Union, Chapter 5: No Need for Balance?
Union, Chapter 5: No Need for Balance?
Foreword From NeoPaula
Union turned out respectively different than I originally projected it would. Partially, because I've never seen an IF go to what Union did. Good ol' Union jaded me.
When I first started Union, I figured it might be a good place to try out my new AC, Mira. The only reason I ever designed her was because my other ACs were pretty lame (and took a whole page of outlining to barely comphrehend.) That probably helped the story, since she was developing in my mind just as the story was.
As for the plot itself, I never was quite sure what to post next. I countered that by putting a few odd references to whatever I felt like at the time. Sailor Moon, Zelda, And even a few Phillip Pullman Books. When I really got into it, however, ideas started popping up all over the place in my mind. Some of the most fun I've had in a long time was sitting at my computer, thinking, "So, what happens to Mike today?"
Another great aspect was the writers. All of you were very competent writers, and didn't throw an AC into the fiction just for the heck of it. Even if you did, you managed to play them down a bit. And at any given time, someone had a good idea. It was like, "Nothing's here? Ok, we can work with nothing." And you did.
One thing I found interesting about it was the fact that after about a page or two, it just developed into a rhythm of Rockwell, Anthadd, Luna, Godeg, and myself. Then SimonBob joined. I was thinking, "What?" at his first post, but that 'what' is what gave the story a lighter side that helped it out in the long run. Everyone did a great job, and I had the best of times working on it.
And if anyone wants to know, Clarence was my favorite character.
Luna and company walked along the long, dirt path to Autumns.
"Argg! This walk is impossible for my feet! no one man can stand this sort of pain!" Jeff yelled, exhausted. He promptly sat down, and threw himself against a tree. He missed the tree, and found himself laying in the grass. The other laughed at him, and turned to make a fire and start another meal. After rubbing his head, he turned around and looked up. A figure blocked his way.
"AAA!"
Paula came running over. "What's that?"
Solitude unclipped her computer, and aimed it at the creature that was rubbing its head aginst Jeff's leg, now that he was standing.
She obviously looked confused.
"Well?" Mike said, straining to get a look at the beast.
"Hrmmm....On-Ho. It's an On-Ho, a rare animal breed of horse and lion. What it's doing around here, I have no idea."
Suddenly, it reared up on its back legs, throwing Jeff on its back. With Jeff perched up there, clutching on for dear life, he nudged his head in the way of the temple.
Jeff shook, visibly. "I guess we'd better follow..it..."
SimonBob and Pokey had caught sight of their quarry. SimonBob had shifted down a bit; this terrain was really bad on a car's transmission. Pokey was trying to figure out how he was going to fit through the window. SimonBob suggested that perhaps he should open the door quickly and jump out. Pokey agreed. They drove the final stretch in silence; each anticipating the battle ahead, each thinking of their own plans for the future.
"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yiiii!!!" Jeff was having a difficult time copinith the On-Ho. For one thing, it didn't understand what Jeff kept telling it to do. He had tried "Slow down!" and "Stop bouncing!" several times, as well as "Let me off!" But the On-Ho kept going, faster and bouncier, as though spooked by something near it.
The others were having trouble keeping up, as well. When the On-Ho disappeared around a bend, they followed it, only to find a split in the path, and no clear indication as to the direction Jeff and the On-Ho went. "Great," said Mike, "now what?"
"Maybe we should split up?" pondered Luna.
"Not a good idea," stated Anthadd, "because Pokey might return at any time."
Paula, who had only been half-listening, suddenly screamed "RUN!!" and ran off, down the right-hand path. The others just stood there.
"Run from what?" asked Mike.
Solitude had a sudden flash of fear, and began to run as well, down the right path.
Anthadd and Luna, now a little frightened at the gradual separation of the party, turned and bolted down the left path.
Mike was still wondering where everyone was going when he heard a rumble behind him. It gradually got louder and louder. He could hear the whirring of a motor, and... some kind of music?
SimonBob and Pokey came flying over the trees at Mike! Pokey opened the door and went zooming out towards Mike. When he collided, they both fell over, and Pokey rolled down a small hill.
Mike staggered to his feet. He felt as if he had been hit by a train.
He turned around.
He saw the car, aimed right at him.
He decided groggily that if Pokey could hit like a train, a car would be like several more.
SimonBob, from within the car, savoured the moment of triumph over his opponent. This was it. He hit the pedal. The car sped toward Mike.
Mike felt something tugging from within himself. He knew how to stop the car, all he needed was his friends... he screamed their names, all at once and one at a time, but they were nowhere near there. He couldn't do anything, the fear was so great. The car sped towards him.
SimonBob had trancended his normal state of mind. He was in his deepest level, ready to destroy. Not the mindless destruction that had accompanied him in the Temple of Bob when he blasted out Pokey's troops, oh no, that was much too different. This was destruction with a true purpose. He focused only on the final destination. He wordlessly mouthed a strong, powerful song he knew, one which described the hatred he had within his soul. His eyes went wide, bloodshot, as he came within a second of hitting the fool in front of himself.
The last second lasted forever for attacker and victim. As Mike flipped over the car, he relived the sound again and again in his head. "Whump." That was it, and then he was in the air, watching the world fly around his head, and then the ground rose up to claim him forever...
"What should we do with him?" inquired Pokey.
SimonBob had finally recovered from his ordeal in the car. "...I can sense a power coming from him, far too strong to stop... the best we can do is take him with us, and use him to bait a trap."
Wordlessly, Pokey picked Mike up and threw him in the backseat. SimonBob got back in the driver's seat, put on some light music by some kind of hip hop trio, and asked Pokey, "Left or right?"
Pokey said, "You decide." He knew better than to alienate someone with such a good mode of transportation... for now.
Anthadd and Luna ran. And ran. And ran. (Repeat the previous sentence many times).
By the time they were too tired to run any further, the underbrush had grown so thick, they were not sure from where they'd come.
The sunlight filtered in, very weak, through the tiniest of gaps in the upper growths of the trees.
"Do you know where we are?" each asked the other.
Seconds after this was said, they both realised they might be lost.
Picky struggled against the shackles binding him to the wall. His wrists and legs were bloodied, and sweat drenched his clothes.
His holding place had suddenly suffered a blackout.
Goosebumps rose up on Picky's skin, fear overtaking his hope.
A yellow glow surrounded him, although he didn't know it, and he fell unconscious.
"Where am I?" he cried.
Where he was, was nothingness. Yet it was something. It hurt his head to think about it.
(Picky Minch.)
The voice filled his head, reverberating around his brain, reaching from his fingers to his toes.
"Who are you?"
(Picky Minch...)
"I said, who are you?"
(I am the Apple of Enlightenment. I come to tell you where you are.)
"Then where am I?" Picky demanded.
(You are on Pasiphae, a moon of Jupiter... your brother Pokey has taken you here.)
"Why did he do this?"
(I will show you.)
A mirror suddenly appeared in front of Picky. On his forehead was runes from some long forgotten language.
(Those runes are the mark of Ae Ahl, the Light.)
Picky opened his mouth to speak, but the Apple of Enlightenment froze his face.
Suddenly, the mirror reflected Pokey. Runes appeared on his forehead.
(Picky! Those runes are the mark of Diu Ero, the Darkness!
(Picky! Diu Ero's strength grows! You, and another child, I do not know his identity, must aid a group of the Warriors of Ae Ahl!)
Now, a panorama of Mike, Anthadd, Luna, Solitude, Jeff and Paula was reflected in the mirror. Picky's mouth unfroze.
"But I know two of those people!" He pointed to Jeff and Paula. "They visited my house with Ness once!"
(At any rate, Picky Minch, you must return to Earth, and find this second child, this second child of Ae Ahl!)
"Child of Ae Ahl?"
(There is no more time for me to tell! Even now, Diu Ero must be listening, growing aware of what we speak of! I will send you to Earth, and meet you there!)
The nothingness exploded in a brilliant flash of light, and when the brightness receded, Picky found himself in a foreign land.
It was unnaturally hot, and people flocked around a giant bazaar.
He clambered to his feet, and went over to the bazaar.
"He, hello. Do you know where I am?" Picky asked timidly.
"Of course I do. You're in Scaraba."
Scaraba? Picky thought. But, that's a great distance from Onett...
"Squiyer!" a squirrel cried.
"Is that the same pig-squirrel we found earlier, Luna?"
Luna picked up the squirrel, and put it on her head. Her answer was...
Luna plopped the squirrel with a curly tail, which they had nicknamed the pig-squirrel, on her head, and tried to pry it off. It refused to move, and cuddled down into her long white-gold hair.
"Stupid thing. It's the same one... I wonder why it keeps following us.." Luna grumbled, giving up on trying to pull it off, since it had dug it's little nails into her scalp.
"Best guess is that it wants more of those assorted salted nuts you were eating before." Anthadd said, smiling slightly at the scene before him. "Or maybe you just attract squirrels."
"I seem to strangly attract everything living.." Luna said, sighing, and picking several ladybugs off her arm, and letting them fly off. "I just don't have the heart to kill things I can talk to, I guess..."
"But you'd love to kill that squirrel right now."
"Don't you know I would!" she answered, glaring at the small creature again, before grumbling. "Look, buddy... if I give you the rest of these cashews, will you show us the way to the temple of whats-it-called?"
The squirrel quickly jumped down from Luna's head, to sit on ground, and wait for the cashews.
"Greedy little creature..." snickered Anthadd.
"Here! Take them! Now show us the way to the temple!" Luna said, dumping all the cashews on the squirrel's head. He quickly stuffed them all into his cheek pockets, and started hopping ahead.
"Follow the bouncing squirrel!" giggled Luna, as she and Anthadd walked at a comfortable pace after the pig-squirrel.
It appears as if Mike is unconscious. But that is not so, for he is thinking and pondering various things. Besides, he is very, very tired, and is in a deep, deep sleep. Or something.
** Thoughts of Mike **
Mike - Heh, seems as if i got hit by a bus. I always seem to be here, thinking about stuff. I wonder if anybody even knows what i think about...
Disembodied Voice - Hello Mike.
Mike - Ahh yes, that voice is of a woman. Are you who I think you are?
Disembodied Voice - Perhaps.
Mike - Well, am I dead?
Disembodied Voice - Naw, of course you aren't. Why do you think you're talking to me?
Mike - Good point. So, when should I recover?
Disembodied Voice - You'll know when you should recover. Trust me. You do know that you are in a car, right?
Mike - Of course I do... not. So is that where this music is coming from? It sounds very interesting. Very interesting indeed...
Disembodied Voice - Yes, that's where the music is coming from. You should remember that for the future.
Mike - Very well. Oh right, I do know who you are, but what is your name?
However, when Mike asked that, there was nothing to be heard or seen except for the music.
Mike - Drats. Oh well, I'll just continue thinking until the time is right for me to recover. I wonder how I'll know when that time comes, though...
** Out of thoughts **
Mike was stirring ever so slightly in the back seat of Simon Bob's car. However, the movement was so slight that nobody really took any notice of it. Simon Bob just changed the music from hip hop to heavy metal. "Aww yeeee." The car continued on down the right path, after Solitude and Paula.
"Are you sure this is legal?" Hassan asked Red Snake.
In exchange for free travel to Summers, Picky had to work for Red Snake, proving that his snakes were gentle.
"Doessss it look like I care?"
Within an hour, Picky was entirely covered in Snakes and Vipers.
"G*spits Viper out of mouth*et me out of these snakes."
"You haven't completed a month of hard labour yet, sssslave."
"Red Snake, let him out!"
"No." Red Snake punched Hassan, sending him reeling into a camel, who promptly spit on him [Hassan].
"The man told you to let the kid out."
"Who in the world are you?"
The voice belonged to a man with red hair, and bright yellow eyes.
"Thisss child will remain my ssslave until one passsssssssssing of the moon."
The man muttered under his breath, "But by then, the forces of Diu Ero will have conquered the world. This Child is half the key to unlocking the Union Force, through which we may ebb the nearing of the darkness. But I wonder who the second is."
The man took a step forward, producing about fifty diamonds.
"Will this be sufficient to free your 'slave'?"
"Most assssuredly."
Taking the diamonds, Red Snake called off the Snakes and Vipers.
Sitting in the Great Southern International Resort Hotel, the man and Picky had a conversation.
"Why did you save me? I've never met you before.." Picky said.
"Yes you have." And the man ceased to talk.... in the human sense.
(Although this is not my true form, I retain the powers I hold in it. Picky! Focus your mind in your heart, and form the words there! You are capable of soundless communication, you just haven't practiced!)
(Are... you, you're the... App...le of En...lighten...ment, aren't you...?) Picky asked choppily. Remember, this was his first ever try at soundless communication.
(That I am. Picky, have you ever seen the markings I showed you on your forehead, on the foreheads of any other children?)
(I... can't re...call any...one.)
Meanwhile...
The pig-squirrel had stopped before a lake which halted Anthadd and Luna in their path.
It chittered, and Luna put it back on her head.
"What's it saying this time?" Anthadd demanded.
"It says that the temple is across the lake and... GOOD LUCK TRYING TO FIND IT, SUCKERS?"
The pig-squirrel leapt off Luna's head and ran away.
"At least we know where it is," Anthadd commented quietly, bringing out his Draco Potion.
"What's that for?" Luna said.
"Get some distance from me. Tails and wings can smart."
"Tails? Wings?" Luna was surprised, to hear that. What does it mean? she wondered.
Solitude and Paula were running through the woods, when solitude suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong, Mira?"
"It's..nothing..."
"Ya sure?"
"Oh, I'm fine." She nodded slowly. "It's just...Mike and Rockwell."
"Where are they?"
"Mike and Rockwell are in Limbo right now. They can't be killed; they are part of the union. Only the strenghth of Pokey at full power could kill them."
"Are you serious?"
"Dead serious. Er..no pun intended." She said as Paula chuckled slightly.
"We need to find Anthadd and Luna; they know where the temple is. When we destroy the woodland energy, we can communicate with those in limbo for 2 minutes before order is restored to the universe."
"I see."
"Well, shall we teleport to meet them?"
"I don't know how."
"Oh, ok." Solitude smiled as she grabbed Paula's arm. The two disappeared in a silver cloud.
Solitude and Paula appeared across a long lake.
"Look! There's Anthadd and Luna! But how do we get across?"
Anthadd took a sip of the golden liquid in the vial.
Immediately his form became that of a dragon.
"Get out of the way before my wingsss form!" Anthdragn hissed.
Odd lumps started forming around Anthdragn's shoulder area.
Almost immediately, wings flared out.
Luna fell to the ground, the wings passing just above her, then going back, folding against Anthdragn's body.
After that, a tail forced its way out of his coccyx.
"Climb on. Let'sss fly." Anthdragn said.
Timidly, Luna climbed onto the red-scaled dragon's back, gripping tightly to one of the spikes running down it.
Anthdragn unfolded his wings and flew across the lake.
"Is that who I think it is?" Solitude said, pointing to the reddening figure across the lake, which then took to the air.
A gentle wind began to blow.
"If it's Anthadd, it would have to be. He's the one who went red..." Paula trailed off.
Picky and the Apple of Enlightenment, in his human form, boarded a ship headed for Summers.
(You're sure you don't know who the second child of Ae Ahl is?)
(Yes.) Picky had become better at talking in this manner, or maybe it was just because he wasn't using many words other than monosyllabic ones.
(The children of Ae Ahl often share strong emotional bonds.)
Picky pondered this for a second. Tracy? he wondered. Are you this second child?
Rockwell was standing in the darkness, frozen in the spot. He moved his hand in front of him, but couldn't. He must be caught in a limbo.
<Open your eyes.> said a mysterious voice.
Rockwell tried to say something, but couldn't.
<Think to me, my child.> said the voice.
<Who are you?> Rockwell asked.
<That is not important right now. Open your eyes and see what is in front of you.>
Rockwell opened his eyes and saw a vast desert before him. He shook his head and looked around quickly. It was an endless desert.
"What is this place?" Rockwell shouted, but got an echo.
<This is the limbo. You are not yet dead.>
"Not yet dead? But I was killed! Distenigrated, blasted away, etc, etc!"
<Well, yes. I am aware of that. But, you see, Pokey didn't give his full strength.>
"So, what do I do?" said Rockwell.
<Take the correct path to your freedom. But beware, the wrong path shalt murder you.>
<Oh, the correct path? But all I can see is sand. Endless void of sand. Tell me where to go.>
But no one answered him. He sat on the ground, wishing he had his sword with him. Then a shadow envolped Rockwell. He swung around quickly and came face to face with a woman.
"Hello there." said the woman.
"Who are you?" Rockwell asked.
"Oh, Mike didn't tell you about me? I was talking to him back then. Pleased to meet you, Rockwell."
"How did you know my name?"
"Oh, I know great deal of things. But I have come to tell you something. Your friends have gone to find the temples. But, unfortunately, they were mistaken. There are precisely 7 temples."
"7 temples?" Rockwell said with a dumbfounded look.
"Yes. 7. Of course, there is a person who happened to think that his temple is the 7th one. But he is incorrect. The 7th temple is hidden underground, away from the prying eyes of the pests that walked upon the face of earth."
"Ah. One question."
"What's that?"
"How do I get out of here?"
The woman looked at Rockwell very closely.
"I understand. You need to find the correct path." she said as she waved her hands.
As she does so, 2 bricked paths appear.
"One of them is the correct path. I must warn you though. One of them will be death. It doesn't matter which you pick. Both will have danger awaiting you." said the woman.
Rockwell looked away and at the 2 paths. He turned around to ask another question. But she wasn't there anymore. He kicked the sand with frustration.
"What am I supposed to do? Death is awaiting me. I thought I was going to die! But no.... I had to cheat it somehow..." Rockwell groaned.
He looked at them very carefully. Then he gave up.
"I'll have to use the old tactic that people use whenever people get stumped."
He pulled out a coin and then flipped it.
"Heads, I go to the yellow path, tails, I go to the red path."
Then the coin vanished. He looked around in surprise. He shrugged his shoulders and then went on the yellow path anyway. He decided to contact the group, to see how are they progressing.
SimonBob and Pokey were zooming down the pathway that Paula and Solitude had followed. SimonBob explained the plan again. "Same deal when we find them, okay? You jump one, and I'll hit them with the car."
"What if they don't run this time?"
"Then we get more of them."
They came to the top of a short hill. Below them, Solitude and Paula were staring across the lake.
"Easy pickin's," said SimonBob.
Suddenly, Pokey caught something out of the side of his eye. A large red blob was coming across the lake.
No, not a blob...
"A dragon!" Pokey shouted, pointing to Anthdragn.
SimonBob said in disbelief, "A dragon? You said it was just a bunch of people! Nothing about dragons!"
As they watched, they saw Anthdragn settle down, while Luna slid off his back. Then, Anthdragn reverted to Anthadd. SimonBob's look of horror changed to a demonic grin. "How much would you bet that a transformation like that saps a lot of energy?"
Anthadd fell to the ground, breathing hard. He hadn't thought that it would be that hard to cross the lake. Solitude and Paula ran over, asking if he was okay.
"I'm alright... just let me catch my breath. Then we need to get to the temple, before..."
He was interrupted by a loud HONK HONK! Everyone looked up the hill, to where the car was waiting, like a lion prepared to pounce and make a kill. "Too late," muttered Anthadd.
SimonBob came down the hill at top speed. Even with the dampers in his seatbelt, he felt the speed, as trees rushed by him. He was aiming for Anthadd, knowing that he would be weak after his ordeal. Suddenly, a powerful blast of PSI hit the side of the car. SimonBob braked and swerved to the right, tailspinning into Anthadd, who was just getting up. Anthadd went flying over the back, and landed on his head. He was knocked unconscious.
Pokey came diving out the door at Paula, who had fired the shot of PSI Freeze. In an ordinary situation, Paula would have shot Pokey off with another PSI Freeze, but this was far from ordinary. Pokey had the advantage of weight right from the start, and he had the speed of the car behind him. Paula also fell, unconscious.
SimonBob hopped out of the car and looked over the remaining fighters. On one side, there was himself and Pokey; on the other, Solitude and Luna. Luna and Solitude used all their best attacks, most of which were incomprehensible to SimonBob, but he simply dodged out of the way, always with a dramatic flash of his plaid coat-like shirt. Pokey, in the meantime, kept attacking with dark, shadowy blasts of evil power, but he was much too slow to hit anyone. Eventually, SimonBob decided he was tired of dodging. He shouted "Take THIS!" and opened his plaid shirt. Twin harpoons came flying out of his shirt. One hooked Luna, and the other got Solitude. Pokey, finally presented with non-moving targets, hit them both with the largest blast of power he could muster. They both fell, unconcious.
After a moment, Pokey asked, "Are they dead?"
SimonBob replied, "No. They're just unconscious. But they'll be gone long enough for us to get to the temple and take it over."
"You mean, for me to get to the temple." Pokey suddenly spun around and punched SimonBob in the face, with the evil power he had been wrapping around his fist. SimonBob fell over and found himself unable to move, wracked with the deadly energies. He found enough strength to talk. "Why, Pokey?"
"Well, SimonBob, I don't really want to share my reward with anyone. Didn't you ever learn that? Don't trust anyone." He stepped on SimonBob's head, executed a neat twist, and walked over to the car.
"Hey... stay away from my Chevy..."
"What, this thing? It's not like you need it anymore." Pokey opened the back, flung the still-unconcious Mike out of the backseat, hopped in the driver's seat, and drove off, shouting "Smell ya later, losers!"
SimonBob was fading fast... He couldn't see very well. It felt like an eternity since he had finished the fight... He saw a disembodied face float in front of his eyes. "Are you okay?" it asked.
"Pokey... he took my car... I'm sure he's gone to the temple..."
He heard a voice calling, "Leave him behind, it's more than he deserves..."
SimonBob called out, "No, wait! I'm dying anyway... but listen, I never wanted to destroy any of you... I just wanted to be known." He couldn't see anything anymore, everything was black. Was there anyone out there? "I was ignored for so long... all I wanted was a little appreciation... and I couldn't ever get it..." He began to see a light, moving towards him. "You never knew I had a temple, did you? I wanted you to know that... and now it doesn't matter. I'm dead, it's all over, there isn't any more..." The light enveloped him... his body dropped back limply. He was dead.
"..."
Everyone stared at the place where a SimonBob had just lay.
"It was too late for him, Luna. There was nothing you could have done, even if he had lasted more than a couple seconds." Solitude stated bluntly. "Whatever Pokey did to him must have damaged him enough so that Pokey felt safe leaving him to die."
"I know... but still..." Luna sighed sadly "I guess it's just my good-natured light element shining through again..." she wiped away the last tears, and got up. "Um, guys? Where's Mike?"
"...I regret to say, I don't think they would have dumped him out of the car when they got here..." Anthadd said.
"So he's probably still in that car, with Pokey." Jeff said, grimacing. "I would NOT want to be in his place."
"Get a grip, Jeff. Luckily, you DON'T. Mike does!" Paula snapped at Jeff. "Where's this temple, anyways?"
And suddenly, it looked like Jeff HAD gotten a grip. His eyes had slightly misted over, and he was walking off. "This way..." He muttered.
"...Jeff?" blinked Paula "Where ARE you going?"
"Don't touch him, Paula, he's in a trance of some sort." Solitude said, stepping in front of Paula so she didn't run after him and sock him one.
"So I guess if we follow him, he'll lead us to the temple! Alright! no more squir..." Luna stopped just in time, suddenly noticing that the pig-squirrel was sitting back on her head again. "AAAAAAGH!! How'd you get across the lake you stupid thing!? Get OFF my head!" she yelled loudly, trying to pry the squirrel off. "Grr.. here we go again..." she muttered, running after the others, the squirrel chittering happily about cashews.
The group follwed the tire tracks around Autumns, and with each step the foliage grew thicker. As the tracks submerged deeper into the mud, an aura of calm began to creep up on them.
Solitude pushed her way through a bush, and gasped.
"That's the biggest tree I have ever seen!"
Anthadd looked through, and gaped. "That's....I know this place! This is my temple!"
He ran through, and saw Pokey standing in the doorway. Losing all rational thought, he charged.
As he ran, the pig-squirrel jumped in his way. "What? get out of the way!"
The squirrel shook his head. Luna nodded grimly. "He wants nuts."
Solitude glared at the little critter. "Look, you, I have no time for you innocent games! Remove yourself, or I will remove you!"
The squirrel grinned cheekily. "Augh!"
Solitude ran up to the squirrel, nudged it aside with her foot, and grabbed her bow in one fluid motion.
"We lost a lot of time! Someone, power up an attack!"
Paula nodded slowly. "Gotcha!" She held her hands together in a silent prayer. A mysterious blue aura formed around her, and she snapped her eyes open to reveal ice blue retinas.
"PSI Freeze Omega!" At the same time a ball of ice flew from her open palms, Solitude shot an arrow. The two merged, and the top of Solitude's arrow now had a ball of pure crystal ice attached to it.
It connected squarely in pokey's right shoulder blade, and he literally froze.
"Good thinking! Now run in and destroy the Falling Temple Energy!"
The energy of the Falling Temple surrounded the group.
"Where's the source of the energy?" Solitude cried. "We can destroy the energy as it comes, but that's no true solution!"
Anthadd closed his eyes, focused on the power inside him, and yelled, "Pavo Sight!"
The mark of Ae Ahl appeared on his head. The constellation of Pavo was outlined on his body, forming a peacock, then immediately disappearing.
Pokey inexplicably unfroze.
"What? Another skill?" Pokey was dumbfounded. "This boy can manipulate the stars. But I can too."
"It's over there!" Anthadd cried, pointing in the direction of the innards of the temple. "Go! I'll hold them off!"
The others hesitated, but after a stern glare, rushed into the inside.
"So. You think you can use the powers of Stellar for evil, Pokey?"
"And you think it's right to use them for good? The Diu Ero grows stronger by the day."
"But the powers of Ae Ahl become stronger, too. Sagitta Halt!"
With the villain frozen, Anthadd ran through the temple to join his companions, knowing that Sagitta Halt would wear off.
But he didn't know when.