Happy Wednesday! You know when you just write something that you love and feel all aaaaaahhhhh inside? That's how I feel right now. XD
This is the Overlord Timeline. Lucas belongs to Packerfan95.
Chapter Ten: Heartbreak
The light was almost blinding as Laurie suddenly blinked, attempting to figure out exactly where she was. Fading sunlight filtered down through the canopy trees spread out above, casting shadows from the leaves all across the grass in the clearing. The roaring of the waterfall close by captured the girl's attention and she noticed how labored her breathing was. A concerned figure loomed over her, an eyebrow raised. Groaning slightly, Laurie rubbed her temples with her hands, eyes focusing solely on her cousin. "Lucas," the girl breathed, mind whirling with confusion. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Yeah," the grey ninja started, tossing his cousin's wet cloak to the ground. It thudded hard against the grassy clearing. Laurie's hands flew up to her neck, now noticing the absence of her cloak's clasp. When had she taken it off? "I was in the process of trying to heal you and you just kind of zoned out." The air around both of them seemed to freeze with tension and anticipation, silence setting in. Even the normally ambient sounds of the forest ceased completely. "I wasn't really too worried at first, but it lasted a while." She just blinked, in response, feeling a new sense of urgency overwhelm her. "You've been out of it for at least a couple of hours now."
She was beginning to remember now, at least a little bit. There were just flashes of other scenes, other places she had been. The bright room of an office. The snow-lined streets of Jamanakai Village. The small tea shop that her uncle visited on the occasion. "I-I was in other places…I think," Laurie gasped lightly, clasping her hands over her mouth. "You weren't there, but then you were there only you didn't know me and…" She trailed off as she began to realize how odd it all sounded. Her ice blue eyes fell and widened slightly as she took in the sight of her bare hands. They were their normal, devoid of any grey. I was in the process of trying to heal you and you just kind of zoned out. "Lucas…you did it," the girl smiled, feeling a new sense of hope rekindle within her. Everything was going to be okay now. "T-Thank you so much!" She knew that if anyone was going to be able to help her, it would have been her cousin.
"Don't thank me just yet," Lucas answered, pacing over towards the edge of the lake and gazing down into its seemingly fathomless depths. "Take another look." Shifting slightly on her legs, Laurie repositioned herself to let her sleeping limbs get some feeling back into them before really examining her hands. They looked completely fine. Flipping them over, palms facing upwards, the Ninja of Wind finally saw what her cousin was talking about. A splotchy, grey mark was splashed across the lower area of her left palm, just above the wrist. It glared at her, teasing her. "It sounds crazy, but I think once you're infected by the Dark Matter, it's impossible to get rid of completely."
No, that can't be true, Laurie thought anxiously, a sudden burst of cold flooding her veins. There had to be a way to get rid of it! That was why she had come to Lucas in the first place! Gritting her teeth against the frustration she was feeling, Laurie got to her feet. "Why not?" she spat, her anger uncontrollably spreading. The grey area on her palm grew slightly, responding to her vastly negative emotions, causing the orange ninja to take a few steps back. No matter what happened, she had to try and stay calm. "I mean, why can't you get rid of it, Lucas? You can heal broken bones and tons of other things! So why can't you help me with this?"
"You know our abilities aren't resistant to the Dark Matter to begin with. It limits us, makes us powerless." Laurie nodded in understanding. She could recall the necklace that Rhea had tricked her into wearing; the gemstone embedded with Dark Matter sitting nestled just above her chest. Laurie shivered slightly at the memories. "There may be more to it than that though," Lucas stated gravely, his hazel grey eyes still focused on the lake. He bent over for a moment, procuring a lone, smooth rock. Tossing it into the air once, the grey ninja caught it and skipped it across the water, sending ripples out in all directions. "Everyone harbors some kind of darkness within them and I'm starting to think that it helps the Dark Matter take root and spread. I can stop it from spreading, and even reverse it up to a point, but I can't get rid of it. I'm sorry."
Hopelessness clawed at Laurie's mind as she let Lucas' words sink in. Everyone harbored darkness within them? How was that even possible? Her thoughts wandered as she tried to think of what could possibly be keeping the Dark Matter tethered to her. My father, she thought suddenly, shutting her eyes tightly. A surge of hatred welled up inside of her as she thought about him. Everything that was happening was only happening because of him. His lust for power had brought the world to brink of destruction. She could feel her hands clenching into fists. Her father had hurt so many of the people that she cared for, herself included. Now her friends were gone, her brother dead. It's all his fault. Laurie gave an enraged cry, falling to her knees and pounding her fists against the ground, tears streaming down her face.
"Laurie!" She heard Lucas' voice, but just tried to ignore it. Her hatred had fueled her for so long, giving her a motive for fighting. It had always been something that she held on to. Now it was the one thing that was causing her downfall. "Hey, just clam down and breathe, alright?" This time the Ninja of Wind listened, focusing hard on regulating her breathing. In and out. In and out. "You're just going to make it spread faster if you give in like that," her cousin warned. Opening her eyes slowly, Laurie glanced down at her left hand, seeing the dark grey tendrils of evil slowly lick at the top of her hand.
Her vision was blurring now, even though she was wiping away her tears. "Okay," Laurie murmured, feeling extremely light-headed now. The world was spinning around her, the foliage beneath her whipping into a solid green blur. All of the sounds around her were beginning to fade into the background, replaced by deafening silence. "Okay."
Red light.
It filled the small, enclosed space, accompanied by a blaring sound. She felt her heart drop down into her stomach as she seemed to detach herself from the situation around her. As her friends quickly conversed around her, coming up with a plan, Laurie only noticed the sudden danger that they had been placed in. The unexplained feeling of dread and uneasiness that she had felt when she had first arrived at the building almost seemed to be justified now. Everything had been going so well and now this? Why?
"Laurie!" She glanced upwards, seeing Kai extending a hand towards her, and grabbed it as quickly as possible. As he helped her through the small exit, Laurie unsteadily got to her feet, feeling the wind whipping upwards around her. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins and a small smile crept its way across her freckled face. Was this all dangerous? Yes. Was it fun at the same time? Definitely. Before she even heard her friends yell, the orange ninja was already picking up her pace, following their lead.
"Jump!"
Sputtering and coughing, Laurie sat up suddenly. She was propped up against the trunk of a tree, the bark rough against the back of her neck. Thick mist clouded her vision, making it impossible to see anything too far in front of her. It was obvious that she was still in the Misty Forest, but why the sudden change of scenery? "Lucas?" She cupped her hands around her mouth, attempting to amplify the sound of her own voice. "Luc-" A gloved hand clamped itself down over her mouth, stifling her. Laurie felt her breath catch in her throat as she craned her neck backwards, trying to see who was detaining her.
"Relax, it's just me," her cousin whispered in her ear, setting her nerves at ease. She nodded in reply, still confused about what was going on. "Just keep quiet, grab your dagger, and try to keep your eyes peeled. I don't think we're alone anymore." With that, Lucas released his cousin and threw his mask down over his face, disappearing into the mist.
Wasting absolutely no time, Laurie was up on her feet, realizing that she was once more clothed in her cloak. Inching her right hands towards the hidden pocket, she procured her dagger from inside, gripping the wooden handle tightly. There was a distorted shout from somewhere out in the forest and Laurie just inhaled deeply, raising her hood over her head, throwing her features into the shadows. Lucas had said that he thought someone else was here with them. Who else could possibly have found this place? As she left the tree and ventured out into the mist, Laurie felt her stomach drop. "Oh no," she muttered to herself. "Please no…"
The rustling of leaves sounded all around her and Laurie scanned the area in front of her, trying to discern everything from the whiteness. No shadows. No moving shapes. Everything seemed to be okay, but looks could always be deceiving. Treading slowly, Laurie found herself spinning around, trying to keep herself from being surprised by anything or anyone. There was the unmistakable flash of lightning that seemed to erupt from nowhere. "No, no, no," Laurie breathed, picking up her pace, blindly fumbling through the thick mist. This was all her fault. She should have just stayed in the city.
Everything began to shake around her and Laurie fell to a knee as she lost her balance. This was not good. How could they have known she was going to come here? They must have somehow been watching her, following her as she left the city. Maybe the Overlord had been waiting for something like this to happen: both her and Lucas in the same place again for the first time in a while. The perfect opportunity to ambush them. As Laurie finally got back on her feet, she sprinted forward, trying to get her bearings on the environment. It was impossible to know if she was traveling in circles or not. She was now just hoping to try and make it out of the Misty Forest as quickly as possible, something she hoped her cousin was doing too.
Danger.
Clenching her teeth, the orange ninja spun around, flipping her dagger around in her hand, the blade facing downwards. As she twisted her arm in front of her face, she managed to catch someone else's blade, a metallic clang echoing through the air. Narrowing her eyes, Laurie noticed that the individual she had just stopped was only her cousin. "Lucas, what are you doing?" she whispered, lowering her own weapon as he slowly lowered his. "You scared me to death."
"I thought you were someone else," the brunet sighed, his voice muffled by the material of his mask. "Sorry."
Laurie could feel her hands shaking slightly, jittery with adrenaline as she started to focus on something shining in the distance. It wavered and danced, practically mesmerizing her and the orange ninja took a step to her right, trying to get a better look at it. The object seemed to be growing, the glow it emitted becoming more intense the larger it got. Well that's weird, Laurie thought, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She squinted as the glowing from what was slowly becoming a large sphere, seemed to reflect off of the water droplets in the air. Wait a second. "Lucas, get down," the Ninja of Wind urged, grabbing her cousin's arm and feeling relieved as he ducked in time with her, the fireball soaring over both of their heads.
"Please, please no," Laurie whispered to herself, feeling sick to her stomach now. Sure, she had seen them out of the corner of her eye while she hid in the city. Yes, she had caught glimpses of their forms darting in and out of the shadows, searching. Not him though. Not him. Laurie had not really seen him since he had fallen to the darkness, scaling the steps the encircled the large tower. "No, no, no." Shakily standing, Laurie felt the dagger slip out of her grip and fall towards the ground. Lucas stood beside her, both elemental blades poised to strike.
His silhouette grew through the mist, soft red light pulsing from the blade in his right hand. Laurie glanced at the grassy ground, quickly grabbing her dagger and gripping it tightly in both of her hands, swallowing hard. Running away from them had always been hard enough. Stabbing Cole back in the alley when he had grabbed her had felt heartbreaking. This though…this could not be happening. Not between him and her. Especially not now. Laurie did not know if she could bring herself to hurt him, even if he was not really himself. The Ninja of Wind felt a single, hot tear roll down her right cheek as Kai came into her line of sight. The familiar spiky hair was out of place with his grey skin and blazing purple eyes. It was a painful reminder of the past that hit Laurie in the gut like a hard punch.
"Well then," the red ninja smirked, gazing thoughtfully at his weapon before returning his attention to the two people in front of him. "You can come quietly or you can be defeated. The choice is ultimately yours to make."
Yay. :3
Thank you so so so much for reading! I'll see you next week. Bye. :D