I sat in solitude, the silence was deafening. As my mind reached out, I felt those I had protected rebelling. I knew this was going to happen. These people were afraid. They wouldn't want to attack, even if attack is our only hope. I had to give them courage. I had to give Herm courage. To do this, I had to play the villain. It wasn't the first time I had done so for Herm, but it would be the most dangerous.
Even in the main chamber I could hear the rioting outside. Odin had stepped forward to quell it. They were trying to press in to find me; I figured they would. They indeed had a tool that could turn the tides of this fight. One of Herm's companions carried it with her. Surprisingly, several of Herm's other companions blocked Odin and pushed open a path for Herm and another to pass. There was only one chamber between the center chamber and the main entrance.
I looked to the door, expecting Herm to burst in. Instead a young woman did. She was short, had long flowing hair that looked auburn at first glance; however as it shifted the light caught a multitude of colors flowing from it. Her shirt and jeans were thoroughly wreaked by wear, and as she cast aside her beaten pack over her hands I saw steel claws. After a moment I recognized her.
“Neko.” I said, getting up from my seat. I had met her a few times when Herm was dating her. But I had never seen her angry.
“Metudo, I'm glad to see you're alive. Now call off your goons.”
“Where is Herm?”
“Dead.”
“Let me rephrase, why is Herm still in the other room?” She gave me a somewhat shocked look.
“Anatos stopped us. She told me to keep moving. We need to unite Metudo. No good will come from us fighting each other.” I lifted my cane, smiling.
“I agree, however, the people need to see this. They need to see our power.” Neko started to seem to understand.
“So I guess we might as well do this then.” She positioned her body to attack; I let energy run down my cane.
“Let's say first pin wins.” She smirked.
“I just got these, so I can't make many promises.” A second later she was moving. I knew Neko had trained for combat before, but her movement was enhanced; rapid. I barely deflected the first blow. Worse my mind had wandered over to Herm and Anatos, trying to hear what was going on there.
I reflexively bounded up and out of reach for a few seconds, taking the momentary break to send a message to Tech. My plans weren't going perfectly, but I could still salvage them. I unfortunately took too long, and Neko was upon me again. This time I managed to slow her down with a barrier, but she simply smashed through it.
The tactic did provide me enough time to move out of the way of her sweeping attack, but I was caught off guard when a long strand of fur wrapped around my neck and took me with it. I turned my head to see the source growing out the base of her spine. Her eyes had turned golden, and she had a cat's smile playing on her face. A moment later I felt steel touching my forehead.
“I give.” I said, calmly; and with good timing too.
“I am Antigon Herm!” The loud speaker system Tech had installed a few days ago was finally paying off.
“Impossible.” I heard Anatos' voice coming over the speaker.
“I almost died.” Her voice sounded pained. “When he gave me these gifts, he gave me a new body. This one.”
“Why should I care?” Anatos' voice had taken on a cold tone. “Why are you still alive? Why not my mother? Why not our grandmother? Why you? You never cared, you always passed me off never wanted to hang with me. No one did. I was the sick kid, the oddball. Don't think it didn't hurt the way you looked at me. The way I could never keep up. The fact that I could never be normal, ever again. Not even now. Now I have to be hydrated, constantly. I'm a freak of a different kind, and you. You don't even care do you?”
I realized things were going too far and moved to stop Anatos. However as I opened the door, I was met with a wave of water, Herm's body being carried with it. As I got back up, I saw Anatos, his eyes were glazed over; he was barely standing. I couldn't tell where the water on his face was coming from, but after a few shambling steps, he reached his limit and fell over.
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