The inside of the barn was dark and dingy. Large cracks in the thin rotted walls were the only ways light could travel inside. Dust and debris hung in the putrid-smelling air.
Kiari stood on the upper deck of the barn, looking down at the floor. Forty villagers—a mix of adults and kids—were bound, gagged, and had bags over their heads or rope tied around their heads, blocking their eyes. It was mostly quiet at that moment, spare the occasional whimper and the shifting of bodies as they sat in rows.
One of Kiari's hired help walked forward. He had been leaning against the wall for a while, observing the miserable crowd. Wearing a white t-shirt with an empty gun sling across his chest, he was no older than eighteen. A few others who were watching followed suit.
They casually walked through the crowd, examining everyone they passed. Each chose one person, dragging them up to their feet and walking them in front of everyone.
"You ready to tell us where it is?" The teen asked, removing the woman's blindfold and gag. She didn't respond, keeping her eyes forward, avoiding his gaze. The other prisoners were asked a similar question, each not getting a response.
One took out a claw hammer from his back pocket, brandishing it in front of one of the prisoner's faces. "You know how this's gonna end!"
Above them, one of the grunts spoke to Kiari, "I see you up here every day. You must really like watching this stuff."
Kiari gave him a sideways glance before centering his vision back on the events below. After several seconds of silence, he spoke, "I'm not watching this because I want to; I'm watching this because I should."
Several hours later. Kiari stood over Addilynn. Reaching down and grabbing her bony hand, 'So frail,' he thought. He was scared to squeeze it; it felt like it would break under the slightest pressure. He grabbed a nearby chair, wheeled it next to the bed, and sat in it.
The nurse spoke, "She is still stable from the medicine and sap we are feeding her. We've noticed that if we feed her too much, her body temperature heats up, so she can only eat about once every six hours." She pushed her falling glasses up the bridge of her nose, "Not to worry you, but we aren't in a good place right now. She may be able to stay like this for a while, but God only knows what being in this state for this long is doing to her—mentally, I mean. But the sooner she gets what she needs, the better."
"Well, don't worry," Kiari said to Addilynn, "Tomorrow at this time, I will be able to see you smile again."
Outside the room, Marlin and Geier stood by, waiting.
"We may have to do something drastic."
Geier looked up at Marlin, confused, "What do you mean?"
"I've known Kiari for quite some time. If those kids are still around after we kill the other two, well, Kiari doesn't have it in him. He seems to have lost his taste for this stuff."
Geier swallowed, his eyes focusing on Marlin's, "Yea, I get you," he muttered.
"Splendid. I thought you would take a bit more convincing, but I guess you've finally grown up," he smirked, looking down at Geier, "I've always liked you. So easy to understand."
Zoe gave one last quick glance out of the dusty window; the dusk sky was a purple haze. A large plume of smoke billowed from a distant building. She closed the blinds and walked back into the house's living room.
She stopped to admire a framed picture on top of a hallway cabinet. A younger version of the girl they saved earlier, Cahya, a younger Jashin, and what looked like their parents sat smiling in front of the house they were all in.
'Why do I feel nostalgic for this?' She thought, placing the photo back on the shelf. The feeling shattered as a loud thump came from the other room.
"Girl, what're you doing? You're just gonna keep breaking stuff if you do it in here!" A muffled voice cried.
"Okay, jeez!"
Ivy stomped past Zoe and walked into the backyard. Curious, Zoe followed her.
Walking onto the back porch, Zoe saw Ivy balanced in a handstand with her eyes closed, taking slow and methodical breaths.
Zoe watched for what felt like minutes, not wanting to distract her. Eventually, Ivy leaned too far right, causing her arm to wobble and for her to fall to the ground.
Noticing that Zoe was staring at her, she got to her feet, quickly brushing the dust from her white jacket.
"This meditation stuff just doesn't work."
"Was that what you were doing?"
Ivy shrugged, "That's what I've seen in movies and stuff. The ninja meditating upside down."
Zoe's mind started to race, "Maybe you're applying the wrong type of meditation. From what I've read, there's many different ways. Praying is a form of meditation, the typical cross-legged 'ohm' type of meditation; exercise is said to be a form of meditation too."
"What kind of exercise?"
Zoe thought for a moment, "Honestly, I'm not sure. I would need to reread it. But if I had to guess, it would be a lot of running or some kind of long-distance cardio. Since most meditation is focused on breathing. So you might be able to just 'force' the energy out of you by exercising."
"He did say that energy was a power of will thing, right?"
"I think so."
They were silent for a moment. Ivy turned, leaning on the porch railing to stare over the backyard farmland. The acres of rolling hills with glistening tilled soil reflected in the rising moonlight. Next to Ivy, Zoe sat on a small two-person bench facing back toward the house. Poison vines crept up the sides of its wooden logs, and spiders made their homes in the wall's holes and the overhanging roof.
"You know, Ivy, I wonder if that terrorist cell would've been an easier mission after all," she said with a sigh, leaning her head back to stare at the starry sky.
"I thought they were a bunch of heartless monsters."
"What do you mean?"
"They killed all those people, but yet they still mourn the death of the werewolf. It's just kinda weird."
"How do you know they are?"
"You couldn't see it in their faces? They were heartbroken."
Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but a voice came from the doorway.
"Hey," Idris said. "Jashin wants you all in here to talk about what's going to happen."
"Alright," Zoe said. She turned to continue her conversation with Ivy, "Well, I don't think they are. That's kind of what worries me, I think."
"Maybe," Ivy said as she was already walking inside.
In the dining room of the house was a large rectangular wooden table. It took up over half the space. Colson, Idris, Jashin, Cahya, and Ivy were sitting cross-legged on the floor around the table. They all waited expectantly for Zoe to sit down.
"Here's the deal," Jashin said once Zoe sat next to Ivy. "We will need you to unlock your energy. You will have about a week and a half. No more than that."
Colson grimaced, "Less than two weeks! That's not enough time!"
Zoe looked down and adjusted her necklace, "Are you sure? That seems impossible."
Idris spoke up, "We hope that you won't actually need to do anything, but you are basically our backup. If all else fails, you gotta take em' out."
"Exactly," Jashin said.
Jashin took two large golden coins from his pocket; they were four inches in diameter, with a faded silver edge. He held them out to show everyone.
"One of these is our ticket there, and the other is our ticket back," Jashin said. He made sure no one touched the coins. "My sister Cahya has found some basic info on all their abilities. Geier, the green hair with the birds, isn't really a combat type; from what we've heard, he is a surveillance support. Don't drop your guard, as he still is skilled enough to kill many grown men with his bare hands. One of the villagers had an encounter with him and told us about that.
"Marlin has the ability to manipulate water. We aren't sure of the power's limitations, but we have knowledge that he can do it.
"Kiari seems to be the most dangerous, as he can make conjure explosions in his hands." Jashin took a long pause, looking at each of their faces. Zoe's eyebrows knit together as she was thinking. Colson noticed her expression, knowing that she was thinking of a plan. "That is why both Idris and I will be the ones to fight them head-on. If we can't defeat them, we will stall them for as long as possible. We use one coin to open a doorway; they will follow us through the door where thirty minutes in that interstice is equal to a week.
"If we can't win, that will make you guys the perfect backup. Right now, they see you as weaklings, small fry."
"Small fry?" Ivy said.
"The maximum time we can give you is two weeks, but expect less. It should give you enough time to think of a plan against the three and learn energy. If you end up seeing them by the end of those two weeks, they'll be much weaker, as they would have expended a large majority of their energy on us."
Colson's eyes fell, "In other words, if we end up fighting them, then that means you two will be dead."
"Exactly."
There was a long silence as everyone took in what Jashin had said. Cahya's cheeks were wet as she leaned over and hugged Jashin. She whispered something in his ear, to which he just nodded in response.
Idris spoke up, "Don't think about it too much, alright. I know you guys can come up with something good in a couple of weeks. Especially you there," he pointed at Zoe. "You have quite the bright and creative mind."
"We should all get some rest. Since I'm still recovering from giving you all my energy, I won't be at a hundred percent for a few hours. Once that happens, we will engage."
"Also, Cahya might be able to help you out on your training. She isn't much older than you guys, and she isn't a fighter, but she can help you train when you're ready."
"Yessir!" Ivy said.
"So, how do the coins work exactly?" Zoe asked.
"While you were in the temple, you all saw the statue of the multi-faced man?" Idris asked.
Thinking for a moment, Colson nodded, "the one that looks like a roman transformer."
He nodded, "Well, to make a long story short, that's the deity named Janus. He's essentially a universal taxi system. You pay with one of these coins, and he opens a doorway to wherever you want. But you have to be pretty specific; someone had to learn that the hard way.
"For example, if you wanted to visit your auntie and she happens to live in Al-Otassan in the middle east, and if you think or say 'Al-Otassan' without any address or coordinates, the door will just open to a random spot in the country. It could open to a desert, hundreds of miles from anyone, or open in some poor office worker's cubicle. Try to explain your way outta that one. But anyway, that's the gist of it."
"Hm," Ivy said, quickly snatching it from the table, examining it, running her fingers along the grooves and edges, "say, if I were to say someone's name, would it bring me to her?"
"Only specific locations."
"I have an idea," Zoe said, studying the coin in Ivy's hand, "What would happen if you trapped them through the door? Like, they wouldn't have a coin to get a way back, right?"
Idris glanced to Jashin, raising his eyebrows, "Not a bad idea."
Jashin walked to the sink, splashing cold water on his face to fully wake himself up. He walked out of the bathroom. To his right, he noticed Idris; he leaned against the wall staring forward, looking at nothing in particular.
"Well, Idris…this is it. Are you ready?"
Idris nodded; he took a small purple dice from his pocket, "Well, hopefully, I get lucky with this. Either side two or four would be great in this scenario." He thought, "One bad roll, and I have to wait several hours to reroll again. I'll just have to make due if it comes to that."
"Alright, let's go," Jashin said as he walked towards the front door. He glanced into the living room as he left, the trio sleeping soundly. They both crept out of the house without making a single noise.
Jashin took a deep breath as he took one last look over Cassius. The silhouette of the village being barely visible. The cold dawn had risen behind into an odd hue.
Idris stood beside him and took an exaggerated breath, "Well," he said, mocking Jashin's accent. "Time to show them what a couple country boys can do."
Jashin rolled his eyes, "Okay, I sound nothing like that. You'd sound just like me if you didn't leave."
"Perhaps, but even back then, I didn't even have the accent," Idris stretched his arms and legs. "Alright, well, let's go before we change our minds."
The loud knock on the library doors woke Marlin from his dream. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the dark room. The sofa that Kurt-Adam used to sleep on was the same one he sat on. He found himself using this as his sleeping place ever since— He looked to the clock on the wall, "A little after dawn. Was that just my imagination, or?"
One of Marlin's grunts, who worked in the library, walked out of the room, looking at Marlin with wide eyes.
"Go back; I'll deal with this."
He nodded and walked back into the room.
He heard a door slide open from across the room; Geier stepped out, looking annoyed. "Why you making so much racket?"
"So you heard it too? Someone is at the door, it seems."
There was another knock. Both of their eyes shot to the door, now fully awake.
Marlin looked to Geier, "Use your birds and see who's outside!" He commanded.
Geier shook his head, "They're back in my room."
The knocking continued. A muffled voice came from the opposite side of the door, "We just want to talk."
Behind them, from the upper floor, Kiari stood on the flight of stairs. "It's those two. We'll see what they want, but be on your guard." They both nodded, and Marlin opened the door.