Joined: January 17th, 2005, 5:30 pm
Posts: 2029
Location: There's a place in the world where the sun won't shine, consumed of color and depth. I'm not there.
RS Name: Alex 43
RS Status: P2P
Clan Name: Rsbandb! All the way!
|
|
People ask me if I'm serious when I write these. I tell them I am. How else could I motivate myself to continue on?As he moved himself out of the crystal structure, he gazed at the marvel around him. Now that he was no longer riding Venos and actually set foot on the hard, solid ground (it only looked sandy ...), the fact of the nature that this was not just a crystal museum settled in. This was a city, filled with living, intelligent creatures that made it this way. Like lamps, a series of glowing crystals aligned almost a pathway in front of him, which twisted and turned around him without any real direction as to where to go, nor actual road to walk on. All it really was was a guide for the Oocon swimming above them to locate a specific area based on geological patterns and memory, as well as the locations of entrances and doorways for them to enter by. There were indeed windows, or simply holes, in these structures, but none of the Oocon used them. Perhaps by some civility code or simply because they trusted and respected each other that much. Either that, or they simply didn't have anything for them to be stolen from. It was inspiring, and Alex wished he didn't have to lock his possessions up every time he left them alone on the mainland.
The water was very clean, Alex impressively nodded. It was so easy to see in front of him. There was no murkiness, no floating dirt or debris, and not even a sign of algae. Despite being underwater, there was hardly any blurring or blinding refraction, save for the movement of an Oocon disturbing the pattern with a propelling motion of its two lower fin-like slabs of skin, pulled in and out by some thin, transparent muscle. The Oocon themselves, just as impressive. They looked like little red rounded darts shooting here and there at random speeds, aiming to steer away from and avoid hitting targets and obstacles. Looking up, Alex saw the obvious reflection of an entire swarm of them, shooting and overlapping over one another. Alex wondered just what sort of jobs and tasks they did that made them as busy as they were.
Curiosity overwhelming him, Alex left the entrance-way and decided to go explore. Skee would be perhaps the only thing down there that wasn't transparent, so seeing him wouldn't be too hard so long as he kept an eye over at the ... "crystal chapel", he called it. One large crystal building with a nice wide entrance was inviting him in, and so he obliged with hardly any hesitation. Taking a few glances back and convincing himself that Skee wasn't returning in the next few minutes, he made his way over and peered inside.
There were a few Oocon just floating there inside. Some in groups, having their inaudible conversations with each other, some alone almost like secretaries and guides throughout the complex web of caverns that hollowed out the crystal structure. They passed between each other so closely, almost as though they all knew each other. Since there weren't any differences between specific ones, it was impossible to tell the genders of them (or even if they had genders). In fact, they looked so identical that it was impossible to pick a specific one from the majority had his life depended on it. He simply prayed it wouldn't, and after gazing one last look at the chapel's entranceway, he entered the building.
He wasn't pulled around or marveled at as he was when they first entered the city. The Oocon continued to swim around him, almost like he was an obstacle. He doubted they had any eyes, but they still seemed to know he was there and didn't make contact. Curious, Alex took a closer look at some of the stationary Oocon, looking for some telltale symbol or mark of their duties within this particular structure. However, no such mark emerged, and the stationary Oocon ignored him. Either that, or they were staring at him and not afraid to show it. Again, he couldn't tell. Scanning the walls and structure itself for some sort of markings, by scratch-marks, holes, or even some partially invisible dye also turned up fruitless. He was disappointed, but nevertheless intrigued by their ability to know these things regardless.
Suddenly, he did feel a tug. A lone Oocon, slightly smaller then the rest (perhaps signifying it was more younger?), had wrapped one tentacle around his armpit, pulled itself closer and was almost using his metallic plates to relieve itself of a scratch on its side. It rubbed its strange rubbery skin around his cold metal exterior, making a smooth rubbing sound, and Alex lifted his arm slightly so as not to crush it. It still didn't make any sounds, but Alex did almost feel a slight vibration, almost as though it was purring. Perhaps this was how they greeted each other or showed affection and interest. Alex continued to walk around, and the Oocon youth let itself be pulled by its tentacle so as not to lose contact with Alex. It didn't seem to protest the movement, so Alex carried on without hesitation.
Alex peered through the hallways, which twisted and turned up in almost a spiral shape upwards through the structure. Clever. A single hallway ramp moving upwards, and several hollowed out rooms to symbolize ... hovels? Homes? Rooms? Maybe even offices. They had a community down here, no doubt, but one so elaborate as to have a market and government? Alex wondered if they even had currency, because he had not seen any Oocon carry anything around apart from Skee. Maybe they paid in blood or something for services and goods. Gross, but reasonably clever. Alex wondered what they ate, if anything, and automatically assumed them to be carnivores since they didn't have any plant life anywhere around them. If that was the case, though, how was the water so clean and clear?
Alex peered into one of these hovels. The crystal was directly formed around the inside to be somewhat uneven, bulging, and even tight. There was no furniture, no possessions, no traces of food, not even a little bit of decor. Just a few hewn symbols here and there. He could probably picture some of the shapes of the uneven crystal as a possible table or place to set objects on, and the tight areas could even be areas they slept in to prevent themselves from floating away as they rested. Alex had to remember that this was all underwater, so they would have to accommodate to their environment and be ready for and circumstance possible.
A bunch of Oocon suddenly flowed into the structure, shooting towards the hall. Not wanting to stray too far and get caught in this rush-hour mess, Alex decided to hurry back to the entrance of the chapel. His "passenger" followed, apparently enjoying being pulled around. Fortunately, there was still no sign of Skee nor Venos and Macan ready to discipline his carelessness. A little bit of good luck on his part. He started to hurry back.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of any Oocon now.
What was once a large cloud of the sea creatures above him minutes ago became a barren water, showing nothing but the murky waters above. Almost unnoticeably, the crystals around him began to dim, and even the "street lamps", as he called them, literally shut off. Was the city powered by Macan, and his leaving causing all this? And where were all the Oocon now? Probably inside all the crystals. That would explain the sudden flood of them. But what was going on? His carry-on Oocon even stopped rubbing (Alex was thankful for the massage, though wished it was not just the one place) and also looked somewhat concerned. It faced and twisted around in different directions, almost as though trying to sense something. It was also vibrating more intensely, as though frightened, but still would not let go of Alex to join the others in the ... safety of the crystals.
Then he heard it. From experiencing a few minutes of absolute silence, the low-pitched call of something large came as a complete shock. It made easy sense now. Something big was nearby, and judging by the Oocons' reaction to its presence, definitely carnivorous. No doubt despite Venos' warning they had either adapted traits to prevent poisoning or had a different way of feasting. Alex backed towards the entranceway, keeping an eye out for movement. He didn't know where this thing was, let alone what it was, so it had the element of surprise. With the crystal lights dimmed, the water had regained its dark murkiness, and he was almost walking blindly towards sanctuary. Slowly and carefully, with his unrestrained hand, he drew his spear out in front, ready to harpoon anything that came his way. A predator, no doubt. He didn't want to let it have at the Oocon without a fight.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, came this large gaping hole at an extreme speed from straight above! Well, the hole itself didn't seem all that threatening, but the four layers of spear-sharp teeth that accompanied it told Alex that being made of adamantite would make no difference as opposed to being made of rubber should he get caught in between. With it coming at such speeds, Alex's only option was to push off the ground with his spear to propel himself and his carry-on through the water and away from the threat, which collided with the hard rocky ground and quickly swam off in recovery. The creature was much too big to be a shark, but it had a similar, sleek, aerodynamic shape. Alex would've easily called it a variation of shark if it were not for its face being replaced by this gaping, toothy hole. Fins, webbed limbs, a large rudder-like tail, three long protruding tentacles, and a thick hide covered in spikes all mixed together. A shark-leech-squid hybrid? The stuff of nightmares, Alex mused. An underwater beast.
His chief capability, maneuverability, was significantly hindered by the water, so Alex was going to have to rely purely on strategy and timing for this battle. At least it was perhaps safe to say that this creature wasn't made out of stone, because it flinched mighty good when it struck the hard ground. He quickly gazed towards the entrance to the chapel, expecting Venos and Macan to shoot out to see what was happening. But they didn't come, and Alex instead reverted his gaze over towards the hybrid.
As expected, it came at him again, but at more of an angle so that it wouldn't collide with the ground. His comrade finally left his arm and sped off, and Alex pushed himself off the sea-floor, hoping to let the water displacement prevent being sucked in the hole. It half-worked - he was thrown upwards from the movement, but he also collided with the beast's comparatively tough, but sliceable hide, flipping him around several times. One of the creature's tentacles found its way at him, but Alex thought fast and impaled it right down the middle with his spear in mid-spin, resulting in the tentacle being split clean in half. It jerked in pain, throwing Alex offset, but he quickly recovered and brought his spear around for another go. This creature was much too tough and fast for him. He would definitely have to go get help!
But the beast looped around, striking the side of a crystal with its tail for assistance, and shot at Alex again. Vulnerable and unable to move momentarily, Alex thrust his spear lengthwise in front, wedging it into the creatures mouth in between its first set of teeth and impaling its gums.
Holding onto his spear, Alex was taken for a wild ride as the beast swung its head around while moving and bashed it into the nearby crystal structures in an attempt to dislodge it. Unable to last long by this method, Alex took advantage of the movements to get a good foothold on its long, sharp, cone-shaped teeth, waiting for the right moment. Once the beast struck another building, he used the jerky force to push himself right off, taking his spear out with him and away from the beast, which swam away in pain back into the murkiness. He had jabbed it in the gums and decapitated one of its tentacles.
Alex slowly sank towards the ground. A rubbing feel on his shoulder told him his Oocon friend rejoined him. He was now completely out of range of the chapel, as he couldn't see it anymore, but at least he fended the creature off.
"Smart creature." Alex said to the Oocon, not caring if it understood him, "At least he knows when to retreat."
His words were cut short, however, The beast, gums bleeding slightly, shot back at him yet again. Only this time, at higher speed and its mouth was open wider.
"Too smart!" Alex quickly said in surprise. Once his feet touched the ground, he jumped over at the nearby crystal structure and pulled himself and the Oocon up. The great fish veered upwards too fast and early, but the reason for this was to unleash its remaining two tentacles on its underbelly straight at him. His arms momentarily stiff from the hasty climb, Alex couldn't prevent both his legs being wrapped up and yanked upwards, flipping him upside down and up towards the murky waters. The fish tugged Alex towards its mouth, preparing to close its teeth on him, but the Oocon, still gripping his shoulder, was tugging back. A tug-of-war was on, and Alex used this bought time to regain control of his spear and drive it down across one of the beast's tentacles to sever it clean off.
In pain, or for some other reason, it flung Alex and the Oocon down off-set and away from it. They both plummeted back down to the crystal structures, but were nowhere in range to use any of them. Immediately after, the beast shot right back down at a distance and across at him horizontally, using this vulnerability to his advantage. Once again, its mouth was opened much too wide for his spear to save him again. It kept on switching strategies, getting smarter on how to fight them as the battle carried on! Indeed, this was a smart opponent!
Alex didn't have any contact with a wall or ground, and couldn't maneuver in time! This was it! He held his spear in front, willing to sacrifice it to catch onto the beast's teeth to save him again.
Or not? To his surprise, he was suddenly thrusted backwards and up, missing the beast by a full ten feet. It collided with another crystal, surprised at its prey's sudden ability to move through the water. Was this another unexpected magical aid by K?
No, it was the Oocon! It was now gripping him by both armpits and pulling him upwards. Strong little creature, Alex complimented wordlessly. Looking down, Alex noticed the beast had one of its teeth lodged in one of the crystal's window openings and was struggling to pull free. Alex used a hand gesture, pointing to the Oocon's tentacle wrapped around his spear arm while he flexed it. He wanted it to let go of the arm so he could combat against the beast. Instead of letting go, the Oocon lowered itself to Alex's neck-level, poised upright. This Oocon was offering itself to be Alex's maneuverability through the water. He just had to figure out how they could cooperate most effectively.
Taking advantage of their moment's peace, Alex ran his head gently around the Oocon, and came to an interesting discovery. While the upper, mushroom-shaped section and lower dual-fins shielding its underside was soft and fragile, its thinner, cylindrical mid-section was comparatively tougher. Alex looked at his gauntlet and immediately ruled out grabbing it right there, as he would do more scratching and twisting than it would do pulling. Instead, he wrapped his own arm around the ... "torso", he could call it, and held the Oocon like he would hold a gnomeball while charging straight in non-stop for a solo hero-goal. As a result, it unwrapped its tentacles off his shoulders to give him arm movements, and pulled him around without protest or problem. Perfect! He was now ready to combat the great sea menace in style!
Just in time, too. The beast dislodged itself with its one remaining tentacle and rocketed up at them. The Oocon pulled him forth and out of the way as the beast shot back into the murkiness, looping around for another go. Twisting his body properly, Alex directed the Oocon's pulling direction and the duo shot down towards the ground where Alex would have more of a tight-space advantage. He held his spear in front like a lance pointed towards the beast, which shot once again out of the darkness. This time, instead of diving straight for him, it zoomed downwards a distance away and came at him straight along the ground with its mouth closed - it wanted to instead try aiming a crushing move against Alex and the Oocon. Since its mouth was now closed, Alex could see its small, but obvious eyes directed straight towards them. It was not shooting blindly at them this time. This creature was smarter than he thought. No doubt it would have a back-up maneuver should it miss them.
Alex put the Oocon's strength to the test. He jerked it slightly to the side, and his jerking was returned with a sudden high-speed yank to the right. As expected, the beast turned along with them. With the ground and gravity as his leverage, he quickly braked, let go of the Oocon, spun it around with a quick arm movement, grabbed on again, and they both propelled in the opposite direction. As expected, the Beast couldn't maneuver as fast, and it once again missed. But Alex pulled the Oocon up and let go after he was confident enough that it would miss them by inches, and then reached out with his spear with both hands as it came. Its final tentacle came at him to clothesline him, but Alex was too quick. It took the blunt of his attack as it was chopped off right at the base, but Alex wasn't done yet. With every ounce of remaining strength he had, he thrust his spear forward more and made contact with the beast's side as they passed each other, slicing through tough hide, but not exposing any blood or internal damage. Merely a scratch, but it was progress nevertheless, since it no longer had any annoying tentacles. It shot upwards to make another attempt at him in a loop-de-loop, since at its speed, it couldn't spin back around instantly for a quick retaliation without losing control.
Also a clever creature, the Oocon immediately returned to Alex's waist-level horizontally and let him grab it again. The Oocon pulled him down to the crystal structures, attempting to find an area too thin for the beast to reach them now that it no longer had its tentacles to grab them with. It finished its lopp-de-loop and came at them yet again, this time at a frantic speed so as not to lose them. The Oocon pulled fast, but the beast, mouth open, was faster, and the closest thing to a tight area, three large structures grouped together in a triangle, was much too far ahead. They weren't going to make it!
Not unless Alex did something gutsy ...
Risking it all, Alex let go and charged his spear. Majiya-usage underwater was an ability of a far greater level than he could perform, so he would have to stick with his element. The Beast almost upon him, he fired the charge he had and blasted the giant fish in the gaping mouth with a lightning bolt. The surrounding waters came alive with thousands of volts of electricity. Praying the water didn't conduct the energy to his ally, he withheld the bolt into a stream, and attempted to momentarily paralyze the beast with a stream of lightning.
It half-worked. The beast stopped moving, paralyzed. Unfortunately, it was already moving at an extreme speed before the hit, and Alex had to grab onto one of the teeth to stop himself from getting sucked completely in. The twist-around as he was flipped around forced his leg into another tooth in a different set, and Alex felt it sting. But his troubles weren't yet over. The fish was going to crash right into a crystal structure, and if he wasn't going to be crushed upon impact against the crystal, his leg was going to be torn open. What's more, it was closing its mouth, and the surrounding teeth came right at him! Alex braced himself for whatever came next.
*SMASH*
His leg was indeed torn open down to the foot, but if it wasn't for his ally daringly shooting inside the mouth and using the wall and its tentacles to stop his movement, the damage could've brought him to incapacity. As the beast bounced off, still paralyzed, Alex consciously wrapped his arm around the Oocon and it pulled him into the small enclave between the three crystal buildings before it could close its teeth on them both. They were safely in between the crystals, in too small an area for the Beast to have at them, when it quickly and suddenly recovered. It let out a cry again, and started ramming the structures in desperate vengeance.
Alex checked the Oocon, making sure it wasn't too traumatized by his special attack, and found with surprise that it wasn't at all affected. Insulating skin, he thought thankfully as he ran his hand gently down it again. The Oocon squirmed in delight at the action, giving Alex the impression he was tickling it. However, it didn't escape unscathed either. A long cut was drawn down one of its fins, and a small bit of blood was leaking from it with each movement. A sudden *BAM* by the beast brought him back to reality.
Alex paused in thought. With his leg now out, he would have to solely rely on the Oocon to move him around. This beast was much too fast and tough for any direct attacks. How could he slow it down enough to get a real move against it? He couldn't just keep on zapping it, because it recovered too quickly and he didn't know for sure that the Oocon were immunized to lightning. The Oocon were smart - no doubt they had their own method for combatting such a beast on their own if their poison didn't work.
Poison. The sea. Of course! Alex laid out a series of hand gestures, attempting as much as possible to imitate a deep-sea karambwan octopus - one of the most poisonous and deadly sea creatures he knew. He used his fingers to impersonate eight tentacle-like arms while repeatedly flexing his other two to show a slowing heartbeat. For a moment, the Oocon simply stared at him, and the beast smashed at the structures harder and harder. But then, it finally seemed to understand something. It let go of him and prepared to move quickly since the beast would intercept it as soon as it left the cover. Alex would have to distract it. They both already knew how it was going to happen.
In a half-squat due to his incapacitated leg, Alex pointed his spear with both hands at the beast. Once it made another strike at the structures, he would blast it again and hold it for as long as possible while the Oocon retrieved the objective. Indeed it came, striking its hardest ever, and the crystals had suddenly begun to crack around him. Shocked, but not forgetting his task, Alex let loose a blast of lightning and struck the beast with a stream. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Oocon take off in the opposite direction at an extreme speed.
Energy and vision leaving him, Alex focused as much as he could on keeping the beast stunned enough for his ally to return. That, and he noticed several transparent red shapes darting back and forth from within the crystal. If the beast broke down those buildings, all those Oocon would be vulnerable! He just couldn't let that happen!
Minutes past, and he continued to shoot energy he never knew he had. He dropped to his knees, steadying his spear with one hand while using the other to keep him propped up on the ground. The beast was wailing again and trying to resist the retainment by slowly getting some distance from Alex. Unfortunately, that meant he would have to use a stronger attack for a greater distance, and the only way he was capable of keeping it stunned was to literally crawl out of the structure and maintain a close distance. He was putting every ounce of faith and trust in his ally now to return before he ran out of energy; something he had never done before with a new unknown species. His life was on that Oocon's tentacles.
Nearly a half-hour had passed, and Alex finally just couldn't hold it any longer. His symbol was pulsing incredibly quickly and he was on the brink of losing consciousness. He saw everything in blurs now, only able to identify the beast as a large dark green mass in a sea of cyan-colored sparks coming from his spear. Losing all strength, his spear dropped and he did too. He saw the green mass shake itself off quickly, trying to get its body back in control. Hand shaking, Alex could only do so much as grip his spear and hold it upwards to at least pose as an obstacle should the beast have at him in a few moment, which it no doubt would.
The green mss shook itself off, fully recovered from the stunning, and let out the low-pitched wail in triumph.
Then it came at him.
It kept on coming at him.
It continued to come at him.
Several crystalline structures suddenly shot in from around him and blocked its charge.
Adrenaline partially reviving him, Alex turned his head around to see his ally returned, one tentacle unwrapping around his good leg. The other one was holding a large green mass of its own, sprawled around like a window crack. Reverting his focus, Alex saw with relief that the Oocon had in fact delivered the requested item, and offered it to him. What's more, the poisonous octopus was even still alive - its deadliest state. There was absolutely no way this could possibly fail. Now to get the beast to swallow it ...
The structures only existing as they were, the beast arced itself over them and had at them again. Alex de-equipped his spear and grabbed the Oocon by the aforementioned style while holding the Karambwan with his other arm in a similar fashion, and they attempted to outrun the beast. As expected, it wasn't going to work, since the beast was just too fast and his ally was just too tired from shooting around for half an hour. Now was the time for anything. Tilting the Oocon upwards and urging it to slightly speed up, Alex got close enough to lightly plant his feet on the beat's front teeth, letting it push them with the Oocon still motoring, and without any second thoughts, pushed the Karambwan down through the forceful water and into the hole that was its mouth. The beast couldn't see all this happening, but it knew it swallowed something, and began to slow down and pull upwards.
He then summoned up some reserve strength and energy and, with his now free hand, drove his spear right into the beast's gums again. It flinched greatly and yanked itself upwards, while at the same time Alex pushed off, missed the lower set of teeth just barely, and the Oocon pulled him over to safety in the midst of another array of crystals.
His arm was shaking from fatigue, and he was afraid he was causing extreme discomfort to his ally. Once they were in safety, Alex let go and slowly dropped to the ground on all fours, unable to stand from incapability and fatigue combined. He de-equipped his spear and looked at the exhausted Oocon with a smiling nod. It did good. They both did. Closing his eyes, Alex began a recovery meditation and the Oocon relaxed for a well-needed rest.
*BAM!*
"You CAN'T be serious!" Alex shouted, not even needing to turn his head around. The beast was back and ramming the crystals with unrestrained force and its wailing! The karambwan did absolutely nothing to slow it down or cause it pain! His ally also spun around him in rage.
*BAM! BAM!*
Continuing to meditate, Alex thought. That was all he could do now. They were in much too fatigued a shape to continue fighting it as they were. Alex could no longer use his lightning, and definitely not his majiya, and he completely didn't trust that a spell-summon would work in a place like this, especially since he had none's power to call. HIs ally was in no shape or status to pull him to safety at the chapel ... wherever it was now, he no longer knew. It was beginning to grow transparent from a loss of blood, and its color had significantly faded.
*BAM! BAM!*
The crystals began to crack. Again, Alex saw the faint, transparent blotches of red signifying Oocon inside the crystals. Whatever he was going to do, he had to do it fast. But he had nothing he could do. He couldn't fight, he couldn't outrun, he couldn't stun, he couldn't poison ...
Potions! Of course! He could just use- wait, where were they? No! Alex recalled the moment upon first entering the air bubble of the chapel, setting his potion bag down to the side to relieve himself of the weight while he explore.
*BAM! BAM! BAM!*
Was there ... really nothing he could do? The structures continued to break; their cracks pulling all around the structure to overwhelm and completely obliterate. There had to be someone to help! Something! Anything!
Alex tensed. There was. Venos (and possibly Macan) was going to have at him if he made it out alive, but if he didn't do it, he wouldn't make it out alive. There really was no choice. He needed help. They all did. And if nobody was going to help him; Venos, Macan, Gia, Karl, Saradomin ... he would have to turn to the one who wanted to.
Tossing aside all potential punishments if Venos found out, Alex brought his staff and spear together and began to call to Saradomin.
To K.
*BAM!*
"Hello, Alex." said a voice. It was faint, but there.
"Hello, K." Alex greeted back. Something about his voice made Alex more relaxed and calm.
"In a bit of trouble, are we?" K asked, almost slyly.
*BAM!*
"Yeah, just a bit." Alex sarcastically said, "I don't suppose I'm still in your favor enough to get a little help?"
He heard almost a chuckle that told him that K was smiling, wherever he was.
"You always will be." K replied, "If I wasn't for you, I never would've been able to stop him."
A pause.
*BAM!*
"Unfortunately, I can't find you right now. How odd."
Alex opened his eyes slightly.
"What do you mean you can't "find" me?" Alex asked.
"There is too much ... interference. There is a different term, but mortals wouldn't understand it."
Alex pondered quickly. Interference? Probably the water ...
*BAM!* The cracks had finished spreading around the crystals. Every so often an Oocon would risk darting out of the structure into another one, but the beast took no heed to them.
Alex thought fast. If the water was preventing good contact, then perhaps if he had a more focused point of interest to break through this "interference" ...
"What if I was to create an anchor for you to divert power to?" Alex asked.
"I expected you to be too much in trouble for that if you had to contact me directly." K said, almost teasingly. Yeah, he knew Alex could sell-summon. What else did he know, though?
*BAM!*
Gah, there's no time to ask.
"I'll manage, I just didn't want to risk it fruitlessly." Alex retaliated. Finally, a god with a good sense of humor ...
*BAM!* Shards flew from the crystals, and the Oocon inside prepared to run. If anything was to happen, it would have to be now.
"Do it and I'll deliver." K said, "Don't even focus on a deity, just do it."
Alex didn't reply. K was already gone. By choice or his own fatigue, it really didn't matter. Alex noted quickly that K's tone of voice in that last sentence seemed a little bit hastened. Something to investigate later. Alex focused. If he could only get out an anchor, he could be saved. Either way, if it didn't work out as intended, he was dead regardless of whether or not he tried it.
Like regular spells, there are two types of spell summons. The attack version of the spell summon was the one he was more familiar and confident with since it was directed upon his target, and whatever it did to the target, at least it wasn't him that it would happen on. However, there is also a defensive version where he applies the anchor internally, in which he puts himself at the mercy of the Gods and whatever they feel like doing to him. It was much more risky, but it also took much less energy since it could be derived directly from his own without needing to directly expose and eject it. As he watched the beast smash at the crystals, crumbling them with every collision, Alex swallowed his pride, silently said his temporary farewells and thanks should things go wrong, and focused the anchor into existence. He called Saradomin's power, since he was the most used to that, but if Saradomin was missing, he knew K would intercept it regardless.
His symbol flashed from the burst of energy, and right after he created it, he was suddenly hit by a blast of light straight from above. His body was thrust upwards slightly; his feet slightly off the ground and floating there. He tingled and vibrated as though he was being electrocuted, but he felt no pain. He felt nothing but sudden, comfortable warmth and as though he was as light as a feather. It was the same sensation he experienced when he was falling during the battle of the Unknown. He slowly moved his arms in front of him to find they were once again glowing a bright white, which spread all the way through his body and even to his ally, who had attempted to grab and pull him back down, thinking he was going to float away. Both of them took in this unknown energy for a moment, enjoying the bliss that accompanied it.
The flash was sudden, and looking up momentarily, Alex saw the beast back away quickly in surprise. Most likely it remembered his lightning attack and wanted to keep its distance until it was gone. The crystal structures were on their last legs, and one more good collision would cause their guaranteed collapse. As suddenly as it started, the energy flow stopped, and Alex suddenly found himself back in control of his body, on his feet, and ready for action. His leg wasn't repaired, but he was strong enough now to use it somewhat. Likewise, his ally also zoomed around him in circles, ready to move him about, once again a rich red color and with its injury healed. The light still lingered on him, but it was beginning to dim.
Finally, Alex thought to himself, it was time to win a fight for once.
Alex drew his spear in front, almost unconsciously wrapping his arm around his glowing Oocon as though they had been doing that all their life. For a moment, Alex's gaze was suddenly reverted to the back of his spear-hand gauntlet, where an eerie yellow light emanated from the whiteness, but he immediately forced himself to focus on the objective. The beast, no longer frightened by the light, prepared for one more charge to finish the fight. Alex turned to the Oocon under his shoulder, nodded, and the both of them rocketed right at the beast in a full head-on charge.
Instinctively, it slowed down and opened its mouth to suck them in, but Alex shot a lightning bolt right down its throat instead. The Oocon yanked him upwards, meeting the top of its head as it closed its mouth and squirmed in pain, and he drove his spear through the top of its head in a slicing motion. Still no blood was exposed, but he was getting deeper now. The beast attempted to turn around, but the duo held their position behind it, spinning around with it while Alex hacked away with his spear, hoping to cause some sort of damage eventually. It tried jerking around in the other direction, but Alex simply flipped the Oocon around in his arm and they went in the other direction.
It suddenly flipped itself over by an arcing motion, and Alex grabbed right onto one of its tentacle stubs. He was blasted in the face by its blood for a moment, but he shook himself off and shoved his spear handle right inside, not using the tip so it wouldn't get stuck. From there, a transfer of electric energy told him the best was definitely not immune to it if he got it from the inside. It vibrated violently, and Alex made a hasty retreat with his spear in hand; the blood washed away in a heartbeat from the moving water.
Greatly annoyed at this attack, the underwater menace shot upwards away from them, and was followed by a series of lightning bolts Alex shot after it. He was rather impressed with K. Saradomin never gave him confidence or capability like this when His power was summoned. Knowing this creature, it was definitely not yet beaten, and was now going to come at him at a speed greater than ever. Confident now that the Oocon were immune to underwater lightning, Alex charged his spear to the maximum, applying almost every bit of power that K granted him. It glowed a bright cyan color, energizing the waters around it.
Alex predicted that it was now throw away all strategy and just come at him once again to tire him out like before. It would come from straight above. Alex had the Oocon lower him to the ground, where he crouched, ready to spring up. A simple lightning bolt wasn't going to be enough for him. Understanding what Alex was about to do, the Oocon left him and swam a safe distance. It was barely holding its glow now, but that was expected. At least its color was back now and its wound healed.
The great underwater beast plummeting down at him, at a speed much greater than anticipated. Its toothy mouth opened extra-wide and ready to close into and impale Alex into 5 pieces. Alex waited for the right moment, crouched with his spear in the best position possible to be thrust upwards.
Time seemed to almost stop.
Almost there ... almost ...
... almost ...
NOW!
Alex sprung up and the beast snapped its mouth closed, colliding with the ground and smashing it into a large crater. For a second, it seemed like the beast had won, but all of the sudden, its tail straightened, inflated, and startingly exploded in a fury of bright sparks, lightning, and burnt fish bits. Straight up out from the mess of blood and roasted parts shot Alex, his spear completely discharged, and himself as well. He majestically sailed upon his triumph, almost like something divine and holy passing judgement upon the incarnation of evil.
His ally quickly zoomed up and pulled him a safe distance to observe his handiwork atop one of the crystals. Despite being underwater, Alex let out a sigh of relief. Finally, FINALLY, he beat something and got the final hit. This had been a horrible week for him until now.
Taking advantage of the moment, Alex looked at his gauntlet. Without his surrounding armor glowing white, the yellow light came out clearly. It took the shape of a symbol: a kite shield, with horizontal and diagonal lines strewn around the middle in the shape of a triangulated dolmen. Below, resting within the triangle and the bottom of the shield, was a circle tall enough to touch both middle lines and bottom, but not thick enough for either sides of the shield. It glowed simultaneously with his own diamond star, which was slowly pulsing from the energy discharge. He showed it to his ally under his arm, and was somewhat surprised to see it was bearing the same symbol on its "cap".
This must be K's symbol, Alex thought. For some reason, it felt so familiar. He knew that some time in the past, he must have known K, but to this extent?
Then, suddenly, came movement. The great underwater beast pulled itself out of the crater and slowly shook itself off, recovering from the blow. Its tail was blown to bits, and the Karambwan poisoning was finally taking effect, but it still didn't appear beaten. After all that, it STILL wasn't giving up?!? It faced Alex and, exposing all four layers of teeth, let out its trademark low-pitched wail. If it was going down, it wanted to at least take Alex down with it. It prepared to make one last desperate charge at him, exploded tail or not, and Alex weakly, but steadily readied his spear while his ally began to move. This was the final joust.
That is, it was, until it was suddenly blasted by an array of grey lightning from a source behind it. Alex smiled, and the Oocon bounced in glee. About time, he thought with relief. At an intense speed, Venos shot from out of the murkiness and rammed the stunned shaking beast to the side, right into a crystal structure, with the grey lightning following it and revealing its source. Blood was forced out of it, creating almost what looked like a dark red explosion. Macan, now clearly visible due to his own glowing onyx symbol and eyes, stopped zapping it and let out its own low-pitched wail, almost as through to communicate with the beast. It struggled against Venos, who had it pinned down with her yellow wings on the structure, while Macan bombarded it with, Alex guessed, a few "choice words". After a moment of "conversing" with the enemy, Alex watched as Venos released the beast and, struggling to keep itself moving straight (let alone staying alive), it darted back into the murkiness and out of sight and mind. It did not return this time.
Momentarily, the three of them just floated there, satisfied by this victory. The Oocon holes up inside the crystal structures came out moments after, and the place was once again populated. Strange, though, how they were just ignoring their heroes and speeding around with their daily lives without paying them heed. It was as though the battle never happened.
Macan gazed in Alex's direction for a second and the Oocon pulled him over. All three of them sank downwards to the ground in a meeting. He released the Oocon, who just didn't seem to want to leave his side. Alex smiled and nodded at them in appreciation and triumph, but the unchanging look on Venos' face said it all. He was in deep trouble.
Then, without a word, Venos had at him. Alex expected it, and took it like a man.
"You called HIM, didn't you?" she roared, with Alex pinned down on the sea floor under its claws, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THAT?!?"
Venos definitely knew. Who couldn't know? The symbol was still glowing on his gauntlet, shining its bright pale yellow light over her right leg as it held him down. No point in lying now.
"Yes, I did!" Alex retorted, "I had no other choice. It was either call him or get eaten and endanger the Oocon race. Where the heck WERE you guys?"
Macan bowed his head slightly.
"Serenity of oxygen-infused crystal structures come at divine consequence." Macan said, "All sound waves diminished. Oocon also cannot converse without their element, resulting in our being blind and deaf to such events."
He then gazed over Alex in a disciplinary fashion. Still emotionless, but instead using the angle of his head to reflect personality.
"Crystals in return provide security, however." Macan continued, "Unprovoked, the Gobonat ignores them and proceeds without a notion for the revelation and consumption of the locals in which it cannot detect. Following their example would have prevented conflict. It was recommended you stayed in the entrance like you were asked to."
He shook his head, at a loss.
"Former situation now; too belated to resolve. Structure damage considerable. Traumatizations imminent."
With that, they both turned away, disappointed in their comrade. Alex just lay there, stunned. Despite Venos being off of him, he felt like the whole weight of the crystal city was bearing down on him, crushing him into a thin metal plate.
After all that, the battle was completely unnecessary, and he did more damage than good from fighting it. His disobeyed Macan, betrayed Venos, sliced his leg open, exposed himself to an unknown power, never really got the final hit, and got several of the Oocon's homes smashed. Not to mention he must have scarred a number of them who were holed up in the ones the beast ... or "Gobonat" smashed up.
"I will never ... ever be able to appease you guys, am I?" Alex asked hopelessly, not really trying to get their attention. He was torn, battered, beaten, and now hated. He should never have let Venos take him with her. He belonged on the warfront. With the Order of the White Star. With Gia ... with the guys that liked him, what he did, and why.
Macan's attention was then diverted to the only one left down there that appeared to still like him. His ally Oocon was zipping back and forth around them aggressively, apparently telling off its mind. Several times Venos even flinched because it came so close to her face. After a while, Venos looked at Alex again with that look in her eyes again. Alex thought she wanted to jump him again now that he almost seemingly created a rebel in his ally, but there was restraint in her eyes. Macan then turned to Alex, almost trying to restrain himself from showing emotion as well.
"This little one ..." Macan said, realizing that Alex couldn't understand their speech, "Acknowledges that what is done is done, and that we should turn to the positive side of this event. That the Gobonat had been defeated, and would most likely decide not to return for retribution. Also ..."
Macan paused, but doesn't change emotion.
"For my duration, I would always fend off predators for them should they cross my path. However, this one had never encountered the Gobonat before like you both had. It fought it with you rather than observe within sanctuary. The battle instilled confidence in it. A type of confidence I had never seen this species develop the whole duration I resided here. Even enough confidence ... "
Macan's eyes narrowed slightly at the Oocon.
"... to tell me off."
Venos almost looked like she barked at the Oocon. It flinched slightly at the expression, but regained its confidence immediately and stood by its beliefs. In fact, what happened there was something that none of them at all expected. Even the emotionless Macan's eyes opened wide in surprise as a result of the event. The Oocon darted right at Venos, spun around her horizontally once at an accelerating speed, and suddenly, without warning, made high-velocity contact, capfirst, against the side of her rocky face. Despite its being made of such a soft fragile material, it was enough to cause her to flinch and drop her jaw open. Alex stared in awe. It did NOT just- ... no, it did.
The Oocon had just slapped Venos across the face.
Satisfied with its action, it darted over to and hovered inches over Alex as though to protect him from Venos. Alex expected some sort of punishment to be inflicted on the both of them, and despite him being ready to receive it, the Oocon wanted to protect Alex from it. It would slap Venos again if she came close. Oh, yes it would.
But Venos and Macan weren't paying attention to either of them now.
Their gaze was averted upwards. Looking up as he lay, the next thing Alex saw was a grand, magnificent sight. Every Oocon he had ever seen in this crystal city and more were just floating there, all around them in a large dome-shaped crowd. Their masses were so thick that they were concealing them from the view of the surrounding waters and crystals, which in turn had returned to their former glow and in turn, caused the Oocon themselves to seemingly glow as well. Their tentacles were joined together in a fence-like fashion; their caps facing in Macan's direction. So many of them, looking at them like this, and the emotion sprawled upon Venos' face (Macan still remained emotionless) told it all. If they were human, they would indeed by applauding Alex's effort for the reasons Macan had already stated. So what if a few crystals got bashed and some Oocons met danger close-hand. They had just witnessed one of their own kind do battle with perhaps their most feared of all the underwater creatures.
Alex felt it. Passion. Finally, after all that, he received some good commendation for his actions. It made him feel better than any amount of melted adamantite could. His ally offered him one of its tentacles, and he gripped it, allowing it to pull him back upright. He momentarily stumbled on his bad leg, but pulled himself up quickly.
Never had victory felt so wonderful.
"I appear to have misjudged my hypothesis of the public opinion." Macan said, admitting defeat as he gazed around emotionlessly, "Potentially the satisfaction of proclaimed victory inspires to an extent greater than ordinary motivation. Assertiveness, not tribulation."
Venos was still angry, but had to admit that despite the damage, Alex had done some good here.
"I will go back to the chapel with Macan." Venos said to Alex, "I advise you spend a little time out here so I can cool down. Nevertheless, don't take too long. No doubt your friend is on his way back."
That's right! Skee was still due for recovery! Alex ran off in the direction opposite to the two retreating dragons. The Oocon had all parted and returned to their schedules, and Alex ran (or rather, skipped on his good leg) nearly half a kilometer before realizing that ... who was he kidding? He had no idea where to go! Since the fight started, he had been lost in this city of countless crystals, thrown around, pulled about, yanked, tossed, rammed, and ultimately cast into. It was impossible to get any more lost now than he was.
At the same time, though, he really didn't want to follow Venos and Macan back, because that would simply be revealing a need for them. While he felt that he did, he just didn't want to show it. Pride is a painful, but well-worthwhile thing. Soon, though, he will show himself to be as worthy as they are, and earn their respect once more.
He then noticed his ally was followed him, apparently reluctant in exercising its own freedoms. It seems he had made a new friend down here. Or a pet, he didn't know what to call it. Taking advantage, Alex wordlessly attempted to hand-signal it to return to where it found him. Unfortunately, he couldn't understand these hand gestures. After watching himself do it for a moment, neither could he. He laughed at himself for trying it.
Never mind, he'll find his own way. The walk though the city would give Venos time to cool off.
"Thanks for your help." Alex said to the Oocon. It didn't move.
"Really, thanks. You've been a great help." Alex said, nodding. It still didn't move.
"You can go now if you want. I don't need your help anymore. I'm fine now."
It still didn't move. Alex took a few steps away from it, and it followed. He tried running for a moment, but it had no trouble catching up. He tried hand gestures, pointing at it, then the crystals, then waving. It still didn't leave his side. It was like having a three year old child follow him around. One that looked like a fat crossbow bolt ...
"You can leave now! Go on! Your family must be worried about you!" Alex tried. Didn't work.
Finally, he decided to just give up. It can follow him all it wants, he didn't really care anymore. Shrugging, he started walking when his foot caught the ripped metal protruding from his slashed leg. He tumbled down in a trip, but was quickly grabbed by the hand with the Oocon's tentacle in mid-trip.
"Careful!"
"Ah, thanks." Alex said, unlatching his foot. How humiliating.
Then ...
"Who said that?!?" Alex blurted out, looking around.
"Who said THAT?!?"
He let go of his ally and spun around, trying to get a visual. He knew for a fact he didn't just hear things. A voice, one he had never heard before, had just emanated from an unknown source around him, and he was determined to find it. His ally also searched around, apparently hearing something too. At least that confirmed he didn't imagine it.
"Show yourself!" Alex called, reaching around for his spear. A feeling of satisfaction crossed him momentarily - after all that, against Macan and the beat, his spear wasn't even damaged a bit. Yay. Drawing it, he scanned around the murkiness, searching for something. A movement, a representation, something out of place. But there was nothing but his ally, the crystals, and the swarm of Oocon above him.
Wait a minute ... could it be?
Alex reverted his gaze to the Oocon, who was doing the same thing. At least, he assumed their pointing their caps at a slight diagonal angle towards something meant gazing at it.
"Did you just ..." Alex asked. It continued to gaze at him, unperplexed. They held a staring contest for a while, in which neither of them heard anything from each other. He heard a voice, and this Oocon was the only thing around. Alex called out to it, but it didn't respond, saying things like "Don't try to trick me ..." and "I know it was you ...". If he didn't know any better, he could say the Oocon was probably trying to say the exact same thing. But neither of them heard each other.
Alex suddenly had a thought. He de-equipped his spear and slowly held out his spear-hand towards the Oocon, which repeated the notion with a tentacle.
They made contact. Its wrapped around his.
"... my name is Alex 43." Alex said, unable to think of anything else to say.
"... hello, Alex 43. My name is Koyl. Nice to meet you." said the voice. Young, fluid, and too high-pitched to tell what gender it was.
Wow! As the voice spoke, the Oocon moved about slightly in partial conjunction to it. This WAS the Oocon talking to him! But how? Macan could converse with them without touching them or making a sound, and yet he spoke and heard words as they were. It wasn't the Oocon's voice speaking out, but it seemed to resonate from it. Almost as though it was surfacing as a memory at that one moment.
"Nice to meet you too." Alex replied, stepping closer so they could both relax their arms.
"You ... cannot hear us, and we cannot hear you." Koyl said, "But now, I can!"
"I ... don't understand it either." Alex said, puzzled, "All of the sudden I can speak Oocon when I touch you."
"... is that what the Great One calls us? 'Oocon'? How silly!"
Alex chuckled to himself. Now that he thought of it, it really was a rather silly name. Since Macan was the only one able there, and to speak his language, it was a name he gave to them.
"Thanks for sticking up for me back there." Alex said, thankful he could finally at least give his thanks.
"I should not have had to." it replied, "You are a hero to us all. You helped to defeat a nightmare far greater than yourself and us. If we could do what the Great One could, than we would no longer have to rely on his protection."
A thought crossed Alex's mind. Seriously?
"You ... don't like Macan- the Great One?" he asked.
The Oocon moved closer until cap and visor were almost touching, almost as though it wanted to lower its voice.
"Do not tell him. He does not think it." Koyl said, "He is too ... selfish and static, if those words work for you like they do with us."
Strangely enough, they did. Even being able to understand them, Alex expected them to almost have a whole different format of words as part of their long-term, self-developed form of communication. It was strange that not only did it use proper words now, but they had the same relevant meaning. Perhaps they weren't directly communicating to each other by actual words, but transmitting relative thoughts to each other. Either way, something was translating them.
"You are not liked by them, it seems." Koyl continued, "Yet you seem very similar to them. Why is that?"
Alex sighed. Where to begin? He wanted to summarize everything he knew for this Oocon, but more for himself, just to get his thoughts straight now.
"I am the same as them." he said after a moment's pause, "The three of us are a team. Brothers, even. But a while ago, I had lost all memory of our alliance and everything beforehand."
They began walking, hand in tentacle. It almost seemed like a date, but no onlooker would think they were in love or anything.
"From what I've been able to piece together, there was a conflict of some kind. I messed something up, and because of it, my memory was wiped. Almost a century later, we were bombarded by a creature who calls himself the God of the Universe or something like that."
Strange. He wanted to say "unknown", but "universe" came out. Was this the translator working its magic? Or just a mispronunciation on his part?
"Apparently, during this conflict," Alex continued, "It was supposed to have received a payment of some kind. Because of my mistake, it never got it, and the world was getting torn apart as a result. After meeting Venos entirely by coincidence, he- sorry, she, myself, and a friend of mine fought against the God, and momentarily defeated it."
Koyl was very interested.
"You defeated a God?"
"It seemed like it, but I knew it really wasn't trying." Alex said, sheepishly, "Anyways, the fight had bought us some time to pull together another payment, so Venos took me down here to reunite with our third comrade. With Macan, the three of us are going to find our lord Sartranomin ... or Saradomin, as I call him, and arrange another payment to appease the Unknown and save the world. Then, after ..."
Alex spoke with desire.
"I will finally learn about my past. What I had done, and what I was like before losing my memory."
Koyl floated closer passionately, making contact with the side of his head.
"I imagine that you must have been a hero back then too." it said, too passionately for comfort.
"Forgive me if this is personal," Alex unconsciously said, not wanting to start a real relationship, "But what gender are you?"
"... gender?" Koyl asked, pausing once again.
"You know ..." Alex tried to be non-explicit, "Who bears the young? Who hunts for food?"
Koyl just floated there, and Alex found he was almost pulling it now.
"... you directly multiply?" Alex asked.
"Yes." Koyl said.
"Ah, then you're an asexual species. You reproduce without ... influence from another?" Alex concluded.
He heard a sound in his head from Koyl that he could only assume was the result of it's believing that he had said something completely stupid. It was just passion and respect that made it like him, not desire. He almost wanted to hit his head on something.
"Forget it. I was just curious. I wanted to learn more about your race. That's how I am." Alex said apologetically.
"I understand." Koyl said reassuringly, "And I would like to learn more about yours too. More about the Great One."
Alex relaxed. Koyl was massaging him again.
"I am a ... zoologist." Koyl explained. Once again, the word didn't correspond with its motion, and Alex once again assumed there was some sort of translator in effect.
"Unfortunately, I think I get too caught up in my work. I forget about the thoughts of a being, their freedoms, their rights, and in some cases ..."
The Oocon slightly jerked upwards, towards the murkiness, now partially hidden once again by the Oocon swarm.
"My own health."
That would explain its unexpected interest the first time they met. When the Oocon inside the building and around the city paid him no need, this one just couldn't keep off of him. It even helped to explain why it didn't retreat with the others while Alex moved towards the entrance to the chapel. In fact, it should've warned him, and pulled him away to safety before they were engaged in combat. No matter. As Macan said, it was a past event now.
Speaking of ...
"I can't believe you just decked Venos in the face." Alex said.
"I had thought it would be softer than crystal." Koyl said, vibrating a bit, "But it wasn't. But I do not care."
Hearing something, it twisted around.
"Ah, your friend approaches." Koyl perked up, intrigued.
Alex looked with fascination. The sight alone pulled a huge weight off his chest. There was a group of Oocon escorting Skee over towards him, and Skee was moving independent of them. He wasn't used to moving underwater, and he was too buoyant to stay underwater, so his escort had to keep him pulled down. The oxygen vial was gone, no doubt spent, but Skee was able to switch his breathing method in time to prevent drowning. The Oocon blood treatment apparently worked. He was still bandaged; if anything, more tightly and securely, and there were even traces of certain types of adhesive or medical plant life tucked in. Alex and Koyl dashed over.
"Zzzzbloogaa bloogg ..." Skee tried to say, but was muffled by the water. A thin series of bubbles came out of his partially marked proboscis.
"I'm glad to see you're OK, too." Alex said, literally hugging the scabarite. Carefully, of course. Koyl let go of Alex and conversed with the Oocon escort momentarily while Alex quickly examined their handiwork.
"Alex, I would like you to try something." Koyl said, rejoining him, "See if you can converse with them the same way you can converse with me."
"Might as well." Alex said. He let go of Koyl again and had another Oocon replace it. Its tentacle squeezed around his hand, almost down to the wrist. All eyes (or senses) were on them.
"My name is Alex 43." Alex said, as though talking to Koyl.
There was a long pause. The Oocon said or did nothing. It didn't even react to his voice and gestures.
"... say something. Think something. Do something!" Alex called in desperation. He didn't want another mystery on his hands.
Alas, the Oocon didn't respond, and instead let go in disappointment. Alex immediately thrust his hand to Koyl, and they joined.
"You can still hear me, right?" Alex asked.
"Perfectly." Koyl said, in wonder.
They conversed with each other again. Still in contact with each other, Alex heard Koyl say something about "Odd circumstances", "Unexplainable phenomenon,", and "Don't be jealous.". Maybe Macan did teach them a few things.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I want to chat with Skee, but we can't do that unless we're either over the surface of the water, or inside Mac- the Great One's place."
"But what about the one that hates you? "Venos", you called it?" Koyl warned.
"We'll ... stay on the other side of the room." Alex said, shrugging. He really wanted to explain things to Skee, as he had gone unconscious from inside a cavern and woke up under the ocean. Also, now that he was conscious again, they had to decide on some way to get him back home.
"Let us go, then." Koyl said, more to the others than Alex, "To the Temple of Living Crystals!"
They all moved up into the swarm and though the great mess. No wonder they liked it up there, Alex thought, there were high-speed currents pulling them everywhere! Alex witnessed moving underwater at speeds he had never gone before, even during the battle or on Gia. Or, maybe it was just all the many thousands of Oocon shooting past him, moving the other way. Either way, it was sensational, and before he knew it, he was at the entrance to the temple and moving right up the shaft.
Whatever came next, thought Alex, at least it was a step forward. A step in the right direction. He casually glanced at his gauntlet, but the symbol had vanished. However, he could still easily picture it there perfectly in his mind.
Now, if only he could remember where he had seen it before ...
Summary of what just happened (oh thank goodness?):
- Alex befriends one of the Oocon, who appears to like massaging him.
- Alex took on a great, underwater predator.
- Alex discovers the Oocon's impressive strength and ability to transport objects, including himself.
- An intense battle commences, but Alex gets crippled and loses all his energy. Their only choice is to hide, but that puts the Oocon race in danger.
- Alex, in desperation, calls K again for help, fully aware that Venos would have at him if she found out Alex betrayed her wishes.
- K grants Alex and the Oocon power, but also puts an unknown mark on his gauntlet.
- Using this power, Alex brings the beast down to its last legs, where it is finished off by the late arrival of Venos and Macan.
- Venos, spotting the symbol on Alex's gauntlet, has at him, and Macan disciplines Alex for provoking an unnecessary conflict and traumatizing the Oocon race.
- However, the Oocon race instead celebrate Alex as a hero, instilling courage and confidence against such creatures.
- Venos, who now hates Alex's guts, returns to the chapel with Macan. Alex runs off to search for Skee, but becomes lost.
- Alex suddenly discovers his Oocon ally, named "Koyl", and himself can communicate by touch - an ability only the both of them have, but not with any other Oocon.
- Alex reunites with the now restored and conscious Skee, and the lot of them return to the underwater chapel to reunite with Venos and Macan and decide what to do next.
_________________
|
|
