Part 3: Secrets Veiled
To Fei and Elly's surprise, Billy waited for them at the entrance to the catacombs, dressed in his priestly robes and yet bearing the gunbelt with his favored pistol. Seeing them approach, he bowed slightly to Margie in a formal greeting and then smiled at the couple, "I was wondering how long it would take Mother Margie to find you two. You can be difficult to locate when you want to."
"Oh stop calling me that, Billy. We're not attending Prayer at the moment," Margie chuckled, reaching up to pinch one of Billy's cheeks in a manner that he hated. This made him back up a step to avoid her catching said cheek between her thumb and forefinger and instead she snapped them in disappointment at the lost opportunity. There were few people Billy actually relaxed around, and Margie was one of them. At least in private. Publicly he was nothing less than respectful to the Nisan Mother and frowned at her childish mannerisms way too often.
"I take it you're going with us?" Fei asked, realizing that he was relieved by the company of the former Etone. Alone with Margie and Elly, Fei felt an overwhelming responsibility to protect both women. He knew Elly was capable, having been trained for combat as an officer of Solaris, but he couldn't help himself. As he often reminded her, if he no longer felt the need to see to her welfare, then he no longer loved her.
"Yes, Margie came to me first. I told her to find the two of you. Far better to explore these places in larger numbers."
"Well, thank goodness for your quick thinking there, Billy," Elly laughed, "Fatimas have such a tendency to leap before they look."
That brought out laughter from everyone but Margie, who only looked a little sheepish at the truth in the accusation.
The mirth soon died to give birth to apprehension as the quartet descended into the mausoleum. Centuries of Kings were buried here, as well as relatives to the Fatima dynasty. There was the moldy scent of decay and layers of dust. No one came down here that often. Not since the last King, Edbart IV, had finally received a long overdue burial. Margie sneezed, blessed in a chorus by Fei, Elly and Billy in unison.
"Quiet down here," Elly commented, her voice abjectly echoing through the silence. The others merely nodded mutely in response. For some reason, there was a palpable need to remain quiet. As though their very presence violated the sanctity of the dead and by stilling their voices and even their thoughts, they were less intrusive.
"I don't see anything amiss," Billy eventually said. Rows of tombs rose around them, each one decorated with elaborate sigils and symbolism representative of the time period. Fei paused, gesturing for the others to do the same. Off in the distance, they finally heard it. The faint sound of something heavy moving in clunky steps. The ground beneath their feet vibrated almost imperceptively with each thump.
"If I didn't know better, I'd swear it sounded like a Gear."
"Whatever it is," Margie said just after swallowing a lump in her throat, "It's big. Should we keep going?"
"Maybe you should go back, Mother," Billy said, looking at Margie. An argument was about to ensue over this, Margie lifting a finger to waggle it at the former Etone and her lips parting to begin berating him for assuming she couldn't take care of herself, but this was all cut short by a sudden rush of air from the corridor ahead of them, carrying on it the stench of old violence and rotting flesh. It was enough to turn all of them white where they stood. Fei's eyes widened, instinctively holding an arm out in front of Elly to push her behind him as if the enemy were suddenly standing in front of them.
Billy, used to that smell, didn't bother covering his nose the way Margie did. "That... no. Wels here? It's impossible. The mutants are all being treated. Wels and Reapers are..."
"Perhaps there are some hiding here? Those who may not know it's safe to come out?" Elly suggested as she struggled to get around Fei and keep him from playing the overprotective boyfriend.
"If that's the case, then we had better proceed cautiously. They may not realize we mean them no harm. And they might see us as snacks rather than saviors," Billy replied with conviction to his voice, drawing out the pistol to check the ammunition in it. Though he swore he would never kill a Wel again, not after finding out the truth, he would never endanger his friends either.
It was Margie who decided everything for them. Fists clenched at her sides, she frowned up at whatever lay ahead of them. "This is the tomb of my family. I'm sick and tired of people defiling the Fatimas. If there's Wels up there, we'll just bring them back out and make sure no one else can get in here anymore." And with that, she sprinted up ahead before anyone could grasp an arm or shoulder and hold her back.
"She's too much like Bart," Billy sighed, racing forward to catch up with the Nisan Mother, leaving Fei and Elly to shake their heads and dash forward to keep up.
The last thing Bart expected to see in the mausoleum was the sight of his kid cousin dashing up the corridor, determination on her doll-like features. Having just climbed out of Brigandier, he sighed and coiled the whips between his hands before returning them to the hook against his hip. She blinked in a startled manner as she realized who was standing there. Billy quickly came up behind her, followed then by Fei and Elly as they all gaped at him in unison.
"Bart? What the hell are you doing here?" Fei asked incredulously. There was a collective sigh of relief from all four of them, but a certain tension remained.
"I came here for a purpose, guys. What are -you- doing here?"
Margie spoke up before anyone else could, wagging a finger at her cousin as she glared up at him angrily, "Are you the reason why everything is shaking upstairs Bartolomei Fatima? You've scared all the Sisters half to death, not to mention the rest of us. What purpose could bring you down here alone anyway? I think I at least have a right to know since since since... I'm family and we're getting married next month."
That left everyone speechless. Margie hadn't mentioned the betrothal to anyone and Sister Agnes has kept largely silent about it. Fei and Elly exchanged glances with one another while Billy just stared at Bart for a long moment before looking away rather sharply. Realizing suddenly that she had given away her little secret, she blushed a bit, fingers pressing against her lips. "Um, well..." she sighed and hung her head finally, "Let's just all go back up, ok? And... Bart, next time come see us before you decide to invade the mausoleum."
Largely silent on the way back up, Bart kept looking over his shoulder. If Margie and the rest had not shown up, he'd have spent the time searching around his father's tomb. There was a part of him who wanted to blurt out the real reasons why he was here, yet the more paranoid part of his mind only convinced him they would all think he was going insane. Edbart IV was dead, they were all present at the funeral. The corpse left behind was mummified, sinew and bone remaining of the former King and nothing more. Still, that desperate sound he heard in the early morning hours left him with a need to find out the truth. Just to open that tomb and see that his father was truly dead and that he was either hearing things or that really was a practical joke being played on him.
"Bart, are you sure you're all right?" Elly asked with a solicitous air to her voice. Leaving Fei's side for a moment, she touched the king's arm gently, trying to get him to look at her. Something about her so easily disarmed Bart, and he sighed as he regarded her, just about to open up and tell the whole story when Billy interrupted.
"I wouldn't worry about him, Elly. Bart doesn't really explain or apologize for anything anyway. Don't make him stick his foot in his mouth again."
Bart frowned, regarding the former Etone with a fixated glare, "The hell is your problem, Billy?" This seemed to be a never ending conflict, the gunman always on the case of the prince now turned king.
"You are," came the oh so witty reply, Billy glaring right back. He looked as if he were about to say something more, only to be silenced by Margie shaking her head at him.
"You two can fight later. Come on, there's still plenty of work to be done today and since Bart decided to grace us with his presence, he can help." To this she nodded sagely, the decision made regardless of any protests to the contrary. Billy's gaze softened considerably as he looked at her, nodding in agreement, though after that he refused to glance in Bart's direction as all five of them headed back up the stairs and to the Cathedral.
For the rest of the day Bart found himself mired in all kinds of tasks, just as Margie promised. It was a nice distraction, however, and whether he was helping out with the infirmary, or talking to Citan about what was going on in Aveh currently, he found his mood changing to something far more contented. Anything away from his duties in Aveh relaxed him, it seemed. There was the nagging reminder that Sigurd was going to kill him, but he ignored it. He'd jump that cliff when he got to it. Avoiding Billy was easy, the former Etone apparently wanted as little to do with him as vice versa, so their paths didn't cross.
Eventually, Elly found him on his way back to the cathedral, flagging him down as she raced along the cobblestones, waving her arm back and forth, "Bart! Wait up!" Slowing as she finally caught up, she took a moment to catch her breath before going on, "Been looking for you. Dinner's up at the main house. Come on."
"Billy gonna be there?"
Elly frowned, "I assume so... what is it between you two, anyway? Every time you're together, one of you snaps on the other."
"Billy is a stuck up brat as far as I'm concerned. Got too much of that superiority crap fed to him," Bart replied with venom in his voice. It didn't last, the ire drained out of him almost immediately after the words left his mouth. "Honestly, I don't know, Elly. I can't figure him out. Sometimes he's nice to me, sometimes he just gets on my case out of the blue."
Silent, Elly regarded the king for a long moment, her expression thoughtful before she finally just shrugged and patted Bart's shoulder, "Well, we'll worry about it later. I'll talk to him or something, ok? Let's eat though, I'm starving."
Dinner was a noisy affair. Everyone gathered around a huge table that not only included the Nisan Mother and her friends, but many of the others who toiled alongside them to heal those still suffering and provide shelter to those refugees displaced from their homes thanks to Deus and Solaris. Bart relaxed as he laughed alongside the others, ignoring the glares Billy shot at him on occasion when he got too loud or teased Margie about something that made her blush. In fact, the more he observed the former Etone's behavior, the more he started picking on Margie, just testing the waters. It brought him to some startling conclusions. Enough to make him pull Billy aside as dinner began to wind down.
"We need to talk, I'm tired of fighting."
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Is this because of Margie? Are you mad we've been betrothed?"
"Bart, you cosmically stupid tart... Excuse me, I have things to do."
With that, Billy jerked his arm free from Bart's grip and stalked away, out the door. Left in his wake, Bart tugged at the braid pulled over his shoulder with an irritated jerk. Having witnessed the distressing exchange, Elly appeared at the king's side and sighed, shaking her head, "I'll go talk to him, Bart. I'll get to the bottom of this, promise." And before he could really even reply to her, she'd trotted on out the door, chasing after Billy. Bart could only stand there afterwards, tugging the braid one more time before turning toward the back exit, to find somewhere else to sit and think about this.
"Why in the world did he come out here?" Sigurd inquired rhetorically, mostly to himself. Standing at the helm of the Yggridsil, hands on his hips, he sighed at the vidscreen as Nisan came into view. The message from Margie had come in earlier that day, and Sigurd and Maison both traveled out here to fetch their wayward King and drag him home again. After a number of lectures about responsibility, first.
"I wouldn't know, Master Sigurd. He's always been unpredictable," Maison replied with a touch of a resigned sigh escaping his lips.
The Yggridsil set down on the outskirts of the city, Sigurd and Maison disembarking. The town itself was bustling, busy as ever. Since Deus' defeat, there were plenty of people left without homes and most of them fled here, as it had become the spiritual capital of the world. The populations skyrocketed within months and already there was the racket of new homes being built, expanding the city limits past the original borders. Sigurd knew exactly where to go and by passed many of the houses to head toward the huge cathedral that dominated the city in its center. The sun had begun its descent, to sleep beneath the arch of the world, leaving everything draped in a mauve and lavender hue, reflecting brightly off the stained glass windows of the cathedral to produce a colored shadows on the carpeted floor. Sister Agnes stood fretfully before the altar, wringing her hands and alternately muttering worried noises to herself. Upon seeing Sigurd, she whirled around, rushing toward him and the old knight at his side.
"Oh Master Sigurd, thank goodness you've arrived. They're all down below. Please please go and keep an eye on Mother Margie. I begged her to stay but--"
"Shhh, Sister Agnes, now calm down," Sigurd said, trying to soothe the old woman's worries. Her emotions were jumbled, though fear and apprehension were the large majority of what he sensed. "Now, who is down below and what is going on?"
"It's His Majesty. He disappeared into the tombs again. Everyone went to go find him and Mother Margie refused to stay behind. I begged her, but..."
Sigurd hushed her again, making her calm for a second so she could continue at a pace he could comprehend. "Now, why did His Majesty go down into the tombs?"
"I don't know. But he was feverish when he did so, refusing to listen to me or the Sisters. He kept babbling about his father. Oh, Master Sigurd we were nearly afraid he's gone mad."
Sigurd and Maison exchanged looks. Bart going into the tombs, babbling about his father? Something was very wrong, and apparently it was not just the king being a brat and running away this time.
"Maison, please stay here in case anyone comes back up here. I'm going in," Sigurd said, pulling out a weapon he had not used in years, the optical whip made for him by Citan. And with his empathy stretching out to locate his brother's emotions, he wasted no more time, nearly running down the stairs to get into the mausoleum.