When Sasha came back up to say that the prisoner was gone, Jacob was surprised he didn't collapse. His stomach twisted into knots and felt like it was falling straight down out of his body. Dizziness pinned him to the couch and he held his head in his hands, cursing Jase for what he'd just done.
He should have checked the girl's face. Somehow, she'd woken up and escaped. Angela would not be happy. Instead of Sasha getting scolded for not bringing in Manifest, he'd be punished for letting the other one escape.
His blood pounding in his ears, he followed Sasha out towards his reckoning.
Angela would not let him leave easily.
Conrad anxiously walked down to the common area, where Achilles and Barrier Maiden were already waiting for them. A few minutes later, Prime joined them, leaving only Light Master. When he glanced around, he was struck by how small they had gotten. When he'd first joined, they'd had about twice as many as they did here. Lightning, Jumper, Rose, Alchemist and even Hot Rod. While Rose and Alchemist were still technically in the Legion, they weren't allowed into the core of it anymore.
Everything had fallen apart when Hot Rod was killed.
"So?" Prime asked slowly, sitting down and looking Achilles in the eye.
"We'll wait until Light Master gets here," he replied woodenly.
Silence fell for a few more minutes, the tension making Conrad's stomach tie itself into a heavy knot. Finally, Light Master walked in, a grin on his face like nothing was wrong.
"Sorry I'm late, guys," he said, then sat down next to Achilles and leaned back on the sofa.
"It's fine," Achilles said. "We should get this meeting in order, then."
Maiden sat quietly next to him, a hand on his arm.
"Jumper has officially cut ties with us. So has Rose. From now on, it's just going to be us, with Alchemist providing a bit of background support."
Conrad's heart sank at that. Achilles had always thought highly of Jumper. And Rose? What had they ever done to make him go away?
No, they'd definitely shut him out. It shouldn't surprise any of them that he'd left.
But what would this mean for the future? Conrad hated patrolling by himself now. Ever since the incident where his sword had cut Mist, he'd been anxious about what it might do in the future. He hadn't had to deal with much since then, but every time he pulled out his blade, he had the distinct foreboding feeling that it would hurt someone else.
At least patrolling with Rose had helped keep him sane. Rose was down-to-earth and hated fighting. Spending bits of time with him helped Conrad remember that there was a world outside of his Miracle, that he'd once been a normal person too.
"Did Rose or Jumper say anything about why they were leaving?" Prime asked gently. Conrad focused back on the current conversation. He could maybe talk to Rose later.
"Nonsense, mostly," Achilles said coldly. "I guess they were our enemies all along."
"Do you really believe that?" Prime asked. "Or is there something we're doing wrong?"
"We're not wrong!" Achilles snapped, standing and glaring at Prime. "Or are you with the Evil Miracle Giver too?"
"No. I'm just trying to see things from their perspective," Prime said, leaning back and putting up his hands in surrender.
"They all deserve to be blasted," Light Master spat. "Anyone who would stand against is is evil. I don't care if it's Jumper, Lightning, the Phalanx, Team Chaos or the military."
Achilles nodded. "Does anyone else question us?" He glared around the room, meeting everyone's eyes except Barrier Maiden's. She sat meekly next to him, staring at the floor.
"I'm with you all the way. We'll defeat all of our enemies," Light Master said firmly, looking into Achilles' eyes with the same dark emotions Conrad saw in their leader.
Prime didn't say anything, but nodded that he was with them. Conrad did the same, though he was terrified at what he had landed in. His heart pounded and his breathing was shallow.
When would he have to use his sword again? Who would he hurt next?
Was Jumper right?
Conrad shoved the thought to the far recesses of his mind as soon as he realized it was there. Achilles was right. Achilles was their leader. Achilles was chosen, just like the rest of them. He couldn't be wrong. It had to be Jumper. Heck, Jumper hadn't even spent any time with them. He was a coward, a lazy cretin who hadn't even trusted them enough to show his face.
As for Rose, he'd always been a bit too skittish and uncertain to do well with them. It shouldn't come as any surprise that he'd gone too.
"We'll have to up our patrol time," Achilles murmured as he sat back down. Maiden put her arm around his shoulders, looking at him with a sad expression on her face.
"How much?" Prime asked carefully. "There aren't enough of us to cover everything and still allow for time to rest."
"As much as we can," Achilles replied firmly. "Everyone needs to manage four patrol sessions a day. If we need people patrolling solo, we'll do that."
"No days off?" Prime asked, frowning.
"No. Every day will be the same schedule for simplicity. I'll handle noon to four p.m. and ten p.m. to two a.m."
"I'll work from two a.m. to eight a.m. and then four p.m. to six p.m. then," Prime said.
"I can cover eight to noon," Conrad said. "Then maybe six to ten in the evening."
"I'll go from two to ten. Uh, p.m.," Light Master said, nodding at Achilles.
"You sure you can manage that long without a break?" Prime asked, looking at Light Master in concern.
"Of course I can! I'm the Ultimate Light Master." He stuck his tongue out at Prime and they turned to Maiden. She shrank back a bit, then spoke up.
"I can handle midnight to four, then maybe ten a.m. to two p.m. or so. It'd be nice if we had one more person so every day could be fully covered by two of us."
"Unfortunate but we'll make do with what we can. Maybe I'll ask Ben if he knows anyone trustworthy."
As if on cue, Achilles' phone began to ring. He scowled, then picked it up.
"Hello?"
The person on the other end said something, and Achilles grinned.
"Good to hear from you, Ben! What do you need?"
Conrad could hear the warble of someone speaking on the other end, but couldn't make out the words. All he knew was that Achilles looked serious and nodded, occasionally throwing in a word or two of understanding.
Finally, he hung up and looked around at them.
"Ben's found the base of an evil group. Remember Whiplash? If we hurry, we might be able to catch him. Legion, we're moving out!"
He ran upstairs and the rest of them followed to get their own outfits. Light Master whooped like it was time to go to an amusement park or something. Conrad, meanwhile, only felt dread sinking into his stomach.
What would they find there? Would anyone else be hurt? And would his Miracle do what he wanted it to?
There was only one way to find out.
