Sky Riders

Weapon Of The Ancients

Okay, since nobody told me if they wanted one part or two, I decided on two. I don't know what I want my next fic to be, but I have like 5 WIPs, so I guess one of those? I don't know. Anyway, here ya go! :)

"You're Artemis Calida and Anna Fang! The Anti-Tractionists." The girl asked them, but it wasn't a question. It was a statement,

"Um... yes that would be us." Anna replied, clearly also afraid of what the girl would do, seeing as her father had been brutally torn apart by Anna's best friend.

"You, Miss Calida. You were the one who killed my father."

Artemis grimaced. She really didn't want to talk about this with Kathrine Valentine, not now when they were on such a tight schedule! The gunfire still echoed around them, like rain on a tin roof.

"No, I know what you're thinking. That I want to kill you for revenge or that I'm terribly depressed without him. But the truth is, I've seen him as the horrible person he is, how many people he had murdered for no better reason than personal gain. He was a horrible person, and I'm glad he was killed by a good person. I will mourn him, but not as much as I would if I had not known that he was a killer and a thief."

"...oh." Was all Artemis could think to say. That was the last thing she expected to come out of that girl's mouth. Angry swears and cursing the gods, cursing Artemis for murdering her beloved father... those were things she expected to hear. Not this... speech about how horrible she knew her father to be.

"I want to help you stop the Engineers. I know a secret way into the Cathedral where they built MEDUSA." Kathrine said, ignoring Artemis's look of disbelief of why a proper London girl would want to help them stop her city from triumphing over anything that came in it's way.

"Alright then Miss Valentine, lead the way." Anna replied, clearly also in disbelief, yet trusting of the girl.

"Please don't call me 'Miss Valentine'. I don't want to keep the name of a murderer. Call me Kathrine, please."

"Alright Kathrine. How do we know that we can trust you? I mean, your father stabbed Miss Fang and she almost died, he killed my mother and father, he gave me this scar," Hester said, pulling down the red scarf she had kept covering her face the entire time. "And who knows what else he's done to people."

"I am not my father. History can't be changed, but the future can. I refuse to become him, so I will help the world, not harm it."

Kathrine's speech seemed to convince Hester, or at least make Hester stop staring murderously at Kathrine.

"Fine." Was all Hester said. "Let's go."

Kathrine les the group, now a quartet, around the back of the Cathedral to a crumbling, ancient stone wall. The faint outline of a door could be seen as Kathrine pushed it open, revealing a crypt of sorts. The room looked like it hadn't been used since the time of the Ancients, which was probably true. Cobwebs coated every surface, and the spiders that had made them were nowhere to be seen. The air tasted stale, as if it had been sitting there for too long, which was probably accurate. The only sign that someone had been here in the last thousand years was a single pair of shoe prints from high heels.

"I came here once before, to spy on them making it. The weapon, I mean." Kathrine whispered. Artemis handed Kathrine a small dagger, and Kathrine whispered her thanks. But Artemis could hear the apprehension in her voice, as she had clearly never held a weapon made for killing.

Voices could be heard, murmuring excitedly from behind a layer of stone. The Guild of Engineers was drunk with excitement and the prospect of destroying the shield wall. The voices' excitement was tinged with fear, as the air fleet was still firing at the great city.