Written by BHart
December 26, 2007
Act
LXXVI
The Secret Order of Alexandria
The sailor senshi
got up, ready to fight.
"Don't move or else I'll kill
your mithran friend here," said the figure
standing behind Feral Heart.
"If you're here to steal my
wares, you're out of luck, I already sold most of them," said Feral Heart.
"Steal your goods? Are you
joking? I'm here to take back what you grave robbers stole," replied the
figure hidden in the fog.
"We didn't steal anything from
any graves," replied Rie.
"You lie. You're just trying to
trick me," replied the figure.
"Check our belongings to make
sure," challenged Feral Heart.
A female hume stepped forward, looking through their
belongings while holding a blade to Feral Heart. Her hair color was a silvery
gray. "I apologize. I thought you were the ones who have been stealing
buried merchandise from King Ranperre's tomb. There
have been many people caught stealing from that area, and many of them come to
this forest to hide from justice."
"That's understandable. What's
your name?" asked Kousagi.
"I am Aurora." Her sword
was shaped like a crescent moon.
"What are you doing here?"
asked Aurora.
Feral Heart explained.
"I see. May I ask who you're
looking for in this forest?" asked Aurora.
"I'm looking for someone named Vasteel," answered Feral Heart.
"She was here recently. Like
all rangers-thieves, she's hard to find; especially in a forested area."
"I know. We could be wandering
around for days until we find her."
"Actually, there is a faster
way of finding her. Instead of looking for her, have her come to you,"
suggested Aurora.
"How do we do that?" asked
Nami.
Aurora grabbed an axe she was
carrying on her back. "She'll come running in our direction when she hears
me chopping away at a tree. She's an environmentalist tree hugger who patrols
this area."
The chopping sound echoed throughout
the forest. "This could also draw unwanted attention to us," worried Kousagi.
They heard footsteps running through
the forest, trampling the grass and leaves on the semi damp ground.
"Are you sure this will
work?" asked Feral Heart.
A dagger flew through the air,
striking the bark of the tree Aurora was chopping. "It worked,"
replied Aurora.
There was a female hume wearing a metallic breast
plate, metal boots and skirt. She dismounted off a black forest tiger.
"What do you think you're doing to that tree? There are penalties for such
actions," warned the woman.
She recognized Aurora. "Aurora?
Is that you? You know better than to disrupt the fragile ecosystem."
"I know. I had to get your
attention somehow. You're almost impossible to find in forests. I was helping
these people find you."
"Vasteel,
it's been a while," said Feral Heart, walking up to her.
"What an exciting time, the
reuniting of the sailor senshi," said Vasteel.
Kousagi noticed that Vasteel had a small,
triangular shape on her right arm. "You're a part of the hunter clan? Like
Huntress?"
"Yes, I am. We became hunters
together."
"Next time, try something less
destructive to the environment to get my attention."
"I'll try to remember
that," replied Aurora.
"Shall we be going?" asked
Vasteel.
"It's getting too dark. We
won't be able to see where we're going. We should wait until tomorrow
morning," suggested Feral Heart.
"I guess I've grown so
accustomed to night life in the forest that the dark doesn't affect my vision
much."
"I can help you see in the
night with my moonblade," offered Aurora. The
sword emitted a brilliant, soft light.
"I don't know if we'll be able
to catch up with you and your forest tiger," said Feral Heart.
"I'll walk alongside my pet and
you with your chocobos."
"Your tiger isn't going to eat
our chocobos is it?" asked Rie,
worriedly.
"No, I've raised this guy since
he was a little cub. He feeds off of fish and berries."
They followed Vasteel
through the forest, with Aurora lighting the way.
They headed east, towards the
outpost. "Turn off your moon light blade until we get past this
outpost," said Feral Heart.
"There's no need to worry. My
woodland friends and I have taken out the council cronies here," assured Vasteel.
They headed north east, finding
themselves in Spore Hollow. "I need to get some poison from the funguars here. I use it on my daggers," said Vasteel.
"Need any help?" asked Rie.
"I only need to find one. It
will give me enough poison for the time being. It takes a lot of practice
extracting poison from the jugner funguars."
Everyone else waited while Vasteel was out hunting funguars.
"It shouldn't take her very long. There are funguars
everywhere in this area," assured Aurora.
Feral Heart heard something walking
on dry leaves on the ground. "Something's coming."
They were surrounded by a pack of
scavenging hounds. "We've got company," said Feral Heart.
"They probably picked up on our
chocobos' scent," said Aurora.
"I can get rid of them with my
ground fire," said Rie.
"No, don't do that! It could
cause a forest fire. I'll take care of them," offered Vasteel.
"Make sure the chocobos are safe," said Aurora.
"Don't breathe through your
noses for a while; the breath and gas of these creatures will make you
nauseous," warned Vasteel.
Vasteel moved around the pack with great agility and ease, taking
them out one at a time with her daggers.
Aurora attacked them with her moon
blade, using her crescent slash technique and full moon ability; cutting them
up and engulfing them with the burning power of a yellow moon.
Vasteel's pet tiger fought against the hounds.
"Are the chocobos
alright?" asked Vasteel.
"They're a little scared, but
they'll be fine," replied Mia.
"I got what I need, we can go
now," informed Vasteel.
Aurora walked with them to the edge
of the forest. "It was nice meeting you. I should head back to King Ranperre's tomb and stop any would be grave robbers,"
said Aurora.
"Thank you for your help,"
said Feral Heart.
They arrived at Batallia
Downs. They followed Vasteel to a place behind some
large boulders and dead trees.
"Places that are close to Jeuno are dangerous since Jeuno
is a major stronghold of the council," warned Vasteel.
She stood upon a rock, looking around.
"What are you doing? Shouldn't
we be on our way while it's dark?" asked Feral Heart.
"I'm checking out the area by
performing a wide scan. I'll be able to sense any nearby people, creatures and
landmarks."
After she was done, they followed
her lead, sneaking past people and creatures in the darkness of the night. They
arrived at a small hill near the north east corner of Batallia
Downs. She kneeled down, cutting away at some of the sod.
"What are you doing?"
asked Kousagi.
"There's something I've got to
do while I'm here." She lifted up part of the sod, revealing a small
staircase leading 6 feet underground.
They were in a large, empty room
about 5 feet wide and 12 feet long. "Is this an empty tomb?" asked Nami.
Vasteel pulled out a gnarled stick from her purse-like bag. She
drew a symbol on the wall with the stick.
"This is a magical branch from
an aged arbor," explained Vasteel. Vasteel touched the symbol on the wall, allowing her hand
to go right through it.
"Follow me," said Vasteel, walking through the wall.
They found themselves in a crypt.
There was a man there dressed in chain mail armor. "Hi Vasteel. I see you brought some friends with you. Do
you need help with something?"
"Yes, I do need help with
something, Allen. It's time to call upon the aid of the Alexandrian secret force."
"Dark days are plaguing this
world if it is time to unite them." He walked to the center of the room
and poured some orange liquid out of a bottle onto the ground. The bottle was
labeled "Montalvo."
An ivory coffin arose from the
ground. There was a large, silver sword standing erect on top of the coffin.
Its hilt was shaped like a crucifix.
The name "Alexandria" was
written on the coffin. There were five wires underneath the coffin, each going
in different directions. Vasteel pulled down on the
sword, causing the five wires underneath it to glow a turquoise color. "It
won't be long now," said Vasteel.
"I have been waiting for this
day. The day her avengers will come forth and smite the evil upon this planet
will soon come," said Allen.
"I don't remember anything
about an Alexandrian secret force," said Kousagi.
"And you wouldn't since only
five other people besides Allen and I knew about it," explained Vasteel.
"After the council rose to
power, we lost many allies. We decided to recoup and fight another day. We
suffered great losses back then, especially when we lost the sailor senshi of this planet, Sailor Alexandria. A group of five
people was formed to compensate for this loss. Some of our finest warriors came
together to form this group: One hume, one elf, one taru taru, one mithra and one galka make up the
Alexandrian secret force," explained Allen.
"You've been down here all this
time guarding her grave?" asked Mia.
"Yes, I felt it would be an
honor to do so, especially since I'm her only living relative. I was her 2nd
cousin. That consecrated oil from our bloodline is the only way to summon her
grave from the ground," replied Allen.
"Would you be willing to join
us? We could use all the help we can get," said Feral Heart.
"I will not leave this crypt
until the world is safe again, until everyone in the council of princesses is
dead."
"We should be going now. Take
care, Allen," said Vasteel.
"I will show you an alternate
route. You risk being detected if you go back the way you came," said
Allen.
..to be
continued..