1The Darkened Sanctum

V: "A Little Reprieve…"

"Kekeke… orders straight from the top, eh…?"

A child's figure stood facing a lanky man, head entirely engulfed in a cracked, rock-like mask. Pins and needles stuck every which-way out of his head, and a medallion with an eye printed on it was held secure around the back of his head by black bands. He had a clipboard in hand, a glowing red seal on the clip that held the handwritten papers.

"…" The young male that stood before him had very delicate features; his face was perfectly proportioned, with a slightly feminine look about the curvature of the cheeks and chin. His hair was a true, light lavender, kept short in the back, but a length of it on either side of his head had been gathered and secured in a hanging loop. His narrow figure, from his perfectly curving neck to his dainty hands, somehow breathed a youthful beauty. He wore a green, body-hugging suit, with a white shirt underneath. His legs were hidden behind sleek, light blue fabric that was buttoned to the bottoms of the green suit. A band ran across his forehead, with a red reflector in the center; his appearance was made faerie-like with the final addition of his softly pointed, slightly drooping, furry ears. He took the clipboard back in his hands, which had fingerless gloves pulled tightly across them. "Yes… I am sure you already know what to do…"

"He says to do what I like, and I know what I like. This will be easier than splitting veins!"

"…" Cupid sighed, "Then the rest is up to you, sir Tantra."

"Hah! Calling me a sir is a joke, little missy!"

"…Uhm… I'm not…"

"I don't care what you are…" Tantra started to stagger away, laughing to himself, "You're just another little spoiled freak, like the rest of those boobs…"

"…" He sighed, watching the freakish man leave. Cupid then knelt down and petted a small, orange, round mammal, causing its bell collar to ring a bit. "Well, Rasta, shall we go back…?"

Rasta allowed himself to be picked up, as content as he could be within his master's arms. He let out a faint purring noise as Cupid turned and headed off into darkness…

"This won't… this won't do a thing, will it?"

"We have to get moving."

Ryu slowly let go of Nina, rising- his knee was a bit off, but the wound was entirely gone, just a warm sensation where the blade had gone through. His throat was slightly sore, but also warm, totally healed on both sides. Nina had calmed down quite a bit, but had his arm held as close as she could- he still had his hand resting across her face, trying to keep her comforted. "Lin…I…"

"Listen, I don't care what you are right now, but we have to move- murdering two men in two minutes doesn't exactly get you respect points. If we stall too long, Rangers will be up and down the tunnel like a swarm of angry Nuggets. We both can't afford them getting their hands on Nina."

"Where will we go?" Ryu looked a bit scared, but also steady, "We can't go and hide in town-"

"We go up."

"Up?"

"Listen, you're speaking with a member of Trinity here," Lin scoffed, "You don't think I know a thing or two about avoiding law-abiding people? I'll sneak you both up to Trinity HQ and-"

"Why would I want to go there?"

"Because you want to have HER safe!" Lin's finger pointed straight at Nina.

Ryu looked at Nina, who stared up at him, still holding his arm so his hand rested against her face. They silently stood for a minute or two, until Ryu let out a soft sigh. "Well, maybe not to Trinity, but… up is our only option."

"Exactly. Now let's move before they get out the party favors!"

Starting to move, and hurried by Lin, the party quickly headed up the stairs, leaving the bodies behind. They snuck through the junction that led from the station, the Ranger HQ, and the Borough, not being noticed.

"There's a pathway to BioCorp labs through the storage area down here. We wind up through that mess and go from there. Now if they still use the same card systems, I think I've got us covered." Lin led them to a metal doorway, and slid in, bringing the two with down the stairs, "I know it's kind of backwards to go down to get up, but you'll understand as we continue."

"No, I understand... So many tunnels..."

Heading into the grungy, dark metal hall, Lin paused and looked down either ends- there was a door close, and one farther away, but the closest one had someone banging on it from the inside.

"Hmm, sounds like somebody wants in." She walked to the door and knocked lightly, responding in a sweet voice, "Housekeeping!"

"Lin!" Ryu scolded as he walked up behind her, ready to open the door- he was held off by the catgirl herself. "Just open the door!"

"Haven't you heard of traps?" Lin cleared her throat, and tried again, "Housekeeping!"

"Thank goodness!" A little voice came within, "Yoo must let me out of this confounded box! If yoo do, yoo'll never regret it! Yoo must, Housekeeping!"

"What in the?" Ryu looked at Lin for explanation. He got it when she opened the door, and he found himself staring directly at a little floating creature. It had the figure of a cherub, with the fat baby body and a cute face, but it had skinny arms and legs. It had wings protruding from its light orange hair, flapping so fast they were almost a blur. Over these were wing-shields that had a purple color, with a green circle on top. Two curls of hair framed its forehead, the rest billowing back freely. The creature had no clothes, except for bands around its ankles and wrists. Though Ryu didn't believe he was seeing it, he had to admit it was a faerie! "F...F..."

"Oooh, Thank yoo!" The faerie giggled, "My saviors!"

Nina stared up at the creature, transfixed.

"Right, now, how did you get stuck in here? The door opens if you pull it."

"No it doesn't! Come in and try it yoorself!"

"..." Lin walked in, then shut the door, leaving Ryu and Nina on the other side. The knob turned as she grasped the handle, then she tried to pull, but it refused to budge! Now she tried again, but pushed the door open, beyond all explanation. "...What... the?"

"How mysterious, a door that can only be opened and closed by pushing. Well! Yoo saved me, so yoo deserve a reward! Do yoo want your reward now or later?"

"Uhm..." Ryu looked at Lin, "She was the one who opened the door, she deserves it."

"Joint present! Teehee!"

"Alright, we'll take it now. How's that sound, Nina? A present!" Ryu smiled down at her, getting a partial smile back. "Nina says let 'er rip!"

"Okay! Now grit yoor teeth and close yoor eyes, and yoo'll get a BIG surprise!"

"...Uh... okay..." Ryu closed his eyes and lightly grit his teeth. Nina followed suit, but kept her mouth closed over her gritted teeth. Lin, on the other hand, leaned against the wall and just stared in silence.

"Well?"

"What's the catch, faerie?"

"No catch! Just fun! Teehee!"

"Right..."

"Close yoor eyes now! Grit yoor teeth!"

"...Fine." Lin grit her teeth... then slowly let her eyelids slide down over her eyes. As soon as she did, she felt an extremely heavy object collide with the back of her head- with a loud yelp, she fell face first onto cement... and blacked out.

"God... fucking... damn it..." She slowly moved her hand to the back of her head which hurt so bad it could've killed a small sheep. However, her hand's path was blocked by another body- with a yelp, she sat upright and found her head had been painstakingly positioned in Ryu's lap, while Nina was out in Lin's. In other words, they were lying in a line on the floor, Ryu on the bottom. Looking around, Lin found the area to be a low cavern, bare rocky walls surrounding them. Though there were no light sources, the area was oddly illuminated, which only meant one thing: "Faeries... Alright, rise and shine, people!"

Both remained still, so Lin carefully peeled herself off Ryu and out from under Nina- she didn't get very far, for she found Nina was holding onto her tail. "Alright, Nina, I know you're conscious, now wake up!"

After the tail was yanked away, Nina woke up with a little yelp. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and let out an odd, raspy sounding yawn, which caused her wings to spread out a little further and then relax. They moved back into their normal position when she stopped yawning, striking the curiosity of Lin. Ignoring her, Nina turned to Ryu and lightly tugged on his jacket.

"Uhnnn... my head..." Ryu slowly sat upright, holding the side of his head, "Who hit me with the frozen tuna...?"

"Teehee! They are kinda cute!"

The party all looked into the cavern's belly and saw three little faeries: the orange-haired one from before, a blue-haired one, and a red-haired one. They were giggling up a storm, knowing they were noticed, slowly drifting over.

"Alright, what's the big idea in clubbing us, eh?" Lin growled, standing up, "And where are we?"

"Welcome to..." The three spoke together, "The faerie colony!"

"Oh joy. Rapture. I think I'm going to puke because of all the excitement."

"Oh no, not PUKING!" The red-haired one turned to the orange-haired one, "Adylla, do they know our policy on puking? It's not allowed, is it, Sokona?"

Sokona, the blue haired one, made a face, "Look at me, I'm the angry puking cat! Blah blah!"

"Now be nice to our guests, Midelo!" Adylla giggled, "But as of now, they have no idea as to why they've been summoned to our colony!"

"None at all! Would yoo like us to tell yoo?"

Ryu glanced among the two other faces in his group, then looked at the faeries and nodded. He figured that while he was probably in a drug-induced dream, he could make the most of it and see how interesting it got.

"Now our story is a long one! We stem from the years when yoo and us and all the other creatures still lived on Earth! Our grandmother's mothers had a lovely colony in the third node near the Telcic isles! Then this big war started, and we just tried to ignore yoo silly humans!" Adylla waved her little hands about while explaining.

"But then we decided things were getting a little too rough so we headed through the main faelines to the center delta, then crossed to the nexus-faerie-circle in Cleewa cavern, which is currently flooded! We intended to go back after yoo were done with the war, but..." Midelo also waved her hands about.

"Yoo broke the faeline back when you built the channel through the Telcic isles!" Sokona nearly cried, "So we couldn't go back home! It wasn't until later that we found the above world had been flooded with poisonous pollution! But our whole system of faelines deteriorated because of the channel and now we can't go home!"

The three humans just stared.

"Cleewa cavern, our first underground home, was the start of building new faelines! We had faerie circles and special path crossings all ready to start the system anew! But then yoo silly humans built a channel over Cleewa, forgetting how fragile the roof is! There was lots and lots of water!" Adylla nearly screamed the last part.

"And most of our sisters drowned, the poor things! But we three escaped on the last faeline, which is now destroyed AGAIN because of plumbing issues! So we're stuck here in the newly-named Faefields, which doesn't make much sense, but when we expand to the outside world after we restore faelines..." Sokona smiled brightly!

"But for now we do what we can do with what we got: ANTZ! The antz come for jobs and dig for us, only asking we share the colony with them so they can have little antz families! Oh, that and some zenny to pay the rent, which isn't all that cheap with rising faerie inflation! Do yoo know how much it costs to purchase faeriedust these days?"

"...No..." Ryu blinked.

"Our last Host, or, the person who helped us," Midelo giggled, "Has mysteriously disappeared mysteriously! It is quite a mysterious mystery, one which is curiously curious! Poor Cheryl, poor Cheryl, all she wanted to do was to get rid of that silly number and be known by her name!"

"Cheryl?" Lin thought hard, then asked, "What was her number?"

"One DASH Two-Eight-Six!" All three faeries shouted this at the group.

"Hmm, no, then I don't think I know her."

"Well if you see her, we miss her very much and wish she would come back and share her candy with us!" Adylla sighed, "It is terrible, too, for we are the last three... and unfortunately, sister Sokona has a terrible disease!"

"I do? OH!" Sokona threw a hand onto her forehead, flying crookedly, "I do! Gasp! And we don't have enough zenny to get an operation! My disease is life threatening... and... and time is running out!"

Ryu grew an oh-my-god expression, then suddenly dug in his pouch for the satchel of zenny he picked up from his apartment. "I think I have some- hopefully it'll be enough- here it is- what is it you have?"

"I have... I have..." She let out a dramatic sigh, "Halitosis!"

"Now wait a min-" Lin found her mouth sealed shut with magic in less than a second and screamed in muffled annoyance as she tried to get her lips undone.

"...Halitosis? What... happens if we don't cure it?" Ryu slowly pulled the satchel back, unsettled by the fact they had just sealed his less-than-liked companion's mouth shut.

"Then it spreads to me and her..." Midelo giggled...

"Then the faeries go extinct and it's all your fault!"

"Well... For a good cause, Zeno always said... Here." He held it out to them, smiling as they took it and cheered, "I can't dream of not having faeries for children to believe in."

Nina nodded in sound agreement.

"Teehee! Let us go put it into storage, we'll be right back!" The faeries flitted away, carrying the satchel with them.

Feeling very good with himself, Ryu beamed: he had just probably saved a species from becoming extinct! His happiness was almost radiating off the walls as Lin's mouth became unstuck. With a gasp, she slapped the back of his head. "Ow!"

"You twit, do you even know what halitosis is?"

"...Uh-"

"It's bad breath!"

"What? How do you know?"

"I-" Lin growled, holding her head. Taking a breath, she explained, "I used to be a nurse, and besides, its common knowledge, idiot. They just conned you out of your zenny!"

"...God damn faeries."

"Ah!" Nina pointed at Adylla who came back at a rapid speed.

"Give me back my zenny, you-"

"We lied! We used the money to hire two new antz, but they're just little ones, so be nice! We'll have to figure out how to get more zenny for more ants so we can finish our colony! In repayment, yoo can come back whenever yoo want- GASP! Even better... we could help yoo in day to day life!"

"Yeah, stealing our money?" Lin rolled her eyes, "Like I needed help getting rid of it."

"No, no, silly!" The faerie giggled, "We can find yoo really cool stuff all the way down here! They say this was the lowest part the original underground being dug, so there's secret treasures 'n stuff! If yoo help us develop and grow the faerie colony, we could provide yoo with dinners, cool stuff, and perhaps a place to take a nap!"

"...This actually sounds like a benefit if we're trying to lie low for awhile." Ryu looked at Lin and merely got an eye-roll, then he looked back at the faerie, "We'll help, but only if you promise never to lie to us again. To work together we'll have to be friends, and my friends and I don't lie to each other."

"I won't! Neither will my sisters! Oh, put please keep an eye out for little Cheryl! I brought her favorite piece of art, a self portrait!" Adylla handed a drawing to Nina, who took it and gazed at it. It was a hand drawn, crayon drawing of a girl with orange hair. Clearly drawn by a child, it was out of proportion, but had a big smile... and something odd in the background. She was standing on a green horizon and behind her... was light blue with patches of white. "She's about yoor age, little one, and about as tall as yoo!"

"...May I see that after you, Nina?" Ryu waited until Nina handed it to him, then he looked hard at it. The girl was surrounded by her faerie friends, standing on that backdrop. How hopeful: the girl probably thought that since her faeries existed, so did the Sky, and adding the piece about the want to get rid of the number brought it together.

"What about it?"

Ryu handed it back to Lin, and tried to burn the picture into his memory: Green eyes. Orange hair. This girl had to be found; her soul was far too bright to be lost in the underground world.

When Lin took it, she gazed over the blue background, but then looked at the name and number. Seeing how high it was, Lin grew a frown, slowly touching the girl's image with her free hand. "It isn't fair, is it, sweetheart?"

"...Lin?"

"Hm." Lin shook her head, then handed it back down to Ryu, "We'll keep an eye out for you guys."

"Great! Now, meet our newest team members, Raziol and Fabieen!"

Two little ants, one orange, one blue, walked from the cavern and stopped before everyone, sniffing the air with their antennae. They were little things, looking to just be very young children. They both spoke at the same time, "Hello!"

"Hello!" Ryu grinned, then looked at Nina, "Look, even more friends! More antz for you to be friends with. Do you want to say hello to them?"

Nina got onto her feet and walked to them, staring down, silent. She then sat down in front of them and gave them both big hugs, startling them a bit. Of course, this caused Ryu (and surprisingly Lin) to break out into laughter.

"They've been approved. Now, let's see what kind of work needs to get done!"

"Dying..." Cheryl lied on the floor, in the mingled blood pool, her skin all pale. She had started to shiver, getting a slight chill. Her eyes were slightly blurry as she blankly stared ahead across the room, the gun still in her limp hands. Her left shoulder twitched, the same side where she had been shot through the chest. The girl was having a hard time breathing as her lung was filling with blood, and it was only a matter of minutes before she let go of life. "I... I am... dying..."

Closing her eyes, she could see those faces again: her faeries dancing around her, all laughing and having a good time, swapping stories of the grand Sky above. Then her vision fixed on her adoptive mother's stern gaze, the noblewoman dressed in only the finest.

"A child of your number doesn't run around in those clothes, nor do they play in the dust! You will have to do better if you are to become a regent!"

"But I don't want-"

"You want to be a regent! You are lucky you were sorted to this level at birth; if your mother could see you, child, she would say the same thing. Now go and dress properly, and wait patiently for my husband to come home!"

"Yes, miss Laila."

"No... I... d...don't want... I want... the Sky... for... for my friends..."

A pair of feet walked into the doorway, stopping to gaze on the scene.

"Our sky..."