Chapter 3: Vianca's Beginning
The rest of the day, Alister kept the amulet close to him and the others asked her many questions. They learned she was 23 years old and her birthday was the exact day she died, which was December 14th. Alister talked for hours with this odd spirit, learning about the past and him teaching her about the present.
"And now instead of horse drawn carriages we have what we call cars that run a liquid fuel," Alister explained.
"Wow, and they move?" Vianca asked.
"Yep, just as well as horse, but half the time you don't have the hassle of getting it to listen to the driver," He answered with a bit of a chuckle.
"Oh, I wish I could see it for myself," Vianca said with a sad sigh. "But I guess it's for the best."
"Wait, you can't see anything? You can't see me?" Alister asked as he pointed the gemstone at himself.
"No, I can't. I am confined to the green glittery scenery of the gemstone," She said.
"Have you tried….to come out in some way? You know making like a human like persona?" He asked as he set the amulet on the table.
"No, I don't know what I can do," Vianca answered. Alister thought for a moment and looked around. Lara had gone on another mission and Zip was guiding her. Alister was currently in the library.
"Well, you know it doesn't hurt to attempt it. Why not try to?" Alister said as he sat back and waited. For a moment there was silence, but then a sigh was heard.
"Alright, I guess if I'm going to find out what I can and can't do it might as well be now," She said. The gem began to glow more and more. Alister put one of his arms up to help dim the bright glow. When the glowing dimmed more, Alister managed to look and he was in awe. There stood a green-like spirit with hair that went a little past her shoulders. She wore a dress that looked to be tattered at the bottom, it covered her feet. She opened her eyes, which were just a bright green. "It...it…" She looked to be surprised as she noticed what had happened. Alister got up and walked over to her.
"It worked," He said as he took her hand. She looked up at him and sees him for the very first time.
"I'm really here. I can't believe it," Vianca said as her excitement showed. Alister smiled happily at her. She began to run around happily, feeling as free as could be. Until, she got so far that she was suddenly pulled back towards Alister. He caught her quickly as she fell back.
"Are you alright?" Alister asked as he helped her back up. She nodded and looked over to the amulet.
"I guess I can't get too far from the amulet," Vianca said as she looked away. "I should've known that I wasn't truly free yet." Alister grabbed the amulet and put it around is neck.
"There, now we can go places and you don't have to worry," Alister said. "Besides, I did say I would keep you safe, didn't I?" Vianca stared at him for a bit, but then a small smile appeared on her face and she nodded at him. "Now, let's go see Zip." He held out his hand to her and she gently placed her hand in his. Alister led her out of the library and to where Zip was. He poked his head in to see Zip guiding Lara through some ruins. Alister smiled evilly to himself and silently walked in. Vianca tilted her head to the side as he walked up behind Zip. He slowly approached him and made sure Lara was in a safe place before he did anything. Alister suddenly grabbed Zips shoulder and yelled "BOO!" Zip yelled and jumped up, turning around to see who was behind him.
"Zip, what's going on?" Lara asked from her current position. Alister fell over laughing and Vianca was confused. She walked up to Alister, who was laughing on the floor. Zip saw Vianca and yelled out of fear again this time falling down. "Zip?" Vianca walked over to Zip and held out her hand.
"Are you alright, Zip?" Vianca asked as she held out her hand to him. Zip just looked at her for the longest time, before Alister sat up and spoke.
"Oh Zip, you should have seen your face," Alister said as he wiped a tear away from his eye. He sees what's going on now and began to laugh again. "Zip, you don't have to be scared of her. That's Vianca." Zip looked over at Alister with annoyance and then looked back at the green spirit before him.
"Vianca, the spirit from the necklace?" Zip asked Vianca nodded and continued to hold her hand out to him. Zip took her hand and she helped him up.
"Zip, are you there? Is everything alright?" Lara asked again a little more frantic. Zip grabbed his headset, which fell on the floor and put it on.
"I'm fine, Lara. Alister and Vianca just scared the crap out of me," He said. Lara chucked a bit. "Oh, did you know that Vianca can appear outside of her amulet as a green ghost. I didn't."
"No, I didn't, Zip. I might just have to see this myself once I'm done here," Lara said as she went back to climbing. Alister got up off the floor and put a hand on Zip's shoulder again.
"I'm sorry Zip, but I couldn't resist." Alister said as he was still laughing. "I came to show you what Vianca can do and then I saw an opportunity."
"Yeah, you know what i see," Zip said as he looked up at Alister. Alister looked at him questioningly. "An opportunity to do this." Zip quickly grabbed Alister and began to give him a noogie.
"Ah, no!" Alister said as he attempted to get away. Vianca instantly thought he was hurting him and went over there.
"What are you doing? Stop it," She said as she grabbed Zip's arm and tried to pull him off. Zip let go of Alister, who instantly backed up and tried to fixed his hair.
"Vi, it was fine. Do you not know what a noogie is?" Zip asked as he looked at her. Vianca let go of Zip's arm and was looking at him curiously.
"A noogie?" She asked as she said the word to herself a couple times. Alister fixed his hair and walked over to Vianca.
"A noogie is when someone grabs you and turns their hand to a fist, proceeding to rub their knuckles on your scalp back and forth really fast. It messes up your hair and can hurt depending on who is doing it," Alister explained. "Don't worry it's not meant to harm you tho. It's supposed to be funny." Vianca looked at Zip and then back at Alister.
"It didn't look fun," Vianca said as she continued to look up at him. She noticed a part of his hair was out of place and she reached her hand up. Alister was confused on what she was doing, but stayed in place. She fixed that part of his hair and then lowered her hand. "You missed a spot."
"Thank you," Alister said calmly. Zip smiled over at the two and quickly noticed the amulet around Alister's neck.
"Oh, you're wearing it," Zip said as he turned in his chair to him. Alister looked over at him and realized what he was talking about.
"Oh yeah, Vianca can't go very far away from it, so I decided to put it on she can walk around more," Alister said as he looked down at the amulet. Zip smiled more and looked back to his monitor. Vianca walked over to Zip curiously and looked over his shoulder. She saw a girl jumping and climbing a ruin-like place.
"Who is that?" She asked as she pointed at the screen. Zip chuckled at her curiosity and continued to do what he was doing.
"That's Lara. She's basically our field agent. She goes into Tombs and abandoned places and finds out what happened there and finds ancient artifacts," Zip said as he looked back at her. "That's how she found you. She went to that castle and found the amulet. Then, she brought it back at Alister's request and presto now you're here." Vianca looked back at Alister, but then back at the monitor. She instantly saw something from afar in the video feed. She saw a few guys with guns ahead of Lara, and she was heading straight for them.
"Look out!" She said as she pointed.
"What's going on now?" Lara asked as she stopped to talk. Vianca looked around and saw one of those things that Zip was using. She grabbed it and held the soft part up to her mouth.
"There a people up ahead with weapons. You're heading straight for them," Vianca answered as she continued to look at the screen. Lara looked around at her surroundings a little more cautiously.
"I don't see anyone, are you sure?" She asked as she continued to look around.
"Trust me, I can see things a little...differently with me being a spirit now. I can see what appears to a group of 4 men and they are carrying rather big weapons. They look like weird versions of muskets," Vianca explained. Alister started to like freak out a bit from hearing this. Zip looked over at him and gave him a weird look.
"Are you ok buddy?" Zip asked him seeing his reaction.
"She had muskets back in her time," Alister said as the historian part of him showed. Zip chuckled and turned back to his monitor.
"So, there's that they have guns, they are not friendly," Zip said as he looked at Vianca. "Those musket looking things are present day guns, which are way more lethal." Vianca looked at him worriedly and then back at the screen.
"Thank you for the heads up, Vianca," Lara said as she began to climb up a wall to get a better look. Vianca smiled and put down the headset. She walked back over to Alister, who was still having a geek moment.
"You ok, Alister?" She asked as she looked up at him. Alister noticed the way he was acting and quickly straightened himself up.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I love hearing about those kinds of things and sometimes I can get carried away," Alister said as he rubbed the back of his head and a small blush appeared on his face. Vianca giggled sweetly at him and smiled up at him.
"If you wish to know more about my time, then I won't hesitate to answer your questions," She said as smiled up at him. Alister looked at her and then smiled down at her kindly. Vianca felt happy to be around such kind people and be near someone so interested historical moments. She felt alive there.