Forgotten Remnants (Up and Running Again!)

Current Character profiles:

Crozeph - One of the "Terror", that fought Zion to a standstill, attempting to halt his escape. However, he appeared to have gone through a change of heart, and helped him escape. He's one of the "Nests" meaning that Terror eggs grow within his bloodstream. He controls the Scorpion Terror.


Chapter 1: A New Beginning
A purple haired human brushed aside his bangs and smirked at the other white haired human directly across from him. The white haired human crossed his arms and looked straight at the purple haired human with a skeptical look on his face.

"You ready yet Seph?" The purple haired human asked, leaning his platinum staff on his shoulder.

"Ready? I was waiting for you man." Seph said. "I'm always ready, YOU just always make excuses and try to buy time."

"Psh whatever." The purple haired human responded, letting his right arm which was holding the staff drop and extend fully. He looked up. "No excuses this time, let's go!"

The human took a few quick steps forward and focused his ki into his staff. Seph ran forward, his spear held out in front of him ready to attack. Just as he was within striking range, the other human winded up his back, and jabbed outward, hitting Seph directly in the abdomen. Seph kidded back a few steps before regaining his balance, immediately resuming his charge.


"You and your damn armor." The purple haired human said before slowly walking backwards, trying to find the best range to attack and evade. But Seph laughed as he feinted to the left, and immediately headed to the right, leaving the purple haired human's back to the table. Seph raised his spear above his head with both hands and swung in a twisting motion, slashing downward at the end of the spin. A whirlwind was let loose, throwing the purple haired human away, causing him to crash into the wall, but also demolishing the table, causing smoke and dust to rise up from off the ground.

"Ow...." The purple haired human said, slowly standing up and rubbing the back of his head. "Now look what you did, you wrecked the place!"

"You're blaming me again! YOU wanted to duel in the cottage!" Seph said, annoyed.

"But YOU were the one that decided to use your Wicked Windmill! You know what that thing does to monsters, couldn't you imagine what it would do to the cottage?!" The other human shouted. Despite the two's shouting, the argument was actually well natured; they both were hoping to ease each others anxiety from this predicament.

Unfortunately, at that exact moment that their argument ended, a new person walked in through the warp gate, a white haired Shura carrying what looked like a Nine Rings sword. The two humans stared, dumbfounded.

"...what just happened here?..." The Shura asked, looking at both Seph and the other human.

"Uhm...hey uh...G-Ma..." The purple haired human replied nervously.

"Well....Zion challenged me to a duel!" Seph said, immediately pointing at the other human.

"Whaaat?! But I wasn't the one who decided to use such a wide ranged attack!" Zion shouted.

"Both of you, in the office, NOW!" The Shura said menacingly. It was none other than Mjrn herself, the Silver Fox, and the notorious ruler of the "Office". Without another comment, Seph and Zion turned their backs and slowly walked into the dreaded office.


30 minutes later...
Seph and Zion both left the office, their backs slumped. No one ever left the office unscathed unless it was Mjrn herself. As they were about to leave the cottage, Zion suddenly stopped as something caught his eye.

"Wait dude, look." Zion said, motioning for Seph to look. Scowling, Seph turned but his expression turned confused. Mjrn was already outside of the office, but was standing over the wreckage of the table, a look of puzzlement on her face.

"What's up G-Ma?" Zion asked. Just like he normally did, he looked away before she could turn her head to look at him, but as a result, he saw exactly what she was puzzled about; the floor where the table had been standing upon had been ravaged, but in it's place was a tunnel, one that looked too well shaped to be natural.

"What the..." Seph said as he caught a glimpse of the hole. There didn't appear to be any light coming from the tunnel, it was completely pitch dark.

Even though he was still stunned by this new revelation, Zion's curiousity kicked in as he continued to look into the deep hole, wondering what could be in there.

"Hey, we should probably go in and see what's inside." Zion said, looking up at the two, unable to keep from looking excited.

"Oh no you don't, you've caused enough trouble already." Mjrn said, glaring at him. As Zion looked at her reproachfully, her own curiousity began to display itself as she smirked. "I'll go in with Jarod, you never know what we could find."

"Aww man..." Zion said, sighing, but he knew that the conversation was over; he did feel a pang of guilt for having a hand in wrecking the cottage. He walked away, followed by Seph.

Chapter 2: The Terror
Mjrn walked slowly through the darkness of the tunnel, one of her hands on a sword held out in front of her, and her other hand wrapped around the handle of the sword on her back. There didn't seem to be any sign of major change in direction; it seemed like she was only going down. She looked over her shoulder nervously, making sure her escort was still here. A white haired sylph looked at her curiously, before smiling reassuringly at her. He was holding one syringe in his right hand, and a lantern in his left, staying a few inches behind her so that she could get just enough light to see what was ahead of her. The two were originally going to go in without any light, but that proved impossible; the darkness was so thick, it felt as though it could be cut with a sword.

"Jarod...do you think we should go back?" Mjrn asked nervously. They had no way of telling how much time had passed; every part of the tunnel looked horrifyingly similar, and no progress seemed to have been made distance-wise.

"We'll be fine, I don't think there's much things any more dangerous than you are." Jarod said, smiling. Mjrn couldn't help but laugh. Feeling a bit better, she continued walking until finally, she felt the claustrophobic walls widen slightly. Taking one hand off the handle of one of her blades, she felt the smooth, cold wall, and continued walking forward, noticing how the wall opposite from her appeared to be moving farther away. Finally, they found a humongous clearing, revealing what looked like several stalagmite shaped spires shooting upward into the air. As Mjrn and Jarod continued to stare at the bewildering spectacle, they suddenly thought the same thing. There were several holes all over each spire and in it, they could see several shiny sparks flickering out of it. In fact, each hold in the spire reminded them of something back on the surface.

"They're like insect nests..." Jarod whispered observantly. Despite his whisper, the sparks in the distant abyss suddenly froze in response to his voice. For a moment, Mjrn and Jarod both froze, and kept their eyes on the glimmering lights. But when the air suddenly came alive with noise, and the lights began to scramble towards the two, there was no other option. Mjrn and Jarod turned around, and immediately began running as fast as they could from their predators. As Mjrn turned around in horror, she heard Jarod curse under his breath as he pointed in front of him. Dust was slowly crumbling from the walls that they had previously walked past and now, small holes were forming, releasing a legion of insectlike creatures. Seeing no other choice, Mjrn began focusing her energy into her sword, continuously running at the same time. When she reached the humongous mob of insects, she winded her sword back, and sliced two times in front of her in one swift motion. The insects were thrown back by the overwhelming force, and suddenly crumbled to pieces just before Mjrn and Jarod sprinted past them.

"They're not...too bad..." Mjrn panted, running only on adrenaline at this point. She suddenly heard a gasp behind her. Turning, she saw Jarod knocked off his feet and landing on his stomach, slowing being pulled away by the insects.

"No! Jarod!" Mjrn shouted, running forward, beginning to focus her energy into her blade. With her left hand, she gripped the sword behind her back, and directed some of her energy into it as well, ready to slash at the insects with both blades. Suddenly, she felt a humongous weight wrap around her back, causing her to fall forward, her energy flow suddenly stopping. Cursing, she turned her head to look up at her attacker. She only saw a brief silhouette of some human-like person standing above her, before she felt the same enormous weight land on the back of her head, causing the darkness to cloud her vision.

Several hours later...
"Keep sweeping, you two have a lot to clean up." A red haired Shura said, glaring at Zion and Seph as they swept up the debris from their duel. The two looked up scowling.

"Okay fine, I'll admit it. It was our fault. But I'd like to ask something Liah: Why do we have to wear these aprons!!!?" Zion complained, staring at a very frilly looking apron covering his chest.

"To make sure you don't make the same mistake again." A voice said from the entrance. A blonde haired human came walking in, closely followed by a white haired sprite.

"Oooh, someone's in trouble." Seph said, smirking at Zion. The purple haired human shot a glare at him before rolling his eyes and getting back to work.

"I think your son's a little butt-hurt right now guys." Seph said, grinning at the two new people.

"It's his own fault." Kazaa, the white haired sprite said, glancing at his son. "There's nothing wrong with dueling, but doing it in your own house is a different story." Zion pretended he didn't hear anything; he was way too humiliated right now. Trying to find a way to get off topic from him, he searched his mind for something to say.

"Hold on guys, G-Ma's and G-Pa's been gone for hours now. Someone should try to get a hold of her." Zion said, looking up. Glancing at the clock, he felt a pang of anxiety; Mjrn and Jarod had been gone for seven hours now.

"Lemme see if I can contact her..." Liah said, occasionally glancing at Zion and Seph to make sure they weren't neglecting their duties. She pulled out one of the Guild communicators and turned the dial until she found Mjrn's name. Then, she flipped up the screen, revealing a miniature keyboard. After typing furiously, she frowned as she looked down at the tiny screen.

"It says...that it doesn't exist..." Liah said, her eyes widening. She tried selecting Jarod's name from the list, but it produced the same result.

"That's crazy, it's worked before..." Sandry said nervously. "The only times it says that is if you have an invalid name or..."

"Or if the communicator's destroyed." Kazaa said grimly.

Chapter 3.1: Rescue
After the other guild members had been notified of the urgent meeting going on in the guild, Liah began speaking. She knew that not everyone would be able to get the message in time, but she had to hurry.

"Mmk, I'm keeping this short, since we don't really have time on our side..." Liah said, taking a glance at the people currently in the room; Seph, Zion, Sandry, Kazaa, and herself. She then continued speaking, her eyes hard and focused.

"Mjrn and Jarod have been missing for several hours, exploring that tunnel that only recently was revealed. I thought that they'd be lost but...that wouldn't explain why their communicators aren't functioning... This isn't like a raid; we don't know if something dangerous is down there, so we can't treat this like a full-blown invasion. We're going to have two small groups go in: Me, Sandry, and Kaz, and Zion and Seph. Both of our groups have a purpose: Zion and Seph will search for Mjrn and Jarod, and my group will be dedicated to guarding them, just in case there is something that will hurt them. Am I clear?"

Everyone nodded. Even Seph and Zion, the two jokesters of the group were feeling a lack in humor right now. Just as the two were about to walk into the tunnel, a pink haired Sylph suddenly made her way into the guild cottage.

"Sis?! Didn't expect you to arrive at this time..." Zion said, looking at his sister wide eyed.

"Hey Zi. I heard Mjrn and Jarod disappeared, so I wanted to come ask about it..." Celica said, taking a glance at everyone in the room. She couldn't help but feel troubled by everyone's anxious attitudes.

After Seph, Liah, and Zion explained the situation to Celica, the female Sylph nodded.

"Okay...is it alright if I come along?" Celica asked.

At first, Zion was going to complain, and begin another sibling argument with Celica right then and there, but then he considered it; Celica was one of the most experienced in the guild, and had extremely effective support skills. She would probably be the key factor in this mission if she came along. Liah appeared to be thinking the same thing.

"Kay, you'll be in Zion's group then. Help him and Seph find Mjrn and Jarod." Liah said, nodding.

"Heeeeeyyy...since when was it Zion's group?" Seph asked, complaining.

"Who cares, let's just go." Zion said, rolling his eyes. Liah, Kazaa, Sandry, Zion, Celica, and Seph walked over to the edge of the tunnel, each of them having a brief moment of hesitation. Who wouldn't feel afraid in this situation, when two of the strongest people you know had disappeared without a trace? Taking a deep breath, Liah motioned to the others.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Liah asked. Everyone nodded. She nodded, and the two groups walked in together, into the thick darkness.

End of part 1

Chapter 3.2: Rescue continued
The two groups stayed close together, as they felt their way through the tunnel, guided by only two lanterns held by Zion and Sandry. The anxiety in the air was suffocating, and everyone in the tunnel were nearly at their nerves' end. It was one thing to feel your adrenaline pumping as you were attacked ruthlessly in the dark, but it was a much more unnerving thing when you walking slowly, waiting for an enemy that could strike anytime, anywhere, that may never even come. The thought of being attacked when their guard was down worried everyone, but no one wanted to show it on their faces. However, the anxiety was easy to read.

"This is taking forever..." Seph said, exhausted. Zion would have told him to shut up and stop complaining, but his mind was under too much pressure; he wasn't sure how much longer her could stand in this suffocating darkness. No one else said anything either; they either didn't have anything meaningful to say, or they felt they same way Zion did; scared, nervous, and afraid to let their guard down against this enemy that they'd never seen, or may not even exist. Finally, Liah motioned for them to stop.


"We'll stop here and take a break. We need it." Was all the red haired Shura said. Everyone nodded gratefully, and sat down against the cold, damp stone wall. Zion and Sandry set their lanterns down and joined the others as they did their best to relax in the ominous environment.

"Kay, well I know all of you are exhausted, so we'll keep going forward for bout a half hour more, then if we aren't able to find anything by then, we'll just go back." Liah said, calmly, an impressive feat for the conditions that they were in. In an attempt to ease her anxiety, she started talking to Zion.

"So do you have any funny stories or anything like that?" Celica asked Zion, knowing that he probably told her more about his personal life than anyone else. The purple haired human looked up slowly, and eased his mind before beginning to speak.

"Well a few days ago, I saw Seph-" Zion said before being cut off by the rhythmic sound of something metallic hitting the wall several times. The two groups immediately tensed up, and drew their weapons. The entities that they were afraid of had decided to appear. Staying quiet, Kazaa and Sandry listened to the sound, and began to speak.

"Sound like...they're coming through the walls..." Sandry replied, her body tense.

"Which side???" Seph asked, his heart dropping down to his stomach as the noise began to get louder.

"All of them." Kazaa replied, narrowing his eyes. At that moment, a hole in the wall exploded to the right of the group, causing some sort of human sized, beetle-like monster to burst out of the newly made hole. The group was transfixed on it only for a moment before their combat instincts kicked in. Liah winded up her arm, and punched downward on the beetle as hard as she could, focusing all of her chi energy into her fist. Her Far-Flung Fist hit the beetle directly in the middle of it's back, and felt the several pounds of pressure from Liah's attack. It flattened against the ground, and let out a weak chirp before becoming completely still.

At that moment, two more beetle creatures tunneled out of the left wall, and immediately headed for Celica. Stepping backward slowly, Celica was about to unleash an area attack, when suddenly, a burst of lightning lit the entire tunnel up for a moment, before the darkness slowly returned. The beetle that was making its way toward Celica was now reduced to a burnt black spot on the ground.

"Lightning Runes." Kazaa said cooly. Zion, Seph, and Celica blinked, colored spots dancing in their eyes from the sudden bright flash from Kazaa's attack. Suddenly, several more holes exploded from both sides, beetles crawling out in full force.

"Zi, Seph, Cel, you guys just go!" Sandry shouted at the group. She turned immediately, and began casting defensive spells on Liah and Kazaa, as the two began to run forward to meet with the enemy. Zion hesitated, the back of his neck sweating as he watched more and more beetles swarm outwards. Gulping, Zion nodded.

"Don't worry about us, just get out alive!" Zion shouted before running in the opposite direction. Celica and Seph both hesitated, before following after Zion, worried about their companions. Zion, Seph, and Celica soon disappeared from sight in the thick darkness, leaving Liah, Kazaa, and Sandry to deal with the constantly appearing monsters.
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Several scrolls began to spin around Kazaa as dozens of beetles began to close in around him., clicking their fangs together. Gritting his teeth, his heart was beating faster as he impatiently waited for his spell to finish charging. Finally, when he could almost feel the beetles breathing on him, his spell finished. Several chains of lightning exploded all around him, electrocuting everything in a circular radius around him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he started making his way to the distant sound of fighting, trying to regroup with Liah and Sandry.
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"Where'd Kaz go?!" Sandry shouted over the sound of the insects, looking around the claustrophobic tunnel frantically. She turned around just in time to impale a beetle that was trying to pin her to the ground, and immediately backed away, her syringe ready. In the distance, Liah was seemingly about to be flanked by dozens of beetles, when suddenly, she slammed her foot on the ground, causing a mini earthquake to began, causing each of the beetles around her to fly up into the air, and crashing into the ground.

"Seismic Shudder!" Liah said, pleased by the effects of her skill. She looked to the left, and saw Sandry running up to her and from the right, Kazaa sprinting towards the two. Closely following the two were a giant horde of beetles, with a clear intent to kill on their minds.

Zi...everyone, hurry... Liah thought, taking a deep breath before standing back to back with Kazaa and Sandry, preparing herself as the mob of beetles slowly closed in.

Chapter 3.3: Rescue continued
"C'mon they have to be around here somewhere..." Zion said, getting frustrated as they passed through a seemingly identical hallway to the one that they had just passed. He had never felt his heart beat so fast in his life; it was the fear of getting killed in this tunnel with no witnesses, and the fear that Liah, Sandry, or Kazaa may die this very day because of his own mistake.

"Zion!" Seph shouted at his companion, waking up the purple haired human from his brief panic attack. Zion looked up and jumped back.

"What the-?..."

Before them was some kind of tall stalagmite shaped tower that had several holes in it, looking like a cross between a mountain and a beehive. In the distance, they could see several of those beetle monsters following each other in an orderly pattern, somewhat like ants. They appeared to be following a curved path heading in the general direction of where Liah, Kazaa, and Sandry were fighting.

"How long are you guys just going to stare?" Celica asked Seph and Zion, waking them up from their bewilderment at the tower.

"Right um..." Zion said as he looked around, thinking about where Mjrn and Jarod could be held captive at. But in some dark corner of his mind, it occured to him that maybe, just maybe, they weren't held captive. They could be dead right now.

"Guys look!" Seph said, pointing to the left. Celica and Zion both turned their heads at the same time, trying to look for what Seph was trying to point out to them. What they saw both disgusted them, but somehow, gave them hope at the same time. There was what seemed like a large larvae pod stuck against the wall, a pale red ooze still leaking out of it. The pod had been torn open, but there was nothing left inside except a decaying skeleton. A decaying skeleton that looked human sized.

"Eww..." Celica said, beginning to feel sick. "Now that is gross!"

Looking up, Zion saw several more pods lined up next to each other to their right. Taking a deep breath and breathing only from his mouth, he walked over to the closest pod, and draw his shining platinum staff. With one quick thrust, the skin of the pod was ripped, and the contents began to spill out. Along with the red ooze, two others things came out: a fresh decaying body, and some kind of mushy insect-like creature that looked like it had been combined with a raw egg. The most horrifying thing about it was the fact that it was beginning to move slowly, waving its six slimy legs into the air.

"Agh!" Zion shouted, alarmed at that sight. With a quick reflex movement, Zion smashed the insect with his staff and also the decaying corpse before he even realized it. He backed away from the oozing mess, disgusted, and feeling suffocated by the smell. As his heartbeat finally began to return to its normal pulse, Zion turned to the two, his eyes tired.

"Let's try opening up these pods. They could be in there somewhere." Was all Zion had to say. Seph and Celica both glanced at each other uneasily before walking forward and slicing open the pods. Zion gulped slowly, his body feeling a bit numb. He wasn't sure if he could keep doing things like this anymore.

"Mommy!" Zion heard Seph say delightfully in the distance. Rushing over, he saw Seph pull out a slime covered Mjrn from the pod, apparently disgusted, but very well alive. However, something caught Zion's attention.

"Seph, don't move." Zion said calmly. Before Seph could understand what Zion was talking about, the purple haired human quickly swung downward as hard as he could with his staff. There was the sound of something wet exploding, and Seph was showered in gooze.

"Aww! What the hell man?!" Seph cried, frantically trying to wipe the goo off of his body.

"Was that an egg on her?" Celica asked, suddenly walking in from the opposite direction, followed by a tired, slime covered, white haired sylph. It was Jarod.

"G-Pa! I'm glad your alright." Zion said, smiling despite his exhaustion. He turned to Celica and decided to answer her question. "Yeah it was. I'm guessing that when it hatches, it starts to eat away at you until your nothing but bones..." He sighed exhaustively.

"Jarod had one on his back too, but I get rid of it." Celica said, leaning her golden wand on her shoulder.

"You guys...why'd you come?" Mjrn suddenly said weakly, surprising the entire group.

"And leave you here to become beetle bait? As if." Zion said grinning. "It was my own fault anyway that you two had to get stuck in there. Besides, you've helped all of us out of a bunch of jams in the past, even though you didn't even have to. Aren't we a family?" Zion asked, shrugging.

"Of course we are." Celica said, suddenly pulling in Zion under her arm, giving him a noogie. There was a muffled sound of frustration from Zion, but everything else was inaudible. "You don't have to deal with everything alone Mjrn."

"Hah, yeah we are." Mjrn said, a small smile appearing on her face. She slowly stood up, being helped by Jarod and Seph.

"We should get going now." Jarod said. "I'm not too fond of those things."

Zion pulled himself out of Celica's headlock, and shot a glare at his sister. Celica smirked at him, but Zion just rolled his eyes. Suddenly, he tossed a saber to Mjrn.

"I know it's not top of the line but I'm still an amateur." Zion said, shrugging. Celica, following his lead, handed Jarod a spare syringe that she had.

"Well, what's the plan Boss? Mjrn asked Zion, imitating him.

"Wait, what?" Zion asked, taken aback. He could see Seph and Celica quietly laughing at him from behind Mjrn.

"Liah made you the leader for this team right? Then Jarod and I will follow you." Mjrn said, unable to help laughing at Zion as he turned red.

"Uhm...oh alright fine..." Zion said, sighing. "Let's get out of here. We should hurry, Liah, Sandry, and Kaz are still holding off a mob of beetles."

Chapter 4: Chaotic Escape

Three beetles suddenly burst out of the ground, causing a cloud of dirt to cover the area, obscuring Liah, Sandry, and Kazaa's vision. The thick, gray dust cloud started to burn, causing the trio's eyes to tear up. Suddenly bursting through the thick dirt fog, a beetle suddenly clamped its talons around Sandry's arms, pinning them to her sides, and causing her to fall on the ground. She could fear the clicking of its mouth behind her head, and she was unable to help shivering.

I am REALLY glad that I can't see its face right now... Sandry thought, feeling the panic flow through her veins.

Liah, quickly sensing a change in the group, turned around and saw Sandry, laid down on her stomach with a beetle on top of her. The beetle's two fangs suddenly revealed itself, the tips of it dyed a deep, bloody red color. From deep within its mouth, a long, tongue-like body part suddenly slithered out. Liah couldn't stand by and watch any more at that point. She quickly glanced to the left, and saw Kazaa flailing his wand around as several beetles latched themselves to it, trying to disarm him in an attempt to leave him weaponless. Deciding not to take any more chances, Liah charged forward, backfisting the beetles that tried to latch on to her from the right. Several more beetles dove in an attempt to pin her to the ground, but they fell just short of their target, landing just a few inches away from Liah's heel. Finally reaching Sandry, Liah reached down, and clenched the beetle's shell, and ripped it off of Sandry's back. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sandry slowly stood up, glaring at the mob of beetles that were beginning to overwhelm Kazaa. She reached behind her back, and pulled out a large, scepter shaped wand with her right hand, and kept her syringe in her left. She pointed her wand directly at the mass of beetles, and concentrated her energy directly into the wand.

"Secret Charm of Shrieking Demons!" Sandry shouted. A terrifying wail suddenly erupted throughout the cave, and several of the beetles chirped weakly, and turned over on their backs, their legs curling up.
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"I heard something over there..." Jarod said, turning his head to the source of the noise. He had heard a sound similar to that several times in his life. It couldn't have been anything else besides the Charm of Shrieking Demons.

"They're probably over there!" Celica shouted over the roar of the beetles following them. Mjrn, Seph, Jarod, Celica, and Zion frantically searched for any possible routes to get closer to the sound, and finally found a passageway to the right. Anxious about his aunt and parents, Zion prayed that they were still alive, and had not been killed by the beetles. After several twists and turns, the group saw several familiar figures in the distance.

"Liah, San, Kaz!" Mjrn shouted, tightening the grip on the sword that Zion had lent her. She quickly made a motion with her hand, and in a puff of smoke, a large, black cat appeared, looking affectionately at Mjrn before suddenly turning around, and glaring at the beetles. It growled once before it charged into the mass of beetles, torching several of them, and eviscerating several others.

"Whoo, go Livane!" Seph shouted, cheering the cat on. However, he looked around him and noticed the others were no longer with him. "Where'd everyone go?" He looked straight ahead of him, and noticed that Zion, Celica, Jarod, and Mjrn had proceeded to assist Sandry, Kazaa, and Liah.

"Agh..." Seph said hesitantly, looking at the beetles. "They're so...icky..." Realizing that something was wrong, Zion took a quick glance over his shoulder, and glared at Seph from the distance.

"What are you doing?! Get your ass over here!" Zion shouted, knocking a beetle that sprung on him from behind without turning his head. Seph mumbled quietly as he held his spear out in front of him, stomping on several dying beetles along the way. After what felt like hours, the reunited group sat down, avoiding any of the bleeding, broken-shelled beetles, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry guys, this place is huge...you wouldn't believe where Boss and G-Pa was though. It was like some place out of a horror movie..." Zion said, panting. The unknown cave had taken its toll on the group; all of them were covered in dust, beetle blood, and sweat.

"I'm just glad all of you came back alive..." Liah said, smiling in spite of her exhaustion. Zion nodded, and struggled to repeat the gesture, but was unable to; compared to the others, he was much more new to this intense fighting, and the pain of exhaustion was unrelenting.

"Let's go back, I can't stand it here..." Kazaa said, slowly getting to his feet. Everyone heartily agreed, and stood up as well. Luckily, the group had left a trail, and began making their way back to where they started. There were no conversations, everyone was just too exhausted to say anything. Kazaa felt sapped; he had expended more mana than he could afford, and he doubted that he'd be able to cast any more spells.
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Meanwhile...
The red haired Sylph slowly kept dripping in and out of sleep as he continued staring down from the large tower next the Guild Cottage. Being a Hunter had its perks, but being assigned as a sentry regularly during the week was not one of them. Hearing something coming toward the cottage, the sylph slowly peeked down, and noticed a human and sylph headed toward the side door.

"Zy!" The other Sylph shouted, looking up at the tower, waving.

"Hey Kooh!" Zymes shouted, looking down and waving.

"Hi Zy." The human next to Kooh said, doing a small wave.

"Good to see you Kao." Zymes said, nodding at him.

"Why is the cottage closed?..." Kao asked Zymes, his eyes widening a bit when he noticed a large "Private Meeting" sign on the door of the cottage.

"I dunno, Liah only told me not to let anyone in until she says so." Zymes said, shrugging. They suddenly felt a gentle tremor underneath them; Kao and Kooh didn't worry too much, but Zymes, whom was positioned much higher, noticed that this tremor was not a natural occurrence.

"Something's up..."
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"Hurry!" Liah shouted, reaching her arm around, and pulling up Sandry onto her large, robotic bear. Sandry turned around herself, and scooped up Kazaa into her arms, setting him down beside her. Kazaa took a glance downward, looking for the others who had yet to ride one of their pets. It was difficult to find the other members of the group when the beetles outnumbered them by such a proportional amount.

We can never catch a break... Zion thought, breathing heavily as he ran besides the others. He turned to the left, and saw Mjrn quickly hop on her cat, Livane. In one graceful move, Jarod pushed down on the cat's back, hopping up and landing behind Mjrn on Livane. Beside him, Celica spawned one of her Ruby cats, and she quickly reached behind her.

"Zi, quick, jump for it!" Celica said.

"Uhm no, I think I'll just get close enough to climb on..." Zion panted, his heartbeat feeling so loud that it echoed in his head. As he got closer and closer, Zion prepared to hop on when suddenly, Seph leaped from behind him, landing precisely behind Celica.

"Hey! What the hell!?" Zion shouted, feeling too exhausted to glare at Seph.

"I'm sorry! Those things creep me out dude!" Seph shouted, turning his head. "C'mon, grab on."

Grumbling angrily, Zion reached out for his hand when suddenly, he felt something collide with his side. Feeling the air leave his lungs, everything seemed to move in slow motion. Whatever it was that collided with him, it terrified Celica and Seph from the look on their faces. Reaching out in vain, Zion tried to reach out with his arm, only to be pulled deeper into the darkness. It was almost as though he was being pulled in by an ocean current of some sort. Just before he lost sight of the two, he saw a stray beetle leap forward and land directly in front of Celica, staring straight up at her with its red, beady eyes.

“AGH! Oh my god! Get it off get it off!!!” Celica screamed, bashing it several times with her golden wand. Seph frantically tried to position himself in order to help her get the beetle off of her pet. The two’s voices began to sound more distant and distant as Zion was pulled farther away from them. Eventually, he lost sight of them, or anyone else for that matter. Finally, he stopped moving, and he slowly stood up, his platinum staff ready to fight. From the shadows, he saw a human-like figure slowly walking toward him. At least, human-like until it came closer. When the figure appeared in clear view, Zion’s stomach lurched; it appeared to a human man, a very pale one at that, in tattered clothing. But the most horrifying thing was that there appeared to be beetle legs grafted into his body, the same kind of beetles that the group was fighting just moments ago.

“What the-?”…Zion said, shocked at what he was seeing, unable to help from gasping aloud.

Chapter 5: Crozeph

The...human-beetle creature didn't appear to show much emotion to Zion's gasp. He merely narrowed his eyes, stretching out his right arm, causing pigments of beetle shells to slowly trickle off of his arm, letting out a rustling sound. Zion couldn't help but wince as he slowly began to back away from the monstrosity.

Damn, gotta find Cel and Seph. Zion thought, swallowing the panic that was about to let loose from within him. As he was about to turn around and start running, there was a quick move, and suddenly, several black scorpions exploded out of the wall, landing directly in front of him. Exclaiming, Zion backed away again, this time moving back to his initial position. Looking around slowly, he realized that there was no way out. Trying to mask the immense anxiety and dread that he was feeling, he turned to the beetle-human creature, and held his platinum staff tightly.

"What do you want?..." Zion asked quietly, keeping his eyes focused on the man in front of him, occasionally averting his gaze to make sure the scorpions weren't attacking him. He could feel the cold sweat beginning to pour from his forehead as the pressure of the situation began to get to him.

"I was told to capture you. Just following orders." The man answered simply. He clenched his fist, and a sharpened beetle leg suddenly protruded through his wrist, tearing through his flesh. For some odd reason, he didn't bleed much; some black, blood-like substance flowed out of his wrist for a moment before he suddenly stopped bleeding. Zion was dumbfounded for a moment before his combat instincts slowly kicked in.

Doesn't matter how nasty it looks...as long as it's dangerous, I avoid it... Zion thought. He realized he had no choice but to fight.
-----------------
"Ugh...are the all off...?" Celica said, standing on top of her ruby, similar to a housewife standing on a chair after seeing a rat. Seph took a good glance around the area before nodding.

"Yup, they're gone." Seph said. Breathing a sigh of relief, Celica slowly lowered herself off of her ruby. The moment her feet touched the ground, she saw a small shadow on the ground began to grow. She slowly looked up...

"AAAHHHHH!" Celica screamed, jumping backwards and firing a flame spell from her wand. The burst of flame hit the falling beetle, incinerating it completely.

"You told me it was safe!" Celica shouted indignantly.

"Uh...sorry, forgot to look up...heh." Seph said uneasily, slowly backing away from Celica's glare. "Why are you looking at me like that Celi?..."
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Mjrn paced slowly back and forth, troubled by the situation. Everyone had managed to escape, except for Celica, Seph, and Zion. And to make things worse, other guild members had begun to show up, wondering what this "secret emergency" was, and why Mjrn had gone missing for almost an entire day. As Sandry, Kazaa, Liah, and Jarod tried to fend off several questions that the guild members had, she sighed a bit angrily.

Damnit, what's taking you three so long? Mjrn thought, concerned for Seph, Zion, and Celica.

Chapter 6: A Place to Belong

Zion took another breath, his throat feeling very dry and coarse from the continuous fighting. He felt a creeping numbness in his arms that was beginning to spread to the rest of his body; he had pushed himself far past his normal limits, and he wasn't even sure how much longer it would be until his collapse. The other man, on the other hand, didn't even appear to be breathing any differently, or showing any signs of exhaustion. Zion felt his staff weigh much more than it normally should have, but he never loosened his grip on it, not then, not now. The half man, half beetle narrowed his eyes at him, a bit puzzled by Zion's insistence on fighting.

"What're you trying to accomplish by fighting?" The man asked. "What do you have to gain from stepping out of this battle with a victory?" Zion looked up, his vision slightly blurring, unsure if it was the sweat pouring into his eyes, or just the exhaustion finally beginning to take its toll.

"Heh, I'm...not really ready to kick the bucket yet." He gasped out. "Plus...some people are waiting for me to get back home..." The man's eyes widened slightly, and he looked down for a moment. He seemed preoccupied with some kind of thought. Zion saw this opportunity and he took one last breath before winding up his staff and charging at the man. He didn't care about killing the other man; he just wanted to escape without anyone getting in his way. But just as he was about to slam his staff down on back of the man's head, there was a rustling sound from the corner, and a black dart hit Zion in the collarbone. Zion didn't have any time to comprehend any pain; his exhaustion hid every feeling of pain. The last explosion of pain was the final blow to his consciousness. He collapsed on the ground, his staff clattering to the ground beside him. The man looked up, and quickly looked around the room furiously. Out of the shadows, a woman stepped out.

The woman appeared to be young, but had definitely been through some very harsh conditions, as her skin appeared to be pulled tight against her bones, giving her an almost skeletal look. Her skin was almost too pale to comprehend; she had obviously not seen the sun for several months, or even years. Attached to her arms was a crossbow made completely out of jet black bones, and what appeared to be beetle body parts that had been hardened. Her hair was long, but covered in dust and minuscule rubble. She looked up at the man, a cocky look on her face as she began to speak.

"Crozeph, you've gotten so rusty at fighting. Since when did anyone daydream while in a fight?" She asked rhetorically, in a cynical tone of voice. The man, Crozeph only rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"I had things taken care of..." He said quietly, a bit of frustration in his voice. The woman rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"Please. You could have finished him off so much sooner. Why were you showing mercy? He definitely was going to kill you on sight..." She said.

"I don't think so. None of his attacks seemed like they would injure me fatally if they made contact..." Crozeph said, a bit apprehensive.

"Why bother being the nice guy?" The woman asked, now sounding a bit annoyed. "The entire world turned their backs on us. We don't have any reason why we should show any compassion for them any more."

But Crozeph wasn't responding to her snide remarks. The words of the boy he had just fought were going through his mind.

...some people are waiting for me to get back home...

You're a lucky kid... Crozeph thought, feeling a knot beginning to tighten in his throat as he looked at the woman rambling on about how the world should burn. There's no point in this victory...

Suddenly, a black scorpion covered in scales threw itself at the woman's face, scratching at the woman with its tail. The woman let out a high pitched shriek and began to frantically try to pull off the scorpion. Giving the woman one last resentful glare, Crozeph looked down at the unmoving purple haired boy.

You've got people to return to...let's make sure they don't have to prepare your funeral... He thought, picking up the boy and the staff laid down next to him. He began to run out of the area, without a single look back.
--------------
"I heard something..." Celica said, looking up, hearing the sound of a woman screaming. Seph slowly stood up, rubbing the bump on his head from the bashing that Celica had just given him.

"Well...I'd bet that wherever a woman is screaming, a bug ain't too far away." Seph said, laughing.

"What's that supposed to mean?..." Celica asked, rolling her eyes.

"That Zi's probably over there." Seph said, laughing even more. He finally stopped laughing and looked up. Celica was no where in sight.

"Celi?..." Seph asked, a bit intimidated. He looked around and saw Celica in the distance, riding her ruby to the direction of the sound.

"Nooooo wait!!!" Seph shouted, frantically chasing after her. But Celica saw a limp figure in the distance, with the same exact shade of purple her brother's hair was.

"Zion!!!" Celica shouted, leaning forward trying to get a better look. But she saw a beetle-like human figure carrying him. Her shock at the sight began to take over her actions, and she began focusing her mana into her golden wand. With one quick movement, a burst of fire came out of the wand, and began to home in on the figure carrying her brother.
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I tried...but...maybe there's no place for me after all... Crozeph thought, cursing at himself. He felt like a knot was tightening in his chest, and he felt his blood boiling underneath his skin. He was feeling a continuous cycle of emotions, starting from extreme sadness, to steadily increasing rage, to self pity, and back to extreme sadness again. His suppressed emotions were finally beginning to leak out, like a shaken soda bottle that had just been opened. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt a heat began to cover his body. He managed to compose himself in time and swung his arm, smacking the fireball away, the beetle legs taking the most of the force. He looked up at the pink haired sylph that had attacked him, preparing to attack until he stopped and began to think for a moment. The sylph apparently had her eyes on the boy he was carrying.

She must be his comrade... Crozeph thought. Another white haired person appeared just behind the sylph. He guessed that he must be been the boy's ally too.

"Wait, I don't mean you any harm." Crozeph said, his voice calm. "Let me show you the way out." He slowly let the purple haired boy down, and handed him to Celica. Celica cautiously took her brother and laid him down behind her, onto the back of her ruby pet.

"Whoa the hell?!" Seph shouted, shocked by the man's appearance. Crozeph ignored him.

"Let's go..."

Chapter 6.1: A Place to Belong part 2

The crowd of Chaotic Dragon guild members were beginning to grow so much, it practically became a mosh pit. Everyone was trying to shout over each other, trying to ask their questions first, while Liah and Mjrn worked desperately to answer them, and calm them down. In the back of their minds, they wondered what was taking Seph, Celica, and Zion so long. Somewhere inside, they truly believed that they were dead, animal feed for the insects down in the tunnels.

A blonde haired human with blue eyes walked inside of the cottage and took a look around at the huge mass of shouting guild members. The noise was beginning to annoy him.

"Ugh...I know it makes sense to be worried but..." The human said, sighing. In the distance, Kao saw him and quickly ran over to him.

"Lucx!" Kao said, smiling.

"Hey Kao Kao." Lucx said smiling in return. "What's with all the noise?"

"Oh well..." Kao began to speak, his smile dropping a little bit. "Zi, Celi, and Seph went down into the tunnel and...they haven't come back for hours."

"What?!" Lucx exclaimed, taken aback. "And they didn't send anyone in!?"

"Everyone's scared." Kao replied, shivering a bit. "From what Liah told me, there are bugs down there. And they almost used Mjrn as a bug nest for their babies."

"...ew..." Lucx couldn't help but sigh in disgust. At that moment, there was the sound of echoing footsteps from beneath the floor. Suddenly, the entire wave of noise, all the questions that each guild member was trying to ask at once just ceased to be spoken. Everyone felt a mixture of fear, hope, and astonishment as the footsteps began to become louder and louder. Everyone stared at the huge, pitch dark hole that was the beginning of the tunnel. There was a glint of gold, and Celica stepped out, looking very exhausted and covered with dust, gripping her golden wand tightly. A moment later, Seph stepped out, breathing heavily. For a moment, no one else stepped out.

Don't tell me Zi is... Liah thought, fear beginning to well up inside of her chest. But then, a tall, muscular figure came into view, carrying a very familiar purple haired human. There was a mixture of reactions; some responded with immense terror as they caught a glimpse of the bones that were grafted into the man's skin, others responded with delight as they saw Zion, unconscious, but surely alive. Mjrn quickly stepped in, drawing her sword with one quick movement, her blade at the man's face.

"Let him down..." She said, glaring a hole directly through the man. Crozeph nodded, and laid Zion on the ground before raising his hands, indicating he wasn't going to fight.

"Liah, can you take care of Zi?" Mjrn asked, her voice relaxed despite the adrenaline that was beginning to build inside of her in case Crozeph made any signs of trying to hurt them.

"Yeah." Liah said, keeping her eye on Crozeph as she knelt down and picked up Zion. She let some mana flow into her right hand, just in case she needed to quickly defend herself. But Crozeph made no move. Rather, he got on his knees, and kept his head down.

"Now...you're going to explain to me everything..." Mjrn said coldly, her blade still rested on Crozeph's head.

"...like I have a choice." Crozeph replied, a bit frustrated, but not because having to tell Mjrn information about him and his former comrades. He was frustrated because he escaped from the tunnels in an attempt to taste the freedom that he had waited decades for. But he escaped one personal hell, and ended up as the perfect interrogation subject.

I guess I can't expect much from this world. Crozeph thought grimly. He looked up, taking a deep breath before explaining everything.
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The image in the water finally began to go cloudy again. The blue haired man staring into the pool of water sighed a bit angrily, slowly standing up. Another man glanced at him, a neutral expression on his face.

"Satisfied?" He asked, his voice a complete monotone.

"...that all happened way too fast." The man said, a bit upset. "But...yes, I'm satisfied. I guess...I don't have to worry about him after all."

"You realize that they won't let him live right? He walked out on them, and is currently spilling all of their secrets at this precise moment. Do you think they'll let that go?" The man with the monotone voice asked.

"He's...on the right path now. Hopefully, he won't have to be alone anymore..." The blue haired man said. "It was my own fault that he had to suffer anyway...I wish I could be there to help him."

"You asked to be punished." The other man said, his eyes somewhat beginning to fill with curiosity.

"I guess somewhere inside...we all want to be punished, because we know we committed crimes, but we're too scared to pay for it. That's why some of us sort of...understand when death comes for us. Because we know we deserved it, and we knew we couldn't be lucky for so long." The man said, holding back his tears. "I could never face him, not after what I've done. It's less painful if...I just disappeared. Then he could just hate me and move on. If I kept showing up in his life...then his wounds would never heal..."

"...you've sat around long enough, back to work." The man said, showing no signs of being moved by the blue haired man's speech. The blue haired man closed his eyes, a single tear falling from both of his eyes before nodding and following him...

A New Journey

Chapter 1: Uncertainty

Several months passed since the Terror incident. Friends came, friends left, and friends returned. But an overwhelming quiet filled the air wherever I went now. Before, I always though this were so hectic in the guild, as some people tried to figure out what abilities to train on next, others started making dirty jokes, and others were getting in fights in the midst of everything. Now...it was just quiet. It was unnerving. A lot of the people that I cared about had either moved far away, or just left and never came back. You would think that I'd have gotten used to it by now. But unfortunately, my flaw in my personality made me too...emotional I guess. Celica and Lucx always teased me about it, and even though I knew they were never completely serious about their remarks, I still felt a pang of embarrassment whenever I heard those kind of comments. It wasn't so much their remarks that embarrassed me; it was more...the fact that since my emotionality was unusual to see in someone, much less a guy, I had to be teased about it. But I'm getting off track...

It's not easy to see things change for the worst, even though I knew it wouldn't be the first time things were happening.

Nowadays, it was just me showing up the cottage. The cottage, originally having an exhilarating vibe, now just felt...like a cemetery. The sheer silence in there drove me crazy, and I usually wouldn't stick around inside for very long.

One day, I just decided to take a walk, since there weren't many training parties going on, and I knew I didn't have the equipment or strength to tackle training on any other disciplines. I walked around Collington, glancing up at the flying pupus gliding around the place, nearly falling off the midair platform.

I saw Crozeph in the distance, sitting down on the pier, staring out into the sea. Thankfully, Nai decided to let him live, since even after months of imprisonment, he didn't show one ounce of resistance or anger. During the time he was out, he managed to figure out how he could hide his gruesome appearance. It was...disgusting frankly. He would let the beetle parts tear open his skin, and keep them hidden underneath, without a single ounce of blood leaking out. I still remember when Cel and I first saw him do that; we had both decided to skip any more meals for the day. I was thankful that G-Ma decided to spare Crozeph though; the guy did save my damned life, whether or not he meant to do it. I was unconscious for most of the escape, but I never bothered the ask for the details. I didn't feel like I needed it.

"Hey." I mumbled as I walked over to him, looking out as the sun created rainbow light from hitting the surface of the water. I never thought the sea could be so pure and untainted.

"What's up?" He asked in a normal tone of voice, still transfixed on the moving waves."

"Eh nothing at all. Nothing....at all." I said, smiling sadly.

"Why not just do something productive?" He said, not glancing in my direction at all. "You know you can't get any stronger if you never bother to put yourself through any hard work."

"Pft, you're one to talk..." I said, laughing grimly.

"I don't want to get any stronger." Crozeph said bluntly. "There's no reason for me too."
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Meanwhile...
Mjrn and Liah were off, hundreds of miles from the continent that Zion was on. It wasn't like they didn't care about returning anymore. But they had their own lives to attend to, and if they couldn't even attend to their own lives, they figured that they wouldn't be in any position to help anyone back at home.

"So...I heard things are turning for the worst back at home." Liah said as she walked beside Mjrn, who was a bit taller than her. She said this casually, holding back a bit of the dread that went through her mind as she thought of how everyone was doing.

"Well there's not much we can do right now. It's easy to say we have to fix something. It's harder to actually figure out how to do it." Mjrn said, also thinking back about everyone back in the guild. She sighed a bit sadly and kept walking, Liah following close behind.
----------------
In another distant continent...
Celica and Lucxene were chatting with each other, outside of a modern style building. In fact, the entire city was filled with vibrant lights, an ideal place to be for someone interested in the nightlife. The two of them seemed to be ranting about several things.

"...and he was being such a jerk, I couldn't stand it. It was like he was trying to show off how much of an alpha male type that he was and....just ew." Lucx said, a disgusted look on his face. "There's like, no more good guys left anywhere."

"...do you still have his number?" Celica asked, an interested look on her face.

"I know you want the silent strong type but...no, just no for this guy." Lucx said, the disgusted look returning to his face. "He's a disgrace to men everywhere."

"If you say so." Celica said, laughing. "By the way...you heard from Zi at all?"

"Not lately. I'm surprised, since I thought he would've sent a letter or something." Lucx said casually.

"Oh okay..." Celica said. "I hope he's doing alright. He hasn't mentioned a single word about the entire situation around the guild, and I thought he would have said SOMETHING. But he didn't mention anything at all. He's probably keep his thoughts to himself again." She said, slightly concerned on the inside.

"Well if things get too bad, I'm sure he'll speak up. But I'm not too sure since he's...a bit complicated for a boy." Lucx said.

"So true." Celica said, laughing. The mood lightened up, and the two began chatting about more livelier things.