Chapter 13: Arrogance

By now, the news of a fight had spread across town and everybody was on edge. A group of people who were starting fights were not good news to have at a large festival. There was an understandable air of paranoia.
Marc's group was fortunate in two ways, though. For one thing, eyewitness accounts of them hadn't gotten around. When they slipped into the town square and mingled with the crowd, nobody recognized them, and they overheard several whispered conversations about the mysterious gang by people who didn't even know that said gang was right there. The other thing was that the nightmares seemed to have disappeared – the only ones keeping order were the regular city guards, but they were overwhelmed by the tense and paranoid crowd. There was an atmosphere of unease, but not panic. Not yet.
They had made it to the base of the astronomy tower, but noticed two guards standing outside. Marc asked Remont, “how many guards are in the city?”
“Ten or eleven, I think.”
“That's not a lot.”
“Yeah, I heard the Chief – Piper – complaining about how short he was on manpower for the festival. I guess that's why he got those nightmares to do security.”
“But if guards are at a premium,” said Marc, “why use up two whole people to defend the astronomy tower? There's gotta be something important there.”
“You're probably right,” said Remont. “They'll know us four, though. Marc, I think you should go try to talk to them. See if you can get into it. It's a kind of tourist destination, it should be open normally.”
Marc nodded and put on his best acting face, crossing the street to talk to the guards. He found himself brusquely turned away – none of the townsfolk were allowed in, they said.
This stymied Marc until he heard gasps from the crowd and saw fingers pointed up at the top of the astronomy tower. He ran down the street to get a better look. It was tough to tell, but it looked like the person at the top of the balcony was...
Piper!
He cast his gaze over the crowd that gathered beneath him, but he didn't look concerned with them. Piper got onto the railing of the balcony, and calmly stepped off into midair. There were more shocked yells from the pedestrians below, but even these were eclipsed by the shouts at what they saw next: he didn't fall.
Instead he remained suspended in midair, supported by a pillow of incandescent space that warped and twisted like a kaleidoscope. Piper examined the crowd below him – Marc wanted to turn and run straight away to warn the others, but if he did that he'd certainly be seen. He had to remain calm and keep an eye on Piper like everybody else was.
Finally Piper floated off leisurely, and to Marc's great relief he went in the opposite direction from the alley where his friends were hiding. Only once Piper's back was turned did Marc push through the thick, stunned crowd to find the others. “Shit,” he whispered to himself.
“What happened?” Lya asked when he arrived back. He was wide-eyed and on edge.
“Piper flew,” he said shortly.
“What?!” the whole group said in unison.
“He walked off the astronomy tower and flew. Now he's looking for us from the sky.”
ICELUS.
Piper's voice came booming across the town, supernaturally loud and clear.
I KNOW YOU'RE HERE, ICELUS, AND I'M TIRED OF LOOKING. SURRENDER YOURSELF IN TEN MINUTES OR I'LL TEAR THIS TOWN APART.
A deathly silence had gripped the area. Tear the town apart?
IN FACT, I WOULD ADVISE EVERYONE IN THE TOWN HALL TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.
“What is he going to do to the town hall?!” Remont stood up and ran off. This was such a shock to the others that they barely had time to register it they had to chase him. “Remont!” Lya yelled, “don't!”
Remont dashed to the town square and stopped cold – there was Piper in the sky, observing the town hall. From out of the front doors spewed a group of panicked workers and tourists. As they all fled, Piper reached out his arm to the hall.
It was a remarkable sight – from top to bottom, the whole building seemed to dismantle, screws coming loose and boards getting torn out, then falling to the ground in a heap. Pillars and support beams fell where they stood, strewn haphazardly in the street. It took a whole minute for the entire building to become completely disassembled.
I HOPE YOU REALIZE I'M SERIOUS.
Piper cast his gaze around the town square, at the people looking up in awe at him. He would have seen Remont if he had just glanced a bit further to the left for one second. But Marc got there first, pulling Remont from behind the shirt collar and dragging him behind a building, out of Piper's sight.
“I guess we should consider that a resignation,” Lya remarked.
“He's right there,” said Marc, “we need to go. Take cover in a house or something.”
As it happened, many of the tourists at the festival had had the same idea; they were streaming into nearby shops and houses to protect themselves from this malevolent man floating in the sky.
TEN MINUTES.
And Piper began to float around the town square, scanning the area. It was only a matter of time before he saw them.
“In there,” said Osette, pointing to a nearby store that people were flooding into. They had to make sure Piper's back was turned, but they slipped in.
Inside was a crowd of worried people who had just come for the festival; now they were all scared and wondering what was going on. The presence of an intelligent dog in their ranks attracted some looks, but not as many as Marc was afraid of. The five of them took refuge by the wall and spoke in whispers – impossible to be heard, considering how the rest of the shop was a din of noise.
“What are we going to do?” asked Osette.
“He wants Icelus,” said Remont, “but what's he going to do with her once he finds her?”
“Kill her, probably,” said Marc. “We're not giving her up. Right, Icelus?”
Icelus looked distant and unmoved.
“Right?”
She shook her head and when she spoke it was slowly and deliberately, “I think he probably will kill me. Or else imprison me. But,” she said, “it could buy us time and distract Piper.”
“No!” Marc shouted. “You can't do that.”
“I can, Marc,” she replied sternly, “the most important thing is that you send that memory through the opening. It's not going to last that long. If we can buy some time for you to do it, that's the priority. Not my safety.”
“The Nexus needs a protector,” said Marc. “You can't do that when you're dead.”
“Someone can,” she said dismissively. “Someone who the people approve of – who doesn't kill people when they're trying to do their job.”
Marc deflated. She was still upset and insecure about this. He hadn't even thought about it for so long.
“Icelus,” said Remont, poking his head in, “you don't have to keep beating yourself up for that. It was seventy years ago.”
“Not for me, it wasn't.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming and an authoritative voice filling the room. “Visitors, citizens, please remain calm. We will try to handle this situation as well as we -”
The voice belonged to a city guard, who had addressed the crowd, but immediately stopped when he actually saw the room. His eyes fell on the five of them, and one word escaped from his mouth: “Bairdsley?”
Remont scrambled to his feet. “Curt Dreithart?” Remont held up his hands. “Please -”
Dreithart quickly unslung the rifle that hung from his shoulder and pointed it at Remont. “Stay where you are!” He gestured to Icelus. “Is that her?”
Remont clenched his jaw and answered tensely. “Yes.”
Dreithart fixed the rifle barrel steady on Remont. “I knew it, Bairdsley. I always knew you were a bad one.”
“Curt, please, let me explain.”
“No. No explanations. You're all coming with me. Or else -”
“Or else what?” Remont acidly replied. “The Chief will destroy the town? That doesn't seem like something that's really our fault, Dreithart.”
“Shut up, Bairdsley.”
“Hey, I'm just asking you to make a decision,” said Remont, “you can either help the guy who's floating around using some weird dark magic and tearing apart the town... or you can listen to me. Me, who is currently putting myself at your mercy.”
Dreithart's rifle seemed to tremble.
“Just take a moment to peek out the door, Curt. Look at the Chief up in the sky and ask yourself if that looks like the good guy.”
“I saw him,” said Dreithart. His rifle was shaking even more now, which didn't make anyone huddled in the shop feel safe. “Bairdsley, how is he doing this?”
“He's a nightmare, Curt. He fooled us. He fooled all of us. He fooled you, he fooled me.” Remont shook his head. “He's the one who destroyed the Nexus, and we're trying to set everything right. His only goal is to keep it gone.”
“The Nexus,” Dreithart sneered, “what's the point of that?”
“You fool,” Icelus spoke up, “you don't even know what you're saying. Does anyone in this day and age even know -”
“Icelus.” Remont cut her off. Icelus's outburst had made Dreithart take a step back, and his rifle head was wavering uneasily between the two of them. “Please,” said Remont, “let me handle this.” He took on a reassuring but serious tone. “Curt, I don't have time to spell all this out for you. All I can do is ask you to please... trust me. I'm putting us at your mercy. It's your call.”
Remont held his hands up and gestured for the rest of the group to do so. Marc and Lya did it immediately. Osette had to be nudged into it. Icelus did a weird little bow with her front paws.
ONLY TWO MINUTES LEFT, ICELUS. I'M COUNTING.
Dreithart made a little whining noise and lowered his rifle. “Chief Decan is a nightmare?”
“He couldn't do all that otherwise.”
“Dammit,” Dreithart spat, “those fucking nightmares. Can't trust any of them.”
Lya made to move toward him angrily – and Marc had a vague idea that he should be offended now, too – but Remont wordlessly indicated not to. He sighed. “I know, Dreithart. You're right. We need to stop them.”
Dreithart slung his rifle on his back and began looking around uneasily. Lya was fuming, but Remont had to ignore her for now. Marc felt a rush of sympathy for him – he'd had to sell them out to defuse this situation. He pulled Lya aside. “We can't let this guy know, okay? It's easy enough.”
Lya ground her teeth.
“I know, okay? He didn't mean it.”
She huffed and turned away. Normally this would be where Lya turned to Osette for comfort, but it was really not the time.
“Okay, Curt,” Remont had taken Dreithart aside and was urgently talking to him now, “we don't have a lot of time. We need to get to the astronomy tower.”
“Why?”
“It's complicated. That's the only way to restore the Nexus. But now Piper's definitely got his eye on that -”
“Who?”
“Sorry, uh, Chief Decan's got his eye on that place. We need to distract him somehow. But...”
Dreithart snapped his fingers. “I think I might know something.”
Remont grabbed his shoulders. “Curt, what is it?”
“There was something in the Chief's house that he had locked up in some sort of safe. He just got it recently and seemed really keen to keep it away from everyone. I tried asking about hit, but he just changed the subject. It's got to be something important.”
Remont considered this. “A weak spot?”
“It's something we could hold hostage, at least,” said Icelus. “It's our only way in. I think it's worth a shot.”
Marc nodded and stood up. “We know where the Chief's house is?”
“I know just where it is,” said Remont. “I can lead you to it.”
“Great. What about them?” Marc asked, pointing his thumb at the other people huddled, confused, in the shop, who had watched this whole scene go down and hadn't remarked on it.
Lya marched forward. “Everyone, it's not safe here. That nightmare out there, he's ready to tear down buildings and raze the whole city. It's not safe to be inside – he could bring down the whole thing on us. You really should leave the town, but at least get outside.”
Dreithart nodded and opened the door. “Everyone, file outside. The city guard will protect you.”
Loudly and sullenly, the crowd of people shuffled outside, only to be met with an even scarier spectacle than the one they had been running from; Piper still floated in the air nonchalantly, but the dozen or so human city guards who remained had joined ranks and were taking shots at him with their rifles. The bullets whizzed through the air, well-aimed, but as they approached Piper they seemed to lose motivation and curve around him. It seemed to be an annoyance to Piper more than anything.
Dreithart saw this and unslung his rifle once more. “Bairdsley, go find that safe. See if you can crack it, find out what's in it.”
“You're not going to help the tourists?” Remont said skeptically.
Dreithart shook his head. “They'll be fine if we can take the Chief down, stophim from wrecking the city.”
“Curt -”
Dreithart swung around and glowered at Remont. “Bairdsley,” he said, “don't make me regret trusting you. You need to go.”
“You're a city guard, Curt!”
“Yeah,” answered Dreithart, “and I'm guarding the city. Go on!” And he turned his heel and joined the other guard's ranks as they took volleys at Piper, still to no avail.
“Idiot,” said Remont.
“Nice guy,” said Lya bitterly. “Glad he's on our side.”
Remont snorted and turned to the group. “Okay, follow me. Piper's distracted, we should be good, but definitely keep out of his sight.”
TIME'S UP, ICELUS!
“Go, go, go!” Remont yelled and took off, the four others following him, as the sound of another building crumbling and crashing rang in their ears. Marc couldn't see what he was targeting this time, but he really hoped nobody was inside.
They stopped around an alley and Remont took a minute to see if anyone was there.
“I could take him,” Marc remarked to Icelus. “I have enough energy to take him.”
“Don't be stupid, Marc,” she said, “you need to conserve your energy, and we don't know how much power he has. It could end very badly.”
“I know I can beat him in time for the portal to open!”
“You're presuming too much,” she said curtly, and that was the end of the conversation.
Remont nodded to the rest of them. “Piper's house is right there. Nobody's around. Where did all those nightmare guards go?”
“Doesn't matter,” said Lya, “they're not here, so we're safe.”
“I guess,” said Remont. “Follow me. Now!”
They ran again, down a wide street, beating themselves against the fleeing crowd, up to a small, nondescript clay house.
“This it?” asked Marc, as composed as the others were exhausted.
“Yes,” Remont panted, “but how do we -”
Without waiting for an answer, Marc turned and delivered a swift blow to the door, knocking it out of its frame and opening the house to them. “Like that. No time to waste. Come on.”
“Marc!” shouted Icelus, “I just told you that you needed to conserve your energy!”
“It's not a big deal, Icelus, that was nothing.” Marc set himself to looking around the house for anything that looked big and sturdy and hiding something.
She was speechless at this sudden change in Marc. What had happened? Had the Catharsis Ritual changed his attitude somehow?
“I'd be confident too,” Lya whispered to her.
Icelus was all ears. “What happened to him?”
“He's just been gifted perfect memories,” she answered, “and he's not used to it. It's easy to think that you can do anything if you can just remember someone else doing it and try to imitate it... you know, for example. I can do lots of things... pick locks, operate aircraft. Remont and Osette relied on me for a lot because I was handy. But I had a good head on my shoulders.” Lya put her hand to her chin in thought. “Seems like Marc has lost some perspective.”
But however unjustified Marc's newfound confidence was, he was the one to deliver the goods news: he had found a small, tightly locked safe in Piper's office. They all gathered around to see, and Icelus winced a little more as Marc carelessly used his magic to blow it open, and pulled out what was inside before the smoke had cleared.
All thoughts of chewing him out fled her mind when she saw what it was he was holding.
“It's a crystal,” said Osette.
It was. This one was small, about the size of a palm, and unlike the purple crystals they had seen before, this one had a yellow tint. Marc eyed it uneasily.
“This one has quite a lot of power,” he said. “But... why didn't I absorb it when I touched it? That's what happened last time.”
“It's mine,” said Icelus.
The group turned to her. “My power, that is. The power of an old god. Piper must have... captured some of it when he destroyed the Shieldwork.”
“Can he do that?” asked Remont.
“Sure,” she answered. “But he could never use it. I'm sure he tried.”
“And you?”
Icelus strode forward and put her paw on the crystal. It was like a long, sustained deep breath – clearly something was flowing from the crystal to Icelus, but it was tough to see, only visible when their eyes became tired or foggy and started seeing double.
And then it was done. The crystal's yellow luster was dull and dark now, and Icelus rose up, her back straighter and her face prouder than Marc had ever seen it.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
Icelus chuckled. “Good. Better than I have in a long time.” She looked around, deep in thought. “I had forgotten what it felt like.”
“So is that it?” asked Remont. “Are you back to being a deity?”
“No,” she responded, “Piper's spell wasn't perfect. I don't think there's any magic that could drain all of an old god's power at once. But it's good enough.”
“Good enough for what?”
She turned tail and strode towards the front door. “I'm going to do what I couldn't before, and beat Piper. It's about time he got what was coming to him. You all,” she said over her shoulder, “should take advantage of the distraction.”
And she left the house, and flew off. The group was flabbergasted for a second. Lya quietly muttered, “they all act like that when they get more power, I swear.”
“Icelus is right,” said Remont, “we need to leave now.”
FINALLY DECIDED TO SHOW YOUR COWARD FACE?
“Like, right now.”
“Hold on! Get near me,” Marc commanded, and grabbed the three of them into a tight hug.
“Marc, what -”
With one thought, Marc had teleported them all to the base of the astronomy tower – he had a perfect memory of it.
YOU FOUND THE CRYSTAL?!... NO MATTER. I DEFEATED YOU IN ONE WORLD AND I'LL DEFEAT YOU AGAIN.
YOU'RE ON YOUR LAST LEGS, PIPER. GIVE UP.
They were near the town square again, well and truly evacuated now – or abandoned. No telling if those city guards had actually managed to do their job and help anyone as they got out. This time they took no care to hide themselves – where before there had been sounds of buildings demolishing themselves, now there was the sound of magic energy balls colliding, bodies being knocked into buildings, and the occasional bold taunting from Piper. When Marc took a look up, the sky was filled with bright sparkles of electricity and long streaks of color.
Remont was quick to pull himself together, and he was the first to throw open the astronomy tower door and tear up the stairs. Marc, Osette and Lya followed him up the spiral staircase to a door at the top.
“Is Icelus going to be okay?” Lya asked when they were all together again. “Does she have enough power to subdue Piper?”
“It looked like an even fight to me,” said Remont as he opened the door and strode into the main observatory. “More than anything, we only need to distract him until -”
The rest of Remont's sentence was abruptly cut off by a large creature; it leapt on Remont with frightening speed, and he went down followed by a stream of blood.


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