ATG members who are currently charactors in this story (in order of apperence): MrJimmy, Shram, Alarias, Ph34rm3h, Wakusei, True Arrogance, Antun, God-Raped-Me, Mangacatgirl, Alcholic Pancake, Bishop186, Shadow-Savant, Joey Go!, [I havn't quite decided], Anti Raven, Siani, LadiSilverfox, K0m0d0, Isel, RoleplayerX23, Silver Hellsing, R.a.c.h.e.l., Dexandre, Lobo-Chan, Katashi Urotai, Erius
Update 14: Hello again! Well we're nearing our fifteenth time around with this. It's getting a little out of hand, I always thought it would be about this big, but I never once thought that it would get /bigger/...
*sigh* Circumstances are starting to get to me, people need to be added. There's a whole lot of story here, and still more that needs to be told, still more things that need to be reveled. I need to think about all of these things, I need to improve what I've already written, many things need to be changed, finished, and delt with.
I also feel like I've failed alot of you. I used to be pretty good at reasoning how to write most of you, but lately I've been overly confident in my ability to do that, and have been writing charactors very very wrongly. Part of me wants to say "It's my story! They're my charactors! They're only loosely based on you!" But I remember my orrigional goal of writing this for you. You wonderful, horrible, beautiful people, who have become more then just internet friends to me. I remembered that this was my way of saying 'thank you' and giving you each your much deserved place in teh spotlight. I know I've failed you as of late, but I hope to correct that failure with this break I'm taking.
Thanks. I love you guys.
It may not get better, but it certainly can't get any worse.
Quote:
James woke up late again, the sun was heavily beading through his never-been-pulled blinds. He stood in the shower thinking about what he did last night, and gave up when he realized that it wasn’t coming too him. He threw on the white and black long-sleeve button-up he found on the floor as well as his favorite pair of checkered pants; his red shoes and matching tie were thrown on messily after he buckled his favorite red belt. His hair was given a violent taming, and settled into a deep red dome with a single cow-lick and messy edges. The grey imitation officers cap was settled gently on his head, and straightened using the mirror on the back of his bathroom door. He was ready for the day.
The street was relatively friendly this late morning, seeing as how everyone in town was already at work or wherever they happen to spend their day. Later this afternoon it would get messy, ugly, dangerous even. He spit onto the street and took a set of metal teeth out of his pocket; he fit his lips into the grooves where they went and started to stare suggestively at passerby, ominously clanking them together and sticking this tongue through them when they stared.
He didn’t know what he would be doing today, but he hoped it would be epic.
“It had better be epic.” He thought aloud, but it came out slurred and ugly because of the teeth.
“Hey!” Called a deeper voice then his own, from somewhere across the quiet street. James recognized it as his friend Shram. When he looked around he noticed the tall lanky red head, wearing a set of grey camouflage pants and a tight black shirt. Next to him stood Alarais at half a head shorter then James, and with a shy smile plastered between the dyed green hair that fell down on either side of her pretty face.
James observed her clothes, which changed often; a wide-brimmed black hat and a mask that can only be described as “Zorro” complimented the strange style of long striped stockings and a shirt under a fishnet top. The term “complimented” above is used in the fashion that you compliment your best friend after their horrible hair cut.
“What's up?!” Yelled James from across the street.
“Come over here!” Demanded Shram.
James scrambled across the street. “What?” He blurted.
“Hang out with us!” Said Shram. “Your not doing anything... right?”
“Well,” James looked at Alarias, who’s name will here after be shortened to Ala, and said “No.”
Phear was what you would call a small time villain, a real life Jessie and James, but without all this “blasting off again” business. Her personal favorite crime was the time she stole an entire three corse meal from the most expensive restaurant in town, it consisted of two steps: 1. Eat food. 2. Walk out.
Today Phear was not planning any of her masterful crimes, but was instead simply exploring one of her more recent pieces of loot. It was a metal sphere, gold in sheen but it could have very well been bronze. She lie on her bed, rolling it from hand to hand, something was fishy about it; she had picked it up from a peddler, although she didn’t steal it, she considered it a steal at the price he had set. “Fifteen gold pieces” he said in her mind.
There were smudges all over it, smudges of grease she guessed. She fit a finger on each smudge and twisted, but with no result. she moved each finger to a different smudge, nothing. There had to be something to this hunk of metal. She rattled it, and bounced it, and waved it, and recited magic words she learned at a magic show once, but noting happened.
It sat on her pillow. Unmoving. Silent and still. But it was the kind of silence that was being broken without making a sound. Phear sat staring at it, cross-legged on the end of the bed. “Please?” she said pleadingly. And the ball exploded.
Two people now stood on the bed back to back, one leg each on the ground, while the other rested up against the other’s foot. They looked as if they were both leaning against a wall, but instead of a wall there was only the opposite person.
The woman of the pair wore mostly thin lime green clothes, and a strange hat that had a home made feel to it, the man wore a plumb colored visor over his eyes and had clothes to match.
Phear sat in, what is simply put as, fear. She could feel a knot needing it’s way through her legs and into her stomach and then through her chest and neck. “Wha...?” She was able to squeeze out before she was cut off.
“Three wishes then,” Said the woman in green. “Over done I know, but you need some sort of reward for figuring it out.”
“Wha...?” She repeated.
“We don’t have to give her anything...” Said the purple man. “She said we just have to find a way out and then split back to her place.”
“But we have so much power here True, and I’m not one to just not reward someone for freeing me from a prison.” Replied the green woman.
“Very well. What do you want girl?”
“Wan...?” Said Phear dumbfounded. She shook her head a little and noticed the pair was staring at her amusedly. “I want to know who you are!” She raved.
“Simple enough.” Said the purple man. “On this plane of existence I shall be known as True Arrogance, although you will never know why. Please call me TA for short.”
“And I am Wakusei.” Said the lime green woman. “What else?”
Phear thought about this. “What are you doing here?” She asked.
Wakusei looked concernedly at her partner, who looked bored. “We don’t really know.” She shrugged, “We were told that things would just fall into place, so it would seem that you were supposed to release us.” Her expression was blank.
“So that makes two...” Said TA.
“What?!” Shouted Phear. “Those weren’t wishes!”
TA chuckled, and Wakusei just smiled embarrassedly.
“Yes, you used your first two...” Said Wakusei. “Make the third count.”
“And don’t think of wishing for more!” Added TA
Phear thought for a while, the pair simply stood and waited for her response.
“I want to be a master thief, make me something that will make me the best thief ever.”
“Vague but doable...” Said Wakusei, but she was cut off by TA.
“I know just the thing...” He said with a smile. His hand was stuck out and the tiny gold bits of ball begin to remake themselves on it. Phear looked again and the gold ball where they had been trapped was reformed in TA’s hand. TA turned his hand over and let it drop onto the comforter, it came down turning instantly into a puddle of fluid shadow. “Use this and no one will look at you the same way twice.”
She reached out hesitantly, and then stopped and looked up to see TA’s smiling face, it was filled with mischief. Phear thought better and pulled back.
“I hate to say it, but our time is done.” Wakusei spoke up. The pair jumped off the bed in a fluid movement. “This is the way out, is it not?” She asked when they reached the door.
“Yeah, just out and down the stairs, you should be on the street.” Phear spoke up, still hovering over the pool of blackness.
“Our thanks.” And they moved through the door after TA threw it open.
Phear hovered for another second before reaching down with a nimble finger and poking the surface of the stuff. It felt like air and moved like tar. “How am I supposed to use this?” She said, to no one in particular.
“It’s perfect!” Yelled Shram. People who were out on their lunch breaks were turning to look at the trio standing near the brick wall across from James’ apartment complex.
“It was just an idea...” Said James, sounding like he was trying to erase whatever he had suggested.
“It was a great idea! The three of us have been waiting for something like this forever! Right Ala?”
Alarias gave a nod of recognition, “Yeah, all this mulling around is getting us all down.”
“Well, whatever guys, we can’t just put our lives on the line for a couple of extra bucks...”
“Jimbo!” Yelled Ala. “It’s not like the money is bad!”
“Yeah, if we can complete a big contract here and there, we can strike it rich!” Added Shram.
James sighed, looked at his feet and considered. This certainly has potential to be epic... he thought. “Fine. What are we gonna call ourselves?” He went from reluctance to excitement in two short phrases.
“I dunno.” Said Shram.
“What if it was, like, an acronym? Jimmy, Shram, Alarias, JSA?” Suggested Ala.
“I like the acronym idea... but let’s just pick a word and make it into an one.” James added.
“Like what, then?” Ala put a hand on her hip.
“Like... Capitol G, lower case i capitol R R lowercase a f f capitol E.”
“Huh?” Asked Ala.
“GiRRaffE?” Asked Shram, with undertones of sarcasm.
“ ’Just a suggestion.”
“But what does it mean?” Shram asked.
Ala scratched her head in thought.
“I doesn’t mean anything...”
“But then it isn’t an acronym...”
“It was just a suggestion!”
“’Kind of a random suggestion.”
“Well then you pick something!”
“But I like it!” Alarias spoke up.
Shram and Jimmy stared.
“Let’s just call ourselves GiRRaffE.”
The boys nodded their heads. It was decided.
Phear walked down Main Street with an air of superiority. A smokey black line eerily moved around her body. She stopped in front of a jewelry store, and smiled, and she was no longer herself.
Antun was about to ring the bell when he pulled his hand back. He was standing in front of a monstrous house, with white pillars holding up the outcrop of the roof in a romanesque style. He fiddled in his pocket nervously and brought up his hand again. The bell rang.
“Who are you?” Said a stern female voice from behind.
He turned. He was quite literally shaking in his boots. “Me? Oh, of course.” He was now staring down a very crazy looking woman with strawberry-red hair. A red leather jacket and pants. She looked as if she had never known a moment of not being pissed off. “I’m here to see the lady of the house.” His voice was shaking.
“Whatever for?” Pried the woman.
This must be her... thought Antun. “It’s quite urgent madam.”
“Well out with it!” She demanded.
“Something’s going on!” He pleaded to her. He went down the perfectly polished steps and to the woman, who after close inspection had a pair of fox ears hidden in her thick locks of hair. He removed his short grey cloak to emphasize his seriousness. “There have been a number of jewel heists that cannot be explained madam, and I was sent up here to report...”
“Jewel heists, what kind of crimes are those?” Blurted the woman.
Sweat was beading down Antun’s forehead. He opened his mouth, and closed it again. He finally spoke: “Well it’s the kind where a person breaks into a store or house and steals all of the...”
“That’s not what I mean!” She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “I mean, how can you be worried about some stolen jewels when there are people out there starving to death!? Seems a pretty petty crime to me...”
“It is actually just a petty crime, but...”
“So why worry about it?”
He was taken aback. “Madam, I’m just doing my job. I only had a simple favor to ask of you.”
“And what could you possibly want of me? We don’t have much left!”
“Madam, surly you jest; I have no intention of taking anything from you, in fact just the opposite; I wish to protect what you still have.”
The woman’s eyes brightened up slightly. “Really!? Oh, I knew it! I knew someone here would be able to help! Come on! We have to hurry! It’ll be night soon!” With that she grabbed Antun by the arm and began dragging him outward into the arid desert that surrounded the city.
Behind the fleeing pair the door of the mansion opened. A pretty blonde woman in elegant attire stood in it.
“Hello. Sorry for making you wait, I was trying... to... take... care...” She looked around franticly for whoever had rung her bell. “Hello?” But no one answered.
Alarias, Shram, and James stood on the doorstep of the huge marbly looking mansion, Shram rang the doorbell, it was nearly thirty seconds before the bell stopped.
“You guys excited?” Asked Jimmy. “First job, and all.”
Alarias nodded, she was breathing heavily.
Shram’s eyes were wide, he gave a side glance to his companions. “What do you think they’ll ask us to do?”
“Nothing too hard I suspect. And we can always say ‘no’ if we think it’ll kill us.”
The door opened. A silver haired man in a tailored suit stood on the opposite side. “Welcome.” He said.
“Thanks.” Said Jimmy, and he tried to move inside, but his feet wouldn’t take him, all three of them stood while the man stared at them strangely.
“You may come in.” Said the man.
Shram was the first to move. Alarias tugged Jimmy’s sleeve and they walked after him. The inside of the mansion was as elegant as the outside, it was sparse with paintings, ancient vases, and polished marble. The trio was led to a smaller room, with green carpet, an elegant and inviting fireplace, and a number of small two person couches and one person chairs. Jimmy and Alarias chose a musty couch that had lost it’s springiness long before, while Shram took to a very old wooden chair that sat closer to the fireplace. A small table was laid out in front of them with a silver tea set polished and steaming, the man who had led them there poured them each some and then bowed before leaving. The door closed. They each exhaled out the breath that they had been holding in an instant.
They reached for their cups. Ala was the first to drink, followed by Shram, while James was left sniffing the content of his.
“Drink it.” Hinted Ala.
“But I don’t drink tea...”
“Well then put it back down.”
“I feel bad though, he poured it for me and all.”
Ala rolled her eyes.
Another moment passed.
The door opened to reveal three people. In the lead was a very elaborately dressed blonde lady, mostly in black. Just behind her stood two men, the first stood out with long blue hair, and a aviators jacket open in the front with no shirt underneath. The third character seemed to melt into the shadow in a long black coat and matching pants, his hair was dark and long but it had a sheen like precious metal.
“Good evening.” Said the woman as she strode confidently forth and poured herself a cup of tea, she made a deal out of sitting, taking her time folding her legs and making sure her dress was pulled down just far enough to not reveal anything, but stayed hiked far enough that it didn’t hinder her.
The blue haired man sat in a chair with a tall back, and the other man moved to the fireplace, where he absorbed the heat from just beyond the grate.
The woman began speaking again, “I am Lady Macagi, I believe you met my servant Mr. Pancake. Please don’t make fun of his name he’s very touchy about it.”
The trio was silent for a minute before Shram stood and spoke up. “We’re the mercenaries known as GiRRaffE. My name is Shram, and that’s Alarias, and Jimmy.”
Macagi gave a friendly smile and nod to each as their names were recited. “You three are just what I’m looking for then.” She gave a pause while her words sunk in. “I have a job that I wish for you five to do for me. It’s a simple request, but it is not easily done.”
“And who prey-tell are we working with?” Asked Jimmy squinting at the man at in front of the fire to get a better look at his face.
“Oh! Excuse me, this is Bishop.” She motioned toward the blue haired man, who gave a nod.
“Like the X-Man, not the chess piece.” he added before Macagi moved on.
“And... uhm, I didn’t get your name sir.” She was turned on her torso to face the man behind her.
The man turned, and in a wavy voice said “I’ll just go by Shadow for now.”
There was a pause as tension decided to enter the room. But Lady Macagi broke it like a twig.
“To business then.” She said, and nobody protested. “There is a legend that tells of a precious stone, ‘The Eye of the Earth’ nearby. I happen to believe this legend, and I happen to have need of this stone. The five of you will retrieve it for me.”
“Where is it?” Shram ventured.
“Bishop here knows where the shrine where it’s located is, and Shadow knows how to open the lock. Neither of them will tell me however, they both insisted on traveling with you three.”
“Is there any thing dangerous about this?” Asked James.
“Well yes, there is the potential for danger, the legend of the stone says there is some sort of guardian, of course anyone who dates back as far as this legend is more then likely dead now, but I cannot send you out without that warning.”
The trio looked back and forth at each other, Shram made a wide-eyed face and shrugged at Jimmy, Ala gave a worried smile and tried to find something more interesting to look at.
Jimmy stood. “We’ll go.” The other two jumped to their feet.
“You sure Jimbo?” Said a stunned Alarias.
“I’m pretty nervous about it man...” Spouted Shram.
“We can handle it, and we’ll have help from these two, and the pay is... phenomenal.”
Lady Macagi stood and moved soundlessly across the room to shake hands with Jimmy, “It’s settled.”
James nodded. “We leave soon.”
Phear stood at the door of the huge marbly house. Her eyes were glowing; to her it seemed like daylight, but she knew that it was well after midnight.
“Now I just need to find a way in...” She stared at the impossibly large door, and then focused on the windows about fifteen feet up, on the second floor.
It was a while before she found it, but she came to a ivy climb going up one side of the house in what she suspected was the garden, although it seemed like more of a jungle. She dug her hands in the leaves, found the wooden grate beneath, and began to climb.
Up, up, up she went until the sill of the window was just under her fingertips.
“Ahh, a robber. I wondered what that odd noise was.” Said a man’s voice from the now open window that she was climbing into.
Her whole body tensed, she was staring into the calm and collected face of the house servant, Mr. Pancake. She knew about him, because she had done her homework on this place.
“What are you waiting for?” He asked. “Come in! Come in!” He helped her in by grabbing an arm. She stumbled a little but was soon standing next to him on a nicely carpeted floor in a bedroom.
“Why aren't you stopping me?” She sounded baffled.
“We will fight in due time. Right now I must tend to the garden, you came in the middle of my nightly watering you see.” He pointed to a watering can left on a table near the entrance of the room. “So have at it. We’ll be seeing each other soon.”
Phear was still stunned, she stood motionless while the man left, picking up his can on the way out. She was thinking the entire time, part of her was screaming to leave right now, while the other was confident that she could take him if the time came. An onlooker to this inner argument would find it strange to see her appearance shift back and forth between those of a number of different people. She had climbed up the ivy a young woman with shoulder length red hair, pointy ears, thick rimed glasses, and respectable attire, and was now switching into all manner of strange looking person, with an equally wide array of unruly clothing.
Her eyes flashed a horrible emerald green and she let out a roar or anguish. She regained herself and charged through the doorway. Frantically she made her way passed doors and wall hangings searching for something remotely worth taking.
“Try this one.” Said a smiling Macagi, she was sitting at the end of the hall in an elaborate wicker chair, assumedly doing nothing. As she spoke she gestured towards an already opened door.
“What’s wrong with you people!?” Demanded Phear.
“You wanted a challenge, thats why you came here.”
“But your just handing it to me! This isn’t a challenge at all.”
The Lady smiled. “Quite the contrary. I wouldn’t dream of handing over my property to a petty thief, let alone a master one.”
Phear was enraged. She burst through the open doorway and was face to face with Mr. Pancake.
“I believe we had an appointment.” He removed his jacket and hung it on a coat rack next to the door. He moved around her and closed the door with a small push. There was little light in the room now, only the moon was shining through the window. “You look different.” He noticed. She was flickering through different colors of the same shirt, and every so often her nose would loose it’s bridge. She didn’t respond. “No matter.” He walked further into the room, where a pedestal stood, he removed something from his pocket and placed it down. “This, and free passage out of the mansion, will be your prize.”
It was a circlet, wrought of gold, and laden with jewels. It was like nothing that Phear could get in a jewelry store. Her eyes reflected it’s beauty for a second before Mr. Pancake stepped in the way.
“Begin.” He said. He was standing up straight, with both hands behind his back.
Phear moved a step closer. He didn’t budge. Another step came to nothing as well. She hunkered into a street brawling stance she had learned in some bar somewhere, and briskly moved her way toward her opponent.
She threw a punch, which for a second she thought had connected with his face, but she found out she was sorely mistaken when he appeared behind her with an evil grin on his face. It only took a single elbow to the back, and he was listening to her make a thud noise on the tiled floor. She lie there for a few seconds trying to rethink what actually happened, before she got up and regained her footing.
“Your not very good at this.” He cooed a her from a ways away. “I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to give up. A thief isn’t a coward, he is just accustomed to running.” He smiled.
“Master thief.” She corrected as she produced the circlet from a pocket.
His smile turned to a grin. “Well a warrior is accustomed to battle, stealing the prize is not winning it.”
She made a break for the window, it was open and she could feel the rush of cold night air, the feeling of the moonlight was just beyond her grasp. She leapt. He grabbed her legs and pulled her away. The crown bounced from her hands and made the sound that a star makes when it falls from the sky.
“Madam, please you’ve been dragging me like this for hours...” Antun piped up for what seemed like the millionth time.
“Don’t get smart! We’re almost there.” The pair walked briskly into a mall village as the sun set over the distant hills.
“Ma’am, I’m quite distraught... my cat hasn’t been fed today, and I haven’t gotten any water since we started this trek...”
“Oh my god! Could you complain any more!?” She turned to face him. “We’re here! There’s a well over there, drink your fill.” She flipped a hand in the direction of the town well.
Antun stood for a second, watching the woman as she stood and waited for him impatiently. “I didn’t even know there was a town out here.” He said as he wandered over to the well.
“Most don’t.” She looked at him and took a few steps toward him. “It’s not a very prominent place, as you can see.” She gestured to the single dirt road that made up the main street of the place.
“Where are all the people?” He asked.
“Probably inside...” She trailed off, uninterested in what he was talking about. “They don’t come out anymore.”
“What’s stopping them?” Antun had lugged a bucket up and was attempting to drink from it without drowning himself.
“There’s a... monster.”
Antun’s eyes bulged. “What?”
She nodded her head. “A monster comes around here every morning and afternoon, sometimes it takes our livestock, and sometimes...”
There was a pause. They both gulped, but for very different reasons. “Sometimes?” He begged.
“Sometimes it takes people...” She wasn’t looking at him, but she had his undivided attention.
A moment passed, where Antun seemed to be making a decision. “Well... as a constable it’s my job to protect you and this village.” He stood. “Although I admit I don’t think it’s in our precinct...” He thought for a minute. “So what is this monster exactly?”
“You’ll know it when you see it. It stands out, it’ll be the one trying to kill you.”
“Lovely sentiment. Now, upon the name of my family, and the edge of my saber, I Antun swear to protect you and this village.” He swooped off his cape in what he thought was a heroic stance, and handed it to her. “Now get inside, I will wait here for the beast.”
“Look at you.” She said, amazed.
“Uhh, excuse me?”
“Well you went from bumbling wreck to hero in about thirty seconds. It’s a big change...”
He turned a little red. “Inside.” He commanded as he whipped out his sword and rested the deadly tip in the dirt.
She dutifully obeyed and made her way into a house nearby. He stood there in the slowly heating air for a long while before going to the well again to drink, and then going to the house to grab a “chair, or a stool, or anything really.” And he sat, sweat dripping down his forehead and off the tips of his brown hair.
A figure approached. Antun stood. “Hello?” He called out to it. It continued to approach, at a sure pace. It was silhouetted by the sun. but he made out a man’s bulky figure, with some interesting light colored clothing covering it’s torso, and darker colored clothes on it’s legs. Soon Antun saw it very well. It was a... man... like... thing... with huge grinning sharp teeth, a light colored pink shirt, strange eyes and ears, dark pants, and a daisy in his deep black mop of hair.
“Sir, I have to stop you, please get indoors, there may be something dangerous about...”
“No sex!” Said the strange person, his mouth never lost it’s impossibly large grin, and his lips never moved.
“Excuse me... but what?”
“It’s a confirmation. Yes, no. Sex, no sex.” Said the man.
“Uhm... well the fact that you do not wish to move inside does not make the situation any less dangerous... there is a creature stalking this village.”
“Oh really?” The stranger’s head lolled to a side.
“Yeah, really!” Antun decided to be slightly more assertive.
The stranger’s head lolled to the other side. “What are you doing about it?”
“I’m standing guard...”
“Then this is about to get ugly.” His grin got bigger.
Antun’s eyes widened.
“GO!” Yelled the stranger, and he jumped forward trying to pummel his opponent.
Antun pulled up his saber and held it to block the diving man, who grabbed the sword with both hands and continued to push the constable to the ground. Antun let out a grunt and looked down at the man’s hands, neither were bleeding against the blade. “What!?” He yelled. But his enemy only grinned, and jumped back.
Antun pulled himself off the ground and readied himself for another dive.
“GO!” Shouted the stranger and he started running right at Antun, but just before he hit he swerved and started messily running down the street of the town. Antun’s senses were quick enough that he swiftly turned and began striding in pace with his enemy.
Swings and blows were exchanged, and dodged and took, all while running. The end of the small village was nearing, a pair of kittens sat playing with each other near the end of town, although now both of them stood frozen like deer in headlights. Antun noticed his enemy gaining speed and staring down the cats, he sped up too.
The distance was closed, Antun slid and reached for the kittens with open arms trying to scoop them up to protect them from whatever evil deed his opponent had planned for them. His hands locked around one, but a cloud of dust prevented him from finding the other.
He placed the cat on his head, where it balanced, traumatized and panting. He felt around franticly for the other dropping his sword and feeling his way blindly along the ground. He hit something hard. “Ow!” He rubbed a bruised hand. The dust cleared.
Antun was now staring down his opponent, who was down in his hands and knees mere inches away. Attached to one of his hands, by huge sharp jaws that weren’t there before, was the other cat.
“Drop that animal, I won’t let you harm it.”
“No sex!” Said the stranger. “Gimme that!” He reached up to the frantic kitten on Antun’s head, which was quickly pulled away.
“What do you want it for?”
“Save it from you!” he said as if it were obvious.
“Save it from... me?”
“Yeah. Cats are go!”
“Ehh... I don’t quite get it.” Antun stood, and brushed himself off.
“Cat’s are go! If I let them come with you, they won’t be go!” The stranger stood, and used the cat to brush himself off, the cat didn’t seem to mind.
“You’re... not quite all there, are you?”
“Sex. I’m Joey Go!”
“Well... I suppose it’s a pleasure to meet a fellow cat lover...”
“What the hell is going on!?” Said a female voice.
Antun turned to see the woman. “Ma’am, this wouldn’t happen to be your monster, would it?” He pointed at Joey, who grinned.
“What? No! I’ve never seen him before in my life! You mean to tell me you two were over here playing with cats the whole time!?”
Antun opened his mouth, it stayed open. Joey’s eyes turned down. Both men were staring at something monstrous.
“What the hell are you two doing now!? Star gazing!?” She turned. “Oh my god.”
“How do you open it Shadow?” Shram said in a strained voice. He was squeezed in against the rough surface of the narrow passage in the cliff face. Alarias, James, and he had volunteered to go in first, and now Shadow and Bishop were trying to get past without letting them out first.
James sucked in his stomach and let Shadow pass and let it out all at once after Bishop had made it through. Ala made a strained face as the pair made their way past her. Shram simply rolled his eyes. GiRRaffE edged its way back out of the passage to make room for Shadow and Bishop who were hurriedly whispering and examining a smooth end to the cave they were all stuck in.
“This isn’t much of a shrine...” Said James stalely.
“I was expecting more too.” Agreed Ala.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Shram was watching them nervously.
“How to open it I suspect.” Said James. He slumped down to sitting on the hard ground. “Getting here sure was a hassle.”
Ala joined him in sitting. “It wasn’t a walk in the park.”
Shram was the last down. “I wish they’d hurry up. I don’t like this.”
“Yeah, waiting sucks.” Said Jimmy.
“No I mean... don’t you feel it?” Prompted Shram.
“Feel what?” Ala raised an eyebrow.
“The... well I don’t know...” He seemed troubled.
“It is kind of tense.” Said Jimmy, he had his eyes closed sagely.
“Yeah!” Said Shram. “Exactly!”
“Hmm...” Wavered Ala.
A bright light erupted from the cave in Shadow and Bishop’s direction. The trio looked to see them standing triumphantly in front of a huge open room.
Bishop motioned for them to get up and join them.
They stood mesmerized by the grandeur of the room they had just entered. It’s ceiling looked like a sky full of stars and went up forever. It’s floor was a solid and made flat granite except for in the center where a single stone statue stood, palms stretched out and cradling a fist sized white crystal globe which it seemed to be showing to the sky above. The room should have been dark, but it was lit with no source of light in sight.
“This is...” Started Ala.
“Amazing.” Finished James.
Shadow had walked off to a side and was examining something on a wall, it was notable that the walls did not in fact seem to exist at all, and seemed to create the illusion that the room stretched on forever.
Bishop sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
Shram was with his friends admiring the huge room, until he suddenly snapped. and looked at them. “Guys!” He shouted and started to turn, but he was pushed down to the floor by a swooping arm.
“Move it!” Said the perpetrator. The newcomer was a man in purple, he shoved Jimmy and Ala aside and stepped over Shram. A woman followed a few feet behind, and gracefully strode after him, she was dressed in green.
“What the hell?” Shram stood, and drew a thick bladed sword from one of a pair of sheathes on his back.
The man in purple turned, and swished a purple tinted rapier through the air. “Don’t make a mistake.” He said and raised the weapon.
Shram held his sword, his breathing quickened; he could handle this guy, he knew he could. He found his stance by moving a foot back a pace and charged.
The metallic clink of the blades echoed through the huge room, True Arrogance gritted his teeth at Shram as he pushed his rapier up to hold the gaping downward swing. The grit was twisted into a strained smile.
The rest of the room was silent, Alarias and Jimmy had landed in a heap a few feet away, and both were trying to get up without hurting the other. Wakusei and Bishop had summoned their weapons also; for her a monstrous green handled axe appeared out of thin air, for him a set of chains was produced from a sleeve. Both characters were eyeing their ally as they eyed each other.
Waku glanced at Bishop who’s eyes suddenly got much wider as his weapon dropped to his side. She turned her head do find a person flying at her with a pitchfork lanced out in front of him. She raised the weapon and caught the fork on the end of her blade.
“You shall taste the fury of the Shadow Savant!” Yelled the newcomer as he pulled back his weapon. He looked like a super hero in every way, an unconventional one, but he did have a mask, and a tight fitting costume.
“Is this a joke?” She asked dully. She was still holding her weapon where she had put it.
He batted it away with his own “May I ask what about it seems like a joke to you?” He readied the pitchfork for another thrusting.
“Well... just about everything.” She gave him a cynical look.
He made a small annoyed sound and attacked again, but the weapon was knocked away with a skillful sweep of the axe. A chain grazed her back as Bishop entered the battle.
Shram had gained a foot on TA; they were still standing, locked in a single cut and block.
“Why do you need the eye?” Said an in-control Shram.
“Eye? What are you... the stone?”
“Sure, that.”
“Fate.” TA put all his force behind one tremendous push and was finally out of the lock. Shram was pushed back mere feet before he recovered and swung again only to be parried.
“Holy crap.” Said Ala. She and Jimmy had only just stood up.
“You took the words out of my mouth...” He agreed. They were both daunted by the eruption of the fighting which had taken off at full force. Bishop and “the Shadow Savant” had Waku pinned, with Bishop's chain wrapped around the handle of her axe, and the trident forked around the blade. Shram and TA were furiously fighting, both were loosing and gaining an advantage every so often doubling back and forth over the same ten or fifteen feet of ground with giant swings and skillful parries.
“What do we do?” Asked Ala.
“Your guess is as good as mine... I forgot to bring my ‘Bat Belt.’”
“We could go get that eye thing.”
“You mean we could try...”
“Well we have to do something!” She turned to him. “And neither of us can reach it by ourselves!”
“So what you’re going to climb on my shoulders?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Yes!” She grabbed him and started dashing for the statue. It was the size of a regular human, but on the pedestal and with its arms stretched it was more then ten feet high.
He got down on all fours and waited for her foot to his his back. The pad of her boot rolled carefully onto its makeshift platform. Wobbly was the way up as the two of them maintained balance while he stood to boost her up higher, eventually she stepped a foot on each shoulder. She could easily reach it now, with one hand on the statues shoulder and the other scooping up the stone, she made a noise for him to let her down. He awkwardly shifted and experimented with ways he might be able to let her drop without harm.
“We should have planned how to do this...” He said.
“Well it’s too late now!” She rolled her eyes, and bent down climbing down him like a ladder. She held up the stone, they both took a moment to stare at i;, it was egg shaped, unmarked and smooth, it was made of some kind of thick crystal, glassy on the outside, while the core seemed like a completely different crystal, jagged and grayish white.
There was a nearby clink, Shram and TA were now locked, but their attention was turned to James and Ala.
"Waku! Can you get the stone?!" Roared TA.
Waku made a stressed noise and let go of the axe handle, it stayed in place while, hanging in mid air, as if she were still holding firmly in her hand.
Shram swung at TA and yelled "Don't let her have it!" TA blocked it absent mindlessly and watched as Wakusei dodged a under kick from the Shadow Savant who was still holding back the axe with Bishop.
"Just give it here." Said Waku calmly, she held up an open palm.
Alarias and Jimmy stared, wide-eyed. Ala moved a shaking set of hands behind her to pass the stone to James, who took it and gulped.
All eyes were on him, weapons still locked and unwavering. Only Waku seemed to be calm. A moment passed. "Err... we got it first."
Waku pushed her palm further in his direction, "Why does that matter to me? We need it."
"But... well... you can't have it." His voice shook.
"Please..." She moved a step forward, "I can hurt you, but you can make this easy and just give it to me."
Alarias and Waku were standing shoulder to shoulder facing Jimmy, Ala was shaking and had a look of tension on her face, she was breathing hard. He looked at her, tensed his eyes in question, which she returned followed up with a head shake. "Yes, or no?" He whispered.
She closed her eyes, shook a little more then normal, stopped, and then opened her mouth "No." She whispered back.
"No!" He shouted at Waku.
Waku rolled her eyes, took a few steps forward and shook her head, she was inches from him. She simply reached up with one hand to grab the stone, and sung the other to slap him across the face. Both hands connected with their goal.
Bishop and shadow fell over as the axe disappeared. Shram stumbled as his opponent was no longer there holding him back. Waku and TA were now standing by the open doorway. Waku was holding up the Eye, and they were both examining it.
"Hmm, it would seem we have won." Said TA turing away from the eye. And they walked out.
Silence rolled over the room, it echoed through it and decided to leave from boredom. "Why the hell didn't you run with it Jimmy!?" Said Shram. He then sheathed his sword, and kicked at an invisible pebble on the ground.
Ala and Jimmy were still stunned. Shadow walked out of the... well... shadows and stood a few feet from Bishop who was cleaning up his chain whip.
Ala pulled out of it. She took a step toward Jimmy, who was staring at the statue behind her. "'You... okay?"
He blinked a few times and focused on her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Did she slap me really hard?" He asked.
"Well, no... come to think of it. Why?"
"Well, because I thought I was seeing things... because the statue isn't a statue anymore."
Everyone turned to look at the pedestal. On it lay a girl, pale skin, blue flowing dress, long dark hair. She looked everything like the statue, except for much more "flesh-and-blood."
Shram walked over to her, "Who is she...?"
In the desolate desert Twi lounged, she had been walking all day, and her clothing was not light in any respect. Her hair was long and dark and her clothes looked as if they had been scavenged and mismatched all over her body. A black cape and top hat kept the sun off her head and back, but baked her indefinitely; she wanted to take them off, but she was afraid that Sinai would heckle her. And so the sun beat down on her, and she closed her eyes.
Swish, swish, swish came a familiar sound of her ghostly guardian manifesting herself. Only Twi could see Sinai, and over the years she had learned to remember that talking to someone who wasn't there to most people was just bad coordination on her part.
"What are you doing?" Said the faintly colored woman who was now looming over her.
"Resting... some of us need it."
"Well don't give me lip about it! Did you forget what we're doing?"
Twi opened her eyes. "No. I can't forget, you keep insisting I repeat it."
"Well..."
Twi cut her off. "We're traveling to the city, to find the prophet of intellect, so that I can join him. It's not that hard to remember."
"Good."
"You know, that's not really your job, I can always just get a sticky note or something..."
"Well jeeze! If that's not my job, then what the hell is!? I've been following you around for four years now, you think that once, just once, they would give me some kind of message pertaining to what I'm supposed to be doing!"
"Well I can't help you." She closed her eyes again.
"Oh my god." Sinai looked annoyed. "You're a prophet, you've been a prophet, and I still can't get a single answer from you." Her eyes narrowed, and she threw her transparent blonde hair over her shoulder with a sweep of her pale hand.
"I just don't know what to tell you. I've said that before." Twi stood, brushed dust off, and continued her walk. "Something wants you and me stuck together. Maybe I can't see your future because this is your future."
Sinai was "walking" just behind. She could never get used to floating, not even with four years experience behind her. "That's bull... you can see your own future just fine! Am I not a part of it?"
"Well it's not like I can just get it to tell me what I want, it's totally random." The city was in sight. It was welcome.
"Just what are you supposed to do in the end? What is this all about? You've known for a long time now, and you still haven't told me."
"It's not very pleasant." Twi's eyes shifted. She was quiet after that.
"Well?" Said Sinai impatiently.
Twi kept her mouth shut for another second. "It's not something you talk about."
Sinai's wispy lips were still, she realized that she had forgotten to move her legs, and wan now skating along the ground after her companion. She started moving them again. "The city's getting close." She tried to break the silence.
Twi gave a sigh, and stepped onto the paved street where the first building stood, and making the desert give way to a forest of buildings.
"Ho-snap." Offered Sinai, feeling a little more cheerful. she smiled up at the huge skyscrapers in the center of the city. "Where do we start?"
"Well..." Twi tried to reply, but failed. "I don't know, I'm perplexed."
The beast snarled, it was a huge cat like animal; it's teeth were dripping with drool as it bared them down at the trio. GRM was in shock, she didn't even notice the two men whipping past her; Antun speared his saber in front of him, Joey had a set of claw like fingers streaking forward toward the huge black cat. They hit, GRM came to her senses and noted the men struggling to pierce the cat's strangely thick fur. Wildly the two men swiped and swung.
"Your men are powerful, where did you find them?" Said a female voice from behind.
GRM whipped around to face the newcomer, a silver haired woman, clad in strange and skimpy black clothing. Her voice was like a seductive snake.
"I asked you where you got them." She smirked.
"I... they're not my men..." She mustered. "They're just men."
"No matter. They'll never beat Coco." She focused on the three fighting figures. The cat had thrown Joey off, but Antun used the distraction to swipe at it's eye.
"That... thing is yours?" Asked GRM.
The woman resumed her smirk, and looked at GRM. "Yes of course. I created him. He's a rather ingenious monster if you ask me.
GRM gritted her teeth, she was now, as some might say, pissed off. "I fail to see the genius behind a monster that kills people..."
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Just who the hell are you?" She was getting sick of this woman's smugness.
"I am known as Silverfox, some people insist on Mistress Silverfox, but I am more modest then that. You may call me Lady Silverfox."
GRM was in a rage, she tried to make an aggressive move toward her. Silverfox.
Silverfox swiftly moved her arm, a whip appeared in it. "You can't win." She taunted.
GRM stopped and glared.
((This is where I got completely blocked, I will be finishing this section as soon as I possibly find a way to do so...))
A god to walk her own world; is it a curse?
Twi's eyes were flung open. She had decided to sleep in an ally, she had little choice. Sinai was standing feet away near the entrance, Twi had given her orders to keep a watch. She smiled and felt a little comfort in visualizing the mock salute and the sarcastic wink that was given in return.
She produced a piece of paper, crumpled from having sat in her worn pocket, it was necessary for her to have paper at all times, she took out a pen, and wrote it down: A god to walk her own world; is it a curse?
It was the beginning of a poem, another prophesy. She jotted down some margin notes and then closed her eyes. She saw a woman, tall, with a kind face. Next to her was... something... a man? With a weapon of some sort. The next verse wasn't coming to her. The man waved the bulky weapon, he held it strangely with both hands very far apart, it could have been an axe but the way he was holding it, it seemed more like a... musical instrument. The pen was jotting more notes.
The man waved the weapon more, and the woman began to fall. Her knees gave out, and she slumped over in a unconscious heap. The man, who's face was not visible, seemed to smile. Where is the curse? Is it walking, or sleeping? She wrote down these lines. Wake her. See what happens. The vision stopped, she now saw nothing but the inside of her eyelids.
She looked at the paper. Sinai was looming over her, reading. "Another one?" She asked with amazement. Twi nodded, and sighed.
It was so simple, and she failed. She looked at the corpse of Coco, who's hide was waving slightly in the breeze of the desert. She walked over to him and buried her face in the tangled, thick mess of fur. She inhaled his scent, it was mixed with blood.
"You need help milady?" Said a cynical voice from behind.
Lady Silverfox whipped around bracing herself against the giant corpse. She said nothing, but she breathed heavily.
True Arrogance and Wakusei stood, that was all they needed to do.
"Well?" Demanded TA.
"I..." She was speechless.
He signed and shook his head very slightly. He held up his hand, in it was a sinister looking thing. He stuck the thing in the sand; it was blunt, and deep black, the blackest black, with a single red jewel like an eye in one part.
"It's a guitar..." She said.
"It will help you. Make a new monster. But first..." He held up a hand, the giant cat behind her exploded. A thousand tiny black cats with glowing yellow eyes erupted from where it once lay. Silverfox stumbled as her support was lost.
Ta sighed again. Waku gave a warm smile. They both stood, that was all they needed to do.
Silverfox nodded. Waku and TA stopped standing, and then they were gone.
"What are we supposed to tell her?" James rallied the group. They had marched back to the mansion, and had taken to sitting on the huge marble doorstep.
"We'll just tell her the truth." Piped up Bishop. "A pair of people who had unexplainable control over time-space attacked us, and stole the eye. I'm sure she'll get it."
"She does have to pay us, at least half for risking our lives. And we can offer to follow up on the job, and try to find those two people." Offered Shadow, who was standing against a monstrous white pillar.
"You're crazy, we could have died; and I bet you anything they were holding back. My face is still numb." Said James.
"I don't like the idea either..." Ala trailed off, she was sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, which were tightly eld against her chest.
"And what are we supposed to tell her about this girl?" Asked Shram. He pointed at the girl who was once a statue. He had insisted on taking her back with them, and he had carried her the entire way, even when the others offered to share the burden, it was always a "No, I've got her." and a cheerful smile.
The huge doors opened, Macagi stepped out. Today, she was dressed as a kitty cat. She had a full suit on, only exposing her face, which had very convincing whiskers drawn on. "Mew." She said, and smiled.
The whole group just stared, James took a moment and looked at everyone else's expressions. They seemed clueless, possibly even astounded.
"No Eye?" She asked.
James spoke up, he stood first. "Some people came and..."
"Bring the girl in." She turned around after cutting him off, and walked into the house. A tail bobbed behind her.
The rest snapped out of their strange shock and walked in single file, Shram was last with the girl in his arms.
Tea was poured, and gulped, and sipped, and not drank at all. They all sat in awkward silence, none of them wanted to be the one to tell the story of their defeat after they had all started off with such ambition.
ames rolled his eyes and broke the silence. "I suppose you want to hear the story?"
"Not at all." Said Lady Macagi almost immiedatly. "I know what happened, I expected it, and I know how I can get the eye. Or rather, I know who can get it for me." She let it sink in, and started again. "I'll most likely need you all again, I'll keep in touch. You're pay is by the door. Please leave the girl on the couch, I'll see to it that she is cared for."
And that was it, nothing more needed to be said. Five envelopes sat on a table in the entrance hall. Each contained a check for more money then any of them had ever seen.
They went their separate ways.
Mr. Pancake was holding a crown. It was golden, and jewel encrusted. He walked down a long dark corridor. His polished black shoes made solid clack noises on a cobbled floor. He came to a stop. There was some movement in the dark beyond him.
He threw the crown, it made a bouncy clang noise, and rolled forward, eventually making a noisy stop somewhere in the dark. It was heard to scrape across the ground. Then silence.
"What's this?" Said Phear, she couldn't bee seen, but Mr. Pancake new that she had one hand chained to the wall.
"It's down payment. Go get the Eye, and we'll give you as much more as you want, and freedom on top of that. You of all people should be able to find them."
"Can do. Just let me out."
In the darkness, a set of key's clinked.
The night was dragging on, everyone drug with it. James included.
He wasn't unhappy, it was money, money he'd probably never be able to completely spend, and apparently there was more of it. He had no idea what really was going on, and that's what made him uneasy. Why exactly did Macagi want the Eye? What, if anything, does the Eye do? Was Macagi simply an eccentric billionaire, or did she have some sort of secret plan?
"Good evening." A girl, younger, stood in front of him. She was wearing what a waif might wear, layer upon layer of clothing, and, strangely, a top hat.
He removed his cap, and gave a smile as he came toward her. "It is good isn't it?"
She smiled warmly back at him. "I don't know you, do I?"
He stopped still holding his officers cap against his chest with an absent arm. "Hmm, well, I know allot of people. I think I would recognize you."
"Ohh, okay." She didn't seem phased by this. She continued to smile.
"Well, then." He jostled around in his pocket past the envelope and found a pen. He took both out, taking the paper out of the fold of the envelope, he put it against the street light dropping his hat on the ground for a second while he wrote something down. The pen was replaced in his pocket, and the paper in it's envelope. "Here. I don't need this after all." He handed it to the girl.
"What is it?" she was feigning cluelessness, if only he could see that she had an imaginary friend who had read everything already and shouted excitedly while jumping up and down.
He shrugged at her after picking up his hat. "It's just a little cash, nothing much to speak about." He smiled, and walked on.
Twi watched him, and then opened the envelope.
"Oh my god! You'll never believe how many zeros there are! Let me see it again! Hold it up for me... Yes!" Siani jumped and pranced, Twi just stood.
The night was dragging on, everyone drug on with it. James included.
The city was filled with demons, not actual demons, mostly demons in a figurative sense. You see, the way most people imagine demons aren't how they actually are. There were a few actual demons in the city; actual demons are needed for any true city to function accordingly. In the end a city is jut an amalgamation of different forms of chaos, the demons never questioned weather they were the cause of this, or weather it was the cause of them, but it seemed to work out fairly mutually anyway.
Komodo, Isel, and Role were three of these demons. They, all three had forged a very nice business, starting in the old days of the city, and had come so far since that even they no longer knew what their business did as a business anymore.
Tonight, on this night that did nothing but drag, Role stood in the executive conference room in his Romani suit, black tie, a bush of light brown hair messily thrown on his head, and a short glass of whiskey in one hand. The look was his favorite part of the job. He stood looking down from the tallest building in all of the vast city, tall enough even that it could easily see over the other skyscrapers, one wall was a huge tinted window, behind him sat a sleek glass top table, long, and surrounded by chairs.
The other two walked in, they looked slightly more awkward. Komodo had long, deep red hair, and dressed slightly more casually, mostly dark reds and blacks, she hated suits, they stopped her from stretching her wings. She took a seat near one end of the table and removed her hat and glasses.
Isel, also known as Isel in Chains, had tried to dress for success, but the fact that he had chains wrapped around nearly all of his appendages in various places negated his majesty. He took a seat at the exact opposite end of the table.
Role turned, his briefcase was already open on the table. These two never change, he thought. He glanced over at Komodo, who rolled her eyes.
Role took a few steppes toward the briefcase and sat his drink down, on a coaster of course. "Something's going on." He began.
"No s**t?" Heckled Isel.
"Yes, and I think we need to take some action." Continued Role.
"What exactly do you want us to do?" Asked Komodo. "What are you afraid of?"
"We have to do something. There are people who... have more power then us, wandering around in the streets."
"If we don't provoke them, they'll not bother us." Said Komodo.
"Yeah, the last thing I want is to pick the wrong fight." Said Isel. He moved an arm, there was the clink of chains.
He had planned for this, he had a trump card. He pulled it out. "Macagi's got a prophet. Soon she may have two."
Isel and Komodo's eyes widened in unison.
"How do you know?" Isel was standing now.
"I have one plant in there, but you know it's true. She knows about the legends just like we do."
"We'll have to get the other prophet before she does." Said Komodo.
"We may even have to stoop to getting hers." Said Isel.
"Thats right, we don't know where to find the other one, do we?" Said Komodo.
"We'll have to split up then, it'll be best if we get both of them anyway." Said Role.
"Good thinking. Role can handle trying to take the one that Macagi has, and Komo and I will look for the other one." Said Isel in a satisfied tone.
They were all out of the room within thirty seconds, for once in centuries the three of them had agreed to do something... together.
The night was dragging on, everyone drug on with it. James included.
He was nearly home, mere steps from the door, and the staircase, and the door at the top of that staircase, that led into his room.
Something was different, the ally next to his building, there were people there, a woman, and a girl. One was tall, beautiful, and had shimmering white silver hair, about shoulder length, dressed respectably, and holding the hand of another girl, in her teen age, she didn't look happy, they were mere feet from the entrance of the ally.
"Is something wrong?" He turned to them.
The woman gave a warm smile. "Well, kind of, I need someone to watch my daughter for a while. Only a few minutes, I have to run an errand. I know it's strange to be asking a complete stranger to do this, but really it would be a huge help, and you seem like a pretty upstanding guy."
"I, err, ohh..." He stammered.
"Really?" She said, "Thank you!" Lady Silverfox unceremoniously let go of the girl's hand, and walked off.
The girl took a few steps forward, and looked up at him. She seemed uncomfortable.
"Err, hi?" He managed a smile.
"I'm really sorry about this." Said the girl. And the world went black.
The street was relatively friendly this late morning, seeing as how everyone in town was already at work or wherever they happen to spend their day. Later this afternoon it would get messy, ugly, dangerous even. He spit onto the street and took a set of metal teeth out of his pocket; he fit his lips into the grooves where they went and started to stare suggestively at passerby, ominously clanking them together and sticking this tongue through them when they stared.
He didn’t know what he would be doing today, but he hoped it would be epic.
“It had better be epic.” He thought aloud, but it came out slurred and ugly because of the teeth.
“Hey!” Called a deeper voice then his own, from somewhere across the quiet street. James recognized it as his friend Shram. When he looked around he noticed the tall lanky red head, wearing a set of grey camouflage pants and a tight black shirt. Next to him stood Alarais at half a head shorter then James, and with a shy smile plastered between the dyed green hair that fell down on either side of her pretty face.
James observed her clothes, which changed often; a wide-brimmed black hat and a mask that can only be described as “Zorro” complimented the strange style of long striped stockings and a shirt under a fishnet top. The term “complimented” above is used in the fashion that you compliment your best friend after their horrible hair cut.
“What's up?!” Yelled James from across the street.
“Come over here!” Demanded Shram.
James scrambled across the street. “What?” He blurted.
“Hang out with us!” Said Shram. “Your not doing anything... right?”
“Well,” James looked at Alarias, who’s name will here after be shortened to Ala, and said “No.”
Phear was what you would call a small time villain, a real life Jessie and James, but without all this “blasting off again” business. Her personal favorite crime was the time she stole an entire three corse meal from the most expensive restaurant in town, it consisted of two steps: 1. Eat food. 2. Walk out.
Today Phear was not planning any of her masterful crimes, but was instead simply exploring one of her more recent pieces of loot. It was a metal sphere, gold in sheen but it could have very well been bronze. She lie on her bed, rolling it from hand to hand, something was fishy about it; she had picked it up from a peddler, although she didn’t steal it, she considered it a steal at the price he had set. “Fifteen gold pieces” he said in her mind.
There were smudges all over it, smudges of grease she guessed. She fit a finger on each smudge and twisted, but with no result. she moved each finger to a different smudge, nothing. There had to be something to this hunk of metal. She rattled it, and bounced it, and waved it, and recited magic words she learned at a magic show once, but noting happened.
It sat on her pillow. Unmoving. Silent and still. But it was the kind of silence that was being broken without making a sound. Phear sat staring at it, cross-legged on the end of the bed. “Please?” she said pleadingly. And the ball exploded.
Two people now stood on the bed back to back, one leg each on the ground, while the other rested up against the other’s foot. They looked as if they were both leaning against a wall, but instead of a wall there was only the opposite person.
The woman of the pair wore mostly thin lime green clothes, and a strange hat that had a home made feel to it, the man wore a plumb colored visor over his eyes and had clothes to match.
Phear sat in, what is simply put as, fear. She could feel a knot needing it’s way through her legs and into her stomach and then through her chest and neck. “Wha...?” She was able to squeeze out before she was cut off.
“Three wishes then,” Said the woman in green. “Over done I know, but you need some sort of reward for figuring it out.”
“Wha...?” She repeated.
“We don’t have to give her anything...” Said the purple man. “She said we just have to find a way out and then split back to her place.”
“But we have so much power here True, and I’m not one to just not reward someone for freeing me from a prison.” Replied the green woman.
“Very well. What do you want girl?”
“Wan...?” Said Phear dumbfounded. She shook her head a little and noticed the pair was staring at her amusedly. “I want to know who you are!” She raved.
“Simple enough.” Said the purple man. “On this plane of existence I shall be known as True Arrogance, although you will never know why. Please call me TA for short.”
“And I am Wakusei.” Said the lime green woman. “What else?”
Phear thought about this. “What are you doing here?” She asked.
Wakusei looked concernedly at her partner, who looked bored. “We don’t really know.” She shrugged, “We were told that things would just fall into place, so it would seem that you were supposed to release us.” Her expression was blank.
“So that makes two...” Said TA.
“What?!” Shouted Phear. “Those weren’t wishes!”
TA chuckled, and Wakusei just smiled embarrassedly.
“Yes, you used your first two...” Said Wakusei. “Make the third count.”
“And don’t think of wishing for more!” Added TA
Phear thought for a while, the pair simply stood and waited for her response.
“I want to be a master thief, make me something that will make me the best thief ever.”
“Vague but doable...” Said Wakusei, but she was cut off by TA.
“I know just the thing...” He said with a smile. His hand was stuck out and the tiny gold bits of ball begin to remake themselves on it. Phear looked again and the gold ball where they had been trapped was reformed in TA’s hand. TA turned his hand over and let it drop onto the comforter, it came down turning instantly into a puddle of fluid shadow. “Use this and no one will look at you the same way twice.”
She reached out hesitantly, and then stopped and looked up to see TA’s smiling face, it was filled with mischief. Phear thought better and pulled back.
“I hate to say it, but our time is done.” Wakusei spoke up. The pair jumped off the bed in a fluid movement. “This is the way out, is it not?” She asked when they reached the door.
“Yeah, just out and down the stairs, you should be on the street.” Phear spoke up, still hovering over the pool of blackness.
“Our thanks.” And they moved through the door after TA threw it open.
Phear hovered for another second before reaching down with a nimble finger and poking the surface of the stuff. It felt like air and moved like tar. “How am I supposed to use this?” She said, to no one in particular.
“It’s perfect!” Yelled Shram. People who were out on their lunch breaks were turning to look at the trio standing near the brick wall across from James’ apartment complex.
“It was just an idea...” Said James, sounding like he was trying to erase whatever he had suggested.
“It was a great idea! The three of us have been waiting for something like this forever! Right Ala?”
Alarias gave a nod of recognition, “Yeah, all this mulling around is getting us all down.”
“Well, whatever guys, we can’t just put our lives on the line for a couple of extra bucks...”
“Jimbo!” Yelled Ala. “It’s not like the money is bad!”
“Yeah, if we can complete a big contract here and there, we can strike it rich!” Added Shram.
James sighed, looked at his feet and considered. This certainly has potential to be epic... he thought. “Fine. What are we gonna call ourselves?” He went from reluctance to excitement in two short phrases.
“I dunno.” Said Shram.
“What if it was, like, an acronym? Jimmy, Shram, Alarias, JSA?” Suggested Ala.
“I like the acronym idea... but let’s just pick a word and make it into an one.” James added.
“Like what, then?” Ala put a hand on her hip.
“Like... Capitol G, lower case i capitol R R lowercase a f f capitol E.”
“Huh?” Asked Ala.
“GiRRaffE?” Asked Shram, with undertones of sarcasm.
“ ’Just a suggestion.”
“But what does it mean?” Shram asked.
Ala scratched her head in thought.
“I doesn’t mean anything...”
“But then it isn’t an acronym...”
“It was just a suggestion!”
“’Kind of a random suggestion.”
“Well then you pick something!”
“But I like it!” Alarias spoke up.
Shram and Jimmy stared.
“Let’s just call ourselves GiRRaffE.”
The boys nodded their heads. It was decided.
Phear walked down Main Street with an air of superiority. A smokey black line eerily moved around her body. She stopped in front of a jewelry store, and smiled, and she was no longer herself.
Antun was about to ring the bell when he pulled his hand back. He was standing in front of a monstrous house, with white pillars holding up the outcrop of the roof in a romanesque style. He fiddled in his pocket nervously and brought up his hand again. The bell rang.
“Who are you?” Said a stern female voice from behind.
He turned. He was quite literally shaking in his boots. “Me? Oh, of course.” He was now staring down a very crazy looking woman with strawberry-red hair. A red leather jacket and pants. She looked as if she had never known a moment of not being pissed off. “I’m here to see the lady of the house.” His voice was shaking.
“Whatever for?” Pried the woman.
This must be her... thought Antun. “It’s quite urgent madam.”
“Well out with it!” She demanded.
“Something’s going on!” He pleaded to her. He went down the perfectly polished steps and to the woman, who after close inspection had a pair of fox ears hidden in her thick locks of hair. He removed his short grey cloak to emphasize his seriousness. “There have been a number of jewel heists that cannot be explained madam, and I was sent up here to report...”
“Jewel heists, what kind of crimes are those?” Blurted the woman.
Sweat was beading down Antun’s forehead. He opened his mouth, and closed it again. He finally spoke: “Well it’s the kind where a person breaks into a store or house and steals all of the...”
“That’s not what I mean!” She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “I mean, how can you be worried about some stolen jewels when there are people out there starving to death!? Seems a pretty petty crime to me...”
“It is actually just a petty crime, but...”
“So why worry about it?”
He was taken aback. “Madam, I’m just doing my job. I only had a simple favor to ask of you.”
“And what could you possibly want of me? We don’t have much left!”
“Madam, surly you jest; I have no intention of taking anything from you, in fact just the opposite; I wish to protect what you still have.”
The woman’s eyes brightened up slightly. “Really!? Oh, I knew it! I knew someone here would be able to help! Come on! We have to hurry! It’ll be night soon!” With that she grabbed Antun by the arm and began dragging him outward into the arid desert that surrounded the city.
Behind the fleeing pair the door of the mansion opened. A pretty blonde woman in elegant attire stood in it.
“Hello. Sorry for making you wait, I was trying... to... take... care...” She looked around franticly for whoever had rung her bell. “Hello?” But no one answered.
Alarias, Shram, and James stood on the doorstep of the huge marbly looking mansion, Shram rang the doorbell, it was nearly thirty seconds before the bell stopped.
“You guys excited?” Asked Jimmy. “First job, and all.”
Alarias nodded, she was breathing heavily.
Shram’s eyes were wide, he gave a side glance to his companions. “What do you think they’ll ask us to do?”
“Nothing too hard I suspect. And we can always say ‘no’ if we think it’ll kill us.”
The door opened. A silver haired man in a tailored suit stood on the opposite side. “Welcome.” He said.
“Thanks.” Said Jimmy, and he tried to move inside, but his feet wouldn’t take him, all three of them stood while the man stared at them strangely.
“You may come in.” Said the man.
Shram was the first to move. Alarias tugged Jimmy’s sleeve and they walked after him. The inside of the mansion was as elegant as the outside, it was sparse with paintings, ancient vases, and polished marble. The trio was led to a smaller room, with green carpet, an elegant and inviting fireplace, and a number of small two person couches and one person chairs. Jimmy and Alarias chose a musty couch that had lost it’s springiness long before, while Shram took to a very old wooden chair that sat closer to the fireplace. A small table was laid out in front of them with a silver tea set polished and steaming, the man who had led them there poured them each some and then bowed before leaving. The door closed. They each exhaled out the breath that they had been holding in an instant.
They reached for their cups. Ala was the first to drink, followed by Shram, while James was left sniffing the content of his.
“Drink it.” Hinted Ala.
“But I don’t drink tea...”
“Well then put it back down.”
“I feel bad though, he poured it for me and all.”
Ala rolled her eyes.
Another moment passed.
The door opened to reveal three people. In the lead was a very elaborately dressed blonde lady, mostly in black. Just behind her stood two men, the first stood out with long blue hair, and a aviators jacket open in the front with no shirt underneath. The third character seemed to melt into the shadow in a long black coat and matching pants, his hair was dark and long but it had a sheen like precious metal.
“Good evening.” Said the woman as she strode confidently forth and poured herself a cup of tea, she made a deal out of sitting, taking her time folding her legs and making sure her dress was pulled down just far enough to not reveal anything, but stayed hiked far enough that it didn’t hinder her.
The blue haired man sat in a chair with a tall back, and the other man moved to the fireplace, where he absorbed the heat from just beyond the grate.
The woman began speaking again, “I am Lady Macagi, I believe you met my servant Mr. Pancake. Please don’t make fun of his name he’s very touchy about it.”
The trio was silent for a minute before Shram stood and spoke up. “We’re the mercenaries known as GiRRaffE. My name is Shram, and that’s Alarias, and Jimmy.”
Macagi gave a friendly smile and nod to each as their names were recited. “You three are just what I’m looking for then.” She gave a pause while her words sunk in. “I have a job that I wish for you five to do for me. It’s a simple request, but it is not easily done.”
“And who prey-tell are we working with?” Asked Jimmy squinting at the man at in front of the fire to get a better look at his face.
“Oh! Excuse me, this is Bishop.” She motioned toward the blue haired man, who gave a nod.
“Like the X-Man, not the chess piece.” he added before Macagi moved on.
“And... uhm, I didn’t get your name sir.” She was turned on her torso to face the man behind her.
The man turned, and in a wavy voice said “I’ll just go by Shadow for now.”
There was a pause as tension decided to enter the room. But Lady Macagi broke it like a twig.
“To business then.” She said, and nobody protested. “There is a legend that tells of a precious stone, ‘The Eye of the Earth’ nearby. I happen to believe this legend, and I happen to have need of this stone. The five of you will retrieve it for me.”
“Where is it?” Shram ventured.
“Bishop here knows where the shrine where it’s located is, and Shadow knows how to open the lock. Neither of them will tell me however, they both insisted on traveling with you three.”
“Is there any thing dangerous about this?” Asked James.
“Well yes, there is the potential for danger, the legend of the stone says there is some sort of guardian, of course anyone who dates back as far as this legend is more then likely dead now, but I cannot send you out without that warning.”
The trio looked back and forth at each other, Shram made a wide-eyed face and shrugged at Jimmy, Ala gave a worried smile and tried to find something more interesting to look at.
Jimmy stood. “We’ll go.” The other two jumped to their feet.
“You sure Jimbo?” Said a stunned Alarias.
“I’m pretty nervous about it man...” Spouted Shram.
“We can handle it, and we’ll have help from these two, and the pay is... phenomenal.”
Lady Macagi stood and moved soundlessly across the room to shake hands with Jimmy, “It’s settled.”
James nodded. “We leave soon.”
Phear stood at the door of the huge marbly house. Her eyes were glowing; to her it seemed like daylight, but she knew that it was well after midnight.
“Now I just need to find a way in...” She stared at the impossibly large door, and then focused on the windows about fifteen feet up, on the second floor.
It was a while before she found it, but she came to a ivy climb going up one side of the house in what she suspected was the garden, although it seemed like more of a jungle. She dug her hands in the leaves, found the wooden grate beneath, and began to climb.
Up, up, up she went until the sill of the window was just under her fingertips.
“Ahh, a robber. I wondered what that odd noise was.” Said a man’s voice from the now open window that she was climbing into.
Her whole body tensed, she was staring into the calm and collected face of the house servant, Mr. Pancake. She knew about him, because she had done her homework on this place.
“What are you waiting for?” He asked. “Come in! Come in!” He helped her in by grabbing an arm. She stumbled a little but was soon standing next to him on a nicely carpeted floor in a bedroom.
“Why aren't you stopping me?” She sounded baffled.
“We will fight in due time. Right now I must tend to the garden, you came in the middle of my nightly watering you see.” He pointed to a watering can left on a table near the entrance of the room. “So have at it. We’ll be seeing each other soon.”
Phear was still stunned, she stood motionless while the man left, picking up his can on the way out. She was thinking the entire time, part of her was screaming to leave right now, while the other was confident that she could take him if the time came. An onlooker to this inner argument would find it strange to see her appearance shift back and forth between those of a number of different people. She had climbed up the ivy a young woman with shoulder length red hair, pointy ears, thick rimed glasses, and respectable attire, and was now switching into all manner of strange looking person, with an equally wide array of unruly clothing.
Her eyes flashed a horrible emerald green and she let out a roar or anguish. She regained herself and charged through the doorway. Frantically she made her way passed doors and wall hangings searching for something remotely worth taking.
“Try this one.” Said a smiling Macagi, she was sitting at the end of the hall in an elaborate wicker chair, assumedly doing nothing. As she spoke she gestured towards an already opened door.
“What’s wrong with you people!?” Demanded Phear.
“You wanted a challenge, thats why you came here.”
“But your just handing it to me! This isn’t a challenge at all.”
The Lady smiled. “Quite the contrary. I wouldn’t dream of handing over my property to a petty thief, let alone a master one.”
Phear was enraged. She burst through the open doorway and was face to face with Mr. Pancake.
“I believe we had an appointment.” He removed his jacket and hung it on a coat rack next to the door. He moved around her and closed the door with a small push. There was little light in the room now, only the moon was shining through the window. “You look different.” He noticed. She was flickering through different colors of the same shirt, and every so often her nose would loose it’s bridge. She didn’t respond. “No matter.” He walked further into the room, where a pedestal stood, he removed something from his pocket and placed it down. “This, and free passage out of the mansion, will be your prize.”
It was a circlet, wrought of gold, and laden with jewels. It was like nothing that Phear could get in a jewelry store. Her eyes reflected it’s beauty for a second before Mr. Pancake stepped in the way.
“Begin.” He said. He was standing up straight, with both hands behind his back.
Phear moved a step closer. He didn’t budge. Another step came to nothing as well. She hunkered into a street brawling stance she had learned in some bar somewhere, and briskly moved her way toward her opponent.
She threw a punch, which for a second she thought had connected with his face, but she found out she was sorely mistaken when he appeared behind her with an evil grin on his face. It only took a single elbow to the back, and he was listening to her make a thud noise on the tiled floor. She lie there for a few seconds trying to rethink what actually happened, before she got up and regained her footing.
“Your not very good at this.” He cooed a her from a ways away. “I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to give up. A thief isn’t a coward, he is just accustomed to running.” He smiled.
“Master thief.” She corrected as she produced the circlet from a pocket.
His smile turned to a grin. “Well a warrior is accustomed to battle, stealing the prize is not winning it.”
She made a break for the window, it was open and she could feel the rush of cold night air, the feeling of the moonlight was just beyond her grasp. She leapt. He grabbed her legs and pulled her away. The crown bounced from her hands and made the sound that a star makes when it falls from the sky.
“Madam, please you’ve been dragging me like this for hours...” Antun piped up for what seemed like the millionth time.
“Don’t get smart! We’re almost there.” The pair walked briskly into a mall village as the sun set over the distant hills.
“Ma’am, I’m quite distraught... my cat hasn’t been fed today, and I haven’t gotten any water since we started this trek...”
“Oh my god! Could you complain any more!?” She turned to face him. “We’re here! There’s a well over there, drink your fill.” She flipped a hand in the direction of the town well.
Antun stood for a second, watching the woman as she stood and waited for him impatiently. “I didn’t even know there was a town out here.” He said as he wandered over to the well.
“Most don’t.” She looked at him and took a few steps toward him. “It’s not a very prominent place, as you can see.” She gestured to the single dirt road that made up the main street of the place.
“Where are all the people?” He asked.
“Probably inside...” She trailed off, uninterested in what he was talking about. “They don’t come out anymore.”
“What’s stopping them?” Antun had lugged a bucket up and was attempting to drink from it without drowning himself.
“There’s a... monster.”
Antun’s eyes bulged. “What?”
She nodded her head. “A monster comes around here every morning and afternoon, sometimes it takes our livestock, and sometimes...”
There was a pause. They both gulped, but for very different reasons. “Sometimes?” He begged.
“Sometimes it takes people...” She wasn’t looking at him, but she had his undivided attention.
A moment passed, where Antun seemed to be making a decision. “Well... as a constable it’s my job to protect you and this village.” He stood. “Although I admit I don’t think it’s in our precinct...” He thought for a minute. “So what is this monster exactly?”
“You’ll know it when you see it. It stands out, it’ll be the one trying to kill you.”
“Lovely sentiment. Now, upon the name of my family, and the edge of my saber, I Antun swear to protect you and this village.” He swooped off his cape in what he thought was a heroic stance, and handed it to her. “Now get inside, I will wait here for the beast.”
“Look at you.” She said, amazed.
“Uhh, excuse me?”
“Well you went from bumbling wreck to hero in about thirty seconds. It’s a big change...”
He turned a little red. “Inside.” He commanded as he whipped out his sword and rested the deadly tip in the dirt.
She dutifully obeyed and made her way into a house nearby. He stood there in the slowly heating air for a long while before going to the well again to drink, and then going to the house to grab a “chair, or a stool, or anything really.” And he sat, sweat dripping down his forehead and off the tips of his brown hair.
A figure approached. Antun stood. “Hello?” He called out to it. It continued to approach, at a sure pace. It was silhouetted by the sun. but he made out a man’s bulky figure, with some interesting light colored clothing covering it’s torso, and darker colored clothes on it’s legs. Soon Antun saw it very well. It was a... man... like... thing... with huge grinning sharp teeth, a light colored pink shirt, strange eyes and ears, dark pants, and a daisy in his deep black mop of hair.
“Sir, I have to stop you, please get indoors, there may be something dangerous about...”
“No sex!” Said the strange person, his mouth never lost it’s impossibly large grin, and his lips never moved.
“Excuse me... but what?”
“It’s a confirmation. Yes, no. Sex, no sex.” Said the man.
“Uhm... well the fact that you do not wish to move inside does not make the situation any less dangerous... there is a creature stalking this village.”
“Oh really?” The stranger’s head lolled to a side.
“Yeah, really!” Antun decided to be slightly more assertive.
The stranger’s head lolled to the other side. “What are you doing about it?”
“I’m standing guard...”
“Then this is about to get ugly.” His grin got bigger.
Antun’s eyes widened.
“GO!” Yelled the stranger, and he jumped forward trying to pummel his opponent.
Antun pulled up his saber and held it to block the diving man, who grabbed the sword with both hands and continued to push the constable to the ground. Antun let out a grunt and looked down at the man’s hands, neither were bleeding against the blade. “What!?” He yelled. But his enemy only grinned, and jumped back.
Antun pulled himself off the ground and readied himself for another dive.
“GO!” Shouted the stranger and he started running right at Antun, but just before he hit he swerved and started messily running down the street of the town. Antun’s senses were quick enough that he swiftly turned and began striding in pace with his enemy.
Swings and blows were exchanged, and dodged and took, all while running. The end of the small village was nearing, a pair of kittens sat playing with each other near the end of town, although now both of them stood frozen like deer in headlights. Antun noticed his enemy gaining speed and staring down the cats, he sped up too.
The distance was closed, Antun slid and reached for the kittens with open arms trying to scoop them up to protect them from whatever evil deed his opponent had planned for them. His hands locked around one, but a cloud of dust prevented him from finding the other.
He placed the cat on his head, where it balanced, traumatized and panting. He felt around franticly for the other dropping his sword and feeling his way blindly along the ground. He hit something hard. “Ow!” He rubbed a bruised hand. The dust cleared.
Antun was now staring down his opponent, who was down in his hands and knees mere inches away. Attached to one of his hands, by huge sharp jaws that weren’t there before, was the other cat.
“Drop that animal, I won’t let you harm it.”
“No sex!” Said the stranger. “Gimme that!” He reached up to the frantic kitten on Antun’s head, which was quickly pulled away.
“What do you want it for?”
“Save it from you!” he said as if it were obvious.
“Save it from... me?”
“Yeah. Cats are go!”
“Ehh... I don’t quite get it.” Antun stood, and brushed himself off.
“Cat’s are go! If I let them come with you, they won’t be go!” The stranger stood, and used the cat to brush himself off, the cat didn’t seem to mind.
“You’re... not quite all there, are you?”
“Sex. I’m Joey Go!”
“Well... I suppose it’s a pleasure to meet a fellow cat lover...”
“What the hell is going on!?” Said a female voice.
Antun turned to see the woman. “Ma’am, this wouldn’t happen to be your monster, would it?” He pointed at Joey, who grinned.
“What? No! I’ve never seen him before in my life! You mean to tell me you two were over here playing with cats the whole time!?”
Antun opened his mouth, it stayed open. Joey’s eyes turned down. Both men were staring at something monstrous.
“What the hell are you two doing now!? Star gazing!?” She turned. “Oh my god.”
“How do you open it Shadow?” Shram said in a strained voice. He was squeezed in against the rough surface of the narrow passage in the cliff face. Alarias, James, and he had volunteered to go in first, and now Shadow and Bishop were trying to get past without letting them out first.
James sucked in his stomach and let Shadow pass and let it out all at once after Bishop had made it through. Ala made a strained face as the pair made their way past her. Shram simply rolled his eyes. GiRRaffE edged its way back out of the passage to make room for Shadow and Bishop who were hurriedly whispering and examining a smooth end to the cave they were all stuck in.
“This isn’t much of a shrine...” Said James stalely.
“I was expecting more too.” Agreed Ala.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Shram was watching them nervously.
“How to open it I suspect.” Said James. He slumped down to sitting on the hard ground. “Getting here sure was a hassle.”
Ala joined him in sitting. “It wasn’t a walk in the park.”
Shram was the last down. “I wish they’d hurry up. I don’t like this.”
“Yeah, waiting sucks.” Said Jimmy.
“No I mean... don’t you feel it?” Prompted Shram.
“Feel what?” Ala raised an eyebrow.
“The... well I don’t know...” He seemed troubled.
“It is kind of tense.” Said Jimmy, he had his eyes closed sagely.
“Yeah!” Said Shram. “Exactly!”
“Hmm...” Wavered Ala.
A bright light erupted from the cave in Shadow and Bishop’s direction. The trio looked to see them standing triumphantly in front of a huge open room.
Bishop motioned for them to get up and join them.
They stood mesmerized by the grandeur of the room they had just entered. It’s ceiling looked like a sky full of stars and went up forever. It’s floor was a solid and made flat granite except for in the center where a single stone statue stood, palms stretched out and cradling a fist sized white crystal globe which it seemed to be showing to the sky above. The room should have been dark, but it was lit with no source of light in sight.
“This is...” Started Ala.
“Amazing.” Finished James.
Shadow had walked off to a side and was examining something on a wall, it was notable that the walls did not in fact seem to exist at all, and seemed to create the illusion that the room stretched on forever.
Bishop sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
Shram was with his friends admiring the huge room, until he suddenly snapped. and looked at them. “Guys!” He shouted and started to turn, but he was pushed down to the floor by a swooping arm.
“Move it!” Said the perpetrator. The newcomer was a man in purple, he shoved Jimmy and Ala aside and stepped over Shram. A woman followed a few feet behind, and gracefully strode after him, she was dressed in green.
“What the hell?” Shram stood, and drew a thick bladed sword from one of a pair of sheathes on his back.
The man in purple turned, and swished a purple tinted rapier through the air. “Don’t make a mistake.” He said and raised the weapon.
Shram held his sword, his breathing quickened; he could handle this guy, he knew he could. He found his stance by moving a foot back a pace and charged.
The metallic clink of the blades echoed through the huge room, True Arrogance gritted his teeth at Shram as he pushed his rapier up to hold the gaping downward swing. The grit was twisted into a strained smile.
The rest of the room was silent, Alarias and Jimmy had landed in a heap a few feet away, and both were trying to get up without hurting the other. Wakusei and Bishop had summoned their weapons also; for her a monstrous green handled axe appeared out of thin air, for him a set of chains was produced from a sleeve. Both characters were eyeing their ally as they eyed each other.
Waku glanced at Bishop who’s eyes suddenly got much wider as his weapon dropped to his side. She turned her head do find a person flying at her with a pitchfork lanced out in front of him. She raised the weapon and caught the fork on the end of her blade.
“You shall taste the fury of the Shadow Savant!” Yelled the newcomer as he pulled back his weapon. He looked like a super hero in every way, an unconventional one, but he did have a mask, and a tight fitting costume.
“Is this a joke?” She asked dully. She was still holding her weapon where she had put it.
He batted it away with his own “May I ask what about it seems like a joke to you?” He readied the pitchfork for another thrusting.
“Well... just about everything.” She gave him a cynical look.
He made a small annoyed sound and attacked again, but the weapon was knocked away with a skillful sweep of the axe. A chain grazed her back as Bishop entered the battle.
Shram had gained a foot on TA; they were still standing, locked in a single cut and block.
“Why do you need the eye?” Said an in-control Shram.
“Eye? What are you... the stone?”
“Sure, that.”
“Fate.” TA put all his force behind one tremendous push and was finally out of the lock. Shram was pushed back mere feet before he recovered and swung again only to be parried.
“Holy crap.” Said Ala. She and Jimmy had only just stood up.
“You took the words out of my mouth...” He agreed. They were both daunted by the eruption of the fighting which had taken off at full force. Bishop and “the Shadow Savant” had Waku pinned, with Bishop's chain wrapped around the handle of her axe, and the trident forked around the blade. Shram and TA were furiously fighting, both were loosing and gaining an advantage every so often doubling back and forth over the same ten or fifteen feet of ground with giant swings and skillful parries.
“What do we do?” Asked Ala.
“Your guess is as good as mine... I forgot to bring my ‘Bat Belt.’”
“We could go get that eye thing.”
“You mean we could try...”
“Well we have to do something!” She turned to him. “And neither of us can reach it by ourselves!”
“So what you’re going to climb on my shoulders?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Yes!” She grabbed him and started dashing for the statue. It was the size of a regular human, but on the pedestal and with its arms stretched it was more then ten feet high.
He got down on all fours and waited for her foot to his his back. The pad of her boot rolled carefully onto its makeshift platform. Wobbly was the way up as the two of them maintained balance while he stood to boost her up higher, eventually she stepped a foot on each shoulder. She could easily reach it now, with one hand on the statues shoulder and the other scooping up the stone, she made a noise for him to let her down. He awkwardly shifted and experimented with ways he might be able to let her drop without harm.
“We should have planned how to do this...” He said.
“Well it’s too late now!” She rolled her eyes, and bent down climbing down him like a ladder. She held up the stone, they both took a moment to stare at i;, it was egg shaped, unmarked and smooth, it was made of some kind of thick crystal, glassy on the outside, while the core seemed like a completely different crystal, jagged and grayish white.
There was a nearby clink, Shram and TA were now locked, but their attention was turned to James and Ala.
"Waku! Can you get the stone?!" Roared TA.
Waku made a stressed noise and let go of the axe handle, it stayed in place while, hanging in mid air, as if she were still holding firmly in her hand.
Shram swung at TA and yelled "Don't let her have it!" TA blocked it absent mindlessly and watched as Wakusei dodged a under kick from the Shadow Savant who was still holding back the axe with Bishop.
"Just give it here." Said Waku calmly, she held up an open palm.
Alarias and Jimmy stared, wide-eyed. Ala moved a shaking set of hands behind her to pass the stone to James, who took it and gulped.
All eyes were on him, weapons still locked and unwavering. Only Waku seemed to be calm. A moment passed. "Err... we got it first."
Waku pushed her palm further in his direction, "Why does that matter to me? We need it."
"But... well... you can't have it." His voice shook.
"Please..." She moved a step forward, "I can hurt you, but you can make this easy and just give it to me."
Alarias and Waku were standing shoulder to shoulder facing Jimmy, Ala was shaking and had a look of tension on her face, she was breathing hard. He looked at her, tensed his eyes in question, which she returned followed up with a head shake. "Yes, or no?" He whispered.
She closed her eyes, shook a little more then normal, stopped, and then opened her mouth "No." She whispered back.
"No!" He shouted at Waku.
Waku rolled her eyes, took a few steps forward and shook her head, she was inches from him. She simply reached up with one hand to grab the stone, and sung the other to slap him across the face. Both hands connected with their goal.
Bishop and shadow fell over as the axe disappeared. Shram stumbled as his opponent was no longer there holding him back. Waku and TA were now standing by the open doorway. Waku was holding up the Eye, and they were both examining it.
"Hmm, it would seem we have won." Said TA turing away from the eye. And they walked out.
Silence rolled over the room, it echoed through it and decided to leave from boredom. "Why the hell didn't you run with it Jimmy!?" Said Shram. He then sheathed his sword, and kicked at an invisible pebble on the ground.
Ala and Jimmy were still stunned. Shadow walked out of the... well... shadows and stood a few feet from Bishop who was cleaning up his chain whip.
Ala pulled out of it. She took a step toward Jimmy, who was staring at the statue behind her. "'You... okay?"
He blinked a few times and focused on her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Did she slap me really hard?" He asked.
"Well, no... come to think of it. Why?"
"Well, because I thought I was seeing things... because the statue isn't a statue anymore."
Everyone turned to look at the pedestal. On it lay a girl, pale skin, blue flowing dress, long dark hair. She looked everything like the statue, except for much more "flesh-and-blood."
Shram walked over to her, "Who is she...?"
In the desolate desert Twi lounged, she had been walking all day, and her clothing was not light in any respect. Her hair was long and dark and her clothes looked as if they had been scavenged and mismatched all over her body. A black cape and top hat kept the sun off her head and back, but baked her indefinitely; she wanted to take them off, but she was afraid that Sinai would heckle her. And so the sun beat down on her, and she closed her eyes.
Swish, swish, swish came a familiar sound of her ghostly guardian manifesting herself. Only Twi could see Sinai, and over the years she had learned to remember that talking to someone who wasn't there to most people was just bad coordination on her part.
"What are you doing?" Said the faintly colored woman who was now looming over her.
"Resting... some of us need it."
"Well don't give me lip about it! Did you forget what we're doing?"
Twi opened her eyes. "No. I can't forget, you keep insisting I repeat it."
"Well..."
Twi cut her off. "We're traveling to the city, to find the prophet of intellect, so that I can join him. It's not that hard to remember."
"Good."
"You know, that's not really your job, I can always just get a sticky note or something..."
"Well jeeze! If that's not my job, then what the hell is!? I've been following you around for four years now, you think that once, just once, they would give me some kind of message pertaining to what I'm supposed to be doing!"
"Well I can't help you." She closed her eyes again.
"Oh my god." Sinai looked annoyed. "You're a prophet, you've been a prophet, and I still can't get a single answer from you." Her eyes narrowed, and she threw her transparent blonde hair over her shoulder with a sweep of her pale hand.
"I just don't know what to tell you. I've said that before." Twi stood, brushed dust off, and continued her walk. "Something wants you and me stuck together. Maybe I can't see your future because this is your future."
Sinai was "walking" just behind. She could never get used to floating, not even with four years experience behind her. "That's bull... you can see your own future just fine! Am I not a part of it?"
"Well it's not like I can just get it to tell me what I want, it's totally random." The city was in sight. It was welcome.
"Just what are you supposed to do in the end? What is this all about? You've known for a long time now, and you still haven't told me."
"It's not very pleasant." Twi's eyes shifted. She was quiet after that.
"Well?" Said Sinai impatiently.
Twi kept her mouth shut for another second. "It's not something you talk about."
Sinai's wispy lips were still, she realized that she had forgotten to move her legs, and wan now skating along the ground after her companion. She started moving them again. "The city's getting close." She tried to break the silence.
Twi gave a sigh, and stepped onto the paved street where the first building stood, and making the desert give way to a forest of buildings.
"Ho-snap." Offered Sinai, feeling a little more cheerful. she smiled up at the huge skyscrapers in the center of the city. "Where do we start?"
"Well..." Twi tried to reply, but failed. "I don't know, I'm perplexed."
The beast snarled, it was a huge cat like animal; it's teeth were dripping with drool as it bared them down at the trio. GRM was in shock, she didn't even notice the two men whipping past her; Antun speared his saber in front of him, Joey had a set of claw like fingers streaking forward toward the huge black cat. They hit, GRM came to her senses and noted the men struggling to pierce the cat's strangely thick fur. Wildly the two men swiped and swung.
"Your men are powerful, where did you find them?" Said a female voice from behind.
GRM whipped around to face the newcomer, a silver haired woman, clad in strange and skimpy black clothing. Her voice was like a seductive snake.
"I asked you where you got them." She smirked.
"I... they're not my men..." She mustered. "They're just men."
"No matter. They'll never beat Coco." She focused on the three fighting figures. The cat had thrown Joey off, but Antun used the distraction to swipe at it's eye.
"That... thing is yours?" Asked GRM.
The woman resumed her smirk, and looked at GRM. "Yes of course. I created him. He's a rather ingenious monster if you ask me.
GRM gritted her teeth, she was now, as some might say, pissed off. "I fail to see the genius behind a monster that kills people..."
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Just who the hell are you?" She was getting sick of this woman's smugness.
"I am known as Silverfox, some people insist on Mistress Silverfox, but I am more modest then that. You may call me Lady Silverfox."
GRM was in a rage, she tried to make an aggressive move toward her. Silverfox.
Silverfox swiftly moved her arm, a whip appeared in it. "You can't win." She taunted.
GRM stopped and glared.
((This is where I got completely blocked, I will be finishing this section as soon as I possibly find a way to do so...))
A god to walk her own world; is it a curse?
Twi's eyes were flung open. She had decided to sleep in an ally, she had little choice. Sinai was standing feet away near the entrance, Twi had given her orders to keep a watch. She smiled and felt a little comfort in visualizing the mock salute and the sarcastic wink that was given in return.
She produced a piece of paper, crumpled from having sat in her worn pocket, it was necessary for her to have paper at all times, she took out a pen, and wrote it down: A god to walk her own world; is it a curse?
It was the beginning of a poem, another prophesy. She jotted down some margin notes and then closed her eyes. She saw a woman, tall, with a kind face. Next to her was... something... a man? With a weapon of some sort. The next verse wasn't coming to her. The man waved the bulky weapon, he held it strangely with both hands very far apart, it could have been an axe but the way he was holding it, it seemed more like a... musical instrument. The pen was jotting more notes.
The man waved the weapon more, and the woman began to fall. Her knees gave out, and she slumped over in a unconscious heap. The man, who's face was not visible, seemed to smile. Where is the curse? Is it walking, or sleeping? She wrote down these lines. Wake her. See what happens. The vision stopped, she now saw nothing but the inside of her eyelids.
She looked at the paper. Sinai was looming over her, reading. "Another one?" She asked with amazement. Twi nodded, and sighed.
It was so simple, and she failed. She looked at the corpse of Coco, who's hide was waving slightly in the breeze of the desert. She walked over to him and buried her face in the tangled, thick mess of fur. She inhaled his scent, it was mixed with blood.
"You need help milady?" Said a cynical voice from behind.
Lady Silverfox whipped around bracing herself against the giant corpse. She said nothing, but she breathed heavily.
True Arrogance and Wakusei stood, that was all they needed to do.
"Well?" Demanded TA.
"I..." She was speechless.
He signed and shook his head very slightly. He held up his hand, in it was a sinister looking thing. He stuck the thing in the sand; it was blunt, and deep black, the blackest black, with a single red jewel like an eye in one part.
"It's a guitar..." She said.
"It will help you. Make a new monster. But first..." He held up a hand, the giant cat behind her exploded. A thousand tiny black cats with glowing yellow eyes erupted from where it once lay. Silverfox stumbled as her support was lost.
Ta sighed again. Waku gave a warm smile. They both stood, that was all they needed to do.
Silverfox nodded. Waku and TA stopped standing, and then they were gone.
"What are we supposed to tell her?" James rallied the group. They had marched back to the mansion, and had taken to sitting on the huge marble doorstep.
"We'll just tell her the truth." Piped up Bishop. "A pair of people who had unexplainable control over time-space attacked us, and stole the eye. I'm sure she'll get it."
"She does have to pay us, at least half for risking our lives. And we can offer to follow up on the job, and try to find those two people." Offered Shadow, who was standing against a monstrous white pillar.
"You're crazy, we could have died; and I bet you anything they were holding back. My face is still numb." Said James.
"I don't like the idea either..." Ala trailed off, she was sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, which were tightly eld against her chest.
"And what are we supposed to tell her about this girl?" Asked Shram. He pointed at the girl who was once a statue. He had insisted on taking her back with them, and he had carried her the entire way, even when the others offered to share the burden, it was always a "No, I've got her." and a cheerful smile.
The huge doors opened, Macagi stepped out. Today, she was dressed as a kitty cat. She had a full suit on, only exposing her face, which had very convincing whiskers drawn on. "Mew." She said, and smiled.
The whole group just stared, James took a moment and looked at everyone else's expressions. They seemed clueless, possibly even astounded.
"No Eye?" She asked.
James spoke up, he stood first. "Some people came and..."
"Bring the girl in." She turned around after cutting him off, and walked into the house. A tail bobbed behind her.
The rest snapped out of their strange shock and walked in single file, Shram was last with the girl in his arms.
Tea was poured, and gulped, and sipped, and not drank at all. They all sat in awkward silence, none of them wanted to be the one to tell the story of their defeat after they had all started off with such ambition.
ames rolled his eyes and broke the silence. "I suppose you want to hear the story?"
"Not at all." Said Lady Macagi almost immiedatly. "I know what happened, I expected it, and I know how I can get the eye. Or rather, I know who can get it for me." She let it sink in, and started again. "I'll most likely need you all again, I'll keep in touch. You're pay is by the door. Please leave the girl on the couch, I'll see to it that she is cared for."
And that was it, nothing more needed to be said. Five envelopes sat on a table in the entrance hall. Each contained a check for more money then any of them had ever seen.
They went their separate ways.
Mr. Pancake was holding a crown. It was golden, and jewel encrusted. He walked down a long dark corridor. His polished black shoes made solid clack noises on a cobbled floor. He came to a stop. There was some movement in the dark beyond him.
He threw the crown, it made a bouncy clang noise, and rolled forward, eventually making a noisy stop somewhere in the dark. It was heard to scrape across the ground. Then silence.
"What's this?" Said Phear, she couldn't bee seen, but Mr. Pancake new that she had one hand chained to the wall.
"It's down payment. Go get the Eye, and we'll give you as much more as you want, and freedom on top of that. You of all people should be able to find them."
"Can do. Just let me out."
In the darkness, a set of key's clinked.
The night was dragging on, everyone drug with it. James included.
He wasn't unhappy, it was money, money he'd probably never be able to completely spend, and apparently there was more of it. He had no idea what really was going on, and that's what made him uneasy. Why exactly did Macagi want the Eye? What, if anything, does the Eye do? Was Macagi simply an eccentric billionaire, or did she have some sort of secret plan?
"Good evening." A girl, younger, stood in front of him. She was wearing what a waif might wear, layer upon layer of clothing, and, strangely, a top hat.
He removed his cap, and gave a smile as he came toward her. "It is good isn't it?"
She smiled warmly back at him. "I don't know you, do I?"
He stopped still holding his officers cap against his chest with an absent arm. "Hmm, well, I know allot of people. I think I would recognize you."
"Ohh, okay." She didn't seem phased by this. She continued to smile.
"Well, then." He jostled around in his pocket past the envelope and found a pen. He took both out, taking the paper out of the fold of the envelope, he put it against the street light dropping his hat on the ground for a second while he wrote something down. The pen was replaced in his pocket, and the paper in it's envelope. "Here. I don't need this after all." He handed it to the girl.
"What is it?" she was feigning cluelessness, if only he could see that she had an imaginary friend who had read everything already and shouted excitedly while jumping up and down.
He shrugged at her after picking up his hat. "It's just a little cash, nothing much to speak about." He smiled, and walked on.
Twi watched him, and then opened the envelope.
"Oh my god! You'll never believe how many zeros there are! Let me see it again! Hold it up for me... Yes!" Siani jumped and pranced, Twi just stood.
The night was dragging on, everyone drug on with it. James included.
The city was filled with demons, not actual demons, mostly demons in a figurative sense. You see, the way most people imagine demons aren't how they actually are. There were a few actual demons in the city; actual demons are needed for any true city to function accordingly. In the end a city is jut an amalgamation of different forms of chaos, the demons never questioned weather they were the cause of this, or weather it was the cause of them, but it seemed to work out fairly mutually anyway.
Komodo, Isel, and Role were three of these demons. They, all three had forged a very nice business, starting in the old days of the city, and had come so far since that even they no longer knew what their business did as a business anymore.
Tonight, on this night that did nothing but drag, Role stood in the executive conference room in his Romani suit, black tie, a bush of light brown hair messily thrown on his head, and a short glass of whiskey in one hand. The look was his favorite part of the job. He stood looking down from the tallest building in all of the vast city, tall enough even that it could easily see over the other skyscrapers, one wall was a huge tinted window, behind him sat a sleek glass top table, long, and surrounded by chairs.
The other two walked in, they looked slightly more awkward. Komodo had long, deep red hair, and dressed slightly more casually, mostly dark reds and blacks, she hated suits, they stopped her from stretching her wings. She took a seat near one end of the table and removed her hat and glasses.
Isel, also known as Isel in Chains, had tried to dress for success, but the fact that he had chains wrapped around nearly all of his appendages in various places negated his majesty. He took a seat at the exact opposite end of the table.
Role turned, his briefcase was already open on the table. These two never change, he thought. He glanced over at Komodo, who rolled her eyes.
Role took a few steppes toward the briefcase and sat his drink down, on a coaster of course. "Something's going on." He began.
"No s**t?" Heckled Isel.
"Yes, and I think we need to take some action." Continued Role.
"What exactly do you want us to do?" Asked Komodo. "What are you afraid of?"
"We have to do something. There are people who... have more power then us, wandering around in the streets."
"If we don't provoke them, they'll not bother us." Said Komodo.
"Yeah, the last thing I want is to pick the wrong fight." Said Isel. He moved an arm, there was the clink of chains.
He had planned for this, he had a trump card. He pulled it out. "Macagi's got a prophet. Soon she may have two."
Isel and Komodo's eyes widened in unison.
"How do you know?" Isel was standing now.
"I have one plant in there, but you know it's true. She knows about the legends just like we do."
"We'll have to get the other prophet before she does." Said Komodo.
"We may even have to stoop to getting hers." Said Isel.
"Thats right, we don't know where to find the other one, do we?" Said Komodo.
"We'll have to split up then, it'll be best if we get both of them anyway." Said Role.
"Good thinking. Role can handle trying to take the one that Macagi has, and Komo and I will look for the other one." Said Isel in a satisfied tone.
They were all out of the room within thirty seconds, for once in centuries the three of them had agreed to do something... together.
The night was dragging on, everyone drug on with it. James included.
He was nearly home, mere steps from the door, and the staircase, and the door at the top of that staircase, that led into his room.
Something was different, the ally next to his building, there were people there, a woman, and a girl. One was tall, beautiful, and had shimmering white silver hair, about shoulder length, dressed respectably, and holding the hand of another girl, in her teen age, she didn't look happy, they were mere feet from the entrance of the ally.
"Is something wrong?" He turned to them.
The woman gave a warm smile. "Well, kind of, I need someone to watch my daughter for a while. Only a few minutes, I have to run an errand. I know it's strange to be asking a complete stranger to do this, but really it would be a huge help, and you seem like a pretty upstanding guy."
"I, err, ohh..." He stammered.
"Really?" She said, "Thank you!" Lady Silverfox unceremoniously let go of the girl's hand, and walked off.
The girl took a few steps forward, and looked up at him. She seemed uncomfortable.
"Err, hi?" He managed a smile.
"I'm really sorry about this." Said the girl. And the world went black.
