Well here we are again. Me writing, and you reading what I'm writing. It's occurred to me that a writer could completely take advantage of this situation and just go on and on. Then of course I realized that as a reader I would just skim any sort of babbling. So I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible. Here goes.
Thank you to everyone that's e-mailed me. For this story and the previous two. It's been great hearing from you. Special thanks go out to Kenitra, Shade, Aeoros, and Apples. And of course David. You can reach me at either Mist_dark@hotmail.com or Mist_dark@yahoo.ca I check both and would love to hear from you. And if that isn't a desperate plea for e-mail I don't know what is.
The disclaimer part now. This story is in no way supposed to reflect anything about anybody in the musical group Nsync. As good as they are at singing I very much doubt they can do even half the things that they do in my story. If homosexual themes offend you, I'd leave. If you are too young, or it's illegal in you area to be reading this, please leave as well. Parts of this story are based off the RPG Rifts. All trademarks belong to Kevin Siembieda and Palladium books.
Enjoy Until next time, Rune
CHAPTER ONE
Joey was the first to leave Selvar's castle. Justin and Pyre seemed to have decided to take up permanent residence in the stone building, but the others just hadn't gotten around to leaving. Mostly because all of them were still in the lovesick stage. He didn't begrudge any of them their love, but it was sickening to watch. None of them excluded him, but he still spent a great deal of time by himself.
During that time he'd worked on his various powers. Sometimes he felt gypped. Josh could do so much with his voice, he could make you see or feel things just by hearing a song. And sometimes he could even make things real with his music. Chris had finally mastered his powers, at least he wasn't accidentally setting things on fire any more. Even Justin had gotten control of his abilities. Though it had taken a while for him to figure out he could breathe without freezing things. Lance would eventually get learn how to do everything he had to do. The blonde had always been a fast learner. He, on the other hand, would never be able to say he had mastered his powers. He would always be learning something new. On one side it seemed like a good thing, he was the most versatile of his friends. On the other side of things he would never be able to relax completely. Chris could accidentally set things on fire if he got mad enough. Joey could kill with a thought.
One of the things that he had taught himself was how to enter the dreamworld. Evelyn had mentioned it to him once or twice as a place to be careful with. She had never taken him on tours of it. He had first entered it like all people do, in their dreams. He had found that the dreamworld was very much like the astral plane. Except that the astral plane was a separate plane of existence. The dreamworld was the combined subconscious of all creatures that could dream. Every creature had a dreampool, this was where their minds went when they went to sleep. Joey had figured out how to leave his pool and enter into the stream that connected all sleeping minds. Once he'd learned how to do that it was simple to enter the dreamworld at will. Then he discovered an interesting trick. Unlike the astral plane, you could enter the dreamworld completely. Not with just your mind, but your body as well.
That was how he had ended up in this jungle. Well in part that is how he ended up here. He had said his goodbyes to everyone at the castle and then packed what he felt he would need on his trip. Once all that was done he went to sleep, entered the dreamworld and started on his journey. He had only been in the dreamworld for what felt like an hour or so when the entire thing rippled. At first he hadn't paid any attention to it. The dreamworld was less then physically stable at the best of times. The scenes were constantly changing and there was always an ethereal look to it.
The world had rippled a few more times before a portal was ripped open. Now he'd learned from the books in Selvar's library that this was most likely a rift of some sort. And even if the books hadn't told him that a rift could be very dangerous, he would have avoided it. Any good horror film that dealt with supernatural had a portal to hell at some point. And as everyone knows, a portal to hell is rarely a good thing.
However, he didn't have any choice in the matter. Parts of the dreamworld were being sucked through the rift, and since he was part of the dreamworld at this moment, he went through as well. The rift had been what had deposited him in the jungle. After which it promptly shut itself.
Dusting himself off, Joey got to his feet. Thankfully he'd decided to wear jeans and a good pair of hiking boots for this part of the trip. A small pouch at his belt was the only means of carrying anything else that he had. It had been a gift that Selvar had left for him before the Guardian had gone to wherever Guardians went. It seemed small on the outside, but could hold about five times what a hockey bag could. The best part was that it was almost completely weightless. Since it didn't weigh anything, Joey had stuffed it to the point where the small sack almost burst.
Moving through the jungle was a lot easier then he would have thought. There was a lot of foliage on the ground, but most of it parted easily. He only tripped over a few roots now and again. The jungle itself was fairly pleasant. It wasn't too hot right now, and it wasn't alive with bugs.
He was enjoying his walk until he tripped over another root and landed face first on the ground. As he got to his feet he noticed that something was inscribed in the dirt. He swept aside the lower plants and saw that they had grown over a drawing. Being careful not to disturb the lines Joey moved around until he got a rough idea of what he was looking at. It was a circle of some kind. It sort of looked like something Lance would have drawn. It was covered in mystic symbols, but he couldn't understand any of it.
Putting the circle at the back of his mind Joey continued into the jungle. He didn't really have any destination in mind, but he could walk for hours yet. And he could defend himself readily if need be. He just hoped that he would never have to defend himself, but he knew that was very unlikely.
"NO!" A young voice screamed. "MURDERER!"
Before he knew what he was doing, Joey found himself racing toward the origin of the sound. He summoned a mental barrier to protect himself just in case. Somehow he knew he was probably going to regret this in someway. He burst into a clearing and skidded to a stop.
In the centre of the large clearing were two figures. One was a red-haired man wearing a white coat. The man's hair fell short of his shoulders. The man's back was to Joey. The other figure was a young boy. At least he thought it was a boy, the red-haired man was blocking most of the body. Another circle surrounded the pair. What caught Joey's attention was the dagger raised above the man's head.
Without thinking he grabbed a fallen log and hurled at the man. The log knocked the man out of the circle, but didn't take the dagger from him. Joey didn't care, at least he was away from the boy. The man lay stunned for a moment. He slowly pulled himself to his feet and turned to face Joey. From the front the brunette saw that he was entirely dressed in white. A simple white shirt was under the white trenchcoat, and white thigh-high boots covered most of the white slacks. A sneer was etched on the man's face. He wasn't truly handsome, but he would have turned a few heads.
"You will regret that stranger," the man told him.
Joey smirked at him. "I doubt it. Now would you mind explaining why you were about to kill that boy over there?" He pointed at the boy that was still lying in the circle. The child was bound hand and foot so that he couldn't move. He was watching the two adults with some confusion.
"I answer no one for my actions," the man snapped. "A lesson you would learn well, if you were to live long enough." He took two steps backward and stepped inside another circle. This one was less prominent then the one in the middle so Joey hadn't seen it when he first entered the clearing. With a start the psychic realized that there were at least ten circles in this clearing.
The red-haired man slashed his left palm with the dagger and drizzled the blood on the ground. The circle around him flared to life. The intricately carved runes flashed with crimson light. Sensing that something bad was about to happen Joey grabbed the log again and threw it at the man. It never reached him. Instead it bounced off an unseen wall. The man smiled at him before making a few gestures with the dagger.
The air in part of the circle shimmered. The shimmering started to take form and then solidified. A ten-foot winged creature stood in a divided section of the circle. It spread its gray wings and bellowed at the sky. Other then the beaked mouth, tail, and lack of hair, it looked like a gray, winged elf. He recognized it immediately. A gargoyle. Not a pleasant creature by any stretch of the imagination.
The man seemed slightly drained by the summoning, but waved a weary arm at Joey. "Kill him."
"Of course Master," the gargoyle said. Spreading its wings again it launched itself over its master at Joey.
Joey placed a telekinetic hand on the creature's chest and shoved. The gargoyle crashed into a tree. The creature twisted and leapt to its feet without a moment's pause. It repeated its original tactic, but dodged at the last moment to avoid Joey's counterattack. Changing direction in mid-air it took the psychic in the side. Both of them hit the ground.
"You will die human," the gargoyle hissed. It had the worst breath that Joey had ever experienced. Even Josh's morning breath was nothing compared to this.
"GET OFF ME!" Joey shouted in its face at the same time he sent the same message telepathically. The creature looked at him stunned for an instant. He took the pause to shout at it telepathically. He sent random snippets of anything he could think of. Parts of songs, speeches from famous Shakespearean plays, biblical quotes and just about anything else. The gargoyle clamped its hands over its ears as if it was trying to block out the noise. Joey pushed it off him and struggled out from underneath it while still using telepathy to confuse it.
When he was clear of the gargoyle he summoned a sword and shield of mental energy. They flashed into existence with blue light. He stopped the telepathic shouting and the creature stopped thrashing on the ground. It looked at him with hatred and got back to its feet.
"You will pay for that human. Your death will be very slow and painful."
"You have to find me first," Joey taunted. He knew he couldn't beat these creature in a physical contest, but then he wouldn't be fighting physically. Others had sometimes thought him a tad slow because he acted silly a lot, but he was very intelligent. And now was one of those times that he could prove his mental ability. He sent another telepathic wave. This one wasn't aimed at incapacitation. But its effects were just as impressive.
The gargoyle blinked as Joey faded from its view. It grunted in surprise, but decided to attack anyway. It swiped at the spot where Joey had last been. The brunette had obviously moved, but it was still worth a shot. It roared in pain when the psychic's blade slashed it in the side. Its tail connected with something solid and it spun around to face where Joey probably was. It still couldn't see him, but it at least knew where he was now. For the time being.
Joey struck again with his sword. He had purposely allowed the tail to touch him so that he could get the gargoyle to turn around. While it had done so he'd slipped behind it again. With two quick movements of his wrist he hamstrung it. The creature cried out in pain as its Achilles tendons snaked up to its knees. Unable to stand the monster fell forward onto its hands and knees. He didn't like fighting dirty, but he didn't want this fight to carry on.
Reaching out with his mind he grabbed the red-haired man's dagger and threw it at the gargoyle. It struck the writhing creature in the forehead. The blade sliced through the skull and sunk into the brain beyond. The gargoyle thrashed once before collapsing to the ground.
Sighing Joey turned to face the man. He had left the circle he'd used to summon the gargoyle and was stepping inside another one. This one started glowing the moment he stepped inside.
"I am tired stranger or you would have some of my other pets to play with," the man told him. "You may have the boy, but you are in my lands now and you will not leave them easily. Or at all." The circle flared like the first one and the man vanished.
The psychic scanned the area with his mind. Nothing dangerous was in the area. Well, nothing that was both supernatural and dangerous. He let his sword and shield disappear. He walked over to the boy and started to untie him.
"Are you alright?"
The moment the boy was untied he clung to Joey. At first Joey was surprised, but then he remembered this boy had almost been killed. So he just held the boy, which he would have had to do regardless. The boy had a deathgrip on him.
While he held the boy Joey had a chance to look at him. He had sandy-blonde hair that hung in his eyes. His shirt and pants were both a light gray. He wasn't wearing any shoes, but they were probably removed so the ropes could hold his feet better. Joey guessed he was about ten.
After a few minutes Joey started to feel uncomfortable. Not because of the boy in his arms, but the clearing itself. All of the circles gave him the creeps. Making sure that he had a good grip on the boy he stood and walked out of the clearing to find some place to set up camp for the night.
The boy didn't say anything during the night. He seemed in shock, which was understandable. A crazed man had tried to kill him. Joey used what limited healing abilities that he possessed to make sure that nothing was wrong with him. The only thing that he found were traces of a drug. He couldn't tell what the drug was supposed to have done, but it had almost run its course.
The camp that he made was small, no need to attract unwanted attention. He kept the fire small and the moment he was finished cooking the evening meal he put it out. Fire would have kept most normal creatures away, but there would be more like the gargoyle. The boy ate what Joey offered him, but didn't ask for any more. And unless Joey watched him, he would stop eating and slip into a dazed stupor again.
When they went to bed the boy curled up next to Joey and refused to let go of him for any reason. Several times Joey woke up during the night because of the whimpering the boy kept making. He never formed words, but he seemed just on the edge of making them. All in all it wasn't a very restful night for Joey.
The morning dawned brightly and the creatures of the forest were up before the sun was. At least the more noisy ones were. For a few minutes Joey contemplated asking Lance what the effects would be on the Balance if he were to wipe out every bird in this forest. The feeling passed when the boy next to him stirred.
The boy stretched out and pushed himself up so he could look Joey in the eyes. He scanned his face with sad blue eyes. "That was really stupid. What you did yesterday."
Joey looked at him in confusion. "What?"
"The Summoner only wanted to kill me, now he's going to want to kill you too. No one crosses him and lives." The boy spoke as calmly as a 50's housewife would have if she were telling her friend about a meatloaf recipe.
"Why was he trying to kill you?" Joey asked. He had a feeling he wouldn't like this answer completely.
"My parents and me were a threat to him," the boy told him. "He killed Mom and Dad, but you showed up before he could kill me."
"Oh," was all Joey could think to say. What could you say to a boy that had just lost his parents to a murderer? "What are you going to do now?"
"Kill him," the boy said simply.
"You're going to what?" Joey asked in shock.
"I'm going to kill him."
"That's not going to bring your parents back you know," Joey said. "And you could get killed yourself."
"I know it won't bring them back," the boy told him. "But it'll make me feel a little better."
"You're serious aren't you?" Joey asked in surprise. "What's your name?"
"Alexander, but most people call me Sandy."
"Well Sandy, mine name's Joey."
"Nice to meet you Joey." The way he said it made Joey think that his parents had drilled this politeness into him. "Thanks for the food last night, but I really should get going."
"And exactly where do you think you're going?" Joey asked.
"To kill the Summoner."
"Not until after breakfast," Joey said. "And I'll be going with you."
"Why?"
"You need the help," he said. "And I've nothing else to do. I'm just traveling anyway."
"You'll just get killed," Sandy said.
"How much of yesterday do you remember?" Joey asked him.
"Mostly the Summoner taunting me and then you cutting the ropes," Sandy admitted.
"Do you remember the gargoyle?"
"No."
"Then trust me. I can take care of myself, and you."
"I can take care of myself," Sandy said indignantly. He stood up straight and puffed out his chest.
"Of course you can," Joey told him. He wondered if he'd ever been like this. "But it doesn't hurt to have a little bit of help."
It's been a while since I've written in this journal, but I've been really busy. And I do mean busy. I think the last entry I wrote was just before the battle with Sayer and his various allies. That was a nasty battle. Sayer's dragon killed him, which was something that Chris and I wanted to do, but he did die. The master vampire, Wraith and the Gemini all escaped. Or rather they just left and no one was willing to stand in their way. We still don't know what Sayer was trying to do, but it probably wasn't something we wanted to experience.
After that Lance found the new Guardian, or rather the two new Guardians. Selvar, the elf that died in the first big battle we had in this world, was the new Guardian of Death. Lance himself became the new Guardian of Life. It was sort of a shock. I mean Lance was always very organized and could deal with the business aspect of things easily, but I don't think anyone ever expected him to have this much responsibility. But he seems fine with it, and doing well.
The wedding was great too. I've never seen that much power in one sitting before, well actually ever. And the Guardians were only using a fraction of their power. It was beautiful to watch though. And the party we had afterwards was fantastic. I think the topper to the whole thing was when I drank Justin under the table. I don't drink myself silly very often, but this was a special occasion. And I didn't get drunk. Justin forgot that I've a few tricks up my sleeve. Since he became a dragon he got an incredible metabolism, which let him drink a lot. I just kept purging my system of the alcohol. Everyone had to admit that it's entertaining watching a drunk dragon. Very entertaining. And with a metabolism that quick, the hangover shows up a lot faster.
The Guardian of Time apparently let the wedding happen outside of time so that we could celebrate properly. It's not every day that the forces of nature come together for a wedding. And the thing that made me the happiest was seeing Lance happy again. Not just in a good mood with the sorrow beneath the surface, but truly happy. It's something I hadn't seen since Selvar died. I guess this means love truly does conquer all.
After Lance and Selvar went to work I hung out at the castle for a while. That wasn't a great idea. I'm single and everyone else wasn't. It was sickening to watch. One set of lovebirds is bad enough, when you have three pairs it's just horrible. I thought it was time to be on my way so I left, but I plan to drop in at the most surprising moments. I can jump around in the world of dreams now, and if someone's sleeping I can pop next to them. It should be an entertaining way to wake the guys up.
But the really odd thing is Sandy. I found him the other day in a clearing. Some guy was trying to kill him. Sandy says he's a Summoner, a mage that uses circles to perform certain magical feats. It doesn't seem like the best form of magic, but I guess if a summoner is prepared they'd be fairly dangerous. And this summoner is certainly prepared. Since I found out what to look for I've seen no less then fifty circles, and that's just within a mile. They're all over the place. This guy certainly has his domain well protected.
I just can't understand how Sandy could be a threat to him. He's only a ten year old boy and doesn't seem to be anything really special. I do know there's something odd about him though. I caught him the other day staring at a rock for what seemed like an hour. He just looked at it like it was the most interesting thing in the world. I didn't mention it to him. I don't think he knows I saw him. I guess I'll just have to wait. I'd ask him why the Summoner wanted him, but every time I bring the man up Sandy goes into ranting about how he's going to kill him.
All of this is just strange, what really worries me though is that Sandy isn't grieving. His parents have just been killed. For what little bit I could find out, not that long ago. Probably just a few hours before I found him. I'd be almost catatonic in his situation. He's just stifling his grief and if he doesn't let it out soon he's going to break. I don't want to see that happen. I'm growing really fond of him. I guess this is what Evelyn felt like when she found Chris and I in the woods. I'm going to help in whatever way I can, but I'm hoping I can get him to give up the idea of revenge. It's going to get him killed.
I wonder what the guys would say if they could see me now. I don't think any of us would have thought I'd be the first one with a kid. I know he's not mine, but he doesn't have anyone else. At least no one else that he's speaking about. I get the impression that it was just him and his folks. So for now I'm going to take care of him. I don't know a lot about taking care of a kid, but I'm pretty sure I can figure it out. How hard can it be? I mean Sandy's old enough to dress and feed himself, I just have to do the cooking. He's actually full of energy, when he's not obsessing about the Summoner.
I should probably put this away for right now. I don't want Sandy to wake up and find that I'm not there. He won't admit it, but I'm sure he needs the comfort of having someone there.
From the Journal of Joseph Fatone
TBC
Let me know what you think. I really do want to hear from you. Let me know the good, the bad, your thoughts on the effects of the media on the self-esteem of young people today, etc.
Rune