The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 13
Storm Brewing
By Nanaki
12,010 B.C.
A young messenger ran excitedly up the halls. "Your majesty! Your-" A guard stepped out of the Queen's chamber, holding a hand up to the girl's face.
"What is it? The Queen is very busy. She and her advisors are planning the King's 30th birthday celebration." The man said in a bored tone, as if this wasn't the first time he had said that this morning.
"But its important! Her father has fallen ill..."
"What?!" The door burst open, and Zeal rushed out. To tell the truth, she had already grown immensely tired of her advisors' gossip and giggling. She had been looking for some excuse to leave.
"Your majesty, your father has become ill with some mysterious ailment. The head medic is with him now." The girl said apologetically.
"Take me to him!" Zeal ordered imperiously. She followed the girl down several flights of stairs to the medical wing. There, Maro was lying in bed, looking very old. "Father, what happened?"
"Oh, Zeal. Its so nice to see you. You've been so busy lately..."
"We don't know what's wrong with him." The head medic walked up. "He was like this when he woke up this morning. Where is King Vigo, may I ask?"
"I don't know." Zeal put her hand up to her head. "Oh wait. Yes I do. He's over at Melchior's workshop, viewing Schala's device."
.
Vigo peered at the odd contraption. It looked like a turtle with tentacles sticking out of it's shell, but he couldn't doubt that it was working. The Sun stone was sitting off to the side, clearly not being used, while purple beams of energy were appearing from the ground and being collected by Schala's machine. The misshapen Dreamstone pipes glowed brightly.
"Satisfied now Dad?" Schala asked, yawning. She had been up all night with Belthasar, Melchior and Gaspar, none of whom could agree on any single detail about the machine. She had had to do most of the work. Now the three men had their heads down on the table, snoring amid sheets of parchment.
"I guess so." Vigo allowed a grin to creep up his face. "This machine is really amazing Schala. No energy from the Sun stone is being used?"
"Not one bit. I came up with the principle myself. Melchior just did the design."
Suddenly, a messenger burst into the room. He was very young to be a messenger in Enhasa. He was probably only about fifteen. Then something in Vigo's head clicked. "Dalton?"
'Watch out for Dalton!' The voice of the blue haired man thundered through Schala's head as clearly as if the words had just been said. Vigo noticed the look on her face.
"Schala? Is something wrong?"
"No, dad. Its nothing." Then, to herself 'Yet!'
"Your majesty," Dalton began, P.O.ed at having the attention drift from him so quickly, "Master Maro has taken ill with a mysterious ailment. He and Queen Zeal request your presence immediately." Then, to himself 'What a load of B.S!'
'I'll give you a load.' Schala thought back. She and Dalton looked at each other in surprise. Vigo had caught none of the odd exchange.
"Of course. I'll go at once." Vigo's cape billowed behind him as he left the room.
* * *
Serges: Violen, you know I hate waiting. Why are you giving them more time?
Violen: We really didn't send them any message the first time. They had no clue that it was bad to use the planet's energy.
Jade: What about when they raised their damn mountain in the first place?
Serges: That was just a token show of resistence. But now its time for the real thing!
Violen: We should give them this one last chance. I have made their second most powerful mage very ill. If they don't interpret that correctly, then you all may move.
Serges: Humans are too stupid! They won't understand that sign.
Violen: I thought you would be mad if I gave them too clear of a sign.
Serges: Very well. They have one rotation to stop using their infernal machine. If they don't...
* * *
"So you have no clue what's wrong with him?" Vigo asked with narrowed eyes. The head medic shook his head, eyes downcast.
"Don't be so angy Vigo." Maro said weakly. "Its not like this is a premature death."
"You're not going to die! Of course not. Sheesh, what is it with this family? A little bad thing happens, and you're all ready to embrace death!" Vigo turned angrily and stormed out of the room.
"Vigo! Wait a minute!" Zeal called after him.
"Let him go dear. He only said that because he's angry."
"He shouldn't just let his anger spill out like that! He's acting like a little kid."
"Has keeping your anger inside helped you all that much?"
"What do you mean?" Zeal looked up, surprised.
"You always keep your feelings bottled up. Except for me, Vigo, and Schala, you act as cold to everyone as you ever did. Whether you're ecstatic or full of rage. No one can ever tell." Zeal remained silent.
She finally stood up. "I suppose I better go talk to him."
.
Melchior woke up suddenly. Three figures were standing in the doorway of his workshop. "What are you doing here? Did anyone see you?"
"Not a soul." Mune assured him. "We've got important news."
"Our ship has begun picking up massive magical disturbances below the surface of the planet.And no, its not just Schala's machine." Doreen said gravely. "Something is awake down there, and its not happy."
"Not happy?" Melchior felt a lump in his throat. "What might this thing do?"
"I really don't know, but with that much power, it can't be good."
.
Vigo stood in the highest tower of Enhasa, his cape flapping in the wind. Zeal approached slowly, and put her hand on his shoulder. His gaze remained fixed on something straight ahead. "Vigo, c'mon. Maybe its just his time. I don't like to think about him dying either, but..."
"Schala's only seven. Its not his time yet. Some... ..force has decided to do this to him. I can sense that much."
"Where are you getting this from?" She sighed. "Quit chasing shadows. So he has a rare illness. That doesn't mean something has decided to take him out."
"I don't know. I just have bad feeling."
"Think about something else. Just look at the night. Quite a sight, isn't it?" Vigo gazed out at the stars, then down at the dark sea, and the lighter land mass beside it. It looked calm at the moment, but Vigo knew in his heart that it was anything but. "You're still in a weird mood!" She scolded. 'All right.' She thought. 'This calls for extreme measures.' She leaned up and kissed Vigo on the lips. He finally turned, smiling down at her. 'Works every time.' She smiled back.
"What's with you anyway? You used to encourage me to be dark and moody more often."
"That was a mistake." Zeal said, thinking about what Maro had said to her. "If someone who's turning thirty next week-" Vigo groaned, "can be cheerful, then I'll encourage it."
Vigo shook his head. "Boy, I sure never thought I'd see my thirtieth birthday!"
* * *
Serges: Oh, don't worry Vigo. You won't.
* * *
"Puny creatures, GO!" - Atma Weapon
Serges: Was a wuss!
Nanaki: Hey! No unauthorized text!
Serges: Sorry.
.