The Birth of the Route of Rigge, Return of St. Marius, Flawed Faith
by Richard B. Sampson Jr.

It had been about three years since I had to help in stopping the evil magic that affected my wife and daughter. It was during that quest that Vet and I learned that one of our children was the second evil to the land. Vet didn't know what to do. When I had heard the news, I didn't know who it was. The fact that JaNa had fallen ill at the time that Vet had slain St. Marius was one factor working against her. There was little belief that KLar was the evil one. It wasn't until the day that Vet came down the steps upset that evidence pointed to JaNa. She looked upset as she came over to my den. "Skiz, love," she said, "I think I have found something scary." She handed me a pamphlet.

I read the front of it aloud. "The Route Of Rigge. I heard about this cult. They are apparently about a thousand years old. All I know about it is that the only reason it survived so long is that many people are high up in the powers of each world." I then notice Vet had shuddered. "What's wrong?"

She continued to shudder as she said, "Read the inside." There was something bothering her, and it was starting to bother me as well. I then went to read the pamphlet. I start with the origin of the cult.

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It was years after Apollo had entered our world. Apollo was the kindest of the evil gods, because he allowed us to keep our control. I was mayor of the mountain city, and I hated answering to Apollo. I wanted to regain my freedom. One night as I was walking on the outskirts of town, a man stopped me. He looked very regal, yet he wanted something. I looked at the traveller and said, "What do you need, weary traveller?"

At that point I received enlightenment, for he said, "It is not what I need, it is what you need. I know of your disgust with Apollo. I can tell you who brought them here. It was Isis that brought those evil demons to this world. She has grown evil with power."

I was not sure that I heard him correctly, so I said, "You mean to say that our beloved Isis brought these monsters here. How could she do that?"

The man nodded and said, "I was her priest at one time, and when I saw her bringing those demons into this world, I tried to stop her. Unfortunately, she condemned me to a terrible fate. I know what must be done to free me from this fate, so I must ask you to gather your friends, the leaders of other towns, together to talk." He started to walk away.

The man had a plan to save us all. I called to him, "How shall I contact you?" I wanted to know how I could reach our new savior.

The man said to me, "I shall return in a week. I shall see you then, Rigge." With that, the man left. He must be our savior, for he knew my name.

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I looked at my wife and said, "Vet, what is bothering you about this?" Vet had taken to sitting in a chair. She was still trembling. "Is it that they believe the evil gods were Isis's minions. These people are obvious lunatics."

Vet looked at me and studdered, "R-r-read O-o-on." Something was truly upsetting her about this so I continued on with the pamphlet.

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The week had passed and all the leaders from all the towns, except the valley town in the world of Ki, was there. I had told them very little, but that someone was offering us a chance to save our world. The leader from the town in the world that Warmech had invaded said, "Why are we here, Rigge? You said something about a savior."

"I know," I had responeded. "This man can save us. He promises to stop the gods, but he has a problem that we must help him with."

"We have enough troubles with the evil gods invading our homes. How can this man help us?"

"He can stop the evil gods, but their leader had cursed him. We must help him, to save ourselves."

"Cursed. You mean this person is a Hani," exclaimed the leader of the Outcast village in Venus' world. "You want us to make a deal with the devil."

"No. The man was cursed by the leader of the evil gods."

"And who is that, and we will tell Isis, whenever she returns."

I heard his voice and turned to face our savior. "It is Isis, and she has fled for now. She has transformed into Magi and waits for her followers to reassemble her. The only way I can stop her is to remove the curse, which I cannot do alone."

The leader of the Desert town said, "What do you need? We have nothing you would want, and none of us want to die."

The savior continued, "When Isis put this curse on me, I lost hope as well. But I discovered a way to return to the living, but many must sacrifice their lives. Once a year, for two thousand years, a person must sacrifice their life. After two thousand sacrifices, the curse will be removed."

I looked at our savior and said, "But, Isis will know about the deaths, if all you say is true."

"Do not worry, for I have a plan," the savior said as he smiled. "This society, this religion will grow in secrecy and work in the ruling classes of the world. If Isis returns, we shall undermine her. Pretend to follow her, and we shall trive."

"What shall we call it?"

"Since it was you, Rigge, that I approached first, it shall be called 'The Route Of Rigge'. It would bring more attention for my name to be mentioned in the title."

I finally asked, "Savior, what is your name?"

"I am St. Marius."

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I dropped the pamphlet and looked at my wife. She was shaking like a leaf. "Isn't he dead? I mean, you delivered the final blow to him. He has to be dead, doesn't he." I got up and hugged my wife.

She didn't stop shaking as she said, "He said that he would return. He's going to kill me. He's going to destroy me."

I tried to calm my wife down and said, "He can't kill you. He has been dead for eleven years now. The only way he could get back is if he got resurrected."

Vet pointed to the pamphlet and said "Read on." I picked up the pamphlet and continued reading the document.

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It had been many years since 'The Route Of Rigge' was founded. St. Marius had always taken the person chosen to help him back. I have continued as countless others had before me. We had move the head place of worship to the town nearest to Isis in the belief to hide best from her. One the day of the sacrifice, St. Marius appeared, not as a human, but as a spirit. I looked at our savior and said, "St. Marius, what has happened to you? Why are you a spirit?"

He said in a whispy voice, "Isis has recruited new evils, ones who could kill me. My spirit can be reborn, but the sacrifices mean nothing."

I was distressed at this, all these years of work, gone down the drain. The legend of the four who slain the evil gods, yet save Isis, was known amongst the 'Route', but we didn't know how evil these four were. I looked at the spirit and said, "What must be done?"

He looked at me and said, "The Annoited One shall lead you to my rebirth."

"Who is that, oh savior."

"The Annoited One is the one who will kill my murderer. With the death of my killer, I will take over their form. I shall live again, and uncursed."

I thought about who of the four could have slain our savior. According to legend, a cursed being could only be killed with a Seven Sword, which left the monster out. I still wondered who the Annoited One was. "Who is this person you speak of?"

The spirit started to fade and said, "The murder's child is my chosen one. They will take their place in the future, and on their day of adulthood, they will bring me back to the world." He disappeared and I smiled.

Almost ten years after that, The Annoited One had arrived, and worked in secret to prepare for the day.

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I finally realized what had my wife so scared. St. Marius was going to return, but through the hands of the second evil. This was either my son, or my daughter. I decided to ask the crutial question. "Vet, my love, where did you find this?"

She still shook, but managed to say, "It was on JaNa's bed. She must be planning to kill me. She must have the power to do so."

I was about to say something, when the door closed. KLar walked into the room and said, "What's wrong with mom?" I didn't know how to reply to his question. KLar was obviously the good child, but I didn't know for sure.

Vet looked at him and said, "I'm just nervous about something. Where is JaNa?"

He said, "JaNa is talking with a boy she met the other day. I don't remember his name, but something about a man named Rigge always came up in his talks." I realized that moment that Vet was going to die at the hands of her daughter, and I could do very little to save her.


Fatal Journey
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people.
Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance.)
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My life has been a tragic journey over the past years. Knowing when one will die is not conforting, less conforting when you will die at the hand of your own child. Over the past years, evidence has appeared that my daughter will be my murderer. As her eighteenth birthday approaches, I have never been left alone with my children. In a slim hope, my husband, Skiz, and I plan to take the children to see Isis. Before we were to leave for the journey, Skiz took the twins for some items. I decided to get ready to sleep for the last night in my bed. I figured that once we were on the trip, cleaning up would be few and infrequent. I got a bath ready and was about to get in, when I heard a crash from my bedroom. I put a towel around myself and got ready to cast the spell. As I left the bathroom, I was ambushed by two demons. The one, a short, chubby one tackled me, knocking me to the ground, and almost knocking the towel off. The other slowly walked over to me and placed a collar around my neck. I felt a strange sensation pass through me. The tall one held me down, and I feared that the two monsters were going to violate me. The short, chubby one said, "Hey, Vey, do you think we can have a little fun with her first?" It was said that demons always attacked women for the reason of mating.

The tall one knocked him away from me and said, "You remembered what the ones who summoned us said. And the Annoited One said only to capture their mother." I then realized that JaNa must have sent these demons. I tried to knock the other demon away, but I could hardly move. The demon said, "You have to forgive my brother, Oy. He has not mated since the the evil gods arrived." This demon spoke with a dignified tone.

"What do you want with me?" I said when Vey picked me up and placed me over his shoulder.

"If I were to tell you everything, I would be spoiling your fate, but you might have firgured your fate out by now." I was scared, but this was worse than I could imagine. I was thankful when I heard the door close downstairs.

"Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, and Skiz came running up the stairs. He tackled the demon holding me, as the other escaped out the window.

My husband, in a fury, slammed Vey against the wall, and demanded, "What did you do to her?"

The demon smiled and said, "I was just doing what the 'Route' had ordered. She must die to save your world." He laughed with that and continued, "My brother, myself and the Annoited One know the truth, but those fools believe you are evil. As for the collar, the Annoited One has the key, but only that witch, Isis, can find it." The demon disappeared and my husband turned to me.

I went to stand up and almost fell on my face. I was never this clutzy. I then realized what this collar was doing to me. "Skiz, I'm defenseless. My abilities are nill." Skiz came over to me and helped me up.

"Vet, hon, I will help you for tonight. We will leave at midnight, so rest up." I nodded and slowly made my way to the bath. I cleaned up and went to my bed. I had to rest for the trip.

Most of my life, dreams of a past life have haunted my sleep. Since the quest, my dreams have stopped, but now I had a terrible dream. In my dream, I was in a room, with a sphere in the center. I was chained down, underneath the floating sphere. The sphere had an aura that could cancel all magic I tried. Then a haze came from the sphere, and spoke. "I have you, child, and now I shall have your power." There was a flash and I was looking down at my body. My body stood and laughed, as it looked at me. I was in the sphere, alive, but immoble. I screamed and awoke.

My husband had walked into the room and helped me up. "Are you Okay, my love?"

"I just dreamed of my death." He helped me downstairs as I spoke. The collar that was placed on me still inhibited my abilities, and I was stumbling down the steps. He gave me the armor that I had earned on the quest, but as I put it on over my clothing, I collapsed to the ground.

"I don't think you are going to be alright during this journey, Vet. I hope that you don't get hurt during the journey." My husband was concerned, because we were going to take our children along the path we took. KLar was the one who wanted to take the journey, but JaNa wanted to stay with her boyfriend. I never trusted the boy, mainly because he always talked about the 'Route Of Rigge'. He had never shown his face around the house, but I was not surprised.

KLar walked over to my side and said, "I hope you will be okay, mother. I wish we could make those demons pay for what they did."

JaNa walked into the room and said, "There was something strange about this. From all the lore I have read on demons, they usually attack women only when they need to mate, and they never try to abduct their victims."

My husband looked at her and said, "You have read stories about demons."

JaNa smiled and said, "I wanted to be just like mom, so I worked on learning everything." I didn't know whether to believe my daughter or not. With all the evidence against her, I thought it was just a lie. She then continued by saying, "Demons usually mate right were they catch their victims. If the process is disturbed, the victim is in a state of awaitment. The victim, if touched during that state, will collapsed, as if they were waiting for satisfaction. Victims of demons usually feel betrayed by their mind and body. Logically, they don't want the demons to mate with them, but demons have a magical ability to enslave their victims. First the body submits, then the emotions of the victim. The betrayal is the last thing these females feel, since the body explodes into the form of a baby demon." I shuddered when I heard that.

My husband said, "Let's hope that they can't follow us on the road. Once we pass through the tunnel north of town, we will head to the temple of Isis. We can find help there, if we need it." I noticed that JaNa didn't cringe at the mention of Isis' name, but it must be a front.

After a short while, we were on our way. Not many monsters attacked anymore, but as of recently, the monster attacks had started to increase. My family protected me in my helpless state, but I still felt scared. We finally reached the tunnel to the rest of the world. As we got halfway through the tunnel, a group of hooded individuals approached us. I knew who they were even before they made their demand. "Give the murderer to us. She must pay for her crime."

My husband looked at them and said, "Only over all our dead bodies." The attackers stopped moving for a moment and then started to attack. It took only a matter of minutes, but the cult was stopped. We had left the tunnel, and made our way to the Temple Of Isis.

The temple used to be the home of Ki, until she was killed by St. Marius. In the past years, the Temple was left to disrepair. After the incident with the Succubus, Lynn was sent to the temple by Isis. We entered and went to Lynn. She looked at us, and at me. She noticed the collar and ran over to me. "Vet, how did you get that cursed Ancient's device on you."

I looked at her in wonder. She knew what the device was, and I wanted to know. "Lynn, was is this collar? I'm as weak as a baby in this. I'm about as agile as a man with two left feet. My magic is nonexistance. What is it?"

Lynn looked at me, and my family, and said, "The collar is said to be from the evil Ancients. They captured the good Ancients and used it to weaken them. They tortured and kill them and then removed the collar. When the Ancients all left, this device was hidden deep within the dungeon world. The only bad thing is that the key can only be used in the center of the world. That was done to it when the evil Ancients were defeated."

My son looked at her and said, "Can't you do anything to help her? Like this, she is a victim for anyone. Two demons put that collar on her." Lynn shook her head.

JaNa looked at her and said, "Would the Ancient Ruins have an answer to the key's location?" I wondered how much JaNa wanted to help me, or if it was a plan to hurt me.

Lynn looked at us and said, "On the wall of the Ruins are mystic runes. They can fortell the future for anyone, answer any question, but they can only be asked once. Write down the ruins, for there is one woman who can decifer them." We nodded and left the temple.


It had taken about an hour to reach the ruins. As we circled the building, I stubbled into the wall with the runes. As my family approached, four lines appeared. We copied the runes down and then I asked about the key. All of a sudden, another set of ruins appeared and we copied down the runes. I heard a twig crack and we all turned. The demons were there, with some of the cult. "Amazing how the ruins say your death is evident. You should give up now," claimed Vey.

My husband looked at them and said, "You're lying about that, Demon."

"Am I? Demons can read that cursed wall as well as other people. Now, hand over the murderer." That quickly, my family attacked them and it was a short battle. All of us walked away with wounds, and my husband flew us to the Pillar town. We went to the Inn and rested for the night, as I wondered what the runes meant.


We awoke early in the morning, and left the Pillar Town. We had purchased many waterskins, for our next stop was the Desert world. We travelled into the Celestiral World and headed to the Desert world. I heard my daughter exclaim, "The stories were true. I heard that the celestiral world was high above the stars, and stars far below." My daughter was in awe as we traveled to the desert world. When we finally arrived in the desert world, we saw the town at the base of the pillar in ruins.

"By the looks of this, the town near the tower may be our only place to stay, and some monsters that followed Ashura still live there. If the cult doesn't attack, the monsters will," my husband said, with a serious tone in his voice.

KLar looked at us and said, "We can stop those monsters if they attack."

My husband then said, "But your mother is in no way able to fight and protect herself." My husband was right.

JaNa looked at me and said, "I don't think we should take a chance. Mom, maybe the monsters might be working for the cult."

My husband then said, "I think that won't be. The monsters in that town swore alligence to Ashura, so we have to risk staying there. Besides, demons and monsters are natural enemies." We all noded and we trekked to the town. It was a long journey across the desert, with all the sandstorms, we almost got killed from exhaustion. It was almost nightfall when we reached the tower. We didn't dare go in and then decided to go the town. We first got some waterskins at the shop, and we quickly went to the Inn to rest for the night.


In the middle of the night, I awoke when I heard a crash. Almost instantly, we were ready for battle, and my family crowded around me. The lead monster said, "You murdered our leader, now we murder you." The monster obviously had wanted us dead, and they outnumbered us. Without my magic abilities, we would have died. I started to pray for a miracle, and Isis delivered it. Mask, the man who helped us on our quest, arrived out of nowhere and fought off the monsters. He escorted us out of the town.

When we reached the pillar, Mask turned to us and said, "I hope you all are Ok, especially you, Vet." I was surprised when Mask said this.

I turned to him and said, "Mask, why did you say this?" He looked at the rest of my family uncomfortably and then I said to them, "Could you step away. I think this is something he just wants to tell me." They all walked toward the pillar and I said, "What is it?"

For the first time that I had met him, Mask removed his mask. "Vet, if you died now, the help you got from me years ago wouldn't have happened. Vet, I took the name Mask years ago when I joined the guardians, on my sixteenth birthday. When I met you, I recognized by father. Rich is my father. I was transported back in time, when he left on a quest to save you."

I was amazed. A spell sent Rich's son back in time, but why would me living now mattered that much. I looked at Mask and said, "Why?"

"I can't say now. I just know it happened years from now, and the 'Route of Rigge' is involved." With that, he put his mask on and left. I then went over to my family, with the knowledge of my fate.

My husband came over to me and said, "What's did he say?" I didn't know how to answer my husband, so I decided to ignore the question. He realized that I couldn't say anything at the time and didn't press into the question. We travelled back to the celestrial world and went to the world of the Giants. Although the Giants had been gone for an unknown length of time, it still had the remnents of their town in it. When we entered the world, Skiz said, "See the wall over there, that is the wal of the Giant's Town."

JaNa looked in the direction and said, "I'm having trouble seeing the wall." She was right, for a fog was starting to encircle us. As I was moving over to my family, the fog started to close around me. I couldn't move, and slowly my breath started to stop. I was starting to lose consciousness. Then, everything went black.


I awoke with rope around my body, binding me so I couldn't move. I screamed out in fear, and the familiar voice of the demon Vey say, "Sorry about that, but the master said you had to be captured."

I looked at the demon in frustration. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Oy came over to me and placed a hand on me and said, "Well, if I had my way, we would be mating." The thought of that almost made me retch. I would have shook free of his hold, if I wasn't tied down to this stone platform.

Vey walked over to his brother and knocked him away. "The next world. We will get you a possible mate in the next world."

I struggled to move, but I couldn't, due to the collar. I then said, "I am not going to give up. I will not let St. Marius take over my body."

"Oh, he will, and the time is near." Vey walked over and ran his hand over my body. "St. Marius had been plotting this with his other counterpart. When he died, he knew that his rebirth would be through his killer's body. He is going to have your power, alive or dead." a crash interrupted the demons as my family crashed in. The demons disappeared and JaNa came over and cut the ropes. I was almost afraid she would cut my throat. KLar came over and helped me up.

My husband walked over to me and said, "We didn't know if we were going to find you, but JaNa saw the fog near the one building of the giants. I don't think we should wait around here for long, though. This looks like a temple for the 'Route of Rigge'. If we don't get you out of here, you're going to be killed."

I nodded to my husband and said, "You're right, Skiz. Lead us out of here." My husband led the way out of the temple, to the stairway in the steps and out of the giant's world. We had then returned to the celestrial world. We follow the Celestrial World to the world that Apollo had ruled. The first site we saw as we entered that world was Apollo's castle in ruins. We approached it and I said, "This was where Apollo ruled this world from, kids. He gave the image of someone who cared, but all he wanted was to rule all the gods." My children nodded and we then walked toward the mountain, bypassing the town. According to the pamphlet, it was a mayor of that town who started the 'Route of Rigge'.

When we reached the mountain, KLar looked at it and said, "Did Apollo create the winds in the mountain?" I had told both of my children about the quest, but somethings were always confused by KLar.

"No, my child. The winds were created by a robot named Durantus." I noticed that it was getting late. I said to my family, "I think I know where we can rest."

"With Ki's friend in the port town, am I right?" my husband shouted. I nodded and we were on our way to the Port Town. It took us a few hours, but we made it to the town. We went striaght to the Inn and the innkeeper was happy to see us.

She ran over to me and said, "Vet, I'm happy to see you. How has your life been since the potion helped you."

I looked at her and said, "My life has been hectic." A thought hit my mind right then. I pulled out the runes and said, "Can you desipher these runes? They were on the wall of the Ancients' Ruins."

She took it and said, "I think I can, but it will take at least a day. Come back tomorrow night and I will tell you then."

"Thank you. Here is the cash for a night's sleep." I paid her and we all took a room for the night. I went to sleep, still full of fear of my limited life span. My death was drawing closer and my life would end soon.


In the morning, I was pulled out of bed by a man dressed in uniform. He must have been a protector of the peace. He pulled me to my feet and put manicles on me. Another man apporached and said, "You are under arrest for the robbery of a store in my town. I know you were in my town and I know you robbed the stroe."

My family woke up and my husband said, "What in the world is going on here? What are you doing to my wife."

The man spoke again, "I am the mayor of the mountain town. Your wife robbed my town yesterday. She was witnessed."

KLar then spoke up and said, "But, we were never in your town. I bet that the crime never took place."

JaNa then said, "You must be with the 'Route'." With that, the man smiled. I then saw both JaNa and KLar attack the man. He was quick enough to pull me in front of him. Both of the kids stopped, and I was confused by this.

The man then said, "She did commit one crime, murder, and she will pay for it." He tried to get me out of the building, when the peace keepers stopped him.

The lead man said, "We cannot hold her, unless the crime was commited in our town. She is free to go." He released the manicles and my family and I left. We continued to the edge of the sea and looked out at it.

I pointed out the volcano, and JaNa said, "Did Neptune really exist?"

I looked at her and said, "No. It was only a volcano." I was still afraid, but she had not tried anything, even with all the opertunities. At first, she didn't want to go on this journey, but now she was enjoying it. We then headed for the Cave of Brightness. The cave was now enterable since Isis was returned to normal.

We entered the cave and KLar looked at the floor. "It looks like it is moving." I had the same thought when I entered it almost thirty years ago. But back then, it was blindingly bright. We walked a little bit farther into the cave and all of a sudden, there was a blinding flash. All I could see was a white light in my eyes. I felt someone come up behind me. I thought it was someone in my family, but then I felt an arm around my neck. I couldn't breathe and I went unconscious.


When I came to, I was again bound, but in a squating position. I opened my eyes and saw Oy and Vey in the room. We were still in the Cave of Brightness, but I didn't see my family. Oy looked at me, hungrly and said, "Nice to see you, again."

Vey looked at his brother and pointed, "Oy, I captured her for you. Leave Vet alone." I managed to see what he was pointing at. Tied down to the ground, vulnerable, w as the innkeeper. Oy had a grin on his face as he went to his horrid task of mating. Two wings appeared out of Oy's back and encirled the bodies, except for their heads. I heard the Innkeeper scream. Vey then said to me, "This tends to get ugly. Her body won't be much to look at when he is done, with bruses and cuts everywhere. At least she won't live long, but you might live for months after a mating, and St. Marius wouldn't want that."

I looked at the demon and said, "If St. Marius wouldn't want that, I'll gladly mate with that hidious brother of yours." I figured that if that happened, then I would have my vengence on St. Marius.

Oy looked at me from the face of the innkeeper and said, "I'll get to you when she's finally mated with." I noticed the look on her face, it was a mixture of wanting to fight back, and wanting to beg for more. It didn't take long for it to fully change to the latter, and I saw Oy smile. The wings folded back in and I almost retched at that sight. The innkeeper's body was a bloody mess. Oy started to walk over to me and just as he was about to touch me, my family burst into the room.

The demons disappeared as my husband advanced toward them. Skiz looked at the innkeeper and said to me, "What happened to her?"

As KLar cut me free, I heard JaNa say, "I think one of those demons mated with her. She won't have long to live. Dad, you might want to kill her before the demon is born."

Just before my husband was going to put her out of her misery when the innkeeper softly said, "Vet, I must tell you something." I went over to her side and she said, "Vet, your fate said that you will die twice, but you will be reborn." Her voice had gotten very soft at that point that only I was able to here it.

I looked at her and said, "Who has the key?" She was about to say something, when she screamed in agony. From several points of her body, bulges seemed to push out. Instanty my husband struck, and she died in a bloody mess.

My husband picked me up and said, "We better get out of this world. I know that the next world is where Radr is. He can take care of you at the base, and we will stay at the inn." I nodded and we left the cave of brightness. It took us hours to get to the pillar, mainly because of the mayor from the mountain town, with a new peace unit, was looking for us. Every time we saw them, we took a longer path, which kept us hidden from sight. It was nearing nightfall when we reached the pillar, and the trip between the worlds had been the first time we didn't feel threatened.

When we entered the Guardian Town, everyone was happy to see us. I had figured that the 'Route Of Rigge' never attempted to influence the Guardian's world. My husband took us over to the tavern where the entrance to the base was and played the 'Heroic Tune'. When the door was opened, the guards were carrying a box with a red glass eye in it. From the box came the unmistakable voice of Radr, "VET, SKIZ, JANA, KLAR, IT IS GOOD TOO SEE YOU. ARE YOU ALL GOING TO BE STAYING IN THE BASE?"

Skiz said, "Radr, as of lately, Vet has been the subject of many attacks. I want her to stay here for the night, the rest of us will be staying at the Inn in town. If they do attack, they will go to the Inn, and Vet will be safe."

I nodded and Radr said, "I SEE. VET, YOU WILL BE WELCOME HERE. I SHALL LET YOU STAY IN THE SECURED ROOMS IN THE LOWEST LEVELS OF THE BASE."

"Thank you, Radr." I responded and nodded. My family left for the inn and I went down with the guards to my room.

On the way down, the guard said to me, "Is the 'Route' after you?"

"How did you know?" I was surprised of the knowledge that they had.

"The 'Route' has been trying to infiltrate the Guardian's for years, but when Radr merged with the computer, it became imposible to infiltrate. Some still try, though." This had me scared for my life. If the 'Route' was trying to infiltrate the guardians, was I safe here? When we reached my room, the guard said, "Don't worry about the 'Route', they have been stopped for a while."

"Thank you, and good night." I closed the door and went over to the bed in the room. I laid down on it and thought about what the innkeeper said in her dying words. I would die twice, and be reborn. Would my death at the hands of the cult be realized, but what about the rebirth. Did that mean St. Marius taking over my body, and the death of my soul. I knew not where the souls went if they were killed by a cursed one. I fell asleep still wondering what would happen to me.


I awoke in the middle of the night when alarms went off in the base. I ran to the speaker and called to Radr, "What's happening?"

His monotone voice said, "VET, THE 'ROUTE OF RIGGE' IS ATTACKING THE INN. I HAVE SENT SOME OF THE GUARDIANS TO HELP THEM. AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, A DEMON IS LEADING THE ATTACK."

I stepped away from the speaker and thought for a moment. If one demon was leading the attack, which one was leading, and where was the other. I was about to ask Radr about that, when I was hit from the side and knocked onto the bed. I started to scream when a claw was placed over my mouth. I recognized the face of my attacker. It was Oy. Hr looked at me and said, "It's time for me to take you up on your offer." I chill went through my body as I realized what he was going to do.

I tried to shout again, but Oy then said, "Shut up. I need to mate, and you made the offer. This wouldn't have happened if your husband didn't kill my kid before it was born. Now I have to do it all over again, but I don't mind." I saw the wings fold out and around me. He held my head so I couldn't see what was happening, but I knew. I felt several talons cross my body, and I felt my body enjoying it. I was losing quicker than the innkeeper. My emotions started to give in and I heard Oy say, "It will soon be over, and I will have a kid."

I was almost overcome by the emotions when a blast hit the demon, knocking him loose from me. My mind was in a daze, but I heard some guards shout, "Get out, or you will be a corpse."

I saw the demon fly and say, "I was so close. I may never get a chance again." Nobody was going to touch me, I could tell. I was in that state my daughter described days ago. I didn't know how long it would last, but the demon caused it.

It was some time later that my husband rushed in. He started to approach me, but I heard Radr yell, "SKIZ, DON'T TOUCH HER. WE STOPPED A DEMON FROM MATING AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT STATE SHE IS IN. WE CAN ONLY WAIT FOR HER TO START MOVING."

My husband didn't believe it. I heard him say, "Radr, we were fighting the demon, and the 'Route'. The demons couldn't have mated with her." He started to approach me. He wanted to cofort me, but I couldn't even speak.

My daughter grabbed his arm and said, "Dad, Mom shouldn't be touched now. She is in a state of awaitment, and who knows how close it was to the end of the mating." He shook her arm free and he walked over to my side. He took my arm and I mentally went cold.


When I awoke, everything hit me as a heavy weight. I started to cry. My husband came over to hold me, but I recoiled. He said in his caring voice, "Vet, what's wrong?"

I looked through my tear filled eyes, and not seeing the children, I said, "What's wrong? For all of my life, I have been able to fend for myself. I never had to worry about being alone. When I heard about the prophecy, I was scared, but I was afraid to be with my children. I never let it show, but I was afraid. When the Succubi spell took hold, I felt helpless when I couldn't use my magic, and then I fell completely under it's control, I could control my own mind. Then, when the demon's attacked a few days ago, I could have fought back, but they hinderd all my abilities. Look at me, I used to be able to fight evil with ease, now I can't even walk five steps without falling over. And now this, I mean I wasn't in control of my body or my emotions. I was lucky to be saved when I was, but I couldn't stop it."

"Vet, don't blame yourself. You can't help what happens to you by magic, or right now. The 'Route' seems to have intergrated itself into all the worlds. We might get lucky and avoid all attacks from now on. You have to remember, you are a survivor."

"For how long?" I yelled. "The twin's birthday is coming up in a few days. They turn eighteen, and JaNa will kill me. I'm surprised she hasn't done so yet."

"We don't know that it is JaNa. I have a plan to prove who the threat is? Are you listening?" I nodded and he continuted, "We will head to the temple, but when we get there, Isis will check the twins for the key. The one with the key will stay with me, and the other will go down into the center of the world with you. Is that Okay with you?"

I had stopped crying and said, "Alright. Hon, what happened when you touched me earlier? I think my mind had shut down."

He looked at me and nodded. "According to Radr, your mind did shut down. Your mind was still fighting the control the demon had over your body and emotions. You must have still been fighting it, as well as taking all visual and audio input. When I touched your, you mind couldn't handle it, and you had a fit of sorts. Radr says that it was similar to a condition that some of his men call epilepsy. If it wasn't for them, we would have been hurt by you."

"Was I that dangerous?" He nodded and I said, "I'm sorry, but I didn't know what I was doing."

"It's okay, but when we leave this world, it will be nearing night. I know my parents moved to a town that was founded in the former monster world. My mother said that we could stop by any time we need. Let's go." I let my husband help me up. We then got the chilldren and left the guardian base. It had been nightfall when we left the base, and we headed straight for the pillar of the sky. We slowly made our way to the pillar and headed for the Monster World.

When we entered the Monster World, we approached the town. It was instantaniously that the people of the town started to approach us. I didn't like the looks of them, and I knew that I was the target when I heard them shout, "There she is, the one who killed the savior."

I looked at my husband and said, "I think we better leave, before we get killed." He nodded and we ran for the pillar. I glanced back every couple of steps to see the crowd was keeping up with us. We returned to the celestrial world, and stopped at the Celestrial Inn. It was probably the only safe place we could find that would take us in.


When I woke up in the morning, Skiz helped me up and we left for our next stop. We went to the former city of Venus. The last time I was there, I was transforming into a succubus. We entered the remains of the city. I could still see where the walls use to stand. Still on the ground were shards of the magical glass tower. As we continued to walk thorugh the town, I started to see people approaching us. I recognized the robes they were wearing. They were memebers of the 'Route'. I turned to my husband and said, "Skiz, the cult is approachng. I think we should leave." Before my husband could agree, the cult started to attack.

"Capture the murderer. Don't let her escape," they shouted. Quickly, they attacked us. In no time, they knocked out both the children. I was surprised that they would attack their leader, unless they were under instruction to do so. Was it part of some plan to confuse me? After sometime, my husband was knocked out and the cult grabbed hold of me.

The head of this group said, "We must take her to our temple." They all cheered and dragged me towards the northern part of town. I realized where there temple was. They hid it in the sewer. As the dragged me in to the sewer, the smell of waste assalted my nose. The sewer had gotten worse since the quest of the Magi.

We eventually approached a door, and they through me in. They slammed the door shut, but I could still see out. I shouted out the door and said, "Who told you to do this?" I wanted to find out which child was betraying me, because I didn't think I would make it to the celestrial temple.

The man guard turned to me and said, "The Annointed One told us to do that. They can't wait to kill you." He then laughed and left the door. I started to cry. Why was this happening to me?

I paced in that room for what seemed like hours, until I heard fighting outside. I ran to the door and tried to see what was going on, but it was no use. After a short time, the fighting stopped and the door opened. KLar was at the door and he ran over and hugged me. "Mom, I'm so glad I found you. When I didn't see you, Dad suggested that we search for you. He went with JaNa, and I searched alone. I saw one of the 'Route' lurking around the sewers and I decided to follow him. He led me to here, and to you."

I returned the hug and said, "Thank you, KLar, but let's get out of her, before more of the 'Route' arrive." We ran out of the sewers and met up with JaNa and Skiz. I hugged my husband and said, "We need to get out of this world."

He looked at me and said, "We also need cash. While we were out cold, some thief robbed us. We only have about 100GP to our names." This was bad. When we left, we had enough money for the journey, now we needed the best of luck.

It was then I remembered that the next world had the Dragon Race on it. I wondered if it was still going on. I looked at my husband and said, "What about the Dragon Race?"

Skiz smilled at me and said, "Vet, you're a genius. I know it's a risk, but we can do it. Let's go." He led us back to the pillar and we headed for the next world. The Dragon Race was a risk for anyone. Since Apollo was eliminated, the races had taken on a new way of being handled. They were run in a series of races, the first four made the finalists, and then they raced. A good gambler could call each of the first four winners and of those four, the overall winner.

When we reached the world, it was amazing. The pillar was on the far side of the track, and there was bridge over the track to the town. It was the whole size of the world. We crossed the bridge and went to the race building. I was about to say something when JaNa said, "Fireball is going to win the first race." I looked at JaNa and she said, "I think I have developed a sence of prediction."

I was abit leary, but my husband decided to go with what she said. He walked over to the betting window and said, "100 on Fireball."

The man looked surprised and said, "Are you sure? That's a 100 to 1 shot." My husband nodded, and the man gave us the ticket. We walked out to the track and watched the race. Early on, it appeared Fireball would lose. Then, a miracle happened. Fireball took off like there was no tomorrow. The dragon made it to the finish line, with time to run around the track two more times. We all cheered for joy. We let the winnings ride on the next race. We repeated that method for each race, and by the time it was over, we have over a million gold pieces

Just as we were leaving the town, the man from the window started to follow us. I then noticed that he had an emblem on his shirt. I had seen it before. He was a member of the 'Route'. I turned to my husband and said, "Skiz, he's part of the 'Route'." My husband turned and was about to attack, when several more of the 'Route' appeared. Quickly, we ran for the pillar and returned to the Celestrial World.

He looked at me and said, "I hope that this is the last attack. I don't know how much more we can take. We can't even rest anywhere." I was beginning to lose faith in the plan, but then I remembered something.

I looked at my husband and said, "All we have to do is get to the Final World. Rich and Li will protect us." Skiz smiled and nodded. We then continued to the next world. We had to find someone to protect us The next world was the Shogun world, and Hana was there. Maybe she could help us. She had dealt with a gang called the Hamatatos when we were on the quest. When we entered the world, the Shogun's palace was shredded. The wood had been splintered, and the windows were cut to shreds. We headed over to the town near the Palace. We looked around and ran into Hana. She had moved her detective office to this town.

When she saw us, she said, "Hello, it has been a long time since I have seen you, although you have chosen a bad time to visit. The Hamatatos have been acting up, and I have discovered that the new governor is funding them."

When I heard that I knew what was happening. I turned to Hana and said, "I think that the Hamatatoes will be the least of your worries."

"Why"

There was a crash and several Hamatatos jumped into the building. We were caught completely off guard, and 20 to 4 were not good odds. The Hamatatos shouted "For the 'Route', we fight to help them." They easily knocked out all of them. I started to run for the door, but all of a sudden, one the Hamatatos pulled out a device. It looked like an Abacus, and that quickly, I collapse, right into the leader's grasp. Then, everything went black.


When I came back to consciousness, I was hanging on one of the walls of a cave. I was held up by chains on my wrists, and there were many of the Hamatatoes there, as well as some cult members. The one that appeared to be the leader looked at me and said, "When the Annointed One arrives, you will be taken to your death."

I looked at the leaded and shouted, "My familty will rescue me and protect me for your Annointed One."

The leader just laughed and said, "They will be looking for you in the last world, not this one." I finally realized where I was. The last time I was here, my nightmares caused me to freak out. Now I was a prisoner in the Nasty Dungeon. The laughter had only made the fear worse. I closed my eyes and started to pray. When I opened them, he was right in my face and he said, "It is all going according to plan."

I heard noise coming from the cave, but over all I heard one reassuring sound. "Vet, we're coming to help you." It was my husband, and my family, coming to save my life. Almost instantly, the cult and the Hamatatos ran, and my family entered the room I was in. My husband destroied the chains, but just as I was getting down from the wall, a cult member attacks. Quickly, my husband attacked and slayed the cult memeber. It was a monster. My husband quickly took a chomp out of the fiend and changed. He looked almost featureless until he approached me. He started to transform into my form. It was totally weird. He looked at me and said, "I think I have transformed into a doppleganger. I can transform into the person I'm closest to."

"I think I understand, although it is a bit confusing." I had no doubt that the children were confused, but the one who would kill me would keep their distance. We then worked our way out of the dungeon. I looked at my husband and said, "Skiz, how did you find out I was here?"

"Hana found a clue on the floor after the attack. It said about meeting the cult and their leader at the dungeon. Hana said there was no dungeon in her world, but I knew about this dungeon."

JaNa then spoke up and said, "It wasn't until we heard your voice that we knew were to go." I had since started to doubt her, mainly due to the fact that everything we knew about who was going to kill me was point to her.

It had taken a while, but we eventually left the dungeon and moved onto the next world. The next world was the world that had been known as Valhalla. On the clouds were the ruins of Odin's Palace, and due to the state it was in, the gap in the clouds had to be crossed by a bridge. The portible bridge that we used had no railings, so we had to be careful in crossing the gap. I was the last to cross, and as I crossed, I lost my footing. I was had slipped off the bridge and started to fall down to Pureland. JaNa grabbed my arm and said, "Hold on, Mom, I'll help you up." She was true to her word there, but I figure it was so she could kill me later. Then, a scary thought hit my mind. Could she have developed telepathy?

As I got to my feet, Skiz said, "Don't worry, Vet. Our next stop is Li's Inn. We should be fine there." I hoped he was right, but as we traversed throught the Celestrial world to the Final World, I could only think of one thing. I started to think about Mask, and the fact that he was Rich's son. Would Rich lose his son today?

When we entered the world, we went straight to the town, and entered the Inn. Li looked at us and yelled to the back, "Rich, come out here. We have company." Out of the back came Rich, with his two children following him.

Rich looked over at us. He smiled and said, "How long has it been since we seen you?"

I replied, "About six years has passed. How are your children?"

Rich laughed and said, "Lena has just started to become a woman, and as for Max, he is soon going to have his ninth birthday." I looked at the little boy, and I could see how Mask was this same boy.

The little girl looked at me and said, "Are you the one the faces are calling for?" I was taken back by what she said. I didn't even know what that even meant.

Li turned to Rich and said, "I think you better show the others to their rooms." He nodded and motioned the rest of my family to their rooms. Li then took my arm and escorted me out of the Inn. She then said, "I'm sorry, but Lena was referring to the Dungeon of Souls, or the Final Dungeon. We found out that some of the faces are those of the Hani's victims. Some have asked about you, according to Lena."

I was surprised by this. "Those faces asked for me." Li continued to lead me into the cave. I looked at those faces and started to wonder about it. We stopped and I looked around.

All of a sudden, one of the faces spoke up and said, "Vet, is that you darling? It's me, your mother." It was her voice, and she continued, "Vet, becareful. St. Marius is waiting for you. One day, he will return, but you won't die." The face stopped speaking.

All I could do was look at it. I was upset. My mother's soul was trapped in this dungeon. I almost said something when another voice spoke. "Vet, it's me, Jena. I've missed you, friend. Vet, don't believe the clues. They point to your death." The face the went silent.

Li put a hand on my shoulder and said, "What does thiis mean?"

I turned to face her and said, "The 'Route Of Rigge' has been trying to kill me. Their Annoited One is one of my children, but now, I not sure if it is JaNa or KLar." Li then escorted me back to the Inn, and showed me to the room that Rich had set aside for me and Skiz. I then fell asleep for the night.


When we awoke in the morning, we left the Inn and headed for the Celestrial Temple. We entered and Isis was waiting for us. She looked at me and then said, "I had a feeling you were coming, Vet. I have heard about the 'Route' and ther attacks on you and your family. I also notice that you are wearing the Collar of Evil. Do not worry. I shall remove it."

I looked at Isis and said, "Don't you need the key?"

She looked at the children and said, "Yes, and the evil child is carring it." Skiz was right. Isis would know who had the key, and save me from that child. She walked over to the kids and held her hands infront of their faces. Soon, she reached into JaNa's pockets and pulled out the key.

She looked surprised, even though it was faked. "I don't know how that got there."

Isis unlocked the collar and removed it from me. "It will take you a while to return to your normal state, but JaNa shall pay for her evil." Isis put the collar on her.

JaNa then screamed, "No! I was framed. I would never hurt my mother."

Skiz turned to me and said, "Don't worry. You take KLar down. I will make sure JaNa doesn't try anything." KLar then walked over to me and we took the stairs down. We walked along the path to the location of where the Arsenal stood. They had been shut down for a while, and it was evident.

I looked at the devices and said, "KLar, this was where the final battle of the Magi Quest took place."

He looked out and said, "And was this where you entered the Mana Net?" I nodded and he then said, "Then, this is the end of the journey." He was still marvelling at the world.

I then said, "Yes, but now we should head up. I don't want your father to die at the hands of JaNa, like the prophecy says."

As I turned, I heard KLar said, "He won't, Mom. In fact, he's in less danger than you are." I finally understood what the spirits had said, and I felt something hit me, and all went black.


When I returned to consciousness, I was tied up between the two Arsenal units, hands tied to one, feet to the other. I looked out and saw my son, and the demons Oy and Vey. When I saw this, I almost screamed, but I was gagged. My son walked over to me and said, "Mother, it has been so easy to trick you into believing JaNa was evil, but it is me who was the villian."

I tried to yell at him, but he held up a knife and said, "Mother, please. St. Marius' spirit has to arrive, and then he can return. You know the 'Route' was easy to manipulate, and he knew it."

Vey then said, "Yes. You see, we all know the truth about St. Marius. All the attacks that were made on you were part of the plan, except for my brother almost mating with you."

Oy looked at me and said in a high voice, "Now your son has cast a spell on me. I can't mate anymore, and it's all your fault."

My son looked at them and said, "Shut up." He then turned to me and said, "You know when JaNa got sick. That was because she fought the evil off, and it took over my body. Now, when St. Marius returns, he, or should I say you, and I will hunt down the third part of the evil and take over this world. And the guest of honor has arrived." I then saw the shade start to form.

When it fully formed, I heard the voice of St. Marius say, "I said I would return. Start the ceremony." My son started to chant, and I realized that I was doomed. Then, everything changed.

My husband came in, attacking each of the demons. My son started to speed up his chanting, but then JaNa ran over to the ropes and started to cut them. It was then that my son, thrusted the knife down. Just as it would have hit, Skiz jumped inbetween the knife and me, and the thrust killed him. "No!" KLar yelled. His wings had taken on a darker tone, and he flew into the air, with the demons in tow. He looked at us and said, "I shall win. Both of you killed him, and no place will be safe for you." He flew out of the temple. Isis was coming down and was almost hit by the fleeing evil.

JaNa helped me up and said, "Do you believe me now?" I nodded and she then said, "Now what? Almost everyplace will turn us in to the 'Route'."

Isis then looked at me and said, "There is a place where I can hide you, but I can't guarentee pure safety. It is a secret base in Ki's temple."

I looked at Isis and said, "Can you transport us there?" She nodded and we were there in a instant. Now, I was a hunted person, and what about what the runes said? JaNa hugged me and I said to my daughter, "I fear this is not the end."


Dark Angel
A Story And Addendum For Memoirs Of The Heroes. (Previously "Memoirs Of An Adventure's Child."))
(All Characters Are Ficticious And bare no resemblence to living people.
Any resemblence to fictional characters is only by chance.)
=====================================================

It was a nice day when I took the kids into town. It was Lena's 16th birthday, and I decided to let her pick out her gift. My son, Max, was with us, looking to get a small protective weapon to train with. When Max turned 10, he expressed an intrest in adventuring. I thought that this was a good thing. When the third evil would come, I would need help. Lena already developed the ability to use Magic Scrolls. Only four years ago, Vet disappered, on a charge of murdering her husband. Isis never said anything about that, but I had suspicions. As we were leaving a dress shop, where Lena had just gotten a Powder Blue Magic Robe, when Max said, "Dad, 'Route' members are over there."

We all looked in there direction and saw them. Then, Lena looked and said, "My goodness, they have captured KLar. We have to rescue him." After Vet and her family had visited us four years ago, Lena had fallen in love with him.

I looked at my daughter and said, "We will follow them, but we have to be careful. I think that JaNa is working with the 'Route'."

Max looked at me and said, "Why would she do that?"

"Remember when I told you of St. Marius?" He nodded and I continued, "When he died, part of his spirit flew out into our world. When we returned, Vet was told that JaNa had fallen ill, and your mother told me of a prophecy about the children."

"Do you think that JaNa had KLar capture?" Lena asked with concern. I nodded and she started to cry. I watched the cult head to the town hall. I motioned to my children to follow quietly and we followed. We entered the town hall and looked around. There was almost no sign of the cult.

"Where have they gone?" I said as softly as I could. The town hall was a big building since the Magi Quest, but it never had any secrets to my knowledge. We proceded carefully, until I almost ran into the mayor of our city.

He looked at me and asked, "Rich, what are you doing?"

I looked at him and responded, "I'm sorry, your honor, but I have reason to believe that a friend of the family has been captured by some evil people."

He looked puzzled and said, "Why would they be here?"

My daughter quickly said, "We followed them here. I think they are going to kill him."

The mayor looked at us and said, "If one of the heroes of Isis says that there is evil hiding in this building, I must trust them. The evil ones might come after me next. I hope you are successful." He left and we started to search the building.

As we approached a stairway, Max called me and said, "Father, I hear voices down these steps." Lena and I ran over to him and listened carefully. As we stood there, we heard the voices speak.

The first voice I heard was a high voice as it said, "I can't believe how the master managed to frame her. This way, we don't have to search for her as hard as we did before."

The second voice, a deeper one responded, "You would not be talking like that if the spell wasn't cast on you. You did try and mate with the target, and this is your punishment." I then realized that these must have been the demons that Skiz told me about. I wanted to slit their throats, but I wanted to hear more.

The first voice grumbled and said, "Well, she shouldn't have been so good looking."

The second voice just said, "Brother, to you, a Medusa is good looking." I finally decided that if we were going to get past these demons, we would have to disguise ourselves, particularly Lena. The last thing I wanted was my daughter to fall victim to a demon. The second voice then continued "Besides, the Annointed One has a way to overcome the failure." I then started to piece everything together. JaNa must have framed Vet when she killed her father by mistake, and now she had captured her brother.

I looked at my daughter and said, "Lena, do you have an invisablity spell on you?"

She looked in her booklet that she had made. Since her ability started, she had been looking for spells and gathering them in a book. "I have one that can hide us from all, and it mutes speech except to those who know us."

"Good, cast it." She immediately cast the spell, and magic envelope was surrounding us. I then said, "This should keep us out of sight, but stick together." We then started down the steps. At the bottom, we saw the demons guarding a portal. We started to approach the door, when one of the demons stopped talking.

It sniffed the air and said, "Hey Vey, do you sence the presence of a lady?" My head flooded with fear, and a look of fear crossed Lena's face when this was said. Would the spell work? Would my daughter be safe?

The other looked around and said, "Oy, you moron, you must be dreaming. There is no female anywhere around here. Now watch for anybody, especially any of heroes of Isis." If only those demons knew I was right near them. We contined into the portal and started down some more steps.

When we were about to reach the bottom, the pattern of a giant maze was in front of us. When I saw this, I said "Now what?"

Lena looked through her book of spells. She was hoping she would have a spell to tackle this, but she didn't. Max was looking at the maze and saw something in the center. He turned to me and said, "Dad, I think that in the center of this maze is the temple."

Lena then said, "Father, I think I have an idea. I could cast a temporary spell to let Max lead us through the maze. It is risky though."

I didn't need to hear that. I gave her an eye of concern and said, "How risky?"

My daughter would never lie to me. She looked me straight in the eye and said, "There is a good chance that I might fry his brain."

I was almost ready to refuse that idea when Max said, "Let's do it. We need to save KLar, and I don't know of any other way." I wanted to argue, but I couldn't argue with them. They were right in their choices. Lena cast the spell and I watched as blue lightning shot into Max's head. He started to shake as if he were in fits, but in a few minutes, he was breathing normally.

I looked at him and asked, "Are you alright?"

He nodded and said, "I see the path through. Follow me, and be careful." He then led the way through the giant maze. After a while, he stopped and said, "Trap number one." In front of us was a checkboard pattern. I recognized what was on the red squares, Spawn-Seeds. These deadly plants were little pods, until a living being stepped on them. At that time, they would grow, engulfing the being, and quickly dissolve them.

"Stay on the black squares," I said, and we carefully crossed the trap. When we were all across, we continued on until we hit another trap. This one was worse, for it was Trendrilians. The floor had four of them covering all but a thin line. By myself, I would have been able to cross, but Lena was not very agile. She would fall right into one, and they would kill her. Tendrillian were like flowers, except they had tendrels insted of pedals, and used them to constrict food to death.

Lena looked at me and said, "I have a spell that can levitate us over the creatures." She recited the spell and we took to the air. In a few seconds, we had pasted the creatures. After a couple of more twists and turns, Max stopped us again. We looked around and saw nothing.

Max just eyes the walls and said, "Lasers, intense enough to destroy anything." I couldn't see them, but then Lena chanted a spell, and a fog arose. I finally saw the laser beams. They were at different angles, and spots in the wall. We slowly made our way though the laser beams, avoiding their deadly touch. When we passed by the lasers, we headed deeper into the maze. Eventually, I noticed that we were approaching a hall of crystals. "Pain crystals. They are designed to harm anyone one not of the cult."

"Apparently, JaNa had no intention of us getting this far if we discovered the cult. I think that she plans to have us dead by now. Is there any way we can get past them with out being killed." Pain crystals were very dangerous. These deadly magical devices would cause pain in any being that would kill a person.

Lena looked in her book of spells and smiled. "Maybe a Wall spell can help. It should create a barrier between us and the crystals." I nodded for us to try it, and she cast the spell. I could see the glow of the wall's borders. We started to advance through the hall, as a time passed, the wall started to fade. Just as we reached the end, the wall fell, and the magical pain crystals started their evil magic. We ran quickly to the end of the tunnel, and survived. As we left the hall, we saw the temple room. We had reached the center of the maze. We found a hiding spot, just in case the illusion spell wore off.

As we watched, the cult started to enter. It appeared that they were preparing for something big. I noticed that a large group was there. I didn't think we had a chance of defeating them, but we could bring back reinforcements. I also noticed that Lena was getting very worried. She turned to me and said, "Dad, will we be able to rescue KLar?"

I was about to answer when all the cult started to chant. Something was happening, something big. Soon, to my surprise, KLar appeared, in the cults robes. He held up his hands and said, "My children, be seated." I looked at my children, and they shared the same look I had, that of shock. KLar then continued his speech. "As you all know, the savior's murderer is still at large, and in order to bring our savior back, we must kill her. Now, after searchining for years, we have found the Orb of Spirits. In no time, our savior shall return to the living. But now, we must hold his spirit in the orb."

I listened as KLar started chanting something. Almost as soon as he had started, a glowing form went down to orb. The whole cult started chanting two words I hoped never to hear again. The whole cult was chanting the name of St. Marius. I hoped that that vile being was dead, but now I understood why Vet was in hiding. The cult wanted her dead. Finally, I head the evil voice of St. Marius speak from the orb. "My children, I have only partially return. Find the evil being that killed me, and her soul shall be placed in this sphere."

Lena looked at me and said, "Dad, we must warn the mayor. He should know about this." I nodded and we slowly got up. Just as soon as we got up, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up to see the face of the mayor, but I realized that he had been a part of this cult. He yelled out, "Annointed One, there are followers of Isis here. We must kill them." All of a sudden the cult started in our direction.

With a quick blow, I knocked out the mayor and we started to run for the maze. I heard St. Marius exclaim, "Stop them. They will ruin everything." At that moment, I knew that the only thing left to do was to ask Isis for her help. It was then I realized that I had one item to help us out of this mess. I reached into my pack and pulled out the round object. I put it to the wall, and the mystical Door appeared.

I opened the Door, and yell to Lena and Max, "Children, into the Door. We're going someplace safe." The cult was closing in on us and I followed my children through the Door. As it closed, the whole thing disappeared, unable to be opened again, and we were in our house. I turned and faced my wife.

Li looked at me and said, "Rich, what's wrong?"

I put my hands on her shoulders and said, "Pack, we are no longer safe here. St. Marius is back, and he is part of the 'Route Of Rigge.' The mayor was part of the cult. We leave immediately for Isis." My wife ran out to the room we had and started to pack. Once we were set there, we had to find Vet. If she was captured by the 'Route', her life was over. The Restoration Quest

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