The Second Archon War: Sol Invictus 6 (Patreon)

Sol Invictus 6: Revelation

Thorns and vines grew out of the barren ground, ripping the door to the silent laboratory off its hinges. Amy tossed the heavy metal aside with a grunt, and Victoria wondered just how strong they’d gotten since they’d received their Visions. Did she have a Brute rating now? That was badass. 

The lab building itself hadn’t appeared large, but on further inspection, the reason became obvious: inside was an elevator shaft. There was no sign of the elevator, and the shaft itself seemed to go deep into the rock of the old volcano. 

“There’s a maintenance ladder here,” Amy reported. She peered down at the thick shadows. “Doesn’t look safe down there…”

“Probably isn’t,” Victoria agreed. “I go first.”

They left the two surviving meks on guard duty, and climbed down at least three stories. The shaft was lit only by the light of their Visions. None of the emergency lights worked. The oppressive Abyssal fog wasn’t present, but neither was there any power. At the bottom of the maintenance shaft, the door was locked. 

“Wonder how much of a Brute I am,” Victoria mused, and put her shoulder to the door. She grunted and stepped back three paces to the wall, then rammed it hard as she could.

“Ow! Not that much, I guess,” she muttered, rubbing her shoulder.

There was a thud from the other side, and Victoria blinked as the others hopped off the ladder, crowding the bottom of the shaft. She put her ear to the door and closed her eyes, concentrating.

I heard something! 

You think there’s more of them? 

What if it’s the relief force?

Don’t be stupid, they’re all dead! The barrier has to be close to failing after three days!

I don’t want to die…

“Hey, there’s people!” Victoria gasped. She pounded on the wall and shouted, “ HEY! IT’S VICTORIA DALLON! WITH NEW WAVE! WE’RE HERE TO RESCUE YOU!”

Then she put her ear back to the wall and listened.

You hear that!? We’re saved!

Shut up, what if it’s a mimic!? They can talk!

I’m not dying in the dark! If it’s a mimic, we still have a little ammo!

Fine. But if it kills us, it’s your fault.

“WE ARE NOT HERE FOR THE KILLINGS, WE ARE JOURNALISTS!” Charlotte shouted eagerly.

“Don’t tell them that!” Amy hissed. “They probably won’t let us in if they think we’re going to take pictures!”

“Well, I am not lying. I am a journalist,” Charlotte sniffed.

“She’s horrible at lying,” Barbara admitted. “Her Ambition is ze Truth.”

From the other side of the door, Victoria heard a panicked voice.

See? They’re not a relief force! I’m not opening the door

.

Luther, you moron, mimics aren’t smart enough to be that stupid! Open the door!

“IF YOU DON’T OPEN THE DOOR, I’M GOING TO START LIGHTING FIRES UNTIL MY VISION GIVES OUT OR THE DOOR DOES!” Victoria shouted, pounding on the door as hard as she could and making her fist flare.

What? Don’t be stupid. Visions don’t make fire. The Pyro Archon isn’t here yet.

“Yeah, she is!” Mualani said excitedly. “Kū came and gave me and Vicky both Visions! Open the door, and we’ll show you, honest!”

“You guys are terrible at breaking in,” Amy sighed. “We should have told them we have medical supplies and a medic who can treat their wounded.”

Get out of the way. I’m opening the door. They sound like a bunch of kids, not Abyssal monsters.

Deirdre, you are going to get us killed! I keep telling you, we—

The door swung inward.

Vicky let out a cry of panic as all five girls spilled into the room beyond, landing in a heap, with herself on the bottom.

“Ow! Get off!” she gasped.

“Oh,” said a man, probably Luther. “It is a bunch of children.”

“I told you!” snapped a woman, who Victoria figured had to be Deirdre.

After a bit of scrambling, everyone got back on their feet. The two voices turned out to belong to a pair of scientists in stained lab coats: a middle-aged African-American man who was going a bit bald, and a woman who looked to be about Vicky’s parents’ age, somewhere in her mid-thirties. Both looked frightened and desperate. Between them, they had a single handgun with five elemental rounds left, along with a battery-powered lantern.

“You’re here to rescue us, right?” Deirdre pleaded, her eyes darting to the open shaft door. 

“We’ve been stuck down here for three days! We had to seal the doors. The PRT troopers told us to. The others… they didn’t get inside in time, and…”

She swallowed. “Did you see anyone out there?”

“Just monsters,” Victoria said, shaking her head.

“There were no bodies,” Amy offered hopefully. “So maybe they evacuated?”

“I just bet they did. Assholes,” Luther growled. “All right. Well, let’s get out of here.”

“No,” Charlotte said, her tone was as cold as her Vision. “First, you tell me what you did here. I want ze Truth. All of it.”

Both scientists flinched.

“Uh,” Luther said. “That’s classified.”

“There’s an island full of Abyssal monsters out there,” Mualani said, folding her arms over her chest. “You’re welcome to try to get out on your own. Or you can tell us why those monsters are here. Might make the difference when we try to escape.”

Her eyes narrowed. “With you, or without you.”

“No,” Victoria said, shaking her head. “Heroes don’t leave anyone behind.”

She stepped forward and gave her best salute. “I’m Victoria Dallon, daughter of Brandish and Flashbang. This is my sister, Amy Dallon, and our friend, Mualani Kalama. The two frogs are Barbara d’Orleans and Charlotte Lustria. They’re cool, though.”

Luther frowned. “I have no idea who any of those people are.”

“She mentioned New Wave,” Deirdre said. “That’s Brockton Bay, right? My sister, Penelope, lives there.”

“We transferred to Hawaiʻi under General Jones’s command last year,” Victoria explained, and 

the two scientists nodded.

“Well, we still can’t let a bunch of meddling teenagers investigate this facility,” Luther said. “It’s highly classified.”

Deirdre whirled on him.

“And why not, Luther?” she demanded. “Maybe the world should know what we did here. Maybe they should know about the first days. The sacrifices. The portal. What happened to the Director. The leaks. The mutations. The people we had to—”

“Deirdre!” Luther hissed, his eyes darting around. “If anyone hears you breathe a word of that, you’ll be Slugged, Birdcaged, or just shot in the head and dumped in the ocean!”

“Fuck you, Luther.” Deirdre turned to Charlotte. “Come on. It’ll be easier to show you.”

“I am innocent of this,” Luther said quickly, raising his hands.

He stopped when Mualani put the point of her spear to his throat.

“Uncle,” she said, her voice low and burning with rage, “you better start talking. Because da Abyss monsters? Yeah. They gonna be da least worrying thing in your life.”

“Mualani!” Victoria snapped.

But her friend didn’t flinch.

“You better start thinking like you gonna live long enough for da Hegemony to send you to one re-education center,” Mualani continued. “Because if I find out you helped summon da monsters that killed my cousin?”

Her spear pressed a little closer, and Luther leaned back, pupils shrinking to pinpricks of fear.

“Uncle, you right about da ocean. They never find your body.”

“Mualani!” Barbara snapped. “This is not justice.”

Mualani sneered. “Yeah? Maybe I make my own justice. Right here, right now.”

“No,” Barbara declared. “He may be a criminal. If so, he will stand trial. We are heroes. We do not execute people.”

Mualani growled, then lowered her spear. “Fine. Be that way.”

“I…I’ll show you,” Deirdre repeated, her voice trembling.

“Don’t be an idiot!” Luther hissed. “Stay quiet, and maybe we live through this. They’re talking about dragging us before an Archonist court and hanging us!”

Deirdre gave her colleague a flat look, then turned back to Victoria.

“You can drag me before Focalors herself. I’ll go willingly. Shit. I might even volunteer to become one of Farasha’s hounds, or serve the Rat King. My soul isn’t worth what I’ve done.”

Luther groaned and rubbed his forehead, but Victoria and her friends followed Deirdre as she lifted the lantern and headed down the hall.

“W-wait!” Luther gasped, hurrying after them.

He cringed as he fell in beside Mualani, who ignored him. “I…don’t leave me in the dark. The monsters…”

“If there are monsters down here,” Mualani said flatly, “can’t be as bad as you.”

Both scientists cringed. Neither argued.

They came to a laboratory, and Deirdre retrieved a few glowsticks from her pocket.

“I was saving these for when the battery ran out,” she said. “No point now.”

She shook the sticks, then bent them until they flared to life, flooding the room with a cold chemical glow. She tossed one, and it rolled across the floor.

Victoria sucked in a breath, her eyes going wide with horror.

Cages.

Rows and rows of cages, with dark Abyssal crystals set above the iron bars. The floor was stained like a slaughterhouse, and wicked runes had been carved into the concrete.

“This is where we began with animal test subjects,” Deirdre said, her voice going flat in that way people spoke when they were trying not to feel anything at all. She pointed. “Rats there. Pigs there. Dogs.”

Her voice broke. “The dogs were the worst. They were so friendly. I... I tried to be kind to them...”

“They were lab animals,” Luther said flatly. “Bred for science. Raised for testing. Better them than human experimentation.”

Rage began to build in Victoria’s chest, her fists shaking.

Deirdre turned to her coworker.

“We did those too, Luther,” she said quietly. “How many?”

Victoria stared at her. Human experimentation? 

“No,” she whispered.

Then the word ripped itself out of her throat. “NO!”

Flames leaped from her hands, her rage giving her Vision fuel. She screamed and screamed, sending waves of fire through the room, charring the crystals to ash, turning the cage bars white-hot, and burning the old blood from the floor.

When she finally stopped, she turned to Luther. Her voice had gone small.

“She... she’s lying, right?” she pleaded. “You didn’t... not the dogs. Or people... we... we’re the Americans. The Protectorate. We... we’re the heroes.”

The still-burning fires cast strange shadows across Luther’s face. He looked down at Victoria, but he could not meet her eyes.

“Kid,” he said, “I ain’t ever thought America was the good guys. What we did here...” He swallowed. “It makes the whole country’s history before it look downright saintly. There were no heroes here. We killed the last one ourselves.”

Victoria raised her fist, flames igniting along her arm. She drew back, ready to put her fist straight through this monster.

There were two kinds of people. Heroes. And villains. And if you weren’t a hero—

“Vicky, no!”

She froze as Amy put herself between Victoria and Luther.

The scientist just stood there, shoulders slumped, his expression defeated. He was guilty. Victoria could see it. He had done it. He had killed dogs. He had used people, like… like…

Amy spread her arms, her expression determined. “This isn’t you, Vicky,” she said. “This isn’t what a hero would do.”

Slowly, Victoria lowered her fist. The flames guttered, then died.

“But… Amy, if we did this…” Her voice cracked. “Then we’re evil. We’re the bad guys. How could I ever call myself a hero when my own country did this?”

Amy gently wrapped Victoria in a hug.

“My… biological father,” she whispered. “He was Marquis. I never told you that.”

Victoria went stiff, jerking back to stare down at her sister in horror.

There were tears in Amy’s eyes, but she did not let Victoria go.

“You know who he was. The bone manipulator. He killed twenty-eight people. Four heroes. Glassjaw, Blue Jacket, Wether, and Redoubt. I looked it up.”

“No,” Victoria babbled. “No, there’s no way. You’re a good person, Amy. I love you. My sister can’t be- you heal people.”

“That’s right,” Amy said. “I do.”

She held Victoria tighter. “Because my dad? My dad is Mark Dallon. Not Marquis. I choose to be like him, Vicky. Not like… him.”

Victoria started sobbing, and Amy had to lower her to the hot concrete. Victoria’s whole body shook, her vision dimming.

This couldn’t be.

None of it could be.

She blinked through tears and looked up at Deirdre.

“This… this is a rogue lab, right?” she pleaded. “The Protectorate… President Alexandria… they don’t know. You hid this from them, right?”

Deirdre’s expression crumpled.

“The Director I mentioned?” she said quietly. “That was Director Costa-Brown. The First Gentleman himself. The President toured with him occasionally to check our progress.”

Victoria stopped breathing.

“They didn’t just know, Miss Dallon,” Deirdre said. “They ordered our research. They read every report.”

“You know all that new tinkertech?” Luther said, and there was a sick little hint of pride in his voice. “The frontline gear they say surpasses even what the Raiden Shogun can forge?”

He gave a humorless smile. “Our work. We made it. Straight from the Abyss.”

Victoria hung her head, gasping for breath. The only thing keeping her from collapsing completely was Amy’s steady embrace.

“You’re not them, Vicky,” Amy whispered. “You’re a hero because of what you choose to do. They’re evil because of the choices they made.”

She swallowed. “Just like… just like our parents. Mom and Dad chose to come here. To serve under General Jones. Maybe they didn’t know everything. Maybe they only guessed. But the Lightkeepers don’t use standard PRT gear.”

Amy looked toward the burned cages, then back to Victoria. “Now we know why.”

“But… but the General…” Victoria gasped. “She knew. She knew, and she still allowed this. She still—”

Her voice broke. “She compromised.”

“Yes,” Amy said. She slowly helped Victoria back to her feet, her eyes hard. “We tell Dad. He has to know the truth. He has to.”

Victoria swallowed. “I… I’ll still have you, right?” she whispered. “No matter what. You won’t…?”

“Never,” Amy said.

Then she turned to Charlotte, who was quietly recording, and looked straight into the camera.

“This is what the Hegemony did.”

Amy turned back to Deirdre. “Show us the rest. Quickly.”

The next room was the human experimentation lab.

Victoria couldn’t listen. She vomited noisily and messily when Deirdre began to explain how they had used condemned prisoners, or people taken from other realities, and exposed them to Abyssal energy.

The initial mortality rate had been high. Brutally so.

Mualani and Amy sat with Victoria outside the lab while Luther and Deirdre gave Barbara and Charlotte the grim tour. When they exited the room, even Charlotte looked pale, her mouth still wet from vomiting.

“Zis is… enough,” Charlotte gasped, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “I will publish, but… no more.”

“You are fortunate,” Barbara told Luther and Deirdre. 

Both scientists looked haunted now. Luther had lost his detached professionalism and looked like the shell of a man. Deirdre had tears leaking down her face.

“How?” Deirdre croaked.

“I will give you to Focalors,” Barbara said grimly. “She does not believe in ze death penalty. You will live.”

Luther laughed bitterly. “Kid… that ain’t as much of a relief as you might think.”

“Let’s go,” Victoria managed, getting to her feet and wobbling slightly. “We’ve got to—”

Red lights suddenly flickered on, followed by a faint hum. A moment later, emergency strips lit the floor.

Alert… alert… containment breach. All personnel, evacuate immediately. Alert… alert… containment breach. All personnel…

“Merde,” Charlotte growled. She shoved the two scientists forward. “RUN!”

The seven of them pounded down the corridor toward the way they had come in. Deirdre pointed them toward the elevator, now powered up and humming.

“Quick!” she shouted. “It’s the fastest way!”

They scrambled inside, Deidre desperately swiping a keycard in a reader and slamming the button for accent. The elevator jerked into motion, and Victoria held her breath, terrified something would cut them loose, or they’d get stuck, trapped in this ghoulish abomination until the monsters came and devoured them. 

Thankfully, they made it to the top and scrambled out. That, however, was where they froze.

The barrier was still holding, but the place where Victoria had snapped off one of the poles was vulnerable. A trickle of Abyssal monsters were forcing their way through, and several snarled and bounded toward the group, leaving behind the wrecks of their last two gardemeks.

Charlotte and Barbara froze the attackers, and Victoria shattered them with her fists, but more kept coming.

And beyond the barrier… There were hundreds. Thousands. Rifthounds. Giant lawachurls. Hilichurls.

And beyond them all was the biggest Rifthound Victoria had ever seen. The thing was massive, easily fifty feet long, and it slowly snaked through the air, eyes glowing with ominous golden light.

It bayed. The monsters at the barrier roared, scratching and snapping at the shield, which began to flicker.

“What… what do we do?” Amy asked, eyes darting around.

“We stand and fight!” Mualani declared. “For the ʻāina!”

“We die like heroes,” Victoria said grimly, stepping in front of Amy.

“We…” Charlotte sighed, pulling out her phone. “Make a phone call.”

“Are you crazy?” Luther groaned. “There’s no service here!”

He turned to Deirdre. “Give me the gun.”

“I’m a better shot than you,” she said, her grip tightening around the pistol.

“Not for the monsters!” Luther bellowed. “I’m going to blow my own brains out! If you’re smart, you’ll do the same!”

“Allô ? Furina? Oui, c’est moi. Oui, j’ai des ennuis. Où ? Kahoʻolawe. Euh… viens vite, s’il te plaît. Je crois que j’en ai peut-être un peu trop fait, juste pour cette fois,” Charlotte said, far too calm for the situation they were in.

Barbara sighed. “Do not kill yourself.” She wrapped the gun in a Hydro bubble and ripped it from Deirdre’s hands.

Luther stared at her. “Are you insane? A bullet’s better than the Abyss!”

Charlotte kept the phone to her ear, listening. “No, no, I am not dead. Yes, Barbara is fine, too. But, ah… perhaps hurry?”

“Barbara,” Victoria snapped, punching another hilichurl hard enough to send it staggering back, smoldering and shrieking. “Who is she calling?”

Barbara winced. “Look. You really cannot tell anyone. She is still hiding.”

“Tell anyone WHAT?!” Victoria snarled. “We’re going to die, Barbara!”

“But we die like heroes!” Mualani declared, jabbing her spear into another Rifthound.

Barbara looked past them, toward the failing barrier and the endless horde beyond it. Then she said, very quietly, “Her stepmother.”

The ground began to shake. The earth bucked so violently that even the Rifthounds whined and struggled to stay upright as they floated. The great alpha snarled and twisted around, while Victoria fell right on her ass.

“HON HON HON!” Charlotte crowed, propping herself up on one elbow. “Mualani, do you like ze surfing?!”

“What the HELL does that have to do with ANYTHING?!” Mualani gasped, curling into a ball and covering her head.

Victoria looked up. Her jaw dropped.

“Oh. Fuck.”

A wave so massive it blotted out the sun itself was roaring across Kahoʻolawe. It stretched as far as Victoria could see, horizon to horizon. The sheer size was not even the most insane thing about it.

At the crest of the wave stood a woman formed from living Hydro, a crown on her head and a pistol in her hand. She was looking directly at Victoria.

The woman grinned and winked at her. 

Victoria closed her eyes and accepted death.

Water crashed all around them. Victoria expected to be pulped, then drowned.

Instead, a gentle mist fell over her, soothing away her aches and pains even better than Amy had. Waves lapped around her, but they only lifted her gently, wrapping her in a warm embrace and carrying her up to the crest.

“CHEEEEEHOOOOOOOO!” Mualani shrieked, laughing and pumping her fist as she rose up on a surfboard made of water.

Victoria’s legs shook as she slowly stood up. She wanted to cry, but decided to laugh instead. She was alive, Amy was alive, and that was what mattered. She did her best to hang ten, and cried out, “KOWABUNGA!”

“I’m not going to die, I’m not going to die, I’m going to be fine, I’m not going to die,” Amy panted, belly-down on her own surfboard and clinging to it with all four limbs as they raced across the rest of the island and out into the ocean.

Deirdre and Luther were on surfboards as well, though Luther was in a similar position to Amy, sobbing with relief, while Deirdre knelt on hers and looked around in wonder.

Charlotte.

The reporter froze, sheepishly turning to the Hydro Archon, who was sitting atop a small wave and glaring down at the suddenly meek teen, a tea cup pinched delicately between thumb and forefinger.

 We need to talk. I am going to go grey early at this rate. 

“Um, ’ello, Lord Focalors,” Charlotte said, a weak smile forcing its way onto her lips. “Eh… fancy meeting you ’ere. Ah, we have not seen one another since… um… Casablanca, oui?”

The Hydro Archon gave Charlotte a hard glare.

“Hold up,” Victoria said, eyes forward as she focused on keeping her balance. They were racing across the waves toward Maui now, the wave a much more reasonable six feet high. “You said you came with that troupe of French actors, right?”

The Hydro Archon groaned and put one hand to her head. Charlotte.

“I told zem nothing!” Charlotte protested, one hand over her heart.

“Oh my gods,” Mualani gasped, her eyes wide as she stared at the Hydro Archon. “Are you for serious? You’re that French haole lady! The one who makes da videos! Furina de Fontaine!”

I let you out of my sight for five minutes! Furina roared, geysers spouting all around them. Five minutes! And then you and Barbara steal a boat! I barely even got those gardemeks to you in time! Then you’re off to Oʻahu, and I lose track of you in the chaos. Do you have any idea how many Abyssal portals I had to purify?!

Charlotte shrank lower on her surfboard.

And then you call me from the one place, Furina continued, the one singular place, I told you under no circumstances were you to go, young lady! I am having a talk with your sister, and then I am putting you in a box and locking you somewhere under the Seine for the rest of your life!

“I… um, I ’ave the evidence,” Charlotte said, holding up her camera and pointing to it. “And witnesses! Zhey will testify! For, um, ze court case? And perhaps… a very small article…”

Charlotte! Furina raged. We cannot publish an exposé explaining how the Abyss was summoned!

The voice was familiar now, and Victoria still could not believe it was the same one she had heard singing from Mina’s CDs.

“Why not?” Charlotte demanded. “Ze Truth must be known!”

“Charlotte,” Barbara sighed. “Because if we publish how to summon ze Abyss, some idiot will do it.”

Charlotte opened her mouth. Then she closed it. And started pouting.

Barbara gave her a tired look. “We publish what zhey did. We publish who ordered it. We publish what it cost. But we do not publish ze recipe for ending ze world.”

Furina’s watery form pointed sharply at Barbara. Yes, thank you! At least one of you two has a head on her shoulders. At least some of the time, anyway. Your punishment, young lady, I leave to your mother.

It was Barbara’s turn to wilt, but unlike Charlotte, she shook herself, and squared her shoulders. “I ‘ave nothing to apologize for. I acted with ‘onor, and brought Justice.”

Be that as it may. You will find actions have consequences. Some of which, I fear you cannot begin to understand. 

The Archon turned to Victoria and smiled. Thank you for helping to keep these two overeager idiots alive, at least. What is your name, young lady?”

“I…I’m Victoria Dallon…Lord Focalors,” Vicky said, casting her eyes down.

A gentle hand touched her chin, and she jerked upright to find Furina smiling at her. She was no longer in the form of a Hydro god, but instead looked like, well, maybe the most beautiful woman Victoria had ever seen, but still a woman. 

“You saved my daughter’s life. You have no need for such formality, Victoria. I am glad to see that true heroes still call this land home. I had begun to fear that Justice was lost, and all was corrupted within the Hegemony.”

The words hit Victoria like a slap. Alexandria, the woman she had admired most, maybe even more than her own mother…was a traitor and a villain, who authorized human experimentation. Hero, the greatest Tinker alive, used his powers to create new ways to torture and kill dogs. And General Hannah Jones, the woman who claimed to be Duty itself…let that lab fester right in her backyard. 

“No,” Victoria said, clenching her fists. “You’re right. Justice is dead here. And the heroes I believed in are lies.”

“Not all of them. Don’t forget Mom, and Dad, and Uncle Neil and Aunt Sarah,” Amy said quietly, gingerly getting to her feet. She was looking green again, and Furina gave her a pitying look.

“Oh, you poor thing. Sea sickness? Here, this should help.”

Victoria would have expected a god to produce some miracle elixir. Instead, Furina retrieved a roll of pills from a very ordinary looking purse and gave one to Amy, who accepted it gratefully.

“So long as you three girls live, I think you will find that your homeland still has heroes to call its own,” Furina said, giving them a sad smile. “But I must caution you: I have seen this story play out before. It did not end well for Khaenri'ah, and cost Egeria, the first Hydro Archon, her life. You must fight for your home with everything you have, if you wish to preserve the lives of those you love.”

“You…you’re like, Nāmakaokahaʻi. Are you…are you gonna help save Hawai’i?” Mualani asked desperately. 

“I have done what I can. These waters are not mine to claim, nor am I your own god coming back to you,” Furina said, shaking her head. “My home is in France, and perhaps a few other places, but this is too far from them for me to hope to claim.”

“But…you are an Archon, right?” Victoria asked, uncertain.

Furina sighed. “Yes, and that makes me both more and less powerful than you are likely thinking. Ultimately, I am a woman. A woman who cannot even get her unruly stepdaughter and her co-star to NOT go off on an insane quest onto an Abyssal-corrupted island!”

“You came when we called. That…that means a lot,” Victoria said, feeling tears in her eyes.

Furina stepped forward and gave Victoria exactly what she needed: a very motherly hug, and a kiss on the top of her head. “In a way, you are our children, you know. I think that’s why we give you Visions: So that you can grow, and learn, and stand on your own. But, like parents, when our children need help, and call for us…we do come, if we can. That won’t change. Even should a Cataclysm claim your land…we’ll come, Victoria. All seven of us.”

“I…thank you,” Victoria hiccuped, squeezing Furina back.

Furina smiled and stepped back, then gestured to the shore they’d been floating near. “Well, this is your stop. I’ve already gathered up the rest of my company and packed them off to Japan, where I have business I must attend to. This is not the only Broken Land. I am afraid this is where we must part ways, at least for now.”

“Charlotte, Barbara? I’ll give you a moment, but only that.”

Charlotte sprang forward and nearly tackled Amy in a hug, then did the same to Victoria and Mualani. “I will miss you! You crazy Americans! Zhis was horrible and terrifying and magnifique! And ze journalism we did!”

Charlotte kissed her fingers. “Incredible! We must collaborate again!”

Barbara was a little more reserved, but she hugged each of them and kissed them on each cheek.

“Furina is not the only one who will answer if called,” she said. “The House of Orléans claims no thrones… but we remember what Justice is.”

Then her solemn expression turned into an impudent grin the equal of one of Charlotte’s. “Oh, and I will invite you to our private group chat. We must talk!”

“If the filter doesn’t block it, I promise to text every day,” Victoria swore.

Barbara winked. “I might know a dragon or two who can help with that.”

A day ago, Victoria would have thought that was a joke. Now, she just hoped Barbara meant one of the real Dragons, and not that little jerk Ajaw.

“What about them?” Mualani asked, jerking a thumb at Luther and Deirdre.

“Ah. Yes. I suppose I cannot put this off any longer,” Furina sighed, and turned to the two scientists. Her mien changed, and while she did not resume her Hydro guise, a mortal woman was replaced by the God of Justice.

How do you plead?

Deirdre broke down weeping, and fell flat on her face in the water, which bore her up. “Guilty! I…I deserve death! I…I won’t ask for mercy. I just…if there’s anything I can do…any way to pay even a little back…I’ll do it.”

Luther put his hands behind his back, and stuck out his jaw. “You have no right to judge me. I won’t say I’m proud of what we did…but humanity can’t rely on you gods. You showed up too late, and have done too little. And some of you are downright dangerous. Even you, little miss actress. You summoned a wave that could wipe out the entire Hegemony coastline. So yes. We delved into the Abyss. Maybe too deep. But we needed a weapon. I say we found one.”

Victoria ground her teeth, while Mualani snarled in outrage. Even Amy looked downright murderous, and Deidre looked at Luther with horror.

Very well. This is your sentence. I find Dr. Deirdre Black…Guilty. Your sentence is thus: You ask to repay your debt? Very well. You are sentenced to Rebirth, as one of the Hounds of War, under Farasha. I will send you to her now. But know this: You will be called back to the land you cursed, one day. And it is then you shall be truly weighed. 

Deidre bowed her head, and was taken by wave, sent off to the east, towards where the cursed legion of Hellhounds served their mistress in the fires of war. 

Furina said, turning fathomless eyes upon Luther. And as for you… you deny my right to judge you?

“I do,” Luther said, though his voice shook now.

Very well. Then I will not condemn you.

For one wild moment, hope flashed across his face.

Furina’s expression did not change.

But neither shall I grant you absolution. You will be delivered into mortal custody, along with the evidence of your crimes. Let the people whose children you fed to the Abyss decide what justice demands.

Luther went pale.

“What? No, I—”

A wave closed around him, and Luther was dragged away, out of sight.

You wanted humanity to stand without gods, Furina said softly. Then stand before them.

“Where…were is he going?” Amy asked, sounding uncertain.

A small town in the Meili Snow Mountains, where a Crane holds sway. She is jealous of her chicks, and several children under her protection were taken to that cursed laboratory. She will allow the parents of those children to judge Luther. A tear trickled down Furina’s cheek, and she shook her head. I despise the death penalty. But Dr. Luther Kirkpatrick asked for mortal justice. He shall have it. 

Victoria considered that. She glanced at Mualani, whose expression was even more merciless than the waves. They both nodded.

“Good.”

Amy seemed less certain, but didn’t argue. “And…us? What happens to us?”

“Someone awaits you on shore,” Furina said, pointing to a figure standing with hands in pockets on the beach. “I deliver you to them now. I would entreat you to keep my secret…but you are noble heroes of Justice. I will trust your judgement.”

“Dad?” Victoria asked hopefully. Furina gave her a sad smile, then with a gentle push, sent the three girls to the sandy shore. It was just like surfing, and Victoria eagerly rode the wave all the way in. 

As they approached, however, she recognized the figure on the shore. Not her dad, but someone else: a man with dark, shaggy hair, two floppy ears, and a bushy black tail. A Cryo Vision glowed at his breast, and his expression was grave.

“That’s Duke!” Amy gasped, pointing, and Victoria nodded, feeling worried.

Was she about to lose another hero? 

Duke stepped forward, helping the three girls from the waves and pulling them onto the beach. “Easy does it, luvs. Wasn’t rightly sure why Ajaw told me I ’ad to be ’ere right now, but ’ere I am, and ’ere you lot are! Now, Amy and Vicky I know, and… don’t tell me… Mualani, yeah? From the hospital?” 

“That’s me!” Mualani said eagerly, saluting. “Newly empowered badass Hawaiian warrior Mualani Kalama!”

Duke grinned and returned the salute british style, then slowly lowered his hand and sobered. “Yeah, see, that’s a bit of a bleedin’ Barney, that is.” 

“...what’s this got to do with Barney the Dinosaur?” Victoria asked suspiciously. 

Duke chortled. “Rubble, actually. As in Barney Rubble: trouble. I’m in a right fix, luv. Orders come down from up top: detain and interrogate every single Pyro Vision Holder.”

“Now, if Hanners were ’ere, we might ’ave a bit of wiggle room,” Duke said, grimacing. “She can stand up to the President and ’er lot, tell ’em to stuff it sideways, and somehow make it stick. But Hanners is still out of commission after ’er little scuffle in Rio. So…”

Duke spread his hands helplessly. “No dice.”

“Detain all Pyro Vision holders?” Amy asked, shaking her head. “But, why? Um, unless…do they know what we…um…”

Duke stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it about. “Sorry, luvs, ’earing’s gone a bit funny. So I certainly don’t ’ear you sayin’ nothin’ about raidin’ and razin’ no secret laboratory with a portal to ’ell on some island seven miles southwest of ’ere, yeah?”

He gave them a meaningful look. “’Cause if I did ’ear that, I’d ’ave to clap the lot of you in irons.”

“Oh,” Victoria nodded, understanding. “Right. So, uh, not considering things we didn’t do…why are you arresting us again?”

“Dunno. Orders from up top. Though, point o’ order: I ain’t arrestin’ you.” Duke glanced up and down the beach. “In fact, I come out for a nice little stroll along this ’ere shore, and funny thing… Didn’t find nobody. Sad, that.”

“Uh, thanks, uncle, but…why are you here, then?” Mualani asked.

Duke turned around, walking over to some rocks. He sat down, and gestured for the girls to do the same. They did so, and Duke clasped his hands. He looked down for a moment, and Victoria felt her heart beating faster. 

“Wish Tesbi were ’ere,” Duke muttered, shaking his head. “She’d know ’ow to do this proper.” 

Tesbi? Where had Victoria heard that name before? It was right on the tip of her-

“NO!” Amy suddenly screamed, standing up, her eyes wild. “No, he can’t! You, no, that’s- I just, I called him dad for the first time only a couple weeks ago!” 

Victoria’s heart plummeted, and tears began to flood down her cheeks. Amy collapsed beside her, and they both hugged one another. Mualani crept up behind, silently putting her arms around them and squeezing. 

“Wish it were just ’im,” Duke said quietly. “In your parents’ will, if anythin’ were to ’appen to ’em… you girls were to go to the Pelhams.” 

“U-Uncle Neil?” Victoria asked weakly. “A-Aunt…Aunt Sarah?”

Duke knelt down and wrapped both girls in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, luvs.”

Victoria went cold.

“Your dad. Mark. Neil and Sarah Pelham, too,” Duke said, his voice ragged with pain.

“They were deployed to Yuma. Apep hit the city. Comms only just come back, and they confirmed it.”

Amy made a small, strangled sound.

“And then…” Duke swallowed hard. “Then Yuma got Nailed.” 

He held them tighter. “Girls. I’m so bloody sorry.”

Victoria didn’t know how long she cried for, or how long Duke knelt in the sand with them, just holding on. When it felt like every tear had left her body, she dried her eyes, and got to her feet.

Amy was still shaking, Mualani hugging her. Duke looked as though he’d lost a week’s worth of sleep: the sunken eyes and sallow skin were surely the result of a dozen such horrific messages delivered. All three looked up at Victoria, uncertain and lost.

She gripped her Vision. She knew what she had to do.

Burn bright. Be a hero, her Ambition whispered. 

Mom, Dad…you showed me how.

“Where is the Pyro Archon?”