Empty hands once again. Did she truly expect anything more? The Capitán walked sternly, taking the long route back to 131 Byzance, passing through the Glassway. Thanks to the glass sky she knew sat above her head, the streets were some of the warmest you could find in the city, enough to force the human body to remember how to sweat. She knew she was wasting time, that most of her time away from any bed had been spent bashing her head against walls of pointless egos. Again, and again, and again and this World-Eater refused to take its first move, as if its bloom in the underbelly had been a misunderstanding. The theory annoyed her more than anything, but a lack of any source and the insufferable wait since that day started to make the Capitán doubt herself. She had pulled everything, every high profile contact between those who answered and those who spat in her face. She had defiled the Cors own base of operation with its remains, taking on its challenge. “Come and find me!” The flesh screamed. “And what about me?” The bones beckoned. If she had the eyes to see, the myriad of ones planted atop World-Eater’s carnage would ask her the same questions. Such chaos, horrors beyond what the highest minds still left on Terra could even comprehend. Maybe it was giving Closer too much credit. The Capitán had to force herself to not drop her confident grin as she left the Glassway and veered back towards Byzance. They were all still looking at her, it was their job to reassess what her smile meant for them, and it was her job to uphold it for all to see. If the Major would come back with Sihvan not being on board to see the Marrow Tree himself… No matter. She had enough on her mind to worry about hypothetical scenarios, the professor would agree, his life was too meaningless for him to refuse an opportunity like this. Like Raime, those in Last Kunlun who ran in circles in boxes of their own design were the easiest to lure out. They all had a craving, that either out of laziness or fear they would never grasp for themselves. Not without her.
As the Capitán reached the street of their headquarters, she felt that the lonely bench opposite of the building rustled more than usual. A subtle sound of legs shuffling out of the way and the empty air of held breaths in her presence, both of which she was intimately familiar with. The Capitán fixed her smile and cocked her head towards where she knew the bench was facing.
“Can I help you?”
She heard a gulp and more rustling, probably from one of the people sitting straightening their posture. From the disparity of movement, they were only two, but it was two more than usual with how far the bench sat from any aerobus stop and how close it was to the Cors’s nest.
“We-uh, weren’t doing anything special or suspicious.”
An elbow strike must’ve hit her interlocutor’s ribs because she heard a low grunt as soon as the last word was spoken. The Capitán planted her cane on the street’s pavement, laying her weight against it.
“Not accusing you two, my question was genuine, it’s rare to see this bench get any use, especially if I walk by.”
“Well…” Her interlocutor hesitated for a second before continuing, “We were just curious. The funeral last night was crazy but both our parents got in a huge argument with us about it, saying that you’re… well…”
“Oh, I can guess, you don’t need to handle me with such care, whatever they said I’ve heard it before to my face not earlier than a few hours ago.”
“Is it true then?” The other one sitting on the bench spoke up, “The Major killing everyone in that Yama bar?”
The Capitán raised her hand, three fingers outstretched, “Three targets, three casualties. People thriving on a messy lifestyle tend to not go out quietly so it made… a little bit of noise. But if you dig just a little bit below the surface you’ll see that I obviously don’t kill for fun.”
“Not once?”
“Oh believe me,” The Capitán scoffed, “I would have reasons to, but that’s why I’m the Capitán and not one of those grunts spending their days slamming their heads against granite in the Caldera, hm?”
“That’s what I was saying!”
“Your dad said they still left him to clean up everything though…”
A silence lingered for a second or two, like they expected her to interject.
“What can I say? I’m not the Pillar of Cleaning,” The Capitán smiled warmly.
Even the more skeptic of the two seemed to soften up afterward. They must’ve been young, barely older than Raime. It seemed that this generation ended up as her most fervent target demographic, which served her quite nicely, the burden of guilt from parents who bore them into this impasse of a world often weighed too heavy for them to be too vocal about their children’s choices. It showed, and if Last Kunlun were to survive World-Eater, it would be left to her to pick up the pieces. These two, like many others, still had something in them that they wanted to show off to the world. Something that pushed them to sit on this bench, something that pushed Raime to face her as they did. Something so far beyond her own motivations, her own core self, that she would never understand even if she tried. It was fine like this, if the Sun decided to let Last Kunlun continue evolving, then it would naturally be a complicated process. She understood that much, conflict and strife would remain as long as someone had a mind to think with. She wasn’t deluded, the Capitán just wanted to keep the door open for things to move forward. And for that, World-Eater would need to leave the stage.
The second the doors of 131 Byzance closed behind her, the Capitán let out a long sigh. The only thing to welcome her back was the faint scent of disinfectant. Out of his own accord then? The silence in the main hall indicated that Closer’s presence hadn’t been to wait patiently for her return. The last time they had met had been at the Old Man’s wake, when she descended from the altar to pick up her cane from his hands. Not a word had been spoken then, the Capitán knew he had witnessed her ascension and that was all she needed from him. With the research on World-Eater’s remains at a standstill, Closer’s willingness to cooperate to the cause of uprooting it only depended on the Cors ability to give him something new to chew on. She had made a claim, standing upon the Old Man’s grave.
Watch me.
The Old Man gave up, Van Kalkain followed in his footsteps, the other Pillars would never be up to the task in ten lifetimes, the Doctors barely lived in reality anymore. It was only her left, she knew it since she started being the Capitán. She tapped against the walls of the basement, following the unpleasant and acid smell. This one hadn’t given up yet, he still followed her, despite all the games of subterfuge he couldn’t help but indulging in. Not an ally, but a willing tool that despite his airs of nonchalance, came crawling back to her. The Capitán had no room in her mind for theatrics, she pushed the door of the makeshift laboratory open and commanded silence by stepping in. She heard Willow let out a weak squeal but she knew better than to immediately rush to her side. Armageddon and her had learned to read the Capitán’s expressions so that she wouldn’t need to order them around like cattle. They understood, slowly making their way past her to exit the laboratory. The Capitán let her hand brush their backs on the way out, feeling the chill spreading through their body before the door closed behind her.
“They were simply showing me what they’ve been up to since I was last here.”
Was that a plea for mercy? Out of Doctor Closer? The Capitán regained a slight smile and walked between the tables, letting her hand brush against the open containers.
“This isn’t me punishing them, but I appreciate the grace you give my little Doctors,” The Capitán replied with only a hint of snark, “Did you come back with some revelation, Closer?”
“I heard you went to see Van Kalkain.”
“You heard?” The Capitán chuckled, “News don’t travel this fast, you can say you knew I’d go see him first hand.”
She heard him inhale. It better not have been out of frustration because noone would hear him scream down there. The Capitán wondered for a second what that would sound like from someone as reserved as Closer. She expanded her arms outward.
“Well behold the fruits of my endeavor, but someone as smart as you probably figured that out. You’re a two days early if you want any tangible progress. Have you done any homework on your end? Since City Hall is very much not intent on throwing us candy, I’ll accept pretty much anything.”
“I’m afraid I came here with the hope that if not the Old Man, Van Kalkain would ply under the pressure.”
“Did you, now…” The Capitán hummed to herself, “Did you, did you, did you… did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That the Old Man was responsible for the Stillborn?”
No immediate rebuttal from Closer made the Capitán upper lip twitch. She sighed.
“Was I really the only one? Even Van Kalkain only doubted it for less than a minute. Was I the only one who believed he couldn’t have done this?”
“Maybe he managed to convince you during the time you spent around him.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Closer,” The Capitán hissed, “I handled the city while Van Kalkain drowned beneath the plights, you were the one with your hands in the mire. Did you know then?”
“Noone knows for sure.”
“Closer.”
“Lady Capitán. Yes I came to the conclusion that noone was more likely than him to be responsible, he was the only one aside from us to have access to chemicals of that grade and of course, the only one capable of giving it to Volantis at its source. Do you remember how you were back then when I finally found the compound in the water? You were more dead than alive, running on a few hours of sleep interrupted by nightmares. If you didn’t have it at your heels back then, you’d have collapsed in the streets a hundred times over. What would you have done if I accused the Old Man of euthanizing Terra once and for all?”
The Capitán cocked her head slightly backward, letting the blood flow to her brain.
“We were all tired-” Closer tried to continue.
“And you were so much more lucid than I, mere mortal, weren’t you? Maybe you slept like a baby but I also remember you being barely verbal during that whole thing, what an entrance! Made me think you were mute.”
“We couldn’t have raided the Aery and executed him on the Plaza is what I’m trying to tell you. He had the highest order, no matter what we think. Without his shadow and after that incident, Last Kunlun would have turned into complete anarchy.”
The Capitán felt an itch to comment, now that she had a comfortable hold over the city even with the Old Man being gone. But she knew that the climate then would have never worked out in her favor and trying to argue this would play in Closer’s hand and only make her look like a fool.
“I guess I ended up not giving you enough credit,” The Capitán replied calmly, “Back then I thought that the result in itself had been enough to satisfy you, a scientist’s triumph above anything else. Woe be to the tormented, it’s not like the erudite Doctor Closer even thought about sticking his dick in anything aside from cadavers.”
“Now you’re being crass.”
“I am. I’m tired like you perfectly described me as. You saw what I couldn’t see down in the underbelly, Closer. Why am I the only one trying to fight back?”
Closer didn’t answer. He must’ve ran out of energy to entertain her bitterness. This is what the Capitán didn’t want Armageddon and Willow to see. She breathed in deep, to an immediate regret, the smell of fresh blood and disinfectant permeated every wall, making her nose tingle. Despite everything, she had gotten used to the smell.
“Appreciate the courtesy of your visit,” The Capitán sighed, “you can scurry back to your lonely hill. I still have cards to play, I’ll be in touch. Make sure to not feel like giving up in the meantime, I would execute you on the Plaza for it.”
“Do not test me, Lady Capitán,” Closer replied with a hint of snark in his voice, “You’ll give up before I ever will.”
“Oh, is that a challenge? Are you testing the one sitting at the apex of Last Kunlun? Despicable, get out of my quarters this instant.”
“I look forward to the results of the Cors’s endeavors.”
The Capitán followed him out of the laboratory and listened to him leave the basement, motionless. The smell would linger for a bit. The Sun would set and the great clock would keep ticking, she only hoped Van Kalkain was wallowing even more in his own misery at this moment.
“You can let her go,” The Capitán said to Armageddon, who she knew was holding Willow in a tight grip to prevent her from listening in.
The Capitán only heard a few grunts and a muffled “Bitch” once her order had been given. She waited until she knew Willow was standing on her own two feet.
“Did he bring back the piece of bone?”
“No… but he kept his fake hand deep in his coat pocket…”
Why didn’t he answer her? Why was she the only one fighting back?