Seventy-one

Now, I need to find out more about my brother, if Apple knows. He is young, and this might be a dead end but I have to try.

" Bartholomew," No wonder he is so angry with the world. They named him Bartholomew. I'd be too.

When he hears the name, Apple purses his lips together," I'm afraid that I do not have much to offer in regards to your brother. He has been working from the shadows for a very long time. Only recently he has made his existence known to the Daiō. He is a martyr and a hero for having survived your mother. Not many have. Alizee has ruled the Daiō with an iron fist. The annals," Mason bursts out laughing, while Apple gives him a puzzled look, filled with confusion and a touch of bitterness. It is so noticeable after watching him smile for so long.

Nudging Mason's foot under the table, he looks at me, teary-eyed - from laughing so hard, no less- and offers me a feeble apology. He is not sorry, not in the least.

Still laughing," My most sincere apologies Apple. Please continue," Apple preens at the apology, and it seems that Mason's show of humility might have smoothened his ruffled feathers- if he has any.

" Of course. The annals-" Mason coughs at my side only to hide the chuckle that just slipped. I look over my shoulder and notice that the entire room is listening to the story Apple is telling. Whether it is the compelling softness of his voice or the fact that he is a child speaking such big words.

Fed up with Mason's antics, I elbow Mason in the ribs where I know there is a superficial wound. He groans and gives me a wicked side-eye before straightening and nodding at Apple to continue.

Clearing his throat, Apple raises his chin, defiantly," The ann-…the records state that, when she began massacring her own kind, the Daiō rebelled, due to fear of meeting the same fate," He heaves a heartfelt sigh, one that tells me that Apple is holding the weight of the world upon his tiny shoulders," The Manani helped…our betrayal was and still is unforgivable, mistress," He frets," I'm here to make amends for my forefather's mistakes," Ahh…that explains his unwavering show of loyalty.

Mason sighs," You don't have to do anything, " He rises from his seat," Ancient history is nothing more than a warning from beyond the grave. We don't intend to make the same mistakes," He brings our joined hands to his lips and kisses the back of my hand," As for you. You are free," Apple opens his mouth to vociferate, but Mason carries on as soon as Apple opens his mouth again to speak.

" Return to your kind, wherever they dwell and pass this message along on our behalf. When the time comes, stand aside. Do not interfere. This is our battle, not yours," Apple nods, and vanishes from the room the same way he appeared. His powers seem to be limitless.

Just as Mason turns to the room to speak, Laira comes back with Aaron on her tail, carting what I asked her to make. A Faraday cage. It's nothing complex, or intricate. It's simple, but it will have to do. Shay doesn't possess great strength just the ability to teleport, so the cage will keep him from aiding my brother in his time of need.

She looks around the room a few times, and in the end, she locks eyes with me and raises a brow, " Hmmm…Lily…where is Apple?" She asks crossing her arms over her chest, and begins tapping her foot.

" He has offered all the information we needed. We sent him away," Mason answers for me, just as Aaron drags the cage in front of us.

" Not fair," She huffs, and David slides next to her with a glass of water.

" You've been working so hard, you must be parched," He offers her the glass with a sly smile.

With furrowed brows, she nabs the glass from his hand and drains it in one go, " Thanks. Can I get another one?" She asks sweetly, and David readily complies. I can't believe that she still hasn't forgiven him. 

" Now, where do you need this thing?" Aaron is the one to ask the question, just as Jacqueline, and Eric join the fold.

" In here," I say and Eric steps forward.

" Over my dead body. My daughters are in here. You are not keeping that thing in the same room with my children," Fair point.

" If I may," Jacqueline chimes in," This is the only place that Shay can't penetrate. We have no choice. We just have to time things right. It won't be here long, will it?" She asks just as David returns with the glass of water and hands it to Laira.

" We have to turn off the electricity for him to pass through. Once he is in, we can turn it back on," Laira offers while Eric groans in exasperation.

" This place is not foolproof. Apple made it without any trouble. Who is to say that others won't be able to do the same?" Aaron says, " This is the money shot, and we have to take it. But we can't allow any mistakes. If you want to go against your brother and end this, then this has to be executed with surgical precision," Aaron reasons and we all fall into deafening silence

No more fuckups. No more mistakes. We have everything riding on this plan. And sadly my brother holds all the good cards.

All I have is Mason and whatever is left of the order. Which is not many, I realise once I look briefly around the room and do a quick head count.

Laira claps her hands, and gains everyone's attention, " We better get moving then," She waves a hand at the contraption next to her, "Phase one is complete. Now we need to figure out what are we going to do about the rest," Good point.

I throw a glance at the blade in Mason's hand, and I can't help but feel downhearted. My brother has a hefty following and they will probably align with him when the time comes. Whatever plan we come up with, it better be state-of-the-art and executed flawlessly.

We need the element of surprise. I'm not going to force anyone to sacrifice their life for a cause that is not their own. So, whoever decides to join us in this futile venture needs to be on point.

" We need to go back to the academy," Eric is the one to break the silence, and we all look at him," The physics lab and Zareen have more than enough equipment to put us on equal ground with your brother. Laira has the engineering skills, and David is extremely apt when it comes to making it work, no matter how wildly impossible it is," Fair point. I'll take anything I can get. There is no such thing as a bad idea at this point. I'm willing to try anything that would give us an edge.

A short moment of silence falls, and since nobody objects to that idea we all split up. 

Eric returns to Emmeline and the twins, Aaron, Jacqueline, Heath and a few others huddle up for a debrief while Laira, David, Mason and I inspect the Faraday cage to make sure it will hold.

" Have you used fireproof materials?" Mason asks as he checks the bolt on the door.

Laira scoffs," Of course. Who do you take me for?" She waves him off and does of few checks on the welding points. 

" It will hold him, but not for long. So we need to time it right," Mason concludes while Laira glares at him from the other side of the cage.

" It will hold him for as long as it takes," She huffs, annoyed, and Mason smirks.

" Laira is the very best engineer the academy has ever had the opportunity to teach," David chimes in from behind Laira. He's sort of becoming her shadow. And I can understand why, but it's making things worse. 

Rolling her eyes, Liara steps away from David," I don't need you to defend me, David, " She storms towards the doorway and David sighs, dejected.

My gaze meets his, and all I have to offer is a shrug. I don't know how to help him. If I interfere on his behalf Laira might do my brother a favour and kill me herself.

I'd like to stay alive. That would be nice. So, no thank you for that.

Once he is finished scrutinising the contraption, Mason slides at my side " I'm going to have a quick word with Emmeline," He says quietly and I turn my head to look at him wondering what does he has to say to her.

" More secrets," I taunt and Mason shakes his head.

" I promised you…just smoothing things over. She has gone through a great deal to keep the twins from getting dragged into this…they both did. I just need to see how she is taking this…all of this. Without her saying so, Eric won't lift a finger to help," Good to know. It would be good to have Emmeline fight on our side, but I'd understand if she decides to sit this one out.

" Alright, but we need to go," He nods, and saunters away blade in hand towards the family of three.

" Uncle Kin," The girls squeal and scramble out of their parent's protective arms. Mason lowers the blade to the floor out of reach and opens his arms to welcome the girls. They are about Apple's age, with black hair, and fair complexion.

I catch a glimpse of David from the corner of my eye as he strides out of the room, the same way Laira went and I know that that conversation is not going to end well.

Aside from Enid, I notice that Ava is absent as well from the crowd, as Marie makes her way to me. Her throat has been tended to, and now is covered with the white strip of gauze, stained with blood.

" How are you, Marie?" I ask before she has a chance to say anything that is remotely kind and loving. Coming from her, feels undeserved.

With a half-shrug, she sighs," I've been worse," Quite the positive take on the whole situation but I'll take it. She doesn't seem upset, just resigned.

" I just want to say I'm sorry about all of this," I look around the room, and I realise I owe people a lot of apologies, but that will have to wait. There is a good chance that some of them will want nothing to do with me after this.

" Don't worry, dove. People have declared wars for less," She offers with mild apathy," I worry about Enid. I hoped that she would be with you. She stayed behind when Mason fainted," She says morosely and looks at the door. They've grown close since Marie moved to Morston.

" Do you have any idea why she has chosen to ally herself with my brother?" I ask as Marie takes her eyes off the door and looks at me.

" No. She never mentioned anything about you or that nutcase," She clasps a hand around her throat and gulps, fearful or perhaps the memory of the incident has not left an indelible mark on her" I don't understand. It doesn't make any sense. Enid loves you like her own daughter. Probably more than she loves Mason," The answer comes before she finishes that thought. There is nothing that my brother can offer to Enid that would change her mind. Unless she is a daiō. What kind of daiō? Mason has read the book so it might ring a bell to him. Although, I've never seen Enid display any sort of powers over the years.

That's something worth considering.

" It's alright Marie. We will figure it out. It will be over soon," I do my best to comfort her and she nods. One way or another, this ends.

Mason returns to my side and pulls Marie in for a hug. She is a wonderful woman, and we are lucky to have her, just like we had Enid until everything went awry.

" Food will be served soon. You need to eat and keep your strength. I'll get in touch with Antoine to let him know you're safe, " Mason says as he pulls away from the embrace.

Nodding Marie wipes a stray tear off, " He will be worried. I call him every other day. He doesn't like it that I stayed in Morston," Marie swipes another tear and lets out a heavy sigh.

" Stay here for the time being, and out of trouble," Mason smiles weakly and Marie nods just as the scent of food wafts to my nose. I'm starving but it will have to wait.

I don't think we will have time for dinner.

Gerald and Sophie join the conversation.

Sophie wraps me into a warm embrace and for once she doesn't bombard me with a million words per minute.

Gerald pats me on the shoulder and shakes hands with Mason.

" A long way from home," Mason says as he looks at Sophie trying to place her. I guess than haven't met before.

"We've never met before," He extends his hand in greeting and Sophie takes it.

" No, we haven't. But I've heard of you from Gerald. He speaks of you very often. I assume you are a dear friend to him. I work at one of his mines, and look after the men," Sophie doesn't waste any time and soon enough her incessant chatter dominates the conversation, with ease and grace.

" I've always wanted to be a doctor, but I like working in the mines. My family has been in the business for generations. We pride ourselves in the work that we do. It felt right, you know? To carry on the tradition, I mean," Gerald smiles at me. A smile filled with understanding. Sophie can talk, and that's something I kind of love about her. With her around, there are no awkward silences or getting bored.

" One day maybe," She sighs and Julian grabs her wrist," Soph, we should go have some food. Lovely to see that you are still breathing, Lily. As for you, you scamp. I can't wait for the day we will be rid of you," Gerald laughs as he drags Sophie with him towards the buffet table.

" Hmm…what just happened?" Mason asks as he watches the duo lean over the table, and chatter.

Shrugging," Welcome to Sophie's world," I chuckle, and Mason frowns at me, mildly puzzled and a bit amused.

" For a second I thought I was having a stroke and hallucinating, " He chuckles as he follows my line of sight.

" She spends most of the time in the mines. She lives in one of the mining colonies in Varan, and is in love with your dear friend Gerald," I fill in the gaps, as Laira storms back into the room crossed as a bear with David hot on her tail.

It's time to go. Obviously, captivity is bound to make everyone irritable and there is a good chance that everyone will tear each other apart if we don't get them out of here.

" Laira," David calls and Laira stops abruptly and spins on her heels," Enough, David. That's enough, already," She hisses through gritted teeth as everyone that will join us on this journey slowly begins to close the circle.

Sighing, Mason grabs my hand and gives me a curious look, " Ready?" He asks and I nod. Not ready, but I'll never be, so might as well get on with it.

" Hold on to something," Mason shouts before slicing the air with the blade, and I dig my heels hoping it will be enough to steady me.

Laira slides at my side just before the shockwave hits, and David gets thrown off to the floor, making Laira extremely happy.

" Move it, Winters," Mason shouts as the lab comes into view, and Aaron is the first to slip through, followed by Jacqueline, and the rest of us.