Chapter Two

Arcathrio and Jaya had done nothing but made insulting faces at one another, making Jaya aggravated as Arcathrio made more insulting faces towards her. Arcathrio then jump off Rachel’s head and bit down on Jaya’s nose, making her fume with anger. She threw her fists in Rachel’s direction, hitting Rachel in the back of the head making her fall forward.

            “OW!!” Rachel screamed in agony. “Why Jaya, that is all I ask, WHY?!”

            “Your stupid Arcathrio keeps being a total B%#&*!” Jaya said angrily trying to swat him off. Rachel took Arcathrio by the tail and pulled him off, Jaya gripping her nose and Arcathrio was placed back on Rachel’s head.

            “Which way Arcathrio?” Rachel asked.

Arcathrio pointed ahead, towards a tall mountain. The top was surrounded by clouds and the two girls looked up at it in shock.

            “He expects us to climb that thing?! IT’S TALLER THAN MT. EVERST!” Jaya said, getting more frustrated that it wasn’t a small cabin or something that wasn’t a mountain.

            “We don’t know that.” Rachel said. “Hopefully my amazing talent of falling and nearly killing myself in the simplest of ways won’t butt in.”

Rachel grabbed onto a ledge and began to climb. When she was about twenty feet off the ground, she looked back at Jaya and asked “Aren’t you coming?”

            “I’d rather sit through a class of trig with Mr. Pedano then climb that monster.” Jaya said, gesturing towards the mountain.

            “But we have to get up here, Arcathrio is never wrong.” Rachel said.

            “GOD DAMN IT RACHEL WE’VE ONLY KNOWN THAT THING FOR LIKE WHAT TWENTY MINUTES!!” Jaya said angrily.

            “Well he led us to the only living thing on this deserted place, might as well get some faith.” Rachel said, continuing climbing. Jaya angrily tapped her foot impatiently and crossed her arms.

            “I’m not following Rachel!” Jaya called up.

            “Okay.” Rachel said bluntly.

            “I’m serious Rachel, I refuse to climb!” Jaya said, throwing her arms down and calling up to her as Rachel got higher and higher.

            “Fine by me.” Rachel called down.

After only five minutes, Jaya cursed under her breath and began to climb the monstrous mountain. Jaya had lost sight of Rachel as Rachel began climbing into the mist. Jaya forced herself to keep climbing despite her panic of losing her footing and plummeting to her death. Jaya smacked her lips and felt her throat grow dry.

            “Wish I had some water.” Jaya said.

She then felt a bottle fall on her head, catching it quickly before it plummeted down to the bottom. In her hands was crystal clear water, Jaya held it like it was the most valuable thing in the world. She popped open the cap and gulped down the water. Pouring the small remains on herself, Jaya looked back up.

            “Where’d it come from?” Jaya said.

She then spotted Arcathrio fly down and join her. Jaya glared at him and said “Come here to rub it in?”

Instead Arcathrio landed on her head and pointed the way. Jaya wasn’t all too happy about Arcathrio on her head but she was happy to have someone to keep her company. Jaya continued climbing and Arcathio pointed the way, making sure rocks didn’t come tumbling down. Jaya continued climbing till she felt solid ground. Arcathrio flew off her head, bit down her shirt and tried pulling her up, Jaya pushed herself up. She then fell down and Arcathrio accidentally ripped some of her shirt off. Arcathrio rolled in front of Rachel’s feet, who picked him up and put him back on her head. Rachel went to Jaya’s aid and helped her up. Jaya was sweating and panting, barely able to stand from the great distance she had to climb.

            “You did it Jaya!” Rachel said happily.

            “Oh shut up Rachel.” Jaya said with a smile, she too was happy but didn’t want to admit it. She was up and looked around. They were welcome to a skyscraper, black with a giant golden door in front of them. Arcathrio shivered on Rachel’s head and urged Rachel to knock. Rachel was pushed ahead by Jaya who hid behind her. Rachel slowly approached the door and knocked. A giant eye suddenly opened before them, looking down on them. Rachel screamed and Jaya clasped her hand over her mouth.

            “Maybe if we don’t move, it won’t notice us…” Jaya whispered in Rachel’s ear. The eye looked down at them, scanning them inside and out to make sure they weren’t the serpent creatures they had escaped from. When it spotted Arcathrio, it closed its eye and the doors opened for them. Arcathrio flew off of Rachel’s head and led them inside. Inside the whole building was white, the only things that stood out were the people dressed in black with cloaks over them. They bumped into many people, finding them kind at heart. Arcathrio led them inside a room, completely overrun by paper work.

            “Hello?” Jaya called.

Someone then randomly popped out from under the paperwork, scaring Jaya and Rachel. He had giant glasses on and long blond hair with a cow lick on top of his head, wearing a lab coat with a black shirt and jeans. Boots on his feet, coated in mud and he had adorable beady eyes. He straightened his glasses and said politely “Hello, how may I help you?”

            “Oh, well Arcathrio led us here.” Rachel said, gesturing to Arcathrio.

            “Oh you’ve returned Tim, master Walker will be pleased to see you brought more comrades.” The boy said, scratching Arcathrio on the side.

            “Tim?” Rachel asked.

            “Yes, that’s his name, Timcampy.” The boy said. “Oh how terribly rude of me, my name is Jasper and I am a scientist in the Black Order.”

            “Black, shouldn’t you be called the White Order?” Jaya asked, referring to the white coated place.

            “I’m hoping that’s not a racist joke!” Jasper said, rather hurtful. He gathered up a handful of random paperwork and said “Please follow, Monarch will want to see you.”

            “Monarch?” the two said in unison.

 

* * * *

            Jasper led them up the buildings spiral staircase, passing by all types of different people who were all dressed in black the higher up they went. Jaya caught up with Jasper and asked “What’s with the color differences?”

            “Oh, well it’s quite simple actually.” Jasper said with a smile. “Those in white, like me, are the researchers and scientists here in the Black Order. The ones in black go off on all types of missions to purify monsters.”

            “Monsters, like those creepy serpent creatures we saw?” Jaya asked. Jasper suddenly dropped his papers. He looked at Jaya, fear in his eyes.

            “You survived those blood thirsty beasts?!” Jasper nearly screamed. He suddenly dropped his arms to his side, his eyes closing and he fell in Jaya’s arms. Jaya screamed and said “HE FAINTED WHAT DO WE DO?!”

            “I DON’T KNOW!!!” Rachel screamed back. Rachel ran back down, grabbed another scientist who happened to be passing by and showed him their dilemma. He just laughed and said “Don’t worry about Jasper, he always freaks out about those serpent creatures. But he is right how did you survive?”

            “We don’t really know.” Jaya said.

            “Well Monarch will probably know. I’ll get you another guide while I take Jasper to the infirmary.” The man said. Looking at Arcathrio, now called Timcampy, an idea sprung in his head.

            “We’ll get you Allen to be your guide.” the man said. “Just stay right here, I’ll get him for you.”

Throwing Jasper on his shoulder, the man dashed back down the staircase and disappeared in another room, looking like a library. Jaya and Rachel simply leaned against the wall, waiting.

            “What do you think this Monarch person is like?” Jaya asked.

            “Hope he or she is nice.” Rachel said.

            “Hey Rachel, we have no idea where our friends are, maybe they can help us find them.” Jaya said.

            “Yeah, that call from Yasmine was pretty scary.” Rachel said. “Hope everyone’s okay.”

            “Well, in the mean time, we’ll tell Monarch our dilemma and he or she will probably help us find our friends simple as that.” Jaya said.

            “If he or she is nice enough to do so.” Rachel said under her breath.

            “What happened to the get some faith you mentioned earlier?” Jaya asked.

            “Well that was sort of a lie for you and me.” Rachel said. “That mountain was scary, I nearly killed myself every five minutes if Arcathrio-I mean Tim wasn’t there.”

            “You shouldn’t lie to yourself Rachel.” Jaya said.   

When Rachel was about to respond, another boy came in. He had short white hair, wearing what looked like a waiter’s uniform with gloves over his hands. He stopped by Jaya and said kindly “Hi, I’m Allen Walker and I’ll be your guide today.”

            “Oh hey.” Jaya said. “I’m Jaya and this is Rachel, say hi Rachel.”

Instead Rachel somehow managed to say “Uh…uh um…”

            “What?” Allen asked.

            “Oh I’m sorry, my brain stopped working, I’m um-name, no my names Rachel! Rachel Wilder!” Rachel said, putting her hand out for Allen to shake. Her sentence came out in a rush and even though Allen found it bizarre he said “Pleasure to meet you too Rachel.”

Rachel let out a nervous giggle. Looking at Jaya, Jaya had a sly smile on her face, she knew the signs. Rachel’s fumbling of words, her bright red face and looking as though she had a heart attack meant she was falling for this boy.

            “So, I’ll take you to Monarch.” Allen said, clapping his hands together and leading the way.

            “Who’s this Monarch person anyway?” Jaya asked.

            “She keeps this place stable that’s who she is and she’s queen of Pandora.” Allen replied. “She sends out golems to search for more purifiers and fighters to help with our problem.”

            “And that would be?” Jaya asked.

            “Humans turning into monsters, I heard you encountered the serpent creatures. How’d you survive?” Allen asked.

            “I don’t know really.” Jaya said. “We fell into some abyss and I blanked out, next thing I knew we were on land.”

            “Strange, maybe you’re an Ancient.” Allen said.

            “That sounds stupid what is it?” Jaya said bluntly.

            “Ancients are a type of race who have the abilities to control nature, you know, fire, water, air, earth, you get it. But they were wiped out years ago and now the planet is in this type of mess.”

            “What happened to them?” Jaya asked, suddenly interested in these Ancients.

            “No one knows, they suddenly just disappeared; now all this war is breaking out against the three kingdoms.”

            “Which are?” Jaya asked.

            “You like asking a lot of questions don’t you?” Allen asked. “I’d like to hear one from your friend.”

            “Oh of course, Rachel say something.” Jaya said. Rachel seemed to be dazed, looking at Allen’s white hair and ever changing eyes. Jaya nudged Rachel in the ribs and repeated “Rachel, say something!”

            “Oh I’m sorry, what are the three kingdoms?” Rachel asked.

            “Well, Pandora, which is where you are, is where all the monsters are. There’s this weird disease that turns humans into monsters. Some are gifted with the ability to purify them which is the Black Order. But we have to get to them quick or they’ll stay monsters forever and we’ll have no choice but to put them out of their misery. We have the scientists work on cures for the different types of monsters that are around here and the purifiers go out on missions.” Allen said. “Next is Edolas, where the dragons are. They live on many islands in the sea, ironic because they’re all fire, where they raid all the other kingdoms of live stock. It gets pretty annoying having to hide all creatures that are alive and moving. The dragons take their live stock and store for their queen. But she died years ago; they think she’s still alive.

            “Last is Toradora, a place where all the people are intact with creatures of all kind. They’re so intact that some of them are part animal. They worship the dead, thinking that if they don’t give sacrifices, they’ll be dragged down to hell. That’s about it, any more questions?”

            “Uh-“  Jaya was about to say.

            “Great let’s go to Monarch.” Allen said, going up the stairs. As they went higher and higher, Allen talked about the work everyone did to keep the monster and humans in balance. He then got distracted by the food in the cafeteria, Rachel followed. Jaya rolled her eyes and went inside, finding all types of people all eating and drinking their lives away. They threw arms around their comrade’s shoulders, leaning back and laughing hysterically. Someone even fell back, still laughing. Allen and Rachel had arrived to the chef who hurried with orders but his mood brightened when Rachel and Allen came into his presence.

            “Ah, Allen you’ve finally came! Someone with a stomach as big as yours is always welcomed here. But may I ask, whose your girlfriend?” the chef asked slyly referring to Rachel.

            “What?” Allen asked, looking at Rachel who caught his stare. The two quickly turned away, faces turning an even brighter red, said in unison “You’ve got it all wrong!”

            “Sure.” The chef said. “So I’m guessing the usual?”

            “Yes, but I’m not sure about her.” Allen asked turning to Rachel who was looking at the menu.

            “I’ll have the chicken leg, a large scoop of mashed potatoes, pizza with pepperoni, a big jug of water to wash it down, the corn, a hot dog, hamburger, fries, spaghetti and other pasta related things, the sushi, the rice balls, the fried vegetables, egg rolls, orange chicken, dangos and that big bowl of ramen over there.” Rachel said, her eyes scanning down the menu. Allen and the chef looked at Rachel in shock, Rachel simply smiled.

            “I’ve never met a woman to eat as much as master Allen.” The chef said, his eyes gleaming with happiness. “All the food to make with the two biggest stomachs to eat them!”

The chef went to the back of the kitchen to prepare the food. Jaya came in between them and said “I’ll be pigging off you Rachel.”

            “Yeah I don’t mind, I can’t wait to eat though.” Rachel said, clapping her hands together and wiping her mouth so she wouldn’t drool.

            “Wow, I’ve never met anyone who could eat as much as me.” Allen said. “We’ll have an interesting relationship.”

            “Re-relationship?” Rachel asked, shocked. Allen’s smile made her nearly fall but Allen said “Yup, I look forward to becoming great friends with you Rachel.”

            “Oh, yeah me too.” Rachel said. Allen shook her hand and went off to find a table for the three of them. Jaya went in front Rachel, a smile on her face.

            “What?” Rachel asked.

            “You like him don’t you?” Jaya asked.

            “What, no, well as a friend, but not like that!” Rachel said.

            “Oh please, the way you swoon when he said he looked forward to having an interesting relationship with you.” Jaya said slyly. “Face it you like him and you’ll make a great couple with him.”

            “We don’t know that, besides, he sees me as a friend.” Rachel asked. “I’ll keep it that way.”

Allen returned and said “I found a table, follow me.”

Allen took Rachel’s hand and led her to their table. At his table sat some of his friends, laughing at the argument between a long haired man looking like a woman and a red head who threw back insulting names. A short haired girl with black hair laughed at how naive they were acting. Allen led them in and said “These are my friends, Zora, Lavi and…well I wouldn’t call him friend…Dustan.”

            “Hi!” said the short haired girl. She wore a black miniskirt with a tight long sleeved white shirt. A yellow flower was in her hair, glowing brightly and her smile sent goose bumps under everyone’s skin.

            “Zora helps with the wounds and everything else that involves anatomy.” Allen clarified. “But she goes out on missions as well.”

            “Well Allen, how rude of you.” The red head said. “Not telling us that extremely hot girls would join us for dinner. I call the Indian.”

Jaya giggled and whispered to Rachel “He’s cute.”

            “Really?” Rachel whispered back, rather shocked. The red head had spiky hair, wearing tight jeans and a tight black top, an eye patch over his eye and a sideways smile on his face. His hands were behind his head, his feet on the table to catch Jaya’s attention. Jaya hid behind Rachel, giggling none stop and Rachel just waved sheepishly.

            “Stop flirting Lavi, you’re making her feel uncomfortable.” Zora said, slapping his legs off the table. Lavi just rolled his eyes, still having his sideways smile on his face, and got his feet off the table. Jaya and Rachel found a seat, the last one named Dustan avoiding eye contact, his long black hair looking like a woman, wearing jeans and a white shirt with boots on. Jaya glared at Dustan and turned to Lavi asking “So what type of missions do you go to?”

            “Well, dangerous ones of course, got a few scars, maybe couple of burns.” Lavi bragged, Allen rolling his eyes. 

            “Sure, scars from keeping the alley cats out and burns from the horrible lose when you tried taking on a Nightfury.” Dunstan said.

            “Dunstan, no need to kill Lavi’s thunder.” Zora said, slapping Dunstan’s arm. Dunstan glared at Zora, rose from his seat and stormed out. Once he was out of the cafeteria, Jaya said “What’s wrong with him?”

            “He’s always like that.” Allen said.

            “Food is served!” the chef declared, trays of food followed behind him, being levitated without even lifting a finger. The food landed in front of Rachel and Allen who picked up their forks and knives.

            “Now enjoy every morsel, every molecule of my food!” the chef said, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Rachel and Allen licked their lips and began to dig in, reaching over each other to get their food. Zora, Lavi and Jaya just stared as they watched Rachel and Allen clean their plates. Soon there was only one piece of chicken left, Allen and Rachel jabbing at it finding each other evenly matched. Rachel growled and Allen growled back. With ninja reflexes, Rachel grabbed the small chicken leg and ate it. Allen was rather shocked but then started laughing. Everyone clapped as Rachel finished her chicken, looking around rather confused.

            “What?” Rachel asked, wiping the remains of food off her face with a napkin and looking so innocent.

            “You beat Allen in getting the last remains.” Lavi said, shocked.

            “No one can beat Allen.” Zora said with a smile.

            “I’m hungry!” Rachel protested. Allen threw an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in till her cheek was against his chest. He burst out in laughter and said “Wow that was fun! Rachel you’re amazing, I’ve never seen another black hole before.”

            “Thank you, I guess?” Rachel asked, trailing off into thought, Just like Yasmine called me.

            “Well we’d better be going, Monarch is waiting.” Allen said, rising from his seat and heading out.

            “I’ve been meaning to ask.” Jaya said. “WHO THE HELL IS MONARCH?!”

Author's Note

The pic before was Jaya and the pic now is Rachel

Reviews

[Popble]

"Arcathrio is never wrong"

-The most intelligent being ever

[_]

heehee Rachel's order was my snack *growling of stomach*
-_- maaaaaaan! i wish i was there to EAT THEIR FOOD! *-*
............i should stop reading on an empty stomach ... *tummy growls*

[PokemonFan#1]

“I’ll have the chicken leg, a large scoop of mashed potatoes, pizza with pepperoni, a big jug of water to wash it down, the corn, a hot dog, hamburger, fries, spaghetti and other pasta related things, the sushi, the rice balls, the fried vegetables, egg rolls, orange chicken, dangos and that big bowl of ramen over there.” Rachel said, her eyes scanning down the menu. Allen and the chef looked at Rachel in shock, Rachel simply smiled. That was ubber funny! Keep it up!