Axel Light Trilogy: Wands and Shield

Chapter 10-B

Linden and Stanley had managed to drag the trashing and sobbing Axel back to Ribbon Street, into the Greens residence and up into his room. Linden had to cast a spell to calm him down and when it did not work, he made Axel sleep. He had kept shouting that his mother had wanted to talk to him.

'I think he is mentally, very weak...' said Stanley worriedly, as they watched him sleep, his face still wet with tears.

'It could be a spell that was placed with the words that had burnt. Dark Magic,' said Linden curtly, 'Axel had stood near the portraits for a long time, where the words were. He might be affected by some hallucination spells.'

'But... how... who...' stuttered Stanley worriedly, 'We had placed many spells on the funeral hall. Many people were on guard. Surely...'

Linden put a finger in front of his lips and looked at Stanley intently, and then he drew an arch with his wand and casted a spell – Tacitus, a cloaking spell. A soft glow surrounded Linden and Stanley in a dome within the room they were in. Linden had casted the Second Form of Tacitus, which would prevent anyone outside the dome to hear anything they would speak inside.

Stanley glanced at the dome and looked grimly at Linden. He knew that it would be something confidential, not for all ears.

'A mole,' said Linden clearly, 'There is one in MaxPol.'

Stanley gasped audibly, honestly shocked.

'Maybe someone in the team,' said Linden worriedly, 'With close access to Axel.'

'Someone... in the team...' gasped Stanley in disbelief, 'Who... We took the vows as a MaxPol! Who dared... who is that person!'

'If I find him or her, you will be the first one to know,' said Linden.

'Me... I...' stuttered Stanley, 'I am NOT! I AM NOT THAT MOLE! I took the vow!' he shouted heatedly.

'Calm down, I don't mean that you are the mole,' Linden hushed as he pointed at Axel who was in Tacitus with them, still sleeping amidst Stanley's shouts, 'I know you are clear. You are the only one who is cleared and you know why. Everyone else, do not trust them, not even your most trusted colleagues.'

'You mean... Monsford? Johnson? Beatty??' Stanley was panicking.

Please, not someone he knew well, thought Stanley depressingly.

'Do not rule anyone out. Everyone is a suspect,' said Linden curtly.

'Understood, Commissioner Linden,' said Stanley, and then he dropped his voice as he glanced at Axel, 'This is getting even bigger than it has already been, isn't it? I don't think he can handle it... he is just a boy...'

Linden nodded at Stanley, 'I know. The less he knows, the better it will be for him. He could break and our enemy will win. Keep all the newspapers away from him. Don't talk about the Elites activities. Don't mention about his parents. Not in front of him.'

'He said that they had tried to talk to him. Do you think it is true?' whispered Stanley worriedly.

'I don't think even he knows if it was true,' sighed Linden as he looked sadly at Axel, 'Maybe, he will never know.'

*

The spindly tool on his desk whizzed and whirred. Linden looked up from the report he was reading. It was a compass that would detect if someone were near his office. If it were someone at the door, it would point at the door. If it were just someone walking past the corridor, it would whir on his desk. Like it was doing now.

It was an annoying tool and would distract him many times. But it was left behind by the Commissioner of MaxPol before he took office, and the one before him... passed down from Commissioner to Commissioner. The previous one would always say that it would bring bad luck if they would remove it from the desk.

Linden definitely would want luck to be at his side in the current case he was handling. He was not a superstitious person, but he was not going to test his luck.

He had been reading reports after reports from Operation Lumen – from different divisions, different investigations, different cities. The reports to Operation Lumen kept mounting and had branched out like an unkempt bonsai.

Right in front of him were two sets of reports that he had yet to read. One from Stirling, about the breach of security at the Light's funeral. He knew what happened, he was there. He would read that the last. The other was a set of reports from Forensics, which he was more interested in.

Disturbing reports to say the least.

Unusual lab results. Incomprehensible recommendations. Absurd theories.

Or simply because he refused to believe them.

Nottingway was one of the best Forensics, if not the best. Surely, he could come up with something better, something more credible?

Linden scratched at his forehead.

How could anyone believe this, if he could not? Especially Axel Light.

Linden was a MaxPol for nearly forty years. He was the Commissioner of MaxPol. He had handled many cases, many victims. He had seen many disturbing crimes. Some they had manage to solve, some they did not; none of them had made him emotionally affected like Axel's case. He did not know why he had taken Axel Light's case so personally.

He felt for Axel. He cared for him. Axel felt like a son that he never had.

He did not know why he had given Axel a hug at the hospital. It felt like the right thing to do. If Linden had one weakness, it would be his intuition. He would always react instinctively. Which he should not, because he was the Commissioner of MaxPol. He should draw a line between work and personal feelings. Axel was not even related to him. He did not even know Axel Light existed until a few weeks ago and their first meeting did not fare well at all – Axel nearly killed himself.

He looked at Nottingway's reports again – the elaborate pages where the long explanations were.

The first was a theory about how Axel Light's Magical Quotient was supressed at birth. He did not want to know the process or how it was done. It was history. He tossed that report aside.

He then looked at the next one which was extremely interesting and absurd – Axel Light's Magical Quotient count. Ridiculous numbers. Was it even real? But maybe, this was the main reason for everything? Where did he get such high Quotient count? Both his parents had average counts – Natasha's more than Edward's. Axel's count could easily be – both numbers combined, if not more.

Linden shook his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

The third one – was the one disturbing Linden the most. A bizarre theory. Marked as 'Highly Confidential'. Only one other person had seen the report – Nottingway himself. Nottingway had done all the lab tests himself, no one else should have seen it. Linden would be the second pair of eyes to see it.

Linden rubbed his eyes – tired and in disbelief.

He read the one-page report again. Quietly. And again.

What did this mean? Did it mean anything significant at all?

Significant or not, he would not be telling anyone in the investigation team, not even Stanley. He took out his wand and pointed it at the report and placed his seal on it. Nottingway had already sealed it, so it would need both of them to release it before anyone could read it.

He placed the report in the top drawer of his desk. The other two reports were fitted back into the file on his desk – he would send it back to Forensics to keep.

Those would not be secrets. He might even tell everyone in the operation and made that as a main motive in Axel Light's case. He might even let Axel know about his Quotient count, the next time they would meet. It would be one of the things that Linden would allow Axel to know.

The third report would be kept in his desk as long as he would not need to peruse it. But it had already made Axel's case even more complicated.

Another can of worms had opened.