Book, Blade, and A Whole Lot of Magic

by Frustaz

Chapter 1

A menagerie of color and giggles always accented the afternoons, while whispers and confessions were traded in the night. No matter the time, this hedge maze almost always has someone wandering its leafy halls. Many times, it’s a set of lovers looking to hide away for a private place to talk and explore one another. Others, it’s a set of Academy students learning of the history of their society.

However, today is special. Today marks 300 years of imprisonment for my crimes against the crown. Today is the anniversary of what I recognize as my rebellion attacking Canterlot. However, the Ponies have a different name for it and myself. It also marks the day I fell into this world, one that was once mere fantasy to me.

Allow me to spin a tale of my descent into this world.

“Oh do tell. I’d love to know.”

God damn it Discord.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Earth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zipping from booth to booth, I could not contain my excitement. I was finally at OmniCon, The biggest convention in south Texas. I had spent the last few months piecing together my cosplay. A lovely pale blue lace up shirt from wish. A black tank top with some Lace ribbon sewn to the edge. A wonderfully comfy set of purple pants, laced tight around my calves and tucked into a custom ordered set of boots from Etsy. I even dyed and cut my hair that icy blue color of Illua, the War Magus. An obscure character to be sure, but definitely one that I couldn’t help to dress as.

However, in my burst of energy, I left behind my fellow cosplayer and twin brother. “Sei. Hold up. You’re gonna exhaust yourself, and then we’re gonna have to go home. Cool it.” Jayson was dressed as Frost Prime of Warframe, a vastly more popular character. He definitely had the build for it.

“But.. but.. It’s OmniCon!” I had to wait for him before I signed out my response. He just looked at me with that same ‘I’m your guardian’ look he always gave me when I was too excitable. “Alright…” I could understand why he protected me so fiercely. I can’t call for help being a mute, and with my Anemia issues, I had to be careful for my health.

“Good. What do we need to find to help you complete your look? I know mine’s done but…” He gestured to my outfit. It was a sore subject, but I had unfortunately run out of funds to order the last few props and time to have them delivered. I lacked a sword, a grimoire, and a necklace to finish the appearance proper. “Let’s see what we can find then.” I stuck close to him, but my mind would not stop buzzing. Everything caught my attention, even though I knew what I was looking for.

He took pictures with various people and groups, many of which recognized his outfit with ease, while I took only a few, due to the circumstances of who was asking. It wasn’t long before I had to sit down and rest. “You good, Naru?” my brother asked, slipping his backpack off as we sat at one of the small food court’s tables. I shook my head slightly. In a few quick motions, my meds and a drink were put into my hands, and were downed. “I told you to settle.” Jayson really wanted to scold me, but he took it in stride. “I brought enough money to pick up a few props for you, a couple souvenirs for myself, and a couple birthday gifts if you’re not going for super expensive. How soon do you want to buy things?”

“I would like to look around some more, before I make any decisions.” I had to set my drink down to reply, a few of the signs needing both hands. Looking over the few sellers of swords from our corner of the con, I frowned a bit. The items were nice, but never quite what I was looking for.

However, off in the far corner was a rather undisturbed shop. It was well organized, and people were just.. passing it by. Unusual for a con, Even if it’s one of the smaller ones in the nations. “Hey, can we check out that one over there?” I pointed out the booth in question. He put his helmet back on and held his hand out to help me up. “Let’s go then.” I squeed internally, exhibiting the self-control of a child with twenty dollars in a candy store, leaving my brother exasperated as he had to jog lightly to catch up.

I couldn’t hold back my gasps as I looked over the wares this booth displayed. It was all locked behind glass, but you could clearly tell this was quality items. Zelda’s royal regalia, Squall’s necklace, a Monster Hunter light bow gun, and more. All of them perfect to the smallest details. On one side was your traditional necklaces, rings, and accessories, the Front held some weapons, while the others were hung upon standing racks behind the merchant. On the other side were plushies, bags, and miscellaneous items, such as books decorated in silver runes.

“Ah… Welcome.. Welcome..” The voice of the merchant finally reached my ears. I looked up at him as he stood, my eyes making no sense of his features. Sinister and Kind. Lanky but bloated. Beady eyes that disappeared beneath a furrowed brow, with just enough wrinkles around his eyes to seem older than he appeared, but he still had what should have been a youthful air about him. If he had been wearing a pure white mask, I may have run from the sudden fear I felt looking into those dark eyes.

“Cat have your tongue, little one?” He asked, leaning forward. I flinched back, hiding behind Jayson as he stepped forward. “You could say that. She’s mute.” Jayson responded in my place, shielding me from the Merchant.

“Ah… For shame. Well, she is my 100^th customer today, so I would like to present to her a pair of gifts, free of charge.” The merchant smiled. I swore I saw those eyes glint with a mixture of malice and mischief, however, I couldn’t resist the offer. I signed to my brother my request, and he quickly translated. “Hm... I do have the Grimoire of the Rift. It’s been sitting in my stock for some time, waiting for the right buyer. I’m glad I brought it with me.” He dug into the rubber maid containers he had behind him, and pulled out the book in question, coated in a thin veneer of dust.

“Meanwhile, I do have a few swords that match the basic description… Would something like this work?” The merchant picked up what looked to be a katana of some form, and drew it from its sheath, revealing an intricate etching into the blade. “So? How is this?” It was a perfect replica of Illua’s blade of choice. I nodded.

The Merchant set the blade and book into my hands, and rested a third item. A small, platinum ring, with what looked to be a massive sapphire with thousands of glittering stars inside it. I couldn’t hold back the sound of my reaction. “Take them. Wear them.” The merchant spoke. He leaned in close, and barely whispered loud enough for me to hear over the din of the event. “They will be the keys to your survival, Illua.” His chuckle unsettled me more, but I decided to withdraw myself from his booth, tugging Jayson along this time.

The moment we were out of sight, I began to giggle like a mad woman. I couldn’t resist the urge to don my new props, and quickly did so. The katana’s harness slipped into place perfectly, with barely any adjustment required, whilst the belt attached to the grimoire was fastened around my waist with just as much ease. It made me smile that much more, but I looked at the ring carefully, before slipping it on. No other ring felt as comfortable to wear as that one, as if it had been created just for me. “Jayson, these fit all so well, and comfortably… How do I look?” I asked.

“You really look the part. Let’s go walk some more.” He responded. He picked up a necklace from the creepy merchant, one that seemed to fit his character well. He tucked his wallet within the thick coat, and we took off once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I definitely got some more pictures now that I was fully equipped, We picked up a few other items during our wandering. A deck of tarot cards, featuring the Persona 3 Arcana art style, a pair of Resin stones from Dark Souls, and even a new pouch for me labelled as a Bag of Holding from the Wizards of the Coast stall.

Jayson and I stopped for lunch at the food court once again, each digging into a way too expensive burger and drink combo, before he finally raised the question. “So.. What’s in the book?”

“I’m… not actually sure.” I shrugged as I signed, making my confusion clear.

“I bet it’s like ‘dear diary’ or ‘do you know the name of the one who will save Ivalice?’ like the books from FFT 1 and 2 do.”

“That would be cute, but a bit depressing.” I hefted the grimoire up and ran my fingers over the cover. It thankfully had a small padlock with a key attached by ribbon, and it was easily unlocked with a few quick turns. However, as I opened it, I noticed it was all in a runic format. “Hm.. It’s like.. Nordic runes mixed with that Oblivion daedra script…” I tried to explain before the migraine hit. Information about Magic, skills I didn’t even know before, Spell upon spell upon spell was forced into my memory, forcing me to slip off my seat, curling in agony. I signed for Help, repeatedly, as I was forced to close my eyes from the sheer pain of it all.

The moment it faded, I barely had a chance to look around. People had begun to disappear into nothingness, from light explosions and simply flickering out, to much more painful looking ones like personal black holes and evaporating. I turned to the direction of the Merchant. He waved, his face split in two from the smile that now dominated his features. He waved as gravity suddenly pulled me down into a rift of inky blackness, my conscious leaving as I left my world behind forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Amongst the Black~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I awoke, I found myself in a strangely familiar darkness, one that had visited my dreams off and on for years. I sat within the spot light that had no origin, looking around vaguely. Outside the circle, a serpentine form circled my little sanctuary of light, eyeing me with a pair of glowing, orange eyes. Internally, I began to panic, my breathing becoming haggard as I watching this thing continue to stalk me, as I attempted to keep it within my sight. A singular claw reached into the Light, its scales glistening. “S-stay back. D-Don’t hurt me..” I softly say, shuffling back away from it. Another claw appears in the light as the Head begins to invade the circle. I flinch, throwing my hands up to protect myself.

Seconds pass silently. I freeze, waiting for something to strike me as I wait, blind to this dim world. A bright chime rings out, eliciting me to peek from behind my arms. Instead of the creature that was stalking me, a menu of some sorts sat in the air. It’s text was intelligible at first, but it continued to cycle between many written languages. Each letter kept shifting between something I recognized faintly as some Asiatic symbols, Nordic runes, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and even what I assumed were alien languages. Eventually, as letters began to click into English, they locked into place, finally displaying a message.

[Welcome to Displacement 1.24-EQ]

Displacement? Did… I get thrown into some sort of game?

[To open any menus, raise your hand wearing the [Menu Ring], and slide it down vertically before you. The [Menu Ring] cannot be lost, stolen, discarded, or destroyed.]

A tutorial? I’ll bite.. Doing as instructed, a series of vertical screens detailing my status as well as options for inventory, skills, and magic were present, typical fare for an RPG game. Notable, the traditional settings, save, and load menu options were absent.

[Your menu holds your information on your current physical status, equipment, skills, and magic known. These options will expand as necessary. This is also an inventory management area, allowing you to store your items and excess equipment in a special dimensional space due to your possession of a [Bag of Holding.]]

Huh. Worth the twenty bucks now. Strange that I’m here, but simple enough.

[Assigned Class: Magus.
[A Spell blade in the truest sense, a Magus can combine numerous magical studies with top notch sword play for a truly unique style of fighting. No spell besides only the hardest of rituals are out of your reach, and no weapon style is too difficult for you to grasp, although you will never truly master it as a focused class would. ]

I mean, Illua was a War Magus so.. Fitting.. I guess.

[Have Fun]

Wait what? I mentally cry out before the void once again takes me, depositing deep within the forests of Equestria, 310 years before the Return of Nightmare Moon.

“Woooow. Absolutely fascinating. I never knew you were technically a demon.”

If I could sigh and turn away, I would, you Kindergartener’s fridge drawing. I reply to the telepathic draconnequs. What do you need today of all days? Why are you reading my thoughts?

“Oh, I just came by to visit with a fellow villain of history, trapped in stone to be admired for centuries. You know me, ever the courteous one.”

You broke free, got re-imprisoned, what, twice? And then had your ass kicked to literal Hell and back before you finally decided friends were more important than your own self entertainment.

“You’re right, but you’re being such a spoilsport. I enjoyed watching your little brand of chaos, and I wanted to let you know of a deal I can give you, although the Butt sisters might not like it.” The draconnequs purred out, stretching over statuesque body.

Speak.

“I can free you… For a small favor in the future. Nothing villainous I assure you, but you know, Magic always has a price, even if we don’t really experience it. “

You know Discord, if I could have smiled right now, I would have. Done.

“Faaaaantastico! There’s a field trip with the same fillies who freed me here today. In a little while, my spell will get supercharged by the chaos they always bring around them, and free you proper. I’m just going to get things started.. A one and a two and a shibbidy dibbidy doo~!”

Discord, the ever chaotic, snapped his fingers, sending a spiral of cracks down my statue, glowing with chromatic light, before fading back down into what looked like typical damage from age. “It will be sunset soon. If they come by around that time, it should give you a bit of time to escape. Take the chance, get out of here. Find Ponyville. The cities have changed, but the landscape really hasn’t. This will probably be the only time I’ll be this serious with you. Good luck, Illua.” And with that, Discord vanished from my bubble of awareness.

Thanks Discord.

Author's Note:

The beginning of the Rewrite proper.

Old chapters will be Deleted as I re-do them, or they are no longer relevant.

Comments

[DNC]

Didn't like the first take? Will agree it could have been done better. Still it takes some spine to start over in things like this. Stand and write with pride.

[EnderHooves]

Question, at the start it says its her 600th anniversary, but she was sent 310 years into the past. That doesn't quite add up.
Other than that it's a pretty good starting point, better than the last try.

[Frustaz]

10301635
Yeah, thanks for catching that. Fixing it right now.

[Zepher]

“I would like to look around some more, before I make any decisions.” I replied

How can she reply when you said she's mute?

[Frustaz]

10304869
I like that you pointed this out, but it's actually something hard to write clearly. She would reply, but using sign language. Habitually, might I add, especially since she is talking to her brother, Who understands Sign language.

All I can do right now is little edits to fix and clarify things, since my work schedule is alot of overnights right now.

[Rafvtell]

isn't illua a nightshade? i didn't know who she was so i searched on google and found the name for ffta2, she is the villain and is said to be a nightshade, so why is she a war magus here?

[Frustaz]

10413029
I like the fact you point that out, her class has a wonderful description.

"Beautiful Swordmasters who utilize the forbidden dark arts of the Warmage." Warmage can be expanded to War Magus, especially because.. Story Illua doesn't have most of Game Illuas abilities.... yet.

I'm working on the next chapter and an additional bonus chapter already that will address this very question a bit more in depth~

[Vigriff]

I got to admit that I'm not overly familiar with the character in question.

[Xblaster]

Just read this and i very much like it, the intro aka convention part is actually different plus tells us more then. go to place get displaced the end. I shall read next chapter, just hope this story doesn't go down same road so many others have