by Shadou-sama
Iﺝ akyta akir æ meiﺣ lengur n' nyurv'ﻰ'o
Iﺝ xalyon de xanжwawao, xalyon de huol'awao
"So where are we going?" Mariah asked.
"You know that old steam train exhibit?" Shadra asked.
"The one by that town?"
Shadra nodded. "Yeah. We go there, then drive past it to the farms to find a lone silo."
"Okay."
"Um, how come you have a car? And can drive?" Shadra asked.
"Oh, well I got my license this year, and my team leased this car to get to the tournament in."
"Then where are they?"
"They were watching the finals…"
"Oh…"
Silence filled the car, except for the sound of the car and gravel. Then Shadra hit a semi-realisation, which she had been prone to do.
"Then why weren't you?" she asked.
"Why weren't you?" Mariah asked back.
"I asked you first."
"So?"
"Answer me."
"I was heading to Regina to book plane tickets back to China. And you?"
"Talking to Oliver." She pulled out the pink beyblade. A bigger realisation slapped her in the face. "I haven't got a freaking launcher!"
Mariah glanced over. "Mine's in the glove compartment."
"Good for you. Now, back to the problem. How can I beyblade without a bloody launcher?"
Mariah sighed. "You know, sometimes you're not the sharpest tool in the shed. You can borrow mine."
"Really?" Shadra said. "Thank you!"
She grabbed the hand launcher out of the glove compartment. Pink beyblade, pink launcher. Both given – ahem, lent by her friends. Any doubts flew out of her mind. The Masters won't stand a chance!
"Oh bloody hell," Shadra cursed, looking at her clock. She was running out of time!
"Why are you carrying that?" Mariah asked.
"I don't have a watch and I have only so much time to get there."
Mariah gave her a look.
"I'll buy one as soon as I get out of here."
More silence. Shadra looked out of the side rear-view mirror. She still had the bruise. Though, if she thought about it, it wasn't so surprising since she had only received it a couple of days ago. But the more she thought about it, she realised she could have used Time to reverse it. Ah, too late now.
Realisation number three: she, who could barely use her power, was going up against three who could. She was the underdog. Hopefully, she could pull off some of Tyson's underdog magic, the kind that no matter how much he seemed to not be able to win, he does.
Realisation number four: "I should really stop with the realisations," she muttered.
"Eh?" Mariah asked.
"Nothing." She didn't have her sword. That was too careless. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was too late to go back, she'd just have to deal without it.
"Here's the train," Mariah said.
Shadra looked out. The old thing was standing on a grass island, and… "Take that road!" she said, pointing to path partly hidden by the engine.
Mariah turned sharply. Too sharply, as the car spun around only stopping when the trunk end hit the steam engine.
"Are you okay?" Shadra asked.
"Yeah," she said, wincing as she got out of the car. "But that little accident is going to cost me. A lot."
Shadra got out of the car as well, pocketing the borrowed launcher. She went around to where steam engine met car, and noticed that a huge steal rod or something was connecting the two. She tried to get it loose, but it's was too firm, too deep.
"You'll need something mechanical to get it loose," she called to Mariah.
Mariah frowned. "What about Lee and Ray and—"
"I'll go on," Shadra told her. "I'll get them back. You get the car loose."
"No effing way," Mariah said, pronouncing each syllable clearly. "I am coming with you."
"But—"
"But nothing. Come on," Mariah said, grabbing her bag out of the car. She started walking the way they were going. Shadra had no choice but to follow her.
A few minutes of silence as both girls trudged along. Then Mariah pointed out to the distance, "Is that the place?"
Shadra looked over. It was a lone silo, in the middle of a huge wheat field. She gave a little jump. "That's it! That's it!"
They both ran as fast as they could; Shadra naturally having the advantage but Mariah could still hold her own. They trampled down rows of the golden plant, but they didn't care. It wasn't their fields after all.
When they reached it, they both frantically looked for the next clue. They tried everywhere that they could think of, no where holding the clue.
"Maybe this isn't it," Mariah said.
Shadra looked at the door to the silo. "Or maybe it's inside."
She pulled open the metal door. Oats poured out, making little piles at Shadra's feet. She looked in and immediately spotted it hanging a metre above the grain level on the opposite side of the wall. "Yep."
Mariah peered in as well. "You can't go in there, you'll suffocate."
"Suffocate?"
"Yeah, all the dust and what not is too thick for you to breathe properly. And it could explode!"
Shadra looked at her.
"What? I watched those farming safety shows," she said.
Shadra shook her head. "I have to go," she said.
Walking in, she was buried up to her waist, then higher. She had to swim. It wasn't like anything she had ever done before, and she had done a lot of strange things. The grain was heavier than water; she had to really work to move her limbs. The dust was thick that she had trouble pulling air into her lungs. The whole place smelled a bit like beer.
Somehow, she made it across. She glanced around for the clue, then looked up. Damn it! It was too high to reach. She'd have to jump. Unfortunately, the grain beneath her was shifting. She couldn't get form footing.
"IUse your Magick, Shadra, use your Magick/I," a mysterious voice whispered. Great, now she was hearing voices. By the end of this, she'd have seen/heard enough to get her a prime placing in an asylum.
"IUse your Magick, dammit, use your Magick/I."
Okay, use her Magick. And what could time do? Maybe it didn't have to include time. Maybe a normal spell would do. She remembered a time when her witch roommate taught her to float a pencil. Maybe she could levitate herself—
Ah, screw it. She pulled out her beyblade and launcher—okay, so it was Oliver's beyblade and Mariah's launcher, whatever—set it up and launched it.
"IDon't use a beyblade, Shadra, don't use a beyblade!/I"
It spun straight towards the clue, slicing off the top fraction of the clue. The rest fell to the grain as Unicolyon returned to Shadra's hand.
She put away the beyblading equipment and grabbed the clue.
"IYou were lucky, Shadra, you were lucky/I." Then she heard it whisper, "IStupid vixen. Almost put the whole silo on fire with those sparks/I."
"Shut up!" she yelled, or tried to. Air was on short supply and her lungs were burning. She coughed violently. Something grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her out of the silo. After regaining her breath, and getting rid of the black spots in her vision, she realised it had been Mariah. Yay Mariah.
"What does it say?" Mariah asked.
Shadra sat up, and read it.
IClue #4: Beyond the row of lovely spruces
This is not time for – what rhymes with spruces? Ah, screw it.
Keep going straight past the trees until you get to a really ugly—hey, it's not ugly, it's a quite beautiful tree—yeah, says you. Anyway, you can't miss it since we got your friends tied up underneath it. And oh yeah, it's ten miles away. MWAHAHAHAHA—Ignore him. This dork does not represent us./I
"The strangest clue yet," she said.
"Should we be worrying about their mental health?" Mariah asked. Then she gasped. "They could be cutting Ray's ear off right now! Oh no, poor Ray. What will he do without his ear?"
"Take heart, they wouldn't cut off his ear," Shadra said. "They'd probably make him go insane, then if he gets boring, they'll kill him."
Mariah glared at her. "That's not a better option."
"Who said it was? Just trying to comfort you about his ear." She clapped, then threw her fist into the air, index finger extended. "He could be like Drusilla!"
"O-kay… Who's Drusilla?"
"From Buffy the Vampire Slayer, duh. I love that show, it is so life-like."
"Yeah, getting chased around by demons and vampires everyday at school is realistic."
"Wow, you just summed up my whole Everto education."
"Do I want to know?"
"No."
"Then I won't ask."
Iﺝ akyta akir æ meiﺣ lengur n' nyurv'ﻰ'o
aﺝ'xka maaylma æ ﺝann', dei joten dovere naurv'