Divulgence (Song of Sophangence Book 2)

by E. I. McAllistair

  The pane of water immediately solidifies, and Anaar can tell that it was no easy feat with the bullets riddling him. Finding the sources of the bleeding, Anaar uses aquatic constructs to extricate the bullets, while placing an orb of water over Phavian’s mouth to muffle his screams. From outside the door, Anaar can hear the sounds of many people approaching. Actively healing Phavian, he is able to completely restore him, immediately snapping him from his agony.

  “Did you have to take so long to heal me?!”

  “Oh shut up and help me get this damn case! We have company!”

  With their cover blown, the two decided there was no need to go about cracking the large safe gently. Focusing intently, Phavian began freezing the door to temperatures approaching absolute zero. Giving Anaar the signal, he explodes the door, finding it gave little resistance, as it simply crumbled to pieces. With Anaar’s quick eye, he noticed the failsafe should it be improperly breached, and it began to try to destroy the contents inside. Covering the case in a shroud of water, he pulled it out, as the safe began to ignite inside.

  Hobb can you tell if this thing has a tracker or a transmitter, or something that wouldn’t be good if we took it with us?

  “With the device you and Father created, my enhanced abilities are picking up a signal coming from the case.”

  Can you pinpoint where?

  “It would appear it is emanating from the handle of the case.”

  With a blade of water, he slices off the handles, leaving Phavian dumbfounded.

  “Why would you make it harder to carry?!”

  “To make it harder to track us. There is a transmitter in the handle. Now are you going to whine all day, or did you not notice the banging and shooting at the door?!”

  Becoming painfully aware of their situation, “How the fuck are we going to get out of here?!”

  “The window obviously.”

  “We are four stories up!”

  Shaking his head, he slaps Phavian across the face gently a few times looking him deep in the eyes. “Do you love me?”

  “Yes, but-”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes, but-”

  “Then get your ass up and follow my lead, holding onto that case for dear life, things are about to get messy.”

  His face becomes translucent water, though he still covers it, and then he heads to the window. Looking outside, he sees people scrambling everywhere on the ground with guns.

  “Shit… Buckle up.”

  Throwing the window open, the men below only see water burst forth from the heavily secured window, forming a slide, as a blue sphere cascaded down it. Barely making out two figures inside, they immediately open fire, finding no mark thanks to the resilient blue barrier in place. As the dome continued to slide down the aquatic slope, bullets hailing all around, flocks of aquatic birds of prey begin assaulting the men on the ground, providing precious cover for the escaping duo. Taking a page of inspiration from his friend, he leans back to Phavian.

  “Hold on to my waist tight and don’t let me or that case go.”

  Confused, Phavian barely has time to do as he is told before a surfboard made of water forms from the slide, wrapping his feet into it, speeding away into the distance at a speed enviable by many sports cars. With the sphere changing to a more aerodynamic shape, the two sped off into the distance, putting a number a miles between them and the compound before calling for an extraction. Within minutes of giving them the coordinates of their location, they were greeted by a welcome portal, signaling their joyous escape.

  “That was a fucking suicide mission! I can’t believe the Headmistress would sign off on that as my first mission if she would have known the risks!”

  The chubby man uncomfortably shifts his tie as he tries to find words to speak. “As we mentioned before, we did not have the personnel with the necessary skills…”

  “To get themselves killed? Is that it? There was a military grade turret protecting this thing, and a safe that destroys anything in it! I guess your recon didn’t pick up on that tidbit. Not to mention the compound of men with guns, not happy about our appropriation of their belongings.”

  “Well you seem to be just fine, better than, and in a much quicker time than we had expect-”

  “Double.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We want double. $100K each for knowingly sending us in unprepared.”

  “There is no way we can sign off on that kind of sum…”

  “Would you like us to finish what that safe started? Or better yet, would you like to see what happens when you piss of a Demolitionist?” He stalks up, towering over the man, looking at him menacingly. “I expect a transfer of $100K into our accounts within the next 5 minutes, or we will make sure this precious cargo is lost forever.”

  Sweat pouring, knowing they had been caught, the man scurries away as Phavian stares in disbelief still clutching the briefcase.

  Lying in his bed, with Phavian across his chest, the two look back over the events of the day, with all the craziness that had ensued.

  “How in the fuck do you get a first mission harder than any of my other missions combined?! Not to mention it was short as hell too. Then you coerce a high ranking CIA agent into doubling our reward, more money than I even thought was possible for a year’s worth of missions. Just who are you Anaar Vorpahl?”

  “Someone who doesn’t like to be dicked around. It happened to me once, and I killed thousands. I don’t plan to let people keep doing it to me. I don’t care who they might be.”

  “Thanks for saving my life back there. I swear you make me feel useless as hell! If I had been on that mission alone, or with anyone else, I would be dead a million times over. It started out so easy, then everything went to shit!” Sitting up on one of his elbows, he looks at Anaar with wonder. “What was that… I don’t know hoverboard? It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! Where did you come up with that?”

  “Actually, you have to give the credit to another Elemental you know. I stole it from Dan.”

  “Hillbilly Dan created some cool shit like that?!”

  “Hey now… You guys are going to seriously get your asses kicked underestimating him. Though he isn’t a martial artist, or has your confidence and experience, he is just as strong as you are.”

  “No way. He said his echelon was like 3.2 or something like that. He shouldn’t even be a Quint. He definitely isn’t as strong as me.”

  “Ok, keep thinking that. You guys think I’m the one full of surprises. It’s my friends that are the ones that will keep you guessing.”

  “Well either way, your first mission was a success, even if it turned to shit at the end, and the Headmistress isn’t happy with the CIA after our report. I’d hate to see how many people have an eight inch heel up their ass right now… So, are we going to celebrate your success?” He gives Anaar an overwhelmingly seductive look.

  Giving him a look back, “Of course we are. Hobb, in celebration of Phavian’s and my first mission together, I am grating him access to my room.”

  “Understood.”

  With that, he sends a mental signal to turn off all the lights, turning over to go to sleep.

  “Celebration done. Goodnight!”

  Sitting up in the dark, with a disbelieving face that could not be seen, “You know that is not what I meant!”

  14

  Finding herself having an amazing day, remembering the two men so clearly in love at lunch the day prior, Codi could not help but skip like a small child as she headed back to Tempest Tower. Seeing those two together made her somewhat hopeful she too might have someone she could care for that much, to where it would completely change her entire persona if something happened between them.

  Though she was annoyed Anaar was somehow overshadowing her yet again by going on a mission during his Freshman year, she could not help but wonder how it went. Phavian had told her they made it back already, which was quite a surprise since she expected them to be go
ne for at least a few days. Even though they had gotten back the day before, they had been given the day off from their classes to rest after their mission. Making a note to get all the details, she turned her attention to someone else who actually needed it.

  She did not know exactly how to go about approaching Maggie, and worse yet, she had no idea what she could say to the fragile young girl dealing with a broken heart. Aware she was not the best in these types of situations, especially given Maggie’s innocence, she knew that regardless of her efficacy, she wanted to help Maggie in some way. Conflicted in her happiness for Phavian, sadness for Maggie, and anger at Anaar for hurting her, no matter how unintentional and well intentioned he may have been, she decided the best thing for her right now was to give herself a break from everyone else’s drama, to instead of focus on her own success.

  As she travelled up the elevator toward her room, she knew just what she would do that would make everything right for her. Grabbing her phone from her desk, she saw that she had apparently been beaten to the punch. Selecting the missed call, she flung herself on her bed merrily as the phone rang. As soon as she heard it pick up, she wasted no time in her greeting.

  “Yoshi! You shitstain! What the fuck did you want?!”

  “I’m surprised you called me back. You know mom has been taking my phone and trying to use it to get to you.”

  “Fuck that bitch. I’m as high right now as if I were on drugs. Things have been going pretty great, and not even that evil, sardonic cunt could bring me down. So what did you call for? I’d rather let you go first since I have so much shit to tell you!”

  “Oh, I was just trying to find out how things worked out with your Melee. I know you had your secret weapon. Did it work? Are you number 1 now?”

  “Fuck Yoshi, way to kill the mood! No, I’m not number 1. You know my ridiculously inhuman best friend is number 1 and the day he ever gave up that spot is the day he stopped liking dick. Spoiler alert: He can’t get enough of it.”

  “So then tell me already! How did it go?!”

  “You are talking to the number 4 in her class now! I finally cracked the top five and took out one of those evil Titan fuckers! It is completely unfair I was put in a class with them. If I had been in the Sophomore class with all their prissy little Medics and Regenerists I would be at the top of the class without a doubt. Instead I get the class with all the walking tanks that just shrug off my powers.”

  “I’m guessing the hyperbattery you spent all that money on did its job?”

  “It sure fucking did! I can’t say I know what happened afterward because they managed to do some serious damage to me before I was able to activate it, but at least per the standings, they were eliminated before me. Not to mention I managed to stay in it up to that point in the first place. I tend to get ambushed somewhere in the top ten.”

  “Glad all the screaming around the house was worth it then.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that. You know they almost threw it away because they didn’t know what it was?! If it wasn’t for one of the people in medical team not having complete shit for brains, remembering they saw me pull it out, that would have been two mil down the fucking drain.”

  “Maybe you should put a little note on it that says to return it to you if lost.”

  “After what almost happened to it, I just might have to! I had been charging that thing up for months. The amount of juice in it was insane. I may not be able to store that much energy in my body for quick use, but even those damn walking tanks can’t take that much juice. They are still human after all. I wonder if it would have been enough to take down the number two.”

  “You don’t think it would be enough to take down Phavian?”

  “Oh I’m sure it would be! He’s a little pussy. He isn’t like most Titans. Since he is Fire attuned, it isn’t like he is just naturally durable. He just has some crazy power that allows him to negate energy. For the most part my powers work on him like any other normal person. It is just he could freeze me solid before I had a chance to really light his ass up. That is what makes him dangerous. The other Titans can take way more punishment than he can, and different types of it too. They just have shit for offense. Phave’s greatest strength is his offense, yet he also has that ridiculous defense. I’ve come to terms with the fact I won’t ever be number 1 though so it doesn’t matter. Who wants to seriously fight their best friend anyway? There have been times I wanted to really fuck him up, don’t get me wrong, but still, he’s as much my family as you are.”

  “Well I am glad you have someone there you can count on. Is it because you made such a huge leap in the rankings that you have been having such a good day?”

  “That is part of it for sure. I still can’t believe it a little. I trained my ass off, what little I have, so I knew I could do it, but it doesn’t change the fact that when you are in the moment you never know what will happen. Actually, what has me so happy is that fucker Phave.”

  “Oh? But I though he is always number 1. Why are you happy for him?”

  “No one is talking about that! Him being number 1 is like someone telling you the sky is blue. It’s like, ‘No shit.’ I’m happy because he has been chasing this hot piece of Freshie ass that is somehow even more amazing than he is. After all this time they have finally gotten together! I have always liked the kid, though he has some pretty annoying traits. He came in and stole the top academic spot from me, he is surrounded by beautiful, busty women he seems to not want, the nerve of him, and he has this knack for analyzing everything within moments of glancing at it, as if a full description of what happened was written on a cue card for him. Not to mention that for someone with all these traits he is probably the second-best looking dude I’ve ever seen, after my Phave of course. Everyone else says he is better than Phave, but he is just too big. Too tall, too many muscles, just too damn much. Oh! And he dresses like he went shopping at a hobo’s garage sale. What a waste.”

  “Sounds like you really like him. You don’t give anyone you dislike that much scrutiny. You just simply ignore them. You have always been like that.”

  Lost for words momentarily, she suddenly screams into the phone, “Shut up! You don’t know me!” They both laugh for a moment, and then she continues on. “Yeah… I suppose there is something about him that is just infectious. Even on his worst days he is still better than most people. I’m kinda mad at him right now since he hurt Maggie, but he is also banging my best friend… Life is hard.”

  “Isn’t Maggie the Freshman girl who clearly isn’t interested?”

  “I am so sick of you saying that! What do you know?! She just hasn’t had the opportunity to experience the splendors of life!”

  “Uh huh… Sure…”

  “I swear you people just don’t understand…”

  “You people? You mean Earth Affinities?”

  “Shut up! You know what I mean. Speaking of which… How are things?”

  “You want the truth, or the beautiful lie I crafted for you?”

  “Yoshi…”

  “Things here have been pretty bad lately. As bad as they can be living in a mansion I guess.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Mom didn’t take too kindly to you hanging up on her and calling her a bitch the last time you spoke. Surprisingly, she wasn’t as upset about that though. She said something about being more upset you hadn’t made progress on your mission, whatever that means. She’s been crueler than ever. She even takes the time out to speak to me so she can berate me, reminding me how even as defiant as you are, there is no way you could be as much of a ‘completely useless waste of existence’ like me or Hinade. I know how she is, I’m used to it, I’ve come to live with it and accept it. I just don’t understand how she can treat a child like that… Her own child.”

  “Yoshi… I’m sorry. I didn’t think she would take it out on you and Hina. She’s only 6 years old for fuck’s sake! I can’t believe I have been running around here, happy while you and Hina are suff
ering because of me…”

  “You act as if what you are doing was going to change how we were treated. There is no point in you worrying about us. Just live your life the best you can for us.”

  “Do you not see how wrong that is?! That is seriously fucked up! In what world should my big brother and little sister be forced to look on as I enjoy the happiness and freedom they are denied just because of some stupidly insignificant thing like attunement?! I promise I will stop this shit as soon as I can figure out how to get the companies out from under them…”

  “If a little more misery for me is the price to pay for you to be happy, then I will gladly continue to pay the price. Even though Hinade doesn’t understand now, I’m sure she would feel the same way. This is the world we live in. No one said it had to be fair.”

  “Fuck fair! What about loving your own children unconditionally?!” Codi breaks down on the phone, tears streaming from her face as she listens to how willing her brother is to sacrifice for her.

  “I’m your big brother, I’m supposed to protect you right? I may not be nearly as strong as you are, but Earth Affinities are built tough. Let me take the beating for you.”

  Waiting as she sobbed even more hysterically into the phone, Yoshifumi looks at a picture of the two of them from when they were younger, how happy they were, and how he always wanted to be there for his little sister. Hearing her cry, he knew that though he could not be there to give her a hug like he wished he could, he had his own role to play so she would be safe from their parents’ eyes until she had figured something out, since that was what she did best.

  “Hey, don’t cry for us. The treatment we receive even on the very worst of days is still far better than most people of our attunement can dream of. I am basically imprisoned in a palace, with all my needs met. I have never wondered about my next meal, or if I would have clothes, I have entertainment, I can have friends, even if they are online. The point is, there are literally millions upon millions of people that would not only trade places with me in a second, but kill for it, even to live like I do for a day. So what if my existence is kept a secret because it can’t be known the Ayas have Earth and Fire attuned children? They could have killed me, thrown me out on the street, left me to fend for myself, or any number of worse things that people like me must deal with. One day we will be free. I believe that because you are my sister. I know you hate your name, but it has its meaning for a reason. You are the force of nature that will be our liberation one day. I don’t think it is too much to trust in you and wait.”