Chapter 19: Doubt
"Hey Kyle! Wake up! Damn it, don't make me kiss you. Kyle!"
"Gah!" Kyle woke up gasping as desperately violent hands shook him. He quickly gathered his surrounds. He was still in the Hero's training ground, the armour collapsed around him and gripping against his shirt tightly was Valandus.
"Thank the Hero," the driver breathed out and held Kyle firmly. "Are you okay? Do you need a medic?"
"I'm fine," Kyle replied steadily.
"How are you fine? You put this damn armour on and collapsed! If you're hurt just say it." It was clear that Valandus was desperate but Kyle really was perfectly fine. "Can you see? How many fingers am I holding up? Try move your legs, if you can't do that then your fingers at least.
"Valandus really I'm okay," Kyle pushed him away gently and stood up himself. "I can see perfectly and my body works. I just fell asleep that's all."
The driver wasn't convinced, "The last man I saw put that armour on was crippled to the point where he couldn't move. He died of heart failure a week later."
"Yes... but I'm...," it took a moment for him to find the word, "different." He picked up the ornately carved gauntlet, "When I put on the armour nothing changed. I didn't feel anything. Not even an ounce more strength or magic. Just simple and plain armour."
"That can't be," Valandus shook his head then paused. "Why did you put it on anyway?"
"Because I thought I could be the Hero," Kyle threw up his hands exasperated. "Because if I was the Hero then Lillia and the other children wouldn't have to... just like the Hero from twenty years ago." He kicked the armour by his feet, "But I got nothing." A sudden sharp flick smacked in the centre of his forehead, "Ow!"
"You could have died Kyle," the usually casual man was firm. "Thank your lucky stars the armour really didn't work. Besides while you may have been able to wear it for a short time, the armour is bound to Lillia. Until she... passes... the armour won't truly be usable for anyone else. What you did was beyond stupid. There can only be one Hero at a time."
As frustrated as he was Kyle had to admit what he had done was reckless, "I understand... I just-."
"I know it's frustrating. Even with all our effort we're still powerless to what we put those children through," the driver sighed. "Now help pack this up. I'll keep this a secret from the others for now. You really are lucky I was passing through and not Reina."
"Thank you." At the current time he really didn't want to deal with the fallout of his actions. The disappointment was still fresh and more so was the reeling sense of shock left over from his dream.
It didn't take long for the two of them to put away the armour and clean up the grounds as if nothing ever happened. Judging by the light from the artificial sky it was still early in the morning, which meant the children shouldn't have woken up yet. If Kyle wasn't back by the time Maila and Lillia came out they would get suspicious. But first he had some questions to ask.
"Hey Valandus what do you know about the Church?"
The driver couldn't help be surprised at the question and thought for a moment, "Hmm that's a question alright. Now I think about it, not much. They sign my pay check, are our top commanders, generally deal with anything Hero related and are tied to the heads of all the cities. The specifics," he shrugged. "Is this about your meeting later?"
"Umm yeah...," Kyle hid his true intentions. A piece of him was shaken and although he trusted the members of the Hero's Guard, the actual Church was something else. If they were once the Church of the Sleeping God like Lady Marigold had said then they were also the ones who betrayed Estile and the other Mercenaries. An anxious pit had begun to dig inside him as suspicions and conspiracies ran freely through his mind. There was every chance that the Church were the ones in control of the demons and it was all a ruse to keep the world under their control. The Hero was just a tool to do so.
"Look, don't worry about it," Valandus patted the young man on the shoulder. "At this point you're famous enough that if they did try anything drastic the rest of the world would realise... or at least we would."
"Thanks... I guess."
"No problem," with a strong push the driver ushered him to the door, "Now head back home and if you're ever ready to tell the Captain what happened, go for it, but leave me out. I just got this promotion so I kind of splurged. If I lose my job now I'm going to be living on the streets." He laughed but there was a part of him that was very serious. "Also how was Maila doing? She didn't grill you out too much did she?"
"No, she didn't," Kyle smiled softly. "She's doing well. Busy looking after the new children."
"That's good to hear," the driver showed a tender smile, much softer than his usual. "Anyway get going!" He slapped Kyle on the back towards the door.
Forced out from the training grounds Kyle made his way back to the Garden defeated. In the end he hadn't obtained anything that he wanted and just caused trouble. Worse still he couldn't help but doubt everything he knew. The other members of the Guard, the 1st Officers that presided over them, just how many of them could he trust? Or was he overthinking everything? If their world had really existed for 400 years, a lot could change in that time.
He passed by Mellissa's office and entered the Garden making it just in time before Maila woke to help make breakfast. The caretaker seemed to not have noticed anything other than noting he looked a little worn out. Lillia was the same and like that the day progressed as a normal day in the Garden did. Breakfast then lessons, lunch and then training, a break and then dinner. It was all so normal that Kyle couldn't believe it. Compared to the dream he had the night before... the destruction and death, the feeling of peace was almost too sweet.
"Kyle."
"Ah what?" Kyle snapped awake and looked towards Maila. In his hands he held the soap covered dishes from dinner midway cleaned.
"Bethial is here for you." Maila rolled up her sleeves, "Go ahead and talk. I'll finish this."
"S-sure," he quickly washed off the bubbles stuck to his arms and dried his hands. Inside the reception the Captain stood waiting with Lillia already talking to him.
"Kyle good evening," the Captain nodded and smiled. "Good news. One of the Church Council has accepted to meet you. I understand if it's a bit sudden but they're waiting to meet with you."
"Wait, you mean right now?" Kyle blanched.
"Yes now. They can be quite busy but as you seemed to want to meet them especially, I pushed them a little. Don't worry about what you wear. It's an informal meeting." The Captain eyed him, "Are you not prepared?"
"No-well-I mean." In many ways Kyle wasn't. After his dreams with everything that happened, how could he just go and meet with one of the high ranking Church officials now? Seeing that both the Captain and Lillia were looking at him strangely he fixed his posture, "Let's go. I'm just a bit nervous." He forced a laugh, "I was thinking the meeting would be in the next few weeks if not months."
Lillia poked him in the side, "Don't worry even if you screw up I'll be right there with you." She sighed, "Us children aren't usually allowed to see the higher ups of the Church but it seems they even asked for me this time."
The Captain nodded, "You can't blame them. You've defeated three Primarchs now, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since...."
"The Hero from twenty years ago," Kyle finished for him. "I read the reports."
"I see. As I thought someone did rifle through the documents in the training ground."
"Hmmm?" Lillia's eyes pierced into him.
Kyle tried to remain as natural as possible, "Um anyway, shall we go?"
"Of course. They dislike being kept waiting," the Captain stepped outside leading the way. Maila apparently already being informed.
On the way out however a trio of girls stood waiting just at the edges of the forest path leading back to the Church and Council headquarters. Himila, Mitsu and Kara. After Lillia they were the next oldest and even now Kyle could see that they had been growing quickly. It wasn't just from their physical appearances but also the potent energy that was hidden inside. Now that he had more experience, he could feel the subtle pressure they exerted, unlike Lillia they had yet to learn to hide it.
"Heya Captain," Himila grinned with a wave. "Where you taking our dear sister and caretaker?" It was an innocent enough question but with Mitsu looking nervously behind her and Kara a little too calm, it was clear they had their own intentions.
"We're just going out for a meeting. I hope you three don't mind," the Captain smiled softly to the girls.
"About that, mind if we come too?"
Lillia answered them, "It's not the right time for you three. Go back inside." Her heavy tone rubbed them the wrong way as even Mitsu frowned a little.
"Then when is the right time?" Kara fired back. "We're all here for the same reason and it's about time we helped." She pulled a necklace from beneath her shirt and pointed it to them, "If you hadn't forgot we're 14 now."
At the sight of the necklaces Kyle couldn't help feel a strange sense of nostalgia. Despite the fact that he hadn't bought them long ago, seeing them now after knowing more about the Mercenaries gave a new feeling.
Kara continued, "Tai started his training at 14, so can we."
"Tai was almost 15 when he did... and you know what happened," Lillia's hand tightened against her waist.
At that moment Kyle knew how the conversation would go as it was similar to the one he had with Maila the other night. They wanted to help. It wasn't out of a selfish desire to be Hero but a much deeper connection between siblings and for the sake of the world they were raised to protect. Before either side could say anything else Kyle spoke cutting just in front of the Captain.
"Kara, Mitsu, Himila, I know you want to help and that's really brave of you. As ready as you might be, all of us want you to spend a bit more time growing up." He smiled and patted Kara's head. The girl frowned but did nothing to remove his hand, "How about this. If the three of you can tell me something you want to do, and I mean really want to do, I'll put in a good word for you."
Mitsu stepped closer, pointing her head towards him. Seeing what she wanted he also gave her head a gentle pat before she spoke, "Mr Kyle what do you mean want to do? Isn't wanting to protect everyone enough?"
He pressed down a little harder, "Nope, I want you to think about something else. Like what would you would do if you could leave the Garden. What you want to do for a living or something you want to experience."
"Oh!" Himila raised her hand, "I want to eat at the best restaurants in all the cities!"
Kyle laughed and let go, "That's a start. Give it some proper thought okay?"
"Alright," Kara gave in and the three stepped away from the path. "Come back soon."
"We won't be long, right Lillia?"
"That's right," she smiled as well and together the three of them moved past the girls and down the path.