No one moved to answer the door. Everyone just sat there as the doorbell rang again.
Tymon looked at Trik.
"It's not a Primordial," Trik stated.
"Then who the hell's at the door? No one knows that I live here." Tymon thought to himself. "And how'd they get over the gate?"
"If it's not another Primordial, why is everyone so tense," asked Za'Fia.
"We can't sense anyone at the door," Tymon replied.
Za'Fia looked worried.
"Is that a bad thing?" she questioned as she inched closer to Tymon.
"Not necessarily, but it means they're purposely hiding themselves," Alissia responded.
Tymon got up and headed to the door.
When he opened the door, he saw a girl about 5'10" standing on his porch. She wore a long, dark purple cloak that covered even her feet. She also wore a thin veil that covered her face.
"V!" Alissia yelled as she ran to the door. "What are you doing here?"
"You weren't at the meeting spot, and I couldn't get in contact with you, so I tracked your c-chip," V replied.
"Oh yeah, we were supposed to meet back in Charlotte this morning. Sorry, I completely forgot to tell you; we got a lead that led us here, where we found Death," Alissia said as she motioned towards Tymon.
V looked at Tymon as if then realizing he was standing there.
"Good evening, I'm V," she said, introducing herself.
"Tymon," he replied.
"You can come in," Tymon said, moving aside to allow her into the house.
V looked past the corridor into the living room, where she saw Trik and Za'Fia watching.
"Sorry to intrude. It won't be long," she assured them as she entered.
Instead of the living room, everyone moved to the dining room table where Alissia would properly introduce V.
As they found their seats, Tymon noticed V's gaze linger on Za'Fia for a second before she looked away. He couldn't see her face, so it was hard to tell, but she looked sad for a moment.
"V and I met while I was poking around in some gang in Seattle a couple of months after starting. Some dude believed the Primordials still existed and claimed to know where Death had resurfaced, so Trik and I went to meet him so we could verify, you know. It turned out he was lying, but I did run into V, who was also there looking for him. She could tell just from looking at me that I was a Watcher and revealed to us that she was also one but was from the Sadio family from 200 years ago," Alissia stated.
V asserted herself forward and then spoke on her behalf.
"During my time as a Watcher, we had just begun to realize that Death had vanished. Crime and chaos spread like wildfire, and SVVL hadn't been established yet. It wasn't a time when you could trust anyone. I was naïve, though, and was kidnapped and held for ransom. When my family refused to meet their demands, I was taken to a factory where dozens of men and women were kept as stock. I was held captive there for two months. Every day a few captives would be cut open and have their body parts removed to be sold, but the worst part was that regardless of the pain or trauma, the victims never died. They existed in a constant state of agony. Eventually, those of us who weren't cut open was saved by a small group of people and escaped. Since then, I've abandoned the Sadio name and have vowed to help the Watchers from the other families actively. If I could, I'd orchestrate a coup and usurp the company from my family, but I don't have the patience or resources for that, so I do what I can to make them miserable," she told them.
"Speaking of which," V continued, "I came all the way here to give you some valuable information. Both good and bad. Good news: I've figured out who Greed is."
"Wow, really?!" Alissia exclaimed. "That's great; who is it?"
"Hold on, how would you come across that kind of information," Tymon inquired. He didn't believe someone could just come across valuable information like that.
"I caught a Holder by himself, and after some...persuading, he eventually told me everything he knew. I know you don't know what a Holder is, but I'll explain that in a minute," she said before anyone could ask.
"First, Greed's actual name is Avarice Gulliver," V announced.
"Avarice Gulliver?! Like the Avarice Gulliver?" Alissia asked in shock.
"The one and only," answered V.
"Oh, my God! With a name like that, how did we not see it?"
Tymon didn't understand why this news was so surprising. What was so amazing about Avarice Gulliver?
"Who's that?" he asked.
Everyone stared at him.
"You seriously don't know who Avarice Gulliver is?" Trik asked him.
"No, should I?" Tymon replied.
"Avarice Gulliver's the wealthiest man on the planet," Alissia informed him as she displayed a screen from her holo-bracelet. There was a bunch of information about him, but no pictures on the net.
Alissia must've noticed Tymon scanning the screen for pictures.
"You won't find any pictures of him because he doesn't allow his picture to be taken. The only time anyone not conducting business with him gets to see him is when he hosts his many events. Even then, he deactivates all c-chips within a certain radius," she said.
"Someone really doesn't like photos," Tymon remarked.
"Yeah, Avarice Gulliver's worth trillions. He's the head of TekTra, a multinational conglomerate. He's bought every major company in America and owns plenty of companies in other countries too. Actually, there are only three major companies he hasn't tried purchasing: Cerebral Tech, Sadio Power, and Russo Wellness Industries, each owned by Watchers."
"So, he knows about the Watchers then," Tymon stated. It couldn't be a coincidence that he chose those three specifically not to get involved with.
"Any news on Despair?" Trik asked.
"That's part of the bad news," V stated. "I couldn't figure out who Despair is, but I have learned something concerning. For whatever reason, Avarice's built himself an army. He even has a hierarchy set up. At the bottom are Holders: there are 5,000 of them, and they're separated into five teams of 1,000. They're all mostly SVVL contenders who lost at some point. Avarice recruited them by telling them that one day, people would start dying again, promising them power and immortality. Apparently, he gave them some drug that boosted their power, made them impervious to diseases, and stopped their aging. The effects of whatever he's giving them wear off after 72 hours, so he tells them that as long as they remain loyal to him, he'll continue to supply them with the drug and a high salary. Then above them are five individuals Avarice refers to as his Sub Deities. They are the most distinguished among Avarice's recruits and are each meant to command 1,000 Holders. The Holder I questioned didn't know much about anyone higher than the Sub Deity he reported to. All he could tell me was that above the Sub Deities are three individuals known as High Gods who are said to be just as powerful as Tymon and Michael at their strongest. Above them supposedly is a second-in-command, who I assume is Despair. And above Despair is the sovereign himself, Avarice."
There was a deafening silence as V let that sink in.
"That's...a lot," Alissia stated. She tried to show confidence, but Tymon could see her trembling slightly as she slumped in her chair.
"No kidding," Trik agreed. "He must've spent a long time gathering that kind of force."
"An army like that means he's been gearing up for something big, right?" Za'Fia asked nervously. "He's created a force strong enough to rival the Primordials. Does that mean they're his target?"
"Maybe. Either that or he's making sure he can defend himself against them in case they interfere," Trik said. "Lisa, I don't think two Primordials will be enough to put Mr. Gulliver in line anymore. If what V says is true, Despair has the power to govern over two beings just as powerful as Mr. Kage and Mr. Viel. And Mr. Gulliver is even more powerful. It will take every Primordial together to even consider stopping him from doing whatever he's planning, and even then, I'm worried it won't be enough."
The room's atmosphere had been steadily growing despondent and was now set after hearing their hopeless situation.
Looking around, Tymon could see the anxiety surfacing on Alissia's face. He knew that Alissia wasn't expecting to learn she'd be confronting such an intimidating force and was trying to remain calm as the leader. But he knew that as a human dealing with a bunch of Primordials and their problems, she'd need someone strong in her corner. Someone who'd have her back and give her a nudge when she froze. Now that Tymon had a better understanding of what was going on, he'd look out for her and help when he saw she needed it.
"Well, for now, let's sleep on it. It's late, so let's figure it out tomorrow," Tymon announced.
"That's a good idea," Alissia chimed in. She sat forward as some of the anxiety left her face. "We found Tymon, we now know who Greed is, and we have an idea of what we're really up against. For now, we can rest, and tomorrow we'll convene with HQ about what we've learned."
"Well said," Tymon said.
Everyone stood from their seats.
Alissia gave him a quick "Thank you" smile.
"I'll be heading out," V stated. She walked to Tymon and thanked him for having her over.
"Before you go, earlier, you mentioned a Michael. Who's that?" Tymon asked.
"He's the Supreme Primordial Life," V answered. "I was the Watcher who initially registered him in his current life. He's very powerful; you and he are normally the two most powerful Primordials, and as I said, each of Avarice's High Gods is said to be just as powerful, so be careful when confronting them."
With that, V started towards the door.
Tymon was still uncertain about how he felt about V. There were some things about her story that bothered him, so he'd keep an eye on her for the time being.
As V and Alissia stood at the door and hugged goodbye, Tymon used omni-vision to look at V's spirit energy. Just like with Alissia, he could see a mass of energy circulating throughout V's body, but from what he could tell, V had a lot more energy than Alissia. He wasn't certain, but it seemed unusually high for a human.
Once V left, everyone said their good nights. Za'Fia went upstairs to shower, and Trik went into his and Alissia's room. Before Alissia went in, Tymon gently pulled her aside.
"Quick question, can humans have large spirit energies?"
"Umm, sure, it's possible. Not to a Primordial's level, of course, but some humans have been known to have EQNs that approach 1,000. They're usually Watchers from the Heart family, though. Not to brag or anything, but I'm the first human to have an EQN as high as 1,800," Alissia smiled.
He could tell she enjoyed the idea of being the most powerful human on the planet. He decided not to add more to her plate tonight by raining on her parade and telling her that V's spirit energy was larger than hers.
"What exactly makes your family so special that it produces humans that powerful," Tymon asked her.
Alissia stared off in thought for a moment before answering.
"I don't know," she replied. "I guess I just always figured it had something to do with being born in the head family. I'll ask my mom and dad about it tomorrow."
After that, Alissia told Tymon she'd had a headache for a while and said good night.
By the time Tymon finished taking his shower, he was pretty sure he was the last one up. He never looked forward to falling asleep. Most nights, he'd wake up in cold sweats with his heart racing like he had a nightmare or something, but he could never remember what the nightmare was about.
Speaking of... Tymon went downstairs to grab a bottle of water. He was going to need it later. As he stood in the kitchen, he replayed the day in his head.
"Wow, I'm a god, huh?" Tymon hadn't had time today to let that settle in. He was a god! A powerful one at that. And tomorrow, he was going to begin training to really get a grip on his capabilities.
Using omni-vision, he looked at his hands and saw the dark energy circulating through them. Some of the energy leaked out of him occasionally. This was all he could do right now; he couldn't wait to figure out what other abilities he had.
When Tymon looked up from his hands, he noticed he could see Alissia's spirit energy through the walls. He couldn't see anything else in the room, just Alissia's spirit energy in the shape of her body.
"She never mentioned it working through walls," Tymon thought to himself.
After returning to his room, Tymon spent another hour using omni-vision to observe his energy before finally falling asleep.
Then the nightmares began.