| Phase 1 What a wreck. I could hardly believe this had been a village once. Noticing a house on top of a mountain, I headed up that way and searched around. � May I help you?� I whirled. She was sandy blond and about five-seven. She didn�t seem dangerous, but the way she carried herself warned me that she wasn�t totally innocent. She had some knowledge of fighting and wasn�t afraid to use it. � I was passing through and wanted to ask about Lahan,� I answered. � I saw this place and decided to see if anyone was home.� She tilted her head to the side as if to listen for a shake in my voice. Satisfied, she glanced down the mountain and said, � Lahan was destroyed in a Gear battle.� � Did anyone make it?� I pressed. � A few,� she replied. � Why?� � I was looking for someone and tracked him here.� � Who?� I regarded her warily. � His name is Fei.� � Oh! Well, Fei had to leave.� She pointed in the general direction of the capital of Aveh, Bledavik. � He went that way, through the Black Moon Forest. May I ask why you�re looking for him? In case he returns?� I shrugged. � He�s my brother.� Leaving her stunned, I headed off the mountain for the Black Moon Forest. *>*<* � . . . We still need parts for Weltall.� Doctor Citan Uzuki frowned thoughtfully. � Dazil may have what we need.� A shout drew their attention. Was someone following them already? Fei ran back into the Forest and looked around. He didn�t see anything at first, but then a girl leapt up onto a ledge, pursued by ten or fifteen forest elves. Her clothing--a long-sleeved cobalt blue dress shirt under a sleeveless green silk shirt with an open gray leather vest over both, black jean-type windbreaker pants and black ankle boots--made her nearly invisible against the surrounding area. She backed herself into a corner, then spun and leapt on the elves, twisting their heads and kicking at them with sickening precision. Once most of them were dead, she ran again and then made a large circle, plowing over the slender elves and killing them all. The girl then jumped up where Fei was and stopped short. � Fei!� It was like he was looking at himself! Except she was a girl and had two loose locks in front of her face compared to his one. � . . . What?� � Fei!� She lunged at him and closed her arms around his neck, hugging him. � I found you!� He pushed her away gently. � Excuse me?� She frowned. � You are Fei, aren�t you?� � Yes, but . . . Who are you?� *>*<* I couldn�t believe it. He didn�t recognize me! � Fei, it�s me. Your sister.� He drew back. � I have a sister?!� I could feel myself getting more upset as he continued to deny knowledge of me. � Yes. Don�t you remember me? I know I wasn�t that old when we were separated, but . . .� He held up a hand, seeing how aggravated I was becoming. � I�m sorry. I lost my memory three years ago. I don�t remember anything before I was fifteen.� With an apologetic smile, he added, � I normally wouldn�t believe you, but I had this weird bout of deja vu when I saw you. Tell me your name. Maybe that will help.� I relaxed a bit. � My name�s Krista-Lyn Wong. I prefer Kris.� He thought. � That does sound familiar. Very familiar.� He nodded once. � I believe you. Do you remember anything about our parents?� I shook my head. � It�s fuzzy. I was only three years old when . . . something . . . happened to us. Then I was all alone in the mountains. But I remember you and Mom playing with a bouncy ball in the afternoons and Dad was gone a lot because of work.� We turned to an open path as a tall man in green appeared. � Fei, we should not stay here. Kislev or Aveh may find Weltall and they will surely arrest us if we are near it!� � Okay.� Fei gestured to me. � Doc, this is my sister, Kris. Kris, Doctor Citan Uzuki. I call him Doc.� We shook hands and upon feeling his strong grip, I had a flash of remembrance. I knew him, but from where I couldn�t say. He looked at Fei. � I did not know you had a sister.� � Me neither.� He looked to me again. � Am I right in assuming you will be going along?� � Is there something wrong with that?� I asked. � No, I was just wondering.� From there, we went to Dazil. The people in the town were extremely excited about the excavations and I warned Fei and Citan that we wouldn�t get straight answers from the civilians. So we found the Ethos repair shop there and inquired about parts. But they didn�t have anything for military Gears. I flung my senses out, searching for someone who might know something about where to get parts. But it was usless; everyone was either looking for parts also or they were wishing for treasure. Child things like that. . . . ? Sand buggy? . . . What? I glanced at Citan, who was calmly excited, if that's possible. � Fei, I have an idea,� he said finally. � We can look through the battlefields for Kislev Gears that have the parts we need. But we have to find out who will rent us this sand buggy.� We entered the closest building and asked about it. � Yeah, sure. The keys are in the ignition.� Citan immediately left, telling Fei to stay in Dazil and have a drink at the bar while he was gone. � You�re not letting him go alone, are you?� the guy asked us. � There�re lots of monsters out there and I�ve heard of pirates in the area.� Pirates? My heart skipped a beat at the word. I knew that pirates were supposed to be bad, but the ones I had known were never like that. They were just getting by in their own way. Fei drug me outside and we chased after Citan. We ran through the desert all day, seeing Aveh patrol units, my six-year home of Shevat, and cyclists. Fei jumped out in front of the last one and snatched his bike. � Sorry about that,� he told the fallen but unhurt Aveh soldier. � I really need this. Come on, Kris.� I hopped on behind him and held onto his waist as he raced across the dunes. As night fell he stopped and left the engine idling as he looked around. � It�s getting dark. We have to find him.� I stared up at an Aveh Gear as it descended on us. � Uh . . . Fei?� � Yeah?� � Look up.� He did so and yelped. His attempt to get away wasn�t fast enough and the patrolling Gear landed, sending a wall of sand and air at us. It blew the bike over and threw us into a dune. We got up and Fei led me away from the Gear, but we were stopped by a second one. Fei looked between them helplessly, holding my hand tightly. � Aren�t you guys overreacting just a little for stealing a bike?� There was the sound of gunfire and the Troopers toppled. We stared up at the new Gear. Fei relaxed some. � Doc?� Weltall knelt and the chest opened smoothly. Citan appeared in the Gear�s open hand. � We must leave!� The Aveh Gears stood and he thought quickly. � Fei, hurry! Get inside Weltall!� � Why do I have to do it?� � I cannot operate it as well as you can!� So they switched places and Fei easily took care of the Aveh Troopers. And that�s when the whole thing turned for the worse. A man in dark robes and a mask laughed. � Perfect, Fei! You fight so well when you are angry!� � What are you talking about?!� Fei snapped. � Wait, you were in Lahan! You destroyed it!� The man shook his head. � You did. I never lifted a finger.� He spotted me and red eyes glowed from deep in the sockets of the mask. � Ah, Krista-Lyn. I did not expect to see you here with him.� I stepped forward. � Leave Fei alone, you bastard! Your quarrel�s with me, not him!� � On the contrary,� was the smug reply, � it�s with both of you.� Weltall�s left foot stepped protectively down in front of me, only a few rhals from my face. But I didn�t move and so was not hurt. � Who are you?� Fei demanded. � My name is Grahf. And I want your power, Fei.� � I have no power!� Fei snapped. � Then what do you think it was that destroyed Lahan? It wasn�t me.� He waved his hand and the ground trembled slightly as something that was Gear-sized began to surface just in front of Fei. � Now what will you do, Fei? You must protect your friend and your dear sister. Will you fight it or let it have them?� With that, Grahf left and the wyrm rose from the sand and shrieked. Fei fought, but the wyrm continued to suck Weltall�s fuel, lessening the length of time Fei would be able to fight it. I wanted to help, but didn�t know how. And then it hit me. I knew exactly how I could help. � I summon thee, Axyl S!� I shouted at the stars. The ground shook and from the sand rose two arched, dragon-type wings. A bowed head with a long, blunt crest appeared and the arms were folded across its chest as if to guard itself. Once it had risen completely, the sheet-metal skin that had kept the sand out and made it look like a giant human in a steel suit slipped away and disappeared. The visor over its eyes glided up into its �helmet�. I climbed up the Gear and slid up underneath its hands, then opened the cockpit and sat behind the front consol. � Axyl, start up.� � Enter control code,� stated the Gear�s default voice that was neither male nor female. � Control code: 5-2-7-1, input.� � . . . Control confirmed to Krista-Lyn Wong. Welcome aboard, Kris!� � Axyl,� I said as I reached for the control stick. � The wyrm is your target.� [Understood,] she replied in her own voice, which was definitely female. I urged her forward and had her fly at the wyrm, which turned to us. I tipped the control stick to the right and Axyl went that way, her wing slapping the wyrm high into the air. The flight engines kicked in and Axyl�s wings pumped easily, lifting us after the wyrm. She beat it up there in the sky, kicking and flailing with all her extremities. Then she closed her wings on its neck and a second later the head popped off like a cork from a bottle. Settling Axyl on the ground in a kneeling position vaguely similar to that of Weltall, I had the cockpit open and stepped out onto Axyl�s forearm. I looked over at Fei, who stood quietly in Weltall�s hand. Citan looked up at me and shrugged helplessly, signaling that my brother wouldn�t speak to him. � Are you all right, Fei?� � . . . Yeah, I�m okay. Thanks for helping me.� � Sure.� I jumped down from Axyl and went over to Weltall and climbed up onto that Gear�s hand to stand with Fei. I put my hand on his shoulder. � It�s what Grahf said, isn�t it?� He lifted his gaze to me, then stared up at the red moon, Cerise. Her brother, the blue moon Cerulean, was nearing the horizon. � Did he kill our father? Or was he just lying?� I shook my head. � I don�t know. But whatever the truth, we can only get it from two people. Him or you. But you can�t remember, so that leaves only him. We may have to chase him for the rest of our lives to find the answer.� There were clangs on either side of us and I wondered briefly if I could take the Troopers out by myself so Fei and Citan could get away. Citan noticed my look. � Do not do anything rash,� he warned me. � Quiet, Solarian!� I hissed. � I�ll do as I please!� He backed down and I realized that it was too dangerous for me to try to fight back with or without Axyl. So I turned to my Gear and commanded, � Go, Axyl S! I will call when I need you!� [But---] � Go!� <--Back Phase 2--> |