Life After Death <コ:彡 Team Crafted Fan Fiction <コ:彡 3rd Book of Trilogy <コ:彡

Chpt 14 - Oh No

"We need to work out what's going on here." Zachary says, "A decoy base? Seemingly random attacks? What are these squids up to?"

"Not to mention the interest in the Sky Armour..." Adam adds, pointing to some pages in the books the Team found at the decoy base.

"Well maybe that's it." Azalea responds, "Maybe this whole thing has something to do with the armour."

Adam nods and calls over one of the guards standing at the edge of the meeting room, "Check on the Sky Armour, I want maximum protection on it immediately."

The guard nods and swiftly leaves the room.

"What was that for?" Leon asks.

Adam sighs, "It was worth a try, but I fear that it is already gone."

Azalea leans forward, "What's gone?"

Adam opens his mouth to reply but he's cut off by a guard rushing through the door, "The Sky Armour! It's gone!"

"What?" Azalea replies, "How?"

"It was stolen." Adam says dejectedly, "That was the whole point of the decoy base; it was made to distract us while the squids stole the armour."

"But why do they need it?" Zachary asks.

Adam raises his head slowly, "I don't know."

"What are we going to do?" Seto asks.

"We need to find a way to stay one step ahead of the squids' plan." Adam answers, "Does anybody have any ideas? Anything at all?"

Everyone sits in almost complete silence, the odd humming and harring filling the soundless atmosphere of the room. That is until another guard appears in the room, "Your highness..." he walks over to Azalea, "I believe you had an enquiry about the whereabouts of a young lady, Shadow."

"Yes?" Azalea responds.

The guard leans forward and keeps his voice low, "She has not been seen for many months, her last reported location was with you, shortly after the king's birthday celebrations."

Azalea keeps a straight face, "Thank you, that's all I needed to know."

The guard nods and hesitantly backs away to the side of the room.

"Wait a second..." Mitch starts, "Your highness?"

Azalea tenses, "I might have forgotten to mention..."

"She's queen." Adam says for her.

Mitch leans back in his chair and waves his hand, "I'm not even surprised anymore. I'm just... going to ignore that."

"Not that it matters anyway," Azalea smiles nervously, "I mean... we have bigger problems right now."

"Yeah..." Jason replies, "Umm... Aza? What did that guy say about Shadow?"

Azalea gulps, "She hasn't... been seen for a while."

Jason hides his face in his hands, "That's just great."

"I know." Azalea replies sympathetically, "It's not great news but it might-"

"Have something to do with the squids?" Adam cuts Azalea off.

"Maybe." Azalea replies.

"Well... can't you find out where she is, Aza?" Jason asks.

She shakes her head, "I can't. Technically, Shadow is a ghost. I can't find out the whereabouts of people who have passed on."

"What should we do?" Zachary asks.

Adam exhales loudly, "Maybe we should... call it a day. We're not going to make any progress right now. I think we just need to carry out our own investigations and talk about our suggestions later."

Everyone nods in agreement.

Adam stands up, "Good night, everyone. We'll talk later."

                                                                  ***

Azalea continues to sit in her room, staring at all the books laid out in front of her, open on various pages. She sighs as she decides to call it a day and she gathers up all of the books.

She places them carefully on her desk and looks at the setting sun outside as the golden light began to touch the great lake. The very same lake she and Adam spent a lot of time at. Azalea looks back onto the floor as something catches her attention out of the corner of her eye.

"What's this?" she asks herself as she kneels down and picks up a loose piece of paper. She came to the conclusion that it must've slipped out of one of the books as she moved them.

Azalea picks the paper up and turns it over, revealing some messy writing that she instantly recognised. The note read:

Hate is weak and love has power

No secret can be kept forever

Evil will rise at untimely hour

The once true friends must come together

And pass all that splits them apart

For the Sky will rise high but fall so much further

And the serpent's blade will strike heart

The son of Zeus will be victim of murder

But life will seem bright here and then after

Azalea goes wide eyed as she turns the paper over once again, revealing the same prophecy printed in Swedish.

"Sky!" she yells as she runs over to the door, but she'd forgotten the time and started to feel drowsy. Her hand slips off the door handle as she falls to the floor.

"Aza?" swift footsteps rush up the stairs, "Azalea?"

Adam opens the door of Azalea's room and finds her lying on the floor. He kneels down by her side and glances at the note held loosely in Azalea's hand. He takes it.

"Oh no." Adam curses. He runs out of the room.