Fall of the Spectrum

Chapter Sixteen

Gwen barely noticed when she and Astral passed the Central Junction and took the walkway on their left, eventually making their way up the spiralling stairs that led to the pyrite corridor, the entrance of which was flanked by twin pillars of marble. The coloured lights that reminded her so much of the aurora borealis danced in her peripherals, glinting off the crystal walkways and the corridor's smooth, cavernous walls.

It wasn't until they'd stepped into her room, Astral settling into the armchair across from her, that he finally spoke.

"Don't let it get to you, Gwen."

She gave a start, frowning as she tried to divine just what he'd meant by it. Beyond the knowing glint in his eyes, Astral gave away nothing, his expression completely inscrutable.

"Don't let what get to me?"

"The council's politics, being the tenth seal." He gave a careless wave of his hand, though the seriousness never left his eyes. "All of it. Try to push it aside, forget you found out about it. Nothing's changed. You're still the same person you've always been, tenth seal or not."

He held her gaze for a long moment, and only when she finally averted hers did Gwen find she was able to speak. "How can I?" Her voice came out barely above a whisper. "Now that I know, how can I pretend otherwise?"

"The only thing that's changed is your perception of yourself," Astral insisted. Gwen startled when he leaned forward and rested his hand on top of hers, fingers cool against her own. "Can't you see, Gwen? The stakes haven't changed; they're still exactly as they've always been. All that's changed is how you view them."

She was about to point out that even if that was true, there were many on the council and Regulations Force expecting as much from her as she did from herself—if not more so, and not all of them as kind as Apollo or Asclepius—when the door swung open, admitting Forneus into the room. Astral snatched his hand back from Gwen's as if he'd been burned, his face flushing scarlet.

"Oh good, you're still here," Forneus said to him, not appearing to notice Astral's guilt-stricken expression. "This concerns you, as well."

Pulling her attention away from Astral, Gwen turned anxiously toward Forneus. "What is it?"

"There's a chance of collecting another one of the artifacts. But if we're going to do it, it has to be now, before Apophis—"

"Wait, where's Phenex?" Gwen asked, cutting a glance toward the door. "Is he not coming with us?"

"Hermes checked in from Mythos after you left the chamber. He's begun putting a team together to persuade the clan leaders to help in our fight against Apophis's forces, and he requested Phenex's help in the matter."

"What about the artifact?" Gwen asked. "The council can't expect the two of us to go after it on our own! Every time we've ever done that, things have gone from bad to worse."

"They don't." Forneus gestured to Astral with a nod. "That's where the Fifth Unit comes in. They'll be accompanying us to the Bissau Palace in India. There Vajra will be found, hidden somewhere within its halls."

"The Bissau Palace?" Astral's tone went up an octave, eyes widening in surprise. "I didn't know Indra had such a strong following there."

"Nor I, but at some point or other, he must have. Vajra wouldn't have wound up there otherwise."

Gwen scarcely had time to prepare herself before a hand had settled on her shoulder and the room began warping around them, Forneus's affirmation that Asclepius and the others would meet them at the palace ringing in her ears as the solid tiles disappeared from beneath her feet. A sense of weightlessness surrounded her, making her stomach spasm.