Back from the Abyss
A Phantasy Star Online Fanfiction
by
M_BlackHawk
Chapter 2
Renewed Purpose
Another week has passed since the failed mission on Gal Da Val island. All
information about the mission, those involved, and the strange force had been
listed as Classified by the government. Takezo was listed as KIA, or killed in
action.
At the BlackHawk home, the family wasn't so much worried about the strange
force, as they were worried about one of their own. This morning, Jessica Lynn
BlackHawk had risen early, only to find the door next to hers still locked, and
sad music still coming from inside the room. She looks at the door for a minute,
then walks downstairs to find her mother talking to her two sisters, Shiara and
Riala, both clad in military uniform.
"I'm sorry, Lara," Riala told her sister, "I had been following that guy for
months now. He had hit several different museums and archaeological sites. We
never figured out a pattern till he stole a privately owned spacecraft and
followed a Ranger off of Ragol, to a moon of our homeworld of Coral."
"A ranger?" Lara asks, "What would he follow a ranger of the guild for?"
"That disc fragment," Riala answers, "We didn't know about the ruins crystal and
D-Cells until that mission on Gal Da Val Island, but we knew about the relic
shard, and the fragment of Master's twisted song disc. He gave me the slip on
the Coralian moon, and I didn't know where he had gotten to, until just last
week, when Shiara told me about what happened."
"This just keeps getting more and more interesting," Jess says, announcing her
presence, "So you knew this guy was potentially dangerous, but didn't tell us,
or your superiors?"
"We didn't know what his purpose was," Riala replies, "I couldn't get an order
to take him in, unless I knew what his true purpose. Then, I could act. Working
in intelligence doesn't give you a license to kill, Jessie."
"Great," the younger HUnewearl thinks out loud, "Look, I'm not so much worried
about this guy, as I am about Rhiana. Do you realize that she's not come out of
that room since the funeral? That music just keeps playing over and over, and
I've lost count of the times I've heard her cry herself to sleep over this
mess."
"Well," Lara tells her eldest daughter, "I think Shiara and I are going to go to
Angelus Manor later today to talk to Seifer about that relic. Mike set it up
through Amelia. Maybe Rhiana can come with us."
"I don't think she'll want to go anywhere," Mike BlackHawk, patriarch of the
family, advises his wife, "Takezo's death hit her pretty hard. However, maybe if
she talked to someone who understood what she was going through, she'd come out
of her shell."
"I think I know what you're talking about, Honey. Call Amelia and see if she'll
talk to her."
"I'll tell Rhiana you want her to come along," Jessica chimes in, "I hope this
works."
It's about 3 in the afternoon when Rhiana, Lara and Shiara walked up to the door
of Angelus Manor. They are greeted at the door by Mike's sister, Amelia. "Glad
you could come by," she says to her sister-in-law and niece, "I'm so sorry about
what happened."
"I know," Lara answered, "We've looked and looked for information on that relic,
but there's nothing listed in any database or library. That's why we need to
talk to your husband."
"I'm sure he'll be glad to help you," Amelia tells Lara, "Oh, Rhiana. There's
someone I want you to talk to, as well. I think she knows exactly what you're
going through. Lara, Seifer's in the library. You can lead Shiara there. I'll
take Rhiana to the other room, ok?"
"That's fine," Lara says, leading Shiara off toward the library, "Rhiana, catch
up to us later, ok?"
"Ok, Mom," Rhiana answers, not sounding too enthused about anything. The young
FOmarl is then lead upstairs to a room at the end of the hallway.
"Just go on in," Amelia tells her niece, "Aravis hasn't had much company lately.
I'm confident you two will get along quite nicely." She opens the door and
Rhiana steps through.
"Ms. Aravis?" Rhiana asks of the lady sitting in a chair at the other side of
the room.
"You must be Rhiana," Aravis answers, "Yes, I'm Aravis Angelus. Amelia told me
about you. Mike BlackHawk's daughter, am I right? I heard about your friend. My
Sympathies are with you."
"Thank you," Rhiana replies, "I just don't know what to do. He used to send me
messages at random, or drop by for no reason but to say hi. He even left me a
stuffed rag rappy in my guild mailbox only a week before the mission."
"You cared for him," Aravis thinks out loud, "I can tell by your voice. And It
seems he cared for you too. Rhiana, I can tell you that everyone who takes up
the business of being a hunter knows the risk that is imminent. I'm sure you
knew it when you joined. But, it always does hurt to lose someone you're that
close to."
"You know?" Rhiana asks
"Do I ever," Aravis responds, "I have no way of knowing if my husband is alive
or dead. He disappeared a few years ago, and we don't know what happened to
him."
"Dad told me about that. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," the elder tells Rhiana, "I was once told something that I still hold as
some of the wisest advice I've ever had. Someone once told me that though we
live relatively short lives, it's how fully we live that life really matters,
and that becomes our true legacy. And that same person told me that the hardest
thing about this world, is living in it. Rhiana, Takezo wouldn't want you to
spend your remaining years in isolation just because of that. He gave you a gift
when he pushed you out of the way of that spell. That gift was your continued
life."
"I think I understand," Rhiana replies, "You really do understand."
"Yes, I do. Now, give what I told you some thought," Aravis advises Rhiana, "And
then make up your mind as to what you want to do."
"I will," Rhiana responds, "Thank you." She then gets up to leave the room,
looking more thoughtful. As she opens the door, she is met by a tall, brown
haired young man. "Oh, I'm sorry," she tells him.
"It't not a problem," he replies, "And you are?"
"Rhiana BlackHawk," she answers, "You?"
"Daxion Angelus," the boy says, sheepishly, "Sorry for almost running into you."
She gives him a slight smile before leaving the room, headed to meet her mother
in the library. She finally reaches the her goal, where Seifer is telling her
mother and aunt all he knows about the ancient relic, and about the project that
his father, and her grandfather were involved in, and the events surrounding the
relic's shattering.
Following Seifer's explanation, and a little light conversation, which Rhiana
really wasn't much part of, the trio left Angelus manor heading back to the
BlackHawk home, where Rhiana headed back to her room, after getting a few books
off of a shelf. Lara started noticing a difference in her daughter when she
arrived from her conversation with Aravis, but something else seemed strange
about her demeanor.
Rhiana sat down at her desk quietly, and started thumbing through of the texts
she had brought up. The words that Aravis told her running ever more repeatedly
through her mind. When she had read through most of the first two chapters, she
closed her eyes and pictured the events of the failed mission in her mind. All
the while, she heard Aravis telling her not to waste the final gift that Takezo
had given her, her life. She opened her eyes, and closed the book, before
standing up from her chair. She shuts off her radio and goes downstairs to find
her mother still talking to Shiara, Rhiala and Mike. "Mom," She began, "Do we
still have those old books that Dad brought from Coral?"
"Actually, I had the really old ones transferred to optical disk," Lara
answered, "What's wrong?"
"Just something I want to look up, that's all." She finds the disks and takes
them down to the family's computer room, where she begins pouring over the
information available. "There's got to be something on this 'Dark Force'
Somewhere in these texts," she thinks, "where else can I find a wealth of
information?" Her search through the texts at her home brings some good leads,
but nothing solid. That leads her to another perplexing question. "Where will I
find what I'm looking for?" She asks herself, "Where can I find a way to dispel
that blasted barrier?"
"Who could be here now?" Amelia Angelus asks herself as she answers the door,
only to find Rhiana standing there.
"Aunt Amelia," Rhiana says, "I need to search your library for any information
dating back to Coral, or back even further."
"Well," Seifer Angelus thinks, walking up behind Amelia, "Come on in. We'll help
you as much as we can."
The trio searches long and hard through the archive that is the Angelus library,
finding several large books, and a few optical disks that hold all sorts of
history and information dating back before Coral was even settled.
"What are you looking for?" Amelia asks her niece.
"Anything on a 'Dark Force', and how to dispel a barrier made from that
monster's power," Rhiana answers, "If we're going to stop that guy from reviving
this Dark Force, We've got to act quickly. He's already had almost two weeks to
work."
Will Rhiana find what she's looking for? Find out in the next chapter in "Back
from the Abyss".