Author's notes:
Finally! All the OCs are revealed! (At least the protagonists are XD) Sorry for the lateness though, but everything has it's time and place.
Just a small notice, all those who've submitted OCs please look in my profile for a small surprise...
And I'm a bit suckish in writing soccer matches, so criticism that will help me improve will be welcome as always.
Oh, and another thing, any reader reading this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, PM me if you've watched Cardcaptor Sakura and remember most of it, I need a bit of help for a story I'm planning.
Disclaimer: I do not own IE or its characters or the OCs featured. I only own the plot, some special mechanics and of course, my OCs.
Chapter 6
Memories: Past, Present and Future...
It was a quaint day in London, the midsummer day was clear and a real contrast to the gloomy and foggy London some people picture in their minds.
But, even the bright golden day couldn't uplift the moods of a certain soccer team. The whole team was gathered together and the mournful mood would suggest that it was a small soccer field side funeral. Truly, only one person, a 16 year old boy with ash black hair and garnet mixed with crimson eyes and was wearing a small cap with flame designs looked untouched by the general bad, humiliated and sodden moods of his fellow teammates.
'I don't believe it...' Edger Valtinus was saying with his head in his hands. 'What's not to believe?' The ash haired teen said, not lifting his sight from his smartphone. 'They're slaughtering us! Those French Bimbos! Who could believe we're barely keeping a tied goal to an all-girl French soccer team whose members weren't even in the FFI and a few years junior to us while we have most of the Knights of Queen's members! This is humiliating!' A boy obviously a few years older than him yelled.
'Andrew, please keep your voice down.' Their coach instructed.
'Why does it matter? It's just an exhibition match...' The teen said as though he could care less.
Andrew looked at him as though he had said the most disgusting thing in the world. 'The only exhibition here is of our national pride being ground to dust!'
'England's lost to France a few times before, and it wasn't the end of the world then, why should it be now?' He said in a monotone.
Andrew roared with frustration and said loudly, 'Sorry, it was my fault for trying to argue with a retard.' 'Hey! Take that back Adams!' A boy with short layered hair and black eyes snapped at him as he sprang to his feet.
'Andrew Adams, you will apologize or risk losing your place in the team. Theodore, get back on your seat.' The coach said warningly.
Andrew sighed and hung his head. 'Sorry Viorel...' He muttered resentfully. 'It just slipped out...'
'But what will we do? Half time's nearly over and we haven't go anything yet!' Edger said hopelessly.
'I think I know how to break through their defenses...' Viorel said finally looking at Edgar.
'Really!? Spit it out then!' Nearly everyone said. 'Well, they've studied the tactics we use pretty thoroughly and they're faster and lighter than us, so they have the tactical advantage. But they heavily rely on their speed and trick shots because their shoots aren't powerful as ours. And their Hissatsu tactic 'La Chatelier' is specifically designed to counter our tactics. So we either have to adopt a new hissatsu tactic, or we need to keep the ball out of their position as long as possible to find a tactical hole.' He explained.
The whole team really impressed, not to mention surprised that the timid and quiet technology lover was finally coming out of his shell.
So they took their positions in the field in front of the smirking girls of 'Lumière de Vierge'.
'Well, well, I wouldn't have guezzed zat ze proud chevaux would willingly come for more humiliation. Eet eezn't too late to throw in ze towel.' The captain Rosalie Amour taunted. 'Like, totally! We're really really cool, so we'll totally go easy on you if you get on your knees.' One of the forwards who had black curtains of back length hair and grey eyes said with a wink. The other forward gave her a high-five and said, 'Well said, Anica!' And they both started to laugh.
'We'll see who's laughing after the second half!' Edgar told his teammates who had gone red with anger and likely to explode, even though his hands were clenched into fists and shaking from anger as well.
The whistle blew and the match was on. Edgar pulled a beautiful kick-off and was speeding along to the goal post, accompanied by six of his teammates. 'How predictable.' Rosalie thought.
On the other side, she gave the signal and the team got into position. 'La Chatelier!' They called as three of them sped towards their opponents at top speed in a v shaped form followed by three more of them in a straight line. But to their surprise, Edgar back passed to Theodore, and he came charging from the rear as Edgar back-tracked and let the others except the defenders pass.
But the girls still had tricks up their sleeves. 'Fantasia Rosa!' A defender said and the field around her filled with roses and the boys all started to get glazed-over looks, as if they were falling in a trance. She tried to steal the ball, but Theodore quickly passed again and a midfielder was in position of the ball. He then passed after dodging a coming forward and passed again to Theodore.
But it wasn't over, not by a long shot. The captain Rosalie came charging and stole the ball with her signature Hissatsu, 'Will of the Goddess'.
And 'Lumière de Vierge' was back in track. 'Zid you honestly think zat we only 'ad trick shots?' Rosalie said challengingly. 'Anica, Gabriella!' She called and she was joined by her fellow forwards. They formed the V shaped formation again and three people had joined them in a straight line. 'La Chatelier!' They called again and they shot forward covered in white energy, and they resembled an arrow as thy charged though.
'Everyone brace yourselves!' Viorel called and he was joined with two more of their defenders in front of the goal. The three opposing forwards broke free of the formation and reared for their big shot.
'Time for you to see ze true power of Lumière de Vierge.' Rosalie said and she shot the ball upwards as Anica and Gabriella jumped in the air from her sides. A luminous figure of a female knight with a halo rose from behind them, wearing shining silver armor and holding a long sword. Anica and Gabriella kicked the ball down as the figure slashed her sword forward and when the ball was in front of Rosalie, she pushed it with all her might with her right foot toward the goalpost with a parallel shot. (Almost like Gazel when he uses Northern Impact) The figure behind her thrust the sword forward as the ball zoomed forward inside the shining blade. 'Tyrant Rending Blade!' They called the name of their Hissatsu.
'Now!' Viorel instructed, and they used their own best defensive Hissatsu, 'Defenders of the Crown!' The called and three knights wearing (from left to right) black, scarlet and white appeared with giant kite shields and they blocked the shot.
'No!' Rosalie yelped disbelievingly as the shot was stopped and the ball was sent back to the forwards.
They kept on passing within them and keeping the ball well away from their opponents. At the last moment it was time for the final push.
Theodore was very close to the goal, but the girls weren't worried at all, their goalie alone was able to stop his shot easily. He took a deep breath and used his Hissatsu. 'Cosmo shoot!' He called and astoundingly, kicked it at the opposite direction. 'A suicide shot?' Rosalie thought. But she was mistaken.
Edgar was in front of the goalpost and ready. 'Excalibur!' He called and his foot turned into a golden sword and he shot the ball back towards the opposition's goalpost.
The ball zoomed towards the goal, gaining more and more power steadily. The two defenders got in position and they did their best Hissatsu. 'Courtship of Blades!' They called and they all got slender rapiers in their hands which they slashed in front of them to form an X shape with another line going though the X. Then the goalie started thrusting the sword in blinding speed as the ball got caught in the shield. But the shot was too powerful and broke through it with ease. The whistle blew thrice, and so signaled the end of the game with The Royal Knights 2 and Lumière de Vierge 1.
The whole team was roaring with delight and had lifted Viorel up in the air. Theodore just beamed at his little brother.
The match had ended and Emeralds were going back to their homes. 'I'm so proud of you Rel! You were brilliant today!' He said as he messed up his brother's ash black hair.
'You and Edgar were the one who did all the work.' He said, rather embarrassed.
'But if you hadn't planned it so skillfully we surely would've lost.' He said brightly. 'See? Your not a wimp, you're bloody talented.'
They both were laughing and really happy, blissfully unaware of the shadows that were creeping towards them...
Suddenly, a hole appeared beneath them and they both were devoured by the void beneath...
There was the rather rare clear sky filled with sunshine in Vladivostok and people were happily going about minding their own business. Most of the people were very fond of the summer time, obviously since the winter in their country was one of the coldest in the world.
But not all the people were outside on a gorgeous day like this. Aleksander Volkov was one of those few, well along with his classmates, that is.
They were visiting The Arsenyev Primorye Museum in their home town Vladivostok as a part of their field trip.
Well, It was a rather boring ordeal for most of the class, especially since they were the freshmen of their high school and like most sixteen year olds they rather spend their time lollygagging at school rather than learn about ancient Chinese Temple Steles and the gibberish written in Chinese, Mongolian and who knows what other foreign languages.
'Class, listen up.' Their teacher called to them at large. 'All of you take this paper and fill the questions with the answers. Please take this seriously because this will account for one-forth of your final grade.' He told them while waving the sheets in the air.
Most of the students made unenthusiastic sounds (most because every class has the occasional teachers pets and study-lovers).
'Hey, Alec! Alec! Wake up!' A boy hissed at Alec as he was dosing while leaning on a pillar in the back. He sleepily opened his eyes, his dark blonde hair as messy as usual with a few strands of it falling to his neck.
'Hmm?' He said sleepily. 'You'll get both of us in trouble! Wake up!' The boy hissed. Alec woke up and started rubbing his eyes while yawning. 'I hate this; at least I could stay awake a little in class. But it's just so boring Victor.' He told his friend. 'First of all,' His friend started patiently, 'I'm Mikhail not Victor. And you would've fallen asleep in the class as well. Seriously, do you sleep at all at night or what?' He said scathingly.
'Whatever...' He said while stifling a huge yawn. So they got their papers and started seeing the various artifacts, mainly from China because their town shared a border with the Asian country.
'What's this scribbles on the piece of rock?' One of their classmates inquired as he inspected an ancient slab of rock with Chinese writings. 'That rock's a Temple Stele, Ivan.' One of the smarter students said. Alec looked at the Stele and was amazed to see some strange glowing symbols where his classmates were seeing things they called scribbles ... And he could actually read them as well...
'Om manipadme hum...' He said softly. 'Whaa?' The student yelped. He had seen him reading the text. 'You know traditional Chinese?' He said disbelievingly. 'Don't talk nonsense Poliakoff.' Mikhail said. 'He must've just read the writing on the base.' He said pointing at the writing on the platform the stele was set. 'But he never looked at the writing!' He said definitely. 'Let's ask him then, hey Alec...' Mikhail started as he turned to Alec, but he disappeared before he could start, along with all the people around him.
'What!' He exclaimed in a shocked voice as he looked around for some sign of people in the previously filled corridor. But he found no one... He was alone, or so he thought...
'Alecsander Volkov' a man said as he came through the doors of the room. Alec looked at him hopefully. Maybe he could tell him what was going on.
But he felt his stomach churn ominously as he came... The man was dressed normally, but he had different colored irises... One was a simple black and the other a dark, blood red and had a look so insane and cruel that he was gruesome to look at even though he was very handsome...
He also had a tattoo of something black, which could be only seen because it came above the neckline a bit.
'You have to come with me...' He said in a quiet and cold voice. Alec felt his instincts telling him to keep well away from him. 'N-no thanks...' He said backing away a bit. 'That's not an option…' He hissed. 'If you won't come willingly, I'll just have to force you.'
The man clenched his fist and a vicious looking butcher's knife appeared there as Alec saw some odd symbols like those on the Stele appear in multiple circles and solidify into it in his hand. Alec quickly backed away and hid behind the Stele.
'Come out little sheep, come out to play…' He hissed in a vicious voice as he slowly came while dragging the knife along on the ground to make a chilling sound.
Alec's heart was beating faster and faster. He was in the museum all alone with a maniac who was obviously a serial killer and had no means to defend himself.
He decided closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself even though the footsteps and dragging was so close, only a deathblow away…
And they both stopped… He sighed a bit and his body slackened. 'Is he gone?' He wondered.
But suddenly a hand grabbed his arm forcefully and pulled him out of hiding. He felt the cold blade of the knife pressed against his throat…
'Now, don't struggle… I won't kill you unless you struggle too much… Now come with me and we'll get you to the right people…' He hissed in his ear.
But Alec wasn't willing to go with him. He was still hoping for some way to escape. It was darn right foolish of him for not running when he had the chance, but he had the lingering feeling that he would've been dead by now if he had…
Suddenly, as he was being dragged by the arm, he saw the Stele and the symbols on them. They were like the symbols that appeared as the man brought the butcher's knife in his hand…
He tried to dig deep, if the man was dragging him to some 'Right People' as he said, then he must have something like him…
He stopped and flung his hand towards the Stele. The man was about to slash at him with the knife when the symbols floated off the Stele and placed themselves in a circle with Alec in the center.
Then they glowed blindingly and an invisible force pushed him away. As the symbols formed lines and circles around him as a seal, some words came to his mouth in a language he understood but never knew he had knowledge of…'
'Shall, the nirvana guide,
The disciples of truth,
And all those who,
The six accursed paths follow,
Will feel the wrath,
Of He who is unseen,
The miraculous light,
Jewel within the Lotus!'
White energy formed around him and turned into a lotus bud. It then blossomed into a beautiful white lotus with Alec in the center and floating in a jewel-like dome of light. The man tried to run, but the lotus' petals burst into pillars of light everywhere and the light around Alec spread which blasted the man through the walls.
Alec felt unbelievably drained, and as he started to loose consciousness he saw he was standing where he was before everyone had gone and Mikhail was still saying '- can you rea- Alec!'
As he fell sideways was caught by his classmates...
The beholder was seeing an average home, but the whole neighborhood was unfamiliar to her. She entered the house amid a faint whispering...
But instead of the interior all she saw was darkness and heard sobbing, so filled with bitter angst, they conveyed pain beyond anything, and showed the signs of an injury the world couldn't see but any living creature could feel to the core of their being...
The whispers grew louder and louder... She saw a shadow, shaking with what was undoubtedly with sobs. It had a snake like figure entwined around her, and so tightly that it was nearly a part of her... The whispering was now loud enough to understand...
'It is constant...
Blood shall be spilt
And despair will overshadow,
In the sanctuary of flesh and blood,
Take refuge, will the agony of the accursed
Through the blood spilt,
The blood bath will wash
The hope within away...'
The shadow was joined by three more shadows, obviously smiling and they pulled the first shadow up on her feet, the serpentine creature fell away as it stood...
'But from the ashes of
The burnt paradise
And the blood of love
Flesh of will
And bones of hope
Will be reborn, Death anew.'
'Hey Miharu! Earth to Miharu!' A girl was shaking her friend a little as she was looking at a book in a reverie of some kind.
She finally snapped out of it. 'What?' She said, a little taken-aback by her friend's alarmed expression. 'What do you mean by what? You were totally out there for a while! I almost thought you were in a coma or something.' She said.
'Well, I-um just dosed off.' She said. To be honest, she wasn't sure herself if she was asleep or not. She's been having that same 'dream' for a while...
'Well, okay then.' Her friend said, still looking a bit worried.
'Argh...' Voirel groaned as he got up on his feet. All he remembered was that he had fallen in some kin of hole... He looked around to find himself in an unfamiliar town with people who were obviously foreign walking all around him...
He rephrased the last thought in his mind. He was the one who was foreign, because the large billboards and signs were in another language, Chinese perhaps...
But he realized that he was witnessing an old nightmare...
He stood and helplessly watched as some people holding medieval weapons and different kinds of old-fashioned guns accompanied by vicious looking beasts and monsters appeared out of nowhere and started killing people and ripping them to shreds for no apparent reason. Blood was everywhere and mass panic followed as people ran for their lives, only to be ambushed or hit by fire and lightning, slashed to pieces by water and wind, or skewered by spires of earth, ice, metal or roots of trees...
No one was spared, not even the people indoors, as the windows were painted scarlet by blood from the inside... And fires of evil looking colors raged and only burnt people to a crisp...
But that wasn't all, the people who he presumed were dead were not dead, well they couldn't be since they were trying to get up or writhing with pain...
He couldn't take it; he couldn't take any of it... Even though he had the same nightmare when he was ten... but he still was going into shock... Paralyzed with horror, fear, sorrow and agony of watching people hang between life and death waiting for death longingly...
Theodore had gotten to his feet and looked around. It was odd how he ended up in a room with Viorel when he remembered that they had fallen through a hole.
'Any ideas Rel?' He asked his brother, who was looking around the room. 'Look! A door!' He said pointing towards a door in the black room void of any windows.
'Let's go then.' Theodore said and they both went to the door, with Viorel in front. He opened the door and went outside and Theodore was right behind him. But the door banged shut, locking Theodore in.
'Theo! Are you OK?' Viorel called from outside. 'Yeah!' He called back. 'The door won't open!' Theodore said trying to twist the handle forcefully. He even banged it with his hands, but it didn't budge.'
'I'll try from he- who are you?' Viorel suddenly said. 'What are you- AAAAAAAAAARGH!' He yelled in pain. 'REL! WHAT'S HAPPENING? ARE YOU OK? REL! ANSWER ME DMMIT!' Theodore roared as Viorel was stopped for a bit.
But he yelled in agony again, and this time de kept on screaming. 'REL! VIOREL!' He screamed, trying to get the door to open. He gave up and started charging at the door with his shoulder to break it open. But the door wouldn't budge. Vorels screams continued on and on...
Theodore was still screaming his brother's name while sobbing into to the door. He slid down to his knees, still occasionally banging the door in fruitless attemts... He realized with horror that he was kneeling in a pool of what was undoubtedly Viorel's blood...
And it stopped... Viorel had stopped screaming... All Theodore could hear was ragged and labored breathing...
He couldn't do any thing... The door suddenly opened and he fell face down on the floor covered in blood...
He hadn't the courage to look up, he just kept sobbing... But the little ragged breathing gave him a bit of hope... He looked up to see Viorel's char-black eyes a few feet away. He was looking at him with a shocked expression, his whole body covered with blood and his innards almost visible through the numerous gashes on his body. He was also covered with burn marks, which suggested he had hot objects pressed on his body...
He made a hoarse sound, and tried to reach out a hand to his brother, still shamelessly alive, and sane while he witnessed his state...
'The...theo...do...re' He whispered... and his hand stopped mid-way... His eyes lost their gleam...
'I hope everything goes according to Mom's plans.' A girl with Blue-black hair and eyes of the same color said to another girl with storm-grey hair in a small plait on her shoulder and glasses that hid her eyes. She was looking through the window outside into the beautiful surroundings. It was the remains of a city covered with green vegetation and beautiful flowers underneath an azure sky shining with sunlight.
'I know it will. The Hand of The Magus can't spoil all of her plans, but,' She said in a slightly concerned tone, 'they're very well organized and have more people on their sides. They can definitely cause problems.'
'Don't worry Sophie; I know everything will be fine. The Dominion's even better organized; we're sill not caught by those cruel Mystics, are we?' The girl said soothingly. 'I hope so Lydia.' Sophia said. 'Let's go to mother, she's expecting us.'
So they both left the room behind. And through the window, the lost city still loomed with the remains of people who were killed and a scarlet sky to match the blood-stained roads and buildings...
END
Sky: Probably your longest chapter yet. And the bloodiest
Dreamer: Yep! And we're nearing a climax.
Sky: So this wasn't one?
Dreamer: Nope!
Sky: You're gonna give the readers a heart attack...
NOTES:
Lumière de Vierge = Light of Virgo.
Chevaux= Horses (proud horses isn't a French expression, but since they were speaking English, I wrote Proud Chevaux because she substituted the English word horse with the french counterpart)
Tyrant Rending Blade= Based on Joan of Arc.
Fantasia Rosa= What the name implies XD
La Chatelier= Don't really know what Chatelier means, but La Chatelier is the name of a law which explains the effects of change of temperature, atmospheric pressure and/or amount of reactants/products on a Chemical Equilibrium.
Yes, I had to a lot of homework on french and The city of Vladivostok to write this chapter XD...