Decisions (III)

The skies of Babylon had grown dark some time ago—one's perception of the hour entirely depended on which side of the gate they stood, a so-called byproduct of extra-dimensional travel.

Once inside a dungeon, the flow of time shifted to the point where it made standard measuring instruments almost completely unreliable. For the most part, the flow of time was mostly case-dependent— hours on one side of a gate could be days on the next.

Night descended.

It was to the point where the stars had become visible, but even at this time of night the swirling gates filling district seven still attracted scores of people from all over the city.

Yelena Riot stood before one such gate, staring up at the spatial tear as she scanned its surface for any signs of movement. Her attire seemed fit for the occasion, but she had no thoughts about entering the gate herself, another issue needed to be addressed before that.

A beep rang from her earpiece, drawing her attention for a moment. Being outside the bounds of Ziggurat naturally allowed for the use of communication devices. Behind her was a squadron of armored cars flashing their emergency lights, as well as the Longinus agents who'd assumed defensive positions around the gate's perimeter.

"Yes, Chairman?" Yelena answered the call in a succinct tone.

"How are things on your end? I hear you haven't moved an inch since the raid began."

"I haven't seen any changes in the past few hours, hence why I've decided to remain on standby."

"Hmm...I see, well I guess all we can do for now is wait I suppose."

"...Yes, about that, Chairman..." Yelena's tone was racked with hesitance, she shifted her shoulders a bit, unsure of how to word her question.

"Hm? What's the matter?" Having sensed her hesitation, Wilhelm responded with all the courtesy he could muster.

"Well, it's about Percy. Do you truly think he's the one posing as Scarecrow? I find it...a little hard to believe. He's never left that sort of impression on me."

"Well that just to goes to show how good he is at his job." Wilhelm said matter-of-factly.

"His job you say?"

"Yes, I did some digging into his background after the Phantom Purge incident. I found it strange that he was the only trainee to make it back unscathed, especially given his almost nonexistent track record."

"Oh, I see. Now that I think about it, his relative obscurity during the whole thing was rather suspicious."

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Wilhelm, clearing his throat into the microphone.

"As it turns out, Percy is actually from a small country in the North American Confederacy, he's been here for about a year now and has since dropped out of school and formed some shady allegiances. If my hunch is correct, and he really is a part of Cocytus then that's something I can't ignore. Given the nature of this city, it's not uncommon for us to get spies from all over, but it becomes a problem when I don't know what their intentions are."

Yelena held her breath before speaking, the information itself hadn't necessarily surprised her but the implication behind it did.

"So you mean to say that the NAC might be involved in this?" she asked in a low, cautious voice.

"The NAC has its own countries and whatnot, so I doubt the entire continent is complicit. This whole thing is more than likely just some scheme drawn up by one of their smaller nations. Longinus couldn't get anything out of him, so I'm hoping that something will happen given the deadline I put on the gate. Ideally, I'd want him to get desperate and make a move, but if things get out of hand, we'll send a few teams in to extract them."

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"...."

"Are you worried about Angelica?"

"No, that's not it. I was wondering if there was any particular reason why you didn't tell Cyril about any of this. You seem to have a great deal of trust in him, and I've heard that Cocytus has listed him listed as a target."

"Ah, that." Yelena heard Wilhelm's voice cracking over the device. She tilted her head curiously, wondering what the old man had found so funny.

"He's a wild card. Things tend to play out naturally when he's around. For the moment, my hunch is nothing more than a baseless suspicion. No sense in burdening him with that kind of thing right now."

"True, he is a very peculiar character." Her answer made the Chairman go silent. He wondered if there was truly praise hidden those octaves but dismissed it a moment later.

" Mhm, precisely. I'd like to see how things play out first. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this soon. We're still not sure what Nectar would do to regular people so I can't afford to have anyone smuggling it out of here."

Yelena moved to respond, but before she could, undulating waves rippled across the portal. She glanced upward, curious as she watched the strange disturbance. Having entered the world of Ziggurat dozens of times before, she easily guessed the outcome with absolute certainty.

Something's coming.

Soon after, something burst from within—a blond haired figure rocketed down the street, gliding on a powerful gale of wind. An explosive tailwind trailed behind him like a shockwave, strong enough to rattle the armored cars and blow a few of the armed men away.

It all happened in a flash, but a few seconds was all Yelena needed to pin the face. Reaching for her earpiece as the shockwave dissipated, she clicked the small button and spoke clearly.

"Chairman, Percy has just emerged from the dungeon. He rode out on a wind current and appears to be leaving the district. He seems injured as well—should I pursue him?"

A small click rang in her ear as Wilhelm abruptly dropped his pen on the other side of the microphone. "Follow him." he replied seriously. "Let's see where he goes."

"Understood."

Yelena brushed aside the strands of hair in her face and leaned forward, one leg braced to launch into a sprint—when the gate suddenly convulsed and disgorged something else.

Another familiar face shot out of the gate like a torpedo, crashing into the street before skidding straight into a nearby armored car. The impact flipped the vehicle onto its side, but Cyril hardly seemed concerned—he already knew it was empty.

Metallic clicks sounded from all around Cyril—the armed men had drawn their weapons on instinct, but Yelena's timely intervention prevented them from fire.

"Hold your fire." she called, raising her hand as she approached Cyril cautiously. Her expression shifted from alertness to concern the more she narrowed the distance between them. Cyril's clothes were slashed and torn; he had numerous gashes and cuts all over his body and the sounds of his laborious breaths carried easily in the stalled silence.

Yelena had to blink twice to confirm it, but there were faint wisps of smoke and steam curling up from his body.

Just how fast had he been moving to wreck himself like this? She wondered, suppressing her eagerness as she drew closer.

"What's this about Cyril? What happened to the others?"

"There fine, I checked on up on them before I pulled out but never mind that for now, there's something else I need to do right now."

Try as he might, Yelena could still sense the desperation in his voice. She didn't even need to hear him speak, his expression said it all—It was the look of someone nearing their breaking point.

Anxiety and rage were two emotions that didn't go well together.

"I see. Could you fill me in?"

Several seconds passed before Cyril gave his answer, he seemed to be having trouble catching his breath even now.

"Sorry, there's no time for the details. Percy is Scarecrow, he should've made it outside the gate before me, but I can't go after him right now, there's someone else I need to help."

A voice crackled over Yelena's earpiece—she must have left the microphone on deliberately. After murmuring a brief "understood" to the man on the other end, she shifted her focus back to the wounded youngster slumped against the overturned car.

"The Chairman says he's trusting your instincts. Do as you see fit. I'm heading after Scarecrow myself—need anything before I move out?"

Hearing that, Cyril took a deep breath and rose to his feet. He wiped away the bead of blood flowing from his lips before posing a single question.

"I need directions, fast. Where can I find the gate for Ba'als labyrinth?"

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