Episode 18: Down In The Trenches

After the argument held at the guildhall, The Legacy left Fairytail in hopes to go to The Crystal tower to defeat Eden. When leaving Fairytail it seemed like the group was on the same page however, some members of The Legacy didn’t see eye to eye with Dorion’s plan. As they traveled hours and hours through the Thanalans a large storm rolled through making the roads dangerous and impossible to see. Dorion suggested that they try to get off the roads for the moment which made it easy for Zakuro and Tuya to depart. It didn’t take too long for Shiva to notice and asked for Dorion and the others to stop. Shiva ran out into the lands trying to find Zakuro and Tuya which prompted a huge detour on their journey to the Crystal Tower. As a storm raged on, The Legacy found themselves needing shelter near Central Shroud in an abandoned Chocobo stable waiting for the storm to die down. Dorion, Shiva, Trunks, and Tarno remained the only members of The Legacy left.


Trunks sat off to himself finding a crate to sit on and found himself questioning whether he was right or wrong to call out the members of The Legacy who had doubts. Trunks was full of emotions at the moment and knew he needed to get his head on straight. Tarno seemed to be on alert as he once worked with The Red Veil and knew of their ties to the Black Shrouds. Tarno also used a glamour upon himself to look like an Au Ra so that he would not be noticed by The Red Veil.


Dorion was the only member of The Legacy who seemed to be by Shiva for the time being. Trying to hide his anger of the weather Dorion was found smoking a cigarette and watching the skies above. Shiva sat a few feet away from Dorion with her back against a pillar. Her head down and dried tears remained on her face. It would seem that the young mage was truly troubled by what had transpired with Tuya and Zakuro. Seeing Shiva down and out seem to alert Tarno as he came over with some food to try and cheer her up. Tarno tells Shiva that she should not worry and that their decision was out of her control. As Shiva listens to Tarno’s words she tells him she promised Hydaelyn to protect The Legacy and she felt that she was letting the Goddess down. Tarno tries to tell Shiva that she is mistaken and the lack of persuasion was not her failure; their minds were already set to survive for themselves despite the gifts they were offered from Hydaelyn. Overhearing Tarno’s words, Trunks also interjects that this battle is far from over and that she can't plan for any and everything that occurs in The Legacy.


As Tarno and Trunks continue to encourage Shiva to stay strong Dorion tells the group that he senses something and he would like to look out for something. Trunks asks if Dorion needs any help but Dorion declines Trunks’ help and says he just needs a moment alone. Tarno and Trunks exchange glances but allow for Dorion to be alone for the time being. Shiva grows concerned and tells Trunks and Tarno that Dorion is up to something. Shiva explains that she feels something within his aether and worries that he may not be alright. While the men were away from her and Dorion, Shiva saw Dorion with a black notebook. The Black notebook was covered with a script and it said "From Father." ; Shiva wondered if Dorion had a plan to fight Eden.


As the three talks amongst each other the rains begin to slow down and a small chant could be heard from the stable. Shiva listens in carefully and alerts the men that the voice sounds to be like Dorion’s voice. Trunks feels uneasy by the sound and tells Tarno to watch Shiva. Although Trunks says for the two to stay behind they refuse to leave Trunks alone and follow slowly behind him. As Trunks moved in closer he could see a gash visible on Dorion's arm, he was using a blood magick spell with his staff. The Staff was drenched in blood as he continued to read the spell. His eyes had a light lavender glow as he chanted a spell and a small series of ley lines formed on the ground.Trunks took a strong hit of his cigarette and stepped directly behind Dorion asking him what he was doing. Dorion paid no work to Trunks and continued to work on his spell. The grounds shook and the tension in the air began to rise as a dark cloud covered the grounds. It would seem that Dorion’s spell summoned a large black horse!


With the spell being a success a wide grin grew on Dorion’s face as both Trunks and Tarno looked on with confusion. Dorion began to explain that on his way here into the forest he could sense a strong presence nearby. Being that he was unsure of the lands they were in, Dorion explained that his father gave him a book he won in a battle. Dorion explained that someone in the blood oath his father swore, whoever held this book was granted protection from the creature. Due to the nature of the land, Dorion felt that there was a danger nearby and he needed to test the theory for himself; being that the horse was present Dorion suggested that they follow the creature to rid the land of the danger so that they may continue on to the Crystal Tower with no surprise attacks. However, Dorion notices Shiva’s fear of the creature and knows of her past with it, and reassures her that the moment with this horse will not be like before. With some fear, Shiva decides to follow on with Dorion and the others.


With Dorion leading the way Tarno, Trunks, and Shiva followed close by. They continued down a path out of Bentbranch to see that the horse was leading them down a path that seemed out of the way. Shiva questioned the matter but, perhaps it was leading them here in order to ambush the monster or thing that was trying to hurt them. They continued down a path that led them to the Everschade Tree. This tree is the most ancient tree in the Black Shroud and was normally known as a place of peace. However as The Legacy got closer to it, the tree was covered in black tar and blood. Shiva’s eyes watered at the sight and wondered what could have caused this. As the group explored the grounds, a black sap fell from the tree and a man in red fell down onto his knees.


The Legacy is startled by the man’s presence and watches him carefully. The man struggles to move and seems to have a coughing fit. As they approach closer Dorion recognizes the uniform as one of the Royal Guards for the Red Veil which prompts Dorion to question the man on his identity. The man rises to his knees, his arms and face covered in cuts and scars. His hands trembled and his vision looked blurry. The man's hands tremble as he pulls onto something on his necklaces he begs Dorion for help. As the man speaks, Trunks points out to Shiva and Tarno that the man looks like Dr. Leric Winters. With deep sorrow in his eyes, Dorion confirms that this is Leric’s Twin brother, Jai.


Jai struggles to tell them that the device placed on his neck was by Death herself and he wasn’t sure how much longer he had before she would have full control over him. Shiva suggests that they do all they can to get the device off of him. As they try to get closer, Jai begins to gag and a howl of a wolf fills the air. The air around them fills with deep fog and the man transforms into what appears to be a shadow wolf. Dorion is angered by the sight and sees that the device is still on his neck. He wonders if they break the device would it save Jai?


As The Legacy readies for battle it seems that the wolf has caught the attention of another soul. As the group stood together a woman is seen running towards them adorned in clanking armor. She seems to be fascinated with the creature and says that it escaped from her and that it needs to go back to ‘mommy’. The group did not see her as a threat for the time being as it would seem that she had business with Jai. For now, Dorion felt that if they worked together they could put an end to what Death had done to Jai.


While the group was focused on the task at hand, Tarno led the fight by slashing the wolf right away. The wolf howled at the attack and began to charge towards the party. Dorion grabbed his staff and began to chant spells shooting his opening lightning attack towards the monster. Shiva and Trunks rush towards the monster together in hopes of making an attack happen however, it sees past their motives and knocks them down on the ground. The miqo'te woman rushes as well which causes the wolf to stir giving Tarno and Dorion a chance to get an attack in. As Tarno goes in for a striking blow with his flaming sword, Dorion hops off his blade and sends an attack of his own into the wolf; as it howls in pain. The wolf grows angry with The Legacy and their new friend and snaps at her. Dorion rushes to try and save her while also learning her name. She tells Dorion that her name is Ruby and she needs to punish the wolf. The wolf listens to her banter and tries to bite her, which prompts Ruby to throw her foot down, right onto the creature's muzzle.


Dorion flies into the air once more noticing the choker on the creature's neck. He take his staff and dives his attack into the device and it sends a shockwave into the wolf. Trunks notice what Dorion says and follows with an attack that hit the wolf in the nose. During Trunks’ attack, it would seem that he broke the nose of the wolf. Ruby tries to call on the wolf once more while holding out her hand and sending another wave of energy at the creature impaling the creature and consuming her own body in flames. The attacks began to cause the wolf to stir and he drove a critical attack onto Tarno’s body causing him to be knocked back and fall unconscious. Dorion rushes in front of Tarno to protect him from further slashings as Shiva got Tarno out of harm's way and sent a white light at the creature and it shook violently.


Shiva gently glides behind Trunks nearly spinning into a swirl behind him and using his shoulder to bring her closer to the monster. As the battle continues, Ruby is found to be upset. She just looks at the dog and sighs, she is bothered that the creature won’t bend to her will so her eyes begin to glow red as she spins her blade with one hand and stabs it deep into the throat of the creature. As she attacks the creature she is seen feeding on the creature which makes Dorion curious if she is like him. Dorion decides to assist Ruby and shows her that he too can draw aether from the creature in the way she was feeding on it.


While Dorion and Ruby attack the Wolf, Trunks sprints forward and drops an explosive energy bomb onto the wolf. With a huge blast upon the wolf, Shiva thought she could follow up Trunks’ attack. Shiva tries to attack the wolf but it pulls its arm and swings at the young mage. Shiva is sent flying into the tree as she screams in pain. Her body was riddled in splinters. Trunks flip backward and immediately starts counting to 3 each time he pulls out the long sharp splinters so she knows to squeeze his hand when it hurts. Locking eyes with her the whole time, afterward, he places his hand caressing her cheek reassuring her that she would be fine. With each time Trunks pulled out a splinter Shiva gasped in pain with tears streaming down her face. As soon as the splinters were out she could feel his gentle touch and she blushed heavily as he took care of her. Why were Trunks so good to her? With his healing mantra, Shiva rose to her feet in confidence and kissed his cheek. Shiva held onto him as she spun her staff and sent a ring of ice around the creature holding it down on the ground before them. Dorion breaks the hold of the creature knowing his venom is weakening the monster and focuses his attack on the collar. The device begins to blink red. Trunks see this and sprint right up to the throat where the damage was most brutal, squatted down, and leaped up with another electrically charged pulse making a direct connection to the collar. The creature has a last-ditch effort to attack and steps on ruby's leg. Seeing that Ruby is in danger, Trunks slides a lever inside his elbow and a number of tools slide out, the mechanic inside him bursts forth as under the watchful gaze of the creature he takes each tool cramming them into the collar of the beast and slams his elbow into the collar causing it to shatter.


Dorion, Trunks, Ruby and Shiva watch as the collar begins to crack. The wolf itself seems to fade away and disappear however the collar floats above the group. As everyone watches on it begins to shine bright glass-like shards begin to fly in front of the group a large piece of shard begins to fly into the air towards the group. Two pieces go flying in front of Trunks and Ruby, and Shiva rushes over in fear.


The shard is sent flying into Shiva's waist ripping open her gear revealing a large scar to the group. As the group witnesses the attack upon her...echo fills their mind, The group sees a vision of Shiva being stabbed and collapsing in the snow; The Legacy and Ruby witness the first time Shiva "died" Shiva's breath grows heavy as she trembles as blood falls down her waist. Trunks and Dorion rush over to try and help her as best as they could and try to remain calm and continue to apply pressure to her wound. Shiva's breath quickens as she looks down to see the blood gushing from her old wound. Blood begins to come out of Shiva's mouth as she gasps for air more.


As The Legacy tries to do anything to save Shiva, footsteps could be heard approaching the group. A Viera woman rushes over and begins to try and help the group. She kneels down next to Shiva and holds her hand out as aether begins threading itself through Shiva’s wound. Shiva shakes in pain as the woman works on her and Shiva holds onto Trunks hand tightly before falling into unconsciousness. It would seem that this woman's work was helping but for the moment Shiva was too weak. Dorion and the other watch in amazement of this woman’s fast work however, in this moment everyone around knew that danger was still near. Dorion suggests that they all go together for the time being to find safety until it was okay for the group to travel once more. The woman nods and says that she will come along, along with Ruby. Who was this new woman and what was she capable of doing?