Yet another story (Harbingers)

[Xyex]

This is the first chapter of a novel I started months ago and just recently looked at again... I think it's really good but what's your opinions? This one is rather long too....

CHAPTER ONE ~ AWAKEN

“Fear awaken
Go with it now
And let it overcome you
Fear awaken
Your mind is racing”<br> - Disturbed, Fear

Phoebe rolled over in her bed pulling the covers up over her head. Yet still, the annoying ringing of the alarm clock reached her ears and rattled inside her head. Moaning in complaint she sat up and shut off the alarm. She slid her feet out of bed and into her slippers before treading across the dull blue carpet of her bedroom. Without even bothering to think about it, she did it everyday, she picked up her brush and began trying to straighten out her unruly hair.

She had waist length hair that was naturally blond with red highlights. Because of it’s length she always woke up with hundreds of knots. Pulling the brush through another tangled clump she looked into her sapphire blue eyes and tried to sort out the thoughts that had just drifted into her mind. Scattered images that were hazy and almost indecipherable. The stray fragments of the previous nights dreams.

As one particular fragment drifted into her thoughts she closed her eyes and stopped moving. She fought with her emotions for a moment, struggled against even thinking about the dream, about it’s meaning. At last she took a deep breath and forced it all from her thoughts, returning to her hair. It took her almost a half hour to get the knots free of her hair. That task complete she laid the hair brush back down and took care of the rest of her early morning ritual which took another half hour.

By the time she was finished drying off after her shower she heard her mother’s voice calling her down to breakfast. Making her way from her bathroom she pulled off her nightgown and tossed it in the full hamper. She turned to her dresser and pulled out an outfit for the day. A simple pair of blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt. As she was pulling on her clothes she took a look out her window. The dirt streets were still muddy from the previous day’s rain but they were drying, and the sky was clear.

Dressed and ready for the day at last she opened her bedroom door and made her way downstairs. Numerous black and white photos and beautiful color paintings of friends and family lined the walls of the house. She could hear the clatter of plates coming from the kitchen and the smell of bacon drifted to her nose. “Hi mom, dad.” she said walking in and taking her normal seat at the table. A plate of pancakes sat in the center of the table, there were already a few strips of bacon on her plate, and her mom was finishing up the eggs. The typical Sanders Family Friday Morning Breakfast.

“Natsuko called last night while you were out.” Mrs. Sanders said as she brought over the pan of scrambled eggs. She had brunette hair that she always wore up in a bun and the same shimmering blue eyes that her daughter had.

Phoebe glanced up from her food nearly choking on a piece of bacon. “Wha-what’d she want?” she asked taking a gulp of orange juice.

Mrs. Sanders shrugged. “She just asked if you were here. When I said no she hung up.”<br>
Phoebe glanced down at the table for a moment before she started eating again, going through the motions mechanically now. Natsuko was her best friend, had been for years. However, she’d been avoiding people in general lately while she worked a few things out. Natsuko was one of the few people, other than her parents, that she still talked to. Unfortunately she couldn’t ask the girl about the matter that was bothering her, if she could, then she wouldn’t have a problem. She didn’t know... if she was even sure. No, she was sure, she knew it, but she didn’t really want to admit it.

Before she realized it her breakfast was gone so she put her plate in the sink still wondering about what she should do. She jumped as her mom placed a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” she asked her daughter. “You’ve been standing here washing the same plate for five minutes.”<br>
“Oh, no-nothing.” she stammered. “Just lost in thought.” Phoebe walked from the kitchen toward the living room but paused by the phone. Finally she decided to go out for a walk. She grabbed a light jacket to hold off morning chill, slipped out of her slippers and into a pair of shoes, and then walked out into the fresh air. Her white house sat back several yards from the road and a small maple tree grew on the left side of the yard. Her mother had a rose garden around the tree and along the house as well.#nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys

[Xyex]

The yard seemed dry as did the stone sidewalk. Only the semi-muddy road gave any hints to the previous day’s rain. As she jammed her hands into her pockets and walked toward the street a squirrel ran past and up a tree. The nearby birds chirped and the rising sun shone light and some growing warmth over the area. Phoebe was too lost in thought to really notice any of this however. Even a few moments later, after having gone a few blocks, she was still so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice the short man before her until she’d almost run into him. “Oh... sorry sir, I wasn’t...”<br>
“Phoebe Marie Sanders. Descendant of Alexander the Banisher.” the man said gazing up at her. She was startled that the man seemed to know her, she’d never seen him before, Crystal Rivers wasn’t that large of a town and she thought she’d met everyone before. Her eyes looked the man over. He was a few inches shorter than her, his face was lined with age, and he wore a lavish, yet somehow old looking outfit. It was a dark blue vest like cover over a slightly lighter blue undershirt, both with red trim. A deep red cloth wrapped around his waist and tied at the back held his baggy dark blue pants in place. His hair was hanging beyond his shoulders and mostly gray save for a few places that still held their natural black. His beard hung down even further stopping just above his waist but unlike the hair on his head it was all gray.

What really caught her attention however, were his eyes. She’d never seen such eyes before. They were an emerald green and they shimmered and glinted in the sunlight like they were, in fact, two green jewels. She felt as though she were seeing the very fabric of existence, the very meaning of life, when she looked into his eyes. “How do you know me? Who are you?”<br>
“I am called Dante.” the man replied shifting his arms and bowing ever so slightly. That’s when she noticed the large staff he held. It was made of two pieces of wood wound about each other and was about five feet long. The staff tapered to a point at the bottom and widened into a ‘cradle’ of sorts at the top which held a beautiful crystal of some kind. Phoebe wasn’t sure if it was the sunlight or something else but the crystal seemed to be slowly and gently shifting through the entire color spectrum.

“Look... Dante. I really shoul...”<br>
“The time is coming descendant of Alexander. The Awakening is upon us again.” Despite his apparent age his voice seemed much younger, just like his eyes. “You must break through the fear that grips you.” he turned from her and began walking down the street. “The events ahead will require complete trust and understanding.”<br>
Phoebe watched after him in wonder and confusion. She couldn’t figure out who he was or what he was talking about. She had no idea who Alexander was or what this Awakening was either. It took a moment to shake off the thoughts about him and his odd speech. With one last glance at where the man had gone she turned down another street and started walking once more.

She wasn’t paying much attention to where she was walking, she just needed the fresh air and some time to clear her brain. She had a lot of things to sort out of her mind before she’d start feeling better. As the years had gone by she’d noticed that while most of her friends were going on about how hot this guy or that guy was, she couldn’t really agree with them most of the time. Sure, she’d found a few guys she’d liked, dated a few of them too, but that was the minority. She’d tried to ignore it, fight it, deny it, but the truth was, and she still wasn’t able to accept it completely, she was more attracted to other girls that to guys.

Which was causing part of her current problem. Well, no, it was her current problem. She was worried how her friends would react. What they would think of her. Normally she’d go to Natsuko when she had some kind of problem. Thing was, she was worried how Natsuko would react too. After all, it was her that she had a crush on. “Wait...” she said to herself softly. “Did I just think that? I mean... do I... am I?” She closed her eyes as she walked into Crystal Park and felt the warming breeze slip through her hair and across her face. She sighed lightly before looking around her.

It was to early for most people to be up, let alone outside, so the park was rather empty. Just a couple of joggers across the way. Not that she minded. Playing with a strand of her hair, one of her nervous habits, she made her way to a park bench and took a seat. “So what if I am...?” she wondered aloud. “That dosen’t change things, I’m still the same person I’ve always been. Right?” She put her face in her hands and struggled against the emotions that warred within her.

“Phoebe?” came a soft and gentle voice that the girl recognized instantly.

“Natsuko.” she said in surprise, looking up and forcing a smile. “Hi. Sorry I didn’t call you back last night, I just got the message this morning.”<br>
The other girl, who was just barely taller than her, shook her head. Her shoulder length black hair flapping around gently. She had on a pair of cut-off shorts and a loose tank-top that showed off her toned muscles and left little to the imagination. “Don’t worry about it.” she said.

Phoebe’s own worries drifted away slightly as Natsuko sat down beside her and she glimpsed the bruise on the back of her left shoulder. “Oh no, Natsuko...” she said looking over into her friend’s brown eyes. “Again? I’m so sorry, if I would have kno...”<br>
Natsuko shook her head and held up a hand to quiet her friend. “It’s not your fault Phoebe. Besides, I’m a big girl. I’m two years older than you and I can defend myself just fine. He’s not in much better shape right now.” she smirked lightly as she finished.

Phoebe wasn’t entirely convinced that her friend was fine. There may have been only one visible bruise but that didn’t mean anything. She had a point though, she was older and she did know how to fight. Still, it bothered her. Natsuko’s father wasn’t the greatest man, or even a man in her eyes. Even when Natsuko’s mother was still alive her father had been a heavy drinker and abusive. After the car accident and her mother Keiko’s death it had only gotten worse. Natsuko had spent entire weeks at the Sanders house before.

“The good new is,” Natsuko said with a warm smile. “I’ve found the perfect little apartment. I just need to find a roommate to help cover the cost. You know Mrs. Miller’s place?”<br>
“Yeah.”<br>
“Turns out it’s actually an apartment building. She’s moving to Greenville this summer and renting out both the floors to people. It’s only 310 Credits a month, everything included. Isn’t that perfect?!”<br>
“Awesome. I can’t wait until I get my own place...”<br>
Natsuko rolled her eyes. “Hey, idiot, why do you think I’m telling you abut this? I said I need a roommate. I sure as hell don’t want to share my apartment with just some dork off the street. Has to be a special kind of dork.” Phoebe glared daggers at her friend while smirking. “So, anyway, why’d you look so down when I got here, huh?”<br>
Phoebe looked away for a minute. “Oh... It’s nothing. I just have some things on my mind, that’s all.”<br>
“Ah, right.” Natsuko looked down at her hands. She knew her friend was lying but she wasn’t going to pry. She usually made similar responses to those kind of questions. Of course, the only one that ever asked was Phoebe. That was fine by her too. She preferred to be alone, she liked doing things on her own. Phoebe was the only exception to that, she’d been friends with the girl for so long it felt like they were the same person. But even to her she never completely opened up about things. After she’d lost her mother she’d retreated from relationships with everyone except Phoebe. The only thing that had kept them friends back then was because she was afraid of being alone then. Now it was different. Now it was the close friendship they had that held them together.

After a moment of silence Phoebe stood up. “What do you say about coming back to my house. We’ll get you something to eat.”<br>
“Food sounds really good right now.” she replied standing. “I’ve not had anything since lunch yesterday.”<br>
“Thought so. Come on.”<br>
As Phoebe and Natsuko started out of the park the black haired girl turned to her friend. “I’m going to enter the competition next month.”

[Xyex]

Phoebe looked over at her unsure what she was talking about for a moment. Then she remembered the fliers that had been posted all over the town. Orin City was holding a Martial Arts Tournament next month and inviting anyone and everyone to compete. The grand prize was a hundred thousand credits. Hand to hand combat wasn’t as widespread as it had been even just fifty years before. Now that more of the Old Technologies were understood again the military’s were using more guns and machines than foot troops. Still, there were plenty of people who, for one reason or another, took up the discipline. Natsuko had been wanting to test her skills for a while and the tournament gave her the chance. The entry was free which was a help too, but one of the rules said you weren’t allowed to wear street clothes and, as far as she knew, Natsuko didn't have any actual Gi's.

Phoebe shook her head. “I really wish you wouldn’t. I know you’re good and all but...”<br>
Natsuko laughed. “Don’t worry about me. Like I said, I can take care of myself.” Phoebe let that particular matter drop for now and they went on to talk about different things. Phoebe filled her friend in on the latest happenings at Crystal Rivers High, including Victoria Simpson’s recent ascent to Home Coming Queen. Natsuko had beaten the girl for that title the previous year. She’d also graduated the previous year and Phoebe was on her last year. It only took a few minutes longer to reach the house. She showed her friend inside and to the kitchen. No one else was home so she fixed them both a couple of sandwiches while her friend turned on the TV to see if anything good was on.

The girl stopped on a news channel as the headline caught her eye. ‘Ritual Killer Strike Again.’ The reporter was standing in front of an abandoned home. Police tape surrounded the home and several spectators could be seen standing around trying to get a peek inside. “Who would be doing this?” Natsuko asked sadly. “I heard the last girl had been turned inside out and then burned.”

“Please, I’m making food.”<br>
Natsuko was about to reply when the blue bar carrying the headline changed to, ‘Live: Crystal Rivers’. “My god. This happened here!”<br>
Now Phoebe looked up as well and listened to the reporter. “Once again, it has been confirmed. The victim was 18 year old Victoria Simpson. The police have yet to release any details of what happened inside the house however we have overheard a few things. Keep in mind none of this is confirmed, however, it seems the young woman was the victim of the Ritual Killer. Like the previous five her body was severely mutilated.

“As I’ve said, details are still sketchy as the police have released nothing official yet. And I must warn you that what I'm about to say is quite graphic. I have overhead that the woman was decapitated and the skin removed from her skull. It would seem the body was then hung on the wall over some kind of symbol and the skull placed at her feet. Beyond this we have no information but whispers of other mutilation. It is possible the body was set on fire as smoke was what originally drew attention to the abandoned home behind me and the grizzly scene inside.”<br>
Phoebe reached up and clicked off the TV shivering. “Victoria...” she said lightly. She hadn’t known the girl to well but had spoken with her now and then. She suddenly didn’t feel like eating and by the look on Natsuko’s face she didn’t either. She wrapped the sandwiches up in foil and placed them inside the fridge. “I don’t like this... the person who did that could still be...” she froze as she remembered her earlier encounter with the man who simply referred to himself as Dante. She suddenly felt violently ill and she shivered again.

“What’s wrong Phoebe?” Natsuko asked. There was evident worry in her voice and in her brown eyes. The girl came around to her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I... I saw this... guy.” she managed to stammer while trying to hold her breakfast down. “He knew who I was but I’ve... never seen the guy before. He was dressed funny and went on about something... I can’t remember now, I’d practically forgotten him already.”<br>
Natsuko furrowed her brow in thought. “You think he might be the killer?”<br>
“Well, I’ve never seen him around before. That dosen’t mean anything though... and he seemed nice enough... If I could only remember what he told me...”<br>
A sudden and loud knocking at the front door startled the two girls. They glanced at each other a moment and then giggled at their sudden jumpiness. The two went from the kitchen back to the entry of the house. Phoebe peeked out the small peephole and paled. As she watched the man another loud rapping sounded as he knocked his staff on the door. “It’s him!” she hissed.

“What? The guy from earlier?”

“Yeah.” Phoebe nodded. Natsuko looked around and saw one of Mr. Sanders’s large steel rods he used at the market to prop open the doors during the summer months. She went over quickly and grabbed it as yet another loud rapping sounded through the house. A second later she re-joined her friend gripping the rod tightly. In her hands it looked even more like a deadly weapon than it was. Nodding to her friend the other took the door knob and turned it gently. There was a soft but audible click as the bolt slid into the door. She pulled it open quickly while stepping back out of the way. Natsuko whipped the rod up quickly and the end settled right below the man’s chin.

Dante’s eyes widened in slight surprise at the welcome but the look soon vanished. “Please Natsuko, lower the rod.” he said calmly. “I’m not dangerous.”<br>
“Why are you here and how do you know us?” she demanded coldly. Phoebe didn’t often see the same side of Natsuko as everyone else did and it always shocked her at how dangerous and mean she could seem. “Hurry up, before I knock you out...”<br>
Dante lifted his staff slightly and the crystal sitting atop flashed a bright red for a second. Phoebe covered her eyes and turned away from reflex. When she looked back Dante was standing inside the house beside Natsuko who seemingly hadn’t moved. In fact, she didn’t seem to be moving at all now either, not even breathing. Dante frowned at her for a moment and then tapped his staff on the ground twice. The crystal flashed again, this time green, and Natsuko looked around in shock. “Wha... what the hell? How did you do that!” she demanded holding tighter to the makeshift staff ready to attack or defend.

“You would not believe me at the moment.” he replied in an even voice. “I was hoping to have more time, a chance to get the two of you prepared before this happened. Unfortunately I do not.” he turned from the girl and walked into Phoebe’s living room. There he raised his staff into the air once more and the crystal began to pulsate white. A mist began to fill the room and coalesce in the rooms center. The mist reached up higher swirling and solidifying into marble podium with a built in basin. Inside the basin was a rippling silver liquid that seemed to glow slightly. “Please, come here.”<br>
The two girls looked at each other uncertainly. They both thought they were going insane. Dante sighed exasperatedly. “This is important and no, you are not going insane.” Taken aback by the comment the girls each took a step back and Natsuko’s grip tightened on her weapon. Dante walked to the opposite side of the podium, which was still surrounded by mist at its base, but did nothing more. After a moment Natsuko took a tentative step forward followed by another, Phoebe a step behind her. It took a moment but eventually they reached the delicately engraved podium and could peer down into the liquid it held.

[Xyex]

“Look closely and see the truth.” Dante said softly, almost inaudibly. The liquid shimmered and swirled, the glowing light that seemed to emanate from it forming into an image. It only took a moment and they were looking at a high over head view of the area. “Now, watch closely.” he ordered. A black sphere appeared hovering over a point to the north. Then another appeared far south and slightly west of the first. A third appeared to the north east but south of the first. A fourth to the west of that one. A fifth south east. Then the first one turned white. Next a white line traced the path between the dots. “Now, what do you see?”<br>
“A.. it's a star.” Natsuko said still wondering how this was even happening.

Dante nodded. “Indeed. From the first point around each one in sequence forms a star ending with the starting point. Now, can you determine where those dots are?”<br>
Natsuko wasn’t the greatest with geography but Phoebe had caught on as the dots appeared. “I know four of the five.” she said. “The north point is Orin city. The upper right point is Greenville. The upper left is the Golden Springs resort. And the lower left one is Capitol City. I don’t know what the lower right point is though, it’s floating out over the sea...”<br>
The names all clicked with Natsuko. She’d been following the news of the ‘Ritual Killings’ and these were all locations, and in the correct order. “My god... those spots, they’ve all been the sites of those murders. The Ritual Killings. But I don’t remember one in the ocean... Besides, you’ve got six spots marked here already and the sixth just happened here today and we aren’t marked.”<br>
Dante nodded slowly. “There is a boat floating out at that point carrying that victim.” he said with sadness evident in his voice. “As for this town...” A new black dot appeared floating in the center of the star. “We are in the exact middle.” He raised his staff up and held the crystal over the image. “There is but one step left to complete the Awakening, a solar eclipse.” The crystal turned black and somehow cast darkness down over the area. The cast shadow created a circle that perfectly fit the star. “A pentagram." he said softly.

“I’m uncertain who is attempting to perform the Awakening ceremony so I can’t guess how long this may take. This is what has prompted my sudden appearance here now. I would have rather given this some time but we just may be running out of that.”<br>
Natsuko lowered the rod she held a bit. “This is all insane! I don’t know how you did...” she waved her arms at the podium, “all of this, but this is nonsense! It’s going to be years before a solar eclipse is even visible from around here, and everything your talking about sounds like it’s supposed to be magic! That’s complete nonsense!”<br>
Dante sighed. “And this is why I wanted to wait, Descendant of the Dragon Lord.” He lowered his staff and the podium shimmered before turning back into mist and vanishing without a trace. “If I must wait until after the eclipse I shall. Be careful until I return, after the Awakening is complete the Harbingers will appear here. This will be the epicenter of the end unless they can be stopped.” With that he held his staff up once more. There was a flash of red followed, seemingly instantly, by a flash of green. When they could see again Dante was gone as was every trace of his former presence.

Natsuko looked around for him for a moment before deciding it had to have been some kind of hallucination or something. Even if she was still holding the rod. She dropped it where she stood and dropped into a nearby chair. “That was... odd.”<br>
Phoebe couldn’t think of anything to say. She just stood where she was and continued to stare at where the podium had been a moment before. After a few moments the shock and confusion wore off a bit and she walked over to a window and looked out at the morning sun. Natsuko looked over to her friend, “You didn’t believe him? Did you?” she asked.

Phoebe looked back over. “I don’t know yet...”

[Jerseymilk]

That was a fun read. So far, this story definitely holds my interest. You really have to get around to finishing these stories of yours Xyex. I'm always wanting find out what happens next! ^_^

[Mochi]

Holy crap, it's longer than the Harry Potter books!!! *dies*

[Gohan]

Wow, that was really cool. I don't know which one I liked better, the war of the gods or this one. Heh, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you became the next big writer (if you finished you stories).

[chibiwoosh]

Uh....too long, I will read it later. ^^









I AM LYING!