Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

Well, naturally, Saffa, some liberties are gonna be taken. And I'm good on the Internet thing, BTW. And I don't think I'll have to deviate much, if at all, from my original plans for this book, like I did for the previous two (the previous one did not originally have the ventriloquist dummy part).

Anyway, currently starting to plan out Book CCCXXX ("The Nightwalkers"). And I have a couple of book ideas.

• Book CCCLXII: "Magicide" -- A being of incredible power seeks to destroy all of magic, including spellcasters.
• Book CCCLXVIII: "Magicmongering" -- A young sorceress looks to steal all magic from spellcasters to use as her own.

All titles subject to change. I don't think that I rehashed anything.

CHAPTER THREE:
It's In A Book

"M-Ms. Raphael?" came in a timid girl of about fourteen or so. She had a fondness of wearing white clothing with pink or blue accents, sometimes with frills, sometimes without. She wore her thick, brown hair about shoulder-length. She found the old librarian Julianna Raphael rather intimidating, as did most students present. If they only knew the truth . . .

The girl, Sakura Gardner, stepped timidly around. It was easily intimidating being in the musty old library when the lights were low, with its labyrinthine corridors of book shelves, it was easy to get lost. She soon came upon an old leather book on a pedestal. Sakura didn't know why but she seemed drawn to the book. Could it have been some ancient diary? Or just some ancient census thing? Perhaps it was some primitive form of social networking?

Sakura approached the book, her initial reason for coming forgotten. As she approached she could see a brass or tarnished gold lock, she couldn't decide which, upon the leather bound book, with golden images of a sword, as staff, and a shield. Her eyes lingered upon the image of the staff for a reason unknown to even her.

As she got closer and closer, she felt a strange sort of trepidation. She didn't know why. When she got there, and was about to touch the lock, she heard a voice and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Whoa, easy there, girl," said the voice. It was one of her best friends Taylor Hawkins, a girl who was fond of white or purple clothing with red accents, and her other best friend, Lee Wheeler, who was fond of green clothing with yellow accents, was there too. "We just wondered where you got to. We have to study for that test Friday, remember?"

Then they saw the book, too, and it held their fascination as well.

"Are you gonna open that book?" Lee asked. He sounded trepidatious, but excitedly so.

"I dunno," Taylor said. "Might not be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Sometimes, things are just better off left alone."

"Maybe Taylor is right," Sakura said, uncertainly, her fingers brushed the lock accidentally. Ordinarily, this wod have been nothing, but when Sakura did, it was like a magnet just switched polarity and repelled another magnet. This somehow caused the cover of the book to fly open.

"What inside?" Lee asked, curious.

"A card," Sakura answered, picking it up. The art on it was somewhere between a Chaotic card and a tarot card. The name of the RAFian was written in stylized lettering above the art in all caps -- FAERIE LARKA. Sakura also discovered two more -- BLAZING ANGEL and YUNYUN.

"A card?" Lee snorted. Then, with a yelp of fright from all three, a cornucopia of card blew from the book -- too many to easily count -- and, within seconds, they were gone. "Nice going, Sakura."

"You were the one telling her to open it!" Taylor said, accusingly. She was looking at the Yunyun card

"Well, I -- dah!" Lee began, taking the Blaze card, broken off midsentence due to the fact that a sword had appeared his right hand with white light. The blade was metallic silver in color, while the handle and hilt was a brackish color, and the hilt was shaped like an upside-down omega symbol.

The other two yelped as they too recieved weapons. Sakura recieved a staff of blue and white with a loop atop with a golden star with an alpha marking both sides adhered to inside. Taylor recieved a shield rather like a Spartan shield, and bearing the iota symbol.

"What in the world?" Taylor said, aghast.

"What's going on here?" came a strict, intimidating voice.

[redtailedsaffa]

Are those two new books like twins or something?

[Cloak]

Not really. Haven't planned them out yet or anything, but the first might directly lead into the next. The main antagonist of the first is a different individual from the one in the second.

New chapter.

New chapter, methinks.

CHAPTER FOUR:
Book of Secrets

"Ms. Raphael!" Sakura exclaimed, flustered. Then she babbled into incoherence, terrified at being caught. Shadow had taken notice of the weapons, and saw that she was mistaken. There were three chosen, not one. Perhaps that is why she was unable to open it and these three were able.

She moved with more agility and grace than she ordinarily feigned. She inspected the weapons, naming them in the process. She mutter, "Omega Blade . . . Alpha Staff . . . Iota Shield . . . all marking you three as the chosen."

"Ms. Raphael . . ." Taylor said, confused, "what are you talking about?"

"Your weapons, dear. That's what they're called."

"You know about this?"

Shadow answered with a question, "Which one opened the book? Or was it a cooperative effort?"

"It was an -- an accident!" Sakura said, afraid of being in trouble. She's never gotten detention in her life, and did not want to start now. "I d-didn't mean to!"

"Stop fretting, dear, you're not in trouble." Shadow said, good-naturedly. "I have tried to open thst book for years! Fifteen hundred years! . . . Or is it two thousand? I've lost track."

"What are you talking about?" Lee said, raising an eyebrow.

"Things are not what they appear, Lee." Shadow said. Being the librarian, Shadow was familiar with these frequent library-goers. Shadow quickly abandoned the old age haunch she affected, and seemed to be a completely different person. "In fact, I am not human, but I was born a Realm Walker -- a long forgotten species in this realm."

"I think someone's gone off their meds," Lee countered.

"Skepticism is a good thing to have, usually," Shadow said, sagely. Then she removed her ID mask, revealing her true cloaked form. She didn't look that much different from a human in a cloak to the average viewer. She demonstrated her mastery over the Six Elements, demonstrating that her knowledge had already surpassed that of her uncle's. She was able to turn water to ice and steam (though it had to start out as water first), she could manipulate earth into lava and back again, and was able to "see" via water mediums, earth, metal as well as detect subtle temperature fluctuations and feel the slightest distortions in the air. She also never had the mental blocks her uncle had, as he was terrified of the true extent of his power.

Yes, she was impossibly OP, but Realm Walkers were always on par with Olympians, Asguardians, etc. That did not mean she was unbeatable, invulnerable, or all-powerful. And she knew it.

"What are you?" Sakura asked.

"I have told you already. I am a Realm Walker. My kind are exceedingly long-lived, every year in my homeland is ten or so in yours." Shadow said, replacing the ID mask.

"Why disguise yourself, then?" Lee asked. "Why hide?"

"To protect the book." Shadow answered. "To protect my uncle, . . . and the RAFians."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE:
Myths and Truths

"RAFians?" Lee scoffed, and continued dimissively, "That's just a myth."

"It's NOT a myth, boy!" Shadow said, small sparks of mauve and lavender energy rolling off her shoulders. Lee involuntarily and instinctively took a step backward. "They're real, boy! I have seen them myself. Your proof is in your hands!"

Without question, each looked at the card they were holding.

"These are just tarot cards," Taylor dismissed, "just a RAFian-themed deck."

"Oh, I see how it is." Shadow said, shrewdly. "You must see in order to believe. Go ahead, then. Point your weapons at the cards."

"What?" Sakura said.

"You heard me."

The three followed her instruction, feeling rather stupid and foolish. But they became quite alarmed when the cards stuck in midair, as they were tapped by the magical weapons.

"What now?" Sakura said, her voice stronger somewhat, more decisive.

Shadow smiled inwardly, proud of these three. "State something like, 'Unlock the prison by my' -- your weapon, the Omega Blade, the Alpha Staff or the Iota Shield. Then something forceful, perhaps. Like 'RAFian release!'"

They recited it word for word. It was not Shadow's intention, though. She was hoping that each would go for some individualistic twist on it. Dust and dirt swirled, which reminded Shadow that the housekeeper had not yet begun his sweeping regiment in here yet today.

Then a blinding light appeared, and Shadow adverted her eyes for only a minute or two, and when her vision cleared she saw Faerie, Blaze and Yunyun dazed and stunned upon the floor. But they were back to normal.

Shadow addressed the three, but instead of childish gloating, she said, "You're gonna be a bit woozy. It will take time for you to be able to do again."

"What if we don't wanna do it again?" Lee asked, wearily.

Shadow waited, knowing the question was pointless. They were going to do it again, they had too virtuous of souls to allow beings -- thinking, feeling beings -- to remain forevermore in card form. Besides, they were kids. This kind of stuff was exciting to them. Shadow pitied them for that.

"Oh, quit your grousing, Lee. They need us. If Ms. Raphael --"

"Shadow. Call me Shadow."

"Your name's Shadow?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, it's my chosen name."

"Then what is your real name?" Lee pressed.

Shadow knew what he was asking, and swiftly decided to simplify matters. "Shadow."

"Then why --"

"Oh, shut UP already, Lee!" Sakura getting irritated by her friend.

"What's . . . What happened?" Faerie said, groggily.

[redtailedsaffa]

There's an angle we haven't explored previously. Shadow having a name other than Shadow. Bit like the Doctor.

[Cloak]

Sorry for the delay. Work, you know. Well, "Cloak" and "Shadow" aren't our true names in the story either. True Realm Walker names are unpronunciable to Dwellers.

And funny you should mention the Doctor, Saffa. . . .

CHAPTER SIX:
Time for Time Lords*

Then came the explaining. The three RAFians were having trouble coming to terms with the technical fact that it was the 46^th century, or thereabouts. It's bound to happen when you basically skip over two thousand years, give or take a century or two.

"Two hundred years?" Blaze asked. "But . . . but nothing's changed."

"Not overtly, no," Shadow said. "It's the subtle things, really."**

"All this catching up is really nice," Lee said, his sword strapped to his side somehow, like the way a Goomba can use baseball bats and such, apparently. "But I believe the stories mention more than just three RAFians. Are they all cards?"

"Yes."

"Where are they, then? How do we find out? They all blew away." Lee said.

"This should tell us," Shadow said, still surprisingly spry in her old age, deftly gathering up the boom that held the cards.

"How will that help?" Blaze asked, leery of the book that he had essentially spent two millenia in.

Shadow opened it, and the three RAFians assembled recoiled unconsciously at this, half-expecting to be turned into cards again. The pages showed the card art that had been Faerie, Blaze, and Yunyun, in a three-by-three grid.

"My hair does not look like that," Faerie sniffed. "Though the Gale Blade looks remarkable."

"What am I holding? It looks like a -- a moldy mess. Is that supposed to be my sword?"

"Well, I like mine." Yunyun replied simply.

"Look here," Shadow said, "these two empty spots. Aquilai and Aila."

"He looks like Matt Smith," Faerie noted of Aquilai.

"Who?" Taylor asked.

"You wouldn't know him." Faerie said. "Let's find these guys then, shall we?"

* Anyone get this reference? It's based off the call the Power Rangers Time Force have when morphing -- "Time for Time Force". I think.

** Yes, I know this may be a bit overidealized, but I'd like to believe that we won't utterly annihilate ourselves in the intervening millennia. Though, there are times that I have doubts. . . .

[redtailedsaffa]

Well, everyone in 1950 thought we'd have flying cars in 2001, so...

[Cloak]

Well, yeah, that was somewhat the presumption I was going off of.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Bully! Bully. Bully!

While the three kids managed to succeed in reviving Aquilai and Aila, as well as explaining everything thing to them, they were being watched. Three local bullies had caught them at it by hiding in the nearby bushes, all were large (varying from muscular to beefy) boys of very little brain, usually.

One was built like an Incursean, along the lines of Lord Emperor Milleous. Thick-bodied with a heavy browline, beady eyes with dark rings beneath them, shaved head, a broad flappy mouth with minimal lips, with very low intelligence, made him obviously a grunt. He wore form-fitting clothes that rather did not accentuate any of his strong points, physically. He, Benji Miller, was essentially a drifter, estranged from his father, his ownly known living relative, who Benji felt was abusive and an unrelenting disciplinarian. There wasn't evidence to discredit these accusations. . . .

The one on the other side bore a remarkable resemblance to Morfin from "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", only more unkempted and shaggy-haired. His clothes were threadbare, but not for lack of being able to get newer clothes. He, Harry Rowley, chose to wear these clothes and this hairstyle, for the simple reason that he believed (rather wrongly) that they were stylish, in a retro way. Not very smart. Or hygienic. With his father in prison, and his mother passed out more often than she was conscious, he was basically left to fend for himself.

The one in the middle, Paul Fisk, was the smartest of the lot, though that wasn't saying too terribly much, as his intelligence was often, if not mostly, limited to the subjects of bullying, harrassment, and torture without being caught. He was Kingpin in physical appearance -- build (thick body with no visible neck), shaved head, and rather jowlly features. His attire, however, resembled more of Season 1 Bulk -- lots of black leather and whites that were more gray than white. His shirt usually carried pit stains on the shirt he wore, hidden by his leather jacket. He wore a dew-rag, or whatever it's called, upon his noggin. His parents were present, and they were not anything like the previous two's parental units. They were permissive -- overly and overtly so. They didn't so much as dote, but permitted Paul to do anything that he pleased. Paul had no rules.

It was hard to believe that these kids were only fifteen or sixteen years old. Together, they looked like delinquents by profession, which they, themselves, endorsed. They thought it made them look like bad boys, when, in reality, it just made them some rather sad cases. Textbook examples of what children with their homelives had the possibility of producing.

When they saw the three kids release Aquilai and Aila, they got the brilliant idea to find the cards first, then deny them to the three kids. They had nothing further than that, and, by sheer dumb luck, they found and obtained the cards of Gaz, Dino, Guy, Saffa, and Horse.

Rather unfortunate for those RAFians.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
Collection Race

Meanwhile, the three kids, the "cardcaptors" as they were rather affectionately called, were mystified how the cards of the five RAFians that the bullies had blundered into weren't there. Of course, cardcaptors didn't know that the bulky trio had taken them, and, well, how could they? How could they know that they know they had competition? Grossly incompetent and immensely immature, sure, but competition still.

While the cardcaptors looked for the five cards the bullybtrio had in their possession, the three idiots managed bumble and blunder into the cards of Estelore, AniDragon, Phoenix and Kelly. They really had no use for any of these cards, no reason to be collecting them, but took them for the same reason a young child suddenly wants a toy that another child is playing with, just to deprive that child from playing with it.

The cardcaptors were flummoxed by this, but continued on their quest. They managed to get and revive the cards of Russell, Myitt, Rocklobster, Sorunome, Shenmue, and Goom. They managed to reunite these six with Aila, Aquilai, Faerie, Blaze, and Yunyun. The cardcaptors felt this was easier for them. It is not an easy thing to find out that you're two millenia in the future.

Granted, Aila and Aquilai didn't react at all to it. But that doesn't count -- they're Time Lords, and, thus, time travellers. They're used to this type of thing.

But then Shadow pulled the three aside and asked about the RAFian cards that, unbeknowst to all assembled, the bully trio -- or the bulky trio, if you prefer -- had already obtained.

"They weren't there, Shadow," Taylor said.

Shadow was aghast. She never had anticipated this. Then again she never anticipated that the cards would up and fly out of the book, either. "They . . . they had to be."

"They weren't." Lee said bluntly.

"Lee!" Taylor chastised. "Have a little compassion!"

"What's the point of surgarcoating it? They weren't there, so there's no point in saying they were or making excuses."

"Be that as it may, there is no need to be, not only crass and rude, but heartless!" Taylor countered. "We don't know these RAFians yet, we are just meeting them. Shadow knows them, this is far more real to her."

But, as Lee opened his mouth to argue, Sakura cut across him and said, "Give it a rest, the two of you."

While Lee bristled at being told what to do, he acquiesced. Shadow wasn't even paying attention to the three of them anymore. Her mind was a buzz, and her stomach was plummeting. Was this a sign? A sign that Malice still lives? It was not impossible. Cataclysm survived longer than Shadow, herself, did. However, there was still insufficient evidence to make such an assumption as of yet.

Shadow's uneasiness would not go away, but seemingly decided of its own accord to linger. She continued to ponder this in silence, and the cardcaptors, unable guess at what made Shadow so distant all of a sudden, thought that Lee had offended her.

[redtailedsaffa]

Ooh, this is getting exciting.

[Cloak]

Yes, and there's more! This book seems to be starting to write itself . . .

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINE:
A Favored Card

"What the -- what is that?" Goom said.

"The videophone," Shadow said, nonchalantly indifferent. Like someone who heard a phone go off to a flummoxed Medieval peasant's bewilderment. "I honestly don't know who it could be, I don't use it much, if at all."

Sakura answered a device much like the videophones in the first episode of "Pokemon", only colored charcoal gray with a more streamlined and less boxy appearance. With a deft touch of a button, the screen burst to life. But the colors seemed unusually and unnaturally muted, shades of black and white.

"I didn't do it!" Sakura said, with a flinch. She was afraid that she broke it.

"It's not broken," Shadow replied at once, recognizing the problem easily. "The outgoing call was deliberately set to this."

"Ah, you've become shrewd in your old age, Shadow!" came a lilting female voice. Shadow scowled as she thought she could anticipate where this was going. "Your dear uncle would be impressed."

Shadow wasn't. "Who the Veil are you?"

"Oh, you have his vulgarity too, I see." the cloaked woman teased joyeously, as she threw her back with a bark of laughter. This threw her hood back as well, revealing her to be a human with long hair the color of the night with copious curl to it. Her skin seemed to flicker between a pasty white and a smooth caramel -- Shadow decided that it must be because of the perimeter s set by the caller. This woman affected an insincere look of hurt when it became obvious that Shadow did not recognize her. "You don't remember me, dear Shadow? Why, I'm hurt!"

"Cut the theatrics, lady," Shadow said, irascible and inflexible. "Who are you?"

"You don't recognize your dear old foe, Malice?"

A beat of silence in which Shadow waited for the woman to correct herself. When it did not come, Shadow said, distainfully. "Liar."

"Come again?"

"Malice is d--" Shadow had a moment of uncertainty, which she forced down and proceeded. " Malice is dead."

"I was," the lady said, "until I got bored of it. I took over this sweet young thing when she was still a wee little whippersnapper. And I must say, she serves my purposes well."

"Enough. Enough of this ghost hogwash." Shadow said, derisively. "If you knew anything about my kind, you'd know that there are no such things as Realm Walker ghosts."

"Oh, no?" the lady said, dropping her sugary-sweet act, and her face contorted into the epitome of pure, unadulterated ugliness. Not Medusa-level, but similar. "Have you forgot about deux ex machina?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lee said loudly before being shushed by Taylor.

"Again, if you knew anything about Realm Walkers -- other than a random term we use -- you'd know that a deux ex machina does not hold consciousness or sentience of its own. Those go Beyond."

"Beyond?" Lee said, obnoxiously loud.

"Beyond the Oblivion Veil," Shadow said quickly, in aside.

"Did you never pause to consider, in your arrogant confidence of knowing it all, what if the conscious, the sentience, didn't want to go through the Veil?" the lady's voice had somewhat of a rasp to it, but it was undetectable by human hearing. "What if it wanted something else, something more? What if it wished to live on? Granted, it would have to wear someone else. Granted, it would have to evict the former occupant while they squat in their skin, or else, leech from them what it requires."

Shadow was repulsed. What this woman was describing was seen as a perversion by all Realm Walkers with morals and values. But yet . . . such a repugnant act . . . Malice wouldn't think twice about it.

"Now, the reason for this call," the lady -- Malice -- said, as if she was planning a day trip for all of them. She held up a card as the call sprinkled to color. The art on it showed a fellow in a long black cloak standing on a cliff, Batman-like, and looking at the palm of his hand, where a blue "R" was glowing slightly. Beneath this art frame on the card were the word "CLOAK". Malice spoke in a singsongy type of tone, "I've got something you don't got!"

Shadow looked at the card, face inscrutable due to the competing emotions she felt. She managed to utter only one word.

"Uncle."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TEN:
Abject Subjugation

With a lasting glimpse of Shadow's unfiltered, open look of shock, the call's connection terminated leaving the woman who called herself Malice, who claimed to be the long-dead Realm Walker, alone with her thoughts.

It was true. She was Malice back then. She possessed this woman as an eleven-year-old girl, took her body for her own, and watched with impassive interest as the young girl's soul began to weaken, began to wither, began to . . . to die. Once it did, Malice was in full control over this body. She did not know if she could leave of her own volation or not. She had never had a motivation to try. She played along with this girl's life until she could find a way to get away and scheme once more. She eventually ran away, using the pretext of a fight that, in reality, she was completely indifferent to.

She remembered everything. How she was sick and weakening from old age, so she decided to end her rivalry with Cloak once and for all. She carefully crafted the book itself. But her plan backfired. She hadn't expected the book to ever be unlocked. She hadn't anticipated that there would be a way to revive the RAFians, or that they'd be in card form.

She was careless, she decided. She allowed herself to become reckless by feeling the hourglass of time ticking out of her favor. She did not realize that she could stay -- bodiless and alone, perhaps, but still conscious.

Her thoughts were most rudely interrupted by the stupid guffaws of three hooligans. Malice was irritated, but that quickly evaporated when she saw what they had in their hands. She went over to the three bullies and demanded that they hand over the cards.

"Why should we?" Paul said, surly and childishly.

"They's ours, we founded them." Harry said. Clearly, he never had a grammar lesson that he took seriously. Or he just never heard "Word Crimes" by Weird Al. "You can't have them. Theys ours."

"As scintillating as this conversation will no doubt be," Malice said, getting impatient, "you will hand over . . ."

"No!" Benji said. "Go find your own!"

Malice was going to say something, but an idea occurred to her. She had been working on something based off the Corrupturas that were produced in the bodies of Vladats, a species extinct before even RAF's founding. Malice had become interested, and looked for a way to.se if they were biomechanically possible of recreating.

Now the three bullies were calling Malice some rather unflattering, vulgar things to call a female. Malice decided to test if the three prototypes worked on these three. With a single toss, each of the Mech Corrupturas landed perfectly on each bully's forehead, wresting control of their bodies from them. They were now subjugated by Malice.

She sighed heavily, though pleased with their effectiveness, she was disappointed with their limitations. "Such a pity that they only work on the weak-minded."

[redtailedsaffa]

Well then. That was unexpected.

[Cloak]

Just wait, Saffa. In the meantime, new book ideas.

• Book CCCLXIX: "Such a Travesty" -- When a demonic creature called a Travesty begins impersonating an angel, Blaze is offended.
• Book CCCLXX: "The Sacharine Slime of Sublime" -- While on his own, Cloak discovers and must deal with the effects of a blue slime on a fown. Based off a nightmare that I just had.

New chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Card Conflict

"Shadow, I --" Sakura said tentatively, in a valiant attempt to consol the aged Realm Walker. But the book indicated three more cards were now available, and Shadow snapped back to normal.self, though she still felt conflicted about the card that Mal . . . that that perversion of nature had.

"Three more cards," Shadow said, reciting their locations. "Go now, you three. Do us proud." Shadow said, though her mind still lingered on the card.

Could it be a fake? It was quite possible, wasn't it? But then . . . then why would she go through the trouble of making such an authentic-looking replica? It could have been the black-and-white . . . no, the call had buzzed into color as she showed the card. . . .

Shadow had never felt older.

***

The cardcaptors had managed to get the Sakki card, but were having a time finding the other two. The Ash card and the Underseen card were simply not there. The three cardcaptors searched even more fervently, not wanting to let Shadow down, not wanting to give her more bad news.

"It's not here," Lee said. "Neither of them are here. Either the book royally screwed up or someone's already best us to the -- OOF!"

Lee was pushed over from behind, but was on his feet within seconds, incensed. He saw his assailant and made to push him back, never mind being a quarter of his size. Taylor and Sakura had to hold him back, as the hot-bloodied tween would get himself killed if he went through with fighting this guy.

They didn't notice that the assailant had two buddies at first, but then they realized that they were blocking out the sun. The sun caused their features to be shadowed, and hid the Mech Corrupturas from view on their foreheads. But Taylor easily noticed that the two had cards in their hands. The two cards that they were looking so arduously for.

"Your cards . . ." the giant to the right said.

"Give us . . ." said the colossus in the middle.

"Your cards. . . ." said the monster to the left.

"They can't be serious, can they?" Lee asked.

"I think they are." Sakura said, quietly and assuredly.

[redtailedsaffa]

Did they change?