"The Dreamers"

Chapter 01 Chapter 02 Chapter 03 Chapter 04 Chapter 05 Chapter 06 Chapter 07 Chapter 08 Chapter 09 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37

Venge’s trainer, Rune, entered the same cave he had once before visited to be informed of the latest developments in his plans. While Venge was the only person to currently know of his existence on this continent, there was one other that could be said to have this knowledge as well. The question was not of Rune’s conspicuousness, but rather that of whether his lesser acquaintance could be considered a person. "Nine…" Rune began, eyeing about his dank and foreboding surroundings in an attempt to attract the digen. The only welcome for the employer was a rustling of debris on the other side of the river that parted the two sides of the cave. "I have already heard rumors of a being of unimaginable power decimating the Baroshian forces; I am assuming your mission went well."

"Yes…" responded the same voice that had previously bid farewell to so many lives. "And what of my payment?"

"I brought it with me of course," Rune laughed. "The two metagens are in locality 34-D, but I must warn you… they are looking for you."

"I am not concerned with their objectives. With all the precepts towards my own goals in place, it is now only a matter of time," responded the same metallic voice from the darkness beyond Rune’s sight.

"They are metagens… They will object towards your interference of course."

"Understood; now leave me, lest I am provoked towards the deinclination of your services." Rune bowed respectfully towards his unseen acquaintance and removed himself from the cave, leaving the digen Nine to plan his next move.

"What is this place?" Lukas inquired after the two men had progressed an unknown distance into the now brighter tunnel which they had discovered some twenty minutes beforehand.

"As if I were to know, lad…" Sean responded, brushing aside some old spider webs and continuing along his course. "These writings have kept on for some time, aye? We saw the Apacian lettering behind us near the entrance, and have seen naught of it since."

"I haven’t seen a bit of the stuff either. I wonder what all of this says, anyway?"

"I can’t say I would know that either…" Sean laughed in accordance with both of their ignorance towards the situation. "We’re both hopeless it seems, lad."

"I can’t say I disagree with you on that count, Sean. Maybe…" The discourse between the two friends was interrupted as something entered into Lukas’s field of vision. The glowing red radiance that had been significantly increasing in the two’s drawing nearer to its source had taken a large increase in one particular spot. This location was buried in a pile of debris, virtually inaccessible to the twin adventurers. "Well… if we were going to find something down here, this would be it…" Sean nodded silently as the two began the long work of uncovering the lost treasure, whatever it may be.

Egido IV polished one of his many daggers, a collection of which had been started years before by his father, who had given him his first. Thoughts of the past were not in Egido’s mind, however, as the young prince continued to map into his mind exactly how his father would die. "Oh, father… why have you afflicted me so?" he spoke out loud, raising his weapon into the light that had been granted passage by the lone window in his room. "Why must I be forced into your seat of power so soon…?" Upon this last note of mental searching, the prince was interrupted by the sounds of the creaking floor. Turning, the contemplating young man discovered the source of his newly acquired thoughts of deception. "Ah, Lakan…"

"Greetings, Egido IV, future ruler of Apacia." The prince laughed at the remark and removed himself from his seat.

"Are you that confident in me? I’ve only about twenty years to accredit myself with," he noted, eyeing the darkly clad visage of his secretive adviser.

"You will make a fine leader, unlike the third of your ancestry, the king. His time has passed, especially in light of the recent events surrounding his rule."

"He has been making some bad choices… We’re actually losing the war to that wimp Barosh – it‘s disgraceful! I’ve made a decision, but I’m not sure if I am willing to follow through with it…"

"I know your heart, Egido. All that you need to know is that only one thing matters in this world, and that is yourself. If you can preserve your own wishes and become the stronger animal, then by all means progress through the ranks of nature."

"That’s an interesting philosophy, but wouldn’t that mean that you are advising me for your own goals? I mean, what purpose do you have in exchanging the torch from hand to hand?"

"Well," Lakan began, "it is quite obvious that you are in direct descent from the line of succession, unlike myself, and the king will no longer heed my warnings. With a stronger mind behind the mind for me to helpfully guide, my goals will be met, although not so directly."

"I see… So you wish to control me?"

"Of course not; I only wish to guide you, as I had with your father before he began to ignore my wishes and began his streak of incorrect measures. I am but a friend to you – it is your decision whether to heed my advice or not, but it is strongly suggested that you do."

Egido IV rubbed his eyes from the depth of the discussion, still making inquiries while he regained his composure. "And if I don’t… then will you attempt to bring the same fate to me as you are trying to towards my father?" Upon hearing nothing in response, Egido removed his hands from his face and looked up, only to be greeted by the unwelcome sight of Lakan’s disappearance.

Upon removing some of the last bit of debris, most of the rocks that covered the source of Lukas and Sean’s inquiries rolled away, revealing a small shining red rock wrapped in a thin sheet of decaying paper. The tunnel extended quite a bit further, but under the presumption that there was no need to proceed any further, the two settled down to examine their find. "What have we here?" Sean commented, tugging the small object out of a few loosened rocks. The paper unfolded and the gem rolled out, leaving only the note in Sean’s hands. Lukas bent down to retrieve the glowing parcel, only to be interrupted by his colleague. "Stop!" Sean demanded, bringing his friend to a halt with one hand while holding the note in his other, all the while continuing to scan across the decaying paper. "This is in Apacian, lad… I just saw something about not touching the stone, so that’s why I stopped you."

"Didn’t you just touch it though?"

"Nye, I picked it up by the paper in me hands." Sean continued to read while Lukas inspected their find from a quaint distance.

"It sure did give off a lot of light for such a little thing. The funny part is that it really isn’t giving off much light right now… I don’t see how we saw it from the surface. It took us about half an hour to get to this point.

"The walls are reflective it seems… The light bounces off of them and returns to the surface… Where did I see that part about not touching the stone?" Lukas rubbed his arms and shrugged, beginning to feel some of the cold air that sometimes swept throughout the passage. "Ah, here… It…" Sean paused and kept reading, in obvious disbelief of whatever he happened to be reading at the moment.

"What, Sean?"

"Run, lad!" Sean cried, grabbing Lukas’s arm and tugging him back towards where they had come from.

"What?! But the stone!"

"The source of what troubles are heading for us! Just run!" Sean removed himself from the area while Lukas slowly trotted behind, perplexed by what was happening and wondering if he should go back for the source of all their troubles. Lukas’s unspoken questions were answered, however, as he felt a rumbling in the ground - something was approaching.

The digen Nine stood quietly in the plains to the north of the place where Rune and himself had recently reacquainted themselves, apparently waiting for someone or something. Nothing could be seen for miles other than barren wasteland, rocks, and the occasional shrub or small tree. Why Nine had taken this seemingly pointless stand was beyond understanding of anyone other than himself and Rune. He had arrived with one purpose in mind: to greet two old friends.

Without notice, Nine turned about to welcome two new strangers, who were both dressed much in the same way he was, while lacking the golden eyes and the spiked violet hair. These two were much younger in appearance and were not so hard in their visage as Nine. "Nineteen…" Nine began, addressing one of the new arrivals, who was male. Nineteen grinned slyly and pulled back some strands of his neatly cut black hair. "Have you and Twenty finally decided to confront your fates?" Nine continued, referring to Nineteen’s partner, a blonde girl whose hair was much the same in appearance as her male acquaintance’s. The two laughed sinisterly and crossed their arms.

"You should know us better than that, brother," Nineteen responded. "We’ve got to get rid of you to complete our mission, and you know it."

"I don’t get why you ask such foolish questions," the once silent Twenty interjected. "It’s a complete waste of our time."

"I have no interest in what pleases you or does not," Nine fired back. "Your concerns amount to nothing. My mission is to eliminate all variables that may contribute to the success of Ziedrich’s plan, and you have been identified as those very threats. I will ensure that both of you die."