Chapter 75- Pieces To June’s Puzzle

The Ill Favoured Five waited patiently for the torture to end. The screams and cries of pain echoed all throughout the caves; they winced every time. It wasn’t like they weren’t used to this sort of stuff. But the sounds coming out from where Sol had taken them were completely grotesque.

“Hey, Tower,” Spike said.

“What?”

“Remind me to never piss him off,” Spike said.

“I don’t think I need to remind you.”

Sol came out a few minutes later drenched in blood. He dunked his head in a barrel of water and cleaned it all off. He threw his mask back on and headed into the steel door room.

He bent down next to his sisters.

“Did anyone touch you?” he asked calmly.

They both shook their heads meekly.

“Where are your clothes?” Sol asked.

“In the boxes over there,” Summer said weakly.

Sol went to grab them but June held his arm.

“I’ll be right back,” Sol said as he touched her face gently.

He rummaged through the boxes and found their pouches and clothes. Sol handed them to his sisters and they changed under the blankets he had given them.

“Are you ok to stand?” Sol asked.

They both nodded.

“Stay by my side and don’t look at anything,” Sol instructed kindly.

“What about the rest of us?” a woman asked, dressed in the same rags as June and Summer once were.

“I’m not here for you,” Sol said calmly as he guided his sisters to stand up.

“So much for the Unwanted,” the woman smugly said.

Tower came in without looking at Sol or his sisters. He bent down to the women's level and got his huge face in hers. “He said, we’re not here for you. The guards will come for you soon.”

Tower said it with such calm aggression the woman turned her focus to the floor. Sol brought his two sisters in for a hug and kissed them both on the tops of their heads. “Don’t look at anything, ok?” he repeated.

He put his hands over their eyes as they walked out of the room and into the main cave. Sol instructed his summons to move the bodies out of the way. His group followed a decent distance behind.

They dropped even further back as they made their way into the forest.

“Did you look in that room?” Spike asked the group, out of earshot.

“I consider myself a wise man,” Sharp reminded.

“He flayed them, their whole body, by square inches,” Spike said. “Cut their eyes out, pulled their dicks off and shoved it down their throat when they were still alive.”

“Spike,” Tower said angrily.

“You not gonna call the guards?” Spike questioned.

“Oh shit, yeah,” Tower said as he dialed 999 on his phone.

The giant man told them the location of the hideout and ended the call, that was all the guards needed. The walk back was long, but the group stayed at the same pace as Sol and his sisters. They had dried all their tears out after twenty minutes and were walking through the forest.

“Sol,” June whispered. “Is that… Mr Demy?”

Sol swallowed. “Yes, yes it is.”

They stopped at the edge of the Wetlands. The Immortal thought it was time to introduce his team to his sisters and vice versa.

“Team,” Sol said. “I’d like to introduce you to my sisters; Summer and June.”

Tower took his mask off first and nodded his head politely. “My alias is Tower, it’s good to finally meet you,” he said.

Sharp took his off next. “You both already know me. My alias is Sharp.”

“It’s a bad time for introductions,” Spike said as he took his mask off. “But I’m Spike.”

Mute took hers off next but stood there like a statue.

“And that’s Mute,” Sol said. “She doesn’t speak.”

“And you’re Immortal?” Summer asked meekly.

Sol nodded. “I needed their help. I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect you.”

June hugged him and Summer did too.

A tear fell down his cheek. “I’m just glad you guys are ok.”

Spike leant into Tower. “Should we be watching this?” he whispered rhetorically.

Tower ignored him.

They carried on walking, making light of the situation. They walked through the Wetlands and arrived back at the guard post. There were dozens of guards and investigators around the torn up bodies.

“Masks,” Tower said.

“Unwanted!” a large guard shouted out.

Sol walked forward ahead of his sisters. “Tower, can you hide them?”

“You heard the man,” Tower said as he placed his arms around them.

“Did you do this? You brought me out of a nice dinner with my family. Do you know who I am?”

“Do you know who I am?” Sol asked, his tone void of emotion.

The man looked at the marks covering his entire chest.

“It’s the Immortal,” a few of them whispered to each other.

“I don’t care who you are. I am second in command to the guard captain. You have killed these innocent 5 men for y-”

“Innocent?!” Sol said, raising his voice.

“Yes.”

“These men had been selling information on female adventurers to slavers. The slavers would then lure women and kidnap them. Are you still defending them?”

Words piled up on the man’s mouth but didn’t come out.

“My alias is Tower. Leader of the Raptor group Ill Favoured Five. On behalf of ethics code 431 we are entitled to act without orders to better the city we are stationed at. If you have a problem with our actions, we ask you to contact an Elder of the Organisation.”

The man’s head looked as if it was about to burst. That was until Wolfy stepped out into the light from the shadows. June and Summer both saw her.

“I will be contacting an Elder. And you will all be put on trial for your heinous actions,” the man threatened with a bony finger in the air. He still moved aside, not fancying joining the bodies around him.

Tower covered Summer and June’s eyes as they went past the bodies. He put them into Spike’s car and closed the door behind them.

“Thank you guys, I don’t know what I would have done,” Sol said.

Spike put a hand on his shoulder. “You do the same for us, and I’m not being sarcastic.”

Sol weakly smiled through his mask. “You guys up for a drink? With my sisters maybe?”

“I’m always up for a drink,” Tower said joyfully.

The group nodded. Spike tried his best to hold comments about his sisters.

“Spike, are you alright to take them back with me?”

“Yeah, yeah. Do any of you want a lift?”

“I’ll jog back, I won’t fit in anyway,” Tower replied.

“I’ll take one,” Sharp said.

They all looked at Mute who didn’t seem like she wanted one.

“See you two soon then,” Sol said.

Spike switched the number plates of his car as they reached the city. Sharp was sitting in the front seat and Sol was sitting in between his two sisters. Sol wished Spike hadn’t driven, Summer kept glancing in the rearview mirror at him.

The drive back was fairly solemn but the two came out of shock. When they got back inside both of the girls curled up on the sofa together. Sol sat down on the other side.

“I just want to say I’m sorry,” Sol said.

“For what?” June questioned.

“Letting you… get kidnapped.”

“But we’re safe,” June replied. “You saved us, like you did during the monster horde.”

Sol cocked his head.

“It makes sense now,” June remarked with a small smile.

Sol didn’t respond.

“Are you really immortal?” Summer asked.

Sol hesitated in confliction. “... Yes.”

“How?”

“I can’t say,” Sol said. “It puts you in more danger,”

“Ok, who’s tame was that?” Summer asked.

“I’m a summoner,” Sol said.

“What?” she questioned.

“You know that big demon? That’s mine,” Sol said.

Both of his sisters seemed more surprised about that. Sol didn’t go into too much detail about his class however.

“That time you went away for months, you got hired by the Unwanted,” June declared as pieces to her puzzle fell into place.

“I went through training,” Sol added.

“Can I do it?” Summer asked.

“Only 10% of us survived it,” Sol said honestly. “And you have to be asked.”

“Oh, why did you do it then?” Summer asked.

“Because we lived in Bandits Cove, I would still be stealing to make ends meet,” Sol replied.

“You did it for us?” Summer asked.

“That’s a stupid question,” Sol said.

“Yeah Summer, Sol has done a lot for us. Why did you never tell us?”

“Keeps you safe, and that isn’t a lie.”

“I understand,” June said. “So Mr Demy is Sharp?”

Sol smiled. “Yeah, he’s one hel of a man.”

“It’s unfair,” Summer complained. “I want a boyfriend in the Unwanted. What’s Spike like?”

“No Summer, that is a definite no.”

“Whyyyyy,” Summer moaned.

“Do you want three STDs, two children and an addiction to drugs?”

“Um- no… If it’s with him then ma-”

“Fuck sake Summer, Spike is off the table.”

“I just remembered,” Summer said, “I saw your-”

“Ok, ok, don’t remind me.”

“Ewwwww,” both of his sisters said in unison.

They all laughed awkwardly together after.

“So that’s why you know Elora too? You worked together?” Summer said.

“Yeah, she’s burnt me to a crisp a few times at this point.”

“Can you tell us about some missions then?” June asked as she sat up on the sofa.

“Yeah, but you must take an oath,” Sol said.

“I won’t spill the beans- blah- blah- blah,” Summer jokingly said.

“No, I mean it,” Sol said.

“What, but we’re your sisters,” Summer said.

“Sisters or not, it’s the rules of the job.”

They both took the oath and Sol spent all night telling them stories. It reminded him of when he used to read them to sleep. He spent hours telling them about everything, it felt good- letting it all go; coming clean to his sisters. It was a weight off his heart- he didn’t need to hide anything anymore- well, not quite everything.