The Traveler{Jack}{Open by invite}

Jack nodded at Alex's salute, "No need for that." he mumbled as he walked towards the road. "Welcome Zeke, more the merrier I suppose." he said as he continued walking."There's not really a dragon. Tis just a name." He said as he laughed. "Well come on then. No need to put it off any more!" he said.

As he walked his mind began to thoughts of simpler times before Gretchen, the old hag made him the defender of the world. "I wonder if the old bitch is still alive." He whispered to himself as he marched forward.

Alexander fell in ranks behind Jack, holding his halberd in an combat ready pose. He wasn't sure what to expect but he was going to be ready for it. If anyone was paying attention, they could see small arcs of electricity jolting across the axe head of the halberd. He kept his eyes open, wanting to take in everything that the ruins have to offer.

Mari scoffed at the saluting as she swiftly cleaned up the camp area and then she began walking next to Zeke. "I don't think we'll actually have to cross any water to get into the city," she said with a smile. As they approached the city though her smile faded, the shadows here seemed ominous and everything just felt wrong.

Azuth had been watching over this city for ages. Locked away from the world stuck in this same time reliving the defeat day after day. Azreil would pay. Time was weak here in Lanatha, a remnant of the magics used to defeat and seal him long ago. There were places in the city where those who wandered would be lost, taken into the void, to that moment when the world ended. Others he would possess, sending them to spread evil and destruction while they could.

Azuth saw them, the four approaching his city. Three were of no consequence, but the one in the front. Azuth knew him, "Jack," he hissed, the name echoes in whispers throughout the city. Rage filled the dark lord, this man had helped to ruin everything and had escaped. To see Jack walking and alive while he himself was limited to this time and this city. Jack would pay and his little friends with him.

Disappointed he wouldn't get to see a dragon, but thrilled at Mari's comment about not needing to cross any more rivers, Zeke helped Mari clean up camp. He made sure he had returned his pocketwatch safely in it's place, wiped the dirt from from his Staff since he realized he had been using it as a walking stick, and made ready to leave. The Pendulum Staff (as he had named his own creation) needed a few gears turned back into place, but it was still very sturdy after all these years. He found himself in a cheerful mood today, but as the ruins crested over the hill, he felt a fear run through him. He saw Mari's expression change, and knew he wasn't the only one. Maybe these ruins really were cursed after all?

Jack crested over the hill looking the city. He could feel the darkness there, waiting for him. He shuddered and shifted to his breast plate and coat, Allowing freedom with his short swords, Speed may be a key in close quarter city fights. "Be on guard, I have an uneasy feeling." He said as he moved towards the city gate. "Not even I know what horrors we may find within. I am not trying to scare you but if you have second thoughts, now is the time to leave. After this there will be no turning back." He said plainly, there was no malice in his voice. " You are not soldiers, I will not treat you as such."

Alexander is surprisingly undaunted by Jack's warning. He was worried about whatever it was that lay ahead, sure, but not scared enough to turn tail. He had traveled a great distance to be here, though most of it by accident, so he would not turn back now.

The closer they got to the ruins, the more of a change the traveling companions would see come over Alexander, the first sign was his ever present smile fading from his face, and then his steps grew more cautious. Suddenly his eyes never lingered in one place for to long. He may be inexperienced in the way of the world, but, for a while, he had a great teacher, and now was not the time to allow his training to go to waste.

The Dark Lord waited, watching. It was almost more than he could bare letting these intruders into his city uncontested. He knew where Jack would go, so he focused on preparing for them.

The Dragon's Breath was barely standing, the ravages of time had not been kind to it, but it was child's pay for Azuth to switch the one from this reality with the one from the other. Now though it was empty it looked only recently abandoned. Chairs and tables still stood neatly, bottles lined the shelves behind the bar, even the rag the barkeeper used to wipe down glasses sat rumpled on the bar. The place looked as if moments before it could have been full of life. It would look exactly as Jack remembered it. Azuth was ready. These mortals would pay.

The charred rock of the road crunched under his foot as he made his way through the city, he winced at the devastation that marred his beautiful city of Lanatha. "Tis a shame, this place was my home for nearly a century, It was so full of life. Now, Only desolation and shadows lie here." He turned down towards his bar the Dragons Breath, and audibly gasped then held his swords ready. The Dragon was standing just as he had left it. "This place was destroyed, I saw the fires ravage this district myself. What trickery is this?" He demanded as he looked around.

"Well we've learned that the god's have an odd sense of humor, Maybe they left it for you, maybe a gift?" Mari said cautiously, an arrow nocked to her bow. She kept scanning the surroundings listening for anything odd but the place was eerily quite. "I don't ike being exposed like this though, maybe we should go in?"she said as she stepped closer to the door.

Zeke tried walking as quietly as he could from the moment they'd crossed into the city proper, or what was left of it. His boots still made small taps along each stone though, but it couldn't be helped. As he heard Jack speak though, his mind stuck to one thing only and his mind started to race. 'nearly a century'... This man had lived a century? He looked nowhere near his grandfather's age even, and Jonathas had lived much longer than most other humans and had hit only just over a century!? He quieted his mind as much as he could, this wasn't the place for an outburst of questions, he needed to focus, but his mind was still racing... Seeing Mari ready an arrow brought him back into the reality of the moment though. Were they expecting a battle so soon? If they were, he wasn't sure what to do. Doing the only thing he knew how to do, he began tracing the aether around Jack, concentrating it around his arms and legs. "Jack, I hope you don't mind, but you may find that you'll move a bit more quickly.", Zeke tried to whisper, realizing in the moment that he hadn't thought it through and should probably have told him before the spell was cast.

Alexander continued to take in his surrounding marveling at the ruins. The architecture, even from what he could see in the decay, was like nothing he had ever seen before, it was wonderful, but, even with all of his childlike curiosity, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

Rounding a corner, Alexander stopped when he heard the others speaking. He finally spotted the bar, and his fears came rushing to the forefront, "Ummmm guys... I really don't think we should go in there. It shouldn't be standing, I mean, I guess Jack shouldn't be here either, so divine intervention isn't completely off the table but... well... it's kinda really creeping me out."

Jacks arms and legs grew light and he felt as if he had an abundance of energy, "Haste magic? A rarity Zeke, Thank you!" he said as he looked forward, A stern yet determined look on his face. "I do not know what awaits us inside. This clearly is a trick of some kind. Be on your guard and do not take anything at face value. Stand ready friends!" He said with a cheer, His goal to prepare his comrades for whatever awaited inside. He stepped over the threshold of the bar, swords at the ready. "I will reclaim you."

Glad that he hadn't endangered Jack with his impulsive spell casting, and feeling a sense of pride in Jack knowing the spell, Zeke replied, "Time magic is all that I know, at least as far as magic goes! I know I'm not as capable a warrior as all of you, but I'll try to help where I can..." Zeke didn't want to be stranded outside of the bar, but he was feeling a strange aversion to entering, sticking as close to his allies as he could without being in their way. Everything about this place seemed wrong, as if time magic itself had gone wrong here, but something much more powerful than his capabilities. The aether itself around the place just didn't feel right. This place was... out of time? Or maybe a different time, but current? "This magic... It isn't correct, someone has casted it wrong. It shouldn't be this way, it's not possible.", Zeke whispered. Whatever was at work here, it was beyond him, but maybe he'd figure it out if he stuck with these friends.

The Young Knight grumbled to himself as he followed Jack into the not-so-decrepit Dragon. Looking up at the sky, one more time before it disappears behind the ceiling, "My namesake, Alexander, please keep us safe." Gritting his teeth and steeling his resolve, Alex crossed the threshold. A shiver ran down his spine, "This place looks newly abandoned." He also couldn't shake the feeling that someone or something was watching them.

Mari was about to enter the Dragon's Breath behind her companions when she heard a voice. "Mari? Is that really you?" She turned and saw Coran coming out of the alley near the bar.

He looked thinner than was healthy and his hair hung dirty and unkempt, his clothes were closer to rags, but it was him, and though his eyes looked a bit feverish the darkness wasn't lurking there. "Coran," she whispered taking a slight step towards him. "Is, is it really you?" She lowered her bow.

Coran began walking towards her picking up speed but as he drew closer he slowed and stopped about a foot away. He slowly raised a thin hand tucking a stray curl behind her ear. Before resting it against her cheek. Mari closed her eyes feeling the prickle of tears threatening to come. "Coran," she whispered quietly, the word like a prayer on her lips.

The travelers had finally arrived. Azuth was ready. The woman was already taken care of, his newest human minion was already the person who could hurt her most, but these other three, how to hurt them? Azuth delved into their past looking for their most painful memories, their deepest fears. Finally he was ready.
~~~~~
Outside
Mari

Coran held his hand on Mari's cheek before his face hardened and he stepped back from her brusquely. “You should have been there, I asked you to come we needed you!” His voice rose in anger, “Because of you they're all dead. If you'd have been there you would have been able to save them. Their deaths are on your hands. Worse, Eva's death is on your hands. If you'd had been there I wouldn't have become this monster, she would be alive. You killed my sister, you killed us all. You want to make the world a better place? Just kill yourself, then it'd be a much better place,” as Coran said this he removed a dagger from his belt and tossed it at Mari's feet. “This is what you deserve.”
~~~~~

Inside the Dragon's Breath as Zeke and Alex stepped over the threshold they find themselves elsewhere.
~~~~~
Zeke

Zeke found himself on a small rock, surrounded by rushing water. Five feet away on the shore stood Jonathas, looking at him sadly. “My boy you are so naive. How could you ever help anyone. You don't even realized what you've done. You're past, all those people,” Jonathas said shaking his head sadly. “Everyone you ever know will die. And you will be alone again. Eventually you will fall into disrepair, and fade to nothingness. Not even death will comfort you. You offer nothing to those around you, you don't fit in with these people, you don't fit in anywhere.”
~~~~~

Alex

Alex was in Patrick's house and he was young again. Patrick was sitting at the table looking at him angrily. “You want to be a hero? Want to save the world? You want songs written about you like the songs of the great heros?” Patrick said as he stood up and stepped over to the boy, towering over him. “You are nobody, no worse than that, you're a liability you're going to get people killed with your inexperience. What makes you think a little orphan thief like you could ever be great? It's a damn shame you didn't die with your parents then at least you'd be with them. As it is you're going to die alone, in 50 years no one will ever know you even existed you damn fool.”
~~~~~

Jack remained in the bar.

“You don't have to reclaim me sweetie, I'm already yours,” Serianna said as she walked out of the kitchen, resting a hand on her pregnant belly. “I'm glad you're back! Oh Jack! We've missed you.” She said running up to him and throwing her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. “You must tell me all about it love. I was so worried. Here sit down and I'll grab you a drink.” She said pulling away from him and grabbing his favorite drink and a glass from behind the bar. She pulled out a chair for him at a table and one for herself right next to him. She sat down and patted the seat for him to sit. “Sit, sit! Tell me all about the things you saw love.”

"I begged you not to go," Mari said, barely above a whisper as she looked down at the dagger.  "I pleaded with you.  I tried to talk you all out of it." Mari bent down and picked up the dagger at her feet, turning it in her hands.  "You did this yourself Coran, your own arrogance blinded you.  This was not my fault," she said looking up at him, tears streaming down her face.

"I will say this though, Eva's death is my fault. When I first saw the darkness, we should have known. We should have known there's no coming back from the ruins. I should have killed you when I had the chance." As Mari said this she threw the dagger towards Coran's heart and drew her bow.

Jack stood there, mouth agape within his bar, staring at his deceased wife. A tiny flicker of wrath began to build as he realized where he was and all he went through. "You are dead, You have been dead for eons, Nothing can bring you back." his hand tightened around his sword and a memory wracked his brain as his rage began to build. Like the fires of the past that killed Serianna, and the light which birthed her as a goddess, all was taken away from him by the Dark Lord Azuth. Oh, how he longed for it to be true, oh how his now beating heart longed for this illusion, trick?, phantom, to be true, but his warrior instincts were screaming at him that danger filled this room....

"This is a wonderful trick, bring back Atnem now." he laughed forcefully as he gripped the swords in his hand even forcefully, his knuckles growing white as his rage did. "Better yet go back to the Abyss." He then stabbed the illusion in the heart and belly of the woman he loved.

"Leave now phantom and never return." he whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Let it be known my memories are my own. I am haunted by them every second of every day, Everyone I held dear died by my hands and my failure. This is no gift it is a curse I know every instance that happened to me over the past 50,871 days." He screamed with pained violence as the memories flooded to him. "These people are the reason I fight, and for that alone you will pay, whoever thought it wise to toy with Captain Jack Erendhart. You will pay."

Zeke stood, panicked. Memories of everything at once, his life with his grandfather, the village, everyone he ever met flashed in his mind at once, and the faces of other Yuke. He'd seen the yuke before, in what the humans called dreams, but he was unsure if he could really dream. What seemed like his entire life passed in a matter of seconds, but the reality of his situation was still there. Zeke wanted to cry, but it was the bittersweet part of his yuke lineage. Even if he could never show it, Zeke was sad. His face might not be able to change, but he could still feel, even if he would never be able to physically cry. He came to the realization of the words this image was telling him. You'll be alone.
   "No.", replied Zeke. "Even if I never fit in with anyone, I can still help them. It's true that I don't know when or if I'll ever die. I do know though that I'm not like the other people. Even if I live beyond all of my friends and see them die, I'll still help them while they're here. I know that I shouldn't be afraid of even this water, because I don't even have lungs, but I'm still learning, and someday I will be able to help my friends. I'll be more powerful than you were Grandpa, and I'll go out and help people with my magic. I know that you aren't real... but I miss you."
    Zeke pulled Jonathas' silver watch from his pocket and held it in the air, suspending it for a moment, focusing. He'd only used the spell once (destroying a barn in the process and learning a new lesson), but as he focused, a magic circle formed around the feet of 'Jonathas' and a second very large one in the air high above him, and a comet fell from the sky aimed straight toward his grandpa. "I'm sorry...", Zeke said quietly.

Alexander didn't cut the most impressive figure at the best of times, and this scene shrank him even more. The one person he had the utmost respect for, the one person who had convinced him he mattered, the one person who had taught him to be a good person, was know berating him, telling him he should have died. Alexander was so taken aback by this display it didn't even dawn on him that this was an illusion or how this could literally not happen. He tried to argue back, "But.... I..... how?", but he couldn't even form coherent words. The young knight would cower back into a corner, shaking with fear and sorrow, trying to fight back his tears.

Mari

Coran grabbed the dagger out of the air, moving abnormally fast as shadows seemed to come out of nowhere and encircle him.  “I’ll savor the look on your face as I kill you.  Don’t worry I’ll make it slow so we can enjoy it,” he said in a voice not quite his own as he rushed up to her an inhuman smile on his face.
~~~~~~~

Jack

“Jack…” Serianna whispered looking down as blood began to spread along her dress, “why?”  she sank to her knees looking up at him tears in her eyes.
“Jack!  What, why?” A woman cried running up from behind him and kneeling next to Serianna.  The woman was short, with long black hair and green eyes.“ Vass Heil ” She muttered laying her hands on Serianna.  The magic spread but wouldn’t take hold.  Vass Heil! She cried trying again, but again, it had no effect.
“What the hells Jack,” She cried standing up and turning to face him.  “Why would you do this, how could you do this.”  Her eyes got a dark look to them, “I thought you were a hero, a guardian of the weak.  You’re not though are you? You really are just a monster, a killer on an ego trip” she said her words dripping in venom. She turned back to Serianna and brushing the hair out of the dead women’s face.
~~~~~~~~

Zeke

Jonathas looked at Zeke his face showing anger, betrayal, and a great sadness.  “You’ll just get them all killed,” he said flatly.  
As the comet landed it caused a wave of water to rush towards Zeke, sweeping him under.  He was twisted and buffeted by the water; not knowing which way was up.  Eventually he sunk down to the muddy bottom of the river.  Surrounded by murky darkness, sinking into the mud, the sun was a dim circle barely shining through the water fathoms above him.
~~~~~~~

Alexander

“How?” Patrick scoffed turning his back on the young Alexander.  “How what?  How will you die?  How will your screw everything up? How could I have ever wasted time on you? HOW WHAT BOY?”  With every question Patrick hit the boy upside the head before grabbing him roughly by the shoulders and spinning him around towards the door.  “Get out of my sight.  If I ever see your sniveling face again, I’ll kill you myself.”

Mari dodged Coran's attack loosing an arrow towards him but with his speed he easily dodged it.  Thinking quickly, Mari ran to the alleyway Coran had came out of using the wall to give herself a boost she scrambled up to the rooftop.  Though the buildings around her were no longer completely standing she had enough options for escape and maneuvering.

Whatever evil is in this place might make him faster, let's hope it didn't help his agility.  Coran never could jump for shit. Mari thought to herself as she jumped to the remains of a wall behind the bar.  She readied another shot as she heard Coran enter the alley.

Jack stepped back towards the door, "Rieka, Not you too, I am sorry I failed you but I will not allow your memory to be tainted by this evil." he said plaintively as he took a deep breath and calmed his wrath, A memory slid forward in his mind.

******
"You are the beacon of light of this world, oh thee who hath been touched by darkness." Azriel said his voice booming. "You are its protector and its savior. I give you now the power of Holy. May it serve you well in your watch."
********

"Very well then, you will toy with my memories, Dangling hope in front of me so callously. That's enough proof of evil for me." He let his swords fade and he took a stance that almost looked as if he was praying. "I am the Guardian of the Realm of Eternia, Sworn protector and defender of the weak. I call upon the heavens and the Light its self. Purge this land of darkness." ((OOC he casts holy on the bar.)

Light filled the bar and enveloped all. A beam of light burned through the sky as he unleashed his mightiest weapon against evil. The spell gifted to him by the Lord of All... Holy.
"Fade" he whispered as he turned away from the spell and left the bar.

Now you've really done it., Zeke thought to himself as he sat at the bottom of this body of water. He could just barely see the flicker of sunlight now. Maybe he is right though, even if he isn't real. Are his words not what I feel myself? I wonder how long it takes to drown... I've been down here for a while. I hope my friends are alright... He brought his knees to his chest, and let himself think. He started to remember the time Jonathas had found him. He couldn't remember very much, but this memory was farther back than he'd had before. He could see two faces that seemed oddly familiar, they were yuke, like himself. He didn't know much about his own kind, but Jonathas had told him what he knew. One had bat's wings much like his own, and the other's looked like the wings of a bird. The latter was carrying him and they were running. He heard the other shout something, and she sat Zeke down behind a tree, before rejoining the male yuke. A bright light appeared in the sky as the two joined hands, and a Meteor started to fall.
    Zeke had managed to bring himself to his feet under the water, and began to walk along the ground, trying to find a way back to the surface. He searched for his staff and pocket watch, and found them. The staff was easy to find, but was in need of minor repair. The watch was just barely showing through mud, but as the faint light touched it, the silver sheen showed through. "I need to get back to my friends, I've got to tell them something.", he thought silently to himself as he continued to walk. "I'm not finished here yet, I still have questions." The ground began to slope toward the surface.