Hi everyone. It’s me… Josh, Shadow Side, Wcrysaftersex08, whatever. Well since again I’m too lazy to format this chapter for MMOTales, I’ll just give another download link.

Pirates Chapter 4

I hope you enjoy. In my opinion I think the plot gets a little more interesting from here on out. Secrets revealed, people slaughtered. That kind of thing. Just so you all know, I’m working as hard as I can on these. I’m still head editor for the podcast club at my school, staff editor and writer for our schools lit magazine, and i have this class where they make me write a huge essay every week. Not to mention mountains of regular school homework. So bare with me if they only come out once every two weeks or so. Sorry this one’s kinda short too. You’d think I’d promise to make up for it with a longer one next time, but I doubt that’ll happen. So I’ll just try and jam pack it with so much plot it’ll leave you clutching the computer screen for stability while you gasp for breath, wondering what’s gonna happen next.

Anyway, things about my past couple of weeks. Got a few new songs. Discovered Mc Solaar. I love his music and I don’t even speak French. More school work. More heartbreak. More annoying friends gnawing at my heels, begging for attention. -rolls eyes- Whatever. Okay, well like I did before I’ll just copy and paste what I have here in case you don’t feel like downloading. Maybe you’ll be able to figure it out. Maybe not. It’s not my problem.

Okay… peace.

~

Yian padded along the asphalt path that led to the main doors.
<Are you sure you want to go through with this?>
I don’t have a choice. I can’t risk hurting her anymore.
<Why are you so attached? You just met her today.>
I’m not even sure. I can’t explain it. It’s just like… I want; no, I need to be around her; to be with her. I’m happy when I’m with her, genuinely happy.
We reached the doors and charged right in. We headed for sparring room five, where Jin was supposedly waiting for Reina.[/i]
<I still think this is silly. Is it really worth risking all those lives?>
It pains me to say this, but I think if anyone could control me in that state, it would be Jin. He really doesn’t care about his safety, and won’t hold back on me for sentimental reasons. If anything, I’d be worried about him killing me.
As I neared the door, I could hear a loud thumping sound resonating throughout the room and into the hallway.
<What the hell is he doing in there?>
Well, my best guess would be he’s punching the crap out of a wall, but I don’t care about that. I must find out everything about this pendant and what I happened when it was taken off.
I reached the doors and threw them open, only to be greeted by a searing wall of flame. I wasn’t concerned with my pain; the only thing I was worried about was Reina. I walked forward, knowing full well that the flames were engulfing me and burning off my skin. My body was being taken apart faster than it could be put back together; but soon I was through and my healing abilities were allowed to work to their full potential. Jin was waiting for me on the other side. He towered over me, more than he had the last time I saw him, he must’ve been at least 6’10” and 275 pounds.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Asked Jin, staring down at me.
“I think you know why I’m here.”
“Then you know me better than I thought. Let me see.”
Jin reached out and grabbed the amulet, much like Reina had. He didn’t faint like she had, or even falter; he merely examined it in his massive hands.
“Well, it seems like you’ve been feeding that thing well. You should consider putting it on a diet, it’ll kill you if it keeps feeding at this rate.”
“Wait… why aren’t you affected like Reina was when she touched it?”
“Well, I’ve got a stone of my own, and I’ve figured out all the things I need to do to keep myself safe. I’ve got tons of energy that I don’t use. I keep it stored away so that my ability to fight isn’t hindered at all while the stone feeds. You, however, are giving it access to all of your energy. Then when you take it off, all of that energy will flood back into you. It may make you really strong, but you’ll lose yourself in its power. Your mind won’t be able to coexist with all of that energy, and you’ll revert to your primal state. Since you’re a shadow manipulator, your excess energy will take that form. However, when you can fully control your power, you’ll be able to manipulate the energy into whatever form you want.”
“Does that happen when you take off your ring?”
“I don’t take off my ring.”
“Has it ever come off though?”
“Yeah, once, but I controlled mine.”
“Can you teach me how to control it?”
“It depends, on how much will power you have. If you aren’t committed to fighting the beast inside you, it will completely take over. Believe me, I’ve seen it before. It’s not pretty.”
“What do you mean monster?”
“You haven’t even gotten to that point? Wow, this may take a while.”
Jin’s hand shot out towards my neck, grabbing the pendant, and viciously ripping it from my neck. I remember stumbling backwards. Everything around me went dark. The wave of energy was so strong…
Wait… why was I here… what…Reina!
The thought of her gave me a second wind. I pushed through the stream of energy with my mind, as hard I could. It reminded me of trying to stroll through a tidal wave. My only guide was the direction of the current. I didn’t think I had it in me to make it. With the last of my energy, I made a pathetic lunge for my body. By a stroke of luck I managed to¬-
With a grunt, I found myself lying on a cold floor, in my human body.
Slowly I pulled myself to my feet. I was in a room, at least I think… The walls and ceiling were colored in black and grey shades. The patters kept shifting, with white dots scattered throughout. It looked like I was standing in the middle of the galaxy.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something that grabbed my attention. It was… me. I walked over to my image. He walked forward too, until we were standing right in front of each other. I reached forward to touch his hand, but only met the cold kiss of glass. It was a mirror. I moved my hand down the mirror, and my reflection copied me.
This was weird… something didn’t feel right. I was right. My reflection started to change. Its pupils narrowed into slits, like a cat. Its teeth elongated into fangs. Its fingernails stretched and the fingers contorted into claws. It stretched its arm back, and smashed it through the glass. Its fist connected with my jaw, and sent me flying into the wall. It was like rubber. It expanded and contorted to the shape of my body, before straightening itself out and plopping me back down to the floor.
“What the…” Were all the words I could get out.
The figure crouched down on all fours and charged towards me at next to impossible speeds. It slammed me right back into the wall, and eventually through it. The rubbery substance gave way. We both tumbled through the opening. We were high in the air, and began to fall.
“Don’t interfere.”
The figure spoke in a voice that was more of a growl than coherent communication. It grabbed my shirt with its deadly claws and spun me around in midair. With the full force of gravity and his strength, he slammed me into the floor of whatever place we were in now. The impact completely knocked all the wind out of me. But of course, I was given no time to recover. The figure grabbed me by the neck and flung me into the wall. This wall was harder, and hurt on impact… badly. My copy slammed into me again, but this time we didn’t go through the wall. It grabbed me by my shirt and began to pelt me with punch after punch, everywhere on my body.
With each punch, my copied image began to look less and less human. Its body coated itself in a layer of shadow. Its upper body turned massive. The shirt it once wore was torn in several places, but still stayed on its body, same with the pants. The shoes however were destroyed by its enlarged feet. Its punches turned into painful slashes from its deathly sharp claws. Blood began to pour out of ruptured veins. If I didn’t do something then I would be killed. With the rest of my strength I used both of my palms to thrust its body away from me. It skid along the floor before coming to a stop, and rushing right back at me.
I quickly poured most of my energy into my blood stream to speed my healing and dodged away. The beast crashed headfirst into the wall, which seemed to shake the floor a bit. He was stunned for a second, but then turned and headed right at me. I side stepped again, and the beast rushed right past me. He was faster and stronger than me, but much more predictable.
He turned and rushed back at me. I simply jumped over him as he swung out with his claws, clutching nothing but empty air. If I was going to defeat this thing, I was going to have to pull out all the stops. Yes, that’s right; I said pull out all the stops. I reached for my shadow piece, but as soon as I made contact, it dissolved in my hand.
“Oh sh-“
I was cut off by the sudden head but of the beast. He continued advancing toward the wall, with me stuck on his head. The feeling was like getting hit by an airship, extremely unpleasant. Before we collided, I managed to push myself out from in front of its massive head. The only thing that did was prevent my instantaneous death. The beast simply charged at me again. Clutching my abdomen, I jumped over the charging behemoth and ran to the opposite wall. It turned and glared at me, I merely concentrated on healing my bruised body.
“Don’t interfere.” His voice sounded the same as it did in his more human like form. This beast, was obviously trying to accomplish something. It must have a reason for attacking me. However, whatever that reason may be, it was interfering with my primary objective, helping Reina. And that was unacceptable.
We ran at each other at full speed and collided midway. We locked hands, and for a while we were stuck in a deadlock. My muscles bulged with effort as I struggled to stay erect. I stared into its rage filled eyes, as they stared into mine. It attempted to shift its weight a bit to one side to push me off balance. What a predictable move. I pulled on the arm that it was applying the extra force with and threw it over my head as hard as I could. I heard a loud crack as its body came in contact with the floor.
It was still for the moment; and I slowly crept around it, low to the floor. I realized I still carried around my fist field dagger, for sentimental reasons. I swiftly drew it, and rushed at him with it held out behind me, ready to strike. As I neared it, its head did a complete 180, its enraged eyes piercing my countenance. I rushed even faster at him, barely keeping from screaming. My head was pounding; it felt like something was ripping at the walls of my mind. The floor beneath me began to churn like the waves of an angry sea, pulling me down to its depths. As I sank into the floor the beast smiled at me, as if it had won the battle; but the next time, I swear, I shall defeat it.

—

I fell from the room, directly into another room. I didn’t recognize it at first, the walls were covered with holes and scorch marks. The floor was littered in debris. Jin was standing opposite me, breathing heavily. His clothes were tattered and blood stained, there were various red scars in the openings.
“Jin?” His eyes flashed back to life.
“You’re back.”
“What… what happened here?”
“You obviously lost control.”
“How are you…”
“What, still alive? I’m stronger than I look.”
“Well…”
“Can you tell me what happened when I took off your pendant?”
“Well… I was in a room, with these walls that looked like I was standing in the middle of a galaxy. There was a mirror, and when I went to look in it, my reflection attacked me. It kept saying “don’t interfere.” And as we fought, it began to transform into this creature. Now that I think about this, it looked like an oversized, humanlike version of Yian.
“Interesting… I’m surprised you’re not dead.”
“Me too…”
Our conversation paused for a while.
“How’d I change back anyway?”
He pointed at my shoulder. Lodged deep inside a bleeding wound was the gem of the necklace. Strangely enough it didn’t even hurt. I pulled it out and flung it around my neck.
“You have no idea how hard it was to get close enough to put that on you. You almost killed me.”
He said this with a sick smile that disturbed me on several levels. I turned and faced the door, which was widened by at least a foot by all the debris knocked off of it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“What? Didn’t you have enough?”
“I don’t think you understand how committed I am. I won’t loose control again. I swear.”
Jin gazed at me with a look of approval. I started to walk towards the door.
“If we’re going to do this, you’re going to need this.”
He tossed me small, clear structure that looked like a piece of glass.
“Just put some energy in it and put it around your pendant. It’ll keep everyone around you safe.”
I walked out of the room and hopped on Yian’s back. Together, we raced off to the hospital ward.

—

Jes was gone. Reina was lying in the one hospital bed, hooked up to a machine of an unknown function. The room was the same one I woke up in after the Navy incident. Come to think of it, I still don’t know much about that. I’ll have to ask later.
I sat on the side of her bed and stroked her hair. She was still out cold, but I could sense she was comfortable.
I hadn’t been with her for more than an hour when the door slid open. Jes walked in, and almost dropped the beaker she was carrying.
“Oh…”
She stood awkwardly in the doorway. My eyes were still focused on Reina’s face.
“Jes… is she really going to be okay. She hasn’t moved in an hour.”
She walked over to me.
“Of course, she’ll be fine.”
“Then what’s this equipment for?”
“That’s just an epilizer. It’s just trying to regulate her energy flow. Don’t worry; she’s improved greatly over the past few hours.”
“Few hours… how long was I gone?”
“Well… you left me about five hours ago…”
I’d been fighting Jin for almost four hours… I was silent. Jes walked over to me.
“Look… this isn’t your fault. She’s going to be okay, I promise.”
I still said nothing. She hugged me softly from behind and left the room.
After that, Jes didn’t come back. I sat at Reina’s side day and night for three days. I didn’t eat, or sleep, the only thing I was concerned with was her. It was half way through the third day that Reina began to stir. She moaned softly before she opened her eyes. When she saw me, she smiled.
“Reina…”
I almost lost control. I pulled her up into a deep embrace, almost like when we first met.
“I’m so sorry… I was so scared… I thought I lost you.”
She laughed.
“Sheesh, you’re so dramatic. I’m fine. But… if you don’t mind me asking, what happened? I feel like I just ran a marathon.”
I let her go and stared into her eyes. They were open and curious, so I decided there could be no harm in filling her in. I told her about everything that happened when she was unconscious, including my encounter with Jin.
“You did all that… for me?”
A single tear ran down her cheek. I reached over and brushed it away.
“Of course. We adepts have to look out for each other. And besides, I don’t think I could handle hurting you again.”
She grinned and hugged me again. I stroked her hair as she pushed up against me.
“Do you want me to take you home?”
I felt her head nod into my shoulder. I helped pull her out of the bed. Yian was outside, sleeping on top of the school. We walked together down the hall, in content silence. She leaned on me as we walked, and I was happy to support her.
We reached the door of her apartment. I watched her as she fumbled with her keys and let herself inside. She began to walk in, but turned to face me, gripping the door.
“Are you planning on standing out there all night like an idiot?”
“What?”
“Well you really don’t have anywhere else to go… why don’t you come inside?”
“I don’t want to be an inconvenience…” I was mentally slapping myself for making such a show of reluctance.
“It’s ok…I like being with you.”
She smiled and took my hand, playfully pulling me inside. We sat on the bed and talked for hours, honestly I don’t remember about what. Everything about her made me relaxed and happy, it was ecstasy just being near her. It had to be after one in the morning when I finally started to feel some fatigue.
“I’m getting kinda sleepy.”
She nodded in agreement. I got up, casually brushing my hand against her thigh as I did so, and headed for the couch in the front room.
“Hey… you know you can sleep in the bed, right?”
My cheeks began to turn red, but it wasn’t as bad as that first time.
“It’s okay, I can sleep on the couch.”
“No… really… it’s okay, I wont bite… much.”
She winked again in a way that made me shiver.
“Well you make me an offer I can’t refuse.”
I walked over to the bed and took my shirt off. She did likewise. If I had any question about her complete radiance, all of it was completely eradicated. Her skin glowed faintly in the dim light coming from a candle on the night stand. She stripped down to her undergarments before getting into the bed.
“Come on…” She encouraged, patting the space next to her. “It’s cold in here.”
I climbed in next to her and waited for her to drift off to sleep. I spent the night pondering why I couldn’t sleep in the one place I wanted to be more than anywhere else in the world.

—

The sun shone through the windows, illuminating the room with a lively flicker. The room paled in comparison, however, to the essence of beauty that was lying next to me. My arm was wrapped around her shoulders; our faces were so close I could feel her warm breath on my cheek. As the sunlight danced around her face she began to rouse. Her eyes flickered open as she groaned in a very cute tone.
“Hey sexy.”
“Hey beautiful.”
She smiled and winked at me. The more time I spent with her, the more comfortable I got. She pushed up closer to me for a while, before pulling off the blankets and getting up to stretch. She shuffled over to the dresser and got her clothes out.
“You’re going out?”
She turned and looked at me while pulling on her pants.
“Of course… just because I don’t go to the school doesn’t mean I don’t have lessons.”
“Well… why don’t you take it easy today? You just had a near death experience.”
“You’re sweet, but I’ll live.”
She had her shirt on and spear in place.
“Well, can I at least walk with you?”
She smiled at me.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to be mingling with other students, you know, after what happened.”
I sat back down on the bed, hopes deflated.
“Oh… okay.”
“I hear Fye is off for the day. Perhaps you could go visit him.”
“Yeah… whatever.”
“Aww don’t be that way. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Not soon enough.” I grumbled under my breath.
“What?”
“Nothing… have a nice time.”
She laughed.
“It’s just school, it’s not like you’re missing out on much.”
“I suppose.”
She turned to walk out the door. I still sat on the bed, looking at the floor.
“You’re just going to let me go without a hug?”
I couldn’t help but smirk. I got up and gave her a big hug from behind while she opened the door.
“See you soon.”
“Okay, beautiful.”
She walked out and shut the door behind her.
<Are you really going to go see Fye?>
Sure, why not? I have nothing better to do.

—
With Yian’s help, I soon found Fye. He was hanging out with Repty and Raeken in the courtyard behind the school. We talked, and played around, sparring casually and betting credits. It turns out all of them happened to be adepts. Fye had the ability to adsorb the most prominent attribute of an animal, like the spirit of the eagle trapped in his bow. Repty had the ability to master any weapon he touched on contact. Raeken had complete mastery of ice, and could freeze anything he touches. It led to some pretty interesting fights. I admit, I lost one or two.
During a fight with Repty I could have sworn I saw Demitri passing by, staring at us intently. If it was him or not, I can’t be sure, either way I sensed an intense wave of desperation coming from that direction.
At the end of the day, we were all pretty solid friends. I had to say, Raeken was pretty cool. He was quiet, but when he did have something to say it was either hilarious or important in some way. Repty was loud and crazy, the practical opposite of Raeken. Everything he said was ridiculous, and so off the wall you can’t help laughing.
“Ha, what a great day.” Fye’s smile grew as he balanced an arrow on his fingertip.
“You’re just saying that because you won like all our money.”
“Speak for yourself… I didn’t have any money to begin with.”
“Boys… boys, don’t worry. I’ll be happy to clean you all out next week.”
We laughed as we headed back to the building.
“It’s not fair though, all you had to do was stay back and shoot arrows. How are we supposed to defend against that?”
“I did just fine, thank you very much.”
“Yeah… but you’re a mage, so it’s different.”
“Well I beat him several times too…”
“And aren’t you a weapons master… why don’t you tell me?”
“Wow, why don’t you all just gang up on me.”
“We are…” That’s one thing I liked about Raeken, he never laughed at himself. Ever.
“Anyway, we have class soon.”
“Who’s we?”
“You and me…”
“Wait… who?”
“Just come on. We’re gonna be late.”
Raeken and Repty ran ahead of us to the building. Half way there, Raeken created a trail of ice beneath him and slid ahead of Repty.
“Hey, no fair!”
“Deal with it!”
Repty ran a little faster, but he still wasn’t a match for Raeken. He raised and lowered the ice track to maximize his speed. Coincidentally, when they reached the building, I remembered I still had that gift for Fye I had Black Bull make for me.
“Hey… I have something for you.”
“Is it more money?” He asked, jokingly.
“You wish. I actually have had it for a while… I just forgot to give it to you. Come on, it’s back in my room.”
We walked, pretty much in silence, back to Reina’s room. We had grown so far apart during those three years; I really had no idea what we could talk about. When we got to the door, I could hear two people talking. I recognized the pitch of one voice to be Reina’s, but the other was unfamiliar to me. Reina’s voice rose, like she was shouting in hysterics. I pressed my hand to the door and tried to push my mind inside to see who the other person was, but a powerful force resisted me. I pushed, harder than I ever did before. I made out the outline of a man, pretty tall and muscular, but not easily identifiable. The man reached over and grasped her shoulders. She sunk her head, and he disappeared.
I burst into the room.
“Reina, are you okay?” My voice was near a shout. Her cheeks were tear stained and her eyes red. She wiped away a fresh tear as she looked up at me. She look surprised, and then hurt.
“Yeah… fine.” She pushed past me and ran out of the room, down the hall. I stepped out into the hallway, facing the direction she took off in.
“Reina… Reina!” But she was gone… she turned a corner and headed out of sight.
“I wonder what that was all abou…. Wait… you’re rooming with Reina?”
I nodded slowly, my head was in too much of a daze to comprehend what just took place in her room.
“You’re a lucky… lucky man.” I elbowed him with a sizeable amount of force. He shrunk back, before following me into the room.
“Wait here a sec.”
I rummaged through my drawer in the dresser. Eventually, I found the pair of golden emerald earrings.
“Are those…”
“Yeah.” I was beaming.
“Oh my god! Thank you! How did you find these? Holy crap, I’m gonna be so awesome!”
I smiled as he continually remarked about the rarity of the earrings, and how much he would enjoy them, and thanking me every four seconds. It made me feel good to give to a friend, and I do admit, golden emeralds were extremely rare. They give the wearer extra dexterity and clarity of mind during battle, and never lose their effect.
Soon, Fye had to go. He made a show of leaping through the air as he headed towards the door, showing off the abilities of his new earrings. I rolled my eyes and shut the door. I considered looking for Reina, but I had no idea where she had run off to. I also had no idea when she would be back. I went back to my drawer and pulled out my desk. I wasn’t going to sit around all day waiting for her. I sent a message to Jin, asking him to meet me in again in Sparring room 5. Half an hour later, he showed up.
“This better be important, I had to leave class.”
“You know why I called. I’d prefer with we didn’t carry on with this charade.”
“Fine then, let’s start this.”
Slowly, I ripped the necklace from my neck, and plunged headfirst into the room I was unfortunately already acquainted with.
I picked myself up, and came face to face with my reflection. It was smiling. Its mouth slowly opened, as it quietly whispered, “Don’t interfere.”