Chapter 22

He'd always been told to start as he meant to continue; that was why he'd ditched out that morning. Sure he'd always wanted to be a Balancer and sure he had spent the last four years training himself up for what he considered the greatest job in the world. But he always intended to be one of those maverick type Balancers, like his heroes Eva Shadows, the Prodigy Child, Jack and Tracker Ashmar. They were what the Balance was truly all about. The ones who bucked trends in order to do what was right. That's why he'd been so exhilarated to have been accepted into the Shadows and so disappointed when he hadn't found himself being mentored directly by Eva Shadows herself.

Still it had simply given him the chance to begin his maverick style of Balancing right off the mark. Although now he was having a little trouble finding his mentor, he was beginning to wonder if it was really worth it.

'Looking for someone?' Nichee's voice grated through him.

Turning he saw the more than annoying Nethher Herin leant against a nearby wall, with an arrogant smirk plastered all over his face. False knew the guy was there deliberately to wind him up; it was something he could almost sense, like a bad smell in a small room.

'I'm looking for Helen,' False remained calm, 'have you seen her?'

'H H has just started a mission,' pulling himself off of the wall, Nichee took a few casual steps towards him. 'If you'd have bothered to show up this morning, you might have been able to experience first-hand what it's like being a Balancer. But I guess that's the price you pay for being afraid.'

'I'm not afraid,' he narrowed his gaze on Nichee, 'I just wanted…'

'Wanted what? To start as you mean to continue, as an unreliable nuisance?'

False went to say something, but stopped. Gritting his teeth, he turned his head away slightly feeling more than a little agitated.

'Don't worry about it, H H is a bit of a softy really; she won't mind too much that you did a bunk the first morning and probably won't report you for it. Me, on the other hand, well let's just say that I believe in tit for tat.'

'What do you want me to do?'

'Good boy,' Nichee laughed, 'I didn't even have to coax it out of you, now did I?'

'What do you want me to do?' False repeated the question, hating himself for it.

'Well, there is something you can do for me. It's more like a basic mission I've been assigned, which is so far beneath me it's not even worth me bothering with; so I thought a new punk like you could do it for me. What do you say there False Lover?'

'It's False Gleasta,' he corrected, 'and what kind of mission are we talking about here.'

'Recon,' Nichee gave a somewhat bored sigh. 'Information gathering missions are always such a drag, but they're always the Council's first point of call in cases like this.'

'Cases like what?'

'Like the order of things being reset, of course.'

'I see,' False frowned, 'so who exactly am I being sent to gather information on?'

'The new improved Mistresses and their families.'

'Wait, you're sending me to spy on…'

'Not spying, False, recon. The Council just want to make sure the change in the order of things hasn't upset the Balance too much. But to be perfectly honest with you False, this is all about the Council blowing hot air over nothing. They don't like it when the powers that be undermine their authority and reorganise things.'

'I don't know,' False shot him a doubtful look, 'something about this doesn't feel quite right.'

'Well get used to it,' Nichee rolled his eyes, 'the Council is just a bunch of noisy old farts, with nothing better to do with their time than poke their noises into everyone else's business.'

'So you're saying I should get used to spying on the powers that be?'

'Exactly.'

'They never said anything about that at the TA Academy.'

'Of course they didn't,' Nichee smirked, 'even though the Academy was set up by the original Balancer, it's still controlled by the Council. And they don't want their potential future employees knowing what they get off to.'

'I guess…' False still felt like something was wrong with this picture.

'Look, I don't pick the missions I'm assigned and neither do you. So are you going to do my little recon for me or will I have to tell the Council I don't believe you're fit for the job?'

'You wouldn't.'

'Oh, I most certainly would. And I don't know if H H had a chance to tell you this, but I have a lot of sway with the Council. If I say I think you should be out, then that's it,' he chuckled darkly. 'Of course, if you prefer, I can turn you into the maverick Balancer I'm sure you've always wanted to be. I can make you greater than any of your heroes, what do you say?'

'What's in it for you?'

'Well, from now until the time I feel like you've paid back what you owe, you'll be my mission whipping boy. You'll be responsible for handling anything and everything I feel is beneath me, but I'll be the one getting the credit for it.'

'How can I become great if you take credit for all of my missions?'

'I didn't say all of your missions; I just meant the ones you do for me. Well then, what do you say? Do you want me to make you great?'

For a few moments False contemplated what Nichee was offering him. There was something tempting about it. Almost too tempting.

'Why do I get the feeling like I'm selling my soul here,' False eyed him up strangely.

'I said nothing about your soul False.'

'Yes, but there's something about me becoming your whipping boy that makes me feel as though you're trying to own me.'

'The alternative is to have me put in a bad word to the Council about you; you won't last five minutes then.'

'So my choice is to either sell myself or lose my place?'

'Please False, I've said nothing about selling yourself. Just a fair trade in order for you to become as great as those you admire most.'

'I still don't know; something feels very, very wrong about this.'

'Please False, I'm a Balancer, nothing I do could ever truly be wrong, now could it?'

'I guess,' he was still riddled with doubt, 'but I just can't shake the feeling like I'm making a deal with the devil.'

At that Nichee began to laugh loudly. There was something almost cruel about the laugh which went beyond anything False had ever known before. But at the same time…

'The devil False?' Nichee cut off his train of thoughts. 'What do you know about the devil?'

'I…'

'Nothing, exactly. You know nothing about the devil, so how do you know what making a deal with him feels like?'

'Something still doesn't feel right about this.'

'Ignore that feeling False,' Nichee coaxed, 'that's just your own inner self-doubt at work. You know as well as I do that this is the right thing for you. So what do you say, whipping boy?'