Lina Inverse was upset. She was very upset. She just had to put up with her idiot companion eating all the food and sticking her with the bill and running off. Lina threw her hands up in disgust and headed for a ruin she wanted to investigate.
'Hopefully, I'll have enough time before that idiot shows back up,' Lina though, as she made her way east of Midas.
She headed past an old church to Cephied and went behind it. She knelt down near a huge boulder with some strange markings on them. She nodded and counted off a number of paces and used Bemphis Bring to open a hole in the ground. She smiled, as she saw the old passageway revealed.
'It's here! Now it's time to see if the truth behind the stories of this leading to immense magic is true. It was called something else in the stories. Sy-something or other.'
Lina used a simple lighting spell to navigate the fairly easy maze. She entered a room that had a tree done in green crystal, a raindrop done in blue, a flame done in red, and it looked like blowing wind done in lavender on each of the four walls. Lina noticed that a path was etched into the ground. Huge square holes and stone blocks were scattered across the room. On top of each block were grooves. At the center of the room was a strange circular pattern. Lina gave an amused grin.
"Oh, I get it. Line up the grooves so they lead from the patterns on the wall to the center. I better check the writings near each of the patterns."
Lina walked up to each of the patterns and read a plaque next to each of them. She frowned as she read the one for fire and wind.
"A jet of flames must pour from the holder of the one who holds fire?" Lina muttered. "I'll have to modify Fireball for this and I'll have to do something about making one of the wind spells twist."
Lina went to work and moved the stones. Soon she had the blocks in the holes and stood in the center of the pattern. Lina concentrated hard and modified the fireball in flight into a jet of flames that splashed itself against the red crystal pattern. A blaze of red light shot from the pattern and followed the grooves on the floor. It soon reached the central pattern and lit up a quarter of the circle. She turned and fired a spinning Bomb Dy Wynd at the lavender crystal pattern.
"To grind down stones to allow passage can only be this. Bemphis Bring," Lina said, and fired her spell at the green crystal tree.
Lina was about to turn and fire her last spell, when she was interrupted.
"Lina? Did you really think you could lose me that easily?" a voice called from the darkness. It was soon followed by hideous laughter.
"Naga," Lina muttered in disgust.
The top-heavy mage know best for her horrible laughter, her skimpy costume, and her huge breasts entered the room.
"So, what is my junior business partner up to now?" Naga demanded. "It looks like you are about to cheat me out of my fair share of treasure."
The teen-age mage sighed in defeat. "Fine. I was just about finished. Let's see what the treasure is. You can use this, after I'm done."
Lina reluctantly turned to face the blue crystal raindrop and cast her spell.
"Aqua Create!"
The water spell hit the blue crystal, and like its previous three brethren shot a light that followed the grooves in the floor. The blue light hit the circle Lina was standing on. Soon the circle began pulsing very quickly.
Naga shouted, "Lina! What's going on!"
"I'm not sure! The stories said this would show the way to great magic!" Lina shouted back.
The circle pulsed faster and faster and suddenly Lina had vanished. The stones that Lina had placed in their slots had teleported back to where they once stood.
Naga looked around in confusion that soon mounted into anger. "Lina? Where are you? How dare you go off by yourself and leave me behind!"
The anger faded, as she recalled how Lina vanished. "Lina? This isn't funny. Where are you?"
Naga headed up to the plaques and read each one of them. She placed her hand on the wind plaque and shook her head.
"I can't do it. I don't know the spells she used for fire or air."
Naga soon left the ruins and sadly covered the hole back up. "Maybe it was a trap and Lina fell for it."
Naga shook her head. "No. Lina will be back, but she's having an adventure without me."
_______________________________________________________________________
Lina felt nervous as her vision blurred. The blurring stopped and she was standing at the foot of a large mountain that radiated immense power. A girl about her age wearing a red dress with the lower skirt brown and a purple leather breastplate cautiously walked up to her. Lina noticed the girl had red eyes and brown hair.
"That was different," Lina muttered. "Pardon me, but do you have an empty cup."
The girl nodded and grabbed a cup that was lying on an empty picnic table and handed it to Lina. Lina used a small fraction of the Aqua Create spell to fill the cup with water. She drank the water and noticed that the girl's face cleared.
"You're a Water Adept and you just used Psynergy."
"Water Adept? I'm a Sorceress," Lina replied in confusion.
"That must be what you call your Adepts. My name is Jenna and this is the town of Vale at the base of Mt. Aleph."
"Mt. Aleph? Vale?" I have never heard of these places before," Lina said.
Jenna frowned. "Not heard of...? By the way, what's your name?"
Lina took a sip of water and then replied. "My name is Lina Inverse."
"Two names?"
"Inverse is my family name," Lina said with one eye closed. "My sister is called Luna Inverse. My mom and dad also have the Inverse name."
"Ah. The name of your clan," Jenna said.
"Something like that. By Cephied, I never had to explain family names before," Lina said.
"Who? Who is Cephied?"
Lina's cup dropped from her fingers, as she stared at Jenna in shock.
"You have to be joking. Where is this Mt. Aleph?" Lina said.
"It is said to be at the center of the world," Jenna replied.
"No offense, but is there a sage or scholar I could talk to. It doesn't look like you've left this village in your entire life."
"There's Kraden. He's an outsider that came to Vale a few years ago. He's teaching Isaac, Garet, and myself how to use our Psynergy better.
"Psynergy? What is that?" Lina asked.
"You probably call it something different, but it's the power you used to create that water you drank," Jenna said with a glance at Lina.
"Magic," Lina said, answering her own question and Jenna's unasked one.
"Yes, it is commonly called magic by a lot of people," Jenna replied.
Lina sighed and picked the cup back up and handed to Jenna.
"Here's your cup back."
"It's not mine. It's just one of the cups that are out that anyone can use to have a picnic or family outing."
"Uh. Yeah. Could you please take me to see this Kraden?" Lina asked. 'She's kind and I guess I really should act nice until I find out what's going on here.'
"Sure. Follow me. Since you're an Adept, you'll be allowed passage. I want to know how you managed to show up like that."
Lina followed Jenna up stairs that were cut in the mountain. The two of them stopped by a large demolished hut next to the river running down the mountain.
"Mom, Dad, Felix. I still miss you all," Jenna whispered with an unshed tear in her eye.
"Felix?" Lina asked.
Jenna looked at Lina in shock. "You heard that?"
Lina tapped her right ear. "I have very sharp hearing. I can hear those two boys across the river whispering and pointing at us. So, I'm a stranger. So what?"
Jenna saw the two boys that Lina indicated and shook her head in disbelief. "You can hear them from that distance away?"
"Yep."
Jenna laughed a bit nervously.
"So who was Felix?" Lina asked, changing the subject to a bit more normal one.
"Oh. He was my brother. During an impossibly fierce storm, a boulder was knocked down from Mt. Aleph and smashed into our home. Since, I was visiting friends, I was outside our home when it was...."
Lina put a hand on Jenna's shoulder. "You saw them killed in front of you. I am sorry for your loss."
Jenna blinked away the tears. "Let's go see Kraden."
Lina nodded and remained silent for the rest of the trip. As the neared the top, they quickly veered west and approached a large wood and straw hut.
"It's probably non of by business, but why do you build such flammable houses? You could easily carve your homes into the mountain."
"We don't know how to build houses out of stone," Jenna said with a shrug. "Besides, we have enough Earth and Fire Adepts to control any fires that get out of control."
"How many Water Adepts do you have in town?" Lina asked.
"Including yourself, only one," Jenna replied. "We have no Wind Adepts at all."
Lina sighed. "When you speak of Adepts and how they are aligned...."
"Each Adept is skilled with the power of one of the four elements. Vale has Earth and Fire Adepts. I'm a Fire Adept and can use my Psynergy to harm and with a bit more practice, I should be able to heal as well. Since you're a Water Adept, healing will come more naturally to you."
"Uh yeah," Lina replied. 'In other words, each Adept is a specialist in only one of the four Shamanistic Elements. Better play along and just use Water Shamanism and healing spells until necessary. If she's right, I should be able to learn a variation on the Resurrection spell.'
The two girls went into Kraden's hut. Lina was introduced to an old man wearing a brown robe. Jenna quickly explained what she knew of Lina and their mutual shocks. Kraden nodded and sent Jenna away, saying he wanted to speak with Lina alone. After Jenna reluctantly left, Kraden looked at Lina with a knowing gaze.
"Cephied? A name out of a fairy tale. A tale of a mighty god fighting against a mighty demon and that the two mutually annihilated each other."
"Not quite," Lina muttered.
"I'd like to hear more about your world Lina. It might help with a theory of mine."
"My world?" Lina asked dully.
"This is the world of Weyard. I don't know if it is known on your world. Your world, the world of Cephied and Shabranigdo, was mentioned in a very old book that was passed off as fairy tales."
"I'm on another world?" Lina asked in a hollow voice.
"Yes. Just how did you get here?"
Lina pushed aside her shock and explained the ruins she found and how they worked. Kraden nodded.
"Tel me, could someone from your world build something like that now?"
"Other than transporting from one world to another, yes. Dimension travel requires more power and knowledge that was lost in the Dark Resurrection War."
"The..."
"One seventh of Shabranigdo was revived. I'll tell you the whole story later. I just need to find a place to live and...."
"I'm quite sure that the people of Vale will allow an Adept from a foreign country to stay for free, provided you don't do anything to upset them."
"I'm a bit weak on healing and...."
"I might not be able to use Psynergy, but I do know how to teach someone to use it to a great effect. You want to become the town's healer?"
"Until I figure a way back home, I need something to support me and keep me from going nuts," Lina replied.
"It's a reasonable idea."
"One more thing," Lina said, as she opened her hand.
In her palm appeared a fireball that winked out, followed by a ball of wind, and then followed by Lina placing her hand against the floor and pulling up a spire of earth. Lina kicked the earth spire into dust and grinned at Kraden's shock.
"I'm not exactly limited to one of the four elements. My affinity is actually Fire, but Jenna saw me cast Aqua Create first and made the conclusion I'm a Water Adept."
Kraden took off his glasses and stared in Lina. "A Universal Adept? My theory has a bit more proof."
"What theory?" Lina asked.
Kraden shook his head sadly. "I can't tell you here and now. It would upset a lot of people if they knew and what has to be done. Keep quiet about your non-Water related abilities."
"I intended to," Lina replied in a bit of perplexity.
"You can stay here for the night. I'll go see if there's an abandoned house nearby that you can move into. There are things I want to discuss with you," Kraden said.
Lina nodded in resignation. 'Another world means no Dragon Slave or any of the other Black Magic spells. I'm limited to Shamanism and White Magic.'
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(Posted Mon, 10 Apr 2006 06:22)
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