The One

TWENTYTHREE

"They are trying to find records on who the true one is and make her a slave wife of their ringleader." Agnus said, having cleaned some of his blood off.

They had moved back into the wash room, nowhere was safe. But this place was the best they had.
Teddy had gone and locked all the doors on the narrow hallway, something one could apparently do.

" Not sure what they'd do with the others. But they want to make her into an example of some sort. So the faith of the others isn't very different probably." Agnus mumbled.

Morten sighed, " Where are they being kept? "

" The council room"
Agnus actually threw the cloth he had been cleaning his blood with.

" Kur! " Cheered Teddy.

Kur smiled at the warm welcome.
He wasn't alone. An Ash was with him, clutching two.

" Teddy, didn't you lock the backroom?" Said Morten confused.

The Ash nodded, " I have a key "

Morten then realized, he was not one of the two from their group.
He was dressed as a guard.

" This is Kenan," Said Kur.

All of them looked wrecked.
Kur was sporting a good slash on his neck that looked as if he had escaped a knife fight.
Kenan was covered in blood spray, that looked downright scary on his black skin and armor.
Two, looked like she had fought three man by herself.

She sighed deeply and stepped away from Kenan,
"I'm going to look for half decent clothes."

Morten realized Three and five were so much alike his brain faltered.
She looked like the older version of Five, not exactly older but slightly more mature.
Her cheekbones were a bit more pronounced, her eyebrows sharper.

She looked at Agnus who had continued smearing his skin with oil that was supposed to be antiseptic.
She kept looking at him as she felt the pile of fabric for clothes.

Agnus seemed to become nervous as she did.
"What is it?"

She stopped.
"We don't know where Aya is." She said.

Her face an expressionless mask.
Agnus kept rubbing his skin for a moment longer, in a frustrated way.
Then cursed loudly and flipped the wooden table he had been standing at.

"It gets worse." Said Kur.

Looking around at Morten.

"At least one of the Ash has been killed."

Morten nodded in answer.

"Your Region mate redeemed himself though. He may or may not still be alive but he fought with the Ashes against the intruders."

This caught Morten off guard.
Then again, it sounded like these plains were out to kill everyone here.

"The councilors?" Morten said.

Kenan answered, "My father and some others are safe. But they only just escaped. Others possibly were too late. I couldn't make it back there to see if... "
He trailed off.

"Councilor Libby?" Asked Agnus quietly, standing there like a brooding statue.

Kur shook his head, " I don't think they killed her, they took her. I saw them dragging her. "

Kenan gasped at this, " no! "

Everyone but Two looked at him at this, was that a specifically bad thing? Libby being taken?
Why had they not killed her?

Two sighed, holding clothes.
" Councilor Libby is the grandmother of the One. If they know, it's very likely they will use her to get the information out of her.
I don't think the One would last two minutes if they'd do something to Libby."

Morten blurted it out, but everyone seemed to wonder besides her and Kenan.
" Who is the one? "

He knew five couldn't be her, one wasn't as she was certainly the blue and now two?
Definitely not. That left little options.

Morten saw Kur's expression, almost pleading.
May it not be three.

But Morten already knew it, the moment he asked.
The moment he heard Libby was the grandmother of the true One.
Their height, the expressions, the way of talking and the way Counselor Libby had teamed up with her for the interviews.

"Four" said Two flatly.

Her eyes on Morten.

Fuck me. Morten thought.