Chapter Eighty-Six: Endless Cycle, Part 2
My eyes open to a face above me, sick with worry. My vision is blurry, but I’m fairly sure it’s Sia, due to the way her curls wrap around her pale face. Sure enough, when my eyes adjust, I find her staring at me in relief and concern.
“Oh my gods, Zade, what happened?” She asks.
“I thought you were mad at me,” I laugh, coughing. Her mouth tightens, and for a moment it seems she’s about to hit me, but then a tear falls from her cheek.
“I was,” She says. “I am, but you’re still my friend.” She pokes me on the chest and I groan, “I’m not sorry for that.”
“But I am,” I respond, staring deep into her rich brown eyes. “I should not have said what I said to you. I was way out of line, and I beg your forgiveness. You have the right to be mad, and I understand if you don’t—”
Her embrace widens my eyes and stops me in my tracks.
“Of course I forgive you, Zade,” She answers. “I was waiting for you to say this.” Pulling away, she gives me a glare. “I’m still mad at you, though.”
“Come on, I almost died,” I respond. “No sympathy for me?”
“You haven’t told me what happened.”
I do so, and she shakes her head at me, placing her hands on her hips.
“You…bleeding….bastard!” She exclaims. “You stupid, stupid, stupid man!”
“Stupid but lovable, eh?” I ask, and she shoots me another glare that makes me laugh.
“That isn’t funny. You could’ve killed yourself.”
“But I didn’t, did I?” I say. “Look on the bright side.”
“What bright side, Zay?”
“Ew, no, please don’t say that,” I tell her. “And the bright side is obvious. Now I can tell you exactly which ways of dying are best. That way, when I really want to kill myself, I know how I’ll do it. I wouldn’t advise anyone to slit their own throat. You want to gasp, to scream, but you can’t even do that. Decapitation is fine, though. You’re numb right until the end. It almost feels good.”
“Zay, don’t,” Sia warns me. “Don’t even talk about it. Please.”
“Where are the others?” I ask. “No care for their friend?”
“They’re still mad, particularly Xavier,” She responds. “Th’ul wanted to come, but decided to stay on Xavier’s side.”
“Guess I have more people to apologize to, then,” I sigh. “I really messed up, didn’t I?”
“You really did,” She agrees. “But at least you apologized.”
“Well, I’m fine now, so I should go ahead and leave.” I stand up, the aches in my joints barely bothering me. The healing mage who took care of me did a wonderful job, and I feel as sprightly as an elderly man. Doesn’t mean much, sure, but the more I exert on myself, I’m sure I’ll feel better.
“You should rest,” Sia tells me.
“Rest is for the dead,” I answer. “Th’ul could benefit from it, now that I think about it.”
“Ha ha,” Sia rolls her eyes. “Just don’t expect me to carry you, Zay.”
“Never, Ynesia,” I respond.
“What did you call me?” She asks, eyes widening and fists balling.
“Maybe you prefer Polyn, or even Nesia,” I say, then get no further as the slaps rockets into my chest. I double over and cough.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Sia exclaims. “It was meant to be light. I forgot you were still hurt!”
“Be careful with these old, weak bones,” I sputter on the ground. “I can’t breathe.”
“Here, let me help you,” Sia says, eyes sad and concerned once more. As she reaches down, I grin, grab her hand, and flip her over, standing up at the same time.
“You deserved that,” I say, walking out of the door.
“You’re not going to help me!” Sia calls, but I’m already gone.
I look behind me as Sia stands up, cursing, and the next second, I hit a wall. Twisting my head, I find the wall to be a woman on the ground. She quickly scrambles up and, apologizing, she sprints away, leaving not one more glance from me. I’m taken aback by the encounter, and find my hand resting on a piece of paper.
“Hey! You left this!” I scream, but she’s already gone. I turn and look at the paper and for the first time notice what it says.
To Zade Helstrom from Member T’tam of Parliament
“What is it?” Sia asks, stridling up to me.
“I’m not sure,” I respond. “Some sort of letter from a Member of Parliament.”
“What does a Member of Parliament want with you?” She asks.
“That’s what I’m wondering.”
Opening the piece of paper, I read the contents.
The Cult plans more than we expected. They want to war non-cultist mages during the battle with the Horde.
Spread the news.
Prepare for war.
“What the hell?” Sia asks. “This is terrible news.”The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Now, I need to talk to Th’ul and Xavier,” I respond. “We’re in terrible danger.”
A shadow flickers past my line of sight, but I don’t barely notice it.
“What are we waiting for then? Let’s go.”
— — —
Th’ul is right where I expected, in his room. There’s a woman in there too, her clothes rumpled, and, when Th’ul opens the door to us, she moves to hide.
“It’s fine,” Th’ul tells her. “They’re friends and don’t care.”
“Who is it this time?” I ask.
“Old friend,” He responds. “Now what brings you here?”
“I came here to apologize.”
“No, you didn’t,” He responds, scowling. “I’m sure you want to apologize, but if you were just apologizing, you would’ve gone to Xavier first, and would’ve brought him along with Sia or no one at all. Either way, Ju, this talk isn’t for you.”
“Aw, come on,” She groans. “It was just getting fun.”
“We can try another time,” He responds. “For now, out.”
Pouting, the girl obeys him, leaving just us three in the room.
“Now, I accept your apology. Thank you very much,” He sounds apathetic, but I know he’s only practical. I’ve grown to know him, and I’m sure he genuinely accepts my apology.
“Read this,” I give him the letter.
“The Parliament?” He asks. “What the hell do they…” He trails off as he reads it. “Damn, I was worried about this. Well, we’re doomed.”
“What are you saying? With proper preparation, we can defend ourselves from all of this.”
“No, we can’t. Do you know how hard it would be to tell the other non-cultist mages to defend themselves without telling the Cult?” He asks. “Impossible. If we told the Cult we knew what they were doing, they would use their plan B, whatever it is. I’m sure they have it. So no, I think they’ll win, politically and not physically.”
“So, that’s it? We let them win.”
“Of course not, brother,” Th’ul grins. “No, we take the battle to them.”
“What do you mean?”
“We need to rankle a few Cultist heads, warn them of what happens when they mess with us. We need to bleed them a bit.”
“I thought you were on our side!” Sia exclaims. “Now you want to do what Zade was arguing for?”
“No, we won’t kill the Cultists,” He says. “Just rough them up. How many Cultists are we sure exist in Zenyth?”
“Twelve now.”
“Fifteen, actually,” Th’ul tells me, removing another piece of paper from a drawer on his desk and giving me the list. I read the names, most of them familiar to me, but only in passing. “The only in black in are confirmed to be extreme Cultists. I was thinking we target Sensh, Wen, and Juyt. They’re usually together, and we can take them.”
“I don’t know if I approve of this,” Sia says. “It feel wrong.”
“Trust me, if any deserve this, it’s them.”
“He’s right,” I say. “They''ve killed citizens before. They weren’t arrested only because it was during the battle.”
“And they’re mages-in.training, so it will be easier for us to take them on,” Th’ul says. “So, who’ll call Xavier?”
“I’ll do it,” I reply.
— — —
Xavier doesn’t bother to hear my apology, just like Th’ul. I tell him of the Member’s letter and our fight first, and he waves my apology away.
“You can say sorry afterwards,” He grins. “We’ve got a couple of bastards to bleed.”
We reunite with Th’ul and Sia who are waiting at the cafeteria.
“The bastards are not far from here,” Th’ul says. “I’ve baited them with a love letter. Poor guys will be heartbroken.”
“Your jokes are horrible,” Xavier says.
“You got any better ideas?”
“You should’ve said poor virgins will be heartbroken. It sounds much better.”
“How about we just get a move on?” Sia asks, crossing her arms underneath her breasts.
“When’d you get so motherly?” I ask. She sends a withering glance at me, and I shrug. “Just an observation, mom.”
Sia raises a rude gesture as we walk forward.
“Remember, guys,” Th’ul tells us. “We are not trying to kill any of them. We could get charged if we do anything more.”
“We got this,” I respond. “You know where they are?”
“I know where they were,” He says. “They were in the gardens, fourth section.”
We exit Zenyth, and I cock my head.
“The gardens. That’s strange.”
“Everyone has their hobbies,” He tells us. “These just happen to love botany, I guess.”
We enter the second section of the gardens and I unsheathe my sword.
“Don’t hurt the flowers,” I say.
Third quarter.
Finally, I hear voices, and I activate my power, looking at my friends, who in turn are getting their magic ready. Th’ul peeks around the corner.
“It’s them,” He whispers.
“Good,” I respond. Getting up, I sprint towards them, throwing a small blast of lightning that hits the three guys. They fly back, hitting the ground and spasming. All of them are still conscious, but feeling the pain.
“Attack!” I hear Xavier yell gleefully, and thus we set on the Cultists. We punch and kick them, send lightning bolts into them, levitate and drop them, everything we can think of. All of us except Sia, that is. She stands back, frowning at me.
“I don’t like this,” She says. “This isn’t right!”
“They’ve killed six people,” Th’ul responds, kicking one of them. “That has been confirmed. They deserve this.”
“Yes, but what you’re doing is exactly what a bully would say,” Sia says. “Please, stop.”
The three men begin to spasm again. One of them even coughs up blood.
“STOP!” Sia screams. “Look what you’re doing to them. What got into you?”
Th’ul seems to come to his senses a bit, hanging back.
“Sia, if you don’t want this, you can go.”
“These people are defenseless. This isn’t right.”
“You’re right, of course,” Th’ul tells her. “But what they did isn’t right either. And they deserve to be punished.”
“By the legal system. Now whatever you’re doing.”
Th’ul sighs. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but she’s right. “Xavier, Zade, stop!”
Xavier does so immediately, but I turn to my friends in outrage. “Why? We must do this to teach them a lesson.”
“Zade, you must stop,” Th’ul says. “If they get judged, we win.”
“And what if they kill someone else?”
“We’ll just have to take that chance,” Sia tells me.
I’m ready to argue, to scream at my friends again. But what Eva said resonates with me. It doesn’t matter whether I’m right or not. I need to listen to my friends. So I bow my head at them.
“Ok. I’ll stop. I’m sorry,” I say.
“Wow, I did not expect that,” Xavier whistled. “Good job, Sia.”
“Don’t push your luck,” I growl. “Now we should get out of here before they remember to defend themselves.”
“Good idea,” Th’ul says, and we do so. Sia takes a look back at the men, and I do so too. The encounter only took thirty seconds, but I can see them bleeding.
Bleeding bastards deserve it.