Disclaimer and stuff: It's exactly what you would expect.
Note: Sorry if I caused any confusion. The letter was sent to Wolter because he's in charge of helping plan out the combination of the Crimson Blades and the Black Brigade. Albel was only trying to push Nel's buttons by mentioning the arranged marriage. (Though I'm not too sure if he wouldn't have been happier with the marriage then combining forces – with the way he's acting I have to wonder if he remembers he's locked up)
And…Here's a simple lay out of the cells. #1 is where Albel and Nel are. #2 is broken. #3 is Peppita. #4 is Adray and #6 is Sashia. I hope this helps to clear it up. You have to ignore all the ... I had to put those in cause it wouldn't let me just leave it with spaces.
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!... ... ...!4!... ... ...!5!... ...!
! ...!3! ... ... ... ... ... ... ...o------
! ...!2!... ... ... ... ... ... ...hallway
! ...!1! ... ... ... ... ... ... ...o------
!... ... ...!6!... ... ...!7!... ...!
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Inside My Heart
Chapter 7
Sashia didn't know how much time had past, but her internal alarm clock rung. She opened her mouth slightly and took a shallow breath in.
She pressed her lips back together. Focusing intensely on her taste buds, she searched for any hint of toxin. There was no hint of anything abnormal in the air. She eased her eyes open slowly, hoping the mist was one to disperse quickly. It was.
She smiled as she recalled her lessons from Mirage. She had hated to mediate. She was always ready for action. Unlike her brother, she had a hard time sitting still for too long. She was, for once, glad Mirage had been so insistent.
Looking down at her hands, she was shocked to see them glowing very dully. During her meditation, she had the mind set of recovery. She held her hands up closer to her face. The bands were still securely around her wrist. This could mean only one of two things. Either the bands were defective, or it was finally more helpful then before to have a rare gene.
As a child, she had gotten tired of the doctors and scientist who wanted a sample of blood here or a sample of tissue there to research her 'uniqueness'. Once she and Gates had turned 16, they started denying any more test.
She tried to intensify her energy, but felt it cut off. She felt the energy cycle through her, but only a portion was allowed out. So, the bands only weakened her symbology. She stopped healing to reserve her strength. The guards thought she was unconscious, but only for a short time. She had to think of something fast. There might still be a chance of getting out.
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"Gates! Roger!" There was urgency in Fayt's voice. "We've got a major problem here."
Gates shot up from his chair and joined Roger at the terminal Fayt had been working at.
"What is it?" Roger asked.
Fayt was typing away on the pad in front of him. "I just lost the signals for both Cliff and Mirage."
Gates looked at the screen. It displayed a green scale map of the Elicoorian region, particularly the area of Airyglyph that Cliff and Mirage were exploring. Fayt had been monitoring the surface and keeping a long distant eye on the couple.
"Not good," Gates responded.
"Should we try to contact them?" Roger asked.
Fayt shook his head. "Not right away. If they were caught then we would give away our position. If they are running or hiding then we'd give away their position."
"Catch Twenty-two." Gates mumbled.
Fayt couldn't help but to look at him shocked.
"What? I love to read – even old Earth stories. Though I admit, I didn't understand most of that text at all."
"Uhhh," Fayt moaned. "They made me read it in honorary lit back in school and this guy reads it for fun."
Gates patted his shoulder. "Okay, we need a plan."
Roger looked between the two. "What's a 'catch twenty-two'?"
"Maybe we should go to the surface and try to find out what happened," Fayt said ignoring Roger. "Since they didn't activate their communicators to monitor, we're sort of flying blind here."
Gates nodded. "Anything is better then just sitting here and waiting for them to call."
Fayt and Gates turned to go to the transporter. Roger frowned. He didn't like being ignored. Then he realized that they were leaving without him. He ran to catch up. He didn't like being left behind even more.
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Cliff and Mirage crouched silently, waiting for the men to either find them or leave. I would be more in their favor if the men left and they could remain unknown. Unfortunately, things weren't in their favor.
Cliff stiffened slightly as footsteps neared them. Clutching his fist, he readied for action. It had been a while since he had been in a situation like this and he couldn't help but to be slightly overcome with joy by it. The feeling of adventure set in his gut. At the same time, he knew that it was not only him in danger, but his friends and most of all Mirage. He was determined not to let anything happen to any of them. For now, he was relieved to have Mirage by his side. This way he could keep an eye on her, and that was better then not knowing if she was okay or not.
The guard rounded the corner and stood for a second in shock. Obviously, he didn't really expect to find anyone there. His hesitation was all Cliff needed. Cliff stood up and hit the guard square in the forehead, sending him back and to the floor. He didn't move to get up. The blow had knocked him out.
Immediately following his fall, shots rang out. Someone was firing a gun at the boxes.
When the shots stopped, both ran like crazy from their hiding place, and straight at the assailant. As unlucky as the whole situation was, this time they were lucky and had only one enemy to take down.
As if they had planed it, the two gracefully took the man down. Cliff went immediately for the gun, prying it away from the man before he could shoot again. Mirage unleashed a triple kick, followed by Crescent Locus.
Once they were sure that the two men wouldn't give them anymore trouble, they moved to the door. To the left was a series of doors. To the right the hallway met a turn. Taking into consideration that they wanted to attract as little attention as possible, they opted to go right.
The one thing that nagged Mirage was how lonely and vacant the hallway felt.
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Sophia and Maria sat on the floors of their cages. Every once and a while, one or the other would get up and pace around. The cages were small and the tight space was getting to both of them.
There was no way to tell how much time had passed. The guard at the door hardly moved at all.
Sophia scanned the room again. Horror mixed with grim anticipation consumed her when she spotted a piece of machinery that she recognized.
"Maria?"
"Yeah?"
"How much do you know about bio-symbolic genetics?"
Maria turned to her. She could clearly see the worry on Sophia's face. "Only what I researched trying to understand what happened to me better. Why?"
"Do you know anything about the process used to inject symbolic codes into the cells and DNA of living organisms."
Maria shook her head. "I started into it, but couldn't quite understand it all." She was better with computers and found anatomy and such to be unappealing.
Sophia pointed to the machine set to one side of the room. "That's a Symbolic Transfer Unit, or a STU. It's used to identify any symbolic codes within an organic cell and to extract it."
Maria studied the item. "You know about the subject?"
Sophia nodded. "Yeah, that's my main course of study in college. I also have my parents teaching me on the side, along with Aunt Ryoko. On the weekends, sometimes I'll go help out in their lab."
Maria stared at the machine. It suddenly looked more like a coffin then a machine. "I wonder if Luther plans to use that on us."
Sophia swallowed hard. "I hope not. That's not one of the models that are used anymore. It looks like he's made some enhancements to it, but…that machine was made to analyze the dead. If a living person was placed in it, then it would mean death."
Maria shivered slightly. So it really was a coffin.
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Luther sat in the dark room. His only light was what little illuminated off the screen and key pad. Many nights had gone by where all he did was sit and research. He had spent three long years waiting for his knowledge to be compiled and close to complete.
Finally, it was almost time to extract his revenge. He would have what was his to start, and this time he would walk away with so much more. Soon, he told himself. So soon.
The screen flickered and the warning indicator alerted him to the fact that things were falling into place. Only an hour had gone by since he told the computer to search for one of the remaining targets. He smiled. Not only had one appeared, but two.
He studied the screen. Two more ready for pick up. There were four total, but two now would only leave the fun of finding the other two later. He laughed to himself as he stood. He turned away from the monitor and moved to the exit of the room.
He so enjoyed his trips to retrieve his prey. He felt powerful once again. If there was one thing that could lift his spirits, it was power. Pure unadulterated power. And soon, he would possess the very power that brought him down.
His fall from grace. He had lost his throne. Now he would build a new one.
As he walked the hall, he pondered who he would take to the red room next. He called it the red room because when he was done, his 'guest' would be bloody and bruised. After he finished on the surface, it would be good to break another one. He had already had his fun with two of them.
He stopped at the door to the transport room. He had to set his mind on the task ahead of him. There would be plenty of time to play later. First, he had more 'guest' waiting on the surface. He let out a chuckle as he entered the room.
As always, a dozen men stood ready to go. He kept them stationed near the transporter so that they would be ready to go when he was. He had no patience to wait. His time was very precious to him and he would not allow it to be wasted.
The men bowed and waited his orders. He smiled. They really were good little soldiers, even if they weren't real. They were merely puppets. Though they might pass for living men, they would even bleed, they were nothing more then machinery. Machinery he bent and twisted to his will. Of course, they each had their own personality, Luther saw to that. Though he spent most his time alone, he didn't want his creations to be boring.
He laughed once again.
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All her thoughts blurred. First she was caught by shock, then wonder, and now anger. What was he trying to do? Better yet, what was she going to do?
Keeping her eyes open, Nel saw that his were shut. She knew he was enjoying himself. She wondered if it was because he knew it angered her or if there was something else.
She put both hands on his shoulders and pushed. He was separated from her and she could finally breathe. He opened his eyes and smiled at her. She could have sworn there was pure evil mixed in that smile. He really thought he was going to get away with it.
She slapped him, hard across the face. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He giggled lightly. "What do you think?"
"That's not funny…and where do you get off thinking you can just do that when you want?" Part of her wanted to remain calm in light of their situation. The other part wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp.
"Don't tell me you didn't like it."
That was it. That was her breaking point. She tried to jab him in the gut, but he managed to jump back just in time. She stepped forward throwing her other fist at him. Once again, he got just out of her reach. Rounding on one foot, she kicked him in the side. This time she made contact. He grunted slightly as she readied for another kick.
She kicked again, but this time he caught her foot with his arm as she made contact. Her balance was thrown off and she fell. Her foot snagged his arm, and he fell with her. She landed on her back, and he tumbled down on top of her.
She could tell by the look on his face that his fall was not intentional, but his shock soon gave way to a smile. That smile again.
"Get off of me, Nox!" she screamed at him.
"You're the one that pulled me down, woman!" he screamed back.
"Hey, you two in there. You both better shut it!" one of the guards called from the door.
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Keeping down from the window, Sashia went over the current change of events. She inspected the hinges on the door. They were made of the same metal as the door and protruded out the outside of the cell. There was a very thin crack between the door and the wall; just enough for her to identify the hinges. From what she could tell, the hinges were not locked in place and would move freely if the lock was disengaged.
Next, she moved to the lock. The cell featured a single lock midways between the floor and ceiling. Her plan was to try and bust the lock with as much of her symbology as she could muster. It was unlikely that these actions would go unnoticed by the idiot guards, so she had to be ready right away to fight.
She was ready to do this when a noise caught her attention. She stood closer to the window, but remained out of sight. It seemed the couple in the next cell wasn't getting along. As she listened, she heard the names Nox and Zelpher. She immediately recognized each name. For a minute, she stood there, slightly amused.
She knew the history between the two and wondered how the former enemies were getting along. It seemed that Nel was more frustrated, though she could clearly pick out a hint of amusement in Albel's voice.
When she heard the guards respond she knew that this was her chance. Right now, she had a distraction.
She quickly charged her energy. She placed both hands at the lock, hoping that what little energy she could release would be enough to bust the lock. When she felt her energy meet the maximum level the bands would allow, she released her Sphere Shock.
The tightly balled lightning bolt went to work on the lock. Within a second, the light flashed. This was followed with a loud POP and the sound of the lock being disengaged.
By now, Sashia was sure that if the light didn't attract attention, the noise would. She threw the cell door open and rushed out.
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Cliff led the way through the halls. Mirage wondered if the halls ever ended, or if they were just walking circles. She didn't stop Cliff from leading. She had no idea where they were and she knew that he felt more secure if he thought he had a little control.
The other thing that Mirage noticed that was odd was that they had been wondering around for an hour and hadn't run into any trouble. She had a bad feeling about the whole thing. She hoped that Luther was just over confident.
They rounded another corner, and something caught Mirage's eye.
"Cliff," she whispered. "I think we aught to see what's behind that door."
She pointed to a door labeled 'LAB 1A'. She didn't know why, but something nagged at her to check it out.
He nodded. "Be ready. No telling what's waiting for us."
She patted his shoulder. "I'm sure you can handle it."
He smiled. He knew that her confidence in him was real. He only wished that he felt as confident as she did. There was more on the line here then just him. He couldn't help but to feel a dull ache in his gut. He feared that no matter what he did, he still might somehow be unable to protect her. He knew she was more then able to take care of herself, but now he felt an obligation to guard her.
He pushed his thoughts away. Like a superstition, he feared that if he thought too much about it, then it might happen. He had to stay sharp.
She leaned in and gave his a quick kiss. That small kiss sent new strength through him. He knew there was no way he would let her get hurt.
Slowly, he eased the door open. He was struck by what he saw.
Mirage peered over his shoulder. Both relief and dread filled her. She pushed past Cliff, who still hadn't moved.
"Maria? Sophia?" she said walking to the cages.
"Mirage?" Maria answered.
"Look out!" Sophia cried, pointing at the door.
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Sashia threw the door open. Immediately, the halls filled with the sounds of alarm. A high pitch, almost deafening sound came out of the walls.
The guard who had gone to the door to chastise Nel and Albel was easy to take down. When she had flung the door, he had been standing behind it. The door rammed him hard into the closed cell in front of him. He was stunned momentarily.
Sashia only gave him a glance as she darted toward the other guard. He seemed to be taken by surprise, and didn't know exactly how to handle the situation.
As Sashia rounded for a spin kick, she could have sworn that his eyes glowed slightly. She dismissed the though as she landed her foot square on his chest. He was knocked down, but not out.
Sashia turned to check on guard number one. He had recovered and was coming straight at her. She took a deep breath and ducked. She spun on her hands, using her feet to knock the guard down.
Thinking fast, she headed for the first cell in her reach and pressed the button to open the door. Turning, she noticed both guards were on their feet. She wondered how long they had until more showed up.
Before she could blink, a tall man with black and blonde hair ran past her and at the guards. She didn't try to take time to place a name, though it was clear who he was when she noticed the red head exit from the same cell.
She looked at Sashia. "Get the others out. We'll take care of these two." The red head, who was obviously Nel, ran to tackle the remaining guard.
Sashia turned immediately to the other cells.
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No sooner had the warning left Sophia's mouth, then the alarm rang out. Mirage felt her heart stop as she turned to see what Sophia was pointing at.
She felt things move in slow motion as she looked past Cliff and at the armed guard behind the open door. Cliff had stepped in behind her, but he was still a few steps from her. She had to act fast.
The guard was raising his gun, aiming at Cliff. Anger sparked in Mirage. There was no way she was going to let him get hurt.
She bent slightly and motioned for the guard to come to her with her finger. "Hehe, come and get it."
He turned sharply to her. About this time, Cliff started to turn to see who she was talking to.
"This is the last mistake you'll make!"
She didn't give the guard time to consider her statement before she proved it to him. She quickly charged her energy and sent one round of fire bolts at him. The impact caused him to drop his gun.
Cliff watched as she charged the guard. She moved too fast for him to so much as lift a finger. Most guys would feel helpless…maybe even a little guilty, but not Cliff. She had always been able to take most anyone down, himself included. Seeing her in action only brought him the emotions of pride and enjoyment.
Mirage backed away from the fallen guard. "That's that!" She turned to Cliff and smiled. "Guess I might have overdone it a bit."
"Not at all."
They turned to the two girls. The alarm still rung in the background, keeping their hearts moving at a fast pace. "Come on Cliff. Let's get them out and get out of here."
Mirage went immediately to the closest cage, which happened to be Sophia's. She inspected the lock. "I can't find a keyhole or activation pad."
Cliff shifted at her side. "How about the old fire and ice trick?"
Mirage nodded. The last time they had done that they had been kids.
Mirage charged for fire bolt again. She found that the time away from him didn't hinder how they worked together. She fell right back into place at his side. She could anticipate his moves, and in turn respond.
She released her Fire Bolt, and a split second later he released Ice Needles. The sudden change in temperature snapped the lock open.
Without a word, they turned from Sophia and set to the task of freeing Maria.
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Blue Afterthoughts: This is one of the shorter chapters, but I was running into serious writer's cramp. Got a lot going on right now and my flow was interrupted…sorry. Had to add the Catch Twenty-two thing in there - had to read the book and didn't understand much of it at all! Then I found the movie - and got even more confused O.o
Blue Reviews:
IceBlueWings: Sorry for the confusion…hahaha…I was trying for an original idea and I haven't seen anyone try to make the two command a unit together so I thought that would be good. But, if that's true then they would be spending a lot of time together XD Thanks for letting me use your idea – I tell you that was brilliant!
BlueTrillium: Keep on telling me where my mistakes are – I love to know how to better things and your comments are very much welcome. I feel sorry for the poor soul who ends up with Farleen…honestly when playing the game I wanted to mute her out – her voice annoyed me. I hope the picture at the top helped with the cell arrangement. – Hahaha, if it was an arranged marriage then Nel would agree just to get on Albel's nerves. He'd give up and tell her to do what she pleased and then regret it later! Hahaha.
ElusiveCat: I'm glad you like my idea for the letter – trying to be original. I see Sashia and Peppita getting along fabulously! Quite a team those two girls! Hahaha. Oh I love writing the Cliff/Mirage parts…they are so much more open then Nel and Albel (though they are fun to write too XD) I think Cliff and Mirage could really get fluffy!
Macky: Glad you like it. Thanks.