chapter Eighteen
The resistance headquarters lay on the coast at the borders of the Eastern, Western, and Central Districts. It sat on the top of a cliff, a four-story cylindrical building. The top floor was an office with three floor-to-ceiling windows, and the center one opened onto a balcony; the office was actually something of a war room with detailed maps of Unith and some of the bigger towns, profiles on government officials and some of the higher ups in the Unithian military; the second floor wasn’t technically a floor, more of an open area between the bottom floor and the top, with a staircase spiraling up the walls of the tower and that led to the rooms set in intervals along the stairway. The bottom floor was a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room furnished to seat as many as possible.
Mathieu was standing in the living room, staring at the oversized wild cat sitting in the corner of the room next to the fire place. He was standing between Erik and Jo, Enak just in front of him. It’d been just over a month since he’d been elected as leader of the resistance. The others had thought that he needed to at least see the HQ if he was going to be in charage.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.” Kiev said, coming into the room from the foyer, wiping her hands on her pant legs. “How are you boys doing?” She asked.
“It’s hotter than the gates of hell outside, but otherwise I think we’re fairly good. How are you?”
She looked at Erik and Enak before nodding, not all that comfortable with them it seemed. “Just busy.” She tapped her heel on the floor for a moment before she looked up at Mathieu. “I asked you to come here to see something I…found. But where we are going is for you and I alone. The others need to stay here.”
Jo stepped between the two of them. Even though he was shorter than both of them, he looked down his nose at Kiev. “I go where he goes. The other two will stay. Understand me?”
Raising her eyebrow, she shrugged one shoulder. “Fine, Jo. Do as you wish. You are not my responsibility, kiddo.”
Jo grinned brightly at her, “Okay!” He hugged the blonde woman around the waist happily.
“Awe.” She hugged him back, then patted his head. “Let’s get going then. I don’t think Mathieu will want to miss this.” She went to the large cat and pet it behind the ear; it purred loudly, and got up from where it sat. Going to a chair, it hopped up into it. Leaning down, Kiev pulled the rug aside and opened a hidden panel in the floor, revealing a hole barely large enough for Mathieu, and a ladder. “We go down. There is a passage at the bottom.”
Jo laughed in good spirits and volunteered to go down the hole first. Kiev stepped aside to make room for Jo’s childish enthusiasm, following him down. Mathieu went last.
Mathieu wasn’t the biggest fan of small spaces, but he concentrated on taking the ladder one rung at a time, letting the earthy smell fill his nose as he went down. He realized about halfway down the very long descent that the walls of the hole around him were made of dirt with metal fencing keeping it from falling in on them; this did nothing to make him like the small space any better. He couldn’t help but think that the small hole could collapse in on him at any moment, crushing him to death. That’s or he could be permanently crippled. It took a while, but eventually his feet found solid ground with a supporting hand on his back. He had made it without dying.
Turning to face Kiev and Jo, he put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath in, looking around. The actual passage was rather crude and made of the same metal caging in an arched hallway while wooden planks were deeply embedded into the ground to create a floor. “Now that we are away from prying ears, telling me why I’m here, Kiev.”
“I did not know how you wanted to do things. When Nathan was in charge, it wasn’t uncommon that when we…detained someone, he wanted to meet with them in person. We have a ‘someone’ in custody now. However, as far as I can tell, he has no information that is prudent to us.” Her brow furrowed.
“Then why did you ‘detain’ this ‘someone’ to begin with?” He inquired.
“He broke into the headquarters, and was in the kitchen. We weren’t sure if he was a spy.” She rubbed the back of her head with a blush. “It was right after you were elected and I didn’t know how to bring it up.”
Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair. “Alright, show me. I’ll try talking to him myself.”
Kiev nodded and started down the hallway, Mathieu behind her and Jo at the rear. There were crude wooden doors all the way down the passage, but she bypassed them all, going to a single metal door. “This is it. I feel bad that we kept him down her for so long. Solomon tried to get him to talk but…he really has no relevant information. The problem is going to be that he can identify Solomon, and myself, so we can’t let him go...”
“We’ll figure it out.” He pulled open the door and went into the room. It was just like the hallway with dirt walls, metal netting, and a crude metal floor. In the middle of the room there was a chair bolted to the floor with a man strapped to it by thick leather straps, slumped as far forward as his bindings would let him. The man was barely over a boy, maybe eighteen, with black hair and green eyes. The left side of his face was bruised and swollen, his arms and bare chest covered with cuts made by a thin, precise blade, and his right wrist was clearly broken.
Mathieu summoned a ball of energy to provide more light than the Energy Jewel powered lamp. He knelt before the man and pushed his hair back from his face. “Does he have a name?”
“Wouldn’t say.”
“Hey. Hey.” Snapping his fingers, he waited until the other’s eyes seemed to focus on him. “What’s your name?” He waiting, but no answer came. “Do you even speak?”
The man’s face turned away from him, pulling his upper lip back.
Sighing, Mathieu sat on the wooden floor. “Could you at least tell us why you’re here, even if you don’t want to tell me your name?”
“Don’t bother,” Kiev said. “He won’t answer. At all.”
“Fine. I don’t have the time for this. If he’s not going to cooperate, I don’t have time to deal with him. There are more important things to do.” A weird feeling began to tingle at the base of his skull, making his eyes water.
The blond female nodded in understanding and reached down, pulling a knife from her boot. “You can go. I’ll deal with this and clean it up.” Kiev advanced towards the prisoner, putting her hand on top of his head and bringing the blade to his throat.
But her knife met the back of Jo’s hand. While Mathieu had been attempting to talk to the man, Jo had circled around behind and now his hand was placed protectively over the male raven’s throat. He looked over the stranger’s head at Kiev. “Mine.”
“Excuse me?” Her face was pulled into an expression that showed her disbelief.
“Can I keep him, Mathieu? I promise I’ll be responsible for him. Pleeease?” His other hand laid on the man’s shoulder protectively.
Mathieu looked at him. “Uh…”
Jo’s bottom lip quivered, hugging the man from behind. “I promise he’ll behave. Won’t you?”
To everyone’s surprised, the prisoner nodded. “Yeah…”
“See, you guys just don’t ask politely enough. What’s your name?”
“Lione.” The stranger said, looking at the floor.
“Good, Lione.” Jo patted his head with a smile. “Now, don’t go attacking like you planned to do.”
Lione looked up at him. “How did you know?”
Jo smiled. “I could feel the shift in air pressure. You’re a Sky Paladin, aren’t you? Wind scythes in this small of an area would be a bad idea. It could hurt you, too.” He pet Lione’s hair like he was a pet.
“And how do you know that?” Mathieu said.
“It was in that book on your desk. I got bored. I’m sorry…”
Mathieu chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t be.” He was just glad at the boy had known what was happening, because he had been clueless.
Jo smiled, proud. “Kiev, can I borrow your knife?”
Kiev looked between him and Lione, but handed over the blade. She watched as Jo cut Lione free. “This still doesn’t mean we can just let him leave…”
Mathieu folded his arms over his chest. “Well, if Jo wants to keep Lione and be responsible for him, he can. Lione,” he waited for the man to look at him, “you have to stay here, alright? If you try to run…well, I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure out what will happen if you do.”
“Yeah, okay.” His teeth ground audibly, clearly not the type that liked to be told what to do.
“Up you get.” Jo helped Lione get to his feet, pulling the taller male’s arm around his shoulders. “There we go. Let’s get you upstairs and get some food into you.” The duo exited the room, leaving Mathieu and Kiev in the room alone.
“Somehow, I think that this could end badly.” Kiev said.
Mathieu rubbed his chin for a moment. “Well, I think that Jo plans to put him on a rather….tight leash on Lione. It seems at least he can get Lione talking.”
“Yeah. That was…surprising.” Kiev said as they left the room. As soon as they came back up the ladder, Kiev replaced the rug and made a soft sound until the large wild cat got off the chair and returned to where it had previously sat.
In the adjoined kitchen, Lione was eating a sandwich while Jo was making another; Enak sat on a stool, watching the raven eat, and Erik was leaning against the wall by the sliding glass back door.
“Oh good. Jo make me one, too.” Mathieu said, coming to stand beside the small brunet.
“Waa. Make your own. I have very important matters to attend to here.”
“Oh, and what exactly is that?”
Jo pointed a plastic knife at him, giving him a sharp look. “To clean up my pet. I can’t leave him all bloody and broken. Do you realize how many favors I’m going to have trade with Elric to get him healed up?” Mathieu looked at the plastic knife, knowing that the man could do some serious damage with that breakable utensil.
Kiev approached Lione and took a deep breath. “Er, sorry.”
Lione tilted his head before swallowing his mouthful of food. Then he nodded slowly, before looking back at Jo, who smiled.
“It’s okay. He gets it.” Jo said, his back to them, still pointing the plastic knife in mock threat at Mathieu.
~*~
Mathieu stood leaning against the desk on the top floor, staring out at the scene framed in the windows. Out of the right window, in the distance, were the mountains and the jey black Sky Pillar; the center held views of the crystalline ocean, the waves rocking gently onto the beach at the base of the cliff, high enough up to see down to the white and black sand; on the left was an overview of the coastline and land all the way passed the Tri-District Manor to Elise's Manor. All-in-all, the three windows made up half of the circumference of the office, which was circular. Opposite the left window was another, about the size of a large painting, framing Zanika and Zerieve's home in the distance.
His mind was lost in the soft churning of the ocean, watching as it rolled to and fro. Jo had Lione curled up in the room he and the brunet had been occupying since coming to the headquarters a week ago, Kiev was in the kitchen cleaning, Enak was rifling through the filing cabinets and shelves lined with holographic crystals behind him, and Erik was sitting at the desk.
He had formed a tentative plan since his helping book had detailed Shapers for him. He was sure that if he focused on other people, the book would give him more information. As he knew first hand, the suggested exercises it provided were greatly beneficial. If he could find ways for everyone to become stronger, their chances of success would dramatically increase. What he really needed was for everyone to be together in one location...
Turning to Erik, he put his hands on the desk, giving him a flat look. "You said when we first met that Enak had something to tell me. What was it?"
"Ask him."
"Tell me."
Enak's tenor interrupted their staring contest. "Ah, yes. Good thing to bring up. What I need to tell you is something only you can know. This is for your safety and ours."
"Yeah, yeah. My lips are sealed." Mathieu had been wondering what it was for quite some time.
Enak came to sit in Erik's lap, both giving him an intense stare. The boy cleared his throat before starting. "Of our duo…Erik isn't really the god here. I am. Despite my appearance, I am Svenak, god of Salvation."
It took Mathieu a moment to process what the child had said. Once he had managed to wrap his mind around the concept. He actually laughed. "...You're the god? Impossible."
Enak smiled mysteriously at him before continuing. "Erik came to my realm twenty-one years ago and bound me to his soul in order to protect the love of his life and their son."
"If I understands gods correctly, once a god completes their agreed upon task they are freed." Mathieu said. “But you are still here and I see no child or loved one.”
"And that's true," Erik said, "except that he never upheld his end of the bargain to protect them. When a god fails, the contractor has the choice to either let the god go, or keep it with him until they die. In an act of vengence, I bound him tighter to me." Erik said, shrugging one shoulder. “I was a little angry.”
Mathieu's brow furrowed. "Vengence?"
Enak huffed in annoyance. "Unfortunately, by the time we returned, his beloved was already dead and his son gone. Until just over a month ago."
The chill that ran up his spine, combined with the look that Enak was giving him, made him go light headed. He had a sneaking suspicion of what the boy was hinting at, but Mathieu wasn't one to believe in coincidence. There was no chance that he was the son they were talking about, even if they were both giving him the look that said it was true. The thought that Erik might be his father, the one he had always wanted to have in his life, was surreal.
"But now that you're back, I have a chance to protect you and handle at least part of the agreement. I require your arm, okay? This won't hurt. God's honor."
Mathieu was so busy staring at Erik that he didn’t really think as he held out his arm. The possibility of this man across from him being his father was preposterous. Enak reached out and wrapped his hands around Mathieu’s wrist. A slight trickle of warmth wrapped around and around Mathieu’s lower arm. He winced but didn't look away from his supposed...father. Erik gave him a small smile before dropping his gaze to Mathieu’s wrist.
Sighing, he looked down, too, and saw that around his wrist was now a metal phoenix. Its body was about three inches long and its wings were extended out, wrapping around his wrist to lock into a single, flawless piece. The tail was a chain made of the same material and latched onto the middle and ring fingers of his left hand. It was designed to not come off. As Mathieu looked at it, the material seemed to glow with a faint redness that tinted the gold.
"What is this?"
Enak grinned at him, "I'm glad you asked. This phoenix contains a piece of my power. Focus on it and say my name, and the power within it will act to protect you. Just so you know, that won't come off. Ever. And don't forget my name. Svenak. This is my gift to you; do not betray my identity." He smiled again. "Now I'll take my leave so you two can…chat."
As soon as the boy god left the room, Erik leaned back in his chair, surveying Mathieu. "What is on your mind, Mathieu? I'd like to know."
"There are many things on my mind. None of which are you." Mathieu turned on his heel and left for the short flight of stairs, going down into the war room set a few feet below. His mind was made up. He had no father, never had, and nothing that this man said would convince him otherwise.
Erik followed him downstairs, "Mathieu, I've wanted to tell you since I saw you in the Sky Pillar. Enak thought it'd be a bad idea until we saw what kind of person you were. I thought you were dead, Mathieu..."
"I don’t believe you or Enak, so it doesn't matter."
Erik frowned. "Damn it, it does matter. You're my son. My flesh and blood, the only piece left of the woman I love." He grabbed Mathieu's wrist, turning him around so they were face-to-face. "Quit walking away from me."
"Why? Let’s pretend I believe you, which I don’t. You were never there, Dad. I grew up in an orphanage, the outcast, because you and my goddamn weren't there. Because you two didn’t want me!" Mathieu bit back the rest of his anger, refusing to let this man see how deeply the emotional scars went on this matter.
"That isn’t true, Mathieu. When I left, your mother was pregnant with you. My family was…it doesn’t matter why I left, I just did. When I came home, expecting to find the woman I would marry and my son, I found Anita dead in the road. You don’t know how badly I want to look for you, but I couldn’t. I lost you once already, Mathieu; I won't do it again." Erik’s mouth was set in a hard line, but his grip on Mathieu was surprisingly gentle.
Mathieu wrenched his hand out of the man’s grip, shaking his head. “No, screw you. If you really were my father, you would have come to find me! You wouldn’t have just given up and said ‘I can’t’! A father is supposed to fight for his family, and you didn’t!”
“If I had thought for even a second that you were still alive, I would have come to find you! But I thought you, just like your mother, were dead!”
“I don’t believe you, you lying, pitiful excuse for a man!” Mathieu yelled.
Erik caught Mathieu by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall. Keeping his son pinned there, Erik reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a small, flat holographic crystal also known as a traveling crystal. Erik swiped his thumb over it, looking into Mathieu’s eyes before holding it in front of his son’s face.
The flat surface of the crystal, which had previously been blank, was now the captured image of a young man and woman. The man was clearly a teenage Erik, smoking and smiling like an idiot with his arms around…Mathieu’s breath caught in his throat. The woman looked exactly…exactly like him. She had lightly tanned skin, long white hair, and those luminous purple eyes that so perfect matched his; she was also very clearly pregnant in the captured image, glowing with happiness and pregnancy. With shaking fingers, Mathieu reached up to touch her face.
“I told you.” Erik said quietly, letting his son go. “This was one of the last times I saw her. I loved her; hell, I still do.”
Mathieu turned away from Erik, taking a calming breath and trying to control his shakes. "...I-I can't deal with this right now, Erik." He went to the table in the center of the room, which doubled as a map of the combined countries. "Just…go tell Enak that I want everyone from the resistance here. And I mean everyone. Two days from now."
"…Alright." Erik said, doing his best to not reach out for Mathieu, and left him alone in the war room.
Studying the map table, Mathieu sighed. He needed to make a game plan. Not just about how to deal with the man who was now very clearly his father, but also the invasion. He needed to distract himself. Tracing his fingers along the mountains of Unith, he tilted his head. There were guard posts at the border between the Outer Zone and Unith’s border, but if they could just sneak past those, they could stick to less inhabited areas of Unith and only need to take a few strategic locations that would prevent troops from coming to aid the capital.
~*~
Mathieu looked around the war room that he hadn’t really left in three days. In the room with him were Erik and Enak, Jo and Lione, Darcia, Zanika and Zerieve, Kiev, Avanon, and Solomon. More people were downstairs, but here he had the key components in his plan.
Yesterday, everyone had arrived as he had asked. From there, he had been able to ascertain what kind of fighting power he could look forward to using. It wasn’t promising, only twenty people or so were willing and capable of fighting; but Mathieu believed this could be a good thing. Small forces were maneuverable and fast. All he needed was some time to strengthen them and teach them to work together. He hoped.
Zanika tapped her foot. “So let me get this straight. You expect all of us to stay here until we’re ready to attack? And what is to become of our districts?”
He rubbed his temples, already having had this fight today. “Listen, I sent Mina to go inform the people of everyone’s districts that they will need to command themselves for a while. They understood. I did ask you all up here for a reason other than to listen to you bitch, if you don’t mind.” A dull throb was starting behind his eyes, and he really needed some sleep.
Solomon raised an eyebrow, “Then why don’t you tell us?”
“I would love to if you all would just shut up for a minute. There are only a few people here that can actually go into battle, therefore, I’ve had to plan accordingly. I want groups of four; each group takes a different route through Unith, hits the targets I’ve marked for them, and rendezvous just outside of Ateri. If all goes well, we will only need to do minimal fighting before we get to the capital and we can cut off reinforcements.”
“What’s the spread looking like?” Said Darcia.
Mathieu sat back in his swivel chair, “Okay. My unit will consist of myself, Erik, Enak, Solomon, Jo, Lione, and Kiev. Darcia, you are in charge of Unit Two which consists of yourself, Adele, Josette, and Zanika. Zerieve, you’re with Lenore, Narrie, and Akira as Unit Three. And finally, Avanon, you’re in charge of Elric and Ayame.” He ignored the sounds of discontent. “I’ve thought this through. It’s what is required. Also, for communication and timing purposes, Darcia’s unit will take Nikola, Unit Three will take Niveus, and Tesla goes with Avanon’s group. Those three and I can communicate long distance in case of order changes.”
Zanika was shaking her head. “No. I refuse to be away from Zerieve.”
“And separating Ayame and Akira would be a bad idea,” Solomon said.
“Enough.” Mathieu said. He was too tired to deal with their complaining, and he had spent the last three days analyzing every aspect of the plan. This was the most logical and intelligent break down of his forces. “My job is to tell you what to do. Then, you do it. I have a reason for everything I’ve done, so quit arguing and just do it.”
Enak giggled. “I think his plan is wonderful.”
Mathieu nodded. “Thank you. I also have a plan to help strengthen everyone’s gifts. I want to start on that today.” He said around a yawn. His suspicions about his helping book were right, and it had expanded its tutorials to include other gifts. “Today, I need Jo, Zanika, and Zerieve.” The clones nodded to him in understanding.
“Does that mean the rest of us can go?” Avanon asked, smiling.
“Yeah, go for it.” Everyone but Solomon left the room. Mathieu closed his eyes, thumping his head against the back of his chair.
“You look like hell…” The blond man said.
Getting to his feet, Mathieu made a soft sound of protest. “That would be because I haven’t slept in three days.” His mind had been a whirlwind, unable to sleep. If it wasn’t the plan, it was Erik; if it wasn’t Erik, it was Solomon. His mind had been going in circles over and over until he had given up on trying to sleep. So now, he was in a perpetual state of half-conscious.
Solomon stood from his seat, too, pulling Mathieu against him. Then he kissed Mathieu softly, stroking his lower back.
Mathieu didn’t have the strength to fight, to try and understand why Solomon was now acting like this; so he kissed the blond back, arms sliding around the man’s neck before gently nibbling at his lip. Somewhere inside him a fire was being lit and fueled, his body warming up and a light flush sweeping over his skin. A soft whimper left his mouth as Solomon lifted him by the back of his thighs, setting him on the table.
Hot lips were pressed against Mathieu’s throat, whispering, “Shit, Mathieu. I’m sorry.” Solomon kissed his pulse. “Pushing you away was just stupid…I know I shouldn’t have been worr—”
“Shut up. Talk later.” Mathieu threaded his fingers through Solomon’s hair, crushing their lips back together. His body was far too interested in what those lips could do, not what they could say.
~*~
Yawning, Mathieu cuddled against the blond next to him, placing a kiss on Solomon’s ribs. Politely, no one had disturbed them for what he was sure were the past twenty-four hours.
Solomon ran his fingers through Mathieu’s hair. “Now can we talk?”
“Don’t get all mushy on me. I get it, Solomon. And as long as you don’t do something stupid, like freeze me out again, then I’m pretty sure things will be just fine. I don’t plan to go anywhere. Do you?” Mathieu asked.
“No, no I don’t.”