My Calling

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

MAKAI! Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 11: Takeoff

"I have to ask, where did you get so good with a gun?" Brad had to ask as he, Nelius, and the Elbacky watched the Nekomata that had held him captive get dog... er, I mean, cat-piled by the other Felynn.

"To tell you the truth, I really haven't any idea." Nelius replied. "Still, to think that she would go to this type of extreme to come after you."

Brad nodded. "I can only hope this kind of incident won't happen again, because next time, I fear that I might not be able to stop them." He gestured to the horde of Felynn who were now exiting the ship, their rage spent. The Nekomata was down on the floor, several bruises and teethmarks adorning her body with multiple tufts of fur missing.

"Anyway, what are you going to do with her?"

"You know, that's a good question."

"Hopefully, she's learned her lesson." The Elbacky interjected.

"Either way, I need to check something real quick." Brad walked over to the ship's controls and began looking over several things. "This is interesting."

"What is?"

"Oh, according to the readouts on the panel, I'm a full month ahead of schedule."

"Hm?" Now Nelius was interested.

"Even though I'm considered this world's Overlord, I also have a second duty as a Guardian."

"Guardian?"

"Oh, an ancient clan that stems far back into my species' history. In short, as one of the last of my type, I usually am charged with traveling to different Netherworlds to make sure that things haven't gone to Hell and back."

"Basically, a traveling Mediator?"

"That's the general idea of it. With everything here in order, I can begin the journey by later today. I can sign you on as one of my crew members, if you like."

"Hmmm." Nelius was in thought. "I'll give you an answer in a bit. I need to go get something." He departed from the ship, heading back toward his room in the Overlord's Tower.

MAKAI!

Nelius Journal Log, August 25, 33XX

Brad has offered me a position aboard his ship when he goes out on his trip around different Netherworlds.

I still plan to become stronger in order to defeat Sirea, but this expidition may sound like a chance for me to develop those strange skills of mine. Every time I go to sleep, I can see them play out in my mind.

A strike from Celestia's Gate...

The four offensive elements in my Gauntlet...

My wings used to attack distant opponents..

But the last one is still fuzzy to me. All I see is something light and something dark. Maybe it has something to do with those two strange orbs I received. When I get the chance, I'll take a look into them.

MAKAI!

As Nelius stood up to stretch, he then realized that he'd been up all night helping save Brad's rear end, as he saw this Netherworld's sun rise.

"Eh, I'm still awake, so going to bed won't do me any good. May as well just walk around for a bit." Placing what few items he had in his bag, then slinging it over his shoulder, he exited the tower and decided to just take a walk around the city for a bit, just to pass some time. He watched several other Felynn doing their own things, wether it was just waking up from a catnap, getting something to munch on, or getting some morning exercise. Though some of them did give him strange looks, as if they'd never seen a humanoid demon before, they eventually turned back to whatever it was they were doing, their fascination already used up. His thoughts now turned toward what Brad had described about the travel to other Netherworlds. 'Now that I think about it, Mom and Dad never did say about which Netherworld I was from.'

He remembered back about 10 years ago, when he'd attempted to ask his father something, since his mother had been out that day.

'All Dad ever told me was it's a complicated situation. Hmph, complicated my ass. Hell, even Mom was tight-lipped on the whole deal.' Finding an old branch nearby, he took it, hooking it over his shoulders and sparing his arms from further fatigue from carrying the bag. 'Even if they did say something about it, it wouldn't explain those weird dreams, especially the one about...' As he continued to walk, lost in his thoughts, he rammed into a tree. "Oww! Who put that here?" He clutched his hurt nose, barely managing to hold onto his branch.

"One shouldn't walk into trees. It causes great pain to the unlucky." Chimed a familiar voice.

"When someone is lost in thought, the outside world becomes..." He realized just how he was talking. "Damnit! Knock that off!" He whirled around, coming face to face, instead of face to chest, with the Elbacky.

"Sorry, old habits die hard." She playfully stuck out her tongue, causing Nelius to sweatdrop. "Either way, Brad wanted me to tell you something important."

"And it would be..."

"If you want to take Brad up on his offer, get back to his ship, pronto. He leaves in two hours. See you." With that, she took off toward the ship.

"Two hours... oh, shit!!" Dropping the branch and grabbing his bag, he quickly let his wings sprout from his back, ignoring the slight pain. "Hey, wait for me!"

MAKAI!

The Phantom Cat sailed through the space between Netherworlds.

"Huff.. huff... next time... you're giving me a time limit... give me a quicker heads up!" Nelius complained.

"What, and ruin all the fun?!" the Elbacky smiled at him. "Besides, flying is a quicker way of getting around compared to running."

"Hey, remember, I haven't had that much time to redevelop my wings."

"Before you two decide to tear each other apart, let me make one quick announcement." Brad, at the helm of the ship, warned the both of them. "It's going to be about a day before we reach the first stop, so you'll want to rest up. To add to that, my crew already selected their rooms, so if you two want some space to yourselves, now's the time to go claim your quarters."

Having forgotten their discussion, the two of them quickly raced down the hall toward the sleeping quarters.

'Hn, now that I know that strategy works, Lita owes me 500 Hell. Hwa-cha-cha-cha!' He grinned.

Meanwhile, Nelius and the Elbacky were dashing toward the sleeping quarters, trying to find a vacant room. While the latter person was content on finding a room, Nelius was taking a little more time, charting out his own route. Based on where he'd been so far, he was trying to find a room that would give him equal access to the kitchen and the training area, though he wanted an area closer to the training area, since that was where he planned on being for a good while.

'Ehh, this one's open. It'll have to do.' Swinging the door open, he took in the sight of the room. Its design was fairly similar to the room he'd been given back in Brad's Netherworld, even having the exact same kind of bed, dresser, and TV. 'Wait, does that thing even get reception in space?' Curious, he walked in, closed the door, and grabbed the remote, turning the TV on. To his surprise, the reception was actually quite clear. 'Surprising, but I've got no time for this.' Turning it back off, he left the room, retracing his steps back toward one familiar room.

'Finally, now to catch up on lost time.' His hand went for the knob, trying to twist it. 'Huhh, locked?'

"Didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?" Brad snuck up on Nelius.

"Yaah!" He nearly shrieked, spinning around. "Don't do that!"

"I told you to rest up. Now scoot." Nelius was already gone. 'Now Frita owes me 649. Haa-cha-cha-chaa!'

Back in his room, the humanoid was busy flipping through channels on the TV, trying to find something so uninteresting that it would lull him to sleep. So far, not a damn bit of luck.

'Huh, here's irony at its finest. 400-something channels and nothing boring on.' He flipped from channel to channel, seeing nothing that held his interest. 'Ah, to hell with this.' He turned the TV off and settled into bed, sleep still eluding him for a small while.

MAKAI!

"Say, Radara, you do know where we're headed next, right?" Brad said to nobody in particular.

"Oh, I know. An old friend of mine and I are going to be catching up on old times." The one called Radara answered back.

"Just be careful with him being on this ship. You remember her... habits, right?"

"You shouldn't worry too much about that." She laughed. "I know she'll behave. Besides, if she does get out of hand, I've got some... dirt on her."

"You're quite the devious one, aren't you?" He smirked.

"After all, I did learn from the best. Good night, Brad."

MAKAI!

So ends this new chapter. I'm surprised at myself for finishing this one up so quickly.

Yes, I have finally chosen a name for the Elbacky, but for those who sent in names, I decided to give those names out to several other characters. Hey, can't let that creativity go to waste, right? And, as I promised, those who did send in names shall be given proper credit.

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough