Chapter 24

Red Light Green Light II

Silver and Jasper found a comfortable room filled with a couple of sofa’s lying around. It was a large lounge like area, where a small cafe booth were placed. Right now, she was tired from all the running and the use of magic. At the rate they were going, she knew that she wouldn't have enough to infiltrate in safely without running out of stamina.

Plopping herself down on a stool, she brought out her stash of food to eat. She put away her flashlight, because the light in this room were still on.

“Do you mind?” Jasper asked, he came over and slipped next to her in a chair.

Silver shook her head as her silver hair fluttered side-to-side. She took a bite out of a sandwich that she had made and devoured it hungrily. The sweet taste of ham with gushing juices of tomato, colorful flavor of cheese, lettuce, onion, and mayo mixed in made her enjoy every moment of the flavor. What surprised her was that throughout the whole day, she didn’t get a chance to actually sit down and eat.

Looking to the side, she even noticed Jasper hungrily devouring his food like a starved wolf. The other three came in the door with solemn expression, not a single light of happiness could be seen. Amy fell forward onto one of the four sofa with her face stuffed in the pillows. An anguish muffled cry could be heard.

Jamie came over and sat next to his mother, gently consoling her. Sophia gazed towards them, but she couldn't approach the mother and son combo and watched over with worry.

“I’m full.” Jasper stated with a satisfied grin as he patted his belly. “I didn’t realize that I was this hungry. Running around, inside filled with zombies will keep anyone on edge.”

“I’m going to take a rest.” Silver got up and walked over towards one of the coach. She pulled out her sleeping bag, and lay it on top. She didn’t go over an console the three nor did she thought it was her obligation to. Right now, she knew it was best to leave them alone, so that they could deal with the pain of lost family members.

Jasper walked over towards them with three bottled waters in hand. He handed each one to them and gave them a sandwich. “Eat up. You’ll need your strength for tomorrow.”

Sophia took the sandwich from Jasper’s hands. She glanced at him curious on why he was being so nice to them. “Why did you save us? You guys were already safe inside the building.” Her voice was stifled when she spoke; her grip started to intensify, squishing the sandwich in hand.

“Because this game is not just a solo game.” Jasper spoke with a gentle smile. His voice at this moment sounded a bit older than what his age shown. “Winning through the game together gives us a higher chance to succeed in all the future games to come. Fighting alone is a very lonely and difficult task.”

“But, you didn’t have to sacrifice your safe spot for us. Not a lot of people would.”

Jasper shook his head. “In such a time when man is against one another and selfishness rise to the top, this will be the time when our belief will be challenged and shown. If we don’t help one another, who would? If someone doesn’t start the cycle, would you?”

Sophia head fell down in shame, thinking that someone younger than her were willing to help out a complete stranger. “I probably wouldn't.” Her voice was a low.

Jasper shook his head in understanding, and gently patted her hands. “I gotta start somewhere, don’t I? You know the saying karma comes back in three folds for whatever you put out. That is how life works.” He winked and gave her a cheerful smile.

Sophia held in her breathe as she stared at Jasper’s angelic smile. For a moment, she felt like she could be healed by his positivity and kindness.

Silver completely understood what Sophia was going through through her mind when she was looking at Jasper and knew the healing power Jasper’s smile gave. Sophia leaned over and gave Jasper a gentle hug as stream of tears flowed out from her eye. Jasper on the other hand, he was fumbling, with child-like innocence, not sure what exactly what to do. His hands were behind her not sure where to place, and his eyes called towards Silver to help him in this strange predicament.

Sophia pulled back and gave him a reassuring smile. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheeks. Jasper jaws open wide in shock. Even Silver stare flabbergasted. His hands reached up towards the kiss on his cheek in complete disbelief.

“Thank you.” Sophia happily replied. She turned around, and went over towards Jamie and Amy with the food and water in her hand.

“Quite the lady killer aren’t we.” Sliver broke the silence. She eyed him quite funny at the what just happened.

Jasper’s face were turning red as different emotions were littered on his face. He was unable to retort back.

“Your growing up too fast.” Silver pretended to cry and wiped off a fake tear on her eyes. She gave him a mischievous smile and crept up towards him. Swooping down, she hugged him like a giant stuff toy. “Awwww, your so cute.” She rubbed her face against his cheeks.

“Gah! Silver!” Jasper was pushing away from her embarrassed. Every time they locked gaze, Jasper quickly glanced away and complained that she was too close for comfort.

It wasn’t until a couple of minutes passed by did she let him go. A crescent moon like smile erupted on her lips and the negative energy that she had in herself was washed away. Relieved, she merrily walked over towards the sofa where her sleeping bag laid. Jasper was scowling behind her with his hair completely messed up. She snuggled in and went to sleep.

#####

“So how is it?” Silver asked Jasper who was leaning over, trying to get a better view of the topography of the city.

It was still dark, Silver had slept for five hours and it was already past five am. They were looking out the window in their room.

“Its worse than I thought. The next light takes about ten minutes of green, three minutes of yellow, and four minutes of red. Not only that the one further away from us, the green time increased by three minutes, and the red decreased by thirty seconds. Running back and forth from building to building is going to be a lot tougher than it looks.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Silver frowned. She knew that it would become harder, but didn’t think that the intervals between each stoplight will shorten its time when it turned red.

“How are they?” Silver motioned her head towards the back where the three were sleeping on the sofa.

“Their taking it pretty well.” Jasper replied. “It’s going to take some time for them to get over it, but we’ll need to push forward quickly as possible. We’ll see how they would act when they wake up.” He scratched his cheeks. “So far, Jamie is taking it emotionally well….though Amy…that’s a bit of a different story.”

“I see. This could get a bit difficult.” Silver let go of the curtain and sat down. “We have three days left, we need to get the Ancient Lost Tablet today or we won’t be able to leave in time.”

“I agree. At the rate it took us to get this far today, we will need another half a day to get out of this mess.” Jasper sighed. He flopped down onto the sofa and rested his head. “You know it's hasn’t even been five days and I feel like I gotten older. At this rate, I’ll be a grandpa.”

“If you were an grandpa, you’ll probably won’t change.” Silver chuckled at herself. “An immortal kid or should I say a vampire.”

“Hey. I don’t want to look like this my whole life. I have dreams you know.”

“Yes. Yes. I know. Your immortality dream of staying young forever. You have already achieved it.”

“W-what? What are you talking about? I told you I want to be taller, masculine, and with muscles!” Jasper stressed the words to get it clear across Silver’s delusional statement.

“Stay like this forever!” Silver smirked. “Your so adorable. Like a fluffy bunny.” She glomped onto him and cuddled him.

Jasper was freaking out from the sudden invasive entrance to his personal bubble. He was once again turning bright red like a tomato too embarrassed to do anything else. “W-why do all girls do this to me? Do I look like a teddy bear?” He was trying his best to get away from her enveloping arm.

Silver sighed. “Great stress reliever. Staying this cute forever is a great thing for the heart you know.”

Jasper was sitting in her lap squirming. Her long Silver hair tickled his cheeks as it fell to his side, making it look like he himself has silver hair. “Are all girls like this? Can’t I h-h-have some space? Your b-b-boob is squishing onto my back!” He froze, realizing what he had just said.

“Ayah. The little brat is growing up so well.” Silver jokingly stated rubbing his downy like hair.

“I told you. I’m not a kid.” Jasper gritted his teeth in frustration. “I’m younger than you by one years and I will be eighteen in less than a month. I’m a full grown man.”

“Eh…I think your getting delusional.Staying like this isn’t bad.” She patted his head.

“I think something is wrong with your head.” Jasper scowled, disliking how he was being treated.

Silver suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest. The pain was uncomfortable to point where she unconsciously leaned forward onto Jasper, putting her body weight against him. Her hands reached up to her chest and her vision became blurry. Something felt wrong, her breath shortened and her mind felt fuzzy. She could feel the energy from her body leave her and she slumped to the side.

“Silver?” Jasper turned around confused at the sound. “Silver?!” He was in complete disbelief at her sudden change in behavior.

With gasping breath, Silver gripped her chest in pain. What is going on? Silver was confused and her mind was becoming muddled. The symptoms of the poison that one would normally get from the poisonous gas couldn’t have manifest itself in her body. She knew that the water that she drank was the antidote for it. Kushiel had reinforced the belief by stating it as well.

Silver felt her body shake and her breath quicken. Sweat covered her whole body, making her feverous and tired. It didn’t take long before she blacked out.

#####

Feverous blood spilled out in front of her, covering the floor red. Red flowers started to blossom in the battlefield of the dead, where the flowers sprung from the human skulls. Silver was standing in the middle of the battle field with her sword in her hands. Blood dripped downwards onto her blade from her injured arm.

She gazed at out into the field with a cold eyes, taking everything in. The foul stench was heavy in the air, and she felt right at home. Off in the distance, she saw a familiar figure standing before her with a silver armor dyed in red. The unforgettable figure that would brought chills to anyone who saw the Emperor from afar, and the energy around the Emperor was ten times more difficult to breathe.

“Emperor.” Silver worded slowly in anger. The Emperor was before her, the enemy that took everything away from her. She wouldn't allow such thing to happen again, she would fight to make sure she wins against the foe that is before her.

Silver yelled as she dashed forward with her sword in hand. The Emperor raised up its sword and made contact with one another. She attacked without remorse and the anger in her heart welled up to the tipping point. She wouldn't allow the Emperor to win, instead she will win for sure and make him disappear.

The Emperor sung his sword without a single bated breath or had any difficulty deflecting her blows. Instead, the Emperor turned the fight around in second, pushing her back. Blood like wings erupted out from the Emperor’s back into a dazzling array of ruby feathers. Six in total flaunted about, creating a hurricane like wind. She could feel the horrible shake of her body slowly becoming weaker and weaker, making it difficult to breathe.

“No! No!” Silver yelled. Black energy poured out of her body warping her and putting her on edge. Her mind became chaotic and warped in madness. Blood whips shot out from the ground and entangled her in its embrace, making it difficult for her to escape.

“Emperor!” She yelled out in rage. The entanglement got worse until the point where she could no longer move. Even the Emperor didn’t come forward to attack her and floated above her head unmoving.

Silver could feel the disdain coming from the Emperor’s aura looking down on her like a bug. She struggled, until finally the blood encased her completely, pulling her into darkness. The last thing that she heard was the laughter of Emperor echoing in her ears.

#####

Silver woke up confused. Her head was throbbing in pain as if she got hit with a blunt object. Propping herself up, she noticed Jasper sitting on the floor, laying his head next to hers.

She couldn’t help but feel a bit happy that they were someone next to her when she woke up. Living by herself in the future had caused her to become more closed off from the human interaction. A tang of iron could be tasted in her mouth, her lips licked the edge of her lips where she felt a slight sting. A cut was present and she couldn’t help but wonder how she was able to gain such an injury from knocking out.

“Jasper?” Silver gently shake his shoulder. His hair move way and she noticed a cut on his shoulder with puncture marks. Dried out red blood decorated his porcelain like skin. She wondered when Jasper got hurt.

“Mmm.” Jasper smacked his lips and smiled.

“Jasper. Wake up.” Silver shook him harder.

“Kuhuhuh don’t do that. It tickles.” Jasper gave out an exaggerated lewd smile.

“What the heck is this kid dreaming?” Silver felt a bit uncomfortable She leaned over and blew into his ears. “Jasper. Wake up or I’m going to throw you outside with a group of naked females.”

Jasper opened his eyes with a bolt. “Naked females? Where?”

Silver pulled away just in time before she almost got headbutted.

“My image of you have completely shattered.” Silver stated in sadness. “I didn’t know you were a perverted child.”

“I’m a man. Isn’t that obvious.”

“No.”

Jasper was scowling at what Silver had stated. He rubbed his eyes to completely waken up.

“What time is it?” asked Silver.

Jasper glanced down at his watch. “3:34 pm.”

“What?!” She unconsciously shrieked out loud. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. You wouldn’t wake up even if I shook you awake. All I could do was wait for you to wake up naturally.”

“We need to go now or we won’t make it. Why did I fall asleep now of all times.” Silver groaned. She was peeved at herself for oversleeping. She got up and walked over towards the door. “Wait, where are the others?”

“Ah, them. Their downstairs waiting for us. They got tired of staying in this room.”

“I see.” She grabbed open the door and walked out towards the elevator, ready to take on the new day.