In The Meantime (3)

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OLIVER ROCCO

Sending Liam away now was probably for the best, judging by the looks of things this whole raid is shaping up to be a lot more hectic than I’d originally thought.

“So, Oliver, what about the rest of us? We still have a few hours before that briefing thing.” Flynn asked boldly

“True, there’s still a bit of work to do. We can’t exactly just turn it in for the night yet, but before that Allen, there’s something I want to know. That Aryan guy, you mentioned him being a part of some cult just now and it got me curious. I don’t remember there being anything like that here the last time we visited this place.”

“That’s because there wasn’t.” He spat sullenly.

“His cult started spreading its influence shortly after the guild became weary of the irregulars so it's still a relatively small organization. Supposedly, they receive divine oracles and go around cities trying to appease their god so it doesn’t pass judgement upon heretics like myself.”

“That’s one hell of a god.” Flynn said as he slowly shook his head in disbelief

“True, it is considered blasphemy to worship anything other than the six deities on the continent but small cults like this do still pop up from time to time. Does this god have a name?”

Allen rubbed his chin and cocked his head as if he was resurrecting hidden knowledge. Then, his eyes sparked with wonder just as the answer came to him.

“Yeah, Yeah,....what was it again....Akuma? Arava? Oh! Yes! Akasha! That’s what they called it!”

“Akasha huh? Never heard of it. That whole judgement thing you mentioned earlier, that’s supposed to be the irregulars, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it. They say they were too late to do anything about Tiran, but by the looks of things I'm not even sure if their so-called ‘appeasing’ is even worth anything in the first place. I mean, they’ve been here for weeks now and the irregular has attacked twice since then.”

I felt my brows slowly morphing into an arch. It wasn’t just me either, Flynn and Julia were also mirroring my expression after hearing what he just said.

“That’s some oddly convenient timing, wouldn’t you say Allen?” Julia questioned

“I agree. Their timing is strangely perfect, are you sur-”

“I know what you’re thinking.” He said, cutting me off abruptly.

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“Heck even I considered it at first, but if you’re thinking that they might be the ones summoning the irregular, then it’s unlikely. The irregular was here even before the cult settled in this city, and whenever it showed up the first ones to die were always from their side, they probably have the most casualties overall.”

“That so? I thought we were actually on to something there.” Flynn grumbled offhandedly

I could understand his frustration but I never expected the solution to this whole thing to come falling into our laps that easily.

“That’s a reasonable assumption, but let's not completely dismiss it until we get this whole briefing thing over with. And on that note, what’s the name of this cult? I’d like to at least know who we’re working with before we get down to business.”

“It's Gehenna.”

That one word sent a chill through the air just as the gears in my mind were slowly starting to grind to a halt. Instinctively, the memories of someone I’d once called a friend came rushing back to my mind, five years' worth of it at that.

“OOH! So we’re onto something after all!” Flynn shouted gleefully. During our travels I took the liberty of bringing the others up to speed as a precaution. It just so happened to be the right move by sheer coincidence.

“Gehenna...that’s...”

“The cult Owen was working for. I wasn’t expecting to see them so soon but now’s the perfect chance to get some answers. I want to know what these people are up to, whatever they did to Owen clearly skewered his personality.....and I intend to make them pay for that.”

I responded balefully to Julia’s question, only after I saw the look on their faces did, I manage to restrain myself.

“Whoa there, a bit intense, aren’t we? I’m a little jealous. Am I the only one that’s short on details here?” Allen said half-jokingly.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away there. Based on what you just said it looks like we have a lot more than the irregulars to worry about but, since it’s only getting darker now, we’ll have to improvise - Fergus!”

I shouted at the lone watchman standing a few feet away from us.

“Y-yes sir!?” He stammered sheepishly.

“We’re going to split up now and rendezvous at the old fort for the briefing. Flynn, I want you and Allen to patrol the streets for a while, just to make sure the raiders that came in earlier aren’t trying anything stupid. You can use the opportunity to fill Allen in on what’s going on.”

“Understood. And what about you?”

“Fergus here is going to lead the way for me and Julia. Since this isn’t the first time the irregular is appearing in this city then there must be some other spots around here that we can investigate, there’s something I want to try. If we get done early then we’ll head to the other outposts to help with the injured before the briefing.”

“All Right, sound like a plan!” Said Allen as he gave Flynn a dangerous slap on the back. Even after all these years apart, he’d fallen back into his old role rather easily.

“Don’t overdo it you two.”

“We’ll be fine Julia; besides we might need a little warm up if this is shaping up to be that serious.” Flynn said with a confident grin.

“I couldn’t agree more. Now, let’s get going. I’ll see you two in a few hours.”