The Virtual Timepiece (ch 23)

Thud. Thunk thud. Thud. Thunk thud.
"Odd."
Thud. Thunk thud.
"Odd!"
Thunk thud.
"ODDRIC!"
"What?!" Half way through throw his pen knife into the floor once again, Odd looked over his shoulder at Ulrich, who had yelled at him.
Ulrich glared. "Would you stop that blasted damn knife throwing? It's giving me a headache." Odd snorted and rolled his eyes, then folded up the knife back into his pocket.
"Yes, Mum," he replied sarcastically and turned back around.
For a moment there was silence. Then finally Yumi turned away from the book she had been reading, and looked between the two young men. "What time do you believe it is?"
Odd snorted again. "What's it matter? We're bloody stuck here until Princess and her genius fellow comes back.
"You think he won't betray her?"
Odd turned back to look at Yumi. Her lips were pursed in an almost disapproving manner and her eyes were narrowed. Odd raised an eyebrow. "You still don't trust him?"
Yumi raised an eyebrow in return. "You do? Were you not the one who first thought Mr Belpois was the one to put the first wolf machine in her office?"
Odd blinked, then shrugged. "He had an alibi, sweetheart, what else would you need?" Yumi simply frowned and looked at the floor. Odd spun all the way around and looked over at Ulrich instead. "You don't trust the poor fellow, Lieutenant?"
The solider scowled slightly and shrugged. "Don't call me that. It doesn't work anymore." He glanced over at Yumi. "Seems like you can't trust anyone, so..." He trailed off shrugging.
Odd rolled his eyes and laid down, staring at the ceiling. "You two are as much fun as the principle's daughter in church," he muttered, and sighed. "Only at least-"
"Shhh!"
Yumi had suddenly gone very rigid. Odd and Ulrich both looked at her, then looked at each other.
"Something wrong, Yumi?"
Yumi frowned, and rubbed her arms as if she was cold. "No...not exactly. But..." she looked over at the door that lead back down into the tunnel. "I just..."
Odd blinked and held up a hand. "Shush. I heard something." Eyes narrowed slightly, he stood and went over to the door. "But..."
"Help!"
Footsteps slammed towards them, and the three backed up, going into a small group in the center of the room.
"Please! Let me..."
"Who the hell would that be?!" Ulrich glared, glancing from one door to the other. "Where is it coming from?"
Yumi simply pointed to the door that lead out to the front of the building.
Just then, that door burst open and Jeremie blasted into the room. "Help! Please! They...they..."He gasped for breath, practically bending double. Odd went forward first, patting Jeremie awkwardly on the back.
"Calm down, Professor," he said, trying to sound calm himself. "Certainly took you long enough to get back here. What's this about-"
"They...they have Aelita!"
"What?!"
Jeremie put his hands on his throat, trying to make the burning panic go away. "I...we were trying to get to Delmas, but a group of thugs grabbed her. I tried to...to stop them. But..." He winced, putting a hand to his forehead. One of the other three gasped, and Yumi moved forward.
"That bump's bigger than your hand, Belpois," she said softly, gentle despite her raging fears at the news of Aelita's capture. "There should be a cold compress or something to put-"
"No." Jeremie shook his head, his blue eyes wild. "Thank you, but we don't have the time for that. We have to get back there. Help her."
"Do you know where they took her?"
Jeremie winced. "No. Although we can start looking in the school, that'd be best."
Odd snorted. "The school. You want us to go back to the damn same place where there's apparently kidnappers just a-waiting 'round the corner's for us?"
"Odd!" Ulrich's good eye narrowed in annoyance. "She's your bloody cousin, you idiot, so-"
"Do you think I'm not aware of that?!" Odd's voice slowly rose to a shout. "This is her bloody problem, and we're in it- and isn't this a laugh- because she wanted to protect us."
"You were the one who volunteered to steal the blasted clock thing," Ulrich reminded him angrily.
Odd threw his hands in the air. "And I'm regretting, apparently!" He whirled away from the others. "What'll happen if they find all of us? What do they bloody want anyway?!"
"That, Mr. Della-Robera, something for my wolves to know, and you to discover in all good time."
As one, all four of them spun around as a smooth, polite voice spoke from behind them. A tall man in a grey overcoat moved slowly forward, half of his face shadowed by the elegant top hat he wore. With every other step, the sharp click of his cane echoed around the room.
Yumi let an almost in audible growl under her breath. Odd and Ulrich glanced at each other nonplussed.
"And you are?" Ulrich asked wryly, folding his arms.
"P-professor Henabel?!"
Jeremie's eyes were as wide as sauces as he stared at the man who had come in. The man in grey slowly turned his head, and smiled slightly. "Belpois. Perhaps we should inform your friends of what's going on?"
"We?!"
In unison, all three of the others backed up as if Jeremie was on fire. Unaware of this, Jeremie stared at the man before him. "Wh-what are you doing, Professor? What's going on?!"
Henabel chuckled softly, as if Jeremie was a child who asked a silly question. "My boy....how can you not know? You are the one who gave me the idea to seek out the girl."
"What have you done with Aelita?!" Yumi hissed, leaping forward, her hands out as if to strike him. Henabel took a step back, sliding easily out of her way.
"I have done nothing with her. My wolves have taken her into custody, but she is safe."
"Like hell she is," Ulrich snapped, stepping protectively in front of Yumi. "And what the hell do you want with us?!" He slid a glance over at Jeremie who still looked stricken, frozen in place.
Henabel smiled slowly again. "You, young warrior will fine out soon enough, if you behave. The lot of you will come with us now."
Jeremie finally seem to shake of his stupor. "No, no they're not."
"Shut your face, you bloody traitor!" Odd snapped, shoving Jeremie out of the way. Jeremie whirled about to face him, but Henabel spoke before he could begin.
"Gentlemen, we have no time. In fact, you're all almost out of time." He tapped the floor with his cane.
Odd winced suddenly, and realization dawned in his purple eyes, followed quickly by pure fear. He took a step back.
"You...." His eyes focused on the cane the man was holding. "I know your voice, you-"
Ulrich folded his arms and cut off his friend, addressing Henabel instead. "You kidnapped Aelita, and you think we're just going to go quietly?"
"You were the one talking to Delmas," Jeremie said suddenly, as if Ulrich hadn't spoken. "We heard you. Why do you want all of us?! What do you-"
The man in gray sighed at Jeremie's furious questioning, and held up a hand in the air. "You, children, try my patience." He snapped his fingers.
Smoke, black and thick, filled the room.  Jeremie caught it full in the face, and doubled over, harsh coughs bursting in his throat.
"The bloody-" Ulrich was next to start coughing, followed by Odd, then Yumi.
"What...why are you...doing...doing this?" It was she who was still able to focus her furious gaze on the man in grey, barely visible now through the haze.
The man smiled slowly as he watched the four of them slowly collapse to the floor.. "For paradise, my dear. For paradise."
10101010101010101
Her skin burned, hissed as if her body was one massive salted wound. She couldn't hear anything, something thudding the ground under her, like heavy footsteps. She took a deep breath in, then let it  out as coughs racked her lungs. The back of her head stung as if someone had tried to pull her hair out at the roots.
Under it all, a dull sense of dread swum in her stomach.
After a moment, the burning faded slightly, and she was able to swallow enough air without coughing. Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking.
Where ever she was, she noticed instantly, it was almost pitch black. Dirty grey light came from somewhere, filtering around her but showing her nothing. Slowly she began to realize that a soft tapping sound was coming from somewhere behind her. Risking the possibility of pain, she sat up slowly, and tried to look around better.
A large lumpy shape was a few feet away from her, laying quite still on the ground. Her nose twitched, and then she gulped as a terrible smell insulted her nose. Coughing again she turned her head back around. What ever the still thing was, it smelled like an open grave.
The steady quiet tapping sound persisted, although now it seemed to have moved to an area to her left. The floor beneath her, which felt like stone, shivered slightly. Aelita gasped, only to fall back and hit her head. Pain blasted through her again, and she lay quite still for a moment, trying to catch her breath and her thoughts.
"Where...where am I?" She wondered, barely aware she was talking aloud. Casting her memory back, she winced and shuddered. THe pain of being hauled away, the sound and sight of Jeremie trying desperately to chase after her, only to be stopped by one of her capturers. "Jeremie..." Guilt and fear made a lump in her throat at the thought of him. "I hope...he's...n-not...not..." She couldn't even bring herself to finish the idea, and pushed it out of her head. Curling up, hugging her knees to her chest, she wished for some sign, some knowledge of her friends, her location, anything. A sob tried to force it's way into her throat, but she pushed it back, pressing a hand to her chest as if it burned.
A jolt struck her hand, shivering down her arm. Aelita gasped and jumped back.
"W...what was..." Frowning, she glanced around, her heart pounding. There was nothing that had changed, as far as she could see. There was just the shapeless lump in the corner, the thin grey light coming from somewhere...and her. Torn between confusion and curiosity, her hands fluttered to her thudding heart.
A sharp spark lashed up her fingers, over her skin. For a moment, it seemed that a bright pink light flashed from her fingertips.
"What...what was that?" Eyes wide, Aelita gentle touched a hand to her chest. Once again a jolt shivered over her skin, a little gentler this time. Pink light, neon and flickering, light over her hand for a moment. "I...Impossible...."
Holding her hands up, she watched as the sparks slowly faded. The light cast a glow over the room, and for a moment, Aelita looked up, wondering if she could see where she actually was.
The light fell on the still lump a few feet away.
Horror sliced up her spine and Aelita let out a scream even as the light faded. She scooted back, bile rising in her throat.
Dead bodies, stacked up, littered the floor.
The pink light shimmered into being again, and terror joined the jolt of the strange power on her skin. On the far wall, behind the bodies, words were written in red, as if they were blood. Her throat closing up in fear, Aelita forced herself to raise her still glowing hands, trying to read the message.
"...paradise....no...commanders, we gods of time...bring all to an...'" the last section of the message sent a hard chill up her spine as the light dimmed. Fighting down the bile, she continued, the last part of the message dripping to the floor in a steady tapping sound.
"To an eternal paradise....on a bloodstained path."
Her eyes wide with fear, Aelita stared blindly into the darkness towards where the message had been.
"The Carthage Project. My father was right. They will build a heaven paved with bloody footprints."