Fan Fiction ❯ Stolen Prayer ❯ All Hell Breaks Loose ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Come on, give me a break! Actually you know what? I DID say I wasn't gonna repeat myself! So I won't! I don't own LOD and I never will! There! I will not repeat it again! ^_^

A/N: …Yay for chapter three…

Stolen Prayer

Chapter Three- - All Hell Breaks Loose

Dart eased up on the reins as he came to the outskirts of Bale. A lone gravestone was shaded underneath the protection of a gnarled oak tree. Dart patted the horse, his eyes occupied on the grave, even as he dismounted the brown stallion. It was an alluring view of Bale and Indels Castle.

"Look at that, Lavitz," Dart smiled. "It's a seamless sight…just like your treasure." Dart looked down at the grave, Lavitz's name etched across the headstone. In Dart's other hand were flowers of a random assortment. He bent down and placed them upon the tombstone, meticulous about how the flowers decorated his friend's grave. "This should exhilarate the scenery much more now." Dart wiped his eyes and stared down at the festooned memorial. He turned and took a seat by the old oak tree, his back leaning against the wood comfortably. "Now you can be here always…to protect everything you hold dear. You are a great benefactor to this country and to your king. You are an indomitable warrior…" Dart glanced down at the headstone. "You always will be." He turned back to watch the valley in silence, as though his friend were sitting right beside him.

Soon, the sun began to set and Dart knew that it was time to leave his friend. "Next time I'll come here with Shana." He told the tombstone. "I would've brought her today but…" Dart laughed. "She kicked me out of the house." Dart imagined what Lavitz would say in response. "I know, I know. It WAS my fault but…she could've spared the life of my favorite plant at least." Dart shrugged. "Shoot, I should've stopped by to say hello to Albert but…" Dart bit his lower lip. "He's probably having fun on his honeymoon." The blonde warrior rubbed the engraved name on the stone. "But I'll tell you about that next time." He took one last look at Lavitz's grave before mounting the horse. "Until next time, my friend."

And with that, Dart rode off down the road back to Seles.

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Nicholai had no trouble making it to Flanvel Tower. His sheath tapped against his thigh as he stepped out of the portal and looked towards the tower, which he could easily discern even from a distance away.

"Well of course," He mumbled. "It's a friggin' tower." Nicholai perched his hand on his side and tilted to the right. "But it's impossible to elicit any form of power from within…the kind I'm searching for anyway." Nicholai surveyed his surroundings. "But perhaps it will be somewhere around it…Above or underneath?" The long hiatus between himself and the blizzard proved to have no innuendo that would answer his question. "Although this tower may not look it, it seems to simulate a form of warmth from within. The higher it goes, the more the feeling disperses. But towards the ground…" Nicholai turned towards the snow beside him. He smiled. "The answers just crash down, don't they?" He stooped forward and brushed the white blanket away, revealing a shimmering portal. "Total irony," He beamed as he entered the portal, its destination unknown.

It was apparent to Nicholai that he had infringed on sacred ground, although the thought did not stay long with him. 'A man can never ingratiate himself with the Wiseman with flattery or butt-kissing. It is only through the form of being the interloper that reflects your courage upon them and shows your ability to want to know more.'

Even the cold could not leave him lassitude. He had to find the Azurakey, and for whatever stakes. Man would soon be grateful for believing in the occult and myths once he did find it. They would no longer need to rely on such a pitiful God like Soa. Soa's stringent laws for the people would soon crumble like ash to a fire. Nicholai would see to that. His abomination for the God was beyond that of any other and he would not die happily until he had found the Azurakey--the power rumored to destroy even God himself.

Nicholai stopped short in a room with two other exits besides the one he had entered from. In the middle of the room was a colossal fissure, extending its reach for what seemed like miles and miles.

"Could the power I feel resonating be down there?" Nicholai stared down into the bottomless pit of darkness. "It is a circuitous outlook, I suppose. But it is better to have looked than to not have looked at all." He took a step backwards before hurdling into the hefty crevice. He fell at a rapid pace for the first few minutes as he waited for the end to come. The aura that had enticed him increased the further he plummeted. Instantaneously, his speed decreased until he floated to the bottom, the soles of his boots clicking against the limestone floor.

"Uncanny," Nicholai glanced around. "The power has indeed intensified, yet I see nothing…"

A voice halted him.

"T-Those mangy brats are back for more…eh? Didn't get a good enough laugh?" The voice was frail and hoarse. Nicholai continued into the next room, commodious and yet bare. In the midpoint of the area was a man, clothed in what used to be enthralling robes. They fell about his fragile body in tattered shreds, his skin revealing deep gashes and wounds from previous battles. His long gray strands of brittle hair fell about his bony face and his breathing was raspy. His thin wrists and ankles were chained to the floor. Whoever had shackled this old man intended for him to stay put.

"What an adventitious occurrence," Nicholai spoke. "What do we have here? An old man?"

"That is a misnomer. I would like to ascribe myself as the true God of this planet."

"And for that, I would call your new 'ascribed' title as a misnomer. Come, come old man. Surely you haven't lost your mind in such a repugnant place. I actually have to commiserate myself with you." Nicholai waited for the man to speak.

"I don't need your sympathy," The old man looked up, his hair falling away from his face like a curtain opening for the main attraction upon a stage. "I enjoin you to release me from my prison at once."

"You? A God? Why do you need the help of I? You are only a nominal man passing yourself off to be something greater."

"You are noncommittal to a God? Even doubting his existence? You shall be damned to Mayfil."

Nicholai laughed as he outstretched his arms, as if to show this man that he had nothing. "Soa, Mayfil…They mean nothing to me."

Now it was the old man's turn to cackle. "You provide yourself with unlimited sangfroid, even in such unfavorable situations. Your vitriolic words do not hurt me, human, only agitate me."

"Such as you claim old man, I am not human myself." Nicholai stared at the old man, waiting for his next course of action.

"You are only working to aggrandize your stature, but you cannot hide who you really are."

Nicholai smirked, ignoring his remark. "I am surprised though, old man. When I ventured here, I was infatuated with the aura of an unnamed power. It is very uncanny that I only came to find you. Who are you, old man? I refuse to believe that you are the 'gossamer protector' rumored in legends. I can infer nothing from what aura you are giving off."

"A God is meant to have an inscrutable aura in which only he understands. Your insular opinions are based off of rumor rather than fact. But don't be discouraged, son. All humans are mistakes."

"Throw your name, old man," Nicholai said, smiling.

"I am the Magician Faust," The old man replied. "The one that has been around for over 11,000 years…ever since the Dragon Campaign."

"I don't believe in the Dragon Campaign." Nicholai said bluntly.

"Really now?"

"I only believe in what I see," Nicholai told him.

"Yet you came here to find a legendary aura? Isn't that a bit of hypocrisy?"

"You need not to know my reasoning."

The Magician Faust continued to chortle. "I am God. I already know. You emit a strong propensity for harboring pain. It's in your eyes."

"I have reputed the word of God long ago," Nicholai said. "So nothing you say can stir me. You say that you have been chained by humans, Faust. That is even more of a rationale for me to remain arrogant. I have all the power over you. After all, I am free, am I not?"

"You are a scurrilous man," Faust said. "You deny the word of God and yet you expect to live. You demand a living on this planet like everyone else and yet you refuse to believe in my power. You are living a lie."

"That still doesn't explain your imprisonment. You're too busy razing my own stature."

"My caveats have fallen to your feet in vain. My confinement was not by humans but of those who wield the dragons."

"Don't tell me," Nicholai held up his hand in protest. "The Dragoons?"

Faust scowled. "I underestimated them. It will not happen again. The Vanishing Stone…How they could have found it is beyond my knowledge. My apparition was crushed, leaving me like this." He looked back up at Nicholai. "But…if you contradict your humanity and I rebuff mine…then where does that leave us?"

"It leaves us at a standstill with both of us rejecting our humanity." Nicholai answered.

"Exactly. And now my friend, can I again ask you to extricate me from these chains?"

"So you can filch the lives of more innocent people? I told you once that I don't believe in God, and even if you were God, I would still leave you here for I have no loyalty to you. And if you ARE the God that you claim to be, you would know why."

"You flout my words?" Faust sighed. "Very well then. Fight me boy, and let me see if you can offer something more than just fractious words and silly beliefs."

"You are trying to tempt me?" Nicholai unsheathed his sword and pointed its end at Faust. "Your scathing existence leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and churns my stomach. You scourge my people with your fiats that lead to their demise. You are something that should not exist!"

"And you, the one who bares fangs at God, can you put some backbone into your sophomoric and vapid ramblings by killing a God?"

"How boring." Nicholai came as a blur to Faust, reading himself to cut off the God's head. "I will behead you and send you to hell…where you belong."

But something struck Nicholai as a surprise. Faust had parried his attack…with the very chains that bound the old man. A moment later, the chains that had constrained Faust fell limply to the ground, rattling the sound of freedom. Faust stood, his dilapidated robes now reconstructing themselves into splendorous garments. His hair was no longer brittle, but full of life, flowing about him and vigorous colors saturated the old man's skin. He indeed looked like a man from the legends, whether it be God or sorcerer.

These brusque turn of events left Nicholai speechless. He decided to quickly disabuse the idea of taking this man's head…for the moment anyway. Although it was still running away, the important thing was to stay alive.

"I commend you for breaking the chains that compelled me, son. Let me repay the favor…" Faust's arm rose, the sleeves of his elegant robes sliding down his hand. "…by taking your own head."

Nicholai was not intimidated by the heinous man before him. His immutable beliefs would stay as they were. He was determined to remain the insurgent against the almighty. He was what Faust had called him- - 'The one who bares fangs at God.' This megalomaniac could keep his brainless words of grandeur, but Nicholai vowed to have his revenge…just not right now.

"You charge me with transgressing your laws, although I consider myself the beneficiary for mankind. I will settle the score with God but as for you…" Nicholai gave a half smile. "…I think I'll take a rain check." Faust's self-satisfied look changed to repulsion as he watched the young man step backwards, wings of energy sprouting from his back, and recoil through the never-ending pit.

"WHY YOU…!" Faust was quick to the chase and pursued Nicholai through the darkness. 'So he isn't human.' Faust thought bitterly. 'He's a Wingly. I should've known. But why would he defy me? Me! The one who is of the same race as his own! Such irony…'

Time was always on Nicholai's side. He wasn't worried. Once you threw your opponent off balance, they stayed cornered until the next encounter. 'He'll never catch me,' Nicholai thought, amused. 'He'll only be chasing my shadow.' He knew that Faust had made a crass mistake in once again underestimating his opponent. Nicholai did not doubt Faust's strength, but he was not deft nor sharp. For this, he would fail many a time. He had debased only himself and no one else.

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'Pompous old fool,' Nicholai led the sorcerer around in a circle before fleeing Flanvel Tower. 'I desecrate the consecrate name of Soa, who lives in grandiose, but you are merely an inconsequential life form. You are not God, therefore I do not fear you. If you can fall to species lower than your own, then I suppose that the infraction of Soa's will is no greater a crime. You prate only of your greatness, although I have yet to see it.'

Nicholai had no intuition of what was to come next.

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"Run home little dragonfly," Faust frowned. "But I will find you and mash you. He will soon observe that I am a redoubtable leader whose restitution has yet to come. He is no stalwart hero. Arise my battalions and annihilate everything. Crush him."

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There was no mistaking the massive blow that had come up from under. Nicholai watched as the land became disheveled with a new enemy--one that was unidentifiable.

He could not disavow his participation in what was happening, although he wished that he could.

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A Foresight Into Episode Four:

The monsters were hot on his trail. He could feel the very stink of their breath down his neck, the perspiration rising. Their teeth were almost palpable upon him. He couldn't stop for anything. But his perceptive eyes could not blot out the slaughtered upon the streets or the well-defined body of Bishop Dille, the man who had helped him earlier.

Nicholai frowned. He had never surmised that his actions would have such pernicious repercussions. Dodging a salient while spiraling around the corner, Nicholai gained speed, contentment overwhelming him as he convinced himself that he might have finally lost his adversaries in the flames.

Then he looked up, nearly searing his body against a protruding railing, as he caught sight of a woman in the middle of the road. He had to be quick. His immeasurable speed would not allow him to just halt. If he took the chance, he would risk his own life and the life of the woman before him. There was no time to weigh the options.

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Lol more big vocab words. Sorry about that. I get so wrapped up in the writing, I should probably tone it down. That's what AP English does to you. I'll never forgive my teacher either.

Hope the chapter was okay other than that though.

Kat