Notes: Hey guys! I know it's been like a month or something since I last uploaded, but to make it up for you, I have 2 new chapters! YAY! :D These two chapters like to switch perspectives easily, but that's unavoidable cause I have so many people to talk about. You will also be introduced to many of the characters from the original story, like Eloise, Elian, Eli and Ezart. Shain is in the next chapter!
BTW, I have never understood why all of their names start with 'E' and they all look so similar. I often mix their names up when I'm writing, and it's very annoying. So forgive me if there's a mix-up in here. I tried my best to edit it.
Chapter 11
Flashes of light and soft 'swishing' sounds could be seen and heard amid an otherwise silent, dense forest.
"Damn it, Eli. Whatever happened to the thoughts you said were around here?" growled a voice.
"They were there a moment ago. Now they've just all disappeared," remarked a voice in reply.
A girl's voice added in, "That must mean that someone else got to them before we did. Damn. And we only needed to kill one more person too."
At this, the girl's voice started whining and pouting, driving her two male teammates crazy to no end.
"For God's sake Eloise. Please keep your mouth shut. We're supposed to be undercover remember?" said Eli, whispering to scold his immature teammate.
Eloise stuck her tongue out. "I don't wanna be here in this forest! I swear I saw a snake slithering around a second ago! I just wanna kill someone and get this Stage over with. We were so close too! WAHHHH..."
Eli rolled his eyes. Looking for backup, he instinctively turned around to look at Elian, his teammate who was waving his twin energy swords around in organized circles, trying to clear a path for the two of them behind him.
As expected, Elian stopped his 'lawnmower' twin swords and turned around to give a hard glare at Eloise, the latter immediately shut her mouth, eyes open in surprise.
"Give it a rest Eloise. I'm just as pissed as you are, albeit for another reason."
Eloise and Eli looked at each other. There you go. He finally said it. It wasn't just the two of them over-thinking things, Elian was upset. They noticed their teammate's easygoing demeanor had faded away since the start of the simulation, leaving only a dark, untouchable atmosphere instead. Elian's usual bright eyes were replaced by a stern look and knitted eyebrows. Even his trademark laugh was gone, only to be filled by discontent sighs.
Elian turned away from his two teammates, and started his 'lawn-mowing' again.
Eloise shakily raised her hand to stop Elian. "You-you wanna talk about it?"
Elian's neck turned around so fast, Eloise jumped back in surprise.
"Woah there Elian! I thought you were gonna bite me for a second!" shouted Eloise, holding her hand far away from Elian's mouth.
"Oh I know what's going on. The principal didn't tell him about this mission beforehand," said Eli, "Sheesh, Elian. Why are you so mad about such a small thing?"
Elian swiftly turned around to glare at Eli this time. "Didn't I tell you not to read my mind unless we're in battle? And no, this is not a 'small thing' at all. I originally didn't sign up for a mission today, especially not a mission like this!"
Eli's usual ice cold eyes suddenly seemed intensely focused on a nearby tree, trying his best to avoid Elian's fierce, burning glare.
Eloise tried to lighten up the atmosphere. "Hey guys, come off it. Eli, you didn't have to use your mind reading. I'm sure Elian would have told us even if you didn't do that. And Elian, we all received the notification from the principal a week before! Did you not get it?"
Elian's eyes seemed to burn hotter at this. "WHAT? BOTH of you got notifications? Am I the only one who got pulled into this last minute?"
"Well..."
"Goddamn that principal! I was supposed to go to a sports car exhibition today! I even reserved a ticket as a VIP 2 months beforehand!"
Eloise's eyes were wide in surprise. "What? That ticket was your's?"
Elian looked up, seemingly confused. "Yes, it was mine. Why?"
"Hehe... Well," said Eloise, trying to avert her gaze from Elian's, "The principal told us to go through the school's mailbox to find a ticket for a car exhibition. We found it, and gave it to him."
"You what?"
"I gave it to him," repeated Eloise. Elian's voice started getting hoarser and hoarser. This was definitely not a good sign. In her own defense, she tried to add, "Hey, but if your name was on the letter, we would've gave it to you! We didn't know who the receiver was supposed to be!"
Elian was silent for a while. His face was dark, and both Eli and Eloise couldn't even look at their teammate without backing up a couple of steps. Eli seemed increasingly disturbed, even to the extent of covering his mouth to stop his gasps. Eloise decided it must be because Eli could read what was going on inside Elian's mind right now. Sometimes, being a mind reader isn't all that great.
Taking a deep breath, Elian quietly muttered under his breath, "No wonder I couldn't find that ticket. I thought it had gotten lost in the mail..."
Finally raising his head, Elian looked into his two teammates eyes, and said, "Come on, let's get out of this God-forsaken forest. We just need to kill one more person to finish this God-forsaken Stage. The faster we finish this God-forsaken simulation the better. Then I'll have a well-deserved talk with that God-damned principal."
Eloise and Eli both gave a forced laugh. Well, at least Elian got his fighting spirit back.
"Wait, don't talk for a sec," said Eli, who closed his eyes, and focused on his mind reading. Five new thoughts had appeared on his radar, in the north-west direction. Thankfully, they weren't that far away.
"We have targets now. Head for the north-west."
"Yes!" shouted Eloise, who was jumping up and down in excitement, "No more trees! No more plants! No more snakes!"
"Eloise..." warned Elian, who immediately went back to his 'lawn-mowing'. At least they had targets now. It won't be long before he could finish this simulation and give the principal a piece of his mind.
Eventually, after 5 more minutes of 'lawn-mowing', Elian stopped because he could hear people moving. They couldn't risk being seen, so the trio each stood behind a tree, listening in to their soon-to-be victims' conversation.
"We still need 30 more people right? Or was it 31... I lost track."
"I thought we killed more than that though!"
"No, you didn't do anything at all. You weren't even the one fighting. You're just there to help us heal."
"Yeah, keep your mouth shut if you aren't even fighting."
"SHUT UP!" shouted a voice that rose above all others, "We need to kill 30 more people! I've been keeping count all this time!"
"Wow, we expected no less from our leader."
Elian peeked out from behind his tree. A team of 5 composed entirely of girls were discussing about their next attack. Clearly, the one in the black jumpsuit was the 'leader' of the group. All the girls looked up to her, and she did have one amazing body.
Shaking his head, Elian tried to erase the girl from his mind. No matter how amazing her body was in that jumpsuit, he would still have to kill her in the next minute anyway.
"Psst... We can only kill one more person. Who do you wanna pick?" whispered Elian to Eloise.
Now it was Eloise's turn to peek from her tree. Immediately, she recognized the girl in the black jumpsuit. Mouth curving up, Eloise whispered back, "Don't worry, I got this one."
Giving one nod to Eli, who already knew of her plan through mind reading, Eloise positioned herself until she was on the opposite side of her victim. There was no way she would forget this face. This blonde temptress was the one who harassed Daren this morning! It was her horrible fate for Eloise to take an interest in her. Now then, how will she look with a mace slammed into her face?
Reaching for one of her maces, Eloise was still undercover of some bushes. In one swift move, she threw her round mace at the blonde girl. A split second before the mace reached it's target, the blonde raised her head, offering a direct target for the incoming weapon. Eloise couldn't stifle down a giggle. The blonde was knocked out 5 meters from where she stood, and the system immediately dragged her out of the simulation.
By this time, Eli and Elian had reached where Eloise was, the latter rolling around on the floor, now having a full-on laugh attack.
"Oh my God! Did you see her face? Ahahaha! That was so funny! I'm such a genius!" laughed Eloise, barely able to enunciate each word.
"Shhh! Eloise, keep it down!" reminded Elian.
Suddenly, Elian noticed his fingers have begun to fade away. Then, eventually his whole hand disappeared. Eloise and Eli must've figured this out too, since Eloise stopped laughing and Eli had a surprised look.
"Wait! We can't go to the next Stage yet! I didn't retrieve my mace!" whined Eloise.
Elian forced out a laugh. "I think it's a little too late to remember that," he said, right before his entire body had disappeared, which was followed by Eloise and Eli.
Dark Sun bounced from tree to tree. Just a second ago, he had heard a girl's laughter coming from this way. To his surprised he found his next target to be 4 deathly pale girls.
"Did you see that?"
"The mace you mean?"
"Yeah, I saw the mace too."
"What about our leader?"
Almost giving an impatient sigh, Dark Sun grabbed his dagger and jumped down from the tree. He moved so fast, none of the girls even realized that someone else was among them. Suddenly, all four of their throats began to spurt out blood.
"Wa-ait..." managed one girl, who tried to say something, but came out in gurgles instead. Before the system pulled her away too, she managed to catch a glimpse of Dark Sun's silver hair.
That was his 60th kill. However, Dark Sun merely stood there, enjoying a short rest, and ran one of his hands through his hair. It was covered with so much blood that it dyed his usual shining silver hair a bright red. He vaguely seemed to recall these 4 girls. They were part of the blonde girl's entourage from this morning. Noticing his fingers were fading away, Dark Sun realized he must be transporting to the next Stage. To be honest, Stage 1 was sort of boring. He had met no one that could peak his interest, so he blindly killed anyone he could find. Hopefully, Stage 2 would be better. Maybe he could even find Ezart, or meet Eloise and apologize.
Eloise sighed, and stared blankly at the screen. Being from the Elite Combat Section, her team naturally finished first. However, they still had to wait for the rest of the students to finish battling. As a sort of rest-stop, instead of being transferred directly to Stage 2, the trio was sent to a pure white room that contained nothing but three large TV screens. On the right, it showed the number of students left in Stage 1. The middle showed some footage of students fighting, and the left screen showed the people that have qualified for Stage 2.
"Elian! How long have we been in here?" whined Eloise.
"30 minutes? Somewhere around there?" answered Elian.
Eloise had no choice but to go back and stare at the the three screens absentmindedly. After all the footage, she couldn't catch a glimpse of Daren. Could the poor boy be killed right from the beginning?
"Oh wait! Look! There's Ezart fighting!" remarked Eloise, who suddenly regained her excitement, "Look! He's beating up a team of 10 all by himself!"
Eli and Elian leaned in for a closer look. Eloise was right. Ezart seemed to have no trouble with his opponents, even when he was outnumbered. "Hmm... I wonder what's taking him so long?" asked Elian lazily. He had been lying on the floor for a while now. When were they going to be able to go to Stage 2?
"He can't take any longer. There's only around 20 people left," said Eli, who was pointing to the right TV screen.
Eloise squinted her eyes and leaned in closer. "You're right. Ezart does need to hurry up."
The Ezart on the screen finally finished off his last opponent and gave a mighty victory cry. Almost immediately, he started to disappear. Eventually, the left screen's number rose by one. Ezart was officially qualified to go to Stage 2.
"Yay! He did it! Hey Elian, if we meet Ezart, can I be the one to go fight him?" asked Eloise energetically.
Elian swiftly replied, "No, of course not. We'll be seen. We can't be seen."
"Aw.. C'mon Elian!" whined Eloise, who was pouting again.
Elian smiled to himself. If it wasn't because of the principal's orders. a fight between Ezart and Eloise would be pretty fun to watch. They were both the 'explosive strength' type after all. One hit from Ezart's fist or Eloise's mace could be fatal. It could be pretty interesting to see which was stronger, mace or fist.
"That's it," remarked Eli, "There's no more students able to fight in Stage 1. Including us, around 50 people are going to the next Stage."
Elian lifted his head to look at the screen. Eli was right, as usual, and the pure white walls were fading away, revealing a new surrounding and stage...
The white wall that Dark Sun was leaning on suddenly disappeared. No matter how coordinated his body was, Dark Sun still stumbled backwards a bit. As he regained his balance, the teen observed the setting of this next Stage. A light powder of snow had set, and a variety of hardy weeds stuck out from the dry, waterless ground. Even the trees were left bare, stripped of their usual green shawls by the coming winter. A cold, heart-freezing gust of wind ruffled Dark Sun's hair, trying to bite the teen's nerves to feel the raw, frozen tundra. Unfortunately for the wind, it's hard work would all come to naught, for Dark Sun's skin was impervious to the chill.
However, the silver haired teen was perhaps the only one who wasn't stung by the wild terrain. Elian, Eli, and Eloise were shivering like the end of a rattlesnake's tail, huddling together for warmth. They had only just arrived at this next Stage, but their bodies were already feeling the strain. This tundra may look harmless, but it's natural habitat definitely wasn't suited for humans.
"He-ey Elian, how l-long do you think we'll have t-to st-tay here?" asked Eloise, who's usual loud voice had diminished into a soft whisper.
Elian blew out a cloud of cold air. "Dun-no. W-wish the principal would just hu-urry up and get this o-over with..."
Eli's nose was red. "Don't t-talk guys. Save your energy."
Suddenly, a booming voice appeared from the sky again. The trio let out a sigh of relief. They had never been so happy to hear the principal's new instructions. That meant that Stage 2 was finally about to begin.
"Hello fellow students," said the voice, "You all did well on making it this far. I expect all of you to feel quite cold right now, so I'll skip the congratulating for later."
An angry mutter came from the back of Elian's throat. "That old turtle... Just wait till I get back."
"Ahaha, that's very cute of you. But you'll have to make it back first." replied the voice, seemingly amused.
Elian was taken aback. Eloise and Eli was too. Did the principal just respond to them through the loudspeaker?
"Now then, this is no time to be confused. The temperature for this Stage is set to -20 degrees celsius. I will start the instructions so that none of you freeze to death before this Stage even starts." A short cough could be heard, as if the voice was trying to clear his throat. "Your job this time is to catch a silver firefly as your ticket to the next stage."
"A firefly?" shouted out an angry voice from afar, "How in world are we supposed to be looking for that in this huge tundra?"
The voice sighed. "You guys never let me finish, huh? That's fine, it waste's your time, not mine. Anyways, I'm not going to be torturing you, so keep your mouth shut and listen. The fireflies are going to emit a silver glow around them, making them easy to find. How to catch them is up to you, but once you have them in your possession, they will lead you to the exit."
A hologram of a glowing portal appeared on the sky.
"You may only reach the next Stage if you have obtained a firefly, so don't even try to force yourself into the portal. You'll only be dragged out of the system and disqualified from the simulation."
A girl's voice cried out, "But can we take other people's fireflies?"
"Indeed, of course you can," answered the voice, "Actually, you'll HAVE to steal and take fireflies from each other, as there are only 10 fireflies in this entire terrain. Mind you, we have around 50 people trying to compete for them, so it's going to be a free-for-all. As long as you defeat the present owner or team who has the firefly, the bug will then be transferred to your possession."
After a short pause, the voice continued, "Aha! I knew I forgot to mention something."
Suddenly, a pink cloud of smoke drifted into the Stage from nowhere, and quickly spread around the entire tundra.
Dark Sun realized the smoke's presence first, and his microchip immediately determined it to be extremely dangerous, if not poisonous. Looking around, the pink cloud became denser, and the teen could no longer see more than five meters from where he stood. In fact, Dark Sun felt that it could still get denser, and soon, he wouldn't be able to see his own hand if he put it right in front of his face.
There was no other choice. The smoke left him nowhere to hide. Thankfully, the cloud was only thick on the bottom, and if Dark Sun tilted his head, the sky remained a blurry blue. He didn't want to use his powers in the simulator, but even his remodeled body would find this gas to be painful if inhaled for a long time. With one knee bent on the ground, Dark Sun focused on moving the metals in his body to his shoulder blades. This was his first time to try what Theodore had designed for him, but it had left him a feeling of anxiety. He couldn't let anyone see him in this form. This form that made him akin to the devil: the Satan's steel wings.
A flurry of steel feathers forced their way out of the teen's body, piercing his vest and seemed anxious to be let out. The feathers weren't what the soft, downy ones little kids like to play with in the park, but sharp, metallic ones that could cut you to pieces if you came too close. In one swift movement, the wings stretched to their full length, about 4 meters in total. Each individual feather ran smoothly together, allowing Dark Sun to take his first initial flaps without a sound.
Dark Sun looked at his wings, feeling a mix of revulsion and awe at the same time. Were these 'things' coming from his own body? Was this what they would call an abomination? Yet part of him felt such pride in owning a pair of wings like this. He would be allowed the pleasure that no human had done before, to take flight into the sky like a bird.
In a rush of air and pink smoke, Dark Sun's wings lifted him up into the sky, away from all the dirt and contamination. Hopefully, the smoke would eventually be thick enough so that no one will be able to see him.
The voice interrupted his thoughts. "That's what I forgot, my specially designed Pink Smoke. Literal name, I know, but I was out of inspiration that day. However, I did make it personally you know, so I'm quite proud of it."
Coughing and sputtering were heard everywhere. Some people seemed more weak to the poison.
"As a head's up, let me remind you that 15 minutes of inhaling this gas will be fatal," said the voice, "For some of you, maybe only 10. It depends on a person's antibodies, really. However, it is good for one thing. This way, all of you will be able to see the fireflies' glow better. I'm pretty sure they won't be that hard to find now. Also, remember to take shallow breaths, as inhaling a lot of the smoke at once will create side-effects like nausea, and maybe even vomiting."
Angry mutters were heard, despite the obvious consequences which the voice just told them about.
The voice continued, as if surprised, "I'm always amazed at the tenacious teens these days. Just trying to move your death early, huh? Well, it is good to be young like you guys... Oh yes. One last thing before I leave you all to it, the smoke is also extremely flammable. In exactly 15 minutes after I say 'go', the smoke will be lit on fire, and then good luck to anybody who hasn't gotten to Stage 3 yet." The voice laughed, a merciless, borderline insane sort of laugh, and ended with, "Best of luck!", before shutting off the microphone.
Elian was furious. Eli and Eloise could tell. Especially Eli, since he could read what was going on inside his teammate's mind right now. He had tried to stop invading into his friends' privacy, but sometimes, mental pictures pop into his head whether he liked it or not. Elian's thoughts went a little something like this...
'That old geezer... I would wring his neck like a sponge and then break his four limbs if I ever caught hold of him again. No wait, I'll tie him to the chair, then borrow one of Eloise's maces to have some fun. Hopefully I'd break a few bones and teeth, just enough so he could never issue me another mission again. Won't torture us my ass, he's just using us as toys to play with! Freezing cold temperatures, stupid tasks, poisonous FLAMMABLE smoke that could kill us all in 15 minutes! I ought to slap some sense into him. Yes, until I get back... Just you wait until I get back...'
Elian's face contorted into expressions that Eloise wasn't sure was even possible for humans, let alone her usual cheerful friend. Seemed like the principal really overdid it this time, if he made even Elian this mad. To reassure and remind her teammate that the Stage had already started, Eloise put her hand on Elian's shoulder, which caused the latter to almost jump in surprise.
Elian was Elian after all, he wouldn't let his emotions control him for too long. Giving a stiff nod back to Eloise, the trio immediately knew what they had to do. They didn't even need to discuss their plans, because that's how well they knew each other. Elian covered his nose with a piece of cloth, and his teammates followed him. Having not the slightest idea where to start, the trio picked a random direction and just went from there.
Dark Sun's gaze skimmed through the pink, foggy mess that was the setting of Stage 2. After the voice said 'go', the teen's bird eye view could easily make out a few soft glows from the smoke. On to his far right was a significantly brighter glow, to which Dark Sun guessed was probably the portal. Now he had two options to go from here. One choice was to quickly catch a firefly and fly directly to the exit. Being airborne, he had the advantage of moving faster and locating the bugs easier, thus making this Stage extremely easy for him again. Option Two was to risk the smoke to try and find Ezart or Eloise. He had 15 minutes, and Dark Sun was sure that he would be able to catch a firefly and still have time to search for them. After seeing Ezart's footage in the rest-stop after Stage 1, Dark Sun's interest was clearly peaked. He had high hopes that maybe Ezart would surprise him and give him the straightforward fight he wanted.
Deciding on Option Number Two, Dark Sun flapped his wings a couple of times and aimed for the silver glow closest to him. As he swooped down into the smoke, the firefly had no chance to even realize it was caught until it was safely trapped between the teen's fingers. A robotic 'ding' sounded from the firefly, as it registered to the system it's first owner. Putting the little bug into his vest pocket, Dark Sun flew overtop the smoke, trying to find any sign of either Ezart or Eloise...
"Psh! Stupid smoke. I can't even see where I'm walking," muttered Ezart angrily, trying to nurse a stubbed toe that had hit a frozen rock. Kicking away his obstacle, the spiky, orange-haired teen coughed a few times, then shook his head, trying to shake away all the pollution around him, but to no avail. Grumpily, he continued walking down the cold, lifeless tundra in no apparent direction.
No, he wasn't lost, even though he appeared to be. Ezart's instincts told him to walk this way, and his instincts were usually frighteningly correct. The mischievous teen had long since learned to trust his instincts in a life-or-death situation, and it hasn't failed him yet. As expected, Ezart soon saw a bright glow coming not very far from him. Walking faster with anticipation, a bright, circle of light appeared. Obviously this wasn't a firefly, but then again, Ezart never intended to aim for a firefly in the first place. This was the portal, the entrance to Stage 3. Why waste his time and energy trying to look for a bug when he could have other people bring it right to him on a silver plate?
The corner of Ezart's mouth curled up, making the silver dragon on his face slither with anticipation. He wanted to laugh and praise himself for coming up with such a good idea. This way, he didn't have to move around and breath in more of the toxic smoke than was needed. Anyone who catches a firefly was bound to come here, and he would be ready to sabotage them. Clearly content with himself, Ezart took a seat next to a tree and got ready for a short nap, at least until the first person arrives.
Eloise coughed harshly, her throat convulsing with dryness, threatening to give up her lunch. The smoke filled her nostrils and almost gagged her, making even breathing a problem. Stumbling on a rock, Eloise fell onto the ground, and cursed at her current predicament.
"Eloise, are you okay?" asked Elian through the cloth, very worried for his teammate.
Eloise picked herself up and continued walking, brushing past Elian. She had her pride as a member of the Elite Combat Section, so there was no way she was going to let this stop her. "I'm fine Elian. Now don't talk and keep walking. We need to find this stupid firefly soon, and I have a feeling time is running out," said Eloise, barely able to mouth each word.
Elian gave his teammate a concerned look. He had never seen Eloise's face this pale, not even that time when they had to stop a bomb in the last few seconds. She had stayed professionally calm back then, and was a great factor to their success on that mission. But now, Eloise looked ready to fall down and give up. Not to mention her coughing and choking, even her fingers and lips were almost blue with cold. Anyone could tell that she needed medical help, but neither Elian nor Eli knew how to help her.
Eli felt even worse. He may not be coughing as much as Eloise, but the smoke was making him dizzy and sick to his stomach. He couldn't even focus very well on his mind reading, which he knew his teammates were all depending on. All of their hopes were placed on him, but he just couldn't find any thoughts in his radar. He didn't know if it was because of the smoke interfering with his concentration, or if it was just pure bad luck that he hasn't sensed anyone yet. What's worse, he could still read Eloise's mind, and knows full well how much she's suffering right now. Yet she's still doing her best to hold on so as to not drag Elian and him down.
Looking away, Eli tensed his fists. Even focusing with all of his power, everything was still blurry, like the smoke clouded everyone's thoughts. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "I'm sorry. I just can't sense anyone right now."
Elian's eyes flashed a moment of despair. He knew that Eli was trying his best to do his part, but time really was running out. This 'pick a direction and go with it' plan wasn't going so well. They needed a lead, and Eli was unable to give them any hints.
But in turn, Eli definitely noted Elian's disappointed glance. His gaze was fastened to the ground, shame creeping up his body. This was the first time he let them down. The first time he was unable to help his teammates. Now how will he ever face them once they get out of the simulation, knowing it was purely his fault that they failed the mission? Would he be the the reason of the first failure in the Elite Combat Section?
Eloise felt even worse than before, if that was even possible, once she saw the tense atmosphere between her two best friends. They had survived countless life-or-death situations together in the real world, so how were they going to let a fake simulation ruin their reputation?
"He-hey come on guys, I think I hear people over there! Let's go check it out!" said Eloise, who was forcing out a smile and trying to sound excited.
Elian and Eli looked at each other, and their shoulders both relaxed. Thank goodness Eloise was here. They both knew that she was lying, since both of them obviously never heard anything, but they took the chance to apologize to each other.
Eloise smiled. She was happy her teammates were on even terms again. She never blamed Eli in the first place, and hoped her mind reading friend won't feel so much pressure. She would hold on for as long as they needed, even if it meant her fingers were going to fall off from frostbite or her legs were going to break from exhaustion.
So now all they need to do is to find that damned elusive firefly.