Chapter 20
From Dust to Dust
Derek's POV
I woke up feeling rested. I looked around the room to see that the others were still in the various places where they had fallen asleep last night. I took it upon myself to wake everybody up. After washing up and getting ready for the day, we all sat around the kitchen table.
"What do we have to eat?" Will asked yawning.
"Check the fridge." Joelle said.
"Won't we have to pay extra if we take anything out of there?" Nala said.
"Relax, I got food for us." Unatsi said poofing into existence in a swirl of snowflakes. He was wearing sunglasses and his parka was partially unzipped. His hair was touseld and one pants leg was missing. In other words he looked a mess.
"Where have you been?" Joelle asked accusingly.
"Well, when I got bored with the card game I left to go run some errands last night, which didn't take to long because of how efficient I am. So, I went to a rave back in my city." Unatsi said.
"You mean when you lost?" Joelle asked. Unatsi waved his hand and dismissed her comment.
"How was it?" Angel asked.
"It was amazing. You would not believe how good penguins are at being DJ's. The polar bears were fun as ever. Man can they drink or what? I gues it does make sense seeing as how they are all huge and everything. Anyhoo I hope you like doughnuts." He said in one breath.
"Umm... thanks," I said and picked up a doughnut. "This isn't lethal is it?" I asked rembering the spirit travel yesterday and Unatsi's tendency to forget important things when dealing with mortals.
"Well they aren't toxic. Humans invented doughnuts as I recall. I remember when they first introduced them to our world. Good times." Unatsi said. That being said I took a bite out of the doughnut and tasted heaven. I didn't notice it at first but the box was the size of a suitcase on the inside. Unatsi must have noticed the confused expression on my face because he said, "Polar bears eat alot so they need to have ways of storing alot of food in relitively small spaces. They are the inventors of spatial distortion magic, though I myself had a hand in helping to create it."
"Huh" was all I could say.
"How do you know so much about polar bears?" Angel asked.
"My boyfriend." Unatsi said sipping a cup of coffe that he had gotten from somewhere.
"Is he a polar bear expert or something?" she asked.
"Nope."
"Then how does he-"
"He is one." That caused Nala to choke on her doughnut which got a laugh out of everyone present.
"If he's a polar bear then how do you two...?" Angel asked her voice trailing off.
"My, my only one thing on this one's mind huh?" Unatsi said chuckling which caused Angel to blush and look down. Will looked conspicuously out the window smiling as he did so. "Well if you must know we-"
"Aghem" I said.
"What?" Unatsi said absent mindedly. I nodded my head over towards the doorway of the other room where the kid I'd rescued yesterday was standing rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Oh."
"Hi there", Unule said sweetly. The kid looked up at her and took a step back.
"You must be hungry" she said. He nodded and Unule led him to an empty chair at the table and sat him down. She got a plate and stacked it with doughnuts. He devoured the plate of doughnuts and then looked sheepishly around the room as if he had just done something embarassing. [Adorable isn't he?] I looked over at Unule and nodded. (Makes me wonder what he was doing in a cellar all by himself.) HE CERTAINLY DOESN'T SEEM EVIL. (That makes three of us.) I noticed the kid was staring at me expectantly as if he was waiting for me to adress him.
"My name's Derek, what's your name?" I asked ending my mental group chat.
"Alec." He replied quietly. I introduced him to everyone nodding to each of them in turn.
"So, Alec, what were you doing at the mansion?" I asked.
"I live there now, well I used to, sort of." he replied. (sort of?)
"It wasn't really what you could call a home. I 'lived' there with Lance and my sister Dana. I wasn't allowed to leave the building, and in the last few months Lance said I had to stay in the basement for training." Alec said.
"What kind of training?" I asked. (that accounts for his paleness and for his squinting.) Alec tried opening his eyes wider but quickly closed them again. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and when he opened his eyes again, he contented himself to squinting.
"Lance never said what my training was for, but he said I needed improve if I was gonna see mom and dad again. I got the impression from Dana that he wanted to use me as some kind of weapon." Alec said glancing around self consciously.
"What do you want to do?" I asked.
"I don't want to hurt people like he wanted me to. I want to be good." he said. There was a hint of saddness in his voice that spoke of a lifetime of hardship. It was just wrong for that kind of tone to be in a child's voice.
"Do you know where your parents are?" Joelle asked.
"No, I can't remember." Alec replied looking down his expression darkening.
"Then it's settled." I said.
"What is?" Unatsi said looking up from the couch where he had been laying on his stomach.
"If he wants to he can come with us." I said. Alec looked up surprised. It looked as if a light had come back to his eyes.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yup, and as long as you're with us we can help you look for your parents." I said. He looked around at all of us in turn. I noticed that he didn't flinch like most people would when he saw Atsila.
"Ok, but I do have a question." he said.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Can I have another doughnut?" he asked. We all laughed until we realised he was serious.
"Of course you can." I said.
"Now that, that's out of the way we can get started looking for the next totem." Joelle said.
"Good thing we're already here." Will said.
"Where?" Nala asked.
"Los Angeles. That's where the next totem is right?" He asked.
"That's right!", Unatsi said bouncing up from the couch. "It's almost as if there was a reason why I brought us here."
"Yeah, almost" Atsila said. Unatsi stuck his tounge out at him in a very immature gesture. With that we headed downstairs and checked out of the hotel. And headed towards a Starbucks. As we sat there drinking our various teas, coffees, cappuccinos, and frappacinos, I thought about how we would find a small totem in such a big city. (Any ideas?) NOPE. Unule shrugged her shoulders and went back to sipping her frappacino. Alec who had never had coffee before was wired. We had to have him sit with his legs crossed so he would stop kicking the table. Suddenly he stopped vibrating and looked at me.
"I know where it is." He said stopping all of us mid sip. He the went back to shaking and drinking his coffee.
"What?" I asked. He ignored me. I took his coffee from him.
"Hey! Can I have that back?" He asked.
"You can have it after you answer my quesion." I said.
"Aww but I want it nooooowwwwuh" he complained.
"You shouldn't even be drinking coffee anyways. You're like seven years old" Will said.
"I'm eight and two months old." he said indignantly.
"My question?" I reminded him.
"Well I don't know where it is specifically, but I can feel it." He said reeching across the table trying to sneakily get the coffee back. I moved it away and he pouted.
"Can you show us?" I asked.
"Yeah, probably", he said before correcting himself quickly as if he feared being hit. "I mean yes. Definitely."
"Cool" I said smiling. We all got up and went outside to the sidewalk. Alec closed his eyes for a moment. After about five seconds his eyes shot open and he began walking down the block. After a few steps he stopped and turned back and said, "Can I have my coffee back?" I handed him the cup. After taking a few sips his eyes shot open wide and he was off racing down the sidewalk. When we caught up to him he was laying rollig from side to side on a park bench.
"What's wrong?" I asked huffing.
"Hooooot" he replied his tounge lolling out of his mouth like a dog's. After taking a few sips from a water bottle that Joelle pulled from her bag that Unatsi conjured back for her, Alec was back to normal.
"Now where is it again?" Nala asked. Alec began turning around in circles. While he did so he kept flicking his tounge in and out of his mouth. In and out, in and out. After a minute of this he sat on the ground frustrated.
"I can't get a fix on it. All I can get is that its in a big colorful place with alot of shops and brightly colored metal around it." He said confused.
"Well I mean we are in Los Angeles. It's a pretty big city." Will said.
"No, it's smaller than a city or even a town," he said. "But it is in the city."
"Six Flags anyone?" Nala said.
"How can you be thinking about an amusement park at a time like this?" Joelle asked.
"Well I saw an advertisement for Six Flags on our way here. Amusement parks are big and in cities. They have alot of colorful metal rides and lots of shops." she said.
"Yeah that's it!" Alec said his black hair bouncing as he jumped up.
"Can we take a taxi or a bus or something there?" Will asked.
"No, that would look suspicious," Angel said. "Alot of kids taking a taxi to an amusemet park that's closed."
"I have a portal ready." Joelle said.
"When did you make one?" I asked confused.
"I enchanted a bracelet of mine with a portal so we don't always have to spirit travel. As for when I did that was last night when everybody went to sleep." She said smiling at me.
"I'm impressed." I said. She pulled off her bracelet and tossed it up in the air. It expanded into a glowing portal as it fell overtop of us. In an instant the park in Los Angeles was gone and we were standing outside a gift shop in the Six Flags.
"Alright guys this is a big park. We'll cover more ground if we split up." I said looking up from the map.
"Not that I don't Love the Scooby-Dooness of this whole search an abandoned theme park for a creepy artifact thing, but why the sudden change in tactics?" Will asked.
"Because they have already gotten hold of another totem." I said.
"What?" Nala asked.
"Look." I said turning the map around for everyone to see. Another of the dots on the map had disappeared. That left only three. "We need to hurry up and find these totems before they do."
"Gotcha." Will said.
"Angel and Will you guys head that way," I said pointing towards the kids section of the park. "Nala and Joelle you guys go to the water park. Alec you're with me. Let's move!"
We all took off in our directions. We headed towards the back most parts of the park. Alec lead the way every so often. Our search took us to a creepy looking building. A sign on it said 'Haunted House Entrence'. (A creepy relic in a creepy empty theme park. Of course it would be in a haunted house.) We walked a few paces into the house. The lights were off so it was pitch black.
"Usdi Ndoigaehi" I whispered creating a little ball of light in the air infront of us. It moved forward as I took a step forward. I took another step forward and looked back to see Alec was not budging. "Alec, what's wrong?"
"I'm scared, Derek". he said in a small voice.
"It's ok this place isn't really haunted. That's just a name they gave to make it sound scary." I said.
"It's not that," he said looking down at his feet. He was trembling now.
"Alec?" I asked.
"Back at the mansion while I was 'training' whenever I messed up or failed to show progress, Lance would cast a spell on me that made everything go dark. Not just my vision, everything went dark." He said. (Total sense deprivation?)
"Yeah that's it," he said. "I couldn't see, hear, touch, taste, or smell anything. I couldn't even feel enough to be able to think. It felt like I was fading away and it would last for hours or days at a time so I would always wake up crying." he started shaking and a tear formed at the corner of his eye. I walked over to him and took his small hand in mine. I focused and conjured a small breeze to swirl around us. Alec looked up at me cofused as he wiped his eye.
"As long as you can feel the wind, you'll know that you dont have to be scared because you won't fade away." I said smiling down. He sniffled once and nodded. Together we walked through the different rooms of the haunted house. Whenever the rooms got to scary Alec would squeeze my hand and in turn I would increase the gust of wind to calm him. Finally we came to a room full of mirrors. We walked to the center of the room and looked around. There was only the path that we took to get into the room. As I turned to leave Alec froze and turned pale. I soon saw why. In the reflection of the mirrors there stood a girl who looked like Alec except that instead of being pale and frightened she was glaring with a murderous look in her amber eyes. They stood out contrasted against her face which was so much like Alec's except for the fact that Alec's eyes were black like his hair. Even more shocking than the evil girl version of Alec was the boy standing next to her.
"Lance" I said.
"In the flesh." he replied.
"You're a monster." I spat.
"I'm only human," He spat back. "but I thank you for noticing. I try ever so hard to be a convincing bad guy."
"You have alot of nerve torturing little kids." I said.
"Oh well, I did have help you know. Dana here has just been irreplaceable," he said indicating the girl. "It's so hard finding good help these days, especially those who don't mind getting thier hands dirty."
In a rage I shot a gale that sent the mirrors imploding in on themselves. Glass flew out the exit. I called upon a wind to rip the door from the frame and sent it hurling at Lance who was standing outside. In a flash he jumped onto the door and did a front flip off of it as it sailed through the air behind him. He landed with his hands in his pockets next to Dana who had been busy avoiding being hit by debris. I faced them with Alec behind me with our backs to the haunted house.
"Alec run as far away from here as you can. Go find the others and tell them they need to hurry up." I said keeping my eye on Lance. Alec nodded and took off down the lane.
"Dana", Lance said.
"Yeah?" she replied popping a piece of gum.
"Get rid of your brother." He said.
"Thought you'd never ask." she said smiling.
"Oh no you don't" I said lunging at her. She doged around to my side and darted behind me. I turned in time to see her jump onto a giagantic snake. She surfed on the snake's back in the direction Alec went. (That's no snake. Snakes dont have spikes going down thier spines.)
"That certainly isn't a snake," Lance said. "It's a basilisk." (Crap. Did he just?)
"Yes, yes I did." Lace replied coyly swinging a spear at my head. I ducked and rolled to the side. (Unule, I need my bow. Wait,)
"Too late." Lance said as he stabbed the spear at my face. I dodged to the side barely avoiding getting my head skewered. (Now that wouldn't be attractive.)
"I'd be careful what I think, if I were you." Lance said repositioning his spear. Without thinking I ran at him. He swung the spear at my waist. I jumped back, but he kept pushing forward jabbing the spear at my torso. In an attempt to throw me off balance he jabbed the spear at my legs. I stepped to the side and stomped my foot down on the spear. I ran up the pole and kicked at his chin. Unfortunately it only grazed his chin but bonus points for me for finesse. He dropped the spear and jumped back. I summoned a small tornado around him preventing any movement. I picked up the spear. (This could do some dammage.) I hurled the spear at the center of the tornado. After it went through the center I released the magic sustaining it. When the wind died down I saw Lance squatting on the ground. He looked up at me smiling and just tapped his finger against his temple. (Man this guy is frustrating.)
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Alec's POV.
I sprinted as fast as I could down one lane of the park and up another. All the while I could hear slithering behind me. The sound of benches and park furniture being crushed progressively got louder. I ran faster. I stopped infront of the gate of a ride called the 'Viper'. I looked back and I could just barely make out the image of large scales moving through the buildings. Fast. I hopped the fence and ran towards the ride. I came to the bottom of the metal stair case that led up to the tracks of the ride itself. I paused a moment to see if there was anywhere else to go. In that instant I heard and felt the gates get crushed. Dana. Without thinking about it, I flew up the stairs two at a time and on all fours when I tripped. I reached the top and saw that it ended in a small box of railing that was right next to the track. (I have to get away.) Then I did something stupid. In my desperation I climbed onto the track and kept my balance as I walked on the small space that was meant for wheels not feet. My foot fell between the railing as the ride lurched. I scrabled to my feet and looked back as Dana stepped down onto the track.
"Nowhere left to run, little brother," Dana said smiling evilily as her pupils became slits like a snakes. "Medusa". As she spoke the name the basilisk's head rose up towards me as she coiled around the track. I felt a tear begin to sting in my eye. Medusa's eyes were now level with mine and I felt a numbness sweep through my body.
"Any last words brother dearest?" Dana asked. I couldn't feel my body as I lost my balance and tumbled backward off of the track. I couldn't feel anything except fear and regret. Regret that I would never see my parents again. Regret that I would never get to know my new friends. And regret that I couldn't feel the wind even as I fell through the sky helpess to stop it. All I could do was think that I was going to die.
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Derek's POV
I had Lance on the ropes. Well I would have had him on the ropes if I could get my hands on him. The only person I've met who could move faster than me was Ace. Of course knowing what I'm going to do before I do it does help when avoiding attacks.
"You know," Lance said dodging a kick of mine. "not that this hasn't been fun and all, because it has been great fun, but if I were you I'd be less concerned with fighting me than I would be with saving that precious little runt of yours." (Dammit he's right. At this rate I won't be able to catch up to him. I don't even know where they are.)
"Oh they're up there," He said nodding at a rollercoaster off in the distance. With my raptor vision I could see Alec running up a flight of stairs with the basilisk and his crazy sister a little ways below him, but they were gaining on him fast. It was only a matter of time before he ran out of stairs.
"Tah-tah," Lance said as he ran away in the opposite direction. "Oh, and I'd hurry if I were you." I hesitated a moment Lance was running in the opposite direction on purpose. I looked back up to the coaster. Alec had reached the top by now and was climbing onto the track. Dana was closing in on him. I did a running take off into the air. Once in the air I pumped my wings and flew towards the ride. (Unule I need some help with the speed cloak.) [Understood.] I felt her power surge into me as I shot through the air like a bullet at break neck speeds. Just as I reached where they were standing Alec fell off the track. I knocked Dana off the small platform and kicked off the bottom of the rail shooting down after Alec.With my wings folded, I sped up to catch up to him. I was going so fast that black spots appeared in my vision and I almost blacked out. Fighting for consciousness, I plumetted after him. Finally I caught him and snapped my wings out. I used all the magical power I had over the winds in conjunction with my wings to pull us out of our dive. I just barely made it. At the last moment before impact I pulled up and my talons skimmed the grass below. I angled upward into the air over the park. I looked back to the ride but saw no sign of Dana and her basilisk. Looking over the park I saw no sign of Lance either. What I did see though were Angel, Will, Joelle, and Nala runing towards the back of park. I landed infront of them and laid Alec on a bench.
"What happened to you guys?" asked Nala.
"We got jumped by Lance and Dana. Dana chased Alec up there-" I said pointing to the ride. "While I was fighting Lance. Before I get there Alec takes a dive and I just barely catch him almost killing us both. So what's new with you?"
"Well we ran into Zeke while he was looking for the totem," Will said.
"They got to fighting and in the process unearthed the totem which Zeke ran off with." Angel summarized.
"Great." Nala said.
"But before he left he said 'they had unfinished buisness in Oklahoma'" Angel said.
"Does that mean anything to you?" Will asked. My blood ran cold. The reservation.
"Joelle I need your bracelet now." I said.
"The portal isn't done recharging." she said. "What's going on?"
"The next totem is back on my reservation." I said.
"What?" Nala said.
"I have to go. Watch Alec." I said and took of into the sky. I called on Unule's power and spirit travelled on my own to the resrvation. As I flew I saw images of clouds and floating castles pass by me. I felt strong air currents try to tug me off of my course. I fought back against them with my will. Using my intent as a rudder I dove down into a cyclone. The vortex let me out over the lake where I first learned to fly. Regaining my balance I shot out over the forest towards my home. (I have to warn them.) I could sustain the cloak no longer with Unule's power reserves fading and mine already depleted. I flew under the power of my own wing muscles. As I drew closer, I felt a dark and malicious magical force. And in an instant I was knocked from the sky as a wave of pure evil swept the land and sky. I landed hard in the canopy. My shoulder was dislocated but I took to the sky again. I circled over the village. There was nothing left but black and white ashes. I landed in center of the village and ran to Ace's house. There was nothing but a pile of ashes there as was the same everywhere else. I sifted through the ashes trying to find any trace of my old teachers. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a dark brown piece of leather perfectly intact under a pile of ashes. I picked it up. As I ran my hand over the hard leather I felt needles of dread in my heart. My family.
Our house was on the edge of the reseration so maybe it was unaffected. I ran as fast as my legs could take me. My legs burned and my lungs ached from breathing in so much ash, but I didn't stop until I reached the crest of the hill that my house sat on. I reached what was the threshold of my house and went to the kitchen. I could feel a faint trace of magic here. I clutched the book to my chest and felt it begin to radiate heat. I could feel the book extracting the magic and life out of the ground.
"Stop it you piece of shit! Stop!" I said as I threw the book down. Instead of hitting the ground, the book floated to eye level and opened. As it opened my minds eye was assaulted with images; the village's wards sounding an alarm, Ace running to the scene, Blaine and Zeke appearing with Lance, Lance demanding the totem be brought to him as he threatened to kill a little girl he held aloft by the collar, Atul bringing forth the totem and throwing it to Blaine who took it and put it around his neck, Lance tossing the girl over to Atul, Lance chanting a spell, Ace and Una fusing to make thier most powerful cloak using themselves as a shield, a rift splitting in the air above Lance and shock waves of evil energy shooting out, parents running holding children, families huddling together in a final embrace, Elder Bertha firing her shot gun at Lance, my family eating dinner at the kitchen table oblivious to the madness unfolding, the house shaking, my brother getting up to look out the window, my grandmother whispering a prayer, my parents trying to get everyone to safety, then nothing.
The images receded from my mind the magic used to record what had happened spent. I collapsed to the ground and let my tears flow into the ashes of my old life. In one day I had almost lost my new little brother. In that same day I did lose my real brother, my parents, grandmother, neighbors, my old teachers, and everything I held dear in the world with nothing to show for it save a single leather book. I cried until I could shed no more tears. I finally passed out as I heard Joelle and my friends calling my name. But as I heard thier foot steps crunch in the ashes, I slipped into unconsciousness. It was the only way to hide my guilt.