The Return Chapter 6

Problems

By Firstborn Dragon

Rudy lay there. No one knew whether it was in fact Rudy, or Zeikfried who now inhabited the body that lay in front of them. Yet they knew that they couldn’t leave him. And none of them, not even Zed, wanted to kill him if there were the slightest chance that it was in fact Rudy that lay there. Jack looked up at Zed, who was standing to one side. "I’m surprised you don’t try and kill him."

Zed shrugged "What would it matter. Even if I wanted to, you would stop me. But no, I don’t want him dead. Mainly because it means that I’m no longer quite so alone. That was the one thing that always bothered me." There was a sad look on his face. Yet none of them could quite understand his remark.

Jack never ever tried to figure it out. "Maybe we should move away from town. After all, you did threaten to destroy it once already. Their may be others out there who would like to make a name for themselves. And there’s no way that we could hold them off indefinitely. I for one don’t want to have to go through that."

Jane started to laugh at that comment. "Are my ears deceiving me, or are you actually truing down an opportunity to fight?"

Jack turned to Jane. "What ever gave you that idea Jane? I want a real challenge, not some want to be hero."

"That’s Jack for you." Cecilia replied, laughing.

Zed had already begun to move away from the small group.

Suddenly, Cecilia realized something. "Jane…."

"Yes Cecilia?" Jane turned to look at her.

Cecilia had a sly look in her face as she answered. "Did you just tell those people that you make sure that there’re monster would bother them no more?"

"Yes but…..Oh!" Jane’s eyes widened at the sudden realization.

Cecilia turned to her. "Go for it."

"Well I guess this makes up for the tower incident." Jane started to turn towards the town. McDullen had vanished as soon as the fighting began.

"As I recall," Jack responded as he began lifting Rudy. "You made an awful killing on us then too. Over half of what that beast had."

"Hey! I needed the money!" Jane turned back to Jack.

"Well you didn’t need to take it all! That beast nearly killed us. TWICE!" Jack was getting annoyed.

"Well I wasn’t the one dumb enough to get caught…." Jane was suddenly cut off.

"Give it a break. Come on Jack. We have to get out of here before they realize that Zed’s not dead." With that, Cecilia turned to follow Zed. Jane turned away, and began to walk back towards town.

Jack watched her go, then turned to follow Cecilia. "I suppose your right Cecilia. Although, however you got in charge is beyond me…"

Cecilia cut him off. "Because I don’t think either of us would follow Zed, even assuming he wanted to be leader. And if you were leader, we’d have to sit here and argue over every little detail."

Jack followed Cecilia quietly, considering what he had just heard. Zed, apparently noticing that they were not behind him, stopped. But when they caught up to him, he didn’t move. He just stood there. "There may be a way."

Jack, hating riddles, turned to face him. "What do you mean ’There may be a way’?"

Zed was lost in thought for a moment. "If there were any of the Elw left, they may know how to stop Zeikfried’s control. But then again they all disappeared after the war. Even if any were left, I don’t know how they’d take to helping a demon."

Cecilia answered Zed. "Actually, there is one Elw left, Mariel. She and her brother helped to fix Rudy’s arm after it was torn off by Zeikfried. They may be able to help us again."

Zed shrugged, suddenly realizing the flaw in his plan. "Well, even if they were, I couldn’t get near them. Demons and the Elw are mortal enemies. I’m a little surprised they agreed to help Rudy."

"Well, it’s not like we have a choice. Either we try to get their help, or else we let Zeikfried take Rudy. I for one will not let him go without a fight." There was resolve on Cecilia’s face.

Jack was the one who brought an important fact to light. "How do you propose we get there? Since we can’t really take the Sweet Candy, and the good Doctor took back her airship…"

"Why can’t we go by boat?" Cecilia had forgotten.

Jack reminded her. "Cecilia, who was it that played decoy while Lady Harconon destroyed the statue. Do you really see the captain letting Zed on after what happened?"

Zed couldn’t look at them with that comment. He truly did look sorry. Cecilia thought for a moment. "I don’t know." But Jack continued with another point Cecilia had forgotten. "But even if Bartolomew would take us one, the ship’s harbored in Port Timly. There’s no way to get to it, without going through town. And I don’t see that as being possible."

Zed surprised them by him next comment. "Even if it were possible, I would say it’s a bad idea."

Jack looked up at Zed in surprised. "Why?"

"Because it’s most likely that Zeikfried has taken up his old residence. After you destroyed Mother, it was shot up, and landed in the ocean. That’s how we got onto the ship so fast. And water doesn’t destroy a demons power like the air dose. So Zeikfried’s power would be measurably stronger if we were to go by sea."

Jack didn’t miss that last word. "What do you mean by ‘we’?"

Zed turned to look at him. "There were some things that Rudy spoke to me of, before Zekfried took him. If he can be freed from Zelkfried’s controle, then I intend to help him, in exchange for his help. Besides," Zed threw Jack a knowing glance," You don’t really want me out of your sight, do you?"

Jack shook his head. "For once, we agree on something."

.

Go To Chapter 7

Return To Wild ARMs Fanfic