Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible.
Okay, here's the second chapter. Thank you Chaos for your double review, what did you do, click the button twice? I'm just kiddin' ya. I know it seems cliché, but one twin must be evil, or else the story won't work (another author's liberty). Hope nobody minded the minor changes. Oh, thanks to Unknown for telling me what a mistake it was to put in the SA80, I picked it 'cause it looks cool. I've used one, my uncle collects guns, and I have to say that with all the rounds I've fired with it, nothing has gone wrong. Anyway, the Thompson is still a kickass gun. Well, not much else to say here, so I'll just type the history/mythology note and get on with the chapter.
Alrighty, time to make some corrections so people won't be misinformed about mythology. First off, Kukulkan and Quetzalcoatl are technically one in the same, just believed in by different cultures. Kukulkan was the Mayan god of creation, civilization and learning, personified as a winged, green, serpent dragon. Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec and Toltec god of creation, civilization and learning, personified as a winged, white, serpent dragon. It is true that both could take on other forms, as most gods/dragons were believed to be able to. For example, Cortez, a Spanish conquistador, was believed by the Aztecs to be the returning Quetzalcoatl. Why, because he was white, had a beard, and came from the east, over the ocean. That last one was important because Quetzalcoatl had flown over the sea, saying he would return, and the prophesied year just happened to coincide with the arrival of the Spaniards (freaky, but true). The part about the beard is also true. To have the ability to grow a beard was the sign that the person was a god, or a high priest. I hope that you have enjoyed this little history/mythology lesson, and now, on to the story.
*~* dreamscape
*~*~* flashback
The Assassin: Nemesis
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Bonnie, where are we going?" Nate asked as the girl in front of him sped up.
"You'll see," was all she said.
Nate just sighed and continued following her, not really feeling comfortable at the moment. Something just wasn't right around them, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. Whatever was out there was keeping itself well hidden from his senses, all six of them. He had been thinking so hard he didn't realize that Bonnie had stopped moving.
"We're here," she said.
Looking ahead, Nate saw that they were in a part of the park he had not yet been to. They stood atop a rather large, steep hill, that led down to a small clearing on the edge of a pond. All up the hill there were people setting up blankets and such to sit on, but the reason for which was still unclear. Bonnie led him over to a large boulder that stuck out from the ground and sat on it, obviously waiting for something.
"Bonnie, are you absolutely, positively sure you want to be a part of this?" he asked her for the tenth time since she had said she wanted to join.
"Of course, is there a problem?"
"Well, there would be the constant absences from school, the secrets you had to keep from everyone you knew, and the fact that you don't seem too comfortable with killing," he said leaning back against the rock. "Your place is here, Bonnie, with the people that care about you the most."
"Care? They don't care about me," she scoffed at the idea. "I never told you why I was like that, did I?"
"No."
"Well, how bout this, I'll tell you something and you answer my question. You know, quid pro quo."
'Never should have watched Silence of the Lambs with her,' Nate thought.
Before he could answer, though, what Bonnie had brought him here to see was starting. Fireworks began firing from the other side of the pond, and into the air. So many explosions of green, red, blue, purple, orange, yellow and gold filled the sky before them. The gold ones were small, but the shockwave created by them was enormous, and to be so close almost popped their ears (the gold are my personal favorites).
-----
Shego and Kim were at the bottom of the hill, also watching the fireworks, while doing a bit of light petting, light being an understatement. Several other couples around them moved back a bit, while several husbands and boyfriends alike were scolded for looking (girls, on behalf of all straight men, sorry, we just can't help it). They somehow got into a routine, kiss during the lame fireworks, and 'ooh' and 'aah' during the good ones, some of these being stressed a little.
"Do you think Nate and Bonnie are here?" Kim asked looking around.
"Sure they are, practically the whole town is here," Shego said and went back to what she was doing (yes, it is what you think, but I'm not going into it in detail, it's PG-13 for christ's sake).
"Shego, cut it out, we're in public," the teenager gasped urgently.
"That's what makes it all the more exciting."
Kim gently pried the raven-haired woman off her and whispered in her ear, "Later, I promise."
Shego was content with that and settled to sitting next to Kim, with her arm around her.
"Better?" she asked.
"Much."
-----
"I wonder what they see is so amazing about these things?" Aeris asked herself from where she stood, about a hundred feet to the side of her Kul and the person she didn't know. "They're just flashes of light, I could do that easy."
She had conveniently changed her appearance as to evade detection. Her body had shifted itself to become one of the females whose soul she had drained not too long ago. The sweet echo of the girl's tortured mind was ringing in her mind, and she relished the shivers it sent through her body. She was standing not much taller than Kim, maybe an inch taller, her dirty blond hair cropped short, just short of her ears, and her eyes, instead of being blood red, were now a light shade of blue. Her head turned, and she looked over at Nate, with his arm around that...girl. Just the sight of it made her angry.
'Stupid Kukulkan, he never noticed me...never, in all the time I had known him back then. He was always so serious about his job, and never had any fun, like the rest of us did,' she scoffed at the human who would be the actual reincarnation of such a horribly powerful entity. 'He probably just thinks that Kul's soul came from the pike, never thought that maybe his soul, and Kul's soul are one in the same. And that girl, what *does* he see in her anyway?'
She just continued to glare at the girl who had her head on Kul's shoulder. After a little bit of searching through her new body's memory, she found what she was looking for, the girl's name.
"So, it's Bonnie, is it, such a crude name," she said before turning to walk away. "Thank you Karen, I can already tell you're going to be a big help."
*****
The fireworks ended about an hour later, and everyone got up to leave, taking a few seconds to stretch. Everyone except for four people were left within a few minutes. Shego and Kim slowly made their way up the hill to where Nate and Bonnie still were. Upon reaching the top they saw Nate, eyes closed, head lolled back against the rock, and Bonnie, eyes closed, head resting on Nate's shoulder.
"Aw, don't they look so cute like that?" Shego asked Kim in a loud whisper as they approached the two.
"Aw, don't you get tired of saying that?" Nate asked opening his eyes.
"Not really."
"Thought so," he said shaking Bonnie out of her nap and standing up. "Come on, time to go."
"Okay," she said rubbing her eyes.
*****
Nate laid in his bed, trying to sleep, till the was a knock at his door. He opened his eyes and looked at the small figure standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the hall light behind her.
"Sarah, what are you doing up?" he asked the five-year-old in front of him.
"I had a bad dream," she said with a slight sniffle to her voice.
"Well hop up, and tell me about it," he said patting the spot on the large bed next to him.
"Okay," she climbed on the bed and sat on his lap.
He placed his arms around her and slowly rocked her back and forth, while she continued to sniffle. When her sobs subsided she kept her head against his chest as she spoke.
"There was a lady, and she said she was going to take me away."
"What did she look like?"
"She was all black with red eyes, she was pretty though."
'Aeris,' he thought. "What did she do?"
"She was going to grab me, so I ran. She was really fast and caught me, it hurt a lot."
"And that's when you woke up?"
She nodded.
"Do you want to go back to bed, or stay here?"
"Can I stay here, please?"
"Sure."
-----
Aeris was floating just outside Nate's window, watching him console the little girl whose dream she had just entered and left. A small smile crossed her face at how well he handled her. It almost made her forget about what he had done to her so long ago.
"Dofrin (some sort of swear, like bastard)," she muttered before turning to leave.
"Are you having second thoughts Aeris?" Quetzalcoatl asked her.
"I didn't know you were there."
"Still in love with him I see, yet you just can't forget what he did."
"Shut up, my feelings are none of your business," she retorted and began to fly off, just to see him blocking her path again.
"They are my business if they ruin this for us," the god hissed at her.
"You're just cranky because you can't get through the barrier he set up."
"You can't get through either."
"Actually, I can, but that doesn't mean I'm going through."
"I should kill you just for that."
"But you won't, because, let's face it, you need me for this to work. I'm an indispensable asset to your plan," she laughed a little. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to find something to eat."
And so she left, leaving Quetzalcoatl to look down at the house that glowed with the barrier placed on it.
"Damn you Kukulkan, mark my words, you'll be spending the next three- thousand years in that gods-forsaken abyss."
'Not likely little brother,' Kukulkan's voice entered his mind.
"We were born at the same time, how dare you call me 'little'."
'What's wrong, little brother, can't face the truth?'
"Come up here and say that, Kul, you'll be unpleasantly surprised at how much stronger I am."
"Okay."
Quetzalcoatl turned around, and there, in all his glory, was Nate, floating level with the other god. He moved back quickly and prepared to fight.
"So, little brother, are you still afraid of me like you were so long ago."
"I was never afraid of you."
"Right, of course you weren't. So, it wasn't fear that drove you to hide when I came looking for you?"
"I wanted the element of surprise."
Nate's head cocked to the left and a small smile rested on his lips. Quetzalcoatl was in no such mood for his brother's antics, this time he would be victorious, and Kukulkan would be the one to be sealed away. So, without much warning, he charged forward. His hand stretched out, and was about to hit Nate's face, but all it hit was air. It hadn't missed Nate's face either, it had gone straight through it.
"A mental projection?"
"Exactly you fool, I have someone to look after, so I think I'll take my leave of you now," Nate said and vanished.
Quetzalcoatl let out a breath he had been holding for the last few seconds. He was thoroughly glad that his brother had always been one to stay and play with the children while he had been training to kill him.
"He could have beat me right here and now, good thing he's too sentimental," he said to himself as he glared at the house below him. 'All I have to do is take his pike, and then he won't have a prayer.'
*****
Over the next few days people in Middleton continued disappearing, and no one had any ideas as to what might have happened to them. Nate knew, but he wasn't going to tell anyone, not even Bonnie. But this little bit here is not about Nate, this is about Kim. She laid on her bed, reading quietly, when the phone next to her rang. This phone was on her own line, so as to not hinder an important call to her parents.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey Kim," it was Ron's voice.
"Hey Ron, how's Bermuda?" she asked happy to hear her best friend's voice.
"It's great, the sand is warm, the water is warmer, and the view is incredible."
"How's Tara?"
"She's fine, she's in the shower right now."
"I'm still surprised both of your parents actually agreed to let you sleep in the same room," Kim said with a slight giggle.
"Same room, but, sadly, separate beds," Ron laughed.
It felt good to Kim to hear him laugh, she hadn't head from him since summer vacation had started.
"Well, I'm sure it's for your own good. So, how much loner are you guys gonna be there?"
"About a week, give or take. How's everything on your end?"
"Not so good."
"Why, what's wrong?"
"People are disappearing, Ron, in the past ten days over twenty people have vanished without a trace. Not to mention that some really evil people broke out of the abyss Nate had told us about."
"That can't be good, but we're here for another week, whether we like it or not. But don't woory, I'm sure you'll be able to handle it."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Anytime. Hey, I gotta hang up now, don't want your phone bill getting too high."
"Kay, bye Ron, see you later."
She hung up the phone and picked her book up.
*****
Bonnie quickly raised the wooden practice sword that Nate had given her, making ready to block his next strike. His sword stopped an inch before touching hers, then shifted its position to knock her sword aside. In a flash the tip of his wooden sword was at her throat.
"You're too tense," he said relaxing his stance.
"You're moving too fast," she countered.
"That's is no excuse, you'll just have to become faster. I told I'm not going to go easy on you."
"We've been at this for an hour, can't we take a break."
In response Nate hit her lightly on the right side of her head, her left arm, then tripped her right leg.
"Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah."
She got up and walked a little ways away, then turned to take a stance.
"Not bad, but your left side is still open," he said and swung the sword around a bit. "Now remember, it's all in the hips."
"Right."
The park had a fair number of people at this time of day, several of them were parents who had brought their children to play. Among the children on the playground was Sarah, always where Nate could see. He had taken up the responsibility to look after her, and with Aeris and Quetzalcoatl free, she was sure to be the first target.
"Come on, I'll let you have the first move here," he held the sword straight out in front of him, in a defensive stance.
"Alright, here I come," she ran forward, sword raised over her head.
She swung the sword down and Nate turned the sword at a ninety-degree angle, so the pommel was straight up and the blade pointed straight down. Bonnie's strike was true to its mark, and struck right in the center of the pommel, bouncing it back up, and catching her off guard. Nate then whipped the blunt side of the sword towards her leg, and, being very careful to hold back enough strength to not break her leg, tripped her. She landed square on her ass and stayed where she was.
"Can we stop now?" she whined.
"All that cheerleading and you can't handle an hour of swordplay, remind me again why you want to join," he said holding out his hand to help her up.
"Because, I wanted to be closer to you," she said somewhat reluctantly.
"I see, well, I suppose we can quit for today."
They walked over to a bench that gave them a good view of the playground and sat down. Bonnie looked down at the ground, feeling somewhat sorry that she couldn't figure out something that always looked so easy. She had no idea just how complicated all of the moves were, but she was going to give it her best shot.
"Bonnie?"
"Yes?"
"I know how hard this must be for you, having come into this years later than most of the assassins I know. But, believe me when I say this, just over the past few days you've made a lot of progress," he said in a comforting tone, placing his arm around her.
His gaze shifted from her, to where Sarah was playing tag with some of the other children. She looked so happy and carefree; it was hard for him to believe that he was once like that. He was glad that they had come here, since, with all the other people around, it would be very hard for Aeris to grab her.
'Aeris,' the thought made him remember what she had done.
Aeris had been sealed in the abyss for a crime most foul. She had been stealing souls to keep herself on this plain of existence. But that wasn't all, she had been using the souls to take on the form of that person, with which she could go just about anywhere, unnoticed and unstopped. While doing this, she had come into the most sacred part of Kukulkan's temple, and seen something she really shouldn't have. She had seen Kukulkan change from his dragon form to his human form (which looks surprisingly like Nate, just so you know), something even his priests weren't allowed to see.
-----
Aeris watched from the other side of the park, her eyes trained on Sarah as she ran around. She remembered the day when she had committed her crime.
*~*~*
Aeris, in the form of one of the woman she had seen going in and out of the temple, walked confidently through its hallowed halls. She looked around herself at the massive murals that spanned entire corridors, murals of an ongoing war between two serpents, one green, one white. The people who passed her never even glanced at her, it seems she had chosen just the right soul to consume.
"I've never gone this far in without being stopped before, maybe I'll find something good to steal," she pondered as she continued walking.
She stopped, though, when she saw twin tails snake their way around a corner. This had not been the first time she saw them, since almost everyone in the village below had seen Kukulkan at least once. The thought of what he could be doing this deep in his own temple intrigued her to no end.
'Maybe, just a peak,' she thought as she looked around that corner at something she really, really didn't expect.
The giant serpent was shrinking, the tail was already almost half gone. His face was beginning to flatten, and the spikes and feathers on his head were turning into hair. The great wings, which were already folded tight to his back to let him move through the halls, dispersing into nothing. His arms and legs became more and more human, thought the hands never lost their scales, or claws. The entire experience appeared to the most painful thing anyone, human or god, could ever go through.
Within a few minutes she was looking at Kul (Kukulkan's human form), nude, from the back. She watched as he walked to an altar and picked up a robe, which he tied around his waist. When that was done he grabbed few necklaces, and slipped them over his head. These necklaces were wide, and multicolored, covering almost the entire width of his shoulders. He then reached up and pulled his long hair out from under the necklace, letting it go to flow down his back.
"Who's there?" he asked and turned around to see Aeris standing there, not daring to make a move. "Choi, when did you get here?"
"Just now, Sir," she said meekly.
"Well, what is it you want?"
"I...um...I got lost," she quickly replied.
"Yes, it is easy to lose one's way in this place," he said looking intently at her as he walked closer. "Now, go about your business."
"Yes, Sir," she bowed and left. 'That was close, I guess he trusts this person over all the others.'
*~*~*
It was also that day she had fallen for him. Up until then she had seen his human form, but never recognized him, thinking him only to be a priest. Now that she had seen him change, she knew his secret, she knew how he was able to walk inconspicuously amongst the people. She had become a security risk.
"I know that you had to do what you had to do, but I wish you would have let me explain," she whispered to herself.
TBC
There, second chapter is done, sorry it took so long. I'm hoping for more reviews this time, only got two for the last one. Though I suppose I should count those from the first version of it. Anyway, keep an eye out for the next chapter, it should be up within the next week. I have many stories that have been put on hold to write this, and some of my other readers are getting anxious. Please understand if a few of the chapters take longer that you think they should, it is only because I am working on other things. That, and I have a shit-load of school work.
Okay, here's the second chapter. Thank you Chaos for your double review, what did you do, click the button twice? I'm just kiddin' ya. I know it seems cliché, but one twin must be evil, or else the story won't work (another author's liberty). Hope nobody minded the minor changes. Oh, thanks to Unknown for telling me what a mistake it was to put in the SA80, I picked it 'cause it looks cool. I've used one, my uncle collects guns, and I have to say that with all the rounds I've fired with it, nothing has gone wrong. Anyway, the Thompson is still a kickass gun. Well, not much else to say here, so I'll just type the history/mythology note and get on with the chapter.
Alrighty, time to make some corrections so people won't be misinformed about mythology. First off, Kukulkan and Quetzalcoatl are technically one in the same, just believed in by different cultures. Kukulkan was the Mayan god of creation, civilization and learning, personified as a winged, green, serpent dragon. Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec and Toltec god of creation, civilization and learning, personified as a winged, white, serpent dragon. It is true that both could take on other forms, as most gods/dragons were believed to be able to. For example, Cortez, a Spanish conquistador, was believed by the Aztecs to be the returning Quetzalcoatl. Why, because he was white, had a beard, and came from the east, over the ocean. That last one was important because Quetzalcoatl had flown over the sea, saying he would return, and the prophesied year just happened to coincide with the arrival of the Spaniards (freaky, but true). The part about the beard is also true. To have the ability to grow a beard was the sign that the person was a god, or a high priest. I hope that you have enjoyed this little history/mythology lesson, and now, on to the story.
*~* dreamscape
*~*~* flashback
The Assassin: Nemesis
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Bonnie, where are we going?" Nate asked as the girl in front of him sped up.
"You'll see," was all she said.
Nate just sighed and continued following her, not really feeling comfortable at the moment. Something just wasn't right around them, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. Whatever was out there was keeping itself well hidden from his senses, all six of them. He had been thinking so hard he didn't realize that Bonnie had stopped moving.
"We're here," she said.
Looking ahead, Nate saw that they were in a part of the park he had not yet been to. They stood atop a rather large, steep hill, that led down to a small clearing on the edge of a pond. All up the hill there were people setting up blankets and such to sit on, but the reason for which was still unclear. Bonnie led him over to a large boulder that stuck out from the ground and sat on it, obviously waiting for something.
"Bonnie, are you absolutely, positively sure you want to be a part of this?" he asked her for the tenth time since she had said she wanted to join.
"Of course, is there a problem?"
"Well, there would be the constant absences from school, the secrets you had to keep from everyone you knew, and the fact that you don't seem too comfortable with killing," he said leaning back against the rock. "Your place is here, Bonnie, with the people that care about you the most."
"Care? They don't care about me," she scoffed at the idea. "I never told you why I was like that, did I?"
"No."
"Well, how bout this, I'll tell you something and you answer my question. You know, quid pro quo."
'Never should have watched Silence of the Lambs with her,' Nate thought.
Before he could answer, though, what Bonnie had brought him here to see was starting. Fireworks began firing from the other side of the pond, and into the air. So many explosions of green, red, blue, purple, orange, yellow and gold filled the sky before them. The gold ones were small, but the shockwave created by them was enormous, and to be so close almost popped their ears (the gold are my personal favorites).
-----
Shego and Kim were at the bottom of the hill, also watching the fireworks, while doing a bit of light petting, light being an understatement. Several other couples around them moved back a bit, while several husbands and boyfriends alike were scolded for looking (girls, on behalf of all straight men, sorry, we just can't help it). They somehow got into a routine, kiss during the lame fireworks, and 'ooh' and 'aah' during the good ones, some of these being stressed a little.
"Do you think Nate and Bonnie are here?" Kim asked looking around.
"Sure they are, practically the whole town is here," Shego said and went back to what she was doing (yes, it is what you think, but I'm not going into it in detail, it's PG-13 for christ's sake).
"Shego, cut it out, we're in public," the teenager gasped urgently.
"That's what makes it all the more exciting."
Kim gently pried the raven-haired woman off her and whispered in her ear, "Later, I promise."
Shego was content with that and settled to sitting next to Kim, with her arm around her.
"Better?" she asked.
"Much."
-----
"I wonder what they see is so amazing about these things?" Aeris asked herself from where she stood, about a hundred feet to the side of her Kul and the person she didn't know. "They're just flashes of light, I could do that easy."
She had conveniently changed her appearance as to evade detection. Her body had shifted itself to become one of the females whose soul she had drained not too long ago. The sweet echo of the girl's tortured mind was ringing in her mind, and she relished the shivers it sent through her body. She was standing not much taller than Kim, maybe an inch taller, her dirty blond hair cropped short, just short of her ears, and her eyes, instead of being blood red, were now a light shade of blue. Her head turned, and she looked over at Nate, with his arm around that...girl. Just the sight of it made her angry.
'Stupid Kukulkan, he never noticed me...never, in all the time I had known him back then. He was always so serious about his job, and never had any fun, like the rest of us did,' she scoffed at the human who would be the actual reincarnation of such a horribly powerful entity. 'He probably just thinks that Kul's soul came from the pike, never thought that maybe his soul, and Kul's soul are one in the same. And that girl, what *does* he see in her anyway?'
She just continued to glare at the girl who had her head on Kul's shoulder. After a little bit of searching through her new body's memory, she found what she was looking for, the girl's name.
"So, it's Bonnie, is it, such a crude name," she said before turning to walk away. "Thank you Karen, I can already tell you're going to be a big help."
*****
The fireworks ended about an hour later, and everyone got up to leave, taking a few seconds to stretch. Everyone except for four people were left within a few minutes. Shego and Kim slowly made their way up the hill to where Nate and Bonnie still were. Upon reaching the top they saw Nate, eyes closed, head lolled back against the rock, and Bonnie, eyes closed, head resting on Nate's shoulder.
"Aw, don't they look so cute like that?" Shego asked Kim in a loud whisper as they approached the two.
"Aw, don't you get tired of saying that?" Nate asked opening his eyes.
"Not really."
"Thought so," he said shaking Bonnie out of her nap and standing up. "Come on, time to go."
"Okay," she said rubbing her eyes.
*****
Nate laid in his bed, trying to sleep, till the was a knock at his door. He opened his eyes and looked at the small figure standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the hall light behind her.
"Sarah, what are you doing up?" he asked the five-year-old in front of him.
"I had a bad dream," she said with a slight sniffle to her voice.
"Well hop up, and tell me about it," he said patting the spot on the large bed next to him.
"Okay," she climbed on the bed and sat on his lap.
He placed his arms around her and slowly rocked her back and forth, while she continued to sniffle. When her sobs subsided she kept her head against his chest as she spoke.
"There was a lady, and she said she was going to take me away."
"What did she look like?"
"She was all black with red eyes, she was pretty though."
'Aeris,' he thought. "What did she do?"
"She was going to grab me, so I ran. She was really fast and caught me, it hurt a lot."
"And that's when you woke up?"
She nodded.
"Do you want to go back to bed, or stay here?"
"Can I stay here, please?"
"Sure."
-----
Aeris was floating just outside Nate's window, watching him console the little girl whose dream she had just entered and left. A small smile crossed her face at how well he handled her. It almost made her forget about what he had done to her so long ago.
"Dofrin (some sort of swear, like bastard)," she muttered before turning to leave.
"Are you having second thoughts Aeris?" Quetzalcoatl asked her.
"I didn't know you were there."
"Still in love with him I see, yet you just can't forget what he did."
"Shut up, my feelings are none of your business," she retorted and began to fly off, just to see him blocking her path again.
"They are my business if they ruin this for us," the god hissed at her.
"You're just cranky because you can't get through the barrier he set up."
"You can't get through either."
"Actually, I can, but that doesn't mean I'm going through."
"I should kill you just for that."
"But you won't, because, let's face it, you need me for this to work. I'm an indispensable asset to your plan," she laughed a little. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to find something to eat."
And so she left, leaving Quetzalcoatl to look down at the house that glowed with the barrier placed on it.
"Damn you Kukulkan, mark my words, you'll be spending the next three- thousand years in that gods-forsaken abyss."
'Not likely little brother,' Kukulkan's voice entered his mind.
"We were born at the same time, how dare you call me 'little'."
'What's wrong, little brother, can't face the truth?'
"Come up here and say that, Kul, you'll be unpleasantly surprised at how much stronger I am."
"Okay."
Quetzalcoatl turned around, and there, in all his glory, was Nate, floating level with the other god. He moved back quickly and prepared to fight.
"So, little brother, are you still afraid of me like you were so long ago."
"I was never afraid of you."
"Right, of course you weren't. So, it wasn't fear that drove you to hide when I came looking for you?"
"I wanted the element of surprise."
Nate's head cocked to the left and a small smile rested on his lips. Quetzalcoatl was in no such mood for his brother's antics, this time he would be victorious, and Kukulkan would be the one to be sealed away. So, without much warning, he charged forward. His hand stretched out, and was about to hit Nate's face, but all it hit was air. It hadn't missed Nate's face either, it had gone straight through it.
"A mental projection?"
"Exactly you fool, I have someone to look after, so I think I'll take my leave of you now," Nate said and vanished.
Quetzalcoatl let out a breath he had been holding for the last few seconds. He was thoroughly glad that his brother had always been one to stay and play with the children while he had been training to kill him.
"He could have beat me right here and now, good thing he's too sentimental," he said to himself as he glared at the house below him. 'All I have to do is take his pike, and then he won't have a prayer.'
*****
Over the next few days people in Middleton continued disappearing, and no one had any ideas as to what might have happened to them. Nate knew, but he wasn't going to tell anyone, not even Bonnie. But this little bit here is not about Nate, this is about Kim. She laid on her bed, reading quietly, when the phone next to her rang. This phone was on her own line, so as to not hinder an important call to her parents.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey Kim," it was Ron's voice.
"Hey Ron, how's Bermuda?" she asked happy to hear her best friend's voice.
"It's great, the sand is warm, the water is warmer, and the view is incredible."
"How's Tara?"
"She's fine, she's in the shower right now."
"I'm still surprised both of your parents actually agreed to let you sleep in the same room," Kim said with a slight giggle.
"Same room, but, sadly, separate beds," Ron laughed.
It felt good to Kim to hear him laugh, she hadn't head from him since summer vacation had started.
"Well, I'm sure it's for your own good. So, how much loner are you guys gonna be there?"
"About a week, give or take. How's everything on your end?"
"Not so good."
"Why, what's wrong?"
"People are disappearing, Ron, in the past ten days over twenty people have vanished without a trace. Not to mention that some really evil people broke out of the abyss Nate had told us about."
"That can't be good, but we're here for another week, whether we like it or not. But don't woory, I'm sure you'll be able to handle it."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Anytime. Hey, I gotta hang up now, don't want your phone bill getting too high."
"Kay, bye Ron, see you later."
She hung up the phone and picked her book up.
*****
Bonnie quickly raised the wooden practice sword that Nate had given her, making ready to block his next strike. His sword stopped an inch before touching hers, then shifted its position to knock her sword aside. In a flash the tip of his wooden sword was at her throat.
"You're too tense," he said relaxing his stance.
"You're moving too fast," she countered.
"That's is no excuse, you'll just have to become faster. I told I'm not going to go easy on you."
"We've been at this for an hour, can't we take a break."
In response Nate hit her lightly on the right side of her head, her left arm, then tripped her right leg.
"Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah."
She got up and walked a little ways away, then turned to take a stance.
"Not bad, but your left side is still open," he said and swung the sword around a bit. "Now remember, it's all in the hips."
"Right."
The park had a fair number of people at this time of day, several of them were parents who had brought their children to play. Among the children on the playground was Sarah, always where Nate could see. He had taken up the responsibility to look after her, and with Aeris and Quetzalcoatl free, she was sure to be the first target.
"Come on, I'll let you have the first move here," he held the sword straight out in front of him, in a defensive stance.
"Alright, here I come," she ran forward, sword raised over her head.
She swung the sword down and Nate turned the sword at a ninety-degree angle, so the pommel was straight up and the blade pointed straight down. Bonnie's strike was true to its mark, and struck right in the center of the pommel, bouncing it back up, and catching her off guard. Nate then whipped the blunt side of the sword towards her leg, and, being very careful to hold back enough strength to not break her leg, tripped her. She landed square on her ass and stayed where she was.
"Can we stop now?" she whined.
"All that cheerleading and you can't handle an hour of swordplay, remind me again why you want to join," he said holding out his hand to help her up.
"Because, I wanted to be closer to you," she said somewhat reluctantly.
"I see, well, I suppose we can quit for today."
They walked over to a bench that gave them a good view of the playground and sat down. Bonnie looked down at the ground, feeling somewhat sorry that she couldn't figure out something that always looked so easy. She had no idea just how complicated all of the moves were, but she was going to give it her best shot.
"Bonnie?"
"Yes?"
"I know how hard this must be for you, having come into this years later than most of the assassins I know. But, believe me when I say this, just over the past few days you've made a lot of progress," he said in a comforting tone, placing his arm around her.
His gaze shifted from her, to where Sarah was playing tag with some of the other children. She looked so happy and carefree; it was hard for him to believe that he was once like that. He was glad that they had come here, since, with all the other people around, it would be very hard for Aeris to grab her.
'Aeris,' the thought made him remember what she had done.
Aeris had been sealed in the abyss for a crime most foul. She had been stealing souls to keep herself on this plain of existence. But that wasn't all, she had been using the souls to take on the form of that person, with which she could go just about anywhere, unnoticed and unstopped. While doing this, she had come into the most sacred part of Kukulkan's temple, and seen something she really shouldn't have. She had seen Kukulkan change from his dragon form to his human form (which looks surprisingly like Nate, just so you know), something even his priests weren't allowed to see.
-----
Aeris watched from the other side of the park, her eyes trained on Sarah as she ran around. She remembered the day when she had committed her crime.
*~*~*
Aeris, in the form of one of the woman she had seen going in and out of the temple, walked confidently through its hallowed halls. She looked around herself at the massive murals that spanned entire corridors, murals of an ongoing war between two serpents, one green, one white. The people who passed her never even glanced at her, it seems she had chosen just the right soul to consume.
"I've never gone this far in without being stopped before, maybe I'll find something good to steal," she pondered as she continued walking.
She stopped, though, when she saw twin tails snake their way around a corner. This had not been the first time she saw them, since almost everyone in the village below had seen Kukulkan at least once. The thought of what he could be doing this deep in his own temple intrigued her to no end.
'Maybe, just a peak,' she thought as she looked around that corner at something she really, really didn't expect.
The giant serpent was shrinking, the tail was already almost half gone. His face was beginning to flatten, and the spikes and feathers on his head were turning into hair. The great wings, which were already folded tight to his back to let him move through the halls, dispersing into nothing. His arms and legs became more and more human, thought the hands never lost their scales, or claws. The entire experience appeared to the most painful thing anyone, human or god, could ever go through.
Within a few minutes she was looking at Kul (Kukulkan's human form), nude, from the back. She watched as he walked to an altar and picked up a robe, which he tied around his waist. When that was done he grabbed few necklaces, and slipped them over his head. These necklaces were wide, and multicolored, covering almost the entire width of his shoulders. He then reached up and pulled his long hair out from under the necklace, letting it go to flow down his back.
"Who's there?" he asked and turned around to see Aeris standing there, not daring to make a move. "Choi, when did you get here?"
"Just now, Sir," she said meekly.
"Well, what is it you want?"
"I...um...I got lost," she quickly replied.
"Yes, it is easy to lose one's way in this place," he said looking intently at her as he walked closer. "Now, go about your business."
"Yes, Sir," she bowed and left. 'That was close, I guess he trusts this person over all the others.'
*~*~*
It was also that day she had fallen for him. Up until then she had seen his human form, but never recognized him, thinking him only to be a priest. Now that she had seen him change, she knew his secret, she knew how he was able to walk inconspicuously amongst the people. She had become a security risk.
"I know that you had to do what you had to do, but I wish you would have let me explain," she whispered to herself.
TBC
There, second chapter is done, sorry it took so long. I'm hoping for more reviews this time, only got two for the last one. Though I suppose I should count those from the first version of it. Anyway, keep an eye out for the next chapter, it should be up within the next week. I have many stories that have been put on hold to write this, and some of my other readers are getting anxious. Please understand if a few of the chapters take longer that you think they should, it is only because I am working on other things. That, and I have a shit-load of school work.