Celestial Warrior Moon:
Disclaimer:I do not own any Sailor Moon related properties. Sailor Moon is the property of Toei Animation and Naoko Takeuchi. This is a fan work created to celebrate the opus. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.
Chapter 51
The Black King; an Expedition into Darkness
2:53PM, Thursday, June 17th, Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Far from Japan, while the Warriors and their comrades licked their wounds from the latest skirmish, another battle was in preparation to get underway. Deep in Black Forest near Bühlertal, there was sprawling ski resort, the Hundseck Hotel. It was once a very popular place to visit, but now it only served as an uncanny memento of the region's better days. It was located in the densely forested mountains and had not been open since 1957. After that time, it was converted into a camp for miners and even later had been converted into a youth hostel in 1982. Presently, the structure was on its last legs and would probably be closed down within the next decade, but there it sat, snugly nestled in its place in the mountains.
Agent Elias Mathias grumbled to himself as he drove slowly and cautiously over Germany's infamously dangerous mountain road, the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse (or, the Black Forest High Street), to access the hotel. For once, the young agent wasn't dressed in his usual FBI suit, but rather black running pants, hiking shoes, and gray long-sleeved shirt.
"…Good for nothing…late to show up. Now he just contacts me out of the blue, claiming to have a lead!" Mathias angrily ranted in the passenger seat.
Only around half of the rapid-fired sentences would have been understandable by another person if someone else had been in the car with him.
"Calls me in the middle of the frikkin' night a day after going missing… Oh, sure, Agent Défago, I'll just get up after just two hours of sleep and drive off to your mountain retreat right now! Where has he been?! This had BETTER be good," Mathias fumed. "Where the hell did the Keepers find this guy?!"
Compounding on his irritation with his absentee partner was the long, dangerous winding road he was on. Already, he'd had to drag a tree out of the way and go slow for bikers. Yes, he'd seen his share of hairpins driving down the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse.
"At least the hotel's close now," he told himself. "Défago said that the hotel is located at the end of the curve where the road starts to head straight North. I didn't turn already, did I?"
A quick glance at the dashboard mounted compass that he was still heading East. Mathias then glanced around for any sign of trouble. Being this far out in the wilderness made him nervous with the Black King about. The road had become even narrower and didn't have lines on it anymore.
Before long, the road started to curve. Mathias kept a sharp eye out, because the hotel would be on his right side. When he came to the end of the accursed road he saw it. There was a sloped paneled metal roof sticking up over the tops of the trees. As he was drove on and got a better look, he saw that it was tall, around four stories, and wide with an 'L'-shape. The main part of the building went east-to-west. The door faced south. It had a second wing on the east end, also to the south. He drove on past it to take in as much as of its profile in as possible. Mathias saw that there were no outside staircases, as typical for a hotel. The place had seen better days. The bricks were chipped and worn and the metal roof was a rusted solid mishmash of reds and browns. The windows were intact, though.
When the car was out of sight from any of the windows, Mathias pulled over into the grass and parked the car. He turned it off and climbed out. He shut the door as quietly as he could and then walked back towards the structure, remaining hidden by the trees. The agent didn't actually enter the tree line and stopped just before the edge of it at the end of the property the building sat on. He glanced in the windows, but saw no one inside. That didn't surprise him. There were no cars in the parking lot, either. As far as he could tell, it was just an empty building. That just left one question.
"Where's Défago?" Mathias whispered quietly.
He looked around for his wayward partner, but didn't see him anywhere. He'd said to meet him outside of the hotel at a quarter after three. Mathias looked at his watch. 2:59PM.
"Well, that it a good fifteen minutes from now," Mathias thought. "Still, shouldn't he at least be here a little ahead of time?"
Mathias thought it best if he went back to the car and wait out the rest of the remaining time. He was about to do just that when something made him pause. It was a sound, a strange one, too. He stopped and listened to it. It started faint, but then became more distinct.
Vroom! Vroom! Vroom! Vroom! It was a roaring sound that almost sounded like something being dragged. It was accompanied by a strange rumbling and what sounded like some kind of technological beeping.
It was coming from somewhere in the forest to his left. Mathias reached into his jacket and pulled out his sidearm. He hesitated only a moment, and then tore off into the trees. As he ran with his gun at the ready, he looked all around him for any sign of the one he feared the most. As he ran, the sound grew even louder. It was so loud that he was sure he should be able to find whatever was making it if he looked around.
Vroom! Vroom! Vroom! Vroom! By now, the noise was something like the pounding of drums occurring between each dragging roar. And then, finally, they stopped and were followed by one more, echoing drum-like pound. Mathias stopped where the noise was coming from, a good few yards into the trees. He was frozen on the spot, not quite able to make of what he saw. It sat out in the open, as if daring him to make sense of it. It was some kind of door or gate that was a shade of very dark blue that reminded him of photos he'd seen of deep space. It also wasn't attached to anything. It was just sitting there out in the middle of the woods with no fence or house attached to it. Only more trees lied beyond it. This gate, or rather door, because it was completely incased in a frame, had no rhyme or reason to be there from what Mathias could tell.
It had rectangular double doors held shut by a bright golden lock set where they met in the middle. There were no knobs to speak of on it. The doors were decorated vertically with panels showcasing the phases of the moon. The left door, top to bottom, had New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, and Full Moon. The right door was adorned oppositely starting with the Full Moon at the top and ending with New Moon at the bottom. Its frame was even more unusual. The jambs reminded Mathias immediately of Greek or Roman support pillars and the sill was essentially a round platform likely to keep it steady. It didn't seem to have foundation in the ground, but was rather resting on it. It had a highly ornamental cornice. It was also round like the threshold. It was topped with a pair of arches that started at the outer edges, curved in towards the middle and then curled back outwards. The second curves met in the middle.
His shoulders slumped in defeat and he threw up his hands agitatedly.
"What the hell?!" he exclaimed in a shrill voice.
He slowly walked toward it, but not directly. He walked towards its side, steadily and with caution. When he was beside he peeked around behind it, and saw nothing, as he was expecting. Snorting, he turned away and started back towards the road. He stopped as he heard something else, the soft thump of footsteps on the grass heading towards him. Mathias dove behind a tree and held his piece up. He was ready to jump and take aim at whoever was coming toward. The person was close now. He could hear the distinct sound of breathing to accompany the dull thuds of running footsteps, and it was a man, too.
Finally, just when the person was within five yards, Mathias leapt out from behind the tree and trained his gun on the man. The other man skidded to a halt and held up his hands.
"Mathias?!" he asked with a deep, full voice. "Was that you making that weird noise?"
"No, and how you do know my name?" Mathias demanded, looking the man over.
The man in front him was a tall skinny stick of a man, but not nearly as much as the creature Mathias was investigating. He wore jeans, trainers, and a gray T-shirt with a brown jacket. He was on the older end of his middle age. He had a long, somewhat triangular face type and light skin. He had very dark eyes and thick, black hair.
"It's me, partner! Joe Défago!" the man claimed with alarm.
"Prove it," Mathias demanded.
The man gestured towards the front of his jacket and slowly reached inside. Mathias clicked off the safety of his gun just in case. The man slowly drew out his badge and I.D. and held it up for Mathias to see. Mathias closed the final distance on the man until he was close enough to read what he was being shown. Sure enough, he saw the identification of Joseph Défago, a French-Canadian agent. Mathias sighed and lowered his gun.
"Where the hell have you been?!" he demanded, angrily.
Défago held up his hands disarmingly.
"Sorry, partner, but I guess they got wind of me while I was coming. They busted into the room, but I got away! I had to go under and I had no way of contacting you. After they met up again outside the hotel, I followed them to the source," he answered.
"They?" Mathias demanded.
Défago opened his mouth to answer, but the two men were interrupted by the sound of a door being opened behind them. Mathias spun around, aiming his gun towards the blue door. For the second time in less than ten minutes, he froze and stared with astonishment. And then, also for the second time in less than five minutes, said:
"What the hell?!"
"Hell~lo, Agent Mathias, so good of you to be waiting by my door! I was going to come looking for you if you dared to be late!" Setsuna greeted excitably and smiling broadly. Her arms were spread wide apart in an excitable welcome.
Amy and Rory trudged out from the gate behind her, each carrying cardboard boxes in their arms. Mathias couldn't believe his eyes. He looked past them beyond the doors, and instead of seeing the forest beyond them, there was a room of some kind. He could see a console in the middle of it with various buttons, levers, and knobs.
Setsuna raised her hand and snapped her fingers. On cue, the doors of the gate swung shut and there was an audible 'clicking' sound, indicating that they had locked themselves, as well. Everything that had just happened seemed impossible to Mathias and Défago.
"How did you do that and what you are you doing here?" Mathias demanded, not quite angrily, but very upset and confused.
"Don't ask her that!" Rory exclaimed. He adjusted the cardboard he was holding so that it was under one arm. "We'll be here all day!"
"Hey, now," Setsuna exclaimed, sounding a little insulted at the insinuation.
Rory just rolled his eyes and looked away in the direction of the hotel.
"Well, look on the bright side. We ended up in both the right place at the right time for once," Amy said with an ornery flare. She laid a hand of false comfort on her husband's shoulder.
Rory made a gesture with his head that read "Small favors". Setsuna looked behind, first Amy and then Rory before returning her gaze to the forefront looking a little hurt.
"They're always picking on me," she said in a childish voice.
"Aw, poor baby!" Amy said, giggling.
Mathias eyed the three, one by one. While the lackeys had changed clothes since the last time he'd seen them, Setsuna herself still had her jacket, button-down shirt, a dark brown knee-length skirt, red bowtie, shin length white stockings, and brown dress shoes. Amy herself had on a black T with a flannel shirt over it and jeans. Rory also had jeans and a green T-shirt.
"Just what the hell is this?" Mathias demanded in a low, angry tone.
"Oi, don't take that tone with us!" Amy shot back. "We're here because we can't seem to be able to leave you boys alone for more than week!"
Défago blinked as he started to recognize the woman in the middle with the strange red eyes and long green hair. He started gesturing frantically towards her and snapped his fingers as he tried to think of her name.
"You, I know you!" he said, with recognition. "You're that crazy woman who helped me last night!"
"I prefer 'Mad', if you please, and thank you," Setsuna replied simply, stuffing her hands into the jacket's pockets.
Mathias slowly turned and looked at Défago with disbelief and then back at Setsuna. Abject horror registered in his eyes.
"Oh, no," he moaned.
He gestured to Setsuna.
"You set this up?" he asked, miserably.
Setsuna's shrugged a slow deliberate shrug. She smiled with false innocence.
"Well, mmmaybe…-," she chimed. And then…
"No," she finished abruptly.
"You didn't?" Mathias asked.
"No, after I helped Défago flee his scrape with his attackers, I left him my contact information and I'm here because of him, too," she answered.
Mathias shot her an annoyed stare.
"Alright, anyone care to explain to me what this lead in the case is?" Mathias said at last.
"Ah, well! That's very simple!" Setsuna said excitably.
She gave a little hop and trotted over to the two agents. Amy and Rory followed along behind, walking and still carrying the boxes.
"But we should start by continuing the conversation you were just about to have with Agent Défago," she said, zipping past both men. She stopped and then ran backwards back to them until she was beside Mathias.
"Conversation?" both men asked.
"Yes, you were just asking who broke into Défago's hotel room when the Ponds and I interrupted," Setsuna explained, finger waving to the two of them.
"Williams," Rory grunted. Amy snorted while trying to a stop a snicker.
Mathias blinked as realization crossed his featured.
"That's exactly right," he said.
He looked back to Défago.
"Who did break into your room, anyway?" he asked.
"The Order," Setsuna answered seriously before Défago could get even a syllable out.
"The Order?" Mathias asked, curiously. He turned back to Setsuna. "Is that what the cult following Stick Man is calling themselves?"
Setsuna gestured at him with both indexes, nodding her head vigorously.
"Precisely!" she said, enthusiastically.
"Who are they?" Mathias asked.
"Well, you see…-" Setsuna started, but…
"Um, Professor, could we move this elsewhere?" Rory asked. His voice sounded strained.
He fidgeted and shifted his weight around uncomfortably as he moved the box from under one arm to the next.
"It's just that these boxes are getting heavy," he said.
"Right, we better get to it, then," Setsuna said, glancing to Rory and then back at the others. "We've brought along some of the most advanced observational equipment known to man with us to scout out the hotel!"
A few moments later, a red toy truck with a camera duct-taped to it rolled across the rear parking of the Hundseck Hotel. Five pairs of eyes paired stared over the top of a bush to watch its progress. Left to right, a chuckling Défago stood next to Amy. Setsuna ran the truck controller in hand in the middle while Rory held up an invention from about twenty years into future, a Windows Live Tile. They watched the truck's progress as it broadcast from the camera to the screen. On the right end, Mathias crossed his arms as he stood there, fuming. His mind worked quickly as he attempted to puzzle out several questions that were on his mind.
Who were these people, really? What was this equipment they were using? Apart from the toy truck, he had never seen a camera like that and that flat object with a screen was like something out of this world from his early 1990s perspective. As he recalled Setsuna's vague hints about seeing the future, he began to get an inkling that she wasn't joking based the devices they had on hand. That would also explain the impossible dimensions of that door back in the woods if it were her method of transport. His eyes slowly turned towards that Setsuna woman. He watched her giddily work the control of the truck. He glanced at the gadget itself.
"How long until the truck rolls out of range, I wonder," he said.
"Oh, no worry! I've soniced it!" Setsuna replied, not looking away from her task. "We can go clear around the hotel if we have to and it'll receive the signal."
Défago and Mathias looked at her strangely.
"Soniced it?" they asked.
Setsuna gave Mathias a quick glance with a crooked grin.
"Yeah, soniced," she said, as if the meaning was supposed to be obvious.
The toy truck drove close to the hotel's rear side, as Setsuna hoped that would keep it out of sight from the windows. It turned to the back of the building and drove up to a pair of backdoors in the middle of the rear. When it was finally close enough, it stopped and turned to look at the first one, which was on the right. It was a glass door with an iron frame and lever door handle. Setsuna maneuvered it closer so it could just look in. There was a whole hallway with doors just inside.
"No good. Anyone inside could see whoever was working the door just by stepping out into the hall," Amy observed.
Setsuna hummed her affirmative response and moved the little truck over to the other door, which was a rusted solid metal door with a little peephole. It had no door handle, at least not on the outside. Just to its left were the hotel's dumpsters. It was likely used by the staff to take out the garbage.
"That will probably be our entry point," Setsuna said.
"So again, I ask, why is this place such a lead in the investigation?" Mathias asked, huffily.
"Because of the rumors," Setsuna replied without looking away from the tile's screen. "In times of strange happenings like now, you stand in the corner and listen to people. You note any mentions of symbols hanging from the wall in someone's house, sightings of people gathering in strange groups, odd business practices, and note where the people responsible live."
"Then what?" Mathias asked.
Setsuna grinned.
"Then you go snooping about," she replied, cleverly.
"And your…snooping has led you here?" Mathias asked, gesturing to the hotel.
"No, it led Défago here," she answered, nodding to the other agent. "I told you, Défago was the one who tailed his attackers and found the hotel. I confirmed this as a place where people started to meet after."
"Not bad for an agent chased out of his hotel room and forced onto the lamb, eh?" Défago grinned.
"And you're sure they went in here, then?" Mathias asked, sighing. "You have to be absolutely sure about this. There's no more room for conjecture. With no concrete evidence and with the Black King committing most of the abductions, himself, that leaves his followers well-hidden in the shadows. This isn't like dealing with the Dark Kingdom. They're not monsters in disguise. They're just people. Fanatics, but still people."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Amy commented, contemptuously. "Anyone who would help that thing take children away from their families for their own gain must be just as much monsters as the big bad Dark Kingdom's grunts."
"You know what I mean," Mathias said.
"Yeah, I do, unfortunately," Amy replied sullenly.
The tiny truck pulled around to the east side of the building and rolled closely along it. There was another door, a side entrance most of the way down the second wing. It was visible as a little dot on the tile's screen. In the upper part of it, they could see that all the windows were closed and the curtains drawn. Not a single one had been carelessly left open, and they were all probably locked. So, the five of them waited patiently until they came up to the side door. It was a side wooden door, likely very thick with a handleset knob.
"It's also probably locked with an alarm set to go if we enter without a key. If there's anyone in there, we'll need another way to sneak in. Well, if we don't come in through the front door with a warrant, that is," Défago said.
"And to do that, we'll need evidence, but by then, anything in there will already be moved off sight and the security footage gone," Mathias said. "We can do nothing legally right now until we have the warrant, though."
"Then I guess it's good that I intend to inject a little disorder into this investigation," Setsuna said mysteriously with a cunning smile.
Mere minutes later, they were crowding cautiously around the metal door by the dumpster. Amy and Mathias still fiddled with the wireless com devices in their ears that they were all wearing now. Amy, Rory, Mathias, and Défago were squatting down low, staying out of sight of the windows. Mathis and Defago had their guns drawn and ready. Only Setsuna remained standing, but she was up close against the door and out of the peephole's line of sight. She reached into the lapel of her jacket and pulled out a cylindrical device. It was like the handle of a weapon from a sci-fi movie or something. She held it up to the doorframe at an angle so that the tip was directed at it. The top had a little green bulb incased by four claw-like prongs. Mathias and Défago stared curiously as the gadget sprang to life. The claws opened up, releasing the green bulb which lit up. It began emitting a piercing whir sound.
Setsuna pointed the device at the door lock and then traced it upwards until it was pointed above the door. Then she lowered it again, pointing it at the lock again. It clicked, and Setsuna stuffed the little tool back into her jacket.
"Alright," Setsuna said in a surprisingly subdued manner. "Défago, you take the Ponds in this way."
"Williams!"
"Mathias and I will take the side door," Setsuna finished.
"Since when do you give the orders?" Mathias asked, harshly.
Setsuna slowly turned to him and regarded like he were a peasant who had just rudely addressed a lady of the court. He found himself lost and mesmerized by that sharp, commanding stare she held him under. Amy quietly snickered and muttered something about him "being in trouble now".
"Because I'm Professor Setsuna Meioh, and we're dealing with something from another time, another universe, and therefore this lies within my jurisdiction. You can try to find a higher authority to take this up with, but good luck," Setsuna said condescendingly.
Then she shrugged and dropped some of the bravado.
"Well, where this is concerned, anyway," she admitted with a tiny bit more humility.
"Oh, really?" Mathias asked, snidely. "Says who, and what is that device?"
He nodded to the little wand she'd used to deactivate the alarm and unlock the door.
"Says me," Setsuna replied firmly. Then she pulled the device back down.
Her demeanor took a notably more frivolous turn then as she stared at it smiling fondly.
"Sonic screwdriver… Doesn't kill, doesn't maim, doesn't wound, and that's why I love it!" she said affectionately.
She gave it a little toss straight up and it spun completely around before coming back down to her hand. She pocketed it again and pulled the door open.
"Défago, Ponds, inside," she ordered.
Défago nodded and cautiously peered inside, but saw no one. The door was located in the back corner of a small room. It was empty save for some racks for carrying things and a few carts and other things for moving stuff around. Rory went in next. Amy lingered outside for just a minute. She tapped Setsuna on the shoulder to get the other woman's attention.
"Hmm?" Setsuna answered, turning to her.
"You sure you're going to be alright without us?" Amy asked.
Setsuna smiled humorously.
"I thought I was supposed to ask that?" she asked.
"Oi, come off it, Space Woman, you know you're hopeless without us," Amy said, lightly tapping her on the head.
"No doubt, but I think that Agent Mathias will be an adequate substitute until we reconvene later," Setsuna answered, flatteringly.
"Thank you," Mathias muttered sardonically.
"Alright, final gear check," Setsuna said.
She looked inside where Défago was peeking out into the next room through the tiny crack he opened in the door. He had his back to the wall next to it.
"Armed guard: check," Setsuna said. She turned back to Amy.
"Both Ponds: check, and cameras…"
Amy held up the camera that had been taped to the truck earlier. It was reasonably big, and not concealable. She also had a much smaller camera with a flip screen that opened from the side. She handed the latter one to Setsuna.
"Check," Amy finished for her.
She went in, following after Défago and Rory. Setsuna shut the door behind them. She turned to Mathias and held up her hands.
"Well, then, shall we?" she asked.
The two of them walked around the side of the building, ducking low under the windows. Setsuna had already turned on the camera and was filming their progress.
"So what are we here looking for, again?" Mathias as he followed her.
"Well, I popped back a few weeks and did a little digging. Every Wednesday for the last half year, a group of locals have all been gathering here at the hotel around this time in the mid afternoon and stay well into the evening. I'm hoping to catch them in the act. They go inside, lock everything up, and no one knows what goes on and everyone who's gotten nosy had been rather roughly rebuked. A few officers that inquired about it after the disappearance of that girl in the next town over suddenly found themselves suspended from duty," Setsuna explained in a hushed tone.
She stopped and looked back at Mathias.
"If that doesn't scream suspicious, then I'm Madame de Pompadour," she said.
Then she stared off into the distance
"Well, maybe close enough. That woman snogged me once," Setsuna said thoughtfully.
She shook her head at the memory.
"Why is it when I meet my heroes, there's always a clockwork robot trying to take their brain?" she wistfully asked no one in particular.
Mathias stared at her blankly, believing her to be truly round the bend by this point.
"You really are insane," he said pointblank.
She turned and looked at him with a knowing smile.
"All the best ones are mad, and that's something you need to keep in mind if you intend to survive. Yes, I'm mad, and proud of it. It's the sane ones you have to worry about, because they tend to snap too easily," she proclaimed proudly.
Mathias rolled his eyes and looked at her with annoyance.
"Whatever. Keep it moving," he grumbled.
"You need to work on that attitude, and do try to smile more often," she said, waggling a finger at him.
They closed the final stretch between them and the side door. Setsuna repeated the process of deactivating the alarm and unlocking it. Then they casually peeked inside. They were near the end of a long hallway. The area they would be walking directly into was a little alcove with chairs, a couch, and a stand of magazines. To their right were a pair of hallways of hotel room doors, a longer one which stretched way back where they came from, and the second that was right ahead of them, which was much shorter and went around a corner to their right. A stairwell leading down to the basement was halfway down that corridor. Mathias stepped inside, slowly aiming his gun around at any possible enemies. Setsuna came in behind him and quietly shut the door.
"What now? I know you haven't examined the inside or else you'd have had a plan for that," Mathias whispered to her.
"We look for anything suspicious, where a large number of people can gather without anyone seeing," Setsuna answered.
Mathias's eyes immediately went to the opening halfway down the hall in front of them, which led to the basement.
"I guess they could do that in the lobby, but something tells me they won't," he said. He gestured to the basement stairs and Setsuna nodded in agreement.
They peered around the corner down the steps. They saw no one, but there was an iron door marked "Employees Only". Setsuna rounded the corner and started down the steps first while Mathias lingered at the top. He had his back to the wall with his gun pointed straight down in both hands. He looked both ways down the short hall and then sidestepped over in front of the stairs. He took one step down and then flattened himself against the wall again. He waited at the top. While he kept a sharp eye out, Setsuna went right to the bottom and went to right work on the door.
"Ponds, Défago," she whispered into the intercom. "We've found the basement. It's behind another locked door, also with no window. We're going to investigate this first. You lot just handle the first floor for now. We'll meet back in a half hour and move onto the second and third floors."
"Yes, Professor," Amy's voice crackled over the line.
At the same time, the image on the flip screen momentarily froze and then turned into mishmash of colored blocks.
"Amy, where are you? There was a bit of static," Setsuna asked.
"We're in one of the back halls," she answered. "We ca-KZZZ reach the kitchen, ZZZZ-mployee lounge, storage, KSHHH go behind the counter in the lobby from here."
It was getting bad enough that a few of her words were getting lost in it. It also seemed to be getting worse the closer to the bottom of the steps Setsuna went. So she stopped and decided to experiment. The display on the camera's flip screen went wobbly as well.
"Amy, can you still hear me?" she asked, remaining calm.
"Yeah, but just barely."
"I want you to start reciting a poem or something. Don't stop until I tell you," Setsuna instructed. She heard Amy comply in somewhat confused tone, but only little bits of pieces of came through.
"ZZZZZZZ-nd the roKSHHHHH-l of-KZZZZZZ."
Setsuna retreated back up a few steps.
"….ashes, ashes, KSH-all fall down! "
Up a few more.
"Rings around the Rosie, pocket full of Posey!" Amy's voice came in clear as day.
Down again, and the crackling and static started again. At the top of the steps, Mathias stared down at Setsuna.
"Is the difference on our end, Meioh?" he asked.
Setsuna spun around on her heels to face, overshot him, and had turn back to face him fully again.
"Oh, indeed," she said huskily with a thrilled gleam in her eyes.
She spun again, letting her arms flap outwards as she did.
"There are definitely some cowboys down there!" she said, with controlled excitement.
She glanced over her shoulder, gesturing frantically to the door.
"There's something interfering with our signal in this basement," she explained.
Then she went still and looked up at Mathias with all silliness gone from her face and body language.
"And I think you know what that means," she said in a low voice.
Mathias's face went pale as he remembered his little 'frolic' through the forest night. He remembered being trapped in the spatial loop, being chased down by The Black King, and of being saved by the mysterious Celestial Warrior. The same terror began to grip and a single drop of sweat rolled down his face as he realized how close to this creature they might be. Mathias swallowed his courage and nodded. If that was right, that also meant that they were very close to a much needed break in the case. Below, Setsuna told Amy to stop and then broke off communications.
"Open that door," Mathias ordered.
Setsuna was already brandishing the sonic screwdriver.
"As if I needed to be told," she said, glibly.
She waved it around the door, looking for any alarms or other devices, but found none. Then she pointed it at the lock and forced the mechanism to move into the unlocked position.
"It's done," she announced.
She pocketed the tool again and opened the door. Mathias nodded and looked both ways down the passage again before coming down, himself. He stepped in as Setsuna shined a flashlight around the dark room. He saw that it was a very large, rambling room full of open faced wine cabinets. There were rows and rows and rows of them in all directions before them. The light pierced the darkness clear around the room. They saw that the wine cabinets lined the four walls, as well. There was a light switch mounted on the wall just to the left of the door, which Setsuna had wisely left off.
"They must expect a lot of youths to come here on spring breaks," Setsuna said, observantly.
Amy, Rory, and Défago's voice rang out over the line all of a sudden, but there was too much interference to hear what they were saying. Setsuna and Mathias exchanged glances in the dark.
"Amy, Rory, I can't hear you down here! Hang on, we'll go back up the stairs," Setsuna spoke loudly over the line.
Mathias turned and opened the basement. Almost immediately, the thunderous sound of numerous people chatting as they stomped down the halls sailed down the steps to them, and they were coming closer. Mathias quickly, and quietly, shut the door again and relocked it. He backed away from it until he had Setsuna right at his back. The sounds of people came ever closer, and then the first creaks of weight being applied to the basement came through the door. The agent and professor looked at each other in panic.
"Hide!" Setsuna hissed.
They both dashed out of view and behind a row of wine cabinets at the far end and turned off the torch. They were bathed in the wine cellar's darkness. Within a few seconds, a clicking signaled that whoever was in the hotel was coming in. The door opened, letting in a beam of light into the room. The person at the door flicked on the light switch. The florescent light washed over the basement.
Mathias and Setsuna peeked around the corners of the cabinet as they observed the person at the door. He was a heavyset man in his forties. He had a round face, big nose, and a bald head. The only hair he had left was around his ears and along the back of his head. He was dressed in a black suit and no other color. He entered the room, followed by more people. Behind him, a middle aged tall woman with almost orange blonde hair, and a lanky young man standing almost six and a half feet high with shaggy dark brown hair and blue eyes. Next to him was a much shorter blonde girl of the same age. Mathias's eyes immediately lit up in recognition of the young pair.
"That's… That's Christian Kirsch, the college student who disappeared while out looking for his cousin, Aaron Kirsch, the first victim. He disappeared shortly thereafter, becoming the second abductee, and that's his girlfriend, Jennifer Brauer, who disappeared about a week ago, along with a half dozen households," he thought. "What are they doing here?"
More people piled into the cellar until there were about twenty. Mathias recognized a few more faces, a mayor there, a police officer there, a lawyer following after and even a reporter that had been pestering them at the crime scenes. After their leader locked the door behind them again, the conglomeration made a beeline for the rear of the cellar. Mathias and Setsuna crept along behind the rows of wine, being careful to stay out of sight. The group gathered along the back wall. The heavy man leading them reached out and pulled a wine bottle partially out of the cabinet. Setsuna and Mathias both noted that it was the third down and second from the right. It was green-colored.
Then the man stepped back as one as right corner of the cabinet pulled out and that entire section of wall swung outwards like a door. He went in first, followed by the others. After the last person had gone inside, the secret door closed behind them. Mathias and Setsuna let a whole minute pass before they moved from their hiding spot. When they did, they went right for the mechanism disguised as a wine bottle. It had reset into its original position, nestled in with the rest. Setsuna reached out and grabbed it.
"Oh. Oh, ho ho ho ho! Secret passages in cellars," Setsuna laughed with a sense of nostalgia. "Oh, the classics never die."
She pulled the in wine bottle out as far as it would go. The door clicked, and then opened again. They peered inside. What greeted them was a dark hallway that went back around thirty feet before turning a corner to the right. They were two doors partway down, on opposite walls. There was a red button just inside on the left set into an iron panel, which they guessed opened the secret door from the inside. The red and gray metal really stuck out against the old stone walls of the passageway. Dim lighting was supplied from bare bulbs hanging from their wires overhead.
The agent and professor crept inside quietly. They slowly and cautiously walked down the hall. A few minutes later, the secret door shut behind them on its own. They glanced back at it before continuing forward. When they reached the doors halfway down the corridor, they flattened them against the wall just beside them. They exchanged a single nod between themselves and turned to their respective door. Mathias was on the left. His hand closed around the knob and he slowly turned it. He pushed it opened a crack and peered inside. A single florescent light illuminated the space. The room had nine flat slabs that were commonly used for autopsies in morgues lined up three-by-three. On the one closest to the door, a single child lay motionless and pale.
"Hey, Professor, you better come and see this," Mathias said.
"Hmm?" Setsuna said, turned from the other room.
It was a closet with black robes hung up with a comedy mask to go along with them. There were about twenty-one empty racks, matching the number of people that had gone in ahead of them. However, there were enough robes for up to a hundred people.
Setsuna shut the walk-in closet door and joined Mathias in the other room. She stopped dead on the spot upon seeing the little girl on the slab. Mathias stood over her with his fingers to her neck, taking her pulse. He looked back at her and sadly shook his head. The child was already dead. Setsuna stepped in closer to get a better look at the little girl. She had long, curly blonde locks and a freckled little face. Her eyes and mouth were shut, as if sleeping. She had a yellow sundress and matching tennis shoes. They looked the child over and examined her lips. There didn't seem to be any specific cause of death, and yet, she was. There were no signs that she had taken poison and signs of struggling or pain. It was like she had just stopped living, which was far more disconcerting than finding any of the usual telltale signs of murder. She was still stiff from rigamortis.
"This is Ulla Kathman, the girl who disappeared last week," Mathias muttered, solemnly.
He stepped back from her, forlornly. If she was already dead, then what did that mean for the other children that had disappeared? Had these people killed them all in the same fashion as well? Well, that would certainly explain why none of the children lost in cases relating to the Black King were ever recovered.
"And yet some of the adults are still alive," Mathias said aloud. "But how much of their minds are left?"
"That would depend on how much of a strangle hold Ol' Skinny has been keeping them under," Setsuna answered, still examining the cold little corpse in front of them.
"Ind…-" But Mathias was interrupted by a pair of footsteps coming down the hall in their direction.
He swore under his breath as he and Setsuna darted back and hid behind a slab, each. The door opened and two people came in. Mathias could tell from the body types and heights that they were Christian and Jenn, even under those black robes and behind those masks.
"Poor kids," Mathias thought.
He recalled how Jenn Brauer had been out looking for her boyfriend relentlessly for a week before she was forced to go back to university. Only, she never made it back. She disappeared with the parents of the first victim and now here she was playing lackey to the followers of the faceless entity.
Christian and Jenn went straight for the slab with the girl on it. While Christian picked her tenderly up in his arms, Jenn bent down and grabbed something out from the shelf under the top. When she stood up, she was holding a plain, round steel vase. Even if Setsuna and Mathias were at a vantage to get a better look at it, the urn had a lid covering the top. It would have made little difference. The pair turned and left the room, leaving the intruders alone again.
Mathias and Setsuna came out of their hiding spot, stepping lightly over to the door. They peered around the corner to be sure it was safe to leave. Then they looked at each other and in unison, pointed to the other room. They silently dashed in and grabbed a robe and mask, each. They donned the garments quickly and then raced down the passage. They turned the corner and slowed down. At the end, the hall opened into a big room where the others had gathered. The hall was darker farther down and even darker still in that room. They pulled the hoods down over their faces and crept into the long room. One look around told them that it was a sanctuary of some sort.
The room's sole sources of light were wall-mounted candlesticks on either side spread out over the room and a small candlelit chandelier hanging near the back over the altar. Six benches all in a row served as makeshift pews for the place of worshippers. Their backs were to the entrance, facing the altar. The altar itself covered in red cloth. Four candles lay on its four corners with Ulla lying in the middle. The vase was set next to her. They were bathed in the golden light all around them.
The big man, whom Setsuna and Mathias now identified as The Overseer, stood over Ulla behind the altar. The image of the Black King was painted onto the black wall behind him. The arms of the likeness extended out onto the other walls.
"Rise," The Overseer instructed.
The other cultists got up and lined up along the walls, ten on each side, and faced each other. The Overseer held a big, black hardcover book in his hands. He opened it up and flipped to a page well into it.
Mathias glanced from him over to Setsuna. She was intently filming everything that was happening in front of them, concealing the camera as best she could in her robes. At the moment, they were both well hidden in the shadows in one of the corners by the entrance. They hadn't been noticed, blending right into the darkness thanks to the robes so generously supplied to them. She had the red light on camera's front covered with a finger. All the same, Mathias never let go of his sidearm for a single second. Something then happened that made his grip tighten.
A loud humming noise began to permeate the air from all directions without a cause that he could see. It rang in his ears painfully, but the members of The Order did not seem to mind. They began to sing. While the other hummed what sounded something like "Holy Gorr'Rylaehotep" while the Overseer sang several lines of lyrics of a somber, lingering chant.
The song seemed to have an effect on reality, itself. Everything became like snowy static and the voices of the Order's members became distorted. Then the far wall seemed to tear open like paper, starting at the portrait of The Black King. The rip swelled bigger and wider until the entire wall was gone and Setsuna and Mathias were staring into a void of vague shapes and colors beyond it. The break in reality continued to engulf the room, ceiling, floor, wall, and person. Only the members of the Order didn't vanish with the room. They and the altar stayed right where they were, and at least the rift was wide enough for Setsuna and Mathias could see what was beyond it clearly.
It was a path in a forest. The sky overhead was pitch-black, as were the leaves of the trees. The path, itself, was covered in the leaves that had fallen from overhanging branches. The path of black leaves stretched out into the distance. A red light shined in the distance at the end of the path.
"The Path of Black Leaves," Setsuna thought as she identified it. "The space The Black King must cross through from his Land of Black Leaves to our dimension."
Mathias stared in awe at the spot where the room faded out and this exterior scene began. It seemed as though the wall dissolved into translucency before disappearing altogether. It defied reason. His eyes trailed downward and he noticed movement behind The Overseer. Something was coming their way down the trail. His eyes widened with fear when he realized what it was. The Black King seemed to glide over the ground, not disturbing a single leaf that made up the path. He stopped behind The Overseer in the exact same spot as his likeness had been. The Overseer closed the book and stuffed it under one arm. He turned and bowed to the thing.
"Oh Great Gorr'Rylaehotep, please accept this humble offering of vim and the vessel from whence it came," he said with reverence.
He straightened up and backed out of the dark monarch's way. The Black King approached the altar. His tendrils reached down and scooped up Ulla and the urn. He held them close, and then…
He looked right at Setsuna and Mathias, huddling in the corner. Moving as one, the Overseer and the other members all turned and looked at them as well. The Overseer pointed to them with one of his writhing arms, issuing the order. The members responded without question, moving in closer. Mathias cursed under his breath and leapt out from their hiding spot, tearing all the robe and mask. He aimed his gun at them.
"Stop right there, or I'll shoot!" he shouted.
Setsuna was also backing into the hallway.
"Mathias, we have to go, now!" she shouted.
Mathias briefly glanced back at her, and one of the Order's members tried to use this short window to charge him, but Mathias was quick. He pulled the trigger and shot the man dead center in the chest. He cried out once as he fell to the ground while Mathias turned and ran!
Setsuna rounded the corner with the sonic already out and pointed at the hidden door. It opened for them and they passed through without having to slow down. All the same, Setsuna skidded to a stop on the other side, turned gracefully on her heels, and trained the sonic on the mechanism inside the passage. The red button sparked and began giving off smoke as it shorted out. The door swung shut again just in time for the cultists to slam right into it.
"That'll hold them for a while!" Setsuna said and let out a relieved sigh.
Mathias looked at her. He noticed that she wasn't afraid of these people. It was something else, but he didn't know what. Was she being merciful to them by barring their pursuit? Whatever the intent was, he didn't have time to ponder it. They ran for the exit. Just as they reached it, the lights flickered. They didn't need to look away from the door to know that meant The Black King was in the room with them.
"Hello!" Setsuna shouted over her to him while unlocking the door.
Mathias threw it open and they dashed out it up the stairs.
"Goodbye!" she called as they ran. She waved with the hand holding the sonic.
Amy, Rory, and Défago were waiting for them at the top of the stairs.
"Professor! Mathias! What's going on?!" Rory exclaimed in a half panicked sate.
"We lost contact with you and we were running all over trying to find the basement!" Défago explained, breathlessly.
"Well, we're here now, and I know what's going on now," Setsuna said, motioning for them to quiet down.
The trio stepped back to give her and Mathias come out into the hall.
"Well, what is…-?" Défago started to ask. He stopped and stared past them in wide eyed terror.
Setsuna and Mathias noticed his look, which was matched by Amy and Rory's. They slowly turned around. Behind them, about twelve feet away, stood The Black King. His branching arms slowly coiled back and forth, writhing with anticipation of the kill. He no longer held the girl or her vim, though Setsuna had a good idea where they'd gone.
"He's building a gate to this Earth using human sacrifice," Setsuna explained. Her voice quivered slightly as she spoke.
"Gate?!" Rory balked shrilly. "He's right here!"
Setsuna took a step forward, putting herself between the others and The Black King.
"Well, yes, Rory, he is. There are little back trails that lead here from his world, but they're small, only big enough for one at a time. He's building something else entirely. A permanent portal large enough he can march his forces through from any point in his realm to anywhere in this world. Anywhere at all," Setsuna answered.
"An invasion!" Défago whimpered.
The Black King's tendrils flicked erratically. They couldn't tell if that meant he was fast growing irritated or impatient with them, or it meant something else entirely. Setsuna straightened out her jacket and stood firm before the mighty king.
"Agent Mathias, get everyone out of here. I have business to finish up with this one," Setsuna ordered.
"Oh, no! You're coming, too!" Mathias said, grabbing a hold of her shoulder. But Setsuna brushed him off.
Amy pulled Mathias away.
"You better listen to her. She knows what she's doing," she told him.
"Indeed, Mathias. When you see the flash, start running," Setsuna ordered.
She out-stretched her right arm to the side and opened it, as if waiting for something to appear. The Black King wasted no time. He charged forward gliding across the ground without nary a sound. His great wriggling arms reached out to collect Setsuna. His attack was interrupted by something crashing through a nearby window. It flew over and found its way to Setsuna's waiting hand! Right before everything exploded into a great ball of light, Mathias noticed that it was an old-fashioned key. He shielded his eyes from the blazing light. It shined but a second, and even The Black King recoiled from it. He screamed at the light with the collective voices of a thousand children, a sound that would haunt everyone in the room for years to come.
When the light died, the professor, Setsuna Meioh was no longer standing there, but rather the Celestial Warrior that had saved Mathias that night in the woods. Mathias gaped at her, now at last having a good look at his rescuer. Her armor plate armor and armored bits over her gown were black as midnight. The little key had grown significantly, now being a long, black rod, at least as tall as its wielder. It was still shaped like an old-fashioned key. The pin and bit were resting on the ground while she gripped the bow in one hand and the stem in the other. The bow was shaped like a heart with a big round ruby set inside it.
She turned her head to look at them over her shoulder. The symbol of Pluto adorned the mask at the forehead.
"Didn't I tell you to go? Follow the Ponds to my Door. Wait for me there."
"…Yeah," Mathias uttered still stunned.
Amy chuckled at Mathias's reaction, and then she and Rory were the first turn and start running. In a second, the two agents had turned tail and were right behind them. There was the only person in the room who could hope to manage the forces working, and it was best to leave her to her work. Pluto faced the great monster king once more, eyes aflame. She pointed the stem of the key-like rod at him.
"What are you waiting for? See if you can take me as easily as the others," she challenged him.
The Black King grew even taller and his arms and tendrils extended out ever more in all directions until he was as a giant to her. Then they all shot out at once, coming for her!
Pluto's four companions fled the scene. As they ran, a question sprang to Défago's mind.
"Where do we leave from?" he shouted the query.
"Through a window!" Rory replied.
He grabbed a single-leg table and dumped its contents in the process without slowing his pace. He raced right at one of the closed windows in front of them, holding the table out in front of him. He used it as a battering ram and crashed right through the glass onto the lawn. Without missing a beat, he tossed the table aside and kept running. Amy wasn't far behind. She leapt through the opening, not touching any of the jagged shards around the edges, followed closely first by Défago, then Mathias.
"That was reckless!" Mathias shouted at Rory.
"Yes, I expect it was!" Rory called over his shoulder.
He and Amy turned and made a bee line for the forest in the direction of the Door. Défago and Mathias went after them, following their lead.
Back inside, Pluto and The Black King squared off. She stood firm, a blockade before him. She was still alive and unharmed by him. She lifted the pin of the key off the ground and pointed it at him again as if about to attack.
"Alright you, now that they're gone, we can really get down to business," she said, seriously.
The end of the rod starting glowing with black light as the rod charged up. The Black King didn't move, didn't flinch, in fact, did not seem to be intimidated at all.
"Now, you and I both know that what you're doing is dodgy at best," she said in a low, menacing voice. "Your design for both our realities to join at a fixed point will put everyone and everything on both sides at risk. If you make a mistake or leave the gate open too long, the dimensional bleeding alone would be catastrophic."
She paused, giving him time to reply if he so wished, but The Black King remained silent. Her eyes narrowed angrily at this lack of communication.
"What are you after? And how are you here? You weren't supposed to return to power on this side for another seventeen years! " she demanded.
The Black King still regarded her, so quietly it was deafening. Pluto snickered once and one corner of her mouth turned up in a snide smirk.
"Don't want to talk, then? Alright…" She shrugged, uncaringly. Then her demeanor turned much more sinister.
"Fine by me," she said coldly as the end of the rod glowed even brighter.
She opened fire with a beam of light. In response, reality crackled and tore, and the two were gone from the hallway. In total darkness, Pluto cried out as she fell onto her side on hard ground of some sort. It felt like stone or concrete. She raised the rod and it glowed, piercing the black all around her. She didn't see the Black King, and so instinctively rolled away onto her other side. There he was, looming over her out of the darkness, but doing nothing! And then he was gone. A split second later Setsuna was airborne again and in another location, somewhere deep in the woods. She screamed as she fell to the other and then rolled down the side of a rocky hill. She came to a stop near a babbling brook that flowed through a tunnel under a road.
She happened to glance down that tunnel and saw the Black King's form on the other side, causing her to smirk.
"So we're playing this game again, eh?" she asked, with grim humor.
Reality tore like an old tape and suddenly he was on the other side mere feet from her. Pluto screamed as she suddenly levitated violently into the air towards his waiting arms. However, she righted herself quickly and raised the rod over her head to attack. It came down just as she reached him and then the world exploded into light and color, some of them never seen in this realm.
Rory tore through the brush, passing into the open. He slowed his pace to a jog as the Door came into view through the tree and bushes. He overjoyed smile crossed his features. He turned and looked at his companions, who emerged from the brush behind him.
"We're almost there!" he shouted.
He quickened pace again. He reached back for Amy to take his hand. When he felt her grip in his, he felt relieved. Défago passed them, breathing intensely and whimpering in terror while Mathias remained in the near to keep watch over the others. Ahead, Défago leapt over a low bush, the final obstacle between them and the Door. Now out of the trees and just across the Door, Défago cried out in fear, tripped and fell on his face. Amy and Rory came up a second later. Like him, they froze on the spot, as did Mathias in turn when they came out of the trees and saw. The big blue door was still waiting for them where it had been, but there was something barring their path.
Défago continued to lay where he had fallen, shaking terribly and whimpering in terror. Rory instinctively stepped protectively in front of Amy while Mathias simply trained his gun on what was blocking them from the Door.
There were five of them. Four were, or at least appeared to be, ordinary women flanking the fifth figure in the middle. There was a blonde, redhead, a brunette, and a black-haired woman, all beautiful, and all garbed in matching light green modest dresses that covered everything save for their heads. However, it was the middle figure that made Défago shiver in fear. It was a hideous thing with serpentine features, fangs, a snake's body, but it had arms. Each finger ended in a talon-like claw. Its head was that of a woman's, but green-scaled like the rest of its body. Yellow snake eyes regarded them coolly while her forked tongue flicked in and out from behind her fangs. Her head had no hair growing from it and she lacked eyebrows, as expected from something reptilian.
"Step aside," Mathias warned, clicking the safety off. His finger was already squeezing the trigger.
"Please, don't be so hasty to resort to violence," the snake woman said with a voice like sweet honey.
Everyone gaped at her, due to the dissonance between what they saw and what they heard.
"Please, Elias Mathias," she said, putting a hand to her heart and smiling kindly at him. "I am only here to help. You needn't be afraid of us. I know how difficult life has been to you, to all of you."
She reached out as if wanting to hug them while she slivered forward a few foot. Her expression read of only loving acceptance.
"That's close enough," Mathias said, curtly.
"Oh," the snake woman said, sounding hurt. "Am I really that ugly to you?"
"You don't want us to answer that," Rory muttered, despite his fear.
The snake woman and her four companions gasped in shock at Rory's insensitivity. Then the snake lady then coiled into a ball with her upper body in the middle and starting sobbing like she'd just be struck hard in the face.
"I knew it, I'm ugly!" she wailed.
The four accompanying ran up to her speaking words of comfort as they crowded around trying to convince her otherwise. Rory and Amy looked at each other awkwardly and then at Mathias, who continued to stand firm with his gun trained on the snake woman. Défago, for his part, was mesmerized, and even started to feel sorry for her. In his eyes, she began to appear less and less hideous. He slowly rose to his head as his face as his fear slowly left him.
"Hey, uh…-" Défago started to say.
"Nice try," Mathias said coldly. "But you're the Mother of Snakes, an agent from the Land of Black Leaves. Your method is to trick people into liking you, and that's when you strike."
Rory and Amy took an instinctive step back as The Mother of Snakes lowered her hands from her face, and all saw that there wasn't a single tear on her face. She eyed Mathias apathetically. She sighed in a disappointed manner.
"That's the problem with Keepers. They know their monsters far too well," she said in the same unflinching angelic voice.
She shrugged easily, and then pointed.
"Ladies," she said, her voice chiming like a gentle breeze.
Her four attendants' heads all snapped around and they bore their fangs at the four humans, hissing. Mathias opened fire, but they dodged with reflexes as quick as lightning. In a flash, their dresses were off, revealing the truth. From the neck down, they had bodies like their mistress, scales, a snake's body, a tail, fangs, and claws. All were gifts from their mistress.
"To the car!" Mathias barked the order.
He, Amy, and Rory turned and ran for the road immediately. Défago hesitated only for a moment, but then reluctantly followed after them. They tore through the trees as quickly as they could go and in a few minutes Mathias's car came into view, still parked alongside the road. Mathias practically slammed into its side and inserted the key. He opened the driver's side door and hopped in while unlocking the other doors. Amy, Rory, and Défago all piled into the back after him and slammed the doors shut just in time. Rory was pressed against the left window as Amy climbed into the middle and Défago came in last. The snake girls slammed into the door, rocking it violently. Inside, the passengers screamed as they were shaken around.
"Start the car!" Amy shouted at Mathias.
"I'm trying!" he hollered back at her.
Mathias jammed the key into the ignition and turned it. The car sprang to life and Mathias shifted it into gear.
"Drive! Drive!" Amy screamed frantically as one of the creature clawed at the rear window just behind her head.
Mathias hit the throttle with the snake women still clinging to the roof and sides. One of them was even staring in through the windshield at them upside down from the roof.
"What do we do know?!" Rory exclaimed.
"We're getting out of here!" Mathias replied, almost calmly.
Then, just as the car was speeding up and was rolled onto the pavement, the engine suddenly died. They were left rolling with no throttle.
"What are you going?!" Amy demanded.
Mathias ignored her and tried to start the engine again, but it wouldn't.
"It's not turning on!" he shouted with fearful anger.
"You are serious?!" Amy cried, incredulously.
Rory was breathing hard beside her, but was trying to calm himself.
"Calm down!" Mathias told them.
The car had suddenly gone disquietingly still. The snake women didn't appear to be trying to get in anymore. And that wasn't all.
"Hey, guys…" Rory said, haltingly. "Wasn't it daylight out just a second ago?"
They all looked out the windows and realized it was pitch black out. Immediately, Mathias's breath ceased up in his throat.
"Time skip," the words fluttered out of his mouth in a quick, frightened breath.
"And where did the snake women get to?" Amy asked, trying to see out.
She turned to Mathias.
"Turn on the headlights," she said.
"Try starting the car again, too," Rory added.
"On it," Mathias replied.
Mathias tried again, but nothing happened, not so much as an engine trying to turn over and failing. There was just nothing happening. They were trapped in a metal box surrounded on all sides by utter darkness.
"I am so afraid right now," Rory whispered, shaking.
All this time, Défago said nothing. He was too lost in his thoughts, specifically those of the Mother of Snakes.
"She was…beautiful," he muttered, smiling stupidly.
Amy turned in his direction and looked at him as straight on as she could in the pitch black.
"Who? Snake Mommy? Are you insane?" she yelped.
Mathias tried to turn on the headlights on again, and this time, they worked. They lit up the area in front of them, revealing that the Mother of Snakes was a few yards away from them. Rory gasped and stiffened.
"Oh, my God, there she is!" Amy blurted out in fear, pressing herself against the back of her seat.
Défago smiled, eyes lighting up.
"She's come back for me," he whispered in his thrilled haze.
"Run her over!" Amy shouted at Mathias.
Mathias didn't response. He didn't move, either. He felt his gun in his hand as he pondered what to do.
"I can't move the car," he repeated again without a hint of emotion.
"She's calling me," Défago said joyfully.
"No, she's not, and you'll stay right where you are," Rory said to him.
"I don't want to die here! I don't want to die!" Mathias thought as fear started to claim his mind.
And yet, for all the fear she instilled, the Mother of Snakes had not moved at all. She just stood there staring at them and letting them stew in their own terror.
"Everyone stay calm," Rory said, sensing the rising terror. "She's just trying to scare us."
Then the headlights faded out, engulfing the four people in darkness again. Blind and with only glass separating them from death, they sat quietly in that stalled car and prayed for deliverance. The snake creatures could have been right next to them separated by the glass and they never would have known it.
"Try the lights again," Amy said, evenly.
Mathias flicked the switch. The lights turned on, and the Mother of Snakes are nowhere in sight.
"They're working now," Mathias said, unsure of why that was.
He tried it a couple more times, and they obeyed the command each time.
"WATCH OUT!" Rory suddenly shouted.
Mathias looked up from the dashboard just as one of the Mother's followers lunged at them from the darkness, slamming right into the windshield. The entire car shook violently and cracks formed and stretched out over the glass like a spider web from the point of impact. She disappeared back into the darkness, leaving three very startled and terrified humans behind.
The lights turned on their own again. This time the Mother of Snakes was leaning over the hood, looking in at them. Mathias, Amy, and Rory felt their blood run cold under her predatory gaze.
"She's here! She's come back!" Défago shouted in delight.
Then he opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle into the night.
"Défago!" the others cried.
"Shit!" Amy shouted.
She bolted forward and yanked the door shutting and locking it again. Right after she did, one of the snake women pressed her face to the glass. Amy stared wide eyed at the snarling face just on the other side of the transparent covering. The snake woman grinned at Amy, and then slivered back in the darkness, out of sight.
Then they all watched as Défago walked around the side of the car towards the Mother. She turned to him and when he was close enough, wrapped him in a tight embrace with her arms and tail. She turned towards the passengers and smiled with a wink. And then the lights died once more.
"What happened? What'd she do to him?" Amy asked in a hushed tone.
Before anyone could even try to answer that question, the car shook once more. The fact that the Snake Mother and her four servants weren't just busting through the glass to come drag them screaming into the night made it all the worse. All three that remained knew it, but no one wanted to say it: they were toyed with. Everyone screamed. Mathias tried in vain to start the car. Then it all went still and sunlight shined in through the windows of the car. The three sat there in total silence as they tried to comprehend what they had experienced. Again, no one moved. No one dared to move. Was this was trick to lull them into a sense of safety? If it was, it didn't work. They felt anything but safe right at the moment.
Amy happened to glance up into the rear view mirror and her eyes lit up.
"Pluto!" Amy said, enthusiastically.
Then she jumped out of the car and ran around back, much to the alarm of the two men.
"Amy!" they called in harsh whispers before climbing out of their seats, themselves.
Rory practically leapt out of the open door and was prepared to make a mad dash to catch up with her. When he turned and saw what she had run towards, he stopped. For the first time in several minutes, his muscles relaxed as he sighed in relief. Pluto was on a knee on the road behind them, gasping for breath and leaning on her Garnet Rod for support. Amy was on her knees next to her, gently gripping her by the arm.
"Easy does it," she said to the exhausted Warrior.
They looked towards the heavy footsteps of the men as they jogged over.
"Pluto," Rory greeted in an understated way.
"What happened?" Mathias demanded, while glancing in every direction for any sign of the Mother of Snakes and her lackeys.
"The Black King and I fought, but I had to break it off when I felt the disturbance in the temporal fabric…barely got away," Pluto answered breathlessly. "I came running as fast as I could. I brought you back from a time-snare they had you caught in."
"So he's still around?" Mathias asked, eyes shifting around nervously. Pluto nodded to that.
"Everyone into the Door. Oh… Where's Défago?" Pluto asked.
The other three looked amongst themselves with a sense of unease and a bit of sorrow. Pluto nodded, understanding the implication.
"Let's get going," she said, leaning on the rod and pushing herself up.
As they took off, again, sluggishly jogging away, Pluto paused only once, only out of disappointment with herself. During her short confrontation with The Black King, she had been completely unable to force him to disclose his plans. His silence was worse than anything else. She followed after the others with a tangible sense of dread. Just what was The Black King after?
A/N: We know return you to your semi-irregularly scheduled programming with Usagi and the gang. I originally wrote this to be a sequence in Chapter 46: a Week of Preparation; Jii-Oni: the Red Demon, but then it ended being so long that it would have distracted from the proper focus. I intended to put it in another chapter, but then I noticed that it is a chapter's worth of material in its own right. So here we are.
Next Chapter: Summer Break Begins; Off to a Week of Training at the Pension Addams!
