Vacation: As If

This is joint-written. Tendou is supposed to be a paradise. Its name MEANS paradise. What happened to it?

 

Ambree ran her hands along the metal walls, looking at door after door after door. There were endless possibilities she could walk into. The doors were clearly marked with the name of the planet it lead to, but that didn’t help much. Ambree knew nothing of the planet behind. She stopped walking, and decided to choose whatever door she was in front of. “This one,” she said softly. “Tendou.”

“Great choice.” Glide commented. “I always loved Tendou. It’s such a beautiful planet. It’s like... the Garden of Eden.”

“The birds there are so colorful.” Shetani added, smiling. “And the people actually know who I am.”

“I’ve never been,” Niqi commented. “Sounds like you did pretty good, though, for a first choice.”

Ambree smiled. “Let’s go, then. I suppose we could use a small break before we go world-saving again.”

“I’ve still got my key.” Glide said. “We all ready?”

Lujuria nodded. “Sounds like a nice vacation, and I’m always ready for one of those.”

“Lead the way, master.” Shetani said. “Where you go, I shall follow.”

Belleza was silent for a long moment. “... I want some cabbage.” She said finally.

“What is it with you and cabbage?” Niqi muttered, smirking. “Let’s go.”

“You know,” Shetani mused, stepping forward to open the door, “it’s surprising. Not one of you have commented on the fact that I’m nude.”

“Gods, Shetani!” Glide yelped. “I never f*****g noticed!”

“Okay, you didn’t need to point that out,” Niqi said, grimacing. “We’ll get you some clothes on Tendou.”

“Guys…” Ambree breathed. She was the only one actually looking out at the world in front of them. “This…this is definitely not a Garden of Eden.”

Everyone turned to look.

They had come out onto the roof of a tall building, offering them a large view of the gigantic city below. The planet seemed to be in a disastrous state. The air was thick with black smog. Small hoverpods, made of unattractive metal, flew throughout the city, weaving between the buildings. The building structure was somewhat odd; some were made of brick, some of stone, some of the same metal the hoverpods appeared to be made out of. They all towered high into the dark gray sky, and there wasn’t much of a space between buildings anywhere in sight. It was raining lightly; the rain was black.

“This... this isn’t right...” Glide muttered.

Lujuria shivered, clinging to Glide. “Glide, the planet is suffering...”

“That’s not all.” Shetani hissed. “Look. I can’t orb.”

“Can you at least summon some clothes?” Glide asked, grinning.

Shetani rolled her eyes. “As you wish, master.” She said, snapping her fingers and creating a silk genie’s outfit. “Better?”

Ambree stepped forward, into the rain, staring at the city below.

Niqi put a paw on Ambree’s shoulder. “Ambree? You alright?”

“It’s…it’s just that…” She breathed deeply, trying to string together a sentence. “I don’t remember much of Earth. I only knew Seisen. And this place…it’s so much more…horrible.” The word didn’t seem to fit right, like it wasn’t enough.

“Let’s go down to the street.” Glide suggested. “Maybe we’ll find someone that can tell us what the f**k happened to this place.”

Belleza leaned over the edge of the roof, looking down. “Oh, my, that’s a long way down... And there’s no cabbage down there.”

Lujuria groaned quietly.

Niqi couldn’t find the heart to ridicule Belleza about the cabbage. She nodded at Glide. “If this place was once what you said it was like, something really horrid must have happened.”

Ambree shook her head, trying to clear it. “Right…” She closed the door that lead to the Nexus and opened it again, to reveal a flight of stairs that went down.

“Come on.” Glide said, descending the stairs. “Perhaps... we’ll be able to return Tendou to exactly that.”

Lujuria kept a tight hold on Glide’s arm, still visibly shaken by the condition of the planet.

“I hope he’ll be alright.” Shetani murmured, following the two down the stairs.

Niqi descended after them, already determined to fix the place. “I’m not leaving until this planet is healed.”

Ambree nudged Belleza. “Come on, we’ve got to go,” she said, pulling her along down the stairs.

If at all possible, the planet looked worse from the ground than it did from the building’s roof. They had apparently entered through the slums. Dirty people trudged through the streets, their clothing ripped and their spirits obviously broken. “What the hell happened here?” Glide muttered, walking down the street, toward an enormous fortress in the distance.

“I suppose the largest building’s going to have the answers, by your reasoning?” Niqi asked, jogging to keep up. She huddled her arms to herself; the place was colder than Seisen.

Ambree fell in line behind Niqi wordlessly.

“It makes sense.” Glide said. “Let’s go beat some info out of whoever lives there.”

“Master, perhaps we should simply ask them what happened first.” Shetani suggested, wrapping an arm around Glide’s shoulders. “We’ll beat them only if they’re uncooperative.”

“People usually are uncooperative,” Niqi said, smiling slightly.

Glide opened his mouth, probably about to agree, but he didn’t get the chance to speak. A merchant called to them from the streetcorner as they passed by. “Hey! Pinky! How much do you want for the harem b***h?”

Glide raised an eyebrow. “Her?” He asked, gesturing to Shetani.

The merchant nodded. “Yeah, her. How much?”

“Thirty thousand and I’ll keep her from killing you.” Glide responded.

Niqi smirked. “That guy has no idea just how dead he is,” she commented.

“She’s a woman!” The merchant laughed. “And a pretty scrawny one, at that! What could she possibly do to me?”

Glide shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe...”

Shetani lunged, grabbing the merchant by his hair. She dragged him to a nearby streetlight, wrapped him around it, and tied his hair around his ankle.

“That.” Glide snickered.

Ambree’s eyes bugged. “Did she seriously just do that?”

Niqi shrugged. “I don’t like sexists either.”

“For future reference,” Shetani smiled, “my name’s Shetani. You know, the goddess of mischief. Nice to meet you.”

“You’re horrible, girl.” Glide laughed.

“Would master like his wallet?” Shetani asked, grabbing a small bag from the merchant’s belt.

Glide nodded, taking the bag. “Score.”

“I don’t know what we’d want to buy on this wretched planet…except maybe a coat,” Niqi mumbled.

“Perhaps they have some artifacts from when the planet truly was a paradise.” Shetani said. “Besides, it’s always nice to have a souvenir, even if you don’t like the place you visited.”

Niqi sighed. “Let’s just find out what the problem is. We can talk about souvenirs later.”

“I hope they sell cabbage here...” Belleza murmured.

“If I had my powers, I would turn her into a cabbage.” Shetani muttered, rubbing her temples. “You mortals are so... troublesome.”

“Behave yourself. I don’t wanna have to kick a goddess’ a*s.” Glide snickered, approaching the doors of the fortress. A pair of Barghest stood guard, outfitted in full suits of armor and holding large spears. “Let us through, we need to see whoever lives here.”

Ambree eyed the creatures skeptically. “They don’t seem like they type to let just anyone through. Y’know, kind of like that knight guarding a bridge in the old stories.”

“Looks more like the Troll from the story about the three goats.” Glide grinned.

“Agreed,” Ambree replied, grinning. She snapped her fingers in front of one of the Barghest. “You alive, or what?”

“Senshi sees no one!” The Barghest roared.

“Well, so much for that.” Glide said, turning around and heading back in the other direction. “Come on, everybody.”

“For the record, Glide,” Shetani smirked, following the other Varixian, “you’d never even touch my a*s unless I was another male.”

“Just because I won’t grab your a*s doesn’t mean I won’t kick it.” Glide responded.

“What’s the plan now?” Niqi asked. She tugged Ambree along, who was still a bit stunned by the Barghest’s roar.

“What do you think?” Glide whispered, ducking into an alley as soon as he was sure the Barghest couldn’t see them anymore. “Come on, it’s time for a little Mission Impossible action.”

“Oh lord...” Shetani muttered.

Lujuria raised an eyebrow. “Mission impossible? If it’s impossible, why are we trying?”

“Old Earth movie,” Niqi clarified. “But what are you suggesting, Glide? Hanging from the ceiling?”

Ambree smirked slightly.

“I’m suggesting we sneak in, stupid.” Glide replied. “And since night wouldn’t exactly change much around here, what better time than right now?”

Niqi looked up at the black smog. “I see your point.” She turned back to the fortress. “But I have a feeling that thing doesn’t have an unguarded back entrance. Or windows.”

“Don’t worry.” Glide said. “We’ll figure something out. We always do.”

“I didn’t know you were such an optimist.” Lujuria smirked.

“Can’t you make a hole in the wall with your powers or something, Shetani?” Ambree asked.

“No.” Shetani growled.

“They’re not working right.” Glide said. “Something must be blocking them.”

“That’s odd,” Niqi mumbled. “Anyways, we’d better start looking for some way to get through. Talking about it isn’t gonna get us anywhere.”

“When this is over,” Shetani muttered, “we’re taking a real vacation.”

“I hear that.” Glide laughed, heading through the alley, trying to find the quickest, darkest route back to the fortress.

Reviews

[KEi]

Spiffy.

I love sequels.
Espescially sequels that actually have a plot.

Like this.
:D

I verily look forward to reading more.