Gates of Dyrusus

Chapter 1:

Mysterious Lights

"Tommy! Tommy, get up for school, hun!" A soft youthful voice rang out from the bottom of a simple flight of stairs, it calling to the only other ears in the house that could understand them. "Come on hun, your gonna be late!"

"Alright! Alright... I'm up..." Slowly sitting up, Tommy stretched his somewhat pathetic arms before ruffling his own light brown hair to get the mess out of it. It didn't help much, his hair always had its way of falling back into place no matter how neat he tried putting it. Pushing off from his bed, he found his feet on a cold hardwood floor and had to dance around for a moment as he hurried to find some clean clothing in his bedroom. His dark stern eye's betrayed his tiny body and soft looks, but welcomed his personality with open arms.

Tommy was the kind of kid to get in trouble by doing the right thing, helping out those who ask him of it only to get blamed for something that goes wrong. He was okay with it, for awhile... He just one day suddenly snapped, and boom, found himself in his first ever fight. He lost pretty badly, even had one of his teeth knocked out which still hasn't grown back in. It clearly shows when he smiles.

His feet made light thuds as he burst down the stairs, one hand on the railing to make sure he didn't fall from going so fast. He wore a pair of baggy blue shorts with an orange T-shirt that covered half of his shorts. On top of it was an olive green vest with several pockets on the front and his last name stitched on the back in bright orange.

His feet skipped the last few steps as he jumped the side railing and landed slightly crouched. He grunted softly before dashing into the kitchen to come to a slow stop and jump into his chair, smiling softly. His mother glanced to him, a worried look on her face. "Sorry hun, you'll have to take breakfast with you. You're already late... get going!" She smiled as she handed him two pieces of buttered toast. He smiled and took them, stuffing one side into his mouth as he ran out the door, picking up his backpack from the floor as he did. He came to a stop and turned around, running back and poking his head through the door. He chuckled lightly as a pair of tanned leather gloves was placed in front of him.

"Thanks mom." He said, taking them and placing the toast back in his mouth, running once again to get to school on time.

"Dakura, watch it!" Daren's voice called out, making Tommy duck as a soccer ball nearly crashed into his face. He stood up, tossing his hands down at his sides in balled fists. His eyebrow twitching.

"Tamako!! Watch where you're kicking that thing! You nearly took my head off!" He shouted back, storming back to where he had just come from to place his foot on the ball before dribbling it back to the field his friend was in. He came to a slow stop and placed his foot on the ball to stop it's moving as well. Daren, as his first name would be, was an unusual boy. He was kind of chunky around the middle, and big for his age. He was once called the "Non-violent Muscle" because of it. He hated fighting, but could hurt other so easily. He called it a curse well others called him lucky.

Daren wore olive green overalls, with his last name stitched into the back of them. A tanned muscle shirt underneath kept him from being put home. Most of his head was shaved, leaving a messy blond trail starting from the top-middle of his head down to his neck and it grew longer there so he could put it into a ponytail. He himself carries a tan from working outside on his father's farm during the weekends when he's not playing with Tommy. The look was funny on him, blond hair, and dark skin and sky blue eyes.

"So Tamako... what are you doing out here, hasn't school started?" Tommy asked, his voice and expression held confusion and was riddled with puzzling looks. His eye's turned to the school, and only a few white vans were in the parking lot, not to mention everyone else was outside. Why did he just notice that now? Off to the front doors, a few men wearing white suits walked out in lab coats with one of the teachers on a stretcher. It was only then that he noticed one of the vans was a medical unit.

"They closed the school down when a strange smell filled the halls, and the teachers started collapsing one by one. They evacuated the school, but everyone is too interested to leave despite the warnings and fear of something bad going on. I'm playing it safe, I came over to the field." Daren responded, explaining the situation as it was. Tommy had turned his eyes back to the boy, now scratching his head. He was still confused. What was it they smelled? Some kind of gas? He'd learned that certain kinds of gases could make people pass out, and others could poison them. He hoped this wasn't serious. "Hey, Tommy, what's your uncle doing here?" His hand lifted, pointing almost dully at a man by the school doors in a lab coat. He was a big guy, plenty of muscle. A blue band around his arm showed he was the one in charge of what was going on. His thick brown beard showed age as a few gray hairs poked through, but his body was plenty strong despite his age, with eye's matching Tommy's.

"I don't know. Mom always said he was a Doctor, but... he lives three villages over. I hardly ever see him. Hey! Maybe he can give us some insight on what's going on here!" Tommy exclaimed, turning quickly to Daren with his fist held up in excitement. The tanned boy nodded his head and picked up his soccer ball before jogging with Tommy towards the scene.

"Alright, put her inside with the others... I have something to do before I catch up to you guys." Jareth spoke commandingly, yet with a smile. Jareth is Tommy's uncle, and Tommy was right he did live three villages over. Only difference is, he's a doctor and a scientist. Gases and phenomena such as this are his specialty... though he doesn't tell his family that things like this have been happening all over Dyrusus for years. They were getting closer to home though, and it was a dangerous thing.

"Uncle Jareth!" Tommy leaped through the air at his uncle, who had turned in time to catch the boy out of the air laughing and hugging him.

"Tommy! How's my nephew? Doing okay I hope. I'm surprised you haven't gone home yet... with your school being closed and all." He set Tommy down and smiled at Daren who just showed up now. He paused as Tommy and Daren whispered back and fourth a bit before Daren pushed Tommy forwards. Tommy smiled awkwardly up at his uncle, and Jareth crossed his arms, smiling slightly. "Come on. Spit it out... what is it?"

"Oh... well, you see... we were wondering if you could tell us about a bit about what's going on here."

"Don't put your nose where it doesn't belong Tommy..." His uncle snapped back a bit sourly, the expression on his face obviously meant it was something serious. He shook his head, kneeling down at the slightly taken back Tommy who hadn't been expecting that kind of reaction from his uncle. He placed his hand son Tommy's shoulders, smiling softly as he looked into the boy's eyes. "I shouldn't be doing this but... there's something funny going on, this gas is showing up all over the place in Dyrusus lately... and... I'm the guy who was hired to save the day and find out what it's doing to people. You won't have school for a few weeks now boys. It's an early summer. I'll drop by your house later to see your mother, alright Tommy?" He asked, after explaining a little just to get the boy's mind off of it. If they knew what was really going on... they might get scared.

"Alright, Uncle..." Tommy sighed, then smiled as his hair was ruffled. He turned to run off with Daren, both of them satisfied about their luck in getting at least a bit of info from Tommy's uncle. Jareth stood up and scratched the back of his head lightly, sighing. He shook his head lightly and turned, jumping into the truck and closing the doors behind him. Some lights turned on, and the truck took off away from the school. Security tape was put up, and the crowd of students disbanded slowly as everyone returned home.

"I don't get it..." Tommy spoke quietly. He and Daren had snagged a few papers about local news and some in other villages over which had blown to their town in the wind. Apparently, some weird lights had been sighted before each incident with the strange gas... which had apparently been happening in large complexes like schools and buildings. It had been going on for a few weeks. It was almost 10 O'clock now, they had been reading over these cases for hours since they got to Tommy's. "There's no papers here about the incident at school today... maybe we won't see anything till tomorrow." He sighed, folding a paper and throwing it into the pile of papers they had read already. They had gotten no where with this.

"Why don't we go out tonight and look around at the school? We can call Taryn, and Symantha... they like weird things like this." Daren suggested, slowly folding the paper he had been reading into an airplane before throwing it out the open window. It flew pretty well. Tommy blinked a few times, losing himself in thought as he watched the paper airplane go out his window. He came to suddenly and sat up fast from his laying down position on the bed.

"Yeah! Though we'll have to sneak out... it's already past my curfew..." He sighed softly. Then stood up and went to his closet. He paused as a distinct sound came from where Daren was sitting. The two started laughing and Tommy pinched his nose as his hand swung back and fourth in front of his face. Daren's cheeks reddened before he cleared his throat.

"Sorry Tommy... you know your mothers chili does that to me..."

"Yeah yeah, just open the window more... pee-you!" He laughed, opening his closet and digging through it until he finally found the rope which and Daren would use to get out of his room VIA the window.

"As usual, their late..." Symantha said, sighing and pulling her knee's to her chest. She and Taryn lived close to the school, so they had gotten their pretty early compared to Tommy and Daren. Symantha was just a year younger then Taryn, who happened to be a year older then all three of them. They wore the same colors as Daren and Tommy, and their last names stitched into the backs of their clothing. Symantha wore a jean jacket with a black skirt and leggings with the olive green top. She didn't really care about fashion sense as she also wore a pair of work boots two times bigger then her actual foot size.

Taryn was known as a cool kid. His pants being a darker army green with belts of cloth hanging down the sides, held on by metal rings that hung off loops attached to his pants. They were short, showing his ankles and sneakers clearly. His hair was messy, though intentionally messy. It was black with some area's that held groups of grey hair, and his bangs were spiked as always. Long sleeve black shirt which clung to his body and, a vest much like Tommy's, though his name was in navy green on the back, rather then the orange the rest had.

"They're here." Taryn stated, with out even looking up from his spot leaning against the schools wall. And as if on cue, Tommy and Daren came sliding around the corner on their bikes. They stopped slowly and climbed down, leaning them against the school wall before waving slightly to Taryn and Symantha. Symantha stood up, and with her fists at her sides, her face grew red with anger as she stomped towards them.

"S-symantha?" Tommy stuttered, knowing she was angry. And with out warning, her face was right in front of hers, fists clung to her chest as she took in a deep breath and glared at him.

"Tommy Dakura! How dare you make me wait so long! You say there's something important and cool, then you can't even show up for your own set time!? Agh!" She screamed in his face, making him step back and trip on his bike planting him on his rear end before sighing. Daren stepped forwards before looking at the school.

"Hey guys... there's some weird lights coming from the school." He stated, drawing the other three friends eye's to glance at the scene before them. Bright lights were coming from the windows, but, they were changing colors. Daren covered his nose and waved his hand in front of his face. "H-hey! It's that same smell from earlier today... it's the gas again.."

Just then, as if meant to scare them all away, a shout of pain echoed from inside the school. Tommy's eye's widened and he froze. Daren had also tensed, recognizing the voice that had called out for help, though only he had heard it as he was closer to the doors. Taryn and Symantha had been frightened by this, but only for a moment as Daren's next words got them ready to run inside the school.

"Tommy! It's your uncle!"

"Uncle Jareth!!" Tommy didn't hesitate as he ran for the doors, pulling them open and dashing down the hall, following the shouts of pain and fright. Daren and the others were close behind.

"Tommy stop! We should go get help!" Symantha called, but Tommy wouldn't listen as he continued forwards.

Daren jumped down the last set of school stairs, entering the school's basement which was off limits to students, but his uncle was there and in trouble. The lights were getting brighter, and the smell of the gas was getting stronger also. What was going on on? Was he ready to face what was going on? The lights were coming from under the door at the far end of the hall.

"Hang on Uncle!" He shouted, his hand outstretched for the handle. He stopped in front of the door though. His hand trembled. The shouting... it stopped. The others were panting behind him, looking just as frightened. The lights were still there. Move.. He thought. Move... move, move, move!!! He closed his eye's and grasped the handle, twisting it and pushing hard.

"Uncles Jareth-!" He froze in place as he burst into the room, his friends bumping him and making him step forwards further into the room completely flooded in bright colors of light. Symantha screamed in horror as one of the walls seemed to be wiggling with an arm and a hand sticking out of it, slowly sinking in. The tag it was holding, it was Tommy's uncles' name badge! Tommy's eye's widened in horror as he realized it was his uncle sinking into the wall. With out thinking, on instinct, he lunged forwards and grasped his uncles arm.

"I got you!" He called, as if hoping the man could hear him. It dropped the tag and grabbed his arm, holding tight, but as if to force Tommy to let go. Tommy winced in pain, not understanding but looked over his shoulder to Daren and Taryn. They nodded and ran over, grasping the arm and pulling back, but the arm continued to sink in and was soon nothing more then a hand.

Tears began to form in Tommy's eye's. I can't save him... I can't... He continued to think, pulling harder only to start getting pulled in himself.

"Wha-What?!" Symantha ran over now, holding him by the waist as she joined in in pulling. They all struggled now to get Tommy free, and one by one, they were all getting pulled into the wall as well. They all yelled, their screams echoing through the school and outside.

Before they knew it, everything was dark, and they felt like they were falling... but, falling slowly. Tommy's eye's opened as he looked around. It was nothing but darkness. His friends... Daren, Taryn, and Symantha. They were there, but they were glowing white. Cold. Tommy felt cold, and goosebumps crawled over his flesh as he heard a chanting. It was as if a group of monks was singing a song of sorrow. But one voice stood out over all of them. It was speaking.

"Those with pure intentions, and hatred for the Hive..." Tommy couldn't believe his eye's as this strange voice spoke, the words appeared before his eye's in the darkness. He quickly looked to his friends. Everyone was unconscious. "Shall gain the power to fight, to defend, to protect and, to move forwards. Nearer our god to thee, and the four prophets from another world shall end the Hive and peace shall rain from the sky's. Amen." Tommy suddenly felt a warmth erupt in him, and he yelled as he began falling faster. The darkness surrounded him, and in a few moments, he too fell unconscious. However, that voice and what it said continued to echo in his mind. And one last phrase appeared and burned it's self into his mind.

"Move forward, and all will be clear."