Ch 17: A Mystery and Departure

I am not able to sleep because of the system, so I lay in bed with my eyes closed. My thoughts drift and sway. My waking dreams wander to the past, sail through the centuries and settle on the present.

Even if I could sleep, I don't think I would get through one night without being tortured by reliving the failures of my past. There are too many to count.

"Help."

My eyes shoot open. Was there a voice just now? Silence answers me.

"Help." There it is again!

I sit up and search the darkness. There is no one in the room. Am I hearing things?

"Help… me."

<Grace, are you hearing this?> I say.

<Are you going senile? What are hearing? I'm not picking anything up.> she says.

Seriously? Strange. Then where are those words coming from?

<I heard something.> I say. <Someone was saying they need help.>

<Really? Are you just having delusions of being a glorious hero where everyone magically needs your help now?> Grace says.

<You're in a particularly sour mood, Grace. What's wrong?>

<You're annoying me, that's what's wrong. Now leave me alone if you don't have anything important to say.> she says.

Okay, fine. I let her be and continue just listening. There is only silence. Yet I can't help but feel a lingering presence in the air, as if there is someone there, just out of sight. Just out of reach.

I find that I can't just lay in bed anymore. I get up and move from one side of the room to the other, just to test the energy of the room. There is still a presence, but it doesn't change depending on where I am in the room.

I go to the door. I look back at Ulyssa, check that she is still asleep and then let myself out. There are two sisters I don't know posted in the hallway. They are both asleep in their chairs. I smile at that. I can only imagine what Ulyssa would do to her pupils if she caught them napping on the job. Probably string them up by their toes or something medieval like that. She has a flair for the dramatic when it comes to corporal punishment.

I move down the hallway and find myself back at the secret door. Sister Nerina is still there, and she is awake, sitting at a desk and bent over a computer. She seems to be concentrating on some work as she types on the keyboard.

She doesn't notice me until I make myself known. "Good morning."

Nerina jumps in her chair, looking up. "Huh? What? I'm being a good girl! I promise!"

What the heck? I clear my throat. "Um, I just looking to exit here, if that's okay."

Her eyes focus on me. It takes her a moment to realize who is standing in front of her. Then she does another double take.

"A-Apollyon!" she says, falling out of her chair and into a low bow.

"No need for that, Nerina." I say.

She looks up with a shocked expression. "You remember my name?"

I blink at her. "Um, yes. You made quite the impression on our first meeting." I point to my face. "I'm surprised you recognize me."

Nerina brightens. "That makes me happy to hear." She says. "As far as your operation. We were briefed on it by Victoria for hours."

Of course she did. I move towards the door. "So, is it okay if I leave?"

Nerina nods. "Sure! You can go where you please." She grows thoughtful. "What about master?"

"Ulyssa is asleep. I didn't want to disturb her since something came up. Will you let her know when she awakens?"

Nerina nods. "Of course."

I step into the secret passage and close the door behind me. <Grace, can you show me the way back to church?>

<Sure! > she says, sounding very cheery.

<You seem to be in a better mood.> I say as she shows me the way with a red line on the floor.

<It magically improves whenever you are away from other women.> she says. <Go figure.>

I decide not to take the bait this time. <Are there any divinium anomalies? I still feel a presence or something hanging around.>

<I've been monitoring resonance levels ever since you mentioned hearing something. I'm still not getting anything unusual.>

<Hopefully something will change when we get outside.> I say.

<Maybe, but I'm not sure what you are expecting to happen.>

<Yeah, me either.> I say.

Eventually I arrive back at the church. The building is mostly empty. There are a few sisters praying. I avoid bringing attention to myself by having Grace cloak my presence again and then teleporting me outside to avoid the guards at the doors.

Once I am far enough away from the church that I am positive I won't run into any more of the sisters, I stop to think and listen.

I am on the edge of the river. The rushing water gurgles pleasantly. The world is mostly quiet except for a few vehicles and normal city noises. Underneath it all, there is the still lingering presence. A feeling of someone watching me.

<Still nothing?> I say.

<If there was something of note, I would have said something.> Grace says.

<Right. My bad.>

<It's actually bothering me.> Grace says. <The system is equipped to detect every frequency.> after a pause, she adds, <Well, not all of them.>

<Like what?>

<Let me put it this way. I am equipped to resonate any frequency that is sealed in the Temple of Solomon.> Grace says.

My blood goes cold. <Wait, that means-.>

<That means that if you are really receiving a distress signal from an external source, and not your own inflated, perverted ego.>

<Hey! >

<Then you are being contacted through an unregulated channel. Leon, this could be very dangerous.> Grace says.

<How can we verify if I really am getting a message on an unknown frequency?>

<There are only two ways.> Grace says. <We need to have direct contact with the source note, or we find a catalyst resonating at same frequency.>

I throw my hands up. <So, basically, unless we by some miracle stumble upon either of those then solving this mystery is near impossible.>

<Yeah, that about sums it up.>

<Great. > I say. < If I keep getting the signal, this might get kind of annoying.>

<It's already annoying.> Grace says. <Leon, we should head back. You got a flight coming up pretty soon.>

I look at the scars all over my arms. <Yeah, this should be interesting.>

<Turkcen ne kadar iyi?> (How good is your Turkish?) Grace says.

<Sen bunun icin varsin.> (That is what you are for.) I say.

<Ha-ha. Very funny. I will punch you in your perfect face for that, one day.> Grace says.

<I have plenty of time to gain forgiveness.>

<Or dig a grave you can never climb out of. I think the latter is more probable.>

I arrive back at the church. The inside is no longer empty. Sisters are up and about doing their duties. I am quickly led back to the secret passageway and soon I enter the control room.

Lilith, Aurelia, Fiora and Nerina are there, as well as Ulyssa.

Ulyssa looks up, eyes me for a second and then gives me a secret, shy smile. Then her face becomes serious, and she calls everyone to attention.

"Alright, this is it." She says. "The final briefing before mission send off."

The others stand at attention. There is no play or lightness in their faces now. This is deadly serious. One of their own is missing in action and I can see now just how much they care about getting Sister Isabelle back.

"Everything is prepared, master." Aurelia says. She presses a button and operation: Ghostface comes on the screen.

"Thank you, Aurelia." Ulyssa says. She turns to me. "Now, you must absorb all this information. Are you ready?"

I nod. She pushes a command into the keyboard and files flash by on the screen. Grace absorbs all of them instantly into her mind. In just a few seconds, all the documents are processed, and the briefing is over.

"Now that that's done, we have a plane waiting for you." Ulyssa says. "Fiora will escort you to the airport."

"What will you be doing here?" I say. "You say you are spread thin and that there are a lot of operations that the sect is undertaking. What is the time frame that I should complete this mission?"

The others look at Ulyssa. Obviously, there is something big going on. Ulyssa seems reluctant to tell me anything, because she lets the silence drag on for some time.

"Izzy is just as important as everything we are doing here. You take all the time you need." Ulyssa says.

I look at her for a moment but decide to let it go for now. "Okay, fine. I will finish this business quickly."

Fiora steps forward. "Please follow me, Apollyon."

I look at the others for a moment longer. There is something desperate in the way they look back. Aurelia, Lilith, and even Ulyssa. They are holding out on me for some reason.

"Just wait for me." I say. Then I turn and Fiora. "I am in your care."

Fiora leads me away and we leave the control room. She leads me down a new set of pathways until we come to a door that leads into a business building. We exit the building into a parking garage where there is a car waiting.

I remark on how careful they are to stay out of sight of the public or other prying eyes. We roll out of the garage, and we go to the nearest airport. There, Fiora gives me travel documents with a completely new alias.

"Well, I'm off." I say and am about to go into the airport when Fiora jumps at me, throws her arms around my waist and whispers to me. "Please bring Izzy back to us."

I pat Fiora's head. "I will bring her back, or I will make them pay. That, I can promise."

She looks up at me, a hard look in her eyes. "I believe you." She says and lets me go.

I leave her and move into the terminal. Folks look at me, but they don't say anything. I look scary enough that people try to avoid eye contact and stay out of my way. I easily get to the front of the baggage check in line. Sometimes there are advantages to being the scariest looking guy in the room.

I get my bag checked in and then get in line at the security checkpoint. I get through without issues, though security watches me warily. The stay close by to me in case anything happens. I can see the visible relief on their faces when I just move along and mind my own business.

I go to my gate and sit down. I look at the time. I have about thirty minutes before my flight leaves. <Grace let's go over things while we wait. I only have a few hours before Ghostface is activated.>

<Yes, let's.> she says.

Files flash before my eyes and I study until boarding time. Then, once I am settled on the plane, I try studying again, but I get distracted when an argument breaks out.

"Hey! This overhead spot is for my bag, a*shole! You can't just put your stuff wherever you please!" a guy says.

The other man is bigger and more well-dressed. He looks at the protester with a mocking grin.

"Just leave it alone unless you want to get hurt, little man."

The smaller man's girlfriend is scared and tugging at her boyfriend's arm. "Come on, don't cause trouble and let's find somewhere else to put our stuff."

He stands his ground and refuses to budge. "No! I'm tired of jacka*ses who think they can do whatever they want and bully people! I'm not scared of you, douchebag!"

The larger man's trophy wife stares down her nose at the couple. "Don't make trouble for my husband, trash! You should just get off the plane if you don't know you're place!"

A stewardess arrives on the scene. "Excuse me, what seems to be the problem? Please go to your seats. Other passengers still need to board."

The larger man turns to her, sees she is very pretty and leers at her. "Well, sweet cheeks, this man is taking up space he doesn't have a right to."

"This is literally where my stuff is supposed to go, you dummy!" the smaller man says.

"I'm trying to be reasonable, but this guy won't let things go. I'm afraid I'm going to have to do something about it. The larger man says, flexing his impressive muscles to the stewardess.

The stewardess is not impressed as she sees through his confident, white smile. "Sir, please store your items where they should go and let everyone else do the same."

The man's demeanor immediately changes. He scowls at the stewardess. "I was trying to be reasonable! Now I'm going to have to deal with this myself!"

He rounds on the smaller man who looks up at him defiantly. "Yeah, try something, buddy."

"One phone call from me and this plane won't be leaving for hours! You have no idea who I am! Just let me have my way and things will go smoothly."

I sigh. I can't have this bozo with the overinflated ego delay this flight. I get up from my seat, looking as mean and intimidating as possible. I walk up the aisle with slow, steady steps. People look up and shrink in their seats as I walk by.

It isn't until the hostess notices me come up behind the buffoon, who is still blathering about how important he is, that he pauses.

"What are you looking at?" he says, turning around.

Even though he is tall, I still stand almost a head higher than him. He clears his throat as he meets my eyes.

"U-uh, what are you trying to do?" he says, his confidence faltering.

I cross my arms across my ripped chest, my forearms bulging with muscles, my veins popping. The stewardess takes a few steps back, looking very nervous. The smaller man goes silent, looking from me to the other man.

"I am trying to leave." I say in a flat tone. "Who am I going to have to blame when I am late to meet my business partner?"

"O-oh." The man says. "B-business partner, eh?"

I flex my arm muscles and make my chest bounce. "I take pride in being early to all appointments, but I don't take things too hard. If I'm late, I can forgive." I lean down over the man. "However, my business partner isn't such a nice guy like me. He'll want someone to pay for wasting his time. Are you willing to cover the bill?"

The man blubbers for a moment. "Y-you can't threaten me."

His wife finally steps in. "Just let it go! This man is too much! Let it go!"

For a moment I think he is about to swing a fist at me. Then he deflates, takes his stuff to the right spot and sits with his wife. "I'll be complaining about my treatment here!"

I go back to my seat, and everyone goes about their business. The plane leaves on time. Before arriving in Turkey, the flight attendant secretly passes me a note. It reads:

Thanks for helping! I am wondering if you are available to get drinks tonight. I have a few days before I leave again. If you want to have fun with me, here is my number. XXX-XXX-XXXX.

A lipstick kiss is at the bottom of the note.

<Yet another admirer.> Grace says, giving a wry chuckle. <This isn't going to get old fast.>