Nameless Ghoul

The Beginning of the End

The next day, Itzal was on edge, even more so than usual. He was tired from the broken sleep last night, and felt guilty for waking Sunshine again. He left her sleeping soundly and went to grab himself something to eat. 

Secondo’s ghouls had invited him to train with them, so he grabbed some toast and some orange juice and went to meet them at the gym they used. It was a weapons practice session, which he hadn’t done with them before. He’d had training at the Academy when he was young, and had always been pretty confident with swords and knives, because shadow ghouls were taught these skills from a very early age. It had been a while, so he knew he needed the practice.

They started with a warm up run around the perimeter wall. It was a cold but bright day and the fresh air in his lungs woke him up properly. Air and Quinn ran with him, and Quinn had picked up that something was wrong. He cursed the quintessence ghouls for all being so observant.

“What is it?” Quinn asked when they’d finished the warm-up and had gathered around drinking water.

They were sitting on the ground with their backs to the perimeter wall. Itzal gave him a sideways glance. He trained his unusual blue eyes on him, and Itzal glanced away again.

“I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep too well,” he replied.

Quinn huffed a sarcastic laugh.

“Look, I can feel you’re antsy about something, and we’re about to go into a room filled with sharp and pointy things. I’d rather you got it out of your system before then so that we don’t have to explain to Secondo why half of his ghouls need stitching up.”

Itzal smirked.

“Secondo would not be happy.”

He wasn’t even exactly sure himself what was wrong, but Quinn, in the same way as Omega, saw things that others missed.

“They’re sentencing Santos today. You knew it was coming, but you’re not ready for it. It’s too soon, but it’s well overdue. It’s fucking with your head. And that sleepless night you had last night? Bad dreams. Am I right?”

Itzal gave Quinn his full attention. It never ceased to amaze him how they could do that. It was spooky; he hadn't even known himself what the problem was, and Quinn had just summed it up in a few short sentences.

“Well, yes, I guess you are,” Itzal replied.

Quinn wore a satisfied smile and shook his head.

“You’ll surprise yourself. I can see you’re nervous and you think you’re going to freak out? You’re afraid that you won’t be able to do it and that Secondo will have to step in, but this is the closure you need, Itzal. All of those years he took from you and now you can take back your life. You can also have a little fun at his expense," he said with a grin, showing his fangs.

Itzal gave him a weak smile and took a sip from the bottle of water.

“You’ve got a lot of confidence in me. My brain chooses the worst moments to freak out, so I’m sure it won’t disappoint when it counts.”

Quinn sighed.

“Secondo wouldn’t have bonded you if he thought you were a complete basket case. He’s not an idiot. When it counts, you’ll be fine. And once Santos is out of the picture for good, that’s when you’ll really shine. We’re all banking on it,” he said with a wink. “Come on, let’s go stab something. You’ll feel much better soon, I think.”

Itzal felt a tingle of quintessence mojo and it took the edge of his stress off.

The training went well. He was rusty, but it didn’t take long to come back to him. It was after lunch by the time they’d finished, and they walked back to the lairs together.

“We’ve got a lot of spare rooms if you want one of them? If you ever need a crash pad, that is," Earth said as they were walking.

It would feel strange to sleep somewhere else. He supposed technically he should have been staying in their lair now, but he liked it where he was, especially as it was so close to Sunshine. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to have somewhere else to go if he needed it though, so he thanked Earth and said he would talk to Sunshine about it.

He’d had a message from Secondo telling him to meet him at three p.m. in the gardens, so he had enough time to clean up and have something to eat before he went.

Sunshine and the others had a rehearsal that afternoon, so the lair was deserted. He ate some leftovers from the fridge and tried not to think about being nervous. He knew Sunshine would be there with him when he carried out the sentence, but that almost made him more anxious because he didn’t want to fail in front of her. She had seen him at pretty much his lowest, but even so.

He took a coffee from the canteen with him when he went to meet Secondo. It was unusual for him to want to meet anywhere but in his office.

Itzal had his usual sweet, black coffee and took an espresso for Secondo. They met near Primo’s greenhouses. Secondo had dressed in a casual suit today, and bundled up with a smart, grey woollen coat and a green scarf. He wasn’t wearing his skull paint, but he wore his usual aviators to shield his eyes. Itzal had only ever seen him one other time without his paints. Secondo smiled as he approached and thanked him for the coffee.

“It is a nice day today, si?” he said casually. “We will walk for a bit. It is cold.” Itzal nodded. He had put multiple layers on but still felt the chill. “I assume you know why I wanted to speak with you?”

Itzal nodded and took a steadying breath.

“I think so.”

“Then I will get to it. Phenex is arriving this evening to sentence Santos. We know what the sentence will be already. There is no other choice for him. It will need to be carried out within twenty-four hours of it being handed down. Will you be ready for it?” 

Itzal felt his wild ghoul rising to the surface and he let it take over. He knew his eyes flashed pewter when he answered Secondo.

“I will be. I'm ready for him to die.”