Irulia: The Spirit Changers Quest

[DeletedUser31931]

As the group prepared to discuss it suddenly they all hit the floor. "You should listen to the boy, he told the truth. Take the main bridge and find me. Do no derail or I will come again, and remember, I can hear all your thoughts, your doubts, your disbeliefs and every flaw you have. To be a true Spirit changer you must leave behind your flaws, and your doubtingness and follow the truth and protect those. Come to the plains east of Enylia to find me. You must find me. Come...." Leo staggered to his feet and said, "Woah, that was... impressive. I think we should go guys. This way." He finished speaking and he set off at a walk towards the bridge, there would hopefully be a hut where they could rest up for a couple of hours at this end of the bridge.

 

[Apelatia]

Lecta was walking along with the others when Leo had fallen to the floor, clutching his head. Once his painful experience had ended he rolled upright. "Guys, I just heard a voice in my head, I think it was the Ultimate one, he told me to go to the plains of Enylia."
Leo had began to suggest the different ways they could take to get to the plains, when suddenly, they had all fallen to the floor. A voice spoke to all of them telling them to believe what Leo had said, and that they should take the main bridge across the Wetlands. What the voice said next pressed on Lecta's mind.
Do no derail or I will come again, and remember, I can hear all your thoughts, your doubts, your disbeliefs and every flaw you have. To be a true Spirit changer you must leave behind your flaws, and your doubtingness and follow the truth and protect those.

After this, Leo had simply walked off. Lecta decided it would be best to follow Leo, since after all, he did seem to one of the more sensible members of the group. Quickly hurrying after Leo, he wonders which of the other members of the group would dispute that the voice really was the Ultimate One, and not just some trick of the Demon Changers...

 

[DeletedUser35174]

Arthur dropped to the ground once the voice hit his head. "ohhhh, that was nasty" he groaned after the voice had finished saying what it had to say. Clutching his head he looked up and said in a comical voice "hey ultimate one next time a warning or something before you go into my head, Ive got some private stuff in there". Grinning at his own joke he stared at the others. " so Leo you say there are different ways to get to the plain of Enylia where ever that is. I say we go through Heldon" he contributed to the group. Inside Arthur was jumping up and down with joy. Heldon was his home. In there he had the upper hand, already he was plotting a joke to pull on Mandan which might end up with Arthur's head on a pole. That was the fun part of it.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Upon hearing Leo's claim that he'd just heard voices within his head Sera looks worriedly at Mandan as he lent against a nearby tree before deciding to speak "Are you sure? You didn't hit your head or anything back in the tunnels did you?" she asked knowing that hearing voices was never a good thing even for a spirit changer.
However before she could question him any further an agonising pain ripped through her skull as a voice preceded command that she went to the plains of Enylia "You can't be serious" she said somewhat incredulously as several of the others seemed to simply accept what they had been told even going so far as to change direction "how do you know its him? it could be them trying to lure us somewhere so that they can ambush us again...No I am not going, I am not falling for that" she said defiantly, she knew what the others called her behind her back; stupid, naive, gullible...Princess but she wasn't that naive and she certainly wasn't going to fall for such an obvious trap. Pausing long enough to look at the faces of the others to see whether or not they had come to the same conclusion as herself Sera turns and carries on walking.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Mandan fell against the tree as his mind, his sanctuary, was invaded. Truly angered now, particularly as the others stated to agree with this invader of privacy, he readied himself to speak, only to have Sera say what he was thinking. They knew nothing of the man that had spoken to them...why should they blindly trust him? Telling them to go to a specific location was suspicious at best. Coming from what they'd just been through with demon changers, it was downright foolish to go to the plains. Without a word, he swept after Sera, making his thoughts on the matter clear. He became slightly amused as he realized that she'd opened the door for him to not talk...something she'd done without realizing, obviously, but something he was grateful for nonetheless. With any luck, others would follow them...if not...their funeral.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Seamus looked at Leo with a skeptical sort of look. Voices, right. Maybe it was real voices, but it was more likely to be a stress hallucination of the audio sort. If it was a real voice, it was most likely a demon changer. As he was about to voice this, he too was struck down by a voice, along with everybody else. It ordered them to follow Leo. Sure it was impressive, but so was putting giant barriers around key strategic locations. The new boy and Arthur seemed to think it was the ultimate one, and followed Leo. As Seamus was about to voice his concerns, Sera did that for him.

"Praise the gears there's someone else with sense," Seamus silently muttered. As the quiet guy followed Sera, Seamus turned to the remaining members of the group, those still undecided. "I was taught that the ultimate one didn't hurt. I don't know about you, but that thing hurt a lot; it brought me to my knees. If I remember correctly, the demon changers wanted to hurt us. Since that hurt us, I am forced to conclude that the voice is a demon changer and is not to be trusted. You may do as you like, but as for me, I will not be persecuted by the demon changers." Seamus turned around with a flourish of his coat and followed Sera and Mandan.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

As the group walked off in the other direction Leo spluttered, this couldn't be happening. He knew in his head that it was the Ultimate One who had appeared in their head. A being of great power, and great rage at times when he was insulted or disobeyed, why were they ignoring this clear sign. However, it appeared that fate thought so too. Five red sets of glowing eyes appeared at the edge of the trees where Sera was heading. Lecta recognised it immediately "The shadow beasts guys, run!". The first one jumped out, it was a mix between a bear and a wolf, having the strength of one and the speed of the other it was colossal, the group had no choice but to run or die. It appeared as they ran that they were being herded through the forest. No-one had time to turn and fight or do anything fancy as if they had, the shadow beast would have hit them before they did anything. As the reach the edge of Holsteath Wetlands though, Sera began dropping behind, her stamina failing. But just before a shadow beast could lunge to take her a ball of water shot out of nowhere and smashed into the beast. Two people ran out a girl and a boy their age who Leo obviously recognised. The first beast went down whilst a small wall of earth raised that the beasts crashed into and sent them flying. Then, they both ran up to a shadow beast and slashed it through a small spot in the roof of their heads. Leo followed this and ran at one, jumping up and stabbing it in the head to then double jump to the other and kill that one too. He landed again and turned to the pair and said "Samuel, Donna, what are you doing here? I thought you were headed to Lake Irulia first?"
Samuel shook his head and spoke to Leo and the group "After you guys were taken we and two other groups got pulled aside and due to their worry for it all they broke the rules and told us where to find the Ultimate One. We need to head to the plains west of Enylia they said, that's where his base is, in a cave not a days walk from the city. And well, since no-one can get back into the citadel, you might as well tag along with us, I mean you save yourselves a lot of effort." Leo stood there and said nothing, he didn't want to be too smug but he really felt it, see, he had been right that it was the Ultimate One. He glanced around and saw that by some miracle all the group was still there and that they were now on the edge of Holsteath Wetlands.

 

[Apelatia]

The group had seemed to be parting ways, Lecta had looked back and seen that the pretty girl, the quiet guy and the healer were all heading in a completely different direction to himself. They obviously believed that the voice they had heard was some evil Demon Changer trying to lure them into a trap.

Then, he saw them. Those horrible eyes... They were evil in the purest form. Thinking it over in a split second, Lecta wrestled with the idea of fighting them, only for his desire to escape to overcome him for the second time in a short space of time. "The shadow beasts guys, run!" he shouted. Everyone had ran for their lives, not knowing what else to do. Try as they might, though, the monsters seemed to be able to outrun them. Looking back, Lecta saw that the pretty girl's stamina was running out, that she was falling behind. Just then, a girl and a boy had appeared from absolutely nowhere and had slain the mysterious beasts with a little help from Leo.

Leo seemed to recognise these newcomers, calling them Samuel and Donna. They seemed to be Spirit Changers too, since one of them had fired a ball of water at the beasts.

These newcomers seemed to want to take charge of the group, having told them that they should tag along with them to the Plains of Enylia, which was where they had been told that the Ultimate One dwelt. The Masters had taken them aside with two other groups and told them where the Ultimate One was! What would happen next? An alliance with the Demon Changers???

"I think that a group this large would attract too much unnecessary attention. All of us travelling together is a really bad idea." Lecta stood there and gazed at the horizon, trying to think if joining this group was a good idea after all. "We really should get some rest... I'm exhausted!" he remarked to nothing in particular.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"He...he's right..." Sera panted, doubled over with her hands upon her knees as she tried to catch her breath; she wasn't sure why they had run rather than trying to fight them but they had and now she was exhausted, long distance running having never been her forte "...we'll be sitting ducks if we all stay together" she continued knowing that it would be far easier for seven to go unnoticed that and the fact that despite them having come to her aid she didn't trust Sam an Donna.
Although she had seen Donna around the girls dormitories and no doubt had heard her laughing at her from the other side of a door and so knew she was a fellow Spirit changer her suspicion’s that they were in danger of walking into a trap refused to go away "So what do we do now?"

 

[DeletedUser31931]

"So what do we do now?"

Leo listened and thought. He'd spent a reasonable amount of time studying the maps before they'd left. "Guys, we could head to a travelling station, one of those things that are set out for merchants, if I remember rightly there's one at the end of this bridge. It's probably just a small shack, but it'll have a map and a place where we can light a fire so I suggest we go there. Anyone have any other suggestions? If not then let's get going." He stood there and tapped his foot, he didn't like being out in the open now, especially considering that they'd just been attacked.
He wondered why the Ultimate One had only spoken in their heads earlier, and not appeared in front of them. He had been known to appear in front of candidates looking for him before, or so rumour said, so he wondered why the Ultimate One had not appeared. But things would probably be explained with time, it was not his place to question afterall.

 

[Apelatia]

Lecta listened to Leo telling them about a travelling station that he believed was at the end of a bridge, where they could rest and light a fire. Rest and heat sounded good, but he was wary of the fact that Leo seemed to think himself as leader of the group. Weren't the Spirit Changer groups meant to be mini democracies, deciding together where they went next, not one person dictating? Maybe joining this group had been a bad idea after all. But, that aside, his mind was starting to wander a bit... "I think we should go and rest in this 'travelling station' that Leo has suggested. I'm exhausted. We can talk about what to do with the group over the campfire."

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Leo took the silence of the group for agreement. "Ok then, I think it's this way." He set off with the rest of the group in tow. It took about half an hour to find the travelling station. It was a small log hut, with a couple of comfortable chairs and three double beds and two single beds. There was a grate with a couple of logs in it and a tinder box. Leo got a fire going a drew up chairs. He addressed the entire group with a question "Do we want to discuss our next move now or in the morning?" He stood there and waited for replies.

 

[DeletedUser35174]

Arthur whistled throughout the entire journey to the travelling station. The travelling station was a small hut with comfrotable chairs and three double beds and two singles. Once inside the hut Arthur threw his bag on top of a bunkbed and called it his own. Leo then asked the group if they ough to discuss their next move or wait in the morning. "All I'm thinking about is sleep, so i couldn't care less what y'all decide" Arthur replied and headed to one of the double beds, "oh and whatever you decide make sure it includes Heldon Forest" Arthur added while he eased into the mattress.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Mandan ignored Leo's question about whether or not they should talk. Looking around, he saw Arthur had already claimed one of the double beds. That left both of the singles for him to take...but...the girl...the one whose name he didn't know...she'd likely want one of them, as she didn't seem to get along with anyone, and he wasn't up for an argument...he hadn't said a word yet, and he wasn't going to break his silence to fight over something so trivial in the long run. Out of all of them, he trusted her the least...something about her just seemed...wrong. Therefore, being in the bed next to her wasn't a good option. However...that meant he'd be sharing a bed with someone...that wasn't good either. He didn't know the boy that had joined them earlier...Leo annoyed him...Arthur moreso...the overly cheerful boy...Seamus, he'd called himself, irritated him. That left Sera, and he wasn't sure about that either. Despite the fact he was comfortable training with her, the girl was clearly intimidated by him. Besides, he wasn't sure about the idea of sharing a bed with anyone...maybe it would be better to take the other single...

Eventually, he decided he'd just have to wait and see what happened...if the one girl didn't want a single bed he'd take one in an instant, but otherwise...well, he'd cross that bridge when he got there.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"We didn't really have a plan to begin with" Sera muttered quietly as she entered the log cabin, selecting one of the chairs at random and sitting down.
The walk hadn't been too strenuous but after their head long flight through the undergrowth both her feet and knees were killing her "Personally I think we should find a way of contacting the citadel and warn them of their return...I still don't trust that voice that spoke to us" she said as she removed her boots and massaged the soles of her feet, grimacing at their discomfort as she did so "Also I think we may have an issue with sleeping here because by my count we're a few beds short" she also had no intention of undressing with so many boys around no matter how much they insisted that they wouldn't watch.

 

[DeletedUser]

Rilinea sat down on one of the single beds, she placed her composite bow and quiver on the floor, but kept her poignard on her. It had been a long day. The others were talking, arguing about their movements the following day. Leo had become rather assertive and self-assured, she'd have to keep an eye on him. She didn't join in the discussion, far better to rest. Her mind still was thinking about the Demon Changers. Looking around she couldn't help wondering if she was on the wrong side. She'd have to decide soon, before she reached the point of no return.

 

[Apelatia]

Lecta looked around at the small hut, deciding after a quick scan that he didn't particularly want to be sharing a bed with anyone, especially the horrible girl he concluded. "I'll sleep in the corner, thanks," Lecta said to Leo, unstrapping the two sheaths at his waist and groaning as he lowered himself unto the wooden floor. It wouldn't be too uncomfortable, and after all, he was used to much worse, thinking back to his hard, rough mattress in the citadel. Nature, of course, was where he could find solitude if he needed it. Looking up, Lecta addressed the entire group. "I may have just joined this group here, but I believe that my opinion does matter, since I am travelling with you all. This group is too large. We can't work with these numbers." Lecta gave Samuel, Donna and the horrible girl a quick glance to state his point. "I propose that we split the group in half. Our opinions on whether the voice that intruded into our minds earlier are blatantly divided. If those monsters hadn't attacked, we wouldn't be together here, now would we? It's up to you folks really, but I will be happy with what you can all decide. Our mission is to find the Ultimate One of course, but that voice was just too easy..." Lecta didn't have any reason to believe the voice, nor did he have any solid basis on which to dispute that it was a trick, so he waited to here the opinions of the other members of the group. Maybe that would help him make his mind up...

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"He's right, also if those...people come after us again is it wise for us all to be in one place...you know...eggs and baskets..." she said letting words drift away unsure as to whether or not anybody really cared about what she said.
Deciding to let the others mull over the prospect of splitting the party and more importantly forget about what she had just said Sera turns the conversation to what she felt was possibly a more pressing matter "Do you suppose there’s any food in here, I mean I don’t know about you guys but...I didn't bring any" her voice dropping to an embarrassed whisper fully expecting them to laugh at her for being such a foolish girl as to bring no food, though she'd never expected to be captured so it wasn't really her fault.
Glancing over her shoulder she notices that Rilinea had taken one of the single beds and wonders whether she should try and claim the other only to remain where she was not wanting to cause any trouble "If we do split I'll be happy to head back towards the citadel" she says cautiously voicing her opinion on the original subject, she really didn't trust that voice.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

The next day...

The group went to sleep, still undecided in what to do next. Leo awoke first the next morning. Stirring off the floor, where he'd ended up sleeping, he slipped quietly outside and transformed into a Dove, whereupon he gracefully glided into the sky before beginning to perform a couple of manoeuvres. He began to see something on the distance, and so he switched to Falcon, so that he could see further. He squawked, flapping his wings and nearly turned human out of shock before landing and running in, breathless. "Guys" he said to the hut, some of whom were half awake and some of whom were still awake, but he said it loud enough to wake people. "I think you need to see this. Heldon Forest is on fire."

 

[DeletedUser35174]

Arthur slept slept soundly that night, one hand under his pillow where one of his daggers lay. His bow and quiver was lying on the floor near him. He was awakened when when of the others yelled guys. Ignoring it Arthur still lay in his bed too lazy to wake up. "I think you need to see this. Heldon Forest is on fire." he awoke with a jolt. Heldon... on fire, his home. "no, no, no" he muttered before dashing out of bed grabbing his bow and quiver in the process. Once he was outside he quickly changed into a swift and took to the air towards Heldon at amazing speed.