Daughter of Death

XXVI

The room was practically pitch black.

If there was a complete, polar-opposite room to the one Hallez was holding, it would've been that room. Dark, dusty, small.

She felt around on the wall for a light switch, until she realized there wasn't one.

"Fiona," Hal said, turning to the daughter of Fortuna. "Do you have a flashlight or something?"

Lavi answered instead. "Oh I have one!" She took out a plastic, grey cube the size of a regular Rubix's cube. She shrugged. "Not a flashlight, forget what I said. It's a box of light!" She pressed a button on one of the sides, and the surface shone with a white light. She handed it to Hallez with a small flourish.

"Thanks." She accepted it, and held it up in the dark room. The light flooded the small space, and as she scanned it with her eyes, she was confused when she saw nothing in there. It was completely void of life, dust particles swirling around in the air in place of it. But even now, she felt the strong, powerful waves of energy that pulsed in the room. She squinted.

Wait. There was something. Or rather, someone. She walked closer, and the light reflected off a figure, lying flat on the floor against the wall. A man who looked around thirty, with blond hair, and tattered clothes of a mailman. His hands were tied behind his back, though he did look like he had the intention of even waking up anytime soon.

Hallez approached him slowly, studying him. A tag on his jacket showed his name: Mercury.

Fiona gasped. "Mercury— What's he doing here?"

"Who knows," Hallez replied. According to Faith, he had shown up unexpectedly on the front steps, unconscious. She didn't mention that he was beat up. Or maybe CEIRA did that to him. "Are we sure that's the real Mercury? God of thieves and messengers?"

They were all silent at that question, unable to answer. The aura surrounding him, and the energy she'd felt earlier, were all very...divine. It was different from everyone else, and was flooding with power, albeit it felt muffled, probably due to his weakened state. It was possible that this was Mercury, though there wasn't any solid proof.

"We should take him with us," Hallez said.

Travis stared at her. "What? No! Terrible idea! What if he isn't? Or what if he wakes up, panics, and just kills us all? Not to mention, he's a god! He can't be killed. And we'll be slowed down significantly if we—"

Lavi shushed him. "Travis, you're right, he may or may not be a god. Which is exactly why we shouldn't leave him here, lest some other god blames us for not rescuing him and curses us or something. Even if he isn't a god, surely you have some morality?"

"Lavi's right," Fiona agreed. "Though none of us here can really carry him..."

"I might be able to," Hallez said. She wondered if there was a limit to how many people she could take with her when she goes invisible. "But let's get the Sword and Shield first. That's why we're here."

She quickly backed out of the room, keeping an eye on Mercury, as if he was going to come alive at any moment. Then she walked to the door opposite, used the keycard and typed in the code. Hallez wondered why Faith had given her the keycard. She'd said something about escape horses—which made no sense at all—that needed the card, but then what was she supposed to do with it? Keep it? Given their technological status—at least, what she could see of it on the surface—there might be a tracker on the card, because that sounded like something they would do.

Speaking of which, Hallez had a sudden jolt of paranoia, and wondered for a brief second if she had any trackers on her clothes.

Meanwhile, Lavi was saying, "It does make sense. Mercury had been missing for weeks, right? The messages in his temple were not being delivered at all. It's because he's been here the whole time."