The First Age

Asha frowned. Elias had gone out of his way to help her from the start, so she didn't understand his reluctance to do the right thing now. But he really really seemed to dislike the man on the floor; she didn't even need her gift to sense that. But why? They didn't appear to know each other. Perhaps Elias was just impatient to be gone, but it seemed deeper than that.

She wasn't happy, and her expression creased with blatant worry. Leaving someone behind, even a stranger, sat ill with her morals. Even the compromise was an uncomfortable prickling on her conscience. Why couldn't they wait just that little bit longer? Enough to see him safe. But Elias's look was grim, his jaw tight. He'd guided her through a sea of people in the Red Square. Took her hand knowing it laid every emotion bare. The kindness meant something; something she valued, and ultimately she accepted the compromise. Though it was clearly under duress. She chewed her lip. "Okay. Call them."


She sighed, glancing down but carefully avoiding eye-contact with the man beside her. "We're calling an ambulance, but we can't stay. Can you move anything yet?"

His uncle's wallet was in hand within moments, emergency dialed. He promptly explained the situation, leaving out a few key details, and transmitted the location.

"They're coming," he said, gaze flat as he crossed his arms and peered down at the glorious specimen sprawled out at his feet. A smile touched the corner of one mouth. The sight was amusing.

He bundled up the doctor with flows of Air, Rage surging in his grasp, begging to be unleashed for better uses. When the sirens punctuated the night, he nodded at Asha and waved the doctor forward.

She was going to lead them to the person collecting bodies. He almost looked forward to meeting them.

Damien smiled pleasantly. With the Light filling his body, he managed to rise, the effects of whatever drug he had been pumped with burning away before the molten power of something much greater than mere chemicals.

"I am fine, no medical assistance will be required, dear Asha."
Damien's eyes turned to the woman who had attacked him.

He took a step forward, sure and true, his gaze penetrating. "You, my dear, will show us to your friend. They have much to answer for."


The look of fear in the woman's eyes was satisfying. Let the world know the danger of crossing Damien Oakland.

***

Two days Later

Damien had rented a hotel - not in his own name, of course, he used his friends in Moscow to arrange it - and sat down with the curious Elias and Asha. They intrigued him, particularly the black-tempered child. The boy's sullen mood swings and protective nature endeared him to Damien.

The woman was something different. Pretty and innocence concocted a most tantalising brew, yet mixed in further was a mysterious intuition he could not make sense of.

They sat in the luxurious room designated to them. Damien relaxed in the leather cushioned chair, his legs crossed and propped up on the arm. "A fascinating tale these...Inferi fellows spun for us. Immortality? Gods?"
Damien laughed. "Monsters."


The laughter faded, but his good cheer remained. "Insane, one would say. However... It is not the first wild story I have heard, and these tales of late seem to have roots grown in truth."


"So, my friends,"
he said, glancing at the two strangers. "Shall we take a trip across the world to find out the truth of these claims?"

The last two days Elias followed through with his promise to not leave Asha alone in the apartment surely to be stalked by this ex-boyfriend of Aria's. If he thought about it, he didn't mind, but he didn't see it that way. It got him out of Tony's at the very least. His place was brimming with lost souls, enough that Elias was ready to send them on their way just to be rid of them. But Tony had been a friend to him in the beginning, and lest Elias do something he would regret, it was better that he be elsewhere. The hotel they found themselves in was leagues more luxurious, more grand than Asha's studio, even the opulence of Tony's home. But he would never stay here if invited. He'd rather sleep in the street than share in the gracious hospitality of their great lord and king, the mighty Damien Oakland. On the other hand, he had no quarrel with taking advantage of the man's resources, including his use of Rage. The power was wielded with expert finesse that Elias envied. Together, the two of them interrogated a higher-up at Moscow State University School of Medicine; another doctor, although he did not seem to be practicing, or if he did, it was to home-calls to the aristocracy of Moscow's elite. The trip to MSU summoned memories of his earlier days in Moscow, seeking the chancellor and demanding answers to his uncle's disappearance. MSU scientists had collaborated with Victoria University, including his uncle, when their ship disappeared in the Southern Sea, the stretch of ocean between New Zealand and Antarctica.

The interrogation was easy enough. The man needed a god and two came knocking on his door. They had originally targeted Damien, since it was well enough suspected that he shared these powers that the Ascendancy described. He was also easy enough to spot in a crowd, being a rather famous face and everything. His pretty mug didn't help that time, did it? Asha hadn't been too keen on their methods, but Elias assured her it was all for show. He wouldn't actually hurt the man, just meant to scare him. But knowing what he did about Asha, the good doctor's fear must have leeched into her mind, and he withdrew some of the intensity after that. The tactic worked, because in short order they learned all about this other secret society, whom Damien referred to as the Inferi.

Elias had been rather tame in his questioning for Asha's sake up until the man uttered a key choice of words, ones that sparked lightning in his mind. The storm raged across his face and he all but shoved Damien aside, grabbed the man by the shirt, and wrenched him on flows of Rage from his chair, throwing him to the floor.

"An energy source in the ocean. It was being tracked."
"Where?! Where did you track it!"

"South of New Zealand."

With that, Elias knew who killed his uncle. The Di Inferi were after this energy source, the same one that his uncle tracked. The same signal that made Elias search the riverways of Russia. They needed a god this time, one that could retrieve the source for them.

Afterward, he explained his history in full to Asha and Damien. He told them all about the uncle that saved him from the deserts of Utah, his studies as a marine biologist meant to follow in his footsteps, and the news of his disappearance. It was during this tale that a new story was brought to their attention. One that featured video footage this time, and Elias watched with mixed emotions of horror, awe and pride as a monstrous creature swallowed ships whole on screen. He knew it was no hoax. He knew it in his gut.

"We need to get a hold of this Captain SynJyn,"
Elias concluded. He would do it with or without Asha and Damien if necessary, but against the likes of that creature, he had a feeling he was going to need Damien's help.

SynJyn's ship even shared the same name as the power Elias wielded: 'The Rage.' He smiled at that thought.

They were going to need it.

Elias spun a fascinating story. If he had not seen and heard so much in his days since San Quentin. If he had not felt the Light course through him that allowed miracles reality, he would have laughed.

Instead, he found the prospected rather exciting. Mysterious objects of power and immortality, treacherous sea monsters and conspiracy. Where these elements lurked, so too did great power.

"I should like to remain anonymous,"
Damien answered with a smile. "It would do none of us any good if we were followed by a horde of fans. I leave this Captain in your capable hands, Elias. I shall make my own preparations. When all is ready, I will be here."

"Let is part the veil from this mystery once and for all."

The man abruptly winked out. Asha shuffled backwards, alarmed as he began to rise. And knew then what he was. As the distant sirens began to wail, she shared a wide-eyed look with Elias. Fear was written plain on her features, some of it seeping in from the woman caught between the two men, but so much of it all her own. Still, she managed to pull herself to her feet, and stifled the itch in her legs to run.

***
Damien made her profoundly uncomfortable. He was polite and gracious and controlled; all things that should have made him easy company. But it felt like they lounged with a lion. Elias's prejudices probably coloured her judgement; he made it quite clear he didn't care for the man, but would take advantage of whatever resources were offered that aligned with his goals. But it wasn't just that. Damien was beautiful. The weight of his gaze made her self-conscious, even when it was innocent.

That night had been a trying experience. She understood now why her uncle had always left her behind, and Asha could only imagine how differently she might have grown had fear and pain been sensations that had nurtured her daily. The fear made her queasy; she stood well back, arms folded to disguise the way her body reacted with a tremble. An inane mantra rattled through her skull in lieu of focusing on any one individual. Even when Elias winked out, the situation seemed too unpredictable and volatile to rely on the brief respite of emptiness. She weathered it instead.

The hotel room was grand, and feeling out of place only added to her unease. Elias's story held her rapt, adding flesh to the bare bones he'd offered before. Backing out never occurred to her, or if it did the thought was swept clean by loyalty. In any case, she'd lived a life peripheral to the mysteries and shadows Damien laughed at, and they had always called to her. Chasing a story such as she this seemed natural. Enough that a smile finally pierced the uncertainty of her expression. She'd been stuck in Moscow far too long.