Chp.12: Silicosis
Arthur woke to the smell of antiseptic and the low rumble of people shouting in the distance.
He had barely sat up before a nurse was there, gently pressing him back down onto the mattress.
"Stay here," the nurse commanded, a stern look in his eye, before disappearing outside. Arthur blinked a few times to clear the blurriness from his eyes and glanced around. He was lying on a rickety portable bed, the low-hanging sun peeking in through the tent flap.
Much lower than when he last remembered, walking through a canyon of sand towards Khepri. A thread of dread began to grow in his stomach as he recalled more of his interactions with the Endbringer. He lurched to his feet, ignoring the nurse's instructions, and pushed his way outside.
Something had gone wrong with the negotiations. The camp was on hills in the outskirts, but the city itself... he staggered to the side. Where the majority of Barcelona once stood there was now a massive crater, already filled with seawater. The surrounding area looked as though a great force had sucked everything towards the centre of the crater, with trees and buildings bowled over towards it and Arthur couldn't shake the impression of a congregation kneeling down before an alter.
There was less dust in the air than he thought there would be, he noted absently. It looked like a small tidal wave had also hit the coast, with much of the shoreline washed away.
Something twinged in the back of his head and he turned to face the nurse from earlier. The Triumvirate followed behind him.
They will pin the blame on you.
"Why did you attack her?" Arthur growled out, advancing towards the group and Eidolon in particular. The man jerked, then drew himself up. Alexandria paused for a moment then let herself fall back slightly behind the group.
She was expecting you to feel guilty.
"Khepri was torturing you," Eidolon replied, "and I-"
"She wanted me to understand!"
"What do you mean?" Alexandria asked after a moment, moving to stand beside Eidolon. She seemed normal, but Arthur could see the edge of three large gouges in her face, as though someone had torn into her.
She doesn't really care about losing the city, only getting more information on the Endbringers.
"Khepri can't communicate properly with us," Arthur began, gesturing around, "there is something stopping her, limiting her actions. She needs someone to understand what she was trying to say."
She is assessing you. How you move, what you say. She knows you are reading her. She knows you are a parahuman.
"I'm a parahuman?" Arthur blurted out. Eidolon tensed up but Alexandria waved him down as she stared at Arthur.
"She forced you to trigger with a specific power," she stated.
"We need to take this conversation somewhere else," Legend added, stepping forwards as well to rest a hand on Eidolon's shoulder.
They are considering kidnapping you in the future.
"I want to check on my team first, then we need to set up a meeting with the other directors. They will need to hear this too," Arthur said, keeping his voice sterner than he felt.
Alexandria glanced at Legend for a moment then nodded at him.
They will wait.
They dispersed, Alexandria heading off towards where Arthur could see the local cape leader approaching, a furious look on his face.
"We lost a third of our capes," Rebecca Costa-Brown informed them, her tone completely neutral. She was on video call, as were the other city directors. Arthur himself was back at the mountain base, along with the Triumvirate and a few other heroes.
"There local cape casualty rate was nearly half, and civilian deaths have so far reached 1.3 million, with minor expected increases from injuries and the tidal wave that hit various Mediterranean coasts."
Each word sent a pang into Arthur, as well as reminding him that two of the Minneapolis team weren't coming home either.
"I said it would be like Kabul," Director Fairchild growled. "Like Tunis. I said they were monsters. You should've left well enough alone."
"Are we to just give up then?" Arthur asked, "Just lay down and accept our fate?"
"Over a million people are dead because of you, Crowley!"
"It was working! She didn't know I would faint!" He had risen to his feet now and was half shouting, his attention turned towards the silent figure of Eidolon, who had been leaning against the wall out of the way.
"But you couldn't bear the thought that all of the previous attacks had been for nothing."
The hooded man pushed off of the wall and stalked towards him, ignoring the warning murmur from Alexandria.
He is angrier than he should be, but doesn't know why. He might attack you.
"What are you trying to imply, Director Crowley?"
"I am stating that you jumped the gun, Eidolon, because you were furious and spoiling for a fight. You didn't even want the attempt to work!"
He had drawn close now, and his hands were clenched into fists.
"I have lost countless friends to them-"
"And yet you would rather destroy them and cause more deaths than find a peaceful solution," Arthur shouted, squaring up to the man.
"They have killed millions!" Eidolon roared, stepping closer. Arthur had already moved by then, however, and had grasped the cape's arm to throw him aside. Eidolon rose into the air as he spun around, catching Arthur with his power and freezing him in place.
Alexandria was between them the next instant. She didn't say anything, but the pressure on Arthur eased up and he dropped to the ground, wheezing. Eidolon's attention was still on him.
He didn't mean to attack you. His emotions have been out of control, but he doesn't know why.
"Perhaps we should calm down," the Chief Director suggested. He caught her glancing at Alexandria and his power started up again.
She is looking for guidance. She does not know what to say; the situation is too unexpected. She is not Rebecca Costa-Brown. Arthur took a moment to look at Alexandria too but found himself matching her gaze. He froze.
She is warning you not to say anything about the fake chief director. She knows the woman is a stand in. She is controlling her.
He pushed the information his power was feeding him to the side, for a moment, trying not to acknowledge the way that Alexandria was watching him.
"Controlling..." he muttered. She stiffened, but he was already standing up and turning away.
"Play the video of Khepri talking back."
The imposter assessed him then nodded, and the video popped up on the screen.
They were quiet while it played, aside from Fairchild grunting in displeasure, but Arthur was wholly focused on Khepri.
"The others don't want to attack either," he began, "but Khepri is the one with the most freedom. They do genuinely care for each other, too. She said that they 'aren't inviolate', but she didn't mean physically, that was already obvious... "
His eyes roamed her figure, the way she tensed whenever a cape moved, ready to strike, the places where Dragon had highlighted the slight shake in her hands.
"They're being mastered."
"Crowley." Director Fairchild said, scowling.
"It's why she doesn't give a straight answer, because she is physically incapable of it. She knows it's happening, too."
"If that is true it had disturbing implications," Legend offered as he stepped forward. "But it also means that Khepri herself won't be able to help us with finding out if it is true."
He believes he knows who the Master is. He thinks it's futile to try stopping them.
"It's also very convenient," Fairchild replied, "that the Endbringer triggers him and now he's proclaiming that they are all innocent and being mastered? I don't trust it, and I wouldn't trust him either, not without some serious M/S protocols in place."
"We are going to go through that with him anyway," Alexandria nodded at Fairchild, who subsided back into his chair.
"I..." Arthur trailed off. He wanted to protest but he also understood their reasoning. He wouldn't really know if he was being mastered.
You aren't being mastered.
Arthur sighed.
Director Crowley's body language was of resigned acceptance as Legend led him out of the room.
"Do you believe him?" Chevalier asked as he stood beside her, watching them leave. Alexandria rubbed at the edges of the scars on her face, almost revelling in the unusual sensation of pain.
"He believes it. The question is how accurate his power is, and whether we can even trust it."
She did not mention her and Legend's suspicion that Scion was the one mastering the Endbringers.
Despite the lack of faith Alexandria had held for Director Crowley's idea she had to admit that the idea of the Endbringers being an unsolvable problem until Scion was dealt with frustrating. More than that, however, was that if they were to attack Scion he would have assistance from four Endbringers at once.
"I hope he is right," Chevalier said, his tone sombre. "It would make all our losses to them a little more tolerable."
"Tolerable?" Alexandria asked, raising an eyebrow at her old Ward.
"At least there would be a reason for it all. I would prefer it to be the work of some madman rather than the mindless whims of monsters." He shrugged a large shoulder. "But not everyone would agree with that, I think."
"I do," Alexandria replied, remembering the world-spanning corpse of the Entity. "It would make things simpler."
They waited until they heard the hissing of the large pneumatic closing shut before continuing.
"His power was a golden, glowing scarab emblazoned on his forehead," he sighed, and leaned more weight onto his weapon. "That is not a good sign."
"Perhaps," she murmured, considering.
Khepri floated in the mantle, hunched in on herself, unwilling to return to the surface. She didn't want to face her teammates and grieve alongside them. It didn't feel right. She could explain her guilt away as not being at the fight but the idea of lying to them wasn't what was bothering her.
It just all felt pointless. She knew that this would keep happening, and despite everything Alexandria was right. It was inevitable. Khepri was never going to be able to always avoid killing her teammates, or those she remembered from Brockton bay. It was a miracle tha-
Her thoughts were interrupted by a large arm circling around her and drawing her close in to a vast, craggy chest.
[SIS...TER]
[Guilt]
"I killed a friend."
[SOR...ROW]
[Sorrow]
[FUTURE]
[Despair]
"I don't know if it'll be okay."
[FAITH]
Big thanks to BurnNote and Evil Atlas for beta'ing, as always.