Rebellion In The Family

Chapter Four: In The Middle

"Master? Ethan Winters is on his way to the Stronghold." Maiden said. I frowned a little.

"The Stronghold? What on Earth is he doing going there?!" I asked. I hurried over to my elevator as quickly as I could. Once I got to my door and got outside, I realized why he was going to the Stronghold. Heis had put up signs all around the Village, leading him there. "Heis, what are you doing?! This wasn't part of the plan, he's going to get killed!" I said, and hurried as quickly as I could over to the Stronghold. Once again, I was thankful for my idea to use a chair made out of crystals to get around, it made things so much easier! I got there quickly enough, but before I went in, I took bricks from the old fortress, and turned them into a massive brick Golem. "I name you Goliath." I said, and he came to life. "Come on Goliath, we've gotta help Ethan!" I said. He nodded, and we all but ran into the crumbling old fortress that served as a den for the Lycans.  It didn't take long to find Ethan and Quetzal, they were surrounded by Lycans! So Goliath and I jumped into the fray. Goliath was sending Lycans into the ground, while I either crystalized them or sent sharp crystal shards at them. Thankfully, between the four of us we were able to take down the majority of the pack. I looked over at Ethan. "What the hell are you doing in here?! Do you know what could have happened if I hadn't known you came down here?! You could have been killed!!" I yelled. He frowned a little.

"How did you know we were down here?" He asked.

"The War Maiden statue is one of my Golems. She told me you were going down this way. Why did you come down here anyway?!" I asked.

"Heisenberg sent me here!" He said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Well I could tell that much! I meant why did you actually listen to him!" I said. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

"He told me he would just give me Rose's flask. It was too good a chance to pass up." He said. I sighed.

"I don't blame you...but you should have at least had me come with you!" I said. He laughed a little.

"Alright, Mother!" He said, and I laughed a bit too.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" I said, and we led him out, then over to the Altar site, where we found the Giant's Chalice. "Oh good, you've already started placing the flasks in here. Place the last one, and we'll be able to move it to the ceremony site so we can get into the factory." I said. He nodded, and placed the fourth flask in the hole. Once that one was placed, one more hole opened up in the center. I knew what that one was for. I smiled up at Quetzal. "You've done so well, Quetzal, and I'm so proud of you! You've served your purpose, love. Rose's heart is home." I said. The small door in his chest opened, and I carefully pulled out Rose's heart, then placed it in the yellow flask. I close the door, and smiled. "Alright Quetzal, you can go home and rest now." I said, however what he did instead surprised me. He shook his head no! I frowned. "What? What do you mean no??" I asked. He walked over to Ethan, looked down at him, then back at me. I understood what he was saying then. "Oh, I see." I said. Ethan looked at me.

"What? What is he doing?" He asked. I smiled, my face softening.

"He doesn't believe that his purpose has been fulfilled yet. I told him to protect Rose, remember?" I said. He nodded.

"Yeah, you told him to protect her heart." He said. 

"Yes, but he's taking his job far more seriously than I realized. He's taking 'protect her heart' to mean 'protect her'. He won't rest until he's fulfilled his duty. In other words...your daughter will now have her own personal body guard after we save her." I said. Ethan's eyes widened.

"Oh wow...uh, thanks Quetzal...yeah, she could probably use one." He said. Quetzal bounced happily, and waddled back over to Ethan. I giggled. My Golems could truly act like children sometimes!

"Okay, you guys go on ahead to the factory. What you're going to do is take the Giant's Chalice over to the Ceremony Site, and place it on the symbol over there. That will trigger the mechanism to raise the bridge so you can get into the factory." I said. Ethan frowned.

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

"Oh, I've just got some things I need to get. I'll be along shortly!" I said. With that, Ethan grabbed the Giant's Chalice, and they headed off to the ceremony site. I looked up at Goliath. "Come on, Goliath. If we're gonna take on Miranda, we're gonna need an army." I said. He nodded, and we headed back to my crystal mines. So, I took about ten minutes and created as many Golems from Stone and Crystal as I could. "Alright guys, I want you all to go line up around the ceremony site and hide there until I call for you." I said. They all nodded and headed there. With that out of the way, I immediately went to Heisenberg's factory. Once I got in there though, I had to find Ethan and Heis quickly.

"Think about it! With Rose's power, we can kill Miranda!" Heis.

"So you can use my daughter as a weapon?! No way!" Ethan. I rushed in, just as Heis was holding Ethan over an open pit!

"Last chance?" He said. 

"Heisenberg, STOP!" I yelled. He immediately froze. I never called him that. "That's not a choice for Ethan, and you know that." I said. He pulled Ethan back to a sitting position, and looked at me. 

"But...Darlin', if we use his daughter's power we have a chance of fighting back! I thought that's what you wanted! To be free of Miranda's control!" He said.

"I do! But not at the cost of weaponizing a defenseless baby!" He folded his arms and looked away, pouting. "Heis...what if it was our baby who had the power to destroy Miranda?" I asked. He looked at me. "What if someone wanted to weaponize our baby daughter, wanted to rip our child away from us and turn them into a weapon? Are you saying you'd let that happen??" I asked. He ran over and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"No, of course not! I'd never let someone do that to our child!" He said.

"Then why do it to Ethan's?? Between the three of us, we will have enough power to defeat Miranda. Let's leave little Rose out of it. She's just a baby, Heis." I said. He sighed.

"You're right." He said, then laughed a little. "How are you always right, Winnie?" He asked.  laughed too.

"I'm a woman. Women are always right." I said, then looked over at Ethan. "So what do you say, Ethan? Can you work with us if we leave Rose out of it?" I asked.

"If you leave Rose alone, then yes, I will." He said, standing. I smiled.

"Awesome." I said. Heis looked down at me.

"But Miranda needs to think Ethan killed me. How do we do that?" He asked. I smirked.

"Easy. We fake her out."