Soma Point
Chapter Seven
Once-ler, Aloysius, Victoria, Olivia, and Marietta lie, face down, on a hill under the cover of darkness. Beneath them, all hell is breaking loose in Soma Point. In the town, Order Priests drag men, women, and children; screaming, from their homes. The white-haired man stands behind them, shouting. Some are killed on the spot by Brotherhood Assassins. Victoria's lips tighten.
"Just this long and Soma Point has turned into this?" she whispers. Once-ler looks over at her.
"What the hell is going on down there?"
"Heresy Inquisition." Olivia says, "I've seen it happen before, but not on this scale." Marietta seems tense, all three of her eyes fixed on the dark city below, the cheerful expression absent from her nose-less face.
"Why are they doing such a cruel things to the bodies of friends, cousin?" she asks.
"This is what we're fighting, Marietta. This is the adventure." He whispers back to her. Aloysius chews on his right thumb. Once-ler turns on his side to face the other four. "Well, one thing's for certain, we sure as hell can't just barge into town with a shotgun, a pistol, and a knife and expect to put a stop to all this. They'll kill us all on sight." Aloysius looks over at him, his brows knit.
"Then what are we supposed to do, Once-ler? We can't let this keep going. Are we supposed to just leave?" Victoria smirks.
"There is more than one way to do something, Al. Let's crawl down a bit so we can talk." The five of them scurry, backwards, down the hill. Victoria stands. "I think we should split up. The Order's presence being that strong can only mean one thing: Father Pyralis-the guy in white, has taken over. My father," she stops for a moment, collecting herself, "my father is probably dead, and the Order has probably summoned Aurozhan."
"Victoria, we are stronger together than apart." Once-ler says.
"Five people are a lot easier to notice than one or two. Each of us has a job to do." she turns to Aloysius and Olivia. "Al, you're small. They won't notice you if you slip in the back way. Olivia knows the way. She'll take you in. While you are there, I want you to accompany her to The Grand Temple of The Order. It is in the center of town. Olivia knows what she's looking for, don't you?" she turns to Olivia.
"Yes, Vicki." Olivia nods. Victoria turns to Once-ler.
"Once-ler, you and I will sneak into town hall. I have the key to my dad's office. You have a shotgun and I have a pistol-but we should only fire if we absolutely have to." Finally, she turns to Marietta. "And you. You will blend in here. You are the same as those people in red down there." Victoria reaches into the duffel bag Olivia took. Deep inside, under all the blankets, was a single Brotherhood Assassin uniform. "Put this on." she turns to Aloysius. "Al, please don't freak out. We really need you to keep your shit together right now, okay?"
"Yes, Victoria." he says.
"Marietta, I want you to work recon. Observe them. Watch what they are doing, and for the love of all that's good and holy, don't say a damn word." Somberly, Marietta takes the red uniform and begins to dress in it.
"Yes, friend Victoria. I will do my very, very best to stop the bad men-"
"Do not fight them. You are to watch. Do you understand? Watch." Once-ler sighs. He was really not ready for this.
"We'll all meet back here when it's over-if we survive."
"No one speaks of the other groups." Victoria says. "It is the only way to keep us all safe. Once we are in there, Once-ler and I don't know you or Olivia, Al" she says, kneeling down to Aloysius, brushing some of his silky black hair from his face. "And you don't know us. Am I clear?" Trembling a little, the boy responds:
"Yes, Victoria." Victoria turns to Marietta.
"Same goes for you. You don't know me. You don't know Olivia. You don't know Aloysius. You don't know Once-ler."
"But I do! You are my friends and Once-ler is my dear cousin!"
"Marietta." Once-ler says. "Miss Victoria says that if you are caught or that any of us are caught, you are to pretend that you don't know us, okay? Like a game. Pretend."
"Ah! I understand. A play-pretend game! I will pretend to not know you even though I do!" She smiles for a moment, then tears fill her three eyes and a pout crosses her lip-less mouth. She pulls Once-ler into a tight, almost painful embrace. "I love you, Cousin. Good cousin Once-ler. Freed me from the basement. Was kind and nice to me." Struggling to speak, Once-ler says:
"I love you too, Marietta." Victoria looks over at Aloysius.
"Al, I want to speak with you one last time before the five of us split up." Aloysius gulps hard.
"Yes, Victoria." Anxiously, the boy follows the woman a short distance away from the rest of the group. Once she is sure they are out of ear-shot, Victoria kneels down in front of Aloysius, facing him. He reaches up and kisses her, quickly, on the lips. Surprised, she falls back.
"What the hell was that, Al?" The boy's face turns a deep shade of red.
"I-I thought that this is what you wanted-"
"No, honey, it wasn't." Trying to put that awkwardness behind them, Victoria clears her throat. "I brought you out here because I have something very important to tell you. I don't want you to freak out, but Olivia has a Brotherhood sword. She took it from a corpse of one of the Assassins that killed Once-ler's family. She had to arm herself, and it was the only weapon left in the house. I was afraid that if you saw it, it would make you remember your family dying. I asked her to keep it hidden from you. When you see it, please keep calm, Aloysius."
"You like him, don't you?" The boy says, his voice quiet.
"Al...What?" Victoria says, confused. Then, a moment later, she understands.
"Once-ler. You like him." tears well up in his dark eyes. "Why would you want someone like me when you could have him? He's tall, handsome, and your age. I'm short, fifteen, and...and..." Sighing, Victoria takes O'Hare by the sides of his face and kisses the boy. After a moment or two, she breaks the kiss. Wide-eyed and red-faced, Aloysius steps back.
"Wow..." She looks him in the eyes.
"Aloysius, I assure you that I don't like Once-ler. I find him to be a pain in the ass, to tell the truth. It has nothing to do with the way you look or that you are short, it is because I am almost ten years older than you. I would be taking advantage of you, and it wouldn't be right of me to do that to you." She smiles. "Now, let's go save Soma Point."
"Or die trying!" Aloysius says, his mood much more cheerful. The two of them walk back up to the other three.
"You two done? We ready?" Once-ler asks, his arms crossed as he leans against a tree.
"We're ready. Al, go with Olivia-Livs, take care of him, okay? Don't let anything happen to him."
"Sure thing, Vicki." Olivia says, giving a mock-salute.
"Marietta, I need you to slip into town. Act natural-and by that, I mean act like all the other people in red."
"Kill?" She asks. "I do not want to hurt people." she says. Once-ler turns to his cousin. Putting his arms on her shoulders, he forces himself to do the one thing he hates-look her in the eyes.
"Marietta, if the man in white makes you kill, you will have to kill. I am so sorry, but it is part of the pretend-game we talked about. Otherwise, do not kill the good people, okay?"
"Okay, good cousin." she says. Once-ler looks over at Victoria.
"I'm all ready here, Vicks." The group breaks up, Once-ler and Victoria heading to the north side of town; Olivia and Aloysius heading to the southern side of town, and Marietta approaching from the east.
Inside the The Grand Temple of The Order, Olivia and Aloysius skulk about, keeping to the shadows and away from windows. Olivia notices an odd smile on Aloysius's face.
"What's with you, Al?" she asks, keeping as quiet as possible. Oddly enough, there are no Priests or Assassins in the Temple, but the two of them decided to keep as quiet as possible. The boy smiles a little harder.
"Victoria kissed me." He grins. Olivia shakes her head.
"I thought it looked like you had a crush on her, kiddo." She pats him on the head. "We have to keep our minds on our mission, though, Al."
"What is our mission, Olivia? Victoria says you would know what to look for, but I have no idea." The two of them walk down the marble-floored halls of the Grand Temple, the gilded ceiling turning the light in the room the same golden shade. Slipping into a room near the back of the Temple, Olivia says:
"There are manuscripts of The Order's liturgy held back here. Normally, only the High Priest-that guy in white, gets to see them. If the Order has summoned Aurozhan-of if they are trying to, the only way to stop it will be in here. Since I know what to look for and you don't, please keep watch for me, Al. I'll have to focus all my attention on these texts, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am, Miss Olivia." Aloysius says, nodding. Olivia takes up a thick, dusty tome bearing the likeness of Aurozhan on its brown leather cover. She begins reading. Aloysius leans against the door-frame, looking out towards the hall. After a few moments, his mind drifts.
"Maybe when I turn 18, Victoria will be with me then?" his cheeks flush at the thought. "We could get married, even. We'll make it through this. Love always wins. True facts." he thinks. So engrossed in his fantasies is he, that he doesn't see the man clad all in white, four black-robed people in tow.
"Well, take a look at what we have here! Hello, little boy! I believe you are the O'Hare kid, born here 15 years ago? Did you decide to come take a little look around our town? Feeling nostalgic?" Aloysius draws his filleting knife.
"Miss Olivia!" he cries out. The young woman draws the Brotherhood sword and rushes to the boy.
"Leave him alone!" she cries out, but she is too late. Aloysius is being held, tight, by an Order Priest. "Don't hurt him!" Pyralis smirks and nods to the Priest holding the boy. The Priest drags the blade across O'Hare's cheek, blood rolling down and onto his shirt.
"Put the sword down, Miss Morris, and I won't have Brother Harold cut the boy somewhere much more sensitive." The Priest slips the knife down the front of O'Hare's pants and the boy whimpers, the cold metal touching his warm flesh. Olivia throws the sword down and the Priest, carefully, removes the knife from the boy's groin. "See? Isn't it much better when we are civil to one another?" He turns to the other three Priests. "Take Miss Morris into a nice little holding cell." A wry smile crosses his lips and he turns to look Aloysius in the eyes. "I think we'll let Brother Aloysius handle this little whelp. Take him to the other side of the temple-his uncle is waiting there."
Olivia is thrown into a stone cell. A group of Priests crowd around her, forcing her to her knees and pulling her arms behind her back. They chain her at the wrists so tightly that she cannot move. They leave her. Hanging her head, she lets the tears come.
"I've failed. The one thing Victoria-no, Mayor Shield-ever asked of me, and I've failed. 'Help Victoria, Olivia. She is head-strong and can keep her cool in a hard situation, but you are very clever. I know with you at her side, the two of you cannot fail." Sure thing, Mayor Shield. I am clever. Vicki and I can't fail. Never." She looks up at the empty cell across from her own. "At least Victoria and Once-ler haven't been caught...Vicki is going to be so pissed at me...'Olivia, I want you to keep Al safe, okay? Don't let anyone hurt him.' Sure thing, Vicks! He's only about to be murdered or worse!...we should have never brought that child into this, any way. He is too young for this shit." She weeps.
In the Temple, O'Hare is thrown into a dimly-lit room. A single figure, clad in solid black, stands opposite of him, its face concealed under a black hood. Father Pyralis strides into the room, a smug look on his face.
"Brother Aloysius-remove this boy's shirt. Check him for the Seal of Beaumont. I want to see it for myself that this...this filthy little half-Jap midget has the Seal." Al's uncle closes in on him, quickly, and grabs him, hard by the right arm. Without hesitation or even the slightest hint of care, he yanks the boy's sweater over his head, taking his glasses along with the shirt. He grabs O'Hare's shoulders and forces him forward. There, on his back, right between his scapula is an ornate Seal, tattooed in black. "Fuck me, the kid has it."
"The symbol on my back? It's important?" Pyralis slaps the boy-no real reason, he just wanted to.
"You stupid, stubby little zipper-head, it is the Seal of Bedell Beaumont!" His cheek still stinging from the slap and his other cheek bleeding a little, O'Hare smirks at the High Priest.
"You say that like it should mean something to me." Pyralis grabs Al by his hair and yanks the boy high enough so that they are eye-level. His feet dangle pathetically.
"The Seal of Bedell Beaumont is the mark of your ancestor-your father has it, your uncle has it, your grandmother had it, all the way back to Bedell himself. It was his seal and by it our Order has remained strong. Someone like you, a filthy nip, doesn't deserve to be descended from him. If I were High-Priest when you were born, I would have never let them tattoo your slant-eyed ass." He throws Aloysius to the floor and kicks the boy in the chest. He turns to O'Hare's uncle. "Strip the boy. I'll have Assassins sent in. I want him tortured...naked." He turns on his heels and leaves the room. Aloysius scrambles to his feet to face his uncle. Mindlessly, the man tries to remove the boy's pants.
"Uncle, please!" Aloysius cries out, struggling against his uncle. A bit of orange hair slips out from behind the hood and Aloysius's eyes grow wide. With all the strength he can muster, he shoves him away. The man falls backwards, his hood slipping off, revealing his bare head. His resemblance to Murray was astounding; the only difference was that his hair was much longer, and he lacked Murray's glasses and dagger earring. Aloysius takes a folded, aged photo from his pocket and holds it out, facing his uncle. "Look, uncle! I'm your nephew! Please, don't do this to me! My dad, your little brother Murray, is dead now-I'm all that's left of him. Please don't let them torture me! Please!" The robed man gets back up and walks back to his nephew, his gait slow, staggering-as if he were a living marionette. "I was named after you! All these years, even after The Order took you away, my dad never forgot you! Please!" The Priest stops, gazing down at the ten-year-old photo in his nephew's trembling, stubby hands. Murray stands on the far right, holding a five-year-old Aloysius in his arms; smiling, proud. Yukiko stands next to him, smiling and holding up two fingers.
"...Murray..." A softness- a light returns to the man's eyes. He slips to the floor, tears on his face. "Put on your glasses and shirt, Aloysius. I won't let them hurt you." Doing as he is told, the boy says:
"Thank you, Uncle."
On the other side of town, Once-ler and Victoria walk through the darkened Town Hall, Victoria leading the way.
"So, what are we supposed to be looking for, Miss Shield?" Once-ler asks.
"We have to get to my father's office."
"What's in there?"
"Damn it, why is he asking so many questions? I don't know, really. I don't know what, if anything, I'll find in dad's office. It's our best shot; our best lead to stopping the Order once and for all. I'll be damned if I tell him that though." Without looking back at Once-ler, she says: "Shut up. We have to keep quiet, remember?" Once-ler holds out his hands.
"Fine. Sorry I said anything, bossy-ass." Fumbling in her pockets, Victoria takes out her key to her father's office and unlocks the door. The two of them slip inside. "Should I turn on a light...?"
"No-not the ceiling light, any way. It'd be like lighting a beacon right to us." she turns to Once-ler-or at least, the direction in which she thinks he's standing. "You wouldn't happen to have a lighter, would you?"
"No."
"Fuck. Matches, then?"
"Nope." Victoria leans forward, smacking her hands against her thighs.
"Damn it." she sighs. "We'll try our luck with the desk lamp-it isn't as bright, maybe they won't see us."
"We do have our guns, too." Once-ler says. Taking baby steps and running on memory, Victoria slowly makes her way to her father's desk and, after fumbling for a moment, turns on the small, green-shaded desk lamp.
"...no...dad..." she says, her voice so quiet that were it not for the near-silence of the Town Hall, Once-ler would have never heard her. He looks over and sees what he can only assume is Victoria's dad, dead, bound to his chair. The former Mayor's head hangs, his long, scarlet hair falling in his pale, sunken face. Dried blood makes the floor around him sticky, his body covered in stabs and slashes-the fatal blow around his neck, drenching the front of his suit in blood; now turned brown. Once-ler walks over to Victoria and puts his arms around her.
"Victoria...I'm so sorry..." She turns to him, holding on to him for a moment.
"They killed him...I knew this would happen. I told him not to make me go alone-I told him to go with me. Daddy, why didn't you listen?" she cries into Once-ler's vest for a moment before pushing him away. "There's no time for this...I...I'll deal with this on my own. I have to go through his logs. Once-ler, can you please cover him up or something?"
"Sure thing, Vicki." Once-ler takes off his vest and lays it over Mayor Thane Sheild's face and turns the chair around, so that he faces away from the pair of them. Once-ler looks up after turning the chair around to see the portraits of four men. He stands, studying them. The first is a brown-haired man dressed in all the regailia of a Vicar. His eyes are sharp and cruel and a scowl is plastered on his face. Underneath him, it reads "Babson Wright". The second is a man with red hair tied back in a pony-tail, a short, red ribbon prominent. He wears round glasses and has a short beard and mustache. He is dressed all in brown and white with a brown bow-tie. Underneath him, it reads: "Anselm Krause". The third portrait is of a tall, muscular Frenchman with long, black hair tied back in a frizzy ponytail. A scar dominates his left cheek, and he wears an eye-patch over his right eye. He had a rough, coarse beard. He was dressed all in black with a black apron and parts of black iron armor on his wrists, chest, and hands. Under him: "Bedell Beaumont". Finally, the last portrait depicts a man with shaggy blond hair and sad blue eyes. He wore a white coat, pale blue pants, a white-button down, and white gloves on his hands. Around his neck hangs a caduceus necklace. He was called "Durward Cresswell". Once-ler noticed that under each man's name was an ornate symbol that varied wildly from each man. "Hey, Victoria, who are these guys?" Looking up from her father's journals, Victoria replies:
"Those are the Founders of the Order, Once-ler."
"So, I'm related to this Cresswell guy-the sad-looking one?"
"Yep." she goes back to reading. "He ended up killing himself not long after the Order was formed-too guilty to go on living." Once-ler stands for a moment, thinking.
"What are these symbols under them?" Without looking up this time, Victoria says:
"They are The Seals of the Order. Each of us who are direct descendants of those men have their Seal tattooed onto our backs at birth. I have Krause's on mine, Olivia has Wright's on hers, Aloysius probably has Beaumont's on his."
"What about me?"
"You weren't born in Soma Point, Once-ler. Same for Brett and Chet. They weren't born here, so they didn't get the Seals, either. You're lucky. However, your mother and uncle had the Seal of Cresswell tattooed onto their backs."
"And Marietta? If she were born here?"
"She wouldn't have gotten a Seal. She would have instantly become a Brotherhood Assassin or have been killed."
"Why do that? Why tattoo the Seals onto people's backs when they are born like that?"
"The Order believes that it gives Aurozhan power to keep the Seals on the back of each direct descendant of the Founders."
"What about that Mark Uncle Ubb had? Was it a tattoo?"
"What the hell are you, Captain Questions? Fuck, just let me read, Once-ler." She sighs. "No, Once-ler. Like with me and Olivia, your uncle Ubb was born with the Mark."
"Oh." he says. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Once-ler asks.
"You can keep quiet and watch the door. Keep your gun on it."
"Right." he says, sitting on a wooden chair and aiming his gun at the door. After quite a long time of Victoria reading and Once-ler staring at the door, he sees something: solid black and moving like a puppet. Once-ler raises his gun. "Uncle Ubb always said with shotguns, let 'em get close. The ammunition from shotguns sprays out, and it does more damage if your target is closer...shit! Should I tell Victoria?" Once-ler leans back. "Victoria, I think we have a visitor." She looks up and slowly, carefully, she draws her pistol.
"Don't move too much, Once-ler. The Order doesn't use guns, just swords and knives. If we stay still enough, it won't charge us." The figure stops. A moment later, several join the figure. They run towards Once-ler and Victoria. Victoria flips her father's desk over and she and Once-ler take shelter behind it, rising up and firing. More and more Order Priests fall and the two continue to fire, more and more coming with each shot. "Fuck, this isn't good. For every one we kill, three more take its place!"
"Victoria, I'm running out of shells..." Once-ler says, trying his best to stay calm.
"How many?"
"Not a lot." he says, sheepishly.
"How many exactly?"
"Four, counting what's in the breech." He looks over at her. "What about you?"
"I'm down to six, myself."
"What do we do?" he asks. Victoria couldn't believe it-he was asking her what to do.
"Keep fighting. They aren't going to kill us, Once-ler, just take us captive. if they're doing what I think they're doing, they'll need all four of us alive." The two of them continue to fight, emptying all ten rounds between them into the Order Priests. Finally, a sultry male voice rings out:
"Enough!" Victoria lowers her gun, her eyes narrowed, hate spread across her face.
"Fuck you, Pyralis!" she shouts.
"Aw now, that's not very nice, Miss Victoria! What would your father have thought of you using such nasty language?"
"Go to Hell!"
"Now see, I try to be nice. I try to be polite, and this is what I get? Fuck you and go to Hell? Once-ler, how about you? Do you have any nice, friendly greetings for me?"
"Nope! As far as I'm concerned, you can suck my ass, too!" he shouts from behind the desk. Pyralis clicks his tongue.
"Kids these days, so disrespectful. Just because you kill their families, they decide to go all potty mouth on you. Tut tut." He holds out his hands, sneering. "I know you two are out of ammunition and I still have plenty of Order Priests out here with me. I also can call as many Brotherhood Assassins as I want at any time. How about the two of you surrender, and I won't have to have my men hurt the two of you?" Once-ler looks over at Victoria, his eyes pleading. She knows what he wants.
"Fuck." she says, throwing her empty pistol aside. She and Once-ler stand, their hands above their heads. "We surrender, dick." Before they can so much as blink, Victoria and Once-ler are swarmed by Order Priests. Lifted from their feet, they are taken away.
In a concrete cell, dimly lit, Victoria Shield is thrown to the floor. Before she can react, she is bound in the same manner as Olivia. Pyralis kicks her in the stomach for good measure.
"Where's your potty mouth, now, Victoria?"
"Go die." she spits. He kicks her again.
"I see we're running out of colourful insults and have resorted to something so simple as "go die". Nice." He laughs and leaves the room.
"Victoria...?" comes a voice from across the hall.
"Olivia?!"
"Oh, thank goodness you're alive! What about Once-ler? Is he still alive? Did they get him, too?"
"Yeah, they got him. What about Aloysius?"
"...I'm sorry, Victoria. I tried. They got him. He's still at the Temple. I don't know what they're doing to him." Victoria bites her lip.
"Please still be alive, Al." she thinks.
In a concrete cell not unlike the one in which the girls are being held, Once-ler kneels, his arms chained behind his back at his wrists. He can't move and pain is starting to spread through his long legs. The cell door opens and Pyralis saunters in, a big smile on his face.
"Once-ler, Once-ler, Once-ler...what the fuck kind of name is Once-ler, anyway?"
"What the fuck kind of name is Pyralis?" Once-ler replies. The High Priest backhands Once-ler hard. He teeters to his side and pain shoots through his left arm-a green-stick fracture. He kneels in front of the tall young man and yanks him forward by the collar of his button-down. Once-ler cries out in pain.
"You listen to me, you little piece of shit. Your family has caused The Order so much trouble over the years. From Durward killing himself after founding the Order, to your whore grandmother helping your uncle and mother escape."
"You shut up about my grandmother, fuck-face." Once-ler says, his voice strained.
"You shut up; you didn't even know the bitch! I was just a kid when it happens, but it made me so hard watching that slut be beheaded for her heresy." He laughs. "How does that make you feel, Oncie?" Once-ler spits in his face. Pyralis wipes the saliva from his cheek. "I see that runs in your family. Your pig of an aunt did the same thing." he smiles. He takes out a gold knife not unlike the one the Brotherhood Assassins carry and goes to Once-ler's back.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Scared, are we?" Slipping the blade down the back of his collar, he slices open Once-ler's shirt, exposing his back. "Hmph. I should have known better than to expect you to have the Seal of Cresswell. Your stupid bitch of a mother birthed you outside of Soma Point, same with your retard brothers." he pats Once-ler on the shoulder. "We can fix that, though." He whistles and six Order Priests enter the room. Five of them unshackle Once-ler and hold him down; face-down on the concrete. "Keep his arms spread!" Pyralis shouts, laughing. Once-ler screams as one of the Order Priests puts pressure on his left arm. "Oh ho ho! Is it broken? Take his shirt the rest of the way, I want to look before you start." The Order Priests tear Once-ler's shirt off and cast it aside. Already, his arm is starting to swell and turn a deep violet. "What a nice shade of violet. Break it more." he says. The Order Priest to Once-ler's left presses down hard and he screeches in agony. He can hear his humerus snap. Pyralis laughs, "As fun as this is, I really think we need to give Oncie here his Seal, don't you?" He leans down, his face near Once-ler's. "Ta-ta, bean-pole." he leaves the room and the Order Priests start up the tattoo needle. Once-ler feels his heart pound as it buzzes. With no notion of care, the Priest jabs the needle into Once-ler's pale back. He screams, trying to squirm away. The Priests tighten their grip on him and continue the tattoo, Once-ler screaming until his throat is raw and bleeding.
