Chapter 20

Leaned back in his chair with his feet atop his desk, Vinicius looked comfortable as ever as he sat reading a folder full of documents. Everything was going as he wished.

"Only a little while longer, dear Vinicius," he muttered to himself. Absentmindedly, he withdrew his pen from his pocket, tapping it a few times on his cheek and then inserting it into the corner of his mouth. Lightly sucking on the utensil, he could taste the slight metallic tang of blood. A light smile came to his face.

A knock on the door didn't distract him from his reading, and he shouted out "Come in."

In stepped Carlyle, a strangely satisfied expression residing on his face. "Hey, Vinicius. Brought some company with me. Hope ya don't mind."

"Better be less of a disappointment than the last one you brought," warned Vinicius, clicking his pen as a reminder.

Carlyle shrugged. "I'll leave that up to you to decide," he said, opening the door. In strolled Gareth, face straight and hands unbound. The only thing that indicated he wasn't quite welcome was the noticeable absence of his blades. Vinicius raised an eyebrow, promptly tucking the pen away into his breast pocket.

"So, I see you have come to your senses, Gareth. Tired of all the running?"

Gareth folded his arms, seemingly comfortable despite the situation he was in. "Partially. Thankfully, your men were surprisingly cordial when I told them I wanted to meet with you, though they could have been a bit gentler when disarming me. Anyway, I came here to ask you a question."

Vinicius folded his hands, leaning forward on his desk. "Ask away, and I will answer if I see fit."

"Where's Lux?"

The question seemed to surprise the Dark Will boss. He got up from his chair and strolled towards large window behind him, peering out it. His back to Gareth, he spoke. "You know very well where she is, Gareth. You saw it with your own eyes."

Gareth shook his head slowly. "I've learned that when it comes to that girl, seeing isn't always believing."

Vinicius turned. "I'm afraid Luxanna is buried somewhere in the rubble of Zaunite Techmaturgy Industries sky bridge. She may have surprised you before, but even she cannot fight gravity."

"I don't believe you," Gareth stated simply.

"Oh? And why is that?" Vinicius asked.

"Intuition. That, and I simply don't trust you."

"Fair enough, Gareth. Think what you want, but I can't help you," Vinicius said.

"Ah, but I think you can. Take me to her."

Vinicius laughed. "So let me get this straight. Not only do you think that your precious Lux survived her tumble from the sky, but you also think that I have her in my possession? You are quite determined, aren't you?"

Gareth crossed his arms, still determined to get the answers he wanted. "Rumor spreads like wildfire; it doesn't matter where you are. The streets were abuzz with talk of that bridge falling only minutes after it happened. That was hours ago, and yet I didn't even hear a whisper about a body being found. In fact, the murmurings are that it's a miracle nobody was harmed. So that means one of two things has happened," Gareth said, holding up two fingers. "Either Lux survived her fall, and then your cronies came in and swept her away, or she was indeed killed, and your lot nabbed the body to cover it up. Either way, I suspect you know what happened to her, so there is something you are not telling me."

Vinicius tapped his fingers on his desk, processing what Gareth had told him. After a moment of silence, he shrugged. "All right, Gareth, you are correct. I have been dishonest with you. I DO in fact know what happened to Lux. Quite frankly, we didn't expect you to stick around after the latest…incident. Even the most hardened veterans usually seem to know when to turn tail, though perhaps that is the problem with you. A Summoner is the last person we expected to have as an enemy. You have proven to be a variable in this problem that we have yet to quite figure out."

Gareth felt himself nearly deflate with relief. He straightened up, knowing he couldn't relax now, not when he was so close. "So then, is she alive or dead?" It was a simple question, but one that he was aching to know the answer to.

The Dark Will boss walked up to Gareth and firmly grabbed him by the shoulder. "Well you said it yourself. If nobody on the streets found her, then it must be us who has her." He walked past Gareth to the door, opening it. "So why don't you check on her yourself?" He beckoned for the summoner to follow him. Gareth hurriedly fell in behind them. "Follow us Carlyle," Vinicius instructed. "Make sure our guest follows all the rules."

Gareth raised an eyebrow. He recalled Sona's letter and how she had described Vinicius' slaughter of the Institute Guards. "I don't think we'll have any issues," he reassured.

Vinicius gave him a toothy grin, patting him on the shoulder. "Of course we won't, dear Gareth." He patted the pen in his pocket, drawing a confused look from Gareth and a grimace from Carlyle. "Of course we won't."

As the trio walked down the well-lit, stark hallways of the building, Gareth was surprised to see so many people walking about as if nothing were amiss. For a group that had been underground for so long, these people didn't seem as if they were trying to be discreet. It was like today was just another day at the office for them. Curious, he decided that they had been walking in silence long enough. "Do all these people work for you?"

Vinicius turned his head. "Of course. I am a businessman, and these are my employees."

"Businessman?"

Vinicius nodded. "Of course. I like to think of myself as a grand entrepreneur."

"What business is it that you are in exactly? Besides the murdering, assaulting, and kidnapping, of course."

"That remark seemed to have a bit of bite to it. A little rude, if you ask me," scolded Vinicius. "All you need to know for now, dear boy, is that I'm in the money making business. I don't do what I do strictly for world domination or power or whatever it is you think. First and foremost is money." They stopped at the double doors of an elevator. Vinicius pressed the button to call it and take them down, the little button illuminating with a soft yellow glow. "That being said, the power and domination go hand in hand with wealth, so perhaps I am in it for those things as well."

Gareth shook his head. "So you think this is all just some big business scheme? Reviving the Bioforge program isn't just some get-rich-quick idea. You're not a businessman, you're a madman." The bell for the elevator rung, the double doors gliding silently open. The three men stepped inside, with Vinicius and Carlyle flanking Gareth on either side. The doors closed, and the elevator began to work its way down the building floor by floor.

"Perhaps I am a bit mad," Vinicius stated with a slight chuckle. "Even so, I would have to attribute some of my success to my madness." He leaned back so his so that he rested against the wall of the elevator, ever relaxed despite being next to an enemy. "Any sane man would have given up on this venture long ago."

The Shadow Isle native said so with unnerving calmness, and Gareth suddenly felt very vulnerable. He found himself wishing his knives were by his side, though he figured his chances of winning a two on one fight in an elevator were rather bleak anyway. Still a little rattled by Vinicius' basic admission of insanity, Gareth turned to Carlyle. "What about you? I thought you were just an ass at the Institute this whole time because you didn't like me. Finding out you were fighting for the other side almost came as a relief."

Carlyle smirked. "Don't get hopeful. I DON'T like you. Haven't liked you since the day I met you. When I heard that one of the people we captured down in the Crystal Caverns was none other than good ol' Gary the hotshot summoner, I just about shit myself. Bossman figured after the attack at the infirmary, you would have quit meddlin' in affairs that weren't yours to meddle in. When I found out you decided to join the good guys, I couldn't have been happier."

Good guys, Gareth thought darkly. That meant Carlyle knew perfectly well what he was doing. He wasn't disillusioned about anything; he knew that reviving the Bioforge serum to make mad dogs of war was only something that the "bad guys" would do. "How long have you been with the Dark Will?" Gareth asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

Carlyle seemed hesitant, looking over at Vinicius. Only when the other man nodded did the bearded ex-summoner answer. "Only for a couple months, really. Vinicius here approached me, asked if I wanted to work for him. Said I had the "qualities" he was looking for, whatever that means."

Being an uncaring, selfish jackass, Gareth thought.

Luckily for Gareth, Carlyle didn't seem to possess any mind-reading capabilities, because he continued on. "Figured it would be better than sitting around at the Institute of War getting shown up by you all the time, so I took the offer. I was told the Dark Will needed someone on the inside of the League, so I became that guy."

Gareth gestured toward Vinicius. "You really think this guy's not gonna just off you whenever you've outlived your usefulness?"

Carlyle shook his head, sighing. "I've seen what that Bioforge serum does to guys. Turns them into monsters, ones capable of walking through hellfire just to kick your ass. Yeah, one of these days Vinicius could murk me. But it's basically a case of do I wanna die now, or later. Stay on the bossman's good side, and I may just die later. No point in trying to stand against him."

Still leaning against the wall, Vinicius laughed. "Those are some of the wisest words I've heard you say." The elevator dinged, indicating they had reached their floor. "Thank you for your help Carlyle. I will be taking Gareth on my own to see his dear Luxanna. Head back upstairs and wait for any further instructions."

Carlyle nodded. "You got it." He remained in the elevator while Gareth and Vinicius stepped out. Vinicius turned, seemingly having forgotten something.

"Oh, and one more thing Carlyle."

"What is it?"

"Do you have Gareth's weapons on you?"

Carlyle nodded. "Yeah, do you want me to turn them in to the armory?"

"No, not at all. Go ahead and return them to their rightful owner."

Carlyle seemed confused by this, but he wasn't about to question a man who he had seen kill another with just a pen. Slipping his hands in his cloak, he withdrew the two sheathed blades, tossing them to Gareth.

Glad to be reunited with his weapons, Gareth fastened them both to his belt.

"I'm sure you wouldn't be so foolish as to turn those on me, especially after I've been such a gracious host, would you?" Vinicius asked, flashing his toothy grin one more time.

Gareth shook his head, then began to observe his surroundings. He recognized the hallways: they were similar to the ones that he and Lux had traversed during their escape. We must be in the basement levels. As the doors to the elevator began to close, he called out Carlyle's name.

The ex-summoner put his hand out to stop the elevator doors. "What is it, Gary?"

Gareth sighed. "Okay, two things. One: I told you to stop calling me that a long time ago."

Carlyle shrugged. "Tough shit. The name's stuck."

"Two: Sona told me that you attacked her when she went to my room at the Institute to search for the Ward."

"She got in the way. Lucky I didn't cut her pretty face up." Carlyle remarked. What he got back in return from Gareth was a cold, steely glare.

"If I ever see you again, I promise that I will pound you into the ground until you are crying for mercy," Gareth growled.

Once again, Carlyle smirked. Moving his hand, he let the doors close, but not before he got the last word. "Good fucking luck."

With the doors closed, it was now just Gareth and Vinicius. "Follow me," instructed the Dark Will leader.

Falling in behind the Shadow Isle native, Gareth felt his pulse rise. He reminded himself that Vinicius, while being seemingly gracious to his guest, was an absolutely mad bastard. He hoped that he was being taken to see a Lux who was alive and well, but was quite aware that he could end up seeing a corpse instead. Preparing for the worst, he kept a straight face as the two walked in silence. Eventually, they came to a heavy steel door, much like the one that had blocked his and Lux's path before. Vinicius punched in a code on the door's keypad, unlocking it. Stepping inside, he beckoned for Gareth to follow him. Inside, Gareth found a room that was quite different from the one he had be locked in before. Instead of being comfortable and well-furnished, this room was a small, grey prison of concrete. In the middle was a steel table, and on it, shackled down with heavy steel restraints, was a very familiar girl.

Throwing all caution to the wind, Gareth pushed past Vinicius, rushing to the table.

"Lux…" he breathed. He put his head to her chest, listening for any sign of life. Almost instantly, he was rewarded with a soft intake of air as the girl breathed in. It took every bit of composure Gareth had to not fall to his knees from relief. Fighting back tears, he looked her over. To his surprise, the mage was in surprisingly good shape for someone who had fallen 30 stories. She looked ragged, sure, but other than that she seemed no worse for wear.

Still standing by the doorway, Vinicius spoke up, breaking Gareth's relieved silence. "Tell me Gareth, how much do you know about our new and improved Bioforge serum?"

Gareth turned, placing himself between Vinicius and Lux. "I know enough. It turns regular men into brutes, ones with twice, even three times the strength that they possessed normally. From what I've heard and seen, you can now apply it to anyone. You could make a whole army of juiced-up super soldiers."

Vinicius nodded. "That's correct. There is, however one part you left out. Our serum allows one to heal from wounds at a rate many times faster than normal. Now, what may have been a incapacitating wound is just an inconvenience. Broken bones, cuts, lacerations, blunt force trauma: it is all much less dangerous to someone who has been injected with our formula. While it doesn't make the user quite immortal, it's about as close as one could hope to get."

"So you've got the capabilities to make a bunch of near immortal, bone crushing soldiers," Gareth remarked. "Big deal."

Vinicius laughed. "You don't know why I'm telling you this, do you?"

Gareth shrugged. "I figured you were just tooting your own horn."

Vinicius took a step backward, out into the hall, though his body still blocked the doorway. "While I do like to do that once in a while, that's not why I told you." He nodded toward Lux. "You were right when you said she was full of surprises. She did indeed survive her fall from the sky bridge. It was miraculous, really. She must have been able to muster up just enough mana to summon up a barrier strong enough to protect herself, but only barely. She still took massive amounts of damage from the impact and debris. Blunt force trauma, enormous amounts of hemorrhaging. She wouldn't have made it more than a couple of minutes. Of course, we couldn't just leave poor little Luxanna dying on the street there, so we had to help her. Heal her up. Make her better."

Better. Gareth felt his heart stop when the word left Vinicius' mouth. "No…please tell me you didn't inject her."

"I would, but that would be lying, now wouldn't it?"

Drawing his blades, Gareth charged at Vinicius. Stepping back, the Dark Will boss slammed the door shut, locking it automatically.

Gareth pounded on it, but it proved to be a pointless endeavor. He cursed, then nearly jumped out of his skin when Vinicius' voice came booming over an intercom. "There is also one more thing I should mention about the new Bioforge serum, dear Gareth. It makes subjects quite a bit more susceptible to suggestion. In other words, it makes them take orders much better."

There was a loud, metallic Clink as the restraints around Lux's legs and arms released themselves. Now unrestrained, the girl stirred, groaning as she moved. Her eyes fluttered, opening and shutting rapidly. Through the blinking, Gareth could see that his fears were confirmed. Instead of the crystal blue eyes that he come to love so much, there were electric green irises, blank with no pupils. Sitting up, Lux blinked a few more times before settling her gaze on the shaken Gareth. She bared her teeth in an angry snarl, but made no move to attack. Then, over the intercom came Vinicius' voice. "It warms my cold, dead heart to see you two reunited one last time. Now Luxanna, dear: kill the intruder.

Author's Note: Here's another Chapter. Gareth's really in a bind now, huh? Hope you all enjoy it. I know my rate of chapter releases hasn't been quite as good as you or I had hoped, but I really am trying. I now have a clear idea of what I want from this story, so hopefully I can speed everything up. As always, don't be afraid to drop a review or a PM. Getting feedback from you guys really is the best part of doing all this! Take care.