The Dink Network

Hey everyone. I've been writing a book based on the game Wild ARMs (which I recommend you get now). I really haven't done that much for it, but I decided to post some of it (the prologue) here, for people to judge. Please, keep in mind I'm from Finland, so everything may not be perfect, however, if you have some criticism to give, please give constructive criticism, I do wish to get positive feedback more than criticism though. Hopefully you like it so I will.

Without further ado, here's the prologue of my Wild ARMs book.

Chapter 1
The Fall Of The Fenril Knights

Snow covered the ground, and more was floating down from the sky, in the cold north of Filgaia, as three figures ran through the hallways of Arctica Castle. Escaping the fire that was raging all over the castle, the elder man, along with his three younger companions, stepped on an elevator which then started floating down while making a horrible grumbling sound.
The elder man, whom was surrounded by the other three, fell on his knees.
"I'm exhausted", he complained "Can't we slow down?!". The blue haired man turned towards him and responded: "There's nothing we can do as long as we are in the dark about their intentions.", he continued "Our duty as Fenril Knights is to protect the king".
"Preposterous", the elder man shouted as he got up, "I am the king, now that my brother has fallen! With or without a crown...". The blond young man to the right of the king spit on the elevator's floor: "...Huh! Then try to get out of here on your own!", he said.
"Stop that, Garrett! We are in the presence of the king!", the blue haired man turned towards the blond one, and looked at him with an angry expression on his face.
Suddenly, three giant bat-like creatures jumped on the elevator. The king crouched back onto his knees, while the three others pulled out their swords, and in three fast swings, there was nothing left of the monsters, but three corpses and blood.
"Bravo, Fenril Knights! Bravo!", the king yelled as he, once again, got back up. The other blond man, who had been quiet until this point, suddenly realized something terrible.
"A surprise attack within the snowstorm..." he muttered, "Maybe they're after...?!?!" he suddenly yelled. "Chief Coldbird, maybe the demons are after the cocoon?"
The blue haired man turned to face his companion. "The cocoon... It's a possibility", he thought, "Do you think the cocoon is worth something, Ryan?"
But before Ryan could get a word out from his lips, the king stated yelling: "What?! They came to get my cocoon?". He turned towards Chief Coldbird and begged him "No Coldbird! Do not let them take it! They'll use it for no good!!"
Silence spread, as the elevator continued to move down the castle. Only sound that could be heard within the next minutes was Garrett spitting on the elevator again. Suddenly, with another horrible grumbling sound, the elevator stopped, and a narrow bridge appeared so they could get off of the elevator.

They walked through the hallway, until they arrived in a bigger room. In the dark, you could barely make out the appearance of the room, which wasn't that great, with six torches, four statues of knights holding axes and a purple carpet. Two doors were to the left and right, on both sides of this long hallway-like room. All of the men's eyes were fixed on a giant cocoon, that was bound up to a hole in the wall.
They stepped into the room some more.
"Good. My cocoon is safe..." the king sighed out of relief.
Out from the right door limped a red haired young woman, whose leg was injured badly. Garrett noticed her. "Elmina!", she shouted. The woman walked over to him.
"Your leg...", Garrett gasped as he saw the damage on Elmina's leg. She chuckled: "Now I'm holding you back? Me, the *Sword Princess*?"
"Was the rest of your party...", but before she could even finish her sentence, Garrett and Ryan hung their head and admitted: "Yes..."
Suddenly, a long handled axe flew to the floor next to Ryan. He crouched, inspecting the axe. He grabbed it's wooden handle and in a flash of light, he disappeared into thin air along with the axe.
"Ryan!", Chief Coldbird yelled but it was too late. The king once again fell on his knees, yelling and moaning: "The knight... with a single stroke..."
Next to the king, in a flash, appeared an enormous figure. It had a head that looked like was made out of a golden crown, and it's body was covered in a white robe. It seemed to be floating in the thin air. The humans stood and watched as this creature, with paws the size of their heads started speaking: "Nice to meet you. I am the demon, Alhazad".
"But the demon race is only a legend?!", Elmina stepped from behind Garrett. The floating creature stared at Elmina: "And yet, here I am right in front of you", it continued "I don't have much time... so let me get to the point". It looked specifically towards the king as it yet again started speaking: "Will you give me that thing you call a cocoon?"
"Yes! Yes!", the king wailed as he crawled in front of the floating beast. "I'll do whatever you want! You can have anything. Just let me live".
Chief Coldbird, however, had no intentions of wailing, as he pulled out his sword and yelled: "No, your majesty! You must not do that!"
In a similar flash as when Ryan disappeared, so too did the king.
"I'm sorry", the creature who called itself demon Alhazad chuckled. "All I can give you in return is a *Painless Death*. You will have to live with it. Hee hee hee hee!", the demon joyed.
"You b*stard!!", Elmina shouted at Alhazad.
Chief Coldbird took a firmer grip of his sword as he yelled: "Garrett! Elmina! You must escape from Arctica Castle! Let everyone in Filgaia know what has happened here!" He then launched towards the demon in white robes, as Garrett and Elmina ran out from the right door. All they could see and hear was a horrible grinding of metal and a huge flash.

Garrett and Elmina found themselves sitting on another purple carpet, in a hallway. They sat down as Garrett bound a ribbon around Elmina's injured leg.
"D*mn, our chief is..." Elmina cursed, "That b*stard probably got the rest of the knights too". They sat there for a while.
"Hey, Garrett", Elmina suddenly spoke. "You're a bigger coward than I thought". Garrett shook his head: "What?! What are you saying?! Me, a coward?"
"Yes", Elmina spoke, "You have no *Courage*. You're probably thinking of a way to defeat them even now". Garrett got back on his feet.
"Of course!" he yelled, "No matter what it takes, I'll kill that thing!"
Elmina stood up next to Garrett: "So, you call throwing your life away *Courage*? We will not be able to defeat them yet". She looked at Garrett's annoyed expression. "I know it's hard to admit".
Elmina noticed some blood on Garrett's arm, and bound a ribbon around it. "What a terrible wound", she muffled. Garrett looked at her leg and responded: "It's not as bad as yours".
"I won't hear of it!". she said as she let go of his arm. She continued: "You think fighting an unbeatable enemy is *Courage*? I don't agree with that".
"So, what do you consider *Courage*?", Garrett shot back.
"Enough chattering", Elmina stopped, "Let's go, Garrett!"
They started moving towards the end of the hallway, where a door to the cold blizzard was waiting. Some snow had even come through the holes in the wooden gate, and now covered the floor of the castle. In his hurry, Garrett didn't notice the the limping Elmina, left behind. As he went through the gate, he could hear it shut down. Garrett turned towards the gate and stuck his head between one of the holes.
"What are you doing, Elmina?!", Garrett yelled from the blizzard. Elmina looked at him. "I can't get away with this wound!", she yelled back.
Garrett was trying to convince her: "Open the door elmina! You're the one who said wasting your life is not *Courage*!". Elmina hung her head: "Funny for me to say, but you gain nothing from war". She looked down to the floor. "But Garrett", she continued, "I fight to protect something important to me. I will not gain anything, but I will not lose anything." Protecting something important is not a waste of life". She took a deep breath: "Garrett, I don't want to lose you".
"Nor I you!", Garrett shouted, "Open the door, Elmina! I'll fight with you! Open the door, Elmina!". Elmina lifted her head: "You must tell the world what has happened here... Don't worry. I have no intention of dying here. I am the Sword Princess. The ribbon I wrapped around your arm was expensive... I can't die until I get that back".
In an already familiar flash of light, Alhazad appeared floating in front of Elmina. "There you are. You were hard to find", he said with his metallic, yet hissing, voice, "You are the last humans in the castle. Are you ready to die?". Elmina, with her hair flowing in the wind that pushed through the gate, pulled out her sword, and stood between the gate and Alhazad.
"Have *Courage*!", she yelled to Garrett, "Deliver the Fenril Spirit to our friends! Run Garrett! You can overcome anything!"
Garret struggled to say "I promise... I will return... your ribbon". But he couldn't run. He backed away slowly, and heard Alhazad say the most demonic sentences, he had ever heard: "It's a dead end. There's no way out. Hee hee hee hee hee... You are noble and beautiful. Can't you see? My body is trembling with joy". He saw Elmina walk towards Alhazad, but the blizzard got deadly.
He ran as fast as he could, through the snow and ice, only to fall down time after another. As he struggled to get away from the burning castle, little did he know, that inside the castle, a huge man with a metallic body and a red cape, was watching the cocoon slowly beat. Alhazad was floating right next to him. Slowly, the cocoon continued to beat like a giant's heart.

Several years pass...

One really wonders why they decided to capitalize 'ARM'... Now it sounds like someone's smartphone is going crazy.

It was an error originally, but my heart lies with that because of three words... Ancient Relic Machine. I have two ARMs myself. One near my right shoulder and other near the left one.

I really liked it. I would like to read more.

A few suggestions though...
In the dark, you could barely make out the appearance of the room
Try to avoid using second person as you write. Most of what you have written is in the third person. That means don't use the word "you" as if you are directly talking to the audience.

Another thing it is easy to read if you write the dialogue like this instead of altogether in a paragraph form.
"Hey Bob!" said Jim.
"Hey what's up?" Bob replied.

Overall it was entertaining and I would like to read more. If you need someone to help you proofread send me an email.

Uh....

Thanks, DrunkPunk! And yeah, I should probably start a new line whenever any dialog between the characters takes place.

...

I think it looks very promising. Perhaps describing the characters more than just thier hair colour.

The game doesn't give you that much description. It's a bird's eye view. I wanna be loyal to the game, but maybe I could describe their age though. Problem is, their age wasn't described in this point even in the game.

Decided to post the next chapter. I'll probably not post any more in here though, but I'll probably inform in this thread if something major happens with it.

Chapter 2
A Wandering Youth

Life is gradually fading from the land. Slowly, but surely, the destruction of Filgaia continues. A devastated environment filled with ferocious monsters plague the people of Filgaia who desperately try to cling to their land.
Those who dare to venture out are called *Dream Chasers*. There is a boy in the village of Surf... It's hard to believe that this boy has the potential to become a *Dream Chaser*. What does he seek?

The day was beautiful in the village of Surf. Only a few spots in the ground were still wet from the heavy raining from yesterday. Surf Village was a quiet place in the middle of nowhere. All the houses were small and built of wood. Next to the horses, a young boy, around the age of fifteen, with the most shining blue hair and a band-aid on his cheek, was kicking hens away from his feet as he was pushing a corn barrel next to the horses' stable.
Out from the storage building came a middle-aged man. "We're calling it a day kid!", he yelled to the blue haired boy, "Thanks a lot. The barrels are all sorted". The boy walked over to the man.
"I hired you at the recommendation of Mayor Pifer... you turned out to be ok. By the way, what's your name?", the man asked with a big smile on his face.
"Rudy", the blue haired boy muttered quietly. The man had to really listen carefully to hear anything. Then he smiled again: "Rudy, you're stronger than you look. The horses seem happy". Rudy looked at him a little strangely. This guy must sure have spent a lot of time with these horses if he knew their feelings.
"Here's today's pay, sorry kid, this is all the village can afford". The man then handed Rudy a golden berry. Rudy knew these berries for he had roamed in the forests since he was a kid. These were called Heal Berries, by the Dream Chasers, and nobody called them by their original name anymore. These berries would heal your injury if you were in a bad condition.
Rudy nodded as a thank you, to the another villager. The villager spoke: "You should see if the mayor has any more work for you. Thanks again". He then stumbled next to one of the horses while saying his byes to Rudy.

Rudy put the Heal Berry in his pocket while he stepped through the storage building. He smiled at certain villagers that he passed by when going to mayor Pifer's house. He passed the well made of stones, and went inside the mayor's house. The house was nice, with a dinner table and a little furniture here and there. Downstairs was mayor Pifer's wife. She turned to face Rudy as she saw him coming: "Oh, hey Rudy. If you're looking for my husband, he's upstairs". Rudy nodded and climbed the up stairs, where the mayor was sitting on a bed.
"Rudy! How are you?", the mayor joyed when he saw Rudy, "Thanks to you, the stables are in great shape!". Mayor Pifer noticed Rudy look at some bombs he was holding in his lap. "Oh, these!", he laughed, "I was just going through some old stuff of mine. In the good old days, magic berries could be found in the cave to the south. We would use bombs to clear debris from the cave. These are some of the few which were left over, since now that the berries are gone, we no longer need them". He sighed. "The world is fading and our village is starting to feel the impact".
Rudy nodded at the mayor and was about to go downstairs when one of the villagers ran up the stairs and almost crashed into him.
"Excuse me! I must talk to the mayor immediatel", the man panicked. Mayor Pifer got up from the bed as the villager yelled:
"Mayor Pifer! A child from our village has gone into the Berry Cave". Mayor Pifer stood there in a shock.
"What do we do?", the man asked. Mayor Pifer walked around the room for a while, thinking about different possibilities. He then spoke:
"The berry cave is full of monsters. There is not much we can do". The mayor thought about it for a while.
"I must talk to the townsfolk about this situation", he then said, "Please keep this quiet. We can't have people panicking".
Rudy walked downstairs and out from the door, thinking about what he had just heard. This was a bad situation.
"What do you want?", the mayor's parrot asked, sitting on it's perch, outside the mayor's house. Rudy smiled, a few parrots could speak as well as mayor Pifer's parrot. He then saw a woman walk around the village yelling:
"Tony! Tony, where are you? Oh, that troublesome kid!". Then it hit Rudy, the kid who was missing must be Tony, 10-year old boy. Rudy decided that he could not leave the boy in the cave, all alone. He had to do something. Rudy looked around him, nobody was watching. He stepped through the small gate of the village and left, heading south, to The Berry Cave.

The day was beautiful, yet Rudy didn't feel comfortable anymore. He walked fast through the plains, but he didn't want to waste too much energy, in case there were monsters in The Berry Cave. Gladly, he knew The Berry Cave was only around 15 miles away.
Rudy worked his way south-east and after around hour and a half, he arrived to a forest. He wondered through the trees, following the mountains to the east until he found it. The entrance to The Berry Cave. He stepped in.

The light was dim and the air was cold. He could see some dripstones hanging from the ceiling. He bravely started walking through the cave. There wasn't a thing to be heard or seen. He followed the path feeling around for walls with his hands. As he moved on, the smell got horrible, like a thousand bad eggs were kept in there. Rudy soon found out where that smell was coming from.
In the dim light, that shined through a hole in the wall, sat a figure. It had the basic looks of a human, but it had a green skin and pointy ears. The only thing it was wearing was an old cape it had tied around itself. It stared at a wooden club it was holding, with it's blood-red eyes. Rudy knew what this creature was, for he had read about them in books, it was a Goblin. He knew that Goblins liked to live in dark caves but he had no idea why this one was here all by itself.
Rudy carefully walked over to the Goblin and asked it:
"Hey, what are you doing here?". The Goblin quickly sprang up and grabbed it's club, about to swing it at Rudy.
"Easy, I'm not going to hurt you", Rudy said. He stood there for a while, with his hands on his sides so the Goblin could see he was holding no weapon. The Goblin stood there, slowly lowering it's weapon. In all of a sudden, as Rudy was about to ask the Goblin about Tony, dozens of bats flew all over them, and the Goblin panicked. Rudy swung his arms around to get the bats off of him, and when he finally did, he couldn't see the Goblin anywhere. But he soon realized, the Goblin was hanging from the ledge of a deep gorge. It screamed as it was starting to loose it's grip. Rudy tried to lend his arm but as he did, he noticed that a Balloon was heading towards him. However, this was not any balloon, it was a monster. A floating red ball, that had tentacles around it and dozens, if not hundreds of small black eyes around it.
As it tried to grab him with it's tentacles, Rudy had to leap backwards, and as he did, the Goblin fell down the gorge, screaming. Rudy pulled out a sword he had found some time ago, from the Surf village shopkeeper. He leaped towards the Balloon and tried to swing it with the sword, but the Balloon was quick. It floated behind Rudy as he was in mid-air. As the Balloon charged towards Rudy from behind, he stepped to the side and as the Balloon was next to him, he swinged completely around and sliced the Balloon with his sword. The other half of the Balloon flew deep down into the gorge.

Rudy continued through the cave for another half an hour, figuring his way in the dark. It was easier now, that his eyes had gotten a little used to it.
He came to long stone stairs, when he noticed something on the ground. It was an old Hand Cannon bullet clip. He thought it was interesting, and decided to take it with him.
As he lifted his head, he could see a small figure standing at the end of the cave. He walked over to the figure and noticed it was Tony, the 10-year old boy from the Surf village.
"I have come to look for berries for my father", Tony explained, "The berries are just there", he pointed at the purple, glittering berries near a monument whcih was also glittering. Apparently Rudy had caught him just before he got around to get them. Rudy thought, that since he had already come this far, he might as well take them.
Rudy walked over to the monument and grabbed the berries. Tony walked over to Rudy. He thanked Rudy:
"With these berries I can heal my father. Let's hurry! I got to get them to him right away!".
They worked their way back, but they didn't notice, that behind them, the slowly glittering monument broke in half.
While they were working their way out from the cave, they could feel an enormous earthquake.
"Holy cow! This earthquake is so strong it must be happening all across Filgaia", Tony said amazed. Rudy had a bad feeling about this.

They continued to the very entrance of the cave, where the daylight awaited them. Before them, awaited almost all the villagers from Surf.
"Mom!", Tony joyed when he saw his mother in the crowd of people. Tony's mom cursed:
"Why do you always cause so much trouble?".
Tony tried to explain: "I came to get these berries to heal father's wounds.
"What was that earthquake all about?", one of the villagers wondered, while another reminded them how he had always told people not to go over there. Out from the crowd stepped mayor Pifer:
"You're safe, that's all that matters. Let's go home".

As everyone was just about to leave, the village dog, that had come along with the villagers, started barking angrily. Everyone turned to face back at the dog, but the dog soon became the least of their problems, as out from the shadows into the dim daylight, stepped a fifteen feet werewolf-like creatures, with huge spikes all around it's back and claws the size of a human being. It was the monster told in legends, Zombie, whom had been prisoned by using the last of Holy Berries, which Rudy realized he was holding in his hand right now.
The Zombie suddenly swung it's seven feet arm towards Rudy, which he just managed to dodge. He pulled out his sword, and swung it at the Zombie but it was no use, the Zombie's claws broke the sword in two and tossed it far away from Rudy.
Rudy had an idea, however. If he would just be able to get enough time to cast the power of the Holy Berry to destroy the Zombie. But the giant monster suddenly breathed out a horrible stink, that made Rudy gasp for air, and when he finally got rid of his dizzyness, the Zombie striked with his fist, so Rudy got trapped in between the cave's wall, and the Zombie's two claws. Rudy tried to reach for his broken sword, but it was just too far away. As he used all his force to reach, he felt like his ribs were going to break, until...
He finally managed to capture the sword, and strike the Zombie's arm with it. The Zombie barely felt it, but it was enough for it to let go of Rudy. Rudy then did something he wished he didn't have to, he focused all his energy into summoning his Ancient Relic Machine, ARM. It was like a small pistol, a Hand Cannon. As he managed to summon it into his hands, he quickly fired two shots into the Zombie. The Zombie groaned and fell unconcious to the ground. Rudy quickly then grabbed the Holy Berry and casted it at the regenerating Zombie. The Zombie disappeared in a blue flash, as the healing light from the Holy Berry reduced the Zombie to sludge.

Tony, amazed, looked at Rudy and applauded:
"Wow, you've defeated the Zombie!", but Tony's mom qucikly grabbed her son while Tony wondered what happened.
"You've brought tragedy to the entire Village of Surf", one of the villagers suddenly yelled at Rudy. Another one walked over and cursed Rudy:
"I know about you. You posses the *ARM*. The forbidden power! I know I shouldn't have, but I looked through your stuff the other day. The *ARM* has brought doom to us all!"
"The Dream Chaser, Rudy, has cursed us all", one yelled as another suggested Rudy probably caused the earthquake. Mayor Pifer told everyone to quiet down. Then he looked at Rudy:
"Rudy... Thanks for savin the boy... But you opened the forbidden path and put us all in danger. You also posses an *ARM*!", he continued, "You will be judged for this according to our village law. Do you agree, Rudy?".
Rudy quietly agreed.
"We must get back to the village at once. Rudy will be judged there", mayor Pifer decided.

That evening, in the Village of Surf, Rudy was listening what was happening downstairs of the mayor's house. He, himself, had been put upstairs to wait for the decision. He heard the villagers complaining:
"The boy brought a terrible omen to the village", he could hear, "We must do something!".
"He's just a Dream Chaser".
"It may sound cruel, but he may bring harm upon us all".
"When the seal was broken, it caused an earthquake that damaged the entire village".

Rudy walked downstairs, and eavesdropped on them. Downstairs was mayor Pifer's wife, and some townsfolk along with the mayor, surrounding the dinner table.
"We all agree then... We'll ask him to leave", Rudy heard mayor Pifer, "I took him in, so I'll inform him of our decision". Pifer walked towards the stairs as Rudy revealed himself, coming down.
"Were you eavesdropping, Rudy?", Pifer guessed, "Then you know, what we've decided. I must ask you to pack your things and leave. And please, don't come back".

Rudy quietly walked out of the door. He had a few gella (money of Filgaia) left in his pocket, so he decided to buy something from the market, but as he came to the counter, the salesman complained:
"Sorry... I can't sell to people who break the law". Rudy was just about to walk out from the small gates of Surf, as he heard Tony yell:
"Rudy!". Rudy turned around to face Tony, who explained:
"You saved me, I was so helpless. I know you did the right thing and that they are wrong. I just want to say, thank you". Then he backed away slowly.
"I've gotta get back. Thanks again". Then he ran off, as Rudy stepped out from the village of Surf, taking a final look at the wooden houses and the mayor's parrot.

Even though he used his skill to protect them, they rejected him out of fear. Within him is a power he never asked for... the skill to use the forbidden ARMs. He still wanders the world in search of his soul, unaware of his inborn power...

Nice. Are you still going to post more?

He just said that he wasn't.

Anyway, I like it Skull

The game doesn't give you that much description. It's a bird's eye view. I wanna be loyal to the game, but maybe I could describe their age though.

Loyal to the game - that's fine. But you should really consider to go outside those boundaries when you're describing characters, for example. It adds more depth to the story and atmosphere. It's a book after all.

Yeah, I know what you mean Marpro. Some events that take place in the book may not happen in the game vise versa. Still, describing a character that you really can't see the details of, while trying to be even somewhat loyal to the game, is hard. But I'll try my best.

Nice. Are you still going to post more?

I might, at some point. Really depends if people here want to see more.

I guess you should really get to finishing the game first Skull You never know what extra story elements pop up at the end that you could foreshadow in the early chapters

Other than that, post more of it^^

I have seen the full game before. And now I am very close in finishing it myself. I'd say 30% more and it's done. Of course, around 15% of the game won't even be included in the book, considering all the side-quests in the game.

You should have LPd it while playing through

Cool story. Makes me picture Japanese-style figures, like you get in Phantasy Star Portable. Will it get published?

I like the story very much. Thank you for posting it.

The only thing that took me was the first two sentences:
....as three figures ran through the hallways of Arctica Castle. Escaping the fire that was raging all over the castle, the elder man, along with his three younger companions

Either I didn't understand it right or I am not able to count properly or there is an error hidden here.
In the first part there are three figures mentioned. Afterwards its the elder man plus three companions = four figures.

Edit: In this part I assume a typo "Garrett noticed her. "Elmina!", she shouted."
I think it should be he shouted

Otherwise its really great. I am looking for the next chapters

I'll LP it later. I want to play it through first. It's personal for me with that game, after trying to beat it for a decade.

Cool story. Makes me picture Japanese-style figures, like you get in Phantasy Star Portable. Will it get published?

I thought it stunk like a Olympic runners feet?

And I don't think Skull would be able to publish it seen as how it is based on a game that's probably copyrighted.

I'll post a new chapter soon. Now, THAT will probably be the final I'll post, at least until the first book is finished.

I did it!! I beat Wild ARMs after a decade of playing!! Bring the schnapps, bring the cookies, bring the bananas!! Yes yes yasssss!!

EDIT: Oh, and more for the book coming up soon.

*brings the beer* Unopened, you can check. Just ignore the little holes in the bottom of each keg where a straw was once inserted.

I know first hand how exhillarating it is to complete something that's held you back for years. Congratulations!

Yayy you finished it! Bout time.

Ok, so since you guys seemed to like the book so far and have been so nice to me for pointing out some mistakes and giving constructive criticism, here are the two next chapters!! Sorry it took so long, but I was battling with another annoying chapter and two MP3's. So here you go.

Chapter 3
A Treasure Hunter

Far to the south-west from Surf Village, a well-built man stood in front of the entrance of The Memory Temple. The man was around six feet tall, his blond long hair, which was bound in a ponytail, hanged on the back of the brown coat he was wearing. On his shoulder he had a blue Wind Mouse, with furry ears and a small tail.

"The Temple of Memory", the Wind Mouse said, "I hope you didn't pay much for this information". The man looked at the Wind Mouse confused.
"Hey... So you know about this place?!", he asked. The Wind Mouse chuckled:
"Yeah, sure, it's a famous site. You wasted your money. There's nothing left here of any value".
"Shhh! Quiet!", the man hissed, "My instincts tell me this is it!".
"I can't believe there would be anything left here", the Wind Mouse explained, "This is not the first time treasure hunters have come through here. We'll find nothing but junk".
But the man who was a treasure hunter, was determined. The Wind Mouse sighed:
"Okay, let's check it out anyway. Maybe we'll find clues for obtaining the *Power*".
"Let's go then!", the treasure hunter joyed and stepped into the temple. He followed a short hallway until he came to a huge chest, with a blue, what seemed to be somekind of a crystal, or a shining rock, placed in a hole in it.
The treasure hunter examined the chest.
"Hey Hanpan, what is this?", the treasure hunter asked from his Wind Mouse, whom was sitting on his shoulder. The Wind Mouse panicked:
"Hey no, don't touch that!", instead he suggested, "Let me do it. Let's see... here...". After the chest had made a giant gong noise, it started speaking in a mysterious, yet somehow calming voice:
"Are you the keeper of the *Memory*? You must engrave the name". The treasure hunter was confused. He called his Wind Mouse:
"You're the brain. Do you have any ideas?", but the Wind Mouse had no idea either. The treasure hunter thought for a while.
"Just as a test, I'll put in my name", he said. So he started engraving his name.
"Jack", he muttered half to himself and half to the chest, as he was engraving his name. Once he had finished engraving his name into the blue stone that was placed in the hole in the chest, he waited, until finally the machine spoke again:
"Jack.....", it was quiet for a long time again, "No matches. I protect the *Memory*. Intruder! I cast you to the bottom of the abyss!", it suddenly spoke.
And as soon as it stopped, the floor beneath the treasure hunter's feet disappeared, and he fell down to darkness.

Jack Van Burace, Master of the <Fast Draw>, *Dream Chaser*, The Treasure Hunter.
His Wind Mouse companion, Hanpan, is curious and knowledgeable, but also a little arrogant.
With no regard to danger, the Treasure Hunters roam the ruins, seeking treasure and adventure.
Jack seeks the ultimate *Power* surpassing any other in existence.
He relentlessy searches. Is it a sword? Is it hidden in here?
Once again, Jack will be challenging the ruins in search of the *Power*.

For a while, Jack could see nothing but darkness. As suddenly as he felt the floor disappear from under his feet, he felt it appear back.
"dang! That was cool!", he laughed as he got up from the stone floor. Hanpan jumped back onto Jack's shoulder from the floor, advising Jack, like he normally did:
"Forget about exploring. Let's just get outta here".

As Jack walked out from the small room he had landed in, he noticed that everything in the temple was made out of yellow and brown stone. The floor, the walls, the roof, everything except for the few torches that were fired and greated a great light inside the temple.
"Someone must have been here, if the torches are lighted. Hopefully not any monsters", Jack thought. He followed the pathway, occasionaly taking turns to a direction his treasure hunter insticts told him to. After a while of searching, Jack noticed someone had left a note on the wall. It simply said:
"Ha ha ha... I've taken everything of value". Jack chuckled, as he noticed some good old Heal Berries had fallen on the floor. That someone must not have had very good eyes, or then he had just been plain stupid.
After picking up the berries, Jack continued on, until he saw a doorway leading to stairs. The doorway, however, was blocked by a gate. It took no time for Hanpan to notice a switch on the wall. Jack turned the switch, which to Hanpan's relief, did nothing else, but opened the gate. The relief was short lived, however, as two of blood red colored, floating balls with tentacles and eyes around them, came out from the doorway.
"Balloons", Jack yelled, as he saw them. In a fast leap, he sliced one of the Balloons with his sword. Turning around, he noticed the other Balloon had Hanpan hanging from his tail. Jack charged the Balloon, while Hanpan clawed the Balloon in one of it's dozen eyes. The Balloon let go of Hanpan retreating, until Jack sliced it into two.
"Thanks, pal", Hanpan sighed as he got up from his back, and leaped back onto Jack's shoulder. They then followed the stairway, step by step.

While they followed a narrow path of a deep, dark pit on their other side, and a wall on the other, Jack suddenly stopped.
"What is it?", Hanpan asked. Jack quickly put a finger to block Hanpan's small, but yet talkative mouth.
"Shhh! Quiet". Hanpan was annoyed now, but he trusted Jack's insticts, so he kept his mouth shut. As, Hanpan looked around, his eyes nearly popped out from his head, as he saw a giant spike coming towards him and Jack from a hole in the wall. Jack knew this, however, and before the spike could reach them, he did a backflip on the air, dodging the spike. As he landed, Hanpan nearly fell into the pit, but Jack managed to grab him by his tail and quickly place him back onto his shoulder.
"I could do with some warning the next time!", the blue Wind Mouse cursed at Jack, who just smiled back at him and continued through the narrow path.

When they arrived to a small room in the end of the path, they could see a hole in the ground. This hole, however, flashed and glowed in different colors, it like the ground was creating a shield on that small part of the floor. Jack stepped on it with his other foot, looking at Hanpan, who seemed to be a little worried. When nothing happened, Jack decided to step on it with his other foot, and just then, he could feel like being sucked into void, but at the same time, before he could feel anything, he was standing in a room with a blue lighting, wires everywhere and somekind of a big machine in front of him.

He went over to the machine, and saw some buttons on it.
"Don't touch it!", Hanpan yelled, but it was too late. Jack had already pressed one of the buttons. Suddenly, the machine started emitting a blue light, and Hanpan and Jack could see some sort of a green ball, floating in front of them, inside the ball, a hologram of a human figure appeared in the ball, except that this figure didn't seem completely like a human. It had hairy ears that hanged from the sides of it's forehead.
"It's an Elw!", Hanpan yelled, looking like he was about to faint, "I've never seen anything like this before".
"What... What's an Elw?", Jack asked, confused about the whole situation. Hanpan explained:
"Long ago... an alien race lived here, an advanced race who used technology laced with magic. These are the remnants of a race whose lives were in sync with the laws of nature".
"So, is this an Elw?", Jack wondered.
"No, this is a holographic image", Hanpan answered, "This machine must be a data storage device of the Elw! Information is left here to be retrieved later. This certainly is a *Temple of Memory".
"Wait a minute", Jack suddenly said, "The Elw is speaking directly into my mind.
"Wow, with your thick skull?!", Hanpan chuckled, "This certainly is advanced technology".

Jack could hear the Elw:
"Seek not Lolithia. She sleeps in her tomb. Lolithia's icy breath can only destroy. Seek not Lolithia in her tomb. The Elw have departed. Seek not Lolithia, for she is bound in the *Land of Light*. She is the Death Wind. The heartbeat of annihilation, an absolute destructive power..." And with that said, the machine shut down like it had been, and the hologram of the Elw disappeared.

"I can't believe it. The absolute *Power*", Jack joyed to Hanpan, "Hey Hanpan, you heard him! Where is this *Land of Light*?" Hanpan thought for a while.
"Hmmm... I'm not sure, but...", he thought again, "In an ancient tongue, Adlehyde means *Light*. Perhaps it's related... Do you want to go there. It's not that far away from here". Jack wondered for a while:
"Er... okay".
"Adlehyde is a kingdom located to the southeast of here", Hanpan explained.
Hanpan hopped back on Jack's shoulder when they noticed another one of those 'holes' had appeared on the floor. Jack stepped on it, and in another, stomach turning feeling, he found himself back at the huge chest.
He no longer had any interest in using it, so he just let Hanpan jump back onto his shoulder (the force of those 'holes' always seemed to drop Hanpan to the floor), and they walked out of The Memory Temple.

There is a price to pay when the Power is attained. Free thyself from the past. But what awaits in the future? Does man seek strength because he believes that the Power will light the darkened path to the future? He has no idea that the Power he seeks is also binding his soul.

Chapter 4
A Girl From An Abbey

To south from Memory Temple, across a small river of water, on a lonely little island, stood a great abbey, The Curan Abbey. The Curan Abbey was a school, where the students would live for seven years, and learn everything about basic magic, along with a lot of other important things.

A small girl, at the age of 17, with a golden hair and blue eyes, wearing a white robe, was standing alone. All she could see was darkness all around her. She could hear a distant voice in her head:
"Oh Innocent One. You can feel my mind in yours".
"Me?", the girl asked confused and scared, "Are you calling me?". She looked around herself.
"It's dark in here, I can't see". Suddenly, 15 blue orbs flew towards her, appearing from nowhere. Then she seemed to be standing somewhere where there was nothing but green and blue lights everywhere, flashing.
"Take my wishes to your heart, Innocent One", she could hear the same voice again, "Tell me your name. We will again be bound by the ancient contract".
"Who are you? I'm no the one you want!", the girl panicked. The voice didn't even pay attention to her words.
"Hurry, tell me your name. Once again, the world is being engulfed by darkness. Tell me your name".
"My name is...", the girl forced herself to speak, "Cecilia". In another flashes of blue orbs, a shadow, of what seemed to be like a giant tortoise, appeared in front of her. It spoke:
"Girl, Cecilia. Let go of your ego. The power is in the book", and as the blue orbs left from her body as suddenly as they had appeared, the lights and the shadow was gone. She was back alone, standing in darkness.
"Who are you?", Cecilia begged, but all she could hear from then one, was the same distant voice, calling her name for time after time again.

"Cecilia... the class is over", she finally realized that the voice calling her was actually her teacher's, Sister Mary's, voice. She was back in where she was before the darkness consumed her, at the magic school of Curan Abbey. In a small class room, where Sister Mary, wearing her typical black robe and a hood pulled over her head, was standing in front of her, and two of her friends, who were sitting on two of the other five benches, leaning against their tables writing something up in their books.
Her friend, who was sitting next to her, walked over to her and asked:
"Aren't you turning 17 today? You need to work on not being so spaced out". Her other friend, whom was sitting behind her, asked next:
"Aren't you supposed to go back to Adlehyde when you turn 17? I worry about the future if our princess has mental problems". Cecilia turned her back to her classmates, and half-jokingly said:
"Gee... you guys are being really nice to me today".
"You're going back to Adlehyde soon, aren't you? You should say farewell to everyone", the one who was sitting behind her, suggested. Cecilia nodded:
"Yeah, I need to do that". The other of her friends walked around the classroom and next to Cecilia, joking:
"Are you done yet? Stop procrastinating. Get going! Everyone will appreciate your visit".

Cecilia walked out of the classroom and curved left, walking through the hallway. She glimpsed through an open door to the barracks, where two statues of magicians, were facing in opposite directions. Those statues had always given her the creeps, for some reason, as for most other students in the abbey.
As she walked past the library, she could hear someone yelling her name. She looked into the library, and there stood one of the younger students of the abbey, in a middle of a book pile.
"Cecilia! Good timing. I know you'll help me out", the student said, explaining, "I was sorting the books, but I ended up making a mess. I'm terrible at this. Anje, the magician, has a magic *Pocket Watch*. Please Cecilia, get the watch from Anje and help me clean the library. The watch will reverse time and put all the books back on the shelves". Cecilia sighed, what a great day to turn seventeen. She agreed to help the boy, and walked out of the library. She crossed the outside bridge that opened a great view to the river that passed through the abbey. People were enjoying the summer on the bridge as Cecilia walked by and nodded to everyone as a hi.
She walked past the kitchen and went down the stairs to one of the bedrooms. There, in the middle of the room, Anje, a young magician, around at her early thirties, with a beautiful pink hair, was examining some sort of a rock that was put on a table.
"Good timing, please take a look", Anje said as she noticed Cecilia. Cecilia was amazed, either she was just plain lucky, or there was something going on. How could she be around just when everyone needed her? She walked over to the table, that the stone was resting on.
"This is the *Guardian Stone*", Anje explained, "It responds to the power of the Guardians. According to my studies, the *Tear Drop* has some connection to them. If you use the *Tear Drop* near the *Guardian Stone*, it should respond". Cecilia nodded, as she pulled a shining, clear blue crystal, around the size of her hand, out from her pocket. She rised it above her head and it seemed to pick somekind of small shining items, almost like fireflies, out from the thin air. As soon as Cecilia did this, the rock on the table started flashing with a red, warm light.
"Just as I thought", Anje wondered, "There's a definite reaction". Your *Teap Drop* crystal and the Guardians are linked in some way". Cecilia looked at Anje, amazed. Anje continued:
"The *Tear Drop* is the secret treasure of the Adlehyde family. That's why the stone glowed. This will help me so much in furthering my research". She put her hand in her purple robe's pocket, and pulled out a small watch.
"Here, take this", she handed it to Cecilia, "It's my *Pocket Watch*. It's very useful". It helps you go back in time. You can change things back to how they were, at the time of your choosing", Anje explained. Cecilia was, yet again, amazed. The day may have been unlucky to her this far, but it seemed like everything was working out for her, the simplest possible way.
Cecilia walked back to the library, crossing the outside bridge, and some of the classrooms. As she arrived on the library door, the boy was already waiting for her.
"So that's Anje's watch", the boy figured as he saw the watch Cecilia was holding in her hand, "Please use it to fix up this mess. I'll go over to Sister Mary and make some excuses. I'll be right back", and with that, he ran to Sister Mary's classroom. Cecilia stepped in the library and walked over to the pile of books.
"I hate to use magic for a purpose like this, but...", she said to herself. And with that, she set the clock to an hour before and activated it. She felt like the world was about to fade into darkness, but as soon as it did, everything appeared back, but only thing different now was, that all the books were nicely put on the shelves. Cecilia was amazed.
"Wow! This thing really works!", but she noticed one book, with purple covers, still laying on the floor, "Huh? There's still one book left on the floor". As she was about to pick the book up, she could hear the distant voice, in her mind once again.
"Innocent One...", it said, "Release... Let go of your ego... I am... trapped within the... *Sealed Library*", and then the voice, along with the book, disappeared. Cecilia looked in front of herself, stunned.
"A book spoke to me", she chuckled to herself, thinking if she was going crazy.
"The same voice as in the dream", she thought, "What is the *Sealed Library*? I wonder if it's located somewhere in the abbey". She walked out of the library, thinking about this weird voice. Who could help her figure this mysterious voice out? She walked back and forward in the hallway, and had completely forgotten about her seventeeth birthday. Maybe Sister Mary could help her with this thing, she thought, and so she was off to see her.

She walked into Sister Mary's classroom, which she had just left half an hour ago, where the boy from the library was trying to come up with excuses for the Sister. She walked over to the Sister, who was happy to see Cecilia.
"Cecilia, how are you?", she smiled at her. Cecilia explained her about the mystery voice and the book, which had spoken to her. After she had told everything, Sister Mary looked at her with an amazed look on her face.
"So, a book is calling you to the *Sealed Library*?", she spoke, mostly to herself.
"Yes, it's not a dream", Cecilia explained, "A shadow spoke to me and asked me to release him from the book. I thought you might know". Sister Mary took her time thinking, trying for the few students, who had been left sitting in detention, not to get suspicious about what her and Cecilia were talking about. She then said:
"A book whith speaks... And a large shadow? A library in which many forbidden secrets are stored does exists. Where the *Sealed Library* is... That I cannot tell you. You were summoned by the Guardians to search for the *Sealed Library*. If you are the chosen one, you must do this on your own". Cecilia then walked out from the classroom and to the library. Maybe the books would know something about this *Sealed Library*, she thought.

Many hours passed, and Cecilia was sitting in the library floor, thinking who would know of this mystical library. The books had known about Ancient Relic Machines, the Guardians, Crest Graphs, but nothing about the *Sealed Library*, whatsoever. She sighed, as thoughts bouncing from Sister Mary's words, to hamburgers was going through her mind. She was getting hungry, and decided to get up. Fortunately for her, it was time for dinner.
She grabbed her white robe, which she had taken off during all the reading, from the floor and pulled it on her purple shirt.

As Cecilia arrived in the kitchen, the chef offered her a big pile of hamburgers (knowing she is crazy for them), but he noticed that Cecilia was a little depressed. He asked her what was in her mind, and Cecilia asked him about the *Sealed Library*. The chef's explained that he had heard about a rumor, but he didn't know much about it. He then advised Cecilia to go look for Luna, who always seemed to catch every bit of information possible. Cecilia didn't really have that high of hopes anymore, but she decided to give it a shot.
She walked to the sleeping quarters and noticed that Luna was laying on one of the six beds. She looked sick.
"What's wrong?", Cecilia asked her and Luna explained that there must have been something bad in the food she had been eating. After Cecilia had chatted about a few things with her, she remembered.
"Have you happened to hear about this *Secret Library*?". Luna looked around herself for a while, repeating the two words, trying to remember anything about such thing.
"Oh yes!", she suddenly remembered, "I once read something about a place like that. Some strange library that's supposed to have all sorts of information". Cecilia asked if she remembered how to get in there.
"Well, I remember something about two magicians facing each other, and something about showing a light between them", Luna explained, "I have no idea what the light is, but...", but before she could even finish the sentence, Cecilia ran off, up the stairs of the sleeping quarters. It had hit her, the two magicians, and the light, she knew what to do now.

She walked through the hallways, dodging other students, until she had passed Sister Mary's classroom, and then entered the barracks, where the two statues of the magicians were.
Having become frustrated, Cecilia didn't want to spend any more time on solving this mystery. Instead, she placed her hands on the other statue, gathered all her strength and pushed. The statue was surprisingly light. After a few dozen hard pushes, she had finally managed to place the two statues on eachother's places, so now they were facing each other. After gathering back some strength from the heavy pushing, she took the *Tear Drop* from her pocket, and rised it high above her head. If something was the light to be shown, it had to be the *Tear Drop*. She was sure of it.
However, it seemed to do nothing but what it usually did; flash millions of small lights around her, for a second or two, and then make them disappear as soon as they appeared. Cecilia sat down on the stone floor.
"This is hopeless", she thought, and closed her eyes and was ready to fall sleep just there. But as soon as she opened her eyes again, she saw two blue orbs surrounding her, before they took a curve to the hallways of Curan Abbey. Cecilia got up and ran after the two orbs.
As she got to the hallways, she could hear the distant voice in her head, but was not quite sure what it said this time. She noticed something on the wall, it was just like her *Tear Drop* crystal, which she was holding in her right hand. She knew what she had to do, and so she once again rised the *Tear Drop* above her head, and as she saw the millions of lights, she had the weirdest feeling ever. She felt like she was being sucked into darkness, but at the same time, before she could feel anything, she was standing in a damaged hallway, made out of solid stone, and before her opened a room which held more books than she could have ever imagined to exist.

She wandered around the huge room, searching between bookshelves, but she could not find anything. She sat down on the floor to take a rest. The day had been rough for her, turning seventeen, having to do two exams, books talking to her plus she hadn't even been eating too many hamburgers.
She reached out to the bookshelf she was leaning against, and picked a few random books from here and there. She glanced through a few books about the Guardians, a one about the Guardian Blade. One book that was locked by a magical seal, drew Cecilia's attention. She picked the book from the shelve and looked at it. While it seemed to have a somewhat brownish cover, it seemed like the book wasn't even there. It was like she was holding an illusion in her hands. The words "De Le Metalica" had been written on the cover, with a golden paint.
Cecilia got up, and passed a few more bookshelves until she noticed a stairway, leading down. She walked down the steps and found herself in what seemed to be a small, old room, hence why it was very damaged, and on the other side of this room was a wooden table, and on top of that lied the book that spoke to her, in the very same purple covers, as she had seen it before.
She walked over to the book and opened it. Out from between the pages fell what seemed to be a shining pearl. As it hit the floor, it grew into an enormous creature, which seemed to be like a blue gorilla, but only with horns longer than any bull's. With a voice of forbidden destruction, it spoke:
"A human who wants to touch the forbidden book! I shall grant your wish and make you a part of my story". Cecilia looked at this creature, and finally brought herself to say:
"You're not the shadow that calls me".
Said that, the creature lended it's arm trying to squeeze Cecilia into it's enormous paw. Cecilia managed to dodge, and from her robe, she pulled her magic staff, about the length of her arm, and stroke it to the creature's face. It had no effect, as the creature now became more angrier and charged towards Cecilia, with it's horns about to stab through her and to the wall behind. Cecilia, with a quick wave of her staff, shot about 10 fireballs from it, which all hit the blue book monster and seemed to burn it into ashes. With that, Cecilia walked over to the book on the table, thinking how lucky she was that she had used those two Crest Graphs on the Flame spell.
As she touched the book, the pages began turning on their own, until from between one of the pages, another blue flashing orb, floated in front of her and out from it emerged a figure of a sea turtle, about the same size as the blue monster.
"The shadow figure from my dream", Cecilia immediately figured out. The figure started speaking, with it's voice of a serpent:
"I am Stoldark, the Guardian of the water", it kept silent for a moment, "For ages, the demon Nelgaul has locked me in this terrible book", it spoke again, clearly meaning the blue book monster, "I have waited a long time for the Innocent One who would receive the Guardian Spirit". Cecilia gasped as she realized:
"The Innocent One? Me?". The figure who called itself as Stoldak, continued:
"The world is at the turning point of darkness again. Innocent One... can you hear the anger of the land and the wind? The screams of the sea and the sky?" Cecilia could nothing but stare at this creature as it explained all this to her.
"Wear me as your armor, Innocent One", it spoke once again, "I shall protect you in your fight for life. The battle for Filgaia begins again. Everything begins with *Lolithia*", and with that, Stoldark disappeared, and Cecilia was left wondering all by herself. But something was different, she was holding a piece of stone, with an ancient mark of water curved on it, in her hand. It seemed to be somekind of a rune. Before she could examine it any better, she was sucked back into the feeling of darkness.

She appeared back in the hallways of Curan Abbey, and the first sight she could see was Sister Mary standing in front of her, and the barracks.
"Welcome back, Cecilia", the Sister spoke with a tone of voice that revealed that she already knew what had happened to Cecilia, just moments ago, "Now you realize the responsibilities of the women in the Adlehyde family. The female descendants of the Adlehyde family share their thoughts with the Guardians. They must carry the burden of their destiny with them for the rest of their lives", she kept a pause as Cecilia kept listening to her, astounded, "No one can understand the pain and pressure which you must endure. But, they can help you cope with it and make your life easier. Cecilia, there are those who can relate to the burden one's destiny brings". She put her hand on Cecilia's shoulder.
"Walk proudly from the abbey... You must travel your own path from now on", and after saying that, Sister Mary walked away into her classroom.

Cecilia hated goodbyes, and decided to just walk out from the Curan Abbey, without saying goodbye to her friends, nor lay another look at the abbey. She walked through the gates and the only person she saw was the guard on the gates, whom she nodded as a goodbye. She was going back to home, back to Adlehyde.

The Guardians from the legend have only spoken to her... without a sound, the wheels of destiny have started to turn. The path she followed in the past was guided by her surroundings. She knew someday she would have to pave her own path to the future. The Innocent One, who the Guardians speak of... It may be too heavy of a burden to be the sorceress of the ultimate power at such a young age...

Nice. Will you be posting the upcoming chapters here on TDN or somewhere else?

I was thinking about creating a website where I'd be posting the upcoming chapters and the complete book when it's ready. Then after the book is completed, people could come and post their own fan fiction in there. However, I don't know if it's such a good idea for sure, and I'd like to hear your thoughts about it.

Sounds good to me, the book is interesting and I would like to hear the end of it. So making a website would be a good idea.

Alright, so I created a website. It's not only for the book, but for people to post fan fiction and discuss on the forums as well. I'd like everyone who is even slightly interested, to join, post on the forums, comment on the blog entries and post their own stories as well! It would be very nice to have regular members on the website, so I can only hope that some of you are interested in this. And who knows, if it becomes popular, we may have even more content on the website soon.
http://www.filgaia.webs.com/

EDIT: And remember, the main idea of the site is to have fun. Don't take everything seriously, there's nothing wrong with some childish humour. Just check out my profile in there, for example.

I'll join up soon.

I signed up for no reason.

*Hands Skull a banana* Hope it helps!

The first book has been ready for quite some time now. I just lost interest in this for a while and have had other stuff to do. I couldn't get any few proofreaders before making a bigger announcement, so guess you just have to do it. Download the first book from here.