False Gods

Book III: Stolen Valor

Chapter XX

Canaan opened the door to his humble little abode. It was a small, mostly wooden house out in a wooded area outside of New Torna. Canaan had always preferred to stay outside of the big city, but he still worked inside the city. It was the easiest way to make money, after all, especially in his line of work.

"Everything work ok?" Zane asked, appearing out of the other room.

"Yeah, nothing to report. I don't know why you don't design tech for a living. You'd make a killing," Canaan laughed.

"I do," Zane replied. "I just happen to give it all to some assassin who refuses to patch up his bleeding heart. Speaking of which, who'd you give a free job to this time?"

"Ah, you knew?" Canaan said.

"We're brothers, I have an idea when you're hiding something."

Canaan sighed. "Little girl, maybe eight. She threw twenty gold coins in my hand and asked me to help. It was her dad, he was mercilessly beating his wife. She was half-dead when I got there."

"Titan's foot..., and?"

"I brought her with me and shot him with a pistol. I used a water ether bullet to heal the woman's wounds."

"You made the girl watch?! Why?"

"She asked me to take someone's life. If I had done it without her watching, there's a chance she'll assume that that's how she should solve all of her problems. By doing it in front of her, she saw him die. His eyes turned to glass, his body hit the floor, the sounds, the smells..., and then I explained it to her. By asking me to do this, he'd never walk, talk, breathe.... Any good moment she may have ever had with him would never happen again, but she'd never get hurt by him again, and then I left."

Zane looked uneasy.

Canaan chuckled empathetically. "That's why I do the dirty work, besides, you're way too good at this tech stuff. How does nobody see me when I'm riding that hoverboard? The streets are always packed!"

Zane perked up at the mention of his tech. "I made the bottom project an image at the bottom matching it to the sky. It also uses a fire-electric ether fusion to produce a completely inaudible engine! Ether fusion hasn't ever been successfully tried before, but I figured out if you...."

Zane kept going with his geek out, but Canaan was no longer listening. As he became lost in thought, Zane became aware and once again, caught Canaan's attention.

"There's something else, isn't there?" he interrogated.

"Nothing gets past you...," Canaan sighed. "I found Finch."

"Finch...," Zane recognized. "I... understand what she meant to you. Do whatever you must."

"I will, but I will need to be equipped, getting her back won't be easy...."

...................................

"If you'd like me to give you this core crystal, I need you to take out two targets. The first, Zeke von Genbu of Tantal," General Adonis told Canaan.

"And if I refuse?" Canaan eyed.

"You can either earn a reward or receive a punishment for disobedience. I suggest not picking that latter, but we may do this however you please," he replied simply.

Canaan soon realized he had no way out of this situation, and agreed.

"Fine, but nothing is out of pocket, understand?"