Ar Tonelico

Rite of Passage: A Murmur In The Dark

Chapter 16: The Underworld Prison

“Wow…” Jack said, the party still sitting in the chieftain’s tent. “That was really screwed up, whatever just happened.”

“This whole village was acting quite bizarrely, even for common mob mentality.” Vincent said quietly, finally having grown accustomed to the splitting pain where his eyes used to be. “Could it be possible that they were all acting under the influence of Mimas as well?”

Misha’s heart suddenly warmed considerably. “Hey everyone! Lyner’s still alive!”

“Wha- really?” Ayatane asked. “You can tell?”

“I can feel him again,” she said with a small smile. “He has a...presence about him, and I can feel it from here!”

“Really?” Aurica gasped, sounding a bit jealous. She whispered, “I can feel him too, just not that way.”

Misha grunted and struggled to her feet. “He must be close by; we should look for him!”

Vincent laughed bitterly. “Yeah, like looking will do a hell of a lot of good when both parties are blind. What we need is a dive machine for me and Mahine.”

“Then I suggest you shut up and think of where one might be,” Radolf said, the floor creaking as he got up as well.

“We also need to find some weapons,” Jack reminded everyone.

“Alright. I don’t think waiting here will do us any good, so we might as well separate and start by calling for Lyner,” Ayatane commanded.

“Yeah, you really miss Lyner, don’tcha Ayatane?” Misha said craftily,

“I-I- nooo I don’t!” Ayatane stuttered. “At least not as much as you miss Jack being inside you!”

“WHAT?!” Misha and Jack both cried and ran towards Ayatane’s voice, aiming to punch him but punching each other instead.

“Anyway, like Ayatane so wisely stated,” Radolf said shakily. “We should try to work together to map out the city, if we can. Perhaps then we could figure out where a laboratory or armory is.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mahine said. Vincent squeezed her arm lovingly.

After Luke accepted the fact that he was a goner and fell into unconsciousness, he thereafter awoke among a large throng of mutilated bodies in a dark blue cave. He thought he was the only person still alive until he saw two bright flashes and loud voices echoing from another chamber of the cavern. The noises and lights caused several of the bodies to stir, so Luke decided that this was a great time to check out whatever was going on beyond his realm of vision.

Luke had at first found it difficult to walk with flippers for legs now that he was outside the control of the all-powerful Spirit of Love, but after a few minutes he got the hang of swaying drunkenly to move around. When he entered the room he was shocked to see two especially beautiful people, a blonde man and a grey-haired girl, take the other in their arm and proceed to walk straight off a cliff into a massive ravine.

“Oh my god!” Luke yelled in a cutesy, squeaky voice and got down on all fours like a common seaslug in order to run over to them at his top speed. Just as they rather stupidly stepped off and began to scream, Luke slid back on his hind limbs and gripped both people with his two front flippers, holding them in midair.

He collapsed backwards and let the two people fall over him to safety. Moving around as a seaslug man was really hard work. “Okay, what is it with everyone trying to kill themselves around here?” he said in an adoring, cartoonish voice that horrified him.

“What, were those flippers?!” the man said incredulously, standing up shakily. “What the heck are you?”

Noticing that these two had scars similar to those of the band of travelers he met from earlier, Luke stood up once more with difficulty because of his gelatinous bulk. “Hey, that isn’t a very nice way to thank someone who just saved your life!” he said in the same manner that a girl scout would offer a rockstar a free lollipop. Was the transformation really affecting his mind as well?

“Thank you so much!” Shurelia said, covering up her private parts as best as she could. “You sound really cute!” At this, the blonde man bristled with apparent annoyance. “Are you…human?”

“Yes…at least, I think so!” Luke said cheerily, even though he felt awful. “The last thing I remember, I committed suicide, and then I was swallowed by darkness!! Now...here I am!!” He said in celebration. He grimaced, feeling the need to hurl.

“Ohh, you’re so cuuute!” Shurelia said with a squeal. “I’m Shurelia, and this is my boyfriend Lyner! We can’t see, so do you think we could hang around with you for awhile to try to find a way out?”

“Of course! My name’s Luke!” Luke said sweetly. Immediately afterward, he bent over and blew chunks all over the ground. “Sorry,” he said softly.

“Aww, are you okay?” Shurelia said, her hand flying to her lips in worry as Lyner smacked his own hand to his forehead.

“Well, at least we can tell where you are from your smell now…” the knight told him, while Shurelia backhanded him across the face. “OW! Shurelia, only Aurica’s supposed to be able to do that!”

“Hah, that’s what you think!” Shurelia challenged him. “Personally, I’m just amazed that I even hit you!” she muttered.

Suddenly, Luke heard an angry cry from behind him, “Look, there he is! That’s the man who murdered the entire village of Tong-Rhok!” He spun around very quickly on his slimy butt and saw the Chieftain, his face now horribly disfigured and miscolored, pointing his finger at them. “Kill him!”

“Ooooh, we might want to leave, now!” Luke chirped in a singsong manner as a horde of altered villagers came into their room of the cave.

“Wait,” Lyner said. “Is there a corpse on the ground around here?”

“Yes!” Luke exclaimed, his blood pumping as the villagers neared. There was a burnt-beyond-recognition pink body lying on the ground.

“Are sure she’s dead?”

“…pretty darned!”

“Alright then, could you pick it up and take it with us?” Lyner asked like it was a perfectly normal thing to ask.

“It’s a dead body, dude!” Luke sang. “I ain’t touching that!!”

“We need her for Vincent to analyze,” Lyner muttered to Shurelia, while bending down on his knees to grope around for Mimas.

“Look- no, neverr mind! I’ll get it!” Luke said and slid over, throwing the sizzling corpse onto his shoulder and running. “THIS way!” he squealed, grabbing Shurelia across her chest (on accident) and pulling her with him. Shurelia gasped and grabbed Lyner to direct him as well, just as the villagers were gaining on them.

“There’s stairs coming up!” Luke exclaimed jovially, throwing a worried look over his free shoulder at the furious Chieftain in the darkness behind them, who was picking up speed and unsheathing a glimmering saber from its sheath.

“Alright,” the two blind heroes said together and began high-stepping to prepare for the ascent. The three managed to make it onto the stairs, and Luke gauged their speed so that they hit the stairs as fast as his companions were stepping. Soon thereafter, the Chieftain exploded onto the staircase and glided up them like he was walking on air.

“Guys; I’m gonna have to let you go, the Chieftain’s almost here. Just be careful, alright?!” Luke reminded them, jumping over his new friends to confront the madman, his green slime raining down upon them as he did so.

Lyner and Shurelia proceeded up the stair, more slowly than before. “Maybe I should go first,” Lyner said comfortingly, as he pulled ahead.

“Okay…” Shurelia said with a smile. “Lyner…I’m sorry about slapping you earlier!”

Lyner was taken aback from this sudden apology. “Y-you’re welcome!”

“Lyner!! That’s not what you’re supposed to say when someone apologizes!” Shurelia exclaimed with a laugh.

“It doesn’t matter, just…be quiet, ok?” Lyner murmured, trying to feel out what was in front of him. His eyes widened as he suddenly touched something slimy and scaly; it felt like a monster’s face. “Wh- there’s something there!!” he yelped.

“Oh my gosh, what?” Shurelia cried, but Lyner formed a fist and punched at the monster, but was shocked when his bare arm plunged into the monster’s open mouth.

“Uh-oh!” Lyner yelled and tried to yank his naked arm out, but he was too late; the animal closed its mouth (hard) on his arm, snapping it clean off. Lyner screamed in pain, while Shurelia began to sing a song of healing, wanting to heal him as soon as possible.

Down below, Luke was getting pretty badly slashed up by the furious Chieftain as he tried to fight back using his mangled corpse cargo as a weapon. He was now on the floor, at the ruler’s mercy. “You have CURSED us all into NAUGHT, Luke! You should have NEVER been born!” he roared, slashing down on Luke’s thick seaslug blubber again and again. Luke angrily kicked at the mentally unstable man, knocking him down the rock stairs. It was then that Luke heard Lyner scream in pain from not far above him while his girlfriend began to sing beautifully.

“Hang on…Lyner…” Luke managed to squeak out, bleeding severely from several cuts in his flesh. As soon as he neared them, Luke saw two extraordinary things: a massive, red frog with huge, fearsome fangs above the two in the staircase, and Lyner’s arm grow back out from a stump, a process that seemed to grant Lyner an enormous amount of pleasure. Luke then noticed an angel made out solid light floating above them, so he scampered under the rays of light showering out from within her, and his wounds were healed immediately.

“Ha-woooo!” Luke said in a toddler’s voice. “That DID feel good!” Shurelia giggled at his comment.

“Shurelia, there’s a monster right in front of us, sing ELMA-DS,” Lyner said as the fearsome amphibian shot its strong neck out in an attempt to get another bite out of Lyner’s chest. The naked knight was too quick, though, for he nimbly pivoted out of the way just as soon as he felt the cold teeth on his flesh.

Luke figured that they didn’t stand a chance since against what they couldn’t see, so he blubbered on up and whacked the amphibian roughly with his flipper on top of its head. However, being a flipper, it did little to no damage to the scaly beast, and it bared its fangs and sprang up in the air to devour Luke’s massive seaslug form.

As Luke squeaked, Shurelia’s eye slits flashed a vivid diamond hue, and an alien-looking white lion erupted out of her mouth, dashing through the giant frog and destroying it with an array of slashes.

Luke’s jaw dropped. “Wha-aat?” He’d never seen such a spell before, and he was more than a little scared of his dainty companion now. “H-how did you…?”

Lyner stopped and listened, noticing an increasingly menacing clamor reverberate from the depths. “There’s no time; we have to move NOW!” With that, he flew up the stairs, having grown accustomed to their relative individual heights.

Shurelia was not so fortunate, and tripped on her first step. Luke stooped down and helped her up with a grimy flipper. “It’s gonna be alright, just run!” He explained kindly.

“I know, I know,” Shurelia muttered and allowed Luke to help her up the stairs. They went as fast as possible until Luke unceremoniously collided into Lyner, who had stopped in front of a massive, golden archway, looking extremely out of place in this blue underworld.

“Wait a minute; do you hear that?” Lyner asked, as a gale of cold wind blew his long, bloodstained golden locks out behind him. “There is a…presence here!”

Luke looked behind him and saw the shadows of the various angry souls that wanted to butcher him. “Stop standing here, go inside already!” he sang, nudging the heroes beyond the gateway with his massive seaslug buttocks and throwing Mimas’s corpse on the ground. Luke reached out and pulled two massive wooden doors closed and bolted it once, leaning against it in relief. He sighed and looked around the room; it looked quite splendorous, and was filled with red-stained gold treasures, all surrounding an ancient sandstone alter, in which a massive golden sphere made entirely of little floating gemstones sat spinning.

Looking at this sphere, Luke suddenly heard a beautiful, honest murmur seem to emanate from it. He cocked his eyebrow. Was this what Lyner was hearing? “You guys, you have to see this, it’s beautiful in here!” Luke exclaimed.

“Well, er, normally I would, but not having any eyes is kinda slowing me down, you know?” Lyner said poutingly.

Luke’s reverie was cut short, however, when a spear sliced through the door right next to him. This inspired Luke to yelp and jump away from the ancient gateway towards Lyner and Shurelia. “We’re not out of this YET!” He sang in a crystal-clear voice.

Suddenly, the whole room flashed golden and an enormous floating mask erupted out of the spiritual globe. “Stand clear of the door!” it commanded in a wizened woman’s voice, and a giant yellow beam blasted out the mask’s mouth, decimating the entire wooden barricade attached to the archway.

“Look out!” Luke sang, pushing the others to the ground to avoid being nailed by the potent beam. As the energy raced over his head, however, it did not radiate heat like Luke expected it to, nor was it cold. Instead, it had a very distinct aura of pleasantness around it, so much that Luke almost smiled stupidly and rose into the blast.

The Tong-Rhok populace roared as the door disintegrated and the Chieftain led the way into the golden underground chamber. As soon as he dashed through, however, the eyeholes in the floating mask flashed a vivid blue and a gigantic blue barrier sealed off the entryway, effectively blocking any other villagers from coming in.

“Stop your advance, Chieftain!” the mask commanded in an abrasively loud voice. He froze in place wide-eyed, his sword held high above his head and dripping with Luke’s blood.

“G-g-goddess of Love?” the chieftain said confoundedly. “What are you doing down here? Did Luke’s disgrace harm your glory so much that you fell from heaven?”

“LUKE has found favor with me!” the mask declared, burning a dark crimson. “You would do well to not slight him any more or else I will be forced to kill you myself.”

The chieftain’s mouth dropped and he lowered his sword. Breathing easier, Luke aided Lyner and Shurelia back up to their feet.

“So you’re the Goddess of Love?” Lyner asked, his brow furrowed. “Are you one of the Trio of Elemia?”

The mask laughed. “The Trio of Elemia? Hahahahaha, don’t be foolish enough to think such a thing exists. Certainly, there were three heroic Reyvateils that helped to save the world long ago, but legend has painted them larger-than-life in years passed. No, I am not a Goddess at all, as a matter of fact, but a steward of sorts, left behind to better guide this tower into harmony.”

“B-b-but of course you’re a Goddess! How else could you have transformed me and the other Stotans into their animalistic forms?” Luke asked sweetly.

“Well, first of all, you all were not tapping into my power, but Mimas’s instead, who had wrestled me from my throne on the beach and sentenced me to fifty years of darkness in this prison she designed for me.” The mask nodded at the corpse on the ground. “However, I am pleased to see that this evil miscreant has been given what she deserved. Who is the perpetrator?”

Lyner took Shurelia’s cold, slender hand in his and raised it above their heads. “We did, your highness. But we lost our sight and our comrades in the process,” he said, his voice weary.

“You are to be commended, and also given the greatest honor that anyone in this Tower has ever received, Tong Rhok-ian or not.” The mask swiveled in mid-air and nodded at Luke. “You are to be honored as well, noble and righteous Luke, for weakening the titan by ruining her false festival she put on.”

“Wait, so the Honakugu festival this year was all contrived?” the Chieftain asked.

“Yes, you infidel; do not speak again unless you are spoken to, for I see you in great disgust now for failing to discern the difference between Mimas and I, and continuing to give her power by worshipping her,” the mask bellowed. The Chieftain cried out and spluttered, but quickly silenced himself.

“Wait,” Shurelia said. “You mean to say that it was only recently that Mimas wrestled your power from you? We were under the impression that she had been around for much longer.”

“Yes, this is only the second Honakugu festival Mimas has had under her control. I had not heard from her for some time before that; indeed, not since the Sea of Death was first created.”

“That’s strange,” Shurelia said, crinkling her nose. “Unless she just happened to find this town right when we did, which would be an odd coincidence in itself.”

“Mimas told us that she was expecting a great surge of energy from the celebration,” Lyner remembered out loud. “So, since it apparently failed, does that mean that it had a negative impact on her energy supply, thus leading to…well, what happened to her?”

“Yes,” the Goddess of Love spoke. “And as her power was rapidly deleted, so her hold over me was lessened, and I was able to make a net of true love to catch all who plummeted into the Maw of the Mountain. Unfortunately, Mimas anticipated my actions, and used her natural element of water to steer herself towards the same net, in an attempt to undermine my return to power. Luckily, you two warriors halted her attempt at a recovery, and you must be thanked for it. Lady, what is your name?”

Shurelia curtseyed and said, “Lady Shurelia, your majesty, Tower Administrator of Ar Tonelico.”

The mask’s jaw dropped. “AR TONELICO?! Indeed this is a surprise. My lady, do you know at which tower you are currently located?” Shurelia shook her head. “This, my lady and sir, is the Tower Ign Saradorn, better known to you as the Second Amplification tower.”

“The wha-??” Lyner gaped. “There’s an entire tower hidden here by Nervocelambra’s shield?”

“I never knew the tower was completed!” Shurelia exclaimed. “This is a fantastic revelation!”

“Well, I congratulate you on discovering this tower, for it is a very well-kept secret. One of the duties I have been charged with as steward is to keep our existence unknown to all outsiders, since a point of Tong-Rhok and Nervocelambra is that everyone is implicitly honest and trustworthy. However, this incident has proven to me that such a law is not only outdated, but incorrect. Saviors of my formerly great village, please take my thanks and these two gifts. Lady Shurelia, I present to you the return of your eyesight. May you use it well to guide your comrades wherever the road decides to take you.”

“Wha-, REALLY?!” Shurelia exclaimed, having given up on eyesight altogether. As soon as the mask’s eyes lit up with a brilliant white light, Shurelia’s vision returned, her eyes rebuilding themselves vein by vein.

“Do not touch your newborn eyes for three minutes, to maintain their purity. I hope this gift pleases you?”

“Oh, YES, your majesty, this is the best thing you could ever give to me!” Shurelia said with excitement as her pupils were drawn out of thin air in her eye sockets. “But…all of our companions were killed in the battle with Mimas.”

“No they weren’t!” Luke asserted. “I spent some small time with them before the festival, they’re a large, lively group of people.”

“Yeah, that’s them alright!” Lyner said wryly.

“Yes; even now they are searching for you in the abandoned village, never losing hope. And you, stoic knight, your name is Lyner?”

“Yes it is, do I get my balls back too?” Lyner said, causing Shurelia and Luke to stare at him in confusion, unbeknownst to him.

“As for you, I cannot grant you your eyes back as well, although I wish I could. It seems that Mimas targeted you specifically with her song, thus placing a permanent lock on your eyes, so that they’ll never be able to come back. I’m sorry.”

“Aww,” Lyner’s face fell. Shurelia beamed, despite herself, because now she could check him out as often as she liked without him knowing it, a tactic she decided to deploy immediately.

“I do have a noble gift for you, however.” Suddenly a giant, glowing yellow hand erupted out of thin air from the globe, stopping right in front of Lyner. Embedded in the disembodied hand was the hilt of a sword. “In front of you is the handle of a sword, the likes of which have never been seen in your home tower. Draw it and use it well, for you have proven yourself able to do so in your actions.”

Lyner nodded, and reached out, the Goddess’s spirit guiding his hand towards the hilt. He gripped his massive right hand around it and pulled it out smoothly, revealing a magnificent sword of gilded steel, painted with a print of a bleeding griffin on its edges.

“Oh wow, it’s beautiful!” Shurelia exclaimed, unable to contain herself. (She wasn’t really talking about the sword, though, but was commenting on something lower)

“Thank you, your majesty,” Lyner said, bowing deeply to the Goddess of Love. “It feels good to have a sword in my hands once again.”

“You have earned it,” the mask said. It looked at the Chieftain now. “Now it is your turn. Although you have proven yourself unreliable, I still have use for you. The wayward villagers do not deserve to be called citizens of great Tong-Rhok at this point, because of their sins these past two years. It is up to you to guide them, with my aid, back into the proper way of life I have taught for so long. Will you help them to rebuild and regrow the village, here in this cavern?”

“Y-yes, anything for you, most noble Goddess of Love,” the Chieftain said, collapsing on his knees and bowing to her.

The Goddess snorted unceremoniously. “When you all prove yourselves worthy of the name ‘Tong-Rhok’ I will transport you back up to the village as I am about to do for Lyner and Lady Shurelia. I will join you back up on the beach as soon as my 50-year term of imprisonment in this chamber enacted by Mimas’s powerful magic has expired.”

After this was settled, the mask turned once again to Luke. “And you, Tong-Rhok of spirit but not of blood, what would you have me do? Shall I send you with Lyner and Lady Shurelia or shall I leave you here with the Chieftain to rebuild our fair society?”

“Your Majesty, I would like to accompany Lyner; the villagers absolutely despise me, and I’m sure they couldn’t follow orders from the man who sent them down here in the first place.” He paused. “Is there any way to revert me back to my human form?”

The mask shook her head. “As is the case with Lyner’s eyes, Mimas’s magic on your body is infinitely strong. There is no way to undo it that I know of. I…am sorry, my loyal Tong-Rhok. Very well then, I will now send you three away from this dreary prison of a cavern, and take that stinking corpse with you!”

“Y-yes your Majesty!” Luke squeaked and grabbed the burnt body of Mimas off the ground.

“Off you go then. It was a pleasure to meet such distinguished guests from Ar Tonelico. Your goodness gives me hope for the future of our tower, Lyner and Lady Shurelia,” the mask said.

“Bye!!” Lyner and Shurelia said, waving cheerfully at the gift-giving Goddess of Love, as a great flash of green light blasted throughout the room, causing everyone but the Chieftain and the mask to disappear.

“Good luck, Chieftain Obsidian,” the mask said as it lowered the shield. “Feel free to come back and ask me for any advice you have on the building of New Tong-Rhok.”

“Lynerr!” Aurica called in her gorgeous voice, dashing around the abandoned city with Radolf’s hand in hers.

“Aurica, maybe we should take a break,” Radolf said, sighing. “We’ve been wandering through this place aimlessly for nearly two hours. Misha must have been imagining things.”

“No! I refuse to believe that. Lyner’s around here somewhere!” Aurica snapped. “We can’t stop looking until we’ve found him!”

Hearing a very familiar chuckle from right in front of her, Aurica gasped and stopped short. “Well, I’m pleased to announce that you won’t have to keep going for very much longer!” Lyner’s voice said pleasantly, full of good cheer.

“L-LYNER!!” Aurica yelled, and jumped into him, hugging him as tightly and passionately as possible, causing Shurelia to frown in jealousy.

“Um, I’m here too!” Shurelia announced, and Aurica shyly let go with a blush, absentmindedly pulling a lock of hair behind her ear.

“I-I’m so glad you’re safe!” Aurica said softly. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, and I’ve got this sweet sword too!!” Lyner exclaimed, holding it above his head so she could see. Then he remembered. “Oh, wait, you can’t see it, can you?”

“No, can you see again?”

“Nope!” Lyner said, still smiling. “But that didn’t stop me and Shurelia from ripping Mimas to pieces. Luke, if you would be so kind?” he asked with a flair of his hand, and Luke presented Mimas’s body. “This is her corpse. She’s dead! You can even touch it, how awesome is that!?” Lyner exclaimed.

“Yay, really?!” Aurica squealed, while Radolf cheered. “That’s amazing, how did you do it?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you in a second. First, allow me to introduce our new companion, Luke!” he said, gesturing to the Seaslug Man beside him.

“Ohhh, we’ve already met!” Luke said with a grin.

“Uhhh, not with that voice we haven’t!” Aurica said with a smile. “I didn’t know you could talk like that! It’s so adorable!”

Lyner slapped his hand to his face again while Luke laughed out loud at his newfound ability to pick up chicks by merely talking. At this moment, Misha and Ayatane, also hand-in-hand, came running up. “We heard Aurica yell as if she found Lyner,” Ayatane explained. “Is it true?”

“Yeah buddy, I’m here!” Lyner said, and walked over to his friend’s voice to give him a hug, but when they felt that the other was still naked, they both froze awkwardly and pulled away immediately.

“So Luke, now that we’ve found you and Lyner, we were wondering if you knew of any Dive Shops or armories around here!” Misha said sweetly, handily forgetting to mention Shurelia’s name.

“Oh man, Dive Shops?” Luke laughed in his adorable voice (here Shurelia smirked knowingly as Aurica swooned at his style of speech). “I haven’t heard of those forever. Don’t worry though, I made my own custom diving machine a long time ago in my workshop, if it wasn’t torn down when I was sent to prison. We can head there now if you like, but what for?”

“Well, a friend of ours believes he can craft a song enabling vision for the entire team if he can only gain access to a diving pod,” Radolf exclaimed.

“Oh, are you talking about Vincent?” Lyner asked.

“Yes.”

“Hah, he would think that, the prick!” Lyner said with a goofy smile.

“Yes, but the question is, do we really want to continue on with this quest?” Misha asked. “I mean, these Quiad Reyvateils are much stronger than anyone expected them to be! Even with our vision restored, we will still have trouble beating the remaining ones! What are we fighting them for anyway?”

At this, Ayatane smacked her across the face, making her very angry. “How dare you! We can’t give up yet! We still have to find Mir!”

“I think we should continue,” Lyner said gravely. “From what we’ve seen, it’s apparent that the Quiad Reyvateils are not only killing lots of people, but taking away their free will as well. I think we are the only ones who can stop them, and eliminating them is the only way the people of this Tower will be able to live their lives in safety and in freedom.”

“Wait, wait, we’re on a different tower?” Aurica asked, alarmed.

“Yeah, it’s called Sarah-something,” Lyner said, scratching his head in thought.

“Ign Saradorn, the Second Amplification Tower,” Shurelia clarified.

“Okay then, let’s head to my lab and set up base there for a while,” Luke suggested. “Once we get there, Shurelia can go look around the town for the others while I rev up the diving machine.”

“Okay, sounds fun, but I get to take Lyner!” Shurelia said, glaring at her rivals for Lyner’s affections.

“Hang on, Shurelia can see? That’s so not fair!” Misha declared.

“Look, don’t worry,” Radolf soothed. “If all goes according to plan, we’ll all be able to see in no time.”

“Alright, take us there, Luke!” Lyner said, not exactly knowing what to do with the giant golden sword he was armed with.

“You got it!!” Luke exclaimed cutely, suddenly feeling nauseous again at his own voice.

“And man?”

“Yeah?”

“DON’T say another word, or I swear I’ll…” Lyner began.

Both Shurelia and Aurica slapped him for this. “LYNER!! Don’t be so mean!” Aurica scolded him.

“Yeah! You can’t stop someone from talking!” Shurelia exclaimed, causing Lyner to hang his head in dismay.

Misha rubbed her hands together; they were just making it too easy for her to snag her beloved from them.

A/N: And there’s Murmur in the Dark! I hope you liked it. Don’t worry, there’s more to come soon! Do tell me your reactions, and/or if you think I should edit any parts of the story. Believe me, the action is only just getting started….

Next:

Rite of Slumber, Pt 2: Ign Saradorn