Still writing the second half of it but I figured I'd give people something to read and wet their appetites. So here's part of the chapter.
Chapter 18: Heart of Midnight
“From the way you describe them,” Kuzuan dug into his salad, “These claws are remnant bits of the Ghi mutations we programmed.” He chewed on his mouthful of greens.
“Ghi mutations?” Mikey nervously chewed his sandwich.
“Yes,” Kuzuan swallowed his mouthful as Bronstahd sat down at the table, “Bron, you did more of the Ghi mutation coding why don’t you tell him about it?”
“Gladly,” Bron piped in, “We envisioned Ghi mutations to be the next step after gaining Ghi abilities like Willpower Boost, Health Boost, etc. You would have to find different crystals in order to begin a Ghi mutation, the color of the crystal would determine the ability gained by mutation. It would then become an in-game equipable item like powerups, if you unequipped a mutation while it was still mutating it would revert to the most recent stage it reached. But you could swap which mutation you grew and it would mutate and grow similarly to the Ghi stat boosts.”
“Tell more about these mutations.” Mikey shifted as he listened more intently.
“Each of the mutations would grant a player access to things like flight, endurance, strength, speed, luck, and accuracy. They would also allow access to six secondary elements built in to compliment the primary six.” Bronstahd watched the inquisitive look on Mikey’s face before continuing but he was cut off by Kuzuan.
“We programmed six primary elements to be utilized by players: fire, water, wind, earth, shadow and light. But we also programmed seven secondary elements, though one of these was removed at Qixter’s insistence. He cited balancing issues as the reason. They were: rock, lightning, plant control, ice, metal, souls, and time. We removed most of the coding for time. Each of the Ghi mutations has an associated element to it, so potentially a player could launch two types of elemental attack by customizing their amulet and their mutation. The mutations would manifest as a crystal claw covering the entire arm that would gradually become a clawed gauntlet worn over the right hand. We even tinkered with the idea of being able to use a second mutation on left arm but tossed that idea in favor of Ghi-Infused weaponry you could collect in-game. You could use these weapons in lieu of rings, and their damage would scale to your charge level.”
The scene melted to a hospital room. Mikey sat beside a girl swathed in bandages, “Don’t be sad MJ, I’m going somewhere nice. Please don’t lose yourself. Promise me you’ll always be your helpful self.” The medical equipment she was connected to let out a whine as she flat lined.
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Mikey woke up shivering in a cold sweat as he looked at the dying embers that were his fire. He shivered as he stoked the embers into another flame. He pulled the black robes he’d saved tight around him to block out the howling winds. His dreams had taken back to one of the days he had to spend outside of the interface when it broke, as well as his sister’s final moments. He shook snowflakes loose from his body as he sat up. It was still a long time from dawn as he gazed out at the stars.
“The damn ferry couldn’t get me any closer to Otami Jungle. They had to leave me at the southwestern edge of Thenedrana. I’m still a day’s march from the jungle and once there I still have to find the others.” He pulled out the device he had been given by Swarf the first time he needed to find his crew. The display on it flickered in the cold as the arrow on it spun wildly in circles,
“Well aren’t you useful? I hope you can do more once I’m actually in the jungle looking for them.” He paused a moment as he heard something scratching behind him. He tightened the facemask he wore beneath the cloak as he blew on his rings to warm them up. As he turned to face the scratching he was greeted by a White Outlaw Wolf and two Snomen. He looked down a moment before using his hot foot.
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“The captain says we’re going to set down at the northwestern edge of Gnoman’s Land that borders Otami Jungle. And we’re currently passing over southern Thenedrana,” She paused a moment thinking she’d seen something outside,
“John, do you think we’ll see him again?”
“He’s dedicated to the mission. I’m sure we’ll meet up again along the way to that goal.” John pat Kerri’s shoulder as they looked out the window.
“Better start gathering up, captain says we’re about to land.” Henry came below deck with Penelope and Jeremy.
“He said it was the Gnomish village of Casa de Cucco. The furthest north we can land without getting into the wilds of Otami Jungle.” Penelope began going through where the crew had slept to make sure they didn’t leave anything.
“By the sounds of things General Disarray is going to meet us there. And I thought that I saw Bianca too.” Jeremy seemed excited. There was a bump as the airship landed at the dock in Casa de Cucco.
The captain’s thick voice came over the speaker system, “We have arrived in Casa de Cucco, Gnoman’s Land. Please exit in a timely manner. We at Air Gaia hope you enjoyed your journey, please fly with us again.”
They were departing down the gangplank when they heard someone shouting, “Jeremy! You’re alive! Oh my god!” He got tackled as Bianca jumped him. “I heard the news about sky city and I was so worried it was you. Blessed heavens you’re alive.”
“The Duremites. The people from Durem are they safe?” Jeremy struggled but couldn’t get himself free of Bianca’s grip.
“Yes everyone is safe. The gnomes here are very friendly. I’m surprised they weren’t overrun by The Phantom originally.” Bianca took Jeremy’s hand as she was leading the group around.
“Aye that bloke of a phantom tried taking over our home. Actually, you all helped us out in keeping that dodger out in his last attempt. Before that, your friends the Anari kept us safe.” General Disarray took the crew to an inn before stopping. “Please stay ‘ere the night before continuing to Otami Jungle, it’s a very perilous journey and we would prefer you to be well rested before trying to save the world. There’s everything you could use in this hillside resort. Food, spas, soft beds, it is our pleasure to thank you for all you’ve done.”
“We have errands to run around town before we need to head out. We shall rejoin you humans in the morning. Don’t worry it’s nothing too major.” McCoy pushed the group to the door. Bianca smiled as she led them through the resort amenities of the in.
“That room is the dining room. Bedrooms are upstairs, and the fenced in area around back has some of the best natural springs in all the world, though they are segregated by gender as are the bedrooms. Inn policy.” Bianca led the group to a pair of changing rooms. “Each room goes directly to their side of the springs. There is swimwear available in each of the changing rooms if you require it.” She turned to go.
“Wait you aren’t joining us?” Penelope asked Bianca.
“Someone has to make sure your beds are ready and the food is prepared. Have fun and try to relax you guys need it.”
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“Now, you’re going to listen to me or you’ll join the two Snomen.” Mikey’s foot was on the White Outlaw Wolf’s throat. The creature let out a whimper as Mikey removed his foot. He tied the wolf to a sled he’d found buried in the snow, he signaled it to go as he sat down on the sled.
“Change of plans. I can’t afford to wait. The others are probably already to Caves of Doubt and need these Bloodstone Bracelets.” He thought to himself as the sled glided across the snow drifts about how this would get him to jungle faster but he’d still need to find the others.
“I can’t let anyone else suffer for my selfishness.” His clawed arm glowed red a few moments before the crystals shrank into an armor that covered from his shoulder down to his hand. Despite a more metallic appearance there were still rocky crystalline growths along the armor.
It used to be that I was better and stronger alone. Why do I need a team now? Have I really become so weak in this time? No, even the best players can be overwhelmed at some point. What is it about them, that makes me want to keep working with them? How much about myself should I tell them? How much about what I know should I tell them?
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“Come on son, I want you and Maria to try something I’ve been working on. Have a seat and put this on.”
“Dad, this looks like one of those old Power Ranger helmets you used to get me for Halloween.” Mikey was 13 and playing around with a strange device his father handed him.
“As I remember it you always wanted to be the Red Space Ranger, what was his name? Rocky, Billy, Jason…?”
“Oh dad, you know the Red Space Ranger was Andros. Though I agree with MJ, these do look an awful lot like their helmets. What is it exactly?” Maria’s blonde curls hung at her shoulders as she lifted the helmet to look inside it.
“I’ve been working on a controller that will revolutionize how video games are played. No longer will you need to handle a controller or keyboard. No, now the game will played out in here.” He pointed to Mikey’s head.
“Nice idea but I think it’s a pipe dream dad.”
“Well I’d like you and Maria to try it out with a simple game I made just to test it. Have a seat.” He sat Mikey and Maria down as he hooked some wiring up to them, “These will measure how your body reacts to the interface the controller uses.” He put the helmets on their heads once all the wiring was secured. Mikey felt a jolt as the helmet began drawing power from the computer’s USB port.
“Dad, my head feels tingly.” He felt something in his neck begin to pinch.
“Just the interface core booting up. Loading test sim one.” Mikey’s father entered a series of keystrokes. The tingling and pinching Mikey felt suddenly became painful like his head was on fire. And that was the last thing he remembered before awakening in a hospital a week later.
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In more ways than one that event shaped my life. I only hope to finish this mission before time is up. The wolf drawn sled continued to race across the snowy terrain. The starlight still twinkled overhead as the sky continued dumping snow on the terrain.
“Please be safe team.” He found himself whispering in the night air.
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“Kerri? Kerri dear are you awake?” The soothing voice of her mother came through the door. “Your father had to go in late today and your brother will need to picked up in an hour. I got a roast in the oven so I need you to pick him up please.”
“Okay mom. I’ll head right out. Mmm that roast smells good.” Kerri grabbed a slice of toast on her way out. Kerri made her way to her pride and joy, a car she’d named Leeroy. The drive to her brother Jeff’s school was long and Kerri kept herself entertained by rhythmically tapping the steering wheel to the music.
“Now for a hit from 2012 in our music rewind hour. Because we love you on Star 94.1” Came the DJ’s voice.
As the tune began, Kerri began bobbing her head and tapping the wheel, “I threw a wish in the well, Don't ask me, I'll never tell…” The tune continued for a bit before Kerri joined in the lyrics.
“ Hey, I just met you, And this is crazy, But here's my number, So call me, maybe?” Her off-tune singing continued until she pulled up at the parking lot at Jeff’s school. They were just starting to let the kids who had detention out, and he didn’t seem to be in a rush as he meandered from the school to Leeroy. She waited until he slammed the door shut before speaking to him.
“You know you could work on getting in trouble less. I bet if your grades were better mom and dad would let you learn to drive. Then you could impress your friends by not setting things on fire.”
“At least I have grades. What are you? 21 and still don’t have a job, you haven’t even gone to school.” Jeff sulked as he kicked his muddy shoes against the interior of Leeroy.
Later that evening Kerri stayed up researching different universities.
“What do I even want to do with my life?” She clicked through a quiz to determine her ideal career,
“How do I feel about mathematics? Love it, like it, neutral, don’t like, hate it… hmm I guess I like it.” She continued through the quiz until she at last arrived at her results. She raised an eyebrow as she read the results.
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“Kerri, you okay? You kind of zoned out once you got in the water.” Penelope eyed Kerri as steam from the springs floated past their exposed bodies.
“Just a lot on my mind before getting into this mess. Guess the steam got me thinking about it again.” Kerri leaned back submerging all but her face in the hot water.
“Anything about a hot blooded, brooding, leader type in there?” Penelope dipped her head in the water.
“What? No. How do you even?” Kerri could feel herself turning red even under the water.
“Oh please, it’s obvious to everyone you got a thing for him. You find any excuse to be around him. You go batshit crazy when there was even a remote possibility of him being offed.” Penelope relaxed a bit as she felt the heat in her muscles.
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“Hey Jeremy what do you think the girls are doing on the other side of the divide?” Henry went along the fence dividing the spring’s halves trying to find a hole he could peek through.
“Probably talking about girl stuff. What’s it matter to you? Just sit down and relax.” Jeremy leaned back on a particularly warm stone.
“He probably wants to know if Penelope is talking about him.” John and Jeremy chuckled as Henry had no luck in his endeavor.
Jeremy stood up and put one hand up into his hair and the other across his chest,
“Yeah probably something like,” His voiced cracked a moment as he tried sounding high pitched,
“Oooh Henry so big and strong. I melt every time I see him. Ohhhh Henry take me. Hahahaha.”
Henry shot Jeremy a look to show his agitation from such a remark. John chuckled a moment before doing an impersonation of a woman,
“Knowing Kerri she’s probably like. Oh Mikey, poor Mikey, is he okay. Oh how I long to throw him down. Just the thought of him drives me nuts.” Henry shot John the same look he’d given Jeremy, as Jeremy and John continued laughing.
“Whew that was a good one John. Almost nailed her exactly.” Jeremy managed to gasp between fits of laughter.
“Aha found a hole… but there’s something brown and metallic blocking it. Hmm, I wonder what it is.” Henry gave the metallic object a few pokes.
“Brown, metallic. I’d say it’s that creep from the deep Marshall but out here on the border with the jungle, hah.” Jeremy pulled up his swim trunks that were sliding down a bit.
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“Penelope did you hear something?” Kerri sat upright as she pulled her bikini top back up.
“Probably just the boys trying to get a peek. Could you blame them though, we look fabulous.” Penelope floated on the surface trying to tune Kerri out.
Kerri scanned the tree line before going to shake Penelope,
“Penelope I really think there is something in the bushes there. I swear I heard something.”
“Lighten up Kerri, nothing out here is coming to get us.” Penelope tried closing her eyes again but the sound of branch snapping got her sitting up alert. She held up her hand, brandishing her rings and nodded as Kerri did the same,
“Okay I definitely heard something that time.” Kerri and Penelope stared at the plants waiting for the slightest movements.
Suddenly, something came rolling down the hill and crashed into the spring. Penelope and Kerri were barely able to jump to the sides as
it landed in the water between them. They both readied their rings as it stood up. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SEEING HERE?” Both Kerri and Penelope screamed as they realized the creature in the spring was Marshall. They both quickly jumped out of the spring and backed against the door back to the spa.
“Whe…whe…where’s his diving suit?” Kerri nervously said.
“Forget the suit, where’s his pants.” Penelope squirmed.
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“Oh god in heaven! It was Marshall and he’s attacking the girls. We have to save them!” Henry dragged Jeremy and John through the lockers and over to the door on the girl’s side of the spring. The water was dripping from his trunks as he slammed open the door.
By the time the boys burst in, Marshall’s helmet was cracked open in several locations, “AND STAY OUT!” Both Kerri and Penelope shouted as they punched Marshall with their clawed hands. The force of the blow sent him flying through the sky and over the hill. As they turned around again they both screamed at the sight of the boys.
“Boys on the girls’ side!”
“Get out! Get out! Get out!” Kerri and Penelope shot at the boys a few times before they disappeared back into the spa.
“Good going Henry. The girls probably think we’re all perverts now.” Jeremy said as they emerged on their side of the spring.
“Two words Jeremy.”
“Sod off?”
“No. It’s Marshall. I mean who knows what he could have done to them if we weren’t there?” Henry said.
“I don’t know, two pissed off girls seemed more than a match for him. Sure you didn’t just want to get a peek at Penelope in a bikini?” John reseated himself against the rocky edge of the spring.
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Mikey struggled keeping his balance on the sled as the snowy drifts became rocky. Glassy obsidian stones jutted from the ground here and there as the snow became patchy. He loosened his cloak as the snow began to let up. After a few minutes more the sled hit a jutting stone and broke apart. As he slammed into the ground his roped wolf ran away.
“Well that worked out pretty well. Brilliant Mikey just brilliant, ride a wolf pulled, sled end up god knows where and still have no idea where the rest of the crew is. Just brilliant.”
Mikey ached and groaned as he managed to stand up. He brushed the snow that had built up on his cloak off as he clutched his arm. It felt numb as it hung limp at his side. He gazed in the direction the sled was going, the ground became more rocky as the snow drifts gave way to grassy hills, and beyond those hills he could see trees. He pulled his arm and felt a jolt of pain as he heard something pop. He clenched his fist a few times as the pain disappeared.
He carefully edged his way across the hillside. The rocky terrain made running impossible and with loose rocks he had to readjust his balance every few steps. Mikey remembered stories of Snow Fluffs that were supposed to inhabit the area between Thenedrana and Otami and wanted to avoid them as much as possible. After a few hours of silently traversing the terrain he finally came to a rocky ridge he would need to climb over. It stretched off as far as he could see in either direction, the smell of fruit and tropical flowers wafted over the ridge.
“Could take hours or days to go around. Guess I have to climb over.”
“Wouldn’t that be so enchanting. To just waltz into the jungle.” Mikey steeled himself as he heard the voice. He slowly turned to face The Phantom, the glassy red and blue eyes stared back at him as he took a few cautious breaths.
“So smart and so strong, yet you are so alone. Did the others finally become weary of your abrasive attitude? It doesn’t surprise me you know. Isn’t that what happened with the rest of your family? Or at least your father after the accident.”
Mikey watched and waited as a few stray snowflakes were carried on the breeze.
“You must be a bit mistaken or delusional there. My personality is fine.”
“Is it? I’ve met your father and learned more about your history Michael. Don’t you remember what happened because of the prototype interface accident you had all those years ago?” The Phantom’s blue eye sparked as he began to chuckle.
“It destroyed your limbic system didn’t it? Caused all sorts of imbalances between the serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine chemicals in that brain of yours? Poor you, unable to experience real emotions outside of the extremes. This must be a real treat for you to have the interface pumping out the brain stabilizing chemical you need.” He noticed Mikey clenched his fist,
“I’m sorry did I hit a nerve?”
“So you do have a presence in the real world. I’ve been wondering about that. Unfortunate for you I’m alone and don’t need to protect anyone.” A smile crept across The Phantom’s face as shot a beam of energy at Mikey. With a wave of his hand Mikey deflected the energy bolt with a glowing shield in midair. He fired his own energy back as The Phantom mimicked his reaction. After a few more exchanges their energy bolts finally collided in air and locked with each other.
“Interesting. You are stronger now. Charge level 19?” White hot fluid dripped from where their bolts met.
“You have anger, you have hatred, but you do not use them. Why? You hold yourself back from unleashing your full power when you are more than capable of striking me down.”
“Does me no good to use all my energy in a single burst like you want. I’ll not become like you, a shallow twisted husk clinging to a memory of what I once was.” The energy bolts crackled.
“You already are a twisted husk clinging to a memory of being human once. Embrace the detachment from emotion you have and you could rule both worlds.”
“I have no desire for power to control. I just want power to save the ones I care about.” Mikey could feel The Phantom’s energy beginning to surge.
“And who would those be? A father who cast you out? A mother and sister whom you are responsible for their deaths? A group of shallow halfwits that pretend to be your friends? What do you fight for that gives you such convictions?” Mikey backed against the rock face as he felt The Phantom’s power surging.
“Those halfwits, as you call them, are some of the best friends I have ever had. Of course you wouldn’t understand friendship, would you Kirk?” Mikey looked at a nearby crack in the rock.
“How dare you! That name no longer means anything to me!” Mikey leapt to the side as the connection between their bolts broke and a wave of energy crashed into the rocks. The force of the impact left a shower of dirt and debris and hole the size of a pickup truck in the rock. Mikey ran through while the dust cloud still hid him. He didn’t stop running until he’d found cover among the jungle trees. The Phantom stared at the hole as the dust cleared,
“He is becoming more powerful. I will have to be careful of him indeed. No matter, the plan is back on track. Now he is in the mighty Zomg’s terrain. Pity I’ll have to watch the battle from afar rather than a ringside seat. Oh well.” He teleported from the rock wall back to a secret room in his castle, where he eyed several creatures being kept in glowing blue containment pods.
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“Look at that smoke plume. Wonder what caused it.” Jeremy pointed towards a rising pillar of smoke off across the dense jungle foliage.
“Whatever it was, it’s at least a day or two’s walk from here. I don’t think we have to worry yet. Penelope and I should probably take point and hack our way through this mess ahead of us.” Henry hacked at a few low hanging vines in their path.
“Agreed. Penelope.” Penelope nodded at John as she joined Henry.
“So what did the guidebook say we can expect to see here?” Kerri felt a strange coldness for it being a tropical area.
“This part of the jungle I think is Wood Fluffs, Jaguar Statues, and Masks of Joy and Despair. As we get closer to the Underworld we should find something that was only labeled as Blood Spirits. We could stop and I could recheck the book.” Jeremy said as he stepped over a fallen tree.
“I feel like we’re being watched. I’m not too comfortable with the idea of stopping.” Penelope looked around but the only sounds to be heard was the chatter of birds and the clicking of insects.
“John, do you remember anything about the Blood Spirits?” Kerri tilted her head to listen.
“Only that they were programmed to be vicious and ruthless. They’d cut each other apart if it meant destroying their prey.” John was cut off before he could continue.
“Ears open, mouths shut. We aren’t alone out here and those aren’t bird calls.” Henry signaled the group to stop as they reached a pillar that had become overrun with vines. It was adorned with carvings of different faces, and it looked like something had been broken off of the top of it.
“That doesn’t look like a natural break-“ He was cut off as they heard something nearby roar. It sounded both gravelly and feline.
“Jaguar Statue?”
“Probably. Circle up, it’s close. Remember any tactical data Jeremy?”
“Jaguar statues don’t care about agro, they use a more refined targeting system that picks the weakest looking player nearby and goes after them. They like to circle their target. They attack with their obsidian claws and their jade teeth. Its body is made from hardened stone much like the coatls in the earlier areas of the ruins. They usually work alone, but groups of two or three cooperatively hunting is not unheard of.” It sounded like a lion as it circled them hidden among the trees.
“I hope wherever he is, Mikey’s having better luck.” Kerri whispered.
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“Speak carefully outsider or your blood will be the paint to dedicate this spear to Chaloc.” Mikey held up his hands as several Otami Warriors had their spears pointed at him.
“I come in peace. I’m not here to harm anyone. Please, I am a friend of Rin and Lin, my name is Michael.” Mikey counted to himself the number of faces he saw, there were at least twenty and both male and female warriors in the crowd.
“You’ll speak when we tell you outsider. You trespass on the sacred grounds of the Azatectu Tribe of the Otami.” A few of the warriors began chattering in a language Mikey could not understand.
“On your knees.” Another of the warriors smacked the back of Mikey’s legs with the shaft of his spear. Another one pressed an obsidian dagger to his throat as the others continued chattering.
“But Lan-“
“No, it is decided.” The one who was apparently named Lan said, “Bind his hands. You come with us outsider. We shall keep you with the others we found until we can hear back from Rin and Lin.”
“Others? Who? Where? When?” Mikey about stood up before the spears were pointed at him again.
“Be silent.” One of the warrior tied Mikey’s hands together and held the end of the vine they’d used for the binding. “You will walk to the others. Then you will stay with them.” As they traversed the jungle terrain Mikey struggled to keep up and was on occasion dragged.
“Look at this one, he can’t even walk the jungles.”
“He must lie about peace with Rin and Lin.”
“It doesn’t matter, we’ll throw him in The Pit, and it will have its way with him.” A few of the warriors smiled and laughed at this which gave Mikey a sinking feeling about The Pit. After another hour of tromping through the dense jungle they came upon an encampment. They took Mikey into one of the tents and bound him to a pole in the ground. He could see in the dim, dusty light that there were three others in the tent with him.
One of them stirred as soon as the Otami Warriors had left the tent, “Welcome to the club. We’re just hanging out here. There’s me and Omni, we’ve been here nearly a month fighting in their pit. And they brought a new guy yesterday, and you today. Name’s Mage, Mage-“
“Mage Ragepunk, yes I have heard of you and found entries of your journal in Durem Mines.” Mikey hung his head as he tried turning.
Omni stirred a bit, “And I thought it was crazy to leave journal bits behind.”
“How far has your crew come before being stopped?” Mage asked.
“When I left them in the sky city we had four of the amulets.”
“You left them?” Omni shifted again, “What kind of person deserts their crew on an important mission?”
“It’s complicated. I was travelling to rejoin them at the Underworld but got stopped here. Now, I fear I’ll never find them.” He banged his head against the post.
“Hey, what’s your name?” The other person stirred.
“For what it matters, Michael Berth.”
“Berth? Oh yes I saw your crew in Gnoman’s Land not two days ago. They have four amulets between the five of them. They were worried about you and heading for the Underworld also. About two days behind you judging by how far they were south.” The person shifted and Mikey saw the brown slacks and coat, and for some reason a diving helmet.
“Marshall?”
“What’s left of him,” He sunk down a bit, “I was going to venture out here to find my missing daughter Blaze. And make my way to Isle to Gambino to find her mother.”
“Isle de Gambino’s a waste,” Mikey choked a bit as his throat went dry before he could get out the next part,
“The Pirate Queen Zelda is dead, slain by Mobster Lobster and Registered Offender to save me. I’m sorry Marshall.”
“We can still find Blaze though” Mage said.
“In order to do that we need to get out of here. And from what chattering of theirs I can hear the pit tomorrow will probably be our end. We’re fighting something called a Zomg. I remember the concepts for it were a giant sized Omg.” Omnileech said.
“Resources, we have Mage and I who can attack and heal. Omni can tank better than anyone I know of.”
“With buffs I can tank.”
“Believe me, we got them.” Mikey tried tearing the vine by stretching and rubbing it against the pole.
“Ehh we tried that weeks ago. The vines they use are pretty resistant to anything short of bursting into flame or hacking them off with a blade.” Mage sunk down defeated.
“Well since we have time to wait then, how did you two get out of the mines? From what the journal entries suggested you were dead.” Mikey slid down to sit.
“It was rather boring, my escape,” Omni closed his eyes recalling the details, “There I was cornered by the Quantum Gemerald,” He remembered the green crystalline monster like it was yesterday, “I figured I had nothing to lose so I climbed up one of the Gemerald spawning tunnels. And found an inscription it read ‘Otami Jungle’ I followed it. I couldn’t hear the Gemeralds chasing me so I thought I’d escaped them. I kept climbing until I found myself surrounded by trees. I wandered for weeks, and in a crazed delirium wandered into this camp. And have been here since.”
Mikey looked at Mage,
“And you?”
“After I lost everyone I roamed the tunnel I had found. It led me to Thenedrana and I managed to climb down the mountain. Cold and hungry the snow took its toll on me, but the drifts eventually gave way to the plains and forests. In a delirium I climbed a rock wall and was greeted by a scouting party of Otami Warriors. They brought me here. You can’t imagine my relief when I learned Omni was still alive too.” Mage inhaled and it sounded like he was about to cry, “I just wish I knew if my Val found some way to survive.” Mikey wished his hands weren’t bound so he could give Mage a comforting hug or pat on the back.
“We might not be able to find her until The Phantom is unseated, but we’ll find her. First, we need to get out of this prison.” Mikey looked at Marshall and wondered what he was thinking under that diving helmet.
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“Jeremy get down!” Henry shoved Jeremy to the ground as the Jaguar Statue leapt overhead. The glittering claws grazed Jeremy’s head as he went down. The stone titan turned around and roared again as it began pacing around the group again.
Kerri was missing the Anari. They had left a note with Bianca that they received an urgent message from a resistance group in Aekea. They went ahead to Aekea hopeful to meet the group on the other side of the Underworld. The jeweled eyes of the Jaguar Statue glittered as it pounced again.
“Now!”
“Ahh! Hurry up guys!” Jeremy howled in pain as the Jaguar Statue thudded against his chest. The impact took both him and the massive stonework monster to the ground as it tried slashing at his face. He flailed his clawed arm and felt it snap some of the jaguar’s claws. Jeremy struggled to keep the jaguar from reaching his throat as he held it still for everyone else to attack it. After a few moments of struggling the jaguar went limp and collapsed on him. The full weight of the stone body was crushing his chest.
“Get this thing off of me.” His muffled voice could barely be heard.
“Well that went better than expected.” John pushed against part of the Jaguar Statue, as it slid off of Jeremy it began dissolving.
“So those flakes should lead us to the underworld right?” Penelope tracked a few of the flakes as they became airborne. Her and Henry began to lead the group as they followed the flakes.
“Hold up, there’s something up ahead.” Henry stopped the group as they could hear the clash of metal against stone. There were a few shouts and roars.
“I think we should lend a hand to those armored people under attack.” Henry pointed as they saw some figures in gold and feathered armor fending off several masks, jaguars, fluffs, and a strange kind of Tiny Terror.
“Henry those are Otami Warriors. They don’t take kindly to trespassers in their domain.” Jeremy watched the gold gleam in the sunlight.
“Maybe by helping them we could forge a positive relationship.” Penelope eyed the strange looking terrors.
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