A Fantasy Story Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Leviathan Storm and Sacrifice

            I swam out under the airship and with my own two hands I grabbed an available ledge. Flexing as hard as I could I pushed up on it, lifting it just enough to push it out the doors without the rudders scrapping against the floor. My legs kicked back torrents of water as the airship slowly drifted forward safely out the doors. What I didn’t anticipate was that the ship would sink down into the drop off just outside the hanger doors. But with my luck it was to my advantage, for it gave me just enough time to get beneath the airship and catch it before it slammed into the ocean floor. Dust kicked up all around me when my feet collided with the ground allowing me to stop the ship just in time.

“Hey Van! Be more careful, I don’t want the bottom of the ship all dinged up” I heard Kat say on the head set she gave to me.

“Hi Kat, I’m just fine, thanks for asking”

“I’m just saying that if I bring back an airship that’s all beaten to hell, not only I will suffer, but you’ll probably get it the worst”

            I cringed to think what unknown torcher methods the people of Dynasty have adopted over their past history.

“But if I get this thing where it needs to go then I won’t die, right?”

“Technically speaking, yeah”

            Pushing off the sea bed, we shot up surprisingly fast; although because of the sheer size of the airship we only got half way before we slowed down to a halt. From the height we reached I finally got a good look at the lab we escaped. It was built into the side of a cliff that was covered in every color of coral you could have imagined and the fish looked like they were ten times the size found on earth. There was even a school of unusual fish that appeared to be tiny orcas, perfectly scaled down to the size of a house cat. I watched them swim down to the lit up run way and saw several bigger fish circling the spot lights that had big umbrella eel heads attached to the body of a shark.

“This world has far too many sharks. They really need to reduce the amount of sharks here cause this is ridiculous” I said informing Kat about the abnormal amount of visible sharks.

“Well if you’re lucky enough, you’ll be able to see the “Night Sky Shark”; largest shark in the world”

“Tell me something Kat. Does this shark have a black body with lights on its belly and freaking humongous?” I asked as this humongous creature loomed right beside us.

“Yeah that sounds like it. How do you know what it looks… Whoa!” I heard Kat say; I assumed that by then she had looked out the observation window and saw what I was looking at.

“It’s amazing! I have never actually seen one for real. And it’s close enough to see its night sky”

“It’s night sky?”

“Yeah; it’s the lights on its belly. Stories say that these sharks would break the water and jump over sail boats and when they did it looked like a night sky was falling as they landed on top of them”

            The shark was beside us at the time but when Kat described about its night sky she gave me a brilliant idea.

“Well let’s go see it” I said as I lowered the airship to see the underside better.

“Can you see it now?” I asked as we pasted underneath.

            Now I didn’t hear her say anything, but I could tell that the view was breath taking. A few moments later we rose up past the other side of it, right up to its eye. I looked over into the shark’s eye; I got a strange feeling, as if the shark was trying to tell me something.

“Hello there friend; It’s a pleasure to meet you!” I yelled out as if it would actually understand me.

“Who are you talking to out there?”

“The shark of course, I was just saying hello. My friend here says hello too!”

“OK crazy, let me know if it has anything important to say” Kat teased.

            Eventually we reach the surface but in spite of crossing the finish line, I had to stay below and hold the airship up so it didn’t sink back down to the bottom again.

“Hey Kat! How long is it going to take for the ship to get here?” I asked trying not to show that I was getting tired.

“Just a few more minutes, the ship is already here”

“Well that’s good”

“Um, well there is a small problem however” I could hear Kat say outside with the others on the ship nearby.

“Go on, what is it?”

“The airship might be a little bit too big for our ship to haul, but were gonna try strapping it anyways. If it’s light enough then it’s no problem. Sit tight!”

            They were quick, for moments later I saw Bunny dive into the water with a ribbon trailing behind her. She went under the front of the ship and just after that I heard another splash behind me. It was Molly this time with the same ribbon.

“That must be the strapping Kat was talking about. I hope that this works, the ship is starting to get heavy. Apparently fatigue still happens even though I got this power chain on” I thought to myself.

            Two more people splashed into the water, this time it was Vivian and Kat who took a brief moment to stop and look at me. Kat took off my head set for me and they took off there’s as well.

“You see? He pushed the whole thing up by himself” I heard Kat say.

            Vivian gave Kat a look as if to say “yeah right”, then she turned her attention to me; she looked around for hidden wires or something else that was helping me hold the airship up. So I stopped swimming up and let it sink a little bit, just enough to make her flinch.

“Hmm. I guess your right Kat” Vivian said as she gave Kat a handful of silver coins.

“You made bets on me?”

“What can I say? You seemed weaker than I thought, but I guess you proved me wrong” Vivian said rubbing my arms making me tremble slightly.

I wondered why she looked into my eyes like that as she swam around to get the strapping hooked up. Kat, on the other hand, stayed behind and unexpectedly hugged me. It was awkward; but I wasn’t against it.

“What’s up?” I asked wondering what was wrong.

“I just wanted to say thank you. You’ve done so much for us from giving us the map to the lab, to pushing this ship all the way up here. Not to mention the many times you killed monsters for us before anyone was seriously hurt. It’s just so nice to have someone finally give us a chance, so thank you, so much”

            A symphony of heavenly music began to play as Kat’s words tugged on Vans heart strings making him blush a vibrant shade of red. Luckily for him Kat was behind him so she couldn’t tell how much his face illuminated; imagine a solar flare then times it by ten. I kid you not; solar flare.

“Shut up Mr. voice-in-my-head!”

“What was that?”

“I-I said, shu-sure thing! I’m just glad I could help you guys out. But you know, you helped me out just as much as I helped you. You’ve shown me how to be brave and made me realize that I can be a hero instead of a coward. And you gave me some awesome goggles too! So I guess I should thank you too; but I got my hands full right now so I can’t give ya a hug or anything” I said ending with a short laugh.

“Oh right let me fix that for you”

            A few minutes after Kat left, the airship began to fell lighter and lighter as a hum of a machine sounded from above. The next thing I knew I was being dragged out of the water along with the airship; water poured off it as the crane lifted us up and onto the ship. Gradually I was lowered with care onto the deck of the ship, which had transformed into a flatter surface so nothing would collide with the precious cargo. I truly believed I was closer to the deck then I thought when I let go of the ledge I hung off of.

“Ouf! That didn’t hurt at all” I said as air escaped my lungs.

“Get up power man, a fall like that can’t hurt you” Bunny said as she stood over me, looking down on me. The bunny ears that were attached to her hood dangled close to my face, surprising me a bit with her adorable cosplay.

“I’m ok, I’m up” I said as I carefully gathered my feet underneath me and arose to an upright position.

“So the airship can fit on this boat”.

“Yeah, it does. Though I’m not too sure how, cause anything this size made out of regular metal would be too heavy. Molly and Joy are inspecting it now to see if they can figure out what it’s made of exactly. Oh right! I’m supposed to help make supper tonight! I gotta go” Bunny said before kart wheeling over to a trap door and jumping down.

“What an amazingly strange girl”

            Not knowing what else to do, I wondered over to Molly and Joy to see what I was going on.

“Hey Joy, hey Molly. What’s up?”

“I’m telling you this airship doesn’t have any weapons on it!” Joy exclaimed pointing at a picture and completely ignoring me.

“I hate to admit it but I think your right. These photos show missile tube here and here but obviously; they aren’t here”

“Yeah you’re right” I said while looking over their shoulders.

“Oh Van! Sorry; I didn’t notice you there” Molly said jumping a bit as if I scared her.

“Sorry, I was just wondering what you’re up to”

            Joy quickly whispered into Molly’s ear saying something about the airship.

“Well; why don’t you tell him? You have a mouth and understand English”

            Joy looked at Molly as if there she was asking her to do something ridiculous. Although after a short staring contest, Joy yielded and began to talk to me in a reserved shy manner.

“The illustration that we found, describing the airship, shows that it is fully armed. However, as you can see, there are several things missing on this airship when compared to the one in this picture” Joy held up the picture they were looking at and it looked exactly like the one they had minus a few tubes that are meant to hold missiles.

“So if there aren’t any weapons on this airship; does that mean one could equip their own weapons onto it? Like customize it. Pimp it out” I asked thinking about the custom flame job that could be painted onto it and under lights.

            Joy had to take a moment to look off into space to think about what I said. Then she turned back to the airship and started to size it up, holding her hands out to take quick measurements.

“Huh; I hadn’t thought of doing that” Joy said as she jotted down something in her pocket sized notebook.

“Nice going there Van; she was really starting to get upset about the fact that no weapons equipped on it” Molly said as she messed up my hair.

“Huh? What did I do?”

“Just look at her; she only gets like this when she really likes the project she gets. I bet you just made her whole week by saying she could add her own weapons and gadgets to the airship. But now we’ll probably need a crow bar to get her to let go of the darn thing”

“Yeah, but isn’t it kind of alright as long as she’s happy?”

“Oh! Careful ladies and gentleman, this one has a brain” Molly said stepping back with her hands up”

“Oh Whatever” I said playfully swiping at her. We both got a pretty good laugh out of it.

“You know if you keep this up, Joy might even be able to trust you. Hell she still talks about the green winged angle that saved her form the spider. Where are you hiding those wings anyway?” Molly asked patting my back.

“I don’t have any sort of wings on me; and stop trying to take my jacket off, it’s cold out here”

“Fine. If you’re really that cold you should go down below and warm up. Do you no good to get sick cause your stubborn”

“Are you sure? Isn’t there something I should be doing or something? Like out here or something?” I asked confused about what exactly what my purpose is on the boat.

“Yeah it’s alright. Try to stay out of the kitchen though, cause Abigail doesn’t like strangers in her kitchen when she’s cooking”

“Thanks for the advice; and if there’s anything ya need me to do, just let me know ok?”

“Alright then, you’ll be the first person I’ll come get”

“Take care now Joy!” I yelled up to her as she hung upside down inspecting areas that one could attach a plasma cannon to.

            She waved but didn’t say much of anything as she was too indulged in what she was doing. Disregarded, I went down below to warm up and see who else I could talk to. There were many hallways inside the ship and it made me feel like I was in the navy as I lunged though the small doors and listened to my footsteps clunk on the metal floors. Minutes passed by as I explored the labyrinth inside this boat, looking in random rooms, such as the sleeping quarters, the navigations center, the broom closet, and the engine room who I meet a very nice man that was wondering what the hell I was doing in the engine room and then proceeded to kick me out. Eventually I found the mess hall that was reasonable decorated and homely; it is here where I found Vivian.

“Oh hello there” I said feeling slightly awkward as I struggle for conversational topics.

“Yo. What’s going on?”

“Oh ya know, just checking out this ship. It’s pretty big”

“Yeah, yeah it is”

            This is embarrassing Van, you really need to get on with the story here or else I’ll fall asleep. Why not try asking her where they are going? And while you’re at it ask about they’re history, what did Kat mean when she said “It’s nice that someone finally gives us a chance”? There you go, now you have several topics to talk about, so get on with it; goodness sakes.

            I decided to take the advice that the voice-in-my-head said and ask Vivian where they are going with the airship now that they have it.

“So Vivian, where are you going to go no that you got this airship?”

“Hmm, we have a base about a day’s travel away. We’re going to take the cargo there and let our guys look over it. For blueprints and whatever Joy can do with it”

“What kind of base is it? Is it like a military base or a secret base?” I continued wondering what kind of organization they are a part of.

“Wow really? You really can’t figure out who we are? Even from the way we look?” Vivian asked astonished.

            All I did was looked back at her confused, head tilted like a dog.

“Where do you come from that you’ve never seen a colonial?”

“What’s a Colonial?” I asked trying to divert her attention from my origin. Who knows what they would do if they found out that I’m from another dimension.

“My goodness, you haven’t even heard of us?! Did you hit you head and forget everything or something?”

“Um… I think I did actually, sorry” I said chortling to lighten the mood.

“So who are the colonials? Are you apart of them?”

            She took a moment to contemplate whether or not to tell me their origin; in the end she began to tell me.

 “Ok, since you know nothing, I’ll tell you”

            I took a seat and readied my mind for the information I was about to receive; though I could have gone without her snooty attitude.

“There has been a war going on for about ten years now and it is between the five kings. One day they decided that they had the right to rule over all of Dynasty instead of them just keeping their truths to their own lands. And it was nine years ago that our people were framed for killing the king for the land of stone. This assassination of him made the war burst out into a battle royal and we were the team with no friends. Every country made us their enemy because everyone was convinced that we were all murderous thieves. Out of desperation our people scattered across the land and, like us, made colonies where we gather and stand strong against people trying to wipe us out. These bases, like the one we’re going to, are our homes now and we do what we can to try and survive”

“Wow, that’s just horrible, I can hardly imagine what it would have been like to have everyone hunt you and hate you for what someone else did. That’s just unfair!”

“Yeah it is. But you know; there are those, like Kat, who want more than to survive and will try their hardest to rebuild our reputation for the better. That why she was so obsessed with finding this airship; she wanted to use the technology from it to start a new business where we transport goods from one place to another without the use of boats or carts”

“Oh, like a mail order system and then because of the airship it will take less time to get there! Nice thinking, but why wouldn’t she want to use it and take some sort of revenge?”

“Because Kat’s not like that!” Bunny said as she sat unusually close to me.

“Bah! Why are you so sneaky?!”

“It’s because I’m a spy, Shhh” she said holding her pointer finger over her mouth.

“But yeah, Kat has never been the type to take revenge on anyone really. Even when we were young and became orphans, she was always looking at the positives and trying to make others see that we aren’t bad”

“Orphans? So your parents are… I … I’m so sorry” I said as the reality for these girls weigh heavy on my heart.

“It was such a long time ago that it shouldn’t matter anymore. I can’t forgive those who left us without parents at such a young age; but Kat doesn’t see it like that. She sees opportunities where there is despair and somehow convinces people, like me, to help her out” Vivian said looking out the small window into the watery abyss.

“But that’s because when she talks about her dream of a day where everyone can live together again that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside” Bunny continued.

            There tale of how they have lost mostly everything and then banding together to fight for a better tomorrow lifted Vans heart too as he listened to their story. It was then and there that he decided to dedicate his time to help these people out instead of standing by idly without doing anything to assist those who may need it.

“Well then, I think I shall stick around here then. I mean, I can’t just leave ya for no reason at all. Besides I kinda like it here”

“Well there’s just one thing you’ll need then” I heard Kat say behind me.

            I turned around and saw her walking over to me from the doorway with something behind her back. When she got closer she reviled that the mysterious item was a pair of hand crafted goggle with green leather bands and silver metal rings with rivets that held a glass lens.

“Are… Those for me?” I asked bewildered at the possible gift.

“Indeed they are. I just had to make them after our adventure in the laboratory”

“You made these by hand?! That’s amazing!” I said as she put the goggles in my hands.

“It’s nothing to be amazed at. They’re just goggles” Kat said trying to keep her cool.

            I put the goggles on and adjusted the straps so they fit just right. They fit perfectly with no abnormal pieces rubbing on my face that would cause discomfort; which was rather convenient.

“Come on now! Bring it in, you too Bunny and Vivian. It’s time for a group hug” I said wearing my new goggles and arms wide open.

            Bunny was the first to jump up and give me a hug; Kat joined soon after. Vivian didn’t want any part of it, but she had no choice when I reached over and grabbed her hand and dragged her over. With that, our day was complete with nothing else going horribly wrong. Suddenly the ship started to shake about violently; knocking furniture about the room as if something big had ran into the ship.

“Yup, nothing bad happening at all” I thought to myself as we tumbled about the room.

            I managed to hold onto one of the girls, keeping her safe from hitting anything that would cause injury; the other two managed to escape my flimsy legs and grabbed onto a sturdy piller.

“You ok Bunny?” I asked once we stopped rolling around.

“MmmHmm” She hummed as she snuggled in closer.

“OK, I think that’s enough of that” I picked ourselves up and set her away from me.

“What was that?!” Kat said looking out the window.

“I Don’t know” Vivian said pushing a chair back to the table.

“Oh no! Joy and Molly!” I said before running out of the room.

            Quickly I turned back into the room and got them to lead the way so I didn’t get lost again. We all ran out and turned right down the hall before taking a left up some stairs. At the top there was a small landing with three paths that led up stairs; we took the right set. Another left and straight ahead was an open hole where a trap door was, allowing us to jump out onto the deck.

“Molly! Joy!” we called out as we scoured the deck of the ship.

            The sky was cloudy and dark gray, almost black with a strong wind that wisped around in all sorts of directions. Before we could find them something rammed the ship again, knocking the boat straight sideways for a few yards. I had made my way over to the edge of the boat and looked down into the dark whirling water to see a huge shadow pass underneath us.

“Over here!” I heard Molly yell from a bottom door to the airship.

            Kat and Vivian ran over to them to question about what they know about what’s going on. Just then a gigantic thing burst out of the water and spray water down as if it was raining.

“What is that!?!” I asked yelling so someone, anyone would be able to hear me.

            Nobody could hear me unfortunately as I gazed upon the unveiling of the monolithic figure in awe. It had spiky fins and a dorsal fin that followed all the way down its neck. Covered in dark scales and glowing red eyes that left a stream of light whenever it moved. As the water ran off I finally got to get a good look at it; it was a dragon of the ocean. It let out a roar that shook the ground and made some of the others hold their ears. Unexpectedly the sea dragon used its tail to spin the ship around a couple of times like a merry-go-round that wasn’t merry at all. It was then I saw Bunny slowly start to slide off the deck of the ship and levitate as if to be thrown overboard. Then it happened; Bunny had begun to fly through the air towards the edge of the ship and once again the others were too far away to catch her in time. This is where I prove myself that I will go to any lengths to protect those who are important to me.

            Time slowed down as I sprinted toward Bunny, who was no at the edge of the boat and about to fly off into the water. Even though it would mean that I would be trading places with her, I still jumped off after her and tossed her back onto the boat where Kat and Vivian caught her. Second dragged on as I plummeted head first into the dark water below where the unknown holds my fate in its hands. I didn’t really know what to do or how I was going to do it at first, but then I decided that I had to stop that dragon from attacking their boat at any cost.

            When I opened my eyes I saw that there was a familiar face down here with me. The night sky shark had found me and was looking eye to eye with me. My mind thought about how I had to stop the dragon over and over again as we locked eyes.

“Friend. I think I need your help” I said as if it would actually understand me.

            Just then I got a strange feeling of calm and excitement boiling in my soul. I knew what I was going to do about the dragon and this night sky shark is going to help me.

            The Leviathan that was attacking the boat had stopped spinning the boat now and started to inspect its contents. Kat’s entire team stumbled around on the deck, dizzy and unsettled. The Leviathan gazed upon them as if they were its next meal, drooling with desire. It got close enough that Kat could touch the ginormous fangs the beast had in its mouth. Suddenly the Leviathan’s attention was diverted by a growing amount of bubbles, burbling just on the other side of the boat. Van had convinced the night sky shark to swim all the way to the bottom of the sea and preform a jump over the boat; just like in the story Kat told him. Kat’s team looked over just in time to see the mighty shark break the water and sore over top of them with its dazzling lights underneath it lighting the dark. What they didn’t see was Van riding on top of the shark, guiding it to where they needed to land. The Leviathan was stunned at the amazing sight as the night sky came crashing down on top of it, missing the boat by inches.

            My plan was to ride the night sky shark just until I was close enough to jump back onto the boat. However, due to a zero gravity effect I suffered in mid fall I couldn’t reach anything in time to propel me to my destination and I fell back into the drink. For a few seconds Kat and I maintained eye contact long enough for me to give a thumbs up to let her know that I was going to be alright. I knew I wasn’t going to make it back onto the ship when we fell into the water and the sea dragon Leviathan thing was still kicking. I had to do whatever it took to keep them safe; and if fighting this thing was the only way, then so be it.

            Although it is unfortunate that I couldn’t keep myself conscious long enough to see my task through as I slammed into the very hard rocks and the Leviathans tail followed by more head smashing rocks. I swear, if I get any permanent brain damage from all this, I’ll be very upset.