| |
The next day, we woke up around dawn (with a bit less objection from Maaya and Niketa, though they were both rather tired) and after breakfast started out journey through the underground. Rei and Phyress were still with us, and between Celes, Cloud, Rei, and me we carried the heavy equipment. Maaya, Rei, Phyress only carried their own gear and sleeping bags. We were weighted down with all the camping equipment, which was fairly heavy no matter how small you made it.
The journey wasn’t as discouraging or quiet as it was last time, although I lead the way the entire time. I had hardly spoken to Cloud aside from giving orders, and I was more than happy to keep it that way. We were making slower progress though, it took two days to get to the part of the cavern where the going was flat, two days to get to where it started sloping up hill, and three days to get to the water fall.
“And what’s after the water fall again?” Niketa asked grimly.
“A pond of water, it’s deep but only like twenty feet away from the bank.”
“Twenty feet?” She demanded.
“What, can’t you swim?”
“Not with equipment and a backpack that far!”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed her backpack saying,
“Now you have no reason to gripe. I’ll go first, Maaya second, Celes third, Phyress, Rei, Niketa, than Cloud to make sure the whiners don’t sink.”
“Hey!” Niketa said, clearly insulted.
I jumped through first, jumping high up and making a cannon ball. I opened my eyes to see the fish swimming away for their lives, but they weren’t there.
That’s strange…
I surfaced after a few seconds and swam to the back calling,
“C’mon you aren’t gunna melt.”
Maaya came though next, and I grabbed her hand pulling her up onto the bank. Aside from Maaya and Niketa’s disturbance to being wet, there weren’t any problems until Niketa realized her cell phone was in her pocket, and it wasn’t waterproof. Niketa was really starting to get on my nerves. After sending Cloud away and changing our wet clothes, we continued onward and stopped at the forest’s edge at dusk. Phyress’ neon purple shirt said in big orange capital letters, “Beware, I ate beans today and I have SBDs.”
I shook my head at that thinking,
How charming, silent but deadly farts…
I half expected the back to say, “And if I feel one coming I’ll be sure my ass is facing you” but it had the same message as the front.
I rolled over, unable to sleep. It was around midnight and I looked up at the nearly full moon, and saw the fog rolling in. It was so think the moon was nearly invisible.
Going through the forest tomorrow is going to be hell.
I wonder what the deal with that singing was…it was most likely a distraction set up by Trenxi, but who knows? It might be something. Maybe I’ll mysteriously lose track of Cloud and Niketa…it’d be nice if I could go to Neivila alone…
I’d apparently nodded off for awhile, since I sat bolt up right when I heard a splash. The fog was thick, the moon was low in the sky, and everybody else was asleep. I heard it coming from the entrance to the mountains. I hoped to my feet and grabbed my katana, not bothering to put my boots back on as I ran over the hills at to speeds as silently as I could manage.
I bent down on the final hill that sloped down to the waterfalls, and saw a person hall himself up on to the banks. He caught his break a moment and looked up saying,
“I’m finally here…I’m at Neivila!”
I jumped forward, sliding down the incline and towered over the person, the tip of my katana at his neck.
“State your business here.” I growled as my eyes adjusted and I got a good look at his face.
“Ryuu?” I asked alarmed. He smiled and disappeared into the fog.
“Ryuu?” I called out looking around, feeling foolish. “Are you there?”
“What’s wrong?” Cloud asked, sliding down the incline and landing next to me.
“Did you just see him?”
“Who?”
“A guy about a few years younger than me, look kinda like Maaya but no Nohinog eyes. He was just right here.”
“I didn’t see anybody here, but I see a person earlier.”
“Who?” I asked.
“A old sergeant from the military, a real slave-driver. I figured I was just seeing things, but…”
I looked down at the grass and pointed saying,
“It’s wet, where he was. Is this sergeant dead?”
“Yeah.” Cloud replied. “You think it’s Neivila? It is the full moon.”
“Seeing the spirits of the dead on a full moon? That’s the cheapest bad fantasy novel idea I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s possible, Neivila is sacred ground.”
“Yeah…” I paused, “But it’s unlikely.”
“No more unlikely than cities powered off divine bubbles.”
“Wise ass.”
“That’s genie ass to you.”
I looked up at him about, “Don’t steal my thunder!” Even though he smiled saying,
“Let’s head back, it’ll be dawn soon and we’ve got a long walk tomorrow. We don’t know how big this forest is, and we need to reach the Sacred City.”
“Yeah…”
“So, who is Ryuu? A friend of yours?”
“My friend’s dead brother.”
“Perfectly plausible, knowing you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped.
“Oh, nothing. Let’s head back.”
We started up the incline in silence until he asked,
“Do you think we’ll see more of those guys?”
“Dead people? Perfectly plausible.” I said making fun of him. He gave me a sarcastic look saying,
“Really though, when we reach Neivila do you think it’ll be ruins or preserved?”
“It’s hard to say. I thought for sure there’d be growth in the caverns, but there isn’t and hasn’t been. It’s kinda like the church, don’t you think? No musty air or anything. So, it’s possible Neivila City will still be in perfect condition.”
“How did Neivila fall anyway?”
“Good question, I only know legends. Long legends too.”
He stopped saying,
“I’m listening.”
I sighed and sat down saying,
“Well, here goes. Neivila supposedly fell when Skyevi did. She had to kill her love, in the name of her power. Ten years later, after she returned from being missing, the people of Neivila found her bleeding and dying on the floor of the temple on the center mountain, Neivila herself. Supposedly, the storm that rages above us that we can’t see or feel started when Skyevi closed her eyes for the last time. The storm began and descended, destroying Neivila and the people who lived there. The storm continued, and rose above the mountains as the eternal guardian of Neivila. She supposedly died from arrow wounds, and her lover was an archer so they believed her love’s spirit killed her.”
“So…the spirits here want to kill us?”
“Who knows.” I said standing up and starting back to camp. “I’d keep my sword with me though.” I didn’t wait for him to follow, although he did. I didn’t say anything else before sliding into my sleeping bag and pulling my laptop out of it’s open case and pulling it under the sleeping bag with me. I went to the list of military rosters from three years ago, and typed in “Anan Nimbostratus”. No results. I then went to Twi-LIGHT’s web site and with a large amount of hacking, I reached their list of personnel from last year. I typed “Anan Nimbostratus” again and got one result. I clicked it, and read his profile. There was also a picture, he looked about two or three years younger.
I felt a resigned grimness when I saw the date he joined…three years ago. I signed out and deleted cookies along with browsing history and any other thing that could be used to track me, and closed my laptop. I slid it back into it’s briefcase and tucked my nose under the top of the sleeping bag, and nodded off unsurprised by what I saw.
In the morning, we found the small path Cloud’s replica made and took it for awhile. I took the first shift of chopping, even though we found a path not long after that. Which was more than odd, since Neivila was abandoned a few tens of thousands of years ago…alright, major exaggeration.
It was slow going, since the fog was so thick.
“Niketa?” Maaya asked looking behind her, they’d been talking about some mundane thing. She stopped and looked around asking again, “Niketa?”
“What’s wrong now?” I asked irritably turning around to see what was going on. Phyress had already make a joke in Nohinog so Cloud didn’t understand about how I was grumpy enough for it to be PMS. I’d been stupid enough to retort in English, making an utter fool of myself.
“We were talking, but she just disappeared.” Maaya replied, Niketa and her had been bringing up the near so their conversation wasn’t interrupted by my extra rude wise-ass-cracks.
“Jeez, can’t cope in the fog?” I grumbled turning around again, “Just call her name, she couldn’t of gotten far.”
There was silence and I looked back again saying,
“Hey, did you hear-?” I froze and looked around, listened closely, but I was alone.
“What in the seven hells…?” I muttered calling out the names of my comrades, with no response. I blinked, and when I opened my eyes I was standing on grassy hill with waterfalls all around me. It was only a small island I stood on, and when I stepped back, I felt like I was falling.
I “landed” with no impact on another grassy surface, and I sat up drawing my katana as I jumped to my feet. I looked around, and I saw the figure of a person kneeling down by the river the waterfalls poured into. The mist seemed not to be around us, only away from us.
“Who the hell are you?” I called out, not recognizing the person as part of my group. He stood, holding a badly bleeding wound on his shoulder seemingly unfazed. He met my steely gaze with calm level blue eyes. He looked exactly like he did the last time I saw him, practically dressed the same too in black jeans, brown army boots, dark blue T-shirt and maroon leather-ish jacket.
“It’s nice to see you again, Akhy. How’s Maaya fairing in charge of Twi-LIGHT? Katsu wanted that position, but I knew Maaya would be better if she could adjust.”
“Kazuki?” I asked, thrown off guard.
His he real, a hallucination, or one of Trenxi’s dolls?
“Yes, it’s me.” He replied. “And Maaya?”
“She’s fine, we taking just a second ago.”
“Arguing more likely.” He said, “Rei’s with you too, right? Does she still hit people with her tools when they tick her off?”
“As far as I know.” I said still hesitant, though I lowered my katana. I didn’t replace it in its scabbard though.
“Ryuu and Katsu, whatever happened to them?”
“Killed, so I was told.” I replied. “Looking for you. They’re probably still physically alive though as Trenxi’s toys.”
He nodded saying,
“Rei still mad at me?”
“Who and what are you? Why are you on Neivila?”
He held up his blood-covered hand saying,
“Kazuki Nikoji. I suppose I’m biologically human, welcome to the Labyrinth of Mist. Neivila lies on the side, but I’m afraid nobody can get through alone. Each one of you has a connection to another one of you, but since there’s an odd number of you, one’s going to have to stay behind.”
“Stay behind?” I demanded, “What the hell are you talking about?”
He turned around saying,
“Don’t look at me, I didn’t make up the rules. I just relay them for her when she needs me to. Best be going, the person you have a connection with is coming.”
“Who? Where are you going?” I demanded. I blinked and I was back in the misty forest, hearing footsteps advancing my way. I was still on edge, and when I felt a hand on my shoulder, I jerked around ready to run through whoever was behind me.
“It’s me, Cloud!” He said grabbing my wrist quickly.
I relaxed and lowered my katana saying,
“Sorry, didn’t know who it would be.”
“Who could it have been that you’d want to run through? It’s only our group here. Or are you seeing ghosts too?”
“Who’d you see?”
“Just a few people I knew, memories really.”
“Well, if we’re both seeing spirits of people we used to know, than that means anybody we killed who didn’t like us could also come popping up.”
“True, I suppose there’s a good reason to be on guard.”
“No duh.” I said dryly turning around saying,
“Let’s go, we gotta find the others.”
What did Kazuki mean by somebody I have a connection to? Shouldn’t I have run into Rei or Maaya? Why the hell did I find Cloud? Especially after he lied to me…
I took a deep breath, and exhaled quickly than started walking forward, Cloud following. I didn’t replace my katana in its scabbard, I didn’t know if I was with friend or foe again.
Neither of us said anything, though either I was hearing thing or going crazy. Disturbingly, all the whispered voices I was hearing were all voices from my memories. Akiko, my parents, Trenxi, Kershul, and many other of my enemies. Than again, I think I have more enemies than friends. I also heard myself.
“This is Robert Trenxi.” Akiko said brightly.
“Hello there, Akhyia.”
“You’re creepy. Did you shower recently? You look really greasy.”
“Akhy!”
“You smell like blood and cologne, too. Why do you do in your spare time? Aside from tricking my sister that is. She’s gullible, so it’d be easy for a creep like you.”
“Akhy!” Akiko cried as the memory ended.
I stopped when I heard the sound of footsteps behind us, and looked back.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear why?”
I waited a few moments listening closely, my eyes pealed for movement though it was futile in the fog.
“…Nothing. Let’s keep going.”
“Hey, wait a second.” He said grabbing my arm.
I froze as images played through my mind, suddenly completely unaware of my surroundings.
“Hey, Anan!” A young man, about eighteen, with black hair and green eyes called out to a fourteen year old or so Cloud.
Cloud stopped panting saying,
“Can’t we slow down?”
“Hell no, dad wants to see you, it’s been three years now. He also wants you meet Lylia.”
“I already told you, I don’t want to meet his new hooker and I’m not supposed to be running.”
“Don’t be such a wuss.” Cloud’s brother apparently scowled. “The Evi poisoning left your body four years ago, how could you still be in invalid?”
“I’m not an invalid!” He snapped.
“Than keep up.” His brother jeered and continued running.
“Zeev!” Cloud called out, thoroughly exhausted.
“C’mon, we don’t have all day. It’s already five PM.” Zeev called out stopping again. “We’re supposed to be there by dinner. I’m not carrying you; you’re only lying because you’ve gotten lazy.”
A red sports car stopped beside Zeev, and a man who looked more like Zeev than Cloud stopped saying,
“What’s taking you so long? I said be back by five-thirty, but you’re only two blocks away from the hospital.”
“Don’t look at me.” Zeev said pointing at Cloud, “He’s the one being lazy using Evi poisoning four years ago as an excuse.”
“Get in.” The father said shortly looking at Cloud crossly. “Lylia is waiting back at the house.”
He let go of my arm and I blinked as I returned to reality.
“You helped that? If I had a sibling like that I’d of kicked his ass, if not sliced it up before helping him.”
“You saw that, eh?” Cloud asked rather grimly.
“Yeah, you look nothing like your father either. Are you even really related?”
“As far as I know.”
“What did you want to ask me?”
“What you heard.”
“Just footsteps, but they disappeared. Is your brother still alive?”
“Did I tell you he was dead?”
“Yeah.” I said dryly. “But if you’ve forgotten, you gave me two stories about why you ended up with Twi-LIGHT. I suppose you figured I’d just think you’d been lying that first time or I’d have forgotten, but alas…I didn’t. I looked you up online; I know that first story was a lie so how would I know if any part of it was true? ”
“I figured you wouldn’t forget, and yes that story was a lie. I didn’t forget either, even though my brother is still alive as far as I know. I haven’t seen him in years, but he was being chased down by gunmen last I saw him.”
“I wonder of that’s a lie too?” I said coldly and continued onward.
“Do you trust anybody?”
“Not really.”
“So what do I have to do to make you trust me?”
“There isn’t anything you could do to make me trust you, I hardly know you after all. I’ve only even known of your existence for a little over two weeks.”
I heard a twig crack from a few feet away, and as I turned around and all in a few second I heard a gunshot, caught a glimpse of a Twi-LIGHT soldier, and a bullet flying through my neck. Before I could react, I was being pushed to the ground, landing hard beside Cloud. I’d outfitted myself with the holsters and pistols before we set out. I grabbed my conventional pistol and jerked to my knees and fired one shot. My aim was true; my foe fell to the ground with a thud.
Cloud sat up slowly asking,
“Did you get ‘em?”
“Yeah.” I replied, “Did the bullet go straight through?” I asked seeing the blood dripping over his fingers as he covered the bullet wound in his shoulder with his hand.
I opened my backpack and withdrawing spray disinfectant and bandages.
“Yes, it did.”
“Good, take off your shirt so I can see the wound. The disinfectant is the stingy stuff; I don’t want to hear you complain.”
He obliged and I bandaged his wound saying,
“Don’t get sued to this treatment, you’re doing it yourself next time. I’m only returning the favor.”
“Don’t worry about it, at least now we’re even for letting me tag along. It’s obvious Takashi really hates me.”
“I only let you come because it’s helpful to have another swordsman.” I said defensively and shoved the disinfectant and medical tape into my backpack.
He pulled his T-shirt back on saying,
“All the same, if it had been up to Takashi I’d be back at Scixen stewing about where I was going now.”
“Don’t you have any other family?”
“Not as far as I know, I was always told my grandparents were dead, and if they weren’t then they probably are now. If I do have any other family, they’re not in Ragnarok.”
Just like Kairi…
“We’d better hurry, if we just saw a Twi-LIGHT soldier that means the Exodus base out there is in combat. I doubt one could have slipped by very easily, so they must be losing. If we don’t get to the city ruins soon, we’ll we trapped.”
“Let’s go.” He said standing up, “Let’s hope the others haven’t been found.”
|
Help Us Stop Plagiarism -
Nearly all works at PnP are original. However a few people choose to plagiarize.
To check, choose a phrase from the work, then either drag and drop to the search box or copy and paste.
click on search and works at Google will be shown which match. Just to be sure, please do this before
you recommend or rate the work highly...
|
 |
|
|
|
Select a Random Book
|
|
Welcome !
