Out in a barren wasteland, stands a castle made of stone. It rises high above the world, up into the clouds. The ultimate fortress. Impenetrable. Ever lasting. The middle tower reigns over the rest of the structure. A light from the only window flicks on. A cloaked figure with its hood up walks into the room, stopping in the center. A pale white man with jet black hair and solid black eyes looks up at the figure. The cloaked one bows before the pale man before speaking.
"Lord Xivaac, I am still unable to locate the two spoken of in Bless's prophecy," the figure speaks with a deep voice, and a hint of regret.
"Tsk tsk Grimm. You are the seeker of death, the reaper of souls," Xivaac laughs sarcastically, his voice very deep in tone, "How can you not locate them?"
Grimm pulls back his hood to reveal his skeletal face to the Dark Lord. His eye sockets are hollow and blank.
"Forgive me my Lord. I have reason to believe that Leon may have them," Grimm begins, "I could sense his presence briefly a while ag-"
"LEON IS STILL ALIVE!?" Xivaac interrupts quite infuriated, "I thought he would become mortal and perish when that witch Parocaav fell."
"His immortality runs deeper than Lady Parocaav. He is a master of all Magics and of Alchemy Sire."
"Indeed."
Xivaac stands up from his chair and walks over to the window. Peering out into the world he chuckles maniacally. His laughter carries all throughout the wasteland. His followers look up towards the mighty castle. Xivaac's laughter draws forth storm clouds and it starts to pour ice cold rain.
"Find Bahemyth" Xivaac commands, "He is the only one that can enter the realm of the Forgotten Forest."
"Yes my Lord. I will seek the Wizard out," Grimm says obediently as he walks out of the room.
Later that day, on the other side of the planet ~
A small building, no bigger than a shack hidden away in a canyon sits quietly. Grimm follows the trail to the wooden door. His boney hand knocks on the door loudly. The sound of locks unlocking can be heard on the other side of the door and it slowly opens. Before Grimm stands a man that looks ancient. He has a long grey beard that reaches the floor and the hair on his head is almost just as long. In his left hand, the old man holds a wooden staff with an hourglass at the top of it.
"It's been some time Reaper. What brings you to my lair?" The old man asks.
"I have been ordered here by Lord Xivaac. He is in need of your services Bahemyth," Grimm answers without hesitation.
"Please, come in."
Bahemyth moves out of the way to let Grimm through. He closes the door as Grimm enters. Inside the shack is an empty room with a spiral staircase leading down into the earth. They walk down the stairs leading to a massive labyrinth beneath the surface. Grimm doesn't say a word to the old man until they reach Bahemyth's chambers.
"Lord Xivaac needs access to the Forgotten Forest," Grimm says outright.
Bahemyth lets out a laugh, "What business does that old coot have with that realm?"
"We have reason to believe Leon is keeping the Bringers of Hope there. The Dark Lord does not want Leon training them. He feels threatened by the prophecy."
Bahemyth laughs so loud it echoes throughout the entire labyrinth. He walks over to a dusty old black felt chair and sits down. Looking up at Grimm with a smug look on his face, he laughs once more.
"He should be. I have seen them personally. Drayk Kirkwood unleashed a hellbound lightning storm on some Elite Soldiers in the village his was residing in. . Annihilated them all without breaking a sweat," Bahemyth tells him, "once trained, he and the girl will have immense power. Far greater than you or the Dark Lord cannot imagine. I know the course of time you know, they will be great Ragnarok Mages."
"Of course you won't go into specifics, I know you cannot reveal the future but I know what he has done. You know, I had to collect the souls of those soldiers and lead them to Shangri-La. You see all, you know all Father Time.... you are the only one with the power to enter Leon's forest realm. We need to get in there."
"You know I am not sided with either cause. What happens to this world is none of my concern. I simply keep time!"
"Don't be ridiculous! We both know you do so much more than that. You didn't stop the Fall of Parocaav."
"You watch your mouth you dog toy! I didn't help either! Parocaav was your creator, as well as mine! You betrayed her, doesn't mean I will."
Grimm's eyes begin to glow red, clearly visible even while his hood is up. A giant scythe appears in his hands. The long shaft of the weapon is solid black with the skull of a lizard at the end, a red blade extends from its mouth. Grimm slashes at Bahemyth, tearing his robes. Bahemyth jumps back to make sure he was not cut. He shakes his head at Grimm and twirls his staff around counterclockwise. In that instant, time moves backwards briefly up to the point before Grimm drew his weapon. The cloth of Bahemyth's robe binds shut at the tear. Time resumes normally and Bahemyth bolts at Grimm, grabbing his arm and snapping it from his skeleton body.
"Try that again, I dare you Grimm!" Bahemyth hisses.
Grimm lets out a a shriek at the pain from having his arm ripped off. He looks towards the Time Master, standing in complete silence.
"Forgive me Father Time," Grimm reluctantly apologizes, "I should know better."
Bahemyth is a being unlike any other. He is not living, nor is he dead. He simply exists. The Master of Time. He was created by Lady Parocaav to maintain the balance of time. Bahemyth's physical appearance only exists in this labyrinth, he is cursed with the inability to leave. A lot of anger is built up inside him because of this. In his labyrinth, time has no effect. All the clocks are frozen and time ceases to be. Bahemyth is not in the past, present or future. And yet, He is in all three simultaneously, as is anyone who steps foot into the Labyrinth of Time.
"I will help, there is no need to threaten your own existence Reaper. For that little stunt you tried however, when you leave my labyrinth.... four days will have passed," Bahemyth laughs, "Tell Kraag to come to my lair, and to bring a few Elites that he wishes to invade the Forgotten Forest."
Grimm grabs his arm from Bahemyth and snaps it back into socket. A sigh lets out from him and he turns to leave. He stops for a moment, brushing his cloak off.
"Understood," Grimm states as he vanishes in a black cloud.
Meanwhile ~
The sun rises once again on the small clearing in the Forgotten Forest. Drayk is laying in the flower bed when Roku joins him. Her hair is now long enough to reach just past her shoulders. She skips over to Drayk with a silly smile on her face.
"G'mornin' Drayk!" She shouts excitedly.
Drayk yawns, "Morning Roku. You are rather chipper this morning.... as usual."
"I can't believe we have been here for two months already! Seems like just yesterday we were making fools out of ourselves."
"That hasn't stopped since you showed up," Leon laughs as he approaches them, "You have learned a lot since you've got here. It's time to take the elements you've learned and cross them."
"Cross them?" Roku asks.
Leon smiles and raises his left hand. A flame begins to dance in the palm of his hand. The fire begins to form a ball in front of him as he raises his other arm. The winds start to blow, catching the fire. Soon, a flaming tornado is twirling in front of him. Leon moves around both arms, controlling the twister. It moves along through the flowers, burning them and pulling others into it. He lowers his arms and the flaming twister dissipates.
"Controlling two Magics at the same time," Leon finally explains, "Allowing you to create a number of unimaginable spells."
Drayk and Roku just stand there in awe at what they have just seen. They have never seen anything like it before. Red Magic has been lost throughout the ages, the Red Mages have been extinct for hundreds of years. It's magic has only been seen in history books. This is the first time true Red Magic has been used in centuries. Drayk grins at the endless possibilities of what they could do.
"I want you both to choose any two of the elemental magic, and wield them both," Leon commands.
"Yes Master," Drayk and Roku say at the same time.
Roku, using her left hand calls forth a gust of wind. She rotates her left arm above her head, causing the wind to circle her. She then lifts her right hand to chest level. The earth beneath her feet starts to shake, loosening the dirt. The wind catches it. She pushes both arms straight out in front of her, making a wall of sand blast towards Leon. Leon shields his eyes as he is bombarded by dust.
"Interesting choice Roku," Leon jokes, "Excellent job nonetheless."
Roku smiles and lowers her arms back down, the sandstorm slowly dies down as she does. Drayk then puts both hands straight up into the air. A huge chunk of rock rips out of the ground and floats up above him. Flames engulf it while it rises further up. Drayk swiftly brings his hands straight down. The flaming chunk of earth shoots down like a small meteor and crashes into the ground, causing the entire realm to shake vigorously and leaving a crater in the flowerbed.
"Very impressive Drayk. Not very practical in a fight, but a good show indeed!" Leon excitedly tells him.
"Leon, I know we may have been chosen as the Bringers of Hope, but how is it even possible to wield different elements, especially at the same time?" Roku asks quite puzzled.
"Well Roku, magic is but a force controlled by the magic wielder, or Mage. Red Magic is a lost form in this world. Other than myself, and now the two of you, Red Mages have not existed for centuries now. They were slaughtered out of fear during the Ragnarok Wars. The other clans had fear of the great power they could control. Ya see, Red Magic is the unlocking of the full magical potential, and allowing that mage to wield all forms of magic. Magic is the very essence of energy, and a gift from the Goddess of Life herself. She bestowed the ability to harness these powers to the various clans for numerous uses. Defense, hunting, whatever they chose to use it for. How it's possible to use them all is simple: The elements are embedded in every soul, all life, and everything found throughout the universe. A Red Mage looks passed normal limitations and seeks total control. Even if you weren't chosen by Lady Parocaav as the Bringers, the potential was always there. The Mage Clans focused on but one single element, narrowing their vision of the truth. Clouding their judgement. And worse of all, segregating themselves from one another," Leon explains to them as tears form in his eyes, "Knowing what I have taught you, I feel like the Red Mages will never die off."
"Leon, I couldn't imagine being the last of a Clan, but Drayk and I will honor the Red Mage for the remainder of our days," Roku smiles, trying to hold back tears of her own.
"I promise that after this war is all said and done, I will spread your teachings Leon," Drayk says in a sincere tone, "I will take on apprentices and make sure your people are never truly forgotten."
"You are both very wholehearted young people. I can see why you were chosen by Lady Parocaav. She never makes mistakes.... except for having too much in trust Grimm," Leon states, "There's nothing left for me to teach the two of you. The next couple months will be spent honing in on your abilities. I think you may be ready to find the meadow hidden in the realm."
Leon starts to walk back up towards the cottage. After a brief moment, Roku follows him. Drayk stays behind, looking down at the crater his spell left in the ground. All the time he has spent here, he hasn't let his mind wander. Now he cannot resist his thoughts. He drops to his knees, the conversation with Leon playing over and over again. The last of his Clan. Drayk's mind begins to wander to his family. His father has been MIA for the last several months, his mother dying shortly after giving birth to his kid sister. His sister. Sammi. The subject he had been trying to avoid thinking about. Now that he has, he can't rid the thoughts from his mind. His sister was still only just a teenager before the attack on his village. His house burning to the ground, still reflecting in his eyes.
"Sammi...." Drayk sighs as he finally starts to head towards the cottage. He dries his tears before going inside to join Leon and Roku for the day's end cup of tea.
Later on ~
This is the first night Drayk actually decides to sleep inside the cottage. Right now he doesn't want to be all alone considering what has been on his mind. He lays awake feeling guilty, sick to stomach. This is the first time he has slept in a bed since the night before the attack on his village of Kuma. The thoughts of his sister are racing in his mind. He slowly sits up and pulls the covers down to his waist. Drayk lets out a sigh and climbs out of bed. He walks down the hall, passing by Roku's room towards the bathroom. All is still dark and quiet inside the cottage. Leon and Roku are still sleeping, it is the middle of the night after all. Drayk uses his magic to fill the sink with cold water and splashes it on his face. He looks at himself in the mirror, a clear expression of sadness etched into his eyes.
After a few minutes, Drayk heads back down the hall, stopping outside of Roku's room. He starts to think of how she reminds him that there is still a reason to be happy. He's not sure why but his heart starts racing whenever he thinks about Roku and how spunky she is. She is almost his complete opposite in that regard. Roku seems to always be happy, chipper, and full if energy. Drayk has always been a rather quiet fellow, he keeps to himself, rarely shows emotion and is usually mellow. He decides he should get back to bed and sleep, which he has not done much of lately. Drayk slowly walks back into his room and ignites the tip of his finger to light the candle on his bedside. The candle flashes to life, illuminating the room slightly. Drayk decides he is not ready to sleep yet. He reaches for a book on the desk he hadn't noticed before. He hasn't used the room so he hasn't payed much attention to it.
The book is titled 'The Forgotten Forest', and looks as old as time. It has a brown leather cover and what appears to be animal hide paper. Drayk slowly opens the front cover to view the first page. He starts to read:
~The Forgotten Forest is a realm created by Lady Parocaav. She has bestowed this forest as a gift to the Grand Master Leon for his continuous services to the Goddess. He is the only mortal man deemed worthy in the Goddess's eyes to receive his own realm.
All immortals have their own realm. They are either created by the immortal, or bestowed as a gift. The Forgotten Forest was the first and only realm given to a once mortal man. All realms coexist with its inhabitant. The one who lives there chooses who may enter, who may leave.
The Forgotten Forest is a unique realm in its own right, other than being given to a mortal. This forest has a strange quality. Time moves much faster than it does anywhere else, as if it defies the very balance of space and time. This effect makes time in the outside world virtually stand still while in this realm. A man known as Bahemyth assisted in the creation of this forest. The sole purpose of this time change is to give Leon the opportunity to train for harder and longer. This allows him to train for months at a time to prepare for when he is needed with very little notice. He has been needed on and off for so many, many years.
The design was requested by Leon himself during the time of its creation. Lady Parocaav agreed completely. This realm is where Leon discovered the use of alchemy, the use of magic to manipulate inanimate objects, changing their composition by breaking them down and reconstructing them at the molecular level, etcetera. In doing so, Leon became the father of modern alchemy. This discovery astonished Lady Parocaav. The Goddess didn't know such things were possible, even though She had created the balance of the world of Gaia. Lady Parocaav was so impressed she decided to add a secret to The Forgotten Forest. A realm within a realm was created: The Hidden Meadow.
This meadow is a gateway more or less. A link between the realm of the forest and to Her own realm, The Skies of Heaven. It sits in a time that stands totally still. Even years here, is no more than a split second anywhere else; other than the lair of Bahemyth. This gift was unlike any other. For the first time it was possible to visit the heavens of Parocaav. A special magic can be learned here: The Ultimate Magic. Magic that was forbidden to be controlled by anyone other than the Goddess herself, her own Magic. A Magic that could control the very elements of the universe. Meteors, massive explosions, creating life, and some that is still unknown.
Leon has access to this realm, and can see the Ultimate Magic, although he cannot gain access to this Magic. Even he is forbidden from utilizing its power. The honor was purely knowing its existence and capabilities. Only the Goddess herself is still the only one who can wield it. One day the power within this Hidden Meadow will be called upon by the Bringers of Hope. This power will one day be used to change the world. The greater good? ~
Drayk closes the book, unsure of what to think of what he has just read. A magic so powerful it can control the very cosmos. With that thought on his mind he yawns and decides it is now time to get some sleep. He climbs back into bed and drifts off to the first deep sleep since he arrived.
That morning ~
Light begins to pour in through the window to Drayk's room. The candle has finally burned out and the sun lightens up the realm. Sunlight hits Drayk's face and he opens his eyes. This is the first time he feels rested even though he spent most of the night lying awake and then reading from the book. He looks over at the desk, but the book he had read is no longer there. A puzzled look strikes Drayk's face. He decides to ignore it though and heads down the stairs to the front room.
Roku of course is already wide awake and lounging on the floor in front of the roaring fireplace. She looks up at Drayk, rather surprised to see him coming down from upstairs. She gives him a big smile and sits up.
"You actually slept inside last night?" Roku jokingly asks.
Drayk smiles at her and replies, "Yes. I figured I oughta at least once."
Roku gives him a big grin. She isn't sure why, but she has a hunch he is hiding something. Her thoughts start to wander as Drayk sits down next to her. He might be kind of quiet, but in his own way, she finds him charming. Perhaps it's the silence, the mystery or just that they have spent so much time together the past couple of months. They find themselves staring into each others' eye. The front room is lit with the dim light from the fireplace. An overwhelming feeling consumes Roku, one she has never felt before and finds herself unable to take her eyes off of Drayk. Suddenly the sound of Leon clearing his throat can be heard. They both look up at him, startled. Leon chuckles a bit at their reactions.
"Time to head out Bringers," Leon tells them as he walks out of the cottage.
Roku awkwardly looks back at Drayk, then rises to her feet. She waits for him to stand up before following Leon outside. Drayk runs his fingers through his hair and sighs heavily. Again he finds himself feeling guilty. How could he possibly allow himself to feel any happiness under these circumstances? He shakes his head as if he is trying to shake the thoughts right out of his mind. He jogs outside, closing the door behind him.
The three of them walk into the clearing once more. Leon stops momentarily to allow Drayk and Roku to pass him, then continues to walk. The clearing seems different this morning. The flowers are no where to be found and there is no sign they even existed. Instead, the clearing is now a patch of bleached white sand. It looks like fresh snow, sparkling in the morning sun. Drayk looks around wondering why it looks so different. Every day they've been here, the clearing has always seemed so vibrant. In its own way, it still appears to be just as tranquil as ever. Thinking back to the book he read last night, Drayk recalls something about white sand before he called it a night.
For reasons he cannot explain, a sense of deja vu hits Drayk. Instinctively, he puts both hands forward, palms facing straight out and away from his body. His eyes glow the same shade of white as the sand beneath his feet. Leon looks at Drayk with that of surprise, which is written all over his face. Roku is left utterly speechless by this. The sand begins to pulsate a yellow glow and it rises up into four columns. The center sinks downwards as the columns solidify. Stairs form in the sand as it drops lower and lower, disappearing into the darkness below the surface.
Drayk puts his arms back down to his sides, his eyes slowly returning to normal. He looks down in sheer amazement. How did he do that? His mind was completely free of any thoughts while it was happening. It was almost as if he had blacked out during that process.
"Leon.... what is that?" Roku asks.
"The gateway to the Hidden Meadow... Drayk.... how did you know?" Leon says to Drayk almost ignoring Roku altogether.
Drayk looks over to Roku, then over to Leon. His face is blank of any expressions.
"I am not sure to be honest. I had a sense of deja vu, and my body did the rest. It's almost like my subconscious absorbed the information from that book," Drayk replies.
"Book?" Leon questions him, "What book could you be referring to??"
"I am not sure anymore..." Drayk says quietly, looking back down at the gateway he opened.