by Amy Mah
Day: 563
Okay, Pink keeps changing on me. She took over the meeting and the team, and she is good at it! Not that I mind, well, not too much, as she is so good at it. My brothers would have spent all night fighting over who was going to be the leader, and Pink just gave it to Shale, and no one objected.
What I don’t like is why I did not think of it. I’m the one with the years of role-playing with my brothers, and from just one confusing, hair-pulling debate on fantasy role playing, Pink had taken it all in and is good at turning it into real life!
I may have joked about having a slumber party with different races in the past with her, but she has gone and fixed one up! With blankets between the two beds, we are all to sleep together on the floor, and she has pointed out that I will be in the middle as I am good to cuddle as I am so warm. The only thing for sure is that back on Earth they would never believe that the major disadvantage in being a Fire Demon is that everyone wants to cuddle you when it gets cold.
OMG, this means Pink does really listen to me when I come up with some odd human concept or idea and just takes it in. It’s that look she gets when she is listening, like in class when they blab on about magic theory. She drops her head to one side and just absorbs it. I now worry that after a year of idle chat, she is testing some of my crazy talk out in real life.
I forget that I may have a Demon body, but she has a Demon mind in hers, and it works differently than mine. Demons don’t normally think in the way she is currently doing, so is she changing because of me? Adapting her thinking by adding in new strange human ideas? Crap! What have I done? First she turns the exams into role-playing, and now she is fixing up the first-ever slumber party for 4-year-old Demon girls that normally hate and try to kill other races, not curl up in bed with them.
Alyce finished off her telepathic filling in of her diary and put it away in a pouch. Shale checked that the door was sealed, stripped down to what looked to Alyce to be a pair of baggy brown shorts and a matching top, and went over to look at her blade, which she had hung up on the wall. Shale asked if she could hold it. Alyce warned her that it does not like to be touched, and she smiled and then, to Alyce’s surprise, she bowed to it then took it out of the sheath and held it without any harm. She just smiled at Alyce’s shocked look.
“You forget I am an Earth. He knows I have no wish to take him or harm him. That is why he lets me admire him, and he is a wonderful blade made from starstone, so forever sharp. And he is happy to own you; of course, it is a male blade, but that is obvious. And he says he watches you fight, and with time you could be a great warrior.”
She put him back and gave another bow to him.
“He also says he likes the way you grip him so tightly and rub him so tenderly, but that was when I put him back. He is slightly telepathic, which is why I can hear him, and he has taken your ideas of how a male should think. I could not understand his meanings when saying things such as he liked being strapped to your leg as it means he can look up your kilt. It does not make any sense to me, as he does not even have eyes.”
Shale then gave a shrug and headed to the blankets. Alyce hoped that if she had started to go a little red in the face that people would think it was just her being a Fire Demon and not a girl who had just found out that she owned a perverted, sleazy, voyeuristic magic blade that had very strange ideas about the way she gripped him.
Alyce put on a pair of pajamas and joined the slumber party. The room was not that bright now that the sun was being eaten. Alaula darkened it a bit more, as she said it helped her sleep. As soon as they got settled, Pink, the only one to sleep naked, put her arm between Alyce’s legs, latched firmly onto Alyce’s tail and pulled her towards herself so they were touching nose to nose. From behind, Shale wrapped herself around Alyce, leaving Alaula to wrap about Pink. Alyce thought that this was not the type of slumber party she had been to before, and not just because they had not tried different types of makeup or ordered pizza.
Then Pink whispered to her, “What about some heat, Firefly? I’m getting frigging cold, so do your thing, or I will pull your tail.”
Alyce pried Pink’s fingers off her tail and removed her arm then concentrated and got an “Ouch” from behind her and the smell of something burning, which meant the heat was just a little too much. Instead, she kept the flame under her skin so her body was just very warm and placed a hand on the floor to give the room a central heating feel to it, which got an “ooh, that’s nice!” from Alaula, a snigger from Pink, and a bone-crushing hug from Shale behind her, which just confirmed the fact that Earths were naturally strong. With Pink’s grip from the front, she was feeling more like a squashed Jell-o sandwich.
As far as her human sleepovers went, Alyce remembered there was far less hugging, and when human she had never had to get up during a sleepover and strip off her pajamas due to their being about to catch fire and already beginning to smoke, then get back in again naked. The only one to notice was Pink, who giggled and put her arm between her legs again and grabbed her tail at the root. This time when Alyce tried to get free, Pink whispered to stop fidgeting or she would bite her.
Smoking Hot: (25)
They were moving along the deep underground tunnels still in their role-playing game format, which had worked very well. The only thing Pink had been disappointed about was not being able to get 50 ft of rope or to find anything called iron rations in the refectory.
Shale was a perfect leader as she was so at home with enclosed spaces. Alaula, on the other hand, hated it but kept her eyes on a couple of floating screens to try not to see the real world. The only problem they had encountered was getting deeper; every time they tried to descend to deeper levels they ran into Ice Clouds, which would try and attack them on sight. So with a Light special floating eye sent ahead, as soon as they saw a Cloud in front of them they doubled back, which was why they had to work harder on less profitable tests.
The tests had been going very well, and the points were slowly building up. Each time they finished something, Pink would take the coin out, and it would make a little noise then she would put it away again.
They sometimes ran into other teams and sometimes a single person, but as long as they were not Colds they just ignored them and were ignored in return. If they saw another group working on an exam they wanted to do, they either waited until they finished or moved on to the next one on the list, which Alaula had created with Shale’s help.
They ran into a hardworking team of 12 Earths that were having a lot of problems finishing one test that required different skills than the ones they had. Two of their members were lying down resting as they had been hurt from some magic traps. They were good with magic resistance, but even they had limits, as proven by the two hurt members.
Seeing the two hurt, Alyce said what she was thinking out loud in what she thought was just a simple comment.
“We have time; why don’t we help them just get past the magic traps. If not, they will get real hurt.”
As comments go, Alyce was not expecting such a reaction from her three other team members: shock mostly from Shale and Alaula. From Pink she was getting the slanting head kind of look that normally meant she was listening. As Alyce had recently discovered, the problem with Pink was that she listened to a human idea with Demon ears that made little changes to what she heard. Shale and Alaula now turned their shocked look to Pink.
“Yes, why not? We could take our lunch break at the same time. Shale, go and have a word with the team leader. Tell her we are not interested in any points here but could do with the experience of magic traps, and would they be so kind as to let us disarm them for practice?”
Alyce watched Shale go and have words with the Earth leader, who looked rather nonplussed but agreed to let another team practice disarming their traps. This exam was not on their list, as the second part of it was beyond their abilities as it called for lots of heavy lifting and digging. It was a perfect exam for Earths if they could get past the magical
traps. Alyce also wondered why it was such an odd idea when she suggested it but normal when Pink did.
The team’s Light and trap detector Alaula stepped up to investigate, sending a floating eye forward to take a closer look. She saw that all that was needed was someone to switch off the trap by operating a lever, which was unhelpfully located on the other side of the trap. From the movements in the air, she could see that the trap was a set of magical electrical discharges that would be set off by anyone trying to reach the lever. While the others watched, Pink just walked over, ignoring the flashing of discharging energy, which in turn just ignored her. She pulled the lever and walked back.
While she was doing that, Alaula asked Alyce if Pink was a full breed Electric, as she had never heard of one who thought or acted like she did. Alaula wondered if she had any Airs in her family, as Electrics were not known for their thinking skills, and the simple act she had just performed was unheard of. Shale told her that Earths have a good memory, and that the help they had given would be remembered.
As they walked on in perfect gameplay order, Alyce also wondered if Pink was also an alien, as they had done classes on normal behavior patterns of those with fixed Demonic abilities. Pink was not acting as a normal Electric, but then Alyce never acted like a normal Heat herself but with a good reason. She was not all hot tempered and trying to set the world on fire, and at the same time Pink should not be going about thinking and being so good at politics. Shale would not have noticed, as she was one of the doers; Earths, Colds, Heats, and Electrics were the front-line soldiers and were not bred to think, just to do, whereas Alaula, being in the Demonic thinkers club, would see the strangeness in Pink’s actions.
Their first sleep time arrived, although Alyce could never understand why on a world where the sun never set they would have built-in clocks telling them when to eat and when to sleep. But internal clocks they had, as without a word everyone knew when to stop and look for a safe place to eat and sleep.
The major problem Alyce saw with this was that they could never place a guard and take it in turns to sleep like humans. When one slept, they all slept. Her fears soon vanished when she watched Alaula set up what could only be described as magical trip wires that gave off a blinding flash if set off by someone trying to approach them as they slept.
She suspected all the weaker thinkers could do something similar, although it was a trick not learned by the doers as Earths were always in groups, and what affected one affected all. So if you attacked one sleeping Earth, you would soon discover lots of very awake Earths attacking you. As for Colds, Heats, and Electrics, even when asleep the body’s natural abilities could defend the sleeper, or that was what was talked about in class.
Her body’s only natural ability was to tell her when to eat, and she expected disturbing a sleeping Electric would make her cranky, and she would sleepily zap anything in sight, which was as good as any other survival technique.
Day: 564
Okay, this is a quick dear diary moment as I am getting odd looks from Alaula, who thinks a Heat keeping a diary is as crazy as trying to teach a lizard to talk. The Lights (thinkers) have some strange ideas on what doers such as Heats should do, and keeping a diary to her is an oddity. She will be on one heck of a steep learning curve if she wants to know what goes through this Heat’s mind, such as thinkers like her being too dumb to invent the wheel! We could really do with a shopping cart to put our supplies and blankets in. My backpack straps are now leaving grooves in my flesh. Fantasy role-playing is okay when you are sitting down with a bottle of Coke and a plate of fries, but here in real life it is all flat-floored corridors everywhere. We have traveled miles and are still on the same floor. If we had roller blades, we could have finished the whole complex by now.
Alyce carefully put the little magic book away in its pouch. From what it had told her on her first day, it should be able to service a nuclear blast. Then again, she had once owned cell phones that also said that sort of thing, but for some reason they forgot to say they should never be taken in swimming pool due to not being waterproof, which she had found out the hard way.
The area Shale picked for the sleep time looked good. It looked like someone had intended to make a room there but gave up after about eight feet, so it was more of an alcove or perhaps a dent in the wall. But whatever it was, blankets laid out turned it into sleeping quarters. Shale volunteered to be the one on the outside, and Alyce was deepest in with Alaula and had the job of wall heater.
Wall heater was an easy job. What worried Alyce more was her habit of not so much sleepwalking but sleepstripping, which would, she expected, get more funny looks from the others.
Sleep came as normal like switching off a light, and this time it was even more like that due to Alaula not projecting any light when she slept.
Smoking Hot: (26)
When light did arrive it was blindingly bright, almost like lots of camera flashes going off. Alyce knew she was dreaming, as attending a firework display while deep underground was not possible. What did feel very real was a slap across the face from Pink.
“Wake up! We are under attack!”
Alyce felt very sluggish, like her head had been stuffed with cotton wool. Things were happening fast; a headache suggested a large build-up of static in the air, and that meant Pink was going to start discharging, and in a big way.
It was heard to think, but Alyce knew she should be doing something; Alaula was crouching behind her, but she could not make out was she was saying. Pink was by her side trying to recharge, as some of the colored fireworks that had awoken her had been small lighting bolts. The other stuff must have been Alaula’s warning light traps going off.
She moved forward and saw Shale holding back a group of Ices. Three were down, and she was single-handedly holding back six others. She was strong and was even taking magic Cold hits that would have killed any non-Earth, but the fight was not even and would not last much longer unless she had help. If only Alyce could think clearly, and that was not happening. So she grabbed Pink, forced her to link tails, and shouted in her face.
“Zap me! Hit me hard, and do it now!”
Pink just looked puzzled, so Alyce hit her.
“Now I said!”
Pink did not know whether to be more surprised at being hit or at what she was asked to do, but as Alyce took another strike at her, thinking stopped and a charge left her unwillingly.
“Again! I am too cold to think.”
In front of them Shale had fallen, but then so had the others attacking her as a blast of heat spread out. Alyce let go of Pink’s tail, which she was holding in a way to hint that if the electrical charge did in fact hurt then she would bite the tail, and stepped forward. Pink had once told her the reason she was fireproof was due to the heat that her energy created, and Alyce’s body should be immune to her lightning for the same reason. She did not need 30,000°C, but even a few thousand degrees would not harm her and was one heck of a way to wake up.
Stepping out from their little indent of safety, Alyce saw that the situation was bad. There were Ice walls at both ends of the corridor and a dozen or so Ices in between, mostly getting back up from the blast. The three that did not move were being carried off, so she quickly dropped down and pulled Shale back. She was not fast enough, as she felt a sharp, icy pain in her left shoulder, and for a moment her head swam. Shale was surprisingly still alive, and Pink came forward and dragged her to the back. At the same time Alaula gave out what she was seeing from the floating windows.
“They planned to kill us while asleep. As it failed, they will regroup and try something else. They do not need to rush, as from what I can see there are three Clouds, so between 25 and 40 Colds all safe behind walls of Ice.”
Pink dropped down beside her.
“We need to know what they plan to do and how best we can attack them.”
Alyce saw that Pink knew what she was doing even at a time like this. She was holding the team together. Lights were thinke
rs, and they needed to think and not worry. Alaula looked into the screens, and her hands stopped shaking. Things seen on a screen were just data, and she liked seeing things from a distance.
“The best bet for them is to stay behind the walls safe from our distance lightning attacks but to slowly move the walls to crush us. There is no danger for them that way, and it is an easy task for so many. They will do it slowly, as it takes a lot of energy. They would want us to make mistakes like charging the walls where they can strike us down before we could even damage the wall. Three Clouds working together can create very strong walls and still have power to spare.”
Pink was speaking calmly, and Alyce also noticed that Pink had her listening look on, the same one she used on her when she listened to meanings and not just words.
“We have good attack capability, and we have time, as they do not wish to rush us. How could we gain more time? You are a Light and many times smarter than all those Snowflakes put together. With Shale down, you are now in command, so now list different actions we can take.”
Alaula still looked into the screen, but she was not looking at anything as she listed possibilities.
“To gain time, a challenge could be issued for single combat but would be unlikely to be accepted.”
“I do not know your full powers, but I do know you are full color, and that means Energy and Heat together would normally have the power to take out a single Cloud. But with three Clouds working together, I don’t think that they would give you a chance to take them one Cloud at a time.”
“We have the power to take down one wall for a short time, but it would be reformed very fast, and we would be killed before we could even reach it.”
