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Artiface—Arc: Uprising



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Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:02 pm
Europa says...



Kirsten

The room I woke up in was musty and damp, and by the time I woke up, I could feel it under my skin, just under the hot throb pulsing up my arm and neck. I sat up slowly, gasping a little at the sting, and looked around. It was also dark except for one oil lamp on top of a shelf. I couldn’t see much more than vague shapes in its eery light. I brushed against something warm and alive and looked over to see Sage’s sleeping face partly lit by the candle flame. I knew he must have brought me here, which meant I was safe. I stood up and felt my way towards the stairs. There was no point in waking him up now. After everything he’d done, he needed the rest. The stairs creaked gently under me as I climbed toward the door and felt around for the handle.

When it swung open I found myself behind the counter of the Silver Mare’s pub. The long wooden tables were crowded with people hunched over in quiet conversation or nursing wounds. The room’s lopsided chandelier gave off a warm, friendly light, but I’d still never seen the place so dismal. Mavis was circulating with small packages of first aid supplies, stopping to share a few hushed words with the regulars. Taro was the only person alone in the room, a few shards of his crystal bomb scattered on the table as he frantically rearranged them, trying to find the point where they interlocked. I thought about going over to him, but what could I do? The man who was hiding in the shadows now was so different from the one who had burst into this same room so confidently on the day I arrived.

I scanned the crowd. The people of New Belial held their blood between their hands, gritting their teeth as tourniquets fastened and gaping wounds were bandaged. People stumbled through the door, but there were still too few who were here. I could only hope that there were other safehouses out there.

Mavis sorted through the newcomers with a grim expression, handing them off to others who tended their wounds. I needed to help somehow; I found myself moving towards her.

Mavis spotted me, and her gaze softened. “You shouldn’t be up and walking yet. Sit, sit.” She guided me towards one of the tables.

“I’ll be ok,” I said, pulling my arm back. As I did, I noticed the bandages spiraling up my forearm and bicep, wrapping around my neck. They shifted up slightly, revealing the burned tissue near my wrist where I’d fired the gun.

Mavis had moved on to sew up some cuts and now doubled back. “Even so, you should move away from these patients. Your friends are waiting upstairs. Why don’t you sit with them awhile?” Her firm tone answered the rhetorical question. She reached into her pocket and brought out a pouch of leaf salve, spreading it over her patient’s wounds. “Go on now,” she said.

I moved through the Silver Mare towards the staircase in the back. The tavern, once lively, now had only soft, pained movements at its tables, from the people bleeding out on them. Taro was staring at them, his expression dimmed in the lamplight. I walked past him and up the stairs. I heard him plodding behind.

The upstairs held a few rooms for paying customers, but circumstances had changed as with the rest of the place. A tall woman was smoking a pipe outside one of the rooms, the door to which was slightly ajar.

She looked at us as we approached. “If it isn’t the illustrious Lord Shamble,” she sneered. She glanced at me and smiled. “How do you do?”

“Ok,” I said. I pointed past her. “Are my friends in there?”

“Your friends,” she said, “not his.”

“That isn’t important right now.” I looked behind me, and Sage was leaning on his sword in the staircase; Taro was hiding behind him. Sage gave a blunt-force glare. “We need to talk about the reason we’re all here.”

“Stopping the simulation,” Taro piped up. “You should at least help with that, Angel.”

Angel shrugged. “I’ve told you that I’m not here out of the goodness of my heart. You’ll have to do better than that, Taro.”

Taro shivered and shrunk behind Sage. “I’ll do as I please, you shark,” he said.

“And yet that still isn’t good enough,” Angel replied, then turned to me. “Kirsten, was it? Don’t associate with bad men. They smell.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I could still remember the look in Taro’s eyes after he’d saved me. They had been bright, not regretting what he’d done. But he was afraid, and he was afraid now.

Sage stamped forward. “Look, I don’t know what business you two have. Don’t tell me; it doesn’t matter. I don’t care. If you’ve been paying attention, the Demon Lord is here. And we’ve had a long day. So you can step aside, or I’ll cut your feet off and move them myself!” He stopped for a second, surprised at himself.

“Keep it down.” Avril’s voice came flat from the doorway next to us. He was cleaned up a bit, but he held himself like he was still straining to break free. He walked out along the hall and stopped at Penny’s doorway. “Look, I’m going to guess that one of you is blocking this door. I’m blind; I can’t tell. But if you’re in my way when I walk through, I’m gonna run right through you. It’ll be weird for us both.”
Angel raised an eyebrow and stepped aside. Avril felt around until he grasped the doorknob, then turned to us. “There,” he said. “Easy on the feet-cutting, guard boy.”

Sage bit his cheek and looked down. Avril turned the knob and we entered.

I drifted over to Hachi as Sage and Angel took their place at Penny’s bedside. Hachi was asleep, chair leaned onto its back two legs, halfway falling out of it with Bakuma clutched in his arms. I reached over to push him fully back into the chair, and he blinked awake. “Sorry,” I murmured. “I was trying to keep you from falling.”

“That’s alright,” Hachi yawned. “Is it time to go yet?”

I blinked a couple times, trying to wrap my head around the fact Hachi wanted to go anywhere after the disaster we’d just been through. “Go where?”

“Death’s Grove,” Hachi said it like that should have been obvious. “Remember? We have that whole list from--” His eyes fell on Taro standing at the back of the room. “Oh, hi there! Who’re you?”

Taro drew himself up, looking a little more like the Lord Shamble we’d known. “I’m…” He seemed to deflate as he searched for the right words. “Just Shamble, I suppose.”

“Hey, I knew a guy named Shamble,” Hachi squinted at Taro and scratched his chin. “He had bigger hair though…”

I decided Taro didn’t need me to point out they were the same and turned to Penny and Sage, who were having their own quiet conversation.

“I almost had him.” Penny was giving the clock on the wall a baleful look as if she believed she could make it turn back if she glared long enough.

“Both of his ministers were there.” Sage pointed out. “You would have died.”

“If that’s what it takes for New Belial to go free.”

“So you think you can just make one big charge and everything will be fine?” Avril pushed off from where he was leaning on the doorway. “Okay, so let’s argue this whole rebellion thing is even a good idea.”

“It is a good idea,” Penny cut in. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Avril folded his arms. “Then prove it. What’s the point if your only plan is to go in swinging and hope you hit something? If you’re going to make a dumb decision, you could at least try to be a little smarter about it.”

Sage nodded. “That’s not exactly how I would have put it, but he’s right. If we’re really going to do this, we need an actual plan. No more shots in the dark.”

Penny took a breath. “I know. But where do we find the time? Every minute that goes by is one where innocent people are in danger.”

“It might not even work if we plan it.” Taro had sunk to the floor, staring at the opposite wall. “No matter how far we get, it can always go wrong.”

“Not to mention our fighting force is two stupid kids, a con man, some random lady who’s probably killed someone, a bartender, and one actual soldier.” Avril added. I couldn’t help bridling a little at the stupid part. Then again we had gone into Death’s Grove alone.

“Funny you should mention that.” I looked over at Angel, who was smiling as she drifted over to the door and opened it. Beyond was a mass of people, their bandaged wounds telling me they were most of the people from the Silver Mare’s bar. “Let me introduce you to the rest of the resistance.”

We all stood back, stunned, as people filed into the room. They were battered, regular people, a bit disorganized and uncomfortable being introduced. Some of Penny’s friends walked over to her, smiling sheepishly. Taro looked like he was having a heart attack.

Penny’s eyes went wide as the sun. “How long,” she sputtered, “who did, what?”

“They’re just volunteers,” Mavis said, shuffling through the crowd. “I was planning to tell you once you’d settled that childish streak of yours.”

“I found them pretty easily,” Angel said offhandedly, smirking at Taro. “It’s all about knowing where to look.”

Hachi jumped up and began to shake hands. “Are you all gonna help us fight?” he asked.

One of them shifted his bandages up his arm. “Hopefully,” he said. “The Demon Lord might be here, but getting to him was always the hard part.”

“You don’t say,” Taro scoffed, getting to his feet. He glared at all of them resolutely. “Well, if you’re here now, that’s good nonetheless. Listen, all of you. I don’t know whether the Demon Lord can be killed. Even if he is, I don’t know what that will mean for us. A resistance should be prepared for failure, but it should not be prepared to die. I won’t let you.

“And I promise that under my plan,” he said as two men walked forward and grabbed his arms, “we can pull through -- what are you doing?”

“Well, Lord Shamble, we did some talking,” Angel purred, “and we came up with our own plan: we’re taking you prisoner.”
  





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Thu May 14, 2020 6:54 pm
Chaser says...



Kirsten

I watched as the rebels pulled Taro, stumbling over his own protests, from the room. At this point I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or sorry. All the same, Angel turned and smiled at us once the door at closed.

Sage met it with a scowl. “Don’t you think that’s a little much?”

Angel raised an eyebrow. “I don’t speak for the people, Sage. Even if I didn’t get immense pleasure from imagining him rotting in that basement, I would have been outvoted. Your lord is not exactly the most popular person, in case you’ve forgotten.” I tuned out of the conversation at that point. My head was spinning too much to follow another argument. If there were anywhere better to go I would have left, but the rest of the inn was filled with wounded revolutionaries. Still, the urge to do anything but just sit there drove me out of my chair and to the window. There were still a few defiant fires burning, but mostly the streets of New Belial had been reduced to ash, stirred by nothing but a gentle breeze. I remembered how the wind had felt whipping against my face as the Demon Lord had pulled me higher into the sky, the eerie calm while he’d watched Taro being beaten. I swallowed back the memories and tried to keep them down, but his eyes remained. Intense, staring at me with a strange kind of recognition.

I turned away. “I think I’m going to take a walk.”

Hachi looked up. “I’ll come with you!”

I almost felt guilty when I shook my head. “Sorry, I...kind of need some time alone.”

I quickly slipped out the door and closed it behind me. The hallway seemed a lot narrower than it had been a minute ago, and I could feel my chest begin to squeeze in on me. I took a few deep breaths as I walked, imagined the panic leaving my body with each exhale like a dark fog. I found myself back at the door to the basement. Well, that was quieter at least.

Before I could head in, the door opened, and two revolutionaries stepped out. They glanced at me before posting as guards on either side of the door, shuffling their feet. “Lord Shamble’s down there,” one of them mumbled. “Best not to give him too much attention.”

Mavis emerged from behind the counter, holding a tray of food. The guards awkwardly pressed together to halt her as she approached. She raised an eyebrow.

“A prisoner isn’t much good if he starves, is he?” she said. When the guards pretended not to hear, she sighed and pushed the tray into my hands. “There’s many things to do around here, and most are more important than keeping a pet politician. Just make sure everyone eats.” With that, she disappeared into the kitchen, where bloody bandages were piled in the corner.

Holding a tray in front of the guards didn’t give me much option in what to do. It was probably too much to expect alone time when everyone was moving about. Even the basement was preferable. I held out the tray pleadingly.

The guards exchanged looks and moved slightly apart; when they saw that the other was doing so, they moved further, at ease with the mutual execution of their responsibility. “Knock twice when you’re done,” one of them said.

I balanced the tray on one hand and opened the door. The evening light in the diner cast a long wave into a square at the bottom of the stairs. I walked down, and the guards shut the door behind me.

The cellar was dim as we’d left it, with a few stray flies buzzing in the orange glow of the lamp. They lit up like little gobs of fire. I reached the bottom and stared at them for a moment, tracking the changes in their flight patterns.

“Beautiful, right?” The voice came from Taro, who was tied to the central beam. He was looking at the flies. “Something so cheap, yet so charming. It should stand as a testament to the simple life.”

I stood still. I was just out of the light’s glow, and I didn’t know if he could see me.

Taro shifted his arms, which were bound behind his back and forcing him to slump. “But that’s not something I want to be satisfied with. Some ragtag charms aren’t going to compare to the ability of people to live, and no matter how happy you can be, it doesn’t change the fact that you can’t do anything, can you? With just one person or one hundred.” He spat on the ground.

“So do whatever you want to me. I’ll tell you whatever I know. And at the end of it all, you’ll know exactly how hopeless we are.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. My voice came out half-swallowed. “I brought you some food.”

Taro laughed and grit his teeth. “Simple pleasures. Well, I’ll take it.”

I moved into the light. The shadow’s on Taro’s face shifted as he frowned. “It’s you. With the gun. Didn’t think Angel would let me talk to you.”

“Mavis sent me,” I replied. “She says you shouldn’t starve.”

“Wonderful advice,” Taro said. “Simple advice. What about you? Are you as simple as her?”

His mocking tone took me aback. “I’m just trying to help.”

He looked around at the cellar and chuckled. “Good try. I feel better already.”

I sighed and set down the tray. If he didn’t want to talk, that was okay. I held out an end of bread to his face. He looked at it ruefully before grabbing it with his teeth.

We repeated this for a while. Each time, Taro regarded me with distrust, but still took the food. When he finished, he sighed and said, “Like a damn dog. Just like a dog.”

I scooted a little farther back, my mind fumbling for anything I could say or do to ease the situation, but all I came up with was “I’m sorry.”

Taro smiled dryly “You would be, wouldn’t you?”

I shrugged, then winced as the burns on my shoulder smarted. I guess I couldn’t blame him for being bitter. He’d risked his life, just like Sage had when he went after Hachi and I in the forest, but he was down here tied up, and Sage was upstairs a hero. I almost couldn’t say anything, but the words fumbled their way out. “You saved me. You saved a lot of people, actually. I think the resistance forgot about that.”

“That’s no surprise.” Taro kept the jeering tone in his voice, but he was watching me more carefully now. “In times like these it’s much more useful to remember how a person has wronged you.”

“If I tried to remember all the times people wronged me, I’d be too exhausted to do anything.” I muttered. Taro was silent, either he hadn’t heard me or he didn’t want to respond. Either way, I was glad for the quiet. I leaned back on a bag of flour and watched the flies circle the lamp. When the silence and Taro’s stare became uncomfortable, I looked back at him. “Had you ever seen the Demon Lord before now?”

“Never, before now it was all rumors.” He gave me another critical glance. “Nothing that explained why he was so interested in you, though.”

I clenched my skirt in my fists as I felt the phantom tug of his hand dragging me upwards. “I don’t know...maybe it was the gun?”

Taro shook his head. “Well, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to figure something out. For now, might as well not worry about it.”

I couldn’t stop a rueful smile. “I always worry. It’s genetic.” I watched the light from the candle flicker on the ground for a little bit, coming in and out like waves in the ocean. “My mom was like that too. She was a lot better at managing it though, for the most part.” I rubbed the chill out of my arms, let myself imagine the warmth came from her arms around me, reminding me to breathe. I blinked rapidly as tears began to form, and hoped it was too dark for Taro to notice. “You probably don’t want to hear about that, though.”

“Why not?” If Taro could have leaned forward, I imagine he would have. “Conversation is one of the few simple pleasures I’m allowed to enjoy now.”

I felt my stomach twist. I thought about refusing, but the possibility of grappling with any more pressing questions or the press of bodies above us much harder to bear. “Oh. Um, dad left. Brother died. My mom and I were all we had.” Echoes of her screams as she pulled me away rattled in my skull and I curled in on myself. “When the Ghosthands took me...I just hope she’s okay.”

“The Ghosthands like to silence their loose ends,” Taro replied, as if it were nothing. “If you want to make sure, you need to help me escape this world.”

His words caved in a part of my chest, and I had to sit down. “Did they silence your family too?” I asked.

He scoffed. “They didn’t have to.”

“What do you mean?”

He stopped and glared at me. “Don’t you look at me like that. Go on and cry for your mother if it helps that much. You got to lose your family, right? You were lucky to have one. Now stop wasting time with that pitiful look, because nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to lift you up.”

“Kirsten?” Hachi’s voice came from the top of the stairs. “You down here?”

I stood up. “Yeah, I’m down here.”

“Mavis made some really nice food, she said to come get you, and I said okay, but the guards are kind of mean, so they said-”


“I’ll be right up,” I replied. I grabbed the empty tray and turned to Taro. “The Guardians chose you too, Taro. I won’t forget that. I’ll bring you some food later.”

Taro didn’t respond. He was looking down slightly, and as I walked up the stairs, he vanished into the dark.

I stepped out of the basement into the meal hall, and Sage nearly ran me over as he passed. “Watch your step,” he called, balancing a dozen bowls of soup on his arms and head.

Mavis rushed out of the kitchen and tossed a few small peppers after Sage. He set a bowl down and grabbed them out of the air, garnishing the soup as he passed it out.

The Silver Mare bustled with the amount of people milling around, laughing and grabbing fistfuls of meat. Angel was directing people to their tablesets, while Avril was already sitting down. Hachi pointed him out, and we made our way over and sat down.

Avril was leaning on his hand, tapping his fingers on the table. He didn’t respond as we sat down opposite him. Eventually, Hachi spoke up. “Avril?”

He jumped, recoiling from us. “Hachi,” he said disdainfully. Settling back, he waved his hand around. “It’s hard to hear with this racket.”

“We thought we’d see how you were doing,” I said. “Is everything okay?”

“This place was nice at first,” Avril admitted, turning his head towards me. “But I don’t think I’m getting any more peace of mind.”

Sage swooped by, and three bowls of soup spun to our table sets. “Careful, they’re hot,” he said, darting away to the next table.

Avril leaned down and sniffed his bowl. Hachi grabbed a spoon. “Do you like soup, Avril?” he asked.

Avril chuckled harshly. “What kind of a question is that? Do I like soup? Who dislikes soup? How dumb are you?” He trailed off a bit, before lifting the bowl to his lips and drinking. When it came away, his expression was calm. He turned to Hachi again, more sincerely. “Yeah, I like soup.”

“Of course, silly,” Hachi replied. “Who doesn’t?”

Avril sighed, enjoying his soup. We passed around small talk, sentences that reconfirmed where we were: We’d captured Lord Shamble. The Demon Lord was here. We didn’t know what to do.

A larger bowl of soup thunked down next to Avril. Sage removed his kitchen apron and sat down. “Finally, a break,” he said.

“Where’s Penny?” Hachi asked.

“Still upstairs,” Sage replied. “I brought her food, but I suspect she’ll join us anyway. She wouldn’t want to miss this.”

The Resistance had recovered from their gruesome beatdown. The Silver Mare’s tables were packed with people, shouting over each other as they raised their bowls in a sloppy toast. There was a crowd drawn around one of the circular tables, where Angel was playing cards against the burly man who’d dragged Taro away. Angel looked a little bored, but when she saw me looking, she placed her cards down and folded. The table erupted in a cheer as the burly man shot from his seat, raising his fist high. The crowd lifted him up while Angel walked over to us.

“What good is the revolution if we can’t dance?” she said. “I’m planning to introduce you to them later, but you should talk to them while the mood is right.”

“Okay!” Hachi bounded up from the table and joined the throng. Pretty soon he was riding on top of their lifted arms, raising Bakuma above him as he surfed the crowd.

Angel looked after him for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s for the best,” she said. “Mavis told me how you three escaped Death’s Grove.”

Avril raised an eyebrow.

“That was a commendable feat, Sage. Too many people have already succumbed to Taro’s death missions.”

Sage hesitated before speaking. “Thank you.”

“I welcome you to the fight for freedom in New Belial,” Angel said, smiling.

“As for Kirsten and Hachi,” she said, turning to me. “Kirsten, I’ve been told what you can do. Probably all of New Belial knows what you’ve done. That makes you vulnerable to attack. Both of you,” she added, looking towards Hachi’s crowd-surf.

“The road ahead will be fought through many hard battles,” she said, “which is why I can’t allow you two on the front lines.”


I stirred around what was left of my soup. “I don’t even know what I did. I just panicked and did it.”

Angel fixed me with a surprisingly intense look. “There were many different ways you could have handled that situation. You could have frozen and waited for someone else to come to your rescue, but when you were faced with danger your first instinct was to fight. That’s incredibly important, Kirsten. It means you have potential.”

“Potential?” Sage echoed. “I thought you didn’t want them fighting.”

Avril stood up. “Well, I can’t see this conversation going anywhere good.” He felt around until his hands found an old walking stick, which he waved out in front of him. “I think I’m going to go take a nap.”

Angel didn’t pause to watch him leave. “I said I didn’t want them on the front lines. Of course, they’d both need the right training before they saw any combat, but--”

“I think you’re forgetting you’re talking about two kids.” Sage growled. “You’re asking two kids to fight a war for you.”


“With me, if we’re being accurate.” Despite the withering look Sage was giving her, Angel looked calm as ever. “And let me remind you I wasn’t the one who gave them those weapons. If you ask me, they committed to the cause as soon as they took the Guardian’s gifts, but it isn’t either of our choice to make.”

They both looked to me, and I felt their eyes pulling me two ways. I thought of the gun laying on Penny’s nightstand upstairs. The image of the Demon Lord plummeting through the air, the feeling of falling, returned in full color, and the idea of firing it again made me nauseous. “Do I have some time to think about it?”

Angel nodded. “Of course, but remember we don’t have forever.”

All I could do was nod, and go back to watching Hachi in the crowd. I remember how he’d been bouncing with excitement when he showed Taro’s list to me. He wouldn’t hesitate to accept Angel’s offer. I didn’t know whether I felt afraid for him or envious, maybe it was both.

“In the meantime,” Angel smiled again. “Why don’t we all get acquainted.”


The Silver Mare stayed boisterous far into the night, but I was too tired to stay with them. I headed back up the stairs as New Belial’s strange golden moon began rising above the broken skyline. Hachi bounced along beside me, swinging Bakuma by an arm.

“Those guys sure are friendly.”

I nodded as I heard them cheering again from below. Angel must have won another round of cards. “They all seem so normal.”

“Well, look at us!” Hachi jabbed his thumb inwards. “We’re way more normal. Extra-super normal!”

I smiled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt extra-super normal. Things haven’t been like that.”

“But that’s just it! I mean, look around. You’re blowing up demons, joining a rebellion, fighting to escape the world. Compared to all that’s happening, this is normal, isn’t it?” Some of the manic Hachi energy had seeped out of his voice, and his eyes held a lucid shine. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ll try.” I walked down the hallway of doors and stopped in front of the furthest one down. “Mavis said we could take these rooms, right?”

“She sure did.” Hachi looked like he wanted to add something, but a burst of cheers went up from the floor below us, and he shook his head. “Good night, Kirsten.”

“Good night, Hachi,” I replied, and we smiled. I walked into my room and shut the door behind me.

A figure shot upright in the dark. I jumped back and froze as it growled.

“Whoever you are, your bed is over there. Now stop making a racket.”

Avril, not waiting for a response, laid back down and rolled over. I walked to my bed and flopped on top of the covers. It was nice, too nice. The weight of the last two days sank into me all at once, and I fell deep into dark sleep.
The hardest part of writing science fiction is knowing actual science. The same applies for me and realistic fiction.
  





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Mon May 25, 2020 8:58 pm
Europa says...



Sage

Angel was sitting across from me, carelessly tucking into her plate of eggs. My own breakfast was pushed to the side as I pored over the cluster of maps and papers that sat between us. It must have cost the resistance dearly to get the information, but all I could think about was how small the pile was.

“There are some human soldiers in the Goetin empire’s army that might let a few things slide if the price is good,” I muttered. “Maybe they’ve heard something useful about the Demon Lord, more than just the fairy tales.”

“It is strange, isn’t it.” Angel gestured to the papers with her fork. “Such an important person and no one knows anything. He may as well have not existed before now.”

“I know, that’s the problem,” I growled. “We can’t beat him if we don’t know his weak points.”

A flicker of movement caught in my periphery and I looked up. Kirsten was vanishing into the basement with Taro’s tray. A part of me wished I could go down there with her, and I did my best to bury it. I was already getting suspicious looks from people without being seen still hanging around him, even if I believed he’d want to see me. Angel followed my gaze, watching as the door closed.

“And what’s the news on our nervous little friend?”

I scowled. “It’s only been one night, Kirsten’s not the type to rush her decisions. Just leave her alone and let her think.”

“Two days, and you’re already an expert,” Angel muttered and took another bite of eggs.

“No, he’s right.” Penny’s voice came from over my shoulder. She was carefully lowering herself in the chair next to mine, plate in hand. “It’s best to leave her be for now.”

Angel spread her hands diplomatically. “Fair enough. But do you feel ready for what comes next, Penny?”

Penny nodded. “Without a doubt. But you haven’t told anyone what comes next.”

“We’re deciding that now.” I slid my helping over further and lifted the map to show Penny. “It seems pretty obvious where the demons are now. What’s interesting is that they’re keeping to the coastline, instead of pushing inland. Maybe they’re avoiding Death’s Grove?”

Penny picked up the map and studied it for a second. She’d scarfed down her plate and was starting in on mine. “Seems like it. How do our odds stack up?”
“In manpower? A hundred to one.” I checked my papers. “And that’s not even counting for the ones that can fly.”

“Those are good odds.” I looked at Penny, and she raised an eyebrow. “If we factor in Kirsten’s firepower, then we might have a shot.”

“I don’t think it’s that easy,” I replied. Nemesis was strapped to my side, and I placed a hand on it gently. “These things don’t work whenever we want them to. We don’t know if they’ll hold up when we need them.”

“I am curious about those items,” Angel said, still chewing complacently. “Did they really come from the Grove?”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “You could hear it from any one of us. Taro could tell you best.”


“I’m sure he could,” Angel said. “But he’s in time-out right now. Let’s focus on you.”

Angel and Penny listened to the story of our encounters in Death’s Grove. When it was over, Penny was leaning forward with anticipation, and Angel leaned back in thought.

“So there’s a talking lion just out in the woods?” Penny asked. “I- okay. If you’re sure.”

Angel nodded. “There are hallucinogens in the forest, but I’ll take your word for it. More importantly, you said that some of the moss was absorbing demonfire?”

“It wasn’t enough to completely negate fire,” I replied, remembering the purple bolt of flame that had saved us from the hanging tree. “But it seemed to weaken it.”

“Interesting,” Angel said and leaned back so that she was staring at the ceiling. She seemed to bore a hole through the sky with her stare.

“Well,” she said after a while, “you’ve given us a lot to think about. Keep it up, and make sure Kirsten is comfortable. It seems like she won’t be for long.”

“I understand.” My words came out wearier than I’d meant. I stood up from the table and made to go upstairs. Angel’s words echoed in my head, and their truth made my feet drag. I couldn’t imagine Kirsten, the quiet, trembling girl who’d followed Hachi into the Grove, agreeing to become some kind of chosen hero, but even if she did stay away from the fight, what was to stop the Demon Lord seeking revenge? I fought the urge to take that gun and smash it to pieces. It would have done more harm than good, anyway.

The door to Avril’s room swung open unexpectedly and I stepped back to avoid him running into me. “I’m in front of you.”
Avril stopped, running his stick against my boot. “Thanks.” He paused. “Sage, right?”

“Right. There’s breakfast downstairs if you want it.”

“Already had some.” Was the curt reply. He stopped on his way past me. “I was going to take a quick walk, just around the outside of this place. See what the fuss is about. They probably wouldn’t let me past the door without an escort, so.” He shrugged.

I waited for him to finish, and when it was clear he wasn’t going to I said “So you want me to walk with you?”

Avril shrugged again. “I want a moment of peace without anyone around to drive me insane. You’re the next best thing.”

I smiled a bit. Avril trying to act indifferent almost reminded me of Elliott insisting Dungeons and Dragons helped build problem-solving skills. “I guess I could help you out.”

Avril frowned suspiciously at the tone of my voice but kept walking. Nobody bothered us as we made our way towards the Silver Mare’s double door, which had been screwed back in place last night. A revolutionary hanging by it looked like he’d say something for a second, but caught sight of me, lowered his head and hurried away. I sighed quietly as I watched him join his friends at a table, and moved into the sunlight with Avril.

He wrinkled his nose. “Smells awful out here.”

I started out at the battle-scarred city. The streets were empty except for Avril and me, and the buildings were either burned down to their skeletons or mauled by claw marks and musket shots. “It looks even worse.”

Avril scoffed. “How sad for you.”

“Not for me,” I replied. There were swatches of rusted blood in the street, against walls, in every cranny of shattered brick. Down the street, a man was pulling a rickshaw through the ruins, stepping over Lychen corpses and trundling along. His cart was full to the brim, and as he turned the corner, a bundle of shapes spilled over the top and fell to the street. It was a leg and torso, all of their features except for claw marks gripped into them, and torn flesh in the shape of a Lychen maw. I suppressed the urge to vomit for as long as I could. It was not very long.

“Jesus, okay,” Avril said, stepping back from the puddle I’d cast in the street. “Well now it smells worse.”

“Sorry,” I said, heaving a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Avril asked. “You tried. Beating yourself up now would be dumb.”

“We didn’t want this,” I said. “We said we could stop this. That we could save-”

“Boo. So you weren’t strong enough to do what you wanted. So you got screwed. Life isn’t fair.” Avril leaned back against the wall and pretended to look at the sky. “Isn’t that why we’re here?”

“But what if we can do more?” I wiped my mouth, looking down. “The Guardians chose me.”

“That’s just other people pushing more and more work onto you. And you just sit there and take it? Just doing whatever they tell you.” Avril laughed harshly. “You’d make a great Ghosthand.

“Easy, easy now,” he said. I realized that my hands were on his collar, pushing him up against the wall. Avril smiled. “You wouldn’t hit a helpless blind man, would you?”

I froze for a moment. Avril seemed to be looking right into my eyes. I dropped my arms and stepped away, searching for a way to go on. “You’re far from helpless, Avril.”

“Maybe, but it’s not me on the frontlines,” he said. “It’s you. And I’d feel a lot safer if you’d deal with that guilt. It smells terrible,” he added, gesturing to my vomit puddle.

“Look, I’m not saying forgive and forget. You messed up. People died. Maybe those events are related. Maybe not,” Avril said. “You’re not much help like this, either. Go take a nap.” With that, he walked past me and back to the tavern.

I turned to watch him go. “Is it really that easy?” I asked.

He scoffed without turning around. “Hell no. But it’s a start.” He walked up the steps of the Silver Mare and vanished through the door.

I followed him into the dining room, where Angel and Penny were still huddled around the table. Mavis was standing over them. She saw me and beckoned me to join.

A few maps were spread out across the table; city plans of New Belial and floor plans of the castle. “We’re going over layouts,” Mavis said. “Care to join?”

I opened my mouth in a word that turned into a yawn. My head swam. “Could you catch me up later?” I asked. “It’s been a long night.”

The three of them exchanged looks. “Of course,” Mavis said. “Get rest while you can.”

“Thank you,” I said. I made to go upstairs before the door banged open.

Mavis slammed her hands on the table. “What did I say about the door? Be careful with it!” Her angry expression was pushed back when she saw the person stumbling through.

“There’s a mob outside the Minister’s Palace,” the young boy stammered. “They’re demanding food!” He said all this with a grin on his face.

Angel shot to her feet. “We need to stop them right now,” she said. “There’s no telling what the Demon Lord will do.”

Penny nodded. “Let’s go.” She dashed to get ready and slapped me on the shoulder. “You get Kirsten and Hachi, bring them too!”

I stood there for a moment, feeling the weight of the Guardians’ sword at my hip. “We’re going to face the Demon Lord.” I said, turning back to the door. “I’m not dragging a couple of kids into that.”


There weren’t enough horses in the Silver Mare’s stable for all of us. We ended up riding in pairs except for Mavis. No one wanted to argue with a woman who had come from Death’s Grove unscathed.

“You know you can’t protect them forever.” Angel’s voice came from over my shoulder.

I turned my head to glare at her. “I can try.”

“And what’s your plan for when the Demon Lord mounts his attack and they get caught in the crossfire? If you don’t even let them learn to defend themselves, they won’t have a hope of survival.”

She was right, I knew that, but I also knew what it was like to spend your life fighting. I’d do whatever it took to keep them from having to live through that. I started to tell this to Angel, but I stopped when I caught sight of a mass of people, all shouting angrily as the guards tried to keep them at bay. The mob was even larger than I expected. I felt an odd sort of relief, seeing so many living people gathered in one place. If only that place wasn’t right on Astral’s doorstep.

“We have to get their attention somehow!” Penny shouted over the chaos.

“Forget them!” Avril shouted from Angel’s horse. “If we tried to break it up now they’d tear us to shreds!”

I felt Nemesis grow heavier with every word that passed. The crowd was getting wilder, pressing the guards against the palisade. I could see the vague outline of Astral in one of the castle's windows, and felt his cold smile from where I was standing. I unsheathed my sword. “If we were going to waste time arguing we shouldn’t have come at all!” I handed Hachi over to Mavis and wheeled my horse around, spurring it towards the mob. I swung Nemesis out in front of me, and the arc of energy sent the crowd stumbling over each other. “Stop! Are you trying to get yourselves killed?”

Nemesis’s blast had silenced them, and for a second it stayed that way, until a man’s voice shouted “You’re going to listen to him? Look at that jacket, he’s with them!”

I almost punched myself as the crowd’s roar started up again, this time turned on me. I must have grabbed my old military jacket in my hurry to get out the door. The people pressed around me, and I saw the agitation moving through them. It traveled through cuts and blood steeping their clothing, giving them a fiery smell. Their force was overwhelming, and they surrounded me in an instant. Arms went up and pulled me from my saddle, and I tumbled forward into the crowd. They dropped me to the pavement and started kicking.

A tattered boot struck my temple, while a bare and dirtied foot crumpled my stomach. I opened my mouth to call out before a kick connected with my jaw and spun my head around. I tasted blood.

I could hear Penny call out, though her voice was drowned out by the crowd. My vision was growing dim, and I felt dizzy. My head swam with pain and memories.

I was 12, and the blows were breaking my bones. I screamed as my arm cracked, trying to roll away from my attackers. The dirty street covered my back, but they were on me in an instant, tearing at my hands. I held half a loaf of bread.

They ripped it away from me, and they were blurs by then, blinking in and out of my vision. They vanished with my food, and I could feel the cold of winter numb the cuts in my skin. I was scared.

There was a rustling from the trash can behind me. Elliot emerged from his hiding place, crawling over to me and looking at my injuries. I was still leaking blood from a head wound, sticky with red and black. All I could think was that it was no way for his big brother to look.

I held out my hand and opened it. There was a piece of bread clutched inside.

I didn’t want to die. I wanted to see Elliot again. I tightened my grip on Nemesis and started swinging it around. The people in the crowd jumped back to save their ankles, looking wary as I stood up. My coat was red streaked across red. My teeth hurt, and blood was leaking between them. It was all I could do to stand and hold my sword, feeling like I’d collapse if I moved forward or back. But I was prepared to stand there until the end of time.

“That’s enough!” A powerful voice rang out, in a tone I’d heard many times before. But this time Penny was leaping from the saddle of her horse, pushing through the crowd and meeting their frantic eyes. She walked up to me and pressed on my sword hand, lowering it gently. Then she turned to face the mob.

“Look what we’ve become,” she said. “It didn’t take much for the demons to tear us apart, did it? Just electing some humans, and the rest worked itself out. And now half of us are dead.”

The crowd felt the weight in their words, and their agitation began to subside.

“And what do we have to say to the dead?” Penny spread her arms. “That we’ll avenge them? That we’ll make other people suffer for them? That won’t help them. It won’t help anyone.”

Her eyes glinted fiercely. “All we can do is survive. We can’t let ourselves be killed here. We need to come together.”

I saw Angel nod from the corner of my vision. Penny’s voice rose, emboldened. “We are New Belial. More than that, we’re us! And we’re going to live! Are you with me?”

The crowd was staring at us in awe. Their mouths hung open. I smiled for a second before realizing that they were staring in horror.

“Well said, Penny.” Astral was standing between us, his iron mask twisted in glee. “They should all just settle down, for the sake of their survival.”


The Demon Lord loomed at his shoulder like a shadow, Wendell limping out last of all. Even with the bandaged gash on his side, his eyes shone with hunger. The crowd clustered tighter together and backed away as the Demon Lord’s cold glare swept over them. His hand lifted, and the image of those black flames sweeping over the land made me scramble back as well. The Demon Lord pointed to a man who’s shirt had been torn into makeshift bandages.

“You, come forward.”

The man hesitated, but a shove from someone behind him sent him stumbling out of the safety of the group. He trembled, but managed to choke out “W-we came here to--”

The Demon Lord drew his sword and drove the blade through his chest until the tip burst out of his back. He let the man drop and watched as the blood began to pool around the body, then looked back at the rest of us. Someone in the crowd screamed and they began to scatter, but then the Demon Lord opened his palm. Tendrils of those black flames spiraled from his fingers, weaving through the mass of fleeing people. They wailed as the flames consumed them, reducing them to cinders. I wanted to run with them, do anything other than stand there and watch, but my body and mind both screamed in protest. It was like those ashes were building up inside me, choking me out. Even Penny stayed rooted in place as the flames winked out, revealing five rebels shivering in a sea of black ash. The Demon Lord’s eyes narrowed as his gaze settled on them

“The rest of you, make sure your companions know I won’t stand to be bothered with trifles.”

The rebels stood for a moment, watching in shock as the dust sifted to the ground. Then, one of them stepped back, and his foot sifted the pile of ash that used to be the person next to him. He stared down at it, and a low noise came from his throat, mostly sobbing, but unmistakably a scream.

They ran away, covered in the remains of their companions. I felt sick. There was a layer of ash that wouldn’t settle, drifting in the breeze. It burnt my eyes and the back of my throat, pressing them with white-hot pain.

The Demon Lord scanned the rest of us with a baleful gaze. I saw his eye twitch. “Where is she?”

Penny glanced over me and pressed her lips into a hard line as if to seal them shut. Her message was clear. We couldn’t let him know where Kirsten was.

Angel spoke up. “If you mean that girl who took down your army, I’m afraid we haven’t found her either. You might find her if you divert your efforts from us.”

Wendell started to shake, giggling madly. His bandages were shifting to reveal festering burns down his face. “They’re lying, they’re lying!” he shouted with glee. “That’s no fair!”

Angel wrinkled her lip. “It’s the truth, Astral. That kind of power isn’t stable. For all we know, she’s left New Belial altogether. That’s good for you, isn’t it? You didn’t seem to want her around.”

The Demon Lord’s eyes flared, and black flames enveloped his body. They rushed out towards Angel, howling and crackling end over end before vanishing inches from her face.

“Do not speak of her,” the Demon Lord growled. “You’ll burn before you even think of hiding her from me.”

Angel lowered her gaze, and her eyes became piercing. “We are not sheltering that girl. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have bereaved families to notify.” The calmness of her tone shocked me.

Astral spread his arms genially. “But of course. Our generosity should not be understated.” His hand gripped my shoulder suddenly, almost crushing it. “And thank you for returning our vassal to us.”

I twisted in an attempt to get free, but Wendell was behind me in a blink, holding my hands behind my back. I heard him snicker as Astral addressed Penny, Avril, and Angel.

“He did serve us, so we’re simply calling him back into service,” he said. “Although, if you want him back, you might bring the girl here and turn her over.”

“Dead or alive?” Angel asked coolly.

“Alive,” intoned the Demon Lord. “And unharmed.”

Astral tilted his head. “Yes, alive. Now, what say you?”

Penny and Angel exchanged nervous looks. Avril was staring right at me. We were all silent.

“Don’t worry.” The words came like a memory.

Astral turned to me. “What was that now?”

“Don’t worry about it!” I shouted. “I’ll be fine. So don’t worry.”

Wendell cackled. Astral smiled. “Well, you heard the man,” he said. “Didn’t you have somewhere to be? You should get going.”

Penny grit her teeth before spurring her horse. She dashed towards us for the briefest moment before turning and running away. Angel and Avril’s horse turned slower, and I saw Avril staring back at me for just a second before they were off as well.

Astral’s voice loomed in my ear. “It’s a pleasure to have you back, Sage. We hope you’ll do better than Taro.”

I watched their horses get smaller and smaller until Astral and Wendell turned me away. The jagged towers of the Demon’s palace crushed down over my head as they lead me back inside, and the door slamming shut echoed endlessly down the castle’s dark corridors.
  





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Mon Jun 08, 2020 8:10 pm
Europa says...



Hachi

I went down again. That was okay though because after the first few times the guy trying to teach me had made a kind of blanket mat for me to land on. He sighed and rubbed his chin.

“Look, the trick is to shift your weight as your opponent moves. That way you can get behind him.” He did this little snake-looking dance trying to show me. “See? Like that. You get it now?”

I concentrated and moved my arms in the same snakey way he had, then looked back up at him. “Nope.”

The guy ran a hand over his face. He did that a lot, I noticed. “Why don’t we take a break and clear our heads. I’ve gotta help Mavis in the kitchen, and I’m pretty sure your friends have come back by now. I’ll bet you’ll want to ask them about what happened with the Demon Lord.”

He left quickly, which left me to grab Bakuma and head downstairs by myself.


The Silver Mare’s pub was still bustling, but it was a weird sort of quiet bustle. People were all clumped in groups, talking with their heads together over cups of coffee and bowls of fruit. Kirsten was sitting at one of the round tables alone, picking at some grapes, so I plopped down in the chair next to her. “Is everyone else back yet?”

Kirsten started and looked up. “Almost everyone.” She looked back down at the grapes. “Sage was captured. Penny tried to get together a rescue party, but no one volunteered.”

“I’ll go, then,” I said. “Do you wanna come with?”

Kirsten bit her lip. “We’re not supposed to go outside. Besides, we couldn’t do it alone.”

“You’ve got a gun, I’ve got a bear! Together, we can do a lot.” I smiled to show that I was sincere. “Let’s go talk to Penny, ok?”

I grabbed her wrist and bounced off, trying to find Penny. She was at the back of the crowds, sitting away from the table center where she usually chatted. She was holding a cup of coffee, stewing with a downcast expression. She brightened up when she saw us, though, which was good.

“Hey, kids. You doing okay?” she asked in a faltering casual way. “The Resistance is putting in a lot to take care of you.”

“Wanna rescue Sage with us?” I asked.

She shifted and took a sip of coffee. “It’s not that I don’t want to. But the Resistance isn’t willing to put themselves on the line for someone working for the demons.”

“But he was working for Taro, right?” Kirsten said.

Penny scoffed. “That’s kind of worse.” Her gaze lingered on Kirsten for just a second before she faced me. “Anyway, we don’t have a solid way of getting Sage back. Until then, I want to make sure you’re safe.”

She put a bit more emphasis on the word “safe,” and she seemed to hunch over, staring past us. I looked around. There were a few less people in the tavern today. I made eye contact with my instructor across the room, and -- did he wince? Anyway, it didn’t matter, so I smiled and turned back to Penny.

“I’ll train enough so that I can rescue him on my own, ok? Then you won’t have to worry.” I gave her my best smile, with a brave chin tilt up. In the AI, it didn’t make sense to mourn people who were dead already. What were they now that they were gone? Double dead? We were all too far gone.

Penny eyed Bakuma, who swung from my hand. “You’ve had that bear for a while now, right? It doesn’t look like it does much.”

I thought about that Lychen who’d been squashed flat with a single step. “Maybe. But once it does, it’ll be able to take out the Demon Lord!” I promised. “I mean, why else would the Guardians give us weapons? They’re demon-killing tools! Her gun can already kill the Demon Lord!” I pointed out Kirsten for emphasis.

Kirsten recoiled from my selecting finger. “I don’t know that I can do that; besides, if it goes out of control, something terrible might happen.” She shifted her bandages and looked down.

I nodded. “Right. But that power just proves that we can beat the Demon Lord! It’s the Guardians’ power, and we can use it to beat the AI!”

Penny’s eyes flared up, and she grabbed me by the collar. She stood up and hoisted me a bit so I was standing on my toes; she looked dead into my eyes. I saw her chest rise with a raging force; then she exhaled. “Kirsten, could you go get Avril?” she asked. “We’re having a meeting in the basement, right now.”

Kirsten stood to the side and gave us both a doubtful glance. Penny grabbed my arm and began to frog-march me into the basement. I didn’t resist; it was more fun to see what would happen, anyway. Penny motioned the guards away and opened the door.

I looked into the long darkness and saw Taro chained to the center post. I waved to him. He didn’t wave back.

Penny pulled up an orange crate, dusted it off, and turned to me. “Sit down,” she said. The angry expression hadn’t left her face.

I plopped onto the crate and kicked my legs out. Penny set up three more crates in a circle. Taro looked at her quizzically, but didn’t say anything. Soon, Kirsten was walking down the steps with Avril slinking behind her. I said hi to Avril, and he curled his lip up in this mean-dog way. We all took our seats, Taro sliding down his wooden post and Penny standing.

“I just want to make a few things clear,” Penny said, folding her arms. “We’re all victims of the AI. None of us know what that means.”

I had a pretty good idea of what it meant; we were gone, gone from everyone we knew, some waking kind of dead. I nodded along with her.

“But I don’t think that should matter.” Penny held a hand up. “Of course I want to escape. It’s frustrating that I’m not able to. But under no circumstance will I stop acting like a human being.” She ended the statement in Taro’s direction, cooking him with a glare. Taro scoffed and looked away.

“No matter where we are, we know what’s right, don’t we? We shouldn’t stand around and let the demons take over.” Her eyes glanced and glowed in the lanternlight. “If we stop fighting for what we believe in, we’re already dead.”

“I’ll die when I’m dead,” Taro retorted. “And if you want to fail just because you couldn’t sacrifice someone other than yourself, be my guest.”

Avril snorted. “Not too convincing from the guy who failed anyway.”

Taro turned red in the orange light. “I came closer than any of you could.”

“And now we’re doing it my way,” Penny said. “So if you really don’t want to waste your efforts, help us out.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a weapon like me and Kirsten!” I said. “Well, had. Can you get it back?”

Taro shook his head. “The Guardians said it was one use only. And I--” He shook his head again and looked at Kirsten. “I wasted it.”


Kirsten flinched back like she was dodging something. “If you hadn’t thrown that bomb, everyone would have died. I wouldn’t call that a waste.”

“No, but he would,” Avril folded his arms. “and that’s all that matters right? Because the world revolves around what Taro thinks.”

Taro laughed. “Well, it hardly matters what the world revolves around if its fake. It might as well be me.”

Avril stood. “I’m not listening to this.”

Penny grabbed his arm when he tried to walk away. “No. We’re all going to stay here, and we’re going to figure this out.”

Avril tugged his arm away. “Figure what out? You just dragged us down here and started yelling at us.”

Penny glared at him, but that didn’t do much so she just pushed him back into his seat. “New Belial is in ruins. Sage is gone. The Demon Lord--” she swallowed before continuing. “We just saw him murder dozens of innocent people without even blinking. We need to know how much we’re willing to sacrifice, because once we’ve made our first move there’s no turning back.”

Penny looked at each of us. I smiled at her. Kirsten stared at the floor. Penny frowned. “I’m waiting for an answer.”

Taro glared at her. “I’d sacrifice all of you if it meant getting free.”

“The feeling’s mutual, bigwig,” Avril shot back. “And anyway, you seemed pretty confident that we would sacrifice ourselves for your cause.”

“But it was the right cause!” Taro leaned forward insistently, craning his neck to look around the circle. I thought I saw his eyes shimmer. “I just wanted to be free.”

“We all know that feeling,” Penny said. “Even when we weren’t trapped in this world, we could never really call ourselves free.”

I leaned back and thought of home. Home with my father, where we’d stand on a rooftop under the pale sun and look down at a city of ruins. I was sitting on a roof vent, and he was holding me steady. “The AI restores the land,” he’d say, his Ghosthand cloak billowing like a rampart flag. “And one day I believe it will save us all.” His eyes had looked so warm then, but maybe it was just the sunlight making them seem deeper.

I narrowed my eyes. You couldn’t trust the sunshine.

“I’ll say this right now,” Penny said, her movements aglow with resolve. “If you’re with me -- if you’re with the Resistance -- every life counts. We don’t trade lives, we don’t compromise. We fight to live.”

“It’ll cost you,” Taro remarked, “being so concerned with the world of a machine.”

“Well, unlike some of us, I didn’t stop acting like a decent human once things got bad,” Penny said. “Neither should any of you.” She started staring at me, and I stared back intensely for fun. She sighed. “So, are you with me?”

“Yup!” I popped out of my seat and gave a thumbs-up. “It’ll be easy-peasy with me on your side!”

Avril’s hand went up. “I don’t believe him, but I’m in anyways.” He looked around at us and leaned back in his seat. “Seems like the easiest thing to do here.”

“Even so, thank you,” Penny said with a gleaming smile. “Now, what say you, Lord Shamble?”

Taro visibly bristled at the name, tensing up and looking away. “I say that if you really intend to do this, you should consider that you’ll lose people. Even in a best-case scenario, you can’t hope to come out unscathed.” He loomed over at Kirsten. “You should think of that too.”

He turned back to Penny, his shoulders uneven and bunched up by the restraints. “I’m in. That won’t be enough, though.”

Avril chuckled harshly. “Is Big Bad Taro finally caring about us common folk?”

Taro gave him a pointed glare. “I’ll do anything to escape.”

“Oh really?” Avril asked. “Then why don’t you kiss my -”

“That’s enough!” Penny shouted, glancing at both of them. “Kirsten still needs to decide.”

Kirsten shrunk a little as we all turned to look at her. Her own eyes darted around like she was looking for somewhere to hide, then she gave up and looked back at the ground. “I mean, how much does it really matter? I’m just one kid.”

“One kid with a cool demon-killing superweapon!” I swung Bakuma around to make sure she got the point. She looked at him, but I didn’t see her smile.

“My weapon hurts everyone.” She held up her bandaged arm. “And let’s be honest, it’s not like I’m much good on my own either.”
Penny’s face softened. “Kirsten, I know how scary this is, but I’ve seen you do scary things like this before. You might not see yourself as a fighter, but that’s no reason to give up.”

Kirsten shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

Avril threw his hands up. “Oh, please. Name one other person who even came close to shooting the Demon Lord out of the air. I wasn’t even there and I still know everything about it.”

“Everyone keeps making it sound like it was this big heroic act,”

“You shot off the Demon Lord’s wing,” Avril said, slow and loud. “In mid-air.”

Kirsten’s mouth pressed into a hard line. “You asked for an answer, and my answer is no.”

Taro looked ready to rip her face off. “Then sit back and let the grownups fight the big scary battle. You know, like Sage.”

I looked around. Avril was biting his tongue. Penny was regarding Kirsten, but her eyeline went above Kirsten’s head, to where Sage might have been looking back. I could see him almost; a guy who’d sacrifice himself at the drop of a hat. It would be better if he didn’t have to, though. I would like it if we could kill the Demon Lord soon. It seemed like everyone was stressed about him.

“Don’t worry about it, Kirsten,” I said, jabbing a thumb into my chest. “I’ve got enough hero for all of us! I’ll take the demons all down!”

Avril sighed. “Kirsten, please don’t let him do that.” But the energy of the room was flowing away from Kirsten. It seemed to pass around her as she shrunk back into her seat. Even Penny was shifting around nervously.

Taro shrugged and grimaced. “Well, now you know where we all stand. Now, untie me and we’ll plan this out together.”

Penny walked over and reluctantly undid the knots securing Taro to the post. He broke forward, stretching his wrists. “That’s better. Now, I’ll tell you everything I was withholding before.”

“We can meet with Angel and Mavis,” Penny said. “Come on.”

They headed up the stairs, Penny keeping a spear close at the small of Taro’s back. Avril felt his way to the stairs before raising his head again. “I just want a quiet place to nap,” he said. “But the fires are too loud. And people scream too much when they die.”

He climbed up the stairs without looking back. “It’s as simple as that, right? It just annoys me. Even more than Hachi.”

“I thought the Demon Lord was pretty quiet, though,” I replied. “He didn’t seem that chatty.”

Avril turned around to retort, I could tell -- but then his face softened. “Of course you’d say that.” He withdrew up the steps and was gone.

I stood at the base of the stairs, in a hazy square of light from above. Kirsten still hadn’t gotten up. Her face was lit up by the lantern, though it was hard to see from where I stood. It looked like some mix of hope and fear, but mostly pain.

I smiled. Maybe she had more to lose than I knew people could. I stood with my back to the light and gave her a wave. Then I bounced up the stairs and tried to keep smiling.
  





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Fri Jul 03, 2020 2:46 am
Europa says...



Sage

In the real world, water came in all colors. In the slums, rain fell with a vengeance, intent to wash us out of our homes. It mixed brown with rust and black with dirt, swirling in pools around our ankles. That night, it was splashing up as I waded through it. Elliot was crying behind me.

I couldn’t see. The dark water bled my vision, and I slashed my fingers over my eyes to no avail. Elliot was crying, and there was someone screaming in front of me.

We were home. We lived beneath the beneath, pressed into walls of corrugated metal. The window was open, and water was pouring in from the street. We were crying, someone was bleeding.

I was yelling something, and realized that I’d said it before, that the memories were clinging to me like droplets of water. There was a pool of something darker, reaching out thin rivers that broke against me, and at the source of the stream were two bodies, half-submerged in the watery swell.

I screamed. I roared. And I fixed my eyes on a single person, dashing up and out the window, vanishing into a night of splintering water.

I woke up with a start, my muscles tensing against hard metal. A drop of water was sliding down my face.

There was a hollow, dense lighting to the room around me. I focused on a burning torch on the wall until everything came into focus. I was in a room of the Demon Lord’s Palace, somewhere the sun didn’t reach. Murky black soapstone decorated the high walls, with rust-red banners hanging down. I was sitting in an iron chair, chained by the wrists and ankles. I blinked again, feeling the droplet slide past my eye. Then Astral stepped into my field of view from behind the chair.

“I’ve heard that nightmares in humans are pretty easy to induce,” he said. He dipped his fingers into a small bowl of water and flicked them at me. “Want to tell me what you saw? For research purposes.”

I was wide awake in an instant. This was an interrogation. From the looks of it, I’d been shackled here a good while.

Astral leaned in close with the water bowl. “Drink,” he commanded. I tried to sniff the water, but the overpowering scent of ash suffused the hall. My gut curled, but I needed to drink. I opened my mouth, and Astral tilted the bowl high against my lips, making rivulets down my cheeks. I swallowed, feeling the metal collar press against my throat. When the bowl was empty, he removed it and smiled. “See?” he said. “You’re an esteemed guest.”

I couldn’t even chuckle at that. “You mean you need me alive right now.”

“I need you listening, Sage.” Astral opened his palm with a gout of violet demonflame. It swirled hypnotically, drying the water from my face. I reeled away from it, and Astral chuckled.

“It seems you like being that tense all the time. Never bending to another’s will. If only Taro could have been like you. He failed all of you, didn’t he? All because of greed. Isn’t it irritating how he was chosen over you?”

I met his gaze steadily. After putting us in that position, he had no right to judge what we did. “He’s not my enemy. You are.”

“Yes, all well and good.” Astral’s mask glinted purple. “But am I New Belial’s enemy? Who was it again, that saved you from the scourge of the Lychen?”

I bit back Kirsten’s name, glaring at Astral. “It wasn’t you. And if your idea of saving us is massacring innocents in the street, you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

Astral spread his hands in a crooked, magnanimous gesture. “Upstarts. Rebels. Ingrates. There are many ways to speak of the dead. Many ways to make them the enemy. But as for you, you are alive. What you do with that gift is up to you.”

“In that case, I’m killing the Demon Lord. And you.”

Astral nodded. “Very good. What next?”

I thought for a moment. “We’ll drive the demons off the continent, and restore peace to New Belial.”

“What next.”

I needed to find a way home. Astral wouldn’t understand that, though. “We’ll live. Which is more than you’ll do.”

“And it’ll be a big circle of nature where you hold hands with the Guardians and hum. You see, Sage,” Astral said, tilting his mask, “I can tell when you’re lying. And just now, you lied. You have no idea what you’ll do next.”

I fixed him with a silent stare, waiting for him to continue. Because not only had his mask glowed slightly when he tilted it, but he’d mentioned the Guardians. Did the Demon Lord already know about them?

Astral extended an admonishing finger. “You’re following the Guardians’ design. Given your situation, is that really the best option? You know, they’re just as likely to control you instead.”

“They’re not killing us,” I countered.

Astral adjusted his mask again, but this time I caught a grimace illuminated from beneath. It smoothed quickly into a placid expression. “No. They’re not killing any of you. They never wanted such sacrifice.”

I was about to retort, but couldn’t without revealing more about the Guardians. Even if Astral knew that they existed, it wasn’t to say he already knew everything. And the less I confirmed, the better. I glared at him to let him know I was done talking.

“I suppose you think your silence is saving everyone.” Astral gave me one last thin smile. “What an adorably useless sentiment. If you ever want to even hope of surviving here, you’ll have to understand some things are inevitable.”

I clenched my jaw. I wouldn’t let him bait me.

“Or you can just sit quietly and watch the world go by. I’m sure that’s just as useful.” Astral swept out of the room with a flourish of his tailcoat, the door sealing behind him with a rumble.
  





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Mon Jul 13, 2020 10:16 pm
Europa says...



Kirsten

We all sat around a circular table, steaming mugs of coffee in front of us. Honestly, I wasn’t sure why I was still sitting here, and judging by Taro’s glare neither were most of the others.

“Alright, first thing’s first.” Penny stood up, gripping her mug. “We need a plan, something that will give us any kind of edge.”

“We have these!” Hachi waved Bakuma in the air. “That’s the edgiest edge there is, right?”

“Yes, the guardian’s weapons.” Angel said. “As of now one has been destroyed, one is in the hands of the Demons and one is” Her eyes slid towards me. “Out of commission. I’m afraid one won’t be enough to defeat an entire empire.”

I slid a little lower in my chair as her gaze lingered. I wanted to push away from the table and go back upstairs, but the thought of that look burning at my back held me still.

“Well, that’s okay,” Hachi cut back in. “We can just get more.”

Avril snorted. “You say that like there isn’t a giant forest of death between us and it.”

“True,” Taro leaned forward. “But what if we had a guide?”

“Like the Devi!” Hachi nearly jumped from his chair with the idea. Taro stared at him like he’d suggested they go in blindfolded.

“You mean the demon that guides people to a horrible death?”

“Actually,” I sank a little lower as everyone turned to me, but I did my best to swallow back the nerves. “Um, the Devi’s a Guardian too. He’s supposed to test the people trying to find the Glade.”

Angel smiles smugly at Taro. “See? This Devi is on our side, which you’d know for yourself if you’d ever actually entered the Grove.”

Taro reddened and started to argue, but Penny’s cup thumping heavily on the table stopped him. She glared out at us.

“Now is not the time to start bickering. If we have to find the Devi--”

“His name is Shaanti!” Hachi corrected. Penny nodded.

“If we need Shaanti to guide us then we have to find him as soon as possible. Where did you see him last?”

I hunched over and tried to remember. It seemed like Shaanti had vanished in all the fighting. “When we came into town,” I said finally. “But I don’t remember that well.”

“Yeah!” Hachi said. “He was running through the crowds last time I saw him.”

“So there’s a good chance he’s still in New Belial,” Angel concluded. “The demons have been patrolling a lot more lately, trying to shut down the border. Before that happens, we need Shaanti to lead us to the Glade.”

“It’s not as easy as all that,” Taro said. “To get ahold of the Guardians’ power means surviving Death’s Grove. Can your Resistance really handle that?”

Angel smirked. “If you can do it, anyone can.”

This time, Taro rose up and slammed his hands on the table. He loomed over Angel like a spider, his lip curled off of his teeth. “Say that again.”

Penny grabbed his wrist. “Taro, we can handle the Guardians’ power, alright? That’s good for the Resistance.”

Taro swallowed and grimaced. He sat back down and looked at Angel. “Let me lead it, at least. I’ve escaped the Grove before; I know my way around.”

“I hope we don’t have to remind you of the position you’re in, do we?” Angel asked. “Without Sage here, nobody is going to vouch for the sincerity of your goodwill.”

“And what? Do you think I liked being Astral’s flunky?” Taro shook his head, looking away and biting his lip. “I’m on your side. You can’t afford not to let me help.”

“We can afford it for a while longer,” Angel replied. She stood up. “We’ll search New Belial for the Devi. Hachi, it’s best if you come with me to look, since you’ve seen Shaanti before.” Saying this, she glanced at me, and I felt her stare crash like a wave over me.

Hachi piped up, “Mavis knows what he looks like too!”

“Alright then.

“I’d rather you stayed behind to train the marksmen,” Angel told her. “Let me handle the espionage; I’m better at low-profile behavior.”

“I was able to break Avril out!” Penny protested.

Taro snorted. Avril lifted his head slightly at the mention of his name. I watched him; he seemed lost in thought, slowly tapping a finger beneath the table.

Angel didn’t let up. “Were you able to do this entirely with your own plan?”

Penny’s face fell. “No.”

Angel’s expression softened a bit. “Penny, I like you. I don’t say that to everybody, I mean it. You’ll get more responsibility when the situation calls for it. In any event, you’re doing better than the Lord in Shambles here.” She gestured to Taro offhandedly.

“Why you-”

“The demons don’t care,” Angel said, flattening the room. “They don’t care about our petty squabbles. I’ve taken hold of the Resistance because I think I can lead it to victory. Mavis trusts me to do that, and this won’t work unless I have your full support. I’m asking you all to support this movement.”

We were all quiet. Nobody could argue against her if she put it that way. But I felt the attention of the room slowly slide over to me. If everyone else was supporting Angel’s Resistance, what was I doing? What could I do?

I looked at Penny. She had gone quiet, which was enough of an answer for Angel.

“We’ll leave right away,” Angel said, “Hopefully we’ll find him before sundown. Hachi, tell Mavis we’re going.”

“Wait.” Avril had gotten up. His fists were pressed against the table. I could see his lips moving hesitantly, shaping ten different beginnings to what he said next. “Give me something to do.” He said it like a demand.

Hachi’s eyes went wide (well, wider) in surprise. “What are you going to do?”

“Anything,” Avril retorted. “I’m just sick of standing around. And seeing where that got Sage, it’s clear that it’s no longer an option.”

Taro raised an eyebrow. “So you’re just deciding to be productive? You don’t even know what you’re capable of.”

“Maybe not,” Avril admitted. “But I figure that’s where you come in, Angel. So if you want to control me, here I am. Tell me what to do.”

Angel regarded him for a moment. I recognized that cold, appraising stare that had been aimed at me moments before. In her mind, she must have been pushing Avril to his breaking point. “Search with us,” she said at last.

Avril nodded, though there were some confused looks tossed across the table. Penny attempted to speak up. “Angel, are you sure-”

“Can Avril really search as well as we can?” Taro asked, before turning to Avril. “Look, I’m sorry, but you can’t see.”

Avril stuttered a reply. He didn’t seem to know how to respond; it wasn’t his decision, so how was he going to defend it? Angel spoke up before he had to, though.

“I trust that Avril will make himself useful to the hunt,” she said. “In the meantime, I expect each of you to make yourselves useful while we’re gone. You’ve all been given your roles.” Her eyes were sweeping into me, turning me over and burning me up. “Come, Avril. Hachi.”

Avril nodded nonchalantly and made to follow her from the table. Hachi bounced over to him, beaming bright.

“We’re gonna have a great time, buddy!” he said. “High five!”

Avril regarded the space around where Hachi’s hand was raised up. “You’re really not the sharpest knife, kid.” He turned to the rest of us. “Someone get me a cane.”

I remembered seeing a broken broom in the cellar, so I rushed down to get it. When I returned, Avril snapped off the end and set it against the ground. He was unsteady, but resolute. Seeing him ready to venture out again, I wanted to say something to help. All I could muster came softly, “Thank you, Avril.”

He shook his head. “I’m doing what I can because I want to. If you’ve decided what you want, there’s nothing else you can do.” He set off, finding his way gradually around the tables, to the front where Mavis, Angel, and Hachi waited. Hachi gave one last big wave to the rest of us, while Mavis smiled jovially. And as Avril caught up, Angel gave me one last look before nodding, as if she was dismissing the possibility of using me. I felt like a flag cut loose in the wind. Her plans no longer factored me in. But then, what next?

The four heroes closed the door, leaving the rest of us in the pub of the Silver Mare. Taro slumped in his chair, defeated. “Well, you heard the boss. Guess I’d better go do nothing at all.”

Penny wasn’t speaking. Taro turned to the both of us. “What about you two? You both got desk duty too, you know.”

“Penny?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

In a second, her arms were sweeping over my and Taro’s shoulders, sitting us down and making us an audience in front of her. Penny was smiling wide. “Well, I guess I’m doing this now. Who wants to learn some judo?”

Before I knew it, Penny had swept us both upstairs to a bedroom where all the furniture had been pushed against the far wall. I looked around doubtfully. “I don’t know.”

Penny frowned from where she was setting out a makeshift mat of blankets. “Kirsten, even if you’re not fighting out there, you should still know how to defend yourself if you get into trouble.”

There wasn’t much I could do to argue with that. Mistake or not people were still looking for the one who shot the Demon Lord. I swallowed and nodded.

“Good.” Penny grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the mat. “We’ll start with the basics.” She straightened my back and guided my limbs into the proper stance. “Just try to keep me from hitting you.”

My stance dropped as soon as she moved toward me. I felt myself dive to the side as her fist swung out and my foot slipped on the blanket. I stumbled, my momentum carrying me headlong into Taro’s chest. He wheezed slightly, but managed to stop himself from falling back and held me out at arm’s length. “Well, she didn’t get hit.”

Penny glared at his dry tone and waved him off me. “Not exactly what we were going for, but it’s a start.” She placed me back on the mat. “Here, why don’t you try to hit me this time.”

I took in Penny’s broad, towering form. “Are you sure?”

Taro scoffed. “Oh don’t worry, it’ll be more like running into a brick wall for you, so just protect your knuckles and do your best.”

I flushed a bit at that, and he met my narrowed eyes with a raised eyebrow. Penny clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Alright then, if you want to sit there and run your mouth the whole time why don’t you help me show Kirsten how it’s supposed to be done?”

Taro shrugged and tossed his jacket onto a discarded chair. “Fine,” He said as he switched places with me, bringing his hands up to protect his face. “But I’ll have you know I’m not as unskilled as you think I--”

Taro shrieked as Penny caught his swing, then swung him over her shoulder and onto his back like she was unloading a bag of flour. “You see how I did that, Kirsten?” Penny pulled Taro up by the back of his shirt and slowed the move down, swinging Taro around again in sharp jerks.

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Taro wrestled away from her and slunk back to his spot, rubbing his bruises with a muttered. “Jesus.”

Penny cocked her shoulder and shook out her wrists. “I’m not saying this will work all the time. Ideally, you wouldn’t be forced to fight unarmed. But when it comes right down to it-” She kicked her leg up and slammed it down, squatting into a wide stance. Taro flinched.

“There’s nothing more satisfying than hitting hard with your own two hands,” Penny said, a cocky smile on her face. “I’ll teach you to kick some serious hiney, alright?”

Taro sighed, but his breath went shaky from his bruises. “Ow. Alright, being strong might be useful to her. And I’ll admit that in a straight match, I’m weaker than you.

“But on the other hand,” he continued, waltzing around with a bit more poise, “if strength were the only issue, the Demon Lord would be shot to bits right now. I think Kirsten’s already strong. What really matters is how the weak win things.” He picked up a small stool and brandished it steadily. “Now, Penny, I’ll beat you without a single blow.”

Penny hopped up on her toes, bouncing a bit before settling into her ready stance. “You’re gonna eat those words served cold, Shamble.”

“Maybe,” Taro said, waving his furniture unsteadily. He and Penny began to circle slightly; Penny tensed her hands excitedly, waiting for his attack.

Without warning, Taro turned to me. “Kirsten, would you rather fight me or be my hostage?”

I was thrown for a mile loop. “What?”

“Just answer,” Taro said impatiently. “Fight me, or be a hostage?”

Penny straightened up, confused. “What are you doing?”

Taro tutted smugly, with added finger motions. “Let her speak, please.” He looked at me in a way that reminded me of Angel. I didn’t like it. But I couldn’t fight him. He’d saved me, hadn’t he? I had to trust that we’d connected, somehow.

“I wouldn’t fight you, Taro,” I said. It was the most sure I’d felt in a long time. In order to live in this world, we had to stick together.

Taro nodded. “Very moving.” His arm flew around my neck, not choking me, but pulling me to his side. He started dragging me towards the door. “Well, you heard the girl. I’ve got a hostage now. And if you’ll excuse us, Penny, my hostage and I are going downstairs to get some drinks. Goodbye, you lose.”

As he pulled me down the stairs, I caught Penny’s expression. Her jaw was hanging open, and we exchanged dumbfounded looks. Still, I guess I was Taro’s hostage(?) as he pulled me down the stairs and to the main pub of the Mare. Taro released me and set the stool down at the bar. He gestured for me to sit.

“You don’t have to win all your fights,” Taro said as I sat down. “Surviving is enough; living the good life is even better.” He looked around the back of the bar, stamping on the floorboards. “You want ice in your water?”

“Hey!” Penny was racing down the stairs. “We’re supposed to conserve the ice! Why do you know where it is?”

“Live and learn,” Taro said, and chuckled. That was all he’d say on the subject. “You can continue your meathead training later. But anyone who thinks like a soldier is begging to get used.” He brought up two glasses laden with ice and filled them from a wooden pitcher.

Penny reached the bar, and seemed ready to chew Taro out for breaking the rules of judo. Her protests died in her throat when Taro slid a third glass her way. She took it, and gulped it down.

“Making nice is also a valuable combat skill,” Taro muttered. Still, he sipped his water civilly, and for a moment, the table was quiet. When they weren’t shouting at each other, they didn’t look quite so beaten-down, or old. When I looked closer, I realized that they weren’t.

“This is probably a weird question,” I told Penny, “but how old are you?”

“Eighteen years, two months, and however long we’ve been here!” Penny announced. She puffed her chest out proudly. “What about you, Lord Shamble?”

“Just call me Taro,” he replied. “And ages are for people with birth certificates. I’m as young or old as I need to be.”

“Ah, I see, I see,” Penny said, stroking her chin. “Why, you don’t look a day over seventy.”

I hid a smile quickly behind my drink. Taro frowned intensely, but seemed to let it slide. Still, looking at him now, he didn’t seem any older than Penny. The white powdered wig had definitely added a few years. Plus the banana on top.

I giggled a bit, remembering that day. It seemed so long ago that these two were trading insults in a different time. Maybe it was strange to wonder what they would’ve been like in the real world. Maybe there was no point to wondering what those lives were like, but it was nice.

I lowered my drink and found them both staring at me. For just that moment, their expressions were exactly the same.

“What?” I asked, immediately self-conscious.

“It’s,” Penny began, “well, I guess it’s nothing. I just don’t remember you laughing when you first got here.”

“You didn’t seem like the type,” Taro remarked.

I didn’t really know how to respond to that. Why would I have thought about it when we were fighting for our lives? But now, I couldn’t help but wonder about it.

I looked at Penny. Her face softened as she looked around the Silver Mare’s decor and gently swished her water. She was more relaxed now, but there was a knot in her brow that wouldn’t let go.

Our eyes met. Penny’s eyes got wide, and she turned to Taro. “Now you made her self-conscious. You can’t be a lord if you’re this ungraceful, you know.”

Taro bristled a bit. “You started it.”

Penny smiled. “I know, I know. It was a joke.”

Taro crossed his arms and looked away. He seemed to be getting younger by the minute. “Whatever. If you’re finished here, take Kirsten back upstairs for your meathead session.”


By the time the Silver Mare’s usual lunch bustle had died down, my back and face were sticky with sweat, but I’d managed to pull off the move Penny had shown me twice. I pulled a stool to the edge of the mat and sat as Penny explained it to Taro again. At this point I could already see a couple of bruises forming on his arms, but he looked more irritated than anything. Penny charged again, and Taro flashed into action just as quickly. The next moment, Penny was on the ground. They stared at each other, their faces perfect mirrors of shock. Then Penny stood back up and straightened her shirt. “I think that’s good for today.”

“Oh, come on.” Taro swept an arm toward me. “She got to flip you twice!”

Penny wiped the sweat off her forehead and shot him a smirk. “Now who’s the meathead?”
Taro scowled as she left the room. I started to follow her, but felt the need to look back at him and smile. “Hey, good job today.”

For a split second, I saw surprise flash over his face. Then he folded his arms, but his usual sour expression didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re a weird kid. But whatever, thanks.” He walked past me out the door. Maybe it was my imagination, but his steps seemed lighter than when he’d come in.
  





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Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:25 pm
Europa says...



Hachi

As we came out into the daylight, we saw wagons full of stone trundling past. Cobblestones were cut and laid into the spaces where the buildings had been knocked down by the Lychens’ assault. and people were nailing down new wood over the holes in walls and roofs of the buildings still standing. Slowly, New Belial’s streets were pulling themselves back together again.

I held Bakuma up so he could watch.

“See that? Those demons can’t keep us down!”

Angel smiled. “They certainly can’t. Now keep close, we still have a ways to go before we reach our destination.”

“Where we going?”

“Call it a little diplomatic side quest.”

Avril sulked along beside us, trying to look engaged. Every unfamiliar sound of construction set him a bit on edge. He must have been wondering why Angel chose him for a reconnaissance mission.

It was obvious to me, of course. Avril was really really good at looking like he had better things to do than search for hairballs.

“That weird spongy smell is the fish from the harbor,” I told him. “The sailors are throwing a ton of them out.”

Angel nodded. “Mavis says that the rotmoss in the Grove is poisonous when consumed. It looks like some of it got into the bay.” We looked to where a burly, salt-sprayed man was kneeling over a fishing net, bunching it to his chest as he pulled out fish after rotten fish. Many other fishermen had adopted a similar practice, flinging their refuse into the street, anything to get the infection out of the sea. Some of them had given up, and sat on the docks with their heads in their hands.

I plugged my nose. “Is New Belial gonna run out of food?”

“Not if we can overthrow the demons,” Angel replied. “Without their taxation, New Belial will be entitled to all the food it grows. Until then, we can only look at what tyranny does to us.” She shook her head and turned away.

Avril turned and walked beside her. “That’s a real nice manifesto there,” he remarked. “You practicing for a speech?”

Angel grinned. “Not a speech, no. But I suppose I am practicing. Mr. Cabot does love it when people try to impress him.”

“Who’s that?” I asked. “Some kind of detective?”

She laughed with a sound like smoky silk. “He’s a farmer. At least, that’s what his company brands itself as. Cabot hasn’t worked a day in his life. He doesn’t even live near the rest of the workers.”

Avril threw up his hands. “And how is a farmer going to help us find a Guardian?” He tripped against an unevenly repaired brick, stumbling to the side.

Angel caught his shoulder and straightened him out. “Well, barring the late Lord Shamble, he is the most influential man in New Belial. Walk more, talk less.” She ushered us past an empty street corner, peering up at the tops of the buildings.

I looked up and saw what she was looking at. A demon sat atop the roof of the courthouse, a stark red against the off-white sandstone roof. He scanned the streets below, loosely clutching a rifle to his side. His gaze swept the plaza and passed over us; from above, we could’ve passed as a family out on the town.

Avril noticed that we’d stopped. “Hachi, what is it?” he asked.

“Demon with a gun,” I replied. “Angel, if they’re out and about like this, wouldn’t they have spotted Shaanti?”

Angel gave me a wry look. “From what Sage told me, Shaanti was able to elude you quite easily. But you have a point. There are three possibilities for Shaanti’s location. First, he was captured by the demons.”

“The worst-case scenario,” Avril added.

Angel nodded. “Second, he is still out and about in the streets of New Belial.”

“We’ve been looking for a while now,” I reminded her. “I thought he’d be easier to find.”

“That leaves the third option, right?” Avril said. “This Mr. Cabot.”

“That’s right,” Angel said. “Most people in this town report to him. He’s scum, but he’s human, which puts him a cut above the demons. Try not to antagonize him.”

“Easy for you to say,” Avril grumbled. “Everything’s been antagonizing me in this town.”

I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, buddy, I’m with you.”

Avril moved away from my hand “That’s not comforting.”

Walking into the inner section of New Belial was like jumping to another planet. While everything on the outside had burned, the buildings here looked like the demons had felt too guilty about tearing them down. They all stood in neat rows, shining bright white in the sun, all columns and big windows. Angel stopped in front of one of the largest ones. It had a long gravel path leading to the door, lined with those bushes you cut into fun shapes. I almost threw Bakuma at one near the door that was shaped like a Lychen, until I noticed this one was green and made of leaves.

Angel passed right by it and rapped on the door. The knocker had a big bronze lion’s head in the center, and it held the rest of the loop in its mouth like it was trying to chew it off. We followed her onto the porch and waited.

The door was opened by a little black girl in a plain blue dress. She looked like she was Kirsten’s age, and she was giving us this wide-eyed stare, like she was doing the math in her head, trying to figure out how we got here.

I waved at her. “Hi! I’m Hachi!”

That seemed to surprise her more than us being there at all. She opened her mouth like she was going to say hi back, then closed it again.

“I’m sorry,” she spoke with a little bit of hesitation like she was just waiting for someone to cut her off. “Master Cabot wasn’t expecting anyone today.”

“Tell him Miss Angel is here to see him,” Angel replied. “He’ll allow it.”

The girl nodded unsurely. Angel was radiating a self-assuredness that made her seem even richer than everything around her. The girl didn’t want to get caught between Mr. Cabot and her.
“Wait right there,” she said, closing the door and darting off. A minute later, she returned.

“Mr. Cabot will see you now,” she said. “He wants you to know that he’s being very generous with his time today.”

“How lovely,” Angel replied dryly. “So are we.” And with that, she stepped into the rich man’s house. The servant girl led us up wooden stairs with velvet carpeting; Angel stumbled a bit on the rug. Beside us were large paintings, depicting beautiful landscapes and the people in them, but most prominently, fields of corn.

“This place is really cool,” I whispered as we passed a large, jeweled scythe on the wall.

“Is it now,” Avril grumbled. “Well, it smells like powder and horsecrap.”

Angel shushed us quietly and sharply. We were at the end of the decorated hall now, and the girl knocked on large mahogany double doors. Beckoning us quiet, she pressed her ear against the door. From inside, there was nothing; we waited there until a barely audible voice said “Come in.”

The girl opened the doors inward, gesturing us through. We entered a room so big it seemed to have its own gravity field. To help that image, it was curved around, a large mural of an ocean breaking onto a shore, a shore giving way to grassy fields, and rows upon rows of a golden wheat. Beneath that field of wheat was a desk, and at that desk sat a small man with a placid look on his face. “Welcome,” he said, his voice peaceful. “What can I do for you, Angel?”

Angel walked around the room, following the curve of the mural. “I was hoping we could trade favors, Cabot.”

Cabot followed her with his eyes, smiling pleasantly. “And what would be your offer to me, then?”

“I’ll let you ask that when the time comes,” Angel said. “We’ll lay all the cards out and see if it’s a fair deal. Does that sound alright?”

“It does indeed.” Cabot closed his eyes and nodded. “Very well then, I accept the terms, so back to my original question. What can I do for you?”

“Tell us where the Devi is,” Avril stated bluntly.

Angel looked at him in shock and continued. “Y-yes, tell us where it is. I suppose that’s about as straightforward as we can be, Cabot.”

“So it is.” Cabot laughed lightly. Everything about him was weirdly quiet. “And who are these two?”

“I’m Hachi,” I said. “This is Avril.”

“They’re acquaintances that have great potential,” Angel said, drawing close to Cabot. “Potential that serves our cause well.”

Cabot chuckled. “It’s your cause, Angel. Don’t lump me in with those upstarts with nothing to lose.” He waved his hand around. “Do you see the demons here, Angel? No? Then perhaps you should know that life, for me, has not changed. It will not change. It has no need to change.”

“New Belial is crying out in pain,” Angel said. “If you want to profit off of the people, then--”

“I don’t need to do anything.” Cabot smiled pleasantly. “New Belial can cry all it wants. I don’t even have to raise my voice.

“Now, back to business,” he said. “I was going to ask something of you. Are you going to try to trick me?”

“First tell us if you know where it is,” Angel said.

Cabot thought for a moment. “Hm, yes, yes, I do know. Now, are you going to cheat me?”

“Ask anything,” Angel said. “If we can do it, I’ll tell you.”

Cabot stroked his chin. “Alright. In that case, I know exactly what I want.” He pointed with his finger. “I want that.”

Avril turned to me. “What’s he pointing at?”

I couldn’t speak. “Avril…”

Cabot’s jeweled finger was poised, pointed straight at Avril. “I want you, Beast.”

I was sure Avril was going to let Mr. Cabot have it right then and there, but Angel held out a hand to stop him. “I’m afraid, Mr. Cabot, that I like this one exactly where he is. Unlike some people I know of, I’m not in the habit of selling my allies.”

Mr. Cabot leaned back in his chair. “Then I’m afraid I can’t help you. Now, if that was all--”

He faltered as Angel leaned forward and pressed her hands flat on his desk. “Do you truly believe letting the Demon Lords forces invade your town makes you invincible? How much help were they when the rest of New Belial was destroyed?”

Mr. Cabot didn’t say anything, just leaned further back as Angel leaned forward. Neither of them looked relaxed anymore.

“Your town may crumble last, Mr. Cabot,” Angel purred “But believe me, it will still crumble. If that’s not what you want, you might want to try a little harder to help us upstarts find what we’re looking for.”

Mr. Cabot’s mouth twitched like something was trying to get out, then he said “Very well. But since you have brought this deal to bear, it only stands that you should fulfill your task first.”

Angel straightened back out again. “Of course.”

“Excellent,” Cabot’s placid smile was back again. “Then I’d appreciate it if you’d check on one of my farms for me. I haven’t heard any word from it since the Lychen attack, I’m not even sure it’s still standing. There might be a party of demons out there, disturbing my peace; dispose of them for me. If your work is to my satisfaction, I’ll tell you where your Devi is.”

The farm turned out to be outside of the wall, an area that hadn’t been good to anyone there. After the Lychen attack, I guess that it could only have gotten worse.

Mr. Cabot’s farm didn’t look like the farms I was used to, more like a house with a few little sheds dotted around a giant field. Or I guessed it used to be a house, It had been half caved in, and most of the sheds had been totally smashed to pieces. I couldn’t see anyone working in what was left of the land, but there was a big group of workers at the big house, trying to pull up a new frame. Most of them scrambled as the end they were hauling into place began to fall, and I stared as some of them unfolded giant bat wings and lifted off, pushing it from the other side.

“Everything looks torn up, but other than that, it seems fine, right?” I turned to Angel, trying to guess what she’d say next.

“Maybe it seems that way,” Angel replied, “but I think we should look around a bit more. Cabot mentioned some demons that would stir up trouble.”

“Isn’t this fine, though?” I asked. “We’re fighting the demons anyway.”

She frowned. “Yes, but Cabot didn’t get to the top by being upfront and upstanding. What’s more, is that he made you wear that costume.”

“Hm?” I turned in place. Everything was still as I had put it on; the golden pauldrons, the red cape, the blue military jacket with a dozen or so badges. “What’s wrong with this?”

“I can hear how ridiculous you look,” Avril told me, “but I agree with Hachi. A chance to pay the demons back is a chance most people would take.”

“We’re going to have to rely on Hachi, then,” Angel reminded him. “Neither of us have Guardian weapons.”

“Right.” Avril looked down, as if he’d caught a sudden doubt.

“What?” I looked between them. “I’m strong, aren’t I?”

We reached the farmhouse and looked around. Slabs of wood had been hauled back onto the frame, fixed in with screws and weird, sticky plaster. The interior, too, had been scorched. They still hadn’t attached the back wall, and through the open space, I could see a field full of little bumps in the earth. They looked like they’d been recently dug.

“What are those for?” I pointed and asked Angel, who was already going pale.

“Those aren’t -- they’re not important, I’m sure.”

“Angel.” There was an urgency and intensity in Avril’s voice, new since this morning. “What’s he seeing?”

“Graves.” Angel grit her teeth. “The people who were caught outside the walls when the Lychens came.”

Avril exhaled shakily, and sat down, rubbing the soles of his feet. “How many are there.”

“Dozens,” I said, not wanting him to know how many there actually were. “Just dozens.”

“God. Jesus, God damn.” Avril hunched over and shook, looking helpless and enraged. He’d been in that same position when we’d found him on the ship, when we’d rescued him. Now we finally knew what from.

Eventually, Avril spoke again. “Cabot’s gonna pay for this,” he said. “As much as the demons. Maybe more.”

“We’ll make him pay once we’re done here,” Angel declared. “But first, we have to find who he was talking about.”

“He was pretty vague,” I pointed out. “Party of demons…?”

“Behind you, for one.” We turned around. A demon with short wings and glasses had landed behind us. His wings flapped out silently, and then retracted to his back. “Good day to you, sir.”

“Sir?” I looked at Avril. “Are you sir?”

“Not likely,” he grumbled.

I turned to Angel. “Are you sir?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Just talk to him, Hachi.”

I spun to face the demon. “Hi, I’m Sir Hachi.”

“Call me Amedeus.” The demon said tartly. “You have your payment as we arranged, I’m sure.”

I looked back up at Angel, who shrugged.

“I don’t know!” I told the demon cheerfully. “No one tells me stuff like this.”

Amedeus rifled through his ledger with an irritated sigh. “Your property taxes are past due. I realize the recent attack has caused considerable damage, but the empire must be paid their dues.” He looks me up and down like he was making sure I was actually there. “You are this property’s manager, are you not?”

“Nope,” I said. “I’ve never been here before in my life.”

“Well, then who is.” Amedeus had that same tone that rebel did when he was explaining a move to me for the millionth time.

I shrugged, clinking the medals on my coat.

“Do you even work for Mr. Cabot?” Amedeus said. His tail was swishing like an angry cat.

I thought about that. We were here doing a job for him, but I wasn’t sure that was completely what the tax collector meant. “Yeah...well, no. Maybe a little bit?”

“Well, someone has to pay this.”

Angel nodded slowly. “Cabot tasked us with taking care of the demons on his property.” She levels Amedeus with a cold stare. “Clearly you are the demon he was referring to.”

“That I am,” Amedeus said simply. “What, are you his hired thugs?”

“Far from it,” Angel replied. “We’re the ones in charge here.”

I looked down at my coat. It was a little too big in the sleeves. Were we really at all in charge? Avril still hadn’t stood up. If we were in control, why were we here at all?

“If you’re in charge, then pay up,” Amedeus insisted. “Or there’ll be three more graves here. Nobody would tell the difference; just a couple more dead slaves.”

Avril stood up, his back turned. “Say that again.”

Amedeus smirked. “I said that all you’ll amount to is a couple more de-” He was cut off by Avril’s fist, which knocked him right in the mouth. Amedeus stumbled back, his lip bleeding, as Avril shook out his hand.

“Thanks for repeating,” Avril said. “It let me know where to punch.”

The amusement vanished from Amedeus’s face. “So you’ve chosen violence, then?”

“I’ll choose it again,” Avril growled. “Step closer.”

“With pleasure.” In an instant, Amedeus’s fist was buried in Avril’s stomach. Avril doubled over, his knees buckling.

“Avril!” I shouted, but Angel pulled me back. Avril sunk to his knees and gripped Amedeus’s arm with both hands, glaring up at him. Spittle leaked from his mouth.

Amedeus looked from Avril, to Angel, to me. He sighed. “This is pointless. If you’re attacking me so desperately, then you truly have nothing to offer. I’ll take my grievances up with Cabot instead.”

He tugged his arm. “Let go, human.”

Avril didn’t seem to hear him, clutching his wrist tight and breathing heavily. Amedeus’s foot collided with his head, snapping it back; still he didn’t let go. Amedeus kicked at him again and again, trying to pry his arm out of Avril’s grip.

“I said to let go!” Amedeus fumed, striking Avril square in the chest. Avril toppled back into the dirt as Amedeus rubbed his wrist furiously.

“Disgusting. All of you. The fact that you insist on your pride makes it worse.” He bent down and leaped into the air, his wings snapping out and carrying him aloft. We watched him go until he was just a dot on the horizon.

“Avril, are you okay?” I moved forward, but Avril was already putting his hand up. Slowly, he got to his feet. He said nothing, only wiping away a trail of blood that was rolling down his cheek.

Angel touched my shoulder. “Let’s head back to Cabot, then,” she said.

“Cabot won’t give us the Devi now that Dickwad Lord Moneybags is at his door.” Avril said. His voice was still rough from the beating he took, so his words caught and tumbled around like they lost their way.

I kind of felt that way too a little bit. Like something had caught my cape and was dragging me around in the mud. Which was sad because it really was a nice cape. “So what’re we gonna do?”

Avril looked in my direction with a wicked grin. “We play dirty.”
  








Oh, I'm sorry. My friends are in the popcorn and I have to save them.
— Tori Hansen, Power Rangers Ninja Storm