START OF 'DARK DEEDS' ARC

Chapter 12: Burden

“Soldiers fight wars. Money wins them.”

-Bron Silvers, Minister of Glory, 187 U.E.

Stephan stopped in front of Prixis’s run-down clinic. He panted, bent double, chin dripping with sweat from his run through the city. Yin watched patiently, hands on hips. The doctor’s assistant went in ahead of them.

“You… could at least… pretend to be winded,” Stephan huffed.

“I’m good, thank you.”

Catching his breath, Stephan straightened, corrected his glasses, and wiped the sweat from his brow. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh, dear. That’s never good.” Yin leaned back against the wall of the clinic.

“I think we should enroll you in a school. I know Taira taught you a little on the Tits Up, but everyone needs a formal education. I can only imagine that the schools in Tumba are, well, lacking, but I can always supplement your classes with—”

“Let me stop you right there,” Yin said, holding up a hand. “I’m not interested.”

“But—”

“Not interested. Like I’d wanna hang around some snot-nosed kids all day.”

Stephan was about to protest, but let it be. She had that tight, stubborn look on her face, the one that said she wasn’t going to budge a hair. He sighed. They could continue this conversation at a better time.

His breath now even, they entered the clinic. The interior consisted mostly of a single large room taken up by a handful of beds separated by hanging partitions. Stephan immediately spotted Amaline, who lay in a bed near the back—the only patient in the place.

Stephan winced inwardly at the sight of her, but willed himself to approach. Her face was a mess of purple bruises, lips swollen, nose crusted with dried blood. Her pink, matted hair was arrayed about her head. Prixis sat by her, puffing on a cigarette while putting a boxy vita-gun to the various cuts and bruises on her exposed stomach. A short beam of green-ish energy extended from the tip, closing up any damaged flesh it came across with a faint hiss.

Half-hidden behind puffy lids, Amaline’s eyes swiveled to meet his.

“You came…” Amaline exhaled, struggling to make words. “Some look… huh?”

Yin found a pair of chairs and slid them over. Stephan took a seat by Amaline’s side. He hesitated to touch her, for fear of exacerbating her pain.

“Should you really be smoking while treating your patient?” Stephan asked with a glance at the doctor, snappier than he’d have liked.

“Should you really be getting mouthy with the lady who could fuse your eyelids shut?” Prixis asked without looking up, cigarette pinched between her lips. Her assistant came out of a back room with a fresh pack and stuck it in her breast pocket.

“Fair enough,” he muttered, turning his attention to Amaline. “Who did this to you? Can you remember?”

Amaline licked her lips. “My boss. No, I mean… not you. My… ex-boss. Pontus. Him and a… a few of his guys.”

“That’s Tumba for you,” Yin said. “A bunch of guys ganging up on an unarmed woman.”

“I’ll take care of this,” Stephan said firmly. “I’ll make sure you won’t need to worry about this Pontus again.”

“You mean we’ll take care of it,” Yin corrected.

“I meant what I said. You stay put, sweet pea. I’ve got this.”

Yin’s face scrunched up in a deep frown. She crossed her arms and leaned back, putting her feet on the railing of the bed. She clearly had something to say, but held it back.

She feels left out. Of course she would. There’s nothing I can do about that, though—I have to protect her from this kind of violence. I will give her a normal childhood. At least as close to one as I’m able.

I’ll have to talk to her about it later, once the situation is dealt with. Reassure her.

“You guys… really don’t need to do anything,” Amaline said. “I can take care of myself.” She winced as Prixis stretched out her skin to close up a cut that looked like it came from the toe of a boot.

The doctor laughed sardonically. “You’re alive by the grace of the Deep Ones, girl. I suggest you swallow your pride and take all the help you can get.”

Obediently, Amaline swallowed. “I… Thank you, boss. I just… I already owe you so much. I don’t know how to ask for this, too.”

Kill them, purred a soft, dignified voice inside Stephan’s head. Hunt the vermin. Kill them all.

Aegur the cat rose from a nearby windowsill, back arched, regarding the room with his narrowed, violet gaze. Stephan hadn’t even noticed his presence until this very moment.

“Ah, that little thing is the one who got her help,” Prixis said. “Odd creature, isn’t he?”

Stephan was unsure if anyone else had heard the maiori’s words. It seemed that he could direct them to whoever he pleased. However, given the knowing look the cat gave him, it seemed likely they were intended for him alone.

“Certainly odd,” Stephan said absently. “Wait, you said he got her help? How?”

“He’s my roomie,” Amaline said. “We were walking to work together. He… carried me here.”

Levitated, Aegur corrected, but regardless.

“You have that kind of power?” Stephan asked.

The cat settled on his hind legs, bristling. I told you, did I not? I’m an envoy of Ordynion. Greatest and most gracious of all gods. My power, though only a fraction of his, is greater than you can ever comprehend.

“Then why didn’t you save her?”

The cat deflated. Indignantly, he turned away and looked out the window, refusing to comment.

A bag of hot air, that one.

“How’s she doing?” Yin asked.

“I’m okay,” Amaline croaked. “Really, I’m super fine.”

Prixis rolled her eyes. She spat her spent cigarette in a half-full tray. “She’ll live, but she needs to rest. I did some work inside, gave her a healing potion, but there’s still some damage in there.” She poked at Amaline’s stomach with her little finger. “Nothing but her own body is going to fix that, which’ll take time. I need to keep her here another couple days, at the least. After that, she should stay off her feet until the pain subsides.”

“A few days!?” Amaline exclaimed, eyes widening another crack. “But what about my job? And money! I don’t have any—”

“For your own good, shut up,” Stephan said. “Take as much time off as you need. I’ll handle the bill.”

Prixis grinned. “Good. Pay me well, I treat her well.”

*****

Yin left the clinic. Stephan was still in there, tending to his new favorite employee. She had better things to do.

If he doesn’t want my help, fine. I’ve got my match to worry about, anyway.

She was going up against a man known as the Bull. Not much was known about him. All she’d heard was that he was supposed to be freakishly strong, and that he loved hurting others above all else.

That sounded like the kind of person a hero would go up against.

But she would have thrown it away, forgone her own struggle if her father had asked for her help.

Damn it. Why? Why is my help not good enough? I’m ten times the fighter Stephan is. I could make that dickhead pimp pay.

Am I not trustworthy, is that it? Does he think I’d goof off, not take it seriously? Make a mess?

Well, I’ll show him how serious I can be.

Yin pushed her way through busy streets. Several pedestrians cast disgusted looks her way, eyes following her as they tried to decipher what kind of freak they were looking at. She ignored them. Tried to, at least, but their eyes stung her skin like needles.

She hurried on.

They’ll change their minds about me. They all will.

I’ll make them.

*****

Amaline was asleep. Despite her battered face, she looked almost peaceful.

Stephan stood by one of the windows. He looked at the sky through the dirty glass, attempting to divine just what fate wanted from him.

It’s up to me to fix this mess, he thought. But how? It’s not like I can go up against this pimp and his men, guns blazing, and come out of it alive. Especially without backup.

He glanced over at the black cat licking his crotch in the next window over.

Don’t look at me, Aegur said. I abhor fighting.

Stephan sighed.

It would have been so much easier to ask Yin to take care of it, of course. But he was dedicated to giving her a kinder, cleaner life. He wouldn’t go back on that.

And so, we’ve circled back to me. I have to put an end to Pontus myself. Half-measures will not do.

He has to die.

Stephan swallowed hard. His conscience weighed heavy. He saw the faces of those he had killed in the reflection of the window. They judged him from the Beyond. When it was his time to meet them, they would not be kind.

Then again, what harm would it do to add a few more links to the chain he had crafted for himself?

Stephan went back and forth with himself for a while, contemplating various methods of eliminating the troublesome pimp. None seemed particularly appealing, nor likely to succeed.

Then he arrived at the obvious conclusion. Taking a step back from the window, he allowed himself a chuckle. How had he not thought of it sooner?

He pulled a coin out of his pocket and turned it over in his hand.

I’ve got all this money now.

Why not put it to good use for once?