Two days. Two whole days spent gathering Phantasia. In reality, it didn't seem that long, at least, not for Emi. She was used to carefully and tediously doing her work. Having been raised in the Temple of Thunder in her village, she learned from an early age that things took time. You didn't just call down lightning from the sky just so that you could heat water a little faster. And so, here she was on yet another task that taxed her patience.
She and Gelyan had been running around the Lower Valley for two days invading the nests of Cloudhoppers for the precious purple flowers. With Emi's ability to fly, it had been a fairly simply job for the two of them. Gelyan would cling to Emi's legs with one arm while he rained shot after shot of white jelly on the Cloudhoppers, adhering them in place. They would then go down and pick the flowers with ease. They had to work fast, though, as the jelly would release the furious creatures after a few minutes. After two days of collection, she and Gely had managed to gather five large sackfuls of Phantasia. This, however, was nowhere near the amount that they needed to pay their way for a voyage across the Drakien sea.
They were currently flying low over the Valley, hoping to find a Cloudhopper nest that they had overlooked the first day.
Gely was his usual grumpy self, grumbling about how the cold wind would soon remove his toes or something.
“Isn't it possible,” he shouted over the wind, “that Nera and Sisi found the rest of the Phantasia by themselves?”
“Yes, it's possible. However, we cannot simply assume that they have collected the difference of our Phantasia, and simply give up now.” Emi flew up a few hundred feet higher. “It is our duty to them that we should collect at least half of the Phantasia we need. With five sacks, we only have about four pounds.”
Emi smiled down at Gely's sour face. “I also highly doubt that they could collect eleven pounds in the same time that it took you and I to collect four.” That should puff up his pride a bit. I hope it shuts him up...
Gely's face brightened visibly. Yes, that comment did the trick.
“Right then. Let's find that nest.”
Emi nodded and banked off to the east. She wondered how Nera and Sisi were actually doing.
Nera and Sisi were, in fact, doing very well. They had a run of bad luck in the beginning, finding only a few patches of flowers in the first dozen nests the attacked. To speed things up, Sisi and the Magician worked together to write a teleportation algorithm so that they could warp into the nest, grab what they could and warp out again. After their initial run of bad luck, they hit pay-dirt when the girls found themselves in an abandoned nest. Since the nest looked like it had been unoccupied for some time, there were literally thousands of blossoms in the nest. It took nearly two hours to gather all of the Phantasia, even with the help of their four Tarots. In the end, the girls managed to collect nine pounds of Phantasia from that one trip, bringing their total to ten pounds.
Sisily sat down on a frost covered rock, plopping the sagging burlap sack onto the ground. Eyes closed, she sighed heavily. She opened her eyes and smiled widely at Nera, who was sitting across from her on a mossy rock.
“We really found a lot today, didn't we Nera?”
Nera nodded, smiling back at the beaming face of Sisi. “It's nice to finally have things turn our way for once. I remember the first few days of this.” Nera began to clean her nails with Gemini. She continued, looking up from her task, “How much do you think Gely and Emi gathered? They don't really work that well together, in my opinion, so the amount ought to be fairly small.”
Sisi giggled. “Whatever Phantasia they get will look small compared to ours!”
“True,” laughed Nera.
Nera took a look around. If being in the alternate timeline had taught her anything, it was to be careful and aware of your surroundings. Their temporary camp was set in a small clearing in the middle of a grove of trees that Emi called Bl'or Ash trees. Their blue branches stretched skyward, thin finger-like limbs pricking the air with tiny icicles hanging off of them. On the ground of the clearing, a fluorescent moss that Emi called Chieln sprawled everywhere. Frankly, Nera had a hard enough time pronouncing most of the words in Emi's language. What was interesting was that Emi spoke English just as well as she spoke her language. Maybe their timelines came from the same source, and they just split only recently. It certainly was an interesting theory.
A sibilant voice hissed from Sisi's pocket. “Perhapsss it would be bessst if the Phantasssia wasss not left on the ground?”
Nera yelped at the sound and jumped up to her feet. “Sisi, what the hell is in your pocket?!”
Sisi didn't seem to hear her, and now it looked like she was scolding the voice. “That really wasn't funny, scaring Nera-jie like that.”
Again the voice sifted out of her pocket, “I wasss only having a bit of fun, Sssisssi.”
“I don't care what you were doing. It wasn't funny. And what's with the S's?”
A small sigh came from the hole in Sisi's pants, and then the voice said, “Fine, fine. I'll stop. Seriously Sisi, if you don't watch what you're saying around me, one of these days I will barbeque you.”
Nera lowered Gemini and ask, slightly incredulous, “Is that the Magician?”
“Yep.”
“And he can fit in your pocket?”
“Mmhmm.”
“So, you knew he could do that at any point in time, and you never told me that!?”
Sisi thought for a moment. “Did you really need to know?”
Nera facepalmed herself. “I guess not, but it would have been nice to know.” She sat back down, lifting the burlap sack off of the ice an placing it over her shoulder. She looked across the small clearing that separated Sisi and her and asked, “How did you managed to get so small as to fit into her pocket anyways?”
“Well,” the Magician started, “Sisi and I were talking about magical algorithms while you were asleep a few days ago. She couldn't sleep, so she dragged me out in the middle of the night 'just to talk'. So, being the magical prodigy that she is, we devised a way to shrink things down to about 1/7 of it's original size. We were...”
Nera interrupted, “Hold on. One seventh? Why such a random number?”
The Magician huffed. “Thank you for interrupting my story, Nera. Is that all?”
“I'll be done as soon as you answer my question, you worm.”
The Magician made a sound that sounded somewhere between an exhale and hawking a loogie. “Fine. Sisi likes the number 7, so that's why the algorithm is based on seven. If you took the time to notice, which I know you haven't,” added the Magician in a mocking tone, “the teleportation algorithm has a latency period of seven seconds. As well, it takes seven seconds for Sisi to charge Fiery Flowers.”
The Magician sounded considerably worked up. “Satisfied?”
Nera shrugged. “I guess,” she said without much enthusiasm, knowing this would send the Magician off his rocker.
It did.
“Sisi! Turn me back to my original size so that I can char this girl to a crisp! I mean it!”
Sisi just started laughing her head off, imagining the battle that would ensue between Nera and the Magician.
“Ahaha! It's too funny! Ahh! It hurts! Ahahahaha!”
Considerably annoyed, the Magician dismissed himself in a pillar of fire, albeit a pillar of fire that was one seventh smaller, and in Sisi's pocket.
“Ouch!”
Nera laughed, and she ran over to pat snow on Sisi's smouldering pants. Various profanities spewed forth from Sisi's mouth, some of the more creative ones having something to do with worms and salt. Laughing quite loudly, Nera slapped handfuls of snow onto Sisi's pants, which were still largely intact, leaving only a small black rimmed hole that showed a bit of her thighs.
“You should be ok,” Nera said. “If you want, we'll try and find some more pants for you when we get to town.”
Sisi was still fuming. Her face was turned up in a half scowl, half pout. It was almost funny to look at, since the face didn't suit Sisi's usually happy demeanour. Nera frowned, thinking about how she could cheer Sisi up. She racked her brain for something that could work.
She thought of something, and began rummaging through her bag, turning her back to Sisi for a second.
After a bit, Nera turned around. “Look Sisi,” she said.
Sisi tried to keep pouting, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she looked at the small object cupped in Nera's hand.
Inside the palms of Nera's hands was a small piece of what looked like Auradium, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball. Sisi gasped, and soon forgot what she was angry about.
“Shiny!”
Nera smiled and handed the small mineral to Sisily, who immediately engrossed herself with it. Sisi's deep brown eye stared intensely at the small rock, and the light reflected off of it's sharp surfaces, casting a strange glint of light into Sisi's eyes.
Satisfied that she had quieted Sisi down for the time being, Nera said, “Well, we should go an meet up with Gely and Emi. They're probably done by now anyways. We've all been at it a while.”
“Uh-huh...” answered Sisi distractedly.
Smiling, Nera headed back to their agreed meeting site with the bag of Phantasia slung over her shoulder and Sisi following just a few steps behind her.
Madelaine was worried, and not just about dinner that night. Reciful had been in and out of the house for the past few days. He was always mumbling to himself about something, and he would stop and pretend nothing was the matter when he noticed Madelaine watching him. He thought that he had outsmarted her. He was wrong. After listening carefully to Reciful's angry musing, she figured out what was troubling him, which, in turn, troubled her. Madelaine decided that since she couldn't keep an eye on Reciful at all times, she would have to get another set of eyes.
Madelaine walked down the luxurious staircase from the second floor kitchen to the first floor landing. The massive staircase was made of solid Redwood, and the whole foyer absolutely reeked of money. In some ways, it made Madelaine a bit sick how Reciful had all this money at his disposal, and yet he uses none of it. That, however, didn't matter now. She glanced furtively over her shoulder, making sure that she wasn't being followed. She had managed to keep this a secret for so long, and she wasn't planning on revealing her Ace-in-the-hole now.
Seeing and hearing no one in the house, she quickly ducked into a small space underneath the stairs. Inside was a normal broom closet. Madelaine groped around in the dark before she found the repressed brick in the wall. She depressed the false brick, which caused a complex set of pulleys and levers to drop into place behind the wall. Slowly, the wall pulled up to reveal a larger room behind it. A faint glimmer of incandescent light came from within.
Madelaine looked at the tiny creature huddled in the corner of the room. The scrawny boy glanced briefly at Madelaine, but soon shrunk back into his curled up form. His legs poked out from under a small blanket, despite having an enormous bed in the opposite corner of the room. It seemed that the boy was more comfortable on the floor, as he was used to.
“Kevin, my boy, I was hoping you could help me with something,” said Madelaine.
Looking up, the small boy glanced through dark locks of hair that hung in his eyes. A mass of white bandages covered his left eye.
“How might I serve you, mistress?”
Smiling gently, Madelaine leaned in close and said, “I need you to keep a close eye on Reciful for me, dear. He's been a bit,” Madelaine hesitated before continuing, “occupied lately.”
“Yes mistress.”
“Good,” Madelaine said with a smile. She turned to walk away, but stopped short of the door. “Oh, Kevin. Be sure to bundle up.”
“Yes mistress.”
Madelaine left Kevin to get himself ready.
Truth be told, Kevin Kwon wasn't even suppose to be there. The boy had turned up on her doorstep months ago, gripping the left side of his face and dripping blood, sweat and rainwater. His good eye was all red, and Madelaine could tell that the poor boy had been crying. She quickly took him in. The boy remained reticent the whole time when Madelaine tried to clean up his face. He had numerous other wounds that she didn't see before in the poor lighting of the doorway. His pants were torn, and blood coated several large patches of his trousers. His shirt was dirty, and it gave off a smell of something that had not been washed for at least a fortnight. Madelaine asked the boy what his name was, but the boy simply shook his head in response. It seemed as though he didn't want to talk. Madelaine wasn't used to not getting an immediate reply, but she kept on cleaning the small boy up.
He was no taller than 5 feet, his slight frame and thin face making him seem even smaller. He looked terribly malnourished, and couldn't have weighed more that 80 lbs. His dark hair and almond shaped eye hinted at his Asian ancestry, but his green-grey iris told a different story altogether. The small, sad eyes spoke softly of the years of abuse that he was subjected to at home. His parents were less than ideal, his mother being a drunk and his father was always off on “business trips”. When the two were separated, things were fine because Kevin was usually ignored by one or the other. When they were all together, though, they would begin fighting. His mother knew that her husband was cheating on her, and she was accused of being nothing more than a sloppy drunken bitch who couldn't even get her ass off of the couch. Usually, when they had finished yelling at each other, they would turn on Kevin. Most of the time, the abuse was verbal, but some days...some days they would beat him. They would starve him. Kick him. Choke him. Cut him. On the day he ran away, after a particularly bad beating, his father had thrown a plate at him. It struck the wall next to Kevin's head, and a large fragment imbedded itself into his left eye. Kevin was too desensitized by this point and simply walked out of the house. He happened along Reciful's mansion quite by accident. The rain had begun pouring, and he looked around for a place to stay. He looked up and saw Madelaine in the window.
To Kevin, she was the most beautiful thing he could imagine. Long curls of brown hair flowed off of her shoulders, and her slim frame was accented by the gentle curves in her maid's uniform. The round glasses that she wore softened her eyes, and highlighted her cheekbones, making her seem more mature. Kevin was so struck by her appearance that he walked up to the from door and rang the bell, just so he could meet this angel. He didn't care about what he looked like, or the injuries that he had sustained. He just wanted to see this Angel on earth.
That was how Kevin came into Madelaine's service. Now, he was Madelaine's eyes and ears whenever Reciful was up to anything strange. Today certainly qualified, of all things.
How can I serve my mistress today? Kevin thought. Slowly, he crept out of his corner and began the slow process of putting on his “work clothes”. Kevin's “work clothes” consisted of a three-piece pinstripe suit specifically tailored for him. Normally he detested this type of clothing because it reminded him of the suits his father would wear. However, he wore them because Madelaine requested it. He first put on his dress shirt, men's triple extra small, snow white with a small sloping breast pocket. Next came the vest, a deep navy blue with thin white stripes running down the length. He slipped his jacket and pants on, which were also the same navy blue. For Kevin's small frame, his clothes had to be taken in several inches in order for him to look good in them.
The final touch of Kevin's outfit was an eyepatch that Madelaine got for him to cover his maimed left eye. The black patch was embossed with a strange emblem in gold. Two serpents, one devouring and the other crowned with golden flowers circled a kite shield with a seven-pointed star at it's centre. Finished with dressing, Kevin stepped out of his hovel.
Madelaine was there waiting for him, a small collapsible umbrella in her hand. Upon seeing him in his new clothes, Madelaine smiled brightly. So beautiful, thought Kevin. It almost hurts to watch...
“Where and I going for you today, mistress?”
Madelaine tutted, “My dear Kevin, how many times have I told you?” She shook her head, smiling. “Call me Maddy, or Madelaine.”
Kevin frowned, replying, “I'm sorry mistress, but I simply cannot.”
Madelaine sighed. “Ah, always so serious, my dear Kevin. Very well.”
Madelaine placed the umbrella in Kevin's hand and said, “You're going to follow Hirst into the Zero-Degree Plains. Something's turned up, and it's causing enough trouble for Reciful for him to send Hirst out.”
“The Zero-Degree Plains? I know them well, mistress.”
“I was hoping so,” said Madelaine. “Hirst already has a few days head start on you, so you best be off. Hirst has the key, but I kept the spare just in case.”
Madelaine looked at the small navy blue umbrella in Kevin's hands. She smiled and said, “I've kept Clarion in excellent condition for you. I hope he functions well.”
“You didn't need to, mistress. I don't mean to cause you trouble.” Kevin turned his eyes down to the ground. “How could I ask for the services of someone so fair?”
Just as before, Madelaine smiled a smile that would melt even the hardest hearts. She laid her hand on Kevin's shoulder, which took Kevin by surprise.
“You can ask for my services in the same manner that I ask you for yours. I promise,” she whispered.
She winked.
Seeing that, Kevin felt something in his chest. He couldn't figure it out, but he knew that he didn't need to worry about anything when he saw that wink. He straightened, and he quickly walked down to the wine cellar. He would make his mistress proud.
“You got how much!?” screeched Gely.
“About ten pounds.”
Gely's eyes were roughly the size of saucers. “You mean to tell me,” he said, slowly, “that you two, on your own, managed to collect exactly the amount that Emi and I were short?”
Nera smirked triumphantly. “So you guys only managed to get five pounds?”
“Yes! Five exactly!”
Nera smiled. “As weird as that may be, it works out.”
“What I still don't get is how you two managed to do that. I mean, Emi and I had a very efficient system in place. We would...”
“Save it. We need to get moving.”
Gelyan huffed, considerably annoyed at Nera cutting him off yet again. This type of thing seemed to pop up quite often, and Gely was getting less and less patient.
Emi, who had been occupying herself with Sisi, finally spoke up. “I agree with Nera. We need to press on. The more time we waste here, the more the Phantasia will die.”
Emi turned to Sisi, who was still completely engrossed with her piece of Auradium. Sisi was now deftly flipping it between her fingers, creating a hypnotizing helix of light and colour with each spin. It was hard to look away. Sisi spun the piece of metal end over end on her finger for three full rotations before letting it balance point first on her ring finger. She was getting pretty good at this.
“Sisi.” Emi said.
Startled, Sisi blinked and shook her head once. “Huh?”
The ingot was still balanced perfectly on Sisi's finger as Emi said, “We should probably get moving. I want to try and get to the town before it gets dark today.”
Sisi put on her best pouty face and flashed it in the direction of her friends. They were not amused.
“Fine” she said, finally. She slipped the ingot into her pocket and said, “let's go, then.”
As the four of them set off, Sisi's chipper voice broke the silence that rose between them.
“Nera-jie, I'm hungry...!”
“Please, take what you want. Just leave me alone!”
He smirked. These poor fools always amused him to the highest degree. How they begged for their lives, how they fought against all odds. In some ways, it was admirable, if you were on the right side of the law. He was, however, nowhere near the right side of the law.
“Now, then. What fun would it be if I just left you alone?”
“I have a wife and three children!”
“And I have a sword and two pistols. Your point being?”
“Please, have mercy!”
“No.”
“I beg you!”
“That much is apparent, seeing as how you're on your knees.”
“I'll give you anything; gold, food, even the clothes on my back. Just....” the man faltered. His eyes screwed shut, and he said, “Let me live. Please.”
Man, that got boring pretty quick. I better end this.
He pointed the gun in his hand at the cowering figure at his feet. He could feel the cold steel of the trigger at his fingertip. His finger tipped the trigger back, closer and closer...
“Jack! We gotta move!”
Jack whipped his head around at the voice. She couldn't have picked a worse time, could she?
Turning back to the man on the ground, he flashed his best glare and said, “You live today.”
And with that, he ran off towards the shore. I have got to have a chat with Kayla. This can't keep happening.
Kayla happened to be sitting in a rowboat at the time, waiting for her tardy brother to make his way across the beach. Though various traps and barriers had been erected by the people to keep them out, it was, for some reason, more difficult to navigate when moving in the other direction. Perhaps the people wanted them to become trapped on the beach? In any event, Jack kept getting stuck in the same loop of knotted vines. He'd gotten stuck for maybe the sixth time before he finally looked at Kayla with a look that said, if you don't get me out of here, I am going to smack you.
Kayla sighed. “Man, what a pain...” She looked up and shouted, “Fine, I'm coming.”
Five minutes later, Jack and Kayla were sitting in the boat, drifting back to their ship, which was listing just off the reef.
Jack looked coldly at his sister as he rowed. Kayla was simply humming cheerily as she scooped up water and let it flow out of her fingers.
When the silence was starting to become awkward, Kayla pipped, “I've always wondered about it...”
“What?”
“Why the water here is so warm when we're all surrounded by ice and snow.”
“How should I know? I'm not a weatherologist.”
Kayla sighed. “Those are called meteorologists, Jack. And even then, a climatologist would be more suited in this case.”
“Do you always have to establish the fact that you're smarter than I am?”
“It wouldn't be called sibling rivalry if I didn't.”
Kayla smiled warmly at Jack. Jack just kept glaring, but soon found it difficult to stay tweaked off at his sister. He finally dropped the scowl and grinned at Kayla.
“I hate how I can't stay angry at you.”
Kayla laughed. It sounded like fine bone china tinkling together.
“I know.”
Back on the ship, Jack and Kayla unloaded their booty from the day's work.
“Man, you'd think that if you have the title of 'merchant' in front of your name, you'd have at least a few coins on your person,” grumbled Jack as he slipped the almost empty coin pouch into his pocket.
Kayla shrugged. “I never said piracy was going to make us rich, you know.”
“I know that.”
Kayla flipped the pair of trousers she stole upside down and gave them a quick shake. Two small coins of auradium tinkled onto the floor. Kayla bent down and picked them up. Only two? she thought. Well, that's enough for us to get food for this week.
“How does bread and water sound for dinner tonight?”
Jack threw a sidelong glance at his sister. “Fantastic,” he said without much enthusiasm.
Jack stood up and stretched his shoulders a bit. Looking up, Jack saw that the rigging was a bit tangled. He quickly climbed up the ropes hanging off the mast. After five quick pulls, he was already halfway up the 20 foot pole. Jack called back over his shoulder, “I think we should start making our way back. At this rate, it'll be dark when we get back to the cove.”
“True,” Kayla said, nodding her head. “Where should we go then?”
Jack hopped down and pulled a map from out of his back pocket. Moving to a nearby table, he spread it out and smoothed out the old creases.
After scrutinizing the map for a minute, he pointed to a spot. “There,” he said. “It's only a few kilometres away.”
“And where would 'there' be?”
“Vanagard.”
Monday, April 12, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Ge.Ne.Sis: Tales of Infinity Space (ch2)
So, now that I have a laptop to call my own, I have been typing up a storm these last few days. ENJOY THE SECOND CHAPTER!
(Note: There is 10 pages worth of size 14 text from Microsoft Word here... It's a pretty massive post.)
Actinium
The Cloudhopper cocked its head slightly. It could not tell if the tall green thing standing in front of it was friend or food. Creeping forward a bit, it sniffed the air tentatively. True, nothing green existed out here on the plain, and the bright colours simply stood out against the crystalline blue of the ice. The green thing didn’t seem to be moving, but instead it lifted up another green object. Suddenly, the Cloudhopper heard a crack, and it felt an intense pain in its face. The Cloudhopper shrieked, its piercing cry shattering thin panes of ice. Rage blazed in the Cloudhopper’s eyes as it launched itself at the green thing. The others, hearing its cry, would be here soon.
Nera, Emi and Sisily were still a ways off when they heard the sound hit them. A screaming peal of noise blasted through the icy trees, followed by the sound of shattering ice.
Covering her ears, Sisily shouted, “What was that noise?!”
“A cry for help,” said Emi, picking Sisi off the ground. “There’s a wounded Cloudhopper out there.”
Nera looked in the direction of the sound. Blue trees of solid ice stood in the distance with the sun peaking over their tops. That’s where the sound came from.
Looking to the other girls, Nera said, “How much do you want to bet Gely’s responsible for that?”
“It would not surprise me,” replied Emi.
“That’s Gely, I guess,” Sisi piped.
“Well, seeing as how we’re looking for him anyways, we better go help him out before more Cloudhoppers get here.”
Gelyan held Hydra at arms length, shaking slightly. That scream was powerful stuff. Few things fazed him, but now, Gely could hardly steady his hands. He’d never heard Cloudhoppers scream like that before. Even when he was fighting them the first time against the Sky Lord, they never uttered a sound. Shaking his head to clear the ringing from his ears, Gely lifted Hydra once again.
You shan’t get the best of me this time…he thought as he flicked Hydra’s trigger.
Two of Hydra’s seven barrels flashed with light that grew steadily until their tips glowed white hot. Releasing the trigger, Gely sent forth a massive, viscous blob of white goo that struck the Cloudhopper head on. The mass splashed over the Cloudhopper, adhering it in place.
The corner of Gely’s mouth twitched into a smile. Now he had the upper hand. Manoeuvring his fingers around Hydra’s trigger, he activated all seven of the barrels. Bracing the weapon with both his hands, he released the trigger. Hydra kicked back in a firestorm of bullets, and Gely fought the bucking weapon to keep it on target. Nearly every shot imbedded itself into the Cloudhopper’s skull. Without a sound, it dropped to the ground bleeding out of dozens of wounds. Silver-black blood drained out of the lifeless corpse and stained the ground. Wiping his sleeve across his mouth, Gely walked away from the sight.
He took only a few steps before he heard his name shouted over the treetops.
“Gely!”
“Geeeeeeelyaaaaaaannnnnn! Where are you!?”
Oh bother, he thought, it’s the girls…
In truth, Gely rather liked all three of the girls. Nera was a bit rough around the edges for his tastes, and Sisi was too much like his little sister back home. Likewise, Emi was too… different, to say the least. She came from a whole different dimension, for heaven’s sakes. Still, it was better than being alone.
Calling back, he shouted, “Girls, over here.”
The three girls sprinted between the trees, their footsteps hardly making a sound on the icy leaves. They seemed to slow down simultaneously and they stopped right in front of Gely.
“God damn it, Gely,” gasped Nera. “What the hell did you kill this time?”
Gely smirked and said, “You see the Cloudhopper over there?”
Nera looked over his shoulder.
“Oh.”
“Yep.”
A cry broke free from Sisily’s mouth. “Gelyan! How could you! The Cloudhopper probably wanted to play with you!” Sisi fought back tears in her eyes.
“Play with me? Don’t be daft. It wanted to eat me!”
“But still…!”
Laying her hand on Sisi’s shoulder, Emi whispered, “It’s OK Sisily.” Emi patter Sisi gently. “What’s done is done.”
Nera turned to Gely, and was about to say something that would have made him feel bad about what he did when that same ear-splitting screech blasted through the crystalline forest.
The four of them turned around and saw five Cloudhoppers poised around the corpse. Their bodies bristled in agitation, and fury shone in their eyes. They lined up, poised to strike.
Nera shot Gely a glance that would have frozen water. “We'll talk about this later,” she said, pulling Gemini out of their sheathes on her back. He twin swords gleamed in the fading sunlight. With a quick flick of her wrist, she sent the blades spinning in a wide arc, tracing lines of blue light in the air. She charged at the five Cloudhoppers, lifting her blades into a double stab at the foremost one.
The five Cloudhoppers split off into three groups. The two pairs flew straight up and dived at the others while the last one stood its ground against Nera. Instead of running, the Cloudhopper opened its mouth wide open.
Seeing what was about to happen, Nera twisted left and narrowly avoided the beam of white hot light that shot from the Cloudhopper's mouth.
Predictable... Nera though. Smiling, she leaped up into the air, using a burst of magic to propel her an additional ten feet upwards. As she fell downward, she shouted, “Death! I could use a little help here!”
In her mind, a soft-spoke whisper said, I hear you, Nera.
The Cloudhopper prepared to shoot again when suddenly a pentagram of white light lit up beneath it. Startled, the Cloudhopper jumped backwards in time to avoid falling into a deep black pit that had formed where the pentagram was. Out of the pit came high pitched shrieks that chilled Nera's blood, and wailing voices that filled Nera with both a feeling of hope a despair. She landed in a half crouch and braced herself. Death was coming.
From out of the pit came a pile of white bones which made up the skeleton of a horse. Astride the horse was an ethereal shadow dressed in late-century English clothing. Death herself carried a small umbrella that matched her grey and red dress, and a sunhat rested upon her head. Her facial features came into a dull focus, just barely recognizable as “human”. You could tell that whatever she was in the past life, she would have been stunning. Death opened her eyes and breathed her first wispy breath.
Almost at once, a strange smell filled the air. Nera looked at her quarry and saw that the Cloudhopper's flesh was slowly melting. The Cloudhopper screamed in pain as it scratched itself with its wings, trying to stop the burning sensation that consumed it. Nera smiled and charged again, this time summoning the familiar feeling of magic in her blood. Pinpricks of ice sprouted beneath the Cloudhopper's feet and began to grow. Within seconds, a huge tower of ice split through the earth, impaling the small Cloudhopper. Nera ran at it and swung Gemini with as much strength as she could muster. The two blades slid easily through the ice, their edges piercing flesh. Nera jerked to her left to avoid another beam of light and plunged her swords back down into the Cloudhopper one more time. The Cloudhopper shrieked as the blades once again pierced its flesh. Death came up behind the Cloudhopper on her fell horse and ran the small creature through with white blade made of bone. The Cloudhopper fell silently, still encased in its prison of ice.
Nera turned around to look for her friends, only to see that they were finishing off with the last Cloudhopper. Emi raised her arms, and a sphere of pure electricity formed between her hands. The sphere grew until the whole thing was nearly as large as she was tall, and she let the ball fly. Striking the Cloudhopper head on, the small creature was vaporized by the intense blast.
Such terrible necessity sickened Nera. Nera turned to Death and asked, “Death, what are we still doing here? We finished off the manifestations of our memories, and Reciful isn't going to pull anything funny any time soon after what happened.” Nera turned towards her friends and watched as they congratulated each other on their victory. Speaking in a voice so low that Death barely caught it, Nera whispered, “When can we go back?”
“That is something I cannot answer, Nera. I deal only with the deaths of men,” said Death as she laid an ethereal hand on Nera's shoulder. Her voice was wispy, and sounded as if a multitude of broken souls were speaking out at once, all of whom sounded hopeless and full of despair. “My sister is the one who deals with what happens to men during their lives. She is the caretaker of Life, and I, the Afterlife.
Another voice spoke in Nera's mind. “What my sister says is true, Nera. I have tried divining into your future, as well as the lives of your friends. However, since you are not of our timberline, I cannot tell you for certain as to what your future holds. But,” the voice added softly, “take comfort in the fact that we're all here to help you through whatever your future holds.”
A warm feeling flooded Nera's chest as the spirit of the Priestess radiated through her body. Nera nodded her head at Death and said with a smile, “Thank you. Both of you; I really needed that. Death, you may go.”
Death bowed her head and faded away in a breath of smoke and dust that flew away with the wind, leaving no trace of the noble being that stood there moments ago.
Nera breathed a sigh of relief, and ran off to her friends.
Reciful sat at the end of the room in his chair, its leather upholstery giving off the familiar scents that Reciful smelt as a child. This chair had been in his family for five generations, and Reciful was very appreciative of his ancestors efforts. The familiar smell of the leather only distracted him for a few moments before he returned to waiting for his guest to arrive. How long did it take to climb a set of stairs anyways? Reciful glanced around his den furtively, even though he had already over-analyzed the room as it is. The rustic Victorian furniture was covered with red and black cloth, and the wallpaper reflected these colours in the form of unending loops going from the ceiling to the floor. The only light that came into the room came from a small fireplace on the far wall, in which a small log lay ablaze on the hearth. The fireplace itself was the only object in the room that wasn't either red or black; the white marble gleamed with an artificial sheen, and it appeared totally out of place in the room. This didn't bother Reciful too much, as it gave him something to look at as he waited for his lackey to answer his call.
There was a faint rustling from behind the fireplace, and upon hearing this, Reciful stood up, cursing under his breath. Had the idiot forgotten how to open the blasted thing?
Reciful quickly shoved one of the two pillars that stood on either side of the fireplace into the ground, and the whole fireplace swung away from the wall to reveal a long tunnel that lead down into the bowels of the mansion. Before Reciful stood a beast of a man, nearly two heads taller than Reciful himself. The giant's broad shoulders barely passed through the hole in the wall, and his shifty eyes contained a spark of intelligence that could come only from years of tactical and battle experience. The man walked once around the room, never taking his eyes off Reciful. Finally, he stood stock still, leaned his poleaxe against his shoulders, and crossed his arms over his chest, all the while looking at Reciful in the eye.
Undaunted by this man, Reciful spoke in a voice filled with authority and condescension. “You took your sweet time getting here, didn't you Hirst? And didn't I show you how to use the door before?” Reciful huffed, noticeably angry. “I go to the trouble of keeping you alive. The least you could do is remember what I told you.”
Hirst kept his steely gaze on Reciful. He would not be intimidated, even by a man who nearly killed him years ago.
“If you said anything worthwhile, I would remember it; however, I have not been here long enough to know for sure if anything worthwhile ever leaves your lips. Master.” The corner of Hirst's mouth turned up in a half smile. “I suppose you called me up here because there is killing involved?”
Despite Reciful's misgivings about Hirst, he still had to admire the man. He was always so straightforward, always to the point. It was always, “Let me kill, or don't bother calling me.” Well, Reciful thought, today is your day then, Hirst.
“I have a bit of an, ahem, itch.”
Hirst raised a furry eyebrow. “You called me up here to scratch you?” Hirst snorted. “Hardly worth my time.”
“No,” sighed Reciful. What an idiot. “I was speaking metaphorically. What I mean to say is that I have a problem that I need you to take care of. The nature of this problem does, in fact involve some... anti-social behaviour”. This was said with a smile.
Hirst shifted his weight to his other foot. The man himself was impressive, even for a human. Broad shoulders connected to a muscular body made him seem taller than his six and a half foot height, and the bulk added by his armour made him seem larger still. His armour was a deep-water blue that offset his vermilion eyes. Midnight-black hair spiked off his head, and a single, short topknot sprouted from the back of his scalp. The topknot was tied to his head by a single scarlet ribbon which fell down to his shoulders; this ribbon was mirrored by the ribbon on his poleaxe. Skylar itself was more than a head taller than Hirst, towering above everything at nearly 7 feet in height. The faintly red steel gleamed angrily in the light of the fireplace, and the double headed blades on the end cast eerie shadows on the wall.
Hirst began pacing the room again, this time watching Skylar as he swung it back and forth several times. After doing this for several minutes, Hirst asked without looking at his host, “Will Gelyan be among them?”
Reciful was impressed. Hirst knew right away what the nature of his mission was. Perhaps he was bored down in that cellar. If anything, he certainly wasn't having any fun.
“Yes,” Reciful said slowly. “Gelyan will be with them.”
“Good.” Hirst made his way towards the door that lead to the wine cellar. “ I know where you sent him last; I can find him there myself.”
Reciful cleared his throat, causing Hirst to cast a backward glance over his shoulder pauldrons.
“Gelyan also has a few tag-alongs with him as well.”
“And why should I care? He will die all the same.”
Reciful smiled again. It was a wicked smile, unsettling enough to make even Hirst nervous. “You should care, my friend, because they're all women. You're human, aren't you? Living down in that cellar certainly hasn't done much for you.”
Hirst said nothing, and turned back to his task. He knew what Reciful meant, and how right he was.
Hirst went down the stairs, a trip almost as long as his way up. These stairs, however, lead to a different kind of cellar: the wine cellar. This was the place where Reciful discovered the first portal that lead to an alternate timeline. Hirst got to the bottom of the stairs and looked around the dark storage space. Casket upon casket of wine lay strewn about, and several dozen racks containing some of the most expensive wine in the world stood in place of walls. But what stood out was the large stone disk in the centre of the floor. An octogram was was carved into the stone, the spell written in for all eternity. Hirst walked over and stood at the centre of the eight-pointed star. Archaic runes ran around the circumference of the circle.
Impatient, Hirst took out a small egg-shaped object from within his cloak. The shell was blue with wisps of white streaking across the surface. Hirst took the fist sized egg and touched it on the outermost point of the star. At once, blue and gold helixes of light spread from the point of contact, tracing out the magic circle and the star within it. The runes flashed with light, and seemed to fade into the stone as they brightened. Within seconds the light had filled the whole circle, and was getting brighter still. Hirst squinted to try and block out the light. The circle flashed in an explosion of white light and magic, flooding the room with sound and actinic light. And then the room dimmed, and Hirst was gone, flitting through the river of time.
Sisily sighed. They had been walking for so long, she didn't even remember when they started. The four of them trudged on through Zero Degree Meadow. Normally for such a long trip they would have rode Emi's pet, Tinkfi, which looked almost like whale with legs. The pink, elephant-sized creature was capable of carrying all four members of the party over incredible distances in very little time. Emi had to leave Tink back at the village, however, when they left to find Reciful.
Although Sisily had play a major part in the decision to leave Tinkfi behind, she really regretted the decision now. He legs ached more now than they did when she pulled that 12 hour shift in her parent's Chinese Restaurant back in New York.
After staying silent for almost 15 minutes, Sisi wailed, “Nera, Emi... why do we have to keep walking? My feet are tired, and I'm sore, and I'm hungry and thirsty and sleepy and this is no fun at all! Where are we going anyways? Will there be food or anything to drink? Can we take a break, pleeeeeaaaaaaassseeeee???”
“Sisi,” Nera sighed, “we just started walking fifteen minutes ago.”
“But I'm tired now...”
Shaking her head, Nera walked on, with Gely following her. Emi came over to Sisily's side and helped her up. “It will be all right, Sisily. We just need to walk to the next village.”
“Speaking of which,” quipped Gely, “why are we going to the next town anyways? It was your idea to go there, and you said that you would explain 'later'. Well, it's certainly 'later' now, so I demand an answer.”
Nera rolled her eyes as she kept walking forward. As if Gely's domineering personality could get any more pronounced...
Emi's hair flapped gently, lifting her a few inches off of the ground. “Yes, it is true that you deserve an answer. I cannot however, tell you this while we exert ourselves, so we would do well to rest right now.”
Sisily was overjoyed when she heard this, and immediately plopped down on a nearby stone while saying “Storytime, storytime!” over and over again. Nera was hardly winded after such a short trek, but she sat nonetheless. Gely pulled himself up next to her, crossed his legs, and looked pointedly at Emi who was still hovering three inches off of the ground.
Sisi was still going off on one of her tangents, which gave Nera a chance to observe her surroundings. Not that there wasn't anything here that she hadn't seen already. Acres and acres of icefield as far as you could see, with only a few towers of frozen trees that designated the nest of Cloudhoppers. Off to the north, deep purple mountains shrouded by fog poked above the frost-bound land. To the east, which was where they were going, a dense grove of dark blue trees pointed their way to the town. It was so quiet out here. The only sound she heard was Sisily's hyperactive squealing.
Emi waited for Sisi to calm down before she started. This in itself took a fairly long time, as it took a while for Sisi to notice that everyone was staring at here.
“Oh,” she said, slightly startled. “Were you all waiting for me?”
The others nodded, but they all had smiles on their faces. Emi smiled especially wide, flashing off two rows of perfect pearl-white teeth.
“Well, now. The time has come for me to share my side of this story.
“Ages ago, when the Voorak trees still bloomed, the gods descended from their thrones in the sky. They took pity on our poor world, seeing the ice, the wildness of the land, and the people who lived in this harsh world. The gods were kind; they presented a gift to my ancestors: Phantasia. These “purple flowers” as you call them were a wonderful blessing given to us by Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey. They were Lord, Lady, and Masters of all the Earth. The gift of Phantasia was something that was a miracle to my ancestors. The flowers absorbed the rays of the sun, shielding my people from the cold. We learned long ago to make garments from the Phantasia so that we can survive out here. We also found that the Phantasia could be turned into a potent medicine when dried and crushed into a powder. Essentially, Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey gave our people the means to thrive in this world.”
“As the legend goes, after Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey presented their gift, they left, fleeing to the east to their home. Over the years, the Phantasia grew, and we have harvested the Phantasia for as long as we remember. Now, we see that the Phantasia supply has been steadily decreasing, and my people are concerned. This is the only way of life they know of. This is why we are going east. I wish to find Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey and plead for our people, to come back and restore the Phantasia.”
Near, Gely and Sisi sat still as they listened to Emi's tale. This was the first time any of them had heard of Emi's history.
Gelyan suddenly stood up, turned his head indignantly and said, “Count me out of this half-assed trip. No way am I going to meet some so-called gods for nothing.” He turned around and faced the girls.
“Nera, didn't you yourself say that you wanted to go back home? You've been accepted into University, for heaven's sake! And Sisily, don't you think your parents are worried about you? You've been missing for nearly a week. Do you think that's fair to your parents and siblings?” Gely sighed and hung his head. “I know that I sure miss being home. I miss debating with my father, and playing chess with my friend's from school.” Gelyan looked up with fire burning in his eyes. “That's why I don't think we should waste anymore time. We need to be back in our time, not here.”
The girls sat stunned. Gely's words had struck a nerve. Sisily's lower lip began to wobble a bit, and tears dribbled into her eyes. Nera turned her head away and looked at the setting sun. It was all true. How much longer would they have to stay here? Would they spend their whole lives here, forever chasing phantoms and dreams?
Emi touched down on the ground and stepped lightly over to Gely.
“I know this is difficult,” she said, laying a hand on Gely's shoulder. Gel just turned his head away from Emi.
Emi took in a deep breath before she continued. “I feel I should tell you that Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey live on the Island of Niflheim, which is the home of the gods.”
“And what of it?” snorted Gelyan.
“The god of Time, Tefrios, resides on Niflheim as well. He may be able to return you to your timeline.”
Hearing this, Sisi immediately forgot about crying and jumped up.
“Are you saying that this Teflon guy can send us back to Earth?” Sisi gushed.
“Yes,” replied Emi. “That and more. The other gods may be able to give us insight as to where Reciful is, and how we can defeat him. But we must get there first.”
Nera finally spoke. “Emi, you mentioned that Niflehiem is an island.”
“Yes, it is.”
“If that's the case, how are we getting there?”
“The town of Vanagard has a port. With any luck,” Emi sighed, “there should be a ship there willing to take us across the Drakien Sea to Muspellheim. From there, we can reach Nifleheim quite easily by land and smaller boats.”
Emi pulled out her brush and began to brush her hair. “There is only one problem.”
Sisi asked, still smiling at the thought of going home,“What's that, Emi-jie?”
“We have no means of paying for the journey across.”
“What do your people use for currency here, anyways?” Nera asked. “We've been here this whole time, and yet we haven't seen any sort of monetary system in place.”
Emi spoke as she finished brushing her hair. “We use finger-length ingots of Auradium as our main source of currency here. I think I have one on me right now.”
Emi reached into her robe and rummaged around for a few seconds. When her hand reappeared, there was a small prism-shaped piece of metal in her hands. The light of the fading sun caught the edges of the slightly translucent metal and fractured the light into a dazzling array of rainbow colours. The small ingot was literally blazing with colour.
Upon seeing all the colours erupting from the Auradium, Sisi squealed in delight. “Emi, your money is so much more awesome than ours! Can I have one?”
Emi laughed which sounded like fine bone china tinkling in the wind. “Of course you may have one, Sisi. This piece of Auradium is worth the smallest amount. We have much larger pieces for exchanges that are more expensive.”
“I'll admit that it's pretty,” Nera said, “but do you have enough of that stuff on you to pay for a trip across the sea? I doubt even your robes could carry that much.”
“No, of course not. What I have here is merely a pittance of what I have. I have no means of obtaining the rest of my Auradium, though. I have enough on me right now for a weeks worth of provisions for the four of us, but that is all.”
“Damn,” cursed Gely. “Was there even a point to this expedition?”
Emi nodded. “There is another form of currency that our people use, and it is accepted wherever we go.”
“And what might that be?” asked Gely, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Emi stood up and smoothed off her robe before she said one word: “Phantasia.”
Gely cocked his head slightly to the right. The girls recognized this as his way of saying that he's confused.
“Phantasia?”
Emi nodded. “Phantasia is worth more by weight than even Auradium. The reason why it's so highly prized is the fact that it only grows now in Cloudhopper nests. In order to harvest it, we must get it from the nests. The higher up the nests are, the heavier the flowers will be.”
Nera sighed. More killing. “So, it appears our options are; a, go into town empty handed and hope for the best; b, get our hands on some Auradium or whatever it's called; or c, get some Phantasia.” Nera crossed her arms. “I really don't like any of those options. Should we vote?”
“What's the point?” asked Gely. “There's only four of us here.”
“Fine then. Emi, where can we get Auradium?”
Emi thought for a moment before replying. “Raw Auradium is mined in the Mines of Skäldar to the west. That is not an option to us.”
Undeterred, Nera went on. “Ok then, what are the odds that there's a captain benevolent enough to give us a free ride across the ocean?”
Again, Emi thought before replying. “There is no chance of that. The town is notorious for being run by pirates. We would be hard pressed to find anyone who is decent or honest enough to give us a free ride.”
Nera closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. That left only one option.
“Alright, how much Phantasia would it take to pay our way across the ocean? If it's worth more that that Auradium, it shouldn't take too much, should it?”
For the third time in as many minutes, Emi thought before answering. “It should not take too much. Fifteen pounds of Phantasia is equivalent to a year's wages in our village.”
“Fifteen pounds!” exploded Gely. “How in the world do you get fifteen pounds of flowers?”
“That is why I said it is a year's wages. It would take an entire year to gather that much.”
Nera frowned. “That means that that's not an option for us either. I sure as hell don't want to spend a year here, gathering flowers.” I also don't want to be an executioner for an entire year... Nera thought.
Sisily spoke up for the first time in a while. “Emi-jie, is there any way we could do this any faster?”
“We are in an area that has yet to be explored by my people, so the Phantasia here may grow in large numbers. With the four of us, we may be able to gather fifteen pounds in a very short time.”
Nera sighed. That was it then.
“Alright,” Nera groaned. “We might as well start now. If we need to get fifteen pounds of flowers, we should split up. Gely.”
Gelyan turned around, his face a mask of bemusement.
“Do you have any preference on who you go with?”
“No.”
“Fine. I'll go with Sisi towards that group of nests over there,” Nera said, pointing to a large group of trees in the direction of the setting sun.
“Fine by me. At least I won't have to climb anything, so long as Emi is willing to give me a lift.”
Emi nodded. “It is fine with me as well. Let us meet back here at nightfall.”
They all agreed. Nera, Sisi, Emi and Gelyan walked off to the nests that they picked out, hoping to bring enough Phantasia. They couldn't leave until they did so.
Black. That's what he saw.
Where am I? The thought was muffled in his mind, like a thick blanket was thrown over his head.
Breathe first. Think later. He took in a deep breath, and he could feel his phantom chest rising in response.
Wait, my chest?
Hirst bolted upright with a yell. By pure instinct, he grabbed Skylar which was laying to his left.
Confused, Hirst looked around. Glistening blue and black trees winked at him in the white-pink sunlight. A small white creature stared at him, obviously just as confused as Hirst. Hirst looked at the Cloudhopper and studied it for a second. The Cloudhopper edged closer to Hirst. Whoosh, slice! Skylar's silver blade decapitated the poor creature, killing it before it had a chance to make a sound.
Hirst bent down to observe his kill. It had been so long since he had spilt blood. Did this creature's blood still taste the same way he remembered it? Hirst dipped three fingers into the growing pool, and pulled them out. Silver-black blood stained his digits up the their first knuckles. With that, Hirst stuck his three fingers into his mouth, eyes closed with a look of sheer bliss on his face. Oh yes, it was the same alright.
Hirst removed his fingers and sighed with content. When he opened his eyes again, a glimmer of anticipation shone behind his dark irises.
“The hunt,” he breathed, “is on.”
(Note: There is 10 pages worth of size 14 text from Microsoft Word here... It's a pretty massive post.)
Actinium
The Cloudhopper cocked its head slightly. It could not tell if the tall green thing standing in front of it was friend or food. Creeping forward a bit, it sniffed the air tentatively. True, nothing green existed out here on the plain, and the bright colours simply stood out against the crystalline blue of the ice. The green thing didn’t seem to be moving, but instead it lifted up another green object. Suddenly, the Cloudhopper heard a crack, and it felt an intense pain in its face. The Cloudhopper shrieked, its piercing cry shattering thin panes of ice. Rage blazed in the Cloudhopper’s eyes as it launched itself at the green thing. The others, hearing its cry, would be here soon.
Nera, Emi and Sisily were still a ways off when they heard the sound hit them. A screaming peal of noise blasted through the icy trees, followed by the sound of shattering ice.
Covering her ears, Sisily shouted, “What was that noise?!”
“A cry for help,” said Emi, picking Sisi off the ground. “There’s a wounded Cloudhopper out there.”
Nera looked in the direction of the sound. Blue trees of solid ice stood in the distance with the sun peaking over their tops. That’s where the sound came from.
Looking to the other girls, Nera said, “How much do you want to bet Gely’s responsible for that?”
“It would not surprise me,” replied Emi.
“That’s Gely, I guess,” Sisi piped.
“Well, seeing as how we’re looking for him anyways, we better go help him out before more Cloudhoppers get here.”
Gelyan held Hydra at arms length, shaking slightly. That scream was powerful stuff. Few things fazed him, but now, Gely could hardly steady his hands. He’d never heard Cloudhoppers scream like that before. Even when he was fighting them the first time against the Sky Lord, they never uttered a sound. Shaking his head to clear the ringing from his ears, Gely lifted Hydra once again.
You shan’t get the best of me this time…he thought as he flicked Hydra’s trigger.
Two of Hydra’s seven barrels flashed with light that grew steadily until their tips glowed white hot. Releasing the trigger, Gely sent forth a massive, viscous blob of white goo that struck the Cloudhopper head on. The mass splashed over the Cloudhopper, adhering it in place.
The corner of Gely’s mouth twitched into a smile. Now he had the upper hand. Manoeuvring his fingers around Hydra’s trigger, he activated all seven of the barrels. Bracing the weapon with both his hands, he released the trigger. Hydra kicked back in a firestorm of bullets, and Gely fought the bucking weapon to keep it on target. Nearly every shot imbedded itself into the Cloudhopper’s skull. Without a sound, it dropped to the ground bleeding out of dozens of wounds. Silver-black blood drained out of the lifeless corpse and stained the ground. Wiping his sleeve across his mouth, Gely walked away from the sight.
He took only a few steps before he heard his name shouted over the treetops.
“Gely!”
“Geeeeeeelyaaaaaaannnnnn! Where are you!?”
Oh bother, he thought, it’s the girls…
In truth, Gely rather liked all three of the girls. Nera was a bit rough around the edges for his tastes, and Sisi was too much like his little sister back home. Likewise, Emi was too… different, to say the least. She came from a whole different dimension, for heaven’s sakes. Still, it was better than being alone.
Calling back, he shouted, “Girls, over here.”
The three girls sprinted between the trees, their footsteps hardly making a sound on the icy leaves. They seemed to slow down simultaneously and they stopped right in front of Gely.
“God damn it, Gely,” gasped Nera. “What the hell did you kill this time?”
Gely smirked and said, “You see the Cloudhopper over there?”
Nera looked over his shoulder.
“Oh.”
“Yep.”
A cry broke free from Sisily’s mouth. “Gelyan! How could you! The Cloudhopper probably wanted to play with you!” Sisi fought back tears in her eyes.
“Play with me? Don’t be daft. It wanted to eat me!”
“But still…!”
Laying her hand on Sisi’s shoulder, Emi whispered, “It’s OK Sisily.” Emi patter Sisi gently. “What’s done is done.”
Nera turned to Gely, and was about to say something that would have made him feel bad about what he did when that same ear-splitting screech blasted through the crystalline forest.
The four of them turned around and saw five Cloudhoppers poised around the corpse. Their bodies bristled in agitation, and fury shone in their eyes. They lined up, poised to strike.
Nera shot Gely a glance that would have frozen water. “We'll talk about this later,” she said, pulling Gemini out of their sheathes on her back. He twin swords gleamed in the fading sunlight. With a quick flick of her wrist, she sent the blades spinning in a wide arc, tracing lines of blue light in the air. She charged at the five Cloudhoppers, lifting her blades into a double stab at the foremost one.
The five Cloudhoppers split off into three groups. The two pairs flew straight up and dived at the others while the last one stood its ground against Nera. Instead of running, the Cloudhopper opened its mouth wide open.
Seeing what was about to happen, Nera twisted left and narrowly avoided the beam of white hot light that shot from the Cloudhopper's mouth.
Predictable... Nera though. Smiling, she leaped up into the air, using a burst of magic to propel her an additional ten feet upwards. As she fell downward, she shouted, “Death! I could use a little help here!”
In her mind, a soft-spoke whisper said, I hear you, Nera.
The Cloudhopper prepared to shoot again when suddenly a pentagram of white light lit up beneath it. Startled, the Cloudhopper jumped backwards in time to avoid falling into a deep black pit that had formed where the pentagram was. Out of the pit came high pitched shrieks that chilled Nera's blood, and wailing voices that filled Nera with both a feeling of hope a despair. She landed in a half crouch and braced herself. Death was coming.
From out of the pit came a pile of white bones which made up the skeleton of a horse. Astride the horse was an ethereal shadow dressed in late-century English clothing. Death herself carried a small umbrella that matched her grey and red dress, and a sunhat rested upon her head. Her facial features came into a dull focus, just barely recognizable as “human”. You could tell that whatever she was in the past life, she would have been stunning. Death opened her eyes and breathed her first wispy breath.
Almost at once, a strange smell filled the air. Nera looked at her quarry and saw that the Cloudhopper's flesh was slowly melting. The Cloudhopper screamed in pain as it scratched itself with its wings, trying to stop the burning sensation that consumed it. Nera smiled and charged again, this time summoning the familiar feeling of magic in her blood. Pinpricks of ice sprouted beneath the Cloudhopper's feet and began to grow. Within seconds, a huge tower of ice split through the earth, impaling the small Cloudhopper. Nera ran at it and swung Gemini with as much strength as she could muster. The two blades slid easily through the ice, their edges piercing flesh. Nera jerked to her left to avoid another beam of light and plunged her swords back down into the Cloudhopper one more time. The Cloudhopper shrieked as the blades once again pierced its flesh. Death came up behind the Cloudhopper on her fell horse and ran the small creature through with white blade made of bone. The Cloudhopper fell silently, still encased in its prison of ice.
Nera turned around to look for her friends, only to see that they were finishing off with the last Cloudhopper. Emi raised her arms, and a sphere of pure electricity formed between her hands. The sphere grew until the whole thing was nearly as large as she was tall, and she let the ball fly. Striking the Cloudhopper head on, the small creature was vaporized by the intense blast.
Such terrible necessity sickened Nera. Nera turned to Death and asked, “Death, what are we still doing here? We finished off the manifestations of our memories, and Reciful isn't going to pull anything funny any time soon after what happened.” Nera turned towards her friends and watched as they congratulated each other on their victory. Speaking in a voice so low that Death barely caught it, Nera whispered, “When can we go back?”
“That is something I cannot answer, Nera. I deal only with the deaths of men,” said Death as she laid an ethereal hand on Nera's shoulder. Her voice was wispy, and sounded as if a multitude of broken souls were speaking out at once, all of whom sounded hopeless and full of despair. “My sister is the one who deals with what happens to men during their lives. She is the caretaker of Life, and I, the Afterlife.
Another voice spoke in Nera's mind. “What my sister says is true, Nera. I have tried divining into your future, as well as the lives of your friends. However, since you are not of our timberline, I cannot tell you for certain as to what your future holds. But,” the voice added softly, “take comfort in the fact that we're all here to help you through whatever your future holds.”
A warm feeling flooded Nera's chest as the spirit of the Priestess radiated through her body. Nera nodded her head at Death and said with a smile, “Thank you. Both of you; I really needed that. Death, you may go.”
Death bowed her head and faded away in a breath of smoke and dust that flew away with the wind, leaving no trace of the noble being that stood there moments ago.
Nera breathed a sigh of relief, and ran off to her friends.
Reciful sat at the end of the room in his chair, its leather upholstery giving off the familiar scents that Reciful smelt as a child. This chair had been in his family for five generations, and Reciful was very appreciative of his ancestors efforts. The familiar smell of the leather only distracted him for a few moments before he returned to waiting for his guest to arrive. How long did it take to climb a set of stairs anyways? Reciful glanced around his den furtively, even though he had already over-analyzed the room as it is. The rustic Victorian furniture was covered with red and black cloth, and the wallpaper reflected these colours in the form of unending loops going from the ceiling to the floor. The only light that came into the room came from a small fireplace on the far wall, in which a small log lay ablaze on the hearth. The fireplace itself was the only object in the room that wasn't either red or black; the white marble gleamed with an artificial sheen, and it appeared totally out of place in the room. This didn't bother Reciful too much, as it gave him something to look at as he waited for his lackey to answer his call.
There was a faint rustling from behind the fireplace, and upon hearing this, Reciful stood up, cursing under his breath. Had the idiot forgotten how to open the blasted thing?
Reciful quickly shoved one of the two pillars that stood on either side of the fireplace into the ground, and the whole fireplace swung away from the wall to reveal a long tunnel that lead down into the bowels of the mansion. Before Reciful stood a beast of a man, nearly two heads taller than Reciful himself. The giant's broad shoulders barely passed through the hole in the wall, and his shifty eyes contained a spark of intelligence that could come only from years of tactical and battle experience. The man walked once around the room, never taking his eyes off Reciful. Finally, he stood stock still, leaned his poleaxe against his shoulders, and crossed his arms over his chest, all the while looking at Reciful in the eye.
Undaunted by this man, Reciful spoke in a voice filled with authority and condescension. “You took your sweet time getting here, didn't you Hirst? And didn't I show you how to use the door before?” Reciful huffed, noticeably angry. “I go to the trouble of keeping you alive. The least you could do is remember what I told you.”
Hirst kept his steely gaze on Reciful. He would not be intimidated, even by a man who nearly killed him years ago.
“If you said anything worthwhile, I would remember it; however, I have not been here long enough to know for sure if anything worthwhile ever leaves your lips. Master.” The corner of Hirst's mouth turned up in a half smile. “I suppose you called me up here because there is killing involved?”
Despite Reciful's misgivings about Hirst, he still had to admire the man. He was always so straightforward, always to the point. It was always, “Let me kill, or don't bother calling me.” Well, Reciful thought, today is your day then, Hirst.
“I have a bit of an, ahem, itch.”
Hirst raised a furry eyebrow. “You called me up here to scratch you?” Hirst snorted. “Hardly worth my time.”
“No,” sighed Reciful. What an idiot. “I was speaking metaphorically. What I mean to say is that I have a problem that I need you to take care of. The nature of this problem does, in fact involve some... anti-social behaviour”. This was said with a smile.
Hirst shifted his weight to his other foot. The man himself was impressive, even for a human. Broad shoulders connected to a muscular body made him seem taller than his six and a half foot height, and the bulk added by his armour made him seem larger still. His armour was a deep-water blue that offset his vermilion eyes. Midnight-black hair spiked off his head, and a single, short topknot sprouted from the back of his scalp. The topknot was tied to his head by a single scarlet ribbon which fell down to his shoulders; this ribbon was mirrored by the ribbon on his poleaxe. Skylar itself was more than a head taller than Hirst, towering above everything at nearly 7 feet in height. The faintly red steel gleamed angrily in the light of the fireplace, and the double headed blades on the end cast eerie shadows on the wall.
Hirst began pacing the room again, this time watching Skylar as he swung it back and forth several times. After doing this for several minutes, Hirst asked without looking at his host, “Will Gelyan be among them?”
Reciful was impressed. Hirst knew right away what the nature of his mission was. Perhaps he was bored down in that cellar. If anything, he certainly wasn't having any fun.
“Yes,” Reciful said slowly. “Gelyan will be with them.”
“Good.” Hirst made his way towards the door that lead to the wine cellar. “ I know where you sent him last; I can find him there myself.”
Reciful cleared his throat, causing Hirst to cast a backward glance over his shoulder pauldrons.
“Gelyan also has a few tag-alongs with him as well.”
“And why should I care? He will die all the same.”
Reciful smiled again. It was a wicked smile, unsettling enough to make even Hirst nervous. “You should care, my friend, because they're all women. You're human, aren't you? Living down in that cellar certainly hasn't done much for you.”
Hirst said nothing, and turned back to his task. He knew what Reciful meant, and how right he was.
Hirst went down the stairs, a trip almost as long as his way up. These stairs, however, lead to a different kind of cellar: the wine cellar. This was the place where Reciful discovered the first portal that lead to an alternate timeline. Hirst got to the bottom of the stairs and looked around the dark storage space. Casket upon casket of wine lay strewn about, and several dozen racks containing some of the most expensive wine in the world stood in place of walls. But what stood out was the large stone disk in the centre of the floor. An octogram was was carved into the stone, the spell written in for all eternity. Hirst walked over and stood at the centre of the eight-pointed star. Archaic runes ran around the circumference of the circle.
Impatient, Hirst took out a small egg-shaped object from within his cloak. The shell was blue with wisps of white streaking across the surface. Hirst took the fist sized egg and touched it on the outermost point of the star. At once, blue and gold helixes of light spread from the point of contact, tracing out the magic circle and the star within it. The runes flashed with light, and seemed to fade into the stone as they brightened. Within seconds the light had filled the whole circle, and was getting brighter still. Hirst squinted to try and block out the light. The circle flashed in an explosion of white light and magic, flooding the room with sound and actinic light. And then the room dimmed, and Hirst was gone, flitting through the river of time.
Sisily sighed. They had been walking for so long, she didn't even remember when they started. The four of them trudged on through Zero Degree Meadow. Normally for such a long trip they would have rode Emi's pet, Tinkfi, which looked almost like whale with legs. The pink, elephant-sized creature was capable of carrying all four members of the party over incredible distances in very little time. Emi had to leave Tink back at the village, however, when they left to find Reciful.
Although Sisily had play a major part in the decision to leave Tinkfi behind, she really regretted the decision now. He legs ached more now than they did when she pulled that 12 hour shift in her parent's Chinese Restaurant back in New York.
After staying silent for almost 15 minutes, Sisi wailed, “Nera, Emi... why do we have to keep walking? My feet are tired, and I'm sore, and I'm hungry and thirsty and sleepy and this is no fun at all! Where are we going anyways? Will there be food or anything to drink? Can we take a break, pleeeeeaaaaaaassseeeee???”
“Sisi,” Nera sighed, “we just started walking fifteen minutes ago.”
“But I'm tired now...”
Shaking her head, Nera walked on, with Gely following her. Emi came over to Sisily's side and helped her up. “It will be all right, Sisily. We just need to walk to the next village.”
“Speaking of which,” quipped Gely, “why are we going to the next town anyways? It was your idea to go there, and you said that you would explain 'later'. Well, it's certainly 'later' now, so I demand an answer.”
Nera rolled her eyes as she kept walking forward. As if Gely's domineering personality could get any more pronounced...
Emi's hair flapped gently, lifting her a few inches off of the ground. “Yes, it is true that you deserve an answer. I cannot however, tell you this while we exert ourselves, so we would do well to rest right now.”
Sisily was overjoyed when she heard this, and immediately plopped down on a nearby stone while saying “Storytime, storytime!” over and over again. Nera was hardly winded after such a short trek, but she sat nonetheless. Gely pulled himself up next to her, crossed his legs, and looked pointedly at Emi who was still hovering three inches off of the ground.
Sisi was still going off on one of her tangents, which gave Nera a chance to observe her surroundings. Not that there wasn't anything here that she hadn't seen already. Acres and acres of icefield as far as you could see, with only a few towers of frozen trees that designated the nest of Cloudhoppers. Off to the north, deep purple mountains shrouded by fog poked above the frost-bound land. To the east, which was where they were going, a dense grove of dark blue trees pointed their way to the town. It was so quiet out here. The only sound she heard was Sisily's hyperactive squealing.
Emi waited for Sisi to calm down before she started. This in itself took a fairly long time, as it took a while for Sisi to notice that everyone was staring at here.
“Oh,” she said, slightly startled. “Were you all waiting for me?”
The others nodded, but they all had smiles on their faces. Emi smiled especially wide, flashing off two rows of perfect pearl-white teeth.
“Well, now. The time has come for me to share my side of this story.
“Ages ago, when the Voorak trees still bloomed, the gods descended from their thrones in the sky. They took pity on our poor world, seeing the ice, the wildness of the land, and the people who lived in this harsh world. The gods were kind; they presented a gift to my ancestors: Phantasia. These “purple flowers” as you call them were a wonderful blessing given to us by Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey. They were Lord, Lady, and Masters of all the Earth. The gift of Phantasia was something that was a miracle to my ancestors. The flowers absorbed the rays of the sun, shielding my people from the cold. We learned long ago to make garments from the Phantasia so that we can survive out here. We also found that the Phantasia could be turned into a potent medicine when dried and crushed into a powder. Essentially, Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey gave our people the means to thrive in this world.”
“As the legend goes, after Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey presented their gift, they left, fleeing to the east to their home. Over the years, the Phantasia grew, and we have harvested the Phantasia for as long as we remember. Now, we see that the Phantasia supply has been steadily decreasing, and my people are concerned. This is the only way of life they know of. This is why we are going east. I wish to find Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey and plead for our people, to come back and restore the Phantasia.”
Near, Gely and Sisi sat still as they listened to Emi's tale. This was the first time any of them had heard of Emi's history.
Gelyan suddenly stood up, turned his head indignantly and said, “Count me out of this half-assed trip. No way am I going to meet some so-called gods for nothing.” He turned around and faced the girls.
“Nera, didn't you yourself say that you wanted to go back home? You've been accepted into University, for heaven's sake! And Sisily, don't you think your parents are worried about you? You've been missing for nearly a week. Do you think that's fair to your parents and siblings?” Gely sighed and hung his head. “I know that I sure miss being home. I miss debating with my father, and playing chess with my friend's from school.” Gelyan looked up with fire burning in his eyes. “That's why I don't think we should waste anymore time. We need to be back in our time, not here.”
The girls sat stunned. Gely's words had struck a nerve. Sisily's lower lip began to wobble a bit, and tears dribbled into her eyes. Nera turned her head away and looked at the setting sun. It was all true. How much longer would they have to stay here? Would they spend their whole lives here, forever chasing phantoms and dreams?
Emi touched down on the ground and stepped lightly over to Gely.
“I know this is difficult,” she said, laying a hand on Gely's shoulder. Gel just turned his head away from Emi.
Emi took in a deep breath before she continued. “I feel I should tell you that Ko'ildoni and Jahelfrey live on the Island of Niflheim, which is the home of the gods.”
“And what of it?” snorted Gelyan.
“The god of Time, Tefrios, resides on Niflheim as well. He may be able to return you to your timeline.”
Hearing this, Sisi immediately forgot about crying and jumped up.
“Are you saying that this Teflon guy can send us back to Earth?” Sisi gushed.
“Yes,” replied Emi. “That and more. The other gods may be able to give us insight as to where Reciful is, and how we can defeat him. But we must get there first.”
Nera finally spoke. “Emi, you mentioned that Niflehiem is an island.”
“Yes, it is.”
“If that's the case, how are we getting there?”
“The town of Vanagard has a port. With any luck,” Emi sighed, “there should be a ship there willing to take us across the Drakien Sea to Muspellheim. From there, we can reach Nifleheim quite easily by land and smaller boats.”
Emi pulled out her brush and began to brush her hair. “There is only one problem.”
Sisi asked, still smiling at the thought of going home,“What's that, Emi-jie?”
“We have no means of paying for the journey across.”
“What do your people use for currency here, anyways?” Nera asked. “We've been here this whole time, and yet we haven't seen any sort of monetary system in place.”
Emi spoke as she finished brushing her hair. “We use finger-length ingots of Auradium as our main source of currency here. I think I have one on me right now.”
Emi reached into her robe and rummaged around for a few seconds. When her hand reappeared, there was a small prism-shaped piece of metal in her hands. The light of the fading sun caught the edges of the slightly translucent metal and fractured the light into a dazzling array of rainbow colours. The small ingot was literally blazing with colour.
Upon seeing all the colours erupting from the Auradium, Sisi squealed in delight. “Emi, your money is so much more awesome than ours! Can I have one?”
Emi laughed which sounded like fine bone china tinkling in the wind. “Of course you may have one, Sisi. This piece of Auradium is worth the smallest amount. We have much larger pieces for exchanges that are more expensive.”
“I'll admit that it's pretty,” Nera said, “but do you have enough of that stuff on you to pay for a trip across the sea? I doubt even your robes could carry that much.”
“No, of course not. What I have here is merely a pittance of what I have. I have no means of obtaining the rest of my Auradium, though. I have enough on me right now for a weeks worth of provisions for the four of us, but that is all.”
“Damn,” cursed Gely. “Was there even a point to this expedition?”
Emi nodded. “There is another form of currency that our people use, and it is accepted wherever we go.”
“And what might that be?” asked Gely, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Emi stood up and smoothed off her robe before she said one word: “Phantasia.”
Gely cocked his head slightly to the right. The girls recognized this as his way of saying that he's confused.
“Phantasia?”
Emi nodded. “Phantasia is worth more by weight than even Auradium. The reason why it's so highly prized is the fact that it only grows now in Cloudhopper nests. In order to harvest it, we must get it from the nests. The higher up the nests are, the heavier the flowers will be.”
Nera sighed. More killing. “So, it appears our options are; a, go into town empty handed and hope for the best; b, get our hands on some Auradium or whatever it's called; or c, get some Phantasia.” Nera crossed her arms. “I really don't like any of those options. Should we vote?”
“What's the point?” asked Gely. “There's only four of us here.”
“Fine then. Emi, where can we get Auradium?”
Emi thought for a moment before replying. “Raw Auradium is mined in the Mines of Skäldar to the west. That is not an option to us.”
Undeterred, Nera went on. “Ok then, what are the odds that there's a captain benevolent enough to give us a free ride across the ocean?”
Again, Emi thought before replying. “There is no chance of that. The town is notorious for being run by pirates. We would be hard pressed to find anyone who is decent or honest enough to give us a free ride.”
Nera closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. That left only one option.
“Alright, how much Phantasia would it take to pay our way across the ocean? If it's worth more that that Auradium, it shouldn't take too much, should it?”
For the third time in as many minutes, Emi thought before answering. “It should not take too much. Fifteen pounds of Phantasia is equivalent to a year's wages in our village.”
“Fifteen pounds!” exploded Gely. “How in the world do you get fifteen pounds of flowers?”
“That is why I said it is a year's wages. It would take an entire year to gather that much.”
Nera frowned. “That means that that's not an option for us either. I sure as hell don't want to spend a year here, gathering flowers.” I also don't want to be an executioner for an entire year... Nera thought.
Sisily spoke up for the first time in a while. “Emi-jie, is there any way we could do this any faster?”
“We are in an area that has yet to be explored by my people, so the Phantasia here may grow in large numbers. With the four of us, we may be able to gather fifteen pounds in a very short time.”
Nera sighed. That was it then.
“Alright,” Nera groaned. “We might as well start now. If we need to get fifteen pounds of flowers, we should split up. Gely.”
Gelyan turned around, his face a mask of bemusement.
“Do you have any preference on who you go with?”
“No.”
“Fine. I'll go with Sisi towards that group of nests over there,” Nera said, pointing to a large group of trees in the direction of the setting sun.
“Fine by me. At least I won't have to climb anything, so long as Emi is willing to give me a lift.”
Emi nodded. “It is fine with me as well. Let us meet back here at nightfall.”
They all agreed. Nera, Sisi, Emi and Gelyan walked off to the nests that they picked out, hoping to bring enough Phantasia. They couldn't leave until they did so.
Black. That's what he saw.
Where am I? The thought was muffled in his mind, like a thick blanket was thrown over his head.
Breathe first. Think later. He took in a deep breath, and he could feel his phantom chest rising in response.
Wait, my chest?
Hirst bolted upright with a yell. By pure instinct, he grabbed Skylar which was laying to his left.
Confused, Hirst looked around. Glistening blue and black trees winked at him in the white-pink sunlight. A small white creature stared at him, obviously just as confused as Hirst. Hirst looked at the Cloudhopper and studied it for a second. The Cloudhopper edged closer to Hirst. Whoosh, slice! Skylar's silver blade decapitated the poor creature, killing it before it had a chance to make a sound.
Hirst bent down to observe his kill. It had been so long since he had spilt blood. Did this creature's blood still taste the same way he remembered it? Hirst dipped three fingers into the growing pool, and pulled them out. Silver-black blood stained his digits up the their first knuckles. With that, Hirst stuck his three fingers into his mouth, eyes closed with a look of sheer bliss on his face. Oh yes, it was the same alright.
Hirst removed his fingers and sighed with content. When he opened his eyes again, a glimmer of anticipation shone behind his dark irises.
“The hunt,” he breathed, “is on.”
Monday, December 07, 2009
Ge.Ne.Sis: Tales of Infinity Space
Initium
Drip
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Drip
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Drip
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Neraine brushed the droplet of water offer her face, mumbling lightly. The delicate crystalline drop of water travelled slowly from her finger, off of her nail and landed on the face of Sisily, who was sleeping on the rock underneath her.
Feeling the ice cold water touch her face, Sisily jumped up and yelped, “Ah! Nera, stop it! That’s really cold, and you know how much I hate the cold…”
Sisily’s squeal had woken up everyone else in the cave, and three other bodies stirred the sleep from their eyes. Nera looked around, even though she had already over-analyzed this cave. The stone in the cave was a deep, aphotic blue which glittered with bright crystalline ice on the surface. The cave was large enough for all four of them to sleep in it at the same time, but just barely. In fact, the four of them could barely walk side by side at the same time, and the ceiling was just low enough that they couldn't walk without stooping down a few inches.
Nera started stretching out her sore muscles when she heard a voice call her name.
“Nera!”
Turning around, Nera looked for the source of the voice, even though she had heard it nagging in her ear for hours on end before.
Gelyan stood a few feet away from her, hands on his hips and tapping his feet impatiently. His bright clothing stood out in stark contrast to the dark walls of the cave; the cheerful greens and yellows of his shirt seemed to radiate colour. His brilliant green eyes pierced the air with a calculated gaze which spoke of Gelyan's intelligence and acumen. In his hands he carried Hydra, a strange object that looked not unlike an ancient firearm made out for glowing green branches.
Flipping a strand of black hair out of his eyes, Gelyan said, “Nera, do you want me to take another look around? I know we already did last night, but we couldn't see anything, anyways.”
Gely's refined English accent gave hints to his upbringing. Growing up as the son of a successful lawyer, Gely was immersed at a very young age in the ways of logic and argument. If Gelyan did have a weakness, though, it was his prideful nature fueled by a need to impress others. Nera, however, was not one who was easily impressed.
“I don't see why not,” Nera replied. “The last time we sent you out to scout, you got chased into a grove of trees by some Hobears.”
Nera smiled. “It's not as if you're totally incapable of taking care of yourself.”
Gelyan's face turned bright red.
“I had the situation under control,” he retorted. “The bears simply...startled me.”
Nera laughed out loud. She could tell his pride was hurt. In reality, the Hobears had simply wanted to play a game of Tag with Gely; Gely had thought the bears were trying to eat him.
Turning around brusquely, Gely said, “ It doesn't matter what you say. I'm still going out.” With that, Gely picked up Hydra and began walking out of the cave.
Seeing Gely leaving the cave, Sisily jumped up and shouted, “Ooh, Gely! Can I come with you? I'll be able to protect you from those cute little Hobears! Please?”
Gely paused, looked over his shoulder and mumbled something that sounded like “...don't know how I stay sane around you people...” and continued walking out of the cave.
Sisily pulled her Warp Blade out a rock in the wall, held the two-metre blade over her head with one arm and shouted, “Gely! Come back! I promise I won't be annoying this time!” But Gely was already out of the cave.
Sniffling, Sisily sat down on the cave floor.
“It's not fair, Nera-jie,” Sisily whined. “Why does Gely get to go out and play with the Hobears?”
With that, Sisily picked up her Warp Blade and began to clean it. She caressed the weapon lovingly, like a mother to a weeping child. The massive sword gleamed with highlights of black, yellow and orange. Near the hilt of the weapon there was a curious sphere that looked like a clock. The outside circle spun clock-wised, but the hand on the inside spun in the opposite direction. The air around the blade seemed to bend in a never-ending helix which caused the sword to appear bent.
Sisily pulled a cloth out of her pocket and began to wipe down the blade. Her dark eyes moved up and down the blade, noting the specks of dust and dirt along its length. Despite wearing only a pair of black pants and a shirt-vest combination, she didn't look cold. Her long brown hair curled gently onto her shoulders, interrupted only by a simple pink ribbon tied to one side of her head. Being a waitress at her parent's Chinese restaurant, she was used to taking crap from people. Being naturally excited about everything helped keep her temper under check.
Looking up and saying to no one in particular, “I wish Gely wouldn't ignore me...”
Emi, after all this time, finally spoke up. “Sisily.”
Sisi looked over at Emi, who was sitting in the corner.
“Could you pass me my hair ties?” Emi asked. “You're sitting on them.”
“Oh,” said Sisi. She stood up and right underneath her were Emi's orange hair ties.
Picking them up, Sisi took them over to Emi and said, “ Here you go, Emi-jie.”
Emi gave Sisi a gentle smile and said, “Thank you, Sisily.”
Emi took the ties and began to do up her waist length orange hair. She took out an ornate brush from inside the folds of her white robe and began to brush her hair with painstaking patience. Nera and Sisily both watched with admiration. Emi ignored them and continued brushing. Her orange hair, streaked with blazing blonde highlights responded easily to the brush's strokes. Emi's supremely long hair was not simply because of a fashion choice, but because she uses her hair, along with her magically enhanced hair-ties to allow her to fly. Stroke after stroke after stroke, Emi's hair plied straighter and straighter.
As she finished brushing, she began to loosen the hair-ties from their knots. Pulling her hair into two very long pigtails, she twisted the hair-ties expertly around the bases of the two lengths of hair.
Sisily watched Emi intently the whole time, until she could finally contain it any longer.
“Ahh! Emi-jie!” squealed Sisi, enveloping Emi in a hug. “You're so darn pretty!”
Nera grinned widely as she saw Emi flailing around in Sisi's hug. Nera never really had the true experience of a family. Growing up in an orphanage in Singapore, she was left at an early age to take care of her siblings. When she was eight, she and her younger brother and sister were adopted by a young couple who had gone through several miscarriages. At first they didn't want to adopt all three children, but Nera would not part with her siblings, so the couple eventually gave in. They never regretted that decision since. Her parents were never around to watch over them because they were pulling double overtime in multiple jobs just to keep the family from falling into debt. Nera's one and only release from life was dance. There was something in her blood, something in her soul that made her move. Nera longed to make her mark in the world of dance. Her parents knew this, and from their humble savings, managed to pay for Nera's education in Dance at the leading fine arts university in Singapore.
When Nera had heard about this from her father, her life literally brightened up. She asked her parent's permission, and went out and bought a new blue dress that she was to wear to the first day of her post-secondary dance class. She was so exhausted after her long day, however, that she fell asleep on her bed in the dress. That was the night it all began to happen...
A familiar voice split the air.
“Nera!”
The three girls turned around, looking out of the cave into the light.
“Was that Gely?” asked Sisily.
Nera nodded. “It probably is. Anyone want to take a guess as to what it is this time?”
“Knowing Gelyan,” sighed Emi as she stood up, brushing a fleck of blue rock off of her robe. “He is most likely stuck up in a Cloudhopper nest.”
Sisily giggled, “Or maybe he's getting attacked by Rabeans! I love their carrots.”
Nera laughed, and picked up the Gemini, her two swords. “In any event, I suppose we have to go get him.”
“Agreed.”
“Yes we do!”
Looking out into the bright morning light, Nera asked, “Ready?”
The two other girls nodded.
“Alright. Let's go.”
And they bolted out into the light.
Reciful stepped out of his world's portal, frustration burning in his eyes. Off all the days that could have gone bad in his plans, it had to be this one. Sighing, Reciful walked out of the dank root cellar through a flight of stairs that lead to his study.
Reciful discovered the portal in his cellar quite by accident twenty years ago when he snuck out of bed to get a bottle of wine. Since then, he has been traipsing through the strands of reality, learning about Genesis and the Beginning of all Time, along with the inevitable Apocalypse. When he first heard of the Apocalypse at the age of 24, the tall, lanky Reciful couldn't believe it. He refused to believe that the world, all worlds, would eventually extinguish itself. Finding a new purpose in life, Reciful began to search for a way to prevent the coming of Apocalypse. That was eleven years ago.
Reciful smiled as he opened the trapdoor that lead to the study. The smell of freshly baked biscuits and gravy greeted him.
Stepping out from behind a large portrait of himself, Reciful called out, “Madelaine Cin, I'm back, love!”
Madelaine's voice floated out of the kitchen.“Oh good. You're just in time for supper.”
“Did I miss much while I was out?”
“No, dear.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, Mrs. Dickinson stopped by with little Frederick this afternoon.”
“Ah, is that all?”
“I believe so.”
“Very well. Thank you Madelaine, I'll be down in a moment.”
Reciful looked around his study, content the life he made for himself.
The man sat stock still in the darkness. It wasn't unusual to see him there, if anyone bothered to go down the long flight of stairs to get down there. Although most humans would turn their noses up at the dark and dank cellar, this suited Hirst fine. He preferred not to interact with other people unless he absolutely had to. Hirst leaned back and thought. How long would he keep him down here? He was itching for a fight. He glanced up at the ceiling and though, where are you, Gelyan?
Hirst felt an invisible presence tug at his mind and he stood up, answering Reciful's mental call. Walking over to the corner, Hirst picked up Skylar, his poleaxe, and walked up the long set of stairs. His fingers curved around Skylar's familiar grip, and his fingers remembered the memory of banishing souls to the abyss.
Drip
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Drip
…
Drip
…
Neraine brushed the droplet of water offer her face, mumbling lightly. The delicate crystalline drop of water travelled slowly from her finger, off of her nail and landed on the face of Sisily, who was sleeping on the rock underneath her.
Feeling the ice cold water touch her face, Sisily jumped up and yelped, “Ah! Nera, stop it! That’s really cold, and you know how much I hate the cold…”
Sisily’s squeal had woken up everyone else in the cave, and three other bodies stirred the sleep from their eyes. Nera looked around, even though she had already over-analyzed this cave. The stone in the cave was a deep, aphotic blue which glittered with bright crystalline ice on the surface. The cave was large enough for all four of them to sleep in it at the same time, but just barely. In fact, the four of them could barely walk side by side at the same time, and the ceiling was just low enough that they couldn't walk without stooping down a few inches.
Nera started stretching out her sore muscles when she heard a voice call her name.
“Nera!”
Turning around, Nera looked for the source of the voice, even though she had heard it nagging in her ear for hours on end before.
Gelyan stood a few feet away from her, hands on his hips and tapping his feet impatiently. His bright clothing stood out in stark contrast to the dark walls of the cave; the cheerful greens and yellows of his shirt seemed to radiate colour. His brilliant green eyes pierced the air with a calculated gaze which spoke of Gelyan's intelligence and acumen. In his hands he carried Hydra, a strange object that looked not unlike an ancient firearm made out for glowing green branches.
Flipping a strand of black hair out of his eyes, Gelyan said, “Nera, do you want me to take another look around? I know we already did last night, but we couldn't see anything, anyways.”
Gely's refined English accent gave hints to his upbringing. Growing up as the son of a successful lawyer, Gely was immersed at a very young age in the ways of logic and argument. If Gelyan did have a weakness, though, it was his prideful nature fueled by a need to impress others. Nera, however, was not one who was easily impressed.
“I don't see why not,” Nera replied. “The last time we sent you out to scout, you got chased into a grove of trees by some Hobears.”
Nera smiled. “It's not as if you're totally incapable of taking care of yourself.”
Gelyan's face turned bright red.
“I had the situation under control,” he retorted. “The bears simply...startled me.”
Nera laughed out loud. She could tell his pride was hurt. In reality, the Hobears had simply wanted to play a game of Tag with Gely; Gely had thought the bears were trying to eat him.
Turning around brusquely, Gely said, “ It doesn't matter what you say. I'm still going out.” With that, Gely picked up Hydra and began walking out of the cave.
Seeing Gely leaving the cave, Sisily jumped up and shouted, “Ooh, Gely! Can I come with you? I'll be able to protect you from those cute little Hobears! Please?”
Gely paused, looked over his shoulder and mumbled something that sounded like “...don't know how I stay sane around you people...” and continued walking out of the cave.
Sisily pulled her Warp Blade out a rock in the wall, held the two-metre blade over her head with one arm and shouted, “Gely! Come back! I promise I won't be annoying this time!” But Gely was already out of the cave.
Sniffling, Sisily sat down on the cave floor.
“It's not fair, Nera-jie,” Sisily whined. “Why does Gely get to go out and play with the Hobears?”
With that, Sisily picked up her Warp Blade and began to clean it. She caressed the weapon lovingly, like a mother to a weeping child. The massive sword gleamed with highlights of black, yellow and orange. Near the hilt of the weapon there was a curious sphere that looked like a clock. The outside circle spun clock-wised, but the hand on the inside spun in the opposite direction. The air around the blade seemed to bend in a never-ending helix which caused the sword to appear bent.
Sisily pulled a cloth out of her pocket and began to wipe down the blade. Her dark eyes moved up and down the blade, noting the specks of dust and dirt along its length. Despite wearing only a pair of black pants and a shirt-vest combination, she didn't look cold. Her long brown hair curled gently onto her shoulders, interrupted only by a simple pink ribbon tied to one side of her head. Being a waitress at her parent's Chinese restaurant, she was used to taking crap from people. Being naturally excited about everything helped keep her temper under check.
Looking up and saying to no one in particular, “I wish Gely wouldn't ignore me...”
Emi, after all this time, finally spoke up. “Sisily.”
Sisi looked over at Emi, who was sitting in the corner.
“Could you pass me my hair ties?” Emi asked. “You're sitting on them.”
“Oh,” said Sisi. She stood up and right underneath her were Emi's orange hair ties.
Picking them up, Sisi took them over to Emi and said, “ Here you go, Emi-jie.”
Emi gave Sisi a gentle smile and said, “Thank you, Sisily.”
Emi took the ties and began to do up her waist length orange hair. She took out an ornate brush from inside the folds of her white robe and began to brush her hair with painstaking patience. Nera and Sisily both watched with admiration. Emi ignored them and continued brushing. Her orange hair, streaked with blazing blonde highlights responded easily to the brush's strokes. Emi's supremely long hair was not simply because of a fashion choice, but because she uses her hair, along with her magically enhanced hair-ties to allow her to fly. Stroke after stroke after stroke, Emi's hair plied straighter and straighter.
As she finished brushing, she began to loosen the hair-ties from their knots. Pulling her hair into two very long pigtails, she twisted the hair-ties expertly around the bases of the two lengths of hair.
Sisily watched Emi intently the whole time, until she could finally contain it any longer.
“Ahh! Emi-jie!” squealed Sisi, enveloping Emi in a hug. “You're so darn pretty!”
Nera grinned widely as she saw Emi flailing around in Sisi's hug. Nera never really had the true experience of a family. Growing up in an orphanage in Singapore, she was left at an early age to take care of her siblings. When she was eight, she and her younger brother and sister were adopted by a young couple who had gone through several miscarriages. At first they didn't want to adopt all three children, but Nera would not part with her siblings, so the couple eventually gave in. They never regretted that decision since. Her parents were never around to watch over them because they were pulling double overtime in multiple jobs just to keep the family from falling into debt. Nera's one and only release from life was dance. There was something in her blood, something in her soul that made her move. Nera longed to make her mark in the world of dance. Her parents knew this, and from their humble savings, managed to pay for Nera's education in Dance at the leading fine arts university in Singapore.
When Nera had heard about this from her father, her life literally brightened up. She asked her parent's permission, and went out and bought a new blue dress that she was to wear to the first day of her post-secondary dance class. She was so exhausted after her long day, however, that she fell asleep on her bed in the dress. That was the night it all began to happen...
A familiar voice split the air.
“Nera!”
The three girls turned around, looking out of the cave into the light.
“Was that Gely?” asked Sisily.
Nera nodded. “It probably is. Anyone want to take a guess as to what it is this time?”
“Knowing Gelyan,” sighed Emi as she stood up, brushing a fleck of blue rock off of her robe. “He is most likely stuck up in a Cloudhopper nest.”
Sisily giggled, “Or maybe he's getting attacked by Rabeans! I love their carrots.”
Nera laughed, and picked up the Gemini, her two swords. “In any event, I suppose we have to go get him.”
“Agreed.”
“Yes we do!”
Looking out into the bright morning light, Nera asked, “Ready?”
The two other girls nodded.
“Alright. Let's go.”
And they bolted out into the light.
Reciful stepped out of his world's portal, frustration burning in his eyes. Off all the days that could have gone bad in his plans, it had to be this one. Sighing, Reciful walked out of the dank root cellar through a flight of stairs that lead to his study.
Reciful discovered the portal in his cellar quite by accident twenty years ago when he snuck out of bed to get a bottle of wine. Since then, he has been traipsing through the strands of reality, learning about Genesis and the Beginning of all Time, along with the inevitable Apocalypse. When he first heard of the Apocalypse at the age of 24, the tall, lanky Reciful couldn't believe it. He refused to believe that the world, all worlds, would eventually extinguish itself. Finding a new purpose in life, Reciful began to search for a way to prevent the coming of Apocalypse. That was eleven years ago.
Reciful smiled as he opened the trapdoor that lead to the study. The smell of freshly baked biscuits and gravy greeted him.
Stepping out from behind a large portrait of himself, Reciful called out, “Madelaine Cin, I'm back, love!”
Madelaine's voice floated out of the kitchen.“Oh good. You're just in time for supper.”
“Did I miss much while I was out?”
“No, dear.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, Mrs. Dickinson stopped by with little Frederick this afternoon.”
“Ah, is that all?”
“I believe so.”
“Very well. Thank you Madelaine, I'll be down in a moment.”
Reciful looked around his study, content the life he made for himself.
The man sat stock still in the darkness. It wasn't unusual to see him there, if anyone bothered to go down the long flight of stairs to get down there. Although most humans would turn their noses up at the dark and dank cellar, this suited Hirst fine. He preferred not to interact with other people unless he absolutely had to. Hirst leaned back and thought. How long would he keep him down here? He was itching for a fight. He glanced up at the ceiling and though, where are you, Gelyan?
Hirst felt an invisible presence tug at his mind and he stood up, answering Reciful's mental call. Walking over to the corner, Hirst picked up Skylar, his poleaxe, and walked up the long set of stairs. His fingers curved around Skylar's familiar grip, and his fingers remembered the memory of banishing souls to the abyss.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Blog has been redone!
I have decided to revive my blog. This action was prompted by me reading a great many blogs recently, including John's Conspiracy Theories( http://conquistadormillsap.blogspot.com,) and Kill My Life (http://winkeytree.blogspot.com). Seeing those two, I decided that now my blog will be more like a personal diary of mine. Well, personal to a certain extent. It will contain information that I am willing to share with others, as well as stories that I will be working on. As well, be prepared for much pointlessness in this blog as well; I will attempt to stuff as many random posts as possible into it. At the very least, I will update once every two days.
For now, ^ ^ ^GO READ THOSE ^ ^ ^
For now, ^ ^ ^GO READ THOSE ^ ^ ^
Thursday, June 28, 2007
A little Literature Comming your Way
Ok, who here has heard of Richard Adams?
Author of many good books and, although these books have fallen int the "Classics" section recently, they are still invigorating and exciting nonetheless. One such book is called Watership Down, a book about a buch of Rabbits. Now, I wont go into full detail... but there is one intersting tidbit of knowlege. The author managed to create a language for the rabbits, much like J.R.R Tolkien in The Lord Of The Rings. Although Adams hasn't made the FULL language... Someone else has... Here's the link to the site.
http://www.loganberry.furtopia.org/bnb/lapine/overview.html
Alright, look into it if you're interested, but I do suggest you read the book first. ^_^
Alright, I've got to go now, so i'll see y'all later!
Author of many good books and, although these books have fallen int the "Classics" section recently, they are still invigorating and exciting nonetheless. One such book is called Watership Down, a book about a buch of Rabbits. Now, I wont go into full detail... but there is one intersting tidbit of knowlege. The author managed to create a language for the rabbits, much like J.R.R Tolkien in The Lord Of The Rings. Although Adams hasn't made the FULL language... Someone else has... Here's the link to the site.
http://www.loganberry.furtopia.org/bnb/lapine/overview.html
Alright, look into it if you're interested, but I do suggest you read the book first. ^_^
Alright, I've got to go now, so i'll see y'all later!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
What is Good and Evil?
Every once in a while, I'll post one of these "morality" things, just to get the gears turning in my head. So, feel free to debate with me!
How does one describe the interaction between good and evil? Is it a divine force that drives us through our lives? Or is it a set of morals that people judge their life by? To me, I think that good and evil are actual beings that manifest themselves in various forms, changing our lives with their whims. They choose to show themselves to us though little things. They come as tiny thoughts that pull at our mind constantly, or ideas that seemingly pop out of nowhere. And now as I think of these things, I wonder, “What were the influences of good and evil during the Holocaust?” Think about it. Did the Germans think that all the killing they did during the holocaust was wrong? How did these divine powers manifest themselves during this time?
I believe that Hitler wasn’t evil, but I think that evil may have nudged his mind in different directions than what a normal man might go through. What could motivate a man to murder 6 million people, other human beings? How could he do this? The human mind has its own complexities that we may never understand, but then again, human motives can be easily perceived and understood. We can easily see that Hitler’s intention was to eradicate an “infestation”, and in his mind, he probably saw Jews as a problem that only he and his Nazi cohorts could solve. And, probably, in his own mind it was right to do so. But that’s just it. We can believe something so strongly that we can convince ourselves and even others that, even though something is morally wrong (such as mass-killing 6 million people) we can convince ourselves that it is good to do so. Therefore some may conclude that evil is merely a concept of the human mind, that evil is not a choice between right and wrong, but a decision as to whether or not this action will seem right to others.
Many a time I wonder as to why one person can so easily lie to another; that a person can so easily deceive other people. Take note that a person is a smart, reasonable creature, but people are stupid, panicky and have no sense of others. You know what I’m talking about. When people band together into a group, they not only forget their own motives for the ideals of others, but they will blindly follow the people that give the ideas. In my opinion, people should be more like the rabbits in Richard Adams’ Watership Down, because they’re not afraid to voice their own opinions, and I just think it would be cute to act like bunnies…^_^. In any event, the rabbits in the book still follow the leader, Hazel, but are not afraid to voice their own opinions. Aaaaaannnd that’s all I have to say right now…(writers block...)
How does one describe the interaction between good and evil? Is it a divine force that drives us through our lives? Or is it a set of morals that people judge their life by? To me, I think that good and evil are actual beings that manifest themselves in various forms, changing our lives with their whims. They choose to show themselves to us though little things. They come as tiny thoughts that pull at our mind constantly, or ideas that seemingly pop out of nowhere. And now as I think of these things, I wonder, “What were the influences of good and evil during the Holocaust?” Think about it. Did the Germans think that all the killing they did during the holocaust was wrong? How did these divine powers manifest themselves during this time?
I believe that Hitler wasn’t evil, but I think that evil may have nudged his mind in different directions than what a normal man might go through. What could motivate a man to murder 6 million people, other human beings? How could he do this? The human mind has its own complexities that we may never understand, but then again, human motives can be easily perceived and understood. We can easily see that Hitler’s intention was to eradicate an “infestation”, and in his mind, he probably saw Jews as a problem that only he and his Nazi cohorts could solve. And, probably, in his own mind it was right to do so. But that’s just it. We can believe something so strongly that we can convince ourselves and even others that, even though something is morally wrong (such as mass-killing 6 million people) we can convince ourselves that it is good to do so. Therefore some may conclude that evil is merely a concept of the human mind, that evil is not a choice between right and wrong, but a decision as to whether or not this action will seem right to others.
Many a time I wonder as to why one person can so easily lie to another; that a person can so easily deceive other people. Take note that a person is a smart, reasonable creature, but people are stupid, panicky and have no sense of others. You know what I’m talking about. When people band together into a group, they not only forget their own motives for the ideals of others, but they will blindly follow the people that give the ideas. In my opinion, people should be more like the rabbits in Richard Adams’ Watership Down, because they’re not afraid to voice their own opinions, and I just think it would be cute to act like bunnies…^_^. In any event, the rabbits in the book still follow the leader, Hazel, but are not afraid to voice their own opinions. Aaaaaannnd that’s all I have to say right now…(writers block...)
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