Chapter 61: Lightning Rod

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"Master....

Master!"

Aaron sat up with a start, face-to-face with Rider, his Servant, whose armored fingers were clasped tightly around his shoulder.

"I- apologize Master. Shouldst I have awoken thee sooner? It did appear that thee were entangled in nightmares."

But whatever dream had previously possessed him was already gone, left behind in the sudden jolt to reality, and hardly a trace of memory remained in his mind, all except for an inexplicable sense of foreboding. With his mind as empty as it was, the first thing that he noticed was not Rider's words nor his face, but the sky behind him: a pitch-black sky painted with the thin imprints of stars.

They had returned.

...

11:10pm, The Skies Above Athens

Aaron groaned and brought himself to his feet, his body creaking all the way. Spurred by forces which he was too tired to recognize, he made his way to the bow, and overlooked the city below. Ordinarily, the landscape would be alight with gold and white, illuminating even the skies above, but with the vaguely purple fog that clung to the buildings, the lights were few and far between. Under the influence of the spell, most of the people below had already gone to bed, and what lights still peeked from the insides of windows were obscured by that same fog. A view which should have been awe-inspiring was now somber and pitiful, like the body of an animal so deep in hibernation that it was no longer clear if it was alive at all.

He stretched his stiff arms, popping the joints to his own satisfaction, "How long were we gone?"

Rider chuckled with pride. His expression, of course, couldn't be seen behind his face-plate, but Aaron could feel the impression of a smirk on the air, "Two days, mine Master, precisely as foretold. 'Tis the second night since your bout."

"Two days and one night...Damn."

"Something the matter?"

"Nah...I just can't help but think about all the shit that's gone down since we've left. A lot can happen, y'know?"

Rider rolled his head as if to taste his thoughts before he spoke them, "Aye, but naught so dire that we shall not be able to adapt."

He allowed himself to lean onto the rail, his body already starting to complain under the pressure of his own body weight, however little that weight may have been, "That's part of the problem."

"To mean?"

He sighed, "It should be fine tonight, but tomorrow we've gotta leave the Acropolis. We'll have to collect our things, rest up, and go in the morning."

He lowered his chin, "Thee suspect thyself to be under suspicion? Art I to assume thee speak of this realm's knights?"

Aaron nodded, "The first fight was written off as a meteor strike, but, you know what they say: lighting doesn't strike twice, smoke leads to fire and all the rest. I'd be surprised if we weren't the Number One suspects in all the destruction."

Rider raised a hand to his chin, "Wise. We hath likely overstayed our welcome regardless."

Even under the cover of night, the Acropolis was no less visible than during the day, perhaps more so because of the stage lights that illuminated the space in gold at all hours of darkness. His slogging mind focused on that point they slowly approached, trying desperately to devise an actual plan for the future, but his scattered molasses musings were suddenly shattered by a cold needle on his neck- then another, and another.

It was starting to rain.

Behind him, soft but hearty laughter could be heard, "Hah! How melodramatic! To be greeted by rain upon our return. Mayhap there is to be a funeral tonight."

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