AP exams…no… *falls over and acts like is dead, but can't fool the teachers and is dragged there anyways* Crap…oh well. Here's your chapter! Enjoy.
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Everyone stood packed and ready to go before the temple; Firesprite, the twins, and Kenjou on one side and Allen on the other. "Later, Uncle Allen," said Annie, flashing him a smile as she started down the path with a salute. "Try to come back in one piece, k?"
"I'll try," said Allen, saluting back.
"Yeah, take care," said Z, ducking his head in respect before following his sister down the trail.
"I'll see you soon," said Kenjou, firmly shaking hands with him before handing him a small disk. "This was yours, mom said, when you were little, and she gave it to me for luck. But I think you need it more than I do now."
Allen smiled to himself, remembering when he'd found it on the side of a road as a youngster. "Thanks, Kenjou. Tell you mother not to worry the rest of the family, I will be home soon."
"Hai, sir." He ran after the other two down the path, leaving Firesprite and Allen alone at the top of the stairs. Allen glanced at the Guardian and was surprised when she gave him a quick hug and kiss, backing off again until she was halfway down the path.
"Bye, Lili!!" he yelled, raising a hand to her slightly and using her earth name for once.
"Bye," she replied with a soft smile, turning around a facing him from the air. "By the Phoenix, Allen…be careful!"
"I will, I promise…" He watched as she disappeared from sight after the three youngsters, starting down his path in the opposite direction of the quartet. The map he'd been drawn led into the woods, and he followed it diligently as the morning sun rose slowly overhead. The path itself slowly began to climb after awhile, zigzagging its way back and forth across the rugged mountainside. It was hard work, sweat dripping down his face and his clothes soaked anywhere where it came into contact with is body. With a pack and his weapons, he had reason to be. It was a far heavier load than he was used to carrying, but he did so without complaint. Depending on how accurate the map was with distances, he would reach the first of his destinations sometime soon.
His thoughts lingered on the four who he knew were walking away from him, unable to forget the look in Lili's eyes when she'd bid him farewell and figuring it would be easier to dwell on that rather than what lay before him somewhere. She was leading them to the portal, as promised, back to the Mortal Realms where they'd be safe again. Or at least, he hoped so anyways. His nephew and the twins of some of his closest friends were now entirely in her protection, and it wasn't that he didn't trust her as much as he didn't trust this realm in itself. There was so much he didn't understand…so much that seemed to go against the very laws of nature itself without looking the least bit odd.
The sun reached its zenith and passed completely overhead, falling straight in front of him so Allen had to squint in order to see. His shadow stretched behind him down the slope, he came to a slight niche in the rock wall he walked along and rested there, finding a tiny spring of water between the rocks from which he drank. Opting to stay there for the night rather than continuing on in the failing light, the silver-haired man, wrapped his cloak about him and huddled against the sun-warmed cliff, willing himself to rest for the trials ahead…
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Firesprite paused as the sun began to set, motioning for the other three to follow her off the path a ways to a pool of water nearby. She'd been silent the entire time; speaking only when spoken to and generally staying in the lead with a faraway look in her eyes when one of the others bothered to catch up with her for a moment. They set up camp and made dinner over the fire, Firesprite going a little ways off from the others to be alone for a bit.
"Is something wrong, Aunt?" asked Kenjou, sitting beside the Guardian with a bit of stew he'd cooked up as a sort of peace offered. Z sat a little ways away from them, Annie curled up beside him fast asleep and their bowls already empty from eating.
"No," she replied quietly, giving him a tired smile. "Your uncle is a…brave man. He should be alright…"
['Should be' being the operative, there] thought Kenjou, giving her a slight hug as she saw her eyes focus on something he couldn't see once more. [She is worried about him…I wonder why?] "He will be. He has to be," added the boy after a moment, getting up and leaving a blanket by her incase she decided to sleep. "He's Allen, and he's never failed before." He turned away when she didn't reply, lying quietly on the other side of the fire. "Goodnight, Firesprite."
The Guardian inclined her head at the use of her formal name, the crackling fire before her matching exactly her mixed up feelings inside. "Goodnight, young mortal…"
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Allen woke before dawn and started out once more, refilling his water skin from the spring and forcing himself to eat some bread and fruit before going. Noon brought him to the top of the ridge, the entire top covered in a thick fog through which he could see only a couple of feet at the most. The path he could see clearly under his feet, being lined with small rocks, yet he knew no more than that as to what was in the area before him.
Deciding to go through as quickly as possible so he'd hopefully make it to the other side before it got too dark, Allen slowly made his way into the fog and was soon surrounded entirely by the mist that screened everything but himself from view. Something seemed to be watching him, though he ignored whatever it was to the best of his abilities and kept moving forward. A small cry came from his right just as he was about to pause for a break, making his head snap up in alarm and almost leaving the path entirely to plunge head first into the fog.
[DO NOT LEAVE THE PATH AT ALL COSTS!!] A voice echoed in his head, stopping him in his tracks just at the edge of the line of stones. "What the…" Allen racked his memory, a picture of Tintaro towering over him with a serious expression on his face. Not that the old fossil wasn't always serious, it was just especially serious for him. Still, he was a Guardian after all, and whatever it was that he said had to have some sort of value…[Wonder what's out there…] thought Allen to himself, putting his pack down and setting a hand on his sword. [Whatever it is…it sounds like it's in trouble…] He heard another cry, off to the same side as he carefully ventured from the pack, using a line connected to it as to not lose the pack, which marked where the path was.
"Hello?" he called hesitantly into the fog. "Is anyone out there…?"
"…help!!" came the soft cry. "…please…" The cries seem to come from around him each, herding him in a different direction as his line stretched more and more, a figure, in the mist…beckoning him to come closer still …
"Huh?!" Allen jumped back as the ground under his foot crumbled, leaving behind one very large, steep cliff… "Oh my…" he scrambled back, following the line and finding his pack in a few minutes. Shapes and sounds began to come from the path around him, though never actually getting in his way. He remembered the words Tintaro had said late that night, his warning about ghosts such as these, and wished he'd paid more attention to it in the first place.
Some were helpless children and monsters much like those he'd helped in the past. Orphans…those who were abused…the lost and lonely…they called to him and pleaded for help, but he knew he could no more help these phantoms than he could help the wind. Though it broke his heart, he brushed by them at a swift walk and wished them to disappear into the mists from which they had been born.
The scenes around him changed, a fire raging on a building up ahead that looked more than vaguely familiar…his home!! "Mom! Dad!!" He almost left the path again, this time stopped only by the remembrance of the ledge from moments before. Tears running from his eyes, he pushed past it and forced himself not to look, trying to ignore the tortured cries from inside. "Please, no…not them…"
A wicked laugh seemed to come from nowhere; enveloping him for a moment before the house vanished and another sound took its place. He strained his ears for a moment, catching only bits and parts of it before it finally began to make some sense to him.
A soft sob from ahead, he went on warily as he tried to imagine that which they might use against him. The mists parted slowly, another form appearing within him, and one that nearly broke his heart as well. "No!!" cried Allen, frozen in tracks as he reached out helplessly to her. Lili laid a ways from the path, bleeding from numerous wounds and staring at the sky from sightless eyes. Her blood pooled at his feet, her lips forming his name over and over again in a silent cry for help. "No…!! It can't-NO!!" Allen ran by as fast as he could, choking back sobs of his own as he willed the horrible image to go away. He didn't watch where he was going and he strayed from the path, going straight into the fog itself without a clue as to which was he might go next. Not even bothering to pause, he kept going as he hoped to find the path again; though in his grief he mainly wished to avoid the scenes that had disturbed him so.
The ground beneath his feet crumbled suddenly, making him fall down, down, down, into the depths of a cavern below. Twisting, turning, falling…it seemed it would never end. Something snatched him out of the air and he hung there like a rag doll as he attempted to gain his bearings but found it rather difficult as he was hanging upside down.
Allen found himself staring into a giant black eye half the size of him, two lids on either side blinking over it now and then as it studied him for a moment. Whatever it was shifted suddenly and Allen found himself staring down a long dark cavern of sorts…one lined with row upon row of shiny teeth. "Ai!!" He whipped out his sword and sliced off whatever it was that was holding him, abandoning his pack upon hitting the ground and scrambling to the side. Whatever it was that he shared the cavern with, it was huge…
Feeling his way along the wall, he came to a set of stairs and slowly wound his way up it. It was secluded from the rest of the cavern, though Allen kept his sword out just in case, and opened up to a large ledge a good bit up on the wall of the cave. A light suddenly flared over head and he found himself facing what looked like a humongous worm complete with long, sticky tentacles and some green and orange liquid oozing from its mouth that was probably acid or poison of some sort.
"Well…crap." That was all he had time for at the head of the thing dove for him, leaving him to jump out of the way as it pulverized the rock wall he'd been standing next to enough to leave a very large worm-head indent in its place. Loping along the edge of the ledge, Allen darted out just enough to bring his sword up and slash his sword along the skin of the worm. It cut cleanly and with ease, bursts of orange blood running out along the rock. He grinned slightly, preparing to dart out again when he noticed something odd…the wound was no longer bleeding…and had left a scar no bigger than his head though it had spanned as long as he was tall to begin with. "You're kidding me- AHHH!!" Allen was shoved back against the rock as a one of the tentacles with a sharp point came and pierced his chest, leaving him with what would've been a fatal would if there hadn't been something hard and round there to begin with. Allen stayed against the rock for a moment, wheezing slightly as he fingered the now-dented disk Kenjou had given him
"Guess it is…really lucky…" He recovered his breath and was about to dart back into cover when he found himself hanging upside down again by a tentacle that had gotten him by his clothes. Instinctively slashing off any tentacles that got too close for comfort, he freed himself by wriggling himself out of his over tunic in a flash and dropping to his feet as neatly as a cat.
He landed on the back of the beast, sliding around on its slimly hide as it moved and shifted around, writhing like a snake until he suddenly ended up on the head of the thing. Finding himself on fairly flat and less slimly skin, he formed a plan and got right to work. "I officially hate worms…ech…"
Taking out a dagger, he waited until the monstrous thing opened its left eye again and threw it in as hard as he could. It landed up past the hilt, the ugly thing rearing its head as the dagger became permanently imbedded into its eye. Letting it stay there, he took his whip and lashed it to a horn on top of the things head, using it to lower himself slightly so he was right above the beast's right eye. Seeing it flick open and begin its search for him, he plunged his sword in it to the hilt, jumping from his perch from there and leaving the sword behind. Avoiding the giant, gooey coils; he sprinted out of there as fast as his legs would let him for the only exit he saw in the whole place. As for what happened to his pack, sword, and map…he didn't care. What he wanted was out, and there wasn't anything in the world that would make him go back in there now.
Slowing as he reached what appeared to be the exit of the cave, Allen saw a small bundle lying off to the side of the path. There was his pack and sword, a little beat up and slimy, but none worse for the wear. "Wait a sec, I KNOW I left those things in there…"
A slight breeze whiffed through his hair, and with it a feeling of gratitude and accomplishment as it played about him for a moment before soaring off into the heavens.
"Strange…" Deciding it wasn't worth debating right now, seeing as he'd just killed a huge worm and nearly died, Allen picked his things up after making sure that they were intact and headed back down the path. Somehow, his map had been altered to add his little 'detour' to the path and according to what was written there now he'd been back to the main one with in a day or two's worth of travel.
After what he'd just been through, and considering that every Trial was to be worse than the last to come…he wasn't so sure about making it through the whole thing anymore. Having enough luck to barely survive was one thing…getting through it safe and sound was entirely another.
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Firesprite picked her way through the thickening jungle, swatting flies away with her hand while holding a branch back with the other. It was like they'd changed temperate zones entirely, the weather changing constantly and dumping at least a couple of inches on them a day and being hot a humid the rest of the time.
"Firesprite…" panted Annie, catching up with her at a slow jog. "I know…time is short…but we can't…keep pushing…like this…"
The Guardian looked up, surprised by the young human's exhausted look. "Good grief, Annie, it's not that hot, and I haven't been pushing you that hard…"
*RUMBLE*
Both human and Guardian looked at Z in surprise, the young man having come up behind them. "Um…I guess I'm hungry…?"
"We haven't eaten since dawn, Firesprite," said Kenjou, leaning over tiredly. "Please, just a short break…"
"I suppose I forget sometimes what limits you have as a mortal," mused the immortal, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Come, we will find a good place to stop and let you regain your strength there."
"And eat?" asked Z, a hopeful look in his eyes as he ran a hand through his damp hair. All of them were drenched with sweat.
"Yes," replied Firesprite with a warm smile. "And eat." It began to shower again as they found a spot under a slight overhang, crowding there together to keep out of the rain. They passed around the water skin, a loaf of bread, and some cheese and meat; taking their time with it so they'd preferably finish just as the rain passed away.
"I'm really starting to miss mom's stews right about now," murmured Z, using his twin as a pillow for a moment, resting his head on her back.
"I know what you mean," replied Annie with a slight grin. "Hm…I can almost smell it I want it so bad…"
"Your mom was the camp cook when we traveled together," said Firesprite lightly, another far away look in her eyes. Though this was far lighter and happier than the ones she'd been having as of late. "Mmm…she could make a meal out of nothing, sometimes. One always had to wonder…it was like she worked magic with the little we'd manage to scrounge together."
"Mum does have magic," Z quietly reminded her with a pert grin.
"That was before she got that pendant, wise guy," retorted Firesprite, swatting him on the head.
"Just kidding, just kidding!!"
"Sure ya are…"
"Rain's let up," observed Kenjou, rising to his feet slowly as he worked the kinks out of his back. "Come on, we do need to get going…"
"Says he who was about to die not thirty minutes ago," observed Firesprite, giving him a teasing smile as she got up as well. "He's right, though, up at 'em, you lazy bags of bones!!"
Z sighed, stretching himself out as Annie shoved him off her stomach. "Eesh…am I the only one not in a hurry to wear myself out to the bone?"
"Nope, you're just the only one who doesn't want to eat decent cooking anytime soon," said Kenjou, shouldering his pack with a sigh."
Z muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. "My cooking is decent…"
They followed the trail for another hour, finding a spot where it crossed something on the map but couldn't figure out just what it might be. "You're sure something's there?" asked Annie from behind, bringing up the rear of the group.
"There has to be," said Firesprite in frustration. "Tintaro would not put something on this map without a reason. But I know his symbol for rivers…ravines…hills. Even mountains…this is none of these."
"Have you considered a cliff?" called Kenjou at the head of the group.
"I suppose it could," said Firesprite, her eyes still on the map as she continued to walk forward. A pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her back just as she was about to step off into nothingness. "Oh…"
"That's a really big cliff," whispered Z, turning green at the thought of climbing down that thing.
"Just like your mom, you have no stomach for heights," said Firesprite, peering down it before backing up a few steps and setting her pack beside a tree near the edge. Bringing out a rope, she tied it to the tree and stepped back even more after making sure it was secure. Taking a few running steps, she launched herself over the cliff, Kenjou crying out in dismay as she disappeared from sight.
"Firesprite!!"
"Something wrong?" asked the Guardian appearing a few moments later, wings out and soaring on the subtle winds.
"Uh…nothing," said Kenjou, rubbing the back of his head with his hand in embarrassment as he turned a cherry tomato red. "I just…forgot is all. You haven't had them out in so long, it seems…"
"It's only be three or four days," said Firesprite, wrinkling her nose at him teasingly. "Wait here, kids, I'll be back in a sec…" She dove down again, taking the other end of the rope with her as she secured it to the rock at certain points. The rope was a thin, light creation made of spider's silk that could hold the weight of twelve grown men without fear of breaking in the least. Stretching it to its maximum length, a couple thousand feet, it barely reached the bottom where she secured it to a growing in the wall itself.
Flying back up as fast as she could, she found Kenjou already prepared for his decent by tying some rope together for a make-shift harness of sorts. Wrapping his hands in his cloak and looping that around his waist so it wouldn't get tangled around his legs, he attached himself to the original rope and slowly began his decent down. "Take it easy," she said, knotting two together for the twins so they could follow after him. "I won't be there to catch you for a few minutes…"
"I've climbed every cliff and peak Allen ever tried to do, and then some," he boasted with a laugh. "I think I can manage this."
Firesprite smiled to herself as she made sure the other two were set to go before diving off the cliff again to check up on Allen's nephew's progress. He indeed had done this before, already a fourth the way down by the time she'd gotten there.
"Just keep going," she told him, going back up to the other two who'd just reached the first checkpoint. At each spike she'd put in the cliff face to secure the rope to it, they had to undo the catch that secured them to the rope and then reattach it below the knot. Annie was past it and a few feet down while Z slowly, and carefully, went through the routine himself. They'd all done it before, Genki and Holly hadn't turned into slouches after defeating Master of the hybrids, and they'd made sure their children had learned such skills as well.
Everything went well, Kenjou passed the halfway point and Annie was exactly between the two with Z passing the second checkpoint. Firesprite was about to go down and just wait for them on the ground when she heard something overhead.
"Oh crap-!!"
Annie looked up to see the ledge crumble under Z's feet, his clasp off the rope, as he'd been about to connect it and his handhold giving away as well. "Z!!" Everything seemed to go in slow motion, the way he fell back from the wall…his face white with terror…only to be caught safely in Firesprite's waiting arms.
"Good lord, you're heavy!!" she grunted, shifting her grip on his stomach with a sigh while he blushed in shame. "Like mother like son, I suppose…"
Z looked surprised, forgetting that he was a thousand feet up in the air as she slowly began to spiral downwards. Somehow, he knew she wouldn't drop him and he was safe for the time being. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'll tell you later…"
Kenjou and Annie scrambled as fast as they could down the stone face, the girl practically jumping the last twenty feet and sprinting to her twin's side as fast as she could.
"Baka, baka, baka!!" she cried, squeezing him to death with a bear hug that nearly broke his ribs.
"Ow!! Sis…" objected Z.
"Shut up and don't you ever dare do that to me again!!" she scolded him, resisting the urge to slap him as she pulled back slightly. "I ought to kill you for that, giving me a heart attack…!!"
"I'm sorry," he said softly, pulling her into a gentle hug as she slowly calmed down. "Really, I am, I'll be more careful next time…"
"You'd better be!" she growled, pulling back and turning away with her arms crossed.
Z held his hands up in defeat. "I will, I will…"
"Would you have been this worried if it had been me?" asked Kenjou with a wink. "Because if this is the attention that the person gets, maybe I ought to fall off next time…"
*SMACK*
@_@ "Ow…" Kenjou rubbed his jaw, which now held a life-size, red handprint, while Z almost fell over from laughing so hard.
-_- "Baka…" Annie stomped away down the trail, Firesprite following her with a small smile on her face.
"Let's camp here," said the Guardian when she finally caught up with her, a ledge right beside them that would keep them out of the rain, if it stormed, for the night and a slight spring of water springing from the cracks beside it.
"Fine," agreed Annie tersely, throwing her pack in the middle and going out to collect firewood by herself.
"Shouldn't someone have gone with her?" asked Kenjou as he arrived in the clearing and placed his things beside hers.
"Nope," replied Firesprite with a half smile. "As she is right now, I wouldn't want to fight her. Anger only focuses the power even more in that family, for some reason or another. That's why Genki is such an awesome fighter when his temper's been provoked."
Kenjou gave her a skeptical look. "He's an awesome fighter, period."
"But even better when mad," she retorted. "Get a fire started and help Z get some dinner scrounged up. Might want to find some sort of a peace offering as well, having her mad at you for the next week won't exactly be pleasant…"
The boy perked up immediately. "I could give her a flower!!"
Firesprite sighed, thwaping him upside the back of his head. "She was right, you are a baka…"
Kenjou rubbed back of his head and stuck his tongue out at her, dodging around her next blow to go help Z with his work. Annie arrived a few moments later, a good-sized pile of wood in her hands to add to the glowing flames. "Eh, sorry about earlier," said Kenjou quietly, offering her a ripe bit of fruit he'd managed to pick up somewhere along the way.
"Hm," she replied, taking it light and inspecting it carefully before nodding to him cordially and taking a seat next to Z who was sitting beside the fire. Cutting up the fruit with her dagger, she slowly ate it with a distant look in her eyes, oblivious to all but her own thoughts before a bowl of strong broth and some bread were set before her.
"Now," said Z, dipping the bread in the broth and eating it carefully so as to not spill a single drop. "Why did you say 'Like mother like son' earlier, Firesprite? You said you'd explain…"
"Maybe I'll tell you some other time," said the Guardian, laying back and staring at the stars with a wicked smile on her face.
"Or you could tell us now," said Kenjou, nudging her foot with his toe. "Come on, Auntie, I bet is has to do with the Halfsie Wars, don't it?"
"Perhaps…"
"Tell us, please?" begged Z, giving her his best puppy eyes. She glanced at him before looking away, rolling her eyes as she did.
"For the love of Phoenix, Z…aren't you getting a bit old for that?" she asked him, continuing to avert her eyes slightly.
"Not if it works," he said, breaking out in a giant grin.
"It hasn't yet…"
"Yet being the operative, meaning there's no reason to stop now," he said, switching right back to it in a heartbeat. "Please, Aunite?? Please, please, please…???"
"Z…"
"I'll add in the sniffles if you don't…"
"Alright, alright!!" cried Firesprite, sitting at them and throwing the guys a glare apiece. "There's really not that much to it…"
"Then start talking already!!" cut in Kenjou, shrinking back instantly and wilting like a dead plant as he got another 'look'. "Ok, I'll be good…"
"Anyways," said Firesprite, brushing her hair out her face. "We were at the old ranching, fighting…what was his name again…something Magic. You know which one I'm talking about, right?"
"The one where you and some others were separated from the rest of the group for awhile," said Annie, giving her a slight smile.
"That's the one," she acknowledged in return. "Did your parents ever tell you why we were separated? Or how?"
"No," replied the twins at the same time, exchanging the same look. That little admission to the story had been a sore point between the four for quite some time.
"Well, it happened like this," started Firesprite, leaning back on her elbows and staring at the sky. "We were fighting the hybrids, and losing I hate to say. Most of us trapped or unable to reach the others, it was just Holly, Zephyr, and I on the ledge. The head guy, something Magic or whatever, blasted us over a cliff at least twice the size of the one we went down today. Now, at the time the others didn't know I was a hybrid as well, so it was assumed that even with Zeph and his wings, we wouldn't live. They were captured and taken away, all but Allen assuming we were lost for good."
"How did you survive, then?" asked Z, looking rather confused.
"That's where the 'Like mother, like son' thing comes into play," said Firesprite with a crooked smile. "Zeph couldn't hold us both and make it, so I ordered him out of the way. As long as he was safe, someone would be able to get back to the others and help them out if we didn't make it through. Your mother, Holly, had passed out cold as since absolutely hates heights; and I managed to get my wings out in time to save us both…" She paused there, frowning slightly as she rehashed the events in her minds eye.
"What's wrong?" asked Kenjou when she didn't continue after awhile. "That memory of yours is getting a little rusty?"
"No," she replied, too deeply involved with her thoughts to retort back at the moment. "I just remembered…we never did figure out how we survived that day."
"What do you mean?" asked Annie, looking rather confused. "You're alive, right? You just managed to get your wings out in time…"
"By all the laws of physics, which I now hold in my head, and everything else I have learned, it is not physically possible for what happened to have taken place. Yet, we're both still alive as proof that it did," reflected Firesprite quietly. "I always thought it was odd how it had all happened, but I hadn't thought about it much since everything ended…"
"Tell us another story," said Z, grinning like a little kid who'd been offered a piece of candy. "Please? Or fill in some more we didn't know. Like how you got back together again."
Firesprite winced, remembering the consequences of that battle all to well. "Eh, well, if you really want to know…"
"We do," said Annie shortly.
"Ok, then…"
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Ack…SAT in the morning…*sniff* Why me…?! What did I do to deserve such torture?! *gets complaints about random ramblings of author*
"Alright, alright. Anyways, hope you liked it as always. Next one won't be for a while, seeing as I have AP tests for the next few weeks. Please review; it would give me a reason to smile other than the chocolate Jon gave me last week. ^_~
'Kangaroos are mammals because they are warm blooded, have fur/hair on their bodies, give live birth, and suckle their young. Insects aren't because they're just squishy.'
-Marine Biology Teacher-
~Crosseyedbutterfly~