Chapter 11 - It's Always Darkest Before Dawn
She set down inside the black pillar of light, or rather the pillar of an absence of light. It was as dark as her mood, no thoughts in her head just a compulsion to rip everything up. This can't be happening... this can't be happening... this can't be happening... Striding forwards, she entered the archive library where all the information that could possibly be considered helpful was stored. Row after row after row of shelves filled the room, each one packed to the hilt with books. There was too much information here to be stored on a computer mainframe making it nearly impossible to find what you needed, but all of the books were equally important. They catalogued the entire history of time... as far back as they could go. It was amazing that the curators had even been able to document the final battle with Lavos...
All the books were catalogued and even the catalogues consisted of dozens of volumes. Fortunately, these were also placed on a computer mainframe making it a lot easier to navigate your way around. Sitting at a desk in front of a computer was Warren Stark; short spiky brown hair, thin-rimmed glasses so as to not spoil his appearance... Great, just what I need now... one more self-assured arsehole that thinks one night means I can't resist him... Walking past him, Destiny prayed he didn't notice her, but it was to no avail.
"Hey babe, how's it going?"
"Oh, just fine and dandy. Everything is changed. It's all different and wrong... Gaspar died and--"
"What! Gaspar is dead? What happened?"
"He had a heart attack right in front of me... there was nothing anyone could do. Apparently magic can't reverse natural causes..."
"Even Spekkio couldn't help him?"
"Nope... and now Spekkio has left the end of time as well... he's gone home to try and patch things up with his family..." Thinking about it, it all seemed odd to Destiny how quickly everything had happened. "Actually Warren, there might be something you can help me with..."
"Oh yeah?" he said, a dirty grin appearing on his face.
"Don't flatter yourself Warren, one night doesn't make you some sort of love-god... No, before Gaspar died, he said something odd and I was wondering if you could tell me what it meant."
"Sure, go for it," he replied, the grin hastily taken from his face.
"The Black Wind howls... his dying words."
Warren just stared at her for what seemed an age before he finally blinked and shook his head. "The Black Wind howls? Those were his exact words?" With a nod from Destiny he continued, "Well... it depends on the context really. Black Wind with small letters is an exact quote of what Janus said to Crono and then later to Schala back in Zeal..."
"But with capital letters?"
"Well... it's just an urban legend... you know how these things get started... over-active imaginations and whatno--"
Cutting him off, Destiny snapped, "Just tell me Warren. This may well be important."
Chastised, Warren continued, "Well, as I said it's just an urban legend but there are rumours of a... how should I put it? A secret wing of the Hand of Kronos called the Black Wind... they do the dirty jobs... kill those that could disrupt the time-line... it's also been rumoured that they don't even serve the Council of Kronos... they're acting on their own to destroy time and the entire universe by reawakening Lavos..." Stopping, Warren looked at Destiny closely. "What's wrong? You've turned as white as a sheet!"
Snapping out of her trance, Destiny looked Warren in the eyes, naked fear clearly showing. Just looking at them made Warren shiver in fear. "Dear gods... what is it?"
"They're real Warren... the Black Wind exists..." she whispered, the words barely audible.
"What! You're kidding me right? The Bla--"
"Shut up you idiot! Keep your voice down... trust me when I say they're real. They could be anywhere at all..." Pointing to a Time Warden a couple of desks away, she continued, "She could be one, you could be one... hell, I could be one! Don't trust anyone here..."
"But what proof do you have?"
"A girl was found in 2300AD in the Arris Dome... everyone there had been murdered, one-by-one, their throats cut. One girl had been left alive on purpose... she said they were all dressed exactly like we are... she even thought I was one at first when she saw me... if you had seen the fear on that little girls face, you would have wanted to die..."
"Why don't you take this to the Council of Kronos then?"
"Because I don't know that they aren't part of the Black Wind... anyone, and I mean ANYONE could be a member... I'm taking a big risk even talking to you..."
"You don't seriously think I could be one of them do you?"
"Well... no..." Thinking to herself, she realised she was going to have to make a huge leap of faith, "Could you do me a massive favour? I can't stay here... I've got things to do, so I need you to look into the Black Wind for me... I need you to try and find anything at all that might give a clue as to who they might be..."
"I... I... I'll do it... Destiny... but I'm scared..."
And you don't know the half of it... "So am I... so am I..." Getting up, she started walking out of the room, but just at the door, she stopped. Looking up to the top-right corner of the room, she saw the video camera fixed on her... Staring straight at it, she mouthed something to it and stalked out of the door...
"I'm coming for you..." That's what she said. Taking the headphones off, the man turned to the figure behind him.
"So she knows of our existence?"
"Positively, here's a transcript of the entire conversation... what should we do about them?"
"We leave Destiny alone... it was always known she would find out about us... as for Warren... I'll handle him personally..." With that, the figure turned and stalked out of the room, her long green hair flowing behind her...
