**Hey, guys! Chapter 17 is finally here! Sadly, this is the last part that IwishIcouldbeNumberFive collaborated on. There are a couple notes dictating when these hashtags are starts or stops because it switches multiple times. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
The Time for Ten - Chapter 17
#####(starts)
All I can do is stare at Five's limp body on the ground.
What they just decided to do is incredibly stupid.
"Why the hell would you do that?" I yell at the two girls. "Don't you realize the problem? There's only few Loric left in this world, never mind our disagreements! We just killed one of our kind! Six, you're no better than the person who was once in that body. And Mar... I think we need a break." I end on a low note.
Marina's eyes fill with tears, and Six starts to think about what she has just done.
The door behind us crashes down, and in comes an army of Mogs. I look back at the girls, and then charge toward the enemies.
I quickly finish off the horde, my anger helping to fight. I spin back around with a glare.
"Lets go." I say without making eye contact.
Marina grabs my arm solemnly, but I yank it away.
"Maybe you should know what Five did to Ella and I for the week that we were trapped here." Marina hisses, her voice shaking in anger. "Maybe you should remember how he attacked us just before he died. Maybe you should you remember that you tried to kill him about five minutes earlier!" She screams at me before storming out of the room.
"Marina!" I call after her in anger.
I know what he did to Ella and Mar, I know he attacked us and killed me, and I know I attempted to kill him earlier. But those acts were done out of anger and revenge. Us killing him right then... That wasn't done out of revenge or anger, it was done because we have an angst against him. We were afraid of him.
I stomp out of the room after Marina, and Six picks up Five to bring him along.
I hope the others aren't too worried.
#####(stops)
xxxxx
"What did you do?" Ella yells and runs up to Six, who drops Five on the ground outside the base.
"We killed him. He's caused us too much pain." Six explains.
"No, you killed him out of the heat of the moment." I argue.
"Then why did you try to kill him a few minutes beforehand?" Six questions.
"Guys! Cool it! We can't have fights going on, it'll wreck our relationships." Marina says, clearly a direct jab at me.
"Can't we just get out of here? We are still near the base. I can just teleport us to some motel a couple miles away." Kal offers.
"Lets do that, and we can resolve the issues there. I mean, even Kal and I have a few issues of our own." James offers.
The group silently yet mutually decides to teleport away from this trashy place. We go hand in hand in a circle-like shape, and Kal swooshes us away into the vortex of black. When we reappear, we are in some alleyway behind a building.
Sam, Six, and Marina run ahead to buy a couple rooms for the night. Ella, Kal, James, Two, Three, One, Adam, Hayley, and I all stay behind, waiting for the safety wave-over.
I turn to the others.
"As I'm sure you are all aware, Five is dead, but I think it was wrong to kill him. He is one of our kind, and now he is gone, unless we bring him back. While we've been working out how to get here, I figured out a plan to get the third crystal and to revive Five. Then, after he is back, we somehow manage to make him trade sides back to the Loric, and for real this time. Who is in?" I ask all of them.
Two, James, and Kal raise their hands.
"Well, that's enough to do the job." I say, pleased with the outcome.
I pull the three aside and explain the plan. We are going to kidnap Marina tomorrow morning and teleport her with us four to England, where we will force her to grab the second crystal.
They agree to the plan, and then we all begin to walk toward the entrance to the motel. Six waves us in to the main lobby.
The lobby has three lounge chairs around a decently sized coffee table. They chairs are worn and slightly torn up, and the counter doesn't look like it has seen much better care either. There is a ceiling fan going on high speed, along with four lightbulbs for the whole room.
Six gladly accepts the keys, and we walk up to our rooms.
The rooms have two queen beds each, and a desk. There is a small bathroom with a half-broken shower and a tiny toilet. The wallpaper is peeling and I bet you anything there are roaches under the mattresses.
"So." I say as I sit on the bed.
"We need to calm our disputes once and for all." Six says.
"If we do that, then we can work together nicely, and it'll suit us better in the long run." Marina adds.
They clearly went over this because Sam is nodding and smiling in the corner.
"I think we should rid of Five's body, to start off." Six says strongly.
I spit a glare at her. "What a minute, you want to just throw a body into the dumpster and be done with it? We aren't doing that. Five is Loric, I don't know if you remember that or not in your head." I jab at her.
The glare is something I've never seen Six give; it holds too many emotions. Regret, hatred, anger, jealousy. Some I don't even understand why.
"It's getting a little late. I say we all go to bed." Kal says tentatively.
#####(starts, no break in story)
James walks over to the window and looks out.
"I'd have to agree with Kal- Uh, guys, there is a van out there." James says quietly.
"And that matters how?" Three asks.
"He's looking straight at as, or at least I think he is." James answers.
"A Mog?" Adam asks.
"Yup, get your shit together. We need to go, now." James responds.
I pick up Five's body in case I need a quick getaway with Marina, James and Kal. Then all thirteen of us walk outside of the motel room.
Everyone follows me out the door. Marina is being flanked by James and Kal; hopefully she doesn't suspect anything.
There's a sudden explosion and part of the wall behind us blows out, throwing chunks of rubble and rock into us. Marina shields Ella and herself with telekinesis, pulling Ella down to the ground. .
"Mogs!" Six yells happily as if that weren't obvious enough.
Marina tries to stand up and join the others out there to fight, but James hits her in the head with a piece of cement. He looks up to me.
"Sorry, it was the only way to subdue her." He says as he pulls her hands behind her back.
I look over my shoulder at Six, who is just noticing our commotion.
"Don't you fucking dare!" She screams and runs toward us.
Two, James and I quickly grab Kal's hands with Marina over my shoulder and Five over James', and then we are gone as quickly as that battle had started, leaving Six standing there with a pissed off expression.
That's not going to be easy to come back to.
xxxxx
I hope Marina is going to be alright after that hit she took an hour ago.
We are in England, the five of us. After the Mogs struck at the motel, we decided to start our plan early. Kal and James knocked out Marina, and then we all grabbed Kal's hands with Five and Marina's bodies.
This is the town Two lived in, London. We were told the crystal is in a graveyard, and that's where we decide to head next.
Hopefully Marina will come about in time to grab the crystal before the Mog alarm goes off. Usually when a Garde is found or killed, high-tech alarms are put around the area.
Marina then slowly sits up and feels her bleeding forehead. She gasps, and then seems to remember the situation.
"Marina." I say and step forward toward her, my face impassive.
She curls into a protective ball and glares at me.
"You bastard!" She hisses.
I cringe at her comment.
"We need to bring back Five." I say and point toward his body. "He didn't deserve to die."
I see her face lighten up a bit.
"We're in England, along with Two, James and Kal, who are outside on guard. We need to get this final crystal." I finish.
She gets up and leans against the wall, putting her hands over her face.
"Recently, I've been forced to make too many decisions." She complains, and then she falls through the wall.
That's right, through it.
I race outside and around the corner to see her sitting upright on the ground holding her head, which she must have hit somewhere.
"What the hell just happened?" I ask.
"You know how I get a legacy for every Life Crystal I find? Well, duplicatortion came from the Himalayas, and I think this is what I'm getting for the Paradise one." She says calmly.
Marina rubs her face, and I help her back to the bed. She doesn't appear to be fully healed from her hit yet.
"Are the others alive?" She asks me.
"Of course, you haven't had another scar." I point out.
Marina looks as though her mind is battling thoughts.
"And if something had happened, you'd be just as bad as me and Six" She says to me, walking away from the bed and toward the window.
I flinch at her comment, another biting one.
"I don't kill my allies." I reply, my voice low and solid.
She winces this time.
"And if I don't heal Five? What will you do then, force me?" She asks.
"We aren't taking you back until you grab that crystal. From now on, we live here until he is back alive." I say with a jab toward Five.
It's hard to stay mad at her because of her looks, but I need to keep my focus, at least for now.
"Fine. Where's the location, anyway?" She asks.
"Two located it to be in a graveyard. There is a Loric number seven on a tombstone, and we suspect that's where we need your necklace." I respond.
Marina sighs and looks up at me with a solemnly feel to the situation. "All right, lead the way." She says.
xxxxx
Marina walks beside me, shivering. It is cold here in the graveyard. Thinking of all the dead people under these stones creeps me out, which doesn't help the situation.
"Are you sure they're nearby?" Marina asks me.
I know she is talking about the Mogs. I nod, but don't look at her. I'm hoping my rude behavior will get to her. If we ever get back together, I want her to appreciate my feeling wholly.
The Mogs were laying in wait in both Paradise and the Himalayas, I know they are somewhere here too. I am carrying Five across my shoulders.
Then I see the tombstone.
Unlike the other grey ones, this one is white marble and has the Loric number seven carved in red ruby in the middle.
"They couldn't have made that less obvious?" James says aloud.
Marina steps forward and is about to press her pendant to the carving when a single cannon is blasted, sending all of us scrambling backwards.
"I knew they were here." I say flatly as the four of us go back to back.
#####(ends, no break in story)
"Eight, you and Marina get the crystal. Us three can cover you in the meantime." Kal says strongly.
"Are you sure?" Marina asks, now in the mood and energetic because of the possible fight.
Kal looks me right in the eyes, and it relays a single message that I never wanted to hear. If Marina and I aren't fast, things will not be looking good up here for the three Garde.
And with that, Kal, James and Two begin to fight the oncoming Mog army while Marina and I slide down the newly revealed ladder beneath the tombstone.
When we get to the bottom, we both freeze in our tracks to stare at an orange sword, glowing in it's pedestal in the center of the room. The pedestal is made of Loralite, and along the wall is multiple carved out sections of rock. All that's left is a tiny piece of Life Crystal.
"I think we've hit a jackpot." I murmur.
xxxxx
Nine and I have finally reached the Californian border. We don't know where Agent Topman wanted us to meet her, so we are expecting some secret attack like they did at the camp.
We have been driving for hours, ever since the others left to retrieve Ella and Marina again. The weather outside is hot, but luckily we picked out a convertible and are blasting the air conditioning, so we are all set for days. The Chimaera are enjoying the wind, too, as most of them are dogs and sticking their heads out the side windows.
Cacti and various desert animals and structures whiz by as we speed down the deserted highway. Nine is driving while I eat my salad. We stopped at a rest stop, and I decided to stick with my diet while Nine treated himself with an American tragedy, McDonalds. He gulped down his big-mac in what seemed like ten-seconds, and then we were off again. He has been chewing on the fries and his Coca-Cola ever since. I, on the other hand, have my caesar salad and iced tea, unsweetened, and have been working on it slowly over time. That's how I heard you're supposed to eat as to not over stuff yourself. I told Nine this, and he said screw off. I decided to let him run his own diet from then on.
A couple of nice resorts pass by with mountains in the backdrop, and more cars begin to show up. Eventually, the highway is filled with a regular amount of highway travelers, meaning we are almost to the cities.
"I've always wanted to visit California." I say calmly over the wind.
"I heard it is full of republicans and hot beach babes." Nine adds cooly.
"What's a republican?" I ask.
Nine shrugs. "I heard Sandor say it once."
I shake my head in disapproval and look into he side view mirror of the car.
The black punch-bug behind us has been following us for a while; I remember it because Nine punched me when it came into view. When I look closer, I recognize a familiar face, but I can't put a name to it. It's a woman, and she signals the number four with a raised eyebrow.
"Nine, someone is following us. I'm not sure if it is a bad agent or somebody working for Agent Topman." I say nervously.
"Better safe than sorry..." Nine says and begins to speed around the cars in front of us.
The punch-bug does the same, and soon we are swerving all over the road trying to shake off the buggy. The woman has a determined yet annoyed look on her face.
"Lets just pull over and see what the hell she wants." Nine says, annoyed.
He does so, and the buggy follows. The woman hops out of her car, and comes to stand by us.
"Hi, remember me?" She asks.
Her hair is long and brown, and her eyes are purple.
"You must be Agent Topman." I respond, holding out my hand.
"Jackie, call me Jackie." She says, reaching out and finishing my handshake. "So I see you've come to agree to the deal?"
"We will only agree after we hear more details." Nine butts in.
"Well... To start off, we have Numbers Seventeen and Thirteen." She says casually.
Nine and I look at Jackie with wide eyes.
Maybe this agent will serve more useful than we thought.
**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Even with the collab, I still had a little writers block... Anyway, please review! I appreciate them very much!