Episode 7 Chime of the Phoneme

A childhood version of Ryuu raises his sword, staring at it intently. Then suddenly it glows brightly, and a bright red fire engulfs the sword. He looks up as a young girl with long purple hair stares meditatively at the sword as well.

“Impressive, huh? I only made the seal yesterday, so I’m still getting used to this Fire Mage stuff,” Ryuu says, waving the sword around. “It’s pretty difficult to control both powers at once.”

“Wow! That’s amazing!” the girl cries joyfully. “I wish I could do stuff as cool as you, Ryuu…!” She blinks suddenly, shaking her head as a frown appears on her face. “But doesn’t that mean that you’ve been attacked by a Paradox?”

Ryuu nods, and shrugs slightly. “Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. You wanna see my scar? Look!” He suddenly widens his right eye, showing it to the girl, revealing two pupils.

The current version of Ryuu jerks awake, turning around in his bed. He stares around at the small cabin. A dusty, warm breeze blows by in the night air outside, while a coyote howls in the distance.

He glances around at the other beds in the small cabin, occupied by Kunai, Arai, and Ivy, all of whom are sleeping peacefully. Ryuu shakes his head and wipes some of the sweat off his brow. He sighs and clambers back onto his bed, turning over and closing his eyes once more.

As he does so, from the corner of his bed, Arai pokes open an eye, staring at Ryuu’s back. He shakes his head on top of his own pillow, smiling slightly to himself. ‘Ryuu still can’t get over it…well, I wouldn’t blame him.’

As day breaks, the bright sun appears in a cloudless sky. Many merchants suddenly appears in the still bustling town of Perion, chatting amongst each other and bartering for prices.

Kunai, Ryuu, Arai, and Ivy appear in the bustle of the city, glancing around at the many shops set up in the free market.

Ryuu folds his arms irritably, glancing around at the merchants. One of them holds up an Old Gladius, shoving it toward Ryuu. “Hey, hey you! Wanna buy this beautiful, priceless, powerful sword? Only three million mesos!”

Ryuu suddenly loses his patience, unfolding his arms and shoving the Gladius back into the owner’s face. “WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR? I’M NOT EVEN PAYING A SINGLE MESO FOR THAT HUNK OF JUNK!”

Arai shakes his head, smiling to himself at Ryuu. “Tsk, tsk, Ryuu…try to keep your cool.”

Ryuu sighs, turning away as another merchant offers him a Werewolf Toenail. “Why do we even have to be in here, anyway? I hate these merchants…they’re always trying to screw each other over.”

Arai smiles cheerfully, glancing around at the many merchants. “Well…we’ve gotta find some scrolls to Sleepywood. The road leading to Sleepywood has been blocked by the Myougun, and well, we just don’t have time to try and get around it. Besides…I ran out of cookies this morning.”

Ryuu glances at Arai with an annoyed expression on his face. “You and your cookies…”

Kunai sighs, folding his arms as he stares around at the many booths in the marketplace. “Finding someone with a set of Sleepywood scrolls is gonna take a hell of a long time. Maybe we should split up?”

Ryuu glances over at Kunai, a happier gleam in his eye. “Heh, not a bad idea if I do say so myself, kid. Yeah, Arai…why don’t we split up? We’ll get out of this ****hole sooner.”

Arai shrugs, looking around at the rest of the group. “Well…if you guys want. Although if we do split up, we can get some more shopping done faster. I wouldn’t mind restocking on some onion juice…”

“WE’RE HERE FOR SCROLLS, NOT YOUR WEIRD FOOD FETISHES!” Ryuu cries out loud, causing several passersby to turn around and stare.

Kunai stares at Ryuu lamely, then begins walking away as Ryuu begins shouting at Arai again. Ivy quickly follows behind, catching up to Kunai.

“C’mon, let’s try to find some scrolls…the faster we get out of here, the better I’ll feel about Ryuu not murdering Arai in front of all these witnesses,” Kunai mutters to Ivy.

They turn suddenly and begin walking down another lane in the marketplace. Ivy suddenly taps Kunai on the arm, pointing to one of the stands where an old bearded man is sitting behind.

The two of them approach the man, who immediately looks up with interest. Kunai glances around he items on display for a moment, before picking up a pile of scrolls.

“Hi, I’d like to buy four of these scrolls to Sleepywood?” Kunai says.

The man nods, then speaks in a hoarse rattle, “That’ll be 50,000 mesos.”

Kunai’s eyes widen suddenly in alarm. “50,000 mesos?! What do you take me for?!”

The old man shrugs, shaking his head nonchalantly. “No money, no scroll.”

Kunai grumbles slightly as he reaches into a pouch, withdrawing a large sack full of golden coins. “Taking advantage of people in need…” he grumbles to himself.

He grabs the scrolls irritably, and begins walking away, still grumbling to himself. Ivy soon follows behind. Kunai suddenly turns to pocket the scrolls, and, not looking, accidentally bumps into an old lady with glowing silver eyes, cloaked and hooded in a large black robe.

“Oh! Uh…sorry, ma’am,” Kunai cries out loud, after noticing the old lady.

The lady shakes her head, brushing lint and dust off her robes. “No matter,” she cries. Suddenly she looks up, and sees Ivy. She stares at her with surprise on her face for a moment, then turns back to Kunai.

“Young man and lady…if I may please have a word…come with me,” she says, beckoning for them to follow.

“Huh?” Kunai cries out loud as the old lady begins walking away, signaling for them to follow. Kunai glances briefly at Ivy, who shrugs. The two of them then proceed to follow the woman.

The woman slowly totters to a darker stand out of the way from the other booths. She sidles into a seat behind the stand and takes a seat, glancing up at Kunai and Ivy.

“I am a fortuneteller…would you like me to tell your fortune?” the old woman suddenly murmurs.

Kunai narrows his eyes with a sour expression on his face. “Oh…you’re just another one of those people looking to rip us off!”

Ivy shakes her head suddenly, holding an arm out to stop Kunai from turning around and walking away. “No! Let’s hear what she’s got to say! It’ll be fun!”

Kunai glances at Ivy with a puzzled expression on his face, but shrugs and turns back to the old woman, staring at her patiently and intently.

The old lady suddenly places a crystal ball on top of her stand delicately, and begins staring into it. Suddenly the ball begins glowing with a bright light, and the woman looks up at Ivy with renewed interest.

“It is just as I thought…” the woman whispers, staring into the crystal ball, “within this girl is the lost phoneme of lore, a budding, youthful power that commands us all…the Paradox seek her…”

Kunai raises an eyebrow, looking from Ivy to the old woman perplexedly. “The lost phoneme? Now where have I heard that phrase before…”

Ivy shivers suddenly, though no breeze has blown by. She stares fixedly at the crystal ball as well. “The lost phoneme…?” she mutters softly to herself.

“Blest the world once was, for in its possession were the three phonemes. But alas, for one lies lost, another insubstantial, and the third stands before me…the Myougun seek the phonemes of lore…” the old woman continues in a mystifying voice.

The old woman suddenly reaches under the stand and withdraws from it a small vial filled with a dark colored liquid. She hands it over to Ivy, who takes it hesitantly. “Take this, girl…and tonight, go to the highest peak in this city and open it, release the power within…”

Ivy nods slowly, pocketing the vial without glancing at it. “I will.”

Kunai raises an eyebrow again, staring at Ivy worriedly. “Ivy…are you sure you wanna accept stuff from strangers just like that? You have no idea what could be inside…”

“No,” Ivy replies softly, “I’ll take it…”

It is night again, and a small dust storm blows through the buildings of Perion, as several low-lying clouds darken the night sky, depleted of all starlight. A weak moonlight peers down onto the rooftops of the city, deformed by the shifting clouds of sand.

A door to one of the small concrete cabins suddenly opens slightly ajar, and a dark figure with long black hair exits from the cabin. It slams the door shut quietly and quickly sprints down the street, headed towards the center of town.

The door suddenly opens again, and Kunai pokes his head out. He glances momentarily back inside the cabin, where Arai and Ryuu are sleeping in their respective beds. Kunai then quickly exits the cabin as well, chasing after Ivy.

Kunai suddenly catches up to her as she stands at the highest peak in the town, overlooking the city below and the deep valleys echoing with the snores of boars.

He sneaks up to her from behind, grabbing her hand just as she is about to open the vial. “Ivy! Don’t open the vial! I don’t know what the hell’s in there, but I have a bad feeling about it…”

A Tobi suddenly flies into the air, striking Ivy on the arm, causing her to drop the vial. The vial falls to the ground and shatters, releasing the dark matter hidden inside it.

The shadowy substance suddenly hovers in the air, and slowly forms a large ogre-like creature, with yellow eyes and red pupils.

“Paradox!” Kunai cries out loud, drawing his Scarab and sending a Steely flying into the air.

The ogre Paradox bats away the Steely, swallowing it up in its shadows. It then gives a loud roar, and approaches Kunai, arms raised.

Ivy backs away, eyes widened and terror in her eyes. She trips over Kunai, who catches her as she falls. She grabs onto Kunai’s arm, screaming, “Kunai! Do something!”

Kunai gently pushes her aside, and sends another two Steelys into the air, one into each eye of the ogre. The ogre stumbles and trips, stumbling around and screaming suddenly.

Kunai then leaps into the air, giving a large kick and knocking the ogre Paradox into the air and off the cliff, sending it flying down into the darkness below.

Kunai turns and raises his Scarab again, as another dark, cloaked figure approaches in the air, floating on wings seemingly made of the same material as the Paradox. “Who’s there?” Kunai cries out loud.

The figure smirks slightly, laughing softly to itself in a mocking manner in a deep, womanish voice. It then lands on the cliff, approaching Kunai and Ivy slowly.

Kunai backs away as the figure approaches, holding Ivy behind him. “What do you want?” Kunai cries out into the darkness in alarm.

“Oh, don’t worry…” the figure says, coming to a halt, “for though I seek the lost phoneme, I cannot touch her myself, yet anyway. But take care, Kunai…” the figure continues, tapping Kunai lightly on the shoulder, causing him to shiver, “if you care for her, I suggest you be more careful henceforth.”

Kunai narrows his eyes perplexedly, but as he opens his mouth to reply, the figure disappears in a puff of dark smoke into nothingness. Kunai turns around as he hears footsteps behind him, raising his Scarab.

“Kunai!” Ryuu cries out loud, running alongside Arai. As they arrive, they come to a stop, panting slightly. “Kunai…what the hell’s wrong with you, going around taking nighttime walks like this! Don’t you give a damn that Fyx’s men are out there looking for you? You’re a walking target, especially with the girl around!”

Kunai shakes his head slowly. “No. I was stopping Ivy from opening that vial…some old fortuneteller gave it to her. I stopped Ivy in time, but this second person appeared and interfered, and released the vial. Turns out the vial was holding a Paradox, but I took care of it. Then the person arrived, and began talking about the same thing as the old fortuneteller…something about a lost phoneme?”

Arai raises his eyebrows as he hears Kunai speak. “Phoneme?”