The Last Summon (Viola/Mr. Fox)

[Viola]

The Talon family had kept a ritual since the beginning of time. A ritual that kept the very planet they lived on to keep on turning actually. Once every hundred years a girl was born with into the Talon family with an unusually bright aura and she would be destined to give her life to save the world. The girl knew about this fate since birth, it was far from a secret. This girl was named Dawn, she would be the one to bring the dawn of the new day. At least that was what everyone had told her. Dawn wasn’t raised like the rest of the children. There was always a watchful eye on her and she was always pushed to her limits in training to save the world and be the best summoner as possible. The thing is though, Dawn loved it. As composed as she was, she was happy with her fate, she would die a truly honorable death and as a powerful woman.

There was a small village called Haven that kept a distance from other settlements. Outsiders knew better than to bother the village so they were always left alone and never questioned. The only thing the outsiders were truly curious about was the fact the town seemed to always be protecting a shrine. They didn’t know the purpose of it but the villagers sure did. The shrine held a powerful demon who had committed a forbidden act. He was sealed away for falling in love with a shine maiden. But that was a very long time ago, and the villagers needed his help on their quest to save the world.

The night was cold and stung Dawn's body as she walks down a dirt path with her father, the elder. She was only wearing her shrine robe with detached sleeves that offered little protection attacking the freezing breeze. Her hair was very long and a deep dark brown that could easily pass as black. Her dark eyes blended in with her dark hair and she appeared to be a regular looking twenty three year old woman. It seemed hard to believe such a woman held so much potential.

The numbing darkness was quiet, everyone was asleep in their beds, and just how the elder wanted it. He knew the villagers would not be happy with what was about to be done but it was time for shrine to be unsealed. Dawn honestly hated knowing that her father thought she needed help. That she needed protection. Dawn felt strong enough to complete her task alone, without help from some crazy demon. She already had plenty of powerful summons in her control and she even received the Talon family’s summon.

The stubborn girl decided to question her father as they made their way to the shrine. Her voice soft and sincere, “Father, do you really doubt my skills that much? To be going to this far to get me help is quite an embarrassment on my behalf.” With a heavy sigh she continued, “Father I can really do this on my own. You have trained me well… I’ve-“

The older man who was in a simple grey robe broke his daughters rambling with a laugh. “Dawn, you have no idea what dangers awaits you. This time things are being done differently not because of your lack of strength. You have turned into a beautiful and powerful woman my dear Dawn.” His tone of voice changed after a short moment of silence, “You see, there is a cult who serves the God of Destruction. Yes the opposite of the God Fate who we serve. So you are a target and they are very powerful. They know your training is complete and time is running out, so they will be after you. I would have told you sooner about this Dawn, I didn’t want your worries to affect your training. You must complete your journey alive.” He looked back to his daughter and then back in front of them as she expresses his concern.

They were standing in front of a large black shrine that lead back into a cave. There were charms placed all around the shrine holding back what was inside of it. Even though everything was still, they could just feel the energy seeping out of the shrine. Her father walked up the shrines bolted doors as Dawn tags along behind him. “Really father…? There is no other way. I highly doubt your information is correct,” Dawn quickly stopped her complaining at the grim look the elder gave her. She knew what must be done, he was serious.

Both of them stepped a few feet away from the door and held their hands out to the door. Almost instantly a burst of wind from their auras ruffled their clothes around. They concentrated on the seal and with an unseen force; they ‘cut’ the magical seal. To naked eye it just appeared they had summoned some wind but in the end all the charms that sealed the doors to burn up and turn into ash. Dawn then walked back to the door and places her hand on the door and used her aura to ‘cut’ at the bolts and the doors fall in. With a giggle she pushed herself in having no fear of what laid inside.

It was dark and almost impossible to see, so Dawn raised her hand and spoke aloud, “Kuri come forth!” Suddenly a small light appeared in her hand, it was actually a small demon with wings. It appeared just like a golden glow of light but with close exanimation it was actually was a small fairy summon. It had been one of Dawn’s first summons since it was harmless but Kuri always did come in handy. Using Kuri, Drawn walked through the cave with her father following after her until she arrives at two large steel doors. Dawn put her hand on the cold street and a flash of light made Dawn recall her hand. “Ow! What kind of seal is on that?”

The elder laughed, “It is one of your great grandmother’s seals. Only the wise can sense this seal to figure out how to break it. See Dawn there is a lot you still need to learn.” Even though you don’t have much time left on this Earth. With a sigh he told his daughter to get back and aimed the palm of his hand towards the door. With a violent burst of energy that sent the elder back the doors pry open and the energy of a demon start to fill the air.

Dawn could feel the cold of a demon behind the dark pried doors waiting for them, what were they to say to such a demon? She knew this demon would more than likely be ticked off but it wasn’t her fault. She would never let such a creature get that close to her. Never. The noble woman grabbed Kuri and stuck her head and the glowing summon in the crack of the door. It was wide enough for someone to walk into but she wasn’t going to die here. Damnit, I can’t see… Her soft voice called out to the darkness, “Hello…? We are here to release you but you have to listen to us first. We don’t want any violence. We weren’t the ones that sealed you,” it was obvious Dawn didn’t know what to say or who she was talking to if anyone.

 

[Mr. Fox]

Legend has it, that nearly one hundred years ago there was an amazing member of the Talon family. Her name was Aurora Talon and she was raised from birth to be the summoner for the God of Fate and save the planet. She was incredibly talented at summons; enough to have the elders acknowledge her abilities. Not only was she talented enough, but she had complete devotion to the mission she had to complete. The mission she was destined to do. Her destiny was set in stone, or so it seemed. That was before she fell in love with a wolf demon, something that was partially forbidden for a shrine maiden to do.

Weylyn Fenris was the son of an alpha chief of the Saw-tooth wolf demon pack that lived in the forests surrounding the small village of Haven. Being the son of chief, Weylyn was trained from birth in the art of war for he would one day have to lead the tribe as their alpha. Hence he would have to be significantly stronger than his brethren to maintain their loyalty. It was a hard task to maintain when he would spend time fraternizing with a human woman. Such actions some tensions in the tribe, especially with the older members who greatly dislike the human race. Weylyn was also the famed demon said to fall in love with Haven’s shrine maiden, Aurora. This union caused complications for humans and demons alike.

It was a rather chilly fall day while Weylyn lounged out upon the roof of the shrine. Of course the people of the shrine did not like him around due to his demon lineage and vagrant behavior. Weylyn of course did not care for the shouts of the frail shrine goers. As long as they didn’t annoy him, he would sit and tolerate their behavior as he was waiting for someone. Today was the day that Aurora was scheduled to set out on her quest to summon the God of Fate and Weylyn was determined to intercept her before she went along to the main ceremony. Currently the woman was inside the building Weylyn sat upon as Aurora was prepared by the other priestesses to go to the ceremony.

Finally after what seemed like hours, the doors of the hut opened and the beautiful Aurora was led out from the building surrounded by several shrine maidens and the elder. Leaping down, Weylyn landed silently behind the group, none of them hearing him as he landed. Reaching out swiftly he cupped his hand around Aurora’s mouth and wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her off the ground as he leapt back to the top of the room.

Aurora was obviously startled by being grabbed from behind, but after she was let go the fear was replaced with annoyance as she scolded Weylyn. “What do you think you are doing? Don’t you know what day it is, I thought I told you to wait for me after the ceremony? I have a duty to complete, you should know this.”

The woman’s words had little to no effect as Weylyn just stood there with a smirk on his face. “Well that is what I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t want you to go summon the God of Fate, so come on run away with me. They can always use another summoner to do it right? Or what about I kill the God of Destruction myself?” he said while flexing his bicep. “Let’s go Aurora, come with me and we can spend the rest of our lives with each other.”

“Weylyn, you don’t understand. I am the only one who can save the world. If I don’t summon the God of Fate, there will not be a tomorrow for us. So I’m going to have to reject your offer,” Aurora politely rebutted. “Now get me off this roof!”

By the time Aurora shouted, the elder, the shrine maidens and several guards were already at the base of the building commanding that Weylyn return Aurora to them. Crossing his arms in front of him, Weylyn laughed and answered, “You know you can’t force me to do anything old man. I’m at least 1000 times stronger than anyone else in this village so I can beat you all and get Aurora out of your cult before you can even blink an…” Suddenly Weylyn’s voice stopped and he fell face forward off of the roof onto the ground. Apparently during the time Weylyn was talking, Aurora had placed a special sealing talisman directly on his back, sealing all his powers and knocking him out.

Taking this opportunity, the elder commanded Weylyn to be sealed until Aurora had completed her mission. Thus, Weylyn’s unconscious body was taken to a cave and dozens of extensive precautionary seals were added to prevent Weylyn from regaining conscious and getting loose until then. A problem to this plan, however, was that Weylyn was still the son of Chief Freki Fenris of the Saw-tooth tribe a messenger was sent to explain to Freki why his son was in such a situation and that they could come unseal him as soon as they wished. For some reason, the Saw-tooth tribe never came to unseal Weylyn and so he remained sealed for nearly one hundred years.

One hundred years had passed since Weylyn had regained consciousness. His mind and body had been frozen in time since that day. Once the seals on the outside of the cave had been broken, the wolf demon had already begun to stir. It was not until his large wolfen ears picked up the voice of a woman utter the word, “hello,” that his eyes snapped wide open. This was not an awakening that Weylyn had ever experienced and it caused his thoughts to race through his mind. Where am I, why is it so dark? Wasn’t I just with Aurora? As his body instinctively stirred, he felt something amiss. Something cold and hard was wrapped around his body. They were steel chains and shackles that pinned the wolf demon fast against the wall.

Using all his might, Weylyn struggled against the steel bounds, but for some reason he could not muster the strength to break free. The only thing he could do is cause the chains to rattle, the sound echoing about the cave. He could not believe that he could not break free of something like steel shackles. There must be something else. Listening with his heightened hearing he noticed that there was a fluttering of paper. The wolf demon suddenly realized, Seals! There are seals on these chains!

Annoyed by being chained to the wall as well as being sealed, Weylyn begain to snarl, “What is this! Let me go you worthless humans. I’m going to rip out your throats as soon as I get free!” He continued to struggle causing the chains to rattle once more sending the sound as well as his voice through out the cave.

 

[Viola]

The sound of the steel bounds being loudly pulled at made Dawn jump but she kept pushing forward. It did confirm that there was something else in the cave. Dawn walked slowly as her summon, Kuri, helped light the way, she stopped when she saw the demon there completely bond in place. His threats were empty, at least for now; there was no way he was getting free without her or the elder. Instead the woman stood over the demon and remained far enough so he could not reach her. She then softly spoke to him, “I know a summoner from the Talon family is the last human you would want to see right now. But I am Dawn and I’m next in line to finish the grand ceremony.” Dawn didn’t expect him to listen to her, or even have a care, but she stayed collected while she spoke to him showing no sign of intimidation, “This is simply business, but I…” The sound of the elder making his way inside forced her to correct herself, ”I mean we… need your help. I have to summon the God of Fate or you know what happens. The world will be no longer stable. If it came to that you would surely not live to see another day.” Dawn continued, “If you help me, the elder will set you free as soon as the ceremony is completed.” Being unable to help herself she added, “I know that you feel like you cannot trust us. But I will trust you.” The gentle woman reached her hand out to one of the bounds connected to his left ankle and released the seal just on that one leg and remained close to him for a long moment.

While Kuri buzzed around trying to spread its’ light everywhere it could, the elder finally spoke up, “Dawn, be careful. Weylyn’s mental state must not be the best, I advise you to take a few steps back.” The elder watched his daughter obey and walked away from him. The elder than spoke, “My daughter is correct, you are needed. I will grant you the freedom you desire as long as you get my daughter to complete her fate.” The man attempted to use the demon’s ego against him, “Since you are so powerful you should be able to get her there no problem.” The elder debated with himself for a moment but still decided to bring up the past, “You got very far last time with Aurora, if you don’t break any rules, I will keep my end of the bargain. There is nothing else we want from you and you will never hear from us again.”

Dawn sighed a bit under her breath she was still a bit unsure about this whole plan. Did she really need him? She then spoke to him while still out of his reach, “Listen I’m not too fond on the idea. I think I could do this all on my own without your help but I do not have much say in the matter. I rather not risk it honestly, I know how I will die and it will not be by the hands of another.” I will give my own life for this world. No one will take it from me.

Changing the subject Dawn got a bit demanding, “So are you going to help or not? If you say yes, I will release you. But I wouldn’t even think of attacking me.” The woman shot him a smirk, “Not with all these seals so easily at our dispose. You lay a finger on me and I will make sure it is impossible to ever reverse the seal.” Dawn could play her own little games as well, “Wouldn’t you at least like to take a breath of fresh air. It is a bit nippy out though.”

 

[Mr. Fox]

Despite all the noise caused by the thrashing of the chains, Weylyn was still able to hear the soft footsteps of a small human due to his superior hearing. Twitching his ears he was able to tune into the cautiously approaching footsteps without having to give up rattling his chains. He did stop, struggling against his bonds when he finally heard the woman speak. After he listened to her say he first few words, he scoffed at her before answering, "Well it seems Aurora has completed her task if you are the next summoner. Serves her right... That also means I have been locked up here for nearly 100 years." His voice sounded calm, but if Dawn were to be able to see his face, she would see eyes of contempt.

Seeing the woman step forward and release the shackle from around his left ankle, he knew at that moment if he wanted too he could of kicked her, which is what he wanted as he was still frustrated that she was part of the family that not only sealed him up for 100 years but also betrayed him. Weylyn, however, was good and refrained from doing anything brash as he wanted to be free more than he wanted revenge. After hearing the elder's comment about Dawn taking a few steps back, he smirked in the dark cell and added, "You should listen to your father. If I wanted to I could have kicked your head clean off your shoulders. Then we would all be in trouble now wouldn't we? I, however, prefer to be let loose so I will be good for now."

Looking past Dawn and towards the silhouette of the elder, he spoke directly to the elder, not giving Dawn the pleasure due to her snarkey comment about them reversing the seal and keeping him imprisoned forever. "Well it looks as if I am continually backed into a corner by you people. i believe I was sealed to keep out of your people's hair while Aurora did her ceremony. Now you want me to help this brat on her quest. I should be let loose regardless of whether I want to help you or not." Weylyn then thought for a moment, before adding, "Well now that I think about it, if I didn't help you and you failed, which seems entirely possible, I wouldn't have that much time to enjoy me freedom. That is if your crazy belief about the world being destroyed if you can't summon the God of Fate is true." Grining, with a glint of his teeth catching the light of the fairy he proposed to the two, "How about you let me go, so we can discuss this in a more comfortable environment?"

 

[Viola]

It had been quite some time since Dawn saw a demon as powerful as this one. Despite being locked up for a hundred years, the skillful eyed summoner saw that this demon was near his full strength. Weylyn’s comment about Aurora sent a chill down her spine, being as strong and as brave as Aurora had been Dawn’s goal since a child. She heard the story so many times about Aurora and this… demon. Dawn never would have expected her quest would be so much like Aurora’s, with Weylyn being her protector and all. Still, this wasn’t very ideal to Dawn, and there was not a chance she was going to take Aurora’s path. Love was not part of Dawn’s fate, and she expected this a long time ago. Dawn spoke up to the demon, “If it wasn’t for Aurora you would be dead. This whole world would be in ruins. As much as you may hate her, you should be grateful that someone lost their life to protect everyone, even you.”

Honestly Dawn was a bit nervous, still she wasn’t going to let him feed off of her fear. Dawn was capable of much power yet her body remained as delicate as any other woman’s body. Anything close combat, Dawn would be more than likely dead. Being trained to stay light on her feet, her only way to survive would be getting some distance. Yet if Weylyn did kick her, she would most likely not be able to react fast enough due to being caught off-guard, so his words did faze her more this time; “If you did ‘kick my head off’ this whole world would be destroyed. You think after hundred years you would do some maturing.” Even though this demon might have been strong, she did not want some wreckless partner running around trying to get her killed. Dawn glanced over to her father with a heavy sigh, her expression clear: Seriously? Him?!

Orian, the elder, already had his full attention on Weylyn, he would not let him hurt his daughter, at least not that easily. Orian then said, “I would think twice before you threaten my daughter like that. Everything is speaks in the truth. She will only speak the truth. Our belief is true; your former lover did save us all. After the ceremony is complete you will have your full freedom, the Talon family will have no control over you. Also if you want, you could easily take the title of a hero. We will not need your help again, this time the circumstances are different and that is the only reason we have called on you. Another hundred years for now, if we need help, we will not call on you or bother you. This was all unforeseen and this is your chance to be free.”

Dawn waited for her Father’s word before releasing Weylyn, when she received a nod of approval, Dawn looked down to him and spoke, “You don’t trust me, I don’t trust you. At least for now try to trust me, and I will do the same. As I said before, if you hurt me, all hope for this world will be lost.” With that said, she dared to give him a warm smile and dispelled the rest of the seal. After Weylyn was free, Dawn instinctually took a few steps backwards; she was not going to let him lay a hand on her. “We can get out of this cave and go to small cabin near the dock. It isn’t the best place but I don’t think you are ready to be seen or can be trusted to be in Haven.” Dawn and Orian would walk with Weylyn out of the cave and to the location if he complied.