As amazing as it is, I have succeeded in getting another update up quickly! The next one may not be so lucky, seeing as I will be with my dad this weekend. But I do get a shortened day Wednesday, along with Thursday and Friday off, so not all hope is lost.
For the record, this chapter holds another incident that really happened to me. Guess correctly to win an internet cookie.
Chapter Eighteen: Weapon
Time seemed to pause as the group stared in horror at the scene. Both fighters remained frozen, unable to move from the tendril thrust through their chests. Not a sound broke the unearthly silence spread on the ship. No screams, no cries, not a moan of pain.
Then the spell was released with the murdering implement. The hair whipped backwards, leaving both bodies to collapse. An agonized roar followed as Haren vanished; it had taken that long for him to realize his concealed Soul Card had been torn along with his master. None looked at his fading form though. All of their eyes were on Angela, with her bloody purple strands of hair returning to their usual length, except for one pair. Ruecian was at Rue's side in an instant, placing a hand to his shoulder. No response occurred to the gesture.
"Target eliminated. Returning to normal mode," she said emotionlessly, not appearing to notice she was the source of attention.
Angela's voice triggered a reaction from Draken. "Rue!" Still weakened from the duel, but urged by his friend's condition, he ran to the body and fell to his knees beside Ruecian, grabbing Rue's wrist. A moment passed. Another. And another.
"That can't be," Miles said numbly. "He's Rue… he can't just… die like that…"
Draken dropped his arm, stricken. "I told him his gallantry would get him killed! Why did you have to interfere, you idiot? Why…?" he trailed off softly. Ruecian merely shook his head.
"Angela…" Larka said in a daze. "Angela, do you realize what you have done?"
"I have eliminated one of the assigned targets," Angela answered.
"At the price of our friend's life!" Larka exclaimed. "Why did you kill Rue? You could have attacked Set without hitting him!"
"Doing so would have resulted in a 1.04 second delay," Angela stated. "That would have given the target enough time to make an attack, one that might have hurt you or destroyed this ship."
"But… the chances of that are so low!" Larka said in disbelief. "Even if that was the case, it isn't worth having Rue die!"
"Aren't you supposed to protect the people in Teknisk Wereld?" Miles demanded. "This should be going against your program then!"
"The elimination of enemies to Teknisk Wereld and the protection of the substitute takes priority," Angela said. "My program instructed me to use the method that had the higher percent chance of each."
"That's not right!" Larka cried. Her voice went to a whisper as she said, "He was our friend… how can you act so calmly about killing him?"
"You forget, I am not human. I am merely a weapon," Angela said flatly. "Data formed to protect Teknisk Wereld. To further my efficiency, I was never given emotions."
"I can't… accept that…" Larka said, eyes misting.
Another silence filled the atmosphere, until a sudden snarl broke it. "Oh for hell's sake, who killed him this time?"
Draken jumped backwards in shock while Ruecian moved back to allow Rue to stand. For the first time Hope had seen in seven years, his eyes were blood-red.
"Error; the subject should be dead," Angela said. "Identifying a new subject. Analyzing…"
"Demon Rue!" Hope said in surprise. Then she caught herself, saying, "Er… Mephistopolis, wasn't it?"
"Right on the second try. I suppose that's good enough," Mephistopolis said, eyeing his chest in disgust. "I see that a certain someone decided to freaking spear him this time. Do you know how sick I am of patching this moron up? I'll have you know that replacing his blood and organs is not fun! This is the fourth time I've had to save him; if he keeps doing this, I'm going to let him die permanently!"
"Four times?" Kisara said in amazement.
"Let's see… once when Satan killed him, once when Fell killed him, now… I'm missing one, aren't I?" Gaston said.
"Juno took the liberty of cleaving him," Mephistopolis said sourly. "Although in that case, I was the one who actually provoked it, so I can only really complain about three." He sighed and placed a hand over the wound. Dark energy began to seep into it, slowly repairing the area. "He's lucky I still need his body."
"Analysis complete. Subject is an unknown specimen," Angela stated. "Unable to identify as friend or foe. Standing by for orders to attack if necessary."
"He's… a friend… I think…" Draken said, appearing unsure.
"Let's just call him a foend and leave it at that," Miles suggested.
"That's so funny that I think I'll leave his lungs pierced so I can't die from laughing," Mephistopolis said sarcastically. "The small problem of being able to breathe ruins that idea though." He removed his hand, revealing no trace of wounds. "He'll live now."
"You seemed a bit more willing to help this time," Hope said.
Mephistopolis shrugged. "I don't think so, but maybe. He did spend his years out of the virtual world on a journey to adapt to living with me, after all."
"What? He never mentioned that to us," Gaston remarked.
"I don't care to recall; ask him some time," Mephistopolis said. "At least this gives me an excuse to have some fun. It's been too long since the last time I was released."
It's not like I willingly loan out my body, Rue grumbled.
"Ah, you're awake," Mephistopolis replied. "Now be a good little host and shut up for a while. Just because I healed your body does not mean you should emerge yet."
Yeah, yeah, I know, Rue said irritably.
"Fun? Great. We all know what that means," Brandi muttered.
Miles suddenly grinned. "You're in the mood for killing someone?"
"Sure, why not, been a while since I was allowed to," Mephistopolis answered, as if they were discussing what to have for lunch rather then planning a murder.
Draken caught on to what Miles was suggesting. "We've been having a heck of a time with Judges, and one is supposed to be in the destination we're headed towards. Want to take him or her down?"
"Sounds enjoyable," Mephistopolis said with a smirk.
Max looked over the ship's side. "Coincidentally, we're nearly there."
"Oh great," Hope muttered, shivering.
Mephistopolis removed the deck from Rue's Duel Disk and looked over it. "This won't do." Dark energy surrounded it, vanishing shortly. "There."
"Before we arrive, if I may make a suggestion…" Will said. "Larka, I advise giving Angela a new order. If the victim of that attack had been anyone but Rue, that person would be long gone."
"Right." Larka turned to Angela. "Angela, I am ordering you to not hurt any of these people, no matter what. For that matter, you're not to hurt anyone that is not an enemy."
"Affirmative," Angela said.
"You'll obey that order?" Larka asked to ensure that she understood.
"Unless ordered otherwise, I will," Angela confirmed.
"This proves more than anything that we have to be careful of the way we word things around Angela," Will stated.
The group was silent in agreement, until Miles said, "Hey, isn't this the first time Meph and Ruecian have been in the same location?"
Ruecian tilted his head at the question, and Mephistopolis said, "Call me Meph again and I will eat your liver. As for your question, even if that was the case, which it isn't, what about it?"
"I just noticed. It seemed significant or something," Miles said sheepishly.
"You may as well stop talking," Draken advised.
Once the ship had drawn up alongside the bank, they disembarked, and the ship vanished. Hope instantly groaned at the change of temperature and wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt to keep warm. Neo and Gen, on the other hand, were very grateful to be on land, snow or not.
"This one's going to be mine," Mephistopolis said, his red eyes glinting. "If you want to complain about it, hair freak, call it compensation for killing my host."
"Uh… he's talking to you," Neo said to Angela.
"I have orders to eliminate all enemies to Teknisk Wereld," Angela stated.
"Angela, it's okay this time," Larka said. "Let Mephistopolis handle it."
"Affirmative," Angela answered.
"We should start walking," Zack said.
"I hate the cold…" Hope grumbled as they went on.
It was only a few minutes later when a barrier suddenly sprang up in front of them. They heard a woman's voice shout, "Hah! You may have thought you could slay me easily, but I took precautions and blocked you! What now?"
"…We never attacked," Draken said.
"…Oh." The barrier fell, revealing a woman wearing a brown fur coat. Her blonde hair was cut short, and her blue eyes had lost their triumphant flare. "Drat. Here I thought I'd done well."
"You're a Judge?" Gaston assumed.
"Of course! And I was hired to eliminate your silly group. The price is rather good," she said. "I'm Lexine, and I'm going to kill all of you!"
"This is a perfect example of why I enjoy killing people," Mephistopolis said in disgust. "You aren't even worth wasting my energy on, considering all of the pathetic barriers you have set."
"W-what? Did you read my mind or something? You weren't supposed to know I had those ready to use!" Lexine exclaimed.
"…You're carrying a stack of cards in your hand," Miles said.
"…Oh." Lexine slid them away. "Fine then! Let us do this properly then, with a duel!" She held out a Soul Card, and a monster wearing thick, silver armor appeared. He carried a huge shield with a gold symbol, a short sword with a wide blade, and had two more swords on his back in purple sheaths. His short hair was black and his squinting eyes were brown. "And I will be helped by my Soul Monster, a General of Impenetrable Defenses, Murus!"
"All the more fun. It should be easy to rip apart your stall deck," Mephistopolis stated.
"You even know my deck type! How?" Lexine said.
"…Every card you've played, and your Soul Monster, points to that being your deck type," Max said.
"…Oh." Lexine turned on her Duel Disk. "But enough on that! We shall begin!"
"Whatever," Mephistopolis said, doing the same.
Mephistopolis: 8000
Lexine: 8000
"I'm going first because I deserve to!" Ignoring Mephistopolis' look of disbelief, she drew a card and said, "I lay one monster down and play a field magic card, Soothing Song! It raises every defense monster's defense value by 500! Then I play Magic Gardner, giving it a counter! Try destroying it now!"
Hearing a song coming from around them that sounded angelic, Mephistopolis muttered, "What a disgusting card."
"And I end by playing Toll! If one of us attacks, the attacker loses 500 Life Points! Just try and stop me now!" Lexine said.
"Oh, I won't try. Rather, you will die a horrible, painful death…" He trailed off as he saw the card he drew. "…But not this turn. Because as much as I hate to, I am going to summon Kuribo." (300/200)
Lexine stared at the tiny monster that appeared and let out its cute cry. "I didn't think you were like that…"
"Just shut up and go," Mephistopolis growled.
"If he hates Kuribo so much, why did he put it in his deck?" Neo asked.
"Isn't it obvious? He secretly adores the darling little fuzzball," Miles said, snickering.
"Don't make me come back there and show you how much I adore your lot," Mephistopolis snapped, not turning to face them.
"Touché," Miles muttered.
"I lay one monster in defense mode," Lexine said.
Mephistopolis shrugged. "Not much to do yet. I summon Skilled Black Magician (1900/1700) and end."
"I lay another monster and dare you to attack!" Lexine cried.
"A dare? How childish," Mephistopolis scoffed. "Why not do this a more entertaining way? I sacrifice both of my monsters to summon Black Magician!" (2500/2100)
The Black Magician that appeared in front of him was an odd but formidable sight. Unlike Rue's Black Magicians, which were purple, and Gale's, which were blue, Mephistopolis' Black Magician had red armor, tanned skin, and silver hair. He smirked at the surprised Lexine.
"What? I didn't know he used Black Magician too!" Draken exclaimed.
"Now you know," Mephistopolis said shortly. "But he is not the monster my deck is centered around. No, it is this being that it now focuses on. I sacrifice Black Magician to special summon Black Executioner!" (2500/2100)
The being that appeared looked similar to Black Magician, barring a few major differences; his armor was dark purple, his skin blue, and staff's end had become a three-pronged, purple device with a blue sphere in the center.
"Oh goody, another Black Magician monster," Miles muttered.
"Hey!" Mana protested. Ruecian shook his head.
"You won't defeat me with that!" Lexine said. "I activate Murus' Deck Master ability! By paying 500 Life Points, none of my monsters can be destroyed in battle! I have to skip my next battle phase, but it's worth it! How're you going to get past that?"
"…I was not going to attack," Mephistopolis said.
"…Oh. Well then."
Mephistopolis: 8000
Lexine: 7500
"If that's how you're going to be, I'll sacrifice my Big Shield Guarder (100/3100) for General of Impenetrable Defenses! (1550/3000) When summoned or reverse summoned, he immediately goes to defense mode! Then I play Sealing Swords of Light to stop you from attacking for three turns! You can't win now!"
Mephistopolis rolled his eyes. "Idiot." As the glowing swords appeared, the Black Executioner pointed his staff at Lexine. A black blast hit Lexine hard.
"What was that?" she yelped.
"Every time one of us plays a normal magic card, you lose 1000 Life Points," Mephistopolis stated. "Done?"
"I guess so…" For the first time, Lexine appeared a bit uneasy.
Mephistopolis: 8000
Lexine: 6500
"This is what I've been waiting for," Mephistopolis said with a sadistic grin. "I summon Repeating Blast Magician! (1600/1200) Then I play Torture Room of Nightmares! A pity it is a permanent magic, and thus will not hurt you, but it has a valuable use."
"What is he trying to do?" Larka wondered.
Catching her comment, Mephistopolis said, "For the ones who are clueless on these cards, allow me to explain. Black Executioner does 1000 damage per normal magic card played, Repeating Blast Magician does 400 per normal magic card I play, and Torture Room of Nightmares deals 300 Life Point damage when the opponent loses Life Points in a method outside of battle. Now tell me, what do you think would happen if I were to use a normal magic card that did direct damage?"
"This isn't going to be pretty, is it," Miles assumed.
"For the opponent, correct." Mephistopolis smirked as he inserted a card. "That is why I am playing this card, Magic Blast! It does 200 damage for each Magic User I have on the field, so 400 in all. A little math lesson: 1000 plus 300 plus 400 plus 300 plus 400 plus 300 equals pain. In more specific terms, it also equals 2700 damage."
Lexine screamed as she was first hit by the Magic Blast, and then the two monsters bombarded her with enhanced magic, causing her to be knocked onto her back and into the snow.
Mephistopolis: 8000
Lexine: 3800
"You can't do that!" Lexine protested, standing up.
"…I just did," Mephistopolis said.
"…Oh. Um… I pass," she said nervously.
"Pathetic, but I wasn't expecting much from you," Mephistopolis said. "I'll skip my draw phase to take Magic Blast from the Cemetery, since it allows me to do that. Then I play it!"
Lexine was knocked back once more from the vicious attacks, bleeding in several locations.
Mephistopolis: 8000
Lexine: 1100
"And to end it, I play quite an ironic card." Mephistopolis showed it to her before inserting it. "Angel's Gift. Your escort to the afterlife will be the complete opposite of what you find. Have fun in Hell!"
The blasts that slew the Judge and her Soul Monster were almost loud enough to drown out Mephistopolis' horrific laughter. Almost.
Mephistopolis: 8000
Lexine: 0
"How entertaining, especially after such a long wait!" Mephistopolis said, smirking.
"Ouch, that looked like it hurt," Gaston said, wincing.
"Was it really worth coming all the way out here to get rid of that stupid Judge?" Neo said. He glanced at Will, who had put a hand to his head. "What's wrong?"
"Another vision," Will said, removing it. "Of Mephistopolis killing her. That was it."
"Flattered," Mephistopolis said.
Okay, you've had your fun. Can I come out now? Rue said, sounding exasperated.
Mephistopolis frowned. "Oh, fine. I suppose I'm done for the moment. You can have your friend back." His eyes closed, and when they opened, they were brown once more.
"Welcome to the land of the living," Draken joked. "How do you feel?"
"Like I just got over a caffeine high," Rue said, making a face. "Better than I thought I'd be though."
Draken shook his head. "You had us scared for a minute. No more saving me, got it? Do that and I'll either kill you for good, or hunt you down in the afterlife and do it there."
"Talk about gratitude," Rue said, rolling his eyes. "If you're going to be like that, I'll just let you get slain next time." At these words, he slowly edged away from Angela.
"Twelve Judges dead now," Will stated. "We know of Seiryu, Kai, Alamaru, Kasmaru, and Pariah, so there's probably at least three Judges we've never seen. Could be as many as eight though."
"At least we're over the half-way point," Hope said. "Most likely, anyway."
"Should we halt for now?" Zack asked, glancing at the sky, which was beginning to darken.
"Yeah, it's getting late," Darche agreed. "When and where should we meet up?"
"Not the hotel; they already know we were there," Max said.
"Somewhere warm!" Hope pleaded. "How about the canyon? That's the exact opposite of this place!"
"I guess that works," Rue said. None of them appeared to disagree.
"At nine, as we did today," Will said. "See you then."
They all proceeded to log out, Angela holding on to Larka's Duel Disk.
…
"Back at last," Hope said, sitting up and detaching her equipment. "It'll be nice to relax for a while."
"You said it," Brandi agreed.
"Actually…" Max stopped, his expression one of hesitation.
"Yes?" Hope asked.
"Um… Wouldyouliketogoonadate?" Max said in a rush.
Hope blinked. "Sorry, I didn't understand that. Could you please repeat?"
Face reddened, Max repeated, "W-would you… erm… like to… um… go on… a-a date?"
There was a pause, and then Brandi and Mana abruptly doubled over, laughing hysterically. That did not make Max feel much better; he covered his face with his hands, clearly embarrassed.
Luckily for him, while Hope was also amused, she had enough pity to not add to the din. "I'd love to!" she managed to say over them.
"Great, let's go," Max said shortly, leaping up and running for the door. Hope took advantage of his absence to laugh for a moment before saying, "See you guys later!" and following him out.
"I am not sure I understand what is so funny," Gaston commented to Tenma. The only response he received was a soft growl.
"Oh my God…" Brandi managed to gasp out, breathless from mirth. "I've never seen Max so flustered!"
"No kidding!" Mana covered her mouth to prevent herself from starting again.
"Anyway, we should be getting back to Matt's," Brandi said to the two Soul Monsters. "See you tomorrow."
"Right," Gaston replied. Tenma growled in response.
When they went outside, they saw Max's car had already left. They proceeded to Matt's door, and Brandi reached out to open it. Before she could, someone grabbed her from behind, causing her to give a small yelp of surprise. She knew who it was without even seeing him though; only one person would do such a thing.
"Matt!" she said, looking at him.
Matt grinned at her reaction. "Hey. I decided to come home early to celebrate the good news."
"Oh, you mean…" Brandi self-consciously put a hand to her stomach. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
"Nah, it's okay," Matt said. "Remember that you're talking to the guy who waited a year to finally propose."
That got a laugh out of Brandi, which encouraged Matt to ask her, "By the way… how was it?"
Brandi held up five fingers, causing him to blink. "That good?"
"No, that's how long you lasted," Brandi stated.
Mana cracked up as Matt slumped over in depression. "Suddenly, I don't feel like celebrating any more…"
…
"So where are we going?" Hope asked curiously. Max had not yet told her their destination.
"Look ahead and you'll see for yourself," Max replied.
Hope did so, and sighted a large sign that said Olive Garden. Pleasantly surprised, she said, "Wow, you picked my favorite restaurant!"
"It's mine too," Max said, more at ease from seeing her eagerness. "That's why I chose it."
Once Max had found a spot in the crowded parking lot, they waited roughly forty-five minutes before finally being seated.
"That's the only thing I hate about Olive Garden," Hope commented, looking at the menu absentmindedly. "The long waiting times are a pain."
"How I agree," Max said.
When the waitress came for their drink orders, Max requested raspberry lemonade while Hope asked for cranberry juice. Once she had left, Max remarked, "Do you drink anything besides that and water?"
"Orange juice and lemonade. Otherwise, no, not really," Hope said sheepishly. Trying to get off the subject of her picky eating habits, she said, "Anything in particular you wanted to talk about?"
Max shrugged. "How about you pick a topic?"
"Well, how have the past seven years been?" Hope asked. "What were you doing over them?"
"I mostly stayed in Teknisk Wereld once I was allowed in," Max said. "As Brandi said, I became the arena champion of sorts. Just didn't have much else to do with my time. Oh, and Mom was having me take care of Chasity," he added, seeming slightly annoyed. "Said I should so that I'd learn some responsibility… for when I have kids of my own."
The implications at that caused both to blush, but Hope picked up the conversation. "I focused mostly on my school work and am currently in my second year of college. In my free time, I've been writing."
"Writing?" Max said, surprised. "I wasn't aware you liked writing."
"I found I had a passion for it shortly after being cut off from Teknisk Wereld," Hope explained. "I want to have a certain novel I'm writing now be published one day."
"You'll show it to me, right?" Max asked with interest.
"If you want to read it, I'd be happy to," Hope said, smiling.
Their conversation was rudely interrupted when the waitress came back and tried to deliver their drinks. The lemonade made it to the table safely, but the juice met an unfortunate end from her haste and wound up spilling onto Hope, leaving her shirt and jeans soaked.
"Thanks," Hope growled, clearly annoyed.
"I'm very sorry," the waitress recited as she cleaned up the table, not sounding particularly woeful about the accident.
"Is that all you can say?" Hope said, folding her arms in irritation.
"What more do you expect me to do?" the waitress said.
"Deducting a reasonable price for a cleaning bill from our meal would help," Max said, smiling slightly from amusement at how Hope looked.
The waitress hesitated. "You would have to talk to the manager to-"
"Then tell him to come out here so I can give a highly glorified account of the incident," Hope snapped. "Or just tell him what happened yourself if you don't want me leaving such a negative note on your record."
Scowling, the waitress said, "I'll tell him and bring a replacement. Your orders?"
Once Max had asked for chicken parmesian and Hope for spaghetti with meat sauce, the waitress left in a huff. Hope sighed and remarked, "At least I won't have to deal with these clothes for too much longer tonight."
"You actually care about your clothing now?" Max asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Nope, the dampness just annoys me," Hope answered. "I didn't care about fashion the last time we were together and that hasn't changed."
Max laughed at that. "Some things don't change."
"Yeah." Hope left off at that, for the waitress had returned with her drink and a basket of breadsticks. That was their cue to dig in.
A few minutes later, Hope inquired, "Do you have a job?"
"I make money off the coliseum fights," Max said. "You?"
"No, but I might try to get some short stories published soon or something," Hope said with a shrug. "Don't know yet."
Neither of them mentioned the Judges or the crisis Teknisk Wereld was facing. Both found it nice to be away from such problems, even if it was for a short time.
Once they received their food and ate, they remained for dessert (Max having white chocolate raspberry cheesecake while Hope took vanilla ice cream) and asked for the bill. Hope was pleased to see her meal was not being charged for. Max paid for his and they left, taking the two mint chocolate pieces they were given with them.
"Hope you enjoyed it, aside from the waitress problem," Max said.
"Yes, thanks for inviting me," Hope said. "Are we going back now?"
"Not quite yet, if you don't mind. There's one other place I'd like to take you," Max said.
"Sure," Hope answered, getting in the car while trying to avoid soaking the seat. Max also went inside and backed out, driving towards their next destination.
…
Rue looked around the plains cautiously. Seeing nobody but Ruecian at the moment, he continued forward.
He had not gone very far before someone said beside him, "Shouldn't you not be here?"
"YIKES!" Rue jumped, turning towards the voice. He relaxed when he saw who it was. "Geez, don't scare me like that!"
"Couldn't resist," Miles said with a grin. "But really, why are you in Teknisk Wereld again? If there's Judges around, we could be in trouble if alone."
"I couldn't relax," Rue admitted. "Claire's condition is the same, and until she comes out of that coma, I'm not going to be able to breathe easily. What about you?"
"Miles wished to see if any other areas had been deleted," Gen stated.
"That sums it up," Miles confirmed. "Angela's doing a good job at keeping it stopped though, from what I've seen."
Before Rue could reply, the four group members suddenly saw red eyes staring at them from the tall grass.
"AH! DEMON!" Rue exclaimed, inserting a card and grasping the Demon Axe that produced. He ran towards the grass and slashed at it.
There was a yowl as a black shape leapt out of it, dodging the attack. It hissed and bolted, soon gone.
"Congratulations, you tried to chop apart a cat," Miles said sarcastically.
"Hey, it looked suspicious!" Rue protested.
"That was a Black Cat That Brings Unhappiness," Gen observed. "Why was it here?"
Rue blinked. "Hope mentioned seeing one of those on her first day in Teknisk Wereld. I told her they were said to bring terrible luck. Remember that, Ruecian?" Ruecian nodded.
"Weird that we'd see one now," Miles said. Then he looked at the sky. "Hey, there's something up there."
Rue followed his gaze and sighted two dark shapes that he was familiar with. "That's a Blue Eyes White Dragon, and I'm betting the other one is Kazel. What're Draken and Kisara doing here?"
"Let's follow them and find out," Miles suggested.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Gen murmured as they went.
The dragons landed at the top of a mountain. Rue glanced at it and said, "Time Capsule?"
"Time Capsule," Miles agreed. "I'm not up to climbing this thing."
Once the four of them had landed near the top, they hiked a short ways up and hid behind a couple of rocks, glancing out from around them.
Draken and Kisara stood on the edge of the mountain, gazing at the cloudless sky. The Blue Eyes White Dragon and Kazel were still flying; apparently Darche was on the Blue Eyes. Rue was about to walk out and hail the duo, but Miles held him back, whispering, "Let's see what they're up to."
"Kisara?" Draken said hesitatingly. "There's something I wanted to ask you."
She tilted her head. "Yes?"
"I've been living with you for a long time, and you've never complained about it, but I have to ask… are you sure you don't mind?" Draken asked.
"I have never minded," Kisara answered. "Ever since my parents died in a plane crash, Kazel was the only companion I had. You changed that, and I am very grateful."
"I didn't know that was how her parents died," Rue muttered.
"Kinda ironic she likes flying so much," Miles whispered back.
"I'm glad to hear that, because… you've changed me too," Draken admitted.
"Huh?" Kisara said.
"To be honest, I never gave romance much thought," Draken said. "But when you woke up from that attack, when I started talking to you… Well, I'll be honest. That was when I first had feelings of that sort. It's been six years, and I never said anything because I'm an idiot. You nearly died today though, and that's gotten me to realize that I shouldn't hold back my emotions any longer. Kisara… I love you."
"Draken…" A tear fell from Kisara's eye.
"Did I say something wrong?" Draken asked nervously.
Kisara shook her head, smiling at him with misty eyes. "I hoped you felt that way, because I feel the same. I was too scared to ask…"
"Scared? Of what? You don't have to be scared when talking to me," Draken said. "I love talking to you, so when you have something to say, don't hold back."
Kisara nodded, not responding.
Rue and Miles had been holding their breaths at hearing this. What the pair did next shocked them out of that though, for Draken slowly embraced Kisara and drew her into a kiss. At this, the mischievous duo stared, then turned to each other and yelled, "OH MY GOD!" before leaping off the mountain. Ruecian and Gen sighed and carefully started climbing down.
Kisara drew back in alarm at the shouts, effectively interrupting the first kiss they had. Draken's eye twitched once he recognized the two voices. "If they survive that, they are going to die a horrible death tomorrow."
…
"I never expected to have you take me to an archery field," Hope said later as they walked down the beach.
"By learning to use the weapon you had, I thought maybe I'd be able to connect with you better," Max replied.
"You certainly knew what you were doing, even more so than I did. Thanks for the tips you gave me," Hope said.
"No problem." Max gazed at the bright crescent moon in the clear night sky. "Mind if I ask something?"
"Not at all," Hope answered.
"What are you going to do when we've defeated the Judges?" Max said. "Are you going back to Illinois?"
Hope shook her head. "I can't do that. If we're separated again, you could die. Besides, I vowed to leave Illinois permanently at my first chance. I wasn't sure of where to go at first, but by the time I was banned from Teknisk Wereld, I decided on South Carolina, because that's where you lived."
"That relieves me," Max admitted. "I assume you'll want to go back to get your things, but after that, you're welcome to stay at our place."
"Your parents won't mind?" Hope asked. "You won't?"
"They'd be delighted," Max said. "Mom and Dad really do like you. And of course I don't mind. What kind of a question is that? I've been waiting for a long time to be able to even ask you that."
"Then I'd be happy to accept, thank you!" Hope said. She looked at the sea as she added, "We've been through a lot. I just want this to be over, so that we can live the rest of our lives in peace."
"So do I," Max said quietly. "So do I."
…
"Is something troubling you?"
Larka snapped out of her silent state and managed to smile at Zack. "Nothing beyond what everyone else is worried about. I might take a while to fall asleep, but don't let that keep you awake. You should rest."
"I do not mind waiting for you," Zack said.
"Really, I'm fine. You're here, after all," Larka assured. "That's enough for me."
"If you say so. Good night." Zack pressed a button on his wrist, shutting down at once.
Larka slowly rose, taking care to not disturb him, and walked towards Angela, who stood by the door. "Angela?"
"Yes?" Angela answered.
"Why weren't you given emotions?" Larka asked. "You have other things to blend in with humans, like your appearance and your name. But why not emotions?"
"Emotions are often a great weakness," Angela stated. "To further my efficiency, I was created without them."
"But surely you must have some," Larka protested. "What about your creator? You know you have to protect him, right?"
"Those are orders. I have no concern one way or another otherwise," Angela responded.
"Then doesn't that mean you care about fulfilling your orders?" Larka pointed out.
"I have to fulfill my orders. I do not care about them; it is merely my design," Angela said.
Larka looked away. "That means you don't care… about any of us?"
"My orders are to protect the substitute. In addition, this group is destroying the enemies that I am assigned to. This raises the efficiency of the task by 69.92 percent," Angela stated. "Other than that, no."
"…I see," Larka said softly. Then, without warning, she wrapped her arms around Angela, who did not react. Larka continued, "This is one of the ways humans show they care about one another, through embracing. I care about you, Angela. It's not your fault that you can't return that feeling, but one day… I hope you'll be able to."
"I will do my best," Angela said flatly.
Larka knew there was little else she could do. She released Angela with a saddened sigh and went to the door. "Wait here. I'll be back shortly."
"Affirmative."
Once Larka had went outside, Angela kept her gaze on the door. Zack was there, but he was asleep. Thus, nobody was able to see that Angela, for the first time, had something close to an expression in her eyes, one of puzzlement.
…
"I had a really great time tonight," Hope said as Max opened the door to let her in. "Thanks again."
"Thanks for accepting," Max replied. "I did too."
"I'm going to get ready for bed. See you in the living room." Hope went down the hallway, leaving Max at the front door. He hesitated to go in, gazing back at the moon once more.
"Max?"
He turned to see Larka. "I thought you would already be asleep," he said, surprised.
"Too many worries," she answered. "But I'm going to try to rest soon."
"Last thing you need is to be exhausted tomorrow," Max agreed. "Did you need something?"
"Well… you are of a high rank," Larka said. "I wanted to know if you received any orders for the Judge situation."
"No, not yet," Max stated. "I believe the suspicions my superior holds are correct though. What those are, I'm not going to say for the moment."
"Okay then," Larka said. "That's all I have to say for now. Good night."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Max watched her leave and sighed before entering his home.
To be continued…