Chapter 118: The Last Quest (1/2)

© 2020 Maxime Julien Durand / Void Herald

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. For permissions contact, send a mail at: [email protected]

Any perceived slight to specific people or organizations are unintentional.

This loop would end like the previous one, in Sorrentos.

At least a horde of bloody mutants didn’t pursue Ryan this time around, but the realization left him bitter. He knew that causality had a tendency to reassert itself, and though the courier would break that chain of destruction, he had spent weeks, if not months in New Rome. He had befriended dozens of locals, heroes, and villains. Watching the city on fire again filled him with anger.

The courier hadn’t felt so determined to save these people since his first Perfect Run in Monaco.

Only Shroud, Felix, and Sunshine had been allowed to follow him to the meeting point: the exact same building where Ryan reloaded after the last loop’s disastrous end. The group bypassed a defensive perimeter of hundreds of Vulcan-made turrets without any problem.

Only Atom Kitten and See-Through came in full costume; Leo Hargraves panted as he walked in human form, while Ryan came with a dashing suit granted by Mr. Wave.

“Have you forgotten how to walk?” Ryan asked Sunshine, who lacked endurance. “I’m sorry, but I only carry damsels in distress in my arms, or lost kittens.”

“How about Atomic Hound?” Felix asked. “How does that sound, as a new name?”

“It sounds like Atom Puppy to me,” Ryan replied. Felix let out a sigh, realizing that there would be no escape from mockery.

Hargraves smiled, though there was little joy in it. “The longer I use my power, the less I want to become a man again,” he confessed. “Sometimes I spend weeks without returning to normal, and often forget that I can.”

“Your power impacts your mental health?” Felix asked, as they reached grey, reinforced doors. A camera observed them.

“In a way,” Sunshine admitted. “A part of me wants to shed my humanity, and become a radiant sun full-time. I didn’t understand why, but meeting the Alchemist quelled my doubts.”

“It’s not a bug,” Ryan said. “It’s a feature.”

Sunshine shared an extremely strong connection with his Elixir, perhaps as much as the courier himself. Both were closer to this ‘ascension’ than most. Ryan still didn’t fully understand what the process would imply, but transforming into a denizen of the colored realms was a part of the package.

Hargraves might end up becoming a true sun one day, leaving Earth to illuminate some dark corner of the universe. Ryan considered it a better alternative than him burning their planet’s atmosphere, or worse.

“Yes. That’s why I try to stay a human when my power isn’t needed. If you spend all your time in the air, you stop relating to the people on the ground.” Sunshine narrowed his eyebrows, as a thought crossed his mind. “I wonder if Augustus is in the same situation. Unlike me, he cannot revert back to his human state.”

“If half the tales we learned about him are true, he was a nasty piece of work from the start,” Shroud replied.

“I know,” Hargraves said with a sigh. “But a part of me hoped that human nature wouldn’t be capable of such cruelty without outside factors.”

Ryan remembered his first date with Livia, and how he had found Discount Zeus posing as a statue in his own kitchen. The courier had blamed senility back then, but in hindsight Lightning Butt probably suffered from a similar syndrome as his nemesis. The power slumbering inside him wanted to become a statue of indestructible, inviolable metal, and it became harder to resist the urge with age.

The building’s doors swiftly opened, a golden retriever in human form immediately latched onto Felix. The poor kitten let out a gasp as the vile creature squeezed him like a fruit, while Ryan’s judgmental gaze appraised her white ensemble. Six out of ten, maybe seven.

“You fool, you idiot, you moron!” Fortuna said so many flowery insults in such a short amount of time, that Ryan’s mind automatically censored half of them. “You heartless little...”

“Hi, sis—” Felix didn’t finish his sentence, as Fortuna slapped him on the cheek with enough strength to crack his mask. “Hey!”

“You deserve worse!” she replied, before hugging him again with tears in her eyes. “You idiot… you almost died… if you had died, I...”

Atom Cat said nothing for a moment, before hugging his crying sister back. “I’m sorry I worried you,” he said, and he meant it.

Two other girls emerged from the building, a teenage spitfire and an elegant lady. “Felix!” Little Narcinia immediately joined the group hug, overjoyed to see her adoptive sibling again. “Thank God you’re alive!”

“I’m here, Narci,” Felix whispered. “I’m here.”

Though Leo observed Narcinia with a sad frown, Ryan didn’t pay much attention to her. He only had eyes for his own lady.

Livia walked out of the doors’ threshold, wearing the black coat and dark ensemble that she loved so much. The dress highlighted her pale skin and hair, and the red around her eyes.

She cried, Ryan realized. She cried for New Rome.

Neither said a word. They didn’t need to. The couple simply hugged her tightly, and let their hands do the talking.

Meanwhile, the Veran siblings had separated, and Fortuna finally noticed her boyfriend’s presence. “Mathias.”

“Fortuna,” he replied, removing his glass helmet with his power. “I’m glad you’re—”

She kissed him on the mouth before he could finish. At first surprised, Shroud put his arms around his girlfriend and shyly embraced her back.

While Leo, Livia, and Ryan smiled at the sight, Fortuna’s siblings reacted with distress. “Ew,” Narcinia complained, while Felix looked weirded out.

“Don’t ‘ew’ my future husband!” Fortuna said upon breaking the kiss.

“Husband?” Mathias asked, horrified.

“You’re marrying me,” his girlfriend answered, as if it were obvious. “I had some doubts left about our relationship, but watching you help save my brother dispelled them. We are meant to be together, and this time, I’m not letting you leave. Ever.”

“Wow, you’re skipping a lot of steps,” Mathias replied, though he didn’t protest as much as Ryan had expected.

“But you already have the ring!” Fortuna protested. “You only have to make your proposal!”

“I don’t have a…” The squeegee man magnet froze in place, examined his glass armor, and noticed a golden ring accidentally stuck in it around his waist. He let out a loud sigh. “So that’s how it is.”

“No way out, Invisiboy,” Ryan warned him.

Mathias rolled his eyes, before pushing his girlfriend back kindly. “Let’s do it properly, alright?” he asked her. “Take it slow, see if we can make it last a few years?”

“Oh, sure,” she replied with confidence. “I know it will work out.”

Ryan chuckled, before glancing at his own girlfriend. “You’re under house arrest, milady?”

“They are,” Livia said upon breaking the embrace. “But I am not friendless. Uncle Silvio sent the guards away for today.”

“Neptune?” Shroud asked, his girlfriend putting her arms around his left one. “Why would he let us have this meeting?”

“Because I told him this was the only path to peace that I could see,” she replied with a sigh. “He is the only sensible head among my father’s close collaborators.”

“What happened in our absence?” the glass man asked.

Livia looked down on the ground, her hands reaching for Ryan’s. Her boyfriend held her fingers into his own, and she squeezed them.

“After you fled, Father reached the conclusion that you and Dynamis were allied, and so…” The Augusti princess looked in New Rome’s direction. Even kilometers away from the metropolis, one could still see smoke in the skies. “And so he decided to launch an offensive. I did everything I could to stop an escalation or delay it, but…”

“Augustus had made up his mind long ago,” Shroud guessed. His mother’s prophecy stated that Lightning Butt would go ballistic at one point, and causality would not be denied.

“Yes,” Livia said sadly. “My father always intended to strike at Dynamis. When the Bliss Factory fell and Felix attempted to take Narcinia away, the conflict became inevitable. Hector recalled Fallout before granting him command over his corporate army, and now the war will engulf Europe.”

Ryan could almost taste the guilt in her voice. Since she had helped her boyfriend destroy the Bliss Factory, she blamed herself for the war that resulted. “It’s not your fault, Livia,” the courier reassured. “You did all you could.”

“I didn’t,” she replied with remorse, while Felix observed her with a strange gaze. “I had years, Ryan. I had years to take more drastic measures to prevent this disaster. I thought… I thought that if outside circumstances changed, my father wouldn’t unleash such destruction. Because he treated me with kindness, I excused his cruelty towards others.I looked the other way, and I was wrong. It’s him, Ryan. It’s all him, and he will never change.”

Narcinia noticed Sunshine gazing at her, making her anxious. “I’m Leo Hargraves,” the shiny paladin introduced himself, his voice kind and warm. “Some people call me Leo the Living Sun.”

“I know,” Narcinia said, a bit intimidated. “My parents hate you.”

While Shroud winced, Leo shook his head. “No, they didn’t,” he said, his voice heavy. “Your parents were my friends.”

He searched into his clothes and brought out an old picture, showing it to Narcinia. Ryan glanced at the photo, which represented a couple and their baby child. The man, built like a woodsman, had black hair and familiar blue eyes, but the woman… the brown in her hair, the freckles on her cheeks, the smiling face...

Though she had only inherited her father’s eyes, the resemblance between Narcinia and her mother was uncanny.

“This is your father Bruno Costa, and his wife Julie. Some of the nicest people I ever met. And this baby…” Leo put a finger on the child. “This baby is you, Giulia.”

Narcinia took the photo without a word, while her siblings looked on. Felix could barely suppress his anger, while Fortuna clearly didn’t know what to say.

“You were born long before I met your parents, but I held you in my arms where you were only a few years old,” Leo continued. “Your parents… your parents were heroes. Your father was a Yellow who could cut through anything, and your mother was a Green with the power to alter life. Together, they were trying to make this scorched planet green again, until Augustus slew them and took you away.”

“No.” Narcinia refused to accept it. “No. It can’t be. My parents, my true parents, were raiders. They deserved to die.”

“He speaks the truth, Narcinia,” Livia said, looking at the photo with regrets and remorse, as if she had done the grim deed herself. “These are your true parents. Mars and Venus lied about everything.”

“It can’t be!” Narcinia protested, looking at her elder sister for support. “Fortuna, say something!”

“Narci, Livy is never wrong, and our parents… our parents tried to murder Felix, because Godfather Janus asked them to.” Lucky Girl tightened her hold on her boyfriend’s arm, while her brother looked away in silent rage. “If they can do that, they’re capable of anything.”

“Augustus murdered your parents,” Leo continued, the pain raw in his tone. “He… he killed them while I was away, and took you with him. Afterward, he had Bacchus shatter your mind, so you would forget your family, and give you to Mars and Venus when they struggled to conceive a third child.”

“Augustus also slew the fifty people who lived at your mother’s farm,” Shroud added with disgust. “He burnt the crops she had made with her power, plants that could have helped erase famine and clean up radioactive areas of the globe.”

“Why?” Livia asked, while Narcinia covered her mouth with one hand in horror.

“Because your father is not an emperor, but a deranged warlord. He offers no future, believes in nothing but strength. This.” Shroud pointed a finger at the smoke clouds in the skies. “This is his ideal world. Fire and ash.”

“I know,” Livia replied, her tone icy. “I know.”

Leo Hargraves locked eyes with the Augusti princess, and the empathetic sun understood what made her feel ill-at-ease.

“What happened to Juno was a mistake,” Leo Hargraves said. “I will not apologize for it, because nothing will ever excuse an innocent dying. The ends never justify the means employed. On that front, you are right to despise me.”

“I don’t have the strength in me to forgive you for killing my mother, Mr. Hargraves, even accidentally,” Livia said with a long and heavy sigh. “But my father has to be stopped. What he has done today is monstrous, and cannot be justified… however a part of me wants to. I will not make excuses for him. Not anymore. You are right, nothing can excuse slaying the innocents, and my father killed countless more than you ever will.”

“So you will help us take him down?” Shroud asked, causing Livia to nod firmly.

“You have my word that once your father has been stopped and his organization dismantled, I will submit to whatever trial you see fit for your mother’s death,” Hargraves promised to the Augusti princess.

“If we can stop him,” Shroud replied, before glancing at Ryan.

“Leave this to me,” the courier replied. “Jupiter won the first round, but Saturn is back in the game.”

Livia didn’t answer, causing Narcinia to look up at Hargraves. “Tell me more. About my…” The young girl coughed. “About my parents.”

“I will,” Sunshine promised. He had waited years for this.

Leo Hargraves started regaling Narcinia with tales about how he met her true parents, while Mathias took Fortuna aside, holding her hands. Ryan guessed that his translucent friend needed to come clean about how he saw their relationship.

Which left only Felix, who exchanged an awkward glance with his ex. “Livia?”

“Felix,” Livia replied, half-icy, half-embarrassed.

“I’m sorry I dumped you,” he declared bluntly, before thinking it over. “Well, no, not quite. Let me reword that.”

Damn, he made Len look like a smooth-talker.

“I still think that quitting the Augusti was the right decision, and I stand by it,” Atom Cat continued. “But I could have done it less harshly. I knew you were under a lot of pressure to smooth things out with the organization, and when I saw New Rome burning… I realized that you were trying to prevent this disaster.”

“No, Felix.” Livia shook her head, her voice breaking. “You were right to leave this rotten empire. I know how you felt about me. It’s… I understand why it could never work between us. Our parents pushed us into something we weren’t ready for.”

“But it wasn’t right to condemn you for being in an impossible situation. If you had left, Augustus would have lost all fetters. I can blame Jamie and Ki-jung for looking the other way, but I see that you were trying to stop your father from the inside.” Felix awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “All of this to say that… I hope we can stay friends, even after all of this.”

“We can,” Livia replied with a small smile. “But now is not the time to discuss rebuilding burnt bridges.”

“No, no of course not.” Felix glanced at Ryan with embarrassment. “Sorry, Quicksave, I realize this discussion must feel awkward, considering the two of you are dating now…”

“Heh, jealousy is for those who don’t trust their partners,” Ryan replied, making Livia blush briefly. “It’s alright, kitty.”

Felix sheepishly looked away, before straightening up. “Good luck.”

Atom Kitten hastily left the couple alone to join Leo and Narcinia, while Matt and Fortuna had a heart-to-heart talk a few feet away. Ryan was glad that Felix made an effort to reconnect with the people he left behind; the courier still thought that the kitten had a right to leave a toxic family environment behind, but he had thrown the good aside along with the bad.

“You know,” Ryan whispered to his girlfriend, “when we met, I never thought you and Sunshine would end up on the same side.”

“I don’t like him,” she replied while leading him inside the building. “But I trust you.”