New Testament 038: Up the Garden Path

So they had found the next item, a golden Ring. "Is that one of those.." Elias guessed it was part of the series that also held his Puzzle. "Indeed. And a very convenient one at that. If what you said about the priests and memory world was true, this item has the power to find other Items. With my machines we can amplify that power and locate all other items." He seemed rather eager about it. "This is great, but where is it?" As Christine asked this, the screens changed again. "It's somewhere in France." They showed an open-area exhibit with an Egyptian theme. "That easy huh? How exactly did you come to find this place" Cleo was skeptic about the location. "Oh trust me, the details of the analysis would not interest you. It involves so many programs and contingencies." Simmons turned the screen off again. "What about the barrier, have they made any progress with it?" Nero asked quickly. "I fear not. Cable has left to convene with the new officer in charge, he will report back when they have some news, bad or good."

"Well we can not wait for that." Christine said. "She is right. If we can we find the Ring we can find all the other items with it." So the question was, who to send. "All of my eager apprentices will assist you in this matter." Ceasar and Madlyn smiled, Lydia shrugged. "Just don't expect us to do all the work." The Teacher then turned to another student. "It is also better if you stay here, Elias.. Prospero. Down here we can protect you in case Archon sends one of his projections. If he even knows we're here." But not everyone liked that idea. "Like we trust you with them chuckles, me and Colin are staying here too." Cleo snapped. "Oh by all means stay here with your new friend." He did not seem to mind, unlike Sairve. "Oh, I never get to go anywhere.." Meanwhile Nero approached Rose. "Ehr, Christine.. are you sure about this? I mean.." He was concerned, allthough physically she had almost completely healed, she had gone through a rough time with Archon. "We have to do this, Nero. Don't worry, I will be fine."

So they took the medical helicopter to their airport. It was a bit bigger than the military vehicles Archon had destroyed, but not as fast. "You'd think an ambulance with wings would go faster." Lydia was not very used to flying something like this. At least it could carry more people, Nero, Jackson and Christine had all come along to search for the Puzzle. "Now they said jet is being refueled at the gas station, after all we have used it a lot lately. So we're going to have to wait at least an hour before it can take off." So there was no rush anyway, that's what Ceasar was getting at. "Still, any delays will work to our disadvantage." Said Nero who would much rather be working with Cable to investigate the barrier around the city. "We understand that you want to save William, Nero. We all do, but we are going to have to trust on our friends and connections to come up with something." Jackson told him. At this point the airport came in view of the chopper. "Trust huh.." Something about that word sounded so inappropriate right now.

"All of this still feels so alien to me." Elias said as he walked down the halls of the empty filming studio above ground. "Golden items with magical powers, enemies from another world that can teleport and blow stuff up, ghosts from the past. And you are also telling me there was an evil company that stole souls and now we work for one of them.." It was like a nightmare that never seemed to end. "You will get used to it." Cleo said, half-sincerely. She was not even that used to it herself. "And if there is anything you need help with, we are here for you. Just do not misunderstand that sentence." She did not care for him in that way. "I myself was surprised too, Elias. But I have come to accept this new exiting world." Prospero said with a smile. "That is easy for you to say, you had that Item for your whole life. If anybody here would understand what was coming. It would be you." Colin remarked. Only a fortune teller would feel at home in this fantasy. "Ah but you should have seen it coming too, neh? A fellow diviner.."

"Ehr, I was wondering about this." Elias figured he might as well ask a question, indirectly breaking up some tension. "That guy said the Ring has a special power. Not a ghost of a king like mine does, but something else.. is that common for these 'Millenium Items'?" He held his puzzle, curious about what lied within. "I believe yours is a unique item, no other should have a spirit inside as the Pharaoh was the only one to put his soul in his own tool. As for the others." Cleo tried to recollect what each of them did. "Well the Key you saw has some vague powers of seeing evil or good within someone's heart. A glorified lie detector I call it. One of them could weigh energy and fuse it together, another could see into people's mind, and yet another could control people." Prospero stepped forward. "And then there is mine, my family heirloom." He showed the golden necklace once more. "It allows me to see into the future, anyone's destiny can be foretold... Unless they have a Millenium Item of their own apparently."

Colin twitched. "And you call me a bad diviner, you use that trinket all the time." Prospero turned around, unphased by his comment. "I'd expect you to say that, as those not favored by fate would think it is unfair. But the Tauk chose me, it sends its visions to me. I did not mean to insult you, Colin Sairve." That was what he said, yet he did not sound too upset about it. "Sir Gaines, as a fellow Item wielder, I think I should give you a proper demonstration of its power. You missed my first duel.." He looked at Colin again. "And if you feel some resentment against me, I will accept a duel from you. Then we can all see how wonderful the art of prediction is." The seer did not need to hear that twice. "You are on buddy." Cleo groaned and shook her head. "You walked right into that one. Can't you not feel insulted every time." Then again she'd probably want to duel Ceasar all over again if he made more of his inane utterances. "Well if would be nice to let someone else duel for once." The student grinned. "Good. Let's go to a less damaged site."

Though, as much damage as Conroy had caused to the building, it did nothing to the many hidden camareas Marcus had installed in various corners. "Oho?" He saw the four as they headed towards the upper floors. "This is exactly the kind of distraction I need. With them up there, my special agent ready, and Cable nowhere close enough to interfere, I will have enough time to set the plan in motion." He took his phone and sent a text message to a third party. "I am sorry old friend, but this has to be done. And in the end you should have seen it coming." He shut the phone, it was time to wait and see.

After the helicopter had landed, they walked towards the hangar bay of the airport. The plane was supposed to be placed there once its engines were filled upl. "Does that process normally take so long?" Nero asked himself as they all walked inside. "How should we know." Lydia however received a text message at that point. It was from Marcus, allthough she did not let anyone see what it said. "What is it?" Christine asked, and she turned to them. "Oh.. Apparently they were already done by the time we landed here, it should be ready and waiting." That flight must have taken longer than they thought. "Good." They continued their walk and entered the hangar. "It's rather dark in there.." They marched in through the narrow opening one by one, curious why the doors weren't wide open to accomodate for the jet inside, when the reason became clear.

"Wait.." Jackson turned around and tried to warn everyone. "Now!" Lydia yelled at Ceasar, who pressed a button on his remote. "A trap!?" They were closing quickly. "Why you.." To consumed with anger and confusion, Nero did not consider running for the exit. He might not have made it, but the one who came in last did. "You idiot, stop her!" Lydia shouted again, as Rose raced passed the male apprentice. "Wha." She was out before he could react, and then the hangar was completely sealed off. "Christine.." At least someone made it out, Jackson thought. "Let me guess, Marcus did not find the Ring after all.." He said to noone in particular. "Heh, 'fraid not. But you'd like to believe we did.."

"Guys?" Rose ascertained the silence behind her was not good news. "Oh no.." Her friends had failed to escape, and from this side she could not open the doors. "What is going on, why did they do it!? Is this a plan of Marcus, or.." Banging against the walls did not She realized the walls of the hangar were soundproofed, there was no way to know what was going on inside. "We should not have trusted those two, they have been working with Simmons for too long." She had to call for help, though now she noticed how desolate the airport was. Did people work here at all today? "I need a phone." She did not have one herself, but the helicopter must have had some radio equipment. "Cable can help us." She ran off towards the helicopter in the distance, only to see someone was already there. "Madlyn?!" That's right, she was an apprentice of Marcus too, could she too be working against them. "Oh hey Rose, you look nervous. Did something happen?" She asked innocently enough. "Madlyn.. I need to call someone..."

"Sure." She also stepped aside all too easily. But when Rose stepped inside she found that the keys were missing and the vehicle had been set on standby mode. "Lydia must have them, curse her.." She stepped outside again. "Ehr, did you mean to call someone with the helicopter's radio, or this?" The girl showed her the cellphone she always carried around. "Yes I can use that! Tha.." But before she could express gratitude, Madlyn retracted the device and hid it in her dress. "Well come and get it yourself." She laughed. "Wh-what?" Rose was taken aback. And her concern grew when she saw the case in her hand. "Why do you.. have those dueldisks with you?" She momentarily stopped laughing just to reply. "Why do you think?" And then she ran off, towards the open fields around the airport. "Wait!" Christine followed her, because she still saw nobody else around that could assist her. Marcus really had set his trap well. "Stop!" Once they were both standing on a grassy hill, she complied. And turned to face her.

"Why are you doing this?" Rose knew that this girl was in on whatever trap was set. "To keep you from calling for help." She answered, though that was not the 'why' Rose wanted solved. "I mean, why this? Why trap us now?" Halliday stared at her and broke out in another laughing fit. "Ahaha, that's such a cute expression: interrogation-mode Christine Rose!" She unlocked the case and tossed one dueldisk inside to her. "If you want to help them, and yourself... you will need to show me what you can do in a duel." She placed her on her wrist, inserting her deck. "You are crazy.." Yet she had little choice. "And this feels.. different." The device was heavier than before. "Like it already? That's the type of dueldisk that Conroy was using. It's also the reason I am doing this job for the Teacher." The disk turned on its holographic grid. "The army-series? You are saying you want to cause pain with these tools?" Was she serious about any of this. "We will just see how you like it, Rose. Prove to me that you can also have thorns, ahee.."

"Drat, one got away." Ceasar rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "Yeah she did, numbskull. If you spent less time looking at other girls.." Lydia said while facepalming. "Never mind, she is not our target here." Though she got over it quickly. "She is not?" Lydia quickly clobbered him in the head. "Don't you ever pay attention? You know what Marcus said to us!" They both looked at their remaining captives. "What did he say?" Jackson and Nero could not get out, Ceasar was controlling the remote. "Oh you can guess why we are after you, Jackson.." Doe placed his hand on his chest. "That's it. The Key, we know you have it. Cable gave it to you because he felt it would be risky to keep taking it with him that close to Archon." Sadly their deductive work was quite accurate. ".. Is this all about the key? You could have stolen it any time you wanted, why break up ties now? Why pretend you found the Ring, why drag us here?" Not even Nero expected Simmons to be this greedy. "It's because of your friend, William."

"What?"

"Allow me to explain: Marcus discovered a way to break the barrier before the army did. However what he found out would not have pleased any of you. You see.." The two already unlocked their cases and took out their dueldisks. "His plan would involve sealing the gate shut entirely, permanently stranding your friend on the other side." Nero gasped. "He can not do that!" This reaction they expected. "He can, you just don't want to accept that he is gone. However we knew you would never agree, hence this trap here. It will keep you from interfering." It seemed their views could not be reconciled. "Of course we first need to have your Key before anyone gets tossed out of the Teachers team. That's what this duel will be for. Jackson I challege you!" Ceasar activated his disk. "Not so fast, I am here too." Nero however had one with him as well. "As am I" Lydia stepped next to her companion. "We will not let you win without a fight at least." Doe too took out his cards. "Oh good, we seem to have ourselves a tagteam. This will be interesting."

(To be Continued in New Testament 039: Wings of Steel)