Ice Cavern (Private, obviously, with Grim)

Rhanta was surprise how quick they travelled to the Frost Region-like Private Network. He looked at the cave-like settlement a few feet away. He looked at Grim, "Is this your home?"

"Yes...my home in the Metro Region...is..unsafe." Grim said. "This is my new home...in the Frost Region. " Grim explained.

"Who is this guy?" A female voice asked in the dark reaches of the cavern.

"Yeah...who is the 'guest'? " A hooded man suddenly jumped off into the top of a crate next to Rhanta.

"This is Rhanta...he is no intruder...but a guest.." Grim said walking towards the sleeping ShockZero. CryoMortem walked towards a wall and sat down.

"Ah...a friend then eh?" The hooded man got down of the crate and stood up. "Name's Wither...i havent seen your like here yet.." He said examining.

"Tch..." The female voice disappeared into the shadows.

"Thats Umbra...no one wants to mess with her...so dont.." Wither said whispering.

"So...What do we do with the fragment?" Grim said across the room.

"The only thing I know is that each Fragment holds awesome power," said Rhanta, showing his, glowing black. "And, as with all fictional stories, we need to learn how to unlock it. 'the deepest reaches of where my heart belongs', the message said."

"If we discover how to unlock my Fragment..." he started, kneeling as he pricked his own finger and started to write symbols on the ground with it, "We can just discover how to decipher yours."

The writing continued. It's been a while since Rhanta tapped in Conjuration, and he immediately stopped when he noticed his Casting Seal is complete.

"We are going to scry the past..." said Rhanta, "Actually, my past. There must be some clue back then. This will be boring, and we need to watch it. Is it okay with you?"

He started chanting the spells.

"Ok..." Grim approached Rhanta and the fragment.

"Dont cause a mess...or Sonia will freak..." Wither said leaving.

(I'll just tell the story. it'll take too long if I use Monster Master. Only for this post lang naman eh. XD)

"Here we go..." said Rhanta, finishing the casting of the spell. The five points of the pentagram seal glowed with red light, and 'pillared' towards the ceiling. It didn't destroy the ceiling, just made a tower of red light. There is a strange portal that appeared right in the middle of the room.

"Cathlyn," said Rhanta, as if calling to the portal, "Cathlyn!"

WHOOSH!
SHEEM!

"What is it?!" asked someone, annoyed, as a tall lady came from the portal. She is regular woman in her mid-twenties. She has silvery-white hair, like Rhanta, and a pair of crimson eyes. She wears her hair in a pony-tail, and wears a sleeveless, short-skirted scarlet robe with a black apron strapped around her. Smell of smoke is coming from inside the portal, and smoke is starting to fill the now crimson-colored environment, "Who the hell is call--"

She saw Rhanta.

"Rhanta. What a pleasant surprise!"

She immediately rushed towards her sibling and hugged him tight. "How's life?"

"Perfectly fine," answered Rhanta, annoyed. He pushed Cathlyn lightly away, and he cleared his throat, "Still not done with my mission, but I'm doing great."

Cathlyn stared at Rhanta.

"Have you completed the Thirteen Volumes?" She referred to the Arcanus Infinus, the six books that she passed down to Rhanta as a sign of ending their master-apprentice relationship.

Rhanta nodded as she showed her the Arcanus, "Yes, I have."

She didn't touch the book, just stared at it, "Very good!" Her face turned serious, "But I doubt that's the only reason why you came all this way to call me via a long-distance portal. What's happening?"

"You see..." Rhanta said as he grabbed the fragment and tossed it at Cathlyn's hands. She caught it without looking, and looked at it. "The Fragment?" She immediately recognized it after a few seconds, " As in...from the Source?"

Rhanta nodded in agreement. He grabbed the piece back, "Yes, it's from the Source. You see--"

"What have you been into?" she asked, worried as she raised an eyebrow, "You always attract stuff around you, huh?" she looked at Grim, "And who might this young gentleman be?"

"Look," said Rhanta with a serious face, "I just need to know how to unlock the powers of the Fragment. That's all we need to do for now. I don't want to tell you the exact details. It's too dangerous. I don't want you involved."

"Has this something to do with any of us?" asked cathlyn.

Rhanta raised both shoulders, "If that's the 'us' I'm thinking of, I don't know."

"Any clues?" asked Cathlyn

Rhanta nodded, "A voice told me that 'if I seek the ultimate power of the shadows, I must seek the very reaches of the place where my heart belongs' or something."

(This is taken from the New Age Mythos. XD)

"So they're calling for you," said Cathlyn, sighing. "I never thought they'll seek a replacement this quick. Never thought it would be you!"

She started to walk around the area, letting the portal close.

"Heed not," she said, still thinking, "I can return by myself."

She started to float, and she crossed both legs as she thought deeply.

"He even never got the chance to see you, and now he wants you to be his disciple. Look, are you sure you want to unlock the power of the Fragment?"


--------------------------------------MEANWHILE----------------------------------------------

“You done meeting with him?” asked Alexander, standing on a pole, just beside Thoth.

“I just read files. He has potential,” told Thoth, smiling, “That’s nice.”

“How’s the mask?” asked Alex,

Thoth went over his pocket, and pulled a white mask, “This one? The mask of the Pha—“

“Yes, that one,” told Alex, “Use it. And remember, when the time comes, give it to someone whom you deem worthy.”

“Which is?”

“My vote is Mravil,” told Alex, “He has potential.”

“Depends on the outcome of the training,” told Thoth as he wore the mask…

WHOOSH!

The mask stuck on Thoth’s face, and Thoth’s shadow became white. It then surrounded him, making him look like a column, and then it dissolved in him.

Thoth was wearing a gray fitted rider suit. The mask remained the same.

“Why do you look better than I am when I’m Phantom of Shadows?!” exclaimed Alexander, in a joking tone.

“Maybe,” told Thoth, “That because you’re old, and you prefer old things. That’s why you look so old in your Phantom costume.”

“You mean and oldie,” told Alexander, “I’m not that old.”

“It’s still the same,” told Thoth, “You’re 35”

“Don’t be psychic with me,” told Alexander, “I never told anyone my age before.”

“I’m not psychic with you,” told Thoth, “It’s just that…I can easily penetrate your head.”

“With all my concentration?”

Thoth nodded, “It’s so easy to do with my trained mind.”

And then Thoth vanished.

Alexander laughed, “You’re really like me, eh? An escape artist. No wonder I chose you among the rest.”

Alexander flew away.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cathlyn sensed something, "He's coming."

"Who's coming?" asked Rhanta, worried. He didn't have time to look at Grim, or what his reaction might be. "Of course I'm prepared! I want to unlock the power of the Fragment. But who is this that's coming? Who wants me to be his disciple?"

"I do," said a man, appearing from nowhere. He's wearing an all black outfit consisting of a tuxedo, a set of long pants, short black hair slicked back, and a pair of sunglasses. He's holding a psychic blade in one hand.

"Thoth!" shouted Cathlyn, "So it's you!"

"Of course it's me," said Thoth, grinning at Cathlyn, "And I came for this boy."

"Of all kids..." said Cathlyn, "Why Rhanta? You can choose the Princess, the Prince of Flames, but why him?"

"Let's say..." said Thoth, "He has potential."

"But--"

"Hush," said Thoth, "Let the child choose."

He approached Rhanta, "You said you want to unlock the powers of the Fragment. How can you do that without even unlocking yourself?"

"In what way?" asked Rhanta, "What do you mean?"

He looked at Thoth, "You're Thoth...as in...Thoth du Monde. Alexander Graham's student?!"

This is Thoth. Alexander Graham is an old friend of Cathlyn when she still worked with K.H.A.O.S before she retired to a mage, and after she worked as a researcher while Cyberspace is still on Beta. She was one of those who saw Set beta tested, and how he came to hate the sickly Rhanta. Set is the prodigy of the twins. He learned faster, he 'leveled up' faster, but Cathlyn came to care for Rhanta more, making Set run away.

Thoth du Monde is one of Alexander's many students...the only one who survived and carried Alexander's 'gift'.

"Two questions:" asked Thoth, "The easy way, or the hard way?"

"Easy," said Rhanta, "The quickest as possible."

Cathlyn sighed as she teleported away, "Good luck, my brother."

Thoth grinned as he grabbed hold of the Fragment.

"This pitiful Fragment is still isn't in its final form. Let's test if you can handle it."

PAK!

WHOOSH!

He tossed the Fragment in the air in front of Rhanta, grabbed it with one hand, and poked it on Rhanta's forehead as if its a playing board. A huge black light emanated from the Fragment, and Rhanta's shadows covered himself.

"If you survived, you have unlocked what you seek. If you fail, of course you die."

He disappeared.

Rhanta shrieked in pain. He was being devoured by his own shadows.

"What does he want me to do with this?!" asked Rhanta, noticing his shadows are harder to control. He grabbed hold of his head and started spinning around. The seal erased itself, and everything except for Rhanta returned to normal.

"I can't control them!" shouted Rhanta as he spun around.

"Need help?" asked Ego from inside.

"SHUT UP!" shouted Rhanta, "I don't have time for this!"

He knelt on the ground.

"You said the clue said 'seek the deepest reaches of where your heart belongs.' What do you think is the place where your heart belongs?"

Rhanta shook his head in pain, "I don't know! I'll die, friggin hell!"

"You're a necromancer! A practicioner of the dark arts! You are, however, not evil. What's that? You're a neutral, you freako!"

Rhanta got his point.

"You don't belong to the light. You belong to the darkness! Your darkness! You are your own master! Why do you have to seek where your heart belongs if it already is in one place?!"


"I belong to darkness..." said Rhanta, "MY darkness."

Rhanta stopped moving and waited for the shadows to devour him whole. Before it reached the spot where his third eye is, he immediately ripped his hand off the shadows and sliced the shadows that are covering his face, removing the shadows off his body. And instead of the fragment falling, it's his mask, only a new form: it was a black mask with nothing but a huge white 'slash mark' on it.

It was Grim's first time to see Rhanta without his mask. He has blood-red eyes, and very pale skin. He looks striking, 'handsome' (hot for some), and very very creepy. "My name is Rhanta..." he said.

Shadows enveloped Rhanta as he wore the black mask. Shadows started covering his body, and after he was enveloped in a cocoon, shadows around his body exploded, leaving nothing but a head covering, a black mask that covered his own mask, and a very long black scarf.

"and I am the Phantom of Shadows."