CHAPTER 8
Sarah's POV
"You can do it Sarah! You're stronger than that! Come on!" My trainer, a strange Hindu man that is called Devdan says to me.
"Okay, but I have to rest." I say, exhausted.
I have been several weeks training with him. He has come here looking for a place to stay because he wanted to find a peaceful place away from his country. He chose Ohio. Devdan is the most pacient man I have ever met. He wears a dark red tunic for our sessions. He teaches me indian martial arts. A few days ago he told me about "the art of self-defense" and "the art of the battleground." I now understand that everymove I make I must be calm and focused. I will only use it as an act of self-defense in case everything happens. He teaches me a lot of moves that I enjoy, but I am exhausted at the end of the day.
Since the school was destroyed, I have now homeschool. The school is being reconstructed but it'll take years and I won't be there by then. They days are dull, in the morning, I go and train with Devdan and then, my home teacher Monique comes and I study through the afternoon. At night, I fall asleep so early that my days are shorter everytime. But all of what I'm doing, I do it for John. Where could he be now? When can I find him?
I know that when Devdan says I have learned everything Is that I should go to him, because if I don't do that I will get killed. I have to come up with a plan when I end my lessons and take off. But what am I going to do with my parents? What will I tell them?
I go back to training with Devdan. I'm exhausted and sweating all over but I don't stop. I haven't been more determined to this. I want to be strong and not useless for when I'm on the run.
After we finish, Devdan makes me meditate. It relaxes me and makes me wash off all of my thoughts. The only thing that's stained in my mind is John. I can't wash him off.
He seems to know me since I was a little girl. He is kind, and pacient, and teaches very well. I asked him once about his life before he came to Ohio and he told me he was in the Himalayas, where he met a kid called Naveen. He trained him too, and he told him he was a fast learner. He described him as a boy with copper-toned skin and black hair. I thought of Eight, he described him as if he was Eight. I suddenly remember when he told us about his Cêpan being killed by a Mog in the Himalayas, and that he had stayed there for a long time. Could it be?
Nine's POV
"So, guys, what's the plan?" I tell everyone, still at the hut. We are sitting in the grass and we are sweating at the hot weather. The climate at the sierra really is changing.
"We've got to find five. Train. Find a place to stay. Eat, shower, and rest in real beds." Six says.
"Okay. But in what order?" John responds.
"I think we could go find a place to stay first. Since we are close to Machu Picchu there could be hotels near. Then, we eat, shower, and rest. After we do all that, we track Five down and when we find her, we train." Six explains.
"That seems like a nice plan. Does anyone not agree?" I ask.
"Yes, it's pretty good. Let's go." Eight replies.
We arrange a few things and take off. We start walking to civilization. We walk, and walk, and walk. We find some more huts but they are all empty. Finally, when we enter the last hut in the group, a woman comes out.
"Necesitan ayuda?" She says. I understand none of the words she says. But I know Marina does.
"Si, queremos llegar a Machu Picchu" Marina responds. I frown because the only words I understood this time where Machu Picchu.
"What does she mean?" I whisper to Six.
"She is asking where can we go to get to Machu Picchu."
They begin talking again in words I didn't know they even existed and when we are finished, the only thing I can understand from what Marina is saying, she says, Gracias.
We walk out of the hut and begin walking again, this time Marina taking the lead. I catch up to her and start talking.
"You're sexy when you talk in spanish." I say, smirking. I want to see how bad Eight looks at me. If it weren't for Eight, I'd be cuddling with her yesterday.
"Shut up, Nine." Marina replies. I laugh a little. I love how people are annoyed when I tell them those things. They must think I'm a total jerk. Well, I am.
About 2 hours of walking and walking and walking I am bored and tired. I sit down and the others collapse too.
"We are close to Machu Picchu." Marina announces.
"Has anybody been there?" I say, trying to make a conversation. Nobody has. I feel weird going to a new place here in South America. In what feels so much of travelling, I sometimes think I know the whole world. When it comes to new places I love it.
When we are rested enough, we keep on walking. Soon after we stop and look. We have arrived at Machu Picchu, in Cusco, for what Six has told us. The view is astonishing. There is a green mountain and ruins of the Incas, a culture that was here in Peru a long time ago. Sandor once told me there was a Loric symbol here, indicating that the Incas had had help from our people. Anyway, we don't have much time to look because we quickly hop up in a train in our way to a hotel.
When we arrive at a hotel in Cusco, I go straight to the restaurant. I want to eat the whole menu. I am starving after a day of walking in the sun. Six, Marina and Ella join me. They are starving too. John and Eight decide to go and change because they are too dirty to go to dinner.
When I sit in one of the dining tables with Six, Marina and Ella, The few people that are dining there at the restaurant all look at us. We are stinking, sweaty, and dirty but I don't care. I just want to eat.
As I wanted, I practically devoured the whole menu. Here, the food is delicious and very different than we eat at North America. Here, it's a whole new thing. And I like it.
I'm in a room with Eight, and John while Marina, Six and Ella are on the room below us. The hotel has bungalows that have each one 2 floors for 10 people to fit in. I shower, change, and go to sleep on one of the 4 beds I have in my room.
When I wake up, everybody is asleep. I go over at the balcony to stare at the view. I had never been in a place so rural. I like the cities more, where there are skyscrapers and nightclubs and masses of people. I like places with lights in every colour and fast cars to drive in. Then, I remember my beige car that had all the equipment that it was smashed down by the Mogs at the Base in Dulce. I decide that when we get to a safe place and we can be able to settle for a few months there to train, I want to purchase a red ferrari with all the equipment we can get. But no. We've got to fit all in. We will have to purchase a van. Ugh.
I breathe the clean air that vents my lungs. I am relaxed, breathing in pure silence. But enough of that. I want to get some action. I decide to climb of the steep hills and brake a few rocks.
When I'm climbing up the green hill covered with grass, I see that there is something on the other side of it. I climb up to the top to find a group of Mogadorian soldiers walking down the Andes. With my enhanced view I zoom to the area where they are. I have to get John Eight and the others. We have to get out of here.
Adamus' POV
We are on the road. Yesterday was the same. Malcolm has been driving the whole day and we have only stopped at a fast food restaurant and a motel to sleep. We are heading towards Ohio. It's a long way from where we are. We cannot afford to take a plane because they might track us down easily.
Dust has fallen asleep on my lap in the form of a schnauzer. He likes changing forms into other animals. I sometimes get dizzy by how he changes so fast. But I'm still amazed. I never get bored.
On what seems an eternity, a day later of driving non-stop we arrive in Ohio. We decide that before getting into Paradise we should stop at a motel and get some rest. After eating, showering, and sleeping we drive off to Paradise. We arrive fast and soon enough we are at Malcolm's place.
"Dad, em, I forgot to tell you, Mom has married another guy."
"I thought of that Sam. Don't worry. I have had plenty of time to think about this. It's fine" Malcolm says with a sad look on his face.
We are at the yard of his house and Sam shows us the way towards a sundial. He somehow opens it and we get in.
Inside, there is a giant skeleton and a room with several piles of papers and boxes and many old things. This place is a mess, but it must contain a lot of important stuff.
Malcolm tells us to look for a white tablet somewhere in between this piled up things.
I look and look and look but I can't find it anywhere. I'm not that pacient. I am now stressed and desperate to find the tablet. Sit down in a wooden chair. It breaks when I sit down.
"Careful Adam!" Sam says. When I step up, I see that when I broke the chair in half, another material inside it hadn't broke. It was the tablet.
"Dad! We found it!" He exclaims.
"I know you did." He says, wearing a smile.
"Why did you make us find it if you already knew where it was?" I say, puzzled, and a little angry from all the stress it produced me.
"I wanted to know how smart you are." He says. Well, I'm not that smart to sit in a chair that breaks in half.
We take the tablet and Malcolm takes a while to check on a few things. He takes a device that looks like an iPod, those who sell here in Earth, and then he grabs a gasoline tank. He pors it all over his stuff and when we are out, he throws a match through the hole.
"DAD! Why did you do that?" Sam says, worried.
"In case the Mogs find it. It wouldn't be safe. I already collected all that was important." He nods sadly and we get back to the car. I sigh only at the thought of how bored I am going to be when we are back on the road again.
We stop at the motel room once more.
"Why are we stopping here again?" I ask, confused.
"I have to plug the tablet for it to charge, and that black device too."
"What does the black weird Ipod does Dad?" Sam says.
"It tracks down Mogs." Malcolm replies. What? How could people do this? Even my people can't use this technology. If they had, all of the Loric would be dead.
We get into the room we rented yesterday and Malcolm grabs a few things from his backpack.
He has a cable with a triangular end on it and puts it into the plug in the wall. He inserts the triangular-end thing into the tablet and it lights up. Suddenly, it shows a high-definition map of earth. There are 6 dots in Peru and 1 dot in Jamaica.
Sam counts the points with his fingers. He looks confused.
"What? There are seven points here." He says.
"That's impossible, there are only 6 Garde left." I reply, as puzzled as him.
All of a sudden, Malcolm smiles.
"That means the second ship made it with another Garde and another Cêpan."
I suddenly remember what Rex, my only friend from Mogadore, had told me. There was a second ship that came from Lorien loaded with Chimæra. The 10th Garde was on that ship.
Sam looks astonished. He is wide-eyed and jaw-dropped. I also can't believe it. My people don't know there is a tenth Garde. I am happy that for once Mogadore doesn't know that there is someone else.
We all stare at the screen. The point that was on Jamaica is now on West Virginia.
"How… how did it do that?" I ask, shocked.
"I believe it's teleporting. One of the Garde must've teleported from Jamaica to West Virginia. We have got to get there now." Malcolm says.
John's POV
"John! Wake up! You've got to wake up!" Nine shouts, shaking my shoulders like crazy.
"What's happening? Why are you so desperate?"
"Mogs! They're coming! You've got to wake up and kill them with me!"
I jump up of my bed. Mogadorians. They found us already.
"What? How is it possible?" I ask.
"I know how they did it. One of the many tourists in Machu Picchu took a picture and we where in the background. We are never going to touristic places again. Now let's go." Six answers.
We gather out chests and gather up in a circle. We are ready to teleport when all of a sudden there is a massive explosion on the door.
"I can only take three people at a time!" Eight shouts. Mogadorians are coming and charging towards us.
"Take Ella, BK and Six first!" Marina shouts. They all gather up and disappear with the rest of the things.
The Mogs look puzzled. They don't know that teleportation exists yet.
"No idea where they went, huh?" Nine says mockingly.
"Shut up or I'll make you suffer your death." A Mogadorian soldier says, blasting Mog cannons at us. Marina runs forward towards the Mog and cuts its throat with a Loric blade. Before the Mog can react he drops his weapon and turns to ash.
"Now you shut up." She says at the pile of ash. Nine smirks and turns to his pocket. He pulls his red staff out and it quickly stretches and changes colour. Next thing that I know, he has killed 5 Mogs. I am also fighting more of them as they quickly turn to ash.
"John, move!" I hear Nine shout out.
I turn around and see a bright purple lazer coming rushing towards me. Before I can react, Marina runs in front of me and the purple lazer hits her. She shouts out in pain and kneels from the throbbing. Nine finishes the Mogs that are left and Marina is lying on the floor crying.
"Marina, why did you put yourself in front of me?" I tell her, trying to distract her from the pain that she is feeling right now.
"You're stronger than me, John. If you die I won't be able to be as twice as strong as you."
After she finishes saying it, she cries out in pain louder this time. When I turn to see were here wound is, I see a giant hole in her belly. Blood is flooding out of it as she cries out in pain more. I put my hands over her wound but my Legacy isn't working. It comes and goes, and at this awful moment, it is gone. I need it now but it doesn't come. I am trying harder to cure her when suddenly I feel a punch in my back as I feel the wind is knocked out of me. More mogadorians have come. Where is Eight? He has to get her now. Marina is still resisting the agony.
As I recover my breathing, I see a Mog directing a cannon at me. He shoots is towards me but I know I have to save Marina. She is dying because of me. I manage to stop the cannon blast. As I do, I stand up, and shoot it towards the Mog that threw it. I power myself up with my Lumen and I am now stronger than ever. That's when I light myself up in fire and start to throw fireballs at the Mogs coming. Nine appears out of nowhere and carries Marina to a place where the Mogs aren't targetting.
Eight appears. I go rushing towards him as I extinguish myself from the flames. He grabs Nine's hand and mine. He looks scared to death.
I open my eyes and find myself in the middle of an island. I am lying in white sand as I hear the calm waves welcome me into this land. I suddenly remember what just happen and jump up. I remember Marina being hit by that purple lazer. Her crying out I pain. I look around and find her next to the beach lying there. She is no longer crying out in agony.
I run over to see Eight beside her, crying.
"Marina, wake up please." He says to her in dispair.
I put my hands in her wound and start concentrating. My iciness doesn't go charging toward my fingers. My legacy still isn't working.
"Marina. Please don't go." Eight is still kneeling by her side, looking ashen with worry. He is grabbing her hand tightly and is kissing her fingers.
"Eight, don't worry. I'm just tired." She says, barely concious.
She starts coughing loudly and she is beginning to get paler and paler. She has lost a pool of blood and my legacy won't come. I have to concentrate better.
"Marina, no, no. Don't sleep. Stay with me, Marina, stay with me." Eight is now staring at Marina's eyes.
I suddenly feel an excrutiating pain at my ankle. A new scar is begging to form. Marina's dying.
I hear Eight roar with pain too. Marina's now stopped coughing and is hardly breathing. I take a deep breath and suck in the pain. I clear my mind from all thoughts and try to concentrate as hard as I can. I suddenly feel the burning of my skin penetrating my clearing thoughts. I concentrate harder. I try. And try. Surprisingly, the iciness feeling is running down my shoulders until it comes to my fingers. I press down in her wound as she is still lying unconscious in the shore. I breathe. All I can think about is the beautiful memories of Lorien, the day before the invasion, and pretend it never happened. I imagine myself in Lorien with my grandparents and the memory of my parents. Sarah is beside me, and we are holding hands while walking towards the grass. I breathe again.
My scar is beginning to disappear. It is shrinking and shrinking and everytime I feel less pain. I am curing Marina. I concentrate more and more. I think again of Sarah. Of Lorien. Of Henri. I feel happy and we are all around a fire sitting down and tellign stories. We are not being hunted by the Mogs. We are in peace.
When I open my eyes, All I can sense is Marina's blood in my fingers. The incredibly big wound she had in her belly is gone. Suddenly, Marina opens her eyes abrubtly and she gasps as if the life would have returned to her body. I see Eight grabbing her hand again with tears of happiness rolling down his face. I have never seen him cry. But I'm sure I would be like that if Sarah was the case.
What did you think? I'm uploading more chapters tomorrow or later today. If you noticed, this is my longest chapter yet. If you want to leave any comments or questions or anything you want me to write, REVIEW :D Please please review... if you do, i'll answer ANYTHING you want me to (about the story, obviously) and if you want to know what happens i might give you a hint. Please keep reading, and if you follow or suscribe or put my story as favourite i will go and read you fanfics. :)
Thank you,
Isabella
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