Written by BHart
November 5, 2008

click for map

Act XCI
Five Separate Paths, Journeys across the World, Part 2

Sailor Titan, Marina and Magellan were each placed in isolated rooms. They were still recovering.

Mia was still unconscious, leaned up against a wall.

Nami was starting to wake up. She caught some glimpses of the room she was in, but didnt stay conscious long.

Utaroh recovered faster than the other two, but was still quite weak. She stood up for a few seconds trying to walk, but stumbled around, falling back down. "Where am I?" She sat down, leaned against a wall and waited to recover.

Vlaad and Mittens entered the Buddhist temple. It was a quiet place with many lit candles shining in the darkness. There were many benches to their left and right, and a long trail of rice paper lying before them.

A voice throughout the temple said, "Your tread must be light and sure, as though your path were upon rice paper. This rice paper is the test. Fragile as the wings of the dragon fly; clinging as the cocoon of the silk worm. When you can walk its length and leave no trace, you will have learned."

"You go on ahead. There's no way I can do that with this heavy armor," said Vlaad.

Mittens handed her weapon and any other heavy equipment to Vlaad.

"Nice and steady does it," thought Mittens. She walked gently across the rice paper.

A wind gust blew through the room, putting out the candles one by one.

"Don't let anything distract you, keep going," instructed Vlaad.

Mittens fell onto a brick floor, right past the rice paper path. The candles lit up the room once again.

"Did I make it?"

There were no footsteps on the rice paper. The rice paper path disappeared.

"Great job!" Vlaad ran over to her.

An old, Buddhist monk appeared. He was bald, wearing black robes.

"Who is he?"

The old man stretched out his hand, holding a small rock. "I am Master Kan. When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave."

Vlaad ran towards Master Kan, reaching for the pebble.

Another old, bald man with a long goatee appeared, flipping Vlaad over his back before he could snatch the pebble.

Vlaad looked up at the monk, being surprised he was strong enough to do that.

Mittens rushed towards Master Kan. She was kicked across the room by someone to the side of her. "Ouch! He wasn't there before," said Mittens, rubbing her head.

There was a man over six feet tall in his forties who was half Chinese.

"Meet Master Po and my champion, Kwai Chang Caine," introduced Master Kan.

"I can play this game, too." Mittens used a ninja technique, creating multiple images of herself. She used the Tonko Ni technique, making herself invisible, and the technique Sanjaku-Tenugui, lowering the chance of being detected by sound.

The three Buddhist monks were flustered.

Vlaad stomped on the ground, making as much noise as he could to distract them.

Master Po and Kwai Chang Caine circled around Master Kan, fighting multiple images of Mittens.

Mittens tried snatching the pebble from Master Kan's hands, but he was too fast. Mittens was surprised.

Kwai Chang Caine struck Vlaad, making a small dent in his armor.

Some of Mittens' multiple images landed a few blows to Kwai Chang Caine and Master Po. They stumbled into Master Kan, making him fall and drop the pebble.

Mittens grabbed it off the ground.

Master Po and Kwai Chang Caine bowed before Mittens and Vlaad. "You have done well, you may leave the temple," congratulated Master Kan. In an instant, Vlaad and Mittens were teleported elsewhere.

"Where are we?" asked Mittens.

"Ru'Aun gardens."

"So, what's with this pebble?" asked Mittens.

Vlaad pointed ahead, to a Chinese restaurant.

"That's never been there before."

"The pebble you have will allow us to enter," explained Vlaad.

There were three old men sitting at a table, dining on Chinese cuisine. Vlaad and Mittens sat down with them.

"Welcome. Please, enjoy a meal with us," offered one of the old men.

Mittens recognized them from the temple. They were wearing modern attire, instead of temple robes.

"Forgive my manners, I am David Carradine, and this is Keye Luke and Philip Ahn."

"Do you still have the pebble?" asked Keye.

Mittens couldn't find it. "That's weird. It was here just a few minutes ago."

"It is a tricky thing to hold on to, is it not?" asked Philip.

Mittens had no idea where it was.

David, Keye and Philip laughed, each taking a fortune cookie from a basket. They instructed Vlaad and Mittens to take one.

Mittens opened her cookie, finding a small stone inside. "What the hell is this?"

"Read what is inscribed on it," instructed David.

Written on the stone were the words "Honan Stone."

When Mittens looked up, the restaurant was gone. Only she and Vlaad remained. "Time to move on," ordered Vlaad.

Erewan, Rakuah and Chirimu were at Promyvion Vahzl. They were searching for a weeper.

"We're going to draw the different element powers from it with this jar. The different colored lights in this jar represent the elements that make up life. Each light will draw in an elemental attack from the monster," explained Erewan.

A few gorgers circled them from a distance. One of them got too close to Erewan, knocking the jar from his hands.

Chirimu picked up a jagged rock lying on the ground, stabbing the Gorger.

Erewan barely caught the jar.

The gorgers retreated.

"That was too close. Those damn things eat up any kind of elemental energy they can," said Erewan.

After finding a weeper, Erewan opened up the jar, while Chirimu and Rakuah provoked it.

The weeper used its memory of ice, earth, light, fire, water, dark, wind and lightning attacks. They were absorbed by the colored lights released from the jar. After sealing them in the jar, they killed the weeper.

"If we don't find a Memory Receptacle to preserve these elemental memories, it won't be long until they fade," warned Erewan.

When they found one, Erewan released the elemental memories into the Memory Receptacle.

The gorgers returned, bringing more of their kind. "Protect the memory receptacle at all costs. It cannot be destroyed," ordered Erewan.

They headed towards Beaucedine Glacier, while warding off the gorgers. The Memory Receptacle repelled the gorgers with its empty seed attack.

They zoned out to Beaucedine Glacier. "Is the receptacle okay?" asked Erewan.

"It looks okay," responded Chirimu.

"Oh God, not this place again. It's too cold," complained Rakuah.

"We won't be here long," assured Erewan.

They went to the eastern edge of the glacier, to the sea of Shumeyo. There was a giant iceberg a few feet out into the sea. "We need to melt that iceberg. There's something in there we need."

"Why don't you use a fire spell to melt it?" asked Chirimu.

"It can't be melted by normal means. Someone needs to take the receptacle over there and use the elements of life to melt it," explained Erewan.

"I'm not going over there. That water's freezing cold," refused Rakuah.

"I'll do it. The cold doesn't bother me." Chirimu took the receptacle with her, swimming to the iceberg floating in the cold sea.

She released the elemental memories of life from the receptacle. The iceberg slowly melted.

A giant whale zombie swam up to the surface, opening its mouth widely, swallowing Chirimu and what was left of the iceberg. The whale dived into the sea before Erewan or Rakuah could attack.

Chirimu was searching for the iceberg in the darkness of its belly. The elemental memories provided the only light within the beast.

She found a brown and black colored orb floating in water. "This must be what we need."

There was a spear lying amongst other debris within the undead whale. She picked it up, energizing it with her power. It turned blue. She threw it upwards. It went right through the whale's head.

She swam out the opening the spear made, holding the orb tightly.

Erewan and Rakuah were standing near the edge of the glacier, figuring out what to do.

Chirimu rose to the surface with the orb. Erewan and Rakuah were relieved to see her. "Are you injured?" asked Rakuah.

"Nah, I'm alright. This thing helped me rise to the surface. It's surprisingly buoyant."

"Oh good, you retrieved the orb," said Erewan. They pulled Chirimu out of the water.

A qiqirn swiftly ran by Oona, Omatase and Kousagi, snatching the bag of dead creatures from them. It ran into the dense woodlands nearby.

"We're headed the same way as our little thief. We'll find him," assured Oona.

They entered Wajaom Woodlands. The ground rumbled. "What is that?" asked Kousagi.

"Over there." Oona pointed to a herd of stampeding giant marids.

On the other side of the stampede was the qiqirn, walking further away. "We're gonna lose him," worried Omatase.

"No we're not." Oona summoned Garuda. Garuda carried them over the stampeding marids.

"I hope it doesn't drop us," worried Omatase.

"She's got a tight grip," assured Oona.

They landed safely on the other side.

While in pursuit, they came upon a woodtroll. The bag of sacrificial bodies was lying on the ground, along with the qiqirn's dead body. "There it is!" pointed out Kousagi.

"Let's wait for it to leave. We don't want to end up like the qiqirn," suggested Oona.

The troll picked up the bag, smelling it.

"We can't let it take the bag." Oona ran towards the troll, snatching the bag from it before it knew what happened. "Follow me. We're taking these to the sacrificial area," yelled Oona.

They ran off with the troll chasing them.

They arrived at a remote area where Oona suddenly stopped. "Don't go any further," warned Oona. She pulled on Omatase's black mage robes, stopping him.

"Did we lose it?" asked Kousagi.

"I think I hear it coming. Luckily for us it's slow," replied Omatase.

"Why did we stop here?" asked Kousagi.

"There are flames surrounding this giant tree. They're invisible to the naked eye," explained Oona. She threw the bag of bodies into the flames. They could see the flames while the bag was being burned.

"We've got to go, there it is!" said Omatase.

"Follow me." Oona walked towards the flames.

"Won't we get burned?" asked Kousagi.

"The flames' hunger is quenched for now, from the sacrifice," replied Oona.

Oona touched the tree with holy magic. The bark rippled in the air. They walked through the tree.

The tree was filled with a blinding light, making them squint. "What is this place?" asked Omatase.

"A holy relic that we need lies here," replied Oona.

There were white leaves and branches growing inside. Oona pulled a giant, white leaf the size of an umbrella. It glowed with a resplendent, holy energy. Oona took it.

The troll was looking for them when they exited the tree. It ran towards them before they had time to react.

The invisible flames caught it on fire. It quickly retreated. "Guess the flames are hungry again," remarked Oona.

Parne, Tokamo and Rykel followed Manoqam into Lebros Cavern. Manoqam was looking for a particular type of mineral.

"Here it is." Manoqam pulled on some brittle rock embedded in the cave walls, but it wouldn't budge.

"Let me try." Tokamo and Rykel couldn't move it either.

"It looks like all the loose, brittle rock has been mined recently. There's only one way to get the rest of them loose. Parne, cast invisible on us," requested Manoqam.

They explored the cavern until finding a volcanic bomb wandering the premises. Manoqam threw some pebbles at it.

"Why are you provoking it?" asked Tokamo.

"Shhh, we've got to be quiet," whispered Manoqam.

The bomb was angry, looking to see who was throwing rocks at it. Its temper flared, fuse lighted, getting ready to explode.

"Get behind this wall."

After exploding, rock debris flew everywhere. Manoqam grabbed some brittle rock that was loosened by the explosion. Afterwards, they arrived at Mount Zhayolm.

They entered a small crevice in the mountain. Inside was a brightly lit room looking like a blacksmithing workshop. He laid down the items they had and grabbed a cauldron.

"We need one more ingredient," informed Manoqam. He took them to the mountain's base, where the temperature rose. There were piping hot lava puddles on the ground.

"Is this a volcano?" asked Rykel.

"No, there is a fiery beast up here that spews fire from its mouth." Manoqam scooped up some lava into the lead cauldron, being careful not to touch it.

"It will take a while to finish. If you want to explore, just keep a low profile," warned Manoqam. He started forging something.

Suhya, Rie and Maybel were fighting a Soulflayer at Arrapago Reef. "We need it to use its mind blast on the rune of release. The mind energy from these creatures has a strange effect on the rune, changing its nature," informed Suhya.

"Um, yeah, so when's it gonna use this mind blast thingy?" asked Rie.

"Be patient," replied Suhya.

"Don't use full force until we get what we need from it. If we kill it before then, we'll have to take more time finding another one."

The rune absorbed its mind blast ability. It vibrated in Suhya's hand. Afterwards, they went to Caedarva Mire.

"What's so different about it now? It looks the same," asked Maybel.

"Instead of being a rune of release, it is now a rune of unison," answered Suhya. She knelt down, pushing the rune of unison into the mire ground. An indented shape of the rune was made. She made two indentations.

She asked Rie to burn the ground where the indentations were made. She emptied a small bag of Fossilizing Khimaira Breath on the scorched indentations. This created two copies of the rune of unison. She gave one to Rie and one to Maybel.

Afterwards, they went to Dvucca Isle. They raised the runes of unison above their heads.

The Hediva, Sharug and Azouph isles moved towards Dvucca. When they merged, their runes of unison disappeared. A larger rune appeared in their place. Suhya picked it up. The isles moved back to their original positions.