Chapter 6: Hypnock and the Time-Traveling Girl

The next morning comes too quickly. We are all still tired from the challenges in the mansion last night. Knowing we still have a world to save, we all groggily got out of our beds. We got our gear together, went to the Shop and used our discount to buy supplies, and headed out of Gora. Our next destination is Hora, which is in the northernmost part of Moneo. Since we didn't feel like walking all the way there, we used the Bora Gem to warp as close as we could. Jennifer suggested we visit her family again, let them know she was okay. When we walked in, her parents were very happy to see her. She introduced her new friends: Helen, Stan, and Chris. They offered Stan a pair of pants, but he wouldn't take them. He said he was fine how he is. They offered to have us stay the day, but we told them we had to get going. As we left, they gave me a shield to use, and told me to use it to protect Jennifer. Jennifer yelled out, "I don't need protection from him!" I accepted the gift anyway and we continued on our quest.

Andrew and Chris seemed to know where to go, so we just followed them the rest of the way. Again, we passed by Vora's Volcano and, every time we do, I hope it doesn't erupt. I suppose we could go there, or the next closest town, Xora, but our destination was Hora. When the town came within earshot, we heard lots of screaming and saw smoke coming from the town. We all rushed into town to see the townsfolk running and screaming in a panic. Houses were on fire, the citizens were attacking each other, and this town was pure chaos! We all tried to calm everyone down and fight off the ones that were attacking. This one pink-haired girl was doing her best to calm the people as well. When me and her bumped backs, we turned to each other. She had an outfit of so many colors it looked like a rainbow threw up on her. When she saw me, though, all she said was,

"You?" I stared at her, confused.

"Have we met before?" I asked her. She stared at me, somewhat angrily.

"...You... you'd better have a good reason for leaving my town behind!" she screamed.

"What?!" was my response. She started swinging her staff around at me, getting a few hits in before I started blocking with my shield. "What do you mean? I never met you before!"

"Stop acting dumb!" she screamed. "What possible reason could you have for abandoning my hometown when we needed you the most, Kyle?"

"Kyle? Again?" I continued blocking her hits. "Do I really look that much like my ancestor?"

"Ancestor?" she asked. Now she had a slightly confused look on her face. "St...stop trying to confuse me! You're here with Merlina, too! What do you have to say about that?" She pointed to Helen. Helen was still fending off the other attackers with the rest of the team.

"Helen? Listen, I think you're terribly confused here. We can help you!" Then the girl let out a loud gasp as she dropped to the floor. Andrew was standing behind her.

"You alright, Stephan?" he asked me. Looking around, I saw that most of the fighting had stopped. None of us knew any Water Magic, so everyone else was finding other ways to douse the fires, like with hoses or water buckets. Then I turned my attention back to the pink-haired, rainbow-colored girl. Looking at her closer, I saw parts of her skin were missing. You could see her skull, though the rest of her was covered up.

"She called me Kyle and Helen Merlina," I said to Andrew. "I wonder what happened to her," Andrew and I helped the girl up and walked up to Hora's house. He let us in and we sat the girl down on his couch. Letting her rest, we asked Hora what had happened here.

"It was all because of that clock!" Hora said. "We hypnotized everyone and told them to attack the town,"

"Hypnock?" Jennifer yelled out. "What's he doing here?"

"Does he still think we're trespassing?" Andrew wandered. Then we heard the girl moan and we turned to her. When she opened her eyes, she jumped up.

"What's going on here?" she yelled. "Why did you choose now to return?"

"I don't know what happened to you to make you think I'm Kyle, but my name is Stephan. Who you think is Merlina is my cousin, Helen." I tried to explain.

"You think I'm Merlina?" Helen said.

"Stephan? And Helen?" The girl looked like she was trying to process all this.

"What is your name?" I asked her.

"...It's Sobie," she answered. "You said you were Kyle's descendant. Tell me what year this is."

"It's 2008," I answered. "And trust me; you're not the first one we gave that answer to." Sobie sat back down on the couch.

"You mind sharing what happened to you, Sobie?" Andrew asked. "And why you think Kyle and Merlina abandoned you?"

"They did abandon me!" Sobie yelled, jumping back up. "They abandoned all of us! Hora knows!" Hora just shrugged. "...Unless you are a different Hora." She sat back down, holding her head. "The year I came from, 1030, there was a big fight going on. We asked for Kyle and Merlina's help, but they didn't answer. Pretty soon, the entire town was decimated and... I can't remember much more after that..."

"Well, if you're over 900 years in future, no doubt Exitilus is the cause of it!" Hora jumped in. "I say you guys go and fight this Hypnock creature and get back my Gem from him!"

"He took your Gem?" Stan asked. "You Guardians do a lousy job of guarding."

"It was chaos here, kilt man!" Jennifer laughed at that. "I was trying to calm the people down. He took it in the confusion."

"We'll get your Gem back," Helen said. "Sobie, would you like to come with us?"

"You want me to join? Why?"

"One, we could use your skills. Two; you probably want to find out why you're here. And three; so Stephan and I can learn more about our ancestors,"

"I don't know much," Sobie said. "I've only seen them once and the other times, I've seen them on pictures. But I know about Exitilus!" Sobie jumped back up. "If he's back, I'll join you. He'd better have a good reason for bringing me here!"

"Okay!" Helen cheered.

"Quick question, though," Chris asked. "Why are you wearing so many colors?"

"When I arrived here, I didn't have anything on," Sobie explained. "I just took what I could off of the unconscious people. As for the lack of color coordination: I'm color-blind." She headed for the door. "Now, are we going to go get Hypnock and Exitilus or stand here and keep questioning me?" and she left.

"I like this one," Stan said. "She's feisty!"

"Good luck, fellas!" Hora yelled out as we were leaving. I gave a wave back and we ran to catch up with Sobie, who was headed to the building up north.

"This building serves as the headquarters of the people Hypnock hypnotized," Sobie said. As we tried to walk in, we were stopped by two Guards.

"Halt!" they yelled. "You are not permitted entry! Go back now!"

"Sorry," Jennifer said. "We need to speak to Hypnock."

"Hypnock is not to be disturbed," one guard said. "Now leave!"

"Listen to me, Hypnock has brainwashed all of you!" I tried to explain to them, but they wouldn't have it.

"If you will not go willingly, then maybe you'll go forcefully," They readied their weapons and we did the same. Then there was a loud clang and the guards fell. Sobie had snuck up behind them and knocked them out.

"You coming or what?" she asked. We lowered our weapons and continued inside.

The headquarters were built like a fortress. Guards were all over the place and we tried our best to stay out of sight, though with seven people in our group, it was a little difficult. Chris tried to possess one of the guards, but it didn't work. It seemed like their brains were locked. We made it up to the second floor and entered a door. We were blinded by a bright light followed by a siren. It was a searchlight! Guards immediately surrounded us and took us down to the lower levels. They threw us into jail-like cells and took our weapons as well. We were split into three cells: Me, Sobie, and Chris in one, Stan, Jennifer, and Helen in another, and Andrew was on his own. Sobie instantly tried to look for a way out, but failed. After about ten minutes, everything was quiet. To make matters worse, they turned off the lights.

"Again?! Really?!" Jennifer yelled out. Helen started crying and Jennifer and Stan tried to calm her down. I couldn't tell what Andrew was doing; he seemed to be quiet the entire time. I decided to lighten the mood a little.

"It looks like we could be in here for a while," I said. "Why don't we get to know each other a little more?" There was some silence. "I'll start. I grew up in the town of Fora with Andrew. Him and I were good friends growing up. I was raised by my grandfather, Fora."

"Where were your parents?" Sobie asked.

"Um, they disappeared when I was young. I never really knew them. When I asked grandpa what he knew, he would tell me some things, but never what I want to know. I don't even know their names."

"That's tough, kid," Sobie said. "Sorry to hear that."

"When I heard that Exitilus was back from the Silver Knight we fought back in Fora, I wanted to see what I could do. I never used a sword or shield until this journey. What about you Sobie?"

"Um... well, I grew up here with my parents and my sister. My parents were Max and Katrina and my sister's name was Miney. I wonder what happened to them..." she fell silent for a bit. "You already know I'm color-blind, but I also hate violence."

"We all do," I said. "Well, except Stan. He's a mercenary."

"Hey, you mind letting me tell my story?" Stan asked.

"Growing up, I've been told I have the deepest blue hair they had ever seen," Sobie continued. Chris snorted. "What?"

"Your hair's pink," Chris said.

"Um, no. I'm pretty sure it's blue. My parents told me. They wouldn't lie to me, would they?" Chris said no then asked,

"Why are parts of your skin missing?"

"I didn't know at first, but then you told me I time-traveled by Exitilus's powers. Maybe my skin fell off in the process? Anyway, that's all from me. Your turn." Sobie pointed to Chris. Though we couldn't see each other, he got the idea.

"My name's Chris, since I didn't introduce myself earlier," he started. "I was born and grew up in the Land of Shadurn, which is directly north of here."

"You're from Shadurn?" I asked. Then I yelled over to Andrew, "Isn't that were Hypnock's from?" I heard what sounded like an affirmative grunt. "What are you doing over there, anyway?"

"Looking for a way out," Andrew said. "Please continue, Chris."

"Right," Chris resumed. "As time went on, I found myself in the midst of an adventure. I helped a young creature rescue his parents."

"Really?" Jennifer asked. "So this isn't your first adventure?"

"Oh, I've had many adventures," Chris continued. "They just weren't nearly as exciting as my first one and this one. That adventure is where I found my Possession Gems, which have been taken by the guards. Anyway, after that adventure, I sort of free-lanced. I did whatever I could get a job doing, be it construction, house-sitting, even dancing."

"You dance?" Stan laughed. "That'd be a sight to see!"

"I'm not too good now, but the ladies loved me back then! Eventually, I came under employment of the Royal Land of Telbed family for a while, doing their dirty work. My cloak is enchanted to prevent possessing, which everyone but Sobie knows. That was done by a beautiful sorceress back in Lenge. I wonder how she's doing."

"You've had a lot of girlfriends, haven't ya'?" Stan asked.

"You could say that," Chris answered. "At one point when I was in Shadurn, I became friends with a couple and eventually became a godfather, though. So, though I'm not married, I did have a child of sorts. That child moved to the land of Andrabax and I haven't seen her since. Oh, well. Your turn, buff guy."

"Uh-huh," Stan grunted. "My name's Stan, Sobie. I'm a mercenary that hails from the town of Norende on the continent of Luxendarc. There, me and my brother, Bill, were paid to get rid of monsters and brigands that were attacking nearby villages. I was out alone one day and found some form of portal. I stepped in, wondering where it went. Next thing I knew, Stephan runs into me."

"How much did Stephan pay you to join?" Chris teased.

"Only 50 Sers, but I've run into some more by getting rid of monsters and brigands here. I now have... Oy, they took my money, too!" Stan yelled out. "I needed that! It could be worth much more back in Norende."

"You could've used it to buy pants," Jennifer said.

"Why do you continue to bring that up?" Stan asked. "We're in a much bigger problem here, missy. These brainwashed minions stole my money!"

"And our weapons," Sobie said. "Remember?"

"Yeah..." Stan faded. "I wonder how Bill's doin'." There was some silence for a time. Then Jennifer spoke.

"My name's Jennifer. I protect the town of Bora from monsters. Aside from the quest I'm doing with Stephan, I'm also looking for my sister, Nichole. I hate the cold and, since we arrived in Eora, I'm not too fond of the dark, either. Back in Bora, I helped Stephan and Andrew fight off Hypnock, which is our current enemy right now. I taught myself how to use a bow and have been focusing on finding my sister and defeating Exitilus. Yeah... That's it for me. Your turn, Helen."

"Okay, um... well, I'm Helen. I'm Stephan's cousin, though I grew up in Dora. I never knew my parents, either. I was given to Dora to be taken care of." Stephan remained silent. "I'm pretty good with a whip but I can't do much else. Um, I've been told I get scared easily and I'm very uncertain of what to do most of the time." Helen was quiet for a minute. "Uh, yeah. That's about it. How about you, Andrew?"

"Well, I used to travel a lot, but when me and my parents settled in Fora, we sort of stopped. I went on an occasional trip here and there, but nothing too big. When I met Stephan, I kinda helped Fora watch over him. I heard about what had happened and I wanted to help."

"You heard about what happened to my parents?" Stephan asked.

"Well, not really. I overheard the person that dropped you off talk to Fora, but I didn't hear much of it."

"Do you remember who...?" I was stopped by sounds of groaning and yelling outside the cells. The door opened and we heard footsteps coming toward us. Then we heard weapons clanging to the floor.

"Heard you guys could use a hand," the voice said. When the lights turned on, we saw the red-bandaged, Mysterious Man, though he looked different than last time.

"How did you know we were here?" I asked.

"You hear a lot of things when you travel," He waved his hand and the cell gates opened. "Well, what are you doing here? Don't you have a world to save?" We grabbed our weapons and items and started thanking the mysterious man as we headed out.

"Aren't you going to come with us?" I asked.

"I'm helping every way I can," he said. "And, though you are my reason for being here, I must continue with my own quest." After he said that, he waved good-bye and vanished. That man's a mystery, I thought. I wonder what quest he's on. I ran to catch up with the rest of the team.

The fortress was now completely empty, thanks to the Mysterious Man's involvement. The searchlights were turned off and we were free to continue. We hurried to the top floor, trying to make up for the lost time we spent in jail. As we were running, I kept thinking about what secrets Andrew was keeping from me. Does he remember what the person that dropped me off look like? And what does he know about my parent's death? When we reached the top floor, we found Hypnock, but when he turned around, he had a blue spiral instead of a red and he had an added pendulum, endlessly swinging.

"So, you finally made it," Hypnock said. "You sure took your time."

"What's the deal with hypnotizing all these people?" Sobie asked. "What do you have against them?" "Because, as I told those three," he gestured toward Andrew, Jennifer, and me. "you are all trespassing on Shadurn's territory! In your guys' case, you're trespassing for a second time! I will personally see to it that you are thrown in jail for good!" He started spinning his dial and swinging his pendulum faster. Helen, Stan, and Sobie were hit with Hypnock's hypnotizing power and they dropped their weapons and started walking downstairs. We tried to stop them, but they just kept going.

"We'll worry about them later!" Andrew said. "Start fighting!" Andrew lunged at Hypnock, but he swiftly dodged the attacking. Hypnock has gotten faster and stronger since we last met. Good thing we have, too. Jennifer drew her bow and fired several arrows as Chris sends his gems out. The arrows missed but the gems could be guided, causing them to hit Hypnock. It seems Hypnock is immune to possession, but the gems still did some damage. I ran up to Hypnock and started swinging alongside Andrew, but Hypnock continued dodging our attacks. Hypnock sent out another hypnotizing beam. I hid behind my shield and Andrew jumped out of the way. Jennifer fired a few more shots as the beam was coming out causing significant damage to Hypnock. Andrew stabbed him in the back causing Hypnock to slide forward. Then he started spinning his arms and we saw any amounts of damage done to him were gone. Andrew signaled Jennifer to fire more arrows as he grabbed Stan's Fire Wand. Jennifer attacked repeatedly, but Hypnock continued to dodge. Andrew watched every move Hypnock was making until he finally shot out a fireball right when Hypnock was stopping. Burning Hypnock, he continued to dodge our attacks, but he seemed to be taking damage with every move he makes. Chris, Jennifer, and Andrew fired more attacks as I ran up to Hypnock. Few of the attacks hit and Hypnock was showing clear signs of weakening. Though his Rewind move recovers damage, he can't get rid of the burn status. Hypnock was slowing down and I slashed one more time. He dodged my attack, but wandered in Jennifer's arrow. Hypnock made a screeching noise as he went down.

"If anyone's a trespasser here, Hypnock, it's you," I said. "This is Hora, a town in Moneo. Not Shadurn."

"I have nothing more to say to you," Hypnock said. "I have brought great dishonor to my tribe. Now leave me alone!"

"Hold on," Chris said. "I know your tribe. The Minonds, right."

"...Yes," Hypnock said. "I am from the Digital Hands division."

"Who told you we were trespassing? Was it Exitilus?"

"I never got his name," Hypnock answered. "But he said that, if I want to bring my family great honor, I should take back the lands the humans have stolen from us."

"You have dishonored your tribe by accepting Exitilus's invitation of destruction," Chris continued. "Did you really think you would honor your family by stealing people's lands? I know the Minond tribe; they would not attack without provocation." Hypnock remained silent. "If you want to bring honor to your family, you should help us take down the real problem here: Exitilus." Hypnock got back up.

"...You're right," he said. "The rest of the Minonds wouldn't behave like I did. I am sorry for causing you trouble. Here, take this." His pendulum fell off and the large, brass circle started shining. "That is the Hora Gem. I took it so Hora couldn't use it against me. Thank you for clearing things up for me, I was terribly confused. I will go talk to Exitilus and return home." Hypnock hovered away as I picked up the gem. I yelled back to him.

"Hypnock!" He turned to me. "May we meet again someday!" Hypnock made a nodding motion and continued leaving.

"Come on," Andrew said. "Let's go get the other three out of jail." We went downstairs and saw Sobie, Stan, and Helen holding their heads in a confused way.

"I really do not like it when I'm possessed!" Stan yelled. We opened the cages and gave them back their weapons. When we arrived back in town, we saw everyone looking very confused. Explaining as best as we could about the situation, we told everyone what happened and used the gem to return the town back to normal. Hora came and congratulated us and asked us to stay the night to recover. Tomorrow, we head out for the town of Iora, which is directly south of here.

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