1The Darkened Sanctum

XII: "The Path We Chose..."

It had been several hours since his little visit to BioCorp Laboratories, the blonde young man now passing through the hallways of Ranger HQ. He was rubbing his wrist, which was concealed under the edge of his glove and sleeve, silently musing over a few dark thoughts.

"I'll show him..." The words were trapped in silence, circling in his mind, "Father..."

Bloodstained memories filled his thoughts; standing in the beautiful marble hall with a sword in hand, the young child trembled as a massive beast stepped forth. Off in the corner, a battle-scarred, blonde man watched, a patch over his left eye while the right sternly gazed. Though the child was screaming to the man to help him, the warrior stood unmoving, watching. A few words were exchanged, floating into hearing: "Kill it, child, make me proud..."

In the hallway, another Ranger came out of a door and watched Bosch pass. With a bit of a devious smirk, the individual caught up to him, walking behind him. "Hey, Hey Bosch!"

"I did it..." The memories of that bloodstained boy still held Bosch's attention. The great beast was slain, blood spreading out around it on the shining floors. The child gazed at the warrior, a sickly smile spread across his face, drenched in blood. "I did it, father!"

The man simply nodded, then spoke once more, the words lost on Bosch's ears. He left the room, leaving the boy in silence to gaze at the corpse. His mind sped through more bloody memories, coming across the last time he had seen him...

"Where are you going...?" The words only lightly floated, barely heard by his mind, "You can't do THAT, you'll be... please come back..."

"For being as well-trained as you are," His father's last words to him still clung like claws to his heart, "You sure are being a baby. Go off now and do me proud today; I'll be back at the end of the night."

Bosch could still see his Father turn and step out the doors, the identical twins on either side of him staring down their noses at the young man. They followed suit, silently, the great doors standing open to darkness. "...but you've never come back..."

"Hey Bosch!"

"?" Snapping back to reality, Bosch only slightly moved his head, not saying a word.

"I... I heard about what happened!" The Ranger laughed, coming up closer, "Is it true Captain Zeno and everyone else is all dead? Ryu really turned into a monster? They said nobody survived, but then I heard YOU were there!"

"..." Bosch remained silent, only partially paying attention.

"You ran away!" The man had a hint of teasing in his voice, but not enough to justify his words, "You let Ryu defeat you!"

A gleam of metal abruptly erased the smile off the ranger, sliding through flesh, blood hitting the ground as well as the ranger's severed hand. The man stared in absolute horror, trembling, backing away from Bosch while holding his wounded arm.

"I will hear NONE of it!" Bosch continued onward, a fiery glint playing through his eyes, "You know NOTHING! He hasn't defeated anyone- I WILL kill him!"

The man backed away, turning pale, then shakily reached down and picked up the severed appendage in his hand and took off, whimpering, for the nearest infirmary.

"But if you would bring us there instead," Cheryl had been talking with Adylla for the past thirteen minutes over where they should be dropped off. Lin had argued that it would be easier for everyone if the faeries dropped them off in the Midsector, in the mall area. Cheryl tried to convince the little faerie as best she could, "It would make all of our lives easier. And then I'll be safer, too...!"

"Well..." Adylla grumbled, "It just uses so much faerie dust..."

"Birthday present, then?"

"...For yoo, yes. I'll have to send yoo by pre-installed lines, however; we haven't put a faeline in that area yet." Adylla let her arms drop from their crossed position, "It will be quite a bumpy ride, but I think we can do it for yoo four!"

"Thank you so much..." Ryu smiled, "You've really helped us a lot."

"Aww," Adylla giggled, "Only because yoo make the cutest pets!"

"Oh rapture." Lin rolled her eyes.

"All ready for departure?" Adylla got nods from everybody, then clasped her hands together, "Dragon Boy, take care! We will see yoo all in the future, no doubt! Yoo are welcome to the colony whenever yoo want! Teehee! Now fly, silly humans!"

With a burst of faerie dust, the party was whipped through a line; not exactly a faeline, but it worked almost the same. In the Midsector mall, however, one of the payphones began to ring off its hook. A young girl standing off to the side, wearing a big, blue hat noticed this. Her rabbit ears perked a bit, as she adjusted her glasses and stopped in front of it. Watching it ring, she gingerly took it up, holding it against the side of her head, which barely touched her ginger hair, "Hello?"

She yelped as she held the receiver down, all four people inexplicably falling out into a pile on the paved ground. The girl slowly hung up the phone, staring down in confusion at the pile.

"A line... phone line... damn it all..." Lin squeezed out from under Nina and Cheryl, "Why didn't I know this was going to happen?"

"Wow... that was kinda fun!" Cheryl hopped off Ryu, pulling Nina up. She helpfully dusted off the girl, holding onto her hand. The two exchanged a small smile before peeling Ryu off the paved path.

"Ow..." He brushed himself off when upright, "Thanks... where are we?"

"Hmm! Close to home," Lin smirked, tail swinging back and forth behind her, "Midsector Mall. Highlight: Black market trade and a decent bar with enough alcohol to make you forget the world."

"...Wonderful."

"...Do I have to pay for dialing charges?" The girl stared, shifting a book she had in her arms.

"...Uh... no," Ryu looked at her, "Thanks for answering, though."

"Anytime..." She slowly scooted away, then turned and hurried back off to her own storefront that was down an alleyway. She shook her head the entire time, constantly wondering: "What did you get yourself into THIS time, Momo?"

"Well..." Lin stretched out, "We can go straight from here to Trinity."

"But I still don't WANT to go!"

"Where else WILL we go? Let me inform you, Ranger, that there are several paths through our HQ that WILL lead us up. If we tried going up the normal way we'd all get our throats slit by your previous allies." Lin smirked, staring at Ryu, "There isn't any other way, Ryu. Come on."

"…" Ryu hesitated as the woman started off, watching Cheryl follow her without question. Letting out a sigh of defeat, he followed along as well. The long hall with rows upon rows of seedy stores was a grimy, dull white mixed with worn metal. The ground's pavement was slightly damp, as was the air, providing a bit of relief on everyone's lungs. Dull voices would echo off the walls, turning into muddy noise that refused to silence itself. With the hum of electric lights, and the sound of people bartering over their illegal stock, the area seemed to be one depressing melting pot for all levels of the Shelter.

"So… everyone here-"

"Is either selling or buying." Lin paused, looking down the alleyway the girl had disappeared to, "Rangers usually don't come this way, or if they do, they never close it all down because even they can make a little zenny working the market. Government rations aren't enough for those who come here; some come to live on the edge and bring excitement to their already lived lives. Perfect place to set up base, eh?"

"But right out in the open?" Cheryl looked up, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"Nah, it's in the Old Tradesector. Well, past that, actually. You'll see; they abandoned the other half of this place because it flooded with groundwater. Probably one of the channels the faeries complain about." She started again, passing by shoppers and small storefronts, "It's a bit of a walk, but you can occasionally find stuff left over from the old markets in the corners. Not all of it is half bad, either."

"Great," Ryu grumbled, "I've always wanted to walk through a flooded, probably collapsing mall area."

"Then now is your chance, buddy," Lin snickered, being annoying, "We'll get there ASAP!"

"Hmph." Ryu gazed at the cold faces around him; he wondered if anybody here knew him or the rest of the party. A fair number seemed to know Lin, however, waving at her like a good neighbor as she passed. He found Nina was, predictably, shy, as she was as close to her Ryu as she could be. Just before him, Cheryl was skipping along with more life in her step than any other child he had ever seen in the Shelter. But as he watched, he could almost slow her movement down with his mind, and then vividly he could see her skipping before a field of flame. Coming to a surprised halt, he shook his head and looked again; Cheryl was normal, just bouncing along.

"Come on," Cheryl looked back, a great smile spread across her face, happiness sprouting from her figure. She laughed, "Don't fall behind, we gotta go together!"

"…Coming…" Shaking his head, Ryu felt Nina pat his arm. Glancing down with a bit of a smile, he started walking again, with a little renewed vigor.

Stepping down cold, cement stairs, with her tail whisking through the damp air behind herself, Lin took a break near the bottom to take in a deep breath of the wet air. This area smelled closer to home; the water, mixed with the smell of wet cement, and the light scent of dust swirled together into her senses. She let the other three step ahead of her as she opened her eyes; gazing across the water's surface that hugged the entrance to the lower area, she watched faint ripples spread out and disappear. This was the most relaxing place to come and sit, she thought, and why hurry?

"Are you sure it's safe to go down there?"

"No, but there isn't any other way."

"Right…" Ryu sighed, heading for the broken cement path over the water.

Lin was about to move again when there was a sudden breeze through the air, her tail being pulled aside and a sharp pinch being placed. With a loud yelp, she brought the party to a halt, staring behind herself with wide eyes.

"What is it?" Ryu looked around, almost ready to attack anything that moved.

"I…"

The sound of the water dripping was the only noise; there was nothing but dust in the air before her. Otherwise silence reigned, the scenery standing still. Lin slowly backed up, curling her tail around herself. "…Nothing… Let's go…"

"You scared us," Cheryl whined, as she bounced across the cement platforms, "Don't do that anymore!"

"…Yeah…" She airily spoke, gazing over her shoulder, as she followed.

As the party left down the tunnel, the man at the end of the stairs slowly materialized, laughing to himself. His hair was red, slicked back, giving him a 'cool' appearance. He continued to laugh a bit, lips parting to speak to himself, "Quite a little party those dragons have got, eh? What a piece of work…"

He then looked at the tunnel, still able to detect strong insecurity.

"Ah well. Besides, what a cute ass!"

"Nice place…"

"It gets better," Lin smirked, "More freaks like me live down here."

"Mmm, just what I dreamed of."

"Don't be mean!" Cheryl frowned, then looked back across the large room. The mall gates had been closed, but somebody had gone through and knocked huge holes into them, providing a maze. "Wow… this place looks confusing…"

"Just how we wanted it to look. This way." Lin ducked through a hole and walked across a trashed room. The racks that were once full of merchandise still stood in silent, dusty rows, a few unsold items about their shelves. Bits of glass were on the floor here and there, prompting Nina to start stepping more lightly across the cement floors. The air here was so humid it made the team's skin feel damp, but still the air was more soothing than the usual dust-ridden supply. Heading up a small staircase behind the rotting desk, Lin made sure everyone was following before squeezing out another hole. "Most people get lost unless they have someone to tell them where to go; occasionally you may find a skeleton or two since we never go looking for the lost ones! Heh!"

"Wonderful. Show no compassion."

"Why should we? Trinity isn't known for holding hands and singing campfire songs, stupid. Nah, we're your local terrorists that threaten your way of life and suck your freedom with fear! Plus we spray paint on your walls and cause property damage."

"Gee, now I understand why EVERYBODY would want to join." Ryu rolled his eyes, pausing only because he heard a low crack under his feet; kicking a shard of glass away, he picked Nina up over the mess, "Just show me to the signup sheet, boy howdy."

"Can I?" Cheryl looked up with a huge grin.

"Sure!"

"Cheryl, no!" Ryu pulled the girl closer, "Don't get mixed up in that riffraff!"

"Riffraff? Ah, you've toned down from the 'faceless terrorists' remarks."

"I could call you worse things..."

"You wouldn't not in front of the little ones," Lin laughed, walking down a rather trashed hall and heading down a flight of steps, "I know you better than that."

"..." Ryu sighed, then followed in silence. It was true; she did know him better. How did he wind up this far with her anyway?

"How much farther?" Cheryl leapt over a small puddle in a hall as they walked, but landed in a bigger one, up to her chest. She slowly pulled herself through it to a door, walking in ahead of everybody, "Wow, it really IS wet..."

Lin came through without a hitch, trudging through the water as if it was, well, water. Ryu picked Nina up, and with a sigh, headed through the puddle, unable to keep Nina's feet from dragging across the surface. She didn't mind, but actually enjoyed it, and splashed a bit off her toes as they passed through.

Down the narrow hall, several symbols had been crudely splashed up on the walls. The symbols were simple; a blue triangle was overlapped by a white cross, looking somehow sinister on the wall. Lin just passed it up, but Ryu's gaze lingered upon it as he passed. That was the Trinity symbol, the 'property damage' Lin had mentioned before.

"It's the halfway point," Lin explained, "Means you've gone the right way... so far."

"Oh... I see..."

"Just a little further until we get there. When we do, I'll hook you up," Lin looked at Cheryl with a wink, "With the sign-up sheet."

"Yay! I can be in Trinity just like Lin!" Cheryl spread her arms up in excitement, skipping about down the hall.

"...whatever."