The next morning...
At 3:00 am...
(bump!)
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
Two people just bumped heads. Each were trying to getto a object hanging on the wall, in the battle board. Zero's dagger hit hung there, the broken blade seen gleaming in the faint light.
Roas rubbed his head and growled at the person next to him, "Hey! What do ya think your doing... huh? Kiyone?"
A shocked and now very embarassed Kiyone looked at the resident sheriff and laughed nervously. "Eh, hi?"
Roas stood up, trying to grasp what was going on. "Um, you do know that unless your a resident, your not allowed in the Shrine after eleven o'clock, right?"
Kiyone sighed and looked at the hilt on the wall. "Yeah, I know. But I wanted to get Zero's dagger fixed."
"I'm suprised that Zero's in your good graces, after you found out about that whole hot springs thing-"
Kiyone's eyes lit up in fury after she heard that remark. "YEAH, about that! What were they talking about?!? Zero ran away when I asked him about it, and no one at the mall was willing to talk about it, either! Is Zero a pervert or something?!?"
Roas was forced to take a step back after that one. Geez, he thought, I need to learn to keep my foot out of my mouth. "Umm... well..."
Kiyone grabbed the Warrior of Time by the shirt. "SPILL IT!"
Roas sighed. "Oh, boy."
-------------------
It was another morning in the Shrine to Ghaleon.
The morning begins with Skylark having the unfourtinate honor of dealing with another of X-mas's eternal struggles, the hanging of the outdoor Christmas lights. He looks down from the tangle on the roof to see Roas sneaking out, with something draped in cloth in his hands. He is doing a very bad job trying to be sneaky.
"So? Where are you going?"
Roas jumps out of fright at the sight of Ninya in front of him. He quickly catches his breath and sighs. "Just going X-mas shopping."
"Really?" says Ninya with a sly grin. "With Zero's dagger hilt?"
"SHH! If Zero finds out I took it, he'll put my soul into a moth!"
"Hun, the Soul Rune's influnce keeps your soul safe."
"Yeah? Well, I don't wanna test that theory!"
Roas shot Ninya a quick glance, then looked at Skylark on the roof. "HA! Ain't so easy, is it!"
Skylark walks up to the edge to say something, but slips on ice and endures another one of X-mas's eternal struggles, falling of the roof of your Shrine while setting up X-mas lights. Skylark lands in a snow drift, and comes out looking like a snowman with black wings. He frowns.
"I hate X-mas lights."
Roas smiles. "Don't worry. At least you don't have to cook."
Roas, Skylark and Ninya all shudder. Cooking! The worst of the nightmares of X-mas! The living, breathing nightmare! The one job that not even Althena herself wanted to do!
Good thing Anon lost the coin toss, they all thought.
Suddenly, all three of them put their hands on their weapons and glare down the road. Roas glared at Skylark, then at Ninya, then down the road again. "You feel that?"
Ninya nodded, then growled, "i've never felt battle chi with this must bloodlust before!"
Skylark gulped. "I feel sorry for the poor soul that has to endure whatever that thing is going to do!"
The three waited and waited for the figure to get closer and closer until...
"Where is he?"
Roas gulped. "Battle Board. This is when he trains everyday."
The figure walked right by them, into the shrine. Roas, Skylark, and Ninya both looked inside, then at each other, then back at the door.
"My god. She must have found out."
"But who told her?"
"Sigh. May God have mercy on his soul."
--------------------
Crap!
Zero was in big trouble. He had bitten off more then he could chew, and without his dagger...
Double Crap!
Zero was bleeding from at least a dozen locations, had lost feeling in his right arm, and was currently running away from whatever it was he was fighting. Suddenly, the creature reappeared, and hit Zero with a crushing blow.
Zero was scared. He thought he was going to die.
-----------------------
"Look, Kiyone, I know it sounds bad, but trust me, he's not that bad!"
Roas was trying to reason with Kiyone, who's bloodwrathed eyes showed no signs of listening or slowing down. She approched the door to the battle board and tried to open it.
"I just want to hear the story from him, that's all." Kiyone looked at Roas. "Don't I deserve that?!?"
Roas jumped back again. "I realize that! But..."
Kiyone started to open the door. "I don't care if he's getting the crap beat out of him, he's going to talk!"
Kiyone opened the door and looked inside. Instead of the open field or riverfront she and Zero always did his reaction time training in, they were in a dark cave, with giant walls and a very tall ceiling. Stalgmites were everywhere, and the sound of bats could be heard.
Kiyone flicked on her flashlight and walked in slowly, with Roas behind her, Glaive ready in one hand. He had his battle face on, and started to sniff the air.
"Somethings not right here, Kiyone. Zero's musta done some hard core training in order to go into this place. This ain't his forte."
Kiyone pulled out her gun and started to look around. Signs of battle scarred everywhere, with no signs of who was on top. Something caught her eye, and she walked over and picked it up.
"Roas..."
Roas walked over and growled at what he saw. It's was Zero's signature red bandana, except it was red with blood instead of just red.
Suddenly, a loud crash was heard behind them, and the cause of the crash showed itself. Roas's eyes opened up in fright at what he saw.
"A-a-an OMEGA DRAGON!?!?"
The dragon stood over 200 feet tall, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. Massive claws and powerful scales boomed off this creature like thunder, and his eyes shone blood red, watching, looking. He caught a glimpse of Roas and Kiyone and simply smiled.
"Ah, more food. It's been a while since food came to my cave. But three in one day? Must be my lucky day."
Kiyone gasped and hid behind Roas, who whipped out the Glaive and screamed, "what in the seven hells did you do with Zero?!?!"
The dragon looked down at Roas and beamed, "You mean the Wizard? Don't worry, he's still alive, somewhere. I bet you he has a splitting headache, tho-"
Any further conversation was halted by an explosion on the back of the Dragon's head, sending brain matter splattering across the cave. Suddenly, a figure appeared behind Roas and Kiyone.
"What... are you doing here?"
Kiyone turns around to see Zero. "Well, HELLO THERE! What do you think you have to say to yourself... Oh... my... god!"
Zero looks at the both of them, holding the remains of his right arm, which is lost from the middle of the bicep down. He smiles weakly. "Umm... training?"
He falls to a heap on the ground, blood gushing from his arm.
-------------------
A very dark eposide, true.
But, eh, can't have happy stories all the time, eh?
At least I didn't get evicted on my day, Huh, Skylark?