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Chapter 13: Exposure of Plans
It was in the halls of the arena that a certain group of Storm Hawks, Thunder Eagles, members of the PFE, and maybe a Dragonkin or two were discussing what had already happened in the last round. The said-strongest almost killed Emma, Lysander revealed to be an Undead Rex Guardian, and Dawne went into OMEGA form for no apparent reason. Now, most people would just consider these coincidences to be nothing serious. But in the eyes of the group, something definitely was going on here.
"Okay, we have twenty minutes until the Semi-Finals start to get some information on what is going on," stated Jack, since the original break was cut to ten minutes due to the fact that there were less people now, but double due to the fact that Dawne went berserk on the stadium floor. "George, I want you to go to the library here to check out anything that involves Undead or this tournament. Stauffenburg and Ingo, you guys contact your men and see if they can get here by tomorrow. I'll go contact Mikki." Now, everyone knew why he wanted to contact her; Jack was missing Mikki.
"My team and the Storm Hawks will go chat with the locals to see if they seen Hawk or anyone suspicious around here." Rhia stated, just almost as Aerrow was about to. It seemed that the two sky knights had the same idea for the break. Luckily, it was good due to they'll get more done that way.
"I'm going to go with George to the library since they have a big selection and may include some fighting techniques as well." Tokage said, before turning to Kuroi, "You coming too?" The black-scaled lizard just looked over at her with just his usual face. However, it had on the hidden rage of defeat if one were to look closely enough.
"No thanks," he answered, "I'm going to train some more." Even though he had lost, the Dragonkin still wanted to train in order to become stronger. He knew he wouldn't become tougher just by simply reading books. That, and there was already someone with Tokage as well.
Jack sighed and said, "Good, let's get going." And the group started to split into their separate ways, ready to get whatever info was out there. However, they didn't suspect that they were being watched. In fact, they didn't even suspect that the person who was watching them was a stout, little man wearing a black, cultic cloak. He was steaming with anger because the last round didn't exactly go in his favor.
"Damn these pests. If they stayed away from my slave, I would have that prize by now." said the man, whose name in this place was "Harry". His real name was a secret since he belonged to an ancient and secret sect of followers who worshiped one of Atmos' old gods, most preferable the one that ruled over the afterlife. His mission was to gain a powerful source from Terra Colussmis by going to where they kept the tournament's prize. Since he wasn't much of a fighter by hand, he decided to grave-robbed the Guardian's crypt and then used the Mana Pools in order to create an undead puppet with enough conscious to make him look non-suspicious… Perhaps, in recompense, he created too much of a conscious undead slave. "If any of them figure out where Lysander came from, our plans for this world shall be ruin. I must destroy him when I get the chance."
"So you're the one who created that walking bag of flesh!" said a voice, causing Harry to pale. Before he could at least run, he was picked up by a now human Hawk, who was smiling sinisterly. He stared at his prey with the evil eye and spoke, "As much as I would like to eat you, perhaps whatever you did will be useful for us. I might as well take you to our master. She's probably conversing her plans with the second-in-command as we speak."
As the necromancer was being dragged away by whoever found out, he felt dread, shamefulness, and confused of how this being discovered his existence since he was hiding so carefully. Then, he started to pray to his god, solely saying that he was sorry and will try to make up for it if he was able to be revived again.
George felt uncomfortable when walking with Tokage to the library. It wasn't because Tokage was a lizard anthro; he didn't have Scoliodentosaurophobia. It was the fact that she hung out with Repton that made him nervous. Both he and Starling were captured by that overgrown reptilian and then tortured by Hawk before being rescued. And with the sense of foul play being aroused, who knows if she was even a friend or foe?
"… I'm not a Raptor," he heard the white-scaled lizard said, as he turned to face her. "Just because I live with them doesn't mean I agree with their choices. Kuroi and I hate the Cyclonians because of what they did to our terra. I may help Repton at times; but if it involves hurting people and working for the Cyclonians, I will not be a part of it."
The British Gaian just paled and stated, "I didn't say anything about that." True, he was thinking about it. But he knew it wouldn't be proper to just blurt it out to her. He was raised better than that.
"I know you didn't," she answered back, "It's just that some humans confused Dragonkin to be Raptors and judge us for crimes we didn't commit." Boy, that must have been a hard for her kind. He felt a little bit sorry since he knew this wasn't the first time humans discriminate against something different. He wanted to say something back, but another voice was heard.
"Stop right there, you low live scum!" shouted the new voice as the two turned to see a brunette, fox girl standing behind them with a peeved off look on her face. She then approached the young man, grabbed his collar and started to shake him, yelling, "Where is my fiancé?!"
"W-What?!" asked George, as he was being shaken. He didn't know what the fox demon was talking about in the first place. In fact, he didn't know why she was shaking him for.
Osprey growled and pulled the Gaian close up to her face. "Don't act like you don't know! You probably took my fiancé to get rid of his so-called "evil" essence that you think every demon possesses! Well, guess what, not all demons are evil and we live lives that don't involve messing with humans!" Afterwards, she started to shake him again, "So, where's my Vireo?!!!!"
The two instantly remembered the reddish-blonde male fox that had been with them for a while. In truth, they still didn't know where he was, probably had gone off after Lysander's fight or so. Maybe it was because his so-called fiancé was getting a little close to finding him.
After watching the brunette completely make George sick, the white-scaled lizard got an idea and asked, "Maybe your Vireo is down at the library." That made the fox girl stopped shaking her victim. "You can come with us if you want." The shorter just glared while thinking for a moment. It was several seconds before she let go of the young man.
"… Fine," she answered, "But if I don't find my fiancé there, your lives are going to becomes much shorter." Then, she started to walk off, leading the two towards the library. Tokage smiled a little bit while George was uneasy. Was it okay for another to come with them?
"Tokage, are you sure about this?" whispered the Britain as they continued to follow. He wasn't sure that having another person would be helpful to their cause; especially if that person was a love-struck crazy girl.
"I don't know myself either." The Dragonkin answered quietly, "But I would rather keep an eye on her rather than let her wonder around, where she could do some damage." The young man began to think about it, imagining a very scary fox demon rampaging throughout the terra. In respect, that was the best-case scenario of the situation.
Dawne relaxed on the bench, staring up at the ceiling with Zen. She was thinking about her match and how that Vezeel person knew about KIRA. Most people who knew wanted her to be used with some nefarious plot. However, the blue-haired woman just seemed to just want to fight at her most powerful form. Still, the young woman couldn't help, but think what her true intentions were?
Suddenly, she heard the door open and turned to see Lysander, who was now looking more regal than ever. To think that he was just some total stranger without any memory of who he was and now, he look almost like the current leader of the Rex Guardians, in both stature and uniform. To support this, he bowed and greeted, "Miss Dawne, are you alright?"
"… It's just Dawne," the silverette answered, "And I'm fine. Just a bit worn out, but fine." She also noticed that the wound he got from the fight with Hawk just was bandage since being undead means that he couldn't bleed to death. It was just to cover up the fact that he can still walk around with a big hole in his abdomen.
"I'm sorry about this, Miss Dawne," the undead man apologized, "But since I have discovered my true identity and my origins, I must redeem my humanity since I have been resurrected from the grave." It pained him to tell himself that he was now a creature of evil; one born from another ashes and been given new life again. For humans, that wasn't the way.
The young woman just rolled her eyes and said, "Come on, Lysander. Just because you're undead doesn't mean that you're evil." She knew that much from experience; just because her power was destructive didn't mean that she was evil as well.
"But I am evil!" the blonde retorted in a stronger voice, "I am supposed to be dead, lay to rest in the honorable Guardian's crypt! Instead, I am here, resurrected, probably by some nefarious person to do their bidding, and walking around as an evil, somewhat immortal for the rest of my life!"
There was a still of silence before Dawne spoke up, "You're not evil. Just because you're undead doesn't make it so. Look, I was created to be a weapon and to be control to whoever had the right price. However, I am a living person, and decided to make my own choice from now on. There are probably a lot of people who are good when they have a certain quirk that doesn't make it so. Tokage and Kuroi are almost like Raptors, but that doesn't make them evil. The same goes for that fox demon; annoying maybe, but not evil. In fact, those strange humans and that girl that hangs out with the Storm Hawks were actually Gaians."
"GAIANS?!!" almost shrieked Lysander. After thinking for a moment, he the said, "But they don't look like the typical depictions of Gaians." That was enough to cause the woman to laugh; the common stereotype that most Atmosians would have of a Gaian was a being that was almost bloodthirsty and dumb. Seeing the contrast is what Dawne thought that what the undead said was comical.
Being confused by her behavior, the man was about to speak before hearing the door open again. Turning, he saw that it was only the dark-haired man who hanged around Dawne as well. The two men looked shock at first seeing each other, before the blonde one started to take his leave; he knew they needed time alone. Besides, he felt like that once… Maybe.
Zack watched the undead leave before looking back at the silverette, "Dawne, what did Lysander want to talk about?" She just looked at him and breathed. It is strange how people who have seen another's capabilities still worry about their well-being.
"He wanted to see if I was okay." she answered, giving out a smile on her face. Then, she looked at him seriously and asked, "Have you found Vezeel yet?"
The man shook his head and responded, "Haven't seen her since your last match. Probably for the best. If she was really working for the Cyclonians or anyone else that knows about your powers, then they probably were going to do something really bad. In fact, maybe the Dark Ace is chatting to Cyclonis on their plans to take over the Atmos."
"As you can see, Master, even though we had a few minor problems, no one still has suspected our plans yet. As long as Vezeel allows me to win next round, I will fight the brat if he wins as well. As we fight, the crowd will be too occupied to notice Hawk's ship or you coming onto this terra, especially those goody Storm Hawks and their friends. And afterwards, we will have this terra and the power source it holds! Nothing will stop us!"
"Oh, looky what I found!" shouted Hawk, as he flew the door open to the very dark room. Ecakrad covered his eyes, temporary blinded before seeing the disguised Atlantean carrying what seemed to be a small, scared, hooded man. Realizing this, he snarled at the figure; how dare he allow another living being who wasn't part of their scheme to hear him.
"Hawk, you better have a good reason for barging in with a witness in your hands." the man stated, angrily grinding his teeth. It was bad enough that their cover was almost blown a couple of times already. But for Hawk to bring an actually being who was not part of their operation was unacceptable.
The Atlantean grinned evilly before answering, "Well, do you remember that Lysander fellow who somehow survived my blow to the stomach last round?" He then lifted up the person and continued, "It turns out that Lysander is just the undead ancestor to Harrier and this person was the one who resurrected him. And since we all know that your glorious empire is having a losing streak lately, I think that he could help us with our invasion."
There was silence before an angry Ecakrad spoke up, "Is that all? I can assure you, Hawk, that whatever he's doing here doesn't involve our plans. And even if he is useful, how about his loyalty? Just because he's submitted to you doesn't mean that-"
"Wait, my servant," said a new voice which caused the cloaked figure to stop his rant. "… Hawk, may you put whoever you have down." The robot-in-disguise quickly dropped Harry, who was now feeling a little bit of pain on his bottom. He then looked over into the darkness as the voice said, "Come closer and tell me everything."
Once inching a few inches closer and gulping, the stout man explained, "Well, you see, I am part of an ancient cult, one who wishes to bring our powerful lord into this world so that he could rule the skies again with death and pestilence along with his army of the undead. However, we need a powerful energy source to bring for this world's fate. Our spies told us that this terra will hold the key to our success and thus, my leaders have chosen me to use the ashes of the Guardian we acquire from the crypt to resurrect and make him fight until he was the winner of this tournament."
"… So, you're a Necromancer?" the voice asked, curious as to his power to summon the body of her most hated enemy that started the war five-hundred years ago. According to the science of bringing the undead back to life, you can only make the undead puppet of the decease, not bring back his soul or memories. Thus, it would be real easy to tell who was a zombie and who wasn't.
"Yes, our whole sect is a clan of Necromancers. However, even the most powerful can never summon a being who will act almost like a human. Therefore, I have to use the Mana Pools to bring my once-loyal slave back to the living in order fight. It might have worked a little too well." Remembering how he couldn't get to Lysander due to the suspicions of the group, he growled in frustration. Then looking up, Harry asked, "What do you plan to do with me now?"
After a few moments of silence, the voice spoke up again, "First off, you will not be summoning anymore of what your slave has become. Instead, during the final match, you are going to help me invade this terra by summon an undead army in hopes of blocking the escape routes by both land and air. If you do this, I shall think about giving you this power source you speak of. Otherwise, if you refuse…" Right on cue, a red, glowing sword and a monstrous, metallic hand came within a half inch of the Necromancer's throat, signaling him to choose. Knowing that it he now didn't have any alternative, he bowed his hand and answered,
"As you wish, Master Cyclonis."
"The Bearer of Plague? Travels of the High Dragons? War of the Earthly Savages?! What the hell are they doing in the nonfiction section?!" exclaimed George, who couldn't believe at how big the library was. He also couldn't believe how many books sounded like they needed to be in the fiction category. Only a few had been factual, but it had been of maps of the Colussmis and fighting styles. The rest were just as the most practical person would describe it, "The most unrealistic and childish books I have ever seen".
"Well, George, you have to remember that this is Atmos." Tokage said, reading a book on combat, "While we still strive away from things that may seem unbelievable, we still have a few realities that seem out of reach than that of Gaia. You just need to remember that you're not on your world anymore."
The Englishman looked over at the lizard and stated, "I know that I'm not on Earth anymore. But still, these books are outlandish! Are these people so wrapped up in the dark ages that they consider these true?!" The boy then thrust the book back into place before reaching for another and reading it. He was getting pretty tired of how this terra was living; they really needed to advance since their leader opened its tournament to everyone in the Atmos.
"Well, one thing's for sure," said Osprey's voice, as the two turned to her, "I do not see my fiancé anywhere in this library. So, he either left already or you lied to me." Before they could have said anything else, the brunette fox already started to gather energy for an attack. The young man and the lizard got ready to defend themselves. Luckily or unluckily, another voice came into the picture.
"Why the hell are you even watching if you don't like it so much?!" a loud and familiar voice yelled, causing all three to quickly become stiff with fear. It also was close to as they peeked around the corner to see two cloaked figures in the book alleyway. One had a very big upper body while the other was slender and feminine. The feminine one looked very sternly at the bigger.
"Because, Snipe, it appears that whenever you are left alone lately, terrible things seem to happen to our plans. And since this is being one of our most important missions, I need to make sure you don't mess it up." The woman then removed her hood to reveal to be Ravess. "We need at least one victory over these delinquents. And I need to make sure that everything would go exactly as plan… Without any minor annoyances that may appear."
The three spies gaped in silence at what they had just heard. The Cyclonians were going to invade Terra Colussmis, and they were using the tournament as covered for their schemes. This really didn't surprise them much, but still, there were so many people who didn't have the slightest suspicion of what was going to happen. They knew they needed to get back or else another innocent terra was going to fall.
Unfortunately, when the group turned around, they never suspected to be ganged up by several talons, a young woman in a gothic dress, and a dark-haired man with a nobility appearance. "You know… I knew someone was going to drop in on those idiots. Maybe that's why I had to make sure you never tell anyone what you had seen." All the grunts raised their staves and aimed them at their target. This didn't seem to be a good situation.
"… At least you have a lot of other idiots with no sense of courage with you." George taunted before pulling his fist back for a punch at the nobleman. However, Tokage felt something was not right with this situation. She caught the scent of blood from the woman; more specifically, Gaian blood. And she also noticed a faint bite mark on the human's neck. This came to a conclusion she didn't want to think about.
"George, wait!" the Dragonkin called out, but it was too late. The vampire already appeared in the Gaian's way, grabbed both his fist and arm, and yanked them both back in a strong and torture pose. Osprey was about to use some of her fox demon magic on the opponent, but got knocked down by his throw using the young man as a dummy. The brunette human stagger upwards, only to have a foot pressed on top of his chest with severe pain to follow.
"Unlike you're little Gaian, half-vampire leader, I am a full Atmosian vampire," Vincent taunted, leaning close to George's face. "And since I am a vampire of Atmos, I get certain attributes when drinking blood of a Gaian. I get enhanced strength, speed, the very same power that your ancestors had when they fought against Atmos." George sneered as the Cyclonians surrounded him, Tokage, and a KOed Osprey. Ravess came onto the scene along with her brother, who now had his hood off.
"What is going on here?" she asked, looking a little bit peeved. One of her pet peeves was unwelcome spies eavesdropping on her private conversation. Another one was someone else catching the spies before she could.
The vampire turned to the two, bowed, and explained, "Commander Ravess, these three had overheard you about the invasion plans and I had to do my duty to let this plan be executed without any frustrations." Then, he looked over at George and smirked evilly. "But don't worry, they'll make excellent hostages."
The British man glared with fury. Since they had learned about the Talon's plans for invasions, apparently being a hostage wasn't a good sign. And since that was going to happen here, he decided to curse the one person who was probably in this as well.
'Damn you, Hawk.'
Author's Notes:
HI PEEPS!!!! Sorry for taking so long… Again. I think I probably have at least six more chapters left (semi-finals, break, finals, two-part chappy invasion, and aftermath.) before this could be finished. At least the holidays are coming up.
Anyway, those who hadn't already guess can probably now see the hidden aspects of the plot. For one, it was the Necromancer resurrecting Lysander from the grave. For Harry Potter fans, this wasn't to make fun of or make a reference to Harry Potter. I was trying to figure out the silliest name other than Bob, and poof; there's a Harry the Necromancer.
Another is the Cyclonians' other motive to invade Terra Colussmis. I'm not going to reveal that one yet. I'm just going to give you some clues until I'll show it to you for real. Believe me; it's probably worth the wait
Also, I'm still on a Slayers/Storm Hawks fan craze still. In fact, if you guys ever watched the Slayers series lately, I gave a reference to a certain Dark Lord in the title of books that George lists. If any of you guess which Dark Lord it is, I'll give the right guesser... Something. It's not that important. I just wanted to see how many people know.
Thanks you go out to Flame Soldier and Kitten2007 for reviewing. I also forgot to thanks NekoNekoMinako for revising the last chapter so… Thank you, NekoNekoMinako!
Anyway, Please Read and Review!