Magic Stones
Originally published on December 15th, 2012 by Dimitri Bouniol. #FNADNST
Continuation of Hidden Power, originally published on December 7th, 2012.
Danny could hear the soothing sound waves crashing into one another outside.
He opened his eyes to find himself this time in a bed belonging to a small cottage.
Looking around, he saw a window near the bed that over saw a beautiful beach.
Turning his head the other way, he saw a sleeping Diana in a chair.
He thought to himself that it must still be morning, but also wondered how he ended up there.
The scenes from his previous fight flashed before his eyes, but it felt more like he was watching movie at the time.
Actually, he distinctly remembering that he had no control of his body, it was almost as if he was a puppet controlled by something else.
Suddenly, Diana jumped from he chair, dropping the bottle that her finders were calmly caressing just moments earlier.
Taking a moment to register the situation, she showed a huge smile and said "You finally woke up!"
"You've been sleeping for a few days there," she continued. "I was wondering if you'd ever wake up after that performance!"
Concerned, Danny yelled out: "That wasn't me! … I'm not too sure myself, but it felt like someone else was controlling my body then…"
After a short pause, Diana said with a more serious expression "That was most likely due to that jewel you have in your forehead…"
Upon hearing this, Danny immediately placed his hand to feel the stone. She continued "Just how did you get that stone? Not many know it exists, but those who do search for it as the greatest treasure in existence."
"Although some say that it has a mind of its own, I believe its function is more closely related to its name…"
"The stone of Awakening, right?" Danny interrupted.
When I just got here, I had found it embedded in a talking tree, but after some bad guys attacked us, I woke up with it in my own head…" Danny continued.
Unable to contain it, she burst out laughing at the situation Danny just explained.
To have had such luck finding it immediately while she had searched for it her whole lifetime, she just couldn't keep a straight face.
Danny frowned a bit as she laughed, so she explained why.
He felt a bit better afterwards.
"That stone grants it's user great power, usually in a way that they didn't have before or deeply wanted."
"In the case of that tree, it was given the freedom to talk and move."
"That no one found it until today is truly surprising. Maybe it was…"
"Wind," Danny cut her off again.
The thought immediately came to his mind, something that he always longed to be like.
For Danny, the wind was something that was so free, unaffected by anything around it.
If a wall stood before it, then it would simply blow it down.
The wind was that freedom that he had always wanted…
Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Diana comforted Danny: "I wouldn't worry too much about what happened."
"I've heard stories of people possessed by the stone before, but they all sounded like they simply followed their own desires more truthfully."
"If you are a nice person, I don't think you'll ever come to hurt anyone you care about through your power."
Feeling like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders, Danny smiled in relief.
Suddenly, he asked her who exactly those guys who attacked them were.
Diana explained to Danny who the Cross of the Bloody Saints were, and what their purpose was.
"To take over the lands and impoverish everyone!?" Danny yelled in surprise.
"Yes," she replied. "And to attain that goal, they were after my amulets."
"You see here?" she continued. "These magic jewels embedded in these amulets hold great power not unlike that of the stone of Awakening."
"With these, they could easily take over the lands. Mine are especially powerful, personally collected by me!"
"Though he came way too quickly last time for me to react in time, I'm actually quite strong!" she said embarrassingly.
Danny laughed at her remark. She smiled as well.
"I hope to collect enough of them so I can take on that group of thieves, but I'm no where near that goal just yet…" she said with a soft laugh, but Danny could sense a deep hatred deep down.
Not only her father, but her whole kingdom was destroyed by the Cross of the Bloody Saints.
She was just a girl back then, but she could still remember the screaming as she hid in a corner of the palace, trying to keep the sound of her crying from mouth.
The scene was a truly horrific one, bathed in fire and blood.
When she finally came out of hiding, it felt as if there was no one else left alive.
Of course, slowly people came out of hiding, but the survivors represented just a small fraction of the population.
She swore that she would never forgive them for what they did, but at the same time she realized there was nothing she could do.
Diana later took residence with some of the attendants that survived, and continued to live her life in this forsaken city.
But as she tried to find more and more ways to kill time, she wandered ever corner of the palace.
And eventually, she found a small hidden room full of hidden books.
She was fascinated by the stories they told, of humans attaining magical powers through special stones.
How the one with the stone of Awakening, or the Philosopher's stone, the Sorcerer's stone, and a variety of other names it sometimes had, had always come out as the most powerful with a power that perfectly suited them.
However, the stories of the fire masters simply reminded her of that night.
It was at that point when she realized that they were not simply stories, but tales of actual events.
So with this immense amount of knowledge, she left the palace following the clue that were left over by some of the stories.
For the first several locations she checked, she found nothing at all.
But eventually she found a beautiful pearl shaped stone, blue in color, that immediately started shining when she touched it.
She was so happy at that moment, and continued to fins more such stones.
After the 20th one, both her arms and legs were full of bracelets from her palace retrofitted with the stones.
And she was finally getting close to finding the stone of Awakening when she met Danny.
To think that she actually found it so easily, she started laughing inside again.
Suddenly, Danny said "How can I learn to use this stone properly? Can I get stronger with my own power?"
Surprised by the sudden question, Diana was speechless.
Danny continued: "If I get stronger, I can help you defeat them, right? I don't know what they did, but to have such violent ways just isn't right…"
Diana responded with a sharp smile on her face. "Hoo~ What if I'm just as bad as them? Are you OK helping such a selfish young woman?"
Danny smiled back and said "I trust you! I don't know why, but I just feel like I can. Besides, I have no clue where I came from or how to get back…"
Sensing the tense atmosphere approaching, she quickly said to herself: "… If it's with you, I might just be able to do it…"
She went on to explain "First, you must understand how to use your stone. Follow me outside."
Danny quickly got up from out of the bed, feeling as light as ever, and followed her outside.
Standing a few meters aware from each other, he could hear the crashing waves even more clearly now.
Having a better look at the scenery, he noticed that the cabin was at the base of a huge cliff, and curiously enough, it was build inside the cliff itself.
Unsure if it was for camouflage, he turned around to Diana to ask, but she quickly interrupted.
"Listen carefully!" she yelled over to him.
"These stones react to the image you have in your head."
"In a way, that image acts like a command to the stone itself, and tells it how to behave."
"After that, your imagination is your limit!" she said with a wide smirk across her face.
She suddenly lifted her left hard high above her head, and a small blue stone around her wrist started shining brightly.
Suddenly, Danny felt a huge shadow oncoming, but when he looked up, he found something much more surprising.
The sea water was forming into a violent typhoon just above their heads.
And without a moment's notice, she yelled "Try to block this!"
The amassed water came down onto Danny immediately, and he started to panic in desperation.
Almost instinctually, he put up his arms and hid behind them, erecting a protective sphere around him.
Not waiting for a moment, Diana continued her attack.
This time, she lifted her right arm, and this time another stone of a much colder blue shown brightly.
This time, the water in the air started freezing instantly, and came down on Danny in the form of huge spikes one after another.
This time his shield stood no chance at blocking them.
However, Diana's attack just grazed him.
With her point proven, when walked over to give Danny a hand standing up.
She explained: "The more your image reflects what the stone is capable of, the more powerful the attack will be."
"First, we need to find out what kind of mental images will be most compatible with your newfound power, but it will take a while."
"…"
"… can you send that last one at me one more time?" Danny said confidently.
Somehow pleased to get to show off her power one more time, Diana jumped back to enlarge the distance.
She raised her left arm one more time to accumulate water in the air above them, then lifted her right arm turning the water into huge spikes made of ice.
With one swing of her arm, them came crashing down.
Danny lifted his arms one more time, but as the spike started to enter the boundary, he began to concentrate everything on it instead of the entire area around him.
The spike immediately came to a stop, but he wasn't done quite yet.
He started to think of the act of all the weight his wind had.
With loud cracks that thundered through the beach, the spike of ice started to get crushed and compacted into a much slender rod shape.
It became a spear, almost perfectly shaped.
With a small gust of wind, he flipped it into he hands, and with a huge grin on his face, he exclaimed "Don't tell me that's all you got!"
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