"Effie, time is up. Just tell your sweet little Dumpling you're going to go for some time."
"He still doesn't understand such things."
"Go, please. You won't be even that far."
During all these years Jet had seen many families of Awakened, many weren't Legacy nor even Clans, but no family was this bizarre.
Awakened mostly wanted to keep their children safe, which resulted in making their environment tender, but mildly harsh. There were many reasons for such things, but seemingly such rationality didn't apply here.
Which was part of the reason she likes Effie. She is kind of warm, everyone could be jealous.
They left the little world of the Iron Locket, and appeared outside in a hut standing in Bastion. Outside there was already Cor waiting for them.
"I would like to have you sooner, but it's not like rushing things will help us against that thing."
"We get it. We just have to kill it before it will reach our forts, right? Otherwise people will die."
"You say it if that was simple. If we had the luxury of underestimating things, humanity would be long dead."
"Oh we don't dare to underestimate it. I was rather about to ask if you suspect it might be tasty if I bake it."
"What?"
"I mean it would be a real waste if we were about to eat it raw. If it has flesh similar enough to fish, bird, or a mammal, that will make for a great delicacy. Great creatures tend to taste really good."
"I will be happy with you to enjoy your meal, even while you're eating it, not me, but I still want it to be dead. For me it looks a bit like a zebra."
"Zebra?"
"It's something like a horse, but it has black, and white stripes. Like a croswalking"
Effie was dumbfounded.
"What's crosswalking?"
"It's a thing from before Dark Times. People used to walk through the roads that were dominated by heavy vehicles…"
Great, a horse. That signified that the battle is going to be a hard one. She saw a horse a few times. Given that it was one horse. What a dangerous creature. Yet somehow she couldn't recall the owner.
"Then even better. For a long time I wondered what a horse can taste like."
Effie was agitated by the information as well. Could that be because they remember the same horse?
Regardless of the answer it was obvious they would have to figure out the powers of the Zebra along the way. Cor thanks to his transformation ability was able to pinpoint, and even test the zebra in question, but such things are rarely enough to figure out what's going on.
They would have more information in advance if Cassie could mark him, but that was out of question. Saint Cor, despite having the same affiliation as Jet, wasn't someone she could trust him enough to introduce into the plot. That was ironic. Wasn't she going against the Clans? If anything, Cor should be enthusiastic about the idea of taking down one of the factions. Instead Jet had in mind the picture of Cor commanding her to back off, threatening it's going to be the fall of the world order, which also would be true.
But when the world order is going to die anyway, clinging to hope is nothing but naivety, naivety that has to be broken. The point is: How do you break the conviction of a Saint? Could she persuade Cor to take the risk in the crucial moments?
'No, it's impossible. Without the ability to protect people in the Dream Realm Cor will definitely side with one of the Sovereigns. The only way to convince him is to become a Sovereign first.'
That doesn't make him a lost cause, it's not that bad, but he cannot be an ally. The point then is which one Sovereign they should side with. Ki or Anvil? By siding with one of them they could bring Cor, Thane, and all Government forces to act. Five Saints won't hold against twenty of them or more, but they could tip the scales in favor of one.
With Saint Cor they arrived in Antarctica, where Kai was waiting for them already in his dragon form. After quick greetings they climbed Kai, and soared into the sky. While flying Jet decided to engage Cor with a conversation.
"Cor?"
"Yes?"
"What do you think about Nephis?"
"That's something for me to ask for. You spent far more time with her than me. If it's me, I think about her the same thing as of all those clans. She contributes to the survival of humanity, and she's certainly better than most of us, but she's reckless."
"Reckless?"
"She contributed to that damned war too. Not that I can condemn her. Her situation before her first Nightmare was tough already. There were signs the clans wanted her dead. Then she got trapped somewhere beyond Hollow Mountains, which is even worse. She saved some people, and decided to be alone. Now as a member of Valor, at least half of the clans don't want her dead so it's a progress. And the war was probably the way for her to live so she's got a point from me for self-preservation. But what kind of person is that? I would say that it is noble, a bit reasonable, helpful, even calculative, but also reckless, and paradoxically sacrificial. She looks like a flashy hero, which for me is not exactly a positive thing, that's to you Effie. I would like her to remain a hero, but to want her in power? No, and happily that will never happen. As a hero she's great. And while she has no power at least we won't have to suffer from her naivety."
'Lost cause then… or maybe."
Effie didn't tell anything. She recently understood that her new responsibility require changing her ways. It's only unnerving that she started reading philosophy. Contrast between her new ideals, and her personality tends to turn comically. One moment all she thinks is how nice a crosswalking might taste, which for any reasonable person might be only awful. Who likes the taste of asphalt anyway? It's even worse than synthpaste. The next moment she seriously considers the idea that soul is immortal, and matter doesn't exist as substance, but not the way modern science considers substance, but some sense used more than four hundred years ago… Jet could tell she's getting worried about Effie.
"I want to direct media towards Nephis' feats."
"We do that already."
"I want them to utilize that a little more. Sovereigns are a nice topic, but soon the public will see we're rebaking the same feats that are very overwhelming, but they're the same, because Sovereigns are mostly sitting somewhere in their chambers."
"And her feats?"
"Please. For the sake of humanity she killed more Greats than the three combined. And she will get only scarier. And sacrificing even more maybe."
"Fine. Since when are you so interested in our informational politics?"
"Since we could trade that for some assistance from Lady Cassia without compromising our goals. She has some ability to figure out the creatures while seeing them through the eyes of other people."
"You know we can't sell ourselves to Valor. Even if the offer is tempting, if we get pulled into Valor, the Government is finished."
Jet shook her head.
"It seems that the stigma of an outsider still follows her even when adopted by Anvil himself. If they find out she made such a deal, she's going to be punished for that. But if the agreement is not written, and we all can deny doing such a thing, then there's practically no risk."
"*sigh* Kai will make sure she's not lying, and she's not considering setting us up, okay? If she will turn us to Valor, then we lost."
"Thanks. I will contact Cassie soon. We have to meet her in person. By the way, you should remember to not look her directly into her eyes..."
"Why?"
"Because then for a moment she can do more than just borrow your vision, and analyze your attributes . I wouldn't like you to wonder if she messed with you."
"I keep that in mind, but tell me one thing. For how long have you been using her services?"
Jet didn't even flinch.
"Probably ever since we met in the Third Nightmare or a bit before when we were together at the desert. She marked me, and now she has access to that mark, by my guess. Though there seem to be limitations to her ability to maintain the marks. While the mark is bound to the marked target, and has to be in the target's vicinity to put the mark, her access seems to be related to the sensual impression of the target in her mind. But well… who knows? It's not like she's going around bragging about her powers. She might have different ways of knowing about things."
What she said doesn't exceed what is known to the Clans by much. Except the nature of the mark. That was Jet's idea based on the latest issues concerning gaps in memories. If it's about anything else Cassie's ability to remember things is perfect. What's the point of being Song of Fallen, the witness to all falls, without the ability to tell what you witnessed? So if they're sure there's someone who she doesn't remember, it's already something extraordinary, even if assuming that Cassie's ordinary. And if that something is forgotten, and was probably marked in the past, and yet Cassie can't see that thing, then likely her ability to remember, and ability to access the senses of other people are connected.
It would be hard to convince Cor without telling him anything. They all discussed their strategy. Basically nothing special. Their first idea was to use Effie's strength to deal some minor damage to the zebra with the intention to accumulate telekinetic energy in her spear, and use its enchantments to deal some gruesome wounds, but in the end they preferred to have the thing slayed by Jet, because conveniently she was the only one that could still grow stronger by killing her enemies, and could target soul directly. Kai, and Cor, they would serve as a distraction.
With their force, bringing down zebra might be very possible, though even that will be quite a feat among Saints. Soon they reached the target. With mobility offered by Kai's dragon form the flight took them only some minutes. The target was already in sight, and that was not to say it was Kay's sight, because he could see much further.
'So… how to put it for you? Zebra is quite literally a thing from before dark times. People were using white paint to mark places where people can sometimes walk. Usually doing so would put you at risk of being hit by a car.'
Cassie started explaining.
'Car?'
"I don't have time to explain what that is. It's just a heavy using to ride on more or less even surfaces… like I said, never mind. You need to know that your enemies powers are related to motorization. It can move fast, though it can't fly…'
Finally the zebra appeared in sight. It was a golem made of the dark substance resembling the old abandoned roads. The skin, the fur, whatever it was, was full of thick white stripes. As The nostrils were extruding a visible smoke. The eyes… not worth mentioning. They looked hellish on their own, but she didn't have time appreciate them, because they were coming very fast their way with some primitive means of transport literally flying their way already.
Kai made a strong, tugging maneuver just to barely a chunk of rusty metal.
'If that thing hit them, Kai would probably end up severely wounded.
Effie jumped off, and summoned her half-liquid supreme armor paired with a special green tunic, while Cor transformed himself into a horde of crows, and started his efforts to attack from a close distance, and provide a little diversion, though that didn't have much potential to inflict damage.
Effie fell faster and faster until she escaped the conventional notion of the mass of a Saint. Someone of her stature shouldn't fall so fast. If she wasn't an awakened, she would definitely die of air friction alone. The rate of descent couldn't be attributed to her powers alone. Her green tunic was another gift from Sunny. Its main feature was to increase the weight of the wielder.
Then on top of that she used her transformation ability, turning herself into an enormous giant, all while retaining her great speed, threatening to hit the earth like a mini meteorite. All while pointing her Supreme spear to earth.
Zebra was already sidestepping, making Effie initial move miss the target. But the earth was greatly shaken. The earthshake caused the zebra to momentarily lose balance, but so out of balance was Effie.
Kai summoned his bow, and cleaned his mind, staring at monstrosity. The battle was about to rage, and for a moment a picture appeared in his mind.
'Would Effie ride on the back of this thing?'
For moment the thought was even sliding into mind of Jet.
"FORGET UNNECESSARY THING. DON'T EVEN DARE TO LOSE YOUR FOCUS."
Kai commanded everyone, but probably mostly to himself.