Nidhogg's Invitation

The team snuck back to the Ark that night and looked for more books on Yggdrasil. In the way back of one shelf was a map of the Road to Yggdrasil. It was located in a crater that was sheltered from the rest of Filgaia. However, Nidhogg Pass connected it in two areas.But it was locked and a person would need to find both switches. Of course, Jessica was already attempting to simplify things.

"We can see if I can open the lock once we find the door in one pass," she suggested, "Or, for fun, break open the way to the second switch. I really don't want to take the long way around this one. There are so many other things we could be doing. For starters, I should take Vincent to see Aunt Victoria. She's a friend of mom's and the same midwife that birthed both me and Virginia. So she would know about Vincent. Perhaps she could confirm the story to Werner; I believe they met once or twice so he would know her to be the friend Ekatrina was staying at when she gave birth. He'd believe her words."

Nobody objected to doing that. However, Vincent wanted to find the clues at Yggdrasil first. For if they located Jessica's father and brother, they would be dragging them to Doria to see her mother. At least, since this is Jessica he was talking about, that's what he assumed. Why make two trips when they could do it in one? Besides, deep in his heart he knew he was right about them being his birth parents.

So they took off for Nidhogg Pass. The one they located was north of Baskar near the circle around Yggdrasil. Once inside, they had to sneak by carefully in order to keep Nidhogg from sensing them. Jessica used an illusion spell just to get through. It worked; they weren't attacked by the serpent.

S...S

After hitting the lever, Jessica manipulated wind in order to get over to the second. With the door opened, they were able to go through. But the ease of their quest wasn't to last, as when the young Shaman tripped, she knocked into Lyla, who knocked into Vincent, who knocked into Laura. Not only did the team tumble through the doorway, but the action triggered an alarm which closed the door behind them. Now, they were trapped in the Yggdrasil Region. Laura panicked; she didn't have much booze.

"Now everybody calm down. We should at least make it out of here and look for a place to rest. If we can find the Council of Seven's location, then we will be able to discover the way to get back. I know that they have to have some way of breaking the lock from the inside. What if one of them had tripped the alarm on accident? Then all seven of them could be trapped here," Lyla informed the team.

Jessica screamed, "You're a genius Lyla! Perhaps that's what happened to our fathers. They got trapped on the other side of the wall. In that case…we're pretty much all screwed. But if we work as a team with the Council, then we can all escape this place and help all of them to get back home again."

Vincent looked doubtful. "Remember, Leehalt said something about a lab accident. If our dad's were caught up in it, I don't know what we'll find. But I won't give up. From Leehalt's words, I doubt either my father or Elliot became Demons. He said that they were 'too sentimental' and 'foolish'. Since he believed human power was weak and unnecessary, I'd say that if they're alive they haven't changed."

S...S

As they came to the end of the pass, they saw a blinding light. When it cleared, Leehalt stood before them with malice in his eyes. Vincent stepped forward; he knew this would be the day he got his revenge for the pain his mother felt. If only he had been there to comfort her in her final days. Would his presence have changed her sad fate? She would only have doubted one family member's life, not two.

"I can't believe you survived my attack," Leehalt stated, "You are truly a powerful warrior. If only you weren't such a fool. But now it ends. I will kill you. However, I think I'll play with your head a little more before you die. After all, since Werner is gone I need to get revenge on his bloodline instead. And you happen to be the only one here. I'd say your sister must have gotten the brains even if she's a brat."

"What happened to my father! If you don't tell me, I swear by every Guardian I'll smite you with every bit of power I have. How my family suffered because of your wicked actions. A rivalry is one thing, revenge is another, but what you did to me was just plain evil. Besides, since Mother kept it inside of her mind and never told anyone, you never hurt my father. Only my mother suffered," Vincent told the man.

Leehalt replied, "That was the unfortunate setback. My original plan had been to bring you back once Ekatrina cried over your disappearance to the rest of the family. Werner, who always had it in for me, would have blamed me for this from the start. Then, Ekatrina would see who really deserved her love. However, her kind heart disabled the plan. It would seem like a trick if I tried to bring you back so I raised you like a son when I wasn't working with the Council. That all lasted until that fateful day ten years ago. Our maintenance coordinator, Duran, followed the advice of his imaginary girlfriend and set the generator to meltdown point. Only I and two others are still alive; and we became Demons to live."

Jessica's anger burst into critical mass. "My father is dead! I don't believe you! You've done something to him; it wasn't an accident. If you hated both him and Werner then I know it's your fault. Now feel my rage; Slash Party!" She ran at Leehalt and rapidly swung Dragonflare at him four times.

"I don't know who you are," Leehalt muttered, "Nor do I know what you're talking about. I am a soul just clinging to life now. Filgaia itself seeks to destroy me. But once evolution and terraforming hit the world, then I and every other soul will be saved in the bodies of Demons. That's enough for talk though. You sure are a hard hitter for such a little girl. But now playtime is over. Rule of Vengeance."

With that, he attacked her and knocked Jessica back into the wall. The impact was enough to throw her baseball cap from her head and Laura caught it in her hands. As she struggled to get back up, Leehalt took a look at the child. He could now see her long silver hair and violet eyes; the same as Elliot.

"Well, this is an ironic twist. I didn't know Elliot Enduro had any other brats. I thought that that smart mouthed brat Jess died when she gave birth to her only son. I guess she was just afraid of the challenge I issued to her once she was recovered from childbirth. Never thought she and Elliot would have such an elaborate scheme to escape it," Leehalt responded. Then, he teleported out of the pass.

Jessica called out, "Come back here so I can beat you up some more." But since her hits had been hard, Rule of Vengeance had knocked her for a real loop. She fainted from her wounds. Lyla used Schturdark's power to heal the girl, but she needed a place to lie down. But where could they find such an area in the middle of enemy territory? And they had no way to get back to the rest of Filgaia either.

Teefa's Last Words...

Yeah, it really hurt. I'm trying to get her across as a clumsy and sometimes ditzy girl who leaps way before she looks. She's supposed to be the exact opposite of her brother for fun reasons.