Worlds War One

l [Treyvon]

"We need to set up camp for tonight," Saanvi had said when she finally came to, long after the fight with the trio of Cyclopses was already over.

Now, they sat around a campfire in the Forsaken Land, the flames an affront to familiar physics, cool instead of hot.

"What about the Leviathan?" Quest asked. "Won't they be attracted to the light?"

"The Leviathan are scared of the cold," Saanvi said. She didn't say it with much conviction. Trey wondered if that meant she wasn't sure or if the light would still attract Changelings and more Cyclopses. There was no shortage of dangerous creatures in the Forsaken Land.

They settled down for the night in the wilderness of this remnant of the First World. It had been too dark by the time they'd taken care of the Cyclopses to make their way back to Eden. They hunkered down for the night. Quest and Penina had volunteered for the first patrol duty, so they walked a perimeter around camp. Trey and Ji would be on the early morning shift.

Snack, then the sack, Trey decided. While Quest and Penina strolled hand-in-hand on patrol, the rest of the squad sat around the fire eating rations.

"Thanks for leaving one of the three Cyclopses for us, Lieutenant," Ji teased sarcastically.

She had been an efficient weapon of destruction. When she'd seen Drill backed into a corner when they'd come through the doorway from Arcadia, she'd flung herself pell-mell into the melee. She'd taken on two Cyclopses, leaving the third one for the Misfits. Relentless, she'd finished a pair of the hulking monstrosities in the same time that Trey, Ji, and Quest had managed to dispense with only one.

"Move faster next time, Seaman," Lieutenant Robinson mumbled through her processed mush.

"I am half supernatural, sir, and I still couldn't keep up with you."

"I like getting the job done."

"Dragonslayer," Trey complimented. "And now a Cyclops-killer."

The lieutenant grunted.

"What's the plan?" Ji asked. "Rotten has a dozen Angels. Along with most of the hostages he still has from Senado Square. And Callie."

"The Illuminati will be unable to ignore Rotten anymore, yet they're powerless to do anything about it," Saanvi said. "They can't send in an army, or Mot will make them undead and swell his ranks. The only Seals of Solomon that exist are the ones we have here and maybe a half dozen more scattered across all existence. The bureaucratic Assembly leaders and the Chancellor can agree to evacuate the Wider World and barricade everyone in Arcadia, or maybe other dimensions are sentient like Arcadia and will protect themselves. But worlds are generally not self-aware, and even Arcadia itself isn't self-sufficient. Angels don't eat or drink. There is neither food nor water on Arcadia, nothing to sustain refugees. I think we're the only chance to stop Rotten in all the Worlds."

"Your Illuminati has never planned contingencies for such an event?" Lieutenant Robinson asked.

"There is a nuclear option," Saanvi said. "It's called the Allstone. It is the most powerful Artifact in the Wider World. Each of the twelve Illuminati possesses one of the dozen existing Allstones. But the price for defeating Rotten would surely be very great. Maybe too great."

"What's worse than Rotten turning everyone in the Wider World into his children?" Trey challenged.

"There are worse things," Saanvi whispered, but she didn't elaborate.

"We have an advantage," Lieutenant Robinson stated. "We have a list of his next possible targets."

Saanvi nodded. "Humans and Demons and other tribes made of flesh cannot sustain the spirits of his children for long. He planned to overtake all the Angels, but Arcadia expelled him. So next, he will surely strike the Ghosts. Or Golems, the Wicked, or Cogs."

"But we don't know which one," Trey said.

"Doesn't matter," Lieutenant Robinson decided. "What it means is he doesn't plan on being in She'ol for long. Quick turnaround. He probably won't take the time to set up formidable defenses. Certainly, he believes he struck fear into us enough so that we won't follow him into his home."

"He did strike enough fear in us," Ji agreed.

"Exactly," the lieutenant said. "That's why he'll never see us coming."

Lieutenant Robinson finished her food and tossed the container in the fire. By habit. Instead of curling in the flame, it frosted over, and Lieutenant Robinson just stared. She stood up without a word, walked over to her pup tent where Drill was already snoring inside, and was out in minutes, snoring in a duet.

Trey and Ji sat around the fire. Saanvi was still awake but in the dark and alone. She had excused herself to meditate. Trey wasn't sure what that meant. His father had often taken time to pray, but Trey couldn't reconcile a Demon and prayer. They left her alone to it.

"Angels," Ji said. "How does that square with your church, Fox?"

The flames danced and gave Trey a chill. "I guess I feel a little justification."

"All your faith proved fact. It must be satisfying."

"It's terrifying."

Ji wrinkled his brow, confused.

"I've spent my whole life arguing against heathens," Trey said. "I've always defended unprovable beliefs. Jesus and God and Angels. You took it on faith, y'know? But now, there is no faith. It's all fact. Another thing like math or science."

"You get proof of God, and you turn it into a disappointment?" Ji asked.

"I was so impressed with my father's faith. His resolute firmness that there was nothing fictitious about the Holy Bible. He believed against any empirical evidence. That seemed like something special."

"We come from very different backgrounds, Fox," Ji said. "I have been in a church only once when my mother dragged the whole family to my grandma's funeral. My father and sisters insisted church was hoodoo to alleviate the sinners scared of dyin'. They would've mercilessly mocked someone like your dad. Their heads were so full of facts and figures it never left room for imagination. Funny, it turns out that there's a science behind all that hoodoo. Heaven is on a map, and the history of the world could be marked out on a timeline from the First World to the present day. Which means they were the ones who believed in the wrong thing all this time."

"I'm not sure what I am if I have to defend facts instead of my faith," Trey said.

"You can have faith in more than a dusty old book, Fox," said the soldier who was half an Angel. "You can have faith that we will complete this mission. You can have faith in the Misfits. I want you to have faith that we're going to live through this because I'm not so sure."