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Chapter III
Back at the Academy, in Hercules Hall, the large auditorium used for
assemblies and talent shows, the students took their seats. Ev and Maya had met
back up with Jaysin only an hour before, when he had returned from his
preempted trip to Chrichton. “Right strange business this is, interrupting my
vacation. Better be a good reason for it,” he had said.
Presently Bethos came
onstage with a microphone in hand. The diminutive black god with the purple
suit may have looked strange anywhere else, but here at Divine Protector
Academy he was both revered and respected. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why
we called you back here. Well, a certain incident is currently taking place at
the Tower of Babel. A while ago, one of the faculty members stationed there
reported someone—probably another god—trying to gain entry. There’s a strong
possibility Zero Grade is behind this, and with them active again, you may have
all been in danger while away from here. That’s why we called you back here
until we can ascertain what is going on. And, unfortunately, that’s all we can
tell you right now. Please go about your normal business on campus until
further notice. Thank you.”
In the hallway outside
Hercules Hall, Ev, Maya and Jaysin stopped and discussed these latest
developments with much interest. “So someone is trying to get into the Tower,” Ev said.
“But who could it be?”
Jaysin asked.
Ev asked Maya, “Do you
think it could be Zero Grade?”
She shrugged. “I
honestly have no idea. It could be, but Belial and I severed all ties with the
organization when we went rogue. I can’t think of anyone he would have given
the Blood Key to upon his death.”
“Suppose you weren’t his
only disciple,” Jaysin suggested. “Suppose he had another that he never told
you about.”
“I guess it’s possible.
I know for a fact he kept secrets from me. He would never tell me where Zero
Grade’s main base was, for one thing.”
“That would certainly be
a good thing to know,” Ev said.
“Let’s keep supposing,”
Jaysin continued. “Suppose Belial did
have another disciple. When he knew his death was upon him, he couldn’t have
given the Blood Key to Maya, since she had already betrayed him.”
“It was not a betrayal,” Maya insisted.
Jaysin replied, “Sorry.
Poor choice of words. When he knew his death was upon him, he couldn’t have
given the Blood Key to Maya, since she had already turned against him.”
“Better,” Ev said.
Maya nodded her
approval, and Jaysin continued. “Now, then. We know he gave the Key t’someone because it didn’t stick around
when he bit it. He clearly sent it off to someone else, someone he could
trust.”
“But who?” Ev asked.
“Don’t call me a
prophet, but I have a feeling we’ll find out soon enough,” Jaysin said.
They spent the rest of
the day with a dark cloud of doubt hanging over their heads, wondering just
what was headed their way.
* * *
The Academy team had made their way into the Tower. They stepped into the
Bifrost and mentally commanded it to send them to wherever the intruder was.
Nothing happened.
“The intruder’s gone,”
Freya said. She was team leader.
“But the entrance hasn’t
been resealed,” Aphrodite noted.
Atlas frowned. “Bastard
probably didn’t even care. He got what he was after and then high-tailed it out
of here.”
A lightning bolt of fear
struck Freya. “But then, where’s Heimdall?” They hadn’t seen any trace of the
Norse god since arriving in the area. They suspected he had disobeyed orders
and gone after the intruder, but couldn’t be sure.
“We should tell the
Bifrost to take us to where he is,” Dian Cecht said. As usual, the Academy
physician offered sound advice without a hint of emotion.
“Good idea,” Freya said.
They gave the Rainbow
Bridge the command, and immediately they were enveloped in its multi-colored
brilliance. They materialized in a pure white chamber, and Freya’s anxiety
skyrocketed. This was the top floor. Why had Heimdall come up here?
They quickly spotted his
lifeless corpse in the center of the room. Each of them—with the exception of
Dian Cecht—uttered gasps of horror as they ran over to render assistance.
“Shit,” Atlas said, his
chiseled countenance in agony. “Bastard butchered him.”
Freya covered her mouth
to keep in the cry of anguish that desperately wanted to get out. Aphrodite put
a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Dian Cecht passively
examined Heimdall’s body. “He’s been dead for at least an hour. Only thing to
do now is decide how to handle the body.”
Freya couldn’t think
about that right now. “Atlas, please pick up Heimdall and let’s go. We need to
get out of here and send a message to Bethos.” Their telepathic waves couldn’t
get through the haradium lining the walls of the Tower,
“Wait. We should see if
anything’s missing,” Aphrodite said.
They looked around.
Their attention almost immediately settled on the open vault in front of them.
Even without going in, they could see it
was missing.
Dian Cecht was the first
to voice their thoughts. “The Ark of the Covenant is gone.”
The worst-case scenario was
happening right before their eyes. “But how?” Freya said. “It should have taken
someone a hundred years to crack that lock.”
“Doesn’t do any good
thinking about that now. We have to get out of here, and fast.” Atlas gathered
what was left of Heimdall in his beefy arms, and they went back to the Bifrost
and left the Tower.
* * *
A few days later.
First the Academy
faculty used their powers to conjure a Viking ship from the previous universe.
Then they put Heimdall’s body in it. They proceeded to lower it down to the
sea, being careful to have it land away from the jagged rocks at the base of
Mt. Orleia. Finally, Brandon Strong summoned a flame to ignite the ship. The
only thing to do now was respectfully watch the whole thing burn.
The faculty and students
looked on from the hangar, their faces a solemn wall.
“Did you ever meet
Professor Heimdall?” Jaysin asked Ev. They stood amongst the throng of people.
“Only once or twice. I
hadn’t taken his class yet.” Heimdall taught Physics.
“I know the Asshole
Three took his class,” Maya said. “Yet I don’t see them here.”
“They probably figured
they were too good for this,” Ev said.
“Not a lot of respect in
those three,” Jaysin agreed.
Wanting to change the
subject, Ev said, “They still don’t know who killed Professor Heimdall?”
“If they did, they
wouldn’t necessarily tell us right away,” Maya said.
Jaysin nodded. “They
like their secrets, the faculty.”
“What makes you say
that?” Ev said.
“Well, for one thing,
they won’t confirm anything was stolen from the Tower.”
Ev shrugged. “Maybe
nothing was stolen.”
“Ah,” Jaysin countered,
“But if nothing was stolen, they would’ve said nothing was stolen. Instead,
it’s this ‘We can neither confirm nor deny…’ nonsense. That means something was
definitely stolen, mate. But what?”
Ev said, “Having faced
several of the Artifacts stored in the Tower, I can think of a few
possibilities, none of them good.”
“What if it was the
legendary ultimate Artifact, the one that makes all others looks like toys?”
Maya dared to ask.
“But we still have no
idea what it is or what it does,” Ev pointed out.
She looked grim. “That’s
what makes it so terrifying.”
Someone shushed them and
reminded them this wasn’t the time for chitchat. They kept quiet for the rest
of the funeral.
After a while, the ship
burned completely and was lost beneath the waves. When that was finished,
everyone gathered in a circle around Bethos in the hangar. “A great injustice
has been committed,” he said. He then shook his head. “No—let’s call it what it
is: a murder. An unknown enemy has taken the life of one of my dear friends.
Heimdall was a good man. He didn’t deserve this, and I won’t rest until his
killer is brought to justice. I want to make things very clear. This is not
about revenge; Heimdall wouldn’t have wanted that. Instead, we are going to
find the culprit, and we are going to bring him or her to trial. The trial of a
god is a very rare event, but it does happen, and there are procedures in
place. Once we have apprehended Heimdall’s murderer, we shall carry them out.”
* * *
“That’s all well and good,” Brandon said afterwards in Bethos’ office.
“But we still have no idea who to look for. And if Zero Grade is responsible,
they sure as hell aren’t going to be cooperative in our investigation.”
“I say we take the fight
to them. Make them hand the sonuvabitch over to us,” Atlas said.
“You’re talking about
another war,” Freya said. “Wasn’t the last one bad enough?”
Atlas rushed to his own
defense. “I’m not talking about war. I just think we ought to turn up the heat
a little. You know, twist their arms so they’ll tell us what they know.”
Aphrodite warned, “The
slightest provocation could ignite a full-scale conflict. We have to be
extremely careful. Our next move needs to be well thought out.”
“Besides which—we don’t
even know where to find Zero Grade,” Brandon said.
“I’ll bet Maya BrĂ¼nhart
knows,” Atlas said. “We should make her tell us.” Heimdall’s death had made him
uncharacteristically aggressive. He was normally easy-going and wouldn’t even
dream of interrogating a student.
Bethos reminded him, “We
questioned her thoroughly after the Stiftung Crisis. She was only able to give
up one Zero Grade base to us, a castle in the Murnau Islands. We investigated
it but found it deserted. If Heimdall’s killer really is Zero Grade, they
probably won’t be dumb enough to go back there.”
Atlas was growing more
agitated by the minute. “So then, what are we supposed to do?”
Brandon said to him, “I
think you’re missing the big picture here. The enemy has the Ark of the
Covenant, the most powerful of all the Artifacts. If he uses it, our world is
finished. We have to get it back.”
“Fortunately,” Bethos
said, “the Ark is very complicated. It can’t be activated so easily. So here’s
what we’re going to do. I want everyone
involved in the search for it. Call all alumni worldwide have them actively
looking. Be sure they understand the stakes involved. Tell them if they see the
enemy to not engage. I won’t have any more deaths because of this. Furthermore,
all classes are suspended while we deal with this. All faculty members must
devote themselves fully to finding either the Ark or the killer.”
They agreed, and left to
spread the word. Bethos leaned back in his easy chair. He hadn’t been able to
relax lately.
Just who was behind all
this, and why were they doing it? The more he thought about it, the more he
felt these crimes just weren’t Zero Grade’s style. As the minutes passed by, he
doubts mounted. What if it wasn’t Zero Grade at all? What if it was someone
else, possibly someone with a grudge against the Academy?
Could it be…?
* * *
Arcturus entered the sleepy hamlet of Blasdow, a remote village in the Tru
Republic. Children were playing in the gravel roads, sheep were being tended to
in the fields, and overall there was a strong sense of peace and normality.
Well, Arcturus, thought, time to for
that to change.
He snapped his fingers, and a multitude of dark shapes rose up from the
ground.
Soon he will come, and we can
begin for real.
* * *
Freya rushed into Bethos’s office. “We have a problem,” she said.
“What now?” he asked.
“I’ve been in the Prayer
Chamber monitoring the thoughts of the world, hoping to gain some clue as to
where the Ark is. Suddenly there were very strong prayers asking for help. A
village in the Tru Republic is under attack by monsters.”
Bethos raised an
eyebrow. “Monsters?”
She nodded. “Yes. Dark;
large upper bodies with spindly legs; claw-like hands. Sound familiar?”
Giving a frustrated
exhale, he said, “Refghasts.”
“Request permission to
send a team. Some second-years should be enough to handle a group of
refghasts.”
He leaned forward in his
chair. “Granted. And I think I know who you want to send.”
“That’s right,” she said
confidently. “A group of students who have proven they can handle high-level
otherworld enemies.”
“Better get to it,” he
said.
* * *
Ev, Maya, Jaysin, CiCi and Daryn Anders found themselves summoned to
Freya’s office. “Thank you for coming,” she said from behind her desk.
“What’s this about?” Ev
said.
“A village in the Tru
Republic has come under attack by refghasts. Several people have barricaded
themselves in the cellar of a house, but it’s only a matter of time before the
monsters get to them. We need a team to fly over there and kill the refghasts.”
Intrigued, Jaysin said,
“You mean…?”
“That’s right,” she
said. “It’s time for your first official mission. Since you handled the
Nephilim so well, this should be no problem for you.”
“We certainly sent those
refghasts packing in Stiftung,” Jaysin said.
“Until Maya shot us,”
Daryn added.
“Watch it,” Ev said.
True or not, he wasn’t about to let Daryn say such things. He had considered
the ginger a friend up until recently, but now he wasn’t so sure. Daryn had
been bitter about Maya’s betrayal even during the Stiftung Crisis, and that
anger had only grown since then. Was this due to the developmental
disorder—Ashbury’s Syndrome—Daryn suffered from? Ev just didn’t know.
“Is this going to be a
problem for you?” Freya asked Daryn.
Daryn straightened up
and adopted a professional posture. “No. No problem. No problem at all.” Ev
seriously doubted his words.
“Good,” Freya said.
“Now, Daryn, since you come from the Tru Republic, I trust you know the way to
Blasdow?”
He shrugged. “I’ve
passed through there a few times. It’s a ways from the major economic centers.
Anything that happens in Blasdow won’t be noticed for quite a while.”
She nodded. “Very well,
then. Because of your military upbringing, and your knowledge of the area, I’m
putting you in charge of this mission. Think you can handle it?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Now hurry up and
get over there.”
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