chapter Thirteen
“So how did it go?” Kiev asked from her position on the bathroom counter. It had been two days since they had gotten back from the Sky Pillar, and he hadn’t seen hide nor tail of Solomon since.
Mathieu rolled his eyes. “Oh lord, the usual. I messed up big time, Solomon avoided talking to me, we came home. The end.” He leaned against the wall and flicked his bangs out of his eyes. “Jerk…” He murmured.
On a more interesting note, however, Mathieu had met the oddest pair of people who were also now in his bathroom. Ayame and Akira were their names, and they were siblings. Ayame was a spy in the Unithian Court for Korinth, posing as the right hand of one of the top brass. He was tall with black hair that he kept short and greatly resembled his sister who was the feminine version of him. To say that Akira was pretty, though, would have been incorrect. She was stunning, but not in a traditional way with a rather oval face, a button nose and eyes slightly too big for her face. But she was apparently beautiful enough to land the King. After all, Akira was the man’s mistress.
“Solomon is so temperamental.” Akira said as she stood beside him, primping her hair and wiping the corners of her mouth, cleaning up any residual lipstick. Her tone was light, yet slightly stuck-up and fit her personality well. “So when you kissed him, was it like full on or not really?” She batted her lashes at him, curious.
Ayame rolled his eyes. “Akira, it’s not your business.” Despite the six year age difference between the siblings, they got along incredible well. “Just because you’re a succubus doesn’t mean that everyone else’s sex is your business.”
Wrinkling her nose and throwing her brother a tart look, Akira turned to Mathieu. “If Ayame doesn’t want to hear the gossip, he can ran away and go play with the boys. But I want to chit-chat.”
Ayame pulled his little sister into a headlock, tugging on her ear. “If you’ll remember, you insisted upon me coming into this dinky little place; I didn’t volunteer.”
Kiev laughed at them and poked Mathieu with her toes. “Seriously though, tongue or not?” Her eyebrows wiggled.
“Jeez. No tongue. And I doubt it’ll happen again, so don’t bring it up, ‘kay? I don’t need him to glare at me any more than he does.” Mathieu did a very bad impression of an angry Solomon.
“Not that it’s my business, but have you tried, you know, talking to him? He’s generally pretty reasonable.” Ayame said, folding his arms. He was thin and tended to look at people through his bangs.
“That stupid ass is avoiding Mathieu like the plague. I’ve witnessed it.” Kiev said derisively, nodded in agreement with her own words. “It’s like that time that Mina lost his riding boots. Remember that?”
Akira laughed, tossing her head back in a way that made her practically sparkle. “That was such a great night!”
Rolling his eyes, Ayame caught the other male’s eye. “So, I got in contact with Venee, as supposedly requested by you.. She was devastated to hear about Avian and says that anything she can do to help, she will. Then, she passed the news on to Narrie and she says that as soon as she can get the money together, she’d headed here. I gave her directions on how to get here, so she should arrive in a week or so.” The spy shrugged one shoulder. “Just thought you’d like to know.”
“Thanks. I know that I’m asking a lot of you, but I need you to find one more person for me, if you can.”
“I can find anyone. Who is it?”
Mathieu looked away slightly. “Well, it’s an old man that goes by ‘Grandpa’ and works in a knick-knack shop in the industrial district. Tell him that you know me and what happened to Avian. If we can, getting him here will be beneficial. He knows things people shouldn’t.”
Ayame nodded in understanding. “I would, except that Narrie said that she would talk to him, already. I didn’t know who he was, but I didn’t want to argue with her.” Flushing slightly, he looked away. “I hate to admit it, but she was kind of scary. All this hollering and throwing of things…”
“I appreciate it very much.” Mathieu said, completely understanding how someone could find Narrie a bit scary. “Well, how do I look?” Mathieu puts his hands on his hips and turned to the girls, faking a smile. “I’m supposed to meet Lenore about making my sword. I should have done it sooner, but I thought Solomon would be going with me…”
Kiev patted the top of his head. “Oh, don’t worry. She’s very forgiving. Do you want me to go with you?”
“Uh, would you? I haven’t really met her and you know how bad I am at first impression.” He made the joke at his own expense about his small ‘tantrums’ when he first started living at the manor.
Laughing, she jumped off the counter. “I don’t mind going at all. Are we going to take a tuvash over?”
Mathieu’s eyes went wide. “I don’t think so. Tesla can turn into a big thing, so I’m hoping he can carry us both.“ Tesla?
I’m here. Is it time to go already? The deep voice filled his mind in a familiar way. It was a comfort to know that even with Solomon mad at him, Tesla was still there.
Can you carry two? I want Kiev to come with, if that’s okay…
A short huff preceded a response. Yes, that’s fine. I’ll meet you outside.
“He says he can take up both. Are you ready to go?”
Nodding, Kiev tucked her arm into the crook of his elbow and smiled. “I’ve never ridden on a Shadowrider. Lead on, darling.” She blew a kiss back over her shoulder at the siblings, who waved them off.
“Bye guys.” Mathieu took her outside and found Tesla curled up in the sun, currently in his largest form. “Tesla, get up you fat, lazy-”
A growl broke his sentence as the Shadowrider stood to his full height, taller than either of them. His fur had becoming like armor, and his fangs were downright scary, but he nuzzled his nose against Mathieu’s hand before kneeling down so that they could mount him. Helping Kiev up first, Mathieu hopped onto the beast behind her and told Tesla where to go. “Thank you for coming…”
“No problem. Can I ask you something?”
“Of course you can.”
The blonde girl patted the Shadowrider’s neck, “Did you and Solomon ever figure out who has custody of these darlings? I mean, he made them, but they walked out on him. Then you show up and you’ve got them and they’re kind of attached to you…”
“That’s another thing that he’s pissy with me about. Tesla still likes him well enough, but Nikola pretends he doesn’t exist. I swear, I should just go limp whenever I go see him anymore. He acts like I’m trying to ruin his life or something. What does Avanon say about it?” It hadn’t escaped Mathieu’s attention that everyone in the house gossiped about everything.
Kiev sighed as Tesla ran, his muscles bunching a relaxing under his armored skin. “Oh, she thinks he’s being unreasonable. I told her that you guys kissed and that now he’s being weird. She says you should just give him a good thump on the head, but that the next time they’re alone she’ll talk to him. If anyone can talk some sense into him, it’s her.”
Mathieu frowned slightly. “I hope that’s soon. It’s kind of awkward when we run into each other in our room. He charges at me like a bull until I move and I jump out of the way so we don’t make contact. I’ve given up wearing red because of it.”
Kiev tossed her head back with a giggle. “I don’t think you have to be that extreme.”
“Red was never my color anyway.” He joked. “So, Ayame and Akira are pretty interesting.”
Kieve leaned forward and relaxed against Tesla. “Oh yes they are. They’re a bunch of sillies. Akira is great for certain…tips, and Ayame will do boring stuff with you like keep you company while you’re doing paperwork and stuff.”
“Cool, cool. I think they’re people I could hang out with.”
“If you’re lucky. They’re always in Unith anymore. Oh! We’re here.” Kiev thumped on Tesla’s shoulder sweetly. “Good job! Please let us down.”
“Er, we are?” Mathieu said in a disbelieving way. They had come to a stop in the middle of a large field with nothing in any direction that he could see.
Kiev slid off of the Shadowrider and landed smoothly on her feet, looking back up at him.“Yep.”
Getting down too, he held out a hand for Tesla, who changed into his purple ball of light and rested in his palm. “Alright, where is this place?”
“Well, dear one, I will show you.” Kiev looked around and decided on a particular direction to face before taking three large steps. Using her toes, she felt around in the grass until she found a metal ring and tugged. A trap door opened somewhat to allow them entrance to a steep, narrow staircase. “Lenny likes being underground because the fires don’t cause any problems there.” Kiev held the trap door open for him, smiling. “Don’t worry, scaredy cat. She has plenty of light down there.”
Wrinkling his nose, Mathieu started down the stairs into the dark, Tesla lighting his way with the bioluminescent of his inactive form. The stairs were rickety and creaked ominously under his steps as he descended them. The further down they went, the cooler it got, ironically, and he could hear running water nearby. “How far down is it?”
“Not much further,” Kiev said, a few stairs behind him, “but the stairs are going to turn left here in a second.”
Tesla pulsed soothingly in his palm, and guided his hand when it was time to turn. There’s a door just ahead. Don’t run into it. The comment was nice enough, but the sarcasm that echoed from the voice in his head made him roll his eyes.
“Oh thank you, Tesla.” His response was equally sarcastic, but if the door hadn’t been brought to his attention, he’d have plowed right into it. Instead, he opened it as soon as his fingertips brushed the wooden surface. “Hello?” He called in an uncertain way.
“Hey, Lenny, we’re here!” Kiev hollered past him, pushing against him until he was forced into entering the room. Their voices echoed around the high ceiling room and back down at him. Looking around, Mathieu realized he was standing in something comparable to an armory. All the weapons were sectioned out by type, or so he thought, but he didn’t have time to get a closer look because a head of dark brown hair popped into the room. The sudden movement caught his attention.
“Hi!” Lenore bounced over to the pair of them, wearing a pair of overalls with her hair pulled back in a messy bun. “I’m glad you came. Hi Kiev! But where’s Solomon?”
“Ugh.” Was all Mathieu said.
Laughing, the blonde hugged the other girl. “Solomon is being weird, like normal, so I told Mathieu I’d come with him to meet you.”
Lenore’s head bobbed as she motioned them deeper into her lair. “Come in, come in.” She led them into the room that she had emerge from: a forge. “No one comes to visit me anymore; it’s annoying.” She scowled. The woman continued talking while going to a piece of steel and starting to hammer it out. “So, I hear that Mathieu needs a weapon,” she said over the ringing hammering. “Word is that Darcia and Solomon had to basically teach you to fight from scratch. Completely unusually, but I don’t mind.”
Mathieu scoffed at her, arms folded. “You know, I’ve been taught somewhat before. But being taught by someone else who is…gifted, compared to someone normal is significantly different.” As he spoke, he sat on a stray chair, watching the way the petite brunette worked at the metal.
“Yeah, that’s understandable. So I feel so left out. I’m the only one who hasn’t gotten to really meet you. Tell me about you.” Lenore set down her hammer and slid her fingers along the metal, subtly shaping it and adding a fuller. She turned it this way and that before dousing it in water.
Watching with more interest in her work than his past, he told her in vague detail about his childhood and his life in Ateri. When he got to joining the resistance, his description became more saturated with details; that was something he felt comfortable talking to this woman about.
“Wow. You’d had a full life already. Tell me, do you want a sword? I can make anything that you’d like.” With just her hands she was sculpting the final shape of another weapon she was working on creating. “Don’t let those stupid boys bully you into a sword.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that.” Mathieu admitted with a blush. “I’d like a weapon that could be used with my energy. If I had to use my gift in order for my weapon to be effective, I think that I might get a better hold on it. I’m a bit…unrefined.” He admitted sheepishly.
Lenore nodded absently, now sharpening the edge of the blade with just her fingertips. “That sounds like a good idea. I’m envisioning something already, if you want to hear about it. You do? Good.” She steamrolled over any objections he might have had. “What about something like a dual-bladed sword, but with a gap that you could bounce your energy between. That way you get more bang for your buck.” She help up the sword in her hand and used it to half demonstrate her idea.
“Ah, but what about a grip?” Kiev interjected, cutting off whatever Mathieu had been about to say. “A regular one wouldn’t work well. Oh! But what about trying a semicircle grip? It’d be good for stabbing if you made the blades thin enough…”
The two girls lapsed into a conversation about his weapon-to-be, using words he didn’t understand, and he busied himself with looking around since it seemed he wasn’t require for this part. The room was surprising cool for being a forge, complete with a furnace for melting. There were a few anvils of varying sizes, and a collection of instruments that could double as torture devices, Mathieu was pretty sure. It was a nice enough forge, but not somewhere that he particularly wanted to spend a load of time.
It seemed to him that Lenore lived down here, if the cot in the corner was any indication. He wondered if the woman had a kitchen and bathroom somewhere or if she went someone else to do that. Mathieu sighed and fiddled with the hem of his shirt, he wished that either they needed more of his input, or that they could leave because he was getting rather bored. There wasn’t much to look at in the forge. As luck would have it, however, Kiev was standing abruptly, smiling at Lenore.
“Sounds like a plan, Lenny. We should get going so you can work, right?”
“Yep. I assume you can find your way out?” Lenore smiled, nodding her head to Mathieu. “Nice to meet you! I’ll see you soon, okay?” Without acknowledging them anymore, he went back to work.
Waving over her shoulder, the blonde led him back to the surface. “See? Painless.”
Mathieu scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I didn’t do anything. I just told her the same things that everyone here seems to already know about me. I could have sent a hand puppet in my place.”
“Oh, your sarcasm is not necessary.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes, to which he received a firm head smack.
~*~
Mathieu sighed and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. Boredom was going to kill him. Literally. Nathan was off doing something secretive, Solomon wouldn’t speak to him which ruled out an training, it wasn’t time for lunch, and Akira had convinced Kiev, Ayame and Elric to go out with her to ‘hit the town’, as she had put it. That left Mathieu in the house with Josette, ugh, and Adele, who was attached at the hip with the she-devil. He knew that someday he would need to talk to Josette, but today he wasn’t feeling quite that brave; he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel that brave. What he had done to make the firestarter hate him was beyond him, but Kiev had said that she was always like that, so maybe it wasn’t really him that she hated. He hoped not.
“What am I supposed to do?” He wondered out loud, and blew the bangs out of his eyes.
Nikola was in her catlike form, stretched out beside him and purring lightly. I dunno. Why don’t we go play? I like to play.
Sighing, he shook his head. Playing with Nikola required a lot of running, but he was more content with being fat and happy for now. “Sorry, Nik. Maybe later.” The Shadowrider grumbled into his mind but didn’t really protest. “Ugh!” In annoyance, he launched his pillow across the room, huffing. “This is so stupid! I need something to do!”
“Fine,” Solomon stood in the doorway with the pillow in his hand. “Get out of the house.”
Mathieu rolled his eyes. “And go where exactly?”
“Elise likes guests.” Solomon dropped the pillow back on the bed and dug in his half of the dresser, found the ledger that he wanted, and left the room.
Mathieu’s brow furrowed as the blond left him alone again. “Okay? Jeez, nice talking to you too. Come on Nikola. Want to go with me?”
Big eyes looked up at him from the bed, blinking slowly. Do I have to? You didn’t want to play with me, but you want me to go with you… Nikola rolled onto her back, exposing her tummy.
“Come on, little lovely. It’ll be fun to see Elise and get out of here. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, but do you really want to stay here with Solomon?” He pet Nikola’s belly coaxingly.
The Shadowrider wriggled around under Mathieu’s ministrations. Fine. But I’m only going so you don’t get lonely. She rolled over and stretched, digging her claws into the bed before sitting up.
Standing, he scooped up his furry friend. “Do you know the way or should I get a map so we don’t get lost?”
Nikola nestled into his arms, I know how to get there. Tesla and I like to go play with Mina. Nodding her dark reddish head as a pool of darkness opened below them, she licked his fingertips. Slowly they sunk into it. Traveling with Nikola was much easier than with Tesla or Solomon. Tesla’s darkness was squeezing and tight, Solomon’s was suffocating and aggressive, but Nikola’s was lighter, more weightless; it reminded him of floating. The travel took a bit longer because the darkness wasn’t so strong, so it took a few minutes before they came out in a very posh parlor.
The room was tastefully done in a light mint with coordinating, darker greens on the furniture. A fire crackled merrily behind its grate, and soft sunlight from the double suns filtered in from window set high up the wall. “Well isn’t this charming? But where are we?”
Nikola lifted her nose in the air, sniffing. Elise comes here often, so this is where I was drawn to. I’m sorry. Forgive me. She lapped at his wrist pitifully.
Mathieu rolled his eyes. “You’re just the pentacle of helpfulness.” His tone was sweet despite the sarcasm in his words. He cradled the Shadowrider lovingly. “Let’s look around, shall we?”
It’s an adventure! Nikola purred, nose poking over the edge of his arm, now interested in what they were doing. It’s not quite playing, but it’s better than nothing. She teased.
Carrying his friend, Mathieu first went to examine the two armchairs and the fire before deciding they didn’t lead to any hidden passages or anything, so they were nothing of interest. Next, he tried the small table with a book laid open on it. The book was in a language he couldn’t understand, so he ignored that too.
Opening the door into the hall, he looked around before stepping out and closing it behind him as quietly as he could. Mathieu was sure he was allowed to be in Elise’s home, but he kind of felt like he was spy; it was fun. In the hallway, the décor was in earth tones that set off the colorful tapestries on the walls at consistent intervals. Between the tapestries were small tables with holographic crystals set on them, each depicting a different set of scenery: some were of dense forests, others of vast deserts. The hall was lined with closed doors, but none of them caught his or Nikola’s attention, so he continued passed them until he came to the top of the grand split staircase that led down to a foyer. Leaning over the banister, he could see that there was a passageway under the staircase.
Intrigued, he took the left-hand side of the stairs down to the ground floor, his footsteps muffled by the carpeted stairs, and peeked down the passage. At the end of it he could see a door made out of glass that was cracked open, and from just passed the door, voices were floating to him. He couldn’t quite make out what was being said, but he recognized one of the voices as Elise’s sweet tones. Humming tunelessly to himself, he started down the hallway. It seemed the time for secret agent was over, so he playfully tossed Nikola in the air and caught her; she squeaked.
The door was a lot nicer than he originally thought, made of a blue-tinted glass with beveled edges. The glass was etched with an intricate, vector design. Pushing it open, he leaned in and caught sight of Elise, Mina, Darcia, and Avanon sitting at a table, playing a hand of cards. The room that they were in was most likely a sunroom with a door into the backyard. “Hello?” Mathieu said.
Elise looked up from her cards and smiled brightly. “Mathieu! What are you doing here?”
Grinning at not being sent away, he came fully into the room and approached them, grabbing a chair to sit in along the way. “Oh, you know. I was bored as hell at Nathan’s house, so I came to visit. Is that okay?”
“Of course, sweetie. I always love guests.” She laid her cards on the table. “Gin.”
“Damn it.” Mina threw her hand down, frowning. “I can’t win with you. Cheater.” Turning to Mathieu, she gave him a long look before saying, “Where is Solomon?”
Avanon snorted, but didn’t say anything. She shared a look with Darcia.
Mathieu shared in the look. Mina lived with Elise and didn’t see the mood swings her brother went through in a given day; nice to one person one moment, an asshat to someone the next. “He’s off being a jerk to someone else. Why do you ask?” He looked down as Nikola slid off his lap and slunk outside of the propped open door into the backyard.
“You two are fighting, are you not? I can feel how disgruntled he is with you. What have you done?” Mina asked as she collected up the cards, starting to shuffle them.
He shrugged one shoulder and watched as he was dealt into the game. “Can we not talk about this? I get enough of it at Nate’s home. Let’s not bring it up.”
Elise laughed and leaned over, patting Mina’s head. “Little Mina, are you and Solomon fighting, too?”
She pulled back her top lip, showing slightly pointed teeth. “Don’t do that. My brother and I are fine.”
Darcia laughed. “Gin still or something else?” He asked, picking up his cards. His eyes examined them shrewdly. “See, Avanon, I told you that you weren’t the only one having love problems.”
Mathieu hummed tunelessly, organizing his cards. “Gin is good for me. And what is going on with Avanon?” He raised an eyebrow.
“She tried to make a move on Elric and it didn’t go well at all.” Darcia said with a smirk.
Even Elise seemed interested. “Do tell, dear.”Avanon turned about eight shades of red, and drew a card; she resolutely didn’t look at any of them.
Mina put her hand over the discard pile. “You can trust us. And we can’t continue playing until you spill.”
With a determined look, Avanon began to try and force the card under Mina’s hand. It was to no avail. Finally, and in something of a temper, she threw the card on the table. “Fine. Fine, I’ll tell you people. Darcia, I curse you to the deepest ring of hell. I hope Zanika and Zerieve want you back to wash the toilet until the day you die.”
“Yes, yes. Now tell the story.” He said, resuming play.
Tossing her multi-colored hair over her shoulder, she coughed to clear her throat. “I tried to ask him to dinner, he misunderstood. The end.”
“How exactly did he misunderstand?” Elise asked, trying not to laugh.
Darcia seemed to feel as though he could tell the story better and took over. “What actually happened was that Avanon asked Elric if he wanted to get a bite with her, and he said ‘that’s nice of you, but I’ll just wait for dinner. If you’re hungry, though, there are leftovers in the fridge’. Then he just walked away, nose in a book.”
They all started to laugh; even Avanon chuckled. “I swear, I need a sign; it’ll read ‘Available and willing, Elric. Just ask’. But at least I can be in the same room as the guy I like.” She gave Mathieu a pitying look.
He smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “Just lay one on his and I think he’ll get the message.” Elise smiled mysteriously, and Darcia raised an eyebrow before shrugging and saying something along the lines of ‘sounds like a good idea’. Mathieu nudged the older man. “Hey, let me ask you guys something?”
Elise smiled at him. “Whatever you’re going to ask, Avanon quite likes the idea.”
“I do?” Avanon asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What were you going to ask?”
Flushing as he discarded, Mathieu rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Well, I was wondering if maybe anyone wanted to go to the beach or something; I knew that we can’t be too far from the ocean...and I mean, I haven’t been at this whole ‘rebellion’ thing as long as everyone else, but I thought a little vacation would be kind of nice.”
“Don’t you really mean you think it would be nice for all of us to get away from Solomon’s mood swings?” Darcia said, picking up two cards and shifting them around.
Mina thumped her teacup down. “If you’re going on a trip, you can’t leave him out. If he decides not to go, that’s fine, but you can’t exclude him.” She tapped her cards on the table. “Why don’t you just apologize for whatever it is you did, Mathieu?”
“Because I didn’t do anything! One minute we’re fine, the next he won’t say two words to me. Although I prefer the silence to his thinly veiled contempt.”
Elise’s brow furrowed. “Yes, even Nathan is worried.”
“I heard about that.” Avanon said. “Supposedly, Solomon flipped out so badly that he broke a table at the head quarters. He was fine and talking with Alykih one minute, then snapping the poor furniture in half the next.”
The pink-haired woman nodded. “I heard the same thing.”
Mina frowned. “Okay, that’s a little extreme, even for him.” She admitted.
“Gin.” Mathieu said, setting down his hand. “Maybe it is me.” He frowned. “I mean, if he’s never been like this before…?”
Avanon cleared her throat. “Now that isn’t exactly true.” She said. “He’s been this way twice before that I can remember. The time that Mina was in a coma, and the time when Mathieu wasn’t coming out of his room after Avian passed. Both times he got randomly violent, and both times he was pretty stressed.”
Darcia considered. “Actually, you’re right, aren’t you? Mathieu, walk us through what happened right before he got mad.”
Mathieu sat there for a moment, thinking. Solomon had been being normal until Enak had taken an interest in him. And then he’d said…what was it…”Instinct.” He said out loud.
“What was that?” Mina asked.
“Right before he started to get all weird with me, we were in the Sky Pillar and Enak knew I was there, even though Solomon tried to hide me. He got all ubёr protective and then when I asked what it was about, he said ‘instinct’. Since then, he’s been acting all weird and violent…” Mathieu rubbed his brow.
“Enak is the kid with the god, right?” Avanon asked, clearly not completely in the loop. “Why were you hiding?”
“So you’re saying that after—“ Mina was cut short by Elise standing suddenly, eyes flicking around the room in a panicked fashion. “Elise? Elise what is it?”
Elise’s teal eyes were unfocused, and her breathing was uneven. No one moved, and when Darica made to stand, Mina’s hand caught his arm. She shook her head. Time seemed to stop until Elise collapsed back into her seat, eyes clearing. “It’s Nathan. Something’s wrong.” She grabbed Mina’s hand, looking into her eyes.
Mathieu called for Nikola with his mind, pulling her to him. She scampered in with a half eaten flower hanging out of her mouth. Whaat?
“Nikola, I need you to get us to Nathan. Now.” He looked down at the Shadowrider. She dropped the flower and skittered to him. A pool of darkness was already opening around them.
“And hurry.” Elise said, her voice high with worry.