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    453

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    Email 453@cythera.org Location Kansas Age 19

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    • Set Sail on Kronos' Kronos Ship

      Disclaimer: This is a fanfic based on Kat’s novel Sail. Some of the scenes and most of the characters are from Sail. And Kronos is one of Chey’s characters. And the premise to this story is Tyry’s idea. Really I can’t claim anything except the poor writing, the ship, and Retsy.

      _Moonlight glittered on the creek and crickets chirped in the night, as Kateiko lay on the bank, confessing to Rhonos her part in Marijka’s death. Rhonos kept control of his outrage, heard Kako out, and offered advice for moving forward.

      "You must stay with Tiernan now. Do you understand? I will help you talk to him when I return."

      "Fine," agreed Kako, rolling closer to Rhonos and curling up next to him. "I’m so tired."

      "Here," said Rhonos, spreading a blanket over her.

      "Thank you," she murmured sleepily. "When will you be back?"

      "As soon as possible."_

      The walls of the Time Control Center were covered with dozens of monitors, each showing a different scene in space and time. Below the monitors, countertops full of buttons, levers, and knobs allowed for potentially interfering with the events of Time. Technically, Kronos was forbidden to interfere, but what’s the point of being a powerful Time Elemental if you can’t help out here and there, amirite?

      Kronos watched the endearing scene between Rhonos and Kateiko on one of his many monitors. He couldn’t help but smile, watching the two young people. He had seen so many fall in love - indeed, far more than he could count. And indeed, he had all seen many fall out of love. It was so commonplace that whether or not love would blossom between two people rarely concerned him in the slightest. But these two people were different. There was something about them - Kronos wasn’t quite sure what it was, but perhaps it had something to do with their names - that had Kronos really rooting for them to get together.

      Kronos was snapped out of his shipping daydreams by a loud thump.

      He jumped and turned around, to find a girl crumpled on the floor behind him.

      "Ow," she moaned.

      Kronos stared in astonishment. He had lived in the Time Control Center since the beginning of Time, and would continue to until the end of Time, and it was very, very rare for him to have any visitors.

      "How did you get here?"

      " I don’t know!" snapped the girl. "Ask Suriel."

      What did I miss while I was watching Kateiko and Rhonos? wondered Kronos. He pressed a few buttons and one of the monitors switched scenes to show the girl and Suriel atop the Pillared Mountain.

      "Suriel, you’re standing in the way of my evil global domination plans!" the girl (on the screen) was saying. Kronos fast-forwarded a bit (you’ve heard one evil monologue, you’ve heard them all). He pressed 'play' in time to hear Suriel say in his eerie voice, "insolent human! Death is too sweet a fate for you, I shall banish you outside of Time so that you can watch me destroy everything you care about over and over for all of eternity!" Suriel glowed, the girl vanished off of the screen, and the girl beside Kronos nodded.

      "Yup, that’s what happened," she confirmed. "Who are you anyway? Are you imprisoned here too?"

      "No, no. I’m Kronos, I’m a Time elemental. Few have heard of me, since I mostly watch from behind the scenes and only intervene when I deem it necessarily and prudent, but I am free to travel the world, anytime, anywhere."

      "Sweet deal! I’m Retsy, by the way. I’m an evil magess destined to take over the world. So can you give me a lift back, uh, into the world?"

      Kronos kept tabs on those who were liable to attempt to take over the world, and Retsy had never been anywhere near his radar, but he shrugged that off for the moment. "I’m afraid I cannot help. In order to undo your exile, I would need to go back in time to before Suriel banished you, and somehow prevent him from doing so."

      "So, can you do that?" Retsy asked. "This would be a "necessarily and prudent" intervention, right?"

      "It’s not that simple. Even the tiniest action in time can cause ripples that lead to massive consequences."

      "Massive consequences like stopping a sociopathic air spirit from destroying the world? You’re just going to sit back and watch him kill everything?"

      "Hey now," said Kronos, "you don’t know how many would-be-evil-overlords I’ve prevented from taking over! Suriel is different. He’s been planning this for millennia, and has planned against every eventuality. Every time I try to block him, he’s already planned for it and it ends up working to his favour. I’m afraid our only hope against Suriel lies in the various heroes of the world. There is a chance, however slim, that they may yet figure out how to take him down."

      "But… my destiny…"

      "It’s not so bad here," Kronos attempted to comfort her. "There’s plenty to watch. Check out this scene," he re-wound the scene he had been watching moments earlier, of Kako’s confession and Rhonos covering her with a blanket.

      Retsy watched intently. "Aww," she said. "Do they get married and live happily ever after?"

      "We’ll have to keep watching and find out. You wouldn’t want spoilers, would you?"

      "Ooh, maybe this will help!" said Retsy, noticing a knob marked "love" and turning it up.

      "NO!" exclaimed Kronos, too late reaching out to stop her hand. He gripped his hair in horror. "What have you done?! Was that a necessary and prudent intervention??"

      Retsy shifted her eyes back and forth. "Yes?"

      Kronos sighed in exasperation.

      "Should I dial it back?" Retsy offered. She reached toward the "love" dial again, but this time Kronos stopped her in time.

      "No!" he repeated. "It would be impossible for you to get it back to exactly the level that it was. A second intervention could make it worse. We will just have to watch and hope that there are no major problems from this act of foolishness…"

      Retsy glanced at the monitor doubtfully. Had she really ruined the world? It looked the same to her. Rhonos had already left, but Kako was still lying on the creek-bank, smiling in her sleep.

      _"It’s been a week, Anwea."

      Kateiko was in Tiernan’s stable, brushing her horse and thinking aloud.

      "I’m so eager for him to return. Yet…" A long silence while she brushed Anwea several times. "…I’m not sure what I’ll do when he does."

      Anwea listened patiently. Or ignored Kako. It’s hard to tell with horses.

      "He… likes me." A spark in her voice, and brightness to her eyes displayed how exciting Kako found that idea. "I thought he hated me. He was so cold, you know? But then, he brought me a blanket. He sent me zucchini calamari. He trusted me to take care of his friend, despite my recent error in judgment. And he’s a cool guy. Infuriating as woodcarving, but a good person. Always on the move, always learning, fighting the fight. Do you think I really have a chance with Rhonos, Anwea?"

      An awkward silence for several moments, before Anwea gave a tiny snort which encouraged Kako to speak again.

      "Oh, what should I do?" She rested her forehead in Anwea’s fur. "This is my chance to finally get Tiernan’s attention. He’s shattered, but I’m picking up his pieces. Besides, he really doesn’t have anyone else anymore. I think if I kissed him, he’d really respond to it."

      She fell silent again, and didn’t speak as she finished grooming Anwea and left the stable, though she seemed preoccupied and hardly paying attention to what she was doing._

      "Man, she’s still going to pursue Tiernan?" groaned Retsy.

      Kronos sighed. "We can’t control who will pursue whom. I mean, we could, but it would be incredibly foolish."

      "More foolish than kissing Tiernan when he’s obviously still mourning his wife?"

      "Well… the point is, we must not interfere. This is Kateiko’s decision," said Kronos gravely.

      "Ugh." Retsy crossed her arms and plopped herself down in her chair in disgust.

      Kateiko kissed Tiernan, twining her fingers into his dark hair. Raindrops slid down his face. She pressed close to him, but he didn’t respond. When his blank eyes met hers, she let go. She forced broken rock pieces into his hand, mouthed "I love you," and left.

      Retsy tsked her tongue and shook her head. "Just turn it off," she told Kronos. "Even a sports game would be better than this."

      Kronos shook his head. "You can’t just give up on people every time they disappoint you. When you’ve seen as many missed opportunities as I have, perhaps you’ll understand. Any amount of beauty and victory can still come through any amount of brokenness."

      "Whatever," Retsy rolled her eyes.

      At The Blackened Oak, Kateiko sat for hours, waiting for Rhonos.

      "This is so boring, can’t you fast-forward?" asked Retsy.

      "What’s the rush, young one? Weren’t you the one who asked me to turn it off? Of course, I could fast-forward, but this gives me a chance to check the other monitors. Keep an eye on Kateiko for me, would you?" Kronos swiveled slowly around the room, surveying the many different monitors which each seemed to display a different scene in space and time.

      "OHSNAP!" Kronos suddenly shouted, startling Retsy. She jumped and looked at the monitor that had Kronos’ attention.

      On the screen, various terrifying monsters who seemed to be made out of owwies were violently killing off valiant heroes, while cities burned in the background. "Ew!" exclaimed Retsy, covering her eyes from the grotesque sight.

      "I turn my back on the mirror universe for a couple of weeks and look what happens!" moaned Kronos. "Unkillable zombie monsters take over the world! Ugh, what a mess. This is going to take a lot of work to undo. You see, Retsy? This is a necessary and prudent intervention."

      Retsy peeked through her fingers and shuddered. "I feel sick," she complained.

      "Just watch Kateiko," said Kronos. "I’ll be a while here."

      Retsy swiveled her chair closer to Kako’s monitor. She was still waiting in the tavern, alone. Boring. Retsy looked at all the buttons on the control panel. They didn’t look that hard to figure out… She glanced back at Kronos, but all his attention was obviously on trying to save the mirror universe. A mischievous smile tugged on Retsy’s lips as she bent over the control panel under Kako’s monitor.

      "Okay, I think I got that sorted out," said Kronos, sounding drained. He swiveled back to Retsy to watch KateikoVision. "Rather sloppy. I had to send a time-traveler. But those horrors should be prevented now. Hopefully. Anyway, what did I miss?"

      "Rhonos arrived."

      Kronos looked at the monitor.

      _The tavern was a mess, with tables and chairs knocked over and puddles of beer on the floor, but Rhonos and Kako sat at a table in the corner, talking.

      "There’s something I need to tell you," said Rhonos. He shifted uncomfortably. "This isn’t easy."

      "What is it?" asked Kako, looking scared.

      Rhonos took a deep breath and stared intently at his mug. "Since I met you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you."_

      Kronos’ brow furrowed. "That doesn’t sound like Rhonos…" He looked at Retsy, who dodged his glance.

      "I thought I’d get over it while traveling the world, but it’s only gotten worse," Rhonos continued. "I constantly miss you and wish you were there. It seems I’ve… I love you."

      Kronos was horrified. "Retsy! What did you do?!"

      Retsy smiled nervously, her teeth clenched. "Uh, nothing! There’s a perfectly logical explanation. Someone spilled a love potion in his drink. Freak accident."

      "Rhonos doesn’t consume anything he’s served unless he trusts the person who prepared and served it to him," Kronos pointed out.

      "Um, well, there was a brawl in the tavern, see? See all the mess? And during the commotion, someone accidentally spilled love potion in his drink. And no one noticed."

      "But he makes sure to keep his eyes on his drink from the time he’s served until he has finished it. If he was distracted by a brawl, he wouldn’t have finished his drink, as a precaution."

      "Usually that’s true," admitted Retsy. "But in this case his judgment was impaired because he hasn’t gotten any sleep in four days."

      Kronos stared at her suspiciously.

      "And he was exceptionally thirsty because he hadn’t had anything to drink all day," added Retsy.

      Kronos still didn’t seem convinced, but reluctantly turned his attention back to the monitor.

      _Kako’s eyes were wide and her mouth was open in shock.

      "Uh, did you hear me?" asked Rhonos.

      "Yeah…" said Kako, dazed. "You… love me?"

      "That seems to be the case," agreed Rhonos. "I regret to burden you with this information, but I was hoping you’d feel the same way, so we could move forward."

      "I just can’t believe it…"

      "Do you need time to consider it? I could go on another voyage of indeterminate length, and seek you out whenever I return?" offered Rhonos.

      "No!" said Kako quickly. "I’m just surprised. That was completely unexpected."

      "I understand, my apologies."

      "I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me," Kako began. "And believe me, it’s taking all of my restraint not to throw myself on you right now. But…"

      "Er, thanks for your restraint," said Rhonos, looking mortified.

      "But I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be together," finished Kako.

      "Ah."

      She added quickly. "It’s not your fault! It’s just, you deserve better."

      Rhonos scowled. "How could you say such a hateful thing? Don’t I have the right to make my own decisions?"

      Kako instantly got defensive. "Well yeah, but so do I! And I’m better off on my own."

      "Fine, if that’s what you want. Farewell," Rhonos got up abruptly and left._

      "ARGH!" Retsy stomped on the floor. "I couldn’t have given them a better setup, and she rejected him?!"

      Kronos raised an eyebrow.

      "Alright fine, I interfered!" huffed Retsy. "For all the good it did! It didn’t even change anything."

      "We can only hope it didn’t change much. Look, I’m as disappointed about these two as you are. But don’t you see? Interfering usually only makes things worse."

      Retsy just crossed her arms and sulked.

      _Near the Iyo-jouyen, the newly-arrived Rin-jouyen were having a party with some of their Iyo friends & relations. Kako sat with Airedain, an Iyo friend whom she had grown even closer to since leaving Tiernan’s house. The reunion was going splendidly until Rhonos came to warn everyone that the Corvittai were coming to kill them all. Kako convinced the okorebai-Rin that Rhonos was trustworthy, and he sent Airedain to run to the Iyo-jouyen and beg their okorebai for reinforcements. Airedain kissed Kako before running off.

      Kako stepped aside with Rhonos to ask him about Tiernan and Nonil. After a brief discussion, Rhonos sadly asked, "I thought you said you were better off on your own?"

      "Uh," Kako fiddled with her hair. "I didn’t mean that, exactly…"

      "You meant you were better off with him?" Rhonos nodded to the now-far-off figure of Airedain, running across the plain.

      "…yeah," Kako admitted.

      "I see." Rhonos turned to leave, but Kako grabbed his arm.

      "Please, try to see it from my side."

      "You prefer be with him than to be with me. That’s your decision."

      "It’s not about who I prefer," said Kako. "I wasn’t good enough for Fendul. I wasn’t good enough for Tiernan. I wasn’t good enough for Parr. Even if you’d be okay with it, I don’t want to spend my life being not good enough for you. You don’t know what that’s like. But with Airedain, it’s different. A goldfish would be good enough for him. I’m sufficient. I’m good for him."

      Rhonos just looked at her, sadly.

      The ground lurched beneath them.

      Kako gave a small yell of surprise at the sensation, then another when she saw her surroundings. The forest and fields were gone. She and Rhonos were standing on wooden planks, with large crates stacked on either side of them. "What-? What-?!" she sputtered

      Rhonos pulled her into the shadows, and crouched down, gesturing to her to be quiet.

      "Where are we?" whispered Kako.

      "We’re aboard some sort of ship," Rhonos whispered back. Looking between two stacks of crates, Kako could make out a railing, and beyond that, blue waves. "I know nothing more about this than you do, but we must stay hidden until we figure out if we were summoned here by allies or foes."_

      "What. Did. You. Do?!" demanded Kronos.

      "I don’t know!" Retsy answered. "I thought that was the code to ship them!"

      Kronos groaned. "You shipped them alright - on a cargo ship."

      "Ohh! That doesn’t count as a mistake then, I just misunderstood the wording of the code!"

      "I thought you learned your lesson last time! Why, why would you interfere again?"

      Retsy looked at her feet in shame. "I’m sorry. I’ll never interfere in Kako & Rhonos’s lives again, ever. I promise."

      Kronos looked at the remorseful, repentant girl before him, and sighed. On the screen, Rhonos and Kako crouched in the shadows of the crates. The ship swayed, knocking Kako onto Rhonos’ lap. Their faces turned red.

      "I have to go to the bathroom," said Kronos. "Then I’ll see if there’s any way I can correct this. Touch nothing while I’m gone."

      Retsy nodded dutifully. As soon as Kronos went into the bathroom and shut the door, she turned to the control panel and rapidly typed in a long string of code. The truth was, she hadn’t been interfering with Rhonos and Kako just because they belonged together; she had also wanted to learn how to use the time controls for her own reasons. Her finger hovered over the "execute" button. Do it now , she told herself. But she hesitated.

      The bathroom door opened, and Retsy jumped. "HI!" she exclaimed.

      Kronos’ eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Hi…"

      "I have something to tell you," she blurted out.

      "What is it?"

      Retsy took a deep breath. "Thank you. For taking care of me the last couple of weeks. And putting up with my mistakes. But I think it’s time for me to go."

      Kronos gave her a sympathetic smile. "You are welcome, of course. But we’ve been over this. It would be too risky to put you back in your own time."

      "I know. And besides, I’m an evil magess. And I’m not even very good at that. I’ve only ever been a burden on my friends, and if I went back, I’d just continue to fail everything. So, the best thing would be if I never existed." Retsy leaned down and hit the "execute" button.

      "RETSY, NO!" Kronos lunged to grab her, but she was already gone. He was alone in the Time Control Center. "No, no, no," he whispered in dismay, while hastening to change channels on the monitors, and rewinding. There were Retsy’s fellow adventurers, taking down a ruffian encampment, rescuing a magess who had been kidnapped by a demon, attending a wedding… all adventures Retsy had been on, but now she was absent. Kronos rewound further and found Retsy’s brother Toreon, growing up an only child.

      "She erased herself from time," murmured Kronos. But he couldn’t let that happen. This was why he had an "undo the last command" command! Rapidly he began typing in the code. In his haste, he made typos that he had to stop and correct. But he would get her back, he had to!

      His typing slowed and then stopped as he looked up, a puzzled expression on his face. What was he doing? Something about a girl who had been with him. But what girl? No one had been with him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, deleted the code he had been typing and sat down. Now, what was he doing? Oh yes, watching Kateiko and Rhonos!

      There was Kateiko on one monitor, fighting the Corvittai with her friends and family. On another monitor was Rhonos, traveling Eremur on his own. It was a shame those two never got together, they would have been perfect for each other.

      ~End~

      posted in Cythera Chronicles
      453
      453
    • For Better, For Worse

      Entry for the Spring 2017 Chron Challenge

      (Disclaimer: This story is an entry for the Spring 2017 Chron Challenge. The characters in this story are not mine, and are used without permission. I’d be happy to edit if one of the characters’ owners actually reads this (unlikely!), or if one of the real Cythera writers would like something edited for some reason. I consider this chronicle a fan-fic, but if the serious writers want to regard it as canon, that’s up to them ^ _^)

      "Happy anniversary."

      Moonshadow looked from the mooncake in Flynn’s outstretched hands, to his beaming face, and grinned. She loved the way his eyes smiled as much as his lips. Careful not to squish the mooncake, she hugged him tightly. She loved the feeling of her husband in her arms.

      Flynn laughed at her attempt to hug him without damaging the gift, and handed the cake to her. Moonshadow accepted it and took a bite.

      Magelight gently illuminated their small room in the Ronin’s barracks. The corners of the room were draped in shadow, but Moonshadow could see Flynn as clearly as if he were in broad daylight. Or as clearly as if she had her eyes closed.

      "Can you believe it’s been four years?" asked Flynn.

      " Yes ," said Moonshadow emphatically, earning her another laugh from Flynn.

      "So it’s been a busy four years. That just makes it all the better, doesn’t it?"

      "Not entirely…" she hesitated. "Maybe for the most part."

      "I love adventuring with you." He kissed her. "I want to keep having adventures with you for the rest of my life." He embraced her.

      Moonshadow set down the mooncake and hugged him again. But no matter how hard she squeezed, it didn’t make things alright. "'With me'?" she questioned. "Having adventures will always come before me."

      "Don’t say that, Mada," he said gently. When he used her nickname, it made her feel more like she belonged to him and no-one else. "You know I want to be with you more than anything. And you want to have adventures too!"

      "I want to have sensible adventures," she clarified.

      "Sitting on our thumbs when the world needs us isn’t sensible." Every word Flynn spoke was kind, patient, loving. No trace of frustration crossed his voice.

      "I don’t suggest that," agreed Moonshadow. "I want to adventure with you too. I miss it so much -" when she was about to sob, Flynn kissed her again, longer this time, deeper. Driving out the regrets.

      Their mouths parting, she snuggled against his shoulder. "So it’s truly only been four years?"

      "Exactly four years. Remember that day?"

      "Of course I remember that day," she chided him.

      "You know that feeling you’re just setting out on a new adventure with fellow heroes of Cythera? Full of excitement, satisfied in knowing you’re doing what you’re meant to do, eager for it to begin? That’s how I felt, the morning of our wedding."

      "Nervous? Terrified?"

      Flynn chuckled. "I was only nervous something would go wrong with the ceremony and you’d be displeased."

      "Hey now!" Moonshadow lightly punched him on the chest. "That’s not fair, I wasn’t…" she trailed off for a moment, her mind wandering to her memories of her wedding.

      • (Flashback)

      "Almost there," Katze informed the blindfolded Moonshadow as she, Leandra, and Sasha led her to the spot where she would soon be marrying Flynn. The girls stopped, and positioned Moonshadow so that she had a good view of the area. "And we’re here - what do you think?!" Katze removed Moonshadow’s blindfold.

      She gasped. "It’s beautiful!"

      The northern bank of River Sitia was a romantic spot to begin with, but the Ronin and her other friends had clearly been busy decorating. The grass was greener, and full of wildflowers. Several white picnic blankets had been laid in the lush grass, for the guests’ comfort. Strings of white lanterns hung from the trees. Most surprising of all was right on the bank, where she and Flynn would stand to exchange their vows, were two large blooming trees. Their branches intertwined and shaded the altar, occasionally raining down flower petals.

      "Wh-How-?" she sputtered. Those two trees had definitely not been there when she and Flynn had explored the area a few weeks earlier, choosing their spot.

      Leandra grinned at Moonshadow’s surprise. "We came here a few days ago and worked our Ronin magic."

      "I didn’t know you could do… this!"

      "It was exhausting! Used all the healing potions we brought, and we could still barely teleport back to Cademia. I hope you appreciate it!"

      "Aww, I do!" She hugged Leandra, and then Sasha (who flinched at being hugged). "I want to take a better look!" she said, transforming into a falcon and flying into the air.

      "Be careful!" Leandra called up to her. "The boys are on their way, and it’s bad luck for Flynn to see you before the wedding!"

      Moonshadow rolled her eyes. She didn’t believe in such silly superstitions. She circled higher, taking in her surroundings and enjoying the beautiful day. Everything was perfect.

      To the south she saw a large group of adventurers on their way to the wedding. Moonshadow had no blood-family here in Cythera, but her friends from the Tavern and various quests had become like family, and most of them were able to come witness the wedding. She screeched down at them, and many arms waved back in response. Flying closer, she could see Flynn clearly, and opened a telepathic channel with him.

      The site is brilliant, thanks!

      Did you doubt me? was his response.

      One never knows what to expect from you!

      Except for eternal love for you, of course!

      Moonshadow laughed telepathically. Save it for the altar!

      She swooped down, landing on Flynn’s shoulder and gave him an affectionate nibble on the ear. But I love you too, she whispered. See you soon.

      She took to flight again and was quickly back with the other girls, transforming as she landed. The girls pulled her into the woods and out of sight, and fussed over her dress (a sparkling white gown), making sure it hadn’t been in any way compromised by her transformation into a falcon and back.

      The wedding started soon after. It was mostly a blur to Moonshadow. A musician from Pnyx played cheerful melodies on a lute. Moonshadow held the Scribe’s arm as she walked out of the woods and up to Flynn. Trinias, who had apparently been certified to officiate weddings via correspondence course, droned on for a bit about how happy it was that she and Flynn were getting married.

      "If anyone has any reason that these two should not be bound in matrimony, let them speak now, or forever hold their peace," Trinias addressed the crowd.

      Moonshadow looked out at her guests. Most were smiling, some were putting an effort into not crying, a few looked bored and impatient for the party. A flash of blue from the branches of a nearby tree caught her eye, but Trinias drew her attention back before she could recognize what she saw.

      "Then, if there are no objections-"

      "ROOOOOOOOAR!"

      Roaring and stampeding suddenly filled everyone’s ears. Flynn groaned, "not again!" The guests, nearly all of them heroes, jumped to their feet and drew their weapons, just as a horde of trolls burst from the forest.

      Instantly the heroes were slashing through the trolls. Flynn was running around trying to make peace, but they were trolls , they had no interest in peace. Moonshadow glanced down at her dress, debating whether helping her friends was worth risking damaging the material. "I’ll be cleric!" she decided, and dived behind the altar, where she cast healing spells as needed.

      She was faintly surprised to notice the musician was also casting healing spells. Musician, music - of course! She edged toward the woods, trying to go wide around the skirmish. If she could just make it to her pack - she had left it in the woods, how stupid!

      The trolls were everywhere, she couldn’t avoid them. She’d have to go through. And the trees were too thick to do it by air. Drawing her crystal dagger, she muttered "mam’ra" and it grew into a sword in her hand. Cautiously, she came closer and closer to the woods - and the bloodshed. Halfway there. She inched closer-

      "RAWR!" A troll jumped out at her! She screamed involuntarily and stabbed it with her sword. It collapsed. She swallowed her repulsion and attempted to remove her sword from the creature’s gut, when another one jumped out.

      A second before its club crashed down on her head, it was blocked by a sword.

      "What are you doing?!" demanded Flynn.

      "I need my harp!"

      Realization came to Flynn’s eyes. "Go - I’ll cover you!"

      With Flynn’s protection, Moonshadow darted through the trolls and finally found her pack. She dug out her crystal harp and started playing it. She was mostly experienced in influencing humans through musical melodies, but with a variation in the tunes, she should be able to influence the trolls without much effecting the humans - or so she hoped. She played her song of Peace.

      The sound of her song was mostly drowned out by the roaring of trolls and the noise of combat, but she could see the trolls nearest to her start to calm down a little bit.

      Suddenly, there was a thunderous BOOM, and a darker-than-black explosion. Darkness blinded Moonshadow. As the darkness faded back into daylight, she looked around to see what happened. It was chaos. The trees and grass were in flames. Trolls littered the ground, lifeless. Some of the heroes were moaning or screaming to various degrees, while others, despite looking very uncomfortable, started trying to help those worse off. Moonshadow herself felt like she’d been run over by a titan.

      In the middle of it all was Desert Fox, who had collapsed and was shaking uncontrollably. A few of the heroes were trying to get to him, but an invisible energy was preventing them.

      Moonshadow joined the others in extinguishing the flames and healing the wounded. Through conversation with the other heroes, she learned that Desert Fox had attempted to use shadow magic against the trolls and lost control, causing the unpleasant symptoms of everyone in the area and the fire.

      "I’m sorry guys," DF apologized. His friends could approach him by now, but they couldn’t do anything to help him recover. "I thought I could control it, I wasn’t expecting it to be so strong. I guess my shadow magic is more powerful than my body odor!"

      Flynn put a hand on DF’s shoulder. "I’m just glad no one was hurt. …Er, besides the trolls."

      Moonshadow stared at the scene speechlessly. Dead trolls everywhere. The grass was gone. The trees were blackened. The picnic blankets were now mostly ashes. Only a few fragments of the lanterns remained. Her dress was covered in blood and ashes. Some of the guests still seemed queasy or in pain, despite all the spells and potions that had been shared.

      Flynn’s sooty arm wrapped around her, startling her - she hadn’t noticed him approach. "I’m sorry. I tried to make our wedding nice, but… well."

      "Indeed," she agreed.

      "What do you want to do?"

      Moonshadow caught his eye and smiled playfully. "What do you think I want to do? Marry you!"

      Flynn grinned. "Trinias!" he called. "Come finish the ceremony!"

      A few moments later, Flynn and Moonshadow stood beside the two blackened tree-trunks on the riverbank.

      "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer," Moonshadow repeated, "in sickness and in health, I will love you and follow you as long as we both shall live."

      …

      That evening, they sat together on the bank. Behind them, their friends still danced and shared stories and laughed. After moving downstream, away from the troll attack, Wolmark had set up a portal to the Tavern, and Talos had brought back much rejuvenating fare. There was music and singing, and assorted showing off.

      Moonshadow gazed at Rogan and Desert Fox, who were practicing swordfighting techniques apparently just for the fun of it. "I don’t know how they have the energy, I’m utterly exhausted."

      "I take it you don’t want to dance anymore?" Flynn asked.

      "Do you?" she asked incredulously.

      He shrugged. "Not particularly. Come on." He took her hand and led her away from the festivities. They shouted farewells to their friends, who shouted back their congrats and wellwishes, and retrieved their packs. They did not intend to be back in Cythera for about a month.

      Moonshadow allowed Flynn to lead her northward, but felt confused. "Why are we going north? I thought we were going to Ayrit."

      "We are, the river’s shallower here, it will be easier to ford."

      "Oookay, have fun fording the icy river!" Moonshadow said, hanging Flynn her pack. "I’ll fly."

      "Oy!" His grip tightened on her hand. "No more running off, we’re sticking together."

      She laughed. "Alright, we’ll stick together," she agreed.

      A ways away from the wedding reception, they reached the shallow point of the river and paused.

      "Ready to take the plunge?" Flynn asked.

      Moonshadow dipped a hand into the river and smiled. "There are advantages to being a winter elf."

      Flynn crouched down beside her and kissed her.

      …And kissed her.

      His hands ran along her soot-stained gown, caressing her more closely than he’d ever dared before. He traced her curves around to her back, where he began untying the laces of her gown.

      Moonshadow broke away. "Flynn O’Conner!" she gasped. "We’re in full view of a farmhouse!" she motioned to a farmhouse nearby, where a very young girl in pigtails could be seen picking grapes.

      Flynn glanced at the farm and grinned sheepishly. "You’re right, I’m sorry. Let’s go."

      Through the frigid river, through to the nearby cave, and down it’s depths to Ayrit, Flynn and Moonshadow travelled hand-in-hand. When they got to the void they hugged each other tightly and jumped in, to their honeymoon.

      • (/flashback)

      "I was quite pleased with our wedding, despite the disruption," Moonshadow finished. "I was happy because of marrying you."

      Flynn squeezed her. "Are you still happy to be married to me?"

      The silence was heavy.

      More memories swept through Moonshadow’s mind. Meeting him when he first arrived in the Tavern. The heartfelt discussions on the way to Land’s End Volcano. Returning from a trip to her homeworld to find him dead, and then realizing he was still with them in disguise. The flight to the Air-Castle - and the marvelous Air-Castle itself. Laughing with Flynn as they explored it. Travelling again to Land’s End, to the fascinating little chamber that only they could enter. And all the worlds they visited while learning the secret of the Kul’Shar Legacy - that was when Flynn finally accepted that they could be together, romantically. That was also the second time she saw him die (again, it turned out not to really be him). Their wedding, their honeymoon. And then…

      Sharing a bunk on the submarine to Auracti, quarreling the whole time.

      Temporarily losing her sanity after seeing him gravely injured yet again, for weeks she lost herself to her second form.

      Begging him not to step through an unknown portal to a probable trap. He responding condescendingly and stepped through anyway. Not following him fast enough.

      Never seeing him again.

      Months alone in her cottage. Not knowing. Becoming afraid of interacting with people.

      More months back at her homeworld, away from the quests of Cythera.

      The only times she truly felt alive anymore were when she ventured out to join her fellow heroes in their attempts to save the world. But even this left her confused about what her boundaries were, about whether she needed to guard against becoming too close to another man.

      And now she was holed up in Cademia along with a bunch of other heroes, feeling helpless to do anything about mysterious invasion of evil doppelgängers who were wrecking havoc on their beloved island.

      She finally broke the silence. "We both broke our promises. You didn’t love me enough to listen to me, and I didn’t follow you."

      "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Mada-"

      But her daydream was already fading. Flynn disappeared.

      "'For as long as we both shall live'," she quoted. "I wonder if we both still live?"

      It had been two years since Flynn had left. When he didn’t return, it affirmed her fears that the portal had not really been leading to a quest that Temrel arranged, but rather a trap set by one of the Ronin’s dangerous enemies. At first Wolmark worked fervently to find them, but as the days stretched into weeks, Moonshadow began to lose hope that he’d be able to. During her months of seclusion, she lost touch with him, and now he and the other remaining Ronin seemed to have disappeared without a trace as well.

      She had already mourned for her husband. Surely if he was still alive, he would have found a way back to her. On the other hand, she had seen him die twice and both times had been a deception. She could not fully believe that he was dead.

      The worst part was that it looked like she’d never find out for sure. She’d never see Flynn again, that was hard enough, but she’d also never be free from the bounds of marriage to him; which in effect was secluding her from her other friends.

      She curled up and wept.

      "I wish you were here," she told her absent husband. "I really need someone to talk to. And I really, really need a hug."

      Calculating Reader Score: (Warning: Be sure to read the entire chronicle before viewing the "spoiler"):

      Spoiler

      To calculate your Reader Score, give yourself 50 points for reading this story, plus 50 points for each of the following criteria that applies:

      • If, before I posted this chronicle, you guessed I was going to write about Flynn and Moonshadow.

      • If you realized early on that Flynn was not present for his 4th wedding anniversary, and Moonshadow was only imagining their conversation.

      • If you noticed the Adriana cameo.

      • If you noticed the Katerei cameo.

      • If you noticed the Retsy cameo.

      • If you guessed what would happen when Trinias asked for objections.

      • If you remembered Moonshadow’s magical harp-playing skills.

      • If you enjoyed reading this story.

      • If you are currently working on writing some kind of story that you will let me read ^ ****_^

      If you’re the sort of person who does math problems for fun, add up your score and post it as a reply ^_ __^

      This post has been edited by BreadWorldMercy453 : 01 April 2017 - 09:19 PM

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    Latest posts made by 453

    • RE: Who is Stephen Banks?

      Interesting suggesting. Autonous came to mind as a character who doesn't respond to the typical human dialogue prompts, but I didn't think about his connection to a "bank."

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    • RE: Who is Stephen Banks?

      This is really interesting! ^_^ I need to take the time to poke around the links you've provided, but when I read this post, the first thing that came to mind was, remember the time gandreas promised to make a custom Cythera portrait for the winner of a chron contest, but never followed through? Isn't the most likely scenario that Stephan Banks' character was unfortunately never added to the game? 😞 I've read and transcribed every word of dialogue that Bryce could find in the data files, and nothing about this dude was in there. If Mr Banks is somehow a character in the actual game, I could only speculate that he's some kind of inanimate object or mayyyybe a creature you'd expect to be mute like a chicken or something. In this case, would it be possible for this one weird dialogue to be stored in a completely separate place from the other dialogues?

      posted in Cythera Web Board
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    • RE: Best of Cythera for 2018 and 2019

      Maybe the 20th Anniversary Soundtrack topic, the 20th anniversary livestream topic, and the speedruns topic?

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    • The Immortal Prophecies of Neleneus the Savant

      This is a repeat thread, these topics have been discussed multiple times throughout this community’s history. However, there isn’t much new to talk about, so I thought I’d try to revive this discussion.

      First off, the prophecies of Neleneus the Savant, starting with #1:

      The day of the Tyrants shall be numbered,
      And it shall end with a new order.
      The exiles shall return,
      And with them, a new leader.
      The people shall rejoice,
      And Six of them shall rise.
      When the Voice of a God speaks
      So shall be the first sign.
      That which was Lost shall try to return,
      But now is not the time for that to be.
      The Voice must be destroyed,
      For it speaks not the truth.
      So shall the last act of the Tyrant be,
      Before the Wanderer comes.
      With the guidance of a fool,
      So shall a new Age begin.

      The first prophecy seems pretty straightforward, not as ambiguous as its sequels. It seems clearly to prophesy Alaric’s rise to power (though that does make me wonder, how long ago did Neleneus live?). The only thing slightly confusing to me is "that which was lost shall try to return." I’m assuming that refers to the Abydos mages? But what does trying to return mean - trying to rejoin the rest of civilization in eastern Cythera? They must have had some presence in eastern Cythera, because they initiated people into their cult in the maze under Cademia. Perhaps the Undine always teleported them there and back, like Omen did Bellerophon? (Or is Omen’s Test merely a replica of the original Maze of Initiation?) I’m guessing the prophecy just means "the Cult of Scylla mages snuck back into eastern Cythera and tried to be accepted there, but it ultimately didn’t work out because the Tyrant decided to kill them."

      The second prophecy:

      Ye shall know the Signs of the Coming of the Second End.
      They shall be plague, violence, and treachery.
      The Traitors shall be guided as the Hidden were before them.
      The Traitors shall not, however, fail as the Hidden.
      Look ye, then, for the Omens Five, Proof of the End of the Age.
      Sons shall slay fathers, in a game of Power. So is the first Omen.
      The Seas shall rise, and the Dead shall walk. This is the second Omen.
      A Stranger shall come, and with him Nightmares. This is the third Omen.
      The Hidden joining the Traitors, to overcome the Master. This is the fourth Omen.
      That which was sundered to four shall be joined, Opener of Ways. This is the fifth Omen.
      Against these five Omens, none can stand.
      And so shall pass the Age of the Unifier.

      First off, the phrase "Second End" - refers to Alaric’s death? Without our knowledge of the plans for Cythera 2, Cythera appears to be a game about saving Alaric. But I wonder if "Second End" is a hint.
      "Traitors" - most obvious interpretation is that the Traitors are the Comana brothers, but it’s puzzling that the prophecy says that they will not fail. They seemed to be dead by the end of the game.
      "the Hidden" - could refer to the Undine (then who is guiding them?) or the Cult of Scylla mages/liches (then how do they join the Traitors?).
      "the Master" - seems like it must refer to Alaric, though in the game fake-Pelagon is the one referred to as master.

      I’ve asked Shorty about the prophecy and his explanation was something like this:
      "The Comana Bros will be guided (by Undine) as the Cult of Scylla was before them, but the Comana Bros will not fail to upset the balance. …. The Undine (referred to by the same term as the Cult of Scylla because they became part of the cult) will join the Comana Bros to overcome Alaric."
      I feel that this must be how we’re expected to interpret the prophecy, but I’m not altogether satisfied with the Hidden referring to different things in different places. Any other interpretations to post? I know we had some interesting ones generated during a Discord discussion a couple of months back.

      Third prophecy:
      And in the End of the Second Age, the Great Unifier shall pass.
      Upon this leaving, shall chaos and disaster come.
      Land and Sea shall part, the middle can not hold.
      Air and Fire shall wreck havoc, and Night shall fall.
      From the Night to the Next Dawn, what was One shall become Many.
      The Bird of Two will bemoan his fate, and that of the Third.
      The World shall be sundered before the Coming of the Dawn.
      And shattered shall it be ever after.
      The void shall not keep the parts of the Whole,
      For the powers of the Four Directions shall form a Fifth.
      The Four parts of the Opener of Ways, Made One.
      This shall be the Key to the Fifth Element.
      Those that walk the Fifth Element will Bring the Dawn.
      And from those Walkers will be brought a New Order.
      Only the Walkers of the New Order shall have the Unified Power,
      And those of the Four Directions shall be at their mercy.

      How much, do you think, of this prophecy would have taken place behind the scenes before Cythera 2 began, and how much would have taken place during the game?
      The first half of this prophecy seems to make sense because of clues that Gandreas has given us. Alaric will die, the island of Cythera will shatter, Magpie will grieve. But all that about the fifth element (aren’t humans the fifth element?), I feel like we haven’t heard much about.

      Since any discussion about the third prophecy is also a discussion about Cythera 2, I’m going to include some Gandreas quotes with hints about Cythera 2 (mostly from Seldane’s previous Gandreas quotes topic, but also from the 20th anniversary livestream):

      It will involve the Undine, but it will involve some very big events..

      The sequel is set "a ways" in the future from the first - and its critical that your character leave for certain key events to happen. Basically, the Undine have lost their most powerful artifact to the hands of their most hated enemy, who now has the opportunity to learn to use it and transcend even his current ability. And the sequel is set after that is "resolved".

      (The sequel also requires a new engine, since a certain critical "feature" of the world isn't possible with the current one, and, as far as I know, has never been done in any other CRPG).

      Omen will actually be part of "Cythera II:Shattered Realm" (or perhaps "Cythera II:Quest for Alaric") - after all, he has a major score to settle, and can turn up like the cockroach he is (though this time you might even have to trust what he is saying, or then again, maybe not).

      Gandreas: Hint: Don't trust anyone - they may be helpful but everyone has their own motives.
      This applies to Omen, Magpie, all the Seldane, urSlyph, Tavara, the Mages, even Alaric - basically everybody that has any interests in the actions of the hero/heroine. There is no "good" or "evil" there.

      gandreas13: After 20 years, here’s the spoiler: [The Crolna] is an anagram for Loc Nar, which is from the film Heavy Metal.
      gandreas13: It was supposed to hint that "hey, this might give me power, but it will go bad for me in the end if I use it"
      gandreas13: Don't trust anyone
      Mercy453: Don't trust anyone... sounds like a hint about Cythera 2
      Mercy453: We trusted the Seldane when we beat the game, now there's going to be consequences
      gandreas13: Cythera 2 would have had the subtitle "Shattered Realm"
      Mercy453: I wonder if the island of Cythera would have been shattered, or the entire Reality.
      gandreas13: It would have been broken into separate floating chunks (which would occasionally line up to let you get from one to the other)
      gandreas13: Yeah, one of the first parts would have caused you to find Magpie, who would be driving around a cart with an ornate coffin in the back
      Mercy453: Oh my! Was Alaric in the coffin? 😮
      gandreas13: Maaaayyyyybeeeee

      References:
      Neleneus prophecies discussion in "Omen’s little reward"
      First prophecy discussion
      Second and third prophecy discussion
      Third prophecy discussion
      Seldane’s collection of Glenn Andreas quotes

      posted in Cythera Web Board
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    • RE: 20.

      Thanks Wizzy! I'll test this out:
      TXT.rtf
      This is kinda weird, it appeared as a separate document somehow inside my textedit document, but meh, whatever works.
      I had tried the code block thing earlier, but maybe I did it wrong. It didn't seem any different than any other text.

      posted in Cythera Web Board
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    • RE: 20.

      It's so much cuter when you do it in Japanese ^_^ I don't know how to upload attachments either. I can only see eight buttons when I'm typing a message so my options are super limited. There's a button to upload an image (I'm not sure if I could lie and say the text is an image?) but I don't have image-uploading privileges.

      posted in Cythera Web Board
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    • RE: 20.

      Thank you for all the work you did figuring out the technology to make this happen, Wizzy and Fiery! Thank you to Gandreas and Bryce for returning to the Cythera community to share some of their extensive Cythera knowledge. And thanks for all the Cytherans who showed up and made the event so fun ^_^ This event revitalized the community for the couple of weeks leading up to it, and that was really pleasant. Thank you for continuing to love Cythera, everyone!

      Edit: I guess I'll see if I can post the text-chat transcript in here. Edit 2: Sorry, I can't figure out. On the old forum I would have used maybe the "code" tag so it wouldn't take over the entire page and the weird symbols like smilie faces wouldn't mess up the whole message.... but the code tag here does not seem to do those things. Sorry, I haven't experimented much with the new forum.

      posted in Cythera Web Board
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    • RE: Cythera Speedruns

      Wow, that checklist has everything! I can see that I would need to make something similar if I were to truly speedrun the game. But I probably won't, since I find it more stressful than enjoyable 😕 But watching you and Wizzy do it is fun!

      Notes on Buzzy's fourth (18 min) video:

      • How did you come up with the brilliant name 'abc'?
      • Hector had way too easy a time with those polyps in the citadel!
      • Did you speed up the going to sleep and waking up process? I know that just clicking the mouse can speed up the fade-out, but this seemed faster than I’ve seen before.
      • Attack a trapdoor. "You could have simply opened it." I kinda agree with the log there - was 'A' easier to hit than 'U'?
      • Maayti: Another instance of giant crabs being considered dead bodies or blood @_@ I never knew crabs were so glitchy.
      • Did I ever mention how awesome I think it is that your Cythera machine has lasted at least 3149 days? ^_^
      posted in Cythera Web Board
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    • RE: Cythera Speedruns

      Comments on Buzzy's third (20 min) video:

      • Do you think it was quite safe to throw the map onto the lamp?
      • So one bomb doesn’t kill Eudoxus?
      • I appreciate that you included the log in the video ^_^ Especially when you were attempting to get the kelp from the vat of wine. "The vat isn’t locked…" "You can’t take a vat!" 🙂 I love it because that’s totally me when I’m trying to be fast. (I also hate how you have to actually click on a locked door to use your keys, you can’t just use an arrow button.)
      • You made that Sapphire glitch look so easy! I always thought the glitch required throwing the false books on the floor and picking them back up. It looked like you could move them from your pouch into your inventory, while still keeping them in your pouch?

      Idea: Would the Cythera Menu Patch save any walking time?
      I tried to do a "speedrun" using Ignae as my character (invincible, can fly), but it still took me about an hour! I forgot to check exactly how long. Speed is so stressful for me, I want to do everything "right" and I end up having to backtrack. I also neglected to get any followers, which forced me to fight my way out from enemies surrounding me on a few occasions. I obviously was a pretty weak character, so that was time consuming even though I was in no danger. Got slowed down by harpies both times I visited Jhiaxus...

      In summary, I have much respect for how well you've been able to speed through the game, Wizzy and Buzzy ^_^

      Edit: I've installed the menu patch now and I feel like it speeds up travel significantly. However, it may also make it harder to control your character, so I'm curious whether this feature would be helpful for a speedrun.

      posted in Cythera Web Board
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    • RE: Cythera Speedruns

      Comments on Wizzy's third (23 min) video:

      • Did you mess up the final buttons-puzzle, but finish it just as quickly anyway? Nice.
      • Polyp cave didn’t go great… Hector died and then Timon refused to go through the hole, costing precious seconds! (And then later Timon died, so maybe his reluctance to descend to the next level of the cave was justified?)

      Not much to comment on anymore since y'all seem to seriously have this down to a science. I don't know how I feel about skipping the whole Jhiaxus plot, which I feel like the game really intends to be mandatory, but it is undeniably effective at reducing play time ^_^

      posted in Cythera Web Board
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