Suikoden, an ambition too wide to swallow

I had worked on Suikoden fics for a long time, with the first one being a very ambitious project that aimed to incorporate various Suikoden games and mash them into one.

There was one problem, and that was the scale of it. It was impossible to write such a tale when you are mixing in so many prominent characters that differ so much that it made it near impossible to shape them into the same story.

I then decided to split it and focus on the Suikoden game that got me hooked on the series, Suikoden 3. While I cannot say the game was the best of all suikoden games due to my lack of experience with any suikoden game before the third installment, however the story had captivated me nonetheless and it was THE suikoden story for me.

I had also decided that I had to split my story into different portions as I tend to write better for short stories, with my long stories (or epic fics) coming only once in a while.

The first story, titled “The Path We Chose”, starts 5 years after the game of Suikoden 3.

Hugo had been appointed at Chief of his Karayan clan while Chris remained as the ‘captain’ of the Zexen Knights, but not for long.

Hugo visits Brass Castle once every four months in order to strengthen the friendship between the Grasslands and the Zexens, and also using the chance to learn more of the Zexen customs as Lucia believes that to be a good chief, one must be exposed to various cultures.

While Chris would teach Hugo of Zexen customs, in return Hugo would tell Chris stories of her father, Jimba, also known as Wyatt Lightfellow. Hugo would also gift Chris with knowledge of the Grassland clans.

It would be during these meetings that Hugo and Chris would grow closer.

Right before the annual meeting at Budehuc Castle (in which the leaders of the different groups would meet, as well as giving the True Rune bearers a chance to meet), Chris is promoted by the new Zexen council to ‘Commander’ and was told to station herself at Vinay, but Chris stubbornly refuses to move her station. Chris believes that the new council wants to use her popularity to boost their own standings in the capital.

Hugo visits Brass Castle a week before the annual meeting and planned to travel with Chris to the Budehuc for the meeting.

However at Brass Castle Chris begins to notice Hugo’s unusual behaviour, which was due to Hugo’s rune starting to go berserk like it did during the war. The rune feeds on his emotions and in return adds to his own emotions. It also showed him images of his past, of Lulu’s death and of the atrocities of war.

Chris worries for Hugo but the flame champion brushes her worries off.

With the annual meeting at Budehuc, it is shown at the Castle had been greatly expanded and the number of inhabitants increased. Budehuc, in itself, became a prominent symbol and a rich town due to its location between Zexen and the Grasslands.

Hugo accidentally loses control over his rune and burns a hole in the forest, and he understands that he cannot control his rune any longer. Hugo decides that he has to leave during the night, mainly to avoid the chance of hurting Chris, however Chris discovers this and manages to stop and console him.

However Hugo’s nightmares continue and during one night he almost kills Chris in his mad state.

Hugo decides that enough is enough and leaves for the Sindar ruins, believing that he can only bring pain to others. Chris finds out what Hugo had done and went after him.

Within the Sindar Ruins, Hugo relives the deaths of his comrades as well as being shown the ashen future, but unbeknowst to him, it is actually Lazlo (the protagonist from Suikoden 4) who is hiding within the shadows and influencing Hugo’s rune to go berserk.

Chris arrives at the ruins and sees Hugo fighting hallucinations that only he can see. In his frenzy, Hugo sees Chris as Lulu and tries to attack her.

The two fight and Hugo almost kills Chris before he realises that he is only seeing illusions, and that it was Chris who stood before him. Chris, believing this to be her atonement for murdering Lulu, was more than accepting of the idea of Hugo killing her.

Hugo regains his sanity for a short moment and forces his Rune to burn himself while pleading Chris to end his life as his Rune was on the verge of exploding.

Chris, wanting to save him, jumped into the flames without care for herself, using his Rune to attempt to douse the flame but it too goes berserk due to Lazlo’s interference again.

Seeing their determination, Lazlo releases his grip over their runes and allows Chris to douse the flames.

Lazlo reveals himself to the pair and reveals to them the reason for his interference.

Hugo cannot forgive himself for forgetting his vow of revenge, which was made worse by falling in love with Chris

Chris cannot forgive herself for killing Lulu, and was afraid of loving Hugo due to her past and her status.

The revelations surprised the two of them, and Lazlo tells them that for them to move on and forgive themselves was to work together.

Lazlo decides to train the pair on how to better use their Runes, while making a remark that the reason Jimba doted on Hugo was because he saw a future husband for Chris.

After a while, the pair head back out of the ruins while Lazlo remained in the ruins (he sensed the eventual return of the True Wind Rune).

Upon returning to Brass castle, Borus makes a remark about Hugo and Chris stands up to defend Hugo, deciding then and there to marry Hugo.

The wedding is then held at Budehuc in a mixture style between Zexen and Karayan, as well as symbolising the union between the two sides.

Three Cradles, philosophy and politcs in their natural habitat

The second of the stories that I wrote up for the Light Novel Project, but failed to submit, was titled “Three Cradles”

I was quite troubled over what to call it and it was called: “three sides” while I was writing it. I settled with “Three Cradles” after writing half way.

The story of ‘Three Cradles’ talks about a continent that is split into three groups. The idea behind each group are the three different types of armies, and was initially meant to be much different. It was planned to have magic against technology, but then I threw in one more side.

In Three Cradles, the three sides are all vying for control over the continent and over the central piece of land only known as the “Cradle”, a place where no one knows what is within but everyone simply knows that whoever controls the Cradle will control immense power and will have their desires fulfilled.

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The first group is the oldest, known as the “Church”, but I later changed them to become the “Holy Kingdom”. Acting like a medieval army, they consist of armoured Knights who use swords, spears, lances, shields and arrows. They are the oldest and largest of the three groups and each Knight has an impressive defensive power based off their ‘faith’ that decreases the damage inflicted upon them by the other two groups.

The Church is ruled by a King, but it is the Archbishop of the Cathedral who rules behind the shadows. The Archbishop is backed by the Five Cardinals, each representing the Five tiers of Angelic Hosts in terms of rank from lowest to highest: Principality, Powers, Virtues, Dominion, and Throne.

The armies of the Church are divided into ranks: Militia, Footmen, Man-at-arms, Knight, Executioner and Bishop. Those who excelled in their service would be drafted into one of two groups. The Templars, who serve the King loyally, and the Inquisitors, who serve the Archbishop ruthlessly. There are also Lords, who hold sway over politcal decisions. There are also ‘Saints’, and ‘Valkyries’, but only strict circumstances do they appear, and they are usually not known to anyone, even themselves.

Those who have enough skill are able to use “Verses”, which are religious chants in order to invoke powerful ‘spell-like’ abilities. The longer the verse, the more powerful, is the normal idea.

It is also possible for the Church to summon their ‘Angelic Hosts’, but such an occurrence is rare at best.

The Kingdom is split between the power of the King and the Archbishop and those who support either.

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The Second power is a splinter of the Church, the Mages.

The Mages are, like their name implies, magic users.

Ruled by a Mages Council, the Mages are more ‘nature-tuned’, and their weapons and clothes reflect the fantasy World of magic with cloaks, wooden staff and summoning magic.

The Mages are split into different groups based off their power and forte. The Mages have the most number of groups as diverse as their powers.

There are the basic elements, which every Mage is capable of using, then there are ‘Runes’, ‘Summoners’, ‘Star-Casters’, ‘Magic Knights’, ‘Feng-Sui’, ‘Internals’, ‘Daemon’, and so on.

The Mages are ranked according to power, starting with ‘Apprentice’, ‘Adept’, ‘Wizard’, ‘Mage’, ‘Magus’.

The Council is comprised of the greatest Magus of each school and decide the fate of the Mages.

The Mages are the smallest group amongst the three and their defences are the weakest (except for the Magic Knights). However they are the strongest in attacks and have the ability to heal on the field using healing magic.

Their most powerful abilities are the ‘Avatar’, which is the pinnacle physical manifestation of each school of magic.

The different schools of magic do not agree with one another often, leading to the Mages rarely attacking the other two groups.

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The last of the three groups is known as the ‘Corporation’.

They are based off modern armies with several sci-fi elements such as Walkers and VTOL fighters. Soldiers of the Corporation are also able to deploy energy shields using devices.

The Corporation force is ranked like a regular army and use divisions like a normal army.

The Corporation is splintered into two groups of opposing ideology. Academy, which seeks to understand and progress their nation through knowledge and advancements in technology. Company, which seeks to mass produce things that work and push for promising technology at any cost.

Academy has a ‘Military School’, which trains specialised soldiers such as ‘Special Leadership Class’, and the famed ‘Agents’.

Company employs ‘Mercenaries’ as well as produces the secret ‘Genetic Child Program’, which produces genetically altered super soldiers in the form of children (also called Deus Ex Machina by the Church).

Academy does not condone anything that Company does, while Company sees Academy as being cowards for being too cautious.

The Corporation does not have anything to match the secret powers of the Church and the Mages, however their abilities in strategies and overall balance makes them a formidable force. Among the three groups, the Corporation are also the best at adapting their technology and strategies for the situation that is required. The Genetic Child Program is also feared by some Church members as the Corporation being able to physically create fighters equal to their ‘Valkyrie’ type of fighters, but the Genetic Children are not that powerful.

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The story follows a student of Academy’s Special Leadership Class, Alex Pendragon, who is sent out to a border town that is attacked by the Church.

Alex falls into a giant hole in the ground and finds an large maze like network of tunnels and caverns. He finds an unconscious woman who is unlike anyone he knows to be from the Church of a Mage.

He is soon attacked by giant insects who inhabit the tunnels and is joined by a female Church Knight. Despite their differences, the two join up to fight the insects and soon emerge victorious.

The two took the unconscious woman and tried to find their way out of the tunnels, before meeting a Mage, who was also trapped in the tunnels and fighting large animals.

They joined up and defeated the creatures. The Knight is Sephiria Solomon D’arc, and the Mage is Myrddin Alavane.

The trio soon made their way deeper and find themselves in a large cavern with a giant temple like structure.

They are soon attacked by Inquisitors from the Church, who kidnapped both the unconscious woman and Sephiria, whom they call ‘saint’. The inquisitors were chased away by a Genetic Child, who appeared to be following Alex and the unconscious woman, who is revealed to be a person from the Cradle.

Alex and Myrddin decided that they had to rescue both the ‘Cradler’ and Sephiria as whatever the inquisitors had planned was definitely not good for anyone, and enlisted the help of the Genetic Child, called Alcestis.

Together, they set off for the Holy Kingdom, using killed Inquisitor’s clothes as disguises. Sneaking into the Holy Kingdom, they are immeidately found by a woman (who is a cardinal), and are surprised that the woman also wishes to stop the inquisitors, who were under orders of the Cardinal of Powers. The group team up with members of the Church who are against the plans of the Cardinal.

The Cardinal of Powers is revealed to planning to use Sephiria and the Cradler ‘Eve’ to summon an Angel and increase his own power in the Church to become the next Archbishop. Alex and Myrddin stop the ritual, although Sephiria has the spirit of a power Arch Angel within her already.

The trio escape, fighting the Cardinal of Powers’ forces and finally made it back underground back to the Cradle. The trio realise that the power of the Cradle does not grant power like they believed, but it was the source of all lives and that misusing the Cradle will result in the loss of all life on the continent.

The trio decide to call upon those they trust and form their own group, preventing the corrupted sides of each nation to take advantage of the Cradle for their own uses.

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Sequels will look at the two other nations and how they work.

The first sequel would look at the Mages nation, and will somehow result in an accident which transforms Myrddin into a girl.

It will also result in the Church attacking the Mages and the Mages, due to their inability to come to the same conclusion, are sent into disarray. Myrddin and Alex have to help the Mages rally together to fight back.

The second sequel will look at the Corporation, and reveal that Alex is actually a clone from Company who defected to Academy and was part of the Genetic Child Program’s first few experimental stages. This would look at how the Corporation is divided to the point where war between the two sides become inevitable.

There would be a third sequel which would eventually end the war, but that has no outline yet. Therefore not able to be written out at this point.

Dragonaires, the cursed story reborn

I was tasked with writing a short story for a rather interesting project aimed to allow Japanese readers more choices for English light novels. The goal was to produce easy to read stories and immediately my mind came up with five stories. Unfortunately I was so engrossed in writing them that I failed to meet the dateline.

Of the five stories, only three had some solid plots, one of which was based off my infamous ‘cursed’ story, the story of Dragons.

Named Dragonaires, it is not in anyway related to the pokemon of the same English name.

The name Dragonaires is a mix of the creature ‘Dragons’ and ‘Legionnaires’ of ancient Rome.

Taking place on a floating continent named Dracoterra, a land inhabited by humans, elves, dwarves and many other creatures of fantasy origins. Also inhabiting the land are dragons.

There exist seven different colours of Dragons, and the Dragons chose humans to build the seven nations that govern Dracoterra. The reason for the Dragons choosing humans is due to certain humans having the ability house Dragon souls, which are the closest to the Dragons themselves. Those humans who have the ability to house Dragon souls are called “Dragonaires”, and are able to transform into Dragons, as well as tap into the power of Dragons at will.

The seven great Dragons who helped found the seven Kingdoms are called ‘Ancients’, and rule the kingdoms alongside their chosen human Kings. Each Kingdom follows the colour of the Ancient which co-rules the kingdom, as well as taking on the name of the Ancient. The seven Kingdoms are Red – Alexasdra; Blue – Morianne; Green – Sylvian; Yellow – Hexarash; Brown – Gouralish; White – Tiamat; Black – Bahamut.

The story starts explaining that the seven Ancients suddenly disappeared, throwing the seven kingdoms into disarray and without the ancients to guide them, the human kings wage war against one another in an attempt for more power and land.

That was when a dark and ancient enemy reappears. Called the ‘dark ones’, these are deformed creatures were once wyrvens, the natural enemies of Dragons. The dark ones attacked the Kingdom of Black and nearly reduced it to ruins if it weren’t for the Dragonaires, who rallied the other nations to fight the threat. The ‘dark ones’ were eventually pushed back and disappeared, however the Dragonaires knew that they will return and created their base in Castle Dracoravine, and passed a law between the nations to never conquer all of another nation and to reduce deaths in order to prevent the loss of possible war assets.

The story follows Skye Verias, a young man from Kingdom of Red who is involved with the Dark Ones and is rescued by Dragonaire Shivylie, leader of the White Dragonaire flight.

Skye Verias is brought to castle Dracoravine and it is discovered that he has not one but two dragon souls. Humans can only house one more soul in them, much less two dragon souls. Not only that, but Skye holds a black Dragon soul.

It is revealed that the ones leading the dark ones during each attack is, in fact, an ancient, twisted and deformed by the same darkness that consumed and deformed the wyrvens. And that the Dragon souls within the Dragonaires are in fact fragments of the ancients before they disappeared. The ancient who attacked the Kingdom of Black was Bahamut and with his death, all Dragonaires of the black flight died due to holding onto the soul of the ancient.

The fact that Skye holds two souls and one being a black soul, is impossible. Dragonaires hold the soul of the ancient who governed the land they were born in. Skye was born in the Kingdom of Red and so he holds onto a red dragon soul.

The leaders of the Flights, called Wings, try to understand Skye’s unique ability but are unable to determine it as a new ‘dark storm’ approaches and attacks the Kingdom of White. Shivylie, hearing that it is the ancient White, tiamat, who is leading this attack, she decides to attack with her flight first in order to reduce the damage.

When the rest of the nations and the dragonaires reach the kingdom of white, the battle is already on the way.

Skye fights his way to find Shivylie, who is battling the mad ancient white, and taps into his red dragon power, using his ‘soul weapon’ and fight the white ancient together with Shivylie.

Using the power of his red dragon soul, Skye manages to push the ancient white back and is told by both of his dragon souls that there is a way to save Shivylie after the ancient white is killed, and that it was to split his own soul with Shivylie.

It was revealed by his black dragon soul that the reason why Skye has two souls is that his father was a black Dragonaire, was unsure whether Skye would inherit a black soul, and therefore die, or a red soul following his mother. Skye’s father then split his soul with Skye but was killed in battle. His father’s splitting of souls made Skye inherit his father’s black dragon soul when his father died.

Skye split his soul with Shivylie and used his black dragon soul to kill off the white ancient.

The split was successful and Shivylie gained some of Skye’s black dragon soul power as a result.

And so ends the first story of Dragonaires.

A second story would follow Skye as he aims to rebuild the Kingdom of Black as its new King. Both he and Shivylie are granted permission to act for the sake of their Kingdoms (as long as it does not include waging war). Shivylie aims to help the Kingdom of White and since she shares souls with Skye, they are able to sense what each other are thinking and doing.

Skye, as the new king of Black and the new Black Wing, starts the long process. He meets several people who would become part of his own personal group. One of which is a Dragoon.

Dragoons are explored more in the second story. Dragoons are specially selected warriors who fight side by side the Dragonaires, but do not hold Dragon Souls. They do, however, hold special connections to Dragons and the Dragonaires. They are different from ‘Dragon Knights’ of the various kingdoms, human knights who ride dragons into battle.

The third story will look into Dragon Knights and how Skye must choose a new group of Dragon Knights for the Kingdom of Black. This story will include the first female Elf Dragon Knight, who is also part of a group of powerful fighters native to the Kingdom of Black.

Following stories will look away from Skye and focus on the other characters essential to the story.

Zelda, a step too far part 4

Following Sync’s unlocking of the water medallion, Sync now senses that the kingdom was starting to be engulfed in the same darkness as her mark.

Not knowing what caused the sudden change, Sync heads to Hyrule Castle, only to find it being corrupted and people falling ill like Zelda.

Impa informs Sync that the castle became inaccessible due to the darkness.

Sync needs the other medallions to be unlocked in order to brave the darkness, and so she heads to Kakariko village.

In Kakariko village, Impa introduces Sync to the Shieka clan, who are planning fight back the darkness, but cannot do so until Sync finishes her trials.

The same darkness appears and engulfs the clan, as well as Sync, Dragging them all into the inverse temple.

Sync faces the darkness once more as with the shadow trial.

Sync soon finds various traps that attempts to throw her off and increase her fear of not knowing what lies ahead.

Braving her fears, Sync steps forward and faces against her shadow, who attempts to force Sync back into the darkness.

Sync defeats her shadow and the sage Impa unlocks the shadow medallion.

Telling Sync that Ganon’s revival cannot be stopped, Impa informs Sync that Sync’s decision will decide the future.

With Kakariko village freed, Sync heads to the desert to find the inverse spirit temple.

Upon reaching the temple, Sync finds that the temple seemingly had five copies.

Unsure of where to go, Sync and her companions split up to face a temple each.

Sync’s fear of being alone is compounded within the inverse temple with ghosts of her brother Link taunting her.

At the end, Sync finds the temples converge and regroups with her companions to face her shadow.

Her shadow is accompanied by a shadow link and Sync is forced to fight them both alone as her companions had to face other guardians.

Sync faces the duo and becomes victories.

Sage Nabooru unlocks the spirit medallion and tells Sync that her trial is not yet complete for there exist two more temples, but both within Hyrule castle.

With this knowledge, Sync heads back to Hyrule castle.

The castle is now overrun with undead and creatures from the dark realm.

Sync fights her way to the temple of light, underneath the palace, where the Master sword rests.

Sync, not being the chosen hero, is unable to pull the master sword (rather is rejected out right by it).

The master sword inadvertently opens the way to the inverse temple of light and Sync enters.

The inverse temple of light pits Sync with the fear of the ‘inevitable end’, death.

Sync nearly breaks down but is guided by Zelda’s magic.

Sync finds the final boss, a giant figure shaped like one of the three Goddesses.

Defeating the false Goddess, Sync meets Rauru, the sage of Light, who grants Sync the medallion of Light, which allows Sync to control the darkness that had spread out.

The medallion is unable to stop the darkness from escaping, but is able to divert and delay it.

Using this, Sync makes her way up to Hyrule castle where she finds Zelda, bed stricken with sickness, and a heavily armed man.

The man is revealed to the be baron of the North, who is threatening to attack Hyrule after he was granted powers by Ganon from the dark realm.

The baron almost kills Zelda but Sync rushes in to defend the princess.

The baron fights Sync but is defeated and runs away to summon Ganon.

Zelda uses her power to open up the gateway to the last temple, the True temple of Time

The Temple of Time is slowly being corrupted by the darkness, and places Sync in the trial of ‘Lost Time and Being Forgotten’. A fear of past regrets, of wanting to go back to redo the past, as well as the fear of not being recognised for what she had done and be forgotten forever in history, just as all Links had been.

This is the part which the sage Impa told Sync would affect the future.

A) Should Sync conquer her fear and face the final boss, the temple’s final enemy would be Ganon, who manages to escape from the dark realm and enter this Temple of Time.

Sync fights Ganon and uses the power of her medallions, which react and converts her mark temporarily into the triforce of courage.

Having conquered her fears, Sync had obtained the ‘mark of courage’, and defeated Ganon, sealing him back in the dark realm.

Sync knows that Ganon will return, as she was the one who undid the seals in the first place, but Ganon’s revival will not happen for a long time.

Sync returns to Hyrule and sets off to find a way to cut off her connection with the dark mark, but Zelda assures Sync that the dark mark is forever dormant and that one does not need to be a hero to have courage.

B) Should Sync fail the temple trial, the final boss would be Link himself.

Link was revealed to have never died and that he had been hiding in the shadows, guiding Sync.

Link tells Sync that Ganon is set loose in Hyrule, and that there is nothing to stop him, however there is one thing that Sync must do, and that is to protect Zelda.

Link warns Sync that the Goddesses will flood Hyrule and that she must get as many people as she can to the safety of the mountains.

Sync is sent back to Hyrule in the middle of the war against Ganon and sets off to find Zelda.

Sync is able to convince Zelda to escape, while Zelda’s father, the King, stays behind to seal Hyrule and Ganon and his forces.

Sync guides the people up the mountains just as Hyrule began to flood.

Sync blames herself for her failure to protect Hyrule, despite Zelda’s insistence that Sync was not wrong.

Sync carves and boat and leaves the people as soon as the storm dies, searching for answers and perhaps find her brother one day.

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And so ends the story outline of my Zelda fic.

Zelda, a step too far part 3

I’m now in merry old England for studies. I have no idea what sort of impact that will have on my writings but nevermind that.

Following Sync after she claims the Spirit Medallion,

Sync heads back to the castle after being told that there was something happening at the Castle.

Upon reaching the castle, Sync finds out that Zelda is stricken with illness, which resonates with her dark mark.

The same darkness that caused Sync’s mark has affected Zelda.

Zelda tells Sync that while Sync went about getting the medallions, the darkness that she unleashed became stronger.

The darkness had overrun the temple of Time as well as the temple of Light, the last two temples, preventing Sync from gaining the medallions.

Sync decides she has to enter the inverse temples in order to decrease the power of the darkness.

Sync heads back to the Lost Woods, and finds it overrun by violent creatures and plants.

Sync finds the forest temple and finds that Saria is missing.

Entering the inverse temple, Sync finds herself in a dark version of the Forest temple. The dark Forest temple also plays in with the first trial, the fear of having no direction. The inverse temple also has voices echoing throughout about Sync’s lack of ambition or purpose. Sync’s companions are also unable to enter the inverse temple. Ide included.

Sync braves the temple and faces against the last boss, which is a larger version of the first Forest boss. After killing the boss, it transforms into a shadow of herself.

Shadow Sync traps Sync in a shadow maze, appearing and disappearing constantly before Sync.

Sync finds the exit to the maze and faces shadow Sync in one last battle.

After the battle, Sync finds herself before Saria in the sage’s room of the Forest. (something like the room of sages in OoT, but forest themed)

Saria tells Sync that the medallions hold immense power, but are unable to be used due to the time spent holding Ganon at bay. Saria also explains that the darkness is connected to Sync due to the latter’s interference. However that could also be the only thing preventing the darkness from escaping all at one go.

Saria transfers all of her power into the medallion and unlocks its true power, which allows Sync to use the Wolf transformation longer and even for places outside of the Lost Woods. (The medallions cannot use their power outside of their respective areas before this)

The Forest medallion’s new power up cleanses the forest of the corruption.

Sync now heads to the fire temple.

Similar to the inverse Forest temple, the inverse Fire temple is also going along the theme of the fire trial, the fear of not having strength.

Passing through the inverse Fire temple, Sync faces the final boss, a dark version of the first fire boss. After defeating it, she once again faces against a shadow of herself. This time the shadow forces her to fight one on one, but the shadow seemed twice as powerful as Sync.

Sync faces certain defeat but then the ‘spirit’ of Saria appears beside her and helps Sync gain ‘strength’ in herself.

Sync manages to defeat her shadow, and appears in the sage’s room of Fire where she meets Darunia.

Darunia unlocks the fire medallion’s power.  Darunia also tells Sync that the darkness gains power through her fears, as Sync is connected to it. However inversely the darkness can also empower Sync and grant her immunity to to certain effects.

With the Fire medallion’s power unleashed, the darkness disappears from mt Doom.

Sync now heads to Lake Hyrule, but finds out that the way to the lake is blocked by an intense darkness.

Not knowing how to approach it, Zake tells Sync about a secret entrance to the lake by the Zora kingdom.

However the pathway to the domain is flooded, preventing the group from getting any closer.

Using the power of the water medallion, Sync manages to get close to the Zora Kingdom, but was prevented from going any further by the darkness.

Sync remembers Darunia telling her that the darkness grants immunity as well as empowers her. Using that, Sync manages to ‘divert’ the power of the darkness, allowing her to enter the Zora Kingdom. Despite all of the water outside, the Zora kingdom is facing a drought, and Sync finds her way to the secret path to the lake Hyrule.

Sync reaches the lake, finding the lake overflowing and overcrowded by fierce creatures.

Making her way to the inverse Water temple, Sync finds that the Water sage, Ruto, is unable to move due to the darkness possessing her.

The same darkness tried to possess Sync but failed overall. It could not control Sync, but it made it hard for Sync to move the way she wanted to. (making the most irritating dungeon in OoT even harder)

Like the other temples, the water temple incorporates the trial of water, fear of not being in control.

Sync soon faces with the final boss, a dark version of the water trial boss. Defeating that, however, does not result in the same thing, as the final boss suddenly becomes a giant whale.

The giant whale swallows Sync and Sync finds herself trying to find her way out. Within the whale, Sync sees her shadow that forces her down paths that lead her to dead ends.

Finding the ‘heart’ of the whale, Sync faces off against her shadow, who mocks her. This is the first shadow to speak to her directly. The shadow attempts to ‘possess’ Sync once more, but Sync manages to push aside the influence and defeat the Shadow.

Speaking to Ruto in the sage’s room of Water, Sync finds out that the darkness is not only empowering her, it also provides her a connection with the sacred realm itself, and in a way, connection to Ganon.

Ruto unlocks the water medallion, and tells Sync that the darkness that made Zelda ill may be weaker with each inverse Temple she clears, but it will only force the other inverse temples to be stronger, and it may eventually lead to the early release of Ganon.

Zelda, a step too far Part Two

Following after Sync retrieves the Water Seal from the Zora Domain.

Sync is contacted by Impa, who tells Sync to return to Zelda’s side. Together with Golok and Zake, Sync heads to the castle. Reaching the castle, Sync is greeted by Zelda, who tells Sync that time is running short. While Sync tells Zelda of the cause of the darkness lies within the inverse temples, Zelda, like the other sages, does not think Sync is ready to enter them.

This causes Sync to doubt herself and causes her dark mark to break Zelda’s magic seal over it. Zelda manages to contain the darkness but this leaves Sync with only more doubts about her own abilities.

Sync then leaves to seek the advice of the Sages, specifically Saria.

Saria tells Sync that what Sync feels is normal as Sync constantly looks up to try to take over her brother’s place as a hero, however that would only push Sync in the wrong direction.

Saria tells Sync that the inverse temples are capable of forcing her dark mark to consume her entirely if she is not careful, and that the medallions of the sages could dampen the effects to a certain point, thus told Sync that if Sync felt herself ready, she may attempt the inverse temples. Otherwise, collect the other medallions before trying.

Sync understands that she is not ready and sets off for the next sage, which is sage Impa of Kakariko village. However the present Impa tells Sync that they (the Sheikah tribe) do not know where the sage Impa can be found.

Sync is then guided to the graveyard, where she is then ambushed by poes, who then drag into into an open grave that leads into a deep pit.

Landing at the bottom with no light, Sync is forced to find her way through the darkness, all the while being taunted by poes and their lanterns that constantly seek to make Sync fall.

This is the fourth trial, Fear of darkness, not knowing what lies ahead. Sync will eventually find her way and face the physical incarnation of the darkness, a bodiless creature that uses poes as its tools.

Defeating the shadow, Sync will restore light to Kakariko village as well as release the Shadow Sage, Impa. The sage grants Sync the Shadow medallion, which gives Sync the dark armour, capable of blending into shadows, as well as a scythe, which is able to create ‘shadow wells’.

The sage tells Sync that the Inverse Shadow Temple is a dangerous place, but feels that Sync may have already gotten strong enough to face it. Sync chooses to find the next sage, and she is pointed towards Gerudo Valley.

Heading back to Kakariko village, Sync is joined by the current Impa, becoming the third companion.

Sync now heads to Gerudo valley. Meeting with the Gerudo, Sync is first met with some hostility, before she is welcomed by the leader of the Gerudo tribe, Nahara. Nahara tells Sync of a sandstorm that is preventing the Gerudo from heading towards the Spirit temple. Deciding that she must go despite the objections of her companions, Sync braves the storm.

Separated from the rest, Sync faces the next trial, fear of solitude. The storm leaves Sync stranded and she only manages to find a small stone temple in the middle of the desert. Sync soon realises that the temple she took shelter in is the cause of the sandstorm. Deactivating the device causes the storm to die down, but also reveals a giant sand creature that surrounds the temple.

Sync fights the creature alone until her companions with Nahara arrive and they defeat the creature together. They head towards the temple and Sync finds the Sage of Spirits, Nabooru. Nabooru grants Sync the spirit medallion, which gives Sync twin swords and the spirit armour, which allows Sync to create a clone of herself.

Going back to the Gerudo stronghold, Nahara teaches Sync how to fight with two swords and joins Sync as a companion.

Sync is then called back to the castle.

To be continued

Zelda, a step too far

Another story, another time.

This time, Zelda. This story is called ‘Mark of Courage’

This story was first thought up as a ‘what-if’ scenario, but later transformed in order to try to squeeze itself into the timeline.

This story takes place within what is known as the ‘era without a hero’. Taking place after Ocarina of Time, in the Adult Link timeline, the story would follow not Link, but rather a female version of Link called Sync.

Sync is in fact, Link’s twin sister, so I am establishing that there ‘is’ a hero, just circumstances prevented such a thing from happening.

Sync’s name was chosen due to Link being a ‘link’ to the players. Sync is a ‘syncronisation’ of the players, similar to Link.

In this story, Sync is the twin sister to Link. She is brash, curious and rather the opposite of Link.

Sync soon discovers the site where the old Hyrule Castle once stood, where Ganon was defeated by Link. Now the place where the castle once stood is a giant temple, used to house the evils that was released when Ganon was killed. Before Zelda or Link could stop her, Sync touched the altar which housed the evils, and unleashed it onto Hyrule. This also activated the triforce, which came to be inherited by Link and Zelda. Sync, on the other hand, had a similar triforce burned onto her right hand, but this mark was black.

Link and Zelda vowed that when the time came, they will have to save Hyrule from the evil that was released. Sync was also made to forget what had happened by Zelda’s magic.

Skip a few years. Now teenagers, Sync is different from when she was young. Slightly aloof and proud, Sync also did not like the way her brother always babied her. However due to her dark mark, Sync was also easily scared and lost. Their village was attacked by Stalfos and they chose to run into the Lost Woods to escape. Link sacrificed himself to let Sync get away, though his actual demise is never stated. Link also gave sync his sword.

Sync meets Saria, the sage of the Forest, who gifts her with the green tunic of the forest as well as specialised gloves that exposes her mark. Sync also gains a fairy companion, a foul mouthed fairy called Ide.

Sync then lets Ide guide her to find Link, only to find a bloodied scene with a corpse mangled beyond recognition. Sync assumes it is Link and has a mental break down, causing her mark to activate for the first time. Saria returns and calms Sync immediately. Saria instructs Ide to guide Sync to see Zelda, which the pair later does.

Upon meeting Zelda, Sync recognises the princess as someone she met when she was younger. Zelda explains that the dark powers that Sync unleashed had begun to weaken the seals set in place on the scared realm by the seven sages. It is Sync’s job to restore the seals as much as she can as she is related to the darkness through her mark. Zelda is unable to do anything as assassins have targeted her life should she set foot out of the castle. There is also rumours of an impending war with an unknown force to the North. Sync is rather against the idea but Zelda convinces her in the end.

Sync first heads to Lon Lon Ranch and finds out that a new rancher has set up shop elsewhere and is taking away all of the customers. Sync is reluctantly forced to go investigate, all the while being tailed by Impa, Zelda’s attendant, who is much younger than her previous counter parts.

Going to the new ranch, Sync discovers that the rancher had kidnapped people (including Maloni, an incarnation of Malon), and forced their loved ones to abandon all other businesses. By doing this, the rancher would have a monopoly in the market and Hyrule would be forced to heed his word or be forced to have its market crash. Fueled by a dark power that the rancher calls ‘master’, Sync faces off with the Rancher. Impa appears and aids Sync, dropping an arm attachment form of the hookshot. Sync uses the hookshot to take down the rancher.

With her new weapon, Sync heads to the Lost Woods once more to find the Sage of the Forest and the Forest Seal. However Sync is tricked into a maze by a hooded figure. The maze itself is alive and only leads Sync to get lost no matter how or where she went. This is the first of the trials that Sync has to face. Each trial is following the motif of a different type of fear. The maze is the fear of losing your way, and the fear of not having any direction to go.

Sync discovers the source of the maze, as well as grabs the forest bow, a long bow (longer than Link’s normal type of bows), and defeats the maze. The stranger from before is revealed to be the soul of a lost child who was devoured by the maze. The child leads Sync to the Forest Sage as gratitude for freeing him. The forest Sage, Saria, tells Sync that the seals were indeed weakening and that they are beyond repair. However the sage gifts Sync with the medallion and tells her that though the powers have waned, the seals are still useful.

Saria teached Sync that the medallions can be fitted into the groove on her glove above her mark and grant her additional powers. The Forest medallion gifts her with the armour of a Wolf, allowing her to run fast and jump great distances. Saria also tells Sync that with the medallion, she can enter the ‘inverse forest temple’, being the forest temple but within the darkness. It is only through these temples would Sync find the source of the darkness and the key to lifting the curse. However the sage tells Sync that she is not ready for it and instructs her to head towards mt Doom to find the sage of fire.

Sync goes to Kakariko village at the base of mt doom and finds Impa once more. Impa teaches Sync how to use the bow with new techniques and also gifts Sync with a cloth that can be wrapped around an arrow and lit to create a fire arrow. Impa also teaches Sync on new fighting techniques with the hookshot.

Going up to mt doom, Sync meets the Goron, and a Goron miner named Golok. Golok explains that the mountain is extremely unstable. Sync is told by Ide that the sage is probably inside mt doom. Golok decides to accompany Sync, becoming the first ‘companion’. Sync enters mt doom to find that the lava flow is unstable and rocks and boulders frequently rained down on them. Getting inside the temple of Fire, Sync finds that many paths are blocked, however Golok is able to destroy most of the rocks. This is the second trail of fear, the fear of lacking power. Sync and Golok reach the Fire Sage, Darunia. Darunia reveals that most, if not all of the sages, are in fact, dead. However they took it upon themselves to safe guard the seals even beyond death. Darunia reveals the source of the instability of mt doom, a fire golem. Sync and Golok work together to defeat the fire golem and Darunia gifts Sync with the fire medallion.

The fire medallion gifts Sync with the dragon armour, which comes with dragon wings. The wings gives her temporary flight but requires concentration and magic, which Sync does not have in abundance. The fire medallion also gifts Sync with a great sword of fire.

Darunia shows Sync the entrance of the inverse fire temple, but tells sync to find the water sage instead.

Back in kakariko village, Impa tells Sync that the army from the North is getting close.

Sync heads to the Zora domain only to find that whirlpools have formed all over the domain, forcing the Zoras to hide in their main place. Instructed by the King of the Zora, Sync is accompanied by a Zora warrior called Zake, being the second companion. Zake shows Sync the sacred Zora fountain where a massive whirpool was located. Sync accidentally falls into the whirpool, leading Zake to follow Sync in. Zake and Sync end up at the bottom of the whirpool in some sort of large bubble that covers the bottom of the Zora fountain, creating an air pocket of sorts.

This is the third trial, the fear of losing control, or not being oneself. Sync would realise that the air pocket is filled with some sort of gas that causes changes in personality, as seen in Zake. However Sync’s dark mark protected her to some extent. Finding the source as a large seashell monster, cleared the trial and was gifted the water medallion by the King Zora.

The water medallion would gift Sync with a Zora armour that allowed her to swim and breath underwater. It also gifted her with a spear as a weapon.

The King revealed the inverse water temple to be at Lake Hyrule but like before, told Sync to go find the next seal.

To be Continued

Muv Luv, Not yet an Eclipse

Right, so I wrote this Muv Luv story due to reading the plot for the game portion, which continues on what happened in the anime.

Honestly, I wouldn’t care too much about it but it just made me rather sad about what happened.

To cap it all off, Yuuya chooses to be with Cryska, but Cryska no longer has access to her medication, which causes her to die.

Yui finds out that she and Yuuya are half siblings, and crushes her love like no tomorrow. Yuuya does not know this since he is so dense.

Yuuya runs away with top secret American TSF and joins up with Fikatsia Latrova, who wasn’t dead. Together they attack Evensk Hive during Operation Ouka and the whole Total Eclipse stuff that that Russian dude was planning goes into effect, ending the story.

This. Explains. Nothing.

So to top it all off, I decided to continue the story. NOTE, I am writing for the Harem ending. That means no hold-bars, full out everything. The plot may be sickening given the context above, but I DO NOT CARE.

 

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After the battle of Evensk Hive, Yuuya, Inia and the rest of Zhar battalion escape from the Soviets. They head to Japan mainly due to Inia having a ‘connection’ with Kasumi over at Yokohama base. Fikatsia is critically injured during Evensk Hive and entrusts all command to Yuuya. They manage to get into Japan and Yui is sent by the shogun to greet them. Japan unofficially welcomes their defection and Yuuya together with the rest are brought in secret to Tokyo.

In Tokyo, they meet Kouzuki Yuuko, who take Zhar under her wing and gives them new lives, albeit still having to serve in the military. They are renamed Saika Battalion.

Yuuya is reunited with Argos, each member either defecting or joining Japan.

Yuuya is then told his position is different from the others as he had stolen an American top secret TSF, as well as having knowledge to many secret projects of America. Japan knows that they cannot ‘officially’ protect him and thus made him marry Yui. By marrying into the Takamura family, he would be protected by the prestige of the family name.

Yui is hesitant but she is told by everyone (including her uncle and the shogun) that her happiness is the most important thing. Yuuya does not mind and returns Yui’s feelings. The two become married and Yuuya becomes part of the Takamura family

 

Skip a few months, the shogun hears reports of Soviet research on psychics and sees Russia as a possible enemy should the war with BETA end soon. The shogun sends out the new Argos team, which includes Fikatsia and Inia, together with newly built stealth units using Yuuya’s stolen unit designs. Argos infiltrates Russia and discover that a rogue faction of psychics are attacking several places. This rogue faction is led by that Jerzy Sandek. He wanted to take revenge on the Soviets for taking over his home country and this was his revenge. Jerzy reveals to Yuuya that he uncovered Cryska’s body and used her brain to implant into another clone. This clone was more stable than Cryska physically, thus not needing medication, however mentally weak, and he restricted the clone’s ability to think. Jerzy said he needed Cryska’s brain for it contained the necessary link for the Total Eclipse ability like at Evensk Hive. No other clone would suffice as the bond Cryska had with Inia as well as Yuuya was the catalyst.

Cryska is also an extremely skilled pilot, even amongst the clones, and her talents would go to waste. Yuuya is forced to fight with the clone though he is unable to deal the final blow.

Yui takes over the fight but she is hampered as it is revealed she is actually pregnant.

Inia, not wanting to lose anyone else, steps in. Inia is the ‘key’ and she holds onto Cryska’s ‘soul’. When Inia came close enough, the clone started to remember the past as Cryska, causing her to faint. Jerzy sees this as a failure and attempts to escape but the Soviets start to close in. Yuuya grabs the clone and Jerzy and makes a run for it.

Jerzy reveals that the clone was more or less Cryska herself. Even if the body is not the same, her memories, personalities and thoughts are the same. Jerzy tells Yuuya that he had hoped that through the clones, he would be able to recreate his sister but now he realised that it was all a mad chase and that it was his pride that kept him going. He tells Yuuya to take Cryska and escape. He will deal with the Soviet Psychi program himself.

Yuuya wanted to protest but Inia insisted that they must leave. Yui’s condition is not too right to continue fighting. Yuuya orders a retreat back to Japan.

Jerzy then takes what remaining psychic TSFs he has left and makes a charge at the Soviet forces that encircled him. He dies, but not before he takes out a whole lot of Soviet TSFs

Returning to Japan, Yuuya is worried about both Yui and Cryska. Yui is pregnant and the fighting made the strain on her body worse. Yui, however, tells Yuuya to go to Cryska’s side, as she can tell he is worried. She tells him she will be fine as she is sent to the hospital

Cryska is placed in a medical liquid tank and Kouzuki begins to stabilise Cryska’s mind with the help of Inia and Kasumi. Soon after, Cryska awakes, not remembering anything after her ‘death’. Cryska and Yuuya reunite with one another.

Skip a few months forward, Yui has given birth to a healthy young boy, Cryska is living with the Takamura family (I guess you can say Yuuya’s mistress?), when they are approached by the Shogun with news that the BETA are once again active, and that this time, they have reinforcements from the Moon.

This end is meant to be a cliff hanger to the second story, which details a mecernary group based in the UK heading towards Asia to deal with a new nest that has settled itself in the middle of the South China Sea. The mercernary group is called the ‘Raven’s Watch’ and they are joined by Argos as well as the ‘Black Knights’ from COSEAN. The sequel would go indepth about the invasion from the Moon and how the UN has decided a split attack. One to deal a decisive blow agains the BETA on the moon, and the other is to systemetically wipe out the more dangerous nests on Earth. Of course, the lunar battle is suicidal but it is necessary even as a method to buy time for the forces on Earth to regain their foothold.

Ragnarok Story. What was meant to be

Well, my Ragnarok Online story had hit haitus and most likely will not continue for any time soon.

However the entire story was all planned out already. I have no idea what is stopping me.

Here is what is meant to happen after where the last chapter left off.

– Wolf God Fenris joins the party

– Fenris reveals to Tharin and Feyrin that Vestratos was once a mortal man driven by darkness and madness, constantly hunting for the Valkyrie that he fell in love with. Fenris also reveals that Tharin is proof that Vestratos had found his loved one

– Party heads Eastwards and meets with the newly formed resistance forces which is led by none other than Bishop Sarai, Tharin’s foster father.

– With the resistance, are two former Winveros Knight Generals, Monika Krewsnik and Sepheria Silwin. Monika is revealed to like Kaine Verther but hides it under the guise of hatred against the Verther family

– The camp is attacked and Tharin and her group are forced to leave

-They reach the Eastern Port of Alberta and meet up with Joan. Joan manages to get them a boat to sail for Luo Yang

– Upon reaching Luo Yang, they are told that there is war going on between the three Eastern Nations, Luo yang, Amatsu and Gonryun.

– The Eastern Guardian, Seiryuu appears before Tharin in a vision, telling her that something evil is causing the distrust between the three nations and in order to summon him, she must find whoever is responsible

– Tharin’s group head to Amatsu and find the culprit, averting total war

– Tharin is told to collect the sacred pieces of treasure hidden in labrinths of the three nations and finally in Gonryun, offer them to a temple that is in the sky.

– Summoning Seiryuu, Tharin is challenged with several riddles and puzzles, all the while she is forced to fight with Seiryuu

– Tharin shows her wisdom, thus earning Seiryuu, the East guardian of Wisdom. Seiryuu’s weapon is a long spear with a flexible armour made from scales

– The three Eastern nations promise to help and send their armadas together with Tharin back to the mainland

– The resistance on the mainland were facing near defeat but with the arrival of Tharin and the Eastern Nations, they managed to push the forces of Prontera back

– Bishop Sarai tells Tharin to head North to collect the final Guardian for there is something that she must do in order to fulfil her destiny

– Seiryuu reveals to Tharin that hidden within her blood is the key to ending Vestratos and that her identity is the key to it all

– Seiryuu also tells her that the one to explain everything is not him, but someone else who had been wanting to tell her all of this since the beginning

– The group head to the frigid North and face the Ice General, a Knight Lord who made base in the North to fight Ice Giants.

– The group started to fight with the Ice General but with the intervention of Ice Giants, they band together and drive off the Ice Giants.

– The Ice General admits he is not interested in the War and only seeks to ensure Prontera is not threatened by Ice Giants, thus letting the group pass without incident

– In the Ice caves, Tharin needs to face giant walls of Ice that reflect her past. Only by conquering the visions of her past can the walls break

– Tharin reached the final Guardian, Genbu, who has a near impregnable defence.

– Tharin uses the other three Guardians and manages to take down the defences of Genbu, thus earning her the last Guardian. Genbu, the North guardian of protection.

– Genbu gives her the great crystal shield which can reflect every attack. His armour is large and tough

– The group head back to the Ice General, but find Bashin, who is still loyal to Prontera. Bashin had killed the Ice General for treason

– Tharin is captured while the rest of the group flee

– Tharin is brought back to Prontera and tortured. Her innate powers together with the dark vampiric powers that lingered in her prevents her from dying from torture

– Tharin felt heartbroken by Bashin’s betrayal and was about to lose hope when Kaine and the others manage to infiltrate and rescue her

– In the escape, Kaine faces Bashin and kills him. Tharin, though feeling sad, knows that it was the only choice (as Bashin had told her with his dying breath that his loyalty was all he had)

– Regrouping with the resistance, Bishop Sarai plans for the final attack, but brings Tharin through a series of underground tunnels that lead back to Crusader Order’s underground chambers

– Using the four guardians, Tharin releases the lock on the giant seal in the underground chamber

– Inside the seal, is a woman who Kaine recognises as Lenith Yuril Winveros, the Winveros who was suppose to have sired a demon child with Vestratos

– Lenith reveals that she is the Valkyrie that saved Vestratos and fell in love with him, reincarnated on the mortal World as Lenith Winveros

– Lenith also reveals that Tharin is her daughter, which means Tharin is a Winveros, as well as the child of Vestratos

-Vestratos also knew that Tharin was the only thing that can kill him and using the last bit of his humanity, gave her the power to kill him to end his madness

– Lenith revealed to Kaine that Kaine’s father never killed Tharin, for he was a man of honour and would never harm a child

– Tharin is begifted her real name, as well as her family’s sacred title name: Asheraxia Ilvyian Shivylie Winveros, the family’s title name meaning ‘Holy Blade’

– Lenith disappears, having fulfilled her destiny

– Tharin, now called Asheraxia Ilvyian Shivylie Winveros, takes up the mantle of the Winveros and by realising her real name, is able to use the Winveros’ blade, the pendant that was around her neck the entire time. The ‘Ragnarok’

– Leading the battle, Asheraxia defeats the armies of Prontera

– Cornering Kilreil and Volos in Prontera, Asheraxia was told that Volos needed to consolidate power and get rid of her due to the vision he had seen that Vestratos would destroy everything

– Asheraxia knows that Volos is right but his methods were too extreme and thus executed Volos. Kilreil, being a Knight Lord, was imprisoned

– Asheraxia took the throne and sought to rebuild Prontera to its fomer glory, as well as prepare the Kingdom for the inevitable battle with Vestrastos

– Skip few years

– The battle with Vestrastos nears and Asheraxia readies the armies of her Kingdom

– Kaine had left Asheraxia’s side after an argument they had

– The battle begins as Knights and undead clash

– Asheraxia meets Vestrastos in battle

– Kaine hurries to the battle

– Asheraxia delivers the final blow to Vestrastos, freeing the soul from its madness

– But in doing so, Asheraxia also releases the powers that Vestrastos gave her, which was actually revealed to be keeping her alive since young

– Slowly turning to stone, Asheraxia gave her final instructions on what will happen after her death. Knight Lord Kristian will take over Prontera

– Kaine reached Asheraxia to hear her say her love for him will never change before she is finally turned completely stone

– Asheraxia’s old comrades went their separate ways, with Kaine becoming depressed and leaving for an unknown place

So ends Painted Wings

What follows is suppose to be a prequel, called ‘Fallen Wings’, which follows Lenith Yuril Winveros when she was reborn on the mortal plane. After that would be a sequel to Painted Wings, called ‘Unborn Wings’

The story of ‘Unborn Wings’ is meant to follow a young man who is searching for his father. This young man is actually Kaine Verther’s son. Kaine had disappeared when his son, named ‘Regius’, was still young in order to find what he called ‘Painted Wings’. Regius would travel all over the country and meet many of his father’s old comrades. He also would make several comrades of his own, amongst which was an amnesiac woman called ‘Tharin’. As the group travelled, it is shown that the tree of Yggdrasil were beginning to decay and the different Worlds were beginning to collapse. Different creatures and beings began to invade Midgard due to the World’s relative stability. Tharin would tell Regius that she knows of what Kaine was looking for, and so leads Regius to an underground vault under the Crusader Order and showed him a statue of a woman. This statue is Asheraxia Ilvyian Shivylie Winveros. Stating that Asheraxia is the ‘painted wings’ that Kaine sought, Regius wonders why would his father be obsessed over a statue. Tharin then reveals that the reason Midgard is safe from Yggdrasil’s decay is due to Asheraxia. She is a being born from a Valkyrie of Asgard and the demon of destruction, Vestrastos. Her powers were so great that it kept Midgard stable, and yet caused the imbalance for others, which explains why the other races came to Midgard, to destroy Asheraxia. However in doing so, would cause Midgard to be destroyed in the process. Tharin also reveals that she is actually Asheraxia’s daughter, born before the battle that cost Asheraxia her life, and also daughter of Kaine, making Tharin and Regius half siblings.

Regius and his group would then seek to revive Asheraxia, following Kaine’s path to find the four guardians once more despite their powers being waned. Fenris appears and helps by guarding Asheraxia while Regius goes on his quest. The story would then lead to Regius and his party freeing Asheraxia from her stone coffin. Asheraxia then proceeds to use her power, together with Fenris, the four guardians as well as Jormungand, to separate Midgard from the World Tree, thus ending the threat to Yggdrasil and the other Worlds that Midgard would produce. Asheraxia would then find Kaine and bring him back. However Kaine is too weak and soon dies, but not before receiving forgiveness from Asheraxia for all of guilt. Asheraxia then takes her place with Fenris and the four guardians as the protectors of Midgard. Tharin and Regius would then go and live together as family.

 

Well, that is about is for the ‘Wing’ series. The names behind each story is meant to reflect the main characters. Painted Wings was written as Tharin, who is later Asheraxia, is living under a false life. She is also ‘tainted’ by various darkness due to her birth and her adventures, therefore becoming ‘painted’. For ‘Fallen Wings’, it is clearly meant to represent Lenith as a fallen Valkyrie living on Midgard. ‘Unborn Wings’ is referencing Regius as well as Midgard itself, as towards the end, Regius realises his own destiny and frees Midgard from the shackles of the World Tree.

Angel Beats! Regrets of my own

After looking back at my Angel Beats! Story, I came to realise that I had a lot more that I failed to incorporate inside my stories. While I am writing out the side stories, there are some things that are a little too late in put in with the side stories. Here are a list of things that I slipped up on as well as things that went on while I wrote the two stories.

Also, I do not think I need to say this, but SPOILERS for those who have yet to read the stories

1) Kurogane Kou, the main character of the first fic, was actually meant to be more lifeless. She was meant to be a whole lot quieter in the second fic, however that would limit her interactions with the main character of the second story, Katsuragi Rei. Her character had to be rehauled somewhat after the first few chapters.

2) The twin swords of Kurogane Kou, Kurenai and Hikari, were meant to be extremely power weapons. Kurenai was actually designed to be a ‘sword that must never be drawn’, while Hikari was meant to be a ‘sword that must never be sheathed’. The idea is that Kurenai was so powerful that once it is drawn, it will kill everything without hesitation, chaos incarnate. Hikari was the complete opposite, representing order and it is a sword that once is sheathed, all things good in the world will crumble. However the idea of two reality changing blades was too much. However the concept of Order and Chaos was shifted from Hikari and Kurenai, to Blue Gear and END respectively. While they are not exactly “all mighty” weapons, the idea of END being the sword that, once drawn, will bring about destruction of all. Blue Gear is the sword that must never be put down for it is the manisfestation of order.

3) Ooguchi Daisuke was meant to have a larger role, however as time went by, I became more focused on Katsuragi and Yamato’s journey. He is, however, referenced in the later chapters though not by name so no one really knew who he is. He is actually the ‘sergeant’ who was tasked to clear the dorms during the last fight. The one who complained that he was losing hair.

4) Like wise, Imagawa Jin was meant to have a larger role, as I did place him as a squad leader. However he was somewhat hard to put in with a serious mood. He is mentioned and appears once or twice. But that is about it.

5) The reason behind the feud between Taeno Yuki, leader of Fort, and Tatsume Kenji, leader of Intelligence, was never explored. I had explained it to one of my readers when he asked in a private message, but I never really told anyone else. The reason behind their distrust would go way back when the different factions were all vying for control before the SSS2 was formed. Kenji was the leader of his own team and he had faced Yuki in combat. He understood how Yuki would waste the lives of men under her just to obtain her objectives, all under the understanding that they cannot really ‘die’ in the afterlife. However the true bickering began when the SSS2 was formed. In the beginning, the Strategic squad, Throne, was under Intelligence. After all, it is considered ‘Intelligence’. However Yuki forced the Strategic Squad to be moved under the jurisdiction of Fort. This was under the pretense that as the stratgists had to be placed in the most well guarded and central place of power, the headquarters of Fort, then Throne should be made part of Fort. Kenji saw this as a ruse by Yuki to usurp power and be the ‘sole’ leader behind the facade of the division leaders. However he was unable to put forth his argument as Yuki already had the backing of Himura Yuuko, the Boss of Guild, as well as Ein Shrewerz, the leader of Assault. Himura Yuuko was installed in power by Yuki, however Ein was a leader from the get-go. If someone like Ein, who fought against Yuki multiple times, would now give her his support, then there was little Kenji could do. Therefore Kenji allowed, albeit begrudgingly, Throne to be transferred to Fort.

6) The one division that was never explored properly was the Diversion division. The Intelligence division was never really explored that much in detail due to my decision to make them more ‘mysterious’ and more ‘ninja-like’.

7) Kurogane Kei, Kurogane Kou’s twin brother, was never meant to make any appearance. He was suppose to just be mentioned around. During conceptualisation, his name was not Kei, but rather Hikaru. It was changed as his name being somewhat related to Kou and Rei seemed more interesting.

8) Half way through the story, Fort and Assault switched positions with their numbering. Assault went from Division 2, to Division 1, and Fort vice versa. This switch is not intentional and merely me forgetting which one was which.

9) The girl who was shot in the beginning of What we Live For by Imagawa, was meant to make a return, joining Fort, however she was never mentioned again. She would choose to distance herself from the SSS2 and end up being devoured by a Shadow.

10) Kusanagi Yamato’s back story was meant to be something completely. However at the time of writing, I was in a slump, having no ideas, and also was quite pressed for time.

11) When first writing both Angel Beats! stories, I had no idea just where the story would go. I only had a vague idea of what would happen at the very end, and that end was having an NPC kill the main character. Everything came together only after chapter 6 of the first story, and I had a clear idea on what was going to happen for the rest of the first story. The second story was a complete mess due to the long breaks I was forced to take with my military enlistment.

12) Fudou Akira, Kurogane Kou’s love interest in the first fic, was an accidental creation. He was never meant to be so prominent, but by the time I wrote about him guiding Kou in Big Site, I decided to change it and so went back and rewrote that chapter. Ryuuji, the cross-dressing archer, was meant to be Kou’s life-changing loss.

13) I write all of my stories in Notepad on my laptop. This would be my 6th laptop to become my writing laptop. Worst of all, I write in comic sans, and bold. Writing in Times new Roman just made it too restrictive for me and writing in comic sans made me think of it like a child’s storybook, and less like an essay. (And like chapter 13 of what we die for, this entry number 13 is a huge twist for most of you)

14) My military style of war was inspired more by movies, than my own military experience. I was a soldier of a peaceful nation so saw little action. The shooting range was probably the most I got to see with a rifle and grenade.

15) The Lieutenant Kai who trained Katsuragi Rei and Saya is actually based off my own Platoon Officer during my basic training in the military. He was rather opposite of most other officers and preferred to teach by example and not scold for the minor stuff we did wrong. I asked him near the end of the training phase if I could write a character based of him and he gave his approval, though he must have thought I was joking. I wasn’t. His name is not too far off from a Japanese name, just take away one word and there you go.

16) The passing of my uncle did affect my writing. As most can see, the fights became more…. erratic.

17) The motif of the seven sins only came to me while I was watching some anime to get ideas. The idea to incorporate them as one of the themes of the story came to me after mid-way through What we Live For. While most would say Dante’s Inferno affected it, I would say… sort of. I saw Dante’s Inferno but it was when I went online to read about the original story of Dante and Virgil, that I finally decided to write the story as such.

18) The fight with the seven sins is based off different games, but mainly mixed in with the DMC series. The fight with Lust was more like a chess game in my head. The fight with Gluttony was like MonHan. The fight with Sloth was Alice: Madness Returns mixed with Asura’s wrath. The fight with Greed was mech warrior (old, I know). The fight with Envy was Star Ocean. The fight with Pride was pure DMC (those fights with the Angelic host in particular)… throw in Soul calibur. The fight with Wrath was like most RPG games…. mixed in with some good old Dun Moch style of lightsabre fighting.

19) The entrance for the SSS back into the Afterlife was planned out to be… a little different. The entire SSS would return via drop pods (ODST style). However having them simply fall from the sky was good enough.

20) The war of the dark tower (I dubbed it as such) was not meant to be so long. In fact, the SSS were not suppose to have such a presence on the battlefield. However as I wrote more and more, I came to realise that the SSS2 had to be weakened. The SSS arrived to supplement that weakness.

21) Most of the Division leaders were already set, as were their SSS ranked weapons, when I was given their designs by their respective creators.

22) Most of my own original characters are based of myself, including Kurogane Kou. Their personalities are based off old writings and blogs I wrote for myself when I was younger. I did go through many phases in my life so far.

23) Kurogane Kou’s character and design are similar to that of the main character in my Ragnarok Online story, Tharin Lethmen aka Asheraxia Ilvyian Shivylie Winveros. The change of personalities is also very prevelent in Tharin’s character.

24) Katsuragi Rei’s character is based off several Male Protagonists of several dating simulation games I played. Yes. I play dating simulation games.

25) I tend to incorporate philosophical teachings in my stories and they are based off my own philosophies, both for the protagonists and the antagonists. To create such ideas, I had to look at my own thinking and develop compelling arguments against them. As such I had to hold arguments with myself. Out loud.

26) At the end of What we Live For, it is hinted that everything is a loop. Yurippe married and changed her surname to Taeno. Her daughter is Yuki. This is hinting to Yuri’s inevitable death from the accident that was explained in through Yuki’s battle. Rei was reincarnated into Otonashi Rei. He is meant to marry Kamiya Kou and together they will have two kids whom they will name after Kou’s father and aunt, Otonashi Yuzuru and Otonashi Hatsune. This also means that Rei and Kou will pass away in an accident. Kou’s journey through the afterlife is also explained to be three years in real life. From her murder, three years after, Kou was reincarnated as Kamiya Kou.

27) The giant Battleship Yamato is actually named after the famed battleship of the same name. The reason in the story for its name being Yamato, was due to Kusanagi Yamato being the de facto leader of Guild at that point of the war. The one to command it, Yamamoto Takanari, was specifically chosen for this task. Although he was given to me by one of my readers, I saw an opportunity and took it. The admiral incharge of the Imperial Japanese Fleet back during WWII was Admiral Yamamoto. Although Yamamoto is a common surname, I thought the connection was interesting and thus used it. Admiral Yamamoto was also the one who started to project to create the Yamato and her sister ships. However he was killed when his plane was shot down, thus delaying the production of the Yamato class battleships until near the end of the war.

28) Other characters from the Key franchise of games were suppose to make appearances, but I decided to cut them due to the large number of characters.

29) The total number of named characters is unknown to me.

30) The reason why Yuki’s elites were called Wolves is not due to the reason stated by Kou in What we Die For, but rather it is an allusion to the Shinsengumi, a group of samurai back during the Meiji restoration era, made famous by the Ikedaya incident, where they prevented the burning of Kyoto and killed / arrested key figures of the opposition faction. The Shinsengumi were also called ‘The Wolves of Mibu’, which was the area they came from. In the months following the Battle of Big Site, Kou would lead the Elites besides leading her own Division. However Kou did not have time to lead the Elites and thus chose the first new leader, a young man called ‘Mibu’. She then changed their squad name to ‘Wolves’. However shortly after Mibu took over the Wolves, he was killed in action and so Kou chose Iori to lead next. Iori would lead the Wolves from then onwards all the way through the war. The Wolves only answer to Yuki, however it is also true that they will listen to Kou as she was the one who led and created their squad.

31) The two stories were never meant to stretch this long. It was planned for two years, and went longer than expected. I wanted to end them with an even number. Because I like even numbers.