Finally past chapter 20; Halleughia!! X3 Again, thanks to all who've read this so far. You've made my life great by keeping this story alive! *tosses out boxes of cookies* Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Legendia, any sci-fi movie or any relations to them.
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The trip was a fairly short one, getting back to Werites Beacon from the underground otter village. The sky was glittering with stars, most of the smaller and less noticeable ones were faded against the powerful light beams of the street lamps. Crickets chirped in the late summer evening as feet trudged quietly through town.
I felt exhausted after all that happened, yet my mind was buzzing about what had transpired earlier that day. From the announcement of ninjas invading to Solon to the Oresoren explaining Jay's past… The battle with the green beetle and getting my eyes poisoned was just the icing on the cake. My left eye was still throbbing from that occurrence. I thought back to what the three otter brothers told us had told us…
"That man was the one who raised Jay. …used as a decoy and got away… Used to never smile… …we don't want him to go back to the way he used to be. …so cheerful around you guys."
I closed my mind as I thought back to that bloodthirsty Solon. That man was truly terrifying; I can see how Jay was scared of him. Hell, I'd do pretty much anything not to meet up with him again.
The cold air sent a chill down my spine and I decided to end my walk sometime soon… I quietly returned to my room and willed myself to go to sleep. But the startled thoughts churning through my mind kept me from falling into unconsciousness. …Well, I was always a bit of an insomniac.
- - - - - - - - - -
-poke-
'Mmm… Stop poking me…'
-poke poke poke-
'Stooop iiit…'
-JAB-
"Oww!"
My eyes opened to see a tanned figure poking me in the ribs. I groaned, "Go 'way, Moses…"
He pouted and pinched my cheek, "C'mon Onyx, get up!"
"Nooooo…" I moaned back, slapping away his hand away and rolling over in bed, closing my eyes once more. After a few moments I sighed to myself, trying to get back into the sweet realm of dreams. I suddenly felt two arms wrap around my shoulders and knees and lift me out of bed, sheets still attached. "Kyaaa! Moses, what are you doing!?" I squeaked, squirming out of his grip.
"Well if you're not gonna go willingly then I'll just take ya there; it's almost 11 already!" Moses crossed his arms, pointing to the clock on the wall.
I groaned, "Aww… What does Will want this time?"
"Actually, it's Jay who called all of us."
That got my attention. "Jay? What does he want?" I questioned, a bit curious how the iron eren was doing. I doubt he fully recovered from seeing Solon again after just one night.
"Beats me. He just wanted all of us ta meet up at Will's place." was Moses' response. His tone informed that he was just as suspicious as I was.
I yawned, "Ok ok… I'll just go get some normal clothes on." I walked over to my dresser while he left the room a bit too quickly. Good idea. As I successfully got dressed, I looked over at the bed with a sleepy gaze and slowly smiled to myself.
Outside, Moses bounced on his foot impatiently. He knocked on the door again, "Hey; you done yet?" No answer. "…Onyx?" He turned the doorknob and peeked inside. What he saw was myself, on the bed, fast asleep again. The redhead's eye twitched as he yelled, "WAKE UP!!"
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As Moses and I entered Will's house, the group was all looking over at Jay, who seemed perfectly normal. "So Jay, you sure you're alright?" Senel asked.
"We heard about Solon." Chloe spoke up.
"The scallop brothers told us what happened." Norma continued.
The young eren was silent, then turned and mumbled something to himself, "Honestly, those three can't keep their mouths shut." He turned around and responded, "I'm fine, really."
"Says the kid who spent the night holed up in his room all scared stiff." Moses commented.
"I wasn't scared, just a bit surprised." He countered.
I suddenly let loose a large sneeze and everyone gazed over at me as I sniffled. "Sorry; I'm allergic to bullshit. Please continue."
After a glare from Jay, he continued, "So let's start this meeting." he looked at everyone before continuing with his next line. "I want to go eliminate Solon."
"But--" Norma tried to say, but was interrupted.
"Isn't that a bit dangerous, Jay?" Will asked, crossing his arms in question.
"In the case of ninja, the one who strikes first wins. Every moment we procrastinate gives him time to prepare and that puts us even more at a disadvantage."
"But what about--" Norma started again.
"What about the case with Shirley? She is her target, after all…" Fenimore brought up.
"Shirley would be safer with everyone here, I think." Grune breezily said, and Moses nodded. "She does bring up a good point."
"I want to go with you guys." Shirley announced, and once that girl made a decision she was stubborn enough to stick to it.
"But where exactly are these ninja anyways?" Norma finally got the chance to spit out.
"Don't worry, I already found out they're located at the Ruins of Frozen Light."
"Wow, you sure was busy in your room, weren't you?" Moses commented.
"I told you, I wasn't scared." Jay sighed, again in denial.
"Ok then, let's go hunt down some ninja then!" Norma cheered, trying to lighten the mood.
"Charge!" Grune happily copied her.
After getting some breakfast, we all took off for the Ruins of Frozen Light. When we entered, I felt like I had just walked into some kind of sci-fi movie. Not Star Wars; that was the elevator that led to the quiet lands. …Maybe Aliens or something like that? Ah well, never mind that. After walking through the door, Norma yelled again, "Let's go get So-So!"
"Charge!" Her green partner-in-crime cheered again. All but Moses and Jay sweat dropped.
"By So-So, you mean Solon, right?" Chloe asked.
"Of course!" Norma nodded enthusiastically.
"You sound awfully proud of it…" Fenimore responded, sidestepping a foot.
"What, does anyone else have a better suggestion?"
I knew of a few, but none were very appropriate for this fan fiction. So I kept my mouth shut.
"So long as we can understand you, you can call him whatever you want." Senel finalized the deal and Norma raised a hand again. "Great, now let's go!"
In unison, Moses and Grune said, "Yeah!" and "Chaaaaarge!"
While they left, the rest of us followed and I noticed Jay's expression was downcast. I yelled over at him to join and he snapped out of it, mask back on so quickly that anyone who looked twice couldn't have been sure it was really there.
Continuing through the monsters, we finally reached part of the end of a passageway. Shirley looked around and remarked how quiet it was while some of us agreed. "It seems… Too quiet; where is everyone."
"Even if they had known we were here, they probably would have alerted each other by now." Walter remarked, looking around the entrances for a camera or something like that.
Moses leaned back in a carefree pose, "Maybe they just up and left when they heard we were comin'!"
Jay was quiet through this, and Moses ached for a response, or an insult. Either or would work. "Hey Jay; you need some of Walter's cookin' to get ya to talk some more?"
The blond Ferines gave Moses a withering glare, "Oh, shut up about that already!"
"I'd rather not get force-fed by another ingrate like you, thanks…" Jay retorted and Moses simply huffed at the insult.
"Is it just me, or did that seem kinda forced?" Senel asked, rubbing the back of his scalp.
"Jay, you've been acting odd a bit lately, is something wrong?" Norma asked, acting a bit out of character for a moment.
"I said it already, I'm fine." In denial again, Jay contradicted her.
"Then stop making that face like you gotta take a big crap." Moses said and everything seemed to be silent for a moment besides my slight smile in amusement.
Chloe stared at him in shock, "Sandor, watch your mouth!"
"What, did I say something wrong?" He asked back in confusion.
"I… I shouldn't have to tell you!" Chloe stuttered.
I was too bored with the conversation to continue anymore. I wandered down the path and looked around. Those off violet light certainly were odd looking, but beautiful, almost hypnotic in that continuous motion similar to breathing. Inhale. Exhale. In and out again, it was making me slightly dizzy looking at it. Before I thought of going back to everyone and having us continue on our way, I noticed a sparkle in the corner of one of the circles. Curious, I walked closer to the door, following the light on the tiny strand of string. I noticed it was interconnected by many little ones now, all weaving in and out like a--
I stopped dead in my tracks, an inkling of fear creeping into my insides and twisting them. My eyes became more sharp and my ears defined as adrenaline sped through my system. I saw a string move and I slowly looked upwards to see a giant monster with eight hairy legs and red eyes, all staring at me. I froze and slowly backed away, a scream rising in my throat as the gigantic black widow let out a high pitched screech.
The others immediately turned in my direction and as they took up battle positions the battle began.
I ran back, summoning my scythe as I shook uncontrollably. As everyone else ran towards it, I edged towards the exit. Call me a coward if you like, but facing an oversized version of your worse fear wasn't exactly a walk in the park. I bumped into Fenimore and she gave me a look that said death if I ran. I nodded, giving a nervous smile and took a deep breath, charging with a battle cry. I tried slashing at it's legs, but it simply climbed back into it's web whenever it was about to be hit. Annoying to say the least!
I heard a scream as it lifted Chloe and Moses into the air, spinning them in a fine net of web and sticking them next to it on the web. I narrowly dodged it's leg and tried jamming my scythe into it. It worked like a charm; the huge spider let out another screech in pain, but now it's focus was on me alone. It swung me from side to side, my grip slipping and as I fell back to the floor with a few bruises, my scythe stuck to the web fairly near the captured sword-wielder.
"Great…" I muttered to myself as I backed away to yell at Walter, "Hey! Mind helping out those two up there and getting my weapon back?"
The blond nodded and backed up, summoning his teriques wings and flying upwards to try and release Chloe first.
I noticed the spider's movements were speeding up and felt déjà vu. I dug around in my bag and found a magic lens. Peering through it, I saw info on the edges: weaknesses, strengths, power, magic, ect. Then I saw a flash of red; a chained collar between it's thorax and abdomen. I yelled over at the spell casters, "It's another one of those weird monsters! Aim for the chain between it's abdomen and thorax!"
I looked up and saw that Chloe had been freed, sliding down the wall and attacking the monster with a hatred-filled aura. I helped get gels to the others, but without my scythe I was pretty much useless. I heard a thump next to me as Moses then was freed, shooting javelins and attacks at the monster's collar. From the distance the iron eren had, the crystal eren and Moses was all that could really harm it.
I saw the spider retreat for a moment and gaze over at the figure next to the web, having almost freed my scythe from it's clutches. It then ran along the web towards him, and I felt a lump rise into my throat.
"Walter!" Fenimore yelled, turning her fire attack onto the spider's head. The firestorm raged wind and fire against it, and the spider screeched again, but managed to bite onto the retreating Ferines' leg.
Walter simply glared hatred at the spider and said through gritted teeth, "What are you looking at?" With a last tug, my scythe came free and sliced across it's eyes. It shrieked again and let go, allowing him to safely drop down to the ground level. He wobbled a bit, but stood up straight, tossing my scythe back.
"Thanks a bunch!" I yelled, charging into battle once more.
"You owe me for that!" I heard him retort, and grinned when I saw an opening on the spider's underbelly while it was still screaming in pain. I slashed underneath it, causing it to double over and give the spell casters ample time to attack the monster with a combined attack. With a last javelin throw from our favorite bandit, the chain broke and the monster let out a crackling noise, slowly falling to the floor and disintegrated into thin air.
Looking down at the ground, I approached another figurine. This time, it was a golden-colored snake, it's tail winding around it's body to form a circle. Shrugging, I slipped it into my pocket without a second thought.
I looked over at the others, breathing hard but not incredibly injured. I let out a small sigh and walked over, "Is everyone ok?"
"Pretty much; nothing a day or two's rest won't cure." Chloe replied, fingering the tear in her jacket where the oversized arachnid had grabbed her.
Norma cast a revive spell on all of us and we were pretty much a-ok again, just a little tired. Looking onwards, we continued deeper into the ruins.
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We finally got to the deepest part, with what seemed like a computer room with a large screen stretched across the front. We all looked around for the secretive assassins, but no luck. "There's nothing here." I commented, more than a bit annoyed. All that way, and nothing!
Jay walked over to the computers and he gave an expression of recognition. "Find something, Jay?" Will asked.
Jay nodded and called, "Shirley, could you come take a look over here? There's something here written in Relares."
As Shirley walked over, Norma ran towards them, "Hey, let me see!" I felt a chill crawl down my spine from Jay's expression. It was like he was telling her to stay back… like she was running into a trap that she may not come out of. Something was definitely very, very wrong.
I opened my mouth to question Norma's actions, but it was silenced by a huge electric fence falling from the ceiling, separating the group from Jay, Shirley and Norma. "Wha--?" Shirley started to speak, but a blow to the neck sent her to the ground, unconscious.
"Jay!? What the hell are you doing!?" Moses yelled in disbelief.
Norma tried to say something, but was silenced by a look from Jay as he took her hands behind her back. I saw him whisper something into her ear, but what I couldn't tell.
Then a cloud of smoke appeared as Solon came out of it. "Ah, good job Jay. Just as expected from my dear apprentice."
"Damn it; give back Shirley and Norma!" Senel angrily yelled.
Solon turned to all of us with a bored expression, "Ah, you all again."
"Come in here so I can tear that ugly look off your face!" Moses roared.
Solon simply sneered at him, looking at the cage they all were held in, "It's the perfect cage for a wild beast, don't you think? Maybe I'll put in a booth and charge admission! I love it, I absolutely love it!" He laughed with a sadistic smile on his face.
By this point Moses was visibly shaking with anger, and I could tell that he wasn't the only one near the breaking point. I glared at Jay and screamed, "Jay! What the hell's going; talk to us, damn it!" Jay simply stayed silent, but he didn't look at us.
"Beautiful!" Solon continued with his little speech. "The look of disbelief on your faces is absolutely perfect! It's a work of art. I can barely contain myself; this is life's true joy!"
"Cut the crap, old man! Let me out of this cage and I'll really give you a piece of art…" Walter snarled angrily while Senel held the same expression, gazing over at the unconscious Shirley on the floor.
Solon sighed and lifted an arm, calling in a two ninja that knocked out Norma and picked up the two girls. "This is why I do not converse with fools." He also raised an arm to summon a skeletal lizard in the corner of the cage. "Have fun chatting inside that beast's stomach!" The six then disappeared into another cloud of smoke.
The lizard was suddenly surrounded by black mist, and we gave each other startled looks. "Oh please don't turn into that round blob, please?" Fenimore asked herself.
No go, the mist miniaturized into a small black blob-like creature, which possessed the lizard and turned it into a huge headless fiend. "You jinxed it!" I retorted.
"No time for that, just attack it!" Senel yelled, and we charged after it, hoping for the best and to come out on top.
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Cliffhanger! Whew, that was a bit of a long chapter! It was hard to do the ending because I wasn't sure whether to bring Onyx along to the Mirage Palace to see the Jay/Oresoren/solon/Shirley cut scenes. But, in the end the couple was going to be JayxNorma, so I added her instead. What happens, well… I may make a bonus chapter on that. Depends on reviews! Hate it? Love it? Want to kill me for cliffy? Tell me; please review!