Chapter 19

The Order

Everything was a lie. It had to be. She so desperately wanted it to be.

Yet everything pointed to the contrary. The look before her. The voice, no longer distorted. The gait. Even the way he held his oft-famous blade.

“It’s not true!” a Guardian shouted. “How dare you take our chief commander’s form!”

“You devil!” another joined in the chorus. “First you kill him, now you would steal his identity! His very soul!”

“His soul was only ever mine.” Marcus’s words, lie or not, resonated. Those that had stood to challenge the man who was the Reaper were cowed before his words. He took another step forward, and with a snap of the fingers, sent bindings flying out that pinned all of them to the walls. Meredith felt her back hit, crying out in pain and struggling nonetheless, until Marcus was before her. Her lower lip trembled as he bent, tilting her head up to him, as he always did. “My true soul, if I’m to be honest.”

“I don’t understand…” Raymond grunted from within his hold. He tore against the bindings, nearly successful in breaking them apart. Marcus looked at him, though his hand still held to Meredith’s chin. “All this time was a lie! All your mottos, and creeds. All your teachings…you were just lying and manipulating us?”

“Manipulating? Yes. Lying…not quite. At least, I never viewed it as lying. Just an omission of truth.” Marcus the Reaper let go, walking over to Raymond. Inside her soul, Meredith felt sick. Not because the man was one and the same with the enemy she had long feared, but because of the way he looked at her brother. No disdain or anger, but genuine fondness for him. Loyalty. “What I believe in, that future I strove for within the Corps, has always been at the forefront of my mind. It just wasn’t enough.”

“You’re lying!” Meredith yelled. She pushed against the things that held her, receiving attention from all trapped with her. Many had gone into shock over the revelation, right down to Vivian, unable to say a word. “You formed an Order of religious zealots who couldn’t give a damn about life! You stole souls away! Used them for your own personal gain! And you’re calling yourself a hero!”

“You know, Mr. Montgomery said much the same thing. Bottles on a shelf, I believe he called it, or some analog.”

“Eddie…” Meredith breathed. The Reaper’s use of his name, so familiar, made her sick. Fear pooled once more. No. No, I can’t let him distract me with that. Meredith growled, and one of the bindings snapped off the wall against her resistance. “Why? Why are you doing this? Marcus! Reaper!”

Marcus let her shouts echo, not providing his immediate answer. It felt like he was letting the shock settle in, wash over them. He was forcing them into acceptance over what had now been revealed. He sighed again, reaching up to pat at his hair, gray eyes shining in the firelight.

“To save the world.” Vivian’s head slumped at this, her body defeated. Meredith wanted to give in to that same feeling, as though the world couldn’t be happy anymore. Not after this. She felt the tears, but she leaned forward, anger swelling in her chest at the souls inside Marcus, none of them his. “I tried, Meredith. I really did. I tried to change the Corps, and through it change the world, but nobody listened. They just sickened it, and before long, the Reaper was necessary.”

“Bullshit!” Meredith screamed. “The Corps-”

“The Corps is dead, Miss Childs! How can you not see it?!”

“But you killed it, sir…” Raymond said. He was standing, Marcus not having seen him break his chains. He held his blade, pointing it at the man. His hand was shaking, rattling at his shattered faith. “You led an assault on your very own Corps. Why? Why destroy everything you’ve built?”

“Because I could no longer do anything for it,” the man answered. Just as when he looked at Raymond with fondness, Meredith could see the sad resignation in his eyes, even if the souls inside him prevented her from reading that. “I tried, Raymond. I really did. But the more I saw, the more I realized how poisoned the Corps had become. They ran about, caring only for their own lives. Their own prestige. They didn’t care about the state the world had gotten into. What did it matter to them, so long as their own lives were healthy and secure?”

“Then you should have changed them. Made them better!” Raymond made the first jab forward, but Marcus blocked it, simply batting aside Raymond’s weapon. It flew across the hangar, outside of her brother’s grasp, but Marcus made no further advance. Raymond glowered, hand held towards his blade. The sword changed shape, swirling through the air and back into his grip. “That was your role as chief commander!”

“Do you think I didn’t try?” Raymond slashed again, and Marcus dodged. He hooked his Legendary Weapon back on his belt, blocking the next blow. When Raymond lunged forward again, Marcus caught his arm and held him close. “Raymond, my very first idea was to change the Corps from within. I saw far too much in the way of complacency. The way they throttled and choked the world. One of the few downsides of being a user of Soul Magic. So, I wanted to rise to the top. I wanted to become chief commander, and have them change their ways.”

“Then you should have worked harder! Done better!” Raymond attempted to headbutt Marcus, but the man twisted his arm, breaking off the attack and forcing him to drop his sword. Then, he let go, allowing Raymond to stumble back.

“What would you have had me do, Raymond?”

“I…I would have…” Meredith heard the defeat in her brother’s voice, and she strained through another binding. One of her hands was free, clasping at the ground for the Earth-Splitter.

“I reached the same point. See? Not so different, after all.” Marcus twirled his weapon around, sheathing it. He stepped forward, and like a father, hugged Raymond, holding him tight. “I’m sorry for hurting you, Raymond. Any of you. I had hoped, in some way, you wouldn’t need to see me as Marcus, but perhaps it’s for the better.

“I cannot stop now.”

“So that’s it?” Meredith shouted. Her fingers curled around the Earth-Splitter, and with the anger upon her face, she stabbed through her bindings. Marcus let go of Raymond, turning in her direction. “You kill. Destroy. Maim. And you look at it as salvation?!”

“The world needs a harsh medicine, Miss Childs. You know it as well as I do, blessed with this magic as I have been,” Marcus said. His tone was even, and calm. Though she was unable to read his soul, Meredith knew that he no longer considered her a threat. She was just another weed to step over. Another tool that had played its part. “Selfishness. Hate. Complacency at how easy their lives are. The Corps played a genuine role in shortening our world’s life. I know you’ve heard it, the cries of the souls from within our very planet as it shrinks into oblivion. But people kept going, believing in the Corps that had failed them so blindly. It choked everything. So, I came up with a plan, one that would fix what went so wrong.”

“You call this fixing things?” Meredith asked. She raised her blade before her, Terrill’s soul fluctuating faster than she could get a bead on it. Marcus looked at it, knowing full well what the blade was, though perhaps not what it represented. “How does this make anything better? Because from where I stand, you sound just like Rico, complaining about how unfair you’ve found life!”

“Ah yes, Rico…he was an easy man to manipulate, wasn’t he?”

“Don’t you dare deflect this!” Meredith took a shaky step forward, her legs threatening to fall out from under her. Raymond remained still, his eyes upon his sword as he mulled over all the words tossed around.

“I’m not deflecting anything, Meredith. Rico was a tool I used. One that dug up the detritus of the Corps and brought it into the open.” Like her brother before her, the Reaper now approached her, but she stood her ground, unwilling to give in. Her arms couldn’t move to swing the sword, not against Marcus, especially not as the Reaper, but nor did she take a step back, swallowing her fear. Overcoming it. “The people were so Corps-centered, they couldn’t see them eating away at the world. The Renegades saw it, though, and they had the conviction to see their mission through. So, I fomented that anger and used it to make a point.”

“You manipulated them and their pain. Saw it as nothing.”

“I didn’t see their pain as nothing. It was something grand. Something that proved what I knew to be true,” he expressed, stopping before her. The solemnity in his eyes nearly made Meredith falter, but she held tighter. “Something you and I both know. You just deny it, still clinging to the ideals the Corps has long since abandoned. That’s why you were the one wrench in my plan. I knew you would be, too, ever since that day I felt your soul reach out for the first time.”

“It was you…” Meredith gasped. Terrill was shouting inside her mind, and she took an unbidden step backwards. The Reaper’s hand came forth, and she could remember the first time she’d unintentionally used magic, the day she’d set out on her journey. That dark, cloying feeling that crushed in upon her chest.

“I couldn’t read your soul, and it intrigued me so. When we met again at the Sandshift Ruins, it was confirmation to me,” Marcus said. His hand was ever closer, trying to grasp for the Earth-Splitter, the object of his desire. “That’s when I knew I had to be all too careful. I had to make double sure that the Reaper and Marcus never appeared in the same space together, or else people would guess. You would guess.”

“But that’s impossible!” Conrad shouted from where he was bound. Marcus didn’t give him the time of day, eyes fixed upon Meredith’s blade. “You used Copy Magic, my magic, to create your facsimile of Marcus, but that shouldn’t have been possible. The amount of will and control over such distance.”

“Then you underestimate the power of souls, boy.” Meredith took another step back. Marcus didn’t need to explain it to her, and nobody else there cared. She knew how he had achieved it, right down to masking the fact that Marcus’s soul should have been unreadable.

“You put another soul inside the copy…the one with Light-Speed Magic…”

“It stabilized it, and it put less of a drain on my own magic, because it wasn’t my soul it had to draw strength from. I’m almost certain a similar effect was used with the Legendary Weapons and their seal. That, I daresay, is where I got the idea from.” Marcus stopped his forward advancement, though the lust in his eyes for the blade that Meredith held was palpable. His power bled through the air, and Meredith could smell the stench of screaming souls.

“When…sir?” Raymond at last croaked out. “When was the Reaper born?”

“Many years ago, now. A necessary evil.” Marcus turned to Raymond, and Meredith could see her brother, looking lost and confused. “Once I had myself in place as chief commander and I could freely continue my activities as the Reaper, it was just about biding time until I could locate most of the Weapons, and put my hooks in the Renegades, driving them to do as needed.”

Meredith wanted to move. She wanted to lash out at Marcus and slice him to pieces, repayment for all the pain he’d caused. He was callous and unfeeling, like a doctor who didn’t care whether he had to cut off the patient’s legs just because there was the slightest chance it would save the whole body. Her knees threatened to buckle, bile rising in her throat.

All his talk of the body working as one…he had never been referring to the Corps working as a single body, but what he instead wanted to make from that.

Instead of asking what she’s loyal to, perhaps you should be asking who.

Caleb’s ambiguous words had meaning at last, and the truth pressed upon her.

“She was always yours…she was always loyal…” Meredith whispered, certain that the Reaper heard it. Raymond looked at his sister now, hearing that one word he’d so stressed to her. “Cynthia told us she was loyal to you, always. I thought she was lying, but…”

“Yes. Cynthia was loyal to me. She understood what needed to be done, as both a commander and a priest.” Raymond was now shaking his head, like he couldn’t believe all of this. Yet he wouldn’t attack. He wasn’t moving against Marcus, and it wasn’t out of fear. “I was going to leave her as part of the Order, but things needed to be accelerated thanks to your stopgap, Miss Childs. The people were resistant to doubting the Corps after your defeat of Rico. Turmoil inside was just the trick, and now look where we stand.”

This time, Meredith’s knees did give out, hitting the ground and scuffing them up. Vivian raised her head, looking at Meredith while she despaired inside.

“It’s…all my fault…?” she said. Her head was screaming. Marcus didn’t answer, neither confirming nor denying what was taking root inside her soul. “I made you do this…kill Gaius…frame Jay…drive Tempest Squad to you…because I…”

“Don’t believe him, Mera! He’s nothing but a liar!” Vivian screeched. Tears were falling from her eyes while she ripped at her own bonds. Her head bent low, trying to pull them off with her teeth, but failing. “He just doesn’t want to accept the blame for all he’s done! He’s lying! Manipulating you just like he is everyone else!”

“And where would we be if I didn’t, Miss Lacroix?” Marcus asked. “The people don’t know better. They’re content. And every action they take of their own will sickens the world further. Leads to more death. More selfish corrosion. But under my will, under my manipulations, then only those chosen pass on.”

“That makes you no better than the people you hate! Like my father!” Vivian screamed. She had finally found her fight within her, her body glowing red as her strength ripped through the Reaper’s bindings. “You just selfishly use people for your own gain, dressing it as something better! It’s nothing but the path to destruction.”

“But have I ever steered you wrong?”

The question silenced Vivian, reduced the whimpering few into mutters. They were all questioning the man, but not about whether he was wrong. Meredith lifted her head, watching her brother as he faced Marcus.

“Other than this moment, no, you have not,” he answered. “However, this one moment…doesn’t it erase everything else?!”

“That’s your question to answer, Raymond.”

“What do you mean ‘my question’?” Raymond demanded. His voice had a near-imperceptible stutter on the end of it, one that no one else heard. No one else realized. His hand lowered a fraction. Meredith shook her head.

“It’s everyone’s question, here. I’m not a monster.” Marcus walked forward, placing that kind hand upon Raymond’s shoulder. Even Meredith could see it, how he regarded him and all those there. It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t a manipulation. Marcus’s words were an earnest request. “The Corps as we once served it is no more, but the ideals themselves, the ones we truly aspire to for a better world, live on.”

Live on…the Corps’ ideals…Terrill snarled, but the Reaper didn’t hear his anger. No one but Meredith could feel his palpable rage at Marcus twisting the ideals of the Guardians.

“Come with me, Raymond. The Order will rebuild the world, and you and I can rebuild the Corps. Together, with Quake Squad and Frost Squad and anyone else who wishes to be more than what this pile of ash was,” he insisted. His hand slipped off Raymond’s shoulder, leaving the decision in his hands. “For a better world. Perfect. Pure.

“Clean.”

The offer stood for all of them. Vivian didn’t take it, ripping away from the wall with her fury, but some who sat there listened to their commander’s words. Meredith felt her breath grow heavy, and she stood as best she could.

“Don’t, Ray!” she yelled, pouring all the meaning she could into those words. “He just wants you with him to do whatever he wants. He is a monster. He manipulated people in pain. He destroyed everything around us.”

“No, Mera…” Raymond spoke. It was soft at first, before rising louder in a wave of denial that knocked her back. Her chest felt tight. She shook her head. “He may have manipulated us but…we destroyed the Corps. Those people who ran instead of fighting. The ones who refused to stand and protect; who couldn’t save my squad. Even before the loss of life, the Corps was…long dead…”

“Do you even hear what you’re saying?”

“Raymond,” Marcus spoke, his words drowning out Meredith’s protests. “Please. All I ever wanted was to protect this world.”

“Can you say that to the bodies below, sir? What would you tell their families? Their friends?” Raymond asked. He had tears, himself, crying for the loss of life and his own part to play in their end. “Could you save their souls?”

“I would apologize, and give my life to ensure this world’s safety for a thousand years to come. I would make sure their sacrifice is not in vain, but a fuel for the continued existence of this world. To restore the proper flow of souls to the world’s soul, and to make sure everyone else doesn’t poison it further.” Marcus stepped back, smiling to his captain, taking the pressure off of him to make the decision for himself. Vivian had collapsed on the floor, grabbing her bow and holding it up. Meredith found her own strength to hold her weapon high. “If you’re so worried, Raymond, then come with me and stop me from using adverse methods. Guide me where I need guidance. Scold me when I need it. Be my commander, and help me lead the New Corps by which we will build a better world.”

“Ray, don’t listen to him! No one listen to him!”

“He just wants to use-” Vivian’s voice was silenced by one of the Guardians grabbing her from behind. He was one of two that had broken free, the others reduced to whimpers and cries. These two were not.

“So, what if he wants to use us? Wasn’t our creed as Guardians to protect and build a better world?”

“Not like this!” Meredith yelled, turning her sword on the woman that had taken Vivian. Marcus gave no mention to their scuffle, but his hands pleaded with Raymond. “Don’t do this, Ray! What happens when he decides this plan of manipulating the world’s soul isn’t good enough? How many more will he kill then?”

“I…Chief Commander…”

“I know your conflict, Raymond. I’ve been through it, too, but you need to understand…” A tear was let slip from Marcus’s eye, causing Raymond to choke on the air. “This was the only way.”

“And what about all the souls you reaped?” Meredith roared, and finally her arm swung forward. The Guardian was forced to let go of Vivian, pirouetting around to stand by Marcus’s side with the other that had stood. “Would you tell them this was the only way? Would you tell Silva? Would he even believe it?”

“They’ll understand. In time.”

“In what time?!” Vivian shouted. She held her bow back, firing small projectiles that severed the bonds holding all of the others back. “You took their time from them!”

“No, I didn’t. Souls cannot be broken. Just taken.” Marcus sighed here, and he looked pointedly at Raymond, holding a hand out, asking he take it. Meredith lifted her leg, feeling like she was wading through tar to make a simple step forward. “All those souls yet live within me, helping me for a better, brighter world.

“So, what will you do, Commander Raymond Childs?”

Raymond’s body slumped, even if his head rose to look at the man he had for so long admired and pledged loyalty to. Meredith stomped again, but neither gave her attention. “I’ve wanted to be a Guardian ever since I was a child. I wanted nothing more than to protect others. My trials taught me loyalty to that cause, and to you, sir. But I’ve been so confused. I don’t know what the right way is. Should I be loyal to the Corps? To its leader?”

“Then be loyal to neither, Raymond. Be loyal to what you believe in, regardless of what form that takes.”

Raymond was still conflicted, but he was coming ever closer to the edge of his decision. Meredith grasped the Earth-Splitter, her mouth opening, trying to issue one last plea. Through her, Terrill roared his own demands, sharing souls in their beliefs. “Ray! If you do this, there’s no going back. You won’t be betraying the Corps, or me, or anyone. You’ll be betraying yourself! You’ll be betraying the person you believed you could become by being a Guardian!”

“Make a choice, Raymond.”

“Raymond!” Meredith screamed, her throat ripping from the effort.

Raymond halted all movements, his body turning to his sister, a smile on his face. Her lips dared to turn up for him.

“I guess…” he spoke, the smile mixed with tears. “I guess we just believe different things, Mera.”

“NO!” Meredith finally broke herself free of her own insecurities and heartbreak, running at Marcus. Her weapon glinted in the light of the fire, and the two Guardians near him stood to defend him. He needed no defense, his hand still held to her brother…and he reached forward to take it. “RAYMOND!”

“For a better world, sir, I will help guide you. That the same mistakes aren’t made.”

“Then let us gather, and be off.”

“YOU TRAITOR!” Meredith roared. Stones launched her up, twisting around in midair. She swung down, the tears flowing from her eyes with a pained scream. Marcus looked up at her, his eyes lamenting that she had chosen so differently. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about his vision or his dream or his goal. All she cared about was stopping the man that had ripped everything away. She and Terrill let forth a scream. “Soul Scream: Stone Fis-”

“Gather.”

Marcus placed a foot down, and a shockwave radiated about the hangar. The ground from beneath broke near the gates, and from it, the wyvern arrived, Caleb atop it. He wasn’t alone this time, joined by the likes of Cynthia and Maria, the latter carrying two familiar objects. The wyvern screeched, clawing at the floor as it crawled over to deposit the three priests at Marcus’s side. Cynthia was the first to see Meredith coming down, and with a snap, the girl felt her legs freeze. She fell, hitting the ground and rolling away, right to Vivian.

Not now! Move legs, move! Meredith demanded of her feet. They ached and groaned, but Meredith attempted to stand on them. She could feel her frozen bones breaking. Raymond looked at her, just for a moment as she struggled, but then turned away.

“Goodbye, Mera.”

“Raymond! Ray! Don’t you dare!” Meredith stumbled over, her legs cracking under their own weight. Marcus spared her no further glances as his priests approached. “Come back! Raymond Childs!”

“Meredith, cut it out! You’re only going to hurt yourself!” Conrad yelled, his voice right in her ear as he grabbed her. The other Guardians were shaken, and Summer was in a daze. Meredith caught her eye.

“Summer, raise the temperature! Thaw my legs! I need to stop them!” Summer was conflicted, worried about the crazed look she was giving all of them. Marcus had reached his comrades, their group beginning to leave. “Summer, now!”

“I…all-all right…” Summer said, falling to her knees and running her fingers. The air around her legs grew hot, and Meredith took hold of her blade to stab the floor for leverage.

“So, what happened to that pesky Amelia?” Maria asked, flouncing over to her leader. Marcus shared a brief look with Cynthia, the two acknowledging that he had shed his disguise, and neither worried in the slightest for it. Raymond’s back was fully to her now, receding in the distance. Meredith’s toes wiggled, and though pain arced through her whole body, she tried to stand.

“I left her. She’ll likely be here soon, and we’d best be gone before then,” Marcus explained. The brunette bowed, presenting the two Weapons to him, but he just patted her on the head. “Roy was such a lamentable loss, as were the prisoners below. It pains me, but…well, Amelia is more of a hassle. Caleb, I do believe you can get us there.”

“Anything for His Worship,” the Beastmaster said, bowing low. “I see we have some new recruits. Is this the apprentice you’ve longed for?”

“Yes. Raymond. I know you two have a history, but we’ve time to work it out. For the moment, we’re on the same side. Correct, Raymond?” Meredith got herself back on her feet, and watched as the last bit of her brother’s hesitation vanished when he nodded. She placed one foot in front of the other, feeling like she was ready to collapse from the pain. “Good. Now, I’ll need the rest of you to get out of here. I’ve a couple Weapons to procure still.”

“Sir…” Raymond said. Marcus heard his implicit request, comforting him as he walked past him.

“Don’t worry, Raymond. I will not hurt her unless she gives me no other choice. I just need the Earth-Splitter and the Bow of Torrents.” He smiled in his apprentice’s direction, and Raymond nodded with understanding. “Good. Now, go with the others. I’ll be along in due course. We’ll have a good long talk then. I promise.”

Meredith’s last flicker of hope died when her brother gave acknowledgement to his orders. He turned and climbed aboard the wyvern with the others. The lizard roared, wings flapping and sending a shockwave rippling through the hangar. Then it took off, a breath of darkness blowing a hole in the half-open hangar doors and allowing them to flee. Marcus turned back, but he did not withdraw his blade. Meredith stomped forward, ignoring the pain she felt.

“Now, I wish to make good on my promise to Raymond. Don’t resist, Miss Childs. For as long as I am here, you have lost.”

“Like hell!” Meredith seethed. Her teeth were clenched in pain, but the anger she felt bypassed all of that, allowing her to run forward. “You destroyed the Corps! You changed my brother! What’s going to ever be enough for you if I let you take him?! Answer me, REAPER!”

Meredith switched her hold on the Earth-Splitter. Her soul reached for Emil’s and it answered, allowing her to bound forward. Fear was forgotten in rage and sorrow, and Meredith brought her sword swinging out. Marcus held a hand forth, two elements swirling inside. She had the swiftest of reactions to block the wind and dirt that assaulted her, sending her to the ground. Her legs screamed in pain, but Meredith slammed her free hand to the ground.

“Stone Dragon!” The dragon that she rode upon soared in the air, getting high enough above Marcus before crashing back down. The man shook his head. An arrow of light flew past his head, just missing, and he ignored it in favor of the girl descending upon him.

“Still the foolish girl I met in the Sandshift Ruins,” he sighed. His hand waved out, and Meredith felt heat near her legs. “I’d admire you, if you didn’t disappoint me so. You’re not chosen to save this world, Meredith. You don’t deserve to hold a Weapon. Explode.”

The dragon glowed a violent orange, and before Meredith could dislodge herself from it, the stone exploded with fiery intensity. She screamed. The bones inside her legs began to shatter. Then the gravity pressed upon her, sending her down to the floor. Her legs hit first.

“Ahhhh!” she screamed, the bones cracking beyond belief as she fell. Her elbow impacted with the floor, tossing the Earth-Splitter from her grasp, far beyond her reach. Vivian fired another shot, but Marcus deflected this one. With yet another wave, the gravity threw them all back, nearly incapacitating them. He walked forth. Meredith pushed, her fingers clawing at the floor. Her knees cried out in pain, unable to stand.

“There’s no hope left for your safety,” the Reaper said. Meredith glared up at him, eyes swimming in tears of fury. He stopped before the Earth-Splitter, refusing to face her as he addressed her. “The Corps is gone, and you’d have been better off coming with your brother. The offer is still on the table, to build a better Corps with me.”

Meredith struggled under the gravity pressing down on her. Her throat was drying up, unable to speak, but her eyes did all the speaking for her. She wasn’t going to join him. Not once. Not ever. He knew it, too, for he sighed, and turned to the Earth-Splitter, prepared to pick it up once more.

Someone beat him to it.

“Build a better Corps, is it…?” he said. His feet were clean, his footsteps like the coming of an earthquake throughout all of Corps Castle. The gravity faded around Meredith and she looked up. Her eyes couldn’t believe the sight, but could very much believe the soul. Another soul elsewhere cried, and Meredith felt that pain. “No. No Corps built by you could ever be better, because you don’t understand what it means to be a Guardian most of all. Not like her.

“I’m sorry, Meredith. Sorry for your pain. This was all I could think of. So, for this moment, let me fight to protect you.” Meredith silently cried.

Terrill Jacobs stood tall, physically real and visible to all, his sword rejoining with his hand for the first time in a thousand years.