Reunification (24 page)

“
Reunification?” I said.
“Why do ye call yourselves that? More importantly, how long has
your organization existed? How did ye even find it?”

“
Reunification is much
older than me,” said Kiriah. “I am just its newest leader and the
one who will finally achieve the goals set into motion by its
Founder so many eons ago.”

Kiriah said this with a fervent enthusiasm
that I had not seen in her in a while. She no longer looked at me.
Her eyes were glazed over with excitement. She seemed smitten by
the idea of achieving the Founder's goals, whatever they may be, as
if it was her whole destiny to do that. It disturbed me because my
sister was usually far more reserved than this, which made me
wonder what kind of changes had come over my sister between the
time of her disappearance and today.

“
But I think I should
start from the beginning,” said Kiriah, looking at me again.
“You're my brother, so I think you deserve to know what is going on
here. Maybe you can even help, once you understand exactly what
we're trying to do here. It's a noble goal, after all, and I would
love it if the two of us could work side by side to accomplish it,
just like when we built that makeshift fort as kids. Do you
remember that?”

I nodded. “'Twas a mighty fort, for
children of six and five, but I am not so sure about Reunification.
But I shall reserve my judgment until ye tell me the whole
story.”

“
All right,” said
Kiriah. She leaned back in her chair and took on a thoughtful
expression, as if she was trying to figure out where to start. “I
guess I should begin with my 'disappearance' six years
ago.”

“
Yes,” I said. “'Tis a
good place to start, for I have always wondered how you disappeared
on that fateful night. I had thought some vile cur had kidnapped
ye, especially after I first saw those pictures of you sitting with
Xacron-Ah.”

“
Well, first off, no one
kidnapped me,” said Kiriah. She snorted. “As if anyone
could
. If someone tried to kidnap me, I would have broken
out by myself within a week. I left of my own free
will.”

“
That is good to hear,”
I said. But then I frowned. “But why did ye not tell Sura and I? We
were worried sick for your safety. We blamed each other for our
failure to protect ye.”

“
I know,” said Kiriah,
“but I couldn't tell you where I was going. I was told that I had
to leave without telling anyone, because no one is supposed to know
about Reunification. And that is how it is supposed to be. Even I
didn't know about Reunification until the day they contacted me
with an offer.”

“
I see,” I said. My
hands balled into fists. “But Sura and I could have used any hint
of where ye had gone. Even just the tiniest of clues assuring us of
your safety would have saved us years of worry and
strife.”

“
If I had told you about
Reunification and why I left, they would have killed you,” said
Kiriah in a flat tone. “Any non-members who find out about us are
always killed before they can get a chance to tell anyone else. And
if any members of the organization tell non-members about it, they
get killed, too. It's how Reunification has managed to stay hidden
for so many years.”

“
That does not sound
much like a noble organization to I,” said I. “Sounds indeed closer
to a group of miscreants that has something to hide.”

“
Our goal isn't evil or
wicked,” said Kiriah. She leaned forward again, with such passion
in her eyes that I found it hard to look at them. “We just know
that if anyone—whether on Dela or Xeeo—knew about our plan, they
would try to stop us. We can't allow anyone to get in the way of
the Mission.”

“
And just what is this
'Mission' ye speak of?” I asked. “Killing innocents who stumble
upon your plans?”

“
Those deaths are
collateral damage,” said Kiriah. She adjusted the collar of her
cloak, which had moved out of position due to her movements. “If no
one tried to stop us or get in our way, then we could do our plan
without killing anyone. Unfortunately, many misguided people have
made it their job to fight against us for no reason other than they
don't understand what we're trying to do.”

She did not sound very mournful or
apologetic to me. Indeed, if I had not known Kiriah very well
(though listening to her ramblings now, I questioned just how well
I actually knew my dearest sister), I would have assumed that she
was quite satisfied indeed with the fact that the organization had
killed people, as if they deserved it for daring to stand in her
way.

That thought did deeply unsettle me,
making me no longer wish to be in the same room as my sister. In
spite of all of the years of anticipation up to this moment, I
found myself praying to the Old Gods to whisk me away to some
faraway land. Even running into the Destroyer again would have been
better than speaking with my seemingly remorseless sister.

“
You see, Rii,
Reunification has existed for eons, even before Dela and Xeeo
became connected through the Portals that people use to travel
regularly,” said Kiriah. “Every so often, they need a new leader,
someone they can trust to carry out the dictates of our Founder.
Sometimes this person is from Xeeo; other times, from Dela.
Nonetheless, they are always very careful about who they choose,
because a leader can make or break an organization. I am the newest
leader and have led Reunification for six years now.”

“
Why did they choose
ye?” I asked. “Not that I doubt your leadership abilities, sister,
but I do not understand why they chose ye in
particular.”

“
Because it's my
destiny,” said Kiriah. She put her hand over her heart. “The
Elders—the men and women who make up the actual leadership of
Reunification—consulted our Founder, who picked me to lead the
organization, because he saw what my destiny was.”

“
Your Founder?” I
repeated. “But ye say that Reunification has existed even before
the two worlds became linked through the Portals. How can the
Founder still be alive, then? Or are ye referring to one of his
descendents, perhaps?”

“
Because our Founder is
a great man, greater than any of us,” said Kiriah. She sighed in
great contentment. “He's immortal. How he got that way, I don't
know, but he's the same Founder who lived in the First Days, when
he founded Reunification.”

“
What is his name?” I
said.

“
I don't know,” said
Kiriah. “No one is allowed to know his name. And I don't need to
know it to serve him. I am perfectly content not knowing, because I
trust him totally.”

“
That does not sound
much like the Kiriah I knew,” I said. “The Kiriah I knew did not
trust anyone totally, particularly strange men who do not reveal
their true names.”

“
You don't understand,”
said Kiriah, shaking her head. “I'm not the same Kiriah you used to
know. I've changed. I've learned so much more about Dela and Xeeo
than any of us could possibly imagine. If you only knew what I knew
… why, then you wouldn't be so skeptical.”

“
Then tell me,” I said.
I gestured at my broken legs. “I have nothing better to do at the
moment, after all, but listen.”

“
I can't tell you
everything,” said Kiriah. “Not yet. The Founder doesn't think
you're trustworthy enough to be given that kind of information
right now. Maybe later, after you've proven your worth, but for
now, I can't tell you as much as I want to.”

“
Fine, then,” I said.
“Continue with your story. What happened after ye vanished from our
home? Where did ye go?”

Kiriah glanced at the glass wall on the
other end of the room, well away from us. “I can't tell you that,
either. A lot happened between then and now, much of it knowledge
that only Reunification members are allowed to know. I will tell
you, however, that I went to Xeeon, where I began to work with
Xacron-Ah, to finish the work that was started so many years ago by
our Founder.”

I bit my lower lip, though Kiriah did not
seem to notice. The reason I bit mine lip was because I remembered
how Lanresia, that she-elf who worked for the Foundation, had told
me that they suspected that my sister and Xacron-Ah worked
together. I had thought it a silly theory, one that had no basis in
reality, but now Kiriah had just confirmed it and she was obviously
not joking, as much as I may have wished that she was.

“
So ye were indeed at
the Parade in Xeeon, then?” I said. “That was ye?”

Kiriah nodded. “Normally, I don't get out
much, because I'm not supposed to be seen in public. I decided to
go out just that once, however, because I was getting bored and
I've always loved parades. I didn't even know you were in Xeeon at
the time. If I had, I wouldn't have gone out at all, because you're
not even supposed to know that I'm alive.”

“
But why?” I said. “Is
it because ye know that I would not agree with whatever this
Founder fellow is up to?”

“
Only a select few
people are allowed to even know about the existence of
Reunification,” said Kiriah. “And you, unfortunately, were not
chosen to know. Even Sura wasn't.”

“
I see,” I said,
stroking my chin. I cringed when the pain in my legs flared up
again, though as before I tried to ignore it. “Then … did ye send
that Assassin machine to kill me?”

Kiriah did not meet mine eyes as she said,
“Well, it was actually Xacron-Ah who ordered it to attack you. It
wasn't even supposed to kill you. I was promised that it would just
delay you until I could get back to my place in the city.”

It may have been six years since I last
spoke with Kiriah, but I could still tell that she was not telling
me the whole truth about Assassin. Aside from her refusal to look
me in the eye, she still had the habit of tugging at the strands on
the sleeves of her robes whenever she was lying. It was a habit she
had had ever since childhood, and I was pleased to see that she
still had it, for it meant that she had not changed quite as much
as I thought she had.

“
Xacron-Ah didn't send
that robot after me,” I said. “Did he?”

She stopped tugging her sleeves, perhaps
understanding that I remembered her habit. Then she looked me in
the eyes and said, without hesitation, “You're right. I sent it.
And I told it to kill you.”

Though I suspected as much, hearing her
confession from her own lips shook me to the core of my being. “But
why? Why would ye order your machine to kill your own brother? I
thought ye loved me.”

“
I do,” Kiriah admitted.
“But I wanted you out of the picture because I didn't want to keep
worrying that you would find me and get in the way of my plans. I
knew that once you got even the tiniest whiff of my existence, you
would stop at nothing to find me again.”

“
And ye thought that
killing
me would be the right way to keep me away from ye?”
I said in indignation. “Killing your own brother because ye didn't
want him to get in your way and ruin your precious 'plans'? You are
a mother of crows.”

“
How else was I supposed
to ensure that you wouldn't try to find me again?” said Kiriah. She
pushed away from my bed, as if she was afraid that I would try to
harm her. “Besides, you survived, didn't you? All thanks to those
Foundation idiots.”

In anger, I tried to sit up, but my broken
legs stung with pain again, forcing me to lie back down.
Nonetheless, I glared at her, so angry that I wished that the Old
Gods would miraculously heal my legs so I could get up and leave
this place forever, even though I doubted the Old Gods would do
such a thing for me. Still, I liked to dwell on that thought
anyway, as 'twas the only way to distract mine mind from the pain
in my legs.

“
Did ye intend for me to
die in that assault on the Foundation's headquarters as well?” I
demanded.

“
Everyone there was
supposed to die,” said Kiriah, nodding. She stood up from the stool
and turned away, perhaps because she was too ashamed to look me
directly in the eye anymore. “The Foundation has been a thorn in
Reunification's side for years. It wasn't until recently that we
were able to deal them a lethal blow, and that is only thanks to
the tracking device that Assassin planted on you before the
Foundation agents whisked you away to their
headquarters.”

I felt my body quickly, but did not find
any sort of tracking device on it. Still, I believed my sister, for
I had heard about Xeeonite robots that could 'plant' tracking
devices on their enemies. Sir Alart had once told me that these
devices could be quite small indeed, too small for the human eye to
see or for a human hand to feel.

I ceased feeling my body and said, “What
were those monsters ye sent after us? I have never seen anything
like them before. Granted, I am no expert on Xeeonite species, but
even Resita said he did not know what they were, and he is a native
of this world.”

“
That's because they
aren't native to Xeeo or Dela,” said Kiriah, her back still to me.
“Our Reunification scientists made them by splicing the genes of
Grand Lizards—a type of Xeeonite lizard that you probably don't
know anything about—with humans. Our scientists call them
Lizard-men, though we also call them the Hunters. This is the first
time we've used them in the field. And I must say, they were a
complete success.”

“
Gene splicing?” I
repeated. “What doth that mean?”