Nora walked through the long still white hallway. The quartz lanterns illuminating the way. The few guards and other personnel that passed by stopped and saluted Nora as she strolled by. She didn’t bother to respond; her mind was on other things. Once she had been the most devoted and enthusiastic of them all. But now she found herself lamenting over her past actions. Had all of this been truly necessary? Had he been right? No, he hadn’t. Nora couldn’t begin to second guess herself now, not after what she had done. But what did it matter now, everything was ruined. They had to start from scratch, this time they’d do it better though, no mistakes. The emperors themselves had asked her to head the project. There was no greater honor, it was everything Nora had aspired for in her career. And yet now she had far different priorities, she had to plan for the future. She had spent the last few months reading notes, reports, and journals all day and night long that was until today. Today she would be forced to face the ghosts of her past.
Sapphire laughed giddily, “Oh, I wonder what Emerald would have said about that.”
Nora ignored the voice and continued on. Finally, she arrived at a large black metallic door, a silver diamond shaped plate in the center. A guard stood at either side.
“Open it,” Nora commanded.
“Yes, ma’am.” The men obeyed. They both took a key out of their pocket and inserted them into a hole on either side of the door while Nora placed her palm on the silver plate. The guards turned the keys simultaneously. A bright azure light spread from the plate and stretched throughout the door through lined carvings engraved within the frame. Several clicks sounded and the door slowly opened. Another door stood only three feet away. Nora stepped forward and the door behind her shut. After a few moments, the door in front opened. She walked into a small featureless white chamber. An iron table, with two seats on either end, was placed in the middle of the room. A young man sat in one chair. His muted snow skin almost blended with the white jumpsuit he wore. His back was arched straight, though his thin long neck and arms seemed disproportioned giving him an eerie if not ghostly appearance. He had long locks of blonde hair streaked with strawberry hues. One tumble of hair fell near his eyes as he turned towards Nora. The pupiless glass irises tracked Nora as she sat down across from the man.
“I trust they’ve treated you fairly, Fourth.”
Fourth looked at the glowing chain cuffs chained to the table that enwrapped his hands. “…More or less. I’m surprised, I didn’t think they’d send you. Although in retrospect who better to rub the salt in my wounds.”
“I didn’t come here to discuss our past. I was sent here to interview you about your attack on the southern base two days ago.”
“Always the frigid one, huh? Only focused on the goal, no matter the consequences.”
“Fourth your attack-
“So, you sharpen your knives and cut and cut, until there is nothing left. Until all you have is your finished product.” Fourth spat.
“Are you finished?” Nora stifled a yawn.
Fourth struggle against his restrainments in vain.
“It’s no use, those are twin locks, while normally you might be able to release yourself you’re in a bit of precarious situation. This room was especially designed for someone like you, a marvel of modern technology, it’s one of a kind. It absorbs all the ether in the air and circulates it outside. Even the ether residing in us. To top it off you’re over fifty feet underground. You are not going anywhere.”
Fourth stopped his struggling. His colorless eyes wandered around Nora as if studying her.
“We might as well use this time to talk. Two days ago, you single handedly attacked our southern base, eliminating over half our imperial soldiers and quintessential users. You then proceeded to attempt to break into one our facilities there, only to be stopped and captured. Why did you attack the base?”
“Oh, come now Nora. You know exactly why.”
Nora closed her eyes, an image of a man flitting through her memory. “So, it was for him.”
Fourth smiled, “Did you really think you could hide him from me. We can sense whenever one of us is near, don’t you remember? And I have the best sense of all.”
“So, you tried to break him free. Did you really think you could take on over a thousand of the imperial’s best by yourself?”
He looked away.
Nora leaned forward, “You were always a bit of a loose cannon, but this is surprising even for you.”
Fourth didn’t respond.
“Let me a paint picture for you. You being you, get into a fight with First, probably something about getting revenge on us, but she disagrees. She never really liked you after all, I don’t blame her. She of course can’t have someone like you jeopardize their position, being in hiding and all that. So, what does she do? Exile you of course.”
Though he didn’t say a word, from the thinning of his lips and his slightly heavy breathing, Nora judged she had hit a nerve.
“Oh, poor you. Abandoned by the few friends you’ve ever had. So, what do you do now? Alone and hunted, you run back to the last friend you have. But we both know he isn’t available at the moment. So, you get it into your head to set him free. You must tell yourself that you can do it. You possess one of the most dangerous abilities in existence, after all. How can you not succeed? Sure, you take a couple of soldiers here and there, but they continue to keep coming and coming until you find yourself overwhelmed. And now you find yourself captured and in a prison cell you cannot escape from.”
Fourth still didn’t speak.
Nora raised both her hands, “But you see this is where the story can change. On one hand, you can decide to continue being mute or on the other hand you can get your revenge on First and the rest who abandoned you. By cooperating with me. As you are well aware, they have eluded the sensory ability of Seventh and Ninth. But with your knowledge and ability, the four of us together can find the others and end this madness. Naturally, you will be set free, provided you work with us for the unforeseeable future. Your story doesn’t have to end here, in a cage.”
“Tell me. How did it feel when you betrayed the man you loved? Did even a small part of your being hesitate? Or was it just another part of your job.”
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Nora glared at him, “There are other more unpleasant ways to make you cooperate.”
“Ah, yes, that’s the Nora I know. Insane as you might be you were always so analytical, always watching. Trying to achieve the best-case scenario. I just never imagined that included you lying to all of us.”
“It wasn’t a lie!” Nora shouted, her anger getting the best of her.
Fourth tilted his head, “Or maybe it wasn’t a lie. Maybe you actually believed the refuse you shoved down our throats. And when it came time to act you froze and threw us into the maws of the enemy. You coward.”
“I did what I had to, for the good of the people, for the good of the empire.” Nora spoke the words like a mantra.
He laughed, “The empire doesn’t deserve it. The empire doesn’t deserve us. Why should we lay down and be the sacrificial block to raise this soiled country into eternity?”
“What are you saying?”
“Don’t you see Nora, this empire, these people, are a disease. One that needs to die. The time has come to allow it to do so.”
“Why? Why act now, after all this time?” Something wasn’t right, Nora could feel it.
“As a friend once told me, to achieve your greatest dreams you must wait.”
“For what? What were you waiting for?”
Fourth smiled, “We were waiting for you.”
Nora frowned, “We?”
The room began to shake immensely. Nora stood up, comprehension dawning on her face.
“No,” she whispered. A crack opened on the ceiling.
“Run Nora!” Ruby shouted.
The chain between Fourth’s cuffs disappeared with a pop. He shot up from the table and raised his hand towards Nora. She swiftly pulled out her hand gun and aimed it at Fourth. Before she could fire the air around her elbow warped. The atmosphere cracked and burst. The upper portion of Nora’s arm disappeared from existence. She screamed as her severed arm fell onto the ground. Nora dropped to her knees in agony as blood spurted from the wound.
Fourth calmly worked over, “You think First and the others were difficult to track, but it was you who it was impossible to find. They kept hiding you in underground bunkers, and continuously moved you. It seemed like we were never going to find you, until now. Thank you for making it so easy.”
“Y-you were never trying to set him free,” Nora spoke through gritted teeth.
“With Seventh and Ninth guarding him? Hardly. But targeting him did get your attention and brought you running right to us.” Fourth picked up Nora’s severed arm, “Finally.”
The crack in the ceiling began to stretch as white tendrils clawed their way through. A woman fell through the hole, landing softly without a sound.
“Hello, Nora.” She smirked.
“F-first.” Nora tried to put pressure on her arm to slow the blood loss.
“Oh, there’ll be no need for that. You won’t be making it out of here alive.” First said. “Ahhh!” First and Fourth abruptly yelled in pain. Ruby and Sapphire appeared in front of Nora, directing all their power at the enemy.
Fourth waved his hand wildly. The air was sucked inward as space itself was erased. Ruby and Sapphire took the brunt of the blow, their bodies being destroyed by the attack.
First laughed, “Your friends can’t help you, not anymore.” Pearly white daggers manifested in the air and flew right at Nora. The daggers shot through her, yet she wasn’t skewered. Her form suddenly began to flicker like fire.
“But I can,” a woman rose from the ground next to Nora, her whole body aflame in a glowing green aura.
“Seventh, my dear sister, glad you could make it. Now I can kill two traitors at once.” A dozen white blades appeared around the First. “I’ll handle this, Fourth, go get what we came for.”
Fourth pointed his finger at the door, it cracked under an invisible pressure for a moment before disappearing along with a portion of the wall. The next door fared no better. He picked up Nora’s arm and ran, ignoring the battle that ensued behind him. There was something more important to accomplish here. The guards outside turned around and shot, green blasts firing right at him. He dashed to the wall, pushing himself off it and right past the guards. He snapped his fingers, the two soldiers' heads vanished, dropping the corpses to the ground. He kept running, several personnel fled as they saw him, soldiers and ability users rushed in from all over the base and tried to block his path. With a wave of his hand Fourth killed them all. Their heads, hearts, chest cavities, whole torsos, all evaporated in a split second. Blood covered the walls wherever Fourth went, his own body was covered by it. Only his glass eyes remained unstained. Eventually he arrived at a large ornate silver-plated gate. It was round and had a diameter of ten feet. Five rings wrapped around the large frame. A smooth fist sized amethyst was placed in each ring. A small round indent formed in the middle of the gate. Fourth placed Nora’s hand on it, after a pause the amethysts began to shimmer, the smallest ring rolled back into itself and into the next ring, the pattern continued until all the rings folded into the largest, which then proceeded to split in half and extend outwards. The gate slowly opened, golden light flooding through. The gate revealed a vault with only one treasure. The greatest of all. A small orb rested on a pedestal. It glowed like molten gold, its light illuminating the entirety of the vault and beyond. The orb pulsated as if it were alive, giving off faints wisps of golden light, each vibrating with every beat.
“Finally,” As Fourth reached to grab the orb ebony flames sprung forth from the pedestal guarding the orb.
“Ninth,” He cursed as he turned around to look at the last of his brothers.
“I can’t let you take the Source, Fourth,” the man spoke with conviction. His body was covered in jet black flames, his pupiless charcoal eyes watched Fourth’s slightest movement.
“You get in our way even now, little brother?” Fourth asked, disappointment evident in his voice.
“I hold no hate for you, but so long as you stand against Nora I will be here. Between all of you and the empire.” Ninth’s flames grew in intensity.
“So, you’ve become her guard dog?” He raised his hands, “Then I shall put you down.”
A whirlpool of inky flames burst forth from Ninth. The air around Fourth crackled as the flames of destruction tried to burn him. Sparks of flames bounced off inches from Fourth. He swiped the air with his hand, several holes in space appeared around Ninth’s body. But he managed to avoid each hole as they formed, only being grazed by one.
Fourth laughed, “Did you really think you could beat me?” He tore dozens of more holes through space.
“You can’t keep that up for long.” Ninth spun in the air, his flames propelling him forward, above Fourth’s attacks. “And when you can’t I’ll burn you to ash.”
“He won’t need to.” First said as she rounded the corner. An Ivory wall emerged around her just in time to beat the black flames that threatened to burn her.
Ninth cursed, the situation had gone from bad to worse.
“You cannot fight us both Ninth, we will get the Source, and you can die with the rest of these people that you so love.” First stated calmly.
The Ninth looked at the two. “You’re right I can’t fight you both,” he lowered his hands, his flames dying out. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t stop you.” The dark flames around the pedestal engulfed the golden orb.
“No!” First shouted.
The Source cracked under the immense heat and shattered, an atomic blast of light expanded outwards obliterating everything in its midst.