A/N: (Singing) I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE FREEWAY IN THE FAST LAIN/ WITH A RAPID WOLVERINE IN MY UNDERWEAR WHEN SUDDENLY/ THE GUY BEHIND ME IN THE BACKSEAT POPPED RIGHT UP AND CUFFED HIS HANDS ACROSS MY EYES!/ I GUESSED IS IT UNCLE FRANK OR COUSIN LOUIE?/ IS IT BOB OR JOE OR WALTER, COULD IT BE BILL OR JIM OR ED OR BURNEY OR STEVE?/ I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE KEPT ON GUESSING BUT ABOUT THAT TIME WE CRASHED INTO THE TRUCK!/ AND AS I'M LAYING BLEEDING THERE ON THE ASPHALT FINALLY I RECOGNIZE THE FACE OF MY HIBACHI DEALER/ WHO TAKES OFF HIS PROSTHETIC LIPS AND TELLS ME/ EEEEEEVRYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG!/ BLACK IS WHITE UP IS DOWN AND SHORT IS LONG/ AND EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT WAS JUST SO IMPORTANT DOESN'T MATTER/ EEEEEEVRYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG/ JUST FORGET THE WORDS AND SING ALONG/ ALL YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WROOOOOONG!
(Weird Al Yankovic – Everything you know is wrong)
XP
"Bano!" I exclaimed with relief, seeing the horse and cart might have made it clear that the others didn't get away, but at the very least he was safe and so were their things. At the sound of my voice the horse raised its head and looked over at me. He rubbed his head up against my middle in an affectionate sort of way and I patted his neck, murmuring softly to him. "Good boy, you are a good boy." I told him, "But I can't have you staying here. Let's get out of this place so you can hide. Don't worry, we won't leave without them, but you can't stay here by yourself. It's too risky. We'll hid you in the foliage on the other side of these ruins. Stay here, I'm going to climb up and see which way to go." I said. I knew he couldn't understand me, but he looked like he did, and I knew he really liked it when we talked to him. He seemed much more calm now that I was here, and was patient while I shimmied up a few pillars in order to get a better view of our surroundings.
It seemed Bano had been headed in the right direction, and we were at the edge of the ruins even. A good two minute sprint would get us into the small forest, and it was getting dark enough that I didn't think we would be seen. I didn't see signs of the bandit encampment anywhere, so that probably meant they were in the ruins somewhere. First thing was first, however, get Bano to a safe, secure area.
The foliage was, thankfully, dense enough to keep him covered, and we found a small pond where a river was flowing and I gave Bano a good swift scrubbing. I didn't want to leave him here alone, but I didn't know that I could trust any of my inner demons with him.
Eventually I decided to let Aggle guard him. She took one look at me, and began to giggle like a maniac. "Yes, yes, Kaida's dressed like a boy, ha ha ha." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Look, I want you to guard this cart and the horse, don't do anything to the cart or the horse. And if me, Aizira, Alzik, or Tormal come near it, disappear before we see you, especially if it's one of the other three. Anyone else I want you to scare them out of their wits. Think you can do that for me?" I asked.
Aggle's smile was so wide I literally thought it would split her face, "Oh yes, yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!!!" She answered, jumping up and down excitedly.
"Good, but don't spook Bano, okay?"
"Of course not!" She exclaimed, coming over and wrapping her arms around the horses neck, not something he really seemed to appreciate, and which did, in fact, spook him a bit, "He is such a cute thing, who would want to hurt him!?" She cooed. "Yes you are, you are the most beautiful horse in the world! So precious!" She said.
I could see it in Bano's eyes that he was a sucker for compliments, and that he no longer seemed to feel uncomfortable with Aggle. Well, at least I'd made a good choice with this.
"I'll be back, hopefully with the others." I said.
"Take your time!!!" Aggle sang, creating her own combs and brushes so she could groom Bano herself.
I spirited back into the ruin city, and sent out Kohlt to go find the encampment. He did so swiftly, and I made my way to the structures where the men were hulled up, feeling sick with dread at the state I would likely find Aizira. Would she have been raped already? Or would that psychotic leader be forcing her to fight against his men for his entertainment? I hoped it was the latter.
There were guards stationed outside the entrance, torches were lit, but that wasn't going to help them. I hopped onto the top of the structures and slipped right past them. I forced time to slow down almost to a stop and I dropped down behind the guard who was in front of the door. I turned and slipped inside, following Kohlt's mental directions to wherever Aizira was being kept.
I waited for my sands to run out as I kept moving at this speed. I was so fast that I didn't bother hiding from the guards, they were moving so slow it was like a single frame of animation a minute. But, for some reason, I didn't seem to have such a limited timeframe anymore.
Well, I was the Empress of Time, obviously that meant I got a definite power boost when it came to time manipulation. How handy.
It did catch up with me, but by then I had realized the end was coming and had hidden myself before the guard could see me. I slipped past him and on down a hallway that seemed…oddly devoid of guards.
I soon learned the reason why, as a murmured conversation came to my ears, and I found myself at a door through which I could hear that leader's voice, as well as the voice of another man, and what I heard made my eyes widen in shock.
"Setting that aside, the lord Zervan has another mission for you." Said the second man.
"Oh? And what does the old bat want this time?" Asked the leader, snickering.
"As you know, the Dagger of Time was taken from the vaults of India to create war between India and Persia. But the dagger wasn't just India's greatest treasure. It was given to the Maharaja by a certain group of individuals who call themselves the Order of the All-Seeing Eye. He's been getting reports that they have realized it was the dagger which was stolen, in spite of the Maharaja's efforts to keep the identity of the item a secret. They are moving in to confront the Maharaja, and there is no doubt that they will investigate."
"And Zervan wants me to get rid of them?" He asked.
"You would, of course, be greatly compensated, and you know that once Lord Zervan has succeeded in his goals, all of Egypt will belong to you for your services. However, there is one individual that Lord Zervan needs dead, whatever you do to the rest. Her name is Mychala, she is a prophetess and a priestess, not only that, but she is the figurehead of the order, if not the leader. She has proven on many occasions to have been gifted with the second sight, and Lord Zervan fears that she may see just a bit too much this time. If she were the only one to die out of the entire order, Lord Zervan would count it a victory and pay you just as much."
"He's afraid of a woman?"
"He's afraid of her power, and she is powerful. I have seen it for myself, do not underestimate her, or you might suffer the consequences. Assume that she already knows you are coming for her and that she has prepared a defense. Don't let your guard down for a second. Lord Zervan has complete confidence in your abilities, Lord Malik. As do I. As soon as word reaches us that she is dead, I will be back with your reward. Also, don't get to comfortable. Zervan has informed me that he is only biding his time before getting rid of the Maharaja's daughter. He's realized that she somehow knows far too much, and will be needing you to…ah, take her for a vacation."
"I see, well! At least the old bat is giving me something to do that's actually worth my time!" 'Malik' chuckled.
"I should inform you that a number of the assassins he's had attempt to kill her have all died quite horribly, and he is afraid that she's acquired some power. He will send word, with me, when would be the best time to take her."
"But until then, would you like another drink?" Malik asked pleasantly.
"You treat me so well, Lord Malik." The second voice drawled.
I'd heard enough, it was time to grab Aizira, her brothers, and get out of here.
So, my supposed 'priestess' was this Mychala woman, was it? Nice, I wondered if she actually did have second sight, and if she did, how did she get it? I sure didn't give it to her, maybe it's just something people of this world are born with, like sometimes you hear of psychics in my world, but everyone's a skeptic so very few people actually believe them.
There was a guard in front of the door I knew Aizira was behind, and I could hear her sobbing even before I neared him. Rage filled my chest, was there someone else in that room? Had she already been raped!?
The guard was dead before he even knew what was coming. In one swift slash I sliced his head clean off his shoulders, and grabbed both head and body before it made a sound hitting the floor. I then took the keys, and began fiddling with the lock. I could hear Aizira's gasp, and her scuffling, obviously she was intending to hide, either that or prepare an attack for Malik.
But these obviously weren't the keys to that door. I swore softly to myself, "F(beep) this." I muttered, and I kicked the door clean off its hinges.
I saw the potted plant a second before it hit me, and snatched it out of the air before it made a mess of my face, "Nice to see you too, Aizira." I said, lowering it to see her shocked, tear-stained face.
"AMON!!!" She screamed. Well, there went the element of surprise. She flung her arms around me and began sobbing into my shoulder, "I thought, I thought you were-were dead!" She sobbed.
"Bah, it'll take more than a 12-foot tall dragon to kill me." I said, patting her back, "Er…you do remember that I am a girl, right?" I whispered in her ear.
"Hard to forget when I can feel your breasts through your shirt." She muttered bitterly, "I can still dream though, can't I?"
"YOU!!!" Shrieked a familiar voice, and I immediately spun Aizira behind me and pulled out my swords, glaring at the stunned face of Malik, which had the distinct impression of one who was staring at a ghost, "But, but you're, you're dead! I killed you! I saw you fall! No man could survive that! You can't possibly be alive!" He cried.
Oh yeah, it had been worth it just for this.
The man behind him was middle-aged with deep violet robes, and an ugly expression on his face as he stared at me, "It's one of them!" He hissed at Malik, "It's one of the Order! He must have heard everything! Kill him! Kill him now!" He ordered.
"I did!" Malik roared.
"Obviously not!"
I swiftly crafted two scimitars from the sands and handed them to Aizira, who stared at them in amazement, "Don't ask, just run, find your brothers and get out of here."
She nodded, and turned the other way, running as fast as her legs would carry her.
"No!!! STOP HER!!!" Malik bellowed, attempting to go after her, but I kicked him back so that he hit the man and they both fell.
"You're not going anywhere." I told him. "I shall not allow you to kill Lady Mychala. But I'm sure she'd be very interested to know of the Vizier's treachery, that is if she doesn't know already." I said, deciding to play the part.
"You are not going to live to tell anyone, maggot!" The second man said, pushing Malik off of him and coming after me with a dagger in his hand.
"Oh you have got to be joking." I said, knocking the dagger easily out of his hand, and slashing an artery while I was at it. I kicked him back, but then my heart sank as he somehow managed to keep his footing, and he grinned sinisterly at me.
"I summon those entities subject to me, accept this blood as a sacrifice and rise to rid me of my enemies." He chanted.
The cut healed over, but the blood that dripped to the ground became black and smoke emitted from it. Three smoky figures rose, white oni masks appeared for their faces, and the eye holes burned red with blood lust.
I stepped back and growled, "You people just don't fight fair, do you?" I snarled at him, "Fine, you're going to sincerely regret this cowardice, both of you." I said, raising my hand dramatically into the air.
"You fool!" The man laughed, "You are facing down the incarnations of War, Famine, and Terror! You have no chance! Accept your fate and die!" He exclaimed and the three figures came after me.
But as I stood my ground, they stopped, the smoky being that was Kagero enveloped me, and his face appeared at my shoulder, leering at the three figures, "Who dares challenge my master?" He growled.
The three figure's paused, and looks of shock and fear crossed the man and Malik's faces as they, themselves backed away. The figures looked at one another, and the middle stepped forward. "Thy master and our summoner have quarrel. We shalt uphold the contract. If thou dost not seek destruction, get thee out of our way." He said in a low, otherworldly voice.
"Think you can challenge me, do you?" Kagero chuckled, moving from me to converge into the shape of a man in front of me, "You, you are War, Famine, and Terror, but I? I am temptation. I am greed, I am ambition, I am lust, I am consequence. I am the driving force which builds cities up and brings them down. I am the cause, you are the effect, and I will destroy you utterly with a single thought. You do not want me as your enemy, so tell me if your contract is worth the annihilation of your consciousness." He said.
The three figures backed away, looked at each other, and then turned to the man, whose face was white with fear. "Thine enemy is greater than we." The three said at once, "Thou art a fool, Kolhak. There shall not be a next time." And with that they disappeared.
Malik had already gone, having disappeared the moment Kagero began to speak to the three figures, so now there was only this man, Kolhak.
"Tell your master he has made a grave error in making an enemy out of the Order of the All-Seeing Eye." I told him, "You've seen my power, you know we are hiding more than you realize. But you will not repeat what you've seen of Kagero," I said, and I nodded to him, "Will you?"
Kagero's hand took hold of Kolhak's head, and Kolhak began to scream and shriek, falling to the floor and writhing, begging me to make it stop.
Kagero relented, but looked down at Kolhak, "If you speak too much of me to your master, it will happen again, and this time it will not stop." He warned.
Kolhak teleported back to his master, and Kagero disappeared.
I turned and went to follow the path that Aizira had taken.
XD
I found her in the dungeons, working furiously with the rusted lock, but it seemed they had been thrown in there through the window, and that was far too high to reach normally, and it was now blocked. The key didn't work.
"Stand back." I said.
Aizira jumped, but sighed when she saw me and did just that.
"Gods, Amon, I can't believe you're still alive, I'm so relieved." Tormal said as I raised a blade, and then slashed the lock right off the bars.
"I can't believe you came back for us." Said Alzik, and he gave me a pat on the shoulder, "Thank you, we'll never forget this." He told me.
"You're welcome. Now let's get out of here. Bano is waiting for us on the other side of the ruins." I said.
That proved to be difficult, but Malik was nowhere to be seen, and his minions were child's play for us. We were out of there soon enough, and the others followed me in a direct path to the other side of the ruins.
We were chased, but the moment our backs were to the forest we turned around and prepared to fight. However they didn't seem at all inclined to fight us, and soon turned right back around like the cowards they were.
"Glad that's over." I said, drawing my blades back in and turning to lead them to where the cart was.
I completely forgot about Aggle.
XD
"Your circles are too big!!! Make them smaller! Not so fast either, make it slow so he can enjoy it. I SAID SLOWER!!!" Aggle was shrieking.
A total of four big burly bandits belonging to Malik were all situated around Bano and grooming him with Aggle stalking around them, shrieking about how they weren't doing it right and if they were trying to make her cry. They exclaimed that no, no, they weren't, while they themselves were crying like babies, scared out of their wits, and I really couldn't blame them. Aggle looked like someone grabbed a horror film and gave it life and a doll's body.
"What tha—What is that, and what's it doing with our horse!?" Exclaimed Alzik.
I winced, this was bad, I thought about rewinding time to before we got here, but decided against it. They would want to know how I survived, and claiming to be a 'summoner' like Malik was the best course of action.
"Her name is Aggle." I said with a reluctant sigh, "I hoped you wouldn't find out…but I stationed her here to guard the cart and horse…and it looks like these poor souls stumbled upon it." I told him.
"Are you saying you're a summoner?!" Demanded Alzik, stepping away from me, looking outraged, and a bit frightened.
"Perhaps that is the term they use in this land." I said, "But I don't believe I am the same as your Malik friend. From what I can see, both methods and creatures are completely different. Aggle is…I'm not sure if you can put into words what she is, but she's pretty harmless, scary, but harmless." I said.
"You call that harmless!? If she's harmless how did she get those men to groom Bano!? And why are they crying!?" Demanded Alzik furiously.
"I think it's kind of funny." Said Aizira, grinning at me, "And it explains how Amon survived that fall. He's got his own summoned creatures, we should be thankful."
"I've never met a summoner I could trust." Alzik hissed.
"Well now you have!" Aizira snapped at him, "Alzik, no, I'm serious! Amon just saved our lives! He came right back when he could have just taken Bano, the cart, and gone on without us. And I'm shocked that you're going to throw everything you know about him out the window just because you suddenly found out he's a summoner!"
"Well how come he didn't tell us in the first place!?" Alzik defended.
"Because he probably knew the sort of reception he would get! And from the way you're reacting can you blame him!? If Amon hadn't set this Aggle to guard our things, those thugs would have made off with them! But now look, they're actually grooming Bano for us!" She told him, she then turned to me and smiled, "Just ignore Alzik. I admit we have had a lot of bad experiences with summoners, Malik being only one, but you needn't worry about it too much."
"Thank you." I said, feeling rather touched at how easily she was taking this. "Aggle." I said, stepping forward. "What are you doing?" I demanded.
"Oh! Amon, you're back!" She said cheerfully, bounding over to me with a twirl, "We're just grooming this adorable horsie! And the boys are having so much fun! Aren't you?" She asked sweetly, turning around to stare at them.
"Yes! Very much fun!!!" They exclaimed, though it was obvious all they wanted to do was curl up into little balls and sob.
"Uh huh, right." I said, "I though I just told you to scare them away, not turn them into your nervous slaves."
"But they're so cute!" She exclaimed, "And I really do like the new look, Amon." She said, giggling and giving the other three a glance, which made them slightly nervous, "But I think it would be cuter without the hood!" She said, reaching out to take it off.
I caught her hand, "No, that's fine, I'm afraid your fashion advise is only good for one day out of the year. Time to leave." I told her.
"Awwww, oh okay. But make sure you call me out again soon! We're all getting really bored!" She said, and she disappeared back into the manner.
"Is she gone?" Whimpered one of the men. Another looked.
"Yes." He said, and they immediately dropped the currycombs and ran, screaming and crying about monsters.
The four of us looked at each other, and then Aizira busted out laughing, followed by me, Tormal, and finally Alzik.
XP
Rhea: THEY'RE BACK!!! WOO HOO!!! (Bounds in with horns completely regrown)
Kaida: That was fast.
DP: Wonderful! Another present for Sacrosanct! ):D
Rhea: Haha, that's funny! Because you see, I have now enlisted the services of FD to keep that from happening again!!!
FD: - -' Trust me, this was NOT by choice.
Kioko: I blackmailed him, now he has to guard Rhea's horns.
DP: Heh, what about her tail?
Rhea: 0.0 (Grabs tail and hugs it)
FD: Heh, THAT I don't care about. Go right ahead.
Rhea: (sniff) ;.; WHY DON'T YOU LOVE MEEEEEEEE!?!?!?
FD: You want a LIST?
Aizira: That's horrible!
FD: I could care less.
DP: Heh, I think I like you. Let's be friends!
Kioko: Good luck there, the word 'friend' isn't in his vocabulary I'm afraid. That and quite a few others.
FD: Shut up.
Kioko: I could give you an incomplete list of them if you like. The first one's 'love', then there's 'nice', 'compassion', 'like', here's 'friend', after that's 'charity', 'gentle', 'soft', 'beneficial',
FD: I think they get the picture, woman.
Kioko: I could go on.
DP: It's all the same to me. How about 'allies'?
FD: That works.
Rhea: ;.; I can't believe you're allying yourself with the one who took my horns in the FIRST place!!!
FD: You can't?
Kioko: Actually, that was rather predictable.
Aizira: Just who is this guy!?
Kioko: Fierce Deity, the Oni god, also, for some reason, the object of Rhea's molestation-er, I mean, obsession. Don't as me why, she's completely off her rocker. In my opinion FD's being smart for rejecting her.
Rhea: ;.;
Kaida: Are we doing an FAQ today?
Kioko: Doesn't look like it.
Rhea: I'M GOING TO MY ROOM!!!
Kioko: Sigh, R&R and all that crap. (Mutter mutter)