MLTP Part 9- "Access Denied"

"Access Denied" is the ninth Part of "Miracula Luxia: The Prequel". It was released on 13.01.2020.
== Plot ==
With a huge (and long) wall blocking their path to Paris, Aleks, Seiko, Kayla and James have to figure out how to get past it. Otherwise, the pains they had to endure along the way would be in vain and Paris will be out of their reach.
While looking for a way past it, our heroes have to figure out something else that is very important: "Who created the wall and why?". It is up to them whether they will do so or not.
== Story ==
James continued staring at the wall in awe.
"Who could have made this? It's such an impressive wall... the people who have made it must have worked hard to do so."- He said to Aleks without moving his eyes away from the wall, as if it were some sort of hypnotizing device.
Aleks lightly tapped his shoulder. No response. He was just staring at the wall.
Another try. Again, no response.
"Hey, James. Earth to James. Are you okay?"- Seiko asked him.
Suddenly, he snapped out of his silent admiration of the wall.
"S-sorry. I got distracted for a while, that is all. Okay, Kayla, let's find a way to break it down."
"Kayla?"
He looked at Kayla, but she didn't acknowledge his concern. She was staring in the wall. Like him, but much more intently.
"Kay, are you okay, sweetie? Please answer me."- Seiko tried to get her attention, but to no avail. She wasn't going to move.
Seiko sighed.
"She must be in a trance."- James said- "We must see what we can do without her."
"What?!"- Seiko yelled- "And leave the poor girl here? No way, mister I-know-it-all! I won't leave a friend behind!"
"Calm down, Seiko. We won't leave her. We will just try to find a way to get past the wall and bring her with us. It will be fine."- Aleks tried to comfort her. He succeeded.
Seiko placed her tired head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a few seconds.
"I'm sorry, honey. I just... I'm just really worried about poor Kayla. After all that she suffered, just to see her sister again... it really took a toll on her and I want to stay by her side to make sure that she will be alright. So that's why I want to stay here. You boys take care of this without me, gotcha?"
Aleks nodded, but James shaked his head.
"Come on, Seiko, we need your help. Besides, Kayla will be alright. She can defend herself!"
"Don't be stupid, James."- Aleks scolded him- "She may be strong, but in this state she is just as powerless as a newborn child. She's unable to do anything while in this trance, so that's why Seiko will make sure that she won't get in trouble."
He handed his girlfriend a knife and kissed her on the cheek.
"Stay safe, Seiko. We will be back soon."
"No, honey, you stay safe. We'll be fine, but you might get in bigger trouble than us. So... don't. Just don't. If you can avoid it, that is."- She replied.
"We won't get in trouble if we can avoid it. I promise."- Aleks smiled and left them alone.
They headed to the right and saw a small crack in the wall.
They inspected it closely and found out that there is a message written on the wall.
It wasn't anything very complicated, just a few roman numerals.
"I, III, V, VII and X? What does that mean?"- James wondered.
Aleks stared at the numbers for two minutes. Finally, he figured out what they could mean and said "Aha!"
He pointed at the first number and smiled.
"This roman numerical is usually used on buttons, switches and levers. So, that means that we must find all of the switches/buttons/levers to open this crack... somehow."
That's when he also saw an arrow pointing to the left. A small "5" was written on it. There was also another arrow pointing to the right next to it, also having a "5" on it.
"Interesting."- James nodded- "So, this means that... there are 5 levers to the left and 5 switches to the right.
Aleks nodded.
"Exactly! And they're in order from 1 to 10, so the first five are to the left of us. As for the other 5, they are to the right of us. Simple enough. We pull the levers in the mentioned order and return to see what is on the other side of this crack. Let's go!"
Aleks and James returned to the left to pull the first five levers, but not before telling Seiko about what they saw.
Seiko nodded.
"So, you're going to find those levers and pull them? Okay then. Good luck. Me and Kayla will stay here and cheer for you!"- She said jokingly and smiled at Aleks (who smiled back at her).
Aleks and James found levers I, II, III, IV and V, pulling them in the required order (I, III and V), leaving levers II and IV alone.
Then they headed towards the last five levers to the right (VI, VII, VIII, IX and X) and pulled them in the required order as well (VII and X) and left the other three untouched.
After pulling lever X Aleks heard a strange rumbling sound coming from the left direction.
They went there to investigate and found out that there was now a small passage leading towards the lands to the west.
Aleks called Seiko and Kayla to come with them and explored the other side together.
That's when Seiko noticed that something was amiss.
"Be careful, honey."- She warned her boyfriend- "We don't know if there's anything dangerous here or not."
"That's why I'm here, Seiko."- James grinned- "To protect you from danger! And if it comes I will... Aleks, watch out!"
Thanks to James's quick Aleks Managed to evade a flame trap which almost incinerated him.
He sighed.
"Oh boy. That was a close one."
"Be more careful next time. We don't know who or why they put them here, but they surely don't want us to pass."- James said and looked around.
He saw many more similar traps all around them. There were also some explosive, acid and lightning traps. Definitely nothing to tinker with (or get close to).
Seiko stood back, scared.
"How-how are we supposed to p-pass... that?"- She stuttered.
James looked at the traps and smiled.
"As my father always said, there's always a way through the darkness. You just have to find it."
He picked up a small rock from the ground.
"And I am going to."
He threw it at a nearby trap and managed to trigger it without anyone being hurt.
The others finally got the idea and picked up rocks from the ground as well.
All four of them began throwing the rocks at the traps. One by one, the traps triggered and lost their usefulness, becoming inactive.
After a few minutes, all of the traps were deactivated for good, enabling safe passage for our heroes.
Aleks smiled.
"Now this is a job well done. Not bad, team. Not bad.
"Yes. I'm glad that you listened to me. Your help was really valuable in clearing those mechanical beasts out."- James said.
Aleks looked at James.
"We're a team, James. We always have to help each other when we are in need. Just like we helped you clear out the traps just now. It is our duty, after all."
"It is. It is."- James mumbled and looked ahead.
After getting past the huge wall, our heroes did not have much left to do. Their journey was almost complete. Now they just needed to find Paris and settle there. Hopefully, there won't be anymore riots to disrupt their peaceful life.
Hopefully.
== Trivia ==
* "Access Denied" describes how Aleks, Seiko, Kayla and James were restricted from passing through the gate or get around due to the long wall and how they had to find a way to get past it, because of that. This was the only option left for them since the gate was reinforced and impossible to be destroyed by normal means, leaving the primary target to be the wall itself.