Worlds War One

xliv [Quest]

Ji led them around the toppled Leviathan, and the squad raced toward the place where Johnny Rotten had left the Forsaken Land to somewhere else. The nephilim stopped in front of a large boulder standing alone in the middle of a clearing. It seemed out of place in the otherwise empty field.

"Behind the stone," Ji said, turning toward the lieutenant. "I think I can roll it aside."

Lieutenant Robinson nodded. Quest had seen the way Ji had attacked the dragon—the half-Angel should've been able to shoulder the boulder easily aside. The rock didn't budge. Quest, Lieutenant Robinson, and even giant Drill tried to boost the boulder. It didn't move.

The lieutenant looked at Penina. "Can't you do anything? I don't know, ask it to move or something?"

"This stone won't listen to meeee," Penina said. "It's ensorcelled."

"It isn't any boulder," Saanvi pointed out. "It's blocking the portal. It's a door. And it's locked."

"We need a key?" Quest asked.

"We have a key," Saanvi said, pointing at a slot in the side of the stone that looked like it belonged in a vending machine. "The obol should open the door."

Quest pulled it out of the pocket where he'd kept it close to his heart, beside the crystal tear shed by his beloved Golem. He started to hand it to Ji. "Someone will have to stay behind," Saanvi said. "This door will only stay open with the obol inserted. If we go through, we need to be able to come back. There will be no way to open this portal from the other side."

"We can leave the door open," Quest suggested. He didn't want to get stuck forever in some dark, mysterious corner of the Wider World.

"That means anything can follow us out," Saanvi said. "Or something could come along and close it behind us. Locking us out of the Forsaken Land and leaving us trapped on the other side."

"Drill will stay behind," Lieutenant Robinson decided. "He will guard the door."

Saanvi studied the big soldier dubiously. Lieutenant Robinson didn't need to consult Saanvi about her decisions. The soldier was in charge, not some prissy civvie.

"Where does the doorway lead to?" Quest asked, directing his inquiring to Nina. "Another place in the First World? Back home? Or some new, fantastic place?"

Penina touched the broad side of the boulder. In a movie, she might have closed her eyes and looked like she was mind-melding with the rock. She may have appeared "stoned." But Quest realized she didn't have eyelids. Why would she? She didn't sleep, and they would be of no use as a protectant—her eyes were indestructible marbles. She simply stared at the boulder then turned toward Quest.

"It's a door to Arcadiiiia," Nina said. "The place where the Angels fly."

Ji shifted on his feet, one Golem and solid, the other the flesh of a man who was half Human and half Angel. Of all the Misfits, he had a direct connection to the place on the other side. Maybe his winged father was in Avalon.

Fox stepped forward. "We're going to see where the Angels live? Isn't that, like, blasphemous or something?"

"Arcadia isn't any more holy than anywhere any other tribe would call home," Saanvi said. "It's another dimension. Like the Great Nothing or right here in the Forsaken Land."

"Holy or not, Johnny Rotten invaded another dimension," Lieutenant Robinson declared. "We go in. Drill will hold the line."

"Have either of you ever been to Arcadia?" Quest asked Saanvi and Nina.

"Once," Nina answered as Saanvi shook her head. "I led a group of Extra-Terrestriiiials into Arcadiiiia to broker a compromise over some disputed territoriiiies outside the Terran solar system."

"What can we expect?" Ji wondered.

"The Angels are a bunch of arrogant aristocrats. Smug and sanctimoniiiious seraphim," Nina replied. "No offense, Jiiii."

Ji shrugged with Magi shoulders—he wasn't as much Angel as he once was. Nor as Human.

"The Angels will take an invasion by Rotten and his undead as a personal affront," Penina explained. "Mot will likelyyyy strike while they are in holyyyy histriiiionics."

"What is the layout? Cities? Open fields? High ground?" Lieutenant Robinson asked.

"The Angels are spread out across Arcadiiiia. They don't much like one another. Unless they gather to fulfill their dutiiiies as judge and juryyyy of the Wider World, they are solitaryyyy individuals," Nina informed.

"Rotten will want to draw the Angels together, hit them while they gather in greater numbers," the lieutenant predicted. "Like his attack on Senado Square. Maximum effect with minimal risk. Where could he strike that would get their attention? Do the Angels have holy sites? Preserved memorials? Historical markers?"

"The Court on High is where they hold trials," Penina explained. "It is the most reeeeveeeered place in Arcadiiiia. They relish their roles as judges of the Wider World."

"Shape?"

"The Court is circular," the Golem informed. "The Colosseeeeum in Rome is patterned after the Angelic Court."

"Then we split into two squads," Lieutenant Robinson commanded. "I'll lead one team around the perimeter to the right as we approach. Seaman Choi, you're with me, on my six. Princess Saanvi between us. Airman Fox, I want you to lead the second team around the left perimeter with Private Ramírez, protecting your civvie. We pinch Rotten and his undead between us when we get to the three and nine o'clock."

"Rings on?" Quest checked.

He wore the ring he had received before they'd left America. Back when things had seemed mythical instead of mundane. Today was another Wider World Wednesday. The other Misfits had theirs. Saanvi lifted her hand and showed off the Seal of Solomon. Quest was holding Nina's hand, Autumn's ring now on the Golem's finger. The Seal was supposed to protect them from possession by Mot. Otherwise, they would join Autumn's sister and the thousands of others in the legion of the undead.

Quest inserted the coin that contained Callie's spirit into the boulder barricade. The stone turned on its axis like a small planet rotating inches above the ground, pivoting on an invisible turntable and making a crescent opening big enough to allow access to even Drill. But Drill was staying.

The rest went through one by one. Lieutenant Robinson went first. Every time.

Quest was second to last. Nina glanced back at the Forsaken Land, a longing glimpse at a world that made little sense, where there were terrible dangers everywhere, yet still seemed safe and sound compared to the realm of the Angels. Johnny Rotten had a long list of victims after one attack. And now the Misfits were going to face him.

Nina shuddered, a small earthquake.

Quest shivered, too. Then he stepped through into Arcadia, pulling Penina through behind him.