Apostles

  “So… Kevin…” Michaela sultrily continues her speech, trickles of blood once more erupting from where her nails pierced my neck, “You’re going to apologise very profusely as soon as you walk into this room, or else I’ll just keep killing you over and over until you do~” she finished with a sly smile, the glow coming from her irises being so intense that it was lighting up my face in their ebbing and flowing dual colors. There, she said it. That’s Jessica’s signal~ I thought in amusement, trying my hardest to use my peripheral vision to observe my sidekick to try and confirm my suspicions, completely ignoring the Celestial threatening to end my life. As expected, my precious pet had become enveloped by a nearly imperceptible neon mist-like aura - her power activating subtly, her gaze focused on the nine other Celestials still immobile on the other side of the room. This was Michaela’s mistake. She underestimated Love Love and decided it would be unnecessary to expend the extra energy to lock away her powers after freezing her in place. She must have gotten her info on Jessica’s powers from Immortalis… Heh~ Number Three’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, her smile disappearing as she sensed the smugness and calm feeling of triumph simmering within me. He’s plotting something! SHIT!!! I really wanted to say more, but- No!! I can’t waste time. She thought in a short burst of panic followed by artificially induced reassurance, her teeth gritting in annoyance and her hand suddenly closing into a tight fist, crushing my neck like it was made of flimsy plastic.

  Or at least, that’s what she had hoped would happen. Instead, right as her fingers twitched in preparation to close, five threads of dough had darted into view from behind her and each wrapped around a different finger faster than she could react, her hand suddenly being forced to remain in place. Michaela hissed in anger, her head turning to the side to eye the Celestial directly below her in the ranks with pure murderous rage, her smirk having long twisted into a toothy snarl. “Dreamstress,” Breadman stated calmly, his anger betrayed only by the intensified glow from behind his sunglasses and the veins popping across his extended hand - each string of dough originating from the tip of its respective finger, “Cease. Now.” His tone left no room for questioning; it had been a direct order under threat of violence - his other arm having transformed into a comically long beige blade, the flat of it able to lazily rest on Michaela’s shoulder even from that distance, the edge facing towards her neck. Number Three hesitated, her eyes and snarl fading slightly, before she finally sighed and fully let go of me, taking a step back while shrugging and smiling placidly, “Ahh~ I was just jokin’~ Can’t any of you learn to take a prank in stride? Sheesh~” she playfully lamented, using Psychogenesis to keep her own emotions in check, snapping her fingers and undoing her hold on everyone present. “Plus,” she continued, doing a 180 degree turn on her ankles to look me in the face again right as I could finally move again, her eyes and expression resembling more like those of a starving predator than those of a hero, “You think I didn’t know this was going to happen?~ As if the glorious and untouchable Kevin would EVER allow his ego to be even slightly bruised!! C’mon, let’s be real for a sec-”

  “ENOUGH!!!” suddenly hissed an utterly furious voice from among the Celestials who had just been unfrozen, Empress taking a step forward while pulling on her gloves, her purple eyes blindingly bright, the rest of her face covered in shadow, “One more word out of your mouth and I’ll have ripped out your heart before the last syllable leaves your lips,” she growled, “One more activation of Psychogenesis and Horde has been ordered to use ALL million of its bodies to hunt you down and execute you,” she threatened in a low tone and deathly seriousness, slowly blinking a single time while staring directly into her fellow heroine’s soul, “Stand. Down. NOW.” No one moved, not even a millimeter, but this time out of their own free will. Not one of the other Celestials. Not Jessica. Not even me. The times Empress has to really set her foot down and assert authority are always a sight to see. Been a while since I got front row seats to one. I thought with amusement and smug satisfaction as I watched Michaela’s face slowly twist once more in putrid anger and frustration, before she hastily used her power on herself once more to settle down.

  She sighed in exaggerated annoyance and put up her hands, eyes narrowed and dimmed as she stared directly at Empress, stepping away from me. But- How?! Number Three wondered, her teeth grit, struggling to keep herself in check from just how intense her emotions were. How did Breadman break through Psychogenesis?! Kevin must have done something- must have pre-planned!! How long did it take him? Days?? Weeks?! Ahh, Kevin, did you really plan for this so meticulously?~ All just for me?~ You really shouldn’t ha- Huh? Her eyes darted towards me, only to see that I wasn’t even looking at her anymore and in fact hadn’t been doing so for a while. My gaze had wandered over to my pet, who had suddenly collapsed to her knees, her entire face a ghastly white, panting drily from exhaustion. Dreamstress’ left eyelid twitched. Empress’ eyes dimmed after ascertaining that the threat was gone and closed her hand into a fist, finally looking away from Three, “We’ll talk about what just happened later,” she hissed, “Right now we have more urgent matters to attend to.”

  “Jessica?” I asked aloofly, tilting my head while crouching down besides her, “Damn. I guess you’re still too inexperienced to do this sort of stuff efficiently yet,” I muttered, rubbing her head absentmindedly. “You…” Love Love grumbled, struggling to form the words, her forehead touching the floor, barely managing to not collapse completely, “You THINK?! I swear, Kevin, one of these days you’re gonna get me kil…” She never got to finish her sentence, seeing as she had unceremoniously crumpled on the floor, her body finally giving up on her - but her message had been crystal clear. I chuckled, standing back up and leaving her to lay on the marble tiling, my eyes flicking back towards the other Celestials, “Well, that was definitely one of the strangest ways I’ve ever seen a meeting get started!” I joked emptily, putting my hands in my pockets while leaning back on the wall, “And that’s saying a lot.” I got so distracted by Michaela that I didn’t really have time to ponder on it, but… I considered, watching attentively as the rest of the Celestials began to stir once more, shooting dubious looks at each other as if unsure of how to carry on after such an interruption. They figured it out a lot faster this time compared to normal… Must be because of Alexander. Normally, his fight with Immortalis never happens… That’s probably what tipped the scales.

  “I’ll cut to the chase and be very direct with you, Kevin,” Crusader interjected before anyone else, making the rest turn to look at him in surprise, his pearly white irises glimmering menacingly, “If it hadn’t been Michaela, I would have done it myself,” he growled, nodding his head to something behind me. I blinked a couple of times in bafflement and turned my head, my eyes widening as I stared at a large spike protruding from the wall - the rusted and overall disgusting look of it making it clear that it was fashioned out of the sanitation tubes of the hospital. What the hell?! How didn’t I see that?? I thought with a surprised grimace. Ibrahim continued, raising an armored hand and pointing at me with his index finger, “Dreamstress paralysed us right as I was about to demand you to apologise on your hands and knees under threat of impaling you through the heart,” he spoke in a manner much too casual, yet the hints of a burning rage could be felt like embers, “I’m not going to be naive and pretend like Three did what she did out of a sense of justice, but I still fundamentally agree with her; YOU have betrayed US, betrayed HUMANITY, betrayed any and all JUSTICE, and I would rather DIE than see such a thing go unpunished,” he growled, the spike beginning to move, inching closer to me while the hero pointed to himself with his thumb, his irises glowing like lighthouses, “I have never shied away from risking my life in the pursuit of my ideals, so I can tell you with all of my heart, Zero, to your face, that I don’t fear your retribution for this. I know I can’t truly punish you, at least not in the way you deserve to. So, at the very least, I’m going to force some humility on you.”

  Ten, you little FUCK!! I thought with grit teeth, my eyes flicking from the spike in the wall and then back to the charcoal-skinned metal-clad hero. FUCK!! Blood began to drip down from my palms from how tight my fist was, but then I slowly let it go with a sigh. Unlike with Michaela, none of the other Celestials interfered, much to my frustration yet lack of surprise. Because Michaela used her power against them while Crusader hasn’t… And because this is Ibrahim who’s threatening me. Seraph is probably still reeling from the shock of everything that has happened, but the rest know exactly what they are doing. All of their eyes were dimmed, with even Empress merely contenting herself with watching in interest. Because they know they can’t stop him. Yes, even if they stopped him here and now, he would not rest until he had either achieved his goal, was dead, or I had buried him where not even the annals of history could find him. Indeed, even if it meant fighting all of the other Celestials to the death. Even if I went back and actively avoided this meeting altogether, he would still personally hunt me down. As long as this version of him existed, he would find a way to get to me. That was simply the kind of man Number Ten was, and the rest of the Celestials had learned that a long time ago, as had I.

  I’m not- I’m not scrapping a whole timeline for something so STUPID!! Not when things are so interesting. No, I- I’ll bear with the humiliation for now. As soon as I grow bored, I’m going to make him regret this. I slowly parted a playful grin, my long life having made me an expert at concealing my real emotions - whenever I had them, that is. The only one who could tell any different was Dreamstress, but she didn’t move to expose me, something about her face telling me she was too busy pondering other things. “Okay, alright, fine… No need to be so dramatic~” I whistled in indifference, putting my hands up as I turned away from the spike to face the gathered heroes, slowly getting on my knees before all ten pairs of eyes, “I was expecting this would happen anyway. Just to make things clear; this isn’t for you, Ibrahim, this is for everyone. You included, Michaela,” I muttered, my eyes darting towards her, clutching the floor with my hands, boiling on the inside, putting up an act to save face, “I’m sorry for deceiving you all. I didn’t have an alternative.” I’m going to torture you until you beg me for death, Crusader. At least Jessica isn't awake to see this… Ugh. Ten pursed his lips in distaste and nodded, the spike retreating into the wall, the glow in his irises dimming down, “It disgusts me that this is all I can demand of you,” he admitted with a shake of his head, “I wish I could enact REAL justice… but… this will have to do for now.”

  I sighed and unclutched my hands, slowly rising to my feet, surveying those gathered with my pitch black void-like eyes, the emptiness within them causing a sense of unease on those gathered. Empress stared back unflinchingly, arms crossed, and gave me a nod - signalling for me to finally begin explaining myself. I took a deep breath at that, finally able to do what I originally wanted to do in that forsaken meeting, “First thing’s first, there’s something I need to clear up immediately,” I began, “While it’s true that I’m aware of the Rebellion’s movements and have been using them to further a plan of mine, I am NOT actually controlling their movements, directing them, nor am I a member of their organization, or in any way actually supporting them. Everything they’ve done so far has been out of their own volition, and all I did was take advantage of the situation. I don’t think I need to explain how things would be different if I was actually on their side, right?” I grumbled with a hint of scorn, my eyes drifting to the floor and towards where Jessica had passed out, avoiding the gazes of those gathered. “A plan, huh?” Maquineer mumbled, her brow furrowing, her voice ringing out through the heavy silence, “Say, Kronos. I have a question,” she stated suddenly yet with perfect sincerity, much to my surprise, my head lifting to look at her with curiosity, her light green eyes focused on me with a level of confidence I was not expecting. Number Five’s participating?? I, and pretty much everyone else, thought at the same time in bafflement. The only one who wasn’t surprised was Stalwart, his dulled gray eyes having wandered off towards the window a long time ago, as if he was barely paying attention. About damn time Alice spoke up during one of these accursed get-togethers. He thought tiredly, drinking in the moonlight reflexively. She was never going to remain a meek little thing forever, not with a job like this.

  “I- Well, go ahead,” I muttered slowly, regaining my composure hastily, my eyes remaining fixed on her piercing glare, “Ask away, Maquineer.” Things keep getting weirder and weirder. I wondered with a furrowed brow. This timeline’s really damn wacky. Lovely! “Okay,” she mumbled, some of her nervous demeanor returning as soon as she noticed the multitude of stares fixated on her, making her blush and touch the tips of her index fingers together, “S-So, umm… Zero… These plans of yours, I wanted to know- Like, I mean, I know you can’t or won’t tell us about them or whatever and it’s been like this since forever, but I do want to know at least one thing,” she took a shaky breath and leaned forward on her chair, pursing her lips as she regained some of her composure, “There’s only one, isn’t there? It’s not a collection of multiple smaller strategies, it’s just a single, continuous, overarching ‘plan,’ isn’t it?” she asked feverishly, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. Curiosity. That simple emotion was what had driven her to break her unofficial vow of non-intervention that she had been following throughout every other Celestial meeting, I realised, and it was the only reason she hadn’t melted into a puddle of social anxiety now. I blinked at her question, my lips pursing in distaste, looking to the side as if to avoid her gaze, “I’m not going to answer that. I’ve already said many times that I can’t reveal my hand yet. Sorry.” Maquineer pouted at that, looking crestfallen as she leaned back on her chair and sighed in disappointment, “Fiiine…” she then stuck out her tongue mischievously, smirking, “Though you should know I’ll take your lack of explanation as an admission of guilt!” I rolled my eyes at that, but deep down I found it to be at least a little endearing.

  “So, this means you aren’t going to stop,” Horde stated bluntly, pushing up her glasses, her expression unreadable, “You will continue to use the Celestial Ten to further your objectives, and if I’m reading the pattern correctly, those of us who haven’t faced a rebel yet will do so in the near future. Am I correct in my assessment?” she asked inconspicuously, more so like a curious child than anything else. I half-smirked at that, albeit I still refused to look at them, taking the opportunity to hoist up Love Love on my shoulders like a sack of potatoes, “I’m not going to answer that either. Same thing I told Five just now,” I answered callously, giving the Celestials a side-eye as I made a move towards the door, eager to end the meeting as quickly as possible, “All I can give you is that this is all for the greater good, I can’t promise anything beyond that. I’m sorry.” I sighed shortly thereafter and walked out, the deafening silence only interrupted by the sound of my heel clacking against the floor, apologising one final time before closing the door behind me and letting the facade drop.

  I snarled in anger as soon as I was out of sight, shifting Jessica’s weight to my other shoulder and rummaging in my pocket for a few moments, “Bastards, the lot of them!! They’re getting too damn cocky,” I mumbled under my breath while I continued to walk, pulling out the crumpled cigarette and placing it in my mouth absentmindedly, my voice becoming angrier and louder with each passing word, “Clearly they’ve forgotten their place. Who the hell do they think they are?! Who the HELL do they think I am?! I’ll have to remind them, teach them a lesson they won’t forget anytime soon~” I continued, my voice shifting from angered to menacingly playful despite not actually really feeling like it, having become so used to faking my emotions that I was now doing it even when no one was around to listen.

  I placed the lighter against the tip of my tobacco and lit it, hesitating for a few moments before taking a deep drag, almost immediately spitting out the accursed thing and beginning to cough violently. I wheezed, doubling over and dropping Love Love to the floor with a painful thud, clutching at my chest as I struggled to breathe, my teeth gritting, my eyes watering. Not today either. I thought to myself, clutching my fist and rewinding to before I reached for the cigarette in my pocket. I stopped, blinking twice as I felt the weight of my sidekick on my shoulder, my brow furrowed, my thoughts slowly drifting away as I resumed my walk. What’s the point? I thought slowly, the nihilism piercing through the veil of fog over my mind, turning my head towards the passed out woman on my shoulder, failing to focus on her features. How many times have I ‘reminded’ them? It’s all worthless. I suddenly felt Love Love stir, making me blink in surprise and get her off my shoulder, propping her against the wall right as she began to awaken, waving my hand in her face to ascertain her wellbeing. I’ll just play this out. What have I got to lose? If the worst comes, I’ll have my revenge anyway.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” John suddenly asked after a few minutes of awkward silence, turning to look at Empress with a raised eyebrow, “All you did was stop Dreamstress, but that was it, you didn’t even bother to question Kronos That’s quite unlike you,” he finished with a shrug, his outward demeanor doing a terrible job at masking the boiling feeling of betrayal inside him. Kevin, how could you?! Used me like a damn peon. You knew all along I would refuse your help, didn’t you?! You orchestrated my humiliation!! He subtly bit his lower lip. FINE!! So be it. I’ll just prove what I said back then. I don’t need you nor your help!! I’ll get my pride back all on my own. Meanwhile, Dreamstress was savoring the flavor of blood on her tongue, having chewed into her own mouth without even realising it. Kevin… She thought to herself, almost like a zombie, despite the fact that her outward appearance refused to betray any of her inward turmoil. Kevin, what game are you playing?! Do you think I didn’t notice?! That- That woman you brought, she was the one that broke Psychogenesis… What is this?! Did you domesticate that dog just to have a counter against me?! Yes- that must be it. Of course, always so attentive, so doting… You’re going to make me blush, Kronos~ Still, she couldn’t shake a feeling of uncertainty from her shoulders. She would have to consult with her personal aide.

  “There was no point,” Eight answered succinctly, her gaze still lingering on the door, “There was nothing for me to say. There was barely anything for any of us to say.” She turned to look at the rest of the Celestials, her expression surprisingly calm and collected, yet her eyes were glowing brightly with purple light. She’s got that fire in her eyes. Warpbreaker realised, a wide grin beginning to form on his lips, his entire body leaning forward in interest. It’s that same look from back when she defeated me. Oh, this is going to be good~ He hadn’t been the only one to notice, either. Those that had been around long enough to recognise that look in her eyes, those that knew why she was the president of the Association, had all suddenly gotten on very high alert. “I’ve made a decision,” Empress stated softly and without any menace, like she was going to merely implement some new inconsequential policy, “From now on, we’re operating as if Kevin doesn’t exist. There’s no point in trying to factor him into anything; we can’t plan with him, we can’t plan around him, we can’t strategise with him in mind, nothing. We don’t even know if he’s a friend or foe. We don’t know when he’ll decide he’s had enough and lets one of us die permanently. As far as I’m concerned… he’s not even a Celestial,” she smiled a smile that lacked any and all amusement, “He said it himself, he’s ‘Number Zero,’ he’s no longer part of the ten.”

  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  “Its not that I doubt any of you, I am merely anxious. I apologise for being so insistent,” the Savior expressed softly, one of her branches reaching out and tapping the forehead of the creature in front of her lovingly. The monster let out a shuddering sigh, “You can be such a worrywart, Savior… But if it makes you feel any better, I already triple checked with Quetzalcoatl. All of the Apostles as well as the other monsters are ready. All that awaits is the deadline.” The Savior pursed her metaphorical lips, pulling back her branches apprehensively, “I see,” she muttered in distress, looking away for a few moments, closing her eyes, “I’m… I’m so sorry-” she was unable to finish her sentence however, the monster having risen to her feet and abruptly placed a clawed paw on the savior’s mouth. “Don’t,” the Apostle firmly ordered with a hiss, her own eyes closed through her tiger head, propping her forehead against the trunk of the Savior, “I, as well as the others, will do what we must and that’s final.” The Savior blinked, stunned, but in the end had no objections save for a smile, “Yes. Of course. Thank you, Dawon,” the tree-god let out with a shuddering sigh, her voice cracking, yet unable to cry. Dawon answered back with a smile of her own, letting go of her leader and sitting down by her roots, “Everything will be resolved in time, my Savior. You know this better than I ever will.”

  Meanwhile, the other twelve Apostles had all taken positions at their designated spots, each of them deep in thought. In the end, Dawon’s the one staying behind with the Savior. Leviathan thought to himself, scratching the bottom of his shrimp head with one of the many tentacles coming out of his arm sockets. So that’s how it is? I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit. It should have been- Ahh, but that’s not what the Savior wanted, is it? Leviathan sighed with a gurgle, his dark shrimp eyes focusing on the sky above and at the dark clouds beginning to swirl over their mountain-fortress, a dark silhouette standing in the eye of the forming hurricane. We must all be thinking the same thing. Leviathan grinned, showing rows and rows of sharp shark teeth lining his mouth. Sorry, Savior. Not all of us can accept fate so readily. Please, forgive us. His gaze was met by the piercing eyes of the winged monster conjuring the clouds from above - Ziz - and they both gave an acknowledging nod to the other.

  “Leviathan’s getting all philosophical again,” Ziz mentioned casually to seemingly no one, looking away from her comrade, “I can’t really blame him, to be honest. Who wouldn’t get all sappy at a time like this? It’s unfair, right?? Right?!?!” she lamented, looking over to the tip of the mountain right as two gigantic house-sized eyes opened on the rock-laden surface, a deep rumbling echoing out through the entire region. “Is it?” the mountain, Behemoth, asked curiously, his eyes flicking towards Leviathan, “I think it’s poetic. I’m actually rather curious for one. Just how strong ARE the humans of this age? I can only really picture one person from my time who would be able to hold her own against any of us thirteen.” Ziz shrugged with all four of her wings, gliding down and perching on the tip of Behemoth’s body with her one large taloned foot, “Barong seemed convinced that they would pose a significant threat. He’s the only one of the modern era, so I trust his opinion on these so-called ‘Celestial Ten.’” Behemoth blinked, causing various rocks to tumble off his gigantic body, “That means there should still be three more of us than them. We should have the advantage. But… if what Barong said is true…” Ziz grit her teeth in frustration, “Enough. We all decided together, didn’t we?” Behemoth merely blinked again, having no response.

  Quetzalcoatl contented herself with watching the rest of her comrades bicker, knowing full well that it was just their way of letting off some steam due to the pent up anxiousness they had been garnering for the past week. She smiled softly, watching how a snake began to climb the tree she was perched on, her multitude of eyes fixating on the curious creature. The snake approached her tentatively, its tongue flicking as if to catch her scent, making Quetzalcoatl extend an appendage towards it carefully, before suddenly snatching the animal with blinding speed as soon as she was close enough, stuffing it into the space where a mouth would normally be on a uniform creature. Mmm, that one didn’t taste very good. Must have been young. She thought to herself, grimacing and gazing off into the distance. I hope that whoever I’m up against will be someone old and tasty. I hope I’ll win. She closed her eyes and rested against the tree branch, letting her constituent parts disperse so each and every bit of her could get some rest.

  “Why didn’t the Savior pick you to stay behind? It’s a questionable decision at best,” Qilin asked dumbfoundedly, absentmindedly ricocheting a ball against the wall of the cave that marked the entrance into the base that had been carved out of Behemoth’s body, repeating the motion as soon as he caught the ball on the bounce-back. “For real!!” Cerberus added while pumping her fists, situated between Qilin and the wall, doing her best to catch the ball each time he threw it, yet failing every single time. She didn’t seem to be in any way discouraged by her continued failings, however, and instead was grinning from ear to ear, “Like- Dawon is cool and all, but you’d make a lot more sense as the guard!! You’re so friggin’ strong and cool…” she muttered, once more lunging for the ball only to miss and for the object to bounce back into Qilin’s grasp. “It is not our place to question the Savior’s decision,” Kotobuki answered nonchalantly, the divine zodiac wheel behind his back glimmering under the sunlight, his eyes focused on the vast expanse of the horizon, “If she decided I am not to be her guard, then it has been for a good reason.” Both Qilin and Cerberus grimaced at that, yet they could do nothing but continue their idle game, respecting Kotobuki too much to question his devotion.

  “This is it,” Salawa spoke succinctly to the creature to her right as both of them stood over the cliff, staring off and at the abandoned human settlements in the distance, “Say, Mecha, who do you think you’ll have to face? Going by Barong’s descriptions of them, I mean,” she asked with a mutter, her rectangular cinderblock body lumbering sluggishly from side to side, the one eye in the middle flicking towards the metal amalgam that made up her comrade. Mecha tilted his head to the side in thought, “Number Ten, Crusader, no doubt. I’ve already devised a few countermeasures to his power, but it will still be extremely disadvantageous for me.” Salawa closed her eye and let out a shuddering sigh, “Fair enough. I have the same fears as you, truth be told, that we will have to face our natural predators in the coming day. I can only dread that I shall be forced to face Number Two, Horde, and become entirely nullified.” Mecha couldn’t give any words of consolation, its mishmash body made up of dozens of seemingly random technological devices giving the impression of being tensed up from nervousness. Of the thirteen apostles of the Savior, only Ratatoskr was nowhere to be seen that fateful day.

  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  “This is how the frontlines are looking,” I muttered from behind my mask, sprawling a map across the table depicting the northernmost parts of the world, with Iceland serving as the center. I traced a finger over the red line drawn in a near perfect circle over the landmasses and oceans, “Or more like this seems to be the line that the various monster patrols spotted by either satellite imagery or human eyes have refused to cross in the past week.” I raised my head to look at the members of the Rebellion who were gathered, their eyes all fixated on the map, probably drawing up conclusions in their minds. I sighed and continued, lazily tapping on the table, “However, there are two main things that have kept the World State on edge. First, the enemy has vanished. Not a single monster has been spotted in the last 36 hours despite the government having every last centimeter of the frontline zealously guarded by either an Association hero, a significant number of armed soldiers, or both,” I shrugged, and then pointed at the singular bright red dot in the center of the island, “And the second, and in my opinion more significant one, is the gigantic mountain that has suddenly appeared overnight in the dead center of Iceland,” I leaned back on the chair, looking up at the ceiling, my hands retreating into my pockets, “Estimates put it around the size of Mount Everest, if not even bigger. The location as well as the strange circumstances of its sudden appearance have convinced the Council of Five that it is the most likely headquarters of the monsters.”

  “Then there’s nothing left for us to discuss, is there?!” Alexander piped up as soon as the last word had left my lips, cracking his knuckles while grinning from ear to ear excitedly, “We’re going hiking, baby!!” He very shortly thereafter received a slap to the back of the head from Falco, making him slam his forehead on the table and let out a small grunt of dissatisfaction. “Falco’s right,” Rachel admitted with a sigh, taking a drag from her cigarette, “There’s no doubt that the World State and Hero Association will be sending the Celestial Ten to that mountain as their main attack force. Going anywhere near that thing is tantamount to inviting death.” I nodded in agreement, “Indeed. Thankfully, there probably is no need for that,” I chuckled, producing a knife from my pocket and beginning to play with it, “The World State had intercepted - well, more like received - a signal from a rather faraway bit of Iceland. An invitation, really. Chances are, it’s a distraction by the monsters to lure people away from the mountain.”

  The rebels blinked, their gazes fixated on me. Strange. I thought bitterly, my eyes grazing over their cold and silent expressions. They’re barely talking or discussing plans. How come they’re so suspicious of me this time around? I haven’t done anything strange. “Fighting a distraction force should still be enough to accomplish our objective,” Miguel pointed out succinctly, “We don’t need to get involved with the battle for the mountain directly, as long as we do a good enough job.” I nodded, suddenly flinging my knife at the Westfjords region of the island, “The signal’s coming from there. If I were you guys, I would make haste. The deadline’s only a day away after all.”

  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  “This could be Kronos’ way of wiping all of us out in a single fell swoop, you know,” Cassandra hissed psychotically, a blob of water flying out from behind her and splitting the knife I had left embedded on the table in half, “I say we SLAUGHTER that fucker next time he shows his face!” Gray shook his head and sighed in mild discontent, resting his chin on one of his hands, “No… Like we said before, if he really wanted us gone there would be a thousand easier ways to do it.” Falco took the opportunity to speak up, staring intently at a flame produced at the tip of his index finger, “I bet a hundred bucks that one of the Apostles is gonna be where we’re going. Zero’s obviously got something planned that needs to make use of all ten of the Celestials or else he would use one of 'em to take out this ‘distraction.’ But he’s not. What else could it fuckin’ be?” Alexander looked up from where he had been distractedly drawing shapes with his finger on the table, responding to Falco’s words with a smirk, “Ooh, bet’s on!! To be honest, I also think there’s gonna be an Apostle there now that you mention the possibility, but I just like gambling.” Miguel turned his head to look at Tendai in concern, the older man too busy staring down at the grenade in his hand to return the look. Savage’s acting off. He wondered in concern, looking away and towards where Rachel was staring at the map in concentration. At least it looks like he’s calmed down since we decided to play along with Zero’s agent for the time being. “We’ll go,” Rachel finally decided, her voice quieting all others instantly, her beige brown eyes focused on the map still, “I have a feeling that Kronos wants our plan to succeed. Either way, we’re going to find out once we’re there.”

  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  “The protests are refusing to stop,” the reporter sputtered out, having to duck underneath a bridge along with the cameraman following him around, plumes of smoke visible in the background, “All across Australia, the major cities are in total upheaval!! You can hear them chanting across the streets in protest to the ‘Standardised Industry’ act that the World State passed not two days ago. We have attempted to interview a couple of them, but they refused to say anything after citing us as, quote ‘Council of Five’s dogs.’” Jessica sighed at that, resting her forehead on the edge of the couch, groaning in tired frustration. Why’s all the news always something bad? Can’t it be good at least once?? And on the day before the war with the monsters?? Seriously?? “Australia’s in quite the predicament,” I called out suddenly from behind her, seemingly materialising out of thin air and placing my head on top of hers, “Not just them, this sorta thing’s popping up all over the world in the past week. It’s cause normally all the people that’d be suppressing the protests are out on the front line in the north. The people are taking advantage of the chaos to go out and march and vandalise and do whatever other nonsense.”

  Love Love blinked at me slowly, drinking in my words before sighing and slumping over on the couch, “Why’re people so mad all of a sudden? I thought the World State was quite popular,” she asked muffledly, her face planted against a pillow. I smiled and sat down next to her, placing a hand on her head and petting her absentmindedly, “You’re from Jordan, right?” I asked rhetorically, making her look up at me in surprise followed shortly by realization and then resignation, going back to faceplanting the pillow without saying anything. Duh. She thought in amusement. Of course he knows. It was silly to think otherwise in retrospect. “But,” I continued, looking away from her and towards the news, grabbing the controller and switching the channel to show how there were protests happening in Egypt as well, “You’ve lived most of your life in Brazil, which is a member of the Council of Five. Of course you haven’t seen any discontent, you’re literally in one of the places benefitting the most from the status quo.”

  Love Love pondered my words, tilting her head to the side so that she could look at the TV while still resting her head on the pillow, making it slightly harder to pet her, much to my chagrin. “I see,” she murmured, closing her eyes lazily, “So does most of the world hate the World State?” she asked innocently, although it was clear she wasn’t paying too much attention. I shrugged, getting up from the couch and giving up on patting her head, “Hate is a strong word. Some of them really do, like France’s little friend group, but most range from mild discontent to mild content.” Still, it’s so easy to rouse the masses. I thought with a small smirk, turning off the television and exiting the room, letting Jessica fall asleep quietly on the couch like she had obviously been meaning to for a while now. Mild discontent can turn to visceral hatred on a dime, and mild content can turn to raging adoration just as fast.