The Keepers Athenaeum

Chapter 37 - “I name you the TerraBlade,” said Selene. The Blade Masters were holding on tight as they sat of top of Terra’s giant Spider Gauntlet. The TerraBlade made sharp turns and even defied gravity as it traveled down the long cave to the main entrance of Terra’s home. Rook and the GullBlade kept up with the fast moving giant spider shaped Blade. “We did not even get a chance to give her a hug goodbye,” said Salem. “We will be able to call on her with the TerraBlade,” said Selene. “It will not be the same,” said Salem. Ahead of them, they could see sunlight shining into the large entrance. They exit the cave and onto an expansive field of grass. Rook and the GullBlade took to the open sky. The TerraBlade came to a stop and lowered it’s main body to let the Blade Masters get off. “That was a fun ride,” said Zealot. David on the other had, was kissing the ground after the ride. Vivien snapped out of her shock and signed, “That was Terra, the Caretaker of Earth and Rock.” “Yes Vivien, we know,” said Selene. Salem stood in front of the TerraBlade. “What are we going to do with this huge Blade?” asked Emhril. “Easy,” said Salem, “Pawn, ThievesBlade’s void!” Pawn opened his void and the TerraBlade slipped into the darkness. The void closed and the TerraBlade was safe inside. “Is there a maximum size to what that thing can take in?” asked Zealot. “Not sure. Everything has gone in so far,” answered Salem. “Come on, we need to find the people who live here,” said Selene. “I think that’s going to be real easy to do,” said Jarody, “Someone is standing over there.”

The group walked over to the person standing just in front of a knee high rock wall. “Wait, it cannot be,” said Salem. “It is not possible,” said Selene. The closer they got the more the twins hearts moved into their throats. “Hey!” yelled Jarody, “Isn’t that?…” “Yes. It’s Lord DarkRaptor,” said Selene. “Lord DarkRaptor?!” said Christina. Vivien was shocked stupid again with her jaw finding it hard to stay closed. In her head, she was amazed at all the people she has been meeting since she joined the group. But her amazement passed and was replaced with an anger that was starting to grow. David heard stories about Lord DarkRaptor and the Raptor Pack. Emhril knows about the Raptor Packs’ adventures very well. He even listened to his wife reading stories about them to Haiku at bedtime. Zealot too could not believe he was about to meet the great Raptor Pack Lord. Countless battles she had been in and only three defeats from them. Lord DarkRaptor is considered the greatest military strategist in the history of Colloquy. They arrive on the patch of grass where the extremely muscular, dark haired, six foot four tall woman with a silver and purple visor over her eyes was waiting. “GothRaptor, BladeRaptor. It is very surreal to be seeing you again,” said the woman, “I still can’t get used to your agelessness.” “Lord DarkRaptor?” asked Salem. “Please, just call me Dark, I left that Lord title behind long ago,” said Dark. “Where have you been?” asked Selene “Why did you go?” asked Salem. “How did you escape the cave-in?” asked Selene. “Why did you not tell us you were alive?” asked Salem. “Hold it. I’ll answer your questions, but first we have a few things to do and more people to see,” said Dark. Salem and Selene had tears in their eyes. Everything they had been through after the day Dark killed De La Groot had hit them again.

Dark gave the twins a hug to calm them down, and then looks up to see someone she had never expected to see. “Phoenix?” asked Dark, “How? Why are you all white?” Christina began to cringe not knowing what to say. “How did you get younger?” asked Dark. “Lord,” called Selene, “She is not Phoenix, this is her daughter,” said Selene, “We named her Christina. We named her after her mother.” “The baby?” asked Dark with a growing smile, “She lived.” Dark gave Christina a hug. “You look exactly like your mother,” said Dark, “Except of course, she had dark skin and brunette hair. Had I known you were still alive, you would have been here with us.” “What are you saying?” asked Selene. “We need to get going. We have others to see and I want to know about your group here,” said Dark. They start walking down a beaten path and pass a door in a hill. “That is the storeroom. It used to be our home until we built a larger one,” said Dark. The other Blade Masters could see tiger stripes going down Dark’s back. After they passed the hill, a large house could be seen surrounded by large trees. “How long have you lived here?” asked Salem. “It’s been almost twenty years,” answered Dark. “So is anyone going to tell me why a vampire is able to walk in the sunlight?” asked Dark. “It takes some explaining,” said Selene.

The group was getting closer and closer to the home. “So, how is Blackfrost doing these days? I bet Darkwind misses him.” said Dark. “I had to leave him at the Temple to live out the rest of his days in peace,” answered Salem. “Wait, how do you know we have Darkwind with us?” asked Selene. As soon as Selene asked, her question was answered when she saw the MobilBlade next to the home with the horses. “We thought they were just trespassers and were going to kill them until I recognized Darkwind and Skyclap,” said Dark. “Where are the passengers?” asked Salem. “They are inside. When I left, they were helping Blue with the chores,” answered Dark. “Wait! Queen BlueRaptor is alive too?!” asked Selene. “The time for explanations will come soon. Right now, I need to use the restroom,” said Dark. They were close to the home now and someone could be seen sitting on a bench on the porch of the home. It was a little girl with a strange guitar playing a very haunting melody. The girl looked to be Haiku’s age. “That sounds like an electric guitar,” said Jarody. “That is PurpleRaptor. You never got to meet her before,” said Dark. “I do not think she was born yet,” observed Selene. “Actually, she is about twenty five years old. She has a condition that prevents any further aging,” said Dark. The little girl got up when the group reached the porch and her guitar transformed into a metallic bird. “She has a Blade?” asked Salem. “Thought you did not believe in Blades,” said Selene. “That is not one of your Blades. That is made from technology RedRaptor had adapted from the other world,” said Dark. “Yes, Terra told us that you all had the ability to travel to another world. How are you able to do that?” asked Selene as they began to enter the home. “I will explain later. Purple, show our old friends and their group to the living room. I will be back,” said Dark as she began to climb stairs inside the home. The group followed the little girl into a room with many seats inside. There were paintings and other furnishings similar to what was in Jarody’s home. “Hey!” yelled Jarody, “Where are you guys getting electricity?” There were indeed electric lights on lighting the room.

Haiku went up to PurpleRaptor, “Hi! My name is Haiku and this is my Blade Carber. He is the HealthBlade.” The little girl just looked at Haiku with a blank expression. The little girl had not shown any emotion at all since they first met her. “Are you OK?” asked Haiku, “Why don’t you say something?” “That’s because she doesn’t talk,” said a blonde haired woman who was walking into the living room. “Queen BlueRaptor!” said Salem. “Hey, GothRaptor. Long time no see BladeRaptor. The woman was just as tall as DarkRaptor but she appeared to be a lot more feminine with less muscle on her arms but leopard spots covered her back. “Please, just call me Blue. We are just simple people,” said Blue. Purple began to use sign language but Selene and Vivien could not make out what she was signing. “Use the sign language indigenous to this world,” said Blue. The little girl began to sign again, “Sorry, It has been so long since I used this world’s version.” “PurpleRaptor is mute?” asked Selene. “No. PurpleRaptor can talk. But her ability prevents her,” said Blue. “Prevents her? In what way?” asked Salem. “A whisper will cause you to lose consciousness, to talk at a normal level will tear you apart, and a yell can destroy rock,” said Blue. Another blonde haired woman enters the room. This one had no markings on her back. Jarody thought to himself how unbelievably hot she was. “Goth, Blade!!” yelled the women as she ran from the entrance to the twins to give them a crushing hug. “Great to see you PinkRaptor,” said Selene as the air was squeezed out of her lungs. DarkRaptor enters the living room with Mal and the two detectives behind her. “Are you alright Mal?” asked Selene. “I be fine. I still be a little sore in the shoulder where they tackled me,” said Mal. “Where is Mage Khet?” asked Salem. “He’s with RedRaptor below in the lab,” said DarkRaptor, “Lab?” asked David. “We will get into that later,” said Dark. “Mal, what about Sturmer? He was with you,” said Zealot. “Is Sturmer a wolf like animal with some sort of armor on?” asked Dark. “Yes he is. The Armor is the SwitchBlade,” said Selene. “He’s been hiding in the trees on the edge of the valley. I believe he is waiting to see if any of you show that you’re in danger. As long as he knew you are safe, he will continue to stay hidden until you leave,” said Dark, “If I were in his position, I would be doing the same thing.”

“Red is to busy too join us,” said Dark. Another woman enters the room; the twins were shocked at the woman’s entrance. She looked just like DarkRaptor only her visor was an icy blue and it appeared to be a permanent part of her face. “Before you begin to stutter your words, this is ColdRaptor. She was created by an enemy on Earth. Earth is the other world we have been visiting and protecting. It is really an interesting story,” said Dark. “The story I want to hear is how you survived the cave-in and why have you been hiding out here in Terra’s valley,” said Selene. “It started with me,” said BlueRaptor, “After De La Groot’s men killed BlackRaptor and RazorRaptor, I felt it was in our best interest that we disappeared.” “But you, as well as Red, and Pink died in the fire that destroyed Raptor Hall,” said Salem. “No better way to disappear then to make everyone think we were dead. Even if I had to make Dark believe we were,” said Blue. “You did not know?” Selene asked Dark. “I thought the same as you. To me, they were dead,” answered Dark. “Then we found out where De La Groot had been hiding and journeyed to Mount Obelisk to finally kill him,” said Salem, filling in the others who did not know what happened. “Yes, It all started when De La Groot found PhoenixRaptor after Phoenix retired from spying for me to marry and give birth to her baby,” said Dark. “Yes, Salem and Selene told me what happened. He killed my father and was trying to kidnap my mother. She would not go with him, so he killed her,” said Christina. “We had just arrived when Phoenix was killed. We were there to help your mother during your birth. De La Groot ran while the men he had hired to help him kill your parents fought with us,” said Dark. “I was able to cut you out of your mother’s dead body, saving you. That is when I quickly rode to the closest town. That town was Koror where Goth and BladeRaptor were founders of the Temple of the Blades,” said Blue, “I only had time to tell them what happened before I had to rejoin Dark so we could find De La Groot.” “Little did we know just how far De La Groot would go to exact his revenge on us,” said Dark, “He and his men successfully killed nearly all pureblooded Raptors. Only the small number of honorary Raptors like Goth and BladeRaptor escaped the killing spree.” “After we thought Blue, Red, and Pink were killed, we had found out from SkyRaptor where De La Groot had been hiding,” said Selene, “What happened after we gave you the SaintBlade and you told us to stay on the hill?” “I knew what I had to do. I did not want anyone else to die,” said Dark. “That is when I used the JumpBlade,” said Blue. “You are the one who took the JumpBlade!” yelled Salem. “Yes I did. You told me that the JumpBlade can instantly transport you from where you are to anyplace you have been before regardless of distance,” said Blue. “But you have never been in Mount Obelisk before,” said Selene. “This is true, that is why I had the JumpBlade transport me where I have been many times before,” said Blue, “By Dark’s side.”

“I was shocked to learn that Blue was still alive. More so when she told me she had saved Red, Pink, and Purple. But the need to kill De La Groot was still there. I remembered what you told me about Blades. I combined the JumpBlade and the SaintBlade making it the SaintJumpBlade,” said Dark. “With the power in the SaintBlade, that would allow you to send whatever to wherever you wanted,” said Salem. “That’s correct. I sent BlueRaptor back to the Valley, and then I hunted down De La Groot. I decided it was best to fight with him to tire him out before attempting to use the SaintJumpBlade on him,” said Dark, “He fought as if he knew what was in store for him. He wasn’t stupid, As soon as he figured that I was trying to make him tired, he began to run. I began to use the Blade, only hitting support pillars here and there, missing De La Groot. He was weaving between them like the devil he was. It actually worked out in my favor. The mountain began to collapse around us. We both ended up trapped in his throne room. He fought with me again, knowing that the JumpBlade I had was the only way to escape now. At one point of the fight, he did take the Blade from me. The stupid fool did the one thing I figured he would do. He began to laugh his head off thinking he had me and his victory was a sure thing. I faked a trip and told him to kill me, because I didn’t want to be crushed to death. I guess he felt that he would be more satisfied if it was him who killed me and not the cave-in. So he swung the SaintJumpBlade to my neck. I jumped over him and grabbed his head. I tossed him head first to his throne and took the Blade from him. He landed on his throne in a sitting position. I used the SaintJumpBlade to send him to the bottom of the Devil’s Abyss for a nice swim. I removed the SaintBlade from the JumpBlade and used the JumpBlade to take me to BlueRaptor leaving the SaintBlade to be buried in Mount Obelisk and leaving you and the other honorary Raptors to believe I had died.” “But why?” asked Salem. “De La Groot was the start of a trend. I knew it. I felt to prevent more killings, we needed to be dead,” said Blue. So we decided to spend the rest of our days here, dead to this world.”

“So the SaintBlade is still inside Mount Obelisk. It is going to be hard to retrieve it.” “We still have the JumpBlade inside the storage hill,” said Dark, “Just a simple trip there and back.” “Great!” said Jarody, “Just pop on over there and get it.” “First of all, we don’t know if there is room enough for me to pop over there in and even if there is, will the SaintBlade be at the spot I arrive. I’m sorry, but I’m not doing anything until a little research is done and we’re sure it is retrievable using the JumpBlade.” “We understand, Dark,” said Selene. “Right now, I have other business I must attend to. Feel free to do what you want, but don’t leave the valley. GothRaptor and BladeRaptor, come with me,” ordered Dark.

The twins follow Dark out of the room and into the hallway. Dark leads them to a door and opens it revealing a lift much like that found on the TidusBlade. The three women stepped into the lift and the doors closed before heading down. “What is this place?” asked Salem. “This is the Raptor’s new base of operations,” said Dark. The lift doors opened up and a large very modern room was before them. It looked nothing like the simple home they were just in. “Here, we’ve taken Earth technology and gave it our own twist to produce RaptorTech devices and weapons. This is where PurpleRaptor’s Soundboard and Soundwave guitar was made,” said Dark, “And over there is the AliceBlade.” “AliceBlade?” asked the twins at the same time. “Terra found it for us. It allows us to travel between Colloquy and Earth,” said Dark. The AliceBlade was enormous. Even the TidusBlade can pass through it, thought Selene. “But how does the paper stay whole?!” yelled Mage Khet. The twins looked where the voice came from to see Khet and RedRaptor. RedRaptor was even more muscular and taller than Dark. “Goth, Blade!” yelled Red, clearly happy to see them. RedRaptor was standing next to some strange object with wheels. “Go up and rejoin your friends Khet,” ordered Dark. “It is!” said Mage Khet until he saw the expression on Dark’s face and just left. “Red, send a satellite up and have it scan Mount Obelisk for air pockets and Blade metal,” ordered Dark. “You mean to send one up here? On this world?” asked Red. “Yes, Red. Do it,” said Dark. Red left the alien object and walked over to a control panel. “What is this?” asked Selene. “Oh, this is one of our Raptor Mobiles. On Earth, the people who live there travel throughout their civilizations with vehicles like this. Now, tell me, now that we are safe from any member of your group hearing us. Do they know you’re a single person who has been split into two people?” asked Dark. “We see no need for them to know that,” said Selene. “Jarody still does not know that,” said Salem. “I can understand why you would want to keep that to yourself, but what other secrets are you keeping from them?” asked Dark. “Actually, there is one secret we were hoping you could help us with,” said Selene. “Sister!” yelled Salem, “Do we have to?” “Yes sister. It is the right thing to do,” said Selene, “Christina does not know that she is a full blood Raptor.” “You have not told her? So she thinks she’s human?” asked Dark. “Yes Ma’am,” said Selene, “She did not exhibit any Raptor traits until she lost her virginity.” “That is the great thing about the Raptor reproductive system. It takes what genetic information needed for reproduction but throws out the genetic information that doesn’t fit in a Raptor’s genetic make-up. The result will be a full blood Raptor no matter who the father is. Do not worry. I will talk with Christina and discuss with her about the abilities she has yet to discover,” said Dark.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 4th, 2006 at 11:36 am and is filed under KingBlade.