The Flight

“This isn’t when you’re supposed to help her!” Timoteo snapped. “Now take your stupid librem and run! RUN!”

That’s what they did: RUN! They didn’t have a choice. Epinephrine had taken over.

Sympathizing with the excruciating pain of Lithuania’s savaged spine or wondering about how Timoteo knew about the librem – did they talk too loud? he couldn’t have seen it – and what on Coralende was going on with Lithuania and her blue dots – was she divining? but she didn’t seem to be in control and if that were divining why didn’t winfry and isa glow blue? and what was she going to say about her sisters? –and why was Timoteo such a douche to them? …

All that cerebral activity, given the dire circumstances, would have been absurd. So their brains switched off and they booked it. winfry didn’t hear the thunder of the tunnel caving in around him let alone the screeching of the Assmachestani forces above. He didn’t even realize how much the floor was shaking, later recalling only a light tremor underfoot. He just ran like mad and kept track of isa.

With longer legs, winfry could have easily outrun isa but he kept her in front in case something happened. And of course something did. One of the more violent tremors jerked off a pipe from the ceiling. isa wasn’t quick enough and the metal beam struck her across the shoulder sending her face first into the floor. Without any hesitation, winfry swooped down, scooped isa up like a track baton and kept on running. It took a punch in the chest for winfry to realize that isa wasn’t unconscious and could run by herself.

While both isa and winfry had seen the North Tower through their divining, they had no real idea of how far it was and their muscles were approaching oxygen debt. But the tremors had diminished in force and frequency and it seemed as if they were distancing themselves from the Assmachestani strike. So they let themselves let up.

And then they heard it. Rattling down the tunnel came the cry of an Assmachestani assassin. Given the trauma those devils put them through before Lithuania found them, they would remember that sound even after Alzheimer’s. At least this time they knew it was coming. While winfry pulled out the librem from his jacket pocket, wrote in a rock and illuminated the tunnel, isa divined a 2 foot diameter ball of fire. After their first attack, they planned out how to deal with the monsters. And although their plan was only minimally effective in the woods, this tunnel was a different story. With the passage illuminated they could see the black blur 100 meters away hurtling towards them like a bat out of hell. As it narrowed in, winfry launched the rock and the assassin easily swooped to the left, right into the 573 K sphere of flames isa sent moments after winfry threw the rock. The charred remains slid past winfry’s foot. That was easy. It made isa and winfry look like a pair of bona fide adventurers instead of just an oddly romantic and bookish couple. At least until the rest of the assmachestani force charged through the tunnel.

Throughout their blunderings in the woods, winfry and isa had discovered quiet a few of the agents of Assmachestani: the toxic deep purple fungus that set off heat-triggered explosions, the reptile that moved and looked like a small wolf that spit sparks that torched whatever they landed on and left burns that were nearly impossible to heal even with divining, the creature that left ostrich sized bird tracks throughout the woods and of course our dearly beloved winged assassins. This time, storming up the tunnel were a trio of assassins, a pair of the wolf-lizards and a woman in an odd military sort of outfit.

The woman shouted in a foreign language and the three assassins shot out in front of the group while the wolf-lizards closed in just in front of her. Not even a miracle would help winfry and isa defeat this Assmachestani force; it was time to fly. With the monsters still 70 meters away, isa triggered an explosion that brought the ceiling down just in front of their attackers, grabbed winfry’s hand and ran. But before they could get much of a head start they heard another explosion and the assassins swooped out of a path cleared through the rubble. Heart rates must have hit the turbo boost, when isa and winfry looked back to see the woman emerge from the clearing aglow with a halo of blue. This time, winfry grabbed isa’s hand, pulled her forward and shouted through gasps of air, “On three… we turn … and give them… everything we’ve got… trust me… 1… 2… 3!”

A wave of blinding light stunned their adversaries followed by a shower of rocks. It was the best isa could muster and it wasn’t enough. Their hunters were thrown off guard and bruised but even without full eyesight they continued to advance. When they regained their eyesight, the Assmachestanis received an even greater shock. Their prey was gone.


“isa, are you ok?”

“Yes dear.”

isa and winfry were satnding in a dark narrow hallway.

“Are we in the…”

“North Tower. I hope so.”

“But how did you get use here?”

“I’m not really sure myself but we don’t have time for that story right now. We need to find Latvia and Estonia immediately. They are Lithuania’s only hope.”

And the two dash off down the hallway as fast as their fatigue would carry them but you and I don’t have to hurry so lucky you get to hear the story: while the light-rock storm occupied the hunters and isa all but collapsed, winfry scribbled down a word in the librem: safe.

But back to our other story. Not far down the hallway, isa and winfry ran into a room with Felix Sombrero and two women they shouldn’t have been able to recognize.

“Thank God we found you three.”

“Latvia and Estonia, your sister needs your help now. We don’t have time to explain. We have to act now.”

The sisters were deer-in-the-headlights-dazed times ten but they somehow knew, as they unconsciously slipped into a quilaire-induced high, exactly what to do.

Bright Blue

“You took quite a risk telling me all those things you shouldn’t even know,” said Lithuania. “What makes you two so desperate?”

Winfry and Isa looked at Lithuania, then at each other, then back at Lithuania. “Well we are about to die if you don’t do something about it,” said Winfry. “So…”

Lithuania looked up at the ceiling, as if she could see through to what was above ground. “How do you know this?”

“There really isn’t much time for explanations,” said Isa. “If we don’t move soon, we’ll get cut off from the next tower.”

“What more do you know?”

Winfry shrugged. “We don’t really choose to know what we know. What we’ve told you is all we’ve got.”

Lithuania frowned. “Sure.” She didn’t know the full story behind these two, and that bothered her. But she was also convinced that what they said was true. But she needed to keep up the suspicious front—if they were truly helpless in her hands, then they’d divulge as much information as they could, if only to assuage Lithuania’s suspicious and get on her good side. If she became friendly too quickly, they’d grow comfortable. They’d think she’d be OK with their hiding the truth from her, because she’d already trust them. She needed to keep them proving themselves to her. At least until she knew everything they knew.

“Felix!” Lithuania called from the cell, hoping he’d hear her from somewhere down the tunnel. No reply. She rose, left the cell, locked the door, and walked over to Timoteo. “Hey you.” She unlocked his cell door.

Timoteo was on his stool, elbows on his knees, eyes to the ground. “Yes love?”

“Shut up. Get up. We’re moving.”

“I hear there’s danger afoot,” he said, eyes glinting mischievously as they met Lithuania’s.

“And it’d better not be your fault. Now get up.”

“Aren’t you going to need a man to escort me?”

Lithuania whipped out her pistol. “I’ve got everything I need. Now move it.”

She led Timoteo out his cell and had him walk down the dungeons in front of her. “Winfry, Isa,” she said. “I’m taking Timoteo down to the next tower. I’ll come back for you in a bit.”

“No!” cried Isa, eyes wide. “We don’t have enough time!”

Lithuania’s expression darkened. “You serious? Not enough time for me to drop him off and come back for you?”

“There really isn’t,” said Winfry. “But you don’t need to worry about—about escorting us or anything. It’s not like we’re going to run away.”

Lithuania glowered. If they were right, they were in more danger than she thought. They were unprepared. Any attack on the tunnels would effectively be a surprise attack. And being unable to communicate with Felix only made things worse. She whipped out her keys and unlocked the cell in a single swift motion. “This doesn’t mean I trust you. Come on.”

Together they walked down the tunnels, Isa and Winfry leading the way, followed by Timoteo, and lastly Lithuania, her gun pointing straight at Timoteo’s back. The pitter-patter of their footsteps was the only sound echoing down the black tunnel.

Suddenly, Lithuania felt a strange sensation. An uncomfortable lightheadedness—a rush of dizziness, like her soul was rising and leaving her body. She stumbled.

“You alright there, princess?” said Timoteo.

“Keep walking,” she growled, pressing her pistol into his back. She blinked hard. Once, twice. She felt like she was going to faint. And then, a tightness in her chest—her arms, her neck, her scalp, all felt compressed—squeezed—terribly tightened—

And then released.

Timoteo, Winfry and Isa all jumped away from Lithuania as a thousand specks of tiny blue light erupted from the surface of her skin. Lithuania felt an instant of sheer bliss, and then—

She was lying face down on the floor, exhausted, emitting a faint blue glow. “Oh my God, Captain Starr!” cried Isa. A split second later Timoteo was diving after Lithuania’s pistol, before Winfry gave him a swift kick in the midriff and sent him sprawling across the floor, gasping for breath.

“Don’t even think about it,” threatened Winfry.

A wry smile spread across Timoteo’s face, his lips so thin his smile looked like a deep wrinkle. “Idiot.”

Lithuania opened her eyes, the taste of blood in her mouth. She had a cut lip. She had apparently smacked her face hard against the concrete floor. “Estonia,” she mumbled.

“Here, let me help you up,” said Isa, taking Lithuania’s hands.

Lithuania looked dazed. “My sisters,” she said. “They’re—” Then she realized where she was, and who she was with, and decided it’d be wiser to keep her mouth shut. She had just had some sort of out-of-body experience or something—but whatever it was, she had clearly felt the presence of both Latvia and Estonia appearing somewhere very nearby. They were in LusciousLocks now. She just knew it. Which meant that, according to Isa and Winfry, rescuing Marco was now a real possibility.

“Are you OK?” Isa asked, peering into Lithuania’s still glazed-over eyes.

“Huh?” Lithuania blinked. “Yeah, yeah,” she focused on Isa’s eyes, right in front of hers. Then she looked at Winfry. Then at Timoteo, sprawled on the floor, looking thwarted. She felt for her gun in her holster, then realized it was on the floor, not far from Winfry’s foot. Winfry, following her eyes, reached down for the gun and handed it, handle first, back to Lithuania. Lithuania thanked him hurriedly, cursing inwardly at what had obviously just happened. Winfry and Isa could not have made a better display of good faith, which was good, but bad for Lithuania, who had wanted to remain outwardly suspicious of them for as long as possible.

“Captain, what just happened to you?” Winfry asked.

Toss him a bone, not the full cow, Lithuania thought. “You can call me Lithuania, Winfry,” she said. “And I’m not—I’m not so sure what just happened. But I feel alright now.”

“Oh fie!” spat Timoteo. “You know exactly what just happened. You just want to keep these two imbeciles in the dark.”

“I swear, Timoteo,” said Lithuania angrily. “I am running out of patience with you. If you don’t—”

A tremor. Everyone stood stock still. “Isa, Winfry…” Lithuania said quietly. “That isn’t…?” But the terror on Winfry and Isa’s faces said it all. The walls started shaking, harder now. “Go. Go, go!” Lithuania urged. A second later they were all sprinting down the tunnels, the vibration of the tunnel walls surrounding them in a deafening bass.

All the while, Lithuania wondered whether her sisters had anything to do with the attack. Whether the AssMachenstani offense had been waiting outside for Latvia and Estonia to arrive before launching the attack—or whether it was all just some bizarre coincidence. Why, after all, would an AssMachenstani offense wait until two girls with no military training showed up, inexplicably, in LusciousLocks? Were Latvia and Estonia even there, or was Lithuania just having another one of her mysterious fits?

“The Monolith!” Lithuania called to Winfry. “Will they attack with the Monolith?”

“No!” Winfry called back. “The beast is in Green City right now!”

Never mind how Winfry knew that the beast was in Green City. More importantly, why was Lithuania feeling an uncanny surge of energy and magical power when the Monolith wasn’t even near? The Monolith had provoked her otherworldly teleportation and blue burst of allegedly magical power last time, right? So why was she suddenly feeling so… powerful?

An eruption. Pieces of cement fell from the walls and ceiling. The droning sound was deafening. And suddenly, something large and heavy smashed Lithuania to the ground, crushing her. She couldn’t move. She could hardly see. The pain down her back was unbearable—she felt blood everywhere—and she couldn’t feel her lower body, at all.

Someone took her hand. She looked up, amidst the noise and clouds of pulverized cement. “Relax Lithuania,” said Timoteo. His expression had changed completely. It was… benevolent. “You guys!” he yelled behind him, presumably at Winfry and Isa. “Keep on running! All the way to the North Tower! Hurry!”

“But Lithuania—” came Winfry.

“This isn’t when you’re supposed to help her!” Timoteo snapped. “Now take your stupid librem and run! RUN!”

Utterly perplexed, Winfry and Isa dashed off down the hazy, trembling tunnels.

“Timoteo, but what—” Lithuania croaked. She could feel the blood pouring from her wounds, pooling around her chest.

“Don’t let go of my hand,” Timoteo said, closing his eyes. “This is going to hurt.”

In a matter of seconds, Timoteo’s body was glowing bright blue. Then Lithuania’s body was glowing bright blue. Before Lithuania had time to think, she was overcome by pain. Overwhelming, absolute pain. She shrieked as the giant block of cement was lifted from her body—as the bones in her body realigned—as the blood seeped back into her veins, and her wounds closed of their own accord. She took a deep breath.

And she was up, standing on her own two feet. She could feel them again. “This isn’t where you die,” said Timoteo. “Now give me your gun.”

Dazed and unquestioning, she handed her gun over to Timoteo. As soon as it touched his hand, the pistol acquired the same magical bright blue glow. “There are very few combinable actions here that will result in your making it out of this alive. They’ve calculated it to be that way. So you have to trust me, OK?”

Lithuania nodded, quickly and at an utter loss for words. Suddenly it seemed everyone knew more about what was going on than she did. Timoteo pointed at the ceiling with Lithuania’s pistol, closed his eyes, and slowly the pistol turned brighter and brighter, until acquiring a blue but glassy, translucent feel. Then the bullet in its cannon glowed bright blue-white, and shot into the ceiling.

A deafening roar, clouds of dust, and when Lithuania finally had the nerve to look up, she was shocked to find that her measly little pistol had blasted an enormous hole straight through the tunnel ceiling and out through the surface. Still, she and Timoteo were about twenty feet below ground.

“Now it’s your turn,” said Timoteo. “Take us up and out—quickly.”

Lithuania looked at him, wide-eyed. “But I can’t—the Monolith isn’t—”

“The Monolith doesn’t cause your powers,” Timoteo snapped impatiently. “Now stop doubting yourself and concentrate. You can teleport us both up there. Just focus.”

Lithuania looked up. The distance seemed impossible. The world around them was still shaking. She couldn’t do it. She didn’t know how.

Timoteo slapped her. Lithuania blinked, stunned. “You see why I do it now?” Timoteo yelled. “DO IT NOW!” A wave of emotions rushed through Lithuania’s chest—resentment, powerlessness, fear, loneliness, anger. She closed her eyes—

And they were both on the surface. Timoteo released her hand. “Now get ready for the real challenge,” he said. Lithuania looked around her. They were out in the open, next to the woods.

And they were surrounded by AssMachenstani assassins. 

                                                           

The Truce

Her eye’s kept coming back to him, even days afterwards. They stuck to his brain like superglue. And it wasn’t so much the grayish blue that he remembered as the electrical storm of her irises’ stromal fibers. jacob had only seen her eyes for a fraction of a second after she flipped him onto his back in the crashed elevator before his kick launched her into the side of the elevator. But it was enough to glean that she was for the first time finally up against an obstacle that wasn’t going to give. But the analysis of all this would wait.

Right then, martin was quite occupied with pinning elizabeth garner to the elevator floor. The only reason jacob had a hope of keeping her down was she had landed face down and he managed to jump on top of her before she could reorient herself. With his left arm little more than limp, jacob needed to use the full weight of his 220 pounds and all of his 6 feet and 3 inches to keep elizabeth’s thrashing at bay. In spite of her thin 122 pound frame, elizabeth was a tigress. She pulled out several chunks of hair before jacob clamped down her right hand (she would have rendered him bald if her left hand hadn’t been trapped under her chest). Several times she was able to pry her legs from the vice grip of jacob’s thighs and with her legs free she very nearly landed blows to the male Achilles’ heel. And even when jacob finally managed to wrap his legs around elizabeth’s preventing any escape, she was able to spring both herself and jacob three inches off the floor but their landing brought all 220 pounds of jacob crashing down on her, knocking even her residual air just about out. But it wasn’t pleasant for jacob either. The impact was not good for his fractured bones and his body let him know this loud and clear. His groans and obscenities, in turn, let elizabeth know this loud and clear. So after she recovered her wind, she lifted them again, and again. Six times she repeated the maneuver. At last she could no longer summon any more energy and the two lay limp struggling just for air.

After who knows how many minutes, jacob finally spoke – he only had to whisper since his mouth was just above her ear and the sent of her hair filled his nostrils.

“You know we can’t do this forever…”

jacob glanced at the gun elizabeth had lost when he kicked her.

“You can’t kill me face to face…

And I can’t kill you.”

Silence.

jacob was pressed so firmly against elizabeth that he felt her heart through her back against his and surely she could feel his heart against the back of hers. And somehow that (jacob saying what elizabeth couldn’t admit to herself and feeling their hearts beat up against each other) lifted, at least a little, the tension suffocating the elevator.

“So what are we supposed to do then?” came the muffled reply, “if you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of in a bind.”

elizabeth felt jacob’s abs contract as he laughed.

“Well, we call a truce and go home to fight again another day.”

“Alright. That sounds good. So can you get your fat sweaty self off of me?”

“Not with that attitude.”

As quickly as they started, the jacob killed the jokes.

jacob used the railing to pull himself upright and tried not to move his left arm. “If you give me a hand I’ll climb out first. I know you won’t get the gun.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Your eyes. Don’t worry about it though; killing someone face to face isn’t exactly a hurdle you want to jump. Trust me.”

elizabeth reluctantly helped jacob out. She didn’t move quickly, she didn’t push him very far and she didn’t like what he’d said. She resented his insight just like she resented the hand he extended down to her to help her up out of the chamber.

Together they managed to exit the elevator shaft and leave the building through shafts elizabeth had discovered to avoid security cameras. At last they exited the building into an alley. jacob stretched his arms and elizabeth fixed her hair and then they walked to the street.

“I’m mr. martin by the way, but you can call me jacob.”

“Oh,” shaking jacob’s outstretched hand, “I’m ms. garner, but you can call me eliza.”

elizabeth turned to leave but jacob held on to her hand. She instinctively tensed and almost hit jacob.

“A mr. landers, probably using some alias, is meeting with matthew stanler, who I believe is loosely affiliated with you. You’ll want to look into both of these men. Have a good night eliza.” jacob turned and walked away before elizabeth could say anything.