The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (43 page)

Mr.
Fitzgerald stretched slightly and grimaced with pain. Seeing Justin's
look of concern, he shook his head and smiled a bit. Justin didn't
say anything. He simply nodded his understanding.

“
Hyperion's
power was one of corruption, Justin. Rot, decay, despair. He could
use the power within himself to destroy.”

Justin
stared at the man with horror. “He used his powers for
corruption?”

Mr.
Fitzgerald nodded grimly. “Exactly. And his first victim was
his wife, Theia. She became as evil and twisted as he was. And I
believe that this descendant of his has the same power. I believe he
used his power to corrupt the water Gates, to muddy the waters if you
will.” He looked over at the unmoving figures of Julia and
Yolanda. “But that corruption cannot stand against the powers
of two of Tethys's heirs. Of that I am quite sure.”

Justin's
mind was still fixated on the image of a Titan using his talent to
corrupt. Then he had a terrible thought.

“
Is
that...is that how he convinces others to follow him, sir? Using this
power?”

“
Horrible,
isn't it, Justin?” Fitzgerald asked with a grim look on his
face. “Imagine, forcing an innocent child, the descendant of
Titans, to turn into a monster like yourself. Forcing average humans
to do the same. As I've said before; he is an abomination.”

Mr.
Fitzgerald sat back carefully and closed his eyes, obviously trying
to rest. Justin turned to watch the two girls, his mind filled with
awful images supplied by his imagination.

While
they waited, Dhalena and Borgen wandered off and returned shortly
with several pitchers of fruit juice for everyone. Borgen passed out
glasses and some cucumber sandwiches. The teens thanked them
gratefully, as did Prometheus and Fitzgerald. Then they settled back
to wait once again.

Several
times while Justin was watching, Julia's expression changed. There
was a brief look of fear at one point, but mainly she would seem
disgusted for a moment and then she would return to seeming calm.
Yolanda looked placid throughout. Maria continued to stand near them,
as if waiting to catch them should they fall.

Finally,
both girls straightened up and signed. Yolanda looked around at
everyone and smiled while Julia looked a little unfocused and blinked
several times while she rubbed her eyes. They both looked very tired.

Dhalena
hurried over and offered them both a glass of juice which they
accepted gratefully.

“
Thanks
Dhalena,” Yolanda said and drank down half the glass. “Ugh,
that wasn't fun at all.”

“
No
kidding,” Julia said. She sipped at her juice, then yawned
widely.

“
What
happened in there?” Maria asked.

“
It
was...strange,” Yolanda looked at Julia. “We followed the
water across the level and up. You're right about Sanctuary being
full of water. Wow, it is everywhere. And the sea above it all.
Amazing. We felt our way through pipes, twisting and turning. About
halfway up, there was some sort of generator. I'm guessing that it
powers the Gates. Anyway, that's where we hit some sort of plug.”

Julia
nodded and made a face. “It was kind of gross, actually,”
she said and glanced at Yolanda who agreed. “It was
like...burrowing through slime almost. Thick, sticky, yuck!”

“
Yeah
and it was really slowing the water down.” Yolanda looked
thoughtful. “If it had been much thicker, it might have
actually stopped the supply of water to the lower levels. Anyway, we
burrowed through it, broke it up. After that, we hit a few slow
spots, not nearly so bad and then, we reached the top. The way is
clear, as far as we can tell.”

“
You
know what was funny?” Julia asked no one in particular. “I
couldn't really see us like this; we were sort of clear as crystal,
but as we went through the pipes, we left this, I dunno, glowing
trail behind us. Like, the water started off looking sort of muddy
but when we passed through, it was clean and sort of sparkly.”
She looked at Fitzgerald. “Is that what was supposed to
happen?”

“
That
is exactly what was supposed to happen, Julia,” he replied with
a wide smile. “You have cleared the system of the taint of the
renegades. I can't thank you enough, both of you.”

“
We
were happy to help, sir,” Yolanda said. “Hey, could I
have one of those sandwiches?”

“
Yeah,
me too!” Julia said and hurried over to where Borgen was
holding a tray.

Prometheus
smiled as he watched the two girls eating then looked around. “Well,
my friends, the first part of our plan has worked. The water Gates
should now be open. We can move about Sanctuary freely once more.”

“
So
what comes next?” Justin asked.

“
Next
Justin, we have to find out exactly what is going on up there,”
Mr. Fitzgerald answered, sounding quite grim.

“
But
how can we do that?” Jason spoke for the first time in a while.
“I mean, you aren't going to send someone up there, are you?
There could be renegades all over the place.”

“
True
enough, Jason,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “But we do have to
know what is happening and so, now that the Gates are functional
again, we can use them to call for assistance.”

“
You
can?” Justin was confused. “But how does that work? I
thought they were only useful for transportation.”

“
Normally
that is true, Justin. But in this singular instance, there is someone
here who can call for aid from outside of Sanctuary. And only because
of his connection with those whom he will call. If he chooses to do
so.” And Fitzgerald looked over and up at Prometheus.

The
Titan looked at the man with an expression of sadness, almost grief.
“You would have me do this? After years of imprisonment because
of this very crime?”

“
There
is no crime here, great one,” Fitzgerald said firmly. “What
is done, is done. But now, you must use your creation for the purpose
for which it was made; to succor the weak, to save lives, to
protect.”

“
Master,
redeem yourself with this deed,” Daemon said. “Use this
moment to show the world that what you did was right.”

“
Right?”
For a moment, a look of anger crossed the Titan's face but then
became one of sadness once more. “It was never right, Daemon.
But, perhaps now is the time. The past is past and we need to worry
about the present. Very well.”

Prometheus
threw back his shoulders and took one long stride to stand next to
the fountain. He reached out and touched the water flowing down from
the top tier and took a deep breath.

“
Destroyers,”
he called in a great voice. “I have need of you!”

And in
the air around them, a voice echoed. “We heed the call,”
it said. And at the far side of the fountain, a dozen loud splashes
were heard and water sprayed out from a group of figures who were
suddenly standing there, staring at Prometheus.

As one,
the group, all dressed in sleeveless robes of midnight blue, bowed
low to the Titan.

“
Master,”
said one of them. “Finally, after all these years, you have
summoned us.”

“
What
would you ask of us, great Prometheus?” another one, a woman,
asked earnestly.

The
Titan stared at them, tears standing in his eyes. “Forgiveness,”
he whispered.

“
Forgiveness?”
one of them asked incredulously. “Master, there is nothing to
forgive. You made us mighty. You gave us the ability to defend. Being
shunned by others was the price, but what of it?” He shook his
head and Justin finally recognized the leader of the Destroyers whom
he had seen twice before in Sanctuary.

“
We
stand ready. Command us.”

Prometheus
shook his head wearily. “Take your direction from Fitzgerald.
He is the tactician. I am merely an old man.”

Justin
could see that the leader wanted to argue, but he bowed and the group
walked around the fountain and stood looking at Fitzgerald.

“
Hello
Democritus,” he said. “I am pleased to see that you
live.”

“
And
I that you live as well, Fitzgerald. We know how you held them back
to give others a chance to escape. We will not forget.”

Mr.
Fitzgerald waved away the compliment. “It was my duty, that's
all. But now we need your help once more. As you've seen, the water
Gates are open again. We intend to retake Sanctuary. But to do that,
we need intelligence. How many of the renegades remain above? Where
are they located? What about our people?” He smiled slightly.
“Well, you know what I need. Is there one among you who can
move unseen, survey the area and report back? We mustn't tip them off
yet, or they will be ready for us.”

“
Serena
is our best scout,” Democritus said, indicating a small,
compact woman with short black hair. “She will get the
information you need.”

Fitzgerald
looked at the woman and nodded. “Very well. The best spot to
enter that level would probably be one of the Gate pools, but the
choice is yours. Reconnoiter and return. We will await your report.”

Serena
placed her fist on her chest. She turned and bowed low again to
Prometheus, who nodded with a sad smile. Then she walked up to the
fountain, held up her wrist, which was covered by a spiral band of
titanium and stepped into the water. With a splash she was gone.

“
Wow.
That is so cool,” Jason said enthusiastically.

“
Seriously,”
Julia piped up. “Those guys are awesome.”

Democritus
smiled at the comments. “I wonder if we might rest for a bit
and take some food?” he asked Fitzgerald.

“
Of
course. Borgen here and his wife will take you to their home and tend
to your needs. We'll wait here until Serena returns.”

“
Thank
you, Fitzgerald,” the leader replied and he and his followers
walked off after the servitors who had scurried ahead.

“
How
many did they lose in the attack, sir?” Justin asked Mr.
Fitzgerald.

“
Almost
half their number. They fought bravely and many of the renegades fell
to them. I daresay they relish the idea of meeting them again.”

“
How
long do you think the scout will be, sir?” Yolanda asked him.
“Julia's about ready to fall asleep and I could use some rest
myself.”

“
I
do apologize, Yolanda. Of course you would be tired after your work
here. Why don't you follow the others to Borgen's house? Take your
time, this could still be a long day.”

“
Thanks,
sir,” Julia said through a huge yawn. “A little nap would
be nice actually.”

The two
girls headed off after the distant figures of the Destroyers.

“
While
we wait, Mr. Fitzgerald, I was wondering what exactly you think that
we'll have to do, once we know what's happening up there?”
Richard asked.

“
It's
hard to say, Richard. Our first priority has to be the safety of the
prisoners. We need to get them out, preferably to this location, so
that we can treat anyone who is injured.”

Richard
nodded. “Absolutely. I hope I can help with that.” He
glanced over at Stabel who had stood by watching all this time.
“Along with Stabel, of course.”

The
servitor smiled but said nothing.

“
I'm
sure you will be of tremendous assistance, Richard,” Prometheus
spoke up. He walked slowly away from the fountain and lowered himself
on to a stone bench next to the one where Fitzgerald was sitting.
Daemon went over and sat beside him.

“
Thank
you, sir,” Richard looked at the two girls as they moved off.
“I'm going to join the others at the house. I'll come back when
the scout returns.”

The old
Titan nodded and Richard left to follow Julia and Yolanda.

“
Once
the noncombatants are safe, we must then remove the renegades from
Sanctuary,” Fitzgerald said. “That is where Justin,
Maria, Aaron and Jason will be most needed. And the Destroyers, of
course.”

Maria
just nodded. Jason's eyes gleamed and Aaron grinned, “Excellent.
I can't wait to hit back at those guys! And if they've hurt Mrs.
Mallon or Norm or...”

Mr.
Fitzgerald held up a hand. “Aaron, you must keep a cool head.
This is not about vengeance. It is about retaking our home. If it
were possible, I would sooner do it without bloodshed, but as that
seems unlikely, I would like make sure that you all come back in one
piece.”

Justin
had been thinking. “Mr. Fitzgerald,” he said. “What
about the Sentinels? Couldn't they help?”

“
They
could indeed, Justin. Unfortunately they've been incapacitated.
Likely in the same way that the Gates were interfered with.”

The man
raised an eyebrow slightly and Justin realized he meant that the
Sentinels had been infected by the power of Hyperion. He shivered.
Then there's no way for me to reactivate them, he thought.