Wow! So much feedback! The last chapter has gotten the most reviews out of all of the chapters of Mortified. Not to mention, all of you attempting to soothe my OCD by reviewing chapter 21... I don't know what to say. You guys are great.
As far as my use of cliffhangers goes, I'm probably going to keep writing them. How can I not, when they always get so much of a response? In fact, the end of this is something of a cliffhanger itself, although it does explain the last cliffhanger.
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Chapter 96: Plans
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Issitoq watched Elysium from far above, waiting, turning the artifact over in his hands, his claws clinking against the glass. It would be so easy, so, so easy to just destroy it... Or so he would like to think. In truth, a fight against Pandora, Ancient Master of Hope, and all her followers and guests would be difficult even with the artifact.
Besides, that would invite open war between the Observants and everyone else, and even Issitoq wasn't ready for that. Yet.
He would try to do this the normal, the subtle way, one more time. That's why he was waiting here, waiting for the signal from his... He could not think of them as employees, or allies. They were too far below him to be that, and too truculent to be servants. Pawns, perhaps. Yes. Pawns did nicely.
In truth, Issitoq shouldn't be here. The signal wouldn't even be for him. It was meant for others that he recruited. Ghosts sane enough to know that tying the fate of the Infinite Realms to Clockwork's pet, Clockwork's brat, who hadn't even two decades to his name, would doom them all, but bold enough, and stupid enough, or, sometimes, greedy enough, to be manipulated into attacking Elysium. They would be a fine distraction.
It would be hard to restrain himself from attacking Pandora when she appeared, from attacking that brat when he came within reach, but he had to. He couldn't be associated with the abomination's demise, or that of its humans. Not unless there was truly no other way. To do so would set him back centuries, possibly millennia, politically, and he couldn't have that. Not if he wanted to advance an appropriate candidate for kingship. Someone who would be appropriately respectful of tradition, and the authority of the Observants, who, after all, had taken on the burden of rule after Pariah Dark fell to madness.
Then, there, a red-sailed boat took to the air, swiftly flying away from one of the dock towers of Elysium. There. That was the signal. A great roar arose from the sky, and then a legion of ghosts seemed to precipitate from the empty air.
Issitoq flexed his fingers. That was the first of two boats. The second would contain the abomination and its humans.
And the ghost who would get rid of them.
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Valerie caught Danny before he hit the floor, a sick feeling in her throat. This was the second person, the second human, she had shot tonight. She took a deep breath and slung Danny (gosh, he was so light, so boneless and limp) over her shoulder, briefly checking that he was still breathing.
She had shot him with the stun gun. It was designed to incapacitate possessed humans. She had shot Mr Lancer with it, too, and now the teacher was being carried by Dash and Kwan, just out of sight down the corridor.
Valerie poked her head into the room looked around, and swore under her breath. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were not in the room. That wasn't what she had been told, and they had to be running low on time at this point.
They had to be nearby, but Valerie hadn't enough time to check all the rooms here. She hadn't even enough time to one, judging by how Penelope was waving frantically at her from around the corner.
Valerie jogged over, trying to keep her footsteps light and quiet.
"We need to go now," hissed the girl, brushing back her long red hair. "If we don't leave now, we'll miss our window." She glanced over her shoulder nervously, green eyes bright against her pale skin.
Penelope had approached Valerie and the others after they had been placed, Penelope had used the word stored, in a long dormitory. She had come in through a skylight of all things.
Valerie had been shocked. Despite the people of Harmony, she had not expected to see another human here, in 'Elysium.'
But then Penelope had told her that it was common for humans to be here, for them to be, quite literally, spirited away. They were used by the ghosts as pets, as slaves, as toys, and, on occasion, as experiments.
Penelope said that liminality was one of those experiments. Brainwashing was one of their experiments. That the ghosts considered Danny one of their successes. She admitted that she didn't know everything, just what she caught eavesdropping on her 'owners,' but it was enough to scare her. It was enough to scare Valerie. It was enough to convince Valerie that they all needed to leave right now, and Penelope was only too happy to oblige. That, she said, was why she was here, after all. She had a way out, a way home, back to Earth. The only reason she hadn't taken it before now was because she couldn't pilot a boat on her own.
Valerie was convinced. So were some of the others. Some, but not all. Paulina wasn't. Mia wasn't, nor was Mikey, nor, surprisingly, was Hannah. Most of Valerie's fellow students were on the fence.
Mr Lancer, on the other hand, was vehemently against the idea of even listening to Penelope. He had thought her suspicious. He had wanted to go to the ghosts, turn the girl in.
That's when Valerie had shot him.
She hadn't really meant to. She certainly hadn't wanted to. It just... happened.
After that, after Mr Lancer had dropped unconscious to the ground, no one had much wanted to argue with Valerie anymore. It was strange, having people look at her that, looking at her with fear in their eyes, but Valerie shook it off.
The ones who were with Valerie were happy, at least. They wanted to go home, and Penelope had a way.
"I haven't found the other three yet-" started Valerie.
"We don't have time," repeated Penelope. "If we don't go now- Our distraction will go to waste. It's them, or all of us."
"Valerie," said Rebecca, desperate, "we can tell the government, or the police, or ghost hunters, or something about them. Please."
"I-" started Valerie.
"I don't want to die here," said Rebecca. "I don't want to be stuck here for my whole life."
"If we don't leave," said Penelope, sharply, "then the ghosts will be free to keep playing with your friend's mind, with all of your minds, and bodies, and souls, and mine, too. Is that what you want, Valerie? Is that what you want on your shoulders?"
"Okay, okay," said Valerie, putting a steadying hand on Danny's back. "Let's go."
Penelope lead them through the halls swiftly, at times seeming to fly. Dash and Kwan, weighed down by Mr Lancer, struggled to keep up.
Then there was a great noise from above, and bells began to ring. Lights flared to life.
"That's our distraction," said Penelope, unfazed. "Now we'll be able to get out of the palace."
Valerie did not like the sound of that distraction, but there wasn't anything to do about it now.
They slipped past guards, and servants, and found their way out of the palace and into the city, where Penelope gave them disguises, picked up another human acquaintance of Penelope's, and led them out, farther and farther away from the palace. They went quickly. The explosions and bright lights behind them were a good motivator.
No one looked at them twice. They were, apparently, more concerned about what Valerie could now see was a giant ghost army hanging in the sky. It reminded her of when Amity Park was sucked into the Ghost Zone. Unlike then, however, a second army of ghosts was rising to meet it.
It didn't take too much longer to reach their destination, a tall tower at which several ghostly ships were docked.
"Bertrand," said Penelope, "you have the key?"
"Of course," said the man in a clipped British accent. He elbowed his way through the small crowd of students. Valerie was impressed that he wasn't out of breath after that run. Then again, neither was Penelope. That was a bit strange. Even the athletes were out of breath.
Valerie didn't have much time to ponder this. Bertrand had unlocked the door and everyone was thundering up the steps. Actually, she hadn't had any time to think this whole night. Penelope kept rushing her.
The boat that they boarded was much smaller than the ones that they had come in on. It didn't even have a lower deck from the look of it, but it still fit all of them with room to spare. It had red sails.
Penelope ran around, directing everyone to hold this, or that, or that other thing, to pull on ropes, or lift levers, or oars. Then she and Bertrand threw off the moorings. Some of the students had questions, good questions, about whether or not the attacking, or defending, ghosts would com after them, but Penelope ignored them efficiently, sweeping their concerns away, or distracting them with more instructions.
"Not if you do this properly," Valerie heard her saying to more than one student, "and don't distract me with stupid questions!"
Valerie was getting the impression that, if she and Penelope had met under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have liked the other girl very much. Her words were too sharp.
Once the running around had stopped for the most part, Valerie scanned the boat for somewhere that she could put Danny down (and somewhere she could direct Dash and Kwan to put Mr Lancer down, because at the moment they were just standing around, taking up deck space), and found Mia sitting off to one side, her hands in her lap, tears in her eyes.
"Hey," said Valerie, "Mia, what's wrong?"
"She said I was too blind to be helpful, so I should just get out of the way."
Valerie frowned. "You aren't blind," she started.
"Yes I am! And I keep getting in the way, and I'm holding everyone back, and I'm distracting you right now. You should just ignore me."
"That's- Actually, I have something you can help me with."
"You do?"
"Yeah, can you watch Danny and Mr Lancer for me?" she said, laying Danny down. "Tell me if they start to wake up?"
"I, um, yeah. Yeah, I can do that."
"Great. Dash! Kwan!" Valerie called, louder than she really needed to, and waved. "Bring Mr Lancer over here."
The two boys jogged to Valerie, banging Mr Lancer's limp right arm into every rower's bench on the way over. Valerie suppressed a wince. He'd have a bruise come morning, but the important thing was that he was with them. He'd thank them, he'd thank Valerie, for this some day. Some day soon. When they got home. So would Danny. He'd be angry that they'd left Jazz, but he'd understand. They had to go. This was their only chance to get away.
"Lay him down here," she told them. "Mia's going to look after them."
"Thank god!" said Dash, loudly. "I thought I'd be carrying him forever. He needs to loose some weight."
"Yeah, sure," said Valerie. "Thanks Mia. Let's see if Penelope needs us for anything."
Penelope did need them for something. For several somethings. They were so busy that Valerie couldn't even say when they had gotten out of sight of Elysium. Penelope was a hard taskmaster.
At last, though, they were all given a moment to rest. They needed it. They were exhausted.
"How much farther is it to the portal?" asked Rebecca.
"Oh," said Penelope, leaning back to watch as an island went by. The sheer number of them made Valerie very nervous. "Not too long. You people need to learn to how to be patient. I've planned this day for years, and look at me. Totally calm. Right, Bertrand?"
"Right, Penelope," said Bertrand from where he was manning the rudder.
"Valerie!" called Mia. "Valerie! Danny's waking up." Danny groaned lightly at the words. "Hey, it's okay. You're okay."
"Oh, good," said Penelope, rising, smiling sharply. "I guess I don't have to wait anymore."
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Issitoq would have smiled as well, if he had a mouth. The second red-sailed ship had long since sailed out of sight, and Issitoq had left Elysium himself, not wanting to get involved in the battle, but Issitoq was an Observant. All-knowing. All-seeing.
It had just taken a few changes, a tiny expenditure of power, and now the abomination was alone, isolated, and incapacitated, at the mercy of one of its worst enemies. Issitoq stroked the artifact that now hung around his neck. It was even more useful, more versatile, than he had realized. Now he could focus on restoring the prestige and power of his order its proper station.
