Altered Tundra

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Jaakuna didn’t know whether the kiss went on for one second or one minute, he just embraced it. The day has been long, and Jaakuna almost died. He probably should sit down or at the very least, rest, but kissing Emiri seemed like the only thing he wanted to do right now. She had pretty much saved his life and he was just so happy.

After a minute or so, Jaakuna found the control to pull away, but he was just looking into her eyes. He didn’t know when the next time would be that he would have a close call with death. He thought he was going to die just now. “Emiri, I love you.” He said it! He actually said it and he felt good about it. Just saying it aloud again, and not in anger, was truly something wondrous. “I just don’t want to waste any more time. If the events of today taught me anything it’s that life is short and if you don’t seize it, then regrets will be had.” He said. He was just overtaken by emotions and made some lightheadedness, but he didn’t give a fuck.

On the other side of the room, Nadeline and Wesley were talking. Well, it was more like she was talking and he was listening. He started to calm down, as Nadeline had pointed out. She was right. He needed to be calm for all of this. And then she said it. The murderer of his father — the former King of Dalmasca — was Judge Magister Ixion, the Lightning Falcon. He got up.

“I see.” Wesley walked over to the throne, passing by Jaakuna and Emiri, who no doubt followed him. “I heard almost all of it. He was after the Dusk Shard.”Wesley said as he reached into his father’s pocket and there it was. “Funny, the guy didn’t know it was there at his grasp the whole time. “ He said holding the Dusk Shard. “ And here is one of three Defected Nethicite that all three empires strive to have, and in this room, two of them are present.” He said. “Yes, Jaakuna, I know you have it — I’ve always known.” He said. “But alas, I do not wish to have it, but I do wish to offer you my thanks, and I will see to it that your crimes are cleared and covered up from public knowledge.” He said, promising to clear the charges. “However, I do wish to accompany you on your journey. I want to see to it that whatever war is going on does not end in my country’s downfall.” He stated, waiting for the responses of the three in the room.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Jaakuna heard and felt every bit of it. He heard the cries from Emiri, he felt the pain of losing blood at a fast rate. He could hear the prince yell out for his father, but he couldn’t move. Despite everything, Jaakuna was paralyzed. The worst part was that he felt every bit of the pain from the lightning that held him still. He couldn’t move and he just didn’t know what to do.

Then it happened.

Jaakuna felt something. It was a bunch of somethings. First it was the curaga spell from Nadeline, but it seemed to only ease the pain for a bit. Then, he felt Emiri. He felt her emotions flowing into him, and then his skin somehow repaired itself. It was her ability. It was back and this time it saved his life. Then, there was another curage spell. Jaakuna could move, he could stand, but he still felt weak. It was still too early for him to be up, but still he was at least able to stand.

“I’m alive?” Jaakuna looked around as he felt his body. “Emiri, y-y-you saved my life.” His face was full of shock and happiness. He was probably still out of it, but he couldn’t help himself. He hugged her, and proceed to kiss her. He was truly grateful to her.

On the other side of the room, Nadeline had went over to Wesley to comfort him. He was so out of it, he didn’t even know what to do. His father was dead and by right, he should be king, but he didn’t know what to do.

“Who--Who did this?!?!” His stuttering was mixed with crying of sadness and yelling of anger. He just couldn’t decide which he was more of: sadness or anger..

---

As Judge Ixion appeared on the ground floor of the Royal City of Rabanastre, he would walk a bit more until the Odin was in sight. In seconds, he was beamed up. As he walked from the beaming station and he walked his way through the ship, it would take him about ten minutes to get to the cockpit where Savayna was waiting for him.

“Judge Magister Ixion, welcome back sir!” She said.

Ixion smiled. “Thank you Savayna.” He replied.

“Were you able to obtain the Dusk Shard?” she asked.

He sighed. “No, I am afraid not. Your former husband got in the way of that and his two friends as well.” He expressed.

Savayna was livid. “Jaakuna was here!?” She yelled and asked at the same time.

Ixion sighed in annoyance. “Oh, calm it down. He didn’t have it either, but I did learn of some pretty interesting information.” He mused.”

Savayna looked interested in this information. “What is that sir?”

He stood watching the skies as the remaining fleets of the Archadian Empire returned to Archadia. “Princess Nadeline Roselia was with your ex-hubby.” He said smiling.

“Who?” She asked not knowing who this woman was.

Ixion chuckled. “A very important person within the Rozarrian Empire. “ He replied.

“And why is that important, sir?” She asked.

Ixion smiled. “Well, we could use this to our advantage.” He replied. “We will report this to his majesty, Emperor Vincent. I’m sure he will find use of this information.” He said.

The ships would arrive to Archadia within an hour’s worth of time.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Jaakuna didn’t know what to do. Even hearing Nadeline speak wasn’t doing him any good. Just seeing the situation he is in gets him even more angry, but what is he to do? There was literally nothing he could do. There was no loophole he could figure out to get Emiri out of this mess. Jaakuna would either have to let Emiri die and live with that his entire life or give up the Dawn Shard in hoping it would get her out of harms way. Then, it hit him. He had an idea.

Jaakuna stepping forward, Ixion still had his blade to Emiri’s neck. “Okay, I have it here." Jaakuna reached into his pocket. Ixion smiled.

“Good, bring it here.” He said.

Jaakuna walked forward, standing about three feet in front of Ixion. Ixion would let her go, as Jaakuna started to pull out the Dawn Shard, not the Dusk Shard. Then at the slightest moment, Jaakuna rushed forward in one leap. He pressed his right hand on Ixion’s sword arm , gripping the blade itself. Even though his hand was cut, he would allow Emiri to get away, but not at a great cost. Ixion would shove his hand through Jaakuna’s right left shoulder, and an electrical charge would be induced into his shoulder, sending so many watts of electricity into it. Jaakuna screamed in agony and pain. When he fell to the ground, shaking from the feeling of being paralyzed, he saw Emiri was able to get away and she was right behind Nadeline. The feeling of relief overtook him.

“You good-for-nothing shit!” Ixion said and then he got a call from his headpiece.

---

The forces of Archadia and Dalmasca were at each other’s heads, neither of them wavering. When one of their ships would be defeated, the other would lose one. It was a back and forth battle. From the Dreadnought Odin and the Royal Warship Valefor each in command of their respective empires, it would seem that neither side would even bust an inch. However, that was until one special ship came in to save the day.

In the sky, the legendary ship Ifrit had came in to save the day. Shooting off very powerful beams of plasma and magick, it would seem that the Archadian forces were being pushed back. Within the Valefor, Wesley couldn’t believe his eyes, but then again, Jaakuan did promise he would help. Wesley was surprised though. He thought that Jaakuna would have taken the chance to flee, but maybe he was wrong about that guy.

“Okay men, don’t let up. Back up the Ifrit.” He ordered.

The orders were met with absolute unison and loyalty. The fleet of the Royal Army was pushing forward and the Archadian Empire, especially Savayna were getting nervous.

Aboard the Odin, Savayna was incredibly nervous. She was so nervous that she was pacing around. She couldn’t believe that the Ifrit was actually coming to save the day for Dalmasca. To think that one of their best ships that was in Archadia’s control was being used against them. This truly was a bad situation for the empire to be in.

“Dammit, what are we going to do? Judge Ixion will surely have my head for this.” Savayna said as she stood in the cockpit, just watching as half of their fleet was being taken down.

The Ifrit was the sole reason that Dalmasca was able to have a fighting chance. The ship itself was firing and firing, moving at speeds that no ship could ever hope to reach. And yet, when Wesley would see, he had a funny feeling.

“Patch me through to the Ifirit.” Wesley ordered one of his men in the cockpit of the Valefor.

“Yes sir!” The man replied as a comm link was patched through.

“Jaakuna are you there?” Wesley asked.

Jaakuna was not there, but Iris was. “Master Jaakuna is busy at the moment.” Iris responded.

Wesley was intrigued, but very confused. “Ah okay, and pray tell, who is it I am currently speaking to?” Wesley asked.

Iris responded. “I am Iris, the ship Ifrit’s AI.”

An AI huh? That’s truly wondrous. Wesley truly was astonished that such a thing existed in the world. Archadia might be the spawn of the devil, but they truly are visionaries in technology. “I see, and where would Jaakuna be now?” He asked.

“Master Jaakuna, Lady Emiri, and Lady Nadeline are currently in the Royal Palace.” Iris responded.

Wesley’s eyes widened. He didn’t know what to think, but he knew his business couldn’t be dealt with here. He had to go to the palace. So, without a moments notice, he rushed to the beaming station where it would automatically take him to a beaming station over in the royal palace. Within seconds he was teleported into the palce and he was just a few minutes away from the throne room. He heard voices, so he crept up and listened in.

---

As Jaakuna laid flat on the ground, static electricity showing all around his body, Even worse, blood seemed to be pouring out of the deep gash in his shoulder. Jaakuna was not in a good shape, not at all.

Meanwhile, Ixion got a call. “Yes, what is it?”

“Judge Ixion, you have to leave! We are losing and if we don’t get you real soon, I’m afraid you will be left behind!” Savayna said.

“I understand. I will be there shortly” He said closing out of the call.

He looked down at Jaakuna and then to the two ladies. “It’s a shame that we couldn’t continue this, but I must depart. We will meet again.” He said as in a flash, he disappeared.

When the Judge left, the prince came in , hearing almost everything, but he still didn’t know what happened. He walked in and from across the room, he saw his father dead on the throne. “FATHER!!!” His yell would come to a surprise to the three in the room. Wesley dropped to his knees as he would start to sob.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Jaakuna didn’t know what to do. He wanted to pummel his cousin for even threatening to kill Emiri, but he knew if he took another step forward, that would surely be the death of her. He didn’t know what to do. Even, it seemed that Nadeline didn’t know what to do. She was probably just equally as shocked and angered at Ixion for taking Emiri in such a way.

Ixion looked at his cousin and the blonde. He just smiled. ‘So, now it seems I have your attention.” He said turning his gaze to the brunette in arm then turning back to two staring at him with anger. “Now, would you two do me the kind favor of telling me where I can find the Dusk Shard?” He asked with a rather genuine smile on his face.

Jaakuna looked towards Nadeline, and then he reached into his pocket and he still had the Dawn Shard. Dusk Shard? Could that be another Defected Nethecite? Jaakuna couldn’t make sense of it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I never heard of such a thing. And besides, I wouldn’t tell you even if I did.” Jaakuna said snapping at his cousin.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As Jaakuna was slowly getting back up, he could feel a tingling sensation through his right shoulder. It hurt like a mother! He couldn’t really do anything in his condition and he knew that. Perhaps he was done or maybe he just needed to buy his time until he could finally get up and rejoin the fight.

On the other side of things, Ixion had just got done using his counterattack and it would seem that for the most part it was successful, as seen by Jaakuna being down and out. However, he saw the blonde lady using the spell shell, which fended off the needles of lightning until they faded off into flickering bits of light. When that happened, Ixion barely even saw the brunette come in for an overhead slash, but thankfully for him, he caught onto her attack just in time.

Sidestepping the girl, she would fall off-balance as she came into contact with the ground and in a single motion, Ixion punched her in the back, and took her and wrapped his free arm around her neck, pulling her back against his front. He placed his sword near her neck as well. She was actually somewhat being lifted off of the ground. “Now, it seems I got your little friend.” Ixion said smiled. “What will you do now?”

Jaakuna saw, and something in him arose. He didn’t know if it was the addreniline of him seeing Emiri in trouble or if it was his feelings for her overtaking him, but he popped up, and he was going to attack, but Ixion held his sword to her neck even more.

“One more step and she’s dead.”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As Jaakuna had deflected the lightning spell, he nor Emiri were out of the woods just yet. He knew that Ixion was only getting started and that he would try whatever he could to get Jaakuna and his friends down for the count. As he would prepare for anything, Jaakuna felt a healing sensation go through his body. He didn't know what it could be until he saw that it was the healing spell known as Regen. Jaakuna looked back at Nadeline and saw that she was the one who had done that. He nodded towards her as she would soon come in, as Emiri would follow her lead, for a stab. Jaakuna would join them as he would go as well with a stab. He would follow their lead and for Ixion, he had three people attacking him.

Ixion saw and he smiled. He was actually quite happy that the three of them would attack all together. The first round of attacks were easy to deflect, but the second round actually took him by surprise. He actually seemed to be on the defensive. He would hold his sword in a defensive position, but he would soon find out that with three people attacking him, it was harder to defend. He then gathered lightning magick all around his blade, coating it to make it stronger and sturdier. As he did that, he was able to wave his sword, sending needles of lightning magick, colored gold, at the three of them.

Jaakuna would get hit in the shoulder, spinning a few feet back. The way he spun was that he was above the girls and his body spiraled and he would land five feet behind them. Whether the other two would get hit would just be a matter of their timing of dodging.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Not even getting a reply, Ixion just shrugged it off. He would get an answer regardless. Still, the three of them were getting in his way of getting the Dusk Shard, so they must be dealt with. Looking at the three, he smiled. Jaakuna seemed to be frozen with some kind of fear emotion and then there was the other blonde. Ixion didn’t know her name, but he could have sworn he saw her somewhere. On the flip side of things, the brunette chick seemed to charge forth to him.

Ixion smiled as she came in for a horizontal swing with her sword. At this point, Ixion had deflected her attack with his own sword as he had sheathed it. His sword, known as the Static Predator, was vertical. His sword was just erupting with static electricity. The two swords met and Ixion’s own won the advantage as the girl’s sword was brushed to the side, and Ixion proceeded with a lightnaga spell, which extended from his now straightened hand. Out shot it, and it was going to go through Emiri’s body, but Ixion didn’t see him come. Jaakuna had somehow broke out of his frozen state, and he had used his Demonsbane to block the spell, since that sword was one that absorbed magickal energy.

“Though I was a goner, didn’t you?” Jaakuna said as he landed on the floor, with his sword full of lightning magick. He then took his sword and swung it at Ixion, who blocked it. The exchange went on for a few rounds, but Ixion was eventually pushed back.

Ixion smiled. “Not bad older cousin, but you’re still rusty.” He said just admiring how his older cousin was still a little rusty on fighting. “Then again, I’ve always been stronger than you, haven’t I?”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Ixion just smiled at the pure fact that the blonde here seemed to know quite a bit about his name, title, and even what occupation he holds within the Archadian Empire. He was definitely curious as to who this woman was. She definitely seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. “You seem well-informed about who I am and my role within the Archadian Empire. Pray tell, what is your name? You do seem awfully familiar.” Ixion said just walking down the five steps from the throne to the floor.

Jaakuna was frozen. He knew of Ixion’s power and he couldn’t do nothing about It. Sure he could try, but he just couldn’t shake the fear that he had in his mind. It might be cause he knows how deathly his cousin can be. It’s just foreign to him. For the first time, Jaakuna Tunick Hinoko-Darcone, is frozen with fear.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Emiri was sure of herself that they could take whoever was the one who did all of this. Jaakuna admired her confidence, but he did have doubts. Sure, against the Gigas it was difficult, but that was done with full energy. Sure, maybe if they tried, they could get him, but Jaakuna still had doubts. Nonetheless, Jaakuna went along with Emiri’s confidence and he went with her and Nadeline to the direction of the sound of which the door originated from.

As they came into the room, the first thing that Jaakuna saw was King Jonathan. “Is that?” Jaakuna asked, then he saw. “And is he?” Jaakuna asked as he definitely saw a sword in the king’s heart. “Yup it is and he is.” Jaakuna said as he was sure of the death of the king.

Jaakuna saw the man who was near the throne, and he couldn’t believe it. This was a different feeling of disbelief. It was full of fear. Jaakuna stepped back. “He’s the one!” Jaakuna said, taking a few steps back.

The blonde man known as Ixion took a look at the three. “Oh visitors?” Ixion said glancing at the three with a smile. He eyed the blonde woman first. “Ah, such a pretty one you are.” He said as he eyed the brunette. “Another pretty one.” He kept on going until he saw Jaakuna. “Oh, my prince. I didn’t know you would be here.” Ixion said.

Jaakuna had an angered expression his face. “Go eat a dick, Ixion.” He said, revealing his name.

“Oh dear, dear prince, is that any way to speak to your cousin?” Ixion said.

Jaakuna was still angry, but he held his ground. “Like I said, go eat a dick.”

Ixion smiled at Jaakuna’s comment. “So, what do I owe the pleasure of my cousin and his two wenches?”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Perhaps it was cause Jaakuna had seen much worse or whatever, but he seemed to not be too bothered by the trail of blood or the amount of blood that he saw. Perhaps it just takes something much worse to get to him like the current display of violence is getting to the girls. Emiri seems a bit more well-composed, but as Jaakuna glanced over to Nadeline, she was down right terrified, horrified. Jaakuna could understand why she was feeling such a way. Maybe if he hadn’t been around violence for the majority of his adult life, he would react the same. However, that was not the case, so he doesn’t react as such.

Jaakuna just looked on as he heard what Emiri saying and he agreed. A single person did this and Jaakuna thought about it. To him, he thought about what kind of person would have the strength to do such a thing, but at the moment he was drawing a blank. Certainly someone should come to mind, but Jaakuna can’t think up of anyone. Suddenly, the three of them heard a door open with tremendous force. “Maybe we should go in that direction? Could fill in some blanks.” Jaakuna said as he suggested going over to the sound of the door being forcefully opened.