Fan Fiction ❯ Humanity Reborn ❯ Inhuman ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three \ Inhuman

 

 

The next day, Aurore and Mariame agreed to go explore the nearest mall. The guys went off to check out the weapon shop they had just `happened' to run into. Mariame suspected Alleio had asked around a bit to find one and they had come here just for the weapon shop…

 

That evening, heading back to the hotel they currently occupied, Mariame was walking down the street with Aurore discussing their comrades.

 

“Alleio's very…powerful, isn't he?”

 

Mariame bent to pick up a stray leaf from the sidewalk and twirled it absently between her fingers.

 

“Yeah, he is…he…” she hesitated, not knowing how to explain.

 

“He…yes? Continue,” Aurore encouraged.

 

Mariame's voice dropped down to a shy, low-pitched whisper.

 

“He's…well… I don't know how to explain, but there is a certain guy in every single one of my dreams,”

 

She paused and dropped the crunchy brown leaf. She turned to Aurore and locked eyes with her, demanding attention.

 

“This guy, he saves me. From my…nightmares. Cliché, I know, but it's true. What's weird is he's not only my savior in my nightmares. He's there in my normal dreams, too. It's like he's a constant companion. It's so weird, but he's been there as long as I can remember. And I've always talked to him. Like, when I'm daydreaming or something. It's like he knows everything about me, what makes me tick, and…”

 

She took a steadying breath and looked down at her sneaker-clad feet. `Why's this so hard for me to admit?' she wondered.

 

“Alleio reminds me…of this guy. Actually, he probably IS that guy. He's got the same eyes. How many people have orange fire-eyes, tell me that?”

 

Aurore shook her head. “Not many.”

 

“And how weird is it that Alleio just happens to be this freaky mind-reader and be Ruler of the Psychic Realm? I'm pretty sure it is him. Just…” Mariame was now fiddling with the zipper on her windbreaker. “He left my dreams recently. Just before I met Alleio, for that matter. Imagine my shock when I saw him in the waking world. I almost pinched myself to see if I hadn't really woken up that morning.”

 

Aurore nodded, listening intently.

 

“He didn't appear to recognize me. The guy in my dreams He knew who I was, yes, probably because he could read what was going through my mind at the time, about his note…then, I had this really freaky reaction to him. I got…well, I got these.”

She bared her fangs slightly in demonstration. “I freaked and said, `It's you…'..but he didn't appear to recognize me other than knowing I was who he had sent for…and I would have been afraid of him, gosh knows I would have been terrified, for what he apparently turned me into…and um, it was the only reason I accepted his…” here she coughed awkwardly. “umm…advances.”

 

She was now absently playing with the pearly extensions on her fingertips, her face a light pinkish color. Aurore nodded understandingly, having known what had happened the day before.

 

“…except I'd seen his face before. In every one of my dreams…and now he's…HERE…and we're on this funky `save-the-world' mission…which is coincidentally, what I've pretty much wanted to do all my life…do something important…that, and have fangs and claws,” Mariame remarked, chuckling.

 

“Uh, yeah, and we're on a “mission” with two incredibly hot, powerful, sweet guys. So what about yesterday, huh? Is he good?”

 

Mariame turned a deep crimson. “Errrr…good? He…ah…good…kisser? Yes, I…Yes. He-“

 

She didn't get to finish that sentence, for just as they were walking past a dingy-looking alley, two men came running from their left side and they were tackled into the alley. Aurore let out a small squeak of terror; however, she didn't scream. Mariame was a bit more than pissed at being attacked and having the wind knocked out of her upon slamming into the hard ground.

 

Wheezing, she struggled against her captor and noticed out of the corner of her eye Aurore was doing the same. Obviously neither girl's `human' strength was enough. As the man trying to subdue her fought to slap a drugged handkerchief over her face, Mariame decided she had had enough. She let her instinctual energy take over her body completely. Instantly, her eyes turned a pale blue-white and fangs grew to large proportions. Unfortunately for him, her captor did not notice these things, as he was busy trying to pin her down and wasn't looking at her face.

 

He certainly should have noticed.

 

The next thing he knew, extremely long, pearly, sharp-looking claws were dangerously close to his throat. His eyes widened, and he scrambled off of Mariame, cursing in fright. She wasted not a second lunging to her feet and pinning him by the neck to the wall. A glance behind her told her that Aurore was now intimidating her own captor by having her body crackle with blue-white energy. It formed a strong shield, but Mariame knew she couldn't hold it for long. Even so, Aurore's captor was already becoming confident and advancing upon her steadily, dagger in hand.

 

Quickly, Mariame took control of the situation. She slammed the man she held in her hand by the neck against the wall, causing him to lose consciousness. She let him slump to the ground as she hurried to place herself in front of Aurore's attacker.

 

He started in surprise. Her speed was inhuman. He looked to the side to see his companion already taken care of. His eyes narrowed dangerously. His glance returned to Mariame fast enough to see her reach out and snatch the knife from his fingers. He blinked, looking down at his now-empty hand and back up to the girl smirking in front of him.

 

He smirked right back. So she had his knife. She was small and he could easily—

 

And then he noticed her fangs, glinting white and pearly between grinning lips. `What the hell---fangs?' he thought, before seeing her bring the extremely sharp knife up to her mouth and crush it with those very teeth. He blinked a few times. And then common sense got the better of him as he watched her spit out the metal shards like they were some bits of distasteful food. He backed away as fast as he could. He did not want to turn his back on this feral creature. He figured he wouldn't get far. The creature in front of him clearly did not want to let him get away. What did she want, anyway? She didn't appear bloodthirsty…but then again… his heart nearly stopped at her next move. Seeing claws approach his throat, he whimpered.

 

Mariame reached out and grabbed his shoulder with a clawed hand. She dragged him back slowly. He was no match for her inhuman strength. He was still whimpering pitifully by now. Mariame shook her head at his behavior. It was the typical cowardice of a human. She flashed one long, deadly claw in front of his face. Tapping it gently upon his nose, she made sure his eyes followed it as she moved it down his face and onto his pulse point. She then removed her other hand from his shoulder, and he shuddered. A look from her icy pale eyes and she knew he knew not to dare move anymore. Mariame dragged the claw gently across his moist flesh to a place on his shoulder where the skin met cloth. She easily sliced away the thick leather jacket and the cotton tee underneath. He was sweating freely now.

 

“You-y-y-you're not human,” he stuttered frantically.

 

“'Fraid not.” She replied coolly. Abruptly, she ended his torture by making a small gouge in the skin on his muscled shoulder. He winced at the pain, accepting it as merely the beginning. However, Mariame had other ideas. Nonchalantly flicking blood and flesh from her stained claw, she approached him closer to growl threateningly in his ear,

 

“May this scar remind you to stay the different person you now will become,”

 

Without a glance at the terrified man's bewildered face, she turned to face her own companion. She beckoned to Aurore, who had been standing behind her this entire time, watching the terrifying incident. Dazedly, Aurore wondered about Mariame.

 

`When her Nemalic energy takes her over…her aura changes drastically…what happened to the sensitive girl who was discussing Alleio with me earlier?'

 

“Purify him,” Mariame broke into her thoughts with an order.

 

Aurore nodded slowly and placed her hand over the bleeding wound. She concentrated, and a bit of blue light traveled down her arm, past her hand and into the man's body. As it traveled from his arm to the rest of his body, he let out a gasp and collapsed on the ground, unconscious. A tiny wisp of black left the region of his heart and dissipated.

 

Mariame pointed to the other man, still unconscious by the wall. “Him too.”

 

Aurore merely nodded, suffering from a mild state of shock. As she cleansed the man who accosted Mariame, a smaller, but still significant, wisp of evil left him.

 

Mariame made her animal energy retreat into dormancy once more and her eyes returned to their normal bright hazel color. She absently brushed dirt from her jeans with de-clawed hands.

 

Aurore was dragging the unconscious purified men further into the alleyway; in the struggle, they drew near the entrance and were in danger of being spotted. When she was finished hefting the heavily built men, she looked up at Mariame.

 

“Did you have to scar him?” She asked gently, grimacing.

 

Mariame nodded shortly, a slight frown marring her face. “That way, neither him nor his companion will forget.”

 

An uncomfortable silence followed and they took the opportunity to walk out of the alley. As they headed towards their temporary lodging, Aurore quietly spoke up.

 

“You're a different person when your power takes over…”

 

Mariame kicked at a stray pebble uncertainly, her gaze fixed on the ground. Eventually she sighed, thrusting her hands into her jean-pockets, looked straight ahead, and responded,

 

“I'm not a person at all.”

 

***

 

“So… who gets the left side, and who gets the right?”

 

“Umm…I want the window. So… right side then. You can have the nightstand tonight,” Alleio responded.

 

Mariame nodded. “Deal. I'll get the others.”

 

They were in another city, in another hotel. This time, the rooms weren't connected. However, Hugh still insisted in having co-ed rooms. Mariame grinned knowingly, and stole a sideways glance at Alleio.

 

She walked across the hallway to the room Hugh and Aurore shared. Not bothering to knock, she turned the doorknob and waltzed right in. She smiled at what she saw. The two were finally getting along, sharing sodas and popcorn and chocolate, watching a show on Disney Channel. Mariame smirked as she saw them both reach for the bowl at the same time, and blush when they bumped hands. So classic. So cliché. And so very, very, middle school. Apparently neither had noticed her intrusion. She walked up and stepped in front of the tiny T.V.

 

“Hey!” Hugh exclaimed, indignant. “I haven't seen this episode! Get away from there!”

 

Aurore rolled her eyes and threw a piece of popcorn at him. “You've seen this one three times already, you freak.”

 

Mariame's mouth twitched at their antics, but spoke calmly, her mild voice demanding attention.

 

“Meeting in our room. Now,” She grabbed Hugh's wrist and started to drag him out the door.

 

`Bitch,' Hugh thought, easily plucking her hand from his arm as he walked towards the TV once more. `You ain't gonna order me around.'

 

“I heard that.”

 

Mariame looked up from glaring at Hugh to see Alleio walking in the door, also glaring at Hugh and looking ready to tear him to pieces.

 

“What'd he say? Er…think?”

 

Alleio waved it away, his expressionless mask falling into place once more. “Nothing. We have things to discuss.”

 

“So sit,” Aurore replied smoothly, turning the T.V. off with a push of a button. She looked uneasily at Mariame. Yesterday was still painfully fresh in her mind. However, Mariame looked human currently, or at least as much as a Nemalic could get, and there was no evil intent in her, to judge by her blue-ish aura…Still, it would be wise to keep her calm.

 

“Hey! I was…” Hugh stopped abruptly, noticing Aurore's glare. “…just going to do that very thing!” he put on a fake grin and turned to the others. “So what's this talking crap?”

 

Mariame sat next to Alleio on the floor in front of Aurore and Hugh. Alleio started up.

 

“So yesterday, the girls got into some trouble. And then got out of it easily.”

 

He glanced at Mariame briefly. He knew full well what happened, and that it caused some tension between her and Aurore. It was inevitable. Mariame was already a violent person before she discovered her inhumanity, and her instinctual spirit part of her didn't help curb it. Aurore was quite possibly the opposite of that---he guessed she went by the standards of peace, love, and good-feelings all around. She probably also despised violence. Well, she would have to deal with it. To some extent, at least.

 

He broke out of his thoughts and continued speaking.

 

“Now, Hugh and I, at the weaponry expert's shop, we found some particularly interesting objects…” he said, gesturing gracefully with one hand.

 

Mariame stared blandly at Alleio. “Will you cut. The crap. And start talking. Normally. Typical of our age, maybe. So the rest of us can keep up.”

 

Alleio's hand dropped and he glanced sharply at Mariame with narrowed fire-orange eyes.

 

“Eep…fine! Okay! I give up! Talk however you damn want to talk!” she said hurriedly, intimidated into swearing.

 

“Wimp.” Completely uncharacteristically, he stuck his tongue out at her. “Anyway. We found some `particularly interesting' things. I, personally, found this long scythe thingermerbobber…”

 

He then noticed their stares.

 

“What?” he demanded. “What's wrong?”

 

Aurore blinked rapidly in shock. Hugh sat with his mouth open, staring blankly ahead, a can of soda in his hand, halfway on the journey to his mouth. Mariame choked on the popcorn she was munching and exclaimed,

 

“I don't think I've ever heard you say such a word as `thingermerbobber'.”

 

“Yes, well, you did tell me to act your---OUR age,” he drawled dryly. “Can we get on with this?”

 

Three heads simultaneously nodded eagerly. Who knows what other uncharacteristic things he'd say?

 

“Like I was saying. This here…oh yes.” He sighed impatiently and concentrated briefly on willing the weapon to come to him. It flew through the open door and landed in his arms. It was extremely long. “This HERE…is a scytheirod.”

 

On one end, was a scythe-like blade, only thinner, and shallower, not nearly as curved, and looking much more deadly.

 

“The scythe-like end, hence the name, can cut through not only solid objects---it's nearly as sharp as Mariame here's claws---but can cut through spiritual beings as well. Meaning, harmful ghosts, evil spirits, whatever. Non-tangible objects, as well. The other end…” he indicated the long, spear-shaped blade at the opposite end. It was not curved, but rather straight, and shaped like a baronet at the end of an old gun. “This end—is for jabbing and spearing things. And it cuts like a saw. If you look close, it's minutely serrated.” He paused and set it on the floor. The thing was longer than him.

 

“All in all, it makes for a nice weapon.”

 

“How are you going to handle it? It's so…huge,” Aurore questioned.

 

Alleio sighed, exasperated once more and focused his energy into his hands. They glowed a fiery orange.

 

“I thought only I could gather energy?” Aurore wondered aloud.

 

“Yours is of a different type, and while it is yours, it does not originate from your aura. This here,” He lifted his glowing hands slightly, “Is my own personal aura-energy. Now…” He gestured quickly with his hands and the weapon shrank and faded from sight with a distinct pop.

 

“OKAY! So the great Alleio can make things disappear, as well as use telepathy and telekinesis! What's up with you?” Mariame exclaimed, throwing her hands up in a gesture of defeat.

 

Alleio shrugged. “I AM a ruler, you know.”

 

`Which would make me a ruler as well if I…EEP! No, May, bad thoughts, May, very bad thoughts…' She glanced over at Alleio to see if he had `heard' her, but his impassive mask was back in place and his expression was indecipherable.

 

“Can we get to my weapon now?” Hugh pleaded.

 

***

 

 

Hugh walked past a row of arrows. Plain, poison-tipped, spiritual, barbed, double-speared over-ends…enough to slaughter an army. The maker of these obviously knew what he was doing. Hugh selected a spiritual and a poison tipped copy and strolled into the back room. Upon entering it he placed the arrows on the small desk in the corner. The man sitting in the desk looked up expectantly, and Hugh voiced his inquiry.

 

“How long will it take to make ten of each of these?”

 

The aged figure in the rattan desk-chair glanced down at the arrows only briefly. He returned Hugh's gaze and answered shortly,

 

“Two days.”

 

Hugh nodded thoughtfully. “I'll come back then. What do you have for bow selection?”

 

The man gestured behind him distractedly, already rifling a loose stack of papers. Another room was behind to this one. Hugh walked through the open doorway. Inside sat a glass cabinet displaying all types of bows. After pondering for a little while, he selected a traditional-styled plain type. Messages of an unknown language were inscribed along its smooth willow surface. He lifted it out of the case slowly, fingering the worn-down characters. This bow had been used before. Many times. He brushed stray dust off it and walked out to the adjacent room.

 

The ancient weapon-maker paused in his work and looked up as Hugh entered the dimly lit place. He spotted the bow in the boy's hands and nodded.

 

“Don't worry about payment, then. That particular one was yours originally anyway.”

 

Hugh looked up down at the bow in confusion.

 

“It was? Who was the previous owner?”

 

“Alexander Nehhi.”

 

Hugh's eyes widened and he touched the bow reverently.

 

“My father?” he whispered.

 

***

 

“…and with the arrows I already had, I should be pretty well armed!” Hugh said excitedly. He'd never had such powerful arrows before. Then again, he never really had a need for them.

 

Nobody missed how he cradled the bow gently in his fingers, like a great treasure.

 

“So what does the poison in the arrows do anyway?” Mariame questioned.

 

“It disintegrates. It's like acid, except it eats away at skin slowly, from the inside.”

 

Aurore, the ever-sensitive one, shuddered mildly. Hugh's glance moved from the bow to her. He caught her eye and grinned.

 

“So whatever I hit is dead meat,” Hugh chattered on aimlessly. “Whatever I hit has no chance!”

Aurore returned the grin, reassured. Alleio and Mariame simply shook their heads in exasperation.

 

“So now that Alleio's got his weapon, and so does Hugh—where do we go for mine?” Mariame inquired.

 

“We'll need to wait for Hugh's arrows to be finished—we can explore a bit around this town in the meantime—and then I think we'll go to Japan,” Alleio explained.

 

“What! Japan! Really?” Mariame said excitedly.

 

Alleio nodded towards her slightly.

 

“One, you need a sword.”

 

Mariame broke away from his words to imagine herself lugging a large machete around. Alleio saw the image briefly in his mind and smirked lightly.

 

`Not quite like that,' he thought-spoke to her. He then continued.

 

“Two, it'll be a great place for Hugh and I to train with our weapons—and Aurore can practice purifying objects and increasing her stamina.”

 

“Right. So how are we going to communicate with the Japanese?” Hugh asked.

 

Alleio looked mildly offended. “I CAN speak fluent Japanese, you realize. It's automatic with reading minds of many cultures.”

 

`First mind reading, then moving things with his mind, then making things evaporate and shrink, and NOW he can speak Japanese?'

 

“Is there anything you can't do?” Mariame questioned.

 

Alleio thought for a minute. “Cook.”

 

Everyone burst out laughing.