Fight against fantasy - IC

[wonderweiss]

It was finally closing time. Frank packed his things.

"Well, I'm off."

The others saw him off, cheering. Frank tried his best to make Myrkur a better place. It may be but a pipe dream. But he is willing to give anything to achieve that goal. He then hid in an alley. It was time to patrol east Myrkur. He secretly watches over myrkur at this time to make sure no one gets hurt.

He puts on a mask, similar to a comedy mask. He puts on a black cloak and matching gloved. This is his night suit. Then, he sprays a special cologne. It's special because it wasn't meant for people. It attracts shadow lurkers.

Suddenly, dozens of shadow lurkers begin surrounding him, bloodlust in their eyes. These were his enemies, but soon... Allies. Frank prepared for battle.

[Katrix]

Skógur town - Hidden Corner of "Dueling Arena" 3:30 PM

Although he asked a question Sidna didn't answer. She waited for the man to be out if sight before she spoke. "I don't know what it is. All that I know is that nothing good comes from those. This place is not safe for talking. Follow me to my house and I'll tell you. Do get ready to hear some really weird things. I'll tell you one of the safe parts while we walk." She then began walking towards the house. It would take some time tough as her house was on the other end of the town.

"About 8 years ago I had a little brother. He was a nice brother. He always cheered people on. He also had a weird ability just like me. I will not tell you what it is until we are safe. Anyway, one day SYSTEM came to our doorstep and asked my little brother to follow them. He resisted and froze the time around them while also accelerating time around himself. You see, my brother had time magic. It's a unusual magic that seems to appear in younger kids. I think they have to be born within the last 8-12 years to at least have a chance to get it. Anyway, they took my mom and used her as a trap to get my brother. Since that day I haven't seen him. He's most likely dead."

[wonderweiss]

Frank stood there, in fighting stance, but breathing hard. His breath could be seen because of the icy atmosphere. Most shadow lurkers were on the floor, subdued. The others, standing in place, hissing. They couldn't move any further than that. After that, the shadows began helping them regenerate. Once they were done, the shadow lurkerswalked up to Frank. They had subdued. They now considered Frank as a leader.

Frank nodded. He climbed a wall onto the roof. The shadow lurkers followed close behind. Then, Frank jumped the buildings, headed to the eastern side of town. There, he and the shadow lurkers looked out to the town. He was, as of now, known by many as the night lurker.


Nearby, a group of thugs were in a room in their house. There, a big man with a buff composure stood.

"Men. I would like to tell you somethin'. Tonight, we start not a robbery, not a mugging, but a raid."

The others hooted and hollered. The man had a deep voice and a bandanna.

"Now then, some of you lolipop gaggers don't understand my concept of a raid. It means... no exceptions, no money left behind, and especially... no mercy. Everyone get's looted!"

More cheering. Then, someone in the middle calls out. "Yea, but what about the freakin' Night Lurker?"

There was silence. Then, a large hollering of laughter. Even the big man laughs.

"HYEHYEHYEHYEEEEE!!!!!! Oh, and what about the freakin' Night Lurker. I'll tell you what about the freakin' night lurker. We crush 'im! Then, tie 'im an' leave him out in the mountains. I'm pretty sure that if he escapes, the dragons should fry him anyways!"

Then, more hollering ensues. A second in command steps up to the front.

"Great story, boss. Tell it again."

"You got somethin' to say, reggie?"

"Actually, yea. Obviously the Night Lurker don't sound all that big an' tough. But guess what?"

He pulls out a large peice of paper containing the information gathered on the Night Lurker. Even a hand drawing of him was made. There were oddly shaped shadows surrounding him.

"He's a pretty big fuckin' deal. His combat skills are incredible, almost a match to... the SYSTEM."

Everyone boos. The leader tries to quiet them down.

"HEY, HEY, HEY, EVERYONE, SHUT UP! Reggie, don't mention them. They're a pain in the ass to everyone! Continue with the damn story! And what the hell are with those shadows!? Is he a shadow user?!"

"Not even close. He's an ice user. And bout those shadows, they look like just an overdramatic background. But wanna know a funny story?"

Reggie then erased some parts of the shadows. He erased them in a fashion that looked like a bunch of pairs of two white dots next to eachother... a bunch of white eyes. Once everyone found out what it resembles, they all were in shock. "No way!" "Dude, I'm sure you messed up!" "Man, you're lying!"

"EVERYONE, SHUT THE HELL UP!!! Reggie, what is this?!"

"I'll tell you exactly what they are, those are FUCKING. SHADOW LURKERS! LEVEL THREE! THIS GUY'S INSANE! HE'S GOTTA BE A LEVEL FOUR OR SOMETHIN'! And what the hell are we gonna do bout a pack of shadow lurkers?! All I'm sayin' is, avoid that guy, he ain't human!"

Everyone stood in silence.

"... alright. We avoid the Night Lurker. But if he shows..."

Everyone smiles. Even Reggie. Then everyone cheers loudly. "WE TAKE HIS HEAD!!!"

The big man stands tall. "DISMISSED!!!"

[S121]

Skógur town - En Route to Sidna's House

Time magic? How come Azeruk had never heard of such a power until now? Was it because it was more rare than Void magic? What about that man? Who was he targeting? Surely, they should do something about it, but why weren't any of the townspeople doing anything about it? Were they afraid? Just what was SYSTEM? The man's clothes reminded Azeruk of the strange knight in the forest. The man's clothes looked advanced, and the knight's armor was the same way, so were they affiliated with one another? Was the knight a member of SYSTEM? It was a lot to take in at once. One moment, he was telling a customer about a bow, and the next he was hiding from some super-advanced organization called SYSTEM. Azeruk turned to the student and asked her a question, the first in a series that he was planning on asking.

"Do these boots belong to SYSTEM?"[/color], Azeruk asked her as he pointed at his feet.[/B]

[Katrix]

Skógur town - Sidna's house 3:45 PM

When asked about his boots Sidna was a little bit surprised. This far from one of the questions she would expect. Even tough it wasn't the question she had been expecting she still tried to answer it. "If you ask me they do have that kind of SYSTEM feel to them. It's hard to tell for sure as they are always developing their stuff at an incredible speed. What could have been the newest gear a few years back might be junk by now. Tell me, where did you get those? You're not a spy from SYSTEM are you? I hope not"

After some time they finally reached the house. After walking in and assuring no one was listening she began talking again. "So I'm sure you have been wondering what kind of ability me and my brother have. It's kind of hard to explain. Let's just say they I remember things. Things that feels completely out of place. Memories of another world with technology even more advanced than the one SYSTEM currently have. And then there's this weird thing, no magic or anything magic related. I began gaining these memories about two years ago. Since then they have slowly added up. I suppose your kind of surprised to hear this. It's alright if you don't believe me and look at me as some kind of wierdo instead. I mean it is something weird."

[bookdragon2000]

Myrkur town-Eastern Exit

Wen Xuan finally relaxed after returning Madge to her original form. The night lurkers, which would normally have made him extremely nervous had no effect on him due to the bird perched on his bag that his instincts told him was a greater threat. Even now, when he tried to remember exactly how the night lurkers had looked, his mind still stubbornly conjured images of the fake Madge. Just then he heard a loud commotion from the path which he came from, it sounded like amplified versions of the growls the night lurkers had given him before retreating under madge's fierce gaze. Of the drunks and thugs that were mentioned, he had seen no sign of them. Wen Xuan tuned out the commotion behind and started off east again. "Probably some poor soul who just got unlucky, not my business."

Near Ljost Lake
Wen Xuan was finally out of the oppressive darkness of the forest when he realized that the light he assumed to be moonlight was actually from a different source. There was a lake nearby which seemed to be glowing. He approached the lake and saw that the light was actually coming from the middle and probably deepest part of the lake. He forgot about trying to escape east, instead he decided to stay there and check out this phenomenon. First he looked around for a comfortable and safer place to rest.

He was about to settle down when he saw a house. "great, the good places has already been taken up." He debated whether to find a new place or attempt to break-in. But the house did not looked abandoned and he was already quite tired from all the traveling and the mental strain he had endured to exit the town. Just then he spotted a solution to his problem. There was an unlighted patch in the lake, quite some distance away. " a small island, that would do nicely."

He finally collapsed on the small piece of land. Madge had flown ahead and was now perched on a barrel shaped rock. There seemed to be other strangely shaped rocks too, one even seemed to be shaped like a cup, but it was too dim to make out details, and he was too tired to care. He laid his dripping bag on the ground and laid down on it. His last thought before he fell asleep was that it was a pity that although his bag was waterproof to protect the bow, his clothes were not.

[SoFa]

Near Ljost Lake

She were just wandering around and jumping on spiders when She came over Xuan lying on the ground. Sleeping, which did not seem comfortable at all, he were lying on the god damn ground for gods sake. She decided that she were going to wake him, at first she wanted to do it in a funny way or something close, but because she is a nice person she were not going to do so. after like six or seven minutes of just standing there and thinking she finally concluded that she were going to poke him until he woke up. so she walked closer and sat down beside him, and started poking. One, two, three, four...

when she counted twenty she started to get impatient and just poking harder and harder. after what felt like an eternity. again. he made a noise, but he weren't moving, which made her realize that she maybe hurt him or something near that. so she started Shaking him instead. and now, he were awake, we can just say it that way. ''why are you sleeping on the ground when we have comfortable beds in the town?'' she asked.

[wonderweiss]

Finally, the thugs had moved out. Most of them hiding. The others tried to find bait. One by one, they each looked out for a victim. Finally, one woman had caught their eyes. The lurer walked up to the lady.

"Hey, you! Think you can, ah, help us out?"

"Who are you?"

"Ya see, me an my boys here are kinda in a brush. So, all's ya gotta do is lend some... donations."

"Why, I would never!"

"Yea? Well, we all beg to differ."

A large group came out, a grimacing look in their eyes.

"So... Ya gonna give us them donations?"

"No... no... help!"

She tried to run away, but someone grabbed her.

"NO, HELP!!!"

"Oh, relax, no one ain't gonna hurt ya."

But then a new look of fear crossed her vision. A shadow lurker stood in front of them, growling.

"Hey, git! Can't ya see we're busy here, mutt?"

A voice came from nowhere. "He's here on business as well."

It was a cold voice. Out from the shadows, the Night Lurker came out.

"... hehehe, it's bout time ya got here, Night Lurker."

The Night Lurker looked on. He lifted his hand, pointing at the man. "You. Step away from the girl."

The lady stared, not knowing whether or not to be scared.

"Ha! Or what? What'cha gonna do, huh? Are ya gonna send yer pups out to-"

A man interrupted. "Jeff, watch it!"

A shadow lurker attacked him from behind, making him fall over. The woman ran away, thanking the Night Lurker. She went on home. Jeff got back up.

"Ah, a tough guy, huh?! We'll show you to mess with us!!!"

[S121]

Skógur town - Sidna's house

"No, no. I'm not a spy. I can assure you of that. I found these boots in the forest, on a dead knight. I was impressed by the design, so I kept them.", Azeruk said as they neared the student's house.

As soon as Azeruk and the girl arrived, she then began to talk about her brother and herself, and how she had been having these strange dreams about advanced technology. Upon hearing this, Azeruk's eyes widened in surprise. Could it be that this student was having the same dreams as him? Azeruk was trying to piece some kind of mental timeline, to try and make sense of the information he had been given. The girl began to have these dreams at the same time as Azeruk, two years. Was there some kind of event that triggered the dreams? Were there more than just the student and Azeruk?

"It's alright if you don't believe me and look at me as some kind of weirdo instead. I mean it is something weird.", the student said.

"Yes, I find it weird, but not because of your reasons. The funny thing is, I've been having these.. dreams too. I usually dream of a house with various machines in it. From what I can gather, they work by light, or electricity. The house was capable of talking, and for some reason, my family was there, only that they kept referring to me as 'Jason Stone'."

After a short pause, Azeruk spoke again.

"What do you think this means? It's too much, too uncanny to be a coincidence. It has to mean something.", Azeruk said to the student.

[wonderweiss]

Then, after a while, all of the thugs were taken out by the shadow lurkers. They were either knocked out or ran away.

"... Looks like my job here is done"

Then, out of nowhere, a tiny metal ball flew past him. "Oh, yer job ain't quite gonna finish with yer head on."

Then, two men stepped out from an alleyway: the big man who led the gang and Reggie, the second in command. Reggie was holding a musket.

"How did you get your hands on that?" The Night Lurker asked. "Only knights are allowed to weald those."

"Hehehe... I can't answer that, boy-o."

The big man turned. "Actually, Night Lurker's gotta point. Even I don't know how you got that."

Then, Reggie grew a malicious smile. "Well, I've always wanted to say this, and I suppose that since yer gonn die anyways, you can just kiss my ass an' shut yer trap, Cunnings!"

Everyone but Reggie was confused now, even Night Lurker.

"You wanna say that again, Reggie?"

Reggie got close to Cunnings. "As a matter of fact, I do. Kiss my ass and shut. Yer. Damn. Trap!"

Cunnings went to pull out the blunderbuss, but Reggie knocked it down and hit Cunnings in the forehead. Then, he pointed the musket at Cunnings.

"What's the meaning of this?! Reggie!"

Reggie smiled wide. "Yer time is up, 'boss man.'"

"DAMN YOU REGGIE!!!"

Night Lurker ran to Reggie to stop him, but it was too late. Reggie fired a bullet into Cunning's head. Night Lurker stopped, watching in horror. Reggie charged another bullet and faced Night Lurker.

"Now then... Where were we?"

"What was that... What was that for? You killed your friend... Rather, those moves... They belong to a knight... Who are you?"

"Boy, ain't ya heard of the rougue knight?"

Then, Night Lurker realized the connection.

"How could I not have known. Regenald Bonaparte, rougue night of Skógur. So this is where you hid, mass murderer?"

"Damn right. All you peace keepers... You all sicken me! Sparing lives... I joined cuz I wanted to kill! I wanted to beat the hell outta someone! So one day, I beat a knight that I didn't like... To death. I ran away after that to a town that is renouned for killing!"

"I see. Well then... I hope you don't mind. But I'm bringing you to justice."

"Hehe, I'd love to see you try!"

[bookdragon2000]

Ljost lake

Wen Xuan felt someone poking him and, thinking it was Madge, ignored it, when it continued, he muttered," Stop it Madge...". Just then, that person started shaking him, Madge couldn't have done that having no hands. Wen Xuan woke and waited while his eyes adjusted, still bleary with exhaustion.

''why are you sleeping on the ground when we have comfortable beds in the town?'', the girl asked. Wen Xuan would have mistaken her for a boy due to the dark and her clothes, except her long hair gave her away. Wen Xuan was looking around for Madge to see why she let this stranger approach, she seemed to be missing from her original perch. Wen Xuan sent out a mental call for Madge and started to find a way to respond to the girl. Just then, he noticed the good quality of the girl's clothing. Quality that normal people couldn't get, the same quality as his own clothing.

He jumped to his feet, grabbing his stabilizer and swung it at the girl, sending her staggering back. He quickly reached into the pocket where he stored his arrows and drew out one. Threatening her with the arrow's point in his left hand and the stabilizer in his right, he shouted at her: " What have you done to Madge? How did you people find me?"

[Katrix]

Skógur town - Sidna's house

When Azeruk mentioned that he also had the memories she wasn't sure what she felt. Did she feel joy for not being the only one? Did she feel sorrow for that someone else had to go trough what she was going trough? The only thing she knew for sure was that this was no longer a safe place. She was guessing that they were looking for her since she escaped. Now they had found her, and in addition to that there were others that they might be after. "I don't know what it means. The only thing I know is that after all this time they finally found me. I don't know what you will choose to do, but I have to leave very soon. You are free to do what you want, but know that this might not be a safe place anymore."

She then found a backpack and began to pack what would be necessary while traveling. It was a few books and some food and a rapier. "I'm going to try to find the other remembering persons. Maybe they remember that might give me some idea about what's happening here."

[S121]

Skógur Town - Sidna's House

Azeruk was now confused more than ever. This whole situation was almost like a dream, as if reality was suddenly broken and that his world came to a screeching halt. It had only been about an hour since he met the girl, but within that small amount of time, everything changed. All of a sudden, there was talk about secret organizations, super-rare magic abilities, and strange dreams. The gravity of the situation finally began to affect Azeruk as he leaned up against a wall as his arms went numb.

(Wh.. what the hell is going on!? This can't be happening. What about my home? Could it be possible that they're also looking for me? How would they be able to tell whether or not somebody had the dreams? Perhaps it's that box. Maybe it can.. read whether or not somebody is different. If that's the case, then I'm not safe here. Heck, I'm probably not safe at home either. Do I stay here, or do I go with her? Do I really have much of a choice?)

While the student quickly rummaged through her house for supplies, Azeruk spoke up.

"Well, I suppose I'm coming with you then... If what you're saying is true, then we'll need to get out. If we do leave, we'll have to stop by my house first. I have some things that can help us.", Azeruk said with a serious tone as he looked at the floor.

Azeruk had fought bandits, but nothing like this SYSTEM. If what the student said was true, then Azeruk was in grave danger. He could probably take a small group of SYSTEM's agents, but he wouldn't be able to withstand their power for very long. They would capture him. Azeruk could only imagine the things they would do to him. Were they as ruthless and as violent as the bandits? Azeruk didn't intend to find out.

[wonderweiss]

Night Lurker ran to Reginald at full speed. Reginald, however, primed the musket and fired at Night Lurker with near perfect accuracy. Night Lurker was only shot in the arm. Reginald tried to prime the musket, but Night Lurker was too fast for him. He kicked the musket out of Reginald's hand and punched Reginald in the stomach. Reginald stepped back.

"Yer a good one, fightin' a knight like that."

"You are no knight. You are nothing more than a killer."

"Yer damn right. Now then, do me the pleasure of dying!"

Reginald went into fighting stance. He threw a punch at Night Lurker. Night Lurker grabbed the punch and aimed to kick Reginald. Reginald, however, foresaw this. He used his free hand to block the kick and kicked Night Lurker's stomach. This, however, did not budge Night Lurker. He returned the favor by twisting Reginald's fist, making him lose balance. Then, he did a sweep kick and knocked Reginald to the ground. Reginald had did a spin kick to loosen the grasp his opponent had. Reginald got up and backed off.

"Now what was that? I shot you and kicked you in the stomach, you should be wallowing in the floor by now!"

Night Lurker did not answer. Reginald was getting furious.

"Alright, if I can't get to you by hurting you... then let's see how you feel when I get the innocent!"

He quickly picked up the musket and aimed it at a passing civilian. Night Lurker tried to get to Reginald, but he couldn't make it in time. Reginald fired.

An icicle popped up out of nowhere and stopped the bullet. Reginald turned to see Night Lurker with his palm facing towards the icicle.

"... So, it's about time you took me seriously."

"I cannot let you hurt the innocent. I have no other choice."

"Alrighty then... I ain't goin' easy neither!"

Then, a vortex of fire spun around Reginald.

"... I see. So I guess I had a reason to feel uncomfortable around you. I thought it was just your bloodlust... no. Your fire has just increased my uncomforting feeling. I can tell you haven't used it in a while. No matter. I will stop you and turn you in."

"Hehe... good luck, vigilante!"

[Katrix]

Skógur town - Sidna's house

When Azeruk said that he would follow her she felt a bit more at ease. Now she didn't have to do everything herself. "I don't think we ever introduced each other. Nice to meet you, I'm Sidna. What's your name?" she said while continuing to pack her backpack. "Looks like we have to go back to the arena. I forgot "something" there." The next things she did was to write a letter explaining why she was leaving and that she would probably not return. She then hid it in a special case. If her friends came over to look for her they would know where the letter was.

When she was done packing she left the house. She looked pack one last time before heading towards the arena. When she reached the arena she immediately found the bow and went towards the edge of the town. When she reached it she turned to Azeruk. "Lead the way. We better be careful tough it may be that they are already waiting."