Paramythi I: City of Glass
Chapter Twenty-Three: Hide and Seek

Psykhe had darted for the safety behind the church chairs lining the aisle before the battle of elemental magick could begin.

She and Elias had often read up on various species during their training and the Guardians had always stood out as a specifically interesting type of race. They were nicknamed ‘Faeries’ for their large, glowing wings which remained hidden in their backs. Within Hera’s kingdom, a Guardian would have no need to hide such features and often flaunted them for the sake of dominance and their proud status as a Guardian among Hera’s ranks.

Guardians were loyal creatures, capable of manipulating elements such as fire, water, air, earth and metal. Their existence was to solely protect the lands of Hera upon its establishment within Galaxis. The Queen of Hera was a vain woman and paid only little amounts of attention towards her Guardians, yet would often lose track of how many protected her lands after they would breed or simply be killed off. Little mattered to Hera’s Queen, hence why so many Guardians had begun to dispatch themselves from Hera’s land and drift their own ways.

Most would perhaps consider Guardians to be the perfect servant and loyal companion to have by their side. Psykhe had no doubt that such a thought must have been running through her brother’s mind when he chose to take Karnya as his butler. Alas, at the time of the man’s employment, Psykhe had only been young and had not paid much attention to any relations involving her brother, unless it was required.

Psykhe had only wished she would have stuck her nose in Merine’s business, given the current circumstances. There could have been a way to prevent her present situation if she had been informed of her brother’s wicked schemes sooner.

Pushing the thoughts aside, Psykhe grit her teeth together and hunched her shoulders, huddling behind the church’s long benches and swiftly began moving away from the havoc. Her leg throbbed, red droplets spilling over the pale exposure of her skin between the hem of her shorts and the top of her stockings. She was reluctant to tend to the injury until she was safe and out of Karnya’s sight.

Fire and ice roared against one another, clashing in the form of fury between the Guardians facing off. Orange and blue flickers of light streamed forth, spouting long shadows over the walls of the church and illuminating the fight with a devilish horror Psykhe would rather forget. She came to a short stop, hiding between one of the church’s benches and the solid wall. Her back shivered against the cold surface of stone and she sighed, trying to hold back a heavy whimper as she examined her bloody leg.

Another roar of fire spouted from Karnya’s behalf and Psykhe was reminded of what little time she had to tend to herself before rendezvousing with Enzo somehow. She inhaled deeply once more and latched her fingers around her sleeve, ripping the white fabric of her sleeves to expose pale, freckled skin beneath. She tore at the entire length of her right sleeve and used it to tie around her leg, wrapping it twice around her bloody thigh and tying it together as many times as she could before running out of fabric. It would have to do for now.

“Psykhe,”

A stinging sensation rippled, echoing in Psykhe’s ears. She winced, eyes squeezing together in surprise and discomfort at the sound of such a familiar voice in an unfamiliar tone. She knew it was Damara and was more than thankful to hear her, despite the disturbing method of receiving her attempts at making contact. Ferals were built to commune telepathically. Psykhe had read somewhere that Ferals’ original homeland did not involve verbal communication since they could all communicate with their thoughts alone.

Putting her thoughts to work, Psykhe replied to Damara with her mind as she crouched down and moved, dragging her injured leg behind her as she made for the front doors of the church to regroup. Enzo vaguely crossed her mind and she turned her head, searching for the man in the dimness of the church, guessing he would have taken to replaceing protection in the shadows like she had instead of exploiting his position in the light of Tovi and Karnya’s elemental fight.

“Do not worry about Enzo. He is well and conscious. I can hear his current thoughts as we commune,” Damara’s echoing voice fluttered through Psykhe’s head once again. “You must turn back, however. I can sense Alexis’ thoughts nearby. It seems she’s hiding. Perhaps there is a back room? I think she is with Ares.”

“Is Ares alive?” Psykhe blurted. She paused, freezing at her own ignorance to the situation and held her breath as if it would somehow encourage the possibility of lessening the likelihood of being caught in the act by Karnya.

Damara’s voice did not reach Psykhe for a matter of seconds. It seemed that, she too, had been waiting to see if the gig was up. “You know, you should really take care to read the atmosphere. But as for your question, I cannot be sure. I sense his heartbeat, so I do believe he is alive. Yet I cannot be sure if he will stay that way for long. You must hurry and replace Alexis. I am having difficulties of my own here.”

Psykhe swallowed dryly and shifted, forcing herself to turn around in the cramped space she had to herself. “I’ll look for a back room, don’t worry. But, when you say you’re having difficulties, what do you mean? Is it Capitol? Have they sent troops? Oh, please don’t tell me my brother has more Guardians under his spell…” Her knees rubbed against the cold stone beneath and she left small marks from the sweaty surface of her palms as she crawled.

“None of the above,” Damara replied. There was a pause and Psykhe wondered if she had somehow lost connection with Damara’s thoughts, having moved so far from the church’s entrance. Damara soon spoke once more, carrying a lilt of darkened fact, “I’m afraid Neoma is having difficulties restraining herself from coming inside the church with Tovi at such a disadvantage. According to her, Tovi has not activated his powers since he and Ares came to the Rebellion, as a way of keeping Ares from replaceing out about his true nature. Neoma is concerned about the odds of a one-to-one with this other Guardian.”

Psykhe resisted the urge to think of something positive and came to the front of church benches, heart fluttering madly in her chest. Karnya was not far out of reach to her right and Calix hung like a doll only a few feet above her. Forcing herself to think of only blank pages, the woman sprinted forth and ducked towards the space behind the statue and out of sight from both Guardians.

“You know of Tovi’s origin? Does that mean you know of Ares?”

A pause. “Psykhe, I am capable of reading and feeling almost everyone’s mind within the Rebellion. While Tovi has been very guarded over the years, he has made slip ups on his thoughts. But it is not my place to pass on such information; especially when I am not involved.”

Psykhe inhaled and refocused her attention to the destruction in the church. “Tell Neoma to be ready in case of medical requirements, but make sure she does not enter the church until then. We need to keep this as clean as possible. Karnya cannot know how many people we have to back us up.” Psykhe pulled herself up and she raised her head, locking her sights upon the wooden door across from her. “I’ll replace Alexis and Ares. Make your way around to the back of the church. We can regroup there. You should try and get in contact with Enzo to meet you outside. We can take Karnya by surprise while Tovi has him distracted.”

“A simple instruction. I like it,” Damara hummed, akin to amusement. “I’ll leave Alexis to you, for now. Good luck.”

Psykhe released a heavy sigh. She could feel Damara break their connection by the shiver that rattled down her spine. Only then did she allow herself to think about the possibility of failure. But not for long. Pushing forth, Psykhe dashed towards the back door and swiftly turned the handle to step inside.

A fire was shot, and in its wake was a zip-wire which dug itself into the wood of the doorframe to Psykhe’s left, inches from her cheek. Stunned, she was unable to grasp what had happened until Alexis was by her side, pulling her further into the room and tugging her zip-wire free from the embedded mark in the wood.

“Psykhe, I am so relieved to see you.” Alexis sighed, guiding Psykhe towards the back of the room where Reidonn was kneeling on the floor with an unconscious Ares laying upon the wooden floor. “Everything happened so fast, we were unable to contact you. How did you know to come here?”

Psykhe collected herself and stared down, glancing over Ares undamaged body with relief. “Thank the Gods he’s alright,” she murmured. “Tovi was terrified something had happened. We had seen the church from the base after the chairwoman received static on her MDU and Reidonn’s plea for back-up came through. But when we landed and the church erupted with this horrible light, Tovi recognised the light’s essence and thought Ares had awoken.”

“Awoken?” Alexis repeated. Her brow was raised, lips tilting upward in a nervous smile. “What do you mean, Psykhe?”

Psykhe meet Reidonn’s face. The older woman’s dark eyes would not meet her.

Alexis noticed Psykhe’s flickering eyes and she turned away, following her gaze to Reidonn. “Ma’am, what does she mean?” When no answer came, Alexis scoffed and stepped around Ares shivering body to kneel and face Reidonn. “If there is something you have been keeping from me, I believe now would be the time to tell me. I refuse to die here without knowing what is happening!”

Reidonn’s jaw had tensed, yet her eyes remained fixed elsewhere from Psykhe and Alexis’ faces. She raised her brows and parted her lips, tone heavy as she spoke, “Tovi didn’t want his brother to know where they came from. He figured the longer their identity was kept in the dark, the more likely they would be safe here in Emvolo. Which is true, considering Capitol’s shitty excuse for foreigners in the city’s walls.”

Alexis’ face had paled. Her expression unravelled to something unreadable and she sat back, hands dropping with defeat. “Where did they come from? Who are they?”

Reidonn finally shifted her eyes, only to look up at Psykhe. “That man out there, he was already waiting in the dark when we got here. He made some grand speech about your brother’s legacy and was downright fanboying for him all the while. Ares got pissed and tried to swing a fist, but Calix stopped him. After that, Ares went down and I needed to get him somewhere safe, in case he had been harmed in some way. Alexis helped me carry him to the back of the church and Calix stayed behind to keep the enemy occupied. When everything went quiet, I expected Calix to come walking through that door, but all we heard was that fucking butler cackle and then Ares started…glowing. I knew what was happening, it’s how they, I mean…his species, it’s how they wake. I’ve seen it happen before to a good friend.”

Psykhe was unaware she was crying until a tear hit her hand. Sniffling, she lowered her head without knowing the reason behind her weakened state and nodded slowly, desperately avoiding Alexis’ face when Reidonn stood up.

“We had to keep it secret, Iphigenia.” Said Reidonn. “But now that it’s come to this, it is no longer my place to hide it from you and there’s no other way to say it, but Tovi and Ares Thrax are Guardians. Tovi escaped from Hera’s lands when Ares was very young and have lived in Emvolo ever since, fooling the people that they were human.”

Alexis choked on a small laugh, tears visible in her eyes. “Right, and now Ares has awoken. How exactly would Tovi have pulled that off? Ares would have figured it out sooner or later…” She forced a smile from the tears rolling down her cheeks and leant forward on her knees, hands clutching onto Ares’ limp wrist. “It’s not like being a Guardian is any different from being a Feral or Meister. He is no different than Damara or Calix, in my eyes.”

Reidonn’s chest rose and she took a step forward, hand outstretched for Alexis’ shoulder. She would have offered her some kind of reassurance or comfort if not for the sudden intrusion of Damara and Neoma appearing from the back of the room, drenched in rain and faces full of mixed emotions.

Damara spoke first, eyes full of surprise. “I’m sorry, Alexis. All of your thoughts are...aching.” She whispered, throat tensing with every word. Her hand found Alexis’ shoulder and she swallowed, eyes glassy. “It was not my place to inform you.”

Reidonn sighed heavily and looked at Neoma.

Neoma was shivering, rain drops falling from the ends of her blue hair and her hands were shaking. Alas, she was able to clear her throat and kneel to the floor to tend to Ares thoroughly, searching for any signs of pain or discomfort. “Not every Guardian will awake. Tovi knew this and could only do what he thought was right for his family. It was not our place to say anything, even if some of us did have our doubts.” She said with an uneven tone.

Alexis had turned back to Psykhe by now and had risen to her feet. She approached the blonde, hand clutching her exposed elbow with a rougher grasp than intended. “You knew? Even when we spent all night talking about everything? You kept that from me? Did you think I was some kind of fool?”

Psykhe shook her head and tugged her arm free. “I didn’t know! Not until after you had left for the church. I mean, I always suspected that Tovi was a part of Hera’s kin, but it was never confirmed until Enzo spoke with me about it. I had no clue it would house such a problem! The Rebellion is about cutting discrimination on different races, after all.”

“Indeed it is,” Alexis squinted her eyes and raised her chin. “It is also about being honest with the people you care for.”

Psykhe parted her lips, intent on speaking when a sharp gasp came from Neoma. Everyone turned their attention on the scuffle taking place and Psykhe froze, watching as Ares’ hand grabbed Neoma’s throat. He tossed her against the nearest wall with ease and jumped to his feet, sweat forming on his brow and eyes glowing a deep gold colour.

Alexis moved first, her wire-guns posed towards Ares’ head.

Ares sensed the weapon being aimed towards him and he sprinted, speed twice as fast as it had been before. His elbow wedged itself into Alexis’ stomach, knocking her backwards. Her gun slipped from her grasp and Ares jumped, eager to finish the woman off; yet was cut short when the sharp edge of Psykhe’s scythe came between him and Alexis’ defenceless state.

Ares tipped his head up, neck flushed against the blade but not enough to draw blood. He grinned, eyes wild as they met Psykhe’s serious gaze. Their positions were held for what felt like an eternity before Ares spoke, cruel and low; “Don’t even try it.”