Chapter 48 - Preparations for a Hero

  Alex saw me walking over and stood to meet me. “Hail, hail, and all that! How are you doing? Holding up okay?"

  "Mostly, yeah." I shook his offered hand, and he used it to drag me into a hug.

  Then he released me and took a step back. "I think we need to see about getting you some new clothes."

  I glanced down at what was left of my outfit. What had been an old t-shirt and a pair of jeans when I put them on was now a tattered and torn-up mess. I’d been more than a little rough on my clothing. There was the tear and bloodstain from where Cliff got me, and that was only the start. Fighting the birds had slashed the cloth up pretty good, too. And those giant crab claws…!

  "That's the problem with natural armor," I said. "It protects me, but not necessarily anything I'm carrying or wearing.”

  Alex laughed. "I heard earlier today that some people have been getting crystals that grant them skills, not just powers. Stuff like Weapon Making and Armor Making. When I heard that, the first person I thought of was you."

  "I don't exactly need armor." I was already well enough armored without it. The last thing I wanted was anything that would slow me down.

  "This stuff is magic, remember? I'm betting if someone ranks up Armor Making enough, they can create some sort of outfit for you that holds together better than that." Alex gestured at my attire. "For all we know, maybe there's a way to enchant clothing to make it self-repairing, or something."

  "You think?" I asked. "That would be useful!"

  "I think the thing to remember here is that none of us know what is and isn't possible anymore. What was impossible just a couple of days ago is now just part of our lives,” Alex replied.

  It was a good point, and something we should keep in mind. I opened my mouth to say something of the sort, but before I could utter a word, Emmy crashed into my side.

  "Mr. Castle! You're okay! My sister told me all about how you kept her safe, too. But you're still my special superhero, right?" Emmy asked. As she said the last words, she took a step back and planted her fists on her hips.

  I laughed, then reached down and scooped her up, twirling her in a circle before setting her on the ground again. "Of course I am, Emmy! You need me, I'll be there for you."

  Emmy took my hand, and I followed her the rest of the way to the fire. Emmy rushed over to sit next to Maggie. Alex settled himself down on the ground next to the woman he'd been fighting alongside earlier. Marion, I think her name was. They sat close enough that their hips and legs touched. That was interesting to see—and good. If something positive came out of all this suffering, I was there for it.

  I figured it was just one more sign that no matter how dark things get, people will still hope for a better tomorrow.

  Maggie patted the ground beside her, so I went over and took a seat. As soon as my butt hit the dirt, Emmy piled herself into my lap. I was a little surprised, but I suppose I shouldn't have been. Was she acting a little young for her age? Sure, but I think that was understandable under the circumstances. All of us were coping with this mess the best we could.

  "Glad you made it back safe,” Maggie said. “These are the guys that police captain put in charge of guarding Emmy and I. That’s Neil Travis, and the other one’s name is Mike Johnson."

  Each of the two police gave me a bro nod as Maggie said their names, which I returned. Travis was a skinny, balding white man in his thirties. Johnson was black, muscular without looking like a body builder, and I was pretty sure he was younger than Travis, too.

  "Thanks for keeping them safe," I said.

  "Oh, it's our genuine pleasure," Johnson replied. “Even when it was just the kid, we were good with it. Although she does require constant watching!”

  "Yeah, I noticed." I replied, my voice dry.

  Emmy turned and looked at me with a pout on her face that made all of us break out laughing. Of course, that made Emmy pout even harder.

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  A low, gentle rumble shook the ground beneath us. I startled at the movement. None of the rest of them did, though. How often were these tremors occurring?

  After I settled myself down, I looked out at the others. "Has that been happening a lot, then?"

  Travis nodded. "Every hour or so."

  "It can't be good, but there's not much we can do about it right now, anyway," Johnson added.

  I glanced at Alex. He seemed to have a better grasp of a lot of this stuff than the rest of us did. Maybe it was because he'd collected so many intellect crystals? Or maybe he was just naturally bright. Either way, I wanted his take on this.

  "Alex, what do you think is causing the shaking?"

  Alex bit his lower lip, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, I can't say for sure. There could be a lot of specific causes. But the general cause pretty much has to be magic."

  That's what I figured, too. I wanted to hear more. "What makes you so confident?”

  "Boston is about as geologically stable as you can get. Well, that's not entirely true. There are more stable places out there. But for our purposes, it's close enough. There's no way, short of a major technological or magical interference, that the city should be getting tremors like these. Since technology isn't an option anymore, Occam's Razor says magic has to be involved. Whose magic, I don't know, but my bet would be on the lobsters. You were the one who said that they were trying to do aquaforming, right? That they wanted to flood parts of the city?"

  "That's what it looks like, yeah," I replied.

  “And they implied as much when I talked with them,” Maggie added.

  "That's the most likely answer, then," Alex said. "I don't know how they're doing it. I don't know exactly what it is they're doing, even. But if you're asking me what the most likely cause is? I'd say that's it.”

  I stared out into the darkening night, toward the distant enemy lines. Unlike on our side, there were no fires over there. There was nothing but darkness, and yet I had a sense that the enemy wasn't using this time the same way we were. Where we were resting and trying to get our feet back under us again, I had a strong hunch that the enemy was instead preparing themselves for the next stage of the battle.

  Emmy broke the silence with a mighty yawn, which made most of the grownups chuckle.

  “About time to get this one to bed,” Maggie said. “Me, too. I’m wiped.”

  “It’s been a day,” Marion said. “We should probably get some rest while we can.”

  “Come on, I’ll show you all to the tents we set up earlier,” Johnson said. He rose and set off away from the fire while Travis set about banking the flames.

  I stood, but I didn’t follow right away. Alex and Marion were already on their way toward their tent. Maggie held Emmy’s hand and followed Johnson, but she turned when she saw I wasn’t following.

  “Not coming?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “Not yet. Head’s still too busy, and I’m not tired yet.”

  “I find that second part more difficult to believe than the first,” Maggie replied.

  “It’s the Stamina crystals,” I said. I shrugged. “With mine ranked up so high, I don’t get tired the same way I would have before. Heck, for all I know I don’t even need sleep anymore.”

  Which would be weird, but even as I said it, I didn’t think it was true. I felt the beginnings of being tired starting to leak through my awareness, and I figured I’d probably at least take a nap at some point before dawn. But what I’d been thinking about right before Emmy’s yawn got stuck in my head, and now I wanted to do something about it.

  “Suit yourself,” Maggie replied, yawning. “Hopefully things stay quiet until morning. See you then?”

  “Of course,” I replied.

  She turned and walked away, guiding her sister toward the beat up military tent Johnson pointed out. Poor Emmy was already half asleep. Maggie picked her up and carried her the last bit. They’d both been through a lot, but they were fighters. I had a feeling they’d be all right.

  I left Travis to clean up the fire and marched my way back toward the perimeter. There, the guards MacGregor set watching the enemy lines were still on high alert. One cop nodded to me as I came over, but didn’t say anything. I walked past him, marching my way along the fighting line, staring at the enemy somewhere ahead in the darkness.

  They weren’t wasting the time this armistice gave them. I felt that in my bones. The lobsters were over there continuing their work to submerge the city, or whatever it was their final plan involved. They were capturing humans who hadn’t been quick enough to flee, kidnapping people who’d tried to hide instead of running. What was the plan with their captives, anyway? The ones we’d seen were being hauled toward the water, and I’d assumed they were being drowned, but why? There were so many easier ways to kill someone. Why pick that one?

  I had a Water Breathing crystal now. Was it possible those people weren’t being killed? That they were being captured, instead? Now that I knew that was within the realm of possibility, it seemed a much more logical answer than just murder by drowning.

  They might have thousands of prisoners out there, somewhere underwater.

  And they were using this time to gather more. As I stood there, I heard another cry for help in the distance. That tore it for me. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing while they wreaked havoc on the people of Boston. The enemy wasn’t wasting this time. Neither could I.

  But what sort of action to take?

  I stood there pondering that for a long while. If I attacked them outright, I’d break the fragile truce. They’d rush in to attack the police, who badly needed this rest period, even if I didn’t. That wasn’t the best option. There were other ways I could use the time, though.

  Without another word, I shot skyward, flying up, and then streaking north over the buildings, gliding back toward MGH. If I couldn’t strike directly at the enemy, then I could do the next best thing and use this time to grow stronger. The good news was, I knew a few places that would work just fine for that, and I had hours before dawn to take care of business.