In the monster dimension with the eastern team, the team headed to the blacksmith where she was just finishing up a sword.
Blacksmith: Was just about to send for you all, I just finished the new swords for Razor.
Razor: But I only asked for one, I don't dual wield.
Blacksmith: Trust me, you will love this.
The Blacksmith went to the side and had a cloth on the table, she uncovered the cloth and it was two eight foot swords.
Ash: Whoa.
Razor: No way I can carry these, even with my equipment.
Blacksmith: That is where things get easier, these are made of a special metal mix, they may look big but they are amazingly light, try lifting it up with your normal hand.
Razor took up the sword and it felt like taking up a normal sword minus the massive hilt.
Razor: You're right; it's amazingly light but is this hollow?
Blacksmith: Nope but I thought carrying these two might not leave space on your back so, I made this sword into a changeable one.
Razor: How?
The blacksmith took the other sword up and Razor handed her back the other one. She put the sword hits in a cross position and straightened them, everyone heard a click sound when that happened both the swords combined into one sword.
Razor: Nice:
Razor used his new hands and grabbed the sword.
Razor: Thank you.
Blacksmith: Also, I made this smaller one for you for your regular arms.
The blacksmith handed over a normal sized sword with the same two sword modification and a sheath for it. They paid the blacksmith. The whole team headed back to the castle where all of the prisoners were packed, readied with weapons and supplies.
Captain Harley: Looks like everyone is ready to go.
Ash: What about the hanging?
Avi: Happened five minutes ago, they even chopped off his head to be sure. Also, your ship is in the harbor.
Captain Harley: Be right back everyone.
Captain Harley heads down to the docks. Meanwhile Elysium squatted down and Mekuboto got off, he was checking her bandages. She had her gauntlets on her back and Elysium had his two orbs floating around him.
Elysium: Mekuboto is going to be out of climbing for a while so someone is going to have to take over until her hands are healed.
Razor: I'll switch with her; I'll get some practice with my new arms that way.
Elysium: For now, she stays on my back but her nose will still come in handy.
Elysium finished checking the bandages and then turned around, Mekuboto latched back on Elysium and he got back up. Soon enough Captain Harley came back from the harbor.
Captain Harley: Some of the teams are heading to nearby ports so I ordered my ship to take them there and head further up.
Jones: We should head out too while we still got the sunlight.
Jones pulls out the map.
Jones: We need to head north-west from here to get to the meet point.
Nico: Then let's put some distance from this place.
All of the prisoners from the mansion were going in groups in different directions, the eastern team headed north-west. Nico and Jess were ahead with Razor using his new hands to climb and traverse the trees, he was using the small trees as practice to grab on and get his hand-eye coordination better for four arms instead of two, even though he had on the Exo-suit he was relying more on his arms.
Kalon: Ready for another chapter everyone.
Razor: Hit me with it.
Kalon took the book out and started reading.
Kalon: Let me see, here it is.
Kalon clears her throat and starts to read.
Kalon: "Six months after putting my love in a cocoon and experimenting on revival I have been getting better at it every day but my food supply has been running short."
Jessica: Phew, that girl has been putting in work.
Kalon: A lot. "I can't take a ship and be far away from my love for too long so I started learning portals in order to get to places I previously couldn't travel to and hopefully find more food and information. I got a map out and looked for locations that I could get to by portal. I tried small ones at first to get used to the traveling then I tried a big one where it was nearby a known thief hideout when I got a map from one of the thieves I killed and eaten."
Kalon: "I went through and ended up nearby the thief hideout as planned. I used my dark magic and was able to overpower all of them and be able to regain my full strength. I took some of the carcasses home in a portal to be able to have enough when I am doing heavy research. I got the map of the area to look for places of interest for more dark magic but was weary of what was where so I only went after places I could get into or slip past to get what I needed."
Ash: This girl is seriously dedicated.
Kalon: "But something was still missing from my research, to be able to bring back a person from the dead."
Avi: That is going to be a tough one isn't it?
Elysium: She could have just brought one of the thieves back to life.
Kalon: Hold on with that part everyone, listen to this part. "While I was heading back through one of my portals I heard something. I dashed over to see what it was; it was a group of thieves attacking a small group of people. I used my power to overpower them but one of the people there was there dying, what was worse is that it was the father of two children and his wife. They saw me completely massacre them and rip them apart; they could even see the blood dripping down my face."
Kalon: I came close to them slowly and they were afraid, at that point I would be afraid if I was them but what they didn't know is that their father died in their arms. I could see the pain in their eyes, the same as much as I did. I drove my staff in the ground and was performing an incantation because this was an opportunity I could not miss. I tried my best and the result brought him back, he breathed again and caught his breath. He rose up off the ground and looked at his wife and kids. All of them were shocked when he came back to life."
Kalon: I couldn't understand what they were saying but they were grateful that he was back in their arms. I picked up my staff and was walking away with the carcasses until one of the children came to me and pulled on my dress. I looked down at them and it sounded like he was thanking me. I rubbed his gently and went on my way; I got back home and brought enough food to last a while. The thought of my first resurrection gave me a lot of confidence to continue my work but I would require a lot more food. I will have to find a way to collect provisions and be able to have isolation for my work so I will continue to do so and find a way for me to do both."
Jones: So she helped the innocent but why did the roads become more dangerous?
Captain Harley: Must be because of the thieves trying to up their forces to combat her.
Elysium: Is there any way she figured out how to do it?
Kalon: Going to have to look more, there are a lot of notes on what she was doing but I would not recommend reading this.
Jessica: Why not?
Kalon: A lot of dark stuff, looks to me she is not in control of herself when she is researching.
Jessica: Let me see.
Kalon hands the book to Jessica and he takes a look.
Jessica: This is not her; I think this is her sub-conscious.
Elysium: How can you tell?
Jessica: Take a look everyone.
Everyone came close to Jess.
Jessica: See how she writes when she inputs in the journal?
Elysium: It's smooth and flowing.
Jessica: But look at this over here, it's the exact opposite, it looks like someone else is in control.
Razor: Wait a minute; wouldn't she have realized she was in this state when she was asleep?
Elysium: Unless she made a deal.
Jones: What are you getting at?
Elysium: Let's say she knows about this side of her but look from before she got the book, there isn't any of that.
Captain Harley: A dark force took hold of her.
Elysium: You all know I never play around with dark magic but I think the darkness developed its own consciousness.
Kalon: That dark consciousness must take over when she is tired.
Nico: That would explain a couple of things like why she attacked us with that storm.
Captain Harley: She must have made a deal that when she rests the dark force takes over and continues but it only plays along and continues it so that it would find some way to have a body for its own.
Avi: Lital's?
Razor: If it was me, no I would go after something bigger.
Jessica: Play this more devilishly, what would you use for the body?
Ash: What about what makes the Frankensteins?
Razor: That would have to be excessively big to make as much as we saw.
Jones: Dragon, Scylla, Sandworm, anything that size.
Kalon: What if when she does the resurrection it uses whatever she uses to create the Frankensteins to make a body of its own?
Elysium: That's a possibility.
Kalon: I'll keep looking to see how she did it.
They got back on the road and continued traveling until they came to a rest. Razor was training with his new arms and new swords. Everyone else was either patrolling the area or getting some rest. Captain Harley came to Jason.
Captain Harley: Looks like everyone is getting along fine.
Jones: Yes, they are.
Captain Harley: Have you given any thought about us?
Jones: I have and it might not work for now.
Captain Harley: Why not?
Jones: It's not what you think.
Captain Harley: Then what is it?
Jones: You know I am an AI and I can't really experience things like everyone.
Captain Harley: But Elysium has been taking care of Mekuboto really well.
Jones: It's because he has an understanding of how she should be treated but I don't know how to do the same for you.
Captain Harley: Then what can make you understand me?
Jones: When this is all over we are going to get humanized to let us experience things we couldn't before.
Captain Harley: Then why can't we start there?
Jones: Because I don't want to compromise anything we have between us.
Captain Harley: Spiders like us have to wait a long time for prey to come into our web. I can wait a little more for you to be able to understand and how to treat me right, I can wait a little more.
Jones: Thank you for understanding me.
Captain Harley: Just don't keep me waiting too long, ok?
Jones: Ok.
Captain Harley and Jones sat down and were changing his power cells to let the ones he had recharge. Meanwhile Mekuboto was sitting down on Elysium's lap.
Avi: Hey Elysium, want to spar?
Ash: Do you really want to do that?
Avi: I'm just trying to know how to work against each style you all have?
Mekuboto got off Elysium's lap and Elysium got up and had his orbs at the ready.
Elysium: I got this one Mekuboto, go with Ash.
Mekuboto watched her hands and latched onto Ash. Elysium squared off with Avi, Elysium was casting several spells including the fireball, wind strike, freeze and earthquake. The orbs that stick close to him allow him to use magic better and each orb lets Elysium do bigger spells and allows for better magic concentration. Elysium was easily overpowering Avi. He was done with her in less than three minutes. Elysium went over to Avi and helped her back up.
Avi: -pants- How do you two do it?
Jessica: Watch out for the quiet ones, they can cause the most damage.
Avi: -pants- I can see why might need to learn some magic.
Jones: Do you have any magic in your family?
Avi: Well, my mother is a dryad so I might have some of her magic?
Jessica: Worth a shot.
Avi sat down and caught her breath, Mekuboto got off of Ash and Elysium sat back down, Mekuboto was cuddling Elysium for a good job and he petted her to thank her. She sat back down on Elysium's lap and he continued reading from where he left off.
Avi: Am I ever going to understand those two?
Everyone except Elysium: Nope.
Once everyone caught themselves, they got back on the road, after a couple of hours they came upon a temple.
Jones: Weapons ready everyone; we all know what happened last time.
Razor readied his hands and his dragon cape hands. Everyone else was at the ready as well, they came close to the temple and a few people were there, when they got to the door they heard a voice.
Monster: We have been expecting you eastern team and we have some things for you for your fight against the darkness ahead.
Jones: We tried to be tricked before and it didn't work.
Monster: No tricks, these are for you.
Just then three orbs came rolling towards the team, one was light, one had a thunderstorm and one had water. Also two gems came flying at them, Nico caught them but they were freezing in his hand.
Nico: Man, these are cold!
Nico dropped them on the ground and his hands were freezing, Elysium came to him and warmed up his hands.
Nico: Thanks.
Monster: Those are for your friend, place them on her gauntlets to get the power of ice.
Captain Harley: Ok, now I am getting curious, why would you help us?
Monster: This place was the Life Catcher's prison.
The Monster was a centaur, half man, half horse, he had a lot of scars on him and his arm was missing.
Jones: New one in the book?
Jessica: Nope, that would be a centaur.
Centaur: The reason why I am giving you this is because the Life Catcher has claimed the lives of my generations ago. It was imprisoned here and locked away so that no one else could get it but thieves got smarter over the years and managed to steal the Life Catcher. It has been missing for decades until that dryad girl got a hold of it and things have taken a turn for the worst.
Elysium takes up the three orbs and they start floating around him.
Centaur: You will have to lose the normal orb, the magic all four of the others provide will be more than enough.
Elysium grabs the normal orb he uses for attacks and puts it in his bag, he allows the remaining four to float around him. He picks up the two gems and Mekuboto gets off his back. He grabs the two gauntlets and placed them in a slot the blacksmith made. The gauntlets began to give off an ice aura.
Centaur: When you defeat the girl you must destroy the book and the darkness it has. Use any light magic you learn to defeat it.
Kalon: Why not come with us?
Centaur: Sorry, my place is here, there are other dark artifacts here that need to be protected.
Ash: And you are the only one here?
Centaur: The Minotaurs are on our side and they guard the area outside but my kind has abandoned this place and I took it upon myself to guard it against any threat because of what I heard from the old folk at my village.
Jones: We should get them on our side to guard this place better.
Centaur: Good luck, it will take some heavy persuasion.
Jessica: Wouldn't hurt to try.
Centaur: Here is the location.
The Centaur throws a map and Jones lines up where the village is.
Jones: It's nearby the meet zone; we can set up camp there when we reach it and convince the centaurs to help with this place.
Kalon: It's still a couple days out.
Captain Harley: We better get moving, the western team may be getting close to the checkpoint to talk with the Destiny Team.
Elysium: Thank you.
The team left the temple and got back on the road, after traveling for the whole day, they made camp. Elysium took watch tonight and Mekuboto was there with him, he checked her bandages and they were good.
Elysium: You should be good to fight soon.
Elysium went back to keeping watch and Mekuboto went to him.
Mekuboto: Nice... mastah.
That was the first time Elysium ever heard her talk.
Elysium: Mekuboto, you understand me?
Mekuboto nodded her head.
Mekuboto: That is good; you can learn to be able to communicate better.
Mekuboto came close to Elysium and was crawling on him. Elysium got some idea about what she was doing so he put a finger on her lip.
Mekuboto: Mastah?
Elysium: I know what you are doing but can you wait some more, I know you want me as your lover and... I want the same thing but when everything is over I have to change my body for us to be together and I want that to be done so we can be together.
Mekuboto understood what he was saying to some degree but Elysium held her face with one hand.
Mekuboto: Mastah?
Elysium: But that doesn't mean we shouldn't start a relationship.
Elysium leaned forward and attempted to kiss Mekuboto, it was metallic for her but she didn't care and she started to cry. Elysium stopped and he looked at Mekuboto, he wiped the tears from her eyes and he let her lay down on his chest.
Elysium: Its ok Mekuboto, we will be together.
Mekuboto: Yes... Mastah.
Both of them kept watch while holding each other, Elysium's four orbs were circling around them and Mekuboto's gauntlets were on her back giving off an ice aura. Both of them were keeping an eye on things while keeping each other company. Looks like Mekuboto and Elysium's bond was strengthening to new heights but how far will it go?