FicWad

Chapter 3: The General

Lyone silently watched the fabrics turn to ash in the fire. He wasn't the type who took part in celebrating so loudly. As the flag ceased to exist, he was only left to wonder why squares of textiles were even used to represent an entire country. They were so weak in the way they could be burned or ripped. But this reflected the country well, seeing how he and two hundred men were able to raid the castle in a matter of minutes. Once the ashes of the weak were cast aside, Lyone was sure that his Lord would rebuild the kingdom to be a superpower that everyone in the world feared.

He looked out at the courtyard at the garden that was illuminated by the moon. Though the kingdom was weak, they sure did know how to upkeep their gardens. After shifting his sight, his eyes met the blue, tired eyes of another. He immediately realized that he was looking at his brother, Raphael. The coward took off in an instant.

Lyone considered alerting the men or pulling out his pistol to take care of the fool himself, but he figured he would let his brother go. After all, Lord Icis and his men were in the middle of celebration. Why ruin it and make them chase after an insignificant fool like his brother? He figured Raphael wouldn't get very far, especially since he was badly wounded.

After the festivities went on long enough, Lord Icis dismissed his crew. Some went to claim their rooms while others waited at the castle gates to bring in the rest of the army. As was custom, Lyone walked alongside Lord Icis and escorted him to his room. Two other guards were with them. When they arrived at the king's old room, the bodies had been removed and the sheets had been changed.

Lord Icis pounced on the bed and crossed his legs. "Man, it's good to be king, you know?" he said to Lyone. Lyone only responded with a nod of his head. "Oh, lighten up a little, Lyone," Icis said with a wave of his hand. "You and I, we're going to live like kings. Just forget about that brother of yours and relax."

"Yes, my Lord," he said. "Do you know where my chamber is?"

"Oh yeah. It's in the princess's old room. It's the second biggest one, you know?" Lord Icis reached in his pocket and threw a pair of keys at him.

"Do you need anything else, my Lord?"

"Not at all, Lyone," he said. "You're dismissed for the night."

Lyone gave his Lord a bow and exited the room. The princess's room was right down the hallway. Using the key Icis gave him, Lyone entered the princess's room with a guard accompanying him. The guard quickly lit the room's lanterns to reveal a very pink, feminine room.

"Not quite what I would have chosen in décor," Lyone muttered to himself as he looked around his new bedchamber. As he walked around, he skimmed every object with his finger. It was odd being in the room of a female child. The princess was definitely infatuated with ponies and the color pink.

He touched the pink post of the bed. At least this is big enough for a man, Lyone thought while he touched the velvet bed clothes. As his hand felt the different objects in the room, he remembered the face of the princess. He was sent in to her bedroom to bustle her away to her parents. First he had taken her life, now he was taking her room.

"Is everything okay in here, General Lyone?" the guard asked him.

"Yes, everything is fine, thank you," he replied. He found a small book on the end table that seemed to be a diary. The pages were filled with words about friends, horses, the king, the queen, and other things that Lyone found unpleasant. Her writing style and grammar was awful as well.

"Do you need anything before I leave you, sir?" the guard said.

"Actually yes, I do need something," Lyone said and he sat down the book. "There should be a girl down in the prison being held. Retrieve her and return her here."

"Right away sir," the guard said and he took his leave.

Lyone sat on the bed to ponder what to do to the girl. He wasn't sure if he should keep her as a slave, violate her, kill her, or do both B and C. She seemed fussy and defiant, which would make her enjoyable to torture, but Lyone had done enough of that for the night. He took off his boots and began to unarm himself while he waited for the guard to return.

Lyone removed his belt which held his rapier and his gun in place. His rapier was right in its sheath, but the gun was nowhere to be found. Furthermore, all of his spare clips were missing. He searched the room frantically for the gun. He saw the gun as a prize. He had to kill his father to get it and he even had to tweak a bit of the evidence to pin the murder on Raphael.

I bet that little shit took it, he thought. He slammed his hand down on the white mantel that was just above the fireplace. It caused the books and pictures on it to rattle around. A few even fell. Lyone quickly straightened himself up and assured himself that once his brother was found, the gun would be returned to him.

Though he wanted his brother killed, Lyone really yearned to see Raphael before he was executed. He had so much animosity for him that he wanted to see that man take his last breath. He wanted to see the fear of death in his exhausted eyes and he wanted to hear his brother plea for mercy.

But he knew his brother was also stubborn. The only time he had only seen him beg for something was when he was framed for the crime of taking his father's life. Lyone remembered him on his knees and him holding his blood soaked hands up to him. Raphael was already badly injured and needed to escape the Virnum police.

"I didn't do it, brother," he recalled Raphael saying through bated breath. "I didn't do it. I didn't do it. Please, I need your help."

Like every good brother, Lyone held his hand out to Raphael and where did that get him? His brother was now running around with a Divine's stone and his gun. That or he was lying dead in the castle somewhere. But the chance of Raphael evading an entire army was slim to none, so Lyone tried not to worry.

Lyone lay back on his new bed and rested his eyes for a second. It was nice to finally relax for once. He still wasn't sure what to do with the girl, but he decided not to fret about it any longer. He felt himself drift to sleep a little, but that was interrupted when he heard his door slam open.

"Sir, the girl is gone," he heard the voice of the guard announce.

Lyone shot up from his shallow slumber. "What did you say?"

"The prisoner, she's gone," the guard stammered. "Her cell was wide open and we also found this in a stack of hay." The guard walked over to Lyone and handed him a bloodied medallion. His mind quickly recognized that the medallion was originally shining and gold. Only two existed; one that he had for his general ranking and another that belonged to the sergeant general.

"This is Raphael's medallion," Lyone said to the guard. "That bitch lied to me." Lyone ran over to the chair where he had previously discarded his coat. "Get a small team ready to leave with me," Lyone said as he slung the coat over his body. The guard left at a rapid pace and Lyone marched out the door not too much later.

I know exactly where you're headed, baby brother, he thought while he made his way to the foyer. This time, you'll be begging for my mercy.

"Ugh, it smells down here," Luxina said to the two boys that were with her. The path that they were taking was full of rats and stunk because of the thick moisture. Moss and other plants had made their home below the castle, despite the fact that the tunnel wasn't exposed to any light.

"It is unpleasant," Landon replied back to her. Raphael was remaining quiet, so he figured he'd humor the girl for a bit. "I bet this place hasn't been cleaned for years. I don't think the royal family even used this tunnel once."

"Is this the first big war here?" she inquired.

"There wasn't really a war in the first place," Raphael said. It was the first time he had spoken in a while. "Exercitus is the supposedly the Kingdom of Warfare in this region, but it didn't seem that they were at all prepared."

"Well, it's been over two hundred years since Exercitus has even been forced into a combat dilemma," Landon snapped. "It wasn't until you and your little band of cowards that we found ourselves outmatched."

"I'm no longer with Lord Icis," Raphael said to him. "I was disgusted by his thinking."

"Yeah, after you guys destroyed entire villages and killed thousands of people for the last twenty-five years," Landon said.

"I was only part of his army for nineteen."

Landon stopped in his tracks, which caused the others to stop as well. "How old are you?" he asked Raphael.

"I'm thirty-eight," he replied. "Why?"

Landon put his head in his palms. "So you're telling me that you've spent half of your life killing innocent people? I hope you don't have children, buddy." Landon decided to keep walking after that, but Raphael grabbed him and slammed the boy into a wall. Landon dropped his lantern and it shattered.

"You have no idea who I am, kid," Raphael said in the darkness. "You have no idea what pain I've been through and what I've had to sacrifice to live my life outside of a jail cell. And while I don't know how my own son turned out, I do know that he was raised by an incredible woman. Now shut your mouth before I do it for you."

He dropped Landon on the ground. "Great going pops," was all Landon had to say, "You broke the lantern."

Landon pulled out his plastic lighter and used it instead of wasting multiple matches. It didn't create much of a light, but it was good enough. Luxina quickly realized what it was and said, "Where did you get that from?"

"It was imported from Novus," Landon said to her. If he could impress the good looking chick with his cool imports, he was happy. "I guess it runs on something called gas. I use it to light the cigarettes I also imported from Novus."

"Those aren't good for you, you know," Lux told him. "They cause cancer and shortness of breath. Plus they make your teeth slimy and gross. I'd quit while you're still ahead."

"How do you know?" he asked her as they continued to walk down the dark path.

"We had them back at home," she said. "My home."

"Interesting," Landon said, and he added: "I thought your clothes were a little weird."

They continued to walk down the path and remained silent. Lux had several questions burning in her mind about what Raphael said when he had his mental breakdown just moments before. She looked over at him but tore her gaze away once he saw her eyeing him.

He's thirty-eight years old, Lux thought. Half of his life was spent following Icis. What was the other half like? And he said something about a son, of whom he didn't know. What's the story behind that tale? Why doesn't he just return to Virnum and find out how his son is? The questions just kept popping in her head, but she decided that that moment would not be the right time to request the answers from him.

Raphael, on the other hand, wasn't thinking at all. He was more worried about what lurked in the darkness. The tunnel had been untouched for so many years that anything could have been waiting for them at the end.

As Landon stated before, the secret escape route was just a straight line down to the temple. This proved to be true. Though Raphael half expected something to be waiting for them, nothing was there. A couple of rats had scurried around, but that was about all the breathing organisms present on their journey in the darkness.

The group ran into a ladder and could see a small light seeping through a door above. Raphael was the first to volunteer, so he climbed the ladder and tried to move the door. It wouldn't budge because something was on top of it. That cued for Lux to pull a small lever that hung beside the ladder. There was a rumbling from above and the door opened automatically.

Landon put away his lighter because light poured in. He allowed Luxina to go first and followed closely behind her. Once they exited the tunnel, Raphael pushed the statue back.

Lux found herself in awe as she looked around the temple. The ceiling was very high and chandeliers hung above them. The sides of the temple were lined with candles and the middle was lined with pews. Down the aisle was a long blue carpet lined in gold, which lead to an altar. Looming above it was a stained glass window that depicted a caped fellow wearing blue. He had his hands parallel from each other and in-between them were small bolts of electricity.

"This is the Temple of Raidan," Landon said. He had never been one to worship the divines, but he was still spellbound by the architecture.

Raphael, on the other hand, kept a clear head. He carefully watched up on the balcony for signs of life. Seeing how the temple was a place of worship, he knew that Lord Icis would assume that people would flee there to find it as a sanctuary. He wasn't worried about citizens as much as he was worried about Icis's men camping for them.

"What's this Raidan a divine of?" Lux asked as they walked down the aisle.

"He's the Divine of Mischief," Raphael replied without turning to talk to Lux. "His element is lightning."

Once they reached the altar, Raphael took the stone out of his pocket. "Could you two step back?" he asked. "I don't know how powerful this will be." Lux and Landon did as he asked and stepped behind one of the pews. Underneath the stained glass window was a small pedestal with an indentation at the top. Raphael knew that if he placed the stone on that pedestal, it would be unobtainable to the world.

Seeing how the stone would cause instant death to those that touched it with their bare hands, Raphael double checked his leather gloves for holes. With none in sight, Raphael carefully unwrapped the cloth off of the stone. He was about to set the stone down when a voice interrupted him.

"Stop right there, baby brother," a voice said which echoed through the temple. Raphael recognized it as the voice of his brother. He quickly tried to place the stone on its pedestal, but someone shot his hand in the process. He dropped the stone and grabbed onto his hand.

Lyone now had his brother's undivided attention. He held the gun up as he walked down the aisle. The guards he had with him kept their guns pointed at Lux and Landon.

"I'm afraid I am going to have to stop you here, Raphael," Lyone said. "You've become too much of a pest." Lyone glanced over at Lux and smirked. "It seems that this will be the night that you and this little slut take your last breath."

Raphael kept ahold of his hand as his brother walked up to him. Raphael knew in the back of his mind that he would get shot if he tried to retrieve the stone. Lyone took the opportunity and pick up the stone. He kept a watchful eye on his brother and kept the barrel of his gun on him at all times.

"Why do you want this so badly?" Lyone asked him. He began to walk around his brother. He was still contemplating the best time to shoot him. "Only our Lord Icis knows how to harvest its power. Why take it?"

"To keep it from him," Raphael muttered.

"Interesting," Lyone said and he used his pistol to smack Raphael in the face. He then kicked him in the stomach and made him fall to his knees. Blood came out of Raphael's mouth as he put his head down in defeat. Lyone wanted to see the pain in his brother's eyes, so he used the barrel of the gun to lift his head up.

Lyone shook his head and said, "Dad would be so disappointed in you, baby brother. He was already disappointed in you when you weren't there to save me during my fake death. And he despised you when he found out you had a son at the age of fifteen. You've just mustered up enough in life to be a crate of disappointments. I mean, you even killed our father."

"I didn't do it," Raphael shouted. "You know I didn't. Someone else did!"

"Who did then?" Lyone licked his lips in excitement.

"I, I don't know," Raphael said to him. "A burglar, a friend, a foe, but regardless, I didn't do it."

"You're correct about you not committing the crime, baby brother," Lyone said and he paced back and forth. "But your potential perpetrators are all erroneous." Lyone then pointed the gun to his brother's head. "Only two people know the answer and one of them are dead. But, before I take your life, would you like me to tell you?"
Raphael remained silent. A lump formed in his throat as his heart fell to the floor. He knew the answer. He knew who killed his father and had known for years, but he always pushed it back.

"Before I reveal the truth, I honestly remember this scene somewhere," Lyone said. "I remember seeing you on your knees once before. You were injured and on the brink of death. You were covered in blood back then, just as you are now, but the blood on you then was a mix of yours and Father's. I recall you being nineteen years old. It had been years since I had seen you, but rather than say hello, you came to me. You were begging and crying for me to help you. Lord Icis took you under his wing and helped you recover. Is this how you repay our Lord?"

"He's no longer my lord, Lyone," Raphael said quietly. "Now, tell me who killed our father."

Lyone got close to his brother's face. It was so nice seeing him helpless and lost. At least he would give him some closure before his death. Lyone kept the gun to Raphael's head as he leaned in to see his dead, blue eyes. "I killed Papa," Lyone said.

Boom!

The gunshot echoed through the temple. Lyone quickly turned around. The gunshot was not his own. Standing there and holding his father's gun right at him was Luxina. She had shot the guard that watched her. Landon had kicked the guard watching him and rendered him unconscious. The tables had turned and now Lyone was alone.

"Put that gun down, girl," Lyone said and his eyes shifted nervously.

"No," was all she said.

Though weak and bruised, Raphael found his perfect chance. He rammed into his brother's back which caused Lyone to drop his gun and the stone. The stone rolled right over to Luxina's feet and, without thinking, she picked the stone up.

Lyone, Landon, and Raphael all saw a bright light and heard a loud sound. Picking up the stone caused Lux to shoot back into one of the walls. Two candles toppled over and Lux's limp body stayed put. Her mouth was open a bit and she appeared to not be breathing.

Raphael and Landon immediately ran over to the corpse. "Wake up, Lux," Raphael said as he picked her up. "You've got to wake up." He moved her head so it was facing his, but it slouched backed to its position when he let go. It was the first time in a long time that he began to feel anger and he felt hot tears well up in his eyes.

"What a fool," Lyone scoffed behind them. "I guess she learned that trait for you, huh brother?"

Raphael grabbed the hilt of his sword and turned around to face Lyone. He unsheathed his rapier which caused Lyone to do the same. "This feud, it ends now," Raphael said. He knew how weak he was and how his chances of death were high, but he actually okay with that.

The two brothers began a duel to the death while Landon held up Lux's body. It was still warm and, besides the limpness, she didn't seem dead at all. "Wake up, Lux," Landon said as he patted her face. "We need you to wake up."

There was a strong scent of cinnamon in the air as Lux regained her consciousness. She felt around to discover that she was in a velvet chair. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Her feet were propped up and she was wearing a soft bathrobe and fuzzy corgi slippers. She looked over at a fireplace on her left to see a boy tending to it.

Lux felt a rush of nervousness overcome her, but the scent of cinnamon, the bathrobe, and the crimson color of the room made it disappear. Still, she had to question the stranger. "Where am I?" she asked.

"You woke up, then?" the boy said to her with his thick British accent. He was wearing a dark teal cape, a teal uniform lined in gold, and sunglasses. His name was Raidan, the Divine of Mischief. His hair was black, but a blond streak that appeared to be a bolt of lightning swooped down at the end of his hair. In Antiquus lore, Raidan was depicted as a sixteen year old hellion with a heart of gold. He was also the epitome of cool.

"I uh, I guess," Luxina said and she grasped onto her head. She began to wonder if maybe she would appear in a new place every time she went to sleep. This was a frightening thought however, and she quickly pushed it out of her brain.

The boy stood up with grace and put back the rod he used to tend the fire. With a swoosh of his cape, the boy turned to look right at Lux. He stood proud and let Lux take in his incredible, god-like body. With the reflection of the fire light burning in his aviator shades, who could resist?

He cleared his throat to get her attention and said, "I am Raidan, the Divine of Mischief and commander of lightning. I am also-"

"That doesn't really answer my question," Lux interrupted. "Where am I?"

Raidan crossed his arms and tapped his foot in annoyance. "You're in front of a god and all you do is ask questions?" he said. "There's no bowing or groveling?" He pulled his glasses down a little bit and revealed his electric blue eyes. "I like it. And, to answer your question, we are in your own nirvana."

"It smells like teen spirit," Lux said and waited for Raidan to laugh and tell her 'Good one.' Instead, she was welcomed to silence and the boy put on a confused expression.

"What?" he said.

"Nothing," she said and dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "But anyway, what do you mean by my own heaven?"

"The description gives it all."

"So I am dead, then?"

"Er, well, no," Raidan said quickly. He scratched his head as he thought of a better way to put it. "It's sort of like Your Sanctuary. Everything in this room is what you find comfortable. You find the color crimson calming, the aroma of cinnamon enlightening, and you also enjoy this god awful music." And just as he said that, Raidan used a remote to start up a record player that was on the other side of the room.

It only took a couple of seconds for the music to travel to Lux's ears and process through her brain. "Is this the soundtrack to Mother 3?" she asked him.

"I honestly don't know," Raidan said. "All I can tell you is that it sucks."

"Well, we can listen to your stuff if you'd like."

Raidan slouched and surrendered to her obliviousness. "What part of 'Your Sanctuary' don't you understand?" he said to her. Lux bowed her head in embarrassment. "Anyway, would you like some coffee?"

Coffee was Lux's favorite drink back at home. She drank it in the morning and sometimes in the evening. "Yes, please," she said immediately.

Raidan walked over to a coffee pot and poured her a mug. "You must like creamer," he said, "because it doesn't look like coffee at all." Seeing how Lux preferred creamer, the coffee automatically added creamer whilst brewing. Smelling the sweet French vanilla enticed Raidan, so he poured himself a mug as well.

"Thank you," she said as she reached out to grab the mug. The mug's color was brown and orange stripes, just like the one she had back at home. Cupping her hands around the cup, she felt the familiar warmth of coffee after waking. She took a sip as soon as she could and let the rich flavors be savored as the liquid traveled down her gullet.

"This is pretty fantastic," Raidan said after he took his first sip. He was now sitting on a velvet chair that looked similar to Lux's and was prepared to divulge Lux into her true fate.

"I have a question," Lux said after he seemed comfortable.

"Shoot."

"You said this is my sanctuary and everything is how I want it to be," she said. "Does that mean you look completely different in real life?"

"If I look like a hot sixteen year old badass, then you're looking at the real me," Raidan said and he took another sip of his coffee. "But in all seriousness, one cannot change another's appearance in their respective sanctuary. While you do have complete control, you do not have control of others."

"So I could just change all of this in an instant?" she asked him.

"You could, yes," Raidan said. He held on tightly to his mug of hot coffee and braced for some major changes. Last time he introduced a hero to their sanctuary and told them of this feature, he found himself being transported from a jungle to a battlefield and then he found him and the old hero falling from the sky.

Luxina looked around for a second, but shrugged her shoulders. "It looks fine to me, honestly."

Raidan let out a sigh of relief and loosened himself up. "That's good. The last guy I had to wake up really threw me around."

"What do you mean?" Luxina asked.

"Let me explain, since we're all settled down," Raidan said and he sat his coffee aside again. "The other Divines and I cannot leave the celestial havens that have been created for us. We are trapped, in a way. Thus, if something goes wrong with the land and the people that we watch over, we are unable to stop the evils that walk the planet. That means we have to summon those who were born to handle the powers we are given. My father and my mother, Zaman and Ameterasu, usually take charge of picking those destined to obtain our powers. There was a slight over sight with you, however."

"What do you mean?" Lux said. She was on the edge of her seat at this point and huddled over her coffee. She used the recognizable aroma and its warmth to keep her calm. There were so many new things being thrown at her all at once. At least her coffee didn't change.

"Well, after some guy died who was the allotted one for my power, my parents must have created you and sent you off," Raidan said. "The problem was they sent you off into another dimension on accident. I would say it was a rookie mistake, but my parents do control time and space, which is a pretty big and complicated deal. Anyway, they sent you off to something called the First Dimension. I wasn't told about this until a couple days ago, when this Lord Icis guy started to get in everyone's hair."

"So I technically wasn't supposed to be born in Newark, Ohio, but rather somewhere in Exercitus?"

"You hit the nail right on the head. My parents sort of saw this as not being a big deal, however. It has been thousands of years since they have had to awaken any of the Divine Heroes. You and a few others are in for a surprise, I suppose."

"I'm a hero?" Lux said and she sat back in her chair. She was in immense disbelief. Her whole life she was that person who thirsted for knowledge but failed school, the person that made others laugh but had no friends, the person that worked hard and went the extra mile but was never promoted, the person that had sexual comments made towards her but that employee received a promotion, and the list went on. Lux's life was never difficult, and she knew that, but after years of always being tossed aside, it was hard to believe that she was finally given a chance to be who she always wanted.

"A hero, huh?" she said and leaned back even further in disbelief.

"That's what you were born to do," Raidan said. "You were born to wield my powers on the mortal world and shine a light over the darkness that will slowly engulf the planet."

"Sweet," Lux said and she had that determined look on her face.

"But just because you are given my powers, that does not mean you are slated to win over the dark," Raidan said. "The last guy I woke up those thousands of years ago perished along with the other heroes. The planet was engulfed in darkness and we had no choice but to destroy it. The odds, I'm sad to say, are very much stacked against you."

"So when you say heroes, you're saying that there are more out there like me?" Lux asked.

"There are. We can't personally awaken these heroes ourselves, though."

"Do you know who has been awakened?"

Raidan let out a sigh as he crinkled his lips to the right and looked up; as if he was looking into his mind. "I believe that only three out of the eight have been woken. At least, that's what my siblings have told me. Oh, and after our conversation here, you will be the fourth."

"Do you know their names?" Lux asked him. "Knowing that would make this whole hero thing a lot easier."

Raidan's face went from super cool to super serious after her question. "I only know of one personally. His name is Neville Wittlebottom." He paused for a second, but then added: "Or at least that was his name. Now he's known as Lord Icis."

"The guy that everyone has been warning me about is actually named Neville Wittlebottom?" Lux couldn't believe what she was hearing. This caused her to chuckle.

"It's not funny," Raidan snapped and Lux grew quiet. "He's the whole reason this mess started. We had no plans to awaken any of our heroes, but he found a way to burst into our realm and take my brother's element of ice; killing him in the process."

Lux put her head down and said, "I'm sorry to hear that." After a pause, she said, "So this Lord Icis is like the ultimate villain?"

"Universally speaking, no," Raidan said. "The biggest farce my parents ever created was a woman named Sarah Palin. I honestly don't know who she is or what planet she's on, but I do know that she's destined to take over the world."

"No kidding?"

"But speaking of Lord Icis, this brings me to your goal. It's to stop this man at all costs." Raidan kept on an unsympathetic expression when he spoke of Icis. "Right now, Icis is using his knowledge of breaking into our realm to help awaken heroes that assure loyalty to him and killing those that do not. Of course, killing a hero cues my parents to make another in the process, but it would be years before they were able to take down Icis. Quite frankly, we don't have that kind of time."

"So are the other two heroes that have awakened loyal to Lord Icis?" Lux said.

"I don't know. If I did, I would tell you. But between my brother Ewald dying and knowing that Lord Icis had the stone that would wake you, I didn't have time to check. I'm just glad you got hold of the stone before he broke into my realm to destroy me."

There was a tense pause between the two of them. Lux stared at her feet while Raidan looked to the side. It was hard for him to think about his brother perishing. Even though he was one of the most powerful of the universe, he still had emotions.

"Right then," he piped up after a moment of silence. "After I dismiss you, there will be a secret area that will open up to you if you place the stone you have in a pedestal at the altar. That will open a basement, more or less. In that basement will be a weapon."

"What kind of weapon?" Lux asked. She pictured herself wielding a badass claymore or a fricken sweet bow.

"I have no idea, honestly. It will be whatever the stone believes you're best at. The weapon will be so powerful that you can implement my element of lightning with it. Shooting lightning through a regular weapon probably wouldn't have the best result…"

"Raphael said putting that stone on the pedestal would lock it up for eternity," Lux told Raidan and he nodded.

"That is true, but not with you," Raidan responded. "Even if the stone was already locked up, a Divine Hero could open the path to their stone and weapon. Someone like this Raphael would only lock it in place until said hero arrives to be awakened."

"So, as we speak, are there other heroes being called to their stones?"

"No, we don't know how to do that. It also makes the story a little more interesting, you know? And a little less boring to watch, I suppose." Raidan stood up from his seat. "Is there anything else you need, because you're needed a.s.a.p. on Canada right about now?"

"I have never used a weapon in my life," Lux said. "Will I suddenly know how to use my designated weapon when I wield it?"

"Heck no," Raidan said bluntly. "What do you think this is some sort of fantastic fantasy land? Even if you have never touched a weapon in your life, it will know what weapon will be easiest for you to learn to use. It's just cool like that."

Raidan pushed a button by the fireplace and a lever came out from under the floor. At its base, the words 'Awaken' were placed in Jokerman font. Raidan thought that this was ironic, seeing how he was a totally awesome guy and his switch to awaken his hero had a totally cheesy font on it.

"One more question," she said quickly as she arose from her comfy seat. This caused the footrest to go sprawling across the floor.

"Alright," Raidan said and he rolled his eyes. "But make it quick, you're friend Raphael will die if you don't hurry."

"If someone besides the destined hero touches a stone, will they die instantly? Raphael and Landon believe that that's the case."

"No, that's just a silly lie that Icis is spreading so no one will touch the stones. He just doesn't want anyone he dislikes to actually be a Divine Hero."

"Okay," Lux said and she closed her eyes and held her breath. "I'm ready then."

"Oh, but one more thing," Raidan said. "I will tell you that your role in this formula is much greater than any other Divine Hero."

"How so?" Lux said as she opened one eye.

"Pssh, if I told you that, this whole adventure would be no fun," Raidan said. "Anyway, good luck." He pulled the lever and added: "Adios."