Sierra landed in front of Skye and blocked the attack, then kicked Karatsu back. Sierra grabbed Skye and dove out of the way of Tahlia's black energy, which flew into the ground where they were standing.
Tahlia dropped from the roof and landed clumsily, blood pouring from her leg. She winced as she pulled the shuriken from her arm and hurled it at Shin, who still lay on the ground. It embedded itself in his abdomen, causing him to recoil in anguish.
Charlie and Delta snapped out of their possessed stupor. Delta saw Karatsu standing before them and shuffled forward with her dagger in hand. He spun around and swung his sword hard, knocking the blade from her hand, then attempting to stab her. Charlie moved quickly and elbowed him in the jaw, momentarily stopping the attack.
Tahlia leapt out of the way of Sierra and her blade. The short woman swung it furiously, eager to finally kill her enemy. Tahlia summoned a stream of energy and clashed with Sierra's blade.
Skye picked himself up and grabbed Delta's pistol from the ground. He aimed it straight at Karatsu, but stopped when he suddenly found himself overwhelmed with despair. Shin took over his mind, forcing Skye to turn the gun on himself.
Charlie landed hard on top of Shin, grabbing him by the hair and ramming his head repeatedly into the concrete. Skye regained control of himself and threw the gun to the ground, terrified by the power the boy possessed.
Karatsu delivered a sharp knee to Charlie's back, knocking him over. The masked man grabbed Shin and pulled him up, then started retreating from the streets.
Tahlia turned to see the Tianzu flee. She thrust her energy whip at Sierra a final time, then wisely decided to evacuate herself. The skirmish had been her most perilous yet, and she desperately needed to heal her wounds.
Sierra watched her foe vanish into the air and then spun around, wary of a surprise attack from behind. When she realised that Tahlia had left the scene entirely, she threw her sword to the ground in a fit of rage.
“They're gone,” Skye said, dazed. “We ... we need to go,” he stuttered, his mind and body reeling from what had just occurred.
Delta helped Charlie up while carefully looking around for any outstanding danger.
“Let's go, quickly,” Skye said. He picked up both pistols from the road. Sierra grabbed her sword and Delta's dagger. A short distance away was the deafening blare of police sirens.
Charlie and Delta started running, both in pain, along with Skye and Sierra. They retreated south, away from the scene of the violent brawl.
Twenty-four
“It all comes down to one's ambition,” Nikolai said, repeating his lecture. He sat cross-legged on the ground opposite Romeo beside the window in their suite. “Ambition is the driving factor for us all. If one is determined to succeed, then he or she surely will. But if one simply ambles on aimlessly, merely hoping for good fortune, they may still possibly succeed, but it would be a nonprolific endeavour.”
Juliet groaned as she lazed on the other end of the room, trying to ignore the discussion. She found the time hard to pass while in the company of Nikolai, as she seemed to only be there as a means of not being killed by the great man.
“And you think Ren relies on blind luck?” Romeo curiously asked.
“Absolutely, my boy! While I love Ren more than you could ever understand, I do believe that White Shadow is very much an ineffectual and useless brigade. As I said, they lack ambition, which is something I pride myself in embracing.”
“Don't listen to him!” Juliet barked from the other end of the room, unable to listen to any more of Nikolai's banter. “He's lying to you, Romeo.”
Before Nikolai could respond to the comment, Tahlia appeared in the room and slumped to the floor, writhing in pain.
“And what is the meaning of this?” Nikolai asked, eyeing her bleeding wounds.
“They attacked,” she muttered through panicked breaths. “I need to heal myself.” She set to work immediately and held her hands over her ravaged leg, healing her cells.
“And what of the Tianzu? Are they dead?” He was keen to eliminate them, but also secretly hopeful the pursuit would be prolonged.
She shook her head. “No. They're stronger than I thought.”
Nikolai laughed smugly. “Of course they are! These are the greatest fighters in Yuezhou. Don't be foolish in thinking that your battle with them would be a simple one.”
Juliet rose and made her way over to the injured woman. “Was Skye there?”
She winced with pain as she nodded. “He's fine.”
Nikolai made himself comfortable on the couch in the centre of the room and rested one leg on the other. “Tell me more. I'm curious to hear of it.”
Tahlia groaned and held her hand up. “Not yet,” she said, too distracted to talk.
Nikolai let out an annoyed moan and glanced at the time on his wrist. “Do hurry up, my friend.”
He sat and watched impatiently for almost ten minutes as she tended to her leg and arm, healing the lesions. Juliet and Romeo both stood by, eager for information on what had just taken place.
“He's strong,” Tahlia finally began. “And fast. I think he's faster than Marion.”
“Who?” her leader asked. “The masked man?”
Tahlia nodded. “He almost killed me.”
Nikolai smirked. “Interesting. And aside from speed, did he possess any other unique ability that you noticed?”
She closed her eyes and shook her head, her breathing still not quite under control.
He rose and paced the room. “I see. So as far as we are aware, the masked man possesses great speed, whereas the boy is a telepath of sorts.”
“Next time you need to come with me,” Tahlia said. “I can't fight them on my own, and I won't die for you.”
Juliet and Romeo looked nervously at one another, waiting for Nikolai to retaliate upon hearing the defiant remark. But the towering man did nothing of the sort. Instead, he just looked at her and laughed.
“No, I don't believe I'll be aiding you,” was his response. “Now, perhaps we should resume training.” He beckoned Romeo to come and join him by the window again. “Sit down, my lad. I want to try something.”
Romeo obeyed and took his rightful place by the window.
“I want you to close your eyes and calm your mind. I'm curious to see if you can use any ability.”
“No, I can't,” Romeo quickly admitted. “I don't think I have an ability.”
“I disagree. Or, perhaps more accurately, you can't do it because you haven't been given the appropriate training. Again, it all comes down to ambition. Ren and Skye were far too invested in finding the president to train either of you.” He looked in Juliet's direction, who turned away and ignored the glance.
Romeo closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. “But I don't know what I'd even be able to do. Skye told me that not everyone can do something unique.”
“Well, that's a debatable topic. We may never know the answer to that. But I do know that you'll never achieve greatness if you don't at least attempt it. One's gifts do not simply come to you without training. I tried—in vain, obviously—to train Sabina and Aurelius, but they never seemed to show any interest in doing anything. They were almost as lazy as Daye.”
Romeo looked across the room to Juliet, who shot him a glance that seemed to be a combination of sympathy and aggravation. He wondered if she felt frustrated with him after their discussion yesterday.
Nikolai poked Romeo's shoulder. “Denial of one's greatness is the fastest path to failure. Believe in yourself, boy. Focus your mind.”
Romeo closed his eyes again and relaxed his body, allowing his mind to drift into a state of serenity. He took one breath after another, slowing his heart rate.
“Now,” Nikolai said quietly, “push your mind outwards ... can you feel anything? ... can you sense your surroundings?”
Romeo took his time, spending a full minute focussing on his surroundings before eventually frowning. “No. I can't feel anything.”
“What of the emotions of the room? Can you detect any feelings in our suite? Fear? Anger?”
He trained his attention on the three people in the room with him, wondering if his mind could subconsciously pick up on any emotional frequency nearby. He kept his body still and tranquil.
“Feel the room around you,” was his trainer's command. “Embrace the power of the mind.”
Romeo felt himself slip into placid mindfulness. Juliet watched on, pondering if Nikolai's surprisingly peaceful training method was working. It wasn't dissimilar to Skye's method, but seemed less rushed, and without Ren's scornful gaze.
Nikolai knelt in front of the young man. “Anything?”
Romeo opened his eyes. “No.”
The eyeless man smiled. “Fear not, for the path to truly developing your ability is a long, yet rewarding one. All you'll need to do is keep practising. A few minutes is not enough. It will take a lifetime to master the mind.” He stood up and surveyed the city outside the window. “After all, that's how I developed my telepathy.”
Tahlia picked herself up, standing on her once-injured leg. “A lifetime?”
He shrugged. “Obviously I'm exaggerating. I developed my telepathy in only a few short years. But our quest is never finished, and there's still much to be learnt. Even for myself,” he grinned.
“What do we do now?” she asked, changing the subject. “I'm not going back out there.”
“And nor would I expect you to. The game we play is a long and dangerous one. For now, we'll remain here.” He turned his attention back to the beautiful city below. “I shall consider our next move.”
Twenty-five
The minister of defence walked proudly through the halls of Government House with a shorter woman by her side. Numerous personnel turned and saw the newcomer, who was hardly dressed appropriately for the innards of the nation's political centre; she merely wore jeans and a shirt, her hair short and spiked.
Li Xu arrived at the office of the deputy president and knocked on the door, then turned the handle and opened it for her colleague.
“I'll call you back,” Arabella said into her headset, then terminated the call. She rose from her chair as the two women walked in. “Good morning,” she said.
The short woman from Haiguo bowed respectfully to Athenia's second-in-command. “Good morning, Your Excellency,” she greeted in Alexan.
“This is Sun Meili,” Li Xu explained. “She works for the Union's defence department in Sujian. We served for the same military unit back on the mainland.”
Arabella smiled and offered a friendly handshake. “Pleasure to meet you,” she said.
Meili accepted the gesture and shook her hand back. “The pleasure is mine.”
“We should get straight to work,” Xu suggested. “Ms Tennant, please see to it that Meili has all the building clearance she requires.”
“Of course,” she said, then sat back down at her desk.
Meili offered the deputy president a shy smile, then turned and left the room with Xu.
Arabella watched the short woman leave. She hardly seemed to be one who could uncover a government conspiracy alone, she thought. But she trusted the minister of defence's judgement and typed several commands into her computer, creating a Government House identity for Meili with adequate security clearance.
Xu led Meili into a small, abandoned room in one of the quieter wings. “You can base yourself here.”
Meili studied the tiny room. It had half a dozen computer monitors mounting the wall, and not a single window. It wasn't the most glamorous room, but would suit her just fine. “What exactly am I looking for?” she asked in their native Xiayu.
“Anything you can,” Xu said as she sat on the desk. “I would recommend starting by searching for a man named Nicholas Sweeney. He's not an Athenian national, but he formerly worked as a professor at ANU. We believe he's somehow holding the president against his will.”
Meili raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear the news. “Interesting.”
“It gets worse—we found twenty deceased yesterday after the inauguration.”
Meili frowned, shocked to hear the revelation. “Twenty? Who were they?”
“Most of them were slaughtered in a villa in Dongtan. Fourteen were members of the Presidential Guard, two were staff of the president, and one was an Alexan national. Archibald told his staff to relocate to the villa during the week, and this man, Sweeney, was with him the entire time. My intelligence suggests Sweeney may now be in Nishihama.”
Meili's jaw dropped. “You think that maybe he's planning something in Shizudera?”
“We can only hope not. If these people are terrorists, we need to stop them immediately. I've already informed Azuma-jo to be on alert, but I can't give them any evidence until I know just what Sweeney's planning.”
“Who were the others you found deceased?”
Xu shrugged. “We're not sure of their involvement. There were three other Alexan nationals. We found them in the park surrounding the botanical gardens. Their deaths were gruesome to say the least.”
The news came as a shock to Meili. The Union had worked hard to eliminate as much crime as possible in its five nations. While Athenia was arguably the most dangerous of the five, it was still surprising to hear of such a bizarre series of murders.
“Guard Two saw the three I just mentioned to you outside the convention centre,” Xu continued. “They began attacking each other, causing a panic shortly after the inauguration. We have footage for you to look at.”
“Where is the president now?” Meili asked.
“In his chamber with a man we believe is working with Sweeney. We need you to run background checks on all of them to find out who they are.”
Meili smirked. “You brought me here for that? Surely your analysts are more than capable.”
“They are. But I also need you to find surveillance footage from inside the villa. The Guard arranged for the villa to be monitored, but all of the footage has been erased.”
Meili laughed softly. “That shouldn't be a problem for me. The footage would've backed itself up to the government's server. I'll be able to find it in no time.”
“Thank you,” Xu said. “And thank you for coming on such short notice. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how important this is to Athenia and the Union.”
Meili nodded. “Agreed. I'll find everything you need.” She sat down at the computer and began to make herself comfortable.
“I need your discretion, Meili. Anything you find has to be reported directly to myself. Only a handful of us know that the president may be involved, whether or not it's against his will. As far as all other personnel are concerned, there were assassination attempts in the villa and outside the convention centre, and the Guard paid the price with their lives.”
“Wait, you think the president's involved?” Meili asked, astonished. “You never mentioned that.”
“I'm not sure yet. This is why I brought you in, as you're one of the few I can trust. Also, finding out who these people are is a relatively easy task, but I need you to go deeper. I want to know everything about them. Once we have enough information, we can detain them.”
Meili nodded again. She could see the pain in her old friend's eyes. The thought of a government conspiracy was a frightening one, especially if the perpetrators were intending on launching attacks on the remainder of the East Yue Union.
“I should have stopped him when I had the chance,” Xu admitted. “I was suspicious of him from the very beginning.”
“Don't blame yourself for this man's actions. All we can do now is uncover the truth and find a way to stop him,” Meili said with a helpful smile.
“Thank you. But it's bad, Meili. There may be a terrorist posing as the president's head guard, which is why we can't take any risks when it comes to issuing arrest warrants. If it backfires—” Xu's comm began to vibrate. “Hello?” she said into her headset, pausing the conversation.
Meili logge
d into the computer, not wasting any time in setting to work. The Union usually only utilised her skills on the most classified of security threats. The situation must be dire if Xu brought me here, she thought.
“Pardon me,” Xu said, returning to Meili. “I'm needed upstairs. I have more information to give you, so I'll return shortly.”
“That's fine. I'll get to work in the meantime. I intend to have everything you need by the end of the day,” Meili said confidently.
Twenty-six
Charlie burst through their apartment door and held it open for Skye, Delta, and Sierra, who all stumbled inside awkwardly. He closed the door behind them and locked it.
Sierra ran out to the balcony and peered over the edge. “There are police cars out in the streets.”
“Of course there are,” Skye said as he lowered himself to the ground. He looked at his upper arm and saw blood seeping through his shirt. “They're going to be looking for a group of people who just tried to kill each other in public.”
Charlie and Delta looked at each other with melancholic eyes, knowing that they were thinking the same thing.
“Foxtrot,” Delta whispered.
Charlie nodded as tears began to well in his eyes.
“What?” Sierra asked, returning inside. “What is it?”
Charlie bit his lip. “That boy. He manipulated my mind ... he tried to make me kill Delta.”
“I was conscious the entire time,” Delta added. “I knew exactly what I was doing, but I couldn't fight it. I had no idea ...” She sat down on the couch, her body in agony from the fight. “I had no idea how Foxtrot must have felt when that boy forced him to take his own life.”
A wave of sadness washed over Skye. It was obvious the boy had manipulated Foxtrot's mind three months earlier, but until now he had no idea that Foxtrot would have been completely conscious during the entire ideal. “It was horrific,” Skye said as he recounted the brief moment when Shin infiltrated his mind. He turned to Sierra. “I can't describe the feeling.”
Eternity's War (Books 1-3) (Eternity's War Boxsets) Page 56
