July 28, 2007

This one's for everyone who started reading this and was interested enough to come back for more.

It was a quiet day at Gatezone alpha. The four Keepers had just discovered a way to destroy their archenemies, the Invaders, permanently.

In short, life was good.

Skay, the brunette known as Keeper I, was enjoying a quiet game of chess in the library of the Cubile (the home of the Keepers) with his younger sister, Stella, while Gale sat back in a comfortably padded armchair, carving a snowy owl out of soft pine.

“Hey Skay, where’s Naomi?” Stella asked her older brother. She hadn’t seen the young snowy-haired Keeper for at least three-fourths of an hour now. “It shouldn’t take this long to close the Dimension Gate.” Stella deftly captured one of Skay’s pawns.

“She said she was going to take care of it after she had a drink.” Skay recalled absently as he considered the game before him.

“That doesn’t explain why she’s been gone this long.” Gale mentioned from his armchair. “But it shouldn’t be a problem. Skay locked the wine cellar.” He carefully made several long, smooth grooves in the wood that were the beginning of the wing’s feathers.

The chess piece Skay had been holding clattered to the floor. The expression on his face was one of pure horror.

“Oh no.” Stella whispered. “You forgot to lock it, didn't you?”

“We are so doomed.” Gale ran for the Core of the Cubile, Stella and Skay at his heels, leaving both the chess game and the owl lying forgotten.

“How could you possibly forget something so important?” Stella roared at her elder brother, impatiently pushing her purple streaked bangs out of her face.

“You tend to forget a thing or two after your 182nd birthday.” Skay retorted sharply.

“Less talking, more running.” Gale yelled. He skidded down the hall and yanked open the doors to the Core.

In the center of the room was a very drunk Naomi, smiling happily as she spun in circles.

“Dammit!” Gale swore. He checked the screen that was prominently displayed in the exact center of the bright and airy room. “She locked down Alpha instead of the Dimension Gate!”

Naomi had stopped spinning when Gale had shouted. When saw how angry he was, her eyes fill with tears. “I’m sorry.” She whimpered in a voice full of remorse before she broke down completely, crying hysterically.

“Gale!” Stella scolded as she went to comfort Naomi. “Don’t yell at her! You know she’s a weepy drunk!”

“I just don’t know how one of the most sensible and level-headed people I’ve ever met can act this undignified.” Gale muttered. He was clearly upset; he was normally mild-mannered and extraordinarily polite.

“It’s in her nature, you know that.” Skay scolded. “She can’t suppress her Kiraid reactions anymore than you can suppress you Chroidous ones.”

“I still haven’t forgotten that this is you’re fault.” Stella told him.

Skay sighed and knelt down on Naomi’s other side and helped Stella soothe her.

“Wha...DAMMIT!” Gale roared, slamming his fists down on either side of the computer screen.

“Gale!” Stella hissed, “Be quiet.”

“Sorry.” He rapidly ran his hand through his black hair anxiously, “but three girls just crossed over from Gatezone Terra.”

“What?” Stella rushed over to look at the screen. “Oh no. They even made it to their Gatezones…”

“So Keeper I, what are we going to do about this one?” Gale asked Skay seriously.

Skay straightened, going into leader-mode. “Check and see if there is anyone near the general area they came arrived from. A friend or acquaintance will be able to convince them to leave faster than we will be able to.”

“Roger.” Gale said, returning his attention back to the screen, his black eyes scanning carefully. “He spotted a new life-form, represented by a small green dot on the screen, entering the area. “I got one. Where do you want me to send him or her? And who do you want to send out as a guide?”

“The Dimension Gate would be best. As for the guide…Ask Fauna; she can sense where the others are faster then the computer can pinpoint their general location.”

“But her overly-sunny personality could be a hindrance in the explaining process.” Stella objected. “I think you should send Deathuar too, just in case.”

“Agreed.” Gale seconded.

“I’ll take Naomi to her room. You two start running the security codes and try to find the correct sequence. And don’t forget to seal the Dimension Gate to all outsiders.”

“Already done” Gale retorted as Skay half-carried the inhibited Naomi out of the Core.

“This is going to take forever.” Stella sighed. “The lock-down system’s rotating code system is going to mean that we’re going to have to run every sequence we’ve got in order to find the right one and that could take up to three months.”

“Then we should start now, hmm?” Gale chuckled grimly.

“When this is all over, remind me to kick my brother’s arse.” Stella muttered darkly.

“Will do.” Gale replied. “Let’s get to work.”

Bonus Story II: Why Izil?

It was a lovely morning in Armageddon. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming…

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

…Izil was hammering the living daylights out of a defenseless piece of iron.

It was a lovely day.

So naturally, Armageddon’s number-one trouble maker decided that she was bored. So she decided to play our friend the blacksmith a visit. Which of course was not the smartest thing to do, but then again, she was never one for following instructions or listening to threats.

“What do you want?” Izil glared at Isis.

The tigress smile serenely. “I’m bored.”

“Go bother someone else.” The rate of collision between the hammer and the metal significantly increased.

“Is Izil your real name?” Only years of experience prevented the hammer from falling from Izil’s hand.

“What?” The smith stared at the tigress from behind sweaty bangs.

“Well it doesn’t exactly seem like a name that a parent would give to a baby girl? I mean, when most parents see a newborn girl, they think of feminine names like Elizabeth, Victoria, Mary, or Anne. Maybe even a couple of exotic names like Cholita, Yvette, or Llellena. Who looks at a new-born baby girl and thinks of ‘Izil’?”

Izil stared at the feline. “The world is coming to an end. You just made sense.” She deadpanned.

“So are you going to answer?”

Izil chose to return to her abused metal.

Isis calmly sat down on the sooty floor of the forge. And stared. Not you normal type of staring, but the kind where you don’t blink or move. The kind of stare that you can feel through walls.

The kind of stare that makes certain blacksmiths incredibly uncomfortable.

“You’re going to do that until I tell you what you want to know, aren’t you?”

“…”

“Fine, but only under two conditions.” Izil hung up hammer and tossed the iron into a stone bowl.

The tigress blinked and sat up. “And those are?”

“One, after I tell you, you leave.” Isis nodded. “Two, what you hear in this room may not be repeated to anyone.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s my personal business and if you do, I’ll rip you internal organs out and feed them to the vultures.”

The feline shuddered. She knew that Izil was dead serious and would really do it. “Deal.”

“Well, Izil isn’t my real name…” she ignored the mutter of ‘I knew it!’ “My mother actually named me…Rostweneia.”

Isis’s muzzle twitched. The blacksmith glanced at her. “Go ahead. I know how stupid it sounds.” The cat burst out laughing. “What kind of a name is that?!” she howled. “Rostweneia?! What the hell was she thinking?!”

“Apparently she wasn’t.” Izil continued. “When I was thirteen, she admitted that she was drunk when she was asked for a name.”

“You’re kidding me.” The tigress snorted with disbelief.

“Yes, because I ‘kid’ often.” Izil stared straight at Isis.

“Oh my…You’re serious. Aren’t you?”

“Yes. And I hated that name. So when my mother died, around the time I turned sixteen, I moved to the Northern part of Armageddon and got my first job in a smithy. The only thing they wanted to know about me was if I could hone the edge of a dull blade, heat up the bellows to the perfect temperature, and find my way around a forge without burning or smashing my fingers off. I worked there for six months before they bothered to ask for a name.”

“So where did you come up with Izil?” Isis was genuinely interested in Izil’s story, bored curiosity quickly giving way to genuine interest.

“Well, you know about the Old Language, right?”

“Yes. It’s the one all the others are based off of… But isn’t it a dead language?”

“It is, but that’s not the point. You see, it means ‘endurance’. And that’s what I do. I endure everything life sends my way.” Izil bent over and picked up her hammer. “Now get outta here ya pesky feline!”

Isis giggled and complied with the blacksmith’s request.

About the Keepers

Skay

Age: 187

Gatezone: Terra (Earth)

Appearance: Skay has long, dark brown hair that he likes to pull back. His eyes are gray. He’s almost 6’0.

Personality: Skay is very responsible, but sometimes he forgets to do things because he can be easily distracted. When a problem arises, he goes into what Gale calls his ‘leader-mode; he becomes more serious and can think faster and more clearly than normal. He loves to solve puzzles; he’s very goods at them.

Naomi

Age: 184

Gatezone: Kiraid

Appearance: Naomi is very small and petite; she’s roughly five feet tall. Her hair is long and snowy white, because of its length, she prefers to pull it back into a long braid. Her eyes are a very soft blue, like the sky.

Personality: Naomi is very sweet and motherly, but every four months she goes thought what the other Keepers have nicknamed her ‘Kiraid phase’ “See Notes for more details) Naomi loves to grow things. The garden in Gatezone Alpha is her pride and joy.

-Kiraid is a Gatezone in which all of the inhabitants drink until they are drunk once every four months. It’s a tradition that has been passed down for so long that it has become natural instinct. They can only resist it when they are unable to obtain any alcohol.

Gale

Age: 181

Gatezone: Chroidous

Appearance: Gale has short black hair and dark brown eyes. He’s 5’7 with a very strong build.

Personality: Gale’s very intelligent; he’s the techno-master of the group. He’s stubborn and hot-headed when he’s in his ‘Chroidous mood’ (see notes for more), but he’s normally very polite. His favorite thing to do to tease and flirt with Stella.

-Chroidous is a Gatezone where the people have animal like habits. For example, Gale has bird-like habits. If he goes too long without feeling the wind, he becomes irritable and short-tempered.

Stella

Age: 179

Gatezone: Terra

Appearance: Stella wears he brown hair very short. She likes to streak the bangs on the right side of her face. Currently, they are purple, to match her eyes. She also has a star tattooed on her left cheek. She’s about 5’5.

Personality: Stella’s tough. She has a very strong sense of justice and she’ll take care of anyone who needs it. She likes to sit out in Naomi’s garden and paint the flowers.

-The line “Yes because I ‘kid’ often”, was borrowed from Seven Sea’s Amazing Agent Luna, which I do not own.

-And, Izil’s father was a blacksmith; he passed his talent at the craft to his daughter before he died of old age when she was ten.

This is the end. I thank all of you who read and reviewed.

Reviews are appreciated! So please click the purple button and leave a small message. I accept anonymous reviews; that means you can review even if you don’t have a fiction press account. So please take a few moments to leave me a thought or two.

Until next time,

Kimono3kitty