[YGG] Yggdrasil Crew Adventures: Episode 9928

{BGM: “Salty Sea Dogs’ Tavern”}


Everything was finally falling into place. It was pretty amazing how things straightened themselves out ‘soon as the Captain returned from his unapproved coma. More and more of the crew both new and old gathered as word got out of their whereabouts. Many were excited to see the Captain and that’s why they came, unaware that a grand adventure was just on the horizon. As they drank and sang and danced, whispers (shouts) of the next adventure quickly and repeatedly made the rounds.

Quite unlike before, Einst partook of the festivities as well, drinking one mug after another and proving he was mighty off the battlefield as well. He wandered back over to Crim just as Uzuki made her boisterous entrance, sipping on his fresh mug of ale as she proclaimed her mission to surpass the two of them. When Kaneda showed up in the middle of it and was subsequently kneed in the dangly bits for his comment, everyone laughed at the swordsman’s misfortune, including Einst. However, in the privacy of his own mind he was unsure of something…

”Strange, I thought Kaneda was killed on Vestusio...The Captain doesn’t seem bothered by it, but that’s nothing new...”

“Hey, so where’s this ship at anyway? Let’s go see!”, Crim hollered. Einst held up his free hand as if to say “one second!”.

Einst finished off his mug and proceeded to walk toward and past the loudmouth girl, shoving his empty mug into her. She caught it on reflex and before she could protest, Einst was already beyond her and had hauled off and smacked her ass hard enough to toss her toward the Captain’s unsuspecting face. Once again, Einst used his strange new agility to defy the senses, but he bore no ill will toward the girl and was just having a little fun. He just kept walking, already developing a keen ability to tune out her yapping.

It was fairly easy to pick out members of the Yggdrasil Pirates, even those possessed of comparably weaker power stood out like sore thumbs even if he didn’t recognize their faces. So when the new face arrived and ordered himself a drink, clearly avoiding the others, Einst noticed. He was sure several others noticed as well, but they were mostly occupied with laughing at Uzuki and Kaneda whom both just got owned. The off and on again drifter, Einst, tossed a pouch of gold coins on the bar and signalled the keep to bring another round.

“You look lost, how about you come with us? I just scored us a sweet new ship and I know just where to take it!”

However obvious it was or not didn’t matter to him—Einst extended an invitation to the lonely lookin’ fella, paid his dues and flashed a brief smile at the guy anyway. He could tell the guy was anxious about something and clearly bewildered by the ‘keep and all the other Tizonian’s. Something told him to bring the guy along, and that everything would be alright.

Just then, Crim pounced on Einst from behind, clobbering him over the back of the head. Einst replied by standing up entirely too fast, head-butting the Captain into the ceiling in return as he furiously pointed toward the direction of his new ship, which didn’t line up with the door of the bar and made the scene all the more ridiculous.

“Right then! To the ship!”

Einst laughed and charged toward the door, jogging at a fairly leisure pace and everyone chased after him. Slow as they were, they were already at the docks anyway and eventually they came up onto the ship everyone was hearing about. Unlike most of the other ships it sat just atop the water, despite being wooden and fitted with gold airfoils and a long turret at the bow. On its sides were two massive turbine engines. It was, qutie clearly, an airship!



As they neared, the crew saw Einst with one foot braced on the railing looking down at everyone, as if he’d been waiting there all along. Walking up next to him was none other than his own brother with his creepy mechanical eyeball face, trench/duster type coat and hood with arms folded across his chest.

“Hurry up ya slow-pokes! We’re goin on a treasure hunt in the sky!”

The crew cheered and laughed and shouted in excitement, so much so the whole port seemed to stop and watch. It was surprising to see by all accounts, with many more people showing up than he expected. As they all boarded the ship, which was quite massive though not as large as the space ships they were accustomed to, Einst announced the name of the vessel.

“Welcome aboard the Fiertia Gold!”

As the crew filled the decks and checked out all the new shiny bits, they would pass by the sopping wet form of Chloe, whom Dom had managed to spot flying in all sloppy-like and crashing into the sea. He of course retrieved the Halfling, and brought her aboard the Fiertia Gold. Given her not-quite-worn-off buzz, she was content with just sitting on the warm, dry wooden deck and get herself together for a few minutes. That is, until she saw him.

The Captain was the last to board, and knowing what was about to happen, Einst got the hell out of dodge. Somehow, Dom had already disappeared too, either way, Einst wasn’t wasting any more time! He quickly manned the helm and two hands were already pulling up the gangway, as Einst hit a fancy button on the controls shaped like an anchor. The moorings loosened and the engines spooled up as the ship began rising further above the water, the sound overtaking all activity of the port. Chloe tried her best to yell at Crim, but take off was the loudest part of the experience and nothing was getting through to him anyway, almost as if he planned it that way, somehow.

And then they were off! The engines mellowed out and the ship naturally emitted a magical noise canceling effect. They moved quickly, but Tizon was pretty large and their destination was higher than it was outward. Not wanting to push her too hard, Einst was content to let the ship cruise along. Several cooks had come along for the ride (how convenient!) and were already preparing a feast in the galley as day turned to night. Sailing through the skies, the airship lit up with dozens of magic-fueled lanterns (the whole ship seemed to work off magic), the party continues!

[ II. Onward ]



The wild-eyed demon was particularly apathetic in the moments to follow. They made his skin crawl for reasons he couldn’t quite explain. His lanky arms beneath his coat folded themselves along his chest as the exchanges took place, and his eyes seemed to drift away from Einst the moment their eyes made the contact of acknowledgement. Unlike Crim, who was a dispositional anomaly that he didn’t care to decipher, he knew that Einst was wondering the obvious. For a long time Kaneda had become the reckless berserker of The Yggdrasil Pirates, emerging as a powerful assassin with a consistently growing bounty across the sea of stars. All of that had changed when he died a hero’s death on Vestusio before the eyes of his nakama. So how was he standing here before his “comrades” today in better shape than he had ever been? The only one who knew the answer was himself. If they didn’t ask? He wouldn’t tell. It was unnecessary information— the same as most other details about the enigmatic swordsman had been since he arrived onboard.

Even as his eyes drifted though, his newly refined awareness of things around him picked up a few “points of interest”. Most of them he’d keep to himself. A woman he’d never seen before, an idiot with a fiery head who intended to join the crew, a vigorous crowd of birdmen...and…

“...”

Einst took care of expenses and some, Crim pounced him with a desire for adventure and all to come, but there was one thing most overlooked. Kaneda didn’t turn to watch Einst beckon the man aboard, instead he silently observed with other more obscure methods. Something bothered Kaneda about this man— though this wasn’t unusual. It was common that men and women alike he weren’t familiar with was subject to some measure of scrutiny, but the general atmosphere around the unknown vagrant led him to a platter of questions. There was a sudden pivot in his step, and in the same moment he was upon Einst. His initial thought was to protest his invitation given.

This didn’t come to fruition however. His mind thought quicker than his body, and in the next moment he was out of the door, hands stuffed into their respective pockets along the way. If he presented himself as a problem, Kaneda would kill him. It was that simple. Always had been and likely would be until the day Kaneda died. Again. Rather than bothering with semantics that didn’t concern him, he had other “business” requiring his attendance. The lone wolf disappeared as quickly as he’d come, with only a glance to Einst from the corner of his eye before his departure.

When things settled onboard the new ship Einst had procured, Kaneda reappeared atop the main mast, his small feet planted firmly on the thick wood where one of the ship’s many flags dangled in the zephyrs of the boundless sky. Those same winds combed through his spiky-wild hair, brushing against his smooth facade hypnotically. His eyes weren’t focused on the festivities of setting sail and the bonding. They were focused on moving forward. What felt like years were spent in what he finally had come to know as “hell” and the entire experience made him grateful for moments of tranquility. Living in the heart of chaos had taught the red-eyed slayer a lot. More than he could put into words. All that remained was what was ahead, always. Kaneda was happy for the first time in years.

Along his lower back the Kikuichimonji bound itself to his body by a thin emerald chain hidden by a belt-like run through along the bottom of his custom Mukotetsu jacket. Raijinto was more brazenly strapped along his right shoulder and along his chest, sitting comfortably on his back for any quick uses he may need it for. The smell of food slowly filled his nostrils, but his discipline kept his eyes forward. A small smile filled his lips.

“Don’t get distracted kid…” Dagda whispered, the psionic blaring of a maligned voice creeping through his mindscape. His left hand trembled in his pocket. Kaneda struggled to control it and remain composed to those below were any looking. “You know this isn’t real. This won’t last. They’ll all die…”

Kaneda remained silent.

“You can’t protect them.”

Kaneda finally burst into a howling laughter. It wasn’t they who needed protecting…

All of his internal shenanigans was shafted when he felt something strange in the world of clouds beyond their ship. A shift of mass. Something powerful. He wasn’t sure how far or close it was away, but...

“Release me. You can’t win without me.”

Kaneda continued to watch the sky, but his mind remained alert.

As it turned out, Chloe's arrival had generated a bit of a stir since she hadn't bothered to plan anything out or even inform Ralf about it. All things considered, she was lucky that she hadn't crashed her shuttle and hurt herself or someone else. Still, it was kind of a mess and unfortunately, someone had to clean it up. In this instance, 'someone' ended up being two guys: Ratsel and Sanger. The two of them had been keen on accompanying everyone else for the adventure at hand, but after the impromptu party at the bar, it seems they had thought better of it. Sanger in particular was concerned that the Yggdrasil's defenses would be too compromised with so many of them away. Sure, Shar and Beck were still on board, and they were both highly competent and capable fighters (especially after recent events), and Ralf was one hell of a military man in spite of getting on in years. Then there was Chauncy and Mustachio, as well as hundreds of other crewmen who were all at various levels of skill and strength, most of them being at least decently above average in terms of power and combat ability. And of course, they couldn't forget the Gear Corps. Even with Commander Vinck gone (killed in action during the Vestusio campaign), the remaining members were each incredibly skilled pilots, more than capable of holding off hordes of enemies on their own...but even so, Sanger was going to be Sanger. Always so serious and concerned about everything. So in the end, both he and Ratsel bid their comrades a fond farewell and headed back up to the Ygg in order to shore up her defenses. With the two of them on board, the overall battle power of the ship would drastically increase. Not that anyone really thought that they'd be coming under attack anytime soon. Better to be safe than sorry though.

Crim didn't really care too much about any of that, though. He had more immediate concerns. Namely, getting the hell outta Chloe's sorry sack of tangerine bitch crosshairs. He had no idea what her problem was this time, but as usual she was taking it all out on him. It was almost enough to make him want to take a claw hammer to his own head and go back into a coma for another month or six. And he'd already had quite enough of hot-headed (literally) women attacking him for one day.

{BGM: "Soaring Over Day and Night" (Fiertia Gold Theme)}

The ship took off and was soon cutting through the clouds like a clipper on the waves. She was sleek and fast, powered by magic, and that was all the Captain really felt he needed to know about her. Einst had done a fine job scoping this one out. He wandered around for a short time, being careful to avoid Chloe as he checked out various rooms and compartments. Unfortunately, that crazy broad was on the warpath, and some damn fool had gone and given her more booze. Which meant that before long she'd be on his trail again trying to stab him with a fork or bash his brains in with a chair or something crazy like that. There was no way in hell he was gonna get keel-hauled on his own damn ship (yes, he thought of it as his ship now) by a drunken Half-Elf harpy. What kind of Elf even was she, anyway? He'd never heard of any Elves acting so crass and undignified. He wondered what her other half even was. Human? Probably. Or maybe some kind of demon. That'd explain a lot...

He peered around a corner as he tracked her erratic movements around the deck of the ship. She was carrying a huge box of wine. Box wine? What a degenerate. She called out for him, trying to sound pleasant. Hah! Nice try! No way was he falling for that shit again!

After she stumbled on by, Crim took off, wheeling around the corner and making a beeline towards the mast. He knew she hated heights and in her inebriated state there was very little chance that she'd be capable of scaling up to the crow's nest. Which made it the perfect place for him to hide out! Plus it was probably the best seat in the house anyway.

The night breeze hit his face and it felt damn nice. The stars of the night sky on Tizon were both familiar and foreign at once. This was just the sort of thing that a guy like him needed in order to feel alive. And also the perfect environment for a nap! He climbed up onto the highest part and leaned up against the mast, shutting his eyes for a well-deserved snooze...

...only to be awakened a short time later by some loudmouth laughing it up right nearby! He opened his eyes and glanced down to the level just below (the 'yard', as it's known, which is the horizontal spar where sails are rigged), seeing Kaneda there laughing to himself. Crim got up and let himself drop over the side, hooking his legs around the railing of the crow's nest so as to be swinging by his knees upside-down, his head roughly level with Kaneda's.

"Hey. What'cha laughin' at?" Crim asked out of nowhere.

Given Crim's current state in which he was seemingly keeping his presence completely hidden (via unknown means at current), it would be entirely likely that Kaneda had been unaware of him being up there this whole time. The Captain's sudden appearance hanging upside-down from above would thus likely cause a bit of a surprise. Hopefully Kaneda wouldn't lose his balance and fall and break his face on the deck or anything.

Just short of a day had passed since Edward and Calibri made their return to the Yggdurandal. The girl had gone off with the highly advanced AI known as Violet, leaving Ed to recover in the infirmary. Once he regained full consciousness, his body responded at a vastly accelerated rate to the treatment he received, the smoldering jade cracks all across his skin subsiding. He’d gone through a handful of nurses, as his loud, boisterous attitude turned many of them away. The latest one was proving to be quite the fighter, which the Knight saw as a welcome challenge. Before he could have too much fun though, the First Mate—Ralf--showed up, after gathering some idea of the state of the man from the staff.

“Ralf! You old dog, how are ya??”, Ed asked, waving the First Mate into his room and toward a chair.

“Edward, I’m told you’re making a quick recovery, that’s good to hear”, Ralf replied, taking a seat in front of the bed. The nurse came back just then, handing Ed a cup of tea.

“Sir, shall I get you a cup as well?”, the nurse offered, her voice sweet and sincere. She was a pretty thing, young and attractive in the usual ways. Her hair was pink though, and Ed was constantly berating her for it.

“Please. So Edward, what happened to you on Vestusio? You disappeared during the fighting, which a few people aren’t too happy about but I’m sure you have your reasons.”

Ed looked up from his piping hot cup and offered Ralf a smile before setting it down beside him.

“Well, I weighed the situation and deemed my presence as quite unnecessary. The Crew had a good handle on things, and I couldn’t be everywhere at once. As such, I left with an old acquaintance of mine—you all know him as Sole. He required my aid elsewhere in the cosmos.”

Hearing this, Ralf was quiet for a few moments, mulling it over. His tea arrived and he took a sip, the bitter aroma and taste filling his senses for a moment.

“I see. Not that you weren’t right, but still, it’d have been nice if you stuck around. People got hurt, some died”, Ralf’s voice trailed off.

“And many more would have followed them if I had stayed. There was a brewing war betwixt the Immortals that needed quelching. I did come back after a time, but you all had already departed. The scene I was welcomed with...sorry, we were welcomed with, was a grim sight to be sure.”

Ralf nodded, setting his cup down.

“Right, you brought a new friend along with you… the girl, Calibri was it?”

“Aye, her talents will be most helpful to the Crew, rest assured.”

“So what was it that was so grim? U-TIC had fled and the battle was ours, last we knew.”

Edward’s eyes fell downward as his demeanor followed into darkness. For a moment, all that could be heard was the idle beeping of the monitoring equipment he was hooked up to.

{BGM: “Shadow King”}

Calibri was locked in battle against Alex, managing to give him a good what’s for. The remaining Captains of Edward’s order managed to keep Killiak’s assistant occupied, allowing the famed U-TIC Nightmare and Edward to fight to their heart’s content. Blow for blow, Edward managed to match it with the Aegis-Prime, one of if not the most powerful shield in his possession. Meanwhile, Edward launched one attack after another in return with his Kingslayer, which held the distinct characterstic of ramping up its damage with every attack made against the same target. It took a while for Killiak to notice this, and when he finally did the newly appointed Commandant saw fit to up the ante by a considerable amount. That’s when everything took a turn for the worse and things weren’t looking too great for the accidental defenders of Vestusio.

Killiak charged the valiant knight, loosing two feints composed of considerably powerful “ether-streams” before a final overwhelming third strike. A growing column of black and silver ether collided with Edward’s shield and the knight struggled to hold his ground. The sheer power of it was pushing the knight backward and down into the ground—it was fortunate they had moved beyond the city. Try as he might, Edward couldn’t shove the attack off in his current state, and so in a questionable move he lowered the Aegis-Prime and allowed the attack to consume him. As a result, a two hundred meter area erupted in a geyser of the black and silver ether that rose up beyond the planet’s atmosphere and lingered for a great many seconds afterwards. Shockwaves radiated off the massive pillar of energy, flooding Senelseint with yet more dust, dirt and debris...It looked by all accounts that the Knight had failed in his chosen duty.

Then, for the briefest moment, everything stopped. The effect would be perceived as a sort of “skipping” or stutter. It came and left without warning, gone as quickly as it occurred.

Dismissing his shield, Edward extended the Jade Gauntlet forward and commanded its activation. His armor had weathered the blast from Killiak to some success, but a few pieces had simply blown away completely. To all those spectating from afar, it looked like the Commandant had finally pushed too far for Edward to handle.

Again with the sudden stutter of time itself—except this time it lasted a whole second before vanishing, only to continuously reoccur at varying lengths and frequency until it just didn’t go away.

The world—all of Vestusio came to a grinding halt. The entire invasion force spread across the globe, the citizens, the desperate defenders. All of it was perfectly suspended, from the raging seas to the smallest grain of sand. With the activation of the Jade Gauntlet, Edward was given a portion of his true power and so much more. This would be the Federation and all those present on Vestusio’s first glimpse of the Jade Horizon and not one they’d soon forget.

While the world had stopped, Edward continued to move freely as he was now the master of the domain so to speak. He reached forward and effectively crushed Killiak’s attack, consuming the power within it for the Jade Horizon whilst stripping the warrior of any control he might have had. Once that had been properly disposed of, Edward could be seen in full and it had become quite clear that most of his armor had disintegrated. With his body exposed in several places, distinct “cracks” all across his body glowed with a fierce jade light—and all those present would bear witness to the mysterious Knight’s actions. He was able to stop the world, but those living souls, particularly the sentient ones, were free to observe their surroundings as he could not stop their minds.

As a preventative measure more than anything else, he flooded the planet with one way portals into the Jade Horizon, lying in wait for any traces of ether. If someone tried to force their way out of his control, those portals would ensure that their efforts only fed more power to the ‘Horizon. This was executed almost immediately, and Edward walked up and out of the crater he’d been driven into, stopping at the outer rim. Thick tendrils of more jade hued ether whipped out from the cracks forming on his body, whilst the gauntlet responsible for all of this was burning bright. He looked up at Killiak, seeing his eyes fixate on him with sheer rage.

“We’ll have to have a proper fight another time, fiend. For now, I just have to save this planet for my friends… So, until next time...Killiak”, Edward’s helm splintered as he spoke, and quickly eroded away into nothing with a large and very thick line of jade appearing diagonally across his face.

“Now….LEAVE THIS PLACE!”

Raising the Jade Gauntlet high above his head, Edward shifted from defense to full on offense. The thousands of portals spread across Vestusio were virtually instantly changed from defensive ether-sucking emplacements to two-way routes into the Jade. Each one featured a simple “Jade Spawn” that reached through with large, powerful clawed arms of black and white—most of which bore just a single arm, all of which snatched up their designated targets and simultaneously ripped them into the portal whilst destroying their physical bodies. The horizon had no use for physical entities that were not its own, interested only in consuming the power each of them possessed. More powerful beings such as the Commandant and his associates were exceptions, but Killiak had been watching with careful scrutiny the entire time. At the very moment he saw the shift in the portals, he broke free of Edward’s command and executed one of his trump cards in the form of a Forbidden Technique. With Alex and his assistant in mind, he immediately transported the three of them to safety far and away from the planet—though close enough to continue to observe the unforeseen technique being used.

High above the planet’s atmosphere in the safety of his personal ship, Killiak watched as every single last one of his men and women on the surface were literally ripped apart and off of the planet. Even the weapons summoned forth by the Planet at Alex’s insistance were no match, enormous portals appearing next to them and appropriately sized Jade Spawn reaching through to do their assigned task. The mission was a horrendous failure, far worse than that which the Federation’s 44th Dimensional Fleet had suffered. Thus did the “Commandant” and his two surviving allies retreat back to the Asgard, whereever it may be.

Back on the surface, Edward used the last of his remaining strength to dismiss his skill, and deactivate the Jade Gauntlet before it consumed him as well. His body was the biggest drawback to his own ability, as it could only withstand so much. Given how strong he was known to be in conventional measure, it was truly a testament to whatever this Jade Horizon was. With the deed done, Edward collapsed just as the world resumed its course through time. His massive form crashed into the dirt, kicking up dirt, dust and debris as he lie motionless. The cracks all over his body still remained, but the intensity of their light had diminished considerably.

“Jeez...”, Ralf exclaimed, but didn’t quite know what to say just yet as he mulled over Edward’s story.

Edward laughed before sitting up in his bed. He was not only conscious but well on his way to making a full recovery thanks to his Captains’ quick action. They remembered long ago he had instructed them on what to do in that type of situation, and cast him into the ‘Horizon along with his new friend and her “dog”. He gave a solid pat to Ralf’s shoulder and swung his feet off the side.

“All in a day’s work friend! Ha ha ha! Now, on to the next !”

With no consideration for his appearance, Edward stood up and out of bed, making for the halls of the ship and to find something that looked familiar. He’d only been onboard a short time before leaving and here he was again, completely lost! His gown billowing about, revealing all he had to share with the crew, preceded with thunderous flapping of bare feet he made his way!



Einst steered the ship, Craven was making unncessary but appreciated checks on all the rigging and sails and that stuff. Then most of the others were just going about their business, except that Chloe was on the war path, trying to make Crim pay for what he did or didn’t do. Dom had gone into the decks below, looking for something or other and came back to the top deck with a large plate of food, which he offered to Ludwig.

“Here, you should eat something and get some rest. I can take over for a while,” Dom offered, staring with those deadened eyes into Einst’s fierce blue gaze.

“How can that be, you don’t know where we’re going!”

Dom shrugged and started to turn around to offer the plate to someone else more appreciative, as he didn’t really care to argue.

“H-hey! Wait a minute! Jeez, you should work on your social skills...”, Einst protested and waved for Dom to come over, handing the reigns to his ‘brother’ as he snatched up the plate of what looked like beef but probably wasn’t, potatoes, carrots and some weird green stuff that hopefully tasted better than it looked.

“Just use your weird googly face to keep us on our current heading and speed. We have--”

“ to approach at a specific time tomorrow, I know.”

Einst just quirked his brow before shrugging and setting off to find a room to enjoy his meal and some shut eye. On his way he crossed paths with Chloe whom had managed to acquire another bottle of spirits, and Einst snatched it right out of the air and her hands before picking up the pace to a speedy sprint into the lower decks!

!?

Crim's form appeared to phase out, flickering momentarily like some kind of intangible specter as Kaneda's foot whiffed through his seemingly unguarded neck.

{BGM: "Encounter"}

The Captain vanished from sight for a short time, only to reappear in mid-air on the other side of Kaneda, flipping forward while traveling backward to land lightly upon his feet barely a meter away from his ever-aggressive crewmate. He sported a wide grin and a nonchalant air about him as he casually replied, apparently unperturbed by what had just happened. Pretty typical reaction from Crim, really. Guy didn't seem to give a fuck about anything most of the time...carefree, or careless? There was a really fine line there, and Crim walked it like a tightrope.

"Haha, whaddaya mean 'what am I doing here'? I was takin' a nap. Besides, this is my ship!" He laughed before continuing. "Nervous, huh? I dunno. Seems to me that everything worked out the way it was supposed to." More laughter.

He sat down, allowing his legs to dangle in the open night air as his expression became a fair bit more serious.

{BGM: "Under the Moonlight"}

"The toaster? Hmph." Crim scoffed as he pulled a bent cigarette out from his jacket and lit it up with a quick snap of fire-Ether from his fingers. "Well, that walking talking bucket of bolts ain't welcome here anymore. It's to be treated as a hostile entity from now on. If it stays outta our business, we'll let it do whatever it's gonna do. But if it shows up and tries anything, I'll dismantle it myself."

A somber breeze wafted by as if to punctuate the exchange. The air was still and silent for a few moments afterwards, with neither man speaking. Below, the others continued their merry-making unabated. Crim spied Chloe out on the deck, stumbling around, shamelessly drunk off her ass, attempting to browbeat Craven for some reason or another. It was right around that time that a great shadow appeared in the clouds overhead, silhouetted against the light of the Tizonian moon. Surely by now most of the Crew would be aware of it. Crim had noticed it a while ago, but didn't say anything. It was some kind of giant sky monster. It was powerful, but not enough to be legitimately threatening to them. It wasn't giving off particularly bad vibes either. Seemed to be more curious than anything. The Captain glanced up as he exhaled a plume of blueish-gray smoke, noting the outline of the the creature above the wispy night clouds. Looked like some sort of enormous winged fish. A sky-orca, maybe?

"Well, anyway, things have a way of workin' out the way they're supposed to! I was never too worried about ya, ha ha ha!" Crim laughed heartily again, back to his usual jovial self.

It seemed like he wasn't too keen on Cee though. That situation had just devolved into something that couldn't be salvaged, and in truth it was probably nobody's fault. It was just one of those things. Destiny, maybe. Crim was content enough to let the scrap heap wander out on its own doing whatever, that much was true. And it was also true that he would personally see to its destruction if it ever decided to try and come back making trouble. Long as it stayed in its own lane, it'd be safe. He didn't know if it knew to leave well enough alone though. Its personality was, after all, modeled after his own. And he wasn't the sort to leave well enough alone. Not even close.

He took another drag and exhaled. None of that shit really mattered right now. Aye, there was adventuring to be had!

As twilight fell upon the ship, Craven decided to relax like the others and stopped attempting to work the ship. He soon realized the Gold was magicked more so than just for flight, and that meant he wasn’t needed like he had hoped. But it was still nice to be on a style of ship he preferred. However, that meant he was now more susceptible to being mauled by a drunk Chloe who very quickly trying to find the Captain and/or booze. Which happened just as the pirate decided to stare out at the ocean.

“HE-*hic*-Eyy You! Craven! Where’s Crim!?”

Craven turned just in time for the Half-Elf to be in his face and attempting to grab him by the shoulders. He was surprised cause she didn’t sound that close while she yelled at him.

“Yeesh, wench! Back off o’ me. I don’ know where the Cap’n is, and I think you need to lay off the rum.”

He pushes her away, but she continued to come after him as he mentioned the word.

“RUM! WHERE IS IT!? I NEED MORE!?”

“AYE! DIDN’ YE JUST HEAR MEH!? YA DON’T NEED ANYMORE!”

She continued to wail on about Crim and rum, sometimes together, sometimes separately, and so Craven decided it was time to get as far away as he could. Thinking quick on his feet, he pointed off to the far corner and shouted…


“Oy! I think I see the Cap’n over theah! And it looks like he’s holding a couple bottles of rum!”

She immediately turned her head, which gave Craven all the time he needed to duck under her arms and run off to the mast with the crow’s nest. He knew Chloe wouldn’t be in any shape to climb, so if he could just get up there, he’d be safe.

He had been watching his back to ensure she didn’t follow him as came up the stairs, and when he turned his head he noticed that he found…

“Ahh, Cap’n. Good to see ye, sir. And, err...Kaneda, right? Did you guys see all that?”

Crim chuckled and Kaneda showed small smirk as Craven rubbed the back of his head. The pirate decided to change the subject and pulled out a bottle of his high class rum and three glasses, of which he handed one each to his fellow pirates. Once filled, Craven held his glass up.

“It’s been a while since we’ve really been on an adventure, Cap’n. Toast! To the Crew! And to treasure!”

{BGM: “Through the Night!”}

The night continued on rather uneventfully, with the rowdy celebrations of the Crew at large dwindling slowly as the majority fell asleep in random locations throughout the ship. Dom, not requiring sleep, continued steering the ship toward the horizon guided by his Eagle-Eye. Crim and Kaneda were near the mast, hanging about and having a conversation that didn’t interest the gunslinger. He noted they appeared to be on good terms despite the events of Vestusio III, and the oddity it was that Kaneda was alive, and tuned the rest out. There were a couple members in the lower decks hanging out and having a good ol’ time, quietly; a few more engaging in lewd behavior albeit consensual, and Einst was sound asleep. Craven had ceased trying to tend the ship and reserved to drinking with Kaneda and Crim, and his pursuer Chloe had long since given up and passed out in a stairwell below.

All in all the trip was going well. No planet busting ships on their tails, no bounty on their heads to worry about, no tempermental toasters trying to burn the place to cinders… It really was a nice change of pace for the group. Dom too had noticed the enormous Sky-Whale flying above them, obscured in cloud cover and not really showing any signs of hostility. While it didn’t appear to be hostile, Dom continued to keep tabs on it just in case it got too close…

Aboard the Yggdurandal

Edward Indalecio had found his quarters with the help of a young ensign kind enough to look through the magic viewing glass (computer directory). Edward thanked the boy and retired inside, throwing off his annoying infirmary gown and walking over to the bathroom to clean himself up. The nurses did a good job, but he didn’t quite feel refreshed. His previous time on the ship, Ed had requested an ancient bath-house style accommodation for his room, and through the wonders of the Pirates’ technology he got his request. It used some manner of sorcery to keep the bath constantly toasty without impacting the ship’s superfluous energy reserves, something about exhaust processes of some energy system or something. The Knight didn’t really care, and ordered himself a big platter of steak, potatoes and something called Tarmolion Carrots he’d come to enjoy, grabbed it up from the magic food box and took his seat within the bath. He had discovered that the room was equipped with an entertainment suite and told it to put on his “show”. It was a gorey, action packed show about Knights and commoners all vying for some chair, love and betrayal, and lots of dragons. He always found it amusing how humans seemed to be infatuated with the concept of Dragons.

After stuffing his face, binge watching and cleaning up for several hours, Ed walked over to his personal armory (also within his room). With a wave of his hand, the wall quivered and subsequently vanished to reveal several of his treasures. It was but a fraction of his collection, but it was an impressive fraction. An assortment of swords of all varieties, spears, halberds, about two dozen axes, half a dozen hammers, two great-scythes, and two dozen sets of armors were on display, complete with shields—only some of which were matching. There were even a couple of impressive looking bow and arrow sets hanging on the far wall.

While he had heard that this Tizon place was fairly peaceful, he had learned long ago never to travel anywhere empty handied and preferably in armor and not naked. Besides, he’d also heard it was inhabited by bird people, and he didn’t any early birds getting the wrong idea. So he walked over to take a stroll through the armor display. He passed by his old Evernight Platemail set, the Alpha Infinitum, his Wretched Cuirass set, the Lunar Haubergeon, the Hauberk of the Black-Hand set, and many more. None of it seemed to be what he was looking for, until the very end when he came upon the one.

From helm to greave, the set featured vibrant platinum plating with generous gold accenting, all fit together in exacting detail. It also featured an armored overcoat and his signature colors: a black and gold cape affixed to the pauldrons with jade buckles. The helm was a simple cross-faced, single forged piece that featured a rounded top and sharply angled over the face and neck. At the center of the hauberk was the embossed depiction of a Sun God, and the enormous waist-plate featured the head of a lion with jade eyes. Several stones of varying colors were embedded into the armor, the unmistakable sign of his All-Stone. There was a large Zweihander bearing a similar fashion next to it, but Edward didn’t feel as if he wanted to bring it. This was his Dawnbringer set, and was sure to be more than enough for his needs.

Reaching his left hand (still, as always, wearing the Jade Gauntlet) forward, Edward commanded the armor to relocate perfectly, donning the entire set in one gesture. Everything still fit perfectly, and despite its hulking appearance he was able to move quite well as the weight clearly didn’t hinder him. With that taken care of, Edward turned toward the weapons section and walked right up to his weapon of choice: the dreadful Apollyon. It was a massive great-scythe with a platinum shaft, bearing an ivory blade 70cm wide at its base. It appeared to be, somehow, single forged, suggesting the coloring being merely for aesthetics. The gold accents were plentiful, coiled bands extending the full length of the blade’s base, runic encryptions visible just beneath its gleaming, perfectly smooth surface. The blade itself extended several feet in length with a gradual taper and moderate curve, really enhancing the weapon’s enormity. Where most warriors would see an unwieldly monstrosity, Edward saw beauty and power expertly woven together. The pommel of the scythe was a simple but effectively sharp diamond shaped hunk of the self-same material the entire weapon was made of, and judging from the way it danced in Edward’s hand, the weapon bore an exceptional balance—quite unlike most. Last but not least, the face of the blade was lined in gold and platinum serpent’s that coiled together across its entire length, as if they were holding the blade between their bodies, with both heads ending on opposite sides of the point and jaws clamped down.

With his equipment sorted out, Edward gave an overzealous “huzzah!” before he made his way off to the hangar bay once more. Using the ships movement assistance rails to get there in a jiffy, he popped into the hangar in short order. He knew exactly where he was going this time, as he’d done this before when he made for Vestusio. An operator saw him coming and ran up to the enormous armored knight and tried to get him to reconsider.

“H-hey now! I know what you’re going to do! I remember you...please, stop!”, the operator—a young man by any account—pleaded.

“Boy! I know what I am doing, out of the way!”, Ed shouted for all to hear. Some of the more senior staff of the hangar just shook their heads, and others laughed at the shiny golden “imbecile”.

“L-look mister! The last time you did this I almost lost my job, so I beg--”

“ONWARD! TO THE HORIZON BILLY!”, Edward’s thunderous voice boomed throughout the hangar, somehow drowning out the sound of all the machinery.

Edward found the hatch he was looking for and shoved the operator out of the way and got inside, apparently bypassing whatever safety measures were in place. The operator just hung his head down and manned the controls while Edward assumed the ready position. Without waiting to be told, the operator just engaged the Linear Catapult, designed to launch Geardams at high velocity, firing Edward off into space in the general vicinity of Tizon.

Aboard the Fiertia Gold

Day was beginning to break over the horizon, sitting in the distance as the Fiertia Gold continued to soar the skies. They were nearing their destination and due to be there soon. Unfortunately for the crew, their friend above was still observing them, and once they drew near enough that there was no mistaking their intent, its unhostile nature reversed. The enormous Sky-Whale changed course, releasing a booming call as it moved with astonishing speed, descending on the Fiertia Gold without hesitation.

The ship was much sturdier than it looked as the whale crashed into it, and knocked it around pretty good, but the ship managed to maintain course pretty well. Dom on the other hand was nowhere near the wheel, and was instead standing with one leg perched on the rail at the bow.

“Hey! You oversized flying fishbrain! Get out of our way!”, Dom’s strangely half-mechanical voice echoed as he drew both his Penance and opened fire. If the giant whale crashing into the ship hadn’t woken everyone, the sound of his steady stream of gunfire surely would!

It was all for naught it would seem, no matter how many shots Dom fired into the beast’s body it didn’t do any damage. HVAP round or not, the whale—which was a good seven or eight times the size of their ship if not more—shrugged it off.

A few members came up from below, confused and bewildered by the rude awakening to see the helm with nobody steering and the guy who was supposed to be doing just that shooting at a giant whale none of them had seen coming. A bit more considerate than he appeared, Dom was actually using his nanites to control the wheel and was trying to scare their unwanted friend away.

Then, as if all that weren’t enough, far above and beyond them came a streak of light liken to a comet. Fiercely bright and moving with incredible velocity, Dom took aim while his optics tried to identify just what in the hell was speeding their way...until he heard it.

“YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

It didn’t make sense, but the streak of light was a man shouting loud enough to hear for miles upon miles. Dom took a few shots but something managed to deflect his bullets without any signs of slowing down. The streak of light veered at the last moment and smashed into the face of the enormous Sky-Whale, causing it to cry out in agony and fall rapidly, nearing the ocean even as the man responsible bounced upward. He righted himself and turned around, landing on the top deck with a resounding thud that definitely woke up any stragglers.

And there he was! Standing in all his golden glory, amplified dramatically by the rising sun, with his massive scythe jammed in front of him which stood a solid two feet higher than his head.

“Have no fear! For I am here!”

Most of the crew was puzzled to be sure, and one of those was Dom. He just got shown up twice in rapid succession and this big ass, shiny bastard was announcing his arrival like some kind of heroic someone.

“Who are you?!”, Dom yelled as he stormed off his perched position, waving his guns around and causing the general crewmen to duck and weave out of the way.

“I am Edward, boy. Who are you?”

“You—oh whatever.”

Edward laughed boisterously and took a look around at his old friends. It was difficult to see given just how damn bright his armor was, but it was seemingly smoldering from his hyper-sped travel to rejoin them all. Eventually, he saw the familiar face of Calibri just as Arka ran up to him and stood up, putting its paws on his torso playfully.

“Arka, good to see you! Hahahaha.”

“Guys, it’s coming back!”, came Dom, breaking the mood as usual. He was leaning over the rail and watching as the giant beast was on its way back with a vengeance.

His arrival took most by surprise, perhaps everyone minus the higher skilled warriors amongst the Crew. There were several new faces aboard, a mix of general crewmen and the more reputed adventurers. Seeing Calibri and Arka was the most immediate source of familiarity for the Knight, but watching as the Captain called forth the Morbid Chocobo to deal with the flying whale was not only welcome but enjoyed.

“Eyy, Glad you could make it!”

The Captain offered a smile from ear to ear as was typical of him, but Edward noted the considerable change emanating from the wild Captain. He resembled to some degree the one known as Einst in that he was there, able to be seen and physically present, but the Knight could detect no source of power. Even when Crim was suppressing himself there had always been something to be found, and now there wasn’t. What’s more, the air surrounding him was markedly changed as well, though not tangible in any considerable way. The observations and realization were complete in an instant—for good measure, too, as it seemed one of the new faces aboard the airship didn’t much care for the Knight.

Short, red-haired and with a temper that could make a bull blush, Uzuki hollered off at Edward something fierce. He did not know her, yet she knew his name and addressed him as if they’d been old acquaintances. Odd. Then she proceeded to sling insults his way and even reference to their having done battle at some point by implying he wanted a rematch. Again, odd.

The whole time she was yelling at him, Edward remained silent and was gauging with no explicit restraint the measure of her character. Her fit seemed short lived, despite approaching him and making herself the nearest to him. The Knight seemingly ignored the girl and nodded toward the Captain, whom Edward knew was exceptionally observant himself. He’d gotten some catching up from Ralf, but it seemed the Captain hadn’t been around the girl very much. Sure, the Crew was known for its crazy assortment of characters, but this one had a distinctness to her that made her stand out.

“Captain, always a pleasure!”

Before the loud mouthed girl could protest his apparent ignoring of her, Arka pushed off and walked back to stand beside Calibri while Edward lifted the proverbial veil shrouding his presence. In one fell swoop the entire Crew was subjected to his Knight’s Testament, which wasn’t something he normally did. There was no measurable ether-power behind it, as it was simply the exposure of his insurmountable will. The general hands were knocked unconscious instantly, and would see no harm other than a slight fuzziness when they would awake. Those higher caliber warriors would see no such effect themselves as they were made of sterner stuff, but the impact was certainly due to vary. His Knight’s Testament was similar to the Captain’s Kenki and Sakki together as one, and was often enough to give cause for hesitation in his opponents. What the others felt was merely the side-effect, the mere presence of Edward’s release enough to do the aforementioned. Uzuki however, she saw an entirely different beast.

Should Edward choose to focus his testament on a mortal with full effect, the slightest twinge of doubt would cement his hold over their spirit. Uzuki, because of her recent harsh treatment at the hand of Einst (which Edward was unawares to), flinched ever so slightly, unknowingly handing herself to Edward’s mercy. Once he assumed control, the Knight turned toward her and took one slow, measured step before cracking the door hiding his seemingly infinite pool of power. The longer one stared into the abyss of his might, the more hopelessness took hold of them, and Edward gave the girl no options but to stare with eyes wide open. Her limbs stretched to their limits, the whole of her form elevating a few inches above the deck. Already, he was displaying more power than Crim had revealed to anyone amongst the group, and it was growing by the second. He took another step, and before Uzuki’s eyes the golden Knight burst into ethereal flames the deepest Jade—while his eyes, blue as diamonds and bright as stars locked with her own obscured as they were from his helm and the wild Jade Fire.

“You have no business with me, girl, but it is not like me to deny the request of a lady.”

Edward taunted her as he took one more step forward, now reaching his Jade Gauntlet forward. By this point, Uzuki should have lost consciousness but was being forced to stay conscious by her imprisoner. The Knight gave a tug at the girl’s body, wrenching her from her position to slam her face into the grasp of his gauntlet, at which point she tried to scream but couldn’t find her voice.

“Ah, yes… you have too much pride in you; yet, I cannot determine why?”, Edward continued to speak slowly, steadily and only just loud enough to be heard by the others.

Given everything that Edward had managed to learn about the Crew’s situation, the looming threat of Killiak and U-TIC, and their desperate need for cohesion, Edward judged Uzuki to be unfit for duty. He was no one amongst the Crew, and yet given his identity he felt obligated to see to these people's’ well-being. Uzuki was a threat to that, and was nothing more than a blade. She needed tempering, and the Knight knew the perfect method to see the task done.

“You have been weighed and judged. Alexandra Uzuki, you are hereby sentenced to the Jade Horizon!”

Somehow it seemed as if Edward’s armor shifted beneath the power in the Jade Gauntlet, but it would go unnoticed as Uzuki was finally allowed to scream. The hold over her body constricted, giving her a moment to fully believe she would be crushed into nothing but only for a moment. Just as the realization would set in, the Jade Horizon’s gate opened and before the eyes of the Crew, the girl was completely torn apart in a flash of blinding white light. The instant she vanished, Edward shut the proverbial doors and dropped the curtain once more. Everyone looked on in shock except the Captain and perhaps a few others, but Edward broke the silence with laughter and reassurances.

“Ha ha ha! Do not worry, she will survive. I must say though, she was a danger to you all and a walking disaster. Were she permitted to go on this adventure, I saw only death. Death of enemies and death to...some of you.”

Edward glanced around to everyone, and figured he’d try and lighten the mood by asking where they kept the ale!

Once the spectacle was over, with Einst now properly assuming control of the ship, the Fierta Gold took off, breaking over a sea of clouds to an exciting scene.

Edward was about to make his way down below to find the ale, but turned to see the vast, endless skies full of creatures of legend. Even larger Sky Whales were flying majestically toward them, joined by Dragons which made the whales look like tadpoles. Ethereal fire danced about their snouts, each dragon a different color of an array of Red, Black, Silver, White and Green. Behind them flew creatures that closely resembled Gryphons, with bodies and heads of lions, great wings and tails of serpents. They numbered in the hundreds between the various creatures, and all of them were headed their way. It seemed as though some unseen hand was determined to prevent the Fierta Gold and the Yggdrasil Crew from reaching their destination.

{BGM: “Serpent Eating the Ground”}

It seemed as though two of the people aboard the ship were none too happy about Edward’s decision to play Judge, Jury & Executioner unto Uzuki. This was somewhat expected, as things of such nature rarely went over well with people in general. The manner in which the protests came were as opposite as could be. Where one was full of darkness and barely tamed fury, the one known as Kaneda going so far as to initiate some form of attack on him….it was the other that surprised Edward most.

For all of his power, all of his mental and spiritual acuity, he could not see what was right in front of him. Uzuki, dangerous as she was, turned out to be little Calibri’s mother. He hadn’t stopped to think about the possibility of his young companion’s parents being ones he might actually encounter, given the girl’s origins. Shocked as he was however, he fully believed that he had chosen correctly. Uzuki was struggling to convince herself of her position in life, and among the Crew...when faced with the trials that lay ahead, Edward saw as he had described.

Unfortunately, young Kaneda hadn’t quite heard him. He was fixated on avenging a girl he hardly knew, for reasons Edward wasn’t entirely sure of. The sudden vanishing and obscurement of shadow was of no consequence to Edward. He might have missed the relation between a close companion and one he’d actually cast judgment over, but when it came to the Knight’s battle senses, it was a hopeless endeavor to attempt intimidation on him. Then before Kaneda could act on his intent, his weapon intervened. The Knight watched, listened and felt the sudden shift in Kaneda…

Deciding it was no longer his issue, the Knight asked where the ale was only to find his hopes interrupted by the arrival of a veritable army of legendary creatures. The battle ensued, with Edward standing on the foredeck, seemingly content to observe. The others jumped into action immediately, except for the Captain and apparently the one known as Einst as well.

Calibri used her potent magic, Dom was barking orders and others were actually listening, and Kaneda had just apparently given the Fierta Gold a soul. Really, it was all quite amazing stuff to see. Edward always enjoyed his time with the Crew, and though he’d just arrived things were looking to be quite grand!

While Einst stood, lost in deep thought over what had just happened to the ship, his brother Dom was releasing a steady stream of pot shots with his VARC, aka Penance. The HVAP ammunition, after numerous hits, took down a few lesser creatures. Calibri’s spell successfully disoriented a massive chunk of those approaching, but they quickly recovered via the use of their own magic, nullifying the effects entirely. Once in range, they unleashed their respective element of choice, multi-colored blasts of ethereal fire cascading toward the ship.

When the fire blasts should have collided with the ship, they instead struck a previously unseen barrier, which stood strong after weathering the first volley of attacks. It didn’t prevent the crew from releasing their attacks into the skies before and around them, but it seemed to hold up against the dragon’s fire and hopefully would stand against the attacks of the other creatures once they were within range. Those dragons nearest veered away and made long, sweeping circles to come in for another assault, to which Dom had the perfect response lying in wait.

With his nanites surrounding the ship, and extended pretty far along their route, the gunslinger had an exceptionally accurate map of the sky already in place. It was a simple matter to shift his focus from navigation to combat, made easier with the ship somehow becoming sentient. Knowing that his pot shots weren’t doing enough damage or making enough of a difference, he reached into his coat and drew the Ethos, its sunburnt orange finish gleaming faintly in the rising sunlight. Then, or perhaps simultaneously, he jumped from the railing up to the top of the Crow’s nest and aimed the cannon straight ahead. In the time it took him to jump from his previous position to the nest, he’d managed to change out the round from his Mage-Killer to the Helios shot. Exercising his quickness of hand and widespread nanites feeding him the details of their new enemies’ positions, he pulled the trigger to let loose the impressive shell with a thundering crack!

The large shell flew at just under subsonic speeds high above the average height of their adversaries and within seconds, a secondary explosion could be heard over the skies. The Helios released its payload of dozens of cluster-bombs, its normal functions overridden by the mysterious gunslinger to detonate on command. Before the eyes of the Crew, some of which were stirring about and waking up from Edward’s little show, the sky was engulfed in dozens of sizable explosions. Rather than letting the clusters free-fall, he utilized his perfect control to keep each cluster tight. This resulted in the blasts being much more focused and thereby potent, enough so that each creature—dragons, gryphons and Sky whales, found their heads badly beaten if not blown off. Seeing that his shot was much more effective, the gunslinger reached into his coat to procure another Helios shell and focused this time on those beasts nearest the ship by firing directly overhead, effectively surrounding the Fierta Gold in small explosions of fire.

Of course, the boisterous Knight wasn’t going to stand idly by and let the others have all the fun! Edward stood watching long enough, and while his body was still in recovery from his last battle with Killiak and his associates, both his weapon of choice and his armor were more than capable of supplementing the Knight’s weakened state. With a mere thought, two large golden wings of light were created and unfurled from the Knight’s back, raising him above the ship with a single downward shove. High above the Fierta Gold, he readed the massive Apollyon by drawing it back, clearly readying a powerful swing.

The ivory blade of the enormous great scythe lit ablaze with divine power, the same magick the Knight used to fashion himself wings swelling along the cutting edge. Within seconds the charge was complete, and immediately Edward swung the weapon in front of him to what appeared to be no effect, until chaos enveloped the sky on the horizon.

For as far as the eye could see in front of them, the massive swarm of legendary creatures were engulfed in a wave of white and grey light that almost looked like a sea of clouds. The pure energy was building rapidly, washing over the creatures liken to waves crashing on a shoreline. Once the majority of them were swallowed up in the sea of power, Edward swung the Apollyon to rest comfortably on his shoulder, blade still resonating so much power. Seconds later, several orbs of ice-blue light formed along the glowing white blade.

“Divine Coffin.”

In an astonishing display of extraordinary magick, Edward’s enemies were instantly encased in what he called Divine Ice. Each and every single beast caught in the two-stage attack was surrounded by several meters of magic-ice that continued to grow colder and colder over time, locked into place by the hands of the divine for all time. Suddenly in a single attack, the skies over Tizon’s seas, far beyond the sight of its denizens, became a sea of ice and death. Edward, enigmatic as ever, slowly descended back to the ship’s deck. A handful of residual explosions from Dom’s efforts took care of the stragglers nearest the ship, and the Knight’s wings of light faded away.

“Sadly, I think the worst is about to come….”

A massive gathering of clouds rife with lightning and what looked to be fire approached from beyond the frozen sea. Something that made the so-called legendary beasts look like so many rodents by comparison was headed straight for them, approaching from just right of the frozen lines. Every so often a glimpse of a scaled tail could be spotted, iridescent and beautiful. Shortly after its arrival it loosed a piercing roar, deafening to those lesser hands on the ship. Despite the massiveness of the storm, it moved quickly and would be upon them in no time.

And like that, the battle seemed to be over. Craven shattered a few of the remaining frozen beasts with the ships cannon, but when the biggest one showed up...Crim took care of him in a heartbeat. Of course, the Captain would be able to do that. With one blow, the dragon seemed to be vaporized and the lowly pirate could only stare in awe at the leader of this little crew. Of course, he also stared in awe whenever most members of the Crew let loose their power. Edward and Dom had some incredible moves tucked into their sleeves, but Craven was happy to just be able to support these men.

He walked away from the gun and felt the drain on his body. Even though he didn’t do anything besides fire a cannon, he felt aches and his body felt heavy. Craven walked over and gave a thumbs up to Edward and Dom, and then collapsed as he attempted to turn towards the Captain. With a loud *SMACK*, the pirate faceplanted to the ground and felt a crack somewhere in his face.

“Owwwww… what the hell…”

Chloe rushed over to fallen pirate and cast a cure spell over him, while shaking her head at the same time.

“‘What the hell’ is right. The fuck were you thinking? That gun uses Ether to power itself!”

Craven felt the warmth of the healing spell and felt his bones and aches healing, though he still felt the drain of his body. “Does it, eh? Well…” the pirate slowly raised onto his knees and elbows. “Good thing I was able to use it then, eh? Maybe I actually have some power within me after all. Hehehe…” But it wasn’t enough, and he dropped once again. However, he could be heard snoring...and he passed out for some time.

{BGM: “Ride On!”}

The journey across the sky was coming to a head, with the large and increasingly intense battle finally over courtesy of the Captain himself. In a most impressive display, Crim vanquished the massive beast that stood between them and their destination. The rest of the Crew had dealt with the horde of Sky Beasts, with Edward unleashing a tremendous attack to entomb their enemies in eternal ice while Calibri, Craven and Dom took out a few dozen others beforehand. Once it was all over, the Fierta Gold was once more enveloped in silence. Craven retired to his quarters to rest, not expecting the ship’s armaments to draw from latent Ether-power residing somewhere deep within his being, with the assistance of Chloe whom finally seemed to be sober. Einst, the initiator of this grand quest, had been conversing with his newly reborn ship. The weapon wielded by Kaneda had literally breathed unto it a new life, turning the inanimate animate. He couldn’t deny the amazing feat for being what it was—amazing, and not something the Crew had run across terribly often. Rafael and Shieanyth had reserved themselves, letting the more aggressive members handle the business of taking down their adversaries, which was perfectly fine. With so many of the Crew together, there were plenty around to do the ass-kicking, and not quite enough asses to be kicked.

Once things had gotten quiet again, Einst came to an agreement with the ship that he would navigate through the final leg of the journey, returning to the helm. The others found a comfortable spot to sit or stand, as Einst called out to them whilst steering the ship at a sharp incline.

“We’re about to reach it!”

One of the Crew shouted back to him, asking him the question burning in everyone’s mind at one point or another.

“Say Einst, where the hell are you taking us anyway? If we’re going to space, wouldn’t it have been easier to just take a--!”

His question was immediately answered as the Fierta Gold broke through the final layer of dense clouds. Everything from the air to the color of the sky itself seemed to pop with vibrancy and purity, tangled with the unmistakable touch of mysticism. The sight of the Legendary Kingdom of Ardaxia captivated everyone onboard the ship, including the Captain. Of course, he was burning with excitement that seemed to radiate in his eyes, but he kept quiet as Einst answered the question anyways.

“ ‘Ancient legends tell of a lost Kingdom in the Sky lost to time itself. None even know if it truly exists and finding it has been deemed a fool’s journey. If it is ever to be found, it is said there lies an indescribable power at the Heart of the Sky. Some might even call it a treasure.’

I came across the legend while you all were making your way to Tizon. The more I read, the more I was determined to find it! This is Ardaxia boys and girls, we found it!”

It truly was an amazing sight to behold. This Ardaxia was no mere island floating somewhere above the sea, as its lands extended as far as they could see. The underside appeared to be tapered, almost as if it had taken part of the world it once resided in with it. Mists from water running off the edges of the continent sprayed out over the skies, with the sun rays beaming through the water seemed to glisten if not sparkle. They were approaching from the south by south-west side, featuring sprawling hills and mountains with patches of forests spread throughout and seemed like a good place to land as any, which Einst figured they would set down in the next few minutes. They had to first ascend to a proper altitude before turning inward and making their approach, based on the rough translations of an alleged journal he had found. Of course, if only it could be so easy…

The closer they got to the continent, Einst felt as though something was slightly “off” about it. The perfect visage of the floating continent was beginning to distort under the effect of incredibly powerful magick. He had detected the magick, albeit faintly and not explicitly able to identify that it was in fact magick until they’d found it, but by the time he figured out what it entailed it was too late to stop.

“Guys! Hold onto something…!”

{BGM: “In the Darkness of Time”}

The moment he spoke those words, the ship was rocked from one side to another. The sky around them seemed to explode with turbulence as gale force winds crossed in seemingly every direction, thick with mana and obscuring their vision. Rain and darkness gave way to thunder and lighting as the ship was pulled into a storm they couldn’t detect beforehand. The ships speed more than tripled in a few seconds, and it couldn’t be said that they were even flying straight if at all so much as they were being flung, pulled and torn through the sky. Einst thought to use his own magick to assert control over the ship, as did a few others perhaps but they found themselves unable to call upon their abilities. With each passing moment, the ship was further and further shrouded in darkness until all became still.

After an indeterminate length of time, the ship finally broke through and was hurtling through the sky absent all control. Strangely enough, the ship’s trajectory was nowhere near its original course, and stranger still was the fact that nobody was onboard. Whatever magick protected the Kingdom of Ardaxia, it had transported [read: scattered] everyone aboard to remote regions of the continent, with only a few of the stronger members [read: us, the players] managing to be placed near one another.

To the north lands was Crim, Chloe and Einst. The north was littered with majestic mountain ranges of varying climates, with some blanketed in thick snow cover and others barren and desolate. Between and throughout the mountains there were many forests. This was the home of a race of Sky Elves, a fact the trio would inevitably discover in due time. Specifically, they landed in a meadow with thick tree cover, the radiant sun filtering through just enough to give a slight warmth to the otherwise cool ground.

In the west lie dense forests and mountains along the outer rims. These were accompanied by numerous rivers, lakes and cliffs, amongst scattered “isles” floating above the rest of the ground, resulting in a handful of waterfalls pouring toward the center. This is where some of the newest and arguably oldest members found themselves waking up in, that being Rafael, Shieanyth, and Craven. They were located along the shore of one of the easterly waterfalls, which was the territory of a race known as the Ciel Faeries. Again, the trio would discover this fact in short order.

Extending from the west, forests turned into dense fog laden swampland and marshes, with not much else discernible from there. Bordering its northern line with the continents center was a desert that curved toward the East, but as with most deserts there wasn’t much to look at. The swampy south was home to a race of powerful beings known as Dusk Orcs, which the trio of Calibri, Kaneda and Edward would find whether they liked it or not. Fortunately they landed on a patch of solid ground and not in the poisonous swamp surrounding said land.

For some very peculiar reason, nobody seemed to land in the East which after the barren desert reaching up from the south was home to seemingly endless plains. They varied from flatlands to an almost comically rolling hill regions, littered with rivers and lakes and noticeably tall grass of a mystical, intensely bright green. This was the home of a race known as the Mist Gnomes, beings notorious for their trickster ways. That nobody seemed to land there was almost eerie.

Last but not least was the unmistakable center of the continent. All of the other regions met at the center, which was the base of an impossibly tall mountain. Unlike any other mountain here or elsewhere, this one featured numerous “steppes” and spiraled regions of flat-lands large enough for grazing animals and the like, even a village or two. It extended for several miles upward and seemed almost as though it should have been at ground level in order to be so tall. Indeed, there was something extremely out of place about the continent but the Crew was in no position to be able to tell. In any case, the massive mountain despite its odd lower base was primarily solid rock or appeared to be so from the outside. An untold number of caverns and hidden paths were actually inside the mountain, which was where the fifth and final race called home. Known as the Void Dwarves, they lived in complete secrecy and little to nothing was known about them except for one detail: they were exceptional masters over some form of extremely advanced technology. As the Crew would eventually learn, their choice of technology over magick seemed to earn them the label of being heretics and outcasts. This was where Dom found himself waking, on one of the many steppes surrounded by what looked like cattle. There were some really angry looking sheep and a few scattered packs of man-sized spiders too, but it was the cows that were nearest to him…

It wouldn’t take long for the various groups of the Crew to learn that Ardaxia was essentially a world its own. There was far more to find than the five races, and numerous dangers that even they—despite all their power—would do well to avoid or treat with the necessary caution. They were hundreds of miles apart, their yPhones didn’t work and the magick responsible for preventing their intervention with the ship’s loss of control was slowly beginning to fade….

Some treasure.