A/N: Before I begin, I'd like to give a HUGE thank-you to The Last Ronin for updating his marvelous fic, Tears of a Phoenix. If you are a Rogue fan (and I'm assuming most of you are) you must check this story out. Trust me, it's worth it.
Now, I have a quick announcement to make. I have decided to make this story into a trilogy, with The Eye of Polyphemus being book one. Now I need a name for the trilogy. Ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Well, I've kept you from the story long enough. Read and enjoy, peeps.
"Come on, Jennsen, we're trying to beat the traffic!"
Jennsen ignored Kevin's urgings and continued lacing her sandals at the same relaxed pace.
"How can you possibly wear sandals in the middle of winter?" Dan asked, looking through the window at the snow-covered ground. "It can't be more than about forty degrees out there."
She shrugged. "My home gets much colder zen zis." With a final tug on the string she had her sandals tied, and stood up. "Now, where are we going again?"
"Mall," Kevin said simply. "We need to by Christmas presents for our parents."
"And zis mall, it is like a marketplace?"
The twins nodded. Seeing that she was ready to leave they led her into the garage. Jennsen stared at the metallic creature that resided there. It was almost twice as tall as a horse, and several times as wide. There were large windows on the front and back, as well as smaller ones on the sides. Through them, she could see chairs inside. The creature was solid white, and had no legs to speak of. Instead, it had four large, black wheels. As Jennsen stared at it, he wasn't sure if it was an animal or a machine. She had seen many things like this outside; cars, they were called. The twins referred to this one as "The Jeep."
Dan went up to one side of The Jeep and pulled upward on a small lever; a door swung open. Jennsen stepped inside, sitting on the plush seat. It was by far more comfortable than a saddle. Dan got into the seat next to her, and Kevin sat in the back.
Following their example, she grabbed hold of the black strap hanging behind her, pulling it across her lapel and hooking it into the small piece of metal on her seat. Then Dan put a small key into a hole on the side of the large wheel. The Jeep started to rumble. Dan took the wheel in his hands, and they began rolling backwards onto the street.
Jennsen had never seen such a large market before. It was as if someone had taken all the shops in the world and put them under one enormous roof. There were shops selling clothes, toys, books, jewelry, food, shoes, and everything else imaginable. And the only thing in more abundance than the shops were the people. They moved in crowds of two's and three's, easily filling up the large space. Jennsen stepped closer to Dan, so as not to be lost in the sea of faces.
"There's a really nice jewelry store upstairs. Let's start there," Dan said. He began leading them through the masses. Kevin arched his eyebrows.
"And exactly how do you know where the good jewelry stores are?"
"Let me put it this way: I have got to stop dating such high-maintenance women," Dan replied.
They stopped in front of a pair of silver doors. There was a small button with an up arrow on it next to the doors. Kevin pushed it; it glowed yellow. Suddenly the doors slid open with a loud ding! revealing a small room with glass walls. The twins stepped in side, with Jennsen following hesitantly. She looked around the small room, wondering why they were in there. Kevin laughed.
"I take it you've never been in an elevator."
"Ele-what?" Jennsen asked. As she spoke, Dan pressed a small button next to the closed doors. The room lurched, knocking Jennsen slightly off-balance. Kevin caught her and held her up.
"Elevator," he said. "It moves you from one story of a building to the next. Look." He pointed to the glass walls; through them, Jennsen could see the ground moving away slowly. Fascination overcame her, and she stepped out of Kevin's steadying hold, pressing her face to the glass.
"How does it move?" she asked.
"Cables," Dan said. "They pull the elevator through the shaft."
"And what keeps ze cables from breaking?"
"I'm not sure. But I do know that even if they break, the system is rigged so that the elevator cannot fall."
Jennsen was about to reply when the elevator came to a halt, leaving her stomach somewhere on the first floor. The doors slid open, and the trio stepped out into another crowd of people. This time, however, they were more condensed, as they had to stick to the walkways.
Jennsen had to resist the urge to lean out over one of the glass guardrails to stare at the people below. Instead, she followed Dan and Kevin like an excited puppy.
It was obvious that there were more places to eat up here--the wonderful smells were driving her insane. She didn't have the slightest idea what any of them were, but she wanted to try them all!
"Dan," she said, giving in to the temptations, "maybe after we find ze gift, we can eat?"
"You got it!" Dan and Kevin said in unison.
Jennsen grinned. As they walked towards the jewelers, she watched the people around her. A tired looking woman ushered two small children away from a toy store; a tall young man with spiked, pink hair leaned against a wall, a small white stick dangling from his lips; a group of girls stepped out of a clothes shop laden with bags, talking and laughing loudly. Their voices mixed with those of the people around them, becoming part of the undistinguishable buzz.
Jennsen found that if she listened closely, she could make out snatches of conversation.
"So then I told Mary that if she didn't tell Jake that she had heard from Hannah…"
"Five bucks for a stupid hair brush? They're insane!"
"Mommy, can we? Please please please! We'll be…"
"…two and a half hours! I'm starting to think The Guardian isn't here."
Jennsen froze. Did someone just say 'guardian?' No. They couldn't have been talking about her. She must have heard wrong. Jennsen tilted her head in the direction of the speaker, so as to hear better.
"I wonder if the General is having any luck?"
The voice grew louder; they were heading straight for the speaker. Up ahead, Jennsen could see them. Two large figures, clad in all black. They were looking from side to side as they walked, hunting for something.
"I hope we find that Amulet soon."
Her eyes widened in shock. They were hunting for her!
"Dan!" she hissed, not wanting to be heard by the approaching men. Dan stopped and turned around, with Kevin following suit.
"What's up?" he asked.
"We have to go," she answered, never taking her eyes of the two men. It was obvious from the fluent way the younger one moved that he was a Shiran. The other did not carry himself quite as boldly, but his gliding movements made it clear that he, too, was a fighter.
The twins had not noticed either of them, and could see no reason for leaving, as Kevin automatically pointed out.
"We have to buy Mom a present. Besides, I thought you wanted to grab a bite?"
"No time!" she said as loudly as she dared. "We have to get out of herre now, beforre--"
"There she is!"
The Shiran and his companion began running for the trio, knocking people out of their way.
"Come on!" Jennsen screamed. She turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could away from the men. After a moment's pause, the twins came bounding after her. They tore recklessly through the crowd, dodging around people. Jennsen glanced over her shoulder; the two men were gaining easily. She turned her head back to the front, and realized the ground ahead was disappearing. It took her a second to realize that it was a moving staircase. Unfortunately it was moving up, and she did not have time to turn around.
With only a few steps separating her from the men, she leapt onto the narrow railing of the stairs, sliding downward. Her arms stuck out on either side, keeping her balance. The ground neared with startling speed. When she was about to run out of railing, she jumped to the floor, casting a glance over her shoulder. What she saw made her heart skip a beat.
The two men did not bother with the stairs. Instead, they hopped lightly onto the glass guardrail that lined the walkway above. Then they jumped. It was a drop that would kill most men, but they simply hit the ground and rolled into a standing position facing her, ready to run again.
She scanned the crowd for Dan and Kevin; they were at the foot of the stairs, gaping at the two men.
"Hurry!" Jennsen screamed. They immediately began running towards the exit. It was difficult; there were far more people down here, as well as benches and large potted plants--all kinds of obstacles.
Suddenly Jennsen was tackled to the ground by a mammoth of a man. He held her down on her back, pinning her arms to her sides. His body lay across her own, immobilizing her. So she did the only thing she could do. Turning her head to the side, Jennsen sank her teeth into his arm. The taste of blood saturated her mouth.
He pulled his arm away in surprise, freeing her hand. A millisecond later the heel of her palm connected squarely with his jaw. At the same time Kevin kicked the guy roughly in the ribs, effectively rolling him off of Jennsen.
Both she and the man were up and running in seconds, with the other two men practically on top of them. The doors were within reach now. Dan's hand shot out in front of him, crashing into the bar. It gave easily, and he practically fell outside. Kevin and Jennsen ran out next, and the three of them slammed the door in the man's face.
The other two caught up with him, and as one they shoved against the door. Dan and Kevin could not hold it for long.
"Forrget the doorr! Rrun!"
Even as she spoke Jennsen was speeding towards the cars, trying to find The Jeep. It was nowhere in sight, and she realized that it was on the other side of the building. She ducked between rows of the metal beasts, staying as low as possible. Sounds of fighting could be heard behind her. She lifted her head above the top of one of the cars.
Dan and Kevin were about to get themselves killed by the men. Each one was armed with two knives, which they wielded expertly. The twins were already bleeding from several cuts, and they could not keep going for much longer.
"Damn it!" Jennsen muttered. She reached into the folds of her cloak and pulled out the jewel-encrusted disk. Holding it up she stepped into plain view.
"Is zis what you want?" she shouted. The men looked up, and saw the star gleaming in her hand. They forgot all about the twins, who practically collapsed onto the concrete, and advanced on her.
"Give up the Amulet, girlie!" The man who had tackled her said. "You're no match for us."
"And who exactly are you?" she asked as calmly as she could.
"General Nomed, leader of the Shiran. You don't have any more of a chance against us then your dear old parents did, so hand it over!"
Her parents. Jennsen's eyes widened with realization. This man had been there on the day of her family's massacre. His had been the hand that slit her mother's throat. Something akin to a growl escaped her lips.
"General Nomed of ze Shirran, I am Jennsen Turlock, Ze Guardian of ze Amulet of Life, last surrviving member of ze Orrder of ze Starr. You zink you can defeat me?" She spread her arms wide. "Come and trry!"
The three men rushed her, blades in hand. Jennsen shouted a spell in her native tongue.
"Erres folem!"
A wall of fire erupted in front of her, driving the soldiers back. Not the least bit put out, the General raised his arm and threw a knife at her. The blade scratched across her cheek and imbedded itself in the side panel of a car.
Jennsen's concentration wavered, and the flames disappeared.
"Kirvati!" screamed the young Shiran as he charged her. Once again Jennsen countered with a spell.
"Teal nay ushedum!"
The man was suddenly suspended in midair, unable to move. Jennsen raised her hands upward. He immediately flew up into the air several stories.
"Back off orr I'll kill him!" she shouted. The General looked at the non-Shiran next to him.
"Should we do as she says?" he asked. The man shook his head. He pointed to the soldier in the air, dragging a finger across his neck. Then he shrugged his shoulder's in a "who cares?" gesture. The General laughed.
"My thoughts exactly."
He raised his arm to throw the second dagger. Before he could, both he and the silent man were tackled from behind by the twins. Jennsen lowered the soldier to within several feet of the ground, then let him drop; the impact knocked him out. She then grabbed the daggers from his hands ran up to the two attackers.
Each one was struggling against the twin that held them to the ground. The twins were sitting in identical positions. Each was on the back of a soldier. The twin's arm's wrapped around the soldiers,' and they pushed their hands against the guys' necks, pulling their backs up and backward. The struggling Shiran were hard pressed to escape, but Jennsen knew they were not incapable.
She gripped the daggers hard, and drove the handle of each one hard into the men's temples. They collapsed unconscious.
"Let's go before they wake up," she said, rising shakily to her feet. Kevin and Dan did the same. Blood stained their shirts from numerous cuts across their chests and arms. Both of them were panting.
"What the hell just happened?" Kevin demanded.
"I'll explain back at ze house."
"You got that right," Dan said.
"Okay, spill," Kevin ordered. They were sitting in the living room of the their small apartment, wearing clean clothes and sporting all kinds of bandages.
"I am afrraid I have been lying to you," Jennsen began. Kevin snorted.
"Now there's a surprise."
Dan glared at him. "Let her talk, Kev."
Jennsen nodded.
"I'm not frrom Rrussia like I said. In fact, I'm not frrom any land eizer of you have everr hearrd of. I am frrom Ben-Tarri, a whole otherr dimension."
"A whole other what?" they asked together.
"Anozer dimension, or rrealm of existance," she explained. "My rrealm is verry different frrom zis one. Torrn by war for ze past thousand yearrs, ze once beautiful land is now scarred and barre. I live--lived--in an Abbey, in a place known as ze Wildlands. We gave aid to ze Rrebel forces that defended ourr land--gave out food, drressed wounds, that sorrt of thing. But the main purpose of ze Abbey and zose who dwelled zerr was to protect zis." She placed the Amulet onto the coffee table. The stones sparkled in the lamplight.
"What is it?" Kevin asked.
"Ze Amulet of Life. It contains morre power zen all ze sorcerers in ze world combined. If it ever falls into ze wrong hands, zen ze world could verry well come to an end."
"And who exactly are these 'wrong hands' belonging to?" Dan broke in.
"Emperor L'Kal, a verry powerful sorrcerer. He began his rrise to powerr some fifty yearrs ago, brringing many of ze warring nations under his command, and restorring peace between zem. But L'Kal is not a man of peace; he is a man of conquest. He began forrming an arrmy to attack ze nations zat refused to swear allegiance to him. Zese nations saw him forr what he rreally is: a tyrrant and a madman. Zey rrealized with ze might of his new arrmy, L'Kal could trample ze divided nations. So zey forrmed an alliance with one anozerr, and combined zerre separate lands into ze Wildlands. From zat point onwarrd zey werre at warr with L'Kal. He began using his magic to enhance his best soldierrs, a unit known as ze Shirran. Zey arre the most bloodthirrsty warriors zat ever lived. L'Kal sent zem to ze Abbey to rretreive ze Amulet. With it, he would become immorrtal, and his powers would rreach unspeakable levels. Devastation would follow."
"What happened when he sent his guys to your Abbey?" Dan asked softly. Jennsen closed her eyes as the memories played in her mind.
"Ze Brothers and sisterrs fought bravely, but eventually we were trraped in ze infirmarry--me, my parrents, ze Abbot, and a few ozers." Tears began filling her eyes. "Zey all started saying a spell to open a porrtal, to get me and ze Amulet away. My fazerr push me into it as ze Shirran brroke into ze rroom…I won't tell you what zey did to my parrents…"
"Jennsen, I'm so sorry," Kevin whispered. It was the first time he had shown anything other than anger since they had returned from the mall.
"It's okay," she assured him. "Zis is warr, afterr all. But ze porrtal took me herre. Somehow L'Kal found zat out, and sent those men afterr me."
"Those were Shiran, right?" Dan asked. Jennsen shook her head.
"Only two of zem. Ze one zat neverr spoke was not. I don't know what mannerr of soldierr he was. Anyhow, now you know my storry."
The twin's sat back in their chairs, letting the information sink in. Kevin spoke first.
"Stupid question," he said. "Why don't you use that Amulet thingy to, I don't know, blow L'Kal out of the sky?"
Jennsen shook her head. "I am a Guarrdian, I merrely protect ze Amulet. I cannot use it."
"Well why not?"
Jennsen turned over the Amulet, revealing a line of writing engraved on the back. She read it aloud.
" 'Mirr toleski virr conden asierre, frrisha kask nurr, ' " she said.
"Come again?" Kevin asked.
" 'And a saviorr will come who can wield ze Starr, drriving Evil into ze shadows.' It's an excerpt frrom an ancient text. It means zat only ze saviorr can tap into ze Amulet's power wizout losing control of it…To bad zere not herre now…"
"Okay, so the Amulet's useless," Kevin said. "We still have a bunch of psycho soldiers out to kill us. What do we do about them?"
Dan scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I've got it!" he exclaimed suddenly. "We go to the people who deal with this stuff all the time: the X-Men."
A/N: Wow, 8 pages on Word, and over 3 thousand words. Go me! Very exciting chappy, with plenty of new information…hope things make more sense now. I had a hard time starting this chapter, thanx to me old pal writer's block, but I think it turned out OK…watching Alias right now…please hold…*sits in front of TV…watches mega-cool fight scene…starts shouting at screen* YEAH!!! SHOOT HER, SIDNEY, SHOOT HER!!!!…that's what I'm talkin' bout!…WTF??? TOKYO??? HOW THE F*** DID SHE GET THERE?!?!?!?!?!?!…wait, why'd it end? KEEP GOING, DARN YOU!!!!!! Grrrr….
…Sorry about that…season finale of Alias…premiere's two Sundays from now…I'm sure Rogue151 knows what I was babbling about, even if the rest of you don't. But trust me, it's a serious thriller. But enough of that, I have work to do. Sooo:
Review answer time! Yippee Skippy!
Rogue77: Alright, a fellow Alias fan! Yay! And I have discovered one good thing about school: english teachers. They are the Holy Grail for writers.
Ishandahalf: she hasn't really fallen for him yet, but she has got a lot of conflicting emotions. First, she has been ordered to keep an eye on him. Second, he doesn't know about her power, which means that, for awhile at least, she can have a semi-normal relationship…not to mention the fact that he is so friggin HOT!!!!! And she was kinda surprised at the invitation, so her mouth kinda answered while her brain tried to comprehend what was happening…OK I'll stop babbling now…
Yumiko: *grins evilly* can do easy GI!
CM02: Here's Ur update! I'd say more, but I'm short on words right now…
Caliente: I cannot answer your question…cuz I'm evil like that. = P
Krazy Xanadu: Kim Possible all the way! I'm trying to work some more songs into this…I mean, If I can make Rogue a CIA agent, then I can darn well make her a singer!
Panther Nesmith: Your wish is my command!
The Last Ronin: I hope you didn't get hit by to much stuff…although the part about the force suggests that you may need to see a doctor…Oh, and I reread this chap several times and caught a bunch of spelling errors…Aren'tcha proud of me? The KP part took me by surprise too…but I just kinda went with it…I like the results…I'm babbling, aren't I? OK I'm done.
Well, I've got nothing else to say, except the next update could take awhile, due to the big ol' hurricane that's headin my way…great…
At any rate, give me some title ideas and I will reward you with…with…A HERRING! (I have watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail WAAAAAY to many times!)
Ok, I'm outtie!