Chapter 11
"What do we do?" Emma questioned.
"There's nothing here!" Thoma said, outraged.
"No sign of anything at all…" Don sweated.
Scarlett pursed her lips. "I can't see anything. No humans or structures."
"LIAR LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!" The five years olds suddenly screamed, shocking the others.
"HE SAID HE WOULD BE HERE!"
"HE TOLD US TO COME AND VISIT!"
"AND WE CAME ALL THIS WAY TO FIND NOTHING!"
After the kids stopped yelling, Ray raised an eyebrow and asked, "You done yet?"
"Yeah!"
"Then calm down and listen. If Minerva's going back and forth between worlds, he won't always be on the demon side. And even if the demons don't come here in this deserted place, imagine if humans stood around here like sitting ducks. You can imagine how long we would last, right?"
Ray then stood up, holding out the pen. "Last night, I found the next part. The contents of the pen after what we have seen."
"And what did you find?" Gilda asked.
"Nothing. At least, nothing I could see… yet."
"What do you mean?" Emma clocked her head to the side.
"I couldn't access the rest of the data," Ray clarified. "And I'm 100% sure I put in the right answer. But no matter what, I couldn't go past Minerva's message. Ever since Norman gave us instructions, I've been wondering if there was any other information he didn't find. After all, he didn't have much time. But that wasn't it. Norman couldn't access the data either. There must be a certain requirement in order to do so. My theory is that the pen will show you it once you reach a certain location."
"And you think it's here in B 06-32," Emma guessed, smiling.
"Bingo," Ray smirked.
"Might as well give it a try," Scarlett shrugged.
Ray opened the pen again and touched the owl logo. The code that popped up was 45-03-03.
"Page 45, line three, word three!" Dominic and Alicia recited.
"Got it!" Don said as he opened the book. "Come on…"
"Huh?" Emma said. "The code's different from last time…"
"Must be a pain to have to find the code over and over again," Nat grumbled.
"Better safe than sorry, right?" Gilda reasoned.
Ray put in the code and Minerva's message popped up. Then he went back to the main screen. A new code was there. 108-15-01.
All of them willed for Ray's theory to be correct. If not… well they were kinda screwed.
"The word is 'history'!" Don yelled.
Ray quickly typed it in.
"Come on!" The kids yelled.
Then, a map popped up.
"It worked!" The younger kids cheered.
The older kids stayed silent though as they took it in.
"But… what is this?" Anna wondered.
"It's a map…" Scarlett murmured. Her eyes then widened. "It's underground!"
They gasped in realization once she said that.
"Everyone, scour around!" Emma shouted. "The entrance is around here somewhere!"
Most of them went ahead and split up.
After looking at the screen a bit, Ray pressed something on the screen and then part of the ground had opened up near them.
"Look!" Emma pointed at it.
They both headed towards the opening. There was a hatch. Scarlett kneeled down and pulled. She grunted. "Man, this thing is tight." Activating her powers, she then was able to turn it and open it. A ladder down was revealed.
"Here it is," Emma breathed.
"It really was here after all!" Yvette grinned.
"He wasn't lying!" Chris said in relief.
"What are we waiting for?" Don questioned. "Let's get inside!"
Emma went in first and the others followed after her.
They went through a tunnel and found multiple rooms, each with a number on them.
"This is… an underground shelter for human beings?" Ray wondered as he looked around.
Scarlett stilled. "Guys."
"What?" They all looked at her.
She pointed to a door. "There's someone in there."
Listening carefully, they could hear something through that door.
Slowly, Emma knocked on the door twice. Nothing. She then turned the knob and opened the door.
Inside were multiple screens on the wall and a big table in the middle. At the end of the table was a man with his feet on the wooden surface, teacup in hand. There was also a box of cookies on the table. He had black hair with white streaks in it.
"Hey there," the man greeted.
'Is he really…?' Everyone thought.
"You've come a long way. Congrats on making it here," the man said. But it wasn't one of happiness or welcoming. It was more like… he wanted them out.
'His manners are terrible!' Everyone exclaimed internally when they saw the guy just munching cookies.
'What's with that cup? It looks broken so… he's drinking air tea?!'
'The way he dresses is so… um… individualistic. Everything's mismatched!' Gilda's eye twitched at his attire. She was known as the one with the fashion sense so of course she would be the most bothered by it.
'Weird guy. And disappointing too,' was basically what all the five year olds thought. Except for Mark who was drooling at the sight of cookies.
"Are you Minerva?" Emma questioned, breaking the silence.
"Nope," the man replied, popping the p. He smirked. "Too bad for you kids, I'm not William Minerva."
"Can you get him then?" Scarlett asked, already tired of this guy's attitude. Her annoyance overpowered her introverted self.
"He ain't here!" The man replied. Scarlett noted it sounded… resentful.
"What a shame, right?" The man continued. "No Minervas here at all, zip zap zero."
The younger kids were having a freak out yet again.
"Calm down," Ray said to them. He then looked back at the man. "You clearly know who he is. Where is he now?"
"No idea!" The man laughed, leaning back in his chair.
"Who are you?" Ray's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm your senior." the man's smirk grew. He stood up, holding a rather familiar pen.
"It's the same pen!" Alicia gasped.
"Senior?" Mark repeated.
"That's right. Well, not from Grace Field." He pulled his shirt up to reveal an id code.
'A code… on his abdomen?' Emma thought.
"I escaped from a plantation called Glory Bell," the man explained. "I escaped from it 13 years ago… with my colleagues. All thanks to this pen."
"So he's like us!" Jemima exclaimed in relief.
"Just the same as you. Ended up here when we were searching for Minerva."
'So there are survivors!' Some of them thought excitedly.
The man put on a jacket and sat on the table in front of them. "However, when I finally made it to this place, the man himself was nowhere to be found. I waited for a hell of a long time and not once did he show. Now way around it, the man's a dirty liar."
"See?!" The five year olds exclaimed.
"Can it," Scarlett glared at them, making them shut up.
"Though… I gotta say. I'm grateful for this shelter. There's a stock of food and water. Running electricity… living space… everything you ever want here. Even useful information. Hurray for Minerva, right?"
"So, where's the rest of your group?" Dominic asked innocently.
"Dead." The man's tone grew dark. "All of them. I'm the lone survivor."
All of them had sad looks on their faces. Even Scarlett, who pitied the man. Anyone would go crazy being alone for so long.
"Ah, don't get so gloomy now!" The man frantically waved his hands. "It all happened a long time ago! And I've given up on looking for Minerva for a long time now. I'm just living my best life here."
"Y-you gave up?" Chris repeated.
"What's up with you guys though?" The man's tone grew lofty. "What sorta group are ya?"
"W-we're-" Don started.
"Hold it," the man interjected. He looked at them closely. "You're from Grace Field and the lot of you escaped maybe… seven days ago? That much is clear." Except for Scarlett, whom he noticed her condition seemed a lot better than theirs. Still disheveled a bit, but more awake and ready than her companions. And what's with the red eyes?
'He can tell that just from our appearance?' Ray thought in surprise.
"What I wanna know is how come a bunch of chumps like you guys… managed to survive this long without any of you biting the dust?" He said this in a taunting way.
Scarlett narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Look, it's like I said. This place has pretty much everything. But… stocks are limited, you know?" His eyes grew dark. "I'm not letting anyone get a single bite of my stock. I'm older than you and I was here first. Beside… all of you are gonna die, 100%. Cause you're weak."
"We are not-!" Dominic started indignantly.
"Are too. Just look at you guys. It's obvious you all have never been truly at the grip of death. You've all barely just scratched the surface. The very image of you naive chumps irritates me. That's why I can guarantee all of you are gonna die." The man was now scornful.
"That's what happened to your colleagues, right?" Scarlett raised an eyebrow.
"Yep. All of them, dead. Because they were wimps. I was the only survivor. Because only I figured out the trick."
"The trick?" Chris wondered.
"Drop the dead weight. Comrades are dead weight. So is hope. And caring. All of that is just gonna bring you down to your demise," he said.
Emma grew enraged by this. It completely went against her own code. "You're wrong!" She yelled, stepping forward.
"Tch. Your naivety really irritates me." He suddenly grabbed Emma and put a gun right next to her head.
"Emma!" Ray yelled.
"Hand it over," the man demanded. "The pen."
They gasped.
"Fork it over already. I'm gonna make sure none of you get out of here ever again. I don't need dead weight on my hands. So get the hell out of here. If not, I'm just gonna kill all of you right here right now." The man sounded serious.
'Damnit!' Scarlett cursed. 'There's no way I can catch a bullet, even if I prepare for it! And it's way too close to her! If I try anything, he'll just shoot! I don't know if I even want to show my powers to this guy!'
'I can't just give up the pen!' Ray gritted his teeth. 'Or leave! We're right in the middle of a wasteland! It'll be too cold! And we can't just make fires, that's too risky! And where would we go then anyways? Besides, if we leave, we'll lose our only lead to Minerva! Doubly if we lose the pen! But… Emma!'
"Well?" The man questioned. "I'm waiting."
Suddenly, Emma balled her hand into a fist and hit it right on his crotch.
"Umph!" The man's eyes bulged out. "Hngggg!"
"Wha-" Ray sweatdropped along with the rest of them. Some of them just looked on in horror.
Emma quickly took this chance to get out of his now loosened grip and ran towards the rest of them.
"Guys, let's get out of this room!" Emma said, making them run towards the doorway. "Ack, my neck hurts! I thought he was gonna choke me!"
"You idiot, what are you doing?!" Ray yelled hysterically.
"Right!" Gilda agreed. "What if he pulled the trigger?"
"But he didn't!" Emma said triumphantly.
"Eh?" Everyone said.
"He was bluffing. He doesn't want to chase anyone out, right?"
Emma grew stiff as a bullet just went past her.
"Emma!"
"Like hell I was bluffing," the man huffed, still in pain.
"Um, no," Emma replied. "See? You did it again."
The man's eyes grew furious and scary as he aimed the gun at them.
"Sure, you don't want us around. But you don't want to kill us either," Emma pointed out. "That's why you want us to leave."
Silence.
"Now that I think of it, if it's all the same to him, he would have killed us right away," Nat mused. "What's more, he's risking making a ruckus by making us leave, possibly leading the demons here."
"Bullcrap!" The man denied. "I just don't wanna deal with 16 bloody corpses in my house!"
"Sure, it's messy," Scarlett conceded. "But it's still a hell of a lot better than luring the demons here."
"I couldn't care less about you stupid brats!" The man shouted, ignoring her statement. "I'm serious. Get out of here or I will blow your heads off! The last one was just a warning shot!"
"We refuse," Emma said in a final tone. "We can't afford to leave. And we can't give up our pen either. And my family isn't dead weight! What you think is dead weight is important!"
All of them stood up against him, more confident.
The man gritted his teeth. 'Goddamn… this makes me sick.' He put a hand to his forehead.
"Hey, are you-" Don started.
"You shut the hell up, Lucas!" He suddenly yelled, looking to the side. But there wasn't anyone there. "And quit it with your snide comments, Mike!'
He scratched his head intensely. "No, no. Huff.. huff.. God dammit! They're… really… awful..." He then fell onto his side, making a thump sound.
Scarlett slowly walked forward to inspect him. She then looked up after a little bit. "He's out. It's not an act."
"What's with him?" Don wondered.
"Who's Lucas and Mike anyways?" Nat wondered.
'I have a few guesses,' Scarlett thought grimly.
"Is he alright?" Anna asked, concerned.
"Yeah. Just out cold," Ray replied.
"Who does he mean by 'they'?" Emma thought out loud.
"Welp, for the meantime, our colleague is out for the time being," Ray said. "We're not waiting for him, so I say we continue exploring this place and get some information." He whipped out a notepad and pocketwatch.
"Ray…" Emma sweatdropped at him getting straight to business.
"We should keep a lookout for anything related to Minerva," Scarlett added.
"And we should start with the archives," Ray finished.
"Right," Emma nodded. "Basically a collection of documents. Like a library," she said at Rossi's confused face.
"Emma, Scarlett, and I will try looking for that," Ray said. "Don and Nat, keep an eye on that man."
"Roger."
"Everyone else, look for where we can sleep and rest safely," Ray ordered.
"You got it!"
"This is exciting!" Chris cheered. "It's like we're actual explorers!"
Anna noticed Yvette looking into a room weirdly.
"Yvette?" She walked over to her.
"Anna, take a look at this room."
When Anna turned away from her to look at what she was talking about, her eyes widened in horror and shock.
It was a bedroom, that was for sure. It had two bunk beds on either side of the room. It was an absolute mess. Paper, pens, and sheets were scattered everywhere. That wasn't the concerning part though. It was the fact that names were written on the walls, along with the words 'help' over and over again. Tally marks were also made and the word 'poachers' were the biggest of them all.
"What in the world?" Anna breathed. "What are these poachers?"
~0~0~0~0~0~
It was the next day when the man finally woke up. Squinting his eyes, he quickly got used to the light of the room. He then realized he was still in the security room.
'Why the hell am I here? Did I fall asleep?' He then remembered about the brats. Dammit, were they still here?
As he went to get up, he found that he couldn't. Because he was tied to the table with a white rope.
"GOD DAMN THOSE BRATS!"
Meanwhile the kids were just waking up. All of them were sleeping in one big room, each with their own mattress.
They jolted awake when Emma banged pots and pans together. "Rise and shine, everyone!"
"Sleeping on a mattress is the best!" The younger kids cheered.
"Yeah, that was good," Ray yawned, rubbing his eyes.
Scarlett was still asleep, mumbling some words.
"Did she always mumble?" Lannion thought out loud.
"What's she saying?" Dominic wondered.
Ray listened closely. It sounded mostly gibberish, but he found a word that he was able to hear correctly. At least he thinks so.
"Smee…" Scarlett muttered.
'Who's Smee?' Ray thought. He then shook her awake.
She immediately sat up and looked around frantically. "What?"
"We should get ready for the day," Ray said.
She nodded and got out of the bed stretching as she did so. "That sleep felt pretty good."
"Scarlett, you mentioned a word in your sleep," Ray said to her.
"Huh?" She stiffened slightly. 'Don't tell me I've started mumbling in my sleep! That's just embarrassing!'
"What did I say?"
"You said 'Smee'. I think it's a name. Have you heard of it?"
The ravenette slowly shook her head. "No. Mom nor Sister didn't mention it and I don't think I've read any books with that name." 'And yet it does ring a bell…'
"Were mattresses always this fluffy?" Gushed Mark, hugging his pillow.
"I know, right?" Jemima agreed. "I'll never take a bed for granted again!"
They quickly made their beds and put on their clothes, albeit a bit crooked.
"Emma!" Dominic and Rossi raced over to her. "We made our beds right and proper! Can we go yet?"
"Of course!" Emma grinned. "You guys have been waiting for this since last night, right?"
"All right!" They yelled, running out of the room.
"Oi, don't overdo it," Ray called out to them, also walking out.
All the boys headed to the male showers and baths. "It's time for a bath!"
"This water feels amazing!" Thoma exclaimed.
"I forgot how a hot shower feels!" Lannion sighed.
"Whether or not Minerva is here, he really hooked us up!" Don grinned.
"It's only been like seven days since our last bath, and it feels like ten years!" Dominic said as they soaked into the giant bath.
"I hear you," Lannion agreed.
"We're not even 10 years old yet…" Nat pointed out.
Meanwhile at the girls' baths, Scarlett was being much more hesitant.
"What's wrong, Scarlett?" Emma asked. The other girls were already in the bath while Scarlett was still in her towel.
"D-do we seriously have to shower together?" Scarlett muttered.
"There's nothing wrong with it!" Gilda reassured her. "That's how it works in places like this."
"Although… you've always woken up early so you had the shower to yourself," Anna realized.
"It's so weird," Scarlett shivered slightly. "How can you be comfortable with other people seeing your naked body?"
"As long as it's not a boy, we're good!" Gilda smiled. "We're not gonna judge you anyways."
"Ok…" Scarlett slowly took off the towel and tossed it to the side. She then speedily walked into the shower, half-heartedly covering herself.
After all of them had showers, they all put on fresh clean clothes.
"We actually have a place to wash clothes properly now." Gilda had sighed in relief when she found out. "Although…" She sweatdropped at the younger kids, whose clothes were much too big for them. "I'll adjust them later."
Ray and Scarlett prepared breakfast and they all sat at a large dining table together. After giving thanks for the meal, they dug in.
"This shelter is impressive," Ray commented as they ate. "It's got a kitchen, working bathrooms, and even a vegetable garden! The water comes from a large underground reserve and we employ geothermal energy and organic waste matter to generate electricity."
"Organic waste matter?" Don repeated. "What's that?"
Scarlett sighed. She then leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"EH?!" Don exclaimed after she backed away. "Poop?! For real?!"
"And kitchen garbage!" Ray added.
"Guys!" Gilda shouted. "We're eating here!"
"To put it another way," Ray smirked, "as long as we're careful, we won't be lacking in water or power. Waste production will stay minimal as well."
"The foodstocks were a bit low, but the man has been at them for 13 years, so that makes sense," Scarlett murmured. "Now that I think about it… 13 years…"
"What is it?" Emma asked.
"Remember when Sister said that the demons had upped security years ago for some reason she didn't know?"
"Yeah…?" Emma then gasped. "You mean-!"
Scarlett nodded. "It must have been when the man and his friends escaped. Although, I wondered why they lowered it again."
"Probably because they didn't have enough guards to do so," Ray guessed. "After all, even demons need to sleep I bet, and there were probably not enough guards for all the shifts."
"That guy… I don't know what to make of him," Nat groaned. "On one hand, I feel bad for him and on the other, he's a jerk for trying to kick us out!"
"That man's been through a lot, that's for sure," Scarlett responded. "And it must have been lonely living here alone for so long. He's literally having invisible tea parties. That's just sad."
"Back to the food though!" Emma said, trying to uplift the mood again. "Our supplies are holding better than we expected and Musica gave us some seeds to plant! We can have a whole new garden! And I saw snakes and lizards outside too!"
While Lannion was excited at the prospect of it, Nat looked rather disturbed.
"Minerva's nowhere to be found, and there's a weird guy here, and tons of questions. But B 06-32 is the ideal home," Ray smiled. "We can live for a good while here."
'This is great!' Emma smiled as all of them headed into a drawing room. 'All 16 of us made it here, without casualties! And now we have a proper base!'
"Hey, there's some music sheets and a piano here," Nat called. "Mind if I try them?"
Being given the green light, he then started playing music. It made the scenery around them seem more homey and wholesome.
After resting for a bit, Scarlett said, "We need to get down to business. Yesterday, we found the archive room. The keys we need are in that room… and with that man."
They went back to the dining room to discuss.
"Yeah," Ray agreed. "We have a safe base now. Now we need to figure out how to go about the rescue and escape. Specifically, how we get past the Promise and how to get Phil's group out."
"I'd thought we could ask Minerva, but he's not here," Gilda said sadly.
"So what did you find in that archive last night?" Nat asked.
"Well, a lot," Ray replied. "We've only scratched the surface but we've found the basic classification and general location of the plantations. What kinds of farms there are, and also what their tattoo identifies them as."
"Identify?" Thoma said. "Oh!"
"Yeah. That man could tell which plantation we were from just from the location of our tattoos. Us, Grace Field, use digits on our necks. Glory Bell uses a character on the abdomen like that man. The kind of writing, the order of the characters, the location of the mark, the details vary from each plantation."
"So as long as they know that, they can identify us," Nat mused.
"And it seems like the four premium plantations bother with unique identifiers for each of us." Ray held out a book. "The factory farms only use brands. Each one has a symbol and they just put it on a fixed location."
"We also found some stuff about the Promise, the human world, and the location of demon settlements in this world." Scarlett narrowed her eyes.
"And we found an encyclopedia about the plants here, with each of them hand drawn. Plus normal things like novels and children's books," Emma added. "We found some stuff about demons, but…"
"But what?" Anna questioned.
"It's all very old," Ray responded. "The books here seemed to have been published before 2015… just like the ones at Grace Field. We can't be sure with the non-material books, but the ones with the demons and the Promise are old enough to to be considered historical."
'All published before 2015?' Gilda thought. 'We know Minerva's been gone for 13 years, but 30 years…?'
Don opened up one of the books, making dust flying everywhere.
"Wow, it's actually falling apart!" Thoma exclaimed. "That's cool!"
"Achoo!" Nat sneezed.
"Well… I don't know what's written here," Lannion said, "but all that's in here is outdated stuff, right?"
"Huh? But that doesn't make sense?" Don was puzzled.
"Don's right," Scarlett said. "That man could tell multiple things about us just from looking. There has to be a method of getting information about the real world."
"Probably the monitors from the room we found Mister!" Emma added.
"Mister?" Ray raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Emma shrugged. "We don't know his name, so Mister it is!"
"Did you guys find anything about crossing over?" Anna asked.
"Nothing," Emma sighed. "It looks like we need to locate Minerva after all."
"So you found something about Minerva?" Gilda questioned hopefully.
"This letter." Ray took out a letter. "It was in one of the books we found."
Gilda took it and read it out loud. "Congratulations on your success of making it this far. I apologize for not being able to celebrate it with you personally. This is your shelter. But should you aim for more, should you want to go beyond just living in peace, then use your pen and head to A 08-63.
-William Minerva"
"Aim for more…" Gilda pondered. "Does he mean crossing to the human world?"
"Probably," Ray nodded.
"So Minerva's in A 08-63?" Don clarified.
"There's no guarantee he is," Scarlett replied. "And this letter must be several years old too from the fraying and how yellowed it is."
"After we look through the archives, Emma, Scarlett, and I will head to A 08-63," Ray announced.
"What?" Gilda frowned. "But what about us?"
"We need you to stay here and take care of everyone," Emma said seriously.
"But guys-!" Don protested.
"Right now, we don't need to bring everyone," Scarlett pointed out. "And I'm concerned about those poachers."
"The poachers? Do you think you're gonna meet them?" Anna asked.
"Yeah," Scarlett nodded. "This shelter is safe, with no indication that the demons know about it. And yet, all of Mister's friends were killed. Mister also said he tried looking for Minerva. My theory is that he and his friends ran into these poachers and he was the lone survivor."
"That does make sense…" Don said hesitantly. "But if Mister's whole group got annihilated by them, there's no way you guys can handle them, powers or not!"
"But if we are… compromised, then you guys are the last hope," Emma said softly.
"It's risky," Ray conceded. "But we need to do this. And we're not planning on dying anytime soon."
Thoma and Lannion looked at him sceptically.
"Seriously!" Ray yelled. "Besides, it's not just us going. We have someone here who has experience."
"No way," Don realized. "You can't be serious!"
As though he was called, the man himself busted through the door. The younger kids squealed and ran away from him.
"Yo," the man said.
"Oh!" Emma walked forward, greeting him as though he were an old friend. "We've been waiting for you! Let's make a deal."
'Are you serious, Emma?' Don gaped. 'That man pointed a gun at you! Even if it was a bluff, this man is not someone you should take lightly like this!'
"Let's start over! My name's Emma. What's yours?" Emma asked.
The man simply said, "Get the hell out." His eyes were dark. "I don't have to tell you my name and I don't want to."
The others winced internally. Emma however, tried to reason with him. "Let's sit down!" She pulled over a chair and sat on it. She then turned to Gilda. "Gilda? Get him some chow."
"Um… right!" Gilda raced out of the room.
"So, how are you feeling?"
"In a bad mood," the man replied, still standing.
"Sorry we had to tie you down like that," Emma apologized. "And you must be hungry!"
Gilda came in with a bowl of soup.
"To make up for it, we made you some soup for breakfast! It's not poisoned, and it's not bad either! Scarlett and Ray are our best chefs." To prove it, Emma ate a spoon of her own soup.
Mister merely set the bowl Gilda gave him on the table.
"The soup isn't made with your stuff!" Emma reassured him. "It's made just from the stuff we brought! From now on, we'll make do with our own resources and keep everything to a minimum."
"And you think I'm gonna share my shelter if you do that. No way. Get out," the man said in a monotone voice.
"No, that's not it," Emma shook her head. "It's just courtesy. After all, I don't think you're worried about limited resources, right?"
Mister's eyes flashed dangerously.
'After searching through the shelter, it was clear that all the 'dead weight' he blabbered about was all talk.' Scarlett narrowed her eyes at him. 'His attitude was one of someone who lived the good life. His motive is something else.'
"Let me get straight to the point then," Emma continued. "We want you to be our bodyguard and guide."
"What." The man stared in shock. Was this girl crazy?
"You seem pretty strong and capable," Emma said. "You've survived here for 13 years and I'm guessing you have a lot of experience outside."
"How can you tell?" Dominic asked.
"His shoes are worn down," Ray pointed out. "And he doesn't have a big belly like someone who lives a good life. He's actually pretty fit from what we've seen. And also… There was fresh fruit hanging in the pantry. You can't just make those and there's nothing like them in the garden either. Plus, they seem recent. Either he's gotten them from forests or the waterside."
'Eh?!' Thoma and Lannion froze. They were quickly reminded of Sung-Joo telling them not to go to a body of water.
"Plus," Scarlett added, "He just barely missed Emma with that gunshot. Assuming he was missing on purpose, that takes some serious skill. And he escaped our bindings as well."
"You're no sucker, that's for sure," Emma concluded. "And you've got experience in searching for Minerva." She held out the letter. "You know what this is, right? It was unsealed when we found it, so I'm betting you and your group of friends found it and tried to search for him. Ray, Scarlett, and I want to try. And because of your strength and experience, we figured you should come."
"In your dreams!" The man scoffed, smirking. "Why the hell should I care? Get out of here."
"We will. Once we find Minerva and return safely, that is," Emma replied.
"Sigh." The man scratched his head. "That's your deal? And with this crappy offer, you expect me to risk my life out there? To protect a bunch of clowns? Don't be stupid, kid."
"Well, you want us to leave, right?" Emma questioned.
"Yeah, but-" he suddenly took out a knife and pointed it at her. "It'd be easier to kill you right here right now."
"AHHHH!" The younger kids screamed.
"Can you do it?" Emma asked.
"Yup. Yer going down, sorry not sorry. When I make up my mind, I don't look back."
The knife suddenly turned red and zoomed out of his hand into Scarlett's.
He scowled. "Oi, how the hell did you-" He stopped when he saw a glowing Scarlett, her hair bright red and her eyes glaring dangerously.
"W-what the hell are you?" Mister demanded.
"I'm a human being, same as you," Scarlett replied coolly, her hair turning black again.
"Like hell you are! What you just did ain't human! Are you a demon in disguise?"
"Hey, don't call her a demon," Ray snapped.
Suppressing a blush, Scarlett looked at the adult in the eyes. "Like I said, I'm a human. But to be specific…" Her red eyes grew dark and a scary aura was around her. "I'm your executioner if you try anything like that again."
The man shivered slightly. Jesus Christ, what the hell?
"Um, Scarlett," Emma sweatdropped. "That might be a bit too much. Besides, he's not going to do anything, don't worry!"
"With this guy, it's unpredictable," Scarlett scowled. "Besides, even if he won't kill you, that doesn't mean he won't harm you."
'This girl is the unpredictable one in my eyes,' Mister thought. 'She'll probably be the hardest to take care of.'
"Well, anyways," Ray broke up the silence. "Here." He held Mister's gun.
"You gonna shoot me?" Mister raised an eyebrow. "Doncha need me?"
"I'm just handing back your gun, relax." Ray rolled his eyes as he passed the gun on the table.
"Is it loaded?!" Don exclaimed.
"No, I took out the bullets," Ray replied.
"Besides, we're not gonna kill you if you don't cooperate," Emma said loftly. Ray had a detonation device in his hand.
Mister's eyes widened.
"We found it yesterday when we looked through the archive table," Emma explained. "It must be to protect the secret, should any unwanted guests come here."
"I'm kinda sleep-deprived from fixing it, you know?" Ray smirked. "You cutting the wiring made it more difficult."
"So, Mister," Emma grinned. She spread her arms out. "Let's make a deal or we blow up the whooooole shelter!"
Mister looked at them furiously.
"This place is important to you, right? It's more than a bunch of resources. If we blow this place up, you won't have anymore pretend tea parties. If we're all gonna die, why don't we just blow it up?"
The younger ones were confused at the emphasis on 'tea parties'.
'How do these kids..? Are they insane?!' He screamed internally. 'In just one day, they did this? They're full of openings, but the problem is that crazy red eyed girl. I guess if I come with them to search for Minerva… I could take care of them much easier with that.'
"Geez," he sighed. "Fine. If you're so eager to die, I'll happily help you with that."
"Eh?!" Chris hugged Ray's legs. "You can't let them die, Mister!"
"Shut up!" He yelled. "I'll go with you to search for Minerva, but that's it. I'm not putting my life on the line for you brats."
"That's fine!" Emma grinned. "So, what's your name?"
"Like I said before, ain't tellin ya Antenna kid," he replied grumpily.
'A-antenna?!' Emma exclaimed in her mind. 'That's my nickname?!'
"Don't get me wrong," Mister said as he turned away. "I don't have the slightest intention on getting close to all of you. And stay outta my sight. I don't wanna stare at your stupid faces."
"Pleased to meet you then… Mister," Emma smirked.
~0~0~0~0~0~
By the end of the day, Mister had given most of them nicknames. Other than Antenna, he dubbed Ray as Sleepy Cyclops, Scarlett as Supernatural Demon, Don as Bean Head, Gilda as Prissy Four-Eyes, Nat as Nose, Anna as Babysitter, Lannion as Curry Chow, Thoma as Pizza Topping, Mark as Cookie, Yvette as Shaggy, and Alicia as Hairball.
"This sucks!" Thoma and Lannion exclaimed exasperatedly, their heads hanging down. "He's just bullying us!"
"That man doesn't even want to know our names!" Gilda said indignantly. "He's so stubborn!"
"By the way, Nat, why are you looking so proud?" Ray asked.
"Because my elegant nose line has been recognized!" He replied triumphantly.
"I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it as a compliment," Scarlett deadpanned.
"Not only is he not saying ours, he doesn't want to say his name either!" Emma frowned.
"Probably because he doesn't want to get close to us," Ray guessed, putting down a stack of books. "I bet he thinks that it's better to remain detached."
"He must have been through a lot," Scarlett said. "After all, he already has white streaks in his hair and he's only in his late 20s or early 30s. I'm pretty sure that he didn't dye his hair. So he must have gone through something traumatic to have his hair turn white in the first place."
Meanwhile, Mister was having a talk with the five year olds. "Repeat after me. Take care of the rooms."
"Take care of the rooms!"
"Stay outta my sight."
"Stay out of your sight!"
"Don't even walk around to begin with."
"Don't even walk around to being with!"
"If you use something, put it back where you found it."
"Back where we found it!"
"Break any rules, and you die." He had an angelic smile on his face.
Deciding to test something, Alicia brought a teacup and held it out.
"Ahh!" Mister yelled. "You put that down!"
After that, Alicia reported to Ray about her discoveries.
"It looks like the entire shelter is filled with extortion material," Scarlett noted.
"Thanks for the report, Alicia!" Ray ruffled her hair.
"Ray!" Gilda shouted. "What kind of experiments are you making the poor girl do?!"
"Don't worry!" Alicia grinned. "I won't do it again! After all, everything is important to that man!"
"It's a bummer that we can't explore the rooms though," Chris commented.
Mark added, "And he yells at us to go away and gives us these funny nicknames, but…"
The kids sniggered. "We kept asking about his name and he got so angry!"
"No!" Gilda yelled in a scolding tone. "You stay away from that man, you hear me?"
"Scarlett's nickname does seem pretty mean though," Don said in a pitying tone.
"Whatever," Scarlett scoffed. "He can play this game. I don't care." Although, a small part of her was insulted and hurt.
When the younger kids went away, they continued their discussion.
"At least we managed to drag along that man for the excursion," Ray said. "The rescue and the escape must happen within two years. If we bring all the kids from Grace Field here, we'd go over capacity."
"And not only that," Scarlett added, "but I think that they were moved to other farms. The House was burned down and there's no way to rebuild it in time for them to live in it again. We can't track them down."
"We're not even sure Minerva would be at this place either," Emma sighed.
"Yeah. We got a lot of work cut out for us. Which is why we can't waste time." Ray closed his eyes as he said this. "Without that man's experience, we would be dead meat. He's necessary to our goals."
"And that man lived out here for 13 years!" Emma added, her eyes sparkling in admiration. "With us traveling together, I bet we can pick up a thing or two about how he does it!"
"But…" Don hesitated. "We're still worried about this."
"Will that man even listen to us?" Gilda fretted. "It's not like he couldn't kill us if he wanted to."
"True," Scarlett conceded. "In fact, I'm betting that one of the reasons why he agreed is so he can kill us indirectly. Probably from a wild demon."
Don and Gilda gasped.
"That's fine," Ray said. He shut his book. "We won't die so easily. That man is underestimating us. There's a reason why we were considered premium products after all."
"We're playing a game of gathering intelligence," Scarlett explained. "He's playing the same game."
Emma sighed. "I wish we didn't have to resort to this cloak and dagger stuff. He's an escapee like us."
"He's even more stubborn than you, and that's saying something," Scarlett said bluntly, making Emma wince.
"He's even rushing our departure," Ray said irritatedly. "We've only got three days to prepare and read all of this. On the fourth day, we leave."
"To A 08-63," Emma finished. "We found out that it's this place called Goldy Pond."
"Goldy Pond? Where's that?" Gilda asked.
"It's in a forest. Not the one with the bloodsucker trees though," Ray replied. "Which means we don't know anything that's in there. Another reason why we need that man."
~0~0~0~0~0~
On the day of the departure, Emma, Ray, and Scarlett followed the man to the drawing room.
Nat made a protesting sound when Mister opened the top of the piano and pressed something with the tip of an umbrella.
"Wha…?" Emma trailed off.
Doing so, a secret passage was suddenly opened.
"This is our final preparation before we're heading off," the man explained. "Hurry up and get your bums in here."
Going down a ladder, they were met with a giant armory.
'Did Minerva leave us a giant armory for us?' Ray thought as he looked around.
"It was by chance that we found the piano mechanism," the man explained. "When we first played it, the tune was slightly off. Anyways the point is, you can't find this room if you suck."
"What was Minerva's plan?" Emma murmured.
"Beats me," the man muttered.
'This place has everything. Guns, swords, shields, bombs, anything you would think of as a weapon.' Scarlett scanned around the place.
"Pick whatever you like," Mister said. "I couldn't care less about Minerva's goals. This weapons room was made for someone to use it, right? Soon, we'll be in enemy territory. This place is at a whole other level than the forest you guys went though. This is where they live. If they come for you... well weapons won't really do much. It's better than putting your ass out there bare-handed though."
Scarlett looked around carefully, picking guns up and inspecting each item closely. It was of course much more preferable to use light weapons.
"What are you picking, Mister?" Emma called out to him.
"Don't wanna explain. Just watch and learn." The man slung a large sniper rifle over his shoulder along with plenty of ammo and a knife. Nothing else. "When you're done, come back up here." He climbed up the ladder, slamming the door shut.
"He really doesn't want to help us, huh?" Ray commented.
"He wouldn't have agreed if we hadn't threatened the shelter," Scarlett pointed out.
"What are you taking, Emma?" Ray asked the ginger.
"Definitely a knife," Emma replied. She then pointed to a large weapon. "I was thinking of taking this bazooka, but it's too heavy and I don't think I could hold it properly anyways…"
"Definitely," Ray deadpanned.
'Emma with a bazooka sounds oddly terrifying,' Scarlett thought.
"So I think Sung-Joo's bow is good as a basic weapon. It's light and I basically got the hang of it. And I can retrieve the arrows and make new ones with the knife."
While Ray and Emma were having their conversation, Scarlett went deeper in to find more weapons. She had already decided on using a knife and sniper. Someone with eyesight like her should use something like that. But she also wanted a better melee weapon to use for close combat. Maybe a sword?
As she was walking, something caught her eye. On a pedestal, was a black katana. She read that Katanas were one of the best swords. Light but also strong. She had never heard of a black one though. What kind of metal would be black? Maybe zirconium?
As she was inspecting it closely, she didn't notice Emma behind her. "What are you looking at?"
Scarlett jumped and ended up cutting a finger on the sharp blade. She hissed in pain.
"Sorry!" Emma apologized.
"Really? On the same hand too?" Ray sighed. He took out another bandage and gave it to her, not bandaging it for her this time.
As she put it on, she swore that the blade glowed red for a moment. The other two didn't comment on it though, so she figured it was just her imagination.
"That katana looks cool!" Emma exclaimed.
"And they're effective," Ray added.
Scarlett slowly took the handle and picked it up. It was definitely light. After swishing it around for a bit, she found that it seemed addicting to use. It was shocking though when the edge of the blade glowed red.
"Weird…" Ray muttered. "How does that even work?"
"Don't know, but it seems pretty good," Emma shrugged.
"I think I'll take this," Scarlett decided, without a second thought. It just felt right in her hand.
"What gun are you taking?" Emma asked.
"A sniper rifle. Not one as big as Mister's though. And I'm taking a knife."
"Good choices," Ray approved.
"Here, I think this is the sheath for it." Emma held out a black sheath that seemed to fit the katana.
"Just to match the aesthetic, maybe you should carry some of these," Ray suggested. He held out a belt with some short kunai knives attached to it.
After putting it on, Scarlett walked around to see if they would weigh her down a lot. They did weigh her down a bit, but it wasn't bad. "Yeah. I could definitely use more projectiles. I can throw them using my telekinesis. What did you guys get?"
"I'm bringing my bow, a knife, this hunter rifle, and this pistol with four barrels." Emma showed her the gun.
"And I got this rifle." Ray held out the weapon.
"There's the jacket that he was wearing." Scarlett pointed to multiple jackets that were like Mister's but different sizes.
"We should put those on," Ray said. "Our white clothes stand out too much."
"Agreed," Emma and Scarlett replied.
"Before we leave, you should have Anna look at your ears one last time," Scarlett suggested.
"Probably. Don't wanna worry them even more," Ray responded.
After leaving the room, Anna quickly reapplied a salve and gave them some. "Make sure you put it on every morning!" She had said.
All of them had gathered at the entrance of the bunker. "We're ready!" Emma grinned. The three of them had also put on some black pants in exchange for their white ones.
The five year olds wailed and hugged her. "Don't get hurt and then hide it!"
"Don't push yourselves too hard!"
"Ray! If you're in danger, run!"
"Got it," Ray replied.
Mister scowled at their ruckus and turned away.
Gilda was reminded of what Scarlett had said.
"In fact, I'm betting that one of the reasons why he agreed is so he can kill us indirectly. Probably from a wild demon."
'I can't let that happen!' Gilda grimaced. "Mister? Can I ask you something?"
Mister glanced back at her.
"Please bring them back safely. I know that this is a dangerous outing for you too… something bad may happen that you might need to escape. But even if something happens, you need to bring back at least one of them alive."
"That's a request now?" Mister questioned. "Sorry, but just because you're saying it, doesn't mean I'll-"
"No, I'm not just saying it. It's my expectation of you," Gilda scowled. "If you don't come back with at least one alive, I will personally destroy this shelter myself."
Scarlett noticed Mister's hesitant face. 'At least that would make him doubt. Good job, Gilda!'
Gilda then hugged the three of them. "All of you, be safe! If any of you die, I'll never forgive you!"
"We will!" Emma said while hugging back.
"You can count on it," Scarlett whispered.
Mister saw the katana hanging on her belt. 'That katana… is that the one no one could lift? All of us tried so hard to, but we couldn't. How was she able to?'
Author's Note
Hey everyone! In case you didn't read my note, I have announced that there will be a sequel to this series! There is also a poll with three options on what crossover I should do the series with. In case you don't know how to find it, go onto my profile and you should find the poll at the top of the page.
It's not limited to just those three options! You can suggest what series you would want to have in the sequel. I will personally respond to those suggestions whether or not I will add them or not.
And once again, thanks for 1000 views! It really means a lot to a small fanfiction writer like me.
Edit: I've already posted the next chapter but I don't think that it's appearing for some people. It should appear in the app though. Honestly, I'm so tired of fanfiction not doing their job of keeping the site efficient.