Skyfall Chapter 11
The early hours of the morning approached. The sky was lighting up with that deep-blue glow that haunted the landscape before sunrise. I needed to meet Kato with my supplies for Eldon in about an hour. I rubbed my sore eyes and slid off the branch. I had no idea what supplies I would even be bringing to Eldon. I walked back towards the lab in a daze, completely exhausted. Once I reached the courtyard, I hesitated. I was too tired to stay standing up straight, and I swayed a bit. A few guards exiting the building glanced at me, probably assuming I was drunk or drugged. Eventually I stumbled through the doors of the lab and saw Kato sitting in one of the lounge chairs studying a clipboard. He glanced up from his work when I approached him. "Decipher," He said, setting the clipboard on the table in front of him, "you look terrible." "I get that a lot." I sighed, sinking into the chair across from him. "I'm sorry, Decipher." He said, staring into my eyes. I closed my eyes to avoid his probing stare. I didn't have the energy to hide how I felt. "What did you see?" Kato asked. "I saw enough." I said, my voice rough. "Everyone seems to know this about Misha. Why didn't anyone try and warn me?" "So I take it you found out his big 'secret', then?" Kato leaned forward and rubbed his head, "It's hard to say. Most of us thought you would be better off figuring it out on your own. I tried to warn you, but Misha promised me he was going to tell you the truth." "I'm sure he would have, once I pressed the issue so much that he wouldn't be able to hide it." I spat, my eyes glaring past Kato. I glanced into his eyes, "Do you think he actually cares about me?" "Absolutely," Kato said, "but that doesn't mean you can trust him...Although, I guess it depends on how much you care about that part." "You mean the fact that he fucks all the experiments he works with?" I snapped. "So you do care." Kato observed. "I don't know if I care, honestly, Kato..." I sighed with a low growl, "I'm just...afraid." "You don't care about what he does?" Kato asked, leaning forward, "What are you afraid of?" I had to think for a moment. I wasn't sure exactly what I was afraid of. "I guess I am afraid he doesn't really care." I admitted. "I've put aside the fact that I've been lied to, manipulated, everything...but, if he doesn't really care, I'll have invested so much of my time and feelings into him for nothing." The thought felt so juvenile once I expressed it out loud. "So you don't care that he's been cheating on you?" Kato asked, seeming skeptical. "I'm not even sure I can call it that. We never established that we were in a closed relationship." "Did he tell you he loved you?" "Yeah." "Then you shouldn't have to establish it as a closed relationship." Kato let out a heavy sigh, "Misha is...not a good person. You need to be careful of him." "What do you mean by that? What do you think he will do to me?" I demanded. I needed to know what he meant. I was afraid and Kato was the only one I felt could give me answers at this point. "Kato, I have no idea what I'm doing." I admitted. "I assume you saw one of his ravaged experiments in the basement, right?" Kato asked, "Strapped down and drugged?" "Yeah...a werewolf. He had Misha's scent all over him, and then complained about how Misha had lied to him about his feelings." I swallowed hard as I attempted to ignore the visual of the struggling werewolf. "Misha takes what he wants with very little consideration of how the other person will feel." Kato said. I could tell he was tiptoeing around the subject, but my mind was too weak to make him be specific. I knew what he meant; I just didn't want to believe it. "On occasion, Misha lies and uses manipulative techniques to make the other person go along with it, but he also isn't afraid to just take what he wants by force." Kato said, his golden, fiery eyes piercing into mine. "You understand?" I nodded and looked towards the sky outside. The sun was beginning to rise. "It's almost time for the final approval. I have some clothing for you, were you planning on packing anything else for Eldon?" Kato asked, following my gaze out the window. "Just my dagger blade." I said. "Then you probably don't need to be here. Meet me after lunch and I'll give you your gear and explain it all." Kato said, standing up and collecting his clipboard and papers. "Kato." I said, standing with him, "One more question." Kato kept his eyes on his board, "What is it?" He asked. "Did Misha hurt you?" I asked. Surprised, Kato looked up at me. "No. He never harmed me. We broke up because it turned out I wasn't his type. After about two years, Misha realized he was into animals instead of humans." Kato paused and rubbed his wrist. When he rubbed his wrist, I could have sworn I saw a black marking appear for a brief moment, but then it was gone as soon as I had seen it. "Being a human, his attraction for me naturally faded, and then I found out what he'd been doing behind my back." "I wasn't happy about it, but we remained on good enough terms. I forgave him a long time ago for what he did to me." Kato finished, turning his back and walking away. "Wait, Kato!" I said, walking next to him, "Misha told me that we couldn't be together because I wasn't human...isn't that some sort of taboo?" "Confront Misha on the matter." Kato said with a wave of his hand, "It might have been in the past, but everyone here knows about Misha, anyways. We all expected him to fall for you. It sounds like it was just a bullshit excuse to get you to lay low while he tested you out. Now go sleep." I stopped and watched Kato walk away. "Thanks, Kato." I mumbled. He waved in response. I began to feel guilty for involving Kato; I could tell it was stressful for him. I stirred in my bed as I became aware of a faint tapping at my door. My eyes slowly opened to the blinding sunlight that was shining into my room. Listening to the tapping, I remained still. I felt sick, sure that it was Misha at the door. "Decipher!" His voice called in. "Are you in there?" My stomach tightened and I felt the urge to vomit. I rolled out of bed and approached the door. Slowly, I opened the barrier between us. His smiling face on the other side filled me with confusion. He sauntered into the room as soon as I opened the door. He was wearing different clothing. It seemed very familiar. I assumed that this was the type of clothing that was worn in Eldon. He wore a tight, tan shirt made of a thick fabric and had a leather cord laced up the front, and brown pants that looked like they were made from some sort of animal hide. "Decipher! Good to see you." He said, stroking my arm as he moved past me. I held back a snarl. "You seem upset. Are you okay?" I closed my eyes. I couldn't distract myself with his new outfit anymore. "You said you were done lying." was all I could think to say. "Yeah." Misha said carefully with a puzzled expression. "But it'll take time to confess everything...I thought we talked about this." "I met one of your experiments." I spat, staring past him and out the window. Misha remained silent, as if he were waiting for me to rant. His silence was infuriating, and my muscles began to shake with anticipation. I decided to give him what he was waiting for. My head jerked towards him, "The other day when I said no." I growled as I gazed into his worried, dark eyes, "You had to find someone else to take advantage of because you couldn't keep it in your pants, right?" Misha had no response. He opened his mouth anyway, as if hoping some words would come out and save him from the mess he'd gotten himself into. "I just..." I stepped closer to him, causing him to cower. "Did you think I wouldn't find out? Did you think that this would just be okay when I DID find out?" "No! Listen!" Misha pleaded, stumbled backwards. "What about all of your experiments that you manipulate into loving you? Are you sure that wasn't what you were doing to me?" Misha shook his head, "I swear...I swear I never wanted to get involved with you!" He said. I growled, tempted to snatch him by the throat. "Never wanted to get involved with me? So you don't love me!" "Decipher, I do love you! I tried to escape you, but you kept approaching me. You kept trying so I thought maybe it could work!" He cried as he backed himself into the wall, "I never wanted to involve you in my life. I knew I would bring you nothing but trouble...but I stopped resisting when you kept reaching for me." My ears flattened and I stopped approaching him. I considered his words...it was true. He had ignored me. He had tried to escape me. The events flashed clearly though my mind. "You seem stressed. Can I help somehow?" "I have to go." I began to shake even harder as I realized I was the one who had done this. "What's so wrong about caring for someone?" "Do you know what I mean when I say I care about you?" I began to feel panicked. I sank down onto my bed. My breath was heavy and I felt faint. He had tried to warn me, but I was too foolish to listen. Misha slowly approached me, "I do love you." He whispered. "I know. I wasn't completely honest in the beginning, and it's true...I've manipulated others into loving me...but I was just lonely. I needed someone. But I would never do that to you." I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the feeling of panic. "If you had me, would it not be enough?" I said through grit teeth. "You had me...Just because I can't handle your physical demands all the time doesn't mean that I'm not there, and it certainly doesn't mean you can take advantage of others for your own selfish desires." Misha sat down next to me on the bed. "I'm so sorry, Decipher." He said softly, "I want you more than anything...but I have issues. I'm terrible, you're right. I don't deserve you, but I want to try and be better!" My heart was racing, and I felt like it was going to leap out of my throat. I swallowed hard and tried to calm my shaking body. "You shouldn't come with us to Eldon." I said with a shaky voice. "I have to." Misha replied, avoiding my eyes, "Doctor Hale gave me an official assignment." I didn't understand what exactly that meant, but I knew that if Hale had commanded it, it had to happen. I sighed and took a few deep breaths. "If you travel with Sheila she will kill you." I said, staring out the window. "I know. I'm fairly certain that Hale wants me to go so that this issue will be resolved." "You mean he wants you dead?" I asked, surprised. "No. I think he wants one of us dead. I'm not sure if he has a preference." I couldn't comprehend that statement. The fact that I was still completely ignorant to what was going on in this place dawned on me. Staring out at the sky, I imagined life back at home... As horrible as it was, I began to wish I had never left. I rubbed the deep scar on my arm absent-mindedly. There would be no returning. These thoughts were pointless. I needed to focus on the issues at hand. "Decipher?" Misha asked, placing his delicate hand over mine. I cringed. "I will link with you, Misha." I said as I stood and moved away from him. "But you need to back off for now. We will see what happens when we return from Eldon, assuming Sheila doesn't kill either of us." Misha nodded and remained silent. I glanced up towards the clock and saw that it was lunch time. I headed towards the door. "In the meantime, I expect complete honesty from you." I said, sending a glare in his direction. "I need to meet with Kato." I made my way through the crowd of people at lunch, not bothering to get food. I found Kato at a table with Caliber. They were both dressed in village clothing. Their clothing looked very primitive when compared to my stark-white shirt and black, silky shorts. "You okay, Decipher?" Caliber asked, his voice full of genuine concern. "I heard about what happened." I nodded. "I'll be fine." "Good." Kato said, tossing me my own village outfit. "You should put these clothes on. We leave a few hours before sunrise. Caliber and Sheila are leaving for Skyfall in a few hours, and we will meet them at the pass before tomorrow's dawn." I held up the shirt and examined it. It was tan with a deep crimson design sewn into the front around the neck and down the center. The design reminded me of Doctor Hale's uniform, the one I had seen when I first met him. "What do they mean?" I asked as I traced my fingers along the swirling designs. "Many things." Kato said. "I always just assumed it was a nice design." Caliber said, glancing down to his own shirt, which had an emerald pattern sewn across the bottom. "Very helpful." I said with mock disapproval. "So, Decipher..." Caliber began cautiously, "Will Misha be travelling with Sheila and I?" "No." I replied with a sigh, "I will link with him." "Have you two come to that drastic of a resolution?" Kato asked while Caliber let out a sigh of relief. "It's hard to explain, but we are okay for now." I said, holding up the clothes, "I suppose I'll go slip these on." "Decipher, are you sure?" Kato said, "Linking with someone is extremely difficult as it is. You might hurt yourself if you cannot successfully link with Misha." "I'll figure it out." Kato nodded, "As long as you'll be alright. After you've changed I'll give you your supply bag." I walked into the gym dressing room and slipped off my clothing. I pulled the shirt over my head. The fabric was thick and seemed durable. I stepped into the black pants next. The pants were firm and dense, and had some strange scales sewn around the waist. The scales were golden and stiff, but flexed with the way my body moved and tightened when I stood up straight. They seemed to mimic the elastic effect that my other clothing had. I wondered what kind of beast these scales belonged to. Some type of rare dragon, my downloaded information told me, but that was all I could gather from my exhausted mind. When I stepped outside of the dressing room, Kato was leaning against the wall with a satchel. "Here's your bag. It has some food, a water pouch, and an energy crystal." He said, pulling out a jagged blue stone that pulsed with energy. The feeling was strong. I could sense the powerful energy from where I stood several feet away. "These are hard to come by. Be careful with it." I reached my hand out to touch it. I felt energized just being around it. I was afraid that if I took it from him, the energy would seep into me. "How do I use it?" I asked. "Focus on the energy and it will enter you." Kato said, "Just like when you're trying to light a fire and you draw energy in. The crystal's only really for emergency use, though." He dropped the crystal back into the satchel and handed me the bag. "Because of the...recent stress that Misha has caused you, you'll probably need some of that energy to recover after teleporting." Kato said with a sigh, "Walking through Skyfall Pass requires your full strength; it is a dangerous place." I nodded and slipped the strap on the bag over my shoulder. "I'll be fine." I said. I wasn't really talking to Kato, I mostly said it to convince myself. My head jerked upwards at the sight of Misha, who casually walked down the hallway towards us. Kato and I remained silent as he cautiously walked around us. "Doctor Hale has another assignment for you to pick up before we leave for Eldon, Kato." Misha said, "He sent it up to the information desk. I think there's something for you, too, Decipher." Kato sighed, "Alright." He said flatly, "Come on, Decipher." Grateful to have an excuse to leave, I quickly followed Kato up to the information desk. "You've never had an official assignment before." Kato sighed, "Of course Hale chooses your first visit into town to test you out." I wasn't sure how to respond, so I remained silent. It seemed that Kato was talking to himself, anyway. We walked in silence to the information desk. A woman behind the desk slid two envelopes out towards us, "Hello Kato," She said with a smile before turning to me, "and...Two-fifty-seven? You're Decipher, right?" I nodded and took the envelope with my number stamped across the front. Kato's envelope was marked somehow, too, but he quickly slid his hand over the mark and snatched the envelope before I could get a good look. Kato peered inside at the contents of the envelope and cursed under his breath. "I have to run down to the medical wing." Kato said, quickly descending the staircase. "Go read your assignment. If you have any questions, I'll be in the lounge after I'm done." "Alright." I said. I trailed behind Kato and stopped in the lounge. I took a moment to reflect on the conversation I had with Kato hours earlier. I could hardly believe so little time had passed. I felt like an eternity had passed since that conversation. With a sigh, I opened my envelope. Focus. I reminded myself. Focus on the issues at hand. The top of the paper had my number on it, as well as some symbols I did not understand. I scanned the rest of the paper, my nerves building with every line I read. Assignment: Protect Misha Aras Description:
Class 5 Assassin of T.R.I.L., Sheila Duran, is unable to put aside personal matters. We are convinced that she will attack geneticist Misha Aras during her trip to Eldon Village. M. Aras is a vital part of our team. Your job will be to ensure he survives, as well as take care of S. Duran. Duran has become disposable; she does not need to return. Notes: It would be unwise to attempt a sneak-attack on Duran. It is recommended you wait until she is blind with rage. She has always had trouble controlling her emotions. Use this to your advantage. She is stronger and smarter than you. I read through the description over and over again. I couldn't believe what I was reading. This is how they deal with problem employees? My eyes wandered to the bottom of the page, where Doctor Hale had scribbled his signature. Someone sat next to me suddenly. I jerked away and shoved the paper back inside the envelope. I sighed with relief when I saw it was Kato. "Hey." He said drowsily. "Are you alright?" I asked him, attempting to ignore my own shaking body. "Yeah." He groaned while rubbing his arm, "I just had some shitty injections. Drugs are stupid. I hate them." I nodded, pretending to understand what he meant. He seemed a bit out of it. "What's your assignment?" Kato asked, leaning back in the lounge chair. "Protect Misha." I said, wondering if I should go into detail. Kato laughed, but it wasn't a regular laugh. He giggled and fell forward. I caught him before he hit his face on the table. "What the hell, Kato!" I said, shaking him. "Are you okay?" His face became serious for a brief moment before he burst into another fit of laughter. I shoved the envelope into my satchel and hoisted Kato up. "Come on." I said as I lifted him over my shoulder, "Let's go ask a doctor." I carried him towards the medical wing. I heard someone else laughing behind me. Her laugh sent a shiver through my body. I turned to see Sheila's intense, green eyes staring at me. "What's wrong with Kato?" She laughed, winking at me, "Is he drunk?" I narrowed my eyes. I don't know what she could have done, but I still blamed her. "Well, I have to get going." She said, still flashing her wicked grin, "See you two at Skyfall Pass, if Kato can make it that far." Kato was still giggling like a madman. I growled and continued towards the medical wing. If Sheila had done something, at least he didn't seem to be hurt...just useless. "Hey Decipher!" Kato said in between laughing as I rushed into the medical wing. "Sheila says she's going to kill you before she's done. I said that's not very nice but oooh well!" I sat Kato down on a table in one of the patient rooms, "Shut up and stay here." I growled, looking around for a doctor. Misha was flipping through some papers at the end of the hall. I searched around for anyone else, but it seemed he was my only option. I gave up and approached him. "Misha, I need your help." I said, pointing towards the room that contained Kato, "I think Sheila gave Kato some kind of drug. He's acting like a lunatic." Misha raised an eyebrow, "Acting like a lunatic? The nurse just gave him a few injections to boost his energy levels." He followed me into the room, where Kato was laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling with a grin. "He won't stop laughing. Is that a normal side effect?" Misha leaned over Kato and shined a light into his eyes. "Kato? Can you hear me?" Kato squirmed and nearly fell off the table. "Too bright..." He mumbled. "No. I wouldn't say this is normal." Misha said, tossing his light and examining some puffy, red marks on Kato's arm. "Damn it." "Is he going to be okay?" "Yeah, he'll be fine..." Misha sighed, stepping outside to speak with the nurse. "I gave him the premade injection that you left me." I heard her voice say. "Here's the note that you left with it." I glanced out to see Misha snatch the note, "Don't ever trust notes!" He yelled, crushing the paper, "If it doesn't have a keycard on it, don't trust it." "I'm sorry!" She cried, "You were right next door. I didn't think to question it..." Misha shoved past her, "Decipher, I'll be back. Watch Kato." Kato was stirring on the table. I glanced at his wrist; the black pattern was there again. It looked like a swirling flame, and when Kato struggled, the flame seemed to ignite. I held onto his wrist, it was burning hot. I looked around, the nurse had gone and no one was around. Kato struggled against my grip and opened his eyes. They looked like they were on fire, and I sat frozen as I stared into them. "Kato?" I asked quietly. He grinned and held up his arm. I was terrified. "I miss this." He laughed again. Suddenly his entire arm burst into flames. Without thinking, I snatched his arm and focused on putting out the flames. "Kato stop!" I begged, "Calm down!" Kato's entire body began to glow with a brilliant yellow aura. An intense wave of heat exploded from his figure and knocked me backwards. He sat up for a moment, and then laughed and fell to the ground. I tried to catch him, but his skin burned me. I jumped backwards as he crashed into the ground. Misha ran back into the room, "Dammit. Did he ignite?" He asked, jabbing a needle into Kato's arm. "I have no idea!" I shouted, shaking off my burnt hand. "What does that even mean?" "He was drugged with a toxin that is meant for capturing phoenixes." Misha said, carefully sliding a needle into the vein on the inside of his arm, "Typically the drug gives the phoenix a euphoric feeling before it renders them unconscious, but it affects Kato differently because of the drugs he has received as part of training here. In this case, it awakened his phoenix powers, while making him euphoric." "Phoenix? Kato is a phoenix?" I grabbed the side of my head. Phoenixes rarely take human form, and would never choose to live as one. My downloaded information chimed in my head. "Drugs? What did you do to him?" "Hale captured him many years ago." Misha sighed, sitting Kato upright, "Kato would transform into his human form so that we could communicate with him, but soon he became depressed and unresponsive. He stopped eating and became very ill, so Doctor Hale worked out a deal with him. If he stayed a human and enrolled in training, he would be allowed out of his cage." "That deal sounds familiar." I growled. I couldn't believe Kato had been an experiment, and that he, too was a prisoner. A vision of Kato as a beautiful, flaming bird, locked away inside a dark cage crawled into my mind. "Being a human, his attraction for me naturally faded, and then I found out what he'd been doing behind my back." Kato had said just this morning. I pitied the poor man; he had been forced to be a human, a form he probably hated...I couldn't imagine having wings stripped away from me. Would he and Misha have made it if he were allowed to have his true form? "You might have to link with both of us tonight. I don't think Kato will be able to transport." Misha said, jarring me back into reality. "Help me lift him up and we'll place him in the bed next door." I glared at Misha and shoved him aside, lifting Kato up gently. If Caliber and Sheila hadn't just left, I would have suggested Misha travel with them instead. Carefully, I placed Kato on the bed next door. I pulled the sheet over him and watched his black, swirling flame disappear. "Take it out on Hale, Decipher." Misha said from the doorway, folding his arms. "It wasn't me who did this. I wasn't even the one to work with him back in those days." I sat down next to Kato's bedside. I had nothing else to do. "I'll watch him." I said. "We'll let him rest until we leave." Misha said before he left. "Sorry, Decipher." "I suppose it's not your fault." I said, closing my eyes. "See you later, Misha."