Chapter Thirty One: The Second Half

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"Shit, that was weird."

Ditto blinked a few times before looking around. Five minutes had gone by, and we were all waiting patiently for an answer as to what just happened. I wouldn't think Ditto as someone to simply freeze. Something must have gone wrong.

"Hey are you okay?" Halina asked, grabbing his shoulder tenderly. She's a good friend, probably better than what he deserves. "You, uh, froze for a few minutes."

Ditto's head went from her, to me, to Triton. "We have a problem. I received a message from the enemy."

Now that got everyone's attention. We all listened as Ditto told us about Huna, Tyrion, and the secret leader Gon implying war was coming faster than we thought, how they believed we had no hope.

Triton took it in, but he clearly wasn't happy. His tone said there wasn't time to play around.

"Necromancer, normally I wouldn't trust you more, but we clearly are on high alert now. What do you suggest we do next?"

"Wait, Triton," Grando intervened but Triton held a hand.

Ditto didn't respond for a moment, licking his lips. Sighing, he said, "What are your numbers in soldiers?"

Fruil answered. "Over ten thousand."

I nearly gagged. Really? That's way more than any estimate I've heard before. In fact, that's a crazy amount of defective magi. I'd never thought there'd be so many who were unhappy with how things are. Maybe that shows how ignorant you are Ursula. Only the brave stand up for what they believe is truth.

When have I ever done such an act?

Ditto nodded. "We must become a beacon first. She cannot win until all opposition is crushed, no matter how small. The cost of victory is not as easy as winning or losing. What is the weakest city on this continent?"

"Easy," I spoke before I even meant to. "Uv'Ooni to the south. It does not have a strong standing military presence or law enforcement. They are more focused on tourism as a major trade."

"Then our only move is simple." Ditto sounded like he was going to regret saying it though. "We take it."

The room exploded in anger. There was a lot of cussing and noise, so I clicked my pen until it settled down at the hand of Triton.

The magi ran a hand through his messy hair. "Are you serious? You're talking about civil war. And what about what you said earlier, letting her pick the field?"

"War is war, there's nothing civil about it. But yes, I am." Ditto stood, producing a notebook from somewhere. Flipping through the pages, he found what he was looking for. Standing a few feet away from the rebel leader, he quickly said, "And we've got no other choice. If we allow the Sleeping Witch to strike first, then we'll never recover. Before I thought we had more time, but we no longer do. Yes, I know she's wrecked Earth, but not all of it, and we Earth Hidden are tough. Once her armies are ready to truly move, we cannot stop them from going wherever they please. It's just a fact. But what we can do is get her in place to stop her."

"By treason?" Grenda sounded more displeased than angry, but maybe she's been wanting to flex some muscle. Everyone has motives to better themselves. Even high ranking generals.

"You've already committed treason," Ditto countered.

"But how would this stop her?" Halina brought up, rubbing a ring on her finger.

The Necromancer let his fingers ignite in black fire. In a soft voice he said, "Let's say I were to ask you to put out this fire. What would be easier? Hunting me down, or fooling me into a trap? The trap of course, less work on your part. We can't stop her. But think about it from her view. Once she's mobilized, no Earth army can defeat her, but there's still hope in the Light. A spark. A forge. You know you can defeat one layer easy enough, so what do you do first? Destroy the spark. And once it's gone, what's to stop you from just working up? Nothing of course. Because from your perspective it doesn't matter. We get her here, we can stall until my army comes, which we'll need somewhere for them to come safely anyways. So we take the city, draw out her armies, and we fight. You're the fucking magi for God's sake. I'd be worried if the race that wiped out the necromancers was afraid of a false ruler."

"There's no guarantee she'll come though," Grenda added.

"No, she will. I've made sure of it." He doused his fire, and looked at us with determination in his eyes. "It's been a very long time since our races fought together in war. It might very well be the last. But I do not surrender to arrogance. I have the power to make the Witch second guess her choice. All I need now is a power to make her regret it. Are you the power I seek magi?"

No one spoke. Absolute silence.

"Yes Necromancer, we are," Triton said.

"Then we mobilize to war, civil or not. I need to return to Earth to get my army and weapons. There's not much time so if we--"
The door flew open. In came a panting messenger, holding a piece of paper.

"Sir, we just got news from a spy Uni'ro. The Pillar have declared North America on Earth an emergency, and plan on sending troops there to diffuse the situation."

The room, once motivated, blew into chaos. The generals were yelling and talking to one another, many getting ready to call their aids to their sides. I placed my hands over my ears. What was happening to our home? We weren't supposed to be the ones who attacked the innocent? We were supposed to be the peacekeepers. I know now whatever dreams I once held for the future of this world do not matter anymore.

Maybe it was stupid to think of a time where I could plant a garden in happy bliss.

Triton sparked some magic to get everyone quiet. "Calm down. When is it happening?"

"Three days time."

"Shit," he said. "Where at?"

"Opal Mountains Planar Portals."

The magi rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fuck. Then we need to get the rebels there. The faster the better. If we don't then Earth will fall, and us next."

"For once, I agree," Ditto said. "But the target should be the portals only. No sense in dying yet."

"Then we will gather what we can. Can you get back to Earth to get reinforcements?"

Ditto tapped his lip with the notebook. "Maybe. I can at least get us a few hands. Live hands at least. I've got some good undead hands which I'm sure you magi haven't seen in a while."

Triton gave an unhappy sigh, then waved a hand. "Fine. We'll meet at the Opal Mountains in three days time. Possibly sooner if it's a ruse. Be quick Necromancer."

Without saying anything else, Ditto left, bringing Halina along. I sat back, because I'm sure the rebel leader didn't want me to leave just quite yet.

The flowers of the world feared only one thing.

The death winter brings.

I eyed him, and he waited until the door closed. Standing, he motioned for an aid, and was handed a set of papers. The others watched him, letting their hero gather his thoughts. My own weren't pleasant, in fact I wanted to leave.

"We did our own digging. The Necromancer does not have much on him. But there's one thing I found particularly interesting." He came over placed one paper down, and I saw what could only be the equivalent of being slapped in the face. "There are no gathering armies in North America. None. Every force has been either identified with the Sleeping Witch or a factor we do not know about. He's been lying the entire time."

"No," I said silently. "That can't be true. He's too manipulating, to smart. You really think he'd bluff something like this?"

"Yes. He's a liar, and I know how to lie just as well." The magi pulled out a tablet, typing some things in. "No matter what you say, we just don't know the whole truth. I just want to know one thing: what's his weakness?"

My breath caught. "I--I don't know. I'd have said the woman, but maybe not. What does he even have to lose anymore?"

"A good old fashion fight is what I'm hearing," he said. "Until he proves otherwise, we plan on... making sure he no longer is a threat."

My eyes went wide open. "No, you can't do that. He'll burn you all to ash."

Triton merely smirked. "We will see, Professor. We will see."

XXXX

"Where are we going?" Halina asked as I quickened my pace. There were a few magi out, but the city was quiet for some reason. I frantically looked for the tower I had seen earlier.

"A Call Center. I need to tell Sasha we are returning with the utmost importance."

"Does this throw a wrench in things?"

"Yes." My voice was rasp. "Believe it or not, magi armies are probably the most destructive force in existence. Ever. There is no such thing as a 'diffusion' objective. They will get to Earth, under the orders of the Witch, and level it. Furthering her agenda. Who knows how many are being sent too. Or what."

"You said we need to only target the portals though."

We rounded a corner and I picked up the pace. The building was in sight. "Yes, because even a full ten thousand stand no chance. But these portals Halina, they're made for war. It will be like trying to push over a train with a go cart. Triton's army could be wiped out, and we'd be back at square one."

I pushed open the door, to the mostly empty place. I got Halina to pay while I sat down and pulled out my phone. The human sat next to me. Her frown spoke of a question.

"There's something about Triton, isn't there?"

"Any guesses?"

She hesitated, like she put down the wrong answer on a test, but wasn't sure. "He can't be letting you make shots so easily. That would be stupid. He probably plans for betrayal."

"I suspect the same. But for now we wait and see." I dialed Sasha, hoping she wasn't doing anything important.

Ring. Ring.

"Ditto, thank God," Sasha answered. Her voice instantly sent warning signals down my spine but before she could go on I spoke up.

"Sasha I'm coming home tomorrow."

"Ditto I've been calling for hours. The mercenaries scouts have spotted Tyrion's pack outside of the city. They're preparing for an assault." My heart dropped. "We need you here now. I don't know when it'll start but soon. Please hurry."

"Wait, Sasha, there's other news." I told her quickly about the magi and their plans. She didn't sound happy about that either.

"We might not survive until then. Get here, and deal with that later."

She hung up, not out of rudeness but out of fear of losing everything.

For once, my thoughts became very, very focused.

"We need to go Halina. Get to the hotel, grab our stuff, and leave immediately."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Lake City is under siege." I stood, knowing full well the atmosphere around me has changed. "Our home is under attack. It's time to defend it."

"Is there even time?"

Sometimes I wonder that myself.