Chapter 285: A New Worlds Ways (1/2)

-Althea-

Waiting in the brush was about dull as you'd imagine it would be. Amara and I were about fifteen miles from the Elysian camp, and no one was even close to finding us. I passed the time with a few downloaded apps from Schema's store, having way more credits than I knew what to do with. However, I wasn't exactly the biggest fan of video games, so I eventually turned to Amara.

”Hey...So, uh, how are you feeling?”

Amara seethed, ”Terrified of what we are about to undertake.”

”Yeah, so am I. A little bit, anyway. I've done this thing before, so I kind of know what to expect.”

With the branches surrounding us on all sides, Amara turned a palm to me, the eye sickly and yellow, ”What can we expect? Is it to be eaten alive?”

I frowned, ”That's definitely not a part of the plan. Right now, the others are scouting out the planet and seeing what's up. They'll be back to let us know what kind of plan they have in the works. We'll follow it, get on the world, and then warp out using Alexander's illegal magic.”

Amara's eyes narrowed, ”Do you honestly believe it shall be so simple?”

I shrugged, ”Uh, yeah. That's the thing about plans; when you follow through, they tend to work.”

”And what if the plan breaks down, and we are stranded on another world with no way out?”

I gave her a thumbs up, ”We improvise. They have warps that can get us there and back. Using one can act as a failsafe.”

Amara peered down with her hands, her hair covering her face, ”We could, though being there is racking my nerves. What they do to the eldritch and silvers to turn them into Hybrids...I don't wish to know the process. I can only imagine the torment behind such a thing.”

I winced, remembering the giant pits of Hybridizing silvers. It was the kind of process that required a psychopath to keep it going, that was for sure. Either that or they had no mercy for the eldritch and silvers alike. In my opinion, it was a little bit of both. Seeing Amara shiver a bit, she looked like a worn-down little girl, if only for a second. I put a hand on her shoulder,

”I'll be keeping you safe, so just, you know, stay calm.”

Amara turned her palm back to me, ”You are a but a sheep.” She leaned towards me and smelled my arm, ”Yet you carry the blood of wolves in you. I can't determine what you are, but it is something warped to the core.”

I didn't expect a compliment from reassuring her, but ouch, that stung. I pulled my hand back and crossed my arms, ”Well, if that's how you want to be, then fine. Let's just not talk.”

Seconds later, Amara sighed, ”I...I am merely nervous about this mission. I do not enjoy danger or adventures alike, and I prefer my research in my safe lab room. Elsewhere is dangerous, and I know what will become of me should I be captured. They will rip my mind apart, searching for answers to Schema's system and the codes lying therein.”

I pursed my lips, ”How exactly do you know about Schema's system anyway?”

Her lips grinned, the jagged teeth menacing, ”I am an insider of sorts. For now, that is all I'll say.”

Bushes rustled in the distance, and I warped across planes. Skulking near the sound, I found the others pulling themselves through the woodlands to find us. Instead of popping up, I sent them a message. Seconds later, I warped out,

”Hey, guys.”

Lester and Alexander expected me, but Isa failed to read her messages. She yelped before narrowing her eyes at me. I put my hands on my hips, ”Look, I sent you a message this time. What else do you want from me?”

Other Hod peeled from Isa's shadow, and he spoke like a snake, ”For you to be perceptible before you arrive. It is a trial to not attack you each time you appear.”

Alexander spread out his arms, ”Just read the message, guys. Not that complicated.”

I looked at each of them as Amara walked out of her bush. Amara hissed, ”It would appear that each of you seems peeved. I'm left wondering why?”

Alexander waved his arms, ”We've been up since eight in the morning. It's 4:00 A.M. in the middle of the night on the next day. It's like we're pulling an all-nighter.”

Isa nodded at the wizard's apprentice, ”I can't wait for a good night's rest when we get back to base.”

Other Hod cackled, ”Oh, then you shall be disappointed. Much time will pass across the veil and on the enemy's world. Expect to be tested.”

I spread out my hands, ”So, uhm, did you guys see the other planet yet?”

Lester nodded, ”You bet. It was insane. They live in this, this ultra-wide mall sort of thing. It's beneath the ground level, and a layer of some clear material that keeps people safe from the wind and the eldritch, er, I mean monsters there.”

Amara looked with her palms towards Lester, ”You may call them what they are - eldritch.”

”So yeah, eldritch run over the area, so they use some stealth technology to keep the colony hidden. There are people everywhere, and they are from all over the place. I'll be honest, you just kind of have to see the place. It was wild.”

I rolled my hand, ”That's great and all, but we're not there to be tourists. How was their warp situated? Was it well guarded? Are there places for Alexander to plant his ritual to get us out of there? Those are the kinds of things we need to know.”

Other Hod stepped up to us, ”I observed in their shadow. The warp is in a room with a tunnel leading to the main megastructure. Two guards were stationed there at all times, and I don't expect it to be different when we arrive. From subtle questioning, we gathered they close a vault door there during the night.”

I pointed at the shadowy figure, ”That's perfect. We'll use that cutting technique I mentioned to get through then.”

Other Hod nodded, his eyes red and ominous in the dark, ”We are ready to leave now if you're all ready.” Other Hod stared at Amara, ”And, you may have as much time as you need, however long that may be.”

Amara stepped past Other Hod, ”We have been ready for hours. Let us leave.”

I felt for the poor shadowy eldritch getting shut down like that. We stepped past several Hybrid patrols, my scouting letting everybody move along without any worries. There weren't a ton of patrols during the night or anything, but Hybrids had keen senses. Getting past them with our motley crew required some distance. I gave the group that, and we were within range of the Elysian camp's warp in minutes.

The others hid in an alleyway, disguised by the darkness. Two patrolmen, both of them remnants, stared forward with their armors around the town's warp. They put it in a central hub of the city, near the silvers' zoo. Several high priority buildings lingered nearby, letting the VIP's of Elysium go to and from the warp with ease. It wasn't situated in a building either, meaning entry was a cinch.

Getting through in the open would be like ringing an alarm bell since we'd most likely kill the two remnants. Instead, we went with a more subtle approach. The others clustered into the shadow of Other Hod and the dark entity shoved himself into a shady spot near the warp's entrance. I skulked off to the side before changing my form.

I could always change shape ever since getting a grip on my eldritch powers. At first, my changes were grotesque and unrefined. Having practiced night and day, I ended up with reasonably convincing transformations by now. My deceptive guises worked better in the dark too. Using one of those disguises, I turned myself into a little girl with a torn-off arm.

Using a recording of a Hybrid, I opened my status and played one of their grizzly, metallic screeches. At the same time, I screamed in agony. The two guards were well within earshot, so I kept screaming out and playing the prolonged recording. When the two remnants rounded the corner, they saw me stumbling away.

An urgency gripped them as the two guards sprinted towards my location with their spears primed for combat. I kept them on the hook, ensuring they got several blocks away from the warp and into a residential area. After letting them get closer to me, they saw my dress and cloak, along with the bloody nub I had for an arm.

Keeping them on the run for about five minutes, the guards got closer over time. Right as they became more suspicious, I got the message I'd been waiting for. I ran past an alleyway's corner as the guards got within grabbing distance from me. In an instant, I walked onto another plane. Leaping up, the guards stopped, wondering where the little girl went.

Using wings, I glided down towards the warp, Amara already having hacked the device. As I neared them, our team charged up the warp, my commotion causing a stir several blocks away. With everyone distracted, we shifted across the veil, reaching the other world's coordinates. Stepping out of the ionizing spray, it was like Other Hod said. We stared at a bleak room without much light, outside of some dim rays leaking from windows above. In front of us, a massive steel door locked us inside, no guards within the warp room. Massive steel panels showed subtle signs of rusting, and the weary chamber groaned from the wind above.

Out into this room, the others lobbed themselves out of Hod's shadow magic, and the poor birdman heaved for air as they fell. Other Hod gasped with his shadows falling off of him in a thick slop,

”Bleca ruha. Sheagoma lack nock.”

I stared at him, unable to understand anything he said. I was so used to Schema's language conversions that I forgot what not knowing a language was like. Even without a translation, I got the message as Other Hod regressed, the shade coming off him and Hod returning. Reading my confusion, Amara slapped a pointed piece of metal into my shoulder. I let out a quiet yelp before an approximation of Schema's system came up in my view.

She hissed, ”You can thank me later.”

Thank goodness someone knew about this stuff. We'd be done for without her. She walked around, slapping steel into exposed skin for the party, and Amara giggled as others yelped at her subtle smacks. Hod turned and looked at everybody,

”Hod wonder where Hod is. Hod know Hod confused.”

Amara walked over and pierced his wing with one of the software discs. Hod yelped, and I walked towards him, putting a hand on the side of his beak,

”Hey, remember me?”

Hod spread his wings and gave me a hug, ”Hod remember lady friend anywhere. How lady friend? Being pretty?”

I gave him a smile, ”I'm doing great. You know what would make me feel even better?”

Hod flexed his scrawny arms, ”Hod flex muscles?”

I scoffed, ”Yeah, that too big man. I need you to follow us quietly as you can, alright?”

Hod stiffened up and gave me a salute, ”Yes, Lady Friend. Hod listen.”

I turned to the others, and Alexander stared around, ”Ok, so we're here. Amara, you need to change the residual coordinates we left behind.”

The eldritch stood up and walked over to the warp's terminal. She pulled some tech mumbo jumbo before turning to us, ”It's finished. They won't know we came here, but I can't eliminate the fact we've warped. They'll know it was just used, so the guards are coming.”

Alexander put his hands on the sides of his head, ”Oh shit, what do we do next? Remember, Alexander. Remember.”

Isa gave the kid a pat on the back, ”Come on now, lighten up. We're just getting started.”

She turned to Lester, ”Here's what we need to do.” The main dungeoneer for our guild lifted her hand and pointed up,

”We're going to break one of those windows, and that'll alert the guards here. They'll come in through that vault door over there to check it out. We'll walk in through that door as they open it, with neither of them the wiser. Are we ready?”

Our group nodded. I thanked whoever sent Isa with us because she just made the chaotic situation seem a lot more in control. Isa pointed at the glass, ”You're up, Alexander. Make a hard rock.”

The mage calmed himself down before channeling origin mana. A second later, a small stone fell from the origin blot. Isa pointed at me, so I grabbed the rock before rearing my arm back. With my leg in the air, I torqued force through my shoulder and launched the stone through the roof. It shattered the ceiling like we wanted, but my throw may have been a littlebit too hard. About a third of the glass on the roof collapsed from the stone's impact.

As it sprinkled around us, the others glared at me. I blushed, ”Huh...So, uhm, yeah...sorry.”

The guards rushed down the hallway, opening the vault door, and Isa pointed above it. We raced over there while I made my hands all grip-ey. Like a spider, I pulled myself up while Hod flew. Alexander pulled out his grimoire and channeled a spell. Mana coursed through his palms while Alexander hovered up the others and himself.

The giant slab of metal opened up below us, swinging with little sound. Two remnant guards in their customary armor stormed in, looking around for the disturbance. Finding the shattered windowpane, they walked over while cursing,

”Ah, dammit. Again? Already?”

”Something big must of made this hole.”

”Yeah, and ugly too.”

I narrowed my eyes at the two jerk guards, one of them lifting the glass from the ground using magic. The other guard used a jetpack to rise to the ceiling before pulling out a plasmic welder. They went to work, fixing the broken fixture as we skulked out of the premise.

Sneaking through a dim hallway of rusted metal, Alexander gasped as he set Isa, Amara, and Lester down. Alexander heaved for air, and his nose bled, his mana depleted from having to lift so much weight. His palms steamed with deep burns on them, the mana having singed his skin. Isa and Lester raised him by putting his arms over their shoulders, and the mage passed out while we walked back out through a sliding glass doorway to outside.

Or, well, it wasn't really outside. We stepped into a vast, double-sided alleyway. Alleyway wasn't the right word, but it was a better description than a mall since everything was so old. The stores, housing, and mineshafts sprawled out under the customary clear panes above. Everything filled out into a line about a mile wide, with buildings and businesses crammed into the premise.

Neon signs, piled trash, and dripping pipes gave the entire megastructure a worn-down look. The stagnant, stuffy air held an uncomfortable humidity which steamed over at the edges of the windowpanes overhead. One side of this place looked better off than the other, fewer mineshafts over there and more upscale businesses. At least as deluxe as they could be since this place passed its glory days long ago.

What was important was that our team's info panned out - it was nighttime. A little light leaked in from outside, kind of like a sunrise and sunset at the same time. We used this pseudo night as camouflage while we ran through the townsite, following Isa and Lester. After a minute of walking, we reached an alleyway surrounded by several abandoned homes. Heaving for air, they caught their breath for a minute.