by Joe Fowler
“What will happen to us? Where will we go?”
“I am too young to have those answers. Remember, you are older than I am.” I was still amazed at how everyone seemed to forget that. “Arria will be making those kind of decisions. The good news is that I am sure she will allow you to go wherever your newbie is assigned. I told her you did this out of love and you may want to remind her of that if you get the chance. I know how you must feel about the old ones, especially the council members. Arria is a really sweet, wonderful person though.”
“I hope you are right. Lucy means the world to me. I still can’t believe Tristan is dead.”
I let him come to terms with things. We didn’t feel the need to speak further during our trek to Arria’s suite. I figured Arria to be ready by now but I wasn’t going to rush.
My thoughts turned to Sweetie. I smiled when I saw her mousy appearance in my mind. She meant so much to me. I hated that she wasn’t near but I knew she was in the safest hands possible. I knew of Ares devotion to Sweetie. Even though it would pain me, I knew Sweetie belonged with him. The irony of her meaning so much to the only two in existence with my gift wasn’t lost on me.
Eventually, Arria’s suite came into view. These gray corridors grew old quickly. I made a gesture for Bear to stay put before I entered the room. I immediately saw Feng and Lorac as they sat waiting on Arria. I motioned for Bear to follow as I went through the door.
Lorac went into Bear’s mind. As with my first encounter with Bear, he was making a poor attempt at hiding his thoughts. Some vampires never became proficient at it. It didn’t take long for Lorac to understand the reason behind Bear’s presence.
“Well, at least you came forward. It may be the only thing that saved you. With the chaos of the time, your offense can be worked with leniently.” Lorac said.
“What did he do?” Feng asked.
“He fell in love with a local human. He was part of the supply runs. He and a few others turned humans. The new vampires are willing to run the gauntlet and earn their place. This is Bear, he approached Titan to ask for help.” Lorac replied.
“Titan, what is your assessment? Tell me what you’ve seen from Bear and tell me of his motives.” Feng instructed. I knew this had multiple purposes for Feng.
“Bear is good natured. This is his only step outside the rules. He understood what his punishment might mean. He was willing to face death so his new vampire could have a life without fear. His motives for turning the woman and for his coming forward revolve around his love for her. It is hard for me to fault that. The other two employees are much the same as Bear though I haven’t met them to know for sure.” I answered the request as best I could.
“Lorac, do you agree with Titan?” Feng asked.
“As far as Bear is concerned, yes. I would need to actually meet the other two before giving them a thumbs up.” Lorac stated.
Feng grew quiet. He looked Bear over. It was easy to sense Bear’s discomfort. I wanted to smile as thoughts of Feng’s council chamber came to mind. I knew what it was like to be on that end of Feng’s stare.
“What do you hope to accomplish, Bear? How would you like this to turn out?” Feng asked.
Bear swallowed hard and took a deep breath trying to fight his nervousness.
“The best outcome would have Lucy, the woman I turned, join an old ones camp. If possible I would like to be hired by that old one so I could be near to her. Titan informed me of Tristan’s death. I know I will need to find a new home now.” He stammered.
“That can be arranged. You do realize that you will not be able to speak with her or see her during her time as a fighter, right? That kind of contact is forbidden.” Feng stated.
“I understand. It is my hope that she will win her freedom and work beside me. If I am working for the same old one, I can keep up with how she does in the arena.” Bear was calming down. He was becoming hopeful now.
Arria entered the room then. She looked around and quickly caught up. She knew Feng and Lorac would have been brought up to date and may have their verdict already in mind.
“Since all of Tristan’s employees are now needing placement, I will arrange yours to suit our needs. You can return to your room for now, Bear. We will be bringing you and many others to my facility to help sort through the mess that was created last night. I will give them the instructions on how to handle your case as well as the other two. As a matter of convenience, I would like you and these others to bring your new ones into this facility today. It will help expedite things.” Feng instructed.
“I will.” Bear bowed and left the room.
“I would have notified you guys immediately but we had more pressing matters.” I told them.
“It worked out well.” Lorac said, absentmindedly.
We made our preparations to leave.
We occupied the four seats in the luxury section. Arria and I sat facing Lorac and Feng as we flew to Feng’s facility. Arria and I had our hands linked between us. We both liked the contact. Our conversation was turning toward the next plan for stopping the fights.
“We will wait until Titan is in place and the next stage is in motion before we bring in Alexander.” Feng stated.
“At least he is a decent sort. He has some issues but he isn’t a backstabber. He will tell you outright how he feels. I guess anyone would be better than Cheng though.” Lorac said.
“The council is getting back to the way it should be now.” Arria added.
Feng smiled.
“Maybe we should limit Titan’s access to the council. It seems we lose members when he is around.” Feng teased. Lorac liked the joke. Arria gave Feng a fake serious look which made Lorac laugh harder.
“I am wishing I had known just how intelligent Ghost was when he was a member of my team. I would have made an effort to keep him. Titan told me but I shrugged it off thinking he was overestimating Ghost’s intellect.” Arria commented.
“I’ve never seen a mind that could compare.” Lorac said, simply. The rest of us knew the import of such a statement. None have seen into the number of minds that Lorac had.
“I am wondering if I can take him with me. I was going to ask about it.” I wanted to see if Lorac would agree.
We all looked to Lorac. I could see the discomfort that idea brought. Ghost was too valuable of a resource for Lorac to lose. I couldn’t see into Lorac’s mind but I could guess at his thoughts. He would know I would try to protect Ghost at all cost. The question was whether or not I would be able to accomplish it.
“I will think about it. It may come down to Ghost himself. If he sees the benefits as outweighing the risks, I will reluctantly go along with it.” Lorac hesitated before resuming. “He will understand the need for calmer surroundings. He will be able to think better if he is in a safe place.”
“While that is true, Ghost likes being in the middle of things. It will be a tough choice for him. My biggest question is about who I will take with me besides him. Ghost mentioned I would need some employees. While I know I have quite a few choices with eleven old ones dying, I hope some of them will be reliable and trustworthy.” An idea began forming in my head. I needed a moment to think. “Let me have a minute, please.”
I caught a smile from Feng. Arria was accustomed to this from me. She knew I sometimes needed a little extra time. We couldn’t all be Ghost.
“One thing first, what happens to the existing facilities when its old one dies?” I asked.
“It is sold to an old one who has the money to start his own team. Where are you going with this?” Lorac asked. I was about to answer when Feng beat me to it.
“That is a good idea. It would be a clear way of introducing you to other old ones as a genuine old one. How could they doubt?” Feng mused.
“Wait, are we saying Titan will be given one of these facilities to use as his own?” Arria asked.
“Why not? We can easily say he paid us the money. We can walk him through the processes better this way. Plus, and yo
u will like this part Arria, it will be much safer for him.” Feng was warming to this idea by the second. “We can provide the plane he will need as well as the contacts for everything else.”
“If it will be safer then I’m all for it.” Arria was smiling. I felt my own smile spreading in answer.
“There is a great deal we will have to arrange for this to work.” Lorac looked at me then around to Feng. He smiled shrewdly. “Maybe some of this should be said without Titan present. He is becoming an unofficial member of the council but some of this should be for true council members only.”
Feng saw the glint in Lorac’s eyes. He smiled in anticipation before nodding to me. I knew what the nod meant. I stood and with a smile for Arria, left for the rear of the plane.
My friends were laughing when I entered their section.
“Hey! You joining us?” Speedy asked.
“Yep. They kicked me out so they could talk shop.” I said, with a smile.
“Can you explain some of those cryptic comments yet?” Jade asked. She had been frustrated more than the others.
“Yes, mostly.” I sat in one of the seats and the rest of them gathered closely to hear. Well, Blur didn’t but I could tell he was interested. “We were setting up Cheng. We faked a break up between me and Arria. It was actually funny in a way. Every old one knew the break up wasn’t real. I was acting like I was turning toward the bad side and everyone knew that was fake too. We knew that Cheng would take the opportunity to try and kill me, which he did. What Cheng didn’t know was that I had an illusion cast since we left Feng’s place several days ago.”
“What was the illusion?” Apollo asked.
“Feng and Lorac couldn’t be seen by anyone but me. I made it to where it would be like they weren’t there. It was a constant strain on me but it wasn’t bad.”
“Hold on, they were there the whole time?” Venus asked.
“They were actually sitting back here with you guys on the trip to Tristan’s facility.” I told them. I was smiling. They were shocked. I could see more than one of them going back over the conversations they shared during that trip.
“Why? How could that help?” Jade asked.
“It gave them free reign to go wherever they wanted without anyone knowing. They heard all the conspiring and the plans that were made. When Cheng made his move, Feng gave me the signal to drop my illusion. Feng and Lorac killed the old ones that were there before those old ones fully understood what happened.”
“Wow! How many old ones died?” Loki asked.
“In all, eleven. Some of the deaths came later at the after party. Arria, Alethea, and Dmitriy joined with Feng and Lorac. Together they killed the rest of the conspirators.” I paused while they absorbed the information. “We will still have to stop the illegal fights. This wasn’t about that. This whole ruse was because we couldn’t even discuss a plan to stop the fights with Cheng present. He would have warned everyone of what we were planning.”
“So what happens now? How will you guys stop the fights?” Apollo asked.
“We are working on it. Ghost is helping the council plan things.” I began. I noticed Blur’s smirk. I really wanted to learn his story. “I have thought to try and include some of you but I don’t think we will be able to use you.”
“Why not? You know we’ll help. It would give us a break from the monotony of this job.” Speedy said. I could tell he wanted a change, if only for some excitement.
“Because you are still fresh in everyone’s mind. I am the only one who can be of help to Titan.” Blur announced. While he was right, we were all too shocked to respond. “No one would remember me. If they did, they still wouldn’t link me to what they are planning.”
How would Blur know what we were planning? What the hell was going on? I looked at him in frustration. He smiled.
“I refused to let my mind be shown like Ghost did. From what I’ve seen, he is like me.” Blur explained. It wasn’t a great explanation but it was enough.
“If you are like Ghost, we could really use you. I wouldn’t be able to guarantee your safety. I guess you would already know that though.” I was still too shocked at this turn of events.
Blur might say three words a month on a normal basis. Now he was explaining himself? The memories of the spying wars during my gauntlet days came back in force. Is he trustworthy?
“I know. Either you will trust me or not. I’m not letting anyone into my head though.” He snorted. “As for the safety thing, I am getting tired of playing it safe.”
He was answering my unspoken questions like Ghost does. Maybe he is comparable. We would find out.
I led the guys back to Feng’s employee section after we had the team of fighters situated. They settled back into the rooms they were in before we left. Blur and I walked the purple hallways to the council chamber.
“What did Arria say when you told her?” Blur asked as we walked.
“Mostly, she was happy to finally have an answer. She had wondered about you for some time. She carried the thought of you as being untrustworthy at first. She settled for believing you were just more of a quiet type. Lorac was the happiest to hear of you. It means we won’t be asking Ghost to accompany me. It would have been an added strain to carry my illusion for the both of us.”
“Are you still going with the not quite rich enough scenario?” Blur shocked me with that one.
“Not likely. It had been the plan but we are leaning toward me taking over one of the newly empty facilities.” I explained.
Blur took this in stride. He walked with his head down and didn’t speak again until we reached the gold doors. The guard on the left held up his hand as I was about to speak.
“Is this Blur?” He asked me.
I nodded for my answer.
The guard opened the door and motioned us in. The chamber was having less effect on me now. Even seeing the council in their seats didn’t faze me this time. Cheng’s empty seat was a welcome sight. I led Blur to where Ghost already stood. He was at the normal twenty foot distance Feng preferred.
Ghost and Blur had a short staring contest before breaking out in smiles. I could see these two becoming best of friends.
“Blur, thank you for finally making your talents known.” Arria teased. “You picked a good time. We are thankful for Ghost but having another great mind can only help.”
Blur smiled and nodded. His fallback would always be silence, it seemed.
“Have you gone over the idea of me taking over one of the facilities?” I asked Ghost.
“Yes. It has merit but could be more complicated. It will take more maneuvering. The old ones who are breaking the rules would do most of the work with the not quite rich enough plan. I can see this new plan would be a bit safer for you but it is harder to pull off.” Ghost replied.
“My vote is for the safer plan, whichever one that may be. I only went along with the last plan because I knew Feng and Lorac would protect Titan. We know the identities of thirteen of the old ones who are participating in these illegal events. We could round these up as a warning to the rest. It wouldn’t be as good but it would also not endanger Titan. If I’m not convinced Titan will survive, I will not go along with any plan.” Arria swore.
“We understand. To tell you the truth, I’m growing fond of having Titan around. He certainly does liven things up.” Feng said, laughing. The other council members smiled in agreement.
“I hate some of you missed Titan’s fight with Gronk. I’m sure that one will be spoken of for some time.” Dmitriy told them.
Blur looked at me with his eyebrows raised. He gave a light shake of the head and looked back to Feng.
“I only wished we could have fought longer. That was the most fun I’ve had in a while.” I admitted.
“Gronk felt the same way. He was impressed with Titan. He made it clear that he had never been hit that hard before.” Alethea shared.
While it made me feel good to hear that, it also made me nervous. Some of the counc
il members, even the good ones, were still nervous where I was concerned. Hearing of how powerful I was already becoming would bring their fears back to the forefront of their minds.
“I’m glad Titan is on our side. His talents are becoming indispensable.” Lorac stated.
“We will need a second in command for Titan. Blur isn’t old enough to hold that high of a title. If we can’t find a suitable one, Blur would need an illusion as well.” Ghost announced. He and Blur were keeping their focus while the rest of us talked of lesser things.
“It would be better if I’m not his second. I can go unnoticed that way.” Blur decreed.
“I can see why, but we will need you to be able to get to Titan easily. Titan is smart but will need help from time to time.” Ghost countered.
“I would actually suggest a buyable second. If the other old ones think they have inside information, they will be more maneuverable.” Blur said, smiling.
“I like the way you’re thinking! We could use him for our advantage.” Ghost became excited.
I mostly stood back and watched the two of them going through the details of what was best for our plan. The council did the same. The rest of us didn’t bother to add our thoughts since we could see these two brainiacs would have already considered everything pertinent. Feng or another council member would answer a technical question on how something was normally handled. I continued to stand there.
After some time of this, I looked to Arria. She was watching and listening closely. I studied her face. It made the time go by more pleasantly. I kept listening close enough that I wouldn’t miss anything important but I was tired of trying to fully keep up.
Arria noticed my stare and smiled.
“You need to be paying more attention. This concerns your safety.” She chided.
I nodded. With a last smile to her, I turned back to the planning.
“…the next event. The sooner he is announced publicly, the better.” Blur was saying.
“Would that be possible? Can Titan, well Darius, be ready for announcing? Will he have to wait until he takes over a facility or can it be announced that he has one and be allowed into the next event?” Ghost asked Feng.
