Chapter 04: Rise to Power

--

The next day the children visited the house. Renton explained to his grandfather that he was job hunting still, mostly to cease the repetitive badgering from his aged family member, but Axle took this skeptically. Eureka spent most of the day working around the house, sweeping, dusting, and busying herself with any small task that could keep herself occupied. Renton waited anxiously for news about Raven's Arc, the Pillar of Dawn, and Dominic and Anemone. He tried to research as much as he could on the Pillar of Dawn, but with little success. He couldn't find anything about it in the news. The media was gridlocked by the army; no news was to get out about the actions of the Pillar.

But then It came to him as he was sitting at the table for lunch. If there was any information on the Pillar, it would be in Ray=out.

"But, we haven't heard anything from Gekkostate in a long time, Renton," Eureka pointed out. "I don't think it's likely that Stoner is still making it. I mean, after the issue with both of us on the cover, I don't remember another being made,"

They were sitting at the kitchen table, a plate of rice patties between them. They were both a little dirty from the day's work. Renton reached for a glass in front of him, and took a long drink of papaya juice. His eyes were fixated on a swarm of rainbow-colored skyfish floating around a tree, seen through the full-sized window behind the table.

"Yeah," he agreed, "But, would you mind if I went out to Raffie's place – he's a refboard merchant. I used to get all my Klia stuff from him. He carried Ray=out in good quantaties. I just want to check and see if a new issue is out."

"Okay," Eureka said. "But don't be gone too long. I have something special planned for dinner."

Renton was already at the door, putting on his jacket.

"Right,"

He took off into the afternoon sun on his motorbike and drove to the outskirts of Belleforest where his favorite surfside Ref shop was. When he arrived he was disappointed to see that no new Ray=outs were in stock. When Renton inquired about when the new shipment would come in, Raffie replied by saying that he didn't know, and that he hadn't received a new issue in almost 6 months. Renton, disappointed, inquired about the Pillar, but Raffie had no information, either.

And then he found something on the way home. He had been driving on Norris Avenue, a side street in the market district of Belleforest, when he came about a book store. He paused, then parked his bike and went in.

It was arid and hot inside the cramped bookstore. He could tell that most of the novels were donated and some were in disrepair. There was barely enough room between the crowded shelves to walk. The dank smell of old books filled his nostrils and burned like a light dose of iodine. He looked around for awhile. Renton had never been a big fan of reading (unless it was a comic book), but, judging from the state of most of the books, there was probably no restriction on the type of texts sold here. More wishing than hoping, he looked desperately, scanning each shelf twice, for any sign of information on the Pillar of Dawn.

After looking around for what seemed like an eternity, Renton finally conceded and asked the large, bearded man at the front counter if he had the book he needed.

"Sure do, kid," the man said. His voice was very deep. He pushed the comic book he had been reading in front of Renton's face.

RISE TO POWER

The cover showed images of battle, LFOs, and KLFs fighting. There were a few romantic images in the background but nothing that really interested Renton.

"Umm, sorry, but I don't think this is the book I need," Said Renton as he forced the comic out of his face.

"If you want info on the Pillar, this is where you get it," he said. "This comic is brand new. It's written by a guy working for military intelligence. This is his way of bypassing the military gridlock on the media. Here." He thrust the comic into Renton's hands.

"Why…are you telling me this? Shouldn't you be trying to hide it or something?"

"Not my fault if my merchandise 'resembles' actual events. Oh, and the group is called 'Autumn Rain' in that book, not Pillar of Dawn," With that he pulled another issue of the comic from a disorderly pile of other texts and broke the seal. Renton left. He stuffed the comic into his jacket's inside pocket and rode off on his bike. What the heck am I going to do with this?

He parked his bike at the house and locket it in the garage. Walking inside, he discovered a very distraught Eureka.

She was sitting at the kitchen table in darkness, sobbing with her arms folded on the table. Her wings were quivering with every painful breath.

"Eureka? Hey, what's wrong?" Renton approached the table carefully, and sat down next to her. He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned in. "What's wrong, Eureka?"

She lifted her tear-stained face from her arms and looked at him.

"Dominic and Anemone are dead,"

--

Next Chapter: Reason to Fight

What fuels one to fight is a resolve fortified by a wish to right the injustices in the world surrounding him. What causes one to love is the undying want to protect. But when these two mix, will the burning emotions inside the hero be released?