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The following morning, Ev met Maya in
the hangar. The cavernous room was primarily used for storage, but every so
often they cleared the floor to make room for airplanes which the faculty
members created using their highly advanced conjuring skills.
Brandon
and Freya were just finishing creating a large passenger plane when Ev arrived.
It was an amazing thing to see in action. The various pieces of the massive
vehicle simply materialized out of thin air, like reverse-disintegration.
As
usual, once it was completed, Brandon and Freya dropped to their knees,
exhausted. Even for veteran gods, the process was very taxing. They always
recovered fairly quickly, though.
When
Brandon saw Ev and Maya, he made a grand gesture to the newly-created plane and
said, “All aboard for Morovia.” Throughout the day the gods would be creating
various planes and taking students to each continent where they would then make
separate arrangements to go wherever they were headed. This particular plane
would be going to Ev’s homeland, the crescent-shaped continent Morovia, home of
the great metropolis Seraphim City.
“Thanks
a bunch, Professor,” Ev said. He then added, “Professors,” remembering to recognize Freya’s contribution as well.
Freya
got back to her feet. “Our pleasure, Ev. I’m just glad we don’t do this every
day.” Usually the Academy just had to ferry one or two students to and from Mt.
Orleia. In such cases, they employed small sleighs pulled by otherworldly
tigers Freya summoned from her chest. Ev still had no idea where those cats
came from.
“Good—I’m
not too late.”
Ev
and Maya turned. Jaysin was standing there. “What are you doing here?” Ev asked
him. “Your plane doesn’t leave for another hour.” Jaysin was going back to his
homeland of Chrichton.
“Just
wanted t’say goodbye.”
Ev
rolled his eyes. “Cut the drama. We’ll only be gone a week.”
Jaysin
extended his hand. “Still…think I’ll miss ya, mate.”
Ev
shook his friend’s hand. “Well…as much as I hate to admit it, I’ll miss you,
too. Probably.”
“Get
a room, you two,” Maya laughed.
“Hey,
hey, hey—watch it, missy. In case you’ve forgotten, I know your weakness. You.
Have. A. Boyfriend.”
She
turned red and whirled away from Jaysin. “S-Shut up.”
“Hey,
no worries. I didn’t mean nothing by it. Just having a poke at my friends,
that’s all.”
Ev
laughed. “You’re all heart, Jaysin.”
Jaysin
shrugged. “I try.”
From
behind them, Brandon coughed. “Sorry to interrupt, but everyone else has
finished boarding the plane.”
“Looks
like it’s time to go,” Ev said.
“Take
care, Ev,” Jaysin replied.
“You,
too.”
Jaysin
then added, “You take care as well, Maya.”
Without
turning around, she said, “Same to you, Jaysin.”
* * *
They boarded the plane, and by the
afternoon, they had arrived at Seraphim City International Airport. Ev couldn’t
help but be reminded of the last time he had been at a major airport. That was
in Stiftung. Belial had just unleashed the Nephilim into the city, and the
students, who were on a field trip, had to fight their way back to the airport
in order to get on their plane and escape. Unfortunately, they had to overtake
another plane—also attempting to escape—which ended up being destroyed by a
Nephilim. At the time, Brandon and Freya justified the sacrifice by saying they
had to get back to the Academy to summon reinforcements to fight the angelic
giants. On a purely logical level, Ev agreed, but that incident still haunted
him. Seeing all those people go up in flames only a few feet away was something
he would never forget. It seemed it was his fate to take part in the deaths of
others.
“Ev?
You OK?”
He
snapped out of it and looked around. They were walking through the terminal,
and Maya was attempting to talk to him. “Yeah. Sorry. I was just remembering
our escape from Stiftung. Oh, wait—you weren’t with us.” In fact, Maya had gone
over to Belial’s side after shooting her friends with arrows. They had had to
flee Stiftung without her.
“No,”
she said. “I guess I wasn’t.” She went quiet. She deeply regretted her actions,
but no amount of apologizing would ever undo them. Both of them simply had to
live with the things they’d done.
He
took her hand. “It’s OK. As long as we’re here for each other, we can keep
moving forward.”
“Thank
you, Ev.”
They
said their goodbye to Brandon and Freya and headed to another terminal. From
there, they would catch another plane to another airport further to the south.
* * *
After another hour of flight, their
plane landed in Grantz Municipal Airport about forty-five minutes outside Ev’s
hometown of Upton. They took a cab the rest of the way, and before long they
were in Upton.
“Nice
place,” Maya said.
“Yep,”
Ev said. “10,000 people, one police station, two fire stations, one high
school.”
The
cab drove them through town, up Main Street, past a collection of businesses
that comprised downtown Upton. Here and there were parks with walking trails,
nice-looking playground equipment and dilapidated buildings—a study in
contrasts. Some of the tax money was spent well, and some of it wasn’t.
They
went past Upton Middle School, which was three large white buildings built
side-by-side. Each building housed a different grade. One of Ev’s few fond
memories of growing up was attending here. He had loved school, mostly because
he didn’t have to fear his father during the day.
Behind
the middle school they entered a neighborhood. It was strictly a middle-class
residential area, not too rich and not too poor. The Bannen family probably
would have made more money if Ev’s father had let his wife work full-time. But
no, he (violently) insisted the bulk of her life be dedicated to serving him.
They
came to a brick one-story house at the end of the block with a two-car garage.
As it was when Ev had grown up here, nothing about it stood out at all. The
lawn was well-maintained by a man Ev’s mother periodically hired. You’d never
know this house had once been the site of constant fear and, ultimately, a
gruesome death.
Ev
paid the driver and they strolled up to the house. He rang the doorbell. A
middle-aged woman with fading brown hair answered. “Ev! It’s so good to see you
again!”
They
hugged. “It’s good to see you, too, Mom.”
“Come
inside,” she said to the two of them.
When
his mother had shut the door behind them, Ev said, “Mom, I want you to meet
a…uh…special friend of mine. This is Maya Brünhart. Maya, this is Anni Bannen.”
The
two women shook hands. “Nice to meet you,” Maya said.
“My
son has a girlfriend!” Anni exclaimed happily.
Ev
was suddenly embarrassed. “Well…that’s…I guess…”
“It’s
OK, Ev,” Maya said. She turned her attention back to his mother. “We’re still
feeling things out.”
Anni
nodded. “I understand. It was the same way with…” Her mood abruptly darkened.
She was going to say, It was the same way
with Dom and me. But that would have been a load of crap. Ev had long ago
vowed never to resemble his father in any way, shape or form. “Never mind. It’s
not important. Please, have a seat, you two. We have so much to talk about.”
Ev
and Maya sat down on the couch in front of the TV. Anni retreated into the
kitchen. Maya looked around and said, “There aren’t any pictures of your
father. That’s no surprise, I guess.”
Indeed
there weren’t. There were photos of Ev and his mother which varied in age.
There were photos of baby Ev, middle-school Ev, high school Ev, young Anni and
present-day Anni. But there were absolutely no pictures of Dom Bannen. Ev
explained, “After he died, he burned every last scrap of his existence. He
never deserved to exist in the first place.”
Anni
returned from the kitchen with sodas which she offered to Ev and Maya. She then
pulled up a chair and sat down in front of them. “I’m sorry my husband isn’t
here to meet you, Maya, but he ran off years ago—”
“Mom,”
Ev interjected. “She knows.”
“Oh.”
Anni’s face was melancholy. “I’m sorry you had to be burdened with that
knowledge, Maya.”
But
Maya said, “It’s OK, Anni. Ev felt he could tell me because I told him my dark secret. We found one another
because he both had similar experiences.”
That
seemed to satisfy Ev’s mother. “Well, I won’t ask you what you’ve been through. People have a right to their privacy, after
all. Still, I will never forgive myself for what happened.”
“It
wasn’t your fault,” Maya said.
“But
it was. Poor Ev lived in constant
fear because I was too weak to do anything. I kept telling myself Dom would
change, that he would eventually see the light and stop abusing us. I was such
a fool. And then came the night where he actually decided to kill me. I was so
scared, I couldn’t move. Because of that, Ev had to do the unthinkable, the
thing no child should ever have to do. It’s my fault he has to live with that
for the rest of his life.”
She
was in tears now. Ev went over to comfort her.
* * *
After Anni had calmed down, Ev returned
to his place on the couch beside Maya. “I’m sorry about that,” she said.
“No,
it’s OK. You have a right to be human. That’s something I didn’t learn until
last year,” Maya said.
Anni
smiled approvingly at her. “Thank you, Maya. I can tell you’re a good match for
Ev.
“Let’s
change the subject, shall we? Tell me about this university. You suddenly ran
off to it, and I never really got the details. To tell the truth, I’ve been so
worried, wondering if you chose a good school.”
Ev
sighed. He had not been looking forward to this. He didn’t know how she would
react when he revealed the truth. Nevertheless, he decided it needed to be
done. “Mom, were you following the news last year when that evil god took over
Stiftung in the Murnau Islands?”
“Of
course I was. It was unbelievable, really; a real, live god who isn’t Bethos!
But what does this have to do with your college?”
Ev
told her everything, starting with how he had been saved from refghasts by
Brandon Strong, to his sudden enrollment in Divine Protector University, to
their field trip to Stiftung and the subsequent attack by Belial, to their
journey through the Tower of Babel. Anni stared at him, dumbstruck. Finally,
she said, “I think I need to lay down for a bit. This is a lot to take in.”
“Sure,
Mom. I understand.” But did Mom
understand? Could she accept the reality of her son as a god-in-training? Only
time would tell, he supposed.
* * *
In the backyard, Ev and Maya stared at
the indistinct patch of grass. It looked no different than the rest of the
grass. “This is it,” Ev said.
“This
is where you buried him?”
“Yeah.
Luckily it happened at night, so were able to dig up the grass without anyone
seeing us. I still see it clearly when I close my eyes. His blood was on my
hands and I was going crazy with fear. I had just killed my father. I had taken
a life. I knew what it was like to be a killer. For the love of Bethos, I was
eight!”
Maya
put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, Ev. There was
nothing else you could have done. If you hadn’t done it, your mother would have
been the one to die, and your father would have been the one to live. I’d say
that’s an even worse scenario. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yeah.
It definitely would have been. Still, it doesn’t change what I went through. It
doesn’t change what I go through every single day.”
She
squeezed his hand. “But you don’t go through it alone, Ev. And you never will again.”
Despite
(or because of) everything, he smiled. She was right. He wasn’t alone anymore.
* * *
Captain Arnold Schmitz stood on the deck
of the DRM Blitzkrieg, one of several
destroyers stationed at the giant tower which had appeared off the coast of
Stiftung last year during the attack by the sinister stranger who called
himself Belial. He claimed to have been a god, and with everything he was able
to do, few doubted him. Having grown up in an atheist home, Schmitz had never
been very religious, and still didn’t know what to make of Belial. It was
certainly difficult to argue with what his eyes saw. After all, Belial had
summoned angelic giants to terrorize the people of Stiftung. And if that wasn’t
bad enough, he also had called down this behemoth of a tower. What exactly it
was or what might be inside, no one knew. Not long after Belial went inside,
three mysterious individuals were seen flying up from the depths (apparently,
the tower’s entrance was underwater). When the Murnau military sent divers down
there, however, they reported finding no means of entry. The only conclusion to
be drawn was that there had to be a secret method of entering the structure,
but so far no one had been able to find it. Schmitz and his crew tried using a
blow torch to cut a hole inside, but that didn’t even make a scratch on
whatever material the tower was made of. Ditto for D5 explosive charges. Next
they tried shelling the place with the destroyer’s guns, but that produced no
results as well.
Thus
they could not get inside. With that being the case, the Murnau government
decided to bow to mounting pressure from other governments to allow them access
to the site; they had nothing to lose at this point. Therefore, the Blitzkrieg was now part of a joint
operation to study the tower and prevent any unauthorized entry. Of course,
Schmitz suspected his superiors would be secretly pleased if someone could get
the damn thing open.
So,
with nothing to really do, he just stood there on the deck, staring at the
tower in the vain hope it would reveal its secrets to him. There was full cloud
cover overhead, and it looked like it might rain. Schmitz hoped it would. At
least then something would be
happening. This was incredibly boring.
Suddenly,
a private ran up to him. “Kapitän!
Radar is picking up a high-speed object heading this way from the east.”
Well,
that was something, at least. “How big?”
“About
the size of a missile.”
Could
one of the other countries be launching an attack on the site to gain control
of the tower? That, he could not allow. “Are we sure its not one of ours?”
“Positive,
Kapitän. Central Command has nothing in the air.”
Schmitz
ran to the bridge. He told his first officer, Friedrick Gastoff, “As soon as we
confirm the unknown object isn’t nuclear, I want it blown out of the sky.”
Gastoff
looked worried. “And if it is
nuclear?”
They
both knew the answer to that question. If it was a nuke, they would wait for it
to pass by the major population areas and then destroy it over the ocean.
Unfortunately, they would likely get caught in the explosion, as close as they
were to Stiftung.
But
Schmitz just said, “Tell me when we have confirmation.”
A
few minute later, one of the officers on the bridge announced he now had a
clear radar return. Schmitz asked if it was a known nuke type. The radar
operator shook his head nervously. “I don’t think it’s a nuke. It doesn’t even
look like a missile.”
What
the hell was that supposed to mean? “What does it look like?”
The
operator hesitated for a moment. “A person.”
“A
what?”
“Take
a look sir. Two arms, two legs.”
Schimitz
studied the display. The unknown did indeed resemble a human being. And it was
coming in even faster than a missile. He had a sickening feeling the events of
last year were about to be repeated. He had to prevent that at all costs.
“Shoot it down.”
Gastoff
nodded. The object had been close enough to lock onto for quite some time, but
they hadn’t fired for fear of unleashing a nuclear holocaust. Now, though, they
locked on and fire away with every non-nuclear missile they had. Schmitz wanted
that thing shot down, but not bad enough to utilize the final option. If he was
wrong, a finished career would be the worst of his worries.
The
Blitzkrieg unloaded a volley of
warheads at the unknown. After thirty seconds, a series of explosions lit up
the eastern sky. “Did we get it?” Schmitz asked.
His
hopes were high that they had just ended a threat before it could begin.
However, movement in the direction of the smoke cut that hope short. The thing
was still coming in, and fast.
He
ran out onto the deck for a better look. It was almost upon them, now, and
Schmitz could see it was, in fact, a person. It had to be another of those gods
(or whatever they were) flying in to do who-knew-what.
The
dark blur slammed into the hull of the Blitzkrieg,
and the ship rocked from the impact. The whole thing tipped sideways as water
rushed into the punctured vessel. Schmitz grabbed onto the railing to keep from
falling off. Aboard the bridge, Gastoff was shouting for all hands to evacuate.
The
Tru Republic’s ship, Emerald Valiance,
pulled up alongside them. “D’ye be needin’ assistance, Blitzkrieg?” one of their officers asked in their sing-song accent.
Schmitz
thought about it for a moment. “It depends on how bad the damage is. For now,
you should keep an eye out for the guy that hit us.”
“Oh,
it was a guy now, was it? Didn’t realize you could be taken out so easily.”
“This
is not the time for jokes. Those gods—or whatever the hell they are—are back.
He’s probably going for the entrance to the tower. You’ve got to do whatever it
takes to stop him.”
If
they failed, Bethos only knew what would happen.
* * *
From miles away, on a deserted building
in Stiftung harbor, Heimdall watched the events unfold. A fellow god just
crashed through a Murnau ship standing guard at the Tower. Heimdall knew almost
all of the players in this game, but he didn’t recognize the man that had now
put his token in.
Following
the Stiftung Crisis, Bethos had stationed Heimdall here to watch over the Tower
in case someone tried to enter. Evidently the Blood Key was still out there
somewhere and could be used to open the entrance. As the god with the greatest
eyesight, Heimdall was the logical choice.
He
gritted his gold teeth nervously and contacted Bethos via telepathy. Someone’s trying to get into the Tower. He’s
making an unnecessary mess of things.
Bethos
responded, I’m sending reinforcements.
Wait until they arrive. Don’t try taking them on by yourself.
By the time they arrive, it might be too
late. If this person has the Blood Key, we can’t afford to wait.
Don’t do it. Wait for reinforcements.
And with that, Bethos was gone.
Heimdall
stood up. He knew what he had to do. Orders or no, he wasn’t able to wait
around while some unknown god made his way into the Tower of Babel and helped
himself to all the goodies inside. The most dangerous weapons on the planet
were stored in there, and a twisted mind could do almost anything with them.
And
there were plenty of twisted minds in Zero Grade.
Heimdall
launched himself off the building and towards the Tower.
* * *
The three of them once again sat down in
the living room. Ev’s mother had suitably recovered from the shock of his
revelations and was now willing to talk about it. “It’s certainly a lot to take
in,” she said.
Ev
nodded. “I know. Think of how much it was for me to take in, being the one who had to go through it all.
“But
at the same time,” Anni said, “I’m so proud of you. My son, a god! Not only
that, but you fought to save the world.”
He
looked away, sheepishly. “Well, I really didn’t do that much to help Professor
Strong…”
But
Maya said, “That’s not true, Ev. You distracted Belial long enough for
Professor Strong to pull the spear out of his chest and hurl it at him,
piercing him in the heart and killing him.”
“And
what was your role in this?” Anni
asked her inquisitively.
Maya
squirmed, afraid to admit the truth of her involvement. Ev decided to help her
out by telling his mother the truth. “Maya was by my side at the time. She
healed me after Belial struck me with lightning.”
Anni
rushed over and took Maya’s hand. “Thank you so, so much for everything you’ve
done for Ev. He’s so, so lucky to have someone like you in his life. He’d be
dead if not for you.”
Looking
uncomfortable, Maya averted her gaze. She was clearly tempted to admit the
truth, that she was the one who had put Ev in so much danger in the first
place. “Please, Misses Bannen—”
“Call
me Anni.”
“Please,
Anni. I really didn’t do that much. Ev’s done so much more for me than I’ve
done for him.”
“Really?
Like what?”
Before
Maya could say what she was thinking, Ev intervened. “I just helped her out
with some things. No big deal.”
Perhaps
sensing she was wading into sensitive waters, Anni backed off. “Well, I won’t
pry. I’m just glad you two are there for one another. I worried about Ev for
years, but I now I think he’s going to be OK…”
His
mother’s words were droned out by a ringing in their ears. It was Freya. Attention, all students of Divine Protector
Academy currently on leave. An emergency has been declared. Everyone is hereby
instructed to return to the Academy immediately.
“Sorry,
Mom, but something has just come up. We need to get going.”
Ev
and Maya rose to leave. Anni looked confused. “Those giants aren’t invading
again, are they?”
“I’m
sure it’s nothing,” Maya said.
“Well,
OK.” Anni hugged the two of them and told Ev to keep in touch.
* * *
They returned to the plane. A bunch of
students were crowding in and around the cockpit, pressuring Brandon to tell
them what the emergency was. He danced around the question as best he could. “I
don’t know all the details. You’ll find out once we get back to the Academy. I
can’t tell you any more than that.” The students pressured him further, but he
kicked them out of the cockpit, telling them to take their seats.
Ev
and Maya took theirs. “I wonder if the Nephilim really are back,” Ev said.
“But
who could be controlling them? Belial’s dead.”
“Maybe,
but he used that Blood Key to control them. It disappeared when he died.
Professor Strong was evasive when I asked him what happened to it. What if
someone else now has it?”
Her
face grew clouded with worry. “That would be a very bad scenario, Ev. Whoever
controls the Key controls not only the Nephilim, but the Tower of Babel as
well. You saw just a few of the dangerous Artifacts stored in there. They
nearly killed you and Professor Strong.”
“Yeah,
but we survived.”
“But
rumor has it on the top floor is the most dangerous Artifact of all. It makes
all the others look like toys.”
“I
wouldn’t put too much stock in rumors, Maya. And even if it’s true, Professor
Strong told me it takes time to unlock the most dangerous ones. The Academy
won’t simply let some lunatic make off with them.”
She
looked out the window of the plane. “I hope you’re right, Ev.”
* * *
Heimdall materialized from the Bifrost
into another chamber. The Bifrost—or Rainbow Bridge—was a system which enabled
quick transport throughout the Tower of Babel. Normally one had to fight the
skeleton Keepers to get to it, but Brandon and Ev Bannen had destroyed them
during their fight through the Tower last year. Heimdall considered that very
fortunate; he didn’t have to waste time facing the Tower’s defenses. He simply
stepped into the multi-colored wall and willed it to take him to where the
intruder had gone.
However,
upon materializing, Heimdall’s eyes went wide as he realized where he was.
Unlike the other chambers of the Tower, the floors, wall, and ceiling were a pure
white color. Large wooden crosses lined the circular wall. No doubt about it;
this was the top floor and home to the most dangerous Artifact of all.
He
cursed inwardly. He had allowed himself to be distracted. He needed to find the
intruder, and fast. He could be anywhere.
Suddenly,
his chest exploded. A magnificent spear had impaled him from behind. A torrent
of blood burst forth, drenching the floor in crimson. Heimdall hacked up the
stuff.
“Hope
you don’t mind me using Gungnir,” someone said behind him.
With
tremendous effort, Heimdall turned around to see his attacker. It was the same
man who had struck the Murnau destroyer. “Bastard. Who…are you?” He struggled
to talk despite all the blood filling his throat.
“Sorry
to do this to you,” the man said casually. “It’s necessary. But don’t worry;
I’ll bring you back later. Maybe.
“Idiot…you
mean to use…” Heimdall weakly gestured to where the ultimate Artifact lay.
“…that?”
“Of
course I do. Wouldn’t you, if you had the chance?” He didn’t seem to have a
care in the world, no understanding of what he was doing.
“D-Don’t.”
“It’s
a bit too late for that. For me, there’s no turning back now. A new world
awaits. A better world.”
“Not…better…”
“Hmph.
I disagree. This world’s a failure, just like all the others. I’m going to end
it.” But Heimdall did something surprising, even to himself. He laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Just…remembered—urk.
Can’t…use… it…even if…you—urk—want to.”
“Yeah,
I guess you’re right. I can’t use it.
Not here, at least. I’ll have to move it.
“I
gotta say, you’re a lot tougher than I thought you’d be. I pierced you through
the heart, and you’re still not dead. I wanted to give you a quick death, which
is why I did it. I guess I’ll have to try again.”
The
spear was ripped from Heimdall’s chest, and everything abruptly went dark. The
Norse god knew no more.
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