Ranryu

English teacher: Why did you turn in a jar of tears for your paper about Hamlet? I know it seems fun, but trust me, it never goes well.

"Take cover!" Wynn yelled to the others. She ran at Malum, hoping Tors knew what to do.

Lyna let out a cry of anger. "Dharc, we shouldn't fight the angry god. This isn't our battle!" Wynn brandished Tors. We'll only get one shot at this.

"Lyna, a little help here?" Lyna stuck out a finger and twisted the energy around it, seemingly unharmed.

Dharc deftly twisted out of the arrow's path. "As I said, we're class threes. You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that if you want to kill any of us."

Will you let this young doctor-in-training remove your internal organs? That's oddly specific.

Wynn seethed but let Dharc continue. "Well, brains, clearly. Powerful gods are smart enough not to only pick a single thing. You seem like the destruction type. Being a god of destruction? Never a good idea. You don't get hordes of people worshiping you and obeying your every whim. You just get heroes who try to kill you. And the sad thing is, you'll never even realize what you're missing out on. Somehow, even though you have an expanded consciousness, you still are unable to get past your base desire. You lack the capability to change or try new things." Lyna scowled at Dharc. "Why are you talking to the angry god? We should be running!"

"I don't need forgiveness to kill you. Why are you here?" Dharc sneered. "Even babies know this. Level ones are undead, twos are mortals, threes are immortals, fours are demigods and spirits, fives are weaker gods, and sixes are anything more powerful. You're so dumb you don't even know when you're being insulted."

Wynn did so. "You will not be forgiven, Malum." Dharc grinned darkly. "Didn't Wynn tell you? We're class threes. Even in death, we can still fight. What are you, a class five? I'm not impressed. I've met babies more powerful than you." Let me guess, he's not friendly. Lyna sighed. We don't need more problems. Dharc doesn't have the common sense to keep himself alive normally. He should not be allowed to fight a god.

Wynn gritted her teeth. Tors? Dharc looked angry. "We're got three survivors of a destroyed world right here. I don't know who you are, but Wynn doesn't like you, so I'm ready to fight you." He made a move towards him. "Wait." Lyna stopped him. "I'm getting some seriously bad vibes from this guy." Unnamed spirit thing, what are we looking at here?

We could never take her back. Purple might be okay with it, but Orange and Green would probably try to kill her if they knew where to find her. Dharc saw the man, and his Shadow turned three-dimensional, a huge warrior standing behind him. "I take it that guy's not with you?" Wynn smiled. And he knows Shadow Magic! He really is my brother. "Get away from TAAron, creep." Tors, be ready. Lyna pulled out a small jeweled dagger, looking uncomfortable with the idea of using it.

So she literally sent her friends to the underworld. Lyna turned to Dharc. "Look, we found your sister. Now can we go before Purple and Orange realize we're gone?" The siblings ignored Lyna and Tors. "Lyna and I weren't in the Mound when the golems went insane. We were out harvesting aether. Ever since then, we've lived with the protectors' spirits, never allowed to leave the little sub-dimension they've made for themselves." Wynn looked sad. "Aussa, Hiita... Eria?" Dharc shook his head. "Aussa and Hiita moved on a long time ago. And it seems like Eria was completely destroyed."

A mistake that cost someone else's life. And this isn't the first time she's done things like this. If she had obeyed the protectors and suppressed her Shadow Magic, the Mound might still be here today. The protectors wouldn't have felt the need for a defense system if she hadn't scared them after they banished her. And where are the others in your little group? Did she kill them too? Wynn sat straight up. He looks just like Eria. Dharc looked timid. "I know we've never met before, but-" Wynn cut him off by hugging him. "How are either of you alive? I thought our race was eradicated when the Mound was destroyed."

Lyna glanced at the corpse, but quickly averted her eyes. I take it she failed. That's unfortunate, but it falls in line with her reputation. Her title is Wynn, Bringer of Storms. From what the others have told us about her, she's not the type to care enough to actually help people. All she does is destroy. I told Dharc we shouldn't have come. At Dharc's prodding, Wynn stirred. "Can't a girl get ten minutes of sleep around h..." She saw Dharc. "Who the blazes are you?"

Do with her? Well, Dharc probably wants to introduce himself. She was banished long before he was born. As far as I know, we're the only three living Aos Si left. The rest are stubbornly dead, and they refused to tell us how to find Wynn. We kind of snuck out. And you never introduced yourself. How do you know Wynn? Dharc gently shook Wynn. "Please wake up. We didn't come all this way just to look at you."

Wynn? She's Dharc's sister, of course. Can't you see the resemblance? And it looks like she's sleeping. I don't know about whatever you are, but we Aos Si need to sleep when we get tired. Dharc knelt next to Wynn, a look of reverence on his face. "At last, I've found you."

My name is Lyna, Bringer of Light. My companion is Dharc, Chaser of Shadows. Who are you? And can you tell us what happened here?

The white-haired girl, Lyna, turned to her companion, covering her ears. "There's some kind of sentient force in here! I'm going to try and connect with it." The dark-haired boy nodded. "Be careful. We don't need a repeat of last time."

Wynn didn't move. She didn't appear to be hurt, just deeply asleep. A loud roaring noise came from a strange wormhole that suddenly appeared a few feet away from Wynn. A sleek black duel runner carrying two people skidded to a stop. "Look Lyna, we found her! And a dead guy. What happened here?"

Better life my foot. If this is my best, I'd hate to see my worst. Wynn paled and started sweating, sitting down suddenly. On second thought, maybe the star can wait. My body can't handle all the energy I've been expending recently. I'll just take a little rest... Within seconds, Wynn was asleep.

I absorbed all the energy. Aos Si energy baths can be made two ways, and there's no safe way to harvest aether with out a major detour. There should be a few neutron stars within a five minute ride of the End of Time. My disk can scan for them pretty easily.

Says you, who almost sacrificed yourself so TAAron's soul could be healed. You know any good neutron stars nearby? Underworld portals really drain me, and it seems foolish to take on Malum with anything less than full power.

No! I don't want to face him... don't want to see his face. I failed him. I can't face that. Besides, the portal is closed on this side now.

An accident... perhaps. I didn't just kill him, I told him he would be fine before hand. Thank you for the forgiveness, but the only forgiveness that really matters to me would come from TAAron. Wynn looked at the body. And he's dead. Thanks to me.