Guild of The Future

Void still didn’t understand this fool’s obsession with him.

“Are you sure you’re not in love with me?” he asked, trying to distract them from his strike.

Vara countered his attack easily, ignoring him and pushing in.

“I don’t actually know you that well.”

“Mortals fall in love with people they don’t know all the time.” Void pushed them back.

Vara took that push and redirected it so Void was on his back.

“Not this mortal.”

Maybe Void was the one obsessed.

“Aren’t you supposed to push me down?” he asked.

“Not when you’ll say something much worse if I do.”

Void tried to give his most innocent face. Vara rolled their eyes. They were really one of the few people worth tolerating in this dump. They were a fool, true, but they were the only person neither afraid nor expectant of him. Who wouldn’t fall a little bit in love with that? But only a little.

“Since I’m such a gracious sparring partner, I’ll let you still ask your question even if you’re ignoring the rules.”

Really, Vara only asked questions they were also going to answer. Void liked hearing about them.

“Why are you here?”

“Because you invited me to spar.”

“With the Guild.”

Void tried to think of a good answer without giving too much away. Crush or not, Vara wasn’t someone to give all his secrets to.

“Council politics. I was the most painful option for those most behind allowing the Guild, so I was obviously the one selected.”

“You didn’t volunteer?”

“Of course not. From the Demon side, I don’t view work of any kind fun to do, and Angels just don’t like diplomacy. Nobody was going to volunteer.”

“I don’t think that’s an accurate assessment of Demons.”

“They only like doing something if there’s power in it” Void explained, “And there is none here.”

“There could be.”

“And then I’ll have to fight people off to keep my position, which is why I’m training with you.”

Vara smiled, finally satisfied with the answer.

“When the Raosi heard about this, many fought for the opportunity.”

“So that’s why you keep defeating me.”

“Anyone I fought could beat you. Were you never trained?”

Void presented his fists.

“You’ll have to beat me to find that out.”

Vara started moving toward him, but Void felt a wave of heat. He ran to cover Vara, pushing his leathery wings around them.

Something burned, only for an instant. He closed his eyes until he hit the ground.

He opened his eyes at the bottom of a hole, with a charred corpse in his arms.

“Nononononononono…”

“Don’t go underground at all,” Excels Over Men repeated.

“We heard that the first hundred times,” Sprite replied.

Tetra had built a decent assembly line. Splash and Spark took turns loosening the ground, Sprout pulled it up, and Sprite very forcefully moved the debris away. The problem was how slow it was.

“If you’re so anxious about this, find more muscle.”

“No one else can shake the earth, other than Terrestrius, and he ran out of the building.” She’d spotted him several loops ago.

“Rainbow, maybe. Feyries tend to command the elements.”

“Caliana stays near her, and if she takes me…”

“Goodbye any chance at survival.”

She nodded.

“Vara may be able to dig it up.” Sprout started, “They’re stronger than any human I’ve seen.”

“And Void’s pretty close to them,” Splash continued, “Both locationally and in strength.”

“And that strength is biological,” Sprite revealed, “Rather than supernatural, for their races.”

“So they wouldn’t have to worry as much about the power-lock you mentioned,” Spark finished.

All of Tetra looked at Excels over Men expectantly.

“Do you think they can break the ground with their fists?”

“Yes!”

“I see something!” Sprout said as their arms turned into normal arms, “And that would be the power lock.”

“I will get the muscle.”

Void’s father was an Angel, his mother a Demon. He grew up primarily around angels but spent more time with his mother than with his father. His blood-red hair was inherited from his mother while his dark skin was inherited from his father. His wings apparently matched his father as well while his great height came from both sides. He kept most information to himself.

Vara was really named Ravni Raelin. Their skin was darker than Void’s, with black hair, and they stood a bit shorter than him, but generally seemed stronger. They’d used the name of a legendary Veciran General who was once captured by demons.

When they heard a member of the Raosi would join The Heroes’ Guild, they sprung at the chance, battling many for the privilege. This led them to be the last representative to join as they recovered from their injuries.

Though their enthusiasm remained untested, their fighting prowess was undeniable. In training they could handle the worst opponents, though people they couldn’t grab, such as Tetra, provided a more difficult challenge.

Vara could possibly be persuaded with words, but Void was going to be near impossible. The fact the two spent so much time together meant Excels over Men would likely get neither’s help until she persuaded Void.

She made sure not to get in the way as the two sparred.

“You’re both going to die soon if you don’t help me.”

That seemed persuasive; at least they turned to look at her.

“Is that so?” Void asked, “Funny, I thought my kind were immortal.”

“There are plenty of your kind that are gone and disappeared,” Vara countered, “And I’m certainly not immortal. Why are we going to die?”

Void put an arm out to stop Vara from approaching.

“There is a bomb.” Excels over Men answered, “It will go off unless we stop it. Tetra has already agreed to help get it out from the ground, but we need strong people, like you.”

“Oh, Tetra,” Void said, “Great judge of character, absolutely vetted each new member to make sure they even knew what they were doing. How did Alter join again?”

“Ravni, please,” she pleaded. Vara’s name was less of a secret, but it was enough to make Void put his hand down.

“If there is a problem,” Vara placed their hand on Void’s shoulder, “It’s not like we can’t handle it. Let’s go.”

Some instinct told her they didn’t have time for this. The burning was coming again.

“What is something I can say to persuade you quickly?”

“You already have us,” Void said.

“Not for long. I need to get you on board faster next time.”

“Not going to happen. I still don’t trust you.”

“Aaaaggh!”

“You can persuade him, can you not?” Excels over Men had returned to Elva, tired of dead ends.

“He’s not wrong to mistrust you.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Let me rephrase. Do you trust every stranger who comes to you speaking of ill omens and bad fate?”

“Of course, I’ve experienced their portents first hand.”

Elva heaved a heavy sigh.

“Well he hasn’t,” she explained, “Every time you see him, he hasn’t seen the effects of the bomb.”

“It’s not like I can bring him back after the bomb. I’m not here after the bomb.”

“Well you weren’t here either until you were. So clearly your powers don’t just move backwards.”

“I don’t think I can repeat that.”

Excels over Men thought of rage, and baths, and vengeance.

“What’s the worst that happens if you try?” Elva asked.

“I am unable to return, and you all die, except for Terrestrius.”

“And Void himself, no doubt. His kind don’t really die.”

“Is he a god?”

Gods she had dealt with. Angels and Demons were still unfamiliar.

“No,” Elva answered, “Something older in many ways, but far more durable.”

“A titan.”

“Sure, let’s go with that. He’s a titan, big, strong, terrifying, telepathic—” Snap! Elva’s expression turned to a grin.

“What?”

“I’m an idiot.”

“You are?”

“Demons can read minds. Just use the same trick you used on me. He’ll at least give you a shot after seeing the world burn so many times.”

“Are you sure?”

Void was overwhelmingly stubborn.

“I don’t know him well enough for that, but I don’t think he’ll want all of us to die.”

“I take it that show in your head was meant to convince me.”

“Auughh!” Of course it didn’t convince him. He was that stubborn. “Ravni, leave your friend, he is a lost cause.”

“If he didn’t believe you after peering into your mind, why should I trust you?”

“Because none of us want to be destroyed except for Void here, who would rather see you dead than admit I have a point.”

Void started to raise his arm. Excels over Men cowered.

“There is no need for violence,” Vara came between the two of them, “Physical or verbal. Why not go to Rainbow? Fey can control the earth itself, and she is no exception.”

“If I go to Rainbow, Caliana will take me, and none of you will have any chance of surviving.”

“So now we’re supposed to trust you over our teammate?” Void asked.

“Because I want you to live, and she wants to protect time or something.”

“I’ve heard about what happens if you mess with time enough. I agree with Cali.”

She saw the faces of a hundred dead warriors, many of them her own kin.

“You are all the same! I am not worth listening to because I am inferior. I know what I’m talking about, but for some reason you don’t believe me. Do you have to see the city burning around you to trust what I see?”

Void pushed past Vara to get in her face.

“Oh this is interesting now. What city?”

She fell to the ground. What about that was so persuasive?

“Show me?”

Void brought a hand closer to her face. She looked away.

“She’s clearly afraid,” Vara said, “Get away from her.”

“Fine.”

Once he looked away, Excels over Men ran. She panted next to a wall. She couldn’t let him find her, but she couldn’t move. His expression looked so much like—

“Failing in your mission?” Caliana asked.

“Why not take me now?”

“If you insist.” Excels over Men felt that same feeling of death from before enough to make her start running again.

The burning was something. She couldn’t take persuading Void again.

She heard crying. She was in a crater, too deep for her to climb up. She turned to the sound.

Void, wings out, clothes mostly gone, held a charred corpse. How it had been protected enough from the burning to only char, she had no idea.

“Did you know about this?”

Something was more terrifying in the way his eyes weren’t even red.

“I knew it would burn. I didn’t—”

“Don’t show me this next time around. I’ll believe you even less.”

“Because you were crying?”

“Because I made my friend’s death worse by trying to save them.”

She looked at the corpse again.

“That’s Vara?”

Of course it was Vara.

“How did you make it worse?”

“It doesn’t matter. Next time around, show me the city.”

“The city?” No. She wasn’t going to bring it up again.

“Show me my fate, and I’ll ignore it. Show me what you suffered, and I’ll trust you.”

“And why do you deserve my pain?”

“I don’t, but I need it to do what you need me to.”

Even in a pitiful state like this, he held the cards.

“You are a cruel man.”

“I get it from my mother’s side.”

“Please, they will kill us all!” She was lying. She was talking to the one person who would survive. The beauty that damned them all.

“What can I do?”

“You know them by name. You know who they love. Coax them out, make them reveal themselves.”

It wouldn’t really work. She knew they wouldn’t come out. Her hope was that it would make them more merciful once their ambush began.

Helen would be safe, but maybe some of them could survive with her. There had to be more options, though.

“This is the will of the gods.”

He wasn’t here. He couldn’t be here.

“You are no god, no matter what name you use.”

He took her hands, still the same handsome man he’d been five years ago. She refused to think back to her actions back then.

“Let them burn, Cassandra,” he ordered, “Come with me.”

“Why do you ask me now?”

“Because you were screaming about the city’s fate. You’ve saved them too many times for them to trust you.”

She pulled her hands away from him.

“You are a liar.”

“I tell the truth. People don’t believe a prophet who stops their disasters.”

“People will know me as a hero,” Cassandra insisted.

“They will know you as a failure.”

“You could help with that.” She placed a hand on his arm, letting him imply whatever he wished.

“I won’t make my offer twice.” he pled. She wanted to accept him and be safe, but then everything…

“They are my people.”

“You have more in common with me than with anyone in this stronghold. Let the mortals to their squabbles, stay with me.”

She shook her head through her tears.

She made all her feeble attempts, half of them with people who didn’t listen to her no matter what she said. At least her cousin listened when she told him to run. She wasn’t sure where he’d land, but the family wouldn’t end.

She ran to the temple of Athena. Apollo clearly wasn’t going to help her in this, nor would his sister. Athena was the closest to her purposes.

“Please.” she hid by the statue, “They are my people, my family. You killed my brother. You killed the curse that was my father’s son. What else must your kind take from me?”

She heard footsteps enter.

“I saw you come in here, princess. Do not hide.”

“Please,” she prayed with a whisper.

The first few attempts she was still reeling from the memories, things she had been trying to ignore while next to a reminder. She let them fail to remove the bomb from the building, barely lucid enough to go back when the burning started.

“Don’t move it,” she finally said, “It explodes the moment it exits the building.”

“Like it’s got a set location to destroy?” Spark asked.

“Well, here’s another thing to try.” Void declared.

“Don’t! Punch it, either.”

“Well that’s about the extent of what we can do,” Vara said.

“Are you sure we’re worth the price?” Void asked, leveling a heavy gaze on Cassandra.

“Of course, we would not get to the bomb without you two.”

“Okay…”

“We could ask Terrestrius to track the people who set the bomb,” Sprout proposed.

“Terrestrius left the building.”

“Lucky dastard,” Vara muttered, earning stares from the whole company, “What, I don’t like him.”

Void closed his eyes, then looked down.

“Bail out!” Everyone back away from the bomb as Void tried to cover it with his whole body, but really they all knew it was hopeless. Cassandra stopped to look at Void and his sacrifice.

“Find information next go around,” he said.

“What do you think I’ve been doing?”

“Ask the jokesters for help!”

“Who?”