A Peacekeeper's Oath pt. 2

An unraveling begins...

If you’d like to read part 1, go ahead and click here!

Also, I don’t normally do this, but a quick content warning. There are small sections of this part that may be a little unsettling. So, just a broad warning for that.

Let’s go ahead and hop into this…

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The morning after what the Peacekeeper’s began to affectionately call ‘the joyride’ was the department head’s meeting. The heads of Investigation, Crime Scene Control (the ‘clean up’ department), Border and Internal Security, and City Patrols all met in the glass meeting room on the top floor of the HQ. Monroe sat at the front of the large meeting table, one leg over the other, and watched as the leads of each department mingled with each other.

“Pacè, I heard you and Green put an entire building out of order yesterday.” The Security head said with an air of derision.

“We caught the guys, didn't we?” Akashi replied with a smile on his face. Celie shook her head. The rest of the department heads laughed.

“Yeah and gave my team a week’s worth of work.” The Clean-Up head noted. “You know that old woman that hit you was livid. Wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to file a formal complaint with the SoP or the council member from the district. Maybe both if she wants to really torch your career.”

“Yeah, you’re lucky you aren’t already suspended, Akashi.” The Patrol lead added. “You’re lucky I had Keepers on the beat or she might’ve died in her car - a fire started kicking up in the engine. Just look out for any complaints pushed to your desk. Wouldn’t want to lose my favorite Keeper.” He winked at Akashi.

“Was that a threat or a flirt?” Akashi mumbled to Celie. Celie shrugged. Akashi decided regardless to laugh and walked over to his seat, “Look, if she wants to file a complaint then let her. It’s every Paradian’s right under the system, isn’t it?”

“And if she does, we’ll handle it as the law is written.” Monroe cut in and the discussion stopped. All of the department heads took their respective seats and looked at Monroe attentively. “Since we’re talking about it, Akashi, what’s your final report on the joyride?” 

Celie had read the report during her morning commute. Several investigators had worked overnight to create a comprehensive report that detailed in depth what the sorcerers were doing and why, but had Akashi read it? She clenched her teeth and waited for his reply. He activated his ring and information projected across the table for everyone to see. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Celie breathed out a quiet sigh of relief, “we had people in Investigation working late on this one. It looks like - as expected - they were another group of sorcerers. Magical tracing connects them to the Divine Void. And get this, they’re sorcerers that worship a god. They’re really into this guy known as the Void Fiend. Also goes by the Void Tyrant, Void Ruler, and… really anything that makes him sound big, scary, and in charge. They call him the god of kings. The god of empire.” Akashi interacted with the hologram and the gravelly voice of a sorcerer crackled to life,

“His divine strength will conquer this land and bring it to its knees. He will rule, we will follow, and you… you will burn.”

“Really nice guys.” Akashi added after the recording.

“Interesting. I thought the Five gods of balance were in charge of the Void realm.” Monroe announced.

“Yep, you’d be right - kind of ironic, right? God of empire and kings or whatever and he isn’t even in charge of his own realm. Anyway, this guy likes to think he is in charge and he loves sorcerers. He’s been trying to rally them for a while and it looks like it finally worked. This was just another group infiltrating Paradia for Fates only know what reason.”

“I see…” Monroe tapped her chin and thought for a moment.

“The trouble is,” Celie interjected, “We don’t know why they’re coming here, ma’am.”

“Paradia is built on all kinds of stuff. Maybe there’s an old temple they’re after.” The Security head guessed.

“That could be it. Maybe we should have a crew of Keepers do a sweep of the underground for anything that sounds like this.” The Clean-Up head added. Everyone turned to Monroe and waited for her to support the idea. She nodded thoughtfully then said,

“This could be the reason we need to push the sorcerer ban through the council and up to the Secretary of Peace’s desk. Thoughts?” Celie felt her body flush hot. She had pushed back against the ban so many times, but every time anything remotely scary happened and sorcerers were involved, Monroe took it as a sign it was time to initiate a ban. Celie and Akashi shared a look then Akashi replied,

“Well, I’m not so sure, ma’am. Most sorcerers are pretty harmless. They just want to live. Maybe it’d be best to just sweep the underground and find what they’re looking for. You know, get to the source of the problem. If we can find it before these fanatics do, then maybe we can cut this thing off at the head. Maybe just demolish the thing.”

“Sorcerers are unpredictable. Uncontrollable. This is a city of order, and they are practically the embodiment of chaos.” Monroe countered.

“Lady Monroe has a point. They make Clean-Up’s job miserable.” The Clean-Up head added. 

“They are people.” Celie added. There was an uncomfortable shift across the room. “Just like everyone else in this city.” She felt her blood boiling, but ignored the archaic feeling of the realm of the ancients reaching out to her. “They can’t control the inherent magic coursing through them, and they aren’t bad people. Followers of this fanatical god might be, but sorcerers are people. Don’t forget that behind the sorcerer label. People.” Celie took a deep breath, trying to steady her mind.

“I didn’t know you two were so… of one mind about this.” Providence Monroe replied, surprise creeping into her usually calm demeanor. She looked between Celie and Akashi, sizing them up with suspicion.

“Well, ma’am, we believe wholeheartedly that peace in Paradia should be for everyone who wants a chance. Just because there are some sorcerers serving a dark god doesn’t mean they all are. I bet there are countless sorcerers in this city who are just trying to live quiet lives.”

“I see.” Monroe added. “Is this the official stance of the Investigation department?” 

Akashi nodded.

“If anything, shouldn’t we be worried about this void god and why he wants his disciples here causing problems? How about we circle back around to that?” Celie asked.

“That’s a good point.” The Patrol head added.

“Keepers, it isn’t about the why.” Monroe said. “It’s about how to stop them from disrupting order.” 

There she goes again. Celie rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat. 

“Would you like to add something, Miss Green?” Monroe asked.

“No ma’am.”

“Are you sure? It seemed like you had something you wanted to -”

“No ma’am. Investigations has said our formal thoughts on the matter and I’m sure they’ve been duly noted.” Monroe smiled,

“Yes. That they have.”

Celie didn’t say another word for the remainder of the meeting. Even when Monroe chastised Investigations - really just her and Akashi - for making a mess of the chase and the crime scene the day prior. 

The meeting ended abruptly - or maybe she had just tuned out the rest of the conversation. The last thing she heard was Akashi announcing,

“I’ll get a team on figuring out what exactly these void guys are after. When we’ve got that sorted, we’ll move forward with cutting them off and go from there.”

“Sounds good. Dismissed.” Monroe announced with a smile.

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.

.

After the morning debrief, Akashi and Celie went to the diner. Akashi ordered the same pie from the night before and Celie ordered a nutrient smoothie. They spent the morning working at the diner, answering messages and reading through reports. As the morning rush bled into an afternoon lull, a young man in a nice suit with a buzzed down afro and deep bronze skin approached them. He had a politician's smile and a charisma that came from practice rather than nature. He approached the table, adjusted the cuffs of his suit and cleared his throat.

“Excuse me.” He announced. Akashi and Celie looked up from their reports and met the man’s eyes.

“Can we help you, sir?” Akashi asked.

“I'm fine, thanks, but I can help you. Real quick - Mr. Pacè and Miss Green, right?”

“That's us.” Akashi replied. Celie nodded with the most cordial smile she could muster.

“Perfect. I'm Da'al Pentus. I'm an assistant intern in Secretary of Peace Elis Duhmar's cabinet. She wanted me to come and speak with you. Do you have time?” Celie and Akashi shared a look.

“We always have time for representatives of the SoP.” Celie said with a welcoming gesture for Da'al to sit next to her. He brightened his politician grin and obliged. “What can we do for you, Da'al?” Celie asked with her most welcoming smile. Infighting between the branches of the Paradian government was always an issue. The last thing they needed was to upset anyone - even an intern - under the Secretary.

“I'm so glad you asked,” Da’al ran his fingers through his hair then continued, “Secretary Duhmar is very aware of your joyride yesterday. She requested I come chat with you for a little while to discuss the importance of safety when keeping peace in Paradia.”

“Really? Send an intern? Well, shit, I'm sorry Da'al.” Akashi shook his head and chuckled.

“She picked me because she trusts me to get the point across.” Da'al countered. “As a matter of fact, next time you see me, you’ll be speaking to personal assistant Pentus rather than assistant intern. Everyone has to start somewhere, Keeper Pacè.”

“Fair enough. Make your point.” Akashi said with a smug grin on his face. Celie shook her head,

“Pentus, we understand we messed up yesterday -” 

“Yeah, Prov already made it clear.” Akashi added.

“- and we'll do better moving forward. We’re addressing where we went wrong and we’ll be making changes to our behavior and potentially department protocol.”

“You guys have been in Paradia longer than me. I think we can all agree that the problem isn’t your protocol. It’s how you bend the protocol to mean whatever you want it to. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the protocol could use some changes, but there’s always a way to bend the rules. Especially if there’s no one to push back against your… behavior.”

“You have a point,” Celie conceded, “but the promise of Paradia is a second chance to do better, isn't it?”

“The promise of Paradia is peace. SoP Duhmar is clear on that as head of state. If you happen to find a second chance along the way, then good for you, but peace always comes first. That is the name of the office after all.”

“Head of state.” Akashi snorted. “Be real, Pentus. You and I both know who the real head of state is.” Da'al Pentus shook his head,

“That's not what the declaration that Providence Monroe herself signed says. She can act like she's in charge all she wants but no one - not even you goons - are above the rule of law.”

“Goons? Come on, Da'al, we're doing our best out here! I'd like to see you try and do what we do. You're acting like we're criminals!”

“Well, you certainly aren't law-abiding citizens. Otherwise I wouldn't be here.” A flash of rage crossed Akashi's face. He slammed his fists into the table and tried to stand up in the booth, but Celie raised a hand to him. He stopped and waited to see what she would say.

“We'll do better, Da'al. You can count on us - count on me.” She said, holding eye contact with Pentus.

“All due respect, Miss Green, it's not you I'm worried about.” He shifted his gaze to Akashi, then stood up and flashed his perfect straight smile, ran his fingers through his hair again then continued, “It's been a pleasure speaking with you both. I hope you understand the Secretary’s stance on the matter. If another complaint comes across her desk, it won’t be me that you're speaking to… but something tells me I'll be seeing you two around in the future anyways.” With that he walked out of the diner. Akashi turned to Celie, fuming,

“Can you believe that kid? An intern, Celie! An intern! Thinks he knows better than us. You should’ve let me deal with that punk kid.”

“You know, we weren't much older than him when we thought we knew better than the southwest collective.”

“What's your point?”

“Well, is he wrong? Akashi, we already talked about this. What about what he said is wrong?”

“I - that's not the point.”

“Admit it. Your pride’s just wounded.” After a long pause Akashi finally replied with a simple,

“Maybe.” 

“We're better than this. Come on, we need to set a better example for the next generation of civil servants in this city.”

“Yeah… yeah, you're right.”

“We're getting so caught up in our own selves that we aren't actually paying attention to the city. It's not about us or if we're having fun. It's about servitude. It's about keeping the peace. At all costs.”

“You've got me there.” Akashi smiled and took a bite of his now cold pie. “You're right. We need to do what's right for the city.” 

“Exactly.”

“Man, Celie, sometimes it's just so easy to - like - when is it our turn? Do you know what I mean?”

“Hm?” She didn’t like the way he said that. Something about it felt like a flashing warning light in her face. What did that mean?

“Like when do we get to rest? When's our break?”

“Old friend, if you want it easy, you shouldn't be a civil servant. Gee always said civil servants rest when they're dead. Someone always needs something.”

“Man, she never tells me anything that wise.”

“Maybe because you never answer her calls. Which speaking of, there’s actually something she and I have been talking about. Since you haven’t been answering, she wanted me to talk to you about it.”

“Oh? You’ve been talking to her?”

“Yeah. She’s been talking about buying up some land in Cain - lots of cheap land over there these days.”

“What, she’s going to be like a landlord now?” 

“No, more like -” A voice pinged into their ears, projecting from the vibrations of their rings,

“Peacekeepers Green and Pacè, are you in the Halenite district?”

“Negative, just next door in Selin.” Akashi replied.

“Close enough.” The dispatcher replied. “We've got a domestic disturbance in an apartment complex in Halenite. Neighbors are saying it's getting pretty bad. Sending you the coordinates now. All Patrols in range are tied up with a traffic incident. Somebody’s market cart got crushed by a landing hovercraft. Can you handle this?” 

“We'll take care of it.” Celie said as she stood up. “See? Never ends. We’ll pick up what’s going on with Gee later.”

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Halenite was the poorest district in Paradia. It was where people came first, then - if they were lucky - they could move up. The districts weren’t meant to be separated by class, but that was how it happened as people flocked to Paradia for safety. Celie fought early on, but when Monroe announced she didn’t see a problem with it, all the other Peacekeeper department leaders - even Akashi - nodded along and that was final.

Later when she brought it up, he admitted she had a point and said he regretted not speaking up, but the damage was done. The richest of districts were high in the sky, connected by skyscraper platforms and hover transports. Down on the ground were the poorest districts; Halenite being the worst of them. It wasn’t uncommon to be called out to Halenite for domestic disturbances. The stress of starting at the bottom with barely anything to your name often wore on people. 

Celie liked to remind investigators and patrol Keepers that they were finding people at their lowest. ‘Never judge someone by what they’re doing at their lowest.’ She hoped some people took that to heart. Halenite was one of the first districts built into the city. Unlike many of the other districts, it was here before Akashi and Celie. Because of that, the apartment building wasn’t as new and pristine as other apartments scattered throughout the city. The lights flickered, it smelled vaguely of mildew, and the hallways were stuffed with boxes and supplies. 

Akashi led the way inside as Celie looked through data on her ring. “Complaints are mostly coming from the fifth floor.”

“Elevator?”

“Down the hall this way.” She gestured to their left. As they were making their way down the hall, an older woman dressed in finery that didn’t fit into the world around her stepped out of an office.

“Are you the officers sent for the disturbance?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am,” Akashi said. Celie slunk back, letting him take the lead. “We prefer the term Peacekeepers. Or Keepers.”

“Whatever. Officers are officers. I’m Jules, I work for the council. This is one of the apartments under my jurisdiction.”

“Didn’t know the council had designated apartment managers.” Akashi thought out loud.

“We aren’t just managers.” She spat out. Her voice was gravelly and reminded Celie of people who smoked wraps in the factory she worked at in Cain. “You know, I’ve lived in Halenite for eight years? In this town that makes you ancient. How long have you two been in the city?”

“About a decade. Ma’am, what can you tell us about the situation here?” Akashi tried to bring the woman back to focus.

“A decade? Almost as old as the city itself! Makes you two fossils.”

“Ma’am,” Celie spoke up, “What can you tell us about what’s happening?”

“Oh, goodness, I have no idea! Barbarians cross these borders every day. The Secretary of Peace should be ashamed of herself. Did you know that in some villages in the wasteland it's customary to steal husbands and wives from the cities? Ghastly, just ghastly. This new couple, the man probably stole his wife I bet. He works for the city - the spelunking business or whatever. Ask me - she’s from Ravyn’s End, the poor girl - the man should die, officers. If you want my opinion, give him the death penalty. He probably kidnapped her and forced her to come here.”

Akashi and Celie stole glances at each other.

“Right… we don’t really… do that here…” Akashi scratched his head, “We’re just going to - uh - we’re going to go check things out.”

“Gods’ speed, officers! Be careful! That elevator doesn’t work very well. Someone really ought to take care of it.” The woman called after them as they stepped into the elevator. The elevator lurched into the air.

“Did you know the council was dividing up jurisdictions within their respective districts?” Celie asked.

“Council doesn’t tell us anything.” Akashi replied. “I bet the Secretary didn’t even know about this one.”

“We should mention to Monroe that the branches need to communicate more. Maybe something worth bringing up in the next meeting.”

“Mhm.” Akashi agreed. 

The elevator doors crawled open and the two stepped out. The fifth floor was oddly quiet. No overlapping discussions, no children playing in the apartments or the halls, just flickering lights and a faint noise that sounded to Celie like white noise. She felt her skin run cold.

“Something’s here.” She whispered. There was a strange static in the air. Something she couldn’t quite recognize, but was clearly preternatural. Her bond to the realm of the ancients gave her a sense for strange pulses of power traveling through the world of Astra. It left her feeling filled with energy as an unrecognizable power coursed through the halls and around them. She had learned to control these warnings from the beyond and not let the surge of otherworldly power overwhelm her senses.

“Something magic?” Akashi asked. Celie nodded. “Alright, let’s move carefully then.” They followed the hall towards the room labeled as the disruptive room on the reports. As they came closer to the target apartment, Celie realized something: The white noise was a wail. A deep guttural cry, pulsating through the fifth floor, consuming sound around it. She nudged Akashi to draw his attention to it. She began using the old hand signals they had learned in the war,

“Injury?” She asked.

“Maybe. Could be bad. Weapons?” Akashi gestured to her energy pistol

“No!” Celie yelled in sign language. He threw his hands up in apology. He pointed to her energy pistol again,

“Keep it close.” He signed. She wasn’t planning on using it, but if she had to then she would. Akashi moved ahead and began stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders. She could see what he was thinking. He had started making assumptions. This was a domestic violence call with an abusive man and a hurt woman. He wanted to run in and be the savior, but he didn’t know the story. Celie could tell it didn’t matter. He had already made up the story of what was happening and he was going to act accordingly. Celie sighed. He meant well, but assumptions like that might get someone killed. 

From outside the door the wail was constantly thrumming in their ears. Someone was in a lot of pain. Akashi knocked on the door.

“Peacekeepers. Everything okay in there?” The wail stopped. There was a long, tense silence. She gently put her hand to the door and felt the energy pulsing outwards from the door..

“It’s in here.” She signed. Akashi nodded, then knocked one more time.

“Hello? Anyone home?” The silence was suddenly pierced by an uncontrollable laugh. The laugh was high pitched, cackling, and filled the air with sharp needle-like discomfort. Celie rubbed her arms in an attempt to get her skin to stop poking up all across her body. Akashi spoke out loud to Celie, “This is getting weird. We should just go in.” Celie nodded in agreement. 

“By declaration 7C of the Peacekeeper laws and regulations of Paradia, we will be entering the premises on a wellness check with probable cause.” She shouted. “Please be aware one of us is armed, but we have no intention of harming you.”

The laughter rose into a screeching cackle that made Akashi wince. Celie tried the door to no avail. She tried to override the lock with the Peacekeeper override embedded in her ring. The rusted electric lock on the door gave a negative beep in response.

“Override fail. Tech’s no good on the door.” She said to Akashi, her voice barely rose over the laughter.

“Okay, screw this.” Akashi took a few steps back then ran at the door, his shoulder smashing through the weak synthetic wood, bringing it down to the ground with him on top of it. Splinters flew out around him as he and the door smashed into the floor. He let out a groan as he forced himself up onto his knees.

The laughter stopped.

A deep whimper like a child lost in a dark forest echoed off the walls, but they didn’t see anyone there to make such a hurt-filled sound. Celie stepped in front of Akashi and surveyed the room. Her heart stopped as her eyes were drawn to an especially dark corner. Her voice was caught in her throat, she felt sweat forming all over her. She heard Akashi let out a quiet gasp. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. She took a deep breath, then activated her comm,

“All units. Repeat, all units - prioritize Investigation department - be advised: There has been a murder in the Halenite district. All available units converge -” She forced herself to take a deep breath, “converge immediately on my location. Keeper Green out.” 

Murder was rare in Paradia. It was even more rare that it was this brutal. At first she couldn’t even fully tell what she was looking at, but soon she recognized it as a body, its legs were tied at the ankles and hanging from the ceiling of the studio apartment. It had the gray skin covered in supernova-like explosions of a dead Xella - the chosen people of Guaya, the goddess of the cosmos. Worst of all, the body was missing its head.

“Gods above.” Akashi said as he brushed himself off and looked at the scene. “Want me to set up a perimeter?” He asked. Celie shook her head,

“No.” Then as quickly as she replied, she noticed something, “Listen.” In the startle of finding the body, they had lost track of the whimpering that was still coming from somewhere in the room. Akashi nodded in acknowledgement and moved up with extreme caution. He flexed his hands into fists then relaxed them over and over again, taking deep breaths. Celie put her hand on her energy pistol and tightened her hand on the grip. She kept it in the holster, but unclipped it. In the far corner away from the body was a door. She gestured to the door and signed, “Closet?” Akashi nodded,

“Moving in.” He stepped up to the door and put his hand on the handle. Celie went to the opposite side of the door and leaned against the wall. They held eye contact for a moment, communicating in silence to each other. Then, Celie nodded.

Akashi pulled the door open, revealing a small closet piled high with boxes and clothes on hangers. Jammed into the corner was a man. His face was covered by the sleeves of his shirt. 

“Paradia Peacekeepers, don’t move.” Akashi commanded, with a single hand raised. The man whimpered, then his voice wavered into a gentle laugh.

“She wouldn’t look at me… she wouldn’t look…” His voice flipped back to a whimper, then a wail, then a sudden giggle. “I made her look.”

“Okay, guy, how about you look at me now instead, yeah?” Akashi commanded. The man fought against his own body, struggling to look up from his lap.

“No! No no no. I can’t. I won’t.” Celie shifted with discomfort,

“Akashi. Let’s just keep an eye on him and wait for backup.”

“No, I want him out of here and in cuffs when the rest of Investigation comes in. We should have the scene under control so they can get to work.”

“Fine. Sir, please come with us.”

“No. No. I can’t. I swear, I didn't do this, she just wouldn’t look, she wouldn’t - I made her. She had to. But it didn’t work. Why didn’t it work?” Celie shook her head,

“He’s off. Had a break or something. We might need to bring a specialist in.” 

“I noticed. We can’t bring a specialist into this. Look around us, Celie. Hey, guy, how about you come with me?” Akashi reached a hand out and touched the man’s shoulder. The man’s face shot up with a renewed invigoration. He was a human man, his face beat red with the force of emotion flowing through him. His face was contorted into a wicked smile. As he moved, Celie noticed splattered blood on his hands, face, and clothes. 

He jumped up with a sudden intensity and lunged for Akashi. Akashi caught him by the arm and twisted it behind his back. He slammed the man against the closet door and felt him squirm as his gasping laughs turned to horrible squeals and giggles then shuddered into pleading cries for mercy,

“I didn’t know! I didn’t mean it! It wasn’t me, it wasn’t!”

Celie pulled her gun from the holster and held it low, watching Akashi illegally restrain the man as he put another hand against the back of the man’s neck, pinning him. 

“Akashi, take it easy. Get him in cuffs and we’ll go from there.” The man’s head turned and contorted towards Akashi. It was twisted in a nearly unnatural way to lock eyes with Akashi. That was when Celie felt something in the air. Something wasn’t quite right. There was an odd shift in the room, as if a presence was shifting. She couldn’t describe it, but she could feel it: Something was changing. 

Akashi’s grip on the man’s neck loosened and a blank stare crossed his face. Celie didn’t know what was going on but she knew she had to act. She stepped forward and raised her pistol, drawing the man’s attention. His eyes flicked over to Celie’s and Akashi stepped back gasping, freeing the man completely. 

“What in the - what did you do to me?” He gasped. “His eyes, Celie, don’t look at his eyes!”

“No no no no!” The man screamed as Akashi doubled over and dropped his hands onto his knees. “You ruined it!” The man screamed at Celie. His eyes met hers, and something clicked in her mind: His eyes were the strangest jade green she’d ever seen. No, not ever. They reminded her of something - someone.

He held her steely gaze for a few moments before his screams intensified. “You’re looking at me! Stop looking at me! Stop stop stop!” The screams turned to cries as the man collapsed onto the floor in a ball. Celie kept her pistol focused on the man, her mind closed off, shutting out the terrors, shutting out the confusion, shutting out every emotion that took her away from focusing on keeping this man from hurting anyone else. 

“You good?” She called to Akashi.

“Yeah. Fine! He was - he was pulling me into him. Something is in there. Something trying to take me. Do you feel it? The eyes?”

“No. I didn’t feel anything. But there’s something in the air. Something’s wrong. Nothing like I’ve ever felt before.”

“Gods… There's something going on here.” Celie’s ring let off a faint vibration. Akashi checked his own and let out a sigh of relief, “Fates, the cavalry’s here.”

.

.

.

As soon as a squad entered the building and the man - who according to the apartment files was named Jona Carson - was detained, Akashi and Celie left the building.

“Don’t look him in the eyes.” Akashi warned. “Something’s wrong here, and I don’t know what.” Akashi left, heaving to catch his breath.

“What the fuck was that in there?” He gasped out as they spilled out into the city streets. The sidewalk in front of the apartment was locked down and surrounded by Peacekeepers.

“I - I don’t know.”

“This is bad. This is really bad.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Celie said in the calmest tone she could muster. Her and Akashi sat down on the curb. Celie was beginning to feel everything - every emotion -  she closed out inside. It risked overwhelming her.

“More sorcery you think?” Akashi asked.

“No. Something else.”

“That guy murdered his wife. And he was laughing about it, Celie. Laughing.”

“He cried too.”

“Probably only cried because he got caught.”

“We don’t know that.”

“Then we better find out. For that woman.”

“Records say her name was Erosa. Erosa Carson.”

“Then we’ll find out for Erosa.”

---

Wow, this story is coming together! I hope you’re enjoying reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. These first two parts are a little on the long end, so I think I’m going to try and shorten the next couple parts a tiny bit.

A couple quick housekeeping things before I say goodbye today: First off, we have hit 170 subscribers! That’s almost 200 subscribers in one year! Not quite that big, but still pretty amazing! Thank you so much to all of you who tune in regularly. If you want to subscribe, please do here:

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And if you don’t then honestly just reading and enjoying the story is enough for me, because it is so gratifying, genuinely. For more stories in the world of Astra, click here. Thank you for reading and I’ll catch you next week for part 3!

Update: Click here for part 3