Chapter 6: Marvin's Reward/The Black Market
And it's Chapter Six time! Wave, kids! Thanks to Xue Liean for providing scenes in this chapter. As always, thanks to my beta readers.
- New Jersey, The Forests, 7:00 PM EST -
(15 minutes earlier)
Marvin crept into another room, and suddenly stopped. The room, illuminated by magical fire, was actually an medieval office. Wooden desks and chairs were laid out in a 5X5 pattern, each with quills, ink bottles, and half-written parchments. A bird was sleeping soundly in a cage at a desk. In an open cupboard, there was extra parchment and ink. To his right, there was a bulletin board of papers asking for donations of gold pieces to a local-potion maker.
Marvin's eyes widened. He had realized he killed innocents. "Oh, fuck," he said, shortly before throwing up into the trash receptacle.
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"Well, now that I feel like a bastard, let's go to this city in the forest. I'm bushed, and I'm running out of bullets. Arelia, where?"
Arelia raised her head. She was no longer wounded, but she was too weak from under-nourishment to walk by herself. "I remember this spot. I have had many playdates here with my friends. Turn left and walk some more."
They did, and they reached a hidden city within the trees. It was majestic, and well-hidden by magic from invaders. There were two guards standing near the gates.
"Halt! Who-" The teenage, squeaky-voiced guard said, then stopped. His memory of cute-looking elves suddenly flashed through his mind. The elf had an uncanny memory that was used only to remember cute elves he saw, but, when he invoked his memory, he forgot about everything and everybody for the time being.
"…Princess Arelia?"
Marvin's eyes went wide. "WHAT!?"
Arelia said weakly, "Marvin… I didn't tell you this, because I thought you would take advantage of this situation…"
"No! Why would I do that!? I'm not greedy, I'm just pissed off and looking for revenge!"
The taller, burlier guard spoke up. "The human has freed Arelia from the mages! He is a friend, even though he's a scummy, ugly, evil, stupid human! Let him into Elenmor!"
The teenage guard said, "…pretty." The older guard sighed, and opened the gate himself.
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Bennington, New York
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Jeric and Byara ran down the alleyway, dodging crossbow bolts. They reached the end of the alley with a fence blocking their progress, where there was a lone doorway on the right wall. Jeric went up to the door.
The mob was coming closer. Byara could hear their shouts.
Jeric knocked on the metal door. A slot in the door was pulled back, and a pair of eyes looked from the hole. "Password?"
Jeric slipped the $10 bill through.
"Incorrect." The mob was closer.
Jeric slapped his forehead. "Argh. That was last week's password!" He turned to Byara. "Do you have a fiver?"
Byara pulled out the five. A crossbow bolt sailed over their heads and struck a garbage can, knocking it over and revealing old pizza boxes, and other flotsam and jetsam.
Jeric slipped the five inside. The door opened, and Jeric and Byara rushed through the opening. The door immediately closed, and the mob was locked outside.
"Phew. That was a close one, wasn't it?" Jeric said to Byara coolly.
Byara ignored him. "What is this place, Jeric?"
"The Thieves' Guild." Jeric came to the Thieves' Guild when he was a teenager, looking for fortune, but none of the fame. He quickly became very good at it, and was occasionally able to net a small fortune from a gem or a valuable item.
Byara's eyes widened. This place was just not a mere hideout- it was a warehouse-sized place of commerce. The place was lined up with shops offering many goods at each table- almost like a flea market, only it was illegal and only open to the people who knew the right people.
The guard behind the door pulled out a Glock 18, and opened up the slot again. "Eat this, ye bastards!" He screamed, and fired into the mob.
'Eat this, ye bastards?' Byara said to Jeric.
"You meet a lot of strange people here."
"Ah. So, what are we going to do?"
"We're going to hide out here, get supplies, and plan our next course of action."
"Okay."
A thief snuck up right behind Byara and tried to pickpocket her purse. He did not do a very good job, opening her purse, then tugging at it, which was connected to a shoulder strap, which pushed Byara back. Byara's eyes widened and she whirled around.
"Get out of my purse!" Byara said, then kicked the thief squarely in the stomach. He screamed in suprise, and ran away.
"Jerk." Byara grumbled, then began to bend down and pick up the things that had fallen out of her purse.
"He's like that. Poor sod."
"Yeah."
Dinner consisted of Tic-Tacs.
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New Mexico, 5:05 PM MST
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Kyara Halebein finally checked into her hotel room. Things were at their weirdest right now, and all she wanted to do was get some rest.
She suffered a four-hour long wait to get onto her airplane from Florida, mainly caused by a disturbance at the runway ("Disturbance at the runway?" Kyara commented, as the lady at the intercom spoke, "What are they talking about?"), a four-hour long flight which consisted of a six-year old kicking the back of her seat, a showing of the movie and "Pokemon 2000", and tuna fish sandwiches with resembled cardboard.
Kyara Halebein, 19, was a college student who was enjoying the last two weeks of her summer, right before classes restarted and she would have to go back to the hell that was the University of Florida. To Kyara Halebein, Hell was drunken frat parties, boys consistently hitting on her, and tests and exams every damn week. She was an anti-social person, since to her, South Florida was just old people looking for their medication, or young people here that were looking for sex and a tan. Very rarely, she met a few people that defied this theory, and she quickly became friends with them.
Kyara was smart, but not book smart. Her last semester grades were Bs and Cs. She had to go to remedial Algebra, because she had done all right up to the final exam, which she bombed. She finished the one-month summer school class in June, barely passing.
And, yes, she was Byara's sister.
Kyara dropped her bags, and fell into the bed. "Ah, the joys of traveling," she said, falling asleep shortly thereafter in sweet silence.
Then the guys laughing in the hall began. Three men getting drunk and laughing at cheesy jokes in the hallway was a ritual for this hotel, as it happened weekly, shortly before the innkeeper threw them out.
The laughing woke Kyara up. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, and got up, groggily.She brushed a hand through her brown, curly hair, fishing out the chocolate mint that had gotten caught, and put it back on the pillow.
She lay back in bed, waiting for the damn noise to stop. Then, she turned the air conditioner on, hoping the serene drone would drown out some of the noise made by the men in the hall. Instead of the pleasant done, she got a rattling noise, the same noise that would occur if you put a toy inside the dryer, closed the door, and turned it on. Kyara groaned again. At least the air conditioner would stifle some of the noise, but it would be very annoying to fall asleep to. The rattling noise, along with the air conditioner, stopped after four minutes of operation.
"Ah, coin-op air conditioners," Kyara replied sourly, "The hallmark of the greedy innkeeper." The laughing would not stop, and was joined by a screeching of babies from the next room. Kyara groaned, and turned on the TV.
Golf was on. Kyara changed channels. Basketball. Spurs vs. Bulls. Flip. Racing. "Turning left. Oh, yipee." Kyara replied sarcastically. Flip. An auction to save the local PBS channel. Flip. When Dogs Attack People and When People Attack Dogs 2, back to back. Kyara watched it all, concentrating on the TV and not on the noises in the hallway.
"THE PORTUGEUSE STRAY DOG DIGS IN TRASHCANS FOR ITS FOOD. ONCE IT SEES ITS PREY, IT REJOICES, AND PROMPTLY GETS SHOT BY A GUY AND SERVED IN A RESTERAUNT!" the tv said, showing several shots of the dog. Kyara blinked, and said, "Still, it's better than 'The Bachelor'".
When both programs were done, the news came on. "Welcome to the six o' clock news," the newscaster chimed in, with her shit-eating grin. "Our top stories today: A puppy was rescued today seconds before falling from a lamppost and onto the ground. The rescuer is now a minor celebrity in the state of New Mexico as "Puppy-Catcher", so we will whore this as much as we can and have him as a special guest every day until it gets annoying." The newscaster grinned, then moved on to a more serious tone. "Also, there has been arson committed in another town in New Mexico, inside a forest. The suspects are Boy Scout Troop #25, which have currently been arrested and undergoing questioning. They had been found at the time of the fire, holding hot dogs on sticks." The newscaster grinned again. "Now, to John, with the weather!"
John went on with the weather. It was going to be rainy and humid for the next couple of days. He then announced the temperatures for the next week, made a cheesy one-liner about the weather, then kicked it back to the newscaster.
"This just in, from the police." the newscaster replied. Suddenly, all the annoying noises were joined by a bastardized form of German pop. Kyara turned up the volume on the TV, drowning out all the noise. "MacroCorp Software was attacked from inside and outside by people in hoods. The attackers have killed 51 employees, and so far, there have been only a few people that had escaped from the building." Camera footage of the building before and after the attack was being played. "Law enforcement is currently negotiating with the attackers inside the building, and they are warning people to stay away from the police scene." The newscaster cleared her throat, and said, "Now, to national news. In New Jersey, there has been reports of dead bod-"
Kyara turned off the TV. What the hell was going on?, she thought. First, there were attacks by unidentified creatures in Florida, now a complete takeover of a company software building. It couldn't have been terrorists. Why would terrorists take over MacroCorp? All they do is produce Web-Page building software.
Kyara concluded that this action was taken by complete nutters. She shrugged it off, picked up her laptop, and went to the nearest computer cafe.
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Elenmor, 7:30 PM EST
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Marvin was in a bright, cheery guest room, recovering steadily from his wounds, thanks to some soup and healing potions. He was greeted informally by the king, and given some items. The elven servants peeked in on him to just to see if it was actually true. A human, inside a city where humans were forever banned?
Elenmor had seen its battles. Humans, mostly the local mages, attacked the city out of fear, desire for glory, greed, and spite. After several failed attacks from the mages, the guards started capturing and torturing any humans that got near, out of anger. The city developed a brooding hate against humans. This one time, a peacekeeper came to the city of Elenmor, bearing gifts. He was captured, had his motives questioned, and was painfully executed. The man who had ordered them to do that was accused of treason, and he was impeached from his position from the Elenmor elven army. The king himself recently hired a new commander, one that was pure of heart.
The rumor spread like wildfire. The elves took sides- There was an "Hey, a human saved our king's daughter! Screw tradition, he's a good guy!". There was also a "The human is a spy! He's probably a mage, learning our inner defenses in a plot to take over this town! KILL HIM!"
Princess Arelia told the history and politics to Marvin. "Well, at least their paranoia is understandable. Stupid mages." He sighed. "Well, once I take care of the idiot, I might as well find a way to get a new home. How I will raise the funds, I do not know. Maybe I can sell off these gold coins to a pawn shop. They would probably be worth something." Marvin said, drawing a bag of 46 gold coins, coins that he had picked off the headmaster. "The headmaster won't need these in the afterlife."
Arelia blinked. "Uhm, Marvin, dear, those are currency. You might as well pawn 46 gold pieces for 46 of the same."
"What? No, no one in the right mind in my world is going to accept this as currency. Unless they're really greedy and want to pawn the coins off." Marvin took a coin out of the bag. "How much do you think I would get for one of these? A dollar, maybe two?"
"Look, Marvin, my father is really paranoid about you. You're a complete foreigner- your dress is funny-"
"I don't wear a dress!"
"...-your speech is funny, and your weapons are the strangest things I've ever seen. They're like crossbows, only without the bolts."
"They're bullets."
"Marvin, look. The elves know you're not from around here, and they're spooked. Any strange movement you make could result in your death."
Marvin thought about this. "That's their problem. I'm sorry, Arelia, dear, but I've had enough of crazy demons, forest dwellers, and magicians trying to abracadabra me to death. I want to get some sleep, and I will be out of the elves' hair tomorrow morning, simple as that. If anyone comes in here and tries to attack me, they run of risk of having their head blown off, simple as that." Marvin looked in the grab bag the king had provided for him. "Hello, what have we here?"
"What is it, Marvin?" Arelia inquired.
"This necklace thing with a creature that has hair like Don King."
"Don King?" Arelia inquired. Marvin gave her the amulet to examine. "Ohhhh... this is a regeneration amulet. It closes off your nicks and wounds, although it might not do anything if you're poisoned or if you contract a disease. My father usually gives these items as peace offerings. And the head on the amulet that looks like Don King is actually a species of troll."
"Ah. Well, that could really come in handy. I could probably take a bullet and continue fighting." Marvin went through the grab bag some more. "Oh, goody. 100 gold coins. Hey, is that a potion?" Marvin took it out. It was, indeed, a potion. The liquid was of a soothing blue color, corked and in a vial.
"Healing potion."
"Oh, jolly good. Compliments to your father, he may be saving my neck out there." Marvin put the objects back into the bag. "Listen, Arelia, I need to get some sleep. This day has been unimaginably bad, and I need to rest for a possible second wave."
"Okay. Good night, Marvin." Arelia got up off the chair, went outside, and closed the door. Marvin rested his head on the pillow, relaxed, and dozed off.
It was 7:40 PM EST.
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New Mexico, Digital Java, 5:41 MST
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Kyara's computer did its thing, connecting itself to the internet through a 56K modem. When she finally logged on, she went into her MSN mail account, logged in, and checked her e-mail.
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You have 2 e-mail messages.
1: 70% off! Dj38r (spam)
2: Hey, sis! (Byara)
(Read)(Compose)(Trash)(Log Off)
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Kyara read the e-mail from her sister. She sent off a reply.
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i am in New Mexico already! I had a roguh time getting here, and I just found out that some crayz (terrorist?) guys took over a building. I dunno, but nobovdy seems concerned about it. Oh, well. See you later when you get here!
-Kyara
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Kyara logged off and turned off her laptop.
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7:50 EST, Bennington, New York
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Byara looked inside the clothing shop of the Thieves' Guild. There were garments stolen from local clothing shops, and some of the male and female thieves tested their ability to make some clothes. They weren't as fabulous as the ones that were stolen, but they unique in their own way, holding pockets and pouches for weapons, tools, places to hide gems and other small valuable items,
This one dress caught Byara's eye. It was all blue, and resembled something like padded armor. Byara faintly noticed it, but the dress gave off a faint green glow. Also, she noticed a cloak which matched the dress quite well.
"Uhm... excuse me, sir," Byara said, motioning to the dress and cloak, "how much are they?"
"It came in hour ago," the Russian immigrant clerk said. "Some guy with need for money. Gave him $75. You have both for $100."
Byara paid the $100, and also bought a carry-on bag for $10 more. She placed the dress and cloak in the carry-on bag, and walked out of the store.
Jeric ran up to Byara. "Oh, there you are! Say, what are you doing with the carry-on bag?"
"Jeric, I can't stay here for long. You've been a nice guy, saving me from the crazy guys and all, but, I need to leave tomorrow morning."
Jeric looked a little crestfallen. "Really? Where?"
"New Mexico."
"I see. Why?"
"I have to go see my sister. I need to go to the airport, buy my ticket, and fly out of here."
"All right. I'll get you to the airport in case anything crazy like this happens again."
Byara smiled. "You sure know how to treat a lady. Look, that was probably an event that was one-in-a-million. I'm sure nothing like this probably will ever happen again-"
Jeric handed her a printout. Byara took it and read it. It was a condensed version of the events that had happened today. Marvin's escapades were on there, and so were the deathsof about eight thousand people, and the breakthroughs of many science experiments, some for the better, some for the worse. Plagues were in some towns, monsters were attacking others. But the one that caught her eye...
"Oh, god! They took over a software company in New Mexico?!" Byara's fear grew. What if something happened to her little sister and she never got there in time? What if they planned to take over the entire town?
"What is it, Byara?" Jeric inquired.
Byara looked up from the printout. "Can you pay for your own airfare to New Mexico?"
Jeric smiled. "Of course. I like to stay prepared."
Byara smiled. "Good. Escort me to the airport, sire."
"Of course, milady."
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Jeric and Byara took a taxi to the airport, just in time to see a major police scene. The crazy men from Channel 11 were setting blocks aflame, and the police had shot them all. Firefighters were taking care of the blazing flames, saving babies, and they were doing one hell of a job. Unfortunately, one of the places that was aflame was the entire airport.
Byara was absolutely scared now. She needed to find a way to contact her sister.
"Jeric, I need to find a computer to use. Do you know where?"
"The Guild has a computer lab."
They quickly went back.
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Byara quickly logged into her e-mail account. Luckily, the Channel 11 servers were still up, and she was able to access her account. She read the e-mail from Kyara, and her fear was dwindling. She sent off another e-mail to her sister, then logged off.
Jeric was using a computer himself when the guy who tried to rob Byara an hour earlier went up to him.
"Hey, man, your girlfriend beat me up!" the thief said.
"Then maybe you shouldn't be looking inside her things." Jeric replied, not looking from the screen.
"But she might have had money, man!"
"Don't you have banks to rob?"
"No, man. I'm on break."
Jeric sighed. "Just go away."
"No, man! I wanna 'pology!"
"Leave."
"No!"
"You forced me to do this," Jeric said, pulling out a small electronic device with one button on the top, and with a small white cube in the center. Jeric put the device up to the thief's eyes, and pressed the button. The flash blinded the thief.
"AAAUGH! I CAN'T SEE!"
Everyone in the lab turned to look at the guy screaming and covering his eyes.
"Uhm," Jeric said, then blurted out, "His contact lens came loose!"
Everyone came to help him. Jeric tapped Byara on the shoulder, she sent off the e-mail, and they left the lab.
"Byara," Jeric said, after they left the lab, "Can you fire a gun?"
"Of course, although I haven't touched so much as a water pistol in about ten years. I will need a little refresher."
"All right. The firing range is this way."
Jeric and Byara left. Byara learned a few things about pistols, Jeric learned a few things about Byara, and Marvin woke up, laughing maniacally from a dream about roasting mages in an oven. After Byara bought a pistol, Jeric paying for it, they went down to the mini-hotel in the basement and fell asleep.
But meanwhile, trouble was a-brewing.
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8:15 PM EST: Outside the Thieves Guild
The first of the officers arrived in a pizza van, ready to raid the Thieves' Guild and arrest all the thieves.
"It will be a glorious day for the police officers of Bennington!" , the chief of police had said three hours before.
Oh, it would be.
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Chapter 6 is done. Chapter 7 coming soon. Murgh.
And it's Chapter Six time! Wave, kids! Thanks to Xue Liean for providing scenes in this chapter. As always, thanks to my beta readers.
- New Jersey, The Forests, 7:00 PM EST -
(15 minutes earlier)
Marvin crept into another room, and suddenly stopped. The room, illuminated by magical fire, was actually an medieval office. Wooden desks and chairs were laid out in a 5X5 pattern, each with quills, ink bottles, and half-written parchments. A bird was sleeping soundly in a cage at a desk. In an open cupboard, there was extra parchment and ink. To his right, there was a bulletin board of papers asking for donations of gold pieces to a local-potion maker.
Marvin's eyes widened. He had realized he killed innocents. "Oh, fuck," he said, shortly before throwing up into the trash receptacle.
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"Well, now that I feel like a bastard, let's go to this city in the forest. I'm bushed, and I'm running out of bullets. Arelia, where?"
Arelia raised her head. She was no longer wounded, but she was too weak from under-nourishment to walk by herself. "I remember this spot. I have had many playdates here with my friends. Turn left and walk some more."
They did, and they reached a hidden city within the trees. It was majestic, and well-hidden by magic from invaders. There were two guards standing near the gates.
"Halt! Who-" The teenage, squeaky-voiced guard said, then stopped. His memory of cute-looking elves suddenly flashed through his mind. The elf had an uncanny memory that was used only to remember cute elves he saw, but, when he invoked his memory, he forgot about everything and everybody for the time being.
"…Princess Arelia?"
Marvin's eyes went wide. "WHAT!?"
Arelia said weakly, "Marvin… I didn't tell you this, because I thought you would take advantage of this situation…"
"No! Why would I do that!? I'm not greedy, I'm just pissed off and looking for revenge!"
The taller, burlier guard spoke up. "The human has freed Arelia from the mages! He is a friend, even though he's a scummy, ugly, evil, stupid human! Let him into Elenmor!"
The teenage guard said, "…pretty." The older guard sighed, and opened the gate himself.
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Bennington, New York
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Jeric and Byara ran down the alleyway, dodging crossbow bolts. They reached the end of the alley with a fence blocking their progress, where there was a lone doorway on the right wall. Jeric went up to the door.
The mob was coming closer. Byara could hear their shouts.
Jeric knocked on the metal door. A slot in the door was pulled back, and a pair of eyes looked from the hole. "Password?"
Jeric slipped the $10 bill through.
"Incorrect." The mob was closer.
Jeric slapped his forehead. "Argh. That was last week's password!" He turned to Byara. "Do you have a fiver?"
Byara pulled out the five. A crossbow bolt sailed over their heads and struck a garbage can, knocking it over and revealing old pizza boxes, and other flotsam and jetsam.
Jeric slipped the five inside. The door opened, and Jeric and Byara rushed through the opening. The door immediately closed, and the mob was locked outside.
"Phew. That was a close one, wasn't it?" Jeric said to Byara coolly.
Byara ignored him. "What is this place, Jeric?"
"The Thieves' Guild." Jeric came to the Thieves' Guild when he was a teenager, looking for fortune, but none of the fame. He quickly became very good at it, and was occasionally able to net a small fortune from a gem or a valuable item.
Byara's eyes widened. This place was just not a mere hideout- it was a warehouse-sized place of commerce. The place was lined up with shops offering many goods at each table- almost like a flea market, only it was illegal and only open to the people who knew the right people.
The guard behind the door pulled out a Glock 18, and opened up the slot again. "Eat this, ye bastards!" He screamed, and fired into the mob.
'Eat this, ye bastards?' Byara said to Jeric.
"You meet a lot of strange people here."
"Ah. So, what are we going to do?"
"We're going to hide out here, get supplies, and plan our next course of action."
"Okay."
A thief snuck up right behind Byara and tried to pickpocket her purse. He did not do a very good job, opening her purse, then tugging at it, which was connected to a shoulder strap, which pushed Byara back. Byara's eyes widened and she whirled around.
"Get out of my purse!" Byara said, then kicked the thief squarely in the stomach. He screamed in suprise, and ran away.
"Jerk." Byara grumbled, then began to bend down and pick up the things that had fallen out of her purse.
"He's like that. Poor sod."
"Yeah."
Dinner consisted of Tic-Tacs.
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New Mexico, 5:05 PM MST
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Kyara Halebein finally checked into her hotel room. Things were at their weirdest right now, and all she wanted to do was get some rest.
She suffered a four-hour long wait to get onto her airplane from Florida, mainly caused by a disturbance at the runway ("Disturbance at the runway?" Kyara commented, as the lady at the intercom spoke, "What are they talking about?"), a four-hour long flight which consisted of a six-year old kicking the back of her seat, a showing of the movie and "Pokemon 2000", and tuna fish sandwiches with resembled cardboard.
Kyara Halebein, 19, was a college student who was enjoying the last two weeks of her summer, right before classes restarted and she would have to go back to the hell that was the University of Florida. To Kyara Halebein, Hell was drunken frat parties, boys consistently hitting on her, and tests and exams every damn week. She was an anti-social person, since to her, South Florida was just old people looking for their medication, or young people here that were looking for sex and a tan. Very rarely, she met a few people that defied this theory, and she quickly became friends with them.
Kyara was smart, but not book smart. Her last semester grades were Bs and Cs. She had to go to remedial Algebra, because she had done all right up to the final exam, which she bombed. She finished the one-month summer school class in June, barely passing.
And, yes, she was Byara's sister.
Kyara dropped her bags, and fell into the bed. "Ah, the joys of traveling," she said, falling asleep shortly thereafter in sweet silence.
Then the guys laughing in the hall began. Three men getting drunk and laughing at cheesy jokes in the hallway was a ritual for this hotel, as it happened weekly, shortly before the innkeeper threw them out.
The laughing woke Kyara up. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, and got up, groggily.She brushed a hand through her brown, curly hair, fishing out the chocolate mint that had gotten caught, and put it back on the pillow.
She lay back in bed, waiting for the damn noise to stop. Then, she turned the air conditioner on, hoping the serene drone would drown out some of the noise made by the men in the hall. Instead of the pleasant done, she got a rattling noise, the same noise that would occur if you put a toy inside the dryer, closed the door, and turned it on. Kyara groaned again. At least the air conditioner would stifle some of the noise, but it would be very annoying to fall asleep to. The rattling noise, along with the air conditioner, stopped after four minutes of operation.
"Ah, coin-op air conditioners," Kyara replied sourly, "The hallmark of the greedy innkeeper." The laughing would not stop, and was joined by a screeching of babies from the next room. Kyara groaned, and turned on the TV.
Golf was on. Kyara changed channels. Basketball. Spurs vs. Bulls. Flip. Racing. "Turning left. Oh, yipee." Kyara replied sarcastically. Flip. An auction to save the local PBS channel. Flip. When Dogs Attack People and When People Attack Dogs 2, back to back. Kyara watched it all, concentrating on the TV and not on the noises in the hallway.
"THE PORTUGEUSE STRAY DOG DIGS IN TRASHCANS FOR ITS FOOD. ONCE IT SEES ITS PREY, IT REJOICES, AND PROMPTLY GETS SHOT BY A GUY AND SERVED IN A RESTERAUNT!" the tv said, showing several shots of the dog. Kyara blinked, and said, "Still, it's better than 'The Bachelor'".
When both programs were done, the news came on. "Welcome to the six o' clock news," the newscaster chimed in, with her shit-eating grin. "Our top stories today: A puppy was rescued today seconds before falling from a lamppost and onto the ground. The rescuer is now a minor celebrity in the state of New Mexico as "Puppy-Catcher", so we will whore this as much as we can and have him as a special guest every day until it gets annoying." The newscaster grinned, then moved on to a more serious tone. "Also, there has been arson committed in another town in New Mexico, inside a forest. The suspects are Boy Scout Troop #25, which have currently been arrested and undergoing questioning. They had been found at the time of the fire, holding hot dogs on sticks." The newscaster grinned again. "Now, to John, with the weather!"
John went on with the weather. It was going to be rainy and humid for the next couple of days. He then announced the temperatures for the next week, made a cheesy one-liner about the weather, then kicked it back to the newscaster.
"This just in, from the police." the newscaster replied. Suddenly, all the annoying noises were joined by a bastardized form of German pop. Kyara turned up the volume on the TV, drowning out all the noise. "MacroCorp Software was attacked from inside and outside by people in hoods. The attackers have killed 51 employees, and so far, there have been only a few people that had escaped from the building." Camera footage of the building before and after the attack was being played. "Law enforcement is currently negotiating with the attackers inside the building, and they are warning people to stay away from the police scene." The newscaster cleared her throat, and said, "Now, to national news. In New Jersey, there has been reports of dead bod-"
Kyara turned off the TV. What the hell was going on?, she thought. First, there were attacks by unidentified creatures in Florida, now a complete takeover of a company software building. It couldn't have been terrorists. Why would terrorists take over MacroCorp? All they do is produce Web-Page building software.
Kyara concluded that this action was taken by complete nutters. She shrugged it off, picked up her laptop, and went to the nearest computer cafe.
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Elenmor, 7:30 PM EST
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Marvin was in a bright, cheery guest room, recovering steadily from his wounds, thanks to some soup and healing potions. He was greeted informally by the king, and given some items. The elven servants peeked in on him to just to see if it was actually true. A human, inside a city where humans were forever banned?
Elenmor had seen its battles. Humans, mostly the local mages, attacked the city out of fear, desire for glory, greed, and spite. After several failed attacks from the mages, the guards started capturing and torturing any humans that got near, out of anger. The city developed a brooding hate against humans. This one time, a peacekeeper came to the city of Elenmor, bearing gifts. He was captured, had his motives questioned, and was painfully executed. The man who had ordered them to do that was accused of treason, and he was impeached from his position from the Elenmor elven army. The king himself recently hired a new commander, one that was pure of heart.
The rumor spread like wildfire. The elves took sides- There was an "Hey, a human saved our king's daughter! Screw tradition, he's a good guy!". There was also a "The human is a spy! He's probably a mage, learning our inner defenses in a plot to take over this town! KILL HIM!"
Princess Arelia told the history and politics to Marvin. "Well, at least their paranoia is understandable. Stupid mages." He sighed. "Well, once I take care of the idiot, I might as well find a way to get a new home. How I will raise the funds, I do not know. Maybe I can sell off these gold coins to a pawn shop. They would probably be worth something." Marvin said, drawing a bag of 46 gold coins, coins that he had picked off the headmaster. "The headmaster won't need these in the afterlife."
Arelia blinked. "Uhm, Marvin, dear, those are currency. You might as well pawn 46 gold pieces for 46 of the same."
"What? No, no one in the right mind in my world is going to accept this as currency. Unless they're really greedy and want to pawn the coins off." Marvin took a coin out of the bag. "How much do you think I would get for one of these? A dollar, maybe two?"
"Look, Marvin, my father is really paranoid about you. You're a complete foreigner- your dress is funny-"
"I don't wear a dress!"
"...-your speech is funny, and your weapons are the strangest things I've ever seen. They're like crossbows, only without the bolts."
"They're bullets."
"Marvin, look. The elves know you're not from around here, and they're spooked. Any strange movement you make could result in your death."
Marvin thought about this. "That's their problem. I'm sorry, Arelia, dear, but I've had enough of crazy demons, forest dwellers, and magicians trying to abracadabra me to death. I want to get some sleep, and I will be out of the elves' hair tomorrow morning, simple as that. If anyone comes in here and tries to attack me, they run of risk of having their head blown off, simple as that." Marvin looked in the grab bag the king had provided for him. "Hello, what have we here?"
"What is it, Marvin?" Arelia inquired.
"This necklace thing with a creature that has hair like Don King."
"Don King?" Arelia inquired. Marvin gave her the amulet to examine. "Ohhhh... this is a regeneration amulet. It closes off your nicks and wounds, although it might not do anything if you're poisoned or if you contract a disease. My father usually gives these items as peace offerings. And the head on the amulet that looks like Don King is actually a species of troll."
"Ah. Well, that could really come in handy. I could probably take a bullet and continue fighting." Marvin went through the grab bag some more. "Oh, goody. 100 gold coins. Hey, is that a potion?" Marvin took it out. It was, indeed, a potion. The liquid was of a soothing blue color, corked and in a vial.
"Healing potion."
"Oh, jolly good. Compliments to your father, he may be saving my neck out there." Marvin put the objects back into the bag. "Listen, Arelia, I need to get some sleep. This day has been unimaginably bad, and I need to rest for a possible second wave."
"Okay. Good night, Marvin." Arelia got up off the chair, went outside, and closed the door. Marvin rested his head on the pillow, relaxed, and dozed off.
It was 7:40 PM EST.
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New Mexico, Digital Java, 5:41 MST
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Kyara's computer did its thing, connecting itself to the internet through a 56K modem. When she finally logged on, she went into her MSN mail account, logged in, and checked her e-mail.
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You have 2 e-mail messages.
1: 70% off! Dj38r (spam)
2: Hey, sis! (Byara)
(Read)(Compose)(Trash)(Log Off)
----
Kyara read the e-mail from her sister. She sent off a reply.
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i am in New Mexico already! I had a roguh time getting here, and I just found out that some crayz (terrorist?) guys took over a building. I dunno, but nobovdy seems concerned about it. Oh, well. See you later when you get here!
-Kyara
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Kyara logged off and turned off her laptop.
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7:50 EST, Bennington, New York
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Byara looked inside the clothing shop of the Thieves' Guild. There were garments stolen from local clothing shops, and some of the male and female thieves tested their ability to make some clothes. They weren't as fabulous as the ones that were stolen, but they unique in their own way, holding pockets and pouches for weapons, tools, places to hide gems and other small valuable items,
This one dress caught Byara's eye. It was all blue, and resembled something like padded armor. Byara faintly noticed it, but the dress gave off a faint green glow. Also, she noticed a cloak which matched the dress quite well.
"Uhm... excuse me, sir," Byara said, motioning to the dress and cloak, "how much are they?"
"It came in hour ago," the Russian immigrant clerk said. "Some guy with need for money. Gave him $75. You have both for $100."
Byara paid the $100, and also bought a carry-on bag for $10 more. She placed the dress and cloak in the carry-on bag, and walked out of the store.
Jeric ran up to Byara. "Oh, there you are! Say, what are you doing with the carry-on bag?"
"Jeric, I can't stay here for long. You've been a nice guy, saving me from the crazy guys and all, but, I need to leave tomorrow morning."
Jeric looked a little crestfallen. "Really? Where?"
"New Mexico."
"I see. Why?"
"I have to go see my sister. I need to go to the airport, buy my ticket, and fly out of here."
"All right. I'll get you to the airport in case anything crazy like this happens again."
Byara smiled. "You sure know how to treat a lady. Look, that was probably an event that was one-in-a-million. I'm sure nothing like this probably will ever happen again-"
Jeric handed her a printout. Byara took it and read it. It was a condensed version of the events that had happened today. Marvin's escapades were on there, and so were the deathsof about eight thousand people, and the breakthroughs of many science experiments, some for the better, some for the worse. Plagues were in some towns, monsters were attacking others. But the one that caught her eye...
"Oh, god! They took over a software company in New Mexico?!" Byara's fear grew. What if something happened to her little sister and she never got there in time? What if they planned to take over the entire town?
"What is it, Byara?" Jeric inquired.
Byara looked up from the printout. "Can you pay for your own airfare to New Mexico?"
Jeric smiled. "Of course. I like to stay prepared."
Byara smiled. "Good. Escort me to the airport, sire."
"Of course, milady."
-----------
Jeric and Byara took a taxi to the airport, just in time to see a major police scene. The crazy men from Channel 11 were setting blocks aflame, and the police had shot them all. Firefighters were taking care of the blazing flames, saving babies, and they were doing one hell of a job. Unfortunately, one of the places that was aflame was the entire airport.
Byara was absolutely scared now. She needed to find a way to contact her sister.
"Jeric, I need to find a computer to use. Do you know where?"
"The Guild has a computer lab."
They quickly went back.
---------------
Byara quickly logged into her e-mail account. Luckily, the Channel 11 servers were still up, and she was able to access her account. She read the e-mail from Kyara, and her fear was dwindling. She sent off another e-mail to her sister, then logged off.
Jeric was using a computer himself when the guy who tried to rob Byara an hour earlier went up to him.
"Hey, man, your girlfriend beat me up!" the thief said.
"Then maybe you shouldn't be looking inside her things." Jeric replied, not looking from the screen.
"But she might have had money, man!"
"Don't you have banks to rob?"
"No, man. I'm on break."
Jeric sighed. "Just go away."
"No, man! I wanna 'pology!"
"Leave."
"No!"
"You forced me to do this," Jeric said, pulling out a small electronic device with one button on the top, and with a small white cube in the center. Jeric put the device up to the thief's eyes, and pressed the button. The flash blinded the thief.
"AAAUGH! I CAN'T SEE!"
Everyone in the lab turned to look at the guy screaming and covering his eyes.
"Uhm," Jeric said, then blurted out, "His contact lens came loose!"
Everyone came to help him. Jeric tapped Byara on the shoulder, she sent off the e-mail, and they left the lab.
"Byara," Jeric said, after they left the lab, "Can you fire a gun?"
"Of course, although I haven't touched so much as a water pistol in about ten years. I will need a little refresher."
"All right. The firing range is this way."
Jeric and Byara left. Byara learned a few things about pistols, Jeric learned a few things about Byara, and Marvin woke up, laughing maniacally from a dream about roasting mages in an oven. After Byara bought a pistol, Jeric paying for it, they went down to the mini-hotel in the basement and fell asleep.
But meanwhile, trouble was a-brewing.
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8:15 PM EST: Outside the Thieves Guild
The first of the officers arrived in a pizza van, ready to raid the Thieves' Guild and arrest all the thieves.
"It will be a glorious day for the police officers of Bennington!" , the chief of police had said three hours before.
Oh, it would be.
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Chapter 6 is done. Chapter 7 coming soon. Murgh.