“Wait, I hear someone coming.” Krystal led Alex along, slinking through the tall grasses. She prepared a spell in her hand in case this was bad news.
Alex checked his mp meter. “I’m not detecting any spikes nearby. Just an enormous one in the distance.”
They had ditched the jeep to scout the area on foot. There had been several more tremors, and that was making it hard to drive. The further they scouted, the more the mp meter was pinging something big ahead of them.
She let the spell dissolve as she whispered, “Probably just travelers or herders. Come on, lets...”
Someone shoved a gun in her face and five more aimed at her. She vanished and reappeared to the side of the group of fighters. She swiftly swiped her hand, throwing their guns to the ground. Alex popped up out of the grasses and spoke a word of magic that sent the front man slamming backward through the others.
A young man grabbed up his rifle and pointed it at Krystal. “Where is my sister?” He yelled in Swahili.
Krystal twisted her hand in the air and the top half of his rifle tied itself in a knot. “Don’t be an idiot. This is a fight you can’t win.”
By now, the other men had retrieved their weapons as well, but were too afraid of trying to use them. An older man with white hair spoke with a softer, more pleading voice. “Please, our children, our families. Where are they?”
Alex walked over to Krystal and said to the man, “We don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You have powers. You must be with the tyrant. Tell us, please.”
Krystal pulled out her BADGE insignia as did Alex. “We are not with anyone here. Our superiors sent us to this area for another investigation. We’re not your enemy. If someone has kidnapped your people, it is not us. And, BADGE will send help.”
“BADGE does not know.” The young man with the twisted rifle spit these words out.
Alex asked, “What do you mean?”
The elder answered, “The tyrant, a man calling himself Antaeus, has a horrible witch working with him. She controls minds with unnatural powers, like yours. The witch uses her unnatural powers to brainwash any authorities who try to get close. We would not come near here if they did not have our families trapped in her spell.”
A woman said, “They make them worship Antaeus as some kind of stone god.”
Alex said, “Looks like Nova was right to be worried about potential problems. A morphon infused person is setting himself as a god.”
Krystal said, “Not on my watch. A witch, you say. Well, I think I can handle that.”
Alex put a hand on her arm. “You aren’t going to go into this alone and fight this battle?”
“No, I have you.” The look on his face was enough protest for her to say, “Look. It’s two morphon people who probably hardly know how to use their powers. I’ve been dealing with false magic for centuries. I can handle some local morphon infused witch.”
Alex said, “Fine. First, we scout and get info. If it doesn’t look that simple, we won’t intervene yet. We will contact BADGE and let them send in a league.”
“Agreed.”
The old man had a smile as he said, “You mean to aid us?”
“Yes. Show us where this witch and god are.”
***
“Where did you learn to dance like that?” Adrianne asked.
Arx said, “It’s a long story.”
“I’d love to hear it.”
He reached down and took her hand. “It is a story I don’t know if I’m ready to tell you.”
“Oh? Whatever the story, you are an excellent dancer.”
“So are you.”
Adrianne held his hand as they walked. “I wanted to be a beauty queen when I was younger. Started on the path to Ms. America once. My talent was going to be dancing. I trained and worked for months. But, at my first show, I lost. I promised my dad if I lost, I would reconsider college. So, now I’m near the end of a doctorate. But I still remember a few things.”
“I’m surprised you lost.” He casually said.
She laughed, “That was corny. But... I like it.”
Arx started to speak, but then refrained and simply walked with her.
“Are you worried about something?” She asked.
“Why would you say that?”
She said, “You have almost said something five times now. There’s something you’re struggling with, and I think it has to do with me.”
Arx didn’t answer right away. He walked with her over to a bench on the edge of the central open area. He sat down with her and collected his thoughts. “You have brought something out in me I thought I lost.”
“What is that?”
“The desire to be with someone. To know them, care about them, want to be around them all the time.”
She said, “I wasn’t sure either. I liked you from the moment I met you. You’re nice to look at and I thought maybe I was just enjoying the view. Yet, there was something more.”
“We might just be both feeling a spring flirtation.”
Now she looked worried. “Maybe there is something deeper. But I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Arx said, “I want to at least try. But I can’t even hope you will want to be with me if I am not open and honest about myself.”
“What?”
“I’m Arx.” He said this as if that was profound.
“I know.”
“No, not just the leader of ATLAS. I’m the former celebrity, Arx. The one who went crazy with power and ultimately caused a lot of death and destruction.”
“You can’t be him. He died.”
Arx’s head hung lower. “That’s what the world believes. And I should have died. My own morphonic powers give me a strong invulnerability and mildly heightened strength. I added artificial powers to that through some illegal procedures. Combined, I was strong enough to survive what should have killed me.”
“I thought Arx was silver. Or, am I mistaken?”
“I was. Part of the artificial enhancements to make me look better. I was an idiot. To defeat the people who used me as a puppet in their evil plans, I let BADGE do a procedure on me that tore out my memories and the artificial powers. My actual powers saved me from death during that procedure. I woke not remembering much of my life for the past ten years. No memories about being a celebrity or a villain. Now, I only have flashes of my life during that time. The ability to dance, that was buried in the former Arx and I somehow recalled it.”
“Oh, I... I didn’t know.” She grew more depressed as he spoke.
Arx said, “I’m not that man. I’m no murderer. My life is now devoted to protecting people. Even if the world thinks Arx is dead, I’ll make amends for my atrocities. I promise.”
She stood up. “I don’t know what to say. You trust me enough to admit this. I... I can’t... “ She left, but he took her hand.
“Please, don’t run away from me. Don’t be afraid of me. I live in fear that the world will find out, that people will hate me. Not since I woke from the procedure have I allowed myself the luxury of romance. Until I met you, I didn’t think I was worth it anymore. Now, I want to try. I want to believe there could be something there.” He stood and held her gently by the shoulders. “Give me a chance, please.”
Adrianne wept. “I... “ She ran away from him, tears flying from her eyes as she left the arboretum.
Arx was broken inside. His fear had come real. He reached out with his heart and told the truth, but his past was a poison that would forever taint his present. He sunk back down onto the bench and put his face into his hands and felt tears falling through his fingers.
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