Guardians: The Triplex Part 13

"This isn't about the mission. This is about you going off and making the whole world pay because you fell in love."

"What?"

"You heard me, Marcus!"

"Okay. I'll tell you what Jay, I'm gonna ask you and everyone in this room a question. If anyone raises their hand, then we can call this whole thing off. I will take Emmy's life right here, right now."

Everyone in the room stands still. My heart races and my palms go cold.

"If any of us raise our hand after you ask the question, you're gonna just let everything drop?"

"Yes."

"Fine. What's the question?"

"If anyone in this room thinks Emmy wouldn't risk her life to save them?"

The silence is so loud it practically buzzes. Marcus waits. No one raises their hands.

Marcus asks the question again. And again, no one raises their hand.

"Then explain this to me: How come the girl with no wings and no powers is willing to die for us but we're running like h.e.l.l when it's time to save her?"

Marcus waits earnestly for a response. No one had anything to say. Marcus then confesses to the group softly: "I know this is going to be beyond difficult. But I'm not asking my team to follow me into battle; I'm asking my family."

Jay is the first to respond.

"I got you. For real."

The others nod silently.

"Thank you," Marcus replies.

"Um...I don't want to ruin this 'all for one and one for all' moment but who is Linden? And what did Kairo do to him?" I ask.

They all look at each other. Rio is the first to speak.

"Linden was a Traveler Angel. He wasn't very good at it. He was always failing to report to the Council because he'd get caught up with his true pa.s.sion, painting. His paintings were so genius, he was commissioned by all of the Original Paras and basically every Angel in the Light."

"Kairo heard of Linden's work. He asked Linden to paint him. Linden refused. He said he would rather die than do it. Kairo was livid. He sent Demons to capture Linden and bring him to the castle."

"He killed Linden?" I ask, unable to hold back.

"No," Miku says.

"He cut off Linden's arms and legs. He then placed him in a dungeon with full sets of paints and brushes to taunt him. Kairo force-fed Linden a mixture to take away his short-term memory. So everyday he wakes up thinking he can paint, then he witnesses the horror of his mutilated body. He screams and cries every time like it was the first time."

"Oh Omnis, why would he do that?" I beg.

"Kairo isn't turned on by pain alone. He likes to get inside your head and make you wish

you were dead," Miku explains.

"It's been said if you stand still on a windy day and you hear the wind howling, that's Linden calling out 'Kill me, kill me' over and over again," Rio adds.

"He's s.a.d.i.s.tic," I say, mostly to myself.

"Lucy made him, so...yes, he is," Ameana concludes.

"This is the guy we're going after? Marcus, we can't. If he gets any of you, he'll torture you guys for eternity."

"Emmy, he won't get us," Marcus promises.

"Has anyone ever tried to find Linden?"

"No one has made it inside the castle."

"How many years has it been?" I ask.

"Not years. Cycles."

"Cycles?"

My heart sinks. I don't want to know anymore about Kairo. I just want everything to be still. I want to somehow make this all go away. I sit down on the bed and shut my eyes. The picture of the mangled painter flashes in my head.

We can't go up against that kind of lunatic. How do you defeat a psychotic demon that the Angels aren't allowed to kill?

I'm so deep inside my head I don't realize that the team has left Marcus and I in the room alone. He sits down next to me.

"Look at me," he asks gently.

I shake my head "no."

He reaches out and slowly turns my head to face him. A fresh stream of warm tears flows down my face.

"He's gonna torture you," I sob.

He pulls me into his chest. I sob against him. He strokes my hair and kisses my forehead.

We're quiet for several minutes. The only sound is my crying.

"I can't let you do it. I can't let you guys face Kairo."

"Hey, look at me," he asks again.

I reluctantly look into my Angel's face.

"Nothing Kairo does to me will ever compare to what your absence does to me."

"But Marcus-"

"Emmy, the first few weeks I came to Earth and I tried to stay away from you, those were my days of torture."

"I can't handle you guys dying for me."

"It's an Angel's honor to give up their lives for courageous humans."

"I'm not courageous. Courageous humans don't cry into their boyfriend's chests."

"They do. And then they dry their eyes and get ready to battle," he says, as he dries my tears with tissues from the box by the bed.

"I'm not really worth all of this..."

"You are the most important thing in my life. But that doesn't matter if you think you're worthless. I can't give you any value. You have to give that to yourself."

"I don't know why all of this is happening. I'm just some girl."

"You had a mother who loved you. You have a father who would fight me to the death if it means protecting you. You also have a boyfriend who would lay down his life for an extra minute with you. How could so many people be wrong?"

"You don't ever doubt me, do you?"

"No. I've seen you in action. I've seen you in h.e.l.l, and h.e.l.l bowed down to you. So I know what you're capable of. Emmy, it's time you had a little faith in Emmy..."

CHAPTER EIGHT: IF I DON'T RETURN.

Once we're back in New York City, Jay has Marcus call up his buddy who has been studying Kairo. His friend suggests that if knowing Kairo's mindset is vital, he should seek out the number one Kairo historian: Isabelle Gonzales. We meet the Angel at a small cafe near my house.

Isabella is a pretty Latina with dark brown eyes, rich curly hair, and gla.s.ses. Her slight accent makes her even more endearing. When she enters, she begins speaking in Spanish. Angels speak every language so the group joins in.

"Hey, don't leave out the human who only got a C in Spanish."

"I was just telling the Guardians I can't believe how close I am to the map," she says, leaning in to study my eyes.

I smile and try not to feel weird about her being so close. I fail. This is totally weird. It's like being on display.

Please stop looking at me...

"Does it hurt?" Isabelle asks.

"Not really, no."

Please stop looking at me...

"When you blink, can you feel it move?"

"No."

Please stop looking at me...

"What happens when you wash your face?"

Why can't I be invisible just for a few minutes?

Rio and Marcus sense my discomfort because they rescue me.

"Isabelle, we heard you know 'all things Kairo,' is that true?"

"No one here or in the Light has done as much research as I have," she says proudly.

"And what have you learned?" I ask.

"Most Demons have a desire to cause physical pain, but for Kairo that's only secondary. His first priority is anguish. He likes to make his victims die a thousand mental deaths before he actually kills them."

"So we've heard," I reply.

"I'm fascinated by Kairo; always have been. For example, did you know that while Lucy created him from a number of depraved mixtures from Hun's market, she also added a human component?"

"And what was that?" Miku asks.

"No one knows. Lucy destroyed the Seller who gave it to her. All that's known is that somewhere inside that body of evil and malice there's one human element."

"Well, from what I've heard about him, it's not mercy," I inform Isabelle.

"That's the question posed by historians everywhere: What kind of human emotion does Kairo have? Can it be used to nurture a more humane, understanding version of him? Is he evil because he was created this way or because he chooses to be?"

"You sound like you admire this guy," Ameana says, put off by the thrill Isabelle's voice.

"The more we know about evil, the easier it is to destroy it," she defends.

"How close have you gotten to destroying Kairo?" Rio inquires.

"Not close at all. I've read accounts of his terror but I've never seen it firsthand. I can't help but feel that if I was able to study him up close, I could get the info I need to know what he's really like."