Apologies for the delay.

Chapter 19.

(Caelum)

#

I wasn’t allowed to wait by her side.

I wasn’t given the opportunity to see her.

As soon as my medical check was over, I was escorted by Kaleb to a detention cell deep under the Academy, connected to the training facilities by a long corridor cut into the rock of the asteroid Island.

I wasn’t even granted the courtesy of a shower before I was taken away.

Kaleb explained it was by Principal Mason’s decree, and supposedly for my own good, which made little to no sense to me. I would have preferred simple honesty to a poorly veiled lie, especially since I was made to hand over my Kaiser’s Blessing bracelet to Deneve.

In truth, they were afraid of me, and treating me like the suspect to a heinous crime.

As we walked into the detention center, I changed the subject and asked him about Caprice.

Kaleb told me she was in a med-capsule, and recovering slowly but steadily through the efforts of Simone’s Symbiote that now flourished within her body. The scan results were positive, and there was no sign of neurological damage. However, Caprice would be bed-ridden for a few days as I was after my unfavorable encounter with Celica in the Vault Chamber. The medical technicians expected her to make a full recovery in ten or so days, though more than likely she would return to class by the end of the coming week.

I sensed there was more to tell, but Kaleb added nothing else, and I felt disappointed in him.

Inside my cell, standing barefoot and dressed in my training suit, I watched the door to my cell close and then lock itself automatically. “Thanks for letting me shower.” I was being caustic in my sentiments.

Kaleb appeared reluctant to walk away. Eventually, he just sighed and said, “Get some rest.”

I reached out and grabbed one of the cell bars, testing its strength by pulling and pushing on it. “You sure this is going to be enough?”

Expecting him to snort and laugh my comment away, I was surprised when he frowned at me, before shrugging with forced calm. “Like I said, get some rest.”

“Tell me the truth, Kaleb. Did you know that would happen to me?”

Again he hesitated, eventually shaking his head faintly. “No, I didn’t.”

I deliberately narrowed my eyes at him, wanting him to see mistrust on my face. “Would you have told me if you did know?”

“I would have done my best to prepare you for it.”

His reply did not reassure me. I felt the stirrings of a bitter laugh in my chest, but I quelled it forcefully, and then pretended to calmly cross my arms. “So you don’t know what I should expect for the third seal, the fourth, or the fifth and final seal.”

Kaleb’s eyes were steady as they met my wry questioning gaze. “No, I don’t.”

I stepped closer to the cell bars. “Then who does?”

Without the bracelet, I lacked the means to employ an Awareness-field, but I could still read Kaleb’s reaction well enough without it. His discomfort was evident in his eyes and the uncomfortable, heavy silence that followed what I believed was a simple and straightforward question.

A dozen heartbeats later, he swallowed discreetly and declared, “Talk to Arisa. That’s all I’m authorized to say.”

“So you’re not keeping me here indefinitely? How surprising.”

“It’s just until morning, Desanto. Which is why I keep telling you to get some rest.”

The smile that slipped through onto my face was somewhere between a sneer and scowl, but I held my tongue, and turned away from the cell doors, walking to the surprisingly wide bunk positioned against a cell sidewall. It proved to be quite comfortable when I sat down on it.

My feelings had settled into a murky muddle that at least didn’t bubble or simmer in the cauldron of my chest. As for my heart, it was sitting quietly in its chair, staring absently into the fireplace in my chest keeping it warm. It looked calm, but I knew better.

Deneve loitered by the cell doors, probably giving me the opportunity to ask one more question before he left me alone here in the detention block.

“Desanto…I’ll talk to Arisa.”

“Don’t bother,” I replied without facing him, instead choosing to stare at the cell’s opposite wall. “I’m meeting her this Sunday. I have some matters to discuss with her. I’ll just add this onto my growing list of questions.”

“If that’s the way you want it.”

I shook my head inwardly, wondering if he really understood how I was feeling about the situation, about him, and about Arisa.

In the end, I chose to drop the matter, and again jumped tracks onto another subject.

“I’m starving,” I muttered, and after rubbing my face for a handful of heartbeats, I turned my head in his direction. “You think I could at least get something to eat? Or is Mason planning to starve me so that I’ll engineer a breakout?”

Kaleb shook his weakly, but I didn’t believe it was entirely at me. “I’ll see what I can do. So don’t break down walls.”

I showed him my bare left wrist. “You have my Kaiser, or have you forgotten.”

I said nothing more, and after a few awkward seconds, he departed up the detention block corridor and walked out of sight. His footsteps grew fainter with each step, and then a short while later, I heard the heavy hydraulic door guarding the place cycle open.

In the ensuing quiet, I sat on the wide bunk with my back to the metal headrest facing the cell’s back wall. That left me facing the cell’s bars looking out into the corridor, and a rock wall on the opposite side.

I rubbed the back of my neck.

The ache had settled in while walking from the infirmary to my temporary lodgings for the night.

“Some painkillers would have gone a long way, Kaleb,” I muttered under my breath, as I lay down properly on the bunk.

#

(Kaleb)

#

Returning hastily to the observation deck, I found myself standing in conference with Mason and Weinberg in the upper loft.

I had some trouble keeping my gaze professional.

Let’s just say, Nicola Weinberg afil Lorian cut a resplendent figure in her grey-black training suit. There wasn’t a slender curve of her lithe body left understated. Mind you, my self-control is considerably superior to Desanto’s but it was nonetheless a considerable struggle to prevent my gaze from falling prey to the charms of this blond beauty.

Seeing her in her usual business suit was one thing.

Seeing her in the training suite was entirely something else.

However, as pretty as she looked, Weinberg wore the expression of someone chastised and refused to raise her head and meet Mason’s eyes.

What happened here?

Mason shook her head and exhaled slowly. “We’ll talk about it later.”

Weinberg nodded faintly, and I caught her despondent whisper. “Aye, ma’am….”

After regarding the blonde beauty for a moment longer, Mason directed her attention on me. “How is he?”

I cleared my throat before replying, “Safe and secure. Not happy, but I doubt he’ll try something.”

“What did the medical exams reveal?”

I had no doubt she already knew the answer to that. “The Kaiser’s Blessing has integrated itself into his cerebellum, but it’s spreading.”

Mason and Weinberg both looked at me, and I was forced to reconsider. Perhaps neither of them knew of the results from the preliminary investigation.

“Is this the norm?” Mason asked.

“No. None of the other candidates every underwent this kind of fusion.”

“Fusion?” Weinberg breathed out.

Raising a hand to interpose herself in the discussion, Mason asked, “How strong do you gauge him to be?”

I glanced away in thought, though it was more to avoid looking at Weinberg who chose to stand with a hand on her hip, her body making a gentle S-curve from the tips of her toes to the top her of her head. Swallowing again, and narrowing my eyes for effect as I regarded the view of the training cavern through the immense windows, I gave Mason’s question due consideration and an honest reply.

“In Kämpfer form, he’s already far stronger than I am.”

After a long moment of silence, Mason inhaled long and deep. “Is that your honest assessment?”

I faced her. “Absolutely. The Kaiser’s Blessing is in a different league to my Dragoon Class Cuirassier.” Crossing my arms, I added, “I underestimated him. But even if I hadn’t, the outcome would have been the same.”

“I see….”

“There’s one more thing,” I said, noticing I sounded grim yet unable to help it.

Weinberg and Mason regarded me guardedly.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Desanto told me the Kaiser’s Blessing is haunted, and that sometimes the Ghost takes over.”

Mason said nothing, but after a moment, Weinberg wet her lips and then asked, “What did you tell him?”

“Nothing. The conversation drifted off in another direction. However, considering what we saw just now, it’s clear to say that he wasn’t lying and neither were his predecessors.”

Weinberg frowned slightly, but gave me a very subtle nod.

Mason held her silence for a moment longer, before turning away. “So he doesn’t know.”

I shook my head. “No. He doesn’t know the specifics of how previous Meisters leave their mark—their impression—on an Artifact. What worries me though is the strength of the Ghost’s influence on him. We’ve seen it before when he fought his sister in the Vault Chamber—the berserker power that overwhelmed Desanto, and almost cost him his life.”

Barely above a whisper, Weinberg murmured, “He has quite the struggle on his hands….”

“Yes, he does,” I agreed, and dropped my hands to my hips. “And if I’m going to help him, if I’m to continue training him to grow stronger and to gain control of the Ghost, then I’m going to need to unlock my Cuirassier.” I couldn’t help hesitating before adding, “Truthfully…once he breaks the next seal and gains the Krieger form, my strength won’t be enough to push him to new heights. Either I get a new stronger Fragment now and begin unlocking it, or someone else will have to take over training duties.”

As this point, I gave Weinberg a pointed look, to which she sighed as she crossed her arms. “I’m going to have my hands full with Steiner. Now that she’s unlocked her Valkyrie Maiden to this extent, I need to keep pushing her. Unfortunately, the other girls are falling behind. Khayman and Sayen should have unlocked the seals on their Skin-Regalias by now. Instead they’re still using skinsuits to augment their strength.”

For a heartbeat, Mason pressed her lips into a thin line before asking, “Any suggestions on how to get them past this hurdle?”

The tall blonde beauty looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Well, there is one thing…we could try….”

Mason nodded subtly, arching an eyebrow. “And that would be?”

Weinberg looked even more uncomfortable, or perhaps more embarrassed, as she spared me a long sidelong look. “Well…when I was having trouble summoning my Skin-Regalia…they made me train in my—”

She stopped when a number of holovid screens winked to life within the observation room. That number grew until they blanketed the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Mason noticed them and muttered, “What in blazes is going on—?”

From the floor of the observation room, one of the tech girls called out, “Emergency Flash Traffic to all the Academies.”

“What…?”

Mason sounded oddly off the ball, so I cast a glance her way, faintly shocked by what I saw.

Galatea’s Principal had grown pale, her eyes glassy as she stared at the floating screens. “Again…?”

“We’re getting Flash Traffic,” the girl repeated. “It’s being sent by Public Security Section Zero. Code Avalon.”

I saw Weinberg regard her boss with a veiled puzzled look before she quickly asked, “Give us the details on Code Avalon.”

In response, someone translated the code into a series of directives that was displayed up on a holovid screen.

I stood before the balcony railing and read them in sequence.

Beside me, Mason breathed out an oath, and another glance at her revealed a little color had returned to her lifeless face.

“Ma’am,” one of the girls below called up. “We’ve got reports of a massive explosion in Island One.”

Another girl added, “The Nexus is being censored, but we’re getting a raw feed of the incident along with a report.”

More data appeared in a new holovid window. A second panoramic window showed multiple angles of an enormous hole in what appeared to be the Harbor Tunnel in Island One.

I read the report and glanced at the images. “So Pharos is in complete lockdown except for emergency and security services.”

Mason nodded apprehensively. “And we’ve been ordered to notify all our Familiars to make their way to their respective Academy and remain on standby.”

Weinberg pointed at one screen. “There’s more,” she said.

Facing the screen, I read the message scrolling along the bottom, and watched the deployment of armored vehicles in the streets, and Enforcer drones filled the sky between the megascrapers of Pharos’s habitats.

Mason swallowed visibly, and solemnly said, “The Commander-in-Chief of the Enforcers…has just declared Martial Law.”

Cold sweat threatened to trickle down my back, and I saw Weinberg’s hands clench as her face grew pale.

A moment later, Mason tapped her communication earpiece, and I realized she’d received a private call through the device. After a minute, she tapped the device again, then reached out and leaned heavily on the guardrail.

“I received word from my Primogen,” she said. “The Enforcers are coming here.”

Nicola gasped, then took a step closer to her. “What do we do?”

Mason looked at her over a shoulder. “The only thing we can do. For now, we co-operate.”

#

(Caelum)

#

I was pretty much convinced I’d been forgotten, as there was no sign of room delivery.

My stomach rumbled, and for once I actually missed having the little monster known as the Symbiote inside my body.

At least it would keep me from growing hungry as my bed fed off it little by little.

Having resolved to spend the night and morning hours on an empty stomach, I tried to get some sleep after tossing the bunk blankets over my body.

Settling in for a long night, I decided to take what Kaleb said with a kilo of salt, and that included his promises.

My thoughts then jumped to the subject of my girlfriend.

After parting ways with her in the training cavern, I’d had no subsequent contact with Simone, and as time went by my hopes faded that she would miraculously appear carting a dinner tray before her while wearing a sexy waitress dress and those high heels that made her legs look mouthwatering.

I rolled onto my side, and faced the wall.

That does it. First thing tomorrow, we’re breaking up. Surely she’s heard that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

I closed my eyes, but couldn’t do so for long, and after rolling onto my back in frustration I stared up at the ceiling.

In the darkness behind my eyelids, I kept seeing Caprice impaled on my right Arm-Blade, and before long my feelings began to circle chaotically in my chest. Unwilling to face the memory, I chose to stare up at the ceiling instead.

I was doing as much when something unexpected happened.

It was something that made me blink hurriedly in abject surprise and disbelief.

However, I kept the rest of my body lying still on the bunk since I suspected my cell was being monitored by one of Principal Mason’s female minions.

Outwardly, I did my best to appear languid and composed at all times, but inwardly my heart beat madly. It took some time for it to slow back down, though my mind continued to race in circles. Eventually, it too slowed down and my thoughts began to straighten themselves out.

Thinking a little more clearly, I waited a minute more before slowly sitting up and resting my back against the metal headrest once more.

Staring at the rock beyond the bars of the cell door, I paced my breathing, hoping the surveillance systems were unable to monitor my emotional state.

However, it was true that I was calmer now, though no less confused.

Despite not wearing the bracelet, my Awareness-field had returned, something I didn’t believe was possible.

Swallowing quietly, I kept my gaze on the view beyond the cell doors.

If I believed my Awareness-field, I was alone in the cell, but in the corner of my eye I could see her standing against in the middle of the room.

[Hello, Kallum.]

I swallowed again. *My name is Caelum. Caelum Desanto.

[I know.]

Wetting my lips with deliberate care, I asked, *Are you Galatea?

She stepped closer to the bunk bed. [I am. Or rather I was Galatea.]

*You’re not real…are you?

[…I was real, once upon a time, but now I exist only within the Kaiser’s Blessing….]

I glanced at her, studying her sidelong for a second, before averting my eyes. *What do you want?

She stepped into view and sat down on the bunk bed. As expected, she made no impression on the bed.

[I came to say hello.]

I refused to look at her. It was unsettling to focus my eyes on her for more than a few seconds, and it was evident she noticed because she leaned toward me curiously.

[Why do you look away? Is there something wrong with the way I look?]

*You could say that. I spared her another glance.

[Why?]

I closed my eyes for a moment, then made the effort to look the translucent apparition in the eyes.

*Tell me the truth. Is that your true appearance?

Galatea frowned before smiling coyly. [What? You don’t like it?]

*Answer the question.

[Why do you ask?]

*Because you look like someone I know, and it’s bothering me.

Her smile grew a little stronger.

[And who would that be?]

I swallowed, clearing my throat though I had no need to do so.

*You know the answer to that.

Galatea straightened on the bed, before she shrugged and peered down at me over her left shoulder with faint disappointment.

[You mean the blonde girl with the large breasts?]

I looked at the ghostly apparition that resembled a certain girl in every way, including her mouthwatering bust.

My voice barely a whisper, I asked, “Why do you look like Prissila?”

Galatea snorted quietly. [In life, I was far prettier than her.]

*Who are you?

Galatea sat still for a long while, an unnerving experience to endure because of her ghostly appearance. [You will know in due time.]

Leaning close toward me, she peered at me with bright blue eyes every bit like Prissila’s.

[In the meantime, I have something to show you.]

I swallowed again, my heart beginning to stir in my chest, beating a little quicker as it began paying attention to its surroundings.

*What? I asked nervously.

Galatea arched a slender eyebrow at me.

[Haven’t you noticed by now?]

*Noticed what?

[Your Awareness-field has returned.]

I regarded her, my gaze searching her face, the uncanny resemblance to Prissila making my heart beat louder.

*I noticed it had. How is that possible? I narrowed my eyes at her. *Did you do something to me, or is this because of the Seal breaking?

My heart scampered onto its chair when Galatea draped her ghostly form over my body.

[There have been others before you. But none of them were you. You’re special and I will treat you as special.]

“Meaning what?” I whispered.

[I will help you grow stronger. I will help you break the Seals. And I will help you achieve your destiny. But you will also help me.]

“Why…?”

She was quiet for a long moment before breaking into a warm smile that made my heart skip a beat.

[Because you’re the one I’ve been waiting for.]

Her smile lingered in my mind long after she vanished, troubling me still when I heard the sound of the corridor hatchway open, and fast footsteps approach my cell.

I played the part of looking disappointed at Kaleb when he stopped before the cell doors.

"You're late. What? No room service? I demand to speak with the manager."

Kaleb opened the cell door, and yanked it open.

"Get up."

The seriousness in his voice and expression made me suddenly suspicious. "Why?"

"Because there's been an incident." He swallowed before adding, "A very big incident, and Mason wants you upstairs with the rest of the troops."

I chose not to argue with him, and dutifully followed Kaleb out of the detention level.