Ch 3: Connections

His past meeting with Amy revealed, Grey encounters his mentor, Alexander. Setting aside their dispute, they move to protect Amy and root out the enemy. Slowly the actors join the stage.

            “Why the hell are you here?” Grey demanded. Alexander seemed to ignore him, saying to Mr. Grant, “Thomas, I’d like a word in private.” Greatly angered at being ignored, Grey shouted, “HEY!” Alexander finally turned his attention on Grey, saying, “You ought to get some rest, you’ve had a busy day. We can talk later.” The response did little to appease Grey’s irritation. Instead, it roused his suspicions, and Grey quickly said, “Busy?! Have you been following me?!” With no hesitations, Alexander immediately said, “Yes.” Grey muttered a curse under his breath and grabbed his sword from the ground as he said, “You…” Grey flung himself toward Alexander and swung his sword overhead, shouting, “B*****D!” The sword came to a halt as Alexander caught it between two fingers. As Grey struggled to retrieve his blade, Alexander muttered, “Still too slow…” Alexander fired a punch straight into Grey’s gut, and Grey let out an indiscernible sound as he collapsed to the floor, unconscious. His sword clattered to the ground and then evaporated into the air.

            In a dark room filled with electronic equipment, someone sat at a computer terminal viewing various images. It was a man, his features draped in shadow. From an intercom system built into the terminal, a woman’s voice said, “This is the video feed from the Celestis storage district you requested sir.” In an empty voice, devoid of anger, fear, amusement, any hint of feeling at all, the man replied, “I see. Thank you. I assume we’ve made sure our… hired help recieved their due reward before the authorities could become aware of them?” The woman’s voice on the intercom responded, “Yes sir. They’re taken care of.” As the man switched to a brighter image his short white hair shone in the light of the computer screen, and he replied, “Good… I have no use for those who cannot do such a simple job.” His red eyes were fixed on the image of a young man in the video he was watching, and after a moment he said, “Please prepare transportation to Celestis for me at once.” The woman’s voice replied, “Yes sir.” Before pressing a button on the intercom, the man said, “That will be all for now.” There was a soft click as the intercom shut off. As he continued to stare at the image of the young man, the man quietly said, “Hello again… Mr. Greyson…”

            Tuesday May 15, 520NA. Grey awoke to find himself lying in the bed of his new apartment room, and he sat up quickly as he could sense someone with him in the room. In a wooden chair by the entrance to the bedroom sat Alexander, staring back at him. In a non-chalant voice Alexander said, “Good morning.” Grey’s eyes narrowed in irritation as he muttered, “’Good morning my a*s! What are you still doing here?!” Alexander ignored the question and said, “I’ve told Thomas everything…” Grey’s expression changed from irritation to seriousness. After a moment Grey said, “Everything?” Alexander nodded, saying, “Everything, even what I’ve kept from you.” Grey felt his irritation returning, but Alexander merely continued, “Also some new information, that I think you should hear as well.” 

Grey became serious again as he waited for him to go on, and after a moment Alexander said, “It seems that young girl of Thomas’ is being targeted by someone, and you have no idea who or why, correct? Well, I haven’t been able to discern the ‘why’, though I have my suspicions…” Alexander paused for a moment as though in thought. Then removing his shades and focusing his vivid red eyes on Grey, he said, “But through a little talk with those goons you dealt with earlier, I’ve discerned the ‘who’.” Then, as Grey stared at him expectantly, Alexander closed his eyes and said, “They were hired mercenaries under the employ of Altera Veritas…” Grey’s eyes went wide a moment, and slowly he turned his head downward and simply stared at his hands. After a moment he got out of the bed, stood up and raised a hand in front of him, and clenching it into a fist Grey said, “Time to settle the score…” Alexander donned his shades once more, and rose from the wooden chair as he replied, “Don’t get ahead of yourself now. The mercenaries were assassinated, no doubt by their unsatisfied employers, and at the moment we have no further leads. Besides, you have a responsibility to that girl to take care of. You did agree to protect her, didn’t you?” Grey walked past him to the door, muttering, “Yeah I know, jeez! Who are you supposed to be, my father?” Alexander snickered, and turned to follow him out.

            Grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, Amy rushed out of her room into the living room. Her father sat on the couch watching the television, a reporter’s voice saying, “…in other news, recently authorities have released new information concerning the destruction of the city of Luminosa last year, carried out by the infamous Altera Veritas organization. It’s hoped that the release of this information will aid in the arrest of one of its key…” Thomas Grant turned away from the television as his daughter rushed past him to the door, and he said with a smile, “Have a good day at school Amy.” As Amy opened the door her only response was, “Late, late, late!” She nearly ran head on into Grey, who had apparently just come to the door. In surprise, she said, “Oh, Grey, it’s you. What are you doing here?” 

Startled as well, Grey said, “What do you think I’m doing here? I’m here to take you to school. You weren’t thinking of just walking there when you have someone trying to kidnap you, were you?” Amy’s face went red as she turned her eyes away and said, “Uhh… no…” Grey looked at her for a moment with a frazzled look, and then stepping past Amy, he said to her father, “Hey Mr. Grant, about last night…” Grey raised a hand in front of him and clenched it into a fist for emphasis and continued, “I’m not gonna let it come true, I promise!” Thomas Grant looked at him with a somewhat surprised face, and then beamed at Grey and said, “Alright, young man. I’ll believe in you.” Looking back and forth from Grey to her father with a confused look on her face, Amy could only wonder, “Did something happen between them?”

            Sitting in the passenger seat of Grey’s hover car as they zoomed down the road, Amy turned to Grey and asked, “Um… what was all that about?” Grey simply said, “Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Still feeling as though she’d missed something, Amy tried to put it out of her mind, as there was something else she wanted to know. Nervously, she asked “Hey, uh, Grey… how old are you?” Grey turned and looked at her, caught a bit off guard by such a question, and said, “Huh?” Amy could feel her face turn red from embarrassment, and said, “Oh I… I was just wondering how old you were, because you seem like you’re around the same age as me, but you don’t go to school or anything so I was curious…” Amy thought Grey seemed somewhat sad as he answered, “I’m eighteen, but I never got to finish school…” 

Thinking she shouldn’t have mentioned it, Amy said, “Oh, I’m sorry…” They pulled up in front of the school, and Grey said to Amy, “I’ve got a bit of business to take care of, but I’ll be back to pick you up when school’s over. Here’s my cell number, just in case.” He handed her a piece of paper. Amy took it, grabbed her bag, and started to get out of the car. Suddenly Mia rushed up to her just as she stepped out and said, “Hi Amy, looks like we’re both running a little late today! Oh…?” She stared into the hover car, obviously having noticed Grey, and suddenly said, “Weeeelllll now… Is this your boyfriend here Amy? That’s not very nice, why didn’t you tell me?” Amy’s face and Grey’s both turned a vivid shade of red, and Amy stammered, “N-n-n-no! No, no, no, no, no! This… he’s… we’re-” The school bell rang and Mia rushed of, turning as she ran to say, “We’d better go Amy, you can give me all the details later!” Amy rushed after her, yelling, “Wait, you’ve got it all wrong!”

            Driving down the street west from the school towards the Imperial Library, Grey let out an exasperated sigh. Parking his hover car in an open spot by the library’s entrance, Grey stepped out of the vehicle and made his way up the steps and to the building. As he entered the library the cool air from the air conditioning washed over him. His eyes settled on what appeared to be a woman sitting at the front desk. As he stepped up to the desk, the woman said with an expressionless face, “Good day sir. May I be of assistance?” The woman looked at him with blank eyes, and Grey thought to himself, “An android.” Then he smirked, thinking, “Perfect.” Leaning against the front desk, Grey said, “I need a listing of all shipments from the Imperial Research Facility related to the testing and development of EDE weaponry over the past three years.” 

The android momentarily processed this, and then said, “Request denied. I’m sorry sir, but that information is restricted, I need confirmation of-” Grey reached out and placed a hand on the android’s hand, and seemed to concentrate. The android’s eyes went wide and her body gave a slight jerk, then she seemed to return to normal as Grey removed his hand, and she said, “Request approved. Please follow me.” Grey followed the android as they headed into the library, and as he walked Grey thought to himself, “I’ll never forgive Altera Veritas, but this Cyber-link system they implanted in my brain sure comes in handy sometimes…”

            The android led him to a security door, which she opened by placing a hand over a spherical interface briefly. They stepped into a room with shelves of file cabinets, and leading him through rows of them, the android came to a stop at a computer terminal at the back of the room. She activated it, and then stepped aside, allowing him to approach it. As Grey settled into the chair, the android said, “This computer provides a listing of all the Imperial Research Facility’s records. Simply enter your query into the search engine.” Grey followed the android’s instructions and began browsing the entries that came up. It was about an hour before he found the kind of suspicious entries he’d been searching for. Shipments were being made to an unknown recipient in Abnoct city, a bustling city of tall buildings and frivolous nightlife in the Adali Empire, not far from the Ruins of Noctivagus. It was an interesting lead, Grey felt as though it had Altera Veritas written all over it. Yet suddenly, Grey felt a vibration in his pocket. His cell phone was ringing. Taking it out quickly, he pushed the talk button and answered with, “Amy?” The voice that came over was not hers however. Instead he heard Alexander say, “Grey, we have a problem…”

            Amy sat with her head in her hands as the history teacher began her lecture. She had history class at an earlier time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was a review for the upcoming test, and while she tried to pay attention, her mind still dwelled on the embarrassing incident that she had still not managed to clear up with Mia. The teacher was saying, “…600 years ago this event, much more destructive than the Cataclysm of Noctivagus, plunged the human race into a Dark Age that lasted almost a hundred years. Indeed it almost wiped humanity out as the population dwindled and civilization fell. However 520 years ago our kind began to recover and rebuild through the use of rediscovered ancient technologies, heralding the dawn of the New Age. Though little records of the time before the Dark Age remain, it is known that our ancestors held reverence for our creator, Origin, and the members Angelorum Lux, who influence many of our favorite stories today. As I’m sure you all know, Angelorum Lux were heroes among the gods. Among their ranks were Amanus of the Infinite, the Herald of Origin’s Will, Serius the Unbound, the Lord of the fabled Mautau, home of the gods, and Gabriel the Immortal, the Defender of Humanity. Our ancestors also feared a powerful God of Darkness whose name has yet to be unearthed by archeologists, who was supposedly battled against and sealed away by Angelorum Lux along with the help of mankind’s own champions, the Sages of Light.” Amy had been very interested in this legend the first time they had gone over it, and her interest had apparently not diminished as she listened intently, forgetting the business with Mia momentarily. It reminded her of a story her mother used to always tell.

            Suddenly the door of the classroom opened and two men in the blue military uniforms of The Guild’s Special Forces stepped in. One of them was quite young looking, perhaps barely in his twenties, and had short blonde hair and green eyes. The other looked possibly in his thirties, with long black hair and violet eyes that gazed out from behind a pair of glasses with black rectangular frames. Amy’s heart stopped as the blonde haired man looked directly at her. Then Ms. Weber quickly said, “Excuse me, this is a classroom and I’m in the middle of giving my students a review! Just what business-” The man with long black hair interrupted saying, “I deeply apologize, but we have permission to search the school. We have reason to believe a dangerous rogue energist connected to Altera Veritas may be posing as a student at this school.” He extended a hand to the teacher and introduced himself, saying, “Colonel Jack Richter, Second Division Guild Special Forces, Class S Energist Number Seventeen.” As he shook the teacher’s hand, he added, “And this…” The blonde man took his eyes off of Amy, and turned to introduce himself to Ms. Weber as well, saying, “Brigadier General Scott Matthews, Third Division Guild Special Forces, Class S Energist Number Eighteen.” 

The teacher seemed quite unnerved as she shook his hand. Amy was far more unnerved, as she thought to herself, “Brigadier General Matthews and Colonel Richter… Matthews is a famous member of the Special Forces, and both are within the top twenty ranking among S Class Energists! This is bad!” Then Amy remembered they said they were looking for someone connected to Altera Veritas, thinking, “If that’s the case then they’re not here for me. As long as they don’t sense me they should just leave and continue their search.” Trying to act as inconspicuous as possible, she waited to see what would happen next. Brigadier General Matthews scanned the room for a moment, and then fixed his eyes once again on her. Seeing this, Amy thought, “Oh no…” Then Colonel Richter turned to his fellow soldier and said, “Well, is he here?” Brigadier General Matthews was silent for a moment as he stared at Amy, then he said, “No…” He turned his eyes away and headed to the door. Amy felt a wave of relief wash over her as Colonel Richter turned to Ms. Weber once again and said, “Sorry again for the intrusion, please continue.” With that, the Colonel followed Brigadier General Matthews out.

            Alexander sat in his hover car parked in the Celestis central plaza, holding his phone to the radio with a serious look on his face, as through the speakers came the words, “…after facing the infamous terrorist, rogue energist #669 codenamed Black Knight, in battle during the attack on Luminosa city, Brigadier General Matthews was in a coma for a year. However, his recent awakening from that coma has brought new information to light about the event and the true identity of the Black Knight. Brigadier General Matthews has identified him as none other than the adopted son of the prestigious Greyson family, Matthew Greyson, who was believed to have been killed over three years ago when-” Alexander switched the radio off and said over the phone, “They’re looking for you. Your rescue in the Celestis storage district was completely caught on camera. They haven’t identified Amy yet, but they know you’re here, and it just so happens that they’re checking the school right now. It would be unwise to pick her up today but… without you she’s vulnerable to Altera Veritas.” 

On the other side of the call, walking to the exit of the Library with a sour look on his face, Grey said, “You can pick her up, but that’s not the real problem. At this rate we’re gonna have to leave the city fast, but that means Amy…” He opened the door and stepped outside, but as he headed down the library stairs and neared his hover car, he sensed an unusual fluctuation of EDE. Then out of the shadow of the hover car a strange, dark vortex formed, like a whirlpool in water. Then, seemingly out of the ground the vortex had formed over rose a tall, cloaked figure. The red glow of its eyes shone from beneath the black hood that shrouded its face in darkness. Out the sleeves from which normally arms should come out protruded long blades, and as it stepped from the dark vortex, hunching over somewhat as it walked, it’s deep, rasping breath could be heard clearly. As it stepped up near the front of the hover car it raised a bladed arm and drove it into the hood, the blade sinking into it like butter. It cut a straight line through the front of the hover car and ripped the blade out of the vehicle, without a doubt having sliced through the hover engine. Then the shrouded being focused its attention on Grey. What few people were out and about on the street fled as this bizarre creature appeared. Calmly staring at the dark figure, Grey, still on the phone with Alexander, said, “Well, so much for my ride… It seems Altera Veritas sent me a present.”

            Grey’s phone rang busy, so Amy decided to start walking home. There had been no arrests, but the news of the search through the school had reached concerned parents, and the school had decided to cancel the rest of the day’s classes after the search had been finished. She stuffed her phone in her bag, muttering to herself, “It can’t be true…” After escaping detection by the authorities, Amy had realized something. They had been searching for a rogue energist in this city, the right age to pose as a student, who was connected to Altera Veritas. In disbelief, Amy thought to herself, “It couldn’t be… Grey was a terrorist?!” 

As she walked along the sidewalk through the central plaza, taking a different route that would be crowded with people to deter anyone from pursuing her, she passed a coffee shop and a cold voice called out, “Well, good afternoon Ms. Grant. Taking the scenic route home?” She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the source of the voice. Sitting at a table outside the coffee shop was a young man who looked in his early twenties, with short white hair wearing a gray suit, sipping a cup of coffee. His eyes were closed as he sipped, but as he took the cup away from his lips and placed it on the table they opened to show his vivid red eyes that seemed to almost glow. Certain she did not know him, Amy cautiously said, “Who… who are you?” Introducing himself, the man said, “Alastor Bastille. It’s a pleasure.” He showed no sign of any pleasure, or any feeling for that matter Amy noticed. Then Alastor continued, “Tell me, how is Mr. Greyson doing? Oh, forgive me, you know him as Grey, isn’t that right?” Amy’s eyes went wide and she dropped her bag. The edges of Alastor’s mouth curled upward into a faint, rather disturbing smile.

Reviews

[Ryan Henderson]

I love this chapter! I like how it started off: "Why the hell are you here?" This grabbed my attention and made me want to read on. And read on I did. I loved the flow, you seem to be very good at not skipping time between chapters and you seem to be very good with characters and dialogue. Very interesting! I am out of time for today, but I am out of time for today, I will add this book to my reading library and read some more later! Awesome job!

[KeithKVH]

Thank you again for your time, I will certainly look at more of your work when I can. I really only have my own opinion as basis, but I feel characters are my specialty. I get attached to many characters in my favorite stories, and while I'm making my own I try to give them qualities that will generate the same effect.

[Ryan Henderson]

You have done just that: Give your characters likable qualities! Great job!