Lich awoke, finding intricately carved Protoss murals surrounding the anti-gravity bed he now floated on.
Was it all a dream? he wondered in the groggy thoughts of someone newly awakened after a long sleep. The last thought he remembered was waking up after being stabbed by a knife, and then there was a hug, then he must have passed out from exhaustion…
Damn…what day is it? How long have I slept? Reality check time.
He grabbed the carving beside him, his fingers running along the lines of psychically chiseled wood. There was an eye here, and some of the fancy script of the language, and…
He knew the scene the more he looked at it. It was the defeat of the Overmind, through the sacrifice of the Templar Tassadar and the Ganthritor, a great, yet pyrrhic moment in Protoss history. And he remembered how he recognised it: Markior was the Executor, the commander of all operations, for that campaign, and he was told about it. So, if Markior was Executor then, and here was a mural in a bedroom, he couldn't be far…
Just then, the door opened, and the very being in question came into the bedroom in his Archon form. It closed behind him, and he watched as he changed from the mass of energy into his dark, pupiless Yoshi spirit form.
"En Taro Adun, Lich," he said, smiling, when the transmogrification was complete. "Welcome aboard the Ganthritor II."
"En Taro Adun, Markior," Lich replied in the traditional Protoss greeting, and approached him to give him an embrace of platonic friendship. Markior was slightly taken aback, but after his time of knowing the Fa'Diel Yoshi, he was accustomed to the way he showed his friendship. He tricked him, however, sending his smoky hands through his body and chuckled as Lich pulled back.
"Whoa, gotta watch out for that one," he said, smiling.
Markior laughed and said, "Well, you're out of that hole." Suddenly, the smile was wiped from his face, and his eyes, though without pupils, showed sadness. "And, I'm sad to say, it is a hole."
"What happened to Tullabanariga?"
"That blot of morality has been wiped out of existence. Take a look outside."
Markior pointed to a window nearby. The sun was mid-ascent over the desert…and that's all it was: desert. Tullabanariga had disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.
"All those people…cold and heartless, yet…"
"Don't remind me. Please."
Lich turned to him. "Did any survive?"
"Oh yes, a few left across the desert on camels…though they'd have no idea where they're going. So much for freedom, so much done."
Markior beckoned for him to follow.
"Whoo, there," said Lich. "There's two words I don’t want to hear ever again in my life: D'krim, and blarkum. Speaking of which, what about Theutes and Sacho and Fauako?"
"They're on one of the neighbouring shuttles," Markior said as they started walking. "Oh, by the way, that Koopan friend of yours interests me."
"Tob?"
"Yes. I sense an emanation from him, making me slightly uneasy. Listen…" he said, bringing him close, his voice hushing. "I've tried to read his thoughts, but he knew I was and thrashed around inside his mind. He appears to have been taught some mind numbing technique. What do you know about him?"
"Well, he used to be in the -" Lich cleared his throat to pronounce it correctly, "- Koopat B'krakt'gotopekt Tograk'lok."
"Thought as such. You can't trust Bowser, he even spies on his allies."
Lich remembered how Markior had signed an alliance with Bowser, the King of the Koopas. To Lich, it seemed to be nothing more than the opportunity for Markior to go and play chess with him every now and again. He never really pursued the issue as it was a windy, twisting trail of politics and deceit. He wasn't into politics, anyway.
"I'd watch him too," said Lich. "We're now out of Tullabanariga, and he could have been in a ploy for that entire time, such are the skills of the KBT. He'd be an excellent target for Havering to get his hands on."
"Havering…how I'm starting to loathe the sound of that name. Still, it will all be over one day…I hope. Ah, here she comes…"
"Lich, you're awake!" called Dragon, grinning with glee and rushing over to him, arms wide open for a hug. Lich, forgetful of her presence yesterday, jumped when he saw her. Suddenly, her arms were around him, and the first thing that Lich said was, "W-w-what are you doing here?"
"Hugging you, that's what, silly," she said, poking her tongue out. Before Lich could even reply, that tongue was intertwining with his. His arms reached out and caressed her folded wings. Such is the power of love for those separated.
"When you two are finished…" Markior said, clearing his throat. Lich's hand in the traditional stop position was shoved in front of his face. Although Markior had no legs, he would have been impatiently tapping his foot. The two lovers continued their passionate kiss for a minute more, before Lich surfaced for air.
"We haven't moved out yet, as you can guess. I'm just telling you that as soon as we bury all the dead bodies - done with ceremony - we're going to head back to base."
"Is that all?" Dragon asked.
"Nah uh," said Lich, as they started walking again, and entered the main chamber of the Ganthritor II. "You're not heading back to base without the Cyan Arc here on my waist."
Markior sat down at a desk and looked at a screen. He then looked at Lich, and noticed the obvious absence of PLT, thongs, Pokéballs, and the Boomerang: he was a naked orange Yoshi. Even his trademark pink zinc cream was faded behind his nostrils.
"I understand, Lich. We must find your Boomerang of Light imme-"
Markior stared past Lich and Dragon. They turned and found Vector, being a support for…
"Aurora!" Markior cried, got up and floated over to her. "Aurora! Where have you been? What happened?"
Lich was surprised to see the violet Yoshi. They hadn't run into each other since she mysteriously disappeared while giving company on his way to Dinokan. However, he sensed a strange Mana emanation coming from her…something was not right. He ignored it though, for he was out of practice.
Suddenly, she fell forward out of Vector's arms, and whispered, "Ulrezaj captured me... He got me into bad shape, Markior..."
Markior then picked her up in his arms and floated out of the chamber. He was whispering something to her, too quiet for the others to understand.
Lich looked at Vector. For the first time in quite a while he looked presentable: he had washed, and his blond hair was combed.
"Well," he said, slapping his hand onto his shoulder, "we're -"
Vector flinched and rubbed his shoulder. "It hurts there. My whole body hurts."
Dragon looked at him and said, "Some people can be so cruel, can't they?"
Vector and Lich nodded. They had a common experience, now, and a definite grudge against Theutes, Lich even more so because of the raft prank.
An arm slid around Lich's back. He knew where it came from. Lich was about to say something when there was some shouting emanating from the direction of the Grey Matter Room, where the Uraj and the Khalis were kept. The three of them rushed in and found a lone Markior, and an empty platform.
"Aurora is Ulrezaj's pawn!" he fumed. "She just came in here and stole the Crystals!"
Lich realised what that emanation was - mind control with its two different signatures rolled into one.
"Aww…great," he groaned, reeking with sarcasm.
"Well, what are we going to do about it?" asked Dragon.
"Get them back, perhaps?" suggested Vector.
Markior turned to him and his eyes told him succinctly to shut up or lose his head. Vector smiled sheepishly, then the smile was wiped from his face as he saw Markior storm out of the small room. Dragon followed him, and the others followed her. He was back at the desk, sitting down. Suddenly, Dragon shook her head, mouth agape, and hurried from the room.
"What was that all about?" asked Vector, after the moment of stunned silence had passed.
"I don't know, but I don't like the look of it," Lich replied. "I'm going to find out."
He followed the direction where Dragon hurried off and ran into Tob, coming the other way.
"This is all very interesting stuff…" he said, looking around him.
"Well, I'm not certain if Markior would approve," Lich replied.
Tob looked down his snout up at him. "I'm a spy, I don't need approval. Excuse me," he said, sidling off.
Lich's gaze followed the Koopa until he disappeared down a side corridor. He shrugged, and ducked into the room beside him, opening the door. It revealed an empty room, the only furniture a small sofa-like chair against one wall. One half of it was currently occupied by Dragon, her head facing the ground. He sat down beside her, extended one arm behind her back to her other shoulder and gave her a squeeze, asking, "You alright?"
Her head still looked down as she said, ""Yeah... but I don't think Markior is... maybe you'd better talk to him."
"Hmmm…" Lich thought, "Yes, no one else is saying much, it's kinda awkward in there."
As he stood, he held her hands and stared into her eyes, communicating his love and concern for her well-being. He then turned, and opened the door. He turned his head behind him and asked, "Are you sure you'll be okay? Maybe the others would like to join you…"
"No, I'm fine," Dragon sighed.
Lich turned and exited the room, the door hissing shut behind him. He then returned to the main chamber and sat down on the opposite side of the desk from the downcast spirit.
"Why, by Adun, did I go inside that temple?" he asked as he shook his head in disbelief.
Lich was silent for a moment, his head down, before he looked up into Markior's pupiless eyes, looking at him for answers. Even the God of the Mind isn't omniscient.
"If I could tell you, I would be able to answer why I decided to follow the instructions I found on the cliff below your Lair."
"Havering…wrote…on my crag?!"
"Yeah, I'm sad to say. I was running across the bridge during a storm, one end was struck by lightning, I fell down, but I was still holding on to the bridge - do you know how good wood tastes? - climbed it, found it on the wall of the cliff. Told me to go to Dinokan, went there with my scuba gear, found Havering in the dome of the library, fell out of the sky over that village with the platform and the Zergling."
There was silence for a moment, then he said, "How am I going to get them back?"
"Hmmm…I think I know," said Lich. "What we do is that you guys set off straight away for base, because he may use their power against it. Besides, I have my Pokémon in that area still, I think. I will go and get the Boomerang, alone. You return and take care of the base. I will meet you back there, and I'll think more of the answer on the way back. Now, where's -"
He was interrupted by thumping, banging and shrieking coming from the neighbouring room.
"Hegaratu!" he swore in Pandoran, "That's where Dragon is!"
Both of them got up and ran quickly into the room, joined by Vector. They were taken aback by a blue streak, nothing more than a blur, zipping around the room and rebounding off the walls, ceiling and floor. Markior quickly floated through them, making them feel like something cool and tingly was passing through their bodies, and held his hands up. The blur, at the zenith of its ascent, fell onto the ground and revealed Dragon, yet it was not Dragon. Lich rushed over and knelt beside her, and watched in shock and awe as her arms and legs shrunk in sizes. He then glanced over to the chair and looked more intently when he noticed a torn and tattered pair of purple boots. He quickly scooped up her limp body in his arms and exited from the room, the others parting as he went through, standing in silence behind him in the doorway. He went down the corridor to his room, and thought he heard something about a ham sandwich in Vector's voice, but he was not entirely sure.
He entered his room and gently lay her down on the bed. The door closed behind him.
"Mana, do thy work," he muttered, before he stretched his arms, a blue circle of light appearing around him. He then made a motion of rain falling from the sky with his fingers, and soon he was treated to the display of cure water dripping from thin air onto Dragon's seemingly lifeless form. He then lay down beside her, one arm behind surrounding her shoulders, pulling her close to him.
"Whatever this is, I don't like it, my love," he whispered, as he stroked the side of her cheek with his hand.
Dragon, her eyes still shut, came to life by turning towards him and placing one hand on his chest. Normally, she would have fiddled with the PLT, but this time her cerulean fingers were still.
"I don't want the petals of my rose to be plucked," he whispered, before he rested his head against hers and shut his eyes.

* * *

"I don't really know what you can do about it, Theutes," Lich told him.
He looked at Sacho, her eyes still red, but no longer crying - Tullabanariga was her home, and now she had none.
"After all, I wasn't expecting him to have levelled it out. I was originally hoping that I would have Dispelled the Barriers on the cannons, then Walled them, so he could just come through, get rid of them, pick us up and take us away…but that was not to be."
Theutes looked out of the window of the flagship carrier, towards the remains of the once sordid city, now nothing more than sand.
"It's as if the Mana Fortress came through," he said, dumbstruck. "All the power of the Fortress in just one of your kind…amazing."
"No, the Fortress would be worse," Lich replied. "Good thing it's on Fa'Diel, covered once more by the sunken continent."
Theutes sighed and took a sip of the green, Protoss equivalent of coffee. "I don't think we're going to get back to Fa'Diel for a long time, Lich," he said.
Since the city's destruction, Lich noticed the change in Theutes' behaviour from cruelty to one of remorse, yet with a twinkle in his eye of mischief - Theutes, Guardian of the Fire Palace, had returned.
"Well, Protoss technology can turn sand to sea and turn mountains into plains. Perhaps Markior could terraform this place into a plain of grasslands, perhaps a few trees…"
"I am of the desert, and I know no other," Theutes replied.
"I've never seen trees except the ones in the garden," Fauako, Theutes' son chipped in.
"Well, perhaps it's time to make a fresh start," Lich suggested.
"I just want to go home," Theutes replied. "To Kakkara, to Salamando's side."
"So do I, though my home is in two places, Kippo and Yoshibane. But, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So, you could go back to the base with Markior, and stay there. It's pretty safe, you'd be protected."
"He destroyed my home, how do I know he won't destroy me?" Sacho asked.
"Markior is a trusted friend of mine. He won't give you any harm as long as you don't give any to him."
"So, I guess we follow this Markior fellow," Theutes said. "I just hope it won't lead into danger and worse things than Tullabanariga."

* * *

Lich gave the directions to the zealot pilot of the shuttle. When they came within two-thirds of a mile to the Boomerang's location, Lich told the zealot to beam him down, and he would walk the rest of the way. He went into the shuttle's teleporter machine, and floated hurriedly onto the ground, the beam naturally slowing his descent.
"Ah, this is far better than actual teleportation," said the Heratu suffering Yoshi.
He landed, and started to walk towards the Boomerang. Its beacon was throbbing inside his head. Soon, he was standing on the side of the dune where his belongings were buried. He got on his hands and knees and started digging down into the sand. He started to dig, a sense of relief across his face. I'm coming, I'm coming, he thought.
Suddenly, a voice with a timbre of nobility and pride echoed across the landscape: "I think not, Lizard."
Lich stopped, and looked up into the sun, shielding his eyes. He felt a presence on the Mana Field; however, he was unable to recognise it.
"Reveal yourself!" he commanded.
There was a whoosh of air as something leapt through it, and suddenly a strange, crouched figure appeared on the dune above him, turning its jackal head towards him and sneering.
Lich was dumbfounded, "What by Undine…"
He wiped his lips to speak Rhenzin, smearing Mana onto them, and yelled, "Who are you?"
The figure stood up and turned. It appeared to have raided the tomb of Tutankhamun, and not satisfied with it, raided Khufu's and Rameses' as well. It wore an intricately carved armour, and between its metallic paws that it had for hands, it held a staff furnished with an ankh at its top end. It continued to sneer at him, and said, "I'd be the master of that where you stand. Seems you're nearing taking that which is no longer yours, cretin."
Lich stood up and held his arms akimbo, facing what he recognised to be a robot.
"No longer mine?" he snarled. "Excuse me, I refined it, it is a part of me and I am a part of it. I am the Guardian of the Cyan Arc, sworn to protect it and to use it for the promotion of good wherever these feet will take me. So, excuse me."
He began to dig again, and through the sand he felt the comfort of rubber. He withdrew his two black thongs, their sea green straps slightly discoloured by their time in their sand, and slipped them onto his feet. As he did so, he heard the robot say, "Well, I'm sorry to inform you, your job is through."
He heard whooshing of air, and looking up, he saw the robot in mid air, hurling the staff towards him at an incredible speed.
"What the…gulto!" he swore in Pandoran, and rolled to one side as the staff flew by him and disappeared into the sand where he was a moment before, not disturbing a single grain.
Lich turned to the robot, and saw the robot standing nearby, its arms crossed and with a wicked grin on its countenance. It cocked its head like a dog, and extended its hand towards him, and seemed to reprimand him like a schoolteacher and said, "Now now, wouldn't want to endanger your trinket, would you?"
The word trinket sank into him like a dagger, covered in barbs as it ripped through him.
"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to fill my job then," he said through clenched teeth. "OK."
He brought his arms in front of him, calling Undine, the elemental of Water, before she replied with a blue light surrounding him. Lich yelled "Deka Sylpogo!" which is Pandoran for "Acid Storm". He brought his arms up, and started to make clawing motions.
He watched as droplets of acid started to rain down upon the robot. But, it replied with making images of itself appear all around itself, in various locations. The rain stopped, and he was unscathed, surrounded by the clawed paw prints of his metal feet. "Not so slow, dear foe," he smirked, before he extended an arm towards the sand and full length, palm down. "Now, my turn I do believe."
The ground started to move up and down slightly, then it suddenly trembled violently, making the dunes like a sandy sea, whipped up by a storm. The dunes rose and crashed all around him.
"Gulto…" Lich whispered, before he lost his foothold and fell over, a dune swamping him, covering him completely with sand. The ground stopped trembling.
He pushed the sand aside and his head appeared on the surface, and took a lungful of air. He shook his head rapidly from side to side, shaking the sand off him and out of his hair.
"Well, that's pretty impressive…" he started, before his mouth fell agape as the robot sneered and turned its hand to the side. The staff sprang out of the sand, as a cobra might, and flew through the air. Sand trailed it, but what else was with it caused Lich to freeze in awe, the upmarket fear: The Boomerang spun upwards and fell onto the sand with a thud. Lich noticed one point was towards the robot.
"By Lumina…" Lich murmured.
"I suggest you start bearing a weapon you're more suited for," it sneered, "perhaps a wooden stick."
"Right, mate," he snarled, gnashing his teeth, "A wooden stick would suit me more? Hmm…I don't think so! Serto!"
The Boomerang replied by firing a burst of laserfire at the robot. The Boomerang was out of reach for Lich to sling his tongue at it, so he decided to use the distraction to his advantage, struggling out of the sand dune and stood on it.
He saw the robot's form distort and felt the rush of air as the robot appeared ten feet above him, one knee against its chest, before it became full once more, and dealt a drop kick into his chest.
Lich was flattened, blue flares of pain before his eyes. He gasped for air as he heard the robot say, "Hmm…interesting indeed. It appears the master is as smart as he likes to appear…"
Lich lifted his head and saw the robot next to the Boomerang.
"OK, now you're going to pay for that…" he jumped up, "…but not quite yet!"
Lich ran towards the robot, its back turned towards to him, and performed a tackle, known to him from his youth in playing Genira, a Fa'Diel game similar to Rugby. They toppled, but the grunting robot had lightning-fast reflexes: as they rolled forward, its legs gripped like a scorpion's pincers around Lich's neck, and as the robot came underneath, he released them, Lich flying face-down across the sand, causing Lich to be scratched by the enormous friction.
Behind him, its annoyed voice said, "Are you quite finished? You're a bit too slow and brute oriented for my tastes."
Lich raised his head and turned it.
"Not until I perish…or you do."
The robot shrugged and slammed the staff's butt onto one half of the Boomerang, causing a clang and it to spin straight up into the air.
Gulto, Lich thought, it knows about the SRRT. I just hope he will touch it, he'll get a 30,000 Volt present.
"I wasn't sent to be your executioner, but perhaps I can do that honour sometime soon if you wish."
He raised the staff and tilted it, catching the Boomerang as it fell down again in the loop of the ankh.
He got up, and called Undine again, the blue light reply surrounding him. He then brought his clenched arms in towards him, and crouched over, looking as if he was about to explode. He then yelled, "Tuma go Undi!" and performed the strongest Undine spell, developed since the Fortress Resurrection, Ice Age. A sheet of ice extended in a full circle from him, freezing all in its path, merciless.
"Well…this looks interesting," the robot said, standing his ground, one arm akimbo. "Very well, I won't move this time. I've never felt pain, and I wish to see your ability to inflict it."
If it had anything else to say, it was stopped by it freezing over with ice. Lich started to walk towards them, the thongs providing traction on the ice. Within arms length of them, he placed his hand around the Boomerang in the ankh's loop.
The staff seemed to have a mind of its own, and it replied to the invasion of its space by trembling, shattering the ice, before it slammed through the ice onto the sand beneath it, bringing Lich down with it, until he was lying on the edge of the hole, losing his grip on his possession.
Looking up, he saw the jackal-headed robot smile, and the ice subducted around him, forming a sand hurricane, the robot in its eye. Seeing the storm, Lich brought up his hands and called Lumina, the Light Elemental, replying with a circle of white light. Lich yelled, "Limno Gnoro!" which is Pandoran for "Lucid Barrier". A yellow orb surrounded Lich for a few moments, before it broke apart with stars falling to the ground, the sign it was cast. As the sand and mist swirled around him, they hit the barrier and caused a "pling" just on the edge of hearing.
The robot, unscathed by the winds around him, shook its head as the ice was entirely removed, then took in a deep breath as the wind raised it from the ground into the centre of the storm.
"So, that is…Ice…I see. Perhaps you can show me more next time."
The storm moved over the hole, sucking the staff and Boomerang out of the the hole, and to the robot's body.
"But really, I'm a robot with little time to spare," the robot said, passing the encounter off as nothing. "I shall look forward to our next encounter, Lizard. I hope you improve so I could get more out of this."
"I am not a lizard, robot, I'm too proud…" Lich started, before the realisation hit him. "What? You going? Come back! If you take it, you can't use it!"
Lich ran over towards them, trying to jump up to grab his leg, but failing.
The robot's laughter could be heard over the storm's screaming. "I…use this?! Hweh heh heh…amusin sentiment, but this is for the master's hands only. The praise I receive for turning this over will be more than a grand reward!"
"Master…? You work for Havering?"
Lich tried once more to grab what was rightfully his, but it was beyond his reach.
The storm flared off and blotted out all of Lich's vision with the caramel colour of sand. Then, it was gone, and nothing remained except an echo: "All you need to know is that Anubarik, the Dark Sand, deems you inferior!"

* * *

Lich stood in utter disbelief.
"I have failed…" said Lich, picking up the exposed PLT and belt, caused by Anubarik's storm, and putting them on. "I've failed as a Guardian. Its immense power is now in Havering's hands…why continue. I may as well cast one of many spells onto me…yes. Good idea."
Lich stood up, tears welling in his eyes, and started the solemn task of casting Dark Force, a spell of Shade. But, through the haze, was that an approaching shape begging him to stop?
He looked up and saw a human traveler, dressed appropriately, on a camel. He knew that he wouldn't come to any harm from the Tullabanarigans nowadays.
"I saw everything!" he called in…Rhenzin? Ah well, it was the universal language.
"Yeah, I'm sure you did," Lich replied. "I've failed in my duties."
The camel stopped beside him and the rider dismounted.
"It seems to me that you've been beaten nastily, there."
"Too right."
"I may have something for you that you would really like."
Great, thought Lich, I can't get away from salesmen anywhere!
"What have you got?" he asked, desperate for any help.
"A potion," said the traveler as he rummaged in his bags strapped to the saddle. "It will make you as strong as Atlas, and as swift as an eagle. Ah, here it is."
He retrieved a glass jar containing a liquid that appeared a vile, bright green in colour, sealed with a cork. Lich knew that it would probably taste the same as well.
"Consider this your lucky day, it's a gift from me to someone needy. Drink up, all of it."
Lich pulled the cork out, and was treated not to the disgusting smell he was expecting, but one of apples, and grapes, and was that a hint of cherry? He breathed it into his nostrils, its fumes intoxicating. He then up-ended the bottle and drank the contents all a number of gulps, the taste being one which transcended other tastes: It was too good! Suddenly, his vision appeared blurred and he was unstable on his feet. The world was spinning around him, yet it wasn't sickening, but strangely pleasant.
"I feel woo-oo-oo-zy…" he said.
"Don't worry, it's just a side effect."
Lich felt light, as if he could fly. He jumped off the ground and tried a fluttering technique, characteristic of his race. He flapped his arms and moved his legs hurriedly, however, at speeds at the wrong proportion. His legs went up behind him and before he knew it, he was flat on the ground, face down. Normally, he would have said, "Damn, why can't I do this," but this time, his response was a giggle.
"Thah-thah-that was fuhhhnn…" he said smiling, still on the ground. He looked up at the traveler and said, "Any more? It's guh…guh…guh-goo-ood. I l-l-l-like it!"
If he wasn't in such an intoxicated state, he would have repelled from the swirling vortex in front of him. It was a seething mass of colour, spiralling out of control, heightened by the potion's effects. His eyes were drawn towards it, and his mind was sucked into it, falling, falling, falling…
Lich passed out into a half-sleep.
"Get up," said Havering, the traveler, and Lich stood on his feet, hypnotised and unable to act otherwise.
"Blarkum."