Chapter 81

Family for Michael had always been a difficult thing. Ever since his father, and then his mother soon after, threw him out he felt as if he had no ties with them anymore. The only exception to this was his sister Maggie, who he still loved dearly, but didn’t see nearly as much as he thought he should. She was the island of sunshine in the storm that was his family, and gut clenched every time he thought about her, knowing that she was in an even worse situation than he had ever been, being younger him. She hadn’t been able to weather the family collapsing around her quite as well as he had, he felt, even though she had grown strangely resilient for it, perhaps more so than he was before the dungeon. Regardless, he had left her alone, that had been on him, and it was a weight on his soul that he never quite managed to deal with.

An operator directed him towards a temporary structure in the middle of the flat plot of land that bordered the forest where the trail had been replaced by a gravel road leading to the dungeon. The structure was a bare-bones prefab, an unadorned concrete square in the middle of a build site. It would have looked ugly even without the raw industrial aesthetic of its surroundings, unfinished buildings with bare support pillars and jutting steel beams devoid of people due to the early hour, but the pre-dawn light made it look utterly unreal.

All around, signs of Johanne’s involvement were evident, with little saplings already growing into mighty trees in places where they wouldn’t obstruct the ongoing construction too much. She had been unable to contain herself, she claimed, after seeing just how vibrant and lush and alive the forest felt. The workers had been upset at first, but that only lasted until she started helping them with magic and superhuman strength, after which their complaints turned into stares of awe. They were also aware of her more intensive efforts closer to the dungeon entrance, and knew that she had been quite gentle on them when she could have surrounded them with hundred-meter high oaks instead.

Soon, Michael knew, she would begin to summon Fae from the dungeon to help with the construction efforts, speeding up the process even more. The construction crew was effectively a part of Unity now, but the workers would need a few more days to acclimatize themselves to magic before Michael felt comfortable allowing Johanne to whip out an army of monsters from the dungeon. Not to speak of all the other ramifications of the process, a pandora’s box that couldn’t be closed once opened.

It was a headache for Travis as well, of course, who had to make sure the whole operation was as airtight as possible without any information leaks. Having someone like Johanne perform magic in front of a hundred workers had soured his mood for more than one day during which he had to deal with the workers, but the end result spoke for itself. Structures were rising into the air mere days after construction began. Besides, bringing even more trusted people into Unity’s fold had always been his goal too.

At the threshold of the prefab, another operator told Michael that Maggie was waiting for him inside. She was alone at his request, as he didn’t think that having her in the same room as his parents would do much good right now. Another operator had been temporarily cleared to use the [Soothing Rain] skill stone on her after they tested its functions in a hurry last night, and the water seemed to have done its job. Maggie was visibly calmer than when she was rescued, although still very shaken.

Michael thanked the operator manning the door and entered the room. There was a bed, a chair and a desk, but the whole place looked more like a holding cell than a room. It was bare, unfurnished and just white enough to make even he uncomfortable.

Maggie looked up, but it took her a few seconds to recognize who had stepped through the door. Michael waited patiently, watching her face go through a slew of emotions as her eyes misted up with tears, until she sprang up and ran to him, locking him in a tight embrace as she cried into his clothes.

“Shh, it’s all right now. You’re safe.” He whispered to her as he patted her head. This was not how he had planned his reunion to go, but once again Carmela had come and disrupted all his plans.

Maggie cried and sobbed, choking out words. “It was so scary, I—I don’t know what was going on! They came in and… and…”

“It’s alright. I know everything. I’m here now.”

She nodded, sniffling. “They wouldn’t tell me where we are. They wouldn’t let me leave. Where are we?”

“I’m sorry. I know it sucked, but we had to rescue you and bring you here as soon as possible. It was for your safety,” he told her weakly, feeling guilty. “You can leave whenever you want now.”

“I don’t know where to go. They said… they told me that they had you too. But then everything went so wrong! How could it go so wrong?”

Michael debated what to tell her. He had known her all his life, and yet it seemed like he didn’t know how to deal with her at all. Would it help to be honest and direct, or to take a more roundabout route?

“I know,” he said, touching her arm and seeing her flinch. It was enough to make him settle for the more gentle route. “Bad men tried to hurt me by capturing you. I was never in danger, you know? They lied to you about that. They knew they couldn’t touch me so they went after you. But they underestimated me, you know? I’m here, safe and sound, and so are you.”

She looked at him with wide eyes, confused and disoriented, holding onto his words that made little sense to her like they were a lifeline. “You changed,” she said.

Michael smiled gently. “I did.”

“I like the new you.”

There was a moment of silence then, and Michael watched his sister grow calmer with every breath.

“Is mom safe?”

Michael nodded. “Yes. She’s resting. Do you want to see her?”

They left the room together, Michael nodding to the operator standing guard outside and then to the Security branch guard holding a rifle by the road. They took a car, Maggie looking around listlessly but not really focusing on anything, until they arrived at another prefab a short distance away. They entered, and found their mother asleep on the bed of a very similar room to that where Maggie had been.

“See? She’s safe.”

“Thank you,” Maggie said, hugging her brother again. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel better.”

Michael didn’t miss the fact that Maggie did not ask about their father. Not mentioning the fact, he instead draped an arm around her to project confidence and solidity. “Here, let me show you around the place. I’ve got quite the story to tell you.”

***

“I demand to see whoever is in charge of this place, immediately!” Janus Lexington, Michael’s father, said.

“You are seeing him right now,” Travis said with a shrug, “I’m the man in charge here.”

Janus scoffed. “Is this a way to treat a person? What the hell sort of place is this?”

Travis sighed, “it was for your own safety. We had to rescue you from some, well, rather dangerous people.”

The man was not mollified by the fact in the slightest. “And what gives you the right to keep people locked in a room without their consent?” he yelled.

“You can leave at any time,” said Travis, “in fact, why don’t we take a walk?”

With a nod, the guard outside opened the door for them.

“Come, Mister Lexington, let me show you around.”

They walked for a while, Travis pointing things out for Janus to see. He did not mention magic to him, even though the man had seen some in action during the rescue operation.

“What is this place?” asked Janus.

“This is where the headquarters for Unity Corporation will be. As you can see, we are currently in the building process, there wasn’t much to work with.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Janus said.

“It’s a new company. We deal in exotic materials, one could say.”

Janus harrumphed. “And you would be what? The CEO? You look like you have experience dealing with money.”

Travis shrugged.

“I demand compensation for the way I’ve been treated,” said Janus without missing a beat, “a few million dollars at the very least. You owe that to me.”

Travis smiled, “what makes you think I have the power to agree to such a demand?”

“If not you, then take me to someone who can!”

“Of course,” said Travis, not without a mischievous glint in his eyes.

They walked for a while, landing in another spartan building more towards the epicenter of activity, surrounded by tall skeletons of unfinished buildings. Site 00 was waking up, workers beginning to flood the structures and machines roaring to life to move tons of earth and materials around. Somewhere out of sight, Johanne was already performing magical miracles, but Janus was too fixated on Travis’ back as he walked to notice.

Travis directed the man inside the building, where two people were waiting for them. A third one was sitting on a couch, in distress, looking like she had just finished crying. Janus noticed her first, actually, recognizing his ex-wife immediately. He scoffed.

“Weak woman,” he muttered under his breath, “you can’t show weakness in front of—”

“Well, well, well,” a voice cut through his last words. It took a moment for Janus to recognize who had spoken, especially since it had been years since he last saw his son. “Can’t say I missed this.”

“Michael?” he asked, “what the fuck happened to you? You look unrecognizable. Did you finally pull your shit together, huh? You should have told me. Instead you ran away like a little pussy after milking me for all the money you could get.”

Michael weathered the storm of questions with an exasperated look. To his side, Maggie was clinging to his arm like it was a lifeline, occasionally shooting glances at their mother and at Travis, who had made himself inconspicuous.

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“And you, Margaret, why the fuck are you clinging to your brother like that? Show some spine.”

Michael coughed to draw attention to himself, “I see you haven’t changed at all, dad. Always as unpleasant as ever.”

“How dare you talk to me like that? I should slap some sense into you.”

Travis snickered from the background, imagining how the scene would play out if Janus really tried to beat Michael up.

“You could try,” Michael said, taking note that his father’s slender frame was half his size now, and several inches shorter than he was. “Slap me around and then throw me out? You can slap me all you want, but you can’t do throw me out twice, asshole.”

Janus looked at his son, and for the first time Michael noticed some respect in his gaze. “You grew half a spine, that’s good. But this doesn’t change the facts. Were you kidnapped too? How come you’re all here having a chat while I’m the only one who’s trying to fight to get some sort of reparation? Are you all idiots?”

Michael smiled placidly, “it’s because you are operating under a wrong assumption.”

Janus’s brow creased in anger, “what are you talking about?”

“See, you were kidnapped, but not by Unity.”

“I know that,” snorted Janus. “I’m not a halfwit, despite all the venom your mother has tried to put into your head all these years. That woman… bah. They rescued us, that man told me as much.” He jabbed a finger towards Travis, who was sipping a coffee, “but why would they do that, huh? This situation stinks. I demand a lawyer.”

Michael smiled. “Nope. I said you were rescued. See, I wasn’t even kidnapped in the first place. No need for a lawyer, let your son sort this out for you.”

“What?” his father looked right about to explode. “We are in America, how dare someone deny us—”

“Listen. Shady organization saves you after you get kidnapped by the mafia and you demand a lawyer? Come on dad, think about it. How come you’re even allowed to throw a tantrum?”

Janus’s gaze homed in on his face like a laser. Michael did not flinch. “You. You’re involved in this.”

Travis butted in from the corner, “told you I’d take you to someone who could listen to your demands, didn’t I? I have to admit, you’re a smart man, figuring shit out from limited information, too bad it’s all ruined by how unpleasant you are to be around.”

Michael’s mother perked up at that, pleased to hear her thoughts out loud.

A faint crackling appeared all around Travis, and Janus—already the smaller one of the two—shrunk on himself. His slender frame appeared almost frail, for a moment.

“You threatening me?”

“The company’s mine, dad.” Michael said before the situation could escalate. He had been convinced to orchestrate this little charade, but was already regretting it. Seeing the look on his mother’s face as she enjoyed the moment was disgusting.

“Yours?” the man scoffed, “as if—”

“That’s enough, Janus.”

Janus looked at his ex-wife, who had long stopped crying and was now staring at him with superiority. She had gotten up from her seat, and she looked much better than he had expected her to look. He scoffed, “Marie. Let the men talk, don’t interfere.”

“You’re an idiot, Janus.” She said, “but this is good. Let Maggie see what sort of father she has.”

“This was another of your games, wasn’t it?” the man growled.

“It wasn’t,” said Michael, although even he knew it was a blatant lie. “You were the last to be told because, honestly, none of us wanted to deal with you, dad.”

“And so you thought to conspire against me, put up this fucking theatre to throw me off balance? You’re all pathetic.”

“As usual, you can only see things from your perspective,” said Marie, but then it was Maggie who stopped her with a gesture. She took a moment to collect herself before speaking, during which her father simply glared at her with open hostility.

“I didn’t think it was right to keep you in the dark,” she said, “but none of us wanted to talk to you alone, you know?” her voice was cracking, and the more she spoke the more her voice turned into a scream, letting out all the pent up rage and sorrow she had buried inside, “you destroyed our family! It was your arrogance, your… temper! Why did you hit mom all those years ago?”

“Because she was a bad woman,” he growled. “She—”

Suddenly, a pressure descended upon all of them. Janus got the brunt of it, paling and shivering in place as if suddenly put in a freezer cell. As color drained from his face, he turned to look at Michael, horror and fear in his eyes.

“That’s quite enough,” Michael said. “You haven’t changed a bit. Yes, none of us wanted to deal with you, we left you to rot alone until Travis volunteered to fetch you. So what?”

The man took a deep breath as the pressure vanished. “Is this company really yours, son?”

Michael nodded.

“Then you owe me. I know some things aren’t right around here. You want my silence? You need to pay me.”

“Oh, more things than you know aren’t right around here,” said Michael. With a snap of his fingers, flames exploded out of his hands, washing the room with orange light. Assaulted by the heat, Janus suddenly found himself staring at a dark orb, barely an inch from his face, recoiling. Travis was suddenly there, catching him.

“You are an awful person, dad, extorting money from your son.”

Janus looked at the others, noticing that none of them had reacted to the display, “they all knew already. You kept me in the dark of even this. You talk big son, but you aren’t a better man than I am.”

“Get out of my sight.” Growled Michael.

“And where should I go, huh? You have trapped me in the middle of nowhere.” Janus replied in kind.

“Someone will take you home.”

Travis dragged him away and they left, leaving behind a room of broken people.

“I’m sorry you had to see this,” Michael told Maggie. “This was a mistake.”

“It wasn’t,” his mother said. “This was lesson.”

“Was it?” asked Michael. “This opened up old wounds, and for what? So that you could get your revenge on him? What did you gain from this?”

“Closure,” she said.

“This doesn’t feel like closure to me,” Michael replied.

“That’s because you’re like him,” his mother said.

Michael felt as if struck by a boss monster.

“That’s not true,” Maggie said. Of all people, she had to be the one who defended him from his parents. It made him feel tiny, useless. Spineless. “I think I knew. All this time, I knew what kind of man he was. You’re nothing like him, Michael. I thought they were all lies. I’m sorry mom,” she turned to her, crying, “I thought all you said about him were lies you told me to feel better with yourself. They weren’t.”

Marie was smiling then, until she looked like she remembered how she should act and started to cry, her eyes red and swollen, “it’s alright, sweetie. I know we haven’t been the best family. I’m so sorry.”

Maggie shook her head sadly, “I’m not done, mother. You did not lie, that’s true, but you’re just as bad as he is. You manipulated us. You tore the family apart just as much as he did. You played the victim long after you stopped being a victim because it was so useful. You almost convinced me to drop out of school and go to work because you said you couldn’t afford… food, by yourself. It was another lie, wasn’t it? I know how much dad paid you in the divorce, the men working for Michael showed me the documents.”

In the end, Michael wondered whether he had been just as evil as his father was. At the very least, he once again felt like a little, powerless child in front of his mother. He had allowed her to manipulate him once again, this whole scene carefully crafted by her.

Marie had always been good at using him for her own plans. She had pretended to be a broken mess while instead she had recovered immediately after the initial shock of being rescued, being showed magic and being told her son was owner of a company. While he thought she was fragile and in pain, she instead had immediately turned to scheming and manipulating. She had manipulated Michael, pulling Janus into the play, asking for the man to be kept in the dark so that he could show his true colors. She had obtained what she wanted out of this whole scenario. Maggie now hated the man more than ever, and Michael was once again thrown off balance.

“Enough,” said Michael. “Mom, I need to ask you to leave.”

“What do you mean?” she said in a little voice, almost as if she was about to cry again, “where can I go, after all of this?”

“Home.” Michael said.

“I can’t go home,” she pleaded, “I don’t feel safe there.”

“If only this wasn’t a lie, mother. But I know it is.”

Her gaze hardened. “Ungrateful son. Your father is wrong about many things, but he’s right about you. You made all this money, you dragged your family into this, and now you send us back home just like this?”

“It’s not just like this,” Michael said.

“You’re paying me, then? Good, that’s a start.”

“Ah, there it is,” growled Michael. Fuck it. I can play this game too. You want to break up the family? Let’s break up the family forever, then. “This is the reason I cut ties with the lot of you. You two are more similar than you realize. Do you see it now, Maggie?”

Maggie looked stunned, put through a blender by circumstances bigger than her. Adults were playing with her and she was powerless, she felt, but her brother was like a lifeline. She nodded weakly.

“I’m not sending you all back,” said Michael, still looking at Maggie. “You can stay, if you want.”

It took a moment for the realization to sink in. As Marie began to yell obscenities, cursing and spitting poison at him, Maggie smiled softly.

“Thank you,” she muttered. She was crying, clinging to him even harder. Right now, she looked so vulnerable, so young, despite being only a few years younger than Michael.

Michael smiled.

As her mother was led away, and her brother gave orders to finally get rid of his shitty apartment and get some accommodations for two ready before night fell again, Maggie slowly calmed down before settling on a playful pout.

“You could have told us sooner,” she said. “I still thought you lived in a shitty apartment.”

“Technically, I still do. It will take a few hours for my men to break the contract.” Michael said with a chuckle. He had no doubts his lawyers would be able to get around the restrictions in the contract by offering enough money to the landlord. “The new place isn’t finished yet, but we’ll make do. Did you know that Johanne wants me to live in a mansion?”

“Who’s Johanne?” Maggie asked, but did not wait for an answer, “You know, she’s right. I sure hope she included a room for me in the design. Far away from your, though. I don’t want to see you roam around naked or something. Are there enough bathrooms? I want one just for me. It’s the least you could do, after you put me through all of this…”

On and on she went. Michael listened with a soft smile, happy to see his cheeky sister was back to being herself, despite the trauma that lay underneath. Unseen by her, soft flames of [Candle Light] were burning in his fingers, touching her skin without heat, healing her mind.

Unity level up!

Really?

***

Two men were riding in the back of a car with darkened windows. The driver was silent, wearing sunglasses not to shield himself from the glare but to appear as impersonal as possible. One of the two men was calm and collected, looking out of the windows into the sprawling fields. The other was tense, filled with rage.

“David Chestermill, a pleasure,” said the calm man, offering a hand.

The other man refused to even look his way. “And who the fuck would you be?”

“The CEO of Unity, actually.” David said, “you know, your son’s company.”

“You owe me a lot of cash for this,” Janus growled. “I won’t keep silent otherwise.”

David shrugged. “We shall see about that.”

“I won’t let this stand,” Janus muttered, “you will all pay.”

“That was a sad sight back there,” David said. He had seen it all through the security cameras. “I never quite understood just how bad Michael’s family situation was, you know? Michael told me something, of course, but it always came down to how you all basically threw him out and left him to his devices. Now I get it. I think it’s good for him, cutting ties with you all.”

“I threw him out because he was dead weight.” Janus said, “now that he got money, I want what he owes me.”

“You lent him money?”

“For raising him!” Janus yelled. “Do you think being a father is cheap? With a whore of a wife—”

David slapped the man in the face. With his augmentations, a slap that would have already hurt the much smaller man was like taking a steel beam to the face.

“No talking bad about women,” he said, remembering the time he had to deal with less than savory types from the underworld.

“She’s a bitch,” said Janus, massaging his face.

“She’s a problematic person, granted. Michael told me he sent her home as well.”

“Good for him. He might be able to bully her, but I want my money. Or else I will talk.”

David grinned, “of course! That’s why I’m here, after all. Glad to see you’re finally being reasonable.” The carrot after the big stick.

“I want money.”

David nodded. “That’s a given. A weekly stipend of a hundred thousand dollars yours to spend as you wish. Legally, you’ll be employed by Unity, but you won’t have to do anything.”

Janus snorted. “Employed by my own son? You think I would shame myself like that? I want half a million.”

“One hundred thousand a week, moron, think about it. And you’ll have personal security, a secretary, a driver, a private helicopter and access to our top-tier facilities,” said David, smiling.

This asshole. If he doesn’t say yes to this, I’m sending him to Site 01 for a nice detainment period. Perhaps even force him to absorb that toilet skill stone we have in a locker somewhere. See how that breaks his mind.

“I suppose it’s acceptable,” said Janus.

“Very well.”

David smiled, secretly wishing he could strangle the man. But this was the more peaceful resolution of the conflict, and the cleanest break he could give Michael with the sole exception of murdering his father. With this arrangement, Janus could be watched at all times, kept safe from other attempts should anyone want to use him to get to Michael, and contained immediately should the man himself decide he wanted to leverage his knowledge. Marie, Michael’s mother, was being offered a similar deal, David knew. Only Maggie would stay with them.

What a train wreck of a family, he thought. But at least it’s over now.