I looked around, rubbing the back of my head. That blow had HURT. "Memo to self: maim Bergan," I muttered to myself, knowing that it would never happen. Physically, Bergan was a whole lot stronger than me. I felt I was missing something though. I reached a hand for my bag, and...
Wait one Faram-blasted minute. WHERE was my bag?? And my staff?? I looked back at what I had been shoved in. It was too small to contain me and my bag and staff.
My breathing was finally beginning to return to normal. I circled around cautiously to see if any of my things were in the room. I noticed several glittering objects that lay on the floor of the closet into which I'd been shoved. I bent down. And smiled. There were all my glyphs. So I had something besides my magic to attack with now. I scooped them up and slipped them into my pockets of my coat. I was glad now that old Doctor had taken the Nethicite. Sort of. I could cast spells freely at least now. At least those of the white magic kind. The other types I'm okay at, but Penelo's the mage. She can cast most kinds of magic. Types other than white magic and summoning have a habit of backfiring on me...
I concentrated. After a few seconds, I flicked my hand and murmured, "Cure." The aches and bruises I'd given myself in my struggle to free myself from the closet faded and departed to oblivion.
My next order of business was to see what time it was. I meandered over towards the window and peered out. The sun almost blinded me. What the heck? It was twilight last time I had checked. Unless a whole day had passed. I swore and moved out the door into the next room. Luckily I was only about, I don't know, fifteen or twenty floors up. I sighed and began tromping down the stairs.
I heard the voices before I saw them. They echoed up from below me as I descended down the stairs. I ducked through a door and listened through it.
"Yo Rude, why are we back here? I mean, we caught them. Though it was pretty freaky, seeing Heidigger and Scarlet and Rufus's old man. How did they survive? I know they all bit the dust."
"Reno, will you be quiet? Who knows if there's anybody else out here," a girl's voice scolded.
Their footsteps stopped right in front of the door. "Aw, Lena stop worrying. We cleared out this place last time. It's not like some chick will pop up out of thin air."
I gulped. If they opened the door, I would be in deep trouble. I felt like one of those rats Vaan was always hunting. Trapped in a corner waiting for the last blow. I only had the espers, as it was now painfully obvious that the Judges had been captured. Idiots.
"But Reno, we found that staff. Nobody we captured used a staff to fight," the girl's voice protested. And it seemed that they had my staff as well. Which also meant they probably had my bag. Can this get any worse?
I heard a snort, before the man replied, "Aww Lena chill out, yo. You'll give yourself an ulcer or something."
I shifted back a little from the door. And managed to step on a piece of debris. It snapped with an explosive crack. It just got worse. Whoever was on the other side decided to open the door. I did what any street girl/former thief would do. Run like Hell.
I turned tail and sprinted away, remaining silent as I heard the people who had been standing on the other side of the door fling the door open. I heard the girl say something that sounded something suspiciously close to "I told you so." Several expletives were muttered before I heard the sound of running footsteps behind me.
"Get back here lady!" the louder man called after me. The girl didn't waste any time on words. She aimed and shot. The bullet pierced my leg. I stumbled, but kept going. I was limping. Where the hell had that bullet pierced on my leg? I couldn't stop running. They would catch me. Not good. A captured thief was a dead thief. I would like to make it to 18, thank you very much.
I risked a peek over my shoulder. The louder man, a red head, was quickly catching up. S&#. I risked it. "Go away," I called back.
"You stop lady," he called back. What had I expected? All right sure? We'll be on our way, sorry for shooting you? Yeah right. I ran as fast as I could with my leg. I could feel the blood dripping down my leg. This was not good.
Crack.
S&#.
I felt the floor give way from under me. I barely had time to shriek as I fell through. I landed awkwardly, with a horrendous crack. I think I broke my leg. The man was still up there. He seemed to be debating on whether to jump down or to use the stairs. I took the time in which he was deciding to cast a curaga spell. That took care of the break. I could walk now. A little. The leg still ached. I moved away from the hole in the ceiling slowly as to not alert him. I was still sore from the fall. I would be feeling that fall in the morning, I knew that.
He decided to jump down then. "Y'know, you look like somebody I knew," he drawled. Alright this was getting annoying. I don't care that I look like somebody someone once knew. I am NOT her d#$it. Move on.
"Good for you," I retorted, still moving backwards; hopefully towards a door.
"Where you going?" I stopped moving. He had noticed that I was edging away from him. S&#.
"Hell," I answered sarcastically. The man laughed.
"No," he told me. "You're coming with us." Another man walked towards us then. He was bald and wearing glasses. The girl followed after him. They had used the stairs apparently.
"I told you that there was somebody here," the girl told the man that had jumped down. A.K.A. the girl who had shot me.
"Congratulations," I muttered. This was getting really old, really fast. My hand began to slip towards the glyphs that I had stored in my coat pocket. As my hand closed on one, the baldie noticed.
"Don't move," he uttered, shifting subtlety into a fighting stance. Oh great. 3 vs. 1. Place your bets.
"Moving?" I chuckled nervously. "Who's moving?" I shifted my hand and began to concentrate.
"What's in your hand?" the girl asked suddenly. She had noticed the glyph. Crud. "Give it here."
All right enough of this. I finished the summon, the summon circle appearing and the form of Mateus solidified behind me, that ice goddess still attached to his chest. Or what I thought was his chest.
I should probably explain a bit about Mateus. Mateus was the first esper I summoned. He had bound a goddess of ice (I think her name was Shiva... she never says much) to himself to use her a shield against the gods. He uses her element of ice to attack, along with what looks to be an extraordinarily detailed ax. Or something similar. I jokingly call him the mermaid summon, as with Shiva bound to his chest, he looks like one of the fish folk. Needless to say, he doesn't appreciate that much.
Anyways, as my first ever summon, I trusted him a little more than the other espers. He could be extraordinarily funny; he was mostly cynical and a bit of a pervert at times. I think this latter trait was why he had bound that goddess, or at least more so than the need for defense.
He immediately launched into action. He swung his weapon at the three. I staggered to my feet and quickly looked around. My leg was still sore from the fall. I doubted that I could make it down the many flights of stairs that were necessary to reach the ground floor. Joy. I backed away from the scene of the fight. Mateus was strong, but the combined might of the three strangers was wearing him down. The woman (who Mateus was checking out) was attacking with her gun, the baldie was pummeling at Mateus with his fists, and the red head was attacking with some sort electrified rod. Which was not good, as Mateus was weak when it came to lightning/electrical based attacks.
I made a decision. "Retreat!!" I told Mateus. Mateus obliged and swam through the air towards, then past me. I grabbed a hold of one of his fin-shaped appendages and hung on for dear life.
For Mateus decided to exit via a window. I screamed as we plunged down the side of the building. This was worse than falling through the floor. Oh dear Faram. Much much worse.
Mateus created an ice slide. I hadn't noticed it, but as we fell, we were actually sliding down a slope that was made of ice. Mateus had the brains to make sure that the slide was far enough from the window, so that the three mystery people who had attacked me couldn't follow. That didn't stop them from trying though. The red-head sent a thunder attack towards us. It missed us but just barely.
When we reached the ground, I let go of Mateus and stumbled a bit. I needed to get away from here. But how??
"What? No thanks?" Mateus asked me. I rolled my eyes and began to limp away.
"Thanks," I muttered as I peered over my shoulder. Those three would be coming after me. I knew it and began to limp away faster. I also unsummoned Mateus. He was a walking billboard for: Hello!! Fugitve is right here!! Come get her! I didn't need that. Mateus grumbled, but soon quieted down. I think he was murmuring something lewd to that ice goddess.
I had just slipped under some piece of wreckage, when the three emerged. The space I was in was small, but I had been in smaller. I was barely breathing now. After all that had happened, I didn't want to be caught at this stage of the proceedings.
I couldn't hear what they were saying, but by their body language I could tell they were pissed. They passed out of my line of sight soon after that.
I waited for what seemed to be forever. I knew it was only an hour or so, but I eventually emerged from my hiding spot. I looked right,
left, around, up, and down. I saw no one. I slinked off, the opposite way that I had seen the three disappear.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. If your a bloodsucking lawyer go away. You're annoying
I'm...Alive!!!! I'm sorry that it took me so long to post but my computer hours got slashed to weekends only, unless I have Homework that needs to be done. Oh well. So if it takes me a while to post that's why. Ah, reviewers... the sustenence that keeps me going. ((And strokes my ego...)) Many thanks to: IcyPirateChic, Lady Karai, DevilSpeaker, and Sahxyel, my reviewers. You all recieve a Pepjy plushie!!
Now if you review this time, you will recieve the red-head mystery man plushie!! A.K.A. Reno!! So review please.