Helloooo everyone! So, I'm done with editing, and we are now back to new chapters that update on a regular basis. Woohoo! So, without further ado, here's chapter 7!
Gladice saw the green orb in the distance, and it was so tempting to reach out and touch it. So why would her hand not go ahead and do that? It was like some invisible force was keeping her from her desire. Frustrated, she turned around and saw a bunch of ghosts crowded around her, their transparent figures sticking out against the black. She felt obligated to protect the beautiful green orb, therefore compelling hero attack the ghosts. With a loud war cry, she lurched at the ghost nearest to her, which did not put up much of a fight. This was going to be too easy.
Brook yelped when Gladice jumped on her. Screaming at the top of her lungs, the girl clawed at Brook's shield, and the petite girl was sure that it was going to break under Gladice's weight. "Help me!" she managed to shout, but everyone was gone, even Gladice. In their places stood pale white ghosts. Panicking, Brook threw punch after punch at the one on top of her, desperate to get the thing off of her. Infinitely grateful that Jane had allowed them to change into some random clothes instead of remaining in their formal wear, Brook plunged her knee into the ghost's torso, sending it flying off of her.
Lance was prepared to launch himself into the fray as well. But Rosette yanked him back by his collar. He glared back at her, but she was pointing at something on Gladice. Upon closer inspection, he was able to make out a beetle on the base of her neck, with a dozen smaller ones surrounding it. "Scarabs," she whispered to him. "If we come into contact with either of them, those bug's will attach to us, too." He groaned, staring at the two of them hopelessly.
"So what do we do?" Rosette struggled to think of a way to help their friends, but she could come up with nothing.
"Maybe we could... well, no... but what if..." Her frustration became evident in her hazel eyes, a hand flattening on her forehead. Lance looked to the others pleadingly, and he was genuinely surprised when Luke was the one who stepped forward.
"I think the choice should be quite clear," he stated boldly. His hand gestured to the girl behind him, and Keung tensed. "Raise has the quickest and lightest touch out of all of us. Someone just needs to go be bait, so that they'll be distracted long enough for her to pull the scarabs off of them. Easy."
Keung shook his head. "Absolutely not. That is way too dangerous."
"I'll do it," Kaise huffed rebelliously. Luke smiled at her, then at Keung.
"Well then, if no one objects, I suppose I will be the bait." Everyone except Keung nodded, and rage filled his darkened irises. Taking a deep breath, Luke ran between the two girls, getting a weak punch from Brook, followed by a swift kick to the jaw from Gladice. She had him pinned to the ground, repeatedly sending her fists into his face, until he was sure that he was going to be knocked out cold. Keung, of course relished in Luke's agony. After what seemed like hours, Gladice froze, blinking and staring at him with a dazed expression. Behind her, Kaise stood with a crushed scarab in her hand. Instead of oozing bug guts everywhere, it was sparking and frizzing. It was a machine. "Good job, Kai! I knew you could do it." Kaise pushed a lock of short black hair behind her ear, glaring at her brother off to the side.
"Luke, what...?" Gladice stood up, rubbing her head. Brook was rubbing her head as well. Crushing the main bug on Gladice must have shut down the one on Brook, too. Lance was helping her to her feet, and Rosette tapped her foot.
Evan motioned them forward, cautioning them about the importance of being aware of their surroundings. Once they entered the castle, it was a battle. Lance and Keung went on ahead to clear the way. Earlier, Ke had chosen a katana and a samurai helmet to enter the Underworld yet. Evan and Luke stayed in the back to fight any battles that there was no time to finish. Luke's face was bleeding, but he insisted that he could keep fighting. Lance got a few cuts on his right arm, and Evan got an arrow shot through his calf. By then, however, the group must have been close enough to the center of the palace, where Hades supposedly sent the souls he took personally. They entered the room, Rosette using the map she had laid out in her head to guide them to the correct door. Inside, there was the pool of souls, but there was also a cage dangling above it. A slender, girl whose curves stood out in the green dress that was draped over her body. "Well, it's about time someone showed up," she said, a dry humor in her voice.
Rei sat on the couch in Peter's condo, staring at his best friend, at the light draining from her eyes with every single moment. He rubbed her shoulder. "Gen?"
"Hm?" she responded, looking at the ceiling with a bored expression. He grimaced at how still she was, how calmly she treated the situation.
"You do realize that you could die, right?" Still, there was no emotion on her face. It was just... blank. She nodded her head, not looking back at him. "But you're not going to, right? You wouldn't do that to your best friend." To this, she had no response. Genevieve merely stayed on her back staring at the ceiling, her chest barely rising and falling. Rei furrowed his eyebrows. "Right?" he asked again, prompting a sigh from the unmoving girl. Well, that was better than nothing. "Hey, you know how you always talk about going to see those art museums they have in the Overworld? Well, we're here! And when you get better, I promise we'll go and see all of them, okay?" A ghost of a smile passed over her lips, but she did not say anything. Distraught, he took one of her hands into both of his, rubbing her palms, coarse from years of crafting and sculpting. "Please, Gen," he begged, his voice cracking. "I can't lose my best friend." Tears poured from his eyes, and he cried into her palm. What if this was the end for them? What if they didn't have any time left to spend together? What if he was going to lose his best friend?
Aspasia had been in that stupid cage for so long, she was beginning to consider taking Isokrates up on his offer. "Yuck," she thought aloud, hoping the bratty teen heard her. She noticed the black flames atop his head steam a little and smirked.
"Whaddaya mean, 'yuck'?" he demanded, glaring at her.
"What, you want me to spell it out for you?" Clearing her throat, Aspasia annunciated every syllable. "You are disgusting, and I would never marry you in a million years, you disgusting pig." A shred of pride came from that last part, and she wore a smug look on her face when his cheeks flushed a faint red. "I'll tell you what the problem is," she continued on, nonchalantly. "You're too much like your old man. Hades? He's the biggest pig of them all. Now, your mother, on the other hand, is pretty cool. I like Persephone, I really do. So, you know, be more like her." Isokrates scoffed.
"Do not tell me how to act, mortal." Aspasia tapped a finger on her cheek.
"Actually, I'm a goddess. Get your facts straight, Iso," she corrected. Her smile made her look as if she were playing a game. When Isokrates shot her a glare, she just grinned at him and wiggled her fingers. Before he could respond, the door to the room burst open, and eight teens filed in, one after another. They did not all seem to notice her quite yet. "Well, it's about time someone showed up." Startled, the few who had not yet seen her looked up in awe. Recognizing Li Keung, she flashed him a grin and winked, causing his face to turn a bright shade of red. After a few moments, she raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so were you planning on getting me down, first, or getting Iso out of the way? I'm personally okay with either one."
"Who's Iso?" asked a brunette with a crossbow.
Aspasia stuck her thumb out to the left. "The angry looking son of death over there." She shrugged, sitting down cross-legged on the floor of her cage. "That's okay, I'll just wait for you to get acquainted. Go ahead." With a wave of her hand, Keung nodded and turned to face Isokrates.
Iso scowled at the newcomers, straightening his posture to seem taller than he really was. "Here are our demands," started Keung, always straight to the point. "We get Aspasia and a soul out of the pool."
"And what do I get in return?" snarled Iso, and Aspasia's eyes sparked with a plan. She claimed herself to be the goddess of illusion; time to put that to work. Now, what would the signal be...
"Your life." Ah, there it was. Her blue eyes lit up, and she made Isokrates see the most gruesome death by Keung's katana she could imagine. Iso cringed, and for a moment, the slightest bit of fear showed on his face.
The vision of his death replayed over and over again until he finally shouted through clenched teeth, "Alright! Fine! You can have whatever you want!" Aspasia smirked and released his thoughts. "But I have one more demand." Keung quirked an eyebrow, but allowed him to speak. "I want you to take me with you, wherever you're going." Oh? Now, that was strange. She did not trust a bit of what he was saying, so she reached into his mind once more.
"Why? So you can sell us out?" Kaise snapped, demanding as ever.
"I don't want to live down here anymore. I hate it more than you can imagine, and I'd rather force myself to be-ugh-good, rather than spend the rest of my immortal life in this place." He was telling the truth; Aspasia could sense it. That was strange, though not as much as she would have thought. It was understandable that one would not like to spend their entire life in darkness.
Keung cast a hesitant glance up at her, and she nodded. "Alright," he agreed. The dark-skinned boy whispered something to Keung, no doubt questioning his answer. He whispered something back, and the other backed away once more. "Can you get her down?" he asked, pointing a finger at her cage. Standing, Aspasia placed her hands on her hips. There was only one way she was getting down, so she would have to be ready to take her goddess form.
"But of course," Isokrates replied smoothly. With a snap of his fingers, the cage disappeared. Rather than fall into the pool of souls, Aspasia remained suspended in midair. Her green dress was now a shimmering rainbow of light, her brown hair lengthened to past her waist. A gasp from one of the girls made her smirk.
"Thanks. I get it from my dad's side." Gracefully, she floated down to inches above the water. "You said that you needed a soul?"
"My sister," blurted out the blonde boy. "Angelica. She's got short hair and wears a long-sleeved dress and-"
"I see her." Even in the deathly blue glow, their resemblance was uncanny. Gently, she reached her hand down and tugged out the tiny girl's soul, which draped lifelessly over her shoulder. The young goddess floated over to the group. "I don't suppose any of you have a way to get out of here?" Iso began to open his mouth, but was cut off by the girl with reddish-brown hair.
"Wait! We need to know how to heal someone who's been shot with a necromancy dart, before we leave." Isokrates chuckled at the statement.
"Well, it's a good thing I'm going with you. I'll be able to get the poison out of whoever's been hit," he explained, bordering on bragging. "Oh, and I can get all of us out of the Underworld. You're welcome." Aspasia rolled her eyes and clung to the soul she now carried, seeing Iso's eyes glow golden. Shadow encased them, and he heard him faintly chanting until it seemed too distant, and the darkness made it impossible to see. And then, they were gone.
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Peace Out~ Icee