Woah, nice, I never read any of your works, now I have a reason too :hahaha;
StarStrom, you R0XX0RZ. That’s all there is to say.
More. Now.
Excellent, I just wonder when everyone is going to make their appearances.
Chapter 6: Aftermath
When Weiila had left, she had basically told me to go to my room and stay there. Normally that would be insulting, but considering that I had really no idea of the layout of the place and that I didn’t have anything to do…
Well it was a good idea anyway.
So I was sitting on the bed, twiddling my thumbs. There really isn’t much to do around here. Not in my position, anyways, and I get bored easily.
An hour passed like this. Or at least it felt like one. The clock didn’t work in this room, so I just had to guess.
Wow. There was a lot of noise in the corridor. Wonder what’s up.
I opened the door and poked my head out. Wow. That was a lot of people. Quite a few of them on what looked like rusted gurneys. Wonder what happened.
Weiila passed by. “Weiila! What happened?” She didn’t answer me. How nice.
A man was a little distance behind her. He looked like he was one of the tougher guys in the group. Why not? “What’s going on?”
He turned to me, giving me the once-over. “You’re the guy PC brought in, right?”
“PC? Who’s that?”
He shrugged. “Children attack.” And then he left, following the procession.
Hmmm… wonder what’s up?
“Wert, report.”
“Three dead in the nest, Governor. Twelve more from the Children. Families are being notified. Fourteen wounded. Weiila’s tending to them now.”
“Depressing.”
“We never did get that nest cleaned. I’ll probably take a few more in to finish the job.”
“Might as well. As for the Children…”
“Eliminated. Any survivors were killed.”
“Regrettable, but nessecary. Nessa, do you have any idea why they would attack?”
Nessa frowned. “Probably just a raid. I don’t know. I don’t think there were any Maester in there. At the worst, I think, they’re testing our defenses. The fact that they just came upon us… well.”
“But we wouldn’t know.”
“That’s the problem. It’s been a while, remember that.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think they’d change too much. So where’s GG?”
“Being treated for minor shrapnel wounds from the last firebomb he threw, I think.”
“Alright. Well, we can speculate all we want, but we’re not going to know unless they tell us. Dismissed.”
Wertigon and Nessa saluted the Governor, then turned and left, leaving the Governor to wonder about the attack.
Dinnertime now. Weiila had come to get me. One could ask about it, but I started to wonder if I was allowed anywhere without an escort.
A cute escort, though.
Dinner was much less than I was used to. I tend to eat. A lot. I figured food was rationed though. You didn’t see a lot of oveweight people. It made me feel like an oddity. Now I wish I started working out.
Weiila seemed stressed. With all of the people that passed by the door, I couldn’t blame her. There was quite a lot of blood.
“So what happened?” She was just eating, pretty quiet. Someone had to break the ice.
She sighed and looked up at me. “Fourteen come in, five dead before I could help them.”
Uhm… “This one guy said it was a Children Attack…”
She shrugged. “About sums it up. Children found them as they were cleaning up the Dhroma nest that you appeared by. Pinned them down until ClothHat came along. I got there just after it ended.”
“Ew. Sounds nasty.” I winced.
“Could be worse.”
“Alright. Oh… I wanted to ask. Is there any time we could see this Trillian person? I wanted to ask her a few questions.”
She looked at me for a moment, as if in thought. “Uhm… ok. But could it wait until tomorrow?”
Guh. I sighed. “Alright.”
A man stood in front of a large book, paging through it and reading by the candlelight. Incense burned in a corner of the room. The specific scent was to assist in concentration.
The man drew his finger down each page, murmuring to himself in thought. The book itself was the most valuable object within a thousand miles. To the man who was reading it and his followers, it was worth more than anything on this planet.
<i>The Book of the Sun</i>, to put it simply, was the collective writings and prophecies of the Grand and High Maester throughout the life of the Children. The prophecies and many of the writings were transcribed from the Second Sun itself, who appeared to them in dreams.
A knock at the door. The man turned around and waved a hand at the door, creating a small force that opened the door for him.
A young man stepped inside and bowed deeply. “Dhai’stiho, Grand Maester.”
“Dhai, Maester.” The Grand Maester bowed slightly, and spoke irritably. “Why am I being interrupted?”
“As accorded to the Prophecies of the Second Sun, I sent a small party to investigate the location given in the Book. The party was destroyed by the heathens, unfortunately.”
The Grand Maester gritted his teeth. “A crime they will pay for when the Second Sun returns, I assure you. But get to the point.”
“We did have sufficent warning, Grand Maester, but it wasn’t enough. But it is as the Book had said. There was a party of heathens in Times Square, and they seemed to be preoccupied with a nest of Dhroma.”
“Crime upon crime. Killing the Second Sun’s creations as well as Its’ followers.”
“Yes. I believe the book would be correct that the one we must stop has arrived in that location. I only regret that we couldn’t have found him in time.”
The Grand Maester nodded. “A forgivable offense, but one that must not be repeated again. While I trust in the words of the Second Sun, I wish to be sure. There is nothing wrong in that. We wait and observe. If that is truly the one we seek, then we will know. If not, there is no harm in waiting.”
The Maester nodded and bowed. “Your wisdom illuminates, Grand Maester.”
“Thank you. Now go, noble Maester. Leave me to my studies.” The Maester bowed again and left, closing the door behind him. Turning back to the book he quickly flipped the pages. Soon he found a particular one and read two particular lines aloud.
<i>Where my creations gather in the Square of Time, and the moon shines high on the blood-red sky, My Adversary would come silently to the earth.
And this Adversary, this Dreamer, was taken into the kindness of the greatest of those who do not believe, in the greatest city of those who do not believe. And in there, he awoke, and would challenge Me.</i>
“Soon. It will be soon.” The Grand Maester smiled softly.
Deeeeeep. Great story!
Kick… ASS!!! 
Spaz, YOU DA MAN!!!
Cool, very cool, like I said, it’s coming out great.
Originally posted by Lord Zhou Yu
Second Sun; more addictive than coke. Maybe. I haven’t tried coke yet. First person to make the Cola joke shall be shot.
picks a piece of shrapnel out of his ass
Ow…
Yeah, I’d like more of this…of the story, not shrapnel in my ass…ow…
takes a bullet for the Coca Cola
Coke fan to the end… ugh…
Anyway, really great story 
Wants to see more 
This is the most kick ass story I have read, in a while. More keep it coming.
This just kicks ass, on so many levels. It’s unreal. Keep it coming.
Chapter 7: Sage Advice
I was leaning on my elbow, looking out the window of a van. Weiila called it a “coach”. It was kind of interesting. New words for old things, along with a vocabluary that I understood. This isn’t what I imagined a post-apocalypse future to be like.
Nor the blue skies. I’ve was always imagining post-apoc to have gray, constantly cloudy skies. But the sky seemed… well, beautiful. The landscape less so.
Burned out skyscrapers, rusted hulks of cars, a broken lamppost here and there. Just a depressing ruin. A few buildings showed some sign of habitation by humans.
Definately not the post-apoc I always imagined. But it made sense to me. Humans adapted. They thrived. The world may be dead, but humans simply refused to die. And it showed.
“What are you looking for?” Weiila was in the front passenger seat. Some guy named GG was driving, he said he needed to see Trillian himself.
I shrugged. “Just thinking and looking.”
GG sighed. “It’s not like there’s much to look at anyway.”
“You can learn a lot of things just by looking.”
GG shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
I looked back out the window, sighing. What had happened in 200 years? Would I have survived whatever happened to the earth?
And yet, for some reason, I was alive, and many others didn’t. I shouldn’t even be here. But I am, so I might as well learn what I can and figure out what to do.
My biggest surprise was the fact that people used magic. This isn’t something you expect when the world has been destroyed. Nothing Dungeons and Dragon-ish, but still. Useful and effective. Maybe I could learn it.
So much has changed. Heh. And to think, people were imagining solar-powered flying cars at this point. Instead I’m in an centuries-old Chevy Astro.
The buildings thinned out a little bit. A lot of tall buildings, but no skyscrapers. I turned around. New Brooklyn was a ways behind us. “Why so far out?”
“Trillian lives pretty far out. She generally likes to be left alone.” GG shrugged. “The only ones I know that live near or with her are TD and Perc, and TD doesn’t count.”
“Why so?”
Weiila sighed. “TD’s a ghoul.”
“Undead?”
“Don’t know. He’s immortal and most of the time, utterly insane. Once in a while, when he’s lucid, he’ll come in for a decent bath, clothes and a haircut. Otherwise…”
Immortal? An eternity of insanity? “How sad…”
GG nodded. “Yeah. Perc is one too, but he’s one of the lucky ones. He prefers to be called immortal though. He lives with Trillian.”
“Still, being immortal would suck.”
GG chuckled. “Maybe. I wouldn’t mind being immortal. But I want to have kids, when I settle down y’know? Ghouls are sterile. But hey, mutants seem to have a hard time noticing them. Perc could walk though a flock of Razorbeaks and come out unscathed.”
Weilla looked over at GG. “If you ever ‘settle down’ I’ll eat my ponytail and ClothHat’s fedora.”
“Point.” They continued to banter about. I tuned it out and looked back out the window. Monsters now walked the earth. Some people were immortal. Some could use magic. And the earth was all but dead.
I sat there in thought for a while, trying to make sense of my situation. I was failing rather miserably when Weiila reached over me and shook my shoulder. “It’s too rough to take the coach any further. We have to get out and walk the rest of the way. It’s a short walk though. Got the food GG?”
“Yep?”
“Food? We’re going on a picnic?”
Weiila laughed. “No… some of it is for TD, so he doesn’t get all over us. The rest is for Trillian. I don’t think she’s ever left the house. Perc usually comes for supplies.”
This area was more of a ghetto than New Brooklyn. But it was a ghetto that I could understand. The road was cracked and broken around here. It was difficult to walk on, I could see what Weiila meant about driving.
We walked on in silence for about three minutes. “Uhm… are there any monsters around here?”
GG shook his head. “Not that we know of. And those that do come are warded off by Perc and TD.”
Weiila turned her head to the side, looking down an alleyway. “Speaking of whom…”
A growl emanated from the alleyway. A figure stepped out… it would be hard to describe how he moved. His hair was unkempt, his suit, of all things, a SUIT, was ripped, torn and dirty, and I swear you could smell him. How did I not notice?
Weiila just smiled and and pulled a bit of meat from the duffel bag GG was carrying. (The “bag” as GG said.) She laid it carefully at her feet and stepped back as the man leapt at it, practically devouring it. “We should leave. TD only gets like that when he’s hungry, and he gets annoying when he’s not.”
(Incomplete so far, library kicking the kitty)
:hahaha; can’t wait to see which RPGC people you include next.
Yeah, all the evil bastards are waiting on ya. 
Still loving this story, finish the chapter and ignore the kitty. 
Also, the idea of Trill living away from everyone else reminds of That vampire woman from Blood Omen 2. I forget her name.
More more more!!!1 I cant take it…I must have MORE!!! ::dekar!::
Chapter 7: Sage Advice (Continuted)
As TD devoured the meat, I followed Weiila and GG away. “That’s horrible…”
GG sighed. “It’s the same way with most ghouls. They’re completely insane. TD is one of the lucky ones, sometimes he is sane…”
“I’d rather not have his luck.”
“If I could cure him, I would. To spend two hundred years that way…” Weiila sighed then turned and waved at a building. I turned myself, and saw two guys hanging around in the building, trying to be stealthy but failing miserably. I looked at GG questioningly.
“ClothHat’s men. He has them stationed around her home all the time, but they never do anything…”
Weiila chuckled in return as we apprached a particular door. “I swear ClothHat is smitten with Trillian. I think it kinda annoys her.”
She knocked on the door. A few seconds it opened showing a rather handsome young man. Probably in his late 20s. “Oh hello Perc…”
Weiila smiled as Perc took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Hello Weiila, GG. It’s nice to see you again. And who is this young man?”
I hazarded a smile, and extended my hand. “I’m Wesley Collins.”
He bowed deeply as he shook my hand. “I am Percival Rhyndon, although everyone calls me Perc or Percy.”
“This is a ghoul?” I was amazed. For someone centuries old…
His face darkened slightly. “I prefer the term ‘immortal’.”
“Oh… sorry.”
Weiila shook her head wearily. “Wesley has a slight problem, and he was hoping to see Trillian.”
Perc chuckled. “If you can get her away from the books, I’m sure she’ll be happy to talk. I was about to go for supplies.”
GG held up his “bag”, “No problem. We brought a little bit from the Fortress.”
“That is good. Perhaps you will have dinner with us then? It would be nice to have some company…”
Weiila smiled slightly. “I’d be happy to join you.” GG nodded his assent. I nodded as well. I don’t pass up a free meal.
Perc led us inside and closed the door. And the first thing I was struck by was how clean it was. Outside laid the depressing hulk of a ruined and almost abandoned hulk of a city. But here it was bright and homey, despite the dim light.
Perc smiled. “You seem surprised. If it were up to Trillian, this place would only get worse.”
“Ah. I see. Look, I’m uh… sorry about the ghoul comment, earlier.”
A nod, in return. “It is alright. I am not really offended by such remarks.”
Weiila turned to Perc. “Might if I help with dinner?”
“Always, m’lady. I could always use another hand.”
I laughed a bit. “Where is Trillian?”
“In the study. GG will show you the way. I am sorry to leave you now, but I should start on dinner.” With the, Perc and Weiila swept off.
GG led me to the door of the study. “I’d love to join you, but she usually bores me to tears. I’ll talk to her when you’re done.”
“Thanks GG.” With that, GG left me.
I knocked on the door firmly. Not loud enough to be demanding, but enough to get notice. “Come in!”
I opened the door, and shut it behind me. The room was lit by candlelight, and quite dim. Bright enough to read by, but it took my eyes a bit to adjust.
This place was surrounded by books. And behind a desk facing the door, was Trillian.
Trillian looked like a thin, bookish person who could be quite attractive if she made an effort, but it was obvious she didn’t. Her skin was pale, as if it had never seen the sun, and her dress was tattered and old. She looked up at me. “Who are you?”
“Wesley Collins, Miss Trillian. Weiila brought me here.”
“Please. No miss. It makes me feel old.” She stood and offered a pale hand to me, which she shook. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re so… pale. Have you been sick?”
She laughed. “Oh. I don’t really leave the library much. Fortunately Perc is around to help with my reasearch and take care of things around here.”
“Ah. I see. Anyway, I had a few questions.” She perked as I said that. I got the distinct impression of someone who loved to talk, especially about something she knew and when asked. “Now humor me here…”
“Gladly.”
“I was just wondering what happened in the past two centuries. Starting with this ‘Second Sun’”
Trillian pursed her lips and sat down. I sat down myself. “That’s pretty common knowledge Wesley.”
“Just humor me here.”
She nodded and began to speak. “This all started on October 1, 2008 A.D., October 1, 0 A.S. In Monroe, Michigan, the world pretty much woke up to find a giant monster in the middle of the city. And as soon as dawn broke, it attacked.”
I nodded, letting her continue. “The United States Government did their best to fight it off, and several other nations at the time did thier best to aid. But they couldn’t harm the monster. When they finally attempted to nuke it, it said something about a ‘Dreamer’ and exploded. The explosion lasted but a few moments, but the light could literally be seen around the world. Billions died that day, not to mention the entire ecology was damaged almost irrepairably.”
“Whoa…”
Trillian nodded, looking over my shocked face for a moment. “There were survivors, and there was enough salvageable food to supply the survivors, and enough seeds and livestock to deal with any food problems. Irregardless, it was a tough time. My great-great-great-grandfather was the librarian in the New York Public Library, but was in Miami, on vacation. My parents were a few of the lucky ones. As since, my family has been committed to preserving Pre-Sun knowledge and Post-Sun history through this second Dark Age.”
“A noble and worthwhile thing to do.”
She smiled slightly and nodded. “Yes. But I’m the first one here since the Second Sun, 194 years ago. As much as I would like to reclaim the library again…” She sighed softly, almost grieving, “A nest of Tarox live there, and the Governor and ClothHat are having trouble cleaning it out.”
I winced. I always wanted to visit that library. “That is very not good.”
She shook her head. “It isn’t. But I digress. The survivors had their work cut out for them. While some, I’m sure, could reproduce Pre-Sun technology, the means weren’t easily available anymore. And then, twenty years later, the first mutations appeared.”
I nodded. “Tell me about the mutations.”
“Noone really knows where they came from, but it’s been suggested that the same radiation that killed so many from the Second Sun turned many normal creatures into monsters. Percival tends to be very angry about that… He’s somehwat of a nature worshipper. And I imagine seeing the mutations along with everything he held dear destroyed… That would have been horrible.”
“For two hundred years…”
“Exactly. There are many types of mutants, classifying them all is an excersize if futility… for now. But for now… it’s all we can do to survive against them. But the survivors gained an unexpected advantage. Sometime in 24 A.S., the first documented and reliable evidence of magic appeared.”
“That must have caused a shock.”
“Yes, but not in the way of the Middle Ages in Europe or the Salem Witch Hunts. I’m sure there were some who tried, but humanity was too busy surviving.”
“Not a group to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Exactly. Magic proved effective against monsters, and thus magic is here to stay. It’s also quite helpful in returning the planet to what it used to be. It’s not very well refined now, but given a few hundred years…”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” I nodded.“Please continue.”
“It was about thirty years after that a cult of mages came into prominence. They called themselves the ‘Children of the Second Sun’. From what I gathered from Nessa, she was a Maester herself before she left for New Brooklyn, they were a group of people who worshipped the Second Sun and believed that it would come again, and to survive, they must follow it.”
“A fair belief.”
“Yes. So everyone thought. Until the Children started attacking anyone who tried to improve the world or kill any mutations. They believed that the world should not be changed from the way the Second Sun had made it… or kill any of it’s creations. Add to that, anyone they could not convert they killed as an abomination to the Second Sun…”
“Yay. Islamic militants.”
“What was that?” She looked at me intensely, seeming to think.
“Nothing. Please go on.”
“Alright…” She gave me a thoughtful look. “They took over Neo-DC in short order. It was a city built on the ruins of the old Capitol of the United States of America. They have had their eyes set on New Brooklyn ever since it has settled, and well… New Brooklyn is currently in a war that has lasted for two decades.”
“Oi. Nasty.”
“Oh yes. The Governor has his grievance against the Children, and so does ClothHat. Normally the two would be fighting amongst themselves: The Governor, as nice as he is, sees ClothHat as a threat. But…”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
She nodded. “Exactly. I’m hoping this war will totally unite the two factions, but since ClothHat has distinctly criminal tendancies, and I’m not sure if he wants to rule New Brooklyn…”
I nodded, “Tell me about New Brooklyn.”
She nodded, taking another breath. “New Brooklyn was reclaimed on 114 A.S., by the first Governor. His great-grandson rules now. While it has not been completely settled or the mutations not fully dealt with, it has thrived, becoming what I believe is the largest human settlement on the East American Coast. The ‘Pax Americana’ was formed in New Brooklyn on 172 A.S., which encompasses the settlements of New Brooklyn, Angel City on the West Coast, and the Neo-Confederate States, which are the three largest settlements in North America that are not being controlled by the Children of the Second Sun. Soon we might expect delegates by ship about a ‘Pax Atlantica’, an agreement with London along the same lines. The Governor has asked me to witness it.” She drew herself straight, as if exceptionally proud.
“So what you’re telling me, is that it is a very violent time, with monsters, militant cultists, and magic?”
“Yes… you seem surprised. Why so? Did you lose your memory?”
I frowned. “You could say that.”
She looked at me skeptically, as if she didn’t buy it. “You’re hiding something from me.”
I sighed. “Alright, but you’re not going to believe me. Do you really want to know why?” She nodded in reply. “I haven’t told this to anyone, and you’ll probably think me crazy, but…” I began to tell her my story. Once I was done, she looked at me thoughtfully.
“Hmm that is a strange story. I won’t say I won’t believe you, because stranger things have happened.” Then she grinned, almost manically. “But if you’re telling me the truth, you could certainly give me a first-hand account of the years before the Second Sun! I’ve only had Percival to tell me…”
A knock at the door, as Perc poked his head in. “Dinner is ready. Weiila, GG, and Wesley are going to have dinner with us. I hope you do not mind?”
Trillian nodded excitedly. “Certainly, certainly. Hopefully Wesley will stay here for a little longer, we have much to talk about!” She stood up and almost dashed out of the room, skipping. Perc just looked at me and smiled. “You are a charmer Wesley. I’ve never seen her so happy to see someone.”
I frowned. “It’s not what you think, and if you want to know, it’s going to be a long story.”
Perc led me out of the library, and led me into the dining room. As we sat down to eat (Perc must have been an excellent cook, what he made looked nothing less than delicious!) I thought about this time.
Radical, insane cultists. Monsters. Magic. A dangerous and desperate time.
I think I’m going to have to learn how to fight.
Now…twitch… I’m feeling the addiction… twitwitch:hyperven: