Episode 10 Gijiduny Tohief Nolat Xolawora

Kunai, Arai, and Ivy walk slowly through the crowd in Henesys as they make their way through the town pushing a large icebox, completely frozen over.

“I know we’d get a lot of questions by carrying Ryuu around, but…did you have to freeze him and make us push him like this?” Kunai cries out loud, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead.

Arai shrugs, glancing around as passersby stare awkwardly at the overly huge icebox. “Well, I needed a place to keep my onion juice as well.”

Arai sighs and plops down on top of the icebox, sitting on it relaxingly. He glances around at the plains and low-lying hills surrounding Henesys. “The Doctor said to ask around for the dwarf…”

Ivy stares at Arai with a slightly sick expression on her face. “Arai, do you really have to sit on Ryuu like that?!”

Kunai glances from Ivy to Arai quickly. “Incidentally, what’s it like to sit on top of an icebox where you know a person is frozen inside?” A passing mage turns to stare as Kunai says this.

Arai shrugs, reaching into his pocket and breaking out a new cookie. “Oh, I’m sure Ryuu doesn’t mind…you don’t know him like I do, see.”

“Right…” Kunai replies lamely.

“You’re getting crumbs all over Ryuu!” Ivy cries out loud.

Arai shrugs again, spreading more crumbs over the icebox. He suddenly slides off the icebox, and glances around briefly. “Hm…wonder who should we ask about the dwarf?”

Arai suddenly steps forward and stops an official-looking man. “Um, excuse me, sir, but would you know of a dwarf living nearby here?”

The man shrugs, thinking slightly for a moment. “Oh, yeah, sure. There’s only one dwarf living around this area anyway. Most of them live in El Nath or have been taken away to work for the Myougun.”

“Can you tell me where we might find him?” Arai asks politely.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” the man replies distractedly, “he lives in the hills just west of this town. If you follow the river running just right out of this town, you’ll find his house in no time.”

“Okay, thanks much!” Arai cries, waving as the man walks away.

Ryuu steps forth in the falling snow, as Ayame turns to go, equipped with her Deadly Fin. “Ayame…don’t go! I forbid you to go!”

Ayame shakes her head sadly, tiny flakes of snow caught in her long purple her. Her bright red eyes glow dully as they stare at Ryuu. “I…have to go, Ryuu.”

“Ayame…I forbid you to go to the Rift World! The Myougun may have opened up the portal, but there’s no saying for what purpose they have! Even if we don’t have to defeat the Triplicates to enter it, we’re not prepared at all for an all-out assault on the Myougun!” Ryuu cries out loud, grabbing Ayame by the wrist.

Ayame shakes her head, pulling her wrist away from Ryuu. “Let me go, Ryuu.”

Ryuu sighs, reluctantly letting Ayame go and staring at her back for a moment. “Tell me, Ayame…how did we grow apart like this?”

Ayame shrugs, turning back to stare at Ryuu again with those same dulled eyes. “I don’t know, Ryuu…sometimes things happen for a reason. But with all this news about the phoneme, I have to go check it out myself.”

“Ayame…don’t be so foolish…” Ryuu mutters.

“Ryuu…” she suddenly reaches into a pocket of her cloak, and places a blue sapphire necklace into Ryuu’s outstretched hand.

“Ryuu, I…love…” Ayame mutters.

Ryuu turns and begins walking away immediately, his footsteps crunching in the soft newly fallen snow.

Arai sits on top of the icebox containing Ryuu once again as the group approaches a small brick dwelling, built alongside a small, merrily flowing river. A small garden surrounds the house, with many budding flowers and vines of ivy crawling up the walls.

Kunai takes a quick, deep breath, then walks forward and knocks on the wooden door twice. The three of them, Kunai, Arai, and Ivy wait for several moments before the door slowly squeaks open.

In front of them is a short, white bearded dwarf, with slightly wrinkled, pale and dry skin. He stares at the three of them perplexedly, looking from one to the other.

“What is it that you want? I don’t often get visitors nowadays…” the dwarf mutters in a deep, coarse voice.

“Uh…we have a friend here who was attacked by a Level 13 Paradox the other day…” Arai says, stepping forward and bowing to the dwarf.

“What do I care? I’m just a dwarf, not a doctor,” the dwarf mutters.

“Well, you see, that’s the thing…” Arai says, shrugging slightly, “you see, we called in a doctor from Niora’s clinic, and he recommended us to you. You see, our friend here had already been attacked once before by a Paradox, and well, we need you to write a Hybrid seal for him, to keep his soul intact.”

“I see…” the dwarf mutters. He shakes his head suddenly. “My skills of the lost arts are highly valued all around the world. Surely you don’t expect me to do it for free?”

Kunai sighs, staring down at the floor irritably. “Taking advantage of people in need…okay, what do you want from us?”

The dwarf grins, considering for a moment. “Hm…I’d like some sort of treasure, a jewel, perhaps…something worth value that I may put to good use in my work as a smith.”

“A jewel…?” Arai murmurs hesitantly, “I can’t think of anything we have that may be worth something like that…”

Kunai narrows his eyes suddenly. He reaches into his pocket, and draws out a blue necklace made of sapphires. He raises it in the air, showing it to the dwarf. “Ryuu gave this to me as a lucky charm just before I entered the Cursed Sanctuary. Perhaps you might want this?”

“Yes…” the dwarf mumbles, taking the necklace and looking at it with admiration. “This is quite a fine necklace, beautifully crafted…impressive work. Yes, I’ll take it.”

Arai grins and claps his hands together happily. “Great! Then we can begin construction of the seal immediately. With any luck, we’ll be in Sleepywood by tomorrow morning.”

Kunai steps forward suddenly, “Um, sir…?”

“Please, my name is Gijiduny Tohief Nolat Xolawora,” the dwarf replies.

Both Kunai and Ivy widen their eyes in shock. “WHA?!” they both cry out loud.

“But you may call me George for short,” the dwarf smiles, shaking his head and chuckling slightly. “And yes, what is it you wanted to ask me, boy?”

“Thank you,” Kunai mutters, “for writing the seal for us.”

“Heh,” George smiles, turning away to Kunai and approaching his work area, “you’re welcome.”

“Let’s see, now…” George mumbles to himself as he picks up a piece of scroll paper. He picks up a quill, and draws closer to Ryuu. “To write the Hybrid seal, blood must be taken of the host body-to-be and placed on the tool of writing.”

George suddenly reaches out as Arai waves his staff, causing the icebox to disappear completely, revealing Ryuu lying on the floor with his eyes still closed. George suddenly bends over, pricking Ryuu’s arm with the quill, now wet with a drop of blood from Ryuu.

George immediately begins writing on the scroll, creating several large magical symbols on it. He then looks up again, taking another brand new quill. “Now…to finish the seal, I must take the blood of the new power that must enter the host’s body.”

Kunai stares at both Ivy and Arai hesitantly. “Are you saying one of us should donate our powers in blood to Ryuu, and that once you’re done, he’ll have one of our powers?”

“Exactly,” George replies.

Arai sighs, shrugging slightly, “Well, I’ve owed Ryuu quite a few times already, so let this be the time I make a return payment. I shall give him some of my blood.”

“Very well,” George mutters, rushing to Arai and pricking his arm with the quill. George then returns to the scroll, and begins scribbling on it too, creating magical symbols directly opposite from the ones written with Ryuu’s blood.

“Now through magic, the two bloods must be fused, forming a fusion of power like no other…” George mumbles, raising the scroll.

“Arai…with your powers, strike the scroll!” George cries out loud.

Arai nods obediently, and creates a spear of lightning from his staff. He raises it in the air, showering the room with many electrical sparks, and strikes the scroll once, with a thunderous roar.

“The scroll must now be placed inside an inanimate object, wrapped in the boundaries of a stone, a holding ground to contain its energy,” George whispers, withdrawing the necklace and raising it into the air.

“Ahh…” Kunai whispers, watching the scene intently, “so that’s why you wanted the necklace! And here I was thinking you were just a greedy old dwarf.”

“I shall need a new reward after this is done,” George growls over at Kunai, “considering I just used this one up to help your friend here.”

“…Or not,” Kunai mutters.

George then raises the necklace in the air, as it glows brightly and absorbs the scroll. He then picks it up as the light slowly fades away, brushing away lint from the necklace. He shows it to the others, and they see that strange runes have now appeared on the necklace.

“The necklace containing the Hybrid seal will now be able to fuse properly with the host, once it detects the venom of the Paradox residing in him,” George says. He steps over to Ryuu, and lowers it towards him.

The necklace glows brightly for a moment, then enters his body, fading away as it makes contact. Ryuu’s eyes suddenly burst wide open, revealing the temporarily glowing three pupils in his right eye.

“Ryuu!” Kunai and Ivy cry out loud. “Are you all right?” Kunai asks, rushing over to join Ryuu.

Ryuu shakes his head, shrugging it off gruffly. “Aside from feeling a little wiped out, I feel all right. What happened, where are we?”

Arai bends over Ryuu, inspecting him closely. “You were attacked by the Paradox, and a third pupil appeared in your right eye shortly afterwards. We brought a doctor in to see you, and he recommended that another Hybrid seal be placed on you, to keep your soul intact.”

Ryuu glances over at Arai, slight surprise written in his eyes. “So a third pupil, huh…?” He picks up a fallen shard of glass from the floor, and stares at his reflection in the mirror, rubbing his right eye slightly.

George glances down at Ryuu gruffly. “Well, it’s largely thanks to me that you were saved. I wrote the scroll myself, embedding your friend’s power in it.”

Ryuu looks up interestedly. “I see…which one of my friends did you take the blood from?”

“Him,” George replies, shrugging slightly and gesturing over at Arai.

Ryuu narrows his eyes, a sour expression appearing on his face momentarily. “Great…now I’ve got a bit of Arai floating around inside me…” he mutters inaudibly.

Arai shrugs, and picks up his staff and cloak, heading outside towards the door. “Well, it’s been great meeting you, George…but we ought to get going now that Ryuu’s fine and all.”

Both Kunai and Ivy nod as well, and follow Arai towards the door. Ryuu looks hesitantly at the door, turning to George briefly. “You wrote the seal, huh?”

George nods.

Ryuu nods as well, glancing back over his shoulder as the rest of the group calls for him. “Incidentally…what did you use as the seal mount?”

“A blue sapphire necklace that your assassin friend gave to me,” George mutters.

“I see,” Ryuu replies softly, turning away to leave through the door.