Delphine is copyright Delphine Kiminsu. Jared Matte copyright himself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "If you die on me, I'm gonna have nightmares." --Cloud, "FFVII" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Underground Running Part 4 --Delphine Kiminsu It didn't take long for Delphine and Jared to find a warm place to rest; like everything else on the planet, the snowy climate abruptly ended into a warmer, yet still cold, thin forest. It was more of a plain than a forest; when you were standing next to one tree, you could hardly see the next. After awhile they found a cave, and settled in. Delphine soon had a fire going, and Jared had found some wild strawberries to add to their supper. Which was good, because they had been eating the same thing for the past TWO DAYS. Delphine swore that she was going to go insane if something didn't change. "Thank goodness you found something to eat..." "They're only strawberries. And they're pretty small too." "That doesn't matter. It's something DIFFERENT." Jared grinned and shook his head. "Whatever you say." "I say... a lot of things. But I don't know what to say right now. So leave me alone." Delphine took out the food and started cooking the soup. "The least they could have is given us different TYPES of soup..." "Are you complaining? That sounds an awful lot like complaining." "Oh be quiet." After they had eaten supper, Delphine laid out the sleeping bags she had managed to obtain from the creatures. Somehow, they were both long enough for humans. "Interesting," Delphine murmured to herself. "What?" "Hm? Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself." "Oh. Okay." Jared felt that she was keeping something from him, but whatever. Who cares. The next morning, Jared awoke from a nightmare, and looked around wildly, still partly in the dream. When he realized he wasn't, he gave a breath of relief and stood up. A quick look around after he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes showed that the fire was out, and so was Delphine. He went outside the cave, and squinting in the sunlight, looked around. He didn't see her, but that didn't mean she wasn't there. "Del?" A twig snapped behind him. He twirled, fists ready, but saw no one. "What..." "You know, you should be more careful about letting people know you know they're there..." Jared had whirled around as she said "should", and was staring at her is disbelief. "Del... what the hell are you doing?!" She shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Just getting some air." She smiled. "Sorry I scared you." "Yeah." Jared turned and walked back towards the cave; Del was acting weird, but that didn't mean he had to stick around to find out why. Delphine watched him go. With a sigh she turned and walked the other way. Things were so confusing as of late... what was that? She looked around. She had heard a crack. She took another step forwards and heard a similar one. She felt something give way underneath her; without even thinking about it, she flipped backwards. When she landed, she looked at where she had been standing. It still looked like a regular patch of ground. what the hell? She walked forwards to where she had been again, and again heard the crack. Instead of going back, she took another step forward. This time the ground DID give way... she gave out a cry of surprise, and before she could catch herself, she fell into a pool of water with a splash. She gasped for breath at the surface, then looked around. It was pitch dark. "Uh oh..." She looked up. There was no sunlight filtering through the hole. There was no hole. "Oh sh-IT!" Jared turned around. He had heard Delphine's outcry; now he couldn't see her. "Del?" He paused to listen, then called her name again. Nothing. He walked towards where he thought he had heard her. He suddenly felt himself falling; before he had time to think about it, he fell into a pool of dark water, sunk for a few seconds, then kicked his way to the surface. He looked around once and realized he was in total darkness. He felt around for something to grab ahold of, or to give him some clue as to where he was. Something wet and furry brushed against his hand. He froze for a moment, thinking of what it could be. Suddenly, something hard connected with his head. He felt pain, then nothing. Delphine turned around and stared into the darkness. It hadn't taken her long to remember the light she could make with her Medallion and her dagger, and now she was exploring the underwater catercombs, searching for a way out. Sometimes she found dry ground; but most of the time she had to wade through water that went any where from up to her ankles to over her head. She had heard a splash and was wondering what it could be; something good, something bad... possibly Jared? She stopped to think about what had made her think of Jared. She had been doing a lot of this lately; thinking of something that made no sense, only to later find out that it made a LOT of sense. Had Jared gone to look for her, and fallen in the same 'hole'? In that case, he was a lot worse off than she was, with nothing to illuminate his surrounding... damnit Del, you're just being silly. he's fine. go on with the looking of a way out. She sighed. Whatever. What are you looking for? ...what? What are you searching for? A way out. No. What are you really searching for? ...Comet. I know she's alive. Right? She's alive. Yes. But what else are you searching for? ...my...self...? Delphine opened her eyes. She was lying on a dry stone floor. Where was she? Oh yeah, that's right. She had fallen into a giant underwater maze, and had fallen asleep as soon as she had a safe place to do it. And she had had a dream... It was fading from her. Too fast to remember anything, except for a glowing green light, and a girl, surrounded by white flame, floating in the air... And dark green eyes. "What a dream..." She shook it off and walked on. Jared blinked. He started to sit up, and felt pain. He had a headache. A really big one. He was going to have to take a lot of aspirin... He sat up and brushed his hair out of his face. Where was he, was the important question now. The walls glowed a soft, dim blue light. It was eerily comforting. He seemed to be lying on a small white bed, made of what, he didn't know. He was dry; so he had been unconscious or asleep for a while. He lay back down and closed his eyes. He felt sore all over, but he didn't know why. "...awake yet..." "...dunno.... check..." Footsteps, coming towards him. A door opening, then closing. "Hey there." A female voice. But not Del. Not anyone else he knew, either. He opened his eyes and looked at her. She was... human. Her skin was pale white, and she wore a dress of white silk that seemed to shine in the blue light. "...Where... am I...?" She smiled at him. "Come. Everything will be explained." He blinked. "No... I want to know now." She folded her arms over her chest, and her smile broadened. "Defiant, aren't you?" He didn't reply. "Well, I'll come back later then." She turned and walked out the door. When it closed, Jared heard a 'click'. He walked over to the door and tried to open it; it would not. "It's locked..." He looked around for a way out. There was none. He backed into the bed and sat down. He would just have to wait. Delphine stared in awe at the place. She was standing on a stone ledge. The remains of a rail where the only thing that kept her from stepping over the edge. The opening was... enourmous. Stone buildings, everywhere, all in many different levels of decay. She studied it; it seemed that the outer buildings were the smallest; and the buildings grew larger and larger, and at the very center was a huge stone temple, shaming all the other buildings around it. She could hear a faint dripping; water was coming in from somewhere. It took her a few minutes to make her way to the bottom. She would have flown, but using the Medallion as a lantern had weakened it somehow; she could not fly without risk of falling. She searched through the buildings, finding nothing of interest. Except for one house; she found that, somehow, it was still standing, and everything seemed to be intact. She went through the building, hoping to find something worthwhile. She was in the last room, and losing hope, when her foot caught on a piece of debris. She felt herself trip, and she felt the wind knocked out of her as she slammed into a bureau, and then she fell to the ground, her head hitting hard, and did not move. Jared silently turned his head and laid his ear against the door. He heard nothing. He took a breath, then a few steps away from the door, waited a moment, then ran forward and rammed into the door. He felt a dull pain in his shoulder, and his heart was pounding in his ears, but he stopped and listened for anything. Nothing. His attempt at escape had not been noticed. He rubbed his shoulder and took another slow, deep breath. Once more, maybe twice, and he would be through. Upon inspection, he had found that it was a simple wooden door. He would have attempted to meddle with the lock, but he had no tools; everything he had brought with him was back at the cave. He rammed the door three more times, until it cracked, split in two, and then broke off its hinges, which were weaker than the lock for some reason. He rubbed his sore shoulder and looked around. The white walls glowed, with the same blue tint as his room. The small hallway ran both ways, then turned a corner at what seemed to be the exact same length from his room both ways. weird But now was not the time for speculation. He wanted answers, yes, but he wanted a way out more. He chose the left, and when he got to the turn, he pressed himself against the wall and listened. He waited a full minute, then peeked around the bend. Nothing. Only more white hall that turned to the right after about fifty feet. He gave a small sigh and ran down the hall, hoping to get out as soon as possible. When he got to the curve, he repeated the aforementioned process. This time he saw a stairway leading upwards, and a soft yet bright blue glow was coming from above. He took a few steps towards the stairs, stopped to listen, heard nothing, then climbed the steps. The ten or so steps led into the center of a small, circular room. The blue glow was coming from a stone placed on a slim holder. There was a chair and a dresser beside it. He looked opposite of these three items. There, he saw a bed; in it, was the pale girl who he had seen before. He took a hesitant step forward, not sure if she was asleep or not. She shifted, but no more. He saw that her eyes were closed, and felt relief wash over him. He was safe for now. He searched the room for a door of some kind; there was none. He had just started descending the stairs when he heard a sharp intake of breath; he whirled around, and saw that the girl was awake. She was staring at him, her hand over her mouth. He swallowed, then realized she was about to scream. He ran over to her and clamped his hand over her mouth, and all that came out was a pitiful squeak. She swallowed and backed away from him. "Wh..." She blinked and shook her head, then glared at him. "Why are you in my room?" "...It was an accident," he said with a shrug. She titled her head to one side. "And just HOW did you get out?" She blinked. "I'm getting Ky..." Jared narrowed his eyes, took her firmly by the shoulders, and gave her a cold glare. She swallowed and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "Who are you, why am I here, and where in the heck am I?!" he asked angrily. She tried to say something, but nothing would come out. Jared released her and took a step back, after he realized why she couldn't say anything. "M, my name is Emily," she said with hesitation. "You're in a hidden cavern of the Gendren temple of H'mblesh." Jared gave her a confused look, then sighed. "You don't know what H'mblesh is?" He shook his head. "Not really." "Well... this could take a while to explain..." Jared shrugged. "Summarize." "Hundreds of years ago... perhaps tens of hundreds, I'm not quite sure... a small group of Overlanders set out to start a small colony of their own... They didn't like the direction the newly organized Overland was heading. The traveled for years. Many died. There were but ten odd humans left when they reached this place. They started small -- after all, they had so few. But as generations grew them into hundreds, thousands, they built a large city of stone. It was magnificent! They lived in peace for perhaps hundreds of years." She sighed. "...What?" "They... they lived in peace for hundreds of years... until one," she said his name with fury, "Darren Kiminsu, destroyed it all. Literally! He killed everyone and destroyed the whole city..." "Wait a minute! Did you say Darren Kiminsu ?!" "Yes..." she said with hesitation. "Why?" "My fri..." "Tsk, Emily. Darren didn't kill everyone, or even destroy the city. He just caused what happened." Jared whirled around. A taller boy, blonde, wearing long sleeved gray tee-shirt, blue jeans, black boots, stood at the head of the steps. Jared wondered who he was. "Kyle..." Ah. So his name was Kyle. "If you're going to tell a story, tell it right... and I don't think you should have seventeen-year-old boys in your room." Jared blinked. "How did you know..." he trailed off. It was probably just a guess, stupid... Kyle remained expressionless. "I know a lot more than you do." Kyle glanced at Emily, his eyes cold. "Why is he in your room? I thought he was under lock and key until said otherwise." His voice had a slight edge to it that made Jared wish he carried a weapon. "Well.... I..." She swallowed. Jared nervously glanced between the two. Kyle didn't need to hear anything more. "I see." Kyle drew his gun. Jared leapt past him and down the steps, surprising Kyle, and ran back the way he came as fast as he could go. The door to his former prison went by in a blur. He didn't even stop when he came to a fork; he just took the right and kept going. With each pounding step he gasped air into his burning lungs. He wasn't thinking clearly, nor at all; he was just running. He saw another fork in the ...trail? hallway? passageway? ...whatever the correct term, he skidded to a stop. He hunched over, his hands pressed against his thighs, catching his breath. Only now did he stop to think; he wondered what had made him run so blindly, so panic-stricken; he had been in plenty worse before. He'd been scared before, but not like THIS. This wasn't fear, this was all out panic that tore at his thoughts and threatened to take over. The one thing he didn't understand was why. He had been in the middle of this war, what, almost a year now? Plenty had happened since then, and of course he had been scared, but he had always known why. He could have said it had been because Kyle pulled a gun on him, but he knew that that wasn't it. He couldn't place his fear, and it frustrated him. I'll think about it later, he thought dully, now I need to get out while I can. He felt for a breeze, looked for any sign that showed the way out. There was none. maybe I should go back and take the other way... He was interrupted by footsteps coming from the left passageway; he hurried into the right and waited to see what would happen. He saw the back of someone; a long cloak with a hood hanging off, accompanied by a thick mass of short, wild, fiery-red hair. Jared took a few steps backwards, hoping to find an opening or something to hide in. The figure turned, and immediately shot at him. Jared dodged without even thinking about it. Then he stopped. And stared. Whenever Delphine got ready to fire a majik-blast, or was firing them in succession, he noticed, a green light illuminated and surrounded her hands. He had asked her about it, and after a long-winded explanation that she had obviously memorized from somewhere(or someone), had forgot about it. But now he noticed the same exact thing happening to the person in front of him. Except the light was black. Jared looked up at the person's face. The figures eyes glowed a bright red, and he was not human. Jared took one more second to think about it, then turned and broke into a dead run. The hall ended abruptly and curved to the right. Jared stumbled on something and skidded across the floor until he bumped into the wall. He rolled to the side until he was protected by the curve, and the figure just missed him. Jared stared. Del's doesn't leave a mark... and it doesn't richoquet, either... He pushed himself up and stood. He turned to face the way he was going and gave a huge sigh of relief; there was an opening! He ran until he came to the end and stopped dead. A quick estimate told him that the drop was a hundred feet, and he couldn't tell how deep the water was below him. "Did you see him?!" "He went that way. Take your time, he won't be going anywhere, unless he wants to go splat." Jared glanced behind him. He didn't have much time to think; heavy footsteps were getting closer by the second. don't think, just do it, a voice in the back of his head. He smiled slightly. Del wasn't even here and she was helping him. He took a few steps back away from the only exit available, to get a run up. Just then Kyle turned the corner, and shouted when he saw him. Jared ran, and when he got to the edge, pushed off it with as much force as he had; he sailed through the air, then fell, feet first. He looked below him; the water seemed deep enough. But he had only done this once, so he had no idea how to measure it; at least he wouldn't be taken away by a current this time. Suddenly the water flew up around him, and he didn't even have a chance to gasp in air before he went under, rewarding himself with a mouthful of water. To his dismay, he kept going down for almost half a minute, more than long enough to panic him. When he could, he kicked up as hard and as fast as he could. His lungs burned from lack of air, and exhaustion threatened to take over his limbs. He had never been much of a swimmer, and this was hell. But he stubbornly refused to give up. Panicked, exhausted both mentally and physically, he would not give up. He broke the surface and gasped in sweet, clean air. He ducked under again, then stayed above the water, gasping. He blinked water out of his eyes and looked around. It wasn't over yet; he had to get out of the water and into a shelter of some sort. He saw shore and gave a small sigh; it was the same length away as the water had been a minute ago. But ever stubborn, he started swimming for it. "Damnit! He got away," Kyle muttered. The figure walked up behind him, looked at him, then looked out. There was a large lake, surround half by a tall wall, through which this was the only opening, and half by open rubble. Everything was made of stone, just like the entire city that Delphine had stumbled upon. He looked down and saw the ripple that Jared had created when he had splashed into the water; the figure hoped that Jared didn't make it back up. "Ximenes," Kyle said. The figure turned. "Do you think he knows you're not human?" Ximenes nodded. "He knows. I saw it in his eyes." He paused. "I also think he recognized what I was. And the power..." He looked at his hands. "I can explain that," Kyle said. "He knew who Darren Kiminsu was." "Enough said," the figure replied, frowning. He distractedly pushed a piece of hair out of his face and sighed. "This is one of those times I wish I could still fly..." "Hm?" Kyle asked. Ximenes smiled. "Nothing. Just complaining." Kyle grinned. "Hey, it's your fault..." "I still want both." "You can't have the best of both worlds." "I wouldn't have the best of either world; my flying and this power aren't the best of their kind." Kyle shrugged. Jared tried to control his breathing as he lied on the shore. He had tried several times to get back up, but each time he felt too tired. He waited a moment and tried once more; this time he made it. He looked around himself; The only light to see by was the faint blue light leaking from where he had exited. This didn't make for much, but his eyes had gotten adjusted to it, so he was able to see enough to find what was left of a building. The wall facing the water and another to the left were still there, and there was enough debris around to hide him from a casual onlooker. With the thought of actual sleep, exhaustion finally won over, and he collapsed in a heap on the floor. Delphine blinked slowly, once, twice, then remembered where she was. oh yes. miss clumsy fell and bumped her head she thought with a grin. She rubbed her head, knowing there would be a bruise there, and stood up. She looked out the window; she was sure she had distinctly heard the sound of a giant splash. But this was impossible for two reasons. One, there was no water close enough. Two, she hadn't really heard it. it's in my head...AGAIN she though with slight disdain. She was becoming much too paranoid as of late. but are you sure it's paranoia? she asked herself. Of course she wasn't sure. Nothing made sense. And why should it? It would just make things easier. With a sigh she went to the window. To lazy to be bothered with the door, she jumped out, tucking her legs underneath herself as she landed. She headed for the giant stone temple, that prominent presence that loomed over her like a foreboding shadow. Now was one of those few times she really didn't want to be alone; most people interrupted her thoughts from time to time, which annoyed her, so she generally liked being alone. But sometimes, such as now, having someone with her would have been a comfort. yeah, someone like Jared. someone who doesn't need a reason for your every move, someone who doesn't question your every thought. someone who will just let you be when you want to be left alone, who knows when to keep his mouth shut. yup, that's Jared in a nutshell. i'd better tell him that. She came to an intersection in the roads, and went to the right. The road curved so that it was eventually going in the same direction it had been before the intersection, wondering why they had bothered to do that. Whoever 'they' was. She stopped; before her was a huge lake, and opposite of her, there was a great stone wall. She looked up. the temple! It was the eastern side of the temple. She looked, but as far as she could see, there was no opening. She started walking towards the lake, admiring its greatness and wondering how in the heck it had gotten there. Her foot bumped against something, but she ignored it. Until it made a noise. "What the..." She turned and looked down. A figure, perhaps human, lay asleep. She brought her light closer. "Jared!" He was obviously asleep, dead to the world (hopefully not literally). He was soaking wet and looked like he had just fallen on the floor. She smiled and pushed a lock of hair out of his face. He gave a small moan, and she pulled her hand back in surprise. Jared brought his hand to his forehead. He had one hell of a headache. He blinked his eyes open. "...wha..." He blinked again, paused. "Del!" She grinned at him. "Hey. You okay?" "I... yeah..." He sat up, brought his hand to his head, closed his eyes and sighed. "This's been one hell of a day." "I know what you mean... what're you doing here?" "You don't have a clue what I mean." He explained everything that had happened to him in full detail, except he skipped over the part where Emily had told him something about Delphine's father. He didn't know the full story, so he couldn't say anything about it, he figured. Delphine sat back, thinking. "Maybe... it was just because of stress?" He shook his head. "No. I mean, I'm not going to sit here and say that nothing scares me, but you know me. I wasn't just "oh crap I've gotta get outa here" scared, I was "shittin'-in-your-pants-God-can't-help-me" scared. And I don't know why, and it's really starting to piss me off!" Delphine smiled. "I guess when you put it that way..." She shrugged. "I dunno, Jared. I do know you well enough to know you don't get scared that easily, but... hey, at least you got out of it alive," she said, discreetly changing the subject. She had enough to think about. Adding this to the list was too much, she'd think about it later. "Yeah, barely." But he smiled anyway. She stood up and offered him her hand. He shook his head and stood up without it. "You know, you don't have to act all tough around me, Jared. I like you more when you don't pretend you're something you're not." "Oh yeah? Well, when you sense something or whatever, or any of that other stuff you do, you don't have to hide it from me. I'm not going to think you're a freak or something, because I'll always like you no matter what." She started. "You... you know, about all that?" "Yeah." She turned away. He walked up behind her. "Del?" "I don't like it," she said, quietly. "I don't know what it is and it scares the hell out of me when it happens. I don't know how I got it or why I have it. It's like a disease I can't get rid of." He put his hand on her shoulder, and she turned slightly, just enough to look at him. "Hey, Del. Don't worry about it." "..." She grinned and hugged him. "Thanks." He blushed. "No problem." They stood like that for a minute, her head rested on his shoulder, their arms around each other, then awkwardly pulled away. "We should find a way to the surface," she said. "Yeah," he agreed. He glanced back at the hole in the wall. If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn that he saw someone watching them... "Jared?" "Yeah?" "You don't." She turned from him and walked off without another word. wh... what?! Jared thought in alarm. He glanced back at the hole, then hurried to catch up with Delphine. She glanced at him as he caught up with her. "Del?" he said. "Yeah?" "...Never mind. Forget it." good. because I don't know why I said it either. it would be nice to know what it meant to you, though... "Del? I think we're being watched." He nodded up ahead of them. She looked forward; several figures, their features shadowed, lay up ahead. "I wonder what they want," she murmured. "Can't be anything good." "No doubt." They ventured closer, until one of them called out, "Halt!" "Who goes there?" Jared murmured under his breath. One of the figures approached them; they stood their ground. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" he demanded. Delphine looked him over; he was human, an adult, he had graying brown hair, and his clothes looked like they hadn't been mended for a number of years. "We're lost," she explained finally. "Really. How'd you get here in the first place?" "Fell through a hole in the ground." Jared said. The man glanced between them. "Hmph." you too... Delphine covered a grin and glanced at Jared. He was finishing rolling his eyes. The man walked away from them and huddled with the others, seemingly deciding what to do. Jared sighed and turned to Delphine. "What do you think?" "They're paranoid as hell.. but then, isn't everybody?" "They are on this planet... I thought you said you were the last human?" "I thought I was... but..." She sighed and shrugged. "I guess there are a lot of things I don't know yet." "Yeah... well, at least.. never mind." He turned slightly red, hoping that she didn't have any idea of what he had been about to say. "Hey." The glanced over. "Come with us." Delphine and Jared glanced at each other, exchanged nods, and followed. "What are we going to do once we get where we're going?" Jared murmured. Delphine shrugged. "No clue. Have an idea?" He shook his head and sighed. "I don't like this. These guys don't seem safe." Delphine glanced at their escorts; a dirty-blonde haired, younger boy, who looked a little older than she; a black haired man, looking to be about in his thirties, and the man who had approached them. They all wore the same; brown clothes, brown boots, and all were very tired looking. They walked on for about ten minutes, until the silence was disturbed by a low, light sound, almost like the sound a hover-craft made. The three men looked up in a alarm, Delphine and Jared in confusion. "What's that?" "GET DOWN!" The younger of the three pushed Jared and Delphine onto the ground, then pulled out a gun and fired at some unseen opponent. There was a shout and a thump; more shouts, and then they found out what had been making that noise. Several people, male and female, had come out of the shadows, riding on strange machines; they were crescent shaped, and just large enough to stand on. They flew through the air, powered by an unknown fuel, and shot at the five of them with laser-rifles and flame throwers. "What's going on?!" Delphine demanded. "No time, just go!" The younger man shot at their attackers one more time, then ran after Delphine and Jared. The other two caught up with them, but they were still pursued. "Split up!" Nobody asked questions, they just did it. Jared and Delphine found themselves together; they glanced at each other, nodded, ran into a still standing stone building, and stopped to catch their breath. "Beautiful," Jared muttered. Delphine sighed and nodded. "At least we lost them--" "HEY!" One of them came flying in, holding a flame thrower. They both stared, dumb-struck. Then the flame came shooting towards them, and they dove in different directions to dodge it. Jared rolled behind a pile of stone and glanced out. He didn't see Delphine, or the other. Something had caught on fire, and it was slowly spreading across the plants that had overgrown the stone. "What..." He gave a cry of surprise as he felt the heat of a near-hit. Assuming Delphine had already escaped, he ran outside the house and hid behind a stone wall. His attacker flew out. His eyes narrowed, then saw Jared. Jared leaped out of the way just as another blast almost caught him. He ran away from his attacker, changed his mind, and double back, just dodging another blast. He leapt at the other, grabbed the flame thrower, and dropped back to the ground. He had no idea how to use it, but the other obviously thought he did, for he retreated. Jared dropped the weapon and turned to look back at the house. Delphine hadn't been outside, so something must have happened, she might have hit her head... He jumped back. The house had suddenly exploded in fire; the other had thrown a fire bomb, and either hadn't been aiming for Jared, or had really bad aim. Jared glanced over his shoulder, but didn't see his attacker. He suddenly remembered that Delphine was still in the house. "SHIT!" He ran back into the building, covering his mouth with the collar of his leather jacket. He squinted; he could barely see in the smoke. "Shit, Del, where are you..." He wasn't sure if the tears in his eyes were from the smoke or his own emotions. Either way, he HAD to find Del before it was too late. He searched, his hope dwindling by the second, when suddenly he saw her; she was lying on the ground, unconscious. He ran over to where she lay; she was in a very small portion of the house that hadn't yet caught fire. Blood was trickling from a wound on the side of her head onto the floor. He knelt beside her, suddenly aware of just how vulnerable she was. At that one moment, he understood... He shook his head; he had lost it, whatever it was he had been on the verge of. He picked Delphine up and turned. The fire he had been running through before seemed almost impossible now. His knees almost buckled under the weight of the thought that he might not get out. "Hey! C'mon, hurry, before it collapses!" Jared blinked and looked to his left. The younger of the three men that they had seen... standing at the doorway... He clenched his teeth, took a breath, and ran for all he was worth. The building collapsed as he leapt out of the doorway, a piece of falling rock just missing the back of his foot. The ceiling and walls were made of tan colored stone. Fallen rocks lay everywhere. Lit torches were placed every ten feet down the hallways. Jared was sitting in a chair, in a small room. Delphine was lying in a make-shift cot, either sleeping or unconscious, he wasn't sure which. She had been lying their, not moving, even once, since six hours ago. He had carried he here, placed her down at the doctor's instructions, then sat in the same chair he was in now, only getting up to check on her. She had a first-degree burn on her left hand, and her coat was singed. There was a patch over the wound on her head. She was breathing normally. The doctor had said that she would be fine, maybe a little disoriented. Jared sighed. It was probably all true, but -- but, that didn't keep him from worrying. Delphine blinked. He didn't notice it. Her eyes slowly opened. There were dark spots in front of her vision, at first, but after she blinked a few more times, she could see properly. The ceiling above her was cracked and old, worn out. The same as the clothes those others had been wearing... old and worn out... She gave a slight groan and sat up. Jared looked up, surprised, then smiled. "Del?" he asked. She looked at him, and smiled. "Hey... what happened? I have the worst headache..." He walked over to her and told her what had happened. "...wow..." She cast her eyes downwards. "Thanks for getting me out of there." He hesitantly brought his hand to hers. She blushed a little, then looked at him. Their eyes locked. For a moment, everything else in the universe stopped, and it was just them, frozen in time, in this moment of soft affection. Footsteps came into earshot, and the moment was broken. She looked away, and he pulled his hand back. "Hey in there. Is she up yet?" Jared looked at the doorway. The young man from before, Luke, was standing there. "Yeah," Delphine answered for him. Luke glanced at her and smiled. "Hi. Are you okay?" "Besides a huge headache, just peachy." She grinned. He walked in. "You're Delphine." It was more of a statement than a question. "Yeah..." "Darren's daughter." Delphine looked at him. "Darren Kiminsu?" "Y, yeah... why...?" "You don't know the history of this place, do you?" "I don't even know what this place is!" Luke glanced between her and Jared. "I could tell you, but... maybe..." He frowned. It was worth a shot, but that didn't mean the others would agree with it. "But what?" "Come with me." Luke turned and walked away. Jared helped Delphine stand up, and then they followed him. Luke led them down the hallway, took a left, walked on about ten feet, then walked through a doorway. Delphine and Jared glanced at each other, then walked in. Delphine stopped and stared. They were in a library. A HUGE library. Luke walked up to her with a book in his hand. "Can you read this?" he asked. "Nobody here can read any of these books, the text is very different... very old..." Delphine took the book and looked at it, Jared looking over her shoulder. He couldn't make any sense of it. But she could. "Yes," she said quietly. "Wh, what?!" Luke exclaimed. "I can read it." She looked up. "Are they all written in the same language?" "I believe so. I haven't looked at all of them, but the large majority I have looked at is all in the same language. But... how can you read it?" "My dad taught me," she said quietly. Luke gave her a quizzical look. "Where is your father?" "He died, over ten years ago." She concentrated on the words in the book. "I'm sorry..." He sighed. "Hey, do you have a brother?" She looked up at him. "No." "Then... you have it..." He turned and walked aways away, thinking. "The first female since Jessalyn..." "Hey, wait! What do you mean, I have it? What are you..." She stopped and stared. He looked over his shoulder at her. "If you don't know, then... it..." She shook her head. "I know. I have it." He nodded. "Does he mean your Medallion?" Jared asked. Delphine nodded. "These books will probably tell you everything you need to know about the history of this place. Read as many as you wish." "Thank you." Luke walked out of the room, leaving Jared and Delphine alone. "Jared?" "Yeah?" "This could take awhile." "That's okay. I'll wait." She touched his arm, ever so gently. "Thanks." It was several hours later when Delphine dropped the fifth book she had read and gave an angry sigh. "Nothing is clear... each different historian had a different view on the whole thing!" She glanced over at Jared; he had fallen asleep in an arm chair at least an hour ago. Delphine smiled a little, then flew up until she was facing the top shelf. She took out a book and started to lower herself, until she noticed something that had been behind the book. She took out another book, and her assumption had been assured. There was a small trap door. She dropped the two books and took the rest that were in the way out, dropping them as well. She studied the tiny door, but found no way to open it. She took out her dagger and slit it into the tiny space between the edge of the door and the rest of the wall, hoping to maybe slip a lock and open it. To her surprise, the door slid open. She squinted and looked inside. She could just barely see two books. She reached in and pulled them out. The first was eight inches tall and six wide, bound in brown leather, and had a symbol on the front. She flipped through it, and found that it was empty. "An empty notebook," she murmured. She looked at the same one. It was almost exactly the same, except it was a few inches larger both ways. The same symbol, although slightly larger, was on the front. The stopped, her eyes widening. She lowered herself to the ground, held both notebooks in one hand and took out her Medallion. She held it up to the symbol. The symbol on her Medallion, the one she had never understood, was the same as the one on the notebook. "No way," she said, incredulous. She restored her Medallion, but the empty notebook down, and flipped through the larger one. It was hand-written, and looked very much like her father's handwriting. She swallowed, and turned to the first page. It read, "The Testimony of Darren Kiminsu". Delphine's hand brushed over the writing. If she was too find out the truth, it would probably be in here. My name is Darren Kiminsu. But, I guess you already know that, if you read the first page. I'm a little nervous; I don't have much time to write all of this. It won't take them very long to find me, I don't think, and I have to get this written and in a safe place. They would probably burn it if they found it. I'm writing this in the hopes that one of my descendants, maybe, hopefully, one of my children, will find it and read it. Fate has been kind to the Kiminsu's, so I don't doubt that this will happen. Fate has been kind. An oxymoron at best. Where should I start? With Tytus Kiminsu, probably. He is the one that started it all, really. Tytus Kiminsu. My great grandfather by many generations. He led the small group away from overland, brought them here, and founded H'mblesh. He wept over every death, mourned every tragedy. It was a hard time for everyone. Many lost hope; morale was very low. Most were ready to just give up, or even go back. One night, Tytus couldn't sleep. He was taking a walk through the catacombs, exploring, seeing if he could find anything useful. He entered one cave, and was almost blinded by a brilliant light. It took his eyes a few minutes to adjust to the light. When he could, he walked to the source. A large, glowing white sphere was suspended off the ground. He touched it, not sure why. Nothing happened. He placed both hands on the sphere; something coursed through him, some great power that he did not understand. Then he was unconscious. He woke up a few minutes later. The chamber around him was shaking violently. Rocks were tumbling down from the ceiling. He picked himself up and ran as fast as he could. The cave collapsed behind him; he kept running, dodging falling rocks, until he came to the encampment. Several people had come out of their tents and were looking around, scared. Some people where sobbing, saying things like "This is the end!". Somebody screamed. Tytus called out to them. No one answered. He roared at them to be quiet, and they listened. "It's only and earthquake," he said, "and it seems that the worst of it is over." The ground still shook, but people were able to stand. "Now..." He was interrupted by a loud explosion, and rock suddenly rained down on them. The same somebody screamed. Tytus was ready to himself, until he felt water. It was raining. Underground. "Tytus! What on Mobius is going on?" "I don't know," he answered. It was several hours later when people became adventurous enough to search for the source of the explosion. "Tytus! Come quickly and see!" Someone said. Tytus followed him, wondering what the commotion was. He soon found out. A huge lake, one that hadn't been there before. He knelt beside it and tested it. It was fresh. The only problem with this place of living was that there was no source of fresh water. Now there was plenty. They could live here. "Hey.. what's that?" "What's what?" Tytus asked. "That, in your hand." Tytus looked. In his hand was a gold medallion, about the size of his palm, with a strange symbol on it. The same medallion that I hold in my hand now. "And the same in my pocket," Delphine murmured to herself. She took it out and gazed at it. Was this really the same Medallion that Tytus had mysteriously found in his hand? "But... where did it come from?" She skimmed over it. "...The orb, maybe? Maybe he was so busy living that he didn't realize it was in his hand?" She shook her head and read on. She read about the building of H'mblesh, the trials and tribulations of it; she read of Tytus' discovery of the power of the Medallion; she read of his marriage to Ingrid; the birth of his twin sons, Sylvan and Nicholas; the death of Nicholas(he was trapped under a rock fall, and the doctor couldn't get to him in time), the death of Tytus, his last words as he lay in his deathbed, "I love you both very much. Sylvan, take care of the Medallion. Good-bye." She shed a tear for Sylvan, as he watched his mother die, smiled when he had a child of his own, Jessalyn, the woman Luke had spoken of. Sylvan had no more children, for his wife soon died in a construction accident. He raised Jessalyn with the help of the growing town of H'mblesh. Delphine read about his victories and losses, sighed when he died, peacefully, his daughter by his side, whom received the Medallion with his dying breath. She read about many generations of Kiminsu's, until she came to her father. She paused, closing the book, marking the place with her hand. She glanced at Jared. He had shifted in his sleep, but was still doing just that: sleeping. She lay the book down on the chair she had been sitting in, open to the last page she had read, and walked over to him. She moved a lock of his hair aside and looked into his face. "He looks so young... and innocent..." she murmured. "He looks like... he looks like he hasn't had to live through ten years of war." She planted a small kiss on his cheek. "You're lucky, Jared." She paused. "But you like it hear, or at least you say you do. How could you like being here... you come from a peaceful planet. There is no war going on that the life of all kind depends on; how could you like to be here, after all that?" She sighed and gazed at the floor, staring off into space. "Lucky?" he said, making her jump. She hadn't known he had been awake. "Yeah, right. You don't know what my life was like before this. I'd rather have been in the middle of a war for the past ten years than the living hell that was my life for sixteen years." "Jared... it couldn't possibly have been that bad." "Oh really? And what the hell do you know what my life was like? As a matter of fact, how the hell do you know the situation on my home planet?" She looked away. "You weren't even there for a week!" he continued. "And you saw a very small part, in a very small city. How can you base the situation on such a tiny part?!" She sighed and cast her eyes downward. "My planet, my home," Delphine grimaced at the words, "is in just as bad a state as yours. Except it's not an all out war; people are much more subtle about it. Why do I like it here? Because nobody hides and lies and keeps its people in the dark; because it's more honest here. That's why." Delphine bit her lip. "Are you done reading yet?" he snapped. Delphine's eyes hardened. "No. I'm not." She turned and walked back over to the journal. Jared hmphed and sat back down in his chair. Delphine lifted the book up to hide her face; she wasn't crying, but she felt like she was going to at any moment, and certainly didn't want him seeing. She read a few pages farther into her father's childhood, forgetting about Jared momentarily. She lowered the book to her lap, a faint smile on her lips as she read. She read until he was about twenty-eight years old, she wasn't sure by the script. She had always had a hard time with the numbers. She glanced up at Jared, who had been watching her. He quickly looked away, pretending he was fascinated by something on the wall. Delphine gave a tiny smile, then read on. I was in the temple, walking with my sister, when the earthquake started. We both ran outside, in case some part of the building were to fall on us. We ran to the center point of the city, which was were you where supposed to go when something catastrophic was happening. My sister ran all the way to the center; I stopped and hid behind a building. I don't know why, but that one movement probably saved my life -- and killed hundreds of others. Delphine stopped at this; she almost closed the book, unable to find out what had happened. But... she had to know. This was her father. No matter what he had done, she HAD to know. She swallowed and looked back at the book. While Delphine had been reading, Jared had started picking up the books she had dropped, lacking anything else to do. He skimmed through each one, absently wondering if there where any that he could understand, although he doubted it. He came to one that consisted mainly of hand-drawn pictures. He glanced at Delphine. She wasn't done reading yet, so he figured that he could look through it while he waited. There was a being -- one that I, for some reason, call a detrimental -- floating in midair. She was evilly beautiful. And she wanted me. "Bring me Darren Kiminsu!" "Why should we?!" Someone called out. The being gave a small smile and said, "otherwise I'll kill you. All of you." There was a collective gasp, and then someone noticed my sister. "Lara! Where's Darren?" "He... he was right behind me..." She turned. "Darren! Where'd you go?" I didn't answer. I was too scared. "Darren!" the being screeched. "Come out of hiding..." I didn't. The being frowned. "He must have known that something was wrong... and ran off..." I heard everyone gasp again, and looked out, risking exposure. A large army, a HUGE army, all armed to the teeth. "Darren! Come out.. or I'll kill everyone you know." I ran. I thought that maybe she was bluffing. I ran and hid in somebody's cellar. I spent the next twelve hours, trying to block out the screams of terror, fear, anger, pain... but it wouldn't go away. If I blocked my ears, it was in my head... and I knew I was to blame. I came out, finally, when I could no longer handle it. I ran to the city center. "STOP THIS!" I screamed. The being looked at me, then ordered her army to stop. "What do you want?!" She looked at me, and said simply, "Give me the Medallion." I laughed. "Do I look stupid?" "Yes," she answered. "You do." One of her men came out, dragging my sister, screaming and sobbing. "Leave us alone!" The being gave me a meaningful look, then said to her guard, "Kill her." Delphine gasped. "NO! I'LL..." But I was too late. My mouth hung open; my sister was on the ground, a dagger in her chest. I ran to her side and knelt next to her. "No... Lara..." "Darren..." She struggled to sit up. I was crying. "Damn you, you coward... I blame you..." Her eyes closed. I stared. I couldn't handle this. I just up and ran; I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, to the temple. I ran into here, the library. I hid myself in a corner and sobbed to myself. My sister was dead. And it was my fault. The writing became hurried, scrawled. Delphine read on. I can hear them.. they'll find me soon. I have to hide this soon, then run. If... whoever's is reading this... if you are a Kiminsu, or you know one, please give the empty notebook to them. It was one made by Tytus himself. This was an empty one; that is the last empty journal that Tytus created. Whoever you are, make sure that a Kiminsu uses it. Please. Peace to you. Darren Kiminsu Delphine stared at the page; the book fell out of her hands and crashed to the floor. Jared glanced up at her. "Oh Dad... I'm so sorry..." she whispered. Tears flowed uncontrollably. "I love you... I miss you so much..." She brought her hands up to her face and sobbed into them. Jared looked at her, concerned. He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind. He glanced down at the page he was looking at. It looked like the artist had drawn Delphine's Medallion; Jared didn't know if it had any significance, but he figured it couldn't hurt. He walked over to her and placed the book in her lap. Then he walked a few feet away and kept his back to her, standing with his arms crossed. Delphine wiped her eyes and looked at the book Jared had given to her. She glanced at him, then flipped through it. Hand drawn pictures. She went to the front page, read the title. "Lara... she drew these..." She looked through the pictures. A rose, a ring, someone she didn't know, Lara's husband, Lara's and her father's parents. There was a two page spread out of H'mblesh. "This is what it looked like before... wow..." She turned the page. Lara had sketched the Medallion here. Delphine took it out and compared. A perfect match. She smiled, then turned the page again. It was a picture of a young man. He was smiling, and Lara had drawn his features so well, Delphine could tell that he was kind. She read the caption underneath. "Oh my... Dad..." This picture was of her father. Her hand went over the picture. She closed her eyes and held it in. "Dad..." She swallowed. "I wish you were here... I don't know what to do anymore... I wish..." She stopped. "Wishes... ha. Wishes are pointless." She dried her eyes. "And so is crying... what the hell am I doing?" She snapped the book shut, picked the other two up, and jumped up. She walked past Jared. "Wait! Where are you going?" "...I need to take care of something. Here." She handed the books to Jared. "Hold on to these, will you?" She turned and ran off. Jared stared after her, wrestling with a thought. He made up his mind. Delphine gaped at the walls. Made of a strange white stone that glowed all its own, she felt... serene. Peaceful. She walked past a small, blue stone, propped up on a wooden table. It gave off a soft blue light. "Wow... I wonder..." She shook her head. No use thinking about it, she'd probably never figure it out. She... "Del!" She whirled. Jared was running after her. He caught up to her, breathing a little heavier to catch his breath. "Jared? What are you doing?" "I have to help you." "You don't even know what I'm doing!" "I know... but I have to help you anyway." He paused. "I'm sorry I... said some of that. Not all of it, but some of it, I didn't mean." He sighed, trying to explain. "I mean... I meant what I said... but... not the way I said it!" He said, finally getting it out. She offered a small smile. "I understand." She walked on, and he followed. They were silent for a few minutes. "How long are you going to be mad at me?" She didn't look at him, and didn't answer. He sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Great," he muttered, only half aware he had said it aloud. She grimaced but still said nothing. They came to a fork, and Delphine went left. Jared followed her, but he felt a sense of insecurity. He paid more attention to where they were, and found it looked just lake the place he had been imprisoned in almost a day ago. He cleared his throat quietly and stayed very alert. Delphine walked up to a door and laid her ear against it, listening for the slightest sound. Nothing. Good. "Hm." She opened the door enough to peak in, assuring herself that no one was in there. She walked into the small room. It's walls were dirt and the floor as made of wood, instead of the white stone. It was stuffed with books, furniture, clothes, a small bed, and various other items. She glanced around, then went to the bed and dragged it aside. "How do you know where we're going?" Jared asked quietly. "I just... do," she answered in a normal tone of voice. Jared glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at her. She was pulling up a trap door that had been hidden underneath the bed. She dropped down, and after a moment, so did Jared. They looked around; the path in front of them was blocked off by a pile of rubble, and there was no other way to go. Jared felt a tingle of something go swiftly up his spine. He shivered and took a step back into the wall. "Jared?" "I'm fine." She nodded, then backed herself up into the wall. "Protect yourself, I'm gonna blast it. Jared obliged, and she sent a powerful majik blast flying at the debris, shattering the rock and sending it flying in all directions. She turned and covered her head as quickly as she could, until it died down a moment later. Both uncovered their heads and looked. The passageway went on about ten or twenty feet, then abruptly stopped. There was an old, gray stone pillar. The walls and floor were made of dirt, the ceiling of wood. "This is why you're here?" "I don't know," she admitted. She walked on, Jared following close behind. They reached the pedestal, and Delphine took out her Medallion. Jared walked over to the other side, He stepped on something, looked down and saw a shield. He shrugged it off and looked at Delphine. She was staring at her Medallion, deciding something. "Del?" "Hm?" She looked up. Without saying anything, she placed the Medallion over the pedestal. The pedestal began to glow with a soft white light, and when Delphine let go of the Medallion, it did not fall. "Holy...!" "Damn!" Delphine stared at it. "Did you know it was gonna do that?!" "No!! I just... I had no idea!" "Hey, who left this door.. what the hell?" "Uh-oh," Jared muttered. "I don't think we'll get in too much trouble... Luke and they others..." "That's not Luke and the others," Jared mumbled. Delphine looked at him. Jared had recognized the voice. It belonged to the being he had seen before; the one that looked like Nights' species, the one that shot the black majik at him. He watched as the being jumped down, saw them, and recognized Jared. "You!" "Aw shit..." Delphine looked over her shoulder. "Who...?" Jared leapt over the pedestal and tackled her, just as the other shot at them. It went right over their heads, ricocheted off the wall, and dissipated in the air. Jared and Delphine scurried behind the pedestal and stood up. Jared picked up the shield he had stepped on earlier, and used it to block the shots while Delphine shot at Ximenes. They went on like this for ten, twenty minutes, until another voice shouted, "What's going on down there?!" "(*^&!" Jared pushed Delphine into the corner and stood in front of her, trying to hide her from view. He had a very unnerving feeling that if they found out who she was, they would kill her. Delphine didn't ask what he was doing, because she had the same feeling, except it was much stronger, strong enough to really scare her. Kyle jumped down into the hole and looked at Jared. "You... what are you doing back here?!" He tried to see Delphine. "And who's that?!" "No one," Jared said firmly, still holding the shield up. Delphine pushed herself into the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible. She was scared. "Oh really." Kyle walked over. Delphine rested her head against Jared's back, hiding her face. Kyle tried to see who she was. He had to know who she was. He didn't know why, but he had to know. He drew his gun and pointed it at Jared's forehead. "Let me see her. "(*^& off." Kyle pulled the trigger ever so slightly. Jared swallowed and clenched his teeth, but otherwise did nothing. "Let me see her now, or I will kill you and find out who she is anyway." Jared stood his ground. "Five... four..." "Jared," Delphine said. Kyle paused. "No." "Jared, move." Delphine pushed him out of the way, so that Kyle was directly in front of her. She looked him over, than glared at him. "Who the hell do you think you are and what are you doing?!" "Just as I thought." "You're the one who had Jared..." Kyle snickered. "He's not an Overlander." "So, neither am I, what's your point?" Kyle turned the gun around and pushed the but of it against her stomach. He moved closer and said quietly, so that Jared could not overhear, "I mean by blood. He's not of this planet. And I know you're not an overlander; you're a H'mble, also a Kiminsu. Very, very different from an Overlander." Delphine's eyes widened. "Oh, I knew the moment I saw you. Except you're not a real Kiminsu. Just a reasonable facsimile." "The hell are you talking about?!" "Oh, don't pretend. You know and I know you're not real. You can't be, your eyes aren't pure." "What?!" "Whoever produced you did a hell of a job. But they can't get that blue, they can't get it right. You have the slightest of green in your eyes. So you're NOT a Kiminsu." Delphine glared at him. She grabbed the gun from his hand. His eyes widened in surprise, then stared at her. He took a step back, and she raised the gun up to his head. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I do know that you just did the stupidest thing I've ever seen," She gave a slight laugh. "Moron." Jared smirked. Ximenes ran up behind Kyle, yanked him down, and shot at Delphine. Her eyes widened in shock. Jared had the shield in front of her moments before it would have hit her. Ximenes scowled, then picked Kyle up. Delphine suddenly got an idea. She murmured something to Jared, handed the gun to him, then took a step forward. Xiemenes and Kyle had retreated back about ten feet. "Hey." They looked at her. "Go ahead. Hit me with your best shot." Xiemenes glanced at Kyle. "Don't, it's a..." But Ximenes had already shot. At the same instant, Delphine shot a blast of green majik. Jared pulled her back and held the shield up in front of them; when the two blasts met, an ear-shattering explosion, accompanied by a stinging white light. The other two screamed and fell. When it was over, Delphine and Jared opened their eyes and looked. The ground was still shuddering slightly with tremors, and Kyle and Ximenes were on the ground. Kyle was unconscious, and Ximenes was in too much pain to even kneel. "Hurry." "Right." They ran over to the hole. Delphine pulled herself up, then helped Jared up. They closed the trap door and pulled the bed over it. "That should keep them occupied for awhile," Delphine said. "Hopefully forever," Jared muttered. They walked out of the room and closed the door behind them. "If anybody walks by, they won't expect..." "Hey there!" Delphine and Jared looked over. A young boy, about fourteen, was approaching them. "You're not supposed to be around here, you know." "What about you?" The boy shifted. "Well, um..." He glanced between them. "Hey.. what are you doing, anyway?" Delphine smirked, then turned and walked the opposite way, followed by Jared. The boy's eyes widened. "Whoa-oa!" "Geeze, Del..." She smirked at him. "I know, I know. But he's a kid, he'll think all the wrong things. And not get suspicious." "I guess..." "Hey! You there!" They looked over. This time, an older woman, perhaps thirty, approached them. "I don't recognize you." her eyes narrowed. "You aren't a part of that little batch of Kiminsu-loving-freaks at the other end of the block off, are you?" Delphine's eyes lit up with anger. "What did you say?" "I said Kiminsu-loving... SHIT! YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!" She pulled out her laser rifle. "Crap...!" "BOOK IT!" Delphine and Jared ran for all they were worth. They barely made it around a corner of the hallway before the laser went whizzing over their heads. "Oooooh sh-it!" "Um, wrong room!" They turned and ran the other way. The had practically ran into a group of ten or more people, all armed with laser rifles and other various weapons. They practically ran into the woman. Delphine pushed her over and they continued running. "STOP THEM!" "Get security!" "Intruders!" "Dammit! Why can't things ever be easy..." Delphine was about to go to the left when Jared grabbed her arm and pulled her to the right instead. "What...?" "Sh!" "I dunno... I heard a commotion... something must be going on..." "C'mon," Jared whispered. Delphine nodded, and they slowly walked down the hallway. "They went this way.. hey you! Did you see anyone... THERE THEY ARE!" "(*^&!" "Split up!" They ran separate ways down the hallway, which made a "T" shape; Delphine going left, Jared going right. Delphine slid under a table into the opposite wall, and fell silent. She heard shouts of anger, then heard steps running towards her. She tensed. She saw two pairs of feet run towards her, the pause in front of the table. She brought herself up into a kneeling position and drew her dagger. One of them knelt down, and saw her. "There--" his outcry was cut off when Delphine flipped the table over onto him. The other one shot at Delphine, who ran at her and pinned her to the wall. The dagger was at the her neck, and her eyes were wide. "Please..." "You were about to kill me a moment ago, weren't you?" The woman didn't answer. Delphine took the dagger from her neck, and instead punched her out cold. She sighed and turned. The man was slowly pushing the table off of him, trying not to make any noise. He wasn't even aware of her until she had knocked him out. "I'd better go see how Jared is doing..." She sheathed her dagger and walked back. Jared had found a small niche in the wall. It went into the wall and then back to the right. He had easily hidden from his pursuers, and could hardly help from laughing as they ran right past him. Now he was waiting for Delphine to come along, because he was sure she would get away and come back for him. That's how she was. He heard footsteps, slow stealthy ones, and recognized them as Delphine's. He gave a small grin, waited until she was a little ways past him, then reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her in, and clamped a hand over her mouth. She struggled, but he had a good grip on her. "Stop!" He whisper-yelled. "It's me." She stopped struggling, gave a small sigh of relief, and nodded. He released her, and she turned. "Are you okay?" "Yeah. You?" She nodded. "How are we going to get out of here?" Jared didn't answer, because he didn't know either. She sighed and thought awhile, but couldn't come up with anything. "We can't go back the way we came, because they'll probably see us... we can't risk being out in the open..." "Yeah," Delphine agreed. She glanced out into the hallway. "It's empty. Maybe we should try to find a way out." "Okay." They walked down the hallway, making as little sound as possible. They heard distant footsteps, but never say anyone. They walked through the hallways almost half an hour, never finding a way out, and not once meeting up with someone else. They hadn't noticed it, but the bright white walls and blue rock lights had slowly vanished, leaving nothing but dirt for the walls and ceiling. "Hey," Jared said, interrupting the silence for the first time in awhile, "feel that?" Delphine stopped. "Yeah... fresh air...?! What?!" "Just because it's air doesn't mean it's fresh," he said quietly, but she didn't hear. As they went further, they started to hear the hum and the whine of machinery. They glanced at each other, but said nothing more. As they walked on it got louder. They both figured it was because they were getting closer. "Hey," Delphine said, after almost half an hour of the loud machinery. "What?" She pointed to an opening in the hallway, that could have been a doorway, had it been large enough, and had it had a door. Delphine got down on her hands and knees and looked through. She didn't see anything remotely dangerous, so she stood back up. "Go ahead." He shook his head. "Ladies first." She glanced at him. trying to make a point, are we? fine She crawled through, and he came through seconds later. A great collaboration of giant gears and other mechanisms filled half of the large room they were in. "Wow.. I wonder what this's here for?" "Dunno," Jared answered. They looked around, but couldn't find any use for it. "Hm..." Delphine walked towards the machine. The floor underneath her sighed in defeat, and she felt through a hole that had previously been a batch of rotting wood. She screamed, and then Jared heard a thump. "DEL!" He ran to the hole, knelt, and looked down. Delphine was lying on the ground -- which was a good ten feet from his spot -- but she was moving. "Hold on, I'm gonna find a way down there." He looked around, and found a ladder that went through a hole in the floor and ended on the floor below. He quickly climbed down it. When he turned, another man was kneeling beside Delphine. She had pushed herself up on her elbows, and she was talking to the person. Jared walked over. The man, Gerald, looked up. So did Del. "Are you okay?" Jared asked. She nodded. "Yeah. I landed the right way, I just didn't feel too much like getting up." She grinned. "Sorry if I scared you." He gave an uneasy grin and said nothing. Gerald stood up. "Well... hey, aren't you the Kiminsu?" he asked Delphine. She sighed. "I'm really getting... yeah, I'm a Kiminsu. Why?" "What was your name? Delphine?" She nodded. "Have you found the Book?" "The book?" "The one your father wrote, the brief summary of Kiminsu history?" "I wouldn't call it brief... but I think I know what your talking about. It had the Medallion symbol on the cover?" "Yes, that's the one." "How... did you know about that?" "I was a friend of your father's. Come." He walked away. Delphine glanced at Jared, then followed the other man. Jared did the same. They followed him through a few large hallways, and into a large room with a small doorway. He walked over to a bureau and opened one of the drawers. He took out a green coat, one so long that it would have been around Delphine's knees had she worn it, and handed it to Delphine. "Here. This was meant to belong to the daughter of Darren Kiminsu, if he had one." The man smiled. "I'm supposing he did." "I... but... how?" "I told you," he said, "Darren and I were very good friends." The man smiled. "Oh..." he pulled a book out of his pocket. "For the past twenty years or so I've been writing this book... it tells more of the Kiminsu past than your father's. He had but a few hours to write it." He handed it to her. "Here. Perhaps it will clear up some of the blurry parts." "But... I can't! This should be in the library." "Delphine, nobody here can read it." "Oh, yeah... I... don't know what to say!" "Say you'll wear that jacket," he said with a smile. She grinned. "I'll wear the jacket." Jared and Delphine had just returned to the library -- both were sitting in arm-chairs -- when Luke returned. He had the three books in his hands, along with their packs. Delphine looked up. "How'd you get our bags?" She asked. "I sent someone to go look for them," he said. "Jared had told me that you two had been residing in a cave. There aren't too many caves around here, so they weren't too hard to find." He smiled and returned the bags and the books. "Luke," she paused, "we have to leave." "Why?" he asked, not hiding his disappointment. "Well... two of our friends are missing. We're hoping to find them. Besides, " she added softly, "I have responsibilities back home." Jared looked at her. "You're going back?" She responded with a slight nod. He grinned and stood up. "But we have to find Comet and Knuckles first. Assuming... that they can be found." She gave a little sigh, then turned back to Luke. "Thank you for your hospitality. I won't forget this place." "I hope you don't. You may come back whenever you wish." She smiled. "Thank you." They shook hands. Jared and Delphine followed Luke to the exit, then with a final wave of goodbye, were gone. "So what's the plan? Where do we start looking?" Delphine sighed. "I honestly don't know, Jared. This is a pretty big planet." He glanced at her. "Then what're we gonna do, wander around for awhile?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. She looked at him. "Look, I don't have all the answers. Do you think I'd have gotten myself into this mess in the first place if I did?" "Sorry," he said, "I just like having a destination." She grinned. "Yeah, it's noticeable. Don't worry, I'll think of something soon enough." They heard a laser being fired. It missed by a wide margin. "Oh no... now what..." They looked around, but found nothing. They were in a heavily forested area, and everything seemed to be bright green. They didn't see anyone, or even detect the direction the shot had come from. "Okay, who wants us dead now?" A man, human, stepped out of the trees and aimed a laser rifle at them, point blank range. "Looks like he does." They dove in opposite directions to dodge the laser fire. A woman, also human, came out of the trees from the other side, armed the same. She immediately attacked Delphine, but did not shoot at her. The man aimed at Jared, but Jared swiftly knocked the rifle out of his hand. Hand to hand combat ensued. Delphine blocked a punch and glanced over. She knew that the man was trying desperately to kill Jared... but the woman didn't seem to be at her... WHAM! "AH!" Delphine was on the ground, dazed. The woman had hit her with the butt of her rifle. She kicked Delphine in the ribs, rewarded with a pain-filled "oomph!", and went over to the man and Jared and started fighting Jared. "Why does everybody want me dead?!" Jared exclaimed under his breath. Something sharp dug into his side. He screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. Everything was silent. Jared slowly opened his eyes. His teeth were clenched, and tears of pain stung the corners of his eyes. He forced himself onto his back, then looked at his attackers. They both had their laser rifles aimed at him. Delphine was lying on the ground, too far away to reach. She was breathing hard, and didn't seem to have the strength to get up. Jared was in a lot of pain. He had broken into a sweat, and his hair was plastered to his head. "Hurry up and shoot me," Jared strained. The woman shook her head. "Doesn't work that way." He breathed in through his teeth. He had been stabbed with a dagger, and it hurt worse than a laser could ever hope to be. "Who put you up to this?" "Really, Jared, I though you'd'a figured that out by now." Oh, he knew that voice. "I figured it was you. I just wanted to know how the hell you did it." Peter stepped out of the trees with a wide grin on his face. "Who else wants me dead this bad?" Delphine had looked over the moment she had heard Peter's voice. Now the anger was slowly welling up, slowly overpowering the pain. "No one I know of, but hey, you never know, do you?" Peter pulled out his own laser. "And they seem crazy enough do your bidding, anyway." Peter scowled. "Hmph. You think by now you'd at least be polite. Oh well." He aimed the laser gun, which was about the size of a handgun, at Jared. "At least I'll be rid of you." Jared clenched his teeth and waited. "Peter!" Everyone glanced over. Delphine had stood herself up. Sweat was making its merry way down her face, and her hands were illuminated green. And was she ever pissed off. "Well. Hello Del." "Yeah, yeah, up yours. Drop it." Peter smirked. "Now, who do you think is faster, you or me?" "I don't think you really want to find out. Drop. The gun." Peter smirked. "Fine. Who do you think is faster, the three of us, or the one of you?" Delphine answered with an intensified glare. Jared grimaced. "Although I'm not entirely sure of the properties of your power, and I don't think you are either. So it seems we're at a stand off." "Oh yay," Jared muttered. Peter glanced at him. "Now, see, that's the beginning of your problems. You're always so dreary, Jared. Lighten up!" "Kinda hard to do with three guns pointed at your face, don't you think?" Peter nodded. "Perhaps." He looked back at Delphine. She seemed to be thinking. "Devising a plan, are we?" "You know, I don't know what the hell's wrong with me. I have two hands, don't I?" The other two didn't understand what she meant, but both Jared and Peter did. She ran towards Peter, shot the man and woman, then tackled Peter, in the matter of three seconds. Peter just stared at her. "Damn." "Yeah." She had him pinned to the ground. His gun was several feet away. Delphine had knocked the other two out. Jared was still on the ground, but he had managed to sit up against a tree. "Now what?" She looked at Peter. His tone didn't seem to be right to her; almost mocking. "What do you mean?" "Did you really think I'd travel with just two people?" Delphine very suddenly noticed the footsteps. Many footsteps. "Aw (*^&..." Several assorted creatures walked into the small clearing. Half of them aimed their rifles at Jared, the other half at Delphine. "You're unarmed. Get up." Delphine looked at the wolf. "Do I look stupid or something?" She looked at Peter. "S'matter, didn't bother to educate your troops?" Peter was beginning to look worried. "You can't fight them all alone." But he didn't sound as assured as he wished. Delphine's eyes narrowed to slits. "Are you so sure?" Her voice was very low, menacing, and angry. Now Peter was scared. She jumped up and whirled to face the others. Her eyes narrowed, her teeth clenched, her hands close together, as if she were holding something between them. A small green orb of light began to grow. Nobody shot at her, because they were too busy wondering what was going on. Peter was unarmed, so he could not shoot at her from behind. He also couldn't see what was going on. "I don't need to fight, Peter," she said, "I don't even need to break a sweat." The green orb exploded from her, hitting everyone that had stepped out from the trees. There were brief screams, and then it was dead silent. Jared stared. Several unconscious, maybe dead, bodies were strewn across the landscape. He looked at Delphine. She was walking towards him, staring at what she had done. There was a slight noise behind her, and then something hit her on the side of the head. Jared didn't even have time to call out a warning, Peter had done it so fast. Delphine was on the ground again, exhausted and really in pain. She was lying on her stomach, facing away from Jared. Peter had his laser gun aimed at her. "Get up." "She can't, stupid. You probably killed her." "She's breathing. Get up, Delphine." Delphine responded by rolling over onto her back, rolling away from Peter, and standing up. His gun was still aimed at her. "No need to show off your acrobatics, all you had to do was stand." "Amazing, isn't it, Jared? He still thinks he has the upper hand." Jared smirked and said nothing. Peter glanced between them. "So, you still don't get it? Okay, here's the deal," Delphine glanced at Jared and flashed a grin. "You see, the only reason you're not dead is because you have so many damn robots guarding you all the time. And the only time we can get at you, we're either rung out or tied up. Obviously, you've developed a false sense of security. You may have the gun, but I'm a warrior. I've been fighting almost all my life. I have the agility, the intelligence, the strength." She laughed. "All that you've got between death and yourself is that itty bitty laser gun." Peter took a step back. She had struck a nerve, and he believed it. Peter's gun swung from Delphine to Jared. "One wrong move and I'll kill him." Delphine just laughed. "Oh, that's old news. Someone's always defenseless, and you're always going to kill them if somebody does the wrong thing. Doesn't the charade get old, Petey-boy? Have you ever stopped to wonder why you haven't won yet?" Peter took another step away from her and swallowed. Then he gave a little grin. "Did I ever tell you Jared's little secret?" "Oh, you mean him being your brother and all? Old news, too. Sheesh, you think you're so hot, don't you? 'Let's get Jared in trouble so I can run away', right? Well, guess what. Even if I hadn't known, I couldn't care less. I have my priorities. I woulda said, 'Oh well, kill Peter first, yell at Jared later'. Stop sidetracking." Peter glanced between them. Delphine shot at him. He went flying to the ground, his gun torn from his hand. He lay on the ground, gasping. And terrified. "Damnit..." He looked up at her. She was concentrating hard, and a green orb was growing in her hand. He froze. Time itself, stopped. Except for the growing light orb in Delphine's hand. She shot it at him. "(*^&!" He rolled out of the way, just before it hit the ground. A tiny crater, right where he had been. Peter scrambled up and ran. "Shit! Get back here!" Delphine ran after him. He was making plenty of noise, while she made hardly any at all. He had no idea where she was, while she knew exactly where he was. Delphine shot at him. It went wide, but it scared the hell out of him. He scrambled to the right and doubled his speed. Delphine kept at him, not even breathing hard, although she was injured, and a little dizzy from being hit in the head. Peter tripped over a root and hit the ground hard. Delphine stopped, surprised by the lack of noise. Peter slowly, silently, picked himself up. He heard slow, quiet footsteps, coming towards him. He hid himself behind a tree and a bush, and waited. He tried to control his breathing so that she couldn't hear. Sweat was pouring down his face. Delphine stepped closer. A twig snapped under her feet, and Peter held back a sob. "Shoot... stupid..." she reprimanded herself. Peter's pulse quickened. He could hardly breath. Delphine examined the ground. The dirt was soft, so it left the slightest of an impression where he had fallen. She had heard only a little noise after that, so she knew he was hiding, not moving. "Peeeeeteeeeerrr... where arrrrre yooooou?" Peter squeezed his eyes shut. She was going to find him, going to kill him... not if I get away first he thought. He very slowly stood up, then walked away, staring at the ground, trying not to step on anything that would alert her to his movements. But somehow she heard him anyway. "Oh, there you are." An energy blast hit him in the back, knocking him down and making him rolls over several times. He pushed himself up and ran again. He had the slightest of head starts, and although Delphine was faster, it was hard to see through the trees. Peter felt a small amount of relief, but it soon diminished. He stopped himself, just before going over the edge of a cliff. He looked around. "It's the damned Grand Canyon in green," he muttered to himself The water was a good fifty to one hundred feet below. He backed away from the edge, then heard something behind him. He whirled. Delphine was standing in front of him. Peter almost took a step back, but quickly realized it would send down to the river below. "Looks like your cornered." "D... don't you think you should go check on Jared? he may have bled to death by now." "Oh, I don't think so. Jared's pretty resilient. Unlike you." She took a few steps closer to him. He started shaking. He tried not to, but he couldn't control it. "What's wrong Peter?" she asked innocently. "Delphine..." "Jared's also not a coward." Her eyes narrowed. "Unlike you." "You're going to kill me! I'm supposed to be happy?!" Delphine grabbed him by his collar. "And you know what else? You're damn ugly." She pushed him. He screamed. After he had fallen into the water, she looked for a minutes, then turned. As she turned, she said, "Unlike him." Jared gasped and clenched his teeth. He had his hand over the wound, but blood was leaking through his fingers, and it hurt like hell. Del had better hurry up... the last thing I need right now is to die He heard running footsteps, and sat up a little. He had been slumped over, trying his best to endure the pain. "Jared," Delphine gasped as she stepped out into the clearing. She ran and knelt beside him. "Did you...?" "There's a good chance he's dead. I didn't stay too long to check. How bad is it?" He showed her the wound. "Damn... hold on a second." She went and retrieved her back, which had been flung into a bush. She walked back over and took out some bandages. "This should be enough for now, until I find you a real doctor." He offered a tiny smile, then closed his eyes, wincing from time to time. When she was done, she said, "You know, death must hate you by now, you've cheated him so many times." He forced a painful grin. "He's going to like me very soon." Delphine put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," she said softly, "you're not going to die. I won't let you." He looked at her. She gave a small smile. "Okay?" "Yeah." He swallowed and looked away. "What?" "Del... I'm scared. We're out in the middle of nowhere and I'm sitting here bleeding through a hole I could probably fit my hand through. I can't stop it and I only have so much blood." He swallowed again and looked at her. "I don't want to die." She brought a hand to his cheek and brought her face closer to his. "Didn't I just tell you I wouldn't let you die?" She gave him a light kiss. "So don't worry about it." She stood up. "C'mon, get up. We may have to walk quite a ways before we find someone." She helped him up, then draped his arm over her shoulder to help him walk. "Let's go." "I need to sit." "Jared..." "Just for a minute." Delphine let him go so that he could sit down. They had taken over an hour just tog et as far as they were. They had traveled maybe two miles, if they were lucky. "I'm going to climb that tree and see if there's anything close by." Jared gave a slight, distracted nod. Delphine went over to the tree and climbed it, up to it's full height. She looked all around. "What the hell...?" A very large ship was flying towards them. Her eyes widened; she believed it to have something to do with Peter. "Jared!" He looked up, and saw it as well. As it flew by over head, Delphine instinctively ducked. It looked bigger than a baseball diamond. She watched it fly away from them, staring. She also saw the roof of a hut. She climbed down as quickly as she could and went over to Jared. He laughed. "Well that scared the hell out of me." He looked up at her. "I saw a hut. It's not to far away." His expression brightened. "You did?" "Yeah. C'mon. We'll have to go through that denser forest over there, because I sure as hell don't feel like finding a path." Jared grinned. He couldn't care less how they got there. Delphine helped Jared walk, and they trudged into the trees. It took them half an hour, but they finally could see the hut. Barely, but they could see it. "Jared, look..." "I see it." They walked into the clearing that the hut was resting in. Jared fell to his knees. "Jared?" She knelt beside him. "Jared... Jared!" He groaned and glanced at her. "C'mon, get up. It's only a little bit more." "Del... I..." "Don't you dare give up on me, when we're this close!" "I'm trying... I just..." "Jared... I know... please, just get up." Jared clenched his teeth and forced himself to stand. He half stood, half leaned against Delphine. "Del..." "Hey there! Do you need help?" Delphine looked up. A tall, old goat stood at the doorway of the hut. She nodded. "Come in!" Delphine helped Jared over into the hut. Jared leaned against the closed door while the goat looked at his wound. The goat looked at Delphine. "I need to get him into a bed." She nodded, and the goat led them into a room. Delphine helped Jared in, then let him lie down. He gasped, then sighed. Delphine got out of the way. "Did you do this?" he asked her, "Because this is a very well done temporary dressing." "Yeah, I did it." She fidgeted a little. The goat nodded, then went to rebandaging Jared. "You should get some rest on the couch in the living room," he said to her. Delphine nodded, then stepped out of the room and back into the living room. There were two couches and one armchair. The place was rugged. There was a fireplace, opposite of the armchair. There was a table between the two couches with the armchair at the head of the table. Delphine plopped herself down on one of the couched. She laid down, but couldn't make herself sleep. She just rested, enjoying the final peace. She must have eventually fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, the old goat was shaking her awake. "Would you like something to eat?" "No, I'm fine for now, thanks." The goat nodded, then sat on the couch opposite her. "What happened?" "We were traveling, and we were attacked." She grimaced. "Is he going to be okay?" The goat nodded. "He just needs a few days rest." Delphine grinned in relief. "My name is Delphine. He's Jared." "I am Alconer. Pleased to meet you, although the circumstances could have been better." "Yes," she said with a slight nod. "What?" She shrugged. The name Alconer had sent off a bell in the back of her head, but she couldn't place it. "Your name just sounds familiar, is all." Alconer shrugged it off. The door opened. A human woman with ebony black skin and hair, dressed in gray clothing and black boots walked in. "Alco... oh?" "We have guests. They were attacked in the woods." The woman frowned. "'They'?" "The other is resting. He was stabbed." "Oh... um, do you know who attacked you?" Delphine hesitated. "Uh... no." It wasn't a complete lie; Peter hadn't been the only one who attacked them, and she didn't know any of the other people." "Oh." She looked at Alconer. "Do you think it could have been...?" "Perhaps." He looked at Delphine. "What sort of weapons did they have?" "Uhm... Laser rifles, and I guess one of them had a knife." Alconer looked at the woman. "That doesn't seem like their style." "Yes, I know... hm..." Alconer stood up. "I'm going to go check on... Jared." "Okay," Delphine murmured. The woman sat down across from Delphine. "I'm Eva." "Delphine," she said with a nod. Eva smiled. She was about to say something, but they were interrupted by an eruption of laser fire outside. "What on...?" Delphine jumped up and ran to the door. She opened it and looked outside. Then she groaned. "Shit." End of Part 4 To be continued... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Back