THE LAST ONE PART 1: THE BEGINNING
Story by: Malus Wolfe
Edited by: Davey Rootbeer
Produced by : Your Mom
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Chapter 2: Chi's Grace
"Yama-what?" I asked, puzzled. I panted and held my hands in pain as I looked around. My head was running a million miles an hour, attempting to rationalize the situation. Is this for real? I’m sure I didn’t imagine the blue light or the portal. Maybe I passed out…
"Yamakai." Said the bard in a slow, monotone voice. I looked up at him, my eyes shifting in and out of focus. He was a tall man, with short brown hair pushed upward by a simple headband. He wore cloth pants with iron plates sewn onto the front, and a steel belt. His chest plate was armor, with swirling designs made of gold. His arms had brown cloth draped over them, sewn into the chest plate with a chain. He had no apparent weapon, merely a small lute, which was now strapped to his back. "It means 'world of shadows' in our ancient language."
"Great. Just wonderful. And who exactly are you supposed to be?" I was feeling worse and worse, and my attitude was getting sourer by the moment. Ok, I don’t think my imagination could come up with something like this. Perhaps this guy is for real.
"My name is Davide. Pronounced Dah-veed-day. Most people can't say it. Just call me Davey. I'm rather partial to that name." He helped me to my feet, and gave a soft smile.
"Ok then Mr. Davey. Now can you give me answers? As in, what in the hell was that little portal thing I came through?" I made a motion to the two rocks, adorned with the same symbol as my palm.
"That was a Gaia gate." He replied with a look of deep thought, "A passageway between your world and ours. I've been waiting for you to come through. You see...while I was on a ruin search, I came across an ancient scroll. This scroll allowed me to travel to your world for a short time. There, I took you from the field. However..." He trailed off.
"However what? How did I wind up in that forest?!" I started to yell. This whole situation made no sense. Why didn’t anybody stop him? It’s not normal for a completely strange looking man to take an unconscious child from a soccer field!
"The scroll's effect wore off. I couldn't stay any longer. I instructed your mother to take you to the forest, where she would leave you to your first test. You found your way alright."
“My mothe…?!” Suddenly I had a feeling of nakedness. I glanced down at my hands. The gloves that once lay there were broken and tattered; the symbol on my hand had burnt right through them. "Hey...um..." I muttered, embarrassed. "You wouldn't happen to have a pair of gloves on hand, would you?"
"Do not be ashamed of your marks, young one." he said, his eyes suddenly opening wide. "That is the mark of the ancient Planeswalker. You are the descendant of an almost extinct race of people. They were able to walk feely between the worlds. Suddenly, they all died out...The last remaining Planeswalkers were sent to your world, to protect them from the evils striving to destroy them. Our worlds have been separated for a very long time." He threw me a pair of small brown cloves to cover my hands.
"So why was I brought here?" I asked, confused, putting on the gloves.
He chuckled. "You will learn soon enough, young one. Fate has a funny plan for us all. Come now, we must make haste. The town is very far away and it's almost nightfall." He started walking very swiftly away.
I was startled, and attempted to catch up. “Town, what town?”
He grinned, and turned back. “The barrier town of Serai.”
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I could hardly believe my eyes. Serai was amazing. As we wandered around, I gazed at the people walking the streets. The town was lively, and everybody seemed to be doing something. Vendors had booths set up on the street, selling anything from fruit to weapons and armor. Wagons carrying goods rushed up and down the streets and alleyways. Beggars stopped travelers and asked for money. Adventurers swung in and out of taverns looking for work and companions. All of the buildings were tall and made out of wood. The roads were unpaved, made of sand, and were beaten down by frequent travel. Looming over the north side of the city were large walls made of a strange metal. At the top of the walls, large spikes criss-crossed one another. I assumed these were the barriers Davey was talking about. Guards patrolled them, strolling along left and ri…
"Hey!" Davey shouted, snapping me out of my trance. "We're here."
We were standing in front of a large wooden building. It had a picture of a bottle, with two swinging doors in front. It looked like a saloon straight out of a western film. "Where are we?" I asked. “It looks like a bar.”
Davey smiled and said, "Some place that will help you better understand your powers.”
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The club was filled with angry drunken people in strange clothes. As Davey walked along, the people murmured and hushed, moving to the side for him. It made me wonder about his origins. Did these people respect or fear him? As we got to the center of the club, there were two people facing each other, eyes locked in conflict. They seemed to be concentrating. One was dressed in strange blue robes, with gold lining. The other simply had black pants, no shirt on.
Suddenly the man in black pants' hands glowed with tremendous blue light. It was the exact same shade as the light that came from my marks. My hands started burning underneath the gloves Davey had given me. He seemed to be in no pain, unlike when I had opened the gate. The light from the man left his hands, each one spinning into a glowing ball. The two balls of light met over his head, merging into one large one. The large ball pulsed, and a huge beam was released, shooting straight at his opponent. It connected with the blue robed man.
"AHHH!" he shouted, being knocked backwards. It took him a moment, but he staggered up, coughing. "DAMN you!” He seemed to be in quite a bit of pain. The man staggered to his feet. To my surprise, he used the exact same technique as the other man, but the beam was much wider, and seemed to be several times stronger. It connected with the man in black pants, hitting him in the ribcage. He flew into the air, and hid the ground, stopping cold. He was knocked out cold, possibly dead. I stared at Davey. He seemed lost in thought.
"Hmm, blue mage, interesting." He murmured.
"Davey!" I shouted, trying to get his attention. "What in the hell was that light? And what’s a blue mage?"
"A blue mage is an interesting type of magic user. Rather than come up with his own techniques, a blue mage trains his body to memorize the attacks of his opponent, taking them as his own. The blue light was a powerful energy called chi. It is a great power discovered by the pioneers of this world, used by almost all of its inhabitants. You have that power deep inside you. Now it is but a dark shadow, but soon, it will be more powerful than any of these mages could ever hope to be."
I said nothing, staring down at my palms in thought. Chi…?
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