Revelations (Personal)

[Ventus Stoll]

It's been about a month since Ventus has gone off from his small village and begun his journey. A month since his grandfather died in his arms. A lot has happened in that month from fighting bandits to exploring new locations in Etruria to meeting new friends. Ventus put his arms behind his head as he continued to lay in a soft patch of grass looking up at the blue sky with few white clouds drifting by.

"Ventus! Food is ready! I made something special too." Ventus heard the female's voice. It was Aria, his recent companion. She was a cleric that was a village healer in a village not far off from the Etruria/ Ilia border. At that time, Ace also met Willow who helped him defend Aria. The young pupil then learned that Willow fought for the Prophet of Etruria and was going to fight in Sacae in the name of St. Elimine. I wonder how she is doing. She was very kind and gentle. Not the war fighter type at all. Suddenly Aria's voice rang again, "Ventus! Hurry up! Your food is getting cold." Ventus lifted his head and planted his elbows on the grass not fully getting up. He enjoyed the peace that this area provided. Ventus and Aria were going to travel to Ilia, but the news of war between Ilia and Etruria near Modlin was told in the small villages near Modlin, so the duo turned around and went west. Now they are in a little meadow somewhat close to the city of Delfia.

"I'm coming Aria!" Ventus hurried over to her knowing that she doesn't like to repeat herself. She was about his age, 15, but both acted more mature than their age even if it's only slightly. Ventus sat down in the grass near the fire that Aria started. She seemed so delicate with her small frame, but yet she was capable of taking care of herself. She moved her shoulder height, azure blue hair out of her face as she looked at Ventus, ""I made rabbit soup from the rabbit we bought yesterday. It's very good." She smiled as Ventus used his spoon and tasted the soup. "Do you like it?" Ventus dramatically tasted it, "Eh, it's alright." He shyly turned away before he laughed at himself, "Of course it's great Aria. You never make 'alright' food. You're a great cook!" She giggled and slightly blushed. She was always modest.

They continued to eat and when they finished they washed their bowls in the nearby stream by the meadow. They were talking about their good memories on their travels thus far. "Remember that time when you tried to catch that bird since you think you're so quick, but you ended up falling in that creek? Your fall was so dramatic and hilarious!" She giggled as she recalled the memory. "That wasn't funny," Ventus exclaimed, "that creek was very cold and I stayed cold and wet for quite a while!" She continued to laugh as Ventus begun to laugh at himself as well. Silence then occurred as they were just about finished rinsing their supplies. Ventus finally had to say something.

"So ... you remember Willow and how she said she was going to fight for the Prophet and St. Elimine at Sacae right? Ventus turned to Aria to listen to her response. "Yeah, of course I remember she is a fellow sister of the Church," she responded. "Well ... why do you think they are fighting? Sacae and Etruria I mean. I though St. Elimine wanted peace among the people of Elibe. Ventus wondered what Aria would say since she is a member of the church. She smiled at him and said, "Well of course that's what St. Elimine wants. In order to get that peace, we must fight sometimes right? That is why the Prophet declared battle against Sacae. They must have done something to upset the peace." Ventus didn't believe that. He knew what she said should be right and that he shouldn't pry anymore, but that answer didn't seem truly right and acceptable.


"Aria," Ventus looked into her eyes and she did the same to him, "I don't think Sacae has done anything to Etruria though. Why would they? They don't have any quarrel with us. I think that the Prophet may be acting on his own accord since St. Elimine wouldn't want pointless fighting. Doesn't that make sense?" Ventus realized that he said something wrong. Aria seemed ... mad. She never was really mad. "Ventus! This is ridiculous. The Prophet is a good man that acts according to the will of St. Elimine and the Church. To say that he is a fraud is blasphemy. If you believe that then you don't believe in St. Elimine's will, which I will not accept since I do." She gave a slight "huff" and walked off. She went over to the spot that she set up to rest and begun to sleep or at least pretend to sleep. Ventus felt bad for setting her off. He cared for his friend and didn't want this to come between them. However, he can't just push aside his own opinions...

[Ventus Stoll]

Light begun to shine in Ventus's face. He blinked open his eyes a few times to see the morning sun rising. He smiled at the sight, but then the smile went away. Ventus remembered the conflict him and Aria got into last night. I respect Aria's opinions and beliefs, but I have to respect my own as well. There is something going on with Etruria. Why wage war with other nations? They haven't proposed any threat to Etruria, right? Ventus got up and stretched and looked over to Aria. She was laying away from him, so he couldn't tell if she was sleeping or faking it. Ventus sighed and wondered if making breakfast would make her feel better.

After about a half an hour of gathering ingredients and finally beginning to cook, Aria woke up and came over to Ventus. "Want some help? You know that you need to boil the water first before putting anything in the kettle right?" She looked at him and chuckled slightly. "Uhh ... Yeah of course I knew that. I only put the ingredients in rather than putting them in the ground, duh." The two continued to make breakfast and create small talk.They ate and finally came around to the topic they left on last night.

"So ... I'm sorry about storming off last night. I was just frustrated." She looked down as she spoke obviously ashamed of herself. "It's okay Aria. I'm not mad at you. We just had a little conflict last night. However, it's all good now. We can move on from this and move forward. She nodded her head in agreement. The duo finished eating and begun to pack up their supplies and clean out their campsite. They began to leave the serene meadow and head for the next village or town with civilization residing in it.

After several hours of traveling northwest of Delfia, the duo came across a sign that showed the way to some random village more west."I guess we should go there. Then we can go further west." She looked at him with adventure blazing in her eyes. Ventus nodded and said, "I agree. We need to stockpile on supplies anyways, so this works out." The two followed the path towards this small village and soon they found themselves at the gate. "Here we are! Shall we go to the inn or the market first?" Ventus asked as Aria responded, "I believe we should go to the inn first. It's already near sunset, so we should try to get a room." She led the way to the inn and as they got to the entrance a man in dark robes walked in swiftly. Ventus's gut instincts were already flaring as her rushed up to Aria making sure she isn't in danger. The two of them looked at each other both thinking of the possible danger as Ventus opened the door for Aria. When they entered the man was no where to be seen until Ventus came up to the front desk. The bottom of his dark robes could be seen peeking out the door behind the front desk as the inn keeper had the door slightly open. Ventus looked at Aria and pointed for her to go to behind some chairs in the waiting area. Ventus grabbed his Trinity tome and prepped it ready to be used. He came close to the door, but then all vents could remember was a man in dark robes coming from the secret room and knocking Ventus out with some hard object. Ventus flung down and whirled into darkness...

[Ventus Stoll]

"... Ventus ..." The pupil couldn't hear very well. He was starting to come around when he heard a voice faintly in the distance calling his name. All he could remember was being right beside the door to the secret room behind the front desk in the normal looking inn. Then a man in dark robes coming out and hitting Ventus with something hard. Venus's eyes began to lift open as his other senses began to come back to reality as well. After a minute or two, Ventus looked around with eyes open to observe where he was at and what was going on. He saw Aria tied to a pole just as he was. She seemed terrified and afraid with her hands tied behind her back. Ventus tried to move his hands, but couldn't move them loosely due to the same bonds Aria had.

"I-I'm okay Aria. I think at least. Wha-what is going on?" Ventus struggled to get his words out but when he did Aria didn't answer, but a man in black robes came over and spoke, "I know you have many questions, but I have one for you before I answer any of yours." The man didn't wait for a response. "What do you think of the Prophet?" The man showed no emotion in his tone or face. Nothing to give away anything.

"He's a blessed man that obeys and enforces the will of our Saint. He is a glorious man!" Aria blurted out before Ventus could say anything. The pupil could sense that this was not the answer the man was looking for. "I see,"the man sighed, "I didn't want to harm children, but I have to in order to ensure Etruria's future." As he spoke, Ventus observed his feature. Ventus saw that he had a bald head and yellow-green eyes. He seemed around 40-50 years old and his face was defined with the age. After the man spoke, he signaled to one of the other people in dark robes to come over. There weren't that many people in the room. Maybe about 20-25 people. The person that came over had a dagger in hand and gave it to the bald man that talked to Aria and Ventus. Ventus's eyes widened as the man came closer to Aria with the dagger. "Wait!" The man turned to Ventus as he yelled at him. "We don't mean no harm. Please just let us go. We won't tell anyone about this ever. We are just some innocent young people that don't want any trouble. I know you don't want to harm us, you are a good person at heart." Ventus hoped his plea would be successful.

"... Do you promise? You must tell no one about this. Too many people follow this 'Prophet' and his ways. This is why me and my people need to stop Kraft from destroying Etruria and the world. Aria looked at the man in disbelief. "But why? Why want to stop him? He is a great man to the people of Etruria." The man shook his head as he looked down. "Kraft is lying to the people of Etruria. He just wants power! He knew how to exploit the people and thus got to become the most powerful man in Etruria. Ask yourself, why attack Sacae? Why attack Ilia? Only one reason, to rule the word. Don't believe that Kraft. I certainly don't."

Ventus looked at Aria to see what her reaction was. She was looking down, so he couldn't tell. However, Ventus knew the man's words struck him. The man's thoughts reflected Ventus's own. As Ventus was about to ask the man a question, a woman in black robes came into the room. "They're here!" She whispered. "Kraft's Inquisitors are here looking for us. We must evacuate and flee." She begun to gather up the people in the room. The man that seemed in charge turned back to Ventus. "Kraft has eyes and ears everywhere it's very difficult to get anything going that could possibly become a rebellion especially since most Etrurians believe in Kraft like your friend here," he nodded his head towards Aria. "You two should flee," he cut the two young people's bonds, "Go out the door you came and act like normal people trying to reside in the inn. Say nothing about this and you should be okay. Good luck." The man left after all the other dark robed people left. Ventus and Aria followed and waited besides the innkeeper. He told them to take the empty room upstairs to the right. The duo begun their way up, but then screaming sounded from outside. Battle cries followed soon after...

[Ventus Stoll]

"Ve-Ventus, I'm scared. What is happening out there?" Aria asked while she was laying on the bed of the empty room the innkeeper gave them. Ventus was looking out the window with the shades covering it, so that he couldn't be seen. Ventus looked down at the streets outside the inn and saw the people in dark robes surrounded by the soldiers known as the Inquisitors. They had their spears pointing at the surrounded rebels. Ventus watched as the rebels seemed to obey orders and get on their knees. Ventus then saw the bald head man who seemed to be the leader of these few rebels stand up and try to reason with one of the soldiers with more enhanced and polished armor. Most likely a soldier in command. After a few minutes of talking the captain suddenly kicked the bald headed rebel down making him fall on some of his rebel allies. Then the captain turned around and began to walk away, but as he moved by his soldiers he lifted his arm and flicked his hand. He barked an order and then chaos erupted.

Shouts and screams of pain and agony roared through the streets. Spears jabbed at the rebels innocent bodies, crimson blood poured onto the streets, dark robes became stained with the color of red. Rebels dropped one by one as the soldiers attacked them. Some rebels managed to get weapons out like daggers, tomes, and short swords and begun to fight back. Ventus fought hard to fight back his emotions of rage. Aria came over after too much anticipation of what was happening. She gasped in surprise and sorrow. She looked at Ventus with tears forming in her eyes. "H-How could they just kill those people?" Ventus looked at her with no answer.

"I can't sit here and watch. I have to know why this is happening," Ventus turned to Aria,"You should stay here and stay safe. I'll be back." Aria shook her head."No, I'm coming. I also need to know the reason behind why the Inquisitors are killing people, who have surrendered and pleaded for mercy. Isn't that part of St. Elimine's will? To give mercy to others?" Ventus didn't replied, but simply gave her a quizzical look. He led her out of the room and downstairs to the first floor of the inn. As the duo went for the entrance, the innkeeper shouted at them to stay inside, but they refused to listen.

As they busted the door open, the Inquisitors were beginning to run after a few stragglers of the rebels. Two Inquisitors stayed behind and made sure the rebels laying dead were actually dead. Ventus ran at them, "Why did you hurt them!?" Ventus grabbed his tome and was prepared to use it. Aria had out her heal stave ready to use. "Get out of here kids. You have no business here," said one of the two soldiers. The other one pointed his lance at Ventus. "How dare you point your weapon at us! We have done nothing. I am a member of the Church! You can't hurt me. Kraft would never allow it!"

"Shut it girl! It doesn't matter if you're a member of the Church, if you are a rebel then you must die. Kraft doesn't like rebels." The soldier came at her. She stepped back in fear. Ventus looked to her and back at the soldier. Ventus opened his tome and sent a little prayer to St. Elimine. He conjured the wind around him and sent a blast of wind at the soldier. The soldier fell back a little as the soldier gave a slight yelp. He raised his lance as he regained his balance and charged Ventus. The lance came straight at him, but Ventus sidestepped to the left at the last second, but it still caught his cape. Ventus tried to break free, but couldn't. Suddenly, Aria came and smacked the soldier with her staff. He turned and as he did, Ventus sent another blast of wind at the man's chest. This time he fell back, ripping Ventus's cape. The other soldier then began to charge, but suddenly an axe came down on the soldier's head, killing him. As the soldier fell, the bald headed rebel was seen with blood on him standing weakly. He then collapsed. The soldier that Ventus engaged ran after her got back up once he saw his friend die by the axe. He fled as Ventus and Aria came over to the bald headed man. He was breathing hoarsely, so Aria brought her staff over him and tried to heal him up, but he was too injured to be healed enough to survive. The man shook his head, "See what th-they d-do. They k-kill inn-innocents... It's time f-for you t-two to flee. G-get out of here. O-out of Etruria. Survive som-somewhere else. L-live happily a-away from Kraft..." The man closed his eyes, as his soul departed his body. Ventus looked over to Aria to see her begin to cry.

"Aria, we need to go." Ventus said solemnly. Aria looked at him for a while and then nodded. She got up and followed Ventus as they made a run for it...