Battlefield Fortress: The Prince and the Pauper

[TurkwithStyle]

Zedonius wanted to punch Lloyd one more time but was stopped by the words that Micaiah had yelled. "Buh?" He looked above and saw the light appearing over head, but before he had time to react...he was blasted. "NO!" was all he could muster up to say as he was trophetized and neatly thrown up in the air. He bounced off the walls of the fortress and then landed neatly in the center of the battlefield that he was fighting on. A powerful beast that was winning up until then...now nothing more than a loser that should be sitting on a shelf with the other rare game.

[Mage]

Once Zedonius was down for the count, Micaiah simply looked down from the tower and sighed out. She put her book to her chest and clapped her hands, then bowed slightly with her eyes closed. As the desert winds drifted her scarf up, she said: "You my not be a form of man, but may the Goddess be merciful on your judgement."

When Lloyd got back on his feet, he looked to Micaiah and sighed. "Goddess...I'm starting to dislike that word all over again." He said, silently.

[SHM 128 III]

Well, he certainly wasn't expecting all of that to happen just from tapping the golden stand. He had heard legends about genies who lived in lamps and rings (yes, some really did live in rings... Sega didn't make that one up) that could be summoned simply by rubbing the object... Was Micaiah a genie of the... uh... statue? That would explain the magic she used...

However, that theory got voided real quick upon seeing Zedonius suffer the same exact fate moments later. Whatever he was, a genie certainly wasn't it. Brushing past the mage, the Prince grabbed at Zed's trophy and inspected it, making extra care to not touch the base.

"I don't care what god you pray to," he began as he casually knocked the trophy over, "I'd much rather see this guy go down to his final resting place rather than up."

He then turned and looked at the young swordsman who had effectively saved everyone's collective hides. He didn't look very old, probably not even into his 20s. How'd he manage to get saved by this guy? Not that he wasn't thankful deep down inside, just... It was a tad embarassing.

"Hey, thanks for helping us out back there," the Prince finally said, "though I think we had it under control. Honest."

Despite his flipant remark, his tone seemed to suggest that he knew darn well they were pretty much screwed and that he really wasn't fooling anyone.

[xenomina]

"Goddess...?" Elika whispered. That didn't sound right. How could anyone not believe in Ormazd and still wield the sacred light? Her brow furrowed as the realization struck her. The Prince had told her once how Ormazd and Ahriman weren't the only gods that existed in the world of men...a conversation that was indeed enlightening, but had caused an argument between the two, and had left her in tears. That still didn't explain something, however...

"I don't understand, Micaiah. You wield the light of Ormazd, yet you seem to worship another god...are you not an Ahura?"

[Mage]

When Elika spokee to her, Micaiah rose up blinking with her book still to her chest, and looked over her shoulder. "Orm...azd? Ahura? I am sorry, but Ive no idea what those mean." She then turned to her, pulling her book down lower. "I am a...believer of the Goddess Ashera, and I trained myself under Light Magic." Micaiah was starting to believe that Elika and her gruff friend weren't of this world.

When the Prince "thanked" Lloyd, he simply walked over to his implanted sword while putting his blue blade back in it's sheath. He put his hand on the handle and pulled it out. "Yeah, I could see you were handling that monster quite well from the ground there." He rose the sword while putting his free hand on the blade, inspecting if it was in good shape. He happened to overhear Micaiah's and Elika's conversation, then silently thought to himself. 'This doesn't sound like the new world, maybe I really did warp elsewhere...'

[xenomina]

Elika's heart immediately sunk. "...I see." Yet again, another hope had been snuffed out almost as quickly as it had come. Elika hardened her expression, not wanting for the Prince or the others to see that she was becoming depressed.

[SHM 128 III]

The Prince let out something like a snort upon hearing Micaiah's response. In his travels, he had heard of many gods and goddesses, some more rediculous than others (like those guys he met while in Jerusalem that kept talking about the 'Son of God' comming to earth to save everyone... Yeah, like that would ever happen...). However, she, like Elika, at least had some powers to back up her claims. Ormazd was real, lazy though he was, and Ahriman even more so. Maybe this Ashera person was also real in some way, too... Even if it killed him to be jumping to such conclusions so quickly.

"Ashera, huh?" the Prince asked as he walked over, "Please tell me she's a little more active than Ormazd is... Or does she just send people to do all the dirty work for her, too?"

[Mage]

The young lady looked over the the Prince, giving him a bit of an annoying frown. "The Goddess isn't evil...or rather, I'd like to believe she is not." She whispered out the last part, then continued. "She has no physical form at the moment, and I've no idea where her soul i..." Then she stopped herself before going too far, she didn't want to tell strangers everything about Yune. "...never mind." Then the mage turned to Elika, blinking at her. "Is there something wrong, ma'am?"

The swordsman sheathed his second blade and turned to the others, simply watching silently. 'I'd best be going soon, this doesn't seem like the type of conversation I want a part of.' Lloyd still remembered his promise to his Dad and himself: To find and dispose of Exspheres, maybe there's some in this new world.

[xenomina]

"No...nothing."

That was a lie and she knew it. Quickly, she shut her eyes and turned away from the others, pretending to look out over the town as she fought back tears.

Everything was wrong and she knew it. She was stuck in some foriegn land, after having been attacked by a demon of who knows what dark god...not her dark god, and that only further made things worse. After months of trying to find a lead on defeated Ahriman for good, the closest she'd found was a young girl who wielded a light that was not or Ormazd...

Everything that she had believed before was being thrown into question. She had no clue where she was, or how to get back, or how many more lives Ahriman would take before she would be able to get another lead again.

And what was even worst, the man that she had been traveling with in her mission for who knows how many months now, probably knew exactly everything she felt right now, except for how she really felt about him.

Elika took a deep breath, and continued to stare out upon the town and watched as people worked to fight against the fires Zedonius had caused as she waged a war against her own tears.

[SHM 128 III]

Elika was right about one thing: the Prince looked at her and immediately realized what she was thinking. Forgetting about antagonizing Micaiah for a moment, he walked over to Elika and placed a hand on her shoulder. For the first time since he arrived here, the look on his face was not one of cocky arrogance or grim determination, but one of genuine concern.

"Hey, you okay?"

[xenomina]

She felt the hand on her shoulder. Crap. He spokee...

Double crap.

Elika slowly shook her head, stepping forward and out from under his hand. She could feel herself breaking down, and she'd be damned if it was in front of anyone, especially him.

"I'm going to go see if any of the townspeople need help..."

Before giving her companion a chance to protest, she was over the side of the building, sliding down the tower wall.

[SHM 128 III]

"Wait! Elika!"

Without giving so much as a goodbye to the other two people still nearby (much less the statue of the still-kind-of-alive-in-a-way demon), the Prince vaulted over the tower wall and began to gauntlet-fall after the Ahura.

[Mage]

"?" Confused by Elika's actions, Micaiah did want to help her....but she felt that it was none of her business. Micaiah frowned a bit, was she heart broken at the idea that they aren't in their world anymore, or was it something else? The light mage however kept telling herself not to get involved with them, lest they discover who she really is. So she turned to Lloyd and gave a light bow. "I thank you for saving us from peril, sir." Then the Parentless walked down the tower slowly, out of sight from Lloyd.

Meanwhile, the boy was confused by the entire situation. "Huh, these people certainly aren't friendly...." He said to himself, and looked down the tower. He started jumping from panel to panel toward th bottom, even though these people seemed hurt Lloyd had to gather information and fast. 'Where can I go for info...' He thought to himself, then saw something shimmering falling through the sky. A mini shooting star? Well whatever it was, it's too far to see now. So he decided to head to that direction, maybe it was an Exsphere.