Here it is. Chapter 50. To be honest I have no idea how long this fan fiction's going to last. I am impressed that we managed to get this far. I hope this chapter is pleasing to everyone. GeminiZKnight, thanks for your suggestion to show what was going on with Harthyn. I decided to use this chapter to try and show a little bit more of Harthynian culture since it technically only exists in my imagination, and to try to set things up for future events.
Chapter 50: Trouble at Home
Harthyn…
"But our children are still out there!" Mrs. Fay shouted at the chief of police.
The chief shrugged. "We've been searching for months all over the nation. But there's simply no sign of them. Wherever they are, it's not in the country."
"Then search the planet!" Mr. Norman shouted.
"Are you hearing yourself? We can't just search the planet. There are countries that would consider a search like that as an act of war."
"Then go to war! Find out children!"
The chief stood up. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do."
"Are you even taking this seriously?" Mrs. Valleys asked. "Our children were attacked at a public high school! A teacher is dead, and our children are nowhere to be found!"
"Miss, are you sure they even want to be found?" The chief asked. "The way I see it, a bunch of kids got together and hacked the computer systems to be unable to explain what happened. Then they got together, murdered the coach, and took his body somewhere where we couldn't find it."
Mr. Fay slammed his fist on the desk. "Our daughter would never do something like that!"
"And Nettie is too gentle to consider such an evil thing!" Mrs. Juarez said.
"Are you sure?" The chief asked. "My superiors are telling me it's been six months since all this happened, and they've vanished without a trace. That, to me, says they were responsible for an act of terrorism-"
"My daughter is no terrorist!" Mr. Kara shouted at him.
The chief looked at him. "Mr. Kara, you and your family are immigrants from Moruga, and many people are still bitter about how we won. Your daughter could've gotten involved with a group of extremists trying to get back at us."
"Shut up!" Mr. Kara snapped. "I've taught my daughter the ways of honor, of right. She would never do that."
"Yet she always got into fights throughout her school years."
"Only because of their son!" Mr. Kara pointed to Mr. and Mrs. Norman. Mr. Norman glared at him.
"Are you saying my son has something to do with why your daughter is messed up?" Mr. Norman asked.
"What did you say?" Mr. Kara asked.
Mr. and Mrs. Miyazaki got between them. "This isn't helping us find our children."
"Look, I really want to find them and find out what really happened to Mr. Under, but the Head of the country wants me to focus our resources on finding Doctor Anton Yeller. He's been missing for some time now." The Chief said.
Mrs. Gemini looked at him. "Yes, the news reported the disappearance of Doctor Madsane, and his labs have been cleared out not long after his latest project had been turned down."
"Now you see what's more important." The chief said. "If any of his stuff gets loose it'll make losing your children seem like a simple cut on your finger. Now if you'll excuse me my men and I need to find him."
Mr. Norman punched the wall. "That pompous, arrogant, good-for-nothing…"
"Dear." Mrs. Norman said. "Watch yourself."
"I'll watch myself when he gets off his butt and does something!"
Mr. Kara looked at him. "I'm not forgetting that you insulted my daughter."
"You insulted my son!"
"For good reason. Aurora tells me he's everything you Netokans are. Arrogant and stupid."
"You take that back or I'll…"
"Stop it!" Mr. Juarez said. "Our children are missing and the police are not going to do anything to help us. The best we can do is put aside our differences and work together."
Mrs. Miyazaki nodded. "Our children depend on it."
A woman came down the hallway. She looked to be from Moruga too, like Aurora and Mr. Kara. "Dear, have you…" She froze when she saw Mr. Norman. "You."
"You." Mr. Norman said.
Mr. Kara looked at his wife. "You know him?"
"You remember during the war I was captured and to be executed, but the soldier refused to carry out the order?" Mrs. Kara pointed at Mr. Norman. "That's the soldier." Mr. Kara looked at Mr. Norman.
"You saved the life of my wife." Mr. Kara said.
Mr. Norman looked away. "It had its consequences. My commanding officer, he viewed me as a traitor, and did everything he could to paint me like that. Many of his reports were dismissed, but he did enough damage to have me dishonorably discharged. He ruined my life."
"There is no honor in following an order to kill the innocent." Mr. Miyazaki said. "My own wife was there, and she was rescued by an escapee."
"And that's her." Mrs. Miyazaki pointed to Mrs. Kara.
"This is weird." Mr. Valleys said. "It's like something meant for us to meet."
"Indeed." They turned to see a robed man standing there. His robe was royal red with gold lining. His head and face were completely shaved, and he had on a pair of glasses. "It is no coincidence that your actions influenced each other, or that your children disappeared when they did."
"What are you saying?" Mrs. Norman asked.
The man looked at her. "It was all according to Gri's will."
All the parents later found themselves in the most holy building in the city. The Memory Sanctum was bustling with tourists, but their guide took them through a side door that wasn't open to the public. The Memorium, as the holy men were called, only allowed people back here if there was something important going on.
Mrs. Juarez stood in awe of the vast records that had been kept, supposedly from the dawn of time. Standing over it all was a great marble and gold statue of the great gryphon Gri. According to legend when men were starting out many were choosing wickedness and would've been wiped out. However Gri looked into the hearts of the people, and saw those who still choose good. He gathered them together and saved the human race from annihilation.
Their guide took out a scroll. "You're familiar with the legend of the Warriors of Light?"
Mrs. Norman nodded. "They were warriors selected by Gri to guard the planet and protect all that was good from the forces of evil. But they died out a long time ago, and no one's ever been worthy of that title."
"Because the time was not right for them to return." Their Memorium guide said. Opening the scroll, he said, "It was prophesied centuries ago that a great evil would rise and threaten the universe itself. When the time came Gri would select a new generation to become Warriors of Light, and save the universe from destruction."
Mrs. Valleys looked at the scroll. "It's her. The person students reported seeing at the school." All the parents looked at the scroll. Sure enough, there was an image of a woman in a black robe with horns standing over the people of Harthyn.
"But why our children? What can they do against this sorceress?" Mrs. Gemini asked.
Mr. Foggs looked at him. "What makes you think she is a sorceress?"
"How else do you explain what happened at the school."
"Only Gri knows why your children needed to be chosen." The Memorium guide said. "But it is not this sorceress I fear. It is who the records say she is the servant of."
Far away, on an island, a massive creature stirred. One of the means of keeping this world safe, it had been disturbed by what he could sense. The people were growing more and more evil, and messing with things that should not be messed with. Why Gri insisted that they be kept safe he would never know. Still, he was a servant of Gri, and what Gri commanded he would do.
"Testukyo." He heard Gri say. Testukyo opened an eye to see the gryphon Gri standing before him. He raised his scaly head and bowed before his master.
"What brings you to Isla de Kaiju?" Testukyo asked Gri.
"Trouble is brewing." Gri said. "Evil from beyond the world is threatening Harthyn."
Testukyo growled. "I will not allow any harm to come to this world."
"A new generation of heroes is being prepared." Gri said. "But they will need your help. A war is coming which will allow monsters of great power to rise."
"What must I do?" Testukyo asked.
"Go to the city of Netokan. Do not enter it but wait. Only rise when the forces of darkness invade." With that Gri vanished.
Testukyo rose to his feet. He hated going to cities. So bright and so loud. Still if that was where the darkness was coming then he would stop it. Testukyo turned and began to walk towards the ocean.
The humans that thought he and the other kaiju were imprisoned here got to action. They rolled up in their robotanks and turned their turrets to face him. Testukyo chuckled inside. Their toys never ceased to amuse him, the way humans thought they could hurt a kaiju. They all were willing to pretend to be hurt by the humans, but Testukyo never felt more than a tickle.
There it was. Their electro-lasers firing from the turrets and robotanks. Testukyo growled just to scare them and pressed on. The soldiers below began firing at him. They had to be joking.
When it became clear to them that he wasn't going to stop they scattered. Testukyo roared for the sake of it and plunged into the lagoon. The water felt good against his scaly hide. The barrier that they thought kept the kaiju on the island loomed in front of him. Testukyo shook his head. All of them could leave at will. Still, might as well have a little fun.
Raising his tail Testukyo swung it around. It collided with one of the towers that kept the barrier up. The force field flickered and finally faded. Testukyo heard the people panicking behind him. They would try to improve it to keep the other kaiju from leaving, but he had no interest in sticking around. Testukyo dived underwater and began swimming towards the city the humans called Harthyn.
And there you go. I hope you enjoyed learning more about what Harthyn is like. Like I said I tried to use this to set up for future events. Next chapter we get back to business. Oh, and I did replace Chapter 20 with something new. I didn't want to replace what was there before, but it was really helping the story, so I had to give it the axe. Sorry SMARTAgentKC.
