Chapter 5

AN: I HAVE RETURNED! Heh, I know I promised this chapter a few months ago but my internet's been on and off, holidays, homework, exams… ugh. But none of those are good enough reasons to leave my beloved readers in the dark… (if they are even still around…) So anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And if you do read through, please leave me a review!

The beautiful sunlight from the morning had vanished behind the layers of cloud and mist. A dull, gray light had fallen onto the open fields in front of them. No. 114 had never been somewhere so huge, so open. Tall, green grass had over-run the landscape, a few trees dotted the area and a large 'river' ran nearby. Everything was so new and fresh.

Mr. 239 led them toward one of the cliff edges, Mr. 57 and no. 114 followed close behind them. Mr. 239 warned them that there might be 'mist monsters' and humans around so they had to be quiet. No. 114 was having a hard time understanding everything Mr. 239 was saying.

As they had walked out into the open plain, Mr. 57 raised his arm a pointed to a far corner of the valley enclosed by the tall cliff edges. "We went through there," he had whispered to no. 114, "We went through a… 'gate'. And there were humans there and they chased us all the way into the forest!" No. 114 felt disturbed by the way Mr. 57 talked about that so freely, so carefree as if it was just an amusing thing that happened to them and not a life or death struggle. How could Mr. 57 talk like that?

The silence all around them was causing no. 114 to think. He didn't like it. Because all he thought about were things he didn't want to think about. He would remember the castle; he would wonder what was going on there now. He thought about the other black mages there and wondered if they had come back from wherever they had gone. He wondered about the guard….

"We're almost there." Mr. 239 yawned as he used his gold staff to clear a way through the overgrown grass.

"Do you think we'll see a mist monster before we get there?" Mr. 57 asked, no. 114 still didn't know what a 'mist monster' was.

"If you keep talking so loudly we will." Mr. 239 mumbled turning back to look at Mr. 57 with what no. 114 believed to be a smile.

"Ummm…" No. 114 started, he wanted to know what they were talking about. What was a 'mist monster'? It sounded vaguely familiar to him, like so many words he would hear. But that was all it was anymore, a vaguely familiar memory, his programming was starting to fade away taking away the meanings to the few words he was supposed to know.

Both Mr. 239 and Mr. 57 had stopped walking, they turned back to look to at no. 239. "What is it Mr. 114?" Mr. 239 asked softly.

"What's a 'mist monster'?" No. 114 asked tilting his head downwards.

Mr. 57 looked at Mr. 239 waiting for his explanation but Mr. 239 was hesitant to answer. He stared at no. 114, his yellow eyes focused in but he seemed strangely distant, as if he was somewhere else. He wondered what he would say…

"…A monster is…" Mr. 239 started but trailed off, shivering slightly at an old memory. "…Something bad that might attack you." He tried; it was hard to explain these kinds of things, especially to other black mages.

"But… what's mist?" No. 114 asked as he tried to understand the first answer.

Mr. 239 hesitated again; once again old memories came to haunt him, memories he wished he didn't have. He didn't want to share all the knowledge he had gained; most of it wasn't worth the trouble. Mr. 239 liked to keep it simple for them; they didn't need anything else to burden them. He looked up at the gray sky, "That white stuff up there." He said simply, turning back toward the cliff they were heading to.

They were walking again, silently so the mist monsters wouldn't hear them. No. 114 was even more confused now. He didn't have the slightest idea what a mist monster was… Or what mist was now. He looked up into the dreary sky and tried to block out all of his thoughts, he didn't like them. But trying to block out his mind was harder than he imagined, the more he tried to calm his mind down it was start up more powerful than before….

"We're here," Mr. 239 sighed sleepily.

No. 114 took his eyes off the sky and stared in awe at the entrance to the 'Ice Cavern'. A large natural passage made purely of rock and ice stood before them, cold, icy air seeped out chilling their hidden faces. The light from inside the cavern passed through the layers of ice, making beautiful distorted lights on the frozen walls of the cavern. It was hauntingly beautiful, a sight not many saw now that air travel was so common. No. 114 didn't know how they would walk through this place… it looked so forbidding.

"Okay," Mr. 239 started, turning to face the other two mages. "It's supposed to be really dangerous in here, there are lots of monsters and it's really cold so…"

"What's cold?" Mr. 57 asked looking up at the tall frozen entrance.

"Cold?" Mr. 239 repeated in slight surprise. "It's um, temperature which is how hot or cold something is… so uh, cold is when you feel less temperature…. It's what the air from in there feels like."

No. 114 thought that explaining things must be hard.

"Oh, um... okay." Mr. 57 was obviously still confused.

"So anyways," Mr. 239 yawned, "Be careful inside because of the monsters and if you get really cold then try to warm yourself up, if you get too cold then… then that would not be good."

Mr. 239 turned and walked in, the other two followed. The inside of the cavern was like nothing no. 114 had ever seen, everything inside was frozen in crystal ice. It looked enormous, as if it would stretch on forever, there where pathways made of ice that twisted and turned, thick walls of ice surrounded them and they all glistened in the light. Frozen flowers from hundreds of years ago decorated the entrance; the inside of the cavern didn't look half as unwelcoming as it did from the outside.

"It's so pretty!" Mr. 57 sang joyfully looking from the layered ice on the walls to the frozen flowers.

"Yeah," Mr. 239 mumbled drowsily, "Hey… A chest." He said as he caught sight of an aged chest ahead of them; he wondered over to it with no. 114 and Mr. 57 following closely behind. The chest was made of aged wood, small designs were carved into it and it seemed cracked from years of use. Mr. 239 opened it, taking no notice of the beautiful designs, he pulled out…. A sword? No. 114 jumped back automatically before he realized that it was too short to be a sword.

Mr. 239 held it in his hand for a moment inspecting it's scabbard before he pulled the blade out, it sparkled slightly in the light, the ice cavern reflected on it's cold, sharp edge. No. 114 felt the gash in his right arm sting slightly, he remembered the guard on the plateau, the shining blade, the pain.

"Are you okay?" Mr. 239 broke in, staring straight at no. 114, the weapon still resting in his hands. No. 114 didn't answer; he was still staring at the blade, still feeling the pain in his arm. Mr. 239 looked down at the dagger and then back at no. 114, his strong mind put the two and two together. He looked back at the dagger resting comfortably in his gloved hand and winced at the possibility…

"Did you…. Get hurt by one of these?" Mr. 239 spoke softy, barely more than a whisper. He knew Mr. 114's wound was caused by a weapon with a sharp edge, a sword or dagger he suspected.

No. 114 jumped from his chilling thoughts, surprised at Mr. 239's sudden understanding. He looked down at his bandaged arm, he didn't want to talk about it but he couldn't leave Mr. 239's question unanswered. He nodded slowly. Mr. 239 understood so he didn't question any further.

"What is it anyway?" Mr. 57 popped in gazing at the blade in Mr. 239's hand.

"…It's a Mage Masher." Mr. 239 answered, surveying the dagger. "It's a common dagger, fairly cheap but this one seems to be older and better quality than ones they make nowadays in weapons shops. It's supposed to be used to fight… mages."

"What's fight mean again?" Mr. 57 asked as he tilted his head to one side.

Mr. 239 didn't answer but simply placed the dagger back in its scabbard and put it in the rugged bag slung over his shoulder. He wasn't sure why but he loved weapons, not for fighting or anything, he just found them interesting. Mr. 239 left the empty chest and led the two mages further into the ice cavern.

The further into the cavern they went, the colder they got. Powerful gusts of icy wind emerged from seemingly bottomless pits below them, these gust were so cold no. 114 thought he wouldn't be able to keep walking. The cold conditions got worse, none of the mages spoke and each of them became slower and slower, the wind and cold freezing their bodies.

Finally, they reacted the last stretch of the frozen cavern. There was a large waterfall; the water fell into a partially frozen stream. A light poured in from above a winding pathway, the exit. It was warmer here, but Mr. 239 was barely moving, no. 114 noticed, he was walking so slow he was barely moving, and he was swaying strangely.

Mr. 57 noticed too. 'Hey, Mr. 239-"

Before Mr. 57 could finish his sentence, Mr. 239 fell limply to the icy ground.

Panic instantly filled no.114; had Mr. 239 been killed by the cold? He rushed over to Mr. 239 and to Mr. 57 who was standing hollowly over him. Mr. 239's eyes were closed, and his chest heaved up and down; unfortunately, neither of the mages recognized this as a sign of life. No. 114's breath quickened, what were they going to do. He looked over to Mr. 57 in near tears only to find, to his horror, that Mr. 57's eyes were empty.

Mr. 57 was about to snap. His eyes grew large and empty, his breath became erratic, his gloved hands were shaking. No. 114 stared at him in panicked fear. Slowly, Mr. 57's eyes raised from Mr. 239's body and turned to no. 114 who noticed a flicker of magic in his hand.

Mr. 57 sent a fireball straight at no. 114's head. He was able to drop and dodge it; he began to rack his brain for any way to stop Mr. 57 without using magic and hurting him. Mr. 57 began another fire spell in his hands, letting it build up in power.

"Mr. 57! Stop it!" No. 114 pleaded in fear, he didn't want to be killed by the sweet, carefree 57. How could he stop him…?

Mr. 57 let the fire spell loose, but missed no. 114 and hit the ice wall, melting a large dent in it. No. 114 had to stop him somehow. Suddenly, a strange idea struck him, he doubted it would work but he didn't know how else to make Mr. 57 stop.

Just as Mr. 57 readied a new fire spell in his hands, no. 114 lunged toward him and, despite his greater instincts, locked his hands into Mr. 57's. He winched at the pain the fire magic caused his hands; the magic kept coming, Mr. 57 was still casting the spell into no. 114's hands. Over the pain No. 114 was able to choke out: "Mr. 57, don't you remember? We're friends!" No. 114 squeezed Mr. 57's hands gently as he had done earlier that morning.

To no. 114's relief, the fire magic stopped and Mr. 57's eyes became full again. He choked on tears, realizing what he had just done to his friend. Mr. 57 pulled no. 114 into a tight hug, no. 114 found it comforting but the pain in his hands was unbearable.

Suddenly both of the mages remembered Mr. 239. They both rushed back to his body and fell beside him. "W-what's wrong with Mr. 239?" Mr. 57 managed over tears. No. 114 wasn't sure until he remembered the night previous and how Mr. 57 had slept… Mr. 239 was sleeping!

Realizing this no. 114 started to shake Mr. 239 gently, trying to make him get up. Mr. 57, after watching confusedly for a moment caught on and helped in trying to wake him. After only a moment or so, Mr. 239 began to stir and open his bright yellow eyes.

"I should start getting more sleep." He mumbled, smiling to himself.

Fun? I hope so… and don't panic about me not updating again. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up but I won't leave it for months nn;;; The next one will probably be a lot shorter too x.o Anyways, please review! I love reviews!