Hello, StarryMoon33! IT WAS SOO SAD. DX Yeah, I agree with that. But things won't be fixed anytime soon... YAS. And yeah... poor guy. :( Haha, maybe sometime. If I remember. XD
Hello, PyroShockZ! Your review to Chapter 11: Not telling! XD And yes, yes he has!
Your review to Chapter 12! Yep! He's got a kiddo! And good! The surprise was intentional. XD
Your review to Chapter 13: Yep! And yep again. XD
Your review to Chapter 14: Somebody is a bit shocked, huh? XD And lol, I catch your drift. Haha. XD
Your review to Chapter 15: Yep, she is. And don't worry, you won't have to wait too long! :D
Your review to Chapter 16: That about sums it all up... And I'll check it out! :D
~台風の目~
"Blade of the Immortals"
~台風の目~
The area the Nocturne Clan was currently residing was a place of corruption and darkness and death. The few trees and other plants that remained in the area were wilted and fragile. The ground was barren, nothing but hard-packed dirt and the odd rock here and there. The sky was darkened by black clouds. It was here that the Clan had set up camp. Shade sat in the middle of it all on a rock twice as tall as person and as wide as she was tall. Her legs dangled over the edge and her right cheek rested in her hand as she idly watched and listened. All around her, her clanmates spoke, and not one of them had anything good to say. "We've been much too lenient on our enemies," a dark voice complained. "Those fools should be writhing in agony right now, not sleeping peacefully in some damn protected mountain range."
"They should be living in fear," another dark voice, this one female, agreed. "Every moment of their lives should be spent fearing the shadows in the dark and dreading the day those shadows inevitably strike."
"Patience," Shade murmured even as more voices muttered their complaints and protests. "Much patience will be required to achieve our goals. We were hasty once, and thus lost the opportunity to permanently rid ourselves of the Babylonian king. We shall not make such mistakes again."
"If we wait too long, the enemies will only continued to grow stronger and we will be less capable of defeating them!" a random soldier snapped.
Shade's dark head turned toward the man. "You dare question Ix's direct orders?"
The man faltered. His head lowered, fearful and submissive. "No," he all-but whispered. "Never."
With a disbelieving hum, Shade jumped down off her rock and drew her blade. Without remorse or any hint of mercy, she slashed her clanmate across the face. He let out a scream and covered the wound with both hands. It would scar, and everyone knew it. He would be forever marked. "Then let this be a reminder to continued not to do so." Such punishments were commonplace in this dark society, and not one single person or creature made any sort of an attempt to save the man from his painful fate. Satisfied that the man would not repeat his offence any time soon, the dark and wicked woman sheathed her slightly bloody blade and returned to her rock. All that was left for her to do for now was wait. Unlike the man she had just attacked, she knew better than to distrust their leader. So she did as she had been commanded... and waited.
~台風の目~
It was very late at night when Jet walked through the double doors leading into the Babylonian palace he had called home for the last century. It was rare that he traveled through space (even if only by teleporting) without leaving his children in the care of a select few specific people, but he trusted that they would be safe in Hyale for the time being. They were, after all, surrounded by allies, and not just Sonic and the others. The very people of Hyale itself were allies of his. The Babylonian king had many allies in many places... and far too many enemies to count. But he brushed that idle thought aside as he walked through the spacious and huge front room of his home. He was here for a very few select reasons. One, to check up on things (not that he didn't trust Kath to keep the kingdom running smoothly, but still). Two, to speak with Kath himself. Three, to retrieve a few things from his room. He figured he could get all of this done before his kids woke up. That would certainly be the ideal situation.
As he headed for a beautiful carpeted staircase on the far side of the room, a woman (a member of the palace staff) jogged up to him. He recognized her immediately as Sho'hara, whom he'd put in charge of the palace's defense systems less than eight months ago. Silent, he paused, waiting to hear what she had to say. "Sir," she began, in spite of the fact that he'd told everyone who'd ever called him that not to at least six times each, "the planetary barriers are stable, as are the barriers around the civilizations across the world, but the palace barriers have been experiencing some strange energy fluctuations since last night. I may know what to do to repair the issue, but it's a tad risky..."
Without remorse, he cut in before she could finish. "I don't care. Just get it done." He turned away again and resumed walking as he tossed a simple order over his shoulder. "Do whatever you feel is necessary." Choosing to ignore her reply and the sound of her hurrying away, he began climbing the stairs, headed for the top floor. There were so many floors between the one he'd just been on and the top one, but he'd made this upwards journey so many times by now that it felt like nothing to him to do it once more. Upon reaching the top floor (a feat he accomplished in mere minutes), he began walking down familiar halls. Bypassing his bedroom, the kids' bedrooms, Kath's bedroom, and several other familiar doors, he approached Kath's large observatory, which was built perfectly attached to the palace. Since he was one of the only people allowed the enter the observatory without knocking, he took advantage of the privilege (such as it was) and walked in. The much older hawk was, as usual, sitting at one of his tables while he wrote on a paper about something or other. It didn't take Jet more than a second or two to figure out the Kath was working on the younger hawk's paperwork. But that was unimportant at the moment. When Kath looked up, Jet spoke. Almost subconsciously, he spoke in Ancient Babylonian, rather than the modern version of the language or even the Universal Language. He chalked it up to habit. "Eina ko nanin." ("I need to speak with you." Can be taken to mean, "I need to speak my mind.")
Kath blinked once, then inclined his head and gestured for Jet to sit down. "Trela kan?" he asked as Jet took a seat in the room's only other chair. Since Kath was at the head of the table, Jet was both a little ahead of him and to his right. ("What of?")
"Urushin," Jet responded sagely. ("The enemies." Can be taken to mean, "The dark" or "Darkness".)
"Teira nul un tola Urushin teil meina tel'run," Kath murmured sagely. "Elo'na Felorn ein." ("Those who seek to harness Darkness may find themselves consumed by it instead. The Felorn are no exception.")
"Seil no'ran kecha," Jet responded. ("Therein lies the problem.")
"Kochek?" Kath inquired. ("Is this what concerns you?")
"Soka," Jet admitted after a small moment. ("In part.")
"Keir nin'o vel'in to'raj," Kath replied. A small pause, then he asked, "Da kal?" ("You leave this world to ensure it will still be here when you get back. Is this not so?")
Slowly, Jet inclined his head and replied, "An." ("Yes.")
"Eiran tol'kan nei'ana run," Kath responded simply, voice soft as ever. "S'ola, dankerei un'nol." ("Then you needn't be concerned. At least, not about the people's words.")
"Dei keina atin fel'nor an'tu," was Jet's reply. He barely noticed that his words were getting more formal. "Reina venturi kezan e'lurin." ("I'm their king. They expect me to listen to them.")
It was then that Kath chose to switch to the Universal Language, and quite abruptly, but Jet barely reacted to the change. "This power, the power of your rule over this world, is your privilege… and your burden," he murmured. "But being in power doesn't mean you are under any requirement to listen to every complaint people may make. Most are not complaining to begin with."
"Enough of them are," Jet responded quietly.
"If you are looking for advice on what to do," Kath said, "then listen to me. The future can never truly be reached. Every moment was once something distant to us all. The future becomes the present. The future is now. But there is no future for the dead. If you wish for this world to perish, then do what those few people are saying. Withdraw from the war. Stop lending the Mobians aid."
That awoke a spark of temper in Jet's heart, as Kath likely expected it to. However, he hid it from every sense so none would know he was feeling it. None save for Kath himself, however, as the older man was always able to read him anyway, somehow. "I never claimed to be considering the idea of leaving them to fight alone."
"Then cease your worries," Kath told him calmly. "They will only cloud your mind. You know this."
Letting out a soft hum in reply, Jet stood up. Whatever unnamed concerns he'd had before felt eased now, and he was grateful for it. His gratitude was unspoken, but Kath seemed to understand as always. Giving the older hawk a small nod of farewell, as they both knew he would need to leave the world again soon, he turned and exited the observatory, shutting the door behind him. Moving silently, he walked to his room, which was recognizable to any immediately by its ornate double doors. Opening the right one, he stepped inside and walked to his desk. After teleporting his backpack to himself from Mobius, he opened his desk and pulled a couple small devices from it and placed them carefully into his bag. He went to close his close the drawer, only to pause.
Sitting almost innocently in the drawer was a small dark rock that glowed faintly with evil power. Just by looking at it, he could tell it was from another world. And, of course, it hadno business being in his desk. Expression unreadable, he reached out and grabbed the stone, heedless of the wicked energy it was giving off. It was... warm to the touch, as though it had been wrapped in a thick blanket and left in the sun for hours. Strange, he thought quietly. A long moment passed him by, then he simply dropped the stone into his bag for now, closed said bag, stood, then teleported back to Mobius.
~台風の目~
On this night, Jet, Wave, and Espio weren't the only ones who found themselves unable to sleep. Sonic, too, was wide awake at the moment. Far too many questions swirled throughout his mind for him to find any form of rest. So, so many questions continued to bother him, some of them regarding his enemies, some of them regarding the two grown Babylonians who had so recently joined (or rejoined, in Jet's case) the group, and some related to some slightly miscellaneous things.
Who are our enemies, really?
Who's leading them?
What do they want?
Who was Selene?
Did Jet love her?
What else happened on Babylon that he's not telling us?
How much does Tammy know about him and what he went through?
Where is Kath now?
Will he help us?
What will we do if he decides not to?
Who else can we turn to for help?
Do the enemies know of the Chaos Emeralds?
Do they know of Astral Babylon?
Are any of those treasures at risk?
Question upon question continued to plague his mind throughout the night and on into the morning. It wasn't until about an hour after breakfast that he finally pulled out of his thoughts for even a short while. The adults of the group were again having a sort of meeting (even as they watched the kids). "We need to keep track of the tools we have available to us," the young hero said seriously as he took a seat under a tree. "Vehicles and weapons and the like."
When no one else immediately spoke, Tails apparently opted to speak. He was sitting just a couple feet to Sonic's left. "Well, we already know what ships and weapons I have, and I can easily make new planes or ships if necessary."
"Daddy has a ship, too!" Lia (who was sitting in her father's lap across from Sonic) happily reported as though no one had known this before. "And lots of guns!" Amy smiled at the young girl, amused by the child's enthusiasm.
"I think Dad was more referring to the fact that we kinda need to keep tabs on everything we have," Silver said. He was sitting with his wife and daughter near Tails "You know, so if we end up with a loss of some kind, even if it's minor, it won't go unnoticed."
"And you guys should probably be made aware of what supplies he and I have to offer," Tammy added as she and Jet traded a glance. The two were sitting side-by-side like close friends would under an especially tall and bushy tree about five feet to Shadow's right. They were near the very edge of the group, and Hannah and Lucas were playing close by.
"That would be nice," Knuckles responded while helping his wife keep an eye on their young son. Jason was currently far too busy playing with rocks to be getting into any sort of trouble, though, so the scrutiny was currently unnecessary. The three of them were seated to Sonic's immediate right, as was most everyone else.
With a small nod, Tammy gave Jet a sort of hand gesture that seemed to communicate, Give it here, or something to that effect. Not missing a beat, Jet grabbed his odd white gun and tossed it to her, all in one fluid motion. Suri tried to grab it as he did so, but failed to even so much as touch it. He appeased her with a leaf as Tammy caught the gun and spoke. "This is one of the most powerful weapons we have at our disposal," she explained to Sonic and the others. "It's unique design makes it perfect for concentrating the user's aura into short laser-like beams that can fire faster than any bullet. These guns alone are enough to take down entire ships if the people wielding them are aiming well enough."
"That's amazing..." Tails murmured, clearly fascinated. "Can anyone use them?"
"Not unless you're a Babylonian," Tammy answered, seeming apologetic. "Only our people have the ability to do more with our auras than just prevent them from being sensed. And even then some Babylonians here and there aren't born with those powers, either."
Tails looked down. "Darn..." he mumbled in disappointment. "That would've been so cool..."
"What other weapons do you two have?" Amy asked as Tammy tossed Jet's gun back to him. He caught it effortlessly in one hand.
"I have a basic sword," Tammy reported. "It's nothing special, really, but it's a bit difficult to break, which is useful. I have my own gun, too. And as for his other big weapon... Well, it's hard to believe if you don't see it for yourself." Turning to Jet with a small, knowing smile, she suggested, "Why don't you bring it here?"
Not saying a word, Jet stood and summoned a sword to himself. It appeared, fully sheathed, in his right hand. The scabbard and handle of the blade were were beautifully decorated with gold, and it was clear even to the untrained eye that no one but the best had crafted the weapon they were looking at. Bending down briefly, he gently laid Suri down on her small blanket in the grass, then straightened again. Trading the sheathed blade into his left hand, he unsheathed it. The actual blade itself was as perfect and beautiful as the rest of it, and Kaden (being the blacksmith he was) was very obviously fascinated with the weapon in an instant. Remembering the sword they'd read about in the journal, Wave ventured to ask, "Is that... Alkarus?"
"Yep," Tammy replied. "It's the pride and joy of the Immortals, the most powerful weapon they ever crafted. It's an amazing weapon, let me tell you." Her smile changed into a grin. "Oh, and it's not just a sword. Any weapon that you can think of that has any sort of blade or blade-like piece to it, Alkarus can become." As she'd expected, a few members of the group (such as Shadow) were skeptical of this, but she was undeterred. Still grinning, she said to Jet, "Show 'em." Without further ado but not exactly seeming fond of being the center of attention at the moment, Jet did as he was bid. Before the group's very eyes, the sword changed to a dagger, then a spear, then a battleaxe, then a scythe, then a bow with a single arrow. Then, apparently deciding that he was finished with this demonstration, he turned it back to a sword and sheathed it, sat back down, and laid it down in the grass beside him. While he picked his sweet and innocent little baby back up, Tammy spoke up again. "See?" she said, almost sounding proud.
Locke let out a low whistle to indicate how impressed he was, and Kaden and Jet for whatever reason traded a glance. Perhaps due to how strangely similar the two of them were, they were able to understand each other without words. Jet tossed the sheathed blade to Kaden, who (looking pleased) began to examine it. Sonic chose that moment to speak up. "What about vehicles? Do either of you have anything?"
Jet nodded, but Tammy spoke. "Yes, we do. He has a couple ships, the same size as your X-Tornado and Tails's Blue Typhoon, respectively." The fact that she knew how big the Blue Typhoon was didn't surprise anyone at all, as she and Tails had spent a long while talking together on the way to this mountainous refuge. "We also have vehicles akin to hoverbikes. They're called Sparrows, and they're very fast and very durable. Jet's is in pretty bad shape at the moment, but he can easily borrow Kath's in the meantime if need be."
And that was it. There was nothing else to discuss, and everyone knew it. The conversation trailed off bit by bit, then everyone began to go their separate ways for the time being. Only when Sonic, Jet, and Suri were the only ones left in immediate earshot did Sonic finally stand and walk over to his old friend. The hawk (who had allowed Kaden to walk off with his sword for now) was looking down at his baby girl as she played with a stuffed rabbit that she seemed to positively adore, but he looked up when Sonic reached him. Sonic sat down in front of him, leaving a respectable few feet of space between them. "Were you able to get ahold of Kath?" Jet inclined his head. "What did he say? About helping us, I mean."
Piercing blue eyes looked away, back down at young Suri. "He will aid us when he finds the time," was all Jet said.
At this point, Sonic believed that was a lot better than nothing. As such, he accepted the response straight away and changed the subject to a new matter. "Listen, before I leave you alone, I really need an answer to something." Again, Jet looked up at him. For once, he actually made eye-contact, and Sonic felt himself smile a little, almost encouragingly, for just a moment. Then the smile faded away to be replaced by a serious look that he knew his friend knew how to read. "I know you told me to figure it out for myself, but all I'm ever doing is making assumptions until you confirm or deny my thoughts." This sentence earned nothing more than a blink. "Are you an Immortal, Jet?"
There was a very long period of silence. Sonic gradually began to think that he would never receive an answer. But, of course, just as he started to stand to leave, Jet broke eye-contact and spoke. "...Yes."
Sonic completely paused, uncertain what to do or say. At a loss for words, he simply nodded, finished standing, and walked away.
~台風の目~
3,406 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Posted (at about 8:50 a.m.) 10-05-16.
EDIT: Forgot to add pronunciation help before. Here they are: "Ix": "Ih-x"
"Eina ko nanin.": "Ae-nah koe nah-nihn"
"Trela kan": "Trell-ah kahn"
"Urushin": "Oo-roo-shin"
"Teira nul un tola Urushin teil meina tel'run": "Tae-rah nool oon toe-lah oo-roo-shin tael mae-nah tell-roon"
"Elo'na Felorn ein": "Eh-loe-nah fell-orn"
"Seil no'ran kecha": "Sael noe-rahn keh-chah"
"Kochek": "Koe-check"
"Soka": "Soe-kah"
"Keir nin'o vel'in to'raj": "Kaer neen-oh vell-ihn toe-raj (soft "j" sound)"
"Da kal": "Dah-kahl"
"An": "Ahn"
"Eiran tol'kan nei'ana run": "Ae-rahn toel-kahn nae-ah-nah roon"
"S'ola, dankerei un'nol": "Soe-lah dahn-keh-rae oon-nole"
"Dei keina atin fel'nor an'tu": "Dae kae-nah ah-tihn fell-nor ahn-too"
"Reina venturi kezan e'lurin": "Rae-nah vehn-too-ree keh-zahn eh-loo-rihn"
EDIT 2: One more thing I forgot to mention before: the idea to call the hoverbikes "Sparrows" comes from the game Destiny, as well as it's expansions (i.e. Destiny: Rise of Iron).