I frowned. “Are you saying we can choose to walk away from all this?”
He nodded. “Yes. Your Guardians have left the final decision in your hands.”
Maya whispered, “My mother is letting me decide?”
The Countess nodded sagely. “She is indeed. The choice of whether to help us or not lies with you. We will not hold it against you if you choose to walk away.”
I studied the slowly revolving image of the Academy’s computer network. The black building or box kept drawing my attention, as did the blinking domino doors at the end of the bridge.
I took a deep breath and shoved my hands into my trouser pockets. “I have no love for Crimson Crescent. I’d gladly screw up their plans. Count me in.”
Caprice said quietly, “If he’s in, then so am I.”
Rina Sayen shrugged as she wrapped her arms protectively about her. “I don’t know what help I can be, but I’ll do what I can…if you’ll have me.”
In the corner of my eye, I saw Maya Khayman stare at the carpeted floor. She was shaking her head slowly. “I don’t know what my mother’s thinking, but I think she’d want me to help. So I’ll do what I can to protect this school. Besides, my younger sister is here. Even if I’m a disappointment to my family and to her”—she looked up and stared at the Countess—“I no longer want to be a disappointment to myself.”
The President and Vice-President stared at the four of us for a long while before bowing respectfully and thanking us.
I almost took a step back, shocked to be treated this way by two Aventis. Actually I was more than shocked. I felt a little repulsed.
Why the Hell are Aventis acting so respectful to us?
Maya looked uncomfortable at first, then bitterly turned away.
Rina looked embarrassed and continued to hug herself.
Caprice was staring at the President and the Countess through narrow eyes.
She spoke in her customary flat voice. “What do you want us to do the next time Crimson Crescent invades this Academy?”
The Countess folded her arms. “We want you to let them break in.”
I saw Caprice stare at the mysterious black box.
She asked, “You want to learn what’s inside?”
Severin and the Countess nodded guiltily.
“And then what?” she asked. “Will you instruct us to move against Crimson Crescent’s operative?”
Severing answered her. “Yes. If the opportunity presents itself, we’d like you to apprehend them—”
“—and steal their Fragment,” the Countess declared.
Everyone looked at her, including the President.
With a cunning smile, she admitted, “I know the Powers-that-be will not allow us to keep it, but I’d like us to be the ones to steal it from Crimson Crescent. It might gain us some goodwill points with the Powers-that-be.”
I burst into laughter, which earned me a kaleidoscope of looks ranging from confused to annoyed. “You want us to steal the Fragment for you.”
The smile on the Countess’s lips widened.
Caprice muttered, “Assuming we can capture the intruder….”
The Countess waved a hand lightly. “I have no doubt you can do it.”
I gave the other two Familiars a flat look, and turned down the corners of my mouth. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m completely serious,” Simone claimed.
“Are our Handlers aware of this?” Caprice asked.
I grimaced inwardly when she used the term ‘Handler’.
The Aventis preferred to call them Guardians. In fact, Severin and the Countess had been referring to them as Guardians all along.
Our Guardian was Arisa since she was responsible for us, and was ultimately accountable for our actions. That included any successes and failures. But I felt referring to her as our ‘Handler’ was somewhat demeaning to her and to us.
Arisa was one Aventis I felt I could trust…just barely.
However, I realized Caprice was making our relative social ranking clear by doing this.
Simone looked offended but recovered her composure a heartbeat later. “Yes. Your Guardians have agreed to the terms.”
Severin cut in smoothly. “Consider this a test. A demonstration of how well you can work together. A demonstration of trust.” He smiled thinly. “Of course, if you fail to apprehend the intruder we’ll all be held responsible.”
I snorted. “We go down, you go down.”
“Unfortunately,” he agreed.
I exhaled loudly and looked up at the dimly lit ceiling. “Well then, I guess it can’t be helped. We’ll just have to nab the intruder and steal their Fragment.” I had a sudden thought, and looked down at the Countess. “Assuming we capture this individual and you get the Fragment, do we get a prize for our hard work?”
The Countess looked puzzled. “A prize?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
I sensed Caprice tense sharply beside me.
“Dear gods,” she muttered. “You’re not serious are you?”
I frowned at her. “But I haven’t asked for anything yet.”
“You don’t have to. I know you well enough,” she retorted despondently, dropping her emotionless persona in the process.
“Ara ara, could it be?” Simone crossed her arms, but then chose to tap her lips with a fingernail.
“But I haven’t asked for anything yet,” I repeated.
Simone stopped tapping her lips. “Ara ara, are you saying you don’t want a prize?”
“I haven’t said that either.”
She gave me a smile full of regret. “I’m sorry, Caelum, but I can’t give you the prize you desire.”
I kept my eyes on her face. “You can’t?”
She shook her head. “I cannot.”
“Why not?”
“Because I make it a habit…not to wear any.”
My eyes widened as I realized what Simone Alucard was implying.
There was stunned silence in the room as everyone else realized what she meant.
I heard the air expel out of Caprice’s lungs in a furious rush. When I glanced at her, Caprice had grown bright red.
She turned to face me with an accusing look in her eyes.
Oh no! She thinks I told Simone about her black racy underwear in my drawer.
I opened my mouth to deny her accusing thought, but couldn’t utter a single syllable in my defense.
Suddenly Simone laughed, and calmly folded her arms under her breasts.
I glanced at the room’s other occupants.
Severin regarded me as though I’d just confirmed his worst opinion of me.
Maya considered me akin to toxic waste.
Rina had tears of shame in her eyes.
But Caprice looked ready to knife me on the spot, and her emotionless persona had been completed discarded.
I tried pleading for leniency. “But I didn’t…ask for anything.”
Severin Kell cleared away the holovid and the room’s lighting returned to normal. “I think we should end things here for now,” he announced with a faint grimace.
The Countess smiled brightly as she said, “In that case, Caelum. Would you be so kind as to help me out with an errand?”
I gave her wary – no, make that a terrified look. “An—an errand? Me?”
She nodded, and her smile changed. “Yes. It won’t take long.”
I was reminded of the smile Prissila Ventiss had thrown my way.
I found the two women smiled fearfully alike.
Reflections – 5.
It wasn’t the blood of an Aventis that made me stronger.
It was the parts of the Symbiote swimming around in it that gave me a ‘power up’.
Described simply, the Symbiote is like a thread that winds itself through every nook and cranny in the human body. Maybe it’s more accurate to describe it like a vine that has access to almost ninety seven percent of the body’s internals. As result it’s able to heal injuries quick
ly, and fight off disease, bacteria and viruses well before the human body is even aware of the dangers lurking within.
The Symbiote has an innate understanding of what’s harmful to a human.
It’s almost like an immune system built upon our immune systems. What the human body knows, it knows. On many occasions it actually knows better, and prevents the body from stupidly harming itself.
In short, without the Symbiote life is a lot tougher.
Aventis, humans that are receptive to the Symbiote, get its full benefits.
Regulars, those that aren’t receptive to the entity, get to live life the hard way. It’s not to say modern medical science doesn’t play a hand in helping Regulars out. Injuries can be healed almost as quickly, but it requires specialized equipment or specially cultivated healing agents.
The Symbiote handles all the repair work the human body needs.
It also makes humans incredibly strong compared to a Regular individual. As such, an Aventis can recover from physical punishment that would land a Regular in hospital.
I’ve said all this before, but what I want to clarify is that it’s the elements of the Symbiote swimming around in an Aventis’s bloodstream that bring about a Familiar’s true strength.
Even a small amount, like a mouthful, can give me a boost that lasts a couple of hours.
Inside me, the Symbiote quickly takes root. I spend those first few minutes just shy of agony, as it grows throughout my body. But once it’s over, I find myself with the all strengths of an Aventis and much more.
However, as the saying goes, a candle that burns twice as brightly burns twice as fast.
The Symbiote burns out quickly inside my body, and I return to being a normal Familiar.
In short, while the Symbiote is jacking up my body, I stand at the top of the food chain.
Chapter 5 – Playful.
(Caelum)
I followed the Countess as she walked down the hallway and away from the Student Council room.
I had no idea where we were going.
Classes had already resumed.
The few teachers we encountered did not raise an objection to my being in the hallway because I was in the company of the Student Council Vice-President. The Countess greeted each teacher with respect, as befitting her position and that of a lady of reputable upbringing.
I glanced at her butt, wondering if what she said was true.
I hoped it wasn’t. It would shatter my metal image of her.
Not to mention the thought of that sumptuous derriere being unsheathed was an insult to lingerie designers and makers throughout the colonized star systems.
We arrived at a large storeroom on the fourth floor. She led the way into the room after unlocking the door by waving her palm-slate over the scanner on the wall beside it.
I followed her into the room. “You know that wasn’t the sort of consolation prize I was after.”
She walked down the aisles, looking at the labels on the shelves. “Yes, I thought as much.”
“So why did you say all that? Were you trying to make trouble for me?”
“Now why would I do that?”
I cocked my head to one side. “What do you really want, Countess?”
She sounded mystified. “I don’t follow.”
She rounded a corner between upright shelves, and I followed a few steps behind. However, when I rounded the corner she was gone.
Huh?
I picked up the pace and peeked down aisle after aisle.
Did I mention this was a really big storeroom? Well, it was.
Suddenly I felt a hand grab my blazer by the collar and pull me into an aisle. I reacted immediately, slipping out of their grasp and spinning them around before pressing them against an upright shelf that almost reached the ceiling.
I froze when I realized I’d pinned the Countess against it.
She gasped. “Ara ara, aren’t we starting off a little rough?”
“Huh?” I backed away in a heartbeat. “Sorry. I thought—actually I didn’t think, I just reacted. I’m truly sorry.”
Simone darted forward, pushing me into the shelf behind me. The shelf wobbled and some of the contents threatened to fall but thankfully didn’t.
I stared at her in confusion and shock. “Countess?”
She drew back, then reached up and grabbed my blazer, holding me in place against the shelves.
I was starting to fear I’d made her angry, but then she bowed her head a little and cast her eyes downward. When I felt her arms tremble, I started thinking something else was the matter.
“Countess?”
Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Caelum, what are we doing?”
“What do you mean…?”
She took a long, heavy breath. “What do we think we can achieve? We’re just the Student Council of Galatea Academy. That’s all we are. We’re just students. I’m sixteen. I shouldn’t be thinking about Crimson Crescent, or network breaches, or mysterious data vaults, or skeletons in the Academy’s closet.”
Her voice grew stronger, and I sensed an underlying current of despair.
She shook her head weakly. “I should be thinking about classes, about studying, about clothes, pop idols, my friends and most importantly the boys that catch my eye. I should be thinking of how to make those boys mine.”
Yes, I could hear the despair in her voice.
She shook her head more freely and pressed on.
“Going alone against Crimson Crescent could have serious repercussions for us. I keep thinking Severin and I are doing the wrong thing. But by the same token, by shutting us out, the Powers-that-be are putting us in danger as well. How are we supposed to react to this threat if they won’t tell us anything? If we don’t try to prepare for it, we’ll be helpless. If Crimson Crescent intends to do us harm, don’t we have the right to defend ourselves?”
She drew closer, still holding onto my blazer. Then she slowly bowed her head further and pressed her forehead against my collar bone.
My breath caught. I could smell the shampoo in her hair and it seduced my sense of smell.
Damn this girl smelt nice.
Each breath she took burnt through my shirt and into my skin.
My heart was starting to grow undeniably restless within my chest, like a horse held too long at the starting gate.
Yet through it all, I could hear her clearly.
“My sister…she won’t tell me anything. She’s warned me not to interfere—not to ask too many questions. She’s shut me out. But, I can’t allow Crescent into this school…I won’t allow them into my academy. Galatea is home to my friends and to me.”
Her hands tightened on my blazer, creasing it sharply.
She spoke softly. “I am an Aventis of the Raynar Pride. My Pride has been responsible for the safety of Pharos, and of many worlds and colonies for more than a hundred years. I want to protect my academy, my school, and its students. That is my duty as a Raynar.”
I listened to her, and I didn’t stop her.
I didn’t think I could.
I felt she needed to express herself, to voice her fears and doubts before they backed her into a corner.
But then I wondered, why tell me? What did I care about her problems? I had agreed to help because I hated Crimson Crescent, but that didn’t mean I cared about the academy.
I despised Aventis. I hated the Prides.
By a twist of fate, I was stuck in a school almost full of her kind. This wasn’t paradise for me, this was something of a hell.
And to top it off I was subservient to an Aventis – Arisa Imreh Lanfear.
The Countess was venting her repressed fears and doubts to someone who shouldn’t care.
Was that the reason why? Was it because I didn’t care that she was able to release her pent up emotions?
Over the top of her head, I stared at the opposite shelf.
I thought of the last seven months since awakening as a Familiar, including my week here at th
e academy. I thought of how my life had changed, and I had a disconcerting realization run through me.
Did I really hate the Aventis as much as I thought I did?
Did I hate her kind as much as I claimed I did?
I looked down at her as Simone continued to press her forehead into me as though leaning on me for support while hiding herself from view.
Was it right for me to hate this girl?
I took a deep breath, and tried sorting through the muddle my feelings had become.
Was I prejudiced against the Aventis? Did I have a reason to be prejudiced anymore?
Was I prejudiced against Simone?
My throat felt constricted, making it hard to swallow.
I felt even more confused when the Countess straightened and looked at me through pained eyes.
She cleared her throat softly. “Caelum, when Severin and I expressed our thanks, Maya looked bitter. But you looked…disgusted.”
I tried looking away but I couldn’t.
I thought I heard hurt in her voice. “Do I disgust you, Caelum? In your eyes, am I revolting?”
I clamped my jaw shut, but after a while I gave her an answer. “I’ve spent the last six years hating your kind for what happened to my parents. And for my sister too.” I sucked in a lungful of air. “It’s a little hard letting go of that hatred.”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a heartbeat. “I’m sorry for what happened to your parents. But…is that reason for you to hate all Aventis? Is that reason for you…to hate me?”
I managed to look away, casting my gaze down between us.
I felt her gaze on me but I didn’t return it.
She sighed, undoubtedly finding an answer in my silence. “I see….”
I chose to change the subject. “May I ask you something?”
She smiled wretchedly. “So long as it’s not personal.”
I shook my head weakly and looked at her. “I’m not going to ask about your underwear or lack thereof.”
She rolled her eyes. “Then what do you want to know?”
“Are you planning to bring in outside help?”
Her face was close enough I could feel her breath on my lips. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“We’re facing Crimson Crescent. Do you think the four of us are enough?”
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