Rhian

"So, kill them, then," I said. "A bit of fire, slice up some heads, and boom, we're all free."

I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms.

Didn't I tell you religion was a load of horeshite? While I might have been a bit surprised by everything else, I sure as hells wasn't shocked by that.

"What's a bit of fire against the one who can stop time? Or the one who can render us all down to a vegetative state on a whim? What's a sword against the one who can feel us coming from the top of the tallest spire, or sense our every motivation with a single look? You joke about puppets, and yet we are all theirs. There are other protections in place, besides."

My turn for questions. "If that's true, how do they not know you've gone rogue?"

"Because much like yourselves, as long as we do what's expected of us, the Six see no reason to communicate with us directly. The last I appeared before them was just over two decades ago now. It's been a deadly balance keeping our secret safe. And there are two within our ranks who are fiercely loyal. Blanchett, Oranen. Number Two remains neutral, of course."

I was still righteously ticked off. But let me just say: the irony was delicious. When the slavers become the slaves and whatnot.

When I sneaked a peek at Strauss, he didn't appear to be doing much on the outside, but I reckoned his grey noodle was spinning around a hundred leagues a second.

I turned to Faust again. "Look, lady, what exactly do you want from us?"

"There are secrets spread across Auditoria. Some are buried in legend or with our ancestors, destroyed by those loyal to the Six, or never uncovered at all. You have found some already. But somewhere, we're sure of it, lies the solution to a centuries old problem."

"All right," I said.

And the Councilwoman finally got to the point. "Councilwoman Kelly, Councilwoman Hall, and I are asking you, Rhian Sinclair and Andrei Strauss, to find what we need to destroy the Six."

"Ugh," I said. This whole pain in the arse affair was irritating. Not to mention I simultaneously needed a nap and a wee again.

"The magnitude of your quest aside, Councilwoman, I've had a nagging curiosity," Strauss said. "How did you know? That I'd learned the truth about my parents?"

Faust stood, worked her way around the desk, and swished her way over to the door. After swinging it open, our answer appeared on the other side. Shaggy as ever, dirty as ever, but Feargus bloody Finlay was still a sight for sore eyes.

He shut the door behind him.

"Ah, of course," Strauss said. "That should have been obvious."

"Sorry, mate," Gus said.

I narrowed my eyes, watching him walk across the room. There were no hints coming from my oldest friend suggesting he was under any duress. Or that he'd been brainwashed or in any way addled. Just like I knew he wasn't dead, I knew for a fact he was acting on his own. He'd never betray us. Two and three together, the crusty old bag was telling us the truth.

Stolen novel; please report.

Mostly, probably.

Faust went back to her chair and Gus hopped up on the corner of the desk beside me.

I flicked his knee. Twice.

"The Vonsinfonie Brothers," Strauss asked. "How do they factor in here?"

Faust shrugged. "I know as much as you do, Andrei. The keyhole in the mountain, the book. Zacharias still roams, and like you, I've only just learned Sebastian's not dead. I've done all I could to point you in the most obvious direction without laying all our cards on the table."

Sebastian, Random Father, and now Faust. We were the most popular people in Auditoria, apparently. But I reckoned if everybody could just leave us the hells alone, that'd be all right, too. The slight frown on Strauss's face told me he was feeling the same way.

"Please explain Leberecht," he said.

Faust adjusted her sleeve. "The Six have decreed that Amalia belongs to the Anima. Though when their forces become too strong, or too unstable, we're expected to deal with the threat. Leberecht is an experiment of sorts. Long before my time, and I would prefer to see it end."

"So, you're asking us to deal with whatever's going on here, all the while trying not to die so we can solve some riddles for you and slay a bunch of false gods?"

"Essentially," Faust said. "But you'll need more than three of you to address the problems in this city. The Artist, the Writer, and the Tinkerer: the driving forces behind the experiment."

Good old Zelly-Belly Faust was lucky I'd already promised Marta we'd come around and set things straight in Leberecht.

"And Commander Reider," Strauss said. "How do we help him?"

The Councilwoman pressed her shriveled lips together and shook her head. "I don't know, but you have a new fount of information in Sebastian Vonsinfonie. The Trio are old, but he is older. I would recommend starting there."

"Sure thing," I said.

Strauss shrugged and nodded.

Gus brushed something off his pants.

Following all that, there were plenty more questions. What the hell was the Divide about if not some kind of divine intervention? Faust didn't know. How were Partisans even made if we weren't blessed by the Six or whatnot? Faust didn't bloody know. She went so far as to say the Six had gone ahead and erased our entire history, re-wrote it with whatever the fuck they wanted. It was completely bonkers, and it was something I might've come up with myself.

Point is: I believed her.

'Course, I still didn't bloody trust her. Even if Gus did.

But all in all: not a bad day. We didn't die. We got some answers. Found out what Gus was up to. Confirmed some allies within the Assembly—maybe. And at the end of it all, Councilwoman Faust made sure we had everything we needed to get back into Leberecht, promised to deliver Marta's letter to her family, and made arrangements so we could leave with our friend.

Aye, the whole crew was finally back together again—almost.

Too bad Michael still didn't know he was part of one.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.