Chapter Four: The Sickness Between the Revelations
Kampa District, Prague, Czech Republic, 4am
Slowly. Tap the feet slowly. Heels make noise, so move slow first.
At the other side of the building, former NYPD officer Kabal stands behind the other window, readying a flash grenade.
Below, his fellow former NYPD officer Kurtis Stryker holds his gun at the ready, giving both Kabal and Hesperia orders and intelligence to where their targets were.
The two former NYPD met Hesperia ten years ago following her escape from captivity by a child sex slave ring. Escaping and killing her captors, she fled from the building where she was being held, bloody, her hair and clothes in tatters, screaming through the streets of Appenzell, Switzerland.
On vacation, the officers noticed the then eleven-year-old Hesperia in hysterics, carrying the weapon she killed her captor with, blood covered her body, and she finally collapsed in a field, with the two on her tail.
She curled underneath the tall grass of a farm, screaming and crying, swinging her knife akimbo, when one of the officers approached her.
With gentle words, the one with shorter hair, Kurtis Stryker, he said his name was, bent down to her level and managed to get the knife away from her.
He took out his phone, then his partner, who named himself Kabal, approached.
Kurtis Stryker was looking at something on his phone, when he reached out and smoothed away the bloody and crusty hair from her face.
"That's her..." he said, "the missing girl from Norway..."
As girls from New York were also missing, the NYPD collaborated with Interpol to stop an international child sex trafficking ring, and here was one of the victims, one reported missing from Telemark, Norway.
"Alright kiddo..it's gonna be ok.." he said to the little girl, as she finally turned her face to look at him.
Hesperia thinks of those times often, even now, ten years later, she fights to save others from suffering her fate.
Kabal and Stryker work alongside her, the two choosing to become international vigilantes, fighting evil and crimes around the world.
Tonight, the three stand at a building in the slums of Prague, where they've been tasked with saving kidnapped prostitutes.
Hesperia kissed the cross around her neck and said a little prayer-her ritual before completing her next killing, and snapped her fingers, before busting in the building through the glass window.
Her killing uniform consisted of a black bodysuit with thick spaghetti straps and a heart compact at her waist. She wore black fingerless gloves, her long plum hair in odango like her favorite heroine, a white mask covering her face, finishing off with black heeled boots.
With the sound of breaking glass, Kabal threw a flash grenade into the room, flashing a bright light, allowing Hesperia to throw a rose into the chains holding the prostitutes to their chairs, breaking them.
"Five minutes!" Stryker yelled into their earpieces, and the woman moved fast, using the distraction of the bright light to dive at the captors, kicking her heel into the eye of one of the henchmen.
Kabal twirled his hook swords and dashed at the captors, sliding the floor and chopping their shins clean off.
The blood splattered on his face, and he smoothed his hair back.
Hesperia went after the leader, as Kabal led the prostitutes out. She ducked under the man's fist, using her elbow to create enough distance between them before regaining her fighting stance.
The leader's henchman jumped and attacked Hesperia, but she fell into a split and pulled out her karambit, stabbing him in his groin. She slashed deep into his flesh, his blood squirting in ribbons on her, and the man began to fall. She followed up with a slash to his throat, killing him instantly.
Hesperia, covered in blood, looked at the henchman and smiled, charging at him with a kick to his sternum. It made the man stagger, then he punched her in her face. She spit out blood, then retaliated with a punch to his face.
"Two minutes!" Stryker yelled.
"I wish I could sit and play, but..too bad." she said, throwing a rose at the man's face. It struck him between his eyes, and she snapped her fingers with a pose, killing him.
With seconds to spare, she dove out the window, the distance giving her enough time to change back into her civilian form and landed in Stryker's arms.
Kabal walked back to the two, when the prostitutes approached them.
They fell to their knees sobbing, when Hesperia tried to calm them down. "Please, don't cry. We're just happy you're all safe."
"Is there anything we can do for you?" they asked.
"Just you all being safe is enough compensation." Hesperia said with a smile, "now get outta here."
Once again, they thanked the trio, then she turned to Kabal and Stryker.
Before she could speak, however, her stomach growled, and the two laughed.
"OK ok, let's go back to your hotel. We'd definitely get some strange looks if we walked into an eatery with you two covered in blood." Stryker said.
They saw a fountain in the center square, and she walked in, washing away the blood.
"Sun's coming up..we better get back to the room before we're seen." she said, splashing Kabal. She splashed Stryker, too, and the three quickly ran back to their hotel room.
Castle Vrbada, 9am
There was an empty seat at the breakfast table, in place, there was a warm bowl of oatmeal waiting for the seat's owner.
Queen Jindřiška looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. Prince Tomáš had not joined the table yet.
"I will give him ten more minutes." King Václav said, "before I go into his room and pull him out of his bed. I will not have my child disobey me."
Upstairs in his bedroom, Tomáš groaned in his sleep, face first in his pillow, as Kuai Liang and Bi Han lay haphazard on the bed and floor along with him.
They had returned from the Brutal Assault festival close to 4am and immediately passed out, hoping that neither of Tomáš' parents would find them.
Ten minutes had passed, and King Václav rose from his table, growling at that "incompetent, ignorant child."
Kuai Liang awoke first, and he inwardly gasped, looking at the time. "Tomáš!" he yelled, shaking his friend awake.
The prince groaned, shaking his head. "Off..me.." he said,"get..off me..."
"Hurry..9am..breakfast.."
There was a knock at the door, loud and angry, and Kuai Liang froze.
"Prince Tomáš!"
"It's King Václav!" Kuai Liang said to himself.
The voice got the prince's attention along with another bang against his locked door. "Open this door now!"
Tomáš stared at his door in fright, each bang against his door a hammer in his heart. "Father!?" he mouthed, when Bi Han rose up from the floor, looking at the door.
"Shhh.." he said, putting his finger to his lips. He shooed both Tomáš and Kuai Liang into the adjoring bathroom and closed the door on them.
The young prince groaned and held his hand to his stomach. "My dad is going to kill me!" he said, when suddenly, a wave of nausea came to him, and he began to vomit into the nearby toilet. Kuai Liang immediately ran to aid him, holding his hair away from his eyes, rubbing his back.
Bi Han opened the door, nearly flinching at the angry eyes of King Václav.
"Bi Han, where is my so-" the king began, until he heard the sound of someone heaving in the bathroom. "Tomáš?" he asked, rushing into the bedroom. He went into the bathroom, where he saw his son bent over by the toilet, hurling.
"My son...what is wrong?" he asked. Tomáš waved at his father in acknowledgement, and he moved Kuai Liang away, moving to his son's side. "It started overnight. My brother and I were going to sleep, when we heard Tomáš in distress." Bi Han said. King Václav sighed, rubbing his back. "I'll go talk to your mother. She might know how to help."
When he left the room, he rushed to the stairway, on his way to get Queen Jindřiška.
"Damn it, Tomáš, I told you to take it easy with those sweets!" Bi Han said, shaking his head. Tomáš gave him a sheepish smile and said, "But everything was so tasty..." "And now you're hugging a toilet and all the sweets are vomit." Bi Han said.
"And your parents are coming up here. You're lucky I'm so good at making excuses on the fly." he added.
When Tomáš thought he was done, he rose from the floor and attempted to get up, only to turn around and vomit some more. "I feel like death...what a stomachache."
Right on cue, Queen Jindřiška ran into the room, wrapping her arms around Tomáš. "Ugh mom...mami...not right now..." he groaned. She pulled him up from the floor and held him up to the wall. "My sweet Tomáš, what is wrong?" she asked, running her hand down his cheek. She checked his forehead; it was a little warm and she helped bring him to the bed.
Her hand then trailed to his stomach, and she poked at it, causing Tomáš to squeak. "I should not have given you two plates yesterday, I apologize, perhaps this is what was ailing you."
She looked at the worried faces of Bi Han and Kuai Liang and nodded at them. "I will make you some tea, that might help settle your stomach."
"Thank you, mami." Tomáš said, holding his stomach. She soon left the room, and he sighed. "Damn..."
"At least your parents are too worried to be pissed off. Lucky." Bi Han said. "Lucky? He's sick, Bi Han." Kuai Liang said. "Oh I'll be fine, once I vomit all my insides out." Tomáš said, waving his hand. "He's the idiot who ate too many sweets even though I told him not to." Bi Han said, looking at the prince fondly. "You bought it all for me, though." Tomáš said with a smile, "uh...sorry, my breath smells horrible."
"Because your damn puppy eyes. That's what I'm going to call you now, Puppy Tomáš." Bi Han said.
"Woof Woof. Maybe I'll grow a tail and those long ears." Tomáš said with a laugh. "You'll be the cutest dog in the castle, Tomáš." Kuai Liang said, smoothing back his hair. "You mean I'm not cute already?" the prince said with a pout. Kuai Liang and Bi Han both poked Tomáš' cheeks and said, "You're the cutest thing in this castle."
Queen Jindřiška returned holding a cup of tea in her hand. "Ginger and peppermint tea, it will serve to help with your stomach." she said, handing Tomáš the cup. It was hot, but the prince endured, taking a sip as he rose from his pillow.
She watched on as he drank the rest of the tea and sighed, leaning back against his bedpost. "Thank you, mami." he said with a weak smile. "You are welcome, my son. In the future, I will consider your diet. I had a lapse in judgement, I apologize." her smile was a sad one, but he merely blinded her with a now large smile of his own. She patted his head. "Rest easy today, Tomáš, I wanted to read with you in the parlor today, but maybe we can save that until you feel better."
"I will see how I feel later today." he said with a nod, and she left the room.
Bi Han and Kuai Liang watched as Tomáš fell back to his pillow and said, "I think I'm already feeling better. Something about mami's tea or..well..her food got me into this situation in the first place."
"It was the sweets, I'm telling you, Tomáš." Bi Han said. "But mama doesn't know that." Tomáš winked. "Cheeky little brat." Bi Han said, pinching his cheek. "Whatever. I'm going back to sleep." the prince said, curling into his blankets. Bi Han and Kuai Liang left the room soon after, going back to their room for sleep.
Kampa District, Prague, 10am
"Pizza? At 10am?" Hesperia asked, watching as Kurtis and Kabal ate their delivery pizza at the table in her hotel suite. "What? I was hungry." Kurtis said, "though I admit, the pizza does leave a lot to be desired." Kabal laughed. "Of course, leave it to the New Yorker to criticize pizza from other countries."
"Hey, you have cheesesteaks, we have pizza."
"And you have the Mets, we have the Phillies."
"I would have preferred you say the Yankees."
"At least my team made the Super Bowl this year. By stepping on your team, by the way."
Hesperia rolled her eyes, stealing a slice of pizza while the two once again argued about sports.
Speaking of Kabal's team, her pajama pants were green and silver, with eagle heads, the logo of his football team, the Philadelphia Eagles, or simply, the Birds.
"I don't even know why they call it 'football'." she said, "it's not like they kick the ball. They run with it in their hands. Real football, you don't touch the ball with your hands."
"In that world, we call that soccer." Kabal said.
"Soccer is a non-existent word! We don't call it soccer!" Hesperia yelled, throwing a piece of pepperoni at Kabal. "Mmm..pepperoni." he said, winking at her.
He rose up from the table and began marching through the room. "Three cheers for the red, white and blue!"
"Oh good lord." Kurtis said, facepalming. Hesperia laughed, and Kabal returned to his seat, booping her nose. "Close enough, my two flags are red, white and blue. Though I admit, ever since I... left Norway...I haven't claimed it as my country. I'm full Swiss now." she said with a smile.
"It's the best, I get to sit in the snow in the alps in the winter or play with the sheep in the spring. It stays reasonably cool all year around, too." she added.
As Kabal and Kurtis talked, Hesperia left her seat and went looking out the window, overlooking the city from the ninth floor in the hotel.
The city was just getting up. No signs that anyone knew what they did in the early hours of the morning. Maybe those girls were back on the streets, but their kidnappers were now swiss cheese. The three received their payment for the raid, and she put it into her fund, keeping it safe.
"These people know nothing, ya know." she said, turning back to the two men, "that we fulfilled our contract here in Prague. Or at least one of our missions." "I'm still gathering intelligence to see if the Black Dragon are here, no leads so far." Kurtis said. Hesperia nodded. "Well...no news is good news, right?" Kabal nodded.
She watched as people, or what looked like ants from her distance, went to work, got on local buses, ate breakfast at cafes and rode their bicycles down the street. Life went on, and Hesperia smiled, happy to be responsible for keeping things running smoothly in Prague.
Out in the distance, there was a foggy wooded area, and she asked, "What's over there? Outside the city? Far distance."
Kabal joined her in viewing the city, and he said, "Looks like a forest of sorts. Apparently, there's a castle out there."
"A castle?" she asked with curiosity.
Kabal shrugged. "I don't know anything about it, maybe I'm talking out of my ass." "Maybe it's a mysterious castle with a beautiful princess." Kurtis said. "Well damn, say it like that, and I'll be over there like, Rapunzel my dear, let down your beautiful hair." Kabal said. "I think she would rather throw a knife at you and bust open your head." Kurtis said, and again, Hesperia facepalmed.
"Where would I be without you two..." she said with a smile.
Castle Vrbada, 5pm
Tomáš had recovered from his bout with nausea and stomach irritation in the morning. He had joined his mother by the fireplace in the parlor for light and quiet reading.
It was calming, relaxing, the only sound was the crackling of the fireplace, their breathing, and pages turning. Tomáš lay in his mother's arms, his head on her shoulder, her hand in his hair, stroking as she read from her page.
Fiction, it was, it was a story about a Japanese samurai who made a pact with the devil's second in command, the demon lord Sparda. With their pact, the samurai, Oda Nobunaga, was able to become a full-fledged demon and take the country by force.
"If this demon lord was so righteous, then why did he allow this samurai to become so evil?" Tomáš asked. "Just because you give someone a gift does not mean that you know what the person will do with it." she said. "But the man held a reputation of being called the demon king Nobunaga. Would that not tip the demon Sparda of that?" he asked.
"It is not just angels that think best of people. Demons do as well."
Tomáš was quiet.
"But do not fret, my son. Demons do not exist."
She held Tomáš tighter, and he leaned into her hold. "Of course they don't." he said to himself. "Not in their corporal forms, at least." she added. "Evil exists in all aspects in this world, my son. Perhaps, in that case, you may say that demons exist."
"A frightening thought." Tomáš said.
"Your friends, who can do magic, Bi Han and Kuai Liang, one could call them demons, perhaps." she said. "Mami..? But they..they protect me." he said, looking down at the floor. "The Lin Kuei took it upon themselves to protect this family, the two brothers, you, but one should always remember what the Lin Kuei stood for before their service to us."
"How did they swear loyalty to us?" he asked.
"Ask your father, he worked that deal. I was against it." she replied. "Against it?" he asked. She nodded. "You are my precious boy..I feared the consequences of having two assassins by your side. Their line of work is dangerous. I did not want them to hurt you."
"Bi Han and Kuai Liang would never." Tomáš said.
"Be careful around them, Tomáš." she said, lightly kissing the top of his head. She leaned his head into her neck, stroking his hair again and said, "They are dangerous. Never assume that two deadly assassins can be your best friends."
Tomáš was silent as Queen Jindřiška began another book. This one, she read to herself. Tomáš was left in his own world, in his own mind, thinking about his mother's words.
She was wrong about Bi Han and Kuai Liang.
He thought about their smiles, about Bi Han and Kuai Liang's hugs and light kisses, about how Bi Han bought him cakes and pastries and ice cream, followed him into that mosh pit, how Kuai Liang held his hair back when he was throwing up, how they trained him to be one of them.
It was all Tomáš could think about, even when the two brothers walked into his room to bid him goodnight. They noticed he was a bit quieter, but Bi Han assumed that Tomáš was asleep. Kuai Liang looked on with worry. Tomáš always wished him goodnight.
"Let's let him sleep." Bi Han said, pulling his brother out of the room, and into theirs.
Kampa District, Prague, Midnight
Kurtis and Kabal left, leaving Hesperia in Prague as she was to meet with a band named Ghosts of Karelia later in the day. They had a performance at Klub 007 Stráhov, and she was requested to perform with them, having listened to her music and enjoying it. Email correspondence with their lead vocalist began through her management, and she agreed to have a conversation with him through Zoom.
Later today, she would officially meet with the band.
Best to get enough sleep, first impressions count!
As the night winded down on the Kampa District, her breathing evened out, as she went to sleep, a stuffed plush of Kabal in her arms.
Tomorrow, we dance again.
