Disclaimer: I own nothing except the OC's and the plot.
A/N: Hopefully this chapter clears up questions about Noel's past and why he can do the things he can. There will be more chapters like these that will shed light on the gaps of time between certain chapters (this will show up within the next couple of chapters). Sorry this took so long. Between school, preparing for the summer, and all around just being burned out, I've been running at probably a quarter of my ability and I didn't want to purposely put out crappy material. Hopefully you enjoy this. I expanded the original I made when I was in fourth grade and weaved it in to be part of the main storyline.
Memories of the Past (part 1)
He opened the door only to be met with a long, dark corridor dimly lit by candles that lined the walls. He took one last, longing look at Alice before stepping through. As the metal door clanged shut behind him, fear mixed with anxiety. He had faced several such challenges as a child, but never before had they held such magnitude. The monster, for lack of a better word, before him showed immeasurable power. To take over and destroy an entire city without causing a world-wide panic had to count for something. He walked down the hallway semi-confident, memories of his childhood flowing into his brain with every step.
It was a cool night in Donnsville. The name, or rather my alias, is Reeves. Noah Reeves. I'm a detective. A nine year old detective to be exact. How could a nine year old become a detective, you ask? Honestly, that's a mystery to myself as well. Me! A detective! Maybe that's why I've chosen this path; to find answers about myself. For as long as I can remember I've been the adventurous type. For some strange reason, though, it's as if jumping into what could be called "adult situations" comes as naturally as walking. Sure there's fear and worry, but you learn to overcome it quickly because in the heat of battle there is no time to think, only act. Anyway, I guess only time will really tell, so on with my story.
As you might know, the Green Emerald Ring is in the ancient Tower of Babel. You say you don't know? Well, they say that hundreds of years ago a Great War broke out. A war that pitted magic with a dawning age of technology. The magicians, seen as the villains, were intent to keep their mystic ways. They probably would've succeeded, if not for some of the magicians not seeing eye to eye with them. The good magicians, white magicians I guess you could call them, created several artifacts that helped the Industrialists to fight back. Though I haven't taken a look at the legend recently, I believe it was a sword of some sort. Well, the black magicians would not be outdone. They forged an emerald ring that could control one of the most powerful forces in nature: a Chaos Comet itself. It was summoned in the final battle and nearly wiped out the forces of good, and mutated the rest. However, the comet was not a respecter of persons and the black magicians were wiped out completely, caught off-guard by their own super weapon. With the remaining forces, led by a hero of the white mages, the Industrial Revolution occurred. Unfortunately, there was one small side-effect left by the summoning of the comet. Though the comet never hits the Earth, when it comes close its deadly power kills and mutates like it did so long ago. According to history, it appears once every one hundred years. Though it doesn't affect the whole planet at once, the aftermath more than makes up for the initial damage.
Though all of the black mages were supposedly wiped out, a rumor arose after the first return that a descendant of a black mage had found a way to control the comet once again. Though not a pure-blooded mage, the emerald ring had been passed down through his family line for generations. Unfortunately, when he found the remedy to eliminate the comet, the time had drawn near for its return. Its power was already beginning to manifest itself in the hearts of people. Before he could put his remedy to the test, men crazed with the power of the comet caught and killed him. Nobody really knows what happened to the ring afterwards. A rumor recently has arisen the last few years that some jungle natives found it and placed it in their temple for worship. A lot of people try to go get the ring, but they have never returned.
That night, as I was sorting through some of my files on other cases, a girl came to me saying her father was lost looking for the ring. Normally this would be a job for an adult, but she specifically said that she felt I should take it. She stood a little less than five feet tall, about my height. She had beautiful wavy brownish blond hair and glasses that brought out the beauty in her emerald green eyes. Ironic in that that was the type of ring I was looking for. I knew the girl, Holly Shill was her name, very well. After all, she was in my fourth grade class. Even a detective has to go to school. I looked up at her and told her I was on it. Before she left, she informed me that the last contact they had had was a couple of weeks ago in the form of a letter. It had been an update of the expedition, which would come in express mail every week or so.
An hour later another girl, Lauren Styles, also a friend, came into my office telling me her father was lost looking for the ring. Whereas Holly and I had seen each other in school since pre-school, Lauren and I went back even further. We had been friends for as long as I can remember. Anyway, what kind of friend would I be if I turned her down? I also told her I was on it. Something bothered me, though, their fathers never struck me as the adventurous type. Why would ordinary people look for a long lost ring? Not that I totally disbelieved the legend, but it was just that: a legend. I looked at my records and supposedly the last return of the comet was almost one hundred years ago…in one week! My mind immediately went into overdrive. If the legend was true and the comet was returning, the effects would be devastating, but would also answer a lot of questions. I straight away headed out and to ask the girls for clues as to where their fathers were last seen. There was no time to lose.
I walked out of my little office on the third floor of the building the police let me use, down the flight of stairs, and out the front door. Since I had solved many dangerous crimes for them, they felt it was necessary that I had somewhere to run my operation from. It was a blessing and a curse, though. Even though I had somewhere to place to organize my files, it was definitely the seediest building in town. And the fact that I had numerous enemies from my cases didn't help much, either. I turned the corner and bumped into someone. I immediately jumped to my feet, ready for a fight, but I noticed it was my assistant, Jordan Ferber. Jordan had helped me on some really tough cases, and this by far would be the toughest. I would need another person to help get all the information needed. I quickly filled him in on everything, and he agreed to help me. Since he was also in my class with Holly, he went to talk to her while I went to Lauren.
As I talked to Lauren, she showed me several maps that her dad had been looking at for the past few months. We pinpointed that the last point of contact was just outside of a jungle in South America. Supposedly, a large Aztec temple was still intact there and that was where the ring had ended up residing. Afterwards, I met up with Jordan and compared notes. Undoubtedly we needed to go to this temple, but the problem was in how. How would we be able to find a ride that could get us to the temple is little less than a week?
Noel smirked as he ran his hand against the cold stone walls, remembering how he and Jordan had finally pulled it off. It turns out that his late-father had willed his plane to Noel's older brother. Unfortunately, it was never used and was about to be sold. Consequently, because of the lack of use, it had become a little worn down. That didn't stop the two of them, though. They just did what they could to fix it up and tried taking off. Unfortunately, neither had flight experience and right over the jungle the engine went kaput on them. Seeing no other alternative, they bailed out with parachutes, watching as the plane crashed deep into the dungeon. 'We were in trouble enough by the FAA for getting into the McGuiness Book of World Records for most flight regulations broken, but crashing the plane only brought more grief from our parents,' he thought. 'The only thing that really saved us at the time was the fact that we'd helped with so many cases. Still, if the police would've just given us the ride when we asked, that whole mess could've been avoided. We even proved to be right about our assumptions in the end.'
Consulting the map and notes the girls had given us, we determined we were only a few miles away from the temple. Too be honest, we were scared out of our minds. Granted we had fought together many times and overcome odds a normal person never would imagine, but here we were, two completely unprotected nine year olds in a large jungle and only a few hours until dark. Sucking in our fear, we determined the quickest course to the temple, and headed in that direction, or rather the direction we hoped was the right one. Fortunately, our instincts rang true and soon we were standing at the steps of a large Aztec pyramid, golden in color, but an aura of evil surrounded it. Though large, the trees around it were larger still and easily hid the temple from view from any high above.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a small jeep parked not too far from the steps. Before climbing to the entrance, we decided to investigate the vehicle. It hadn't seemed to be sitting there more than a few days, so we had to be close. Cross referencing our notes and the contents inside, there was no doubt that this belonged to the missing fathers. Evidently, they had met up and traveled together.
We took a breath, and though hesitant, began to climb the steps of the gargantuan structure. When we finally reached the top, and needless to say, out of breath, we saw a large doorway inviting any who were foolish enough to venture in and be devoured by the inky darkness. Something else caught our eye, though. Beside the entrance was a shiny ball of light floating in the air. We neared it cautiously and when we were only a few feet away it opened up into what seemed to be endless space. Blue tiles floated at the opening of the portal and entranced us to step on them. Surprisingly, the tiles did not shift, and we stood there, spellbound by the sight all around us. It actually seemed like we were standing in the middle of space, with the stars themselves moving all around us. Suddenly a voice echoed through the darkness and our attention was drawn to the figure at the other end of the tiles.
She was tall and slender, wearing a long, flowing purple dress. Her skin was slightly tan, but it went well with her deep brown eyes, and black and violet hair which went a little ways past her shoulders. We stood there staring, not knowing what to do about her. Our minds were put at ease immediately, though, as her gentle voice touched our ears once again, assuring us everything was okay and that her name was Gaia. Unfortunately, that wasn't all she said. Almost in the same breath, she uttered a warning that we shouldn't have come. She could detect great power from us, but the danger for children was too great. I calmly informed her that the danger otherwise was even greater. She didn't like the answer, but Jordan chimed in that we might be the best chance the planet's got right now. It would take too long to assemble a formal team.
Without another word, we walked out of the portal and into the tower. Little did we realize traps were planted all over the place, and immediately we were assailed by arrows shooting out of the wall. The first one zinged by my head, and we dropped to the ground and began crawling and rolling like crazy to the end of the long corridor before us. We leaned up against the wall in the next room to catch our breath. We looked at each other and nodded, both agreeing that we needed to be more careful otherwise we might end up like so many others. A terrible thought crossed my mind, but I quickly shook it away. There was no way that those fathers could be dead. For the sake of the girls, we had to bring them back alive.
We rose to our feet and opened the creaky, metallic door and stepped into a gigantic room with two rows of pillars. After the first couple of steps, the door we had passed through seemingly slammed on its own accord. Immediately the floor began to shake and once again we were scrambling fearfully for our lives as the pillars began to fall two at a time. I felt myself hit a wall and fall to the ground and covering my head with my arms, praying that it would be over soon. As suddenly as the shaking began, it fell away just as quickly. There were small rumblings as the remaining rocks from the pillars fell to the ground and as the pillars themselves rolled around a little. After I coughed some dust out of my lungs and cleared some air for me to breathe I called out for Jordan, ignoring my own condition. I heard a small cough to my left and I staggered over to where he laid. Besides some scratches, bruises, and aching muscles, he was fine. I found that I was the same way. Ignoring the pain and slight amount of blood, we made our way to the exit that had been knocked open by the earthquake.
We had taken no more than a step into the next corridor when a pillar of fire shot out of the opposite side and went into the previous room. Whoever made this temple was not taking any chances on the security of this treasure! Fortunately, after the last two traps, our instincts and nerves were on full alert and we had dropped to the well-acquainted floor once again, feeling the full force of the searing heat on our backs.
Personally, I officially was scared to death. I had been through some dangerous things before, but I had some sort of protection at that point. I had nothing this time and we hadn't able to really rest at all since we had entered the temple. Gaia wasn't kidding when she told us it was dangerous! As soon as the fire subsided we jumped to our feet and ran as fast as we could to the source of the fire, despite our senses were screaming to flee from the cursed temple.
It wouldn't have mattered, though. The door behind us slammed shut again as soon as the fire subsided and the only way out was to keep moving forward. We assumed that the door would open again for the next blast, but we wouldn't be able to make it through before the fire could swallow us up. What we didn't realize, though, was that every time the door closed behind us, the traps would reset as though some mystic power was setting them up for the next fools who would dare try for the treasure.
The corridor was longer than we had anticipated and after a couple of minutes another wave of fire roared through the hallway. Again, the searing heat was almost unbearable against any skin that was exposed. Any closer and our skin would've blistered. We repeated the procedure almost two more times before we reached the super powered flamethrower. Unfortunately, it was blocking the door we needed to make our escape. Even more unfortunate was that we were pretty much running on fumes by now. Our energy had been drained completely from dodging so many traps, not to mention the injuries we had sustained from the last two. We could feel the blistering heat gathering again, and we dove to the ground off to the side of it as it let out another strong wave of fire. When it finally subsided a final time, we decided to use the last of our remaining strength to try and push it away from the door. At first it didn't budge, and we were afraid it would fire again before we could escape. Finally, though, we got some momentum going and we were able to push it out of the way and escape through the door as another strong blast of fire shot wildly through the hallway.
We slowly took a couple of steps to the side and dropped to the cold, stone floor again. Not in survival, but to rest. The door unsurprisingly slammed again and we heard a grating sound as the flamethrower again placed itself in front of the door. A cloud of defeat loomed over us as our exit was sealed. If there was no other exit then we would be trapped here forever. After a few moments our eyes became accustomed to the darkness once again since the fire had nearly blinded us as well. Much to our dismay the room had no other, at least visible, exits. On the bright side, though, an altar caught our eye. And upon it…the Green Emerald Ring! A small ray of sunshine shone through the roof and upon the altar. Our eyes danced as we gazed at the dazzling emerald carved and placed delicately in a strong golden band.
We shakily stood as we helped each other up. We were about to walk toward the ring, but we felt this was way too easy. With all the security measures thus far, there was no way it could be the end yet. We had no choice, though; we had to risk it. I took the lead as we began crossing the room, keeping our eyes out for anything that would signal a trap. Unfortunately, I didn't see the hidden floor tile that activated a trap door underneath my feet. Before I could fall too far, though, Jordan's quick reflexes caused him to catch me, almost pulling him along with me. As I took a quick peak downwards, all I could see was the inky blackness that threatened to shallow me whole. Using every ounce of reserves that he had, Jordan pulled me back up onto solid ground. After catching our breath yet again, we finished crossing the large room, and amazingly without any other incident.
We climbed the steps to the altar and were grasped in awe as the ring almost called out to us. We circled the ring, admiring the handiwork that was put into it. I carefully removed it from the altar and warm sunlight, slipping it into the small sack that I had brought. I barely noticed the faint glow it gave as it hit the bottom, as it quickly faded away. We braced ourselves for the activation of another trap, but nothing came.
I was about to descend the steps when I felt a tap on my shoulder, causing me to jump. I turned to see Jordan with his back partially towards me, but his hand was still trying to get my attention. I stepped up to him and looked in the direction that he was looking. He pointed to some strange markings on the wall behind the altar on the ground level. Since the distance between the altar and the ground wasn't very far, he jumped to the ground to get a closer look, and I followed in suit. I stood back as he ran his hand across the symbols and muttered under his breath. Since his forte was languages, I let him do his work.
When he finally finished, I asked him what it said. Without saying a word, he brushed past me and examined the base of the stage of the altar. After a few moments he found what he was looking for and pushed a small, hidden button, causing a hidden stairway to reveal itself on the back of the stage. Unlike all the other rooms in the temple, the stairwell had absolutely no light whatsoever. We checked our backpacks, but the flashlights we had been carrying were totally useless due to the extreme beating they had taken from the overall trip. Though torches were few and far between, we grabbed the nearest one, once again bracing ourselves for a trap, and headed cautiously down the stairs. Taking one last look back at the altar, I noticed that the sun was not shining as brightly as it had when we had entered the temple. Night must be setting. I was afraid what might happen if we had to stay the night in this temple.
The stairs seemed to go on forever, but we soon hit the last step. From above, we could here the door slowly slide shut again. There was no turning back. The air was thick and musty, and the light from the torch only revealed a long, dark tunnel. Seeing no other option, we followed it. A little ways down I noticed an opening in the ceiling. Figuring that since we were heading back towards the opposite side of the room up above, the hole must've led to the trap that I nearly fell into. Hopefully this meant that we were heading for an exit of this cursed temple.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever, but there had been no twists or turns so we had to be getting close to the exit. Because of all our running above ground, we never did gauge how big the rooms really were. The only other option was that we were somewhere below the temple and jungle floor, in which case, there was no telling where or when we would surface.
Soon, though, a small light appeared at the end of the tunnel, followed by a blast of cool, refreshing, fresh, jungle air. It was a good thing, too, because the torch Jordan was carrying was beginning to fade. We began running towards the exit, barely noticing two men lying up against the wall semi-close to the exit, but still enough in the dark to be missed. Jordan brought the torch close to their faces to get a good look and one reacted to the heat. Surprised that he was still alive, I checked his vitals while Jordan checked the other man. With a sigh of relief, they were both still alive, albeit very, very weak. The man who had reacted to the torch slowly opened his eyes and tried to tell us his story. All I could make out at the moment was that he was Mr. Shill and the man lying beside him was Mr. Styles. We had found the girls' fathers!
After tending to the many wounds the men had on them, Mr. Shill explained how they came to that point. After dodging the many traps, they had come to the final room. Like Jordan and myself, they didn't get away from the traps without some injuries. Unfortunately, they let down their guard and fell through the trap door, injuring themselves even further. Mr. Styles had a broken leg so the journey through the tunnel had been extremely slow, not to mention that their supplies had dwindled nearly to nothing on the long trek. Dehydrated, hungry, and heavy in despair, Mr. Styles had lost consciousness and Mr. Shill was about to give up all hope just before we arrived. We gave them what little we had left and after a couple hours of rest, Mr. Shill had enough strength to stand. It took all three of us to carry the still-unconscious Mr. Styles out of the cave, but we were relieved to find the cave didn't exit too far from where the men had parked their jeep. After carefully laying Mr. Styles in the front seat and splinting his leg, we climbed in the back and Mr. Shill drove us back to civilization.
We managed to get Mr. Styles into a hospital and we checked into the nearest hotel. Well, hotel is a bit of an overstatement. The thing was the best we could afford, but it was still a rat trap that wasn't very accommodating. We were lucky to have running water. Fortunately, the hospital was better off so there was no worrying how Mr. Styles was to end up.
The next morning, after we had all cleaned up and eaten, we pulled Mr. Shill aside and showed him the ring. We knew time was of the essence and in only forty-eight hours the comet would make its deadly appearance. He commented that through his study, he had noticed that one other piece was necessary to activate the ring's reverse effect…the power of a White Mage, or in this case, a descendant of a White Mage. He went on to say that the Black Mages could only summon, and it would take a White Mage to reverse the process. Our hearts sank. There would be no time to find one at this juncture. However, he mentioned something even more interesting. He said that before the ring would only react to the touch of a Mage, whether White or Black. Mr. Shill knew he was a descendant of the Black Mages, but he didn't know of anybody of White blood. I didn't hear anything else, though, as the rest of the world began to be drowned out by a small voice in my head calling out to me.
Strangely enough, as if on instinct, I pulled the ring from its bag and looked deep into the center of the emerald. Once again, as if something or someone was guiding my hands, I slipped it onto my ring finger and it immediately conformed to a perfect fit. I didn't notice the surprised looks my friends were giving me, as my eyes were totally transfixed on the ring. Strange words were going through my head. A chant of some kind. If I had been able to look in a mirror, I would've surprised myself that my eyes had glazed over and my mouth had begun moving to the words in my head. Soon sound was added to the mouthing and my feet carried me towards the door. The whole experience was strange in that it felt like an out of body experience. I was watching my friends approach me, but it was as if a barrier separated them from me. I watched as I held the ring to the sky and was almost yelling the chant over and over. A green wave of energy shot from the ring into space. Suddenly, I no longer could see myself, but I was in outer space. I witnessed the beam collide with the comet, knocking it off its course and crashing into a nearby star, never to be seen from again. And then all went black.
I woke in the same hospital we had admitted Mr. Styles into. Jordan gave me the whole story, but I tried explaining that I had also seen the whole thing. Emphasis is on the word tried. I didn't quite understand it myself, nor what caused the chain reaction. A detailed study of some space charts from Mr. Shill would show that the comet was nowhere to be found, though it had been there before he had gone on his expedition. The fact that it never showed up was proof enough it was gone, but one needed hard evidence that it had existed in the first place.
'Only a handful of us knew of the comet's existence, so there was no public recognition. Even the government had to have known, but they kept everything so hush-hush that a celebration would only have caused some privacy issues from within,' Noel thought, continuing to walk down the hall, growing anxious with its length with every step. 'Only later, with the vague information that Saria gave me, would I realize that the White Mages was the same race that made the Master Sword. The White Mages and the Guardians were one people, just different names. It turned out that I descended from a Guardian, though my bloodline had been heavily diluted in the last couple centuries. It was that little bit of blood, combined with my extreme emotions at the time, that triggered a reaction between myself and the ring. Mystically enough, though, the Master Sword had renewed my blood, giving me the full blood of a Guardian.'
Finally, after all his walking, another metal door came into view. As he laid his hand on it, a wave of evil energy could be felt through the cold, hard metal. "Let's see what's behind door number two," he said, slowly opening the door to find…
A/N: Hope you enjoy this cliffhanger. Not very dramatic, but I like the effect.
This isn't it, though. There is at one more viewing of Noel's past before he meets up with the Great Evil. I hope this clears up the whole question about Noel being a detective, though. I didn't mean for anybody to be left in the dark, but I like it when people can pay attention and connect the dots by themselves. Example, pay attention to the next couple of normal chapters because they'll explain why people aren't reacting like normal people would.
Also, you might notice the reference to the portal is the same as a portal from Illusion of Gaia for SNES (I do not own the rights to the game). I had to have a little bit of creative liberty on the description of Gaia because I didn't like the idea of a talking statue. Instead I tried to take the description from what she would look like in Captain Planet (also do not own).
There is one other part about Noel's past that's still left unsaid, but I don't know if I'll go there as thoroughly as I did this one. I guess you'll just have to wait and see. I value any comments and questions you have. READ AND REVIEW!
