Content Warning:
-Language
"Long ago, the Corazonians had lived peacefully in the Southeastern Claw. Then the Verdin came down. They sought a swear of allegiance to the Council of Dominus and the Aeternum.
While many would submit, a great conflict would soon defile the claw. Many Corazonians were taken from their land and brought to the Western nation of Qam, one of many Verdin Lands. They were to be experimented on and made into weapons for their endless crusades.
Then something miraculous happened. A group called the Year of Fools in The City of Rem would revolt. This sent a chain reaction across Stultorum Campus and perhaps the world, inspiring many to revolt and escape their oppressors. The Corazonians were no exception in this. Twas not a clean conflict, but many refugees were able to escape.
The journey to Rem was intense and fraught with danger. The plains we walk across now were torn apart by war and infested with corruption. What nature has grown out in the plains is said to have risen from corpses and blood.
Amongst the many that made the trek, a group of ten hundred people wandered the wastes. They wouldn't have made it, but their luck would change when they met two women: Shadow Velvet Ursa and Bellator Terra.
Those two Fools rescued the ten hundred and helped them on their way. While they split off on the path, the Corazonians wouldn't forget this kindness. And that's the story of how the 3rd Fool's Route was born," a dark skinned man in a grey and purple rat cloak exclaimed to the group.
It was still light that evening. Urbs Lucens was setting below the horizon, turning the sky purple and gold. The air was heavy and the wind was slow.
A caravan of twenty or so people of many colours traversed the plains in three, tightly filled carriages. They were led by the man in the rat cloak. He held a tall, yellow sceptre that resembled a traffic sign, with an inside that flipped around in reaction to the wind.
A scruffy child with olive skin, green eyes, and rags listened with excitement, "SO COOOL!"
A teenage girl with blue eyes in a green hijab looked dismissive, "Fadi, you don't really think heroes like that really exist do you?"
"If they don't, why is Mr. Eze helping us cross?" Fadi exclaimed, turning to her.
"It's his job to do this," she insisted. "I doubt he was paid very well in Rem to begin with. It's no different from the Verdin back home, making up stories to make themselves look good,"
"But Faiza-?!" the boy insisted.
"STOP!" Eze called out, raising a hand.
The caravan did as asked. He got down and placed his sceptre in the ground.
"THE CHAPEL SHOULDN'T BE FAR OFF, BUT FIRST I NEED TO CHECK FOR DISTORTION ZONES!" He called out.
He pressed his forehead against the staff. A short, explosive breeze shot through the sign, spinning it around.
He muttered, "(Occultus sono call to me. Occultus sonos call to me. Occultus sonos called to me)," over and over.
[He felt the yellow flowing through the world, the plains, the air, and more. The empty plains were filled with zoned areas with Colours flowing in domes. These domes were slowly shifting with the setting light. Anything that entered these areas switched Realms and was devoured by Corrupted Beasts.
Within the current shift, a path could be found, leading directly to the chapel. The route was clear and simple].
Eze removed his forehead from his sceptre and turned to the group, "Its okay everyone, we should be on our way to-,"
[There was a burst in the plains. The energy made a massive shift].
Eze SLAMMED his head against his sceptre to feel it, "EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE-!"
They all vanished.
Chapter XVIII
Ariel Moroon
[A four year old Lyn ran about the golden fields. The long grass was warm, the ground was the perfect balance of moist and dry. Butterflies of red, blue, and white flew about the air, reflecting their beautiful colours. She could smell a pristine pond nearby.
Following her along, in on hand, was a slightly older child with long, black hair, and red skin].
Lyn rushed through the plains that night. In an instant, she switched to the Colour Realm.
The entire plains changed into a web of jagged, hollow chunks of black, interconnected by tiny bridges. Green and yellow energy flowed around the chunks, shaking them like strong winds.
Lyn took notice of one of the many holes in her chunk. She smirked. At the same time, Green Wheels attempted to swarm her.
One sped right in front of her, barely missing. Lyn quick stepped, darting and weaving as she dodged multiple Wheels.
Lyn raised her left fingers and fired. A Red Eyes was knocked out before it could make a move.
Lyn leapt out of the chunk, grabbing onto the side and taking a moment to observe her surroundings. She was able to pinpoint each Distortion Zone in the Reflect Realm by their corresponding chunks in the Colour Realm. She calculated the surface area of the chunks as spheres, not completely accurate, but she could work with the difference. She then divided them into domes, since that's how they would likely appear in the Reflect Realm. She then divided them again to more accurately fit the ratio of Reflect/Colour Realm, a measurement which ranges from 1/2-1/54.6, but in terms of the plains is around 1/32.675.
She did this in milliseconds, calculating the tens of hundreds of square kilometres of black. She also calculated the movements of the web, which wasn't too grand, but she could tell where the whole thing would move over the course of the week.
There was something odd though. Within that space, there were a couple of chunks spiraling out in the distance. Thankfully Lyn wasn't dealing with that crap from where she was.
She fell back into the Reflect Realm. She darted through, charging through the field and easily weaving through multiple zones like it were nothing. It was a shame wind was low, because that would certainly feel nice in this rush.
Just when she was out of the water, some dust kicked up.
Without hesitation, Lyn switched to the Colour Realm, grabbed onto a bridge and grabbed a falling child by the foot. It was Fadi. He was screaming.
"Oy," Lyn called out.
He kept screaming.
"Oyyyy,"
And screaming.
Lyn flipped over, walking on the nearest bridge between chunks. She pulled him up and raised a finger.
"Sh,"
He tried to scream. Lyn shushed him. He tried again.
"Shhh laddie, shhhut up,"
"W-who are you sir," Fadi exclaimed, tears falling down his face.
"I'm….a…lass," Lyn exclaimed, steam escaping her ears, her skull about to burst.
"Thank you for saving me Mister,"
"laaaaaasssss," Lyn repeated.
"You need to help my sister-,"
"Let me guess, she's in the chunks spinning out of control?" Lyn asked, pointing back that way with her thumb, her eyes flat.
Fadi nodded. Lyn groaned.
"(Did you morons *not* bring a guide)?!"
"W-we did, we just-,"
"Whatever," Lyn sighed.
Lyn transported them back to the Reflect Realm. She dusted herself off.
"PLEASE MISTER, YOU HAVE TO HELP MY SISTER!" Fadi begged on his hands and knees.
[The red skinned person cleaned tears from a slightly older Lyn's eyes. They were in the dark, hiding from snakes. They looked at Lyn and calmly shushed her, hiding her from the snakes].
Lyn shook her head and sighed, "Don't worry laddie, I'll save yer darn sister,"
"Thank you Mist-,"
Lyn put a finger in his face, "Agh, just call me Ariel Moroon, 'kay?"
"Yes Mister Moroon,"
Lyn stared at him blankly. She sighed.
"Kids," Lyn remarked, gesturing for him to follow. "Come on then,"
...…
"Everyone! Stay together!" Mr. Eze called out.
The refugees were running about, Corrupted Beasts hunting them down. Eze swung his sceptre and created a massive gust of wind, destroying many Blue Mould and damaging some Orange Hearts.
A man screamed. Despite Eze's efforts, Blue Mould climbed onto and devoured a man whole, turning them into more.
"DAMN IT!" Eze exclaimed, swinging his sceptre again.
Faiza darted left and right. She avoided an attack from an Orange Hearts, running towards Eze. The Orange Hearts attempted to strike her.
"GET DOWN FAIZA!" Eze ordered, sending a gust of wind their way.
Faiza rolled and made her way to Eze.
"Eze!" Faiza called out, tears falling down her eyes.
"Its okay Faiza, we just need to get you-," he assured, holding the frail girl with one arm.
"NO, ITS FADI….HE…HE-!"
"Can it, your brother's fine!" Lyn asked, leaping into the Colour Realm, Fadi in one arm.
"FAIZA!" Fadi exclaimed, hugging his sister.
Faiza stared blankly. Eze looked shocked as he stared at both Lyn's eyes.
"Your-,"
"Names Ariel Moroon. You don't know me, I don't know you," she stated, raising both hands and shaking her head. "Let me help you get everyone out of here so I can be on with with my night,"
"H-how are you going to-?" Faiza exclaimed.
There was a subtle scratching in the distance.
Lyn quick shot a Red Eyes, "Rule of Corrupted Beasts, go for the Eyes first. Now let's make a bet: 'how much wind can you gather in a short time, eh?',"
"My Mede, I know what your thinking and-,"
Multiple Blue Mould leapt upon them, alongside multiple Yellow Bursts. Lyn shook the Mould off, carefully cutting at whatever she could. She grabbed some Mould and used them to counter the Bursts with a toss.
Yellow Explosions surrounded them. Eze pushed the rest of the Mould away with the wind.
Lyn took deep breaths, "I'm not that kind of monster, if we keep at this, we'll eventually get wiped out. Understand, moron?"
She poked a finger in Eze's face. He smiled and chuckled.
"May Occultus sonos speak to you, my Mede,"
"Her? Really? Whatever, let's get this over with. Also, watch yer language,"
Eze chuckled.
Lyn charged forwards. Eze began gathering wind.
The other refugees noticed. Orange Hearts lunged at a few. Lyn immediately shot them down and snapped her fingers.
"Tick tock morons, the big man needs ya!"
Lyn rushed over to one of the eight bridges, found the cracks and cut it free. Multiple Green Wheels charged her way.
She jumped out, letting them fall while she climbed along the outside. She re-entered through one bridge that she immediately cut down.
A Red Eyes LUNGED at her from behind. Its tail scraped along the ground before slashing at her.
Lyn saw her reflection in the blade. She dodged the strike and shot the Red Eyes point blank.
["Blue Mould, swarm them," Lyn translated to herself].
In an instant a swarm of Blue Mould came for Lyn. She quick jumped to dodge and weaved away from the swarm.
It leapt at her, scurried around her, and overall tried to swarm her. She moved back and forth, carefully getting her feet away and cutting at any that tried to leap upon her.
She cut down another bridge.
---
Faiza watched Lyn in awe, "Who is that boy?"
Eze chuckled, "She said her name was Ariel Moroon,"
"Isn't he cool?!" Fadi exclaimed. "He's like a real hero!"
People gathered around the staff, black marks on their bodies, some missing limbs. They received treatment as they hid within the wind.
"No he's not, and that's such an obvious lie,"
Eze shrugged, "Oh totally, but if she wants to call herself that, let her. It's not like we require her honesty to get her help,"
Faiza and Fadi paused…., "Her?"
Eze chuckllife"You'll meet a lot more women like her as you get older. Probably less rude though,"
---
Lyn took an orange pill and B-lined right for the last bridge. The Mould swarmed her from all sides.
She threw off her scarf and coat, creating a wall to push through the Mould. She cut threw multiple and LEAPT through them. Her torso was revealed and despite being both thin and small, she was rather muscular beneath her sleeveless shirt.
Mould clung to her hair, so with a single cut, she removed most of it. She DASHED forwards. There was a scraping in the background, as one of the Red Eyes awakened.
Blue Mould tried to cover up the bridge. Lyn smirked and snapped her fingers.
Yellow Bursts leapt at her from all sides as she raised her hand.
"Black Jack,"
She shot black right through the barrier, into the base of the bridge and destroyed it.
The entire chunk of black shook. It dislodged from the rest of the chunks. Everyone entered a sort of free fall state. The yellow bursts were thrown up to the ceiling.
Lyn placed her hands behind her head as her hair rapidly regrew, and she crossed her legs. Eze unleashed massive amounts of wind to hold everyone steady. The chunk began rapidly falling apart and dissipating.
Lyn snapped her fingers. In an instant, they were all lying on the ground. The wind flowed across Lyn's skin, through her hair and eyes. It was so calming.
"Who are you?" Faiza exclaimed, looking over her.
"I'm just a Hairy Figment," {reference to Dudley Do Right: Trading Places}
"NO YOUR NOT!" she exclaimed, looking around them.
Lyn narrowed her eyes, "Don't cry over spilled milk, Quiz. People who ask questions aren't welcome in the birds' world,"
Faiza sighed, annoyed at her lack of answer. Lyn sat up.
"Just think of me as a real moron and call it at that,"
Lyn found her coat and scarf. They were covered in black.
She slumped over. Eze approached her.
"We have clothes at the chapel if you need any-?"
"Nope, I'm good. I'll just steal from Dreschers. It's morally justified anyways," she stated, wandering off.
She cut around on the jacket and scarf before putting them back on. They were much smaller and really didn't look like her style.
"This'll never work," she groaned.
Eze, Faiza, and Fadi watched her leave, heading out into the Light Set. Eze waved.
"Good luck to you Ariel Moroon! Remember to be careful at night!"
"THANK YOOOOUUUU!" Fadi called out, using his hands for emphasis.
Faiza sighed,waving as she left, "I guess *some* heroes do exist,"
---
A woman in a white cowboy hat and lab coat looked over the scene of the train wreck that night. She had red lipstick, and green desert glasses that shone in the dark. Like other Doctor's she had metal gloves.
She picked up a cigarette, "Stealth smoke. Near impossible to trace. Only one predator has the sniffer fer it. Get me a Corrupted Mech, we got one of 'em Twilights in that there plains!"
"But Doctor O, we already told you-,"
"Shut the fuck up Dirty Soul," She ordered.
The Dreschers brought out a thick, steel crate. It was around 2.15 metres tall.
They opened it. She smirked.
"Those fuckin' Twilights should've learned that we don't deal with 'em. No exceptions. That's our policy,"
To Be Continued...…