Radio chatter, paper tossed around, orders shouted across the halls and the sounds of soldiers running and marching consumed the fort. Arcadeus declared a citywide alert for Juleus to be found. Eleven Demigods, including his son, were nowhere to be found. Three hours of searching by several groups proved unsuccessful. Juleus’s last known location had no trace of him ever being there. No one had a clue of his whereabouts.
Marceus and Gallus had visited their sister, Alexis, to understand what they had heard on the radio while trying to contact their youngest sibling. “We have found the one. The world will be ours soon. Judgement day comes.” Alexis repeated after she was fed all the latest information by her two brothers. She and Gallus were sitting on her bed as they discussed the day’s events. “So, you’re the expert on religion and all that,” Marceus leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “What do you think it means?” “Ok well,” Alexis bit her lip in worry. “Judgement Day refers to the day every soul is brought before God and is judged. It’s the day souls are sent to either Heaven or Hell. The one and the world will be ours soon part is confusing me. It isn’t a source of purity, or you’d probably just call it good,” she added when she saw Marceus’s eyes roll. “that is at work here.” “A source of evil then? The Devil?” Gallus asked. “It would seem to be. But you can’t take this seriously. These are all probably metaphors. We can only assume that there’s a third party in this war who’s gaining power and possibly quite rapidly by the sound of it.” “But they have Juleus and they claim they’ve found the one. What the fuck do we get from that?” Marceus scoffed. “I honestly don’t know.” Her eyes began to water but she brushed off the tears with the back of her hand. She started to play with her silky blond hair to keep herself occupied.
“A creature of the night, cursed and betrothed to darkness, a living entity of sin, followers of the true God, he who rebelled and fought for the righteous.” Gallus recalled the speech one of the mysterious men gave before dying at the hands of his own kind. It took Marceus and Alexis by surprise and they both glared at him. “Where did you hear that?” asked Alexis. “One of the men said it. He was going to tell me more but his boss killed him.” He replied. “What the fuck Gallus. Now you tell us?” spat Marceus. “We’re dealing with Vampires?” Marceus and Gallus now turned their gaze at their sister. “You think it’s Vampires as well?” asked Gallus. Alexis only nodded, shakingly, in reply. “Why the hell would Vampires exist?” “Brother, you really want to ask an existential question like that?” “Marceus, it makes no sense. Our existence is linked to the God Particles. There are scientific explanations to why we exist. Vampires don’t have that.” “We don’t know anything about them, Gallus. You can’t just say they have no logical origin.” “Some things don’t need logic.” Alexis stated. “Some things just... are.” “You’re not very helpful with that kind of shit.” “Listen, it’s either Vampires or we have a cult of Demigods who believe they’re something they’re not.” “They’re Vampires, I’m sure of it. There was a loss of blood near the punctured area. Whatever made the puncture sucked out the blood.” Gallus declared, standing up from the bed, irritated by the discussion. “Ok, let’s just forget what they could be. What would they want with our brother?” Marceus asked. “Some kind of ritual perhaps?” Alexis guessed. “We found the one. Could be. I think we’re on the right track.”
Arcadeus was looking at a map with multiple notes and arrows drawn on it when Otho walked into the conference room. They nodded as when they made eye contact and Arcadeus peered back to the map. “What do you have for me?” “Nothing.” Otho huffed. “They’ve fallen off the face of the earth.” “In that case, have we...” “The subways are checked.” Otho quickly answered in advance. “They’re in hiding and if they have their own place then we’ll never find it.” Arcadeus nodded once more in acknowledgment. “Underground...” “Hmm?” “We have to force them to ground level.” Otho stood beside him and joined in studying the map. “How do we force them to ground level, sir?” Arcadeus glanced at his friend and smiled. “We make it uninhabitable.” “How sir?” “We make the earth... quake.”
It only took half an hour to call upon Elementalists, Demigods who could control the natural elements of earth and spread them throughout the city of Paris. The plan was to create an earthquake strong enough to collapse any underground tunnels but weak enough for the buildings on ground level to withstand it. It was going to be a tricky maneuver. Demigods had never attempted anything of this magnitude before and there was plenty of room for failure.
Everyone awaited Arcadeus’s command. He had taken his place at the fort rooftop where he could easily look in every direction and watch his work take action. His three children and Otho were also by his side, each curious to see if the plan worked. “Let it begin.” Arcadeus declared. Otho held up a radio to his mouth and ordered the plan to commence. No one felt anything at first. A few silent seconds went by. Everyone looked at each other and then the city. They all expected to be tossed off their feet but there were hardly any abrupt motions at all.
And then it happened. A dust cloud leaped into the air as the streets of Paris were forcefully shaken. The buildings stood their ground but windows shattered in each and every one of them. There was suddenly mass hysteria in the city as the air was consumed by dust and shards of glass.
“Now!” shouted Arcadeus. Otho gave in a second order through the radio. The Elementalists stopped quaking and focused their powers on creating an upwards wind. The dust and glass took flight and blocked the sky above them. A second wind was created and as the Demigods forced their powers in unison, the danger was shot away into the distance like an evil cloud.
“Where’s that all ending up again?” asked Gallus.
“We’ve calculated the distance to the nearest Human army base. All that is going to be hitting them and the attack will last for a good ten minutes or so.” Otho answered.
“Oh damn.”
“We have contact!” someone yelled into the radio. “Location?” Otho ordered. “Blanche metro station! That’s where they’re coming from!” “All units to Blanche metro station. Surround the area and keep it under the control!” “Give me the radio.” Arcadeus stretched his hand towards Otho. “I want Dashers present. Our enemy uses speed and so will we.” He looked at Gallus with probing eyes. “What was it that defeated them?” “Cut out the oxygen. They need air to use that much speed.” Gallus replied. “Dashers, standby. I want shielders in the area. Elementalists are to shower and engulf the exit of the station with fire. Dashers grab anyone who tries to flee. Scout the rest of the stations. I want to round up all of these people in one go!” Marceus stepped up and looked his father straight in the eye. “I’m going there.” He stated. “You aren’t going anywhere. None of you are.” “They have Juleus there. I’m not trusting anyone else with family.” “Marceus!” Arcadeus roared, scaring Gallus and Alexis back a couple of steps. “No one leaves the fort. You three will stay here!” “You aren’t strong enough on your own! You and mother were together when she died!” shouted Marceus. Arcadeus didn’t reply. “You think you’re so strong but are you? So you bonded with her particle. Then what? You aren’t invincible! You too can die!” “I won’t!” “That’s not up to you! As much as you don’t want to lose us, we don’t want to lose you. If you’re going, then so are we!”
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