The Medieval Delusion

Chapter 7

"You are not Aelita's father!"

"Oh Jeremy, what is the Imprisoned One's name?"

"I found it a while back. Frazier Pohonp."

"Do the anagram, genius."

"What is it, Jeremy?"

"Franz I. O. Hopper."

"What does I.O. stand for?"

"Imprisoned One."

"Finally done," said Milo. "Except for Commander Lawrence." Everything was gone except for one man at the very back. Ulrich had been injured, but it was a light wound. Everyone else was fine.

"Come forth, Milo," said Lawrence. "I shall defeat thee."

"Frazier Pohonp!" Yumi suddenly shouted. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed. She kept on shouting. "Frazier Pohonp! Franz I. O. Hopper! Frazier Pohonp! Imprisoned One!" She started to roll around.

"You see?" said Lawrence triumphantly. "Your colleague is possessed by Satan."

"Odd!" shouted Yumi. "Imprisoned One has Jeremy! Odd! Frazier Pohonp is Franz I. O. Hopper!"

"What does she mean?" asked Milo.

"Nothing," said Odd firmly. "She's prone to flashbacks to the time we helped the wizard Jeremiah." But Odd understood.

"Lawrence!" Ulrich roared. He charged forward and slashed his sword at Lawrence.

"Need any help?" Xanite called from the window. A few bursts of energy flew from his outstretched fingers and crashed into Lawrence's stomach. Ulrich struck hard as the spells did. But Lawrence stood firm, and as Ulrich bent forward, he pushed his spear in.

"Ah," Ulrich breathed. He fell forward, impaling himself further through the stomach.

"Ulrich!" Odd screamed, running forward to pull his oldest friend off the blade. "Ulrich!" Ulrich groaned as Odd pulled back and forth. Odd raged inside, and pulled a dart out of his pocket. Time seemed to slow down. He raised it to face height, and plunged it into Lawrence's eye.

"Blind me, yet I still win," muttered Lawrence. He vanished slowly, and as he did, he shoved the spear all the way through Ulrich and it dropped out his back.

"Ulrich! You aren't dead!" screamed Odd. He bent over Ulrich's body, crying. "You aren't dead! You are not!"

"Not yet," said Xanite. The steely glint that Milo had come to associate with miracles appeared in his eyes. "Not if I have anything to say about it." He raised a hand over Ulrich and put the other on the book. "Heal," he muttered. "Come on, God. Condescend to a Satanist and just freaking help."

"Oh no," said Yumi. She was putting her hand on the book as well. "Please."

"I'll check vitals," said Odd. He put a hand to Ulrich's chest. "Not there," he managed to mutter before he burst into tears.

Far away in Aelita's tower, she had established a link with another world. She peered through a window and saw a dark-haired boy fighting a tall man.

"Ulrich is dead! Zero life points!"

"It's a shame you won't be around to see his funeral."

"Ow! Ow! Oh my god! Ow! Ow!"

"Stop!"

"Too late, William!"

"Ow! Ow! God!"

"My work in here is done. To the Super-Calculator!"

"Jeremy… No pulse… Wait… What's that on the screen?"

"Who is this?"

"Is that Aelita?"

"Who is this?"

"William."

"Is that the wizard Jeremiah?"

"Yes, and he and the mercenary Ulrich are dead. Can you help them?"

"I think. But, um, these pictures around me… They say life points, yes?"

"Yes."

"I need some extras of those."

"Where from?"

"I can get some from me. Will you give any?"

"Aelita… I offer all my life points to you."

"I only need half."

"All right."

"Um… Okay. I'm doing it."

"All right. This boy is called Jeremy Belpois. I'm William Dunbar. Ulrich is Ulrich Stern."

"William Dunbar, fifty, to Jeremy Belpois, ten, and Ulrich Stern, ten. Preparation… Initiation… Transmutation!"

"Ah… Okay. I'm all right. Why do they only get ten?"

"We needed to replace their whole life forces. We'll be lucky to get ten. If we aren't, we might get five or it might not work."

"William… Why am I alive?"

"You are Jeremy?"

"Aelita!"

"Oh no! The link is fading!"

"Aelita!"

"Good-bye, William…"

"She's gone."

"But I'm alive."