Before you read the chapter, I would like to remind those people who havent reviewed that you really should. I have 16 reviews on another of my storys, and it's only 2 chapters. How sad is that!
Chapter 20: Black and White
As it turns out, Laila's, group along with Zero and Rahkshi, was the first to arrive back at the Belmond Mansion. Mr. Hiroki the Gardener had been instructed before anyone left to allow entrance to any group that came home early or before anyone else.
The first thing that Laila, Albert, Kimmi, Leia, and Wonrei did was to spread out to opposite ends of the house. Everyone was pretty much tired of being around everyone else at that point. Kimmi had gone to shower, Wonrei to meditate in the garden, Albert was watching TV, and Leia was playing in the backyard. That had left Laila to stay behind with Zero and Rahkshi to give them a tour of the grounds.
Laila had already shown the pair the outside gardens, yard, patio area, and the swimming pool and was showing them around the West Wing of the Mansion, where everyone's rooms are. The trio was interrupted by the arrival of another group. While on the way down the stairs to meet the new arrivals, Laila stopped and a blank stare came into her eyes. Suddenly, her hand dropped from her necklace and she smiled.
"The group that has just arrived consists of my daughter Zaela and her partner, Lirei, who is the twin sister of Wonen, Wonrei's son and also Prince Zioch's partner. The last group member is someone that I think you will be glad to see." Laila finished, pointing through a large set of oak doors that led into the main foyer.
"How does she do that?" whispered Rahkshi to Zero as they walked towards the doors.
"Did you forget already! It's the Artifact!" whispered Zero back, clearly annoyed.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Zioch was pounding on the door, waiting for someone to come open it, while the rest of the group shuffled out of the limo they had been picked up in. Already having grabbed his bag from the trunk, Zioch was beginning to get annoyed when he nearly fell flat on his face when the door swung inward.
Recovering from his stumble, Zioch looked up into the smirking faces of Zero and Rahkshi, two people he had never seen before in his life. Dropping his bags, Zioch dropped into a defensive stance and shouted for the rest of the group to come help. With a small burst of white light, Zioch's Gauntlets appeared on his arms and he rose into the air. "WHO ARE YOU TWO?" screamed Zioch, suddenly worrying about his mother.
Rahkshi only smiled while Zero stared in amazement at Zioch's apparent mastery of flight. "My name is Rahkshi. This little annoyance is Zero, and I am his Partner." A strange spell book appeared in Rahkshi's right hand, having been taken from under his shirt and behind his back, where it had been thrust in his belt.
Zioch hovered a little closer to Zero and Rahkshi. Rahkshi was wearing a pair of blue jeans and white ankle socks. He wasn't wearing any shoes because his feet were bandaged underneath the socks. Only a light black a-shirt was covering the bandages on Rahkshi's torso. The shirt was so thin that Zioch could see right through it. There were white bandages running all across his stomach and around his left shoulder. His left hand was in a splint, as it had been sprained during the fight with the Wind Mamodo.
Turning his scrutinizing gaze on Zero, Zioch blinked. He looks just like Daddy and Zeno! thought Zioch, a little confused. Zero was a little more bandaged that Rahkshi, Zioch noticed, even though Mamodo heal faster than normal humans do. In place of his standard black hooded cloak with the white X on it and his standard black male leotard; Zero was wearing a pair of gray pants that looked a lot like Garry's old clothes, though Garry wasn't there to comment. Zero was barefoot, and also bare-chested. White bandages covered the entire top half of his body, and most of his right arm, down to his elbow. Though Zioch couldn't see it, two lumps stuck out under the bandages, where Zero's wings emerged when in flight.
Zioch's scrutiny was interrupted when Zero asked him "How is that you can fly?" Zioch snickered at this.
"It's really these Gauntlets, is all. I don't know what I would do without them. I love the feel of air beneath me as I soar on the winds… You wouldn't know the joys of flight now would you? You can't fly. Do you want me to take you for a ride…" Zioch raised his hands to his eyes as a gust of wind assaulted his face and body, knocking him backwards and back onto the ground.
"I don't need a ride, thanks. I can fly by myself." Zero was looking down at Zioch with a small hint of derision. Zioch was lying on the ground with a stunned look on his face. Zero had sprouted wings from his back, and they were slowly propelling Zero around Zioch's head like a deranged cuckoo bird. The wings faintly resembled bat wings, yet they looked more like a vulture's.
Zero's wings were a mix of black and white. The veins on the underside of the wings were a leathery black looking and were connected by flaps of skin, traveling across the wings to the tips where they ended in sharp clawed points. The flaps of skin were black near the top, where they met the bone in the wing and also where the veins led downward out of the bone. As you looked downward at the wings, they changed from deep black to a dark gray, shifting to a dirty off-white, finally coming to a stop at a faintly opaque white color. When Zero moved them, the wings looked like two large black and white eyes, slowly opening and closing, staring at the opponent, scaring them half to death.
When angling away to fly over to the limo and the still wary occupants, Zioch caught a glimpse of the outer portion of the wings. They were a leathery black, the same as the veins running down the inside. Each vein was slightly raised from the surface, and so marked where each was. At the end of the veins, small, sharp, white nails curved downward, looking menacing. The white nails also contrasted with the black wings.
Watching as Zero landed near the limo, Zioch was surprised when the two wings folded downward on a joint, three-fourths inward from the tip of each wing. From behind, Zero looked like some grim Angel of Death, standing over his victim. At the wings neared the small area in between Zero's shoulder blades, they shifted color from black to an off-white color, and finally paling into the same shade of ash white as Zero's skin.
Zioch was even more surprised when the dark wings began to shrink in size and seemingly melt back into Zero's shoulder blades. The only outward sign of Zero's wings was a faint grayness on and about two small bumps in-between Zero's shoulders. Zero looked back at Zioch, and gave him a 'What do you think now?' look.
Zioch was still sitting on the ground when Zero walked over to Wonen. "You must be that oaf's Book Owner. I am Zero."
Wonen just looked down at the strange little child. Zero stared back just as boldly. After a minute, Zero said to Wonen. "At least you can protect her." Wonen was shocked and confused that he would say something like that. Maybe he's telepathic or something. thought Wonen as he nodded his acknowledgement of Zero's words and began to walk towards the house. Rahkshi nodded as Wonen walked by, and Wonen did a double take. Those are MY pants! Wonen thought, annoyed that someone would just go into this things and take out a pair of pants. I have to remember to get them back later.
The next person to meet Zero was Lirei. She walked out from behind the trunk and stared at Zero. Peeking back around the trunk and nodding at something, she turned back to Zero. "You must be Zero, the Mamodo that we traveled half way around the world to look for."
"That is correct. And who might you be?" asked Zero, a little angry that the girl had already known who he was, yet he still did not know her.
"My name is Lirei. I'm…"
"You are a twin. That other boy that I just met, Wonen. He is your brother?"
"Ya…how did you know that?"
"I can just tell." Lirei gave a shaky nod and one last look at Zero before she walked off to meet Rahkshi, who asked her about the trip and some other trivial details before she went into the house.
Zaela was the next victim to be commandeered by Zero in his quest to put faces to the names that Laila had given him. "You must be Zaela. I am Zero."
"I am Zaela, but how did you…"
"You look like your mother. And I also know that you would like to go see her right now to talk about me. Please go right ahead. I just wanted to meet you." Zero stepped off to the side to allow Zaela to pass. Zaela walked off, still staring strangely at the Mamodo who seemed to be able to read her thoughts.
Actually, Zero moved around Zaela so he could meet the last member of the group. Zero was very anxious to find out who it was. I hope it's who I think it is… thought Zero.
"King Zatch! It IS you!" Zero shouted as he threw himself in front of the Mamodo King. "I can't believe that you're here. Why are you here? You're Kingdom is in turmoil…"
"Calm down Zero. I know all this already, but somehow I think you are just the person who can explain it to me fully. Let us walk inside."
"Very well, Your Majesty." said Zero in a formal tone, not wanting to offend one of the only Mamodos that he truly respected and believed to be a friend.
"Oh please. Don't bother with all that pomp and ceremonial junk. This is the Human World. None of it matters here anyway."
"Very well…Zatch." mumbled Zero, a little nervous. On a brighter note, he continued "And now, I think it's time you reacquainted yourself with my partner. You remember Rahkshi, right?"
There you go. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks Rahkshi500 for approving the description of Zero's wings, and sorry for not including you more in the chapter. This was mainly focused on Zero's wings (that by the way, was the hardest part to write, and I still screwed it up).
And now, the Math:
I have 17 reviews
There are1914 hits on the story.
That is about one review for every 113 people.
LAZY! REVIEW ALREADY! I dont even care if its a flame. I just want to know what you think. If I dont get some feedback here, I won't update often. The more reviews I get, the more motivation there is for me to review!