Hey guys, I am soooo sorry for the long wait, Uni and a bunch of other things kind of piled up. But I'm getting back on track and here's the update! Once again, all mistakes are mine, no copyright intended, and I'd love to hear what you think. Also a big thanks to all the followers and favourites and comments, I honestly never expected any of them, so I'm very grateful. Enjoy :)
They filed out of the office, the three women, Myka in the lead, Claudia in the middle, and Helena bringing up the rear. There could be anything, all sorts of traps Paracelsus could have set for the agents. Myka swung the rifle down the aisles as they walked, ready to shoot anything. She was unbelievably glad that Claudia had altered the Teslas so they didn't need to recharge. They had had to duck under arcs of lightning coming from the swirling mass suspended in the air. Thankfully, the bolts seemed to just miss them, every time. Claudia smiled, knowing the Warehouse was trying to protect them. She checked the tablet she had in her pocket, looking at the floor map with the illuminated pathway to the brain.
"Next right!" yelled Claudia. The wind was weaker, but it still ruffled their hair around.
"Clear!" replied Myka, not seeing any signs of danger, looking from side to side. They entered the aisle, and were halfway down before they heard a shrill cry.
"Down!" shouted Helena from the back. Claudia and Myka hit the floor as a large bolt swept over them, striking the shelves behind them. "Claudia!" screamed Helena, diving across the gap between them and snatching a falling artefact from the shelves, a small, metal slightly imperfect ball, slightly smaller than a tennis ball.
"Bag it!" yelled Claudia, scrambling from underneath the injured Victorian, as Helena's arm began to turn white, gasping in pain. The deathly pallor was travelling quickly up her arm and spreading up her neck and down her chest. Her breathing hitched as Helena collapsed down onto the floor of the Warehouse, her good hand clawing at her now numb arm. It was turning slightly blue.
"HG!" yelled Claudia, collapsing to her knees next to her. Myka stood frozen, arms locked on the Tesla rifle. She couldn't move. She should. She had to. But she was rooted to the spot, watching Helena writhe on the ground. "Myka, what the frack are you doing? Help her!" the red-head yelled. Myka met Helena's eyes for a moment, and she understood. Myka whipped out a spare bag that she always carried with her, just in case and handed it down to Helena.
"I'm fine, you keep going!" Helena hissed, snatching at the spare bag with her good hand, tipping the ball into the bag and closing her eyes as the sparks flew. Myka dropped to her knees next to Helena, stooped down and pressed a quick kiss onto Helena's cold lips, before scrambling back to her feet and pulling a shocked Claudia with her. "I'll catch up!" gasped Helena, half from the artefacts effects as blood began circulating around her body again, and half from the feeling of Myka's lips on hers. Helena then moaned as her arm filled up with blood again, the pins and needles giving way to pain as she struggled to sit up.
Claudia looked back to see Helena writhing on the floor as they turned the corner.
"Shouldn't we see if she's okay?" she panted, the mini-Tesla held tightly in her hand. "And nice use of the pressurised situation to make a life changing decision!"
"Head in the game, Claud!" called Myka as Claudia ran beside her. Myka didn't let herself look back. They didn't have time to help her. They had to fix this now. They ran the length of the aisle and came to the end, which was thankfully clear. Myka had no idea what sort of traps Paracelsus could have set for them. The last time soemthign like this had happened, she had taken the quick way with Pete and avoided it completely. Her keen eyes were scannign absolutely everything.
"Don't quote High School Musical references at me at a time like this!" retorted Claudia, also looking out for danger. She had a slight edge over Myka with knowledge of the inventory and layout, but also with these odd feelings teh Warehouse seemed ot be throwing her way. This was as close to Pete's vibes as she could imagine, just random sparks of bad energy from one aisle, which Claudia grabbed Myka to avoid and used the next one.
"Quote what?" panted Myka as they turned yet another corner. Sometimes she had absolutely no clue what these 'references' were. Whenever she made any witty, literary references, nobody got it. Well, Helena sometimes, but only in the few works she had read since being debronzed. It was quite infuriating at times.
"Never mind! Wait!" Claudia shouted, throwing her hand out and halting Myka in her tracks. Myka skidded to a halt, the Tesla rifle pointing straight ahead and her eyes darting everywhere. Her finger itched on the trigger.
"What? What is it?" asked Myka urgently. She was putting the pieces together – Claudia's puzzled expression and a sudden white bolt of lightning striking the floor next to a statue of a small boy. Tremors vibrated through the floor under their feet, threatening to knock them off-balance. Myka grabbed Claudia's shoulder to steady them both.
"I can't see the tag from here, but it can't be good," said Claudia, one hand in her hair, holding it off of her face as a gust of wind blew past them. She sounded worried. Myka squeezed her shoulder comfortingly as she looked at the statue, trying to work it out. It was just another puzzle. That was all. They jumped as another bolt hit near the statue in front of them. Myka stared at it as a flicker of an idea jolted through her mind.
"Should we just bag it?" inquired Claudia, her voice slightly hoarse from calling over the wind, reaching into her pocket for a bag.
"Wait a second," said Myka, thinking it over quickly.
"What?" asked Claudia impatiently, looking for a way around the statue. Maybe they could just avoid it altogether.
"Well, why leave it out in the open, unless he wanted us to think it was a trap," explained Myka, quirking an eyebrow as the cogs in her mind turned. The solution struck her as she whirled around, looking desperately in every direction. "And look, we've been standing here, just waiting for an atta- duck!" yelled Myka, grabbing Claudia's arm and yanking her to the floor as a samurai sword flew through the air above them, crashing against the shelf above them, dislodging a few smaller artefacts. Scrambling to her feet, Myka brought up the Tesla in time to block the next strike and kick the attacker, a figure dressed in plain, black clothing with a mask covering their face, save for a strip that revealed their pitch black eyes.
"What is that?" asked Myka, referring to the statue as she kicked the attacker again in the leg, making them yell out and lose their footing a little. The attacker backed off, in a ready stance – the sword aimed right between Myka's eyes –and tilted their head, assessing the situation. Myka and the attacker were locked in a glare, waiting to see who would make their move first. If Myka fired and missed, the kickback would prevent her from firing again in quick succession, and leave them vulnerable for a moment. Only a moment, but it could be enough to end their mission right here. Claudia was on her feet behind Myka and aiming her Tesla at the figure, but Myka then took her chance just as the figure took a quick step forwards. She flicked a switch on the Tesla and fired once, hitting the figure square in the chest. The figure disappeared in a burst of sparks, the golden-yellow lights showering up into the air and falling to the ground like strange snowflakes. Myka winced as she finally realised her right arm had been nicked in the fight. Checking it, she found the shallow cut just below her elbow. It was nothing serious.
"The statue belonged to an ancient Lord who had eleven samurai at his command," read Claudia from the tag. "He charged them to protect his only son – the boy in the statue. His father made it for him. Whoever touches the statue will be protected by the eleven samurai!"
"Can't we just goo it and the samurai will be gone?" asked Myka. Claudia consulted the tag again, muttering the information until she found the correct part.
"No, the eleven are out for as long as they, or the person who initiated the artefact's effects are alive."
"So we've got ten more to deal with? Brilliant," sighed Myka. "Keep an eye out, Claudia," she said, trying not to think about what would happen if one of them found Helena.
They were drawing closer, and Myka was growing edgy – they hadn't encountered any more samurai. Or anything else for that matter, but that might have something to do with Claudia diverting them seemingly randomly from certain aisles. But something was off here. And she defiantly kept her thoughts away from Helena. She couldn't afford to be distracted, even though her brain was yelling at her to turn back and make sure she was okay. No, she had to be strong and she had to protect Claudia, and the Warehouse. Duty first, personal later, as she had been taught.
"Are we close?" asked Myka to Claudia. They were in a surprisingly calm part of the Warehouse now, after all the wind and lightning and rumbling from the thunder and from the tremors. Myka didn't like it.
"Yeah, we're close," answered Claudia. "Just a few more turns and we should be there." Claudia didn't look too happy either. "It feels like a video-game," she said suddenly.
"What?" asked Myka, only half paying attention as she was on high alert for danger.
"In video-games, there's the boss, and you have to beat the minions to get to him. Usually, just outside the boss-room, there are a lot of strong minions," Claudia explained, hands gripping the Tesla tightly. She had pocketed her tablet as the Warehouse was guiding her, using the weird feelings she couldn't really put into words.
"You think the samurai are guarding it?" asked Myka as she sped up towards the end of the long aisle, Claudia keeping pace with her.
"It's possible. I don't know where that thought came from, it just…" Claudia tailed off as they cautiously approached the end of the aisle. The next word from the young tech's mouth was an expletive.
"I hate it when you're right…" sighed Myka as she gripped the Tesla tighter, putting herself in front of Claudia.