Paramythi I: City of Glass

“The Prophets of Galaxis are being slaughtered. The murderer, or murderers, have yet to be identified; leaving the incidents as anonymous. Others have shared their thoughts and have begun spreading rumours suggesting that the Gods are taking revenge and are striking down the Prophets for spreading false preaching and filling hearts with lies and deceit.”

“Quincy, could you explain to us why you have confidence that Neriah Kiska will be next?”

“Yes, Chairwoman…” The sounds of ruffling papers were followed by Quincy clearing his throat, dismissing the uncertainty lacing his voice, “so far the reports have shown that the Prophets are being killed using the pattern of their age. For example, the first murder was young Lady Clio Neoteros from the fourth kingdom, Hera. She was only eight years old and almost unidentifiable when her body was found by Hera’s soldiers. Two more Prophets were killed afterwards; one aged fourteen from the eighth kingdom, Tipota, the other aged twenty-one from the seventh kingdom of Dike. By all statistics, Lady Neriah Kiska would be next now that she is the youngest Prophet of Galaxis.”

From his spot behind the door to the council room, Theo pulled his head away from the polished surface of the wooden frame and looked down. It was beyond his rights to eavesdrop on such a thing; especially a serious matter of exchange such as this. Yet he was inclined to know what his fellow companions were to do about the safety of the kingdom’s Prophet and how many lives they would need to spare from their own units just to keep one woman safe.

He was being selfish and he knew it.

Nonetheless, he could not allow himself to feel at ease with Kane or Ciiria’s following decisions. He knew the both of them far too well and would have no doubts towards the pair and their righteous hearts. He was confident enough to assume they were already making eye contact in there, silently agreeing to send their men down to protect little Neriah Kiska and keep her safe and warm. Theo scoffed.

“You’re ever so naughty, Theo Dante.”

Whirling on his heel, Theo turned and his hand raised to fend off the abrupt intruder. He fell short of punching them square in the jaw when his eye readjusted and he saw none other than Twyla leaning against the wall, fingers tracing the golden decoration of the door frame to their left.

“Aren’t you supposed be resting, Twyla?” Theo snorted, arms crossing as if to lessen the obvious motions of defence he had demonstrated only seconds ago. “You’re way too confident to be walking around the halls after what you did to Kronos.”

“Some might say that you’re a little too confident to be listening in on a council meeting after claiming you don’t even want to be a part of it.” Twyla hummed, shoulder pushing up against the solid structure of the wall. They twirled lazily, reaching Theo’s side quickly and their head rested on the man’s broad chest. “Do tell what they’re chitchatting about in there~”

Theo craned his head. “Must all Avolaki be this clingy?” He sighed.

“Of course,” Twyla chuckled. “That’s what makes us all so lovable.”

“Is that what you think? Sometimes I wish you were more like Zyki; you’d be fun that way.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

A silence befell the pair, albeit the sounds of voices and shuffling papers coming from behind the door to the council room. They stood there without caring for the time which might tick by or if someone were to walk past and call them out for sneaking around the council. The golden exterior of the walls décor kept them at ease, keeping them focused as their eyes followed the patterns lining the wallpaper and stretching across the ceiling like tree branches in the spring.

It was a mutual feeling Twyla and Theo shared. A feeling not many other members of the Rebellion could relate to; the feeling of being the very first members of Kane’s resistance before it was the Rebellion. Twyla had known Kane longer, but Theo had been a part of the Rebels longer. Both of them had been under the influence of torturous humans, nonetheless. Kane had saved the both of them.

“…Kane’s execution.” Theo whispered, having tried his damnedest not to even pay mind to the topic whenever Twyla was around. Now, it seemed unavoidable. “Seven years have gone by and no warrant has been put forward for his arrest. He’s done everything Capitol expects of him from a political sense, in his own way he hasn’t broken any law, so…do you still see it in your dreams?”

“I do,” Twyla whispered, hand resting over the space Theo’s heart was thumping at a calm, even pace. “I see it every night and it’s always the same. In the span of seven years, nothing has changed.”

“Even when I asked Kiska, the day Merine went to prison, she seemed eager to change the subject. For a powerful prophet like her, she would no doubt know the answer to the date of his execution.”

“I may not be a prophet, but I am able to glimpse into the futures of others. Most, at least…” Twyla pushed back, head rising in order for their white eyes to stare intently at Theo’s face. “I cannot say what day it might happen; what year it might occur…all I know is that, one day, Kane Ruskin will stand in the gallows, a rope around his neck, while the world burns around him with no allies in sight.”

“Twyla, you know we’ll always be there for Kane. There’s no way he will go to the gallows without one of us, one of his people, standing beside him.” Theo said, reaching up to grasp Twyla’s hand tightly for reassurance for both of their benefits. “Perhaps you were having night terrors? You’ve been through so much. The kidnapping, the induced drugs, the—”

“It was not false!” Twyla snatched their hand from Theo’s warm grip and hopped back, arms tense at their sides and white hair flowing with the influence of magick. “It was real! It will happen and I’m afraid that I, that we, will be unable to stop it from happening!”

Theo had stepped up to comfort the Avolaki when the door to the council room opened, cutting him short from his intentions, and Kane stepped out.

“Kane!” Twyla grinned, pushing past th enthusiasm in their voice and the visible glint of tears shining in their pale eyes. They jumped forward and threw their arms around Kane’s waist, pulling the man close. “Oh, I was wondering when you were going to visit me again. I woke up just a few minutes ago and you were not there. How worried I was!”

From behind Kane, Quincy and Zyki stepped out. The latter of the two bared their sharp teeth and would have stopped in the middle of the hallway just to start a staring competition if Quincy had not patted them on the back and urged them away from Twyla and down the hallway towards the elevators.

“Twyla…you’re holding me too tightly…” Kane grimaced, arms struggling to pry the Avolaki off in order to regain the oxygen he had lost upon the impact of such a sudden, and surprisingly strong, hug. “Oh, Quincy!” The captain turned his head, eyes searching the corridor. “I know it seems irrelevant now, but did you look into Trezla?”

“Merine?” Quincy blinked and paused, hand clutching onto Zyki’s shoulder; thus stopping them from skulking any further down the corridor. “Oh, yes!” Quincy peered back, the essence of confidence was apparent on his face when he met the seriousness to Kane’s features. “Merine Trezla is still in jail. I got a copy of the camera footage of his cell. He hasn’t been moved since we sent him there.”

Kane looked somewhat distant for a second. His eyes turned downward and he ceased his attempts to get Twyla off of him. After a nod, he dismissed Quincy with a solemn tone, “thank you. We’ll be having another meeting later before we send the units down.”

Quincy said nothing. He could identify the numerous layers to Kane’s voice and the body language he portrayed. It would be best to leave the dear captain to his thoughts and even Zyki knew as much as they started down the hallway yet again, half-dragging Quincy along until Twyla and the others were out of sight and they were in the elevator.

“Sending the units down, huh?” Theo grunted, approaching Kane with a stiff posture of crossed arms and lack of eye contact. “Quince told me, you know…”

“Yeah, he mentioned that he told you about it last night.” Kane sighed. He propped his chin atop Twyla’s head, calming his own nerves by feeling the softness of their white hair smoothing his skin. “The council meeting…it went on until the sun came up. We have very little to work with and now I have to send down the appropriate units for the job.”

“Why not just collect Kiska from the church, bring her here, then send a group down to meet the murderer?” Theo cocked a brow, tone lazy despite the genuine suggestion he had offered. “I mean; we can’t have the prophet standing in the middle of a battlefield. There’ll be bullets flying and all sorts. Even if we manage to keep the killer at bay, friendly fire is still a possibility.”

“I really wish you didn’t sound so obvious,” Kane remarked and sent Theo a sly upturn of his lips. “If Lady Kiska is coming up to the base, I am holding you responsible for chaperoning her until we’ve secured her safety.”

“That is hardly fair,” Theo grumbled.

Ciiria stepped out of the council room and nodded towards the group. “Dante, if you’re this involved with the situation all of a sudden, then it would make sense for you to be a part of our meetings, rather than eavesdropping through the door.”

“Ah, so, you knew I was there?” Theo cracked a smile, the sharp edges of his teeth glinting as he attempted an innocent face.

“Oh, please, you could hear the shuffling of your goddamn feet every five minutes.” Reidonn boasted, appearing from the darkness of the meeting room and tugged the doors shut behind her. “See, it ain’t hard for us to suss you out, Dante. We know you wanna come and join us.”

“Hardly,” Theo scoffed. “This is simply a one-off. I would hate to sit in there with you people all night, dragging on the hours with things like inventory operations and unit checks. Half of the stuff you discuss is hardly as interesting as this, right?”

“Eh, more or less,” Reidonn replied, back thumping against the doors behind her. She shifted her weight to one leg and crossed her arms, purposefully ignoring the glare from Ciiria since she agreed with Theo’s statement. “So, what’s the plan Cap’n?”

Twyla reluctantly stepped back, respectfully granting Kane his reputation as a composed, calm and collected leader once again. They tilted their head, interested in what Kane might have to say.

“We stick to Theo’s suggestion.” Kane started, his serious expression resuming and his initiative instincts kicking in. “We call up the units and select three teams; a small one to go down and meet Kiska and convince her to return to the base with us,” flexing a finger through the air, Kane turned to Theo, “you’ll be a part of the first team. Take Reidonn to fly the aircraft down. While you convince the prophet to come back to the base, Reidonn can keep you covered in case our killer shows up anytime soon.”

“Agreed,” Theo replied, half-reluctant to comply. His eye narrowed towards Reidonn, “do we know the time span between each kill? How long do we have before the prophet is in serious danger?”

Reidonn returned the sceptical gaze. She grinned shortly after and shook her head, elbow brushing against Ciiria’s arm. “Old Quincy didn’t really give us an estimated time, did he, ma’am?”

Ciiria, unlike Reidonn, was not at all amused with the lack of information they had been given. With a stiff, slow nod, she looked up at Kane. “It seems we are running on invisible hours.” She remarked. “Quincy was able to tell us when the last murder took place and where, at least. The day before yesterday in the seventh kingdom of Dike. Depending on their use of transport…” She trailed off, eyes landing upon the tiled floor.

“They would already be in Minoas.” Kane stated, finishing Ciiria’s sentence through gritted teeth. His fury lasted for only a second and he turned back to Theo, forcing his words to leave his mouth with purpose and focus. “You and Reidonn need to get an aircraft and go now. The church is always open, so there would be no need to wait around for Lady Kiska. Just get down there and bring her back, no matter what. When you get back, we’ll send the second team to the church, where they can wait for the killer to show. The third team will act as backup, just in case of any extremities.”

“You got it, Cap'n!” Reidonn’s voice boomed through the hallways and she pushed off of the council doors with enthusiasm, fist brushing Kane’s arm playfully. “You can count on us. We’ll get the prophet and be back in time for breakfast!”

Theo pulled a weak smile and waltzed down the hall, bumping Reidonn’s hip with his own as they descended towards the hanger bays. “What is for breakfast this morning?” Theo wondered aloud, hand drifting into the air as if the adrenaline filling his veins was not apparent. “Sweet or savoury?”

“No clue, man,” Reidonn clamped her hand down on Theo’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’ve been in that room as long as you’ve been listening in on us. How am I supposed to sneak a peek at the menus this morning?”

Watching the pair leave, Ciiria felt a tad more relaxed on the idea that Neriah would be safe from harm; so long as Capitol troops decided to let the aircraft land. It was still early, she thought, Capitol's men would have no reason to be on that side of the city at this hour. Everything would be fine.

“You look worried,” Kane said.

“Can you blame me?” Ciiria countered. “I believe they’ll be fine. I’m not too worried, I suppose.” Tucking back a strand of red hair behind her ear, Ciiria was able to face Kane with a relaxed face and resisted the urge to sigh aloud. Her inner feelings towards the strenuous matter could be kept hidden until the matter was resolved and all was well. “Now then, who did you have in mind for the other teams?”

Elias had not gone to bed that night. He could not afford to miss Maxa waking up. Not when he needed her now more than ever. So, to ensure himself that such an opportunity would not be missed, he had stayed by her bedside, listening to the sounds of her breathing. He knew when the sun had gone down and had even watched it rise again the next morning through the window above Maxa’s bed. He could feel himself going stiff from slouching in the chair without a proper kind of comfort to stop his neck from going sore all night

At one point, he had let his eyes fall shut and slept for a matter of ten or fifteen minutes. There had been potential to sleep longer if the sounds of Helios and Riyo’s voices had not stirred him. Though whatever exchange of conversation they had been making was incoherent, it was still loud enough to bring Elias back to consciousness and he shifted, pulling his leg up on his chair and leant to his right, elbow digging itself against the armrest. Once his chin was settled in his palm, he was unable to shut his eyes again.

“Hey, man.”

Elias, feeling sluggish and unable to make an effort, grunted a response. He did not need to move his head or shift his gaze to see it was Helios talking to him. The upbeat tone of sleepy and excitable would always be recognisable for Elias to identify.

“Is that your sis?” Helios moved, the sounds of his feet dragged across the floor and he struggled to sit down, hand upon his stomach. When he did make it to the empty chair, previously occupied by Ciiria, he looked pale and worse than Elias could possibly feel. “Ri filled me in, sorta. Sounded like you and Psykhe had a mission all on your own! So, does that mean Ri and I are partners again?”

“Dunno,” Elias replied. He knew a single word of choice was rude and uncalled for, yet the struggle he was having to stay focused on Helios, Ciiria’s long explanation earlier and his sister’s breathing was draining him even more than having to stay awake all night.

As per usual, Helios seemed unfazed by the blunt, tense atmosphere in the air and shifted. “Man, that mission was pretty rough, right? You think we’ll manage to complete one without taking serious injuries?” He winced, hand gingerly rubbing across the bandage wrapped around his tummy, hidden beneath the infirmary gown.

Elias was unsure whether or not Helios was making an assumption on the latest mission he and Riyo had missed out on, or if he was referring to their first mission when they lost Eris. Either way, he supposed they both portrayed powerful elements of loss and insecurities. He was so sure that this one would have at least been easier. He could have never guessed Maxa would end up like this.

There was a weak smile on Helios’ face by now. He could read between the lines, even if he acted indifferent sometimes, and he struggled to stand up from his chair. “Sorry. I guess you still need some alone time. Ri told me you were pretty mad earlier, but I at least thought you and I could have had a little heart-to-heart.” Grinning widely, Helios had expected at least a glance from Elias, or some kind of recognition. When none came, the Faeman cleared his throat and nodded; more to himself than anything. “Okay, well, I’ll see ya…”

From the corner of Elias’ eye, he could see the blur of bright red emanating from Riyo’s head. He ignored the glimpse of discomfort flickering on Riyo’s face and pretended he had not heard the Allowa half-breed mutter “told you so,” under their breath when Helios stepped out from the drawn curtain.

Silence returned again.

Another hour went by, perhaps two, before Neoma came in to check on her patients. The right part of her hair was flowing down, untied from its usual braid that coiled around her forehead like a crown. It was crinkled, wavy and rather nice in comparison to the other side of her head which flowed in straight, blue strands over her shoulder. Alas, as unique as her bedhead seemed to be, she looked tired and her eyes were half-lidded with heavy, dark circles hovering above her cheeks.

“You guys look about ready to move back to your rooms. You can finish your recovery in there and if you need me, just call and I’ll come running,” Neoma had said, addressing Helios and Riyo.

She took another five or ten minutes helping the ex-unit before finally coming over to Elias and Maxa. The expression on her face was beyond baffled when she saw Elias slumped in his chair, and Elias could tell that Neoma knew he had been here all night long.

“You okay, Kara?” Neoma grinned, moving around Maxa’s bed with ease. She leant down, forefinger and thumb easing Maxa’s eyes open to shine a light over to surface of her irises, checking the reaction of her pupils. “How’s your arm?”

Elias moved with sluggish intentions and his foot dropped down from his chair, slapping the floor with a harsh sound. The vibration running up his leg woke him somewhat and he sighed, finally forcing himself to sit upright. The loud ‘pop’ his back made caused a flinch and he only blamed himself for not having moved sooner.

“Is she okay?” Elias said. He cleared away the feeling of stuffy dampness in his throat and mentally wished for a fresh glass of water to ease the tightness. “Is she going to wake up soon?”

Neoma made a face, lips scrunching and nostrils flaring. When she straightened up and took a look at the monitors Maxa had been hooked up to, she rolled a shoulder. “So far it looks like she’s still gonna be out for a while.”

“Is that a good thing?” Elias murmured, receiving a sceptical look from Neoma. “I mean…well, I don’t know what I mean. I’ve never really been in this kind of situation before.” Which was not a total lie; even if the last time he had been in a similar situation like this, it had been with his father. The ending result was not something he wished to see repeated.

“Ah,” Neoma propped her hands upon the curve of her hips. “She’s stable for now, which is a good thing when someone’s in a deep coma like she is. The likelihood that she might wake up anytime soon seems kind of bizarre, though stranger things have indeed happened.”

Clearing his throat, Elias shuffled closer to the bed, dragging his chair along the solid floor with an audible ’creaking’ sound. “Can she hear me?”

Neoma smiled softly. “Yeah. In most cases, she would be able to hear almost anything. She can probably hear us right now, and anything that might have happened before that.” Shuffling around the bed without managing to identify the look of surprise from Elias, the woman leant against the edge of the bed and gently eased back the collar of Elias’ shirt and examined the red skin peeking out from beneath the bandages coiled around his wound. “How’s it feeling today?”

For a second, Elias said nothing. He was too caught up in the idea of Maxa having heard everything around her; including Ciiria’s little matter-of-fact. When Neoma’s question did reach his ears, the young man swallowed down the nerves forming in his throat and looked up, meeting the woman at his side.

“Stiff. I can’t really feel my shoulder.”

“Probably because of the position you stayed in all night, huh?” Neoma chuckled. She skillfully began to unravel the bandages from Elias’ arm and examined the swollen tissue held together by thin, black stitches. “It looks a tad infected. Other than that, it’s on its way to healing.” Moving away from Elias and over to the small cabinets outside of the curtain, she collected fresh bandages and gauze, then returned to apply the white dressing to Elias’ shoulder. “As your doctor, I command you to get some real rest today and take those tablets I prescribed for you to get rid of that infection. You can stay in here for another hour or so, but I want you back in your room by the time I come back to check on your sis - otherwise, I’ll get Enzo and Theo to drag you there.”

“Alright,” Elias sighed. There was no point in trying to convince the woman he was not tired. She could probably read it all over his expression. He could practically feel the bags tugging under his eyes and everything seemed real and unreal all at once, followed up by the sense of drifting in and out of conversation and concentration. “But you’re sure she won’t wake up while I’m resting?”

Neoma’s lips tugged back. She began chewing the inside of her cheek, pretending her full attention was dedicated to the task of wrapping Elias’ arm back up instead of answering the young man. Exhaling heavily through her nose, Neoma collected the old bandages and carried them over to the disposal basin, preferring to answer Elias without looking at him directly.

“She won’t wake up while you’re resting.”