New Ally?
X-ExperimentsIndex:
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
(L) – Myungsoo speaking
(BY) – Yongguk speaking
(S) – Sungyeol speaking
(YA) – Yoona speaking
(J) – Jessica speaking
(JI) – Jieun speaking
(LJ) – Joon speaking
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Are you okay?” (BY) Myungsoo only stared at the ghostly figure, his mouth agape as he tried to process what had just happened. The figure only smirked though as a slight chuckle escaped his lips. Setting Myungsoo onto his feet, the figure took the moment to adjust Myungsoo’s clothes before taking a few steps past Myungsoo. “Alright. Let’s get this done.” (BY)
The figure pounded his fists together before dashing forward. Normally, someone would be running forward or even using some sort of technology to glide forward, but this figure looked more to be hovering. His legs didn’t move and he didn’t seem to kick up any sort of dirt or dust along the way. Then again, that was the last thing that any one of them was paying attention to. The main thing that seemed to continuously draw their attention though may have been the fact that this figure was a pale blue and… well, he was see through.
However, the figure paid no mind to their stares as he began the fight with the statue. Unlike Myungsoo’s blade, his ghost-like fists were enough to deal large dents within the statue’s armor. Three, maybe four punches were thrown before the guardian finally tried to backhand the figure. Oddly enough, despite being quite solid earlier when catching Myungsoo, the statue’s hand merely passed through the figure with little to no resistance.
“Good effort.” (BY) The figure smirked before dashing forward. Instead of stopping to hit the creature, the figure merely disappeared into the statue. At first, there didn’t seem to be anything happening. The creature merely turned its attention towards the group, causing them to prepare themselves for a potential attack. However, just as the creature took a step forward, its limbs disconnected from its body, showing the circuitry from within.
It didn’t take long before the creature lay in pieces, unmoving from the damage done from within. The figure emerged from the creature, dusting off his untouched clothing as he made his way over to the group. Once he was close enough to the group, he came to a stop before looking at the surprised looks on their faces. “Why the shocked faces?” (BY)
“Who- No… WHAT are you?” (L) The figure raised a single brow before he chuckled a bit. The group each looked at one another, unsure what may have been funny to the stranger as they each turned their gazes back towards the figure. Folding his arms, the figure shook his head slightly as he tilted his head to the side a bit.
“That’s rude, but it’s a good question. I’m… a spirit; I guess is the right word. I’m bound to your friend’s lantern here, so… any time you need me, I’ll come right out when your friend summons me.” (BY) Judging by the look on their faces, it was obvious that they seemed to still be a little confused. With yet another chuckle, the figure merely shook his head. “It doesn’t really matter. To answer your first question, my name is Yongguk. Pleasure.” (BY)
Yongguk held his hand out to them, but they each only seemed to stare at his hand in confusion. When it became obvious that none of them were going to shake it, Yongguk slowly pulled his hand away before chuckling once more. “Doesn’t matter. Anyway, just summon me when you need my help again.” (BY)
Without another word spoken, Yongguk’s form dissipated into a cloud of smoke before being into Jieun’s lantern. The group each stared at Jien’s lantern for a moment before finally, someone decided to break the silence. “Well, um… that was something we haven’t seen before, right?! I like him. He’ll be very helpful.” (YA)
“Helpful? Tch… We don’t need his help. Let’s just find Daehyun, Jessica, and Joon already!” (L) Turning around, Myungsoo marched off without letting anyone else speak. They were a little hesitant, but one by one, the remaining three finally began following after Myungsoo.
“Why’s he so mad?” (S)
“I don’t know… Maybe he got hurt.” (JE) Regardless of what they thought, it seemed like they weren’t going to be getting an answer any time soon. So, all they could do was to let it go and just continue with their search. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to worry about running into another one of those things.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Okay… That’s everything!” (LJ) Joon pressed the button on his kryston before turning towards Daehyun and Jessica. An amused smile came onto his face as he saw one of the machines on some sort of cart. Where they got a cart, Joon didn’t want to question simply because they now have an easier way to transport it. Though… as he paid a little more attention to the people currently in the room, he did notice that a little body was currently missing. “Where’s your uh… puppet?” (LJ)
“Puppet? What’s that?” (DH)
“I think he’s talking about Batholomew.” (J)
“Bartholomew’s a puppet? What’s a puppet?” (DH)
“I think it’s something that needs strings to move.” (J)
“But Bartholomew can move by himself.” (DH)
“I don’t know…” (J)
“Hey, hey, hey! Bartholomew? Where is he?” (LJ) Daehyun paused for a moment before looking at the cart. Jessica looked at the cart as well, a small giggle escaping from her lips as she made her way around the cart to make certain that the machine was completely on the cart. Joon didn’t quite understand why they hadn’t answered his question, but once he looked at the cart, he understood why. “Uh… Is that…? No… No… Never mind. Let’s just go.” (LJ)
In the center of the cart was a head with a hood and big bright eyes. It was obvious at this point that Bartholomew had somehow managed to turn into a cart and not only that, but it also managed to somehow keep its hood. Joon didn’t exactly understand how that was possible, but he decided against questioning any of it. All that was important now was to find their way back to the surface.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After hours of searching for a way down to wherever the rest of their friends were, they just couldn’t find the entrance. Everything led to a ruined building or to a dead end, so their hopes just seemed to dash away from them. They’ve even had to deal with a few more of these stone creatures, which Yongguk mentioned were called ‘Guardians’. Still, even if they knew what they were called ,that didn’t mean that they knew how to keep them from randomly showing up. It may have kept them busy for a while, but Myungsoo was starting to get quite annoyed with them.
“Where is it?!” (L)
“Stop being angry! We can find them, but um… we should rest a little.” (JE) Myungsoo let out an annoyed sigh before just plopping down on the nearest thing that resembled a chair. Sure, it was just a piece of a building, but it was still useable. The others all did the same, either sitting on the ground or on a piece of a ruined building. Being able to rest like this was definitely something that they needed.
As Sungyeol let out a relieved sigh, Yoona and Jieun were quietly talking amongst themselves. Unlike Myungsoo and Sungyeol, they wanted to take advantage of this rest to try and figure out what they were supposed to do next. With no clue as to how they were going to save their friends, the only thing that they could do at this point was sit there and wait or try to come up with what to do next.
“Do you think we’ll find them?” (S)
“We have to.” (L) Myungsoo leaned forward, using his arms to keep himself propped up as he looked down at a rock. He didn’t want to show his annoyance or anger or whatever it was that he was feeling, so all of his willpower was trying its best to keep it all bottled up. It’ll work, right?
Sitting there, however, wasn’t helping in the slightest. With little to nothing to do, the insistent wait was starting to get to Myungsoo. He kept fidgeting; constantly changing his position, tapping his foot, even looking here and there for something interesting to stare at. Luckily, Myungsoo didn’t have to wait any longer for something to happen as the sound of stone cracking quickly caused everyone to jump from their seats.
At first, it wasn’t clear as to where the sound was coming from. With how desolate the area was and with the position of each ruined building, it felt as though the sound was coming from anywhere. However, as the ground began to shake and the sound became much louder, the group turned to look at a spot on the ground that was starting to part from one another. Taking a step back and huddling together, the group each held their weapons, ready for whatever it was that was going to appear before them.
“… -azy how this stuff still works! I bet someone keeps a constant check on everything.” (LJ) The four of them slowly lowered their weapons as they stared in amazement at the machine that was emerging behind the three that had randomly shown up. When Joon looked forward, a grin spread across his face as he adjusted his rifle a bit. “Woah! What are the chances? Looks like you guys are alright!” (LJ)
“Wha… What is that thing?” (YA)
“Hm? This? Oh! Right.” (LJ) Once they were out of the entrance, the entrance doors closed before Joon inspected the machine. With this, they were definitely going to get a step further to taking Himchan and the Prince down. It was just a matter of whether they would be able to transport this thing safely to the resistance base or not. “This will be our way to victory.” (LJ)
Uncertainty ran through the four of them, but if Daehyun and Jessica were okay with it, then they didn’t say anything about it for the time being. Once they were all accounted for and, for the most part, unscathed, Joon took a moment to plan their next course of action. “Alright. Let’s head back to the vehicle then hook up the cart to it.” (LJ)
With that plan in action, the group soon began making their way back to the vehicle. Luckily, Bartholomew could float while in this form, so it allowed the group an easier time to move the machine towards their intended destination. How he could float, none of them could figure it out, but they weren’t complaining. Of course, that still didn’t exactly escape the possibility of the machine running into one of the ruined walls.
As they made it to the car, Joon looked around before finally noticing that it was currently nighttime. Sure, he could’ve just simply stared forward to see that everything around them was dark but partially lit up, but details weren’t all that important. As he began hooking the cart up, he looked up at the group whom were all just standing around… watching him. “Uh… Let’s set up camp here for tonight. Don’t want to end up crashing while we’re moving, right?” (LJ)
A few nodded, though none of them moved to set camp up. It’s not that they didn’t want to set camp up, it was more or less the fact that they had no idea how to set up camp. They haven’t had the opportunity to learn about it, so they simply waited until Joon either set it up himself or directed them on how to do it. Noticing this, Joon chuckled a bit as he finished hooking up the cart. “Hold on. I have to make sure that we have supplies first.” (LJ)
Opening up the trunk of the vehicle, Joon began rummaging through the bags for a specific device. Once he found the right bag, he pulled out a small box before closing the trunk and making his way a nice distance away from the vehicle. Joon quickly made certain that this was a good area before placing the box on the ground. Crouching down for a moment, Joon began tapping on the surface, causing lights in the shape of squares to appear with each tap. After a series of taps, Joon got to his feet as the cube began to open. A light erupted from the square before it began swirling around the immediate area.
Soon, items began to appear in random spots. If there was something in the way, the light merely shifted off to the side before forming the item in that location. Once everything had emerged from the cube, the device closed itself once more before the light on it dissipated. With a grin, Joon turned towards the others as he folded his arms. “Well, go ahead and pick a tent. If you’re hungry, there’s some food over there in that storage bin.” (LJ)
“Woow… How’d you make all of this show up like that?!” (J)
“The cube that I used is a form of a storage unit. It can store… well, anything really. Waaiit…” (LJ) While the group, minus Jessica, was busy looking around, Joon took out a spare cube that he had taken from one of the bags before making his way over to the cart. Tapping the cube’s surface, a light emerged from it once more before it began encircling the machine. Joon grinned happily, watching as the light engulfed the machine before both light and machine vanished back into the cube. With the cube closed up, Joon placed the cube back into the vehicle before dusting his hands off. “Much easier!” (LJ)
“So we don’t have to carry it with Bartholomew anymore?” (J)
“Yep. Can’t believe I didn’t think about that sooner, but whatever! Let’s eat!” (LJ)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Late at night while almost everyone was asleep, Daehyun sat in his tent, quietly trying to learn how to read on his own. He can read very VERY simple stuff, but he wanted to get better at it. In order to do that, he needed to practice. It was difficult trying to learn on his own, but he at least knew the alphabet and most of the sounds for each letter, so it was a little easier. “S-Soo… theen… the… li… ttle… ba-… beerd… fuh… fluh... flew…” (DH)
Approximately twenty minutes had passed before finally, Daehyun decided to stop reading for the night. Closing the book, Daehyun set it next to his bag before lying on his stomach. Folding his arms in front of him, Daehyun set his chin on top of his arm before staring at the entrance to his tent. The thought of everything that has happened just brought a tinge of happiness to Daehyun. Not once had he ever thought that he would be free and able to do whatever he wanted to do. Sure, there were still restrictions to what he could do, but he at least wasn’t behind a screen that kept him locked inside his room.
Turning onto his back, Daehyun neatly folded his hands and set them on his stomach as he stared at the top of his tent. It was a strange thing to have, but Joon had explained to him about the importance of a tent. It was still weird, but Daehyun liked how useful tents were. The only thing he wished there was more of was some sort of food container that constantly made food. If that happened, then he might never want to leave his tent.
“You’re not sleeping yet…?”
The sound of a voice instantly caused Daehyun to jump, frantically sitting up as he looked around in a panicked manner. It took him a moment to calm down, but once he was able to, he thought for a moment as he tried to recall where he had heard that voice before. “W-Who… Who’s there?” (DH)
“I… Um… Are you doing well?”
Who was talking? Daehyun really wanted to know what their name was, but they didn’t seem to want to answer his question. For now, though, Daehyun decided to focus solely on the voice’s question. “I… I think I’m okay. I'm not hurt if that’s what you mean.” (DH)
“… That’s good to hear.”
Daehyun waited for a question to respond to, but as the seconds ticked away, it almost seemed like the voice was gone. Looking around in a vain attempt to find the source of the voice, Daehyun adjusted his position a bit before folding his legs. “Are you still there…?” (DH)
“… I’ve missed you…”
“Wha-“ (DH)
“Hey! Who are you talking to?” (LJ) Daehyun jumped yet again as he quickly turned and pushed himself away from the entrance of the tent. When he saw Joon occupying the entrance, he let out a relieved sigh as every muscle in his body began to relax. Joon couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at Daehyun’s reaction. “Try to get some sleep, alright? We leave as soon as it’s light out.” (LJ)
“Y-Yeah… I’ll do that. Uh… night.” (DH)
“Night!” (LJ) Once Joon was gone, Daehyun looked around once more before lying back down. What was that voice talking about? He only barely remembered hearing that voice the day that he was free, but it didn’t make sense that the voice would miss him. Plus, why was this voice helping them? It was all sorts of confusing, but Daehyun wasn’t sure if he would get his answers or not.
“Are… you still there?” (DH) He lay there quietly, waiting patiently for a response. However, when none came, Daehyun frowned slightly as he to his side. For some reason, he was disappointed that the voice hadn’t responded to him, but maybe the voice would come back soon.
Oddly enough, he was looking forward to hearing that voice again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Alright. Everyone ready?” (LJ) Looking around at everyone, they each gave him a brief nod, signaling him for the restart of their journey. Turning on the vehicle, he waited for a moment before they began moving forward. He had a good feeling about today. With the fresh sunlight rays reaching across the sky and with the cool morning air to keep everything crisp and calm, everything just seemed to be looking up from here.
Staring out at the sky, Daehyun couldn’t help but stare in awe as he pressed his head against the holographic screen. A simple press of a button would make the screen disappear, allowing him to feel the cool wind as they passed, but just the simple touch of the screen was comfortable enough for him.
“How far away are we from where we’re going?” (J)
“Uh… Maybe a week if we keep moving without stopping. The mountains are probably going to be the longest part of our trip, so we might have to make a few steps every now and then. There’s a town though, so we won’t have to worry too much.” (LJ) After listening to his words, Jessica pulled out the device that they each had been given earlier before pulling up the map on it. Looking at it, Jessica slowly nodded as she tried to figure out where exactly they were heading. It’s not that she needed to know, it’s more or less a just in case scenario.
“Is it nice where we’re going?” (JE)
“Oh yeeeah! It’s really nice! It’s by the ocean, so I think you guys will have fun.” (LJ) Joon thought for a moment as he attempted to figure out if they even knew how to swim. It was probably a low possibility, but even if they didn't, he was pretty sure they'd still enjoy themselves. Of course, a few of them perked up at the mention of an ocean, though the remaining few didn’t exactly understand what that was meant to be.
“What’s an ocean?” (L)
“It’s a lot of water together. Um… kind of like in the bathtub, except bigger.” (S) Myungsoo slowly nodded, though he couldn’t exactly imagine anything bigger than the water fountain. Maybe they were just playing a trick on him or something, but either way, he ended up losing interest as he turned his attention back towards the window.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[ My Own Thoughts:
Yay Yongguk has joined the team :D
Why is he a spirit?
Well... That'll be explained later.
For now, he's super ultra mega strong!
That's enough... right? Hehehe...
Comments are loved!
I love talking with everyone.
It's also nice to know how I'm doing with each chapter.]]
Comments