Previously:
Neah looks back over at Thoth. "He needs help."
--
Taylor turns around. Pizoku gasps. Taylor's eyes have gone black and his appearance has turned darker. An energy seems to be glowing from within him but in a dark way. Pizoku can taste the power in the air and it scares him.
Taylor looks up at the ceiling and it splits in two.
Episode Eighty-Five
"The Silence is Unnerving"
Grains of Sand. Small and crystalline minerals of gold. So minuscule and light of weight. So easily they are lifted up upon the breeze and made light of in the swirling air.
So fast they travel upon the undulating winds that spiral and whip the air and sand as the storm rages and drills upon the metal wreckage that smokes and embers into the sand leaving little pools of glass upon the desert floor.
Jorge of Nine stands with his eyes closed, face turned towards the storm engulfed sky. He is blessed in his perfect storm. He has brought down the defilers and now he shall bury them beneath the Sahara sands.
However, his blissing is interrupted by the sound of metal being pulled apart. Jorge opens his pupil-less eyes and looks at the alien vessel before him. The metal on the roof has torn asunder and is peeling back in a creaking, curling seam down the back of the ship.
He watches with curiousness. He finds it oddly interesting how the metal just curls back in such a delicate manner. He is so intent upon it he barely registers the dark figure stepping forth between the crack.
The oddly silent sonic boom sends the sands around him rippling away.
The back of the ship has now opened up completely and he can make out huddled figures inside. But Jorge does not look at them long for a boy stands just outside the ship facing him. And he looks remarkably not happy.
"Hallowed are the Ancient Ones," Jorge says.
"You hurt my friends," Taylor replies. Anger hides just beneath the words.
"Hallowed is the Great One," Jorge continues, raising his arms to the storm.
"I really beg to differ," Taylor responds.
Jorge looks down from the sky and at Taylor. "You cannot stop what is coming."
"Maybe not," Taylor concedes. "But I can stop you!"
Ominous thunder crackles high above them. It becomes louder as if it is rushing towards them at great speed. Jorge looks up towards the noise. He is soon met by the imploding storm. Waves upon whirling waves of sand surrounds him and begin to encase him in a dusty blur. Taylor raises a hand and lightning shoots forth into the melee. The area grows bright hot and suddenly, the storm simply dies.
The silence is unnerving. Reese stands and walks out from the back of the ship with Ashlee close behind. They watch as sand gently falls from the sky and drifts down like snow. The two tentatively move towards Taylor when Ashlee gasps and seizes Reese by the arm.
Jorge of Nine stands before them as still as statue. A glass statue. He can only just be made out encased within the swirled cocoon that stands high as a twisted stalagmite monument to the rage of Taylor.
"What did you do?" Jilan looks out from the back of the downed ship. She keeps Naoki back when he tries to glimpse the cause of their horror.
Neah walks forward to stand by Taylor. "You killed him," She says in shock. "What did you do that for? We could have sent him to Hosha."
Taylor doesn't even look at her. "He hurt my friends." He turns and walks back into the ship. Neah watches him go and sees Ashlee and Reese looking at him as well. Ashlee seems torn between awe and terror. Reese just looks sad.
Pizoku walks to the front of the ship and kneels beside Ma'at. "Is he okay?" She shakes her head in the negative. Streams of tears mark her sooty face.
Thoth raises a weary bloodied hand to stroke Ma'at's cheek. "I go in peace my love."
Ma'at takes his hand in hers. "May the gentle power embrace you." She leans down to kiss him.
"I will see you on the Other Side," Thoth whispers and closes his eyes. The Silence is Unnerving.
Meanwhile, in Japan
Izanami Takenouchi moves quickly about her home, gathering up various items she thinks she might need. She has had it with the waiting. It has been days since she last heard from her children and she can't help but feel that something must be wrong.
She'd had a bad feeling about this trip from the get go, but her son was so adamant about going off to meet his pen pal. So the compromise had been made that his older sister escort him and that they e-mail every day, but so far she has heard nothing from either child.
And then the news started talking about a strange possessed bird that was destroying the city of Barcelona. So Izanami now flies about packing up things in hopes that she may find her children alive and well.
The buzz of the doorbell momentarily distracts her and she goes quickly to answer it.
A young girl stands outside the apartment. She looks up at Mrs. Takenouchi and frowns. "So, you are the mother of Pizoku Takenouchi," Marisol of Nine says. "Somehow I expected more."
To Be Continued.
