Otherworld: Station One. - 9. Chapter 9

 

“Please tell me we are in the wrong place.” I said shutting my eyes and then opening them again. Hamon sighed somewhere to my right. I couldn’t tell where exactly, light was fading so quickly that my eyes had no time to adjust.

 

“He likes to mess it up every now and again.” Hamon explained.

 

“I wasn’t aware that a department store was counted as messing something up.” Alex said. I heard some rustling to my right again and ran into someone in front of me.

 

“Sorry…” I murmured.

 

“No problem.” Alex replied. I stepped backwards and waited for whoever was holding us up. I jumped as I felt something soft touch my hand. I glanced down back I couldn’t see anything and almost cried out when another hand took hold of my own.

 

I didn’t say anything and just stared straight ahead. It was a strong grip and I immediately thought of Alex but I couldn’t back that claim up. “What’s the hold up?” I heard Mel say. She was close to me, on my left.

 

“One moment please.” Hamon muttered. We fell silent and I heard Hamon whisper, “torch.” I watched as a feather, gold in colour started to glow and spin in the air in front of me. Eventually it began to disintegrate in small flakes completely lighting the hallway we were in.

 

We were in a long corridor; fluorescent lights were above us locked in cages and the walls were covered in strange patterns. Like vines had long ago snaked their way across the length and then been hacked off leaving only a ghost of a shadow behind.

 

The lights above us flickered on and started to buzz like a mosquito and the illumination glaring off the tiled floor below.

 

“Hardly seems worth it now.” Hamon said. In one hand was my feather book open and the feather marked ‘Yellow Warbler’ was gone. Great, I’d have to go back Mexico to get another one of those.

 

It was dead silent. And only when I felt a small squeeze did I remember the hand in mine. I glanced down at the delicate fingers and the two rings on the index finger. I turned to Mel who shrugged and smiled sheepishly. She uncurled her fingers from mine and stepped away. I resumed my forward study and spotted Alex looking at me with a certain…, uncertainty.

 

His eyes flashed a stormy colour and then he turned away.

 

“C’mon, only one way to go really.” Hamon said. He started forward and snapped the book shut. I followed after him with Alex in front and Mel beside me.

 

After what seemed like hours we stopped again, there was a split. “We need to split up.”

 

“Yeah because that worked out so well last time.” I pointed out. Hamon sneered and stepped over to the left side.

 

“I’m going this way.” He declared, “Alex I think you should come with me,” I immediately opened my mouth to argue when Alex stooped down next to my ear.

 

“I’ll keep an eye on him, I can look after myself.” He assured me. I frowned, that wasn’t what I was going to say, I was actually going to argue the fact that Mel and I probably shouldn’t be left alone.

 

Alex moved next to Hamon and I could feel something was wrong. We shouldn’t be doing this. My stomach was doing strange flips and telling me that something bad was going to happen.

 

“Here.” Hamon dipped his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a small knife. “It’s not much, but it’s something.” He shrugged.

 

“Wait, we don’t get any feathers?” Mel asked.

 

“Why would you, it’s not like you can use the majority? All he can use are non-combatant ones. And all you can do is heal. Seeing as Swan was your initiate bird you don’t need to have one of its feathers to heal.’ He explained.

 

“Well it’s not like Alex can use them either.” Alex shifted uncomfortably but Hamon and Mel didn’t notice. Instead Hamon smirked briefly then passed Alex something circular and silver. It was Hamon’s spinning disc.

 

“He can have that.”

 

“Well…Well…-” Mel struggled for words, “They belong to Eli!”

 

“What’s your problem?” He growled. Mel snapped her mouth shut with a sour look on her face. “Just look for a guy who acts like me.” Hamon explained. Mel went to open her mouth but I grabbed her shoulder and swapped places with her.

 

I took the blade Hamon was offering and held it at my side. Alex glanced at me and smiled weakly. “Be careful?”

 

“Mm yeah.” I nodded quickly biting down on my tongue.

 

Hamon flipped the book open again and stopped at an ‘African Grey Parrot’ feather. “Take this, it’s good for only one use, it’s for communicating,” He explained. Mel snatched the feather and huffed, tucking it into one of the buttonholes of her shirt.

 

Hamon turned to Alex and pointed down the left fork. “We’re going this way.” He went to turn away but stopped placing a finger to his lips. “Just look out for…you know.” I sort of understood and nodded.

 

Hamon stepped away with his hand steering Alex away. We stood for a moment watching them leave and eventually they turned once more and were gone from my sight.

 

The stillness of the air unnerved me. There was no wind, no sound apart from our synchronized breathing. I turned to Mel who was shivering. “Is it cold in here?”

 

“A cold day in hell?” I joked. Mel didn’t laugh, she slapped my arm and stalked away down the right fork. “Hold up!” I exclaimed and bounded after her.

 

***

 

I was impatiently twirling the blade between my fingers with surprising dexterity, much to the annoyance of Mel. “Will you stop that!” She shouted snatching at the blade.

“Watch it!” I exclaimed a little bit too late. She withdrew her hand back with a soundless gasp and cradled it to her chest. I dropped the blade and it landed with a clatter smearing the pristine white with blood.

 

“That…hurt…” She murmured, her eyes struggling to stay open.

 

“Let me see it!” She let her arms sag and I almost threw up. That knife must have been incredibly sharp. It had almost cut clean through one of her fingers; it was dangling by a single vein, threatening to completely fall off. Blood was free falling down her arm and splattering onto her shoes.

 

“It’s okay Eli…” She murmured.

 

“No it bloody well isn’t!” I argued. She looked up at me and with one swift movement she grabbed the loose finger and yanked it backwards as hard as she could, bellowing like a wounded bull at the same time. “MEL!” I fought the instinct to slap her but she hissed at me.

 

I stood back as she placed the finger back on it’s stump. I watched as the wound started to stitch itself together quickly with what looked like fabric until there was no trace of the cut, save for the blood along her arm and the small amount on her shirt and shoes. The rest was pooled around our feet.

 

“How…?” I breathed.

 

“I don’t know, it wasn’t a conscious act.” She replied. She stood from her crouch and wobbled a bit placing a hand on the wall to steady herself.

 

“Watch it.” I said smiling. I wrapped her arm around my shoulders but she frowned at me.

 

“I’m not a complete invalid Eli, I can walk.” I raised my eyebrows but let her go. She took a few steps then turned back to me. “See.” She stuck out her tongue and I chuckled slipping the blade into my belt. Just in case.

 

The corridors seemed the same everyway we turned, the same buzzing lights and shadow marked walls, the same offensively bright white of the walls. I was beginning to think that there was nothing down here and that we would be lost forever.

 

“Shh.” Mel stopped in front of me at a turn and held up a hand. I strained my ears but I couldn’t hear anything. Mel shrugged then crept around the corner peering into nothing. I followed her and saw that the turn opened out into a large underground room. The white walls fell away to a jagged rock face, illuminated with old flame torches along the perimeter held in place by steel rings stuck in the wall.

 

The floor seemed to be made of hay stamped into a solid path, and the sound of a hundred feet shuffling across the surface meet my ears and then the sound of voices, blending together.

 

Mel slid back into the hallway with me and crouched holding her knees. “What now?” she asked me as I slumped down with her. “What are we supposed to do? We can’t go in there.”

 

“It’s either that or go back.” I pointed out. Not that it made me feel much better.

 

“Well, lead on.” Mel growled. I shrugged and swallowed the cold steely lump that was my cowardice and stepped round the corner with my eyes shut.

 

The voices didn’t stop and that urged me forwards as I followed the sound and hit something solid. I groaned thinking how stupid I must have looked. “Hey watch where you’re going meat-bag!” Someone growled.

 

I opened my eyes coming face to face with a steel chest plate. I glanced upwards and stepped backwards my eyes wide but words failing on my lips. “Some of us are going places!” the… man? Said.

 

He stepped into the glow of the torchlight and I held back a gasp. His skin was moving, with little bumps under the surface that made his face look like a basketball. I would have laughed had the rest of him not been so damn terrifying.

 

His steel breastplate was holding a plethora of weapons along his back. Most of them came from medieval times. There were two blades, one gold and one silver and a long spear strapped to his back with several smaller daggers along his belt. His similarly bumpy legs were clothed in tattered cargo pants and instead of hands and feet there were claws.

 

“You right there mate?” He asked. I gulped and wiped my sweating palms on my pants. He sniffed, leant closer to me and took another whiff. “Whew, you stink like human.” He then noticed the blood on my shirt from Mel’s finger. “Hey leave some for the rest of us ey!” he burst out laughing and left me alone.

 

I exhaled deeply and high-tailed it past stares from things that I didn’t even know existed. There were men dressed in oriental clothes and some that looked like creatures from a nuclear fallout and more.

 

I entered the hallway and saw Mel staring at me wide-eyed. “Why didn’t you follow me!?” I growled.

 

“They’d smell my blood,” she hissed back. I sighed and slumped down to the ground kicking up dirt on the way.

 

“We don’t have a choice, we gotta keep going. We’d probably get lost if we went back.” I said casting my eyes back down the illusory corridor. The whites blended with each other hiding the many paths that I knew were down there.

 

Mel fidgeted and bit her thumb. “I..I don’t want to die…Ya know?” She said. I grinned and placed an arm around her, forgetting for a moment where we were. She slipped into my grip and shivered violently. She really was scared I realized.

 

“C’mon, we don’t exactly have a choice do we?” I explained trying to comfort her. She nodded solemnly and together we stood up and faced the cavern opening. She slipped her hand into mine and I squeezed it without thinking.

 

“Thanks Eli.” She whispered. I nodded without facing her and with me taking the lead we wandered out into the room. This time, with my thoughts completely internalized I could see what was actually here.

 

The room was a lot larger than I had originally assumed. It stretched back into a murky black penetrated by glow from torchlight that marked the perimeter. There was a dull haze flowing around in smoky strands carrying along a scent of some kind of spice that burned my nostrils but enticed me to follow.

 

Luckily, these…people…didn’t seem to notice us as much as I thought they would. I assumed that maybe they thought that the blood on our clothes wasn’t actually Mel’s but some other girl. After all, how would they know any different?

 

There were stalls of varying shapes but all similar shades of crimson or brown with many a misshapen vendor peddling obscure items. One in particular was shouting in some strange language and holding up small vials, the size of my palm, filled with black swirling smoke. “What do you think that is?” I asked Mel, when she didn’t answer I glanced over at her.

 

She was staring with her brow furrowed at two people standing a distance away. One was a pale red colour with the majority of its body concealed amongst a dirty robe the colour of a Hessian sack. It was talking to a shorter but determined looking woman dressed in a kimono made from purples of varying shades with silky black hair spilling about her like a canvas framing her pretty white face.

 

They turned and saw us. I froze unable to turn away. Something about the girl seemed familiar but I dismissed it and quickly looked in the opposite direction pulling Mel along with me through the compressing crowd.

 

I dipped under a table where a man with his head wrapped up in bandages was playing some kind of street game. “Eli, I don’t want to scare you but they’re following us.” Mel stated. I picked up speed and wound my way through the stalls pushing several smaller people over and slipping into some sheets blocking the view from the street.

 

We emerged into a smaller and less crowded walkway, sparsely lit with fewer stalls. I breathed out with a small smile. “We okay?” I asked. I didn’t really want to turn around and check myself.

 

“I think so.” Mel replied. I steadied my heart beat and fell into an easy walk wandering with Mel from stall to stall forgetting why we were actually here until she tugged on my arm. “We have a job to do.” She reminded me.

 

I sighed and pulled myself away from a table with a pair of identical twins, both with striking blonde hair that defied gravity. They looked normal enough save for their shifting eye colours and their table was filled with an array of weapons from the Stone Age right through to the possible future.

 

“Okay, which way?” I asked following her as she led the way, her previous uncertainty completely evaporated.

 

“Something tells me we need to be following them.” Mel said pulling back the sheet we passed through before and peering out into the smoky crowd. I spotted the girl first with her back turned to us. From my position I could see a dainty little bow tied around her midsection and the Japanese clogs on her feet. She was alone and moving purposefully through the crowd who parted like the red sea.

 

She was an authority, I knew that as soon as I saw her. “Ok.” I nodded. Mel grinned and slipped back into the main walkway with me close behind her. I didn’t take my eyes off her and stopped Mel as she halted between two stalls at the end of the room. She glanced around then reached into her pocket pulling out one of the vials I had seen earlier. This one had a murky brown smog inside

 

She uncorked the vial and dipped a finger into it enticing out the smoke in a trail that lazily drifted after her finger. She brought it against the wall and started drawing with the smog in a circular pattern then divided it in half. Pulling back her finger the smog clung to the wall for a moment then seeped into it like ink on paper. Stuffing the vial back into her pocket she stepped closer, and then walked right through the wall.

 

Mel gasped and made for the wall, I followed her and we stopped in front of it. I reached out to touch it and only felt rough earth beneath my fingers. I ran my hand along it and some of the dirt rubbed off onto my fingers. Rubbing it between my fingers I turned back to Mel who was fuming.

 

“But we need to go in there!” She growled. With a spin she pushed her way through the crowd. They moved out of her way just as quickly as the woman before. She stopped at the vendor selling vials and placed her hand on a similar coloured one.

 

The vendor’s hand snaked out and latched onto her’s. “And how are ye’ paying for this missy?” Mel narrowed her eyes and I felt the hairs on my neck begin to stand. I stepped back from her and folded my arms, trying to look intimidating.

 

“With your blood, pig.” She whispered. The vendor’s eyes widened as he saw something that I could not and he picked up the vial and tossed it to me. I caught it in surprise and Mel stood in front of him for a long moment and then turned abruptly and stalked back to the wall. She stopped and hung her head for a second and then glanced up at me as I came beside her, grinning at me with huge eyes.

 

“That was fun!” She exclaimed almost squealing. I smiled, though hiding my uneasy emotions beneath the smile. Something was wrong with the way she commanded the vendor. She sounded almost like Hamon, actually…she sounded like an angel.

 

“Now, how did she do this?” She mused studying the bottle and it’s coloured contents. I had the image of her movements fresh in my mind so I offered,

 

“Want me to try?” She shrugged and handed me the vial. I uncorked it and watched as the smoke lapped at the sides of the vial struggling to get higher and escape. I smiled and dipped my index finger in and felt the smog latch onto my skin almost like a leech I had once.

 

We had gone swimming in the creek after a rather dangerous period of raining and monsoon-ish weather. The water was high and the current was speeding along, We actually dropped paper boats into it and bet on who’s would win the races we set up.

 

I dove headfirst into the rapid water and felt the icy chill cling to my much younger, smoother body. As I surfaced I felt the familiar bite of the air on my face and what felt like my hair plastering to my head.

 

“C’mon!” I shouted. Jacqueline grinned at me, tore off her shirt and dove in with Mel close behind. We played around for a bit and when we were done we got out shivering so much that the water droplets flew off our bodies.

 

“Eli, what’s that on your leg?” Jacqueline asked pointing towards my calf. I looked down and saw it, the leech the size of my thumb. I squealed and could feel the blood flowing out of me with every suckle it did.

 

This, felt like that continuous suckle and I wrinkled my nose in disgust, but continued. I drew the circle on the wall and then divided it but the smog stuck to my skin. “Bugger…” I murmured.

 

“So, just do what you did?” Mel asked coming up beside me. I nodded and she stuck out her finger, instead of slowly oozing onto her skin it jumped as if pulled by magnetic force onto her finger. “Gross…” she muttered. With a few strokes she completed the divided circle and the smog attached itself to the wall, seeping in as it had before.

 

“Why can’t I do anything?” I muttered softly. Mel didn’t hear me and instead slipped into the wall without a word to me. I sighed and stepped through as well. Feeling like I had just pushed my way through cling wrap we emerged on the other side in a long narrow hallway comprised of what looked like limestone bricks and stone floors with several heavily bolted doors along both sides and lit by paper lanterns hanging from a glass ceiling.

 

Along either side of us on the floor were small gutters with trickles of a sickly green water running along them heading further ahead of us and the stench of sewage over-ruled any other possible scent.

 

“Whew…even stink would say that stinks…” I groaned. Mel smirked but moved on down the hallway as if driven by a purpose and nothing else. I lagged behind and watched her as she paused in front of each door then shook her head and made her way to the next one.

 

I shivered as the air chilled the further we walked and I glanced behind me. We had been walking downwards as it seemed that the path behind me was sloping upwards.

 

“Mel…” I muttered. She hushed me and placed a hand on one of the doors.

 

“Here…” she said. “I think it’s here.” She pushed on the door and I heard a dull ‘click’ as it slid open automatically. “Oh…oh my god…”

 

***

 

The ground was soaked with blood both ahead of them and behind them as Hamon pushed forward deeper into the labyrinth. Alex was replaying the last few minutes of fighting, where monsters that just seemed to be waiting for them at every turn launched themselves with an almost religious fervor.

 

He was spinning the disc in his palm while he briefly wondered about Mel and Eli. Where they were and if they were safe. Instead of pressing the matter he tried to listen to Hamon and his ramblings about demons and such.

 

“Alex!” He barked. Alex glanced up and tried to look apologetic. “Pay attention please, this is important.”

 

Alex nodded but zoned out again. There was only so much talking he could take before getting ridiculously restless and fidgety.

 

He let his mind wander, back to home, to reality, because there was no way this was happening. Personally he would never have spoken to someone like Eli before. Mainly because there was no commonalities between them, Alex hung with the wrong crowds for Eli; the crowds that picked on, bullied and demeaned people like Eli.

 

Alex kept his distance but if his friends knew what had happened the last few days they would probably focus on the fact that Alex was actually talking to Eli rather on the ‘end is nigh’ crap that Alex was fighting against.

 

“Alex watch out!” Hamon cried out breaking into his thoughts. Alex glanced up in time to spot something red flying at him. It hit him full force knocking the air out of his lungs and sent him flying across the tiles. He groaned and struggled to his feet, while Hamon started to attack.

 

He stood properly and tried to figure exactly what he was seeing. It was red-skinned with a billowing cloak made of what looked like Hessian material and was bleeding profusely evidenced by the dripping from the bottom of the cloak.

 

“Alex, get the book!” Hamon ordered, “Pass me the one called Cardinal- it’s red!” He could say no more as the creature swiped at him with a cleaver hidden in the folds of its robe along with the rest of its body.

 

“Filthy angelic puppets!” It hissed. It surged backwards with no sound and then lunged with its blade. Hamon pressed himself up against the wall as it moved past and grabbed hold of the blade wrenching it from its grip.

 

Alex skidded to stop next the book a few feet from his position and scrambled through the pages, tearing a page here and there in his frantic search. Eventually he stopped at the page filled with red feathers and he roamed the labels with his finger and picked up the ‘Cardinal.’ He could remember standing next to Eli and reading the use, burning.

 

He knew what to do then, in an instant it came to him and he lifted the feather balancing it on the middle finger of one hand as it slowly unraveled itself in a coil that latched onto his hand forming a bright red weave spirally along his arm.

 

In a burst of nausea his arm grew hot and he could feel the flames that would soon follow. He glanced up at Hamon who was scrambling backwards with his arms shielding his head as the creature drove the blade over and over at his face.

 

With its attention on Hamon, Alex lifted his arm and waited as the burning grew to an intense heat that caused him to break out sweating. With his free arm he wiped away the beading along his brow.

 

The flames began at his fingertips, eventually licking their way down to his wrist, then slowly back up his arm to the elbow. When he was sure that it was ready, he tried to think of something witty, like Eli would say. His mind flooded with Eli’s face, and seeing nothing else he murmured a word indistinguishable to even him and let go of the flames that were encompassing his body.

 

In one solid motion he stumbled forward as the flames rocketed from his arm catching onto the robe of the creature and igniting in a ferocious yet stunning display, filling the corridor with smoke and the stench of rotten eggs and cooked banana.

 

Then silence as the creature became ashes. Hamon gasped for breath as he dropped his butchered arms and stared at Alex who grinned back and shrugged. Hamon didn’t smile.

 

Hamon stood and snatched the book off the ground. “You…, you shouldn’t have been able to do that.” He spat, his eyes brimming with a stone cold anger that almost quenched the burning left in Alex’s arm.

 

He stared Alex right in the eye with a strange smile on his face that made Alex’s stomach turn. “In fact, you should be dead.”

 

***

 

There, chained up to the rocky wall and looking like a starved convict was a man. A man whose eyes were sunken and a shade of green like clover. A man whose probably once lush red curls had grown muddied and knotted.

 

Attached to the man’s arms were long ropes, on one of which were peacock feathers in succession, about thirty of them. Some were already bare and the ‘eye’ faded.

 

On the other rope were long silvery white feathers which shone in the emptiness of the room. A room, which was devoid of any light except for the paper lanterns, that spilled light into it through the open door.

 

He didn’t look up at us as we came in and didn’t make a move as Mel bent down to gaze upon his face. I stared around at the room, which fitted the name prison more. There was a bucket of filthy water on the ground and a rag hanging on its edge.

 

The ground was solid concrete and the walls were the same limestone as outside. I half expected there to be some kind of toilet but found none, then glanced down at the bucket.

 

“Surely not…” I hoped.

 

I saw Mel reach out her hand to touch the man and saw one of the silvery white feathers light up and eviscerate as a white light leaked from the feather into the rope and down into the mans body. I grabbed her shoulder and wrenched her back just in time as the man gasped his once hollow eyes becoming aware of his surroundings.

 

We both stood back as he regained use of his body and I noticed one of the peacock feather glimmer for a moment and then subside. A moment of boldness stole through me and I approached the man.

 

“Michael?” I asked softly reaching out to touch his face then pulling back as he glanced up at me.

 

“You’re here?!” He exclaimed, then groaned in pain shutting his eyes. He waited a moment then tried again. “You, you are here.” He sighed and started laughing, “Thank you god.” He murmured.

 

“Were you expecting us?” I asked.

 

“Sooner or later, I just didn’t expect it to be sooner. Where is the third?” he asked, turning from me to Mel and then back again. I shrugged.

 

“Do you mean Hamon, we split up.” I offered. Michael spat on the ground and muttered some kind of curse, then glared at me vehemently.

 

“Good thing too, traitorous bastard. Don’t know why he’s calling himself Hamon these days anyway.” he growled. I stood, confused, what did he mean ‘these days?’ who was Hamon if that wasn’t his name?

 

“Wait…what, then who did you mean, what third?” Mel asked, stepping forward from the shadows. Michael shifted his eyes to her, looking just as much perplexed as I felt.

 

“Your third, the Aggressor…” Michael explained.

 

“Eli, does, does he mean Alex?” She asked.

 

“Who or what is the Aggressor?” I quizzed. But Michael’s face slumped downwards as the ground started to rumble.

 

“Eli!” Mel cried out behind me. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back, tumbling onto our backs as the wall came alive, leaking something coloured an angry red. It oozed from the wall and trickled down lazily onto Michael’s body.

 

“Argh!” He screamed thrashing in his chains. The liquid steamed and I realized it was magma. Then, it made sense.

 

The peacock feather renewed his time in the human body, and the feathers on his left, must have been swan feathers, for they healed him every time his body either passed out, or sustained too much pain

 

After a few minutes of his screaming in agony, the lava subsided and Michael was on the floor his arms still chained and gasping. “Please, you have to get me out.” He moaned. “Kill me, the chains will break then you may heal me.” He explained.

 

“What if it doesn’t work?” I asked, the knife in my belt feeling incredibly heavy.

 

He glanced up at Mel and smiled weakly “I’m sure the Soother can fix that.” he said. I looked to Mel who seemed as confused as I was. He turned back to me. “Please, hurry.” I nodded once and reached into my belt.

 

“I’m sorry for this.” I murmured. I pulled the knife out and Michael turned his neck exposing the veins. I inhaled, closed my eyes, pulled back my arm and plunged it deep into the tissue. It sunk quickly into the flesh and cut into the voice box thus rendering Michael incapable of speech. He writhed for a few seconds and then the chains broke as he fell in a heap on the ground.

 

“What now?” Mel asked.

 

“I guess it’s up to you, Soother..” I joked. She didn’t see the humor. No one seemed to be able to relax. How else were going to get through this if we didn’t make a joke once in a while? I sighed, grabbed her hand and dragged her to floor with me placing it over the wound in his neck.

 

“Just do what you do so well.” I said. She half smiled and put her second hand where mine had been. She closed her eyes and I watched in amazement, what Alex must have seen when she fixed me.

 

Her veins lit up with a silver light and a shadow was cast behind her, showing her body with large wings attached to her back. The light pulsed with her heartbeat and I watched as it intensified along her fingers and seeped into the wound.

 

As the skin knitted together Michael began breathing again, albeit more shallow than previously. And he did not awaken.

 

We both looked to the other for guidance and found uncertainty. “Is he ok?” I asked. Mel shrugged and bit her lip.

 

“I think so, I mean; I don’t know what I did but it was similar to when I…healed you.” She replied. I sank to my knees and tapped him on the shoulder. His eyes fluttered for a moment then opened and I saw his iris rapidly changing colours from one end of the color wheel to the other.

 

Eventually they stopped changing like a poker reel, his green eyes blinked a few times, and he slowly returned to full operation. Standing up and sticking a hand out to touch the wall and steady himself he turned to us and nodded once.

 

I took it as a thank you and smiled back. He stepped forward, his legs shaking as they regained their strength. “We must leave, she won’t be long.” Michael grimaced.

 

“That woman in the kimono?” I asked. Michael nodded and I felt an ominous foreboding rise in my gut. “Mel, I’ll be right back.” I said. She glanced up at me her hair flicking about as she turned staring at me helplessly. I held up the feather Hamon had given us. She sighed and nodded.

 

Michael stared after me as I ducked out the door and stood to the side so they couldn’t see me and lifted the feather to my eye level. Again I groaned as I realized he hadn’t told either of us how to use it.

 

I fiddled with it between my fingers and sighed. Wasn’t much I could do about it so I tucked it behind my ear hoping that some kind of bolt of inspiration would hit me square in the face.

 

As I went to move back inside, a skull splitting shriek like intense microphone feedback squawked in my ear. I went to yell but felt the sounds escaping from my mouth into a soundless void.

 

“Stop yelling!” a shockwave flooded my body and I straightened out. “Just…talk normally, you won’t hear it because your voice is here, like I can’t hear mine because mine is there, but you most certainly are making noise and unless you really want us to get killed please, by all means continue your idiotic screams.”

 

Hamon’s voice flooded into the hallway and I glanced around. “Where are you...?” I said, but not actually hearing my voice.

 

“Well gee, I don’t actually know.” Hamon drawled. I could almost see him rolling his eyes and folding his arms across his chest. “Did you call me for something important? Please tell me you did. I’d be sick if you didn’t”

 

“Shut up.” I growled. Hamon laughed in response.

 

“You’re a bit funny you are. No, but seriously, what?” He said.

 

“We found Michael, but I don’t really know where we are, he was chained to a wall being tortured by some girl.” I explained.

 

“Eli, are you guys okay!?” I heard Alex break through. There was the sound of a smack against some metal and I heard Alex mutter something unintelligible but threatening and I smiled.

 

“Is he still chained?’ Hamon asked.

 

“No, we freed him why?” I heard him sigh and I cowered as his voice took on a growl.

 

“I didn’t say free him moron, you can’t trust him. He was struck down don’t forget. Look, keep an eye on him and don’t move.”

 

“But how will you find us?” I asked.

 

“I’m sure I will.” Hamon said.

 

“Wait..” I said but he was gone, his voice left the echoing hall and my voice returned. I peered into the cell and saw Mel watching him pitifully and sighed.

 

“Well, we have to wait here.” I instructed her as I stepped back in. Michael glanced up and shook his head.

 

“She will return, we must leave, you cannot die.”

 

“What do you mean we can’t die?” I pressed.

 

“It is not your purpose,” Michael began frantically. I stepped closer, eager to hear some sort of explanation.

 

“Silence Michael.” A voice penetrated the tense room and I wheeled around. The girl in the kimono glared at us, and in her hands was a shimmering blade the length of her slender legs that gleamed in black sparkles.

 

“You tell too much of things you know nothing about. I’m most certain that if you spoke further you would have informed them of a task they have no business attempting and filling their minds with delusions of grandeur.” Her words sounded heavy and thick like they were playing a game with her tongue.

 

Michael faced her, straightening his back and locking his body into a strong forceful stance. Like he was ready for a fight. “Leave us Lady.”

 

“Surely you must know her name” I exclaimed in a brief lapse of sanity. Michael looked at me like I was stupid but the woman answered.

 

“Lady is my name, actually, it’s Lady Calamity.” She corrected dragging the blunt side of her sword across her thigh and refracting the light from the lanterns. She saw me watching and looked up through her fringe her opal eyes glittering dangerously. “But you can call me Lady…” she said pointing the blade towards me.

 

I gulped and felt heat rising in my cheeks. She giggled and turned to Michael, “I can’t let you leave silly, I have my orders, and you made them dreadfully easy. I would never have guessed that two of the four were here in our little chamber.”

 

“Besides,” she shrugged and gripped the hilt with both hands. “It’s more fun this way.” She laughed and charged without warning towards Michael. He in turn dove towards her as she swung the blade, I ducked quickly as it soared past my head and I ran towards the exit snatching Mel in my haste.

 

I turned as we exited and saw Michael block another strike with a sword of his own of red steel and angry flames. He glanced over at us, his brow furrowed and his eyes glowing. “Go. Run!” he yelled. I didn’t need to be told twice and I ran my feet echoing in the darkness as we ran deeper inside.

 

We whirled through every turn and twist and no matter how far we ran the sound of clashing swords and whooshing fire was at our heel. We reached a dead end and stopped, panting heavily for air and I almost lost control, I almost yelled, and I almost punched the wall but some force held me back.

 

“This is hopele-whoa!” I heard from behind me.

 

“Whoa what?” I asked and was greeted by silence, “What is it Mel?” I turned and Mel was gone. Only the wall remained. I spun around trying to spot her but saw nothing. I pressed the backs of my hands against my eyes, trying to quell the intense solitude that fell upon me like a weight on my back.

 

“Eli!” I heard her shout; I almost knocked myself out as my head rushed around trying to see where she was. I glanced back at the wall and almost tripped over trying to scramble backwards. Her torso and head was sticking out from it. “Come on!” She moaned and then she retreated back into the wall.

 

I shrugged, not like this was weird or anything. I told myself and I stepped through the wall coming into the white corridor we had started in. Although the lights over head were darkened now and some flickered in a vain attempt to stay lit.

 

Mel was standing a few meters away staring down the hall. She glanced back at me as I came through. “Do you think we should have waited?” she asked.

 

“He told us to go Mel.”

 

“I know, but the whole point of being here is to find him.” she argued. I knew she was right, and I knew that Hamon would be pissed. “and what was with that woman, Lady.” Mel wondered. “and what were they calling us, two of the four?”

 

“What about Aggressor and Soother?” I offered.

 

“Why do I get the feeling that this is a lot bigger than we had been told?” Mel asked. I shrugged but felt it too.

 

“We might as well find Hamon.” I said shrugging off her comment.

 

“And how do you expect to find them?” She challenged. I pointed past her.

 

“Easy, we follow the trail of blood.” I stated. Her eyes widened as she followed my direction and saw the blood spilled in an erratic manner along the ground. It seemed to continue for a while and so we followed it.

 

“Do you smell banana?” Mel asked. I frowned and shook my head. “It was just a question…” she muttered.

 

The blood seemed to get more and more abundant and turned into small puddles that splashed as we walked onward. I stopped as I heard voices around the corner that had appeared from no where.

 

“Hamon, what are you doing? I didn’t mean to use it. You were in trouble.” I heard Alex’s voice and my heart skipped but Hamon’s reply silenced any words I had.

 

“I had no idea that you of all disgusting humans were one of the four, and the Aggressor. Boy, am I lucky. I don’t have to worry about you getting any skills. I can just kill you now and say you were lost.” Hamon laughed. I gasped and felt my whole body stiffen.

 

I urged myself to move but couldn’t force my legs onwards. Mel behind me was just as paralyzed. “What the hell are you talking about? Hey. Don’t point that at me!” Alex yelled. I heard someone slip over and land with a splash.

 

“Trust me, its better this way. Hell, you might even get into Heaven. I’m sure they’d love to have one of the four. See, I knew the other two were of the four, and I have plans for them, but you, you were a cherry on top.”

 

“Don’t you dare hurt Eli!” Alex yelled.

 

“Hurt him? I can’t hurt him, he’s necessary to create my world; I cannot conceive it without the Conceiver, fool.”

 

His world? Conceiver? One of the Four?

 

I couldn’t think. I wanted to move, to help, but I couldn’t think let alone achieve physical action. “No, Hamon, please!” He pleaded.

 

“Send god a message while you’re there. Tell him ‘fuck you’ from his beloved Gabriel.” He replied. My body jerked into action with a bolt of rage and I sprinted around the corner slipping on the tiles and sliding as I tried to stop, I tripped over a corpse on the floor and stumbled down to my knees I glanced up and saw Hamon standing in front of Alex but neither had seen me yet.

 

Alex raised his arms; one scarred by a black spiraling line down the length of his hand and forearm, as Hamon lifted a cleaver in one hand and drove it into Alex’s chest.