From: "Shumate" To: "Final Fantasy Mailing List" ; "Hillion Dynasty Mailing List" Subject: [ffml] [HD] Contemplation Date: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 8:34 PM The ocean heaved. The boat on the ocean heaved. The deck of the boat heaved. It seemed, when boats were involved, just about everything heaved. Arcanis did not like heaving. "At least I'm not throwing up," the esper muttered to himself, leaning at the railing of the Rose, a ship the party had chartered to reach Sornos. Arcanis had succesfully gotten over his seasickness, though the prescence of the extremely perverted draconian, Blackthorne, didn't exactly help his stomach. Arcanis sighed, feeling somewhat depressed. After escaping from the destruction of the AGSOSA, the members of the harem, including Pyxie, had decided to part ways with the others to rebuild the AGSOSA in some remote, safe location. Despite the fact that this oddball, Blackthorne, had later shown up with the Crystal of Balance, which Pyxie had been carrying, Arcanis was not very concerned for Pyxie, as he could still feel her summoner link to him in the back of his mind. She could surely summon him if she or the rest of the harem ran into trouble. Though, Arcanis thought morbidly, the way things were turning out, that probably wouldn't do much good. While in his home of Abterrus, Arcanis had always considered himself fairly powerful. He was a Firstborn esper, one of the most gifted in the ways of magic, and second only to the Dragon Gods, such as Bahamut and Leviathan, as well as a few other Firstborn, such as Eden and Atma. All and all, Arcanis had been fairly certain that there was very little that could threaten him. Since he had begun his mission on Earth, that illusion had been completely shattered. In the course of less than a year, Arcanis had encountered numerous beings, mortal and immortal, whose abilities either rivaled or far exceeded his own, even when he had the immesurable power of the mighty Crystal of Ether at his disposal. Friends, such as Gray and Lia, had incredible potential, even though they were mere mortals. As for enemies, well, Arcanis felt his ego had a nice, large dent in it from the number of defeats he had recently collected. Arcanis turned to study one of his most recent embarrasments. Blackthorne leaned lazily against the center mast of the ship, lazily gnawing a raw fish and looking surprisingly thoughtful for a draconian. The day before, Arcanis had been rather surprised to find that Blackthorne held the Crystal of Balance, though the reptilian necrophiliac seemed to have little natural magical talent. Which made it all the more embarrasing when he had handily knocked Arcanis to the ground. Blackthorne looked up, meeting Arcanis gaze. Arcanis' hand tightened into a fist, crackling with energy as the esper pondered what the most painful spell that would dispatch the draconian without causing too much damage to the ship would be. "Whaddaya need?" Blackthorne spoke suddenly, breaking the quiet rythm of the sea with his rasping, draconic voice. Arcanis narrowed his eyes, studying the draconian suspiciously. "Why are you going to Sornos?" the esper asked in response. Blackthorne shrugged. "I was about to ask you the same thing. So, ladies first." The energy crackling around Arcanis' clenched fist intensified for a moment before the esper bit his lip and forced himself to dissipate the antimatter annihilation spell he had ready. Blackthorne didn't seem to notice. "We are attempting to reach a place, called Hillion, before an individual, called Aracalen, reaches it. Should he do so, then a terrible fate shall befall the world." Arcanis said, inwardly groaning as he realized how corny that sounded. *All I need to sound like a dragon now is to speak in Olde English,* he thought, shaking his head. Blackthorne gave him an inquisitive look. "And how would one reach this... Hillion?" the draconian asked. "When all of us are gathered at Crystal Peak, the way to Hillion will be open," Arcanis said, blinking in surprise. Shortly after the AGSOSA's destruction, his subconcious had told him to travel to Sornos, though until now, he had no idea why, despite the questioning of the others in the party. It was as if the thoughts had been planted in his mind... All the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. Arcanis glanced at his staff, which radiated a faint purple glow. The Crystals must be the keys that unlocked the way to Hillion once they were gathered at Crystal Peak. "You do realize that Crystal Peak is the throne room to Godzilla, right?" Blackthorne asked, interrupting Arcanis' reverie. Arcanis blinked, recalling that he had read about that sometime past. He was well aware of Godzilla's power... Godzilla was one of the few gods who could cause serious damage to Abterrus, had he reason to attack it. Of course, the combined might of the immortal espers were more than a match for practically any force, divine or not, so Godzilla and the espers tended to leave eachother be. "Yes," Arcanis muttered offhandedly, in response to Blackthorne, already lost in wondering how he could possibly deal with the likes of Godzilla. Godzilla would surely be unhappy with his lair being invaded, no matter what the reason. Arcanis would probably be safe from Godzilla's wrath, as the god would probably not risk killing a Firstborn for fear of the other espers. But Arcanis' companions had no such protection... "I have a proposition for you," Blackthorne spoke suddenly. "What?" Arcanis muttered, still lost in thought. "Suppose we travel together. You guys look like you could use some muscle, and I could definately use some magic backup, which you guys seem quite proficient at," Blackthorne suggested casually. Arcanis gave the lizard an incredulous look. "Sornos is a very deadly place for not reptiles. You're going to need someone who knows the geography and what places to avoid." Blackthorne hastily added. "And how relable can we consider you?" Arcanis asked skeptically. "I will travel with you as far as Crystal Peak. After that, you're on your own." Blackthorne said, which didn't really answer Arcanis' question. Arcanis leaned back against the rail, wondering. The party would need a guide... he had no idea were Crystal Peak was, and he doubted any of the natives would be very forthcoming with directions. Arcanis sighed. "I'll discuss it with my companions." "Suit yourself," Blackthorne said, emitting a resoundingly disgusting belch. "I'm not going anywhere." *Unfortunately,* Arcanis thought to himself as he went belowdeck to find the rest of the party. ----------- -Arcanis Blackthorne landed on the deck of the Rose. After his "conversation" with Arcanis, he had felt the need to get some air. He never really was a fan of espers, generally speaking he always considered their egos considerably over the safe limit, and rarely able to keep up with them. Then again, with Arcanis he had only met three espers in his lifetime, and two of them were dead. Either way, he could tell that Arcanis had taken an instant disliking to him, and that Arcanis probably would just as well kill him and put his head on a pike than actually deal with him, but Blackthorne was fortunate to have some fodder to trade with; that is, the fact that he knew his way around Sornos quite well, partially due to his princely wanderings in his youth that cost his nation millions in ransoms... He chuckled to himself, those were the days. His father, if one could call him that, was constantly terrified of what he would do next. His mother despised him, apparantly it never occured to her that there were ways to avoid having an egg actually hatch. His personal opinion was that she enjoyed the whole ordeal, but he was exiled before he could get around to accusing his mother of this. That reminded him... what the hell did that note say? He fingered through his pouch for a few minutes, worming through several trinkets he had removed from past enemies, until finally coming across a torn slip of paper. Pulling it out, he examined it. Father, I have not seen you for two decades, and I would like to see you. Please, I am awaiting you in the city of Isstaal. Lizz "Yeah, right." thought Blackthorne. "More likely she wants to slit my throat to make her claim to the throne unquestionable." Lizz was Blackthorne's daughter, illegitimate by human standards but with a Royal Family as fucked up as Ishra's that didn't really matter much, hell, Blackthorne was a bastard, so why not his own child? Either way, it was her arrival that basically set things in motion for Blackthorne's exile. His father wasn't very intregued by the idea of two Blackthornes terrorizing his people, and thus exiled them both. Blackthorne wasn't really sure what to expect with Lizz. He had changed considerably since he left Ishra, with the wings and all, and he suspected she had endured a great deal of adventures too. Frankly though, if she thought she could contend with the inner power Blackthorne had, she was- Blackthorne's thought was interrupted by the smell of something. Smelled like... a lot of things, actually. He could make out elven, esper, and two other weird things that smelled quite feline-like. He lowered the note. Walking towards him, almost like a military formation, were Arc and his three followers. Once again, Blackthorne felt he ought break the ice. "Yes?" -- The eternal lord of darkness...