The Newsletter of the Springfield City Library Teen Advisory Board
Spring/Summer 2005

S.V.G.
Spells versus Guns : Book I
by Dr. S

Continued from the Fall issue of the Springfield TAB !

3

It was a bit of strange sight for see a Dark Elf girl parading alongside a metal fairy companion in the streets of Ari-Tajou. Still, almost everyone in Ari-Tajou knew about Ms. Ll'ena Mm'ounara, especially the owners of stores that sold electronics and alchemy goods. Through the streets, Ll'ena stopped at five different places, entering with nothing and leaving with big bags filled with things. The metal fairy flew besides her, telling her that they were going to miss their time if she didn't stop entering every store.

<Mademoiselle Ll'ena, Madam must be waiting for us at The Fine Swordsman saloon. I suggest we go right away,> Ahmi said.

"Oh! Just let me ogle these new PDAs!" Ll'ena replied as she stared through the glass window. It was a store filled with computer screens, TVs, and the latest in electronics.

< So far, Mademoiselle, you have stopped at 5 electronic stores and 7 alchemy stores. My clock says that it's now almost 14:10, and Madam possibly wanted us earlier, > Ahmi warned her.

"Oh, alright," Ll'ena sighed, but she really was having a great time in the streets and how the shopkeepers looked forward to her visits in which she would oodles and oodles of Djinns on the littlest thing that beeped and ran on batteries of some sort.

Times were changing now not only in Ari-Tajou, but all over the world ever since the expulsion of Emperor Meglkai, ending the Era of the Eclipsing Curse. Ever since the evil emperor was put out of power, there had been a late technology boom, a delayed renaissance finally coming to surface after all these years. People soon mastered the computer chip and cast away the bow and arrow for a machine gun and lasers, far more effective. Also, there was the whisper of change going on as the latest generation cast away the old generations habits and ways.

Ll'ena herself was breaking tradition by simply living in Ari-Tajou whilst the Dark Elves remained in their underworld and the Elves in their lush forests (or what remained of them anyways due to the growing pollution problem). The Era of the Eclipsing Curse was over and now the Era of Gears had begun.

The Fine Swordsman Saloon was located in a squalid area in the city. It was small inside, dark, and often many people didn't visit it. Ll'ena and Ahmi entered, being the only ones in the tavern except for a barmaid and an old man who fall asleep at the table with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. Ll'ena approached the bar cautiously as a bartender looked up at her.

"Nice to see you, Ms. Mm'ounara," said the bartender.

"Nice to see you, Patetil," Ll'ena said.

< Bonjour, Sir Patetil, > Ahmi said, < I suggest we go to work, Mademoiselle Ll'ena, >

"Right away, Ahmi," Ll'ena said. She sat on a barstool in front of the bartender and he pulled a crank in back of the bar desk. Ll'ena's chair titled and swirled underneath her and Ahmi as they went down into the ground and disappeared without a questionable thought from anyone else in the tavern (like there ever was anyone else in there).

4

Ll'ena's chair went down a pad and landed at the bottom of a plasti-glass tube at least five feet below the city pavement and The Fine Swordsman Saloon. She stepped out of the plasti-glass tube alongside Ahmi and entered a tunnel. At the end was a large doorway with a symbol over it - a shield with a lion triumphantly sitting atop a computer chip roaring as if he had been victorious to a great fight. As soon as Ll'ena approached, the laser orb over it recognized her face, digitally placed in its memory to open for her and several others, and opened the door.

<Good day, Ms. Ll'ena Mm'ounara,> said the monitor, <and good day onto you too, Ahmi,>

<Bonjour, Mademoiselle Monitor,> said Ahmi.

"Good morrow," Ll'ena replied.

Behind the door was a large, eloquent room done old fashioned with stylish designer furniture and desks. On one wall there were books and on the other there were diskettes and other electronics. At the desk sat a woman, reading from an electronic book and listening to music from a compact disc.

"You wanted to see me, Madam?" Ll'ena said.

"Yes, I did," said the woman. Her hair was jet black, part of it brushed over the eye she had lost an era ago in the war and replaced with a ruby electronic one. She wore a business suit and looked prim and proper, ½ Human, ½ Dark Elf to be exact. She almost looked like an older cousin of Ll'ena.

"What is the trouble, Madam? You said it was urgent that I come," Ll'ena said.

"It is very urgent, Ms. Mm'ounara," said Madam. She pulled out a mini compact disc and handed it to Ahmi, "Install this Ahmi. This came from our alias in East Methasalim,"

Ahmi took the mini compact disc and put it between his antennae. The mini disc spun around at high speed as it downloaded in Ahmi's brain. Ahmi's eyes lit up and projected a 2-D screen into the air. Madam turned off the lights so that the screen would be easier to see. The screen showed scenes of carnage and panic at the king's castle in East Methasalim.

< This message is to be given to Madam, head of The Anarchy, > said the screen voice over, < In East Methasalim, at the Kingdom of Basil, during the crowning of Young Prince Edward, several men carrying banned technology, guns and ammo, entered and destroyed the cathedral and kidnapped Young Prince Edward. After kidnapping the prince, the prince's family, friend, and his fiancée Princess Elizabeth were gunned down.

<A few days before this occurrence, the daughter of the sultan of Iqueda, Princess Amarantha the High Hearted was kidnapped and the sultan and her family killed along with Prince Sendemore the Valiant and Princess Luciniada Crystalana de Archiliac. We suspect this must be the works of a rival agency, but we are not sure why they would kidnap these four. Your mission is to save them, mainly Young Prince Edward. Good luck team, >

The screen faded away in black and Madam turned the lights back on.

"You know the process, Mecha and Pixie," said Madam to Ll'ena and Ahmi, "get to East Methasalim and find out what happened there and the whereabouts of Young Prince Edward,"

"Right away, Madam," Ll'ena said.

< We shall save the prince and the world from utter disaster! The Anarchy shall succeed in protecting peace! > Ahmi said.

The floor gave away from under Ll'ena and Ahmi as they went into another plasti-glass tunnel. Inside of this tunnel, the electronics were working away.

<Codename ID?> said the plasti-glass tunnel.

"Codename: Mecha!" Ll'ena said.

"Codename: Pixie!" Ahmi said.

<Destination?> said the plasti-glass tunnel.

"East Methasalim, Kingdom of Basil," said Ll'ena.

< East Methasalim, Kingdom of Basil - 14, 159 km due east. It will take a day by jet, >

"Let's go then!" Ll'ena replied.

5

KINGDOM OF BASIL, EAST METHASALIM, MAIN TOWN:

Ll'ena and Ahmi arrived in taking the jet. The pilot wasn't allowed to drop them off directly near the cathedral where Young Prince Edward had been crowned because there was a law in East Methasalim in which no technology was allowed near religious sites. So, Ll'ena and Ahmi had to walk/fly the rest of the way to the cathedral.

"What time is it Ahmi?" Ll'ena asked.

< Only three past 13:00, Mademoiselle, > Ahmi reported.

"Okay, so we are on good time," Ll'ena said. She looked around, "but there is nothing going on here. I don't see any evidence of a kidnapping so far. There seems to be a lot of people in the streets and nobody seems to be frightened or disoriented,"

< The first law of The Anarchy is to always look deeper, Mademoiselle Ll'ena, > Ahmi replied. He quoted from the rule book: <"To truly explore what occurs, shall occur, has occurred, or will occur, one must look beyond the binding of what you see,">

Ll'ena nodded. She then stopped for a second, putting down her bags to give her hands a break. She still was carrying them, still full of electronic junk.

< Mademoiselle Ll'ena, I am sensing a holographic recorder here, > Ahmi said suddenly.

"What?" Ll'ena said, "But this is East Methasalim, technology would be banned in this region since we're within a foot of the cathedral,"

< Yes, but you still have your bags with you, Mademoiselle, > Ahmi pointed out.

"That's different," Ll'ena snorted, "They're vital to me. But just in case."

Ll'ena pulled her hands into the bags and then pulled them back out. Attached to each of her fingers were wires, circuits, circuit breakers, computer chips, motherboards, discs diskettes, and various metals. They clicked and clacked together as Ll'ena molded them into a small compact shape. Soon, they formed something more orderly and less chaotic than they were before and into something totally different and new. It became a gadget of some sort, similar to a laser pen.

"Alright! Sonic disrupter, go!" Ll'ena commanded. A blast came from the gadget and immediately all the people walking in the streets fizzled out and became nothing. The streets were empty and the surroundings grim and still had dried blood on the cobblestone streets, "A hologram!"

< Look, Mademoiselle! > said Ahmi.

Ll'ena looked up to see some skating off a building on a hoverboard. With them they carried a compact disc.

"Hey you!" Ll'ena yelled. She pulled out her badge from her jacket, "I am Codename: Mecha, agent of Madam! Stop in the name of The Anarchy!"

The person continued on their hoverboard, sticking out their tongue at Ll'ena, waving the compact disc. It was a girl, Elven, long blonde hair and round blue eyes, "You Anarchy goons are slow as ever! You can't ride the airwaves like me!"

Ll'ena growled and pulled out more technology from her bags. PDAs snapped away, giving up their electronic innards to make Ll'ena's biggest creation. Everything snapped together like a puzzle into a large board with wings put up on the side along with a navigational panel. Ahmi fixed into the creation as well as the central computer for the thing.

Ll'ena stepped onto the hoverboard.

< Liftoff in T minus 10 seconds. 10.9. > Ahmi said.

The hoverboard vibrated under Ll'ena and she stood on top of it like a surfer as Ahmi counted. The girl on with the other hoverboard was already zooming over the cathedral.

< .6.5.4.3.2. >

"Let's go !" Ll'ena commanded.

The hoverboard snapped into power, taking at a speed of 140 mph. Ll'ena rose up wires to buckle her down into the hoverboard as the force almost knocked her off. The hoverboard was catching up with the other one.

"This is your last warning," Ll'ena said, "cease and desist or I will not be responsible for what bodily harm comes to you. All I want to do is ask a few questions and also, this is a no technology zone!"

"You think you can tango with me, you beginner?" demanded the girl.

"Beginner?" Ll'ena growled, "I'm older than you!"

"Buffoon!" the girl yelled. She pulled out a gun and began to shoot at Ll'ena.

Ll'ena raised up a shield of metal in front of her, but some of the bullets hit one of the hoverboard's engines and began to smoke.

< Engine No. 1 and 2 have been damaged and are leaking! Losing altitude! > Ahmi reported, sounding nervous.

The hoverboard began to go down.

"Hold on, Ahmi!" Ll'ena said. She still had her bags with her and even though they were half empty, there still were some things in there she could use. She pulled out an electronic bird and cracked it in half. Getting control of the metals and circuits she patched the hoverboard as best as she could, "How's that?"

< Engine No. 2 still leaking! Still losing altitude! > Ahmi reported.

"Damn it all!" Ll'ena growled. She then reached into her bag and pulled out cord after cord of wires.

The hoverboard was now in a spin dive towards the hard ground - this was going to get very messy if Ll'ena was on that board while it was spinning down. Ll'ena summoned up the rest of her powers as she began to connect the wires to each other and then connect them to her own body. The she swung them in a circular motion in the air.

The girl on the other hoverboard watched from over some buildings as the hoverboard went plunging to the ground, "Hah! That will show you, you buffoon, your fate if you challenge the queen of the skies!"

"More like spoiled brat of the skies!"

The girl looked down, ".what?"

Below the hoverboard was Ll'ena, hanging from an intricate entanglement of wires. She looked up at the girl, with a smirk on her face, "How dare you ruin my hoverboard! Those parts cost me 152 djinn total! You'll pay for that!"

"How.how can you.?" the girl began, "WHAT ARE YOU?"

"I'm just a girl who loves alchemy," Ll'ena laughed. She summoned metal to her hand and it came from the hoverboard. The girl screamed as she fell through the metal frame of her hoverboard. Ll'ena was falling too, but she had used the wires to make a parachute for her.

"Oh no! I have to question her!" Ll'ena said as she looked at the falling girl. She quickly summoned up some of her wires and cast it out into a soft net and threw it below the girl. The girl landed onto the wire net. She would be nursing probably a fracture in her legs, but it was better than having stones cushion your fall. Ll'ena landed next to the girl. The girl had been knocked out.

"Ahmi!" Ll'ena called out.

Ahmi came flittered to Ll'ena, < Yes, Mademoiselle Ll'ena? >

Ll'ena summoned up the broken parts of her hoverboard by using Ahmi as a magnet for the pieces and gathered them back in her bags, "Can you identify this girl? She might be a suspect in the kidnappings,"

Ahmi scanned the girl's face, trying to fit her face with every picture match in his memory banks. He gasped, < Why, Mademoiselle Ll'ena, this is Princess Luciniada Crystalana de Archiliac, one of the missing royals! >

Ll'ena looked at the face closely, "My gosh.it is her!"