Ellis was led down the halls and up a flight of stairs. Eventually, she was brought before a door. One of the men opened the door and guided her inside. Once inside, they closed the door, and took up positions at the corners of the room.
In the room was a desk and a large swivel chair with a high back, turned away from the door so that one would not be able to see if anyone was in the chair or not. On the desk sat a large, grey bird on a perch. This bird had a long, thick beak with a slight orange protuberance at the top – a Hornbill.
"I see that you have arrived." came a voice.
"Are you 'The Captain'?" asked Ellis.
"Why, yes, I am. And may I say that it is an honor to mee-"
"You're a bird?"
This response elicited a short pause.
"No, I am not a bird. Here, let us meet face to face…"
Elsewhere, Nadie and Lirio looked out of the window of the room they had been thrown into. They noticed that, though they were on the first floor, the ground below the window sloped down to about an additional twelve meters.
"Well, we could jump, but it would hurt quite a bit…"
Lirio pointed towards a building seen a small distance away. It has several guards outside of it.
"I see. We can't really jump out without being noticed either."
Lirio raised her hand to get Nadie's attention, and dug through her clothes. She drew out her boomerang.
"Huh? Since when did… it doesn't matter. Good work, Lirio!"
Nadie looked at the boomerang, and then looked again at the guards. Two of them seemed to be set on walking around the building, with one permanent guard by the building's door. By doing some quick calculations, she judged that if the boomerang was thrown at the permanent guard, it would give them a few seconds to jump down form the window.
"It'll be risky, but it's worth a shot… hey, Lirio? Do you think you can throw your boomerang at that bad guy over there by the door!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Good! Then, at my signal, could you throw it?"
"Un!"
"Great! Now after you do that, I'm going to grab onto you, and then I'm going to jump out of the window. When we hit the ground, we're going to roll down the slope and into those bushes right there. Okay?"
"Gah-tchuh!"
Nadie had to restrain herself from squeeing.
"Okay, ready? One… two… three!"
Lirio threw the boomerang and, as luck would have it, hit the guard square in the face, sending him to the floor for a moment.
"Now!" Nadie scooped Lirio up in her arms and jumped out of the window. Landing on her side, they both rolled down the slope and quickly clambered into the bushes. Peeking form the brush, Nadie saw both of the rotating guards come running to the fornt of the building to investigate what had happened.
"Fortunately, these people aren't so good at shaking down people for weapons." Nadie spoke, procuring her gun from her shirt. She had placed it there before being taken from the truck, as a precaution just in case the goons had tried to make her give up her weapons.
"Now, we got to get to the other side of this building. Ellis is still in there. Follow my lead."
"Hm!" spoke Lirio in a worried tone.
"What is it?"
"Nadie then remembered that the boomerang had not returned all the way, and was halfway between them and the guards.
"We'll get it later, okay?"
"Nnnnn!"
"Look, Lirio, we can't risk getting caught right now, or-"
Suddenly, the door behind the permanent guard burst open, and saw two cloaked figures escaping. The guard went to try and shoot them, but another guard poked his head out and beckoned him and the other guards to come in.
"Well, alright." Nadie quickly ran out to get the boomerang, all the while making sure no one was watching, and then, reuniting with Lirio, proceeded to work their way to the front of the building.
While this was all going on, the witches were getting ready to recite the spell.
"Ugh, I hate speaking this tongue." Grunted Kennedy in disgust as she was reading over the spell. The language the spell was in was a dark, ancient, and evil one, and was used for most of the incantations found within the infamous Necronomicon.
"Well, there's no use complaining now; we were going to do it anyway." Replied Dido.
Dido turned around to look at the guards: though several of them were still keenly observing them, one had drifted off to sleep while leaning against the wall. Regardless, Dido whispered into Kennedy's ear.
"Just so you know, there's more material here than necessary for the resurrection. So in the process of resurrecting this individual, another being will rise with it."
"What, are you serious?"
"Yeah. It's our best hope of getting out of this mess, too, so-"
"Hey, no whispering!" shouted one of the guards.
The mixture finally ready, Dido took an amphora sitting aside raised it over the mixture of flesh, fat, blood, and bone.
"Oh, great one! By the powers of Yog-Sothoth, the Gate and the Key, may this being come back to life!" Dido spoke as she poured the contents of the amphora, ashes, into the mixture. Taking Kennedy's hand in hers, they chanted the spell:
Y'AI 'NG'NGAH
YOG-SOTHOTH
H'EE-L'GEB
F'AI THRODOG
UAAAH!
A cold wind blew from nowhere, and an acrid, pungent odor began to fill the room. Dark-green smoke began to emit from the mixture, and a figure began to form from it. The guards, being mesmerized by this, did not notice Dido throwing in one of her hairs. She quickly plucked a hair from Kennedy's head as well, and threw it in also. She then whispered a chant into the mixture, and then took Kennedy by the arm and bolted for the door.
The guards turned to try and stop them, but one of them suddenly was struck down by what looked like a large, fleshy tongue. Just before Dido threw open the door, she turned and threw what looked like a steel bracelet with a tab on it towards the figure forming from the mixture, after which she bolted through with Kennedy and ran for their lives.
The figure forming from the mixture had assumed the shape of a humanoid, and was in the process of forming skin around itself. Meanwhile, a large lump of flesh and bone emerged from the tank as well, and, head forming into large jaws, made for the nearest guard.
The figure had finished forming by this point, and covered with blood, stood there. It stood there motionless for a moment, and then quickly, opened wide its eyes. They were golden. The figure bent down to pick up the bracelet. Then…
The chair turned around to reveal a man who appeared to be at least in his late forties. He had greying brown hair that came down to his neck, and along with his military beret, he also wore an odd pair of sunglasses that were grey-rimmed with a design on the bridge that resembled an eye.
"My full title is Captain Gyrfalcon, but for now you may simply refer to me as 'The Captain'. I am not going to bore you with the details, but I shall give you a short summation of who I am and what I wish to accomplish with you. Now, to beg-"
"Where's Nadie and Lirio?" Ellis asked sternly.
"My dear girl, your friends have simply been put away for a little bit. They are simply in a locked room. No harm will come to them, for you see, I have plans for them as well, especially that fiery companion of yours."
"What do you want to do with Nadie?"
Captain Gyrfalcon stood up from his chair and walked over to the window.
"My dear child, there are some things that you must know about your friend. However, let me tell my story first: you see, long ago, I used to be part of an enforcement group in the service of a powerful organization that rules from the shadows. I shall not tell you their name, for all who here it will eventually come to be involved with it somehow, and I do not wish to see you in such a situation. Anyway, in this organization I met my mentor, a man that shall be only known by his chosen name: Friday Monday. When he chose to defect from this organization, I went along with him, and helped him to found his own group, which he called Enfant."
"Friday Monday had a great goal: to seek a way to reawaken mankind to its true calling and instinct, to return it to its natural state. Now, this is where he and I disagreed: you see, he believed that the true nature of mankind was one of violence and bloodshed, and wished to plunge the whole world into a state of chaos, disorder, and war, from which a superior specimen of mankind may rise from the strife and truly recognize humanity's potential. I, on the other hand, differed in his interpretations of mankind's true nature, and I formed my own theory: that humanity has great power locked away within itself… powers like those of the witches."
"And that is where I am supposed to come in?" asked Ellis.
"Naturally!" stated Gyrfalcon as he turned to face her. "My dear young girl, what I wish to offer you is the opportunity of a lifetime: to awaken mankind's true potential, to make it at last master of its own fate! The details can be gone over later, but in the meantime, I'll just let you process what I have already said."
Ellis stood there for a moment.
"I'm sorry, but I have to refuse."
Gyrfalcon, not taken aback at all, simply shook his head and chuckled.
"My dear child! You do not know what you refuse! What I am offering you is not just the chance to remake the world, but the chance to remake your life – think of it! Why is it that you endlessly travel, anyway?"
"I travel… because I want to be with Nadie."
"I see… but is that really the case? Weren't you and Nadie just settling down fine a while back? For several months you lived with that nice couple down south. But then again, were you really happy with that?"
"I… I don't know what you're trying to say…"
"What I'm getting at, dear child, is that you cannot just simply rest! You must always wonder, as that is all that you know! Whereas Nadie once had a home, a family, a community; you never had any of that. Nadie was doing just fine abandoning her old lifestyle; you, on the other hand, know no other way of living!"
"That's a lie. I-"
"You lived with the Professor for a while. He raised you for a bit as you grew older. True, he was like a parent to you; true, his home was like yours; however, it was never truly a family, never truly a home. At the end of the day, you were just simply an experiment, even if Professor Schneider eventually developed feelings of caring for you. And this Nadie; how does she benefit from your existence?"
"I…"
"Think of it: you're only with Nadie because you have no idea what else to do!"
"That's not true at all. I'm with Nadie because-"
"Because what? Because you love her?"
"…how did-"
"I know everything, my child! And I also know that, though you love her, you are nervous, afraid to act out on it, because you are not certain whether or not she would reciprocate such feelings! In truth, you are only with her to give meaning to an existence that you cannot find meaning in, an emotional crutch!"
"Tha… that's not true at all." Ellis was nearing tears at this point, but still kept a fairly even tone. She knew that Gyrfalcon was trying to toy with her mind, but she couldn't help but to admit to herself that there was truth in what he was saying. In reality, she was afraid, deathly afraid that Nadie would not reciprocate her feelings. For what she had for Nadie was not the love of friendship, but something more; she just could not put her fingers on it, though.
"Well, it seems that I have rendered you speechless. I will let you leave for a while to consider your answer-"
"I already have an answer." Declared Ellis while looking down at the floor.
"Oh? And what is that?"
"My answer…" Ellis spoke as she raised her head to face Gyrfalcon, "…is that yes, it is true that Nadie is my support. However, that is what makes our relationship: just as she is my support, I am hers. And I know, regardless of whether or not she reciprocates my feelings, is that no matter what, she will come for me."
Gyrfalcon clapped at this.
"Bravo, bravo! I do enjoy it when a girl shows bravery! However, I cannot help but feel disappointed by your answer. Thus-"
Suddenly, one of the guard's radios came on.
"This is 14, requesting back-up! I repeat! It's the witAAAAUGH!"
"14, repeat! What is going on?!" responded the guard into the radio.
"Hmm… it seems that we could not rely on the sisters after all. Very well. Have the others gather up our other two guests and…"
"You're not going anywhere with them."
"Oh?" spoke Gyrfalcon as he was grabbing some things from the desk.
"I won't let you." Spoke Ellis firmly.
"I see; very well, then, I guess I'll have to-"
Suddenly, the door burst open. A boomerang came whirling in, knocking a guard in the face. Nadie followed suit, smashing the nearest guard's face in with her fist. She drew her gun on Gyrfalcon.
"If you have any last words, say'em!"
Ellis turned to face Gyrfalcon.
"See?" she said with just a trace of smugness.
Gyrfalcon gulped, and then straightened himself out.
"Ah, well, er… very well, then. It seems that my request has been denied by at least one party. Very well We'll meet again."
He ran towards the window to jump out of it.
"I don't think so!" shouted Nadie, but as she tried to fire at him, his hornbill came flying up and got in her face, causing her to miss.
"Damn bird, get off of me!" Nadie spoke as she tried to get the raging bird off of her.
The two remaining guards tried to fire on Nadie, but Ellis caused their weapons to melt at the muzzle. The guards, not wanting to mess with one who controls the elements, simpy jumped out of the window after their leader and went tearing off into the jungle.
Ellis ran towards Nadie and embraced her.
"Ellis, I'm glad you're okay. Did they do anything to you?"
"No."
"Then let's get out of here. Come along, Lirio!"
"Un!"
The girls left the room, not knowing exactly, though, how they were going to get out of the building.
"You know, this is all your fault." Said Kennedy to Dido as they both sat crammed underneath a desk in a small office in Guatemala.
Outside, the sounds of gunfire were occasionally heard, as well as other, nastier sounds, like the sound of a thin piece of metal slicing through some unfortunate bloke's arm, or the sound of something gelatinous munching on the bones of yet another poor bastard.
They both tensed up when they heard the sound of running boots outside the office door, but relaxed slightly as they heard them disappear down the corridor.
Once the sounds were over, though, the pair got up and slowly made their way to the window to peep outside. They saw blood and carnage everywhere, as well as the dirt trail of several vehicles in the distance.
"Do you think we can make it outside now?" spoke Dido to Kennedy.
"Well, we could try. It's not like we didn't come close to dying several other times today."
They made their way through the halls of the now-empty building, and made their way outside. About a half hour had passed since the beginning of the resurrection, and the two were not entirely sure what to expect. They finally came outside and came upon the ghastly sight of the flesh-monster form earlier chewing away on the arm of one of the guards.
"Yeesh." Said Dido to nobody in particular.
The sun had begun to go down, casting an eerie glow over the jungle. At a clearing by the garage, they found the person they were looking for.
He stood staring off into the distance, covered by blood. The steel bracelet was now around his left wrist. Nearby laid the bodies of three guards, cut neatly in several pieces.
Not knowing what else to say, Dido spoke out to it.
"Greetings!"
The figure, without turning, simply spoke in a light, male voice.
"Oh. And you would be?"
"Well… to put it in simple terms, I guess I'm your savior. I and my sister here brought you back to life."
"Oh… the reason being?"
"Well, erm, quite simple!..."
"…yes?"
"Well, um, ahem: we have a deal to make with you."
"And that would be?"
"Er, you see, we want to make an exchange: we get something, you get something."
"…go on."
"Well, yes, there is somebody we want dead. And, judging by if you still have your memories, you may want her dead as well…"
Dido procured a picture of Nadie and held it up to the air.
"And in exchange?" spoke the young male, turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder.
"In exchange, you can have the person of your deepest longing." Dido pulled another picture out, this time of Ellis.
"Ah… well, then…" the figure turned around completely.
"I believe… that we have a deal…" it said, smiling.
That day, a boy was brought back to life. This boy was L.A.
Author's Note: Da-da-duuun! What a shocking twist! What further developments shall come from this revelation? How did the girls escape from the compound? The answers to these and other questions shall be answered next time!
As an additional note: these last few chapters were pretty heavy, but I promise that the humor will come back in force starting next chapter. Till next time, keep reading, and thanks for doing so!