Drip, Drip, Drip
Brabat taking the lead through the cave, walks forwards towards a section with the strongest amount of green fumes. "There they are," he says.
In front of him and Kira were, two bodies lying on a bed, one of them were male so tall, his legs hang off the bed. The other, a female with the darkest jet-black hair. As both of them lie there, two rusty white cannisters can be seen supplying both of them with green fumes through a ventilator. All over their skin, patches on their flesh emanating a green light go bright then dim as if they were breathing.
"Why does their skin look like that?" Kira questions.
Looking back at Kira, Brabat walks towards the cannisters and pulls out the bayonet which connects everything together. "Why is your tongue split in two?" he asks.
As Kira is about to speak, the male on the bed, with a sudden jolt of energy erupts off it and begins to scan around. The patches on his skin begin to go bright and dim faster, and as he looks to his left and notices Brabat near the cannister he gets off the bed and walks around it to get on one knee.
"Silas is the name," he says with his chin bowing down, his left fist planted on the dirty ground and his right hand placed onto his chest. Immediately, the patches all over his body begin to dim and go entirely dark.
"So, you are Silas? This must be Esmeralda then. Why isn't she waking up?" Brabat asks, looking down at Silas.
"We were bound to be in a trance for a little while until we were truly needed. It seems the plans have changed for us. If it is your will, I will wake her up sire," Silas in a calm tone responds.
"Don't call me sire, my name is Brabat, and it is common sense for her to awake from her slumber, no? if not, do what you must Silas," Brabat demands.
Still in the same position, the patches begin to breathe once again, this time rapidly. Simultaneously, the girl lying on the bed's patches begin to react with extreme speed.
Cough, Cough.
With an extreme gasp, the girl jerks off the bed and gets onto the ground. As her chin looks down, she begins to cup the misty fumes and shoves it into her mouth.
"Oh, my goodness, Silas, you have to try this, it tastes unbelievably good," she shouts.
Slowly standing onto his feet, Silas yells out, "Esmeralda, show some respect!", and as Esmeralda begins to look behind her, she sees a cape with gold trimmings.
Panning her gaze up, she awkwardly holds her cupped hands which holds the green fumes and blurts out, "Oops, sorry," and immediately gets onto one knee with her right hand placed onto her chest.
"I apologize for her behavior sire… sorry – Brabat. She is just a young girl," Silas says in a flat tone, the emanating patches on his and Esmeralda's flesh beginning to dim to its darkest with practically any reaction.
"I don't blame ascendants for not displaying respect to capturers, but just because I don't blame you doesn't mean you are exempt from consequences. Forget it, there are more important matters at hand. From Ven Percy's report for this phase, you two are currently the most exalted ascendants which is what the Sven needs." Brabat claims, whilst walking, he grabs his cape off the ground and makes his way into the middle of Silas, Esmeralda and Kira, "You 3 including Kira's brother, will be accompanying the Sven on what will be a long and grueling mission to get back the emperor Meraki's carrier. There is no time to waste, we need to get you two into your uniforms out of that disgusting lab suit," Brabat elaborates.
Bump, Bump.
On the wooden floor, Jonathan lies, his mouth drooling. "Tru…Truth!" he shouts abruptly. As he turns around to gauge where he is at, the extended hallway was no more. "Truth!"
Bump, Bump.
"Ouch, my head," he whispers as he begins banging on every door around him. "Hello, anyone! Where is he!" he laments as he quickly runs to the elevator and frantically mashes on the ground floor button. "Open, open…please fuck!" the veins on the side of his head thumping relentlessly.
DING. "Elevator, inaccessible" a voice announces from a speaker on the elevator frame. On that same frame, a little screen displays an arrow still floating upwards.
"Damn it! I will take the stairs!" Jonathan barks in a fit of rage.
As he descends the stairwell sporadically, he gets to a pair of rusted metal capped doors which automatically open. Immediately as he sprints out into the entrance for the tower of babel, the bright golden orange sunset paints his face. Intensely squinting his eyes, he quickly uses his hands as a cover.
"If I don't find him before dark… it will be over, I need to find him before curfew," Jonathan repeats to himself. "Please…someone help me…please!" Jonathan's voice pends with agony.
"Think, Jonathan, think, what happened, where did he go?!" he murmurs harshly to himself whilst at the same time smacking the side of his head. "It's no good, I don't remember anything. Everything is a blur, the only thing I remember is being in my room with him. Someone must have taken him. Yes, someone did," giggling starting to creep in as Jonathan states this. Moving further away from the tower of babel, Jonathan begins to walk towards the residential buildings a few steps ahead of him.
BANG, BANG, BANG.
"Hello, please open the door, I am a core troop member I need to ask you something," Jonathan claims.
After a few seconds pass, a woman with curly grey hair opens up a small hole on a chestnut-colored door, "What do you want?" she sneers.
Bang. Jonathan smacks the chestnut-colored wooden door with his balled-up fist.
"Listen you old hag, I need to know if you've heard anything or seen anyone in the same uniform I am wearing? This is a really important matter for the core, so any form of dishonesty will be considered perjury against the mother!" Jonathan rambles with every word getting louder.
"Oh, good jolly, you should have said you work for the source of our life in this nation, you see, in my time there was no such thing as the core, it was just a slight misunderstanding on my part. Please come in and eat first and I will tell you what I saw," the old lady says with a tone layered in joy.
"I don't have time…I don't have time," Jonathan whispers to himself. "I really don't have time, please tell me what you know, please," Jonathan's voice beginning to shake as he pleads with the old lady.
Staring at Jonathan silently, the old lady with her irregular shaped burgundy walking stick hits Jonathan's thigh, "Look, if you don't come in, I won't say a word, you need to be nourished to protect us and find the other guy. What can you do if you end up fainting? Please come in young fellow, I insist, you won't be here for too long," she responds
"It's imperative we finish this quickly, this is a matter of life or death for my fellow troop member," Jonathan retorts whilst stepping into the house.
The sound of a boiling kettle squeaks as they walk through the hallway.
"I saw a young man running with a little girl, I will be honest, he wasn't wearing the same uniform you are now that I think about it," The old lady says leading Jonathan through her hallway.
Quickly turning back towards the door, Jonathan shouts out, "Alright thank you for letting me know that".
"Where do you think you are going, you don't even know where to find him. I told you, I said you need to eat before I tell you where I saw them go," the old lady yells as she continues to walk towards her kitchen.
As she places her walking stick down, she opens up one of the forest green cabinets in the kitchen and grabs two bowls. "Can you please open that top cupboard for me? The soup is in there," the old lady asks whilst placing the bowls onto the white benchtop.
"This lady, what is her problem, I don't have time to be doing this!" Jonathan shouts to himself in his mind. Grabbing 2 plastic sachets, he passes it to the old lady.
"No not this one, you need the French onion soup one," she says as she grabs the kettle and pours boiling water into both bowls.
"I feel like you are playing with me here you old lady, I don't want to be in here in the first place, do you think I care what damn flavor I drink?" Jonathan yells out.
5 minutes later -
"The soup is ready now, I am sorry for keeping you so long, I just don't want you to be frail and weak like Dean my grandson, he thinks I am always nagging him. In fact, that's why I invited you in, he joined the core a few months ago and I haven't seen or heard from him since. Do you know him, my grandson? His name is Dean Elsrick?" The old lady rambles on.
"Oh Dean, I know him, he is one of my friends, he talks about you all the time. The thing is, time is against me at the moment, but I promise, if you just tell me where you saw that guy I will come back and tell you everything you want to know about your grandson," Jonathan says whilst forcing a smile onto his face.
"I knew it!" the old lady shouts whilst jumping. "Yes of course, I know exactly where they went, please do comeback and tell me how my mijito is going, I really miss him dearly. Follow me, I will show you the building I saw them enter," she energetically shouts whilst running towards the chestnut-colored wooden door.
As they both step outside, Jonathan abruptly looks up to the sky, "curfew is almost here," he mumbles. "Thank you so much for your hospitality old lady, you can just point at the building you saw him enter," Jonathan bends down to whisper to the old lady.
"Ah yes, it's that cream building with that brown wooden door. I saw him throw himself in there…" mid-way through her sentence, Jonathan pats the old lady on the back
"I appreciate you very much, thank you!" he shouts, as he begins to lunge forward and plunge his weight onto the cobblestone ground towards the building the old lady pointed out.
As Jonathan begins to inch closer to the building, he begins to hear rattling and argumentative voices seeping outside into the streets.
"What the hell is going on," Jonathan murmurs whilst putting his ear onto the door.
"Maya come here now, don't disrespect your mum and dad!" A voice shouts from within the building.
"Don't speak to her like that! You fucking pest. How dare you treat and talk to a little girl like that, she ain't your daughter, she's your punching bag!" Nero's enraged voice shouts out.
"Maya please come to momma, I love you, you know that right?" a sobbing female voice states.
Impatient, Jonathan kicks the door down. "Truth where are you? Come out" he instantly shouts out.
As he gazes to his left, there Nero stands with the matte pistol in his hand and Maya curled up behind him holding her stuffed animal. Panning his view left, there the sobbing woman and a man dressed up in a grey suit stand. Silence filling the room, everyone turns their gaze to Jonathan.
"You," Nero silently whispers.
"Where is Truth, is he in here? He has to be!" Jonathan says whilst taking a few steps forward. "Truth come out, please, I know you are in here," he shouts.
Nero looking back down at Maya says with a smile growing on his face, "stay close to me alright Maya, I won't let them touch you,". Whilst grabbing Maya's hand, he takes a few steps forward. "Kid, I hope you didn't take me pointing the gun at you personally because you don't look too good. Where is your other friend?" he asks.
"Who are you, where did you take Truth?!" Jonathan shouts.
"Wait so you don't remember me pointing a gun at you, they must've done something to you back there," Nero whispers to himself. "Look, I didn't take your friend, if I had to take a guess, those soldiers back there took him," he states.
"You keep saying 'back there', I don't even know who you are, someone just told me that my friend is in here, I can't seem to find him anywhere, so please, just bring him out, I don't want to cause any trouble!" Jonathan shouts, his voice coated in a frantic tone.
"I didn't take your friend! I don't know what they did to your memory but that doesn't matter right now. I can make a deal with you so that we can find him for you. You see this little girl, I need to get her away from these impudent people, if you can find a better place for her, I will help you find your friend, how does that sound?" Nero retorts.
"Maya isn't going anywhere; this is where she belongs!" the man in the grey suit shouts.
"Shut up! No one asked for your opinion." Nero sneers.
Jonathan looks over to the sobbing lady and says, "This is not my matter to handle, I just need my Truth back,"
"Well, if this little girl is no matter to you, your friend is no matter to me, you can find him yourself," Nero says.
Gritting his teeth and clicking his fingers, Jonathan abruptly shouts out, "Alright I need all the help I can get before curfew time. I might have a place we can take her to for the moment. Follow me now!"
Immediately as Jonathan says this, the sobbing lady drops to her knees and the man in the grey suit lunges towards Nero. Without panning his gaze, Nero with the side of his balled-up fist, smacks his nose and causes him to topple onto the floor.
Covering half her face with her brown stuffed animal, Maya peeks from the side of Nero's thigh to look down at the man and slightly giggles.
"Do something Perry, do something, you are good for nothing! How are you going to let my baby be taken away from me!" the sobbing woman yells out looking at the man in the grey suit.
Whilst walking backwards towards the door with Maya and Jonathan, Nero says "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, we are stepping out of here with no trouble,"
"Mirabelle stop crying, we can get another child, this one was ungrateful anyways why can't you see that." Perry states whilst crawling towards the sobbing lady.
"NOOO!" Mirabelle shouts out deeply from her lungs. "Someone please help; they are kidnapping my child!" she screams.
Outside in the street, people walking past suddenly hold still and turn their gaze towards the door.
"This isn't good, we have to move now!" Nero mumbles harshly,
Jonathan looking around at the street begins to respond back, "Just to let you know, I am not on your side. I heard you say my memory is wiped, but I remember that you are one of the militia hunters, I remember that cross necklace and your uniform. So, just help me find Truth and you can leave without any commotion. For now, follow me I know a place," he says.
All eyes flock onto Nero, Jonathan and Maya, and as they begin to run, everyone in range of the building begin to chase them and start shouting out, "Give their daughter back!".
"We are almost there, you might have to grab the girl, she is too slow." Jonathan says, his breath growing heavier.
A few meters in front of them is a chestnut-colored door, and Jonathan ahead of Nero and Maya begins to relentlessly smack the chestnut-colored door. "Old lady, it's me, your grandson's friend, can you let me in!" he says whilst panning his gaze back and forth.
"I'm coming," the old lady says from inside the house.
CREEK, the door slowly opening.
"Did you find him?" the old lady asks
"Not exactly, I will explain everything inside please! You two come in" Jonathan yells out whilst pushing the old lady into the hallway wall. "Sorry about that, but there is no time anymore, I feel as if everyone is toying with me. You said you saw my friend go into that building, well this is who I found," he rambles whilst pacing back and forth.
Nero placing Maya down onto the floor from his back, walks closer to Jonathan and the old lady, "Calm down buddy, why don't we start with our names. Sorry old lady for barging in, I am Nero and that little girl is Maya, I am just looking for a place for her to be safe. What is your name?" he asks.
"You expect me to give you my name when you are bringing trouble to my doorstep? I ought to report you to one of the Ven's," the old lady grabbing tightly onto her walking stick says. "Just call me whatever you would like, old lady is fine," she murmurs.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
"Get down!" the old lady whispers sharply whilst beginning to walk towards the door.
Nero grabbing Maya quickly crouches behind a forest green cabinet, whilst Jonathan runs behind a wall.
"Dahlia, we hope you are okay? We are looking for a core soldier who is with some guy that looks like one of the hunters who took Perry and Mirabelle's child, can you believe that?" A male's voice says at the front door.
The old lady glances behind slowly, "Oh me? I am fine, I am too old for whatever shenanigans they are up to," she says with a smile.
"No this is serious Dahlia, that core soldier has sided with a dangerous man, be careful, just stay inside for a while if you can, when we find them we will hang them and let our Ven know, no one can treat the best community in the motherland like that! Alright I will let you be, please be careful," the man states, behind him people screaming out.
CREEK.
"You can come out now. That damn idiot, he said my name" the old lady says with a tinge of disgust.
"I am so sorry for bringing all of this on you Dahlia, how rude of me to not introduce myself when I last saw you, my name is Jonathan. You could have given us up, why did you not?" Jonathan asks.
Nero steps out from behind the cabinet, "Because she is a lady of integrity, I can tell just from her energy,".
"I don't know what you are yapping about. You said you know how my grandson is, how would I know if I give you up," the old lady scoffs.
Jonathan drops his chin and looks down at the floor. "About that, I will tell you all about it…me and Nero here, just need you to take care of the little girl, and after we find the core member I was looking for, we will be back, and you can hear all about his silly adventures," he says with his throat tightening whilst giggling.
"You better not be lying to me. because I will give you up more quickly than a can of sardines!" the old lady shouts. "The little girl is lovely, I will take care of her for you, I never liked that Perry anyways, I told Mirabelle to stay away from him but honestly…"
"Okay, thank you Dahlia, is there a different door we can take to get out the back?" Nero says whilst cutting Dahlia off.
"Aah yes, you two just go straight down the hallway, there is a door you can leave out of in the laundry," Dahlia says.
Walking towards Maya, Nero gets lower onto the floor, "I will be back alright Maya, I won't be too long at all, stay with Ms. Dahlia alright," Nero says whilst patting Maya's nodding head.
"Alright Nero lets go now! Do you have any idea of where he is?" Jonathan yells whilst starting to walk down the hallway.
"Let's get out of here first, I will tell you what I know" Nero says whilst slightly jogging towards Jonathan.
Getting to the end of the hallway, they turn left and open a mesh screen door stepping down from three steps onto the grass below.
"Look, I shouldn't even be here, I should leave this damn place, but I am a man of my word. When Mr. Black and I were in that elevator of your building, I saw something. If you keep your word and don't rat me out, I will actually help you find him, but we need to be in this together," Nero whispers whilst crickets begin to chirp.
"I am in a huge amount of trouble as it is, why would I rat you out. Just help me find Truth like you said you would, please," Jonathan says back, the volume in his voice restricted.
Nero stares at Jonathan for a few seconds. "Alright I have a plan." he says.
END OF CHAPTER
THEORIES MERAKI – WILL THIS ALLIANCE PROVE USEFUL OR LEAVE NERO AND JONATHAN DISMANTLED.
NEXT CHAPTER – TBD