Full Spectrum

## Series

### Series

None aside from KOTOS in general, although some may consider it a continuation of both Foes and Heirs and To Defy Doom

## About the Story

### Characters

* Loden Adalwin
* Jacob Lavonne
* Delling
* Aurum Eyes?

**Written by yours truly (Haroldosaur) :P**

A change of image. A change of persona. How many times had
he attempted it in the past? He had been a child, a guard, a lover, a fighter,
and a brooder. He had said many goodbyes – some earned and appropriate, such as
when he had said goodbye to some guys he had escaped from a prison with – one
of his more recent farewells. Parting with battle-brothers in a way that didn’t
end in death was always a good sort of ending, so he hadn’t minded all that
much. However, some of his farewells had been a little more… bittersweet. Had a
little more weight to them. In any case, he had decided to make his most recent
session of hugging and waving his last. The past was in the past, after all.
And it had worked for a little while. But with his solitude had come pensiveness.
And with his pensiveness had come carelessness.

And that was how, nought but a couple of months after a very
dramatic escape from TheDude’s highest security prison, he found himself right
back where he started, sitting behind a desk and listening to some rando
wearing black and red rattle off his known history. Known history, as in, he
knew it. Quite well. And didn’t really need to hear it all again.
Unfortunately, seeing as how the man – Special Agent Lavonne? Sounded about
right – wasn’t privy to his internal monologue (a tragedy in and of itself, as
he took pride in how funny a guy he could be), he had no qualms with reeling
back info that was all too familiar.

“Loden Adalwin, personal history unknown. Rumoured to have
defeated Special Agent Calhan, also known as Calhan the indestructible-”

“A tragic case of false advertising.”

“-in one-on-one combat, taking his life in the process. You
also acted as an intel gatherer, guard and worker for several disconnected
revolutionary groups-”

“What can I say? People can’t get enough of me.”

“-until being captured after years of causing TheDude
trouble. Imprisoned for a time; a sentence all too light, many would agree. So
tell me why, after such a show of leniency, you would attempt an escape –
seeing as how a second capture would probably result in less pleasant
treatment?”

Instead of gracing Lavonne with a reply, Loden was content
to put his boots up on the table. The brown stuck out against the grey of the
furniture – indeed, the entire room was colourless. Even the lights were a
sterile, boring sort of silver. The only interesting thing to focus on was his
interrogator – and himself, of course.

“Do you have an answer for me, Mister Adalwin? Or shall I
take your silence as a request for an immediate incarceration?” Lavonne
pressed. Loden couldn’t help but let out a small sigh as he leant back, head
against hands, the picture of chilled out despite the somewhat pressing
circumstances.

“Please, call me Loden. The only Mister Adalwin I know
s’been six feet under for a while now, and we’re pals, right?”

“We are not “pals”, Mister Adalwin.” The man scowled, as
though the lack of fear from his prisoner displeased him in some way. Whatever.
Loden had no intention of pleasing the guy. Even if he was kinda cute.

“Oh, aren’t we? You sure seem a lot about me, then. If we’re
not pals, then what are we? Arch-nemeses? Master and student?” He wiggled his
eyebrows in a suggestive fashion. “Perhaps even lovers?”

Lavonne didn’t seem too amused. Not even when Loden tacked
on the punny “Or, y’know, Lav-ers?” to the end of his comment. Maybe his time
spent as a wanderer-slash-prisoner had been bad for his charm. Or maybe Lav
just didn’t swing that way. It was probably the latter, since he was, you know,
the devilishly handsome Loden Adalwin.

“Just answer my question.” Lav snapped. Oh-oh. No “Mister
Adalwin”. Probably best to humour the man, then.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly a matter of choice – I mean, did
you see what was happening?” Loden waved one arm through the air before
returning it to its position behind his head, as if to emphasise the grandeur
and scale of his escape. “Seriously. There I am, minding my business in the
cell – having a pretty good think, actually, doing a little soul searching –
you know how it is. The next second, the door opens and these guys are staring
at me. Then, without a word, they up and leave. I mean, come on! You really
expect me to just let an opportunity like that pass by? They left the door
open!”

“You then proceeded to assist with the murder of Grand Warden
Malesius-”

“Who was a complete – actually, are we being listened in on?
I want to call that guy something inappropriate, but I can’t do it if it risks
corrupting anyone innocent.”

“Rest assured, Mister Adalwin, you have nothing to worry
about.”

“Right, sorry, I forgot. Everyone here is already corrupted,
right?”

Lav glared at him. “Says the killer out of us.”

“Oh? Have you not killed anyone yet, good sir?” Loden raised
an eyebrow. An interesting development, consider how many rogues he’d seen
murder people in cold blood over the last few years. He would have humoured the
possibility of Special Agents being exceptions, but there had been that Calhan
f-

“No. I haven’t.” Lav’s words derailed Loden’s train of
though. “And I intend to keep it that way, which is why I suggest you
co-operate with me.”

“Otherwise you won’t be able to save me from capital
punishment?”

“Otherwise I might just kill you out of frustration.”

Loden, as he normally did when unsure of what course of
action to take, opted for his classic charming grin. “Fair dos. So… you were
reeling of the heinous crimes I’ve committed over the years? Bearing in mind
that my hand in Malesius’ death was completely justified.”

Lav frowned. “Then, after you escaped through the
destruction of a great deal of property, you split up with the escapees and
proceeded to spend the next few months on the run, evading our security forces
until we caught you again. And that brings us here. So…”

Picking up on the hesitation, Loden’s eyebrow raised. “What,
you want to know how I managed to keep my good looks throughout all of this?”

“I was actually thinking more along the lines of you as a
character, Adalwin.”

“No “Mister”? Well, I guess that’s progress…”

“You’re a hard man to read. So, I’m asking directly. Why
have you been fighting against TheDude for so long?”

“I see. Do you want me to mention the megalomania and the
dictatorship?” It was slightly unbelievable, the lengths some of the rogues and
knights Loden had met over the years would go to in order to preserve their
mental image of the almighty Dude. What tools.

“The unity, Adalwin. The unity.” Lav’s eyes narrowed as he
continued to speak, the brown Irises almost misting over as passion entered his
voice for the first time. “The seven kingdoms of Militiregneum have been
warring amongst one another for hundreds of years. The Morghai. Charles the
mad. Matthias and Vladek. So much infighting and chaos. And now, with TheDude,
we have a shot at planetary peace for the first time in recorded history.
Everybody united under a single ruler, working together in harmony.”

“Ugh.” Loden rolled his eyes. “Have you been outside this
prison, pal? The world feels more like a morgue than… well, an actual morgue.
And I have experience with both. You really call that helping? That… atmosphere
of fear that people live in?”

Lav sighed. “I’m… not going to pretend that there aren’t
some… kinks that need to be worked out. But as such, we are closer to achieving
peace than we have been at any other point in the history of this planet. And I
will do everything in my power to uphold that peace.”

Dropping the grin, Loden frowned for the first time – just a
small frown, no need to be mean to the attractive yet misguided interrogator
just yet – to show his displeasure. “You know, I remember a friend of mine
who’d just fill this room that he had with, like, creatures. Like, he’d pick up
an insect or something and bring it back with him. And he could sit there for
hours, surrounded by stuff I personally found just gross, not caring about
anything. Kinda made me realise that everyone has a different definition of
peace.”

Lav looked as though he were about to open his mouth, but
Loden quickly held up a hand. “Shush, Lav. Tell you what, as an apology for
getting off track, I’ll tell you why I took the opportunity to break out –
aside from being an opportunist, of course.”

Though still disgruntled, the interrogator fell silent,
possibly realising to what extent his prisoner had taken control of the
situation – and also pondering how slickly he had done it. (He was, if nothing
else, a master manipulator by this point.)

“Kay, here’s what you need to know.” Loden folded his arms,
and took a moment to compose himself. Then, the smile returned, and he found
himself back in full charm mode. “I was bored.”

The look on Lav’s face turned from irritation to incredulity
rather quickly, Loden figured, and he decided to spell it out just a bit
further. “You must realise, Lav, I thrive in situations that test my physical
capabilities and mental prowess. I live for the adrenaline. I live for the
excitement. I live for the love, if you know what I’m saying.” He winked. “But
sitting in a barred cell, day in and day out, with nothing to do but fitness to
make sure I don’t wither away? Not my scene.”

“You took the opportunity to escape prison because you were
bored?”

“Well, that and it was pretty much a golden opportunity.
You’d have to be thick as two short planks to NOT walk out of your conveniently
opened cell door and join your new magical friends on the adventure of a
lifetime. In short – I thought it would be fun.”

“Am I hearing you correctly?”

“I’ll let you decide for yourself.”

“Don’t waste my time, Adalwin.” Harrumphed Lav. “You’re not
the only case I have to handle today.”

“That so?” Loden mused. “You know, if they’re anything like
mine, I could probably help you…”

“They’re not, and you can’t.” Lav declared, before checking
the watch wrapped around his wrist and giving a start. “Damn it…”

“Seriously. I know how people think, and I’m good in a
fight. I also know how these revolutionaries will work, cus, you know, I’m one
of them. Gimmie a suit and some sunglasses, and I can, like, go undercover with
a suitcase full of diamonds to trade with ‘em – then take them by surprise!”

“That offer would be more convincing if you hadn’t just
expressed to me your deep personal loathing of TheDude.” Lav stated as he rose.
Loden subtly peered at the man as he prepared to leave. Was it just his
imagination, or did he see a ghost of a smile on his interrogator’s lips?
“Knowing you, you’d make a clean getaway with said diamonds. Probably even send
a postcard from the Southern Isles.”

Loden raised his hands in mock defeat. “You know me too
well. Lovers it is, then.”

“An unfortunate side effect of reading through your files
during attempts to catch you.”

“Did those files mention my devilish good looks?”

Lav seemed to ignore him as he walked towards the door.
“I’ll be in contact with my colleagues about what to do with you. If you want
any chance of surviving longer than a few weeks, I suggest you don’t try
anything.”

Smiling, Loden wheeled his chair around to face the other
wall of his cell. “All quiet on the Loden front.”

   “Want something to drink?”

“Coffee.” Jacob Lavonne sighed the word. “Call me a
stereotype, but I need the caffeine.”

“Figured you might need it.” His friend and colleague,
Special Agent Magnus Delling, shoved a cup his way. “Command really dumped a
load on you today.”

“Thanks.” Jacob reached inanely for the cup, eventually
clasping the handle with his fingers and sighing into the mug. The sterile
white mug blurred slightly, and he hastily took a swig of the liquid. “And,
yeah, they did. I met Mikhaila this morning, and it was… ugh, it was a trial. I
didn’t think it was possible, but I’m liking her less and less every day.”

Delling’s wide eyes narrowed as he winced in sympathy, the
greasy brown hair hanging over his forehead seeming to droop down slightly
further to mimic his mood. “That shark of a woman? She’s such a fanatic,
honestly…”

“I know.” Taking another sip, Jacob sighed again. “It
worries me whenever I meet people like her. How can we hope to improve the
state of this planet with blind loyalty like that leading us?”

“By winging it, dude.” Delling spread his gaze up to the
sky. “Anyways, enough about her. What else happened?”

“Well, then there was Adalwin to deal with.” Jacob found
himself even more drained as his mind wandered back to their newest prisoner.

“Yeesh. How’d you tolerate that guy?”

“I almost didn’t.” Remarked Jacob, before swallowing more of
the drink. “He’s got one hell of a silver tongue, I’ll give him that. I’m
beginning to figure out why he’s so hard to track down. Slippery as an eel, and
I could tell by his posture that he probably could have taken me down without
breaking a sweat.”

“You’ll have to let me meet this guy, one of these days.”

“Why?”

“Duh, to see if he actually exists.” Leaning back in his
chair, Delling grinned as he continued to drawl. “Not that I don’t believe you
– and, I mean, I’m not seeing Calhan anywhere around here – but he sounds like
one of those people you have to see to believe.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that.” Warned Jacob.

“Why, could he manipulate me or something?”

“No, but he probably wouldn’t shut up about it for hours.”
He shook his head. “That’s the thing about that guy. One minute, he’s such a
large and intense presence, and the next thing you know, he’s actually *flirting* with you.”

“Dude!” Laughed Delling. “For real?”

“Maybe.” Admitted Jacob. “Although, they could have just
been attempts to psyche me out. He knows people, Magnus.” He groaned. “What
really annoyed me was how he said that he broke out because he had been bored.
That he’s stimulated by the excitement of being on the run, or whatever. If
that were the case, I probably would have committed a crime long ago. I could
do with a little off time.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, dude.” Delling reminded him.
“I know that feeling.”

“Yeah, well, this guy seemed adamant about it. But…” Jacob
sighed, and trailed off, taking another sip of his drink. “Enough about him.
What else is on the agenda?”

“Well, our lead in the aurum eyes case has gone cold.”
Declared Delling, no longer looking as chipper about life as he had been
beforehand.

Jacob swore. “Is nothing going right?” He stared with a
sullen expression into what was left of his drink. “It all just makes that
offer of his seem more tempting…”

“What offer?” Delling raised an eyebrow.

“Ugh.” Jacob rolled his eyes. “Basically, at one point,
Adalwin tried to convince me to let him work with us to solve cases, because
he’s wiry and strong and knows how these revolutionaries work. According to him,
anyway. I know it was essentially a joke offer, because he doesn’t hold TheDude
in a high regard at all, but it was honestly still kinda interesting to hear.”

To his surprise, Delling’s brow furrowed as the other man
began to think. “That’s… actually not a bad idea.”

“Huh?”

“Think about it.” Delling’s wry smile had returned, and he
waved the cigarette clenched between his fingers around as he spoke. “We both
know the guy can fight. He took down Calhan. That guy was a beast. And all of
his person-manipulating and stuff could come in really useful. And – like, I
know he might not have meant it, but it would be good to have someone on our
side who knows both details about these groups AND how they work.”

“Delling, you can’t be serious.” Scolded Jacob. “You haven’t
met this guy. He can’t be trusted! According to our reports, he once fooled a
squad of troops into believing that he was TheDude himself, and they followed
him around for two days before the ruse was revealed!”

“That just speaks about the maleducation of new recruits…”
Muttered Delling as Jacob ranted.

“Give him and inch and he’ll take a mile, and worse – we have
no guarantee that he won’t betray us. Scratch that, we have nothing that’ll
make him want to work for us in the first place!”

“Dude, dude – just think about it.” Delling cut into Jacob’s
speech, waving his arms and attempting to placate his colleague.

“You already said that.”

“We could always, like… force him to co-operate.”

Jacob paused. Raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“We could put an ankle bracelet on him, only give him one
chance, and if he puts one toe out of line, he’s back in the slammer.”

“Maybe.” Jacob stroked his chin. “We can’t be sure that
command would approve, though.”

“Well, then, uh… could he prove his worth, somehow?”
Suggested Delling, trying to not let his idea lose momentum. Jacob nodded,
beginning to warm to the concept.

“How about if we give him an old case to study, and see how
well he does at it?”

“Nice!”

“Okay. Yeah, okay.” Jacob took a final swig of coffee before
setting the mug down and rising to his feet. “I’ll get in contact with command,
put this idea forward. While I’m at it, I’ll see if they can’t lend us an old
case file.”

“This is gonna be awesome.” Delling fist-pumped as Jacob
began to walk to the door.

“Maybe.” Conceded Jacob, before pausing as if something had
just occurred to him. “You wanted to see him in action, didn’t you?”

“...Maybe.” Admitted Delling. “But come on! What else
happens around here, anyway?”

“Plenty.”

“What else *interesting*
happens around here, anyway?”

“Plenty for me.”

Delling rolled his eyes.

   The internal monologue that Loden took such pride in had,

for the past few days, been nothing but repetitions of the word “bored” in
various funny voices. It had been entertaining for a while, but now it was just
one more aspect of his captivity that he had come to hate. For starters, there
was the fact that there was literally nothing to do. No yard to work out in, no
puzzles to solve, no people to chat with. A good chinwag or conundrum was
always appreciated – yet here he was, doing nothing day in and day out. He
would have thought that a high-priority prisoner such as himself would have
been given some sort of special treatment, but that was a negative.

Also, there was the jumpsuit he was wearing. Uncomfortable,
awkwardly oversized, and blue. Blue didn’t suit him. It just… didn’t. And then,
of course, there was the *food*. It
hardly deserved the title, considering how it was essentially just mush that
was eaten for the purpose of not starving to death. It tasted of nothing, save
a hint of dirt, the texture was too unpleasant for his tongue to bear for long,
and, to be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure whether it was a solid or a liquid.

From behind him, he could hear a muffled droning sound, plus
the occasional scream. It was probably something quite nasty, to be expected
from a prison run by people working for TheDude, so he distracted himself by
pretending that he wasn’t hearing the sounds of someone refusing to give up
important information, and instead decided that he could hear construction work
done by some very clumsy renovators. He glanced around his cell. A perfect
square, grey stonemasonry containing nought but his cot, a table, and two
chairs.

If there really had been renovations, he would have been the
first to volunteer his cell.

His dismal musing was interrupted by the sound of a small
drone echoing throughout the cramped cell, barely a second before the door
swung open to reveal Lav, who’s brows were furrowed and who’s arms were folded.

“Adalwin.” He greeted. Loden threw his arms up in the air.

“Lavvy! You came to visit! You know, you are fast becoming
my favourite special agent.”

Lav took no apparent notice of his words, instead choosing
to sit down in one of the two chairs within the cell as Loden continued to
speak. Who knew, maybe he’d manage to convince Lav to let him eat real grub at
some point. “You don’t have to worry about ever becoming my least favourite.
That honour will always belong to-”

“Adalwin.” Declared Lav again. “How serious were you, when
you said that you’d be willing to help us?”

Loden paused, turned to focus on Lav for the first time. Out
of all the things Lav could have said, he hadn’t expected *that*. His first reaction was to consider laughing, but he stopped
himself at the last moment – that soul searching had been… enlightening, to say
the least. Truth be told, his anger against TheDude had been… well, not
misplaced, but he had no real grudge against the guy, himself. He had just
needed somewhere to focus his irate energy. And there was the fact that Lav
seemed… different, somehow. Like, an actual stand-up guy and not a submissive
tool, like most of the other soldiers he had encountered during his years in
Morcia. Maybe things could change. Maybe they couldn’t. But despite doing what
he had done for such a long time, he hadn’t seen any change. Maybe it was like
they said… you could only change the system from inside of it.

Could he change it, though? He stifled a laugh. Definitely maybe
probably certainly not. But whatever the case, the cyclic nature of life was
beginning to tire him. He was *tired*
of swinging a sword, moving down grunts. The past few months, especially, had
just felt so empty to him. What was the point? All the killing, all the violence,
all the effort – what was the point, if nothing was changing? Maybe it would do
to break up the routine a bit. Try and see things from the other side of the
coin.

All of these thoughts, as well as others, swirled around in
Loden’s head, eventually emerging in a forced snicker and the words:

“I never joke around, Lav. Especially when it comes to a
cool pair of sunglasses.”

“Good.” Lav slammed a manila file on the table, leaving
Loden to meander over and take a seat for himself. “Consider this a test, of
sorts. How well you perform here will affect whether we decide to take you up
on your offer. If you want those sunglasses, you’d better focus.”

“Aye-aye.” Hummed Loden as he began to look through the
contents of the file. There were pictures of an emerald on the end of a
pendant, a large house, a middle-aged man with one hell of a moustache, and
sheet after sheet of notes.

“Mind giving me the abridged version?” He suggested.

Lav shrugged. “The man’s name is Arnold Regis. He’s a noble,
and he managed to avoid being shut down the TheDude by cosying up to him and
obeying his every whim for years. That pendant there was the one consistent
item of clothing he wore, and he was pretty proud of it. Used to boast that it
was worth more than the rest of his wardrobe combined. Anyways, he was visiting
Lord Vladek, TheDude’s advisor, and showing off as per the usual when Vladek
grabbed the pendant and declared it fake. Upon closer inspection, it was
revealed that not only was the emerald not real, but there was some sort of bug
inside, listening in to the lord’s every conversation. With the gem sworn in as
genuine less than three weeks previously, and armed security around the manor,
nobody had any idea-”

“-how the gem was swapped without anyone noticing.” Finished
Loden. “Alrighty then. Well, first thing’s first, that’s a picture of the fake
gem, right?”

“Yes.”

“I figured.” Loden grinned. “Nifty little trick, they used. They
ever teach you about gem-dyeing in… well, wherever you learnt how to be a
Special Agent?”

“What?”

“Never mind. I don’t know the formal name – maybe it’s jewel
forgery, or something – but I know that there’s this technique someone can use
which involves, basically, chemically dyeing a cheap sort of stone, like topaz
or something worth even less, to look really expensive – say, like an emerald.
Inserting a bug wouldn’t be any trouble for someone who knows their stuff
technically, and it presumably would have just been a matter of sealing the hole
using more dyed stone, and maybe a bit of glue. The way that thing is kinda
misted over means that nobody can really see what’s inside, which helps a lot.”

“It was called the “Emerald of the mist”, and it was
supposedly one of a kind.” Lav filled in.

“Yeah, well, in this day and age, I would have settled for
the normal translucent gemstone.” Remarked Loden. “I wouldn’t trust anything I
can’t look into. Anyways, uh… that’s a thing. Did lord whats-his-face leave the
manor between the “real” confirmation and the “fake” confirmation?”

“Nope.”

“Right. It’s probably a member of the staff – one lower down
in the financial pecking order, because that gem dying thing is a pretty cheap
technique. Bugging equipment can be bought on the cheap as well – as any
criminal or revolutionary would know, there’s a whole black market for that
sort of stuff, and because of the careless way rogues leave their equipment
lying around after they die, there’s a whole host of gadgets for people like us
to take our pick from.”

“Good to know. But what happened?”

“Patience, grasshopper. I’m gettin’ there. You said that
this guy always wore it?”

“As much as he could.”

“Makes sense. Jewellery like that is rarely taken off unless
under specific circumstances. Those circumstances being sleeping, washing, and
going through metal detectors. Now I’ve… uh… visited a few high-class homes in
my time, and though there’s a lot of security I have yet to see a metal
detector as part of it – namely because doffing and donning all of the trinkets
nobles have a habit of wearing would probably be a huge pain in the butt. And
it probably wasn’t taken while sleeping, because most people guard their stuff
in some sort of way while they know they’re vulnerable for such a long time.
Did lord ‘tache keep his stuff in a safe, or something?”

Lav nodded. “Higson-brand safe with a ten-digit
combination.”

“Yikes. Most people wouldn’t want to even try and mess with
a Higson. And, seeing as how manor servants aren’t generally trained in
safecracking, we can rule that out as an option. And that just leaves…” Loden
paused, before shooting Lav a meaningful look. “Lav, this is the part where
you’re supposed to say “washing!” in an awestruck sort of voice.”

“Uh…” Lav hesitated. “Washing?”

“Mediocre, but it’ll have to do.” Critiqued Loden, before
returning to his analysis. “Righty-ho. Most people clean themselves in the
morning, so to say it happened then was a safe assumption. I can presume that
Milord liked a good, long soak?”

“He tended to spend at least half an hour in the bath.”

“Just as I thought. Okay, so the question is, which
low-in-the-pecking-order servant would have access to the guy’s personal stuff
while he’s having a soak? I…” Loden laughed. “This is too easy. When Lords and
Ladies wash, they always want complete and total privacy, which means that they
probably left their clothes outside to be gathered up and prepared for them –
any rando servant could have been given the job of picking up lord Stache’s
garments, at which point they could have just slipped the real gem for the fake
one, quick as you like. There is, however, one minor issue – there’s every
chance that lord Stache would have left his jewellery in the safe until after
he had dressed, and if there’s one thing I know about this business, you leave
as little to chance as possible. This means that a scenario had to be created
in which he had to clean himself unexpectedly. This could be arranged through,
maybe, spilling tea on the lord, or something. The lord probably would have
liked the servant who soiled him to prepare his clothes as a punishment, which
would give the perpetrator even more of an opportunity to replace the fake with
the real. So, there you go. Lord gets ready for the day, our culprit brings him
a requested beverage only to have an accident, the angry lord orders the shamed
servant to prepare him some new clothes as he goes for a hasty bath, and whilst
they’re doing that, our culprit switches the pendants in a jiffy, whilst lord
Stache is none the wiser until weeks later.”

“Does that conclude your theory for the how?” Lav prompted.

“For the how, yeah. As for the who? Servants generally live
within the manor, so it had to have been a servant who made regular trips to
the outside world and who had to have kept themselves to themselves a lot of
the time in recent weeks, in order to made the bugged fake. They needed to have
had a good eye in order to study the exact details of the gem, as well as have
the job of preparing his Lord Stache’s clothes. Narrow down those criteria, and
you should find your culprit.” His piece being said, Loden leant back in his
chair and eyeballed Lav. “How did I do?”

Lav’s face contorted, as if he were unsure exactly what
expression to make. “Well, Adalwin, you just solved a case in a few minutes when
it took us closer to a few days.”

Loden fist-pumped. “Nailed it!”

Still giving nothing away, Lav gathered up the file, rose,
and made for the door, only to stop as Loden called out to him. “Oy, Lav!”

Lav turned around, and gazed at the prisoner quizzically.

“You’ve got me curious. Did you actually catch whoever did
it, or what?”

At this, Lav grimaced.

“Afraid not. We suspect it was Aurum Eyes, but we don’t know
for sure.”

“Aurum Eyes?”

“That’s who we call this newest big name. Think of him as
the new you. Him and The Drummer, that is. Between the two of them, we’ve got
our work cut out for us, and new revolutionaries crop up all the time.”

“Well, you’ll have to tell me all the details later.” Loden
raised his brow. “Perhaps, say… tomorrow? When I get let out of this cell?”

Lav turned his back to him. “See you around, Adalwin.”

The door clanged shut, and Loden couldn’t help but let a big
smile creep onto his face. Maybe this would be fun? One heck of a change of
pace, at least. He was working for the bad guy, yeah, but... it was… hmm. He thought
a little bit more. Was it really worth it? He came to a decision. It was worth
it, yes. Worth getting out of a damn jail cell. Did that make it the right
thing to do? Probably not. Could he, one person, change the system from within?
Almost definitely not. But it was an improvement.

He would take it and roll with it. He’d done a bunch of
batpoop crazy stuff over the years. What was working for TheDude, except the
latest in a long line of insane schemes?

He smiled again. Moral crisis solved. (For now.)

The next morning, he awoke to find his door open, and a pair
of black sunglasses lying on his desk.

   “Lav, be honest with me.” Loden frowned as her surveyed the

image before him, before suggestively raising his eyebrow and flexing his arms.
“Do these sunglasses accentuate these guns, or what?”

“I’ll go with the “or what”.” Lav deadpanned, looking
decidedly unimpressed as he watched his new colleague check himself out in the
full-length mirror provided. “And it’s “Agent Lavonne” to you, Adalwin.”

“Would you accept the compromise of “Agent Lav”?” Loden
offered, as he rolled the sleeves of his fancy new black blazer down. The
uniform consisted of it, a white collared shirt, jet black trousers and a tie
the colour of blood – as well as the coveted sunglasses. He wasn’t entirely
sure if he was suited to black and red, but he wasn’t wearing that blue
jumpsuit, so for the time being he wasn’t too fussed. A green tie would be a
good goal, though…

“For now. But you need to show me some respect.” Snapped
Lav.

“I do, don’t worry. You’ve caught me both times, right? I
respect that.”

“Good. If that’s the case, you won’t mind if I lay down some
ground rules.” Lav turned to face Loden, hands on hips, as Loden fiddled with
the cuffs of his suit.

“Fire away.” He smirked.

“Firstly, let’s get one thing straight. You are not, despite
appearances, a free man. Put one toe out of line and I won’t hesitate to throw
your skinny behind back into a cell.”

“Hey!” Loden reeled back at his words. ““skinny”?”

“To do that, I’m going to have to have you put this on.” Lav
tossed something Loden’s way. The latter caught the object, and peered down at
it. “A pendant?”

“State-of-the-art tracking equipment, based on yesterday’s
test.” Explained Lav, with a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Anything
conventional would be too conspicuous. If you do end up meeting with
revolutionaries, an ankle bracelet or a collar would be one hell of a tip-off.
As such, you should be able to pass this off as an accessory you picked up on
your travels.”

“Well, at least it matches the sunglasses.” Loden declared
as he slipped the device over his neck – it’s silver gleam was soon hidden
behind his shirt. “How long do I have to wear it for?”

“At all times.” Responded Lav. “The sensors built in mean
that if you take it off, we’ll receive an alert and come pick you up. Same
thing if you move more than a mile away from HQ without another member of the
team accompanying you and authorising your movements.”

“Duly noted.” Loden let his hand drop to his side. “Any
other somewhat dismaying news you’d like to give me?”

“Well, we have yet to set up living quarters for you. It’s
quite likely that this is only temporary-”

“Hey!”

“-so, for now, you can camp out in our break room. There’s a
coffee machine, and we can order meals whenever we want, so you shouldn’t end
up any more malnourished than you already are.”

“Man, you can be savage when you want to.”

“There’s also the issue of clothing – we should have some casual
stuff lying around, and if you’re not happy with that, I can get a stipend-”

“If you could, that’d be great. I have my fashions, you
know.”

“Noted. And, finally, there’s this.” Lav reached into his
pocket and tossed something else to Loden, who caught it, observed it, and
began to grin. “A badge?”

“Again, it’s temporary. But you need it to walk around this
place without being arrested, and-”

“*Man*, I’m looking
good!” Loden shoved the badge in Lav’s direction in order for the other agent
to view the mugshot used as a profile image – he had possessed the gall to wink
as the photo was being taken. “You see this, right? This handsome mug? Oh, wow,
this is so cool! I feel like a secret agent!”

“Oh, put a sock in it.” Snapped Lav. “How many times am I
going to have to remind you that you’re on prohibition?”

“As many times as it takes, Agent Lav. I can’t help but
enjoy this a little bit.”

“Well, playtime is over.” Declared Lav, folding his arms and
settling firmly into his default role of “stern agent person”. Loden had to
admit, the character seemed to suit him, though his musings were interrupted by
Lav’s voice again. “We’ve got a job for you.”

“Ooh, already?” Loden tilted his head forwards, looking down
upon Lav – whom, he realised for the first time, was not quite as tall as he
was when both parties were wearing proper shoes. The thought made him grin.

“We’re busy people, Adalwin.”

“Yeah, about that.” Loden impatiently tapped two of his
fingers together. “How about letting me meet some of these “busy people”, yeah?
I mean, I’ve only ever seen you around, and you’re great, but I’ve got to have
someone else to rebound off of, you know? I do my best work with a bit more of
an audience.”

“You conceited…” Lav snarled. “Not yet. Job first, and then
you can hold your little meet and greet.”

“Alrighty then. I’ll just have to settle for annoying you
some more.” Loden raised an eyebrow. “Where is the job?”

The job, as it turned out, was in the actual *boonies*. Several hours’ worth of a drive
later, and even Loden’s new windswept hairstyle – courtesy of sticking his head
out the car window several times – couldn’t distract him from his boredom. Lav
seemed similarly tired, which was slightly concerning, because he was the one
at the wheel. He was wearing his glasses, so Loden couldn’t actually see his
eyes, but he could still detect the other agent’s fatigue.

The sun was beating down on them through the windows,
soaking into the matte-coloured car interior. The men’s jet-black blazers and
trousers were now reminiscent of an ancient curse, sucking up the heat like
extremely specialised vacuum cleaners. The temperature was intolerable – Loden
had long ago thrown his blazer into the back of the car, and had rolled the
sleeves of his shirt up past his to his elbows. (Everyone knew that forearms
were some of a man’s greatest seductive assets. (And you never knew when you
needed to seduce someone.))

In short – it sucked. He had given up vocalising the fact
long ago (as it turned out, Lav had no qualms with threatening him at gunpoint
if he ever took something too far), but it *did*
really suck.

“We’re here.” Lav finally grunted. Oh, sweet mercy. Loden
was out the door before even observing his surroundings, turning away from the
sun so the fronts of his thighs could cool down. As he savoured the feeling, he
took a chance to look around. Lav had parked the car in what appeared to be the
middle of a forest, the ground beige with discarded twigs and fern leaves. An
annoying amount of sunlight had been able to slip through the fir trees that
surrounded them (they must have only entered the forest recently – Loden hadn’t
been paying a WHOLE load of attention), with streams of gold cast all around
the car and creating a picturesque appearance.

What Loden couldn’t really understand, however, was *why* they were here. He resolved to ask
Lav.

“Why are we here?” He asked Lav.

“Because *here*,”
remarked Lav, “is Aurum Eyes’ last known location.”

Aurum Eyes. The name rang familiar, and it didn’t take long
for Loden to remember why.

“That revolutionary? Like, the new me?” He pressed, wanting
to make sure that he remembered correctly. It probably would have been quite embarrassing
if he had goofed it up, but fortunately his memory had been on point as Lav
nodded.

“We received a report on his being here yesterday. We’re
here to… *confirm*, you could say, said
report.”

Loden furrowed his brow. There would be no real need for
confirmation if another agent had sent the reports through, right? Either
people working under TheDude weren’t the most trustworthy and reliable
individuals, or the report had come from a third party. Both were
possibilities. He decided to clarify.

“Who sent the report?” He asked out loud, not vocalising his
thought process whilst still positing the ultimate question he had come to.
That was what his methodology had basically come down to.

“A civilian.” Lav stated, walking round to the back of the
car and clicking open the boot. “We’ve put up wanted posters for the guy all
over the kingdom, and someone actually got back to us yesterday.”

Well, who’d have thought it.

“I’m, ah, gonna be honest here for a second Lav.” Loden made
a show of looking quickly around, as if making sure that they weren’t being
watched, before stuffing his hands into his pockets and ambling towards the
other man. “I didn’t figure that anyone in this kingdom was actually loyal
enough to TheDude to give info like that. Thought they would have just hidden
or helped them, or at least ignored them. S’what happened to me a lot, anyway.”

To his surprise, Lav didn’t immediately turn around and rag
on him for doubting the loyalty of TheDude’s subjects. Instead, he nodded
sombrely as he rummaged around in the boot. There were a large array of black
bags and suitcases stuffed in the storage compartment, and Loden was both
trepidatious and curious as to what might have been inside. Lav must have
picked up on his surprise, because he turned to him with weighted shoulders and
a heavy look in his eyes.

“I’m aware that a lot of people in this country don’t
appreciate TheDude as a ruler.” He paused, as if considering the weight of his
words. “And I can understand why.”

Loden raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. If this
was really some kind of big reveal for Lav, the last thing he wanted to do was
make an underappreciated joke.

“That being said,” Lav rose higher again, bolstered and
drawing strength from some internal force, “I’ve seen what he’s capable of. And
even if he hasn’t brought peace, he has great potential. And he has taken
important steps towards that goal.” He halted, thinking hard about how to formulate
his feelings into a spoken form. “Progress… takes time. A long time. But I
genuinely believe that we’re on the right path. It’ll take a while – we might
not even be around to see it – but one day, this will mean something.” He faced
Loden directly in the eyes. “I know this probably sounds idiotic to you.”

“No, I… I get it.” Loden sighed. Things had gotten pretty
heavy, pretty fast. There must have been a reason for Lav believing in TheDude,
a tyrannical dictator. And though he didn’t really get it himself, people and
motivations were both real complicated. Who was he to judge, when he had known
this guy for… like, days? “I mean, I don’t *get*
it, perse, but it’s… you know. It’s what you believe.”

Lav’s expression softened for the first time. “Thanks.”

Loden hummed to himself. “You got a cigarette?”

Lav wordlessly threw him a pack. A smoker as well? Probably,
if he had them so close to hand. Ah well. Loden didn’t intend to complain. He
pulled a ciggy out of the pack before throwing it back to Lav, who responded by
holding up a lit lighter. Smiling in gratitude, he held the ciggy over the
light until it was light, before taking a deep drag, letting the smoke fill his
lungs.

“I didn’t know you smoked.” Lav said. Loden shrugged.

“You think they’d actually give any to a prisoner?” He
laughed a little, like it was some kind of inside joke. “Besides, I don’t have
them much. Once every now and then. Preferably if I’m feeling contemplative.”

“Is that so?” Lav folded his arms, and looked to the
horizon. “Well, be sure to focus.”

Loden blew smoke out of his nostrils.

“You got it.”

Lav nodded in acknowledgement. He
then tossed something to Loden, who caught it more on reflex than anything
else. It was a handgun. Small, dark, sleek. There was a silencer on the barrel,
and a laser sight on top. All it was missing was some kind of magnifying glass.

“You never know.” Lav said, before Loden could even question
him. Personally, Loden had been more concerned with the fact that the guy had
actually *trusted* him with a weapon.
But… whatever. Call it sentiment, but Loden didn’t really feel up to gunning
anyone down. Especially someone who had opened up to him in some way. Besides,
he seemed to have some kind of thing going…

“Don’t forget,” Lav’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “there
are outposts everywhere throughout the country. If you run, you *will* be caught.”

Right. That probably had something to do with it, too.

Loden’s first thought was that the village (Kelna, if that was what the sign had said) was way too quiet for any sort of revolutionary or rebellious activity. His second thought was that a rebel would probably hope something similar.

The village was decently-sized, and showed a lot of signs of age. Many of the houses didn’t have any indication of electrical power, and it was obvious that the plumbing and waterworks systems were still under construction. (They could also have been damaged, but there were too many men sitting around and drinking from thermoses for that to be the case.) Before long, the two agents passed by an old stone church, the cobbles teetering on top of one another. The dying sun’s golden rays illuminated one side, creating a brilliant-looking image as the light and shadow met. A more poetic person may well have had a lot to say about such imagery, but Loden was not such a person, and so walked on, giving the old building little more than a second glance.

Loden’s blazer was slung over his shoulder, because it was still quite warm. It wasn’t the most professional image, but it was for the sake of practicality (which was probably why Lav hadn’t commented on it). It also made him look… well, blazer on/off was cool either way, but the blazer-on-shoulder look was something more casually attractive. Always a positive. He couldn’t help but notice, however, a distinct lack of something rather important in this village.

People. It was people.

Not that the streets were completely empty, but Loden would have normally expected the place to be more… bustling with activity. Late afternoon was often when people left for home after working at their jobs for the day, and yet there were very few people in the streets. The few who were out blanched, back away, and otherwise revealed healthy amounts of fear (with dashes of disdain here and there) at the sight of the two. It wasn’t too hard to guess why, however.

“I’m guessing that people know we’re working for TheDude.” Loden muttered to Lav, taking another drag of cigarette. It left something of a smoky taste in his mouth, but whatever. Lav nodded once, curtly, not turning around to look at his companion as he talked.

“Representatives of TheDude aren’t normally welcome in areas such as this.” He acknowledged. “This village – Kelna – has particular reason to be… unforthcoming, however.”

Loden raised an eyebrow, and motioned for Lav to continue.

“Earlier this year, there was an… incident in this village. A group of rebels were found to be camping out here, just under the nose of the local garrison. We struggled to apprehend them, they struggled to get away, and these villagers were caught in the crossfire.”

“I see.” Loden nodded, hit with a sobering sort of feeling. It was one thing to hear people had died – or even to take their lives – but it was quite another to see the repercussions of death, especially sudden death. Everyone reacted differently, but once they had seen death, their eyes always looked a little haunted to Loden.

He saw that haunted expression everywhere these days. Whether he was talking to a stranger, or looking into a mirror.

“How many, uh, deaths?” He found himself saying. Lav paused, briefly, before schooling his expression into one of indifference and beginning to walk again.

“Eleven rebels. Six soldiers of TheDude’s army.” He paused again. “Three villagers.”

Loden nodded, acknowledging Lav’s words. Yes, he had definitely heard of larger incidents – incidents with a higher kill count – but that didn’t nullify what had happened here. It never would, probably, to whomever had been in the village at the time. Those memories had a habit of staying with people.

The gold of the setting sun was slowly turning to orange as the star sank lower in the sky, and Loden began to look around quizzically. There was every chance that they would end up staying the night, at this rate. It would definitely be best to at least have some kind of backup plan in mind, unless Lav was comfortable with sleeping in the car. Loden certainly wasn’t – he may have slept in rough places before, but getting used to something was entirely different from actually wanting to do it. Before Loden could actually bring this up to Lav, however, the agent smartly tapped him on the shoulder.

“We’re here.” He muttered, and Loden realised that the two were standing in front of a relatively sizable house. Of course, Loden had seen much better, but compared to the practical huts to be found elsewhere in the village, it was very generously sized. At least two stories tall. Dried and decaying paint was stripping off the walls, shining an electric blue in the sun’s dying embers.

“So, whoever reported seeing Aurum Eyes lives here?” Loden asked. For clarification. Because Lav wasn’t particularly wordy, which meant he wasn’t particularly explanatory, Loden figured that it’d be best to take up the inquisitive role when around him. Because it was important to actually know things.

“Yes.” Lav nodded, before striding up the driveway. Coming to a halt in front of the unpainted door, he made a fist and smartly rapped on the door thrice. A moment passed – then Loden began to hear footsteps. The door was unlocked, and then opened, to reveal the house’s inhabitant.

The woman who had answered the door possessed olive/slightly dark skin and much darker hair, and an average-ish height. (Maybe an inch or two above average.) Her hair, as well as being basically black, was fairly messy, tied into a casual braid and slung over her shoulder – she cared about appearances to a certain extent, but not so much as to rigorously style it. Or maybe she was just having a lazy day. She was wearing a bell-sleeved shirt, with a line of stitching in one of the sleeves. Possibly clumsy or accident-prone, given the size of the rip – though it might not have been her fault. There was a sewing needle embedded in the hanging sleeve, though, so she had almost definitely repaired it herself…

Loden mentally slapped himself before he could go into any further analysis, and forced himself to listen to the conversation she was having with Lav.

“…the one who reported the sighting of the criminal known as Aurum Eyes?” His colleague was saying, arms folded and staring the woman down, obviously insuring that she answered truthfully – just in case. The woman, for her part, seemed to be unwilling to give an inch, and straightened her stance as she looked up and into Lav’s eyes.

“That was me, yeah.” She said, voice surprisingly casual given her intense body language.

“We’re representatives of TheDude, here to apprehend the rebel.” Lav explained – though their attire probably made something similar obvious. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to come in and talk about what you saw. We’ll need all the details if we want a good chance of arresting this criminal.”

The woman nodded.

“Ok, sure. Just wipe your feet.”

With that, she broke eye contact with Lav, turning on her heel and heading back inside the house. Looking down, Loden eyed the bristling doormat, which was emblazoned with the words “the neighbours have better stuff”.

“You heard the lady.” He told Lav, failing to keep the humour out of his voice as he stubbed the cigarette on his trouser leg. (Smoking indoors wasn't exactly the most social thing to do.) “Wipe your feet off.”

Maybe this wouldn’t turn out so bad.

“So.” Lav declared out loud, placing himself in a rickety
wooden seat as he stared the woman down – debunking the theory Loden had heard,
about how no-one in real life started a sentence with “so”. “Where did you see
him?”

The woman’s irises rose high in her eyes as she began to
recollect the details. Loden focused on them. They were a light brown, with
what looked to be strips of amber – but more importantly, they were angled to
her right. Left was creating a story, right was remembering information.
Everyone worth their salt knew that. Not to say that she was *definitely* telling the truth, but she *probably* was. Unless it was that other
system of eye movement, in which case he had no idea what looking upwards and
right meant. Reading people could be a very tricksy business sometimes.

“I saw him when I was in the pub.” She said.

“Which pub?” Lav furrowed his brow. Loden, who was sitting
to the left of him (with the two of them opposite the woman, sitting on the
other side of a table), leaned back and contented himself with listening
closely. He had a feeling that neither would appreciate his input, no matter
how insightful or hilarious it might have been.

“There’s only one pub in this town.” The woman informed
them, folding her arms. “It’s called the “Silver Hind”.”

Lav nodded, reaching into his jacket. For a moment, Loden
thought he was reaching for a gun, but instead, he pulled out a pen and a pad
of paper, immediately uncapping the former and beginning to write information
down. The woman watched this for a moment, her expression slowly morphing into
something more quizzical. Then she spoke once again.

“You aren’t going to ask me what I was doing there, or
anything?”

Lav cracked what Loden figured was as close as he could
contractually get to a smile, halting his writing to focus on the woman.

“This isn’t a murder investigation, ma’am.” He explained.
“You don’t need to justify yourself to us. All we care about where and when you
saw Aurum Eyes, and what he was doing.”

“*And* where exactly
that pub is.” Loden added. “I could kill for a drink.”

Lav frowned. The woman smirked. Know thine audience.

Lav looked as though he was about to remind Loden that where
the pub specifically was would probably fall under the jurisdiction of where
exactly Aurum Eyes had been sighted, but made a visible attempt to restrain
himself. Which was more than Loden had been able to do, admittedly. Though he
was probably only trying to make a good impression on the witness, or something
formal like that.

“*Well*.” The woman
spoke first, thankfully, leaning forward and onto the table with her elbows.
Her hands meshed together to form a bridge, on which rested her chin. “When I
looked at the clock after being sure it was him I had seen, it was about ten
minutes past ten. Maybe one or two more.”

Lav nodded, brows so furrowed they looked like a unibrow, as
he continued to scribble notes down onto his pad. The ballpoint pen made a
dull, slightly irritating scratching noise as it travelled across the yellow
notepad.

“He was…” The woman pursed her lips as, presumably, she
focused on recollecting the specifics. “Well, he wasn’t drinking. Probably
because he wanted to stay alert, or something. I mean, he wouldn’t have been
able to evade capture for as long as you guys have been saying without staying
on his toes the whole time.”

She’d be surprised, reckoned Loden, though he didn’t voice
this opinion. He’d been able to cut loose plenty of times as a rebel. Forgotten
about his problems, and enjoyed some find food, drink, and company. Wasn’t like
it had been impossible, though it helped that no-one had actually known what he
looked like for years. Admittedly, he had been captured twice, but he had been
drunk precisely neither of those times.

“What *was* he
doing?” Pressed Lav, who was clearly desperate for details. Not that Loden
hadn’t already twigged, but it was obvious that the guy really cared about his
job.

“Reading, I think.” The woman said, which startled Loden a
bit. After all, reading wasn’t what someone would typically do in a pub. There
were plenty of places to read. Why in a pub, of all places? Unless… the guy
must have hand some other motive, some other reason to be there. But what could
it have been? Considering he was apparently a rebel and wanted man, it couldn’t
have been anything… well, couldn’t have been anything *objectively* good. Maybe he had just been, like, stalling for time,
or something.

“Anything else?” Pressed Lav, looking very thoughtful. The
woman thought about the question for a brief moment, and then shook her head
apologetically.

“No, ‘fraid not. He was just reading.”

Lav sighed. Loden peered at his companion quizzically.

“Well, at least that’s *something*.”
He reasoned. “It’s always good to have, like, something to work off of.”

“I guess.” Muttered Lav, though he didn’t look too happy
about the whole situation. Seeing the man begin to enter a train of thought,
Loden hurriedly turned to the woman.

“So, how ‘bout that pub?” He kept his voice cool. Super
cool. Uber cool. “You know where it is?”

The woman smiled again.

“It’s a couple of streets away. I can, uh, walk you guys
there if you want.” Her face looked a cross between apologetic and eager.
“You’re not the only one who needs a drink.”

“Sounds positively delightful.” Loden purred, pulling Lav to
his feet without breaking eye contact. Lav, however, was still in thought – at
least, he was until he turned to the woman with an outright *startled* expression on his face.

“I know you.” He stated, simply. Loden raised an eyebrow,
curious by this strange development. The woman blanched. Then narrowed her
eyes. Then swore.

“Look, I’m not involved with this guy, if that’s what you’re
saying.” She held her hands up, defensively. “I only got released last month.
I’m not looking for any trouble.”

Hold up. Released? Who was this woman? Loden gave Lav – who
was now glowering back – a sideways gaze.

“*I’m lost*.” He
hissed. Lav seemed to ignore him for a moment, before sighing a sigh that Loden
was fast becoming familiar with, and turning around to face him.

“Amelia Browne.” He stated, filling Loden in. “Arrested early
this year – around the same time as your breakout, actually – for rebellious
activities. Released approximately four weeks ago-”

“A month, just say a month.” Amelia rolled her eyes. “It’s
simpler.”

“Released after serving a six-month sentence.”

“Six-month?” Loden raised an eyebrow. “I expected harsher.”

Lav sighed through his teeth, and faced Loden with a dour
expression.

“It was the aftermath of that incident I was telling you
about earlier.” He explained. “Things were a mess here. Besides, there wasn’t
any physical evidence that she was involved in it – just eyewitness accounts.”

“And those are enough to land someone in custody for six
months?” Loden asked, folding his arms. Man, that sounded crap. Now he was glad
he had taken up Lav’s job offer – without it, he probably would have been
either executed, or imprisoned for, like, three lifetimes.

“Better safe than sorry.” Muttered Lav, though Loden noticed
that he didn’t seem too happy at the idea himself.

Amelia, for her part, sighed. She shot Loden a sympathetic
glance, presumably to make up for the fact that he didn’t know what was going
on. Which was nice of her.

“Look. Believe me when I say that I don’t want any part in
any sort of rebellion any more. People died back there. That was something I never
wanted.” She turned to face Lav, looking sorrowful. “I don’t know if you knew
this, but my brother was one of the people killed. And he was a civilian.” She
turned away. “He was just… caught in the crossfire. Caught up in our fight.”
She breathed in, heavily, then turned back to the two men. “So, no. I don’t… I
don’t want to fight any more. I won’t let myself cross that line again.”

“Well, if this ain’t getting heavy…” Loden muttered, rubbing
the back of his neck and glancing toward the ceiling (over actually looking
anyone in the eyes). He felt bad for this Amelia, definitely, but it wasn’t
exactly anything he hadn’t seen before by this point. It was depressing, yeah,
but… that was just the state of the world. That was how things were. Tragedy was
everywhere, and you only really escape it through naiveté, blind optimism,
cutting yourself off from current events, or non-sobriety. Not to say that you
couldn’t *try* to do good, but you had
to at least accept the fact that things were pretty garbage as they were.

But enough depressing thoughts. Speaking of non-sobriety…

“So, um. Yeah.” He turned his attention back to Lav and
Amelia. “If it’s alright with you, I’m, uh… I’m definitely up for a drink.”

Amelia gave him a half-smile. “Sure.”

The night had fully settled. Instead of any remnants of
sunlight, the moon’s soft grey glow glinted through the bar windows. The silver
hind was a moderately sized joint, which was a pleasant surprise – especially
considering the small nature of the village. A few hours had passed, and
darkness had fallen. Rather than go back and sleep in the car, Lav had insisted
on a stakeout in the bar.

“If Aurum Eyes appears again,” he had said, “I want to be
able to apprehend him straight away”.

Loden, eager to avoid both annoying the man and actually
finishing the job sooner – he’d rather relax in a tavern than spend his time in
a Dude base – neglected to mention the fact that two tired agents would
probably have trouble taking down one alert rebel by themselves, especially if
this guy was as good as they said.

Hence, for the past evening, Loden had been sitting on the
other side of the bar from Lav, eying all of his fellow agent’s blind spots
whilst subtly ordering a drink every time he figured that the man wouldn’t
notice. Damned if he was going to do nothing but sit on his ass the entire
night and get nothing out of it. The woman, Amelia, was with him. Sharing a
drink with him in secret every hour or two. She had turned out to be quite good
company, all things considered. A straight talker, someone who didn’t mince her
words. But, at the same time, she had quite the engaging sense of humour. He
had almost definitely laughed more times in the past evening than he had in the
past… year, maybe. Some time to slow down and catch his breath – not imprisoned
and not on the run. He almost forgot about the whole stakeout thing until he
caught sight of Lav glaring at him from the other side of the room, at which
point he reluctantly forced himself to stop laughing, eyes flashing downwards
to make sure that his drink was out of sight.

“You alright?” On top of everything else, he had to admit
that this Amelia was a sharp as a tack. He sighed.

“Supposed to be on a stakeout.” He waved his hand idly,
giving the bar a once-over. Suddenly, he realised something. “Oh, you’ve got to
be kidding me…!” He chuckled, and slowly upgraded to laughing again. He
couldn’t help it. Him and Lav both – what a cock-up!

“What is it?” Amelia asked him, sounding almost concerned as
he descended into hysterics.

“I – don’t know – what this guy looks like!” He wheezed. It
was true. Lav had never actually showed him a picture or poster of Aurum Eyes,
and he had never asked. Of course, it was possible that people didn’t know what
this guy actually looked like, but how would have a sighting been reported if
Aurum Eyes’ face wasn’t common knowledge.

“You’re *kidding*
me.” Amelia sounded a mixture of surprised, annoyed, and stricken with mirth as
she snorted out the words. “*You’re*
kidding me*.”*

“Nope!” Loden was still busy cackling like a hyena.

“Okay, okay, okay.” Amelia raised her hands, coughing as she
laughed. “How about I help you in this whole stakeout thing? If I see Aurum
Eyes, I can point him out to you- oh, *shoot*!”

The tone in her voice suddenly change. Loden snapped into
alertness – though his laughter was still wearing off, he felt adrenaline pulse
through his body as his hand automatically twitched towards his blazer. For a
second, he wasn’t sure who he was looking for. He eyed Amelia, who indicated
with an eye twitch of her own. His gaze followed hers, and – was that Aurum
Eyes? He looked familiar.

Oh.

*Oh.*

Loden turned to Amelia. He was trying to be discreet, yes,
but at the same time – holy moly.

“That’s him?” He hissed. She nodded. Loden anxiously turned
back to Lav, who had (of course) noticed the man as well, and was trying to
signal to Loden as subtly as possible. Loden nodded, to show that he had
understood. He stood up, ignoring Amelia’s “speak of the devil” remark, and
donned his sunglasses as quickly as possible. Hopefully they would combine with
the pub’s bad lighting and age to render him unrecognisable. If nothing else,
arresting a friend as old and out-of-contact as that would be pretty awkward.

What else could he lose? Tie. The brilliant red was, if
nothing else, a sign that he was probably associated with TheDude in some fashion.
The fabric crumpled to the floor like a puppet with cut strings as he sauntered
over to the table at which “Aurum Eyes” had taken a seat. He was reading, like
Amelia had said – Loden could see that it was some kind of leather-bound book,
labelled as “*mythical creatures and their*
quirks*”. As if his identity hadn’t been clear enough to Loden already. He*
rolled his eyes, in spite of himself.

Classic Blaine.

“Mind if I sit here?” He kept his voice and head low, not
wanting to be recognised (in any way).

Blaine raised his head, a reply on his lips. His eyes
widened. His breath hitched.

“Loden.” He breathed.

Well, the sunglasses *had*
been a long shot.

“It’s been a long time.” Loden acknowledged, taking a seat
before Blaine said it was okay. Doubtless Lav was wondering what the heck he
was doing – he wasn’t sure himself. Aurum Eyes’ identity had thrown him through
a loop. Despite whatever differences they may have had, he and Blaine had been
close companions once. Two members of the crew of the Origin. Could he turn him
in, with that kind of history?

Well, technically…? Maybe.

Hmm.

“And how have you been?” Blaine was saying. “You seem to be
doing alright for yourself.”

“You’d be surprised.” Loden muttered darkly, before making a
decision. Sighing, he turned to face Blaine. As much as he really *didn’t* want to make the situation any
messier than he already was, one thing he had learnt over the years was the
importance of confronting problems head-on. And not keeping things from people.
“Listen, Blaine.”

Blaine raised an eyebrow, his book lowering. That was
Blaine-talk for “you have my attention”.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush.” Said Loden. “In
return, you have to promise to not make like a hockey player before I finish
speaking.”

““Make like a hockey player”?” Blaine repeated, quizzical.
His book lowered and his eyebrow raised in tandem. It was a little unsettling.

“Just hear me out.” Loden pleaded, not bothering to explain
the joke (make like a hockey player and get the puck out of there. It was a
good joke. He had heard it from an Aquilone fellow some years ago).

Blaine hesitated, then nodded. “Fine.”

Loden took a deep breath. “You are a revolutionary, known as
Aurum Eyes. And I am… at the moment… and it’s actually quite a recent
development… working for TheDude. To hunt down revolutionaries.” He saw
Blaine’s eyes – golden eyes, of *course*,
how had he not guessed the connection sooner – widen, but pressed on. “I’ve
thought over, and I can’t actually not try to catch you, because they’ve got me
on a leash and if I let you go I’m probably going to be thrown into a jail cell
for the rest of my sad little life. That being said…” he sighed again, but
pressed on, sure to look Blaine in the eyes as he talked. Let him know that he
was being genuine. “You’re a good guy, Blaine. A good man. Hell, you’re a
better man than me, at any rate. And it… it wouldn’t be right to not tell you
what was going on. To not give you a fighting chance.”

Blaine remained speechless for a moment, and Loden genuinely
couldn’t tell what he would do next. Was he going to attack? Was he going to
run? Then, his head lowered, and he smiled.

“Thanks.” He said. “For letting me know.”

“Are you-” Loden was cut off as Blaine spoke again.

“Don’t worry. I understand.” He said, voice smooth and calm
in spite of the circumstances. “This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you torn,
you know.”

Loden frowned.

“So, what happens now?” Blaine continued, to which Loden
stroked his chin. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lav eying the two
of them. Did he suspect something? He was a smart man, so he almost definitely
suspected something. Shoot.

“I can count down from five, attack you, and you push me
back.” He said. “From then on, though, I’m going to have to try to get you in
earnest. Nothing personal.”

“And I don’t intend to go down without a fight.” Blaine
retorted, smiling. “But are you sure telling me was a good idea, if you really
are going to try and bring me in?”

“Come on, now.” Loden shrugged, almost feeling himself slip
back in time and persona. “I play all my best game with a handicap.”

The two men laughed.

“I do have one question, though. Before we begin.” Loden
admitted. “Why are you… why are you fighting? It doesn’t seem like you.”

The smile faded from Blaine’s face. He leant back against
the bench he was sitting on, eyes raised to the ceiling in contemplation. His
fingers idly flicked through the pages of his book – probably an unconscious
tic.

“To put it frankly, I can’t actually get back home.” He
explained. “Even though TheDude technically controls most of the planet, border
control is still super tight between nations. And it’s not like we arrived
documented or anything, you know? It’s not like I can sign any forms – I’m not
a citizen here.”

“And you figure trying to bring down TheDude is the most efficient
way to actually leave?” Loden raised an eyebrow. There *had* to be better ways of doing it. Like smuggling!

“Well, not exactly.” Blaine sighed. “But, also, the whole
reason I left was to see the world, remember?” He looked down at his book. “Not
much of a world left to see, at this point. If I can’t view all of those
wonders for myself, all I can do is fight to preserve them, and work so that
whoever comes after me might just be able to fulfil that dream.” Sighing again,
he turned back to Loden. “Melodramatic, right?”

“A little.” Loden admitted. “But I get you.”

“Thanks.” Blaine smiled. Loden would have made a move to
shake the man’s hand, or something, but Lav was *still* watching them like a hawk. He was probably one move away from
having them BOTH locked up – and, Loden figured, with the tracking pendant or
whatever, it wouldn’t be hard. Amelia had her eyes on them, too, but Loden was
less bothered with whatever she might have thought. She was, at the end of the
day, a civilian, and not relevant to his job.

“Okay.” Loden muttered. “Countdown?”

“Countdown.” Blaine agreed, turning his palm upwards. Loden
winced, knowing what was coming.

“Five.” He muttered through gritted teeth. “Four. Three.
Two. One-!”

He quickly tried to lean forward, jump, and rise over the
table all at the same time. The result, as he had predicted, was that he was
left wide open for Blaine’s attack. It felt like being hit by a hammer in the
guts as he was blasted across the room. Wood splinters flew in and out of his
gaze as his back hit the floor with such force that his legs fell upwards, and
he rolled onto his front with a thud. Through blurred vision, he could see
Blaine tear apart a window before leaping out and sprinting into the night.
Footsteps thudded around his ears as the few people still in the bar began to
sprint for safety in a panic. He heard Lav yell:

“Damn it, Adalwin!”

He saw the uniformed man dive through the window after
Blaine, which he found kind of funny. Lav hadn’t struck him as a man of action.
Heh.

A worried face appeared in his vision. It was Amelia.

“What the hell was that?” She was saying, as everything began
to become less distorted in his vision and brain. He pulled himself into a
sitting position, and winced as he inspected his injuries. His shirt had been
torn clean through, and the skin underneath was red and raw. His back was also
stinging from how it had slammed into the floor. He sighed.

“Explain later.” He muttered, before rising and striding to
the door. If he didn’t want Lav to cart him away after this whole scenario was
said and done, he had to put in a proper effort to catch Blaine now. Was his
gun still there? It was. That was good.

He knew that Blaine wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

There was a brief moment where Loden found himself literally
running blind – the darkness was a sharp contrast to the well-lit bar interior,
his eyes needed time to adjust, and he had no idea which direction Blaine and
Lav had run in. Where was he supposed to go?

A gunshot rang out. Then another. They were muted
(presumably because of a silencer), but they were still enough for Loden to
pick out in the night.

Well, that was something of a clue.

Loden sprinted in the direction of the shots, and turned a
corner just in time to be buffeted with a harsh gust of wind, which blew back
his hair and clothes. He lowered his arms, and saw Lav get knocked back towards
him. There was nothing he could do – their bodies collided, and both men fell
to the floor.

“He can use magic!” Lav yelled, rolling off Loden and scrabbling
for his gun.

Loden, for his part, was busy spitting out a mouthful of
grass. “I would never have guessed.” He managed, surveying the scene. To the
left, there was a trail of houses. To a right, there was what looked to be a
shallow stream. Human and natural barriers were keeping the fight streamlined. Blaine
was standing in front of the two of them. In his hand, a fresh attack was
already being prepared – magical energy swirled around in his palm, an orange
sphere with pale white blades spinning around it. Without wasting any time,
Blaine reached for the sphere and made a tugging motion with his hand, before
throwing it directly at the two men.

“Spades.” Loden muttered before diving out of the way as the
projectile exploded in a wave of fire. Swearing as hot material hit his back,
he quickly rolled around on the dewy grass before ripping what was left of his
shirt off, making sure to put out the fires that had caught there. One of his
trouser legs was aflame. He fell on his side, smothering it. Once he was
certain that the fire was gone, he slipped his arms through his shirtsleeves
again. It remained undone, most of the buttons torn off anyway, but it was
still wearable, at least.

Blaine *had* said
that he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

How was Lav? Loden looked over. Oh. Not doing so well.
Looking tired. Looking on fire, though the man was currently working hard to
sort that out. Hmm. How was Blaine? Looking quite bad himself. Panting heavily
because of the exertion – and there was a bloody wound in his side. One of
Lav’s shots must have hit him.

A final dilemma – what to do? He had *said* that he was going to not hold back and attack Blaine, but
could he bring himself to do it? After almost a decade of wandering around,
killing more people than he could count, all for the sake of a supposed greater
good (i.e. freeing everyone from TheDude), could he really fight Blaine? Bring
him in, and doom him to life in a jail cell – or no life at all? Especially
considering he wasn’t even fighting for anything that could be considered a
noble cause. It was a choice between him or Blaine. Two lives. What did it
matter?

On the other hand, if he ran, he would almost certainly be
found. There was that tracking pendant, and there was what Lav had said – how
there were outposts surrounding the area. He could stay in a village, but they
would still be able to track him down before long. And then what? Then, there
was Lav. Loden could *feel* his brow
furrow. Despite appearances, a good man. He wanted to do the right thing. He
had trusted Loden. And he was hot, yes, but it was mostly the trust thing –
could Loden outright betray someone, even if they were technically working for
the bad guy?

Well.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t turned his back on anyone before.

“Lav.” He said, suddenly very weary. “How are you doing?”

Lav tore off his blazer, which was beyond saving, and dived
backwards into the grass to sort out the flames.

“Not so well.” He grunted from the ground.

“Alrighty.” Loden sighed. There wasn’t looking to be an easy
way out. What else could he do? Die?

Wait.

*Wait*.

Loden began to run towards Blaine whilst holding up his
hands, trying to show that he wasn’t attacking whilst also keeping up the
pretence *of* attacking. A dangerous
game, especially as Blaine began to prepare another blast.

“BlaineBlaine*Blaine*-”
He hissed, before pausing. Of friggin’ course. He put down his hands and began
to ran like he meant it, hoping, *praying*
(lack of piety suddenly very unimportant) that Blaine’s throw would suit him-

Blaine lobbed this fresh projectile – a whirring blade of
what looked to be air – right at his chest.

Loden gritted his teeth. “Perfect.”

All he had to do was angle his chest slightly, and the
projectile cut into his chest. Specifically, the pendant he was wearing, now
hanging freely across it. Maybe it was fanciful of him, but he thought he could
hear shattering metal amidst the sound of his chest being cut by the attack.
Regardless, he soon wasn’t paying much attention as he felt himself fly through
the air once again, this time towards the stream. He hit the edge of the grass,
rolled over a small ledge, and fell into the water with a splash. He heard
someone yell. Probably Lav?

No time to think about it. Wincing at the movement, he
scrabbled for a sizable rock. His fingers closed around one. Perfect. He
clutched it under his arm, whilst also slowing his breathing. He had picked up
a lot of tricks, but hiding a pulse was definitely one of the more interesting
ones. His head dipped into the water, which annoyingly swept into his ears. He
had to resist the urge to yawn or tilt his head to the side. He had to play the
part – and dead bodies didn’t do a lot of head-shaking.

He wasn’t sure quite how much time passed, but eventually,
he felt someone pull him from the stream, and check his pulse. The rock, pressed
against his armpit (the arm closest to the river’s edge, he had made sure of
that) seemed to block the flow of blood through his arm suitably enough.
Hooray.

He couldn’t hear anything because of the stream, but after
(presumably) finding nothing, whoever was checking the pulse dropped his arm.
He waited several agonising seconds before daring to open his eyes a tad.
No-one was there. He opened them fully. No-one was there. He shook his damn
head, clearing it of water – and oh, that was a mistake. Pain. Lots of pain. He
looked down at his chest. There was a huge gash over it, as though he had been
clawed by a wild animal. There was even *less*
left of his shirt now, which was lovely.

He tried to stand up. No good. Uh-oh. He tried to raise his
torso, the rock falling out of its position clenched in his armpit. Also no
good – it was too painful. Spades. Was he actually going to die? No. No, he
couldn’t. Could he? Not like this, surely…! He looked up at the stars, which
were twinkling viciously in his general direction. The sky… he frowned. What
colour even was it? Black, or midnight blue? Was that really his last question?
Or was that?

Question-ception. He frowned and closed his eyes, reaching
up to massage his head. He wasn’t *really*
going to die, was he? He looked at himself. Bruised and bleeding stomach from
Blaine’s initial attack. Sitting in a river in the dead of night was starting
to get cold, and he had no real protection from that cold. Plus, there was the
gaping open wound on his chest. Oh, shoot, was that *bone*? It was a toss-up – though he would be lying if he were to say
that he’d survived worse. He leant back again, letting the water him. He tilted
his head, though. He didn’t want to feel water in his ears as he died.

If he really was dying, Blaine would technically be his
killer. He tried to muster up anger, any strong emotion to keep him grounded,
but there was nothing. He was the one, after all, who had thrown himself into
that attack. Hoping that it would destroy the tracking pendant. Had it? He
tried to reach for his chest, but his fingers quivered and his hand was weak
and his arm wouldn’t move properly. He found that he didn’t particularly care,
anyway, seeing as he probably *was*
dying. Maybe if they did find his body, they’d at least give him a proper
burial. Ironically enough, he felt bad for Blaine. If he was dying, Blaine
would have to live with his death. Loden knew that feeling, and it wasn’t a
good one. Why… why was he thinking like this, anyway? He wasn’t dead yet! He
tried to raise his torso. Pain shot through his entire body, and he gasped in
agony. How about his legs? Could his legs move? They seemed to be fine (albeit
numb from the cold), but he couldn’t rely on them alone to stand up.

The water washed over his wounds. He was very cold.

Well, this seemed to be it. Did he have any good last words?
Loden racked his brains, even as everything became rather blurry again (which
was probably the blood loss). Any experiences he could draw on? No living
relatives, a repeatedly-broken heart, years of wandering alone and murdering
people, imprisonment, a slow death in a river bed. Lovely. To be honest, when
he reflected, his life had honestly been… miserable. Yeah. Just miserable.
Especially considering that he could probably find medical help if he could
just get over that… little ledge, and let someone know he was alive. But his
body didn’t have that much left to give.

He closed his eyes.

Coming to was a surprise. He hadn’t anticipated that. Wasn’t
he dead?

To be fair, he still *felt*
kind of dead.

“Am I dead?” He managed to say. Well, “say” was generous. It
sounded more like the croak of a frog that had just been punched in the throat.
He heard a gasp. A swear word. Footsteps.

“Oh my God.” Someone said. He squinted. Who…

A face came into view. No-one he recognised. No, wait. There
were two faces. Three. What the heck…?

He blinked, several times. Forcefully. Were there actually a
lot of people in the room, or was his vision just blurring? Man, this had to be
the first time he had played this game sober. Unless he was drunk. But why
would he be…

Headache.

He leant back on the pillow – his head was on a pillow! –
and sighed. He opened his mouth, tried to say something, but the words wouldn’t
quite come out. Ah, well. Throat was hurting, anyway. Maybe, for once, he could
just shut up.

“Am… I dead?” He persisted. Nope. Impossible for him to keep
quiet, circumstances be damned.

“It was touch and go for a while, I’m not going to lie.”
Said a voice. “It’s been, like, two weeks since you were fished out of the
river.”

“The river…” Loden groaned. Wait, the river! He was going to
die in there! But if he had been pulled out, then…

“I’m… not dead?” He grunted the question. He could *sense* the eye-rolling being aimed at
him.

“Do you feel dead?” Someone replied.

Honestly, yes. Loden felt extremely dead. His breathing was
still coming in rasps. He had remembered seeing terrible wounds on him, which
should have felt painful. But he just felt sort of numb. And years of running
around fighting and being imprisoned had left him so (comparatively) weak that
a blow like that should have finished him off. That, of course, was what he
would have conveyed had his throat been in any reasonable mood to co-operate.
Instead, all he could manage was a grating:

“Yes.”

“You know, some people would call that dramatic.”

The faces were clearing up now. It was… it was odds on that
at least one of them was familiar. Anastasia? Amy? Amelia? *Amelia!*

“Oh, I know you.” He muttered.

A brief silence. Then:

“I should *hope*
so.” She – Amelia – muttered. Loden blinked just a few more times, and he could
almost see her clearly by this point. He tried to say something else, but she
glared at him.

“You took a… well, you took a *few* nasty hits, but the one that mattered was that one across your
chest.” She explained, indicating with a lazy wave to his chest – which Loden
now realised was heavily bandaged. He tried to move, but she glared again. Was
there anything he *could* do, then?

“You’ll damage your stitches if you move too much.” She
scolded. “On the plus side, you’re probably going to have some kind of
uber-manly scar.”

His brain was still too blurry (why would his head be
blurry? That made no sense) to fully comprehend everything that was happening
around him, but something seemed to be getting more and more clear. He groped
wildly with his hand until it clenched around Amelia’s.

“You… saved me…” He breathed. Amelia seemed to freeze for a
moment, before shrugging. It was forced. Even now, he could tell. She was trying
to brush it off like it was no big deal, but she had totally saved his life.
Wow.

“I had some help.” She said. “Some town doctors. Friends.
Anyone who care enough, I guess.” She laughed softly. “I’m just the one unlucky
enough to have to house you.”

“…Why?” Loden persisted with his original question. Why did
she save him? It wasn’t like they were particularly close, or anything. And he
had been *badly* hurt. If their
positions were switched – not that Loden wouldn’t have been loathe to do it,
but he probably would have… would have…

“Well, you seem like a decent guy.” She admitted. “But… but
even beyond that, I just…” She trailed off again, staring off into the space to
Loden’s right. To his left was a wall, but he wasn’t sure what was to his
right. He’d check later. “I just didn’t want to see anyone else die, you know?”
She smiled. “Even if you *do* work for
TheDude.”

“Don’t think I do any more.” He muttered. “Plus side of all
this, I was left for dead. Pretty sure they figure that I was done away with.”

“Oh.” Amelia said. A brief pause. Then – “What are you going
to do now, then?”

“…Dunno.” Loden shrugged. “Maybe take a load off?”

“I have a suggestion.” Said Amelia. “Since you’ve been
sleeping off a wound that would have otherwise killed you in my house, fancy
helping me out with it? I’ve been thinking of doing some renovations, and it’d
be nice to get some help with, like housework and general.”

Loden tried to say something, but she was on a roll now.
“And also, Doctor Sandelo and Doctor Claudius both worked to save your live,
and Henry kept getting fresh water when you needed it, and Jean-”

“I get it.” Loden said, suddenly finding that he really did.
“I’ve got a lot of debts to pay off.”

Amelia smiled. “Only once you get better.”

“I’ll be ready.” Loden assured her, leaning back down and
staring at the ceiling with vision still blurred.

A place to stay, hospitable people, and some honest work to
do?

Not such a bad deal, all things considered.

***END***