The Glitch IV - Inversion (Ch. 1)

[LadyTevar]

A touch, barely felt, intruded on the darkness.

A presence, hovering over her, started a push towards wakefullness.

A kiss pulled her upward, and a well-known voice drew her up out of the last dregs of darkness. Her blue eyes flickered open, blinking at the light, slowly focusing on the familiar face so close to her own.

" ... Darek...?" she whispered in confusion, before that slight exertion set her coughing, choking from the last remnants of pain from ribs that had been shattered, lungs punctured and healed too fast. She grasped at him for support as her body shook from the coughing, like a child reaching out for comfort.
Despite his armor, Darek moved quickly to wrap his arm beneath her for support, raising her up gently to lean against his chest. Slowly, the coughing passed as he stroked her hair gently and murmurred soft, comforting words that even he did not hear enough to understand what he said.

She relaxed against his armored chest finally, catching her breath, teary-eyed from the choking fit as her tired body fed her a list of what parts of her hurt. There should not be pain in Zion, came the mental thought ... and that burst the dam that had held back her memories of the last few days.

Stiffening in Darek's arms, she pushed away far enough to frantically look at her surroundings. She saw the bunks with the party stretched out upon them, all seeming asleep but weaponless. She counted bunks silently, coming up with one strange Goblin, but no Auron or Vash in sight, although her eyes lingered longer on Thog's battered body.
Finally, those teary blue eyes stared straight into Darek's face. "You said it would be safe...." she whispered, her voice raw from the coughing and the betrayal both. "They wanted to spy the route, to make sure ..." she said, trailing off, seeing the sadness in his eyes. "Tell me I wasnt' wrong to trust you Darek...." please tell me I wasn't wrong...

[Dark Silver]

He looked into her eyes, there was not much emotion held there. He held her gently, not pulling or pushing.

"I'm sorry..." he said, his voice low, "I didn't want that to happen..I ordered them to the north, on the pretense of looking for you there.....they...disobeyed me."


He slipped from her arms, and rose to his full height again, pulling his cowl over his head, "I saw the spells from the tower, but it was to far for me to get to in time....I just hoped you would be safe. Apparently two of your group was left behind....killed.. I'm sorry Leandra..."

He walked away from her for a few steps, then turned back to her, then looked to the cots. "Adena has been summoned already by my associates. She'll arrive soon. You should be able to wake them up....inform them...none of their powers will work here. Thier all locked away."

With that, Darek walked to the door, and disappeared through it. The heavy sound of a lock resonated in the room.

[LadyTevar]

There was nothing Leah could do but watch him leave. Part of her believed him, accepted the apology. Part of her cursed him for how easily he could walk away and leave her trapped. Tears fell from her eyes, still watery from her choking fit... or that is what she tried to convince herself.

It took a couple moments to compose herself, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She attempted to cast one of the simplest spells she knew, the least of the healing spells, but there was no answering warmth from the Goddess. Darek had not lied about that.

She rose from her cot and crossed to Thog, who was laid out beside the far smaller goblin woman. She felt sorry for the goblin, because there was only one way to wake up Thog. Hell.. the whole room would probably jump to life before Thog woke.

Leah took a deep breath ... choked a little, then tried again. One deep breath so she could shout at the top of her lung the one thing that *always* got Albert's attention: "B00B13S!!!!11!"

Wow... the room had excellent accustics. There was even an echo of that shout.

[Charon]

Matthew's eyes openned slightly. Seeing that the boobies were not above him he groaned. "Someone is a tease..." Sitting up slowly in his cot Matthew noticed that he was in a room with the others. A few cots down was Yuffie, moving quickly he knelt by her side, pressing a hand against the side of her face. She looked to be ok. As Yuffie openned her eyes Matthew was above her, smiling.

"Welcome back. How are you feeling?"

[Rukia]

Rory didn't open her eyes but spoke in an exhuasted tone, the realization of where she was and what had happened hadn't hit. "Damnit Leah, do you have to ALWAYS yell? I mean c'mon He can't be---eeeeouch... Ooooh, note to self don't move..." And with thoes words everything cam back, the fight the pain...the dispair before the utter darkness.

"Oh. My. God." She whispered then she broke down crying tears of relief that she was still alive and pain that she was still here.

[Shark Bait]

Ted coughed and turned his head to the side before spitting out a mouth full of blood, "Oh boy did that suck" he said wincing with pain as he tryed to roll over.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Someone get the liscence plate number on that herd of elephants..."ustin winced as he looked around

"So much for trust... and I can feel that my spells are locked. isnt this wonderful. And why the fuck are you yelling about Sea Birds Leah, this isnt the time"

His head hurt, in fact, his entire body hurt. Much like he has been torn apart and beaten with warhammers...oh, wait... now he remembered, he was torn apart ad beaten to within an inch of his life with giant warhammers.

[SirNitram]

The half-giant was nearly the last to wake up. The massive colossus shifted and groaned in pain. "Thog not wanna get up." Rumbled the berserker.

[Charon]

Yuffie smiled as she looked up at Matthew. "Aren't you supposed to be down here with me watching over you?"

Matthew grinned. "Well, I figured a role reversal was in order."

Helping Yuffie sit up Matthew took the time to look around the room again, wakefulness turning to dizzyness as his body caught up with the bruising it had taken.

Yuffie looked at Matthew, slipping her hand into his discreetly. "Where are we?"

Matthew shook his head as he squeezed her hand, reassuring himself as much as her. "I don't know, I just woke up myself."

Matthew looked around the room, seeing that Leah was the only one that appeared to be on her feet. "Leah, what's going on? Where are we?"

[Devonie]

Jules heard the shout. She didn't know what the woman said, but it had to be something bad. Instinct took over and she rolled from the cot, landing hard on her knees as her feet gave way under her.

"In Sanct Gra..." Before the last word was out she realized her magic wasn't working. *$h17!!!!* she exclaimed. *W7F??!"

Then she noticed the others in the room. She could tell they'd all been woken as rudely as she had... except for the redhead. Her eyes scanned them and connected with Leah's.

"Who are you? Where am I? What the F*ck is going on?!?!" She rapid-fired the questions, rising from her knees to a defensive crouch.

[LadyTevar]

Leah looked apologically to everyone in the room, especially to the little goblin woman. "I'm sorry... We're captives of the dark elf Adena. Darek tried to get all the patrols moved to the south, but one disobeyed. He saw the spells going off, but couldn't get to us in time. He said ... he said Auron and Vash were left behind as dead."

Even as she spoke, she could feel that most of them didn't believe her, and the goblin would have no clue what she's talking about. So, Leah looked straight at her to explain. "Darek ... is my lover. He'd gone missing, then showed up as one of the Dark Riders that attacked everywhere earlier this week. He's ..." she broke eye contact with the goblin, looking down. "He's trying to fight the compulsions on him. He was going to help us get inside."

When Leah looked up again it was to address the whole room. "The best Darek could do was make sure we were healed after the attack. We're locked inside here, no weapons, and all our powers locked. To make things worse... Adena's on her way. Then... " once again, Leah's eyes dropped, and she looked as defeated as she felt. " ... then... Darek had to leave us here."

She took a deep breath, then gave the goblin a sad, forced smile. "So... That's two of you questions answered. As for the rest... I'm Leandra, or Leah..., this huge blue beast is Thog. That's Yuffie and Matt over there. The Necromancer is Ted, Elwyn the Druid, and Rory's the pretty darkelf rogue. Jack and Zelda are the two at the end." Leah looked out to her friends. "Did I miss anything?"

[Rukia]

Rory looked up her eyes bloodshot, tears had streaked the blood and dirt on her face, "Yea you did. You forgot to tell us how to get the fuck out of here." She sobbed again and then started coughing. Once it had subsided, she wipped the blood away with the back of her hand.

"No offence, but I hope she kills us quick." Tears ran down her face as she buried it into her cot.

[Shark Bait]

Ted sat up his head was spinning he knew he had suffered a head injury, he looked over at Rory who was no doubt crying he could see her shoulders moving with a slight heaving motion. He slowly dragged himselv over to her and layed a hand on her back, it was no longer as cold as the grave, that spell was long cancled. "we are not going to die" he said in a harsh whisper "we are not dead yet, so we best not act like it."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"My real name is Justin... in the real world, I am a biologist. And no, we are not dead, and we are not going to die. No way in hell. And that is the only way we can think of it. Keep positive thoughts. As for Derek, Leah, at this point... I am sorry but..I think your judgement in regard to him has been...impaired" He said grimly

[Rukia]

Rory looked up at Ted, she could tell he was being sincere. She turned over on her side and buried her face in his shoulder. "I just want to go home." She mumbled and then sobbed.

"My real name is Justin... in the real world, I am a biologist. And no, we are not dead, and we are not going to die. No way in hell. And that is the only way we can think of it. Keep positive thoughts. As for Derek, Leah, at this point... I am sorry but..I think your judgement in regard to him has been...impaired" He said grimly

She turned to look at Justin. "You're fucking kidding right? Thoes things we faced back there we're nothing. They we're just playing with us. We have NO idea what we're up against. How the FUCK do you propose with fight? I'm not sure but I'm guessing 'thinking happy thoughts' and hoping this will all go away won't work. NEWS FLASH: We're offically, royally, completely FUCKED." She spat. She had barely finshed talking before she began coughing again.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"You dont think I know that? Yes, if we fight them, we are boned. But we are still alive, which means we have a chance. If they wanted us dead immediatly, they would have already killed us"

[Shark Bait]

Theodore held Rory close as she coughed and sobbed, he looked justin in the eye with an expression that clearly read "shut the hell up."

He patted Rory gently on the back drawing from his experience in trauma counseling "Hey i told you we are not dead, and we wont be any time soon" he kept his tone honest but firm. "They kept us alive for a reason that means we still have a chance we have something to hold onto."

[Devonie]

Jules slowly rose to her full height... which wasn't much. "Look," she said, "I know you're upset, I know you're hurting. But fighting amongst yourselves isn't going to help any of us."
She sighed and settled on her cot with her legs crossed. "Who's in charge of your party? I'd like to join, seeing as how I'm alone."

[Charon]

Matthew looked up at the others. Now they were beginning to really understand what he'd picked up on days ago. They were in against impossible odds. He squeezed Yuffie's hand once more and then stood up.

"I think there is a way we can fight them." He looked over at Sheik. "Though I don't know if we can get that stuff now." He looked back towards the others. "Auron mentioned that there was a ship in orbit. If someone can get in contact with them we might be able to get out of this. We personally don't have the power to go toe to toe with these guys, but if we can get our hands on some stuff from other gameworlds we might be able to come up with something."

Matthew looked over at the goblin. "Well when we started this journey, I was. But now..." Matthew shrugged. "We don't really have one, but one more mind to help us get out of here will always be welcome."

[LadyTevar]

Leah had sank down onto Thog's cot beside him as the accusations had been directed at her, the harse words and Rory's tears clearly upsetting her. Thog sat up and firmly pulled her into a one-armed hug. "It ok, Le-dra. Thog find bad guy and stomp for you."

She gave the half-giant a sad smile, thinking Albert went thog-mind to cheer her up. "Thanks Thog..."

"Auron mentioned that there was a ship in orbit. If someone can get in contact with them we might be able to get out of this. We personally don't have the power to go toe to toe with these guys, but if we can get our hands on some stuff from other gameworlds we might be able to come up with something."

Matthew looked over at the goblin. "Well when we started this journey, I was. But now..." Matthew shrugged. "We don't really have one, but one more mind to help us get out of here will always be welcome."

Leah looked over at Matthew, surprised and impressed by his speech. "You're sounding more like a paladin again, Matt. You're cheering the troops and improving morale, " she said, refering to the Paladin abilities in-game. "If you have an idea... let's hear it."

[Charon]

Matthew openned his mouth and then closed it again, thinking. "We were put into a room without windows, so that means they aren't stupid." Matthew looked around, trying to come up with something, something to keep everyones hopes up. He sighed. "I don't know."

Matthew slumped back down on the ground in defeat as Yuffie wrapped an arm around him in consolidation. "Maybe I can distract them while you guys get away."

Matthew grabbed onto Yuffie's hand tightly. "No, I..." He looked up at her for a few moments before looking away. "It's too risky."

[SirNitram]

"Can't break windows, then break wall." Offered the half-giant. "Worked on house, work on tower. Make sense."

Somewhere in that head, Albert was still there. But the consideration stress and trauma was.. Having an interesting effect.

[LadyTevar]

Leah gave Thog an odd look. "... Al? You dont' have to pretend to be dumb now..."

[SirNitram]

Leah gave Thog an odd look. "... Al? You dont' have to pretend to be dumb now..."

Thog's blank look said it all. After a few moments, he shook his head, his thoughts apparently having collected themselves enough to work out the situation. He frowned a little bit, looking for this 'Al'. Maybe he was hiding in his pocket?

"...Are you okay?"

"Thog head hurt. Many hammers after fight wolf-rider." Thog said, before releasing Leandra and standing up. The other's abilities had been locked, but the half-giant was pure brute-strength. He seized one of the now-empty cot's, untying it from the wood that held it up.

As Leandra tried to get through to this 'Al' person, he roared in effort as he ripped the plank out of the floor, and stared down the door. "Got plan." The half-giant stated, walking up to it. It was a makeshift battering ram.. But it would do.

[Rukia]

Rory looked at Al, then to Leah then to Ted. "What the hell is he doing?" She asked to no one in particular.