Chapter Twenty
A heavy rain falls from the sky, drenching the broken and crumbling city of Cordella, most of its military are now working hard to help and rescue people that have been hurt by the sudden and uncalculated event that has just taken place. As many people as possible are being helped to leave the city before further damage struck.
“Aither…” Naida sits on the floor of the room she is in, the filly has completely lost her composure as tears run down her face, the building she is in trembles from the chaos that is happening outside.
Luca stares out of the window he is hardly able see anything through the rain it is so thick and heavy. “What do you think caused the air ships to crash to the ground like that?”
Marty finishes packing up the necessities they will need, the three of them have to make their way out of the city. “It is hard to say when communications have been blacked out like this, with everything out like this we would need a direct connection to the military network.”
Luca smirks at the comment. “Yeah, if we were going through the trouble of getting a direct connection it wouldn’t be to the networks we could reach through the internet. It would be to the ones that are exclusive to that network or that are completely off the grid.”
Marty nods his head agreeing with Luca. “It has to be some kind of attack or sabotage, the likelihood of the systems on all their ships failing at once without something like that as a factor is highly unlikely.”
Luca looks back to Naida, though he and his father had been frantically preparing to leave the city Naida has just been sitting there unable to move. “Miss Kelpie are you alright?”
Naida doesn’t respond at first, Luca calls to her again before she responds by shaking her head no, she is unable to find the strength to even speak.
The lynx lets out a sigh as he takes hold of her arm and pulls Naida to her feet. “We have to get moving. The city is being evacuated, security is going to be more focused on making sure everyone gets out of the city safe rather than looking for us. This is the best chance we have right now at getting out of Cordella.”
Marty waddles past them while lugging the luggage that has his computer in it behind him. “The soldier you brought in and gave that Super Soldier we were holding to will soon throw our descriptions around if he hasn’t already, even if the city wasn’t falling to pieces it’s not a good idea to stay here.”
Naida nods her head as she slowly follows after them, she is still not able to utter a single word as she follows them to the exit.
*******
Mort looks up towards the sky, there are no longer any ships left in the air, and the once relatively clear skies are now filled with dark black clouds and were pounding the city so hard with rain that the streets were beginning to flood.
He looks back to Alistair who is sitting upon the ground over an overhung sign that is half hanging off a building, Mort makes his way back to join him in using the scrap to take shelter from the rain. “The ships are no longer falling.”
Alistair looks up towards the sky, the clouds are so thick it is hard to tell if ships are still up there or not. Alistair simply assumes that there are none left considering the amount that has hit the city.“What caused them all to crash in the first place?”
Mort shakes his head that is not something he has the answer to. “I don’t know.” He walks back to Alistair holding out his hand to him to help him to his feet. “They’ve probably evacuated the hospital that Vaan is in by now, we should make our way out of the city as well. The military must have set up several relief posts on various spots outside the city. It shouldn’t be too hard to find one.” Alistair looks at Mort’s hand for a moment before turning away, refusing to take it. Mort is a little surprised by the reaction. “What’s wrong?”
“You can go ahead if you want, I can’t leave the city yet.”
Mort seems confused by the response. “Why?”
Alistair pushes himself to his feet as he stumbles forward out into the rain, his wounds still healing. “I have to deal with the True Bloods, and I have to find that kid.”
Mort is even more confused by the response. “You want to finish the assignment that Dmitri put you on? I thought you didn’t want to listen to Dmitri, so why prioritize that mission over securing your own safety?”
Alistair glances back towards Mort. “Screw Dmitri, this is personal.” He stumbles for a moment, wincing as he presses against his wound.
Mort takes several steps towards him, grabbing onto his arm and stopping him from going any further. “You don’t have the strength to do something like that, your self-regeneration is not instant, you need time to heal.”
Alistair tries to pull from Mort’s grip. “You have no idea who I’m dealing with! I’m not dropping this!”
“Then explain to me why it’s so important.”
Alistair yells back at him, not having time for this. “I said it was personal didn’t I!? You have no business knowing!”
Mort stares at Alistair for a moment he had at first assumed what Alistair had said about it being personal had just been a stubborn figure of speech. “I’m not letting you go after an enemy in the condition you are in without an explanation as to why. Why is this so personal?”
Alistair lets out a growl as he struggles against Mort managing to pull himself from his grip, he turns away from him and continues on his way, Mort follows after him as he raises his voice to get his attention. “Quincy!”
Alistair still refuses to respond to his superior, Mort grows more frustrated with his lack of a response. “If you have to go then fine, but I’m going with you.”
The coyote responds to this, he quickly turns back to Mort to disagree with him. “You’re not coming.”
“I am your superior, what right do you have to stop me?”
Alistair shakes his head as he tries to explain. “You don’t understand the situation.”
“Then explain it to me so that I will.”
Alistair stares at him in silence for a moment, he nervously glances to and from Mort before finally speaking up. “Levi…”
Mort shakes his head. “That’s a name, not an explanation.”
Alistair continues. “The name of one of the True Bloods that came here… I knew him before running into him here… he’s the reason I was defective, why my batch was destroyed.”
Mort questions Alistair further, that does not sound right at all. “Your batch was destroyed because you and the rest were labelled as defective.”
Alistair yells a response back to Mort. “They were not defective!” He points to himself. “It was me! I was the one that screwed up! I was the one that got angry and violent first! And I was the only one that went berserk!” Tears start to run down his face. “It was me… because of what I did… the others in my batch never did anything to deserve what happened to them. They died because I was broken and the True Bloods assumed that because I was they were to. I killed them! All of them! It was my fault!”
Mort stares at Alistair, he has never seen him like this before. “Quincy…”
Alistair continues his explanation. “The reason I changed was because of him, Levi. He compromised the program and by introducing me to environments and situations I should have never been exposed to and it ruined me! He would take me from the others during the night and make me do horrible things, things that made me angry and violent, things I will never be able to forget for as long as live! Things that turned me into a defect and killed my batch!”
He shakes his head as the tears continue to flow. “Levi’s interference and actions destroyed me!”
Mort crosses his arms. “What do you intend to do when you find him?”
Alistair bares his teeth, the answer to that is obvious enough to almost anybody. “Kill him!”
Mort tries to talk some sense into him. “You think that you can kill a True Blood when you’re wounded like this? Quincy stop and think about this for a moment! You’re smarter than this!”
Alistair yells back at him. “I was the only one that should have been killed! I shouldn’t have been the only one to live!”
“Do you even know how to find him?” Mort challenges Alistair in an attempt to bring him to his senses.
Alistair nods his head. “He’ll go after the kid, that brat is the most important of the targets that he’s managed to acquire, so he’ll be the one Levi will go after first.”
Mort is unable to see the significance the True Bloods might have with a child. “Why would the boy be important to him?”
Alistair looks back to him as he gives him the answer. “They think he’s the son of the Earth Source.”
“Earth Source?”
“I’ll explain on the way.” He kneels down pushing several large pieces of rubble out of his way as he uncovers a street sign, reading the name on it to figure out his current location so that he knows where to go. “I need to head to the Museum run by the Cadrey family, that’s where the True Bloods acquired Forty Nine and ran into Raven Wolf’s chieftain.”
Mort’s glare deepens. “Lockheart was there.”
Alistair nods his head. “Yeah I know, I heard it all from the True Bloods.” He begins moving forward as he heads in the direction of the museum. “I don’t think they’re still there, but Forty Nine will head in that direction to find clues as to where they might have gone. Forty Nine should still have the kid with her, she doesn’t seem the type to just leave him to fend for himself when the city is in chaos like this.”
Alistair lets out a gasp as he doubles over, the wound he has received shoots in pain from his movement. Mort stops next to his side shaking his head. “You’re not going to be able to do anything like this.”
Alistair forces himself back to his feet. “I know I’m not gonna be done healing by the time I find them, but I’ll be healed enough.” He walks past Mort. “Go ahead and leave the city if you want, but I’m not leaving, not until I end this.”
*******
Kane sits within Achak’s hut, Eleven and Maigan both seated at his side., a solemn look on his face as he stares at the wolf in front of him, though he knows what it is he has to say it is not something he is yet ready to admit to himself, the tiger takes a deep breath before saying what it is that needs to be said. “The spirit guide wants me to do something before I fight.”
Achak nods his head as he looks over a bowl he is holding that holds a newly made mixture. “Yes, and what would that be.”
Kane looks to the side. “I believe she wants me too…” He pauses before continuing, this is not something he is looking forward to. “She wants me to go back to my daughter…”
Maigan speaks up in shock. “You’re what!? You have a daughter? How could you possibly have a child?”
“Enough Maigan.” Achak stops what he is doing as he looks back towards Kane, he wants him to continue and ignore the interruption. “I did not know that you had a daughter.”
Kane shakes his head it does not make any sense to him. “She does not need me, she is old enough to and fully capable of looking after herself… she doesn’t need me for anything, in fact she’s better off without me…”
Achak shakes his head no. “Though that is what you may think it is not what the spirits believe.”
Kane continues to disagree. “I have nothing to give her, she does not need me.”
“Maybe so, perhaps though you are the one that needs her.”
The tiger quickly snaps back at him. “I do not need her!” He looks away from him. “Perhaps I misread the spirits’ message.”
“No, I think you understood completely what the spirits expect of you, you just do not yet know why.” Achak begins to move through his hut gathering several objects. “You should go, journey and find the one the spirits are asking you to seek, once you have completed this task you may return here and become a warrior if you so choose.”
Kane frowns. “It would be easier to attack your tribe and just take the oracle by force then it would be to make my way back into the domestic city and locate someone whom may not even be there anymore.”
Both Eleven and Maigan react to these words, drawing their weapons and pointing the blades towards him, Kane sighs as he gets to his feet, turning around and heading out of the tent. “I was not being serious.”
Maigan and Eleven look to one another, Maigan lets out a grunt and he puts his weapon back into place. “At least he’ll be out of the village.”
Eleven looks back to Achak. “Should either of us accompany him?”
Achak shakes his head no. “You need not worry about keeping an eye on him throughout this ordeal. This is a journey he must take alone.”
Yula stands near the entrance outside of the hut, he had listened to the entire conversation from there, he is now watching Kane as he makes his way through the village.
Maigan and Eleven exit soon after him, Maigan speaks in a disgruntled voice as the two of them look to the other. “Hopefully he disappears and never comes back, it would make things easier on all of us.”
Yula calls out to get their attention. “Is he going somewhere?”
Eleven looks back to Yula as she responds. “He is returning to the city, that is where the spirits wish for him go for his journey.”
Yula seems confused. “Why would the spirits want him to go to the city? Wouldn’t they make him go somewhere… more nature-ish?”
Both Eleven and Maigan look to each other with a shake of their heads, there is still a lot for Yula to figure out when it comes to the spirits. Yula sighs as he watches the two of them leave, turning from them and beginning on his own way.
*******
Bret shivers as he stands out in the cold rain, the boy watches Tahki who is perching on a fire escape, she is using it to help her search through their surroundings, the city is almost empty at this point, there are very few people left. The ones that remain are avoiding the streets due to the heavy rain as they wait to be found by the Domestic military and taken out of the city, the soldiers are trying to bring about some kind of order to the chaos as to prevent as many casualties as possible. Tahki lets out a sigh; it is very unlikely that the city will easily be able to recover from this.
Bret calls out to the mouse to get her attention. “Hey lady, where are we going anyway?” He looks over to the people running through the streets, they’re not headed in the same direction as them. “Shouldn’t we be trying to leave the city? I mean all the airships are crashing everywhere, so we should get out of here.”
Tahki looks back to the child. “We will, but after we find Shiya and the others.”
Bret sighs to himself, the mouse has mentioned that name before. “Who is this Shiya person anyway?”
Tahki returns to looking through her surroundings. She knows that her companions have to have fled the museum after the fight had finished, where they would have gone from there though she will have to still figure out. The most likely scenario is that they took the route that would give them the most places to hide, while still allowing them to keep a decent eye on their surroundings as to spot anyone that might be chasing after them, and though she is following the route that would do just that she still had not been able to catch up to them.
Bret looks around him, really not sure of what to do in this situation, he really doesn’t know who this woman is at all, and the whole city is going crazy around him. “You’re pretty strong right? They called you and Alistair Super Soldiers so that means you must be strong.”
Tahki makes her way down the fire escape. “Stronger than most, though far from invincible.” She motions for the boy to follow her. “This way.”
Bret follows after her. “Those guys are pretty hard to beat huh? They go invisible and stuff, and have more than one heart! I never heard of that before!”
Tahki nods her head. “True Bloods are not to be taken lightly.”
“Do you know who Dmitri is? They and Alistair mention him a lot, and they keep saying that I’m his son.”
Tahki stops as she quickly turns back to the boy. “You’re the son of the Earth Source?”
The boy stares at her in confusion as he shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know… I’ve never met my dad.”
Tahki looks back ahead of her as she continues moving forward. “I suppose that would explain why the True Bloods had you there.” Tahki comes to a sudden stop, she inspects their surroundings upon sensing danger.
Bret seems a little confused by the action. “What’s wrong?” He gasps as he runs up behind her while also looking over his surroundings. “They’re not here and invisible are they?”
Tahki shakes her head no, the True Bloods are not what had caught her attention. “No, if it was we would see them, even when you they are hidden the droplets give their position away when they hit them. Sometimes soldiers don’t even use them during rain as it’s just a waste of their suit’s power.” She pushes Bret back hiding the two of them behind building debris near them. Several soldiers that belong to the aquatic faction run along the road they are near, a large black shark leads them.
General Bourne splits the soldiers up into small groups getting them to search the areas around them, a frustrated look is on his face as he looks away from his men for a moment to look at his freshly bandaged arm. The bullet wound he has so recently gotten is still stinging. “We’ll be lucky if we still find her in the city, the chaos that fox caused has practically destroyed the security we had surrounding this place.”
Dmitri walks past him the whole situation is indeed bothersome, Aither managed to unravel several scenarios that they had previously had at their advantage. “He compromised the man power of my army. My men need to prioritize the lives of the people in this city, I’ve very little to spare for my search for Shiya.”
“At least you have some shred of organization going on. The Avians are practically in chaos, it was their ships that crashed into the city, while their General is as good as dead. Some people are saying that it was a deliberate attack and that the Avians are trying to start another war.”
Dmitri smirks at the comment. “You don’t sound too shook up about it.”
Bourne looks back to him. “Why should I be? I’m not an Avian, and though Jovina was an ally the guy that attacked her is already dead, the best I can do now in this situation is my job.”
Bret gets an excited look on his face. “Military soldiers! They can help us!” Tahki is about to stop him but the boy calls out to the men to get their attention before she is able to hush him. “Hey!! We need help!!”
Dmitri and Bourne turn towards the child that is quickly approaching him, Dmitri lets out a tired and frustrated sigh. “Civilians…” He speaks to the boy in a tone of voice that clearly read that he does not have time for this. “I’m not part of any of the rescue teams and I’m in the middle of an important mission. If you wait here I’ll have someone come and get you.”
Bret is not interested in the offer. “I’m not gonna stay here in one spot, the invisible guys are going to find me for sure if I do that!”
Dmitri and Bourne look to one another. “Invisible?”
A look of recognition fills Dmitri’s face, he turns back to the boy. “You’re the scapegoat from the file I gave Quincy!”
Bret brightens up upon hearing the name. “Yeah Alistair! Do you know where he is? We got separated during the escape and I haven’t seen him since.”
Bourne chuckles now realizing the situation. “Looks like we’re not the only ones with plans that have been unravelled, it sounds as if the True Bloods are running into problems as well.”
Levi’s voice raises in response to the comment. “Nothing we can’t fix with a little bit of effort.”
Both Dmitri and Bourne move into defensive stances as they quickly scan their surroundings, Bret lets out a frightened gasp as he runs behind Dmitri for some kind of protection. “It’s them!”
Bourne glances back towards Dmitri, he is unable to spot anything. “These are the guys that are trying to kill you?”
Dmitri smirks at the question. “One of many I’m sure.”
Levi hides behind a building out of sight, there are many droplets of rain hitting him and making his form visible, he is not able to depend on his suit to keep him completely hidden right now. “Scapegoat huh? I have to admit that you had the wool completely pulled over my eyes. I never would have guessed that you would have had the foresight to put up fake information and targets of such nature up for us to follow. Very smart.” Levi continues to speak to his target while readying a small projectile weapon, he is also unable to use many of his electric weapons in this weather. “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t kill you when I had tried. If you don’t have a kid then I probably would have ended the world. No wonder the Wind Source took the bullet for you, too bad about that though, now I’m soaked to the bone because the Water Source can’t stop sobbing over it.”
Bourne glances towards Dmitri. “He must be the one that tried to kill you if he knows that information.”
Levi questions Dmitri. “So any descendents the Wind Source might have that I would want to know about, though judging from the situation where you made up a fake son for me to target I doubt you’ll so easily tell me.” He glances over to the boy hiding behind the two soldiers. “So what is he exactly? A decoy to keep your real kid hidden? Or a scenario completely made up just to throw us off?”
He stays hidden as he aims his weapon at the targets, they are not currently looking in his direction. “I think it’s cause you’re hiding your real kid from us, you must have known that we might try and kill you in hopes of the source moving to the next generation, so you wouldn’t have put out such information just in case we actually did manage to kill you.”
The earth begins to shake and tremble as Dmitri lets out a deafening roar, pillars and stalagmites of earth rising from the ground all around them. Levi steps back and focuses on trying to keep his balance.
Bret lets a frightened gasp as he looks around him, the whole situation is terrifying. “What’s happening!? What’s going on!?”
Bourne seems impressed with what he sees. “I have to say, I’ve been told about the things you can do, but seeing it unfold in person is something to behold.”
Tahki lets out a surprised gasp as she quickly moves out of the way when a pillar of earth rises near her, she tries to remain standing as the ground shakes violently. She looks back towards Bret who is still near Dmitri and Bourne, she can’t just leave the child there in this situation, but she couldn’t be spotted either, she did not have the strength for a fight against either a Source or a True Blood.
*******
Shiya stops running, his companions move ahead of him as he looks back to see pillars of earth rising in the distance.
Dolly, who now carries Lumia on her back so that they are be able move with her quicker, also comes to a stop when she realizes that Shiya has stopped running. “What’s wrong?” She pauses, her question is answered when she sees what it is Shiya is staring at in the distance. “What is that?”
Eighteen notices that his companions are no longer following him anymore. “We have to go! We don’t have time for this!”
Shiya doesn’t take his eyes off the scene. “The Earth source is engaged in battle.”
Eighteen frowns at the comment. “Who cares, that battle doesn’t involve us! The Earth Source is your enemy remember, now let’s get out of the city before him, the True Bloods, or the one of the Three Domestic Militaries currently occupying this area find us!” He turns back to Shiya storming towards him. “We have our own objectives to fulfill, and if you turn back now you will compromise everything and put our lives in more danger than they already are!”
Dolly nods her head, their last confrontation was anything but good. “We all almost died the last time we saw him, even if he did catch us off guard what do you think our chances are at beating him?”
Shiya shakes his head no, that is not the situation at all. “I don’t want to fight him! I want to understand him! I don’t understand why he’s doing this! The Sources are supposed keep order within the world and all forms of nature within it. What he is doing is causing a chaos which threatens to destroy everything.”
Eighteen motions towards the group. “We need to think about ourselves!”
The white wolf argues back with him. “As a Source I cannot do that! It is my job to think of everyone on this planet! To take more than just me and the people I know into account!”
“And what do you think will happen to the world if you get us killed? If you get yourself killed!? We’re not leaving this city out of cowardice we’re doing it so that we can survive and fight another day. You can’t save an entire world Shiya! And if you head back now then you wouldn’t have even been able to save us.”
Shiya falls silent, Dolly speaks up to get his attention. “We need you Shiya, I know to someone like you it must sound like a selfish request, but even if we go back there what do you think would happen to us? It’s not within our capabilities, we need to focus on the things we can do, like getting out of this city.”
Shiya looks back in the direction he knows the fight to be taking place in, he stares for a moment before turning away and looking back to the others. “Alright…”
*******
Eve and Fitz talk to the soldiers that have come to the museum in response to the attack, the two are being questioned about what has happened there. Marshal Williams is the one who is questioning the two of them. “We’ve found evidence that the targets have been staying here, and not without your knowledge either, within the living quarters the museum holds.”
Eve nods her head. “Yes, they were living here, but they were under different names. My father was the one that hired and housed them I had no idea who they were and I doubt that he did. Even when I did see them their appearances were completely different from what I remembered I didn’t even realize. I was too busy to even notice. I hardly had to see them, my father and Fitz are actually the ones that had to deal with them. I had my own research and projects to do, and let’s not forget that I ended up getting locked up at your stupid facility when you did that lock up all the foxes in the city thing!!”
Fitz nods his head agreeing with her. “Eve’s right, I was the one that had to deal with them the most, Mr. Cadrey only paid their wages. How was I supposed to know who they were? It was my first time seeing them and we needed help at the museum, I handled their interviews and all that and hired them with Mr. Cadrey’s permission.”
Williams lets out a chuckle. “Thank you for your cooperation in this matter, I have soldiers waiting for you outside that will escort you and your family out of the city.”
Eve watches him leave she turns to Fitz and whispers to him. “Do you think he believes us?”
Fitz shakes his head. “He doesn’t believe us. He just doesn’t care. Pursuing us would be a dead end and a waste of resources, his targets are no longer here.”
Eve shakes her head as she walks over to her father, who is now sadly making his way through the building looking over the damages that have been done while making very upset and disappointed remarks.
Fitz watches the two for a moment before turning away and letting out a sigh. With everything that has happened there has been nothing that he can do to actually help anyone, not the people that have come here, he couldn’t even help out the family that has been nice enough to take him in and call him their own.
Eve places her hand on her father’s shoulder. “We should go with the soldiers now. They’re going to take us out of the city now… it’s no longer safe in Cordella.”
Fitz looks back to Eve, that is only capable of presenting them an even bigger problem. “And where are we going to go? We’ve got nowhere to go! No relatives, no alternative home, this museum was everything we had!”
Eve smiles at him. “I’m not worried about us. We still got you right? And even though you’re a horrible warrior, and dad’s retired I got the best Treasure Hunters in the word looking after me.” She turns to her father. “Getting through the toughest trials and thwarting the end of the world is just a day in the life for you two isn’t it? We’ll be fine.”
Fitz gives her a weak smile, the moment though is short lived when a loud crashing sound startles them. Fitz looks from the two of them and towards the ceiling, it sounds like it had come from one of the rooms upstairs.
Eve smiles weakly at Fitz. “The soldiers aren’t going to leave much left for us to come back to once we’re finally allowed back in the city. We’re probably going to end up having to completely tear down this place and rebuild it from the ground up.”
Fitz nods his head. “Yeah… sounds like it.” He looks back towards Eve and Mr. Cadrey. “We should get Gracie ready for transport.”
Eve looks to her father. “Alright dad, everyone in the city has been ordered to evacuate, I knew we just got home but it looks like we’re headed out again, you go wait with the soldiers outside while me and Fitz get Gracie ready for transport alright?”
Eve’s father nods his head, he leaves her side and heads towards the entrance of the museum, Fitz joins Eve as the two begin making their way through the building, the two of them are silent for the most part, passing soldiers along the way who are practically tearing the place apart for evidence and clues to the fugitives that have been staying here.
Eves crosses her arms thinking over their situation. “That Marshal guy… Williams was it? Why do you think he’s here? He’s pretty high up so I didn’t think I would see him here dealing with this kind of stuff.”
Fitz shrugs his shoulders. “Because they probably have Dmitri following Shiya, while pretty much every other solider in the city is helping out with the evacuation. He and the soldiers they have here, are probably all they can currently spare to deal with us at this point in time.”
The two reach Gracie’s room, Fitz opens the door and walks inside. “The thing we need to be worried about the most is if we’ll have the medical supplies needed to take care of someone in your sister’s condition. I have a feeling that medical supplies are not only going to be scarce but in high demand for a while-” He immediately stops talking when he finds the bed within the room empty, no one is in it.
Eve too notices the empty bed, she is confused as she quickly approaches it. “Did someone already move her?”
Fitz walks up next to her. “You’d think they would have told us if they had done something like that.” He picks up an IV. “They unhooked her from all the equipment… why would they do that, most of her stuff is mobile.”
Eve looks away from the bed, turning away from it as she begins to scan the room, a look of shock fills her face when she sees the door to the bathroom that is adjoined to the room is open, a figure stands within it, as she lightly hits the raccoon’s arm to get his attention. “Fitz.”
Fitz turns around, his attention is now fixed in the same direction as Eve’s a look of shock fills his face when he sees the figure, she is a thin white fox dressed in a long nightgown, the woman uses the sink to support herself as she stares into the mirror across from her.
Fitz and Eve both seem at a loss of words, Fitz is the first one to find his voice. “Gracie… you’re awake… and you’re standing, how are you standing that’s impossible.”
The woman looks at the two of them through their reflections on the mirror she stands in front of. “What’s wrong with me? Why am I so weak?”
Eve seems confused. “You should be too weak to move… to even speak.”
“Neither of you answered my question.”
Eve begins to explain. “You had a tumour in your brain, the process to get rid of it was supposed to be routine but the doctors made a mistake, and in the end permanently compromised your immune system. You were no longer able to completely defend against bacteria prominent within the air, every breath you took was like breathing poison, it was slowly killing you, over the years your body grew weaker, you lost the strength to walk, you lost the strength to speak, and eventually you lost consciousness, you were never supposed to wake up.”
“The air was killing me… like it does the True Bloods?”
Fitz questions her. “What do you know about the True Bloods?”
“How long have I been unconscious?”
Eve answers the question. “About five years now, almost six.”
“I see…” She pushes herself away from the mirror. “There was no resistance, no fight, the memories were so faint, their owner so weak and desperate for help. That I hardly had to do anything to gain control.” She turns around to face the two that have entered her room. “Aither was compliant, more than happy to take advantage of the power one gained through me, yet never, did he ever let me have this kind of control. For years I thought that this was what I wanted, but Aither was right… it is not what I want.”
She approaches them coming to a stop in front of the two of them holding her hand before them, showing them a small light green crystal that she held between her pointer finger and her thumb. “I do not know what has happened to me, but there is something wrong with me, I am broken, and no good can be found within me any longer. I cannot find the compassion for this world that I know I should love unconditionally. I am filled with such rage and hate, I want nothing more than to destroy everyone and everything I see. I used to love this world, and every being upon it, I used to think that I would never do anything to harm it, and I fear that is what I will do if something is not done.”
Eve stares at Gracie speechlessly, Fitz slowly reaches up to the crystal and takes it from her hands, staring that the very faint, almost unnoticeable images that are weakly flickering within it. “You’re a source…” He looks back to her. “How could you possibly be a source?”
“Aither is dead, if I remained within his body I would be dead as well, I needed a new host, hers was the one I awoke in. I had no choice, if I had died so would the world and everyone on it. Now please, help her contain me… before I let lose my wrath and do something that I will forever regret.”
