Well hello! We're moving, I'm stressed out, Summer's going by too fast, and I'm tired as Hell right now. But I do have some good news. I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico.
Excuse the lame joke. I am called SirGecko for a reason, but anyway, this chapter came way easier than the previous. And it's just about as long too. This is some real good news. Anyway, for the review responses. A pretty shallow crowd, but that's okay. I wasn't expecting much since the update gap between chapter 5 and chapter six was over two months. Anyway . . .
Anime-Master7: Yes, Mordoc is an original character. And yes, I couldn't live in that lifestyle at all. It really sucks. Hmm. Maybe I'm brutal, putting people in my story through unbearable things. But it's fiction.
BlackDemon567: Yes the ending was gruesome, but it can't be all on Earth. I'd be bored with my own story that way, and that's definitely not good.
NintendoGamer: Thank you for all the support. You wait no more!
Great Saiyaman: Wow, this is a long review. Thank you for contributing an idea to my work, I might use it sometime in the future. If you have any other suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. Thanks again. . Here's another chapter!
Lord issac: Wow. All I can say is that that would suck. I can't stand screaming toddlers. It just drives me crazy, and the reason I wrote so well about them is because I portrayed my feelings about it through Garet and Solaris. By the way, how was San Diego? I've always wanted to go there.
smurfyyelvz: Thank you. By the way, interesting screen name.
Ssonic: Well at least we aren't starting another war. And your last comment . . . did you mean update? Or did you want me to review something of yours? Anyway, thanks for the support.
Well, that seems to be it. On with chapter six!
Chapter 6: Rescue Felix, Part II
They had no idea . . .
Ivan and Lunora's taxi made its way slowly through Fairbanks. As it was October, it was dark again and heavy snow was falling. Very heavy snow. Phil had the windshield wipers on, the rhythmic swish swish almost putting Ivan and Lunora back to sleep again. However, the fact that they had finally arrived in Fairbanks kept them awake.
"You've been sleeping almost twelve hours straight," remarked Phil, glancing at them by way of his rearview mirror. "It took me longer than expected to get up here. By the time we got into Alaska, the snow was coming down pretty hard, though not as hard as this."
"It reminds me of home," said Lunora. "I'd sure like to go back to Tundris Again."
The taxi was now in Fairbanks itself, the headlights shining out a path on the road through the blizzard raging outside. Lights were on in the windows of stores and homes that dotted either side of the street.
"Well, where to guys?" asked Phil, turning onto a side street.
"We don't know, that's the problem," said Ivan. "All we know is that he's somewhere in town."
"I see," said Phil, looking slightly concerned. "Well, you'd better hurry. If we stay here too much longer, I don't know if we're going to be able to get out of town with all the snow. I'll let you off here, at this convenience store."
"All right," Ivan nodded.
Phil said nothing for a moment. "And I don't mean to be a hardass here, but if you're not back in an hour, I'm going to have to leave. Otherwise, we may be stuck here indefinitely."
Ivan and Lunora sucked in their breath. An hour was not long at all, a very small window of time to work with. Besides, they didn't even know where Felix was. At this rate, they'd be stuck getting a bus or a plane back to Seattle.
"Alright, we'll do our best to meet you back here in an hour," said Lunora. "If we are not back, here's your money now."
"Okay, and here's a watch some guy left behind that you can have to keep track of the time," said Phil, reaching into the glove compartment.
She handed Phil a full three thousand dollars for the ride. Phil looked slightly surprised at the generous sum, but took it all the same. He stopped the car in front of the convenience store and handed Ivan the watch, then motioned for them to get out. Once done, they shut the door behind them, and looked around.
"Well, where should we start?" asked Ivan. "It's freezing out here. Let's make this quick."
"Well, my bet is that he went inside somewhere," said Lunora. "When he disappeared, it wasn't exactly cold in Vale so he's probably freezing right now."
"That narrows it down," Ivan said sardonically. "What with the hundreds of buildings in this town."
Lunora shook her head knowledgeably. "You're right, that doesn't exactly help, does it?" she sighed. "Well, we'll ask around first. I know I'm freezing myself. I wish I'd bought pants like you and the other guys did."
"It's 10:25 on the watch. We have 55 minutes left," said Ivan. "Let's go."
They chose a random direction at the intersection they were at, and decided to go left, down a street lined with small houses. Lights were on in the frosted windows as snow gathered itself into a small mound on each windowsill. It was completely dark now; the street lights were the only things enabling Ivan and Lunora to see. They cast their light all around, and both Ivan and Lunora had to admit that the outline of the snow falling in the light was extremely pretty.
They stopped at a smaller house than was commonly seen on the street. Walking up the pathway, which was barely distinguishable through the gathering snow, they made their way to the porch and knocked on the door. There was no answer so Ivan rapped harder on the door. His hand was almost numb with cold, so he couldn't tell whether the force of his knocking was damaging his hand or not.
Just as they turned away to try another house, the door opened and an elderly lady came into view.
"Can I help you?" she asked, smiling down at them (they had descended the small set of stairs that led up to the porch).
"Um, yes," said Lunora uncertainly. "We're looking for a man who-"
"Come in, out of the weather before you catch cold," said the lady, moving aside so that Ivan and Lunora could cross the threshold into her house. "Would you like some hot chocolate? Coffee? Tea?"
"Coffee would be great!" said Ivan, thanking her and making his way over toward the easy chair in sight.
"I'd like some hot herbal tea," said Lunora. "I always used to have tea in Tun- where I used to live when I was cold," she added, catching her mistake.
"I'll get it for you," said the old lady, shuffling into the kitchen.
Ivan and Lunora collapsed into separate furniture, both seated around a woodstove which burned with such heat that Ivan and Lunora weren't cold for much longer. Precious minutes disappeared from their time limit as they heard the old lady puttering around in the kitchen. On the plus side, by the time their hot beverages arrived, Ivan could fully feel his hands again and Lunora regained the feeling in her legs.
"Now what was it that you wanted to ask me?" the old lady asked them, sitting down across from Ivan.
"We wanted to know if you've seen a friend of ours," explained Ivan, sipping his coffee. "You see, we were . . . how should I put this . . . separated, and now we can't find him."
"He has long brown hair tied back into a ponytail, he has a green cape on with brown leather pants and a green and orange leather shirt. He's also wearing brown gloves and boots," Lunora recalled, trying her hardest to remember what Felix looked like in the short time she had seen him.
The old lady raised her eyebrows. "That's certainly odd dresswear, but I bet it keeps him warm," said the lady thoughtfully. "But I have good news. I did see a man fitting your description walk by my window when I was looking for my grandson. He was going left down the street."
Ivan's and Lunora's hearts leapt. "How long ago?" asked Lunora, taking a gulp of tea.
"Not long ago at all, about ten minutes before you guys showed up," said the lady.
"Thank you very much," said Lunora. "Both for telling us and for the drinks and your hospitality. "Not a problem, are you going now?" the old lady asked.
"Yes, before we lose him," said Ivan, setting down his half-empty cup of coffee. "Thanks again, um-"
"It's Linda," said the old lady. "And you are whom?"
"I'm Lunora, this is Ivan," said Lunora, introducing themselves.
"Good luck you two!" said Linda. "Stay warm!"
"We will," Ivan replied as they walked out the door.
They walked back out onto the road, now feeling the wrath of the freezing air that was growing even colder. Ivan checked the watch. They had thirty minutes left. They were ahead of the clock for now, but they didn't know how long it would last. It was when Lunora looked at the road that they caught another break.
"Look! Footprints!" she shouted, pointing.
Ivan looked in the direction of her finger, and sure enough there were footprints in the middle of the road, but they were filling up fast with snow. They made sure that no cars were coming their way, and then walked out into the middle of the road to check them out.
"I'm not a good judge form what I saw, but I think these could very well be Felix's prints," said Ivan analytically, bending close to the ground. "They aren't that full of snow, and, well . . . maybe I'm just going on false hope."
"We have nothing else to go on! Let's follow them!" said Lunora, setting off briskly down the road, Ivan jogging to keep up.
They followed the road for ten minutes before the direction of the footprints changed. They turned left at another intersection, and then went off to the side of the road along the sidewalk which Ivan and Lunora had been walking. They followed them for another few minutes before the footprints dead-ended in a small alleyway.
"Felix!" Ivan called. "Felix! Are you here? Hello!"
"Where are you Felix?" Lunora asked. It felt like they were calling a stubborn dog.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Ivan said.
"Come on Felix! If you're there, talk to us! We need to go! Right now!" Lunora shouted, urgency in her voice."
"Who's there?" a voice in the blackness ahead shouted.
Both Ivan and Lunora jumped. "Felix! Is that you? It's Ivan and Lunora! We've come to get you out of here!"
"Oh thank all the Gods!" Felix said, coming out of the darkness.
Felix looked like he'd been through all kinds of Hell. His face was colorless, and his lips were cracked and bleeding. This reminded Ivan forcefully of Isaac and their trip to Tundris on the way to the Luna Lighthouse. His clothes were covered with snow and ice and were badly wrinkled. His hair had come out of its traditional ponytail, and now lay all over his face like an overlarge mop. And his expression yearned for warmth and food.
"How did you find me?" Felix asked.
"There'll be time for questions later," said Ivan. "Right now, we have-" he checked his watch, "ten minutes to get to our one-way ticket out of this place. Let's not miss it."
Felix instantly understood, and the three set off at a run back down the street. Felix followed Ivan and Lunora, but quickly lagged behind due to his lack of strength and the fact that he was a Venus Adept. Ivan thought fast.
"The Wise One said no weapons, but he didn't say anything about Djinn," he said. "Zephyr! Make us fast!"
Zephyr popped out and unleashed it's speedy winds on the three. They instantly felt the strength in their legs replenished (Lunora had a little trouble sensing this), and they set off at a run again. This time, they were much faster, and nobody would have seen them if they tried as they sped at top speed back down the street.
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They were too late.
Once they skidded to a halt outside the convenience store where Ivan and Lunora had been dropped off, they saw only the tire tracks of the taxi that was their only way out. After staring numbly for a few long seconds, the realization began to sink in. They were now stranded in the frozen land of Alaska.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" Ivan shouted, slamming his fist into a nearby wall. "Shit. What the Hell are we going to do now?"
"Our ride is gone, isn't it?" Felix muttered.
"What the Hell do you think?" Ivan snapped, kicking at the snow.
"Calm down," said Lunora. "It's okay, Ivan. We'll be alright. I'm sure there are other means of getting out of here."
"Calm down?" said Ivan, voice unnaturally high. "Calm down, did you say? Here we are, standing here at a store in the middle of Who-the-Hell-Knows-Where, and I'm supposed to calm down?"
"She's right," said Felix calmly, looking up. "I'm sure your mother told you panicking doesn't solve anything."
"I never knew my mother," Ivan spat. "I never had the luxury of learning the things mothers are supposed to teach to their children."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Felix. "I really mean it. All I'm trying to say is that we'll accomplish more once we're all calmed down."
They all stood in total silence for a minute, not moving at all. They didn't even bother to wipe the snow off of them that accumulated in that time. Finally, Ivan exhaled deeply, and put down his hands from where he had previously folded them up.
"I'm sorry to both of you," he muttered. "I lost my temper. I lost my temper because I was afraid."
Lunora came up behind him and put her arms around him gently. "It takes a big man to admit he's afraid," she said. "And it's okay. I understood how you felt."
Ivan said no more about the subject, and instead said, "Do you have the scrolls? Maybe there's something in there about other modes of transportation."
Lunora nodded and slid the scrolls out from where she had kept them tucked into the waistline of her leather skirt. Ivan took them and unrolled them, ignoring the crease down the middle from where they had been squished. He scanned them for a few minutes, and then began to read aloud.
"A bus line is the most effective ground transportation for long distances," he read. "For a monetary fee, they can transport you anywhere you like along their route within your search site. To obtain passage, you must call their number and make a reservation and state where you are . . . name . . . where you want to go . . ." Ivan trailed off, lips moving soundlessly as he read the text. "This looks simple enough," he said, rolling the scrolls back up.
"Call their number? I don't think they'll be open at quarter to midnight," said Lunora, looking around.
"Well, by the sounds of it we'll have to wait until tomorrow," said Felix evenly. "Now we need to sleep. Since it's too late to seek refuge from the cold in any house, I suggest we make ourselves comfortable under that big thing over there," said Felix, pointing to a motorhome.
"You're nuts," Ivan scoffed. "I can't sleep tonight anyway."
"Well, goodnight then," said Felix, crawling under the motorhome.
Both Felix and Lunora climbed under and lay down on the hard, cold ground that was not covered by snow, courtesy of the motorhome. Lunora tossed and turned, and could not sleep. Ivan shook his head as he heard Felix's gentle snores before joining him and Lunora.
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They were frozen.
Ivan, Lunora, and Felix woke up with sore backs and freezing skin, the first thing they saw being the "guts" of the motorhome. Ivan, instantly awake from the little drowziness he was able to sink into that night, got up and made his way over to the phone booth.
He looked in the phone book under the yellow pages, searching for the word "bus." He came up with Greyhound Bus Lines, and he picked up the phone and dialed the number next to the name.
"Please deposit twenty-five cents." said a monotonous female voice.
"What?" said Ivan, staring at the phone like it had accused him of something. "That sucks. I have no change."
"I found this on the street," said Felix from behind, making Ivan jump.
Felix showed Ivan a quarter, and Ivan took it and deposited it into the coin slot on the phone, and dialed the number. Lunora and Felix watched him talk.
"Yes, three people to Seattle, Washington from Fairbanks, Alaska . . . today . . . there is! Great . . . what do you mean, was? . . . what?! . . . It crashed. I see . . . yes, the next one . . . a week?! No we can't wait that long . . . okay. A list of who was on the bus? Well, it doesn't concern me but okay . . ." A long pause. "Whoa! Stop. What were those last names? . . . okay. Yes, we know them . . . Thanks." Ivan hung up the phone, sounding as though all happiness was gone forever.
"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Lunora.
"Well, the bus crashed on its way up here, and many of the passengers were killed in the accident," said Ivan.
"That's terrible!" said Lunora.
"Oh it gets better," said Ivan, not sounding like anything was better at all. "She gave me the list of who was on that bus in the last two days."
"And?" Felix said.
"Well, Garet and Solaris were on that bus two days ago," said Ivan. "They weren't found with the wreckage, but nobody has seen them since."
"Oh God . . ." said Lunora, burying her face in Ivan shoulder and breaking down.
"Garet? The one I've known for over fifteen years?" asked Felix, shocked.
Ivan, not knowing what to do with the combined fact of Lunora sobbing into his shoulder and dealing with his own worries, just softly ran his fingers through her hair in a reassuring manner. "Well, look on the bright side. They may still be alive. They . . ."
"They might . . ." said Felix, trailing off.
In the end, he fell silent and stuck his hands in his pockets, not knowing what to say as Lunora sobbed into Ivan's shoulder. Minutes passed. Many of them. Eventually though, Lunora stood up, face red and eyes glistening.
"You-you're right," she hiccuped. "They still might be alive. I s-suppose we should try to find a w-way back?"
"Don't try to forget it, I already have," said Felix. "It's not working."
"I'm not," said Lunora thickly. "But we need to get back to Seattle, don't we?"
"Well, I remember you had mentioned something about flying in a plane," said Ivan. "Maybe we could try that."
"It's our last shot," Lunora agreed, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her silver shirt. "Let's give it a try."
"I'm fresh out of quarters though," said Felix. "My luck isn't that good."
All looked around aimlessly for a minute or so, as if willing another quarter to appear on the ground. But no such luck. All had the gloomy prospect of not ever seeing Garet or Solaris again hanging over them. But they all shoved it out of their mind and focused on the current problem. Then Ivan saw the solution.
"Oh, damn," said Ivan, chuckling to himself. "I feel quite stupid right now."
"Why is that?" asked Lunora, looking at him.
"Look at that," said Ivan.
He waved his hand in the direction of the convenience store they had been standing outside of. As the others followed his gaze, they saw what he meant about feeling stupid. A big glowing sign hung in the window that clearly said "OPEN" in big letters.
"Thanks for putting a little humor in my life right now," said Lunora, taking hold of Ivan's hand and then leading them into the convenience store to call the airport.
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"Ladies and gentlemen, we will now commence with boarding United Airlines flight 217 to Seattle, Washington. We will now board rows 41-30. Repeat, we are now boarding rows 41-30. Thank you for choosing United."
Ivan, Lunora, and Felix got up from the seats where they were waiting and joined the line of people with seats in the boarding range called over the loudspeaker. They had placed the call a few hours ago, and managed to get seats in the way back of the plane. Even luckier, the plane was leaving that same day.
Since they had had a few hours before the plane was scheduled to leave, and they were traveling light, walking to the airport had been no problem. They made their way through security quickly too for the same reason, and were now standing in line to get on board their flight back to Seattle.
"May I see your tickets please?" asked the friendly person next to the door leading to the plane. Ivan, Lunora, and Felix handed her the tickets and she scanned them. "Row 38, seats D, E, and F. Thank you. Enjoy your flight," she said.
About fifteen minutes later, they were seated and the plane was fully boarded. Ivan, Lunora and Felix were looking all around them, amazed at the sheer science behind this sort of thing.
"It's amazing that this thing will fly in the air! I can't wait!" said Ivan, craning his neck behind him to look at the rear of the plane.
"It's neat, isn't it?" said Felix. "We should be leaving any minute now." As if in answer to his statement, the loudspeaker crackled and one of the flight attendants began to speak.
"We thank you once again for choosing United Airlines, and we ask that your seats and tray tables be in their upright and locked positions for takeoff and landing. Please observe the fasten seatbelt sign, which will be removed once we get airborne, but we advise you remain buckled at all times. This is a non-smoking flight, no smoking allowed on board whatsoever." There was a moment's pause."We should be leaving in a moment. Our flight time today is 4 hours, 31 minutes, and we should be arriving in Seattle at about 7:34 this evening. We hope you enjoy your flight."
"Well," said Lunora, sighing happily and somehow forgetting her concern for Garet and Solaris, "we made it."
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It was just another job.
An inquisitor strolled down the cold, stone hallway of the Tundris Jail, ignoring the pleas of desperation from the beaten and bruised men and women inside the cells on his left side. His work was top in the field, and he was being paid well by the Wise One and his forces to interrogate the prisoners for information, and even torture them further if they refused to cooperate.
His mission was to report back to the Wise One with any information that would be valuable pertaining to the Luna Lighthouse. Right now, he was on his way to question a man who was being stubborn and uncooperative with the Wise One's forces stationed at the prison. No beatings forced information out of this man, but the Inquisitor had his ways.
He always had his ways.
He reached the interrogation room at the end of the hallway, guarded by a Mars Adept and a Venus Adept. They let him into the cell, and they shut the door with a loud bang behind him. The prisoner, who looked badly beaten and was barely conscious, jumped as the door closed. A small smile tugged at the corner of the inquisitor's lips. He was afraid. It always helped if the interrogated were afraid.
"I believe you know why you're here," said the inquisitor coldly, staring hard at the bloodshot eyes of the prisoner.
"Who are you?" he asked weakly.
"Who I am is not important," the inquisitor said. "Besides," he added, putting his face right up to the prisoner's, "I believe I'm asking the questions here today, not you."
"What do you want?" said the prisoner.
"Why, that's a silly question," said the inquisitor, smiling serenely. "I want information. It's what every inquisitor wants." He paused, and looked at the ceiling. "But like I said, you're in no position to ask questions." He then glared at the prisoner and asked sharply, "What do you want?" There was no response. "Answer the question!"
"You don't want to know what I want," the prisoner said.
"I'm an inquisitor," the inquisitor said, holding out his skeletal white arms to the ceiling. "I want to know all! Knowledge is power! Power is knowledge!" He said. "Now," he said, in a much slower, more lethal tone. "Tell me. What . . . do . . . you . . . want?"
"I want your whole group to die," said the prisoner. "You can all rot in Hell. Luna's got a special place reserved for all you people. She'll make you suffer the wrath. She'll make you pay for what you've done to our people."
The inquisitor grew quite angry, and a look of repulsion took over his face. He was done playing around with this insignificant fool. It was time to get nasty and get down to the business he was getting paid for.
"I have only one question. Tell me what I need to know, and I'll let you and everyone here live," the inquisitor hissed. "Otherwise, you'll have a slit throat."
"Oh please no! No! I beg of you!"
"Tell me!" shouted the Inquisitor. "How do you extinguish Luna Lighthouse?"
"Oh I have no idea, it's supposed to be impossible-"
"TELL ME!" the inquisitor spat.
"Okay okay!" The prisoner said fearfully, holding up his cut hands. "Just have an adept of the opposing element fire a Psynergy bolt into the lighthouse's core. The lighthouse will be destroyed if you do."
The inquisitor's features relaxed. "Thank you sir," he said kindly. "You've been most helpful."
"Luna curse you," the man rasped as the inquisitor walked out the door.
Outside the room once the door to the interrogation room closed, the inquisitor turned an expressionless face to the Mars Adept, who looked at him.
"Well sir, was he cooperative?" the man asked. "We couldn't get a thing out of him."
"That's quite all right, it's what I'm here for," said the inquisitor. "I got the information I need. However . . ." the inquisitor paused and then smirked. "He was a little rude. Kill him."
The Mars Adept nodded and stepped inside the room. A sudden piercing scream, and the swish of a weapon. The Venus Adept guarding the other side of the door couldn't take it anymore. She heard everything said in the room, and decided. She would no longer be part of an army that killed her own parents because of a setup the Wise One called an "accident". She stealthily drew out her flaming morning star and crept up behind the inquisitor.
"Think of me as Luna," she snarled before slicing the morning star across the inquisitor's back.
The inquisitor dropped to the floor immediately, not dead, but squirming in pain and unable to get up. This girl saved the secret of the Luna Lighthouse, but the Jupiter Adepts guarding the other end of the hall noticed what was going on, and they approached quickly.
"Gretchen! What the-" they shouted, but they didn't finish their sentence as Gretchen fired a blast of rocks that them that knocked them out cold.
She fled down the passageway and out the door of the prison. She skirted the sides of buildings that weren't visible to the patrolling guards, and managed to sneak out of Tundris. She traversed the cave that led to the other side of the mountains and made her way to a ship.
"Contigo's next on the Wise One's list of cities to attack. I have to flee! I must stay clear of all cities close to a lighthouse and Mt. Aleph!" she said to herself. "But where should I go?"
In the end, she decided on Tolbi.
There, she would plot her revenge.
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Of course you know Solaris and Garet made it off that bus. Of course they're okay.
Or are they?
Keep your eyes peeled for chapter seven, and as always, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!
-SirGecko-