Jellicle's Creed
Frozen Memories
Seqeunce 9
Memory 6: Snowflake within a Snowflake part 6
20 Feburary 2052
Gilja Norway
Midday
"There is no crime to terrible, nor act so monstrous that Man will not commit given a sufficiency of conviction and self interest"
-Ancient proverb
The Silence of the two bikes as they zoomed down the highway was what set them apart. The black motorcycles hovered inches off the ground, the two riders leaned forward for aerodynamics and speed as the roads provided no resistance, and no compromise. Their helmets matched the bikes, protecting their heads and faces from the elements, not so much from crashing - the two were experts. His assassin cloak was also assisted by a pair of thick leather gloves to keep his hands warm during the ride, the blistering winds enough to freeze almost anything.
Speeding at just over three hundered miles an hour was refreshing to Mark as he weaved around cars and other debris in the road, or simply went over them with elegance and grace. Any faster and he would have to rely on eagle vision to see clearly despite the hud on his helmet's opaque viser. Motion sensors placed his sister just behind him, and the two of them swerved onto an unmarked dirt road. Mark nudged just off of it, travelling off-road to avoid being seen as he darted between trees and clearings without breaking half a sweat.
The Compound was up ahead.
On the second hoverbike was Serenity, Marks sister had with her a basket of hardlight matrial attached to her big, it contained one or two vital items for the mission. One of them was her swords, hopefully she wasnt going to need them, but the other was a more vital item. Slicer. her Slash so heavily modified only she could use it.
They puklled to a thick cpose of trees and parked. Serenity easily parked her hoverbike and simply turned in her seat to get to the hardlight basket containing Slicer and setting it on the ground she activated the code to get into the wireless network. "I'll find the armory, Should be the most guarded place on the main floor" She said simply, Slicer shot off, her left eye seeing what the little RC rig was seeing clearly.
Crack... sizzle... crack... thud
Four days, for long days of nothing but that noise, and the occasional slamming of a door was all she heard for four long days. Thankfully they were decent enough to let women take care of her. After all somehow she'd gotten wet, and as a result somehoew she saw herself not wearing her dress. At least she was decent. She couldnt move where she laid in bed either. her hands were tied to something. She didnt recognise anything there, where was she ? Then she heard it, she heard footsteps, something thudding... Ok what was going on ?
Most of the compound was underground, Slicer screamed through the rooms without a sound and without being seen before darting into a room filled with ewpons and coming to a soft halt under a table near a vent in the ceiling, the guard on duty poked his head in thinknig he heard something before shaking his head to leave, the cameras on it picking up everything from number of guards to any traps there might be. There were surprisingly few traps for a secret underground compound. Perhaps since there were iso many/i guards, not all of them knew how to avoid them or had proper clearance. Finally after about two moments of viewing the building carefully Serenity spoke "Found the armory, Slicers waiting, best get inside" She pointed out a nearby vent network
Mark's entrance was easy enough. The Airvents were large to prevent any large parts of them from freezing in the cold air of Norway, and of course hot air was blowing through them constantly. He navigated them easilly enough as well, finding himself in their armory inside of an hour. His claws plucked the screws out of their holes by force, and he moved the grate before dropping down into the room without a sound besides him landing on one of the guards, whose muffled cry was silenced by the crack of his neck breaking from Mark's weight. He summoned the rest of his armor and drew his pistol, quickly sweeping the room before holstering his gun and moving over to the far wall.
He needed a rifle. And there was a recently cleaned M-4 Semi-Auto rifle right there, and of course, plenty of add-ons around it. Red dot scope with two times zoom, dual thirty round mags, shock absorbing stock and butt for recoil dampening, and best of all, a Grenade launcher for under the barrel. Mark smirked, and assembled it quickly, loaded it, and crammed some extra ammo in his coat before moving to the table where Slicer lay waiting. He picked the thing up, and stuffed it in a bag at his hip before transport arrying himself back into the vent, annd closing the grate.
From there, it was a quick slide down the shaft towards the underground tunnels, where he would once again exit, and then find a place to crouch into cover. Reaching into the pack at his hip, he withdrew Slicer, and placed it down on the ground, tapping the cameras to get his sister's attention.
"You there? I'm in. Begin the scouting out. The less I'm seen the better, we want Elsa to be where she's supposed to, after all." he said to his sister over the comms.
"The place is packed with people" Serenity said softly, Slicer bounced twice, she saw her brother clearly through the front camera. Swiftly resetting the infared vision to thermal and also inverted contrastto make out everything much clearler Serenity, still at the hoverbikes began moving "Connection is starting to falter out here, I'm coming in. I'll find a place to hide inside, Slicer will scout for traps..." A moment passed, "First door on the left is a closet, heat vent going down looks like a waste chamber"
Serenity went quiet for a moment, apparently reading something before a door was heard opening, a voice being silenced so quickly Mark was sure he didnt want to knoew exdactly what his sister had done. Though she did mumbled something in their favorite dialect "peeping toms..." the rest of her mumble was lost is feline growling. Another body was heard dropping, only this time the guy apparently simply fainted dead away at seeing a Tiger walking down a halway to the womens bathroom on the main floor
"This place is packed with people, most of them guards... must be green behind the ears too. two guys just fianted"
Mark rolled his eyes and sighed. He decided not to berate his sister and her feline tendancies for once and focused on the mission at hand "Got it, just guide me through."
With that, he holstered the rifle and got moving, staying crouched as he moved. He let Slicer and his sister guide him partially, but otherwise, was winging it with where to stop and where to hide. He opened doors slowly, a throwing knife at the ready to silently take out anyone who could see him and set off any sort of alarm. He hid the bodies in spots where people both look, but never think about, thus hiding them perfectly out of sight. His breathing was deliberately slow and quiet, so that nothing would be heard. The boots he was wearing were specialized for this mission, they weren't the Duradaedin-toed boots he normally wore, but were shock and sound dampening ones designed to lessen any of the few noises he ever made to increase his stealth capabilities.
He entered a common room area, filled with guards, and lowered to a crawl as there were tables everywhere fitted with table cloths he could use to hide under if needed. This was the slowest room, as he had to practically inch-worm his way under the connected tables, open the door on the other side, and then exit without a single out of place noise. It was as he was opening the door however, throwing knife drawn, that someone noticed him.
"Huh? What the..." Mark darted around the corner and stood, waiting as he pressed himself flush against the wall. The guard followed gun at the ready. He opened the door and poked his rifle through first, slowly following. It was then that Mark grabbed the rifle and pulled him through, the door closing behind him before slamming the rifle back into his jaw and knocking him out. Unloading the gun and dropping it on the man's lap, the Assassin continued.
"You got a map, sis? or a room with one? Could really use one." he whispered as he was currently in a closet, waiting for a patrol to pass.
Room with a map, and she had to find the main power control room too after stopping in the bathroom. She sat on a thankfully knocked out guard, using him as part of the chair as the massive Bengal kinda broke the thing. "Did you just take that guard into a closet ?" Thank goodness she saw it on the camera screen and not the human she sat on "No matter,... oh... Main powerboard... Whats this do... oops; well, so much for that energy trap right outside the door you're hoping to exit from..."
Wait what ?
A patrol of soldiers went by again looking for and calling for their comfrade in arms. "Lewts see its a little late for christmas poems so I'll make one up. Twas the night of the superbowl and all through the house... not a creature was stirring execept for four guys in bad looking pajamas carrying fully loaded party favors ready to fire at a moments notice... unless the lights went out..." And the lights in the hall promptly burnt out. "Whoops, clumsy me! You might be right about being a tiger sometimes, big paws make typing harder"
"Alrighty... There was an energy sensor trap at your feet, pressure plates. They're off now, the troops cant see... oh wait hangon... I hope you got your rebreather... Its gonna get a bit gassy on that floor." Serenity gave her brother a minute to put the facemask on before hitting the fire suppresion system. Of course she localised it only to that section. "You're clear, exit the closet and go left, stay low, I see everything from here, but its dark... Oh... oh no..."
Mark put his rebreather on and rolled his eyes, mildly amused by his sister's antics before he exited the closit and crouched low, hugging the wall. "Oh no? What the hell does that mean?" he growled into the comms as he rounded a corner, knife drawn as usual.
"Exactly what it says on the tin dear brother... Holy alqaraf" Serenity swore in Arabic then. "We have a minor problem, I forgot to lock out others; I got a little pest problem to deal with up here. Look for silver wires... or a silver floor... with a lot of water... stay off it" She said before the line went dead
Mark growled and sighed, and went on the look out for what she'd told him to look out for. Water, Silver...both great conductors of electricty, so the next trap was obvious. Upon finding such a floor, and noticing the thin sheen of water on it he stopped and leaned against the wall. He could wall-run across this easilly. He backed up and stood. Using his Eagle Vision to quickly make sure the wall wasn't spiked either, he ran and then jumped at the wall, running across it and landing on the other side of the trap with ease and with silence. He kept moving then, sighing to himself as he waited for his sister to join him back on the comms.
It took five aganozingly long minutes before Serenity's voice came back into her brothers ears "Sorry about that... " She said simply, she started typing on the keyboards before her. "Elevator shaft under maintenace; door should be open... now" The nearby elevator door opened without a sound, all mark could see was the elevator cables going up into the air.
"On my screens you're gonna have to drop a level, Slicer is in the vents one level down. You go any further on this level and you'll run into the main Survailalance offices and main missions rooms. Go up one level, you'll by pass it to then ext elevator, dont worry, the vent system connects to the elevator shafts"
Some more typing was heard before she spoke, "Be careful, they got Mousetraps on that level too. I can redirect them around but only so far. They have lights and they move, good luck" Suddenly Mark heard a loud WHACK of something getting hit followed by his sisters humor filled condencending voice "Did I say you could wake up ?! Go back to bed!"
Grunting, Mark entered another airvent and went up a floor and then turned to get into the elevator shaft. After kicking out the vent grate, he looked up and down, making sure the elevator was either where he needed it to be, or was coming. It was coming up, so he dropped down onto the top of it. "You wouldn't happen to know which floor number I need to go on do you?" He asked before popping open the top of the elevator and dropping in, quickly dispatching the five guards inside with clean slices to their throats before pressing the stop button, the elevator doing as told.
Once Serenity told him the floor number, he pressed it and crossed his arm as he hummed along to the elevator's music, a catchy tune that'd likely be in his head for a while. The door opened and he exited, luckily the blood from the guards not on his boots yet as he did so; didn't want to leave a trail behind.
He moved on, crouching to look around corners and moving while standing for the sake of time now. "Where to?" he asked quietly as he came upon a split in the halls.
"To the left, all the way down... oh and wave I see you. Slicer is to your right and directly below you by two levels." Serenity said simply as she watched Mark.
It was a moment later though when Serenity started trashing the security room. First she uploaded an old favorite dead end virus, then completely cut each wire on every possibe screen both at the wall and base of the screen. "All the way to the end of the hall to the left, there's an elevator on the right, two floors below your current one. We might have to do the rest of this together..."
Some shouting was heard then, followed by a sudden very male shriek as Serentiy growled over the comms. Well.. Serenity was having some fun. Finally she came back no the radio "Hey its me, I'll get the elevator and pick you up... My post here is... kinda wrecked." At least her brother waved
He did as told, and as the elevator arrived, he stepped backwards into it. "Took you long enough. Those damn mouse traps found me after you left, had to fight them off." he dropped a magazine from his Desert Eagle and took a look, a few bullets were left. He bit the inside of his cheek. If they didn't know he was here, they did now. That gun was loud.
The elevator dropped and he put the magazine back into the gun and cocked it, readying it. "Lead the way." he said to his sister.
But so was his sister. Serenity when the elevator door opened, was licking her right hand where her knuckles had been scraped raw. Even without the burns from the day before she was pretty as a human, but she was downright freaky with the burns when half cat. But she smirked, two dead men were with them in the elevator. At the unasked question she smirked "nah, never met them before, they tried to get frisky." One held her sword in his stomach
The purple and silver tech heavy sword hummed slightly as the bossed embelm feating their family crest upon it three ragged clawmarks, undewich went the typical Assassin's mark in gold and white edged in red.. Serenity wrenched the weapon from the dead mans stomach and sheathed it on her back. Picking up with it a pistol, the outdated USP tactical was tiny in her mostly furred hand at that point.
As the elevator door opened they peeked carefully before stepping out into the hallway "OK, from what I remember there's silver water trap three paces directly down center. With silver wire traps on both walls." She held up a hand with a finger pointing up "But I also remebmer the vent is right there. She pointed at the vent, Slicer was seen no the other side, seemingly waiting for them.
Serenity motioned for the bag from her brother. Slicer had been blown up by IEDs from Templars, but somehow it didnt brake, sure the body, plastic flimsy as all hell, needed replacement, as did one or two cameras, but toherwise the frame was solid. She opened the vent and picked up Slicer by the front bumper, easily sliding it into the bag, then attaching that to her right hip. "Ready ? This vent leads directly paraelle to this hallway, according to the map its liek a second hallway, but for air, and... waste management..."
Hopefully they didnt have trashcompactors here like they did in Egypt and Jordan...
Mark grunted. "Great. Just what we need, some shit-smelling air." He was thankful he still had his mask on from before, the thing filtering the air around him and giving him pure air that didn't smell.
Serenity entered the vent first since she remembered the map. Once inside Mark closed the vent opening behind them so none could see them coming or had been there aside from the two dead in the elevator.
After going around a turn and paraelle to the hall, they heard voices and saw a light ahead. two male voices "We've had that woman four days now, no answer, nothing. Why'd boss make us leave anyway ?"
"Cause he wanted the ladies in there with her. You remember. The cold the boss said the cold dont bother her none, but she could still get sick from all the questioning we did the last four days. the boss even left when the ladies came in. From what I hear ladies dont mind other ladies bodies."
"True, What about the gunshots upstairs ?"
"Most likely target practise in the practise rooms"
"Do we even issue guns that sound that heavy?"
"Hell if I know."
The vent eased open without a sound and Serenity eased through noiselessly. The two men were sitting on the low sofa, their backs to the vent, both men were on break it looked like, one drank from a coffee mug.
"Yeah well, the woman, pretty as she is, the boss says no games, no fun around her. He just wants info, important info."
"You ever wonder what the boss seeks ? Why this woman directly ?"
"Dont ask dont get shot, thats my motto"
"The boss is trigger happy ? Never took him for it"
Neither man saw a hand in dark leather and silver scales gently reach the deck behind the sofa the two sat upon. two clearance cards were on there, theyd use them easy enough. Once Serentiy had them she stayed low and just as quietly edged her way back to the vent. Silently closing it behind her as if she had never been in the room. A moment or so later and the two agents were left behind as they moved on. Serentiy used ione of her wristphone bracelets to make a light so she could read off the names "Aaron Wadrat, and Cilia Krae; Norse names are weird"
The two came upon a vent in a foyer of a sort. The key access cards were needed to get through the only door. Thankfully once they barred the outer door after peeking into the hall to make sure the coast was clear, they set to work breaking the lock.
It was keycard, then a code... a four digit code...
Mark noticed the code and narrowed his eyes. "Don't touch anything." he said before wandering off for a few minutes. He arrived back at the room those two men were and emerged from the vent. He'd do some questioning himself. Drawing his Desert Eagle and his sword, he approached the two and held his gun to the head of one of them, and his sword to the throat of the other.
"Master Code. Now. You get to live."
The two men blinked and the one drinking coffee managed to swallow the mouthful of liquid before beginning to shake. "Look man, we're just lackies."
Mark's grip tightened on the gun, the click of the safety disengaging rang out. "This gun will paint that wall with your brains. Speak." Mark growled.
"Look, we dunno man. Boss man says it's a family secret."
"Family?"
"Y-yea. Um...shit what was it."
"Three..."
"Three? what the-"
"Two..." The strain of his finger on the trigger tightenened.
"Wolfe! That's the guy's name."
Mark paused, and then relaxed his trigger finger.. "Very good." with that he pulled back his gun, and then punched with his sword hand. The hilt slammed into the closest guy while the blade decapitated the other, and then with a flick of the wrist the other guy's head dropped as well.
He returned to his sister and quickly punched in the four digits. 2681, the machine paused, and beeped twice before turning green, and opening. "My father used it when I was a boy." he explained. "That means he's alive; and that the bastard is somewhere nearby..." Mark growled. He looked to his left Gauntlet, it was his father's before him. Now it was his. He sighed and grit his teeth. "Let's go."
When the light went green Serenity held up a hand, she heard footsteps in the hall, Going to the door she listened carefully, her ears growing tiger fur as she shiftetd slightly to be able to hear clearer. "Half dozen men, rushing somewhere... We're clear" She noted the tone in her brothers voice. Holding up a hand she said simply "Whoever is on the other side of that door, we need to keep a level head, got it ?'
Of course the first guy on the other side of the door was a lackey. Who was promptly knocked out by Serenity's fingers to the base of the skull from behind as the room was well lit. And the floor had a good two inches of water. But thankfully nothing of silver. be it flooring, or wires. Serenity grabbed the gun before it hit the water, ejecting the magazine and tossing both eptied weapon and magazine in two different directions. a door way without a door lead to a larger room
And that room had someone inside it, well, two someones actually, the second one being hidden in a darkened corner.
Serenity's eyes went wide with alarm, a startled growl in her feline throat seeing the soaked table, and who laid on it...
It was Elsa. Oh not good.
Mark rushed in and quickly went to the far side of the bed, behind Elsa. "My Queen, it's me." he said, she'd know who he was by how he addressed her. His finger tips quickly went to her throat gently to check her pulse, and he poked around her body to make sure her nerves were working, at each twitch he moved on before moving to the restraints her hands and feet were tied to.
Sleep clouded eyes fluttered.. "Mark ? What's going on ?" Slurred Elsa as Mark started undoing the restraints that held her to the rolling hospital bed as Serenity went searching through various hampers and drawers for a blanket or even a simple cloak for Elsa to cover herself with. The fact she was naked, well mostly, apparently someone had the decensy to keep her icey under dress still on. Though it was mostly sheer to begin with; still on her body. She was slowly waking up. But as Mark halted in releasing her restraints she asked "What is it ?"
Mark had stopped because he was staring at apparently himself, but older, Marcus Wolfe stood there at the foot of the bed "You!" Mark hissed recognsing the man first as the CIA agent that had kidnapped Elsa
Marcus merely smiled thinly, "I see it fits you, it suits you like that armor" He said, meaning the gauntlet
Mark growled deep in his throat as Marcus merely blinked at him with a soft smile as he said "Hello... Son"
Mark's eyes began to glow dimly at those words. "Father. I knew I'd find you here eventually." despite the negative emotions, there was still an modicum of respect in Mark's voice. "I figured that once I got the Gauntlet you were either dead or had dishonored the Clan. When your lackies told me how to get the pass code, I knew it was the latter." he reached up and slowly drew his sword from its sheath on his back and pointed it at his father.
"What did you do." it wasn't a question, but a demand. Since he held the Gauntlet, Mark was leader of the clan, as leader of the clan, his authority overruled his father's.
Marcus kept his face in a thin smile, while his eyes showed fatherly love, his tone was even. "There comes a time when a man has to make a choice. And then after that choice, live with it for the rest of his life." He turned from maark and looked towards a holographic map on the wall. "Three years after you left Arendelle, three years after I saw you on that ship... I lost her" On the map was London, dating back to three years after he'd left Arendelle all those years before.
The last known location of Charity Wolfe.
"For three years, like colckwork, once every seven days, I would receive a letter, from your mother, or your sister. Sometimes both. But after three years... I received a letter, not from your mtoher, or your sister... but by the London Police Department. There had been a gunman at a school... they were caught in the gunfire. According to thle etter your mother died... a double tap to the prabellum..."
Serenity finally finding a blanket to wrap Elsa in stepped into Marcus field of view. he didnt recognise the young woman. "Marion. was found the same night, they ruled it a sucide, poison." He faltered then. He reached into his pocket and removed an envelope. He held it out to Mark. "This was the last letter your mtoher sent to me. with it is the last letter your sister sent to me"
Little did either of them know it, but it was staged with help from the Brotherhood.
Mark's face softened a tad when he heard the story, and he quickly snatched the letter and read it, his eyes looking puzzled and lost as he read it, before dropping it and sighing. His eyes twitched, and the anger returned. "Did you go to their funerals? Did you see their bodies? Or did you stay and lose your title by abandoning your flesh and blood?" He growled. A tear streaked down his cheek, not from pain or sorrow, but from rage. But with all the emotions in the room, Marcus would likely be unable to tell.
Finally Mark huffed, feral and loud before gripping his sword. "What does any of this shit have to do with Elsa?" He growled.
"That is the choice I had to make." Marcus said finally turning to his son, his tone hard and stern. "I wanted to go to their funerals, to see their bodies, By the time I got the notice they had passed on. They were buried, I had failed them, when I got the notice it was too late. dont you get it, Boy! By time the letter from the police got to me in Korea, they were already buried, ?! I lost two of the family I had left! I lost my brother the day we had to seperate you and your sister!" he was nearly shouting by then.
When Marks hand went to his sword Serenity set a gentle hand on her brothers shoulder. Her eyes said what she was thinking, iPlease dont do anything rash/i Marcus continued, after taking a deep breath and letting it out. Finally he said simply. "On the other side of town there is a house. My home. I could not return to Arendelle after we seperated you and your sister. So I moved here... I... After your mothers death... I... met someone..."
Ok, that wasnt good, now Serenity was growling. Elsa though laid still on the table, now thankfully drapped in a warm blanket. Finally marcus spoke again. His tone softer as he stepped over to a nearby weapons rack. A glittery green bladed sword was on it. "I wanted you. Son... To see you... After all these years..."
He stood before the strange green glittery sword, "The last of the Wolfe Caln, the last protector of Arendelle. When I lost the Gauntlet... I lost I had failed. I knew in my heart I had failed not only Arendelle, but you. Your sister, your Mother..."
He smirked as he heard the growls from Serenity, a cornered cat. Typical. "is the kitten going to pounce ?" Serenity made a move to grab her own swords off her back but Marks words stopped her in her tracks.
"Take Elsa and leave." Mark's words growled forth from his throat. "Leave my father to me." he stepped around the bed and lowered slowly into a stance. Mark's eyes and armor glowed in response to seeing that sword in front of his father. He spoke again. "I see you took at least something with you from home. I've been scouring the manor for that sword. I'm leaving with it."
Serenity nodded, "Mm' She simply hummed in agreement before moving to the bed to get Elsa free. Her hands briefly shifted to a feline like size so she could use her claws and began cutrting the restraints as Marcus simply smirked
"So this is how our clan ends ?" He mused aloud, "Or maybe it is not an ending. But a beginning ?" He saw there was something between mark and Elsa, a connection there. a strong one.
Without warning the Sword of Eden was in Marcus' hand and he was diving for Mark, aiming not to kill, but to injure, or disarm. The Sword of Eden was light, and against duradaeden, it was infact quite durable. Sparks exploded where their swords met. It was those selfsame sparks that Elsa saw as she left the room with Serenity all but carrierng her towards a bathroom.
Once Elsa was out of the room Mark pushed back against his father and countered with his own strike, training kicking in and aiming to kill immediately. "This is where your clan ends, Father. Mine will flourish and defend Arendelle for generations more." he retorted before launching forth a flurry of attacks with his sword and claws. Luckilly his gauntlets had duradaeden pads on the palms, for when Marcus blocked those swipes he did so with the Sword of Eden.
Marcus through use of the sword and hard years on his own to train with the weapon when he could, kept his feet well. Blocking, parrying, and keeping his son at bay. But even then for only so long. Father and son, facing off.
Finally their weapons locked, Marcus, for all his years of training as the leader of the Wolfe Clan, then all his years alone. Never smiled as their weapons were crossed between them. For a long moment they simply stood their, their strength fighting the other to try and push the other back even one step
Finally the lock broke and turning his sons sword wide he easily kicked up a foot, also knocking wide the claws before speaking and catching his sons sword again "Can you live life with that choice, Son ? The choice to kill the only family you have left ?" Another block, a strike. But Marcus wasnt aiming to kill, no, he was simply aiming to disarm, The Sword of Eden smacked into Marks shoulder armor of his sword arm solidly, a sharp CRACk of Eden Technology rattled the walls and blew out a few lights in the ceiling
Mark grunted as the sword cracked into his shoulder armor, the lights fizzling out as they were blown out by the sound of Eden Tech. Mark spun into a defensive stance and his eyes glowed from his Eagle Vision. He could still see perfectly. "If that is my choice, then I will do it." he replied. He bent his knees and his boots shifted to his Duradaeden toed ones, the thick leather tight around his ankles and lower legs before he moved forward again, flinging his arm out, a rope dart launching from one of the few gaps in the armor, the dagger heading straight for his father's throat while a counter strike with his sword came to slash across his chest.
Mark used the rope dart to keep his father off balance, spinning and flinging it around with deadly expertise and precisicion, similar to how one would use a Kasurigama, that pain in the ass of a weapon that Blackmane forced Mark to study for a few months in Cairo just to get him out of her har, or fur, depending on her mood.
"I see they taught you to cultivate it" Marcus said, he too could use eagle vision pretty well. But it wasnt as good as his son. He smacked aside the sword as he easily dodged the thrown dart "But are you sure you can live with that choice ? To kill your own flesh and blood ?" Marcus poked out his blade, it spiraled the ropedart onto it he caught the tip in his hand and pulled, the blade of the sword however it turned so the flat of the blade cracked agianst Marks armor blowing out more lights and setting the bed which once held Elsa, on fire
"I've learned a few tricks here and there." he said as the blade once more slammed into his armor. His eyes didn't even dart to it to check if it was fine; he knew it was. Severing the rope and ducking inside his father's Guard, his left hand, the prised gauntlet of the Wolfe Clan for generations, lurched forward, hidden blade sliding out of the wrist towards his throat before Marcus grabbed it with his free hand, stopping his arm in its tracks an inch away from his jugular.
"I'll manage." Mark growled before grunting and shoving his father back again, ducking his head to avoid the inevitable swing of the sword of Eden. He followed then, darting back and forth to disorient Marcus before slamming his sword downwards in a hard slash that would cut any normal man in half, and shatter even the strongest of human-made swords.
His sons hidden blade so close to his neck, his eyes never left his sons. "Are you sure ? Deep in your heart" the Sword of Eden came down, but Mark had danced away and brought his own sword to bear after a few fients. Briging up the Sword of Eden Marcus was driven to one knee, the floor cracked under them, the cement sending bits of rock into the air where it cracked apart before Marcus pushed upwards with all his strength and lifted his son off the floor and whacked hard with the Sword of Eden
Of course he missed Mark completely and cut the bed that once held Elsa into a dozen pieces with sheer energy from the sword alone. Finally seperated Marcus held the sword towards his son. "You do not even have a wife." In a heartbeat Mark was on him and their blades locked solid, Dragon forged Duradaeden repaired and remade by the legendary Yaeko Wolfe herself, against the sword of their Ancestor Second Wolfe, their founder sparked madly at the sudden locking.
For frantic moments it was their freehand in a martial free for all, blocking and striking in various stances before breaking apart, Marcus brought his sword into a defensive stance. But his free hand was also in a different stance. Eagle, Marcus smirked "Or maybe you did... that lady on the bed you had the cat take away..."
Mark was silent, but his silence only answered Marcus' question. "You do fancy her. A fine woman, son. Be sure to treat her better than I had to." this sent Mark into a frenzy of strikes and slashes that Eagle Vision would likely have a hard time tracking. Marcus was able to keep up for a majority of the frenzy before the ache in his fatigued muscles, no longer used to such vigorous combat, weakened his grip just enough for Mark to smack the sword out of his hand, sweep the leg, and corner his Father with the point of his sword to his throat. The Sword of Eden landed in Mark's free hand, and he held it loosely and relaxed as his eyes blazed bronze.
Mark's ear twitched as his sister sent out the all-clear signal, that she'd made it outside with Elsa. Mark blinked slowly, and lowered his blade. "Word of advise, Father. Leave the CIA, the beurocratic bullshit is too much." he said before opting to render him incapacitated with a swift side kick to the gut, leaving him gasping for breath. Mark sheathed his own sword, forged by Yaeko, and switched the Sword of Eden to his right hand before going to the wall. Luckilly, the sheath was there, too. Slinging it across his shoulder so the blade was at his left hip, he sheathed it and booked it for the surface.
By the time Mark had gotten to their meeting point Serenity had procured for them a van, a modern rig, not a hovervan like she was used to, but it did the job. Plus it was large enough to hold their hoverbikes. Ontop of that it had Slicers basket space too. So when Mark exited the CIA building, Serentiy pulled into view, the side door slid open "Company's coming get in!" Serenity called.
Oh great, SHE was driving, Serenity plus a car meant bad news; or fun times, but then again this was most likely Elsas third time in a car of any kind too. Soon as Mark was in and the door was shut Serenity shot the van out of the parking lot before the gates cloud close. Looking to her brother she saw him tired, but otherwise in good shape "What happened back there ? Half way to the elevator the power went out in the place, had to navigate by Eagle Vision"
Mark raised the hilt of the Sword of Eden in response to her question. "This hit my armor. I'm fine, but the power for this part of Norway likely isn't." He said. He then began to laugh, the feeling of freedom as they were speeding away filling him and he smirked, turning to Elsa. "You alright?" He asked. "Did they hurt you?"
Serenity snickered, "You found it ? Man that sword looks familar too, like out of one of those holovids Mother had us watch to learn from" The van pulled onto the road with Serenity at the wheel, they werent chased yet as the gate shut behind them, bullets traced around but quickly fell behind.
Elsa shook her head, "It is all a haze" She said. "There were a few men, one... he held something over my face, another made it wet..." Serenity swore softly in Arabic, though Mark knew exactly what she said, Those men were waterboarding her ?! Where they insane ? But she said it was all a haze too. so that meant she had been sedated or even drugged worse. "its nine or so hours to Arendelle, I can drive us home pretty quick if I must. Hey bro, if you got a connection to call off all police followers, best use it I can get pretty good speeds on straightways, but with cops scouring for us It'll take us longer to get home"
Mark was quiet when he heard that they waterboarded her. Now he really should have killed his father. But enough of that. "I got an idea or two..." He said in response to his sister's question. With that he took out his wrist phone, and called Car Key.
"Scorp?"
"Yo, Key. Can you tell any and all police or highway patrol from my current location to Arendelle that all hands are needed at the station, as the goverment has an important mission breifing regarding the relocation of a Nuclear Warhead from a friendly nation?"
"You thought of this on the spot didn't you? Who are you Jack Hawk ?"
"What's your point?"
"I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks Key."
"You owe me some of the Queen's wine though in return."
"Done, she doesn't drink it anyway." Car Key smirked, and let out a quiet giggle before doing as requested. Mark hung up and leaned back in his seat, putting his feet up on the dash as he lowered his hood. and let his armor vanish before rubbing his eyes. "If you need me to drive lemme know. Otherwise, I ain't had a nap in a while." he yawned, closing his eyes. He'd help Elsa get over the trauma of waterboarding soon, or if it ever showed that she had trauma. So far, it didn't, with her still in a haze. He sighed and let out a breath, his broad chest shrinking as he let out his breath, then steadily rising and falling as he napped.
"I got this bro. Take your nap. I'll wake you when we get home" Serenity said in their childhood dialect. With newfound street freedom Serenity leaned on the gas, their nine hour drive had just been cut in half. Elsa, still in a haze, like Mark, had passed out on the back seat, leaving Serenity to listen over the radio system she still had in one ear in order to elude all police everywhere she turned. She was skleeping in for sure when she got home. She snickered at times listning to the frantic reports of a fleeing van
She stopped only once for gas on the way back to Arendelle, but thankfully the guy working the place wasnt informed or had just come on duty as she paid in cash for the gas then left after filling the tank of the stolen van. Another four hours and they'd be home
North Mountain
West Face
North Pole Light Dock Ruins
That same Night
The snow fell, covering her in its white cold deadly embrace. Yet while she slept in the snowfall, she dreamed. She woke up. Within a well lived and packed small city, a city so unlike London or anything else she had seen before in her life. Marion turned in a full circle, taking in the white presitine crystal stonework. Intricate designs trailed upon the stones. As she took it all in, seeing the people a voice broke into her thoughts. "I have always loved this Dock. One of the only ways to get home to Mother by portal or ship." Diamond said stepping into view
"Am I dreaming ?" Marion asked, she had to be as the people walked right though her, not even seeing her yet, she couldnt harm them.
"Perhaps" Diamond replied, a soft smile on her face.
Covered by scales, her face glittered in the sunlight. Marion didnt remember seeing her before so she asked. "Who are you ?"
"I am Diamond" The woman in white and lime green replied. "I know who you are, Marion Wolfe, the daughter of Charity and Marcus Wolfe. Half human, half Eagle, Half Tigris. But at your birth. we had a bit of a problem with that." Diamond explained. Marion dodded, she remembered being ill, her mother spoke to her about it when she was returning to Arendelle only a year before. How her eyes had taken on that shine of silver edged with ice green. Like that of a dragon. "When your mother used the Healing Stone upon us, it washed away what made you ill. Made you what you were born to be... Made... bus/b who we are, who we were to become."
"When I questioned my mother of her bloodline, of my bloodline, Mother didnt want to talk about it. I had to grill her for it" Marion turned away from Diamond, and smacked a wall. It was then she saw what she was wearing, the sliver clothed arm, hers, glittered bright in the sunlight around her. Upon feeling it it felt cold to the touch. Brief memories of her fight with her mother before leaving had she released what was going on. "What is happening to me ?!" She cried dropping to her knees briefly
"The snowfall has caused a brief rockslide, buring your body under it deep in the snow. Do not worry, my magic is defending you from harm of the extreme cold, you will feel cold briefly, but it will pass before you know it. After all, you were always the one to sneak out of the house in the dead of winter as a child, go up on the roof, and let the snowfall around you when pretty much naked, or fresh from a bath with naught but a towel" Diamond said simply, Marion stated at her. Diamond smiled, "Remember, we are one being, I am you and you are me. Remember the dream of a palace of crystal. A portal transporting you there. Seeing a woman with black hair, and a bright golden almost glowing dress ?" Marion nodded. "That was not simply a dream" Diamond started walking through the crowd, Marion followed her
"What do you mean ? I dreamed it, how can it be not just a dream ?" She asked, it unnerved her to simply walk through the people, or vice versa.
"It was a memory. A memory you had, a memory... of mine" Diamond said. "When your mother used the healing stone on you,... us... it brought what made you, you. in this case, me. and washed away everything ewlse that didnt make you what you were. You are the daughter of the Wolfe Clan yes, but... when Light called you her daughter. She meant it." Diamond stepped towards a building, it was like a massive airport, similar to Atlanta or Orlando airport, heck possibly even like Denver or Heathrow airports if that in construction, a single massive tower was in the place, it towered hundreds of meters into the sky. Marion figered it at ten kilometers, but she was off by thirteen kilometers. The Light Dock was extactly the same hight as its counterpart, twenty three kilometers
As they walked through the docklike town Marion saw many ships attached to the massive tower, airships unlike any she had ever seen in her life, buyt they all reminded her of the Whitesparrow. "What is this place ?"
"This was the Light Dock, one of the few places to open a portal to return to the Courts of Light... Mothers home so to speak" The two continued walking, coming to a steel and glass building Marion saw hundreds of people in similar clothing to herself and Diamond at work on seemingly holographic technologies within the building. "Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the precoursors ran things." Diamond said, as she spoke the technoliogies slowly changed to crystals and floating holopgrahic devices before the building was empty. Marion noticed the street too was empty. But when she turned to look the street around her changed into war and bloodshed "For a generation there was war... And then... Arendelle was established. Well before my... our... birth... The first queen, Flowerfist the Fair, and your ancestor, Second Wolfe, had established Arendelle... For a time the country prospered, but... then came the darkness"
As Diamond continued to speak Marion watched it all, Queen Ingrid the First, soon become a dark and evil woman, nearly drove Arendelle to the ground by her evil power, creating from her magic a creature of power below her own. Draco, then a young Black Dragon, had become a new breed of dragon, Marion saw it all. Thanks to this history trip it was one hell of a memory walk. She walked among the memories, watching as Draco corrupted certain other Black Dragons, and then falling in love with another like him. The memory stopped when they were once more surrounded by glasslike crystal halls. "Mother commended her, yet..." Marion watched as Diamond quieted, she watched the memory through Diamonds eyes, of Kethend being banished.
Marion dropped to her knees again as the cold bit at her. Diamond's image faltered briefly. "You must fight to reclaim what is ours by right." Diamond said, her voice echoed around Marion, she saw in her hands her twin swords, the swords she had made from a Piece of Eden. She also felt her ancestor, Yaeko's swords at her hips.
"What am I to fight ? If this is just snow buring me ever deeper in its cold embrace..." Marion said
Diamond shook her head, "Illuisons can kill, defeat them, survive the cold. Reclaim what belongs to you." Diamond said, Marion turned then, seeing the villagers had changed into bloodthirsty Red Dragons, Moving quickly she dispatched them in pairs. Using her abilties, her speed. And last of which were Diamonds own magic abilites. She launched one target off the side, killing it as it fell out of sight. She threw one of her swords at another, dropping it in its tracks.
As she moved through the endless cold caverns of a broken mindscape Marion saw brief images of what could be the past, or her present, When she came upon her mother surrounded by Red Dragons, Marion fought like a demon against the Reds, finally bringing them down she went to her mother who laid in the snowfall. Dropping her swords she cradled her mother's head in her lap. Diamond reappeared. "Was it truly worth losing your mother ? Her secret she kept from you. Who you really are, what you are. Was it truly worth it ?"
For a long moment Marion simply cradled her dead mothers head in her lap, the Reds had trampled her, her body broken. Surrounded by Red Dragons, and now ruins, Marion stared ahead, tears streamed from her eyes. Finally she shook her head. "No, Mother had her reasons to keep her secrets from me. I was wrong to fight her for them. No secret is worth losing the only family you have left." She said at long last
Diamond smiled. With a nod she said simply. "Wake up, Marion. Before the snow falls again" The scene faded around her and her eyes snapped open
Sitting bolt upright in a snowdrift Marion dug her way out and then tripped over what had to be a brief foundation, she looked up again, and very briefly she thought she saw a tower high into the sky. But she watched as the image faded into naught but trees and broken mountains. She looked down to see what she had tripped over, and found a working trap door, She broke it open and climbed down, black rock filtered sunlight like mirrors, making the dank place seemingly glow from within. She came to a halt at the base of a stairway.
She halted and stared. A pair of almost glasslike swords floated in center of the light column, she heard Diamonds voice again in her ears, echoing from the back of her mind, "Relcaim what belongs to you. What belongs to us. Go back to your mother, be with her! She needs you..." Diamonds voice faded from Marions mind but with her diamond scale upon her chest Marion reached forwards, energy branched out from the swords, latching onto her arm, recognsing her the swords flung themselves first into the air, energy lancing everywhere before latching on to her arms again as she reached for the two swords. Flashes of electrical power lanced across the cavern as the swords nested perfectly in her hands. Upon looking at the blades, Marion saw not her face, but Diamonds smiling face of approval. A fast motion and the swords were on her hips, their hilts glittering brightly with gold and lime green.
It was time to go home.
At about the same time as Marion finding the twin swords of who she once was, a van pulled into the Greensky District and parked in the Den yard there. Elsa was home after four days away,
The sun was coming up.
Mymory Sync verified; seqeunce 9 completed