There Is No Peace

The man with the oily black hair and fondness for lace had been very persuasive.

Lotus thought of herself as a top-notch security officer and her position in the chain of command for the Omexon branch of Goshi Mining Corporation confirmed such an appraisal, but she also could not deny the fact that she had just defied several important directives by cooperating with that alarmingly persuasive man. His request had been ludicrous, now that she thought about it, but at the time it had seemed as normal as breathing. He'd marched in the front doors of a high security facility without clearances and yet been permitted every step of the way to go further without being harmed. He had strutted (yes strut was the word) directly to her station at the disLocator monitors and he'd asked, in a very polite fashion, to be escorted by a squad of Hei-Shi to coordinates that... well let's face it, the coordinates were ridiculous.

But she hadn't resisted him anymore than the guards posted between the entrance and her desk had done. She nodded, she even (shudder) giggled girlishly, and she did exactly as he requested.

As the squad of Hei-Shi disappeared taking the persuasive man with them in a swirl of smoke, she looked down at her monitor. Yep. They'd gone thousands of kilometers to the West. They were somewhere in the middle of an uncharted ocean. Weird.

***

Kijuuki was as happy as a kitten in a string factory. This island was full of the Mana-Beings and many of them would do nothing but flee to defend themselves. She could not remember ever being so full of shining glory, before. Of course, she could not remember very much - part of the curse of being a Kyo-Tee-Shee, yesterday is nearly as indecipherable as tomorrow. Nor was she really full. True she had a glut of the beautiful light bursting through her every pore, but she never seemed to tire of the consuming. The consuming, in fact, became more of an obsession with each delicious morsel.

The One Who Unravels Mysteries had been wrong. He had created Kijuuki and her siblings and bound them in mysterious ways only he could unravel to the Kata-bearers, the God's of Ben Hamor, the Scions of Karia, the Cosmic Incarnation of the Answer to the Question of the All. Yes, this last title was sufficiently obnoxious to be an accurate representation of these beings. She and her siblings had been bound to them, believing that they could ride them to a cataract of Mana that would come along the timestream, but her own mount had been destroyed prematurely. It turned out that waiting for the cataract was a waste of time, because these Mana-beings were right here, now - and they were deliciously passive.

Not all of the Mana-beings were passive, however. Sometimes, Kijuuki encountered one of the beings she now referred to in her mental monologue as the "Dark Ones". The Dark Ones were Mana-beings, delectable in appearance, but overwhelmingly powerful. She avoided them assiduously, because they controlled her as surely as gravity determines the orbit of a planet, if she got too close. It was good, she reflected, that most of the Mana-beings did not resist, for they would be hard to eat if they all became Dark Ones.

She thought this while her beak was buried half way in the chest of a Mana-being sucking out delicious rainbow glory like a milkshake through a straw. The Mana-being raised its head, looking her in the eyes, and its expression made her hesitate.

"Kijuuki?" it said. "You are free?"

She refrained from pointing out the obviousness of this remark.

"Then Mokuzai is dead and all of Karia must mourn. The Answer moves closer to revelation. The Question is asked. Mokuzai is dead. There is no peace."

As he said this last thing, his mask caved in and she sucked up every delirious drop of Mana, until he was nothing at all.

She lay still for a moment while the All spun around her. She was intoxicated. She grinned idiotically. She heard someone coming, but she didn't care enough to check who it was.

***

Nero arrived on the Emerald Isle in a whirl of smoke, near the apex. Immediately behind him, a massive column of White Rock in the shape of a flame towered up to the sky. A magnificent omen that he was once again on the right path.

Oh, Spark. You doddering fool. Your mind was a cracked and rotten egg by the time I got to it, but it still contained more information than even you realized.

The Hei-Shi accompanying him looked around blankly for a moment, but Nero reasserted his control over them as easily as clenching his fist. They were soon forging ahead in every direction, through the jungle, teleporting to cover more ground, and reporting back at regular intervals. He would know the layout of the island in a few minutes. Some of his Hei-Shi did not report back, which let Nero know that the island was not a meek paradise, but it had a sting.

Then, one of his cobalt blue minions reappeared with a shocked expression on his face... His words were inarticulate, but his mental images were crystalline. He had seen something beautiful being consumed. The Hei-Shi had no way to know what it was, but he had instinctually recoiled at the sight.

"Take me," Nero commanded.

Nero arrived in time to see an enormous purple crane drowsily pecking at the shriveled remains of a... Inase Spark had called them Initiators: animate, non-living tools of the universe. A sudden cold rage came over him. He fell upon the crane in a flurry of balletic violence. Hovering knives sprung out of his coat and pinned the crane through the wings to the ground. His own fists and knees followed a split second after. As he struck he cursed it...

"You...vile...parasite! You have transgressed! This is a God you have destroyed..."

Kijuuki was sure she was hallucinating. Too much Mana consumed too quickly. This man was one of the Children of Steel. He did not belong on this island... except his eyes were so familiar. Those eyes compelled her to speak.

"Not Gods... Mana-beings... this one said," she wasn't precisely sure why she felt the need to repeat it, "this one said that there is no peace."

Nero's eyes narrowed, occluding the white, turning them to pools of blood. He gripped the bird's head pulling it intimately close to his mouth.

"No," he whispered, "not for you. For you there will never be peace again."

With that, he tore the crane apart, piece by piece, and ate it. It felt magnificent.

Metal on Metal

Sparks erupt as Moses slams into Suraisu Oni, their metal plating grinding together, dragged down together in a tangle of rage and limbs. The Oni is frighteningly strong. Blackrock is still boiling Moses' blood and he rolls with the Oni, trying to avoid the grinding limbs still spinning, the image of them grinding through Mokuzai's helpless body burned into Moses' mind.

He hears Kyoshi coming. The Oni twists in his grasp like a coiled spring, shuddering with effort. Through its metal skin Moses can hear gear-teeth tearing at one another, levers straining and snapping. He grits his teeth and clenches harder, white spots appearing in his vision, straining, until he hears the Oni's body begin to buckle and cave.

Kyoshi is sailing gracefully through the air. The Oni makes a last thrashing effort to get free. Moses feels his grip slipping, trying to avoid Keibatsu's shining blade -

A fragment of Gogajin field-hat floats past lazily, its edge soaked in blood.

Moses chokes back a strangled sob and shifts his weight unexpectedly, twisting the body of the Oni so that it is on top of him, gripped in his straining arms. He slides up his mechanical hand and clenches down on the Oni's neck, ratcheting its head to the side so that it rests on his shoulder, immobilized.

He looks up to catch the ferocious silver gleam in Kyoshi's eyes, light lightening burning in a storm-cloud. A white-hot bar of agony sears through Suraisu Oni's head, shears it apart, continues down through Moses' shoulder, cutting down into the mix of altered flesh and machinery that is beneath it. He feels it grind out through the other side of his body, pinning him to the floor.

Everything goes black.

He sees Mokuzai, seated, his back to him, hunched as if exhausted. He is in a dark room, alone, preparing a cup of tea, singing softly as if to himself in a low, clear voice. The light in the room is fading. Moses tries to call out but there is no breath here. As the light is snuffed out, the last thing is the gleam of the edge of a worn, battered hat, its curve like a slow, grim smile.

Goodbye.

Bits and Pieces

Bits and pieces of Mokuzai were still dripping off the wall and floating about in the zero gravity environment that was the old First Mind temple when Rei finally made her way over towards what was left of the old Prill. Suraisu-Oni was devoured, and Asamu-Oni as well. Asamu-Oni's mana tasted faintly of decay, but in a way that Rei associated more with grilled mushrooms than with any kind of putrescence. Suraisu-Oni, on the other hand, tasted more like gears and grease and pistons. Smoky, maybe. Rei could still feel the fire of the mana her other self had gathered, burning in her chest.

It tickled a little bit.

... When had she started thinking of Amaterasu as her other self? They'd only been joined for a little while now. It seemed strange to her that she would think that about the little girl, eagle, or whatever she was. Kyo-TeeShee. My Kyo-TeeShee and Me. Heehee. Rei tried not to giggle out l0ud, since she thought it wouldn't be appropriate with Mokuzai all in bits and pieces floating around the room and on the wall.

High Dive had made a little pile of bloodied ground meaty bits in a corner, and it wasn't funny at all. Not even a little bit. Well, maybe a little. Especially the shock in Suraisu-Oni's face as she had leapt onto him and begun to devour his spicy anti-soul... Rei shook her head. No. That had been Amaterasu, not her self.

Kiyoshi was moving around somewhere behind her, talking to Mokuzai's Kyo-TeeShee, but all of that seemed very uninteresting to Rei just then. She knew that she needed more than anything to understand the Oni, especially after what she had just learned of their nature. First Minds, First Minds, Firsty-Firsty-Mindy-Minds...

Rei grimaced slightly as she concentrated, and the flow of her own thoughts separated from Amaterasu's, and she understood the difference between the two. For the moment. Amaterasu kept in singing her song about Firsty-Minds, and Rei snatched Mokuzai's head from where it was spinning in the air and set it down to float gently above the pile of bloody bits and pieces.

It was a strange contrast, the peaceful look on that face and the bloody giblets that floated there all in a pile. "Some must be sacrificed if all are to be saved," she murmured to Mokuzai's floating head.

Mokuzai didn't reply.

"I think I'm starting to understand, old man," she said. "What it is we have to do. What it's all about. To sacrifice everything, even our lives, by the thousands, by the millions, for one another..." she trailed off. A last spurt of blood had come out of the bottom of Mokuzai's severed head, and it had provided enough force to send it spiraling towards the upper corner of the First Mind shrine, where two walls met the ceiling.

Clunk.
Clunk.
Clunk.

Once, twice, three times it bounced, and then began to sink back down towards the pile of bits and pieces as the last of the bloodflow ceased, and the kinetic energy imparted to it by impacting the ceiling took over. Down it went, until it finally landed upside down on the pile, and its eyelids fell open.

Rei looked into Mokuzai's sightless gaze for a long, long moment.

"Huh," she said.

Words on the Wind

I step outside of the temple-like shelter the Dusk Sages have given us to rest in for the night. I idly notice that Kiyoshi and Moses are nowhere in sight. The form of Zippora, stilll sleeping soundly indicates that wherever they went, they went secretly. Most likely the "Fire" I heard Moses mention earlier. Curiosity tugs at me, but I decide to let them be. Besides, I have more pressing business now.

I look up at the stars in the night sky, noting the position of the Wandering Star.

If only you were indeed simply an omen, and not what I know you are... How long have you been up there? Plotting your rape of Karia?

The worst part is, I get the sinking sensation I'll have to find out before my quest is complete. I simultaneously hate and value these feelings. When I suspect the worst... and I know I'm right.

A brief whiff of the sea breeze brings my mind back to my original purpose in being out here. I take off the singed, sweat-stained, salt-encrusted, war-torn remains of my Gogajin field hat, little more than scrap by now.

So hard to keep a decent hat these days...

"Ahem." I clear my throat and open myself to my senses, and the first few notes of the Song of Wind slide through my weathered old lips. A feeling of impending dread is sitting deep in my gut. I may not get another chance to do this.


"Moon, my beloved. I hope you are well. My state of being has become quite the tale these days. Since we last saw each other, we have fought another Oni, stolen and immediately lost the greatest Starchild warship in Karia, witnessed the death of all but one remaining Vorax, traveled across the western sea, and found the Dusk Sages. As you can no doubt imagine, my nerves are a bit frayed.

As you've likely guessed, the Lady Una is truly the last Vorax now. I would like very much to retain hope that she is not, but the assertion of the Dusk Sages themselves is difficult to disbelieve. Una is faring surprisingly well, considering. She is a strong woman. Amazingly strong, even.

As for the Dusk Sages... I cannot decide whether to ask you to rejoice or mourn. They are... dying, Moon. It is a process they refer to as The Unraveling. It seems a Dusk Sage is bound by something to spontaneously create life with mana at regular intervals; intervals as regular and unchanging as the phases of the moon. Unfortunately, this creation depletes their own stores of mana. Eventually, the Sage will wither away, spent. If they resist by fighting the creation or by consuming other beings to harvest their mana, they survive for longer, but doom themselves to becoming Kyo-Tee-Shee. That is what they are, Moon. A Kyo-Tee-Shee is nothing other than the restless, malignant spirit of a dead Dusk Sage. The Sage we fought at the Grand Chantry was the one who discovered the act of resistance, and goaded other Sages to do so, becoming the first Kyo-Tee-Shee. There were six, and you already know the names. The intent was to create them for the purpose of reclaiming lost mana. Harvesters, if you will. And the reason the Dusk Sages left our homelands was to avoid their wrath. For to fight them, to resist them, would mean their eventual transformation into Kyo-Tee-Shee themselves.

Which brings me to the bargain we have struck with the Sages. In exchange for their help through knowledge, we are to destroy the Kyo-Tee-Shee. And apparently, the only way to do that is by allowing them to be consumed by the Oni... the Enemy. I am unsure how the Enemy fit into the puzzle beyond that. All I know is that they exist to consume, destroy, and exterminate. And yet, despite the void of mana in their beings, the Kyo-Tee-Shee can still harvest a great deal of mana from them. I have my own theories regarding that.

Though this brings to light a hopeful yet terrifying thought. What if the Cataclysm, as it is referred to by the Dusk Sages, is simply the end of the Dusk Sages? What if they act as a great source of mana that is gradually bled into Karia to create life, eventually ending, leaving them deceased but Karia full of life? If that is true, then the only enemy to this process is the Enemy and the Kyo-Tee-Shee. If we find a way to destroy them, we ensure the survival of Karia, if not the Dusk Sages. A theory based on incomplete data, but a theory nonetheless. This is of course, assuming that the Sages are telling us the truth, and not a load of bull designed to coerce us into fullfilling their agenda which may not be aligned with our own.

*sigh* Enough. The dissemination of my gathered information is not the main reason I'm sending this message. Something is... wrong, Moon. I can feel it in the ground under my feet. I can smell it on the breeze. I can see it in strange omens writ in the rolling of a wave or the way birds are flying above. I cannot shake this feeling that something has yet to be seen. Something coming for me, my companions... something. Possibly just paranoia, but you know how my gut is, Moon. It hasn't led me astray yet.

I wanted just to send you this message, to close my affairs just in case. The Dusk Sages mentioned that they would send us somewhere close to the Enemy's source, and I don't think that it's anywhere in Karia.

If I don't see you again, I want you to know, for certain, and without any doubt that I love you and that all my decisions and actions I have made have been to protect you, the children, and our grandchildren. Time has yet to tell me if those decisions were correct, but at the very least, they were made for the right reasons.

Good Bye, my beloved Moon."

I wait for a gust of salty-air to carry the last of my words away, a tear seeping down my cheek. After shaking a controlled sob from my chest, I begin singing again.

I send messages to each of my children and grandchildren. I tell them not to worry. I tell them I love them, and that nothing is certain, save for that love.

When I finally finish, I look up at the Wandering Star again, steel in my gaze.

"Tomorrow will be quite the day. Quite the day indeed."

Episode 25: The Question

11... 12... 15.

15 Dusk Sages.

Walking on water.

Toward us.

Had I not been subjected to the exeriences I've had with my companions I probably would be staring with the same look of horror and amazement as the other Prill. I recognize one of them. Featherface, The-One-Who-Opens-Doors.

It's hard enough understanding the cryptic words of him/her/it alone. Now 15?

I prepare myself for the inevitable mental exertion to come.

Featherface asks us to follow them and we do. More out of relief that they weren't trying to kill us than anything else. We come to a circular hall lined with tall stone chairs, not unlike the scene we saw of the judgement of the Mad Sage.

Brought here for judgement? If only my woes had ended with the brown shower we'd recieved prior.

As it turned out, we ended up gleaning a lot of useful, cryptic, and altogether confusing information about the Dusk Sages, our current plight, and the Enemy. Again, I cannot help but imagine myself as a blind man trying to decide which of the voices he is hearing to trust.

Bottom line: Mana comes from the Dusk Sages. Kyo-Tee-Shee are the result of a Dusk Sage that attempts to resist the loss of its mana through involuntary creation (the Unraveling). The Enemy consume and annihilate mana, though for some reason the Kyo-Tee-Shee are able to harvest Mana from the Enemy. I would venture to guess that the Enemy somehow digest and convert mana or store it in some way. Though apparently, the Enemy can consume Kyo-Tee-Shee as well, and so we...

... must bind the Kyo-Tee-Shee to us so that we may ferry them to the enemy and have them destroyed. Great. After a night of the best and worst rest I've ever had we set about it. The other Prill asked me for permission to stay and learn from the Dusk Sages. Permission! Damn it, if I had the power to give and take permission from them I'd have told them to stay at the damned Chantry!

...But, that's just not my style. I told them that they should never seek permission to pursue knowledge and to make an effort to bring the lore they learn back to the Chantry. Hell, to Karia in general!

The ritual of binding was... gruesome. We summoned the Kyo-Tee-Shee and did our best to eat them, but only after they had eaten at least one full Dusk Sage.

I'm gonna say that one more time.

We LET them eat Dusk Sages, the mythical god-like teachers and very likely creators of Karians so that we could, in turn, eat them. Them being the Kyo-Tee-Shee. Ergo, a deceased Dusk Sage. So basically, we are eating DEAD gods, but only after they have cannibalized LIVE gods. I swear, the shit I end up doing on this trip...

Then the remaining Dusk Sages turned the ship into a SPACE ship and told us to take the fight to the Enemy ON the Wandering Star. Kiyoshi claims there's important info on the First Minds up there. The Dusk Sages says the Oni are there. Rei says that a scan she did from a Cheldrun ship indicated that the concentration of the Enemy up there is greater than anywhere on Karia.

They tell me to hang on and we rocket into the sky. Higher than a Vorax named Airhead, Una tells me.

I hope I'm not the only only thinking that beating the record of a being named Airhead does not sound like the soundest plans.

To Set a Course

At some point during our sea voyage, at night, Rei speaks up to the rest of the group. She looks thoughtful, and somewhat troubled. What she says is as follows:

"I think we need to talk. All of us. We've gone too long without explaining anything about what we're doing or where we're going. I know we're heading west, but why? Because the Dusk Sages live there? These 'Dusk Sages' haven't been helpful to us so far. They're extremely dangerous at best, and they may be actively hostile towards us. Why are we going to their retreat? Do we want their assistance? Are they likely to give it? Are we going there to kill them if what we saw is correct and they really are causing this Cataclysm?"

"Are we just following an arrow in the sky? But who put it there, and why? Are arrows in the sky trustworthy forms of guidance? And then there's the Enemy to think about. Almost every place we've visited has been attacked by the Oni. Does it advance our cause to bring the same fate down on the Dusk Sages?"

"I don't know how traveling west will help us deal with Katashi Blade and his DisLocators. He's summoning Oni, using the Enemy to gain power, isn't he? Provoking war between the Cheldrun cities? There's Nero to think about, too. He's out there, planning something. I think of the two he's the more dangerous." Rei looks at Una. "And he hasn't forgotten what you did to his arm." She waits a beat. "... Before we met up again, I gained access to the computer core of the Bosphorous. I used the ship's sensors to scan the planet and its immediate surroundings for Enemy signatures. There are now Enemy signatures in most of the Cheldrun cities, some scattered across the wilderness, some in the wilderness surrounding the Grand Chantry. But those aren't what worry me. What worries me is the source of Enemy signatures in orbit of the planet, where they're clustered so thickly that the ship's sensors could not distinguish individual signatures."

Rei looks up at the sky and points to the wandering star. "There they are now," she murmurs.

"And if they're sitting there in orbit, what are they waiting for? If I had a position in orbit of a world capable of resisting my invasion, and my goal was the destruction of everything, I would bombard the planet with asteroids until it had suffered so many Extinction Level Events that there was no chance of anything surviving. Why haven't they done that? What do they want if not our deaths?"

"The point is, we're flying blind, unless one of you knows far more about the situation than I do. We have to deal with the Enemy somehow. How are we going to do that? We aren't exactly an army ourselves. I'd like our odds a lot better if we had more people under our command, but we can't do anything about that right now. What are we doing? Why are we sailing west? What do we intend to do when we get there?"

Rei looks at each party member in turn, waiting for an answer.

Reflections

The smell of the wind is my greatest comfort these days. The crew is tense, my companions even more so. You'd think victory over such evil as the Oni would lift our spirits some. On the deck I stand, letting the wind fill my senses. While singing the songs is a therapy of sorts, there is much to be said for simply listening to Karia, the greatest vocalist of all.

My mind drifts with Karia's song, and I cannot help but feel awful for Una. I would reach out to her if I could but find the words. What does one say to someone who has lost her people? What solace could I offer her that would seem more than a mere pittance?

Then Kiyoshi, one of my charges. A smile crosses my face at the irony of thinking of him as someone who needed the protection of an old choir boy. A man of purpose and honor, but the disagreement over the pink-haired girl.... I would have thought him above threatening us, his companions, but then again, High-Dive was there. Perhaps it was a calculated risk on his part, to restrain High-Dive at the risk of estranging the rest of us. "He's a good boy, I'm sure he had his reasons."

Karia answers in her way. A symphony that only draws the inquisitor's gaze inward.

Moses... by far the strongest of us, but the one most dragged down by his burdens. I'm glad he and Zippora have taken a liking to each other. Nothing can lessen a burden like a companion. She's not a bad singer, either. "The boy's got taste, I'll give him that." I chuckle.

Karia gives a brief snort, spraying a whiff of the sea in my face. Apparently she got the joke.

Then there's Rei. A girl called Zero. I'm still not sure what to think about her. Sometimes she seems so vicious... heartless even. Then other times she seems... no, she IS vulnerable. I can't help but pity her. Far as I can tell, her mind is in shambles. Like a child forced to watch a massacre. Numbed even. The father in me wants to help her, but I doubt she's willing to just open up her thoughts to some old fox, however cunning. Maybe if she simply knew I would be willing to listen...

High-Dive... chaos incarnate. If myself and my companions are all so heavily involved in the coming fate of Karia, I cannot help but dread whatever role High-Dive will be playing. She seems hell-bent on destroying everything any sentient being would hold dear, save for her precious nuts. Perhaps she is meant as a balance to the rest of us, something to keep our heads about us. Whatever her role, I'll have to see it to the end. "I never thought a Zipsum would be the greatest test of my patience," I tell the wind.

Karia's gulls laugh in response.

The-One-Who-Opens-Doors said that The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries had gone mad and started this mess. The mask I now carried belonged to mad Dusk sage; left behind to guide us in the "right" direction. Hmph. What is the "right" way anyway? Peace. My goal is right. I know this deep in my soul. As for the directions the powers at be try to pull me... I cannot help but wonder. It is apparent my companions and I are pawns in some great game. I want to help guide them, to keep them on the right track, to steer them away from this looming... catastrophe. How can I know which Sage to trust? I want to believe the words of One-Who-Opens-Doors, but the words of the mad Sage bore into my mind. How can I trust one source over the other? The former seems more stable, but I cannot help but see myself in the place of The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries, judged by the Council of Elders who deemed my quest madness.

The Sealed Chamber...

Ben Hamur...

The mad guardian...

The BOOK!

My eyes snap open just in time to catch a spray of salt squarely. I scarcely even notice the searing burn. The book is the only sign related to the mad Sage I have yet to fully explore. I whirl around and run to my chambers, hoping for any shred of information that could point me in the "right" direction.

Seems my mind is full of hope these days.

Featherface

"Mokuzai..."

A whisper of wind rustles the leaves in the surrounding wood, a hint of the stormy weather outside, but within this realm it is calm and warm. Mokuzai looks up and sees clouds rushing overhead like time-lapse photography. In front of him a tea kettle nestled in the coals of a dying fire begins to whistle. A face covered in feathers appears in the steam wafting through the air with a mocking expression and a breathy voice.

"Mokuzai..."

The old lore-singer grunts and waves the steam away with his hand before picking the kettle up and pouring himself a cup of tea. "Can't I drink my tea in peace," he says.

The steam reforms into the laughing face, "I'm afraid not, old man. You made your choice back in the Chantry. No peace for you."

Mokuzai pays no attention as the voice goes on, "You've seen the madness that is The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries. You've heard his ridiculous prophecies and his slanderous accusations. Do you intend to pay them heed old man?"

Eyes made of steam narrow as they examine the Prill before them. Mokuzai sips his tea, looking at a leaf blowing in the wind. The sky begins to darken and the face speaks again with a prickly tone.

"If you've any sense you'll quit this foolish game. The mana in you needs to be returned. Feed yourself to your Kyo-Tee-Shee, and have it done. There's your answer to the riddle of peace!"

The wind gives a great sigh and the light returns to normal, while the face of steam puffs out one cheek and then the other, bored.

"Seriously, you're going to be in here for a long time with me while your friends take you safely to Omexon. This will be dull if you don't at least participate in the conversation. Surely you have questions. Who was The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries, Featherface? Why did he set up this whole prophecy, Featherface? How did Elder Winter get this mask? Where did this staff come from? What's the cataclysm, Featherface? Why does the Wandering Star, wander? C'mon..."

The mountaintop is tranquil while Mokuzai sips noisily at his tea with a little smile turning up the corners of his mouth. The floating mask, the one called Featherface, or in the old-tongue, The-One-Who-Opens-Doors, waits impatiently...

Narrator's Best Friend: the Singer of Peace

The Narrator's Best Friend Award goes to the character who most players agree consistently added great stuff to the story be it with NPC's or character choices through the entire season. This prestigious award is accompanied not only by the trophy emblem (right), but by 5, count them 5, of the coveted blue Never Gems. The honored recipient of the second ever Narrator's Best Friend Award is Mokuzai, the Peace-loving Prill.

Indeed, it can hardly be doubted that the elderly former guardian of the Song of Tempest was a constant friend to the narrator this past season. The pretext for the entire season was a journey to the Grand Chantry, something which was only possible due to his patient, if frequently exasperated, leadership. Mokuzai calmly helped steer the party in all the right directions - whether that be to recover his staff from Ben Hamor and the revelation of the Gods, or the opening of the sealed chamber and the unraveling of the mysteries. The plot swirled in delicate eddies around the rock of Mokuzai all season long.

Rei and Moses are grateful to the old fox-son for taking on this role. "Last season, in Geneva Prime, the story kept driving us into uncomfortable interactions with my dysfunctional family or Moses' unwilling instigation of a civil war. Frankly it was exhausting, we're glad he took up some of the burden this time around."

Though Moses didn't speak openly about the pains of being last season's recipient of this award, it was clear that he didn't relish being in the spotlight again. "He can have the award every season if he wants it. As long as people stop killing each other and blaming it on me."

Not everyone felt that Mokuzai was the best anchor for the collective storyline however.

"He's a stodgy old man," High-Dive confessed in a back room. "You should have seen how he flips out over a little piss on a stinky book." She would have said more, but just then Una shot her a disapproving glance.

"Mokuzai cares about the legacy of the Dusk Sages," Una contributed. "We shouldn't underestimate how much it has cost him to choose to follow this path, unraveling these mysteries. He's trying to solve the riddle of peace and that's no small thing."

No small thing at all. This distinguished Prill has collected Dusk Sage artifacts and wisdom like nobody's business, and though he knows their histories and names and functions, the rest of the party just refers to them as "plot devices A, B & C".

"Yeah," Kiyoshi quipped "That staff is a damn handy escape trick, and a mask that sees a giant arrow in the sky pointing us in the right direction? I mean, can the GM be any more obvious?"

Mokuzai really is the man who keeps the story moving, and that's why this Singer of Peace is the Narrator's Best Friend.

Episode 17: Don't Cry Sweet Mokuzai

Ah, home sweet home. The feel of a fresh set of robes and the distant sounds of rehearsing choirs makes me feel younger by the minute. Pity everyone around me seems to be trying to stuff me into a pair of grown-up diapers.

Moon is more beautiful than I remember leaving her. Perhaps the horrors I've been through of late make things of beauty seem more beautiful, but no matter. Hiro and Ai came to visit me. Words can't describe my pride at how they turned out.

Mokuzai...
Damn that voice. It never heralds good news...

Ah, my grand-children. To think that Koume and Lyre are already looking to mates of their own... Maybe I growing a bit old for this. Koume is pregnant you say, Ai? And her mate is having trouble choosing a choir still? Bah! Tell her to do what makes her happy! Stuff the taboos if need be. Good thing I'm no longer an elder. I doubt I'd get away with saying that...

Mokuzai... Mokuzai, visit me...
Shut up! Can't I spend some time with my family in peace?

The funeral for Elder Winter was beautiful. All due respect was paid. Good. I can only hope for such a sending off when my time finally comes. High-Dive didn't even try to ruin it in some perverse way. Maybe she's growing? My own grandson Twilight Sang the final hymn himself. How old was he...? 15? And already capable of leading a song at such an important occasion? My dear little Twilight, how much I've missed in such a short time...

Mokuzai...
NOT NOW, DAMNIT!

Moon spends a great deal of time passing Elder Winter's wisdom and insights to us. She tells us the meaning behind the Wandering Star, and how it applies to us. She tells us what conjecture and myth surrounds our apparent fates. She tells us that all arrows seem to point in the direction of the Sealed Chamber. That it may well contain the key to our fates. And after a lot of one-on-one time with each of us studying our Katas, she tells us what our apparent... profiles... as gods are. It seems so strange to think of ourselves as Gods. She doesn't tell me what my profile is right away. She knows I know she's hiding it from me. I don't blame her. She wants me here. By all rights, my family needs me here. I'm going to be a great grandfather.

Mokuzai....
FINE! What is it?

The feathered face reveals itself in the Sanctuary. It tells me of the choice I must make. The choice between my family and my own peace, or a chance to bring peace to all. The terms it states are far more vague than that, but that is my interpretation. To choose between my purpose and my desires. Moon is crying, I can all but smell the tears of my children, grand-children, and yet unborn great-grandchildren. My happiness lies here. The sum worth of my life, my legacy, is here. But my purpose, the protection of said treasure, lies within the Sealed Chamber.

The memory of the Tee-Shee's nightmare flows through my head. Cheldrun missiles tearing vast voids in the Chantry, bullets perforating the faces of my friends and acquaintances, Heishi descending upon the huddled figures of my family, all with bloody voids where there should be eyes...

"Grandfather, leave the mourning to the professionals." Such wisdom from one so young...

"Dereliction of Duty is among the most honor-less of acts." Uncompromising men are easy to admire...

I pray my decision will lead to my own pain, and not the pain of my family. Martyrdom has never seemed so appealing.

Conflicts of Interest

My hands quiver as I catch little bits of parchment as they fall from the rafters.

How... how could... why...? WHY!?

The little chittering source of my frustrations looks down from its perch with glee in its eyes as it nibbles on a tome of buckskin filled with musical lore. My eyes gaze sorrowfully upon the smudged script.

Why you little... RODENT!

I'm vaguely aware thet I'm sputtering nonsensical protests; spittle spraying about the room as I make feeble attempts at enunciation while frantically waving my arms in protest. The little demoness is laughing at me now, losing control of its bladder and micterating upon the already damaged tome. I can feel my rationality slipping away swiftly until it is but a small voice in the back of my head.

The room reverberates with the crack of thunder as the song of Tempest surges within me, driven not by need, but by rage.

Wait... don't do it!

My mind becomes a warzone. Rationality duels emotion while desire presses the attack against responsibility.

KILL HER! KILL THE WRETCHED DEMON!

I feel like a bystander as I feel my rage take temporary control, summoning all the energy of the Tempest I can feasibly control... and perhaps more. The last time I became this angry was in the Goshi tower. The last time this happened, it ended in death. My eyes turn white as the core of a bolt of lightning and my voice becomes the wail of a hurricane wind accentuated with cracks of thunder. Then a hesitation.

She doesn't know! Ignorance is not deserving of death! You are a teacher, not an executioner! Stop! Please, for the love of Karia, stop!

WHAT USE IS THERE IN TEACHING ONE WHO WOULD DESTROY LORE FOR THE SIMPLE PURPOSE OF SPITE!? WHAT WORTH IS THERE IN SUCH A CREATURE?

A creature's worth is not for you to decide. You know this. Would it not be better to educate than to destroy? Of course it would. You know this. You accept this.

It seems reason has temporarily swayed the battle in its favor. I manage to choke out a few words of warning. "Squirrel! Out! NOW!" It just keeps laughing and smiling. The little demon has no idea of the intensity of the battle that is being fought for her life within my strained mind. It would be so easy to give in. It would be so easy to leave the little beast as a pathetic pile of ash. It would be so easy, just this once, to do not what my responsibilities dictated, but what would feel satisfying at the time.

I watched it all play out in my mind; my throat unleashing the few notes that would spell the doom of the otherwise ignorant Zipsum. Her eyes exploding open in surprise... literally. Every fiber in her fragile little body being heated hotter than the temperature of the sun in less time than the eye has a chance to notice. Her normally supple fur incinerating in a flash, followed closely by the vaporization of her internal organs and bones. Come to think of it, there wouldn't even be much ash left; just the stink of ozone and burnt hair.

Then the ramifications.

Moses looks at me like I'm the cruelest creature on Karia.

One of the gentlest hearts you have ever known, and you may have just broken it, old man.

Kiyoshi and Una have a look of betrayal in their eyes.

You swore to protect them. How can they trust you now?

Rei giggles.

Everything, even the removal of a demon, has its price. Are you willing to pay this one?

Reason reassumes full control of the battlefield as I watch Rei gently transfer the now dozing form of High-Dive outside. The Tempest resides, taking my visage of wrath incarnate with it. I feel frustrated tears welling in my eyes. It is difficult to become so enraged and not have an outlet and so, my outlet becomes my tear ducts. My hands are shaking uncontrollably as I cradle the tome. Una looks at me with concern in her eyes.

If she knew what sort of battle just took place, how would she think of you, old man? How would she react if she knew how close you were to destroying everything within 10 meters of the place you stood, all because of a book? What if the others knew? What if the squirrel knew?

For now, she offers me kind words, tea, and cleanses the tome of High-Dive's urine.

I begin reading quietly, pondering a solution to my conundrum. The trick would be getting High-Dive to understand without having her witness it first-hand.

Hell of a trick, that.

Episode 11: Disturbed Spirits

The smell of blood and ashes filled my nose as I looked down upon the massacre below me. Cheldrun soldiers were here… in the Grand Chantry… and they were killing anything that moved. There, a child is torn apart by machine gun fire, and there, a particularly spry young man is taken down by a swarm of Heishi, their blue blades flickering as they cut him down. Occasionally a deadly localized cold snap or a wave of living earth would kill a dozen or so soldiers, signaling the responses of the Guardians.

Even so, like gnats before a charging bear…

I close my eyes, shutting out the images.

This isn’t real. A tee-shee induced dream, that is all…

I open my eyes again, only to see the head of one of my former students fragment across a nearby tree in its feeble attempt at stopping a sniper’s bullet. A voice, like a whisper from just beyond my vision says, “How can you cry peace when war is all-pervasive?”

Enough. I cannot stop this slaughter, but I can save some of its would-be victims.

I turn and stride into the Chantry, searching for other Prill, cowering in their homes. I tell them to follow me, that we will have to escape. A door below bursts open, and the Heishi begin spilling in. One of them levels his weapon at me…

Draw their attention, save the others.

“Kill me if you must, but let the innocent live.” The song of Wind brings forth the maelstrom to protect me, but nothing I could have done would have stopped the onslaught. Bullets riddle my body, and my vision goes black.

I wake up back in the cave. A woman… a beautiful woman is lying on the floor near me. Her eyes glow white with energy… not unlike the mask of the Tempest. She smiles at me and touches me on the nose.

Well, it’s certainly not the worst thing I could have woken up to.

Then a whirl of fire and green surrounds the room and the woman. High-Dive. “No! Wait!” I cry… the damage had been done before I had even finished speaking. The woman’s silvery purple blood was spattered everywhere, most notably all over High-Dive’s hands and forearms… and face… and clothes… and feet…

Why you little…

The tongue lashing I gave would have left most recipients in guilty tears. Unfortunately, High-Dive is… not… most recipients.

Indeed. Spastic and impossible to get through to. Even for a Zipsum.

I doubt she even thought I was scolding her.

Through further discussion with the woman, bloodied and in pain as she was, we uncover that she is another of these… mana-eaters. Considering my highly painful experience with the last one we encountered, I felt the need to apologize to High-Dive… but, alas, she was gone. No matter. I’ll tell her later.

The woman is looking at my staff… hungrily? I mention that it is a Dusk Sage artifact, and begin explaining the concept of the Dusk Sages to Kiyoshi.

“Uh, Mokuzai… behind you…”

I hate interruptions…

I turn around and see that the woman is no longer a woman, but a giant crane looking down at me with that same look of hunger in its eyes.

So… this is what frogs feel like just before the end…

It snaps down on my staff, twists it from my grasp, and disappears down the tunnel in a blur of glowing purple feathers.

Oh Sages… no... please no…

My breath feels like daggers being dragged up and down my throat after my desperate attempt at keeping up with the crane. I sink to my hands and knees, exhausted and ruined.

First your vow and now this? Track record is beginning to look a bit shaky, old man.

The River Swift tribe are chittering and squeaking to the others. I don’t have the heart to translate. My right to ever return to the Chantry just disappeared over the horizon, to hell with everything else.

Few try to comfort my loss. No matter, I’m too drained and filled with self-loathing to care. Una tells me she saw where the crane flew and my heart literally jumps.

I’d scold her for straining my old heart if I didn’t want to embrace her for giving me hope.

“I’m sorry you lost something so important to you.”

She has a mother’s heart.

“It wasn’t just important to me, Una. It was important to all Prill. It is a Dusk Sage artifact gifted to me by the Elder Council. I cannot return until I get it back. Do you understand?”

Her eyes go wide and she offers me a drink.

Yeah. She understands.

I down the beverage in one draught…

Oh no… Liquor…

The next morning my head is pounding and I remember nothing, save for the taste of the liquor.

I hope I didn’t say anything terrible…

We make preparations and set out. Rei is looking at me askance.

Oh Sages, I better not have made a pass towards her.

Our trek through the jungle goes well. Una is an excellent woodsman and with my help our problems were kept to bugs and the occasional splinter. Rei is terrified of slugs and every night before bed she does what she does when she fears something. *sigh*

One night a Jevuum startled Moses. And by startled, I mean surprised benignly, as opposed to suddenly springing from the undergrowth and tearing out one of his vital organs or something. I took little notice or care when I awoke. If the Jevuum meant us harm, it would have done so before letting its presence be known. Then the rain starts.

The next day is long, cold, and wet. Very, very, very wet. I enjoy the rain for the most part. Our progress is slower, but I can’t help but feel cleaner in these conditions. Rei asks me if I can control this; if I can make the rain cease. I could, and admitted as much. Words can’t describe the look on her face when I told her the forest needed the rain more than we needed the lack thereof. I am thoroughly enjoying the delivery of this lesson.

I help Moses set up the canopy for the fire when we make camp. The others tend to their part, gathering wood and such. Kiyoshi tells us Rei is gone.

I would have thought that girl had learned her lesson the first time.

I catch her smell through the rain. She close. In fact, she’s…above us? Right on cue, her body thumps unceremoniously to the ground before us, a full-grown Jevuum right behind her though with far more grace than an unconscious body. Kufu was its name, and eating it seemed, was his game. After determining he was not immediately hostile to us, we exchanged names and poetry, as was customary with Jevuum.

I could never get the hang of poetry. A Song in its own right, I’m sure, though one I’ve never been able to hear the notes of.

“I wish to taste this Kyo tee-shee” he tells us.

Kyo tee-shee… so that’s what these things are. I suppose that would explain how the other tee-shee behaved around her…

We travel into the mountains. One day, while we are walking up a particularly narrow pass, I spot a giant, red… raccoon? In the distance. It looks right at me, interest in its eyes. Then rockslides begin roaring down the canyon walls towards us.

And everything was starting to go so well…

Exodus

I watch as the last light of day fades beyond the treetops. Fireflies become visible, dotting the woods like wisps, begging to be chased. No such horrors were to be found here, however. I close my eyes and draw the air through my withered nostrils. I could all but see the figures of other Prill as they walked about the paths below. One was moving rather hurriedly... I could smell her sweat even from here, my home, a good fifty feet above the twisting paths surrounding the Grand Chantry. There were few others about; now was the time to leave.

I hope no one tries to stop me. A debate is not what I need right now.

I rise to my feet slowly, allowing the Song of Clarity to fade with the night breeze. My senses close back upon me, suddenly leaving the world feeling much, much smaller. I open my eyes and find the room is even darker than the now impenetrable blackness of the night.

You really need to learn to keep your thoughts grounded, old man.

I stumble about my abode, feeling for a candle. There. The dim light plays tricks with the shadows as I make my final preparations. Little trinkets and mementos of my life adorn every inch of the little domicile. There, a carving of a swan that was made for me by my grandson.

He always had a good eye for craftsmanship, even as a pup he- you're sidetracking again, old man.

I don my well-worn robes, appearing yellow in the light of the weak flame. I hang the folds about my frame carefully, making sure to have everything in its proper place. My eye catches the image of the Eye on my right shoulder and the writhing Maelstrom on my left, the flickering illumination giving it the appearance of movement.

We all choose the ways by which we mark ourselves. With my marks, my memories shall ever be a part of me.

I finish tying my sash and reach for my traveling hat, as worn and well-used as the paths of the Chantry itself.

You path isn't so well traveled today, is it old man?

My hand hesitates as I reach for it. My nose picking up the smell... her smell.

I turn and slowly walk over to my bedside table, opening the ornately carved box I keep all my dearest treasures in. The smell fills my senses, amplified by its meaning to me. I withdraw a lock of hair, neatly held together with a bright yellow ribbon and hold it to my nose. Tears begin to well up in my eyes. I remembered clearly the day my then-future mate had given it to me. "Even should you fail your test for Guardianship, remember you still have me."

Your resolve is weakening, old man.

I quickly, but delicately place the favor in the box and snap the lid closed. Too much time. If I linger any longer, I'll lose my will to go. I steel my thoughts with my purpose, and stride out the door.

The walk is easier the further I go. I gaze upon the impeccable architecture of the Chantry as I walk its winding paths.

You go to preserve this. You go to preserve your people, your family. Most of all, you go to preserve Karia.

As I leave the city, I turn and gaze for one long moment at the Chantry itself. At this distance, one could take in its full beauty... and I did not hastily end what could very well be the last time I see my home.

"You're actually going, aren't you?"

I turn to my left with a start. Elder Moon stands before me, her eyes glowing like a pair of celestial bodies in the shrouding night. Her scent nearly buckles my knees as I experience it directly from the source. I let out a long sigh. This is exactly the debate I wanted to avoid.

"Yes." I reply curtly. Hopefully a visage of stubbornness will end this before it starts.

"You seemed very set in your plan, but I wasn't sure even you would be mad enough to pursue it. You are a bit of an embellisher, after all."

She's toying with me. But that's... yes. Admiration in her voice.

"Embellishment is only justified when the basest kernel of the story rings true, is it not?" I say, cocking a playful eyebrow. She knows me too well. I should have known a petty act wouldn't end this. Not with her.

"In that case, I, and several others on the Elder Council, would like to extend their wishes of fortune to you."

My mouth drops. This was the last thing I had expected... Quit kidding yourself, old man. You didn't expect this at all.

Elder moon smiles impishly at my response. "Well, I see I still have a knack for getting you to gape like an amazed child." My mouth snaps shut and I feel my cheeks redden. She cuts me off before I can muster a witty response. "We also wish to give you this." My eyes widen as she produces a staff. The moonlight strikes the fist-sized nevergem embedded in its head, bathing the clearing in a blue light. My eyes travel down its length, noting the impossibly gnarled state of the wood and noting with further amazement how my eyes never seemed to find the same knot twice.

You're gaping again, old man.

Elder Moon, still grinning from my reactions, holds the staff out for me to take. As it passes to my hands, I note how comfortable the staff feels. Hesitantly, reverently, I place the base on the ground, holding it as it was meant to be held. "Felt the need to give an old man a walking stick, did you?"

You and her both know why.

A cloud passes over the moon and the blue light fades. We stand near each other, feeling each other's presence. We embrace, each holding the other as if they were life itself. No questions needed to be asked. No answers needed to be shared. No words at all were needed. The embrace slackens, and as the moon once again sheds light on the clearing, Elder Moon is gone.

She never was good at goodbyes.

I cast one more look towards the Chantry, basking beneath the night sky, and turn down the path.

Episode 8, Part II: The Birth of a Demon

The train just jumped. I'm sure of it. The Zipsum is still chittering in a panic and the others begin climbing outside the train car to deal with whatever it is that has the Zipsum so spooked.

A voice like a thousand tormented souls resonates through everything in that car, including my own body.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..."

Moses begins, well, tunneling through the roof. There's no way I'm dragging my creaking bones through a window. As if to answer my thoughts, a terrible howl, like the voice of the void beyond fills me with a terror I had only ever expected to feel once; the split second before my untimely death. The roof of the car is torn open like wrapping parchment, and I see the source of my doom. The body of a woman hangs suspended in the body of a creature that defies everything in existence. To gaze upon its grotesque form was to know the face of malice. Kiyoshi bares his sword, roaring his challenge into the demon's face, and his courage brings me back to my senses.

The tone was set, and the battle raged for what felt like an eternity. It repeatedly attempted to pull the very souls from our bodies, throwing our forms about like rag dolls while everything we threw at it seemed to only make it stronger... and larger. Hordes of eyeless dead hounded us from all sides, aiding their creator in its attempts to destroy us. A little green fireball seems to take care of them rather effectively... isn't that the Zipsum? No matter, it's too fast to focus on anyway.

The battle climaxes as the demon tears the car free from the rest of the train and hurls it, with us ON it, into a nearby building. As the car impacts, my body is thrown clear- through a plate glass window. Darkness overcomes me.

Water. Its raining. The water burns my whole body. Why? I'm covered in lacerations... some of them still full of glass shards. The memory of the battle with the demon floods back into my mind. The car landed lower than me. Go down. I slowly rise to my feet, barely noticing the screaming people running all around me. I make my way to a stairwell, jammed with panicked people. Best stay out of there old man, you're libel to get trampled. And so, I wait, bleeding.

Then, a figure runs up the stairs. Kiyoshi? Then a pink-haired girl. I know her from... somewhere... A heavy tromping heralds the passing of Moses, hot on the tails of the first two. I look down at my blood-soaked clothing, wondering just how bad the damage is. Well, at least they were courteous enough to clear a path. I ascend the stairs after them. Kiyoshi says something about "The Enemy" which stuns the pink-haired girl. Is that what we face? The girl looks at me over the shoulder of Moses as he scoops her up. She looks stunned, confused, and... terrified?

The battle rages on on the rooftop. It seems every time we strike it, the creature grows in size. The building starts collapsing, taking the demon and Moses with it. A voice on the wind calls to me, beckoning me. I listen, then a flash of light, the crack of thunder, and the smell of ozone fills my senses.

I'm standing in a snow-covered courtyard with a fire and a teapot in the middle. A feathered face appears in the smoke of the fire, and asks me to sit down and have some tea. Wasn't I just in a battle? Am I dead? The face and I begin chatting. It tests my resolve, tempting me with the easy way out.

The easy way out? Aren't I already dead? Hmph, I guess not. In any case, the riddle of peace is one I intend to solve.

"Yes, the riddle of peace. Your companions are important pieces of the puzzle, Mokuzai."

My companions. Are they alright? Has the demon destroyed them? Have I failed so soon?

"You could bring them here, Mokuzai. A priest would bring even unworthy souls to a holy place if they needed help and shelter."

A point well made, spirit- face- whatever you are.

"They are marked Mokuzai. Marked as you are. Take them to the chantry. Learn of the Kata Kariana, if your people have not forgotten."

My pride stings at the comment. We would NOT have forgotten.

A flash, the crack, the ozone- I am standing on a different rooftop next to Una. Good, she is safe.

In the distance, Goshi's armies are bombarding the demon with everything they have. Still it lives?!

The rest of my companions are scattered about around me in various states of repair. Kiyoshi and the Zipsum look like a pair of mis-matched corpses. No, there is life in them yet.

Rei looks at me suspiciously, "Where did you go? And how did you get here? Did your staff... eat you?"

I shake my head no. Dear child, there is so much you should learn.

The atmosphere fills with a sense of looming doom, drawing my gaze back to the demon in the distance. We must leave, NOW!

Moses begins tearing into a nearby wall, looking for an escape route. "Wait!" He stops, looking at me confused. I look at my companions. "Will you trust me?" Only Moses answers. "Take my staff Una, fly to the southern forest. I will safeguard the rest of us." With that, I open my will to the staff again, drawing all my compaions save Una with me.

The blinding light, the deafening crack, the stink of ozone.

Sages please, let this work.

Episode 8, Part I: The Birth of a Demon

The blood on the walls still ran a little; they hadn't been dead long. Even as I turn towards our guide, Kiyoshi charges up the stairs to our host's audience chamber, his fellows hot on his heels.

"Does this happen often?" I ask Samara.

"To us, yes." The metal man says as he hefts a large piece of furniture and begins lumbering up the stairs.

Just who have I gotten myself tangled with?

The sound of screaming pulls me from my thoughts and I pursue my new companions. Our host, Tsuchinaga Yamoto is dying, and several of his playthings are already dead. One of them is strangling another as calm as if she were folding clothes. Are these Cheldrun insane?

Rei claims it is the work of her brother, Nero, and that he is here looking for something. She plans to stop him.

Is it so wise to stand in the way of one who kills with such recklessness?

She says he can compel others to do things they would never do.

Goshi compelled YOU, Oathbreaker. My anger begins to rise.

The others, save Kiyoshi descend after Rei. Kiyoshi wishes to bid his friend farewell in private. Very well, such must be your custom.

In the distance, I hear explosions and the death screams of innocents.

How does one make peace with that which isn't at peace with itself?

Rei beckons me; I must have gotten lost in my thoughts again.

I embrace the Song of Clarity as we descend. My thoughts clear and sharpen to a bleeding edge. Something about these 5 is special. Something about them carries part of the answer to my riddle, the riddle that brought me here... the Riddle of Peace. I let the Songs flow through them. There, that should help.

I continue to question Rei about her family relations. Do all Biomade siblings have this degree of rivalry? How do they survive past 12? She assures me she's a special case. Just how special? What is the answer to your riddle, young one?

A screaming woman covered in blood lunges at Una, taking us all by surprise. My protective instincts rise; the Song of Tempest is roused. Fortunately for her assailant, she gives up her assault when Una wounds her. I continue to channel the Song. If there is to be battle, I will be prepared.

The metal man- Una called him... Moses? Yes. Moses -is holding a cask of wine and fits it with a burning rag. Where did he find a keg of wine? Your excessive ponderings are making you miss things, old man.

Kiyoshi slashes open a door, and I see our quarry for the first time. Rei exchanges words with this... child? What sort of people births children capable of such evil?

Another figure stands in the room, dripping with water? I suddenly realize my feet are cold. We've been walking in water. The thought of releasing the Tempest strikes me as a very bad idea.

And then hell breaks loose. A barrel flies through the air and bursts into flame, knives whirl across the room, striking Moses and Una. Una! I must help her! Kiyoshi is surrounded by a whirlwind of purple droplets, and the figure in the middle of the room bursts into a Tempest of its own, sending us all staggering. A knife buries itself below my collar bone. Pain. A fireball explodes around Rei, sending Kiyoshi and Moses flying. Una screams in rage, and the skin seems to melt off Nero's arm, and then, it's over.


What in Karia did you get yourself into, old man?

The figure in the middle of the room is jabbering about Mana, marks, and... Kata Kariana? You've heard of these things, old man. Age it seems, has the benefit of knowledge and experience. It wants White Rock. It eats that horrid substance?

Goshi is still fresh in your mind, isn't it Oathbreaker. They used the white rock to make you break your oath. I already have a dislike for this creature.

The Tempest jolts through my body, and blackness envelops me. White rock again. I'm really beginning to hate this substance.

Finally I come to. We're leaving. Why did we come down here?

We come again to the audience chamber, where lies the headless body of our host. Do all Cheldrun friends offer each other such a death? At least he was dignified with a silken death shroud.

Samara briefs us on our escape, and we are taken to a train station. I still hear the explosions and the screaming.

Even Jevuum have more mercy than this...

The train ride is, for lack of a better word, putrid. Do these Cheldrun dirty everything they touch? Aren't they capable of beautification?

Rei asks me not to apply my observations to my perception of all Cheldrun. At least she understands how hard that is, given recent circumstances.

Another explosion shakes the train violently and the brakes bring us to a screeching halt.

"Where is the Zipsum?" I ask, annoyed, as the little green creature streaks in from outside, chittering about demons, starting the train, and something about candy.

You know, old man, you ask far too many questions.

A change of perspective...

Sweet winds, that light is bright. My eyes struggle vainly to adjust the horrible whiteness. I try to put my hand in front of my face. I’m bound. Why am I bound? Whatever I’m laying on is hard… and cold.

Voices. Women? No, one woman. I feel a light sting in my arm. My head gets cloudy…

*blink*

“Mokuzai, I confer upon you the title of Guardian of the Song of Tempest. May you carry the lore proudly.”

“There are no limits to the honor I feel in being privileged to guard and pass on your lore, Elder Gogyou.”

“I know, Mokuzai. I know.”

*blink*

My body is on fire. I can feel molten lead where my blood should be. What are they doing? Why are they doing this? So many questions. I can feel my blood spattering against the backs of my teeth. I didn’t know I could scream like this. Somewhere in the far reaches of my mind, I jot down the sounds my grinding teeth, hoarse throat and straining limbs make. Somewhere in that garbled mess, there's a song. Of that, I am sure.

My eyes dart wildly about as I search for the source of my torment. Is that? No, it couldn’t be. A fox’s paw? MY paw? Tears stream down my face, leaving droplets on the eyewear of my tormentors as I thrash in pain. Sweet, merciful blackness consumes me again…

*blink*

“You think you can do this? I always knew you as a prideful rogue, Elder Mokuzai, but this? This is madness! The Cheldrun know only hatred and greed. Don’t throw your life away.”

“The compromise is ours to reach, Elder Ash. The Dusk Sages have gone. This is our duty; our task. The Dusk Sages gave us the tools. It is our responsibility to use them. We are no longer children to be coddled. The Zipsum are too fleeting and the Anakarix are too passive. The Gogajin prefer to negotiate with their fists, the Jevuum are too prideful to accept anything but total victory, and the Vorax, sadly, are too few to be heard. This task is ours, and I am making it mine.”

“I hope, for your sake, you aren't destined for martyrdom, Elder Mokuzai.”

“Do not hope, old friend. Trust.”

*blink*

I lay on the floor of my cell, barely breathing. Everything hurts. With great apprehension I slowly look down at my hand, and begin crying in relief to see the five fleshy, chapped, scarred and weathered digits I knew so well. I painfully assume a sitting position, crossing my legs and resting my hands on my knees. I begin to think. What were they saying? Whiterock? White. Rock. Why was it important? Energy. They were experimenting with its energy. They move things with the energy. Changing them into energy and turning them back. They were experimenting with this energy on Karians. They didn’t like how it responded to Zipsum, Gogajin, or me. They said something about more tests- wait. No, the tests with me were stalled. Why?

Someday, this sort of thinking was going to get me in trouble. Pfft. Who am I kidding? It got me into trouble already.

I still my thoughts, close my eyes, and listen. Muffled noises echo down the corridor. My ears begin picking through them: hard-soled shoes on tile floor, the click of Cheldrun weapons… my guards are restless… And a voice, “Inform the executor of today’s test. Tell him we have a Vorax.”

My eyes bolt open in horror. Of all the places for the sad song of the Vorax to be sung, this artificial hell of steel and stone had to be the most profane. A rumbling begins to fill my cell in tune with my angered breathing. Feverish images of a Vorax enduring the tortures they had subjected me to flood my vision. These Cheldrun have betrayed my trust, luring me with promises of diplomacy and then shackling me as a guinea pig for their foul sciences. They forced me to break my most sacred vow, and now this? It is not my nature to judge all by the actions of few, but these Cheldrun, these…. Goshi…

I rise to my feet as the Song of Tempest pulses through me. My limbs begin quivering with building energy. Indoors, it is but a pale whisper of an echo of what it would be, but for a former Guardian, one of the strongest the Song had ever seen, it was still quite potent. The roiling thunder begins shaking loose paint chips off the walls, begging to be unleashed. I hear the guards approach, roused by the sounds of the brewing storm. The safeties on their weapons make a pair of audible clicks as they round the corner. The air fills with the smell of ozone while thin ripples of electricity begin dancing across my body. Panic fills their expressions when their gaze meets the white-hot glow emanating from the eye sockets of my snarling visage. The storm lashes out, and one of them is left twitching against the back wall, dead. The other raises his weapon, fires, and a dart sprouts from my chest. The effect is instant, and I collapse unceremoniously to the floor as the remaining energy arcs wildly through the bars of my cell as it grounds itself in a final thunderous crack.

Terrible way to end a song.