-25-
-The Gamble-
None of it made any sense. Bastian remembered the symbol, the iconography of the tree. How could he not? When The Palatine had marched to wipe out the forgotten gods of old Brittany, their followers had bourn that symbol on standards. The pagan gods, savage things little better than beasts, had venerated their precious Tree of Life, and Bastian was one of the only people in the world old enough to remember. For the Godslayer to flee to Russia, after seeing that iconography at the temple in Norway, it made no sense. Something was very wrong, but his superiors disagreed. Bastian scoffed. They were superior in title alone, giving themselves accolades and rank within a machine that they had built on the original foundation, The Palatine Order.
Even now, thousands of men were descending onto the wilderness where they suspected that the Russian end of the Leyline Gate opened. The men in command had built small armies loyal to them, not the truth of the mission. Helicopters would comb from the sky, satellites would turn overhead with their ever-watchful eyes on empty lands, and still none of it felt right. This was a trick; Bastian knew it in his heart. The tree was significant. It meant something, and the last of The Palatine would not use the last of his days chasing ghosts in the middle of nowhere.
Even now he could feel the power coursing through his veins, the seed of power bestowed upon him burning through even his mighty body. Not even the strongest could act as a vessel for The First Defender's power for long, such was the difference between true divinity and man.
"You didn't have to wipe out half of the island," Bastian said dryly, a note of distain in his voice as he heard Jun approaching.
The man was clad in a set of compact armour, ancient and yet spotless, a pendant hanging tightly around his neck. There was an aura about him too, an almost tangible taste of ozone in the air when he approached, power of the Old Gods. Formidable.
"Things happen," Jun shrugged, looking over The Palatine's repaired armour. He seemed even taller now, a glow behind his eyes, "Where are we going?"
"My superiors think he's fled to Russia," Bastian replied, pacing through the courtyard, Jun following closely behind.
"You have reason to doubt them?"
"A hunch. The icon on the temple, the tree, I've seen it before, but not in Russia."
"Akane's slippery," Jun nodded, "It could be a misdirect, or he could just be trying to put as much distance between him and us as possible. Where did you see it?"
"The north of Brittainy, when the last of the isle's gods died. I don't have time for a fruitless hunt."
"Time?" Jun asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked at the larger man, "What's time got to do with it?"
"Nothing of your concern," Bastian dismissed, "I'm going to where the gods fell, do what you will. I won't need your help."
Jun took a long moment, looking at the man as he turned back and made his way towards a large transport helicopter. There was definitely something different about him, something more. It was as if there was a radiance beneath the armour, the tiredness in his eyes tempered by fire. Even with his completed power, even the boons of Amaterasu, or perhaps because of them, there was something about The Palatine that set him on edge. There was more to be seen here. There was something new, waiting deep beneath the surface. Without another word Jun turned to follow, ignoring the bustle of the courtyard as dozens of men scrambled around like ants, mobilising to move in the other direction.
"So, you're disobeying orders," Jun said, walking quickly to catch up with the giant, "Doesn't sound like anything I've heard of The Palatine."
"You don't know me," Bastian replied flatly, "And as far as I see if, I'm the only one following orders. The only orders that matter."
The pair walked together towards one of the unmarked heavy helicopters in the courtyard, the other men giving them a wide berth, the drone of engines filling the air as the full force of the facility fired up for war.
>---<
Maddy and Abigail sat in the venom-green sports car, wearing wide grins that didn't quite reach their eyes. The car idled in a row of vehicles leading to the ramp of a ferry on the French coastline, the boat clearly in sight as the column of vehicles slowly ground forward inch by inch.
"This is never going to work," Maddy muttered quietly, her wide smile not fading as she looked out of the window, brushing the hastily cut hair out of her eyes. Black hair that once flowed past her shoulders was now barely past the ears, bleached a kind of sickly yellow that the package had promised to be platinum blonde.
"It'll work," Abigail smiled back, drumming her own fingers along the wheel, "Just have a little faith."
The witch's own hair was now an inconsistent shade of bubble-gum pink, tiny patches of her original blonde peeking through, cut into a rough rocker mullet that had meant to originally be bangs. Neither of them was a particularly skilled hairdresser, and the cheap hair bleach and dye they'd bought was hardly of stellar quality.
"Both of you, shut up," Akane's voice came from behind them, muffled from behind the back seat where he lay in the trunk of the car, pressed flat into the confined space
Sabbath gave a small chirp from beneath Abigail's seat, his own body pressed nearly flat to hide in the confined space.
"Oh, both of you be quiet," Abigail shot back with a scoff, "Men."
There was a quiet tirade of cursing from the space behind them, muffled beyond recognition, before everything went silent again. Abigail winced as she felt a clawed paw swipe out from beneath the seat, batting against her heel with a light scratch.
"Little shit," Abigail muttered, keeping up the false smile through clenched teeth.
Time passed at a crawl as the car crept forward, engine humming softly as the cars were loaded onto the ferry at a painstakingly slow pace. A uniformed officer walking to each car window in a line, tapping on it with the tip of his pen and conversing quietly with the driver. He was one ahead in the line from Abigail, finishing up his notes in the clipboard he held in one hand, handing back some documents to the driver.
"We're fucked," Maddy smiled, watching him get closer, "We're so fucked."
"Oh, cowgirl up," Maddy muttered back, "You've stared a god in the eye, a little identity fraud is nothing."
Abigail was already rolling the window down by the time the officer walked up to the door, a wide smile on her face as she leaned forward over the wheel.
"Anything to declare, miss?" the officer said, looking down at his clipboard, noting the registration of the car.
"Dana Cook," Abigail said, her voice sickly sweet as she handed over the passport that she'd forged last night before gesturing over to Maddy, we well as the ferry tickets that they'd bought this morning, "This is my cousin, Niko. She doesn't know much French."
Maddy handed over her passport to Abigail as well, the customs officer looking over both, flicking through the pages of each lazily.
"Nice car," he commented, eyes scanning over the small sports car, "Purpose of your visit?"
"Thanks!" Abigail beamed back, "It was a birthday present from dad. Niko's coming over for university and wanted to check out the campus, so I went out for a spin to pick her up. Really wanted to have a long drive, you know?"
There was a long silence as he stared over the papers, given a slight bit of weathering by Abigail's magic. The two women smiled innocently, music quietly playing over the radio, turned down to barely a whisper.
"Welcome home, Miss Cook," the officer said after a long moment, passing the papers back to Abigail, checking off the car's registration on his clipboard, "Have a pleasant trip."
"Thank you!" Abigail said in a sickly-sweet sing-song voice, giving a sly side-eye to Maddy as she handed back her falsified passport, the window rolling back up as the customs officer moved on.
"You think we got through unnoticed?" Maddy asked as they pulled the car up the ramp and onto the ferry, a chunky white boat with peeling paint, the light haze of engine smog already hanging in the air of the vehicle bay.
"Probably," Maddy shrugged, "We took every backroad we could, avoided every major highway, even did the speed limit," she said the last part with a hint of disgust. "No reason to think they've got eyes on us now, especially after the stunt Akane pulled in Old Prague."
"How long do I have to stay back here?" Akane's muffled voice came from the trunk of the car.
"We'll let you know," Abigail called back, "Take it easy. Should be on shore in a little over an hour."
"Gives me time to work," Maddy sighed, pulling out her laptop and bringing up the expansive list of stone circles in the UK, resuming her search through to find anything that matched Akane's description of what he saw. "I'll let you know as soon as I find something."
"Great," Akane's voice replied, deadpan from the back of the car.
A low hum rose through the space as the ferry's ramp began to slide up, engines just below them roaring to life and propelling the ferry forward into the waters of the English Channel. All around them people were getting out of their parked cars, making their way above deck to stretch their legs and get a few refreshments.
Maddy kept a wary eye in the rear-view mirror, watching for any suspicious activity, anyone that looked out of place. She half-expected to see Jun staring back at her in the mirror, sword in hand, or the hulking armoured man that had been hunting them. She only saw ordinary people going about their day, a mother and father leading their child towards the stairs, an elderly couple walking arm-in-arm close behind them.
"Relax," Abigail muttered, reclining in her seat slightly and turning off the car's engine, "We're just two gals on a pleasure cruise, no need to keep peeking around like the CIA's behind every corner."
"How can you not?" Maddy asked, trying to keep her watch as covert as possible, "This doesn't freak you out?"
"I've been doing this a long time, Maddy. Nobody ever checks the boats. Shuffle your passports regularly, keep your nose down, use burner phones, and it's hard to be found. Besides, if the bad guys knew we were here, they'd probably be sinking the ferry in three... two... one..."
Maddy couldn't help but tense slightly, Abigail's smile widening as she looked over at the other woman. The countdown ended, and nothing happened. The drone of the boat's engines continued, the last of the passengers filtering up through
"Asshole," Maddy muttered, keeping her eyes down at the screen in front of her.
"Your favourite though, right?" Abigail grinned, relaxing into her seat, "I'm just kidding, Maddy. If they wanted to sink us, they'd wait until we were halfway across. Leave us in open water, easy pickings."
Maddy's jaw clenched, eyes locked on the screen as she tried to ignore Abigail's comment. "Looks good Akane," she called, "You can come out for a while. Keep her busy."
"Your jokes aren't funny," Akane muttered, already silently reformed in the back seat, slipping through the cracks in the seat as smoke before rematerializing.
"Who was joking?" Abigail asked, an eyebrow raised as she looked into the rear-view mirror at Akane, "What happens, happens. Trust the process, guys."
A bag of potato chips flew forward from the back seat and smacked into the side of her head, the witch breaking into an even wider smile as she opened the bag and started to eat. Akane opened a pack of jerky they'd got on the road, taking the moment to get some road food in as well, picking through the stash they'd picked up on their trip.
Maddy was about to ask for something, but Akane's hand was already reaching through forward from the back seat, holding a second bag of chips and a lukewarm soda. She took them wordlessly, taking a few chips. Salt and Vinegar, her favourite flavour.
"Certainly travelling in luxury," Maddy commented dryly through mouthfuls, "Relaxing cruise, threat of impending death, snacks on hand."
Abigail clapped her hands together, reaching over her shoulder back to Akane. "Butler, refreshments please."
"I could find something heavier to throw," Akane muttered, though Abigail could hear the faint amusement in his voice.
Sabbath crawled out from beneath Abigail's seat and hopped up into the back beside Akane, pawing for his share of the jerky the assassin was currently eating. Akane wordlessly pulled out a small handful, putting it onto the seat beside him for the familiar.
"How's your passenger going?" Abigail asked, turning back to Akane as he passed forward a drink for her, "You feeling okay?"
"It's been quiet," he replied, "It enjoyed the fight with Chernobog. Still there, but quiet."
"And you said that you worked with it?" she asked.
"I think so. It was hard to tell, it all blends together. It was... an understanding, I think."
"But it still doesn't talk?"
"I don't think it can," Akane said, "It's strange. It's intelligent, but it's narrow. Focused. I don't think it has much use for words."
Akane let the words hang in the air for a moment, taking another small bite, chewing thoroughly on the dried meat while he thought.
"Are you okay?" Abigail asked again, looking back in the mirror to try and meet his gaze, "What does it feel like?"
Akane said nothing for a long moment, taking his time to chew. "It feels like a seed in the back of my head, cold, watching. I want it out. The veiled goddess, she knows how. She has to."
"And if she can't?"
"Then we kill her, too," Akane said simply, "Move on, find someone who can."
A heavy silence fell over the interior of the car, interrupted only by the dull roar of the engines. Akane stared off into space, focusing on the entity in with his minds eye, feeling the empty eyes it stared back with focused squarely on him. He was brought back to the present by a small warmth on his knee, looking down to see Abigail's hand resting on his knee comfortingly, a small smile on her face as she leaned back over the seat.
"You really know how to kill the vibe, you know that right?" she said, her smile widening, "Grumble grumble, kill them all. Grumble grumble, I'm so brooding."
He could help but smile in turn. He could see it in her eyes, the same things that pained him, the same fears. He could catch a glimpse behind the bravado and the jokes just for a split second and see how scared she really was. The child that Kento had found was still in there, deep down. A small part of him wondered if she could peer into him in the same way, seeing all the things he didn't say. Maybe she could, but it was hard to be sure of anything with Abigail.
Her hand withdrew as she turned back to the wheel, smile fading as she turned. Akane let the silence settle in again, Sabbath shuffling in closer beside him and resting a head on his leg, purring lightly and closing his eyes. He found himself gently rubbing behind the cat's ears, sharing what was left of the jerky between the two of them. The clacking of Maddy's fingers across the keys of the laptop continued, oddly soothing as the minutes stretched on.
"Might have something," Maddy said suddenly, holding up the laptop to show a grainy satellite photograph, "Does it look like what you saw?"
Akane studied the screen, leaning forward slightly, careful to keep his leg in place so Sabbath could sleep. He reached out, tilting the screen slightly, trying to make out the general shape from what ruins remained. It was in the rough shape of a cross, worn down and partially collapsed by time, but there was no doubt in his mind.
"That's it," he said after a long moment, "That's what I saw. It's weathered, half gone, but that's it."
"Calanais Standing Stones, on the Isle of Lewis," Maddy called out, sharing a quick high five with Abigail, "Far north of Scotland. Whatever the thing in your head is after, it's probably there."
"It will be," Akane nodded.
He felt a faint sense of agreement with the entity in his mind, a deep satisfaction, a slight tingle of the mark burned onto his chest. The memory of how the ancient stones once were overlapped with the grainy image in front of him, it was unmistakable. It felt right. If any answers were to be found, that was where they were.