[IC] A Hero Tale: Felix

[tex]

Prisma's blade struck air, but he didn't stop there. Prisma slashed at Felix as he finished speaking, missing once again. After the boy ascended, the 5 clones grouped up, and aimed the palms of their hands up at the swordsman.

"He talks too much!"

"I'm one to judge."

"Of course we are!"

"Three.."

"Two.. Time's up!"

All together, the clones fired several volleys of raw arcane energy, blue in coloration, and grouped together into a little colony of destructive spheres that were aimed to strike Felix now.

"My name is not Prismo, and our abilities are not regenerative!" Prisma shouted, mockingly, and in total unison.

[rush99999]

"Does it look like I care, Prismar?" the being replied as he caught the spheres with Felix's sword, causing them to be absorbed by the sword. Felix's sword sparked and crackled with the arcane energy of Prisma's attack. "Because I don't" the being added "I really don't". With that said, the being pointed his sword straight up once again. This caused the energy in the sword to congregate at the tip of the sword, forming a giant sphere. "CATCH!" the being yelled before swinging Felix's sword downwards and sending the sphere flying straight towards Prisma.

[tex]

Prisma looked up, and his four clones backed away from him, but he didn't budge from his spot. He held one hand up, and a reflective mirror-like coating caught the incoming energy. Within moments, it shrank down to the size of a golf ball, and Prisma clenched his fist, dispersing it. "Mmm, Yummy! Still, I didn't expect my parcel to be returned to sender!"

"Did you Stamp it, properly?"

"You don't have time for stamps!"

Prisma's center clone immediately hopped off the ground and towards Felix with his bladed arm re-constituted, slashing at him from below with reckless abandon, while his clones all sat in a circle around a broken pile of wood, and began snickering to each other while exchanging whispers.

[rush99999]

"Well perhaps you should make time for stamps then, Prism" the being suggested as he casually deflected all oncoming blows from the 1 fifth of Prisma who was attacking him "They aren't that costly, they aren't that hard to use, and they aren't that time consuming to stick on. On top of that, properly stamping parcels make the courier's job easier and reduces the chance of parcels being sent back". As the being casually defended Felix's person with the classic move known as the 'I Don't Even Have to Look at You and to Prove It, I'll Have a Drink' Defense, he sighted the other 4 fifths of Prisma gathered around a broken pile of wood, snickering to each other while exchanging whispers. "What are you doing down there?" the being called down to the idle fifths of Prisma "The fight's up here!".

[tex]

Prisma's primary being pulled his hand back and tilted his head to the side. "I'm not to be bothered by such impudent flames!" Prisma shouted, enlarging his bladed arm by at least 30 feet. He slashed at Felix with enhanced strength, but suddenly diverted his strike, and cut the main support pillar for the building in twain. In moments, the roof began to crack and crumble, but Prisma did not let up in his assault, shrinking his arm back to its normal size, and clapping his hands together.

Boom!

The resulting shock wave fired out in all directions, with deafening effect. Prisma's four clones seemed relatively un-phased by the falling debris, but they did look up with a quartet of smiles, barely visible in the outlines of their tightly fitting masks.

"We're busy discussing where to bury your body!"

"Quite the sensitive topic!"

[rush99999]

Though the shock wave had sent him back a few meters, the being and the body he had commandeered were no worse for wear. "Well with all the rubble you've got coming down here, I'd say this is as good a place as any" the being said as he picked himself up and brushed himself off "However, there are 2 things I must point out. 1: This isn't my body, it's my wielder's body. I just took the wheel for a while to keep you guys from killing him when he couldn't defend himself. And 2: I do believe you're a little confused as to who will be burying who by the time this is over. It won't be you burying me, it will be me burying you. All 5 fifths of you". With that said, the being spun his sword in his hand for that extra bit of flare and pointed it at the fifth of Prisma who had been attacking him as the sword came out of its spin. "You think otherwise?" the being asked "Come prove me wrong, Prismil".

[tex]

"I've decided!" Prisma announced, pointing at Felix as he fell towards the ground, posed with his spine straight. He landed dead center between his clones with a thud, standing straight, and nodded. "I've decided what your headstone will say!"

"Here lies a foolish boy, stolen by a power he could not understand,"

"He talked too much!"

"Way too much!"

"Prisma, Prisma, kill me please?"

"Make the pain stop!"

"Make the pain stop!!" Prisma paused, and his four clones stood up.

"Kill them all."

In an instant, his clones dashed towards the exit, their hands morphed into sharpened swords. Prisma cackled and sat down on the ground, rocking back and fourth while he looked up at Felix. "I've decided that I don't like you! So I'm going to make your master suffer!" Prisma said, his voice shifting between its usual, shrill, playful tone, and one that vibrated menacingly. "Come now! Perhaps killing me will stop the oncoming massacre of your people!"

He had no intention of fighting Felix seriously. His purpose there was practically fulfilled already. But Felix's patron brought out an unfamiliar feeling in the otherwise uncaring metal-like monstrosity. It was curious, and begged exploration, through torture.

[rush99999]

"My people?" the being asked "My people?". The being chuckled at the thought. "Oh no. Those are my wielder's people" the being corrected "They aren't my people and they aren't my problem either. The honor of being my problem goes to my wielder and - To a lesser extent - his enemies. The rest can kiss my pommel for all I care. So long as my wielder lives and his enemies die, I get to go back to sleep once the fight is over. Speaking of which, I think it's time we end this fight already. So how about we hit each other with our strongest attack and see who breaks 1st?". As the being spoke of ending the fight, the ground began to shake and lighter objects in the building began to levitate as the being wound up for 1 final attack. "It's fine if you don't want to" the being added "That'll just make things easier for me".

[tex]

"Strongest?" Prisma asked, tilting his head curiously to one side. "Little being, I am shocked you would ask so much of me! I've already gone and sent my better halves, thirds, fourths- All of them away!" Shrieks of terror and rending flesh rang out from outside of the slowly crumbling guild hall as Prisma's clones tore through the innocent civilians and powerless adventurers with no restraint. "Fine, fine, come, come!" Prisma said, sounding awfully exhausted as he stood up with a sigh. He looked up at Felix and rose both arms, beckoning him forward with his hands "I'll do what I can!"

[rush99999]

"That's what I like to hear!" the being said as a glowing grayish blue outline formed around Felix's body and sword "Bring your best, Prasmor! Because I'll be bringing mine!". With that said, the being charged at Prisma with blinding speed.

12 seconds later...

The already crumbling guild hall suddenly went up in an explosion of grayish blue fire. Felix's body emerged from the fireball as it was launched high into the sky by the explosive force. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the being screamed as he flew above the city, over the walls, across the plains outside the city, and straight towards a lone tree sitting atop a tall hill overlooking Farndale. Needless to say, Felix's body was not treated to a soft landing. "Well that was intense" the being remarked as he picked himself up and brushed himself off "Good thing it takes more than a tree to hurt me". The being let go of Felix's sword which was then suddenly back in it's sheath. "Wow" the being said as he looked back at the city "I flew far". The being then looked over at the tree Felix's body had collided with. "Holy shit" the being said when he saw how little the tree had been affected "You are 1 tough tree". The being then stifled a yawn as he looked back at Farndale. "Well this is an inciting incident if I've ever seen 1" the being commented before sitting down against the tree "Hopefully I'm not needed too often for what comes next. But that's a problem for later. Now, I sleep". With that said, the being closed Felix's eyes and Felix snapped them open a split second later.

Felix's eyes were no longer, his voice was back to normal, his body was sore all over, and he had no recollection of what happened after Prisma tried to kill him. "Wha...What happened?" Felix said "How did I get here?". It was then that he spotted Farndale. For a while, Felix was speechless. He just sat there watching his home burn. Eventually, 4 words left his mouth. "This can't be happening" Felix breathed.

[tex]

Felix was left with a horrific horizon of flames and smoke. Within minutes, building began to fall, and just outside the city walls, he could see small figures running across the grassing plains. But, one after another, they were struck down but shards of steel, or balls of energy that pierced their bodies with ease. A familiar man stood near the south entrance of the town, and scanned the surroundings carefully, until he noticed Felix, standing on top of a nearby hill. He glared the the boy momentarily and smiled, holding up the decapitated head of a dwarf. It wasn't Lorges, or Durwith, but from so far away, Felix might have not been able to tell, regardless.

---

The smoldering remains of the tavern brought upon a strange sensation in Prisma's core. The remaining husk of the strange masked man revealed little more than a pair of legs, standing firmly braced against a pair of wood planks. Prisma's entire upper half was gone. But just above his waistline, a perfectly black orb of steel floated in place, with a pair of white slits glaring up at the revealed sky. Prisma's body began to reform around the sphere as it was pushed up by a stream of silver liquid. Within moments, he was back to normal, but Felix was gone. It didn't matter though, he knew where the boy had gone.

"My my, and I didn't even get a chance to.."
"My my, and I didn't even get a chance to.."
"My my, and I didn't even get a chance to.."
"My my, and I didn't even get a chance to.."
"My my, and I didn't even get a chance to.." Prisma's clones all spoke in unison, wherever they might have been in Farndale. He paused and his expressions, across the spectrum of his form, were filled with shock. Something had forced him into one pattern of thought for a moment, but it didn't last.

---

Prisma's look of shock disappeared, and she dropped the dwarf's head before heading back into the city, and left Felix to gaze upon the results of his work. Farndale was no more.

---

~ End Of Chapter 1~

[tex]

~ Chapter 2 ~

_{Nowhere To Call Home}

Felix was left with nothing. No home, no friends, and no idea about what had just happened. Prisma showed no interest in chasing him down, but why was that? Where the hell did he come from, and what was he purpose there?

[rush99999]

After a long while of sitting there and watching as Farndale's corpse rotted in the sun, Felix finally found the ability to move. Felix slowly rose to his feet. He had absolutely no idea what he was going to do next. Going back to what was left of Farndale had no appeal to him. He hated the thought of walking through street after street of corpses belonging to people he once knew almost as much as he hated the idea of running into Prisma again. And so Felix turned his gaze away from Farndale and looked around, hoping to catch sight of a way forward.

[tex]

The south plains were the closest for Felix, but between him and the nearest kingdom, Jorgon, there was a perilous expanse of land. The villages and smaller settlements that lay scattered were not mapped, and Lake Ulon cut the path rather abruptly. The path however, was clearly laid out, and Felix could see it from his perch. From what Durwith had told him in the past, the south eastern path would eventually lead him to a small town known as Little Rock which lay on the north edge of Ulon. It was prosperous, to some extent, and it's where Lorges was born.

[rush99999]

As more options entered his mind, Felix took 1 final look at Farndale. For the past 18 years it had been his home. Now it was a ruined husk of its former self. "I'll make them pay for this" Felix vowed then and there "I don't know how I'll do it, but I'll make them pay for destroying my home. Then I'll go after their boss and make them pay as well". With that said, Felix turned and started off towards the south eastern path. If Lorges had been born in Little Rock, then perhaps he still had family there. They deserved to know what had happened to Lorges.

[tex]

The path looked long, arduous, and possible littered with dangers. Durwith said it himself, the south was currently a battleground for the Nations of Jorgon and the Eleven capitol of Illias. If Felix made it all the way to Little rock unharmed, he would be the luckiest man alive...

---

It didn't take as long as anyone might've expected to run into somebody on the road to Jorgon. Nearly an hour into his stride, and Felix came across a traveler's cart, broken down and half-buried into the side of the road. The silhouette of a dead horse barely peeked around he edge of the covered cart, limp and surrounded by starved, little flies. More interesting however, was the shadow of a man, flickering against the top edge of the cart's roof. Was there a fire? How long had he been there? Regardless of the answers, he didn't notice Felix.

[rush99999]

Felix paused when he noticed the cart wreck. As he took in the sight and analysed what lay before him, Felix wondered if he should just move on before the cart's occupant noticed Felix's presence. There was no telling how someone would react to unexpected company on a dangerous road. It was possibly that there was a trap in place, ready to spring on Felix if he wasn't careful. On the other hand, Felix was still sore from a fight he couldn't remember with an enemy whose name Felix couldn't recall. Felix liked the idea of resting by a fire. As Felix pondered whether he should get the man's attention or move on while the stranger was unaware, fate decided to make the decision for Felix by causing him to sneeze.

[tex]

A shadow perked up from within the cart moments later, spinning slightly and blocking out a fair portion of the light. Whoever was inside the cart, lowered themselves, and disappeared from the lightened backdrop created by whatever source of light was flickering within. Looks like Felix was busted.

A man peered up and over a few splintered wooden planks, glaring at Felix quietly. He had black hair, and soft blue eyes. Human? Or Elf? It was hard to tell. His ears were covered by a thick red bandanna, and most of his body was hidden behind the cart's debris.

[rush99999]

[DOUBLE POST]

[rush99999]

Upon seeing the man's reaction to Felix's presence, Felix decided that perhaps it would be better to just move on. The man didn't seem the sort for sharing fire anyway. "Don't mind me" Felix said as he made to move on down the road "Just traveling down this road, minding my own business and not wanting any trouble". Hopefully the man had no intention of starting any trouble. Felix wanted at least 1 chance to rest his sore body after what had happened.