A/N: I rewrote this chapter about eight times, doubted myself, then rewrote it another eight times. Now I'm just going to post it, because if I try to get it absolutely perfect, I fear no one will ever get to see it. XD
I want to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews on Gamer Within, part one. They cheered me up and motivated me to write on. I'm very thankful to everyone who has taken the time to leave some feedback, no matter how short (though I really like the long ones, of course). I hope I'll see you all again in this sequel… the adventure continues!
Chapter 1: Foolish curiosity
"AAAAAARGH!!! Give that back right now, you little weasel!"
"No way, Robin! Finders, keepers!"
I narrowed my yellow eyes at my little brother, who was jumping on the couch, meeting my glare with a mischievous smirk.
"Kai," I growled, balling my fist and taking a threatening step in his direction. "If you dare read one page of that diary, mom and dad are going to have to scrape your remains off the wall with a spatula!"
"I'll risk it!" the 10-year old triumphantly called my bluff and with a devious glint in his eyes, picked the lock in exactly 0.3 seconds.
"Dear diary," he started reading out loud in what had to pass as a whiny impersonation of my voice. "My life sucks! My parents are, like, way overprotective of me, which is soooo totally unfair! I mean… come on! I'm 16 years old, yet mom and dad won't even let me play video games, because they think it's dangerous! I even have to take these stupid martial arts lessons because dad says it's important I learn how to 'do battle' in case I get myself into trouble. How lame is that?! Also, I have cooties and all boys at school think I'm a butthead with giant zits all over her…"
"IT DOES NOT SAY THAT, YOU LITTLE FREAK!" I shrieked, making a nosedive for my journal and its smug looking thief. Unfortunately, the annoying brat jumped away at the last moment, making me collide headfirst with the couch, knocking it over, and making it crash right into the coffee table.
The glass coffee table…
"Uh oh," we both sweatdropped at the shattered remains, and as if on cue, we suddenly heard the front door of our house opening, footsteps echoing through the hall.
"Kai, Robin! We're home!" our mother called, stepping into the living room… or what was left of it.
"Close your eyes! It'll bring good luck!" My brother tried quickly, but it was already too late. As soon as her gaze fell on wreckage, all blood drained from her face and I knew we were seriously screwed.
"She started it!" Kai pointed an accusing finger at me when our father appeared in the doorway as well, the words 'you're grounded!' written all over his forehead in bright, neon letters.
"He's lying!" I exclaimed, glaring daggers at the ten-year old. "That brat sneaked into my room and stole my diary!"
"Did not!" he faked an insulted look, quickly hiding the red booklet behind his back.
"Did too, you snotnosed whelp!" I grabbed the collar of his shirt, hoisting him up to my level. "Now fork it over, and maybe, just maybe, I'll let you live!"
"Mooohoooom!!!" he whined pathetically. "Robin is being a butthead again!"
"WHY YOU…!!!"
"Alright, knock it off you two!" Mom ordered sternly. "Robin, don't kill your brother. Kai, give your sister her diary back."
"Can't I beat him up first?" I pleaded. "Just a little?"
She said nothing, but the look on her face answered my question. Grudgingly, I lowered him back on solid ground, snatching my journal out of his hands.
"You two need to find a way to get along," mom continued, pointing at the broken furniture. "THAT is coming out of your allowance, and both of you are grounded until you learn to settle your differences without turning the house into a war zone!"
"But… but… you can't ground me!" I protested. "I was going to the first showing of that new horror mov… eh… a friend's house to help her with her homework tonight! How can you expect me to cancel?!"
"Yeah, me too!" Kai chimed in, though I was pretty sure he hadn't been listening to a word I said.
"No buts," she put her hands on her hips. "Both of you go to your rooms for a time-out!"
"Daahaaad?!" I tilted my head slightly and looked at him with the best puppy eyes I could master, but for some reason, he didn't melt into a gooey puddle of fatherly love. Crap…
"Listen to your mother, girl," he said sternly, making clear there was no room for discussion. Goodbye movie tickets, hello long night of agonizing boredom.
Sigh…
With one last scowl at my parents, I stomped upstairs and into my bedroom, slamming the door shut behind me. I could hear Kai scurrying in his own room, which was right next to mine. Thank god we didn't have to share! I don't think I would have lived…
Grumbling, I flopped down on my bed, my hands folded under my head. A high-pitched chirp caught my attention and I smiled, getting up again.
"Hey there, Socrates," I greeted the excited parakeet, letting him out of his cage. I'm crazy about birds, a quirk mom says I inherited from dad. She likes them too, but won't let him fill the entire living room with little avian buddies. He already has five canaries, two parrots and of course his latest addition: Kerena, a young cockatoo with a shriek that can almost burst your eardrums. Needless to say, there's never a dull moment in our house. Or a quiet one.
Well… almost never.
"I'm so BORED!" I complained out loud to Socrates, who just cocked his head and landed on my nose, pulling at my red hair which reached just past my shoulders. It looked very natural, and very few people knew I went to a hairdresser every month to have the roots bleached and dyed. It cost me an arm and a leg, but I had managed to screw up about every do-it-yourself kit on the market, and it was better than walking around looking like an Easter egg.
Believe it or not, but my real hair color is a flaming purple, yet another trait I've gotten from my dad. I have no idea why, since it's supposed to be genetically impossible to be born with such an unnatural hue. Then again, I suppose dad is just a bit of an oddball. He talks stiffly, sometimes stares blankly at the skies for HOURS, and I once even caught him sitting at our computer, googling the phrase: 'how to parent human children'. Don't get me wrong, I loved my father to death (except when he grounded me, of course), but sometimes it felt like he was hiding something from us.
"Ouch! Hey, quit it, boy!" I yelped, putting the mischievous parakeet back in his cage. Not that he would stay in there for long: no matter what I tried, the little ball of feathers always found a way to escape.
I searched my cabinet for some bird feed, knowing that would keep him busy for a while. Once that was taken care of, a sly smirk appeared on my face as I snuck out of my room, and up the attic.
I loved videogames and played them anytime I got the chance. Which wasn't very often, since mom and dad were dead set against them and didn't allow me to even think about buying one. I had asked them numerous times for a reason, but they just shook their heads and said it was too dangerous. What really bothered me though, was the fact that they were about the biggest hypocrites on this side of the equator!
One time when they had gone out for dinner, I had gone up to the attic and searched through some of the old boxes that were stored there. They were filled with things like books, old toys from when me and Kai were little, Christmas ornaments, stuff like that. But one particular box had caught my attention: it was stored way in the back and inside it was a chest with a lock. Fortunately, I had learned a thing or two from my younger brother and eventually managed to pick it open. It was labeled: 'memories', and inside I found a dried bouquet of flowers, some old wedding pictures and... a playstation 2. I kid you not: hidden underneath all that boring sentimental stuff, was a dusty game console along with a controller and a trilogy box of a game series called 'Prince of Persia'. The machine must've been well over twenty years old, but when I took it to my room and hooked it up to my TV, I was surprised to see the device was still working.
Every now and then when the coast was clear, I would take the aged console from the chest and indulge myself by playing through the adventure that was 'the Sands of Time' and it's successor, 'Warrior Within'. Though the games were technological inferior compared to modern-day's releases, I caught myself falling in love with the incredible story. A Persian prince, an Indian princess, monstrous demons, a mysterious empress and the ability to control time itself. It was worth it staying up all night (and wearing headphones so my parents wouldn't wake up) to finish them, since there was no memory card included. Seeing as the Playstation 9 would already be available in stores less than two months from now, I doubted Sony still made memory cards for older models such as this one.
Unfortunately, the lack of a memory card and having to sneak around my parents, made for very slow progress. But last week, I had finally managed to finish Warrior Within and now it was time to start 'the Two Thrones'; the third and last game in the series. Woohoo!
I tiptoed up the stairs and entered the dusty attic. Giddy with excitement, I turned on the light… only to find a certain brat rummaging through the chest!
"HA!!! Busted, you little twerp!" I exclaimed triumphantly, snatching the game console from his hands.
"Ah, come on, sis!" he pleaded. "Don't rat me out to mom and dad! I want to know how the story ends!"
I blinked at this, suddenly noticing he was holding the trilogy box.
"You've been playing Prince of Persia as well?"
"Yeah, I just finished Warrior Within and… hey, wait a minute! 'As well'?! You've been touching their stuff too!" he pointed an accusing finger at me, smirking like he had just found the ultimate secret to world domination, eternal life and an endless supply of candy bars.
"Uh, well… that is to say," I stammered nervously while the victorious grin on his face grew wider and wider. Fortunately, an idea sparked in my head.
"Listen up, Kai," I said in a hushed voice. "You tell on me, I'll tell on you, and neither of us will find out what happens in the Two Thrones. But if you keep your mouth shut, I'll do the same and we can take turns playing the game together. What do you say?"
"Deal!" he nodded eagerly. "Now let's go before they catch us!"
I smirked and grabbed the controller from the chest, sneaking down the stairs and re-entering my room as quietly as I could. Kai followed me inside, closing the door behind me and turning on my TV.
"Come on sis! Plug it in!" he urged, hyper with excitement. Oh, I was so going to regret this…
"Okay, okay! Keep your pants on!" I rolled my eyes, hooking up the console and flipping the power switch. "Just for the record: I get to play first."
"Hey! No fair!" he protested, but an icy glare from me was enough to shut him up. The little brat was lucky I'd let him live for stealing my journal, and the ten-year old knew very well he was on my territory and in no position to make demands.
"Hand over the disk, will you?" I asked, but he kept fumbling with the container, his brow furrowing in frustration.
"The disk… it's stuck or something!" he said, picking fruitlessly at the little plastic clamps that kept it in place.
"Stop fooling around, you'll break it!" I snapped, taking the trilogy box from his hands. Annoyed, I sighed and grabbed the disk with the intention to pull it out myself. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a lot harder than it looked.
"H-hey… it is stuck!"
"Lemme try again!"
"Let go, doofus! You're just gonna drop it!"
"Am not!!!"
We each held one end of the box and pulled, causing it to slip out of our hands, the disk popping out and landing on the carpet with a soft thud.
"Now look what you did!" I turned to my little brother, who just stuck his tongue out at me when he thought I wasn't looking. Normally I would've wiped the floor with him, but right now I was too curious about the game to care. I picked up the silvery disk, but almost dropped it again when it suddenly turned golden, a strange glow surrounding it. The hell?!
"Wow, how'd you do that?!" Kai gawked at me, while I just stood there, the game still in my hands.
"I… don't know," I stammered, staring at the gold colored disk with wide eyes, my brain still tying to determine if the signals it had just received from my optic nerves were real.
"Maybe it's some kind of special coating?" he suggested, poking at the gold metal, the odd glow flaring up and dying down again every time he touched the disk.
"Let's just put it in and start the game," I shuddered. I had this weird feeling in my gut, as if I was about to make a very, very bad move. Then again, I didn't want my little brother to think I was chickening out, did I? No way!
Determined, I inserted the glowing disk, waiting for the aged machine to pick it up. A familiar buzzing sound filled my room and the startup screen slowly faded into view. I lowered the volume so our parents wouldn't hear the Prince's (no doubt corny) battle cries and took the controller, starting a new game.
I waited for a chance to choose the difficulty level, but instead a movie immediately started playing.
"Oh man, it's just like the Sands of Time again!" I complained, very disappointed that Ubisoft hadn't added that feature like they had done with Warrior Within.
"No, it's not!" Kai panicked, flipping through the instruction booklet. "It says here you're supposed to pick a difficulty level before the game begins!"
"But then why…"
I trailed off when I looked back at the screen again. I saw a blond woman tied to a stone slab, a frightened look on her face. Next to her was no one other than Zervan, the evil Vizier from the first game. But wasn't he supposed to be dead?! And who was that woman? She looked like the Empress of Time, but had blond hair and blue eyes. What the hell was going on?!
"Hey, that woman kinda looks like mom!" Kai pointed out, his eyes also glued to the screen. "Only… well, you know… old!"
"You think everyone over twelve is old," I snorted, then blinked when the woman suddenly looked straight at us and began mouthing something.
"What is she saying?" Kai scratched his head while I scrambled for the remote and turned up the volume.
"… the disk!" she finished, worry visible in her eyes.
"Can you repeat that?" I asked, then smacked myself on the forehead for talking to a videogame character and expecting her to answer. Imagine the horrified look on my face when she actually did.
"Kai! Robin! Remove the disk!"
"Whoa…" I blinked, my jaw dropping when she spoke our names.
"You can hear us!?" Kai exclaimed, his eyes the size of dinner plates.
"There's no time!" she urged, seriously creeping me out. "Remove the disk and sever the connection before…"
Suddenly the Vizier smirked evilly, holding the Dagger of Time in his right hand. I didn't even want to know how he got his boney fingers on that thing.
"Talking to yourself, Empress?" he asked the woman, his raspy voice sending shivers down my spine.
"So it is Kaileena!" I said, more to myself than to Kai, who was equally baffled.
"Uh sis, maybe we should do what she says," he squeaked nervously, and I couldn't help but agree. Dad often sighed that I had inherited my mother's 'foolish curiosity', but I knew a disaster-in-the-making when I saw one.
I reached for the Playstation and pushed the 'eject' button, but the tray refused to move. Uh oh…
"Kaileena!" we suddenly heard someone yell and the camera shifted to the Prince of Persia, running to her rescue. Unfortunately, a female ninja appeared on the scene and lashed out at him with what looked like some kind of dagger tail. It coiled around his arm, the blades burying themselves deep into his flesh. Another guard jabbed the Prince with his spear, pushing him onto the floor against a wall, hopelessly trapped and barely able to move.
"Robin, what are you waiting for?!" Kai yelped. "Remove the disk!"
"I can't!" I panicked, feverishly ramming the tiny button. "It's stuck! The tray won't eject!"
"Then turn it off!"
Wondering why I didn't think of that one, I flipped the small switch on the back of the machine, but to both our horror, nothing happened. The device was still running, and the camera zoomed in on the Vizier, laughing cruelly at the injured royal.
"Ah, you must be the Prince of Persia," he gloated. "Come home at last?"
Oh man… not good! Not good!!!
I felt my blood run cold when he turned back to Kaileena, brandishing the magical Dagger. Oh no, he wouldn't…
"I believe I have something of yours," he said, an evil smile spreading across his face.
Oh yes, he would…
"KAI! HURRY!!!" I yelled at my little brother, who was sitting closest to the electrical outlet. "CUT THE POWER!!!"
The ten-year old jumped up and leaped for the cord, but before he could yank it out, a blinding flash filled my room. I caught a brief glimpse of Zervan stabbing himself with the dagger before my television began to shake, floating up and hovering in mid-air, a golden light shining through every opening. Acting purely on instinct, I dived at Kai and pushed him to the ground, covering his body with my own.
I could hear the Prince scream… the Vizier cackling madly… and after that…
All hell broke loose.
A/N: Digital cookies to everyone who gets the meanings behind their names! XD