I finally made it.
The night sky had just started to conceal the setting sun. The water reflected upon the moonlight.
I pulled out the walkie-talkie. "Allois?! Allois, can you hear me?!"
"Amus!!" I heard him yelling nearby. He was definitely stuck inside something because his voice was clearly muffled.
"Allois!! Al!" I started trudging through the water. My jeans got soaked.
"Amus!" I was getting closer. I saw a box in a cove. A rope was tide to it so that it wouldn't float away.
I got to the crate and tore the wood open with my bloody, blistering fingers.
"Amus!" Allois popped up and hugged me. Tears rolling down his cheeks from his reddened eyes. He clenched onto Alex the lion. "He's no good! He's not nice! I tried to defy him, but he's strong."
"Al...Allois, listen to me. Do you know where he is?"
"No."
"Okay," I sighed. "Let's get you back."
I helped Allois step out of the crate, but when he looked up, he just stared at me - no - behind me.
I slowly turned to face a cloaked figure. The end of the cape was torn and dirty.
The thing didn't move or speak or do anything. Finally, it stepped forward. Immediately when it did, I shot it with my new gun.
It continued on with loud, mechanical noises.
The cloak was actually just a piece of cloth and it blew away in the wind. Under it was a robot. A big one; made for fighting.
Continuously, I shot at the robot. I'm guessing that this was a gostik because the armor fell off to represent the fact that I got rid of half of it's health.
Inside the armor was skin, bones, muscles, and sinew. It looked similar to the first gostik I encountered. The one on the office building's roof.
Yet again, I can't stop staring at the eyes. One that looks like a whole bunch of different eyes sewn together and the one with just a black pupil.
"A-Amus...." Allois held onto my sweater tightly. "W-what do we do...?"
It's evil, I thought. I know it...and it's not just because it kidnapped Al...
I continued to shoot at it. The bullets did damage, but it kept coming closer and closer to me. Finally, it was an arm's length away. By this point, I hit the small button on my gun and used my retractable blade to stab it.
As it disappeared into little shards, I wiped off my sweat.
A voice echoed from inside the cove. A woman's voice. "Do you like my puppets? I learned to manipulate these stupid gostiks, yes. My work will not be in vain... I will capture your little cross-telepathic brother, yes!"
"Amus...what is she talking about?"
I looked at Allois and stepped toward the voice. "Show yourself!" I commanded.
Just then, an army of gostik robots emerged from the darkness. "I'd rather not, yes. I believe it's best for me to be the boss and have my...employees...do the work, yes?"
I made Allois leave the river. The gostiks surrounded me.
"Aww. Why'd you do that?" she whined. "Now I have to find him after I kil-"
I destroyed a gostik while she was talking. "Sorry! I don't have much time to just stand around and talk."
All the other gostiks came closer to me. I half-killed three, but one gostik hit me. Hard.
I was flung to the other side of the cove and landed on a big rock. Staggering up, I killed one, but I was hit again.
I splashed into the deeper part of the river and I couldn't move. My body was numb.
I felt like a bird in a cage. I wanted to move, but my muscles were sore and I couldn't get up.
I think I had given up. I was already near to drowning and I could hear the muffled voice of the woman saying "It was a nice try, but little boys aren't cut out for work, yes?"
Done. I was finished. I couldn't do anything. Imagine my surprise when I woke up.
I was standing upright and I caught a glimpse of small shattered pieces all around me disappear into the air.
I was in the middle of nothing, but still inside the cove.
Did I...kill them?
I was entirely confused. Turning around, I saw Allois and Rogue standing in the river, looking at me.
"What...happened...?" I asked.
Allois looked pale; as if he saw a ghost.
Rogue replied, "You...you don't know?"
"...No..."
Al looked down. His eyes wide and his eyebrows twitching. He whispered, "A-Amus...w-was a monster. H-he was the monster."
Rogue saw my stunned face and walked over to me. Patting my shoulder, she said, "Amus. You went crazy. You were acting like a lunatic-serial-killer. You bashed in the gostik's armor and ripped apart the inside of their bodies as if you were dissecting them with your bare hands."
I protested, "No...no, I didn't. I was unconscious. I was dying...I think."
She looked me over. "You seem perfectly fine."
I lifted my shirt and checked the area where I landed on the rock. A giant bruise covered the right side of my abdomen. It was purple, teal, and had specks of red blood on it.
Rogue placed her hand on it. "Does it hurt?"
I don't know why, but I couldn't feel the pain. I know it hurt like hell a little while ago. "No," I said. "...I'm...okay."
"Amus, you're bleeding. The bruise is ginormous. You're saying that you're 'okay'?"
"Yeah...it doesn't hurt."
Allois looked up at me. "Those were the bad guys, right? You didn't kill them for no reason...right?"
"Yeah." I whispered to myself, "I think."
I walked with Rogue and Allois back to the riverbank. On the way to the motorcycle, Allois explained to me how he used cross-telepathy to tell Rogue where we were.
I made Al sit on Emboli and I dragged the bike back home by foot. We talked with Rogue for a while and discussed why Al shouldn't go around and tell people about his cross-telepathy.
We got to my house and saw a big, burly man standing next to my mom. He had dark brown hair and green eyes.
Rogue ran over to him. "Dad?!"
He outstretched his arms and enclosed her in a hug. Spinning around a couple times. A strawberry-blonde woman with grey eyes walked over to them after finishing a phone call. I suppose she's Rogue's mother.
Her father and mother both wore office clothes and looked very important.
"Ellis, it's been so long," said the mother to Rogue.
The dad messed with Rogue's hair and turned towards his wife. "Her middle name's 'Ellis', dear. Call her 'Rogue'."
Her mother slightly glared and made a 'tsk' sound.
My mom came over and hug Allois tightly. Finally. She walked to me and slapped me across my face, but hugged me afterwards. "Thank goodness you two are okay," she said.
Rogue came over to us with her parents. "This is my mom and dad," she said, using her hands to introduce them.
"Hello," said the father.
"How do you do?" asked her mom.
"Fine, thank you," said Mom, shaking their hands.
Her father pat me hard on the back. "So this is my baby's match, eh? Nice to meet you, son."
"N-nice to meet you, sir," I said in reply.
Her mother examined me. "What's your weapon?"
"A gun-knife."
"Can you control your telepathy?"
"Yes."
"How well do you handle pain?"
"So-so."
"State your name."
"Amus Chrome Eld. Also known as ACE and AmusE."
"How do you fight? Any tactics?"
"See, check, shoot, and stab."
"GPA?"
"4.8."
"P.E. grade?"
"A+."
"What do you think of my daughter?"
"She's loyal, cheerful, smart, and intelligent."
"Bzzt," she said.
I looked at her, confused. "What...?"
She repeated the question. "What do you think of my daughter? If you can't answer this, I can never accept you as a Morphix."
"Umm... She's a great friend that's always there when you need her. Even if she does the most outrageous things, she has a reason for it every single time."
"Correct." Her mother smiled. "Well, I have to get going. I'm glad you all are safe." She turned to my mom, Allois, and me. "Please take care of my mess of a daughter. I'm sure she'll try to behave."
Rogue crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. "It feels like you just sold me to a new owner."
Her father laughed as he walked away with her mom. He chuckled out, "It's not called 'selling' if we gave you away for free!"
I laughed and Rogue pulled my left ear for doing so.
Rogue mumbled something after tugging on my ear, but I couldn't hear it and I didn't ask.
Allois jumped off the motorcycle and pulled Rogue and me into the house. "Let's play 'good-cop, bad-cop!"
Rogue's facial expression showed that she had no idea what it was.
Upon entering the house, I immediately got changed and helped myself to a cheese-stick while Allois explained the game to Rogue. Mom checked the ceiling to see if it would fall again.
After realizing that my cheese-stick had been slapped out of my hand, I stared at the culprit. It was Rogue.
Her hands were slammed against the table and she stared at me with an angry face. Allois stood next to her in shock. "Please, Rogue," he said. "Cool off."
"I don't like 'im, Al," Rogue replied.
"We don't have to rush into it."
Rogue cracked her neck and looked at me closely. "We know you did it. There's no way out. You were caught red handed."
I looked at her with hate. Obviously, I still can't forgive her for hitting down my cheese-stick. "What are you talking about? You're the one who-"
"I wasn't finished yet!" she interrupted. "Don't pretend to be innocent! It's no use!"
By this point, they started asking me questions about what happened at the cove. Even though I kept saying that I don't know what happened, they 'wouldn't believe me.'
Finally, they both fell asleep. Al was taking up the couch and Rogue was sprawled out on the floor. I dragged over blankets for both of them. After that, I brushed my teeth and went to bed.
I have school tomorrow and I know that I'll have to face Sannel.
Rogue didn't go to school because she got sick after trudging through a river and falling asleep with her wet clothes on. I wore all black and came to school on Lite's motorcycle.
I met him at the parking lot and gave Emboli back.
Slowly, I dragged myself to class. It doesn't matter how long it takes...I don't want to see Sannel and his unknowing smile.
"Hey, Amus!" Sannel strided up to me and looked at my clothes. "Who died?" he asked jokingly.
I sighed, "Krone."
"Geez, I know he's absent, but that's a bit..." he stopped when he saw my face. "You're kidding, right? You're joking around...right?"
"...N-no, Sannel. I'm serious."
He looked glossy-eyed, but he smiled, "He's...at a better place now. I remember when we first met him, though, he...hated the world." Sannel softly chuckled, "Fuck, man. That idiot..."
The bell rang and we slumped in our desks. Class dragged on like a slug for what seemed like years. Finally, it was lunch.
Sannel and I managed to laugh and talk about our pasts. At least, Sannel was able to laugh about his.
I kept quiet and listened to him ramble on like a drunkard.
"Oh! I wonder where's Rogue."
"She's sick," I said.
He looked at me in surprise. "How'd you know?"
I froze for a second. Crap! Whoops. "H-her friend told me."
"Hm," he pondered. "Okay."
"Hey, Amus!" shouted a voice. I turned around to see Zoelle coming towards us. She sat next to me. "I guess Rogue's out, huh?"
She stared at me for a bit. I quickly replied, "She's sick."
Zoelle turned to me. "Hey...Amus?"
"What?" I said, eating a burger.
"Come with me," she said pointing outside.
"No, I'm eating."
"That wasn't a question," she said grabbing me by my collar. "It was a demand."
She practically dragged me outside. "Did Rogue mention the Philosopher's Stone to you?"
"Not really," I said.
"Do you know what it is?"
"No."
"It's an alchemist's dream. The Philosopher's Stone can be used to revive living things or make metals into gold or something. However...to make it, you need live animals and/or people. I don't know which one."
"That...sounds horrible."
"It has been created. Yes, people and/or animals have been killed to make it."
"That person must be evil."
She nodded. "Listen. I need a favor."
"What?"
"That stone is tearing apart our guilds. Soon or later, we all might break into war. I need to destroy the stone."
"So...? What do you want me to do?"
"Retrieve the stone."
"How do I know who has it?"
She came close and whispered the name into my ear.
__________________________________________
After school, I walked home drowsily.
I've been doing crazy things for the past......three days? Two?
Suddenly, the thought of the Philosopher's Stone appeared into my head. Living people and animals...
Were they not awake? Or did they have to suffer?
I can't believe someone would make such a thing...and I know the person.
Do I just take the stone and run? Should I ask for it? Knowing the person, the best option is to take it without them realizing it.
I open the door to my house and find Rogue and Allois playing videogames.
They look at me from across the room and I gave a slight wave. Rogue waved back.
As her hand moved in the air, I stared at her silver ring...with the Philosopher's Stone.
=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=×=
Hallo thar!
So... how's it goin'?
Oh! Did anyone realize:
Allois said "He's no good! He's not nice! I tried to defy him, but he's strong!" However, Amus heard a woman's voice calling out to him.
Get it?
Allois was kidnapped by a guy, but Amus faced a woman. Dundundun!
I dunno... I think it's weird.
Well, vote, comment, follow (Thanks if you did), and continue on!
-!Ri$