Chapter 109: Carnival Town (1/2)

Monaco’s shores came into sight on the third day of travel.

Sitting on a deckchair atop the submarine’s tower, Ryan observed the scenery with a phone in hand. The forbidden land hadn’t changed in the years since the courier last visited it. The city was all pristine and colorful, a nice cover for the horrors inside. Even after facing more than a dozen apocalypses, superpowered tyrants, and other horrors, this place still unsettled Ryan on a bone-deep level.

Thankfully though, it seemed Simon had followed through with his promise. Fences and spiked ditches walled up the city, preventing anyone from moving in from the land. A fireball patrolled the coast kilometers away from their location, looking for the submarine.

“We’re almost to France, darling,” Ryan spoke on the phone, scratching Eugène-Henry’s back as the feline rested on his lap. The Plushie played dead next to the courier’s deckchair, the switch on its back turned off. “Do you want me to conquer it for you while I’m at it?”

“I would rather that we do it together,” Livia replied on the other end of the line. It had been three days since the chase in New Rome, and she hadn’t managed to contact Ryan since then. The courier had felt immense relief at hearing her voice again. “But you can send me pictures of your trip.”

“I can take a suggestive pose next to the Eiffel Tower, to start with.”

Ryan’s phone bleeped, as Livia sent him a rather… scandalous photo of herself. “My Felix is clearly too young to see this,” the courier said. “That’s eighteen plus material here.”

“It’s something to look forward to when we meet again.” His girlfriend used a burner phone to contact him, ironically purchased from Dynamis. Thankfully, their mobile system covered most of southern Europe. Livia had taken great pains so that nobody could track down the communication. “Thanks, Ryan.”

“It’s nothing. I’ve saved more stray cats than men at this point.” His girlfriend chuckled. Though she had moved on from Felix, Ryan could tell she still cared for him almost like a brother. “But from what you say, you won’t join us in Antarctica.”

“No, I won’t,” she replied with a sigh. “Dad had me grounded after my current boyfriend fled the city with my ex.”

“Now, you’re making us sound like Thelma and Louise.”

Ryan could almost see Livia squinting on the other end of the line. “Did you and Felix… you know, in a past loop…”

“No, but I wouldn’t have minded.” A short silence followed. “Are you imagining us—”

“No,” she lied before changing the subject. “I’m… I miss you, Ryan. Things will be stressful in the following days, and I would rather have you by my side.”

“I will return,” Ryan reassured her. “You’re my First Lady, I’m sticking to you through thick and thin.”

“I know you will,” she replied warmly. “But things don’t look good on my end. The firefight with Dynamis put everyone on edge. Mars and Venus won’t accuse me openly of treachery, but they strongly suspect it. My father blames them for failing to catch Felix, and even if he remains cautious, Hector Manada is considering calling back his son Alphonse from Sicily. From Dynamis’ point of view, our family is on the verge of a civil war and with the loss of the Bliss Factory, this could be a golden opportunity to decisively end us. Tensions are at an all-time high.”

“Enough for the two organizations to go to war?”

“I will try to prevent a confrontation.” The keyword being try. “But you should send me the updated mind scans as soon as you can.”

He would. The duo had wisely made a brainmap of Livia before the Augusti dinner, so something could be salvaged in case the loop went wrong. “What about Lucky Girl and her younger sister?” Ryan asked.

Livia let out a sigh. “Dad has Fortuna and Narcinia under close surveillance, but they will get off lightly. They… they are shaken, obviously.”

No kidding. Felix himself had spent the whole trip brooding in his cabin, still trying to process the fact that his own parents had tried to murder him. “That was your plan?” Ryan asked. “That they see their own parents try to murder Felix, and that we carry this awful memory through time?”

“I cannot make plans around you, Ryan, which is part of your charm.” Livia chuckled to herself, but there was no joy in it, only sadness. “I can make previsions and try to adapt to your actions. I wanted to save Felix’s life first and foremost. Everything else...”

Livia took a deep breath before continuing. “It’s… it’s hard, Ryan. Children don’t often see their parents’ dark side. Or rather, we don’t want to see them, until we have no choice. It took me time to understand what my father was. Narcinia and Fortuna… they needed to see it too. For us to achieve a perfect ending.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Ryan chuckled. “I suppose Shroudy can expect a surprise wedding when he meets his lucky charm again?“

Livia chuckled on the other end of the line. “After he helped save her brother, it’s almost a certainty.”

The courier wondered how Mathias would feel about this, but something else occupied his mind. “What about Jamie? Ki-jung?”

Livia’s heavy silence was an answer in itself.

Ryan’s hand tensed on Eugène-Henry’s back, as the awful truth dawned on him. “They’re dead.”

“When you escaped on the open sea, my aunt…” Livia’s voice broke. “Zanbato and Chitter tried to flee the city alongside Sphere, but my aunt already had them marked. Since you and Felix had escaped into the open sea beyond her power’s reach, she went after them instead. They… they tried to fight back, but…”

But it wasn’t enough. Not against Pluto. Unless one was a Yellow Genome or wielded an ability that violated causality like Ryan’s, her power killed with certainty.

Jamie and Ki-jung had betrayed the Augusti. Though he would bring them back with the next loop, the news filled Ryan with sadness. These two knew their lives were forfeit the moment they helped Felix, but they still put friendship and conscience over their organization.

“Don’t tell Felix,” Livia pleaded. “It will destroy him.”

“He will have to know.” Ryan owed Jamie and Ki-jung that much.

“Yes,” she replied, “but not now. Please.”

“No, not now,” Ryan agreed. “Livia, about your aunt, what are we going to do about her? She has almost as much blood on her hands as your Dad.”

Hell, Elixirs give people their dearest wish, and Pluto’s got the power to control death. That spoke volume about her murderous tendencies.

“I know,” his girlfriend replied. “My aunt is my father’s sister, and she will always push for violent solutions. I don’t want her to die, Ryan, but I wouldn’t mind seeing her imprisoned or neutralized.”

Same deal as with Lightning Butt then. Ryan had the gut feeling he would have to jail half his girlfriend’s family by the end of his time in New Rome. “Should we expect another battle? Because your uncle Neptune is the only member of your family that I haven’t fought yet, beside you.”

“Really?” his girlfriend asked, though she didn’t sound surprised. “I guess it makes sense. Uncle Silvio wants to go legit and isn’t looking to cause trouble. Dad sent him to destroy Len’s underwater facility, but he found nothing.”

As Shortie had said she would, she had the habitats disconnect and follow the submarine like a school of fish. She kept them buried deep below the waves though, to prevent the Psychos imprisoned within to try a jailbreak.

The progress they had made on curing the Psycho condition had pacified most of them though. Ryan had expected Sarin to throw a fit about the lack of cure, but seeing Mosquito turned back into a human had given her something stronger than doubt: hope. She finally saw that the courier would be true to his promise, unlike Adam.

Ryan sincerely hoped that whatever they found in Antarctica would help her recover her memories. He missed his old vice-president.

“In any case, to find you so far from New Rome, Dad would need either my help or Vulcan’s, and he doesn’t trust either of us anymore. Not fully.” Livia sighed. “I give Vulcan a fifty-fifty percent chance of running away. After her failure to protect the Bliss Factory and her obvious favoritism towards you, she knows Dad might have her killed too.”

“Does she get away if your Daddy makes a shocking move?” Ryan asked, worried for his ex’s safety.

Livia waited a few seconds before answering. “Yes, she should.”

Ryan didn’t miss the slight inflection in her tone. “Are you jealous, Miss Augusti?” he teased her.

“A bit,” she admitted. “I have seen the way the two of you interact. Don’t get me wrong, I know you will not cheat on me or anything, but… you and Vulcan have an easy sort of chemistry. I can tell you still care a lot about her.”

“Even when you end a relationship, something always remains.” For better or worse. “You have the same thing with Felix.”

“I suppose so.” A short pause followed, as Livia tried to find her words. “Don’t get killed in Antarctica, Ryan. I can’t see what awaits you there, and that makes me worry for you.”

“You shouldn’t,” Ryan replied with a smile. “I won’t let you forget me.”

“I don’t want to,” she replied, which warmed his heart. “When you come back from your trip, I will tell you something. Something really important that I haven’t told anyone else.”

Oh? “Can’t you tell it over the phone?”

“No, which should motivate you to come back,” the mafia princess replied coyly. “I have to go now. Cancel will check up on me soon.”

“Will you have an opening to call me again?” Because like all good things, that moment would end too soon.

“Not before a long while,” Livia replied sadly.

“Are you sure everything will be alright on your end?”

“No, but I will manage.” Livia’s voice turned warm and loving. “Come back soon, Ryan. I want you at my side. I need you at my side.”

These words were music to Ryan’s ears, and made him all the more determined to go back to her. “Me too, Livia,” he said. “See you soon, my princess.”

“See you soon, my prince charming.”

The call ended, leaving Ryan alone with his thoughts, a cat, and an invisible peep. “You are courting death, Translucent,” the courier said, as the submarine finally found a stone beach close to the fence keeping Monaco walled up.

“Sorry, old habits die hard,” Shroud replied before dropping his invisibility. “Still, if you don’t want your conversations eavesdropped, don’t have them in a public space.”

“If I spend too much time trapped in a room, I start seeing clowns in the corners.” The submarine’s cabins were comfortable, but Ryan needed fresh air to function.