Author's Note: Prepare for another long chapter! I enjoy writing more, but I tend to feel that I repeat myself a lot…..well since you guys are reviewing and not complaining, I must be doing something right. Thank you all for your reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh, and in this chapter the POV's get a little different, usually I follow the order; Logan, Kendall, James and Carlos. This time it's going to be different!
Chapter 6: Selije
NO POV
To anyone who has never seen Selije, it's a beautiful snow covered town brimming with magic. Since Selije is located on a ley point, a spot of intense magical energy, the town flourished even in the frigid arctic. The barrier, invisible to the world outside, gave the town eternal night. To remedy this situation the High Mages created a sphere of glowing light; so long as the ley point existed the sphere would never go out. Within each building housed a mana crystal, it served many purposes, a source of light and heat, it could also generate images sent from other crystals.
Carlos POV
Walking around the town reminded me of Minnesota, the snow, the chill in the air and the darkness all sent me back to me life before moving to California. Kids were having a snowball fight in the middle of town, smacking snowballs at each other or at some random passerby. We decided to split up, Logan headed toward the Selije School, Kendall walked into a shop and James awed at the elevators. I walked around, not doing much of anything, just thinking.
I found myself near the back of the town, near the edge of the ground where the earth met nothing. I didn't walk off the edge; I just sat there with my legs hanging into the darkness. When I heard a mechanical groan coming from the building behind me I decided to see what caused it. A sign in front read 'Museum of Wonders' and on the very top of the building had a metal dome. I entered the building, looking around with a curious interest. Items and devices of various shapes, sizes and colors were encased in glass boxed. Noticing an arrow on the wall pointing to the stairs I decided to go and see what was up there.
A detailed hologram of a mysterious monster called the 'Hyulkonton', floated in the middle of the room. The passage on the information page said that this rare monster mutated in the surrounding Selije area. Its main ability sent every type of ailment on everyone within range, other than that it remained the one and only peaceful monster. No reported incidence of it ever physically attacking anyone, its ability was used for self defense.
"I used to come up here a lot too." I jumped and almost fell forwards into the hologram. The person who spoke laughed and grabbed my shirt and pulled me back.
"I'm sorry! I should have announced that I came into the room. I'm Lilka Eleniak! Are you a traveler? You look like a traveler, unless are you a part of Odessa? I thought we got rid of you numb skulls!" Lilka, the girl who scared me kept on rambling about people, or a group of people that I didn't know. An endless stream of attempts on who I was or why I was here, she kept on saying everything that comes to her mind, kind of like me.
"Why don't you let me tell you who I am, that way you don't run out of breath?" She took a deep breath before nodding and stopped talking.
"I'm Carlos! My friends and I are here because we need to learn about High Magic…..or something like that." Her clothing looked weird, and she had an umbrella in her left hand. She wore a red and orange dress that ended right at her knee, white stockings and a pair of black leather shoes. Over her shoulders she had a cape held in place by a gold symbol. Her cape, near the middle of her back, split in half and at the end of each side was a gold ringlet.
"You already know my name! So what brings you up here, most people think that the Hyulkonton is something to be afraid of. My sister used to say that the Hyulkonton is simple misunderstood, that all it probably wants is to be left alone." I noticed that her bright green eyes turned a few shades darker when she mentioned her sister.
"What happened to her?" I half expected to hear that she was attacked by a monster but the story I got was much sadder.
"We used to play around with magic when we were younger so I swiped a box from the museum downstairs. I was 10 and she just turned 16, so we opened it and were warped inside the box. 'The Millennium Puzzle Box' had warped us inside it. At the time I didn't know how to use much magic, my sister did though and she had a nickname, 'Eleniak Witch Girl' because she could do any magic and never fail, but I had trouble with the simplest spells. Anyway she managed to figure out how to teleport us out, but only one of us. So when I refused to go she pushed me into it. She gave up her freedom just to give me a second chance."
James POV
After I stared at the elevator for a half an hour finally realizing that it had nothing to with machinery, that it was powered by magic, I left and headed toward the junk shop. The smell of gasoline, explosives and metal filled my nose and I felt right at home. So far I had only a few bombs left and needed to make more because we could meet a beast anywhere. I knew how to make three types of bombs, the exploding fire ball, the paralyzing, heat seeking bomb and a bomb that I sold to the 'Moogles', the floating balls of fluff in the Royal City. However I hadn't used the bomb I sold to the Moogles because I wanted to save it for later, or for a stronger monster.
I rummaged through the junk finding a few interesting items. A claw-like armband with three spikes coming out near the fist, a staff with a blue-green crystal on top, and a gun that had been modified to never run out of bullets, being in a town where magic reigns this didn't surprise me too much.
Still digging through the pile of junk trying to figure out what I should build next. I put the weapons next to my bag while I dug through the endless pile.
"There you are!" I gleefully cheered because I found what I needed. I finally decided on a bomb to build, one that rained ice from above. I sat on the mountain of junk building my bomb.
After perfecting another bomb I left and wandered the city, reliving life back in Minnesota before becoming famous. Snowball fights with my friends, hanging out in front of Kendall's work, knocking people over with shopping carts and truly being happy. Now that I was in this strange land, I missed home more than ever, and I don't mean LA or Big Time Rush. I mean, hanging out with my friends, doing reckless stunts and watching Carlos run into stuff. I guess Carlos wasn't the only one. I heard a groan beneath me and I realized that I ran into this person.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking!" The girl beneath me smiled and laughed before she shifted. I got up and helped her get back onto her feet.
"It's not a problem; I was doing the exact same thing. You must be new here, usually nobody heads this far from the main area. What brings you out here?" She asked before walking towards the main shopping area.
"My friend is studying at the school, we have to wait for him to finish before we leave. I was walking around thinking about…it's not important. I didn't catch your name, what did you say it was?" She looked a little pale, well, everybody here looked pale. They really need to learn how to get a tan; I mean I think Carlos is the tannest person here.
"That's because I never said it! Don't you usually introduce yourself before you ask the name of another?" She had me there, I never told her my name, "I'm just kidding! My name is Marivel. Marivel Armitage." Other than being pale she wore extremely weird clothing. A blue dress and a white apron along with three huge bags that hung from her waist were partially covered by a long black cape. I swear she looked like she came out of a Dracula movie! On her head rested a black-blue cap and some goggles.
"I'm James. Nice to meet you." That's when I noticed her eyes, they glowed a blood red, kind of like Logan's but more menacing. We walked around the shopping area, talking about this and that, mostly about the ridiculous clothing in the stores. When we passed the junk shop I remembered that I left the stuff I found in there. Her eyes lit up as we entered the store. She had a knack for gadgetry, along with building robots. I told her that all I could build were bombs, then she handed me something. Another bomb.
Kendall POV
Feeling useless after that battle where all I really did was stand next to Logan, watching Carlos and James take care of the creatures, I decided to get a better weapon, a long range weapon. I borrowed a few gold pieces from James to buy whatever weapon I thought I could use. So I walked around the weapon shop, looking at the weapons lined up against the wall. Bow and arrows were a no, I couldn't even aim a wadded up paper ball into a trash can, but on the ice I could aim with perfection. I passed the swords because I needed something that could be useful in aerial battles. Carlos could jump around on the trees or even the enemies if he needed to, James could bomb the crap out of them and Logan had his book of spells, all I had was a useless piece of metal. With no affinity toward magic, building explosives or agility I needed a weapon that could help me fight with my friends.
Axes, Katanas, Staves, even more blades and finally I saw it. It looked like an ordinary beach ball, if said ball had metal spikes around it. It wasn't heavy, but it felt strong enough to be thrown at an enemy and do some damage. I asked the shop owner what it was and he said it was a sports ball used in some old game. He couldn't remember the name but I asked him how much it was, only one silver coin. I asked him to give me a minute because I saw something else, well two things really.
The first thing I noticed was a set of armor that didn't have the metal on the front. A mobile armor set that wouldn't make me feel like a robot while I walked! And lying right beside the armor was a scythe. I bought the armor, spike ball and scythe.
Across the weapon shop was a training area, a dummy set up for you to practice using your weapons. So I aimed the ball at the dummy being held up midair and missed but managed to slice into it. I kept throwing the ball and only getting a few slices here and there, so I changed the way I threw it and landed a direct hit! After a few more tosses I moved onto the scythe. I played around with the handling before I got comfortable. I held it upside down and charged the dummy, swinging the weapon in a large arc. I flipped my hands before slicing it again in the opposite direction. This would suit me just fine.
I told Logan to come find us whenever he had completed his studies so that we could get a room for the night. As soon as I finished practicing with the new weapons I noticed Carlos walk into a building and James walk around with a girl. I wasn't jealous because James didn't know how to cheat on anyone. He never looked at a girl and commented on her looks or anything like that when he was in a relationship. So I relaxed, leaning against the brick wall, sitting in the snow.
Logan POV
Selije School of Crest Sorcery and High Magic welcomed me with open arms once they recognized me as a High Mage. They granted me full access of their library and a private class room if I needed one. I thanked them and the head master pointed me in the direction of the library. As soon as I entered I noticed the immense amount of books, there were so many that some had to sit in piles on the floor because the bookshelves were crammed with books.
I looked around the shelves, trying to pick out a few books that I could absorb. I didn't want to try and absorb all of these books, or I would lose my mind. Walking up and down the rows and rows of books a few of them caught my eye. 'Dimensional Teleportation', 'Common uses of Magic', 'Basic Teleportation' and finally 'Hiro Company and the last teleport' were the four books I decided to absorb. It wasn't until I noticed another presence did I see the boy reading a huge book.
"I'm sorry, am I disturbing you? I can leave if you want." He said in a calm voice. He had a poncho on and had a flying familiar like I had. Except his looked like a flying purple cat. He had a bow on the front of his poncho and shorts on in the freezing city.
"No, I am the one who interrupted you. I will leave now; again I'm sorry for disturbing you." I said grabbing the books I found and turned to leave.
"You don't have to go! You're a High Mage! I shouldn't have even talked to you. Please don't report me to the school." Now I grew even more confused. Why would this kid get in trouble just for talking to me? An administrator walked in and immediately noticed the boy.
"You should NOT BE HERE! THERE IS A HIGH MAGE IN THE ROOM! SHOW SOME RESPECT!" She barked. He got up to leave but I stopped him.
"No, you should leave." I growled at the lady, "You came in here and disturbed me. He wasn't making any trouble for anyone!" She immediately apologized and hightailed it out of the room.
"Thank you sir."
"First off, I'm not 'Sir.' I'm only a few years older than you. And my name is Logan what's yours?" I asked the young teen. He looked only 13 but his eyes looked much, much older.
"I'm Tim! And this is Pooka! We are trying to learn of the next Guardian Shrine." I replied that I never heard of any Guardian Shrine, but I did know that the planet, Gaia, relied on their powers.
"Yes. That's right si- er, I mean Logan. Guardians were the source of life on this planet but thanks to the Hiro Company, they are in danger." We talked for a few hours, I completely forgot about the books, and focused on Tim's story. Citizens from a village named Baskar could communicate with the Guardians. A 'Pillar' could be used to save the world in a major crisis.
After hearing Tim's explanation about the planet, I learned more from him than any book so far. Nonetheless I absorbed the books and headed to my private classroom. It looked like a college classroom with a main chalk board and multiple seats ascending like a movie theater. I opened the books and with the use of the holograms created a display of how we got here. Now all I needed to do was find Carlos, James and Kendall in this huge city.
A/N: My chapters are getting longer. And I have you, my lovely reviewers, to thank for that! Also please note that I may be taking a day or two as a rest from this story. But fear not I will return and write more! Reviews would be nice! And have a great day! ~RAY~