Diverting Armageddon Chapter 6
Eden
By Citadel
Two days before Davar arrived John and his lovely daughter, Wendy, arrived at Eden. John laughed at the city as hard as Davar would in a day. His army had been looking for the neutral outpost for years. He realized it was the most far out place he'd ever been. The Northern continent, Glastnos, was completely covered with craters, lavaflows, bad methane air, and monsters. There were more monsters per quare mile on Glastnos than on any other place on the planet. The reason the entire continent was barren was because a catastrophic meteor shower decimated the northern half of the planet two hundred years ago. It lasted for an entire week. Comets and meteorites ravaged the planet. All that was left over when it was all done was radioactive meteorites, scorched earth, and massive amounts of dust kicked into the air. the air became polluted over the next fifty years, and was part of the cause of the prolonged stalemate. Violent natural disaster created deep cracks in the ground and let lava seep to the surface. Dormant volcanoes slowly became active; the continent was killing itself. The volcanoes erupted ash and gases into the air, polluting it worse than it was. The lava let out methane fumes, and hurricanes and tornadoes ripped apart the top soil.
Years later the continent calmed down and monsters moved in by the numbers. John's grandmother told him that the people thought the meteor shower was Armageddon. She thought the monsters flocking to the North was just another reason that it really was the end of the world. Others said that a wizard called the beasts. Nobody knew the reason, but the monsters went anyway. People across the globe were overjoyed. The loss of the monsters meant they didn't have to worry about being attacked in the woods by anything other than the enemy. Ever since The Migration, monsters have flourished in the North. That is why neither the Jakra nor the Dal-Ro had dared venture north. Doing so was pure suicide. But John had heard rumors that there were a few habitable spots. A few of the magical areas had little damage done to them. Places that had magical barriers on them were totally untouched. Using this knowledge he hired a chocobo to take him north.
He and his daughter descended down the rocky slope about half a mile until they reached the flat igneous ground. Skyscrapers and other large domes covered the crater. The city was clean, futuristic, and more beautiful than any other city John had ever seen.
"Daddy, is this Eden?"
"Yes, darling, it sure is."
"What's with the domes? They have mini-cities in them."
"Yes, I know," John answered. He was amazed at the advanced technology the city possessed. He could clearly make out floating vehicles zipping across the sky at incredible rates. "This is truly breathtaking."
"Where'd they get all this technology?"
"Neutral cities are a mixture of both Jakra and Dal-Ro. When they both came together peacefully they probably accomplished some great things. And, I'll bet they have some powerful magi on their side to make this all possible."
"I figured that," she concurred. The chocobo kept on galloping to the nearest dome's entrance. When they were close to it they could both tell the dome was just a forcefield. The door was a huge metallic structure with a monumental tree stamped on the front.
"Halt!" a voice boomed. "State yo name, purpose, and allegiance."
"John Reaper and Wendy Reaper," John declared. "We have no allegiance."
"Oh?" They heard a buzz of voices for a moment and suddenly a large rectangle appeared above the door; it was like a large TV. On the monitor was a man who looked like he needed a shave. He had uncombed hair and a long angular face with prominent cheek bones. "THE John Reaper?"
"Yes," John annunciated again, somewhat annoyed; John hated repeating himself.
"Well, I can't--we can't jes' let nobody like yoo in heeyah," the man with the unkept hair said. "Yoo defny needs to be speakin to me boss."
"Just who is that?" Wendy asked. "We've come a long way to be here, so he better be quick!" Wendy snapped. She'd been in a crabby mood the entire way to Eden. She had every right too, she hadn't a moments sleep in over three days (the chocobo ride hadn't been very comfortable).
About three minutes later a slender man with a freckled face appeared on the monitor. He had red hair and large ears. He wore green camouflage and had a belt of rifle ammo strapped across his chest.
"Am I speaking with John Reaper?"
"Yes, you are."
"Well, well, the Grim Reaper himself."
"Don't call me that, I'm not like that anymore."
"Really?" the man asked. "Would you say that you've just completely abandoned the man who made the term Death Squad a household name? Are you completely different from the man who torched Wendigo Hill, a neutral city, on Christmas Eve? Are you not the exact same man who destroyed and then salted the grounds of Gerbersville?"
"I am the same man, but I don't do the same things."
"You are an evil man; any man who can think up the vile things you did is completely without a heart."
"I didn't think up the things because I wanted to, I was forced to come up with the disgusting things I did. I was a brilliant military tactician, it was in my blood to be placed in the position of doing those things."
"What?" the man asked. "I didn't understand what you said. You just said that you didn't have to do what you did, and you also said that you had to do what you did."
"I meant--"
"You just mean to enter Eden because you went AWOL."
"I didn't go AWOL without a cause."
"Pretel, tell me what this great reason is!"
"My precious daughter was kidnapped," John said remorsefully. "She was taken right from my protected mansion and held prisoner against her will." His eyes welled up with tears as he remembered the awful incident. "She was beaten and raped while she was a hostage. They, Jakra did all this just to get me to work for them." The man gave an inquisitive look.
"I then decided at the moment she was kidnapped I was no longer a soldier. I am no longer a Dal-Ro general, I am but a frightened father who just wants to keep his only family alive so that one day she might live a long life."
"And you rescued her? With soldiers? Was this some great military siege?"
"No, I infiltrated the Jakran head palace personally. I snuck in, alone, and I took my daughter out."
The man's eyes widened. "You snuck into that palace? Amazing!" He had the eyes of an amazed little child. "Let him in," he told a man who wasn't on screen to let up the gate. With an audible clank, the metal gate slid apart and five armed guards with large guns stood ominously at the doorway.
Another man walked around them and three other very large men followed him. Each of them were no less than seven feet tall with shaved heads. They had two golden earrings in each ear and they looked to be constantly flexing. All three of them had a large shot gun in each arm. They fell in rank behind him in a triangle. The man with red hair and an ammunition belt stood in the front. He was well muscled and was very tall as well.
"Well, well, well, I've been waiting to see you for years," he said to John. John dismounted his chocobo and put out his hand to shake. The man slapped the hand away in disgust and punched John in the face so hard John was knocked off his feet.
"Why I'll rip you!" John began raving. Suddenly a white mist appeared around him and John suddenly felt like he weighed ten times his own weight. He couldn't move a muscle.
"Daddy!" Wendy screamed.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt your father more than he makes me." He leaned in close to John's face. "My name is Ewen Ripley. I am the leader of Eden, therefore I am the leader of the neutral resistance. We'll let you in, but you play nice. Ya hear?" John only growled in response. "I hope you also know that if you ever raise a finger to me I'll have all three of those men, plus another hundred just like them, kill you. I know your powers. I will never underestimate you." He turned to his body guards. "Release him!" A red mist appeared around John and he immediately sprang to his feet.
"What in the hell was that?"
"Time/space magic. You should learn it. Each of my closest body guards know it well. It could save your life. At some times it can be more valuable than any offensive magic."
"Military's number one rule: Best offense is a great defense."
"Well put," Ewen agreed. "I've hated you for a long time, but we could become friends."
"I'm not looking for friends. I'm looking for a place to live. Can you provide that?"
"Yes. We have places like that." Ewen snapped his fingers. The five at the gate stepped forward a step. "You five, find a place in east block for these two. I think there is an opening on B-456"
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