Thursday, September 11, 2014

Legend: Episode 4

Legend
Episode 4: The Story of Legend
              Sapphire ducked through the door way into Keith’s house, the bag of seeds was on the table and Keith and his dad were talking excitedly. They both turned to look at her, their faces were full of relief. The dad walked up to her and bowed with gratitude, “Thank You! Thank you for saving my farm.” She smiled and shook her head.
“It was nothing, I was just glad to help.” He smiled and slowly shook his head, “How about you come in and rest a while, you look a little tired.” She just nodded and followed him to a chair at their small table.
              Keith and his dad sat across from her and stared at her in awe. She felt a little embarrassed, it was only the first mission and despite her troubles, it wasn’t really that hard. She felt like they were exaggerating a bit with their praise.
              After a moment, Keith stood up and went to grab something. He returned and placed a small wooden box on the table. It was actually a pyramid with four little legs and its top was cut off and replaced with a glass marble. Swirls and other patterns were carved into its red stained wood. A small grey button pocked out of one of its sides. It was very nice looking and looked hand made. “This I for you, It’s not much but I hope you like it.” said Keith’s dad.
Sapphire studied it up and down, trying to figure out just what it was. “It’s beautiful, just… What is it?”
Keith’s dad leaned back in his chair, “It’s a Story Box.” he said, “It uses a magic crystal to tell a story, It…. Well, it’d probably be best to just show you.” He leaned over the table and pressed the grey button.
              The glass marble began to glow a pale white color, sparks of light leapt from its surface and swirled upward. More and more sparks leapt up, they were all different colors and twinkled like stars. The sparks began to form a picture; each spark was like a pixel, they slowly began to form picture. After a few moments, the sparks formed a picture of a night sky, the constellations were like none on Earth but they were just as amazing. A feminine voice emitted from the box; it was calm and gentle, like a mother telling a bed-time story. It said, “In the beginning, the worlds we call home were nothing. All there was, was the sky full of distant stars. One day, six gods came to this empty section of space. Each of them representing a sacred element.” The sparks changed color and a new image appeared, this time showing six differently colored lights. The sparks were showing images to match the story, like a video. The voice continued, “Combining their power together, they created nine small star systems; each containing one world that housed life.
Once they saw that their worlds were good, they gathered together and used the last of their power to create the ultimate weapon, one that could change worlds and be used for good or evil. They created it so that ever the need to assist or destroy the life that inhabited their planets arose, they could do it with ease. But they understood the greed of the mortal creatures of the worlds, so they split it into six parts. Each part bear a symbol, a letter; these letters can be combined to form the word LEGEND, which is the name of the ultimate weapon.
              Each of the gods took one piece and fled to world where they would rest, regaining their strength over thousands of years. They would guard these treasures and if the need ever arose, the champions of the worlds must travel and collect every piece from the gods to create Legend.
              If the parts Legend ever needs to be united, let it be known that the gods preside in worlds of their elements. Even the parts that they guard represent their power. So if you search for these gods remember this:
.     .      E  .     .    .
.    W    n   .     .    .
.     a     e   .   W    .
.     t      r   .     I    .
L    E     G    E   N    D
I     r     y   a   d    a
g    .      .    r    .     r
h    .      .    t    .     k
t     .      .    h   .     .
                                   
              Even if you don’t search for Legend, you will find its influence in all that you do. So be brave; adventure into the unknown of our worlds and become the strongest you can. Travel across these many worlds and defeat any danger that stands in your path. For evils of the unknown can come on at any time and we may need the champions to become our saviors. There are countless problems in our worlds that only those who are strong can fix. So, may the gods bless you as you find your purpose in these worlds. Adventure onward!”
              The sparks flew down back to the glass marble in a colorful whirlpool of light. Once all the sparks had disappeared into the marble, its light slowly faded until it was once again just a glass marble. The room was once again silent, the voices, “Adventure onward!” had seemed to echo throughout the room for a while but now all was quiet. Sapphire’s face was frozen in an expression of awe, now she knew the story of Legend and in a way she had never expected.
              Despite her joyous face, Keith scratched his head and in an apologetic voice said, “I’m sorry it’s only a low quality Story Box with a very short story in it…”
Sapphire smiled and shook her head, “No! It was amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
He smiled shyly, “Thank ya Sapphire. I had hoped you would like it,” He picked up the box and slowly walked around the table, he cradled it in his hands as he approached Sapphire. He held it out to her, “I really want you to have this.” She took it from his hands and held it, “Thank you...” Keith sat back down in his seat with a sigh.
His dad leaned in, “So, what do you plan to do?” She tilted her head thoughtfully, “Well, I’d like to explore more of the Meadows of Sanctuary, I might do some more quests. But I’m really curious about how to get to these, ‘other worlds.’ How do I get to them?” “You go to the bridge gate.” said his dad, “The closest one is a little bit far at the capital but it doesn’t take long to get there.”
“What’s the bridge gate?”
“Well, it’s more of a monument than a gate, but it’s how you get to the bridge between worlds.”
“What’s the bridge like?”
“I wouldn’t know, only those of great blood can pass through.”
“Why is that?” 
            Keith piped in, “They say it’s because the gods want to make sure we only stay where our purpose is… Most people never get to see the bridge but I hear it’s beautiful, like an aurora borealis that lifts you up and carry’s you to other stars.” He stared off distantly with a look of longing on his face. She remembered the first time she met his, he was beating up on a scare crow because he wanted to be a warrior. She felt a little bad for him, stuck on a farm with almost no chance to fulfill his dreams.
“Hey, Keith?’ she asked.
“Hmm?”
“Didn’t you want to be warrior? Maybe you might get a chance to see the bridge for yourself someday.”
              Keith looked down, his dad raised an eyebrow, “So, you want to become a warrior eh?” Keith’s face turned bright red. His dad closed his eyes and folded his arms, “Well, you know that I need you on the farm.” Keith nodded slowly, his face full of heartbreak.  His dad grinned, “Well, I knew you would want to leave the farm someday. Tell you what, if we get a good crop this year, you can go train at the capital in the winter months.”
              Keith looked at his dad with amazement, “R-really?!?” His dad nodded and they embrace; tears filled their eyes.
              Sapphire stood up and began to leave. Just before she reached the door, Keith stopped her. “I want to thank you one last time, for everything you’ve done for me. “ She smiled, “It was my pleasure.” She slipped out the door and left them to celebrate the return of their seeds.
              Shadow Wanderer was leaning against a tree while he swung his scythe around him. When he saw her approaching, he stood up and set his scythe down.
              “Well… did you learn the story of Legend?” he quietly asked. She nodded, holding out her new Story Box to show him. “Sweet…” Sapphire didn’t reply, she still didn’t know if he was going to leave her or not. Shadow took a deep breath, “Listen…. About earlier…I...I want…I want to travel with you, even if it’s only for a little while.” Her mouth slowly crept into a smile. She didn’t have to say anything for Shadow to understand. He pulled up his scarf, “Now, this doesn’t mean we are a team or anything yet, but I will be happy to help you get started here in Legend.”
              “I completely understand!” she said with enthusiasm. “All right. I have to log off. See you tomorrow…” Shadow’s character became stiff, he glowed white and quickly faded way.

              Sapphire could not stop smiling, she clutched the Story Box and sat on the ground. She felt so excited to play again, she couldn’t wait till tomorrow came. She took a deep breath and logged out.