There is nothing left to say. Here's chapter five. Enjoy it!
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Chapter 5: Of Vampires, Scientific Discoveries and New Companionships.
I suddenly opened my eyes.
It was still dark outside, but that loud sound woke me up with a start... Árama was supposed to be watching over the camp. Maybe she was in trouble...
I had not been the only one to awake because of that sound: the young semi-elf also got up and walked toward me, who had already got up and pulled my rapier out, just in case I would need it.
There was someone outside... And it was not just Árama. There was someone else with her. His long, white, hair shone under the dim moonlight, as well as his silver-colored eyes; he was clad in black, except for the bloody-red cape that hung above his shoulders.
He was about to reach her, but she would not move a single muscle... She just stood there; staring blankly at him, completely immobile... hypnotized.
-Wake the others up- I told the young girl as I got ready to attack that really strange guy... I had a terrible feeling about him. He was a vampire. I just knew it!
But none of us was fast enough... She went back into the tent, but the only ones she could wake up were Bahamut and Paco. Timmy and Taltos were impossible to wake up. As for myself, I hit nothing but plain air, since they both disappeared, turning into a cloud of smoke, as soon as he reached her hand.
-What happened?- Bahamut asked, still a little drowsy.
-Árama has been kidnapped- I said, as I walked back into the tent.
-What? No way!- he said. –Who is going to cure us now if we get wounded?
-I'm not going to stay here- our guide said as he began to walk out. –I said I wasn't going to keep helping you if any of this happened! You just have to keep walking north, until you get to that great abandoned building you were looking for! Now, pay what you owe me!
I paid him what Árama and Bahamut had promised when they hired him (two gold pieces)... He was right. Things were about to get very dangerous, and it was no use to expose someone who did not even know how to use a weapon just to get where we wanted (he would just stand in our way). Besides, all we had to do was to keep walking north...
-Wake Taltos and Timmy. We have to find Árama and get this assignment done.
We really tried to wake them up, but it was impossible. Timmy kept on sleeping and Taltos... Taltos had fallen unconscious (we still don't know how) while he worked on his computer, which was still on... Something was written on the screen.
Bahamut took Taltos' device and read out loud:
Mr. Owlwing:
By this mean we inform you that Von Frederich University has sent you two more companions to help you with your assignment. Meet them at 4:30 am. They will be three kilometers away from you if you keep walking north. If you get there even one minute late, they will depart without you.
What should we do? Árama missing, Taltos unconscious... It was not going to be a good day. Anyway, we got everything ready for our departure. If we got lucky enough, our new companionships would help us to finish that stupid assignment and find Árama before anything happened to her.
Now, all we had to think about was what to do about Taltos and Timmy... Bahamut said he would carry Taltos but, since Timmy was to big and heavy to carry, we would leave him there with a note... a really simple note for him to understand (it just said "North"). We just hoped he could find us.
We began to walk straight ahead, the same way we had been walking since the day before. We walked for around half an hour until we met this young human guy who was walking in the opposite direction.
-Hey! You are from Von Frederich University, are you not?- he asked, as he drew closer.
-Yes, we are- Bahamut answered. –We had been sent here for a special assignment. Are you one of the new companions they sent to us?
-Yes, I am- he answered, as soon as he reached us. –My name is Aoi. I came to look for you.
-It is nice to meet you- I began. –My name is Gea. These are Bahamut and...
-Mashauri- the young girl finished, as she saw I did not finish what I was trying to say.
-Where is Taltos?- he asked.
-Here he is- Bahamut answered, he was still carrying Taltos in his arms, since he had not waken up yet. –Actually, we were six when we arrived here, but one of our teammates has been kidnapped, we hope you can help us to look for her. The other one should be arriving anytime. Wait a minute. Are you not our other roommate? (A/N: sorry about this, but they really kept like half an hour talking before they realized they were actually roommates and, I do not know if I had said it before, but Taltos and Bahamut were roommates, too).
-Yes, I am. But I have been working out since we got there- Aoi answered. –We should get going. The others must be waiting for us.
We had hardly walked a hundred meters when four gigantic scorpions blocked our way... Bahamut drew his sword out and sliced the creature that stood in front of him into pieces. I took my rapier out and as I drew nearer to attack... (I am really sorry to admit it now; I was really expecting this not to happen again, but sometimes I can be a really clumsy person)... I tripped on top of a rock and, as the scorpion did kind of the same thing, one fell on top of the other. (A/N: So sorry. Low dice scores for both of us). The young girl and Aoi got to hit them hard with their sword and gauntlet, but not enough to kill them. As for myself, when I finally took the thing off me, the rest was easy enough... The next time we attacked, the remaining scorpions were slain.
Just after our fight with the scorpions, we heard a few words coming from a little bit ahead from us... In a few seconds, our young girl had been infected with hives... Strange thing, since none of the rest was attacked and the attack ceased as soon as she got infected.
Anyway, we kept walking until we reached a Humer. A young woman was putting out the fire from what I could tell were the car's seats (A/N: the car's seats had been taken away) with some kind of white apron, while she scolded some kind of little robotic thing that ran around the place. Someone else came out of the car and handed her a fire extinguisher: it was Sianodell.
-I cannot believe it!- he told her. –When I went away, and I went away for just one minute, breakfast was almost ready and, when I came back, you burnt it completely!
-It was not my fault!- she answered. –Tormerick was supposed to watch the food- she turned to the little robot that kept running around. –Just wait until I get you, Tormerick! I am going to lose my whole life's salary to pay for this!
When the fire was finally over, the woman turned around and aimed a gun to Bahamut, the young girl and me.
-Take it easy- Aoi told her. –They came with me. These are the ones we had been looking for.
-Yes- Sianodell continued. –I know them.
-Ok- she said, putting her gun away. –Sorry about that. My name is Shiva Crowne. I work for Von Frederich University, Vincent campus, and had been sent here to help Mr. Nathaniel (alias Taltos) Owlwing. Where is he?
-Here he is- Bahamut answered, as he lied Taltos (had she called him Nathaniel?) on the ground.
-Ok. I guess we will have to do this on our own... Let's eat first and be off.
While Sianodell, Aoi and Shiva ate what fruits they could find in the forest, Bahamut, the young girl (whose urticaria had disappeared, leaving terrible scratches and red marks all over her body... about which Sianodell laughed for a great while) and I ate what we had spared in the girl's dusk of dryness the night before. After that, we got on the car and went away.
We drove for about half an hour when we finally reached our destination... But something was still bothering us: Árama. We had to find her before it was too late.
-Well, here we are- Shiva said, as the car came to a stop.
-Excuse me- Bahamut said. –But one of our companions was kidnapped a few hours ago. We would like to go and look for her.
-Why didn't you say that before? Ok, then- she replied. –We will split in two groups (the same ones that first came here) and you will have two hours to go and look for your friend.
-Two hours? We have no idea of where she might be... We need at least four hours to look for her and release her.
-Ok, let's do this- she said. –Tormerick will decide that. If he says I should give four hours, then you will have your four hours... Tormerick!
Finally, Bahamut, the young girl and I began to walk away with exactly four hours to find Árama and help her out, while the others looked for what was needed inside the building.
-So, what is exactly what we are looking for?- Bahamut asked, as we returned to the place where we met the others.
-Vampires- I answered. –They usually look for underground, populated places where they can find what they need to eat.
-Underground, populated places... like the one we just left behind?- Bahamut asked.
-Exactly! We have to go back!
We ran back to the abandoned building and found Shiva working on the large computer located at what seemed to be the building's lobby while Sianodell walked around the room (they had left Aoi watching for the equipment they had left in the car... and, by the way, he kept an eye on Taltos, too).
-Back already?- Shiva asked as she saw us entering the building again.
-We suspect our friend may be trapped somewhere inside this building.
-Ok, just wait a second, then- she said, as she printed something. –I have this place's map. Now it will be easier to know where we have to go.
We walked through a series of corridors, down some ladders and through some other corridors, filled with empty rooms. Suddenly, one of the walls at the far corner of the corridor we were walking through fell down into pieces, leading us to a pair of undead ogres.
Shiva, her tinny robot companion and Sianodell, who were walking ahead from the rest of us, began to fight the one that appeared first, while the other ran over to us... While Shiva and her robot (who had suddenly turned into Kormick, Tormerick's serious personality) tried to shoot the creature with their guns enclosed inside a force field, Sianodell created a pair of living skeletons to fight for him. Bahamut, the young semi-elf and I, on the other hand, fought using our own weapons (their pair of swords and my bow), damaging them as much as we could.
A terrible scream filled the whole place as Árama reached the corridor. As far as we could see, she was safe... very scared, but safe. She attacked the nearest ogre (the one Shiva and Sianodell's ghouls were fighting against) with her crossbow, damaging a little bit more.
As we attacked, I remembered a very useful spell that might help me this time; one of the only Necromancy spells I could keep some control on: Disrupt Undead. Maybe, if everything went fine, I could use it... I could not believe it when the spell worked! Anyway, it only worked once, but it helped a little bit.
As this happened (and after Árama had to mend her crossbow twice, since she broke it's string twice and one of Sianodell's creatures had been destroyed), one of Shiva's shots blew up the ogre they were fighting against, leaving the walls, floor, and part of Árama's outfit covered with the monster's remains.
Since the other ogre had been defeated, the others came to help us to finish up the other one (who immediately finished up the remaining ghoul of the ones Sianodell had created)... But it was a combined attack between Árama, Bahamut and Sianodell what finally destroyed the creature... Árama used a Produce Flame spell, while Bahamut and Sianodell attacked with their swords from opposite directions.
Just after we finished up those ogres, Shiva went away. She went to look for what she needed on her own. The rest of us remained in that corridor... Not a wise thing to do...
As we began to walk away, something strange happened to Sianodell... It looked as though he was trying to repel someone who was trying to enter his mind... We did not know what was going on until we looked up and found this white-haired, silver- eyed man all dressed in black, except for the bloody-red cape that hung above his shoulders, hanging from the ceiling... The same man that had kidnapped Árama.
-Come down, you coward!
And so it was... In a smoke cloud he disappeared from the ceiling and appeared back on the floor, right in front of us. Bahamut, Árama, the young girl and I tried to attack him (Sianodell kept trying to keep control of his own mind), but it was not enough. Our spells and weapons could not damage him.
Suddenly, the young semi-elf turned against Árama and hit her with her sword. As that happened, the vampire appeared behind me and trapped me... He bit me. I felt his fangs piercing deep into my skin as he began to drink my blood...
Bahamut tried to help me, trying to make him release me (or at least trying to attack him without harming me). Even I tried to release myself, but his grip was too tight.
Something strange happened then: He just let me go on his own and pushed me far away from him.
-Kihlstrom blood- he said. –I cannot hurt a Kihlstrom.
While the others kept trying to attack him (except the semi-elf, for obvious reasons), and I began to get close again to restart the attack, he turned into a black mist again and began to move away, walking on the room's ceiling. As he did that, the young girl regained control over herself.
-It is not over- he told Árama. –I leave now that I have found you, but we will see each other soon –then, he turned to me. –I apologize for what I did, miss. I did not know you were a Kihlstrom.
Gone.
We had decided to walk away from that place when we heard something from behind the wall that had been destroyed. The room behind that wall was a conference center some sort of video was being played.
We did not understand much of what the video said, since it was some scientific discovery that had been made in that place about the world we live in... Maybe about what had happened after the fusion, but I am going to tell you what I understood about it: It was a theory about something called "The Spark". Supposedly, that Spark thing could let anyone with enough power to control it to access the different planes. The discovery had been made when the people that worked there correlated magic with the dark matter thesis and made a new theory.
According to what they discovered, what we perceive is about a 10 to a 20 percent of what really exists but, what about the rest? That meant there were some abnormalities in the Big Bang Theory that had been accepted on Earth as a model of how the planets were formed... Inside the galaxies there had to be something else that kept them away... Acceleration had to be greater than what it was first thought to be like, and this acceleration was caused by a large source of pure energy. That is how they created the Plane Theory.
According to this theory, the diverse planes could be find in and around the Universe, all together, one after the other. Each of those planes has its own Spark. Three of them had been discovered up to that time, but they knew there were more planes with different Sparks, most of them (actually, 6 of them) had to do with the elementals. They also found that there were a celestial and an infernal plane (this last one made of different circles) and beyond this last one were a lot more layers, called the infinite chaos layers, beyond which everything was incomprehensible.
Really complicated stuff, that video. Anyway, we took a copy of the video and kept walking, looking for other stuff. We returned to the building's lobby and started looking for some other information in the main computer but, as none of us was really good for technology and the only one in our party that could understand computers was unconscious in the back of the car, we could only manage to find some useless computer programs (A/N: Sianodell found the Calculator, Paint and a Pinball game for Windows XP Millenium).
After half an hour of searching for important stuff, we finally found some information that could turn out to be useful, but how were we going to take it out from that machine? So, we started looking for somewhere to save that information, until Bahamut found a box, filled with diskettes (he also found a wallet, but there was almost nothing important inside it, just an access card).
We continued walking until we reached another room, but it was locked. Bahamut used the access card he had found and the door opened, but it was very dark inside so... Sianodell began to say that "Achu" should enter first (just in case that there was something inside) but, since she refused, he pushed her inside. The light was suddenly on and we found ourselves inside a smaller room with a smaller computer. There was not much inside it. Anyway, Bahamut found a little robot, like the one Shiva had, but a really antique model and we found a small savings bank, from which each of us obtained two hundred gold pieces.
The next room we entered on our way to the military machine room was just like the one where we had been before. There, Sianodell found a really strange device (I guess it is that antique device that humans used to call a palm sire, but I am still not sure) and we got some more information about what we needed.
Finally, we reached a Restricted Area... No one could enter it without an access card and a special permission but, what kind of special permission?
Anyway, since the usage of the access card alone did not open the door, Sianodell and Bahamut used their swords to open it... Not a wise idea, again... They activated the alarm, to which a human-sized robot attended, ready to stop the trespassers.
Árama, Sianodell and Bahamut tried again with their combined attack (this time, instead of producing flame, Árama would create a water mass to hit the creature), but this time it did not work the way they expected... Instead of hitting the creature, Árama's spell hit me (two gallons of water fell on top of my head!), but Sianodell and Bahamut's attack did destroy the creature... ten seconds before the bomb inside it blew up the place completely.
Fortunately, we could all leave the place and get inside the car in time. Shiva and the others were already waiting for us there, even Timmy, who was still sleeping in the back of the car...
°°° (Back in Von Frederich University)
It was a nice afternoon when we finally reached the University again. There was still not much to do since classes began on January the 10th, so the young girl and I had decided to join and watch Árama, Bahamut and Sianodell, who had decided to look for someone with whom they could practice their special combined attack (A/N: they really got excited with that special attack, so they used it all day long).
The University's gardens were filled with very interesting people practicing with their weapons and spells... Very special people, like I once said... A pair of young high school girls practiced their wind and watercaster skills. Somewhere else around the garden, a young man fought against a young looking, tall, bearded man. Not far away from them, "my favorite teacher" made a fire whirl to defeat the person he was fighting against.
-Hey! Nice to see you again- we heard this voice we already knew (A/N: Remember the Sentai Members we met on chapter 3?)
-Hi!- Árama called out for the red-haired elf clad in blue.
-How about another fight training?- asked the other red-haired guy. –This time we are really going to fight with all our power.
-Ok- Árama, Bahamut and Sianodell agreed. –But let's make it a little different: let's make it a team fight. Three of us against three of you.
They accepted our friends' challenge so, both red-haired guys and the delicate-looking guy Timmy had fought against last time would fight against them... But things did not turn out the way we expected because, though the young girl and I were just there to watch, the pink-haired girl and the strange-looking little guy defied us for a one- and-one fight.
Each of us used the same weapon we had been using the last time we fought against them (our friends have decided still not to used their combined attack until they needed it), but this time things were not as easy as the first time we faced them. We got to hit them, but they also got to hit us, and they were not leaving small wounds...
-Gather up!- their leader called. –Let's try our combined attack!
The pink-haired girl and the strange-looking little guy left the young girl and I and went away to join the others, who were fighting further away from us. The Sentai Members have already gathered and were preparing to attack when Árama entangled three of them (the girl, the odd little guy and the delicate-looking one). That was the opportunity for Sianodell and Bahamut to end up the five of them with their combined sword attack... The five of them were pushed far away from the place.
-I see you are good fighters- their leader said, as they stood up again and began to walk away. –We must have underestimated you, but next time we will not. Next time we will really give you everything we've got!
After they went away, we just kept walking around the gardens, watching the different kind of fights people were having. At some point as we did this, Sianodell's short sword went out of its shield and began to chase the young semi-elf, hitting her each time it got too close. It spent around four hours that way...
-You are really immature, did you know that?- I told him, but he seemed not to pay attention to me. –Anyway, I wanted to apologize for what we did to you back on Christmas night. I am sorry and I understand if now you have reconsidered your offering and you are not willing to train me anymore. Thank you, anyway.
-Hey- he answered. –Do not worry. I keep my offer, if you accept it.
-Of course. Just wait until I have my schedule and I will tell you when I can practice with you.
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Ok, guys, this is everything I've got for today.
Next Saturday I promise to give you a Bonus Chapter: Friendship Blooms. It was not a part of the original Thursday campaign. My boyfriend –just for the record: my boyfriend is our DM-GM- and I made it up while we were having a telephone conversation. May Gea and Sianodell become good friends someday?
Also wait for chapter 6: Surprise attacks and exorcisms. A not so good first day of class and... A new mission for our young Mashauri to show what she's made of.
Well, that's all. You know what to do. Review, review, REVIEW! I love to know what you think about the story. I also accept small constructive criticisms and plot comments...
Bye.
Ruby.
P.S: Just in case, again. It was Sianodell who con infected Mashauri with urticaria. And... something else. Shiva's robot, Tormerick, his got two personalities: Tormerick, who is kind of outgoing and completely crazy and Kormick, who is serious and a great fighter.