Chapter 10 - Three Friends as One

Chapter 10
Three Friends as One

The three friends ran up the mountain, trying to find an entrance into Aarona. “Roy?” Sierra said, “How did you get into those Crescent Caves?” “Marcus led me there. He’s Aaronan now, so I bet—” “Marcus was AARONAN???” Marth interrupted. “Yeah,” Roy replied, “why?” “If only we had a key or something….” Sierra felt a sensation in her hand, a sharp pain. When she opened it, there lay a small, golden key that had green, red, and blue stones inset at the handle. Roy and Marth were astonished. “How did you do that?” Marth asked her. “I-I don’t know……” Sierra said, looking at the key. “Now, all we need is a door…” Roy said, searching the area. Marth called his friends to a hole in the ground in the shape of a giant keyhole. “Um…how big is that key, Sierra?” Marth asked her. Sierra held it up; it was only two inches in length and a centimeter in height. Roy stared at it and exclaimed, “That’s WAY too small! It could fall in there and we’d probably NEVER find it!” Sierra looked at the key some more, and came to a conclusion. “I think that this isn’t the keyhole that the KEY goes in….there’s a door down there that this key can fit in. That’s probably why it appeared.” “So you’re saying that we’re supposed to jump in the hole?” Marth asked her. Sierra nodded. Roy, being so brave yet so unpredictable, jumped in first. Sierra followed, and Marth after her.

Once they reached the bottom of the hole, they found a door about their size (Marth would have to duck) and a ridiculously small keyhole. Sierra pulled it out, turned the lock, and the door opened. What they saw was not a grand gate like the other cities that they had visited. This apparently was a secret entrance that led right into the Aaronan square. Going through the gate would have been impossible, as it was almost too well hidden underground. “Well, at least we’re here,” Marth said. “I can’t believe Marcus joined Aaronan ranks,” Roy said, “this place is all too creepy for me.” Indeed, the place was creepy. Orange and purple flames lit up the entire square, giving the whole roads an eerie glow. The Aaronan palace loomed over the city, glowing a shade of ghostly purple. “So, are we going to the palace or not?” Sierra said. Marth and Roy nodded, and they set forth to the palace, trying not to be seen.

While they were in the town, a guard saw them. “You three! You’re not of Aaronan heritage! Only Aaronan citizens can come here, unless you joined Ariella’s ranks!” the guard said. Roy became angry at the instant. “Who are you kidding to mess with us?” he said, staring the guard cold. “Do you know what this is?” said the guard, pointing at the tip of his lance. “Do you know what this is?” Roy said, pulling out his glowing sword. The guard stopped, and Roy hastily made his attack. With a loud cry, Roy created an explosion with magic, and the three royals began to run. “Guards! SIEZE THEM! Especially that Pharaean!” the guard cried, and his comerades gave chase. All through the square, Sierra, Marth, and Roy bolted from street corner to corner, hiding behind street lamps to get away from the menacing guards. Several instances did they use magic; Marth created several walls of ice, and Sierra used her power to raise roots to the surface, tripping the guards on several occasions. The three finally stopped at a lamppost. “Hey, I think we lost them…” Roy panted, until he felt a rough yank on his shoulder pad. “Hello, future prisoner…” a guard hissed. This guard was much different. It was bone-skinny, unlike its muscular ally, and wore a black cloak. Darkness shrouded its face, giving it a creepy appearance. Two other guards like this grabbed Sierra and Marth, and they were taken to Ariella’s palace.

“First we fall down a keyhole, and now we get attacked by creepy guards in Aarona. Lovely visit, don’t you think?” Roy said to Sierra, trying to keep a good sense of humor in a clearly intimidating situation. Sierra chuckled a little, and agreed. Once they reached the throne room, Ariella, just the same as before, sat on the massive chaise. Her dress was much different: it was deep black, and markings on her face were also black. She had a different crown, which was basically a tiara inset with a tuscan-red gem. “Well, if it isn’t my least favorite people in the continent, the SMR,” the countess sneered. “I should have known you were basking in wealth all this time,” Sierra said, looking at her nemesis with such rage at what the countess did in the past regarding her “exile.” Marth was silent, and was struggling in the grip of the dark, wraith-like guards. Roy was also silent, but had just as much rage as Sierra, maybe even more, for taking away a part of his family. “Are you not going to fight?” Ariella said again, “are you just going to let your simple quest be shattered by the likes of me? That’s fine with me if you so wish…” That had blown Sierra’s last nerve. “I’VE HAD IT!!!” She used vines to wrap around the guard’s skeletal hands and broke free. Marth froze the guard’s hands, and Roy set fire to one of their cloaks.

After the guards were sent running for their lives, Sierra, Marth, and Roy stood in battle stance. “I don’t care what you say,” Sierra said, “we’re fighting you, and we’re winning!” Ariella simply chuckled. “Did you expect an easy win? I think not!” With that, the countess snapped her fingers. The whole throne room began to change, expanding and revealing more floorspace. The chaise disappeared, and Ariella’s outfit changed. It was a knee-length black skirt, a tuscan-red chainmail top, and brown boots. Her hair was in her usual braid, and her tiara changed to the normal crown she usually wore. A sword appeared in her hand; the countess was ready for the ultimate battle. “Ready?” Said Marth. “GO!!!” Roy exclaimed, and he charged at her in full speed. Ariella blocked his attack, and sent one of her own at Marth, who swiftly countered. Sierra charged at Ariella, but was blocked. Roy set his hand ablaze and cried “PYRRUS!” burning the ground in a trail towards the countess. Marth used this opportunity to change the fire to ice, and send icy shards at his opposition. Sierra used earth magic to send more vines to tie Ariella’s feet down, but the countess dodged her move.

The battle went on like this for a while, until Ariella cried, “Evil three that aren’t evil at all, set them flying against the wall!” and the three hurdled towards the back of the room, crashing onto the hard wooden floor. Sierra had a scratch on her face, Marth had scratches all over his arms, and Roy had a bruise on his elbow. “Give up now?” Before Sierra could answer, she felt a power so great, that she got up and earth power was surrounding her. Roy and Marth had similar happenings: Marth had a whirlpool of water around him, and Roy had an inferno of flame at his fingers. This was the final battle with Ariella, and they were going to set things straight. “You have no idea the power you’re dealing with…” Sierra said, eyes glowing bright green. “You have messed with us for far too long…” said Marth, eyes glowing a pale blue. “Now….you’re going DOWN!” Roy said, eyes glowing firey orange. At that, the three royals kneeled to the ground, and released huge spheres of fire, earth, and water magic the size of medium-sized dragons hurdling at Ariella. “This…is bad…” Ariella said as she was struck by the magic.

Suddenly, the landscape around the three changed. Instead of eerie glows, beautiful flowers covered the city. All signs of darkness—shadow guards, dark city streets—had been swept away by beautiful grass, flora and fauna. The flowers, however, were red and black, keeping Aarona from being a completely peaceful place. Any force of evil, however, was gone.

The SMR had finally won.
Ariella looked at the new Aarona in disgust. “REVERT! Revert I say!” she cried, but no magic escaped from her palms. “Can I at least have an Ereshikal?” No sign of magic whatsoever was in Ariella’s body. As for the SMR, they couldn’t believe their eyes. They had all three unleashed a magic that took away Ariella’s magical power.
Then, as if the day couldn’t have gotten any better, Marcus appeared out of nowhere. “COUSIN!!!” Roy cried. “Yes, Roy…” Marcus said, picking up two flowers, “I am now Count of Aarona.” “WHAAAAT??!?!?!?” Ariella cried. “How is that possible? You were only my slave, not my prince!” “Take this fiend to the prison. I want nothing to do with the former dark countess.” With that, guards dressed in red and black like Marcus took her away. “YOU WILL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS, SMR!!! YOU SHALL PAY!!!” screamed Ariella as she was being escorted to the prison.

“So you’re not evil, huh?” Sierra asked Marcus before his coronation. “Yep…I’m so sorry for the way I treated you in the past…would you forgive me, princess?” Marcus asked her. In shock, Sierra just stared at him, then she finally said, “Sure! I mean….I forgive you.”

* * *

“THAT WAS AWESOME!!!” said Roy, clapping his hands. Marth was also happy and said, “I definitely agree with you! Lets sing!” They started singing something that went like this…


SMR, SMR,
Here we are, the SMR,
Here we come, three friends as one,
That saved the world.

Here is Sierra
Sierra of Jarus
How magical was she…
She uses earth to conquer all evil
The magic of the three.

Here is Marth
Marth of Altea
How vast in wisdom was he…
He used the ice so evil’d think twice
The speed of the three

Here is Roy
Roy of Pharae
How vast in power was he
He uses fire to put evil on the wire
The muscle of the three


After their singing, they came to a beautiful palace, gold and green. “Guys,” Sierra said, “Welcome to Jarus!”

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