DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE AMAZING PO5 CHARACTERS! I DO NOT OWN ANY PLOTS, SETTINGS, OR IDEAS THAT APPEAR IN RAVEN'S GATE, EVIL STAR, NIGHTRISE, OR NECROPOLIS. THESE WERE CREATED BY THE AMAZING GENIUS, GENIUS TO THE POINT OF NEARLY BEING A GOD, THE ONE AND ONLY… (DRUMROLL PLEASE…) MR. ANTHONY HOROWITZ!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man, I'm getting tired of disclaimers. Oh sorry, Lohan is kinda OOC. Also, sorry for taking so long to post.
Scott groaned. They had been walking for forever. Surely by now they must be near somewhere that they could stay. The last two nights had been torture. They were out of Cusco now, in the bare Atacama Desert. Three days ago, in the midst of a typhoon, he would have traded anything for this, a warm, dry desert. Now, in the present, he would trade anything for a wet, freezing rain.
Funny how that works, he thought. I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side.
He looked at his brother. Not long ago, people would have said that Scott looked older than Jamie. In the present, however, Jamie would seem older. It wasn't so much the physical appearance. If you took a picture of the two, their best friends wouldn't be able to tell them apart. In Jamie's eyes, there was an understanding, a seriousness that could only come from his witnessing of the final battle between the Old Ones and the Five. In Scott's eyes, there was only fear and pain.
"Ready to stop for the night?"
The voice startled Scott out of thought. "Huh? Um, yeah, sure."
"What's up?" Jamie asked, studying him. Lately, he hadn't been able to see his brother's mind quite as clearly and easily. It didn't help that both boys were as hungry, thirsty, and tired as they were.
"Nothing. I'm just wishing that Scarlett was here, or Matt." Both boys sighed at the prospect of a source of water.
"Scott?"
"Mmh?"
"Do you think she's okay?" Jamie didn't need to say her name.
"I dunno. If she isn't… I guess your Scar from the other world will come over and save the day."
"Yeah." He wasn't going to admit it, but half of him hoped that Scar would be back over. He hadn't particularly liked her… but still.
They had filled up on water before leaving Cusco. It was absolute torture, having water but not being able to drink it.
"Hey, is there any water between here and Nazca?" Scott asked. They had contacted the Nexus in Cusco. One of the members would be waiting at the Nazca airport.
Jamie scrunched up his face, trying to remember his seventh grade geography class. "Yeah… if we turn a little bit more to the south, there's a river in what must be a six hours walk. You up to it tonight, or should we quit? I don't mind either way."
"Tonight, then."
Jamie nodded.
Pedro stood in a vast, bright corridor, lit with torches mounted on the wall. It was obvious that the room was old; plaster crumbled off the walls in some places to reveal worn brick underneath. His teeth chattered; he was frozen after two days in this room. Cautiously, he tiptoed down the hallway.
Hang on a second, he thought, wondering if he was as stupid as he thought. Why don't I just go back through the door?
But where would he end up? Where did he want to go?
We'll leave that to fate, he thought grimly, gritting his teeth and stalking back the way he came. Pedro threw open the door. Taking a deep breath, he stretched his foot across the opening.
It seemed that he was in a type of church. He rushed to the street, curious to see what city he had landed in.
London. He was in London. He decided that his best chance was to walk around a bit, and pick a few pockets when that was possible. He ducked into every warm shop or market that he could, staying until the owners booted him out. He snuck into a library. Hopefully no one would notice him, a little ragamuffin in the background. Pedro hid behind a shelf of young adult fiction. He pressed an ear against the edge. He thought he had recognized a voice. Matt's voice. He peeked around the corner. It was Matt and Lohan, sitting at a computer terminal. Pedro crept up behind Matt.
"I can see you." He rasped. Matt jumped about ten feet.
"That was not funny," he snapped, clearly embarrassed at being frightened so easily. "How'd you get here?"
Pedro laughed. "I went through the door."
"No, no, to the library. How did you know I was here?"
"I did not know. Why are you here, anyway?"
"Oh! The Nexus is going to help us. And we also need to find the others. The Nexus is already helping Scott and Jamie but we need Scarlett."
Pedro nodded, just as a message popped up on the screen.
On our way. Be there in ten minutes.
Ten minutes passed… then fifteen. Finally a man walked in. Pedro had a hazy memory of him, just a man in a suit sitting at a table with other Nexus members.
"Follow me," breathed the man, walking straight out the other way.
Lohan looked at Matt, asking with his eyes if they should.
Matt contemplated this for a moment, and finally nodded.
The man led them through many streets, through the back entrances of many buildings, and on a cab before they finally entered the offices of the Nexus.
The man gestured for them to sit down, and took his own seat. Nine others were scattered around the table. A businesslike Asian began to speak.
"Matt. And Pedro as well. Welcome. I am Mr. Lee." His English was perfect, although it was obvious that it was not his first language. "Scott and Jamie are in the Atacama Desert, walking to Nazca. Someone will meet them there."
"And Scar?"
"Your friend Richard contacted us. She is dead. We think that we'll have to locate Scar. She will most likely turn up soon."
"Where?"
"We don't know. We do have-"he was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a girl in the room. Everyone stared.
"Sc…Scar?" Matt asked cautiously. The girl was Asian, but with green-gold eyes.
"Matt? Inti?" the girl asked, with equal caution.
Matt cleared his throat. "Yes. I take it that you are Jamie's Scar?"
"I know Jamie."
"Yes, then."
"Excuse me?" Mr. Lee interrupted. "Jamie and Scott made contact with our man at the Nazca airport. They will be in London by tomorrow."
"We will all be… together?" Scar asked.
"Yes." Matt said, watching her eyes brighten. "Hey… if we win our battle here, how does… how does the world end up the way it does? In slavery, I mean."
"I don't know." Scar wrinkled her nose. "I believe I was told long ago… I'll think on that."
"Yeah… thanks." Matt bent down to retie his trainers.
"Is that all then?" Mr. Lee asked.
"Yes… except we need money, to check into a hotel." Matt still wasn't completely comfortable asking the Nexus for money, even if their very lives depended on the five children. If anything, this made Matt even more uneasy; stealing money and even their lives, possibly. Mr. Lee didn't even seem to think twice, handing Lohan a hefty stack of bills.
"Thank you, sir."
He nodded. "No, thank you. You are destined to save my life, Matt Freeman. There is no reason to thank me."
Matt simply nodded. At that moment, he had no idea how wrong the Mr. Lee's simple statement would be.
Scott Tyler strained against the seatbelt, trying to reach for his pen without rousing his brother.
Too late, he thought as he knocked his shoulder into his brother's chest.
"What are you doing?" Jamie asked groggily, yawning.
"Hey, can you hand me my pen? It's by your foot."
Jamie retrieved it, obviously annoyed at being woken up. His eyes locked on the book in Scott's hand.
"The diary? No, no way. You kept it?"
"Yeah. I stole it from your bag. In the desert."
"No way. I thought I left it in London with the Nexus."
"I guess not."
"What are you doing then?"
"Reading it."
"Come on… you can't read… whatever language that's in…" Jamie snatched the diary out of Scott's hand.
"I can't. There are notes, from Ramon."
Matt looked up. "The Britannia International Hotel? That's kind of… expensive. Shouldn't we save money for food or something?"
Lohan laughed. "We will have extra money. One room, one night."
"Still… what about Scar? Two rooms."
"One room is fine, if I can have my own bed," Scar piped in.
"Ok… One room then," agreed Matt.
They ate before checking into their rooms, as they had no luggage to take upstairs.
"Seventeenth floor," Lohan said. They were thoroughly satisfied with the room. Their feet sank into the carpet, a pleasant change from the pavement. Each took a long, hot shower, and fell asleep immediately. The time difference pulled them into a deeper and deeper slumber.
They were woken by a message from the front desk. Lohan took the call, because he was the only adult, and their best chance to be taken seriously.
"Mr. Lee says that "S" and "J" are here."
They headed out to the office of the Nexus immediately, anxious to see the twins.
"We are here… Me, you, and Inti… And Scott and Jamie added to us equals Five," Scar observed.
"Yeah…" Matt let this soak in. "What do you suppose will happen?"
"I dunno… the Old Ones will be forever banished from the earth?"
"Scar?" Pedro asked tentatively.
"Yes?"
"Is time a circle, like your Matt said?"
"I believe so. Matt has told that tale to me as well, when I first met him. I guess… I think it started with the Old Ones in the world. They terrorized humans for ages, until five children defeated them. Me, my Matt, Flint, Sapling, and Inti. Our rescue came just in time. The earth was collapsing, and we caught it. There was one thing though. The Old Ones were only held back temporarily, with two gates. Finally they broke free and the whole process starts over again."
"What about us?" Matt asked.
"I don't know. He never mentioned you."
By this time, they had reached the Nexus.
Inside, Jamie and Scott waited. They had been offered drinks- Coke for Jamie, Sprite for Scott. Half an hour after they arrived, Scar, Jamie, Matt, and Lohan came in.
"The Five…" Scar breathed.
The Five came together in the middle of the room. Instantly, a cold, heartless laugh erupted around them.
Chaos.
The laughter was gone as soon as it came.
"Is that our amazing power then?" Matt asked bitterly. "Giving Chaos the giggles? I mean, if we aren't any stronger together, how do we defeat him?"
"I don't know," Scar answered. "In our world, we are still stronger together, even after the battle."
They spent the day researching Hong Kong, with nothing else left to do. At lunchtime, they ate at a café on Southampton Row.
"Why, why can't our powers be stronger? We don't stand a chance…" Scar moped. Matt was surprised. She didn't seem like the type to complain.
"Let's figure this out. Why are we so weak?" Jamie asked, trying to be the sensible one. "The way I see it, there are three possibilities. We only have powers during the battle, which sounds kind of unreasonable. We are stronger, but we don't know it yet, which I doubt. Or… one of us… is a fake. An impostor."
"I agree. The third option is the most sensible, though I hate to think that way," Pedro said.
Everybody nodded. "How will we know who the liar is?" Matt asked.
"May I interrupt?" Lohan bowed. "I suggest the challenge that Matt tried. The sword ladder."
Matt shuddered, remembering the razor sharp blades. "Yeah. That would be the best way."
By the next day, they had flown to Macao with no incident, finally arriving at the estate of Han Shan-tung. An Asian man came to the door. As soon as he saw Matt and Lohan, he immediately took them to Han Shan-tung.
"Matt. Lohan. And… who is this?" he asked, gesturing to Scar, Pedro, Jamie and Scott.
"The other three," Matt said, emphasizing the three.
"Three?"
"One is an impostor."
"You wish to use my sword ladder?"
"Correct."
They followed him into the room that Matt and Jamie had been in mere days before. The tower of swords rose above them. Scar, Scott, and Pedro stared in amazement.
"I'll go first," Matt volunteered. He gritted his teeth.
Matt kicked his shoes off. "I am one of the Five," he thought. He tentatively put his weight on one foot on a razor sharp sword, testing himself. He could do this. No sweat. Matt ascended the ladder, trying to keep his mind empty. He felt the blade slide through the shoe. The sword, however, did not pierce his skin. He moved his foot to the next sword. And the next… and the next… he was at the top! He walked down the stairs.
"Next?" Han Shan-tung asked.
Scar stepped forward. "I will."
She raised her arms. A whirlpool of rain blossomed below her feet. She pinched sides of the lowest blade and pulled herself up with the help of the whirlpool. In no time, she too had reached the top. Scott was next. He had barely stepped on when he cried out in pain. A dot of blood blossomed on his white shoe. He let go of the ladder. The blade sliced off the top half of his foot. Scott staggered to his feet.
"One day you will fight another battle and be equally skilled," Matt had told him.
This was that day.
I wasn't sure if I should go on to describe the fight that is obviously going to take place. So I decided I wouldn't. I want reviews! Otherwise I will refuse to update. Seriously, take fifteen seconds of your miserable lives to review. Sorry. You don't have miserable lives. Well actually you probably do if you bothered to read the second chapter of my idiotic story. (sorry, I'm in a negative mood if you couldn't tell.)