Chapter 17: Confrontation

Sir Deva was the first one to look away from Sadie to avoid any further possible potential suspicions, though it's not exactly the easiest for a giant among men to truly disappear from the spotlight. However, the timing of the priest's arrival with the gathering of the crowd at high noon is almost planned too perfectly, and Sir Deva did managed to just merge away with the forming crowd and disappeared from the priest's eyesight.

Sadie Allen wasn't expecting any unfamiliar faces this time, but after the first awkward time they have locked eyes, he turned to look at the crowd gathering for their weekly meetings. Each of the previous ten times he was here, he has brought a unique story, each with a specific teaching opportunity. Rather than coming as someone with special ability, he instead came as a storyteller from the great ocean. That way, people will be drawn into his circle and be subtly affected by the use of his words, tone and phrases.

As Sadie Allen steps away from the edge of the ocean onto the beach, some of the villagers began playing a simple tune with a pipe, and the rest joined in with low humming and rhythmic clapping. Sadie joined in the singing with a few of the village younglings, and the crowd of people marched towards the story telling temple located near the top of the island's slopes.

Sir Deva followed along with them, crouching down and tried his best to act like an old man with a hunched back, or really just a hunch back. He is not the best at espionage, and he would be the first one to admit it. For some reason, it seems like Lady Lily thought this mission would require someone with his particular skill set, or maybe it's just because they don't have anyone else near by at the moment.

Sir Deva would like to think it's his unique skill set, as he did ask this very question when they were lying side to side and the warmth of Lady Lily's body was still felt by his hands and smell of her hair still filled his nostrils.

'Well, from what I am hearing, the individual travel around the various villages on this planet and perform incredible acts of power followed by his stories, and sometimes this very act is accompanied by these acts of power.'

'So you want me to track down a performer?'

'Don't put it like that.' Lady Lily strokes Sir Deva's chin lightly with her finger, her surprisingly icy touch giving Sir Deva a little shiver. The warmth contained underneath the duvet has started to sneak away, 'if what I am seeing is correct, it will be a full on activated artifact user there. And it is a physical interaction type, the kind that you should be able to persuade with relative ease.'

As Sir Deva said down in the corner of the room with the rest of the village crowds gathering all around and remaining silent, waiting for Sadie Allen to begin his story today, their gaze met once more.

The story today was about the history of humans seeking truth in the universe. The interpretation of truth at this particular time period is expressed through regimented religious organizations. They each had their own pantheons, own believed and practices, and yet they sought after the same goal. Amidst the pursuits of their version of truth, they repeatedly clash at the expense of hundreds of thousands of lives, all for a hollow victory at the end and the humanity that were lost in their conquests.

The path of Hercules sought a different kind of truth. It is the kind of truth that drives progress, it was the type of truth that positioned the humans of now where they are at now, and is actually one of the key principles in every Rockie's life. Nothing is given, only earned.

As the story went on, Sadie also brought out various demonstrations and holograms, exactly the kind of 'demonstrations' that Sir Deva was expecting, but not the kind that Lady Lily suggested. Perhaps she was mistaken?

The story finished with Sadie's message about how we should treat one another, despite our differing beliefs and practices. However, the path of Hercules can be walked many ways, and the commonality is where the true value of it lies.

'I wanted to see the dome today.....' As the ground sang another song together and began to leave the temple, a disappointed child murmured to his parents, who shrugged in response. The pair then exited the temple holding hands. Sir Deva raised his eyebrows at the comment, and a few other similar comments from unsuspecting kids later, he realized that today's session is likely not done in a way like how Sadie usually does things, perhaps that's because of him.

Sadie noticed Sir Deva, and decided to change his usual routine for some reason.

Sir Deva remain seated in the back rows of the temple, while Sadie remained standing on the small elevated near the front of the room. Their gaze penetrated through the moving crowd, and locked onto each other.

With each passing second, more and more exited the temple, yet among the moving people in the room, the two that remained stationery stood out like a sore thumb.

When Sadie Allen walked through the water onto this island today and disengages the shield, he immediately felt a sense of unease as the rocks crumbled underneath his feet with his first step. Something is feeling different about this island today, but Sadie struggled to accurately pinpoint the origin of this unease. That is until he saw the giant human standing up on the hill. From the first moment they looked into each other, both of them realized that something is different about the other person. Sir Deva had his suspicions about Sadie being the artifact user and Sadie so far had no ideas about the existence of other artifact users in the galaxy. Though he knew to be careful when dealing with this newcomer. Perhaps he should alter today's routine a little bit.

Finally, the room has cleared, and it's just the two of them sitting on the opposite sides. Despite the distance between the two, Sadie still felt like Sir Deva is uncomfortably close.

'You don't seem to be around here.' Sadie was the first person to speak in this state off.

'I could say the same thing about you.' Sir Deva replied, 'your accents do not match the locals aren't here.'

'perhaps the locals are why I am here.' Sadie replied, 'the galaxy is full of interesting people, and I am just particularly fond of this planet.'

'But something tells me, you are here for a different reason.' Sadie continued, 'how may I help you?'

Sir Deva stood up from the seat, the back of the seats in the previous row now dwarfs in comparison to his stature. He stepped into the middle aisle of the temple and marched towards Sadie, 'I have heard rumors about somebody with extraordinary abilities on this planet. And I just happen to see someone walking from the ocean onto dry land today.' Sir Deva stopped at about five meter away, fully aware that there is next to no intelligence on the actual basis of Sadie's potential power, and whether he is going to lash out and launch a full-on assult at him.

Sir Deva merely wanted to get close enough so Sadie can hear exactly what he is saying.

'For someone that should be drenched by the sea, you look very proper.' Sir Deva continued.

'Well, some might call me a priest,' Sadie leaned back, swinging his right hand in a circle by his body and triggering the holograms to show images of stars and skies with his commands, 'but I am really just a story teller. A technique of presentation, if I may.'

Sir Deva knew he was lying, and Sadie knew that Sir Deva knew too. The two men simply stared at each other once more. Then, at the same instant, Sir Deva lets out a light sigh and Sadie turned off the holograms. Sadie has his intentions focused around the Shield, the artifact that are now tightly concealed within his body and prepared to activate at a moment's notice.

Instead of activating the Mass Projector and pulling Sadie over to him and choking him by the neck, Sir Deva instead spread his hands out in a gesture of peace and sat down in the first row. He pulled the long sleeves of his giant jacket up to reveal his personal interface, then he turned the projector function on and began talking slowly.

'My name is Sir Deva, and I am working for an organization known as the Absolute Being. I am mostly certain that you possess an item of incredible power, it takes a toll on your body to use, but when channeled correctly, it appears that even the basic laws of the universe can be bent to the item's will.' Sir Deva explained, showing a map of the galaxy.

'The galaxy is big, but somehow, those that possess the artifacts will also end up finding each other. That's for a reason. There is a war coming, and our organization is preparing for it.'

'I have never heard of such organization.'

'It is only natural, since the start of our operation began in the wild regions, and we have not been interacting with many from within the settled regions.' Sir Deva explained, 'this coming war, we know very little of so far. But the thing that is certain is that it will take all of the powers of the artifacts combined for we to have a chance.'

'For someone claiming they know very little, you seem to know all the convenient facts.' Sadie Allen's eyebrows raised as another crazy story is being told to him. He has had many of those since arriving on Hercules 2.

'That is the power of a particular artifact in our organization.' Sir Deva replied, 'we have heard of your activity only very recently, and I would like to ask you to come join us.'

'And I don't think I will need an artifact to tell me what is going to happen if I don't agree to join you.' Sadie chuckled, 'what will your threat be?'

'Nothing.' Sir Deva said sternly, his expressions serious, 'no threats. Because you will be coming, regardless.' The air in the room seemed to become heavier and heavier by the second as tension between the two grew. Sir Deva appeared relaxed with his fingers crossed and his arms in front of him, but the tense shoulders is enough evident that he is ready to fight at any moment. At the same time, nervous sweats began to drip down Sadie's face.

When he first obtained the Shield, he thought he would have power over reality. All his life, he was powerless against the trends of society that continually spirals away from what it is supposed to be. When Shield is in his hands, the dynamics have changed.

It wasn't even that much longer after he has started his proper journey, and now this Sir Deva person just dropped out of nowhere and said all of the ridiculous things all in one afternoon. Sadie gripped the edge of the desk tightly and contemplate's his options. So far, he has only practiced the Shield against the waves and a variety of impact forces in diving from heights, tanking the breaking waves and a combination of both at times, he would like think he has already gotten a hold of using this artifact. And yet the sheer amount of pressure coming from the giant in front of him is enough to stamp out any fighting spirit he has.

Sir Deva is incredibly dangerous, and Sadie can tell from miles away.

The sound of a pair flip flops flapping against the rocky road came from the entrance of the temple, and a childish voice came through.

'I am sorry, Mr Allen! I left my toy somewhere here!' The child said as he half walks half jogs towards the front of the temple. Sir Deva didn't move, and Sadie forced himself to speak out a reply,

'Are you sure it was left here?'

'Yes, Mr Allen!' The child said affirmatively, 'I was sitting in the front row, and I must have dropped it when we were leaving!'

The child flaps his way towards the front and finally noticed Sir Deva who's sat still like a statue.

'Hi, Mr.' He greeted.

'Hey kid.' Sir Deva responded with his lowly voice as he unravels his arms. Sadie jolted back at this motion and the Shield is now held on the verge of firing. But instead of a pistol, or any weapon of the sort, Sir Deva was holding a small toy, 'Is this it?'

'Yes!' The child face brightened up at the sight of his lost toy and he reached his hand out to grab it, however, Sir Deva's thick fingers are still tightly wrapped around the body of the toy.

'You see, I am curious of what Mr Allen can do with his special powers. If I give you the toy, can you tell me what he can do?'

The child nodded passionately with a smile as Sir Deva released his grasp and returned the toy to its rightful owner, 'Mr Allen can create bubbles around him, and nothing can ever get in or get out!'

Sir Deva looked at the now profusely sweating Sadie before turning his head back to the child, who holds the child close to his body, 'Is there anything else?'

'Oh, and he can show pictures in the air!' The child said before turning around and running away from the two of them. So it appeared Sadie can indeed create a bubble of a kind, but whether that bubble can be popped is another story. To be honest, Sir Deva is actually quite curious to find out.

As the flapping went away, Sadie lets out a long held breath and swallowed hard. And just like that, Sir Deva have gained information on at least the basics of how Sadie's artifact may work, but he has no idea what Sir Deva can do. To be honest, there were a moment of hints that could give away at least one of the ways Sir Deva can use his artifact merely a moment ago, but Sadie was focusing on the child coming in rather than paying attention to Sir Deva.

'Now, shall we begin?' Sir Deva cracked his knuckles and neck and stood up from his seat, 'what would be your choice?'

'I think, I quite like it here...' Sadie finally stopped his body from shaking. The fear turns into anger, and he activated his artifact in an instant, creating a force shield just in front of him and extending its radius outwards towards just behind Sir Deva. One of the things he has found is that be controlling the activation timing and radius of the Shield, he can use it to push things away. This is exactly what he is doing, and the repulsive force collided into Sir Deva like a freight train, sending him flying out of the temple in an instant!

His body crashed through the wall as he made his exit, and Sadie Allen took this chance to gather his items and putting it all in a box.

He may have gotten the upper hand, but what can he do now? Should he follow up his attacks, or use this opportunity to disengage?

On this very planet, only knows the truth about the Shield, and yet somehow this organization is still able to track him down, albeit with some lucky coincidences. If he take this chance to run away, will he ever be free? Will more of Absolute Being just pursue him further? Sadie scanned all around the temple and prepared himself for any potential ambush, then he kicked open the door right behind the stage and exited the temple. The cold Herculean gusts welcomed him back outside with the desolate landscape of the islands, and his suspicions about a whole squad of soldiers surrounding him in an instant is cleared then and there.

It would appear that Sir Deva has come here alone.

Sadie has no idea what Sir Deva is going to do to the people of the island, but he doesn't care, to be honest. Throughout all of mankind's bloody associations with religion, there were always those that are left behind, for the greater good.

'It's for the greater good.' Sadie repeated the affirmative message quietly to himself as he created a tight shield all around his body and leaped off the cliff into the seas below. He will first try to circle around to the docks, which is on the opposite side of the island to where he came ashore, and try to locate any raft that is unoccupied and use them to the hell of this island. The worst case scenario will just mean he will have to physically go the distance between this and the nearest island, but that's nothing he hasn't done before. This is not even a cake walk compared to what he has gone through in the chaotic seas.

He looked back at the cliff right above him just to make sure no one can possibly follow him to this point, and he saw the giant figure of Sir Deva before he also jumped down to Sadie's level and landed loudly onto the rocks. He took in the impact with his bare body, and doesn't looked affected in the slightest by the ten meter drop. To Sir Deva's defense, he has literally just been through much worse not that long ago.

'So that was your power.' Sir Deva said, his voice still thundering through the air despite the crashing of the waves in the background, 'Now, allow me to show you what I can do.'