Raiden swiped at the lock of hair dangling in front of his face, sticking it to the top of his head. It was a slow movement, as though he wasn't in a hurry. He brought his hands together in front of him in a loud clap. His face beamed, as though he was about to give a performance to an eager audience.
"As you are aware, we know quite a lot about you Maitho," he said, breaking into his opening act.
Maitho pushed himself to a sitting position. The act of doing so was a slow process. Despite that, Raiden simply waited for him to finish.
"You stick to a rather dull routine," said Raiden after Maitho had gotten into a somewhat comfortable position. "There is no change nor an adventure. Take the fact that you head to bed every day between eleven pm to twelve midnight. Then you wake up the next day close to six am."
Raiden moved his hands in front of him as he spoke. They flowed and swiped, each movement emphasizing or expressing his words. He continued. "You are a light sleeper. I don't think even anybody can sneak into your room without you knowing about it. Unless they are professionals of course."
A quick laugh, as though he had found something funny. "Oh and by the way." Raiden stopped, raising one finger as though he was giving a stern lecture. "I returned that rather expensive car you had rented out. The guys in the rent-a-car agency were concerned when they saw me instead of you arrive there with their vehicle. But I assured them that I was your close friend." He looked like he had done something to be proud of.
Outside the gaping hole where the window should have been, a light rain created rhythmic pinging sounds as drops of water bounced on the metallic surface of the fire exit. It was a hypnotic sound and in any other circumstance, Maitho would have spent a moment listening to it.
Instead, he watched Raiden sit down on the floor in front of him. The man leaned back on his arms, as though he was on a vacation. "I really do mean that Maitho. You are a friend. Yet I don't see you return that kindness."
"Spying on me is kindness, I suppose?" asked Maitho, his arm feeling like jelly. He bent forward, hoping to find some comfort in the position. There wasn't much change.
"It's for your protection. I have to look after my friend, after all. Don't want you coming into contact with unsavory people."
Maitho gave a quick laugh of disbelief and looked outside.
His eyes caught Epona, hiding on one side of the large opening. Her position meant that only Maitho could see her. From his position, Raiden would not be able to catch sight of her, even if he turned in her direction. The brick wall she was hiding behind made sure of that.
Casually, Maitho brought his sight back to the floor in front of him, pretending that he was in deep thought. He needed to keep Raiden talking, if only for a little while longer.
"What was the point of all of this, protection, that you had offered me?" said Maitho, letting go of an exasperated breath.
"That's a good question. The problem is that you don't want to understand the answer. If I tell you right now that I'm going to save us, will you drop all your preconceived notions and join me? Will you join Mr. Cray on a lovely porch overlooking magnificent views, enjoying what could be the best breakfast you ever had, and a respectful tête-à-tête?"
Maitho shook his head. "I won't. Besides, I don't think any breakfast can be called the 'best'."
"Presidents. Terrorists. Oil barons. Those the people Mr. Cray is acquainted with. When you know so many people, making a magnificent breakfast is less challenging than, say, spying on someone without them realizing it." Raiden gave a wink, as though he was trying to share a joke.
"You're pretty proud of invading someone's privacy."
"Proud? No. Honest? Yes. Give me your answer to something. Why are you fighting me?"
Maitho felt the strength returning to his limbs. He clenched his hand and relaxed it without showing his actions to Raiden.
"Isn't property destruction and bodily harm no enough for you?"
"Firstly, why do you care what happens to this property? For all you know, the Celtic team might have been my enemies. Secondly, you say bodily harm when you and Epona drew weapons first. Am I supposed to just stand there and embrace every single projectile thrown at me?"
"You attacked Quinn."
"Who's Quinn?"
"I mean, you attacked the car."
"Wave Sweeper. Of course. You call him Quinn now? You sure do make friends fast." Raiden actually looked proud, as though he was impressed with the accomplishment of someone close to him. "But in response to your statement, what if you were being kidnapped?"
Maitho could not hide the bewilderment from blooming on his face. "By all means, please continue to make leaps of logic."
Raiden spread his arms wide. "It's not a leap. You left with the Celtic team when you barely knew them. Why? Because they convince you that you have a common enemy? Or was it because of Charon?"
Outside, the rain had turned into a downpour. The noise was enough to cover up the silence that Maitho offered. He realized that he had no response.
"Tell me Maitho," said Raiden, pointing a finger as though making an accusation. "Why are the Celtic team the good guys and we are the bad guys?"
"They are not the good guys." Maitho looked the young man in front of him straight in the eye. "I need allies to understand this situation."
"I am in here alone. Yet I destroyed parts of this building, disabled the elevator system earlier, and managed to bring down two of the four people facing me. This even though this building is warded and there is a weapons room in the basement."
"How do you know about that?" said Maitho, his curiosity genuinely piqued.
"Irrelevant. Your actual question should be why you are with them in the first place? Imagine I had brought a fraction of the army Mr. Cray has at his disposal. I could bring down the whole building.
"Power isn't everything."
"You disregarded us entirely to make them your allies for what? I'm sure they haven't been entirely honest. And perhaps might not have even offered a modicum of respect to you, have they?" Maitho's expression might have offered the confirmation Raiden was looking for, since he simply smiled in satisfaction and continued. "So who do you trust more? The people who hide things from you and treat you like you're some kind of stationary? Or the folks who haven't hidden a single fact from you?"
"You know, it's a good thing you mentioned that," said Maitho, sitting upright. "If you're so honest, then tell me this. Why can you enter this place when the two friends you brought with you cannot? Is the ward immune to you?"
"Oh that's easy," said Raiden.
But he never got to utter anything else. A crossbow bounced off whatever invisible barrier he was maintaining. Raiden gave a theatrical sigh. He raised his hand and let loose a single lightning. It struck the wall where Epona was standing and blew out chucks of bricks, sand, and clay.
None of which harmed the woman who was hiding there. Epona had rolled to the side. She eventually stopped in a crouch position, this time aiming her revolver.
When Raiden turned his attention to her, Epona fired a single shot. The bullet deflected in front of Raiden's face. For a brief moment, the resulting arcs of electricity caused Raiden to squint his eyes.
That was all it took to give Maitho an idea. He pushed himself to his feet.
Raiden let loose another arc of lightning. Maitho used the sound the power made to disguise his footsteps as he made his way to the table on his right. He picked up the crystal bowl. Turning around, he began sprinting towards Epona.
Raiden noticed the sound of footsteps and reacted instantly. He brought his arm around, but Maitho had already launched the bowl towards his face.
Because the projectile was a larger object, the resulting collision with Raiden's invisible field created an area of electrical discharge the size of someone's face. Maitho hoped that it was enough to blind a large area of Raiden's vision, even if it was for only a few seconds.
It seemed the plan worked. When Raiden fired another lightning, it missed Maitho, instead singing a part of his shirt at the back.
The precious seconds that Raiden had lost was all that was required for an escape. Maitho leaped into the fire escape and saw Epona leaning against a railing close to the stairs.
"Head doon," she yelled, tossing him the revolver.
Maitho didn't question why, nor did he try to rationalize the situation. He simply ran towards her, grabbing the revolver in midair and then following her down the stairs.
A flash of light announced Raiden's next attack. It blew apart a large hole in the portion of the wall that was blocking Epona and Maitho. The duo were already on the stairs, but they still covered their heads as bits of rock and debris rained down on them.
They had reached the second balcony of the escape when Maitho heard a voice above him. "What's the point of this when you aren't going to escape?"
Maitho didn't stop. He was thankful that Epona didn't either. It was when he was on the lowest landing of the fire escape that he heard Raiden shout, "It would be great if you stopped for a minute to think."
Saying that, lightning struck the fire escape while Maitho's hand was on the metal railings. A surge of electricity coursed through him, knocking the breath out of his lungs. His mind lost its grip on his surroundings. All he could feel was painful vibrations coursing through his body. His heart felt as though it was in a vise, slowly being squeezed.
When the sensation stopped, Maitho opened his eyes and found himself on all fours. He heaved a lungful of air. There was the taste of something bitter in his mouth. When he looked at the metal floor, he noticed the bile that he had unconsciously thrown up.
The sound of coughing caught his attention. He pushed his back against the railing, looking sideways to see Epona leaning against the railing as well. She retched, but nothing was ejected out of her mouth. The crossbow was dangling from one of her fingers. Eventually, the weapon slipped to the floor with a clang.
"Everyone calm? Good. Let's chat." Metallic taps announced Raiden's descent down the stairs.
Epona looked up at Maitho. "Ah called Brigid. She shuid be 'ere anytime soon." Saying that, she settled on the floor beside him.
Raiden's footsteps continued to sound one after the other, except that it revealed something; he was not in any hurry. It seemed as though he was taking a lazy stroll.
"What made you change your mind?" said Maitho, slowly bringing his breathing to a regular pace. He felt as though a thousand pinpricks were attacking his body over and over again.
Besides him, Epona shifted slightly, perhaps to make herself a little more comfortable. "Ah wis bitter 'n' angry. 'N' ah just wanit a target."
That was probably the most she might offer in the way of an explanation. At least for the moment. Maitho didn't push more information out of her. There would be time for that later. He heard footsteps on the balcony above him.
Every tap sounded louder and more ominous. Maitho looked around and spotted the revolver a few feet away, almost dangling off the edge. He crawled towards it and grabbed it, almost fumbling with the weapon in the process. Returning back to his previous seated position, he tucked the revolver beneath his thigh to hide it.
Raiden appeared on the top of the stairs. He seemed to be happy to notice two people sitting against the railings. "I didn't expect you two to literally sit and wait it out. This is almost-"
"Raiden," came a shout from below.
Peeking through the bars of the railings, Maitho saw Brigid and Bevan standing in the alleyway, their handguns pointed up.
"Hello you lovely people," said Raiden, spreading his arms as though he wanted to offer an embrace. "This is better than expected."
The noise from the rain caused everyone to shout to be heard.
"I have called Charon and he is on his way here," said Brigid.
"Perfect. We're about to indulge in an informative conversation. It'll be great to have Charon's input."
"You were here for Maitho," said Brigid. "He's right there. Take him and don't hurt my team."
Raiden turned his attention to Maitho. "Some allies you have here, my friend." He didn't look away, merely stood there offering an expression of pity.
"I kept my promise. I had a conversation and I don't owe you anything anymore." Maitho shouted, discovering that it was difficult to breathe when he raised his voice. He wanted to look Brigid right in the eyes, but he didn't want to reveal the weapon he was hiding.
"You are going with Raiden. Things have changed. We don't need your help."
"We can't hand him over. We are the ones who got him herein his mess," Bevan said, his voice almost pleading.
"You got him here. I'm sorry but the situation has changed. Your safety is my priority. Yours and Epona's."
"We can take care of ourselves," said Bevan. The desperation in his voice caused him to change his pitch slightly. "I'm getting him out of here."
"You're doing no such thing. Stand down and don't make me order it."
At this, no more words escaped Bevan. Despite the situation he was in, Maitho had to admit that he did respect the loyalty that the leader of the Celtic team commanded.
"That's enough Brigid."
For a moment, Maitho doubted he even heard the words come out of Epona. It was like watching a jaguar start whistling all of a sudden. Nobody spoke for a while. The cacophony of the rain was the only auditory companion.
"What are you doing Epona?" said Brigid.
"Listen Brigid, ah dont' waant Maitho tae be 'ere anymore than ye dae. Bit dae ye think this is how we deal with a problem? Do ye think this is okay?" Epona's voice was filled with a tinge of disgust and it was difficult to understand where that was directed to.
"You and Bevan. That's all that matters. You can hate me when you are safe." Brigid said, her voice filled with a tone that implied she didn't expect a response.
"Maitho," said Raiden without warning. "You talked to me about honesty didn't you?"
He took a step down the stairs.
"Don't move Raiden," said Brigid and the sound of a gun being cocked could be heard.
"Do you want to know why I am here? Why I can be here?"
His questions did not require a response. Most probably because Maitho felt as though they were mere introductions to a bigger act. Raiden was just getting started.
"I'm not going to repeat myself." Another warning from Brigid.
"Do you want to know why I am not affected by the wards of this building? Why I can just walk in here? Why I could even use the elevator?"
"No, don't say that," said Bevan, nearly yelling it. "That's not for him to know."
"Hear this Maitho and hear it well. I hope it changes your mind," said Raiden, pausing and looking down with an expression that, for the first time, was devoid of any mirth. "Before you, I was the fourth member of the Celtic team."