Centum Malediction

Chapter 7-5

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

"I see what Prae meant about the enemy gathering an army." Fiona's words dripped with cynicism. The two of them pulled up to Chelsea's house in Fiona's car; the black van she commandeered from Mr. Yukinawa. Michael saw exactly what she meant. Chelsea's house was already built like a fortress. You had to ring the buzzer to gain entrance through the gate, then drive through the garden to reach the house. Fiona didn't stay near the house for long, quickly driving away as not to pull too much attention. The garden was full of several people, most in hospital clothing, equipped with a variety of different firearms ranging from automatic to simple handguns. They were patrolling the area as it they were soldiers at war, but they didn't look the part. The group was incredibly diverse, people of all shape and color with different types of clothing.

"That doesn't make any sense, how did Matt gather such a large army? He's not exactly persuasive." Michael asked as Fiona parked the car around the corner out of sight.

"He has the seal. He could have pulled a spell that caused this. For all we know they're worshipping him as a god as he displayed the power of one." Fiona suggested. "It certainly feels like a cult."

"A cult of Matt, a cult dedicated to destroying the world cause one too many girls rejected him for yours truly." Michael chuckled lightly.

"How can you make jokes when your girlfriend is in there?" Fiona snapped violently. Michael didn't respond. Fiona was right. This was no time to bully Matt. Bullying him is what got them there in the first place. Ignoring the stinging guilt, Michael followed Fiona's lead and left the car. Chelsea's house was still in view, but no one in the garden could see them given the brick wall that surrounded the perimeter.

Fiona was well equipped for combat. She wore her usual heavy black trench coat, her auranite blade sheathed on her back. Michael knew first hand what a force she was in battle and was glad they were on the same side.

"I don't get why he would go after Chelsea and not me. I'm the one he hates the most." Michael thought out loud to Fiona.

"It's possible he's doing this to hurt you. Right now we have to assume the worst. He's granting people magic in exchange for their loyalty. I've seen it before." Fiona theorized.

"Matt doesn't strike me as the type to trust people that easily." Michael didn't know what was going on, but he was confident that Fiona was wrong. "In the end it doesn't matter how it happened, we just know there's an army of people standing between us and Chelsea." Michael did his best to get a better look from around the curb, but it was impossible to see into the garden without moving into a position where he could be spotted.

"Matt was somehow able to gather an army at Chelsea's house. Any ideas?" Fiona asked. Michael was about to answer when he saw she had pulled out her phone and was talking with Alexander on the other end.

"Yes I know that's not a lot of information but what else can I say?" Fiona was already getting annoyed. "No, they aren't undead. They're people, regular people by the looks of it. I think he's offering them magic in exchange for service but Michael disagrees."

"There's only one hundred spells and there looks to be at least fifty people in the garden alone. That's not enough magic to go around." Michael felt proud of himself for coming up with that logic. He was paying so much attention to Fiona he jumped when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder from behind.

"Freeze!" Fiona wasted no time, pulling her uzi and holding the assailant at gun point. She must have hung up the phone as it was nowhere to be seen. Michael turned and saw Hector standing there wearing his usual butler uniform. His hands were in the air, fright on his face from Fiona's gun.