Titans: Revelation (Book 4 of the Titans Saga)

by C. J. Lloyd

  “I’ll take my chances.” She leaned on Enzo, looking up at him. “Come with me. All he’s doing is giving us a shovel to dig our own graves, then he’ll push us in. He can’t even think straight.”

  Enzo looked Elric over. “Rai, where would we go? I mean, c’mon, this is the life. We’re almost there. We’ll be able to have anything and everything we want. Elric didn’t mean it, right?”

  “I meant every word,” Elric said with a cold rasp.

  Enzo sucked his teeth.

  Rai shook her head and turned to Calamity. “Bring me back home.”

  Calamity looked up at Elric.

  He shrugged. “Let her go. I’ll be seeing her soon anyway.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this, Rai?” Calamity asked. “The world isn’t going to take you back with open arms.”

  “Now,” Rai demanded.

  Calamity bowed. “As you wish.”

  They both began to sink into the ground. Rai didn’t face Elric at all. Everyone was silent as they both vanished beneath the ground into the darkness.

  Elric had no room for remorse or any kind of emotion for that matter. With the Titan of Light now present, everything was clear. In order to crush Jennifer and the others, he had to focus and harness all of his abilities.

  “Elric, do you think that was smart, letting Rai go like that?” Enzo asked. “I mean, she’s one of us. She’s been with us from the beginning. Yeah, she can be annoying, but she’s strong.”

  “Enzo, when Calamity returns, ask her to train you with everything she knows of the Fire Titan’s powers. Once you’re finished, be prepared for war.” There was no emotion in Elric’s voice.

  The voices of his past and the memories that filled him with turmoil began to subside as he made his way into the castle. He couldn’t stop shivering. He kicked open the door to the room that was his and threw a punch that knocked a chunk of the wall out. Another blow made a crater that sent cracks through the foundation.

  “Just destroy everything,” Calamity said, rising out of the ground. “It’s not like I didn’t put a lot of hard work into this place.”

  “Did you leave her in Japan?”

  “That I did.” Calamity sat on the edge of the bed. “You should know NATO forces had the place surrounded.”

  Elric shrugged. “So, she’ll kill them all; what does it matter to me?”

  “Well, if your old friends are working with the government, chances are they’ll get called in to apprehend her.”

  He took a deep breath, looking down at his hands. His claws were changing back to his thin, pale, normal digits.

  “I just hope you know what you’re doing, Elric.” Calamity tapped her foot against the smooth glossy floor. “With the Titan of Light’s presence known, you’re going to want all the help you can get. Don’t think because she was your friend that you can walk all over her like you did the rest. She’s the one that can stop your dream.”

  A dark stream ripped from the shadows and wrapped around Calamity’s throat. Her mouth jetted open. Elric could see in the glossing orange eyes that she was furious.

  Her eyes widened. “How dare you,” she choked.

  “Never second guess me again.” He watched as her eyes burned with fury. She was lifted off the bed. When he focused back to the floor, she was released.

  Calamity smacked the floor catching her breath and cracking her neck a few times. “Oh, Elric. Elric. Elric. Elric.” She snapped her growing claws and licked her lips as she leaned forward. That’s when he realized she grew a couple of inches.

  “You are one of the most trying Dark Titans I’ve had to work with.” She rubbed her hands together. “The things I’d do to you if it weren’t…”

  Elric looked up with a scowl. “‘If it weren’t?’” he repeated, waiting for her to finish.

  She smiled. “Nothing. You really are strong, Elric. Confident, proud. I would hate to burst your bubble just yet. Besides, you have so much to accomplish,” she said, mocking him. She backed away, her head leaning to the side, her long black hair falling over her shoulders. “You have your secrets, and I have mine.”

  Calamity walked out of his room, her steps echoing down the poorly lit tunnel of blackness. He was surprised she didn’t try to rip his throat out. At least he wasn’t shivering anymore, and the voices and memories had come to a screeching halt too.

  He smacked his hands against his forehead, thinking about what he did to Rai.

  “Imagine that … She’s host to him.”

  “Him?” Elric asked his internal tenant.

  “The Deva of Light. Though I don’t think he’s a Deva at all. Above all else, he’s an infuriating entity that we need to remove from the equation altogether.”

  Elric’s eyes jutted up to the black ceiling as he fell back onto his bed. The silk sheets drank him in as he allowed the comforts of the bed to take hold of him. “That is something we can both agree on, Erebus.”

  Ships sailed in the distance, and a few jets darted overhead, but not a single attack. Three days had passed since the attack on the island, and of those three days, Elric spent two training with Calamity to control his powers, teaching his body to adapt to the overpowering dark essence of the third door. With each session, he grew stronger.

  They had just finished an entire day of training when Elric walked outside to get some fresh air on the blackened beach of the island.

  Calamity followed by his side. He could see that her eyes were held captive by the moon. “You know they’re watching us, trying to outweigh the damage of a nuclear strike on this island with the destruction you would cause if you survived?”

  Elric shrugged and plopped on the blackened sand. It was warm to the touch. He dug his fingers into the shore and the cold dampness left by the previous day’s rain met him.

  “You’ve been working hard, Elric. You need to take a break.” A dark slab raised from the ground, and she took a seat. “I know you want to slaughter them, especially the Titan of Light. Just don’t exhaust your efforts is all I’m saying.”

  Elric’s hands changed into blackened claws, jagged black spikes covering his forearm. Whenever he used an extreme amount of power, his body morphed. He stared away from them and up at the moon and the glistening of the stars. A flashing red light glinted every few seconds. Surveillance plane, maybe? “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

  Calamity glanced down from the corner of her eye. “What’s that?”

  “In my past life, I use to get lost staring at the stars. I thought if I made a wish, it would come true.”

  “Human children are something else. So innocent and so utterly gullible, don’t you think?”

  He smirked. “Don’t underestimate your prey.” He turned to her. “Isn’t that what you taught me?”

  She laughed. “And since when did you start listening to me?”

  He sneered, listening to the hiss of the crashing waves, the fizzling of foam at the shore’s sandy edge. Parts of planes and ships littered the shoreline, a few bodies too. The darkness dissolved them quickly, so they wouldn’t stink. “Can I ask you something that’s been bothering me for a long time?”

  “Elric, you know you can ask me anything.”

  Right, but what will I get for an answer, you snake? “A while back when we were underground, way before the attack on Boston, you said something like ‘We all have someone to answer to—even me.’”

  She lowered her head, chuckling to herself. “Observant, very observant. Your grandfather’s like that too.”

  Elric’s eyes rolled over to Calamity. Maybe he misheard her. “What was that?”

  She stood up, dusting some sand away. “Justice Moore, your grandfather. He’s still alive. He’s not here, though, not in this world or this universe for that matter.”

  Elric squinted. “Don’t f—”

  “Look, what I said I meant. Your grandfather’s alive. He’s pretty strong, no thanks to that thing inside you, making shifty deals. Ask it, ask your Deva.” She looked
down, crossing her arms like a mother lecturing her child. “I tried to keep it a secret, but you would’ve found out eventually.”

  “That’s impossible,” Erebus barked from within Elric. “How does she know? Justice wouldn’t break his word.”

  Elric brushed off Erebus and continued to talk to Calamity. “Is he the one you answer to then?”

  She threw her head back, laughing hysterically. “Oh, my goodness no. No. No. No. Justice is lower-echelon like me. The leader, the upper-echelon, they’re frightening,” she bellowed.

  Elric cleared his throat. He didn’t want to take her seriously, but she hit something because Erebus was all fired up inside his inner world. Elric could feel the aggression boiling up. Erebus wanted to rip her head off. “So, you’re just a boot licker then?”

  She paused mid-cackle, tilting her head to the side like she always did when taken aback by one of his comments or actions. “If I’m a boot licker, what does that make you?” She smiled devilishly. “A storm’s coming; you can smell it. How about I tell you some more another time?”

  Elric spat on the blackened sand. He got enough information to chew on and start putting things together, not to mention he would have a few words with Erebus. “Well, since we’re done for a bit, I need you to train Enzo and prepare him for the upcoming war.”

  “Okay, and what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to get Rai.”

  Calamity’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going to go to Japan? She’s probably been captured by now?”

  “I doubt it. I bet she’s lying low. She’s good like that.” Elric’s hand took on its human form again as he curled the fingers into a fist. “When I come back—”

  “I’ll tell you some more, yes,” Calamity replied with a voice that sounded relieved.

  He began sinking into the ground, thinking about what other secrets hid behind Calamity’s fiendish grin and enticing eyes. Eyes that lured you in for the kill.

  Chapter 17

  Want You Back

  Sirens pierced the air as Elric rose between a row of buildings, the same place he and Enzo initially started their search for Rai.

  A low rumbling shook the ground. No vehicle that was used to roaming these thin roadways could make such a sound. He inched around the corner and wasn’t disappointed.

  Military vehicles of all varieties forced their way through the narrow streets. Just like Calamity advised, NATO occupied the city. Tanks and heavily armored trucks with men standing on large turrets patrolled every inch of Kabukicho.

  As crazy as it seemed, it was a good sign that they didn’t have Rai yet, not to mention the place was still standing. With all this action and movement from the military, Elric wondered if she stayed.

  Elric let the darkness slip through the doorknob of a store. He crushed the knob and popped it open, slipping inside.

  Dark and ghostly silent in the store, clothes littered a few counters. Colorful dresses and gowns hung loosely off thin-framed mannequins. A line of soldiers walked by the show window, weapons tightly gripped and tucked beneath their arms.

  “Awfully quiet, Erebus …” Elric whispered.

  A ghastly grumble erupted within Elric’s chest. “She knows too much.”

  “So, what else aren’t you telling me?”

  “The only reason I didn’t tell you about Justice is because it was part of the deal. He made a promise and apparently broke it,” Erebus growled from within. “I would’ve never thought him to be a liar and a breaker of promises. Just another reason for me to despise humans.”

  Elric ducked behind the counter as a few troops flashed a light through the window. “So, what was the deal anyway?”

  Erebus answered with a guttural growl that sounded like he had a mouth full of water.

  Elric sensed the disturbance in the darkness within, conflicted and confused. He admired that Erebus was loyal enough to keep such a promise but wondered what his grandfather received in return. “Must’ve been pretty sweet if it’s keeping you quiet. Funny how much you hated my father and me, and yet you never really talked much about my grandfather. It’s funny to think I’d never ask. So, I’ll take the hit a little on that one.”

  “Power!” he roared.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Justice Moore wanted power. That’s as far as I’ll go, brat.”

  Elric chuckled. “Power.” He shook his head. “Do you know anything about these people, this group she’s talking about with these echelons?”

  Erebus hissed, releasing a burning sensation that encroached from Elric’s belly. It crawled up his throat, making his lips tingle. Elric imagined Erebus with his muscular arms covered in horns and spikes, folded over a scaly chest, sulking about the news Calamity spilled. He let a snicker slip out.

  Snapping and loud pops of gunfire echoed in the distance. Vehicles ripped down the streets, screeching around corners, as the thumping of machine gunfire made Elric’s insides shake. He could hear the cries and shouts of soldiers outside as dozens of them bolted down the road.

  An ear-piercing shriek clashed with shattering glass as a wave forced its way through the store, tearing through clothes, dismembering mannequins, and emptying the store into the streets. This wasn’t some random flood, not with this kind of power behind it.

  Blackness enveloped Elric, seeping from his pores and repelling the water’s violent force. Wings ripped from his back, and with a single flap, he burst through all three stories of the building until he hit the air.

  Further down the large flowing river that washed away Humvees and screaming soldiers, he sensed something amongst their muffled gurgles.

  He glided over the city until he found a figure cloaked in dark clothing moving her hands frantically from a rooftop. The water moved and formed shapes, reacting to the motions of her fingers. The power of the river in her control.

  Elric grinned. “So, blowing off some steam?”

  Rai turned with widened eyes and sighed heavily. “What the hell do you want?”

  He glided down to the rooftop but kept his distance. “I came to try to bring you back to the group. We need you. I need you.”

  “You think after what you did to me, I’ll rejoin you?” She turned and faced the river. “You must think I’m stupid.”

  “We have a chance to do something the Titans before us couldn’t do. We can—”

  “Elric, you want to destroy the world, not change it. You want to destroy everything,” she said. “At first, I didn’t care. The way your words sounded, change, and the fact that we would be treated like gods, it was sweet.”

  He became silent.

  “We knew from the get-go. The thing is, Enzo and I didn’t care because we found someone who was like us, someone who shared the same pain and anger we did. I would’ve followed you to the end.”

  Rai’s fingers moved elegantly like a conductor before an orchestra. With a snap of her wrist, the roaring river created a symphony of sloshing, entangled with the wails of men who clung to buildings and vehicles.

  Elric took a few cautious steps toward her. Even his breathing was soft. He was only a foot away.

  “Why?” she whispered. “You knew how I felt about you. I would’ve done anything for you. I would’ve helped you destroy all of it. None of it mattered to me anyway, only you did. Mizuchi was so pissed about my feelings. She said I was lost and confused, desperate. I thought I knew my heart.”

  Elric bit his bottom lip, thinking about the people of his past. “After you’ve watched so many of the people you care about die …” He paused, thinking about Jennifer. “To not feel anything like affection, trust, love … happiness, I buried those emotions.”

  A few strands swayed over Rai’s nose from the salty breeze. “You’re so broken, Elric. I guess the reason I cared was because I thought I could fix you. The dumbest reason every girl goes for the bad boy type.”

  “Fix? I don’t need to be fixed. I have ambition, and that’s what drives me. You know what my goals a
re. I want to bring you and Enzo with me. We can change everything, Rai.”

  “You don’t want to bring us with you. We’re tools, disposable pieces. You just want Enzo and me to help kill off a portion of the world. I saw that in your eyes when you were about to kill me.” She looked at Elric as if she didn’t recognize him, tears mixing with the mist of the water she controlled all around them. “And then you want to use fear to create a utopia just like every dictator has tried to do in history. So original. You can exterminate all the monsters, Elric, but there will always be one left, right?”

  Elric tightened his fist. She mocked him. She never cared about his dream, his goal. Maybe she was right. Was there anybody who supported his dream or were they just using him like the rest? “So, you were never with me then. You never cared about my dream. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Elric, I was with you. That’s what you’re not getting. It was never about your goal or dream; it never mattered to me. It was you. All that mattered was you.”

  “If you turn your back on me, you’re against me. And if you’re against me, then—”

  “Then what?” Rai’s gaze narrowed, the glow of her eyes making her tears glow an eerie blue hue. Her hands dropped, and an icy blade formed in her right hand. In her left hand, five jagged claws of ice hung by her side, glistening like well-refined knives. Her eyes widened from the shock of his words, then they softened with disappointment.

  “I’ll never love you, Rai, you or anyone else. Love doesn’t exist. Not in the world we’re in now. You felt this way too at one point. Maybe to you, my goal is insane. That’s because you’re one of them, one of the ones who want to uphold the current world. Me? I’ll always be something to spite, to hate, to fear because that’s all I am.”

  Rai sniffled and wiped her tears. “It was her, wasn’t it? That girl, the Light Titan or whatever?” He walked back, putting some distance between the both of them as she spoke. “She was the one that you loved, the one that you put all of yourself into. What happened?”