So, what will happen?

You say my story has gotten boring, and I tell you: Go to the Asphodel Fields.

Just keep reading on, and I promise it'll probably get better.

If you don't think so, I said "probably", n'est ce pas?

Chapter 11

Flesh and Blood

L'edition de france

I went to sleep, thoughts whirling. I could barely sleep, I kept waking up and thinking…Thinking about the way Alexander Jackson looked at Lin. And when the sun rose, I got up. I needed to talk to Lin, so I walked a door down, to her room. I opened it, and there was no sleeping body under the blankets.

The room had been stripped clean; all of Lin's bags were gone. A few balls of paper were in the trash can, everything else had been taken. But there was something shiny partially under the bed; I pulled it out. It was a guide of France, full of colorful pictures. It was the kind of thing that tourists got before visiting a country.

The door squeaked, and Nico, Lin's father, came in. He looked around, his eyes widening at the bare walls, and how the desk was clean; no sign of Lin. His eyes closed, and he sighed. "I should not have said…"

I turned to him, the guide book dangling from my hands. "What didn't you say?" Some of the places were circles in red; a medieval fair, a graveyard.

"I guess there's no more harm…Mortals can't really change the future…" He slumped down into a chair. "Lin knew that the first wave of monsters would come in France. France used to be the seat of Western Civilization: with an Underworld opening. The monsters will leave the opening and attack…I'm not sure exactly when, though…But Lin…she's so high strung…did she say anything to you before she left?"

"She talked to me for a bit…" I replied, a hint of hesitation in my voice. I wasn't sure if I should disclose what Lin had said; she trusted me with her thoughts. But she was headed for danger, and wasn't Nico her father? "She said that she wanted to be strong and competent, like what everyone thought she was."

Nico's eyes closed, and a small tear rolled down his cheek. "My Lin…she has to do this to herself. Lin's pride…she thinks she can't be hurt, but like you, she's only mortal. Sure, she may have strength, the Sight, and reflexes, but she can die, too. Like all of us."

"Do you know exactly where she went?" I asked. I wanted Lin to be safe…and if it I had to, I'd go to help her or rescue her, like a gallant knight.

"I thought she wouldn't be so brash and thoughtless." Nico answered, a thin smile playing over his lips. "But Lin is Lin, and she moves for no man. I think that she happened to overhear that the Underworld opening, in Normandy. The place that used to be under Roman rule, in the north of France."

"I need Lin…she can't die…" I whispered. Then I got up, holding the guidebook tightly in my hands. It formed a tight roll. I left the room, leaving Nico in the chair, his head in his hands.

So I bought a plane ticket with my father's money to go to France. I knew a little French, enough to answer the stewardess's questions on the plane. It was a blonde woman with her hair in a tight bun, wearing a crisply starched uniform with a little pin on her lapel.

"Parlez-vous Français?" She asked, looking attentive.

"Je parle un peu." I replied, mangling the pronunciation. I was horrible at French, and I knew it. I blushed.

"Good, then we'll speak English." She nodded at me, and then left.

The plane landed, jolting me from my mood restless anxiety. I got off, holding the single bag of luggage I'd managed to pack in twenty minutes. I had the bare essentials: money, toiletries, and a single change of clothes. Hopefully I'd be able to buy some.

I opened the guidebook, which, thankfully, I'd packed. I found the things circled in red marker. Normandy….that would mean I'd have to take the train north, from Paris…my fingers traced the route on the fold out map included at the back.

I bought a ticket for a train. France had wonderful transportation systems, I mused. I'd noticed the countless teens on mopeds. They couldn't be older than fourteen or so. According to the guide book, kids didn't have to be eighteen for a driver's license to ride. But they'd have to go under forty five kilometers an hour.

I closed my eyes, just whiling the time away, until my stop. Finally, the doors opened with a whoosh of air, and I stepped out to the platform. Everything here was new and modern, better than America, and Italy. The place that had been circled in the guide book was a medieval fair and battle reenactment thing. "Battle". That word would have gotten Lin's attention, so I hired a taxi to take me.

After I had paid the driver, who sped away without a second glance at me, I looked around. There were tents with pennants, and people in fancy costumes. A woman with a pearl hairnet walked past, her long gown brushing the grass. She was arm in arm with a man in doublet and hose, a large lace ruff tickling his neck. I looked out of place among the gaudy costumes, my plain clothes sticking out.

I walked past them, my head turning left and right. An old woman was selling ribbons from a basket, and another was selling "fresh Espagne oranges" and "comfits". I wondered what comfits were. There was a squawk. A mad had just wrung the neck of a pigeon, and his hands were grasping the neck of a songbird. I looked away. Apparently, people ate birds like that in medieval times.

There was a loud cheer from my left. I turned, following the sound of the commotion, and I saw ladies waving handkerchiefs in the air. I followed their gazes. They were enthralled by a figure in black armor, fighting a knight with a plume on his helmet. The knight wore shining silver plate armor and mail and a surcoat over it all. A white dove was emblazoned on his chest.

The black knight was much smaller, and faster, his sword whistling through the air. A few plump, rather robust women threw roses at the fighters. The black knight had a sword that seemed somehow familiar to me…

And I saw its slightly curved blade, the inside serrated. The way that it moved in elaborate patterns, cleaving the air, how the black knight danced around the silver knight, who was trying valiantly to defend himself.

The silver knight's helmet plume was cut off with a single stroke of the black knight's sword. And then the black knight feinted left, then his sword twisted to the right, the silver knight's sword hand. The silver knight's hand and a half sword fell out of his gauntleted fists, landing on the ground.

The crowd let out a huge cheer, and roses started landing on the fighting ground. A symphony of trumpets blew, and a herald or something like that walked out. He held a heavy staff, and led a large horse to the arena.

"For this charger, our great knight Sir…" He paused, waiting expectantly.

"Di Angelo." The black knight filled in. I knew that voice….And that's when it hit me…the knight wasn't a man; it was my half sister, Lin!

"Sir Di Angelo has won Sir Roger's horse and lance in a duel." The herald waved his staff around, bobbing his head. "And may you ever be triumphant, Sir Di Angelo." With that, he handed the reins to Lin, who mounted the horse without another world.

Sir Roger, for this is who I guessed the silver knight was, pushed up the visor of his helmet. I could see his scowl, and by the way his lips moved, he was cursing.

"The lance please?" The herald stuck his hand out, tapping his feet impatiently. "For has not Sir Di Angelo won it fairly? And you, my lord, has agreed to fight for honor, justice, and chivalry. The king needn't hear about his knight's breakage of oath."

Sir Roger took a lance from a page boy or squire who was at his side. "Here," he said gruffly, and then he turned around. He stalked off, miffed at the blow to his pride. A smaller, younger knight had beaten him in a duel.

The herald took the proffered lance and handed it up to Lin. "Thus, Sir Roger, the champion of duels for five consecutive years, has been beaten! Sir Di Angelo, we hope to see you next year."

Lin nodded, not listening. She gripped the lance, and turned the horse with her knees. The horse had a cloth blanket thing draped over its…his back. It was green and trimmed with brown, large doves sewn onto either side. In the front, round holes were cut for his eyes, and a dappled grey muzzle poked out.

"Lin!" I called. On horseback, she was much higher up than me, and I hoped she could hear. And she did.

Her horse clopped sideways a bit, at the unintended pressure of her legs. Her head turned to me, and her hand lifted to her visor, lifting it an inch. "Alexei? Is that you?" She turned the horse, trotting it to me.

"Yeah, it's me. Your father said you'd be here…and that monsters would be arriving any minute from an abandoned Underworld opening." I shifted a bit, nervous.

"Climb on, then." She answered, looking away. I could see that her hands had tightened on the lance, which had a large banner of a white dove hanging from the shaft. I pulled myself up, noting that the saddle was under the blanket thing. I seated myself behind Lin, which was rather uncomfortable, as she was wearing metal armor. Her head turned back, to me. "The monsters are coming…I can feel it…If dad has summoned the spirits of the dead, then we can fight."

"How?" I bumped up and down, the horse's movements jiggling me in the saddle with every step that he made.

"The monsters are flesh and blood…or as close to flesh and blood as children of gods can be. You can't fight flesh and blood with spirit matter. So I've decided to do something unheard of, at this scale. I need flesh against flesh." She lifted her visor up all the way, looking me in the eyes. "And this happens to be Normandy, a place of warfare: World War II. Isn't it a coincidence? There are huge cemeteries, full of the nameless dead soldiers. With the spirits, I can reanimate the soldiers, and it'll be a fight – flesh and bone against flesh and blood."

I shuddered, and the horse clopped on.

Author's Note: Yep, warfare. Don't you just love that? Well, I mentioned the French railway system for a reason. And it pertains with warfare.

So, review, please. And the reason why I'm not updating so often is because of school, school work, home work, and whole kit and caboodle. Like powerpoints, papers, posters, etc. I hate school.

Sorry about that, just review and I'll keep writing. Hm…I'm losing interest in this story.