Once their destination was set, they didn’t linger, as the passes Ethel had could be revoked at any time. When they got to the first checkpoint all of them tensed ready to break through but the soldier just took their paperwork, processed it, and let them out.
Mark didn’t know if that was a relief or something to be concerned about. He did however want to know what just happened back there. Whatever was going on, he was now smack dab in the middle of it. Jonathan had always been cagey about details of his family, and Mark was okay with that, but now it was very much relevant to their survival. Especially if it was going to cause that kind of reaction in Jonathan.
They had been walking in silence, so when they passed the final checkpoint and were back out in the public areas, Mark spoke.
“Jonathan, Ethel. I need some answers here. I don’t need to know everything, but after what we just walked into, I’m owed an explanation”
Jonathan glanced at Mark and then Ethel, finally turning to look ahead with a thoughtful expression.
Ethel glanced at Jonathan.
“I can tell him, but it should come from you.”
Jonathan's frown deepened.
A barrier of air enclosed them and Sam gave Jonathan an encouraging look.
He glanced at her and snorted.
“You’re right…”
Jonathan’s words came at a steady, constant pace as if he were telling someone else’s story, but tell it he did.
The only signs he showed were the subtle flickers of anger that crossed his face. He never took his eyes off the road ahead but he never stopped talking, he couldn’t. As they traveled Mark got a better understanding of what kind of person Oscar was.
In her younger years, Ethel founded and ran a very successful financial firm, which she and Jonathan's grandfather grew into an international company. They always tried to remain within the lines of the law and help wherever their business could afford. In his later years, Jonathan’s grandfather was somewhat of a philanthropist. However, Oscar didn’t reveal his true colors until after his death, when Ethel retired, leaving him as the majority shareholder.
He began to make changes to how their business operated. His methods were cutthroat and heartless. Ethel claimed some of the responsibility for how Oscar turned out because they always expected the best from him. She thought it was her fault that he turned out like that. She regretted pushing him so hard. Over time, Oscar’s methods became darker until Ethel could not accept it anymore and went to confront him, but she never had any legal leg to stand on, because as far as the law was concerned, Oscar was always falling within its bounds. Her words fell on deaf ears. Around the same time, Jonathan and his brothers were born to three different mothers. Jonathan never even knew his mother, as Oscar said she died just after he was born. Oscar encouraged harsh competition between his kids and unfortunately for Jonathan, he was Oscar’s favourite. In the beginning, he did whatever his father asked, but as time moved on he realized it would never be enough. With Ethel's help, he got himself out from under Oscar’s thumb. At the same time, he tried the help his brothers. The oldest, Jeffrey was too far gone, but Jonathan thought he could help his younger brother Ethan. The thing was Oscar had twisted the kid so badly that Ethan could only see Jonathan as the enemy. When he tried to take Ethan with him, he refused, even going so far as to attempt to entrap Jonathan again. After that day Jonathan washed his hands of his family. Ethel was the only one he still cared for, beyond that, he couldn’t care less. They came here today because they knew they if they ignored the guy, he would do something drastic to get their attention. In the end, it didn’t help at all but Ethel said she wanted to at least try. Unlike Jonathan, she still held out hope for her family. Throughout all of this, Sam had been by Jonathan's side. Ethel insisted she was one of the main reasons he remained sane, but she got dirty looks from both of them. Jonathan finished and glanced at Mark.
“All of that is unimportant now. Oscar is a sociopath, he has no conscious and he will do everything in his power to kill us and those we love if we become a problem. Which he just labeled us as. In his mind, if I'm not with him I'm against him. That is why I needed to end him, and until I can, the next best thing is to give him bigger problems to occupy his time.”
Mark digested the information. He had guessed some of Jonathan’s past through the bits and pieces he had gathered, but he never dreamed the guy had been living with this the whole time. It explained his reaction and a whole lot more, but it didn’t change their situation. Mark was not against the plan to go and ask NAS for help but he was worried it would come at a price or a loss of freedom. From the outside, they looked like a decent enough faction, but he had also seen some worrying signs. If the future they wanted to build held power in high regard, then what did they think of those who could not yet fend for themselves? Differences in how they operated were bound to occur but they could also end up being huge problems later.
They were headed to Builders Quarry, as of right now NAS’s headquarters was just before the frontline, but Sam had found out that this was just in name. Their Pillars and a majority of their fighting force remained permanently in Builders Quarry, so they were never too far from the action. Their group was now completely subverting their headquarters and heading straight to the line.
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The journey was made fairly quickly and they knew they were in the right place when strong fighters started showing up more frequently. The air felt charged with energy.
The whole of Builders Quarry was a strip spanning the width of the island itself. The Quarry was more of a moving wall that changed depending on how much ground they managed to clear. It was a couple of blocks thick, with a double set of walls, all built between the surrounding buildings and skyscrapers. The reason it was called the quarry was because of the constant changes to the landscape as the scouting teams moved forward. Pockets of space were walled off inside the two walls, depending on the level of threat they had encountered. Larger teams would then return later to clear up the Corrupted that the initial teams could not handle. When an area was considered safe, that portion of the wall would come down, and it would be free for the public to clamor over once more. From above, it looked a little like honeycomb.
As they progressed Mark noticed entire areas still had thick walls around them, even though the Quarry had passed through the whole area. He also noted that in certain sections, it looked like someone had bathed the area in acid. Entire streets were pockmarked with corrosion and signs of battle. Mark also felt the gradual increase in Corruption in their surroundings.
As they proceeded they started to notice they were getting a lot of looks. Mark had heard the area was public, but it looked like it was unofficially occupied by NAS. No one stopped them, but no one spoke to them either. With the amount of space this area covered, even if they advanced they would just end up wandering the whole day and perhaps never finding anyone to talk to. Jonathan looked back at the group, he was not in the best of shapes, even though Mark had been working on him the whole trip over here. However, even if his body was broken his Aura had no such limitations.
For just a moment, Jonathan pulsed his Aura outward. It was short, and nowhere near the intensity Mark had felt recently, but it was enough to draw attention to them. Again, Mark had no idea how Aura users seemed to communicate with one another solely through their Aura, but it appeared to have the desired effect when a man split off from his team and walked towards them. He had a confident stride and wore a large shield on his back.
Jonathan spoke as the guy got to them. His charismatic mask was once more fixed in place.
At a cursory glance, Jonathan held himself at the ready, as if he weren't in great pain. Forgetting the fact that Mark still hadn’t managed to repair his broken sternum.
“We are looking to speak to one of your pillars. Lisa Howl told us that if we ever needed anything we could find her.”
The man nodded.
“I’m Wesley, follow me.”
Wesley was not much of a talker but Mark could see a look of mutual respect in his eye, directed at Jonathan. Mark had seen they valued strength above all else, but Mark was surprised by how literal that was. Once Jonathan had used his Aura, the guy hadn’t even asked what faction they were from, just helping them without question
Wesley guided them through space until they reached a section of the wall that appeared to be partitioning off a couple of blocks. Even as they progressed Mark could feel the Corruption levels slowly rising and he had an idea of where they were headed.
Wesley jumped straight up onto the wall, leaving them to find their own methods up. Mark created a disk of force once more since it had worked so well earlier. Lifting them the three stories.
When they got there they found Wesley near the edge looking down into the walled-off area.
Now that they were all closer, Mark could see the space below.
It was covered in divots, burn marks, and crumbling structures. However, amongst all the destruction one thing remained standing in the center. Its design was different but there was no mistaking what they were looking at.
The open maw of a Dungeon entrance.
It’s perfect marbled architecture unblemished by all the destruction around it.
There was movement down there too, at first Mark thought it was Corrupted rushing out of the opening, but he quickly realized they were humans. An entire team of people broke free from the entrance and made a break for the wall.
Mark immediately recognized Lisa and Nathan when they turned back to the entrance and a large amount of Mana surged from Nathan. A ball of churning muck swirled into existence in front of him. Pushing the green sludge out, he let it float above the Dungeon entrance. As soon as the people were clear, the sludge began to rain down as tiny droplets. Not a moment later, Corrupted surged up from the Dungeon, and were met with literal acid rain. Their charge slowed as limbs melted away to nothing, Lisa dealt with anything that got through the spell. Eventually, the flow of Corrupted slowed to nothing and they too retreated.
For a moment Lisa and Nathan checked on their fighters but then Wesley put his fingers to his lips making a sharp whistling sound. Nathan looked up and both he and Lisa began to make their way over. When they got up on the wall Wesley directed a question at her.
“How did it go?”
She looked vexed but not at anyone in particular.
“About the same. We cleared it, but it’s no different from the others. We will have to move the timeline up.”
When she turned to their group a look of keen interest entered her eye.
“Jonathan, Mark, and Samantha. It's honestly good to see you three, your times is perfect. I believe congratulations are in order on your recent victory. To what do we owe the visit?”
Jonathan moved to the front and came straight out with it.
“Hello, Lisa, you once mentioned your willingness to assist if the need ever arose. That's what we’ve come here for. We need you to run interference on The Lolayists for us, namely a man by the name of Oscar Wilson.”
Lisa looked positively delighted and Mark couldn’t help feeling like they were stepping into the lion's den.
Turning to Nathan her face changed to a more serious expression.
“What’s our bottom line, can we swing that?”
Nathan glanced at her and for the first time, he spoke. His words were cold and to the point.
“I've met the individual they speak of, he’s a difficult man to deal with. However, the answer is yes. A few rumors in the right ears will see that the loyalists tighten his collar. In exchange, we can use their help in killing the city.”
Lisa shot Nathan a look of exasperation as she saw all of their stances changing.