Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (26 page)

Zaid nodded. “The best and
the worst actually, at least according to points.”

Zaid gestured for Terra and
Hikari to follow again. He led them to the center of the salient. A
ring transformed part of the salient into a tall wall with a flat
floor made of stone bricks. Above them hung a stone ceiling while a
large circular pyre burned near the wall. Zaid pointed to the wall.
“I have a task for both of you.”

Hikari turned her side to
Zaid. “I will do nothing you say. I am not a soldier for you to
order around.”

“Pity,” Zaid said. “I
was going to help you connect with your shieldwatch. You should
consider mastering it soon. At week three, tirones are allowed to use
a shieldwatch for sparring. If you do not master it, they will become
stronger than you.”

“How?” Terra asked.

Zaid walked to the wall and
then walked on the wall until he reached the ceiling. He then hung
upside down though his clothing continued to point towards the
ceiling as though gravity had reversed.

“This is important,” Zaid
said while crouching on the ceiling. “I use this trick often. Other
strike team leaders often fail to use this simple ability. I need you
both to master this skill if you are to use my tactics.”

“How did you do that?”
Terra asked as Zaid fell to the ground, landing feet first.

“I do not know the technical
terms,” Zaid said, dusting himself off. “I know that a
shieldwatch connects to time and allows one to manipulate it. This
connection with time takes from a few days up to weeks to form. Once
it does, then it is a simple matter of willpower, like moving a
muscle.” He then pointed to the pyre. “Heat rises as does the
smoke. You both need to be like heat and smoke to make it up this
wall,” he said as he drew two knives. One he handed to Terra and
the other to Hikari. “Use this to mark your progress up the wall.
Make it to the top and this exercise will be done.”

Terra looked at the hard stone
floor. “I only have one Restore a day, Zaid.”

Zaid aimed his shieldwatch arm
to the floor, creating a stasis field there. He then dropped his
helmet which slowed in the field. “This should stop injuries from
falls.”

Hikari grabbed the hilt of her
aeon edge. “My aeon edge first.”

Zaid nodded and held out his
hand.

Hikari hesitated.

Zaid sighed. “I must hold it
in order to repair it.”

Terra watched as Hikari
hesitantly handed her aeon edge to Zaid, her gaze never leaving the
blade.

Zaid inspected the aeon edge
before opening up the bottom part of the blade and peering inside. A
set of rails slid out and Terra could see a lot of mechanical parts
inside the sword. After a moment, he handed the blade back to Hikari
who relaxed.

“It needs a stasis cell clip
and a few other parts,” Zaid said, wiping his hands. “Two points
at most.”

Hikari inspected her aeon
edge. “Why did they give me a broken blade?”

“They always do that,”
Zaid said, shrugging. “A lot of equipment they give you is broken.
The centurions expect you to fix it. An aeon edge is especially
difficult to keep in good condition since it cannot be restored with
a shieldwatch like other objects. I will go get the parts you need.
You should practice while I am gone.”

When Zaid left, Hikari sat on
the floor.

“Not going to do as he
says?” Terra asked.

Hikari said nothing and
instead inspected her aeon edge again. She opened the area near the
bottom of the blade above the hilt and peered inside.

Terra sighed and wondered why
others seemed drawn to Hikari. She had heard more than one team
leader talk about how pretty and strong Hikari was. They all wanted
her, at least until they had her and she started insulting them. Then
they tried to get rid of her as fast as possible. Hikari was like a
beautiful glowing ember, pretty to look at, but burned if touched.

Terra pushed those thoughts
out of her mind and instead focused on the wall. She wanted to walk
on walls. It was far better than what her shieldwatch could do now,
which was nothing. Wondering, Terra dropped a loose stone on the
ground and watched it slow in the stasis field Zaid had made. After a
moment, Terra put her hand in the stasis field and felt no different.
She then waded into the field.

Terra walked to the wall and
put a foot on it. She then pushed herself up and promptly fell
backwards. As she expected, the stasis field caught her and Terra
stood. This time she ran up the wall only to slip and fall again.
When she ran up a third time, she remembered the knife Zaid had given
her and she made a mark on the wall before falling again.

“Fool,” Hikari said,
sitting behind Terra, the firelight illuminating her slender frame.

Terra put her hands on her
hips. “You know, people accuse me of being blunt all the time, but
at least I don't insult everyone I meet intentionally.”

Hikari looked away. “Why am
I even speaking to this stupid girl?” she said, more to herself
than Terra, before falling silent.

Terra grimaced. Her face
prickled with sweat as she glared at Hikari. The running combined
with the fire made her hot, or was her temper rising? Clearing her
mind again, Terra faced the wall. She ran up and for a single instant
sensed something different. It was a strange sensation, like the
feeling a current gave when swimming upstream. The new sense faded
when Terra slipped down again before putting another mark on the
wall. This mark was higher than the last by half a pace.

Terra stared wide eyed at the
wall. Had she just used her shieldwatch? Gripping the knife in her
hand, Terra charged. Again she sensed something different for a mere
second. It was as though she could feel not only the force of gravity
pulling her down, but the force of time that pulled gravity forward.
This time she pushed on that feeling and Slowed it. When she did, she
felt herself grow lighter. Her next mark was another half pace higher
than the last.

“Yes!” Terra said. “I
think I finally got it working!”

Hikari perked and frowned when
she saw the wall. She inspected the marks and then turned to Terra as
though to ask a question, but hesitated. Instead Hikari clinched her
jaw and walked to the wall. Then she ran up it and to Terra's
surprise, fell, leaving a mark well below Terra's last.

Terra almost laughed at
thought of the mighty Hikari lagging behind her. She turned back to
the wall and continued to run, gaining another pace of distance. Her
progress slowed after that. Then the strange new sense faded. Now
each mark was lower than the last.

“Good!” Hikari said.

Terra turned and grimaced.
Hikari now crouched on the ceiling like Zaid had.

After a moment Hikari jumped
down, landing with grace next to the pyre. She glanced over her
shoulder at Terra. “I assume if you can do this, then surely I am
able as well.”

Terra face grew warm again and
not just from the heat of the fire. She didn't return Hikari's
insult. Instead she faced the wall and ran up it again losing another
span of progress.

Hikari scoffed and turned to
leave as Zaid returned.

Zaid handed Hikari a series of
set glowing blue cylinders held together by a clip. “This is one
part you will need. Anno has the other. Talk to her.”

Hikari's eyes narrowed. “In
exchange for what?”

“Trust,” Zaid said, his
expression unreadable.

“You think a small light
will buy that?” Hikari said while inspecting the device.

“Small beginnings,” Zaid
said as he turned and looked at the wall. “Ah. I see you practiced
as I asked.”

“I completed your training.
It was a simple thing,” Hikari said before leaving the room.

Zaid turned to Terra. “I see
you have also made progress.”

Terra sighed and dropped the
knife. It sank into the stasis field and stopped. “I was. Now I'm
practically back where I started.”

He nodded as though finding
this unsurprising. “I see. You must be one of them.”

“Them?”

“For some, the shieldwatch
just works. For a few though, it takes a while. The Sybil had a name
for them. What was it? Regardless, you are likely one of those who
have a weak connection with time.”

Terra felt a stab of panic.
“You mean I can't use a shieldwatch at all?”

“No. You will be able to
eventually. It will take longer than most. The longest I have seen is
four weeks. Since it has already worked a little, then I suspect your
connection will form later this week.”

Terra sighed. “Why didn't
the instructors tell me this?”

“You should grow used to
that. They seem to wish for most to discover these things on their
own.”

“Okay. What is your deal?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Deal?”

“Yes. Your deal. What do you
want? Why do you bother to tell me any of this? Every other team
leader has sold me off the first chance they got. Yesterday they even
had me sit out the team mission so I wouldn't get in the way. Why do
you care?”

“I told you the truth. I
prefer newtimers because they are easier to train. They do not have
as many assumptions that get in their way. Are you that mistrustful?”

“Why are you really here?
Are you just here for immortality?”

Zaid shook his head. “No. I
am here for something else.”

“What then?”

“A second chance,” he said
as he motioned for Terra to follow. They walked outside to where the
other team members practiced. “Listen. I know you do not trust me.
Trust is hard to build when the centurions play us against one
another, but it must begin somewhere. So what is your problem with
trust?”

“I don't like teams.”

“Ah,” Zaid said as though
he now understood the problem. “Yes. I remember now. Americans tend
to be very individualistic. Well allow me to warn you. Few make it
through the Survival Test alone. None make it through the Labyrinth
alone.”

Terra followed Zaid to the
armory.

“Why are we here?” Terra
asked.

Zaid gestured to Terra's
uniform. “This will not do. Allah help you if the instructors catch
you with a baggy uniform.”

Terra recoiled from Zaid.
“You're a Muslim?”

“Yes. So?”

“I
am not wearing a burqa,”
Terra said, pointedly.

Zaid stared at Terra with a
blank expression. “I have no idea what that is.”

Terra's brow furrowed. “You
know. An outfit that covers a woman from head to toe? It protects her
modesty?”

“Oh. You mean a veil? I will
not make you wear that. That would be stupid. We are soldiers now,
not members of the court who can afford such trivial things as
modesty. Now go get your uniform fitted, I don't want to lose points
for my team looking sloppy. The centurions never take points for lack
of modesty, but they will if your uniform is not perfect.”

Terra found the back rooms and
rummaged through the uniforms until finding one that fit. After
inspecting herself in a mirror, she discovered her uniform was indeed
loose fitting and baggy. She changed into the new uniform before
sighing upon inspecting her reflection. She looked better, she
thought, but the tight fitting uniform still made her look
overweight. However, she stood a little taller now without her
hunched posture. She made a few final adjustments before saving her
state in her shieldwatch. She then walked out to meet Zaid.

Zaid inspected weapons in the
armory before turning to Terra and smiling. “Much better.”

Terra sighed.

“Is there still a problem?”

Terra looked around at the
other tirones in the armory. “I don't know. It's just that time
travel isn't what I expected. The Japanese girl I met is really rude
and hates honor, the knight doesn't even know what chivalry is, you
are a Muslim who respects women, and the most polite time traveler I
have met so far is a Nazi.”

“Ah. I see the problem now.
It is a simple one.”

“What?”

“You let assumptions rule
your actions. I once met a tiro who tried to judge a person's merit
purely on skin color. I told him he was foolish to do so. He failed
the training for he refused to work with any who did not share his
skin. I met another who tried to convert his strike team to his
faith. He too failed when his team resisted him. I have found that
all individuals must be judged separate from their culture, faith,
skin, or whatever other category because they can easily prove your
assumptions wrong. I will not make that mistake. If I did, then I
would not have bothered with you at all.”

Terra averted her gaze.

Zaid sighed. “Listen, Terra.
You seem honest and I believe that you can contribute to my team, but
I must ask you to put aside your assumptions. Whatever you think you
know about history or culture, toss it aside. Others wish for you to
think that history is simple. It is not. Use your eyes and your mind.
Come to your own conclusions, or rely on your assumptions and fail.
It is your choice.”