An Arrival At a Non-Existent Beach

Oh, word… Rei glanced around her, feeling her heartbeat increase. She wasn’t going to be able to fight her way out of this.

:”Atlas, what’s going on?”

Atlas could only shake her head wordlessly at her, mouthing, “I’m confused too.” Her hands were clutched tightly together underneath her long sleeves, and Rei spotted just a couple spots of blood on her light clothing.

Vice smirked. “You know, Rei, if you’re willing to fight for me, I’d be happy to let your friend go.”

“Are you out of your mind?” It took all her strength not to knock Vice onto the ground and slap her. “Can’t you see what state R’veno is in right now? The lights are all going out, and here you’re worried about your fight ring? Give me a break! There are much more important issues to be addressed here?”

Vice didn’t lose her composure. “What use is the light for someone who has always lived in the dark?”

“Huh?”

“Even if the lights turn back on, there is still only darkness for our kind…”

“The light has plenty use for someone who has always lived in the dark,” Rei replied, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “If you’ve always lived in the dark, well, the light comes, and you’re blinded momentarily, but when all that passes, you’re suddenly able to see a wonderful world which you weren’t a part of before. Everything is so much better, and you have no need to return to your old life anymore.”

“Is this what you tell yourself every day?” Vice tilted her head. “Have you been living in the light, Rei?”

Rei shook her head, shrugging. “I don’t know. Maybe one day. But if the lights don’t come on again soon, I’m never going to live to see that. So please…just give me an easy time. I’m not going to even think about fighting for you right now. I already did once tonight. Is that not enough?”

“It’s plenty enough.” A small smile curled around Vice’s lips. “I was merely jesting about the fight club. No, you are to stay here for as long as it takes for…ah, here they are. I’m sure you’ll be happy to see them, Rei.”

Rei looked over to where she had entered, and her eyes widened. The boy Haze, walking by the torches with a look of almost amazement on his face as he traced his finger along the flame; his butler, Caius, trying to keep Haze moving along, attempting to keep him from getting burned; and finally Calix, looking quite unhappy at being in the company of the other two, but his eyes lit up when he saw Rei.

“Vice!” Haze turned his attention away from the torches and towards the woman on the couch, as if greeting a long lost friend. “How good it is to see you! How have you been?”

Vice smiled coyly, ignoring his question and instead saying, “Here is the girl you wanted us to apprehend. Look, she came here of her own volition. Isn’t that wonderful? Barely shed a drop of blood along the way.”

“That’s because you used coercion and the like,” Rei muttered, but she didn’t wish to make a fuss at the moment, not with the three fighters in the room, and instead went to Atlas and held her hand. The girl clutched her tightly, and Rei could feel her shivering. “Gosh, what did they do to you?”

Haze said: “Are you all ready, for what is about to come?”

Heron flipped his fan open, covering the bottom half of his face. “We have all these torches. Could we be less ready?”

“Are you going to move out to the countryside?” Haze grinned at the elegant man. “I can see several places where you would fit right in.”

“Perhaps one day,” Heron replied. “Unless my duty is needed here…” He glanced at Vice, who raised a finger.

“Hey, your contract with me isn’t over yet.”

“Too bad.” Dionysus let out a laugh. “You and your contracts. If we burn this place to the ground, will those contracts be gone too?”

“That, and all your money.” Vice raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you’d like that.”

Haze approached Aretha, and crouched down in front of her. “What about you? How are you holding up?”

“I think she needs power, young master,” Caius said from behind him. “Do be careful. Escaped androids are unpredictable.”

Haze waved a hand in front of her face, but to no response, so he stood, yawning. “Ah, how boring. Why don’t we—” But he was broken off by a coughing fit, so severe that Rei found herself wincing.

“Young master!” Caius took Haze by the shoulders, and led him back towards the main part of the room. “Is it the smoke? I do believe that you have overexerted yourself today…”

“No, no, I…” Haze wiped his mouth, and Rei thought she saw a trace of blood. “I’m fine. Let’s discuss what to do with these two in the meantime.”

And Rei thought of back when he was in her care, and how he had always tried to run ahead, but she was faster. He wanted to race her to the ocean waves, but she over took him, and threw off her shoes on the sandy beach, heading straight into the cold water. He splashed her, laughing, and she couldn’t help but laugh too…

Had that all been a dream? There were no beaches in R’veno.

Caius, behind them, calling for them to be careful, but they splashed him in retaliation.

Her heart hurt, and she didn’t know why. Focus, she told herself. Focus on this, on now. You’re here. There’s smoke…

Smoke. The fire. The incident…

She looked up, and met Calix’s eyes, and suddenly she was grounded in reality again. This was all going to be okay. Perhaps the two of them could overtake everyone in the room… Ha, that was merely wishful thinking, though.

What were they saying? What was anybody saying?

And she realized that they weren’t saying anything. They were listening, and she listened too, for the sound of footsteps on the streets above, for the screeching of a subway as it slowed to a stop, the screaming in the distance as glass shattered and thieves could do whatever they wanted in the cover of the night…

And above all, there was the fire, that crackling fire, and her heart pounding in her chest. She could feel Haze smiling, and she didn’t know how to feel about that, whether or not to feel anger or disgust or pure curiosity at what he was smiling about, or perhaps she should join in and smile too…

“Once this is all over, Caius, would you be willing to fight in my ring again?” Vice asked.

“Once this is all over, I think I’ll be ready to retire,” Caius replied calmly. “I heard that you had my brother tonight, though? I wish I could have seen it.”

“Your brother is quite the skilled fighter,” Heron said, grinning. “We should spar again sometime, after this is all over.”

After this was all over? After what was all over? Rei didn’t understand. What would be over? What about the lights? Were the lights going to return to normal, somehow? What did they all know that she didn’t…

Calix seemed to be trying to tell her something with his eyes. “What is it?” she mouthed. “What do you want to do?”

“Let’s escape,” he replied, though his lips barely moved, barely made a sound. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Okay.” And she was satisfied with that.