Altered Tundra

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

With Zodiark gone, everyone just stood around wondering what they could do. Grant made a loud curse and Nadeline caught him on it, but then she would go on to say that they were to regroup and talk a lot of things out. Jaakuna, Savayna, and Wesley heard her. They all nodded to themselves as they said nothing. They all agreed that there was much to talk about. However, Nadeline would turn her attention to Isaiah and Vincent, and stated that it was four-against-two and that should a fight break out, they would be at a disadvantage.

When Nadeline said that, Isaiah would put his hands up as it telling her that he wouldn’t fight. Vincent stood up and scratched his head. “Cool your jets, sugar tits.” Vincent said, “I have no plan on fighting any of you.” Vincent said, definitely shocking the rest of them, most notably Jaakuna.

“Are you saying you’ve turned a new leaf, Vincent?”[/b] Jaakuna asked him holding onto Emiri for support.

Vincent laughed slightly and looked to Jaakuna. “I wouldn’t say that, but things have took a turn for the worst and I don’ think any of us can afford to be enemies. That also means that, as one of my final acts as Emperor of Archadia, I hereby drop all charges on you all. I will personally make sure that every citizen knows of the grave mistake and that none of you are barred from coming to Archadia as you see fit. “He said turning his gaze to Isaiah. “As Judge Isaiah Darcone as my sole witness, this will become known.”

Isaiah went on one knee and crossed his right arm over his chest. “I, Forth Judge of the Archadian Imperial Court, Isaiah Darcone, hereby take notice of my Emperor’s will and clear Emiri Iniko, Princess Nadeline Lenore Roselia, Prince Grant Marshall Roselia, Prince Wesley Alexander Dalamasca, Former Archadian General Savayna Glacie, and Prince Jackson Tunick Darcone, all charges from the state and declare thee free in the eyes of the Empire.” He announced.

Jaakuna couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Vincent actually cleared them all of their charges. Jaakuna was going to respond to that, but something caught his eye. Actually, it was someone — his father — laying in the bed. He had Emiri help him over to his father, and while he sat down on a chair that was on one side, Vincent circled around and sat on the chair on the other side of the bed.
“Is that..”
Yeah, it’s him.”
“Is he still..”
“Barely. “
“What do you mean?”
“His injuries are so far gone that any help I would have brought in did no good.”

Jaakuna couldn’t believe it and now he understood why Vincent kidnapped Emiri.

“Is that why you kidnapped Emiri? To heal father?”
“You caught me.” He said laughing a bit.

Jaakuna turned his gaze to Emiri. He didn’t know if she would do it, but he had to ask. “Do you think..I mean, is it possible that you can fix him, Emiri?” Jaakuna asked. He probably was asking too much.

As Jaakuna was asking Emiri that, over with Wesley and the others, Savayna walked over to Grant and nearly tackled him as she hugged him. Actually she did tackle him. They were both on the ground and Savayna just held onto him, repeating his name in such happiness and relief. “You really did come.” She said closing her eyes.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Hearing what Zodiark said, Savayna and Isaiah could only watch in horror, in fear, and in dread. They didn’t know if they should run and try to get away or fight Zodiark. It seemed like there was nothing that they could do but just watch and pray for mercy. All the while, coughing noises came, and after ten minutes or so, Jaakuna was coming to. He coughed up blood and of all people, Vincent went over to Jaakuna.

“Is he alright?” Vincent asked, though he got the death glare from almost everyone.

While Vincent was trying to get news about his brother, Jaakuna would open his eyes and see Emiri. He would then see Vincent and nostrils flared. Though, Vincent would back up and as Jaakuna would look around, he saw everyone and then he saw Zodiark. He would struggle to get up, but with the help of Emiri, he did and he would glare at Zodiark with a ‘I’ll kill you’ look. Zodiark laughed as if amused.

“Jaakuna, glad to see you’re up. I didn’t expect you to up and on your feet so soon.” Zodiark even seemed surprised. “Not like it matters, soon every single one of you will die, it’s only a matter of when, not if.” Zodiark smirked and laughed.

“You never answered my question.” Wesley said, stepping forward. “What do you plan on doing?” He asked.

Zodiark looked to Wesley. “Wesley of Dalmasca, you are brave and noble, for that I will answer your question.” He said. “My plan is but a simple one. “ He said as the tendrils of darkness waved around on his back. “I will bring darkness to this world and from that darkness will birth a new world, without prejudice or discrimination. My new world will have only one ruler, only one Emperor — me, the Keeper of Precepts, me Zodiark, your new god.” He said outstretching his arms, tendrils surrounding him. Like the smoke that he took the form of when he departed Jaakuna, so was he from their sight, but his laugh was still heard and words as well. “Enjoy your freedom, Humes, for come three days from now, I will realize my plan.” He said as the sound of his voice was soon gone and thus the evil laugh was gone too.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As the trio made their way through the labs, they found themselves halfway through it and to a room where they saw a big blast shell with a big hole running through the chest area. Wesley was more curious than concerned about this thing. Of course, somewhere inside Wesley felt very uneasy about it. He just wondered what could have done such a thing. He felt sorry for the man that used to be this thing. He would say a silent prayer.

After finishing the prayer, Wesley was alarmed by the slight burst of magick coming from Grant’s left hand; though not as much as Nadeline. When she would ask what that was, he would respond by saying the others were in trouble. Wesley didn’t know how he knew, but right now was not the time to doubt his words. Somehow he knew that Grant was right. They continued up the floors and as they got higher, they would see bodies laid out. Some of these bodies had traces of lightning magick, some had ice magick, some had arrows, and then some seemed to have a black essence. Wesley didn’t know what was going on, but as they would reach the final elevator, perhaps they would get the answers that they need.

Along the elevator ride up, everyone felt a little dizzy no doubt. Wesley sure felt it and as Nadeline would look at him, he saw the look in her eyes. It was a look of uneasiness. Whatever was on the final floor was definitely not good. And then they came to it. The elevator doors opened and what they saw..well Wesley didn’t know how to explain it. First, they saw Emiri clutching a seemingly-unconscious Jaakuna. Then, they saw Vincent standing beside a bed that had the former Emperor Simon in it. Then as Wesley looked to the left, he saw Savayna and The Forth Judge Magister, Isaiah. Wesley wanted to control his anger at the man for now. Wesley would look to what everyone else was looking at it and if he hadn’t seen it with his own two eyes, he wouldn’t believe it.

“What the hell is that thing?” Wesley asked.

Hearing Wesley and Nadeline, Savayna turned around and saw Grant. “You made it.” She said smiling softly to him. She would go and hug him, but right now wasn’t the time for that. “To answer your question, that…thing is what came out of Jaakuna.” Savayna said, informing them what she knew. “Nadeline, you were right. Coming here was a mistake, but right now is not the time for that.” Savayna admitted.

While everyone was talking about the black armor thing, it would laugh so manically. It turned and faced them and then looked to Jaakuna. “I must thank dear Jaakuna. Without his weakness for his dear ole dad, I would have never gotten out of that prison in Giruvegan.” He said laughing still. “It was so easy too. All I had to do was put on the voice and soul essence of the fallen Emperor, Simon Darcone.” The Black Armor said.

Looking at him, Savayna, Isaiah, and Wesley were all angry, but they were just as equally as terrified of the thing. Wesley would speak, however. “So, who exactly are you? And what do you want?”

The thing looked at Wesley, and he could have sworn he saw a smile. “You Humes have called me many things. Some called me The Forbidden One, some have worshipped me and called me God. Though, to my creators, I am simply known as Zodiark, King of Precepts.” He said, shocking everyone.

Wesley couldn’t believe it, Savayna couldn’t believe it, Isaiah couldn’t believe it, and hell even Vincent was in shock. “Zodiark? No, you’re lying. That one was sealed away from the gods. Zodiark is an esper.” Wesley said trying to gather himself.

Zodiark laughed. “Yes, I am indeed an esper, and contrary to what’s in your tome, lady,” he said looking to Nadeline, “I was not buried deep within the Henne Mines. I was sealed away from my creators in Giruvegan.” He continued, “they feared my power and thus they locked me away with the queen herself. However, I must thank that foolish hume, Hamut Darcone. He sealed his own son’s soul in Giruvegan and I latched onto that soul and slowly ate away of it and thus how I was able to work my way into dear ol’ Jaakuna’s body.” He said, “the rest, as they say, is history.” He said as he kept on laughing.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As Roman spoke, he smiled. “No, he does not know any of this, that I am most sure of.” Hamut said, “I can assure you that the judges I chose to help me with dethroning Vincent are 100% committed to the cause.” Hamut said absolutely sure that Vincent did not know of anything that was going down. He did wonder why Roman would bring up such a thing, though.

---

Heading up more floors, they would be met with resistance now. The soldiers, however, never saw them coming. Whether it was Dark Jaakuna’s black tendrils, Isaiah’s Lightning, Savayna’s Ice, or Emiri’s arrows, they would all be put to death before anything could be done about alerting anyone who was on the very top floor. It wouldn’t be long before that they were at the final elevator that would bring them to the top floor. At this point, Dark Jaakuna’s mist was so visible that it practically melted the ground he stood on.

When they would get into the elevator, the stench of a sticky, black mist would takeover all three of them and Savayna and Isaiah were actually feeling queasy. The way the mist would penetrate their noses and their eyes, both Savayna and Isaiah could barely stand it. They both would look at each other knowing full well that when they finally reached the top floor, all hell would break loose.

It was only a minute later that the elevator would move upwards and as it opened, there they saw it. The room was there, a silver-haired, light mocha-skinned, man attached to a respirator. Upon further inspection, they saw his son, Vincent, looking at them and smiling.

“Glad you could join us. Please come, I won’t hurt you yet.” Vincent said smiling as he motioned them to follow.

As they would walk in, Dark Jaakuna didn’t even look at Vincent. He looked at Simon. He licked his lips and on a quiet tone, laughed. It was the closer that he would get to the body that Dark Jaakuna’s licking became more frequent and that his laughing became louder and louder. It got to the point where Savayna and Isaiah heard it and they began to get worried. Vincent also took notice to it. He raised an eyebrow.

“Jackson..” Vincent said.

While Vincent stared at Jaakuna, Savayna got a really bad feeling. Such a bad feeling that she took out the Pocketwatch that Grant gave her. She looked at it, and saw the dark glow and she opened it. “Please get here in time.” She whispered to herself gripping the white watch close against her chest, near her heart.

---

It was only a few minutes that it took the trio to get to the Draklor Laboratories. Getting in only took the simple matter of putting the guards to sleep from Nadeline’s Sleepga and making them invisible from Grant’s Vanishaga. When they entered the Labs, they knew they had to speed up. Stopping for loot or anything of the sort was not going to be an option. They all knew that getting to the top floor was top priority, just would they get there in time before anything would happen to them was what Wesley’s main concern was.

---

Looking at what Dark Jaakuna was doing, Savayna felt…well she felt scared. Yes, she actually felt scared. Isaiah was freaked out and Vincent actually felt uneasy about his brother. He still raised an eyebrow at his brother. All the while, Dark Jaakuna was at the bedside of Simon. Looking down at the man, smiling, licking his lips, and laughing. Just as Dark Jaakuna was going to place his hand on Simon’s chest, most likely going to transfer the soul into his body, he stopped. It wasn’t of his own accord. Dark Jaakuna was being stopped by the real Jaakuna. The real one was gripping his left arm as if resisting the control that The Darkness had over him. They both went back and forth for almost five minutes. In that time that they did, Savayna and Isaiah looked on almost in disbelief.

Then they heard his voice.

“Ego tollam vos! Ego tollam vos! Ego tollam vos damnare, et spuria(I expel you! I expel you! I expel you damn bastard)”

In those words that the Real Jaakuna spoke, he froze for a minute. There was no movement, no sound — nothing. It was as if he was comatose standing up. No one didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know if going near him was going cause something bad or what, but they wouldn’t have to, cause in the minute that followed, a large quantity of black smoke-like Mist came from Jaakuna’s body, specifically out from his mouth and the smoke was materializing on the far side of the room. Soon, it would take a form. Once it did, the laughing came from whatever it was and Jaakuna collapsed on the ground.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Savayna still didn’t trust whatever was in Jaakuna. Or whatever was happening to him. She just had a bad feeling overall. She was definitely thinking about doing whatever would be necessary. Even as Emiri would tell her to leave Jaakuna to her, she still had doubts that not even she would be able to get through to him. That’s why when Emiri would walk slightly closer to Jaakuna, Savayna would lean closer to Isaiah. “Listen, if she isn’t able to get him out of…whatever this is, you and I will have to do what needs to be done.” She said quietly, but clearly to Isaiah. He looked to her and without saying but a single word, he nodded. He was feeling the same exact way as well.

Jaakuna or whatever has control of him would sometimes lose complete control, like right now. When Emiri spoke, the real Jaakuna heard and not whatever killed Robur back then. He heard her words and he spoke. “I don’t know, it’s a possibility.” Jaakuna said actually sounding like himself. He didn’t know what was happening to him and he wasn’t sure if he had much memory of it. From what he can gather, sometimes he gains control of himself and sometimes he blacks out. Yes, that’s exactly what it was. He blacks out and doesn’t remember much, just a thick blackness around his body. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. I mean, sometimes I go in and out.” He said as he kept walking. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when we get to my father, but..” And with that, The Darkness within Jaakuna took over, as seen by a quick flash of black.

---

When they touched base at the Aerodome, Wesley caught Grant’s glare as if he was wanting to hit him or something. Thankfully, they were able to get out before that could happen. As they would go through the Aerodome, Grant bought them some hats. It was a good idea for them to wear these hats as to not get noticed so easily cause they are wanted by the Empire. Wesley would tuck his hair as much as he could into the hat and then the three of them were off.

As they went into the city, Grant would ask Wesley where he thought they might be. Wesley thought about this. It was tough to guess, but he does know that the Draklor Laboratories are where a lot of research and other risqué business goes down. “The Draklor Labs.” He said, “yes, I’m positive that’s where they are. It’s the only place I can think of where they would go.” Wesley said hoping he was right.

---

When Roman had arrived, he bowed his head and Hamut would motion him to sit. As he did, Hamut smiled. “Roman, finally we can do what must be done. Let us begin, shall we?” He said as he laid out the plan of going to Vincent himself and presenting facts about what he has done wrong as Emperor, his misfortunes that had happened since he took over and just everything that was known to the judges and the senate. “And that’s how we’re going to do it. By presenting these facts and from the aid of the Senate, Vincent will be dethroned tonight and you will be dubbed the new Emperor by tomorrow’s dawn.”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As they continued further up the floors of the Draklor Labs, the group would find themselves just fourteen floors away from the very last one, which was where Jaakuna’s fathers body was being held at. It wasn’t until the fifty-third floor that they reached a point where Jaakuna’s mist was so visible that the mist was beginning to warp the air around him. Tendrils of darkness began to show every other few minutes. It seemed that the closer they got to the top floor, the more the darkness was visible.

As they continued even more, Jaakuna stopped, which caused the group to stop as well. Jaakuna was acting weirder than before. He turned to the group and Savayna and Isaiah would grip their weapons,, but as they saw Jaakuna’s eyes, one was pure black and the other his usual emerald green. Looking at him, Jaakuna body began twitching, his head shaking radically. His voice going into high pitches here and there. At points, his regular was breaking through.

“Emiri….Help….me…” Jaakuna’s regular voice was coming through, but after that it was gone. “Sorry about that, I guess something was wrong. Fixed now~” He said, and even though it sounded like his real voice, Jaakuna was definitely not there, at least on the surface.

Savayna looked to Emiri. “There still might be a chance. He’s in there somewhere.” She said.

---

They were getting closer and closer to Archades and the suggestion came of going to the Tchita Uplands came up from Nadeline and while Grant considered it, he denied. It would take too much time to get to Archades, and the ship itself was flagged under the ID of Strahl. Wesley smiled. “My, my, Lorenzo sure does like taking old names, doesn’t he?” Wesley couldn’t help but smirk at the fact that this ship was named after a relic of a ship.

As they came into view of the Aerodome, Wesley knew that they had to hurry. Whatever was to happen, he knew haste was going to be their best friend.

---

On the 80th floor of the Draklor Labs, there was a room, with computer monitors, and just what one would expect. However, there was also a bed that contained a body of a silver-haired man with light mocha skin. Wires were attached to his body, and there was another monitor that kept track of his heart beat. It was faint, but it was till there. Ivy tubes were attached to his body giving it nourishment. Vincent sat at a chair looking at his father. “Very soon father. Soon you will be revived and you will come back to mother and I.” He said as he would look to his father and get up. Little did he know, his father’s eyes were open as Vincent turned away. They would close again, but the fact remained that Simon’s eyes opened just briefly.

---

Sitting in his office, a knock came to his door. Hamut would speak. “Come in.”

As he looked up, he saw his assistant. “Sir, Roman is here. Shall I bring him in?” She said.

“Yes, please do.” He said.

As his assistant left, she would go down the hall. [/b]“He will see you now.”[/b] She said to Roman.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

When they took off, the ride was looking to be nothing but a bumpy one. Nadeline would hold Wesley’s hand and ask what was wrong and it would seem the Ship’s little body couldn’t handle the amount of speed. Wesley would gulp as he feared they might all die, but thankfully with the advice(not needed) from Nadeline, Grant would alter the speed to a point where they could fly without any bumps in the sky. It was a relief and the three would sigh all in unison. “Hopefully the ride is like this all the way through.” Wesley said

---

As they proceeded more up the floors of the Draklor Laboratory, there was a very constant worry for Jaakuna from the other three. No one who was screaming like that just gets up like it was nothing. Emiri thought that, Isaiah thought that and Savayna definitely thought that. Plus, aside those worries about if he’s alright, the laughing that they heard was also something to be worried about. Savayna didn’t know where to place it, but she knew that laugh meant nothing good — nothing good at all.

As ten minutes rolled around, they made it to the fiftieth floor and as they came to an opening, which was just a steel room that had a circular steel floor with an eclipse sign going on it and in the middle of it and in their way, was a tall and muscular man. His height and weird had to be up there in the high department and Isaiah knew exactly who it was.

“Judge Robur, why are you here?” Isaiah asked Robur.

The tall Judge said nothing, only breathing was heard.

“He asked you a question, freak!” Savayna called out.

Robur said nothing still.

Jaakuna would step forward. Slight laughter could be heard as he continued walking. He walked even more still. It got to the point where he was a mere foot away from Robur. The giant looked down at Jaakuna. The blonde-haired man simply touched him and out came a black pulse and it sent Robur flying ten feet backwards, his body flipping once, and landing on his back. Robur let out a slight yelp of pain. He would then get up, armor slightly cracked at the chest plate and helmet off, revealing white eyes and spiked, beige hair.

“Jackson…No, not Jackson…” Robur said

Jaakuna smiled and laughed mildly. He said nothing, but a black glyph appeared at his feet and pushed Jaakuna forward at fast speeds. While airborne for the three seconds that he was, Jaakuna placed out his right palm, and out shot another black pulse, but this time extended tendrils from the circular form it originally took. These tendrils would bind Robur as tight as it could, squeezing him until his armor started cracking. All the while this was happening, Jaakuna was smiling, licking his lips. The tendrils started to emit a dark, misty-like aura around them, seeping into the cracks of Robur’s armor. The feel of the mist felt like the hottest burning poison out there and was twice as strong and fast as Bioaja.

“You…You’re…Him…” Robur said.

Robur’s body slowly became overtaken with blackness and the minute that followed, he would be transformed into a sticky, hardened black shell, and Jaakuna would take his hands and send a wave of black magickal energy through him, and as it was with his armor, Robur was dead.

Jaakuna turned to the others. “My father awaits.” He said signaling them to follow as he would walk ahead.

Savayna felt so uneasy about all of this. Something was seriously wrong with Jaakuna. She was beginning to think that Nadeline was right. Maybe whatever Jaakuna absorbed wasn’t his father. Isaiah was thinking the same thing, but what about Emiri. “Emiri, usually I won’t tell you what to do, but if we don’t follow him, he might do away with us like he just did with Robur..” Savayna quietly said to Emiri.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

*babum*
*babum*

The sounds of Jaakuna’s heartbeat slowly increased the more he waked, the pain in his arm increased the closer they got to the 70th floor, and the glow around Jaakuna slowly got more visible the deeper they went into the Draklor Labs. It wasn’t until they got to the 40th floor that he started to really feel it. Every single heartbeat like nails grinding against his skin, every ounce of pain like bricks being cracked over his back, and every spec of the dark glow like walking deeper into a cave void of light.

And then he collapsed.

On the ground, shaking , quivering, and doing just about anything and everything that was wrong. Jaakuna remembered feeling like this. It was back when he had his panic attack. He remembered now, but that wasn’t all. His body slowly flashing pure black and all the while his tattoo was flashing like it did when he initially absorbed his father’s soul into him. He gripped his arm just like before, and as he did before, he yelled out in pain, but something was different. Sure, his voice was what yelled out, but on the backends of his voice, a sinister laugh could be heard. The more yells he let out, the more dominant the laugh got.

And then silence took over.

Jaakuna was as still as a corpse. The black glow was gone, his heartbeat was at normal, the pain in his left arm was nonexistent, and his shaking gone. Savayna, Isaiah, and Emiri all watched on as they saw motionless Jaakuna lay there face-first. For a few minutes, the worst would be expected, that Jaakuna was dead, but after five minutes of not moving, he slowly rose. He used his arms to push himself up, and Jaakuna looked at them, smiling.

“Jaakuna, you okay?” Savayna asked raising an eyebrow.

“I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.” He said.

---

Seeing only two seats, Wesley looked at Nadeline and to Grant, who no doubt would give him a glare of sorts. As they would get in the car, Wesley would get in the passenger seat and Nadeline would get on top of him. She would then whisper quietly to him that she hoped that she wasn’t too heavy. He smiled. “Of course you aren’t.” He said holding onto her tightly, though not too tight. As she would say that she never dreamed that all it would take was a two-seated airship to get her in a position on top of Wesley. He smiled quite naughtily. “Maybe we should get one of our own then.” He said still smiling, though perhaps semi-too loud as Grant most likely heard, or maybe he didn’t; Wesley was hoping for the latter.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

When Wesley brought up the problem of them not being able to reach Archades fast enough, Karolina would state that at full speed, the bikes would be able to get them to the Tchita Uplands in no time. However, she would bring up the dire situation and state that they could use a rather fancied-up aircar that was called The Thorn. Grant obviously seemed nervous about it and Wesley could see why. Grant would state that Lorenzo had yet to finish it completely, so thus the danger it presents was a negative thing.

Karolina would explain that while Rozarria had never been as technologically-advanced as Archadia, they began developing a certain model ever since word of the Ifrit was being made. She would further state that the car itself, should it be mass-produced, could be faster than the Ifrit itself. Wesley’s eyes widened at this and he sort of smiled, as if wanting the danger.

As Grant would admit defeat, he would turn to Nadeline asking her if she really wanted to go since she was originally against Jaakuna’s plan, but she would then say that circumstances had changed. Nadeline would then turn to Wesley asking him if he wanted to go, considering the dangers The Thorn presented. He thought about it real hard for all but two seconds. “I am a man of my word.” He said grabbing Nadleine’s right hand with his left. “I vowed that I will protect you from any danger. If I am to be a good husband to you one day, I must go wherever my beloved goes.” He said having a certain look in his eyes. “Now, we must make haste — the others know not what danger will become to them.”

---

The four of them wondered through the first few floors of the Draklor Laboratories and Jaakuna couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic. He won’t lie to himself and say that he spent a lot of time here. Vincent really was the one who was Simon’s scientist, but he Jaakuna did spend a few good days in the labs, that’s how he became so fond of weapons just cause of all the weapons that were developed in the Draklor Labs. Time passed on and sooner than they realized, they were on the tenth floor. Of course, it only took limited steps and elevators and Jaakuna was very curious as to why there weren’t guards around. Like, they only encountered a few guards here and there, so to not have a lot really surprised Jaakuna.

“Isaiah, do you know anything about the lack of guards?” Jaakuna asked him.

He thought about it and it too seemed odd. “I have no idea. I know usually this place has always had guards up the yin-yang, but not now it seemed.” Isaiah said.

Savayna didn’t really care. All she cared about was getting this trip over with so that they would be able to go back and never have to look at this place again. While Savayna and Isaiah were thinking about their respective thoughts, Jaakuna could feel the pain of his left arm increasing and he would let out groans of pain here and there. Even as they went up the floors, the pain would get more frequent and more louder. No doubt that the group would hear him. If not that, then they would see him gripping his arm, his neck, and his ribs here and there. Jaakuna was even slowing his breathing a bit. He wasn’t going to admit that he felt something bad was coming, but Jaakuna knew it. Like, it was the closer that they got to where he suspected his father’s body was, the more the pain would increase.

Almost there. Good. Very good.

Jaakuna definitely heard that, but who was it? He didn’t recognize the voice. It wasn’t his father, but Jaakuna heard it in his head. The voice sounded more sinister and more…evil? It also was layered and echoed. The voice itself sounded like something from a nightmare and Jaakuna was getting freaked out, but only on the inside. As Jaakuna and the group would continue on, he didn’t notice this yet, but slowly Jaakuna’s body was being overtaken by a black glow. It wasn’t noticeable fully, but it was very faint. By the time that the faint, black glow happened, they reached the twentieth floor.

Ripples in Reality: A World in Lines

Posted~ Sorry for shortness, though. :(