Ryuna - Episode 001 - Mask

Writer: Justin Miller (Cleric in a Box)
Editor: Jamie Parks
Artists: Kara Ritenour ( [[Red Death]] ) , Jamie Parks


Giving credit to Wizards of The Coast, Al Sousa & Steven Clower, Kyngdoms and Palladium Books for Names, Monsters, Spells, and some other information from The Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Edition Books.
--


"Every beginning has an end, and every end has a new beginning."

"Only the Gods knew the fate of the old world, Earth."

"What will become of our new world, Galolee?"

"History repeats itself."

~~~

Time line - 1650 A.P. (After Plantation)
Country - Teschenia
Location - Alfa Mountains

Dusk fell across the gorge. Between the Alfa Mountains' cliffs was a powerful river current. A cave rested at the midpoint of the cliff above the rushing river. Inside this cave lived a monster with the head of a humanoid male, the body of a lion, and the wings of a dragon. The creature's back was riddled with curved barbs and its long tail ended in a cluster of deadly spikes.

The beast, known as a manticore, finished chewing the flesh of what was once a human body. The creature sniffed the air and growled, taking flight out of the cave. It clumsily flew out of the cave into the air to spot around for the next victim to feed upon.

A silver-haired woman with hetero-chromatic eyes spotted the manticore as it circled above her, mistaking her as a human snack. Her right eye was red, the left green, and both glared up at the beast. Her attire was a black tank top with crimson pants, stylish yet good for adventuring. A red trench coat was slung over her shoulder, her reptilian left arm holding it there.

Revolvers known as Ruger GP100s rested inside holsters attached to her gear belt. The Ruger GP100 was a powerful double action revolver designed to fire .357 Magnum cartridges and had a force solid enough that a normal human being would need to use both hands to lessen the recoil. It featured a solid frame construction to better handle the force of firing the powerful round, resulting in a heavy, rugged design. Most of the internal components were stainless steel to better resist corrosion. The barrel and frame were made from advanced chrome-moly steel alloy. This woman carried top-of-the-line, advanced modern weaponry.

Black boots skid across the dirt on top of the gorge as she studied the manticore with her slitted eyes.

A white mouse with pure blue eyes came out of his resting spot from the cleavage of the strange woman, climbing to the top of her shoulder. It spoke to her, looking up at the manticore in the sky.

"Ryuna look! It's the beast! The beast that everyone is talking about in Haphassus."

Ryuna smirked, showing off her two sharp fangs. "That's right, Lugo... The manticore that attacked all those travelers and merchants."

The manticore roared while circling above. With a snap of its tail, the manticore loosed a volley of six spikes down at her. Ryuna tossed up her trench coat and jumped in the air, dodging the spikes skillfully as she grabbed Lugo with her human hand.

While in the air, Ryuna twisted her body back into her trench coat before landing back on the ground. Lugo wiggled out of her gripped hand back up to his spot on her shoulder.
"Ryuna... There's no need to be flashy. This-"

Ryuna flicked the mouse off of her shoulder to a rock at the gorge as she looked back at him. "Don't worry 'lil guy. I've got this, so butt out!"

The manticore made another try for Ryuna, snapping its tail again to send another deadly volley of spikes. Ryuna shoved her trench coat back so she could easily get access to her revolvers. She drew them both out, jumping backwards to dodge the manticore's spines. They were a little closer to hitting her than the first volley.

The creature flew lower near the gorge, trying to get a better chance to gain a hit in on Ryuna. As it began its rush at her, Ryuna quickly fired two shots at the manticore. The bullets connected through its natural armor, but it didn't stop the creature from biting on of Ryuna's right arm. Ryuna winced and instantly retaliated from the manticore's bite. She intentionally fell back onto the rock a few feet from Lugo, using her inhuman strength to kick the manticore in the lower belly.

The manticore rolled off of Ryuna five feet to her left. Her blood traveled down the monster's chin. It grinned evilly, watching Ryuna lay against the rock.

"You're different. I like that..." The manticore said to her.

Ryuna quickly snapped her attention back over to the manticore as she rolled to her side, starting to stand up. The teeth marks of the creature dotted a crescent shape on her arm. Blood trickled down her arm, dripping to the ground. "Go ******** yourself." She snarled at the beast.
The manticore laughed. "You have spirit, but that will get you nowhere with me." Its eyes widened, watching Ryuna's arm starting to slowly regenerate. The jagged pierce marks slowly closed.

Ryuna smirked at the manticore. "Whats the matter. Cat gotcha tongue?"

The manticore wasted no time in charging at Ryuna. It lunged into the air as it swung both front claws at Ryuna. Ryuna quickly jumped out of the way as she aimed her Rugers at close range into its upper body. Ryuna's guns didn't stop the manticore at all. Unable to evade this time, Ryuna was tackled over the cliff by the manticore's monstrous strength and weight.

The beast's wings spread out as it dug its claws into Ryuna's shoulders. It painfully forced a slam attack up against the side of the gorge. Using its back legs to vault off of gorge's side, it released Ryuna only to send another wave of spikes into Ryuna's arms and legs. She screamed in agony as she was now stapled up against the rock of the gorge, the river of rushing water below.

The manticore flew higher into the air, maneuvering itself into a U-turn. It swooped back down for a killing blow. Ryuna quickly looked up as she opened her mouth, almost as if she was about to scream at her defeat. A jet of black acid shot out of her mouth and connected with the manticore's face, the force and pain of the assault making it fall into the roiling torrents.

Splash!

Ryuna hung there on the side of the gorge, using all of her strength to use her human arm to break free. She holstered the gun she managed to hold onto throughout the ordeal, then reached for the second one from her trapped arm to do the same. One by one, she jerked the spikes from her body, each barb very painfully removed. Her regeneration kicked in when each limb was freed. Lastly, once her dragon arm was free, she used her claws to dig into the rock, scraping a new pattern into the rock as she started to descend slowly.

Once she caught her breath and recovered from the pain, she started heading back up the cliff to get to the manticore's lair.

Lugo got to the edge of the cliff, calling out to Ryuna. "Ryuna!? Are you okay!?"

Ryuna laughed a little. "It's going take more than a manticore to bring me down."

Lugo's little whiskers twitched into a smile as he looked down. "Ryuna... There's no path I can take to get down there without falling..."

Ryuna climbed up to the cave entrance and pulled herself up so she could stand inside the five foot high, three foot wide cave. Right before she got the chance to peek inside the cave, the manticore shot out of the water. It raged up to its lair with a hideous face, thanks to the acid.
Turning quickly around, Ryuna drew her revolvers. She stuck both of the barrels into its eyes and fired. The back of the manticore's head exploded as its dead body fell backwards into the water once again.

Ryuna leaned over to look down at the water, anger burning in her eyes. "NOW STAY DEAD!"
Inside the cave was a nest of leaves, sticks and bones. Ryuna searched through the mess and collected forty-two silver coins, a worthless smashed china plate, and a small lacquered wooden box. The box was somewhat water damaged and stained. It had a small silver hook and an eye catch, so it brought the value up a little. The catch was also tied with some twine.
Ryuna glared at the mess as she yelled out. "Damn it! There's nothing but s**t here!"

Lugo's voice squeaked from outside of the cave. "What's in there?"

Ryuna eyed the box, crossing her arms and looking more than a little disappointed. "Like I said, Lugo. Just s**t!"

"Bring it up here so we can look at it together." Lugo replied calmly.
Minutes passed as Ryuna scavenged the items and climbed back up to the top of the gorge. She unceremoniously dropped the small box on the ground with the coins.

"There was some trash down there I thought would be useless to bring up here." Ryuna explained to Lugo.

Lugo climbed on top of the box as he looked down at the coins, then over to the box. "This box looks fancy."

Ryuna sat down cross-legged and took off her coat, leaning forward to get a better look at the box. "Yeah. It was fancy. Bet your a** that it's junk inside."

Lugo glanced up at her. "We won't know till we open it."

Ryuna picked up Lugo by the back of his neck and put him in the pile of coins. "Move aside..."
Lugo stood on his back legs on top of the silver coins, curious to see what was in the box before Ryuna.

Ryuna untied the twine and then unhooked the latch, slowly opening it.

"AHHH!" Ryuna flipped the box over as she stood up quickly, startling Lugo.

"Wh-what!? What is it!?" Lugo asked, frightened at seeing Ryuna react so vehemently.
"More s**t! What did I tell you, Lugo?" Ryuna scowled.

The interior of the box was cushioned with water damaged velvet, and resting within was a small black domino mask, knocked askew from Ryuna's outburst. The edges of the mask were surrounded with black lace and its tie was a small black piece of string, very flimsy looking, but undamaged.

Lugo stared at the mask. If he were a human, it would look as though his eyes widened at it. He then started to go over to it. "Ryuna, don't jump to conclusions. It could be a magic item."
"Magic item my a**. Oooh yeah, just in case I need to go to a masquerade, it's such a perfect item, and sooo very helpful. Keh. It's just crap." Ryuna ranted.

Lugo tried to tip it over with his nose so that the mask was facing up. "Come on, Ryuna. Test it out."

Ryuna smirked as she walked over to the small mask. Drawing out one of her revolvers, she put a few bullets into the empty cylinders. Once loaded, she spun the chamber and hovered over the mask, aiming down at it. "Oh yeah, I'll test it out alright."

Lugo's eyes flashed in fear as he ran as fast as he could away from Ryuna. Once Lugo was well enough away from Ryuna, she pulled the trigger. When the bullet hit the surface of the mask, something unbelievable happened. The mask reflected the bullet back at Ryuna as it went past her cheek. Blood started to go down her face again. The mask didn't even have a scratch or dent at all, proving indestructible from Ryuna's powerful weapon.

"What the..." Ryuna stared down at the mask.

Lugo slowly hopped over to Ryuna. "See, I told you it could be magical."

Ryuna gave Lugo a death glare as she quickly looked back down at the mask, picking it up. "I am not risking putting on a mask that could possibly be cursed." She glanced back at Lugo."I bet it can fetch a great amount of coin."

Lugo frowned a little. "But what if it's a relic, or even an artifact."

Ryuna held up the mask, as if just the sight of it condemned it as trash. "You really think that this... this mask is an artifact?"

Lugo nodded.

"What gives you that idea, hm?" Ryuna said, kneeling down to him.

Lugo started backing away from Ryuna. "N-n-nothing, just a thought."

Ryuna smirked. "Well then, when we get back to Haphassus, I'll make sure we get a mage to check it out." Lugo nodded again, agreeing.

Ryuna looked up at the sky as she holstered her revolver. "It's almost nightfall. How about we camp here for the night? Hm?" She walked over to where her coat was strewn on the ground and shouldered it back on.

"That sounds like a great idea." Lugo said, getting ready for a nap.

~~~

Hours later, the night crept up on Ryuna and Lugo. Ryuna lied on the ground with her arms behind her head, staring up at the stars twinkling above Galolee. Lugo was sprawled across her stomach, watching her. Ryuna's eyes focused on the stars, lost in thought.
Her memories started resurfacing as she remembered the night sky of her past, the voices from years ago haunting her mind. She closed her eyes...

"I don't see why you keep that half-breed here." A young, male voice said spitefully.
"Bakuryuu, we have talked about this before. She is my daughter." An older, wizened voice replied.
"She is an eyesore, Father. She is useless, always running around and thinking she can do whatever she wants."
"She is all I have left of Aryte, and I love my daughter more than anything else. Is that clear-"

Ryuna's eyes fluttered open as she looked down at Lugo. "Lugo?"

Lugo blinked as he started to get up off his stomach. "Yes? What is it, Ryuna?"

Ryuna sighed a little. "I was just thinking..."

"Old memories of your family?" Lugo started to get a little closer to Ryuna's shoulder.

Ryuna nodded. "Yeah. I was thinking of Father. And my brother."

"There's no need to think back then, Ryuna," Lugo replied. "The past is the past, you need to worry more about the present."

Ryuna sighed once again, then looked up at the stars. "That's right. I know that, but I never met mother."

"Hm?"

Ryuna continued. "What was she like? Tell me about her. I know you met her. I mean, you're old friends with my father."

Lugo shivered a little. "She was... well, scary." Ryuna glared down at Lugo. "Okay, okay, sheesh, I'm sorry." He continued. "Well, she was a very powerful black dragon. Her physical, mental, and magical powers were beyond anything that I'd ever seen." He looked down slowly.

"She was with your father for a very, very long time."

"Was?"

"I haven't seen your mother in a very long time." Lugo answered.

Ryuna looked at Lugo more intently. "Bakuryuu told my father that she abandoned me."
Lugo shook his head. "Aryte never had anything but love in her eyes when she spoke of you. She would never leave you."

"Most dragons leave their children... What made me so special, huh?" She sat up as Lugo tumbled down onto her lap. "Keh, it doesn't matter. I will find her one day."

Lugo remained silent as he tried to shake off the dizziness from rolling. "I'm sure you will."

~~~

In the dead of night, the walls of the capital, Haphassus, of the country Teschenia, stood clear.
An image began to fade onto the road of a dark cloaked figure. It appeared to be a young woman around her mid-twenties, though long, silvery white locks of hair that ran slightly past her knees shimmered like two streams in the darkness. Her attire was very strange: her hood was structured with what looked like a spinal column with rib bones connected to the fabric and large ebony feathered wings fastened almost like a belt around her waist. Other pieces of her outfit were inlaid with razor sharp bones, such as her one gloved hand and her boots. She held a scythe that appeared to be able to retract down like a normal staff, the blade held in the mouth of a skull. The woman smirked as she came up to some guards in breastplate at the wall's defense.

The guards saw this woman as they place their hands on the handles of their swords. "Halt, right there!"

The woman lifted her head so that the hood of her cloak revealed her face. Her brown eyes flashed a sinister purple.

The guards' faces contorted into expressions of fear, as though they had seen a ghost before they placed a hand to their chests. Showing signs of a heart attack, they fell over. The dark cloaked female continued to walk as she jabbed the blunt end of her scythe onto the ground.

The same two guards that just died before her arose, a purple aura surrounding their bodies. The guards lacked emotion on their face, the fear completely washed away just like their souls as their empty beings followed this woman very slowly.

Single story stone huts with thatched roofs set on small plots of land where goats and other livestock wander are the standard fare in Haphassus, with anything larger easily visible. A tower looms on a hill overlooking Haphassus. Mostly, only the "wealthiest" boast of doors and windows, and the landscape was rugged even within the fortified walls. The streets were little more than strips of dirt that would become badly rutted when it rained, which was often.

Although Haphassus was a significant port on the Sarazoa Sea, it was little more than two wooden jetties and a number of fishing vessels.

Once this necromancer entered the town, she focused her attention to the towers as more guards start approaching her with haste, drawing out long swords and shields. The witch smirked as she created a ball of dark energy within her hand while her other hand gripped the scythe. "I came for the wizard, J'syrus Kweld. NOW OUT OF MY WAY!" She threw a ray of dark energy into a guard. He was completely incinerated from the attack, his existence just dust in the damp ruts. The guards instantly rush at her.

The zombie guards that the woman created start to walk past her to defend her from the attacking guards The soldiers seemed to have them under control since the dead were slow.

They blocked the undeads' attacks with their shields, striking at them opportunistically. The witch backed away from her undead minions, shooting rays at the remaining guards that were coming her way and making more piles of ashes and jagged metal hit the ground. All that now remained were the ones fighting her undead minions. She raised one hand as she chanted an incantation spell.

A portal opened in front of her as a group of primitive humans with gray skin and course hair came through. They had a stooped posture, low forehead, and piglike face with prominent lower canines that resemble a boar's tusks. They were equipped in studded leather armor, falchions and javelins being their weapons of choice.

The necromancer smiled. "Go and destroy in the name of Lord Hith, my orcs."

The guards finally slay the two undead minions that were their former comrades and see the orcs coming out of the portal.

Stomping its way out of the portal after the orcs was a hulking brute, at least nine feet tall. It had a thick hide covered in dark, warty bumps. It wore smelly skins, and its hair was long, unkempt, and greasy. This creature was carrying a huge club that resembled an adolescent tree.

"OGRE!!!" The guards called out in warning.

The orcs screamed a battle cry in their guttural native tongue as they charged in to fight the guards. The necromancer continued to walk through the town like she owned the place, heading toward the tower.

The orcs slew the guards of Haphassus by their superior numbers, then went on to attack the homes of others. They killed the men, carrying off screaming women and crying children.
The ogre walked around the village, slinging his great club around into these poorly built homes. It laughed seeing the patrons of the fleeing for survival like insects.

"Epa Diviachi!"

The necromancer known as Epa Diviachi looked up to where the shout came from. Grinning, she spoke. "Ah. J'syrus Kweld."

On the side of the tower was a balcony where an elven wizard was standing, looking down at Epa. This elf had the standard looks of most elves: blonde hair with green eyes. He was wearing a richly pigmented blue robe and holding a staff with a golden dragon head with ruby eyes. "What is the meaning of this?" He said to Epa.

Epa's eyes shine again of the purple aura as it traveled through her entire body. "I came here for some information." After the aura channeled itself, it created a blast of energy that surrounded her, destroying some nearby structures as well as the ground below her. It even reached some orcs and commoner that were near by. "You know what I want J'syrus! And I demand it, now!" Her total disregard of life as well as her aura was truly intimidating to behold.

J'syrus Kweld calmly watched her, holding tightly to his staff. "I'd rather die than tell you."
Epa laughed. "Oh, that can be arranged."

~~~

Days have passed sometime after the attack on Haphassus. The town looked deserted. Ryuna walked down the road with Lugo hanging over her shoulder. Ryuna took in the sight of the pillaged town of Haphassus.

Lugo's sad face couldn't express all that he felt as he looked up to Ryuna. "What happened here?"

Ryuna doesn't answer as she continued to walk down the road and past the fortified wall, seeing the ashes of the soldiers that Epa completely obliterated. A spike full of commoner heads can be seen past the entrances. Ryuna covered her nose with the arm of her jacket as the stench of dead wafted to her.

Lugo continued to look around from his perch on Ryuna's shoulder. "This... This is horrible."

Ryuna reached for both of her revolvers, spinning them out of her holsters. Her eyes met the tower at the top off the hill. The tower wasn't completely destroyed, though it looked like half of the it was missing and smoking. Ryuna slowly approached, searching the area to make sure there wasn't an ambush. She stepped over some of the rubble to get to the hole where a tower wall should have stood.

Inside was a ruined spiral staircase going up to the top of the tower. A chain was hung from the top, dangling about fifteen feet from the ground. J'syrus Kweld was tied at the end of it, dangling there with severe injuries. His should stuck out at an odd angle, looking painfully broken. A huge stab wound slanted across his stomach, and several bruises dotted his pale skin. The elven wizard looked almost dead. Below J'syrus was a group of zombies reaching up for him, desperately moaning as his blood dripped onto them teasingly.

Ryuna's eyes widened at the horrific sight. Gritting her teeth, she stepped into the room. "Hungry?!" The zombies turn to look back at her, a raging look of starvation in their eyes as Ryuna pulled the triggers as fast as she could accurately aim into their heads. After killing twelve of them, she quickly spun her guns away. Lugo hopped off of Ryuna's shoulder quickly before she tackled the last zombie to the ground. Once on top of it she punched its head three times with her dragon arm. The last hit cracked the zombie's cranium open, a foul smell emanating from it.

Lugo hopped around like a little bunny avoiding the mess on the floor onto the second step of the remaining spiral staircase. He looked up pitiably at the half dead elf. "Ryuna, get him down! He's alive."

Ryuna quickly stood up, turning her attention to the wizard. "Hey, Elf... Are you alive?"

J'syrus opened his eyes slowly, looking down to Ryuna and nodded weakly.

"I am going get you down. Just hang in there." She looked above the chain that was keeping him suspended there as she spat up at it. The acid started eating up the chain as Ryuna waited for J'syrus to fall onto her arms.

Once Ryuna caught J'syrus as delicately as possible, she brought him over to a clean area of the ground and lying him there. She leaned down and grabbed both sides of the chain, pulling with all of her might. Slowly, the chains gave away and started to break. She looked down, seeing all of his wounds.

Lugo bounced over to the area, climbing back onto Ryuna's shoulder. Lugo studied the extent of his wounds. "He isn't going to make it, Ryuna."

Ryuna glared back at him when J'syrus replied. "That's right. I am not going to live." He said breathlessly.

Ryuna quickly looked back to him. "Hang in there, what is your name?"

"J-J'sryus... J'syrus Kweld." He coughed, letting some blood trickle from the corner of his mouth. His breath rattled, sounding like he was about to be asphyxiated.

Ryuna held onto him. "Hey! Hang on, you hear me!"

J'sysus looked up at her after more blooded bubbled out of his mouth. "I have accepted my fate. I didn't tell her anything."

Ryuna blinked. "Her? Who is she? Is she the one who did this?"

"E-epa.. Diviachi," J'syrus responded. "A necromancer that works for the immortal King Hith.

She will never get what she wants, though." His eyes started to slowly close.

Ryuna shook him. "COME ON, DAMN IT! STAY ALIVE!"

The elf wizard known as J'syus Kweld showed no signs of life. Ryuna slowly set his body back onto the ground. "s**t!" She kicked a rock. Lugo closed his eyes and shook his head, his little ears drooping.

The sound of rotors hummed nearby, getting louder and louder as a chopper hovered right in front of the ruined tower. The light from the sun reflected off of the tinted windows.

Ryuna put a hand up to block the glare from her vision as she tried to get a get a better look at the airship. After a few seconds she could make out that the color of the chopper was blue, with the railing being black and white.

Ryuna's eyes widened as she thought to herself. Arcane Order?

Lugo was blown to the ground from the winds the chopper's blades made. Ryuna reacted quickly enough to catch Lugo, putting him in her pocket right away as she started to run off underneath it.

On the side of the airship, a sliding door opened as a heavily armored warrior can be seen leaning out of the vehicle and looking down at Ryuna.

This armored warrior was equipped with a helmet that covered the back of his head completely, a blue visor covering the eyes and forehead. The armor is similar to full plate, but with glowing lights on the shoulder pads. The colors of the armor was mostly black and blue with a splash of white, just like the helicopter. This soldier's weapon was a sub machine gun, an OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon) assault rifle.

The weapon housed a 5.56mm compact assault rifle as well as a 20mm grenade launcher. The rifle included a combat-capable scope with built-in targeting computers that were designed to link to the armor. The soldier started to load a grenade into the launcher as he aimed it at Ryuna. The targeting display started to lock onto Ryuna with deadly precision.

Ryuna ran underneath the airship to try to get out of its sight it so she could escape. The armored warrior, still leaning out of the airship, fires.

Ryuna gets hit by the grenade, but it doesn't explode. It knocked her to the ground face first and began to turn into smoke, forming roots around her as it squeezed her tightly, making sure her arms and legs were together up against her body.

The armored soldier threw down a rope and slid down with a group of similarly equipped men behind him. It was a team of four.

Ryuna continued to struggle as she tried to use her brute strength to break out of the net, but it was too late for her as the four soldiers aim their Thompsons at her.

One of the soldiers responded to her. "Don't try anything unless you want to get blanketed in bullets." Ryuna's eyes turn up to the soldiers as she was trapped there on her stomach, completely covered with roots. "Grrrr."

The soldier met her growls with a boot to her face.

~~~~

In a white room with a reflective window on the wall, Ryuna was no longer covered in roots but handcuffed to both arms of a cold steel chair. In the center of this room is a steel table with matching chairs. She started to wake up slowly, looking at her surroundings her.

Inside of the room as well is a single armored soldier keeping watch on her. He wasn't armed with a submachine gun like the soldiers from earlier, but instead had a Falcon .45 pistol resting on his hip. It was the government's law enforcement response to the ever-growing firepower against criminals. The Falcon pistol not only possessed increased stopping power but also integrated the ability to fire in full automatic mode. Additionally, the Falcon is lightweight and easy to carry. Easy if you need to get up close and physical.

Ryuna glared at the soldier. "Arcane Order scum..."

The soldier made no noticeable reaction as his eyes didn't even blink. A photo popped up on his half-visor screen. A photo of Ryuna Heartly.

Ryuna blinked at the soldier. "You're one of those J.A.W.S., huh? Junctioned Armored Weapon Specialist?" She glanced down at the table then back up at him. "Tools of the Arcane Order."

"Ryuna Heartly, age 18, occupation: mercenary..." The soldier replied.

Ryuna interrupted him. "Shut your trap. I know who the ******** I am. Now how about you tell me why you have me here."

The J.A.W.S. soldier kept a professional facade as the images disappeared from his screen to be replaced with lines of text across the visor. Ryuna squinted to read the backwards message: I am sending apprentice Urza inside now. The soldier ignored her question as he strode over to the door.

A young mage stood in the door frame. He wore blue mage robes, though the style befitted a teenager, especially the blue beanie covering the top of his cerulean hair. His green eyes studied the room with caution as his hands were together, fidgeting with his fingers. A small metal rod hung on the side of his robes, bouncing at the side of his leg as he walked into the interrogation room.

Ryuna blinked as she sniffed the air a little, her eyes staring at the mage. "Why is there a kid here? I demand to talk to someone who knows what they are doing."

The mage gulped as he stopped fidgeting, coming to stand by the table as the J.A.W.S. shuts the door behind him.

"My name is Urza Blackborn, the apprentice to Sage Serra. I have been addressed to this matter." He said, almost as if trying to script himself to sound official.

Ryuna watched Urza carefully, trying to relax herself. "Well, okay then... You're here to address the matter, you say? Well, it's pretty simple... WHY IN THE HELL AM I HANDCUFFED AND UNDER THE WATCH OF THE ARCANE ORDER!" Ryuna thundered.

Urza shook his head, taking a seat slowly and reaching into his robes to pull out a folder, placing it on the table. "Ryuna Heartly," he looked up at her. "Your government, The Arcane Order-"

Ryuna glared and interrupted. "I do not support the Arcane Order, they are not my government."

Urza sighed as he continued. "Look, let me get to business." He picked up his notes and began to read from them. "Ryuna Heartly..."

"I know my name already, damn it!" She snarled.

"The reason why you are under our supervision is because one of our ally kingdoms known as Haphassus hasn't been in contact with us for a few days. Once we investigated, you were within the wreckage of the capital."

Ryuna stared at Urza. "So let me guess, you think I killed all those people?"

Urza continued to explain. "Well, at first yes, but after we had some of our seers checking out the scene, we found that you are innocent of the carnage brought upon Haphassus."

Ryuna smiled a bit. "Well, that's great, and since I am innocent... Why the hell am I still a prisoner!"

Urza shook his head again. It was getting to the point where he was about to screw his own head off. "It's not like that at all. There are more things I have yet to explain." He stood, looking over the the J.A.W.S. as he approached the window.

"I don't care what you have to talk to me about, I just want to know where Lugo is and I want us to get out of here. Right now!" Ryuna screamed out to Urza.

The J.A.W.S. knocked on the side of the mirrored window as a secret compartment slid out with the black domino mask inside. The soldier brought the mask over to Urza.

Ryuna blinked at the mask, having completely forgot about it.

Urza took the mask and placed it on the table. "This is not a normal mask."

Ryuna looks down at it then back up to Urza. "Why should I care about it, it's just junk anyway."

Urza appraised her with a look of exasperation. "This is not junk. This is a piece of a puzzle we have been looking for for several hundred years."

Ryuna looked down to the mask as if trying to see something she had missed before. "Look, I don't give a damn about what you mages want to do with a damn mask. If you guys wanna keep the mask so you can do your so called puzzle experiment, be my guest."

"We don't need just the mask. We need you, too." Urza said.

Ryuna laughed. "ME!? You think I will help out the Arcane Order? No way."

Urza sighs again. "We need you because you know where your mother's..."

The J.A.W.S. soldier placed a hand over Urza's shoulder and gripped it as if to let him know too much was said.

Ryuna blinksed. "Wait. What about my mother!?"

Biting his bottom lip, he looked over to her apologetically. Apparently, he had no problem with telling her, but the Arcane Order did. "Look, umm... We know where your mother is, and we will show you the way to see her if you are willing to help us."

Ryuna gripped the chair. "I never met my mother in my entire life. Are you telling me you're holding her captive here just like me!?"

Urza shook his head quickly. "We wouldn't do that. I will go with you to see your mother, but only if you help us."

Ryuna started to calm down. "What do you want me to do?"

Urza explained. "The Congress of the Arcane Order has put me in charge of a special mission." He pointed to the mask. "You see, this mask," his eyes look back up to her. "It's called the Mask of Divination. A mask of knowledge. It acts like a compass to find the seven other masks like it."

Ryuna snickered. "What's that, you want me to travel with you across Galolee to find these masks?"

Urza nodded. "That's correct."

Ryuna looked down to her lap. "And when can I see my mother..."

"You can see her if you agree to help..." Urza said.

Ryuna sighed, then looked back to Urza. "I've never worked with the Arcane Order before. And I am not starting now."

Urza sighed. "Thank you very much for your time, Ryuna. We will continue this whenever you are ready to speak again." The J.A.W.S. nods to Urza as he walked over to Ryuna and was about to release her from the chair to escort her out of the room. She was dragged out of the room, her stubbornly trying to get free of the soldier. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!"

Urza stared at the two way glass, seeing his frown reflected back to him.

On the other side of the mirror, three dark figures watched Urza exit the room with one last sigh.