Chapter Seventy-Four: In The Thrall Of The Cult, Part 2
“No, I won’t do that,” Yue exclaimed. “You must be joking! That’s going too far! If you think I’m going to kidnap an innocent, you’re dead wrong.”
“Oh, Yue, she’s not innocent,” the controlled Xander told her. “He’s corrupt, just like all politicians. And, to make matters worse, he didn’t vote for you.” He gasped. “Can you believe that?”
“And how is that supposed to damage my reputation?”
“Why, Yue, you must trust the process, darling.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Soft spot, huh? Can’t blame you. But here’s the plan, sweet thing. You will kidnap the Member’s wife and leave her at a designated place. Once the city knows she’s missing, you will vocally support what happened. People will turn once they know that the Sterkona supports hurting those affiliated with the supporters of the Cult.”
Yue collapsed to the ground, and put her head in her hands. “Why are you doing this to me? What do you really get out of this? What sort of horrible satisfaction do you feel by me doing this?”
“Yue, Yue, don’t complain,” Xander told her. “Just be happy we haven’t started to degrade you. In a few weeks, you’ll be too busy having sex in public with whores and Cultists to worry about what we get out of this. But, you do know you brought this upon yourself, right? You should’ve never opposed us.”
“You’re all sick and twisted bastards.”
“Thank you,” the Cultist bowed through Xander. “Now, do you want your boyfriend back?”
“Please.”
“Sorry, he’s not coming back. He has a job to do, and, unfortunately, it doesn’t involve you. When you finish the mission, he will be returned to you, but not before, so you better do it quickly, or your darling won’t be back in time for bed.”
“I swear I will murder all of you.”
Xander laughed uproariously, so much so that he had to wipe tears from his eyes. “Oh, Sterkona, you’re too funny. I’d love to see you try. Please, do something. See how your precious boyfriend ends up. I’ll see you on the flip side, Yue. Try not to be a sore loser. There is no way for you to win. The sooner you realize that, the better.”
And with that, Xander took off, leaving Yue to rot in her sadness.
She couldn’t believe what she would have to do. Kidnapping a woman? Never in her wildest imaginations had Yue thought she would stoop that low, but it wasn’t her choice. Or, it was but the consequences were dire. Was she being stupid? Should she just let Xander die and get it over with? For now, the first two missions weren’t enough to make her want to, but having public sex with Cultists and other degrading things? She didn’t know if she could do it, it was just too much! And who knew what other terrible ideas the Cult had in hand. Ideas spun through Yue’s head, each one worse than the last. From one moment to the next, Yue began to shake, heaving with silent sobs. No tears fell, she felt too numb for that.
Time passed, and she didn’t know how long she stood there. Wasn’t she supposed to be the Sterkona, the Strong Woman? The one who could beat anyone in a fight? The one who beat Captain Wolf? How could this happen to her? She was sacrificing men and women for her boyfriend to survive! She was doing horrible things for the sake of her friends, ruining her reputation to make sure those she knew could keep their breath. It was wrong.
Inside, Yue knew the Cult just wanted to break her, show the citizens of Magefell that even the strongest were breakable, that even those that looked the best were the worst. And, while Magefell still seemed to revere her, she couldn’t deny that it was working. With only one mission down and another in progress, she was feeling broken, done with. So far, she didn’t feel like she’d come out of this stronger.
Yue didn’t know where her bravado went, but it was gone.
Eventually, strong arms wrapped around her and carried her somewhere, whispering words of comfort. Another voice asked if she was okay, but she was already gone, swimming in her subconscious.
Yue Zhang had entered a coma.
— — —
Humans always awoke in darkness, and then their eyes opened and all was light. It was just the way of the world. Usually, Yue didn’t remember the dreams she had, the time she spent outside of reality just a lost moment to her, something she would never recover.
This time was no exception, but she felt that she had lost a lot of time.
It didn’t take her long to realize where she was: the Vanguard hospital wing, in the same room Neena had stood in when she had been gravely injured, The sun was shining brightly through the window, and it was enough to reassure Yue that she hadn’t just been gone for a few hours.
“Yue?” A voice whispered next to her. Turning around, Yue found Neena smiling at her, tears rolling down her cheek. Alyx and Aster were there too, looking at her in relief.
“How long was I out?”
“Almost a day,” Neena bit her lip. “We were so worried about you? What happened and where’s Xander?”
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“Give her some space,” Alyx told Neena. “She’s probably still disoriented.”
“I’m fine,” Yue responded sharply. “Has Xander not come back?”
“Not since he visited us has anyone seen him.” Aster said.
“Dammit.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Yue’s eyes watered and she looked away, trying to forget what had happened to her outside of her ex-captain’s former cabin, but her friends still noticed her tears.
“What’s going on, Yue? Don’t lie to us,” Alyx whispered. “You can trust us. You do, right? I’m sure you know you can tell us anything!”
“Yes, I do trust you, I just don’t think I can say anything,” Yue told them. “I’m sorry, I think I need to be alone for a little.”
With a strange look on her face, Alyx left the room, with both Aster and Neena following, leaving one last glance in her direction. Once they were gone, Yue curled up in herself, depression flowing into her.
She was twenty; she shouldn’t be feeling like this. As a kid, she’d always seen adults as people who always knew what they were doing. She knew that wasn’t true now, but she felt more lost than she’d ever imagined. Every decision she made would be worse than the previous and she couldn’t afford to do anything she would regret, if that was even possible.
There was just one hope, one idea she had to maybe be able to stop the Cult. It was risky, and if she failed, Xander would probably die, and she would never forgive herself. That, and the Cult would get what they wanted. But, in the off chance that she was able to succeed, she would be able to escape, to break the chains the Cult had around her.
She had to take the risk.
And so she slammed the door open to the medical wing and rushed up to her friends, frenzy in her eyes.
“I need to go to Zenyth right now! I must see a high mage.”
“Yeah, that’s cool, but could you please just put on some clothes first. I don’t think they’ll let you in with undergarments.”
— — —
“Zade, I must see High Mage Aegon!”
“Why do y’all always act like I have unlimited access to the man. You do know he has jobs to do and duties to perform and stuff ro carry out.”
“Those are all the same thing,” Yue pointed out. “And do you have access to the man?”
“Yes,” Zade replied, irritated. “But that’s not the point.”
“Really? Then what is?”
“That I’m not your friend just so you can have connections!”
“You have more value than that’” Yue wondered. “Look, I would love to chat, but this is urgent. The more time we waste, the more danger I and you and all of us are in danger, so please get me to the High Mage. It’s a risk just being here.”
“I’m not even going to ask, but I will be listening when you tell High Mage Aegon what the hell is going on.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Zade led her to a room where he shouted the High Mage’s name. Before long, there Aegon stood, the perfect image of a Mage, in all his glory, might and cloak.
“And what is your business today, Zade?” His gaze shifted to Yue. “Another girl? That’s twice in two weeks. You’re really hopping. Personally, I would prefer keeping one, but to each his own.” He chuckled to himself. “I’m just kidding ,You must keep yourself a little crazy and immature if you're a High Mage, it comes with the job, I mean, you all remember ____. What can I do you for this time?”
“Our death and the victory of our enemies,” Yue explained.
“Ah, this again,” High Mage Aegon sighed. “Why is it always this? The Cult truly is getting stronger. So what has happened?”
“I would prefer to not say anything in case any other people are listening. If you can please…”
“I did that as soon as I appeared. Not only will the Cult not be able to eavesdrop, and if they want to find your mind, it will happen to be somewhere else, according to their findings. We’re as safe here as a mouse in a…um…the places mouses live.”
“Mice.”
“No, that’s not it, that’s a plural mouse.”
“That’s what I…” Yue turned to Zade. “Has he always been this crazy?”
“Not really. It’s a recent thing.”
“I’m not crazy,” High Mage Aegon retorted. “I’m just saving up my wisdom for when my wisdom is needed. And so far, it hasn’t been, so I can resort to acting like, well, any of you.”
“I do not act like that!” Zade exclaimed.
“Oh, please, if there’s anyone who acts like this, it’s you.”
Yue snorted, then sobered. “Look, I need your wisdom now. This is literally a life or death situation.”
High Mage Aegon sighed. “It always is. Spill your guts, my friend.”
Yue did, and to his credit, the HIgh Mage listened attentively. While Yue didn’t tell him everything—omitting only the things she felt were necessary for her private life—she told him what he needed to know.
At the end, High Mage Aegon shook his head.
“First of all, it was foolish for you to send Xander to join the Cult, but I’m sure you know that by now,” he said. “I offer my condolences for everything that has happened to you thus far, and I truly hope you can fix it in the end, and that everything turns out alright.”
“Can’t you do something?”
“I will try,” he promised. “I can not try anything now, for several reasons, but I will research what I can, and I will come back to you. I promise to try everything to mke sure you don’t have to do anything more.”
“And what do I do now? Do I obey the Cult or do I leave xander to die?”
High Mage Aegon sighed. “As my duty to the city, I feel I must say that you should let your boyfriend die. But, as my own person, I see what you feel for him, and I understand. I think kidnapping the wife is not the worst you could do, and now that I know, I will try to rescue her, but if it goes too far, you must make the hard decision.”
“I know,” Yue sighed. “I know.”
Zade looked at her in horror as she accepted that she might have to let her boyfriend die.
Somehow, the Cult was only getting better and stronger, and unless they did something, they would be left six feet deep.
If only they did have something to do.