Chương 135: 48 - CALM BEFORE THE STORM

After about two weeks from Zero Day, it was time to wrap up and gather the crew to head out. T'balt had no clue what was going to be waiting for him this time out, but this time the mission was different. They weren't just trying to find Graceland anymore. They were trying to save it. He needed everyone to know what they were up against, so he gathered them in the parking lot.

"There's a city out there that's full of people that need our help. I made a promise that I'd protect them from the war that's coming to them. I need to do over there the same thing that I needed to do here. But though I am a Redeemer, I'm just one man. But I know for a fact that I can rely on you guys. That's why you're always the ones I bring with me, Cannon, Acelin, Ellie. You 3 always come with me, and I barely even have to ask. But this time… I think this time is gonna be harder than usual.

The people you are now haven't been in the fights that I know you're capable of winning. But each of you has the ability to save lives. I need people like that. So I'm asking you, will you come with me?" He was never this direct in asking them to leave everything they had built. Usually, by the time they heard what he was up to, they naturally followed him as if it were their calling. But he wanted them to know that this time he might be asking a lot of them. More than any one of them might be able to give.

But that didn't seem to bother them too much. Ellie was the only one who seemed to give it a second thought. That was just her cautious personality. Ironically enough, it was usually her belief in God that told her she was bound to more than this church. This time she said, "That's okay. I believe in you." The other two were only worried that the car wasn't big enough to fit 6 people. That was something he had forgotten to consider. They had two extra party members this time out. Tyene and Vienna.

And the usual convertible was nowhere big enough.

"I'm not sitting on anybody's lap," Acelin said, sensing T'balt's train of thought before he even said anything.

"I guess you are a little too old for that." T'balt turned to Ellie.

"Does anyone in the church have a bigger ride?"

"One that they're willing to give us? I'd have to see."

"It's fine," Tyene interrupted, emerging from the church late for their meeting.

"I got it covered." A large black SUV made its way through an opening in the Earth wall surrounding them. It honked its horn a few times before pulling up right behind them. Cannon immediately started to salivate.

"Is that a Corlander SUV? I've never seen that model before. Is it new?" He looked up to see Vienna in the driver's seat, and T'balt could see the infatuation growing on his face.

"Yeah," Tyene answered.

"If my stepfather was ever good for one thing, it's a comfortable ride. This one was my personal favorite. I had Vienna fetch it from a dealership nearby. They weren't set to be sold until the spring." Cannon made the strangest anxious face, switching his glances between T'balt and the car. It was like he was kid seeing a shiny toy in a window but wasn't sure if he was allowed to ask for it. T'balt sighed and asked for him.

"Cannon usually is the one who drives us around. Do you mind?" Tyene gestured at Vienna.

"Give him the keys, will you." The woman hesitated, seeing the overeager way Cannon was looking at her, but ultimately did what she was told. Cannon started hovering all around the thing until Vienna got out the car so he could take her place. When he sat down in the front seat and closed the door, he immediately rolled down the window.

"T'balt! The seats are heated!" T'balt shrugged seeing Tyene chuckle.

"He can get pretty excitable. And he's a big fan."

"I'm familiar with the guy. I was the one who wrote the ad he did for us. So… you ready to go?" He nodded, and everyone loaded up in the car. Moments later they were out on the road to Graceland. Acelin and Vienna sat in the middle two rows, the former kicking his bat with his feet and the latter keeping a sharp eye on the front where Tyene was busy boasting the car's features to Cannon as he drove.

"It's got a self-driving feature, too. As well as built-in music that doesn't rely on internet or radio."

"You mean, we can actually listen to music?" Cannon asked. Tyene nodded gladly.

"You might be the greatest saleswoman I ever met."

"To be fair, you're not a hard sell." Cannon pressed a few buttons on the car's touch screen, and it was filled with some pleasant jazz music. T'balt didn't realize how long it had been since he had listened to music. It was one of those things that he didn't miss until he remembered it was gone.

"What are you so smiley for?" Ellie asked. He and Ellie sat in the third row back by the trunk.

"Am I?" T'balt didn't even realize he was smiling but caught his own grin in the reflection of the window.

"I don't know. There's just something about this iteration that feels right. Despite where we're going, I feel more at ease than I have in a long time." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Why's that?" He shrugged, wanting to just lean back and let the music relax him. He knew that as soon as they got to Graceland, any semblance of peace was gonna be out the window. There was gonna be a lot to deal with. He hadn't heard from Monan at all, so at least that headache was gone. It was just a matter of dealing with Corlander and Uriel. The Collector and the Bestower. He was gonna have to protect Uriel's people for him even if that meant directly acting against him. But he was determined.

"I'm not gonna be like you. I'm not gonna give up on everyone." Maybe that's why he felt so at ease. He was just realizing that after all these lives, everyone in the car still meant something special to him. And he couldn't imagine the world where that went away. He didn't want to live in that world. He gently put his hands on Ellie's, and she smiled at him. This was one of the ones he was able to express his feelings for her, and she could reciprocate with nothing getting in between them.

It was still too weird at this point for him to say he missed her last life, but it was true. He always felt better when he was allowed to hold her and tease and be comforted by her.

"Yeah. This time, everything feels right." He smiled back. When they arrived outside Graceland, T'balt threw a rock at the strange stop sign in the water waiting for the fish man to show up.

"Here's to seeing if Uriel is good to his word." There was always a chance that the man had changed his mind about allowing them free rein in Graceland. He'd yet to have a good read on his personality to know if he was going to be petty about the arguments they had before. But the fishman eventually plopped up out of the water.

"Hey, I never seen you guys before," he said. T'balt told his name and that he was a Redeemer. Then watched him process for a few moments before saying, "Oh right. You guys are special. Come on then." He pushed the water away, revealing the underwater bridge to Graceland.

"Huh," Tyene said.

"I usually have to have Vienna torture him until he agrees to take us across." The fish man twisted his face when he heard her say that, not having any clue what they were talking about.

"So Uriel really is the real deal," she added as they started walking.

"Yeah. It's amazing that you've spent so much time here and never knew."

"Well, last time was the first time I was there when Corlander sacked the place. So I didn't get to just see him die like you did. I suspected, sure. But Vienna usually told me to stay out of the way of other Redeemers, and I tended to agree."

"So what made me different?" he asked.

"At first, I wanted to make sure Vienna didn't piss you off when she kidnapped you from the police. I didn't want to deal with a Redeemer hunting me down every life. But then I realized you were the runt of the group and basically had the mind of a little kid," she teased. He scoffed, realizing she wasn't going to drop the thing about him being so young.

"Says the one who nicknamed me T'bag." They shared a laugh until Ellie suddenly forced her way between them. Without saying anything, she grabbed T'balt by the hand, walking shoulder to shoulder with him. He could feel his hand cramping the way she squeezed it.

"Uhh. Ellie. Is everything alright?"

"Perfectly fine. Why?" She shot Tyene a glance out the corner of her eye and immediately looked away when she saw Tyene looking back. Tyene raised an eyebrow before shrugging it off. Ellie held hands with T'balt, basically pushing herself up against him the rest of the way across the bridge. The fishman took them straight to the front entrance and jumped back in the water. Though when they walked through it, it wasn't the same scene as last life. The front gate was vacant. No guards. No screening people.

No one to even ask their names or what they were doing there.

"I thought you said this place was full of people. Where is everyone?" Acelin asked.

"That's a good question." T'balt wondered. All the white stone buildings and infrastructure were built. It just looked like a ghost town where they were usually decently defended. He suddenly got a bad feeling in his gut.

"Something's wrong here." They made their way further into the city. The place looked cleaner than before, like it was freshly built and cleaned on a daily basis. Which was better than the slums T'balt had experienced when he first got here. Still no people. T'balt took a moment to equip the hypersensitivity loot. Now that he was in possession of the Loot Thief, he could be less cautious about equipping loots to solve minor problems.

He could pop one in and take it out at will, which was likely going to be invaluable. He scanned the area.

"It looks like everyone is gathered in the middle of town… underneath Uriel's statue."

"What does that mean?" Tyene asked.

"Only one way to find out." There were hundreds of people in a crowded circle around the statue. All of them chatting amongst themselves, staring at the top of the thing. T'balt felt like he had experienced a scene like this before. It was when Monan had killed Ellie at the church. But Ellie was here and gasping.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Look." She pointed at the top of the statue. It was built the same, showing Uriel's face and long hair. It was dressed in long ceremonial robes as he held an open book in his hand. The problem was that the real Uriel was up there too. He was shirtless, beaten, bruised, and bloody. He was hung from the statue by his arms from a chain around the statue's neck. It looked like he was the bloody pendant of the statue's necklace.

It was a horrifying sight, and no one, including all the Gracelandians, seemed to know what to make of it.

"Is he dead?" Cannon asked.

"Can't be," said Tyene.

"Right, T'balt?"

"Right… but what the hell happened to him?" he answered. He heard someone in the crowd gasp.

"There, that's the man who did it." T'balt found them and followed their pointed finger. There was another man up there sitting on the head of the statue looking down on them all. T'balt could've sworn there was no one there a second ago. But they were so high up that he couldn't make out who they were. The man grinned when he saw them. And there was a thunderous boom when he suddenly teleported to the ground. His sudden appearance caused half the crowd to fall over or disperse.

"Hey, T. Welcome back!" Monan announced. He was shirtless with a stack of expensive-looking chains hanging from his neck, holding his arms out showing off the tribal tattoos. He made an expression like he was excited to show off this new cult leader-looking character of his.

"And you even brought the gingerbread bird with you." Tyene folded her arms, scowling.

"Monan." Monan rubbed his beard.

"I'm guessing the rescue mission didn't play out too well, huh?" He patted T'balt's shoulder.

"Yeah. I probably should've come with you, but damn… here's the thing. I didn't feel like it. That's my bad." T'balt was still staring up at Uriel's body.

"Monan. What did you do?" The man flashed his slimy smile.

"As you can see, Graceland is temporarily under new management." He raised up his arms like an eccentric millionaire showing off their new mansion.

"Welcome to Monanland."