Thank you all for the very nice reviews, they make all the writing and planning worth it. Sorry I haven't posted for awhile. I was busy preparing for my driving test and had to wait over four hours at the DMV to get my driving license. This is the longest chapter so far, and I hope it was worth the wait.
Chapter 11
Seven
It's been six weeks since we arrived in Argentina and everyone loves it here. Everyone except Six that is. It's not that she hates it but I've noticed some subtle changes about Six since we've arrived. When we train, her strikes are only halfhearted, she barely eats at meals, and she spends all of her free time alone with John.
My heart breaks for her and I know the others are aware of her pain as well. But whenever we try to talk about it with her, she just shuts us out. It pains me to see Six who is the strongest and bravest person I've ever met to fall apart like this. The others have noticed as well and try their best to cheer her up but nothing we do seems to work.
As I'm about to head down to breakfast, I see John's door is slightly ajar and decide to investigate. When I curiously enter the room, I see Six sitting in a chair with her back to me and facing John. I pull a second chair over and sit beside her. Three minutes pass before I finally have the courage to say "It's time for breakfast Six." "I'm not hungry" she replies.
I take a deep breath. "Six…please talk to me. I'm worried about you, what happened to John wasn't you're fault. We can't fight the Mogs without you. You can't help John by sitting here all the time." Unfortunately, that was the wrong thing to say and Six stands up with a scowl on her face and turns to face me. Her eyes are blood shot and baggy from lack of sleep and her hair which is still half blonde and half brown is tangled and in disarray. I'm afraid she is going to start yelling at me, but she just lets out a deep sigh in instead and buries her face in her hands. "I'm sorry Marina it's just that I could have saved John and Sarah but I was too slow and she died. Now I'm afraid John will hate me if he ever wakes up."
I close the distance between us and embrace her as she sobs into my shoulder. "It's going to be okay Six. John will pull through. It's not your fault. " I whisper along with other soothing words. When Six finally calms down she smiles at me and says "Thank you Marina. I needed that" "What are sisters for?" I tell her. After she takes a quick shower and a change of clothes, Six looks as good as new and we go down together.
After a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon, we follow the others to the gym where we have been training and receiving lessons about Lorien. The hand to hand combat lessons are taught by Reese, Lestrade, or Valmont while the weapons training is handled by either Gregorovich or Hawk. Hannibal and Crayton dabble in both while Five tries to teach the rest of us about Loric Sorcery. Today, I see Gregorovich and Hawk standing in the gym. "Good morning everyone" says Hawk. "Today we are going to have a firearm lesson. Who here has fired a gun before?" We all raise our hands. "Good" says Hawk. "Now who can tell me the first thing you should check for when you are given a gun." "How much ammunition you have" I say. "That's very good Marina" says Hawk "but it's not the absolute first thing you should check. Anyone else have an idea?" "Check the safety" says Nine. Hawk nods his head "Exactly. The safety is a small switch found slightly above the trigger and allows you to control whether your weapon can be fired. All you have to do is set it to on or off. The next thing you should do is check the ammo."
After covering a few more basics about the correct and incorrect ways to hold a gun, we head upstairs and leave the house to walk to the armory. The armory is a large warehouse shaped building located about two miles behind the main house. There are multiple guards patrolling the building and both Hawk and Gregorovich must complete a hand and retinal scan. Once we step inside, I let out a gasp of shock. The armory has over a thousand rows of shelves and weapons cover all of them. I see rocket launchers, rifles, machine guns, a few Mog cannons, and countless other weapons which I can not we marvel at the tools of destruction that surround us, Hawk walks over to a small table where three guns sit while Gregorovich stands off to the side.
Hawk picks up the biggest one first and I see Nine rub his hands together with an excited look on his face. "This is an M16 assault rifle" says Hawk. "It is the standard weapon of the US army but is used all over the world by both governments and insurgents. It can hold up to thirty rounds and can be equipped with either a bayonet or grenade launcher if you desire." "I call dibs on that one" says Nine. "Sorry Nine, Five already called dibs on that one" Hawk says as he hands the gun to Five. The next gun is a pistol that looks large even in Hawk's hand. "This is a Sig Sauer P226. It's the standard side arm of many military organizations including the SEALs and has a fifteen round magazine." Hawk then proceeds to give it to Adam. The final gun is the smallest gun and I see Nine looks a bit disappointed. "This is a Glock 20 semi automatic pistol. It's the standard weapon of most police forces and one of the most popular civilian hand guns." Hawk then hands it to Nine.
Nine looks down at his gun and then at Five's gun. Five gives Nine a bright smile and says "The size of hardware doesn't matter Nine, it's how you use it." Nine rolls eyes with an amused look while the rest of us laugh. Gregorovich slaps Nine on the back and in says "Take it from a professional Russian my friend. Your aim is the only thing at really matters. Women are more impressed with a man who can hit target." Hawk shakes his head and hands out the same guns to the rest of us and hands me one of the Glocks. "So who's ready to fire these?"
Nine
After four hours of target practice, it's time to do some combat practice. Marina pairs with Eight, Adam partners with Sam, Six chooses Ella, and I am left with Five. Crayton and Hannibal have come out to watch us, while Captain Hawk, and Sergei stand off the side to watch. Lestrade, who took over after we finished with the guns tells us that we won't be allowed to use Legacies but are allowed one non-lethal weapon. He chooses Five and I to go first.
I grin, take my folded up pipe staff from my pocket and extend it to its full length. I spin it around in my hand and look over at Five. She looks back at me and pulls something that looks like a blue running baton from her pocket. She presses a button on the side of it and it extends into a pipe staff not unlike mine. Then, Five presses another button, and blue electricity sparks from the ends of her staff. She grins at me at motions me with her hand to come forward. Let's go I say to myself as I charge.
I sweep my staff at her legs, but she just jumps over it and swings her staff at me. I block it just in time and counter with a jab to her right side. My hit makes contact, but Five just grimaces and hits me in the back of the head with her staff. She dodges my next strike and hits me across the chest. I drive her back with a jab to the face, but she plants her staff in the ground and uses it to swing around and kick me in the face.
I go down and Five uses the opportunity to retrieve her staff. I block the next few hits from Five but her staff manages to get under my guard and the top of it touches my chest. I get hit with a powerful electric shock that pushes me back ten feet. I struggle to get up and see Five adjusting something on the side of her staff. Probably turning up the voltage I think to myself. Seeing her distraction as an opportunity, I release a fury of strikes and jabs forcing Five into a defensive stance. Suddenly, I see an opening and land a solid hit on Five's wrist. She gasps in pain, drops her weapon, and I feel almost guilty as I grab her staff with telekinesis and use it to sweep her legs from underneath her.
I hold a staff in each hand and place one on her chin. "Do you yield?" I ask her. She tries to kick my legs but since I was expecting her to do that, I use her staff to lightly tap her arm with the electric end. Five lets out a cute yelp and pouts before she says "I yield." Grinning, I give her a hand and pull her up. The others are congratulating me on finally winning a combat round against Five. Even Hannibal is nodding with a small degree of admiration. Lestrade claps his hands and asks everyone to settle down. "Nice job Nine" he says. "The next round will be Eight and Marina. After everyone has a turn, we will train for another hour and then you're free for the rest of the day." I take a seat and rub my new bruises. Five sits next to me and says "Well played Nine." "Thanks. You weren't too bad either." She smiles and turns to face me. Even after six weeks, my heart still races when I look into those eyes, and suddenly I become self conscious of how much I'm sweating. "You have something I need" she says. "And what might that be?" "This" she says pulling her folded staff from my pocket. I laugh and say "I thought I would hold onto it for awhile until you beat me in combat or ask me out." She laughs and smacks me on the arm. "Keep dreaming handsome."
A few hours after we finish training for the day, I go to my room and turn on my shower to full heat. I let the scalding hot water run down my body and sigh as the water soothes my various bruises across my back and chest. Just as I'm starting to relax, someone starts knocking intently on my door. I groan loudly and turn the shower off wondering who is disturbing me. I wrap a towel around my waist and the knocking intensifies. "Alright!" I shout. "I'm coming, there's no need to knock every two seconds." I rip open the door expecting to see Six or Eight, but instead I see Five in a dark red, low cut dress with matching high heels. In other words, she's a total knockout.
We look at each other for a few seconds before I manage to say "Well this is a surprise." "The nice kind?" Five asks as she walks into my room. "The best kind" I reply. She smiles before using telekinesis to shut the door. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" I ask Five as she walks over to the bed. She takes a seat and crosses her legs. I remain standing and start to wish I had put on some clothes before I opened the door.
"I have to make an errand in Buenos Aires and was wondering if you would be willing to accompany me" Five says. I'm so surprised by her offer I almost drop my towel. "Why me?" I ask. Five gets up and walks toward me. "I have need of...your skills" she says. "Are you asking out on a date Five?" "Not if you're going to say no" and when she speaks I notice the mischievous look in her eyes.
"Alright" I say. "I'm game for a little excitement." "Wonderful" says Five. Then she looks down at my chest and takes notice of all the bruises covering my body. She starts tracing the outline of the bruises with her fingers and I feel tingles on my skin where she touches me. "You should really get these looked at. Did I do all that?" she asks me.
I'm seriously struggling to maintain eye content with Five at this point, but I manage to say "Yep. This is just the last two weeks." Five stops moving her hand and say" I promise I'll take it easy tomorrow. I'll meet you in the front in ten. There should be some proper clothes in your closet."
"Why?" I ask half joking. "Am I underdressed?" Five grins. "A shirt might be nice for starters. I take a body builder pose. "What? Does this ... distract you? Five looks me up and down and says "I've seen better." I put a hand over my heart and pretend to be hurt. But then I see Five smile slyly. "Then again" she says, "I haven't seen all of you quite yet." She makes a quick motion with her hand and I don't understand what's going on until I feel the towel around my waist start to fall. I grab it just in time and retreat to the bathroom as Five laughs at me and leaves the room.
After going through my closet, I put on a nice blazer, with a blue shirt, dress pants and for shoes, I find a pair of loafers. When I get downstairs, Five is already waiting for me. She looks up as I approach and says "Good choice, Hugo Boss is always stylish." I grin and sigh in relief, happy that she approves of the clothes. Before I lose my nerve, I offer her my arm and feel a rush when she takes it. We head to the hanger where we board one of Five's helicopters and take a short flight to Buenos Aires. When we come out of the airport, I see a black Lamborghini Murcielago parked on the curb. Then, driver of the car gets out and hands Five the keys. I am momentarily concerned that Five just used her mind control to car jack that guy, but my concern is quickly resolved when Five turns to me and says "Don't worry, the car belongs to me." She gets into the driver's side and I admire the car one more time before getting in.
We drive through the city for about half an hour until we stop in front of a large skyscraper. I look around to try and figure out why we stopped and my confusion only grows when I see Five remove a small yellow stone from her bag with telekinesis. She turns to face me and when she speaks, her voice has taken on a serious tone. "This is a piece of Xitharis. It allows one Garde to loan one of their Legacies to another for an hour. I had Six charge this with her invisibility Legacy and I need you to use it for our errand." "What do you need me to do?" I ask her. She points to another larger skyscraper about two blocks away. "Do you see that building" I nod my head. "That building is a top secret Mog facility where they design a big portion of their weapons and computer systems. I need you to use your antigravity to climb to the thirty-fifth floor and steal a computer chip for me and plant a virus into their system." "How am I going to find the chip and plant the virus?"
Five pulls a printed sheet from her bag and hands it to me. I look down at the contents and see a very detailed picture of the chip and according to the description; the chip has something to do with satellite communications. Then, Five hands me a flash drive and says "The virus is on the drive. It will give me total control of the building's security and electronic systems. I nod my head prepared to leave but one last thought enters my mind. "How will I get in?"
"Just punch through the window" she says. "What about the alarms?" I ask. "The floor can only be reached with elevator" says Five. If you put the drive into the first computer you see, I can shut the elevators down or make them think it's a false alarm. Once you have the chip, take the drive with you. I need the information on those computers."
We drive towards the building and Five hands me the Xitharis. I keep it hovering above my hands with telekinesis in order to conserve its power. Five presses a button on the wheel and smoke starts to spill out from under the engine and through the hood. Right before I step out, Five says "Hey Nine." I turn around and she cups my face and pulls me towards her. When our lips touch, she kisses me with a passion that makes my heart stop. She pulls away and with a grin says "Don't die on me now." I nod mutely and get out.
As soon as I touch the Xitharis, I turn invisible and start running up the building. Below me, I see the car smoking and two security guards walk over as Five get out and pretend to not understand what's going on. Focusing on the task at hand, I use my super speed to race up the building, and arrive at the thirty-fifth floor in seconds. Then, using my super strength, I punch through the window like it's made of plastic.
Like I expected, alarms blare but after I put Five's flash drive in a nearby computer they quickly turn silent. I look around and see that I'm in some sort of laboratory with computers, pristine white walls, and what looks like surgical equipment. I begin my search and after fifteen minutes of looking, I find it. It's sitting on a work table sounded by sketches and various tools. When I pick the chip up, I see it's about twenty seven centimeters long, black, and covered in wires and circuits. Having accomplished my mission, I run back to the computer, remove the drive, and walk out the window.
Upon reaching the ground, I see the car has stopped smoking and Five is busy talking to the two guards in Spanish. They laugh at something she says and walk back inside. Once they're gone, I make myself visible and give Five her Xitharis, the chip, and the flash drive. She grins at me and throws me the keys. "Great job Nine. Lets to get some dinner." As I pull away from the building, I see Five pull what looks like a cell phone from her bag and she starts typing something. Within seconds of this, there is a massive explosion from the upper floor of the building we just left. I look at Five in shock and back at the explosion which has consumed an entire floor. Five tells me to keep driving and says "I turned on all the gas as soon as you started coming down. It was only a matter of flicking on a lighter to create a spark and erase our tracks." I nod and follow the directions Five gives me. As we drive away, I hear sirens blare in the distance as Five says "Nothing better than messing up the Mogs' plans."
After having dinner at a restaurant recommended by Five, we go clubbing at a few of the clubs Five and Hannibal own. It between dancing, Five introduces me to a drink called fernet. Apparently, this is a national drink in Argentina and almost everyone in the club is having some. When I take my first shot, the first taste that comes to mind is licorice and herbs. I feel a burning sensation as it goes down but soon experience warmth spreading through my chest. I order another and before I know it, Five and I have finished off a whole bottle.
By the time we call it a night, it's after eleven and I'm feeling rather lightheaded. Five drives and we soon pull into the parking garage of a large residential building. Five walks over to the elevator and punches in a code to summon it. I stubble a bit as I walk over and feel very unstable as the elevator rises. Luckily, Five notices and allows me to lean on her for support. When the elevator stops, I see we are standing in a penthouse every bit as luxurious as the one I left behind in Chicago.
Five helps me walk over to a nearby sofa and when I sit down, I quickly lie down. Five goes into the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water. She hands it to me and I gulp it down. The pounding in my head starts to lessen a bit but I still feel off balance. Five strokes the side of my face and says "You did a fantastic job today Nine, thanks for doing this for me." I grin and slur my words slightly as I say "Ha. We should do it again sometime." I put myself in a sitting position and Five puts her head on my left shoulder. "I had a great time tonight" I tell her. She smiles back and says ""Me too." We sit like this for a minute until Five says "I just remembered. We never discussed the subject of payment." "Payment?" I ask. "Yeah" Five says. "Every great thief has to be paid for their work. What would you like? Money? Jewels? A car? Maybe a whole week of free time?"
I pause for a moment before saying "I think I'd prefer another kiss from you." Five pushes me down on the sofa and whispers "That can be arranged." She leans down and gives me an intense kiss that I never want to end. I kiss her back with the same intensity and as I kiss her, I feel my blazer being taken off and thrown over the sofa. This is going to be a long night I think to myself as I place a kiss along Five's neck. You have no idea I hear Five say back.
Six
It's nearly midnight and once again I find myself alone in John's room. For the past few weeks this has become my routine. Whenever I try to sleep I'm plagued by nightmares and when I can't sleep I go to John's room. In my nightmares, I am back in the desert of New Mexico. My Legacies have deserted me and I'm fighting Setrakus Ra while he slowly chokes John to death. Whenever I try to reach John, Setrakus Ra hits me with his whip and swings a sword at my head. I always see the sword coming, but just before it takes my head off, I wake up. In order to stop the dreams, I try to stay up the whole night. I feel terrible the next day, but the nightmares are so bad, I rather stay awake and deal with the consequences. This past week has been particularly horrible and each day I've been sleeping less than four hours a night.
I hold John's hand and try to remember happier times like when we were in Florida or when he rescued me in New Mexico. I try to find someone to blame for his predicament like Sarah or Five, but in my heart I know that Sarah was pressured and Five is doing the best she can. Unfortunately, this sentiment does little to ease my despair and sense of uselessness. For the first time in a very long time, I feel tears running down my cheek and can't believe I'm crying.
The last time I ever cried this much was when Katarina died in West Virginia and angrily try to wipe my tears away. I stroke John's face before taking his hand in mine. "John" I whisper. "If you can hear my voice, if you're still in there, please show me a sign. Anything. I miss you John, I need you." For a split second I think I feel his hand squeeze back but soon realize it's just my imagination.
I'm just about to leave when John suddenly takes a deep breath and blue light starts to radiate from his body. His pendant is glowing brightly and his body starts to thrash as he exhales loudly. His continued spasms are seriously beginning to concern me and I'm about to run for help when John suddenly opens his eyes and turns to look at me.
"Six" he finally rasps "Where are we?" I am so stunned by this turn of events I am at lost for words. So instead, I run over, hold him close and burry my face into his chest and cry with relief. At first I'm afraid he'll push me off but he just holds me closer. After I calm down a bit, I turn to look at him and his piercing blue eyes which I've missed so much. "John what's the last thing you remember?" I ask him. He thinks for a moment. "After Walker poisoned me, I saw a girl break into the truck, she said something to you, and then I passed out." "Is that it?" I ask.
John shakes his head. "After that the whole world turned dark. I could move around but I wasn't able to see a thing. Every once in a while I'd hear your voice but nothing else. How long was I out for?" I take a deep breath. "You've been in a coma for over six weeks. We are staying at Five's place in Argentina. She's the girl that saved your life. John I've missed you so much and I'm so sorry about Sarah. I should have saved both of you. If you're going to blame anyone for what happened, you can blame me."
John remains silent for a very long time before he says "No Six. I've had over a month to think about it and it's my fault. I dragged Sarah into this not you. Then I started falling for you and I don't know if my relation with Sarah was going to last longer than it did. My only regret is I never told her how sorry I was and how I never said goodbye." A few tears fall from John's eyes but I wipe them away and whisper "She's in a better place John."
After I comfort John, he brushes my hair from my face and says "You look like you haven't slept in weeks Six. Are you feeling all right?" I punch him on the arm. "I've been looking after your sorry ass this whole and when I try to sleep I have nightmares." He grins making my heart beat faster and "Well thank you for being my nurse. I didn't realize you cared so much." I laugh for the first time in days and say "If you ever leave me like that again I will beat you into a coma." Then, I kiss him and he kisses me back with the same passion we parted with when we split up in DC.
When we pull apart, John says "Stay with me tonight. I'll keep you safe from your nightmares." I'm a bit taken aback but I haven't had a decent sleep in ages so I say "If you get any bad ideas, I'll feed you to Five's tiger." John responds with a gasp of horror and says "Well I better wear some protection tonight." I laugh and he kisses me again. I rub my hand across his chest and when I finally drift off, I have the best night's sleep of my life.
I'm sorry to do this to all of you, but I will be unable to post for a week due to end of school projects. I know you all want to know what happens next and I promise I will try to finish my work early so I can write the next chapter. Please remember to review and all suggestions are welcome.
