Chapter Forty-One

As Celeste died, the plants she grew into the facility faded with her, re-revealing the terrified children and scientists that were likely hoping their savior would win. None of the children appeared normal. For each and every one there was something slightly off about them. One had his entire body shrouded in black like a walking silhouette, two twins had some crazy looking eye colors, another had objects materializing and dematerializing around them. And the cowardly scientists had the gall to hide behind their subjects. I only had one question for them.

“Where is the third serum?” They looked around at each other with puzzled faces. I shot an icicle out into the eye of one of them, killing the scientist immediately. “Where?”

“T-There is no third serum!” A “brave” one said, stepping forward. I didn’t care. There was never a guarantee and I was aware of that, but I was about to get some practice in for the upcoming battles. 

“Then none of you are of use to me, are you?” I asked. 

“C’mon kids! We’re gonna get ya outta here,” Aura Ray said. Since she was the only normal-looking one of our group, the small group of kids gathered around her. “Okay! Time to look away!”

I walked up to one scientist and gutted him with an ice sword. He tried his best to hold his guts in as blood pooled out, but it was pointless as I backhanded his head, separating it from his body and sending it exploding against a white wall. The remaining three scientists screamed in terror and tried to run out of the lab room, but Rose and Adriel stood in their way.

“Die to her or die to us. Your choice,” Adriel said, letting a spark of lightning flash from his eyes. 

“No, they don’t get a choice. Just like these kids didn’t,” I said, crafting an ice spike on the ground that skewered a scientist in his lower back and protruded out his mouth. A female scientist--the only one among them--approached Rose on her knees and begged.

“PLEASE! You have guns! Kill me!” she said. Rose smiled and her raised cheeks popped out the top of her half-mask.

“Sure, hun.”

She summoned her dragon and proceeded to let it obliterate the cells of the female scientist before looking at the last one. Instead of trying to run or fight, he just plopped down on his knees and hung his head low. I had never seen anyone give up with such depressing effort. He knew there was only one out, and I gave it to him by stabbing him in the back of the neck and letting blood leak out before I sliced the ice sword up through the top of his head. His body stayed upright for a second or two, still in shock, then keeled over like the others. 

Aura Ray let the kids go and we gathered at the elevator. Proud of what I had done, I let the kids know everything was going to be alright as the silhouetted one looked up at me with a blank face and glowing white eyes.

“Don’t worry. The bad guys are gone,” I said.

“Aren’t you guys bad guys?” the girl of the twins said.

“We--”

What she said in this moment affected me more than I thought it should. Here we were, public enemies, criminals, domestic terrorists liberating kids from an organization that claimed to be fighting for the greater good and we were being called bad people by the ones that we would save. What bothered me more is that the question came from a child. If it came from an adult, there would clearly be some sort of meaning behind them saying this. Maybe they would be attempting to mess with my head, get in my brain, understand my thought process. It seemed like something the guy I met at the bar might ask. But this kid was asking simply because she believed we were what we’ve been portrayed as in the media.

I don’t know how much television they were allowed to watch or if it had something to do with brainwashing, but I wasn’t going to let it go until it was addressed. I bent over, lowering my upper body so I was her height and said everything with a forced and pained smile.

“Listen, you ungrateful little shit. These bad guys just saved your asses, so how ‘bout you show a little respect, huh? Or we will leave you here to be found by Asai and straight back to the testing you go.”

The twin hid behind Aura’s leg and I looked up at Aura who gave a shrug that I think said, “you had to say what you had to say. Not your fault.” I could have also been completely reading into that, but she didn’t seem upset with what I had to say. 

We reached the bottom floor, piled out, and gathered outside the front of the Keep where we came face-to-face with the only Noble alive that could reach us in time: Ardentia. She had no backup, so I stepped forward to face her one-on-one.