Ophelia's sullenness had disappeared, but in its place…something just as bad.
"To the right. No, that isn't…left!" she snapped, sprinting through a fork in the main road, "We'll be fine. The quicker we get out of this place, the better." I detected a slight movement behind me and jumped, before realising it was just Fenrir, eyes boring through my skull.
"Keep on running." He ordered. We did better than that. We sprinted for what felt like hours. My pace, as well as Fenrir's became dogged.
"Re…rest. Please." I managed to gasp out. Ophelia, the least tired, hastily led us through a maze of alleyways, not stopping until we had entangled ourselves into the concrete jungle. Leaning my weight on the wall, I took a few deep breaths, gradually dispelling the burning in my lungs, and the tense feeling of stiffness paralysing my body. By increments, my breathing slowed and my heartbeats faded back to a dull pulse. "How…?" Ophelia looked sharply at Fenrir. He stood against the wall, as if he were trying to blend into it.
"I think…that'd my fault. The tracking device was probably too powerful. I-I'm sorry." She shook her head, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Save it. Let's focus on getting back. Homecoming is still pretty far. Are you better Inori?" I nodded.
"You think…we're safe?" It was sort of rhetorical, but Ophelia answered anyway.
"I know this place like the back of my hand. You can get lost in this place if you just happen to wander around for a while. Now let's go." Walking actually helped with nerves, even though we still didn't talk much, apart from Ophelia's murmured directions. Soon, we reached an open area, making her pause. "Strange…this wasn't here before…" I walked past her, and looked around. Buildings gave way to an open space, about the size of a soccer field. Apart from the rubble and the lack of nets, it could have been one. I turned to Ophelia when a movement behind the two made me almost scream. They got the gist anyway, and slowly turned around. If I shouted at them to run…they stepped back, the…thing taller than any of us. The bug-man screeched, mandibles clicking, lumbering out of the shadows…and stopped, blocking our entrance. I shoved my hand into Ophelia's. She gently pushed it away. Now wasn't the time. She looked around for a potential escape.
"Keep your eyes on it, and move…to the other side. There's an alleyway there." She whispered to us. We had gradually shuffled our way to the centre, when Fenrir, guarding our rear, stopped us. Turning around, I realised what had caught his attention. Another insect stood guard. A sinking feeling built up in my throat.
"Uh…maybe to the left?" he suggested, keeping his eyes on the new threat. Ophelia took one look at it and stopped moving. A large shadow and the glint of exoskeleton dashed that hope. She had taken out her baton.
"Trapped. How did they even…" She muttered, cursing almost inaudibly. Ophelia pointed at the ground, but no ring materialised. "Of all the…" I looked at the humanoid bugs, still standing there. One…two…twelve in all. How could they be so still? Were they enjoying our sense of helplessness, as the Romans would a gladiator?
"Why aren't they moving?" It was Fenrir who answered.
"It's a standoff…for now. They'll move soon, but don't do anything sudden." He closed his eyes. Markings, in the shape of newts covered his arms and torso with a hot white incandescence. They began multiplying, forming even on his clothes, crawling, like they were alive, and covering him with a blanket of heat. Fenrir knelt – apparently the markings had weight - then stood, transformed. Dressed in a red hooded robe lined with feathers and wielding an elaborately carved staff, he looked like some kind of shaman. He reached into a pouch attached to his belt, looking for something.
"Nothing…" He sighed, retightening the drawstring, then thought for what seemed like hours before speaking. "We'll wait for them to attack, then break through and head to the city. Ophelia?" She pointed to the guarded entrance behind us, the one opposite to where we had entered.
"That way." Ophelia whispered, then almost accusatorily, "Do you think they knew…?"
"How should I…" Fenrir's reply was interrupted when a low murmur, the kind you get in temples, bubbled up around the ruins. Were they…talking? It began rising, both in pitch and volume, the chatter becoming a locusts wail. The cacophony suddenly dropped, leaving a ringing in my ears. The calm before the storm. "Ophelia?" she looked at him. "Protect Inori." The bugs screeched in a battle cry and charged. "Now!" Fenrir headed forward, directly towards an oncoming insect. Ignoring its claws, he stabbed upwards with his staff, right through its neck, stopping the attack in mid-swing. Ophelia and I took advantage of the gap and ran past the corpse, Fenrir in swift pursuit, withdrawing his staff. I saw the glint of steel at the end of it. Noticing our attempted escape, the insects barrelled towards us. Fenrir and Ophelia increased their speed, leaving me trailing slightly behind. Looking back anxiously, I saw one of the malware, faster than the others take advantage of this fact by lunging at me. Swinging blindly, I stopped the slash, but in its place, a white pain surged through my arm, my scream masking the sound of glass shattering, the weapon now in pieces. Almost collapsing, another jolt rushed through me. The malware, triumphant, withdrew its other claw from my side and prepared for a second blow.
"Down!" Ophelia screamed, and I obeyed only too happily, the pain and blood blossoming through my torso. A corpse collapsed next to me, and I felt her arms supporting me as we slipped through the alleyway. Fenrir, right behind us, had successfully taken out a handful of something like ash from his pouch, and tossed it at our assailants.
"Incandelight." He spoke, and explosions followed. Rushing to me, I noticed one of his hands glowing. It was…on fire? Placing it onto my side, I felt the pain melt away as the wound stopped bleeding, leaving only a deep gash. But my arm…I gasped, looking at the angle and closed my eyes. The angry sound of locusts picked up again. "Run!" Fenrir yelled as the smoke of the blasts cleared, revealing the insects perfectly intact, except for a light powdering of ash. Ignoring the feeling in my arm, I ran after Ophelia, Fenrir bringing up the rear. Glancing back, my heart jumped, seeing them follow just as quickly. Ophelia didn't seem to care or notice, not making an effort to weave through many different paths, instead finding the most direct route to the purple barrier ahead. Bursting through the alleyways, we found ourselves on a cracked road, with the city Fenrir called Madroia about a few blocks away. Sprinting towards it, I heard the insects screech right behind us. A loose piece of rubble broke my stride, sending me careening to the asphalt. 'No.' all my thoughts screamed as I thudded to the ground, 'Not now'. The barrier was so close, and reaching out, I could have almost touched it. Two pairs of hands grabbed me by my good arm and dragged me through the final centimetres, and feeling the familiar ice-cold sensation of the firewall rushing through me, felt a powerful blow strike where my neck had been just milliseconds ago. We'd made it! But what would happen now? I began to scream as I saw their silhouettes in the barrier when Ophelia and Fenrir calmed me down.
"Watch." She whispered, as the purple surrounding the malware suddenly brightened and became red. Muffled screeches reached out to us in panic. The red intensified, turning bright blue. Flames shot out and danced across the firewall. In a matter of seconds, all the shadows had disappeared, but for one. It wavered and crashed towards us, bursting through the barrier as a heap of charred ash. Fenrir kicked it back and let the inferno consume it.
"The firewall." He stated, and twisted my arm to a less anatomically incorrect position, ignoring the cry of pain I must have made.
"Th-Thanks…" I murmured, the discomfort already fading, and noticed that I was wearing my business suit again, now torn on one side and bloodstained. A peculiar weakness travelled through me and I collapsed. Why was the world…fuzzing over and…and spinning? Faintly, I saw the two rush to my support as I slipped further into darkness.
o0O0o
Eulith closed his eyes, attempting to, if not sleep, at least shut out the problems of the day, but to no avail. He continued to ponder on the words the Consortium had said to him, leaving him absolutely sleepless and troubled.
Eulith glanced nervously at the man sitting in front of him, then respectfully lowered his gaze. He was after all, a web browser, albeit one of the only ones which did not venture outside the firewalls. While others like Ophelia bridged the gap between cities by acting as messengers and bodyguards, his services were of the more…esoteric. Clients did not seek him out as a means of safe travel, but rather for greater insight of the world, both in the literal and metaphorical sense, as he was a painter and a prophet. He quietly wondered which of these two services the Consortium had asked the browser to perform for him and why they had bothered to call this meeting at all, seeing how they were so understanding of Inori's absence.
"You must be Lynx." He said, "Pleased to meet you." The browser nodded politely and Eulith was struck by how noticeable he was, despite his attempts to do otherwise, wearing a drab hooded jumper and drawstring trousers. It was the way he carried himself that gave it away, as if there were invisible strings holding himself up, so that even if he relaxed every muscle in his body, he would be sitting up straight. The fact that his eyes had remained purposefully shut throughout their entire meeting didn't help either. He extended a tentative hand which Lynx slowly accepted, somehow sensing it. Silence reinvaded the office. The man named Lynx allowed it to stretch on for an uncomfortable period of time before speaking to him, carefully enunciating his words, as if worried they would betray him.
"And you are Eulith Donovan. It is also a pleasure." The sides of his mouth turned up a little, in what was apparently his smile. Eulith made a mental note to talk a little more formally to the web browser. "Hm…" a small crease formed on his forehead and the smile vanished. Drawing in a sharp breath his eyes flicked open, a vivid purple, yet somehow unfocused. "I have to thank you for letting me inconvenience you on such short notice." He spoke, and his vision seemed to refocus on Eulith, "I've all the preparation I need so, if I may, could I begin?" The man opposite Lynx remained quiet, but inside was silently processing this information. In those two sentences he realised that firstly: the meeting was arranged not by the Consortium, but by Lynx himself, and secondly: he wasn't going to be receiving a painting. Eulith nodded.
"Of course." The browser smiled in assent and closed his eyes once more, permitting his head to drop a fraction down, in a position that could only be described as an inflexible form of meditation.
"You have…someone you care for…deeply?" he muttered. Eulith felt compelled to answer and did so. "Of course. Would you perhaps say…no, never-mind. It's Ms. Aizawa." He sounded slightly triumphant at his discovery. "Now why would she…oh…" Eulith leaned in to hear his next words, but they never came. Lynx stood up, stiffly, then looked out the window, light still streaming through it. The other man followed. "I'm sorry," he spoke, "but-"
A sharp knocking from Eulith's apartment door snapped him out of his reverie, banishing all chances of him successfully falling asleep. Grimacing, he brushed aside the thoughts swirling in his head and slipped into a nightgown. He glanced at the time: 10:48. Eulith quietly pondered over the list of people that might have wanted his company at such a time as he stumbled to the entrance (Gabriel? Stacchus? Inori…?) and after a few minutes of searching found the light switch, bringing the rooms into their proper clarity. Tentatively unlocking the door, he peered outside, the apartment building's now lit interior revealing three figures. "Hm? What is…" the door swung open as his eyes moved to the person who knocked, Fenrir, smiling despite the fact he'd never visited his home, then to Opehlia, who was evidently more nervous, and he quietly wondered why despite the fact that she had…then he saw the person she was carrying. Eulith's heart seemed to stop for a moment, then jolted into overdrive as if to make up for the lost beats. Inori injured. Inori unconscious. Inori…dead?
"Hi Eulith! You have no idea how much of a pain -" Eulith's finger flew to Fenrir's mouth and he stopped talking.
"Do not say another word." His words could have been laced with the venom of a black mamba, for all the bite they had. "Right now, I think I'm one step away from a nervous breakdown that will leave me curled up in the foetal position, so if you could please come inside and explain what has just happened to a person that I happen to really care about, that would be wonderful…NOW!" Fenrir recoiled a little, then deflated. Obediently, he opened the door, then instantly went to the nearest chair in the lounge, with Opehlia hastily following, being careful not to trip Inori on the raised entrance. Eulith slammed the door shut and a loud bang reverberated through the apartment. Ophelia's eyes widened as she saw the tall pot-plant next to her visibly tremor. Shakily, she followed Fenrir's lead, sinking into one of the couches and resting Inori next to her; she appeared to be sleeping now, her breathing calm and steady. She hoped her dreams were just as sound. Eulith stayed at the entrance, one hand still clenched in the air from the door slam. Breathe man, breathe. He obeyed his sanity, taking large gulps of air and expelling them at a rapid speed, fingers digging into his palm. Once he had reassumed his calmer thinking, he trudged back to the others, almost dragging his feet. A huge weight seemed to disappear off his chest as he saw that Inori wasn't as badly injured as he had previously thought. Her (single!) wound was deep yes, but the bleeding had stopped (Fenrir's work most likely – Eulith felt a pang of guilt for shouting at him) and she was far from dead. With a sigh of relief, he addressed the two, an apology of sorts.
"Please stay here. I'll be back soon with…tea?" Murmurs of assent and he went to the kitchen, preparing the electric kettle. Silence filled the lounge. Ophelia looked at Fenrir in a way that might have frozen time itself. This is your fault. It said. He shrugged.
"I can't change what's already done, so let's just deal with the problem at hand shall we?" Her eyes narrowed, then relaxed in reluctant agreement. She lifted Inori into a couch of her own – now she could properly rest – it was all she could do for now. Eulith had returned, armed with teacups and a thermos. Ophelia murmured her thanks as he handed her the tea. She brought it to her lips. Darjeeling, she carefully sipped the bitter drink, smiling a little despite the gravity of the situation. It was nice to know people who also appreciated tea. Fenrir tried to follow her lead and barely managed to conceal a grimace. Despite the childish label attached to it, he really preferred hot chocolate. But he'd already upset Eulith once and didn't want to again, especially not over something as trivial as tea and so stayed silent. Their host seated himself in the armchair, and cup in hand, spoke.
"First of all, I'm very sorry for shouting at you Fenrir." The browser smiled, but stopped him. "Maybe save that for after we tell you what happened? I don't think you're gonna like it." Eulith raised his brow, but asked them to go on. And so the pair began, hiding nothing, from their meeting, to Inori's transformation, everything. Eulith sat through it all, not saying a word, even when they revealed how Fenrir had put Inori in danger to force her transformation, or how he had inadvertently caused the Mantid horde. At the end of it all, he slumped, quietly, into his seat.
"This…is not good." He murmured. Fenrir looked at him, panicked.
"I-it's not that bad." He attempted, but Eulith shook his head, resolute.
"No, it is." And he slowly dredged the memories of the day back up. "I…met with Lynx today…" the two browsers looked at each other in recognition of their colleague. "He…gave me a prediction that would begin with a 'great plague'." Fenrir opened his mouth in protest, but was silenced by Ophelia. "He said…" Eulith swallowed and took a couple of deep breaths. "He said that…if Inori doesn't fully regain her memories in a week, she'll 'cease to be Inori'. She'll lose everything, her memories, even her personality, left an empty shell."
And we have our time limit. Also, if you're worrying that Inori isn't as strong as Ophelia and Fenrir, don't. It just makes no sense for a person with little to none fighting experience to suddenly be on par with others who have had years of practice. Think of it this way: all of Inori's fights up till now (and probably further) have been purely reliant on muscle memory. And if you're wondering who exactly Lynx is, I suggest you make use of your very own web browser to find out (I kid, I kid...)! Lynx is a text based browser, that is to say instead of graphically navigating the web (text boxes, images, etc.), you just see a heap of text with little to no interactivity (which has the happy effect of keeping you safe from most of the Internet nasties out there) hence why Lynx is a prophet here - he 'sees' the web differently to others and in a safer way.