This is a one-floor house with two tall rectangular windows. The inside of the house is small and cramped with many books, vials, herbs, and potions scattered here and there. Inside the house:
Rhyss sighed and kicked back onto his old wooden chair. It was now dark outside and he was a bit tired out from renewing the protection spells around him home all day and he wanted nothing more than to sit around his fireplace with a mug of tea. "Hahah, you've done it again, Rhyss. Mage-extraordinaire you are. Bloody genius. I'll bet no one can get through that barrier. Arrika comes pretty close every now and then, but luckily you were a lazy bum all those years and never bothered to teach her magic! You handsome devil, you, who knew such slip-ups could end up so well?" He sighed and waved his hand with magic to boil the water for tea, and after it was done waved again to levitate it to his hands. "No doubt she'll want to know about Kobas. But even I don't know... Where in the name of the goddesses are you, my old friend? You've disappeared and left behind a little penniless, innocent- Okay, I don't think Arrika's too innocent, I once saw her seduce a guy into getting drunk with her before taking his wallet; what you taught those kids, Kobas, I don't know... Hmm, then again, you left behind TWO little thieves, didn't you? I wonder how little Seth is doing these days...?"

"Well, you lazy bum, I'm fine. But kinda hungry." A little kid about 13 years old with green hair appeared next to the mage, startling him and making him spill a large portion of his freshly brewed tea. He grinned and made a thumbs-up.

"Wha-??? What in Din's Fire is- Seth??? What in the blazes are you doing here, you little runt, and how'd you get past the spells??"

"Meh. It was easy," he said cockily.

"How?" The mage sputtered. "How'd you do it? I never taught you magic."

"Sure as hell you didn't, you stupid narcissist. But I'm not telling you," he teased cruelly.

"What? No! I demand you tell me how you got past some of the highest level spells known by mortals today this instant!"

"...No." Seth smiled his usually annoying smile and sat on another chair. "So, Rhyss, got somethin' to eat? I'm starvin'!"

"Why should I feed you, you little pest?"

Seth pretended to sniffle a little and turned around so Rhyss couldn't see his face.

"No way am I falling for that trick! Stop faking and tell me already!"

Seth sniffled louder and held his stomach. "Pleeeeease Rhyss I'm so hungry and I got mugged the other day and I've got so many bruises my skin's so dark I look like a Gerudo and now the pretty girls in town won't ever like me and-"

"Ugh...." Rhyss slapped his hand to his forehead. "I thought you kids were pefectly able on taking care of yourself?" There was no response and Rhyss felt his cold exterior beginning to crack. He'd helped raise this kid, after all, and couldn't help but feel some brotherly affection for him. "Fine. Do you want bread?"

"Sweet!! Do you have jam and butter and sugar and maybe some warm Lon Lon Milk and- Aw, Rhyss, I knew you'd come round eventually!!" Seth jumped up and gave the mage a big hug, who returned it stiffly. "I missed you sooo much and Arrika too, but I haven't seen her. Do you know where she went?"

Rhyss prepared something for the young thief to eat, who ate it faster than Rhyss took to make it. "Boy, that was really good!! Do you have milk or not?"

So the pair ended up near the fire, Rhyss in a big comfy chair and Seth curled drowsily at his feet with a mug of warm milk. "Aw, Rhyss, tell me a story?"

"Haven't I done enough today already?" Rhyss said irritably. Without waiting for the obvious response Rhyss prepared to go into story-teller mode. "So, what do you want to hear this time? The legend of our Hero of Time, The Elrics, the Greil Mercenaries...? Those were your favorites, if my memory serves me right."

"Yeah, when you're that old, memory's the first thing to go, they say. Or is it your hair? Hey Rhyss, have you been inventing hair growth potions lately?" Seth asked impulsively and Rhyss sighed again.

"I'm barely 22, Seth."


So... is there anyone powerful, smart, weird, or unpredictable enough who can get through the barrier as well? And Rhyss is about to tell a story. You might know it, and you might think it's a load of garbage, but it's possible he might be open for suggestions or use an assistant to act it out. Kids these days are hard to entertain, after all, and Seth is one of the most stubborn...

Sovelis walked right through a weak barrier spell as he aproched a house that has poped up near the woods. "Eh? Wow...what a weak spell! Whoever lives here must expect the locals around here to be stupid...." he said as he walked up to the door, and knocked on it with his automail. "HELLO! Anyone home?" he shouted as he leaned on his staff, waiting for an awnser.

Seth's head immediately snapped towards the door. "Kobas!!" He immediately assumed, and threw open the door and came face to face with the Tempest.

"Shut the door, you little idiot!!!" Rhyss screamed. "And who the hell are you??? And how'd you get past the barriers???"

"Told you it was easy," Seth smirked. "Howdy, stranger. Who're you, why's your arm made of metal, and what did you do to Arrika?"

"I said shut the door!"

"Why? You're not the boss of me," Seth hissed, throwing his unfinished milk at the narcissist. The milk splashed straight onto Rhyss's face, who immediately freaked out.

"What'd you do that for, you little rat, I'll kill you!!!" Rhyss screamed and threw beams of light at the little thief, who dodged them and the objects that flew when the magic hit them.

Sovelis looked at the angry mage. "Well, aren't you a Mr. Grumpy-Gills!" the Tempest laughed at Rhyss as he took a step inside. "And you expect that excuse you call a barrier to stop anything, let alone me? One of Hyrules leading experts in combative magic, and the Last Tempest to boot?" Sovelis said, now getting serious. "And who's this Arrika that you speak of. boy?" the rather youthfull mage asked Seth.

"Eeep!" Seth ducked under a table and narrowly avoided being hit by another blast of magic. "Haha, don't lie to me! I can smell her blood on you... kind of sweet, then smells of shadows and sorrow at the same time; don't worry, I don't expect you to understand what I mean. C'mon, you know. Sheikah. Kinda 17-ish. Black hair and eyes, lies all the time, carries around a silver watch she keeps trying to open."

"Tempest?" Rhyss was astounded. "Why, I've heard of you, but never expected you to ever knock on my door... Seth, did you forsee this?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"An obvious response. Why do I still put up with you? Oh, in case you're wondering, Seth has some psychic abilities for reasons only the Goddesses know why. Why the poor misguided kid decided to become a thief, I really don't know."

"Because you won't teach me to be a mage, you-" Seth immediately spouted off some colorful names only the drunkest man in the rowdiest bar would know. "Ya know..." he said slowly, poking his head from under the table to stare at Sovelis, "you really look like the guy in the story! Rhyss, look at him! Doesn't he?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Seth, so stop babbling nonsense for once!"

"You do know! I can tell; I know whenever someone lies!" Seth came closer to the Tempest and buried his face in his red coat. "You even smell like the guy in the story! It's kinda faint, though, but it's there for sure. Are you him, or.... is the story actually real and you met Edward Elric!!" Seth started to get excited. "I told you so, Rhyss! They're all true!"

"I never said that, and I'm starting to regret I ever told you them," the mage said stubbornly.

"But you never said they weren't true! Admit it! Admit it, Mr. Grumpy-Gills!" Seth giggled.

"You immature little brat, I should throw you out right now!"

The green-haired thief wimpered and hid behind Sovelis. "I think he's really gonna hurt me now! Please, don't let him throw me out, I'm still hungry!"

"You're always hungry. Now come here and stop bothering the Tempest! He's a complete stranger and you go and practically hug him-" Rhyss caught Seth by his long white scarf and dragged him backwards.

"Let go of my scarf!!! If you rip it, I swear I'll kill you!"

"That's yours and Arrika's problem, Seth! Face it, Kobas is gone, and he'll come back when he's ready to come back! Throw away that stupid scarf, tell Arrika to sell that watch or just get rid of it, and stop crying over it!"

"I'm not crying! And you miss him too, I can tell. And how do you know he's not in trouble somewhere and can't get back?"

"Because I-" Rhyss's harsh voice faltered. "He'll come back. He always does," he said firmly, as if trying to reassure himself. "Sorry Seth had to bother you, Tempest. If you want to stay, I can make something to eat. Seth was about to go to sleep anyway, so if you want to hear a story you're very welcome."

"Hah. I don't have a bedtime anymore, stupid. Haven't had one for a year."

"Well you do now, kiddo. You wanna stay in my house, you gotta follow the rules."

Seth pouted but remained behind Sovelis. "I still don't trust you, Rhyss, so don't try to bribe me with spiked cookies like last time."

Sovelis wasn't payinf attention to the Mage or the Thief. His thoughts where on what Seth had said. How do these people know about the Elric Brothers? he thought as he stood in the doorway, lost in thought...

"He wants to know why," Seth said suddenly. "He wants to know how you know all this stuff, Rhyss, and honestly I wanna know too! Hey..." Seth buried his head even more into Sovelis's cloak. "You can do alchemy too!"

Rhyss studied Sovelis's metal arm. "I think you have a right to know. Why don't you all sit down?" The three ended up around the fire again, Rhyss staring pensively into the flames for a while and Seth hanging on to the Tempest, stubbornly refusing to let go when Rhyss scolded him. "I like to experiment with magic, dabble in lost arts-"

"Yeah! Like that one time you made a cure for the common cold-"

"Hush, Seth! Well one day long ago, even before I met Kobas, I discovered a way to make a portal between different dimensions."

"I knew it!" Seth muttered.

"Seth!"

"Sorry."

"I didn't want to risk going to another dimension-"

"So you were a fraidy-cat the entire time."

Seth glared. "I didn't know what was on the other side of the portal! I could have died before you could even blink. Well, it turns out Kobas had been spying on me for quite some time and had been wondering what I was up to; I think he guessed right in the end and was so determined to discover something beyond Hyrule, he begged me to let him pass through."

"He begged? No way! Kobas would never beg. He only threatens you."

"Hah. Kobas was a lot younger back then, and not quite so rough. But he longed for adventure, to go somewhere else. I think at one point he even hated Hyrule, it was so usual and boring to him. So what could I do? In some way I pitied him, then I admired his bravery. And anyway, if he did die, what did it matter? I had just met him an hour before. So I let him go."

"That's it? No big fight between you guys, no blood or magic spells or trying to kill each other-"

"No! No fight, and unlike your crazy generation, people used to settle things just by talking about it."

"Bah. You're not much older than me."

"Old enough to beat you to a pulp without trying. So, anyway, Kobas came back at exactly the same time the next time: 6:47 pm. He claimed he had been gone for months and stranded in a place called Amestris, which I'm sure you know about."

"Waaait! Why are you suddenly saying all this now? Why didn't you tell me before?" Seth said angrily.

"It wasn't the right time, and Kobas didn't want you to know about it. Kobas had been traveling with a famous alchemist there named Edward Elric. The rest you probably both know by heart."

"How did he get back?" Seth asked, knowing Sovelis was probably wondering the same, as Kobas wasn't a mage.

"He learned alchemy there, found out he was rather good at it. He just found a way to do it, just like he figures out a way to do everything. End of discussion."

"Huh. So then he came back and told you everything, and then you turned it into my .... bed-time story, I guess you could call it."

"Pretty much. Kobas told me to make sure you both knew the story, just take out any parts including him. He also told me not to put too much stress on Equivalent Exchange; even after spending so much time with the Elrics he didn't believe it at all."

"Well, if he stayed with the Elrics, wouldn't he have met Sovelis?" Seth asked. "Hey, Tempest, do you remember a blue-haired guy? And if the Elric's tale is true... then how about... the one about the Greil Mercenaries?" Seth got excited again and jumped up and down, his hands on Sovelis's shoulders. "Was he one of Ike's Soldiers?"

"Mmhmm. An assassin. Went by the name of Volke."

"I though Volke had brown hair?"

"Kobas didn't always appear in his body when he traveled to another dimension. Sometimes he took the appearance of another."

"So Sovelis wouldn't have known if he met Kobas?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Don't read my mind agian Seth...or I'll force images so dark into your head that you won't sleep for weeks..." Sovelis said angerly. He smiled as he listened to Rhyss's tale of how Kobas had met Edward and Alphonse. "Nope...Sorry. Never meet him. I was the only one traveling with the Elrics while I was there. Your friend, Kobas, he probably came to Amestris after I had." the Tempest said, looking at Rhyss. "I didn't need to lear Alchemy from those boys, and quiet frankly, I only traveled with them because of what I knew of them." Sovelis looked at the fire in the fireplace. "Let me tell you something, that no one else in this world has ever heard from me. In my world, the one I was born and raised in until I became a Tempest, The Elric brothers were characters of a story...Nothing more. Same with this land, Hyrule. All of it was thought to be a figment of the imagination..."

"The minds of human beings are rather strange sometimes. The stories of Amestris and Hyrule, had somehow been implanted in these writers and artists of my world...and they ony thought that these were ideas that they had come up with." Sovelis said, sighing deeply. He was revealing an ancient secret that the Tempest had guarded for eons. " This happens in all worlds...Certain people dream of other worlds THAT ACTUALLY EXIST."

Sovelis looked at Seth, then back up at Rhyss. "To anyone of my world...This land..is only a fairytale."

Seth backed away a little from Sovelis and curled up next to Rhyss instead.
Rhyss didn't say anything, only smiled slightly. "It makes sense."

"No it doesn't!" Seth immediately protested. "I'm no fairytale! That's the same thing as saying... that I don't exist!"

"Seth, he didn't say that."

"Yeah, but it's the same thing! It's like I'm some made up person, like I don't feel. It's like saying that I can't ever change my destiny, because if I'm a story, then it's already been decided by someone I've never met! I'm just... a puppet! And you- Rhyss, how could you, I can tell you really believe him!"

"But you know it's true, too."

"I don't care, I don't believe it."

"Oh, Seth..." Rhyss sighed. "But Tempest, is it really safe to tell us something so important? Will you get in trouble?"

"Who cares? I'm just a story now! All of us are just characters in a fairy tale, so who cares if we live or die? Our lives aren't our own-"

Rhyss clapped a hand over his mouth. "Maybe you shouldn't have said it while he was still awake," he pointed out. "Seth tends to... overreact. Seth, he didn't say you were a story. He just pointed out that others view us that way, because they've just dreamt of us, and vice versa. That's it."

Seth bit Rhyss, who promptly let go. "How is this overreacting?? I'd say this is normal behavior! It's crazy...."

"Yet makes perfect sense. I did stumble upon this theory a while ago, but didn't believe it either... until now. If Seth can tell you're not lying, Tempest, then it's true. Oddly enough though, I'm content."

"Well I'm not," said Seth stubbornly.

"I should have just kept quiet..." the Tempest mumbled

They would have found out sooner or later, since the boundries of this world seem to be weak...so many otherworlders are comming to their world...Sovel remarked, loud enough so that the other two people in the room could hear

"Be quiet!" Sovelis hisses, trying to hush the demon

You have no sense of humor... the demon sighed

"I do too...It just desn't involve destroying entire worlds...

That was only that one time...And the Arkadians had it comming for a long time. Sovel snapped back.

"Sorry...Sometimes he talks loud enough for anyone to hear...." Sovelis apologized to Seth and Rhyss, a smile on his face.

Seth gave a little squeak and scrambled to a corner of the room and hid under a table.

"Seth? Come here, it's all right," said Rhyss calmly, although he looked at Sovelis suspiciously.

"No! It's like there's some... de-demon in him! I swear, I couldn't sense it clearly
b-before but now it's... choking me," Seth said, his voice trembling.

"Choking you?" Rhyss glared at Sovelis.

"No, no, it's not like it's re-really cho-choking me but it's really hard to stand it's aura."

"Come here, it's fine."

"No it's not!" Seth said, but slowly crept up to Rhyss and held onto his robes, never taking his eyes off the Tempest. "Ask him," Seth whispered to Rhyss.

"Ask him what? Why don't you?"

"I'm scared to read his mind and I don't wanna talk right now," Seth said. "Ask him who the Ar-ark-k-kadians are." The little thief shivered as he caught glimpses of destruction from Sovel.

"The Arkadians deserved what the got." Sovelis said, looking at Seth with malice in his eyes, and hatred tinting his voice.

Yes... and I enjoyed devouring every one of their souls.... the demon said as he manifested in the physical plane. A small ball of black flames floated a few feet in front of Sovelis, and the demon's voice was comming out of it.

This is the extent of my abbilities to be a corpreal being in this plane without using my host's body...Pathetic, isn't it? As long as I am sealed, I am but a small ball of flames that cannot stray to far from the Tempest...

Sovelis laughed. "Your still dangerous. You almost burned the forset down a month ago."

And you had to stop my fun, boy. the demon snapped as it flared in anger.

The green-haired thief clutched the robes of Rhyss even tighter, his eyes fixed on the floating ball of flames. Rhyss was suprisingly calm, although a little wary. Seth's eyes widened as he had visions of tormented souls devoured mercilessly and trees going up in flames.

"I have to wonder, though," Rhyss commented. "What would happen if this demon did possess you. I imagine it would wear you out in a manner of seconds, so it wouldn't be too practical."

"You're not scared," Seth said, amazed. "Why not?"

"Why should I?" Rhyss said. "Unless this demon actually comes out and tries to kill me, I don't have anything to fear. Unless you can tell it's thinking about it, Seth?"

"I don't know. I don't wanna know..." Seth whimpered. "They both scare me now," he whispered so only Rhyss could hear. "It's like that Tempest guy suddenly became a whole different person."

"Let go a bit, you're clawing me," Rhyss complained. "You're like a little cat; I detest cats." He turned his attention back to the dark flames. "I'm still curious; how did you end up as a host body? Did you try to summon a demon or controll powerful spirits? I've heard if you lose controll, they can overpower you and in some cases, kill you or possess you forever."

"It truely depends on the type of seal that one uses to keep a demon at bay...The seal on me is of Tempest design, so it allows for partial and almost compleate possesions before control is lost...to a small degree of protection. Its like having someone else's skin on you...." Sovelis said, shivering slightly.

"I came to be the living prision of this particular demon because I was the only one dumb enough to allow the Council and the old High Lord to seal it away in me." he said, looking at Seth. And you need to grow a backbone, you sniviling little coward... he shot at Seth mentally. I wear a mask of youthfull bliss on my face boy, but my soul is slowly being currupted to be as black as the Abyss that all Darkness come from, thanks to the demon...My own sanity will be gone...each time I use his power..I slip a little further into the darkness....But It will take many years before I am a puppet of the shadows...more years than you'll live...so don't worry...you won't be around when I go mad and destroy everything... the Tempest said into Seth's mind as he closed his own off, raising his mental castle walls, protecting his thoughts from the young psycic Hylian.

"I think I have a right to be scared right now," said Seth.

A barren wasteland that was Hyrule Field, the Zora's River and Lake Hylia frozen over, and all of North Castle in ruins. The normal citizens of Hyrule replaced by Redeads and Poes, Skulltullas spinning endless webs over homes. And the flames. The eternal black flames that consumed everything in their path, leaving nothing. Only one person was left, standing alone, his metal arm gleaming in the moonlight, for one day the sun would disappear altogether too.

"Why'd you let them seal it in you anyway? That's seems kind of stupid. Did you really believe it would make you more powerful?" Seth said.

"Some people will do anything to achieve whatever goals they have, Seth," Rhyss said. "At one point losing your soul means nothing."

"Was there like a powerful demon running around and then your Council or whatever caught it but they had to seal it away in something or it would get loose and kill lots of people again and then you wanted to play the hero and volunteered to have it sealed inside you?"

"Breathe, Seth," the mage said. "I find the whole topic of possession interesting, actually. I've always wondered what it felt like to not be control of your own body. Would you consider this curiousity dangerous? Or perfectly justified? I've summoned demons before, but always the lesser ones. Am I a coward or being wise? Power is something I've wanted for a long time, and maybe if I wasn't so afraid of the Abyss I would summon a demon right now..." Rhyss extended his fingers toward the floating black flames, daring himself to touch it, hoping he would be consumed by great power, even for a few seconds.

"Don't touch it!" Seth said, pulling his arm back. "I don't wanna lose you too!"

"Nothing's gonna happen, Seth, so just sit down!" Rhyss said, his curiousity getting the better of him.