“Calla…long ago I gave you my heart entirely. Age and time have not weakened my feelings for you; they have grown for all your absence from my side. You have me forever, and I will protect you always and never let you go again”.
They shared another kiss, and like moments before, the experience was as fresh as the first of its kind. She withdrew from him this time, resting her forehead against his own, feeling more content and complete than she ever had.
“The others might not understand…” she laughed, her hand on his neck holding him close to her.
“It’s only us that have to…” he replied.
She smiled at his answer, a sight that never failed to hold his spirits high.
“We should go to them…there is much for us all to discuss. Our brethren love you too, Lupus. Even Samael” she said.
Lupus wasn’t so sure about his brother, but agreed that this wasn’t the time for the two of them to be selfish and private for much longer. For all the desire they had to be together, they had to accept that there was a war to come and they had to be prepared for it.
“THEY’RE READY FOR us to re-join them” Valkyrie announced to the others. They had gone to an ante-chamber attached to the SAH. Only days before had they all met each other for the first time and already bonds were being made. Yet, it was immediately clear to them all that there was a connection between Whitewolf and the Lion that was always going to be stronger than any of theirs.
Valkyrie hated to recognise their relationship, she always had done, but she realised it was important for them to have some time alone to comprehend their rediscovery of each other; after all, it was inevitable.
“Let’s go back in sister, we have much to address” Hydra answered.
The Apostles began to re-enter the hall, one after the other. Samael remained, reluctant to face the Lion again.
“What bothers you, Dragon? He will understand your emotions if you are fair with him” Hydra told him as he left the side-room. “Give your brother a chance to prove himself. It is obvious, is it not, that Whitewolf acknowledges him and so should we?”
She was the Second Apostle and as such they all admired her and paid homage to her status as the second to be Blessed by Vermillion. There were no official ranks in the Chosen, but the order mattered nonetheless. If Whitewolf embraced the Lion, they were all honour-bound to do the same.
Samael looked at him briefly before passing through the doorway behind his kin. His expression of hesitance did not escape Hydra, but the latter knew that there was nothing else he could say to help. Instead, he just followed Samael inside and hoped for the best.
LUPUS SAT AT the large table in the centre of the hall with Calla at his side. To his right was Oz and in front of them were Valkyrie, Hydra and Cerberus. The others were arranged elsewhere, but all within earshot and easy sight of each other despite how unnecessarily huge the furniture was. Without meaning to, Lupus realised he had chosen a middle seat. The others seemed to group around him, as if acknowledging his position and presence as First Apostle. Calla seemed unaffected by the deference, though Samael still looked bitter.
“I suppose we should assess the obvious…” Lupus began. “What strength do we possess?” he openly asked, unafraid of how blunt the question was.
The Apostles looked at each other, unsure of who should answer first. Hydra chose to fill the silence.
“As you know me, Valkyrie and Whitewolf” he gestured towards Calla at the use of her title, unsure whether Lupus knew it already, “are stationed here with several dozen legions. Seraphim defends Apollia beyond the Gate with a further thirty-three; his own included.”
Lupus actually hadn’t known Calla’s title before and he was amazed at how he didn’t realise it. Whitewolf...she took the form of the very same Gothican animal that he had told her about when he first kissed her nose on that fateful night so many years ago. Even so, he knew one of the Apostles would take that form long before that. How had he not made the connections until now? Had Vermillion planned for them to fall in love?
He snapped out of his reverie and focussed on the discussion at hand. “How many legions do you three command here?” Lupus continued.
“Is that really your concern to ask?” Samael asked. His tone betrayed his innocent uncertainty, rather than a purposeful doubt, however.
Lupus looked to him with a firm gaze. “Even without being the First…Then as the most experienced Apostle here, yes, it is.”
Hydra cut through their conversation before it could become hostile. “We have around fifty, but that changes. Some legions are sent on scouting missions to survey the human star Sectors, checking for any enemy presence and gauging the humans’ awareness of the war. As I’m sure you know, the Gothicans are not yet prepared for full understanding”.
Lupus was glad to hear the same opinion was shared by at least some of his brethren and the legions. Perhaps with fellow Guardians agreeing to secrecy, Sabre and Olympus would be happier about it too. “That is good…and very impressive. On just the defence of Apollia alone we have eighty-three legions. With my further twenty, we have over one hundred.”
“I and Nightingale command twenty together as well” Cerberus announced.
“Solitaire has five, I have twelve” Phoenix added.
Oz laughed, much to everyone’s interest. “What is so funny, Oz?” Lupus asked.
“Here’s me thinking I had many a troop…I command only four legions” he confessed.
Phoenix visibly sighed as if she had heard the same complaint from him too many times before.
“They are also some of the largest legions remaining…one even ten-thousand strong. You would do well to remember that, brother” she told him.
“I have seven” Gaia said suddenly. Lupus gave her a thankful nod, to which she smiled in return.
Only Samael was left to answer.
“Samael, what of your forces?” Lupus asked.
His brother seemed as if he was going to continue his petulant manner for a little while longer, but then he gave in and complied.
“I’m a little different.” He clearly relished the fact. “My legions control the Promethian Shipyards; perhaps you’ve heard of them? I have fifteen there right now”.
Lupus was surprised to hear the news. His own legions had been in the Abodian Sector where the shipyards orbited the planet Promethia when fighting the Purge Crusades. How he had not noticed the presence of Samael was perplexing. Though, he allowed, they had not needed the facilities since the start of the war.
His brother saw him trying to figure out the answer to his new problem. “I suppose you’re busy processing how you missed me when I was so close, brother?”
Lupus was stoic. “I was not always close, Samael; the Crusades took us to the eastern fringes of the Abodian Sector, far from Promethia and further from you. That system is vast beyond all the others, you should know that. I only had so many legions – I could not have eyes everywhere. If you knew I was there, fighting a war against the enemy, you should have come to me” Lupus replied, his voice cold and accusing now the blame rested on Samael.
“A fleet doesn’t sustain itself, brother. I had more important things to accomplish – that is something you should know”.
Lupus brushed off the implication and concentrated on the issue at hand, but his patience was visibly wearing thin.
“Alright, so we have one hundred and fifty-eight legions accounted for-“ he began.
“But there are others!” Solitaire suddenly clapped, interrupting him. When everyone stopped and looked at her, waiting for her adult mind to explain her child’s reaction, she calmed down. “They are hiding…waiting…discovering themselves and each other. So many…yet so few…” she frowned, upset now that she thought about it.
She spoke like it was a secret she had fought to keep for years, fed up with containing it in her own mind. She thought it only appropriate to reveal what she knew when the Lion was there, and now that he was, she was excited to shar
e everything she could.
“She’s right,” Calla said, further surprising them. “Valkyrie has detected the faint traces of legions all over the Sectors. Not all of them have a fleet of their own, which is why we haven’t found them yet, but some do and they continue to search for us as we still look for them.”
Oz began to nod earnestly, as if he felt they were beginning to stumble onto something they should have realised a long time ago.
“So…how many do we think we have? After the Blessing, I mean?” he asked everyone.
“Anywhere between three and five hundred, but doubtful any more” Phoenix answered confidently.
“How can you be sure of that?” Lupus replied.
“I know because my legion was at the forefront of the Battle of Colossi. They were there when the Auranair forged the time-lock on the dark world Colossi, and they were some of the few that were able to count the losses…they barely escaped the imprisonment, but when they did, they were met with a bigger horror – less than half of the legions made to fight the Phantoms survived. When the planet is freed, whatever legions that were trapped behind will have nowhere to go…they will be annihilated by the billions-strong armies of the Great Enemy on the surface of that wretched place, frozen now until their demise”.
Her words were grim, but none could doubt the truth of them.
“Seraphim confirms our estimate; no more than five hundred legions made it out in time. It’s a frighteningly small number and we are outmanned, there’s no way to deny that, but with the right preparation and if we co-ordinate our forces…we can still defeat the Great Enemy” Hydra said.
“Together, us Twelve” Lupus replied.
“Wennorii, arl ka-rine” the others copied automatically, as if the cued response was written in the Blessing they all shared. Undaunted by the joint assent in the tongue of the Black Guardians, they went on to talk about what they were up against in the war to come.
MORE THAN TWO hours later, once they had all shared their stories of growing up as Apostles of Vermillion, they had finally gained an understanding of the Great Enemy’s forces and capabilities. Lupus had more to share than anyone, but he was humbled to learn that the others had encountered the Phantoms to various degrees as well.
“I think it’s evident that we all faced trials on our worlds, whether from the enemy or our own natures” Phoenix concluded.
Hydra nodded in agreement. “You wouldn’t believe the monsters I had to fight to escape my own oceans…” he whispered, his thoughts drifting back to those dark days.
“We were lucky to find you when we did” Calla told him. She was still at Lupus’ side and he had to admit, he found it hard to concentrate on anyone but her. He knew she probably felt the same, but she had better control over her attention and he endeavoured to focus as much the same.
“You might have suffered the brunt of the enemy, Lion, but we all had our own battles to fight. There were demons on every world; my own legion had to fight through thousands of the wretched, ghoulish paradigms to find me. It should have been an easier job, given how many of the foe I was slaying at the time…” Cerberus joked. It was the first time he had offered up his history to make Lupus understand their experience, but there was no venom in his voice like Samael’s. His eyes were bright, with only the merest touch of sadness, but they reassured Lupus that his brother had no grief with him.
He privately confessed to himself that he was wrong before to assume that the others would grow up peacefully and without trouble simply because of the Crusades he fought. Every one of his brethren had endured trials that had eventually led them here. Even so, he had known Vermillion enough through the Blessing to appreciate that She made nothing happen without good reason or due purpose.
“Nevertheless,” he said, “is it safe to believe we are rid of the Phantoms that escaped the time-lock? My Recon Master has not reported any new sightings of the enemy in any of the Sectors since my legions’ victory on Dystopian of the Abodian”.
“I wouldn’t trust him too closely, or rely on him at all for that matter…” Samael warned. “He never saw Hydra, after all, and this place is pretty…big”.
“Yes, but even the legionnaires aren’t capable of what I am, Samael. It wasn’t just them who couldn’t find us. Where were you until I lifted the shroud?” Valkyrie hissed, tired of the arguments. When he gave no reply, she continued. “The Lion’s right, there have been no new sightings. I haven’t detected any presence either” she told them all.
“Your Purge Crusades seem to have worked” she said directly to Lupus, though her voice was indifferent and unimpressed.
He chose not to hear the insult in her apathy. Instead, he had been noticing how Solitaire seemed so…quiet and shy suddenly.
“Solitaire, are you well?” he asked. The others finally realised she was upset too.
“One of us is still not here…doesn’t that bother any of you?” she sobbed.
He was used to her erratic behaviour and he believed they all were, but it was still hard to react to it in a way he knew would be productive. Of all the Apostles there, she made the least sense. She was paradoxical; on the one hand a beautiful, serene woman whose looks could lure the heart of any man…yet she was like a child in her manners, as if her mind was fractured and weakened by trauma. Or maybe the Blessing had fractured her…Lupus thought. Valkyrie must have heard his loud thought and gave him a questioning look. He ignored it and focussed on Solitaire. For all the broken nature of her, she was still an Apostle and her words deserved as much attention as the rest of theirs.
Vermillion had told him about Solitaire before She died, warning him not to underestimate his sister. Within that warped, fragile mind was a military genius all too aware and powerful to be misjudged. The fact that she had survived alone on her own treacherous home world for several years, surrounded by evil on all sides before the Phoenix found her, was testament to Vermillion’s words.
“Seraphim is on Apollia, beyond the Gate. You know he cannot come here, sister…” Gaia comforted her, rubbing her shoulder softly like a parent would soothe an infant. Yet it wasn’t a condescending gesture; they all loved Solitaire as their sister and none doubted that she was as dangerous as they each were.
“And we cannot go to him?” Solitaire asked. “He has answers…he knows things that can help us...” she said.
The others regarded each other in confusion and curiosity. They were familiar with her riddles by now, but they could rarely understand the truth of them.
“She is right in one respect,” Nightingale offered. “Us Twelve need to be together, at least once. We have not seen each other since the Blessing, so long ago that we barely remember our lives before it, and we have many questions that need answering. Seraphim guards the Auranair’s birthplace; he must know things that we do not.”
“We should go, Lupus” Calla affirmed.
He looked at his brethren, all waiting for his decision. He had tried not to force any kind of rank or status on them, but somehow it had happened. Perhaps the presence of Calla had convinced them of what they all knew deep down; he was elected by Vermillion to lead and they had to follow him.
“I agree, we must see Seraphim; he is the Last, the final to be empowered by Vermillion” Lupus said. His use of the term made them all suddenly appreciate how similar he was to the Twelfth Apostle; they may be the opposing ends of the Blessing, but they had both been closer to Vermillion than any of the others because of that.
“Then we go to the Gate” Hydra announced, leaving his seat and calling to one of his legionnaires waiting in the archway to the SAH.
“Gordian,” he said to the Guardian that appeared at the top of the staircase, but refused to enter any further. “Find me Commander Tiberius. Tell him to prepare the Gate room for our transport to Apollia. I want an honour guard sent ahead of us to inform our brother Seraphim of our coming”.
The legionnaire saluted respectfully and rushed off to carry out his orders.
; “Take us down there, big man” Oz smiled, spreading his arms wide. He was happy at his witty reference to the size of Hydra’s form, though it was something none of them had ever yet seen.
“IF YOU’RE WONDERING why we’re not quite as…mesmerized as you…we’ve seen this place many times before” Oz joked at Lupus’ expense when they reached the Gate.
“Have you always been such a humorous man?” Nightingale asked.
“I’m not sure I could have endured what you call his humour had he been on my home world” Gaia laughed.
“As if you would have had to…you could have caged me in the creepy forests of yours” Oz stung back.
Lupus saw the taunting for what it really was – a sign of the deeper, familial bonds between them. He was happy to see it more in evidence now that they had a direction to head in together.
“Are we ready?” he asked Hydra.
“We are,” his brother confirmed. “Tiberius sent Alexios and his squad through; Seraphim is eager to welcome us on the other side, it seems”.
The eleven Apostles had been waiting patiently on Hydra’s side of the Gate nearly twenty minutes for word to come back from the honour guard sent to Apollia. They were all dressed in their resplendent variations of armour, each a protective suit of plates, mail and metal looking as fresh as the day they were forged.
They had weapons on them; swords, spears, various rifles and small firearms. In this instance, they were for decoration, not for battle. Apollia was a haven, a safe place for any legion as long as the Hydra’s House guarded it. Yet none of the Apostles wanted to look any less potent in front of the Twelfth’s legions. A slice of vanity in their appearance remained in their psyches despite their transcendence from human nature. Still, it would be good for legion morale to see them look so powerful.
Lupus chose not to carry any weapons of his own bare a single sword. He noted that Cerberus carried none at all, presuming that he did for much the same reasons. When either of them took form, they were more than lethal enough to crush the enemy with their physical strength. Still, Lupus liked to wield a sword in battle as a human from time to time.
The Deian War: Vermillion's Apostles Page 24