(First of all, Sorry for the four-month HIATUS!!! I kinda just forgot about this story…but we’re back!)
Doom I
Doom II
Doom III
Doom IV
Doom V
Chapter 3 - Sands of Savaria
“Hey, Lucien, let me hold that sword…” Augustine gestured in front of Lucien to hand over the sword that Roran had given him.
“Augustine…He’s rowing the boat. He can’t just throw it at you.” Marianna croaked from behind Lucien.
“Yeah…that’s okay.” Lucien rested the paddles onto the sides of the rowboat and threw the sword at Augustine.
“Hehey…” Augustine held the sword, but the hilt of the weapon turned back into old brown. “What? The sword went back to normal…I thought the hilt would become gray or something.” he looked at it disappointedly as Lucien sighed and continued rowing
“Like Roran said, only the protector of the Island can use its true power,” Marianna confirmed
“Or…only shadow magic users can hone their true power. Marua used shadow magic, right?”
Marua used the shadow magic through the staff. It’s not just because Lucien has shadow magic.”
“Yeah…whatever…” Augustine sniffed
“Anyways…what is Savaria? I heard you mention it before, Marianna…” Lucien asked.
“Savaria? Well, it is only the richest, most wealthiest Island in the whole first sea.” Augustine introduced “And it’s the largest island, too. A whole trade central.”
“Yeah…traders come by the Island and exchange goods and other valuable things.” Marianna continued
“Mhm, and if you can trade some of your island’s stuff there, and they accept it, your Island will be riiiich! Like Canopy Island, Doom Island, and maybe…even Eve Island…”
“No…not Eve island…We don’t have a connection with Savaria.”
“Oh…but anyways, I heard that the fruit there is absolutely great!”
“Yeah, but another thing is the weather…”
“What about it?” Lucien inquired
“Even before those Sandstorms that Roran talked about, it’s known for its very hot temperatures.”
“Hot temperature…what is this place exactly?”
“It’s a desert. Besides…we’ll get used to it.”
“Get used to it? Have any of you guys been to Savaria?”
Augustine and Marianna wait for a moment before saying “No” together
“…”
“We’ll be A-ight! Everyone will be to Savaria at least ONCE in their lives. I think.”
“And on that topic, how long will it be until we’re there? My arms are getting tired.”
“Aren’t they, Lucien?” Marianan smirked
“We just left Doom Island a few hours ago…and we’re using a rowboat to…we won’t be there in a while…” Augustine puts his hands on his back.
“Then, can we take turns?” Lucien’s arms begged
Augustine almost stuttered from the proposal “Guh…what?”
“I mean…I’ve been rowing for a while, much longer than when Marianna and I came to Doom Island. So why not just switch who rows?”
“We-we…first of all,” Augustine tries to argue, “How are we supposed to switch positions on this small-ahh spectacle? I wouldn’t want one of us to fall into these… shark-infested waters…Secondly-”
“I can do it, Lucien.” Marianna offered, “With weak-handed Augustine, we’d be going twice…no, thrice as slow.”
“WHAT WAS THAT?! NAH NAH, HAND ME THOSE PADDLES!”
After a short minute of difficult boat shifting, Augustine and Lucien switched positions
“Weak-handed, huh? WEAK HANDED!?” Augustine started rapidly moving the paddles of the ship, and it sped through the waters.
“Augustine…you shouldn’t row so fast…your arms will go weak.”
“OH REALLY, MARIANNA!? THEN YOU CAN CALL ME WEAK-HANDED!? NAAAAAAAAH!!!”
It was the afternoon, the sun was shining bright, and Augustine was rowing the boat at a steady pace.
“Uh, Any one of y’all wanna uh, sub in? M-My hands are…very sore…”
Lucien was about to say something before Marianna cut him off, “Oh, you can…but I’d still consider you ‘weak arms’ . Do you know how long it took us to sail to Doom Island? This is light work.”
“Light work, huh? OK, I’ll keep going! Prove you wrong…” Augustine continued rowing as Marianna winked at Lucien.
The shadow-haired boy saw an Island in the distance…It looked like a desert island with a few surrounding pillars. “Hey…is that it?”
“I…I think it is!” Marianna perked up in excitement.
“What? We’re here?” Augustine twisted his neck in a 180-degree motion to see the large island in the distance. “Of course we’re here! Thanks to my totally NOT WEAK ARMS!!!” He shouted in Marianna’s general direction to make it clear that his point had been proven.
“Yes, Augustine. You’re arms are not weak.” She cleared out with a fake smile.
Not that they’ve gotten closer to the Savaria, they could see it with all of its beauty. An immense desert floating across the sea. The edges of the Island were just at sea level, and the rest of the Island was higher up, separated by a large ledge.
Augustine stopped the rowboat at the side of the Island, and both Lucien and Marianna stepped out, taking in the blazing hot atmosphere.
“Marianna…, The weather here…it’s…it’s…” He felt so weak and limp after touching the sand.
“Hot…yeah I know…” She wipes her face until she sees Lucien’s downcast and fickle state. He looks even worse than when he did back at the Newground Island.
“Savaaaaaaaaaria! I can’t believe this is my first time being here.” He hops onto the shore and takes a good look at the rowboat with a perturbed look. “Uh…there’s nothing to anchor the rowboat with…it might sail away. How did you guys even keep it from sailing away back at Doom Island?”
“We shored it, Augustine,” Marianna explains in an obvious tone. “You saw it!”
“Yeah, well, that’s not gonna work here. The ground is just above sea level.”
“…We can find another rowboat here. No big deal,” she tried to quickly settle the matter because she could feel Lucien’s heavy breathing. He was clenching his arms and shaking unstably.
“Hey…Lucien, are you okay?” He looks at the shaking boy with concern.
“H-huh? Y-yeah…I’m alright…I think it’s just a little hot.”
“Hot? Man, you’re shaking like this is the Arctic!” He opens his arms to the whole Island, like it isn’t a ginormous desert.
“It could be because of his shadow magic, and shadow magic is supposed to be cold.” Marianna reasons.
“So in that case, wouldn’t you be feeling all discombobulated since your magic is water?”
“Water can be both hot and cold.” Marianna crosses her arms.
“And I wouldn’t be doing so well if I were trapped in a rock wasteland.”
“Look, guys, I’m just getting used to it. We need to find a way to get up there.” Lucien, despite looking exhausted and drained of energy, starts walking across the edge of the Island.
Marianna and Augustine exchanged odd looks with each other. Marianna had a puzzled one, and Augustine had a “Confused as hell” one. They’ve never seen someone react to hot weather in such a way. In all fairness, they’ve never been to a desert at all.
“Guys! Over here!” Lucien calls out from afar. Marianna and Augustine quickly make their way north, towards the source of the sound. They took a turn that led them forward, and they found Lucien facing a large and wide stairway. “I found this stairway. It can lead us up,” he turned over to two of them
“Yeah, no shit.” Augustine quickly blurts quietly enough that Lucien couldn’t hear, but Marianna did, and elbowed him “ow-”
The three of them made their way up the large sandstone stairway. Once they made it to the top, their eyes were immediately hit with a dose of rampant sand.
“Nrrghh!” Lucien covers his eyes with his arms as the blowing wind pushes his hair out.
“Wooweee! Now this is some wind! This is what it feels like when you get hit with my magic, huh?” Augustine stood tall as the heavy sand blew through his entire person.
“Yeah…if there were a bunch of microscopic pieces of rock too.”
Marianna pulls her hat over her eyes.
“Sounds…annoying. I like it.”
“Guys…we must move forward,” Lucien grunts as he starts to make some distance through the barely visible to see through sandstorm in a hunched position
“And go where? I don’t see any…city here!” Augustine steadily follows along with Lucien like he’s taking a nighttime walk.
“We’re at the very back of the Island. The village should be straight up ahead.” Marianna keeps up by the right side of Lucien as the three of them walk through the desert
The three of them trudge through the desert, the dust slowly but surely wearing down their stamina and energy. At first, Augustine was walking straight, barely registering the blowing grime in his face. Over time, he started to get tired of tiny rocks getting into the crevices of his eyes.
“My fuckin eyes…” he groans. His eyes were completely bloodshot. His entire Sclera was decorated with red cracks.
“Augustine…put your head down…you’ll damage your eyes if you keep them wide open,” Marianna says in a careful tone.
“Nah…I’m good. I’m good…I’m good.” He continued muttering, trying his best to look nonchalant and unfazed by the dust, but in reality, his eyes were screaming in horrible agony. “OK, I CAN’T DO IT! AHHH MY EYES!!!” He squints and puts his two hands over his eyes. “DAAHH, WHAT’S WITH THIS DUSTY AS HELL DESERT!? IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS? WHEN WILL IT-” In the middle of his rant, the dust in the area immediately ceased. “Wuh-I mean-Hah! Didn’t flinch the entire way.”
“The dust…it’s over.” Lucien finally raised his head up. He let out a quick huff of relief. The sand shower from before really took its toll on him. For him, the sand felt like tiny magic dampening needles. To him, it wasn’t just regular sandstorms that were terrorizing the island. It was an unknown energy only he could feel.
“Lucien! Augustine!” Marianna pointed out a large gathering of buildings in the far distance. “I think that’s the village.”
“Really? So we must be here…Actually.” Lucien specifies
“Now I’ll say it for real.” Augustine looks at the faraway village with his bloodshot eyes. “Savaaaaaaaaaaaria!!”
