Chapter 16
Zeel sat in the chair behind his desk, tampering and modifying his new creation. It was a bird sized Cerebro, except it was just a helmet, allowing the wearer to use it whenever, as long as it was plugged into a power source. Ever since he learnt that Xavier was still alive, he had sent a message asking if he could make it. A day later, he received a package which contained it inside. Now he was trying to modify it by adding additional features to make it work more efficently. He was so ocused on it that he didn't notice Logan come in until he spoke. "Hey Zeel. I need to ask you something." Zeel jumped a bit as he spoke, not knowing he was there. "Sorry. Just working on something. What can I do for you?" He placed the helmet down and crossed his wings on the desk as he spoke. Logan leant back on his chair, using his talons to hold him up. "What's the plan when they attack. Where do we go?"
"That will be Blu's decision." Logan turned to the source of the new voice to see Jewel, who sat down next to him. "Yes. He will be in charge." Zeel raised a wing to stop him. "I will explain later. Now go and rest. I am afraid that tomorrow is when they strike." They nodded their heads and left to their rooms. Zeel continued to sit in the now dark room. "Soon, it will be time. I am sorry." He sat back and continued working on the helmet.
The next morning was very busy. They had agreed to move deeper into the forest to lose the Sentinel army, then will split up into multiple smaller groups, going around the world to find others. The one mission: Survive together. Blu had sent Dusk and some others to scout to see how close they were. None had returned yet. He hoped they would soon. Many birds hid in hollows along the possible path, readying traps and ambushes to slow them down in case they came early. Blu was in a hollow close to the garden of the school, looking over a map of the nearby area when a black bird came in, looking injured. "Dusk. You have returned. What news to you bring?"
"They are closer then we thought. They ambushed us. I was only just able to escape. They almost had me. Th-they...I-"Dusk fell forward and passed out from exhaustion and pain. "Quickly. Get him to Lilian." He looked to a large owl. "Stalker. Go and notify the ambush teams. Logan, go around and warn the evacuation teams." He exited the hollow he was in and flew down to the garden. "Everyone. Ready yourselves. They are coming." They put their armor and gear on and perched themselves on the wall they had made between trees, only allowing the enemy to fly high into the trees where the traps laid in wait. After waiting for half an hour, Blu spotted a glint of something. He knew what it was. "Here they come." He saw some of the other birds tensing, and some looked like they would run at the start of the battle. "Remember. We only need to hold them back. Then we activate the escape traps as we make our escape. We must be quick, and must split up. Remember to go different ways so they do not follow you. The meeting point must not be compromised. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir"responded all of them. Some carried small spears and blades while others carried small ranged weapons with explosive darts and bolts for blowpipes and crossbows that were made for them. After a few minutes, they saw more and more glints till all they could see was shining metal. The wait felt so long, but was only a few seconds. Because in those few seconds, the Sentinels were upon them. Blu prepared to give the signal, opening his beak to call it out. "FIRE!" He felt arrows and bolts whistle past him as they met their targets. He watched as the Sentinels lit up from the explosive tips. Some of the mutant birds launched fireballs, and some who could control the weather called down bolts of lightning upon. Blu released his claws and braced himself for the oncoming attack. He saw some going up to get them from above, but never came down. When the Sentinels were in front of them, the battle began. Blu dodged one that was frozen by Boah and another like him before they went to engage others. Blu stretched his wings to his sides, hitting and slicing Sentinels that passed him. He noticed one heading for him, it's talons aiming for his chest. He cut off it's talons and it's head, then grabbed the remainder of it's body and hurled it at several others. They all fell down off the wall onto the spikes placed at the bottom. He looked to his left to see one of the Brotherhood birds being engaged by two. He engaed them with long tendrlis coming from his wings. They were covered in thorns. Blu watched as one was cut off, causing the bird pain. Before it was stabbed, Blu pounced on one of the Sentinel's backs and began repeatedly stabbing it, eventually destroying it. He saw the bird wrap the other whip around the other one and flung it over the wall. He flew away to the aid of others while Blu went to another's aid. The one he went to aid was Logan, who was engaging four Sentinels at once. He was bounding between them, then quickly dodging, causing them to attack each other. With Blu's help, they were destroyed quickly. Blu saw two Sentinels had managed to get through. "Logan! There!" He pointed to them as they headed to the tree. Logan was off in a second, already upon them. Blu was almost hit by one but was saved by Boah. At the sound of one behind him, he turned to see it frozen. "You can thank me after we finish this." They continued to battle, hoping they would survive long enough.
Jewel watched over everyone as they began to take off. She turned to her left to see a Sentinel coming, which was quickly taken down by Logan. He flew over to her, wearing scratched armor and battle claws. "We need to leave. Now. There almost through. I just had to deal with two that got through our lines. We won't be able to hold out much longer. How long till everyone is gone?" Jewel looked around to everyone who had begun to panic once htey heard the explosions. She could still hear explosions and the clang of metal against metal. She was worried for them all, especially Blu. She looked to Lilian who was carrying for wounded who had been brung back while Cody looked after Caitlin and some other kids with the help of Jewel's kids. She looked back to the canary, who was awaiting her response. "At least three minutes till we begin. But I'll need some help with calming them. Can you help?" He gave her a look that said 'really?'. "Yeah. Of course I can. You help Lilian and I'll go bird to bird, calming them." They went off while the battle on the other side continued.
When Blu looked around, he saw they were losing. He had already watched many fall, wounded and dead. And some that fell wounded felt more pain as Sentinels dove for them to finish them off. They were outnumbered, at least 10-1 by how much he saw and how they continued to come. He had seen Boah get injured, so sent him back. He was glad he wouldn't get hurt anymore. If only he could do the same for the others. He heard something land behind him. Before he could turn, he felt a heavy slam against the back of his head, sending him to the ground. When he landed, everything seemed to be a blur. But some bits of the battle were focused. He went in and out of consciousness, watching them die. He then felt himself lifted up, and saw a large military macaw. He then slipped into darkness once again, and didn't see light again as everyone fell back.
When he woke again, he saw someone over him. It looked like a military macaw. "Hey, come on, wingman, get up. We need to find our families." Blu sat up, only feeling a minor pain in the back of his head. "What happened? Did we win?" Cody had an upset face, remembering what happened. "You managed to hold them back long enough, but with heavy losses. I went back to find you and Logan went back to find Zeel-"
"What do you mean Zeel? Wasn't he with you?"
"No." Blu looked around to Logan, who had been crying. This was the first time he saw him cry, besides when he spoke of his past. But it seemed he had been crying more then that time. "I found him in his office. He gave me this." He held out a small helmet. "And told me to leave him."
Flashback
Logan was rushing through the tree. The Sentinels had begun striking it with beams, causing massive fires throughout it. Logan quickly stopped back, just being missed by a piece of debris. "ZEEL! WE HAVE TO GO!" He went through the main hall, heading to Zeel's office. It burst through the door and saw something lying on the floor, covered in debris from the ceiling. "ZEEL!" He went to Zeel's side, trying to move the debris off. At the third push, Zeel stopped him. He grabbed Logan's wing. "Stop, Logan. I have been impaled. You will only make it worse. Please, stop." Logan knelt beside his mentor, keeping him company. "Logan. My dear friend. I have something to give you." He placed a helmet with some wires attached to it in Logan's wings. "When the time is right*cough*,give it to Bia. She will be my*wheezes as he struggles to breath*successor. Protect her with your life. When she is old enough, give her this." He placed a small tape. "It will teach her many things about her power. It has instructions on it's use." Zeel laid his head back. Logan caught it and held it in his wing. "I see the light. My time...is up. Protect...them." He let out a final breath as his head fell to the side. Logan once again tried to remove the debris, and succeeded. He removed the beam that had impaled him and carried him out the window.
End Of Flashback
Logan held the helmet close to him. Blu felt tears, and saw that Cody had some as well. "As he had said, everyone's time eventually ends. His has now ended. We should find the others." Blu looked at Logan confused. "What do you mean by find the others?"
"We went from the main group since wh had some on our tail. We quickly placed you guys down as Cody fought them off. We also found Dusk, who had helped us fight them off and carried Zeel. He is looking ahead to see if it's all clear. Speaking of him, that should be him returning." At that moment, Dusk the raven came into the hollow. "All is clear ahead. I see sleepy here is finally awake. Now wew don't have to carry him around." Blu seemed to be quite offended. "Are you calling me fat?"Dusk quickly shook his head and saluted to Blu."No, sir." Blu grunted at him and saluted back. "You better not have. Or you will have to deal with these." He extended his claws, scaring Dusk. Blu then laughed at his reaction. "Don't worry. I never will do that. Let's get moving, guys." Cody and Dusk held onto Zeel's body respectfully while Logan held the helmet and tape he was given. They took off to the meeting place, which would take about two hours to reach from their location.
Lilian and Jewel were watching the sky, looking for any sign of their husbands. They were about to leave before Lilian caught a glimpse of something blue, green, yellow and black. "Is that..yes it is! Jewel, look! They're back!" Blu landed next to Jewel while Cody went with Dusk with something in their talons. Lilian looked down to Logan, who looked to her with eyes full of sorrow. "I'm sorry. I tried to save him. But Zeel didn't-"
"What do you mean Zeel? He can't be...no...not him" she cried to Logan as he tried to comfort her, even though he was smaller than her. After she finished crying, they went to bury Zeel. Istead of burying him, those with fire powers set the wood he was placed on on fire so that they could collect his ashes. When they collected hisashes, they placed them in a small container they had. They all decided that they would carry it with them everywhere.
As night arrived, Blu stood watching over everyone that had arrived. Some groups from the battle never arrived. They knew what had happened. Blu heard someone walking up behind him, and knew it was Jewel. "Tomorrow will be the day. We will split into groups. Logan, Lilian and her family will go to Australia. He knows where a good place to go is. We will go to Minnesota with Boah. Pearl and her family will be coming with. We will meet Linda there. The rest, I am not sure. I just hope everyone makes it." Blu turned to face Jewel. He stared into her eyes, and she stared into his. They shared a long kiss before Jewel went back to sleep. Blu watched her as she went to sleep, then loked to the sky. "So many have been lost. This war has already caused many losses, cost us much pain, but has unified us. But now i ask, is it worth it?" As if he was expecting an answer, he sighed in sadness. "i guess it is for me to find out myself. Please Zeel. If you can hear me, guide us." He felt a gust of wind against him. "Thank you. Wish us luck." He stayed perched on the branch, keeping watch. Tomorrow is when our survival begins. Now the time has passed. The rise of the Sentinels has passed. Now the future will be dark. We had one chance to make things right. And we failed. Only time will tell if we win, or we lose. Only time is our ally. Let us hope it stays that way.