Chapter 13 - Moth To A Flame
"The "girl" has now been deposited with Crono's mother but the question of Prometheus' disappearance has still been unresolved," reported the young man.
"This is Belthasar's meddling, I'm sure of it. We need to track that old fool down before he does anything too drastic to stop us. We also need to stop him from contacting Destiny... we can't let her find out too much or this whole operation could go down the drain and then, we are in some serious trouble."
"Yessir, I'll have a whole squad on it." Stepping forward into the light, his glasses sparkled as he continued, "Sir... maybe it would be a good idea to remove the tail from Destiny. If she picks up on him, she WILL be ruthless in getting any information out of him..."
"I was thinking the same thing, but we induct only the most loyal into our secret order. They know the penalty for talking."
Hesitant to question one of his seniors, the young man carried on, "Yes... but when Destiny has finished with them, they will tell her anything she wants to know. She... is very cold-hearted if she thinks what she is doing is for the best. I don't wish to question your judgement but if she finds out what is going on, we're as good as dead."
"I believe you may well have a point there. OK, call the man off."
With a smart salute, the young man marched out of the room.
"He's a tricky one isn't he? I'm not so sure we really want someone that... capable in our ranks at all..."
He tried to appear calm, even though her appearance had scared the crap out of him. "How long have you been there Alyssa?"
"Long enough... and you should know better than to call me that..."
Dropping to one knee, he bowed his head in reverence. "Forgive me your Highness, I desecrate your name by using it." Looking up at her as he rose, he spat out vehemently, "Are you happy now Alyssa?"
Surprised, Alyssa sensed something different about him. Silently releasing a scan spell, she realised who it truly was standing before her. "You and me are going to have a falling out sometime soon, and I think we both know who will come off the worse for wear because of it..."
His eyes narrowed as she hissed the words out, the very obvious threat not going over his head.
"Enough of this foolishness, we have more important things at hand for the moment..."
"Yes, we do, but we need to settle this now. If there are problems between me and you, what do you think is going on in the lower levels? No, we settle this now, once and for all."
"You think you can defeat me and become leader of the Zeitgeist project? I think not..." With a wave of her hand, she took the two into the next plain of existence. "And you certainly don't stand a chance against me here."
"I think you might be surprised Alyssa... there's a lot about me you don't know..."
"You think your secrets are hidden from me, Gaspar? You think I don't know who you are and what you're really doing here?" Waving her hand again, the image spell disappeared, leaving Gaspar standing there. Surprised, he took a few steps backwards, reaching behind himself, drawing a large, red sword out.
"No, don't tell me... that's Spekkio, right? The lone Nu with shape-changing abilities... outcast by all you knew as a child just because you were different. And you want to save the world because? What has it ever done for you? Have you had any happiness, any joy, any love? No, nothing! And for your life you've had to suffer pain, ridicule and rejection..."
As she felt a tap on her shoulder, she knew she was in trouble. Whirling around, she couldn't get out of the way of the Luminaire spell Spekkio had quietly been casting. The bright yellow dome rose up from the ground around her, quickly enveloping her in its vivacity. Bashing against the sides of it, irregardless of the pain, Alyssa knew it was hopeless, that soon it would implode... And implode it did, the walls crashing in on her, filling the entire space with a pure white light. Slowly fading away, Alyssa lay unconscious on the floor in-between Gaspar and Spekkio.
Reaching into his pocket, Gaspar pulled out the still slimy remote control. He jammed down on the button as the red Nu slung Alyssa over its shoulders. Quickly, the Epoch mk.2 arrived and the two got in, knowing they didn't have much time to spare before IT came...
Elsewhere in the same complex, the man sat at the monitor, having just watched the whole event take place before his very eyes without lifting a finger to help Alyssa. His shoulders started to shake as he tried unsuccessfully to suppress a giggle, but that didn't last long...
Another obstacle removed... but the question still remains, what is to be done about it? How much longer must this go on? No, I've no right to question this. It will happen eventually and then I will be free to take over... to become a god!
