 |
|
A.J. rolled his eyes and pointed to him. “Yes?”
“Ah, how exactly did you guys, um, fail? And what’s a ‘hissy fit’?” the blonde asked.
A.J. sighed, “When 3/5 of your group is dead, then you fail. There’s a prophecy, the Drag Queen will be able to explain it better, but I’ll do my best. There is a constant battle in Kinsod. The Fifteen Point Three verses Lord Triccan and his minions. If five well loved figures from Earth come to Kinsod and find the Forbidden Gems, they have the power to deliver them to either the Fifteen Point Three or Lord Triccan. Each of the Fifteen Point Three has a chance to pick these figures, and if whoever’s fighters wins, than that leader will have the power to run all of Kinsod, and there will no longer be a Fifteen Point Three.
“Abbruch, the one who picked us, became extremely angry when we failed. You have to understand something, if a leader’s five fails, than the leader will be punished, and the five, or what’s left of them, must stay here, forever.”
“How is a leader punished? And you’ll have to say here forever, no matter what?” Mandee interrupted, pushing past her husband to face A.J.
“I was getting to that,” J. said impatiently, “The leader is basically put through hell. He or she is tortured for eternity. So you see, picking a five is an extremely complicated business. As for the failures, they stay forever, or until another five comes in and gives the Gems to the Fifteen Point Three. When this happens, all the leaders will be released, and all the failed fives will return to their time period. No one will know they where ever gone, a thousand years of entrapment will only equal fifteen minutes Earth time.”
McLean scanned the faces once more. The look of shock on the group’s face had not disappeared. If anything, it had gotten worse. The old man smiled, no wonder Amelia had yelled at them, at least they had gotten themselves together before Violenza had done it for them.
“What exactly are you smiling at? What could possibly be good about all this?” Claudia snapped, annoyed at the old guide. “And are we going to enter that goddamned door, or what?”
“Patience, my lady, patience. You’ll need it once we enter, of that I can assure you.” A.J. replied calmly. “The reason we have yet to pass through the opening is, one, y’all are tired. Today’s been a very exhausting day. I don’t wanna rush you, once we enter, it’ll be even more of a shocker. Now it would be really, really annoying if one of you passed out or something on me. I’m taking too much time as it is, we’ve got to meet Dargonna by sun set tomorrow. Once we’re there, Drag Queen will talk to you about the Challenges, and what not. After you understand you’re purpose, you’ll start your journey.
“But it’s a long way to Dargonna’s pasture, so we’ll have to really push tomorrow. Normally, we’d start today, but there’s no way in hell I’m taking ten inexperienced fools across a dangerous plain in the dark. No thank you. So we’ll rest here tonight, and start out at day break.” he finished, turning to look for a decent place to sleep when Jarred interrupted his work.
“Wait a minute, back up. Challenges? What Challenges?” he questioned, stepping in front of the guide.
A.J. looked down at the younger and shorter man for a minute before snickering, “What? You thought you’d just walk in and take the Gems? Are you serious? How the hell do you think the other fives where defeated, three of ‘em just went crazy and jumped off a cliff? Seriously, now, wonder what crack Sogno was smoking when he picked you ten. You’re hopeless. Get some sleep children, and be ready for a real shocker tomorrow night.” McLean concluded, still laughing at the stupid question as he turned once again to find a place to sleep. “Night, babies.”
* * * * *
Sleep was few and far between at camp that night. There were too many questions, and far too few answers. A.J. refused all further questions, retreating to a spot near the cliff side, sleeping like a baby. Oddly enough, the only other member of this small party who slept more than fifteen brief minutes of what could hardly be called sleep would be Bret. Even more queer, Jarred, the calm one, didn’t even attempt rest, preferring instead to pace uneasily at the edge of camp, sending the trap door glances with a certain amount of unease every few minutes.
Claudia watched her husband’s actions with a disapproving frown. “Come on, baby. Get some sleep, you’re starting to make me nervous.” She rose slightly, eyeing the rest of the pitiful and swiftly made camp, her frown deepening into a scowl, “You know what, forget about me, you’re going to wake the whole damn camp.”
This made Jarred pause to turn towards the annoyed woman. “And what makes you think any of them are sleeping? They heard what Mr. Cripple--”
“Jarred!” Claudia snapped, offended at the rough suggestion toward their guide.
“Sorry, hon.” he replied swiftly, Jarred knew better than to anger her, he’d seen her wrath too many times for comfort. It had always puzzled the others why their easy-going friend had married such a fireball. I guess not all mysteries are meant to be solved, he thought silently, turning back to the Asian spitfire that was his spouse. “Just been a long day. And still no food. Wonder if that A.J. character thought about food, probably not. Doesn’t look like the guy even eats. Doesn’t matter, though, I guess. How can I sleep? Do you see the way I’ve been thinking? My head won’t shut up. I’ll go crazy before we even meet Dargonna at this rate.” Jarred finished with a flourish, throwing his hands up and collapsing besides Claudia. He leaned back against her, exhausted by his speech and the war raging in his head. “Oh, baby. What did we do to deserve this? Were we too proud? Did we forget about why we started singing in the first place? Is this some sort of punishment? Or is this all just a dream? Did I hid my head too hard or something? I’m so confused, and so, so tired.”
Claudia stroked her husband’s long curly locks, “You didn’t do anything wrong, and if you didn’t do anything wrong, this certainly can’t be punishment. And,” she turned his head so that she could look into the Latino’s eyes for the last part, “this sure as hell ain’t a dream. You’re awake and here. This is really happening.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Jarred relented with a tired sigh, relaxing completely against her.
Claudia smiled and wrapped her arms around her man, “You know I’m right. Now get some sleep ya big lug, we’ve got a long way to go tomorrow.”
Jarred nodded sleepily, giving way to his exhausted muscles. So that’s why I married her, he thought as sleep finally overcame him.
* * * * *
Although that wasn’t the only argument that night, it was one of the few that ended so quickly and peacefully. Kristen and Amanda and Sean and Zach sat talking quietly at opposite ends of the camp, neither couples willing to give in and apologize to their spouse. Miraculously, Mandee and Jordan had managed to avoid a fight, but both later confessed that they were just too tired and shocked to pick a fight with the other.
As for our last duo, Bret had once again begun the silent treatment. These on-again, off-again moods were killing LeighAnne. She watched uneasily as her husband slept just a few feet away, though he seemed closer to Jordan than to her. It was something that annoyed the blonde to no end, he could talk to the group, but he barely said two words to her. It was unbelievably frustrating.
“Hey. Hey Frick.” Jordan called out softly to his friend. His only response was a slight groan and Bret rolling away from him. Jordan just smiled in amusement, he loved a challenge.
“Come on, Frick. You awake?” Jordan called out again. When he got no response, Jordan deftly scooped up a handful of pebbles nearby and flung them in Bret’s general direction.
“Hey! Some people are trying to sleep over here.” Mandee hissed angrily.
“Sorry, baby.” Jordan whispered sheepishly, turning back to Bret. “Bret! Wake up!”
“What, what, what? What do you want, you pain in the ass? You bubble-butted sorry excuse for a best friend? What do you want?” Bret growled in mock anger, turning to face his persistent friend.
Jordan just grinned in response, it had been great fun waking the older man. And Jordan knew he didn’t mean that, Bret just wasn’t one to be thrilled about being woken up at all hours of the night.
“B? What time is it?” Kaos asked innocently. Bret send him a look of daggers.
“What time is it? What kind of bloody hell stupid question is that? You woke me up at,” he glanced at the watch that still clung stubbornly to his wrist, “two-thirty in the morning to ask me the bloody time? Jesus Christ, Evans, what the hell is wrong with you?”
The younger man’s grin just widened at Bret’s words. “Dunno, the doctors are still trying to find that one out.” Bret just rolled his eyes. “But, there’s a but!” Another roll of the eyes. “But, I didn’t just wake you to ask you the time, though I was mildly interested.”
Jordan was quite happy that looks could indeed not kill one, for he would’ve been a dead man long ago. “Pray tell, enlighten me with your question, or whatever else you wanted.” Bret replied, emphasizing his point with his arm.
Another cheesy grin. “Why, thank you Senor, I do have a question.” Jordan cleared his throat at this point, wondering how long it would be before Bret just got up and murdered him where he lay. “What if we don’t want to do this?”
Bret’s head snapped around to look the younger man straight in the eyes. “What?”
“What if we don’t want to do this? What if we refuse? What can they do to us? Do we have a choice in the matter? What happens if we just say no?” Once the questions started, Jordan just couldn’t seem to stop. “And why did the girls come? There’s ten of us, why did they bring five extra? And which five will be going? The guys, or the ladies? A mix of the two? Will we get to choose who goes and who doesn’t?”
“I don’t know.” Bret admitted softly. “I guess all we can do is ask Dargonna when we arrive, what with A.J. refusing to answer any more questions. Until then, get some sleep Kaos, we’ve got a long trip tomorrow.”
Jordan sighed and laid back, “Yeah, guess you’re right. ‘Night Rok.”