Voices of Doom: Chapter 4

Ariel's P.O.V
The dolphin carried me all the way to the beach, and that's where the Irving Nature Park is. Before I got out of the water, I checked all of my belongings, and also Josh's. I stabbed my trident one more time into the water and water formed into a mini whirlpool that encircles the trident. The trident is now filled with more power, and I waited until about a quarter of an hour.
After a quarter of an hour, the ocean had displaced about 2 centimeters and the trident is glowing bright in the sun. I could use this to draw strength from my trident as one of the nymph had said: The water is within me.
I remembered when I was on a quest by myself to retrieve a piece of map that held the true location of the hidden crystal chamber that can magnify magic about 100 times, and I had obtained the crystal and is now used to power my forge.
The magic is only strong enough to continuously produce materials through the crystal amplifier, and it will be the same crystal that we're going to obtain.
In case you're asking why don't I use the crystal I used to power the whole base, is because that crystal is essential to power the forge, which can take thousands of volts to power up, and about 1000 Kilowatt-Hours to keep it up and running for 1 month.
Anyways, I grabbed my equipments and looked at the clock in my trident. It is glowing bright blue and it says 14:00. I stabbed the trident onto the ground, and the most amazing thing happens.
The trident began to leak out water. My first thought is that the power inside the trident is draining fast, but instead, it's draining slowly and as I pull it out of the ground, I feel power surging through my veins, and water began sprouting from the trident's tail, and before I know it, I was hovering and accelerating through the white sandy beaches.
The trident becomes a water jetpack which carries me through the mist, through the woods, through the darkness and the shadows. The trident appeared to be fading its colors very slightly as I hover a few centimeters in the air.
I decided that this would be enough. I tapped the trident once and the trident slowed down and came into a stop. I held the trident in my right hand, and the light staff in my left. The trident is still glowing bright blue, but not that much. Meanwhile, the light staff is still glowing bright.
I looked around. This is a marketplace! I have to get to the town of Fredericton fast! I can't afford to be seen by the people around here because from what I've heard, they don't take kindly to gods and titans, and having both weapons in my hands will get myself in trouble.
The reason why they don't take kindlo to gods and titans is because it's their belief that gods and titans only existed to take Mortals their earnings and their belongings once they made them. It's kinda silly, but it's true. Flood and famine came to this town very often, even though the place is near the river, which had a very nice view.
I looked left and right, looking for something suspicious. I saw the town of Fredericton just a few miles away, and it's already visible.
Hang on tight, Joshy... I prayed. I'm coming for you.
Please! Hurry! Josh said in my head. They're going to kill me in less than 2 days!
I wished I can stop nearby and have some lunch but I can't. I have to save my friend, who is really in distress. It's just that I can't really leave someone behind, especially when they're in trouble.
I continued to walk down the road the leads to the town of Fredericton, and it appears the town is empty.
There's a billboard right in front of me, and I looked at the billboard. I was shocked that the majority of the population was apparently killed by three strange ladies who had a weapon of music. I immediately knew them as the sirens. I remembered that the sirens had killed about 3/4 of the population. I rushed to the town, knowing that danger is inside there, and when I looked at the town, I was surprised that the town was left untidy, like everyone had dropped their stuff and just walked out of the town like nothing is happening.
There's a huge wall loomed in front of me, and a huge door blocking by way, but the door is open, so I just enter the city without any disturbance.
As soon as I entered the city, I was aghast. There were empty chariots that had been burned, but thankfully no one was inside it when it burned. I saw abandoned houses, cars and motorcycles. They are all piled up because people are using their cars when they are under the spell of the sirens.
I looked at the clock in my trident, and also on Josh's staff. They both read 14:50, which gives me an ample amount of time to search house to house in order to find Josh, since there's no one to talk to in this town.
But I was wrong.
Just then, there's a boy with crimson hair and brown eyes. His cheeks were red (probably from blushing) and he waved at me.
I ran towards him, transferring the light staff to my right hand and hugged him.
"Oh, Vince! It's so good to see you!" I said to him.
Vince hugged me back. "Me too, Ariel." Then he shook his head and said in his usual way. "So, is there anything the matter?"
"Vince, I need your help." I said to him. "My friend is kidnapped and I have to rescue him. And after that, I need your help to go to Iceland to go to the center of the earth."
Vince's eyes widened. "Center of the earth? You're not kidding, are you?"
"Nope, I am not kidding." I said. "That's where we can mine this rare mineral called the Crystal Reflector Ore. It's one of the materials that can fully absorb vibrations."
"I don't think this is a good idea..." Vince muttered, and then looked up at me. "But I agree to help you rescue Josh. Where is he?"
"Well, as far as I know, he is held somewhere next to your house." I told Vince.
"My house?" Vince looked surprised. Vince stared at the sky. He stroked his fingertips on his cheeks, as if thinking. I stood there, waiting for his response.
"Let's see..." Vince talked to himself. "I heard strange noises near my house... the sound of muffling..."
Vince snapped back to reality. "Oh yeah! Now I remember! I kinda heard strange noises next to my house, but I never had bothered checking it."
"Now let's check it!" I suggested. "Who knows that Josh is inside there, and probably is in danger. I can sense that he is in danger right now."
Vince is scanning the area, looking for something, and that something is a transport.
"There!" Vince yelled, pointing to a damaged car, but still can be used. "Use that car! It's the least damaged among the others!"
We both got onto the car, and it turns out that this car is as healthy as a horse. The engine isn't even damaged, perfect for our rescue mission.
"Now, to my house!" Vincent said.
And then Vincent turn on the engine with the key apparently still stuck to its lock and Vince stepped on the gas and in no time the car was up and running.
We drove left and right, and there's no signs of life. There's only both of us, and the survivors are either charged with murder or driven insane.
The reason why the survivors are charged with murder is that some people survived, but when they follow the sirens along, they ran over people in the process, killing them.
We drove a couple hundred of meters, and saw an abandoned bank, which is obviously empty, and cash were everywhere. It seems like they left this town in a hurry after the Sirens incident.
Vince slowed down, and he said. "There it is. That's my house." He pointed to the house painted blue.
I looked at Vince's house. It's a beautiful house with a couple of potted plants and a couple of windows open. Inside one of the dorms, was Vince's living room, the place I had my vision.
"Well, come on!" Vince said. "Let's go rescue this guy called Josh!"
"But wait..." I said. Vince turned to look at me.
"What is it now?" Vince sighed.
"You will need this." I said, handing him the light staff. Vince took it.
"Now, when you see Josh, you gave him that. That is his weapon.
Vince's P.O.V
To be honest, I don't even know that is a weapon. As I took a firm hold, I felt my blood rushing faster, as if my adrenaline had picked up pace.
"We will go together." Ariel said, taking out her trident that is glowing and a miniature blue comet began to swirl around the trident, and disappeared.
So, me and Ariel entered the room, and we were immediately greeted by the cyclops. The demons begin to attack, but Ariel pointed the trident to the demon and the demon disintegrated.
"Whoa! Since when demons inhabit this place?" I asked.
Ariel looked at me. "Your mortal sights were veiled by the mist." Ariel said. "That is a cyclops, not a demon."
After Ariel said that, I was stunned. This is just a trick? A mist? No way, this is real. I saw a demon trying to attack me.
We turned left, and when another demon like creature is about to strike me, I pointed the light staff that Ariel had gave to me and the staff emitted a laser that burned the demon.
Now, I have been studying about demons for the last 2 weeks, and from what I know is that demons are not immune to fire, but apparently this demon just stood there, and it didn't look hurt.
"Good try." The demon said, and its form flickered into a cyclops. "But I am not a demon. I'm a cyclops!"
The cyclops lunged at me. Knowing that this light staff is not going to do any good, I let Ariel zap the cyclops with her stray of blue water bomb.
The cyclops is hit with a very high pressure of water and the cyclops disintegrated.
Ariel flicked her trident again, and this time, the three headed spear began to sharpen more.
As more cyclops came, I heard a voice from the back saying, "Cease fire!"
The cyclops obeyed her command, and she stood up. She's an elder cyclops, in command of the rest of the cyclops.
She began to talk in ancient greek, and at the last word, she said, ".... Thalassa."
Then the elder cyclops gestured the other cyclops to bow down before Ariel.
Now, this is getting more weird. Basically, the cyclops had thought that Ariel is the primordial sea goddess named Thalassa.
"At ease." Ariel said, and the cyclops began to stand up.
"Now, can anyone tell me where Josh McLean is held?" Ariel asked.
The cyclops murmured amongst themselves, but they came up with no answer.
"Anyone?" Ariel asked again.
This time, a cyclops beside the elder one said, "What does he look like?"
The elder cyclops pounded the small one in his head, basically saying that he shouldn't disrespect a goddess.
"Well..." Ariel began. "He looks like this." Ariel held up a picture.
The cyclops began to gather around, looking at the strange picture.
"He is right here." The elder one said, and began to walk towards the cell. Me and Ariel followed them.
The cell are very dirty. Some are rarely cleaned, some are even piled up with corpses of prisoners. The rotten smell of the prison cell is enough to make everyone vomit, but for some reason, Ariel didn't seem to show signs of discomfort.
The cyclops made at least 20 turns before finally stopping at one prison cell. This prison cell was small like a cage, and inside there's a boy with golden hair that is bound and gagged. He appears to be sleeping.
"Josh..." Ariel murmured.
"So, this is Josh?" I asked.
"Yes." Ariel said. "We've found him."
Ariel's P.O.V
I knew it! I knew I can find Josh! Apparently I didn't have to get to much trouble since the cyclops had thought I am the primordial goddess of the sea, Thalassa.
I untied Josh's bonds and shook him to wake. "Hey Joshy." I said.
Josh squirms in his sleep and when he opened his eyes, he smiled.
"Ariel..." Josh began. "What took you so long?"
"Oh, sorry. I have to summon help." I told him, glancing at Vince. Josh looked at Vince, who showed Josh's weapon, his light staff.
Josh meekly reached for his light staff, and as soon as he had a grip on the staff, Josh's color is back. He is now reinvigorated with newfound strength.
"Now, let's have some fun!" Josh said.
I nodded, and we both decided to get out of the jail cell.
But as soon as we are about to leave the compound, a bunch of cyclops surrounded us.
"You are not the goddess Thalassa..." The elder one said.
"What shall we do with them?" The younger ones asked.
"Let's fry them!" The other one suggested.
"Good idea." The elder one said, as they surrounded us in a circle.
Josh raised his light staff, drawing energy from his staff and his staff glowed brightly in the air. The cyclops covered their eyes and we made a run for it. The cyclops may have been immune to fire and heat but they're not immune to light.
We bolted through the corridors, making sure that Josh is still with us, and after about the 20th turn, we got out of the compound.
All 3 of us got into the car and apparently Vince had left the engine running, so we can just take off from here. Vince stepped on the gas and the next thing I know is that we are gone from the complex.
We drove a few miles away from the town of Fredericton, and we settled to go to Snævell, Iceland. This is where the real quest begins.
Fortunately, Vince had prepared for this. Josh opened the trunk on the back of the car and saw a bunch of supplies that includes food, water, a bunch of frozen fruits, and camping equipments.
"Vince! Thanks!" Josh said.
"Thanks for what?" Vince asked.
"Thanks for bringing what we need." Ariel said. "You have a lot ot equipments here. You can be useful for this quest."
"Hey, thanks." Vince said.
Josh's P.O.V
It feels really good to be back in this quest. I have been stuck here almost 24 hours, and I am very hungry. Vince saw how hungry I am.
"Hey Josh, you can get some snacks on the back trunk if you're hungry." Vince said.
I grabbed a couple of freshly baked potato and looked at Vince. "Thanks." I said as I ate the potato.
I put the rest of the bag full of potato on the trunk again and semi-relaxed as I look for any signs of incoming attack or trouble. We can't afford to lose another person on this quest since the real quest is about to begin.
I watched the surrounding environment as we passed more houses. The more house we passed the more abandoned it seems. The sirens had definitely gone to this place, and wiped most of the people in this town. The rest had evacuated the city.
Vince drove to the nearest intersection, where there's still snacks and canned foods. Vince told us that we could use more supplies so we can survive on our journey.
So, we got out of the car, and grabbed what we could find, hoping that it's not contaminated with toxin or other bacterias. I looked around. Most of the food that are not canned are infected by bacteria, and I moved the infected foods away, separating it from the good ones. There were not a lot of clean, canned foods. Most of them are stained with either red or pink. Some have a nasty blue smoke coming out of the food. Some even have maggots in the cheese. I immediately identified the cheese as Casu Marzu, the most dangerous cheese, from Italy. I guess that this guy is going to have a small taste of what is Italian food is, but he doesn't know the lethality of the cheese.
Vince grabbed a large resealable plastic bag and put the Casu Marzu there, just in case if some evil monsters asks for food, and we could just offer him the cheese. We just need to remember not to eat the cheese.
Anyways, we got out of the shop, and with our bag of new supplies, stored it in the back trunk of the car. The car's trunk is now full, and we are ready to go.
As soon as we are about to go, we have another problem. The car's fuel tank is empty, and we have to push the car into the nearest petrol station, which is about a couple of miles away.
Vince volunteered to push the car, and I took the wheel. Vince started pushing the car, and we moved, only about 4 kilometers an hour, which is not really fast.
After about 500 meters, Vince is pretty much exhausted. His shirt is drenched with sweat, and he is breathing heavily. I decided to push the car. Luckily, the car is set on neutral gear, so I could push the car easily. But it turns out that the car is kinda heavy to push since there's tons of supplies stored inside the car. But I have to do it or else no one would do it and we would never get there.
As I pushed the car, I looked at the surrounding town. I almost forgot that this town had been hit by a Siren attack which made this town of Fredericton into a ghost town. I'm sure that some of the dead souls are still roaming in here, searching for the loved ones.
"I'm sure that the deceased ones will find themselves in Elysium." Ariel told me. "The people were under the Sirens spell anyways."
I almost forgot how powerful the spell that the Sirens have by projecting their voices. They sing so sweetly that sailors and other creatures will get lured to their deaths. But in this case, the Sirens had escaped into the open world, allowing them to create massive deaths. But I'm sure that the gods will manipulate the mist so that it would be a new pandemic. Of course it would create massive panic, but it is better than revealing the worlds about gods and goddesses, which the mortals can find it very hard to comprehend, and for some it could even drive them crazy.
I was already pushing the car for about 250 meters and sweat poured from all over my body. I was already feeling tired. I peeked inside from the dark tinted window and saw Vince fanning himself with a newspaper, with the Air Conditioner turned on. He is probably very tired as he is, and so I have to keep pushing this car into the nearest petrol station or else we would never get to our actual destination.
Finally, I can't go on. This car is too heavy for me to push for 1 mile. I took turns with Ariel, and Ariel gladly helped us.
As Ariel pushed the car, I was surprised that the car is moving normally now. It's moving at 12 kilometers per hour, which is fast for someone pushing the car. Ariel seemed to have the best endurance out of all of us. She kept pushing and pushing until we finally get to the petrol station.
Category:Josh-Son Of Hyperion
Category:Voices of Doom
Category:Stories