The airplane was rather compact, with only a few seats left empty despite having a mere three passengers. Harper looked out the window and across the tarmac. The gray skies were a common fixture of this province, as were the drizzling rain and thick forest in the distance.
They hadn't wasted any more time trying to convince Kohzek to help them, as apparently it was a rather long flight back to Atreya. Harper had never been there before. He'd barely even heard of it.
'Are you sure about this?' said Darsihm privately.
Harper had to conceal his chortle. 'Would you stop asking me that already? It was your idea to go with them.'
'I know, but are you REALLY sure? It's been a while since you've seen combat.'
'Is that your subtle way of tellin' me I'm fat?'
'Of course not,' said Darsihm. 'We both know I'm not that subtle.'
'Then quit your worrying.'
'Now that you mention it, though, you have gotten a little fat.'
'Thanks.'
Harper wasn't truly surprised by Darsihm's sudden hesitance. There weren't very many reapers who enjoyed flying by plane. As fast as reapers were, they were still outclassed by a typical aircraft, and since they couldn't actually "sit" within the cabin like a living person could, they had to latch onto their servants in order to not be left behind.
It was a common fear that they would accidentally let go at some point during the journey and thus end up separated from their servants by hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. Of course, they would still be able to communicate with their servants, so meeting up again was an eventuality, but it remained a tremendous inconvenience nonetheless. If it happened over enemy territory, however, then it would be much more than that. Harper recalled various harrowing tales about servants being forced to jump out of a plane in order to go protect their reapers. It was because of such tales that most servant-owned aircraft were not of the leisurely variety, instead opting for an open door through which to jump in the event of such an emergency.
Harper doubted that would be an issue today, though. Even in the unlikely event that Darsihm did slip away from him during flight, this plane looked small enough to slow down while still remaining aloft, which would allow the reaper to catch up. Sure, Roman and the Queen would be displeased with the delay, but they didn't strike Harper as the kind of people who would so readily leave an ally behind. And besides, they weren't flying over dangerous territory. Not yet, anyway.
He thought about trying to explain all of this to Darsihm, but the reaper probably knew it already and was just being a worrywart for no reason. That, and it seemed like a hassle.
Harper yawned and scratched his chin, preparing for a nap.
'So what's your power, anyway?' said Voreese.
Harper turned to look at her, wrapped around Roman's arm. To Harper's eyes, reapers were simply black clouds, albeit with half-faces on them--glowing yellow outlines of lips and eyes embedded in dark fluff. He no longer gave their appearance much thought, but when he'd seen Darsihm for the first time, it had nearly scared him back to death.
'Roman is an alteration user,' Voreese went on. 'He can control particle vibrations. It's pretty fucking sweet.'
Harper smirked. "I know we're allies 'n all, but you shouldn't be so quick to volunteer that information. Generally-speaking, the less folks know about your servant's power, the better."
Voreese gave a hoarse laugh. 'You think I don't know that, you fucking chump? I was extending a modicum of trust your way, dumbass.'
"Voreese, don't be rude to our new friends."
'Psh. If a few choice words are all it takes for them to give up on us, then I'll go ahead and take a stab in the dark here and guess that they weren't really that invested in helping us in the first place.'
"Voreese."
'Fine.' Her luminous gaze returned to Harper. 'But please. Don't act like you know better than I do. I'm older than your whole family put together.'
'She's right,' said Darsihm publicly. 'That was very rude of you, Harper.'
"Wha--? Tch."
'Harper apologizes for his impertinence,' said Darsihm. 'You know how these young folks are. Once they reach a certain age, they think they know better than everyone.'
'Oh, I do know!' said Voreese. 'Roman is always trying to tell me what to do. Thinks he's the boss of everybody, this one.'
"Voreese, please--"
'See that? All the fucking time.'
'Wow. Roman, you should really relax.'
Roman and Harper just exchanged pitying head shakes.
'For Harper, it's less being bossy and more just general smugness. He's even started doing it to me lately. It's out of control.'
Harper wondered if they would ever get back to the point about what his ability was. He decided to take that nap he'd been wanting. Darsihm seemed eager enough to speak for him, anyway.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Hector could hardly focus on meditating. The anxiety was ridiculous. After a week of no news, it seemed like everyone was suddenly moving. Tomorrow, he would get into a fight that would involve more servants than he'd ever seen.
'Are you frightened?' said Garovel.
Sitting under his iron dome as the sun grew heavy in the sky, Hector looked over the golden brown horizon. 'I'm... uh... I'm actually not sure.'
'Really? It's only natural to feel fear. There's no shame in admitting it.'
'Yeah... I mean, I guess I'm scared, but... I dunno... I think I'm more afraid of what might happen to everyone else than of what'll happen to me.'
'Ah.'
'I'm not trying to sound brave or anything...'
'I know. You just genuinely don't care about yourself very much.'
'Well... I do care about myself. K-kinda. I mean, because... if something happens to me, then something might happen to YOU. So...'
Garovel laughed. 'So you care about yourself via proxy? That doesn't seem very healthy, you know.'
'Yeah, well... if something happens to you, then I'm fucked anyway, right?'
'True, but still.'
'I know. I just. I know.'
'Hmm. Not too scared, huh? But how nervous are you?'
'Aw, fuck, I don't... I--agh...'
'Give me a number. On a scale of one to ten. One is how you feel when you're deep in meditation. Ten is how you feel when you have to talk to a girl.'
'...I think I'll pass,' said Hector.
'Spoil sport.'
Hector continued working on his soul-empowered metal. His objective was to make as large a dome as possible while still having his soul permeate it thoroughly enough that there were no holes for reapers to escape through. He'd been devoting chunks of training time to this effort all week long, and he'd finally begun to see the fruits of his labor.
In order to implant his soul into the metal, he needed a point of contact with it, so he couldn't just make a normal dome over his head. Rather, he'd taken to creating a pillar down the center, like the handle of a gigantic umbrella. Moreover, he discovered that after annihilating only the pillar, the soul power that he had already fed into the dome would linger for a while longer before eventually dissipating. Garovel likened it to blood leaving the body after the heart had been removed, which was perhaps not the happiest metaphor, but Hector understood what he meant.
'Not bad,' said Garovel. 'I think I should tell you more about soul-strengthening techniques now.'
Hector's brow rose.
'At the moment, there's only one technique you need to concern yourself with, because the others are way out of our league. And that technique is "resilience"--increasing the durability of a designated object. That was what Andres was using and why his crystals could plow through everything the way they did.'
'Okay...'
'The technique is simple enough to pull off. All you have to do is concentrate on your soul within whatever object you've pushed it into, and then just "think about" making it physically more durable.'
His head tilted. 'Wow, uh... I know you said it was simple, but... that's still simpler than I was expecting.'
'Yep. Conceptually, it's very straightforward, just like when you learned to empower attacks in the first place. In execution, though, it's much more difficult than that was. It's completely dependent on the synchronization that you and I have, but I think we're synced enough now that you can at least start attempting to do it.'
'Er. Alright.'
Hector spent the rest of the evening trying to strengthen his metal. He imagined it becoming more durable like Garovel said, but it was difficult to tell if he was succeeding at all. Garovel seemed to think he was, if only a little.
'Why don't you ask Lynn to help you out?'
'Ah--how?'
'Have her break through your metal when it's strengthened and when it's not. See if she can tell the difference.'
'O-okay.' He descended the ramp.
Gina and Mr. Edith were busy making dinner while everyone else was gathered around the television in the corner of the garage. Even his mother was with them, though she sat off to the side.
Conditions were far from ideal. The garage was in turns too warm and too cold, and the bunker only had one-and-a-half bathrooms for eight people. They'd considered moving to Roman's mansion in Walton, but Gina didn't think the risk of exposure was worth it. She had a more discreet location lined up, and she planned to have everyone make the transition tomorrow, when Abolish's attention was sure to be occupied.
"Dinner in ten!" called Mr. Edith from the kitchen, apparently having spotted Hector's approach. And as usual, the food smelled amazing. Gina had been fetching fresh ingredients from Walton by herself, and she and Lynn's father seemed to work exceptionally well together.
Hector returned an acknowledging nod and made his way over to the others.
Mrs. Edith saw him first. "Ah, are you ready for more sword training?"
"Actually, um--I need, uh... Lynn's purple shadow-thing."
Lynn perked up at her name. "How can I help?" she said, still quite slow to stand.
"I will observe," said Mrs. Edith.
"Me too," added Melanie. "I wanna see what that purple stuff can really do."
The King also seemed interested, and even Mrs. Goffe spared them a look. Everyone had already observed Hector training with his metal, so that much was old news to them, but they had yet to see Lynn do anything with her shadow, aside from wave it around a little to prove that it was actually real.
Hector led everyone outside. He would have preferred they not watch, but he supposed there was no helping it. He raised a hand, telling the small crowd of onlookers to wait there at the top of the ramp. He was a bit surprised to see his mother had also come to see. She was probably just bored, he figured. There wasn't a whole lot to do here after all.
Lynn moved expectedly slow. She didn't seem to be in much pain, but neither was she her normal, sharp-eyed self.
"H-how are you feeling?" he asked her.
She returned a lazy smirk. "Just don't ask me to do a backflip yet."
Whether or not she would participate in tomorrow's battle had been a point of contention. Lynn said she could still fight if necessary, and when they called the Queen to ask about it, Helen deferred to her husband's medical opinion. The King felt she was not yet in fighting shape and told her to remain here with everyone.
Hector had mixed feelings about the decision, himself. On the one hand, he certainly would've felt better if she was backing him up when the shit went down, and on the other hand, he was glad she would be here to protect everyone else in case something unexpected happened.
He raised a fat iron cylinder out of the ground, as tall as a bus. He left it unstrengthened by his soul and motioned toward it. "Uh--could you cut that in two for me?"
Lynn shrugged. Purple swirled around her, but she didn't draw her sword. Instead, a violet blade formed on its own and slashed the metal cleanly. The two halves of the cylinder toppled apart, and Hector annihilated them.
He created a second one, then touched it with his hand and applied the strengthening technique. He bid her do the same thing again, and she did so, but this time, the shadow stopped about three-quarters of the way through. Lynn blinked at him, then reapplied the blade horizontally, stronger this time, and it cut cleanly through again.
"What'd you do to it?" asked Lynn.
"Oh, I, uh... um. G-Garovel was just, ah... he--"
Lynnette waited patiently.
"Garovel calls it a soul-strengthening, ah, technique."
"You used your soul to make it stronger?" she said.
"Y-yeah."
"Hey!" yelled Melanie. "Do something else!"
Lynn threw her little sister a look. Then the shadow swirled and formed into the shape of a mouth. And it stuck a purple tongue out and blew a raspberry at the girl.
Mr. Edith soon called them back down for dinner. Hector did not stay to eat with everyone, however. He took his plate back outside and continued training while he worked on the meal. The cooks were kind enough to stack the food extra high for him.
Afterwards, Gina came to fetch him again. The sun had set, and it was time to go meet up with Roman at the airfield. Gina was the only one who knew where it was, and the King was quite eager to see his wife again, so they would accompany Hector there before returning here without him. For everyone else, this was goodbye.
He shook hands with all of Lynn's family, beginning with the father, then Melanie, then the mother.
Mrs. Edith's handshake lingered. "Thank you for protecting my daughter," she said, warm enough to make Hector blush in front of everyone. Then she pulled him closer and kissed his forehead.
'Oooh,' said Garovel, snickering. 'I knew she didn't hate you.'
"Uh, it's, um--not at all. I didn't even--ah--"
Melanie chimed in to help him. "Just be cool and say: no problem, ma'am."
He looked over everyone again, still burning up. "...No problem, ma'am."
"I was wrong!" laughed Melanie. "That wasn't cool at all!"
He shook hands with Lynn next, who was probably the last person in the world that he wanted seeing him right now.
"Come back safe," she told him.
His eyes were on the floor, so he couldn't see the softness in her expression, but he managed a nod.
That only left Mrs. Goffe.
He made his way over to her, as she had not come to him with the others.
Garovel placed himself between Hector and his mother. 'You don't have to say goodbye to her, you know.'
Maybe the reaper was right. Hector certainly didn't expect any warm words from the woman. If anything, he expected her to tell him that she was glad he was leaving, that she hoped she'd never see him again. But he felt ready for it this time, like he needed to hear it now in order to understand his mother's feelings fully. She already knew he could die out there. She'd heard them discussing their plans earlier. Hector wanted to know what she would say to him now, when she understood that this could be the last chance she had to say anything to him at all.
So he ignored Garovel's advice.
His mother just watched him approach from inside the open cabin over her car.
He supposed he would have to be the one to initiate the conversation. "Mom, I'm, ah... I'm..."
"You're going," she said.
"Yeah..."
"Risking your life for the good of the nation. I guess I should be proud."
And again, Hector found himself not knowing what to say.
"What do you want from me then?" she asked. "You want me to wish you good luck?"
"I don't want anything... I just wanted to say goodbye."
"Well, you've said it."
And that was all. That was the extent of what she had for him. He was almost disappointed. But he didn't move away from her yet. He still had a question for her, something he didn't think he would've been able to ask if he didn't feel like it might be his last opportunity to.
"Mom..."
"What?"
"You... you don't love me, do you?"
She stared at him a moment, blinking vacantly. "No. I don't."
He nodded. She'd basically said as much during their last conversation, but even so, after all this time, he was a bit grateful that she just came right out and said it. No more dancing around the issue. Finally, a definitive answer. "Was there ever a time when you did?"
That made her pause again, longer this time as she thought about it. "Not really, no."
Hector shook his head. At this point, he was honestly just curious. "If that's the case... then why didn't you just put me up for adoption?"
She seemed amused by the question. "I thought about it more than once. But your father was stubborn. He insisted we keep you. Though, if you're thinking it was because he loved you, then--"
"I already know he didn't," he said, suddenly wanting to get there before her. He felt a change taking place in himself, a kind of quiet epiphany, though he wasn't quite sure where it was coming from just yet.
The look she gave him then seemed more disappointed than surprised.
"Dad never wanted to show any weakness. If he didn't want to put me up for adoption... then it was only because he was worried how it would look."
"At least you're not stupid."
'Oh, fuck her!' said Garovel. 'Hector, let's get out of here.'
"One last thing before I go," he said, sterner now. "Mom. Thank you for being honest with me."
"Hmph."
"And... I still love you. I don't know why. You're a terrible mother. But I'm realizing... that I don't give a shit, anymore. I'm going to protect you, whether you want me to or not."
She snorted. "Is that so?"
"It is."
She didn't have a response for that.
So he left her there. He donned his riding helmet, pulled on his gloves, and mounted his bike. He gave one last wave to Lynn and her family before following Gina and the King out of the bunker.
It had been a while since he rode at night. The stars were out, shimmering in a clear sky, and he greatly appreciated the brisk air. It was almost cathartic.
Garovel was quiet for a while, perhaps still uncertain what to make of that last exchange. Then he finally said, 'You sure you're okay?'
'Yeah.'
'Really?'
'Really.'
'Huh.'
A few beats passed.
'You're really, really sure?'
He laughed weakly inside his helmet. 'Garovel, I'm fine. I won't let what she says get to me anymore.'
'Huh,' repeated Garovel.
'Try not to sound so disappointed,' said Hector.
'I am, though. I was preparing to cheer you up with a light-hearted story. Or maybe I could've gone for a moment of emotional support, and then we would've grown closer than ever before.'
'What a shame.'
'Tch. It could've been great.'
'Anyway, uh. I've been meaning to ask, uh. Do you know anything about this Harper person that Roman mentioned?'
'The name does ring a bell,' said Garovel. 'I remember hearing it in passing when I was with the Vanguard. It belonged to a rookie back then, but if it's really the same guy, then I imagine he must be pretty strong by now.'
'How long ago was that? Er, I mean, when did you leave the Vanguard?'
'Twenty-ish years ago, I think.'
'You think? I thought you had a really good memory.'
'Memorization requires that one be paying attention. The passage of time is kind of a blur to me, these days. I stopped keeping track a long time ago.'
'Hmm. So, uh... why'd you leave the Vanguard, anyway?'
'Well, my servant had just decided that he was ready to die, so after I released him, I was on my own again. And before him, I'd had many other servants as well, and we were always fighting. And y'know, after a while, that takes a toll on you. I suppose you could say I was tired. Not physically, of course. I just wanted to take a break from it all.'
'Really? Even though, um... I mean, I assume Abolish was a problem back then, too, right?'
'Yes, they were,' said Garovel. 'But that's the thing. The fighting doesn't end, Hector. Abolish and the Vanguard have been going at it for fucking ages. There's essentially no hope that the war will end anytime soon.'
'Geez...'
'And even being immortal, you can't just keep fighting forever and ever. It wears you down. You have to take time for yourself sooner or later.'
Hector had no trouble understanding that. He could only imagine what kinds of terrible things Garovel had seen. He didn't want to ask about that right now, though, so he asked something else. 'So, um... am I the first servant you've had since leaving?'
'Yep,' said Garovel. 'It was a pretty long break, I suppose. Twenty years.'
'And you weren't, uh... afraid of not having a servant to protect you?'
'Ah, well, reapers who don't take on servants are generally left alone. There's something called "the Old Law," which is a kind of unwritten agreement that non-combatant reapers be allowed to reap souls in peace, and even Abolish tends to respect that.' Garovel paused. 'Or at least, they DID. Now that aberrations are running around and doing whatever the fuck they want, I feel like things have probably changed.'
'Hmm...'
'The Old Law is also what Sai-hee bases most of her neutrality on. As I understand it, she considers it her duty to keep the others in check, and she devotes the majority of her resources to trying to "keep the peace," as it were. And for her part, she seems to do rather well. She keeps several territories under her protection, and they make up some of the most peaceful areas in the world.'
'Wow. Why didn't you join her side?'
'Because her side is very "reactionary." They only get involved after the fact, trying to make sure things don't get worse. Which is certainly valuable, of course. I don't mean to denigrate her efforts. That's just not what I wanted to do. I wanted to get directly involved in things and save the people who were in imminent danger--y'know, try to prevent the terrible shit from happening in the first place. Which is what the Vanguard does. That's why it's called "the Vanguard." It's the first to jump in and try to stomp out the threat.'
'Oh.'
'Or at least, that's what the Vanguard is SUPPOSED to do. Looking at the state Atreya is in, you'd be forgiven for doubting the validity of that claim.'
'Did you... have a falling out with your comrades?'
'Nah. I mostly kept my opinions to myself. The Vanguard attracts its share of crazies, so I preferred to just leave quietly. But from what Mehlsanz said to me before, it seems like the Vanguard is having problems these days.'
'Great...'
Soon, they arrived at the airfield. Hector followed Gina into her chosen garage and parked behind her black SUV. He kept his helmet on, and the King wore a hooded, black cloak--the very same one that Lynn had bought for Hector.
Gina led them through the facility. Only a handful of people were around, but they all made way for Gina and her guests. She took them into the observation room, but surprisingly, no further waiting was necessary, as they could already see an airplane easing to a stop on the landing strip.
"Is my timing good or what?" She took them around to the outside and finally met up with the others.
Voreese was the first one Hector saw, and her giant, skeletal grin made him take off his helmet so he could return a smile of his own.
'There's the little fucker!' she said, laughing and swirling around him. 'How ya doin', Hector? And Garovel! Happy to see us?'
'More than you can possibly know,' said Garovel, sounding equal parts delighted and relieved.
"Definitely," agreed Hector.
Then everyone else began to appear. Mehlsanz and Darsihm floated up behind Voreese, and then Roman, the Queen, and presumably Harper each descended from the plane in turns.
The King rushed over to his wife first and swept her into his arm. He kissed her then and there.
Helen looked a bit taken by surprise, but she didn't exactly seem upset, either.
The onlookers all shared a chuckle.
Afterwards, Helen touched her husband's face, then moved to his missing shoulder. "Oh, William... what have they done to you?"
"Nothing that seeing you again hasn't made utterly inconsequential."
And they kissed again.
'Damn,' said Voreese. 'Who knew the King was such a smooth operator?'
The married couple didn't seem to hear her. Of course, the King genuinely couldn't.
Roman made his way over to Gina. He looked at her, briefly stone-faced before he couldn't hold his smile back any longer. He gave her a big hug and kissed her forehead.
She giggled. "So I get hazard pay this month, right?"