Legacy of Hope

By: Chibi-chan

Chapter 4: “Desire”

*

“Well, we’re out of the pass… I wonder why there were so many people at this end,” Cecilia asked. It was later the day they left and, quite obviously, they had made it to the Milama end of the Mountain Pass.

“There was a big monster, the other day… killed the guards and some travelers. I took care of the monster before I went to Adlehyde. Horrible scene… horrible…” Ron said, unable to suppress a shudder. “They were probably still cleaning things up…”

The look on Ron’s face was enough to keep anyone from making further inquiries into the subject. Instead, the queen asked the group whether they should try to get to the shrine or just head to Milama, stay the night, and then go to the shrine in the morning. Ron and Mira almost simultaneously said “Go to the shrine!” while Bernard said he’d rather go to Milama first. Bernard had to ask Ron, “I understand why Sunshine doesn’t want to go, but why on earth don’t you want to go to Milama, Miss Derringer? I would think they would like you there if you did them such a service as defeating a monster that caused so much grief.”

“That’s the problem; they like me too much,” Ron told him with a groan. “They didn’t want to let me out of the bar until what seemed like everyone in the entire town had bought me a drink. I don’t want to spend another morning with a hangover, thank you. Once there and once in Adlehyde thanks to some overly happy merchants who go between both towns is more than enough for a week.”

Bernard blinked. “All right, I see your point, but I really don’t think we could make it to the shrine by dark. It would be best to go into town and wait until tomorrow, in my opinion.”

“And since when did I start giving a damn about your opinion?” Ron said coldly. “I say we just keep going. It’d probably be safer anyway; what with attacks on the road having went down as of late.”

“If it’s safe out here, it’ll be even safer in town! It’s just a tragic coincidence that Sunshine’s presence coincides with some of the attacks!” the bard told her.

“Hasn’t been forty-eight hours they’ve know each other yet and already they’re arguing again…” Mira said to Cecilia, watching the conflict of opinion.

Cecilia sighed. “I was like that sometimes with one of my traveling companions back when the Metal Demons were a threat,” she said.

“And how did you deal with that?” the researcher asked.

“I married him,” the queen answered, “but it didn’t help much. He can still be a pain sometimes.”

“Oh,” Mira said. She then tried to picture Ron married to Bernard and was quickly seized by a fit of giggles.

This other conversation did not go unnoticed. “I beg your pardon! I happen to already be married to a much less disagreeable lady than Miss Derringer here!” a miffed Bernard interjected.

“You’re married?! Who the hell would wanna marry you, fucktwit?!” Ron asked as if the concept of willingly being with Bernard was only a step up from having the plague.

Between the brand-new argument and Mira’s uncontrollable giggling, Cecilia was wondering why she didn’t just go on the trip alone…

*

Despite finally succeeding in getting Zed in the Gull Wing, Rudy was still having some problems…

“We’re all gonna die! We’re all gonna DIIIIIEEEEEE!!”

“Zephyr above, Zed, we are not going to die! That was just takeoff! Now look, this is perfectly safe-”

“What was that noise?!”

“There are no out-of-the-ordinary noises occurring-”

“We’re shaking!”

“It’s just a little turbulence; nothing to be-“

“There! There! I just heard a different noise!”

“For the love of… This is for what happened between Jane and me, isn’t it, Guardians? You were backlogged and you’ve finally gotten around to punishing me, right?”

“We’re all going to DIE!!”

“Dammit, Zed, we are not going to die!”

And so went the flight…

*

By the time the dispute between Ron and Bernard ended in scornful silence and the two bystanders had coaxed them into a grudgingly-made alliance, it was already dark. Since nothing else of note happened after that, let us fast-forward to the next day…

It was close to sunset when the group had finally arrived at the Guardian Shrine. Ron took one look at it and quickly summed up its condition in three words: “What a dump.”

“Alas, I must admit it has seen better days…” Bernard agreed sadly.

“You would think after what happened seventeen years ago, they would have fixed the place up…” Mira added.

“Yes, one would think that,” Cecilia said, “But I learned a long time ago that people are often unpredictable.” She turned to the group and asked, “So, are you ready to go in? I must warn you; the Guardians like to ‘test’ people before having an audience.”

Mira squeaked. “A test?! I didn’t know there was a test! I didn’t get a chance to study!”

Ron “hmph”ed and said with a smirk. “A test, hmm? Bring it on.”

“Don’t get cocky, Miss Derringer; a test from the Guardians probably won’t be a cakewalk,” Bernard warned. “And I doubt you could study for it anyway, Sunshine,” he added in a gentler tone of voice.

“Exactly right, Mister Illych; they test for inner strength, something that cannot be learned from a book, and the tests are very emotionally draining,” the queen confirmed. “Trust me, I know.”

The gunner shrugged and said, “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with…”

*

The inside of the shrine, unlike the outside, showed signs that there indeed was work being done to restore it. However, it didn’t look like anyone had been inside for months. This, however, was ignored. The task at hand was to unlock the inside door, not admire the scenery. It didn’t help that Cecilia had forgotten the order in which the torches below had to be lit before she could use an old medal she received in her traveling days to open the door.

“Ten and two o’clock, then six and twelve? Or was it twelve and six, then ten and two? I know it was ten and two in that order…” she muttered.

“Is this the test she was talking about?” Ron grumbled, tapping her foot impatiently.

“She said it’d test inner strength, not patience,” Bernard whispered back.

“I got it! Two, ten, six, then twelve!” Cecilia announced.

Ron muttered to herself, “You said that the last four times…”

*

Further in, they reached a room with a mirror and no apparent way out other than they way they came in. “Follow me,” the queen said. To the others’ surprise, she walked through the mirror, the surface rippling like water as she stepped through.

After a moment of stunned silence, Ron quickly said, “Well, you heard her; come on!” before stepping through the mirror herself.

“Here goes nothing! KYAAAAAAAA!” Mira cried with closed eyes while running blindly through the mirror.

“A test of inner strength… Wonder how I’ll do on it…” Bernard muttered to himself as he walked through the mirror.

*

Bernard found himself alone with no way to go back. “Eh? Sunshine? Miss Derringer? Your Highness? Hello?” he asked, looking around, finding no one and hearing no responses. “Guess you have to take the test alone. Well then, off I go…”

*

Mira found herself in a similar position. “R-Ronnie? Bernie? Queenie? Anyone?” she called out nervously, taking a few steps forward. “I… I have to be alone? This isn’t good…”

*

Ron, too, was alone. “Hey, Montoya! Fucktwit! Adlehyde! You here?” she shouted, getting only her own echoing words in response.

The Wind Mouse sleeping in her pocket stuck his head out. “You mind keeping it down? I was taking a nap…” he said with a yawn.

“Huh?!” Ron puzzled, trying to find the source of the voice, obviously not expecting the mouse to still be lazing about in her pocket. “Who said that? Where are you?”

“In your pocket, you simpleton,” the mouse said condescendingly.

“Oh, in my…” the gunner started. Something then clicked in her head. “In my pocket?! You mean you didn’t get out back at the castle, Hanpan?”

“Castle life was starting to bore me,” Hanpan told her, “Jack’s influence, I guess. Then again, spending about thirty-four years with that guy would warp anyone’s mind.”

Ron chuckled. “I’ll have to take your word for it, but somehow, I can believe it.” She paused, then said, “Well, we can’t stay here all day. How ‘bout we go see what this test is, hmm?”

*

Bernard was muttering to himself still when he walked through the door of the last room. “This is the test? Maybe Derringer was ri…”

He stopped talking once he took a few steps inside the last room. The room had suddenly changed into a ruined city circa the years just after the Demon War. The buildings were in smoldering shambles. Chunks of brick and steel littered the ground. Some buildings were just barely still standing, others had collapsed completely. The ground was one big salt plain, but there was evidence that this was not what it was originally; recently wilted and scorched grass, flowers, and trees gave testament to that. On the ground lay the dead and the dying. What was particularly unusual about the scene was that there was only one or two humans among the dead. The rest were made up of Elws, their telltale ears proving this. “In Odoryuk’s name…” the bard murmured.

At the center of the devastation was a small boy surrounded by deceased Elws in uniform. He was still very much alive and closely resembled a little version of Bernard as he looked now. He stared in such a manner at the bard that Bernard felt he was looking right through him instead of at him. “Now look what we’ve done. What would mother and father say?” the boy said. As soon as Bernard opened his mouth to say something, the boy spoke again, pointing to an Elw woman a few feet away. “Oh, that’s right, she died too and father died the week before because of his illness… Do you think Solus Emsu will forgive us for this?”

“It… It… It was their fault!” Bernard protested, starting with a stammer and ending forcefully. “It was their fault father died! They gave him, they gave two entire races a death sentence! They killed children, they took away the mothers and fathers of the ones who survived, and they went after my mother, to take her away and leave me behind as if I was… If I was less than nothing! Like I wasn’t worthy to exist!”

Visibly shaking, Bernard hugged himself to try to stop or lessen it. “Cowards, sadists, all of them. They only cared about their own survival. When their weapon created the great desert, compounding the rest of damage the war had done, instead of sticking around to help restore the land, they ran away and severed ties with the humans, leaving them to contend with a dying world. They left an innocent girl behind to punish her brother, the creator of the weapon. And during the war, the things they did to those who defected from the other side…” He couldn’t help but shudder at recalling the stories he heard and the old notes he had found and read. “And what they did to Auntie Melinda and her family…”

“You hate them, don’t you?” the boy asked.

“Yes,” Bernard said. He looked away and continued. “Yes, I do. I’d rather live a day as a human than eternity as one of them. Humans are strange, unpredictable, and short-sighted, but they’re equally determined to keep going no matter what’s thrown at them. You can bomb them, zap them, poison them, cut off their limbs, throw an apocalypse at them, and the next day they’ll still be there, doing whatever they need done. You have to admire that kind of will. But THEM, on the other hand…”

“You want them to be punished, no?” the boy asked.

“Yes,” the bard said.

“Have them suffer as they made others suffer?” the boy asked.

“Yes,” the bard said again.

“See how they like losing family members due to someone else’s decrees?”

“Yes,” the bard said. “Yes, hoist them by their own petards! Father never did them any harm! I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… I had no idea what kind of power then… Why did they have to try to take mother away…?!”

“Revenge… a coward’s exercise. Wanting others to suffer…” the boy said softly. He transformed into a near-mirror image of Bernard, the one indicator of which was which was the one who was until recently a little boy had Elw ears. “Your hate makes you like them. Pity, I was starting to like you…”

“What?!” Bernard asked, but it was too late to get a reply. The boy and the entire scene faded away and he found himself on a platform with the queen…

*

Mira poked her head through the doorway of the last room. Aside from looking like a classroom from the Curan Abbey, it seemed normal (and safe) enough for her liking, so she entered.

A girl in a school uniform with sandy hair pulled into a ponytail and violet eyes appeared sitting on the teacher’s desk. “Claudia!” Mira exclaimed happily, running toward the girl.

The girl vanished as Mira got close to the desk and reappeared behind her. “Now, now, dear sister,” Claudia said, “you shouldn’t get so excited. You shouldn’t be happy to see me, after everything that happened…”

“’Everything that happened’? What do you mean?” Mira asked. “If it’s about the time you let out the fact I had crushes on both Jimmy and Amber, it’s not that big a deal…”

Claudia gave her sister an odd look. “No, not that. I mean this…” She snapped her fingers and the classroom became a burning village. An older man and woman ran out of a house only to be cut down by monsters.

“Momma… Daddy… Claudia, I’m not mad at you for not being there. I was glad you weren’t; that meant you were safe,” Mira said softly.

“But I was there, Mira; I know what happened. Humans are-“ Claudia started. Before she could say more, the shadow of a black wolf, the Guardian of Desire, Luceid appeared between the two girls.

You have guts, showing your face here and interfering with the Gurdijeff’s tests, but you will not have her. I prefer to stay away from such things; however, uneven odds always rubbed me the wrong way, the Guardian “told” Claudia. Go now, and you may live. If not… the Guardian added, baring her teeth and growling.

“Very well, I leave… for now, “ Claudia said. She turned into a figure shrouded by a long, hooded cloak. “But I will have her at my side, whether you like it or not, Luceid. I assure you that!”

The figure vanished. Mira looked to the Guardian for answers. “That… wasn’t my sister or part of the test, was it?”

Luceid took a moment to think, then replied, No, definitely not. The scene that the false Claudia had conjured had not faded away, so Luceid studied it for a while. This was the day your parents died, correct? Not long after your sister vanished?

“Y… yes… I felt so helpless; I couldn’t get to them in time. This weird monster wouldn’t let me pass…” Mira said. “Every other attack except the one in Adehyde… something kept me from getting hurt. It’s like I’m blessed and cursed at the same time; I’ve never once been injured in an attack, but, except in Adlehyde, I’ve never able to help anybody either.”

Yes, that makes sense… The Seal Sorceress wouldn’t want you to die, that would take away her power over those three, but she wouldn’t want you breaking through too and using the same power against her… Luceid mused. Still, it must be hard on you, witnessing attack after attack…

“It is. Yard and Adlehyde were the hardest to bear. I mean, momma and dad… and then Ronnie got hurt because of me…” Mira replied.

You recovered fairly quickly from it, though. Yes… Do not let pain overwhelm you and you shall do fine, Child of the Seal…

Mira blinked. “’Child of the’… huh?!” Lucied and the scene vanished and she found herself on the platform with Bernard and Cecilia…

*

“Hmph, some test so far, Hanpan,” Ron said distastefully. “Really, it’s like they’re not even trying!”

“Don’t get too confident yet, girlie. They save the real test for the last room,” Hanpan warned from his new perch on her shoulder.

“Pff! What, they gonna try to dredge up something from my past to make me all weepy and crap? Let ‘em give me their best shot,” Ron replied dismissively.

The last room was painfully normal. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary for a room in a shrine inside it aside the fact that there were a couple of people who were facing the far wall in it already. One of the people was a blond man only a couple inches taller than Ron and the other was a red-haired woman. Both were wearing clothes that wouldn’t be out of place in Arctica before its fall. The man turned around, fixed his eyes on Ron, and smiled at her.

Ron’s eyes widened. “He’s… He’s the very image of my father from the picture…”

Hanpan was also a bit taken aback. “Jack?! No, no, Garrett then… What the hell is going on here?!”

The gunner looked at the mouse from the corner of her eye, but decided just then wasn’t the best time to ask about what he was talking about. She slowly started to walk to the man, having no better ideas than that, and nervously said, “I, er, have a letter for you from Grandma…” She was about a foot away from reaching the man when he and the woman vanished and all went dark except a spotlight on herself.

Another spotlight came up on a stern, white-haired lady with the same Shotgun ARM Ron had. “Grandma?! But you died nearly fourteen years ago!” Ron exclaimed.

Hanpan say the old woman, blinked, rubbed his eyes, blinked again, and looked at her again. “Ms. Stampede?!” Ms. Stampede, younger Jack… Could this really be…? Could this woman here be….!? he thought.

While Hanpan pieced together the puzzle, Ron walked toward the woman, moving faster this time, yet the shade of her grandmother vanished when she got to close as well. On the other side of the room, a girl in her mid-teens with long, wavy blonde hair and wearing a pink dress was the next to appear in the spotlight. Next to the girl was a boy of about ten with flame-red hair. “Boss? Trent?” Ron asked. She broke into a run heading towards them when ghostly hands grabbed her and held her back. Instead of instantly disappearing, the two in the spotlight were whisked into the distance until the were out of sight. “All right, now this is just being cruel!” Ron complained, “And let go of me!” The ghostly hands obeyed and released her from their grasp.

One final spotlight came on onto what appeared to be the red-haired boy at about Ron’s age. This time the person in the spotlight came to Ron. “Fancy…” he said.

Ron backed away. “Go away! You’ll just disappear too or be taken away from me, so just do it now!”

“Ah, so you understand what the test symbolizes already, do you?” the young man said. “And isn’t that how you treat the real… Trent, did you say his name was? Like he’ll just be taken away from you like your parents and your grandmother, or you’ll be taken away from him like when the Derringers took you away from this woman you grew looking up to that you still call ‘Boss’?”

Ron turned away and looked down sadly. “He deserves better. He should spend his time on a proper lady, not waste it on skinny, flat-chested tomboy who wants absolutely nothing to do with marriage.”

“And yet you’re the one he cares about,” “Trent” said. “Funny, I thought you were brave when you first came in here. Guess I was wrong…”

“And whaddaya mean by… huh?” Ron started, only to find the scene changed before she could finish the question and that she was now on a platform with the others. “Well, that’s not very nice; not letting someone finish talking before you leave,” she complained.

I know, a ghostly voice said, I apologize; it seems Gurdijeff is getting self-righteous in her old age.

The rest of the room outside the platform became a predominately blue and green psychedelic swirl of color. Where the far wall was stood the shadow of a black wolf herself, Luceid. I assume you’re here about the Seal Sorceress. Wise choice in coming here to talk, but she has infiltrated even this center of power no more than a few minutes ago.

“Luceid?! What are you doing here?!” Cecilia exclaimed. “I thought you…”

That I was what? Dead? Desire cannot be killed so easily. Or did you think that I disliked humans? the Guardian asked. Do not misunderstand me; I merely go where the strongest desires lie. I do not have any particular dislike of humans in general, Innocent One, Luceid told her.

This Seal Sorceress, however, disturbs me greatly. She once was a human, but has long since rejected humanity. She only wishes for destruction, but her reasons for it remain unclear, Lucied said. How she has the power to cause such widespread suffering, sadly, is perfectly clear.

“Sadly? Why sadly?” Mira asked.

Because, dear girl, as long as you live without having a… successor, shall we say… there is little we can do to stop her. Your death would only make things worse for all, including myself. The Guardian then sighed and added, And killing her is not an option either. The end result would be the same. The Seal would be weakened enough for them to get through either way, and when they get out, they’re bound to be “upset”.

“Ugh, too much exposition here,” Ron complained. “OK, wolfie, let’s keep this short and sweet: who are ‘they’, and what do we do to stop ‘em?”

Luceid seemed amused. You’re straightforward. I always liked that trait in those I deal with. Very well, short and sweet, she said. One, “they” are the guardians who, as some humans might say, “bring balance to the Force”: Daeus Los, Guardian of Hate; Fontira, Guardian of Pain; and Pirio Tria, Guardian of Loss. They’ve been sealed away for centuries out of the fear that they could overtake the others, and confinement for that long would make anyone a little annoyed, to say the least. As for question two… I’m afraid I don’t know the answer.

“You… don’t know…?” Ron repeated slowly, “You don’t… know…?” Deciding that the Guardian really said that and her hearing was perfectly fine, she then yelled, “You don’t know?! What the hell kinda Guardian are you then?!”

“The Guardians are not infallible, Veronica,” Bernard told her coldly. “Besides, the current issue is not stopping the Guardians of which she speaks, but of containing this so-called ‘Seal Sorceress’. If we could somehow incapacitate her without killing her, we will not have to worry about those she uses for her purposes.”

“But if we can’t do that, then we’ll have to face ‘em, fucktwit!” the gunner countered, “And since when did I say you could call me ‘Veronica’?!”

“If you insist on calling me a name I don’t like, I’ll just have to call you a name you don’t like, Veronica,” the bard replied silkily.

“If you don’t like that one, I have several more fitting ones I could use…” a glowering Ron told him.

Amusing friends you’ve made, Innocent One, Luceid said. She seemed to be smiling (insomuch that a wolf can smile, of course).

Cecilia looked at the bickering pair. “‘Amusing’ is not the word for them,” she said flatly, watching Mira futilely trying to get them to call a truce.

From out of nowhere, an anthropomorphic cat in what looked like a drum major’s hat and shirt fell out of the “sky” onto Bernard’s head, then jumped in rapid succession onto Ron’s and Mira’s heads and out to where Luceid was. I found them! It wasn’t easy, what with all the precautions they took, but I found ‘em! the cat said to Luceid. It looked around, then asked, Where is everyone? I told them I’d report in today…

The self-righteous old biddy and friends fled once the Seal Sorceress showed she could break through our defenses here, Luceid said. She saw the confused looks on all but Cecilia’s faces and said, first to the humans, then the cat, This is Dan Dairam, Guardian of Time, and he may be able to point you to your answers. Dan Dairam, this is the Child of the Seal and her friends. Can you point them to some answers?

Dan Dairam blinked. Answers? You mean… I see. Yes, I can. Hold on to your shorts, kiddies, this could be less than pleasant…

The room was suddenly filled with a blinding white light. The feline Guardian’s voice was heard saying, Back to Adlehyde with you, Innocent One. All else, to the beginning of this ordeal with you… And remember, flapping your arms won’t help you…

*

“‘Flapping our arms won’t help’? The hell?”

“What can I say? The Guardians work in mysterious ways…”

“Um, Ronnie? Bernie? I think I know what he meant…”

“Oh? What’s that, Sunshine?”

“Look down and you’ll see.”

“Look… down?” Beat. “This won’t be fun.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

*

End Chapter Four

Chibi’s notes:

There is no spoon. There are also no notes.