Original Stories Fan Fiction / Angels Fan Fiction ❯ Angel and Demon Wars ❯ Chapter Nineteen - The Mountain That Appeared Out of Nowhere ( Chapter 19 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Angel and Demon Wars

Chapter Nineteen

“Ami.” Ami groaned, rolling over on her side.

“Go away,” she mumbled.

“Ami, wake up.”

“No,” she said.

“Ami, if you don't get up now, we'll leave without you. And then Keisuke will never show up because he really only shows up after something you say, and we'll never be able to find the Chalice and save our families and friends and it will be all your fault.” Sadako paused. “Unless he decides to show up after something I say, instead.”

“Sadako?” Ami asked, sitting up.

“Yeah?”

“You're annoying.” She sighed, looking up at the sky. “It's morning?” she asked.

Sadako nodded. “Yeah, look at your map.” She held out the map she had apparently removed from Ami's bag earlier. “We're across the ocean.”

Ami studied the map. “So we've got four days to get from here to…” She frowned. “Were these mountains here before?”

“Huh?” Sadako asked, looking at the map. “Oh my God…”

“You rang?” Keisuke asked. The girls turned around, facing him.

“Hey, he showed up after I said something,” Sadako said, smiling.

Ami said nothing. Instead she handed the map to Sadako and walked away.

“Um…okay…” Sadako sighed. “Keisuke, what is the deal with these mountains? We never saw them before.”

Keisuke glanced at the map. “As you get closer to the Chalice, certain details on the map will become more clear…” He pointed toward some mountains in the distance. “Those are the mountains you have to cross, but it shouldn't be too hard. There's already a path.”

“It'll just take a while, right?” Sadako asked. “It'll take more time than we have.”

“More time than you have?” Keisuke asked. He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You know, it'll take pretty much the four days we have left.”

“Four days?”

Sadako realized what she'd said. “Um…never mind.” She dropped the map on the ground by Keisuke's feet and ran off toward Maeko and Ichigo, who were still asleep on the beach.”

Keisuke picked up the map and walked off to find Ami. He approached her, shoving the map in her hands. “You told them? You betrayed my trust and told them?” he said angrily.

“What was I supposed to do?” Ami asked. “They deserved to know, and I thought we were going to die anyway. You didn't mention the fact that one of our key people was a psychotic mermaid looking for a lover as deranged as herself.”

“That's because I didn't know that. The map did.”

“And how does the map know this stuff? The map isn't a sentient being, Keisuke. The gods created it, right? So whoever created it knew who, what, and where we needed to talk to, do, and be, at all times.”

“That's not how it works. We can't see into the future. We can only create objects to help guide you.”

“That makes no sense.” Ami glared at him. “You're a liar. Why weren't you there when we really needed you? We almost drowned because I took your advice!”

“And my advice got you here in a timely manner, didn't it?” Keisuke said. “You should have trusted your own instincts. Instead, you doubted yourself and you doubted me. And now the others know about the time limit you have. And if they tell anyone, not only will you and everyone you know die, but I will be demoted and possibly thrown out of the Council all together.”

“They wouldn't tell,” Ami said quietly.

“Oh, come on. You know that they've at least thought about using those little devices I gave them to call their lovers and tell them, `Hi, I just thought you should know that you're going to die in four days unless I, and three other girls, can save all of the angels and demons. Okay, bye.' Of course they've thought about it.”

“What good would that do?” Ami asked. “All it would do is cause people to panic and worry. I don't think they want to worry anyone.”

“Or maybe they would call to warn everyone, having the best intentions in mind. And the angels and demons would try to talk to the gods, to reason with them. And the gods would wonder who, exactly, told the angels and demons what they were planning to do. They would know instantly that it was me. And they would probably kill me along with the rest of you.”

“I don't think—“

“See, that's the problem. I thought you were smart enough to think about things like that. I told you, and only you, because you didn't have any special connection to anyone back home. I explained it to you. I don't understand why you would betray my trust like this.”

“Look,” Ami said, crossing her arms. “It's over. I already told them. I can't exactly go back and change that. You can explain to them why it is a horrible idea to tell anyone else, or you can trust that they aren't foolish enough to run off and tell everyone that they're going to die. And if you do decide to trust them, like you said you trusted me, then you can help us figure out how to find the Chalice within four days. Because, from what I can tell, that mountain is going to take at least four days to cross.”

Keisuke stared at her for a moment before speaking. “You don't have to cross the mountain,” he said.

“Really? Well, that's good to know. Why not?”

“You just have to reach the top. There's a tree and the peak. That's where the Chalice is.”

“In a tree?”

“Well, sort of. The fairies who guard it live in the tree. The Chalice itself is…well, it's kind of intangible.”

“Like it's more of an idea?”

“Sort of. The fairies can materialize it for those they deem worthy.”

“Oh.” Ami frowned. “How can we make sure they deem us worthy?”

“It's a sort of test. I'm not sure. No one's ever passed it, but…” He smiled, noting Ami's worried look. “I did hand-pick the four of you. I'm confident that you'll pass their test.”

“And it's not that you just went to our schools and picked us based on our grades,” Ami said.

“Not exactly. I was watching you before that. I chose each of you for a very good reason. You'll see.”

“You picked me because I'm pretty much alone in the world, right?”

“Well, that's part of it. But there's more to it. Like I said, you'll see.” He smiled and disappeared, as the god always seemed to do.

“Right,” Ami mumbled. “So we have a test to worry about now. And I thought that when we got out of school we'd be done with tests…”