Kaleb walked besides General Ashbringer down the main corridor leading to the bridge. Dozens of men and females alike were heading in all directions doing tasks that kept the ship together. If it wasn't for their hard work and determination the ship would have been grounded years ago.

"General, we need to locate the other two Generals. We will proceed to Akara and search the battlefield for anything that might come of use. I don't want to leave any stone unturned." The elevator door opened letting a couple of people off the closed shut taking Kaleb and Demarkos to the bridge.

The sliding doors slid open to reveal a wide area bustling with activity. "General, there is someone I would like you to meet. It is a very large coincidence that we had come across him during his time in Ascantha but we took great care to keep it a secret." Kaleb walked forward, the heels of his boots announcing his presence.

Captain Valoran bolted from his seat and came to attention, "General on Deck!" He spoke as everyone rose and saluted the two. Kaleb didn't demand much from his people, only loyalty and discipline. Kaleb patted Demarkos on the back as a figure walked up to the two with a very serious face.

"Demarkos, I would like you to meet Drake."

So they were going to Akara...Demarkos had hoped to have seen the last of that forsaken place, but it seemed he was going back, and all too soon. What clues are hidden in that ruined city? What truths lie hidden in that smoking ruin...and what truths are now buried under tons of molten rock?

"Demarkos, I would like you to meet Drake." Demarkos was overcome with surprise; the boy standing in front of him could be no older than fifteen, and yet he almost seemed to stink of power. What...secrets does this boy hold? He looked Drake up and down, surveying him, as if looking for some sort of answer. And yet, there was none. Of course, Demarkos had heard of Drake, the warrior who had done battle with both the infamous Waugriff, as well as Destiny who he just seen earlier that day. But that was ages ago...

Turning towards Lord Zaleran, Demarkos voiced his puzzlement. "Lord, I don't understand...who is this boy?"

Kaleb smiled as he put both his hands on Drakes shoulders while standing behind him. "This is the reincarnation of the hero from the first age. Somehow he was brought back into this world by means he did not know. It was during the Battle of Granseal in which his resurrection took place, that we know for sure." Kaleb stopped in order to recall the events of that devastating day. The day that wiped Granseal off the face of the map.

Kaleb and Drake proceeded into a chamber located adjacent to the bridge. Inside was a very long rectangle table that was polished to a fine black. It was perfect and reflected everything more brilliantly than the finest mirrors. The two sat down and waited for Demarkos to join them before he continued with his story.

"During that battle a certain person named Dracon Malik, which my researchers tell me somehow had the bloodlines of Remus and Malik in him, took it upon himself to wage war on those who stood against him. At the time a man named Ryant Ash, a chocobo knight, fought with everything he had until he could give no more. Dracon managed to knock him unconscious just around the time Destiny showed up. The fact that Destiny showed up was nothing special, the reason why he showed up was though. A surge of power some say equal that of the Colossus exploded from this city. The power was that of this boy. It called out to everyone who had known who he was. Destiny was the only one who had the ability to actually reach him." Kaleb paused to drink some of his tea that a courier had brought in for the three.

"Drake and Destiny fought Dracon to the bitter end only to have failed. Destiny tried to get the now unconscious Drake out of the city before Dracon's spell was released but it was too late. Destiny had made it to safety but both Ryant Ash and Drake were caught within the blast radius. Nothing but one thing made it out alive. Amongst the wreckage Drake's tattered body lay covered in blood and with broken bones. We nursed him, fed him and brought him back to his former self only to learn that he had no memory of any events before having been saved. The shear fact that we knew his name was because of scriptures that Destiny wrote shortly after to officials at the government at the time telling of his reincarnation." Kaleb stopped again to collect his thoughts and to read Demarkos's facial expression.

"Now this boy is our wild card so to speak. Destiny and Leopold would think twice about attacking me with Drake at my side. But if they were to find out that he lacks all of his prior memory it would be advantageous to them to attack on a whim. That is why I have recalled you from your assignment so early General. You are to take Drake with you and teach him how to fight, how to kill. You are to rekindle the fire that has faded from his ashen eyes." He recalled the day he met the boy, how frightened he had seemed.

"Also as a side mission General Ashbringer, you are to search out for his descendant. Ironically we go by the same first name but different last. His name is Kaleb Kelrock, and from the bio my spies gave me he isn't even a tenth of the strength of Drake. A weakling by any standards. You are to bring him here by force if necessary. This mission is only secondary and if you have other prior engagements please so to them first." Kaleb finished to allow Demarkos to speak.

OOC: Hope you don't mind me butting in, just want to get Ryden into things, after all he is supposed to be a general :)

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Ryden walked out onto the command bridge yawning and scratching his head, he looked a little annoyed and half asleep but the tiredness disappeared from his eyes when he realised Kaleb wasn't on the bridge. He smiled to himself slightly then began to walk over the commanding officer on the other side of the bridge. As he did so he passed numerous control panels, giving each a quick glance, when he walked past the biggest most important looking one he casually flicked out his arm and pulled his hand across the controls, flicking a few switches randomly and turning a few dials. The ship began to rock violently as it's stabilizing thrusters attempted to fire in 6 different directions simultaneously and 2 of the engines to start running backwards at different speeds. Ryden wasn't even phased by the small chaos he single handedly caused and kept on walking towards the commanding officers as if nothing was wrong while several worried looking crew members scrambled desperately to the controls to try to stop the ship from falling out of the sky.

"Could you tell me where I can find Kaleb?" asked Ryden as the crew finally managed to stabilize the ship. "I believe that Lord Kaleb is currently talking to one of the other generals in the briefing room, sir." Ryden nodded and then turned towards one of the side exits of the bridge and approached the room that the officer was referring to. He arrived just in time to hear Kaleb recite the story of Drake, who apparently was the little boy standing next to him. He listened intently, leaning against the door frame, then as the tale was finished he wondered into the room. He gave the boy a small poke in the shoulder then turned to Kaleb. "So this kid is supposed to be some kind of hero? I dunno man, he doesn't look so tough to me."

Demarkos listened to Lord Zaleran's tale; it was a truly amazing thing, at that. Coming from another mouth, he might have deemed it lies, but from Kaleb Zaleran himself...

He was snapped back into reality when Lord Zaleran continued to speak, now issuing Demarkos orders; he was to train this boy into the killing machine he ought to be-a somewhat daunting task, at that. For this boy Drake could undoubtedly kill him with no more than a flick of his fingers, if he so desired. His second task just struck him as odd. Who was this Kaleb Kelrock...and what did he have to do with anything?

"So this kid is supposed to be some kind of hero? I dunno man, he doesn't look so tough to me." Demarkos looked up; he hadn't heard another person enter the room-to lost in his thoughts, he had been. He gave the man a nod, recognizing him as one of the other generals for the Zaleran Army. Demarkos waited for Lord Zaleran to give the man his answer, then voiced his own questions.

"Lord Zaleran, I believe I can begin this boy's training almost immediatly-while Akara was buried by lava, I am sure there are a number of demons who managed to escape the city, or others who happened to be on the outskirts. I'm sure I'll be able to round some up and give Drake here a few lessons or two. After Akara, unless we have any other immediate matters to attend to, I'd like to begin personally training the Zaleran Army mages. In due time I will seek out this Kaleb Kelrock...but tell me, my lord, of what significance is he? If you are unable to answer that, or if that information is private, by all means withhold this information...but I'd like to know."

Kaleb face shot up as General Ryden entered the room. "Ahh good, I am glad to see your back from your assignment. I take it you encountered no problems." Ryden shoved Drake some on his way towards the table obviously letting it be known that he wasn't afraid of the boy. In all likely hood Ryden was Kalebs most powerful general. He commanded twenty five legions of well trained psychics.

He may act arrogant and cocky sometimes but his resolve and battle tactics were unrivaled. His power has been rumored to rival that of the mage Destiny and even that of the alchemist Leopold.

"General Ashbringer, this is General Ryden. Commander of the Psychic Corps and my personal adviser when it comes to large scale incursions. If you ever need anything you let him know and he will promptly take care of it. Although all organizations have spies this is one person, as well as the other Generals, that you can trust completely. I have hand selected everyone of them and they act as my personal body guards. They would give their life for me and I for theirs." Kaleb finished just as Demarkos began to speak.

"Lord Zaleran, I believe I can begin this boy's training almost immediately-while Akara was buried by lava, I am sure there are a number of demons who managed to escape the city, or others who happened to be on the outskirts. I'm sure I'll be able to round some up and give Drake here a few lessons or two. After Akara, unless we have any other immediate matters to attend to, I'd like to begin personally training the Zaleran Army mages. In due time I will seek out this Kaleb Kelrock...but tell me, my lord, of what significance is he? If you are unable to answer that, or if that information is private, by all means withhold this information...but I'd like to know." Demarkos finished abruptly obviously very curious about this subject.

"General Ashbringer, when you find this Kaleb of Kelrock, this descendant of Drake." He paused to sip his tea, this time finishing it off. "When you find him, kill him. We cannot allow any of this boys bloodline to continue on. The threat is too great."

Kaleb turned to Ryden, "General Ryden, you will accompany General Ashbringer to Akara. There you will both guard and train the boy. Ryden this is only a secondary task for you, your primary being the search for clues on where Oldatoro might be and where we might find the next gem. Both of you are to leave immediately, if you find yourselves in a dire situation send for reinforcements and you will have them. Dismissed." Kaleb stood up and walked out the door leaving the others to their mission.

He felt the wind break against his cheek, he then knew what he must do. He slowly walked away from Darshia and the man and began to make his way across the boarded walk. He could now see the airship that Kaleb Zaleran would inevitably would be on, he concentrated hard on this ship.

He began to gather the Arcane Energy around him, within him and drag it all into one short burst. He wanted to teleport onto the ship of Kaleb Zaleran and apply to be part of his own army, since word had spread about Leopold's ordeal Dace thought he would go on the other side.

He muttered the word teleport and he felt his body move, very swiftly in fact. He felt a pull behind his navel and he felt himself teleport through thin air onto the ship of Kaleb Zaleran. Unluckily, Dace had teleported right next too two of The Emperors Guards, then took him by both arms and then stood him in front of the Emperor. "What shall we do with him, he just teleported onto the ship?" asked one of the guards. Dace felt fear touch him for the first time his life.

OOC: Dace, don't control my guards cause I consider them to be my npcs. They wouldn't have taken you straight to me rather the brig.

OOC:

Two teleports onto his ship in one day, all three of them unknown to him. Kaleb sighed while scratching his head. "Throw him in with the two Sash members that we caught earlier. Interogate him until he gives us all information about the ware abouts of the sash and Leopolds forces. Also try and dig up some information on the Aesir, they are gaining power quickly."

Kaleb then looked at both his guards, "Both of you will report to your superior officers immediately after you place this guy in the brig. Each of you will be demoted one rank for not following procedure and wasting my time."

The guards carried him away and Kaleb fell back in his chair to finish reading his book.

Down the hall the guards muttered between themselves as they carried Dace. They knew better than to waste the time of the Emperor, they should have stuck to procedure and thrown him in the brig and await orders.

Upon arriving at the brig they through Dace inside without showing any remorse. A shielded barrier quickly errected itself, it was one made of magic. The guards turned around with their backs to Dace and waited for their superior to show up.

Ryden nodded to Kalebs commands, he had expected to be given orders in order to find the demon lords, they were their first priority after all. He was about to turn and leave as the two guards dragged in someone who had apparently managed to teleport himself into the ship. He shook his head, he had recommend erecting an anti-teleport barrier around the ship but each time it was refused as too disruptive to the movement of army. Maybe now Kaleb will see himself that such a barrier would be useful, it would certainly reduce these unwanted interruptions.

As the man was dragged away Ryden turned to Kaleb "With your permission I would like to interrogate this newcomer, he may have some useful information about the Demon Lords that could speed up my search for them."

"Throw him in with the two Sash members that we caught earlier. Interrogate him until he gives us all information about the ware abouts of the sash and Leopolds forces. Also try and dig up some information on the Aesir, they are gaining power quickly." said Kaleb Zaleran, the malicious Emperor.

"I will never tell you anything" Dace murmured as the guards took him out of the room.

The two guards gripped him under both arms, wrapping their hands around them so escape would be a miracle for Dace. He knew now that an Anti-Teleport barrier would be erecting to stop being teleporting into this ship. Closing his eyes he slowly sighed, he was then smashed into the air, his face slamming into the metal ground of the brig. He slowly looked up, the two guards were waiting at the door to the brig, their backs turned as if waiting for someone.

Turning around he looked around and saw the two sash members that Kaleb had been talking about. His lips curved into a grin, then into concentration alongside with his face. He needed to think of a plan, a way to ensure these Sash Members would not blurt anything out when Kaleb, or the Interrogator, began to use his mind tricks on them. Turning to both of the Sash members Dace looked at them both, "Don't you dare blurt anything out, alright! I will do all the talking, ok!" said Dace, his voice low and dangerous.

He wanted to get out of here alive, he also wanted to apply to be a General of Kaleb Zaleran's army. He was sick and tired of Darius and Leopold leading him, he was sick and tired of being shunted and yelled at for no reason. Darius and Leopold were just big bullies, watching their prey and feeding off their fear. When he was stronger, he swore he would take on Leopold and kill him himself!

Kaleb looked at Ryden then at the intruder. He knew what he was going to say before he did. "I know old friend, but its just so damn inconvenient, and who do you think is stupid enough to teleport onto a ship that has two of the three most powerful warriors on it. Then again...." The guards turned the corner dragging him away.

"With your permission I would like to interrogate this newcomer, he may have some useful information about the Demon Lords that could speed up my search for them." Ryden said with such prose that it almost sounded like fun to him.

Kaleb nodded, "Thats fine General, use any means necessary. Use all indiscriminate techniques at your disposal. I want the locations of their bases, and I want it yesterday." He paused to take in a thought then motioned back to Ryden.

"You seem to be very enthused about this Demon Lord ordeal. Although I am aware that you are growing more powerful daily can confronting one of them satisfy your thirst? Very well then, as of now you are no longer assigned to General Ashbringer and Lieutenant Remus. After the interrogation your new orders are to bring in either one of the primary leaders in one of the organizations opposed to us or capture a demon lord alive. With your abilities it should be not be too hard. We will have a staging area set up for your arrival once you have returned." Kaleb turned and walked out the room to take a short nap. Too much trouble in one day.

Ryden thought for a moment, the idea of capturing one of the Demon Lords alive had not occurred to him, everyone was trying to kill them and even that proved to be difficult, attempting to capture on alive was beyond suicide. Ryden smiled slightly, yes, it may not be a bad idea after all, while the gems were priority the Demon Lords themselves were not without worth, they may have a few secrets of their own that could be harnessed. "As you wish, I will find out all I can and attempt to capture one of these Demons alive, they may be useful for other purposes then just the gem they hold. I can capture one of Sash leaders as well if you so wish, however I fear that they may not have much to tell us. It seems Leopold is the only one in the know and he seems like a slippery character at best so he may be difficult to get hold of. Still, I shall try to get what I can from this newcomer, maybe he has some useful information we can use."

He then turned and left the room and made his way down into the brig where the two 3 prisoners were being kept. He motioned to one of the guards to unlock the door to the cell in which the newcomer had been put. As they did Ryden walked into the cell, glancing around to make sure that the captives had not tried to damage the hold area. Satisfied that everything was in order he turned his gaze to Dace "You. You're coming with me, now." He then walked out of the cell and into one of the small room opposite cells, the interrogation room as it was called. It was a relatively small room with two chairs and a table in the middle, and while the cleaners had done their best to remove the remains of past 'interrogations' there were still some dark coloured blotches here and there on the wall which refused to come off despite vigorous scrubbing.

Ryden closed the door behind them though not bothering to lock it, the prisoner was not going to leave without his permission anyway, he would be sure of that. He then turned to Dace again "First off Lord Kaleb would very much like to find out all that you know about the sash, who are its members, who is its leader, where are the strongholds that it has under its control, where is it's central command station, how times a day you go to the toilet, what the sash eat for breakfast and all your other dirty little secrets. Basically he wants to know everything and then some. I am more interested in other matters so we will deal with what Kaleb wants later. However first thing first. I am General Ryden, you may address me as general or just Ryden, I do not your name so if you would like to divulge that I would much appreciate it."

Kaleb was only five pages from finishing his book when he was yet again interrupted by the Captain. "Come in," Kaleb said with a harsh tone. Today had been a very busy day for him, three hostages and a whole world full of problems.

"What is it Captain," Kaleb said as he put his book down not bothering to mark his place. "Sir, the Demon Lord Achiem has been located." Kaleb stood up and grabbed his cloak. Together they walked down the hall and onto the bridge.

"He is fighting a group just outside of the Deep Forest due north of here. If we leave now we will arrive in two days." The Captain said as he waited for orders. Kaleb needed information, and he needed it bad. Leopolds forces were growing by the minute and posed a great threat to his empire.

"Inform General Ryden that he will be leaving ahead of us to scout the situation and capture Achiem. Set course at full speed, I want us there tonight." Kaleb said as he turned around and exited the bridge. There was no point in finishing his book.

***

A guard walked into the interrogation room with a distraught face. "General Ryden, forgive me for disturbing you. We have located one of the Demon Lords and have changed course in order to meet him. We believe it is Achiem. Lord Zaleran would like you to leave immediately to scout and capture him." The saluted turned then walked out the room.

The supposed General pointed at Dace, then he spoke to him, "You. You're coming with me, now" said the General, his voice smooth and musical. Dace grinned slightly as the General crossed the room and opened a door, he then walked into the 'interrogation' room. Following in suite Dace walked through the door and stared at this room.

Like many interrogation rooms it was small, but unlike some it had some red blotches that looked a lot like blood on the walls. Maybe they were going to question him, then kill him slowly and painfully, maybe they would just let him go and the blotches were tomato sauce. He grinned slightly again as he put on an act and slammed into the right metal chair, the one with the most blotches on it. He supposed this was his chair because it had the most blood on it? The other seat had one blotch and that was on the leg of the chair.

The General slammed the door shut behind him, also putting on the act of the hard-ass interrogator. Wiping the smirk from his face the General looked at him, his eyes looking him all over as if searching him.

"First off Lord Kaleb would very much like to find out all that you know about the sash, who are its members, who is its leader, where are the strongholds that it has under its control, where is it's central command station, how times a day you go to the toilet, what the sash eat for breakfast and all your other dirty little secrets. Basically he wants to know everything and then some. I am more interested in other matters so we will deal with what Kaleb wants later. However first thing first. I am General Ryden, you may address me as general or just Ryden, I do not your name so if you would like to divulge that I would much appreciate it." said the General; Ryden if he had heard correctly.

"Hello, Ryden. My name is Dace" he said in a baby voice, being a cheeky ass dick head "Well the leader of the sash was the man who saved me from Akara, i really should be sending him a banquet of flowers right now, but then i teleported here to ask for a job in this army so nah, i better not. His name is James if i caught if correctly, James-the-Leader-of-the-Golden-Sash. A very long and cumbersome title if i think so myself. I do not know much about the Sash for 'personal reasons', well maybe because i am around 2000 years old. Lets not dwell on that, lets dwell on what you asked of me, Ryden. You seem like a nice guy, can you keep a secret? If you can then i shall tell you that in Akara, Phiem, the demon lord was there. She is pretty powerful, but another figure nearly blew up the whole entire city in one blast. His eyes passed over the city and i felt them press the back of my neck, he also cast a spell that i don't know about. It killed many people in lets say, a mile radius of the man-thing. What is that called? Mr. Ryden."

Ryden considered for a moment what Dace had said, it was certainly a lot more information then he thought he was going to get without any actual interrogations. He was just about to answer when one of the guards burst through the door. "General Ryden, forgive me for disturbing you. We have located one of the Demon Lords and have changed course in order to meet him. We believe it is Achiem. Lord Zaleran would like you to leave immediately to scout and capture him."

Ryden nodded and then turned back to Dace "I'm afraid something has come up and I must leave. You will wait aboard the Leviathan until I get back, we have much to talk about" he then exited the room swiftly. He quickly gathered a couple of the Psychic Lieutenants and made his way to one of the smaller transports ship currently inside the Leviathan's docking bay. They were not fast, nor armed for combat, they were however equipped with transport 'cages' for any captives, which they would most certainly need if Ryden was to capture Achiem. He fired up the 2 psychic powered backup jet engines, the normally wind powered ship would be far faster this way and time seemed to be of the essence.

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OOC: I had a nice post planned out all about casting Evo on the airship so that it could zoom off like a bat out of hell, but recently I haven't had much time to get on and Dace has been on my back to get my ass into gear and post (which is fair enough really) so this will have to do.

OOC: I only asked you to actually post once. The others were just hinting :P well now we have the post up... i better post about Ryden... Commander Ryden leaving the room.
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Feeling the vast pressure in the room drop as a look of hard thinking occurred on Ryden's face, maybe he thought Dace was going to be one of those 'tough guys' and that he was going to have to resort to the worst means possible. Cringing slightly as he imagined himself, up against the wall, a dirk sticking out of his leg or arm. Blood spurted everywhere as Dace was then restraint and smashed down in his chair, then he snapped to reality.

The door opened and someone came in, "General Ryden, forgive me for disturbing you. We have located one of the Demon Lords and have changed course in order to meet him. We believe it is Achiem. Lord Zaleran would like you to leave immediately to scout and capture him." said one of the Guards that had taken him. This was obviously meant for Ryden's ears only, but Dace was clear and did not but in. Shifting slightly in his bloodstained seat his hand slowly gripped the metal table.

The Demon Lords, Phiem was a demon lord and they had just seen her, defeated her, or so they thought. Dace had felt the vast energy of the Demon Lord shift away into the wind, into the army of demons and blending into them. The power had gone away until Dace could not have felt it, only the most potent of magicians could. Ryden crossed the dais of the room and then, "I'm afraid something has come up and I must leave. You will wait aboard the Leviathan until I get back, we have much to talk about" said Ryden, looking directly at Dace.
"It had been a pleasure talking," added Dace "I will stay aboard here just because of my ambitions, and also that i am being held prisoner," he winked "Thank-you for your manners, Ryden."

Grinning the man exited the room, the door shutting and snapping into place against the wall. Dace then suddenly sat up and began to pace the room, his feet slowly clinking against the floor, and his arms folded in a kind of concentration. Turning on his heel just as he got to the other end of the room he then began to pace over and over again, thinking about the guards message. "'We believe it is Achiem'", Achiem was a demon lord for sure. Yet Dace did not even know this Demon Lord, yet he had thought he knew all of the surviving ones.

He knew of Phiem, The Twins and that mysterious demon lord which had nearly destroyed the Leopold Crowley in a second. That Demon Lord was the most powerful, that demon lord would be the last to go down before, well, before something happened. Straightening himself he sat down, awaiting the return of Ryden.