A Thief in the Night!

AFTER Ryan was done organizing Christie's stuff, she was her sound asleep on his bed. Ryan felt a kind of wired and couldn't sleep, he checked the time, it was 02:37am, so he decided he had nothing better to do, so he went outside.

After dark, most people go to their rooms, but there still were a few people left hanging around. Ryan walked towards the Main Hall, that part of the camp was abandoned at this time of night, but on his way to the great library, he saw the doors to the archive open.

He looked through the crack in the door and saw three girls, all wearing black skin tight cat suits, looking through the items, [hi, quick filler; the archive was basically where they stored many important items, recovered or confiscated by the Argus from across the zone.]

One of the girls stopped searching and pulled out something, it was compact and black, when she brought it into the light, Ryan realized that it was a skull… an actual human skull. She then stuffed it in her bag.

"I don't think that belongs to you." Ryan said as he walked in.

The girls all wore masks that covered their faces, the one with the skull pulled out something that looked like a gun, but it wasn't like any of the gun Ryan had seen, magik or otherwise. At the end of the barrel, instead of a hole, there was a gem, like what he would find on a wand. She pulled the trigger and green bolts shot out of it, Ryan dodged, pulling out his wand and pointing it at her, then her gun blew up and she held her hand and yelped in pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Ryan said, then from his side, one of the other girls gave him a knee in the gut, as he stumbled back he triggered the alarm by the wall, the girl who had the gun ran forward to attack, but he blocked her attack and twisted her around, locking her in a head lock, he looked at the other, "Now, now, no one needs to get hurt."

"No, you do!" said the girl in his grip as she brought out a long rod stabbed him in the side. The rod burnt and electrocuted him, he dropped to the ground dazed.

"We have what we came for, let's go!" one of them calls,

The three of them ran out of the archive, Ryan was in pain but he got to his feet and gave chase after them, stumbling his way through the camp. He managed to chase them to a gateway, where they were jumping through a waypoint vortex, which was just starting to collapse, but he managed to jump through after them.

… )]≥( …

Ryan came crashing down on hard stone, he looked up, his vision starting to fail and saw the three girls staring at him.

"Damn," said one, "this one's persistent, he managed make it this far even after we struck him with the thunder rod. I'm almost impressed."

"I know, imagine the pain he must be in, the amount of electricity that I shot him with would kill most people," Said another, "if only he were pure," she added longingly

"Let's get him up, mother would be delighted to meet someone like him." Said the last one as Ryan lost consciousness.

Ryan woke up after what felt like a while and found himself in a cage, he looked around; the cage seemed to be made of steel. He got up and felt a sharp pain, reminding him he'd been electrocuted. He lifted his shirt to see a bright bruise on his side. On a table outside the cage his wand and Draxonn's byrd rested, the gem of Ryan's wand was pulsing. Before he went through the waypoint he had activated the beep feature Simon had set up, but he wasn't sure if it worked.

A door opened and the three girls, but they had changed their clothes, now Ryan could see their faces; there was a brunette, a blonde girl and a red-haired, behind them, was an older woman, about the same age as Stephanie, she smiled,

"Welcome to my home! You may call me Mother Eris." she said, "I am so pleased we have a guest."

"You mean prisoner." Ryan corrected, knocking on the bars.

"Semantics. My daughters say you followed them through the waypoint, even after you were struck with the thunder rod? That is very fascinating."

"Well my whole life is fascinating, so it can't be helped." Ryan shrugged.

The girls giggled, "See mother, I told you he was interesting."

"Can we keep him mother?" the blonde asked, "He's too cute to be fed to our pets."

"Let me think about it, girls." Mother Eris said

"Now look here; I like a crazy girl as much as the next guy, but I think three of you at once might be a bit too much, even for me." Ryan said, "So what did you steal from the vault?"

"Steal? My daughters never stole anything, I sent them there to go and recover what was rightfully ours."

"In the middle of the night, when no one's around? Right, that totally screams legit."

"The skull was ours to begin with, it was the Argus who stole it from us." The redhead said forcefully

"And you choose now to get it back?" Ryan asked

"The skull is ours!" the blonde repeated

"So why do you want some dead guy's noggin?" Ryan questioned,

No one answered

"Well who does it belong to?"

No one answered

Ryan shook his head, "this just gets better and better."

"It belongs with my family." the woman said, "He wants to be back with us."

"But –and I can't emphasize on this enough— he's dead! So what do you need it for, it's not like you can bring him back?"

Mother Eris smiled diabolically, "Not yet, but we have found the missing piece."

Oh crap, Ryan thought, they're crazy. It can't possibly work.

"So this whole plan of yours, I'd love to hear it," Ryan said. She looked dubious at him, "hey, I've got nothing better to do right now. Plus, I don't even know where I am, much less how to escape," Ryan convinced,

"What the hell, why not?" Mother Eris said, "According to stories, this skull belonged to our most powerful priest in all the world. He was so powerful, that he actually conquered death."

"Doesn't look that way to me," Ryan commented dryly

"When he was slain, his enemies feared him so much that his body had to be dismembered, scattered across the realms."

"Huh, thorough," Ryan thought, "and, for fun, you've been going around, collecting the dismembered parts of this dead priest?"

"Our order has dedicated centuries to this sacred task," The blonde boasted, "We have sacrificed more than you can comprehend to the fulfillment of this single goal."

"Well it's good to have a hobby, as I was once told."

Mother Eris smiled, "Go ahead, mock us, but we know the truth."

"So, you people have really spent years planning this? Seems like a lot of work to bring one guy back from the dead."

Mother Eris smiled, "You are a clever one, aren't you?"

"Why go through all the trouble?"

"We are going to give those who follow our cause a new hope. With him at our side, we will crush the Argus and all who stand with them."

"Your cause?" Ryan asked,

"Of course, we found others who share our faith and who feel the same way about Argus and what it stands for. Girls show him the mark of our faith."

The girls removed their shirts and tattooed on their skin was a weird symbol,

"Cool ink… what is it, a tiger?" Ryan asked, uninterested

Mother Eris made a face like, as if to say; he can't be that stupid to not know what this symbol means.

"This is the mark of the Nyx Court." Mother Eris declared.

Ryan remembered the story Jasmine told him mentioning a group called the Nyx Court.

"You mean the guys who go around worshiping chaos and all that?"

"We follow the path of the black nirvana, and we shall lead the world to its glorious rebirth." Mother Eris preached,

"Sounds like a lot of new age cult mumbo jumbo to me," Ryan shrugged, "but hey, never been much of a conformist myself."

"You are not like the normal Argus rats we encounter," Mother Eris said, "I see why my daughters felt so drawn to you; there is a certain kinship I feel with you as well."

"Uh… are you… are you coming on to me?" Ryan asked, "because if so; no thank you."

"Funny," Mother Eris said, "but you cannot hide the taint I smell on you."

"Ew," Ryan commented, "I just got back from a mission and haven't gotten a chance to take a shower yet, so that's probably it."

"You cannot hide it, my mark reacts to you," Mother Eris said, rolling up her sleeve to show her own tattoo, but hers was surrounded by blackened veins and pale skin, the discoloration seemed to have spread out from the tattoo and was slowly creeping up her arm.

"Blight," Ryan mused,

"Yes, the blessings of the black nirvana," she said, "it is proof of my commitment to the cause."

"You may want to get that looked at, it doesn't look right," Ryan said, trying to maintain a calm appearance.

"It is the price we pay for our faith," one of the daughters said, as the taint was already starting to spread from her own tattoo.

"You should join us, young magus," Mother Eris said, "we would appreciate your dark gifts much more than Argus ever would."

"What dark gifts?"

"Your power screams of chaos," the blonde said leering at Ryan, "we could all sense it the moment you came through that waypoint."

"Speaking of the waypoint how did you do that?" Ryan demanded, "You were somehow able to get past the sanctum firewall, and sneak into the Main Hall without tripping any sort of alarm."

"I was once a part of the Argus in another life," Mother Eris revealed, "Before I was shown another path, now I dedicate my all to crushing the false temple that is Argus and all who stand with them, especially the cursed Reins family."

Ryan's interest peeked, "What do you have against the Reins specifically?"

"Matthew Reins, the Quickstep, killed my first husband." she snarled, "For years I wanted nothing more than to make him pay, him and that treacherous bitch he called a wife, but they died before I could, laid low by their own hubris and decadence." She said with a mad smile on her face.

Ryan shrugged, "Yeah, they're dead, them and the whole Reins family too, been that way for eighteen years."

Mother Eris looked irritated, "Perhaps, but there has been talk that a Reins still lives, a boy who carries their cursed blood, a fine recipient for retribution, no? I can see it now, when my daughters slay him in the name of my beloved!" Mother Eris said, as the smile returned,

Ryan didn't much appreciate having his family name being cursed like this, "Y'know, you really shouldn't put faith into random rumors. I mean, where could this new Reins have even been for the last eighteen years? The chances of him even existing are slim to none, at best."

The Blonde struck Ryan through the cage bars, "Quiet, I am beginning to find you less and less amusing. Calm down mother, we hear news that the child survived. He is called Ryan Reins, and he lives at the forty-fifth."

Ryan gave them a slow round of applause, "That's some top tiered investigative work right there."

"You must've seen him, yes?" the redhead said, getting closer to the cage, "we have ways of making you talk, whether by pleasure or by pain. I assure you, pleasure is the better deal." her eyes scanned him lustfully. 

All of a sudden, Ryan's wand that had been on the table on the women's side of the cell started beeping,

Ryan smiled. "As flattered as I am, I don't think I'll be here long enough."

"What, what is it?" Mother asked, picking up the wand, "Why are you smiling?"

"Oh nothing," Ryan lied, the wand started beeping faster,

"What is your wand doing?"

"Really, it's nothing.", then Ryan started giggling

"What's so funny?" the blonde demanded, "We have you trapped."

"Yeah, but if you had any sense, you would have killed me as soon as you got me, or at least, I don't know, made sure I didn't have a weapon!" Ryan said.

"You're unarmed," The brunette said, "you don't have any weapons."

"Don't I?" Ryan held out his hand and Draxonn flew into it, elongating into the sword and Ryan slashed at the cage, the bars broke like crackers and Ryan stepped out, "Also, I guess I should introduce myself; my name is Ryan, Ryan Reins. The guy you were talking about killing earlier." he said as he held out his sword.

Mother Eris' lips curled into a sinister smirk, "You're Ryan Reins? The child of Matthew and the traitor? Fate smiles upon us this day my daughters, show him retribution!"

They began to advance, but then the wall behind them exploded. Stepping into the room was Simon, holding what looked like a bazooka, "Knock, Knock, anyone home." He said grinning wildly

"Dude, nice." Ryan noted

"Thanks," Simon said dropping the device that had already started to burn on the ground, "Let's go."

As Ryan passed the dazed cultist, he snatched his wand and the skull from the mad mother and ran out the hole.

"Stop them!" Mother Eris shouted when she was able to clear her head, the girls chased after them.

Ryan and Simon ran down a huge hallway, "Man, this place is huge." Ryan said

"Tell me about it," Simon said. "how does a cult of crazies afford a place like this?"

"So what's the plan?"

"We're your extraction team, the others are waiting to provide cover."

"Others?"

Then, out of nowhere, a chimera pounced on them, but before it could strike, its head exploded.

Ryan looked up ahead and saw Christie with her rifle.

"C'mon, this way." she said.

Two more chimeras were now in pursuit of Ryan, Simon and Christie, with the cultists nowhere to be seen. Ryan was behind because he didn't know where he was going, so the closest chimera shot a bolt at his back, he stumbled and fell, then, instinctively, he took off the hoodie and slashed with Draxonn, disintegrating the chimera, he pulled his wand from the pocked of the melting fabric and continued running.

"I really liked that hoodie," he complained

They ran up some stairs and then out a door, at the other end was another door and between the two doors was a courtyard with a balcony. There was a small shack at the other end, and a straight drop into a violent sea beyond the balcony. Jasmine ran out the other door towards them, followed by the three girls, one of their hairs was scorched and sizzling. "We can't get to the waypoint." She said

"Hey, the whole gang's here" Ryan said

"There's nowhere to run now!" the blonde said as more chimeras joined them, at least a dozen, and counting.

Then Mother Eris came behind them, "You are trapped now, there is nowhere to run!"

A storm was brewing overhead, lightning was flashing across the sky. Lightning, Ryan thought, could I do it again?

"You are all out of tricks." The red head smirked,

"No." Ryan smiled mischievously, "I've got just one more trick."

"It won't do you any good."

"Let me be the judge of that." He thrust his sword to the sky and focused on the lightning, then, a huge bolt shot down at his sword. What Ryan was expecting was for the lightning to carry them away like it did last time, but instead, from his sword, the lightning deflected and struck the courtyard ground, right between Ryan and his friends, and the Nyx Court and their pets. The ground exploded and then, Ryan fell off his feet as the balcony started to fall. Somehow, Ryan's lightning blast had broken off their side of the balcony, so they were now plummeting to the waves below.

… )]≥( …

Earlier

Jasmine was out late, she'd just finished giving her report from the mission to the Keeper earlier and felt that she needed to unwind, so she went to the range for some target practice, she just hadn't noticed how late it'd gotten. On her way back towards the residence, she considered where her next patrol should be when an alarm in the Main Hall went off, news came shortly after that the archives had been broken into.

As she made her way to the Main Hall, she saw Stephanie already there with security and several off-white orbs the size of basketballs floating in the air, the PODs, [they're floating multipurpose drones with a wide variety of capabilities and utility. They had an official designation, but everyone just called them PODs for short]

Stephanie turned to one of the PODs "Notify security to lockdown the entire sanctum, activate the bounded field and isolate the territory."

Confirmed, it replied before floating away, only for another POD to take its place before Stephanie,

Report: A protege was sighted engaging the intruders. The POD said,

"Who is it?" Jasmine demanded 

Protege Ryan Reins was in pursuit of intruders, before following them through a waypoint.

"That idiota." Jasmine groaned

"Jasmine, your team hasn't been officially disbanded yet, I'm assigning you a new mission; rescue Ryan and find out what those intruders were up to." Stephanie ordered

"Yes ma'am" Jasmine said as she spoke to the POD, "locate; Christie Piper and Simon Ross, and access waypoint logs, trace last known bridge and have a gateway ready in ten minutes."

Acknowledged. the POD replied

"And Jasmine," Stephanie added, "I know you want to kill Ryan, but hold off for me to have a crack at him first. I am his legal guardian after all."

… )]≥( …

As Simon fell, his calculative mind was already running the numbers for their chances of survival. It wasn't looking good.

He expected this to be his final act, so naturally, he screamed. A lot.

It was to his –and everyone else's— surprise when the balcony hit the waves and somehow managed to stay afloat.

When he was done screaming, he opened one of his eyes, "Are we dead?"

"Nope." Ryan said, feeling his own heartbeat, "Still beating."

They looked up and saw that the waves where carrying the balcony away from a large castle built atop a pillar landmass.

"How is this possible?" Christie asked

"Please don't ask that." Simon said, "You might make it stop."

Jasmine went to Ryan, who was breathing hard, "that was completely reckless, going off on your own, against three unknown opponents."

"Sorry, I didn't want to lose them." Ryan defended

"You're just lucky you weren't killed."

"I knew Simon would get my distress call."

"And you're lucky I did too." Simon said, "By the way, we brought this, just in case." Simon handed Ryan his backpack.

"So, what do we do now?" Christie asked,

"We follow the current?" Ryan said, "hopefully we'll reach land eventually,"

Several hours later, they were still no land anywhere.

Ryan had decided to go to sleep and Jasmine went to the shed to be alone, that left Simon and Christie at the stern of their improvised raft.

"So where do you think we are?" Simon asked

"We're definitely in another realm," Christie replied,

"How can you tell?"

"The air… it just feel different," she said

Ryan tossed and turned in his sleep, mentioning something about a formula, [Yep, I talk in my sleep. Cool right?]

Christie looked at him, "What do you think of Ryan?"

"What do you mean?" he looked at the longing expression on her face, "Oh."

"Yeah,"

"I've only known him for a few days, but he seems like a good guy. I can get why you would like him, but he's got this air around him, something fierce."

"I know, but… it's just complicated. When I look at him I just feel… Urgh, it's so frustrating. He's like my best friend, but then, the way he acts, the way he speaks to me, I don't plan on it but I just get all…"

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"God no! I can't, he sees me as just a friend, and if I tell him, it might compromise what we have."

"Christie, if you wait it's just gonna get worse. Trust me I know."

"You had someone?"

Simon sighed, "Yeah, once. He was like family to me, even more than my own family at times. He knew about me before even I did, and it was because of him that I had the courage to come out to my family. They weren't as accepting as he was, but over time they grew to understand me more." 

"What happened to him?" Christie asked

"He's gone," Simon replied, "let's just leave it at that for now."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Christie said, offering him a supportive hug.

… )]≥( …

Ryan found himself back in the cave littered with bones, the bodiless voices were speaking again.

"The final element approaches." First voice said

"The final element will change nothing if the formula is not completed." Voice two said

"Other powers are at work," voice number three said, "The formula will be completed."

Then, Ryan's dream shifted and he saw a woman in tattered clothes holding a severed head in her hands. She was covered in marking, he kissed the head as she cried and said, "You will live again my love. In another time, in another place, you will live!"

The dream shifted to a field of flowers and a buff dude with long hair wearing robes wrapped around his waist, his back was to Ryan, but he emanated power, each step he took left a smoldering black footprint on the ground and the flowers around him withered and died.

"I will live again." He said, raising his arms.

Each hand had an extra thumb after the pinkie. From the ground, ghostly trails of energy were pulled into his open hands. Then the dream faded.

Ryan woke with a start. He looked around, Christie and Simon were talking, Jasmine was still huddled in the shack. Ryan got up and looked around. Nothing but sea for miles and miles, though Ryan could see an island in the distance and… wait, an island?

"Guys, land." Ryan said, Jasmine got out of the shed and looked at him, "Land? Where?"

"A long way, that way." He pointed to the horizon

"How are we going to get there?" Simon asked

"We could swim." Ryan asked

Jasmine pointed at a group of dorsal fins swimming nearby.

"They could be dolphins," Simon offered

"Could be, likely aren't," Jasmine shrugged, "do you want to find out?"

Simon shook his head.

"Or not." Ryan gulped, "what I wouldn't give to have my magik working right now."

Simon fiddled with his wand, "Wait, it might be possible for me to use my wand to trigger a wave to nudge us towards that island."

They all looked at him, "I'm going to try to push us to the island."

"Need some help?" Ryan asked pulling out his wand

Simon nodded, "Just do exactly what I do."

The two of them pointed their wands towards the stern side of the balcony, then their wands whirred in unison. The waves started to become choppy, pushing them slowly towards the island.

"Keep it up." Jasmine said

The waves became rougher, but still drawing them closer to the island. Their raft started rocking violently. Jasmine and Christie held on to the railing as they rocked back and forth. Their raft started gliding towards the island more swiftly.

"You did it." Christie exclaimed

"Yeah," Ryan said, "Maybe a little too well."

They looked to where he was facing, a storm was coming closer, and a wave twenty feet high swept over them. Luckily they managed to hang on, luckier still, they were closer to the island, unluckily though, a huge wave was forming behind them. A seventy foot wall of water had cast its shadow over them.

"Oh my god!" Christie said.

"Everyone," Jasmine ordered, "Into the shed."

Nobody argued, everyone huddled into the shed. Ryan was the last to enter. As he got in, he could see the crest of the wave dipping, soon, the full force of that would come crashing down on them. Ryan closed the door and used his wand to try and weld it shut.

The shed was cramped, but there was just enough room for everyone to not be uncomfortable. They waited, one second… two… three, then they were thrown off their feet, as the balcony went under, Ryan bonked his head on the ceiling, the last thing he remembers is the window next to him cracking, then, everything went dark.