____s of a world

The tiny home, windows boarded up and furniture squeezed in every nook and cranny, afforded little space for a big gathering. They made it work regardless. Zane grabbed some spare cushions for seats and pushed chairs around the biggest table they had.

Knightly uniforms removed, everyone took their seats, and the trio properly introduced themselves.

“You might not know me,” Lewis said, ruffling Shay’s hair, “but I was a good friend of your dad ‘till I left. I met these two on the road to Belva, we got this house together, and the rest was history.”

Anna smiled, holding a hand out and shaking everyone else’s like at a business meeting. “We met at a crossroads—I’d fallen out of faith with Vitaism, and he with Xitalism.”

Eoin nodded—Zane gathered they were the silent type. He approved.

“I saw those murals ages ago, and pondered over their true meaning,” Lewis continued. “I started an underground group called God’s Greatest Question where we debated the truths of our world outside the church’s gaze. After years our conversations turned from casual discussions of scripture to the inner truths of the main church.”

Effie leaned forward. “And that’s when you discovered Vitam sealed inside the church!?”

“…No, that wasn’t us,” Annie said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Those were some of our ex-members. They were determined to find the truth and broke into the church, leaving us with something they stole before they were captured and sent to quell the planet’s core.”

“Which,” Lewis continued, “Isn’t really the planet’s core, it’s just under the mantle, in a pocket, but its instability—”

“Okay, yeah, we get it,” Zane said. “What was the message?”

Eoin stood up while Annie and Lewis exchanged nervous glanced. He picked up a book, opening a secret compartment and placing a note on the table.

Neat handwriting—almost printed. It matched Leon’s, Vitam’s Happiness, perfectly.

It’s taken a lot of time to make amends for our failure to protect Tribus. Each whisper of the Disappearance is another mark against us. If protecting him is a part of that, then I’ll do it—but all I ask is that you help me if I call on you.

Maybe there’s a growing sentiment in me driving us apart.

But even in times like these, I know I can call on you.

So please—let’s fix our mistakes, one step at a time.

“Tribus?” Effie said. “Is that the continent that disappeared?”

Annie nodded. “As far as most people knew, they were a distant trade partner we fell out of contact with, something existing far beyond our lives. But there were people there, homes, communities rendered to dust. And the more we investigated, the more we learned about the reason why… sort of.”

“Sort of?” Zane waited for an answer, but Annie said nothing, nudging Lewis.

With much hesitance— “We think the church knows why the disappearance happened. We know they’ve got something terrible kept there. With enough study, we came to the conclusion they’ve got Vitam, or something similar to it sealed up in there. The reason you can use magic isn’t something innate in you, but a neutral power forced to supply anyone asking for its help.”

“It is Vitam.”

Lucian gripped his cloak. “I know it is. He called to me, he begged me for help, every time I walked by His seal I felt His pain.”

“We’ve had this talk,” Lewis said. “We’ll see.”

“But I know!”

“But—okay, fine, whatever you say. Either way, we agree this isn’t something we should keep up. Otherwise the planet’ll be torn apart in another hundred years or so.”

Lucian nodded. “Right… at least we agree on that.”

A terse silence took over. Vitam or otherwise, though, if Their rage brought about the slow death of the planet, then there was no other choice. “We’re gonna put a stop to it either way,” Zane said. “So, do we got a plan?”

“…About that…”

Annie scratched her cheek. “I don’t know what happened—a couple days ago, they sealed off the city, enlisted everyone with a pulse into Vitali’s knights, and now you can’t even get near the church without a sword to the throat. There’s plenty of people holed up in their homes, asking questions that’ll never get answered. It’s a mess.”

“Eh.” Shay slumped over, seeming as if he had something to say yet no courage to make it real. For once, he held something back.

But Zane wondered. “…People are scared. Maybe we can use that.”

“We’re not using the townspeople,” Lewis said. “I don’t care how much you resent the church—”

Zane put his hands up. “Hey, calm down. I’m not using people and—put aside Vitam for now. This isn’t going to end until the main church chops our heads off and puts this all behind them. If we can get people to rally and distract the knights, maybe there’s a chance of us sneaking inside the church and breaking that damn seal.” He snapped his fingers, the tangled ideas in his mind coming together. “Especially if we’ve got a lot of unwilling knights on forced conscript running around. Plus, if they knew what happened in Udrefaust and Orie, it might embolden them.”

Lewis and Annie exchanged uneasy looks. Zane had a feeling they held some reservations about him, and he admitted that he worded that a little too much like a guy who names his chess pieces after his greatest enemies. “Think whatever you want about me, but—”

“I think it’s what we gotta do,” Effie cut him off. “Listen, Zane really does want to help. He helped me. And he helped Shay over here! It’s risky, people will definitely, absolutely get hurt, but if it’s to save the planet’s future, then we have to do what we can.”

Shay nodded. “However we can. So, you said you’re from Udrefaust? You know any more expats around here from the city? I wanna talk with them.”

Lewis regarded Shay. Deliberation, unease and somewhere underneath that—Zane wanted to believe he hoped. “…I do. I know a place where they like to gather away from the judgmental gaze of Vitalis.”

“Let me guess. A bar?”

“…”

“Heh, knew it. We never change.”

Effie jumped to her feet. “And maybe there’s workers from Orie here! I know Belva’s a popular place to travel, so it’s worth a shot, right? Annie! Give me a tour!”

“Okay, but you really don’t need to yell,” Annie said, offering a hand Effie took. “C’mon. If we’re ready, then let’s get to work.”

Shay and Effie dragged Lewis and Annie out respectively, leaving Zane and Lucian alone with an equally silent Eoin.

“So… got any friends to drag into a riot?” Zane said.

Lucian’s smile dropped. “Um… I have you? And the others…”

“Huh. Wow.”

Zane made a mental note to get Lucian more friends after this was over.