Ascension (15 page)

“I haven't lied to you Katherine, but we wanted you to live a normal life,” said Monica, although Lance could tell by looking at her that Monica felt guilty. “We had decided long ago to intervene only if the situation required it of us, and to protect any of you who might fall under attack.”

“To protect me, because the organisation did such a fine job protecting both me and my father…,” Katherine responded, before she pushed past Monica and stormed out from the control room. Her guardian in tow.

Lance, uneasy with where she might go or of what she would do, prepared to chase after her.

“Operative, you may be at ease,” said Monica, Lance having one foot already out the door. “I shall have a word with her shortly.”

He stopped, and turned to face her with a salute. “Ma'am, if I may speak.”

“If you must,” she responded.

“Is it wise to let her go free? We have no idea of what she is capable. What if she were to lose control?”

“I appreciate your concern,” Monica replied. “But I've already got a firm grasp over the situation.”

“Of course you have Ma'am,” he said in agreement, feeling rather foolish to ask such questions of his superior.

He bowed his head and quietly headed for the door.

“Lance,” Monica called. “You have done well. She may have reacted and lashed out last night had I been the one in your place. But now that she is here, we are better equipped to handle whatever might transpire.”

“Also Lance, before you go,” said Walter, his fingers hovering over the technical board. “Make sure you attend to the soundproofing systems.”

He nodded back at them, appreciative that a question he'd previously pondered was now answered. But he feared that they may not have as good of a grasp over the situation as Monica had said.

However, if anyone were to know
, he decided,
Monica would be the one.

Yet, he couldn't rid himself of the apprehension. For he'd seen them believe such things in his past. He could remember it all so vividly: a time when he was once projected to be the most powerful Indigo this organisation had ever seen. Only, something went horribly wrong for this descendant of the thunder god Adad. Lance had once lost control. He'd been enveloped within surging pulses of electricity, his blood a-boil, and he'd unleashed of a destructive wave that destroyed a large portion of the facility and nearly fried of all those operatives inside.

I can't continue to dwell on it
, he realised,
that was the past, I must have faith in their judgment.

As the door to the control room closed, he lingered a little while longer, hoping to gain a better understanding as to what was wrong with the sound system.

“If I could have a moment of your time Monica, before you go,” he heard Walter ask. “Am I right to assume there is something you've yet to tell me?”

“There is,” Monica replied. “I've lately sensed the presence of a familiar spiritual energy.”

She can't possibly mean…, he pondered, his heartbeat quickened.

“Upon school grounds,” Walter questioned. “Has David mentioned anything to you of our latest enrolment?”

Of course
, thought Lance,
David Heathgate was one of the ‘Projects' very best, and would almost certainly be on top of things.

“Not a word. And he's always the first to report upon such energies. Walter…about Katherine,” he heard Monica pause. “You do agree that it's not yet the right time to tell her the truth.”

“About her mother, she's been through so much, and such truths need to be handled in a most delicate fashion,” Walter told her. “Monica, before you go, I urge you to maintain surveillance at the school, and proceed with caution while on its grounds. It is possible there are those corrupted that now walk amongst the students. And that includes the faculty.”

The mere notion of this was enough to send a cold shiver down Lance's spine. Deciding it best not to tarry any longer, he descended down the winding staircase.

Chapter 12

For Anzu, it had evolved into a most distressing and awkward situation. He had so much respect for this organisation. Many of its past members were his idols. Yet here he was, his new master flailing her limbs about in a rush of hot blood. He looked on, helpless, as Katherine thrashed through the closet and chucked clean sets of clothing toward an empty bag.

“This feels as if it's all been just one bad dream. And this organisation has seen me, throughout the course of my entire life, as just another potential weapon to serve it in its war,” she said, grinding her teeth. “They've taken my sense of identity from me. I don't even know who my parents are or where I belong. It has all been a lie. One lie after another, and now they expect me to trust them?”

Through her fit of rage, fuelled by her pent up frustration, Katherine had grown oblivious to the smell of burning fabric, and blind to the soot of smouldering materials that now engulfed the bedroom. For as she'd clutched at each piece of clothing retrieved from the closet, she had failed to notice the uniform's having caught alight within her fingertips.

Although he knew all too well how she felt through their celestial connection, Anzu didn't really know what was the right thing to say, and thus only went about frantically stamping on the flames before they spread.

“I can sense what you're feeling,” he finally murmured. “But there's little reason in setting everything on fire.”

Hearing his words, he noticed she'd ceased her destructive activities. Anzu could tell she now tried to clear her head and calm her mind. Aware of her actions, she then gazed about the room and at the aftermath. The white wallpaper had cracked and peeled. Charred remnants of the organisations clothing littered the floor, and the navy blue bag she'd thrown them into had turned the colour of charcoal.

“How can you possibly know how I feel,” she asked him.

“We formed a spiritual bond last night with one another,” he said, trying to speak in a delicate, non-agitating tone. “We are now one and the same; your thoughts are my thoughts. Your feelings are my feelings, and your dreams are my dreams.”

Despite her appearing reluctant to believe him, Anzu knew that Katherine believed his words were true.

How could she not?
He thought to himself.
If she were to concentrate, she could easily read my mind. How could she even doubt it? She must remember, and should feel, the surging sensations of our energies combined since the creation of this bond too. And then there was her dream in which she shared with me. The feelings of helplessness she had possessed, and of the pain and sadness we've experienced from those loved ones lost to us.

“Why did you choose to be my guardian?” She questioned, her judging eyes fixed on his own. “Ra must have other descendants, I don't even know what you expect or want from me.”

Having beaten his wings to dissipate of any lingering smoke, he gazed up at her, once more unsure how to respond.

“You just remind me of her,” he said, fumbling with his words.

“Who do I remind you of?”

The bedroom door slid open.

“Anzu, it has been a while,” said Monica, as she quietly entered the room.

Katherine ground her teeth, and she glared at them is if they were evil incarnate. “You two know each other? How is that even possible?”

“Yes we do, and she too has a fiery temper,” Anzu muttered beneath his breath.

“Well Anzu, would you care to explain?”

Why must I?
He pondered;
surely you know and can read my thoughts.
And with this reaction, he questioned his own wisdom.
Is it possible I was wrong about this young one?

“Are you going to answer me, or are you just going to stand there looking confused?”

I'm not the one who's confused
, thought Anzu, anxious and averting his gaze before he received a further scolding from her.

He had soon gathered the courage to respond. “She was once my mother's master.”

Terrific, this only raises more questions;
he had heard her say within the depths of her mind, her frustration clear for all to see.
And now I find myself curious over how such spirits could even have children. Only the more I think on it, the less I actually want to know.

“She just served as a motherly figure…, when we both first entered this world from the last,” he said, in response to those questions that plagued her mind.

“How is that even possible? And who gave you the right to listen in on my thoughts?” Katherine asked her temper on the rise.

“We share a celestial bond between a master and guardian,” he replied through a mumble. “You can also hear and see what's going on from within me as well.”

She cursed back at him. “But you have no right; I never gave you permission,”

He realised there was little to gain from arguing with her, especially when she was in such a state.

“I'm sorry, it won't happen again,” he solemnly responded.

“You were the cloaked woman from my dream, weren't you?” He heard Katherine question, her focus shifted now to Monica for the time being.

Monica stared back at her with a look of astonishment. “A dream? Have you already shared memories with your guardian?”

“She has,” Anzu quickly answered, much to Katherine's noticeable dismay. “Somehow, she relived past events within her dream, which included that moment atop the precipice where Zu was killed before our eyes.”

“Please Katherine, I need to know what you've seen,” asked Monica, a sense of urgency in her voice.

Anzu watched as Katherine bit at a nail and appeared reluctant to speak. But she soon did as he had hoped, and explained the contents of her dream to Monica.

“At first, I thought I'd woken in my own bed and everything had returned to normal,” she said. “That is, until I peered out my bedroom window. I saw a pyramid, and a figure dressed in gold on top of it. But then it all changed, just as quickly as it had begun. I soon found myself in the backyard once again with those
Corrupted
.”

Seated upon the bed's end, Monica beckoned for her to continue. “And then what happened?”

Katherine glanced over at Anzu, her eyes narrowed. “Why don't you tell her? You have access to my thoughts.”

“You just told me I had no right,” he meekly responded.

She turned back to Monica. “My memory of it all at this point is a little vague, but I remember a merging of sorts. As I was still in the yard faced with these
Corrupted
, that is I think it was them. You see their shape remained, but their bodies were consumed within blue flames.”

“A pyre of blue sparks,” said Anzu, seeking to provide some clarity. “What we both saw was a manifestation of celestial energy. Every living entity emits this energy, of which only the most perceptive eyes can see.”

Much to his surprise, Katherine nodded back at him. He could also sense from within that she'd followed along for the most part.

“The rest of what happened is all quite fuzzy. I had rushed over to my father's side, and then out of nowhere I found myself atop a mountain. And lying there at my feet was a guardian, like Anzu. It looked like a gryphon too, only bigger and of a navy blue and red colouring,” Katherine continued, scratching at her forehead and trying to recollect the important contents of this dream. “I'm sorry, it's all so new to me and difficult to describe.”

“You've done very well,” said Monica. “What you saw was Zu: my guardian. That is, right before she passed on.”

“Wait, you're an Indigo?” Katherine questioned.

“I was once,” Monica replied, gazing upward at the ceiling. “I too forged a celestial bond, only to have it broken. Those were dark times, and there were
Corrupted
who possessed of powers beyond one's imagination.”

“There's something you've yet to speak of,” Anzu reminded, sharing with Katherine an unsettled glance. “Inside the dream, we also saw the face of the one who killed Zu.”

Monica gasped, the colour drained from her cheeks. “You saw the wraith of Atlantis…, the usurper of souls…?”

The face of Namtar…,” said Anzu with a shiver. “There is no sight more cruel or reviled.”

Monica arose from the bed's end and stumbled forward, her eyes wide open with fear and her bottom lip trembling. Anzu had never seen her like this, at least not until that night on top of the precipice.
She was often so calm and reserved
, he remembered,
and yet here she stands before us a frail and horrified version of her former self.

“Who and what is Namtar?” He heard Katherine ask.

“The name of the spirit that killed my mother,” he responded. “After she was taken from me those many years ago, I've searched for a suitable master with which to serve, so that I might one day bring an end to those beings
Corrupted
.”

“Then why didn't you and Ms Hawthorne just form another bond after this Zu's passing?” Katherine suggested. “Surely she'd have suited you better as your new master.”

This wasn't necessarily a silly presumption to make
, he considered
, but it was also something which proved impossible.

As there had been another reason; a reason which he shuddered to think upon.
It was just too much to ask of someone
, he thought to himself.

“We are not the Naacal. We cannot just form a new celestial bond on a whim, the toll is already too great,” Monica sternly responded. “Under our current state of consciousness, we can only form a celestial bond with a single guardian once within our lifetime.”

“The toll, what do you mean?” Katherine asked, shaking. “What's going to happen to me?”

“The price of ascension that comes through the forging of spiritual energies with another,” said Monica. “The strain upon an Indigo's body is considerable.”