Obsidian Sky (33 page)

Chapter 22 – Unfinished Business

There were a lot of jaw drops when Aidan and Leah came strolling through Lowsunn. The group had all taken the weakened shield entrance by the Elder’s compound and quickly made their way to the village center. They were sure that after the Elders saw so many of them alive – opponents that should have been dead by the hand of Necrosis – they would do all they could to strengthen the shields, but it didn’t matter now. The Movement was inside. And they weren’t leaving until all was well.

Still, they decided not to confront the Elders first. The opted for the people. The only ones that truly mattered. And once Aidan walked out into the village center and simply stood there, word of his return spread like wildfire. The inhabitants came out of their homes in droves. Those on missions received messages via teleport and returned home quickly. They didn’t know what his return meant. But they had all heard and felt the sounds of battle nearby. They had to hear what he and his group had to say.

“What happened out there?” they asked Aidan. “Why were you in Onyx Major?”

“Why did you leave?” they asked Leah.

“We heard sounds of a great battle out there,” they inquired of Bailey and the others. Makana spoke up for all of them.

“We were in battle,” she said proudly. “We were attacked by Necrosis, the Omega, and we emerged victorious.” The villagers were in awe, murmuring amongst themselves, unsure of the validity of their words.

“Look here,” Jin said, handing them the parchment containing the details of their mission. “The Elders sent us to Darken, knowing full well its impossibility. But they didn’t realize how strong our teamwork could be, and we have felled that monster!”

As the parchment exchanged hands and curious eyes widened with realization, the people began cheering and patting their heroes on the back, jumping up and down and chanting their names. If this group could defeat Necrosis…there was no enemy too strong. They may not have found the Choate, but Lowsunn was surely saved.

“What are we doing?” Aidan asked Bailey as the crowd began talking of celebration. “When are we going to expose the Elders’ corruption?”

“We’re gaining the trust and favor of the people first,” she said. “We’ll be seen as heroes and leaders in the community now for our accomplishment. This is far more important. Just showing off our mission details doesn’t prove any corruption. But the Elders will be a lot more careful before they make their next move.”

“But it doesn’t solve the issue. It just delays it, and makes the Elders more cautious.”

“This is the way it must be
,
Tallawa
h
. Accusing them outright will make us no different from Duncan. Let us not ruin the reputation we have established tonight. This is not just a win for Lowsunn, but the Movement as well. We all have a reason to celebrate. We have all survived.”

“You do know that I won’t stay here much longer. You have Leah and I for a couple more days, if that. I can’t help you after.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“No, I don’t understand. I don’t understand at all. But this is a favor, because you’re my friend.”

“Thank you all the same.”

“Excuse me, I’ll be back,” he said, patting her on the shoulder. He grabbed Isaac and pulled him aside to whisper something in his ear, then he motioned for Leah to come with him just as the crowd began breaking out in song and dance. Aidan and Leah had to wave back a number of pats on the back and congratulations. A couple even apologized to him as he passed, saying how they should have believed in him earlier. He paid no attention. There was still work to be done.

“Where are we going?” Leah asked.

“Just play along with me. I need to find something out. If Bailey and the others aren’t willing to confront the Elders and get the truth tonight, then I am.”

“What’s wrong? The truth about what?”

“The Elders aren’t stupid.”

“Yeah, so?”

“They love Lowsunn, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then why would they put it in jeopardy? Why would they send Necrosis here in the first place? Knowing full well he could come kill us all? I need to know what they were thinking.”

“It was a crazy move. Maybe they wanted to crush the Movement that badly.”

“No, I don’t think so. Like you said, whether it’s the Elders or the Movement, we all want the same thing: what’s best for Lowsunn.” He pulled Leah into the shadows. “Summoning Necrosis accomplishes none of that. It destroys it. I wanted to confirm my suspicions by speaking with the Elders, but I’m not going to get an audience with them without Bailey. So I have to approach this a different way. Tell me, if the Elders and the Movement both love Lowsunn, which of them sent for Necrosis?”

“Logically…” She thought it over. “It would have to be neither.”

“Which means that someone who doesn’t care about this village is really the one pulling the strings.”

“Who would that be?”

“There’s only one person I know who pulls strings,” he said. “Eugene Balthasar is the only man living in both worlds, and deep enough to get all the information he needs.”

“But for what purpose? Why now?”

“I guess we’ll see.”

“But if this man is behind everything, why didn’t Bailey figure it out? Or the Elders?”

“It’s because they’re not looking around them,” he said. “Their focus is only on their opponent, not the bigger picture. The Elders only see the Movement and vice versa. Meanwhile, Eugene is in the middle, watching us both destroy each other and helping himself at the same time. This victory over Necrosis does ruin the Elders’ pull on the people, and the Elders will fight back in their own way, but still, nothing gets accomplished. The war between both parties continues.”

“I don’t understand all of this…”

“Just tag along. Knowing how he is, he won’t join in the celebration. He’ll need time to revise his plans.”

Aidan put the Choate piece back in his pocket and took Leah’s hand, leading her through the shadows until they wrapped around the village and reached the schoolhouse. A light was flickering from the inside. Aidan smiled back at Leah as they came upon the entrance, and he slammed open the door, startling Eugene inside.

“Goodness!” he jumped, glancing behind him to see who it was. “Oh, Aidan it’s you.” He turned back to the teacher’s desk and gathered up his loose papers into a pile, rolled it up, and tucked it into the pocket in his jacket. When he was finished, he turned to face them. Leah took a seat in one of the pews while Aidan stood in the middle, giving Eugene a smug smile.

“Surprised to see me?” he asked. Eugene clutched his chest.

“You scared me so bad,” he chuckled, finding a seat on the desk. “I am, actually. Last I heard, you were doomed to fight Necrosis, then a group saw you near Onyx Major, and now I just overheard! You defeated an Omega! Few in this world can boast such a feat!”

“I had some help,” he said, crossing his arms. “What I can’t understand is why you didn’t ask the Movement for help with your mission in the first place.”

Leah gave Aidan a quizzical glance, but she quickly dismissed her gaze. All she needed to do was watch and play along.

“I don’t understand,” Eugene said, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

“We’re the finest warriors that Lowsunn has to offer, and you can’t ask us to go get the Choate for you? At the very least you could have asked me. What did you think? That I was indebted to Bailey for saving me from the big, bad world? That I had integrated myself into the system? Haven’t any of my actions told you what I’m all about?”

“Aidan, you’ll have to be more specific,” Eugene said, calming down. “Are you accusing me of something?”

“I’m accusing you of being blind, and not seeing a friend when he was right in front of your face.” Aidan dug into his pocket, produced the Choate piece and threw it to Eugene. The professor’s eyes widened once he saw it, and he caught it eagerly, turning it over and over in his hands. “You know what that is, don’t you?”

“Is this…is this –”

“- it’s a piece of the Choate,” Aidan replied. “Found it in Onyx Major. That is what you wanted, right?”

“But why – I…a piece? I don’t understand.”

“All I want is to be a part of it. Sylvester told us about how the second Advent could be localized. I want to be involved. To gain more Yen. We learned that once all four pieces are together, more than one person can gain its benefits.”

“But I don’t understand…”

“What don’t you get? Why I would keep this a secret from my friends? I have no friends here. Leah’s the only one I care about and she’s on board. She’ll do whatever I tell her. Other than her, this whole village can be burned down for all I care.”

“No, I don’t understand…why you brought Isaac to life,” Eugene said with leery eyes. “That was the test. To see if you would leave him to die or wish him back. When you used a Yen to save him, I figured that you were too connected to them.”

“Isaac’s been working with me against Bailey,” Aidan said quickly. “He does a lot of my dirty work behind the scenes, and I figured that bringing him back to life didn’t matter if we found the Choate soon anyways. My Yen will be replaced.”

“I see,” Eugene said, straightening up. “Well, I’m surprised you found this so soon.”

“With Duncan so adamant about forming an army in this exact spot, I figured it had to be close. It would have worked out better for him to set up a base of operations here since he knew how the village worked already. That’s why I’m still here...and why you’re still here too, isn’t it?”

“It’s true. I’m not very sociable so I decided it was better to work with the conditions I know rather than new ones to find the artifact.”

“But you would have destroyed all of that with your plan. Necrosis told us he was going to destroy everyone in Lowsunn after he was done with us.”

“It was a risk I had to take,” Eugene sighed. “The Elders concoct the mission lists but before they’re handed out to the villagers, I make the final changes and finishing touches. I’ve been at it for years and I’ve gained their trust over all this time so now they don’t recheck my work anymore. Even when they read the names aloud during announcements, they never take a quick glance. I had to get the Movement working for me, and I knew you were my best bet. You weren’t going into that fight to die like the rest of them would. But you understand why I did it, don’t you? Sending something as big as Necrosis towards the Movement was the only guarantee I had that you and some others would get off your butts and actually go out into the world. I needed someone to look for the Choate, and in places the Elders would never send its villagers to. Without my interference, the endless battle between the Elders and their Movement would have went on forever. I didn’t expect it to go as far as it did. But it worked out in the end, I think. How did you end up fighting Necrosis anyways? I thought you were running.”

“We did run away at first, but then we discovered that you resent Necrosis after Bailey and the others. With so many more threats to the Omega, I figured the attack wouldn’t be localized anymore, and that it would just end up destroying the village in the process. I intervened for the good of us all.”

“I’m glad you did,” he sighed. “I would have been killed too. But that part wasn’t my doing. That was all the Elders.”

“What do you mean?” Aidan asked, looking back at Leah in surprise.

“After finding you near Onyx Major, the Elders were furious, believing that you really were building an army over there. Necrosis was already on his way to your group at that point, from my doing. The Elders caught word of his incoming arrival and decided to take a risk of their own. They had known about the Movement for a while now, and they were just waiting for the right moment to strike. This was that moment. They were the ones that altered the course of the Omega from you to Lowsunn. They were the ones who sent most of the Movement to die by Necrosis’s hands. All to hurt you, destroy them, and weaken whatever army you had accumulated in the city.”

“No way,” was all Aidan could say. Leah’s hand had been over her mouth during the entire explanation. All this time, he had given the Elders the benefit of the doubt. He had known they were a lot of things, but certainly not murderers. He had figured Eugene was behind both rounds of assignments, but why would he lie now?

“I know it’s shocking,” Eugene said. “But it’s over now. You survived my schemes. You survived the Elders, and now I know for a fact that we’re on the same side. We have a piece to the Choate. My standing is sustained and your reputation is better than ever. We can slowly manipulate the two sides to get the other pieces. I can be the brains, and you the brawn.”

“Like you’re really going to keep me alive,” Aidan scoffed. “You might not be able to fight me, but you’ll devise a way to kill me in the end.”

“But we’re partners.”

“So you say. How dumb do you think I am?”

“I’ll admit, I thought you were. But after what you’ve just accomplished, I see you as an invaluable asset.”

“As I do for you. Why don’t you come outside?” Aidan said, pointing to his forehead. Eugene frowned and squinted his eyes. A small beetle fluttered its wings from between Aidan’s spiky hair. “Everyone’s going to have lots and lots of questions for you.”