DING!
"Upper room!" a soft voice announces from an elevator.
"Welcome back, brother; it's good of you to finally bring them up. What took you so long?" Zannat asks.
Walking forward with Kira, Silas, and Esmeralda behind him, Brabat takes the black ventilating mask off his face. "What an irritating object," he sneers. "Ven Percy put them in hibernation, it's not easy to wake them up in that state. We also had to get them a change of clothes." Brabat says this while walking closer towards Sven and his brother Zannat.
"No worries, I hope you have found the strongest that Sven needs. What are your names?" Zannat solicits.
Silas immediately gets onto his left knee, his fist digging into the clear brown marble floor with white streaks. "Silas, sire!" he shouts out softly.
Taking a few steps forward whilst holding onto his dark grey cape, a smile begins to smear Zannat's face. "Sire? I like the sound of that; you've been trained well, unlike this one over here," he says, his gaze panning towards Esmeralda, who is cluelessly taking in the environment she is in. "You!" Zannat shouts, "What is your name?".
Esmeralda sweeps her gaze down and locks it on Zannat. "This place is so cool; you guys must get good food," she says.
Veins begin to grow on the side of Zannat's head. "Brother, is this girl ok? She makes me feel uneasy and agitated at the same time."
"Enough!" Sven yells, his voice transmitting and bouncing around the open space of the upper room. "I appreciate your findings, Brabat Lonares. I now need the other grades I demanded. Announce our departure within the hour," he commands. Sven begins to walk towards Esmeralda, and with a slight whisper, the confused look on Esmeralda's face transforms into a look of indifference.
"Yes, Sire," she says with a dissociated tone.
Sven, about to walk towards Silas, gets halted in his tracks by Shinra who hisses his snake-like tongue. "What about the boy, Father?" he questions while pointing at Truth, who lies on the floor.
Turning around, Sven begins to speak. "I have a plan for him," he says. "Take him down to the ascendentry, there is something within him. If we don't break him now, we could suffer the consequences in the future," Sven directs.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
"ANNOUNCEMENT, ALL GRADES FROM BRONZE TO OBSIDIAN, MAKE YOUR WAY DOWN TO THE BRIDGE OF LIFE IN AN ORDERLY MANNER AND PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A BATTLE. I WILL SAY AGAIN, MAKE YOUR WAY DOWN TO THE BRIDGE OF LIFE IN AN ORDERLY MANNER!" A sharp voice announces within the entire building of the Tower of Babel.
"What the hell is that announcement about?" Nero asks.
Frantically pushing Nero back with his hand motion, Jonathan begins to breathe heavily. "How am I supposed to know! We are running out of time. You said you know where he is, so where the hell is he?" he strains his voice whispering.
"What was your name again? Jonathan, right, don't speak to me like that. First of all, I said I might know where he is; and besides, I am all you have; your damn memory got wiped out for crying out loud." Nero calmly says while fiercely pointing at Jonathan.
About to speak, Nero covers Jonathan's mouth and pins Jonathan and himself onto the wall. Soldiers with different colored armbands ranging from gold, silver, bronze, and navy blue with streaks of purple and white, creating a galaxy-looking armband, begin to rush past and murmur throughout the Tower of Babel's ground level.
"Get your hands off my mouth," Jonathan sharply mumbles. "As soon as most of them have passed, I am making a run for it to where my room is, which is level two. I will find him with or without you," he says, his voice toned down to avoid grabbing attention.
Nero sighs, "I won't dishonor my word; you helped me get that little girl to safety." I will help you find your friend. But I am also not willing to die in this tragic place, so I need you to be smart for me. You look like a thinker, so I need you to be one, alright? If you can do that, I will ride with you until we find him; that I promise you," he whispers while reaching his hands out towards Jonathan.
Turning back and staring at Nero's hands, Jonathan's eyes begin to swell up with tears. "Forgive me for displaying my emotions; you have to understand, he is the only brother I have left. I need him back!" His final shout of a word causing a teardrop to run down his face.
The final soldier at the back of the pack passes by. Silence creeps in as Jonathan and Nero exchange looks.
"Lead the way" Nero says.
Fiercely wiping the tears off his face, Jonathan peeks at out the corner. With no one in sight, he looks back and nods at Nero. A few steps away, a metallic board labeled in black lettering plastered adjacent to it. 'LEVEL 1 – COPPER, LEVEL 2 – IRON AND BRONZE, LEVEL 3 – SILVER, LEVEL 4 – GOLD, LEVEL 5 – OBSIDIAN'.
Reading it all out loud, Nero ends by whispering, "What level are you?"
"Level 2," Jonathan whispers back
In a rush of urgency, Jonathan bounces on the stairs ahead of him, Nero shadowing his every move. As they pass level one, they begin to speed up, the next flight of stairs, ahead of them labeled, 'LEVEL 2 - IRON AND BRONZE'. Taking their final step onto the last stir, silence encumbers the entirety of the floor. Numerous amounts of rusted metal capped doors still wide open, the hollow metallic creek of them sharpening as the seconds pass by. The intense inhale and exhale of both their breaths filling up the entirety of the hallway.
CLANG. One of the doors ahead of them to the left shuts close.
With a slight nod of their heads, Jonathan and Nero begin to creep up towards that door slowly. Getting closer, they split up, Nero taking the left side of the door, and Jonathan pinning his back onto the right.
"3, 2, 1," Nero whispers.
A never-ending creek, the door opens slowly. "Truth is that you!" Jonathan abruptly shouts out.
On the floor, a blood and ink-stained individual lies, severely coughing without seizing. Nero walks past Jonathan and turns the individual over.
-
"You…you fucking rat! You damn rat!" Jonathan screams out, his voice exuding a tone of pure enragement in tandem with a barrage of haymakers bloodying the already bloodied individual. "I your all your fault isn't it, it's always you, isn't it, Blake? I will fucking end you!" he shouts out with his teeth grimacing, his face, getting splattered with blood every punch.
Creating all the momentum he can, Nero jumps over Blakes body and tackles Jonathan onto the floor. "Stop it!" he whispers harshly. "I don't care whatever beef y'all got going on, but I told you already, I ain't trying to die! Now keep your voice down! He was in that room with me, he didn't do anything apart from bringing that little boy in, he might actually be of help to us, so cool down" he mutters.
"You know nothing so get your damn hands off me, he is a rat, he will always be a damn rat!" Jonathan continues to yell while trying to push Nero off him.
-
Cough, Cough
Curling his body into a fetal position and putting both arms on his head to shelter himself, Blake begins to sob. "I am sorry Jo…Jonathan. I don't know what is wrong with me. I am so scared, I am so scared. I will do anything to make it up to you, I…I know where they will take Truth," he mumbles whilst weeping with a wheeze in his voice.
-
"Where is he then, hmm?" Jonathan asks, his voice chilling to the bone. "I am all good, you can let me go," he says whilst pushing Nero off him and getting onto his feet.
"Do you remember the purple haired boy that we gave up to that bandit group in the forest?" Blake asks, his voice still quivering.
"Yes, what about him?" Jonathan retorts
"From that announcement, they are going back to get him, and that thing that did this to me in that room…" Blake speech begins to deteriorate, "that…thing," he says again whilst looking at his blood and ink covered hands.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jonathan mumbles. "Oi what thing?" he asks whilst shaking Blakes body back and forth.
Nero, in a soft tone begins to ramble, "He must be talking about the halo that was with us in that room, it killed Mr. Black and its own 3 soldiers, they kept calling it Sven or something like that. It must also be what wiped your memory. Jonathan, I will be honest, the kid sounds like he knows what he is talking about, we need to hear him out or bring him with us,".
As Jonathan turns his head to look over his shoulder at Nero, a look of disgust draws on his face. "Who, this guy?" he says whilst beginning to giggle hysterically. "Sure, he can come, and after he proves himself useful…". Jonathan turns back and begins to rapidly shake Blake once again. "Blake continue talking," he says whilst smiling.
Blake, brought back from his trance, begins to calmly speak. "When I was little, daddy always told me to respect him or else he the Sven will come and get me, daddy being a Ven, I thought the Sven is naturally his superior. I was tragically mistaken, the names sounding similar is a ploy that until this day, I don't know what it's meant for. Jonathan, what I saw in that room is nothing I have ever seen, that shadow we saw in the forest is nothing compared to it. All I know is, if Truth gets overtaken by it, he will be gone for…for…ever,"
THUMP!
Blake body hits the wooden floor.
"Oi, Oi, Oi, wake up, what do you mean he will be gone forever?" Jonathan yells out while lightly slapping Blake's face left and right. "Nero lets go now! I know the bridge that the announcement is talking about, we need to get there before they leave," he demands.
Nero palms his face and slowly sighs. "Ok, it's happening again. You are not using your brain, but you know what its fine, I want to get out of this place, I need to get that little girl first, she is coming with me, and you are going to bring that Blake boy along in case he wakes up," he says.
"Let the little girl stay with the old lady Dahlia, she will just slow us down, so will this rat, do you not understand!" Jonathan screams out.
Nero's face turns expressionless, "Maya is coming along, and you are bringing that boy, if you can't accept that, I am afraid this is the end of the road for us," he says with his tone going cold.
"Meet me at the bushes near the big gate at the entrance of the nation, there is a bridge there which the entire core will be gathered on. Be quick." Jonathan says as he picks Blake up from the floor and places him on his right shoulder.
-
In the darkness of night, boots stomp through the empty streets of the motherland, mumbles echo as core soldiers begin to gather on the bridge of life. At the very back of the pack, horses that possess no flesh but that are made of white skeletal bones begin to heavily stomp the ground, the noise, notifying the soldiers in front to split a massive lane in the middle. As each skeletal horse steps through the lane, each has a different colored masquerade looking mask on its skeletal face. The first, a crimson red base with a gold swirling pattern, the second, a dark blue base with a gold swirling pattern, the third, a black base with gold swirling circles, the fourth, a purple base with gold swirling circles, and finally, the fifth walks through with no mask, but with all-black skeletal bones. As the horses follow each other to the front of the pack, individuals can be seen seated on them and wrapped around their arms are the galaxy-like armbands.
"Those are the obsidian calvary," a soldier with a silver armband whispers. "We never see them," another with a gold armband mumbles. Murmurs begin to zip through the entire pack of the core. Frantic toned voices drowning out the deafening stomps of the horses.
"SILENCE!" a voice powerfully announces. "The mother has sent me to lead the search of the purple haired boy you let slip through your fingers, you are all to blame, absolute fools!" the voice shouts.
Murmurs begin to rise again, "Is that one of the hand soldiers?" a bronze grade soldier whispers out. "I thought they protect that Sven that we've never seen before," an iron grade soldier states.
Through all the mumbles, a strong hiss muffles them all out. "Show some respect! This is no hand soldier. This is Sven, so shut your mouths and let's head out." Kira screams out with a hiss at the end.
In the blink of an eye, the inky black liquid shoots out from the Svens possessed body and forms a halo on its head. "You needn't worry Kira, my son. They all know now," Sven's whisper flooding the entire bridge of life, and in one rapid motion, the entire core slam their feet together and every bit of mumble subsides, all their expressions dissociating as they place their helmets on their heads. The five obsidian calvary soldiers on their skeletal horses turn their head to look over their shoulders at the soldiers behind them.
"The Sven has been let out," the individual sitting on the horse with the crimson and gold masquerade mask calmly whispers.
"I hope you five don't need to be put in such a state." Sven says, his gaze hovering over the five obsidian ranked soldiers.
"We know our place, Sven," the individual sitting on the black boned skeletal horse chillingly states.
"You must be their leader, keep your calvary in check," Sven says. "Silas, Esmerelda, open the gate!" he yells.
Inches away from their emerald-green armband, the patches with the vibrant green light emanating from Silas and Esmerelda's skin begin to rapidly breathe as they push the massive black entry gate of the motherland.
"LET'S HEAD OUT!" Sven with a certain zealousness in his voice demands.
-
"Where is he at? I will leave without him," Jonathan thinks to himself, his eyes panning side to side whilst hiding behind a bush.
"Jonathan!" A voice shouts out behind him.
As Jonathan turns to look behind, there Nero is, sprinting at full speed with Maya on his back.
"Sorry for taking a bit, old lady Dahlia was being hardheaded and kept asking for you. Do you even know her grandson?" Nero asks while softly placing Maya onto the ground.
Jonathan, looking straight ahead as the last set of core soldiers exit the gate replies to Nero, "I don't know Nero, that is the least of my concerns. I know how we can get out here without going through the main gate, only thing is transport, we can't follow them on foot, especially with Blake and the little girl with us," Jonathan states.
Nero pats Jonathan's shoulder, "Don't worry, the truck me and Mr. Black came in should still be outside of here. Lead the way and get us out of here,".
"Perfect, follow me," Jonathan says whilst picking an unconscious Blake off the ground and placing him over his left shoulder.
As Jonathan leads the way, they head through an alleyway and at a dead end, they open a drain grate which is behind what looks like an industrial building and head down by climbing down a ladder. Walking through the sewage, they get to another ladder.
"You and the little girl head up first and start the truck you are talking about" Jonathan says whilst tapping on the ladder.
Nero steps towards the ladder and places Maya on his back once again. "Hold on tight alright Maya," he softly whispers. "Alright Jonathan, see you up there," he says whilst beginning to climb the ladder.
As Nero gets to the end of the ladder, he slides open a wooden cover and dirt begins to sift through. Moving to the side, he waits for the dirt to stop falling. "Finally," he says as he continues to keep climbing. As he groans his way out of the hole, he places Maya onto the ground and begins to look around. Surrounded by shrubs and tall overgrown trees, he spots the truck and begins to run towards it. "Come on Maya!" he shouts.
THUD. Jonathan throws Blake onto the ground as he grips onto the ground and forces his way up.
"Come on buddy, hurry it up!" Nero shouts out whilst revving the truck.
Shutting the door of the truck, Jonathan places Blake onto the back seats. "We can't tail them; they will sense us. Let's head through the forest, and we will step out once in a while to use their footsteps as a map," he says.
"Alright, do you have your seatbelt on little Mimi?" Nero asks whilst looking back. Maya slowly nods her head. "Ok then, lets get going!" Nero excitedly shouts out.
END OF CHAPTER
THEORIES MERAKI – SVEN AND THE CORE ARE CARRYING A CERTAIN AURA OF DESTRUCTION AS THEY HEAD OUT OF THE MOTHERLAND. WHAT IMPENDING DANGER AWAITS.
NEXT CHAPTER – TBD