Everyone's Lost

Jotaro: “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Screw him! Screw father! Screw Henry! They better respect me. I’m sick of everyone treating me like I’m a damn kid. I’ll craft a weapon so powerful that they won’t be able to do anything about it.”

Jotaro ventured down the streets of the royal city watching couples laugh in a night that was perfect for dating. The air was clear, the wind was a slight breeze, and it wasn’t too lively. Even guards enjoyed ice cream on the sidewalks.

Jotaro walked back to his dwelling. It was a large house near the middle of the town close enough to the main palace where his father lived. He walked inside to his bedroom where servants stood with food on a silver platter for him. Jotaro treated them like garbage, but they were paid well. None of them had names, but went by number instead.

Jotaro: “Get out. I need some space.”

Servant 1: “Understood.”

Servant 2: “Yes, my lord.”

Jotaro: “Ughhhhh, screw everyone. My life sucks. I’m going to prove my father wrong. I’ll find the rest of the chaplets he needs. I’ll hire whoever it takes to get them. I’ll build a weapon so powerful that it will mimic the rumor of the legendary Alcion weapon…Servant 4! Come here!”

Servant 4: “Yes, my lord?”

Jotaro: “Gather all the money my father gave me. Everything we have left.”

Servant 4: “Everything, my lord?”

Jotaro: “Yes, everything. Every last bit of it. Find me the best warriors in the nation. Not just this land. I want the best of the best.”

Servant 4: “My lord, if I may, the best warriors of this world are the Greatest Swordsman. I do not think we can find anyone better.”

Jotaro: “No! You know what I’m talking about. Don’t ignore it. The Celenar Encrodian. The Land of the Witches. Go! Find me the greatest warriors there. They can transcend any boundaries in this world. Even with the right price, you can get anyone. Leave me now!”

Servant 4: “Yes, my lord.”

‘Prove him wrong, prove him wrong, prove him wrong. I’ll prove him wrong!’ he thought to himself in misery and despair.

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Okasaki, Ezekiel, and Ryoko appeared in a town. It was nowhere near the same atmosphere of where they had come from. People walked around peacefully. The sun shined down brighter than ever that made their eyes hurt. Kids ran around in the streets with happy faces and not a care in the world.

Ezekiel: “Where the hell are we?”

Okasaki: “No clue. Ryoko, you said you overheard them talking right? What is this place?”

Ryoko: “Umm, can’t process. Don’t know. Heard them talk. Saw them leave.”

Okasaki: “Ah whatever. We’ll figure it out. That tournament was a piece of cake. I was honestly disappointed.”

Ezekiel: “Yeah. We were promised a good fight. All we bought were simple weapons. I bought a shiny looking orb that made me invisible for a while, but it was stupid. It was way too easy to get around people and this sword is too light. I need something heavier.”

Okasaki: “All I bought was armor. Nobody could handle my hand to hand combat. Although, this armor is cool. Someone stabbed me from behind and it didn’t even pierce it…Hey, what about our death tokens. Where the hell are those?”

Ezekiel: “I don’t know. I don’t have any. If we lost them coming up to this stupid place, I’m gonna be pissed.”

Ryoko: “Lost. No tokens. Have to be lost.”

Okasaki: “Doesn’t even look like we can use them here. Let’s look around.”

A small kid approached Okasaki and asked about his armor.

???: “Ohhh! Sir! Your armor is so cool! Where did you find that? It doesn’t look like anything from around here.”

Okasaki: “Scram. Get away from me before I do something I shouldn’t.”

The kid began to cry and ran away as fast as he could through the streets. People looked at them angrily and chased after the three of them with pitchforks and swords in hand.

Ezekiel: “You idiot. Look what you did. Now we have to go somewhere else and we don’t even know where we are.”

Okasaki: “Just keep running, you fool. This place is huge. Let’s see if we can reach the barrier if we can even find it.”

What the three of them did not know was that this world was different than anything they had ever seen. There was no barrier to this place. They were off to discover more than they could think of with unknown weapons and armor that others would question. Along with this, they were unfamiliar with the concept of swords and chaplets, which were the foundation of this world, which would severely affect them later on.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Land of the Rising Phoenix was a sure testimony to anyone who did not worship the Whispering Vale. Isara was a foreigner in the villagers eyes. They did not look kindly on her. In fact, every time she walked by anywhere, she was slandered about why she was here. Someone had even approached her to make her leave, but her fairies intervened, which made it better, but also worse.

Everyone watched her like a hawk no matter where she went. They called her “The Isolated One.” She did not know what this meant, but she crossed the bridges that connected the clouds together trying to hide in different sections, but it didn’t work.

Eventually, she tried to speak to others, but nobody would, except an older woman who was watering flowers in a graveyard. It was strange. One cloud was dedicated only to this graveyard. There were many gravestones, but one single one was a lot bigger than the others. It sat in the middle of the dirt, while the others surrounded it.

Isara approached the woman that was maintaining the land.

Isara: “Excuse me, I have a quest–”

???: “The flowers are beautiful today, aren’t they? Come. Look at this blue one. Its color stands out amongst the rest, yet it is a cool color. It fought hard to become what it is right now. It is my job to maintain its beauty. I have to be here when it dies so that I can admire its beauty in death as well.”

‘This woman is weird,’ said Liz, Ine, and Sarz all at once to Isara. ‘It’s okay. Let me speak to her.’

Isara: “May I ask what your name is.”

???: “You may call me Iris…Ah, there we go. The flowers have been watered for today.”

Isara: “Why are you the only one who would speak to me? Nobody else will. All I have is a simple question and I will leave.”

Iris: “Because you do not belong here. We do not like foreigners coming here and ruining our traditions. We’ve had our share in the past 50 years and every time, they are rude and disrespectful.”

Isara: “All I have is a question. I do not wish to be rude or disrespectful.”

Iris: “That’s not how we see it. I’m sorry kid, but nobody will help you here. The only reason I am talking to you now is because I am too old to argue with a child. Besides, you have not even mentioned your own name. Is that not rude in itself?”

Isara: “Ah, sorry, sorry. My name is Isara. Nice to meet you.”

Iris: “Please ask your question and leave. If you begin to pester everyone here, then things will start to get dangerous.”

Ine: “You can’t say that to Isara! Take that back!”

Isara: “Ine! Go back to the sword…Sorry about that. What I wanted to ask wa–”

Iris: “A fairy? I haven’t seen a fairy in 20 years. Ever since that stupid old man came here asking about the Whispering Vale. I wonder when he will come back. I gave him a flower back then. I remember it like it was yesterday. He better have taken good care of it. He told me that he would come back when it died off and tell me how its death looked. That idiot never came back.”

Sarz: “There were other fairies here?! 20 years ago? We had not left Zara’s Valley yet. It could’ve been anyone. Maybe they are still alive somewhere.”

Iris: “Go ahead with your question young lady before the villagers start spreading bad news about me too.”

Isara: “Sorry. What I wanted to ask was if you knew anything about the location of the master blacksmiths.”

Iris: “No, I don’t. Is that all?”

Isara: “You really don’t know anything?”

Iris: “No. I’m the oldest person in this village. I’ve been up here since I was 6 years old and haven’t left. Others leave from time to time to get supplies, but I stay here and tend to the flowers. Nobody else here would know. I’ve only ever heard 1 story about them, but they have never been here. I believe there are 3 in this world, if I am correct. Sorry, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.”

Isara: “Thank you. I won’t ask for any more of your time.”

Isara crossed back over the connecting bridges to other clouds. She planned to leave this place earlier than she wanted to. The Land of the Rising Phoenix offered nothing. The information she received was wrong. She would have to go somewhere else back through the connecting stone door that led back to the ground.

A strange voice called out to her.

She looked around frantically in search of who called her name. The voice called out to her again. ‘Wh-What is going on?’ she thought. ‘Sarz, Ine, Liz? Are any of you playing a joke on me?’

Nobody answered. Isara shook her sword, worried beyond belief.

Isara: “Hey, hey. Guys?! Hello? This isn’t funny.”

Her fairies still didn’t answer and all the clouds in the sky began to change to a dark grey. Isara ran across the bridge, scared of what was happening. She was panicking so much that she tripped over her own feet. In the corner of her eye, a small chaplet was wedged in between the cracks of the bridge that was near impossible to see unless you laid flat down and willingly were looking for it.

Isara picked it up, not knowing what it did. It was the same color as the brown bridge, but a little darker. Inside of it was a solid blue half moon.She stored it inside her sword for now and got up to run to the stone door. Before she could get to it, she was grabbed by two men who pushed her to the ground.

???: “We got her! Everyone, get the ritual ready! The Vale is angry!”

Isara was brought over to the great misty grey wall that lined the entire village. She knew briefly what it was from the man that gave her the information to come here, but she was second guessing if he was being truthful.

Isara: “Get off me!”

One of the men hit her over the head with the end of his sword as she blacked out. They brought her over to a large wooden tree stump near the Vale. The villagers surrounded her, all wearing different oni masks and holding torches, even the old woman from before tending to the flowers.

One of the villagers came up to Isara’s body on the stump. She wore all black clothes and large gold rings on her wrists. Her entire face was pierced even though the oni mask covered most of it. Her dark black hair whistled in the wind as she overlooked the villagers.

???: “We are gathered here today unexpectedly for this maiden’s offering of fate. The Vale is angered at us for a reason unknown to any of us. However, as always, we worship the Whispering Vale with great honor. Vale! Please hear us! We hear you! We looked down upon this girl the minute she came into our lands! I see now that you do not want her here either! Please accept this extra sacrifice as a means of our faith! Everyone, rejoice! I shall now chant the words of wisdom passed down through generations…The middle is the boundary. The bottom is the start. The top is the praise. The ladder connects all three, but that is your choice to climb or to fall. For, to climb is to continue the journey and to fall is to continue the journey. The middle is where that journey fails. The middle is where you are stagnant. The middle does not allow for the journey to continue. Climb and fall or fall and climb, choose your future…Now, may the girl be sacrificed to the Great Whispering Vale!”

A few villagers came up and picked up her body and sword. They headed off to the front layer of the Vale while everyone bowed down endlessly and made weird chanting noises. The grey cloudy mist rumbled in anger. It began to turn a darker color. They laid the girl down on the edge where the mist began to slowly take her in.

The villagers jumped up and down, clapped, and hugged each other. A successful ritual had occurred and the clouds turned back to their normal white color.

Isara slowly came back to reality, but not a positive one. She had no control of her body and she floated through what seemed like an endless pit of mist. She called out to her fairies, but nobody answered.

She started to cry in frustration.

She felt that death was near if the rumors were true about what she heard about this place. Her body all of a sudden stopped. A single small boy swung on a swing set holding his teddy bear. He smiled happily without a care in the world.

Isara looked closer at the young boy and noticed blood that started to seep from the middle of his clothes. His smile remained though and a sense of freedom remained in his eyes.

The image quickly went away into a new image of a dove. The bird stood in place with no sense of the world around it. Isara blinked, and in doing so, the image of the bird changed. It bled like the boy on the swings.

She was confused about what was happening. She threw up from the aching pains in her body. Her head hurt like crazy and her stomach curled.

The images kept appearing over and over of an innocent person or animal that was fine, but then suddenly started to bleed out of nowhere. Isara’s mind spaced out before hearing the crashing sound of a gong that brought her back to reality.

A man in knight’s armor rushed at her frozen body with a sword in hand. Isara yelled out, unable to do anything, feeling like a trapped mouse. The knight swung the sword at her and then dispersed into mist.

Isara began to cry again unsteadily.

The front she tried to put on wasn’t working. Down to her core, she was still a good person and it was hard to journey alone, especially without her fairies. She knew she couldn’t do anything alone, but the decision to make this trip was at least a start. She missed Welpen along with many others, but tried to move on independently to get stronger and protect them.

A deep voice reached out to her, much different than the one before. It seemed just as menacing, but for some reason, it was enlightening for her. It made her feel all kinds of emotions, yet comfortable.

The voice talked slower.

???: “There is no reason for you to be here child. I wanted to see for myself. That is why I brought you in here. You are not an evil person. In fact, you are the complete opposite. I cannot see a future where you will ever be evil. This is not the place for you. Take your fairies and leave this place.”

Isara could still not see this person’s face. She was confused as ever. It was one thing after another. She spoke out to converse, in hopes of finding out more.

Isara: “W-Who are you? Wh-Where am I?”

???: “Do not fret. You are simply in another domain. This is not like any other domain you have seen before I presume.”

‘Actually, for some reason, it feels a lot like Welpen’s hometown,’ Isara thought to herself, but she didn’t want to bring that up considering the events that were unfolding.

???: “I admire your courage. I can sense it. I do not know why you have come here though. This place…It’s built off of those who do not wish to benefit others, but only themselves. It has become a thoughtless and empty place, however I do not mind it. If those humans do so wish to, then I will judge everyone that they bring to me. Humans were the demise of my race to begin with. I find it to be justified that I judge others who do not respect the world and do not respect other creatures.”

Isara: “What did you do to Ine, Liz, and Sarz?!”

???: “I shall return you all to the ground. Do not come back to this place. Do not seek me out. I do not know why you are here, but this is not the right place to be for a child. Whatever reason you have come here, you will find the answer eventually. Be patient and move forward.”

Isara’s mind blanked out once again.

By the time her eyes opened, she was outside of the stone gate that teleported her to the top of the Land of the Rising Phoenix before. Sarz, Liz, and Ine were hovering over her frantically, but she assured them that she was okay.

Isara: “Everyone! You’re okay!”

She hugged them like a long lost friend that had come back from the dead.

Isara: “I was so worried. You all just disappeared.”

Sarz: “We don’t know what happened either. Our minds went blank. That has never happened before. We lost consciousness and tried calling out to you, but it didn’t work. Then all of a sudden, you were on your back out here.”

Ine: “We don’t know how long you’ve been out. We were scared too.”

Liz: “Isara! I missed you! Don’t ever do that again.

Isara: “Sorry everyone. I didn’t mean to make you all worry.”

Sarz: “What the heck were you doing while we were out? There is a Moon Chaplet inside the sword with us. Where did you get that?!”

Isara: “I…Oh, I remember now. I tripped and ended up picking it up. Is it that special?”

Ine: “Huh?! Isara, do you even know how rare that is? There are only two ever recorded that were used and it's 1 of 1. We’ve never even seen them. Only ever in books that one person recorded a picture of it.”

Sarz: “That chaplet is on the legendary scale of chaplets, Isara. I know we are out to find the master blacksmiths, but on our way if there is a library, we should stop. They will have books about chaplets. I could tell you about it, but it’s easier to show you. I’d like to see if we can find out what this does. I only know it by name.”

Isara: “Really? It’s that rare?”

Ine: “It’s insanely rare. We don’t even know what it really does. I want to see what the books say also.”

Liz: “Me too!”

Isara: “Alright, let’s do it. Off we go everyone. Stick with me.”