Chapter Fourteen
Smoke & Mirrors
Apollo looks at his captor and supposed friend, "Paulus, I think you can take these cuffs off now." Furious shakes his head, "No way, bud, all Alcazarians go down below." Apollo looks over to Paulus and sees a look of servitude. He feels Grace's panic again and flames of rage rush through him as he watches Antonia join her boyfriend's side. Somehow Apollo knows exactly what to do. He searches through their minds quickly and locates the key to the cuffs. An image of Paulus holding it, flashes in Apollo's head as he observes the details of the angles cut into its surface. He turns his attention to the cuffs that bind them. He envisions the locks and urges the tumblers into their appropriate positions. Feeling his arms go free, he looks over at Grace and she has her hands out in front of her, rubbing her wrist.
Apollo now decides he must do something so bold that it leaves no doubt. His imagination goes into overtime and his father's voice enters his mind. Be creative in your exploitations my son. He accesses his memory and is surprised to find images of schematics and designs of every vehicle in the Corsair arsenal, even the very truck that they now sit in. He arranges the diagrams quickly in his mind, piece by piece and bolt by bolt. Then he reverses the flow of information and applies it to his surroundings, much like when he moved the water at the pond. The truck suddenly flies apart and every single part of it hangs in midair.
Furious exclaims profanity laden threats as Apollo and Grace are now separated from the rest of the group by a heavy layer of hovering metal. As the two Corsair guards from before come to investigate, Apollo taps into the pain pinned inside of him. Thoughts of losing his home, Grace losing her family, and images of his dead mother saturate his heart and he applies that to the mechanical cloud that surrounds them. Floating objects start to move, until they churn around with ever increasing velocity. The whole thing resembles a tall, massive, swirling black column of shimmering debris. Grace squeezes Apollo tightly, trying to find a safe place in his arms as the wind howls with sounds of shrilling metal. Apollo sends a declaration out to the people on the other side using his mind, and it comes to them, booming from the sky like thunder.
"I am the true son of Oriah Lex, and I have come to claim what is rightly mine."
Just as the deafening message clears the air, two large hunks of wreckage find the guards. They both perish in sodden, horrific crunches that cut through the boisterous, metallic cacophony. Then in a sudden instant, everything stops. The objects hang eerily silent in the air for mere seconds before crashing down all around them. Apollo stands with Grace in the center of the wreckage, while a single round of applause rings through the now quiet surroundings.
"Wow! Thank you so much for clarifying that!"
Furious' sarcastic remark makes Apollo think he didn't get his message across. He holds his hands out and a long, cylindrical piece of metal, a broken truck axle, comes flying toward him. He catches it, and immediately the larger end containing the hub, freezes over in a layer of thick frost, "Maybe you didn't hear me the first time." Apollo says as he rears back his weapon, ready for battle. Furious takes a single step before twisting a tightly bound metallic bracelet on his right wrist. He drops his arms and clinches his fists and suddenly both of the them glow with a blue-green aura. The two are about to strike when Paulus steps forward, trying to defuse the situation, "We have a mutual dilemma here guys, there's no need for this right now!"
Furious snorts, "Oh that's right! Almost forgot, there's a little tattooed freakshow we've got to deal with. We'll settle this later," as the light fades from his hands. Apollo quickly responds to his antagonist, "Yeah whatever, just don't doubt me again. And I'm taking my brother. Don't try to stop me." Apollo drops the axle, and starts toward the other truck. Its back peels off and slams to the ground with a loud crunch.
For the first time, Furious' voice takes on a more serious tone, "I'm afraid we can't do that, bud. Brutalius expects someone in the Chamber and I have to put someone in there," He continues, following Apollo to the rear of the truck, "If it remains empty, he'll know something is up, and that would be, I should say, premature." Apollo peers inside the vehicle as Solomon climbs out, "Well put yourself in there. I don't care. It's not going to be Solomon."
Solomon speaks up, "Just let them Apollo, my mother is gone. I have nothing left to live for." Apollo doesn't want to break the news to him that their brothers, not now, not like this, but he also wants to give his friend hope. But before the boy can speak, Paulus chimes in, "I understand where you're coming from Apollo, I do. And I have a suggestion that could be beneficial to all of us in the end if you'll just hear me out." Apollo glowers at his brother's injuries, but he's relieved he's alright, "What is it then?"
"You take Solomon's place."
Apollo looks immediately over to Grace to see her reaction. She's standing by Antonia and shakes her head, her eyes plead with him not to do it. "No I can't do that; I need to see my father first." Then Antonia speaks up, revealing something Apollo suspected all along, "We can't Apollo, Brutalius won't tell anyone where he has the prisoners. We lied and said we did so you would play along. It was all a part of the plan." Apollo jumps at the woman's last statement. His eyes snap at her with angry amazement, "What did you just say?"
"Huh?"
"That last part, repeat that last part."
Antonia gives Apollo a puzzled look but mimics her last sentence, this time in the form of a question, "It was all a part of the plan?"
"Yeah that it! Who told you to say that?"
"Huh? I don't know. I just said it."
Apollo continues to stare at her as his eyes blink rapidly like his mind is spinning with thoughts. He turns to Grace and tries to speak to her mind. I think I might have to go along with them for now. I wish you could hear me. Grace looks at Apollo for a brief moment then rushes into his arms, "You said you would protect me." He holds her as he strokes her cheek. He replies to her in the slightest whisper, not wanting to give the Kaines any more than is necessary. "I know and I will, just trust me on this. Besides, I need someone to make sure Solomon gets the help he needs. They beat him up pretty badly. I'll be back for you Grace, I swear it. I give you my word. I.."
Grace finishes his sentence in her own whisper to him. She know exactly how he feels, "I love you." Apollo holds her even tighter for as long as he can before Furious finally speaks, "We got to do something, Apollo, we don't have much time." Apollo reluctantly replies in agreement, "Okay we'll do it your way even though you just admitted you lied. But if anything happens to Grace or my brother, I'll break out of this Chamber you speak of, and annihilate everything you've grown accustom to."
He then kisses Grace with all the passion in his heart as he hears Furious respond in his usual way, "Okay Loverboy, we hear you loud and clear, okay? They'll be safe, I'll keep Brutalius busy, trust me. We've got to get going." Paulus adds, "Don't worry Apollo, Antonia and I designed the Chamber and we're responsible for its operation. Brutalius will only know what we tell him, but once we get there you will have to trust me, completely, okay? We need to make this thing seem as real as possible so to convince Brutalius of its validity." Apollo answers him with a question that is lightly laced with his apprehension, "What is the Chamber?" He tries to swallow down all of his doubts as Antonia answers him with just two ambiguous words, "You'll see."
~
Mirrors.
That's the only way Apollo can describe the room that he's now in. The walls and ceiling are solid panes of reflective glass. The completely symmetrical space resembles some sort of shiny, weird cube. A bed and a single chair are the only other things, other than an extremely small glass table, that occupy the room. There's an open doorway in the center to his left that Apollo finds leads to the bathroom. He lies on the grayish bed, and stares at the plate of food that inexplicably materialized on the table's glass surface a while ago. He's scared to touch it. Suddenly, a large image of a woman's face is looking at him from one of the mirrored walls. It's Antonia.
"You need to eat."
"No"
"Why not?"
"Because I don't trust you."
"It's not about trust, it's about hunger."
Apollo gets up from the bed and walks toward the image of the woman. A grin comes across her face as she tries to put him at ease, "Just eat the food, Nephilim. I promise its safe." Apollo questions her again, "Why did you call me that?"
"Because that's what you are."
A wink accompanies her last comment and Apollo begins to understand the situation, but he still doesn't trust her completely. He decides to hold out as long as he can. If they are adamant I eat their food. I'll know its poison. Antonia says one more thing to him before vanishing from the wall, "Well, if you change your mind or need anything, like food or water, just ask for it and it will appear on the table." When her face disappears, so does the plate of food. I'm still not going to fall for it, Apollo thinks to himself as he lies back down on the bed, trying to stifle his appetite that's suddenly eating away at his determination.
He wakes up sometime later in a cold sweat. Any sense of time has long left, leaving him disorientated. He tries to ignore the empty ache in his stomach gnawing away at him, as he looks around the tiny room. He comes up with a quick strategy to at least quench his dry throat. He speaks out, "Can I have a cup?" And in an instant, a short grey cylindrical vessel materializes on the table. Apollo holds it out and closes his eyes filling it with a clear liquid. After taking his first alleviating drink, he lets out a long sigh, trying to mock whoever may be listening.
Something begins to rattle his brain. It summons to him, but he can't quite get a grasp on. Apollo. He sets the cup on the table and takes a seat in the chair. It feels like a piece of some dream, like something that plagued him only ten minutes ago in his sleep, but now eludes him. He reaches over to get another drink of water, but the cup isn't there. He looks around the floor as if somehow it fell off without him noticing, but finds nothing. He calls out, "Can I have another cup?" but his words are returned with only silence. He tries again, "I need another cup." but nothing. His patience begins to drain rapidly, "Antonia, you said I could have food or drink whenever I wanted!"
More silence makes him burst into a quick rage, so fast, it alarms even him as if he doesn't control it, "I am not playing games with you!" He yells out, and a large swirling mass of ice comes together in his hands, resembling a giant broadsword. He swings it around toward the wall behind him. Spinning his sight to match the direction of his weapon, he cries out in sheer terror as it's not the wall his aiming at.
It's the girl of his dreams.
He wails in agony as he tries to stop the momentum of his force. Grace winces at the incoming impact and screams at him, "You said you would protect me!" Just before he makes contact with her, a flash fills his eyes. He jerks in the chair and find himself staring at the very gray mug that he searched for only moments ago. What just happened? I know I wasn't dreaming." He yells out, "Antonia what did you do to me!"
Still more silence, but now he's unsure of what to do. For the moment it seems they have gotten the best of his wits. He doesn't see the harm anymore, so he decides to soothe the beast that dwells in the pit of his gut, "Can I have that food now?" In moments, a steaming hot plate of fish and vegetables appear on the table, and Apollo doesn't hesitate to gorging himself on the generous helpings. After he eats, he sits on the bed wishing he still had the book his father gave him. He tries yet again to reach out to the man, then to Grace and his brother, but it's all in vain. It's surprising how easily and quickly they broke him. He just lies there, crumpled in his bed and tears begin to fall on the sheets as he cries.
He wakes up later, seemingly the next morning, to utter surprise. His walls are no longer covered in mirrors, but are made of just plain, white bricks. Except for one, its entire surface is a large window, and on the opposite side is a room that matches Apollo's, exactly. He's astonished as every detail is the same. He looks to the bed, and notices a mass buried underneath the sheets. Moving to get a closer look, Apollo stares with wonder as he sees it is, indeed a person.
A teenage girl.