Chapter Forty-Seven: Finally...

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They found everyone outside. The sounds of fist against flesh and Bartholomew’s overbearing weight slamming on the ground could be heard from the second floor. Once outside, Aiden looked at the members of his group - his eyes lingering on his precious sister.

Before he said anything, he closed his eyes and followed his connection with Blizzy, searching. He didn’t know how long it took, but he eventually found a primal, hungry power that greeted him kindly. Aiden exerted his will over it, squashing that power down so that he didn’t assault the others when he spoke.

Returning, he saw Anna waiting with crossed arms. “Had to take care of the overwhelming aura thing before I talked to the rest of the group. I don’t know how strong everyone is and really don’t want to accidentally terrify them.”

Note to self, check up on that place again once things settle. His to-do list only continued to grow and grow with no sign of stopping in sight.

Cupping his hands, he yelled at Cloudy and Josh as they sparred, “Chill out for a sec’!”

They paused mid-strike, Cloudy’s fist inches from Josh’s ribs. Josh met Aiden’s gaze. “‘Sup?”

“Come here, all of you.” Aiden beckoned them over, sitting down on the Town Hall’s steps. They formed a semicircle around him, standing next to their regular partners. “On our shift, one of the natives visited. Not the Osh’Tika’Varu.”

“A woman with the power to warp minds,” Anna chimed in, clenching her teeth. “She’s dangerous, but through interacting with her, we gained a lot of information about our situation.”

Everyone in front of him reacted to the news in their own way. All playfulness left Josh and Cloudy, the former gripping the hand of his bat and the latter bouncing on the balls of her feet, her nostrils flaring and gaze focused.

Ian and Isaac were far more subdued, Isaac patting the younger boy on the back and scratching the side of his face nervously. James and Olivia held hands, giving each other knowing looks.

They’re getting close. When did that happen? Aiden wondered idly, but he couldn’t - and wouldn’t - be upset about it. All he ever wanted was for Olivia to be happy, so if James made her happy, who was he to say anything about it.

Once they all had time to get into the right headspace for the bomb he was about to drop, he continued. “We’re in a place called Midrath. I don’t know why or how, but our school was taken from Earth and brought here.”

Josh stepped forward. “Are you saying that the monsters might not be on Earth? That my family might be okay?”

The hope in his eyes crushed Aiden. “I don’t know. I really don’t think this is an isolated incident. I’ve seen a vision of a Shadowborn army marching through a portal to Earth - and I really hope that’s all it was - but I think things might be worse there.”

“Bullshit!” Josh swore, his arm tensing as though he might swing Bartholomew.

“Josh!” Cloudy sharply called, her hand gripping his wrist holding the weapon.

“Let. Go.” The fire blazed in his eyes, but she didn’t back down.

“Don’t shoot the messenger, you idiot. Look at them,” she said, waving toward Anna and Aiden. “They look like they haven’t slept in a week, and we all saw them out here doing just that earlier. How about you let them talk.”

Aiden nodded toward Cloudy, staring back at Josh as his nostrils flared and shoulders shook. Usually, Aiden could ignore the behavior, but he didn’t feel stable. The longer it took for Josh to back down, the closer he got to losing his patience.

And then he snapped, all semblance of control over his feelings losing out to the need to vent - to release the pent-up frustrations. Truthfully, he wished the monsters came. He needed the cathartic release of battle, but they never did come.

Two birds, one stone.

Pulling Silver from his pocket, he tilted his head toward the antagonistic boy. He clicked the back of his pen, allowing his knife to extend from the tip. Silently, he cast Icy Touch, a Shard appearing over his shoulder.

The tension building between the two could be cut with a knife. Aiden cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. He smiled at both of them, releasing his loose control over Apex Predator. Everyone flinched, though James seemed as affected as Anna. “Before we continue, would you care for a spar?”

Shuddering, Cloudy took two uncertain steps back, leaving Josh to balk before Aiden.

“Aiden, take it easy, man,” James said, grabbing Josh’s free arm. “Josh, chill out. Let him tell us what’s going on.”

At James’ prompting, Josh huffed an angry breath, stepping back. Aiden stared down at all three of them, barely holding himself back from attacking.

“Hey,” Anna whispered. She placed one hand on his back and the other on his wrist. “They’re not the problem. Avacyn is gone. We’re going to be okay.”

Closing his eyes, he reached deep into the connection with Blizzy and suppressed that primal presence again. Opening his eyes, he looked over all of them again. Sitting down on the stairs, he clicked Silver to revert the icy knife and looked up at Anna.

She took the hint, turning toward the others. “We’re in Midrath, a place between Earth and some other place. This information was revealed by a native, a mind mage. She’s dangerous, but it seems V’Yenya and Nin’Yala are more influential than we ever thought.”

She clenched her teeth in frustration. Aiden knew the feeling all too well, wanting to lash out. The feeling of being so helpless before the might of another was...

We need to get stronger.

“She got into Aiden’s head, showed him a vision of her past. Up there,” she said, pointing toward the peak of the mountain, “there’s some kind of throne. From what Avacyn implied, we’re all to help Aiden in his Quest to achieve some kind of destiny.”

“The more I hear, the more it seems like we weren’t brought here by accident,” James muttered, rubbing his temples. “If Aiden is a monster, just how powerful is this woman?”

The question hung in the air, a guillotine waiting to descend. Even though Aiden suppressed his tyrannical aura, the pure indignation oozing from him soured everyone’s mood. Olivia crouched before him, laying her head on his knee.

“The Quest is almost over, Aiden. I know you’re tired of waiting, angry at the uncertainty of everything, and feel violated. We’re here for you, even if we may not always agree. We’re a group, a team, and we have to support one another if we’re going to get through this and complete the Quest.” She spoke softly, doing her best to comfort him.

He didn’t respond, instead choosing to rub at the immense pressure behind his eyes. The stress is gonna kill me.

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The evening came and went. Aiden stayed awake through the night to watch for any last-minute attacks, but nothing ever came. As the minutes counted down, he expected something, anything. Feeling like a bundle of nerves, he nearly collapsed in relief when the Quest’s timer finally ticked down to zero.

Destiny Quest: Gate Hub II completed!

“Kind of anticlimactic,” Isaac muttered.

“I won’t complain,” Ian said, chuckling nervously.

Additional Reward: One Immaterial Realm Summon has been rewarded!

Immaterial Realm Summon? What does that- A scroll of golden parchment and silver twine appeared in front of his face, quickly followed by the follow-up Quest. He grabbed the scroll and read the details of the new Quest.

Destiny Quest: Gate Hub III
Requirements	Use the Immaterial Realm Summon.
Reward	Quest: Gate Hub IV Contribution Board
Additional Reward	???

Guess we’re about to find out.

Before he used it, he looked around to see everyone receiving different rewards - most of it different forms of clothing.

Isaac got a blackened piece of leather that covered the lower part of his mouth and a dagger. He’s really going to look like a rogue soon.

James got a chainmail chest piece with a steel longsword. Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen James fight. I might have to spar him...

Continuing his observation, he saw Ian holding a bronze cuirass, similar to the ones in Greek mythology. Aiden rushed over to help him put it on, lifting it over his head and pulling the leather bindings close.

Once that was taken care of, he turned around to see Olivia holding a rapier.

“Well, that’s unexpected.” When he thought of Olivia’s skill set, he thought it would make the best use of a weapon capable of slashing and stabbing, but whatever entity governed the rewards had to know something he didn’t.

She also had two silver boots with small wings at the heel, reminiscent of Hermes. Greek mythology making an appearance. But why?

Looking back at Ian, he realized the boy also had two shields. Shaking his head, he returned to Ian and helped him strap both the shields on his forearms. This can’t be practical.

Ian tapped a button on the round shields, and they snapped closed, the plates stacking on Ian’s arm. Pressing the button again, the plates snapped open back into the round shield.

“Okay,” he muttered. Pressing the buttons a few more times, he smiled. “I could get used to this.”

Aiden pat the boy on the back, turning around to see Anna. She was in the process of putting leaf-shaped earrings on, picking up a staff that rested against the steps.

“How do I look?” She did a little spin, chuckling at herself. “Apparently, both of the items empower control.”

“Can I see it?” he asked, reaching out for the staff.

Along the length of the staff, two verdant gems and one clear gem were embedded into the center of the wood. To either side, he noticed different Patterns.

Two new Patterns observed!

Well, I’ll be damned. He ran his fingers over the different shapes that the gems were socketed into. Whoever made this knows more than I do, that’s for sure.

He handed the staff back to Anna, admiring the way the green of the leafy earrings made her tanned skin and amber eyes pop.

“I didn’t get anything fancy, but I do have this,” he said, holding the golden Summoning scroll up for her to see. “The next Quest even involves using it.”

She looked behind her at the Town Hall. “Think it can wait?”

Nodding, he calmly walked into the Town Hall with her. The second they were out of sight, they both tore through the main hall, taking the steps upward two at a time. They reached the fourth floor in record speed, Blizzy chirping behind them and leaping and bounding after.

They only slowed once they reached the door that led into the Hub room. Looking at Anna, his hand shaking, he pushed the door open so she could enter first. Once she was through, he wasted no time following her inside.

Walking to the edge of the descending stairs, he held his breath as he took one more step forward. His foot past through the prior boundary and landed on the first step down. Letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, he turned to Anna.

Then they both quickly descended the dozen stairs toward the Town Control Hub. Before he made it, a notification popped up.

Congratulations, Aiden Pearce!

You are now the Gate Leader!

“Wha-”

Gate Leader Introduction!

The Town Control Hub is the Gate Leader's only way of managing the Town magically. The further the Town Control Hub advances in Tiers, the more options become available. This includes but is not limited to buildings, travel options, and negotiating established agreements with foreign or domestic entities. The Hub's Tier determines the maximum Tier of the rest of the Town's buildings. At the cost of Essence and Cores, buildings can be bought from the Contracted race and magically implemented. Manual labor can be used to upgrade the Town. If a Gate Leader is defeated, the ownership goes to the one that defeated them. A Gate Leader can surrender ownership of the Town Control Hub, but they may never again lay claim to it.

Aiden gawked at the information. He hadn’t even touched the Town Control Hub when the prompt appeared, so Anna stared at him, very much confused. There were no words to explain everything tucked into that notification, so he simply shared it with her.

“Oh, this is good,” she said, smiling. She read through it again. “It’s also not. I wonder if natives will come here to challenge your rule over whatever this ‘Gate Hub’ is.”

“Do you think it might be the Ruler’s throne? It is part of the Quest chain, and I haven’t seen anything named ‘Gate Hub’ yet. Only this and different affiliated Hubs.”

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