Strange Aeons [Book 1]

13. Missing Pieces [part I]

There was a new and happy atmosphere in Garaham's office, the morning after. The three mages in front of him were well rested and extremely chipper than usual.

Garaham, on the other hand, was his gloomy, serious self. Which could mean he was extremely elated or incredibly pissed. As usual, no indication on which was which.

«First of all, let me officially congratulate you for the shining victory you pulled out. Apart from the obvious hiccups, it went down quite smoothly and, believe me, if someone says that beating a 19th Rank Cabal should he as easy as breathing, they're lying. I know my brother, and Staccato has made abundantly clear he's not a newcomer in magic. You did good.»

The three exchanged some glances.

«Jefe... are you dying?» Chico asked. Garaham's frown immediately made them all feel better.

«And this is roughly why I tend to keep the niceties with you to a minimum next to non-existent.»

«Maybe, just maybe if you told them more often we wouldn't think ye're terminal the times ye did.» Banshee pointed out. Garaham raised an eyebrow.

«Moving on.» he dismissed the topic with a movement of his hand. «It's hardly the time to rest on our laurels. We've work to do.»

«Ah, aye. Why did you offer us to prepare the party for Staccato's concert? Hell, why did you ask for that concert anyway? Wasn't he just Justin's pawn?» Banshee asked. Garaham rested his head over his hands, his elbows firmly grounded against his desk.

«The moment you drifted off to Oneiron, Justin disappeared.» he revealed, looking at them intensely. «Hardly anyone noticed, everyone was looking at the floor to see what was going to happen in your duel. Even the Councilors were completely concentrated on the show.»

«Why you not?» Vopros asked.

«I don't like easy violence and I was sure you would have, to say it in a language more modern than mine, your asses handed to you pretty soon in the fight, and I didn't want to see that.» he admitted with extreme candor. «Plus, I was still thinking about the real reason Justin would have had to choose the Expendables for the task, and not changing his mind even when I called myself out of the game, making him lose his apparently precious "brother on brother" action.»

«Could he have changed?» Chico asked.

«Probably Algernon would have denied him the change just for spite, but that's not the point. He didn't seem disappointed at all. As if from the moment his decision had been made, he had lost all interest in what was going to happen. I was looking at him, then I turned to the floor the moment Chico was attacked by Irissa, and by the time I looked at him again, a matter of seconds, he was gone. And he hadn't come back, as you know, until the verdict.»

They all sat on the information for a while.

«Well, he mad.» Vopros said. «Maybe he simply remembered he had something else to do.»

«You see, the clear fact that he is mad, sometimes makes people lower their guard when he does something. You chalk it up to madness alone, and you think there is no sense in it. What if there ultimately was?» Garaham asked, as he stood up, slowly.

«You think that the fact that he wasn't there at the trial meant something? Pero qué?»

«That I can't possibly even start to imagine. One thing is to suspect that Justin D'Yves is up to something, another is to try and scour his deranged mind.» Garaham admitted, shaking his head. «Point is, we've been dragged into this mud pit, and I think we're not out of it.»