by Samuel Small
“Well then, what is this about?” Elizabeth said.
“Another warning. Tomorrow that thing’s coming back and I’d prefer it if you got that Pure Sol friend of yours out of prison before then,” he looked down, grasped his hood, and shook his head. “If not I’m gonna be tasked with getting him out of there, and that kid is scaaaaaaaaary crazy.”
“You mean your group wants to defeat the Malice?” Jake asked. The hood turned toward him and paused.
“Of course we do.”
“Then why don’t you stop them yourselves? You seem more than capable,” Elizabeth said.
“I can’t tell you that.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Sara said, her voice choked with anger. At Jake’s side, Sara glared at Thanos, her fists clenched and frantically shaking. “You have the ability to stop those things, to stop all of this, but you won’t. It’s—” She broke off, lost for words. Up ahead, Thanos was looking at his feet, taking the scolding earnestly and without his usual playful demeanor.
“It’s necessary, that’s all I can tell you. Once this is all over we’ll have a better world.” He took a single, firm step forward, and Jake had to take a step back. The conviction behind his words, and that single step was enough to make him fearful. He saw it in his comrades as well, and when the man’s hood turned to Elizabeth, she jumped slightly.
“Be careful once that monster’s taken care of. He’ll be after you,” he said, then walked forward. Jake took a step to the side so he could pass. As he watched the man’s coat flutter with each firm step he took, Jake wondered what exactly the intention of this group was, and what their plan for this world could be. They were against the Voids and Malice, as far as Jake could tell, yet rarely did they lend a helping hand. When they did, it seemed that it was because this Thanos person was disobeying orders.
“We need more information before we can do anything,” Sara said firmly. Thanos stopped abruptly at her voice, then turned while giving a playful salute. “I was told to watch over and monitor, and only intervene when necessary, so I can’t go handing out solutions to problems like that. Besides, it seems like you’re on the right track anyway,” he said. Jake knew he intended to wink, but didn’t know how they were supposed to see it. His figure blurred and he was soon out of sight, leaving the three standing in the darkness against the large ice wall. Sara extended her hand out to it, melted it, then let her hand drop to her side, taking a few steps forward. Jake and Elizabeth followed her, seeming to process the information Thanos had given more by the second.
“He said we were on the right track,” Sara mumbled, “but about what?”
“What was the last thing we were talking about?” Jake asked, turning to each of them.
“That ridiculous fruit,” Elizabeth said, “I think we all agreed that it meant something.”
“Then we should go to where they captured Dante and—”
“But we’ll be monitored by the Sisters if that happens.”
“We’ll have to find a way,” Jake began before his eyes locked on something in the distance walking toward them. There was Thanos once again, waving at them with both hands, his arms well over his head.
“Yoo-hoo. I took care of those Sisters for you, so you’re free to investigate,” he said, then brought a hand to the back of his head. “I hope this still counts as monitoring.”
Jake exchanged wide-eyed glances with Sara and Elizabeth. He definitely just knocked them out, and they’d probably wake up soon. Without much time to lose, the three of them ran past the hooded figure, whose arms were folded across his chest as if he’d achieved some kind of great moral victory.
The three ran through the empty grass streets in the middle of the night. Everything was silent, and they were lucky not to encounter any members of the military on their trip. Jake quickly hopped over each floating platform and arrived at the main island where the monument stood, two trees at its side, and frantically looked around. No sooner did his eyes lock onto the fruit hanging at the top of some trees than Sara pointed at them, indicating that it had to be it. They exchanged looks then nodded, walked to the base, and looked up.
It was a strange fruit to be sure. It was dark skinned, but Jake could still make out bright and vibrant colors. It was large too, probably half the size of Jake with little spikes poking out. He figured he should waste no time and grab it, and shimmied up the tree. When he reach the top, he wrapped one arm around a branch and fiddled with his back, grabbing his sword and cutting one of the mysterious fruits down. It fell, and Elizabeth tried to catch it, but must have noticed the spikes at the last second and stepped back, pulling her hands away. It fell to the ground and splattered, some kind of steam rising up from the little chunks of pulverized flesh.
He let go and fell to the ground to inspect it, and was sure there was smoke wafting up from the neon pink liquid. Jake took a step back, covering his nose and placing an arm out so that Sara could not advance. He stared in fear at the strange mist as it rose upward in a snaking path, then his eyes bulged open as he saw it enter directly into Elizabeth’s nostrils. She had to have noticed it too, she was as smart as Jake if not smarter, so he couldn’t understand why she just stood there, leaning in with some kind of euphoric expression on her face.
“Elizabeth,” he called, “step back, we don’t know what’s in that thing.” Her head slowly turned to him, the goofy expression never leaving her face. Her eyes rested on him yet seemed not to see him. He was about to ask again when her voice oozed out of her barely parted mouth.
“Waaaaaaaaaaht?”
Jake had to suppress the urge to laugh.
Sara didn’t seem to get it, peeking over Jake’s shoulder as he covered his mouth, trying hard not to let the laughter bellow out. Sara looked at him, then to Elizabeth’s impossibly goofy expression, confused about all of it. Her eyes then dropped down to the pile of bright liquid at Elizabeth’s feet, and something seemed to click.
“It can’t be…”
But it was difficult to deny, looking at Elizabeth, and considering what caused her odd, lethargic behavior. Dante’s voice came into Jake’s mind, uttering one of his odd predictions that couldn’t have been true, yet somehow was. There’s someone at the top creating hippies.
Chapter 9
Jake could contain himself no longer and he fell to his side, removing his hand from his mouth and allowing the laughter to burst forth. He was aware that time was of the essence, and that at any moment the Sisters could come, but it was too hard to resist. The proper and refined Elizabeth reduced to, as Dante would say, a lazy hippy!
The girl leaned in for a moment, drool running from the corner of her mouth. She asked Jake what was so funny, man, before her senses came back. Her eyes bulged open and she became aware of the slobber running down her chin, which she quickly wiped with her sleeve. She scowled, her face ablaze, then yelled at Jake to stop laughing, which only set him off again.
As the girls stood over Jake and exchanged glances of confusion, he came to the realization that they were still on a time crunch. He stood up, wiped a tear from his eye, and turned to them, and the soft features of confusion hardened into knowing looks. They knew the significance of the fruit now and they had to take action before the government found out they knew. With no time to lose, Jake jumped to the first platform and landed hard. He turned to his comrades who looked bewildered. “We have to get to the training hall – quick.”
The training hall wasn’t far, and soon Jake and company were rushing through the dark tunnel once again, his chest heaving and his throat sore from taking in too much night air. He wasn’t sure if Lennon would be there, but it was the most likely scenario. They didn’t know where he lived, but he had to train excessively to be at the level of ability that he was.
Jake exited the tunnel, stumbling through the rough grass. The area was open, but with the shadows of the wall creeping to one side. Just outside of reach of those shadows stood Lennon, concentrating his energy and unleashing it into the sky. He had such
a look of concentration on his face that Jake was sure he didn’t hear the three youths stumble into his space. His concentration and focus were captivating, and Jake’s mad dash slowed to a hypnotic walk as he watched him. Sara and Elizabeth seemed equally transfixed behind him.
Lennon let out a few more gigantic bursts of energy, roaring as he did, then dropped his pulsating arms to his side, nearly collapsing to his knees. As he panted, he turned his tired eyes to the three people studying him. He was so exhausted that it seemed to take effort for him to even smile.
“Hello, how can I help you at this late hour?”
“It’s—” Jake stopped abruptly and turned his head. How was he supposed to phrase something like this? Lennon was understanding, sure, but if he went and shattered his entire view of his government, he didn’t know how he’d react. His mind worked overtime and he thought he came up with something sensitive yet still to the point, so he looked back at Lennon, who seemed as patient as ever. “How much do you know about the average citizen here?” he asked.
“Average citizen? What’s this about?” Lennon placed a hand on his chin and swayed to one side. “That’s right, you’re kind of a history buff aren’t you? Must be a pretty big one, considering that this couldn’t wait until the morning. To answer your question, our average citizen is typically a farmer, he goes into the fields voluntarily and gathers food.”
“The most notable of which is?” Elizabeth said, stepping forward so she was next to Jake. Lennon stood up straight as she approached, likely because he thought this was Jake’s line of inquiry, but he answered her all the same.
“Most notably would be nuef, but I don’t see—”
“And I assume warrior-class citizens aren’t allowed to eat it?” Elizabeth said.
“No,” Lennon replied, an eyebrow raised.
“Have you ever considered why that might be?”
Lennon pursed his lips and eyed Elizabeth and Jake suspiciously. What had initially begun as an explanation was now almost an interrogation. Jake didn’t like her direct questioning, but Elizabeth’s firmness seemed to hit its mark. He could see that Lennon was thinking things over seriously, and they might be able to convince him.
“It’s mostly just an old rule, something dating from antiquity, so I don’t know why specifically. Maybe it makes you fat or something.”
“Only the general populous isn’t suffering from any kind of obesity epidemic,” Jake broke in, “and I’m willing to bet that consumption for the lower classes is somehow mandatory, isn’t it?”
“Well, yeah, but I wouldn’t say it’s mandatory. People are given a food ration, which contains all the core nutrients. We only farm so much food, so it usually rotates in cycles—”
“But this nuef is always included, correct?” Elizabeth finished for him. Lennon looked up and blinked, then crossed his arms.
“What’s this all about?” he asked.
It was a question Jake wasn’t sure he could answer. What was this all about? They suspected that the government was keeping a majority of its population purposefully ignorant by forcing them to digest a cognition-deteriorating drug? But to what end? Jake thought it had something to do with the Malice, but they only just showed up, and this society had to have had this practice for centuries.
“We’re not sure about the details but…”
“I think I can infer,” Lennon said, taking a heavy step forward. His features were rough, and Jake readied himself for an attack.
“The Grand Priest is the supreme authority around here and he’s been very patient with you, but if he finds out you’ve been snooping around – especially after he’s expressly forbidden it – he’s not going to be happy. As it is, your friend Dante might be out within a few days and you can be on your way safe and sound, but if he catches wind of this—”
“We won’t abandon you!” Sara shouted, her voice so firm that it caused even the powerful Lennon to jump. He fixed his wide eyes on her for a moment, as if she were some sort of rabid animal, then shook his head.
“There’s nothing to protect. Things aren’t perfect but—”
“That monster will be coming tomorrow,” Sara said, her eyes locking on Lennon and never blinking. “It murders your citizens, and they can’t do anything because they’re on this strange drug. Even though they’re helpless, the Grand Priest forbids you from fighting that thing. It’s perverse. It’s—” She clenched her fists and jerked away from him, as if looking at someone who could allow such an atrocity was sickening.
Lennon stared into the space Sara occupied but seemed to look past her. It looked like his mind was firing overtime, and so was Jake’s. He’d wondered why they’d give that drug to the populace, and Sara seemed to know the answer: to keep them passive, so that they had no ability to fight against the creature and perhaps the government itself. That begged the question why? Some deep-seated tradition? Did loyalty to the past really go that far?
“I’m not interested in a revolution if that’s what you’re talking about,” Lennon mumbled. Jake’s heart sank, and he was concerned about being arrested then and there, but Lennon looked up with blazing eyes. “However, I’m not just going to sit back and allow citizens to be killed.” He turned to Sara, commanding. “Tomorrow? You’re sure?”
She nodded.
“Then we’ll have to find a way to get your comrade out of prison quickly.”
Sara shook her head, a sad smile creeping up her face. “That won’t be necessary. I’m sure he’ll break out on his own.”
Lennon stopped for only a moment, looking at Sara as if she were crazy, but then he grinned. “Yeah, I doubt if anything can keep him contained for long. Which means…”
“We’ll have to find a way to keep the Sisters and those robed gentlemen occupied,” Elizabeth said.
“Dante will have that covered,” Sara said simply. Jake turned to her, an eyebrow raised, but she looked back the same way. “When he breaks out of prison, I mean.”
“Right,” Lennon said. “I can try to ensure that everyone goes to try to stop him.”
“That’ll leave us alone with the monster, at least temporarily,” Jake said, as the image of the black dragon roaring and stalking the island came into his mind. He wasn’t sure how he, Sara, and Elizabeth were supposed to fend off that giant thing.
“Don’t worry,” Lennon said, smacking Jake on the shoulder and breaking him out of his anxious reverie. “I’m sure that between Dante and I, we’ll be able to get away and back you guys up. You’ll just have to hold out for a little while.”
“Thank you, Lennon,” Sara said, “it takes a lot of courage to help those in need, especially when it isn’t the most convenient for you. I understand that we’re putting you in a difficult position.”
“They put me in a difficult position every day,” Lennon mumbled, looking into the distance. Jake thought back to the poor treatment he received from those around him – the Grand Priest, the Sisters, and all because he was a male in a position that should be held by female. He imagined that Lennon didn’t have much to lose, considering he was treated poorly despite the fact that he tried so hard to gain their acceptance. Jake’s mind briefly shifted to the image of a certain orange-haired boy, and the thought that he might be in a similar position occurred to him briefly, but he shook his head.
“No way, Dante’s just a prick,” he mumbled.
***
There was shuffling outside the door and Dante opened his eyes, grinning fiercely. “Feeding time…” he mumbled.
Every time those bastards fed him he tried to break out. He figured he’d been at this for maybe two days based on the number of attempts, but he was starting to wear out the guards. At first they only sent two: Dante handled them quickly. Then they sent three for a while, but soon that went up to four, and one more was added each time. Dante figured it was because they were getting tired and needed backup, which meant he was whittling them down bit by bit.
The flickering light emanating from the h
allway was blocked out, and Dante thought he could make out maybe seven pairs of feet. He rose to a stand, the grin spreading across his face more and more. Come on fuckers, open it.
Three light knocks on the door. “Lunch, prisoner…” the guard called weakly from the other side, then cracked the door open. Dante didn’t want to wait for the bastard to inch it open, and just kicked the damn thing all the way through. The seven guards stood wide-eyed as they took in his mad expression. One of the guard’s hand still floated over where the door handle just was, seemingly not yet realizing it was gone.
“Fuck yoooooooouuu!” Dante shouted, and kicked him in the chest. He knew he was at a disadvantage against seven – well, now six – guys, especially since he was handcuffed, but if they were this exhausted, it shouldn’t be too hard. Two of them rushed toward him, their arms raised, and he kicked them both, then quickly rolled as air pierced the wall behind him. Four left, all standing as far away as they possibly could, pointing their shaking hands at him. Dante dropped down and giggled, causing the one in the rear to bolt for the door. His comrades turned and called for him to stop, and Dante took advantage of the distraction and closed the gap.
He had two unconscious before the third even turned around, and when he took in Dante, it was already too late: he took a full kick to the temple that knocked him out cold. He fell at Dante’s side, and the boy hobbled toward the last guard, who was just then desperately trying to unlock the steel door, finding it difficult to fit the key into the lock because of his shaking hands. Once he heard the sound of his comrade’s bodies hitting the floor he turned, then his face went white and his mouth stretched wide with horror. He turned back to the door and desperately tried to turn the key in the lock. Dante took large deliberate steps toward him. With each footfall, he saw the man’s body sink lower and lower. Finally, he got the key in and unlocked it, then pushed the door open. Not wanting to lose the bastard, Dante picked up the pace, but was too late. The guy slammed the door shut. Dante couldn’t stop his momentum in time and plowed right into it.
