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| {{Bulbagraphic| | | {{Bulbagraphic| |
| type=news | | | type=feature | |
| picture= | | | picture= | |
| caption= | | | caption= | |
| weekday=Sunday | | | weekday=Friday | |
| day=11 | | | day=14 | |
| month=9 | | | month=10 | |
| year=2011 | | | year=2011 | |
| time=21:09:52 | | | time=04:10:11 | |
| | discusstype=none | |
| | discusslink= | |
| sourcetype=exclusive | | | sourcetype=exclusive | |
| sourcename=LightningTopaz | | | sourcename= | |
| sourcelink=LightningTopaz | | | sourcelink= | |
| user=LightningTopaz | | | user=LightningTopaz | |
| userlink=user:LightningTopaz | | | userlink=User:LightningTopaz | |
| tagline=The first of Bulbagraphic's serialized fanfics | | | tagline= | |
| blurb= }} | | blurb= }} |
| {{CategorizeIn|Columns|9|11}} | | {{CategorizeIn|Bulbagarden|10|11}} |
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| '''Episode 1: The Minstrel's Proposal''' | | '''Episode 2: Memories of Adventure''' |
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| ''In the world of Arcion, tales tell of mystical artifacts large and small. The rarest of these are those dating from the Sealing, when the demon overseer Jouzro imprisoned Thiana, goddess of light, inside a large crystal. She will only be freed by those daring enough to find the elemental medallions that awaken her envoy, the god Pokemon Arceus.
| | The Rising Moltres was surprisingly busy when the trio arrived, but this was because the crowd was mostly focused on a young minstrel clad in a dull green tunic that appeared nearly gray. Ornate ivy patterns ran across the garment, complementing her black leggings and the leaf-print design on the tunic. Her lute was just as elaborate, with a flower-like rosette and a vine pattern on the fingerboard. At the moment, she was occupied with singing "A Contest of Magic"; her strong and energetic alto blending with her lute's hypnotic drone as she wove the tale of two mages competing to win the heart of a lady. |
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| Many travel across the land, hoping to discover one of the medallions or something dating from the Sealing, but there are a few bands of treasure hunters that are not focused on the riches and glory.
| | Brock, meanwhile, was interested not in the song, but in the singer. "She's so beautiful...I would love to show off the full extent of my powers and win her heart!" He was about to continue his secret confession of love when he saw Dawn give him the "stop-blathering-and-behave-yourself" look as they settled at a table by the window. |
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| One of the more renowned are the Rainbow Wings, a group of three friends who live for helping those in need as much as they do looking for treasure. Consisting of Ash, the gung-ho warrior with a song in his heart; Dawn, the intelligent and methodical ranger; and Brock, a wise and carefree mage, they spend their days exploring Arcion and lending a helping hand to all who ask.
| | "Maybe she's the one that sent the message?" Ash mused as he studied the menu. |
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| Little do they know, what starts as a routine retrieval mission is only the starting point for the quest of a lifetime...''
| | "Could be..." Dawn replied. "But then again, a lot of our adventures started in this very tavern – there was the time we drove out that demonic cult..." |
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| A brown haired boy set his lantern on a stand, illuminating the simple storeroom that served as his magical forge. While the many items strewn about the floor and spilling out of the numerous wooden cabinets lining the walls didn't look any different from the wares found in the marketplace, he was proud at the fact that he had forged them all, from the smallest ring to the magnificent rainbow banner that hung over the entryway--not by fire and hammer, but by the magical energies of the goddess Shirista.
| | "The time we traipsed through a monster-infested fortress just to save a princess..." Ash muttered before signaling a waitress for a platter of meat buns. |
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| He carefully stepped over some clay pots and a few shreds of fabric to reach a table that stood in the center of the room, paying no mind to the slight breeze that rippled his white and blue robes. Next, he held a finger skyward and whispered a few words in an unknown language, creating the illusion that his fingertip had been engulfed in a bluish-purple flame. "Thy power flows purely, never unwavering." he chanted as he drew a glyph that resembled a sword on the table. "I call upon the rainbow of elemental blades! Harmony Blade!" With that, a sword appeared on the table in a flash of rainbow light.
| | "Saving that alchemist from golems..." Brock added. |
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| "Brock? What are you doing up so early?" a male voice asked, startling the mage from his work. He turned and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw a black haired boy framed in the doorway, the raw magic on the table giving his royal blue tunic and red cape an otherworldly glow. | | Dawn chuckled at the memory. "Who knew that the golems were fans of your harp?" |
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| "I'm making Dawn a shortsword, Ash." Brock replied as he used his still glowing finger to trim a few inches of mithril off the sword's blade. "So she can cut through brush and have another weapon in close combat." | | "Easy pickings once Brock started singing." Ash agreed. "And who could forget the time we had to help the thieves' guild chase out a flock of harpies?" |
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| "How do you do that burning finger thing?" Ash wondered, piqued in how his friend's finger appeared to be burning, yet he not be in pain. Granted, he had known mages had mysterious powers since he had first met Brock three years before, but the burning finger vexed him most. | | "It's not often the rogues ask for anyone's help." Brock noted as the minstrel ended her song to thunderous applause. |
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| "To start, this is not fire on my finger, but the energy of creation granted to me by Shirista." Brock explained as he shaped the sword's guard into a pair of wings. "You would have to be awakened as a mage to understand how it works." Ash nodded as Brock colored the guard silver and added some gold arcs to the blue leather grip. A sphere of emeralds and pearls in the pommel completed the blade. | | "Yeah, they generally keep to themselves." Dawn agreed as Ash's meat buns arrived. |
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| "Well, if you need to find Dawn, she's watching for Taiva under the Great Tree." Ash assured Brock as he departed. Brock nodded, dispeled his spell, tidied his work area, and snapped, conjuring a case to carry the new sword. After retrieving his lantern, he came back upstairs into an old guest room, passed by his own room and the dining area before exiting through the foyer to the path outside.
| | Ash, meanwhile, took a bite of his quick snack – only to feel an incredibly hot sensation welling up in his mouth! "HOT!!!!!" he screeched as the flames from the Tamato Berries lit every candle in their vicinity and charred a few napkins. |
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| A whistle's familiar melody led him off the path and up the hill where the giant willow tree that they affectionately called "The Great Tree" stood. Ash was already present, playing a reel on a silver whistle decorated with an ivy inlay. A black haired girl in a dull red tunic with white feathers on the sleeves was also present, calmly looking out on the puffy clouds in the sky and the wood and stone buildings of the town in the distance.
| | "Next time, ask if there's Tamato Berries in the buns." Brock smiled as he roasted a Berry over a lit candle. |
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| "I come bearing a gift, Dawn." Brock began as he opened the case, allowing the girl to admire the blade inside. "I forged it just a while ago..."
| | Ash was about to reply to his friend's suggestion, but all that emerged from his mouth was a "Hic!" |
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| "That explains what you were doing in the forge before the sun was up." Dawn mused as she gently took the small sheath and drew the small blade. "It's beautiful...what enchantments did you put in it?" | | "Spicy stuff will cause the hiccups, you know." Dawn agreed, fascinated by the almost rhythmic frequency of Ash's hiccups. Inspired, she began knocking rhythmically on the table in time to Ash's hiccuping. Brock joined in by rubbing a knife and fork in time to the beat. Someone else joined in with a tambourine, and another patron joined in with a drum. |
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| "I call it the Winged Shortsword of the Mystic." Brock smiled. "It will protect the wielder from curses, hexes, and other demonic spells."
| | The minstrel smiled and joined in the impromptu jam session along with the barkeep, who began drumming on some empty bottles for another melody line. ''A knight and a squire come to Thiana's temple, knowing not that the demon lord sealed her away...'' |
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| "Perfect for going through tombs and crypts!" Dawn agreed as she made a few swipes at the air with the small sword. | | Ash, still hiccuping, smiled a bit – he didn't expect his hiccuping to be the starting point for an impromptu performance of "The Sealed Temple". |
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| "I'll be happy to spar with you later." Ash offered before a black, grey, and white bird landed at his feet clutching a scroll in its beak. "Oh, Taiva!" he gasped, surprised that the Starly had come to him and not Dawn. | | The minstrel approached the table as the song ended – and with it, Ash's hiccuping. "Thank you for the wonderful inspiration!" she smiled as she took a seat at the table. "I am Kayada Tirmar, a Chanteur of the Enclave of Singers." |
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| "Is that a new mission for us?" Dawn asked as she took the scroll and read it over as Taiva fluttered away into one of the Great Tree's branches. "Some time ago, the Safeda branch of the Enclave of Singers commenced a grand project for a museum of magical and enchanted instruments, so that the ancient songs and instruments are not lost due to careless treasure hunters. One instrument that has yet to find its way into the collection is the Dancing Flute of the Goddess, said to have been owned by a great mage. Meet the Enclave's envoy at the Rising Moltres for more information." | | "A high ranking minstrel!" Brock gasped, elated. "Won't you teach me a song or two? I only know but one, and my constantly singing it is driving them crazy..." |
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| "Not the tavern..." Brock groaned--the endless fights and drunken songs usually meant that he would leave with a few scratches and bruises--if he was lucky.
| | Dawn slammed a fist on the table, startling Brock. "Enough!" |
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| "I have no control over where a client chooses to meet us." Dawn assured the jittery mage as she got up from the grass and started back towards the simple stone house. "So gather your supplies and come on!" | | "Actually, Brock knows many songs besides 'The Wind and Rain'" Ash explained to Kayada. "But he seems to like that one, for some reason." |
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| "I'll take the whistle just in case some barmaid tries to flirt with you too." Ash added, making Brock blush with embarrassment. He just sighed and snapped three times, summoning his supply bag, a wand made of seasoned spruce, and a silver crescent moon shaped harp inlaid with sapphires.
| | Kayada giggled. "At any rate, my request for you three is to travel to the Labyrinth of Mystic Secrets, where the Dancing Flute of the Goddess is said to be located. Unlike most instruments already in the collection, this particular flute is said to date from the Sealing." |
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| "If you do have to sing a song, please don't sing about fiddles made from dead girl's bones." Ash sighed when he saw the harp--the tragic ballad in question lost its tear jerking power when he heard it hundreds of times a day. | | "The Sealing?" Ash gasped. "Really?" |
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| "So? The tune is sweet sounding and simple to play!" Brock protested as Ash returned with his sword and supply bag. | | "I thought that everything from the Sealing had faded into legend..." Brock agreed. |
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| "That may be true, but we lose all pity for the poor girl after the fiftieth time you sing it." Dawn muttered as she slung her rowan bow and a quiver of arrows on her back, then led the others down the dirt path into town. "Besides, this is a minstrel we're meeting--maybe he or she will teach you some other song." | | "And what will we receive in return if this item really does exist?" Dawn asked. Something dating from the Sealing had to be compensated just as handsomely, as the task was bound to be difficult. |
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| '''To Be Continued... ''' | | "The duchess has promised to trade an equally special flute and some other things in return for what we of the Singers ask for." Kayada replied. "Do we have a deal?" |
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| | "Consider it done!" Ash replied as he got up from the table. |
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| | "Now will you teach me a song, Lady Kayada?" Brock asked. |
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| | Kayada just smiled as Dawn rolled her eyes. "Very well, lord of Shirista, I will teach you another song for your companions to hear. Brock eagerly listened as Kayada strummed an expectant chord. "This is 'Mina's Flight'" Ash led the clapping as Kayada played a rollicking introduction. ''A prince on the hunt in the wood one day, not for a Buneary, but a wizard to slay...'' |
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| | '''To Be Continued...''' |