by Andrew Jones
"Finished!" Amaya smiled as she stepped back and lent back on one of the counters, crossing her arms, "Anyways, Kryptonite- you never quite explained why you all of a sudden returned. You never come back unless you're asking for some kind of help. So I ask; what do you want this time?"
Kryptonite gasped, waving his paws around nervously, "I-I... I don't need anything at all..."
Blaze sighed as she looked up at Amaya, "Yes, we do."
Amaya raised her eyebrow, "Oh?"
"We wanted to see if you knew anything about the Armagna Network."
Amaya looked like she was in deep thought, as she used one of her crossed arms to reach up and tap on her head, "Armagna... Armagna... I rings a bell or two, but I'm not sure I'm really familiar with it."
Kryptonite scoffed as he pulled out his little wallet, "Will 200 munny cut it?"
"W-What? Are you trying to buy my answer?" Amaya gasped.
"W-Well... You know what they say... A penny for your thoughts... Only this time, this is more important than your thoughts."
"WHAT!?" Amaya yelled loud enough to force open the closed door.
Blaze chuckled, "You really do know how to charm your way into a woman's heart."
Amaya sighed as she facepalmed at Kryptonite. "Look, I'll see if I can help out. But I'm doing it for Blaze, not you."
Kryptonite shook his head as he took a sip of his coffee that he had. Blaze nodded her head as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the two flash drives she had from Siyuri and the machine from the factory. She handed both of them to Amaya, as she would examine them closely.
"Hmm. I'd have to have Jet look into these, c'mon." Amaya answered.
Blaze and Kryptonite followed Amaya out of the building, walking right into the less crowded market place. They were actually able to see the market places that had been selling products there. They passed many markets, which offered them deals and products without the need to stop talking, even as they passed by them and ignored them. But Amaya stopped at one of the markets and looked down at a man who was sitting on a yellow blanket on the ground. His leg was removed, but he looked like he was modifying a mechanical leg. This made Blaze look at him confused.
"Jet, introduce yourself to the lovely lady," Amaya spoke down to him.
Jet dropped his tool as he heard Amaya's voice, immediately looking up at the three. He smiled as he reached his hand up to Blaze.
"Welcome to your own person Sanctuary! Name's Jet!" Jet shouted.
"Eh... I'm Blaze..." Blaze answered, ignoring her invitation to a greeting handshake. "Are you a machine?"
Jet lowered his hand as he used it to reach toward the tool he dropped, "Nah. I'm Human. My leg had been cut off by the Human-Eater over there at 'em desert colosseums. It's fully functional, but I'm modding this mechanical leg because I've experiences a few bugs."
"Anyways, they brought us some flash drives. I know these were used by Humans hundreds of years ago, and it's hard to scan them because they're so old. I thought it would be a breeze for you though." Amaya said as she dropped both of the flash drives down onto Jet's lap.
Jet picked up each of the flash drives and examined them. He lent over and grabbed an advanced looking laptop, which delivered a holographic picture up inside of having a simple screen, enabling 3D picturing. He plugged the flash drives into their available spots within the advanced laptop and clicked on multiple links, leaving the scene quiet. He frowned as he drew a picture within the laptop's hologram. It displayed a picture only, with two symbols being revealed, the top two within the shield.
He nodded as he turned off his laptop, "Armagna. The network is pretty dangerous, why are you associating with them?"
Blaze shook her head, "I'm not. I know it's what contaminated the machines in my village and made them devour everyone, and made the survivors lose their minds..."
Jet raised an eyebrow as he looked at Kryptonite, "It's true... I have seen it." Kryptonite answered, shrugging his shoulder.
"I think it is dangerous to go after the rest of the four Dataspaces that would do something drastic to the network. But it might help... At least the remaining machines of this world. It might even have some effect on the Ruse virus for the Humans. It's a prediction, not a conclusion." Jet explained.
"If we do go after them, where should we look first?" Blaze asked.
"I'd check the colosseums toward the desert. I know of no one who has been able to go that far into the desert and survive, but I've heard that there are lots of records of the Old World dwelling inside. A total treasure for anyone to find." Jet replied, looking pleased as he mentioned the records.
Amaya kicked Jet in the face, letting him fall back, "Don't tell them that! It'll lead them into danger!"
"But... I need to do this. This is a personal matter, I have no choice." Blaze sighed, ignoring the physical damage done to Jet.
Amaya turned to Blaze and looked down, "I can understand that. It must be why you were created, after all. Go ahead if you must then. I won't stop you."
Blaze smiled at Amaya and nodded her head, turning and looking down at Kryptonite, "Will you be joining me?"
Kryptonite smiled extremely wide, "I promised to protect you, Lady Blaze! I'd be a fool to let you go all by yourself."
"Just, return to this village when you are finished. I'd like you two to permanently live here. I can tell you've already been through a lot together." Amaya spoke softly, and with concern.
Kryptonite laughed, "Don't worry. I've lived and seen hundreds of years of disaster. I've been experienced enough in order to do this!"
Kryptonite jumped onto Blaze's shoulder, looking down at her.
"... Do I have to walk again?" She asked.
Kryptonite nodded.
Blaze shook her head before looking at both Amaya and Jet, "Thank you both. We'll be back once we get this taken care of."
"No problem, hun," Amaya answered, waving goodbye to her.
"I hope you find what you're looking for, Blaze..." Jet said, waving goodbye to her as well.
Blaze nodded her head as she slowly turned away from them and started walking toward the exit of the village.
Verse IX
The Ashes of the Unforgiving Colosseum
The heat of the desert began to have an effect on Blaze once again. She could see the air before her burn, as it created a wave like motion. The large gates that separated them from the Ancient Desert were, of course, locked with a heavy chain lock. Blaze grumbled from her frustration as she held the rusty lock in the grip of her hand. Kryptonite sighed as he had suggested looking in the nearby huts for the key, but Blaze pulled on the chain lock, pulling it right off along with the chains. Kryptonite watched in amazement as the chain lock sort of shattered into the little material as she broke it off and proceeded to pull all of the chains off the gate.
Blaze forced herself in, she isn't the kind of person who scavenges the area for the key, it is a waste of time in her opinion. She has the strength to force herself through most areas if they don't require a bit of thinking- like hacking and such. She kicked open the two gates, as she stepped across the border and looked within the land of sands. The one slow and occasional breeze brushed the sands against each other, creating a soft humming tune, maybe the hum of the dead Humans who walk this land. It wasn't called the Ancient Desert for nothing. Blaze sighed as she started her venture into the blazing deserts, but Kryptonite pulled out a small umbrella to shadow him away from the sun as he walked just behind her.
Blaze looked down as she walked, not looking directly in front of her. She could feel more sweat falling down her face and she'd grow more irritated the more she wiped off the sweat from her forehead or cheeks. She felt her stomach rumble, this was quite unusual to her. From what she read, Human's stomach rumble when they are hungry, but she couldn't get hungry, she doesn't eat. She whined as she held her stomach and shut her eyes, it was such an unusual feeling.
But as she opened her eyes again, the air had calmed its
heat and the colors of black and white were the only colors that been radiated. She frowned and looked around the area with alarm on her face, then she glanced back at Kryptonite who appeared to have become frozen in time.
"At last, we meet."
A deep man's voice was heard throughout the area, Blaze could not figure out where it was coming from as she looked around more cautiously.
"Blaze, is it?" The voice asked.
"Who are you?" Blaze asked back.
A man appeared in front of him- he had long but spiky black hair. He wore a black trench coat that better disguised himself within the dark void around them.
"He says you can save this Timeline, but I'm not so sure." The man spoke.
"Who the hell are you?" Blaze shouted at him.
He chuckled as he crossed his arms, "You shouldn't be worrying about that. You should be worrying about fixing the wrongs of this event."
Blaze frowned, "I don't take orders from strange men."
The man put down his arms, becoming silent for a moment from her response, "Well. Do what you think is right then. We'll meet again."
As the man spoke, he waved goodbye to her. He slowly shattered into sands that would drop and entwine with the sands that made up the desert, making Blaze look down at the said sands with caution again. While she began to stomp on the sands, she felt a tug on the back of her black dress, turning around quickly.
"Whoa, Blaze! It's just me!" Kryptonite screamed as he cowered in sudden fear.
Blaze sighed when she saw him, lowering her guard, "Did... You see any of that?"
Kryptonite wiggled one of his ears, "Erm- what?"
"The man standing in front of me, the area turning black and white..."
"You must have had one of those hallucinations. The sands of this desert do that to you. I dunno why. But I have heard that it's the spirits of the deceased Humans casting illusions as an act of their envy and revenge toward the ones who have still survived."
"How many Humans died here?"
"I'm gonna guess a whole lot. Remember that Colosseum we're looking for? Jet said something about that, we might find the answer there." Kryptonite answered, shrugging his shoulder.
Blaze nodded her head, looking back into the desert, "It's a Colosseum, so-... It should be somewhat big... We should know when we see it then."
"And since we don't exactly see anything that looks remotely like it, we're still far from finding it... Ugh!" Kryptonite shouted as he falls to the ground, whining from the heat.
Blaze watched him fall to the ground, shaking her head in disappointment as she picked him up and kept him in the grasp of her hand, continuing into the desert. The desert attacked them more ferociously the more they traveled into the depths of the desert. Within the winds that carried the burden sands, they saw parts of Human skeletons. They'd see a skull, a spine, and even just random bones being buried slightly under some sands. Blaze quivered as she noticed the bones, but she carried on into the sandy winds.
She covered her eyes sometimes, to prevent some of the sands to make their way into her eyes, but she could see a dark figure behind the sand winds, as they sort of made a wall. A thin wall that wasn't as accessible as one would think. Blaze took a heavy step, pushing herself toward the dark figure. Her hand reached forward and grabbed something, and used that to pull herself past the heavy winds. They'd blow a heavy melody, much heavier than when they just entered the deserts. But Blaze through herself and Kryptonite into the figure she had grabbed onto, falling forward.
She panted as she looked around. The area around them was still- no sign of any winds within the limited space. But as they looked around, the heavy winds created a wall; or a barrier. It was like this area restricted the winds of entering the premises. Blaze stood up and patted down her dress of any sand, glancing at a gray rock that was standing next to her. There were many of the same shapes within the area. Lined up with accurate form, like it was lined up purposely. There were words on it and numbered events. Blaze tilted her head, wondering what they were as she glanced at Kryptonite.
"Have any idea what these are?" She asked.
Kryptonite bopped each side of his head, pushing out any sand that was within his ears. She could see the drops of sand particles fly out each time he would do so. He shook his head and grumbled as he stood up and walked to her, looking at the stone.
"This is a tombstone." He answered, looking and reading what was written on it.
"What is a tombstone?"
"It's a grave. Humans used to bury other dead Humans in the ground, and lay tombstones or graves like this one."
"... Why bury them?"
"To send their soul into peace... I think. I'm not entirely sure myself. But since there are many graves around here, this must be a graveyard."
Blaze grunted as she looked at the rows of graves that sat within this still and somewhat peaceful area. But she felt off- this was the desert, but she didn't feel hot, and she wasn't bothered by the obnoxious sands. It was like they were in another dimension, a dimension made by the souls of these dead Humans. She knelt down and placed her hand on one of the graves. But she gasped as the letters written on the grave began to drip blood. She quickly stood up and backed away from the grave, seeing the rest of the graves dripping blood as well. The dripping blood formed a red puddle that had consumed Blaze's feet and the bottom half of Kryptonite's body.
She looked at Kryptonite, as he looked up at her as well. He began to call out her name, but each time he'd call her name, his voice would get deeper, and darker. She blinked and saw a quick image of Kryptonite peeling off his cotton skin, exposing his mechanical half-self which released these black veins. The veins lifted upward, then quickly reached down and stabbed each part of his body, consuming him slowly. But as that happened, he kept calling her name.
"Just... Another hallucination." Blaze whispered to herself as she closed her eyes.
"Open your damn eyes!" A dark voice erupted.
Blaze quickly opened her eyes, she felt like someone actually came and grabbed her eyelids, and forcefully opened them. She shivered and dropped her jaw as she saw that each of the graves had been dug up. The holes that made the graves were flooded with some kind of hell-fire. But she looked up after, seeing the skeletons of the dead Humans, from the graves. They all had no expressions on their faces, as they all slowly dropped to the ground and circled close to Blaze.
"The stone tells only what the monster speaks... The monster speaks of lies, and devours the life force of us Humans..."
She heard the voices of all the skeletons, as they moved their mouths at the same pace. It echoed, causing a lot of pain to Blaze's ears.
"We were not infected, but we were sacrificed anyway. The man who wanted to bring light to this world only brought more darkness."
Blaze grunted and shut her eyes as she covered her eyes, "Shut up!"
The skeletons quickly got closer to her and began latching onto her.
"Feel our pain, and you shall see."
Blaze screamed as she tried to get them off her, "Get the hell off!"
The skeletons all broke their grip. One of the skeletons went to her back and grabbed her wrists, keeping her contained from movement. She gasped and began to panic, while she tried to pull away from the skeleton's grip, but it was no use. She looked ahead and saw the rest of the skeletons lined up in front of her, forming a neat line. The first skeleton raised its hand and slowly put it inside Blaze's mouth, forcing it down her throat. Blaze gagged as she tried to resist. She felt the hard bone making its way down her throat. But soon enough, the skeleton pushed itself into her mouth. She screamed as she began to choke. The skeleton punched her back, forcing her to swallow the skeleton. The second skeleton approached, as it watched Blaze pant heavily and grunt from the pain. The skeleton lent it's finger onto her eyes, pressing on them with all its might. Blaze began screaming once again, as she felt her blood began to drip down her cheeks. She could not see, but she heard no movement from th
e skeletons.
"Machine blood..." The voices of the skeletons shouted.
The skeleton behind her let go of her wrists, letting her fall down onto her knees and wipe her eyes, feeling the blood. The skeletons all faced her, saying nothing. They all shattered into bones, except one who knelt down in front of her, getting really close to her.
"You are in search of the Colosseum, yes?" The skeleton asked.
Blaze looked up at the skeleton, regaining some of her vision. She still felt the agonizing pain dealt with her by the skeletons, but she overpowered it and nodded her head.
"I am the chief leader of the cult who created the Colosseum. We sacrificed Humans who we thought had contracted the damned virus of the red-eyes. But our own machine we had created malfunctioned and ate us all." The skeleton spoke as it stood up, overshadowing her, "Fulfill my wish, or we shall continue our curse upon you."
She watched as the skeleton created a light within its heart. A black heart materialized within the light, as it drifted in the air and disappeared into Blaze's chest. She closed her eyes as she felt the sudden darkness in her heart. She stood up and opened her eyes, her eyes had become pitch black for a few moments before returning to her usual purple color. As that happened, the blood puddle disappeared, and the graves returned to normal.
"Blaze... Are you having another hallucination?" Kryptonite asked as he comforted Blaze, who was still on her knees in front of that grave.
She gasped as she instantly turned toward a direction, looking into the sandy wind's walls. She pointed toward that direction and stood up, walking fast into the sands again. Kryptonite frowned as he rushed to her side, jumping back up onto her shoulder. He felt like something was off about Blaze, but he brushed that to the side as he allowed her to walk through the sands.
She stopped and looked up. A big structure stood in front of them. It wasn't completely visible, but they knew it was a building. Blaze stared up at it and took a deep breath.