Sandship, Part I

Stranded in the desert with her two companions, the girl named Purim didn't think things could get worse, even as they walked for hours under the oppressive sun, their bodies on the verge of collapse, their throats and tongues feeling as dry as the desert sands. When the hope for rescue came into sight in the form of a sandship, she thought she would be safe.

Instead she and her companions were labeled as spies of the Empire and pulled apart, their weapons and armor taken from them under threat of superior numbers. Her friends, if one could call them as such were used as slave labor, one forced to service the engines, the other forced into servicing the crew via cooking their meals. As for her... she was pulled along by an arrogant little man by the name of Morie.

Her role, she was sure, was to be forced into servicing him... regardless of how she felt about it. She kicked, screamed and dragged her heels to be sure, but the soldiers on board paid her no mind, and if they did all they gave her was a pity glance. They were cowards in armor, if they couldn't stand up to a little man in armor who just so happened to be the grandson of their true commanding officer when it came to something as horrific as rape, then how could they hope to stand up to the power of the Empire?

Forced into a cramped little room with little more than a desk, a few chairs and a bookshelf, along with the man, she felt her stomach turn. It grew worse when he commanded soldiers to guard the door from the outside, and then locked the door itself. She trembled slightly as he came closer; she was a spunky little thing, a warrior born of fighting monsters... but that was with a bow, a lance or atleast a whip! Without any weapons... she was little better than a helpless village girl who was being preyed upon by an armed soldier.

What was she going to do...?

A Possible Final Meeting, Part I: Mana Knight's Legacy

"Mana Knight, you've come to me, as expected."

She spoke, her tone soft and gentle, almost motherly in a sense. He expected her to be angry, to blame him for failing, but she knew he tried his best. Considering his age, she didn't even thing he could have made it this far, or grown into the man she saw before her. She smiled at him, as if to put him as ease.

"You've done very well so far, young one... and even now, there is hope for the world. You needn't blame yourself for not being able to stop the rise of the fortress, you did all that you could, more than I could ever expect from you."

He felt a horrible weight lift from him with that, but he still felt guilty for failing to stop this, from putting the world at risk.

"Luka... what can be done? The seals have been broken, Mana is vanishing... the sword, I can't feel its power.

A Possible Final Meeting, Part I: Arrival At The Palace

The Mana Fortress hovered silently in the sky, the remaining sea water flowing like a river from its outer shell down toward the ocean below. The sky began to darken as thick clouds blocked the sun from sight, the gleam of the never rusting, ultra durable alloy that comprised its outer armor fading. The clouds began to crackle with energy as the Mana of the world began to drain, nature was being thrown out of balance.

The boy who had become a man named Randi, the girl who forced her way into his company and grew to be his friend named Purim and the sprite child whose gender was unknown even to its comrades named Popoie watched it all in awe and terror upon the back of the multi-winged dragon they called Flammie. Despite wanting to flee from the terror of the ancient past it maintained its altitude close by, flying in a large lazy circle.

Lightning churned within the cloud, multiple bolts struck the fortress dead on but it didn't shudder, it didn't seem to be effected at all. But then it lurched to life all of a sudden, its form being engulfed in light. A loud, mechanical noise that they'd never heard before came into being... and then a volley of weapons fire surged forth from the immense weapon of death. Deftly it was evaded, but then another came, followed by more and more. Each became harder to dodge, the dragon scared by such unfamiliar energy based weapons.

Quickly it fled from the fortress, flying with all possible speed... but it didn't follow them, and if it were then it must have been incredibly slow. Regardless the boy knew where he had to go; the Water Palace to see Sage Luka. He commanded the beast and it flew, as if knowing where exactly to go... perhaps, even now, as Mana was vanishing it could sense what little power was left in the Seed of Water.

Arriving some time later the dragon landed and let off its passengers, but instead of going back to the sky it remained on the ground, as if frightened by the thunder and lightning. The four of them headed toward the palace but Flammie halted before entering the water and remained as the three moved into the small pond. It was colder than normal, and it felt wrong; it just remained still, it didn't move, it didn't flow... there was something off about it that didn't feel natural.

They entered the Palace itself, all seemed to be as it always had been, physically... but the sound of flowing water was gone, as was the energy of the area. It felt dead and lifeless, there was no presence, no feeling of warmth, no inviting nature. Mana was gone, and with it so was the feeling of safety, of belonging, of being welcome. They crossed the bridge that had been extended for them, as if Luka was expecting their presence; they were the only passages in and out of the inner area... it was a good thing that they were mechanical and not Mana based.

Finally, they were within the heart of the palace, and the eyes of the boy, the man... the Mana Knight were met with the form of Luka. She stood before the altar on which the seed rested and when his eyes rose her eyes locked with his own. She knew he'd come to her for advice, and he knew she would be waiting for him.

There was much to come from this, perhaps their final meeting...