Azure Striker Gunvolt: A different perspective

Chapter 21

Gunvolt's POV

I didn't see whatever Ashton and Malik saw, but it must have been important. When Malik said it was time to leave, I stopped him.

"Hold it. We have to get Joule. And as many others as possible."

Malik nodded. "I agree. However, Oracle Alexandra is also a priority."

My lip curled. "I want nothing to do with her. She betrayed us! I'm not helping her."

Malik gave me a grave stare. "You help us, or I don't help you."

I sat down in the cell. "Guess I'm staying then. I'm sorry Ashton.... I can't."

Ashton's POV

I gave Malik a side stare. He caught on. "No, we aren't leaving him. We'll come back."

I gave a satisfied nod. "Where to?"

He smirked. "The armory to get our gear. Then the Warden's office to unlock the binds, and the cells."

As we snuck through the cell block, I began talking in a low whisper. "So, Oracle, judging from what I caught, Alex isn't an Oracle until you use your Septima?"

He smiled apraisingly. "Very good. Yes, that is correct. Once I do that, I will become a Watcher."

"Oh?" I said in in interest. "What's that?"

He hummed. "Watchers aren't exactly alive. They are half dead, using Reverie Mirror to watch the current Oracle they are bound to."

I gave him a look. "What of Zonda? She uses the Mirror, but calls herself Oracle."

Malik gave a disgusted look. "Zonda is an outcast from our kind. She used science to take a watcher's power. That unbalanced the Garden of Harmony, or Eden. There are only two gardens left, now."

I frowned curiously. "If your power is sealed, how could she take it?"

He sighed. "By killing the one that touched the altar, the power either returned to the altar, or the Watcher. Because of Zonda, however, it went to her."

"Is there any way to release the power from Zonda without killing her?"

"Not that is known. The Watchers haven't had a council in a long time. Perhaps they have a way."

I chuckled. "How in the hell is Zonda Oracle of Harmony?"

Malik hummed. "She has a form for every species. That is harmony. However, when she took the power, it fractured her adept form into two halves."

I got it. "Like looking in a Mirror..."

We approached the armory. There were two guards. We both took one. Then we opened the armory up.

I got mine and GV's gear, Malik picked up an ornate robe and a really big scythe. He grinned. "For gardening! Heh."

We then made our way to the Warden's office.

Alexandra's POV (dream)

I opened my eyes. I was in a Garden, next to a altar with the word Balance. I turned around.

There were dozens of people in matching brown robes, watching me silently. I then got a horrible feeling of deja vu. So familiar....

One of them stood out. I then got a flash of this man, dead on the Garden's floor. He put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's not time yet, Alexandra. Just a short time longer. Wake up."

I opened my eyes for real as the man faded.