Chapter 33

Zoe realized pretty quickly that even in his exhausted state, Geier would have no issue in a fight with her. His sharp nails, his tall, muscular frame… 'I've completely underestimated this. I've learned a lot intuitively from the time I came up with this plan until now, and I don't think I can do this. But if he beats me, then we basically lose. I've got to think of something.'

"Hey, so, um, can you keep a secret?"

Geier paused, his eyes narrowing, and his body language changed to a defensive stance. "A secret?" he tried to sound dispassioned, but his voice oozed with curiosity.

"Yes," Zoe said, a slight shake in her voice. She didn't account for it, but it was almost impossible not to give in to the urge of her fidgeting—shuffling her cards or twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. It felt like a part of her brain was itching, and it wouldn't go away until she scratched it.

"Sure, why not?"

"Well, we had this whole plan, and I won't be able to do it. You're too strong for me. If you don't tell anyone that I told you, I can show you where the ring is."

An enormous grin crossed Geier's face. "Alright, where is it?"

"I'm going to have to show you."

"I'm not stupid. You'll tell me. Now."

"I—alright," Zoe pointed a shaky hand towards her right, near the direction of the waterfall. "It's over there, but you can't just walk over and get it. I'm gonna have to show you. It's a very specific place; I can't quite describe it with words."

Geier thought for a moment, looking into Zoe's eyes, seeing no hostility there, "Fine, let's go. But if I find out you're lying, I'll kill you on the spot."

Zoe nodded.

The peregrination from where they were to the waterfall was a quiet one. Suddenly stopping, Geier turned, "Actually, do you actually need to come with me?"

Zoe clenched her jaw. 'He's getting suspicious, and I have about two minutes before we reach there; I'm going to have to do this fast,' she thought. "Well, there's something I should probably tell you."

"Okay."

"Well, if I may ask, you have energy, right?"

"Of course."

"So that's why you felt so strong. That's the only way to gain access to the temple. Energy, and a lot of it. You seem strong enough."

"Is that the secret?"

"Part of it," Zoe said. 'So far, so good. A clever lie.'

"So, why would someone like you know? You just got here, didn't you? From that colony up north."

'Not clever enough, but he gave me enough information. It doesn't seem like he knows much about the Crater—he doesn't even know the name; I may be able to use this,' she thought, her heart rate quickening. Her voice was slow and deliberate. "Well, there's more to it than that. The guy that was around me, the taller boy with brown hair, I've known him for years. His family actually lives here, and he visits often. He kinda tells me everything, maybe even things I probably shouldn't know."

He turned and continued walking towards the waterfall, a single monotone, "okay."

"Yeah, that's why we were picked to come down here. They knew we could be trusted. This also isn't our first time coming down here."

There was a long pause; Zoe wanted to say something but knew it would seem suspicious if she talked too much. 'Okay, this is bad. It's going off-script. From this point on...I haven't thought this far ahead. Talking isn't exactly my strong suit, and if things go south, there'll be no way I could beat him in a fight. Even with him in his exhausted state and with my knives and energy, I don't stand a chance. Think! Think!'

"So, would they just let anyone in?"

"I think it depends. You'd need to be useful to them."

"I might know someone from there. 'Know' might be too strong of a word. I knew them from an acquaintance. They had me do a mission of some sort. I only followed their orders."

"I'm not surprised. They would only choose someone like that who's really good. From what I've heard, your skills are far beyond what ninety-nine percent of people your age would be. I'm sure lots of people in Crater would love to learn from you."

They walked through the treeline, reaching the waterfall.

"That seems a bit unrealistic. Though, it would be...well." He paused, his attention shifting, "We're here. What do I do?"

'If only I had one more minute!' She glanced from him to the waterfall, "behind there," Zoe said, pointing. "Can I ask you something?"

"Okay."

"There's no question that you're some type of prodigy, so why are you here doing this?"

"It is what it is."

'I'm going to have to say something. It'll be risky, but if the Barnum statement works...It'll be audacious for sure, but at this point….' Zoe thought. "I can tell you aren't happy being both of their lackeys. They constantly talk down to you, especially the blonde one in the robe. Marlin, I think?"

Geier had walked behind the waterfall and placed his hand on the rock over the same spot the door had opened for them. He turned and scowled at her. After a second, his eyes softened.

"What do you know?"

"Am I incorrect?"

"I mean, I never wanted to do this. I just had nowhere else to go at a time, and Kiari helped me. I never really cared much for the other two—I guess it's one now. But he… he's never wronged me. I owe them. Though, I understand why we're here."

"You don't have to do this, though; what's stopping you from leaving right now?" Zoe noticed her fingers had instinctively wrapped around her necklace.

There was a long pause; he glanced from her back in the direction of Cassius, specifically the library. "Addilynn's gonna die if we don't do something. I owe it all to her just as much as Kiari. They gave me everything."

"Oh, right," Zoe said, her eyes fell. A twinge of guilt bubbled in her stomach. "Well, here, I'll tell you how to get in now. From what I was shown, you need to put both hands on the rock in front of you and put as much energy in it as you can, and it'll open."

"Okay, like this?" He asked, leaning both his hands on the boulder; energy surrounded him as he did so.

"Yea, I think so," Zoe said. She could tell it took a lot of effort for him to even activate his energy.

He gritted his teeth, feeling a bead of sweat run down his face, "it's not opening," he growled.

"Well, that's to be expected. If you don't use a certain amount of energy, I don't think it'll open. So try putting as much as you can." She changed her posture and body language to mimic Ivy's; her feet were wide apart, her shoulders rolled back, and her head high.

His jaw muscles hurt as he clenched them harder, feeling the energy in his body flow to his hands, trying to open the passageway he thought was there.

"Will you come back to Crater with me?"

He glanced over, almost losing all his concentration, "huh?"

Zoe's eyes sparkled with a confident endearment. "You should. I think you'd be very valuable to them. I'm sure you know already that not anyone can just walk in. They'll probably remember you from the last time you worked for them, too. You can do so much more than hanging around criminals all day. They seem to trust you because you are skilled and smart. You could join really easily," her heart felt like it would explode, and her vocal cords felt strained.

"You'd really want me to join? I don't think they'd want me there, well after…this."

"They won't know unless someone tells them, and I can keep a secret."

"And your friends?"

"They're easily convinced."

"Huh," he said, his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

"I could even recommend you. Maybe both of them to recommend you. We could say that you helped us beat the others."

"You really think they'd believe that?" he asked. His voice layered with anticipation.

"Well, truth be told, my dad is actually the chief of staff in Crater. If his own daughter were to recommend someone, and you already have some kind of record there, they'd probably be begging you to join. Roll out the red carpet and everything! You know; I can't help but think this isn't just serendipity or a fortuitous incident—This was meant to happen."

"Wow, that's…well, I don't know."

"Just a little more pushing," Zoe thought. "What were your plans, normally? What would you be doing?"

"My plans? I never really had one. Just go day by day. I never really knew what to do, honestly. I just kind of existed."

"You're only a few years older than me, right? If I were you, I wouldn't want to waste my life doing this. Crater can give you purpose. A new start. Live a dignified life."

"I don't think I deserve that," he said quietly, turning back to stare at the rock face in front of him.

"Everyone deserves a second chance."

"Mine came and went long ago. It's a bit too late."

"I don't think so."

He looked her directly in her eyes, no, through her eyes, directly into her soul. "Can you promise me that?"

It took all she had to hold that gaze, "of course," she said.

"Well, what about other colonies?"

"What about them?"

"Would you be able to go to different ones? And what about the Outback?"

Zoe thought for a minute, "He knows about that?" She looked up at him, "How do you know what that is, if you don't mind me asking?"

Geier took a deep breath, the memories surfacing. He told the story of how he first met Addilynn and the book she read.

"Yeah," Zoe said, a bit too fast, "people move from colony to colony all the time. You'd probably start out at a higher rank than most, so you'd be able to travel—basically for free too!"

"Well, that's some of the few good things about this; I get to travel all over the world, especially restricted countries which Kiari and Addilynn taught me how to get in."

"I should've known," Zoe smiled, "I had a feeling you weren't from around here. Your worldly knowledge is unique. I've always wanted to travel and go abroad. From what I heard, those countries are very hard to get into. I'd love to learn from you one day." She paused, noting his expression, "Sorry, maybe I jumped the gun a bit."

"Oh, no, you're fine. I'm just thinking about things," Geier stated. "I can't leave Kiari or Addilynn," he decided.

"They can come with you."

"Tch," he scoffed. After a second, he turned, "yeah?"

Looking up at the cascade of water above them. The light mist of the water hit his face; the cold water felt good in the California Island air.

A smile crossed Zoe's lips, "Well, first, we gotta get the door open, right?"

"Yeah, right," he said with a bright smile, wiping sweat from his face. He took several deep breaths. On his fourth breath, he pushed as hard as possible, his aura spiking around him, its radius growing. A loud hum could be heard even over the waterfall, crashing several feet behind them.

"Like that, just a little more!"

Zoe thought back to what Idris had told her, "It's basically your life force. You have to always manage it; it can't be used indefinitely." She asked what would happen if it ran out. "Ran out completely? Like a hundred percent out? Well, you die. But that's very rare for that to happen. Usually, what'll happen if you use too much is that you'll just collapse, be unable to move, or can barely move for about a couple of hours or so—total exhaustion. Let's call that stage one of energy fatigue.

"If you make it to stage two somehow, you'll pretty much just pass out on the spot. You'd just go catatonic, face-first on the ground, have a nice little nap for eight hours. When you wake up, you'll be fine.

"Stage three is when shit gets gnarly. That's when permanent damage and death come into play. Like, you ain't really coming back from that. It really shouldn't be possible to make it to stage three, but it does happen. Maybe people get their energy siphoned or something, I dunno, but if you somehow survive that, you're pretty much a vegetable for the rest of your life."

A small surface of the rock cracked and split from the force of the aura. Geier's eyes widened briefly before his energy flickered out. He stumbled back; his hands covered his mouth as he started coughing uncontrollably. He removed them, looking at down, seeing they were stained red. He felt his legs were about to give out, but he pushed himself forward, placing his hands on the same spot as before.

"What's wrong, Geier?" Zoe leaned in; her tone rippled with innocent derision.

He couldn't do anything. His muscles failed, his elbows buckled, and he fell forward, hitting the rock, sliding to the side, and falling to the ground.

His eyes widened with shock as he watched Zoe put her foot in the center of his chest. An evening orange energy swayed around her. She gripped her wavy silver dagger so tightly that her knuckles turned white, holding it inches from his throat. His pupils dilated with fear and confusion.

"Don't move, and don't say anything either!" Her voice was shaky and quiet, barely above a whisper.