Chapter 139: Quinn Larisch (Part 11)
It was a well-thought-out plan on Zeris's part. With Kane there, I’d have to override Zeris's and Kane's memories to weasel my way out of this, which is simply impossible. To override either would take a miracle, especially when I’m so outclassed in power and ability.
The rest of the conversation was miserable. A spare jab or punch was thrown between practically every sentence as Zeris gave me the rundown of what he wanted. My job was… in theory… easy. At camp, I must protect a guy in the group named Ace at all costs. Additionally, Zeris demanded that I send four people out to explore early into the first day. And if necessary, I might need to use override to fulfill this task.
As for the rest, Zeris implanted a tiny mechanism in my ear that he would use to communicate with me whenever he wanted something. If I fail to follow through on any of his orders... if I ever attempt to rebel and fight him myself, my parents will suffer because of my stupidity. After years of manipulating people with my ability, I’m finally experiencing what it’s like to be used as a puppet.
Is this what it felt like to be on the other side? To have so much fear, anger, and dread bottled up inside you as you’re forced to oblige to the one in power? I don’t even know if he told me the truth about my dad, but even one step out of line… just one mistake… and I’ll jeopardize their lives. And if I die naturally, by something entirely random, I won’t ever fulfill my duty. What will happen to my parents then? Will they be punished because of my weakness?
Those thoughts endlessly rattled around my brain as Zeris wrapped up. The trials hadn’t even begun, and I’d already had a near-death experience. In truth, besides ordering me to protect somebody named Ace and to send people to explore, I hardly knew anything about what the trials actually were. Just the day before, I was confident. I had trained and worked hard.
But after talking with Zeris, I was terrified.
Zeris then asked Kane to heal me once he was finished, and as Kane approached me, a golden translucent glove manifested around his right hand. Remaining a few feet from me, Kane extended his hand. Presumably, he activated his healing-based ability as a flurry of small golden spheres floated through the air from his hand to my body. Within minutes, I was as good as new.
Still chained to the tree, I felt a breeze crawl up my back and could barely turn my head around enough to see Zeris standing beside me with a needle. After informing me that he was the trial runner for this sector and that this serum would put me to sleep for a couple more hours, Zeris injected the needle into my arm, and I passed out again.
It felt like only a second had passed as I reawoke inside a sleeping bag with a tent over my head. The air was crisp, and as I shuffled myself out of the sleeping bag, I realized I was now wearing clothes. A white T-shirt, black shorts, and white socks. Also on my sleeping bag was a piece of paper with only the words ‘Dual Wielder’ written on it. Being reminded of what Zeris instructed me to do, as soon as I lifted the paper, it began to vanish into thin air. I forget what it’s called, but there’s a certain kind of paper we used at the government that vanished similar to this one. I guess Kane must have his own supply.
Getting out of bed, I inspect the other things inside the tent, taking an extra moment to look at the term ‘Code’ written across my canteen before putting on some black shoes and heading outside. It was very early in the morning, and the sun was just beginning to rise. Nobody else was awake either. There were fifteen other tents, a food basket, a fire pit, and a corner full of supplies.
The supplies interested me the most, as on each crate was a sword with the number six engraved on it. It might’ve been a reach, but if each one is labeled number six, I had to guess we were in sector six out of the eight sectors the doctor mentioned. And if we were placed according to our scores, the others here must be as physically or intellectually adept as I am. But what intrigued me the most was that I wasn’t placed in either sector seven or eight, presumably the two highest-scoring sectors. What kind of scores were needed to be placed in those two?
Not long after, as the sun was still in the early stages of rising, a girl woke up and joined me outside her tent. Before anything, I activated orasi to see if she was a wielder. She was not. Initially, I asked her for her name before I quickly realized that everybody else here had forgotten who they were. The girl responded that she didn’t know, and that’s when I remembered my canteen. If Zeris knew that there would be a boy named Ace in this group, then the canteens could help us name ourselves so things would remain organized.
Bringing up that something inside our tents might indicate our names, I asked the girl to look around to see if anything stood out to her from inside her tent. At the same time, I pretended to do the same. I decided to lead by example so she would be more willing to listen, and a minute later, we both rejoined each other by the firepit with our canteens in hand. Hers was labeled ‘Sky,’ and mine was labeled ‘Code,’ so we decided those were our names.
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I asked Sky if she would be willing to ration out some food while the rest woke up, spreading the message that the canteens determined our names, and Sky happily complied. Pretty soon, more people began waking up, and soon enough, I learned of the existence of Ace. He was physically massive compared to everybody else, and his outgoing personality paired well with his muscles. I almost thought to myself that it must be a joke that I must protect him, but then I realized that he wasn’t a wielder of iris. I wondered why Zeris had requested that I protect him; he looked more than capable of handling himself with or without Iris, and his scores were good enough to land him in sector six. Still, I decided it was best not to risk saying or doing anything out of line.
As more people woke up, I used orasi to determine who the other iris-wielders were. I was only checking for other wielders because Zeris mentioned that my iris was flowing differently from the other dormant wielders in this group, so there must be at least one other person. And eventually, I located them. It was a young man with a scar across his face, rightfully nicknamed ‘Scar.’ He was unaware he possessed iris, but I could see an iris gemcore burrowed inside him.
I decided to take charge of the camp, at least early on, so things would be easier for me in the long run. Going through the supplies I had already rummaged through was straightforward, and while public speaking wasn’t a strong suit of mine, I made things work. The riddle threw me off, mainly because I knew about Zeris and how powerful he was, so I almost slipped up. Luckily, Sky unknowingly covered for me in my momentary lapse of fear, and I recovered before anyone noticed.
After ending the meeting, people dispersed, and I quickly got to work. I had been studying each person's personality all morning… part of my job as an interrogator for the government was getting a read on people, so I had some experience with this. I decided to override four people I believed would be daring or antsy enough to go out exploring and had them all inform Sky about their intentions.
Switching my focus of attention, I located Scar still beside the slab and decided to take a chance on him. He seemed intelligent and perceptive enough earlier, and conveniently, he made a quick connection with Ace, the guy I was supposed to protect. Getting closer to Scar could only benefit me; at least, that’s what I thought then. So, we began working through another puzzle I could only assume Zeris had set.
While keeping an eye on Ace at all times, Scar and I worked toward solving why everybody had a different number on the back of their shirt. Honestly, I considered it might be as simple as our classified ranks among sector six, but for the only other iris wielder to be ranked fifteen out of sixteen kinds of tanked that theory. And surprise, surprise, there was another purpose for the numbers.
After a bit, I noticed Ace and Sky waving to four individuals departing from camp. And I knew I had followed through on one of the two requirements that Zeris had initially enforced. Now, I could just focus solely on protecting Ace while acting as a camp leader.
Deciphering the code was annoying because I was trying to do two jobs simultaneously. But, once Ace began hovering around me and Scar, I could breathe a little easier. Eventually, though, my chest grew heavy again as this giant of a girl exited her tent. I later found out her name was Ember, but at first, I activated orasi just to be safe and realized she was also an iris wielder.
I should have been more blunt instead of trying to fit in, as my teasing put me in a very stressful position. You see, Ember didn’t know she basically had super strength, so she could’ve crushed my windpipes or even popped my head straight off my body if she decided to constrict her grip to that extent. And I couldn’t do anything but hope I wouldn’t die so foolishly because if I revealed I had powers or tried to fight back, people would be scared to be around me. Nonetheless, I was prepared to use override at a moment’s notice if I needed to.
Ember released me from her clutches shortly after, and I could briefly relax. At least until we solved the code, which sent a shiver down my spine as I read the words: Only One Can Remain.
Was that message a reference to us as a whole? To only me? To my mother? What could it mean?
The scream answered that, and oddly, on the same day, I was frozen with fear for the second time in my life. I was helpless as I watched Ace run over to Hunter and, moments later, tear off into the forest. I said something in a feeble attempt to stop him, but I forgot what it was. It was a phrase of desperation. It could’ve been a vicious animal, a pack of wild beasts that caused that scream, and Ace was the first one running off toward the danger.
It made sense to me then… the reason why Zeris requested that I protected Ace.
I was meant to protect Ace from himself.
But he was gone, and there was no chance I could catch up without unveiling my powers. In only a matter of hours, I had failed on one of Zeris’s two demands. Not only that, I probably just sent three people to their deaths. And as I watched Scar rally everybody else to go after Ace, I was still lost in my head at the campsite.
Why was Scar risking his life to save somebody he didn’t know? It was stupid. He could’ve been running directly into a premature death, just like Ace, yet he ran after him with such drive and purpose. And here I am, already giving up. If Ace dies, that’s it for my parents. And that’ll be it for me.
Sitting there in disbelief and shock, a single thought arose.
Is it so wrong to want to live…?