The Mantis Equilibrium - Book Two - 31. Chapter 31 - Vion, Part Five

The churning cloud of dust and debris from the fallen Messiah Tower was ahead of Vion, and he rushed towards it. He pulled his shirt collar up over his nose and mouth, squinted his eyes, and entered the haze. Visibility was no more than a few feet, and Vion made his way the best he could in the direction of the devastation. Broken chunks of masonry filled the street for several blocks as he approached the former temple’s base. He stepped over or around pieces that he recognized as recently having been inside of the building.

Many of Vion’s fellow Messiahs were still at the battle. He wondered how many of them would survive, and he wished that more showed up from around the city. A few other people wandered near him through the cloud. They looked confused and coughed at the dust in the air. He did not recognize anyone he passed, but then a raspy voice called out through the thick fog.

“Vion!”

It was an office that he knew by sight but not name.

“I’ve been looking for…” the man said, but a fit of coughing interrupted him.

“Easy,” Vion replied, but his voice sounded distraught even to himself. “What happened to the Tower?”

Instead of answering, the officer said, “The Principal Messiah wants to see you, now.”

“Where is she?”

More coughing prevented the officer from answering, but he pointed and waved for Vion to follow him. The two headed away from the base of the tower, and before long, the dust in the air grew thinner and less abrasive.

The officer cleared his throat and said, “She’s at the eastern dorm.”

Vion nodded and jogged away from the man. He pulled his shirt down and spat the foul taste from the dusty air out of his mouth.

The eastern Messiah residence was mere blocks from the edge of the peninsula. On its rooftop, the view that looked out over the ocean was spectacular.

Vion saw several of his fellow Messiahs on the top of the building as he approached. When he reached the front, the guards stepped aside and allowed him to enter.

One of them said, “They’re on the roof.”

Vion nodded and ascended the stairs three stories. He stepped through the door and out into the open air, but the Principal Messiah was not there. The gathered group was not looking out over the sprawling sea, and instead, they were staring at the massive gray cloud where their temple used to stand.

The sun was starting to rise and a chilly rain began to pelt down on those gathered on the rooftop.

“Where is the Principal Messiah?” Vion asked.

“She said to tell you to clean up and meet her at the prime house.”

Without a word, Vion descended into the residence. He grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and entered the showers. Someone else was already in one of the stalls, and Vion cranked on the faucet of another. He stripped off his dusty clothes and stepped under the water.

After a moment, the other shower stopped and a voice said, “That’s you, Vion, right?”

“Yes, what do you want?” he asked while scrubbing his hair.

“The question is,” the other person replied, “what does she want?”

Vion did not understand. “What does who want?”

“Our leader,” the voice oozed, “what do you suppose the Principal Messiah wants?”

“I couldn’t pretend to imagine,” Vion responded in a dismissive tone. He was nearly finished washing and wanted to be left alone. The communal housing tended to make people feel overly comfortable, and Vion was not in the mood for a discussion about whatever his fellow Messiah was insinuating, especially not while they were both naked.

“There’s a lotta dead Messiahs,” the other person commented.

Vion bristled. “We are at war,” he replied in a stony tone.

The voice was not finished. “A lot die in war.”

“Yes,” Vion agreed. He was clean and ready to get out of the shower. “Is there some point to this discussion?” he asked, but he received no reply.

Vion pulled back the curtain. No one else was in the showers with him. The floor was wet from someone’s feet, and another shower curtain was pulled back that was not when he entered, but he was alone.

Within the hour, Vion was below the executive residence of the Principal Messiah. The prime house was in an old Oselian watchtower room that was built into the side of a massive piece of concrete wall. A major portion of it collapsed at some point in the past, and the only access up to the prime house was via an external elevator. It began to descend when Vion came into view, as if the Principal Messiah was waiting for him. He opened the lift’s door, stepped inside, and shut it again. It began to rise.

Vion gazed out over the city, shocked at the way it now looked without its prominent feature thrusting toward the sky. The gray cloud of dust looked like an unnatural shadow of the clouds above.

The elevator reached the top, and the door opened.

Vion stepped out of it and into the luxurious apartment of the Messiahs’ leader. She was in the position for barely a year, and there was no way of knowing how many of Vion’s fellow Messiahs were now dead in the streets or murdered by Shifts. He gritted his teeth and set his jaw, ready for whatever reprimand the Principal Messiah held in store for him.

To his confused surprise, she was dressed in lacy lingerie and was sprawled out on her bed with a come-hither expression in her eyes.

“You kept me waiting,” she teased in a husky voice.

Vion did not understand.

The woman got onto her hands and knees and crept towards the edge of the bed with her mouth open and lips pouty. “Well, don’t just stand there,” she whispered, and the Principal Messiah reached out or Vion from across the room.

“Milady?” he gasped.

Then the floor between them exploded with purple electricity★