89. The
New World
"No matter what happens, we must keep moving forward."
Tao stood before a round table in the Enmetropolis City Hospital cafeteria,
staring into the eyes of Nathan, Ravi, Kamo, Caleb, Sabine, Cliff, and Azuka. After
each had finished their rehabilitation within the hospital's Regeneration
Tanks, the Seneschal had taken upon himself to round everyone up. He'd even
managed to convince Rose to attend the gathering, and she now sat only a few
seats away from her sworn enemies.
"The Church wants me dead," Tao began. "And we don’t
have much time. I don’t know who we have to thank for that large explosion that
engulfed the tournament complex, but I assume that’s the only reason Father Zeigfried
hasn’t come to collect us all here. I also imagine his fellow Apostles are in the
process of taking custody of our headquarters as we speak. It pains me to say this,
but the Guild of Dimensional Knights is no more."
"They can steal our home from us," Ravi cut in. "But they
can’t stop us."
"Um, yeah," Kamo winced. "The only question is, how are
we gonna stop them?"
Azuka slowly gazed around the table. Everyone looked to her, waiting
patiently for the woman to gather her thoughts.
"Zeigfried had us right where he wanted us..." she murmured,
almost with nausea as she relived her defeat in her mind. "But something caught
his attention. Something took priority over punishing us."
"The Daughter," Cliff spat out, as if it was a curse. "He’s
after Eden too, isn’t he?"
Tao sent his sorrowful eyes downward. "Our last battle was undoubtedly
our darkest hour. We faced death, we were deceived and betrayed, and we even
lost two great men. And now, our greatest ally is now our greatest enemy. As long
as we live, the Church will never let any of us have peace."
"But what are we supposed to do?" Kamo asked. "There's
no way we can attack them head-on, and we lost our home base. We're screwed."
"Not entirely," Tao continued. "We still have a chance to
get an advantage on the Church. It will be hard. Azuka and I will have to utilize
our heritage to do it...but I think it's the best chance we have at survival, let
alone in combating the Church."
"Yamato?" Azuka asked. "You actually want us to go there?"
"That's where we should install our new headquarters," Tao said.
"I know what you're thinking. There's a civil war going on there, and they
aren't exactly friendly to outsiders. But Azuka and I have deep ties to Yamato...I
personally know the dimension inside and out. I'm confident that if we teamed up,
we could end the war and consequently earn ourselves a whole new team of trustworthy
allies."
"It seems like it could work," Cliff said, nodding. "But
allies alone won't be enough."
"You're exactly right, Cliff," Tao continued. "Allies aren’t
all Yamato will net us. There's also a clock in that dimension, which, until recently,
the Church had no knowledge of. I know the way Zeigfried works, and I expect he
plans to swoop in at the end of the civil war and snatch the clock after everyone's
killed each other, much like he tried to do here at the tournament. But if we
could utilize the chaos to swipe it far away before any Church officials come...if
we could bring the Yamatoans to our side and assemble ourselves a proper army,
we might actually stand a chance."
"An insane plan," Ravi commented. Her third eye remained burned
shut on her forehead. "But I suppose beggars can’t be choosers."
"Yamato has always been a world of war," Azuka said. "And
unlike many of the criminals we chase, their warriors formally study and train
in martial arts from a young age. Every battle will be a struggle."
"Should be good practice for the Church, then!" Kamo said with
a smirk. "Count me in."
"I'm in as well," Ravi said, then turned her eyes to Sabine.
The green-haired woman hadn't said a word during the entire time they'd
been at the hospital, but no one had pushed her. Even now, she sat in her seat like
a ghost, eyes hardened by experiencing more pain and loss than she could bear.
"Sabine," Ravi said softly. "Please give us an answer."
Slowly, the young woman raised her head and looked at her allies with forlorn
eyes. "I can't," she said. "I don’t care about fighting anymore."
Ravi's face was firm. She paused a moment, and then said something that
only the captain of the 1st division could say.
"Would you be able to say that to Amyr?"
Sabine furrowed her brow, and her eyes shot daggers at Ravi, but just when
she was about to open her mouth, she stopped. Then, she let out a sigh, and tears
began to stream down her cheeks.
"Fine, I'll go," Sabine sniffed, then suddenly whipped her head
in Rose's direction. "But the next time I ever see Saffron Morrigan, I’m
going to cut his fucking head off!"
Rose crossed her arms and gazed back at the woman with cold eyes.
"Sabine," Tao spoke. "You know very well that wanting an
eye for an eye makes you no different than those you despise."
"It isn't an eye for an eye!" Sabine screamed. "Amyr was
a good, honest man, which is one of the rarest fucking things in the entire
universe. And he was killed by a blood-thirsty maniac...why is Saffron allowed
to live and not Amyr?!"
"If you want to meet him, I can show you to his room," Rose
said coldly. "But we won’t let you take him without a fight."
"I'll go to Yamato," Sabine said, as her anger settled back into
her gut. "I'll go, if only to get stronger. And then I'm going to find him,
fight him, and make him beg for mercy before I kill him."
Caleb watched Sabine with guilty eyes and waited carefully to make sure
she was really finished before he spoke. "I’m in, too. I'm not going to
run."
"Well, I suppose that only leaves two more," Tao said, as he
turned to face Cliff and Azuka. "What does the 4th division
say?"
"We're in," Azuka said firmly. "Without a doubt."
"Hold on a second," Cliff spoke up. "First we need to find
out where Vance and Eden went."
"The tournament complex was vaporized by a nuclear explosion, Cliff,"
Tao explained. "We can only assume that they escaped using the clock, in which
case we have absolutely no way of finding them now."
Cliff grit his teeth and slammed the table with his remaining arm. "If
only I'd been there..."
"We just have to trust that they're safe, Cliff," Tao said with
a heavy breath. "For the time being, I'd like the captains and vice-captains
to head out to Yamato immediately. I will follow as soon as I take care of another
matter. I want to put the two Earthlings in the care of my brother, Sasuke."
"Why your brother?" Azuka questioned.
"As unbelievable as it may be, he has a connection with them."
Tao ran a hand through his greying hair. "Besides, my brother is good at making
himself disappear. It shouldn't take long, and I’ll join you in Yamato before you
know it."
Nathan stirred suddenly. "Would it be okay if I accompany you, Seneschal?"
Tao smiled broadly. "You single-handedly took down one of the most
powerful Dark Zodiacs, Nathan. I would be a fool not to have you at my side."
Nathan blushed. "If...if you say so, sir..."
Tao winked to the young warrior. "Well, I think that covers everything.
Any more questions?"
Rose looked around, then spoke up. "I have one."
"Go ahead," Tao said softly.
"Why did you call me in here?" she asked. "Talking to me
is one thing, but now I know all your plans. I’m a Dark Zodiac, remember?"
"You were," Tao said, "But what are you now?"
"That's for me to decide. For the time being, I want information."
Rose shifted her eyes uncomfortably around the room, noticing the equally unnerved
eyes of Ravi, Azuka, and Kamo. "Getting Bruce to safety was the only thing
on my mind for the past few hours...and now I’m here. The point is, none of us
know what happened after that explosion. I’m not even sure about what really happened
during the tournament itself."
"Grayson killed Roufas," Tao said. "That I’m sure of, without
a doubt. They were up there in the committee room together. Believe me, if I had
the ability to, I would have stopped it. He stabbed Roufas in the back, just like
he did to Victoria."
The mention of Roufas made Rose’s eyes pulsate with torrential blue
energy. "But where was Averyl? You didn’t actually see anything...and if Averyl
really is an Albavitrean, then he has all the motive he needs, considering what
Grayson supposedly did to Victoria."
"You’re right," Tao said with a sigh. "We’ll have no conclusive
answers unless we find the involved parties. But we’re going to fight the Church
regardless, Rose, and we can’t do it alone. That’s the main thing I wanted to let
you know."
Rose stood up from her chair, gave the Knights one last glare, then left
the room. As she clacked her heels down the empty hospital hall, wavering thoughts
passed through the Horse's mind, but nothing resonated stronger than the pain
of losing Roufas. After ascending a flight of stairs, she moved down into the
patient's ward and entered a room that contained three beds.
The moment she entered the room, Rose realized something was wrong. She
could sense a sunflowery aura and a tawny one, but there was one aura missing:
Bruce’s.
"Wake up!" Rose barked.
"Wha..." Winslow murmured, burying his head in a pillow. "What
do you want?"
"Forsooth..." Saffron's voice drifted out from his sheets.
"Do explain thy urgency midst our ennui..."
"Where’s Bruce?" Rose looked at the empty bed angrily. "I
told you two to keep an eye on him!"
Winslow glanced at the empty bed, then hurriedly got up out of his bed
with a panicked expression. "Oh shit...he’s gone!"
Rose let out a frustrated sigh and moved over to the empty bed. "The
tunneler’s gone, too. He couldn’t even wait for me. He must be losing his mind..."
"Where do you think he went?" Winslow ventured. "Back to
Pandemonium?"
"Probably," Rose sighed. "Which means we’ll need to take
the long way back. Come on, hurry up and get ready. There’s a lot you need to catch
up on."
*
After the meeting adjourned, Cliff returned to his hospital bed and gazed
down at the stump where his left arm used to be.
How did things end up like this?
Captain Azuka told me to rest...but how can I? How could I ever relax without
knowing where Eden is right now?
Memories of Despair, the Kantor District, and Sagacia passed through
his mind. Hell, I even miss Vance. Wherever they went, I hope they’re safe.
I wish I could have gone with them...will I ever be able to catch up?
What do I have left now? Cliff touched the soft underside of his armless shoulder, wincing at
the strange feeling. What's my new mission?
Outside, a powerful storm blew through the streets of Enmetropolis.
Thunder echoed through the vacant room of beds.
What do I have to protect now?
The Knight was just about to drift off when he heard footsteps. He instantly
peeled his eyes open, hoping to see Azuka or the Seneschal coming to give him some
comfort. Instead, he saw a man with a long white mullet in a lab coat pushing a
silver cart while smoking a cigarette.
"Hey," Cliff said. "You shouldn't be smoking that in here."
"Says the guy who's missing an arm," the man replied. "I
think you've got bigger things to worry about, buddy."
Cliff furrowed his brow. "Who are you?"
"You can call me Mixam. I'll be taking care of you now."
Cliff’s eyes widened. "Mixam...Gradia? The guy who built the Guild
and all of Captain Trujillo’s weapons?"
"Did I stutter?" Mixam replied listlessly.
"But I thought you retired..." Cliff blinked. "I thought
you cut all ties with the Guild!"
"Yeah, but there is no Guild anymore," Mixam snickered. "So
here I am."
"Hold on..." Cliff sat up a bit in his bed. "I’m not following
this. Did Tao call you here?"
"Something like that." Mixam sauntered over to Cliff’s stump and began
examining it with his hands. "You know, I’ve never tried anything like this
before. I guess that’s how Tao knew he’d be able to sucker me into coming down
here."
"You never tried anything like...what?" Cliff’s eyes widened.
Happy to keep ignoring the words of the man whose stump he was inspecting,
Mixam went on. "Not much arm left to work with here, though...so I guess
we’ll have to go with Plan B."
Cliff breathed out slowly. "What's Plan B?"
Mixam removed a long, arm-shaped æsotech contraption from his cart and
held it up. "This is Plan B. Cool, right?"
Cliff eyed the man suspiciously. "Wait...you’re not–"
"You don’t want to stay a one-armed man, do you?" The strange
man looked down on Cliff with enthusiastic eyes. "Yeah, that’s what I thought."
Cliff took a closer look at the apparatus that the doctor held. Wires slipped
through small gaps in the protective scales that lied the heavy æsotech mechanism.
The wrist opened up to a large Gatling barrel, with a hinge on the side that
connected to a black-gloved prosthetic hand.
"Yeeup," Mixam said absently, ignoring Cliff’s incredulous
silence. "From what Tao tells me, you took out two Zodiacs all by your lonesome.
Figure you’re probably crazy enough to use this – only problem is getting it
attached."
Cliff paled. "And how you going to do that?"
"Good question," Mixam grinned, displaying rows of tobacco-stained
teeth. "Guess we’ll just have to put our heads together."
*
After their meeting adjourned, Tao and Nathan walked over to Frank and
Edward’s room in the hospital. Tao had tried his best to lift everyone’s spirits
at lunch, and it may have worked a little, but it still felt like dark clouds
churned wherever he went.
Edward was the first to see Tao and Nathan enter, and his eyes immediately
lit up. "Tao! Did you find Vance yet?"
"I'm sorry, but no," Tao said. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, but..." Edward turned to face his co-worker. Frank sat
upright in another hospital bed with his eyes open, yet he seemed utterly comatose.
"Yes, Frank is still under the effects of Grayson's psynergy,"
Tao explained. "But I highly doubt Grayson can control him across dimensions.
He's just a mindless drone right now."
"Is there anything you can do about this?" Edward asked.
"I owe Frank my life. I'll do whatever it takes to save him."
"Good to know," Tao replied. "It just so happens that
the man we're going to see may know a way to save Frank. On top of that, he's
an acquaintance of yours."
Edward eyed Tao suspiciously. "Who?"
"Sasuke Fukunaga," Tao said. "My older brother. He's a genius,
but a stubborn one."
Edward's eyes widened. "That’s right, I remember you mentioning it
during the tournament. Sasuke...you’re really Sasuke’s brother?"
"I’m not lying," Tao said with a warm smile. "Can’t you
see the resemblance?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it..." Edward shook his head.
"Somehow, it all makes sense now."
"I'm glad to hear that," Tao said. "I was afraid it might
fill you with fear."
"Maybe before," Edward said. "I lost myself for a while,
but things have changed. I don't have anything left to lose but my son now. He's
everything to me."
"I am inclined to believe that he's in good hands," Tao explained.
"With his uncle."
"That creepy guy with long black hair?" He shuddered. "He’s
really...Victoria’s brother?"
"If things go as planned," Tao cut in, "you and your son
should be reunited very soon. Whenever we have the chance, I'll get you up to
date on his story as well."
"Thanks," Edward said. "I mean, I’ve seen that he knows how
to handle himself now. I just...I really want to see him."
"Vance is one of the strongest young men I've ever met," Tao
said with a smile. "I’m proud to know him."
"I’m glad to hear that." Edward smiled broader than ever before.
"But...how did he even find you in the first place?"
"I’ll tell you the whole story, on the way to Sasuke's place,"
Tao said. "My brother and I have a bit of a muddled past...so I may have
to rely on your relationship with him."
"No sweat." Edward turned to Frank with reinvigorated eyes.
"You hear that, Frank? We're going to have you back to normal in no time!"
But Frank did not answer. His eyes stared listlessly out of the hospital
window, fixated on the dark grey sky.
Next: Irruption Imminent
