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balence1 -> Jen and Deathoc (4/14/2012 19:59:43)
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Book One: Jen and Deathoc
part 1
Jen
Prologue
Something was wrong. Jen could feel it. But what?
The hill had a great vantage point of Lore, and Jen could see almost all of Falconreach from here. She just could not place what was wrong...
Deathoc, her SoulAlly, stood behind her. After the events in Pellow village, the two of them had come to the conclusion that they, and they alone, were the only half spirits left in Lore. They had also realized that they were the ONLY ones that did not see Greed, Lust, and Envy (and all other corrupt spirits) as... Evil. Possibly that was Greed’s little mind game kicking in, but they felt that they were just misunderstood.
“Jen? Deathoc?” Tomix called. “Are you coming?”
Jen sighed. She really did NOT want to go learn from Warlic. Nor did she want to go ANYWHERE with Tomix again. But she had no say in the matter. She never had a say. But, she was going to change that…
Walikng down the hillside, she met Tomix at the bottom. Him, Aspar, and Isaac were already ready to go. Jen’s bag sat next to a tree.
As always… she told herself. Not even a say in what I take with me.
“Lets just get this over with.” Jen sighed, grabbing her things. The bag was light. They didn’t pack too much.
Great…
Warlic
Jen closed her eyes, deep in concentration. The fireball leapt from her hands within seconds, hitting the target with ease.
“Well done, Jen.” Warlic said. “You are learning faster the I had hoped.”
Jen nodded, shaking. They had been practicing fire spells for the past 4 hours!
“If you are ready, we could start on teleportation.” Warlic continued. “Or we could keep practicing? It’s up to you.”
“I think she needs to rest before we do anything, Warlic.” Deathoc said. “She would more then likely pick something she didn’t really want to do if we let her try anything now.”
“Well, I…” Warlic started.
“I’m going for a walk…” Jen interrupted, walking out the room before Deathoc or Warlic could say another word.
The night was cold and dark, but Jen didn’t mind. This was nothing new to her, not after she first came to Lore. Ravenloss was not the most welcoming place in the world.
She walked down the path to an old house that seemed to have been abandoned for a LONG time. Walking inside, she opened a book on the table: The History of Necromancy.
If she could only learn to be a necromancer before Tomix came to pick her up next summer, her plan would work perfectly.
There was a knock on the door…
Jen stopped in her tracks. No one EVER came here. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a young girl with blond hair and pigtails.
“Hello?” The girl said. “Is there anyone here? My name is Sally!”
Jen got up and walked to the door. “What do you want?” She said in her best I-am-a-necromancer-and-you-better-remember-it voice.
“I’m looking for some one to talk to!” Sally said. “It gets ever so lonely in The Necropolis!”
“Necropolis?”
“The school of necromancy, silly!”
School of necromancy? That… would be PERFECT!
“Well then, Sally.” Jen said, opening the door. “You came to the right place. Come in.”
Sally
“So, this ‘school’?” Jen wondered. “Do you attend?”
“No!” Sally said. “The school has been closed ever since this hero and a boy named Artix helped Vayle defeat Noxes! It’s just where I… live now.”
Jen reached up for an old book. “Do you practice necromancy?”
“Well, yes. That’s why I left home. No one EVER let me do anything! It was always, ‘Sally, stop that!’ and ‘Sally, put that down!’” Sally replied. “Not even that hero let me do anything!”
“You MET the hero? The one with The Black Dragon Box?”
“Yeppers! I met them!”
“Could you recognize them if you saw them again?”
“More then likely!”
Jen smiled darkly. “Good… that IS good indeed…”
Sally looked at her. “What do you mean?”
Jen looked back at Sally. “It’s nothing… you don’t need to know…”
“Well… why are you so interested in The Necropolis?” Sally asked.
“Lets just say,” Jen said, looking back at the shelf. “I have some plans…”
Sally smiled. “Well then, that makes two of us!” She said, happily. “Why don’t you come back to NecroU with me, and we can talk more about owe plans!”
“No… not just yet. Maybe later. I need to be heading back soon, anyway. This is not my home… even if I wish it was…”
“I know what you mean. Your parents probably miss you.”
Parents…
Daddy…
Ever since she had come to Lore, she had never even considered how her dad would feel. She had left a note saying she had been kidnaped. How would he take that? What would he do? Was this really a good idea? Would she ever see him again?
What about her friends? Sydney? Chrissy? Anya? What did they think happened? How would THEY feel?
Do you even want to know?
The voice was inside her head, but it was not her own. It was darker, but still not quite… Evil…
What are they to you now? You have all this power, all this knowledge, and all this strength. They are NOTHING to you. To US!
“Jen?” Sally asked. “Are you alright?”
“I… I’m fine.” Jen said. “I must go now! I will be here tomorrow!”
She ran out the door. Ran all the way back to Warlic’s tower. What was happening to her?
Nythera
Jen sat in her room, shaking. Nythera would be back any second now. What was she going to tell her? That she was hearing voices telling her about power? She'd think she was NUTS!
A gust of wind blew open the door. Jen froze in place.
"Just the wind, Jen…" She muttered.
Only, it wasn't just the wind. She got that strange feeling she had had on the hilltop. Something was wrong. Really wrong. But what?
"Jen?" A voice snapped her out of her trance.
Nythera stood in the doorway, looking more mad then normal.
It was a well known fact that Jen and Nythera got along like a house on fire, but even more so that they both had the same line of thinking on the best of days.
"Your thinking about something again, aren't you?" Nythera asked, sitting on the bed next to her.
"Maybe…" Jen griped.
Nythera and Jen sat in silence for a long while.
"So… how did training go?" Jen finally asked. That was sure to get her off the subject of Jen's mental state…
"DREADFUL!" Nythera stated, as always. "When will he tell me ANYTHING I WANT TO KNOW?!"
Jen giggled. Nythera always got this way after training. Just like Jen, she had her own plans. Only, she just wanted her Dragon Magic back.
Silence again.
"Umm… how's Deathoc?" Nythera asked.
This was normally how it went. An almost 20 questions until one of them got bored and they went off to cast fireball at targets, or play jokes on Warlic by moving Cysero's talking portrait around to different rooms of the tower.
"He's OK." Jen shrugged.
"Good, I guess…" Nythera said.
"So.. what do you want to do?" Jen asked the normal question.
Only, this time, Nythera didn't reply.
"Nyth?" Jen said, concerned. "Ny?"
Nythera didn't even blick.
"Ahh, Jen!" A male voice said behind her.
"Umm… hello, Envy." Jen said. "Now really isn't a good time…"
"No, no. She's fine." Envy said. "If not, I would be doing something!"
The grin on Envy's face stated that he was only half joking, but Jen was not just about to let it go.
"And what if she…"
"Settle down, kid." Envy said. "She's FINE! Now, to why I am here."
Jen narrowed her eyes. "What do you want now?" She complained.
"Just a little… help." Envy said. "I need you to talk to a 'friend' of mine, if you know what I mean."
"And then what?"
"You'll see!"
"This better be good, Envy!"
"Trust me, it will be… fun for you…"
As Envy left the room Nythera shook her head.
"What just happened?" She asked, looking confused.
"Just forget about it and go to bed." Jen said. It was now almost midnight.
Anya
"You see," 'Aspar' said. "I found this girl who seems to know you. She seemed really startled by your disappearance, so I 'helped' her."
"I'll take your word for that, Aspar…" Jen said, untrustingly. "So… who IS this friend, anyway?"
Walking down the street a ways, Jen and Aspar came across a young girl, around Jen's age.
Anya...
"W-what the…" Jen said, shocked. "ANYA! What in the name of the elemental lords are you doing here?!"
"Looking for you, Jen!" Anya said. "What are YOU doing here?"
"I'm…" Jen said.
What WAS she doing here? She had already done what was asked of her to do.
You are here for ME now, Jen! No… for YOU! This is YOUR world now!
Jen blinked. What… who WAS that? It wasn't HER voice! She was crazy, but not schizophrenic!
"This is my home…" Jen said.
"Then this is my home too!" Anya said, smiling.
"No…"
"What?"
"This is Not your home…"
Anya looked hurt. "But, Jen." She said. "I… your my FRIEND!"
Jen looked away. "I am also half spirit…" She confessed. "I am NOT really human. Nor of Earth. YOU are!"
"Jen…" Anya started.
"I'm sorry, Anya. You must go back to Earth."
"I cant."
"Yes you can."
"No." Anya said, rather matter-of-factly. "I can not."
Aspar seemed quite pleased with the way this was going. He had that rather self-satisfied look on his face that Jen so disliked.
Looking back at Anya, Jen saw that she was already in light leather armor, common among Assassins. The armor was new, but already had some wear and tear damage to it.
Looking back at her own armor, she saw that her gray cloth robes were slightly tattered and fringed at the ends. Her soul-loom had also seen better days. The almost spider-silk webbing of the loom itself was starting to crack, and the gray wrist-brace underneath was dingy. She really WAS a citizen of Lore. A Mage-Wever. A NecroWever…
"I…" Jen muttered to herself. "What have I become…"
You are better then them. The people of Earth are NOTHING! YOU are the SUPREME being now! You and you alone.
The voice seemed to be growing stronger. Jen still didn't recognize it.
"Jen…" Anya said. "I cant go back without my friend! I WON'T go back! Not without YOU!" She seemed close to tears.
Jen couldn't say a word. She was shaking with not just the cold, but with the realization that she had not only hurt herself, but a friend. One of her BEST friends.
Part 2
Deathoc
Prologue
The dark room seemed all to normal for Deathoc as he walked around. In his human form, he couldn't make out every detail of the room.
His foot brushed up agains something warm. Stopping, Deathoc knelt down to see what it was…
Aegis
"And then what happened?" Aegis asked, seeming interested in Deathoc's dream.
"I woke up before finding out what it was." Deathoc shrugged. "It could have been anything!"
"Or anyone…" Aegis muttered, more to himself then Deathoc. "Is there anything else?"
"Well…" Deathoc said. "There is always Jen. She seems to be very out of it as of late. It's worrisome…"
"I can see why!" Aegis stated.
The two looked back at the gate. Tomix would be back any second now.
"I think I see them." Aegis pointed.
Sure enough, Tomix and the little red, wight, and blue ghost could be seen coming through the gate from the other side.
"Why, hello, Deathoc!" Tomix said upon leaving the almost portal like gate. "What brings you back to Ravenloss?"
"I was…" Deathoc started.
"He was talking to me about something." Aegis said. Deathoc NEVER got to finish a sentence!
"Well then," Tomix… was he smiling? "Welcome back!"
"So…" Deathoc tried again.
"So, what happened?" Aegis asked.
Deathoc's eyes narrowed. All he wanted was to FINISH ONE SENTENCE! Just ONE!
"It went fine!" Tomix was still smiling. "I found out a lot! I think I know of two more corrupt spirits I need to look for."
"There are more?" Isaac asked, looking up from his grade book.
"Apparently!" Tomix said.
Deathoc didn't like where this was going. He knew who the last 4 were. Lust and Envy were the least of their worries. Especially if…
"And any news of that dark soul?" Isaac asked the question that Deathoc was dreading. The irony of that line…
"Well," Tomix replied. "It seems it IS on Lore, and seems to be looking for something…"
"Or some one…" Deathoc muttered.
"Excuse me?" Tomix asked, confused.
"If she IS here," Deathoc said, surprised that no one had interrupted him. "Then it must be looking for it's 'creations'."
Isaac nodded. "I have done some poking around of my own, and I think Deathoc is right." He said. "I do have to ask, Deathoc. How do YOU know about this?"
Deathoc froze. "I…"
Please let some one interrupt me this time….
"I…" He said again. "I AM one of her creations…" He admitted.
Tomix and his little ghost friend nodded, as if they had seen this coming. "And the other?" The ghost asked. It sounded very feminine.
"I… I don't know…"
Lier!
That was not HIS mind! Who, or what, had said that? It was clearly not Evil, nor was it Good. It was… corrupt… dark…
"We MUST find out!"Aegis yelled. "If it's some one we know, they could be in grave danger!"
"Indeed." Isaac agreed. "This is an entity of PURE darkness. It IS darkness. Pure and simple. Who ever this other creation is, we MUST get to them first so that we can defend them. Plus, I would really like to hear what they have to say about The Dark Soul."
"Don't we all, Isaac…" Deathoc murmured. "Don't we all…"
Riadne
Running down the hall, Riadne court sight of Deathoc.
"Deathoc!" She yelled, waving her arms. "Over here!"
"Riadne?" Deathoc seemed a bit shocked.
"Deathoc, I found something out!" Riadne was almost bouncing up and down with excitement. "You know that other creation you and Aegis were talking about? I think I know something about it!"
"Go on…" Deathoc said, not knowing weather this was a good idea or not.
"Well, you said that your creator was a female, right?" Riadne continued. "Well, I was looking at some of the information I got from the Chaosweavers, and it seems that Lust had a kid!"
"A kid?" Deathoc asked.
"Yep! AND the farther was of Earthen decent!"
"That IS interesting…"
"Indeed it is, Deathoc." Isaac said, leaving his classroom. "From what Aspar and that ghost-girl, Rie, told Tomix, there are two people here around your age, Deathoc, that are from Earth. If we see what one acts more like Lust, maybe we could find out what one is the REAL creation!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Riadne agreed. "Let's go find them!"
Deathoc tried to act positive, but he really didn't like where this was headed…
Nor should you…
Jen and Anya
"Just let me go!" Jen kicked and struggled against Tomix, but in the end, failed to fight free of his grip and gave up.
"It's just a little test, Jen." Isaac said, for what Deathoc could only see as the ninth time.
"And I have a right to say NO!" Jen complained.
Again.
"Look, Jen." Deathoc said at last. "I don't like it eater, but I think it may just work."
"And if it's not one of us?" Jen sounded more like she wanted to blast him then talk to him.
"Then we know that She will have to go to Earth and look for the other creation." Deathoc said. "And we don't want that, now do we?"
Jen blinked at the comment. Her eyes went wide.
Must be thinking about her friends…
Rie tilted her head. She didn't fully understand what was going on, it seemed. The girl apparently only spoke a little English, and what she did was EXTREMELY limited. Deathoc couldn't place the language, but it seemed that Isaac didn't have any trouble communicating with her.
"Rie," Isaac said. He then said something that Deathoc could not make out. It just sounded like gibberish.
Rie nodded. "Jen?" She said. "You of Earth? You know people?"
"Yeah…" Jen said. "Why?"
"You know Anya?"
"Yes."
"She kind?"
"Yes."
"She good friend?"
"Yes."
"She good… love?"
"I would guess so…"
"And you?"
"Umm… I don't really like boys…"
"You like girl?"
"Yeah…" Jen sounded kind of nerves.
"Girl like you?"
"Umm… some do, yeah…" Jen said. "Why are you asking that?"
"Test." Rie said, pointing at Isaac.
"Well, some girls like me, others have boyfriends, and others girlfriends…"
"You still like?"
"Yeah…"
"Jen…" Rie pointed at Isaac. "Jen la uno."
"Sí." Isaac said. "Gracias."
"De nada." Rie replied.
"¿Le hablamos español?" Jen asede.
"Sí!" Rie said. "¿Y tú? Isaac no me dijeron que podría comprenderme!"
"¡Sí! Tomé español en la tierra. ¿Usted?"
"No aprendo."
Deathoc didn't really know what was going on. What were they saying? How did Jen understand a word of this?
"Creo que Deathoc será necesario ayudar a la comprensión. No habla a español!" Jen said.
"Wait, what?" Deathoc asked, completely lost.
Tomix couldn't help but smirk. Jen had a huge grin on her face. Anya, well she was just trying not to crack-up!
"That was Spanish, Deathoc." Aegis grinned. "Jen took a class in it on Earth. Maybe you should take a class!"
Deathoc hung his head.
De acuerdo…
Wait… what?
Lust
Deathoc and Jen sat on the bank of the river, feet dangling over the rim. Deathoc was thinking about a lot.
Should I tell her what I know?
Would she just think I'm nuts?
Maybe I could…
"Hey, Death?" Jen asked, looking over at him.
"Yeah, Jay?" Deathoc asked, shocked back to reality.
"I…" Jen started. "I'm going to sound crazy… never mind…"
"You can tell me, Jen." Deathoc said. "I will NEVER think your crazy!"
Jen sighed. "I've been… hearing things…" She finally admitted. "This voice telling me things… it… it doesn't want me to go back to Earth…"
"Well…" Deathoc stopped. Did HE want her to go back? No… but, did she want to go back? She must really miss her family. Her friends. Anya had come all the way to Lore to see her. "I think you should… your friends miss you."
Jen sighed again.
"Whats wrong? Don't you want to go back?" Deathoc asked, thinking he said the wrong thing.
"I…" Jen started. "I… I don't know… I really don't know." She started to cry.
Deathoc didn't know what to do or say. He didn't understand any of this. She was hearing things like him, and now she didn't even…
"Wait… hearing things?"
Oops…
Jen looked up again. "What did you say?"
"I…"
"Your hearing it too, aren't you?"
"Well…"
"I KNEW I WASN'T CRAZY!" She hugged Deathoc.
"Well, I don't know about that!" Deathoc joked.
"Meh!" Jen teased, shoving him playfully. "Tu loco! "
"What?" Deathoc said, still laughing.
"She said, your crazy!"
"What the…" Jen looked back over her shoulder. "LUST?!"
"¡Hola, mi amor!" Lust said. "¿Cómo estás?"
"I… I am fine…" Jen said. "What are you doing here?" -stopping for a moment- "¿Y tú?"
"¡Soy bueno! Estoy aquí para hablar con usted." Lust replied.
"¿Acerca de?"
"Quiero conocer a mi chico! ¿Qué desea hacer?"
"Me gusta leer y dibujar…"
"I. bien, no sé. Pero estoy seguro de que me gusta demasiado!" Lust laughed.
"I'm sure you do…" Jen muttered.
"Oh, come on, love! Smile for me!" Lust grinned.
Jen just looked back at the water.
"Now, hunny." Lust said, more strictly. "Thats no way to treat your mother."
"I'm not in the mood." Jen said.
"Well then…" Lust continued. "Umm… what do humans do to get kids to smile?"
"Umm…" Deathoc said, really confused. "I don't know…"
"Hmm…" Lust tried. "Do you want to go to the park or something?"
"No." Jen said.
"How about we draw something?"
"Not in the mood."
"Want to talk Spanish again?" Lust grinned. "Creo que es divertido!"
"Nope."
"Well, what do you want to do?"
Jen got up. "I want to go for a walk." She said. "Alone."
Lust looked… what? Was she sad? It sure looked like it to Deathoc. She did seem to be trying to be a good mother, even if she WAS failing miserably.
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