A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

As Calvin and Rina wandered into the forest by the beachside, the faint sounds of waves and wind were vaguely replaced by chirping in the trees and the mellow rustling of leaves in the tall grass. There were a few man made pathways in the forest, but most were abandoned and overgrown by this point.

Calvin led the way, which also meant that he'd be the one to have to make a path. He didn't mind, but after countless times of getting smacked in the face by vines and branches whipping themselves back, he wasn't enjoying the trip.

"So where are we going exactly?" Rina asked, pushing a few specs of tall grass out of the way.

"We're going to the caves." Calvin paused, gently pushing aside a thorny vine of spikes and needles, "I hate calling them Ogres, but the Ogres live there, and that is also where we'll find their saliva."

"Ogres? Like tall, green…Monsters or something?"

"They're not monsters. They're just different. The name is very off putting, but you'll see once we get there."

Rina jumped over a sharp rock on the ground, making her voice sound a little more higher pitched, "How will we get the Saliva?"

"Well," Calvin stopped, stroking his chin. "I didn't really think that far yet."

"Huh?" Rina bumped into him, "What do you mean you haven't thought that far yet?"

"It's been years since I've physically seen them, but they usually live in caves somewhere in the forest. I remember these woods like the back of my hand, and I specifically remember there being at least three caves or so."

Rina sighed, wiping a few drops of sweat off her forehead, "That doesn't answer my question on how we'll get the saliva…"

Calvin reached into the bag on his shoulder, pulling out a small vile no larger than a toothpick, and threw it to her. "With that."

Rina still looked fl.u.s.tered with him not answering the question, only hoping that her image of an Ogre wasn't what she imagined it to be.

…

The two of them walked for a couple miles until they reached the caves. However, there seemed to be only two next to each other, and the third was a few hundred yards to the left. They weren't large, nor were they small. They were exactly what a cave should look like; a small entrance in a rocky hillside.

There was a lot of vegetation surrounding the perimeter, so the caves were barely visible in the midst of the green wildlife around it. However, Calvin already had a slight idea they'd be covered in vines and plants, so finding the caves wasn't much of a problem.

Calvin signaled for Rina to duck down behind the bushes along with him, giving her the plan of action. "Listen carefully. As far as I remember, the Ogres sleep most of the day to preserve their energy. You'll need to carefully, and I mean very carefully, somehow manage to sneak in and steal a drop of fresh saliva."

Rina gave him a bland look, "You make it sound as simple as eating a slice of cake. If Azor.." Rina realized she forgot the other man's name, "Azir?"

"It's Azar." Calvin chuckled slightly.

"Right… Well if AZAR asked us to do it, there must be some catch, right?"

"Well, Azar is quite lazy. But if the ogres caught him doing it, then there wouldn't be a pretty sight."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Calvin didn't answer, looking away with an innocent expression. "Whenever you're ready. Oh, and please don't hurt them if you don't have to, they're very timid to pain."

Rina sighed, clenched the vile into her hands, and slowly made her way past the vines into the darkness of the cave. She tried her best not to step on any dry sticks or leaves scattered across the ground, making sure her footsteps were as quiet as a mouse.

However, there was another factor in her carefulness: the light. It was late in the afternoon, so the sun would be setting fairly soon, meaning the light she had remaining was only getting darker and darker by the minute. The cave wasn't big, but the further she traveled, the less light she had to her disposal.

After a few more careful steps inside, the entrance began to seem too distant, giving Rina an eerie feeling of unease and discomfort. However, she didn't need to travel any further as deep sounds of snoring rang through her ears like a calm fan blowing against her face.

Rags and ruptured clothing seemed to fill the cave, scattered around in ways to make it seem more like carpeting rather than actual clothes. There were pieces of paper with scribbles on them stuck to the walls, and of course, an empty fire pit.

Just as Rina was finally beginning to get a little more intrigued of what an Ogre might look like, she saw one. He was large, laying on the ground in a deep slumber like a whale on the beach. He had ripped clothes covering his private areas and a portion of his upper body, but the rest was exposed like an art display. The ogre laid on a pile of cold pants that were too small for him to wear, so using them as a bed wasn't too bad of an idea.

The main thing that Rina found interesting was what he looked like. It was a normal looking man about 8 feet tall. Of course, he was huge, but not the green abomination Rina was picturing. The ogre's hands were the biggest part of his body, seeming like they could cup an entire person's head without any effort. His jaw was also very large, and his head was covered in messy hair down to his shoulders.

Rina took a deep gulp of nervousness down her throat, and slowly approached the sleeping behemoth in front of her. At this point, the light from the entrance of the cave was so small that she could barely even see if his eyes were open, but that didn't stop her. She's been through far too much to care.

As she stood over him, the anxious sweat in her palms made her nearly drop the empty glass capsule in it. Rina bent down, slowly, slowly, very slowly, placing the vile against the ogre's lips, praying that just one drop would land.

The ogre took a deep snort out of nowhere, readjusting his sleeping posture, and scaring the living soul of out Rina in the process. Rina's heart was racing as fast as if she were running a marathon, but her mind remained still and precise.

Finally a drop of gross, yellowish saliva entered the vile, and Rina slowly stood back up, closing it pleasantly. She popped the vile back into her pocket, and released a deep breath of relief..

A bright smile shot across her face, but as she turned around to head back, another Ogre stood right behind her, towering her like a mountain. Rina's heart sank deeper than the pacific, and her legs were too afraid to move.

All she could do was scream, and hope her life didn't end in a cave by the nads of an ogre. "CALVIN!" She screamed as loud as she could, shaking the inside of the cave like an earthquake.

Calvin instantly jumped out of the bush he was in, "Shit." He said to himself as he entered a full on sprint inside the cave. However, just as he reached where Rina was, all he saw was the two Ogre's gently petting her head as if she was some sort of house cat.

Rina remained frozen in fear and confusion, but her hands remained on her l.a.p, shaking with relief as she saw Calvin. Although Calvin wanted to help, and he could see the hopeless expression on Rina's face, all he could do was laugh.

The laughter scared off the fear in Rina, giving her the bossy attitude she needed to overcome the situation. "Really?!" She stood up, barging away from the Ogre's grasp.

The Ogre's would have probably tried to stop her if it wasn't for Calvin's presence in their cave, so they just waved goodbye with a muffled sound coming from their mouths, "BUUUUU!" The ogre's howled in a friendly tone.

Rina stormed out of the cave, crossing her hands with anger and waiting for Calvin to leave as well.

Laughter still echoed through the cave as she waited, but it finally died down as Calvin exited the cave. He wiped a tear of joy from his eye, and apologized with a mischievous smile on his face. "I'm sorry. That was- Phhh.." He held back his laughter again, "Very unprofessional."

"Can we just go back? I've had enough for today."

"Of course." Calvin obeyed her like a citizen to her Queen.

On their walk back, Rina just had to ask why they acted so friendly, so Calvin happily obliged. "People always think that Ogre's are some sort of monsters and town destroyers. All they are is a different evolution of Humans. They're like cavemen, sort of. Very friendly too, unless you piss them off."

Rina thought for a moment, dodging another vine coming her way. "Why was Azar so hesitant to come here?"

"He hates them." Calvin said, conservatively. "Azar never leaves his house. You think if he was forced to interact with people he would choose Ogre's as his first option?"

Rina gave a cute laugh as she remembered Azar's temper from before, "I guess not."

"Precisely."

…

The journey back to the lab was a lot quicker than getting to the caves. Since the path was already created on the way there, the pathway back was clear, and easy to navigate. The sun was set along the horizon, and the faint glow of magnificent colors started to appear across the Ocean like a rainbow of fruit juice and delightment.

As Rina and Calvin got back to the Lab, Henrietta and Javis were both wearing lab coats, bringing distant memories back into Calvin's mind.

"Just like old times." Calvin sighed as he entered, holding the door for Rina behind him.

"There they are!" Javis shouted, breaking Henrietta from her concentration on whatever she was doing with the lab equipment. "How did it go?"

Rina pulled out the vile, "Perfectly!" She said with a prideful smirk.

"HEY AZAR!" Javis shouted, "Get in here!"

Some faint mumbles were heard from the other room, and Azar entered with unamused Grin. He came over to Rina, grabbed the vile, and stuffed it in his eye to see the remnants of her adventure. He gave the vile a quick shake or two, stuffed it in his pocket, and gasped. "Let's get this over with, I need my sleep."

Henrietta walked over like a fashion model, "Oh my dear, I'm afraid I've forgotten what I must do. Why don't one of you fine gentlemen show this beautiful young lady how it's done."

Calvin gave her a wet look, but sighed, "I'll go first I guess."

Javis tossed him a knife, and Calvin caught it like he was expecting him to throw one anyway. Calvin motioned for Rina to give him the hearts, and she obliged, carefully unleashing them from her neck.

With a little hesitation at first, Calvin gently slid the knife across his left, and then his right hand. He let out a silent groan, but tried to look as manly as possible in front of everyone as blood started exiting his skin.

He then placed the heart of Azimore in his left hand, and Oryx's in his right. He crossed his arms into an "X" shape, and began his contribution. "Violet Ambrose, may you never be forgotten, and may you live once more." Calvin said as he clenched the heart's deeper into his fists, letting his blood submerge them as much as possible.

Rina was excited to see the process of bringing her sister back, but the pain in Calvin's eyes made her feel differently than she had hoped. She could see his suffering, she could see his anguish, and she could see his desperate soul cling onto those heart's like his life depended on it.

A light glow escaped his hands after a few moments, and he lowered his arms back to their rightful place. Javis gave Calvin a cloth to wipe the hearts and his hands from the mess he made, and volunteered to be next.

As Calvin handed him the hearts, a dark Aries symbol appeared on them on one of the twelve sides of the diamond-shaped heart.

Rina grabbed Calvin's hands, "Are you okay?" She asked cautiously.

Calvin whipped his hands back angrily, "I'm Fine, thanks."

There wasn't a single doubt in Rina's mind that his heart was still aching. Not from the knife, but from Violet. Even Henrietta caught on, giving Calvin a healing remedy she made while they were in the woods. All it would do is speed up the healing process from the gashes in his hands, but it was the only thing Henrietta had to make him feel at least slightly better.

After Javis did his part, the cycle repeated with Henrietta, and Azar after some more convincing. The Dragon Hearts now had 4 symbols on them: Aries, Scorpio, Cancer and Taurus.

Calvin and Rina stayed for one more night, and left the next morning on their journey back home. Henrietta decided to stay with Javis for a while longer until she found her rightful place in this world, and Azar went back to his chamber of sleep.

The journey back home would be a lot faster since it would just be a straight shot back to Princewood on the open waters. Calvin would have to take a slight detour towards Kaplan, and the last stop would be in Maverick where Ms. Henzy was still teaching Algebra in her senior classes.

Rina was actually very excited to see her old teacher again, ready to tell her all the things they've gone through and all the things that are yet to come. Ms. Henzy would ask about Atlas after Rina's arrival, bringing back memories that are only a day away for Rina to experience herself.

Now however, a couple weeks had gone by since Rina and Calvin left the lab, and Faibel was only one day away from going head on into the preliminaries of the Gilded Throne.