Tales of Mysterra I

Chapter 45-Divination

The cell door was rather forcefully slammed as Victor re-entered, looking up with a glare at Yoshiro, who looked up from going through several runes placed in front of him on his bed. "How did it go?" Yoshiro uttered lowly.

The dragon shook his head and sat down on the bed across from Yoshiro, sighing lowly. "No dice. All I managed to do was piss off that tiny commander."

Yoshiro gave a slight nod and spread out the runes in front of him once more, Victor's gaze headed down towards the small pile. "...what're all those?"

"Magical runes."

"I'm not THAT stupid, I know what they are."

The Yoshi slowly glanced back up at Victor with a glazed expression. "...then why did you ask...?"

"I want to know what you're doing," Victor responded haughtily, folding his arms. "Trying to find a way out of here?"

"No," Yoshiro said plainly, leaning back up. "And if you wanted to know what I was doing, you should've asked me that instead of-"

"Well you know what I want NOW, answer the fucking question!" Victor snapped back, standing up and causing Yoshiro to sigh. The dragon himself sighed as well and sat back down, running a claw over his face. "Agh...sorry, all wound up with all of this going on..."

Yoshiro nodded before standing up as well. "Understandable. But for what I'm doing I'm going to need you to go to sleep."

Victor very slowly looked back up at Yoshiro with a curious expression. "...excuse me?"

"These are no ordinary magic runes," Yoshiro responded, his gaze going down to the pile for a few moments. "They're divination runes."

A few moments passed in silence, Yoshiro glancing back at Victor. "...you don't know what divination is, do you?"

"Not a damn clue," Victor responded flatly.

Yoshiro gave off another sigh and sat back down. "Divination is one of the shamanic arts I learned back in my village. Basically it enables us to interpret visions, find out what they mean and where they came from."

"Visions, huh?" Victor echoed, resting his head on one of his hands. "Like, seeing some dead guy talking to you, or having a weird dream?" Yoshiro nodded, Victor furrowing his brow. "What, did you have one of those funky visions?"

"No," the dinosaur responded, standing up and staring at Victor with a serious expression. "But I believe that you have."

Victor frowned slightly. "What're you talking abo-" The dragon's comment was halted and his memory jarred when the thought of his prior dreams came rearing through his mind; the battle with the ogre, the ominous dark cloud, the small yellow-eyed figure. "...how...how did you..."

"When we were in my village," Yoshiro explained, folding his arms. "And you were asleep, telling me that everything was fine after you woke up...you underestimate my insight, Victor. I was hoping that you'd be a little more open with me, but it appears I was mistaken."

The dragon fell silent, looking down with a frown and sigh as Yoshiro took a slight step forward. "Anyway, I attempted this on you once before, during the night before Kokira and her team arrived. But it failed. This time, however, I'm confident we might have a different result."

"Alright, alright," Victor uttered slowly looking up at Yoshiro with a frown. "What do I have to do?"

-Meanwhile-

"Thanks again for all of your help, your Majesty."

Chopper gave a slight bow, Dedede folding his arms as the reindeer tilted his head back up. "We could get you in serious trouble for attempting to join the Army of Darkness, but I suppose rescuing us makes up for it," Renji added, folding his arms; the entire group now stood in what appeared to be the cockpit of King Dedede's airship, the expanse of the Solar Mountain Range before them.

"Eh, whatever," the large penguin murmured, waving a hand about and turning around. "You wouldn't be able to take me anyway." He turned around to the duo once again and smirked, jerking a finger towards himself. "Diplomatic immunity!"

At this time, a fairly catchy bass beat emanated seemingly from nowhere, followed by Don Patch leaping forward, wearing a leather jacket and leather pants. "Can't touch him!"

The beat continued while Don Patch began break dancing throughout the room, everyone glancing away from him back to the conversation at hand. "Do you think you could do us one more favor?" Chopper asked, glancing up at Dedede.

The penguin furrowed his brow and folded his arms, turning away and mumbling, "Gimme one reason why I should."

"Aiding the Celestial Alliance in this situation'll get you world-wide recognition, awards for your bravery, and will most certainly NOT be boring," Renji responded rather bluntly.

A few moments passed in silence, Dedede casually glancing at Meta Knight before turning back to Chopper and Renji. "...I'm listening."

"Prior to our abduction, we were planning on meeting with our allies in a town in Twilight Plains," Chopper began explaining, looking down. "On top of us needing to rescue Victor...I'm worried about whether or not Tails managed to escape or not."

"If you could take us to that town, then we'd be very grateful," Renji finished with a slight bow.

Dedede fell silent for a moment longer, smirking slightly and chuckling. "Oh, is that it? Pfft, that'll be easy!"

"But it could also mean the difference between Mysterra's destruction and survival," Chopper finished, giving another bow.

"Alright, alright," Dedede uttered, turning around to the orange creatures at the front. "Get us to Twilight Plains!"

The small orange creatures gave a salute, Meta Knight turning to the two captains. "We can give you a guest room. It should be more comfortable than a cage."

"Thank you," Chopper murmured, glancing at the still break dancing Don Patch. "Hey! Come on, let's get some sleep!"

"STOP!" Don Patch abruptly shouted, freezing in place and pointing at Don Patch. "HAJIKE TIME!"

The orange blob was abruptly yanked towards them by Renji, who began dragging the orange blob after Chopper and Meta Knight as they traversed down a hallway. The reindeer looked down with a dreary expression, murmuring, "Mm...I'm still worried about Teresa..."

Renji glanced at Chopper for a moment, retaining a serious expression. "She had to have been taken by the Army of Darkness...we'll be able to get her back, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so," Chopper mumbled, slowly looking up. "Victor'd kill me if something happened to his sister on my watch..."

-Meanwhile-

Not moments after being grabbed from behind, Teresa found herself in a new room, forced to the ground with a slight cough and grunt. "Gah! Where?!"

"Thank you." The dragonness slowly looked up at the familiar voice; she now found herself in a large, dark, stone room in front of the tall, menacing figure of Akumu. Standing at his side were various other figures Teresa didn't recognize; no doubt the Army's commanders. She cast a rather hateful glare at the large wolf, who took a small step towards her. "So good of you to stay behind, Teresa."

"Back off, creep!" Teresa growled, backing away with a glare. This comment was, however, left behind when she gave a slight blink in realization. "...wait...how do you know my name?"

Akumu gave off a low chuckle, closing his eyes and prompting Teresa to frown. "Hey! I'm asking you a question!"

"And you'll get your answer...eventually. For now, we have other things to attend to," Akumu responded, leaning back slightly. "Your brother Victor is on the execution stand. I must say, he's very sloppy to have enabled himself to get caught so easily."

"Subtlety was never Victor's strong point," Teresa spat back with a frown. "And what do you mean he's on the execution stand?"

Akumu gave off a slight sigh, sitting down on what seemed to be a throne at the end of the room. "I mean exactly that. He was captured by the Twilight Society. And since they still believe he stole the Twilight Essence, he is going to be executed tomorrow."

Teresa's glare turned into a horrified stare, her body trembling. "Wh-...what?!" The expression of anger returned, and she clenched her fists. "Y-you...you did this!" With this comment, Teresa began charging towards Akumu, extending her claws and preparing to lunge at the wolf. "I'll kill you!"

Akumu simply looked up, slowly lifting one of his clawed hands and causing it to adopt an eerie purple glow. Teresa gave a slight blink, only to watch as several black-colored whips emerged from the ground, ensnaring the dragoness's arms and dropping her rather abruptly to the ground, completely bound. "G-ghh?! What the?!"

"Calm yourself," Akumu uttered, very slowly standing up once more. "Victor will not die, if I have anything to say about it. He is the cornerstone of my entire plan." Teresa gave another surprised blink as Akumu bent down to her side, the dragoness able to see deep into his glowing yellow eyes. "...which makes you, as his sister, the perfect bait and leverage."

Teresa's eyes widened as Akumu stood back up, glancing over Teresa. "Get back to Twilight Plains. We must prepare for tomorrow."

"Yes sir," the rather droning male voice responded, Teresa barely able to register a gust of wind being kicked up as the figure vanished.

-Meanwhile-

"Alright, that's the last of it."

Yoshiro stepped back from the beds; he had pushed them together to enable enough room for all of his runes and Victor in case he thrashed about once more. Said dragon was currently laying on the two beds, looking at the many magical objects surrounding him. "So...explain to me again how this is going to work?" the dragon uttered rather bluntly.

Yoshiro gave a nod, reaching into his vest and pulling forth a small stone. "Once we're all set, you will inhale this powder, which should put you to sleep and make it easier for me to permeate your mind. From there, you just need to focus on recreating that dream."

Victor furrowed his brow with a slight sigh, leaning his head back. "Whatever you say...not too sure how I'm gonna do that, but..."

The dragon leaned back as Yoshiro crushed the powder, a small grayish-colored cloud wafting from it and surrounding the duo. Victor proceeded to take a deep breath, some of the powder quickly filtering into his snout as he exhaled, some of the dust now drifting from his mouth. Victor's eyes had began quickly drooping closed, the last thing he noticed being Yoshiro taking a meditative position across from him.

Not too long after completely blacking out, Victor's eyes snapped open, finding himself once more locked in battle with the massive ogre-like creature. Almost as if he had coordinated the fight, Victor matched the opponent blow for blow, both sides giving an occasional grunt and roar. Not too far away, Yoshiro abruptly appeared amidst a growing cloud, his body completely transparent and blue-tinted. The Yoshi looked around, uttering in an eerie, echoed voice, "Huh...Victor's mind is a pretty barren place."

"Tell me about it. I didn't have a lot to work with." Yoshiro's eyes widened and he quickly whirled around, soon taking notice of the completely shaded figure standing a distance away, the only aspect of them that wasn't pitch black being their bright yellow eyes. "I'd say this was a rude and unpleasant interruption, but..."

"I see now," Yoshiro uttered, seemingly summoning his bow from nowhere and pointing it at the figure. "This is no ordinary vision...it was induced by you. Whoever the hell you are."

The figure gave off a low chuckle, Victor now cutting down his enemy and turning to the duo, blinking. "Hey! You!"

The dragon approached the confrontation, the small figure responding, "That's right, I'm the one that's been purposefully giving Victor these visions. Though I wouldn't call them 'visions'...more along the lines of 'dreams with a message'."

Yoshiro narrowed his gaze and pulled the string of his bow back. "Don't try confusing us with riddles."

"Yeah! Get the hell out of my head!" Victor barked, stomping forth. "What are you doing here anyway?!"

The short figure slowly glanced at the duo once more, giving a sigh and closing his eyes. "I'm not leaving just yet, Victor, don't get your panties in a wad. I'd expect you'd be a little more thankful for me helping you."

Victor clenched his fists with a growl. "How the hell have you been helping me?! You've been giving me nightmares non-stop!"

"I've given you a rather vital piece of information, that's what I did," the figue responded haughtily, turning towards Victor with a serious expression in their eyes. "Victor, you are the only thing standing between Mysterra's destruction and the Army's defeat."

The dragon gave a surprised blink, Yoshiro narrowing his gaze and pulling his arrow back a little more. "And how do you know all of this...?"

"Let me finish," the small figure responded, waving a hand nonchalantly at Yoshiro and turning to face Victor. "Victor, your destiny has been intertwined with the Army of Darkness since before you were even born." The dragon's eyes widened slightly as the figure motioned towards him with a hand. "Now before you start calling me out for such big words, it's not magic or some prophecy that's behind it...it's your parents."

Victor gave off a slight blink, Yoshiro lowering his weapon ever so slightly and glancing at Victor. "Your...parents?"

"Teresa and I were told that our parents were killed in a raid," Victor responded, slowly looking up at the figure. "I think they're still alive out there. But even if they're not, I'm going to find out who killed them and exact my revenge."

The figure nodded slowly, lowering his hand. "Yes...well, they lied to you. Your parents were not killed in a random raid."

"And how do you know all about this?!" Victor snapped back angrily, stepping forth once more.

The figure's gaze narrowed in irritation, and he clenched both fists slightly. "Would you give me enough time to explain?!"

During this time, Yoshiro had looked up slightly, taking note of the dark clouds beginning to roll into the scene. He glanced back down as the short figure continued, "It is because of your parents that you are a part of the Army's plans! You alone are the deciding factor!"

"That's preposterous!" Victor shouted back, stomping on the ground as the sound of thunder began accompanying the clouds. "You can't honestly tell me that Mysterra's fate lies entirely with me!"

"It does, at least for now," the figure responded, lightning beginning to streak across the sky above them. "If not because you have to...then you'll eventually discover that you'll want to."

Victor furrowed his brow, gritting his teeth and uttering, "What the hell're you talking about...?"

A stray bolt of lightning abruptly smashed the ground, causing Yoshiro to jump slightly and turn back towards the small figure. "I think I understand now," the dinosaur uttered, pointing his weapon at the figue. "You must be one of the Army's goons. Here to try and deceive us with all this nonsensical talk."

The figure glanced at Yoshiro with a surprised expresison, mumbling, "Wha...?" Before anything more could be said, Yoshiro abruptly fired an arrow from the bow in his grasp, sailing right towards the figure's head. Right before it could impact, however, the arrow dissipated into dust, Yoshiro's eyes widening in shock. "You may be experienced at this little divination trick, but you're no Dream Traveler. This is MY area of expertise."

Yoshiro blinked and slowly lowered his weapon, Victor glaring at the small figure as he turned around, several more bolts of lightning streaking down, smashing the ground. "As I was saying...whether you like it or not, you must be Mysterra's savior, Victor. The Army wants you for their scheme, and as a result you're the only one that can stop it. Your parents...Victor, they-"

Before the figure could finish his sentence, a bolt of lightning crashed down on all three of them, a flash of light blinding them. The next thing either of them knew, Victor jerked up in his bed and Yoshiro toppled backwards off of it with a painful thud, the dragon shouting and finding himself sweating profusely. "Agh...agh..."

"Victor? Yoshiro? Are you two okay in there?" Kokira's voice called from a nearby cell, Yoshiro slowly looking up and massaging his head.

"Gah...yeah, we're fine..." the Yoshi mumbled bluntly, sitting up and glancing at Victor. "Victor...you alright?"

The dragon had by this time turned about and tossed his feet over the side of the bed, staring downwards. "What did he mean...my parents are involved...?"

"He had to have been one of the Army's goons trying to get in your head," Yoshiro responded, folding his arms. "...both figuratively and literally."

"Not too likely," Sakura's voice suddenly piped up from an adjacent cell. "If they were deep enough to influence Victor's dreams, what would've stopped them from taking complete control of his mind?"

Yoshiro shook his head in response, mumbling, "I'm not sure...not much else makes sense, why else would someone be-"

"Telling me something I need to know," Victor uttered, now staring at the ground with a rather serious expression. "Something I WANTED to know."

Yoshiro glanced back at Victor with a small blink, murmuring, "What're you talking about...?"

"My parents. Somehow, their whereabouts has to do with the Army of Darkness," Victor responded, turning towards Yoshiro with the same serious expression. "A reason that I would WANT to fight against them...to be the one to take them down...I understand now."

Victor very slowly stood up at this, keeping his gaze down and clenching his fists. "My parents...they weren't killed in a raid at all." The dragon glanced back up, his serious expression now melded with one of stoic fury. "...they were killed by the Army of Darkness."