Mel and He11ix land

Acid, black dracolich... You can see how I would be confused, right? (And he's an undead dragon, in my book )
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Fauna sighs and trudges back to the pit of acid. She falls to her knees at the edge of the acid pool and sets the binder down beside her.

"He11ix," she groans, closing her eyes and bowing her head. She hears a soft tinkling sound and glances at her bell. It gleams fiercely and rings again. Fauna looks up and sees her black halo with the little horns. She sighs and stands up with the binder tucked under her arm. Fauna starts walking around the pit of acid, looking for anything.

Don't freak out. It's just me, Wrathe.

Fauna stops. Heh?

I'm a lot like Rain-I won't betray you, though-so I'll talk through your mind. Where are you?

In a wasteland. I'm circling around a pit of acid-

Back away, now.

Fauna steps back from the pit of acid. Done. But anyways, I'm in a wasteland with absolutely no life in it whatsoever. There was a binder here when I arrived, and it has a bunch of pictures of a dragon and his mother. The pictures continue, and the mother gets trapped in the giant pit, the dragon gets struck my lightning... It's a black dracolich now. Then the dracolich starts spitting acid everywhere. Now there's a giant pit of acid, so... I think it's here somewhere.

So no sign of He11ix yet?

No... I walked around and found a cave with more pictures of the dragon and his mother, though. The cave, the binder, and the pit of acid is all that I found.

Go back to the cave and look around more. He11ix might be in there.

...'Kay. Fauna turns around and walks back to the cave. She walks inside and touches the walls curiously. I don't think he's in here... Fauna's finger touches a little black sphere on the wall. Heh?

What?

There's a lil' black sphere on the wall.

Ignore it for now. Keep looking for He11ix.

Fauna nods and continues to search the cave.

Fauna accidentally trips on something, and falls over. When she checks to see what she tripped over, it's a black DA. Tiny footsteps are heard coming inside the cave. Also some bones rattling. A little black dracolich walks in, and glances around.

Whaddo I do? Oh, fuck, what now... Oh, shit... Oh--

Stay still, and stay calm.

Easy for you to say. Meh.

Fauna freezes in the back of the cave and looks at the dracolich. She looks away suddenly, pretending not to see it.

Good idea. Pick up the DA and examine it.

Fauna does so. She picks up the black Dragon Amulet and turns it over in her hands, completely absorbed.

Keep doing that. The dracolich will eventually either call your attention or leave.

Yes, sir.

Please don't call me sir...

...

Fauna continues to look at the DA.

The dracolich does not notice her, and goes over to where Fauna found the DA. He sees that it bis missing, and glances around again. To Fauna's luck, a tiny pebble falls from the rock outside the cave. He goes outside to find out what the noise was.

Fauna trembles and gently sets the amulet back down on the exact spot that it was on.

Nudge it a little to the left.

Fauna does so.

Too much. Back right, a quarter of an inch.

Fauna pokes the amulet, and it moves slightly.

Perfect.

A little fly buzzes past Fauna's ear. She swats at it. There's a fly here; there's life!

Don't swat at it! That's ME! The fly lands on Fauna's shoulder. She flinches and glares at it. The fly buzzes off again and floats in front of her. It turns into a small light, like a star in the sky, and then expands to take form of a human. The light fades, and Wrathe is standing in front of her.

Don't talk. Think.

Shape-shifting really comes in handy, huh?

Indeed. Now come on. Wrathe places a hand on her shoulder. Fauna becomes invisible. Wrathe picks her up and hovers above the ground, and he also turns invisible. The two float out of the cave soundlessly and unnoticeably. Fauna looks behind her shoulder to see the dracolich. Wrathe sets her on her feet, and the two watch the dracolich, still invisible.

The dracolich is gone. A tiny dripping comes from behind Fauna. She turns around, and there is a tiny hole in the ground. Another drop comes down, making another tiny hole. She looks up, and the dracolich is hanging upside-down from the ceiling. "VOU SHALL BE GIVING ME MY DA!" The dracolich swoops down and nabs it, then flies away.

Fauna glances at where she assumes Rain to be.

Where'd it go?

There's no reply. Only an intense silence. Wrathe?

Something touches Fauna's shoulder, and she becomes visible again. Wrathe appears in front of her. Fauna instantly notices the black stripes on Wrathe's neck.

"Wrathe, your neck-- your arms..." The black spikes trail down his arms and to his wrists.

"You have them, too." Wrathe's eyes, which were wide, now close. "You're getting worse."

"Whaddo you mean?"

"You're evil. It's beginning to show." Wrathe taps her black halo, holds up her tail and points to the black leather, and runs his thumb over one of the black stripes on her face.

"But... I'm trying to help He11ix..." Fauna glances around, as if searching for him again.

"And what does He11ix want?"

"..."

"Exactly..."

"But... You have them, too..." Fauna bites her lip.

"I'm helping you and Friedhof. I should've gotten them a lot sooner."

"Why are we the only ones that get the stripes?"

"It's in our blood."

"So we're all related?"

"No, we're just the same species. It's confusing."

"I know..." Fauna looks down. Wrathe suddenly chuckles to himself. Fauna looks up at him. "What?"

"Nothing, it's something that Friedhof said. She remembered you talking about Haze and came up with her own name for the four of us-Me, Iko, her, and you. Wiff." Wrathe smiles again. Fauna laughs for a moment and then frowns again.

"Where's He11ix?" she asks quietly. Wrathe looks away for a long moment and then back at her.

"I don't really know. The clues don't make sense. I can't track him in an unfamiliar area."

Fauna closes her eyes and looks down for a moment, and then looks up. "Why'd Hollix do that?"

"Jump off of a cliff? To help bring He11ix back. He was helping you."

"...Then why are we here? Where's He11ix? Why is there a black dracolich? What's happening to us?" Fauna brushes a black stripe on his face with her finger. "Why is this happening?"

"We're here to find He11ix. I don't know where he is. There's a black dracolich because this is his home. Our true selves are becomming more visible. This is all happening because you care about Haze."

"...Why do I care about Haze?"

Wrathe shrugs. "You tell me."

"I don't even know.." Fauna starts walking off again.

"Where're you going?" Wrathe starts walking after her.

"Looking for He11ix," she calls back. The two continue to search for He11ix.

You seem to have misunderstood. He11ix's inactive body is at the peak of the mountian, but there is a strange force keeping the old man, and anyone else, from reaching the peak and reanimating him.

..Ooh, whoops. I fergot. What are they looking for, then?

Whatever's keeping the peak from being acsessed.

'Kay.
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Wrathe stops and makes Fauna turn around. "I just remembered... We're looking for whatever's keeping the peak from being accessed... (Quoted)"

"Oh yea..." Fauna bites her lip. "You're supposed to be the smart one. But yea, the black thing in the wall of the cave could have something to do with it."

"I am the smart one, but that doesn't mean that I'm the smartest guy in the world..." Wrathe grins. "Back to the cave." He turns them both invisible and flies off back to the cave, carrying Fauna.


Back at the cave, he leads Fauna back to the little black thing on the wall. Fauna stares at it again and then pokes it. This time, the thing glows. Fauna glances at Wrathe, her eyes wide.

What happened?

Either you just accessed the peak, or the cave is about to explode.

Hm.

The two run out of the cave and turn around quickly. The cave doesn't blow up. Fauna glances at Wrathe.

So... He11ix is there, now?

I'm not sure. It may have been something else.

The two wait for something to happen.
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The black thing on the wall and the black DA were two different things..

The cave explodes, causing it to collapse. The dracolich flies overhead and sees this. He flies back to the acid pit, and dives into it. A flash of black light glows from beneath the surface.

Fauna stares at the cave, and then sighs, looking down at her feet.

I thought He11ix was coming back..

Nope. Cave just went BOOM!

I wasn't talking to you, get out of my head!

Aw, why? It's so fun in here...

Fine, you can stay...

Yays.

Fauna jumps on Wrathes back and points to the acid pit. "Mush!"

Wrathe rolls his eyes and walks to the pool of acid. He stops two yards or so away from it and glances back at Fauna. She shrugs and stares at the black light.

"What is it?" she asks.

"No clue." They watch the black, glowing light in confusion.

Bubbles start popping up and floating into the air from the acid pool. A giant black skeleton claw, taller than 3 men standing on eachother's shoulders, emerges and grabs onto the edge of the pit. Then another comes up next to it. Then, a giant black dragon skull slowly rises from the acid. It's red eyes glow brightly, as it prepares to attack Fauna.

...
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Wrathe sets Fauna on the ground and grins at her.

So... How will you manage to get out of this one?

HOLY SHIT!!

Fauna turns around and bolts off in the other direction. Wrathe turns invisible and hovers beside her easily while the dracolich bounds after them. Fauna, after tiring out, whirls around and greets the dracolich with a huge cloud of sand.

Oh no, a dust cloud! He might die if he sneezes.

Shut up, there's nothing but sand here! What am I supposed to do?!

Oh, I don't know... Rip some water down from the sky? Or use all of that sunlight to blind him? He's evil, obviously, so light might do something to him besides blind.

...Yea, you're the smart one.

I know.

A huge beam of light comes down and strikes the dracolich in one eye. A second stream comes down and hits the other. Meanwhile, a wave-looking sheet of light comes at the three of them. It hits the dracolich, immobilizing it. Then the light shoots back into the sky without touching Fauna or Wrathe. Fauna lunges into the air and luckily lands on Wrathe.

MUSH!!

Wrathe bolts off again, headed for the portal where they got here in the first place.

The dracolich is unaffected, and stares after the two of them as they run. It lets out a horrid roar, and the sand starts shifting. All of the sand in the area swirls around the dracolich, causing a whirlpool with him in the middle. It catches the two of them, and they begin quickly swirling towards the dracolich.

Fauna screams (it sounds more like a snarl) and starts clawing at the air. Wrathe boosts through the whirlpool and tackles her in the air. Wrathe turns into a giant anvil and comes crashing down to the ground. An indention is made inside of it so that Fauna isn't completely splattered. The whirlpool does nothing now but toss sand around. Wrathe stays, completely still, on the sandy ground with Fauna underneath.

That's smart...

I know, right? But the only problem is that I'm completely defensless now.

Hm. That's not good...

The dracolich eats them, and they fall into it's stomach. (I could explain the science of Dracoli, if you want. But the point is, if they eat you, you are sent into it's ribcage that seems like another dimension from the inside.

Fauna and Wrathe float through the endless abyss of the dracolich stomach. There is some debris around, but nothing noteworthy.

Fauna glances at Wrathe. He nods and transforms his arm into a giant chainsaw, bigger than himself. The chainsaw saws through the dracolich easily, revealing an opening. Fauna lunges out when she sees the light and gets sawed slightly on her back. She stumbles out of the dracolich's side and lands head-first in the sand, crying in agony. Wrathe sets a large bomb inside of the dracolich and then flies down, picks up Fauna, and flies away. The bomb explodes, and the dracolich is unseen by Fauna or Wrathe from the giant dust/sand cloud as well as smoke from the bomb. (He's alive or dead, they don't know)

Make a huge mound of sand.

Fauna does so with the remainder of her energy, and Wrathe flies straight into it. He pokes his head out of the mound, blows up a giant balloon, and goes back under. Wrathe ties the balloon and then teleports himself and Fauna inside.

"If the dracolich is still alive, then he'll come looking for us. All there will be is a giant mound of sand, and there are billions of mounds of sand. Meanwhile, we're in a giant balloon, so we aren't suffocated by sand. We're in a balloon. So for now, we're safe." Wrathe smiles.

"Oh, goody." Fauna groans and runs her hand over her back where the chainsaw got her. Wrathe's eyes widen, and her nods once. His eyes close for a moment, and when they open, a dozen shadow moglins appear. They all tend to Fauna's back until she is completely healed and well.

"Now we wait." Wrathe smirks and pulls out a Gameboy.

The dracolich emerges from the sand unharmed. It looks around, and sees nothing but sand. He looks up into the sky and opens his jaw wide. Acid erupts from his mouth and goes into the sky. The acid rains down and melts everything until the mound that Fauna and Wrathe were hiding in. He clambers towards them.

Wrathe groans and picks Fauna up again. He flies into the air and outstretches his arm out to the dracolich, which is bounding towards them. His watch expands and crawls up his arm, then extends into his hand. A huge, round barrel bursts at the tip. The cannon-like weapon glows for a moment, and then shoots. A huge beam hits the dracolich square in the face. Another beam comes at him. This hits the dracolich in the chest. Huge bursts of power are sent repeatedly at the dracolich. By the time the cannon overheats, the dracolich is on its side. Wrathe shakes his arm, and the barrel narrows. The glow is brighter this time. Fauna recognizes the weapon to be something similar to the nuke beam. A gigantic beam bursts from the barrel and hits the dracolich. Wrathe shakes his arm again, and the weapon turns back into a watch. He slings Fauna over his shoulder and floats off silently.

Impressive.

I didn't want to do that.

Why? He tried to kill us!

...Did you see those pictures...? Something happened to him... It wasn't his fault. Something took control over him. The dragon amulet...

Well, he's dead now, so let's find the thing to unleash the peak.

....

The two float around the wasteland more, searching for anything.

The dracolich starts to become black sand, and mixes in with the rest. Grass starts to sprout from the ground, along with other plants and flowers. The the somewhat faded horizon clears, and the truth as to where they are is revealed. They have been in a secret cavern inside the mountian the whole time. The light comes from holes around the top of the mountian. The whole mountian is practically hollow. The portal illusion dissappears, and it was just a tunnel. Animals start to come in, such as a suspicious looking bunny... The pit of acid is drained, and the stairs leading down into it are revealed.

Wrathe comes down to the ground and sets Fauna on her feet. One arm is still around her shoulder.

"I'm glad Friedhof isn't here," he whispers.

"Why?" Fauna looks around at the grass, and the horizon.

"She'd kill all of the animals."

"...Oh, yea."

Wrathe grabs her arm and leads Fauna down the stairs and into the pit. Fauna walks faster and eventually, she's pulling Wrathe down. They reach the bottom of the pit soon. Fauna looks around.

"He11ix?"

The old ruins He11ix found when he first came here still stand. But, strangely enough, it is EXACTLY how it was before. As in, the darkness gem for the Ultimatum Glove is still there. The old man comes up behind them. "Actually, there is one more thing you must destroy, and that is the Ultimatum Glove. It's peices have been returned to the ruins from which they originated. You must find them and destroy them all at once. Good luck." The old man walks off.

Ultimatum Ruin Locations
Yellow Light: Desert Of The Yellow Dragon
Black Dark: Pit Of The Black Dragon
Red Fire: Volcano Of The Red Dragon
Blue Water: Ocean Of The Blue Dragon
White Wind: Cloud Of The White Dragon
Clear Ice: Iceburg Of The Clear Dragon
Grey Stone: Cave Of The Grey Dragon
Steel Energy: Power Plant Of The Droid Dragon

Fauna turns to Wrathe.

"I knew we had the destroy the Ultimatum Glove," she murmurs.

"You did say that, yes. What you didn't say was that we had to face a dragon to get each one of the jewels to destroy it."

"...Did you know that?"

"Well, no, but you're the one who helped them get all of the jewels in the first place. Remember when you tamed the red dragon?" Wrathe grins at the memory.

"...How long have you been watching me?" Fauna stares suspiciously at him.

"Longer than Rain."

"How long is longer than Rain?"

"Before you were born. Around the time when you were still in your mother's belly." Fauna's eyes widen.

"...That's a disturbing thought and feeling."

"Indeed. So are we getting the jewels or what?"

"Yea... First we have to go to the Desert Of The Yellow Dragon. Light." Fauna jumps on Wrathe's back again. "Mush!"

Wrathe flies off towards the desert.