Shinji gasped in surprise when suddenly, a white cat came leaping out of the chest. He was so surprised that he stumbled backwards, landing on his behind.
The white cat jumped on his chest and grinned. Now Shinji could see that it had some weird, golden crescent mark on its forehead.
"Hello, hello, hello!" The cat said in a perfectly understandable voice. "Seems like the hero's finally here! Time to PAH-TAY!"
"GAH!" Shinji screamed and crawled backwards, away from the creepy animal. "Who... who are you, and how can you TALK?"
The cat laughed when it saw the human's confused face. "The name's Artemis, good buddy! And I've been waiting here for the one who's, ahem... DESTINED TO OPEN THE CHEST OF DOOM!"
For a few moments, neither said anything.
"Huh?" Shinji then asked.
"Was it a bit over the edge?" Artemis asked with a tilted head. "Yeah, I thought so. I still have to work on that stuff a bit more. But first, we have work to do." He cleared his throat. "Thank you for releasing me from this chest. I have been waiting in there for a long time until the right person opens it. And you have to be the right one, you else you wouldn't have been able to open it, blah blah blah, the usual mushy stuff, you get it..."
"Uh, right..." Shinji said, slowly getting up from the ground. "That means you were the one who called me from in there?"
Artemis looked at him. "Well, duh! Of course I was! Who did you expect, Santa Claus?"
"Who is Santa..."
"Never mind." The white cat sighed. "That's what I get for working with a resident of the underworld. They don't know what they're missing up there, in the big, wide world... where the REAL fun stuff happens. All right, let's start at the beginning: This chest will be bound to yourself from now on. Wherever you go, it will follow you. Same with me. Consider me your trustworthy, furry companion."
"And... what exactly can that chest do?" Shinji asked. "And why did the elder lock it away in here in the first place?"
"I was just getting to that. Within this chest, you may store as many stuff as you can find, and it will never be full. You always can get the stuff out of it again, of course. It also comes with a magical spell function, but that would be too complicated for now, so let's skip that for the moment. Most important, it contains your new weapon."
"What would I need a weapon for?" Shinji asked in bewilderment. "There never has been any confrontation between the villagers."
"Oh, so you actually believe that your tiny, unimpressive backwater village is all there is in the world? Puh-leeze..."
"Well, even if there isn't, I would never be able to leave the village, because of the barrier."
"A barrier?" Artemis scratched his head. "Um, lemme see if I can remember. Hidden village in the underworld, invisible barrier... Oh for Whiskas's sake, don't tell me the chest landed in THAT village."
Shinji didn't quite understand even half of what the irritated feline was trying to tell him. "What do you mean, underworld? You wanna tell me there's actually another world out there?"
"Well, yeah, but I never figured they would put the chest..." He groaned. "Okay, leave it to me. I'll find a way past that barrier, I'm pretty sure of it. First, why don't you just try out that chest and take out your sword?"
"A sword? I can't even fight with a stick," Shinji protested.
"Just pull it out! If I say you can do it, you can do it."
"Yessir," Shinji was quickly to obey.
He reached into the mysterious chest, which was now standing on the cavern's floor. He felt something hard and grabbed it. When he pulled it out of the chest, he realized that it was a masterfully crafted blade, with a decorated hilt and a blade that was even longer than the chest it was pulled from itself.
"Um, nice," he said. "Now what?"
"Oh, for the love of..." Artemis muttered. "This bloke is even more dimwitted than Minako. Give it a try, of course! Swing it, stab it, anything!"
Shinji lifted the sword (it was exceptionally light) and swung it around. To his amazement, he realized that he was able to handle it like a master swordsman. He stepped around the cave, swinging his new blade through the air and did various complex maneuvers that he'd never thought he was able to do.
"That's amazing!" he gasped. "It's almost as if always knew how to fight."
"Yes, yes, very nice, my boy. Now, what do you say you take that chest and we get out of here. It's way too dark and damp for my tastes."
"But you still didn't tell me about..."
"Shinji?" a well-known voice suddenly called for him.
Shinji turned around and saw Asuka entering the cave. In confusion, she looked at the open chest and the white cat standing next to her husband. "Shinji, what's going on here? Did you break the blue door? Oh, you're going to be in such trouble when the elder finds out, mister! And where did that cat come from?"
Artemis grinned up at her. "Well, hel-looooo there, baby!"
The redhead gasped. "It... it talks?"
"Oh, I can do so much more than that," the lecherous feline smirked. "Wanna find out?"
"Don't worry, he's a friend," Shinji assured his wife. "Well, at least I think so..."
Asuka shook her head. "Well, I dunno... I just have such a strange feeling. Shinji, seriously, what were you thinking? You should have never destroyed the seal. The elder warned us that something terrible is going to happen..." She shuddered. "Shinji, it's becoming so cold... please, hold me..."
She took a step closer to him, then she froze.
Literally.
All of a sudden, a cold wind blew out of the chest, and when it passed Asuka, she suddenly got encased in a solid coating of ice. Her eyes were frozen in a pleading stare, and her hands were reaching for Shinji, as if she wanted to be saved.
"Asuka!" he screamed and reached for her. She was icy to the touch. But still, she wouldn't move. "What... what happened to her?"
"Dangit," Artemis cussed. "I'd have never guessed they would put a curse on the box. I hate to say it, kid, but I'm afraid this is what's in store for every single person of your village."
"But... why?" Shinji asked in disbelief. "And if what you said is true, then why didn't it affect me?"
"As the holder of the chest, you are protected by its magic. Sorry about this, I would have warned you if I knew this was going to happen. See, there are certain guys that wouldn't want this chest to fall into the wrong hands... and to prevent that, it seems like they put a curse upon the chest. A curse that will freeze all people in the immediate vicinity."
"But... but we can't let that happen to them," Shinji protested. "And Asuka... we can't just let her stay like this. Isn't there any way we could help her?"
"Um, I can't really say for sure..."
"WHAT? Why not?"
"Hey, gimme a break here," the white cat protested. "I've never encountered anything like that before. Heard of it, sure... but never seen with my own eyes."
"So, you heard of it, huh? Exactly WHAT did you hear of it?"
"Well... they say that strong magic is needed to counter that sort of spell."
"Magic? The elder!" Shinji suddenly perked up. "He can use powerful magic. Maybe he escaped the curse, somehow."
"Pretty much possible," Artemis said. "If a person's magical aura is strong enough, it might be sufficient to counter the effects of the curse."
"Then what are we waiting for? We have to go and see if he's all right. And maybe he has a solution for all of this."
He grabbed the chest and stuffed it under his shirt (never once realizing that it shrunk to better fit under his clothes), then they ran out of the cavern, through the tunnel and then they were back in the basement of the house.
"Quick, maybe he's still on the hilltop..." Shinji said and ran up the stairs... but he froze when he saw the figure of the elder standing in the main entrance of the house.
The elder, cloaked as always in his wide, purple robe, stared at his foster son with wide eyes.
Especially at the chest that was sticking out of his shirt.
"You fool..." he whispered. "What have you done?"
"I... I didn't want to..."
"Don't you realize what happened?" the old man shouted. "By opening that chest, you activated the magical trap that has been put on it eons ago. Why do you think did I seal it away in the basement? Why would I forbid you to open the blue door? It's because I knew about the curse!"
"I... I didn't know..." Shinji murmured. "Please, you have to believe me... I would never... Oh, Asuka..."
"I believe you," the elder grunted. "But you do realize that as the only remaining villager, you have to do something to lift the curse from the village, right?"
"Y-yeah, of course," Shinji nodded. "But, what should I do?"
"You have to leave the village." The elder looked down at Artemis. "Your new little friend will show you the way. Travel through the underworld, and you will find five towers. Inside these towers, you will find the key to save our friends."
"I understand," Shinji replied firmly. "And I won't fail."
The elder nodded. "Good. Now, I have to rest. Good luck to you and your little friend."
And slowly, he walked upstairs, where his own room was situated.
Shinji stepped out of the village. All around him, he could see the immobile, frozen bodies of his friends and neighbors.
"This is all my fault," he whispered. "And I'm gonna fix this mistake. Artemis, let's go!"
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:22)
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