Chapter 34

The Weapons of Light

“I see that you’re finally up now. Ness said that you need to stay here and rest and not to go to Dalaam” Tracy firmly told Mike as she saw his eyes were open.

“To be honest, I can’t right now anyway, so for once I think I can keep that promise” Mike replied as he saw Tracy in her Escargo Express uniform. “I guess you’re going to work soon.”

“I just got back from a late shift. Someone wanted something deliver late last night so I had to work” Tracy stated as she put a glass of water on the table near the couch Mike was laying on. “Once you can move again, I would suggest trying to drink this at least.”

“Thank you.” Mike said to himself as he still could not even lift his head up. “Looks like the after effects of that are still going on. Oh well, at least I’m living right now. I’m just wondering how I was able to withstand that attack without being killed. After all, it did kill Atlas. I guess I’ll be able to answer that question one day. At least if I die now, Ness knows everything I know” Mike sighed to himself while those thoughts were running through his head. “I wonder if he’s over what I told him. About the weapons, about the alien language I was someone able to read for that one moment, about the Fates and how they really work, just everything has gotten hectic since that day I guess. Maybe we’ll be able to win if we can get those weapons on our side. We have the abilities to win, but not the power. With those, maybe we will have the power to land the final blow. I know these things just won’t be in the open though. Something or someone has to be guarding them. Otherwise they would have had those weapons long ago.”

Mike tried to move his right arm to at least get the glass of water Tracy had set down for him. “What a great way to spend my birthday, bedridden and unable to move. Go figure” Mike thought sarcastically to himself as he still could even feel the majority of his body. “I just wish I had telekinesis for once so maybe I could get a drink right now.”

“Here let me get that for you” said a voice about five minutes later when Mike was trying to fall back asleep. It was a deep voice but Mike didn’t seem to notice much as he was starting to fall into dream land as he felt some water going down his throat.

Mike quickly opened his eyes to see a man sitting next to him trying to get Mike to drink the water Tracy had set down for him. He had a nice face with a smile and black hair. That was all Mike could see from his current view. “I guess you must be Ness’s dad huh” Mike said softly.

“Yes, I am. Where is my son anyways? I just came in to find you here laying down here instead of my son” said Ness’s dad as he started to get up.

“Dalaam with the others, I guess he has told you about the current situation, or at least as much as he knew when he last talked to you.”

“Yeah he has. I see that everyone is still alive right now.” Ness’s dad started to approach the couch again after moving his suitcases a little, that’s what Mike heard at least. “Let’s try and get you up now. Here let me take your hand…” said Ness’s dad as he started to grab Mike’s hand.

“Oh shit! Don’t touch my…” Mike thought to himself in panic as Ness’s Dad reached for his hand to try and pull him up. The next ting Mike heard was a loud scream and a tremendous thud against the wall. Ness’s dad had been thrown against the wall by some unknown force.

Tracy quickly ran down from her room to see what the loud crash was over. “Daddy, when did you get home?” said Tracy with a surprised look that her father was home for the first time in a while.

“Just recently honey. Would you be so kind as to grab one of those horns of life Ness has told me about.” Ness’s Dad didn’t seem to be in much pain oddly enough even went into the wall quite hard, since he was still in the wall.

“Sure Dad” Tracy said as she quickly went up to Ness room to grab a horn of life. Once Tracy got back down and used the horn of life on her father, she turned to the couch to see Mike breathing very heavily and seeming to be going through some sort of intense pain. “Mike, you going to be okay?”

“I’m fine. Your dad just happened to touch my hand to try and pull me off the couch. Well, I do wear gloves for a reason, and I don’t have my gloves right now because a certain incident vaporized them. Anyways, those gloves contained my massive level of energy these crest seem to admit when touched by someone for a certain period of time which seems to be those seconds. It delivers a massive shock to whoever is touching my hand at the time. Sorry I didn’t warn you but there wasn’t enough time” Mike quickly apologized as he tried to get up to help out, but still couldn’t move.

“Thanks for the warning Mike” Ness’s dad commented sarcastically as he started to get up after eating the horn of life.

“I didn’t think anyone would try to move me right now because I’m so weak right now. I didn’t know that Ness’s dad was coming so I didn’t think to warn anyone since Ness said not to touch me” Mike replied as he fell right back asleep.

“He doesn’t seem to be doing all that well does he” said Tracy as she let go of her father who seemed to be able to walk on his own.

“Well, that’s to be expected as I can see his body looks pretty damaged. I wonder why Ness never used a horn of life on him” said Ness’s dad as started to walk towards Mike. Again to get the spilled glass of water and try and get some more water for Mike.

“He did. That was level of Mike’s injuries and why he can at least speak right now. Otherwise, he might be in hospital for six months recovering” Tracy quickly replied.

“I hope the Ness and everyone else is alright then. I don’t want to see anyone go through something like that let alone see them in this state again.”

In Dalaam, everyone inside the palace dining hall was on the edge of their seat just wanting Ness to start to speak up so they may finally get some honest answers, for once. “I believe I need to start things off here. First off, Mike says he’ll be just fine he just needs another day and he should be like new again. Now on to the true purpose of everyone being here, I see Poo and Tom have both heard of these weapons.”

“Yeah, we have. I thought they were only legends though. If they are here on Earth, then why are they only here and not spread throughout the universe, and who could have smith those weapons. If they are as powerful as the tales I’ve been told say they are, then we never had the technology on this planet to even construct the slightest part of those weapons” Poo interrupt stating his point against the existence of the weapons of light.

“This CD I have here seems to prove that they exist. Wherever Mike got something like this from is beyond me but I know that we have it and it may prove to be invaluable. I haven’t investigated this CD much nor has the Apple Kid. I want Mike to be around when we do. Anything that can give us even a slight chance in this war I would like to take right now. Everyone here remembers what just happened two days ago right. Well, let’s be honest. Casie, you almost died. Mike was nearly tortured to death. Most of us came out with more injuries than entire professional sport teams. We lost a Mana Beast. Not to mention that we just proved we are no match for the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse if they ever reach full strength again. Mike told me he thinks that’s what is going to happen. They now know they can beat us and easily. Our most powerful Fates, moves, Psi techniques, and powers had almost no effect on any of them unless it was extremely intense. Can we really afford to pass up a shot like this to try and get these weapons while we a have a chance right now? I don’t care if they exist or not. I say we try anyways because…what do we have to lose?” Ness firmly declared as he sat back down. The king started to speak immediately afterwards.

“Well, those were strong words Ness. These weapons of light have been spoken of in legends before, but not many. The many religions and lores of the world have forgotten about these weapons. These reason are many, the main is that most cannot believe that weapons do not exist. They say that it is impossible for such weapons with such power to exist and not have been found already and misused. I must tell everyone here that even the Apple does state that they even exist. In fact, I think you already hold the scroll that tells all in that area.”

“Oh my God!” Casie thought to herself after the king’s latest statement. “You mean the scroll Mike found and then seemed to be able to read. That’s when he fell into his coma and what started this entire adventure. You are saying that the details of the weapons of light are held in a scroll that we can’t even read!”

The king calmly continued his explained after Casie’s outburst “Yes, but there are other legends that discuss their existence as well, the most detailed one is actually form an anonymous source which was supposed to give their exact locations and details on how to find them. No one has seen those documents for hundreds of years though, or that’s what we have been told at least.”

“What do you mean that’s what we’ve been told?” Paula questioned as with an intrigued look.

“Paula, have you ever wondered why the Horsemen of Light are even all on one single planet of a probably underdeveloped race compared to the rest of the universe. Why humanity? Why not someone else?” There was a long dead silence. No one could answer the king’s question. Why were four humans chosen for this task? If more intelligent life existed, wouldn’t they be better equipped to handle such a task? The silence was absolute. Everyone was deep in thought, unable to conjure an answer. An answer to his question would explain why the weapons of light were on Earth.

“To be honest, I don’t think we can answer that question nor are we humans entitled to” Jeff stated as he finally broke the long silence.

“I guess you are right, Jeff. How can we humans answer such a question, so let’s just concern ourselves with the matter of finding those weapons” said the king. “In case everyone was wondering, here are the documents that tell of the weapons of light” as the king ended his statement, he threw parchments that were rolled up and had a ring around them to hold them into place. Poo quickly took off the ring and saw that the parchments had an ancient writing on them, Dalaam’s first language. It was an early form of hieroglyphs, a set that every student in Dalaam was taught how to read so they could learn about Dalaam’s past first hand. Since Poo was Dalaam’s crown prince, he was especially fluent in the language.

“Poo, you can read that!” Ryan said as he was wondering why Poo started to read the papers at a high rate of speed.

“Of course, this is an ancient language used by our country’s founders. Everyone in Dalaam knows how to read this. I haven’t seen anything foretelling of…” Poo’s jaw dropped as he started to shiver like he was in the arctic. “Shadow King…Shadow King…” these were the words Poo kept saying over and over again repeatedly.

“Poo, quit doing this! You’re scaring everyone” Casie yelled as she slapped Poo across the face and hard. It did not stop Poo from uttering those two same words over and over again.

“Whatever was written on those pieces of parchment was so shocking that it even broke through Poo’s mental barriers and has brought him to a dumbfounded state. Whatever he just read, must be shocking” Tom thought to himself as he just could not stop looking at Poo. “Well, there only one way to snap Poo out of this. Everyone stand back, I need room to work” Tom commanded as everyone backed up. They knew Tom was not one to be messed with when he got a serious look in his eyes. “Poo, don’t hate me for this” said Tom as he did something so quick to Poo that he fell over in an instant. His face went from an expression of shock to one of pain.

“Tom, what did you just do to him?” Dave questioned as he saw Poo lying on the ground wondering what Tom had just done to snap Poo out of his recent state.

“Oh, nothing complex Dave, just a swift kick to the groin” everyone in the room got a look of disgust and pain on their faces once Tom finished. “What, it’s quick, decisive, and let’s be honest, effective for getting someone out of that state Poo was just in.”

“You didn’t have to use something that painful though” said Ness as he sat back down. “Poo, what was that you were rambling over and over again?”

“The Shadow King, five hundred years ago he was the greatest martial artist in the world. He was the founder of both the shadow arts and Mu. He was the one who founded the Shadow techniques. He only had three students, and was a renowned throughout Dalaam for his teachings. He is the reason why Dalaam is prosperous as it is today” Poo explained while his voice went down an octave over time.

“For what purpose were you saying his name then?” Dave questioned.

“At the end of that scroll, it was signed by him. It confirms the existence of the weapons of light and that the one who taught him made them. A very wise person who could seemingly do anything, his master gave him riddles as to where these weapons are.

“One, the liquid that becomes solid can be found with the wise.

“The wise can find hers where you can see time flow.

“Time can find his where the final lies.

“Power can find his where not even the brightest of suns can shine.

“Those who hold these can call upon the ultimate to make the invincible bend to our laws.

“I would say that they do exist. Anyone here good at solving riddles like this because all I’m getting from this is that Ness was the only horsemen not mentioned so I guess his is the first riddle. I’m also guessing that Casie’s and Ness’s weapons can be found together. Why, I haven’t a clue.”

“Well then, I say that’s what the disc is for. Someone might have solved those riddle and stored the solutions and location of the weapons onto that disc.” Nolan’s educated guess seemed to be right, as that would explain everything about that disc, especially what Ness said about the information being on that disc.

“Well, that explains the heavy encryption on the thing then. We need to get to a better computer than what the Apple Kid has since the lab is being used for experiments today at Snow Wood. Anyone know of a place where we can find a supercomputer, preferably” said Jeff.

“Mike’s house, the doctor gave Mike a holographic battle simulator which required a supercomputer. It should be fast enough to give us the data that we need. Not to mention some training if we want it” Tom said as he started to get up.

“It’s decided then. Since it’s starting to get late now in Onett, since I decided to get up a four in the afternoon, let’s get some sleep then go to Mike’s house. Mike should also be all healed up by that point as well. I just hope he hasn’t gotten into any trouble down at my house while I was gone” Ness said as he started to walk off to the guest room area.

In Onett by Ness’s house during the dark of night, three trees fall in the background and a body in the shadows can be seen running through the woods just ahead of the trees. “Darn it, why did he have to touch my hand. I have no gloves and the energy flowing through my hands is like five hundreds volts of electricity. I’m surprised it didn’t kill Ness’s dad. Why did my sword ever put these accurséd marks on my hands the second I was able to touch it without an electric shock. I shouldn’t have to wear those gloves for all of eternity. Should I fear touching another with these hands in fear of killing them. It only takes a three second touch without those gloves on to send that power right through their body. Even these trees fall scorched to ground from my mere touch. Maybe the last sanctuary, if I ever find it, will rid me of these marks.

“Tomorrow Ness will come with everyone to discuss the weapons of light and their locations. We must be ready to fight for those weapons. If they have not been unearthed yet, there must be a reason why. They are probably protected by some great force. Everything we know will be on the line in just five short days, when the Horsemen of Apocalypse shall reach their full potential. Even at this distance, I can feel Godan’s power increasing exponentially by the very second. I should not be able to feel him from this far away.” The body’s thoughts could be heard by any telepath nearby. There in the background still, another body can up into a small light to see her blonde hair. It was not Paula though, and it was not Casie since her hair is black but it was definitely a girl. If it wasn’t Paula, then who was it?

Chapter 35

Act Two: The Quest Begins

Around six a.m. the next morning in Onett time, Ness and the others arrived in Onett through teleportation and about a half-hour later, arrived at Mike’s house.

“Ness, didn’t you say that Mike was at your house?” Nolan said.

“Yeah, but something tells me he’s already back at his home” Ness aid as he knocked on the door. The door quickly flung open to reveal that Ness’s hunch was right as Mike was the one who opened it.

“About time you guys showed up, I was able to move again at around ten o’clock last night and I’ve been waiting since then” Mike said as everyone walked inside the old Minch house. Ryan was about to shake Mike’s hand for coming home safely but Mike quickly drew it away. Ryan quickly saw the gloveless hands and did not say a word. “I know what this is about, so let’s cut the small and head straight downstairs” Mike said as he quickly ran downstairs.

“He sure can make one heck of a recovery. I hope Mike can explain things just a little bit better about these weapons and where and what they are” said Jeff as he and the others went into the basement.

“Computer on” Mike said as he went from extremely hyper to serious in a matter of a second. “Ness, the disc.”

“Oh here, what good is going to do you without something to break the encryption though?”

“Well, I guess I hadn’t thought about that one” Mike replied with a cheesy grin on his face.

“Classic Mike, completely absent minded about the most important part of his plans” Nolan said shaking his head in disbelief that Mike forgot about something that important.

“Now what do we do Mike, just wait here for your computer to figure out the encryption on that thing” Paula said shaking her head as well.

“Well, that could take weeks so let’s not do that. I say we…oh crap. I don’t have any ideas. I know this holds the information on the weapons of light. I saw it down at Apple…” Mike disappeared in a blur before he even finished his sentence.

“To get Apple Kid no doubt, I wonder how long it will take him to bring him up here” Poo said as he kicked back in one of the chairs and just looked in amazement at the amount of computer equipment in the room. Everything was covered wall to wall. “Hey Tom, you sure the Dr. Andonuts gave Mike all of this.”

“Yeah, these were just spare pieces of equipment he had and he just rigged Mike up a system. The only thing really advanced about this equipment is the holographic battle simulator. I think Jeff would agree wouldn’t you” Tom said.

“Absolutely, this is mainly outdated stuff my father’s robots built from what he said was three years ago. I mean it is still all remarkably powerful for this age, but it’s nothing compared to what we have at Snow Wood” Jeff answered. Just then Mike reappeared but not with the Apple Kid.

“Darn, the Apple Kid is definitely a genius hands down. This right here should allow my computer to read the disc pass the encryptions” Mike said as he loaded in another disc that he seemed to have gotten from the Apple Kid.

“Not bad Mike, you did that in about two minutes. What took you so long?” Casie said.

“Just some quick chit chat, that’s all. This should only take a moment to install.”

“Anything important we should know about” Dave questioned while leaning against one of the walls without much equipment on it.

“Not at all, just catching up since my capture, and him explaining what that disc I came back with is. Okay, we’re ready to go” said Mike as he grabbed the other disc and loaded it in. A few seconds later, a program appeared on the screen. It read ‘click here to continue’. “Well guys, this is the big moment. Who wants to do the honors?” Mike said as he stepped back to see who would push the button to go on.

“It’s only the pushing of a button Mike. This isn’t that big of a deal, but it will be when we have the weapons in our hands” said a determined Dave as he pushed the mouse button to go on. Immediately after Dave clicked to go ahead, the four riddles Poo had mentioned beforehand appeared right on the screen in front of them.

“One, the liquid that becomes solid can be found with the wise.

“The wise can find hers where you can see time flow.

“Time can find his where the final lies.

“Power can find his where not even the brightest of suns can shine.

Each seemed to lead to something else. “Okay, who want to be the first with their location” Mike said as he was waiting for someone to speak up.

“Mike, let’s go with mine first since me and Casie are supposed to be in the same place” Ness said as Mike clicked on the first riddle, nothing happened though.

“This is weird, nothing’s coming up. It’s showing link but why isn’t it working?” Mike yelled as he clicked over and over again. The next screen that came up after three minutes of this read ‘identify with symbol to access’.

“Identify with symbol, what frickin’ symbol does that thing want!” Mike screamed as he couldn’t figure the thing out.

“It wants to recognize you guys as the true horsemen before you can access the real information I guess” Tom answered Mike as it dawned on Paula like a ton of bricks.

“What about those crests on your hands, Mike? Don’t you have one of those optical scanners or something to use so you can try to confirm yourself or anyone else here as a Horseman of Light” Paula replied as she noticed that those crests might be a link to accessing the true information.

“Not a bad idea, but I’m the only one with things like these!” Mike quickly snapped back as he thought he was the only one with a crest or something of that nature to use.

“I don’t think that’s completely true Mike. You four must have something in common to identify with and a crest would seem like something logical to use. It would take some divine intervention to maybe give you the crests but once given, you four should be able to access the information you need” said Nolan as he noticed Mike starting to get upset as he was getting tired of all the obstacles they had to get over just to make it this far. Nolan also noticed Dave give a brief smile as to signify that he knew something. Nolan didn’t comment on it though.

“I guess well just have figure it out then” Dave replied. “I’m usually silent about the obvious but Nolan and Paula hit it dead on. I was told of a legend as a boy that the savior would be represented by a marking given to him in at first an unknown way. He would only realize what that symbol was once the proper time came. We all know yours Mike. I’ll have to describe to you what those designs on your hands mean I guess” everyone looked at Dave with a dumbfounded look. How could he possibly know what certain symbols could represent? Yes, Mike’s crests were weird looking but, they had a meaning as well.

Now would be the time to describe the markings on Mike’s hands. They were lateral images so that the same image would appear the exact same way on both hands instead of mirror images of each other. In the center of each design there was a weird looking figure. Most would guess a weird symbol for the sun or a star of some sort. The reason was that it was a circle that had a weird pattern of what seemed like flames, like solar flares, being thrown from it. Just outside of that seemed to be what seemed like eight wings set up in a circular pattern. They only looked somewhat like wings though. They had a weird shape to them as if they had some deeper meaning to them than just wings. Finally, in another circular pattern around the wing-like pattern, was what seemed to be something resembling the flow of a river. Mike had no clue what that was supposed to represent. Dave seemed to though. “Mike, those crests on your hands just scream leadership. Let me explain, that sphere in the middle is supposed to represent life itself. The flames that seem to surround in also make that claim as well as rebirth and the flames of intelligence. The wing-like patterns across your hands I know represent your strongest eight virtues, but they mean some else as well but that I don’t even know. Finally, the final pattern that seems to look like a flowing river is actually the symbol of the Horseman of Time. The endlessly flowing river that can repeat its previous flow and ebb but it may not be in the same place. It the inconsistencies shown in the flow show how inconsistent time can be but it how much we rely on it, like water” Dave explained very clearly. Everyone was speechless at how calmly and easily Dave just explained the symbolism behind Mike’s crests. No one was even going to ask how he knew what he did. They just left it at that for that part.

“Yeah, but it said the savior would have one, Dave. Where is yours?” said Poo about two minutes later.

“Like I said, it would be given in an at first unknown way” Dave said as he pulled out his Soul Blade and turned it to the end of the hilt. A design could be seen just covering the entire circular bottom of the hilt. “A modified form of the all seeing eye is on mine. I have no clue as to why it is there or what it means, since the all seeing eye traditionally means wisdom. My mother and father gave this sword to me from beyond their graves in case you were wondering. I tell everyone the complete story later” Dave answered back quickly.

“That’s two down and two to go then. I guess I should go next then” Ness said as he lifted off his hat and turned it to the back. “I think this might be mine. It was never there before and I just noticed this this morning” Ness showed everyone what looked like a weird looking spade in the middle and eight angelic wings coming from the spade on the back of his hat. The crest was tiny but very visible.

“The ancient symbol of courage in the middle and the wings of an archangel, I think that one would be yours Ness. Casie, what about you?” said Dave.

“I don’t think I have one” Casie answered after about a minute of thought. “I just can’t think of something that I have on my body, a weapon, or anything that could represent wisdom.”

After a minute Ryan started looking at the seven foot titanium staff Casie used as her standard weapon. She was extremely deadly with it as it had laser cut blades on the last foot of each end of the staff that would protrude out with the push of a button in the middle of the staff. Casie usually did not use it much as she mainly relied on her powers but Ryan started to look at the gold engraved designs on her staff. Jeff saw Ryan was looking at the staff and noticed the gold engravings as well then it clicked with the two at once. “The staff, the ancient symbol of a wise sage who would give advice and pass down his wisdom to others, that’s it! The entire staff is a crest!” Ryan and Jeff thought at around the same time. Ryan quickly ran up to Casie from behind and grabbed the staff off her back. He then went forward while spinning it like a pro and started to speak. “Casie, I think it was too obvious for all of us to notice. The design running up and down this entire thing is a crest in itself. Let alone the fact that the staff is the tool carried by the wise sages in ancient times or was at least associated with them.”

“Of course, it was so obvious that I didn’t even realize it. My best weapon is a symbol of the wise” Casie thought to herself. “Alright then, Mike, where can we use something to identify with.”

“Casie, the red light to your left is a scanner of sorts. I believe it can identify those crests clearly enough to be used for identification for the disc” said a voice from afar.

Jeff jumped in pure amazement from what he just heard. “Can this thing talk Mike? I didn’t think it was possible for my dad to give some spare parts some sort of A.I., even for him.”

“Well, he did it and let’s just leave it at that for right now. Computer, can you scan Casie’s staff” said Nolan.

“Scanning right now.”

Three minutes later all four horsemen had had their crests scanned into the computer to unlock what information was available on their weapons. Everyone quickly looked at the screen as Jeff had taken over the computer’s operation and started to access every bit of information he could. “Okay guys, it seems maps of the areas are included in these descriptions and the answers to the riddles which clarify the locations. It seems that Ness and Casie are found in the same place for some odd reason. It seems the answer to your riddles was Scarab” Jeff explained as Ness and Casie nodded their heads in conformation as it made sense. A person can see time flow in an hourglass, and there is sand in an hourglass. What better place for sand than a desert, and Scarab is right in the center of one.

“Alright Jeff, could you print up the map the screen is showing then” Ness said.

“Already done” as everyone could hear the sounds of the printer starting up. “Mike, it doesn’t give an exact location but the answer to riddle says this’ as Jeff pushed the enter key Mike saw the answer to the riddle. It said ‘Final Sanctuary’. Everyone but Dave’s jaw hit the floor as they knew what that meant.

“What does that mean guys?” said Dave as everyone realized no one ever told Dave about the sound crystal Mike possessed since he too was collecting ‘Your Sanctuaries’. Tom quickly explained what it meant and Dave’s jaw hit the floor as thoughts started going through Dave’s head, but never spoke them.

“Does that mean that… it’s impossible for Mike to be… I better not say anything until it can be confirmed. Something like that might scare everyone if I’m right. As I’m already frighten by this thought.” Dave was quiet but no one asked why as it was normal Dave to be quiet like that, and heavy in thought.

“My final Sanctuary, finally I can get it. It’s been too long as now we all might be able to tap into the powers of the earth. We might finally get another advantage against those four” Mike thought to himself as he started to ponder where his final Sanctuary could be. There was no map or anyway to find exactly where that final location was. Then something horrible dawned on Mike, “Shit! Ness, were your Sanctuaries guarded by Giygas’ top henchmen like mine were by Godan’s?!”

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Ness replied.

“Guys, this means one of Godan’s henchmen is guarding both the final Sanctuary and my weapon. This is not good” Mike sighed.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. If he would have found the weapon, he would have used it on us by now. I think this might be a task of finding that Sanctuary” Paula said calmly to Mike trying to calm him down.

“Alright moving on now, Dave, I figured this was the location when I first heard Poo say this riddle, but I wasn’t sure. You’re in the Deep Darkness” Jeff said with some regret in his voice.

“What did you just say Jeff?” said Poo.

“You have to be kidding me” Ness replied.

“He has to go there. Dave, I pity you” said Tom.

“What in the heck is the Deep Darkness?” Dave questioned wondering why everyone felt sorry for him.

“It is a swamp area that is extremely lethal to almost all life. We traveled through there to get to the Tenda Village when we were fighting Giygas. The water is so poisonous that just walking through it could kill you. Let alone it is infinitely dark inside of there. All light emitting devices are useless in there as they are just absorbed by the darkness. The only way to see in there is with the Hawk Eye which we still have. There is a problem though. It seems that even some areas cannot be penetrated by the Hawk Eye as I did an experiment a while ago to test its limits. It would seem that the hawk Eye can even only penetrate the darkness so deeply until it is even rendered useless. I have a feeling that you will find your weapon there” Jeff explained to Dave.

“And your point is? I’m a hunter trained in Avalonian magic and all forms of hunting. For me, that will seem like paradise. It will give me a chance to see if I’m as good as I’ve been told” Dave replied with a huge smile on his face. Most people have heart attacks before entering the Deep Darkness but Dave seemed like he was going to enjoy it, not the normal reaction.

“Alright then, I hate to cut this short but I want to get another day’s rest before setting out. That and I need to figure out where my final Sanctuary is at so I’m going to do some thinking and enjoying Onett for once in my life. I would suggest everyone here do the same” said Mike as he quickly hurried upstairs.

“Well, I’m off to go get some food and hang out. Paula, you want to come” said Ness.

“Not right now, I need some rest. I didn’t sleep very well last night” Paula said sitting down looking like she really could need some rest.

“Alright, I’ll be back later. Anyone else coming” Ness needed to say any more as everyone else but Dave had run up the steps nearly tackling Ness. “What about you Dave?”

“I just need some time to think about some things right now. I’ll catch up later.”

“Okay, see ya later” said Ness as he slowly walked up stairs.

In Mike’s basement, only Paula and Dave were left and something seemed up with Paula all day. “I guess you’ve been suspecting it too, huh?” Paula said softly after a minute of silence.

“Suspecting what?” Dave had no clue what she was talking about.

“I had a dream last night about two figures who were battling a gigantic creature last night. One was shown by a white light and the other by a black light.”

“Did you just say a black light?”

“Yes, it was odd though. I’m afraid of the dark by nature, and I did not feel afraid at all as I watched the battle. The darkness that enveloped me as that of the light did was comforting. It was surprising to say the least. The darkness wasn’t as comforting as the light was but still I found it weird. I think it might show part of the future of our final battle with the Horsemen of Apocalypse.”

“True, it probably does. Here’s something my mother told me before she died. ‘Black and white shall unite under one cause and help defeat the ultimate strife. The guardians shall then be joined by others and strike the final blow which shall eliminate the immortal.’ Notice anything strange about that.”

“Not really.”

“Notice the words guardians with an ‘s’. Not the singular word guardian.” Once Dave had said that it hit Paula like a ton of bricks, now she knew what Dave was thinking about and it made sense. The one word in what Dave had said changed Paula’s entire perspective on what was going on.

“If there are two guardians, that means are two…” Paula thought to herself constantly as she just sat there in shock. Maybe they had a chance after all of winning this war.