Chương 143: 56 - SING ME A SWAN SONG

The voice of Lila Bloom carried through the city streets like a sweet aroma. As she said, she had continued to come to the Bestower statue every day and sing her songs for Uriel and the Redeemers. It had become an event. The Gracelandians began treating it as a daily show. They'd bring their families, picnic in the square, and listen just as a means to pass the time. Lila basked in the attention, filled with pride whenever one of her songs brought a smile to someone's face.

She'd tell the children that's why she started singing in the first place: to make sad people happy again. Whenever she finished, she would look up and wonder if today was the day that it would work on the hanged man. Uriel held his eyes closed, locked his own neck in statue form. His body was degrading. The lack of nutrition, lack of bathing, and muscle atrophy had left him looking like a shell of a man. His dyed silver hair was beginning to show its dark roots.

It was clear his body was still reacting to its disuse. The need nullification didn't keep him in perfect form. It just prevented him from dying. T'balt was sitting on the tip of the finger that held the book of his manifest. The white stone version at least. He was watching Lila's show, having decided to eat lunch with Uriel. He would occasionally offer Uriel a sandwich or a drink of water, but the man always refused.

But even after the show was done, T'balt lingered as if he were searching for words he wanted to say.

"Why do you persist in trying to change my mind?" Uriel asked after a while. T'balt took a long moment before saying, "I'm having a child." Uriel's eyes widened with something akin to admiration but not quite.

"Congrats." It was an instinctual response. His voice softened when he realized what it meant.

"Don't worry. I've had hundreds of children over the years. It's nothing but a fleeting comfort." T'balt nodded.

"Yeah. Tyene said something similar."

"Try not to think about it too much. It's easier to let go before they have a face."

"I won't forget, though. I know myself. I'll always wonder what it could've been like. And I'm not okay with living with regrets. Not anymore…. The reason I came here was for a sense of peace. I just want to grow old, man. Raise a family. Live like everything was still normal. Just one time at least."

"I'm sorry." Uriel sounded genuine.

"It just isn't possible." T'balt pointed at him.

"You can make it possible. Just come down and help us stop Corlander. I'm asking you as a favor that I won't know how to repay. But I need to ask anyway. You know how. I bet you've beaten him hundreds of times. Not even Monan can say that." As much as he wanted to rely on Monan beating Corlander cleanly, he knew it wasn't a guaranteed shot simply because Monan hadn't faced him before. But with Uriel, he was sure he knew a way to do it without having to risk losing on an unknown. But the man shook his head.

"This isn't a battle you're going to win." He took it as a no.

"I thought you'd say that. Look." T'balt pointed to the east side of the city. When Uriel looked, there were lines of Gracelandians in the distance, in an open space. They looked as if they were practicing battle formations and combat techniques. It was the same training T'balt had used with the believers that he'd learned from Arthur Kilgrove. Except this time it was David leading the exercises, instructing the citizens on loot as if he were a black belt in it.

Uriel looked perplexed, for what little emotion he could show on his dehydrated face.

"They know about the attack," T'balt admitted.

"I gave them two options. They could leave, or they could stay and fight. But if they chose the second option, they would have to defend you with their lives… barely a handful chose to leave. Even now, with you like this, they don't want to abandon you." Uriel didn't react. It was something he'd known would likely happen. But that didn't mean he didn't feel sorry for them.

"I'm going to do everything I can to reduce casualties here." T'balt continued.

"But I've already decided. Regardless of what gets lost, I'm living on with no regrets." Later that day, T'balt was going over strategy with Cannon in the library. They'd been coming up with plans and theory crafting for hours. Who would need what loot where? What was the backup if Monan's fight failed? Should they even let Monan fight alone at all or just ambush Corlander out of the gate?

"But where are you going to have the fight in the first place?" Cannon asked, enjoying some deviled eggs that David had prepared for them. Stolen story; please report.

"That's a good question," T'balt said.

"I think fight happen here. In Graceland." David spoke up, wearing a kitchen apron that seemed to fit well with his domesticated husband look.

"That's probably a bad idea."

"No understand. We know city. We built city. We lay traps, know ways around. Big advantage against people who no live here. Whatever destroyed can be rebuilt quickly." It seemed like he was suggesting some sort of guerrilla warfare. Both T'balt and Cannon looked at David strangely. What were the odds that this tall dry biscuit of a man was some military general or something?

"That's… not a bad point," T'balt thought out loud.

"But at the end of the day, Corlander's goal is still Uriel." When he sees him on the statue, it's hard to say if we can stop him from going straight after him."

"If that's all he wants, how were you planning on luring him out of the mansion in the first place?" Cannon asked.

"Another great question. That was Monan's part of the plan. He was so confident about it, but he didn't end up telling me his plan. I should probably clarify that with him.

"He scanned around the library, recalling that he actually hadn't seen Monan in days.

"Do you know where he is?" Cannon shrugged.

"Last I saw of him was right before Ellie told us the news." T'balt sighed.

"This isn't the time to be eloping. We need him around for this. Acelin," he called. The kid was standing in between bookshelves pretending to fight an imaginary knight using his bat as a sword. He seemed to be having trouble deciding if it should be a rapier, a broadsword, or a katana. When he heard his voice, he zipped over to T'balt and bowed on his knee.

"Yes, your grace." T'balt chuckled at what he had half-hazardously started with the kid. He flicked him two pieces of loot. Speed and tracking.

"Do me a favor and see if you can find where Monan's holed up. Then come back and tell me when you've found him." The kid nodded, and a few seconds later he turned into a flash and was up the stairs and out the door. Cannon took the time to munch on some more devilled eggs to David's amusement.

"Is pregnant lady still napping?" David asked. T'balt nodded. Ellie had been suffering the side effects of pregnancy just like the doctor said she'd be. She'd basically spent the last day and a half sleeping. Whenever she did pop out of her room, she would zombie over to the kitchen and go back to sleep. Interestingly enough, David always had something prepared for her when she went into the kitchen so that she never had to even open the fridge.

"Then I prepare nourishing milk. Will make for healthy baby," the man said.

"Thanks, David." He thought the man was a godsend and wondered where Uriel had found him. T'balt continued to plan things out in his head until Acelin returned, drawing things out in his notebook. He jumped to his feet when the door opened. It wasn't Acelin or Monan, though. Tyene was back from her trip seeing German at the mansion. And of course, Vienna entered the room as her backup. Tyene stretched like she'd just woken from a nap and plopped on the couch where T'balt was sitting.

Vienna took a place standing next to her, accidentally making eye contact with Cannon.

"It's gotten a little hot in here all of a sudden," the wrestler blushed. T'balt tried to ignore that.

"Yeah… so how'd it go?"

"Everything on my end is going well," Tyene said, face down in the couch.

"Right, Vienna?"

"No… My surveillance of the mansion has shown an increased presence of RazorWind soldiers. Also, I can confirm the arrival of Commander Desmond Hobbs. It confirms German's report of reinforcements being called." T'balt thought back to their conversation before Tyene's rescue. He could see that the name caused Vienna's mouth to twitch slightly.

"Wasn't that the man that raised you? Will you be alright if we have to face him at some point?"

"She's fine… she's a cold-blooded killer, my Vienna. My special girl…" Tyene lazily turned over on the couch. There was something off about her.

"Have you been drinking?" Vienna spoke up, ignoring the question for Tyene.

"I would absolutely have no problem killing the man if it came down to it. In fact, I would prefer it." Killing father figures seemed to be a theme among the two.

"Good then… You're probably the best candidate to deal with him then if we need to." Tyene suddenly sat up, her face looking pink as a peach.

"Ya know, T'bag, you're starting to sound like a real general."

"Thanks, I guess."

"I hate it. It reminds me of how Corlander sounded during his executive meetings." She definitely seemed like she was drunk, so T'balt decided to ignore that comment. The door soon swung open again as Acelin zoomed down the stairs right in between all of them. The kid looked confused, like he had made a wrong turn somewhere.

"Did you find him?" T'balt asked.

"Well, funny thing," the kid said.

"I was tracking the Redeemer loot, and I thought I found him, but I guess it was just Miss Tyene."

"It's fine. Mistakes happen."

"But that's the thing. I went all around the city. I couldn't find Monan anywhere. The tracker never picked up on him."

"You mean, he's not in the city anywhere?" Acelin shook his head. That news suddenly washed T'balt over with some unnecessary stress.

"What could that man even be doing?"

"Oh…" Tyene raised her hand.

"I have a comment."

"You don't have to raise your hand. What is it?"

"Vienna, make my comment."

"A few days ago, Monan was seen leaving the city on foot, with a bottle of liquor and nothing else. I'd been keeping an eye on him at Tyene's order and can say for certain that he hasn't existed within Graceland since he left." Vienna said.

"Yep," Tyen slurred.

"He likely isn't coming back."

"Why?" T'balt snapped. She didn't seem interested in answering.

"Just take my word for it… We don't need him anyway. Don't worry about it."

"What do you mean, don't worry about it? He was probably our best chance in this whole fight, and you're telling me he got drunk and left. You Redeemers need to get a handle on yourselves and your fucking drinking!?" When he raised his voice, Vienna stepped between them like T'balt's raised voice was going to slap Tyene across the face. But the way he felt, it could've.

"Like I said, relax." Tyene leaned back, unbothered.

"You still got me."

"Yeah… at least I still got you…" He didn't know what that meant to him at the moment. He was back to a place of feeling like he was the only sane person in the room. If Monan really wasn't coming back, any plan he had was out the window. And this fight was starting to feel near impossible. At least with what he had: Four Redeemers and basically one and a half who gave a damn.