My Legacy lives on...

[Abigail Crescentlight]

So much noise... so much confusion. Abigail was so confused and dazed that she couldn't focus on the things that were happening. Her vision was doubled and odd, but that didn't stop her from getting up to her feet and finding her way to the door. She leaned in the doorway there, trying to make sense of it all as her friends launched themselves into combat.

Shaking her head clear, Abigail finally began to take some actions. She pointed to herself and cast heal, recovering fully and completely to full health. She sighed, her vision finally becoming clear and her hearing sharpening. She looked around to find that Sai had done something with wires, and was now laying knocked out on the floor. She also saw Ellin struggling to get free, and sighed a bit. All this craziness... how did it all happen?

She moved forward, pushing past the now disarmed moogles and her teammates to kneal down next to the one who needed her help most, Sai. She quickly set about healing him to full health, including his magic before standing up. Only just now... did she notice the massive feline man before them, which caused her to gasp and back away, startled. "Oh my..." she whispered.

[Secondary Characters]

At some point during the electromagnet attack, Wall-E had become a victim. He was lifted from the floor, looking all around with a worried expression about 45 seconds in. He hovered there a few moments, flailing about in confusion before at the 50 second mark, he was thrown as hard as possible into a nearby wall, which in and of itself was covered with golems. Lucky for Wall-E because of the many layers there, the damage to his system would be minimal, but...

Even he wasn't completely immune. His sight buzzed in and out, his programs being messed up by the magnetism in the room. Unable to call out, his radio played by itself, several songs sounding off all at once.

"PUt oN yoUr SUNDAy-DuCKtaLES Woo-hoo! DEtroit, RockCiTY!!" it rang out, in a strange, chaotic remix of songs. Then, just like that, at the 60 second mark, Wall-E suddenly went back to normal, shaking his head violently like one who had just been hypnotized. "Woah..." he whistled, then pried himself free of the wall.

Falling free, he boxed up in order to roll along the ground, only to pop open upside down. He flailed cutely, then used his arms to right himself somewhat. Now on his treads, he looked around to gain his bearings, only to find Abigail healing Sai and the others standing still while they looked at a giant in the hallway. Wall-E's binocular eyes turned to look up at him, a quiet, but impressed whistle escaping him.

Then, Wall-E did what he always does. He rolled right up to Culaki, attempted to make himself taller by standing on tip-toe, and stretched a hand as high up as he could. "Waawwwlll-Eee!" he introduced himself, clawlike hand open wide to shake...

[Ellin Destroix]

"IT'S A GIANT CAT! EEE!!" yelled Ellin, flailing about within her armor, until the magnetic pull on it wore off. She darted forward, and boinked (along the way to Abigail) the few moogles that were there, knocking them unconscious. She made it to the mage and small construct's side, before striking a heroic pose; a hand on her hip while the other pointed at the feline creature, "A blue one at that!" she gasped. There was no reason to hold a weapon, since the robots and the moogles were dealt with... unless this creature was not trusted.

.... what a care-free dark knight....

The dark knight smiled, and instead of chasing and striking at it, she merely stood there, "Heee! I just want to pet you, you cute-looking thing with your little feathers and beads in your hair! You look like a war kitty!" she cooed, resting her hands together. She was the obvious type to like cats. "OH! You even have a spear!" she squeed, "You MUST be a war kitty-- I think I've heard of your kind before in my travels... uh.. um... a -- Ronso, I think this race of cats is called." she nodded to herself, tilting her head to the side questioningly, "Is that right?"

[Culaki]

Culaki looked up as the short, black-haired woman stood and cast a spell on herself. Her head stopped twirling awkwardly and she seemed to get a hold of herself. He followed her as she ran over to the small blue-haired man, then she let out a gasp as she took in his form towering over her.

Then the strange, box-shaped robot began blasting strange sounds. Some type of distorted, yet harmonious noise, and switched through two or three different types of it. It pulled itself upside-down, then righted itself. Culaki simply stared back as its large binocular eyes focused on him.

The robot wheeled up to him and called out in a slightly tinny but high pitched voice. Then...a claw-like hand extended towards him? Culaki nodded once, his stance slackening. These people couldn't possibly want any harm to Brass or his ship. He'd have to find a way to help them along.

Perhaps Brass would be willing to negotiate his land for them? Culaki shook his head. His sense of honor wouldn't let him do that. Still...it was a moral confliction, as his people were in need of saving as well. He grasped the robot's small claw, careful not to crush it, then turned as the woman wearing the metal approached him.

She clasped her hands together, cooing and murmuring about how cute he was. His ears twitched once, briefly in annoyance, then he sighed. At Bikanel and other hot-spots around the map in his homeland at Gadgazet, women had often cuddled against him, petted him, and the like. Some of it was quite enjoyable, he supposed.

A low purr escaped from his throat, rumbling from deep in his belly, before he regarded the rest of the room. Clearing his throat and unsheathing the Lion's Pride, he spun rapidly, swinging it at the wall and slamming it into the metal. A large dent, roughly the size of the box-bot appeared, along with a large ringing sound that quickly silenced whatever noise had originated.

"Culaki has been sent here by the order of the Brass Duke, Lothar, to destroy you all in exchange for the safety of his home land." Culaki regarded each face in the room carefully, his gaze lingering especially on the short, black-haired one who could heal, standing a few feet away.

"But Culaki does not believe that you have come here to allow harm to befall Lothar. Culaki has been here for several years, but does not know how he came to be. Is this man..." Culaki regarded the small blue-haired man laying on the floor. "...is he your leader? Culaki was sent to destroy you, but something tells him you are not evil..."

Culaki knelt down over Sai, studying his smooth, emotionless face, then looked back up to the group, easily as tall as any of them even while kneeling.

"Culaki would prefer that you introduce yourselves and make clear your purpose, before Lothar arrives, and before..."

His ears twitched as he picked up the sounds of scurrying feet and mechanical noises approaching fast.

"More of these...things...come our way."

[General Beatrix]

By the time Culaki arrived Sai'd fallen unconscious, Wall-E was doing his thing, Ellin was hard at work tearing herself apart from the wall, and Beatrix was looming over her blade, which was directed toward the ground; her breathing was hard and heavy, and her hair covered her face. Two large golems were twitching on the ground nearby, their glowing yellow eyes flickering.

Turning slowly to Abigail, she nodded her head, throwing some hair out of her face. "Lady--Lady Abigail," she wheezed. "Sai could--use--some healing, if you--if you would."

She knelt down, glaring at the cat what'd just appeared with suspicion, her sword holding her upper body up. Glancing to the side she saw Oeilvert propping open the strange book he carried--which emanated with a dark, evil aura--and flipped through its pages.

"You--witch," she declared. "He is not dead yet; we need none of your sorcery to transform our companion into a zombie. And you,"

Quickly changing back to Culaki, she stood with quivering movements. Lifting her blade, she directed it at him. "I am this group's leader until Sai awakens and we may discuss our next move. Tell me of this 'Brass Duke', or 'Lothar', or whatever. We have no time--or strength--to fend off more mechanical abominations or their organic teddy allies."

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"Wall-E, would you come here, please?" he called, more of an order than a request, really, but he guessed the automaton would understand. With a gentle smile he nodded, handing the creature his wand.

"Please go bring this to the black-armored knight; she needs but flick it for its properties to set into motion the telekinetic process. It should peel her off immediately. That's a good...tinker."

He turned back to the Grimorum Ex Magus and flipped through the pages, glancing to Sai several times, back and forth from the tome.

"Wicked Luck! I can find nothing beneficial in this grimorum save for a petrification spell...I could perform this on our ally until we've a proper healer with which to conduct the proper magics...but that is about it." He frowned, glancing back over to Beatrix. "And you have nothing left in your White deposits, do you? I could tell, as that spell you performed on the other woman was somewhat useless..." He shrugged.

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"I've nothing left," she stated, shaking her head and considering whether or not her power'd been stripped completely after her rampage back in Adam's world. She frowned, and returned to waiting on the feline for answers.

[Culaki]

Culaki nodded once as the strange woman regarded him with her blade, admiring her tenacity and steadfastness despite just having been in a battle. He looked her up and down briefly, sizing up her combat prowess, and then spoke, his voice carrying loud and rumbling across the space.

"Culaki does not know much about Lothar, the Brass Duke. He does know that the confines of this fortress in which you are held prisoner contain a vastly powerful weapon. Culaki knows not what it is called, he only knows that it means certain doom for his people and the entire Sarengetti Plains."

He cleared his throat, licking his paw for a moment before continuing.

"Like Culaki has stated before, he does not believe you people are those of ilk, so he will assist you in whatever may be necessary. As for the creatures you fought..."

Culaki walked over to one of the golems, setting the Lion's Pride on its holster on his back. Picking up the head of one of those that the strange woman had disarmed, he grunted once, flexing the taut muscles of his arms. The head began to shake, a white stress line showing through the metal, then the entire object caved in, forming a crude ball of crushed metal.

Culaki reared back, hurling the ball baseball style where it would whoosh past the woman and embed itself several inches into the wall. He resumed his grip on his weapon, twirling it several times and perking his ears for the sounds of any approaching enemies or servants.

"Culaki believes he could handle them, if need be."

[Ellin Destroix]

Ellin looked from Beatrix, to the green wizard, to the giant fluffy Culaki, and she crossed her arms, somewhat disappointed. She looked over to Abigail, checking to see if she was alright before turning to look at Culaki, "Wait a minute-- you mean to say this person is threatening where you live?? Why, that sounds EVIL!" she called out, pointing to the Ronso, a huffy look--

"How DARE he disturb someone's home and threaten those that live here!? He must be brought to Justice!" She glanced back to Beatrix, wondering if this was ok. If not, then what should she do? She couldn't just leave this evil dictator do as he pleased!

"We should find this Mister and give him a point or two about his manners!"

[Oeilvert]

The sorcerer fidgeted slightly at the Darkest Knight's words and cringed when she demanded justice. Closing his tome and tucking it away he waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Perhaps we will just have to weigh both sides of the scale, Your Grace," he said, nodding in the direction of the Ronso. "Anything can be deceiving...we have not yet heard this 'Brass Duke' proclaim anything about his side of the story...jumping to conclusions simply based on one side is usually...well, remember in the play? Your general over there looked much like a fool during her performance when her character was ordered to make such a rash decision based on hearing one tale insteaf of both. And look, the results were hazardous."

The crow on his shoulder nodded.

"But we should still speak with him, or at least attempt to escape before more of those things come back."

[Sai]

Once upon a midnight dreary... while I pondered, weak and weary...

An old memory. Something his subconscious was forcing on his mind's eye while his body recovered from the fatigue of the drain. He saw himself, young and bright-eyed in a Black Mage boarding school. He was so eager back then... so niave and overexcited to learn it all, every dark secret of the shadows, every magic spell ever known to anyone. He was... obsessed.

Upon a many quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore... While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door...

At the head of the class, he saw another student, a friend of his, forced to read aloud some poem from a book because it had something to do about culture. Sai remembered his young self, and how little he cared about this. Instead, he busied himself with drawing diagrams of things on the tables... spells, mostly.

Tis some visitor, said I, tapping at my chamber door... only this and nothing more... the poem went on in the background, while the adult Sai watched on helplessly, the event that would change the very course of his life.

The spell would take shape as the poem went on, barely audible to him as it murmured a few more stanzas. The details came into sharp focus, and the spell grew more complex. The young Sai seemed enthralled in his work, his hand quickly scratching the summoning circle into his desk...

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, `Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven. Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore - Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'...


That was when a familiar dark passage would rip open in the room, swirling in dark beauty as it took form... Sai's first Corridor of Darkness. Everyone fell away, staring in disbelief, but the young Sai would merely stand slowly, his eyes wide with amazement and joy. The elder would simply turn his gaze away, ashamed despite having no feeling, at what he saw. Ashamed of himself when the youth reached up and placed a hand into the portal, eyes wide with wonder...

Quoth the raven... the youth muttered...

"CAAAAWWW" Sai heard, his vision drifting from the terror of his past. His eyes opened slowly to find a bird sitting on his chest, and his body awakening in a metal hallway. Nearby, a large catlike creature had just threatened his associates, but Sai did not address this first.

"Hello, Locke..." he muttered, then slowly stood, the bird obviously flying away while he gathered his hat and put it back on. He got to his feet, holding a hand up to summon his wand into it. Looking to his associates, he guaged their reaction before looking at Culaki. Apparently, this beast of a man was making a rather fine point about something, which the others were enthralled by. Sai could only lift an eyebrow at this.

"I fear I have missed a vital point in the story..." he said to them all, his voice calm... distant. He looked again to the others, an eyebrow lifting at them. "Why are you still here?"

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail stared for a moment, but when Ellin was so chipper, she couldn't help but shake her mind free and giggle somewhat. She supposed... in this light, Culaki was rather cute! A massive, purring housecat! She suddenly saw him entirely differently, even walked forward to bow lightly. She was about to introduce herself when suddenly everyone was discussing some "Brass Duke". She blinked, unaware of what was going on until Culaki explained.

She gasped, and looked to Ellin who immediately began to offer to help. She blushed somewhat at this, seeing a truly selfless individual eager to put herself to the hazzard in order to defend the meak. Abigail smiled happily, watching for a moment.

Then, Sai got up! She looked and clapped her hands happily with a little hop. "Hee hee!" she said, throwing her hands up in a very Agrias-like victory bounce. She blinked, then blushed and stopped completely, her hands held over her heart. "Oops... sorry..." she said, giggling. "Just... uhm... happy to have him back!" she tried to cover.

Clearing her throat, she pointed forward to emulate Ellin a little. "Anyway! I agree with Mr. Oeilvert! We should be moving onward! We can't just stay here, after all, right??" she said, glancing to the others. She looked first to Beatrix, feeling a bit... worried for her for reasons she couldn't explain. Then, she looked to Oeilvert, whom she shifted away from. She still didn't like that book, even after their performance and their agreeance.

"Right?" she asked again, feeling a bit small in comparison to the warriors here.

[Secondary Characters]

After the little handshake and the formal meeting of the two parties, Wall-E rove back to Oeilvert's side, sitting comfortably on his treads and waiting for something else to do. Lucky for them, they didn't have any more fighting to do right now, but the rumble of distant, approaching enemies made him worry.

Focusing his little binocular eyes, Wall-E zoomed his vision down the hallway, seeing something approaching. "Woooo..." he whistled worriedly, tugging at Oeilvert's coat lightly. He pointed down the way and said a single word. "Daaangerrrr"....

[Ellin Destroix]

Ellin looked over toward the green wizard, and she took a heroic stance, " As I see it-- these moogles where fighting for a Brass person-- the one that Beatrix was fighting said something similar before she decapitated him." she nodded, pointing over to the Golems, "Suddenly the alarms blared and we were attached by these constructs, too! They were set on search and destroy, usually happens during wars."

The Dark Knight turned to look at Culaki with a smile, "The Ronso is an honorable race who do not lie, and do everything to protect their homeland." Ellin crossed her arms and took a deep breath, " Also, they do not rely on technology at ALL, so I suspect this Brass is the one pulling the strings and attacking his world... I believe him!" She made a fist and held it up, " There are some blanks I will fill in later when I see this guy, and as Miss Abigail states we must move forward to get anywhere, right??" she looked to the others, wanting them to input any opinions if they wished.

[Culaki]

Culaki looked onward as the group banded together under pressure. He nodded at the armored woman's declaration of his truth, purring loudly as she called him an honorable soul who wouldn't lie. His ears pricked up and he listened to the small dark haired woman's exclamations of joy, then looked over to the blue-haired man, now complete with his hat and...electric stick.

"Culaki knows that you are the leader. The others may take charge, but he can feel it within his heart. You are a wise person, and you have led this group much. Culaki wishes for you to tell him your name, so that he might help you against Lothar in any way that he can."

Culaki blinked, realizing that this man might not know who Lothar was. He cleared his throat, recounting the tale of how Lothar threatened to destroy his land unless he destroyed the intruders, whom he had found to be good of heart and of no ill will. As he finished the tale, he turned to the black-haired healer woman, who was standing meekly.

"Culaki recognizes the true strength of others when he sees it," He said, stepping forward and kneeling so that his shoulders were level with hers. "Culaki would be happy to fight at your side." He turned to each of the others in the room, adding an "And at your side, as well, etc, etc," to each person in turn.

He turned back to the healer, bowing his head lightly in return to her bow earlier. "Might Culaki know your name, one gifted in the arts of restoration?" He continued to kneel, addressing the room as he spoke.

"There is also one more thing that Culaki would like to make known to you...despite the fact that he is a Ronso, he has been bestowed with unknown abilities..." He gathered both of his hands together, concentrating. A ball of blue light began to glow, and a globe of water formed in the middle of his palms, circular and wobbling as it took shape.

He closed his eyes and blew against it, and a small gust of wind picked up, ruffling the woman's hair and sleeves as he pushed it around her head, then to the middle of the room, where it lowered to the ground in front of the small box-bot. Bringing it back to his hands, he opened his eyes and the globe disappeared from whence it came.

He simply knelt before the woman, regarding her with a cool gaze...

[General Beatrix]

"I am going to have to agree with Miss Ellin, actually," she said, turning to nod at the Blackest Knight. "Perhaps we can weigh these scales you speak of, Master Oeilvert, when the time comes to meet the maker of this prison."

General Beatrix turned, holding up her sword as she pushed passed the others, standing in front of them should another wave of golems come rushing in.

"His name is Sai," she said to Culaki as she passed.

"And besides, why would someone just using guard sentinals allow them to use their corrosive breath weapon within the mechanism?" she shrugged.

This was then that Culaki did something odd and went around the room with some magical orb he'd conjured. The general stared, jaw ajar, but then was knocked back to reality as she heard footsteps coming their way down a long spiral stair somewhere down the hall and beyond a corner.

An angry voice, followed by a slightly younger, boyish voice attempting to calm the other down, could be heard. Beatrix steeled herself shen two little moogles hovered past the threshold of the corner before the two other figures and gasped, pointing in their direction.

The next thing the general saw was a man in brass-colored clothing and a boy in gray and blue. Who were they? And what did they want?

She backed up as they advanced down the hall, the taller, brass-clothed one chuckling as his cane clicked with each step on the marble floors and his associate gave them all a suspicious glance.

"We have company."

[The Brass Duke]

Trumpets appeared in the hands of the two moogles floating down the long hallway; they placed the instruments to their...lips and began playing a short introductory. "Make way!" cried one.

"Make way for the Brass Duke!" responded the other. Beatrix, at the other end of the hall, raised an eyebrow. Brass simply waved an uncaring hand and gave those at the far end an imperious, mocking grin; Cobalt took the lead and pulled out a small handgun from his side-belt, aiming it directly at Beatrix.

"Halt, all of you, for the Brass Duke!" he ordered.

"Well, well, Ronso," said the duke, coming up to the side of his faithful, dog-like servant Cobalt, slamming down the brass-tipped cane hard on the marble. A familiar "click-pang" emanated off the marble and metal-meshed walls.

"It appears you've failed in your mission to clear out this hold of the pest infestation..." he paused, looking over Beatrix, Sai and the rest of their injured-looking group with a 'really?' sort of look, his eyebrows basically jumping off his forehead. "Tch, well then it appears all bets have thrown themselves off the table, no?"

A high-pitched chuckle, he bumped his elbow into Cobalt's chest and started an uncontrollable laughter; the servant to his side followed suit, though one could tell it was feigned.

"Ahem..."

When the duke straightened up he still had that terrible smile, but he surveyed the chaos of golems destroyed and strewn across the walls and floors with mild annoyance.

"Well, perhaps I'll have to settle this on my own, then?"