Wow! Can you believe it, we've already reached ten chapters. And 35 reviews so far! Y'all're beautiful people!
Now comment reviews:
jessicamoncada0824 - What's NOT to love about Dareth? ...Aside from his ego.
TheAmberShadow - This is actually the chapter where I explain a little bit about Creatures. This is an important chapter, so make sure to read it!
CraftyNinjaCat13 - Aw, thanks.
This chapter is VERY important and introduces a crucial plot element. There's also a brief naughty joke, so just be warned. Also, not much fighting but a lot of exposition. It's a bit long and I'm sorry. Enjoy!
"...But I am sure, seeing time, you know all that," Pixal groaned, and wiped a layer of sweaty grime off her forehead. "It seems that if I cannot fix our jeep, we will have to walk the rest of the way."
Zane knew this would happen, and he knew they were both going to be upset about it, but in all his experience knowing something never did equate to experiencing it. It was hot, and the air was sticky and coarse. Terrible conditions for someone like Zane.
A few facts Pixal seemed to have overlooked for a brief moment were that (a) she was in a desert, (b) the desert was hot, (c) Zane was made of ice, (d) ice melts, and (e) Zane was with her in the desert.
Smart as she was, Pixal Borg shouldn't have been surprised to look over and see her Visionayr in a half-liquid state.
She let out a small gasp. "Oh no!"
Now more motivated than ever to fix the car, she popped the hood back open. The purple-clad girl coughed as smoke rose into her lungs, squinting through a rush of hot air. Certainly the over-heated car only made Zane's predicament all the more worse.
He knew he would survive this, but she didn't. She feared that her excuse for finally leaving that Serpentine dungeon was about to expire, leaving her without a purpose for pushing on. She would be forever stranded, and maybe even take up residence as a desert hermit living alone with her insanity until the rusts of time overtook her.
She shook the thought out of her mind. Now wasn't the time for daydreaming. Now was the time for action.
Before he betrayed her trust, prompting her to run away in the first place, her father (if she could even call him that now) Cyrus Borg was something of a technological genius. He was the CEO and founder of Borg Industries, the creator of many bleeding-edge technologies. He came from humble beginnings as a mechanic. She remembered all the stories he told about him and his group of mechanic friends. If her memory wasn't failing her, their names were Julien, Ed, and Edna.
Among other things, he passed his mechanical know-how onto her. He always desired for her to follow in his footsteps, much like how Ed and Edna's Fairy protege had done with HIS 'parents'.
Mr. Borg even went so far as to get her job at a mechanic shop, so she would have the same origin story as her old man.
As much as she hated working there, at least all that effort would finally pay off.
She started with locating a tool box, which she found under the shotgun seat. Then she tried to cool down the engine, disassemble a few parts, and tighten/loosen screws here and there.
To no surprise, Pixal was actually making good progress on fixing their stolen vehicle.
...
But it wasn't fast enough.
Zane's spiky hair had begun to droop, cold sweat bleeding from his now-slippery skin. The seat was wet, and anything that he touched became damp within moments. His hands were vanishing, melting down his wrists. His face had become disfigured. His lips melted off, leaving his mouth eternally agape.
He gave a little chirp, but it was one of agony.
She looked up. "Oh my."
Not knowing what else to do, she did her best to drag him out of his seat. Her body heat only accelerated the process of Zane's slow and painful demise.
Pixal shoved him under the car, at least he would be in the shade there.
He still melted away, dampening the hot sand beneath him. It rubbed against his back in the most uncomfortable of ways-like having hot sand in one's shoe after a day at the beach, only this time the sand was deadly.
"No no no no!" Pixal exclaimed, frantic. "This cannot be happening!"
She seldom expressed much emotion, with good reason, but this was one of the few exceptions.
"Are you okay?" came a voice.
She pivoted on her heels, coming face-to-face with a person. They had sickly grey skin and black hair, reminding her of the godawful hairstyle her father always kept. He had dark clothes and bags under his eyes, and a faint but sour smile told her he could be trusted.
"Who are you?"
"I could ask you the same," said the stranger in his ominous voice, waving a Witch's wand in the air. A relenting sigh. "I'm Shade."
She responded with a sharp nod, and pulled Zane back out from under the jeep. "Please sir, you HAVE to help my friend."
Shade gawked at the horrific sight of this poor Visionayr-no, HALF of a Visionayr by now. "Come with me."
He snatched up Pixal's hand and she followed without question, carrying a weak Zane behind her.
After about a minute of running, the three of them arrived at a house. It was more of a hovel than anything, having fallen deep into a miserable state of disrepair.
Shade pulled open the creaking door, and dragged the two foreigners into the living room in all its squalid splendor. "Tox! Chamille!"
A moment of anticipation. Nothing happened, and all was quiet.
"Where the hell ARE they?"
Two brightly coloured figures bursted into the room, one heaving and blushing.
The other, a confident woman of purple hair and purple clothes, said "I was doing something."
The one who was blushing and sputtering followed behind the purple one. "I'M something-whoa, who are these people?" the messy-haired girl added. She had a green theme to her outfit.
"This Visionayr needs help," Shade hissed. "If you're doing screwing around, maybe we could give him some assistance."
The purple one whipped out a Witch's wand of her own, and looped two brawny arms under Zane's fragile body. "He might need a new essence."
"Do we HAVE any essences left?"
"I'll take him to the transfer room," the purple one commanded. "Shade, you check the basement to see if we have any essences left. Tox, you stay with the girl and make sure she's okay."
The green girl saluted them both. "Aye aye, cap'n."
All three, who Pixal assumed to be Witches, split ways. Pixal wanted to follow the purple one, but the green one kept her at bay.
"Sit down," she said. "You need rest. Chamille and Shade are good at this kind of thing. Your friend is in good hands. Please, let me make you some tea."
While the girl in the bio hazard crop-top left to another room, Pixal couldn't help but let worry get the best of her. She barely knew this Visionayr, not even his name, but for some reason she felt a strange...compatibility...with him.
The girl returned with a steaming brown mug. She handed it to her guest. "My name is Tox, by the way, and Shade's the emo guy. Chamille is the one with the purple hair, I guess you could say she's our leader."
While Pixal appreciated the hospitality, her head wasn't yet clear enough to say thank you. "What did they mean when they mentioned essences?"
Tox's friendly smile sunk, and she pulled up a chair. "Allow me to explain. We're Witches. Do you know what Witches are?"
Condescending tone aside, Pixal nodded. "Another type of Creature that can curse people and cast spells."
Tox smothered a laugh. "No, don't give us so much credit. We're really only capable of manipulating essences. I take it you don't know what essences are."
Pixal shook her head.
"Essences are what make us what we are," Tox explained. "I have a Witch essence, you have a human essence I assume, and your friend there has a Visionayr essence. If I were to trade your human essence for, say, a Vampire essence...you'd become a Vampire. If I simply gave you a Vampire essence without taking your human one, you'd become a Vampire Morph. You following, friend?"
Pixal nodded, and took a sip of the tea. It tasted disgusting, and if she hadn't had discreetly spit it out it would have poisoned her. Tox didn't know how fatal her cooking was, and neither Chamille nor Shade were gutsy enough to break her heart by telling her.
"Good," Tox hummed. "Your friend is so badly hurt that they can't nurse him back to health without giving him a new essence. Otherwise, he'd be stuck in a half-melted state for the rest of his life. That would be a terrible way to live, wouldn't it friend?"
"It would," Pixal murmured.
Tox patted her on the back.
Pixal was now engrossed in this concept of essences, a thing she never knew about. So many questions, and perhaps Tox could give her answers. "Is this how Creatures come into existence?"
"Just how Morphs come into existence, friend," Tox replied. "And I mean, the occasional human who wants to be a Creature for whatever godawful reason. There ARE some Creatures who are only what they are because of some mean Witch, but most Creatures are born that way. Then you have Golems, of course, which involve taking the heart of a dead person and putting it into a special geode found only on a certain mountain. Then you recite some fancy incantations or whatever and that brings the rock to life, thus reanimating the dead person's soul. And Ghosts only exist because they died or were cursed by a Ghost. And if a Vampire bites you, you're a Vampire."
Pixal shuddered, overwhelmed by such an info dump.
Tox put a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry friend, I tend to ramble a lot. That's way too much information for your little human mind to handle. Let's just go back to introductions, shall we? I'm Tox, and you are...?"
A cough. "Pixal. Pixal Borg."
"Ah. Lovely name. Your companion will be alright, Pixal Borg."
Then they were submerged in a long pause of silence. All that there was to think about was Zane, and if he would be alright. After giving him a new essence, would he still be a Visionayr? Would he be something else? She wanted to ask, but was too frozen to do so.
Then, a noise.
Chamille came into the room, panting. She beamed with over-confidence and strutted up to Tox.
"Hey, love," Tox greeted. "How did the transfer go?"
Chamille gave a wicked grin. "Perfect, as usual. Your buddy's fine, kid."
Pixal rose to her feet. "Can I see him?"
"Hold your horses, tiger," Chamille insisted. "You have something to know first."
Pixal bit her lips. "What is it?"
Chamille tucked her Witch's wand back into its holster at her waist. "Did Tox explain essences to you?"
"Yes."
"Good. We keep a storage of essences we collect from other customers in the basement. We've got everything from Ghosts to Golems and even a Light Fairy, rare as it is. Well, we DID. I hate to say it, but business has been down lately. We don't have many good essences left, especially no Visionayr ones."
"What are you saying?" Pixal croaked. "What did he turn into?"
Chamille clapped her hands together. "We did have one human essence on stock, so...yeah. Just thought you should know that before you rush in to see him."