I'm back... yes I'm alive.
Gone are the days of frequent updates... sorry people!
But... THANK YOU SO MUCH! 47 reviews is crazy, I'm hallucinating. I'm sure.
Also, I crossed 10 favorites and follows on this story. Which is also insane.
And more crazy than all that, is the fact that the view count on The Second Chance just crossed 10,000 ! *fangirl squeal*
Yup. Pretty sure this is a dream or some crazy hallucination.
I'm going mad.
So before I go completely cuckoo... here's chapter 3!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own LL, though I wish I did. Then this would be a real book and not fanfiction... *sighs*
CHAPTER 3
JOHN
A small smile starts to form on Kiara's face as she takes in our expressions of shock.
She's clearly enjoying this, but she has the right to enjoy the suspense.
I can't believe it never struck us before, now when we come to think of it, it was so obvious.
"Our...pendants?", Marina asks to confirm and Kiara nods.
"Our Pendants. The Phoenix stones, and no one told us", Eight muses and Kiara nods again, and starts to speak.
"It actually makes sense, because if we had known, we might have unknowingly alerted the Mogs to their importance. Not that it matters in the light of our current situation...", she trails off.
"What do you mean by it doesn't matter?", I ask and she turns to me, her jaw set.
"That's the bad news. You see, I've been working on finding out what and where the Phoenix stones were from quite awhile now, but I never really got anywhere until recently", she says and hesitates for a second.
"What changed?", Nine asks and she looks a bit worried as she answers.
"Setrakus Ra. He wanted to revive Lorien, remember? And so it got me thinking, and I realized he'd need the Phoenix stones for it right? And then there was the panic on his face when I cut these off his neck during the battle", she replies as she floats over her bag -which she had brought with her instead of dropping off- and pulls out three Loric necklaces.
"Wait, how the living hell did you get those?", Nine asks and she frowns at his choice of words before looking a little sheepish.
"Well after Five died, and I thought it was you, I might have charged at Ra...", she trails off and Nine looks ready to explode.
"You CHARGED at Ra? What the hell is wrong with you woman? And you were the one saying I was taking unnecessary risks", he blurts out and she sighs as she turns back to us.
"So anyway, I managed to get these off his neck and when they fell off, he looked panicked... like really scared and when I put it together with the thought that Ra isn't really the type to fancy jewelry or sentimental enough to keep souvenirs, it meant that the pendants were more important than we had realized", she says and we stare at the three pendants.
Then something hits me.
"Wait, why are there three... and how do you still have your pendant?", I ask and she smiles brightly.
"Good question John... you see, I assumed that the only object, besides my clothes of course, which I could duplicate was my sword staff... but until I saw my pendant around Ra's neck I never realized that it duplicated too... I guess it's so much a part of me that it happens naturally", she replies and takes her pendant as she hands us the others.
We pass them around, and they glow brightly when they come in contact with the Loric.
"They're just like the other stuff in your chests... they don't respond to humans", Sam says and Adam adds, "Or Mogadorians", as he takes One's pendant from him.
He stares at it, his eyes a bit glazed over before holding it out for us to take back.
"Keep it", I tell him and he looks up at me before smiling gratefully.
Now he has something to remember One by.
"So, we have all the Phoenix stones... What are we waiting for?", Nine asks pulling out his pendant as we follow his lead, "Let's go revive Lorien!".
"Slow down Nine!", Kiara says, shaking her head, "You really need to stop and think sometimes".
"Why do I need to do that when I have you to do it for me?", he asks her with a smirk and while Kiara sighs and rolls her eyes, I can see she's trying really hard not to smile, and failing as she blushes slightly.
"Anyway... we can't yet, because first of all, we need to be on Lorien to do that, and for that we'd need our ships, and a pilot, and more importantly-", she starts to say before her eyes widen.
"Six, why do you have two pendants?", she asks and I look at Six to see her pulling a second pendant off her neck.
And then I remember.
It's not hers, it's from the skeleton we found in Malcolm's backyard hideout. The skeleton which was supposedly Pittacus.
"We found it, and it's supposed to belong to Pittacus Lore. So I guess that makes it a Phoenix stone too", she says, handing it over.
Kiara's brow furrows as she studies the pendant as it glows in her palm, and shakes her head before looking up at us.
"It's loralite, but it's not a Phoenix stone", she says and I raise my eyebrows at her as she digs in her bag again before pulling out a shard of loralite.
"I picked this up back in Dulce.. you see, unlike Ra I have a thing for souvenirs. Especially Loric ones", she says and sets the shard and pendant down in the center along with both of hers.
"Now watch carefully, I figured this out a few weeks ago... it's what first made me suspect that there was more to our pendants than we assumed", she says before reaching out and picking up the shard.
Then, she picks up her pendant -the real one- and holds it up.
"See?", she says and I notice the pendant glowing much brighter than the shard.
"The pendant's brighter", Ella notes and Kiara nods before putting down the shard and picking up Pittacus' pendant.
It isn't as bright as her's either.
"Wait, how is that possible? That's Lore's pendant!", I say and she shakes her head.
"I don't know, but it's not magical or anything, that's for sure", she says and puts down Lore's pendant before pulling her own back on.
"So it's not a Phoenix stone... and that's confusing. Oh and while we're on the topic of confusing...", she says and trails off, reaching into her bag for a third time and pulling out a leather bound book.
"A book?", Nine asks with a look of horror on his face, "You brought that thing along?".
"Yes I did", she replies, glaring defiantly back at him and Adam laughs.
"Nine, this is nothing, I've seen worse. Back when I first met her in London and tried to get her to pack her stuff to escape all she had put in were books. And not even Loric ones...Novels", Adam says shaking his head and Kiara pouts.
"I just wanted a few... and I already had most of the essentials... except for the books, of course, which Maggie was supposed to bring!", she protests as Nine and Adam raise their eyebrows at her.
"Guys, we're off topic again", Six chides and Kiara nods before opening up the book to reveal page after page covered with swirling symbols.
"You know, Sandor's computers have Loric translators", Nine tells her and she smiles.
"They won't be of use... I already tried. This is written in a decorative script, so the computer can't recognize it and plus, it's hand written, so there's not much consistency with the flow and what not", she says and finally stops flipping through.
"You see... This book keeps talking about some prophecy which says that Lorien was to be invaded, like here it says something about how the Elders knew the planet was going to be attacked because it was "foretold". But I can't find the actual text of the prophecy anywhere in our library or on the computer", she says and looks at us expectantly.
"How do you know you looked everywhere? I mean, you couldn't have possibly had the time to check all the books", Marina says and Kiara shakes her head.
"I wasn't working alone, I had at least four of my clones reading at the same time. So I'm sure I checked it all... do you guys have any idea about this?", she asks.
I think about it for a minute before shaking my head. I've never come across anything that involved prophecies, unless you count Eights supposed "Precognition" legacy.
"Nope", I reply and Eight shakes his head, "Neither have I".
"Eight! That's not true! We have!", Ella exclaims before turning to Kiara.
"Back in India, we found a Loric cave with carvings and strange symbols which looked like they were telling the story of our battles. Do you think that could be it?", she asks and Kiara's eyes light up.
"Carvings? Symbols? Ella I think that might be exactly what we're looking for! When can we go there?", Kiara asks looking excited and Eight smiles.
"Actually, one of the Loralite stones is in that cave, getting there's a simple matter of teleportation", he replies and she grins.
"Sorry to kill the excitement guys, but remember the closest loralite stone to us is currently in pieces", I say, indicating Kiara's shard of Loralite and her shoulders slump at once.
"I forgot that", she says and I nod before continuing.
"Also, I don't think we should split up just yet. We only just got together and we have other matters to deal with, starting with figuring out where to go next, and also clearing up a few things", I say and turn to Rex, who nods.
"Well it's about time I got around to explaining. Has Adam told you how we met?", he asks and I shake my head.
Wow. Adam must have had quite a few adventures of his own before he teamed up with us.
He proceeds to briefly outline the events that occurred from the time Adam was left in Dulce after Sam's rescue to when they freed the Chimaera from a base on Plum Island.
"But I thought that would be the last time I'd ever come face to face with the other side, or you guys again. I was wrong. You see, despite the fact that I was back with my people, had settled back into my routine and even got promoted to General, there was this nagging feeling that all I was doing was wrong", Rex explains and Nine scoffs.
"So you want us to believe that you had a change of heart? A Mog growing a conscience? Please", he says and Kiara elbows him hard.
"What Nine's so untactfully trying to say is that it's a little hard to believe that a few days with Adam was all it took to make you switch sides", she says and Rex shakes his head.
"You're right, that wasn't the only thing. You see, that nagging doubt made me start questioning my orders, and so I ended up doing some digging", he says and everyone sits up, looking interested.
"And what I found was enough to change everything. I had hacked myself into one of the more secured servers in Ashwood when I found a strange file, with no name but just a serial number, and when I finally managed to open it I was so shocked I knew I couldn't continue with the Mogadorians. The file was for plans to eliminate the full remainder of true-borns", he says and Adam's eyes almost bulge out of their sockets.
"Eliminate... true-borns?", he asks and Rex nods.
"I didn't think it was really a plan until I saw the encryption on the file. It was top level clearance only", he says and Adam slumps back, looking confused and worried at the same time.
"But why? Why would Ra want that?", he asks and Rex shakes his head saying he doesn't know.
"But it was enough to make me change my mind. While I'm supposed to owe my allegiance to the leader, I fight for my people, and if he's planning to kill them I see no reason to fight by his side", he says and Kiara buts in.
"He's destroying another race. Like he did to the Loric, or rather tried to do", she says and he nods back.
"Except this time it's his own, making things even more complicated", Six says and we fall silent.
Ra wants to kill the Mogs, his own people.
What the hell is going on?
xXoOoXx
EIGHT
"So what now?", Kiara asks and John shrugs.
"Well I guess this gives us one more reason to keep fighting", he says and Adam and Rex smile gratefully.
Crazily enough, as much as I hate the Mogs, John's right.
We can't let Ra destroy another planet, another species.
Our war now decides the fate of three worlds, so no pressure.
"Nine? Are you convinced now?", Rex asks and I see him give a brief grudging nod.
"But that doesn't change the fact that someone has to pay for what happened", he says getting up and looks like he's about to storm into the next room, where Ethan and Zakos are being watched by the Chimaera.
"Nine, you're not the only one who wants to sort things out", I say, getting to my feet as I remember the fear in Marina's eyes, but before we can do anything John stands up and blocks our path to the door.
I expect him to stop us, to tell us to calm down, and so his response catches me off guard.
"I'm coming with you, and Sam probably will too", he says and Sam nods, getting too his feet as Adam stands up and walks to the door, holding it open.
"I'll be back", I tell Marina and her eyes beg me to not be to harsh.
It's incredible how merciful she can be.
But I'm not like her.
We've had enough of problems with people who sell us out and not to mention, traitors.
And unfortunately for Ethan, he falls into both categories.
We all storm out and head to the next room, flinging the door open to find Ethan and Zakos just where we left them.
We form a circle around Ethan and I see him gulp at the sight of our expressions, especially Nine's, which is rather intimidating.
John rips off the tape covering his mouth and Ethan yelps before catching himself and staring back at us, looking unsure of what to do next.
"Talk", Sam says, his voice low and his expression murderous.
This is the man who betrayed and killed his father.
He's well within his rights to be mad.
"I swear, I completely forgot about the tracker and I never meant for anyone to get hurt and-", he starts but John holds up his hand.
"We don't want excuses, and we sure as hell don't want to hear your lies", he says and Nine glares menacingly at Ethan before speaking.
"Now that that's been cleared up, tell us something that will convince us not to kill you right now, slowly, and painfully", he says in a low voice and I can practically see the goosebumps form on Ethan's skin.
"Like what?", Ethan breathes and Nine loses it.
"Like what? Are you saying you want to die? Because I assure you, I'm not the guy who usually takes others needs into consideration, but this time I'll make an exception", he says and Ethan looks desperately at Sam.
"Samuel, I'm sorry for what happened to your father. I never intended to hurt him-", Ethan starts to say before John buts in.
"Of course you didn't. You were aiming for Sam", he says and Ethan's mouth falls open.
"We're done here", John says and Ethan starts to plead for his life as Nine lifts him up with his telekinesis.
"Stop!", a voice says out of the blue and I turn to see Sam holding his hand up with a shocked look on his face, as if he can't believe what he's saying.
"This isn't what Dad... Malcolm would have wanted", he says and Nine drops Ethan unceremoniously back to the ground.
I look at the others, who are mirroring my expressions of confusion.
"You know", a voice says from the doorway and we whip around to see Six and the others, "Killing someone isn't the only way to keep them from getting in the way".
"So what do we do instead, if you think you know everything?", Nine challenges and she smirks.
"Just because we weren't in the room doesn't mean we weren't conducting an interrogation ourselves", Marina says and Ella steps forward.
"I checked out his memories while you were busy scaring the shit out of him", Ella says and Marina frowns at her word choice.
"Ella..", she warns but she brushes her off as she continues speaking.
"He really doesn't know much, apart from Five's folder and how he was recruited and stuff. It seems like the Mogs don't really like sharing information with their human allies", she says and Adam nods.
"That's true", he says and Ella continues on.
"Technically he has nothing much to offer us, but a lot to tell the Mogs if he gets back to them", she adds, "So we're gonna have to take care of that".
"So let's kill him", Nine says, sadistic as usual and Kiara frowns at him before nodding at Ella to continue.
"We're just going to get rid of anything in his head that could prove dangerous", she says and suddenly I get what she's saying.
"You mean, change his memories?", I ask and Ella nods proudly.
" I know how to do it, and I've done it before on the doctor over there, to make him convince Ra I had joined the Mogs", she says indicating Zakos who suddenly looks confused.
"Niice", Nine says smirking at Zakos and Ella grins at the praise.
"I can't change everything, maybe just his knowledge of the Mogadorians, Loric and this war, but I can't guarantee the memories won't come back. So we're gonna have to dump him somewhere away from all this, maybe give him a new identity", she says and John looks at her questioningly.
"So you're saying that we wait some more?", he asks her and she shakes her head.
"Away doesn't mean on the other side of the world... it just means somewhere the Mogs aren't likely to look for him, though I doubt they are looking now", she says and I nod.
"So technically we can dump him anywhere", I say and Six nods.
"Though preferably "anywhere" is a small town where we're sure he can fit in comfortably enough to not go seeking his past", she says and Kiara adds in, "Also, it would help if we could keep an eye on him somehow, just in case".
"So any suggestions?", Marina asks and Sam suddenly smiles.
"It's crazy, and I know my logic seems weird but what happens if we drop him off at the one place the Mogs would never expect us to go, because it's risky?", he asks and we look at him, willing him to explain more.
"I mean, it would technically be somewhere we know, and so we could potentially keep an eye on him, and it's a small town. Also, we might find something about the prophecy there, Kiara", he says, reasoning it out to himself.
"Sammy spit it out already!", Nine complains and John's eyes widen in sudden comprehension.
"It's risky, Sam. But it's not like we have much to loose after Ella's taken away his memories", he says and Sam nods.
"Will you guys just tell us what's going on?", I shout, frustrated and John turns to me before answering.
"What Sam's saying, is that it might be a good time to visit Paradise".
Aah... there was supposed to be more in this chapter :( Oh well.
For those of you who asked me what they were going to do about the pendants being with Ra, well I guess you should start reading more closely :P JK
For those of you who still are like... what? The pendant thing is in chapter 30 of The Second Chance.
I love plot twists. And cliffies! (Anyone still surprised?)
So thanks so much for reading!
Until next time!
thesecondgarde