Chapter 61

They could sense they were getting closer without anyone or anything having to point it out to them. The beacon was so strong now that even Arados could sense it and let it run shivers up and down his spine. There was something almost too eerie about it. Too…

'This isn't right,' he couldn't help but voice his concerns, 'something about this just feels…'

'Feels what,' Lus shot him a look, 'like we're walking into a trap?'

'We've done that enough times before to recognise the signs.'

'And if it's not a trap?'

'I can't see what else it would be right now.'

'Ara is right,' False folded his arms, 'there's something a little too convenient about this signal. Maybe the Teen is the one sending it in the first place.'

'And why would he do that,' Lus rolled his eyes.

'Because he knows no one can track him directly, so he's either setting up a decoy or leading us into a very clever trap.'

'Clever trap; give us some credit why don't you? I mean, if it was such a clever trap then we wouldn't have been able to work it out, now would we?'

'Maybe he was banking on us doing that.'

'Ever the optimist I see.'

'Stop acting like this is all my fault,' False snapped, 'I'm not the one who made him set this trap for us. And I'm definitely not the one who asked him to steal Order and Chaos.'

'No,' Lus's lips curled, 'your Daddy was.'

'Yeah, but I had nothing to do with that.'

'You sure about that?'

'You'd just love for me to be the one behind this, wouldn't you?'

'It would make it easier for me to…'

'Guys, for the last time, stop it,' Arados's could hear the growled notes in his own voice, 'this isn't getting anyone anywhere and you know it. Geez, I don't see what your problem with each other is anyway.' Taking a deep breath, he studied them both for a moment. 'Look, the smart thing to do now is ready ourselves for all possibilities.'

'What do you mean,' Lus frowned.

'He means that we should be prepared for this signal to lead us to anything,' False interpreted. 'Whether the anything is a trap or a decoy or actually someone generally in trouble, we've got to be ready for it.'

'Well that's obvious. But we need to be a little more than just prepared for anything.'

'Then what do you suggest, oh mighty oracle?'

'Are you trying to be funny? Because you know something, you're not really very good at it.'

'I don't know,' Arados couldn't help but smirk, 'I don't think his humour is too bad.'

'You wouldn't.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Nothing,' Lus shrugged. 'Look, we need a plan, okay?'

'Couldn't have put it better myself,' False nodded. 'You guys have any ideas or can I jump in here with one of my own.'

'Like you have a plan.'

'Balancers always have plans and back up plans and back up to the back up plans.'

'So in other words Balancers are all nerds.'

False was clearly about to make a snide remark to that, but Arados raised his hand to silence him. He still had no idea why the pair couldn't get on, no matter what the situation, but he was going to find a way to mediate the situation once and for all.

'Look,' Arados flicked his gaze back and forth between them, 'for what it's worth I actually do have a plan. And I know it probably won't work, but that's a chance I'm willing to take.'

'Since when do you come up with plans,' Lus cocked an eyebrow at him, 'you're normally the brawn of our group.'

'You for one should know better than to say that to me,' he glared. 'Alright, so I'm not a genius like my siblings, but I do have a brain you know.'

'I know that, but you don't often use it. To be honest I'm impressed you finally are, I was getting tired of waiting for you to.'

'That didn't come out sounding as flattering as I'm sure you intended it to be.'

'Whatever,' Lus shrugged, 'you know what I meant.'

'Yeah,' he rolled his eyes, 'I did.'

'So then,' False tilted his head curiously, 'what is this plan of yours?'

'Well… it's a little complicated.'

'That's just how I like my plans,' he grinned. 'Go on.'

'For a start I need you to find out what demon weapons you can manifest.'

'Why?'

'Just do it, you can ask questions later.'

'Okay…' something in False's voice sounded more than a little wary.

'Look, it'll be alright,' Lus shot him a slim but compassionate smile, 'Ara wouldn't be getting you to do this if there wasn't a good reason for it.'

'You sure about that?'

'We're connected in a way you couldn't even comprehend, remember? I normally know what he's thinking even before he's thinking it.'

'Then how come you didn't come up with my plan before I did,' Arados couldn't help but tease, hoping the comment would sound less obnoxious from him than it would from False.

'Because I had other things on my mind,' Lus shrugged, 'nothing wrong with that, is there?'

'Nothing at all,' he sighed. 'Now,' he turned his attention back to False, 'I believe you're supposed to start manifesting things.'

'Right,' False nodded apprehensively, 'I just wish I knew how. I mean I manifested the bow by pure chance, I…'

'Its all about the movements,' Arados positioned himself behind False and manipulating his arms through a series of manifesting motions. 'Or at least that's what Jo always said.'

'Why would your sister know anything about it,' Lus frowned.

'This was before she lost her powers,' Arados's face filled with a strange smile. 'When she used to try and get me to belong in the tight little fold she and Crovell existed in. She wanted me to know everything they did. To be as smart as they were. I always felt like she was trying to patronise me, but that doesn't mean I didn't hold on to what she taught me. I guess I knew it would come in handy one day.'

'And today just happens to be that day?'

'Yeah, it would seems to be, huh?' Arados pulled himself back away from False, before giving him a serious look. 'Repeat as many of those movements as you remember and see what you get.'

'Right,' False nodded, clearly worried about the thought of manifesting demon weapons.

'What's wrong,' Arados studied him.

'I feel like I should have known this,' he sighed. 'But even though we were taught about manifestation, we were never…'

'Never what?'

'Never shown how it worked. I guess they didn't think there was any point in it; probably because if you had demon blood you were already supposed to know…'

'But you didn't,' Arados gently cut him off, 'and there's no shame in that.'