I had fallen asleep on the car ride back to Amaryllis. I didn’t know what necessarily caused to wake up, by my eyes drowsily opened to see it was still dark out. I could feel the head of soone pressed against my shoulder. At first, I thought it was Lilith, but at so point during the ride, she had managed to get off my lap and was sitting on Mia’s in the passenger front seat.
That left Cornelia, who was sitting next to . I looked down to see her nestled peacefully against . In the last twenty-four hours, her entire worldview had been decimated. She had been a loyal follower of the Amaryllis governnt and the extended Male Protection Act. Now, she had lost seemingly everything. We were practically fugitives, and the governnt she had once thought were the good guys were the very people that had given her trauma when she was in high school.
Yet, at that mont, lying against my shoulder, she looked extrely peaceful. Her breathing was regular, causing her chest to rise and fall slowly. Her soft lips were just slightly parted like she was anticipating a kiss. If just a bit of drool hadn’t fallen out and gotten my shoulder wet, I would have seen her as irresistible. I distinctly avoided continuing to look at her, instead, focusing out the window. That was when I started to notice an ominous orange glow in the distance.
I could hear blaring alarms in the distance, but they ca closer and closer. I saw the familiar flashing of a police vehicle. We pulled over, but they drove right past us, speeding toward the city at an alarming rate. As we got closer, I began to notice increasingly more traffic on the other side of the city, as if people were currently fleeing.
“Brooke.”
“I see it.”
The sounds of sirens had finally woken up Cornelia, who snorted, and then wiped her mouth. The other girls seed to be waking up as well. Brooke had been the only one who hadn’t gotten any sleep the previous night. I said previous because it looked like the sun was just starting to rise. By the ti we could see the city clearly, the sky was turning grey. However, it was clear the ominous orange was coming from the city as if massive fires had erupted. No, there were massive fires. The sky wasn’t grey. It was smoke!
“Huh? What’s going on?” Lilith had finally woken up. “Are we under attack?”
“The city is burning!”
Brooke flipped a switch, turning on the radio. A voice imdiately began to talk.
“Won are fleeing the city in droves. Nothing like this has ever happened before in the history of Amaryllis.”
“Exactly, Marge, what news have you gotten from the site.”
“There was recently a mass uprising at the local prison. It started early this morning when the prison was inexplicably attacked.”
“Attacked?” I leaned forward. “Mom? Hannah?”
“Shh!” Brooke hissed, turning up the volu.
“The governnt is urging everyone to stay calm. The prison was deliberately attacked by a group of terrorists known as Alyssum.”
“Now, my reports tell that the Alyssum is a remnant of the old lipstick lesbian gangs from before the Day of Wrath. Is there any confirmation they are related to the old WRA?”
“It’d be prudent to believe that they are.”
“Lies!” I shouted.
“Shut up!” Brooke snapped.
I forced myself to co down. In general, they didn’t let guys listen to the news and other such reports. All the stuff we received was filtered in the na of our protection. Even Cornelia’s apartnt locked out various channels and blocked radio signals. That ant that I only had a small bit of the whole picture when it ca to how the news spread and distorted the truth.
“Once again for those just tuning in, a massive prison breakout has been organized by known terrorists. They freed several high-profile prisoners including various man-haters and mbers high in the WRA. After breaking from the prison, the group didn’t escape the city, but instead launched an attack on the male district.”
“They have no sha! They must really hate n!”
“It’s not clear why they’d choose to attack one of the most secured areas of town.”
“They were successful though.”
“Reports are still coming in, but it’s believed they had so inside help. There must have been WRA mbers inside the periter who helped them get in.”
“This is just terrible. Surely, the city is doing sothing.”
“They did attempt to surround the district, but that all changed just thirty minutes ago when the entire district and parts of the factory district suddenly raised into the sky.”
Our eyes imdiately all turned to the area over Amaryllis where the male district had been. Low and behold, there was a new island that had never been there before. There were still dirt and various other things falling off the sides and raining down on the crater below.
“What in the world?” Brooke gasped.
“The sky?” The cohost asked in disbelief.
“This is not a rumor. This is confird information. A new flying island ford over Amaryllis.”
“How is that possible?”
“According to an insider, another island was being built, but shortly before launch they abandoned the project and buried it. Soone must have reactivated the engine and launched the island. Gas lines were torn, fires were ignited, and entire buildings were torn in two as the island tore out of the city. Once again, this only happened thirty minutes ago. It’s taken the majority of the prisoners, as well as the entirety of the male district.”
“This is really bad. Will the engines even hold out?”
“It’s unknown as to the quality of the engines. Naturally, if they believed they were capable of still launching, they wouldn’t have built them on the male district.”
“My ass… they probably planned to blow it all up to hide the evidence after they slaughtered everyone! They’d claim it was an accident.”
The girls all shot a glare at again, and I closed my mouth.
“Officials urge the public not to panic. If you are worried about the engines falling and the landmass collapsing on the city, please leave in an orderly and calm manner.”
Beep! Beep!
I looked across the street to see a massive traffic jam filled with panicked won. They were all trying to leave the city, convinced that the WRA was planning on dropping the island on the city. I was a little curious myself. Just what was Faeri planning? By that, I didn’t just an Lyra, but Hannah as well. I didn’t have any doubt that this so-called prison break had been executed by Hannah. If she knew about the sacrifice, that might have been why she went to prison in the first place.
I felt very irritated. It would have been nice if they had kept in the loop from the beginning. I wouldn’t have been in this situation now if I had known everything. Maybe that wasn’t entirely true, but it still irritated that they thought they had to keep out of everything. Looking over at Cornelia, I guess given my company it might have been difficult, but that didn’t stop from feeling a bit lost now.
“What are they currently doing? Right now, all of the n in the male district are in great danger.”
“They are currently assessing the situation and creating a team that they’ll be sending up there. The task force will be charged with rescuing as many n as possible. Rember, n must be protected at all cost.”
“Of course, but what about the greater risk to the city as a whole. This island fall seems reminiscent of an event that occurred on the Day of Wrath, where a WRA agent tried to drop an entire island on the city. This would have caused untold destruction. Is there a contingency plan set up like the mana pillars they erected last ti?”
“That should go without saying. The city’s mage council was able to cast a powerful spell, stopping the island’s fall and saving the city. Should a similar event occur today, the mages are naturally on standby to do the sa.”
“Mage’s council!” This ti it was Lilith who spoke out in outrage. “Those cheap bastards! It was who erected that tower.”
“I seem to rember helping.” I coughed.
Brooke let out a sigh and then flipped off the radio. At that point, the pair had just descended into a conversation about how great the governnt was and how they’d resolve everything. It was pure propaganda filth.
“That brings us to the next question,” she spoke up with a heavy voice. “What do we do next?”
“We’re going to the island.”
“How? The entire thing is probably blocked off now. They’ll be sending swat teams up there too.”
“Lilith?”
“I-I’m not a taxi!” She declared. “Ah… my knowledge never ca up with teleportation and transportation spells quite like Clyburn’s…”
That second part was spoken with a fair amount of reluctance. If she couldn’t do it, then she couldn’t do it. As for , I couldn’t fly, and my teleportation needed so kind of runic fixed point. I was racking my brain if I had rembered to leave any runes up there, and I ca up blank.
“What could we honestly accomplish if we went up there anyway?” Cornelia spoke up. “The Alyssum are already filled with ard won, and they have any number of hostages. A few more won, and a hand, won’t accomplish anything!”
“Accomplish…” My eyes brightened and I grabbed Cornelia and kissed her. “You’re a genius.”
“Ahh… wh-wh-what?” She turned red, pulling away from , but I had already leaned forward to the people in the front of the car.
“I have an old friend I need to see,” I declared.
I quickly gave Brooke the address and I asked for a phone. The girls didn’t have one, so we had to make a stop. It was Mia who went into the store and got it. Of everyone present, she was the only one who wasn’t on so kind of wanted list. Then again, it was probably known that she was traveling with Lilith, so even that might be true. I was hoping the city was in such a panic right now that this kind of thing didn’t matter.
She ca back in and tossed the bag to . “The store was empty, so I just took it!”
“What?”
She blushed. “I-I left money on the counter.”
“It doesn’t matter, just make your call already.”
I did, dialing the number hastily.
“Yes?”
“Allie?”
The voice paused for a mont. “Who is this?”
“Do you see the situation going on right now?”
“How could I not?” She responded, her voice sounding bitter. “However, I am no longer on the council. I was removed at the start of the Male Protection Act. If you were hoping to use my status as Senator, then you would be mistaken.”
“We need to talk, I-“
“Not on this line. Her favorite spot. et there.” Click.
I looked at the phone for a mont and then hung up. “Change of location.”
The traffic was abysmal, and getting through it took far longer than I had hoped. It was an hour later when we pulled in front of a small ice cream store. The place was closed up, and there was no one around. It wasn’t clear to if the place had just closed because of the city-wide ergency, or if it had been closed for a while. Either way, it looked pretty beat down and aged.
I saw a black car parked in the parking lot. It wasn’t clear who was inside because the windows were all tinted. For all I knew, it could be governnt officials coming to arrest . Would she do that? I wasn’t sure. I had to try though. I opened the door and took a step outside. The other girls moved to get out too.
“No. I’ll be having this conversation alone,” I told them.
I began to walk away from my car and toward the black vehicle. Finally, the door opened, and a familiar woman stepped out. She was in a business suit, and despite claiming she was no longer a senator, she looked the part. This was Ashley’s mother, Allie. She had been the one who had covered up Hannah’s transgressions during the Day of Wrath. She was why the city thought that it was the WRA that nearly knocked the island out of the sky, not a schoolgirl taking orders from .
If I had to guess, this cover-up was probably part of the reason they were able to remove her with the passing of the extended male protection act. However, I believed that she was a woman who genuinely believed in protecting n. Although she had been the one who sent abroad, she never could have predicted the pirates. She had a son whom she had lost, and then later a daughter who had died at the hand of those who wanted to hurt n. She had lost a lot in her life.
Still, I didn’t know how far I could trust her until this mont. The pair of us had kept our distance from each other as our connection had been a fleeting one. However, I called on it now, because I had no one else I could lean on.
“Clyburn,” she said as she approached .
If there was anyone else in the car, they similarly remained inside. The pair of us were standing in the middle of a barren parking lot for an outdoor ice cream stand.
“Ashley said that this place had the best ice cream,” I said, shaking my head.
She nodded with her eyes on like a hawk. “I may no longer be a senator, but I have enough pull to know that a warrant recently went out. You were placed as missing, and are a high priority target.”
“They don’t want to use the word ‘arrest’, huh? Well, an arrest would be accusing of doing sothing wrong, and they don’t have anything they could accuse , or any man of, other than wanting the sa rights won possess.”
“I was there on the day you gave that speech,” she admitted. “If it’s any consolation, I also voted against the MPA. That also sped up my dismissal. According to them, I was no longer soone who held the best interests of n in my heart. They said my feelings were cloudy.”
“They would…”
“What do you want, Clyburn?”
“I need a eting with the head of the Council, the Pri Minister of Amaryllis.”
Her eyes widened in shock and then turned into absurdity. “You what? Do you honestly think I can just snap my fingers and make a eting with her? Now of all tis? Why?”
“The WRA wasn’t arrested, and the won who currently hold the floating island aren’t the WRA.”
She frowned. “What are you saying?”
“It was a coup. They used the day of wrath to arrest any retractors. The won who were thrown in jail were those opposed to the WRA.”
Her eyes widened once again. “So of those nas… I knew it! They even tried to accuse of it. Had I not lost… they might have succeeded if the situation was different. What are you saying? The Amaryllis governnt is the WRA?”
“Not all of them, but enough that they’ve been able to control things for so ti.”
She shook her head. “This… this is so pretty hefty allegations. Do you have proof?”
“I don’t.” I saw her expression changing and I held up my hand. “That’s why I need a eting with the Pri Minister. Five minutes. Five minutes and I can get the proof we need.”
“Clyburn, what you’re asking to do is treason! I’d be lucky to be executed. More than likely, they’d lock away so I’d never see the light of day again.”
“In a few hours, ard won are going to storm that island,” I said, pointing to it, barely visible through the thick smoke and natural fog of Amaryllis. “They are going to imdiately begin killing the only ones who are trying to protect the city and the n in it. You haven’t seen the male district. It’s a derelict place where n are treated little better than dogs!”
She looked away, her expression sinking. “I’ve seen it. However, there is nothing I can do about it anymore. I no longer have any authority.”
“Can you make a eting with the pri minister?”
She vaguely shook her head. “Maybe… but…”
“Look, that slaughter isn’t the worst of it. That entire island is a giant summoning circle. The slaughter they’re about to begin will be a blood sacrifice, opening a portal and allowing demons to enter this world. If we allow them to succeed, then we’re all screwed!”
At this point, the expression on her face changed from reluctance to disbelief. I imdiately winced, realizing I had gone too far. Speaking about protecting n and lipstick lesbians and man-haters infiltrating the governnt was one thing. A conspiracy about summoning demons and taking over the world probably felt like pure fantasy. I had lost all of my credibility in a single swift move.
“I’m sorry, Clyburn,” she said the predictable line. “There is absolutely nothing I can do. There is nothing you can do for at this point that would convince to make such a stupid risk.”
“Are you sure about that?”
A new voice ca, causing both of us to spin in alarm. Allie grabbed at her belt, where she must have had so kind of weapon hidden away in her coat. However, when she saw a girl step out from behind the ice cream stand, her mouth fell open and her legs wobbled like she was about to hit the ground.
“A-a-a-ashley?” She gasped.
I was also shocked to see her. This was the forr demon Ash, who had been stalking since I had returned to Amaryllis. I haven’t seen her since the male district, and I never would have guessed I’d run into her here.
“Hello, mother.” She smiled, and her voice and deanor felt exactly like the Ashley of old.
“Ash… what…” I swallowed as she turned to .
“I’m sorry. I know you wanted to talk to mother about this first, but I just couldn’t contain myself any longer.”
Allie turned to , a shocked expression on her face. I didn’t know what ga Ash was playing at, but for the mont, I decided to play along.
“I didn’t want to… ah…” I didn’t know what to say.
“Whhaooo… mama…” The sound of a baby erupted, and for the first ti, I noticed she was carrying a young infant in her hands, only around a year old.
“Shh… Shhh… it’s okay.” She bobbed her arms up and down in a motherly way, hushing the baby.
Allie was completely srized, staring between the baby and the mother holding it. “Wh-who is this?”
“This… this is my son, Ashton,” she said.
She walked over to Allie and then showed her the baby. For the first ti, I also glanced at the baby in her hands. She had appeared with the child before, but I had always ignored it. I feared that he was so kind of demon, or that there was sothing wrong with him because of his mother.
“Ash-ton…” Allie shook, and tears began to fall down her cheeks. “H-how is this possible?”
“I… found out I was pregnant after being shot, and I also found out it was male. If I revealed myself, then everyone would know that Clyburn is capable of having children 50-50. They would have realized he really is the Chosen One, and then so would try to destroy him. So, I did the only thing I could do. I faked my death.”
“Y-you… faked it?”
“There are forces out there that want to see Clyburn and his children dead. Demons and demon-worshipers.”
“And you knew about this?” Allie turned to .
“Ah… I only showed myself to him rather recently. He also thought I was dead for the longest ti.”
In a few monts, this forr demon had fabricated a perfectly convincing story. The only thing that didn’t make a ton of sense was the age. Demons took longer to have babies, and as a result, this baby that should have been three years old looked closer to one. Her mother was so emotional though, that she didn’t seem to notice.
“So…” Ash smiled devilishly. “About that pri minister.”
Announcent
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