VOICES

A whistle eventually cut through the air.

Then screaming.

A sickening rip.

Silence.

During the initial chaos of the Essence beast appearing Callum had quickly dragged them away from the door and behind a bench into relative safety.

Sarah shivered. Her mind raced, bile rising in her throat. She didn't have to see to know. The sounds alone painted a picture she wished was worse than any reality. Her breaths quickened, heart hammering out of her chest.

The voices resounded.

Not around her but rather inside her head. The other egos.

'You have to let me switch with her!' Cass shouted, the noise reaching her despite the depths of her mind the egos resided in. Urgency cracked through her voice.

'We can't,' Oaklen countered, firm. 'She's safe for now–"

'Safe? SAFE? She's not a combatant Oaklen! She barely knows how to wield essence. We need to–'

'Cass, calm down we have the emer-' Marla began, but was cut off immediately.

'Calm down.' A dangerous laugh. 'Calm down? Are you even paying attention-'

'Cass,' Jim's voice cut through, edged with the authority of a senior, despite being the newest addition. 'Let Marla talk'

Silence.

'Thank you,' Marla's voice was level, controlled. 'We're all prepared to make an emergency switch if things worsen. Then we'll switch you in. But right now, it's better to get out with Viracio without revealing we're Brinn.

'Marla,' a smooth, measured voice chimed in – Vic. 'She knows she can switch. And we all know Cass can escape this level of essence beast. She's worried about Sarah. She wasn't designed for this. She was intended to not have dealt with essence as much as the rest of us'

Oaklen considered and interjected. 'Well, she needs to learn eventually. She's seen this plenty when one of us was in charge. First hand experience … maybe it's time she learn a bit more.'

"Don't be so cold-hearted' Thrysa finally chimed in, 'The poor girl's scared out of her mind. Who cares if they figure out we're Brinn? As long as we don't switch in Jim, the plan stays intact. Sarah would just need to watch from here.'

'I can hear you,' Sarah hissed internally, her mind having traveled to that far-off place away from her conscious thoughts.

Silence.

Someone started to speak, but a sudden movement snapped her attention outward. A figure vaulted over the bench.

Bellamy.

"What are you still doing here?" he demanded, staring at Callum, voice low but sharp and even greater confusion growing as his eyes landed on Sarah.

"I wasn't going to leave you," Callum shot back. "But now that you're here let's go. We can't handle that thing".

Bellamy hesitated. His expression darkened, lips twitching as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it down. "You two go. I have to get the rat." he gestured toward the private box where Viracio sat, his leg bouncing in a nervous tick.

"Nope. Leave him." Callum said flat. "He's not worth dying for."

Bellamy pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's complicated. But trust me – it's better for everyone if he stays alive."

Callum snarled. "Fine. But I'm helping."

Before Bellamy could argue, Sarah spoke up, voice trembling but resolute, "I. I can help too."

Oaklen raised to the surface of her thoughts, approving.

Bellamy frowned. "No offense, but they don't pay entertainers enough for this."

"I have essence." Her throat was dry, and it felt like there was a lump in her throat, but she forced the words out. "Primarily Watcher, but also some Reasoning. I can distract the beast. Guide you, maybe."

Callum tensed, but Bellamy considered her for a beat before nodding. "Alright, tell me about your ability."

She paled further.

Callum sighed. "Life or death. No time for secrets."

She nodded, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves before explaining, "I can create eyes at chosen points in space that can be visible or invisible."

Callum frowned, "But the Peninsula moves, and pretty fast. Does it have some understanding of relative motion?"

She shook her head, embarrassed. "No. That's what Reasoning is for. I can create and destroy them really fast. It ends up looking like a film reel."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Bellamy nodded. "Okay, if you're a Harbinger I can't tell you what to do. Just make sure you guys cover yourself with essence. The Jackal can manipulate forces. Long story short, he'll use vibrations to pull apart your atoms if you're not careful."

Sarah bulked, her blood ran cold, and she could feel the other egos re-assessing their previous positions. Most enemies weren't so overwhelming they didn't give you a chance to fight back, even if the odds were near impossible. But this? Just dying because something made a noise at you? That, though, rattled her.

'They both have essence,' Jim commented, his tone gruff. 'He would've died in the pit if he didn't, and he addressed both of you with that comment.'

She acknowledged the thought and created an eye toward the ceiling. The flickering of a movie showed her the dog gnashing its teeth at the floating red dust particles that used to be a crowd. Its nose twitched in frustration, but besides that, it seemed entirely preoccupied.

She relayed the information to the two brothers, and they began to plan.

"Can you create multiple eyes at a time?" Callum eventually asked.

"My limit is ten currently. I can manage thirteen, but that's far less stable."

Callum cupped his chin before nodding.

"Okay, I have a plan." He rubbed his hands together. "My ability lets me de-corporealize to varying degrees. While I'm like that, I can move through space freely, but if I phase out completely, I'm blind to everything except essence signatures. So, Sarah, if you position your eyes around the arena in safe spots and help me navigate, I can pop in and out to get its attention. Then, when I'm in this realm, you can make the eyes visible and vanish them when it pounces. Like the deadliest game of Wack-A-Mole.”

Bellamy was clearly unhappy but didn't say anything.

'Decent plan is what the others think,' Jim whispered, 'we don't think your eyes would be good bait, not enough mass, can't be chased and make noise like a human, even if they were visible.'

Sarah exhaled but gave Callum a nod.

"Bell," Callum continued, "As I keep it busy, you make your way to Viracio. Once you're there, get to the door with Sarah. Then, once you're both out, Sarah, put an eye in an empty space up top, and I'll move to it.

Bellamy closed his eyes, thinking through the steps. When he opened them, he gave a slow nod.

"Alright. Let's do it."

They moved swiftly.

Sarah steadied herself in an effort to breathe easier. Be the river, not the water. She extended her essence outward, forming her eyes one by one until ten invisible sensors were watching. She spread them in blind spots, around corners, in such a way that if Callum moved in a certain way, The Jackal would never turn to the door.

She caught a glimpse of Callum's expression. His body was stiff, jaw tight, shoulders tense, he rubbed his hands together in nervous anticipation, but his voice remained level when he spoke.

"Alright. I'm off. Guide me in."

Sarah nodded, deactivating all eyes except one at the far end on one of the benches. She gave a little room at the top so Callum wouldn't phase into the bench instead.

There was very little visual indicator. He just evaporated in place, not even leaving a ripple for Sarah to track as he moved. Strange. She should be able to see something.

Not even the Jackal noticed. Until Callum re-entered reality. Then softly, so softly she thought she imagined it, she heard him singing.

"Of, the bold young lad went down to the sea"

With a coin in his pocket and a song for the breeze."

His voice, low and playful, drifted through the arena as he stomped and the bench and clapped, taunting The Jackal, who slowly turned towards him. It snarled and licked its lips. The head lowered, the back arched, and the creature began walking closer, hugging the side of the arena.

"The fish did dance, and the waves did rise.

For the sailor boy with the roguish eyes"

The Jackal passed Sarah and Bellamy a quarter of the way around the arena, and they carefully and slowly began making their way to the door. Sarah kept one hand on Bellamy, focusing the rest of her attention on the shifting images her floating eyes fed her. She moved many of them closer to the dog, watching for any small movement as-

She noticed the twitch; she dismissed every eye as the beast lunged.

"Oh, the bold-"

Callum saw the eyes disappear and followed suit.

Sarah sent two tendrils of energy forward and created invisible sensors at two locations -- one on the left side of the arena, the other on the right.

The dog crashed into the stands where Callum was previously standing. Breaking wood and crushing stone sent waves of noise across the arena, the crunching sound causing Sarah to shiver.

It let out a low growl of frustration as it realized its prey was no longer there.

"-ever to weep,

The storm it howled, and the gull did cr-"

Another pounce. This time, Callum didn't need any warning as he vanished once more.

Each time he flickered back into existence, another verse slipped from his lips, and his voice grew boulder, the tune swelling with feigned confidence. She would've thought it a nice performance if not for the fact they were all one mistake away from dying.

He almost made it look like a dance instead of cat and mouse.

After the fourth time, the Jackal stopped trying to react to Callum and began trying to predict where he'd be. It manifested in wild, random leaps that grew faster until it was more of a rampage than anything else.

"The bold young lad, he ran and ran,

With death at his heels and blood on his hands,

The wind it laughed, and the tide did turn,

For the bold young lad who'd yet to learn"

He finished an entire verse this time, the beast finally calming down and simply studying him. Sarah pulled Bellamy down behind a series of benches as the creature scanned the entire arena.

It sniffed the air, eyes flicking to any frow. It tensed its legs. Callum disappeared, but it didn't leap. Sarah furrowed her brow, Bellamy dragging her to her feet as they approached the door, but Sarah pulled him back down.

What was it doing?

She placed the invisible sensors down once more, trying to get a better read– and barely caught its movement.

Its eye twitched to the side the moment she created the sensor. A coincidence? She shifted one slightly, and the beast's ear flicked.

Then, without warning, it lunged – not at Callum, not at them, but at the air where the sensor was moving. It snapped its jaws around nothing and landed in a crouch, muscles coiled.

Sarah's breath hitched. It could track her sensors. What the fuck.

She could see the ripples of essence in the air, but this thing – this thing could actually see them.

Her blood ran cold as she dismissed every sensor she had. But the Jackal didn't relax. Its ears stayed high, its gaze sweeping the arena. It was waiting. It knew something had changed. It stepped away from the far end of the arena towards the door.

She created a sensor behind it for a split second. Its tail raised, and it glanced behind. It paused for a second, considering before it began walking sideways. Legs criss-crossed as it continued slowly.

There was no way to communicate with Callum now that he was somewhere else, and they hadn't set up any emergency communication plan. She almost felt like laughing. What a novice mistake.

Sarah let out a soft whisper, "It's learning, Bellamy. It's figured out the trick."

Bellamy met her eyes, not understanding at first, then his face darkened. He cursed and glanced at the private box Viracio should've been in.

But Viracio wasn't there.

Sarah's stomach tightened as she scanned the arena. Then she spotted him.

Halfway between the box and the door, Viracio crawled on his stomach, inching his way forward in soft gasps. He dragged himself forward in short, frantic bursts, keeping his head low and using the benches to hide his approach. He flinched at every, not so quiet noise, and she saw blood on the tips of his fingers as he continued to claw forward.

They stayed hidden as Viracio continued his approach. It gave Sarah enough time to think. She needed to communicate with Callum, but how. She could create ten sensors, they had said a sensor was where he was supposed to be, so how else could she communicate with him. Multiple sensors in one place? There were no preset symbols they made. But there were symbols that meant something regardless.

She created an X with 9 sensors and a dot next to it. She held her breath, hoping he would get the message. He didn't reappear, and she heaved out relief.

She kept the one sensor where it was and created a check mark opposite the private box, with another sensor beside the check. She kept it there momentarily before dismissing every eye except the one near where she placed the X.

She then created three more sensors at obviously inconvenient locations, either on the ground, high in the air, or inside the private box. Callum returned where he was supposed to, and the dog lunged towards the sensor in the private box.

Callum sang once more.

"Oh, the young lad, nevr' runs out of luck.

But the sea don't care, no it don't give a fuck!"

Viracio was close enough to the door that they all sprinted to the exit. Bellamy reached it first, he raised his hand, and to Sarah, it looked like everything was sucked into the black hole that was that man's palm. He touched the door, and suddenly, it swung open, nothing blocking the other side.

"GO GO GO"

He yelled. The three of them shot through the doorway as Callum gave one final bow to The Jackal and disappeared.

Sarah let out a breathless laugh, shaking her head. What a ridiculous–

Then, the world exploded once more.

Gunfire.

It filled the upstairs, mixing in with glass shattering and more people yelling. She cursed her luck as they plunged into another field of chaos. Penny's was getting raided.