Innocent Blood Chapter 8
By Kaeru
Terr walked down the hospital corridor, feeling guilty about the injuries of the others. They would be in danger because of him, he thought to himself silently. "Please, don't let anything happen to the others." He walked into Chinook and Owen's hospital room, with his axe on his back and a scowl on his face. When he finally got to Chinook and Owen's room, he sat on the edge of Chinook's bed. "It's been a while," he said. quietly. He bent over to hug her, and looked at her. She was covered in bruises and scratches, and had broken a couple of bones. She was rather frail and pale. Her biggest problem had been, in fact, the starvation, as she had been trapped without food or water for 6 days. In fact, she had almost died.
"Yeah," she said, managing a weak smile. "Been a while." she pulled herself up and kissed Terr softly on the cheek. "I missed you." Terr smiled, and looked over to Owen. He was tossing in his sleep, having a nightmare. He had gotten the worst of the bricks, breaking his legs and fracturing his skull. He groaned quietly and fell still once more. "He's stable," said Chinook. "He'll be okay."
"Are you?" he asked, concern in his eyes.
"Yeah," she said, again, managing a weak smile. "I broke a couple of bones, but nothing totally serious." he looked at her with a little skepticism, and she added, "I'm alive." She soon changed the subject, and the smile melted from her lips. "Why'd Gaspar call the others together?" she asked. Terr just shook his head. "It must mean..." Chinook said, tears welling in her eyes, "Something... something really bad is going to happen..." she put her head on Terr's shoulder and softly began to cry. Terr knew this wasn't the way Chinook always acted, but, a lot had happened to her over the last few weeks. He held her close, and replied, "Whatever it is, everything will turn out the right way."
Chinook soon fell captive to the command of the drugs and fell asleep. When Terr saw she was breathing regularly, he softly set her head up on her pillow. He looked to Owen again, who was waking up.
"Yo, Terr?" said Owen. "is that you?"
"Yup," Terr said. He walked over to where Owen lay. "Hey, Owen, how's it going?"
"What can I say?" he said. "It's going." Terr nodded his head. "What's been happening?"
"We were all summoned to the End of time again," said Terr slowly. "I... thought you guys were dead, so... they went to the cave."
"Damn," said Owen. "I guess they're pretty messed up."
"Well, I haven't seen 'em for a while..." said Terr. He looked distressed.
"Dude, don't worry," replied Owen. "If they destroyed the porcupine from Hell, I think they can take a few Mystics." His eyes started to droop. He fell into a deep slumber. "I'll talk to ya later," he mumbled, and turned over in his bed.
"Yeah," said Terr quietly, as he pulled up a chair beside Chinook's bed. "Gettin' tired." he slept the whole night soundly, at the side of Chinook's bed.
* * * * *
"There is another threat," said Gaspar. "A man known as Exo. His powers in the Shadow surpass that of even Magus. His undead minions are all over time, and all must be destroyed. He has not mastered the art of time travel, but he still uses it. In each time frame, one of his minions wreaks havoc upon the world. He may be as powerful as Kao, perhaps even more powerful. Although I cannot pick up much information about this character, I know one of you has strong relations to him." He looked at everyone. It had been 3 months since Chinook and Owen had been trapped in the building, and they had healed very well.
"If he's stronger then Kao," started Stram. "And we don't have Magus, Cyprus, Schala, Freedan OR Gyra to help us, how are we EVER going to defeat him?"
"That's a good question," replied Gaspar. "Myth says that a white warrior and a grey warrior will save the people from the clutches of evil. All of his soldiers will destroy the enemy with elementalism." A ball of flame appeared in front of Gaspar, and it turned into a crystal ball. Faintly, a cavern appeared in it. The stone-gray walls of the cavern were perfectly untouched. A large boulder blocked the entranceway. "This is called the Elementalist's cave," said Gaspar. "The weapons of legend are stored here. They were forged by Melchior, the Elemental magic sealed in them my great mages of Zeal." he paused, and looked at the group. "Although the white and grey warriors are not known to me, you must destroy Exo's minions first. Your first mission, though, is to reach the cavern and get these weapons, as they will be needed to defeat your enemies." With that, everyone was transported to the time of Zeal.
"Brrr..." said Chinook, holding her cloak tighter around her. "It's cold." Terr held her close so they could share body heat. As they walked over the hostile terrain, a large cavern came into view. "I think that's it," said Owen, out of breath. But, regardless of whether or not it was the right cavern, they decided to stay there for a while, to rest. When they arrived, Robo pushed the large boulder out of the cavern door. The party entered the crack in the wall. Terr grew a sapling from the ground, and cut it down with his axe. He then handed it to Lucca, who set the top on flame, making a torch. They walked through the cavern, looking for any sign of... anything. It seemed like they were in an endless tunnel, with only dark cave walls surrounding them. They soon came to a large room. They looked around, stunned, at the ornately carved pictures on the ceilings and walls. Staring in wonder, they were startled when a light flashed in the center of the room. There stood a large minotaur, dressed in battle gear.
"Greetings, travellers," said the Minotaur. His voice was commanding, set friendly. "Do you come for a rest?"
"No..." said Chrono, standing in front of the team. "We came, as we were told by our friend Gaspar, to claim the elemental weapons."
The Minotaur glared at them. "If what you say is true, my dear friend Gaspar is alive, and the prophecy can be fulfilled. But, are you telling me the truth? This can only be verified in one way, and that would be to defeat me in battle. Choose three of your own, and I will fight you."
Chrono stepped up to the challenge, as did Terr and Glenn. The battle began. The minotaur charged itself at Glenn, who was knocked down and winded. But, rising with great agility, he counterattacked the minotaur. It yelled in pain, and brought down a mighty thunderbolt down on Glenn, who had to kneel on one knee. Terr nodded to Chrono, who nodded in reply. Terr jumped high into the air, and began to descend upon the mighty minotaur. A bolt of lightning dropped on the axe, and Terr slammed it down onto the Minotaur with amazing force. The minotaur growled, and slumped to the ground, abviously dead. His voice was heard from behind them. "Well done," said the Minotaur. They looked back to see it still living. When they looked at the dead body again, it was gone. "You have defeated me," the large minotaur said. "You must be the ones worthy of the elemental weaponry." he sighed, and looked at them all with empty eyes. "Say hello to my friend, Gaspar for me, warriors. Do not be worried: destiny writes that you will be victorious. The weapons lay at the end of the tunnel, the hyroglyphics will tell you who gets which weapon." With that, the minotaur disappeared in a green shroud of fog.
Chrono looked down the hall. "Let's go," he said. He walked forcefully down the hall, the others closely following. "Once we accept our destiny," he said, looking at the intricately drawn pictures on the walls. "There's no turning back."
A moment of silence followed. "I'm in," said Terr, tying a bandana around his head. He was beginning to think that Chrono was the coolest person in the world, and he immediately wanted to be just like him.
Chinook looked at Terr for a moment, and piped up. "Yeah. I'm in this 'til the finish."
Everyone said their consent, and they walked further into the cavern. At the end, a circular room with stone chairs carved into it was seen. Upon closer examination, they saw that each chair had their name written on it.
"This chair has my name written on it," said Terr. "...Literally."
He sat on the chair. Vines grew on him, covering his whole body. Magma poured onto his skin. He felt his skin searing, but he clenched his teeth. The magma felt like it was giving him some sort of power. He tried to stand, but couldn't. He soon realized that he was trapped. Panicked, he looked at the others. Chinook was suffocating, sitting in the middle of a tornado. Ti'ana was surrounded by all sorts of animals; bees, tigers, even mosquitos; and she was screaming in terror. Stram, as well as Lucca, was being engulfed in a flame so thick they were unrecognizable. Chrono sat, his hair sticking up further than usual, as electricity surged through his body. Marle and Owen were both slowly freezing over, from their toes up. Tetsuro growled as the surge of blue lightning ripped through his veins. Glenn, now human, was drowning in a seemingly eternal waterfall dropping on his head. Ayla was being injured by some strange white light dropping from the heavens. Robo was shrouded in a dark mist, short curcuiting his body.
Suddenly something came to Terr's mind: {young one... use the magic...} In a desperate attempt to save Glenn, he made a Rock jut out of the wall and block the water. Glenn regained his composure, and saw Stram and Lucca on fire. Casting a Tidal Wave on them both, they fell to the ground. Lucca stood up and saw Terr's position. She cast Flare on him, burning the surrounding vines and melting the stone from his skin. Stram took his whip and swiped the larger animals away from Ti'ana, then flaming the insects. She turned into a bird, dove in and pulled Chinook from the raging winds. She used her gentle breeze to melt the ice from Marle and Owen. Owen grabbed his trusty wrench and jumped into the dark swirling clouds around Robo. In about five seconds, Robo emerged from the cloud with Owen, and Robo used his extendable arms to pull Tetsuro and Crono from their electric hellholes. The only one left was Ayla, who was drowning in the white light. She wasn't even visible, the light was so bright. Bravely, Tetsuro dashed into the white light, grabbing her and jumping from the light. But he noticed she was not in her normal clothing. A long white robe cascaded down her body, from her head to her feet. Her bronze knuckles were replaced by a glittering golden staff, and her wild blonde hair was groomed and straight. "I have seen the light..." she said, suddenly talking like a civilized human. "It changed me..." she looked herself over in disbelief.
"Sure did," said Tetsuro, still holding her. He set her down on the ground and sighed. "It was all a trap... there are no weapons.
"That is where you are wrong," boomed a voice from the ceiling. It was the voice of the Minotaur. He was nowhere to be seen, though. "You have passed the true test. Now the weapons are yours." On each chair, which were now miraculously unharmed, there lay a weapon. The minotaur began to list the weapon's names, and their owners.
"Terr... the power of the Earth pulsates through your veins. Therefore, this will reflect in your weapon. This is the Stone Cleaver: use it in the name of the Earth.
"Chinook... You are of the wind element, as your personality is dangerous, but good, like the eye of the storm. The Gale Staff belongs to you.
"Tetsuro... the electricity surges within you. For you, the Bolt Sword is ready.
"Stram... your enemies always face flaming death. For you, the Infernowhip was made.
"Ti'ana... graced with the speed and strength of the animals. For you, twin daggers... the dagger of speed, and the dagger of strength.
"Owen... you haven't got a set type of weapon, so this must be chosen. The ball and chain is for this purpose. Given your gift in Ice magic, the Glaci-Mace will be your weapon.
"Glenn... as you once were an amphibian, the power of water is yours. The Hydroblade was designed for you.
"Robo, as you have no set elemental, a special arm was made for you. It is an alloy made of Rainbow Shell, Sun Stone, Moon Stone, and Dreamstone. This arm is called the Omni-arm.
"Ayla has already recieved her weapon. This weapon, the Healing Staff, will help if any members of the team are injured. Since she has seen the true light, she will teach her people of her religion once she returns.
"Chrono... Marle... Lucca... the three of you mean much more than any of the others. Three weapons remain... the Gun of Wisdom, Bow of Courage, and Sword of Power. These three weapons are good on their own, but when placed together, they become an unbeatable weapon.
"I have served my life's purpose... now I will perish... 'twas good meeting you. Destroy the evil that haunts our world... goodbye."
With that the voice ceased to speak. With the new weapons of the elements, the team put together plans to rid the world of evil.
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