"How the heck could he have survived something like that?!" Michael cried in anguish.
"I'm not sure but something is seriously wrong with him...did you notice him arguing with himself? Something happened to him out there." Lance said.
"I'm guessing by 'out there' you're meaning those explosions? What do you think it could've been?" Michael asked.
"Again, I'm not sure, but we'll have to figure it out soon because he could threaten the others next time he appears."
With this statement, we jumped back up to the top deck. Tyler was leaning against the railing having a smoke.
"You know that will kill you." Michael warned.
"There are worse things in life." was his wheezy reply.
Think I should snuff it?
Sure. Let's see how he reacts.
Michael gave a fake sneeze and the cigarette went out instantly.
"What the--!!"
He took the cigarette out of his mouth to find a small globe of ice on the end of it. They quickly walked away before they had to hear him rant about his cigarette.
That was pretty funny. Think I should encase the rest of him in ice?
Nah. He's probably got more in his coat.
Alright I'll leave him alone...for now.
That night Lance and Michael were sitting on the railing of the top deck viewing the innumerable stars.
"Man," Lance said, "wouldn't that be something? To fly? Be free as the wind? No boundaries?"
As they gazed up, a star streamed across the night sky.
"I call it!" Lance said.
He closed his eyes, made his wish, and then opened them. Michael smiled and turned his gaze back to the stars.
"Aren't you curious about my wish?" Lance asked after a moment.
"No. You're wish is you're own. It's not lucky to tell me, anyway." Michael replied.
"Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway." he said. "I wished to fly, if for but a brief moment."
Michael looked on him with pity. He, too, had thought of flying countless times. What a thought it was. He would imagine flying over towns and cities gazing down at the little ant people. He breathed a deep, longing sigh. His breath had now turned to mist from the ice powers. It took the shape of a bird that flapped its wings and soared around him until it vanished into the air.
"Well I think I'll turn in for the night." Lance said.
"Alright." Michael said. Lance started toward the nearest door. He entered and disappeared. Michael hopped down from the railing, turned, and, out of the corner of his eye, saw another shooting star.
"I call it!" he said softly. Then, he, too, closed his eyes.
"I wish that both of us could fly."
He opened his eyes to see the star still streaming across the sky.
"Hm. That's odd."
As it continued its arc, it changed course for the ground.
"Whoa."
It hit the ground a few miles beyond the boundary of the clearing and made a mushroom cloud.
"Awesome!"
With a giant leap Michael touched down on the clearing boundary. Another leap to the top of the nearest tree, and a humongous jump toward the crash site and he was there. Michael was met with a giant smoking multi-colored stone. It glowed like there was a light inside it. Michael approached it cautiously.
"Halt!" a gruff voice said.
He stopped abruptly.
"Who's there?" Michael called.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves." two voices said in unison.
Michael averted his gaze to the stone.
"I am Eldar, the leader of the omnistone and seer of ice." an old, gravelly voice said.
A blue stone flashed as Eldar spoke.
"I am Bronas, the seer of earth." a gruff voice said.
A green stone flashed as Bronas spoke. There was silence for a moment. Eldar gave a fake cough.
"Hm? Oh alright. I am Shadow, the seer of chaos and darkness." a cold voice said.
A purple stone slightly glimmered as he spoke.
"I am Xepher, seer of fire." a casual voice said.
A red stone flashed this time.
"I am Searus, seer of strength." a voice barely above a whisper said.
He was the yellow stone.
"I am Metas. I am Phoras. Phoras is seer of Ying. Metas is seer of Yang. Together we control the harmony of this world." the unison voices said.
Black and white stones flashed as these two spoke.
"I am Sonris, seer of distance."
He was the orange stone.
"Now we must get down to the important stuff." Sonris said.
"Yes it is time you discovered your destiny. All of your destinies." Shadow said.
"What? What are you talking about?" Michael said.
"You are one of the elemental heroes." Sonris replied.
"Together we are the omnistone. We are the guardians of this planet's natural order." Eldar said. "You and seven others have been selected to be our vessels."
"We will infuse you with our powers so that you can protect this planet." Searus said.
"There has been a great deal of trouble brewing here that could escalate to a world wide catastrophe." said Xepher.
"We've been watching you for some time now, Michael Vorens." Eldar said.
This got my attention.
"Y-You know my name? Wait! This could be just some weird hallucination or something. How do I know you are real?" Michael asked. The omnistone was quiet for a moment.
"Eldar we cannot waste our time with hesitant fools! If he doesn't believe us then we should move on." Shadow said.
"Fool?" Michael said under his breathe.
"Michael, I can assure you we are very real. As are the seven trials. The first, of which, is your metallic friend. Manny I believe it is." Eldar said.
This made me remember Manny. How he had attacked us, and that other side of him.
"He has a split personality, does he?" said Xepher.
"You know about Manny? Can you help him? What's wrong with him?"
"He does like asking questions, doesn't he?" said Bronas.
"Bronas questions are quite alright. They help us learn. Something you need to do." Eldar said.
All of the voices started laughing.
"Ahem. Now, Michael, if you will be so kind as to take us out of this stone?" Shadow said.
"What? How?" Michael asked.
"Just pull us out. It's easy as pie." Metas and Phoras said.
Michael walked up slowly, and cautiously touched the orange stone.
"Watch it! I'm ticklish!" Sonris said.
"Oh! Sorry!" Michael said being a little more careful.
"Actually, Michael, Sonris isn't for you. I am the one you are to remove." Eldar said.
"Oh. Sorry, mate." Sonris said.
"Um...ok? But why do I take you?" Michael asked.
"The ice chamber was where you were when the "explosion" occurred. The ice fused with your body, and some of it even entered your blood stream where it now flows through your body." Eldar said.
Michael noticed something about the way he said explosion.
"The way you said "explosion". It sounded somewhat sarcastic." he said.
There was a pause before Eldar spoke again, "Do you remember how, during the cruise, you were in the ice chamber? The rocking of the ship? That was because one of your friends was trying to help another of your friends become an elemental hero prematurely. In this act of rebellion he..."
Eldar's voice faded. Bronas quickly picked up where he left off, "What Eldar is trying to say is that your friend warped you to this planet. This is not Earth. He used the generator on that ship to charge this crystal that has the potential to give Derrick the powers I, also, can grant him. Caspian, I believe it was? He failed, and the result opened a path to this world which is pretty identical to Earth. Travelling down this path caused the rocking of the boat. The human body can't take travelling through the path without some sort of cover, so any passengers who were on the top deck at the point you entered the path were shredded. That's why there was so much gore. Anyway, you were, then, shot out of the path and that is what caused the huge rut leading to the clearing from the lake. How's that for learning Eldar?" Bronas finished.
Michael sat down to let this information sink in. So it wasn't raiders that caused the ship to crash here on this island and it wasn't the ocean that-"Wait. You’re telling me that there's a lake on this island? That's not the ocean?" Michael said.
"Yep. There's a giant, clear lake near the clearing where your ship stopped.” said Sonris.
"Exactly how big is this island?" Michael asked.
"Island? Who said anything about an island?" Searus said.
"You mean to tell me that we're on a much larger piece of land? Like, say, a continent?" Michael said.
"Yep." Shadow said.
"Whoa."
Michael couldn't believe it. Who said that they were on an island anyway? Oh yeah. Lance had said that the others thought this was an island.
"Ok. Let's see if I got this straight." Michael said. "This is not Earth."
"Yep." Bronas said.
"And that's lake water."
"Yep." Searus said.
"This is not an island, but a continent?"
"Yep." Metas and Phoras said.
"And we traveled through a path between my world and this?"
"That's what we said." Shadow said.
Before Michael could ask another question Eldar spoke.
"Michael, there will be plenty of time for us to fill you in on everything. But, for now, your body needs to be fused with the ice." he said.
"That didn't sound very pleasant. Am I going to be covered in a thick sheet of ice?"
"Oh ho! No. Nothing like that." Eldar said. "It will be quick. You'll wake up tomorrow feeling as you always have. Maybe a little cold, but that's totally natural."
"Natural? You mean there have been others before us?"
"Er...well...yes. But enough talk. Come, Michael. Remove your destiny from the omnistone." Eldar said.
Michael slowly stood. Then, he solemnly walked over, and gently pulled Eldar out of the omnistone with a little pop. Immediately, upon being separated from the stone, a bright light emanated from the blue stone Michael now held in his hand. It grew and covered him and all his surroundings.
"Now, Michael, this might be a little cold." Eldar's voice sounded from somewhere above.
Immediately following, a cold sensation, starting at his feet, slowly worked its way up Michael's body. He opened his mouth to gasp, and ice immediately entered going down his throat, into his lungs, and stomach, and entering his veins.
"Gak!" he tried to gasp for breath but couldn't get any.
"Calm down, Michael. The more you struggle, the longer it will take." Eldar's voice sounded much closer as if it were inside his head.
After a few moments of his insides freezing, the ice shattered inside and his airway was clear again.
"There. Now was that so hard?" Eldar said.
"Your inside me now...right?" Michael said after taking a few deep breaths.
"Yes. It's quite comfortable in here. Lot's of room." Eldar said.
"Are you saying I'm hollow?" Michael asked.
"Only when you sleep. Once your up and thinking it will be slightly crowded."
"I'm sleeping?" Michael said unaware of his state.
"Oh, yes. I put you into a sleeping state once I entered your body-to make it easier." Eldar said.
"Oh. Thanks. I guess." Michael said.
"You'll need much rest before your body can be active with me inside you." Eldar said. "So, for now, I will let your mind travel the land of sleep." His voice slowly faded as he finished his sentence.
Chapter 9
That night he dreamed about a strange place. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about it. Except for the fact that it was covered in ice and snow. Everywhere he looked, there was an expanse of white, save for a single tree in the middle of this sea of snow.
At the top, there was a ball of fire. It looked so odd, just floating there just above the top of the tree. It flickered and danced as snow fell on and around it. Occasionally, it would spit a spark or two out at its chilly surroundings which were immediately doused.
The rest of the tree, down to the lowest branch, was encased in a thin sheet of ice. It was awe inspiring. The whole tree seemed to glisten as the light played on the glassy surface.
But at the bottom, below the branches, there was nothing but green. All sorts of exotic flowers and plants. Lilies, roses, petunias all arranged in a spectacular display of reds, oranges, and blues. Among the foliage, a single vine rose from the ground and wrapped itself around the trees trunk. Michael's eyes followed it up and saw that it rose the entire height of the tree and poked out of the top. It looked to be the source of energy for the flame.
As he gazed into the flame, Michael saw the flame follow the vine all the way down the tree, scorching the tree as it went. The moment it touched the ground, the whole scene burst into flame. The snow melted away baring a scorched surface underneath. It only took a couple of seconds for the whole scene to become a picture of hell. From the spot where the tree once stood, a bright light erupted that showered the whole place in a healing ray. As suddenly as it had appeared the light vanished leaving a beautiful field of flowers. There were two mounds side by side in front of Michael. Between them was a large stone. He knelt to get a closer look:
Here lie two of the bravest men this world will ever know:
Raznas Eldar
Died the fifth year of fire Died the sixth year of ice
Defending the Great Kingdom Defending the Great Kingdom
Brother, Father, Husband Father, Husband
This generation, nor any to come, will not forget these brave souls
in their fight against the dark forces of chaos
Michael awoke the next morning to find he had somehow made it back to the ship and his bed. He sat up and looked over to Lance's bed, but he was gone. He shivered and realized he was freezing despite the cocoon of blankets around him.
"It will take awhile to get used to the cold." came Eldar's voice.
"So...it wasn't a dream?" Michael asked hoping he wasn't wrong.
"No. Far from it. I'm here to stay until this world is safe."
"Oh. That's good. With everything that's happened...it would suck if it were all a dream."
"Well, there's nothing to worry about. I'll remain here until it's all over. For now, though, what do you say to some breakfast? Then afterwards we shall begin practice."
"Practice? For what?"
"I need to explain to you how the powers of the guardians work, so that you don't blow a chunk out of the planet on accident."
"Oh. Well then I guess I'll make the breakfast quick so we can begin."
Michael hopped down from the bed, and pulled on a shirt, loose jeans, then pulled on his cloak over that.
"Michael? I've been wondering...what exactly are you hiding with that cloak?" Eldar asked.
"It's my protection from the world. I can't be criticized if they can't see me. Besides, it provides me with shade, and just looks cool." Michael answered.
"What are you hiding from? Criticism isn't necessarily bad. Sometimes it's helpful. Looking cool to yourself means nothing if you distance yourself from others. It looks to me like you use the cloak as a way of keeping people from approaching you."
"It's none of your concern what I wear, and I don't want to talk about it. Ok? Let's just focus on getting through the day."
Michael continued down the hall then turned a corner to get to the stairs. He suddenly felt like someone was watching him. He quickened his pace. He could now hear the soft sounds of feet tip-toeing behind him. He quickly summoned his sword and whipped around, but nothing was there. He jumped as a voice from behind him said, "Mister?" He turned around to see a woman standing there. He quickly freed his weapon.
She had to be in her late teens. She was about 5 feet 9 inches and had a rather slim figure. Her hair was blonde and fell gracefully about her shoulders. Her eyes were the prettiest shade of blue and had radiant smooth skin. She wore a red robe that appeared to be made of satin.
"Um...mister?" she said again.
Come on Michael! Stop gawking at her and say something! Eldar's voice sounded.
"Oh...um, yes?" Michael said.
"I'm terribly sorry, mister, if your busy I can find someone else..." she said.
"No, no. That's perfectly fine. What do you need?" Michael asked trying to sound as nice as possible.
"I've been searching for the pool for some time now, and I can't find it anywhere. Would you take me to it, please?"
"Oh, why that's no problem at all Miss...Uh?" Michael said.
"Oh, how silly of me! My name is Rose." she said.
"Rose...such a pretty name for a pretty lady. Well...shall we?" Michael said offering her his elbow.
She took it and they were on their way.
"So...Miss Rose. Are you enjoying our "island vacation"?" Michael asked.
"Teehee...it would have been better if we got to our real destination." Rose said. "But I suppose this will have to do for now."
"Did you come with family?" Michael asked.
"No. I won this trip in a contest." she replied.
"I'm surprised they would still offer contest like that with all the raiders."
"Well I won it and thought it would be fun since this is supposedly the best ship for defense against raiders."
She sighed.
"We could've done without crashing on this island though. Now I can't contact my family, and I don't know how long it's going to take to get off this island."
"You must miss them immensely." Michael said.
"Yes. It would be better if only I could talk with them." she said.
Eldar?
Yes?
Is there some way we can help her?
How do you mean?
Contacting her family. Isn't there something we can do? I know we can transfer thoughts. But is it possible to transfer her thoughts to Earth?
Well...it's possible. But you can't just transfer her thoughts when she's awake. It will lead to questions that you can't possibly answer without telling her about us.
So you’re saying as long as she doesn't know about you I have the ability to give her message to her family?
...Yes. But it would just be better to leave her as she is. It's safer for us that way.
I'm sorry, but I can't leave her in such condition.
"--Michael?"
Michael snapped out of his conversation.
"Huh? Oh, Rose. I'm sorry. Did you say something?"
"I was asking you about your family...Do you have any?" she said.
"Oh...I, uh...Yes. I do have family." Michael said.
"What do they do?" Rose asked.
"Well...my father...is dead. My mother...abandoned me...but last I knew she was working as a maid for some rich slob." Michael said.
"O-Oh! I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean to--"
"It's quite alright...I've pretty much gotten used to it. I just go with the flow-whatever happens, happens."
"Oh...I see."
They took a right into a door, and they arrived at the pool.
"Well...here we are. The pool. I hope you enjoy your swim, Rose."
"Oh, thank you. I will. Maybe I can talk to you again, Michael."
Michael released her arm and she walked over to one of the many chairs positioned around the pool to put her towel and robe down. With a final glance, Michael turned and walked out of the pool room. A growl from his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten yet, so he made his way to the mess hall. Once there he immediately went for the kitchen. Lance was lying on one of the counters.
"Yo." he said.
"Hey." Michael said.
He went over to the refrigerator to see what food was left.
"There's nothing in there...I already checked." Lance said.
Michael opened the door to find everything bare. Not a single scrap of food was there, not even a puddle of juice! It was the same everywhere: the freezer, the cupboards, everywhere.
"What happened to all the food?" Michael said.
Oh, yeah...heh heh...about that...you can't eat food. I destroyed it all last night while you were unconscious. Eldar's voice once again sounding in Michael's head, this time to bring him grave news.
What?! Why can't we eat?! And what about the others who aren't "destined"?"
It's alright. You all can live without food...it will just take some time to get used to it. Besides eating is a waste of time. You're better off without it...
Michael was starting to dislike this whole "destined" thing with an extremely strong passion.
Ok...so your telling' me that we can live without food? Forever? Is it an effect of the Teslis?
No...not exactly. You see, you have been resonating cold air throughout this ship ever since the explosion, so the cold has circulated throughout the entire ship causing the gas to condense into Pyronite.
So...the Pyronite's...fumes...have been inhaled by the entire crew and now we truly are immortal?
Well you all were immortal from the moment you inhaled the Teslis. The scientists of your world don’t want the public to know this but the Teslis has healing properties not of any world: it can restore human tissue at a remarkable rate.
...Whoa.
"Michael?"
"Huh? What? Oh..."
"You've been standing there for quite some time...not saying anything." Lance said.
"Oh..."
Don't tell him about me!! Each of you has to discover the stone on your own...
Um...ok...?
"Michael...is there something wrong?" Lance said standing up and walking over to him.
"It's...nothing. I'm fine. Hey have you met that Rose girl?" Michael said.
"Rose...? Hm...I don't think so...Why? Is there something...special about this girl?" Lance asked.
"No...she just struck me as odd...out of all of us...she's the one person who seems...normal." Michael said.
"Hm...must not have bloomed yet." Lance said.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Michael said.
Michael...have you forgotten about our practice session?
"Oh!"
"Hm? What?" Lance said.
"Oh...uh, nothing." Michael said realizing he said that out loud.
"I've gotta go...catch ya later."
Michael quickly walked out of the kitchen. He walked to the stairs in the middle of the hallway.
Michael it's time for your first lesson.
What?! Already? We're not even outside!
Exactly. It will take to long to go up and down these stairs-even if you use your super speed. There's an easier way.
Well...you've got my attention...What is it?
Spirit warp.
Spirit warp...What? Do I focus my thoughts and teleport?
Oh, no, no. It's much more complex. You tap on the left side of your chest with your right hand-this will loosen up your spirit-then you simply imagine jumping out of your body and your crystal releases your spirit. Your body becomes your spirit basically. You now have the mobility of a phantom.
Wow. Now my head hurts. But wait...why exactly must I tap the left side of my chest with my right hand?
Because, if you do the opposite, you'll release your spero nego or negative spirit. If he's released, there's no telling what he'll do with your abilities. I've been studying your spero nego and it looks fairly calm but if it's angered, or your angry when you release it, he'll get pretty violent. I can only do so much in the way of containing him, but I'll have a better chance if he's released in a calm state.
Ok. Tap left chest, with right hand, imagine jumping from body, and crystal releases spirit form. Got it. Let's check it out.
Michael spread his legs shoulder width apart, tapped the left side of his chest with his right hand, got a clear picture of him shedding his physical husk, and immediately was ejected from his body. He looked down to see he had a wisp of a tail instead of feet, and he was transparent. He looked up to see that there was someone floating next to him.
"Ah!"
"Calm down Michael. It's me, Elder."
He had long, flowing hair that was tinted of light lavender. His eyes were a darker shade of his hair. He was fairly muscular-not ripped but fit. His ears were pointed like an elf's, and a dragon earring hung from his left lobe. He had silver bracers on his wrists, and midway between his shoulders and elbows. He had a yellow vest, which reminded Michael of a life jacket, with a white shirt with grey camouflage underneath. He had two rings, both had sapphires, and both were on either of his middle fingers. His lower section was also a wispy tail.
"But-But you look...so...young! My age even!" Michael exclaimed.
"My name has nothing to do with how old I am, or my appearance for that matter, even though I am pretty old."
"There's no way you could be older than...maybe twenty."
"Try twenty million."
"Tw-Tw-TWENTY MILLION?! YEARS?!"
"Yes. Sadly it has been that long since I was summoned to be the seer of ice...Oh! Uh..."
"You...were...chosen? To be the seer of ice? Meaning...you were human once?"
"Uh...that's not knowledge necessary at the moment to fulfill your destiny!"
"I'm tired of this destiny crap! Give me some answers!"
"Uh...Uh..."
Suddenly he disappeared and Michael was back in his body.
Eldar, you coward! Hiding inside my own head!! Grrr...
Michael was about to go super-speed to get out into the field around the ship, but Rose came walking through one of the doors down the hallway. She looked up and down the hall and spotted Michael. When she saw him, she smiled.
"Hey! You're that boy from earlier...Michael?"
Michael cooled down immediately at the sight of her.
"Ah! Miss Rose! Did you enjoy your swim?" he said.
"Oh yes! It was quite refreshing."
Michael walked down the hall to her.
"Um...I know it's a silly question but...were you talking to someone out here? I could hear voices from my room..."
"Oh...um...I was, uh...talking to a friend...but...he left."
Her facial expression told him she didn't buy that story.
"Um...I was just freshening up for a nice stroll on the deck...would you join me?"
"Oh, yes! Absolutely, Miss Rose. A stroll around the deck is exactly what I need." Michael said.
"Wonderful! I won't be but a minute! You may come in if you'd like." she said.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude-" Michael started.
"Oh don't be silly! Come in...Please?" She puckered her lip, her eyes practically begging.
"Oh...if you insist." Michael said.
She smiled and walked in her room, Michael following close behind. Before closing the door he took note of her room number.
596...
He looked at the number. Something about didn't seem right. The plaque it hung on looked...odd.
"Make yourself comfy. I won't take long!" And with that she walked into a room, closing the door securely behind her.
Michael stood where he was to take in her room. She liked red. The furniture was already decorated with fancy patterns sewned into the fabric, but she went ahead and draped red Afghans, blankets, and shawls over everything. She adjusted their positions too. While originally all the furniture had been centered around the television, it now was backed against the walls leaving a wide open space in the center of the room. The carpet had been scuffed here and there-most likely from her moving the furniture-but in the center there was a peculiar pattern. Michael walked over to it and kneeled to inspect it. It was a circle with six dots around. In the center was a pentagram with seven circles around it. Each of the circles had a different symbol in them. Michael reached out and touched it and was surprised to find that it was still wet. It immediately dried upon touching his fingers. Michael gasped. It was blood! He quickly backed away, but immediately regained his composure as the doorknob twisted and Rose stepped into the room.
She was absolutely stunning! Once again she was in red, but this time, instead of a robe, she was wearing a bright red tunic over a white blouse, with dark red bellbottoms. Over all of that she, too, had a cloak. It, too, was red, of course.
She smiled as Michael gaped at her.
"You like it? I saw yours and thought it would be appropriate if we matched."
"Y-Y-Yes! You look extravagant! I've...never seen a cloak quite like that one..."
With good reason, too, for her cloak had an odd symbol sewned into the back, and undecipherable writing covered a good portion of the torso and middle. Also, a green flame pattern had been sewn into the hem. It almost looked real...
"Shall we?"
"Certainly." Michael said offering his elbow as she walked over to him.
Michael, I don't like that there's blood in the middle of her room...that symbol...I’ve seen it somewhere...
Not now Eldar. You talked to me a good portion of our first meeting. You are not interrupting this one.
But Michael...
No! We can talk after this walk is done.
Fine...but don't come crying to me when she puts a hex on you...
What?! Eldar what are you talking about?
Silence.
Eldar? Eldar! I need to know!
Nothing. Michael was starting to feel uneasy with this thought. He never believed in witchcraft and sorcery, but since all that has happened and everything he's seen he wasn't so sure anymore. He took a glance at Rose. She was smiling and staring straight ahead. She looked at him. He quickly looked ahead.
"Michael...you feel...tense. Is something the matter?" she asked.
"Oh, uh...no Miss Rose...I was just...looking at how beautiful you were..." Michael said.
Her silence once again told him she didn't buy his story.
They climbed a flight of stairs and finally reached the top deck.
"Oh wow!" Rose exclaimed.
She ran over to the side of the deck and looked out onto the field around the ship. Michael slowly followed suit. He did a double-take when he reached the side, for out on the plain Lance was dashing about a gigantic version of that creature from the tree house. From its size, you would think it could have easily sliced the battleship in half.
"I've never seen such a creature!" Rose exclaimed.
"I have..." Michael said under his breathe.
"Who is that boy out there?" Rose asked.
"Hm? Oh, that's Lance...he's a friend of mine." Michael said.
"Wow...I've never seen someone with such potential...I wonder where he learned that..." Rose said as Lance released a volley of basketball-size fireballs.
"I have an idea..." Michael said again under his breath.
Rose looked at Michael.
"You don't seem astounded by these superhuman feats, Michael." she said.
I think now would be a good time to talk about how you shouldn't go telling just anyone about your special gift.
Oh, now you show up. Let me guess: you don't trust her, she's evil, and she'll misuse this information for her own purposes. Did I pretty much cover it?
Yeah, pretty much.
Don't waste my time.
"I can do that too." Michael said.
"You? You can do what he does?" Rose asked curiosity practically swimming in her eyes.
"Yes. Watch." Michael said.
He raised his right hand, and released a volley of ice spikes at the creature. Rose watched as they sailed through the air and hit their mark. The creature directed its attention towards them instead of Lance who was desperately trying his best to distract the creature. It started to advance towards them at an accelerating speed.
"Ah crap!" Michael said.
The creature curled its arm, ready to release a deadly swing of its mighty pincer. Michael picked Rose up in his arms, and jumped clear to the other side of the deck as the thing unleashed its swing and flung everything that jutted from the deck into the air. Screams of those on the stairwells could be heard as they sailed into the distance. Michael touched down on the deck and quickly released Rose so she could get away as Michael jumped back towards the creature. The creature raised its huge pincer and dropped it towards Michael at a very dangerous speed. With no time to get away Michael hoped it wouldn't hurt too much.
"Iris Ragnas!" a voice called out.
Just as the pincer was about to hit, a sword, much larger than Michael's, came between him and the monster. With an earsplitting clank the creatures attack was canceled.
"Huh? What-?" Michael said staring up in confusion at the gigantic blade.
"Michael!" a voice called from his left.
He turned to see Rose.
"I guess now's a bad time to tell you I'm a sorceress." she called.
"That's ok...but I think we can take him!" Michael called back.
He jumped up onto the sword then ran along it towards the creature's pincer. The creature quickly withdrew it obviously reading his next move. It countered the interrupted attack by shooting a giant disc out of its mandibles. Thinking fast Michael jumped towards the disc.
"Man, this is gonna hurt!"
He grabbed it while it rocketed through the air, tearing up his hands, spun it around, and chucked it back at the creature. It hit it full-force in the face. The thing staggered backwards from the impact and took a few seconds to regain its wits.
Lance took the opportunity to release a new attack.
"Firos Wreckus!"
His spear completely engulfed in flames. He adjusted his grip, took aim, and then flung it with all his might. It hit with such force that upon impact a huge hole was created many times the diameter of the spear. The creature let out a glass-shattering screech.
Fluids came oozing from the wound by the tubs. The creature let out another shriek of pain, as it staggered backwards. Then it spun around and ran into the vast brush of the forest.
Lance jumped up to the deck and landed as Rose ran up beside me.
"Wow! You guys were great!" Rose said as she wrapped her arms around Michael's neck.
"Thanks...you were pretty great yourself, Rose." Michael said as he detached Rose from him.
Lance said nothing just walked into a doorway nearby.
"What's his problem?" Rose asked.
"I don't know. Maybe I should go talk to him..." Michael said.
Rose pulled him close to her.
"But we haven't finished our walk around the deck." she said with a pouty face.
"I know, and I'm really sorry, but he's my best friend! I've got to see what's wrong with him...He might have been hurt in the fight..." Michael said shaking off Rose and running into the door after Lance.
He ran down the stairs then ran along the corridor at the bottom. The hallway came to a T. He looked to his right and saw nothing...but then he looked to his left and saw droplets of some sort of liquid on the floor. He bent down and got some on his fingers. It didn't dry up immediately like the blood on Rose's floor so it wasn't blood. What was it? He sniffed it and about passed out. It smelled like the foulest things in hell combined. He wiped it off on the floor and went down the hallway.
"Lance? You down here?" Michael called.
He continued down the hall until it T'd again. He looked to the right and there on the floor was Lance.
"Lance!" Michael shouted as he dashed to him.
"Are you all right? What's wrong?" Michael said as he lifted Lance into a sitting position.
He seemed to come to. His eyes flickered open.
"Hm? What happened?" Lance asked as he scratched his head.
"I don't know. I found you down passed out on the floor." Michael said with concern.
"Hm...That’s odd." Lance said as he jumped to his feet. He got light headed and almost fell back down but braced himself against the wall just in time.
"Whoa." he said.
"Are you sure you can't remember what happened?" Michael asked.
"Look. All I can remember is coming down here after that thing ran away, turning the corner then...nothing." Lance said standing up a bit straighter.
He started to walk down the hall then suddenly collapsed.
"Lance!" Michael cried as he ran to his side.
He turned him over on his back and saw something bulging under his skin. He lifted Lance's shirt slightly and saw a nasty gouge pulsating, leaking the same substance he found on the floor previously.
"Lance!" he cried in vain.
Chapter 10
Michael rushed Lance to the infirmary. This was easy next to jumping around with his gigantic blade. Once there he was immediately rushed to a table where they removed his shirt. Michael was shooed out so they could work without contamination.
Michael paced impatiently for eternities as they worked away at Lance. Finally, after three straight hours of work, a little man stepped out still wiping off his hands.
"Doc?" Michael said.
"I've...never seen anything quite like it..." he said in a squeaky voice.”He's...healed...all we had to do was clean the wound."
"What?" Michael said rushing past the small man nearly toppling him over.
He entered the room to see Lance sitting on the edge of the table pulling on his jacket.
"Hey." he said as if nothing of great significance had happened.
Michael walked over to him and looked him up and down.
"It's ok."
He lifted his shirt to reveal...nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even a scar!
"That's...amazing." Michael said barely able to believe it.
Lance hopped down from the table.
"Wanna go practice?" he asked innocently.
All Michael could do was gape.
"Come on...it's about time you learned some interesting spells."
This snapped Michael out of his shock.
"Spells. You mean like abracadabra alakazam? That sort of stuff?"
"Kinda. Only our spells are much cooler."
With that he walked out of the room. His first step out of the infirmary and he collides with none other than Rose.
"Oh!" she cried as she bounced off of Lance.
She looked up and looked as if she just dropped an extremely heavy burden.
"Oh! I heard that you were injured, so I ran all the way from my room." she said standing up and brushing herself off. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
She gave him a hug. Michael walked out to see what was going on.
"Oh. Hi, Rose."
She gave him a look, just a look, and walked away.
"Um...?" Michael said. "Hey, Lance, you go ahead. I'll be out as soon as I apologize to her...I kind of walked off on her when you went below deck."
Lance nodded and started to make his way to the deck. Michael ran after Rose. She moved pretty fast because Michael didn't catch her until he made it to the hall her room was on-which was two decks above!
"Rose!" Michael called.
She stopped mid-step and turned around. She looked surprised to see Michael.
"Michael...what is it you want?" she asked.
Michael walked up to her.
"I-I wanted to apologize for leaving you earlier..." he said.
"Oh..." was the simple reply.
There was an awkward silence until Rose decided to break it with a kiss. Michael was too stunned to react at first, but once he regained his senses he embraced her. When they finally separated, Michael held her at arms length, unsure as to what he should do now.
"What was that for?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I-I don't know..." she said.”It just happened."
"Well...what now?" Michael asked.
She studied him for a minute.
"Come inside. I would like to show you something."
She opened the door, and Michael followed her inside.
"I'm...not exactly sure how it happened." she began. "It began a couple weeks ago before the cruise. I was on my way home from the local market, when I suddenly blacked out. I awoke in my car in front of a burning house."
She looked at him with such pain in her eyes.
"It was my house!"
She paused.
"The next time it happened was a few days before the ship left. I was with my boyfriend and I blacked out. I awoke to see him hanging from a tree."
Small tears formed in her eyes. Soon droplets were raining from her face on the floor. Michael held her and tried to calm her. When she finally managed to regain herself, she continued, "The last time it happened was here in this room. I was sitting on the couch when I blacked out. I awoke to find this symbol on the floor, and later found a man in my closet...dead. Decapitated."
Michael was shocked and concerned.
"What did you do with the body?" he asked.
"I disposed of it of course!" she exclaimed getting excited. "I certainly didn't want to look at the revolting site any longer than I had to."
She turned to the symbol and knelt beside it.
"I discovered something else." she said as she gently touched it with her fingers. "It was the day of the explosion. I had been furiously trying to scrub this out all day. Nothing would work. It wouldn't even fade! I eventually gave up. I sat here staring at it...I don't know why...but I suddenly got the impulse to touch it. When I did..." her voice faded.
She placed all ten of her fingers in specific locations on the symbol before her and it immediately lit up.
"It shines whenever I do this...I'm not sure why though..."
Michael stared in amazement, but then he notices that one of the symbols was flashing.
"Is it supposed to do that?" he asked.
Rose stared at the symbol as it flashed blue.
"No...I've never seen it do that before..." she said in awe.
Suddenly thick tentacles shot out from the symbol, wrapping themselves tightly around Michael.
"What the--?!" Michael cried as the tentacles pinned him to the ground on top of the symbol.
Rose cried out as Michael started to sink into the floor.
"Sevus canus!" she cried as she lifted her open hand towards the tentacles.
Immediately the tentacles split apart as if cut by a blade. They retracted into the symbol and Michael resurfaced as the symbol grew dark red again. Rose knelt beside Michael to see if he was ok.
"A-Are you alright?! I swear it has never done that!" She exclaimed searching for any injuries.
"That's...quite alright, Rose." Michael said shaken by the ordeal. "I'm fine..."
He stood up and turned to look at the symbol. He noticed something different. One of the symbols had turned blue!
Eldar...do you see this?
Silence.
Eldar? Eldar! I'm sorry for earlier! Please! I need information on this symbol!
Nothing.
Rose touched Michael's shoulder.
"Look." she asked pointing to the floor.
Michael turned to see that something had been scrawled in blood next to the symbol:
Michael! I have been sucked into the symbol! It's some sort of seal!
I'm in no hurry to see what it's sealing, so quickly find the omnistone
and get it far away from here!
Rose looked at Michael with curiosity.
"What's an "omnistone"?" she asked.
Michael was about to answer, when Rose suddenly fell to the floor.
"Rose!"
Michael knelt and lifted her upright, but she was gone. Michael didn't know what to do, then he remembered how Rose had told him of her past fainting spells...
He lifted her up and carried her to the couch. He gently laid her down, then went and got a pillow. He was about to place it under her head, when she started to move.
Oh crap, he thought.
If Rose was telling the truth, this wasn't a good sign. She rose and opened her eyes, and Michael saw that they were blank.
Oh crap! He thought.
She looked directly at him and said something. Michael couldn't understand it though because it was in another language. She said it again but in a more angry tone. Michael started backing away not sure what to expect. Then she jumped up and shouted whatever she was saying. Michael decided the best course of action was to play it cool and try to talk to her.
"Uh...Rose...?" Michael said his voice shaking a bit.
"Rose?" she said as if she didn't know who, or what, that was.
Then she laughed. It scared Michael how heartless it was.
"English?" She said it as a question.
"Uh...yeah." Michael said.
"Rose...that's that poor soul whose body I've stolen, isn't it?" she said as if she could care less.
"Stolen...? What?" Michael asked.
"You see...I'm a wandering spirit. I go wherever I wish, then, when I find a place where I can cause trouble; I take over a human and make havoc. I have to say though...I probably should've taken you over, handsome." Rose said looking Michael up and down. Michael stood up straight.
"Let Rose go!" he said in what he hoped was a threatening voice.
"Oh, and what can you possibly do?" Rose asked.
Michael charged his left hand with ice. This seemed to get Rose's attention.
"Remarkable..." Rose said in awe. "That power...I must have it!"
Rose then launched herself at Michael. He quickly stepped aside.
"I have a question." Michael said as he dodged Rose again. "What happens to you if I damage her body?"
She lunged again before answering, "Absolutely nothing! Hahahaha!"
Michael then thought of something. If he can't fight it like this maybe he can fight it by going spirit. He spread his legs apart tapped the left side of his chest, and then got a clear image of jumping out of his body. The spirit had launched itself at him again, but was surprised when she got nothing. She turned to see Michael in spirit form. Michael now had a clear picture of what the phantom looked like.
"Wow...you're ugly." he said.
The spirit looked like a classic demon. It had horns, red skin, fangs that jutted out of the mouth, and a somewhat muscular build.
"How did you do that?!" it asked in shock.
"I'm not your ordinary human."
Michael didn't even think about whether he could summon his sword or use his ice in spirit form but he had to try something. He decided to try his sword first. He got a clear picture of it and...nothing. Ok, so his sword wouldn't work in spirit form, but would his ice? He tried charging his left hand with ice and...ignition! It worked! He could use ice in spirit form! He immediately started pelting balls of ice at the demon. The first couple hit dead on but most of them were dodged.
"Ahhhh!" The spirit cried in pain as the ice hit. It actually looked like its "skin" was sizzling from the ice.
"Is that how you want to play, punk?!" It cried.
"Well how about this?!" It summoned a huge mass of molten lava and spewed at Michael.
Michael dodged but not fast enough. His left arm was singed slightly. The pain was severe and he let out a scream of pain as his arm lost nearly half its mass. When the pain reached its peak, his arm began to convulse uncontrollably. Thinking quickly he used his ice on his arm-encasing it in an inch of ice. Before he suffered another such attack, he countered with a barrage of ice spikes. As the few that met their mark hit, the spirit sizzled more followed by shrieks of pain. With how much sizzling its arm was doing, Michael thought it should have been reduced to the size of his arm-maybe even less. The spirit followed his gaze.
"I see you've notice that, although I'm screaming in pain, my body doesn't show any sign of damage. That's simply because I'm a demon, of course. Our bodies regenerate instantaneously in comparison to yours." It said.
Michael decided to show how un-human he was. He smashed the ice he had encased his arm in to show a fully regenerated arm. The demon stared in disbelief.
"That-That's impossible! No human can do that!" It said in awe.
"I told you I'm no normal human." Michael said.
He crouched down then sprang toward the demon with incredible speed. He raised his left hand and struck but was blocked. Then, while the demon was distracted with his left hand, he charged his right and unleashed a powerful blow to its stomach. It looked like it could have passed out. It floated there, clutching its stomach, doubled over, and coughing. Blood started to stream down its chin. It looked up at me in disbelief. How could some human punk defeat it? When it regained enough strength to talk it said, "You win this round, boy. Next time you'll have no such luck." With that, it disappeared.
When it disappeared, Michael was automatically put into his body.
He looked to see Rose sprawled on the ground where the demon had been. He looked closer and realizes she was bleeding! The demon had used her as an invisible shield! Michael rushed to her, not sure how he could help. He gently lifted her, and took her to the couch. Luckily he hadn't hit the demon with to many spikes...Rose seemed to be heavily bruised where the ice spheres hit the demon, and she had holes where the demon was stabbed with spikes. Suddenly she spurted a fountain of blood. Michael jumped back. He rushed back to her when the fountain died down. He didn't see anything that would cause such heavy internal bleeding. He lifted her shirt and saw the problem: the last blow to the stomach the demon took dealt damage to Rose's major organs. Michael wasn't sure how he could fix it, and knew it wouldn't be long...
He stayed with her the whole time. She never did awaken. Michael mopped her face to clean the blood and sweat from her brow, and listened as her breath grew more and more shallow. Finally it stopped all together. He put his hand over her mouth-no air. He checked her pulse-no pulse. He put his head to her chest-no heartbeat. A single tear fell from his eye. He wasn't sure if she was going to reawaken like he and Lance did or not. He didn't know what else he could do, so he put her in a peaceful position-eyes closed, hands clasped over her stomach, head tilted to the side-and walked to the door. He looked back. He gave a small, sad chuckle. She looked like she was sleeping.
Chapter 11
Michael was in a daze for quite some time. He just gave up when he fully realized that she died because of him. He was mostly seen wandering the halls with a blank look in his eyes. Lance tried talking to him, but consolation wasn't his strong suit. So Michael continued to wander.
Michael's wandering eventually found him back at room 596. He looked at the number barely registering his surroundings. Something about it seemed to snap him back into reality...or fantasy...at this point Michael wasn't sure what real was anymore. As he gazed at the number plaque, he noticed something was different. He walked up to it and looked closer to find that there were fluorescent green flames on it! What's more, it was flickering! As if it was real. Michael had seen such flames before. He jarred his head trying to recall where he had seen them.
"Something about a robe...it was a girl's...what was her name...?" he mumbled as he desperately tried to recall his memories. "I knew her...we became close...then...uh...ah, screw it!" he said in exasperation.
Michael twisted the knob and opened the door. He was met with a barrage of red. The red furniture. The decorative red Afghans and shawls. Red. Red...Red Rose? These words worked themselves into Michael's thoughts. Red Rose.
"Rose." Michael said.
It came back to him. He had come into her room because she wanted to talk to him. She shared with him her troubling fainting spells. Then, that symbol had attacked him. Having to fight the demon residing in her...and her dying because of him. Once again a single tear fell from his eye. He looked at the floor. The symbol was still there. He walked over to it. He immediately noticed that one of the symbols had disappeared. It was the one Eldar was held in! Michael wasn't sure if this was good. Then he heard the door shut behind him. He spun around to see...Rose. He was about to run and hug her, but saw that her eyes were empty. The pupils had disappeared...again.
"I told you that I would defeat you this time." came the voice of the demon.
Suddenly light erupted from behind Michael. He turned to face...Eldar? It was Eldar alright. Instead of his wispy tail, though, he had legs. He had grey camouflaged pants on with heavy looking black boots.
"E-Eldar?"
Unlike last time, his dark lavender eyes were blank like Rose's. He looked much more defined then last time. He was definitely ripped-one muscle on top of the other, and a twenty-four pack. Around his waste was a belt with loops and pouches holding knives, tiny capsules, and two holsters holding hand guns. On his back were two sheathed katanas, and a giant rifle. He was so loaded down with crap; he had to be buff to stand up straight. This wasn't his entire arsenal, though; he clenched his hands then flung his fingers open releasing foot-and-a-half long claws.
"He's under my control now. That seal of Shriek’s is pretty nifty." the demon said from behind Michael. "It was easy to mind sweep your spirit friend here and use him as my weapon."
Michael turned back to her. He was trapped between his seer and a demon. The only option he had was to spirit warp. He raised his hand and was about to tap his left chest, when a hand shot out and grabbed his. The demon had anticipated his move and prevented it. He knew he couldn't harm the demon but he could rough her up, and he could beat the living crap out of Eldar. He bent his free arm, and elbowed the demon in the side. Then before Eldar could cut him with his claws, back flipped over Rose, grabbed her hair and swung her off her feet, and smashed her into him. They both hit the wall hard and landed in a heap. Then Rose started to move. She weakly raised her arm, "Mi...ch...ael." she uttered as if she was herself and not the demon. Michael quickly rushed over to her as her arm fell limp. He knelt down and was about to pull her free from Eldar, when her hand shot up and grabbed his throat.
"Hahaha! Silly boy! Your still just like the rest of these pitiful humans in one way-you let your emotions rule your actions! Hahaha!" She stood up, lifting Michael off the ground. She let him dangle there for a second, and then flung him effortlessly across the room into the door. When he hit, he felt something. It was small, but it was there nonetheless. It felt familiar, like a hug. He looked at the door to see the number plaque on the outside had somehow gotten inside. The flames were still there, but this time they had taken shape. It looked like,
"Rose...?" Michael gasped.
He heard her as if she were calling to him from a great distance: Michael! I'm here! When she took over I was somehow put in these flames! They're from my cloak...remember? Some of the symbols also came with the flame. I've been using them to weaken her, but the effects do not last long! They're the only thing keeping her bound to this room. Please, Michael! Hurry and free me from this prison! If I had access to my cloak, we might be able to seal her into the symbol on the floor! Hurry!
The flames swept over her and her figure disappeared. It didn't take long for Michael to analyze the information and realize what he must do.
The whole time the demon just stood there staring at him. It seemed to snap back into reality when Michael started to stand up. Before it could make a move, Michael waved his hand, and froze her feet to the floor. Not knowing how long he had before she broke loose, he quickly rushed over to the closet. He started looking frantically for the cloak. He pushed coats, shirts, skirts, and everything else out of the way in his desperate search. He finally dug and redug through everything in the closet and came to the conclusion it wasn't in there.
His next move was the dresser. He dashed across the room, being sure to keep out of the demon's reach. He quickly opened all the drawers pushing articles of clothing out of the way. Again he didn't find it.
He spun around and scanned the room. He searched everywhere! The closet was empty the dresser was empty. He saw the bed and looked under it but came up with nothing again. He looked around, and realized the place he hadn't looked: the bathroom.
He was about to super dash around the demon and into the bathroom, when he saw Eldar sprawled on the floor in front of the door. Who closed the door?
Michael knew that the cloak was in there, but he had to take the chance of getting by Eldar. The rifle looked pretty nasty. He didn't want to take the chance of Rose getting hit by it. The claws looked pretty bad too. There's nothing he like about Eldar's arsenal, but he had to chance waking him when he leapt over him to get into the bathroom.
He crouched down. Then rocketed around Rose, and leapt back at the door. His hand touched the doorknob and he turned it, all in midair. It started to swing open but immediately stopped when Eldar jammed his left hand claws through the door. Michael slammed into the door hard, and then fell on top of Eldar. Eldar ripped his claws out of the door, rolled Michael off of him, then jammed all ten claws through his back. Michael screamed in pain. The demon finally broke free, ran over to them, and grabbed Eldar's hands. At first Michael thought that she was actually going to pull them out, but was soon in more pain when she jammed them even further through him and the floor.
"I'll destroy you both with one blow!" she said remorselessly.
This seemed to do something to Eldar. He looked up at her. His gaze soon turned into a seething pit of hatred. He immediately started struggling to pull himself free. She started speaking in a foreign tongue. Michael had the sinking feeling that this was a powerful spell. Eldar struggled all the more furiously. She continued with the spell with a barely noticeable rush. Eldar suddenly just stopped. Just stopped. Didn't move or breathe. He sat there in total silence as she continued with the spell, now rushing more noticeably. Then, in one swift move, Eldar pushed his hands downward. Michael screamed as the nails cut sideways a couple inches. With a loud snap the nails broke near the fingertips. He quickly stood up, then reached down, pulled Michael free of the nails, and lifted him to his feet. Eldar stuck his arms under Michael's armpits to support him then clasped his fingers in between Michael's pointing his palms toward Rose.
Then, Michael heard a voice in his head, Think mirror.
Then he felt two small mirrors of ice form on his palms. Michael knew this couldn't be good. Mirrors reflected stuff. And if Eldar thought that mirrors would protect them, he probably intended them to reflect whatever was coming.
Michael then realized that Rose was mumbling the spell at high speed. Then, she stopped. She held up her hands, palms out. Then right before two giant beams erupted from them, Michael heard Eldar say, Now! The mirrors expanded and melted into each other to form a giant rectangular mirror that totally protect them. The beams hit them and Michael could feel it as they were pushed backward by the force. A few seconds later a horrible, ear-shattering scream came from Rose.
"Nooooo!" Michael managed to shout.
With a sudden surge of strength he tilted the giant mirror upward so that the beams made a huge hole through three decks. Eldar tried but couldn't force his arms back down. The beam eventually ended, and the mirror shattered.
Michael looked ahead to see a huge, gaping hole that went through the entire length of the ship. He sank to his knees. He couldn't save her...again. Then he heard the slightest of noise come from the door. He looked to see Rose's image once again peeking into the room. He couldn't look at her...he had failed her twice now.
He turned around to see that Eldar had passed out on the floor. He looked up to see the bathroom door ajar. He sighed. He might as well get the cloak now. He walked into the bathroom. It was like any other bathroom. It had a toilet, a sink, a mirror, a tub...but then something caught Michael's eye. It was barely noticeable, but a symbol had been carved into the counter around the sink. He walked up to it and saw that it was the missing symbol from the one on the floor! He reached out and touched it. Immediately it felt as if something rushed into him. It reminded him of wind...a cold wind.
So you decided to reclaim me have you?
Michael spun around to see that Eldar was standing next to him...as a human.
"E-Eldar...are you...you?" Michael asked tentatively.
Sadly yes but I am unable to speak orally. I can only communicate with you telepathically.
"Oh...that sucks." Michael said.
I'm not totally sure why that demon moved the symbol in here, but it somehow enabled me to become this.
He indicated himself. He looked at Michael to see that his eyes were vacant.
It wasn't your fault, you know. I was the one that forced you to make that mirror.
This seemed to get Michael's attention.
"That was you? I thought you were mindsweeped or whatever." Michael said.
I was. But when she threatened our lives, I was somehow able to gain control of my body through a strong will to live.
He was quiet for a moment.
And, I'm sad to say, I think there might have been a sliver of rage.
Michael wasn't sure what significance this had, but looked up and noticed Rose's cloak hanging on the back of the door. He walked over and grabbed it from its hook. Rose wanted released from the plaque, but he wasn't sure where she would go. Michael walked out of the bathroom and went to the door. Rose's form had appeared in the flame again. Michael touched the cloak to the door and the green flame rushed from it onto the cloak. Rose's form glided from the plaque into the room. It flew behind Michael and Eldar, and into a pile of rubble. At first Michael thought it had descended to the floor below, but was surprised when the rubble started to move. He immediately rushed over and started throwing chunks of ceiling and wall aside. He stumbled back as he unearthed...Rose.
Chapter 12
He fell back in shock. She sat there staring at him for a moment then lunged and embraced him in a long hug. They kissed affectionately wishing never to let the other go.
It took awhile before they could separate. Michael sat there, holding her in his arms. He never wanted to let her go again. But finally he did.
"I missed you." he said.
"Me, too." she said.
Michael saw her look behind him. He turned to see Eldar standing behind him, smiling.
I wouldn't do anything dangerous. That attack was a spirit blast. It only affects spirits. Reflecting it back at Rose blasted the demon apart, leaving Rose unscathed.
Michael nodded.
"This is Eldar. A...friend of mine." he said standing up and helping Rose up.
Rose smiled.
"It's nice to meet you, Eldar." she said extending her hand.
He looked at Michael. Michael nodded. He cautiously shook her hand. She gave Michael a look that said, "What's his deal?"
"He's mute." Michael said.
"Oh." she said like she did something offensive.
Eldar looked at her odd.
What's wrong?
Rose looked around.
"Did you hear something?" she asked Michael.
Michael looked from her to Eldar. Eldar shrugged.
Go ahead and tell her, I guess.
"Uh...Eldar has...telepathy." Michael said.
Rose looked at him like he was crazy.
"With all that's happened here, can you really doubt me?" he asked innocently.
Rose pondered this for a moment.
"I guess not." she said still not quite believing it.
Michael realized he was still holding Rose's cloak and handed it to her. He thought of something.
"Are those flames more than decoration then?" he asked.
Rose looked down at the flames.
"It's...part of my power. These flames are what enable me to use magic." she said running her finger along the flame.
Eldar stepped forward and examined the flame.
It looks so...familiar.
Michael looked at him.
Like the symbol?
No. It's more of a...familiar, familiar. Like it was something close to me. I saw the symbol somewhere, but this...this was something closer to me. Like a friend...
Eldar reached out and touched the flame, but, instead of touching them, his hand went through them! He pulled his hand out to reveal a small ball of flame floating in the middle of his pond.
"I was wondering when you were going to find me, Eldar."
Eldar's hand jerked in surprise, and the flame fell to the floor with a faint clunk.
"Ow! Whatcha drop me on my head for?" the flame said.
Eldar got a look on his face that said, "It couldn't be..."
Eldar went and picked the flame up. There was silence for a few seconds as Eldar stared intently at the flame, then Eldar looked at Michael.
We need to find your friend, Derrick.
Chapter 13
After another passionate kiss, Michael and Eldar were on their way with the mysterious flame. They found him on the top deck talking with Caspian. They walked right up to them without trying to conceal the flame. Eldar didn't wait for them to acknowledge their presence, he stuck the flame right in front of Derrick's face. He would've fallen backwards had Caspian not caught him.
"Whoa! What's your deal?!"
Eldar didn't back down. He held the flame out to Derrick, with a determined look on his face.
Take it. This is yours.
Derrick look around like Rose had. He turned to Caspian.
"Did you hear something?" he asked.
Caspian shook his head no. Derrick turned back to Eldar, who was still holding the flame towards him. Derrick looked past him at Michael with a look like, "What's his deal?" Michael shrugged. They left Rose's room without a word. Derrick looked Eldar straight in the face.
"Dude, what is your deal?!" he shouted.
Eldar pulled the flame back and looked at it. After a moment of silent staring, Eldar looked up with a little uncertainty. Then, without pausing to think, he thrust the flame right into Derrick's mouth. There was a moment in shocked silence, while Derrick gagged on the flame as it spewed from his mouth and started to spread. When Michael recovered, he went into action. He summoned a cloud of ice dust, and tried to cover Derrick in it, but it was repelled by some invisible force. Eldar quickly turned to him and held up his hand to signal for him to stop his futile attempt to put the fire out. Whatever was happening, Eldar was looking satisfied-like it was going as plan.
As Michael gazed helplessly at his burning friend, he noticed something. The flame wasn't producing heat! Nor could he see any burns on Derrick. Perhaps this mysterious flame was safe.
Just as Michael was about to calm down, Derrick lifted into the air a couple feet. He hovered there, shrouded in green flame. His head tilted bac
