The Lesser One Arc 2 Chapter 3: Choice

Choice

The police arrive a couple of minutes after the golem returns to its portal. Mandrake and I stand in the middle of the crime scene, surrounded by detectives and uniformed officers.

We are asked a bunch of questions. All we tell them is that Mandrake formed a shield and we were able to chase them off. Mandrake and I agreed beforehand that we shouldn’t disclose the presence of the golem. That would cause too many problems.

After the questioning is over, Mandrake leads me through the throng of reporters, pushing a path for the both of us. After we reach somewhere relatively private, he turns to me.

“They’re just going to keep coming after you,” Mandrake says. “I think we should head them off. Let them give you their offer before more innocent people get killed.”

I nod. “I think that would be best too. Do you know where they’re based?”

“In a warehouse in West London,” says Mandrake. “I can lead you there. I can’t be present for the offer, however.”

A limousine rolls up next to us, as well as two black vans. At least a dozen of my devils climb out of the vans. Sebastian steps out of the limo and strides towards me.

He bows. “Master,” he says, “We were unable to stop the Dark Silverbones from assaulting you. I am truly sorry.”

I shake my head. “You couldn’t know,” I say. “These are very powerful people, after all.”

Sebastian wears a confused expression. “But we failed you,” he says.

“No,” I say, putting my hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “You did the best you could.”

Sebastian looks very happy at this moment. He bows again. “Thank you for your kindness, master,” he says.

“Anyways,” I say, “Can you get the contents of the S-class portal to help keep innocent people from being killed by dark Silverbones?”

“As you wish,” says Sebastian. “I assume you want to go somewhere?”

“Yes,” I say. “Mandrake will lead us to the spot where the dark Silverbones are going to negotiate with me.”

Sebastian’s face goes pale. “Master. You aren’t going to actually interact with these monsters, are you?”

I nod. “It’s the only way. If they don’t get their shot at recruiting me, they’re going to keep killing innocent people.”

Sebastian looks flustered. “Master, I don’t think you understand how alluring their offer will be.”

Mandrake nods. “Yes, lad,” he says. “Your butler is right. I’ve been trying to tell you. You won’t be able to refuse them.”

I stamp my foot. “I’m going to refuse them and that’s the end of things.”

Mandrake is almost smiling, but it is clear he has reservations. “I admire your bravery, lad,” he says. He turns to the limo. “If you want, I can accompany you to the site. However, I won’t be able to enter the negotiations alongside you.”

I nod. “Great. Climb in and we can get this over with.”

Sebastian opens the limo doors for us and we enter. We then drive through the London streets until we reach a looming warehouse a considerable distance from the city center.

Sebastian stops the car. “We have several snipers on target,” he says. “So you’ll be safe during this meeting. I must impress on you now, though, that you aren’t completely invulnerable. We don’t know what the Darks have up their sleeve.”

I step out of the limo. The warehouse is covered in hanging vines. Most of the windows are boarded up or broken.

The door opens and a man with an eyepatch leans out.

“Ah, Mr. Red,” he says. He gives the limo and Sebastian the evil eye.

Sebastian rolls down the driver’s side window. “We will be up the block,” he says. The limo pulls away.

The man with the eyepatch extends his hand. “The name’s Deeve. I assume you know why we’re here?”

I nod. “I’m here to listen to your offer.”

Deeve grins. He opens the door and leads me in. We walk through a dusty open area, lit by shafts of light from the broken overhead windows.

I see Ronald sitting on a crate, next to a beautiful woman with deep black hair. The woman winks at me. Ronald grimaces.

“You bastard,” he says, in his thick German accent. “You’re going to pay for throwing me like that.”

“Calm, Ronald,” says Deeve. “We don’t want to spoil the goods.” He points at Ronald. “You probably already know him. He’s Ronald.” Deeve points at the girl. “And she’s Generica.”

“I already greeted you,” says Generica, with a lopsided grin on her face.

I shudder at the memory of the exploding body and ensuing confetti storm.

Deeve sits down on a box. “So. We want to make it very clear that we are looking to recruit you. If we do recruit you, we will promise to awaken the girl you are so infatuated with.” He gives a lopsided grin. “And I assume the reward Mr. Blanche will give you will be quite worth your trouble.”

I shake my head. “I don’t believe you. No one can heal her. We’ve already tried so many options.”

Deeve rests his chin on his palms. “Why would we lie to you?”

“Because you’re killers,” I say. “Murderers.”

“Have you heard of honor among thieves?” says Deeve. He sighs. “We wouldn’t want to have a member among us under false pretenses.”

I get it, if only slightly. If I learned that they couldn’t deliver their promises, I would leave. And they want me alive.

But there’s still the fact that these guys are evil.

“The second motivation,” says Deeve, “Is that we’re going to kill your family and friends if you don’t join us.”

I am too stunned to speak. “But—” I say.

Deeve grins. “We are killers, after all,” he says. He makes a finger gun. “Boom.”

Ronald laughs with a deep, booming voice. “Kill! Yes, kill their family! Torture their wives and daughters!”

Generica elbows Ronald. “Would you shut up?” She says.

Ronald grunts. I assume that means he will shut up. Which is great for me because he was talking about some scary stuff.

I shake my head. “My network will protect my parents,” I say.

Deeve smiles with a sickly sweetness. “Are you sure? They couldn’t protect you.”

A rock is sinking in my stomach. I don’t know what to do or say.

Deeve clicks his tongue. “I see that you are split. I, of course, understand.” He is giving me a sickly-sweet smile. “But you must know what you are going to lose if you don’t join us.”

I take a step backwards. “I don’t want to be evil,” I say. “You guys are clearly the bad guys in this case.”

“Bold of you to say that to our face,” says Deeve. “I’m starting to like your feistiness.” He snaps his fingers and make a gun from his fingers again, pointing it at me. “I would normally kill someone for saying something like that, but you’re special.” He chuckles. “We’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

My mind is racing. I don’t know what to do in this situation. This is nothing like when I infiltrated the mafia. These guys are serious and powerful.

I back towards the door. “I don’t want to work with you,” I say. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Deeve flicks out a butterfly knife and begins to pick his nails. “You’ve made your choice, then?” he says. “We’re going to give you until you return to New York to change your mind. We are nice people, after all.”

“How do I know you’ll keep that promise?” I say.

Deeve chuckles, looking at his blade under the light. “I told you about honor among thieves, didn’t I?”

Ronald barks out laughter. “Boss!” he says. “You’re the only one who says that!”

“I told you to shut it, Ronald,” says Generica. She grins at me. “I don’t enjoy rushing things. Taking your time is what leads to the most enjoyment.” She waves her hand with a dismissive motion. “Now scram. We’ll be here all month. Come back when you change your mind.”

Deeve nods his chin towards the door. “You can return to your petty little life for now,” he says, “But you can’t escape your destiny.”

I back out the door, into the street. The door closes in front of me and I am standing alone outside the warehouse.

Sebastian pulls up to the sidewalk with my limo. Mandrake rolls down the passenger window. “Did you refuse them?” he says.

I nod, as Sebastian gets out and opens the door for me. “They gave me a month. If I don’t join them by the deadline, they’ll kill my family and friends.”

Mandrake cringes. “And you had the stupidity to believe them,” he says.

“Strangely enough,” I say, “They looked like they would keep their promise.” I step into the limo, sitting down on the plush leather seat.

Mandrake’s eyes go wide. “You seriously underestimate the deviousness of the Darks.”

I take a diet root beer out of the hidden fridge, popping it open. “I don’t know why,” I say. “I just get the feeling that they value me more than just as a victim of their schemes.”

Mandrake rubs his temples. “That’s the problem,” he says. “I can’t predict what they’re thinking.”

“We need to figure out how to protect my parents,” I say. “If we don’t, they’re going to die.” I take a deep draught from the root beer can. “That’s what we need to be thinking about right now.” I put the can down on the bordered drink table.

Mandrake turns to the window. “I’ll do something,” he says. “If you decide to join us now, me and my comrades will do everything we can to protect you and your parents.” He pauses. “That’s all we can do. We have nothing else that you would value that we can offer.”

“I don’t want to become a villain and a murderer,” I say, “Which is what I know will happen if I join the Darks.” I grip the arm rest of my chair. “That’s something I will do my utmost to prevent.”

Mandrake looks me in the eye. “Make your decision.”

“I’ll join you,” I say. This is the same as the trolley problem. Do I pull the lever, possibly killing one? Or do I do nothing and let fate bring me to become a villain who kills many?

I already know what I have chosen.

Mandrake looks visibly relieved. He leans towards the drivers seat, holding a piece of paper. “Take us to this address,” he says.

“As you wish,” says Sebastian. He makes several turns and then drives us to a remote location in the English countryside. We arrive at a luxurious country manor in the style of late Victorian. A woman with red hair is sitting on a swing seat in the middle of a well-manicured garden. She stands up when she sees our limo approaching.

We pull up into the driveway and Sebastian opens the door to let me out. I step onto the concrete.

The red-haired woman smiles at me. “The name’s Robin,” she says, extending her hand.

I shake it. “I assume you’re one of the Brights?” I ask.

Robin chuckles. “Indeed I am.”

Mandrake stands beside me, his hands in his pockets. “Hey, Rob,” he says.

Robin smiles at him, though her eyes are complex. “Mandrake,” she says. “You managed to keep him alive.”

“No thanks to my efforts,” says Mandrake. “This kid knows how to handle himself pretty well. He survived a direct encounter with three of the Darks.”

Robin looks at me with a touch of surprise on her face. “They let you leave without killing you?”

“It just proves how much they value him,” says Mandrake. “Which, in my book, is a very bad thing.”

“Right,” says Robin. “That means they’ll probably stop at nothing to recruit him.” She turns to me. “Come. We’ll meet the rest of the Brights who are here at the moment.” She turns back around and starts walking up the garden path.

“What’s your spirit?” I say.

Robin holds out her palm, without looking at me, and a blast of intensely hot fire roars out of her skin. “Fire,” she says.

“She absorbed a ten thousand year fire slug spirit,” says Mandrake. “Along with many lesser rings.”

“I never asked what your power is,” I say, to Mandrake.

Mandrake shrugs. “It’s oxygen,” he says. “When combined with Robin’s power …” Mandrake stops for a moment. “Anyways, if I have access to a spark, I can combust pretty much anything.”

“You said there were six Brights?” I say.

“Four of us, including me, are in England right now,” says Mandrake.

We go through the manor’s grand entrance. The foyer is huge, with a chandelier comprised of at least a hundred individual lights. It twinkles as I look at it.

“How do you afford this place?” I say.

“We’re not poor,” says Mandrake.

“I had that idea about you for some reason,” I say.

“No matter,” says Mandrake. “We do a lot of consulting for dungeon guilds and government agencies.”

“Oh,” I say.

A wire-thin man with long black hair leans over the railings of the upper level. “You brought the newbie,” he says.

“That’s Neo,” says Mandrake. “His power is ruby. He can make the sharpest blade you’ve ever seen with it.”

Neo seems to be evaluating me.

“He’s young,” he says. “Isn’t he still in high school?”

“That doesn’t change the fact that he’s S-class,” says Mandrake.

Neo shrugs. “The world must be going funny if a kid like him can be S-class.”

“He killed a balrog,” says Robin. “And he helped save Wales from the S-class portal.”

Neo whistles. “You’ve got a resume, then,” he says. He grins at me. “Welcome to the club.”

“He hasn’t joined us yet,” says Robin.

“I want to change that,” I say. “I’ll say it again. I’ll join you.”

The room is silent.

“Even when they threatened to kill your friends and family?” says Mandrake.

“Especially because they threatened to kill my friends and family,” I say. “I don’t want to spend my life with that hanging over me. We have a month to figure things out. If we don’t figure it out by then, we could at the very least hide my parents somewhere.”

Mandrake smiles. “That’s a good choice,” he says. He crosses his arms. “There’s no formal procedure to join us. All you have to do is say you’re in.”

“You guys don’t have anything like an oath that I have to recite?” I ask.

“We abolished that a while ago,” says Neo, still leaning on the bannisters. “It wasn’t working like intended.”

Mandrake nods. “This is an honor-based position. It’s up to you to maintain your integrity while you’re with us.”

“I will,” I say.

A rather fat woman wearing a multicolored dress comes out of the hallway. She holds her hands in front of her mouth and chuckles in a very British style. “It’s so good to finally meet you,” She says. She waves her hand like a fan. “I’ve been waiting to see what kind of a young man you are.”

“That’s Ari,” says Mandrake. “She’s the reason why we can speak English fluently with you.”

“Your native language isn’t English?” I say. “You speak it perfectly.”

“Ari is the one who made that possible,” says Mandrake. “My real native language is Greek.”

Hm. Mandrake did appear to be ethnically Greek.

“So her spirit has to do with language?” I ask.

“The dictionary,” says Mandrake. “Her spirit is almost, but not quite, language itself.”

“I’ve never heard of a spirit like that,” I say.

Mandrake chuckles. “You get used to it,” he says. Then he turns to Neo and Ari. “Let’s have a meeting in the conference room.” He looks at me. “You too,” he says.

“Can I bring Sebastian too?” I say.

“Sure,” says Mandrake. He begins walking towards the hallway entrance. “The more, the merrier.”

I start walking towards the hallway behind him.