Leaving Quinn behind suddenly made Maitho feel alienated. It was odd that months of human interaction had barely registered in his psyche. But a single encounter with a talking car was all it took to bring out the human side of him.
He followed the Celtic gang as they headed towards the underground parking's lobby, which was essentially three elevators surrounded by glass on three sides and a wall on the fourth. Automatic glass doors slid open as Brigid approached the lobby. The air was comfortably cool inside the lobby, but Maitho paid no attention to it. His thoughts were on the man who had attacked them.
"Is the whole building warded?" said Maitho.
"For now, yes." said Brigid and provided no further explanations.
She walked over to the middle elevator and placed her palm in the front of the call button.
"Ruig," said Brigid.
The call button emitted a soft green light. Maitho heard the whirr of machinery as the elevator began to move. Oddly, the floor indicator above the elevator door was blank.
Maitho kept looking back to check on Quinn. The car hadn't started repairing itself. Perhaps the damage it had sustained was heavy. If that was indeed the case, maybe the enemy they were facing was indeed fearsome.
The Celtic guardians were tense, but they all had their eyes glued to the elevator doors. They did not look back to check if anyone was following them. This gave Miatho the impression that they trusted the wards that protected the building. If they had faith in the powers that served as their defense, then there was no reason for Maitho to worry needlessly. Still, he could not shake the feeling that things could go wrong any moment. It could just be his nerves reeling from the events of the night, but he told himself to not ignore the feeling entirely.
A ping sound announced the arrival of the elevator. The doors slid open and the Celtic Guardians entered first. When their backs were turned to him, Maitho slid out the knife he had stolen from the restaurant our of his pocket and slid it up his sleeve. He wasn't certain what would happen, but he wasn't about to let his guard down even for a moment.
As Maitho entered the cabin, he was surprised to notice the walls of gold. There was no mirror inside the cabin and all three walls feature intricate golden designs and symbols. He could vaguely identify some of the markings and guessed that they could be an ancient Celtic language. Possibly Lepontic, his mind threw the answer into his consciousness.
There were four buttons on the elevator panel, three of them for the first through third floors and the remaining one for the emergency stop.
Once again Brigid used her palm, but this time placing it in front of the emergency button.
"Brugh," she said.
The button began to glow, revealing a symbol that Maitho could not identify. The numbers engraved in the remaining buttons began to melt and move around. They reformed into three unique symbols.
With another ping, the elevator doors closed shut.
Maitho moved to one side of the elevator, using the reflection on the doors to see the three Guardians behind him. He did not know if they had chosen their positions intentionally, but he wasn't about to take chances. He looked up, waiting for the elevator to begin moving.
Instead, the elevator began descending. Maitho frowned and looked at his feet.
They were going underground.
As curious as he was about where he was headed, his mind reminded him of the person standing outside the building. The dangerous Guardian who had the power of thunder.
While he already had the name of the Guardian, thanks to Quinn, he wanted to see just how much information the Celtic gang would reveal to him. Of course, he couldn't simply ask them directly. He needed a different approach.
"If I come face-to-face with that man, I will kill him," said Maitho. He hoped that they would buy his bluff. The fact that he had pointed a weapon at Bevan in the café might work in his favor. It could paint him as an unpredictable and possibly dangerous person.
"No one is doing anything without my instructions," said Brigid. She tucked the revolver at the back of her jeans.
"I am working with you. Not for you."
"I don't care what you think you want to do. You are in our territory and it would be best for us all if you just followed our lead."
Maitho held back whatever comment he wanted to make. He was in an enclosed space with three Guardians. No matter what he did, the odds were not in his favor.
The elevator finally came to a stop. When the doors opened, nobody moved. Maitho looked at Brigid, who raised her chin forwards. "After you."
Outside the cabin, Maitho saw a carpeted hallway that extended in both directions. A painting of a storm threatening to wreck a boating vessel hung on the wall opposite the elevator.
He moved his hand to the front, allowing the knife to slide down a little closer to his palm.
With a pursed smile plastered on his face, Maitho said. "I insist."
After a brief moment of hesitation, Brigid nodded to Epona, who stepped outside. The short-haired woman scoffed at Maitho as she passed him by. Bevan exited next, offering a weak smile. Two people remained in the cabin.
After offering a quick nod, Maitho stepped out of the cabin. One side of the hallway outside extended for maybe four feet and ended in a wall that hosted another painting. In the other direction, Maitho saw the hallway extend for a dozen feet or so. It ended in a metallic door with a keypad and, what looked like a fingerprint scanner, on the wall beside it.
As he began walking towards the door, Maitho pushed with his mind…
...and found himself turning around to face Brigid.
"You seem to know the man who attacked us."
"Listen Maitho." Brigid exhaled, frustration etched on her face. "You have been trying to get my team to divulge more about ourselves. When will you understand that we don't want to keep you informed? In fact, we don't want you."
"We want to get rid of each other," said Maitho, clenching his jaw slightly in the hopes of preventing an outburst. "So why not find a common ground to solve a common problem to make that happen?"
"Let me make this clear," said Brigid, her voice strained to keep her own fury at bay. "The only thing I care about is my team. You are merely someone who might possibly be useful. Though I haven't discovered how."
Maitho took a step forward. Instantly, Brigid's arm went to her back. He spotted the movement but he was beyond care. He needed to see how things would play out. Would the team really become hostile when pushed to the edge?
"Epona, don't." Bevan's voice rang out in alarm behind him.
When Maitho turned around, he noticed the blade of a knife slicing towards his chest…
...and Maitho returned to the present.
He was still surprised by the fact that Epona would use direct violence against him. But at least he knew what to expect.
Without wasting time, he faced Brigid.
"You seem to know the man who attacked us." His ears were focused on the sounds behind him. The soft tap-taps of footsteps as Bevan and Epona were still walking.
"Listen Maitho. You have been trying to get my team…"
Maitho tuned out the conversation. He knew what she was going to say and how he was going to respond anyways. He was paying more attention to the other two Guardians.
"...fact, we don't want you." Brigid finished.
It was his turn. "We want to get rid of each other." He clenched his jaw for effect and hoped it looked convincing. "So why not find a common ground to solve a common problem to make that happen?"
"Let me make this clear," Brigid responded and Maitho heard the footsteps pause behind him.
Epona would be making a move any moment. He returned his attention Brigid just in time to hear her say, "...Though I haven't discovered how."
He knew what to do next. He had to make Epona come to him. Putting on a mask of frustration, he took a step forward. He saw Brigid reaching for the revolver, just as she had in the vision. Behind him, running footsteps approached him quickly.
Bevan's alarmed voice rang out. "Epona don't."
Maitho turned around and watched Epona's eyes go wide. He caught her arm and, using her own momentum against her, sent her crashing into Brigid. When the two women were down on the floor, Maitho ran forward, pushing out the cutlery from inside his sleeves to his palm. He performed a quick jab on Brigid's wrist to loosen the fingers wrapped around the revolver.
When her hand opened, Maitho grabbed the gun and took a few steps forward before turning around. He wanted to maintain some distance between the Guardians and at the same time, have all three of them in his sight. He pointed the weapon at Epona, knowing that she was most likely to try and react impulsively.
"Now ah dinnae have tae hesitate tae murdurr ye," said Epon, her eyes promising all forms of wrath.
"This is not how you establish trust Maitho," said Brigid, who was also projecting violence.
"I'm underground with three strangers who have barely told me what is going on," said Maitho and paused for a moment. "And now they are taking me to a strange room at the end of the hallway. What the hell do you want me to think?"
His response softened the expressions on both women's faces. It was barely enough to cause Brigid to now look at him with wariness. Epona still looked like she wanted nothing more than to pounce in an attack, but at least she wasn't entirely furious.
"Then point the weapon at me and not my team," said Brigid, her voice expressing an emotion that Maitho had not heard before. Concern.
"Very well," said Maitho and adjusted his aim.
Epona shifted slightly. Noticing this, Maitho cocked the hammer. "Try that one more time Epona."
The woman's stillness gave him the answer.
"What do you want?" said Brigid, bringing his focus back to her.
Maitho knew the question he wanted to ask. "Who's attacking us?"
A slight hesitancy, but Brigid eventually spoke. "His name is Raiden. He is a Guardian just like us."
Maitho realized that Brigid wasn't going to say anything more. "That doesn't answer my question."
"Then let's make a deal."
"I'm listening."
"Help us face him and defend this place. We'll answer any questions you may have."
"What difference is it going to make?"
"Because your question does not have any easy answers. There's a lot of history to cover in just one response."
Maitho considered it for a moment. Based on what Brigid had said, this building was warded. Which meant that the attacker wouldn't be able to damage it. But they still had to get rid of him somehow.
"We don't have to be friends, but we're not making enemies out of each other."
Brigid nodded. "I can work with that."
In response, he pushed the hammer and tossed the revolver to Epona, who caught it midair with great deftness. She instantly turned the weapon on Maitho but Brigid placed her hand on the weapon. She shook her head and the effect was instantaneous. It was as though someone had flipped a switch in Epona's head—the short-haired woman instantly calmed down, all the rage seeping out of her face.
"This will have consequences Maitho," said Brigid as she got up to her feet and helped Epona up as well.
"Do I look afraid?" said Maitho. He strode past the women and headed straight towards the door.
Bevan was leaning on one hand against the wall. "This wasn't how it was supposed to be."
"This is all one me," said Maitho, hoping that his words will take whatever responsibility Bevan was placing on himself.
Bevan pushed himself off the wall. "Well, I guess we are all fighting Raiden now."