he slipped the key into the lock on the wooden door and opened the door to a cosy well-lit bedroom. It was complete with a coffee table beside a small bed fit for one person. To the side of the room was another door – a small, clean-looking washroom with a simple toilet and shower. Nice room, for a free one.

Eleazar made himself comfortable, taking off his imperial blue-white coat, weighty steel gauntlets and greaves. He took off his well-endowed wooden sheath containing Silver Beach, his steel silver sword, and carefully placed it underneath the bed. He slipped off his dressy outer garments, his black long-sleeved shirt, white gloves, black shoes and pants. Eleazar used to sleep in his underwear at home because it was comfortable, so he decided that it would not be any different away from home. All he was wearing was his white undershirt, socks and brief as he climbed contentedly into bed. Before he drifted off into a deep sleep, Eleazar’s last thought was whether the innkeeper would ever find out he did not really have a fiancée. He closed his heavy eyes as he heard a woman shout from downstairs.

“Another free room?!”

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 2

Eleazar was sleeping comfortably when a loud crack of thunder seemed to erupt from inside his room. He threw himself out a deep slumber and instinctively reached for Silver Beach underneath the wooden bed. At first, the young noble thought that it was just a thunder storm outside, roaring so loudly it seemed to be coming from inside. Soon enough he realized it was not, for he saw a puff of smoke emitting from one shadowy corner of the room.

Have the heavens really tried to strike me down with lightning?

With observing eyes, Eleazar peered through the grey smoke and found a mysterious black hooded figure standing there, staring at him malevolently through unseen eyes. It was wearing a robe blacker than the night, covering its whole body. The figure slowly and ominously stepped out of the darkness and took off its pitch-black hood. “Finally…” a light, slightly winding voice said. Under the hood was… a girl. An average-looking teenaged girl. She had strange pink hair that burst out messily from the black hood and it seemed to light up the whole room. The room seemed to all of a sudden take a pinkish hue, exactly the same as her hair. She had large strong carnation eyes, and they looked at Eleazar in utter annoyance. “You’re finally asleep! I’ve been trying to get you to sleep for ages! Why wouldn’t you fall asleep on the boat?”

“What…?” Eleazar did not come up with any words to say. He was too surprised to see an odd-looking girl bossing him around in the middle of the night. Puzzled, the young noble scratched his head and began. “Wha… what’s going on?”

“We’re going somewhere.” The girl began to motion him to the washroom. “Come on, let’s make this fast. I have other distressed people to appear to.”

“Eh…? You’re… not going to… um… rape me, are you?” Eleazar was too perplexed to ask any relevant questions.

“No way, man! Besides, I’m a spirit! Duh!” She then took her thin hand and put it right through her face – she seemed to be made out of air… for her face distorted in an peculiar gaseous manner. When she took her hand out of her face, it returned to normal.

Eleazar’s jaw dropped open as he scrambled for something to say. “I’m dreaming… right?”

“Double duh!” She motioned to the washroom again, this time a bit more urgently. “Come on!”

“Bu-but… I need to put on my clothes…”

“MY GOSH!” The pink-haired spirit was so aggravated that the smoke turned cherry at her little outburst. The room’s cerise hue intensified at her emotional spat. “You don’t need clothes!” she said, calming down a bit. “And you know what, we don’t need the washroom, either!”

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 3

Eleazar shut his eyes closed as felt like he was being pulled from inside out. He dropped Silver Beach onto the floor, but he did not hear the weapon’s thud. In fact, he did not hear anything. The silence was deafening. His stomach churned and twisted as he seemed to be carried off by an unseen force, shooting him out from his free room to someplace far. He did not feel pain, but he felt like he was being pushed out of existence. He felt drowsy, depressed, and lost all at the same time. He dared not open his eyes.

And then he was back on his feet again.

Eleazar found that he was standing beside the pink-haired spirit girl in an unthreatening hospital room. He was still wearing only his shirt, socks and brief, but he did not seem to notice. The space was painted a simple off-white and emitted a feeling of purity and safety. The room’s atmosphere was calm and peaceful… even joyful to an extent. The window behind them was covered by the blinds, but the sunlight could be seen bursting through. It was probably around noontime. Looking around, he found an exhausted looking Oriental woman sleeping on the soft bed by the window. The woman seemed to be smiling as she rested, and Eleazar seemed to recognize her. Eleazar spoke quietly as to not wake the woman. “Where are we?”

The pink-haired spirit acknowledged his question with a nod. “You know where we are.”

The young noble looked closer at where they were, trying to pull out from his mind where that place was. He was interrupted by the rush of people opening the door at the far side of the room. Eleazar panicked once again, as he did in his room at the inn, Les Paves Ronds. “They’re gonna find us!”

The door swung open to a host of official-looking bodyguards dressed in black tuxedo suits. They lined the entrance of the doorway, looking uptight and serious. Behind them was a man, who seemed extremely familiar to Eleazar, who had sandy blonde hair and striking silver-blue eyes. At the end of the group were two female nurses and an old doctor carrying a precious baby in his strong fragile arms. The medical team was wearing white robes embroidered the ever-so-familiar emblem of the Moonglitter hospital – a light pink-red crescent moon. The two nurses stood right beside Eleazar and the pink-haired spirit but they did not seem to take heed. The blonde-haired man and the doctor approached the bed as the woman stirred into wakefulness.

“Here he is,” the doctor said in a meagre old tone. “He’s so beautiful.”

“Nezumi…”

Eleazar immediately realized the blonde-haired man who spoke – Elgar Lachrist, his father. He looked so young and humble, unlike the last time Eleazar saw him. Then that meant that the woman on the bed was his beloved mother, Nezumi Sadako. She on the other hand, looked extremely tired, but then again, she had just given birth. Eleazar began to make his way to an unoccupied side of the bed to get a better view. Nobody in the room seemed to see him when he crouched down beside the bed.

“Mom…” Eleazar whispered.

“They can’t hear you.” The pink-haired spirit informed. “Do you know now where we are?”

“Yeah.”

Eleazar’s father reached out and took his mother’s hand, as if in affectionate support. He smiled warmly at his wife and turned his eyes to the quiet baby boy nestled in the old doctor’s arms. “We have to name him.”

“How about that name we talked about.” Nezumi said wearily.

“Eleazar?”

“Yes. I like that name.”

“Yes, me too.”

The pink-haired girl’s deep black robe fluttered as she walked up beside the crouched Eleazar. She found him smiling nostalgically at his worn-out mother’s face. Slowly, she put her thin hand on his shoulder. “We have to go.”

“What?”

Yet again, Eleazar was thrown into the feeling of non-existence. He knew he was screaming, but he did not hear anything. His stomach was whipping inside his body and he felt like he wanted to throw up, but he couldn’t. Eleazar seemed to be enveloped in extreme cold, but he could not feel it. He could not feel anything. Sadly, he formed that last memory of his mother in his youthful mind, reminding himself of how beautiful she was.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 4

Heartbroken and perturbed, Eleazar swung around to face the pink-haired spirit, who was looking as if nothing important had happened. “What the hell did you do that for?” Eleazar said angrily. “Did you even see her?! That was my mom!” He clenched his fists in resentment, praying hard that he was in the hospital room again. He closed his eyes, wishing himself away from wherever the spirit girl had taken him.

“Calm down. We’ll be seeing lots more of your mom, soon.” The pink-haired spirit reassured him, putting a firm hand on his shoulder. She turned her attention to the new place she had taken him and told him to look around. Eleazar lifted his glowering face and saw a place he had considered his second home for such a long time.

The first thing he noticed was the smoothly polished wooden ground, covering the large area. He knew the floor felt cool and hard, but he did not actually feel it. The other things that caught his interest were the large glass mirrors surrounding the classroom. They stretched from the floor to the ceiling, mirroring the hard-working sweaty little students practicing their young clumsy swordsman skills. An adult, obviously the masterful sensei, was found in front of all the students, walking around diligently, checking to see if the students were holding their swords right, striking at the correct body areas and such. Eleazar’s anger evaporated away as he took in all the memorable sights and sounds of his novice swordsmanship class at Moonglitter’s Academy for Gifted Children, an institute for potential warriors and wizards.

“Hey, look,” the pink-haired girl pointed to a short perspiring child in the front row. He had bouncy black hair and his movements were so graceful that it looked like he had been using a sword all his short life. He was working hard at perfecting some sword skill.

“Who’s that?” Eleazar asked densely.

“Stupid!” the pink-haired spirit sighed exasperatingly and slammed her hand against the young noble’s head in annoyance. “You’re so dumb, you know! That’s YOU!”

“Ow!”

Eleazar realized he was looking at his five year old self when he caught a glance at the little boy’s eyes. They were of the same colour as his – striking silvery-blue. “Hey, it is me! Hey, Eleazar!” he bellowed out and began waving his hand in the air wildly, trying to catch his former self’s attention. None of the children seemed to take any notice of him. Unsuspectingly, the spirit girl’s hand smacked him on the back of his head again.

“How many times do I have to tell you they can’t hear you? And besides, do you really want your child-self to see you, his future-self, in your underwear? You’d scare him away.”

“Sorry… what… hey…”

Eleazar grumbled and watched on, remembering the days when he used to come to the Academy. His sensei, Sesshogo, would always start the early day with a little meditation. Eleazar hated meditation, so sometimes he just fell asleep. Soon, he would wake up on the feared dreary office chair in front of the hair-raising school principal. He also haughtily remembered times when he would beat the older kids at practice duels – he was always used as a class example by sensei. The young noble was interrupted of his daydreaming when sensei shouted, his usual aggravating way to capture the attention of all his students.

“Here is how you do the Hangin-Hiwa.” He pointed to the young Eleazar proudly, signalling him to show the class how he performed the complex technique. The young boy began with a distinctive sword battle stance.

“I remember I did such a good job.” The real Eleazar smiled pompously as he expected himself to perform the Hangin-Hiwa with exact precision. He gave a hearty cheer when his former-self executed the move exactly as he knew would happen.

“Good job, Eleazar,” a firm voice said positively from a door at the other corner of the room. He voice resonated around the room, filling up the silence. Eleazar and the pink-haired spirit turned to see Elgar Lachrist standing there, looking extremely impressed with his five year old son. “You’re getting better everyday.”

Moments later, the spirit girl faced Eleazar dutifully and motioned for him to focus on her, for he was staring incessantly at his father. “Well, we’d better go.” She grabbed Eleazar tightly by the hand, and he felt her smooth skin on his for the first time.

“Hmmm… do you use lotion?”

The disturbing feeling brought on by the pink-haired spirit girl was not as affecting as the first time Eleazar experienced it. Maybe it’s because I’m used to it now. Then the stomach churning happened and the young noble felt like he was being pulled from the inside. He felt like a fish caught on a fisherman’s hook, being pulled up to the surface powerfully by its captor, only in Eleazar’s case, he was hooked by the stomach.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 5

“Here we are!”

Eleazar was marvellously overwhelmed by how much noise there was at the new time period the pink-haired spirit girl had brought him to. Ear-splitting shouts, screams and cries from men, women and children deafened the young noble. He put his hands tightly over his ears to attempt to cover up the all clamour, until he noticed that the spirit girl was peacefully standing beside him, as if she did not hear anything at all.

She spoke softly, but her winding voice seemed to overpower all the commotion. “You can’t really hear them, you know…”

“Eh?” Eleazar slowly and cautiously took his palms from his reddening ears and realized that she was right. He could SEE the people make the noise, but he did not actually hear any. He smiled in shame. “Oh. Right.”

The young noble gazed around the new place intently, trying to hear at least some trace of sound, aside from the pink-haired girl’s words. She informed him that she blocked out all the sound before they arrived at the time period – all the noise would have deafened them, literally. Eleazar acknowledged the statement with a nod as he looked around the place. It was a colossal, dome-shaped arena filled with an amazingly active audience. Would’ve held around five thousand people, Eleazar thought. The sanguine sun was shining generously in the delicate light blue sky, for it probably was around ten o’clock in the morning. The pair was standing on the warm sands in the middle of the great arena.

“This is the Moonglitter Arena… during the ummm… what’s it called… the annual Youngsters’ Swordsman Tournament.” Eleazar observed thoughtfully. The girl just nodded, for her attention was caught by the two figures in the middle of the sandy space. Eleazar turned his eyes to them and saw that it was two boys, probably no more than ten, fighting violently with, fortunately, oak wood swords. Both of them were dressed in light white armour made of chitin, covering their chest, legs and arms. Their faces had expressions of ferocity and determination, but young Eleazar’s face also looked expectant.

“Guess who that is.” The spirit girl pointed to one of the boys; he was much shorter than the other, but evidently more skilled than the other. He had flowing black hair, but since the sun was shining brightly on it, it turned into a smooth purple colour. The child strafed elegantly to the right to avoid a smashing blow to his shoulder from his opponent.

“Please don’t smack me if I’m wrong but… that’s me, right? At eight years old, to be precise.”

“Right.”

Young Eleazar slashed aggressively at his foe’s face. The blade came in rough contact with the other boy’s childish visage; deep crimson blood poured out like a waterfall from the poor youngster’s nose. His hand quickly shot up to his face as he staggered back angrily from the blow. Bellowing in rage, the boy dashed blindly towards the waiting young Eleazar – he looked like he was about to do something impressive. The intense crowd seemed to gasp as one entity as Eleazar grabbed his enemy’s wrist tensely. Using the other boy’s fast speed and powerful force, the noble child flipped him onto his back, slamming him hard onto the sandy ground.

The crowd went wild at the magnificent victory of young Eleazar Lachrist. The older Eleazar jumped for joy at the excellent feat. He let out a cry of utter triumph and clapped noisily as if to fill the void of silence as a tall warrior-looking referee dressed in imposing oranges and blacks came forth onto the arena. Accompanying him was a shorter but nobler-looking man dressed in an exquisite green-black imperial coat, beaming proudly at the young Eleazar.

“Hey, it’s dad!”

“Yes.”

Both men walked up to the victorious Lachrist child and congratulated him, patting him on the back and shouting grand words of encouragement and satisfaction. The referee took the child’s right hand as Elgar Lachrist took the left; both hands were lifted high into the skies as the crowd cheer profusely and stridently.

“Now that’s cool!” Eleazar said excitedly, still clapping despite himself.

“Let’s go.”

“What, already?”

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this. Eleazar’s stomach whipped around and it felt like his innards were being torn out of their place, without him actually feeling any pain. This time, his arms seemed to be pulled in two different directions and there seemed to be an explosion happening in his chest. Eleazar’s eyes were shut tightly, but not out of fear, but out of an awkward feeling in his body. He tried to divert his attention from the time-travelling phenomenon to thoughts of the black-robed spirit girl. I feel bad for this girl. She probably has to endure this everyday.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 6

Eleazar and the pink-haired spirit girl landed softly onto a weary grey granite road. Unlike in the subdued hospital room, the road had the bright sun gleefully shining down, warming the stone boulevard. They both had to strain to see, for the majestic sun rays were awfully brilliant. Through squinted eyes, they saw that the flat stone way was littered with energetic young adults, walking around with shopping bags from the Moonglitter Mall or sitting comfortably on the porches of the large houses on the street.

“When was this?” Eleazar asked, confused.

“You’ll see.” The spirit girl waited a few moments, looking around for that one event they were there for. She pointed to one of the luxurious houses on their right, where a 14-year old boy with dark purple-black hair was being introduced by his parents to a green-haired girl of the same age, also with her parents. They were both dressed in beautiful, rich clothing, indicating their status in the city. They also had sword sheaths attached to their belts, and it seemed more than an accessory for them.

“Oh…,” the young noble said, realizing where they were. “That was the first time I met Hilary.”

He stared longingly at the younger version of his former beloved. She was beautiful even as young as she was and especially because she was a half-Fairy. She was dressed in a stunning white-green gown, flowing like pure stream in the deepest, most beautiful parts of a forest. In a sense, she was the powerful sorceress, gifted and cursed by her ultimate power and authority. Eleazar was the knight, brave and true at all times and ready to fight for the safety of his adored sorceress. They were a time. We are a team, and will always be. At first, they developed an unbreakable bond of friendship, which soon budded into untainted love. Eleazar longed for Hilary, and he knew she felt the same way.

“Remember that you’re in your underwear. They can’t see you, but I can so no honourable thoughts.” The spirit girl teased, smiling mischievously. “Anyway, we have to go. We have other places to see.”

“All right.” Eleazar took one last look at Hilary’s youthful past-self contemplatively. He wanted to see her, hold her, hug her, and kiss her. He thought about her, day after day, for he missed her too much. He was even considering of traveling to Vanan, the city she moved to. The young noble did not even finish his thoughts when the wrenching feeling of time-travelling took over him.

Non-existence surrounded him harshly, like scalding water washing over one’s body. His stomach weaved around like a water snake, attempting to escape its physical entrapment. All his innards wanted to burst out of his body, until everything stopped.

“That was quick.”

Eleazar was standing in the same place the pink-haired spirit girl had brought him to before. The stone granite was still the same as before and there were still manors looming authoritatively over the both of them. The sun was shining, although not as bright as before because it was around four o’clock in the afternoon. Not many people were walking around, briskly discussing the days events. Rather, old men and women were lounging out on their porches, talking heavily of their experiences in the past. The atmosphere was peaceful, lonely even, for there was not noise, just the soft voices of people chitchatting.

“Weren’t we just…” Eleazar was cut off by grunting noises behind him and his pink-haired companion. Behind them was an adolescent boy about the fourteen, dressed in an unexceptional robe of black and grey. He had dirty-looking bandages tied around both his arms and seemed to go all the way to his stomach. He was holding an odd-looking sword, for it was not made out of steel.

“Chayle.” Eleazar’s former best friend was dutifully slashing and swiping away at the air, practicing his impressive swordsmanship skills. His sword, rather than forged out of metal, was made out of the bandages wrapping the young black-haired boy. It was stiff and sharp, just like any regular sword, but Chayle’s was unique because unlike normal paper, his sword did not rip. In fact, it could inflict as much damage as a regular sword would. The only difference was it was extremely portable, since Chayle had bandages enveloping his body.

“He had the power to manipulate paper. He was a great swordsman, too,” Eleazar informed the pink-haired spirit. “I remember always practicing with him, at around this time. He was really good. Problem was, people always stared when I was with him,” he sighed in simple sorrow at his best friend’s misfortune. “He was always judged, just because he wasn’t of noble birth. I felt bad when people did that while I was with him.”

“And here you come now.”

The young 14-year old version of Eleazar from before appeared around the corner of the street, seemingly searching for something. His eyes focused on the young practicing Chayle. Eleazar and the pink-haired spirit girl watched as the noble boy introduced himself to the peasant boy. They both found refuge in their swords, so they also found refuge in each other. In essence, if Hilary was the blessed and cursed sorceress and Eleazar was the courageous and loyal knight, Chayle was the caring and thoughtful knight. Chayle always thought of his friends rather than himself first. The three of them were inseparable. Soon enough, they started sparring, sweating and panting but also impressed at the other’s skill.

“You’re good!” the young Eleazar remarked, panting. He softened his grip on his sword’s hilt and put it back carefully in his sheath.

“You are, too, sir!” replied Chayle Sharpfold jadedly, baffled at the thought of a noble boy practicing with him. He wiped the gleaming sweat off his forehead as his sword drooped like a dying plant, returning to its original cloth-like state. It wrapped itself around Chayle’s hand like a snake, returning to its original form, a hand bandage.

“You’ve just met your two best friends.” The pink-haired girl updated cheerfully. She smiled happily at Eleazar, and he smiled back. “We have to go now, though.”

Yet again, the feeling of non-existence coiled itself around Eleazar, as he floated into the nothingness of between times. Seeing his closest friends again made Eleazar think of them and if they are going on well with their lives. He missed them deeply, but was he worth interrupting the good life they most likely are living? Hilary and Chayle. My two best friends… I wonder if we’ll see each other again. He pondered upon that thought, questioning whether his current path in life was leading him anywhere. I’m not really going anywhere… but they are. Should I even bother going back to them? The young noble floated along the wave of non-existence, wondering if the waves of life are taking him anywhere.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 7

Eleazar and the pink-haired spirit girl appeared in a dark, claustrophobic wine cellar. No lights were turned on, but the dim light from a small electric generator was enough to make at least the silhouettes of things visible. The forms of differently-sized wine barrels could be seen everywhere. The alcoholic smell of fermenting wine was overwhelming; every breath tasted like sweet and rich from the fruit-base of the drink. The room was cold, damp and everything seemed to be soggy and moist; the gritty stone floor looked like it had to absorb liquid to become tough as cement. The shadowy cellar had a sinister lustful atmosphere about it; Eleazar felt that something shocking to come to pass.

“… Where are we?” Eleazar asked the spirit uncertainly. Although he was under the pink-haired girl’s power, he shivered; he was not supposed to feel cold. He asked her again, this time with a tinge of fear in his voice. “Where are we?”

“I’m sorry…,” she replied at last. She bowed her head down in sadness and shame, staring at the fraying ends of her pitch black coat to distract herself from the young noble. “You have to see this.”

“See what… what?”

Suddenly, a door leading to the first floor of the building opened loudly, banging harshly on the clammy stone wall and resounding throughout the wine cellar. In came a man dressed in beautiful nobility clothes, violently heaving an elegantly clothed crying Oriental woman by the wrist. She struggled at his grasp, but he only pulled at her harder; she fell hardly on the last few steps of the granite staircase. He dragged on the rocky steps onto the cold stone floor. She was bruised and battered, but he did not care – all he cared about was getting what he wanted. Once both of them stepped into the light the electricity generator produced, Eleazar instantly recognized the man to be Joseph Fluxengard, Hilary Fluxengard’s father. The woman quietly weeping on the floor was his mother, Nezumi Sadako.

“No…,” the young noble protested as small tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes. “I… I… can’t watch this…”

“But you must.”

Joseph Fluxengard cruelly kicked Nezumi in the stomach, forcing her to turn over like the half-dead prey of a carnivorous predator. “Undress!” He shouted, hunger and desire in his deep piercing voice.

“NEVER!” Nezumi screamed at the top of her lungs. “HELP ME! PLEASE, HELP ME! HELP!”

She was abruptly stopped by a painful backhand slap to her face. Nezumi’s lips and mouth began to bleed as she went back to a heart-wrenching series of sobs. Joseph then grabbed one of the straps of her black and white fish-patterned dress. He pulled on it until it snapped cleanly off her shoulder. Soon, he was forcing the dress off of her ruthlessly as she sobbed in pain, fear and mortification. She just kept on wailing and screaming noisily, but unfortunately, at the time, no one was home to hear her suffer.

“C-can we go? Please…,” Eleazar pleaded to the pink-haired girl. “Please… I don’t want to see this…” he began to sob openly, knowing full well that the girl would not mind his tears.

“I’m sorry, Eleazar, but He says you have to see this.”

Joseph had successfully stripped Nezumi, and he was staring admiringly at his beautiful victim. She was sobbing quietly again, in fear of another backhand slap but she knew that the worst was yet to come. “Come here, wench…” Joseph yearningly, making improper gestures, mocking her and her lack of freedom. Nezumi did not move, but just continued to cry. The man took pitiless initiative and unzipped his coat. He threw the black-blue nobility coat to the floor, disregarding it for something he desired even more. He hastily unzipped his pants as he began to corner in on Nezumi, who was slowly backing away at the sight of what he was showing her.

“No… please… no…” Nezumi sobbed, begging the maniacal Joseph for mercy. She was covering her naked self from him, but it was no use, for he then pushed her against the grimy stone wall agonizingly. He then slowly and pleasurably forced himself inside of her precious fragile body.

“NO! Make it STOP! Please… make him stop!” Eleazar cried, screaming at the top of his hurting lungs as tears streamed heavily down his face. He stepped forward towards the raping in ultimate rage and grief, but when he tried to push Joseph off his victimized mother, his hand swished through his body, as if he was composed of air.

“Stop! Stop it… she doesn’t deserve this!” Eleazar attempted to punch and kick Joseph, but his hands always dispersed into air. He wished hard that his fists would contract excruciatingly with the sadistic rapist, but nothing happened. Tears flowed like a river from his eyes, and his handsome face was contorted with utter frenzy and despair. All he wanted to do was kill this man in the worst, most disgusting, brutal way possible.

“She didn’t deserve that,” the spirit girl said, lifting her eyes off of her black robe. She was crying, too, for the emotion that Eleazar emitted was so depressing. She sobbed silently, as Eleazar fell to the floor in anguish. All they heard was the sexual gasps of Joseph Fluxengard and the barely audible protests of the violated Nezumi Sadako.

Tearfully, the pink-haired spirit girl spoke. “Let’s go.”

Eleazar was once more shot into the feeling of non-existence. But this time, he wanted to stay there. He wanted to stay there forever and grieve. All he wanted to do was cry. He wanted to cry for the rape of his mother. He wanted to cry for the deaths of his parents. He wanted to cry for the loss of his beloved sorceress. He wanted to cry for the loss of his caring knight friend. He wanted to cry for the people he had let down. He wanted to cry for all the pain he had caused. All he wanted to do was cry, cry for his existence. The non-existence felt like it was longer than it was supposed to be, as if someone prolonged it for his grieving, for Eleazar to let out all his despairing emotions. He let it all out. It had been a long time coming.

“It’s been a long time, my son. Let it all out …”

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 8

“Why the hell did you have to bring me there?” Eleazar screamed in anger, feverishly wiping tears off his face. The pink-haired spirit girl had already stopped crying, but it took Eleazar quite a while to recover from his emotional astonishment.

“He told me to bring you there,” the spirit girl whispered sadly; she wanted to sympathize with the young noble. “It’s not like I had any choice.”

The half-naked Eleazar turned his back to the girl, contemplating to himself about what he had witnessed. He had been plotting revenge for such a long time that he forgot how it felt to be vengeful. Ever since he found out about what Joseph Fluxengard had done to his mother, Eleazar vowed to bring him the justice he deserved, which was no justice at all. Sinful thoughts began stirring in him, planning out his next move. So that’s how it happened, huh? Just you wait, Joseph Fluxengard. Just you wait.

Eleazar was interrupted from his thoughts of a violent retribution by the pink-haired girl’s soft voice. “Look around,” she said softly, soothingly. She moved her hand gracefully about him, showing him the room she brought him to.

The room was a gracious, well-lit dining room, a beautifully different change from the God-forsaken wine cellar of before. The walls were made out of golden oak wood, with their luminous colour reflecting onto the flawless marble table. The sturdy chairs were perfectly lined around the rectangular table, eight cushioned chairs for eight diners. The table was fully set for a special dinner for a family of three; the black-and-white clad maids were required to set everything faultlessly. A stunning glass chandelier hung from the ceiling, its light illuminating the majestic dining room. Eleazar recognized the place immediately. Unlike Moonglitter’s Academy for Gifted Children, which was his second home, the place the spirit brought him to was his home.

“It’s my house.” Eleazar said, holding back any hint of concern in his voice. He had wanted to see his home since he left, wanting to remember that special place where he grew up. He had been thinking about how his bed had not been itchy. He had been thinking about how his mother prepared him and his exhausted father a good home-cooked meal. He had been thinking about how he and Hilary used to sit on the couch, cuddling by the warmth of the fireplace. Eleazar acted unconcernedly. “So what? I don’t care.”

The pink-haired spirit gave him a nonchalant look.

Moments later, Eleazar and the pink-haired girl heard three people enter the mansion from the main door. It was an 18-year old Eleazar and his parents, happily chatting, as they made their way to the specially set dining table. The maids served them a delicious three-course gourmet meal, prepared by their own personal chef. The Lachrists really were one of the richest nobles of Moonglitter. Soon, the highlight of the evening came along; the time-defying pair watched in hushed understanding.

“You’re 18, now,” Elgar Lachrist said, a wide grin on his round face. “You’re going to be growing into your powers soon!”

“I’m sure you’ll inherit your father’s flame powers.” Nezumi Sadako assured the young Eleazar. She smiled at him. She had such an encouraging smile.

“Flame powers! You’ll blow all the other contestants away at the Warrior’s Tournament! Why don’t you join the next one? It’s in six months. You’ll have your powers trained by then, I’m sure.”

“Well – “ Eleazar was not able to finish his sentences when a loud BOOM exploded from the kitchen. The maids ran out of the kitchen screaming at the top of their lungs. They were dripping wet, running around spreading puddles of water around the clean floor. The chef soon followed suit, carrying his little white poodle under his arm, escaping the lunacy in the kitchen. The tiny white dog was soaked in water, and it was shivering from the cold of it, too.

“Sacre bleu! Ze fauzet juzt burzt like zat!” The chef made blasting hand gestures, his eyes broadening in shock after every word. Although his French accent horribly distorted what he was trying to say, he proclaimed the news in his loudest voice. “Ze maidz did not even touch it!”

No one had ever seen Nezumi’s eyes widen like that night. Her jaw dropped in a state of shock and joy. “Already?”

“I thought he was going to get flame – “

“He inherited my water powers!” Nezumi walked briskly but knowingly to the kitchen. Elgar, both Eleazars and the pink-haired girl followed. The faucet looked like it exploded, as the water flowed madly from it. The floor was like a shallow sea and, if left unattended, the faucet’s water would have flowed all the way out of the kitchen to the dining room. She pointed at the water disaster and faced the confused young Eleazar.

“You’ve grown into your powers; the explosion was a reaction to that. So now, control it, while the power surge is still there.”

“What? I – “ Eleazar stammered and scratched his head, not knowing how to do what his mother told him to do. “I don’t know how.”

“You know how. Use your head!”

The young Eleazar averted his silver-blue eyes uncertainly at the burst faucet. He doubtfully concentrated all his might on the water flowing angrily out of the faucet, reaching out his right hand. Soon enough, the water began to bend, jerking to and fro as its controller tried to force his will upon the gush.

“The first time you discovered your powers.” The pink-haired girl was standing with her arms crossed. Her black cloak fluttered daintily, but there was no wind to make it flutter. She turned her back to the half-naked Eleazar and walked away, knowing full well that he was going to follow.

“We’re going right – “

Time-travelling was not fun, but Eleazar had to endure the disgusting feeling of his twisting stomach and dancing internal organs. It seemed like snakes were attempting to escape his body by climbing up to his mouth and crawling out there. Fortunately, there were no snakes, but the feeling was the same. His heart seemed to beat in a perplexed manner, as if it was confused on when it should beat. Everything seemed to flip around as Eleazar journeyed through the non-existence of time-travel. His fearless eyes were closed the whole time.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 9

The half-naked Eleazar and the pink-haired spirit girl were transported from the kitchen to the celebratory darkness of the inside of the Moonglitter Arena. Although Eleazar was still only wearing his white shirt, socks and brief, he had gotten used to it, since he had been time-hopping for quite a while. He had also calmed down a bit from his emotional shock, so he took the time to learn where he was. Looking around, he saw tough-looking warriors standing around fiddling with their vicious weapons, looking quite upset. Around the corner of the backstage, behind a curtain that ran from the floor to the ceiling, were two youngsters being congratulated loudly by a flamboyant referee. One of them was a young Eleazar, beaming happily at the praise, and the other was Chayle Sharpfold, holding a polite façade beside his best friend.

“You both did great,” the referee declared with pride, almost jumping at the excitement of the tournament that just ended. Smiling at the paper magi-warrior officially, as if he had been required to do that, he said, “Even though you didn’t win, you put on a great show! You, Eleazar, on the other hand, are amazing!”

“The Regional Swordplay Tourney…” The older Eleazar remembered, recalling if Chayle had really looked that sad when he won.

“Chayle was really disappointed.” The pink-haired girl informed him. Eleazar felt pity for his best friend, who had his head hanging low in shame. “Although, he really thought he would win, that’s not why he’s sad.”

Chayle began to walk away from the champion and the referee, as the flamboyant man handed his best friend a large golden trophy with a glowing sword fashioned as the center piece. Eleazar Lachrist was engraved in crisp letters as the owner held it up in delight. Chayle trudged away into the darkness of the backstage, without his best friend even noticing. His arm was bleeding, but it was not something he wanted to pay any attention to. He found a lone chair sitting in one corner and buried his head in his hands in disgrace.

How come they boo-ed me? Wasn’t I good enough for any of them? Eleazar wasn’t any better than I was. Wasn’t I more impressive, though? I have control over paper! Isn’t that impressive… and I have a paper sword, too! Eleazar winning isn’t so bad; I’m really trying to be happy for him. But how can I, when people boo-ed me? It’s just because I’m not rich, like Eleazar. It’s stupid; you have to be rich to be accepted.

Eleazar and the spirit heard everything Eleazar had thought, for his mind’s voice was available for them to hear. The half-naked young noble’s mouth dropped in disbelief and understanding. He never knew how Eleazar felt, even though they were best friends. He never knew that it hurt being discriminated just because of social status. Eleazar was of noble-birth, and he was not “supposed” to feel discriminated against, but he could not accept the fact that his society boggled down his best friend’s society.

“I never knew…” Eleazar said, shocked at the discriminatory revelation.

"Well, now you know.”

Unexpectedly, a sleekly dressed man stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a robe that seemed to be too large for him, for he was a thin man. The robe was adorned with beautiful ornaments of various kinds, and it was coloured of royal purples and shimmering silvers. The most prominent thing about him was the large symbol threaded onto the back of the coat. It was a beautiful purple rose outlined with silver, making it look sharp and dangerous – it was the symbol of the renowned and critically acclaimed school located in Philistina, Gardenblood. It was the symbol of the Swordplay College. He walked up to the depressed Chayle Sharpfold, who jumped in surprise at the majestic company.

“We are interested in your swordsmanship skill.” The man began formally, pulling out a white envelope with the Swordplay College’s symbol. He handed it to Chayle. “We would like you to attend our school. We will need your assistance over the next few days, so we can make this all official.”

“M-me?” Chayle was too surprised to be excited, or rather, to feel anything else for that matter. “How come not Eleazar?”

“We want our students to be unique. He has nothing special about him. Fortunately, you do. Now, take this letter to your guardians, and have them sign it. We will visit your house later within the week.”

“Al-alright.”

The representative walked back into the shadows, and soon he was gone. Eleazar fell back into his seat in utter happiness and astonishment. He breathed a sigh of relief. “What just happened?” He asked himself, not believing that he had just been offered a scholarship at the best school in the entire world.

“That’s how everything came down. You won the championship. He got the scholarship. Everyone’s happy.” The pink-haired girl seemed very impatient. “I wanna finish my job quick, I’m already late. Let’s go.”

“But he said I wasn’t spe – “

Eleazar was not even able to finish the thought when the dreadful time-travelling feeling overcame him yet again. It was not any different than before, only this time Eleazar opened his eyes. All he saw was spectacular sparkling blue, as if they were travelling through a crystal clear lake. Eleazar gasped at the sheer beauty of nothingness. The pink-haired spirit girl was speeding beside him with her eyes open; it seemed that nothing bothered her at all. She seemed to know where she was going, so maybe that was why.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 10

The road Eleazar and the pink-haired spirit girl were transported to was bleak and gray. The dust was dreary and the sun was glowing sadly in the miserable sky. Remnants of a recent riot could still be found everywhere; signs painted angry red with the slogan “Bring back Fluxengard!” were scattered ubiquitously.

“This was the aftermath.” Eleazar knew exactly what the spirit was talking about. “After you and Hilary found the photographs of your mother and Joseph…”

“…my dad fired him.”

It was just before dusk, and the evening breeze could be felt upon the wave of the wind, but neither Eleazar nor the pink-haired girl could feel it. The road was so deserted that it seemed that nobody dared to step out of their houses, out of an incomprehensible fear. As the wind blew dejectedly, it carried the front page of a lost Moonglitter Star, the local newspaper, on its weak currents. The piece of greyscale-printed paper got stuck on the bark of a hardy tree, showing its front page contents for the pair to see. Lachrist Fires Fluxengard Due To Undisclosed Personal Affairs, it read.

“Everyone knew your father fired Joseph, but nobody knew why. Rumours spread that it was just a personal conflict, not worth talking about. But since you guys were famous, it was instant front page news.”

Eleazar attempted to pick up the newspaper stuck on the tree, but his fingers passed airily through them. He forgot that he could not touch anything, as long as he was not in his own time. Instead, he crouched down inquisitively so that he had his face in front of the paper. He read aloud.

“Elgar Lachrist, of the celebrated Fluxengard-Lachrist Corporation, fired Joseph Fluxengard yesterday, August 24th 1578. The business partners, who have been cooperating together for almost ten years, ended their industrious relationship abruptly. Lachrist’s publicist says that Fluxengard offended Lachrist greatly, that it caused a great personal strain on their otherwise formal relationship. Fluxengard’s publicist remains quiet about the situation. The Fluxengard-Lachrist Corporation was founded January 6th 1564. The company has been providing Moonglitter City with delectable food supplies imported from different regions of the world, from the archaic Old Earth to the elusive land of Althanas. The company’s net income has steadily been increasing throughout the years, benefiting both its owners and the Moonglitter economy. Their profits have been over…”

The newspaper was blown away by strong gust of northern wind. The street was still as forsaken as ever. The sun was beginning to prepare itself for its nightly sleep. Everything seemed to darken by the minute.

“After my dad fired him, people began rioting. They wanted their food… nobody wanted to eat the poisonous creatures around Moonglitter. Nor did anyone want any of the unrefined seafood the fishers of the dock offered.” Eleazar shook his head in disappointment. “Pretty stupid, huh? A food riot.”

The spirit girl nodded in silent agreement. She sighed, breaking the seriousness that built up. “There is nothing else to see here. Let’s go.”

The short visit to Eleazar’s hometown had brought upon a feeling of burdensome distress on the young noble. He barely noticed that the pink-haired spirit girl was talking to him until he felt the strange pull of the blueness of non-existence. His stomach churned disgustingly along with his innards, but with a small fall of heart, he did not mind it. Eleazar was gradually getting used to the bizarre time-travelling, and he stared blankly into the clear cerulean lake of non-existence.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 11

Just as before, the dinner table was graciously lit with bright burning light from the royally-dressed glass chandelier, illuminating the room and creating a heavenly atmosphere of joyous celebration. The room looked different from before, older, actually, but more commemorative, with childish party favours dangling from the golden oak wood walls. The table was still set perfectly by the maids, and the food was yet to come. Seated on one of the chairs was Nezumi Sadako, smiling gently at her husband, Elgar Lachrist, who was seated across from her, also smiling. Usually, Elgar sat at the comfortable head of table, but seated there was the new 20-year old Eleazar, looking eager at the celebration of his birthday. The atmosphere was beautiful, as if all the Lachrists’ problems had been rightfully been solved and brought to justice. That, unfortunately, was not the case, but everything was so happy that the half-naked Eleazar’s depressing burden melted away like ice on a hot summer day.

“My 20th birthday! This was just a year ago!” Eleazar said in glee, smiling at the sight of the enjoyable night. “I guess my parents wanted to cheer me up… Hilary had just left.”

“They succeeded, didn’t they?” the pink-haired girl asked rhetorically. She smiled, too, at the jovial dinner party.

Soon, the maids, still dressed in black-and-white French-styled uniforms, came serving a deliciously sizzling meal on a grill plate. The Lachrists acknowledged the plate, and soon enough, everything else followed. A pot of steamed white rice and bowls of hot vegetable stew came. The beautiful beefsteak was served with mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. More aromatic dishes came pouring in from the chef’s kitchen. All the dishes presented to the wealthy Lachrist family were all of Eleazar’s favourites. He beamed excitedly from his chair at the delectable food, unable to choose which one to eat first.

“Before we eat, we have to say a prayer.” Nezumi announced, closing her hands together in a position of prayer. Everyone in the table did the same, and closed their eyes as well. Eleazar, like always, opened one of his eyes to peek, a habit he formed as a child and never quite grew out of.

“Dear God, we thank You for Eleazar. He has been such a blessing to me and Elgar that we cannot thank You enough for giving Him to us. We ask that You just be with him as he goes on with his life, growing older every year. Have Your hand upon his life. We love him and we thank You for him. In Your name, we pray, amen.”

As soon as she finished praying, Eleazar dived enthusiastically into his food without a word. Almost seconds later, he had his plate filled to the edges with the scrumptious meals served before him. He smiled one last time at his parents, acknowledging them and thanking them for the food. He then shoved a spoonful of macaroni and cheese in his mouth, grinning like a little child at his mother, who grinned back at her growing baby boy.

“Not much to see here… let’s go.”

Yet again, the feeling of time-travelling struck him, but hardly enough for him to actually care. He rubbed his belly gently, as if trying to soothe the whipping of it, as he flied through the clearness of non-existence. The pink-haired spirit girl, as always, was at his side, looking ahead somewhere, though there was nowhere to look at, really. Recalling his past memories, Eleazar realized that he did not have a bad life. He had unfortunate events in his life, but nothing that nobody will ever go through. He had a girlfriend that he loved and who loved him. He had a loyal best friend. He had loving parents who were thoughtful enough to make a dinner party for their son. Although he lost all that, Eleazar’s mother’s prayer reminded him of something that he had forgotten for so long.

I have God’s hand upon me… I don’t doubt what mom prayed for.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 12

The executives’ office in the Fluxengard-Lachrist Corporation was luxurious, an office fit for a king. The walls were adorned with soft hand-made quilts of different colours, contrast brilliantly with one another. The floor was padded with a warm off-white rug; the feeling of it was delightful on bare skin. A large window was opened in the far side of the room, letting in a pearly sliver of moonlight, lighting what remained of the darkness in the candlelit area. A well-set table for two was occupied in the middle of the room; Elgar Lachrist and Nezumi Sadako were sitting comfortably, having a warm, revealing heart-to-heart conversation. Murmurs of their talk could be heard by Eleazar and the pink-haired spirit girl, but they were whispering so quietly that they were barely audible. The occasional laugh or sigh were the only things that actually showed them to be talking.

“This was the dinner your father brought your mother to.” The pink-haired girl sighed. She had to endure yet another emotional outburst from Eleazar. “The dinner before they…”

I’m not going to cry. I’m done crying for tonight.

Eleazar motioned for her to stop speaking. He knew what happened during the dinner; it was all too clear to him... he wasn’t there, but he could hear…

It was only supposed to be a heart-to-heart dinner. They were going to sort everything out… everything was supposed to be alright. Eleazar’s emotions quickly began to build up in him. He exhaled his tears away. Everything was supposed to go back to normal. We were supposed to continue on with our lives… together, being the noble Lachrist family we were. We were supposed to be happy… again.

Soon enough, smoke began to crawl under the doors that lead outside of the lavish office. They swirled menacingly as they dissipated into thin air; Elgar and Nezumi were so engrossed in each other that they did not take notice. Temperature began rising and beads of sweat started forming on the couples’ foreheads. They noticed the heat, then the smoke, then the door that was slowly being charred away by the flames outside.

The crackle of the fire was dreadful. Nezumi attempted to put out the fire with the drink from the glasses; whips of water flowed in the air and attacked the angry flames like snakes as the Oriental woman’s eyes were rounding with power and terror. The door soon crashed down, with its hinges melted off, revealing a whole corridor of eruptive blazes, devouring everything in its sight with its beastly burning teeth. Nezumi’s water power supply ran out fast, and Elgar tried to control the fire with his flaming abilities. His inexperience could not manipulate the massive flares eating away at the doors, the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the stairwell.

I promised myself I wouldn’t cry.

There was no hope of escape.

I’m not going to cry.

At first, looking into the fire, Eleazar was overwhelmed by a feeling of defeat, until he noticed something, or someone, moving in the flames. Among the orange plumes of intense heat was a barely discernible figure. It was tall and dark, seemingly moving painlessly through the fire. The figure walked slowly, peacefully from the shadows of the fire into visibility. He had dark rabid hair; running down to his chin which looked like it had not been shaven for days. The beautiful clothes matched him, black and menacing, embroidered with devilish symbols and designs. It fit his black mind.

“Joseph?!” Eleazar was as surprised as his imminently-doomed parents were. He faintly wondered whether Joseph Fluxengard had been involved in other murders like this one, but his mind remained only on one thing. “Who IS he?”

“We have to go.”

“Answer me! Who is he?!”

One second, they were witnessing Nezumi and Elgar gape in astonishment at the unpredicted malevolent appearance of Joseph. Another second later, they winked out of the time frame and back into the cerulean non-existence.

[Eleazar]

History: Chapter 13

At last, Eleazar and the pink-haired girl had returned to the free room at the Scara Brae inn, Les Paves Ronds. It had seemed like a lifetime since Eleazar had been there. But then again, he had just gone through his life in the matter of a dream, so technically, it was a lifetime. As expected, the room was still clean and comfortable, with the Silver Beach on the floor, just where the young noble dropped it before he was pulled away into the beginning of his journey in the dream. The white sheets of the bed were still messy and undone, and everything was the same.

Except, Eleazar had changed.

He had realized that it was Joseph Fluxengard who murdered his parents. It wasn’t an accident, he thought. Everything was planned out to happen, and the bastard got what he wanted. All the pain and death, they were all caused by Joseph Fluxengard. To think that Hilary was his daughter, that was impossible.

“So now you know. Everything.” The pink-haired spirit spoke to him knowingly yet nervously. She seemed to hide something from Eleazar, as he looked curiously at her. She smiled weakly. “I can’t let you know everything. Not yet. He says so.”

“Why not? I know there’s more to this than it seems.” Eleazar had a feeling that this was more than revenge for the Fluxengard-Lachrist Corporation. This was more than business matters. This was more than personal. Joseph Fluxengard was hiding something, and the pink-haired spirit knew what it was.

“You have to find out for yourself.”

“How…? Some journey or something?” Eleazar desperately wanted to know why his parents were killed, why everything turned out as they were. He tried to hide is concern but he failed when he sounded too nervous for his own good.

“Maybe. A voyage here. A friend there. Maybe even a tournament or an organization of sorts.”

“What? Eh… so this is like my destiny or something.”

“You could say that. Now, wake up!”

Eleazar sat up from his bed. He was in a cold sweat and his white shirt was sticking to his lean body. His mind was overwhelmed by visions and revelations about his life. Instinctively, he looked around for the pink-haired spirit girl. The girl could not be seen, for the night was as pitch black as her silky robe. He put his hand to his head soothingly, massaging his head from the fatigue, even though he had been sleeping.

“Destiny…? But where am I supposed to go?”

[Osato]

Introduction 6
Well done, nice intro with getting off the boat and even talking to the inn-keeper. It was engaging, though had little in the way of a background or reason for why you were where you were.

Setting 6
Beautiful, right from the beginning you had me. The way you described where you were, what was going on, how things looked was well done. I think the only thing that I could say about it was that you seemed to dwindle with the setting towards the middle, then picked it up again right at the end with the fire. But what did ‘Old Earth’ mean? Althanas has no connection with earth, is a separate entity altogether. I did not understand how you came to connect the two. And camera’s, pictures? I supposed that those were somehow a technology that Moonglitter had, since they are a bit higher-tech for Althanas.

Strategy 5
Good, though it doesn’t apply too much to this quest. Your explanation of how your powers came to be, as well as how you controlled them were minimal. As well as the moves you used as a child in the tournaments. That, I have no doubt, was only because of the form of the quest, merely an explanation of what happened in the past.

Writing Style 7
Very good, very fluid and well written. Only a couple things here and there…

Rising Action 3/5
Confusing. I was following well enough, but towards the end it seemed to become a little muddled. Why had Hilary left? You didn’t explain or give a hint as to the reason. Was it because her father being fired? That’s all I could assume.

Dialogue 10/15
Beautiful, very well done with all your characters. Dialogue does not consist of just spoke, but also actions and reactions. It has a lot to do with how your character reacts as well, body language and everything else. You did very well with that whether it was relating to your character or the NPC’s that you created.

Climax 2/5
There isn’t much Climax allowed in such a quest, hence my lowering the overall score. I felt that the way you built up to the end was well done. However, I did not understand what was going on with your parent’s relationships or why they weren’t together. And I only assumed that they died in that fire.

Character 9/15
I added more character for this because that is what the entire quests seemed to revolve around.

Your display of character was awesome. Not only was Eleazar portrayed well but all the NPC’s were given good personalities. The only reason it’s slightly lower is because the length of the quest. The NPC’s were not given a lot of time to develop, and you used them as long as you needed to, which was only a post to post basis. I could have stood to see more of your two ‘best friends’ too, since all I got was what the girl was and that your best friend used paper and lost in a tournament.

Conclusion 6
I was interested to the very end. Your conclusion left me longing for what was going to happen next, though it did seem somewhat rushed. I can’t wait to see where you go with this, even if I’m not the one to judge it.

Wild Card 6
Very well done. I can’t wait to see where you go from here. If you continue in Scara Brae then I will be honored to judge your threads again, if not then I will certainly keep up with you. Good job with your thread!

Score 60

Rewards
630 Exp
250 Gold

((Any additional questions can be directed to me via AIM or PM’s, congrats))

[Thoracis]

Rewards Added!