I'd like to thank the Rose Kitusne.exe and LemmingRebel for reviewing, and the 40 something lurkers for reading.
Begin Chapter
"Netto," said Dr. Hikari. "I may have found something." Netto, who had fallen asleep in his father's office while his dad worked, sprang up and ran over to the computer. "See here," he said whilst pointing to the screen. "This dragon was sending a signal to a parallel dimension."
"Wh-what?" Netto asked, confused.
"This dragon is from a different dimension," he said again. "Where is everyone else?"
"Laika went with Enzan to talk to Chief, Meiru went home to change, and Dex went with Chisao to lunch," Netto said.
"Call them and tell them to get here as soon as they can. I might be able to send you there," Dr. Hikari said. Netto ran to his father's phone and started dialing Meiru's house. "I just hope that you can find them without any trouble."
---
"Are we there yet?" asked Lykaios the next morning.
"What did we tell you about talking?" asked Min.
"When, last night or this morning?" he asked.
"Last night," said Rock.
"Uh, shut up or we're going to throw you over the waterfall," he said.
"And," Rock said, annoyed.
"You did."
"So, do you remember what we told this morning?" asked Tabor.
"Keep your mouth shut in the woods or we're going to tie you up and leave you," said Lykaios.
"And we will," said Min. "Rock, are we going in the right direction?" Rock pulled out the map before he answered.
"Yep, if we continue down this path, we'll be there before nightfall," he said. "Why did you give me the map again?"
"Because you're the one with the sense of direction," Tabor replied.
"And because we need to have a leader before we get to BMC," said Min.
"We selected you," said Lykaios.
"Why?"
"Because," said Min, "you want to get home, so we know that you're not going to do anything rash or stupid that would put our lives in jeopardy."
"And you know this how?"
"You want to get home, don't you?" she asked. Rock sighed.
"I'm not very good at being a leader. I'm used to following," he said.
"You've got us this far, we've gained around thirty levels these past four days, we've not stopped training since we started," Tabor listed. "And that's saying something. Besides, only the best mages get selected to be Elemental Black Mages. You seem to know what you're doing."
"And your armor is the coolest," Min said.
"Ok, I guess I have no choice but to lead you prodigals home," he joked.
---
"Roll, welcome to our house," said Blues as they approached a medium sized house. It was stone, and was in the middle of a dirt lawn with few plants."We bought this from a guy on the airship."
"Ok, well, I'm going to go and claim my room," said Forte as he walked into the foyer, and up a flight of stairs.
"We'd probably want to go and do that too," said Searchman. "Gutsman, you can take the big bedroom on the first floor. I don't trust the floors to hold up."
"Fine, de gutsu," he said as he walked into a black room. Roll walked up the stairs, and found a good bedroom. It was sparsely furnished, with only a bed and a few paintings, but it served its purpose. Everything in the room was also pink.
"This'll do, I guess," said Roll as she laid down on her bed.
"Roll," said Blues as he knocked on the door, "did you find a room yet?"
"Yeah," she replied. "This room's perfect. Did everyone else find one?"
"Yep, I'm right across the hall, Searchman's room is right next to yours, and Forte's next to mine," he said. "Gutsman's is downstairs."
"I have a question," she said as she walked to the door and opened it. "Where will Rock sleep when he gets here?" Blues thought for a minute before answering.
"He'll probably want to bunk with you. See ya later," he told her before running down the stairs.
"Blues!" she yelled before slamming her door. "Hmph, whatever." "I wish."
"ROLL!" yelled Searchman from the stairwell. "LUNCH TIME!"
"COMING!" she yelled back as she started down the stairs and into the dining room. "I like this setup." The dining room had an elven theme.
"Yeah, who'd of thought that a fighter would make a decision not based on swords," said Forte. The food, steaks and potatoes, were already on the table.
"Shut up," said Blues. "Just shut up. I can't believe that you're helping us. I thought you hated us."
"No, I hate humans. Last time I checked, there are no humans here. Hume's, but not humans," he said as he started into a steak. "And if I want to get back, I'm going to have to work with you. Unfortunately."
"What, de gutsu?" asked Gutsman.
"He is forced to work with us," explained Searchman. "But, he doesn't want to."
"Oh, de gutsu," he said. "Why Roll sad, de gutsu?" Roll was just picking at her food, not really paying attention.
"What? Oh, I guess I'm just tired," she said.
"And she misses her boyfriend," Forte replied.
"Who, de gutsu? Gutsman hurt, de gutsu," he said. Roll just pushed her food away and laid her head on the table.
"Gutsman, just leave her alone," said Searchman. "Roll, do you want to go to take a nap."
"Thanks," she said as she walked up the stairs and back to her room, and lay down. "I just wish that Rock was here."
---
"There it is," said Tabor that night. They had finally made it to Black Mage City. The city was walled and gated with black stone, and there was a majestic black castle rising from the middle of the city. The city was lit up with magnificent multi-colored lights.
"Wow," whispered Rock as they walked up to the gates.
"Halt, who goes there?" asked the guard.
"Lucio, Min, Tabor, and Lykaios," said Rock, remembering his chosen nickname.
"Are you known by any other names?" asked the guard while checking a list of the new arrivals.
"I'm known by Rock, everyone else is known by those names," he said.
"Are you the leader of this group?"
"Yes."
"Did you take the position by force, or were you selected?"
"Selected."
"One last question, was your team selected to work in the High Court?"
"How would we be able to tell?" Rock asked, a little nervous.
"Two teams out of the twelve are given the elemental powers. If they learn to get along, and are all in one piece by the time they reach here, they go and work for the elites and the King."
"We were selected."
"Prove it." Rock looked at his team, and they got to work. Lykaios sent up a pillar of wood, and Tabor sent one of water. Min sent a surge of electricity through the water, and Rock disintegrated the wood. "Excellent. You four are to proceed to the King's Inner Court immediately." The guard then handed Rock a letter with a seal on it
"Thank you," said Rock as the guard stepped aside and they entered the city. It was all that they could do to not stare. Black mansions lined the street, as well as magic shops and an apothecary. The city was lit with magic torches that burned different colors. When they reached the Castle, they were stopped once again.
"May I see your pass," said the guard. Rock produced the letter. "You may enter. Kolya, please escort these mages to the king." Kolya bowed.
"Follow me," he said. He took them down a corridor, and through two sets of double doors. "Here is the king's chamber. He will be waiting for you." He bowed again. "I hope to see you around."
"Sure thing," said Tabor as they entered the chamber. They approached the throne and bowed.
"Ah," said the king, "You must be the new royal guards. You will need to wait until the other team arrives. They will be with us shortly."
"Yes, your highness," they said.
"You may wait in the hall until they arrive," the king said. They bowed one again and left the room.
"Ok, who wants to talk to the king?" asked Rock.
"You have to," said Min. "You're the leader."
"I have to?" he asked again.
"Yes," they all said.
"And there's no way that you can back out now," said Lykaios. "You're the head honcho for us."
"Fine," said Rock.
---
"Ok dad, what did you want to show us?" asked Netto.
"Look at this," said Dr. Hikari. He pointed at a certain strain of numbers. "This is telling us where the navis were sent."
"And where exactly is that?" asked Enzan.
"It's in a different dimension," Hikari-hakase explained.
"How do we get there?" asked Laika.
"I'm working on creating a transporter that will send you there."
"How do we know that they made it safely?" asked Meiru.
"The signal has changed for each different navi," he said. "Rock's is far off from everyone else's."
"So, Rock has left everyone to go on his own?" asked Netto.
"No way!" exclaimed Meiru. "Rock would never leave Roll! Or anyone else for that matter!"
"Willingly," said Enzan.
"Are you saying that Rock was kidnapped?" asked Dex.
"Anyway, we need to get them back A-sap," said Dr. Hikari.
"Well, I will go and tell Chief Kifune what we found," Laika said as he walked out of the room.
---
"Lucio," said Kolya, "The king will see you, again. The other group will be arriving momentarily." Rock and his group reentered the halls.
"There are my new favorite mages," he said in a fatherly sort of tone. "The second team is on their way up here."
"Your majesty, Lucio, Min, Tabor, Lykaios," Kolya said, bowing to each person in turn. "May I introduce Alger, Caitlin, Shiro, and Maiju. They are the second elementals." Alger was a tall mage who wore the traditional outfit. Caitlin looked like Roll, and Rock would have mistaken her if he hadn't remembered that Roll wasn't here. She had blonde hair, and wore a purple shirt and black mini skirt. Shiro was a mean looking mage, wearing dark grey plate armor, and Maiju was a Dark mage. He wore all black, and had tattoos all over his arms and face.
"Welcome!" the king said. "I hope that you will all enjoy your time here. You will have a few days to explore the city and find a place to live while you're here. I will be sending your teams on different missions for me. Your teams are now my private messengers. You will also be in a separate league then the military and police."
"Sort of like the secret service," said Rock. "The personal guards of the leader."
"Yes, then you are my secret service, although you're existence isn't secret."
"Well," said Maiju. "Now that we have that all figured out, my team is going to go and find a place to crash. Later." Everyone from Rock's group stood there gaping.
"What horrible manners," Lykaios said. "I've never seen anyone be so disrespectful in my life!"
"Me neither," said Rock. "I apologize for what they just did."
"No need," said the king. "Now I know who I can trust. Thank you. You are dismissed." Everyone bowed and left.
-Outside-
"Can you believe them?" asked Min. "Such disrespect!"
"I know," said Tabor. "Well, we should go and find a small house."
"Fine," said Rock as they started down the street.
---
Roll lay awake that night, when someone knocked on her door. "Who is it?"
"Searchman." Roll sighed, put on a robe, and went to the door.
"Hey, is something wrong?"
"No, I just wanted to let you know that there is some food leftover in the refrigerator," said Searchman. "And, I wanted to tell you that we're going to find Rock."
"Thanks," said Roll. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," he said as he went to his room. Roll went and laid back down.
"Searchman, I hope that you are right, and I hope that Gutsman will leave Rock alone," she thought with a smile. "Actually, that might be funny to see. I'm sure that Rock could take him. I wonder what he's doing. I'm sure he's fine. Yeah, he's going to be ok. I'm sure that he's having fun with his team." With that thought, she fell asleep.
End Chapter