Chapter Fifty-One: ‘Of shifting tides...’

David spent the next week juggling a dozen different things. Between his meetings with King William, Duchess Jezebel, all of his brothers, and not to mention the unannounced visits from Nola, it was a struggle to find time for genuine scheming.

But he’d managed one thing, at least. For Jezebel, he’d assisted in setting up a rather large network of informants consisting of the kind of people who would normally be overlooked by David’s peers. And he certainly needed their help. He wanted eyes on everyone at all times, which wasn’t entirely possible for the Abolishers, as they scared the living shit out of everyone who might otherwise be willing to help keep tabs on them.

Still, word gradually trickled down to him of a plan that Abolish had for the little town of Harold. No one seemed able to give him details, but he knew that it would be enacted very soon. Too soon, in fact. There was no time to learn enough about it, let alone develop a counter-plan.

All throughout the week, he grew increasingly concerned over the matter, which made the time pass ever slower.

And then the day arrived, and everything started moving at once. First, the Abolishers began to leave the castle one by one, and soon, only Desmond Grantier and Andres Geth remained. Next, came the news report.

It was a video of none other than the Darksteel Soldier. David could scarcely believe what he was watching.

This young black man with the most infamous face in the nation was speaking directly into the camera. Very slowly, the words came, each one eerily quiet in its delivery, nearly making David strain to listen.

Hector was saying on the television,

It wasn’t the kind of voice David would have imagined, but somehow, this struck him as much worse. And the media seemed to share his opinion. They were playing the video on a loop with horrified commentary. Vain attempts were made to keep people calm, but it spread across channels with public alerts interrupting almost every program.

And yet, horrid as it was, the coincidence did not escape David’s notice. The town of Harold. And there was also the matter of Hector’s previous media firestorm. David remembered listening to Desmond chew Karkash out for making the news. So what was this young man’s investment in Harold? David couldn’t understand the boy’s motive.

He did not have very long to think on the matter, as he was not watching the footage alone.

Desmond burst out laughing. “YES! He’s up to something! What do you think he’s gonna do next?!”

Andres stroked his chin, unable to conceal his smirk. “I wonder. He’s obviously trying to evacuate the town, which begs the question: how did he find out?”

“Oh! You think he has a spy in the castle?” Desmond’s gaze went to the empty space adjacent him. “Aw, don’t be like that. It would’ve been so boring if everything went without a hitch.” He paused. “Yeah, yeah, alright. I’ll start questioning people.”

David glanced at the King before looking back at the Abolishers. He decided to take the risk and ask an intervening question. “Could someone please explain what is happening here?”

Andres and Desmond exchanged looks, and then Andres said, “We’ve received intelligence that this Darksteel Soldier is an enemy of the Crown. He wants to destroy Atreya, you see.”

David put on a worried frown. “Is that so? Why would he want that?”

Desmond shrugged. “Who could say for sure? I’m sure your family has made many enemies over the years.”

There was no denying that much, David conceded. But even so, their tune had changed much too quickly. He was more than a little reluctant to believe whatever they told him, and yet, perhaps listening to what they wanted him to believe would grant him a better notion of what the truth was. “Why do you suspect this young man has a spy in our castle?”

They hesitated again.

David was on touchy ground with that question, and he knew it. They didn’t realize that he knew they had some type of agenda involving Harold. He wondered how much they would tell him.

“Well,” said Andres, “I’m sure you’ve noticed that all of our comrades are not here at the moment. We don’t believe it’s a coincidence that this video was leaked today, of all days.”

“I was wondering about that,” said David. “Where have your friends all gone, exactly?”

“They received a request to return to HQ,” said Desmond. “But don’t worry. They will be back soon.”

“Ah.” Passable lies, he supposed. Time to press further, then. “Why did you say he was obviously trying to evacuate Harold?”

Andres’ expression twitched. A sudden flash of irritation.

“We have a delicate operation there,” said Desmond, still as cool as ever. “He probably wants to sabotage it.”

“Oh? What type of operation?”

Desmond was ready with a smile. “Military supplies and so forth. The details would probably bore you, but if you’re so interested, then I’ll take you there tomorrow and give you a tour of the facility.”

David was impressed as he returned a grin of his own. Doubtless, something would prevent that promise from being fulfilled. Perhaps it was time to petition Jezebel for an investigation. The only point where Abolish seemed to consistently encounter any difficulty was where the Darksteel Soldier stood.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Hector and Lynnette entered Sescoria from the east, him on his motorcycle, her in a sleek car of dark green.

Lynnette had expressed concern that the vehicle was too flashy, that it would stand out too much, but Garovel insisted that they worry more about speed than looks. A car that could blend in was of little value when enemy reapers could track them through walls.

The plan had changed multiple times over the week due to a confluence of factors, the first of which being his training with Lynnette. In the beginning, he’d been a bit worried about hurting her, but that concern was now long dead. Lynnette completely kicked the shit out of him. So he started using his iron against her. And it made no difference whatsoever.

It was her apparent strength that allowed them to rethink their strategy for today. Suddenly, Hector wasn’t going to be faced with a two-on-one fight. If anything, he felt like he was going to be the one providing support. The only advantage he had over her was that he could see reapers and she couldn’t.

In addition to accounting for Lynnette’s presence, Gina’s information revealed that it wasn’t just the King who was trapped in the castle. So now, the plan was not just to kidnap him but to get as many people out of there as possible.

And then there was the video. That had been a trying endeavor. The sheer number of takes he had to do in order to get it right was monstrous. It was mostly him agonizing through it for hours on end, with Garovel watching and being in turns amused, bored, and irritated by the lack of progress. In fact, Hector had been prepared to keep going, but Garovel informed him that one of the takes he’d done would work very well. He was doubtful but deferred to the reaper’s opinion. And then today arrived, and he heard from Gina that Garovel had been right on the money.

Now it was just a matter of getting to the castle.

At a glance, Sescoria seemed just as he remembered it. Tall, cylindrical buildings were common, as were the accompanying whites and blues. If he didn’t know better, he might’ve thought everything here was normal.

Soon, they came upon the gatehouse. It had been destroyed during Hector’s last visit and looked to have just begun reconstruction. It was closed, as they knew it would be, but still had a pair of uniformed officers standing guard.

Lynnette pulled over and exited her vehicle. Hector parked his bike behind her, keeping his motorcycle helmet on as he joined her.

“So?” she asked. “Can Garovel tell where Desmond is?”

That was their first objective. They knew from Gina’s intel that Desmond rarely left the King’s side. And as Garovel had seen Desmond’s aura before, it was possible for the reaper to recognize and locate the man’s presence.

‘Yep,’ said Garovel. ‘I can lead you straight to him.’

Hector nodded at her. “Follow me.”

Entering through the front gate had seemed like a bad idea when Gina first pitched it to them, but she explained that the reconstruction meant barely anyone was using it.

As he and Lynnette approached the wooden barricade, Hector covered the security cameras with iron. The guards on either side came out of their little watch houses, and he immobilized them both with metal. Each guard had a radio on his hip. Lynnette confiscated them both.

Hector removed his riding helmet, revealing his face to the two guards.

“Oh fuck!” said the one on the right.

“Don’t worry,” said Lynnette. “We’d like to let you go. It would be in your own best interests if you fled from this place now. Do you understand?”

Barely able to move their heads, the guards exchanged looks with one another. And after a moment, they said, “Yes!” and, “We understand!”

Hector released them, and they immediately ran away. Lynnette handed him a radio. He hooked it onto his belt.

The barricade stood a good four meters tall, preventing entry. There was supposed to be a large stone archway above, but it hadn’t been rebuilt yet. Lynnette seemed ready to climb over, but Hector motioned for her to hold off, and instead, he raised platforms for the both of them. They reached the top of the gate, and then he raised more platforms on the other side as well, allowing them to simply step over and be lowered back down.

“Aren’t you handy,” said Lynnette. She’d pulled up the hood of her white cloak again, which she recently had cleaned. She’d made several trips into the city over the week, one of which was for fresh clothes--not just for herself but for Hector, too, as he couldn’t shop for himself without causing a panic. She seemed to have grown especially fond of her cloak, though, to the point where she’d even gotten him a black one to wear. She could pull the look off, he thought, but he felt ridiculous in his and chose not to wear it. And besides, it wasn’t really motorcycle-friendly attire.

‘Over there.’ Garovel pointed toward the west side of the castle.

They cut across the huge garden with Hector leading the way. He’d been able to learn the layout thanks to the building plans that Gina found for him. Lynnette already knew the castle and grounds, of course, but he wanted to be prepared.

Inside now, he kept an eye out for more security cameras, as did Garovel, and made sure to obstruct each one. Every guardsman they encountered was similarly subdued, but he couldn’t let these ones go just yet. Instead, he found a spare office and began collecting them like life-size figurines. He had to cover their mouths so they couldn’t yell out for help, but he was careful not to block any of their nostrils. Garovel promised to remind him that they would need to be released later, but Hector hoped he wouldn’t forget such an important thing in the first place.

Of course, these people would be able to recognize Lynnette, and at first, she merely tried to keep her face obscured by her hood, but after Hector hauled his fifth guard into the room, she chose to reveal herself.

“You all remember me, yes?”

One of them tried to speak, but he was too muffled by the iron, so Hector uncovered his mouth, along with all the others’. “Lynnette, what the fuck are you doing with him?!”

“He is on our side,” she said, her posture abruptly more rigid. At their sounds of disbelief, she added, “I know what you’ve heard about him, but it is untrue. I am vouching for him.”

“Then what is all this? Why are you holding us captive?”

“We couldn’t risk you trying to inform Abolish of our presence right away.” She looked the guardsmen over another time. “You’ve all been trapped in this castle with them. You must already know that they are not to be trusted.”

“Of course we know. They’re fucking lunatics.”

“Shut up! You wanna die?! They can hear through walls, you idiot!”

“We are going to fight them,” said Lynnette. “Which means they’ll be distracted. We want you to use that opportunity to get as many people out of the building as you can.”

“You’re crazy if you think you can win against them!”

She lifted her gauntlet and loosed a chunk of the violet shade.

“What the hell is that?!”

“We will be fine,” she said, “but regardless, whether or not we win is not your concern. Just worry about taking advantage of the distraction we provide for as long as we’re able to provide it.”

They fell quiet at that, and after a moment, Hector released them all. They still looked at him like he was some kind of demon, but if they had anything else to say about it, then they decided to keep it to themselves.

Lynnette pressed them for an answer. “Can we count on your help?”

“Yes,” said the rightmost guardsman.

“Hell no!” said a different one. And he tried to flee, but the purple streak wrapped around him before he could reach the door and dragged him back to Lynnette.

She turned him around to face her. “Allow me to rephrase,” she said. “You will help us.”

The man kicked her in the stomach, and with her violet shield, she didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, her lone eye narrowed, and the guardsman turned pale.

“Lynn...” The word from Hector was quiet, enough so that it took Lynnette a moment to register that Hector had said anything at all. And when she turned to look at him, he said, “Let him go... We can’t force him to risk his life...”

By the expression on her face, she did not agree, but nonetheless, she allowed the man to flee unharmed.

The remaining guards left as well to begin evacuating and recruiting their other comrades to the cause.

‘By now,’ said Garovel, ‘we’ve probably lost the element of surprise, at least partially. Whoever’s monitoring the security cameras will have noticed all the black screens and reported it.’

Hector offered a small shrug. “That’s fine... I mean, we wouldn’t provide much of a distraction if we stayed hidden the whole time.”

Garovel gave an admissive nod.

Hector followed Lynn back into the hallway. “Where’s Desmond now?” he asked the reaper.

Garovel pointed. ‘About twenty meters or so that way. If they’ve received the report, then his reaper will probably be recognizing our auras right about now.’

Hector led the way, but before they even reached the end of the hall, Prince Nathaniel turned into it, stopping dead in his tracks as soon as he saw Hector’s face.

Lynnette was on the man in a heartbeat, binding him in violet with one hand and drawing her sword with the other.

“Lynn!” said Hector, running after her. “What’re you doing?!”

“This is the person who tried to kill Her Highness,” said Lynnette too calmly. The purple shadow wrapped around Nathaniel’s face, suppressing his scream. “He’s the one who set all of this madness in motion.”

Hector blinked at the unexpected answer. “H-how do you know that?”

“The Queen told me herself.” Lynnette pulled the man closer and raised her blade. “I’m struggling to find a reason why I should not simply kill him here and now.”

“B-because he’s just a normal person,” said Hector. “I don’t... I mean... are you sure there’s no other way to handle this?”

Lynnette glared at the prince as she considered what to do.

Hector looked at Garovel. ‘Should I do something? Should I stop her?’

‘I don’t see much reason to,’ said Garovel. ‘That is definitely Prince Nathaniel, and we already know that the princes are working with Abolish.’

‘But he’s... I... I mean, I know he’s our enemy, but...’

‘She knows more about the matter than we do. I’d say it’s her decision.’

Hector just frowned.

Lynnette growled and sheathed her sword. She dragged Nathaniel into the nearest room and shoved him into a closet. Then she turned to Hector. “Would you mind leaving him encased in metal?”

He took a breath and nodded. A moment later, the prince was a statue from the nose down.

Lynnette shut the closet door on him. “We’ll come back for you later, if we can,” she said through the white oak. “Then we’ll find you more suitable accommodations. In prison.”

As they were leaving, Hector had to say, “Uh. Th-thank you... for not killing him.”

“I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure Her Highness would have wanted me to. He is still her brother, after all.”

‘Desmond is very close,’ Garovel informed him. ‘Maybe two hallways over.’

“Desmond’s close by,” relayed Hector. “Get ready.”

“I’ve been ready.”

They returned to the hall, and soon enough, Desmond appeared at the far end. And he just stood there, not ready to come closer yet.

“Great to see you again!” he shouted across the marbled corridor.

Rather than replying, Hector armored himself up. The helm formed around his head just as he’d memorized it. Then came the gauntlets, breastplate, and leggings. It wasn’t a full suit of armor, as he was worried that his mobility would be hindered if he added much more to it.

Desmond didn’t seem especially concerned by the sudden armor, choosing to wait patiently. “Ah! The girl with the sword! You’ve changed a lot, haven’t you?! Did you go aberration hunting?! I like your new look!”

Lynn ignored him and whispered to Hector, “Do you think he’s trying to bait us to attack him? Where is the other servant?”

“I don’t know...”

“Pretty clever!” said Desmond. “This little plan of yours! I’m quite curious as to how you knew to enact it today, though! If you tell me, I’ll do something nice for you! Do you like brownies?! I make amazing brownies!”

“What an idiot,” said Lynnette.

“C’mon! If you’re not going to talk to me, then things are going to get boring real quickly unless you attack!”

‘...No,’ said Garovel. ‘It’s a diversion. He wants to buy time so that his comrade can do something. Ignore him. Force him to chase us.’

Hector nodded. “We can’t engage him yet,” he told Lynn, and then he ran off into the intersecting hall with her and Desmond both following.

He knew the royal bedchamber was close. It was perhaps the most obvious place for the King to be, but then, Desmond probably wouldn’t have realized so quickly what their objective was in coming here.

A sizzling hand came flying from behind, but Lynnette was prepared. Her shadow knocked it right back toward Desmond, who had to dive out of its path. The subsequent explosion made the hall jolt, and Hector stumbled but kept going.

The guardsmen must have been doing good work, because there weren’t many civilians around. The few that remained, Hector tried to scare into fleeing as he ran past, making metal spikes suddenly jut out of the ground in front of them. That strategy, at least, proved quite successful.

Hector barged into the King’s chambers, eyes searching frantically around. And luckily enough, there the man was, sitting up on his bed, looking haggard in his regal suit and clutching the shoulder of his missing arm.

When he saw Hector, he merely stood. Maybe it was just because the man looked too exhausted already, but he didn’t seem particularly surprised by the young, armored black man. When Lynnette arrived, however, the King’s expression changed. “You!” he said, eyes widening.

“Your Highness, we’ve come to get you out of here!” she said.

“Did Helen send you?!”

“Not quite,” said Lynn, “but we’re acting with her interests in mind. Please, there’s no time!”

“Yes, of course!”

Then came the voice of Andres Geth. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” he said from the hallway, and after a beat, he appeared in the open doorway, along with a new reaper.

Hector wasted no time and launched a javelin straight at the man.

A wall of yellow crystal shot up from the floor and stopped the spear dead. Somehow, the force of the impact left the metal shattered, but the crystal had scarcely more than a crack. “Oh, please,” said Andres. “I’d heard that you could make metal, but this is just embarrassing to witness. You call yourself a materialization user?”

Hector scowled inside his helm.

“Allow me to demonstrate how one truly uses materialization.”