by ohboy » Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:11 pm
Egron opened his eyes, and he knew immediately that he was no longer in the field with Cyrus or Jane. However, judging by the much smaller hand grabbing his own, he could tell that Sally made it here with him. He looked at her, hoping that the spell didn't have any adverse effects on her. He was uncomfortable with the art of magic, believing that one should rely on swordsmanship to fight battles rather than arcane magics. However, he also heard tales of magic having unpleasant side-effects, and people getting sick after their first time teleporting.
"Are we in Dhama?" Sally asked, looking around.
"Yes, we are," Egron asked, checking the pocket on the inside of his coat to make sure that he still had the letters. He did.
Egron looked straight ahead, and was amazed with what he saw. Before him lay a huge temple, larger than Eginbear Castle, before him. Besides the temple there were fields of crops, and Egron looked around to see that there was a huge wall surrounding both the temple and farms, with two steel doors that were opened to allow visitors to enter and leave. He couldn't help but look at Sally, and notice her astounded look. Although she had never been out of the castle before, and she would have never seen anything so grand, it amazed Egron, the previous general of Eginbear, just the same.
They began to walk toward the doors of the temple, which were open and unguarded. "My father once told me that one could learn magic here," Sally said.
"You're father was right. The High Priest of Dhama can alter one's natural physical and mental abilities, and allow you to become a fighter, a mage, a merchant, or whatever else you would like to be."
While Sally said nothing, the look in her eyes were a look that said simply: "Wow!" The two of them towards the door, but after a few more paces he noticed that Sally had stopped.
"Come on, now. I'm not going to get separated with you and have to spend unnecessary time looking for you," Egron warned.
"Ernie, do you think that I could become a mage?"
Ernie stopped, taken aback by the question. "What do you mean?"
"Do you think that the High Priest could turn me into a mage?"
Egron looked her square in the eyes. "Sally, is this why you wanted to come with me? To become a mage?"
Sally hedged the question, instead continuing with her train of thought. "Ever since we've fled that castle, I've been told that you, and the soldiers of Aliahan, and the king himself are all trying so hard to stop Barron from taking over the world. Yet, I just have to sit and do nothing."
"But Sally, its not your job to fight Barron. That needs to be left up to the adults and the military to handle this."
Sally sighed. "Still, though. You risked your life to save me back at the castle. And besides, Barron..."
Despite the silence, Egron knew what the next words out of her mouth was going to be. Barron killed her father, and she wanted to atone for it. "Sally," he prompted, "is the reason that you want to become a mage is to avenge your father?"
She nodded. "I want to get rid of Barron, and make everything peaceful again, just like it was with his father. I think that somebody like you should inherit the throne, somebody who would strive for peace, and not for war."
Egron paused. He wanted to tell her that one person, especially a little girl, couldn't bring about change on her own. He wanted to tell her that killing Barron would not bring back her father, but that it would just put her life in danger. He wanted to tell her that she should just let the king, and the other men in power repel Eginbear. But he couldn't. He knew what honor was; he swore to Barron's father that he would stop Barron at any cost if he tried to bring his ambition of world domination to fruition. By the same token, Sally wanted to help. She wanted to hunt down this madman that ripped every bit of normalcy from her life. He took her father, her home, and now, having nothing left, she wanted to help. Despite every logical bone in his body saying that he should not be a party to helping the girl get involved in war, he just couldn't.
"Sally, if you want to become a mage, and you promise to use the magic that you will learn only for humanity's benefit, and to for personal gain or to gain power for yourself, then I will ask on your behalf to perform this task."
Sally nodded. She returned Egron's look, straight in the eyes, and in an adult way that almost made her seem twenty years older, she replied a simple "Thank you, Ernie."
"Wahahahaha! Ladies and gentlemen, your attention. please. The name's Wily! The one and only -- the brilliant scientist, Dr. Wily! It may seem rather sudden to you, but I've decided I'd like to take over the world! (Laughs) Ahem! Anyway, to begin... Dr. Light! I'll be taking your precious robots!!" - in the beginning of Mega Man: Powered Up (Quote from Wikipedia)
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