The Evil Zone Chronicles: Lost Legacy, Found
Hi, this is my first post here, and also my first attempt at #FanFiction writing. Any response would be greatly appreciated.
Peace,
GLKR
The Evil Zone Chronicles: Lost Legacy
Alty 'AL' Lazel
Prelude One - Lost Legacy, Found
By Matt Hawke
Come, journey to the land of I-Praseru and beyond, to the Evil Zone, where Ihadurca, She-Who-Exists-In-All-Realms, is imprisoned. For now, at least.
*Disclaimer - I do not claim ownership of any characters included in this fanfic. All characters are TM and (C) AIC Animation and Bandai*
The sun rose gracefully over the prosperous land of I-Praseru. A young man, older than he looked, ran desperately towards the archive tower of his mentor, Brain Zar Deline. Gasping for breath, he reached the heavy oaken door and forced it open. Sprinting up the winding stairs of the tower, the young man tried to think of an excuse for his lateness. He reached the top of the stairs and stopped. He straightened his attire and caught his breath, then cautiously opened the door to his mentors' study. Bookcases adorned the walls, filled with tomes of ancient knowledge, maps of lands long sunk beneath the waves, records of the building of I-Praseru and more. A musty yet comforting smell filled the room, old paper in leather-bound volumes intermingling with various herbs and potions. A white haired man stood at a podium, thumbing through some old texts. He was well-built and fairly tall, strong for his old age. His long white beard hung halfway down his front, over the red with gold trim cloak that enveloped him. A walking cane was at hand's reach, though he did not need it for walking. When Alty had asked him why he used it, Brain had simply replied "Eh, I think it looks cool."
"Brain, sir, I'm sorry I'm late but-" he began. He stopped mid sentence when he glimpsed the cold, disapproving look in his teachers eyes.
"Alty, what am I to do with you?" Brain said with a weary sigh. "Of all my students, you are the one with the most potential, yet you fail to live up to it. You must start organising yourself more efficiently."
"I know, I know." Said Al, a somewhat guilty look spreading across his face. "But I had trouble sleeping again."
"The same dream, child?" asked Brain.
Alty was silent. He dropped his head, and grasped the back of his neck with his right hand, rubbing it in a disorientated manner. "Yes." he mumbled after a time.
"Tell me."
"Well, I've told you before, and nothing really changes with each dream. The location is sometimes different but. Anyway, I'm on a battlefield. I'm with others; I don't recognise any of them. There is a great warrior with powerful armour; a girl that is actually two girls; an overconfident bounty hunter; a blond girl with ancient armor; and a. female wrestler? I'm not sure. But we are fighting for our lives against the forces of She-Who-Exists-In-All-Realms, we are fighting to destroy Ihadurca. Sometimes things happen perfectly, other times I dream we are slaughtered. I never see if we ever win though." Alty had clenched his fist tightly while recounting his dream, as if he was angered by his inability to remember the end, or just furious that he had to have the dreams in the first place.
"Anything else Alty?" asked Brain.
"Well, there was another dream as well. The girl from the other dream, with blond hair and enormous."
"We have no time for your foolish hormonal aspirations Alty!" snapped Brain. "I'm sorry Alty, but if your dreams are portending towards She-Who-Exists-In-All-Realms, we must prepare. Follow me."
Brain turned, grabbing the edge of his cloak and twirling it with him as he did so. Despite being the Chief of I-Praseru's court, Brain still liked to show off a little. Alty often thought that Brain sometimes got a bit too far into the 'I'm serious, no-time-to-waste, let's-save-the-world' role whenever things looked grim. Brain walked towards a bookcase and stopped.
Al looked confused. "You want me to follow you to a bookcase?" he asked, adding a jokey tone to his voice.
"Wait." Said Brain knowingly. With that, he reached out and took hold of a green album and pulled it towards his chest. He muttered an incantation under his breath, and although Alty could not hear exactly what was said, he could tell that Brain was not speaking in any of the languages native to I-Praseru. Brain placed the book back in its place and waited a second. Almost predictably, the book case began to shudder, a veritable cloud of dust filled the room having being shaken from the shelves and their contents. Alty lowered his head into his hand and shook it briefly in a disbelieving manner.
"A hidden passageway, behind a bookcase? Don't you think that's a little cliched?" He asked his mentor.
"Maybe." Replied Brain "I had it put in a few months back when you were away training."
"What?! A few months? But. all that dust. how?"
"Oh, I put it there myself. For effect." Said Brain with a canny smile. "There's a marvellous dustmaking spell I know of. Never had much use for it before now you know. Oh, and that protective opening spell's a doozy too."
Alty almost fell to the floor out of disbelief. His mentor had a strange sense of humour, more than a little too strange for his tastes.
"Now follow me Alty." Brain said, swirling his cloak again as he did so. Alty sighed and, with a small degree of reluctance, followed. The passageway wove from right to left in an ever descending path.
"Where exactly are we going?" asked Al, starting to feel a little exasperated.
"We're almost there." Said Brain "In fact, we're here." Alty and Brain turned a last corner and stopped. A large deep pit, dug straight down into the ground was before them. Brain looked at Alty with an oversized grin on his face.
"A hole. You brought me to see a hole." Said Al. While not the most confident of people, he could feel himself resisting the urge to verbally explode at his teacher. 'Too late', he thought to himself. "WHY DID YOU BRING ME TO LOOK AT A DUMB HOLE?!!" he hollered. Blood had rushed to his face, and he found himself clenching his fists together, the material of his gloves restricting the blood flow to his hands.
"Calm down Alty." Brain said assuredly. "Watch." Brain stepped forward to the edge of the pit and whistled.
"Now what?" asked Alty, his face returning to normal.
"Wait a second. Criminy, kids today, you're all so impatient. Ahh, here it is." As Brain had finished speaking, a platform had come into view, floating its way up from the bottom of the pit. "Step aboard Alty!" Brain cried as he springed onto the elevator.
The spring in his leap had been an unspoken challenge to Alty. While Brain Zar Deline may be mischievous, he was also wise. He had taken up the responsibility of raising and training Alty after his parents had been killed. He would often make small tasks for Alty to perform, just to make sure he was not neglecting his training. Brain tried to hide his gladness when Alty boarded the platform with a nimble somersault through the air.
"Down, boy." Brain spoke aloud to the rostrum. It rumbled for a second, then silently descended to the bottom of the shaft.
"Master, will you please tell me where we are going?" implored Alty, a tired desperation in his voice. Brain clutched the top of his staff and sighed.
"Alright Alty." Brain said, seriousness in his voice again. "I have to admit, your dreams have had me worried of late. Given what they speak of, not to mention the increasing frequency of them. well, I think it's time I took your training to the next level. I believe it is time for you to learn of the Lost Legacy of I-Praseru."
Alty looked confused. "Lost Legacy? I. I don't understand. Whose legacy?"
"You'll see." said Brain quietly. The pair sank down the remainder of the pit in silence.
With a heavy jolt, the platform set down, shuddered, and stopped completely. Brain and Alty were in complete darkness, an inky black void with no light. "A illumine spell if you would please, Alty." asked Brain. Alty nodded in the darkness, a reflex even though he knew that Brain could not see him. He focused inwards, grasping at the strands of his own magic within himself.
"Fire, bringer of life and death, I beseech thee, illuminate our way!" he cried into the darkness. A tiny sound emanated from nowhere, random molecules in the air igniting and coming together. At first, the light was little bigger than a match flame, but it quickly grew as more molecules were drawn to it and began burning as well, until a large, floating flame hovered before the two, self sustaining and there until Alty bid it gone.
"Now, down this next passageway." proclaimed Brain, already heading in the direction he had indicated. This passage was a lot more cave-like. It was damp and mouldy, and vermin scurried about beneath the pair feet. Alty quickly employed a floating walk spell so the pair could continue on their way and not be bitten or tread on anything unpleasant. Brain said nothing of his being lifted from the ground. Alty was unsure if he had even noticed.
Despite the other unpleasantries, the air was clean and fresh down here, a distinct change from the musty aura that had followed them from Brains' study. The walk was conducted in almost total silence, save for the sounds of the living things about them. Alty was considering what this 'Lost Legacy ' could be - it sounded vaguely familiar, as if he should know what it was yet didn't, while Brain was pleased to have a break from Alty's incessant questioning. The tunnel was not as winding as the last one, and they reached the end not long after starting down the passage. They emerged into a large open cave. The light from Alty's flame spell spread as far as it could, casting scant brightness over yet more bookcases and books, yet also some furniture - tables, chairs, cabinets and the like. At Brain's indication, Alty bid the flame to pass around the torches that hung at regular intervals around the room, lighting them and casting greater luminescence than the flame alone could possibly manage. In the greater light, Alty noticed that there was no mould or grime in this chamber, and even better, no vermin. He allowed the flame spell to fade, and also lowered himself and his mentor to the ground, withdrawing the float spell.
A display case in the far left corner caught Alty's attention. In it, a book, a dulled blue leather tome with gold corners and an elaborate lock over the page edge, seemed to be suspended in mid-air. Next to the case stood a mannequin, far larger in size and stature than either he or Brain, displaying what seemed to be an incomplete suit of armor. A neck brace had been placed over the shoulders of the dummy and jewelled rings, as big as Alty's hands, adorned the oversized puppets' fingers, one on each of its hands. A gold headband with a red gem set in the centre sat on the figures head and glistened softly in the light of the torches. Alty felt as if both the book and the armor were calling out to him. He shook the feeling off as nonsense and looked at Brain, despite the nagging feeling gnawing at the back of his consciousness..
"Did you have this whole tunnel, pit, everything, carved out while I was away?" asked Alty, still trying not to look at the book..
"Goodness, no!" exclaimed Brain. "Why, I need some secrets for myself. It wouldn't do to have everyone know about this place. No, I tunnelled this part out myself. There's a marvellous excavation spell I should show you."
Alty began to look stressed again. "But. if you could have made this whole place yourself anyway, why did you hire people to dig the first passageway?"
"You know, I can't remember. But they did a great job don't you think? Especially the Mahoak Wood panelling along the length of it. Very nice indeed." Brain had donned his insane, 'closed-eyes, flash-the-teeth' trademark grin again. Alty hung his head again, deciding it was impossible to figure out his mentor.
"Master, I'm sorry to keep asking, but-" began Alty.
"But you want to know what Lost Legacy is, correct?" Brain said, interrupting Alty for the second time that morning.
"Yes." answered Alty monosyllabically.
"Lost Legacy. The magic system of the inhabitants of this land, before I-Praseru came into being. Very powerful, yet only a select few can wield its forces." said Brain, walking towards the display case Alty had taken notice of upon entering the chamber. Whispering another spell, the glass case opened and granted access to the album. Yet it still floated in the air, not moving. "I believe that you, Alty, will be able to control the powers of the Lost Legacy."
"Me? But, but, but-" stuttered Alty.
"Quit that! You're no goat boy, stop acting like one!" snapped Brain to calm Alty. "You have the most promise of all my students, and more than that, you are like a son to me. I know you can do this Alty, and if your dreams come to pass, the you may need to be able to use Lost Legacy for the sake of all creation. The question is, do you feel you can do it?"
Alty was silent, hanging his head in a contemplative manner. "I'll do it." He said, raising his head determinedly. A proud smile fell upon the face of Brain Zar Deline. Now was when Alty's real training would begin. What he already knew was as nothing compared to the magic he would come to know through Lost Legacy. Brain just hoped against hope that there was time enough to train Alty well enough to succeed.
