Neo Chronicles
Episode 23: We Don't Have a Choice
Table of Contents
What's going on now?
It's always some sorta stupid, weird, something. Who is this lady? Why are we still here? How come the demons aren't coming back to life like they always do?
We all huddle up. Noah's stupid tail starts whispering something.
“Okay, I don't know what the heck's going on. Do you?”
Chris laughs, Lynn shakes her head no, I just look at him.
“Thought so.” He keeps looking back up at the lady. Long white hair, pale white face, probably twenty or thirty somethin', wearin' what looks like a blue and black ninja outfit. She's just standing away from us right now, waiting for us to finish this little pow-wow nonsense. “We know demons can look like regular people, so she could still be trouble.”
“Just say the word, and we're outta here,” Lynn mentions. I, for one, think that's a novel idea.
“Why the crud would she have killed all those demons if she wasn't a good guy?” Chris asks.
I can't let that one slide, so I ask, “How many 'good guys' have we met out here, dummy?”
“Okay, okay, okay. Let's just hear her out,” Noah says.
Now I've been with this dude so far. We've had our differences. I've been wanting to tell him off so many times before. I've been wantin' to tell all these losers off, but I kept my mouth shut, because that's not what we needed right then. That's not what we need right now. We need to stay cool, keep it together, an' pretend to act like we're these responsible adults who've got a handle on things, but of all the stupid stuff they've said so far, this I can't let slide.
“And risk getting killed, again? Really? I don't think so. I'm tired of this. Lynn, let's go.”
I had to say it. It had to be said, and I had to say it. They know I'm right, too. They all know I'm right, because they all know I'm not stupid. And I'm hoping to God they're not stupid either.
“I can hear you, you know.” The ol' white lady decides to chime in. Then she starts easing in closer to us, careful not to make any sudden movements. “And don't worry. I think we're on the same side.”
There she stands, right in front of all of us. She holds her hands up like she's under arrest or somethin'. Probably tryna make peace. Befriend us, get us to drop our guard, then kill us. Well that ain't gonna happen with me. These losers might be that gullible, but not me.
“Okay, let's start over.” She lowers her arms, and I heat up mine. As soon as she tries something funny, she's eating a fireball to the face. “My name is Ganya Denisov. Who are you?”
We look at each other. Still don't know what to make of her. Noah shrugs his shoulders and answers her question.
“Hi Ganya,” he says, doing his best to imitate the accent she has on her name. “I'm Noah. This is Lynn. That's Nexus and Kai.” This is the first time I actually want him to give out that stupid nickname of mine. “We're kinda on our way out, so uh—”
“Wait a minute,” Ganya interrupts. “I have many, many more questions to ask. To start, did you happen to close that demon portal that was here a few minutes ago?”
That sends up the red flags. This Ganya not only knows about demons, but also about how they go back and forth to and from Hell. Noah, genuinely looks worried now. Looking back and forth at us and her. Everyone looks to him, waiting on some sorta queue to follow. Chris is on edge. He tries to smile. He tries to act like he normally acts, but with how fidgety he's moving, anyone can tell he's not entirely comfortable right now.
I can't really get a read on Lynn. Out of all of us, she's the one to watch out for. After that one-eighty she pulled on us, there's no telling what she'll do next, which is an extremely bad situation for us to be in, since she's the only reason we're alive, the only reason we can fight, and the only way we got to get back home.
Come on, Noah. What do we do? Stop looking dumb and say something.
“Yeah, that was me,” Lynn speaks up.
“Really?” Ganya says. “That's impressive. And you're only children.”
“A'ight, lady. You's a demon, or not?” Chris has finally had enough.
“I'm not,” Ganya responds.
“She's not.” Lynn chimes in.
“So you can tell now?” Chris asks.
“Yeah, I can.”
“I'm actually the opposite. A demon—I guess you could call it a demon hunter? Demon slayer? I assumed that you were, too, for a moment.” Ganya says.
“We are—” I have to cut Noah off before he finishes that sentence.
“No, we're not. We're just a bunch of stupid kids, who're lost, and need to get back home.” I feel like I'm talkin' more to the group than that Ganya woman. And then Lynn acts like I didn't say a thing. I'm starting not to like her at all.
“How does this demon hunting thing work?” she asks.
“Just like it sounds. Whenever a demon comes into my neck of the woods,” Ganya answers, “I hunt it, and I kill it.”
“You kill it? That's cool. How does that work, exactly? When we tried, they just regenerated and went on like nothing was wrong. There has to be more to it than just beating up on them. You managed to vaporize them.”
“Well, the exploding thing is more my specialty than anything else, but the actual killing part is more of a magical banishment type thing. Demons are, by definition, just dark spirits. You can't really 'kill' a spirit. I'd be willing to explain more, but it's a lot to take in, and since everyone is looking like it's time to—”
“No, we're fine. We'll stay.” We'll what? “Just tell us how to do it. How do we 'banish' demons?”
I can't be the only one thinking this? Lynn's acting like no one's taught her not to talk with strangers. I'm about t'smack her 'cross the face. I look at Noah and motion for him to do or say something. He shrugs his shoulders like a doofus. This fool don't got a clue. Chris is supposed to know her, right? They go back. They got some sorta history. Why ain't he speakin' up?
Still she's talking. It's like they're old friends now. Might as well be goin' on about slumber parties an' junk food, but nooo. They wanna talk demons. White people. Finally, the old lady wraps it up. She even gives Lynn a hug—a hug for Chrys sake. Then a white light shoots up from the ground behind her.
Ganya says, “Well, if you're interested, just follow me through here. On the other side, you'll have all the answers you could ever want. No pressure or anything, but I'm real interested in getting to know you better. The fact that you've done so well by yourselves is really impressive. Hope to see you soon.”
She walks through the light and disappears. Lynn just looks at the portal for a moment before finally realizing that we're still standing here. When she does, she almost jumps and turns to us to say,
“I guess we should follow her.”
“Let's not and say we didn't,” I respond.
Then Noah decides to jump on board and give a more thought out answer. “Lynn, we're really out of our element here. We get that this is all new and fascinating to you, believe me, it's new and fascinating to us, too.” Not to me. “But we can't just jump through. Too risky. Way too risky.”
“I know it's a risk, but think of the payoff.” Now all of a sudden, Lynn thinks she has an argument to stand on. “If she's telling the truth and we learn what we need to learn, we'll be a lot better off than before. We know demons exist. We know they're flocking out of whatever kinda Hell that they're in to mess things up here, and we know they're dangerous. It's only a matter of time before they make their way to Next City. What happens then? At the very least, we need to learn how to defend ourselves.”
I hate this person so much right now. I can't put it any more plainly than that. I hate everything about her. Especially the part about her making some kind of sense, I hate her so much.
Then addressing Chris specifically, she goes on, “We already know Darius is gone. How many more people are missing? I promise you, it's not just him. This very well could be our only hope in finding them.”
“I hear you. Believe me, I hear you loud and clear, but that's all assuming that this Ganya woman's telling the truth. Can you really tell if she's not a demon? What if she's not? Are you secretly a TP? Can you read her mind? What if she's leading us to a trap or something? Better yet, what if the whole thing isn't a trap, and it's exactly what she says it is? What then? What happens when—while out demon hunting or whatever—something goes wrong, and you get killed? That's it. It's game over. I'm sorry Lynn, but I'm gonna have to call it. We need to leave.”
“I can take us all back any time I want. Please, just follow me on this. Just this last time, and I promise you, we'll head back. I'd take you back now, but I don't want to do this on my own. I know this will work out. I just know it, but if it doesn't, we're gone.”
Noah gives a disgruntled moan. Then he looks to me. He looks unsure. Probably hoping I'll point out for the umpteenth time today about how stupid this is, about how stupid Lynn is, and about how stupid he is for even thinking about considering this, but now she's got me second guessing. What she said makes sense, but at the same time—
“We should go.” Out of no where, Chris speaks up. That's kind of expected. Him saying that, that is. He's been flip-flopping a lot lately, because he's an idiot, but it's whatever.
Noah's still waiting for a response from me. They all are. That's not cool. Got me all backed to a corner on the matter. So much pressure. I look up at the sky, hoping an answer beams down from there. It doesn't come. I fold my arms, sigh, and finally come out and say,
“This really isn't fair. None of us actually have a choice on this. It all boils down to what Lynn feels like doing. Sure, she says she'll take us home if we want, but there's nothing here stopping her from changing her mind. She's already changed her mind. And there's nothing we can do about it.” Then I see something that worries me. Lynn tries to hide it, but I saw it. She smirks. She smirks because she knows I'm right. This is what she's been doing all along, and—am I really the first one to catch on? That witch.
“That's not true,” she interjects. Of course she would. She does her best to put on a solemn face. She has to. She has to look as sincere and noble as she possibly can. I know this game. She's tryna hustle.
“Whatever,” I say back to her. “Let's just go. It's your show.”
Noah chuckles. I don't know if that was a nervous laugh or just him trying to relieve some of the tension. Either way, he turns to Lynn, looks at the portal, and then back to her again and says,
“Well Miss Taylor, lead the way.”
Episode 23: We Don't Have a Choice
Table of Contents
What's going on now?
It's always some sorta stupid, weird, something. Who is this lady? Why are we still here? How come the demons aren't coming back to life like they always do?
We all huddle up. Noah's stupid tail starts whispering something.
“Okay, I don't know what the heck's going on. Do you?”
Chris laughs, Lynn shakes her head no, I just look at him.
“Thought so.” He keeps looking back up at the lady. Long white hair, pale white face, probably twenty or thirty somethin', wearin' what looks like a blue and black ninja outfit. She's just standing away from us right now, waiting for us to finish this little pow-wow nonsense. “We know demons can look like regular people, so she could still be trouble.”
“Just say the word, and we're outta here,” Lynn mentions. I, for one, think that's a novel idea.
“Why the crud would she have killed all those demons if she wasn't a good guy?” Chris asks.
I can't let that one slide, so I ask, “How many 'good guys' have we met out here, dummy?”
“Okay, okay, okay. Let's just hear her out,” Noah says.
Now I've been with this dude so far. We've had our differences. I've been wanting to tell him off so many times before. I've been wantin' to tell all these losers off, but I kept my mouth shut, because that's not what we needed right then. That's not what we need right now. We need to stay cool, keep it together, an' pretend to act like we're these responsible adults who've got a handle on things, but of all the stupid stuff they've said so far, this I can't let slide.
“And risk getting killed, again? Really? I don't think so. I'm tired of this. Lynn, let's go.”
I had to say it. It had to be said, and I had to say it. They know I'm right, too. They all know I'm right, because they all know I'm not stupid. And I'm hoping to God they're not stupid either.
“I can hear you, you know.” The ol' white lady decides to chime in. Then she starts easing in closer to us, careful not to make any sudden movements. “And don't worry. I think we're on the same side.”
There she stands, right in front of all of us. She holds her hands up like she's under arrest or somethin'. Probably tryna make peace. Befriend us, get us to drop our guard, then kill us. Well that ain't gonna happen with me. These losers might be that gullible, but not me.
“Okay, let's start over.” She lowers her arms, and I heat up mine. As soon as she tries something funny, she's eating a fireball to the face. “My name is Ganya Denisov. Who are you?”
We look at each other. Still don't know what to make of her. Noah shrugs his shoulders and answers her question.
“Hi Ganya,” he says, doing his best to imitate the accent she has on her name. “I'm Noah. This is Lynn. That's Nexus and Kai.” This is the first time I actually want him to give out that stupid nickname of mine. “We're kinda on our way out, so uh—”
“Wait a minute,” Ganya interrupts. “I have many, many more questions to ask. To start, did you happen to close that demon portal that was here a few minutes ago?”
That sends up the red flags. This Ganya not only knows about demons, but also about how they go back and forth to and from Hell. Noah, genuinely looks worried now. Looking back and forth at us and her. Everyone looks to him, waiting on some sorta queue to follow. Chris is on edge. He tries to smile. He tries to act like he normally acts, but with how fidgety he's moving, anyone can tell he's not entirely comfortable right now.
I can't really get a read on Lynn. Out of all of us, she's the one to watch out for. After that one-eighty she pulled on us, there's no telling what she'll do next, which is an extremely bad situation for us to be in, since she's the only reason we're alive, the only reason we can fight, and the only way we got to get back home.
Come on, Noah. What do we do? Stop looking dumb and say something.
“Yeah, that was me,” Lynn speaks up.
“Really?” Ganya says. “That's impressive. And you're only children.”
“A'ight, lady. You's a demon, or not?” Chris has finally had enough.
“I'm not,” Ganya responds.
“She's not.” Lynn chimes in.
“So you can tell now?” Chris asks.
“Yeah, I can.”
“I'm actually the opposite. A demon—I guess you could call it a demon hunter? Demon slayer? I assumed that you were, too, for a moment.” Ganya says.
“We are—” I have to cut Noah off before he finishes that sentence.
“No, we're not. We're just a bunch of stupid kids, who're lost, and need to get back home.” I feel like I'm talkin' more to the group than that Ganya woman. And then Lynn acts like I didn't say a thing. I'm starting not to like her at all.
“How does this demon hunting thing work?” she asks.
“Just like it sounds. Whenever a demon comes into my neck of the woods,” Ganya answers, “I hunt it, and I kill it.”
“You kill it? That's cool. How does that work, exactly? When we tried, they just regenerated and went on like nothing was wrong. There has to be more to it than just beating up on them. You managed to vaporize them.”
“Well, the exploding thing is more my specialty than anything else, but the actual killing part is more of a magical banishment type thing. Demons are, by definition, just dark spirits. You can't really 'kill' a spirit. I'd be willing to explain more, but it's a lot to take in, and since everyone is looking like it's time to—”
“No, we're fine. We'll stay.” We'll what? “Just tell us how to do it. How do we 'banish' demons?”
I can't be the only one thinking this? Lynn's acting like no one's taught her not to talk with strangers. I'm about t'smack her 'cross the face. I look at Noah and motion for him to do or say something. He shrugs his shoulders like a doofus. This fool don't got a clue. Chris is supposed to know her, right? They go back. They got some sorta history. Why ain't he speakin' up?
Still she's talking. It's like they're old friends now. Might as well be goin' on about slumber parties an' junk food, but nooo. They wanna talk demons. White people. Finally, the old lady wraps it up. She even gives Lynn a hug—a hug for Chrys sake. Then a white light shoots up from the ground behind her.
Ganya says, “Well, if you're interested, just follow me through here. On the other side, you'll have all the answers you could ever want. No pressure or anything, but I'm real interested in getting to know you better. The fact that you've done so well by yourselves is really impressive. Hope to see you soon.”
She walks through the light and disappears. Lynn just looks at the portal for a moment before finally realizing that we're still standing here. When she does, she almost jumps and turns to us to say,
“I guess we should follow her.”
“Let's not and say we didn't,” I respond.
Then Noah decides to jump on board and give a more thought out answer. “Lynn, we're really out of our element here. We get that this is all new and fascinating to you, believe me, it's new and fascinating to us, too.” Not to me. “But we can't just jump through. Too risky. Way too risky.”
“I know it's a risk, but think of the payoff.” Now all of a sudden, Lynn thinks she has an argument to stand on. “If she's telling the truth and we learn what we need to learn, we'll be a lot better off than before. We know demons exist. We know they're flocking out of whatever kinda Hell that they're in to mess things up here, and we know they're dangerous. It's only a matter of time before they make their way to Next City. What happens then? At the very least, we need to learn how to defend ourselves.”
I hate this person so much right now. I can't put it any more plainly than that. I hate everything about her. Especially the part about her making some kind of sense, I hate her so much.
Then addressing Chris specifically, she goes on, “We already know Darius is gone. How many more people are missing? I promise you, it's not just him. This very well could be our only hope in finding them.”
“I hear you. Believe me, I hear you loud and clear, but that's all assuming that this Ganya woman's telling the truth. Can you really tell if she's not a demon? What if she's not? Are you secretly a TP? Can you read her mind? What if she's leading us to a trap or something? Better yet, what if the whole thing isn't a trap, and it's exactly what she says it is? What then? What happens when—while out demon hunting or whatever—something goes wrong, and you get killed? That's it. It's game over. I'm sorry Lynn, but I'm gonna have to call it. We need to leave.”
“I can take us all back any time I want. Please, just follow me on this. Just this last time, and I promise you, we'll head back. I'd take you back now, but I don't want to do this on my own. I know this will work out. I just know it, but if it doesn't, we're gone.”
Noah gives a disgruntled moan. Then he looks to me. He looks unsure. Probably hoping I'll point out for the umpteenth time today about how stupid this is, about how stupid Lynn is, and about how stupid he is for even thinking about considering this, but now she's got me second guessing. What she said makes sense, but at the same time—
“We should go.” Out of no where, Chris speaks up. That's kind of expected. Him saying that, that is. He's been flip-flopping a lot lately, because he's an idiot, but it's whatever.
Noah's still waiting for a response from me. They all are. That's not cool. Got me all backed to a corner on the matter. So much pressure. I look up at the sky, hoping an answer beams down from there. It doesn't come. I fold my arms, sigh, and finally come out and say,
“This really isn't fair. None of us actually have a choice on this. It all boils down to what Lynn feels like doing. Sure, she says she'll take us home if we want, but there's nothing here stopping her from changing her mind. She's already changed her mind. And there's nothing we can do about it.” Then I see something that worries me. Lynn tries to hide it, but I saw it. She smirks. She smirks because she knows I'm right. This is what she's been doing all along, and—am I really the first one to catch on? That witch.
“That's not true,” she interjects. Of course she would. She does her best to put on a solemn face. She has to. She has to look as sincere and noble as she possibly can. I know this game. She's tryna hustle.
“Whatever,” I say back to her. “Let's just go. It's your show.”
Noah chuckles. I don't know if that was a nervous laugh or just him trying to relieve some of the tension. Either way, he turns to Lynn, looks at the portal, and then back to her again and says,
“Well Miss Taylor, lead the way.”
