Forgotten

by Mazamis

Ascension

Jace jumped when he heard his name. He looked up to see Alex standing in his doorway dressed in a set of light armor tapping her foot impatiently, "you're still messing with those stupid inventions of yours, get ready the Council wants to see us" she said turning to leave. Jace looked down at his gears and other tools he was messing with, he sighed and place them into his bag. He stood up and chased after Alex wanting to ask her why the Council wanted to see him exactly. He looked around at what he called home. The remaining 200 humans or so lived in a cave, mostly dug out and not natural. It was huge for a cave, torches were placed up everywhere to provide light and warmth. The cave had tunnels leading to other parts of the underground city, like the training area, living quarters, the market, which ironicly enough no items were sold or bought. The people had a job here and they worked for one another giving what they crafted to those who needed it, and in return they would do the same. Most imporantly though was the area where the Council was. All buildings were carved into the cave wall or built out of the stone they dug out. Larger torches lit the main pathway to the parts of the city. It was quiet, except of the few clangs of iron being forged or people practicing fighting. That was the whole point of the city though. It was hidden, unknown to the creatures above, and the Council planed to keep it that way.This city had no name, it was simply known as 'home' to its inhabataints.

Jace was trying to recall why it was so important to stay hidden; he never really paid attention during those years he was in school. Something about a war... or was it a natural disaster. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a guard yell at him.

“Hey, you, the Council wants to see you and I'm suposed to escort you there," the guard said running up to Jace. He eyed at him with a look of intrest, like he was a criminal. Even though there was only about 200 people Jace didn't know everyone in the city.

"I know how to get there," Jace snapped back at the guard. Jace hatted the Council, and they returned those feelings.

"Well you better get there quick then, they're all waiting on you," the guard said. Jace just walked off, the last thing he wanted was to make the council angry at him for being late... again.

Jace entered the infamous circle, Alex was already waiting for him. Jace stared daggers at the man who lead them, he in returned did the same. The Council consisted of 13 men and women, always being led by one head figure. They sat in a circle with their fancy robes and staffs, which Jace thought was just for looks. According to what jace was taught in school, you should never question the Council as they were the wisest and most trusting beings in existance, but Jace didn't believe that. They stood there for a moment before Jace spoke up.

"What did I do this time, cause tunnel B-7 to colapse," Jace said with a smirk. Some of the members of the Council twiched, mainly because they accused him for almost everything. Alex gave Jace a look that said, 'shut the fuck up.' The head member stood up and presented himself, which was stupid because everyone already knew him.

"You, Jace and Alex have been chosen by the Council to go on an important mission. You will venture to the surface to gather needed supplies, you will be given a list of the materials to gather and things we need recovered," he said in a booming monotone voice.

"Oh cut the crap, you guys would never send me on an important mission, what is the real reason... try and kill me, strand me, let me poison myself, basicly just tell me which way you are going to get rid of me, saves me the surprise," Jace said as he focused on the small cogs and gears he brough with him.

"Shut up Jace," Alex said puching him, which in turn caused Jace to stumble aroud to pick up the things he dropped. "But sir, no one has ventured to the surface in over 200 years, why would you pick us. There are many who would be more qualified for this mission."

"We have faith in you both," was all the head leader said as Jace left out a 'Pffftt' sound. "Gather you things, meet us here in 15 minutes, now go."

15 mintues later, Jace and Alex stood in the same spot, waiting for the Council to send them on their way. A guard walked up to them and gave them a scroll before walking away. They stood by a large stone door that was the only entrance and exit to and from the city. The door had stay closed for 200 years and that was about to change.The guard started to brief them on what they were doing and the importance of staying hidden because it was their first time exiting the city. Jace wasn't paying attention to the guard though, he was lost in his own thoughts, nodding when the guard paused. Soon he was done talking and opened the gate revealing a large staircase that ascended into darkness. Jace whistled. Alex nudged him, and readjusted her bow, "let's go," she whispered, and the two friends started climbing the staircase to the outside world.

"Alex, where the hell are you."

"To your left you idiot."

"Ow, you liar, there was just the wall."

"That was to your right."

"Oh...."

The sound of a palm making contact with a face was heard. The two were walking up the dark stairs for about three minutes; nobody had provided torches so seeing anything was impossible. Alex sighed after hearing Jace fall again. "Here, grab my hand," she said reaching out into the darkness. Jace managed to grasp her hand and they continued up the stone stairs holding each other’s hand as to not lose one another. It was about another 10 minutes until they walked into a wall. Alex simply moved the wall, which turned out to be a giant to rock that was actually really light. The light blinded both of them as they shielded their eyes. Even though it was late at night the moon projected more light on them than they have ever had. The wind blew through Jace's hair as he inhaled deeply, smelling fresh air for the first time in his life. They stood atop a pile of large rocks at the bottom of a mountain with trees surrounding the hidden passage.

"It's beautiful," Alex whispered.

"What ever, lets just get this over with before we walk right into some trap," Jace said pulling out the list to go over the things they needed. Alex just sighed, she understood why Jace hated the Council for all the things they did to him but sometimes he took that idea that the Council set every thing up for him to fail too far. Jace started muttering about poison joke and how the hell they were supposed to know what that was as he walked into the forest.

The two walked for what seemed like hours, talking about what they thought things were and if they found any before they walked into a clearing and stopped. Both stood in an opening with the ruins of an old temple or castle, it was hard to tell. Jace was the first to move. He ran straight into the ruins with a smile only an idiot would have, plastered on his face. Alex followed, but with a look of worry on her face.

They walked through the ruins and entered what appeared to be the main hall. Jace started to collect things that he found interesting, including gems, pieces of metal that he could use, and some things he thought was cool even though he didn't even know what they were. Alex just examined the place and walked to the far end of the room eyeing the weird statue of the giant snake as she passed it, more intrigued by the stone looking fountain built into the wall. There was a part sticking out of the fountain with a strange symbol on it, almost like it was a button. She pressed down on the stone but it didn't move. Alex sighed and turned to Jace.

"Ummm... Jace, don't you think we should be hunting and gathering supplies instead of raiding lost tombs," she said.

"What? Come on Alex, how many times will this happen in your life time, this is awesome, hey what is that you found over there" Jace replied excitedly making his way toward Alex.

"I don't know, it looks like fountain but there's no water or anything. Also there seems to be some sort of button but it wont move," she replied as she showed Jace the fountain.

"Maybe you just didn't push hard enough, it is made out of stone you know" Jace said as he put his hand on the object. As he touched it, the fountain lit up with blue light coming from all the carvings on it. Both Alex and Jace jumped back with shock, as the fountain started to vibrate. The light emitting from the fountain started to glow brighter as the vibrations increased. After a short moment, the fountain exploded into thousands of pieces. The two shielded their eyes as the dust cleared. Where the fountain was placed, was now a staircase leading into an unknown room. Without saying a word, both Alex and Jace stepped forward to enter the room.

Alex and Jace stood in a large circular room. It wasn't the giant stained glass windows or the fancy decorations around the room that caught their attention. In the center of the room was a glass sphere the size of a soccer ball. Blue light radiated from in lighting the room with a blue glow. It spun in a circle as it hovered a couple of inches above a pedestal. As they came closer to it, Jace couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“What the fuck is that?”

“I don’t know,” Alex said leaning forward so she could get a better look at it, “it seems to be conducting, or at least be holding some type of energy so it could be a power conductor.”

“POWER CONDUCTER, GIMME,” Jace shouted grabbing the sphere and yanking it towards his body.

“Wait, we don’t know… GOD DAMNIT JACE! Give me the orb.”

“No, it’s mine.”

“Give it here; we don’t know what it does.”

“Yes we do, you said it conducted power. I’m going to use it with my inventions.”

“Jace all of your gizmos blow up and they don’t even have a power source. I don’t even know how pure metal can just
explode.”

“Not all of them exploded.”

“The ONE thing you make that WAS supposed to explode DIDN’T.”

“Still… not all of them exploded.”

“Give me the damn ball.”

“No, it’s mine”

The two fought over the sphere for about ten minutes, yanking it back and forth until Jace managed to grab it and flew backwards as Alex let go, using all the force Jace was using against him. As Jace flew towards the ground he held the ball close to him. He landed on his chest where he was keeping the ball safe from ‘greedy’ hands and it smashed into thousands of pieces. The last thing Jace heard was Alex screaming followed by a large BOOM. Jace was thrown across the room like a rag dog and slammed into one of the stained glass windows breaking it. He couldn't see Alex from where he laid. Jace started to slowly lose consciousness.

Twilight awoke with a jerk. She sensed something wrong but she couldn’t exactly put her hoof on it. The air almost felt different, like it was thicker. Then Twilight heard an explosion. She ran outside onto her balcony in time to see what appeared to be a wave of blue energy deep in the Everfree forest flying out in all directions making it look like a giant blue ball of energy. Then it faded, as quickly as it appeared it vanished, leaving no trace of its existence.