Nightmare Fantasy

Chapter 17: Left behind Luck

Marix went back to his alias’s house. It had been exhausting work since Sky abducted Jynx, and he was drained with little sleep. Sending his better employees away that would heed his warning, he sat in his servantless house with no one to help his endeavors except the other Elite left behind.

Perhaps soon it would all come to naught, everything he created here was going to be destroyed. After all his efforts had been spoiled, he resigned very few in this city were going to repent. Jynx’s ridicule, then abduction had solidified its rotten fate.

He groaned as he received the chemistry work up from the bottom layer’s soil. Sky, before leaving, tipped him off on it. Scanning the data, he frowned hard as a knock on the door alerted him to only one of two people still in the city he concerned himself with. Ruling out Guard as he was at the Capital yet, trying his best to continue the urgency to repent, even arguing into the long night, this person entering had to be Chaos.

She sauntered in after grooming herself and studied the information carefully as she cringed, “Boy does that look bad!”

Marix wiped his face, “Yes it does. The soil below our feet is dry and brittle. The trees aren’t going into autumn like normal. They’re dying. There’s chemical acidity like Hiesu’s sludge accumulating more and more. It’s tainting the soil underground, and the trees are drying up and dying quickly. I think Dei’s destruction is at hand now.”

Chaos nodded grimly, “They won’t repent. They refuse to. Guard still tries so hard to convince them.”

“But they won’t leave their treasures, will they?” Marix maniacally smiled. “We warned them.”

Chaos next asked, “How long do we stay then?”

“Until Guard tells us to retreat. We wait apprehensively until then. I’ve prepared as best I could for it,” Marix returned grimly in resignation. All his cards were on the table.

Guard sank into his tub late at night. His head hurt from the constant stress of dealing with these awful snakes. With Ori gone, he tried even harder but was left with their disinterest. This wasn’t about their amusement but to spare them!

Sighing into the calm, soothing nighttime water, he mumbled, “They draw nigh with their tongues, but their hearts are far from the Great One!”

He finished his bath leisurely, then dressed himself in the foreign, loathsome attire of Dei sleepwear. Scrunching on the strange bed, he vowed never to complain about the low cushioned mattresses of Narias again! Staring at the ceiling, he wished himself miles away. Soon, sleep claimed him, exhausted with the never-ending chatting of the day.

The passing of time seemed swift as Guard fell out of bed in a jolt. Panting hard, he knew it was no nightmare but a warning. The Great One wanted them out now! He shot out of the lonely hallway swiftly. There was no time.

Stopping, he cringed while contemplating if he even had time. Shaking his head, he turned to track down that familiar spirit. His conscience couldn’t bear knowing that he hadn’t done everything on his part to at least warn that poor girl.

She was acting as a janitor, cleaning the floors as he stomped toward her. Immediately, she became on edge as she observed the hardened look on his face. She hadn’t a clue what anything about him was about. Had someone told him she betrayed him some way? Tribrinka was full of lies and plots like that. Embarrassingly enough, she toppled her bucket as the water splashed sideways in a mess. She confessed that she didn’t want the appearance of being so clumsy displayed in front of him.

“Run Order, get out as fast as you can!” Guard urged as he came to her. Placing his hands to the sides of her face, he continued, “Do you believe that the Great One is calling for you too? Will you repent?”