Chapter 12: Memories and Monsters, or: Trial at Daryl's Tomb ------------------------------------------------------------ Setzer entered the tomb ahead of the rest. 'He makes me so mad...' Setzer thought. 'And I'm being FORCED to help him and his wierd friends find some orbs or something. Damn that Garland! He cheated anyway...' He took a few paces forward into the dank underground monument to his lost love. That old familiar smell filled his nostrils, and he was sure he was going to be sick. Garland stepped into the tomb. "Ugh..." he exclaimed. "This place is creepy..." "It's so cold... like death..." Kary commented, following Garland. "I can't imagine why..." replied Lich, not bothered, but pleased with the place. "Huh. Some nightclub, Gambler." Setzer cringed. He couldn't decide who he should hate more, the dead guy or Garland. He thought, 'I oughta just leave 'em here to rot. Tucker too.' Tucker stepped into the gloomy catacomb, and surveyed the place. "Geeze," he said, somewhat appalled. Garland was very curious about Tucker. Something seemed vaguely familiar about his clothes and equipment. Tucker was followed by Kraken and Tiamat, the latter leaning on the former. As the two entered, Tiamat began coughing violently. She collapsed on her knees. Garland, Kraken, and Kary were immediately concerned. "What's wrong, Tia? Are you all right?" Kary asked. "I'm fine," Tiamat replied hoarsely. "The air is just so thick down here..." Setzer thought to himself. 'Ah, so many the bittersweet memories.' Tears welled in his eyes. "Let's get this over with!" he yelled. He walked swiftly ahead, so no one could see his face. "He's been acting wierd again, I guess." Tucker said, furrowing his brow. "I guess he's a bit... touched..." "Naw, he just doesn't like us," Garland said. "Let's go before we get lost." * - * - * Garland, Tucker, Tiamat, Lich, Kraken, and Kary all tried as best they could to keep up with Setzer, who continually quickened his pace. Apparently, he knew where to take them. Garland thought long and hard. 'How does he know where the orb is? We didn't tell him. It's not as if we know anyway.' "Hey Setzer, wait up!" Garland cried. Rounding a corner, he bumped right into the back of the gambler, who had stopped quite suddenly. "What... What is it?" Setzer took a few steps forward into the seemingly empty hallway he had come to. The ground beneath him began to tremble. He ran a bit farther down the way... The fiends and Tucker caught up with Setzer and Garland, just in time to see the hands begin to emerge from the earth beneath them. "WHAT?!" Tucker shouted, as a ghoul's grasping hand clutched his ankle. "Setzer, what's going on?!" Setzer was about to leap to his companions aid, when he stopped. The undead forms began to emerge fully, gruesome undead beings, yearning for revenge on the living. "Setzer, help!" cried Garland, unable to reach his Light sword. Setzer's face twisted into a maddened scowl. "Why should I help you? Why shouldn't I let you die, when all you've brought me is misery?" "You owe us, man!" Lich replied, unaffected by the zombies. "Shut up, Lich!" the other five victims shouted. "Please, Setzer!" Tiamat pleaded. Setzer felt the tears again. He growled and ran ahead, yelling something that none of the others could quite make out. * - * - * In a dark place, far away, The Master laughed. * - * - * Garland struggled to break free, but to no avail. "Lich, do something!" he shouted. Lich shrugged. "Sorry, I can't do anything against them. They're undead. My powers won't hurt them!" "You're Lord of the damned Undead!" Kraken shouted. "Whaddya mean your powers won't work?" Kary flexed her muscles, and twisted her body. The vines of the damned that bound her broke away, and she was free. She faced three ghouls who were rapidly approaching her. "Take this, you flesh-eating scum!" She lifted her arms into the air, and pitched a giant fireball at the trio of walking dead, toasting all three. Kary collapsed to one knee, weakened significantly. To her dismay, more Ghouls approached. "They're not aknowledging my authority!" Lich shouted. 'Who are these guys, anyway?' Tucker thought, watching Kary. 'They've got some kind of powers or something.' He struggled within the grasp of the undead tendrils, attempting to break free. Kary began to cry, as she was once again in the clutches of the undead vines which relentlessly grew from the floor. More ghouls were approaching and closing in. * - * - * Setzer ran and ran, tears of anguish running down his cheeks. He ran until he collapsed, and sat in the fetal position, rocking back and forth. He was completely oblivious to all around him, and his only thoughts were of the only person he was ever able to trust: Daryl. The strain of being in this place again was far too much for him to take. Suddenly, he was jarred out of his deep funk by a woman's scream. "Oh, god, what have I done?" he cried, and ran back to where his fellow travelers were held by the hungry undead. Garland was held completely by the snake-like vines growing from the floor and ceiling. He began to panic, and his eyes took on a wild, rabid look. He began to scream. "What's going on?" Tucker cried, still struggling. "Are they eating him?" "No!" Kary yelled. "He's claustrophobic!" She gasped, and went unconcious. Her fireball had taken a lot out of her. "Get away from me, you bastards!" Tiamat exclaimed, kicking a low-crawling ghoul in the teeth. "No way you're gonna nibble MY ankle!" "Oh, the humanity of it all!" Lich cried. "Oh, the absolute humanity!" There seemed to be no hope in sight. Just as Garland was about to black out, he heard an odd sound. It was the whistling of something zipping past him at a very high speed. He felt the vines loosen. He immediately ripped the Light sword from it's sheath, and went mad with it, rending anything black or grey that he saw. Tucker gasped. He had seen that sword before... Freed from his claustrophobic prison, Garland collapsed to the ground. He heard the voice of Setzer... "You all all right?" It said. "Yeah..." Garland said, breathing heavily. He didn't look up from the ground. "Sorry I ran, I... I'm necrophobic," Setzer lied. He walked over to where his playing card ended up, examined it, and put it in his pocket. The others regained their bearings, and their wits. Kraken helped Tiamat to her feet. Kary, much shaken by the fact that she was almost enveloped by the very Earth, leaned heavily on Garland's shoulder, and the two stayed behind Kraken and Tiamat, who followed behind Setzer. Tucker took up the rear, looking over a strange device. Lich walked alongside Garland and Kary, looking around at every thing he saw. Garland addressed Tucker, still panting. "You... you don't talk much, do ya?" "Hm? Oh, uh... no, not really. I, um... haven't got much to say, say, I guess," Tucker replied, still looking at his readout. Little did Garland know that these readings were about Garland himself! Kary whined, and leaned harder on Garland's shoulder, tears still running down her pretty face. "She's, uh... she's pretty attached to you there, isn't she?" Tucker asked, eyes never leaving his odd device. Garland looked at Kary. "At the moment, yes." "Heh..." Tucker replied. "Luuucky..." Garland had heard the word "Lucky" said that way before, but he couldn't quite place it... * - * - * Setzer was somewhat glad he had saved the others, but he still kept his distance. After all, he had no reason to trust any of them. At times, he glanced over his shoulder at Tiamat, who seemed to intrigue him more and more as time rolled by. His mind was so full of confusing thoughts, he hadn't even realized that they had already come upon the monument of Daryl. The great pillar of amethyst, with roses of stone carved on the top... Such pain, such anguish! "Well," Setzer said, once all the others had caught up. "This is as deep as the tomb goes. I guess that's it for this orb, eh?" All he wanted was to leave this place of bad memories. "I... don't understand..." Garland said, his book in hand, staring in bewilderment. "The book says it's here, it... should be here..." "I guess that just goes to show ya," Setzer said with satsfaction. "Ya can't believe everything you read." "... but..." Garland trailed off, still staring at the monument before him. "C'mon, let's get outta here," Setzer said, slapping Garland on the back. "What're we looking for, anyway?" Tucker asked. The fiends stood, in a state of confusion. Why had the book lied? Garland would write it, after all. Maybe he wanted to lose. He was, after all, quite used to it. Just as Setzer was passing him, Lich spoke up. "Wait..." he said, looking directly at the monument. Setzer stopped, and looked back. Lich walked toward the statue, concentrating. 'What's he thinking...' Setzer thought, watching closely. "It's here..." Lich whispered. The others looked on, confused. Tucker especially. "It's here, under this stone!" Lich yelled. "Here, help me bust it!" Setzer ran forward. "No!" he exclaimed, coming between Lich and the monument. As he touched it, a strange sound was heard. WHO DARES? the voice boomed, much to the surprise of the party. "Man, this just keeps getting weirder," Tucker said. A giant suit of armor appeared in the center of the room, standing directly above, and nearly on, Setzer. The suit stood eleven feet tall, and had a shield with a radius of about two feet. It carried no weapon, but could probably crush any one of the fiends, Garland, Tucker, or Setzer. YOU HAVE COME TO TAKE AWAY MY MONUMENT, HAVE YOU? the voice boomed again, significantly frightening Garland, Kary, and Lich. NONE SHALL PASS HAONTONU! Setzer was momentarily intimidated, but quickly remembered who he was. He drew his battle deck and threw a fre cards straight at the menacing suit of ghostly armor. Haontonu held his giant shield forward, and the cards simply bounced off. "Huh..." Setzer grunted, drawing a dart. "Where do you get off calling this YOUR monument?" He threw the dart. In midair, the dart split into three; two lightly bounced off the impenetrable shield, one punctured the breastplate. Haontonu didn't even flinch. "Aagh!" Setzer exclaimed, astonished. "Let me handle this, gambling man!" Garland yelled, leaping forward. "This ghost'll be a sucker for my Light sword!" Setzer was reluctant to do so, but he let Garland have a go at it. Garland took a swing, but Haontonu easily blocked it with his shield. Garland tried again, with the same result. Haontonu clubbed Garland with his steel fist, sending him on a one-way trip into the wall. HA HA HA! Haontonu boomed. NONE OF YOU ARE ANY MATCH FOR HAONTONU! The great ghost stood, intimidating as ever, gloating. Tucker stood watching, progressively getting more and more angry. He drew his Techsword, and set the switch on auto-rotate. He came forward, and stood behind Setzer. "All right, I've seen enough of you!" he exclaimed. Setzer was afraid he was talking to him, and ducked. Tucker leapt forward, and exclaimed, "I, Tucker Pendragon, will break down your iron defense!" 'I hope that sounded good,' he thought. "Tucker Pendragon?" Garland said to himself, as he slid down the dirty wall. Tucker repeatedly whacked Haontonu's giant shield with great, overhanded blows. The auto rotate switched the sword's ability with every strike. Hot-cold-hot-cold-hot-cold-CRASH The shield shattered into many shards and pieces. Haontonu looked astonished. "Garland!" Tucker yelled. "Use your Light sword now, if he's such a sucker for it!" Garland groggily got to his feet, and unsteadily dashed towards Haontonu. IT WAS YOU WHO CAUSED ME THIS TROUBLE! Haontonu boomed, turning towards Setzer, and away from Tucker. I SHALL CRUSH YOU LIKE THE INSECT YOU ARE! The armor raised its massive fist, and was about to turn Setzer into putty when Garland reached him. He stabbed into where Haontonu's stomach would have been, cutting through the ghostly armor like butter. The monster froze, and slowly disappeared. "Everyone okay?" Garland asked, breathing heavily and teetering a bit. He still hurt from his recent flight. He sank down, and sat. "You're a bit gung-ho for your abilities, aren't you?" Tucker said, walking over to Garland. "You always were. It's not healthy, you know..." "Tucker Pendragon, the Kid..." Garland said, breathing heavily. "How's life been?" "Oh... heh.. not bad..." Tucker replied, also huffing. "It's been pretty weird, actually." Setzer looked on in utter confusion. "You two... know each other?" he asked, squinting. "Yeah," Garland said. "I can't believe I didn't recognize him right away. I helped him out of a jam once." "I beg to differ," Tucker retorted. "YOU were the one ahead of your time. And I recall that you called yourself 'Clint Eastwood'." "Master!" Kraken exclaimed. "You never told us that! You're not supposed to go time jumping alone." "Well, I..." "Hey, can we get my orb anytime TODAY?" Lich said impatiently, approaching the monument to Daryl. "Yeah, yeah..." Garland said. Setzer looked at him. He seemed to look a bit less annoying than before. He was about to chop the stone art to bits when Setzer stopped him. "Please," Setzer said. "This holds sentimental value to me..." Garland blinked. "Okay... Kary, move that monument!" Kary treated him to a complimentary whine. "Uh, oh... yeah. Kraken, move that monument!" "Yes, master!" Kraken said loyally. He threw his cape back over his shoulders, got a good grip, and proceeded to lift with all his might. Slowly but surely, the monument began to leave the ground. 'Who ARE these people...' Setzer thought, as he witnessed Kraken steadily lift the one-ton monolith. 'Not even Sabin could do that!' "Some friends you've got..." Tucker said, as Kraken gently set the monument down a few yards away. "I hope you pay them well..." Garland smirked and dropped down the newly-made entrance to the Earth Cave. * - * - * Within the halls of Lich's domain, there was quite a different atmosphere. The air was surprisingly clean, and they found no undead monsters, or even remains. "All this has remained," Lich said distantly. "So still, so unchanged." He looked around at the earthen walls and floors, admiring his fallen kingdom. "It's amazing how clean the air is down this deep," Tiamat said, taking a deep breath. She seemed very happy to be breathing good air again. Kraken noticed a clear pool of clean water. Stooping down, he drank a handful of the water. "Aaaah..." he said. The others looked at him quizzically. "Cures what ails ya." Tucker and Garland chatted as they walked along the darkened passage. "So, Garland, have you found a time for your little immortality scheme?" "Nah. I need a place where the heroes are strong enough to defeat me once, but not twice." Setzer half-listened with mild interest, not really understanding Garland's plan. It seemed to him that Tucker didn't understand it very well either. He was slightly surprised when Tiamat addressed him directly. "So, Setzer, where did you get that coat?" "Huh? Oh, this?" Setzer never really expected anyone to take interest in his rather odd way of dressing. "Someone gave it to me..." "Oh, I love it." She said. "It looks great, and it must keep you warm at night." 'At least something does,' Setzer thought, not looking at Tiamat's face. He was considering giving it to her, but decided he'd better hold on to the one thing that had remained constant in his ever-changing life. Lich looked up. Suddenly, he ran ahead with a very sudden burst of energy. The others exchanged glances, and followed. Setzer straggled along behind, watching his shoes with mild interest. When he caught up with the others, he found them not triumphantly holding an orb, but standing in an archway, staring at a small sphere. "What's that?" Tucker inquired. "That's your orb, right, Lich?" Setzer asked. He pushed his way through and headed for the dark brown sphere in the center of the room. "So let's take it and get out of here!" "No, Setzer!" Lich commanded. "Don't touch it." "But..." Setzer began. "That's what we came for. That's your orb, right?" "No, Setzer... that's not an orb... that's a fiend's ball..." The party stood, motionless. Setzer stood two feet away from the fiend's ball, wondering just what it meant. Nobody spoke, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Tucker broke the silence. "If that's a fiend's ball, wouldn't that imply the existence of a fiend to go with it?" He really didn't seem the least bit concerned. "Yes... that's correct," Garland answered. "So let's do it!" Tucker said, strutting forward. He had no idea what a fiend really was, when it came to elements. He knocked on the fiend's ball. "Come on out, we're ready for ya..." "GYAAAAH!" Kraken yelled. "What are you doing?" "Huh," Tucker said. "Looks like nobody's h-" Tucker's words were cut off by the explosion of the ball, causing smoke to fill the room. Nobody could see for sure what it was, but something was emerging... uncoiling. Tucker was the first to see the beast's face. Its eyes glowed a bright yellow. Its head seemed to have mole-like characteristics, but feather-like hair sprouted along the center of its head, forming a type of crest. As he was staring at this grotesque monstrosity, he recieved a hard blow to the face with a long staff-like weapon. As the smoke cleared, the fiend could be made out quite well. The better part of its body was that of a giant earthworm. Its torso was relatively human-like, with arms and prehensile hands. The crested mole head was by far the ugliest thing most of the party had ever seen. It held a long rod horizontally in both hands. The creature reared back its head and let out a mighty wail. "It's huge!" Setzer exclaimed, looking on at the creature, which measured twenty-five feet from head to tail. "What is it?" "Hold on," Garland said, flipping through the _Everything You Need to Know About Magic and Stuff_ book. "Fiends, fiends... ah! Here it is. Fiends, New. Lessee... That's... Agnithicus, Fiend of Earth!" Upon hearing it's name, the great beast's eyes narrowed. "Hardly a fiend..." Garland said. "Not a drop of intelligence... More like a plain old monster-" These would have been the last words any of the fiends, Tucker, Setzer, or Garland would have heard, because they had been turned to stone by Agnithicus' rod. Would have been, that is, if Lich had been affected. "I guess it's my turn..." Lich said. Agnithicus stood a good six feet over Lich's head, and Lich wasn't exactly over-confident. The beast whipped around the room, surrounding Lich with his great worm's tail. "I shoulda bought a weapon when I had the chance..." Lich said aloud. He had no choice but to wait for an attack. Agnithicus screeched and lunged with his rod. Lich leapt back, and the crystal struck rock. 'Awful agile for a worm...' Lich thought. There was a pause. Agnithicus screeched again, then went for Lich with the rod. Lich managed to avoid the crushing blow from the crystal-set weapon. Agnithicus let out another scream, and attempted to crush Lich with his tail. Lich barely cleared the great whipping apparatus, and in fact, tripped over it. Thinking it was all over for him, Lich was surprised to find that he was still "alive". Agnithicus seemed to be looking the other way. The monster let out a howl. In a moment, he turned to attack Lich again. After dodging the next attack, Lich decided to make his move. He snatched up a shard of rock from the ground, which Agnithicus had knocked astray in a previous attack. 'I need an opening...' he thought. Agnithicus bellowed, and launched a giant sweep with his rod. 'This is it!' Lich realized. He leapt over the rod and jammed the shard into the creature's eye with all the force he could muster. Agnithicus screamed, blinded. Lich dashed behind the monster. "Ha!" he laughed. "Now that you're blind, this'll be a cinch!" However, Lich was caught off guard when the monster whipped around and dealt him a blow which carried him into a nearby wall. "Ugh... " Lich said. He found yet another strike launched toward him, which he barely dodged. Lich landed roughly on his feet, dumbfounded. 'How... can it find me so easily...' Lich thought, not moving. 'It should be completely blind...' Agnithicus did not move, or even look towards Lich. Fluid from its wounded eyes ran down the creature's face. It seemed to have lost Lich, though he was almost directly in front of it. Lich thought for a moment, longing for a slicing weapon. Agnithicus let out a screech, and waited. A moment later, he lunged toward Lich. 'That's IT!' the Undead Lord thought. He picked up a small rock, and lobbed it at the far wall of the large room, making a resounding clatter. Agnithicus whirled and struck the spot where the stone landed. 'Of course... it uses echolocation!' Lich concluded. 'Blinding it in the first place wasn't necessary...' Agnithicus let out a maddened howl, waited, then struck. Lich, now that he knew, had plenty of warning as to when the beast would strike. 'How can I defeat him without making too much noise...?' Lich wondered, dodging the swinging rod. He looked around the large room, for any sort of weapon. 'Nothing,' he thought. 'Just a few stalagmites and stalactites...' Agnithicus bellowed again, then began slithering towards Lich. On the way, the beast's tail thumped a stalagmite, quite roughly. Lich thought intensely about that. Then, he had the answer... Lich dashed over behind a stalagmite on the opposite end of the chamber. Standing behind it, he yelled, "Hey ugly! Over here!" Agnithicus was sure he had his opponent, and his expression became more cruel. "Hope this works..." Lich said, looking up to the rock spires hanging from the ceiling. Agnithicus threw himself forward with all his strength, toward the stalagmite Lich hid behind. The beast's head and the rock met with a resounding thump, and Lich sighed in relief. Agnithicus squirmed as he regained his senses, and Lich knew he had to act fast. He leapt into the air and clung to an overhanging stalactite. The monster rose, and let out an ear-piercing scream. It looked dumbfounded when it couldn't pick up a signal. "Hey Agni..." Lich smirked. "'Looking' for me?" He kicked a nearby stalactite with all his might, sending it crashing down upon the monster, crushing its skull. A battle cry died in its throat as its world went black. The others slowly became themselves again, as Lich was saying, "I can't believe that worked..." Agnithicus's body began to glow an eerie gold, and it progressively shrunk, until it was a glowing golden sphere of energy, with an approximately two inch radius. "What is that thing?" Tucker asked. Lich approached the sphere, and gathered it into his hands. He began laughing manaically, and held it high above his head for all the world to see. As the energy coursed through him, he grew, and became progressively less human, and more fiendish. "YES!" he shouted. "That, Tucker," Garland said, staring, "is Lich's Earth Orb." * - * - * Not a moment later, the party found themselves outside the tomb, on the open plain. Every single one of them was confused, especially Setzer and Tucker. Lich was nowhere to be seen. "Where... " Garland began. "Where's Lich?" The party surveyed the landscape, but saw no sign of him. No sign, that is, until he appeared in a flash of energy and Earth aura. He now stood eight feet tall. His hair had disappeared. His helm had changed to a ceremonial warrior's helmet, with a large golden plume. He carried a very large scythe, and had no legs to speak of. His eyes, a deep, dull orange, resembled dying coals from an old fire. His face made no movement, but he spoke. "Let's go." * - * - * Far off, in a dark place, The Master became intrigued.