Cassie inhaled once more and put her forearm over her mouth. She turned away and looked at Derek.
Burak and Leyla fell through the door and into an open pit about teen feet below. Burak landed on his back with his wife on top of him and he started coughing violently, his wife doing the same. The poison gas had already spread through the room and flooded their lungs. They tried holding their breaths but it was too late and all they could do was cough up blood and scream in agony as the gas slowly killed them.
The gas was slowly spreading through the hall so Cassie and Derek ran all the way back to the edge of the combusting spotlight where the poison gas was less concentrated and looked at each other.
"Knife," Cassie mumbled, "I NEED KNIFE!"
Derek kept a hand over his mouth as he searched his pockets. He found his climbing piton and quickly handed it over to her. Cassie charges for the broken-down wall and touches the surface where she carved the symbol in the vision.
Without wasting another second, she stabs the climbing piton into the wood and drags it along.
Burak and Leyla grabbed hold of each other and looked into the other's bloodshot eyes.
Leyla collapses to her knees, continuing to cough while her husband kneels to hug her.
Cassie finished carving the symbol on the door. She backed away and stood next to Derek, a low concentration of poison gas had reached them but they both kept their composure. Cassie's world started to turn dark, her eyelids getting heavy, and her lungs on the verge of exploding in her chest.
Just one breath... she told herself, the gas doesn't have to know.
She remembers where Burak and Leyla were. She rushes to the door and lays on her stomach before reaching into the open pit.
Burak and Leyla stared up at Cassie's stretched hand like it was the hand of the grim reaper. Burak's bloodshot eyes rolled to the back of his skull but he still found the resolve to reach for her hand. His hand fell short two feet when the bones in his arm suddenly went numb and he collapsed on his back.
Leyla landed head-first on her husband's stomach, the painful feeling in her chest making her cough no longer there. She pushes her elbow in the ground and uses it as a clutch to crawl closer to Burak. With her head inches away from his head, she rested it on the ground beside him.
I can finally breathe again... she sighed with a smile. Burak, I can breathe again.
Burak...
Burak...
Burak and Leyla Uzun lay motionless on the floor, blood that had been blocked up in the back of their throats finally coming to a head and leaking from their mouths. Their skin had turned blue from the lack of oxygen and the whites of their eyes became pure bloodshot.
However, in their final moments, they died holding each other's hand.
The gas had finally cleared and Cassie allowed herself the chance to breathe but her breath left her regardless when she stared down at the dead Overlord soldiers. She climbs back to her feet and gulps in a mouthful of air and allows her blurry vision to clear out.
"They're dead," Cassie quietly said. "The poison gas suffocated them."
Cassie has seen dozens of dead bodies in her lifetime but seeing these two hits differently and she knew why.
Burak said that he only cares about making the world fair for 'his' child.
Burak and Leyla had a child and this child was their sole motivation.
I killed two parents.
Derek lets out a deep breath he had been holding in like a fish going back into the ocean and looked around the room they just opened. "I'm guessing that the door was fitted with some kind of chemical dispersal device that can only be turned off by carving something into the device." He looks at the back of Cassie's nape and sees a tear running down her cheek. "What's going on, Cass?" He moves over to her and takes a knee beside her. "What's wrong, Cassie-Blanca?"
"Burak and Leyla had a child," Cassie answered quietly. "They were doing this for their child, so he can grow up in a better world." Her voice waver as more tears began flowing. "Burak and Leyla... their child is going to grow up an orphan... and I killed them."
"It was self-defense."
"Regardless if it was self-defense or not, Burak and Leyla were parents who were trying to do what they thought was best for their child; they're victims, not villains."
Derek grabbed her shoulder carefully. "Listen, Cassie... everyone has a family. You, me, the Priest, Bethany, even those nameless mooks we kill in self-defense. It doesn't matter who they were but that it was either them or you. They chose to put themselves at the risk of never seeing their child again. If they killed you, you would never see your parents again. You would never see your cousins, aunt, and uncle again." He pauses. "I would never see you again."
Cassie looks at Derek, her face puffy with tears. "Burak and Leyla... what kind of sick, twisted ideas did Overlord put in their skulls?"
"Cassie," he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "you did it... you saved the world. Whether Burak and Leyla were victims or not is irrelevant because you saved the world; you stopped Aaron's Rod from falling into the wrong hands. You are a hero, Cassie."
Aaron's Rod? Cassie's memory came back to her and she realized what was in this treasury room. Now that the threat was out the way, she took a chance to look around the room.
The room had an open pit in the center but the treasures were hidden in the corners of the room. Above the pit in the center of the room was a lit lantern that illuminated the room. The walls were made of solid wood and the treasures that lay against them were gold coins and silver cups and chalices stacked on top of one another.
Cassie jumps over the corner of the pit to get to the right side of the room. If her vision was correct, Aaron's Rod should be-
Hidden under the gold coins and silver chalices. Cassie began digging through the treasure like a dog before her fingertips brushed against the top of a wooden sphere. She moves the coins and treasures from around the wooden sphere and sees Aaron's Rod for the first time. She grabs it by the handle and hauls it out of the treasure, holding it above her head with one hand and a sigh escapes her breath.
Cassie kicked open the wall and gasped at the sight. The treasury room before her eyes, illuminated by a lantern dangling over an open pit in the middle of the room, and to her left was what looked to be piles of white seeds while on her right were gold coins and silver chalices.
"Oh my god..." she gasped, "this is the treasury room of Noah's Ark?"
Derek smiled. "It sure it. Hard to believe that various objects from the bible were hidden here when people decided their power was too dangerous for regular human hands."
"But why? If these are too dangerous for human hands... why am I being hypnotized into finding them?
"You're going to have to ask Noah yourself."
"Where is he?"
"Find the treasure room. Once you find the treasure room, Noah will present himself to you."
Cassie gasped with a sigh. "I can't believe it... I'm actually going to meet someone from the bible. I can't... I..."
Derek grabs Cassie's cheek, looks her directly in her eyes, before bestowing a kiss upon her lips.
Cassie flinched, wondering if something had gone wrong because whenever visions ended, Derek would always fade away just before barely kissing her. She didn't want him to fade away. Without breaking the kiss, she holds onto Derek as tight as she could, fearful that if she lets go, he'll fade away forever.
Cassie's eyes slowly open as the vision comes to an end. When her eyes were open, she was looking at Aaron's Rod as she hoped but into the hazel-brown eyes of Derek himself. That's when she knew that the kiss, in the end, wasn't just something of her imagination but a prediction that came true before her eyes. She was kissing Derek with all the affection in her heart and she didn't feel the least bit embarrassed by it. Rather than pay attention to the mythical staff in her hands, she focuses on the kissing.
"I love you, Cassie," Derek gasped with closed eyes.
"I love you too, Derek."
Her visions came back to her mid-kiss and Derek was pulling away from her slowly. He was looking over her shoulder at something. Whatever it was, it made him smile and he told her to turn around.
An old man with a long white beard was floating over the open pit wearing a red robe. She was at a loss for words once she realized who it was, Noah.
"Hello, Cassie," Noah said, smiling.
"Oh my god," she gasped, "Is that you, Noah?" Cassie asked.
"In the flesh."
Cassie covered her mouth with her hands. "I can't... believe it!"
"I finally became whole again."
Cassie tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I dropped two pieces of my boat out there in the world so I could be found. Or my boat could be found at least."
"Why did you want your boat to be found?"
"I wanted to feel human again."
"Human?" She gasps. "Does that mean that everything in the bible is true?"
Noah looked at her. "There is a bit of truth in every myth. My boat WAS built for a great flood. My boat DID give refuge to a male and female of every species but that's all I'll say." He looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry for everything I put you through, Cassie, and everyone who came before you."
"What do you mean?"
"I wanted to talk to a human being in the world, get to know them and see how life has gone on without me. I hypnotized people into trying to find me so I can satisfy my craving for human interaction. But after seeing everything that happened to you, I have decided that it is best I remain a mystery to the world, never to be found again. There will be no more loose parts of the ark in the world and this ark will be lost from the world forever. As soon as you leave this ark, an avalanche will consume it and it will be lost forever, inaccessible to everything and everyone, including you. No one will die because of my selfish desires again, like Burak, Leyla, Tariq, and Goldman did." He held up a hand. "Thank you for returning the pieces to my vessel."
Cassie held up her hand. "Wait!"
"Your hypnotism will be lifted and you shall go on hearing no more voices in your head."
"Noah!"
"Goodbye, Cassie."
She tried reaching out for Noah but Derek grabbed her by the shoulder and held on tight.
Cassie didn't feel Derek squeezing her shoulder until after her final vision ended. By the time she regained her senses, she pulled away from Derek but kept staring into his hazel-brown eyes. She looked over at Aaron's Rod, which was still in the palm of her hands.
Derek looked down at the staff. "Is that really Aaron's Rod?"
Cassie nodded. "It is." She looked at the white seeds stacked on the other side. "And the white seeds are Manna."
"Haha."
Cassie touched Aaron's Rod with both hands, fingers gently touching the surface before she turns away from Derek. "It's beautiful."
Derek nodded. "It is."
"It's just a stick, a regular-looking stick but holds the power to create tsunamis, avalanches, natural disasters. I can't believe that a weapon of mass destruction such as this can actually exist. Too dangerous to test out the powers."
"Crap!" Derek yelled. "The Priest and Bethany!"
Cassies gasps and runs to the entrance, dropping the staff on top of the gold before leaping over the pit and making it to the other side. Along the way, she picked up the grenade Burak dropped earlier and ran down the hall, Derek following close behind her.
Unknown to either adventurer, the stick had shifted into a snake and crawled into a hole in the corner.
They picked up the escort piece for the combusting spotlight and glided through like a bat. They found the tiles with two human-shaped holes in the center and ran across the adjustable ladder bridge.
Is this mountain a volcano or was the mountain formed around the ark? Cassie questioned.
They turned a corner and into the room they rappelled in earlier.
The Priest and Bethany were already waiting for them, already grabbing the grappling hooks in the ceiling and tapping their feet against the ground.
"Where have you guys been?" the Priest scolded. "We have been waiting here forever!"
"I found Aaron's Rod," Cassie said without thinking, "Burak and Leyla are dead."
"Hasan and Arda decided to retire to the pits of Hell early." He pointed upward. "We better get a move on."
"Father Yagmur, Bethany, I am sorry for-"
"If you're going to say you're sorry for everything, forget it," Bethany cut off. "We chose to get involved in this crusade of saving the world from bad guys. The mission is done."
"But I-"
"You heard my niece," the Priest added, "now get a move on, Cassie; it's going to be dark soon and I'm pretty sure none of us want to climb down the snow mountain in the dark."
Cassie laughed. "Amen to that, Priest."
The four of them climbed up out of the ark and back into the outside world. They were overcome by the aroma of fresh air and took deep breaths like an astronaut who got back on earth.
"Fresh air," Cassie smelled, "can't ever beat it."
"Yeah," Derek agreed, "warm sky, white snow..."
CLICK!
"... the sound of being held at gunpoint once more."
The four turned ahead of them to see a group of twelve Overlord soldiers aiming guns at them, with Bedrettin acting as the ringleader.
He regained consciousness and climbed out of the pits, Bethany thought, and there are more Overlord soldiers than I thought.
"What up you jackasses!" Bedrettin laughed like a maniac. "If the four of you are here, then the only logical conclusion is the superior officers are dead." He spread his arms dramatically. "These guys behind me are survivors of the wolf attacks and since the highest rank here is a corporal, me, I am in charge!" He pointed at Cassie. "You... DRAKE!"
Cassie put a hand on her chest with a 'what-me' look. "Why does everyone mistake me for Drake the rapper."
"I would love nothing more than to blow you all to smithereens but I'll be Code: Black'ed if that happened and Bedrettin plans on living a long life!"
Did he just refer to himself in the third person? she asked herself.
"Wait a second," Bedrettin yelled at the top of his lungs, pointing dramatically at Cassie's hands, "where is Aaron's Rod?! Didn't you retrieve it!"
Cassie rolled her eyes. This guy sure has a flair for theatrics.
"Of course I DIDN'T." Cassie pointed at the hole. "You see, I found Aaron's Rod but Aaron said that he needed it because he and his brother Moses were going to have a battle between staffs. The Staff of Moses vs Aaron's Rod sound like a sweet deal doesn't it!"
"How. Could. YOU?!" Bedrettin yelled with two-second intervals between words. "You were supposed to get Aaron's Rod for us so we can take over the world! You were supposed to surrender and when I ask for the rod, you refuse and then change your mind when I tell my comrades in arms to shoot your comrades in arm. You're throwing everything off of Bedrettin's script!"
Cassie shook her head. "Do you ever talk like a normal person?"
Bedrettin glared at her. "I don't want to be a normal person, I love those corny and cringy performances in movies. You're just like my parents and everyone else who told me to be better." He held up a hand above his head. "Soldiers, line your guns up at Lowell and the Sadiks; we are going to murder them!"
"Bedrettin," a soldier called out.
"Don't interrupt me monologuing!"
"BEDRETTIN!" the soldier shouted. "WOLF!"
Climbing up the peak of the mountain above them was the giant wolf, staring down at them from its tall height with its fangs bared for them all to see. Without missing a beat, it leaps towards them.
Cassie and Derek hooked their grappling hooks to the side of the mountain and held onto the Priest and Bethany.
The wolf touched down on the ground beneath the Overlord soldiers. It wasn't solid ground the wolf landed on but part of Noah's Ark hidden in the snow. The floor beneath them tore to shreds with cracks and collapsed under their feet, soldiers screaming as they plunged through the cracks and into the abyss Hasan and Arda fell into earlier.
The giant wolf's paws sank into the sinking floor and it lost its footing. It scrambles to climb back on a solid surface but the more it struggled, the deeper it sank.
The four adventurers would've sunken into the abyss with the soldiers but the grappling hooks had stopped them from falling and left them dangling over the shattering wood.
Bedrettin had managed to get out of the wolf's path but was helpless to do anything as the soldiers fell into the abyss, sliding down the cracks and disappearing from sight. He saw that one of the soldiers managed to climb off the boat in time and was running down the mountain to get away from the wolf.
At least that soldier will survive, he thought before looking over at Cassie. I'll kill you, Drake. If I'm going to die anyway then I'll take you with me.
He pulled out a knife and held the handle with his mouth before climbing over to Cassie's position.
The giant wolf sank up to its neck in the cracking wood but did not plunge into the abyss yet. It still made an attempt to snap at anything it could get its teeth on and there were several soldiers who slid right into the wolf's open mouth.
Bethany spotted Bedrettin closing in on them and reached out to kick him in the face. It was a weak kick that barely made him flinch. She tried kicking him again but he caught her foot and removed the knife from his mouth once he found a steady footing on the side of the mountain.
Two birds with one stone, Cassie thought.
She took out the grenade she lose then reacquired earlier, kicked Bedrettin in the face, before pulling the pin and shoving the grenade into Bedrettin's mouth. Derek caught wind of her plan and assisted her in kicking Bedrettin off and into the giant wolf's mouth.
The giant wolf snaps its jaws over Bedrettin's body, gulping him down when the grenade went off in the center of its throat. The giant wolf's thrashing slowly began to cease, its eyes went wide and its movements stiffened. It didn't bother to try and climb up and out of the sinking ship as it finally fell into the abyss, disappearing from sight several seconds later.
Cassie pulled herself and Bethany up the mountain with Derek helping the Priest up until they were back on solid ground. now that they could feel their feet in the snow, they didn't bother waiting nor took the time to watch as snow began tumbling over and burying the remains of Noah's Ark forever.
The four friends ran away from the ark, running down the hill until they found their snowmobiles from earlier. When they were sure that everything was over and they could catch their breaths, they looked back at where the entrance of Noah's Ark had been, solemn looks on their faces.
Derek looked over at Cassie noticing that she was staring with a sad look at the ark. He chose his next words carefully as he approached her.
"Things would be so much easier if things were black and white, but as my grandfather always said, 'the world is a colorful place'."
Burak, Leyla, neither of them was evil and I can't call myself entirely good because my actions endanger everyone around me.
Cassie looked at Derek. "What did you learn from this experience, Derek?"
"Me?" It didn't take long for him to answer. "I learned that there is hope."
The adventure is over, no one's life will be endangered ever again. Derek will NOT have to worry about losing his humanity because I will be there for him.
Cassie smiled warmly at her best friend. "Me too."
"Uhh..." Bethany held her hand up. "I couldn't help but notice you didn't ask what we learned from this experience."
Cassie laughed. "What?"
"I learned to be a better fighter and protector. I knocked out that dramatic soldier with a lantern!"
The Priest laughed. "If there's one thing I learned from this experience, it's this: We're moving to a different city." He looks at his niece. "If Overlord knows where we live and go to school, then we're relocating."
She nodded. "I'll miss my friends but... I understand."
"I was expecting you to kick and scream for a second."
"Never me," she laughed. "Never Belinay 'Bethany' Sadik."
The four of them laughed as they climbed on their snowmobiles.
Like always, Derek opted to ride instead of Cassie but Cassie didn't mind this time. Being on the back meant she can hold Derek and make sure he never let go.
"Home?" Derek asked.
She shook her head.
"No?"
"There's someone we have to look for: Burak and Leyla's child."
"What do you mean?"
"I have to make sure he's taken care of."
Derek nodded. "I agree."
Bethany yelled out to the others, "Let's blow this popsicle stand!"
The four of them took off, the sun lowered enough for them to be considered riding off into the sunset.
The last surviving wolf emerged from its hiding spot behind a rock wall and stared down at the retreating snowmobiles. It turned away, deciding they weren't worth the hunt.
Floating above the ark was Noah, a smile graced his face as he waved off to the last humans he will ever see.