by H J Peterson
What were they going to do about all this? For sure, they had to get away from all of this, but beyond that, what were they supposed to do? Get out of the country? Try and resist the new power in town?
Eventually, the car began to slow down. When Adelric looked out the window, he could see that they were in what looked to be some sort of park. It looked kind of familiar, but he couldn’t figure out why it felt familiar.
“Where are we?” Adelric asked as the car slowed to a stop.
“I’m… not sure,” Friedrich admitted. “I don’t think I’ve ever been here, before.”
Katalin glanced back at Adelric. “It’s the Hikari monastery. You know: that massive building in the municipal tea garden?”
Adelric frowned. Why would Hiro lead them to a monastery?
The car stopped, and Friedrich and Katalin got out of the car. Friedrich helped Adelric out of the car, putting his uninjured arm over his shoulder to help him walk.
The building in front of them was made from white stone, stained from the rain. The roof was made from multicolored tile, and kind of… well, he guessed the best way to describe it was that the roof swooped. Instead of the gargoyles that Gerechtist and Viasanctist churches had, the monastery had what appeared to be dragons on the corners of the roof. It was a two-level building, the second level slightly smaller, and it had two roofs, separating the levels. The walls in the front had some weird, brass, spinning things on racks, attached to some red apparatus. The brass things had different symbols and designs on them, too: what that meant, he couldn’t be sure. It was probably the oddest building Adelric had ever seen.
Unlike Adelric, Friedrich, and Katalin, Maddox didn’t take in the bizarre building. Instead, the second the bike had stopped, he put up the kickstand, picked up what appeared to be an unconscious Hiro in his arms like a child, and ran towards the wooden door of the monastery.
Adelric’s heart sunk. Something was wrong: something was very, very wrong.
“Is she… is she alright?” Friedrich asked.
“She sure doesn’t look so good, does she?” Katalin responded.
When Maddox reached the door of the monastery, he adjusted his grip on Hiro and began to bang his fist on the door as hard as he could. The three of them rushed forward, hoping–praying–that Hiro was going to be alright.
“Open up!” Maddox ordered. “Please: we need help!”
It didn’t take too long. The wooden doors opened with a creak, revealing a Hikari monk with a shaved head in yellowish-orangish robes. He didn’t look old enough to be a monk: he looked even younger than Adelric.
The monk’s eyes got really wide when he saw the condition Hiro was in.
“Please,” Maddox repeated.
“Inside: quickly,” the monk ordered, stepping aside. The group did as he asked, walking into a dark room with all sorts of designs on the walls, with a golden, peaceful-looking statue of the Hikari deity at the far end, candles and incense burning at his feet. Other monks were in this room, sitting in front of the statue on straw mats, holding rosary in their hands.
The monk that let them in said something quickly in Hanjan as he shut the door behind all of them. The other monks all turned around, frowning at the commotion.
A few of the female monks stood up and rushed over to them, one of them taking Hiro in her arms. The inspector whimpered at the transfer.
“She’s been shot: one to the shoulder, one to the side,” Maddox said as the monk put a few fingers against Hiro’s neck, checking her pulse.
“And I think I dislocated my shoulder,” Adelric said.
“Come,” the monk said, rushing over to a side room. All of them followed her into the small room, where a few candles were set up, with a straw mat on the floor and a pillow at the head of it.
The monk set Hiro down on the mat, resting her head on the pillow. Hiro winced as her shoulder hit the ground.
A few more of the female monks came in, just about filling the room.
“Leave the injured man here,” the head monk said, nodding at Adelric. “The rest of you need to leave the room so we can work.”
Adelric could see that the others wanted nothing more than to disagree with the monk, but they didn’t: they went ahead and walked out, leaving Adelric and Hiro alone with the female monks.
They all took their positions. One of the monks knelt by Hiro’s head, gently putting her hands against Hiro’s temples, while others sat on the sides of her. One held a bowl and a stick, and began to rub the stick around the bowl, causing it to let out a clear, ringing noise.
The monk by Hiro’s head began to say something in Hanjan while the head monk began to look at her wounds. Hiro winced at first, whimpering as the monk prodded around the wounds, but as the chanting continued, Hiro calmed down. Her breathing grew steady, her face relaxed: suddenly, she just looked like she was in a deep, restful sleep.
“How did you do that?” Adelric asked as the head monk put her hands on Hiro’s wounds and closed her eyes.
“Sang is an Alchemist,” one of the other monks explained. She was soaking a towel in a basin of water, presumably to clean Hiro up a little. “She’s been trained to alter the chemicals in the human brain: she simply told your friend’s mind that she’s not in pain.”
Adelric frowned, more than a little confused. That was actually possible? He’d always thought that Alchemists messing with people’s minds was just an old wives tale.
Adelric and the towel monk couldn’t continue their conversation: the head monk looked up at Adelric, her brows furrowed. “Is your friend a cyborg?”
Adelric nodded. “Why do you ask?”
“I can’t mend her muscles if she’s a cyborg.”
Adelric could feel the blood drain from his face. “S-seriously? Is she going to die, then?”
“She’s strong, and more than a little stubborn,” the Alchemist–Sang–mumbled. “I think she’ll make it.”
The head monk said something to one of the others, who then put her hands on the wounds and closed her eyes, just as the head monk had done. When she pulled her hands away, she had a small piece of fabric in one hand and a bullet and another piece of fabric in the other. He could only guess on what had happened: she must have been a Dodger, and changed the bullet’s Orientation so that it “fell” into her hand.
It was absolutely genius, Adelric realized when he saw it: he’d never really thought a Dodger could help in the medical field, before.
The head monk said something else to one of the other monks as she cut Hiro’s tunic and ripped it so her wounds were a little easier to spot. That monk nodded and took a knife and put her hand to the blade, apparently heating it up.
Were all of these women Shapers?
Once the blade was the right temperature, she handed it to the head monk, who proceeded to press it against Hiro’s shoulder wound.
Normally, cauterizing injuries involved a lot of yelps of pain, cursing, and even punching: Adelric had seen a lot of it in his time as a street rat. This one, though, was rather peaceful: thanks to Sang, Hiro didn’t even stir. The head monk was able to cauterize both bullet wounds without incident.
“That should do it,” the head monk said. She looked up at Adelric. “Now, what did you do to yourself, child?”
“Dislocated my shoulder and broke a few bones miss monk… erm… ma’am… nun…”
“Honorifics aren’t necessary in a Hikari monastery,” the monk said. “Just call me Kazue.”
Adelric nodded as she came over to him, giving him a quick inspection by gently pressing against different limbs.
“None of the bones have broken all the way through,” Kazue said. “They are simply cracked: given a little rest, you’ll be fine.” She gently touched his dislocated shoulder, making Adelric wince. “This shoulder is more than dislocated: the muscles have been stretched to the point where they can barely hold it in place.” She looked up at him. “How many times have you dislocated this shoulder? And don’t lie.”
/> “… I don’t know,” Adelric admitted.
“I’ll see what I can do about it,” Kazue said. “Now, try to relax: I’m going to relocate your shoulder.”
“Will you tell me when?”
Kazue nodded. “Of course.”
Adelric glanced over at Sang, who was still working on Hiro. “I don’t suppose I could have Sang help me out, could I-“
Without warning, Kazue forced his shoulder back into its socket, yanking his whole shoulder forward until it popped.
Adelric cursed, grabbing at his shoulder. “You said you were going to warn me!”
“Warning you would have made you tense up and made my job harder,” Kazue said without so much as a hint of remorse. “I will help your muscles after you’ve let them heal as much as they can from this. Try not to move your arm too much in the meantime.”
“Why not just do it right now?” Adelric asked. “That seems like it would be so much simpler.”
“Because it’s important that Shaping has as little to do with your healing process as possible,” Kazue said. “If I were to heal your shoulder to perfection, you would go right back to using your shoulder as usual, when your muscles simply aren’t strong enough for that. The muscles might tear, causing greater injury, and your body may not accept the healing and make you very sick. This is better for your overall health.”
Kazue took a large, white piece of fabric and made it into a sling for his injured arm. Adelric didn’t argue.
“Now, come on,” Kazue said, helping Adelric to his feet. “They’re going to change her out of those clothes: I’d rather not have a man in here when they do that.
Adelric nodded and the two of them walked back into the main room.
Maddox stood up from the rest of the group, who were all sitting on those straw mats with the other monks once he saw them walk out.
It was only at that moment that Adelric noticed just how much blood was on him: it soaked right through his clothes, nearly turning them black. It… couldn’t all be Hiro’s, could it? Some of it had to be him, maybe some of the rebels he’d cut down on the way to the monastery.
“Is she going to be okay?” he asked. Why was he so concerned about her? Adelric didn’t think that the two of them even knew each other.
“That’s up for her body to decide,” Kazue said as she and Adelric sat down with them. “What happened to her, exactly? Was she attacked?”
Nobody spoke for a few seconds: they all just looked at each other, trying to decide whether or not they should tell this woman their full story.
“The… New Dawn movement attacked that funeral in the city center, killed the emperor,” Katalin said. “We all found ourselves right in the middle of that.”
“I take it that you guys weren’t with the New Dawn, then,” one of the monks, an older man with glasses, said.
Adelric’s eyes got wide. “H-how did you-“
“I feel like you would go to a doctor involved in that movement rather than come all this way,” the monk said. He looked over at Friedrich and Katalin. “Not to mention your clothes: the average person doesn’t look the way you guys look. We’ll be sure to get you all a change of clothes, in case that New Dawn ends up coming over here.”
Friedrich perked up a little. “R-really? You’re willing to do that?”
The monk with the glasses nodded. “Of course.” He adjusted his seat on the ground. “I suppose I should introduce myself, then: I’m Lee Sunan, the head of the men of our monastery.” He nodded at Kazue. “And this here is Tsukuda Kazue, the head of our women.” He looked around at the group. “Now, who, exactly, are all of you?”
“Well, the girl that got shot is Hiro Ikeda… or, Ikeda Hiro, I guess,” Adelric said. “And I’m Adelric Biermann.”
“I’m Friedrich Eltz, and this is my wife Katalin von Thurzó,” Friedrich said. He looked over at Maddox. “And Carlin Maddox, here, is our guard.”
“I see,” Sunan said, nodding. “And are Carlin and Hiro… an item? If you understand my meeting?”
Maddox began to blush. “N-no, of course not! Why do you ask?”
“Well, you just seemed so worried when you brought her in,” Sunan said. “We normally don’t see that unless the two people in question are very, very close.”
Friedrich gave Maddox a look. “You know, I really don’t mind: if you want to have a relationship with her-“
“Hiro and I aren’t a thing,” Maddox said. “Sorry for being really, really worried about a fairly attractive woman bleeding out in my arms on a motorcycle: I’ll never do it, again.”
Before that conversation could continue, a monk came running in from a back room. It was one of the younger ones, and he looked like he’d just seen a ghost.
“What is it?” Sunan asked.
“It’s… it’s the New Dawn movement,” the monk said. “They’ve gone and killed everyone!”
Kazue frowned. “What do you mean by everyone, Jiayi?”
Jiayi took a deep breath. “I just got a comm from a doctor’s assistant over in the city center. The New Dawn has… well, the entire line of succession is dead: the emperor, his wife, all the members of the King’s Council and all their children and their wives; they’re all gone!”
One could’ve heard a pin drop in that room. Poor Friedrich looked sick to his stomach. Adelric couldn’t help but feel bad: finding out that both of his parents were now dead couldn’t have been easy for him.
“Who specifically is dead?” Friedrich asked quietly. Katalin was looking down at their hands, gently squeezing his in an attempt to comfort her husband.
“Everyone-“
“Who specifically is dead?” Friedrich repeated, standing up. “Please?”
“W-well, the emperor and Lady von Braun are dead,” Jiayi said. “The ten members of the King’s council are also dead, as are their wives and any sons they might have had. Their bodies are being put on display in front of the White Palace.”
Kazue looked around the group, frowning. “What does that mean for the line of succession, then? I-I don’t know it beyond the wife of the head of the Noblemen’s Council.”
Friedrich looked like he was on the verge of passing out. Suddenly, he didn’t just look shocked. He looked terrified.
“Th-they didn’t kill off the entire line of succession,” Friedrich said quietly.
Katalin seemed to realize what he was trying to say. She looked up at him, confused. “Friedrich, why didn’t you tell me you were in the line?”
“Because a situation like this was almost impossible,” Friedrich said, sitting back down. “I-I was… twenty-fifth in line.”
Oh, hell!
“Lordling, you aren’t saying what I think you’re saying, are you?” Adelric asked.
“I think he’s been very clear,” Sunan said. “He’s the Heir Apparent to the Vorbereicher throne.”
Nobody said anything. All anybody, including Adelric, could seem to do was stare at Friedrich. Lord Friedrich Eltz, Heir Apparent of Vorbereich.
“Do they know that I’m missing?” Friedrich finally asked.
“I… think so,” Jiayi said. “They’re looking for you.”
“You don’t have to worry about your safety, here,” Kazue said. “Part of our tenants is loyalty to the emperor. Our true emperor.”
Our true emperor. Friedrich really was their emperor, now, wasn’t he? That bookish kid that was just starting to learn how to deal with the sight of blood was now the future ruler of Vorbereich.
“What are we supposed to do, now?” Friedrich asked quietly.
“I think the answer is very simple,” Kazue said. “We try and get you on that throne.”
“And how am I supposed to do that?” Friedrich asked. “I mean, i-it’s not like I can just walk into the White Palace and declare myself king, can I?”
Everyone was silent for a few seconds.
“It’s simple,” Maddox said. “We’re going to have to fight back. They took this country by force; we can ge
t it back by force.”
Everybody looked down at the floor. Adelric couldn’t believe it. Everything they’d known was gone, replaced by something much, much darker. And now, they were going to have to try and take it back.
In that moment, they were at war with the Archangel.
END OF BOOK ONE
Magical Reference
Shaper: Someone with the ability to alter the natural world in some way, often distinguished by the three basic branches of science: chemistry, biology, and physics. People who are able to alter these things are called Alchemists, Docs, and Dodgers according to what they can manipulate.
Alchemist: Someone able to manipulate things chemically. They can speed up reaction times and make reactions more severe. Think of them as a human catalyst.
Doc: Someone able to manipulate biological structure. Most commonly, they affect the muscles. They’re often employed as doctors due to their abilities. However, they aren’t able to affect the muscles of cyborgs, and risk the body of their subject rejecting the changes made to them if they change anything too dramatically.
GRIP: In regards to Docs, a Grip refers to control exerted by the Doc in order to temporarily paralyze their target.
Dodger: Someone able to manipulate gravity fields. Simply put, they’re able to determine which direction is down for themselves, others, or objects. They’re often employed as sharpshooters, as they can bend the trajectory of bullets.
ORIENTATION: In regards to Dodgers, Orientation refers to which direction is considered to be down at any given time.
About the Author
H.J Peterson has loved stories ever since she was little, and has been writing since she was in grade school. She’s the proud parent of a cat named Kimchi, a musician, art lover, self-proclaimed historian, and a caffeine and Netflix addict. She’s currently in school, studying anthropology, history, and political science, and dreams of traveling the world. You can usually find her sitting in front of her computer, plotting how best to make her readers cry.
You can find H.J Peterson online on her Goodreads page or her website, hjpetersonauthor.weebly.com.