Months had passed since their first guests had arrived, and their days were filled to the brim with battle planning, fighting, and changing the plans each time Savini usurped another Empire.
Mist was tired and she wished it was easy like before, when the only thing to worry about was how many people passed the training course. No other Empires had found Mist's planet since Maelstrom had arrived. Mist considered extending an olive branch to the remaining Empires, offering them council and a place to hide while they regrouped. But she soon dismissed it for fear that sending a message would reveal their location, and if Savini somehow got the message instead...
That could be bad.
Farniir was clearly hiding a secret, though Mist couldn't figure it out. She couldn't read him. He had fluffy hair, which unfortunately covered his eye, his real eye. His robotic eye was the only one that could be seen. Something was off, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. She had tried to talk to him, but she was unable to break through the walls he threw up.
They had been in a cave planning for hours around a large stone table set in the middle, with holographic images of maps and graphs.
"Alright!" Stanton shouted, slamming his hands on the table. "Let's take a few minutes to breathe, and get our wits back," he ordered. Mist nodded in agreement.
"Who put you in charge?" Maelstrom snapped, which was rich coming from a person who had shown himself to be terrible at battle planning. It really was a wonder how he had managed to run an Empire.
Mist pulled out a dagger and held it up threateningly.
"He is a member of my council. You will respect him as you respect the other Leaders!" she snarled. Maelstrom growled and stormed off.
"He does know that that tunnel goes nowhere, right?" Stanton asked. Mist resisted a grin and watched as the Leaders walked away. Pom followed Mael, and Tear stood still, looking at the map on the table. Razor nodded to Mist, and walked over to Tear, speaking softly to her and pointing at the map.
But Mist followed Farniir, who had hardly spoken. She found him on a balcony, looking out over her Empire and she approached him carefully.
He was difficult to be around, as his hair covered his real eye, and she couldn't understand what he was thinking or feeling by looking at his mechanical eye.
"Hello," she said quietly. He spared her a brief glance, then grunted a guttural hello. She stood on the balcony next to him, and he didn't move or edge away.
"You seem quiet today," she said, trying to engage him in conversation.
"I suppose," he responded in a monotone, never taking his eyes from the view before him.
"Alright, I tried to make small talk but I suppose that isn't going to happen," she sighed. "For us to take back the Empires, we need everyone to work together, which includes you not sulking in the corner. Don't think I didn't notice that you were literally staring at a corner."
He finally looked at her, as his full red eye peered into her soul, and she could see tiny gears and wires inside of it, all working together when the eye moved.
"I don't see why I should accept help from you," he finally snorted.
"Because I am merciful enough to lend you my help, whether you like it or not, and you need me to take back your Empire," she responded, struggling to keep her cool.
"How do I know that you won't just rob me senseless once more?" he spat. She glared at him, then took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm downl.
"So that is what this is about. The War of Batertilia," she finally sighed out. "But that was years ago!"
"If it weren't for you, I would have had that planet" he growled.
"It wasn't a biased attack. We were hired and paid a more than fair amount to rob you. We simply did our job," she protested. He turned away, the hunch of his shoulders indicating that he did not agree with her.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked, finally giving into her hidden curiosity. He didn't respond.
"Do you have a real eye?"
He stiffened, and turned once more, his red eye glaring heavily at her, narrowing until it burned into her eyes.
"Yes," he said simply, through gritted teeth.
Ah, so he did, but why was it covered?
She stared at his face, yet his mechanical features stayed still.
Oh.
She grinned to herself.
That's why.
"I think I know why you're hiding it," she said, infusing a tone of charm into her voice as she often did to lure her marks to her.
His eye snapped to her, and while the pupil was only a slightly darker shade of red from the rest, it still narrowed at her, though the rest of his face remained engraved in stone.
"You do not know anything about me, or what I hide," he growled.
She blinked innocently.
"I think you conceal your human parts, to hide what you feel," she started, a theory already forming in her head. "I think that something is making you afraid, making you..."
Her words were abruptly cut off as he viciously wrapped his fingers around her neck and slammed her into a wall. In spite of the pain and her near inability to breathe, she didn't let her grin falter. She was hoping to goad him into telling her why his hatred was so deep. She knew that this was the only way she would be able to understand him in order to work with him.
"I think that something happened," she wheezed, grabbing his wrist with both of her hands to loosen his grip. Her feet left the ground, and the tips of her shoes brushed the stone. He squeezed her neck even tighter, and she could feel herself losing consciousness as she gasped for air.
"Farniir!" a familiar voice shouted, and he looked to the side. Mist followed his gaze, and saw Stanton in the doorway, a knife in his hands and a snarl on his face.
"Release her," he growled. Farniir loosened his grip in surprise, offering her a brief moment of reprieve. Mist glanced at Stanton, and shook her head as little as she could. Just as she knew he would, Stanton's sharp eyes missed nothing, and she saw his posture relax slightly.
Mist reached up and clutched his wrist with one hand, and quick as the Shadows, brushed his brown hair away from his real eye with the other. In that instant, he glared back at her with his human eye that was a beautiful clear hazel, in spite of being bloodshot.
In triumph she realized that she had figured him out at last. It suddenly all made sense, and like a puzzle the pieces clicked together. She was well-known for being able to read people, and the saying 'the eyes are the windows to the soul' was very true for her. Without his human eye showing, no one could see his weakness, but now she could. She grinned even wider at the realization.
"I'm not going to fight you, you know," she said, forcing her shoulders to relax even though she struggled to inhale. "But to do this we all need to work together."
He glared at her once more, his mechanical grip tightening again. But he finally dropped her, and she suppressed the urge to gag as he stood still.
"Your Empire does assassinations, correct?" he asked. Mist rubbed her neck and nodded, noticing that Stanton had slowly edged away.
"Indeed, but we only do them for a high bounty," she said. He glared at her once more, then blew the hair back in his face.
"One of your assassins killed the recent Empire Leaders, my parents," he said. She raised one eyebrow.
Really? That's what all this was about?
"I'm sorry?" she said slowly, as he moved back to the balcony and stared blankly out into the distance.
"You are not, and I know that you do not care, he said. "I don't know why I bother, pathetic thief," he spat. She blinked, then laughed lightly.
"I don't understand the grief of losing my parents, that's true," she said, and he raised his eyebrow at her. "The people of my Empire do not have connections to our parents. They raise until we are ten years old, then we never see them again." He looked almost horrified, but it was hard to tell when the only thing she could see in the dim light was his mechanical eye.
"It's not a requirement, and some people know their parents quite well. But here," she resumed, standing next to him, "parents do not stay together. They do not love, and they only have children for the sake of repopulation." She looked at him. "I don't remember my mother, nor my father. My apologies if it seems like I do not care, I simply do not understand," she finished. He snorted and pushed off the balcony, and started to walk away.
"You don't even feel anything," he growled, and as he walked out he muttered, "freak."
She rolled her eyes, and looked over the balcony at the Empire once more.
Little did he know, the mask was not just to hide her appearance.
▲▲▲
Mist stood at one of the pavilions. While the Trainees were off working elsewhere she used the space to help keep the Leaders alert and battle ready. She watched as they came to her, one by one from the direction of their quarters. They all stood before her, and Mist explained the way that the Empire trained before randomly picking an unlucky volunteer.
"General Pomegranite! Come on up!" she called. Pom stepped forward and reached for a gun. "Nope." Mist tossed him a sword. He caught it and then eyed it for a second.
"And begin."
The fight started. Pom moved with a stunningly quick move, as Mist uneasily blocked it and went on what her people called the 'Shadow step'.
One light step backward and Pom surged forward. They pressed their blades together, which anchored Mist down, but she ducked and rolled under his legs. He stumbled forward, but almost instantly regained his balance.
Another light step sideways.
Pom attacked.
A light step backward.
A swing that barely grazed her arm.
And now for the fun.
"Everyone! Join in!" Mist called to the other Leaders. They each picked out a sword of their own and charged. Maelstrom looked as though he was literally trying to attack her, but Mist opened her arms and shut her eyes.
Shadows embrace me.
With a quiet whoosh, Mist became invisible and silently rolled away causing all the Leaders' swords to clash together where she once was. She appeared behind them and pushed Tear down, kicking her sword away.
"You're out," she said, grinning.
With the speed of a thought, she was invisible again. Razor turned around and Mist slapped the blade out of his hands. Becoming visible once again, she yelled, "You're out!"
She was suddenly pushed down by a boot and fell to the hard ground. She rolled over and saw Maelstrom with a blade ready to hit her. She braced herself and rolled away, only to roll right into Pom's legs, but she quickly rolled away again.
"Come out coward!" Maelstrom yelled, swinging his sword in every direction. Mist hissed in anger, and Maelstrom roared as she cut a thin scratch on his cheek.
"Call me a coward again and I-" Maelstrom suddenly got much taller. Much, much taller. He stood at a massive 11 feet. Twelve inch horns sprouted from his head, and enormous bat-like wings grew from his back.
"Mael, calm down!" Mist yelled, ducking under a massive hand as Maelstrom swiped at her.
"What in the Multiverse is that thing?" Farniir yelled.
"It's a Denemere!" Pom cried, jumping back as Maelstrom took a step forward. Everyone else backed away quickly. Mist slowly put her sword on the ground and held up her hands, stepping backward slowly. She had no idea how to calm him down and reverse the transformation, but her mind was racing through all the options in front of her.
"Wait, wait!" Mist shrieked as the Denemere picked her up and threw her high into the air.
"Mist!" Stanton roared. He was receding in the distance as she continued to move upwards, and her back prickled in anticipation.
Do not do that Mist! Resist the urge!
As she neared the ceiling of the cavern, she saw the nets that she had put there to prevent the stalactites from falling on the people below. Mist hit the ceiling of the cavern, scrabbled onto the netting, and held on desperately while her back screamed with need.
"Mist!" several of the leaders yelled as she dangled down with one hand. Grunting, she lifted her other hand and grabbed another rope. She looked down and saw Maelstrom shrinking back to his usual size. They were merely little specks, and she was so high above them.
"Maelstrom, you ignorant light-seeker!" Mist yelled down loudly, swinging her legs up until she was hanging on with all fours.
By the Shadows I hate him so much.
She hung down by her legs and glared down, spotting a patch of darkness far below her. If her training was correct, she could dive down into it, which wouldn't kill her, but it might hurt. It was her only option.
Mist exposed the tattoo on her wrist and whispered, "Don't fail me now," as she untangled her legs and leaped into the air.