Young Writers Society

One of the creatures swatted the force field irritably.

"Ha!" Luke taunted with a triumphant grin. "Can't get me, Ugly!" Luke laid himself back n the sand, and faked a yawn, watching the monster try and bite the dome. "Keep it going, this is getting entertaining." The blood in Luke's face drained as small sparks, showed in the force field.

The monster seemed to realize what was happening. With a new force, it threw its weight into a particularly large dissolving section. The force field cracked like an eggshell, leaving Luke exposed.

"Heh," he laughed nervously, though he knew this would have no effect. "April fools?"

The monster growled, and crouched.

Magestorrow Rian:

He spun around. The boy had seemed to disappear, but Mage quickly realized that he had just sneaked by him and was now sitting next to the somewhat startled Faustus. Somewhat reluctantly, he put away his sword and sat back down.

He anxiously glanced back towards the mouth of the cave. The scream he had heard terrified him; it terrified him more than the angels.

What was even more terrifying was that Achernar had also seemed afraid of it, and nothing else had seemed to truly faze him.

Though he barely knew the group he had stumbled upon, he was worried for their safety - especially Ann's. He didn't know if he'd be able to deal with their deaths on top of Soul's possible demise.

Mage took a deep breath to stop the tears from coming once more. It was surprisingly successful, something he was grateful for. "My name is Magestorrow," he finally said after an awkward silence. "Magestorrow Rian." He shifted from a kneeling position to crossing his legs. Crossing his arms as well, he asked, "How did you end up here, Achernar?"

Nendros:

He tried to ignore how terrified he was of the beast Celina had somehow become, and tried to focus on the battle at hand. He didn't have a clue on how to fight Celina. Besides, just because her appearance had changed to match a monster's, it didn't mean she had changed. That was something he knew very well.

Although the laugh was making him think otherwise.

There was the sound of glass shattering; he seemed to be the only one who had noticed it. Everyone else was too busy fighting.

There was a very human boy, dressed in clothes that made Nendros realize he was from Earth like Schadel was, sitting in the sand with a horrified expression on his face. He followed his gaze. Crouching into an attack position was one of the monsters.

He ran over, his own safety forgotten as he tried to protect the boy. His tail shot out from behind him. Almost instinctively, he wrapped it around the boy and jerked him away from the monster just before it would have eaten him in one large gulp.

The monster's attention turned towards him. Using his tail to propel the terrified boy into his arms, Nendros sidestepped the monster as it lunged at him. "I'm not that easy to catch," he said with a grin, though he knew Tieth could say otherwise.

He quickly realized the monster wasn't going to leave them alone. He doubted he could kill it, but he also knew it wouldn't give up on trying to catch both him and the boy. He couldn't endanger Magestorrow and Faustus by bringing the human back to the cave.

So he did the first thing he could think of.

Two gigantic wings unfurled from his back. Holding the boy close to him, he shot into the air.

Evion Fevalda:

Just great, thought the soldier, who was stuck with the reality that he was right next the one thing he feared. It felt like a bizarre nightmare, added on by Achernar's small snake and his own inability to move anywhere, along with Mage's compliance. Evion found it a little harder to breathe, and sweat started pouring down him. Fear had full sway over his visage, and it was more than happy to exploit this.

In the meantime, Achernar kept talking. It was incredibly hard to gauge his feelings; even his concern previously had behaved like it was at the back of his mind. He seemed almost at ease, though Evion highly doubted that was actually the case. Achernar's constantly ruffling of his outfit and pulling back on his hair indicated so, though his voice and appearance otherwise betrayed nothing. It was only slightly relieving to know that the snake was as afraid of his present situation as Evion was of his own, but at least it was some relief. And he could use all he could get his hands on. So he added that atop the fact that Achernar was distracted enough to not pay attention to him, particularly his armor. It was eerie.

"I wanted to travel through the ice fields," answered Achernar to Mage's question. "There was...a hole? Something like a circle, in the air. It glowed, too, and I thought I could see something on the other side. So I decided to check." Evion, who by now looked deathly pale, and was desperately trying to scoot away from Achernar, couldn't help but notice something odd. Mainly because it was hard to not. Mage seemed to be more concerned around Achernar than vice versa. Which was curious, since Mage seemed to be the more intimidating figure. Yet Achernar seemed completely unbothered. Was there a story to this? Of course, Evion wasn't interested in figuring out.

"Do you have any skill with fire magic, Magestorrow?" asked Achernar suddenly, surprising both Mage and Evion.

"Yes," replied Mage in a wary voice, drawing out his response. "Why?"

"There's some scary monsters outside," noted Achernar casually, almost as if this was usual. "I can only gather so many friends. I can see just fine, but it's dark, were in a cave, and there's a trail of blood leading right outside."

At that moment, there was the clink of metal as Evion shuffled into something by the entrance of the cave. Looking up at a large shaded object, somewhat resembling a suit of armor, Evion did what he did best.

Scream. Again.

"Poor fellow," commented Achernar with a little concern. "I imagine he must do this a lot."

Magestorrow Rian:

Once again, Faustus' scream made his gaze shift to his direction. The sword he had quickly drawn (his reflexes were getting faster with each encounter) fell to the ground when he found himself staring at what appeared to be a suit of armor in the shadows of the entrance of the cave.

He took a step forward. Mage opened his mouth, ready to yell out Soul's name as loud as he could before running into his arms. Who cared if Achernar and Faustus saw him do something so out of character? He would be with Soul, and that was all that mattered. Soul would be alive, and he wouldn't be alone.

But then the newest person in the cave walked out of the shadows. Trying not to cry, Mage bent down to retrieve his sword. He wiped away the few tears that had fallen with his arm. The armor wasn't the right color, size, or shape, and there was a strange insignia on the chest.

They weren't Soul.

Aska:

Nen hadn't told him about there being other people in the cave. There was a grown human man, dressed terrifyingly in armor fit for a soldier, and a human boy with black-brown hair and blue eyes.

The boy didn't scare him. The fact that he had bumped into the soldier, however, did. Soldiers that ended up in the Castle of Blood were bad news - they were, usually, the most violent of the Ambassadors.

But then he saw the monster watching him with a pair of eyes the color of darkness. Resisting the urge to scream, he continued to make his way into the cave.

"Um..." he awkwardly began, still shaking from being the center of the terrifying creature's attention. He kept his head down as he rushed as far back as he could. He could feel the stares of both the humans and the monster.

Nen had said the cave was safe, so he guessed he trusted the monster. Hopefully, Nen's judgement wasn't misplaced. "M-My n-name is A-Aska." His armor clanged together. "I'm fr-friends with Nendros." He snuck a glance over at the thing, which was still staring at him with its unnerving eyes. "He t-told m-me it w-was safe here fr-from all the m-monsters." But he didn't mention the one in the cave itself!

Ann Fletcher :
Ann stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a high pitched laugh echoing through the woods, "Oh no..." She muttered out. She knew that laugh.
Why did I take so long to find her? This is all my fault!

Ann speeded up and ran towards where the laugh came from. She heard the sound of weapons clanging followed by the sound of growling beasts.

A battle was going on nearby and hoped that Celina wasn't involved in it, she jumped right into it without thinking twice. A grin spread across her face as she reached for her dagger, a battle was something she was looking forward too.


But her face turned white as she saw a strong man holding a limp boy, the boy was Joe! Forgetting Celina and the others who were trying to fight off some dragon-like beasts, Ann rushed towards Joe and aimed her dagger towards Soul.
"Who are you? And what on earth did you to my friend!" She shouted, looking at him with fiery eyes.
Before Soul could answer, Joe's eyes opened and he let out a groan, rubbing his aching head he tried to raise himself to a sitting position, "What...happened?"


He looked wearily at Soul and then at Ann, "Ann?"
Ann's blue eyes filled up with tears and the color returned to her face, "You're alive! I finally found you!"

She bent down as if to give Joe a warm hug, but then she punched him in the stomach, "You're crazy! Why did you come here? You should've stayed in the Myth, you dumbstrick!"
Soul stared at the girl with surprise as Joe whined.

"Ow...you really shouldn't have done that..." He said in a tired out tone, "I already got a warm welcome by a beast..." Joe muttered.
Ann chuckled, "I'll give you a better welcome later, right now we do have other problems."
Joe's gaze turned towards Soul, "I felt something warm rising inside me while I was knocked out...You healed me, didn't you? You have healing powers!"
A warm smile spread across Soul's face, "Yes, I couldn't just let you die, now can I?"

"Thank you pal, I owe you!" Joe said as he got up, his knees were still wobbly, but he was getting better.
"Wait...you can heal?are you Soul? Mage's friend?" Ann asked as she straightened herself.

Celina was turning dark green and the glowing markings all over her ever becoming more brighter each second.
"She's gone savage..."Joe muttered as he stared at her, "We have to...stop her!"
Ann nodded, "I know. This is all my fault, I took too long to get here, I knew this would happen."


Celina laughed out again, she held out her hands and sent out dark green disc like things oozing with a green color acid.


"We have to avoid them, they can be deadly," Ann said as she deflected on using her dagger. "I'll try to talk to her...or she might kill us all..."

Joe shook his head, "I have a better idea... Let's retreat for now. I know how powerful Celina can be, and she's not herself right now. Let's head back to the cave. I think she'll handle the beasts for now..." He grabbed hold of his aching shoulder, "Also, I think you all should have a proper idea about her and a plan before confronting her." He said staring at the boy who was fighting off breast using a scythe.

"Nendros!" Ann shouted at the dragon-man, "Come down! It's not safe to fly near Celina!"

Celina Rivers

Her high pitched laugh and uncontrollable powers made her more monstrous and now she was completely different than the peppy childish girl she was a few minutes ago. Her black eyes caught the sight of a flying man with dragon wings, she instantly wanted to bring him down. She extended both of her hands towards Nendros and chanted out something in a low whisper.

A large green fiery comet formed in her hands and it zoomed towards Nendros with a sizzling sound.
"No..." Joe cried out as he reached out his hands and sent a bolt of fire at the comet.
"You just had to use fire...that coment's acid will react with fire and form a green gas" Ann muttered as the green comet exploded into bits as the fire got in contact with it.
A thick greenish gas spread across the area, leaving everyone coughing and sputtering. "Uh...sorry, my bad..." Joe apologized.

Another horrific laugh spread through the area, "So you wanna play hide and seek eh?" She said in a raspy voice. "I want to destroy every single living being in this island!"
Her black eyes focused it's gaze on the cave in the middle of the woods, "A cave means shelter, and shelter means more living things!"
She let out a raspy laugh and zoomed towards the cave, leaving Joe and the others behind.

She'd completely forgotten about her memories of the cave and the people in it, her savage form only had room for one memory, 'destroy all living creatures'

"We have to stop her!" Ann said as she took down another beast using her small dagger, "This...gas smells like burning rubber!" She coughed, but to their luck, the gas was thinning.

Nendros:

His eyes widened in horror as Celina rushed off to the cave. Magestorrow and Faustus were inside it. One was injured, and the other most likely didn't possess strong powers.

And then a second realization hit him, one that almost made him drop the boy in his arms. "Oh God," he whispered. He had just sent Aska to the cave because he thought it was safe! He glanced down at the terrified human he was holding. What was he supposed to do?! He couldn't bring the boy with him - they was no way he could protect both him and Aska.

He glanced at the group for someone, anyone, who could watch over the human. He dropped down and handed the boy over to the other human boy; the one who for some reason seemed slightly familiar and was wielding a scythe. "Please watch over him," Nendros asked. "I need to go save my best friend."

"But I can't just stay here-"

"Someone has to watch over him. You're not close with either Aska, Magestorrow, or Faustus, right? I appreciate that you're being kind by wanting to help, but the best you can do is stay here with this boy."

As he went flying off towards the cave, still without a clue on how to defeat Celina, he heard the boy yell, "Damn it!"

Soul Error Arwitch:

"Cave?" he asked. "What cave?" There had to be life in the cave, right? Why else would that girl who had gone berserk want to go there?

"We were using the cave for shelter," the girl with brown hair (Ann, if he had heard Joe right) explained. She looked with a worried expression at the cave.

Joe added, "We need to come up with a plan to defeat her before we go running in."

Suddenly, Soul realized who had to be waiting in the cave. Who had to be at least one of the people Celina was going to attack. "Mage," he simply said. "I have to go! I can't just sit here and plan!"

"You'll get killed," the boy with the scythe said as he defeated another monster. He was protecting Luke now. Soul was relieved that the human boy was alright, but there was more pressing matters at hand. "You take this guy. I'm a lot harder to kill then you think, so I could easily defeat Celina."

"My best friend is in that cave!" he yelled. He hadn't been this angry - or this upset - since the time Zogin had almost been killed by angels. "If you expect me to let him die, you're a fool!" Fear wasn't only making him angry; it was making him say things he would restrain from saying in normal situations. "He's just a kid! He's only eleven years old! I'm still teaching him how to use a sword, and if he's too close to other people, he won't use his Sin because he's afraid he might hurt them!"

"But I don't want anyone to die because I couldn't do anything!" the boy protested. "I could barely take it the first two times!" To Soul's horror, what appeared to be moving shadows shot out from underneath the human's feet and licked the air around him.

Was he going to go berserk like Celina had?

But then the shadows died down. "Fine," he said. "I'll stay here and protect this boy. If I can't save your lives or the lives of the people in the cave, I can at least save his."

"Thank you!" Soul yelled as he ran off, electricity Sin sparking from his fingers in preparation for the battle soon to come.

I won't be on for the next several days. Feel free to RP for Luke.

Evion Fevalda:

That was surprisingly anticlimactic.

On the bright side, at least he didn't have another enemy. Aska, who, despite wearing a suit of armor, didn't seem to have any weapons on hand, and acted incredibly nervous. And, of course, claimed to have been sent here on the part of Nendros. So everyone was sated by this, although Mage continued to stand in the middle of the cave and keep watch. Aska, understandably, seemed very intimidated due to Mage's presence, yet a few nervous glances in Evion's direction indicated that he didn't exactly like him, either.

Nobody talked. There wasn't anyone eager enough to do so. Save for Achernar, who was now staring a point in the ground and focusing intently on something. The way his ears were twitching, he seemed to be attempting to listen. Evion suspected that it had to do with the disturbing laugh they heard earlier, which was now at the top list of his fears, thanks to what Achernar had said about a clear trail. Given how long this list was otherwise, he decided to push himself as far away from everyone as possible, squeezing himself towards the back of the cave. If he was ever going to make it out of this mess alive, he would rather stay as a guard for the rest of his life; sure, he would still have to deal with the feeling like his throat was being constricted, and his heart racing incredibly fast, but at least he wasn't surrounded by dangerous individuals in a dangerous place he couldn't begin to understand. At this point, even meeting his uncle seemed reasonable.

And that's when the sound of fast blowing wind began to chorus in the midst of the cave, followed by a loud, raspy cackle.

Evion closed his eyes and placed his arms over his ears. He was too tired and afraid to start screaming at this point. The soldier wanted to drown out all the sounds and sights around him and leave. Yet, whatever was behind that dastardly laugh wouldn't have it. Even with his eyes closed, he could see the impression of dark green in front of him, and knew that something monstrous and dark was hovering by the entrance of the cave. Worse yet, or perhaps worst of all, he could hear it whisper the same sentence, over and over again. "Kill them! I must kill the living beings!"

"Celina?" he gasped in horror, opening his eyes momentarily. A dark green, grisly figure, covered in what resembled tattoos, flashed in his vision before he decided against leaving his eyes open. But that voice, and appearance, was eerily unmistakable. The thought that an unknown enemy was trying to kill him would've been frightening enough. The thought that a known ally was trying to do so was far worse.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "You're not the scariest thing I've seen," said Achernar, his voice resolute, but trembling. Evion could hear the hissing of a multitude of snakes, which were obviously slithering in droves into the cave. Too, he could hear the sound of electricity crackling in the air, causing his hair to rise in a spiky mess. Obviously, Achernar had pulled all the stops, and was actually hoping to fight the afflicted Celina with a blast of lightening. Not to mention the fact he found a power source to help him.

Evion felt himself growing more and more tired. He liked it this way, even if he would've otherwise been horrified that Achernar was using him as a power source. But he couldn't stand his present situation any longer, and Achernar had few low odds of actually killing him, unless the boy was truly mad. The voice of the threat grew ever more distant, and the green glow started to fade away. Achernar let go, and Evion fell asleep.

Magestorrow Rian:

What had happened to Celina? She shouldn't have suddenly become a terrifying monster intent on killing them all!

Snakes started to appear in the cave. He knew that Archernar was the one controlling them; a snake had been curling around his leg earlier. He glanced at Faustus and was shocked to see he was asleep. When his gaze returned to Archernar, he found himself staring at electricity sparking off his fingers.

"Kill them," she growled. "I must kill the living beings!"

"Not while I'm around," a voice spoke up. He instantly recognized it - it was Nendros'. Claws extended, he flew in front of the cave.

"Nen!" Aska yelled. "What are you doing?! You'll get killed!" Silent sobs shook his body. "I don't want to lose you, Nen! You could fight those monsters, but I know you can't fight something like this!"

A figure appeared behind Celina. There was a brilliant flash of light, and then what looked like a bolt of lightning arced through towards the berserk girl. She easily dodged the attack.

"Don't worry, Aska," a man said. "He's not alone."

Mage's eyes widened, a smile beginning to grow on his face. He wanted to run over and throw his arms around the one who had suddenly entered the fray. But, knowing now wasn't the best time to, he settled with shouting out his name. "Soul!" he yelled. "You're alive, Soul!"

He knew that underneath his friend's helmet, he was smiling at their reunion.

His attention returned to Celina. Now that he had gotten over his initial shock, he knew he should also help to fight her. He took a step towards the mouth of the cave, fire dancing at his fingers. As long as he aimed far enough behind her, he wouldn't have to worry about hurting her. It wouldn't stop her, but it would distract her so Nendros or Soul could surprise her with an attack.

But then Celina's attention turned to him. Everything happened too quickly for him to really register the events that transpired. Celina yelling about killing them all. Green, blade-like structure forming in front of her. Them being pointed at him. Her magical weapon coming closer and closer.

And Soul jumping in the way as all of the blades pierced his armor.

Mage rushed over to him. "Soul," he said. He shook his shoulders. "Soul, get up. You're alright, right?" He didn't care that he was leaving himself wide open for another attack. "Soul, come on. This isn't funny. You're lot-you're not supposed to die." Tears fell dripped onto the pierced black armor. "We were supposed to find your friend, remember? Zogin?"

Ann Fletcher :
Ann glanced at the cave with a worried expression, "I'm going after her as well..."
Joe shook his head with disagreement, "Ann, I'm sure the others won't hurt her. We really need to stop these monsters and I don't think these two humans can do that alone."
Ann shoved her dagger and took down another monster heading her way, "I know that! Soul and the others won't hurt her, but Celina would hurt them..."

Joe groaned as his limbs felt weak again. Soul has done a great job in healing him, but he was drained, and it took ages for him to restore it again.

"Are you okay? The boy with a scythe asked as he gazed at Joe.
He nodded and straightened himself, "Yeah, I'm just a little tired."
Ann frowned, "I know you three won't allow me to run off like the others, but..."
A loud 'clunck' followed by a green glow came from the cave opening.
"Mage..." Ann muttered under her breath. She knew that Mage would trust his friends, and what if he tried to convince Celina to stop her savage act and got himself hurt? Like Soul said, he was just a young boy! And the wounded man, what if Celina attacked him? Ann's thoughts went wild.

Without seeking permission from anyone she ran towards the cave opening at full speed, "I'm sorry guys..."
She knew that Joe and the other boy could stop the monsters and protect Luke. She ran at full speed. Her hands were getting sweaty and they were trembling.
Celina, please! please tell me that you didn't hurt anyone...

Celina Rivers

Celina was right in front of Soul and Mage. The others except the wounded man were fully prepared to attack her. But her gaze was fixed on Mage. The boy's desperate calls for his friend to wake up made her body tingle. She started at the knight fallen on the ground.
I did this, I killed his friend...I killed a living being...I killed a...friend...

Her back eyes slowly turned back to a shade of green, her pointy fangs disappeared leaving behind her normal pure white teeth.
The glowing markings on her body faded away and she landed on the cold ground slowly. Her gaze was now fixed on the ground. She could sense that everyone was staring at her, ready to attack if she moved any further.


"I'm...sorry..." It came out as a low whisper. Tears poured down her pale cheeks. She had turned back to normal, but she feared to look at the people in the cave. "I'm sorry," She repeated as she wiped a warm tear trickling down her cheek. "I didn't mean...to hurt anyone..."
That was a lie, her intention was to 'kill' living beings. But her normal self would never hurt anyone innocent. She wished the other would understand her.
"Mage," She choked, "I'm really sorry...Maybe I can..."
"You've done quite enough Celina!" Ann's voice echoed through the cave, "Please, just step away from them. Also, I beg you all not to attack Celina. I can explain everything..."

What have I done? Why couldn't I control myself?
"I'm so sorry everyone!" She sobbed as more warm tears poured down her cheeks. "I...I Couldn't control myself..."