NEW CHARACTERS ADDED TO CHARACTER SHEET ON PROFILE
A little holiday weekend present for you all. Seeing as I'm almost done with Chapter 6, I thought I'd release Chapter 5 early. I can't believe we're already at the 20,000+ word mark. By comparison, I hit this mark late in my first attempt at this story, which some of you have asked me to keep up.
Review Responses:
Reishin Amara: XD
Appbeza: It's actually only 122 people but yeah, you'll see what I come up with. Thanks for the continued reviews
Volxsis1755: Right on, right on dude. Thanks.
Demosthenes2211: Yeah, my last time around was pretty shoddy and poorly planned out. I already have a pretty set idea of where the story will go
Bagration: Hmmm, let's just say the summoning will eventually be the least of Earth's problems
Ridli Scott: I'm glad you like this way better. I don't know but I always had trouble writing the last one. This one has been much easier to write.
New Universe Returns: Will do, thanks. And no problem.
Osprey: I had trouble writing everyone's reactions so I just scrapped that part. Sorry. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of moments like what you're looking for down the line.
Tristain Academy, Tristain
Airfield
Saito and the others watched the plane touch down hard at the far end of the dirt runway. It bounced once then settled on its wheels as it sped down the runway, kicking up massive clouds of dirt.
The landing was rough. The cockpit clattered as the plane touched down on the dirt airstrip.
"Speed brakes. Full reverse thrust!" ordered Frank.
Frank pulled the spoilers up as Seth pulled the throttles back to full reverse. Both were gingerly stepping on the brakes as the plane rumbled down the makeshift airstrip. Too much pressure and the tires would dig into the dirt, possibly damaging them and ripping the landing gear off; too little and they'd speed off the end of the runway.
Victor's teeth were clattering. The overhead bins rattled above. He saw the spoilers immediately deploy and heard the reversers engaging just as quickly.
A large cloud of dust followed the plane as it screeched down the dirt runway.
The group watched as the plane struggled to slow down, the extra weight of the fuel making it harder.
They could hear the brakes groaning as they struggled to slow the massive airliner.
With the reversers deployed, the plane's engines were kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
As the plane neared the halfway mark, Saito noticed it was finally starting to slow.
Watching the airspeed drop, Frank held his breath.
80…70…60…50…40…30…
"Alrgiht we're good. Stow reversers. Speed brakes down" he ordered.
Victor felt the plane slow down to normal taxi speed. The spoilers went down and the whine of the reversers stopped as the engines throttled back up to normal taxi speed.
Someone started clapping and immediately the entire cabin was roaring with applause, including Victor.
In the cockpit, the two pilots heard the applause and smiled.
Turning the plane around, they taxied back to where the fighter had parked. There was a small group of people waiting for them.
Looking in front, the saw a man waving at them to shut off their engines as they taxied towards the group.
Grabbing the mike for the PA, Frank spoke.
"Passengers remain seated. Flight attendants await further instructions".
"Head back to 1L and see if they can't find some sort of ladder. I'd rather not deploy the slides" he said turning to Seth, who promptly complied. Frank remained in the flight deck completing the shutdown checklist.
Stepping back towards the passenger cabin, Senior First Officer Seth Lapidus was suddenly beset by thunderous applause as everyone who saw him immediately started clapping.
Smiling he addressed the passengers.
"We're going to see if we can get you all off without having to use the slides. Please remain comfortably seated and we'll let you know as soon as we have an update".
Moving back towards the 1L door, Seth and a flight attendant disarmed the evacuation slide and opened the door.
Saito, Louise, and Colbert watched as the front left door of the plane opened.
Taking it as his cue, Saito approached the now quieter airliner, Colbert following him. Saito grinned as he noticed Colbert's awestruck expression. Like a kid in a candy shop he thought.
"You must be Mr. Hiraga" came a voice. Looking up, Saito saw one of the pilots poking his head out of the door. "Name's Seth Lapidus, I'm the First Officer. Thanks for the assistance up there. There any chance you blokes have a ladder or a stair we can use to deplane the passengers? I'd rather not use the evacuation slides".
Saito merely turned to Colbert.
"Hmm, hey Headmaster, think you could create a stairway up to the door?"
"That would be well within my capabilities" smiled Colbert. "This is truly an amazing machine. You must allow me to examine it!"
Waving his staff, a pile of earth rose up to meet the open door, forming a perfect stairway.
Seth merely stared, open-mouthed at this very obvious display of magic.
"Christ, it's the real deal. You've got one hell of a trick there mate! Could you do the other doors?"
"Certainly!"
Turning back into the plane, Seth grabbed the PA and addressed the cabin.
"Flight attendants, crosscheck and prepare all doors for disembarkation. We'll be using stairs. Again, all doors."
Throughout the plane, flight attendants manned their closest doors, most stunned as an earth stairway rose up to meet each one.
Popping back into the Flight Deck, Seth informed the captain.
"Captain, that magic stuff is right useful. There's stairs coming up at all the doors now".
Frank by now had completed his shutdown checklist. Nodding, he grabbed the PA and addressed the passengers.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be deplaning by stairs from all doors. You may deplane from the nearest cabin door to your seat. Please leave all personal belongings behind for now. You'll be able to get them later."
Saito, Louise, and Colbert, as well as the few curious students that had followed them watched as people began to stream out of the plane and down the stairs at a brisk pace. Some ran down the stairs. A few knelt and kissed the ground.
I can't imagine what they've been through thought Saito.
More and more people began streaming out of the 787's eight doors, shocking Louise and Colbert. They clearly had not expected this many people to be on board.
Despite the plane being half-full, it still carried 114 passengers plus eight crew.
Finally the stream of people began to slow. The flight attendants emerged before the last two people on board deplaned: Captain Rollins and First Officer Lapidus.
Seeing the pilots deplane, Saito walked over to them.
Frank and Seth were the last ones to leave the plane.
As they stepped off the stairs, they saw a young Japanese man dressed similarly to the other people on the ground walking over towards them.
"You guys did a hell of a job landing that plane. I'm Saito Hiraga. I flew the jet fighter" he said introducing himself. Shaking his hand, the two pilots introduced themselves.
"Frank Rollins, Senior Captain"
"Seth Lapidus, Senior First Officer"
"I imagine you guys have some questions" asked Saito.
"Actually, Agent Hansen over there filled us in on almost everything" replied Frank. "But it's still hard to believe".
"I know it sounds ridiculous but believe me. I came here from Japan four years ago and my reaction was the same" said Saito. "We're currently in Tristain, a small country in the northwest of the continent of Halkeginia. The world we're on is separate but parallel to Earth".
"The weird part is where magic is concerned" finished Saito.
"Yeah, we already saw some… Truly incredible" said Seth, finally speaking.
Saito chuckled. "You haven't seen anything yet. Derf, you awake, bro?"
"Right here partner" came a voice seemingly out of nowhere.
The pilots looked around for the source of the voice.
Saito turned around and Derflinger popped out of his sheathe.
"The name's Derflinger. Nice to meet you, Earth humans" he said casually.
The two pilots just stared wide-eyed.
Seth pointed in disbelief.
"That's a talking sword…"
"Honestly, EVERY time I introduce myself, it's always the same reaction: 'Did that sword just talk? Oh my, is that a talking sword? How did that sword speak?' It gets old real fast, ya know?" continued the talking sword.
Frank couldn't help but chuckle at this.
"Sword with an attitude, looks like" he said. His face turning serious, Frank continued.
"I just have one question. Can we get back to Earth? And how?"
Saito ran his hand through his hair.
"We should talk in private. Louise!" he said, calling over his wife.
"Hang on mate" said Frank. Calling over the plane's Relief Captain, he gave her some instructions before rejoining the group.
Moving towards a secluded area of the wooden shed next to the runway, Saito began.
"So as you've probably seen, my wife can create portals between two places. Normally, she has no trouble making ones to Earth. Hell we took our honeymoon there".
"I'm sensing a 'but' here…" quipped Seth.
"We haven't been able to open a stable connection to Earth recently. At the moment, someone through might mean losing a limb… Or worse".
At this, the two pilots' expressions flattened, their eyes now downcast.
"But…"
The pilots' heads snapped up.
"We could try sending a bunch of messages through. At least some of them will have to make it."
The pilots still had looks of worry.
"What about getting back home?" asked Frank.
"There is another way to get back. A little unorthodox, but flying straight into a solar eclipse opens the portal to Earth. Don't ask me how. Magic".
Both pilots started smiling.
"That's perfect! When's the next one?"
"Ah…. I don't know" said Saito sheepishly. "But I'm sure we can find that out".
Seth had a confused look on his face.
"I just realized. How DID we end up here in the first place?" he asked.
Saito and Louise froze, both thinking the same thing. How in the hell am I supposed to explain this? Oh, we just tried to summon a person from Earth and accidentally summoned an airliner. Sure, they'll take that real well.
Luckily for him, someone beat him to it.
"We don't have a name for them so we just call them Anomalies" came a familiar voice.
Looking towards the open entrance of the shed, all four saw the face of Agent Hansen walking up towards them.
As he approached the group, he winked at Saito, who noticed it immediately. Play along.
"Anomalies?" asked Seth.
"Yeah, they've been popping up all over Earth for the past few decades" explained Hansen, putting his hand on Saito's shoulder. "They've been increasing in frequency over the last ten years. Disappearances, anomalous energy readings, out of place lightning storms, and other odd occurrences. We knew they had something to do with this world, which is why we had Mr. Hiraga here investigating on our behalf".
Taking the cue, Saito continued.
"Uh yeah! We haven't found much on what causes them thought, but yeah, this definitely seems to be another Anomaly" he said nervously. He wasn't sure if Hansen knew they'd actually been summoned but he didn't want to risk the SWORD agent's ire.
If the pilots were skeptical, they didn't show it.
"How come no one on Earth's ever heard of these Anomalies?" asked Frank.
"Because we're VERY good at our jobs, Captain" replied Hansen.
"Wait, who's we?" interrupted Seth.
"I'm afraid that's all I can say for the moment. The subject is rather confidential. Needless to say, my people will be speaking with everyone here once we return to Earth".
The pilots' faces dropped to a frustrated stare. Before they had a chance to complain, Hansen continued.
"Don't worry, mates. I'll help you two explain what happened to the passengers, and answer any questions if I can" finished Hansen.
"Mr. Hiraga" he said turning to Saito. "I'd like to speak with you later tonight once you get a chance. There are some things we need to discuss."
Hansen leaned in so only Saito could hear him.
"Before you send any messages" he said, walking off before Saito could respond.
The revelation to the passengers of the current situation went off with few hitches. Even after casting a translation spell that allowed everyone to communicate regardless of language, one irate passenger had claimed the whole thing was just a conspiracy and had demanded they reboard and take off immediately. A second show of magic in the form of a levitation spell by Louise had shut him up and brought everyone back to the fact that they were no longer on Earth and that magic was not the imaginary thing of fairy tales that they'd believed for so long.
Now the question was one of logistics. Saito and Louise had rejoined the crew to discuss the issue.
The flight crew's main concern was housing and food for the 122 new arrivals. They'd offered to house them in the airliner itself but the fuel consumption during that time running the climate controls meant that they could only do it for a few days if they were to have enough fuel remaining to return to Earth.
"We would be more than happy to open up the Towers of Water and Void to your people" Colbert had supplied, walking up to the group of passengers. He spoke in his limited Albionese, which was a variant of what the Terrans knew as English.. "This year's class size was small enough that only three of the five residence towers are in use".
"That could work" replied Frank. "The plane was only half full so there's only 122 of us". Holding out his hand, he introduced himself. "Frank Rollins, Senior Captain".
"Professor Jean Colbert, Headmaster of Tristain Academy of Magic" replied Colbert, taking the Captain's hand. Seth repeated his action, introducing himself. "Thank you for your help" he said.
"Not at all. I'm more than glad to help. You truly have an amazing machine. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to examine it sometime. I have been trying to replicate the process of combustion and Saito here explained that is how your machine is powered".
"Well, we'd be more than happy to give you a tour of the plane, sometime. But as for our previous conversation, that solves the housing problem. What about food? We don't know how long we'll be here and we hate to impose but…"
"I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement Captain. The Queen is an old friend and I wager she would be more than happy to accommodate" said Colbert.
"I'm certain my father would be happy to assist for some time as well" added Louise.
Saito gulped. His relationship with Duke Valliere had improved significantly since the Duke had caught him and Louise getting frisky on the boat at their estate but the man still commanded enormous respect. Almost as much as Louise's mother. Though she was anotherstory.
"If you'll excuse me then captain, I must make preparations. The staff will come get your people once their accommodations are ready" said Colbert, bowing his head as he left.
Frank gave a simple nod then turned to the couple.
"Seth and I are going to see if we can't unload the plane and reunite the passengers with their belongings. I can't tell ya how much we appreciate all your help" he said.
"Captain, please, it's the least we could do" replied Saito.
Tristain Academy Hospital Wing
A Few Hours Later
Straining to open her eyes, Tiffania awoke with the mother of all headaches.
This is as bad as that time Louise and I drank that bottle of sake Saito brought back she thought.
Struggling to sit up, she absorbed her surroundings.
She was in the Academy's Hospital Wing.
They must have brought me here after… Oh dear, what happened after I…
She thought back to what she could remember.
She'd summoned… something… right before she fainted from exhaustion.
What was that thing? she wondered.
"Ah, you're awake!" said the healer, walking over to Tiffania's bed. "You were brought in with a rather nasty case of magical exhaustion, dear".
Tiffa rubbed her head, trying to stem her pulsing headache, as she lay back down.
"How long was I out?"
"Oh, only a few hours" replied the healer nonchalantly.
"WHAT?" yelled Tiffania, sitting back up and immediately regretting it as her head pulsed once more. "Ugh… My head…"
"Relax dearie… Quite a bit's happened since you were brought in here".
"What do you mean?"
The nurse had been about to answer when none other than Saito and Louise opened the door.
"Tiffa! You're awake!" he said walking over to her bed.
"How do you feel? You gave us a bit of a scare back there" added Louise.
"I've been better" replied Tiffa, trying to smile. "I feel like I drank too much".
"We had some students bring you in here after you collapsed" said Saito.
"Wait… What happened? After I fainted? The nurse said that…"
"It's a bit complicated" interrupted Saito, scratching his head. "You see, uh…"
Saito struggled to find the words.
"Saito, I saw something come through the flash. What did I summon?" asked Tiffa seriously.
"An airliner. An aerial passenger transport from my world based on the same principles as the jet fighter" he explained. "I think your familiar was onboard and the airliner was pulled through the summoning portal as a result".
Tiffania digested this information for a moment.
"How many people does this transport carry?" she asked him.
Saito hesitated, a fact that did not go unnoticed by anyone.
"There were over 100 people on board" he said simply.
Tiffa was at a loss for words.
100 people… I pulled 100 people from their home? Oh spirits…
"What have I done?"
"Tiffa, it's not your fault… It's just an unfortunate coincidence. These airliners travel almost as fast as sound itself… If someone's familiar was on board, it makes sense the summoning spell would have trouble summoning just them" explained Saito.
Tiffania looked up, tears in her eyes.
"I should have stopped the spell sooner. As soon as you didn't come through the portal, I wanted to end it. But I couldn't…"
"Hey…" said Saito moving to hug Tiffania. "Hey, come here…".
Louise placed her hand on Tiffa's shoulder. "There was no way of knowing what would happen".
"Everything will work out. Trust me" finished Saito.
Tiffa pulled away from the hug and smiled.
"Thanks… I needed that".
Aaaaaaand that's a wrap for this chapter. Next chapter coming soon.
I CANNOT reiterate how much I enjoy seeing reviews. If this is your first time seeing this story, PLEASE review. You might spot something I missed and all that.