Willow looked in dismay at the man. It looked like him. It sounded like him. But it couldn't be him. he was dead. Took his own life years ago under all the pressure.
"Sheesh, you all look frazzled." He said with his hands on his hips. "What's wrong? It's Levin! Your friend! One of the four pillars! No way you don't remember me?!"
Words and phrases quickly tumbled around in Willow's minds. Thoughts followed quickly after the fact. Anything, anything at all that would rationalize what was happening in front of her.
"Turn back."
That was the only thing she eventually managed to splutter out.
"Excuse me?" The man asked.
"I don't know what sick pleasure you get out of pretending to be Levin, but it ends now! Turn back!"
"Willow, I don't know how to break it to you, but it's the real deal over here."
"Shut up!" Willow screamed. "Turn back or I'll…I'll…break the arms of your business partner here!"
She squeezed the arms of the leader until a popping noise was heard, and a grunt was heard from the leader.
The man rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, he's not all that important to me." He suddenly had an idea and nodded to himself. He put two fingers together in the shape of a gun, and a spark of light emerged on the tips. He aimed forward, with Willow leaving the leader to stand while falling back and barely missing the beam. The man fell backwards with a hole in his chest while Willow got back up.
"See? Not a shapeshifter. Trust me, I know shapeshifters. It's light beams all the way, baby."
"What compelled you to do this?" Javier asked, stepping in front of Luminita.
"Look, I guarantee it's way more simple than you realize. When the Legion got into the Lux and raided everything, they took me with them. I was expecting to go in and either be killed or made to kill myself, or worse. But they're actually the best people I've had the pleasure of knowing."
"What are you talking about!?" Luminita yelled. Her breathing was growing more unsteady, and Javier had to hold her hand to assure she wouldn't either panic or do something regrettable. "Did you just forget us?"
"Luminita, we were only friends because our royal parents had kids at the same time. We were brought into existence solely so that we could grow up, dictate the people, then pump more kids out to continue things further. And we were made to look cute and get along so that the news would take our pictures and push the idea that the royals couldn't do anything wrong. But then I met the others on the ship. Those from sorry excuses for families who beat their kids, who sold everything they owned to cults, who were so overworked they neglected their families. And what do the supposed royals, the people allegedly born to create the best path for what remains of the human race do to prevent this or steer us on the right path? Nothing! They sit in their towers and assure us we'll all be fine. Down there, there's one man in charge and everyone who works under him. At first I was nobody. The few who did know me weren't allowed to mention it. And with nothing but my own powers and drive, I became the third best agent under Chelic."
"Look, Levin." Javier said after a deep breath. "I can see where you're coming from. But I'm not sure how letting the Legion take over would actually help with any of that. Take the abuse you were talking about. I know it's awful, but there's always going to be something that slips through-"
"Shut up!" Levin yelled. He wasn't furious, but he was getting visibly agitated. "Then explain mister Cutter, Zach's right hand. His daughter is ranked higher than me, and she was beaten in a poor excuse for training and left to fend for herself when the Legion invaded. Now tell me, tell me, how Zach could possibly not know about any of that?!"
"You expect someone to just tell Zach about that?" Willow asked, forcing herself to take a step back to avoid making any regrettable decisions.
"Well, he should have known. But she got her revenge, don't worry. Cutter got jumped and gutted without an ounce of honour, and Zach was sent hurtling through a building. I just wish I was there to witness it. Couldn't tell you who killed who though, I was too busy with Nuria."
"You what?" Javier whispered.
"Yeah. Was sent to take the dagger. That one there, see it? Got attacked and had to kill some people, but hey, it's all for the greater good."
"That was…you killed all of them. All of them! I was told there was nothing left! You had to kill everyone!?"
"Javier, look." Levin said with a smug grin reaching around his face. "Her royalty should have granted her divine protection, no? Maybe she was a sign that the royal system isn't all it's cracked up to be. Went down real easy too. One shot to the face, if you can even believe that."
Javier's breathing deepened. He took his glasses off, handing them to Luminita and letting go of her.
"Javier, what are you-" Willow asked.
Javier lunged for Levin, landing a punch directly into his head. Levin looked past the small fist. This was probably the angriest Javier had ever been. He never raised his voice to anything, or anyone. A man built on observing before he acted, only he never acted.
And now he never will.
Like his mother, a single beam was all it took. He tried matching the hole in her skull, but Javier's punch had just a little more than he expected, so he ended up slightly miscalculating and hitting the neck. Javier lay down spluttering and trying to cover up the hole somehow, looking to the girls. But one more beam to the skull put a stop to that.
"Hey, he lasted longer than most." Levin shrugged. "Anyway, that seems like as good a sign as ever to get things moving. This building is now property of the Legion."
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Willow asked. "You think I'm just gonna let you-"
Before she could finish her sentence, a busted up ship crashed into the throne room through the window. About five teenagers crawled out, one having a busted up leg from the impact, but smiling through the pain.
One of them lunged towards Luminita, charging up a fireball and throwing it towards her. Willow barely managed to grab her and duck both of them down. The man approached, and she was able to take him down with a swift grab, kick, and slam against a wall. But the hums of airships were coming, and more and more were coming in. Willow looked at Luminita and then the approaching minions, and took the only option she could.
She ran.
She picked Luminita up and ran. She didn't know where to run to, just that she needed to be somewhere, anywhere, that could be safer. She dashed for the docks as she ran through the streets, the shadows above her head getting more and more numerous. As people left their homes to observe just what was approaching the castle, Willow tried covering Luminita's face.
"Next time we'll face them, we'll be ready."
The two found a random ship that was unlocked, and Willow drove it out as more ships went overhead. She had a faint idea where to go.
Cassandra, Julian, Roxanne. Please have some sort of plan.