Incident 27 (16 page)

“Drop
the bow, Brünhart!” he yelled. “I hold Bannen’s life in my hands, and even if
you shoot, you’ll hit him.”

She
hesitated. Jorg was right. What would she do? What
could
she do? Take a
chance on hitting Ev?

Without
warning, he sprang to life, grabbing Jorg’s arms and wrapping one leg around
his. “Maya! Now! Shoot!”

She
froze. “W-What? No! I’ll hit you!”

“In
the shoulder! He’s—urk!—taller than me. His heart!”

In
that instant, she understood. With their height difference, shooting Ev in the
shoulder would also pierce Jorg’s heart.

There
was no other choice. She lined up her shot.

“No!”
Jorg yelled. He knew what was coming and desperately struggled to avoid it. Nevertheless,
Ev held on like a madman.

Maya
launched what she prayed would be the shot that ended this. It did not
disappoint, embedding in Ev’s shoulder. He gave a pained grunt, and both men
fell backwards onto the street.

Maya
rushed over and ripped the arrow free. Ev rolled away from Jorg and began
convulsing, a sure sign the damage he sustained was great. She quickly applied
healing to his throat, and within moments he started taking labored breaths. He
was no longer convulsing, so she gave silent thanks for that.

She
helped him to his feet, and they looked down at Jorg to make sure he was dead.
As with Medusa, Jorg’s cold, unseeing eyes stared up at them. They may as well
have been discarded eggshells for all the life they showed. Maya’s arrow had
pierced his heart without fail.

But
she had not pierced Priscilia’s heart. Her aim had been off in that moment she
let her arrow fly, and as a result she had only gotten Priscilia in the throat.

With
Maya’s help, Ev staggered over to where she lie, the shield still on top of
her. She had removed the arrow from her neck and was busy healing the wound
now. However, the numerous sections of her body, impaled by the spikes,
remained wet with blood. Her uniform, such a point of pride for her, was soaked
crimson. When she saw the two of them approaching, she said, “I guess you’re
pretty proud of yourselves.”

“I’m
proud of Maya,” Ev said. “I’m not proud of myself. I never have been.”

Maya
knelt and examined the wounds. As none of the spikes had gotten to her heart,
Maya ripped the shield free. Priscilia cried out in agony as her flesh was
further torn. “Quit complaining,” Maya said. “I’m saving you. We both know you
wouldn’t have done the same for us.”

She
moved a glowing hand over the shredded areas. They mended right before their
eyes, and within moments Priscilia was fully healed.

She
got up and turned her back on them. “I hope you’re not expecting thanks for
that.”

“Not
really,” Maya replied.

“Why
did you do it, then?”

“There’s
been enough killing. No more.”

Priscilia
laughed. Ev didn’t think she could breathe, she was laughing so hard. “‘There’s
been enough killing. No more’? I didn’t take you for a comedian, Maya.”

“What’s
that supposed to mean?” she demanded to know.

Priscilia
stopped laughing long enough to answer her. “I may not know what the future
holds, but I do know one thing. You pissed off Zero Grade. There’s still a
bounty on your heads. I promise you this: the killing’s only just begun.”

“We’ll
deal with that later,” Ev said. “But for now, I don’t ever want to see your
face again. As long as you don’t return to the Academy, we’ll tell them we
killed you. If you’re lucky, no one will look for you. Fair enough?”

For
a moment, she was silent. Then: “Fine. I’ll leave. But I’ll leave you with fair
warning. You’re living in a fantasy world, Ev Bannen. I don’t know what you’re
trying to accomplish, but there’s a price to be paid. And before you know it,
more people will come to collect.”

And
with that, she took off into the sky. “You think we’ll ever see her again?” Ev
said.

“I
seriously hope not.”

He
stretched his arms and legs to get them going again. “Well, we’d better—”

He
stopped short. The ground began rumbling. It quickly escalated to the point where
the surrounding buildings were now shaking. “Is that an earthquake?”

Now
the rumbling was joined by a loud noise reminiscent of a foghorn which
assaulted every fiber of their being. “I don’t think so,” Maya said.

Ev
looked up. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s coming from the sky.”

“Look!”
Maya pointed to just above the buildings where a shimmering distortion was
moving towards them. Within moments, it coalesced into a solid object the likes
of which they had never seen. It resembled an inverted pyramid. The thing
seemed to be made of some sort of crystal and was easily the size of the
largest building in Adlo. Despite this, it hovered effortlessly through the
sky, shining like the sun as it reflected its light.

Ev
stared intently at it. It was at once alien and beautiful. “Is that…?”

Nodding,
Maya said, “Yeah. I think it is.”

*
* *

Earlier...

On
the floor of the cave, Arcturus used a stick to draw an upside-down triangle.
“Look closely. This thing’s called the
Sancta Praesidium
. It’s Zero
Grade’s flying fortress. Normally, it’s cloaked and no one can see it. But when
it uncloaks,
then
you have a real problem on your hands. If you see it,
run like hell to the rendezvous point.”

“Is
this where the Flawless Few live?” Maya asked.

“No.
If I had to describe its function, I would say it’s more like their emissary.
It goes and conducts business in their place. Often that means punishing their
enemies. They would have sent it against the Academy by now if they could find
it. Don’t underestimate this thing; it’s heavily armed and its weapons can kill
even a god with ease.”

*
* *

As
the
Sancta Praesidium
hovered a hundred feet above them, Ev and Maya
stood in awed silence. Within moments, though, a dozen panels opened up along
the exterior and out popped what could only be described as sci-fi ray guns.
The barrels swiveled about, seemingly looking for a target.

Ev
was now very, very nervous. “Uh, Maya?”

She
remained transfixed on the scene before them. “Yeah?”

“What
did Arcturus say to do if this thing showed up?”

“‘Run
like hell’.”

“Yeah…I’m
thinking we should probably do that.”

The
gun barrels were now pointed directly at them. The blaring noise abruptly
ceased, and Ev got a sickly, terrifying feeling in his gut. Without knowing
precisely what he was doing, he tackled Maya. At that instant, a brilliant
violet light erupted from one of the guns protruding from the
Sancta
Praesidium
, vaporizing the spot where they had been standing. There was no
debris; everything in the path of the light was instantly and cleanly
incinerated. Zero Grade’s toys were annoying.

They
took off flying up the street. They were fast, but so was the flying fortress
above them. Now all the guns lit up the city blocks around them, annihilating
everything in their path. People; cars; streets; even buildings came down
around them. Ev and Maya zipped about, going up and down, left and
right—anything to dodge the death rays now focused on their obliteration.

This
deadly chase took them north through progressively older sections of the city.
Sadly, the
Sancta Praesidium
gave no thought to the history it now laid
waste to. Making matters worse, the farther north they went, the smaller the
buildings became, providing them with less cover. Although, as Ev reflected,
that may have been for the best; smaller buildings meant fewer people being
killed.

Throughout
the episode, there were a few close calls. The deadly beams of light came
within mere inches of ending Ev’s existence permanently. He felt the intense
heat and knew that were he a normal human, he would have been roasted alive.
The whole time, he had a morbid curiosity to take a look back and see how close
the flying fortress was. He knew, though, that any distraction would likely
result in his death, and probably Maya’s as well.

The only thing they could do was keep flying
and hope Arcturus had a plan for getting them out of this.

* * *

Arcturus
waited patiently on the outskirts of Stonecroft. Everyone else had long since
fled after watching him slice Relm Masters to tiny pieces. Even the angry
constable had wisely chosen not to antagonize Arcturus further.

He
lit a cigarette and took a long drag. One of the benefits of being a god was
that none of the deadly chemicals affected him. Whereas a human’s insides would
break down after prolonged exposure to carcinogens, Arcturus’ insides stayed
perfectly healthy. He smiled, relishing that knowledge.

He
had hastily buried Relm’s remains, knowing Ev would probably freak out if he
saw them. His innocence was sweet, and Arcturus hoped he never lost it.

Eventually,
he became aware of a series of explosions and tremors in the ground.
Here
they come.
He knew that attacking Zero Grade would incur the wrath of the
Flawless Few. Even Ev knew that. But what Ev didn’t know was the fact he fully
intended on having the flying fortress make an appearance.

Peering
into the distance, towards Adlo, it wasn’t hard to spot the diamond-shaped
structure heading toward him. Upon focusing his vision further, he saw Ev and
Maya frantically flying from it as it shot beam after beam at them, vaporizing
huge chunks of ground. Arcturus covered his ears; he had forgotten about the
blaring that thing made when it went into attack mode. That was Zero Grade’s
idea of psychological warfare. As far as he was concerned, it was more annoying
than anything else.

Within
minutes, Ev and Maya reached him. “Arcturus!” Ev yelled as he came in for a
landing. “What’s the plan now?” Maya landed next to him. Both looked winded.

Arcturus
threw down the cigarette and stomped it out. “The plan? Simple. We surrender.”
He held up his hands. The
Sancta Praesidium
was now right on top of
them.

Ev
and Maya exchanged alarmed glances. “What?” they both yelled simultaneously.

“Sorry
about this. I was hoping this thing wouldn’t show up. But now that it has, we
have no choice but to give ourselves up. They can follow us clear to the end of
the world in that monstrosity. We can’t win against it.”

The
gun barrels retreated back into the giant diamond. Along the bottom, near the
tip, a hatch opened up. Arcturus was seized by an invisible force which began
lifting him up along with Ev and Maya. They tried to fight it, not knowing it
was useless. Every single aspect of the
Sancta Praesidium
was designed
to subdue full-fledged gods. Mere students such as them stood no chance against
it. Although, Arcturus had to admit, they had done well to get this far. Now
they just needed to leave the rest to him.

They
floated through the open hatch into complete darkness. The invisible force then
applied severe pressure to his head, and the ultimate darkness descended upon
him.

Chapter
XI

Consciousness
returned to him in stages. First, there was only the vaguest awareness of
sounds. This gradually increased until he once again became aware of himself.
His mind began to separate reality from fantasy and soon his eyes slowly opened
a crack. Blurred images greeted him like an out-of-focus picture. However, they
quickly resolved into a clear image.

Ev
was in some sort of small room, sterile and metallic. Cables ran all along the
floor and up to…something. His entire lower body was encased in some sort of construct.
His arms were likewise imprisoned above his head. He struggled futilely against
his shackles; they would not budge an inch. Clearly these devices had been
designed to hold someone even stronger than himself.

This
room resembled nothing less than a science fiction torture chamber. A metal
table sat a few feet away, covered with diabolic instruments whose purpose he
never wanted to find out. Had he been abducted by aliens? He had heard stories
about people who had, and as a child they terrified him almost as much as his
father had.

But
no. He remembered now. He, Maya and Arcturus had been beamed aboard Zero
Grade’s flying fortress where something had knocked him out. They were now
prisoners of the enemy. He couldn’t help but laugh; just a few years ago, he
was a normal teenager who didn’t believe in one god, much less a whole pantheon
of them.

Now
he found himself at their mercy.

A
moaning to his right caught his attention. He turned his head to see Maya
caught in an identical contraption. “Maya!” She stirred but did not respond, so
he called her name again.

She
opened her eyes. “Y-Yes?” she said drowsily.

“Maya!
Are you all right?”

“Sure.
Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because…we’re
trapped in Zero Grade’s flying fortress?”

She
suddenly became alert, her eyes opening wide, furiously taking in the room.
“What? What is this place?”

“We’re
inside the
Sancta Praesidium
,” he explained. “At least…I think we are.”

Maya
struggled against her bonds, but she had no more luck than he had. After a
minute, she gave up and let her head droop. “You see where your stupid dream
got us?

We
might not make it out of here alive, you know.”

This
was the first time she had been genuinely disappointed in him. He had yurred,
and now he had to face her anger. “I’m sorry.”

She
didn’t seem convinced. “Are you?”

“Yes.
This is all my fault. I dragged you into this because I wanted so badly to
believe what Arcturus said. But now it looks like he was setting us up all
along.”

“Tell
me,” she said. “What’s so bad about this world?”

“I
shouldn’t have to tell you that. You
know
what’s so bad about it. It’s
made both our lives into living nightmares. The things we had to suffer
through…”

All
was quiet for a moment. Finally she said, “Yeah. It has. But ever since I met
you, the world doesn’t seem so bad. In fact, you might even say the world is
wonderful
.”

“You
really think so?”

“As
long as I’m by your side, I
know
so.”

* * *

Freya
rushed into Bethos’ office. “Sir, we have a situation.”

Seated
behind his desk doing paperwork, the President let out an audible sigh. “What
has Ev Bannen done now?”

“No,
no; it’s not him. At least, it’s not
just
him, but I’m pretty sure he’s
involved.”

“Out
with it.”

“We’re
receiving more prayers from the Tru Republic.”

“More
refghasts?”

She
shook her head grimly. She wondered if her face was as pale as she felt. “I
sincerely wish that was the case. No, the people of Adlo say they’re under attack
by a giant, upside-down pyramid made of glass in the sky.”

His
eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “You can’t be serious.”

“I
am dead serious, sir. The
Sancta Praesidium
is attacking the Tru Republic. What are we going to do?”

Bethos
put his fingers together into a pyramid and leaned back in his chair. “We could
respond with force, but that would mean all-out war with Zero Grade.”

“We
can’t just stand by while they kill innocent people!” she insisted. “Besides,
they already broke the Ultros Pact last year when they attacked us in
Stiftung.”

“This
is the
Sancta Praesidium
we’re talking about. We’d have to throw
everything we have against it, and that includes students. I can’t order them
to do that.”

“So
we take volunteers. I know a few who’d gladly come along.” She feared she
sounded too eager to do this, almost as if she
wanted
to go into battle.

He
must have thought the same, because he asked her, “Do you relish the thought of
sending your own students to die?”

Fortunately,
she had an answer for that. “No, sir; I’m not. But as gods, we have a
responsibility to protect mortals from evil. And I have complete confidence in
my students’ ability to overcome impossible odds. The Stiftung Crisis proved
that.”

He
sat up straight. “I don’t know…”

She
had known this would be a difficult decision. But being a leader required you
to make the hard calls. And right now, the people of the Tru Republic needed them.

Freya
didn’t say any of that, though. She simply said, “Please.” Her pleading eyes
did most of the talking.

The
President sighed. “Very well. Send out a psychic message to all staff and
alumni around the world. You are to leave immediately.”

She
bowed graciously to him. “Thank you, sir. I’ll get right on it.” In truth, her gratitude
was greater than she was capable of expressing. She decided the best way to
show it was to act faster than she had ever acted before and get the word out.

* * *

The
sophomores and upper classmen assembled in the hangar. “Thank you for coming,”
Freya said. “Time is short, so I’ll get right to the point. Zero Grade is
attacking the Tru Republic with their flying fortress, the
Sancta Praesidium
.
That thing is not to be underestimated. We’re going to knock it out of the sky
by any means necessary. Follow my lead, stay close, and
do not
let the
Praesidium
lock onto you with its Mark III Neutralizers. They
will
vaporize you
instantly.

“Any
questions?”

“I
think everyone’s forgotten about me,” Brandon, standing next to her, muttered under
his breath and chuckled. They were supposed to be equals, but she had stolen
the show.

Jaysin
raised his hand. “Are Ev and Maya there?”

“We
picked up what may have been their energy signatures, but it was too far away
to be certain,” Freya replied.

“Those
two have a knack for getting into trouble,” CiCi said next to Jaysin. “I’ll bet
anything they’re there.”

Daryn
Anders stood some distance away from them. He kept silent throughout the
briefing.

Freya
surveyed the hangar. “Any other questions?”

An
upperclassmen they didn’t recognize raised his hand. “Do you have any advice
for surviving this engagement?”

“Stay
on your toes—keep moving. Don’t let the
Praesidium
hit you. It’s far
more dangerous than any gods you’ll encounter.

“I’m
afraid we don’t have any more time for questions, so we have to be going now.
Follow my lead.”

“Or
mine,” Brandon suggested. “You know, whatever. Either of us will get you
there.”

Freya
rolled her eyes before leaping out of the hangar.

* * *

Arcturus
stood encased in the metal contraption which left only his head and torso free.
He had woken up about fifteen minutes ago by his reckoning, and now awaited the
arrival of his jailer.

He
was in one of the
Praesidium’s
interrogation rooms. Not much different
from a human jail cell, the only difference was its metallic, sterile ambience.
A sealed glass window hung on the wall to his left. They designed it to magnify
and focus sunlight onto the prisoner, and right now Arcturus was getting a
migraine from the intense glare.

The
door to his right opened, and in walked a curious character. With long, shaggy
brown hair, a leather jacket which exposed a hairy chest, and tiny sunglasses,
this man would have looked out of place anywhere but Zero Grade.

He
made an abrupt, almost robotic stop in front of the prisoner. “Hello,
Arcturus.” He stroked his chin while examining the captive.

“Hello,
Set. It’s been a while.” He smiled as if this meeting was a friendly one.

“Indeed.
Last time, as I recall, we parted on favorable terms. I had not anticipated
meeting again like this. Would you care to tell me how you ended up on the
wrong side of our organization?” He spoke in a quiet, precise tone which
compelled those he spoke with to get right to the point.

“It’s
simple, really. I got tired following the rules and decided to write my own.”

“Ah,”
Set said, sounding almost proud of him. “You decided to pursue power. There is
no greater pleasure in life.”

Arcturus
chuckled. “Still quoting Nietzsche, I see.”

“Nietzsche
was quoting
me
. I imparted my wisdom to him. Every god with a message
needs a mouthpiece. Of course, he believed those were his own original ideas.

“But
we seem to have gotten off-topic. You decided to become a true superman and
disregard the morality of the herd—in this case, Zero Grade. That in itself is
noble.

After
all, a man’s drive is the only thing in his life that matters. It
defines
him. However, you took it upon yourself to needlessly attack us. Even if morality
is an illusion and you were self-justified in doing so, you neglected to take
causality into account. For every action there are consequences. Surely you
knew you would become a target if you went against us. And now look at where
your thoughtlessness has gotten you. I applaud your initiative, but not your
intelligence.”

“I
guess I’m not as clever as I thought,” he conceded.

Set
put his hands behind his back. “If only your humility were genuine. I know full
well how clever you still believe yourself to be. I’m sure you have some
brilliant escape plan in mind, but let me be clear—you will not be leaving here
until I deliver you to the Flawless Few.”

“Oh,
absolutely not,” Arcturus said, retaining his smirk.

Set
was not amused. “You mock me. Perhaps I should enlighten you as to the true
extent of my knowledge. Two days ago, someone attacked the Tower of Babel and, as far as we can determine, managed to get inside. The Divine Protector Academy has been quite intent on keeping this incident secret. That tells me
something of great value was stolen.

“Almost
immediately afterwards, you recruited Ev Bannen and assaulted House #4. Upon
scouring the debris field you created, we determined the only thing missing was
the energy matrix known as the Jar of Manna. This device is key to powering the
Ark of the Covenant. As if that wasn’t proof enough, you also attacked our
underground facility in Adlo. Though you completely destroyed it, I have no
doubt you took Aaron’s Rod from it. The painfully obvious conclusion to be
gathered from this is you intend to activate the Ark.”