Not too long ago, she had been a proud member of the organization. However, during the Stiftung Crisis she had fled following the deaths of her comrades at the hands of the brutish Nephilim. She didn’t want to end up cooked alive like Shinigami, or stomped into chunks of ice like Hera. She’d be lying if she said she felt any real kinship with them; they were simply (former) associates of hers. Still, their deaths had thoroughly demoralized her and she ran for it. Desertion was a capital offense within Zero Grade, looked down on even worse than outright betrayal as Belial had committed. She knew as soon as she ran that her life was forfeit.
She had spent the past several months moving from place to place in an attempt to avoid being caught. She made sure to keep a low profile, not getting involved in any incidents that might occur.
But sentimentality had finally gotten the best of her. She returned to Zero Grade’s castle in the Murnau Islands to retrieve a few keepsakes she had brought with her from the previous universe. Fortunately, the place had only been used by her, Belial, Shinigami and Hera. With the rest of them dead, this was her opportunity to get in and out unnoticed. Still, it was better not to dawdle.
“What are you doing here?”
She whirled around to see a figure at the top of the staircase, standing in the doorway. Despite the low lighting provided by the torches on the walls, she instinctively knew who it was. She would never forget him as long as she lived. “Arcturus!”
The stunningly handsome young man, with his short dark hair which reached down to the nape of his neck, and chiseled body, descended the staircase. He wore an expensive cherry-red shirt, stylish black jacket and matching pants. She immediately ran and embraced him. They exchanged passionate kisses for a full minute before he got to the business at hand. “You shouldn’t have come back here.”
She remembered her cowardice and looked away, ashamed. “I-I’m sorry. I just wanted to get a few things.”
Arcturus said, “Everyone in the organization has standing orders to either kill you on sight or drag you before the Flawless Few so they can do it themselves.”
“I know,” she said sadly. “But I’m so glad it was you who found me. You would never turn me over to them. Wait…why are you here? We were the only ones who ever used this place.”
Still holding her, he explained, “After the rest of your team died, I decided to help myself to the castle.”
She looked around the empty basement. “Yes, I suppose we won’t be needing it anymore.” An urgent thought suddenly occurred to her. “Come with me. We don’t need Zero Grade. We can have the life we’ve always wanted.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. My work with the organization isn’t done yet. I need to stick with them for a little bit longer.”
She grasped onto the hope that was being offered. “So, then…soon? We can be together then?”
He reached in and kissed her deeply. Because of this, she didn’t notice the strange sensation in her chest at first. When he pulled back, however, she saw the blade piercing her body. Arcturus had conjured a sword right through her heart. She tried to cry out, Why? but only blood emerged from her mouth.
He looked at her with intense sadness. “I told you, you shouldn’t have come here. They’re watching the place. If I let you leave here, they’ll kill me as well.”
* * *
Arcturus watched as Quandisa dropped to the floor. He had known his best hope of killing her would be destroying her heart, the most vulnerable part of a god’s body. And even though she was a woman, she was still a full-fledged god. She would have put up quite the fight if he hadn’t struck quickly.
She stared up at him eyes full of shock. Under normal circumstances, he would rather have been the one to die. However, with such a vital undertaking ahead of him, he couldn’t afford to take any chances. Zero Grade had to be appeased for the time being.
Soon, though, they wouldn’t matter anymore. Once he got what he wanted, everything would be made right again. “Don’t worry,” he said to the lifeless corpse of his lover. “I’ll bring you back soon. Once I have that…”
* * *
Ev arrived at his least-favorite class—Conjuring—dreading what would soon take place. That was because he sucked at the skill. Everyone else around him could create kick-ass weapons. Ev, however couldn’t. The only reason he had gotten this far was because his conjuring skill technically existed. He could create ashtrays, cups and crude utensils. That had carried him to this point. Unfortunately, if he didn’t create a functional weapon or defensive item by the time of the final exam, he would flunk the class. Some god he would make then.
He took his seat in the middle of the room. The professor soon entered. Brandon Strong had been the one to save Ev from attacks by Zero Grade when this all began and invited him to enroll at the Academy, acknowledging his latent god-potential. Nevertheless, he, too, was probably dreading Ev’s performance today.
Brandon sat behind his desk. “As you all know, today is midterms. Those who pass receive a qualifying grade and don’t have to take the class any further. Those who fail…well, I’ll have the dubious honor of teaching you again after the break.” Ev’s friends had all taken this class last year and passed with relative ease. Ev himself had held off on taking it, realizing his own lack of talent. Now, however, he couldn’t avoid it any longer.
Brandon continued. “I will now call you up to the front of the class in alphabetical order.”
The first two students called up managed to conjure impressive-looking weapons that functioned perfectly. Unfortunately, being a Bannen, it wasn’t long before he got called up. He cursed his last name for coming so soon in the alphabet. Not that it mattered, though; he knew his chances for pulling this off were slim.
“All right, Ev,” Brandon said. “I trust you’ve been practicing?”
“Yes, sir.” He neglected to mention the fact his practice hadn’t amounted to much.
“Well, then, let’s see what you can do.”
Ev held out his hands. He closed his eyes and visualized a sharp sword materializing in his hands. At first nothing happened, and it looked like it would be another failure. Gradually, though, something began to appear in his grip. There was a handle at first, followed by a guard and then a blade appeared.
He rejoiced. “Yes! I did it! I…”
His revelry was cut short, however, when he noticed the blade was warped and wobbly. Somehow he had made it out of a rubber-like material. He just stared at it in disbelief. Another failure, after all.
The class got a good laugh out of this. Brandon simply shook his head and wrote something down in his notebook. Something negative, no doubt. “Looks like I’ll be seeing you again after the break, Ev.”
Ev returned to his seat, dejected. How was he supposed to become a god if he couldn’t do something as simple as conjuring?
After class, Maya met him in the hall. “How’d it go? Did you pass?”
He sighed. “’fraid not.”
She hugged him. “Cheer up. You’ll get it. You just need to keep at it.”
He looked away. “But what if I don’t get it? What if I never get it?”
She forced him to look her in the eyes. “You can’t think like that. You, Ev Bannen, are going to get it. Tell me you’re going to get it.”
He said weakly, “I’m going to get it.”
“Again.”
“I’m going to get it.”
“Louder.”
“I’m going to get it!”
Everyone in the hall turned to look at him. Maya seemed satisfied. “Well, you made a fool of yourself, but at least you got the point.”
“You’re the one who made me do it.”
She smiled. “Let’s not argue who made who do what. We’re going to your house tomorrow, and we need to make sure we’re prepared. Do you have everything you need?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty well packed.”
“Me, too. Remember—we leave in the morning. You want me to come to your dorm and g
et you?”
“Nah, I think I’ll be OK.”
“Good. Be at the hangar by eight.”
Well, he might still have had problems, but at least he wasn’t depressed by them at the moment. Maya had succeeded in cheering him up.
Chapter II
The following morning, Ev met Maya in the hangar. The cavernous room was primarily used for storage, but every so often they cleared the floor to make room for airplanes which the faculty members created using their advanced conjuring skills.
Brandon and Freya were just finishing creating a large passenger plane when Ev arrived. It was an amazing thing to see in action. The various pieces of the massive vehicle simply materialized out of thin air, like reverse-disintegration.
As usual, once it was completed, Brandon and Freya dropped to their knees, exhausted. Even for veteran gods, the process was taxing. They always recovered fairly quickly, though.
When Brandon saw Ev and Maya, he made a grand gesture to the newly-created plane and said, “All aboard for Morovia.” Throughout the day the gods would be creating various planes and taking students to each continent where they would then make separate arrangements to go wherever they were headed. This particular plane would be going to Ev’s homeland, the crescent-shaped continent Morovia, home of the great metropolis Seraphim City.
“Thanks a bunch, Professor,” Ev said. He then added, “Professors,” remembering to recognize Freya’s contribution as well.
Freya got back to her feet. “Our pleasure, Ev. I’m just glad we don’t do this every day.” Usually the Academy just had to ferry one or two students to and from Mt. Orleia. In such cases, they employed small sleighs pulled by otherworldly tigers Freya summoned from her chest. Ev still had no idea where those cats came from.
“Good—I’m not too late.”
Ev and Maya turned. Jaysin was standing there. “What are you doing here?” Ev asked him. “Your plane doesn’t leave for another hour.” Jaysin was going back to his homeland of Chrichton.
“Just wanted t’say goodbye.”
Ev rolled his eyes. “Cut the drama. We’ll only be gone a week.”
Jaysin extended his hand. “Still…think I’ll miss ya, mate.”
Ev shook his friend’s hand. “Well…as much as I hate to admit it, I’ll miss you, too. Probably.”
“Get a room, you two,” Maya laughed.
“Hey, hey, hey—watch it, missy. In case you’ve forgotten, I know your weakness. You. Have. A. Boyfriend.”
She turned red and whirled away from Jaysin. “S-Shut up.”
“Hey, no worries. I didn’t mean nothing by it. Just having a poke at my friends, that’s all.”
Ev laughed. “You’re all heart, Jaysin.”
Jaysin shrugged. “I try.”
From behind them, Brandon coughed. “Sorry to interrupt, but everyone else has finished boarding the plane.”
“Looks like it’s time to go,” Ev said.
“Take care, Ev,” Jaysin replied.
“You, too.”
Jaysin then added, “You take care as well, Maya.”
Without turning around, she said, “Same to you, Jaysin.”
* * *
They boarded the plane, and by the afternoon, they had arrived at Seraphim City International Airport. Ev couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time he had been at a major airport. That was in Stiftung. Belial had just unleashed the Nephilim into the city, and the students, who were on a field trip, had to fight their way back to the airport in order to get on their plane and escape. Unfortunately, they had to overtake another plane—also attempting to escape—which ended up being destroyed by a Nephilim. At the time, Brandon and Freya justified the sacrifice by saying they had to get back to the Academy to summon reinforcements to fight the angelic giants. On a purely logical level, Ev agreed, but that incident still haunted him. Seeing all those people go up in flames only a few feet away was something he would never forget. It seemed it was his fate to take part in the deaths of others.
“Ev? You OK?”
He snapped out of it and looked around. They were walking through the terminal, and Maya was attempting to talk to him. “Yeah. Sorry. I was just remembering our escape from Stiftung. Oh, wait—you weren’t with us.” In fact, Maya had gone over to Belial’s side after shooting her friends with arrows. They had had to flee Stiftung without her.
“No,” she said. “I guess I wasn’t.” She went quiet. She deeply regretted her actions, but no amount of apologizing would ever undo them. Both of them simply had to live with the things they’d done.
He took her hand. “It’s OK. As long as we’re here for each other, we can keep moving forward.”
“Thank you, Ev.”
They said their good-byes to Brandon and Freya and headed to another terminal. From there, they would catch another plane to another airport further to the south.
* * *
After another hour of flight, their plane landed in Grantz Municipal Airport about forty-five minutes outside Ev’s hometown of Upton. They took a cab the rest of the way, and before long they were in Upton.
“Nice place,” Maya said.
“Yep,” Ev said. “10,000 people, one police station, two fire stations, one high school.”
The cab drove them through town, up Main Street, past a collection of businesses that comprised downtown Upton. Here and there were parks with walking trails, nice-looking playground equipment and dilapidated buildings—a study in contrasts. Some of the tax money was spent well, and some of it wasn’t.
They went past Upton Middle School, which was three large white buildings built side-by-side. Each building housed a different grade. One of Ev’s few fond memories of growing up was attending here. He had loved school, mostly because he didn’t have to fear his father during the day.
Behind the middle school they entered a neighborhood. It was strictly a middle-class residential area, not too rich and not too poor. The Bannen family probably would have made more money if Ev’s father had let his wife work full-time. But no, he (violently) insisted the bulk of her life be dedicated to serving him.
They came to a brick one-story house at the end of the block with a two-car garage. As it was when Ev had grown up here, nothing about it stood out at all. The lawn was well-maintained by a man Ev’s mother periodically hired. You’d never know this house had once been the site of constant fear and, ultimately, a gruesome death.
Ev paid the driver and they strolled up to the house. He rang the doorbell. A middle-aged woman with fading brown hair answered. “Ev! It’s so good to see you again!”
They hugged. “It’s good to see you, too, Mom.”
“Come inside,” she said to the two of them.
When his mother had shut the door behind them, Ev said, “Mom, I want you to meet a…uh…special friend of mine. This is Maya Brünhart. Maya, this is Anni Bannen.”
The two women shook hands. “Nice to meet you,” Maya said.
“My son has a girlfriend!” Anni exclaimed happily.
Ev was suddenly embarrassed. “Well…that’s…I guess…”
“It’s OK, Ev,” Maya said. She turned her attention back to his mother. “We’re still feeling things out.”
Anni nodded. “I understand. It was the same way with…” Her mood abruptly darkened. She was going to say, It was the same way with Dom and me. But that would have been a load of crap. Ev had long ago vowed never to resemble his father in any way, shape or form. “Never mind. It’s not important. Please, have a seat, you two. We have so much to talk about.”
Ev and Maya sat down on the couch in front of the TV. Anni retreated into the kitchen. Maya looked around and said, “There aren’t any pictures of your father. That’s no surprise, I guess.”
Indeed there weren’t. There were photos of Ev and his mother which varied in age. There were photos of baby Ev, middle-school Ev, high school Ev, young Anni and present-day Anni. But there were no pictures of Dom Bannen. Ev explained, “After he die
d, we burned every last scrap of his existence. He never deserved to exist in the first place.”
Anni returned from the kitchen with sodas which she offered to Ev and Maya. She then pulled up a chair and sat down in front of them. “I’m sorry my husband isn’t here to meet you, Maya, but he ran off years ago—”
“Mom,” Ev interjected. “She knows.”
“Oh.” Anni’s face was melancholy. “I’m sorry you had to be burdened with that knowledge, Maya.”
But Maya said, “It’s OK, Anni. Ev felt he could tell me because I told him my dark secret. We found one another because he both had similar experiences.”
That seemed to satisfy Ev’s mother. “Well, I won’t ask you what you’ve been through. People have a right to their privacy, after all. Still, I will never forgive myself for what happened.”
Incident 27 Page 2
