Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Third Mission


    Yue was waiting for her third mission with dread and horror. She had had to support the kidnapping, and while her reputation wasn’t tarnished, it had certainly taken a hit. Not that Yue worried about her reputation.


    No, her problem was that the Member’s daughter was still missing, and she would probably never come back. The guilt wormed its way through Yue’s every nerve, illuminating her body in regret. Often, she wondered how Icy was. Was he alright staying just with his father? How long had it taken for him to be found? A couple minutes, a couple hours, maybe even a day?


    Whatever it was, he didn’t deserve it, and it was all Yue’s fault.


    The Vanguard just kept practicing for the army, but at this point, Yue felt no confidence in the win. If the Horde was as strong as everyone thought they were, then Magefell was doomed, and that was a fact.


    “You don’t know that yet,” Alyx told her when she told the girl her thoughts. “We beat the L’lorian and Er’litahn. At first, I thought we would be wiped out.”


    “This is different,” Yue said.


    “Is it?” Aster said, agreeing with her friend.  “The Cult is on our side this time.”


    “That’s what I’m worried about,” The Sterkona admitted. “The Cult is our enemy. We’re not really on their side.”


    “But the enemy of our enemy…”


    “I don’t know if that applies here,” Yue said. “If I was the Cult, I would undermine the non-cultists in some way. We have to be careful about them. But, if we’re watching out for them…”


    “Then we’re not giving all our power to fighting the Horde,” Xander finished. “I’m worried about that, too, but I figured that the Cult should have that problem too. If they’re too busy fighting us, they can’t fight the Horde as well, and they’ll also be wiped out.”


    “I guess, but I’m still worried.”


    “We all are,” Xander embraced her around the shoulder. “We have two enemies now, something new for all of us.”


    “Three,” Alyx responded. “Remember the Nullifiers.”


    Yue scowled. “I don’t know what to do about that.”


    “Me neither,” Aster said. “The High Mages know already, but I don’t think they’ll be able to do much if they don’t know who owns it.”


    “Do you think the Horde will have them?” Xander asked. “I don’t think they will, but we need to prepare for the worst.”


    Yue furrowed her brows as someone passed her field of vision. She waved at Neena, but the girl ignored it, instead finding her own spot alone.


    “We do need to prepare for the worst,” Yue said in distraction. “Excuse me, I need to take care of something.”


    Standing up, she walked to Neena’s table and sat down next to the girl. Therein followed an awkward silence, only broken by the blonde girl chewing on her food. Yue stood patient, waiting for the other girl to break the silence. Eventually, she did, turning, irritated, to the Sterkona.


    “What are you doing here?” She asked.


    “Don’t you want to sit with us?” Yue responded. “We still want you to be with us, Neena.”


    “Oh, I’m sure you do,” Neena said. “Do you remember when we used to call each other until we were all together before we talked about something important?”


    “That was a while back. You can’t imagine we’ll always do that! You’re not the only one who isn’t here!”


    “Oh, yes, because I want to be grouped with the man who’s so depressed he can’t bleeding walk. That’s not the point, Yue. Did you call any of them three to talk?”


    “I did,” Yue admitted. “But—”


    “You didn’t call me then,” Neena said. “And don’t give me any crap about not seeing me. If you wanted, you would’ve looked for me.”


    “I’m sorry, I just didn’t think you’d want to come, Neen.”


    “Never seen you as the type to not even try,” Neena scowled. “Why are you here, Yue?” She asked again.


    “Because I miss you,” the Sterkona admitted. “I miss you so much.”


    “It’s only been a couple of days,” the blonde responded.  “A little early to miss me, I think.”


    “Listen, why don’t you please stop being stupid and come back?” Yue begged, and Neena’s eyes widened.


    “So now I’m stupid now, am I?” She asked calmly.


    “That’s not what I meant—”


    “It’s what you said,” Neena responded. “Please leave.”


    “Neen, listen—”


    “No, just leave. I can’t do this today.”


    Yue sighed. “If you ever want to come back, I’ll welcome you.”


    “I’ll keep that in mind,” The girl responded sarcastically.


    With a heavy heart, Yue returned to her friends, who had been watching her, but acted like they hadn’t when she came back.


    “What happened?” Alyx asked.


    “I asked her to come back, and she said no.”


    “Well, of course she did!” Alyx exclaimed. “We’ve all been ignoring her. If I was her, I would’ve left long ago.”Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    “Thank you very much.”


    “Your welcome,” Alyx mimed bowing, but she only succeeded in falling off the bench, arms waving for help. Yue couldn’t help but laugh, holding a hand over her mouth to stifle it. Her friends followed suit, all laughing, even Alyx.


    From the other table, Neena looked in betrayal at Yue, and stood up, sashaying away.


    “It’s not what it looks like,” Yue screamed after her. “We weren’t laughing at you!”


    But the girl was gone.


    “Damn,” She cursed. “I feel horrible about what I’ve done to her.”


    “It’s not your fault,” Xander whispered to her consolingly. Aster, though, had a different idea.


    “Why don’t you tell her what’s going on?”


    “Why don’t you?” Yue responded sharply.


    “I would, but if I did, people would be in danger.”


    “Same with me!” Yue exclaimed.


    “I don’t mean the people I would tell,” Alyx told her. “If I told you what was going on, me and Aster could get fired from the Vanguard for what we’re hiding. More than that, the other person could be…returned, and we can’t have that.”


    “What is going on with you?” Yue wondered. “I will figure it out one day.”


    “Try and I’ll knock your head off,” Alyx growled. “Just let me lead my life.”


    “This is exactly the reason Neena left!” Yue exclaimed. “We need to trust each other more.”


    “Good.” Aster said. “You can start. Tell us what’s going on with you, and we’ll tall you what’s going on with us!”


    “Aster!” Her best friend exclaimed.


    “It’s fine,” Aster crossed her arms. “SHe won’t say anything.”


    Yue frowned at the girl and opened her mouth to spill her guts, and in so doing caught Xander’s eyes. A hidden conversation happened in their eyes, Xander knowing she was caught in a trap. Yue stared at him, begging at him to support her, but he shook his head softly, telling her not to. SIghing, yue hung her head.


    “You’re right, I can’t say it.”


    “There, then it’s done,” Alyx stood up. “Come, Ast, we have something to take care of.”


    As they left, Yue stared after them.


    “The Cult is splitting us up,” She said. “And we can’t do anything about it.”


    “We need to keep fighting,” Xander said. “We’ll get through it. Just stay strong.”


    — — —


    It didn’t take long for the day to get really interesting for Yue. Before training had even started for her, a familiar old woman found her outside her barracks, smiling so her crinkles showed and holding a new cane in a grandmotherly way.


    “Do you remember me?” She asked.


    “Of course,” Yue sighed.


    “Will you converse with me,” the Infinite wondered.


    “You deserve it,” Yue replied.


    “Walk with me.”


    The Sterkona did so, watching the woman as she hobbled along carefully. She was sure the Infinite didn’t need the cane, but she used it anyway.


    “What do you wish to speak on?” Yue asked.


    “Straight to the point, eh?” The Infinite crooned. “I respect that of you, very smart. But I wish to beat around the bush a little. See, you will never understand why I’m here unless you understand much more. No, I do not expect to teach you everything I know. But I wish to scratch you back. And in time, I hope you scratch mine.”


    “You do know I didn’t get any of what you just said?” Yue told her.


    “Patience, child,” The Infinite told her. “I’ve heard you are good friends with Zade Helstrom and therefore mortal enemies to the Cult?” Yue nodded. “Good, good. You see, I am here to destroy my enemies. And the one in my way for now is the Cult.”


    “Who are you?” Yue asked, suddenly cautious. “What do you want? Pardon me if I don''t trust you immediately, but your name isn’t normal. It feels like a title.”


    “It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out,” The Infinite pointed out, smiling widely. “But you are asking the right questions. Who I am does not matter. Who the Infinite does matter. I am not me anymore, I have no name. I am the Infinite and the Infinite is me!”


    “So who is the Infinite? Some divide being?”


    “Something like that,” the Infinite replied. “I may not tell you more, as you have not agreed to help us. As for what we want: peace, hope, love, life. Anything you do. While I wish to recruit you, I understand you will not join us while I do not explain what we truly want. And if I did, I’m not sure you would want to join anyway.”


    “That isn’t reassuring,” Yue told her.


    “You can leave if you want. But I doubt you will. I can tell you’re curious. Soon enough, we will be everywhere.”


    “Are you my enemy too?”


    “Would I be coming to you if I was?”


    Evading the question. Yue scowled slightly. The Infinite was not to be trusted, at least for now.


    “I want equality. I want the Triad to be secure.”


    “The Triad?”


    “No matter,” she responded. “I cannot tell you more, it is forbidden.”


    “By who?”


    “The Infinite.”


    “I thought that was you.”


    “It is. But it is not,” the woman cackled again. “Oh, Yue, if you only understood. But, I will tell you this. For now, we are not your enemy. In fact, we want to help you beat the Cult while they themselves want to beat you. We want to make sure they do not fight you while the Horde does.”


    “Why?”


    “Because we know the real dangers,” the Infinite replied. “You think Dautha is the real villain? You think Leah is the hero?”


    “Who?” Yue asked.


    “You may know her as Eva.”


    “I don’t think she’s a hero,” Yue told him. “She may be a goddess, but I am ot sure I trust her. I don’t like her influence on Zade. Wait,” She paused. “How do you know of her?”


    “Ah, you wonder,” the Infinite said. “But no matter, that is not the point.Leah and Dautha are not judges, and they are not the jury. And they’ve never been the bleeding executioners. They can’t do anything in this world. No, the real judge, jury, and executioner, the real Triad, the real hero and villain, is waiting, and it is up to you what we do!”


    “I don’t understand.”


    “You don’t need to. Just accept our help.”


    “I don’t trust you.”


    “You don’t need to,” The Infinite responded stubbornly. “Have we not helped you save Xavier? We want to help Xavier get out. We want to help you. Do we have any reason to lie?”


    “I don’t know,” Yue admitted.


    “Do you wish to give us a chance?” The Infinite asked. “It can’t hurt to let us help you, now, can it?”


    “How are you going to help me?” Yue asked.


    “You’ll see in due time,” The woman said. “For now, trust that we will appear when you need us.”


    “Okay,” Yue said. “I’ll do it. But if you go back on your word…”


    “Oh, darling,” The Infinite chuckled. “You couldn’t hurt us if you wanted to.” With that pronouncement, the woman lifted her hands and Yue’s vision left her, everything turning pitch black for one second. When her vision returned, the Infinite was gone.


    “What the hell?”