Half-Bloods R • 2 : Growing Shadows

C • 28 : Prelude to War, Prologue to Battle

The Chimeras walked in and were once again met with a long table filled with captains and commanders, leaving only a few seats open.

Elizabeth, dressed in a grey sleeveless shirt and black short-shorts, was the first to sit down, tilting back her chair and crossing one leg over the other. Christopher was next, sitting next to Elizabeth with his back straight. Vaelan took his seat next, and despite her promise not to, Demi sat on his lap, wrapping an arm around his neck and smirking deviously. Demi wore her maroon leather jacket and black dress. Vaelan, meanwhile, dressed to compliment her, wearing a black leather jacket, maroon shirt, and black jeans. Villin took her seat last, dressed plainly in black shorts and a black tee.

Joining them at the table were the heads of the Chimera Elite teams, Karliah from Vaelan's team, Animus from Villin's team, and the newest member of Demi's team named Ford.

Filling the rest of the seats were the five Second Captains of Texas and First Captain Darwin, three laptops that Vaelan had to assume were the new Second Rank Commanders and two more in person. Then, no longer sitting at the furthest edge of the table was First Rank Commander Vladimir, and across from him, the new Third Rank Commander replacing Jeremy, Zoran. Finally, at the far end of the table, straight across from Vaelan and Demi, was the leader of the rebellion himself, Seijin Akano, his low and tired eyes still blazing with strength.

"Let's get started. The Minister Parade has begun, and in exactly two weeks the parade will have arrived in Houston. I've set up defenses in the states and cities that, but non-rebellion-controlled cities will sadly lose much of their magic-using population as Agents quietly dispose of any Anthraahlan or Humanth they find.

Currently, the Texas rebellion's goal is to stop the parade as soon as the three Ministers conflate in Houston. For this mission, I've created four teams, three attack teams, and one support team. Attack Team One will include Chimeric Elite Warmages Demi and Christopher, Demi's team of elites, and Elite Warmage Warren. Attack Team Two will consist of Chimeric Elite Warmages Vaelan and Elizabeth, Vaelan's team of elites, and Elite Warmage Casey. Attack Team Three will have Chimeric Elite Warmage Villin, her elite squadron, and Chimera Jepsen. Finally, the Support Team will be on standby ready to give immediate aid to any teams or soldiers that need it.

Are there any questions?"

Vaelan spoke first. "I'd like to point out that while, yes, I'm ready to fight for the rebellion and save magic users from the Order, we are still throwing over an entire government, and on top of that, we'd not only have to replace them as quickly as possible, but we'd also need to run the country efficiently in order to avoid another Canada incident. So, what I need to ask is, what's your plan for after we kill the three leaders of the once-free states?"

The entire room, save for Darwin, Gwindolyn, and Seijin, looked at him. Had none of them considered this? Had none of them thought about what taking away the leaders of a country, no matter how bad they were, would do? Or did they not expect him to think of it?

Seijin and Darwin both smiled at him, Gwindolyn seemed to be immediately distracted by a new thought. Demi too seemed to be lost in thought now, and Villin seemed entirely uninterested.

"Don't worry, Vaelan," Seijin finally said, "I do have a plan for restoring the U.S. Though your question does bring up a good point. Captains, Commanders, do remind yourselves, should we win this war, we will have gone from the second Civil War to the third World War, and the challenges will only steepen. So I ask you now to think long and hard, are you truly willing to fight to save this fallen world?"

No one answered and from that point on, the meeting seemed far grimmer as it continued. Seijin explained how and when he thought the Attack Teams should strike, how they would attack just before the Ministers came together, leaving enough distance to separate the Order while making it easy for the Chimeras to reach each other. How the elites could best help the battle and hold back Agents while the Chimeras killed the Ministers.

The rest of the meeting was logistics, the Commanders and Captains reporting recent news that they hadn't been able to share through normal means just yet. Vaelan studied Commander Vladimir, the man who never seemed to have enough, who Vaelan had to fight as a test when he first joined the rebellion. He didn't trust the man, and he was somewhat glad when he looked at Darwin and Gwindolyn to see that they didn't seem to trust him either.

When the meeting was over, Darwin, Karliah, and the Chimeras joined together just outside the mostly empty office building that the rebellion often used for meetings in San Antonio. Vaelan carried Demi, Elizabeth and Christopher were joking around as they walked close to each other, and both Darwin and Karliah were walking quietly. The sun would be setting soon and snow was falling, and from atop Vaelan's shoulders, Demi was trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. Vaelan patted her thigh, making her look down at Darwin and Karliah, she rolled her eyes, jumped down, and stood next to him, staring intently. When he finally looked at her, she jabbed him in the side.

"Ow, Demi, what the hell!"

She locked eyes with him and, without a word, seemed to tell him something secret because his annoyance was immediately washed away as she walked back to Vaelan.

"Up," Demi said.

Vaelan smirked as he picked her back up and hauled her onto his shoulders.

"Hey, Karliah, after this battle, you want to go grab a bite to eat?" As Darwin spoke, Vaelan felt a sudden wave of annoyance flood from Demi.

He then felt that annoyance fade away when Karliah responded, "How about we have a date or two before a battle where I can possibly die?"

"Right. That makes sense," Darwin said, Vaelan had never seen him with so little confidence in his words. "Shall we have our first tomorrow evening?"

"Let's have it now," Karliah guided him away, winking up at Demi.

As Vaelan and Demi watched the two leave, walking towards the sunset. Villin walked out of the office building.

"Alright, we're all here, Elizabeth," he said.

Elizabeth snapped her fingers and created a portal straight home. When they walked through, the sound of music was blaring, slamming against them as they arrived in the Chimera House living room where Anna was headbanging atop the couch along with the lead singer on the TV screen. She stopped when she saw them, wide-eyed, and jumped to grab the remote and turn down the TV.

"Hey, guys! I didn't think you'd be back this early," she laughed to herself.

Demi jumped off Vaelan's shoulders and whispered something to Villin just before he saw his sister rush off toward the back of the house.

"Really? We're back kinda late," Elizabeth said.

Anna only seemed more awkward after that. Vaelan grabbed the remote, turned up the TV volume somewhat, handed it to Anna, and ruffled her hair even more.

"Have some fun, kid. I'll tell you about the meeting later," he said as he walked towards his room with Demi following closely.

He looked back and saw Anna sitting down on the second couch and pretending to drum with the band. Christopher lay on the main couch, suddenly appearing drained, and wincing as he breathed. Elizabeth crouched on the floor next to him, offering to help his pain, a look of pain appeared in her eyes when he refused, and she simply sat down and lay her head next to him. Vaelan was half tempted to try what Demi had with Darwin, knowing what Elizabeth thought of Christopher, but had the sense to know it wouldn't help in this situation.

He walked into his and heard Demi close the door behind him, he turned around when he realized she didn't plan on turning on the lights or moving from the door. She was holding onto the doorknob and had created a small flame at the fingertips of her other hand.

"Wanna help get me outta this dress?" She asked with a wink.

He smirked, and mimicked her energy, making her blush as he growled, "Only if you help me get out of this shirt."

"Ya got yourself a deal, handsome!" She locked the door, created a myriad of glowing orbs of flame, and tackled Vaelan onto the bed, where they spent the rest of the night, and most of the morning after.

They both lay there, wrapped in sheets, naked and holding each other. Neither wanted to leave, because the moment they did, their escape from the world, from the war would be brought to an end. He kissed his lover's forehead and hugged her tight, he wasn't ready to leave yet.