Prism and The Red Wolves

Prism stood in the rain, looking solemnly at the cloudy sky above him. The lightning storm he’d created continued without his direction, helping to quench the fires of the ruined border guns that dotted the horizon. He could hear his teammates telepathically asking if he was okay, and he heard Srell walk back over to him to ask the same question verbally. Everything seemed far away from him, and he didn’t even feel the rain soaking his t-shirt and briefs.

“Prism, snap out of it!” Srell said before swinging his open palm at Prism’s face to slap him.

Prism grabbed Srell’s wrist and looked placidly into the Esdegonian’s beady brown eyes. He took notice of a faint, dark brown scar that Srell had on his left cheek as his eyes danced carelessly across Srell’s face. Srell, confused, merely stood still in Prism’s grasp.

“Your eyebrows are so thick. I never noticed until now.”

Prism’s voice was dream-like, and his head was tilted up as if he was looking down on the taller man. Srell scoffed before yanking his wrist out of Prism’s hand, which only made Prism slowly lower his hand back to his side. Srell rubbed his wrist as if it had been hurt in some way, even though it hadn’t. He furrowed his brow at Prism, tired of his strange behavior.

“How long are you going to ignore everyone?” Srell asked after huffing angrily.

“I’ve done something bad…” Prism quietly said as he looked down at the concrete roof between him and Srell. “On an unrelated note, the Destructor is still alive somehow.”

Prism pointed to the other rooftop where Ursun stood. Its border gun’s dome was largely intact, though its gun barrel had been blasted clean off. Srell shared Prism’s words with Leanna, Lorias, and Ursun, and they quickly raised their personal automatic weapons and approached the dome carefully to avoid any automated defenses it might still have. Theda, Testa, and Remades looked uncertainly at their allies before joining them with their machine pistols drawn.

“What “bad thing” have you done?” Srell asked Prism, who was still acting aloof. “If you meant destroying the border guns, then you didn’t have any choice. Deriges and the hypergeneral will understand.”

“I tapped into the mana of the land and sky, even though I knew it wasn’t abundant here. I’ve upset its delicate flow. I fear what will happen as a result.” Prism sounded melancholy.

“How is that different from what you normally do?” Srell asked.

“Normally, I just absorb a small bit of mana from my environs and store it within myself so that I can draw upon my own reservoir to power my magic. But my own supply wasn’t enough, so I had to mold the region’s mana directly.” Prism explained softly.

“Why is that such a big deal?” Srell struggled to make sense of Prism’s sudden moodiness.

“Mana is the greater structure of the world, the part that you can’t see. It is the essence of everything, and it must exist in harmony. If it is depleted or reorganized too dramatically, it can lead to a cascade of destabilization that causes wild and dangerous things to occur. That is, until its equilibrium is naturally restored.” Prism gestured like a maestro with his hands as he spoke. “I did my best to keep things as ordered as I could, but I overindulged. And now…”

Prism pointed up at the sky, and Srell languidly tilted his head upwards to observe it. The rain was starting to pour heavier, the wind was blowing harder, and the lightning flashed more rapidly. Even the thunder grew louder and closer to the base.

“Just end it. End the storm.” Srell said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Prism shook his head slowly before simply saying, “I would only make things worse.”

Prism and Srell heard a small explosion nearby, and they quickly turned to see their neighboring allies blasting the sealed door to their roof’s border gun dome. Ursun was leading Lorias and Leanna up its brown ramp and into its newly opened interior.

“Be careful, boss. I got ambushed going in like that.” Srell telepathically reminded his team.

Prism waved his right hand in front of him, conjuring a simple spell that made the rain and wind be diverted away from him and Srell while also drying the two of them off. Grateful for the shelter, Srell still cocked his head curiously at Prism.

“You can do this, but you can’t stop the storm?” Srell asked.

“This is easy. I only have to use my own stored mana. I’d have to use a colossal amount of mana to stop a storm, which would require me to do the same thing that caused this storm in the first place.”

Prism tried to explain as simply as he could, but there was still too much that Srell didn’t know about magic and mana.

“Whatever. I’ll just take your word for it, for now.” Srell said with a dismissive wave of his own hand.

The two of them ran over to the edge of the tower they stood atop, watching Remades, Testa, and several soldiers who were keeping guard outside rush to nearby guard booths as the storm continued to worsen. The others continued to check the dome’s dark interior, turning on the flashlights on their helmets and armor to see well. After a few minutes of searching, they found no sign of the Destructor who’d planted the nanites into the border guns. It seemed impossible for him to have escaped the sealed dome, as there was only one way in or out.

“Is he cloaked?” Srell asked through the telepathic link.

“Unlikely. If he had cloaking tech then he would have used it a lot earlier.” Ursun guessed. “Do you still sense him, Prism?”

“I can’t sense much through this storm, but I can faintly detect his presence in your general area. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You just saved the fleet. We’ll find him.” Ursun was quick to communicate.

Lorias stepped around the central console within the dome and walked along a railing that ran along the outer section of the room. He saw water leaking in from a section of the curved wall. With a firm press of his fingers, the wall gave way, though the strong winds outside kept the wall from moving too far out of place.

“I know how our enemy got out of here.” Lorias said aloud to the others in the dome with him. “This section of the dome was damaged. If it wasn’t for the wind blowing against it now, I could push it just enough to squeeze through and escape.”

“I see your point. The thug probably saw the wall give way when the lightning struck and seized the opportunity.” Theda spoke as if she was helping to solve a murder mystery.

“Actually, there’s a pretty big dent here. I think he punched the wall hard enough to crack through to the exterior. Maybe it was a combination of both the lightning and the increased physical strength he gets from the Kingdom suit he’s wearing.” Leanna added after examining the wall section herself.

“In any case, we need to get out there and catch him before he escapes.” Ursun said impatiently.

When Ursun stepped out of the dome with Leanna close behind him, lightning struck the concrete rooftop only meters from them, leaving a small crater. Bits of concrete went flying like shrapnel that luckily missed them. Both of them flinched reflexively, knowing that their armor would provide poor defense from a lightning strike. The wind-backed torrential rain poured down with such ferocity that it even pushed back Ursun as he tried to walk out of the dome. He saw several crates near a guard booth lift off of the roof and fly straight towards him as he struggled to walk down the ramp.

“Watch out!” Leanna yelled aloud and screamed telepathically at the same time.

Ursun and Leanna both fell to the ground on their bellies, narrowly avoiding the crates as they crashed into a section of the dome above them. Some of the contents of the crates, mainly shell ammunition for smaller artillery guns, fell on their backs before being blown off the ramp as well. The wind was so strong that the two of them began holding onto the railing of the ramp for fear of being blown into the sky.

“Prism! Do something about this storm!” Ursun’s voice blasted through the telepathic link to ring in Prism’s mind.

“I can’t, but I’m coming over to protect you guys from it.” Prism communicated to the minds of his teammates.

Prism used his magic to blast himself and Srell up in the air, sending them over to the neighboring rooftop in an arc that ended up being too high. He and Srell hit the other rooftop hard, almost enough to break their bones. They were both a bit bruised, but otherwise unharmed.

Prism realized that his magic was on the fritz, and knew that he needed to be careful with casting even simple spells. It was yet another consequence of disturbing the area’s balance of mana. He’d expended too much of the region’s mana, and the air and sea rushed to fill the void with a turbulent rush of raw mana from Æba’s nearby currents. The turbulence was enough to begin overwhelming Prism’s mystical body, which in turn affected his magical abilities.

“What the hell was that? You almost got us killed!” Srell bent forward and rubbed his aching shins while he shouted.

“This maelstrom of mana is messing me up. I’ll try harder.”

Prism’s embarrassment was evident, which made Srell feel a bit guilty about how hard he’d been on him. Srell simply nodded sympathetically at his alien teammate before the two of them began running over to the large white dome at the center of the tower’s flat concrete roof. When Testa and Remades saw the two of them seemingly in a bubble free of rain and wind, they looked at each other in further disbelief.

“A force field? How is that even possible?” Remades said as he stood in the cramped guard booth with Testa, who took up most of the space.

“It’s the small guy, Prism! Yet another one of his magic tricks.” Testa’s distrusting words were closer to the truth than she realized.

With brilliant blue eyes that shined even through the downpour, Prism reached his hands out and used his magic to ward Ursun and Leanna from the extreme weather that continued to worsen. Theda and Lorias watched the weather-negating spheres expand around their allies. They still stood within the dome to avoid the elements, not wanting to risk what they’d seen Ursun and Leanna endure. Ursun and Leanna stood up and ran their hands over their armor, amazed that they were completely dry as they stood in a magical bubble of shelter.

“Good work. Can you protect the others on the roof with us?” Ursun asked Prism telepathically, though their team was aware of their communication.

“I shouldn’t risk it. I’m having a hard enough time keeping even this simple magic stable.”

Prism explained to his team, though his voice became distorted within their minds. A wave of disorientation overcame each of them, though it quickly passed. He began receiving worried messages from all of them, all clamoring to understand what had affected them. The strain it placed on Prism made him worry that his mind magic would suddenly shift and become harmful to them again.

“My telepathy magic is being warped by the chaotic mana flooding the area. I think that it’s best if we stop using it here. I’ll do my best to keep it active for emergency messages.” Prism explained before he made the link fall silent.

Prism and Srell ran over to the front of the dome’s ramp to join Ursun and Leanna. In the peace of their joined weather-warding bubble, they spoke aloud to each other.

“Where is the Destructor?” Ursun asked Prism, who looked nauseous.

“I don’t sense him anymore.” Prism said after he lowered his head guiltily.

Prism worried that his solution to the border guns had given them an even worse problem.

“How much longer is this storm going to last? How far-reaching is it?” Leanna then asked.

She had a habit of asking two questions at once, Prism had noticed.

“It could last for a few more minutes, or a few more days. The forces behind this storm are too chaotic for me to tell.” Prism spoke softly, which only annoyed the three teammates who stood around him. “And from what I can tell, it’s spreading to encompass Surmil and the kilometers of sea to the east.”

“Your magic can be a double-edged sword.” Ursun stated simply.

Prism looked up at Ursun, wrenched his eyes closed, and then nodded ashamedly.

“Everything has a cost. Magic is no different. I took a risk and it made things worse, yet again.” Prism said in a meek way while he continued to nod to himself.

When he had called down several bolts of lightning, he’d felt as powerful as he was before he’d come to Æba. But while he presently stood in the judgment of his teammates, he felt weaker than ever.

“That has yet to be seen.” Leanna said in an attempt to use reason to curtail Prism’s spiral into self-pity. “The border guns would have done more damage to our forces than a thunderstorm could.”

“We need to get everyone back inside. I’m assuming that these force fields apply to each of us individually?” Ursun calmly asked Prism.

“Yes. They simply combine when they make contact with each other, to make communication easier.” Prism explained as a bit of pep returned to his voice.

“Then we’ll split up and lead each of our people still on the roof to the access stairway over there.” Ursun said while pointing to a closed door several meters away near the western edge of the rooftop.

Prism’s temporarily-blue eyes suddenly grew bright for moment as he raised his closed right hand and then slowly opened his fist. A glittering of blue energy flowed from his right hand, and its sparkles flew to the four of them. They felt a slight warmness flow over their skin beneath their armor.

“I’ve bolstered the “force fields” around each of us. They will now expand to include up to three of other people who are close to you, so that we can escort our allies safely.” Prism said while the blue light in his eyes dulled to a mere glimmer.

“Alright, time to go. I’ll get Theda and Lorias out of the border gun. Srell, get the soldiers in the guard booth north of us. Leanna, to the east booth, and Prism to the south booth. We’ll meet back up in the stairwell.” Ursun ordered, then ran back towards the dome’s ramp a short distance away.

After a short time, the stairs leading back down to the underground section of the base were full of soldiers and most of the members of both Thorns Team Trias and RED-1. They’d nearly been struck by lightning several times during their escape from the rooftop, and everyone was a bit rattled by the experience.

They’d all gotten back in contact with Deriges, who was told of the destruction of the border guns by lightning seemingly wielded by Prism, and how it had coincided with the unnatural hurricane that appeared out of nowhere above the coast. The Second Athean Air Fleet had managed to land safely before the storm reached them but they were stuck at the airfield in south Surmil, cut off from the base and even the security forces within the city.

There had even been word that the seas to the east of the base, where the Etrysian navy was stationed, were becoming too treacherous for the boats and aircraft to maintain their positions. The navy claimed that whirlpools and waterspouts were appearing in record numbers around their ships, which further threatened to sink the seaborne fleet.

There was a palpable tension in the air of the stairwell while everyone made their way down the stairs, and Prism was the cause. Half of the soldiers were afraid to look at him, while the other half had reverence in their eyes as they glanced his way. Prism was used to mixed reviews, and simply ignored their conspiratorial murmurs.

“We need to talk about your new teammate now, while we’ve got time.” Theda’s voice was hushed so that only Ursun could hear her.

They walked alone ahead of the others, leading the trek down. They had plenty more flights of stairs to walk down before they were back at the CCC, and everyone knew it. The terp-comms buzzed with a nonstop stream of emergency messages from the soldiers still outside the base. Theda simply tuned it out.

“All you need to know is that he’s pivotal to our plans to get rid of the Queen for good.” Ursun said stoically and quietly.

“He’s a weapon of mass destruction, for twins’ sake! Your organization is a part of the Conjunction, and therefore you must share intel concerning WMDs that you have or are developing with the rest of us!”

Theda’s angry whispering made Remades and Testa share a worried glance while they walked behind her and Ursun. They’d never seen their leader on edge before, and Ursun seemed to know exactly how to perturb her normally-refined demeanor.

“We have shared his existence through the appropriate channels.” Ursun said without looking over at Theda.

Theda rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead. She knew that the Red Wolves hadn’t been honest with the Conjunction about Prism’s origin or about his capabilities. After the events that had already occurred that night, Theda figured that there would be an investigation into the matter once the invasion had been thwarted. And with such a powerful being on their side, she saw their victory as inevitable.

“We’ll know soon enough.” Theda said almost sinisterly to Ursun.

Ursun shook his head and kept his mouth shut on the subject. He knew the game that Theda played, and he would not fall for it.

“Are you still feeling sick from the storm?” Leanna asked Prism, who was walking beside her.

“It’s getting better the farther underground we go. Things are a lot more stable here.” Prism said with a relieved smile.

“Good, that’s good.” Leanna’s mind was elsewhere. “It’s been a crazy night.”

Prism looked at Leanna and saw that she looked incredibly exhausted. The night had taken a serious toll on her, and Prism could easily see that her mind was buckling under the pressure. Srell, who was walking in front of them, looked back for only a moment. He too was exhausted, but he was too rattled by the night’s events to notice.

“Would you like a pick-me-up? I can make you feel well-rested for a while, though it’s not a substitute for actual sleep.” Prism asked with a playful wag of his right forefinger at her.

“Like what you did back in the Center Building? No, that’s okay. I was able to get off my feet for a while back on the Sphingid.”

Leanna’s resistance told Prism that she didn’t trust his magic to fix what was ailing her. He nodded regretfully at her, and the two continued down the stairwell. Lorias, who was right behind them, found the situation to be mildly entertaining.

“She’s done a few things tonight that she’d like to forget about. Is that something your magic can do?”

Lorias’ sarcasm came quickly and unexpectedly. Leanna turned around and took a swing at him, though he dodged her punch with little effort. Prism got between the two of them, confused by their sudden hostility. Srell continued walking on; not wanting to deal with the drama between Lorias and Leanna that he’d seen blowup a few times before. Soldiers started to walk around them as the trio stood on the wide platform that separated the flights of stairs from the each other.

“Not everything is a joke for your amusement, you cold-blooded bastard!” Leanna cursed, nearly regretting her words as she spoke them.

“Lighten up; things can get so much worse.” Lorias taunted.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you!?” She screamed at him.

Leanna tried to push the smaller Prism out of her way, but Prism stood his ground quite easily. Lorias simply smirked smugly at her boorish behavior.

“What is going on between you two!? We’re on the same team!” Prism felt hurt by their animosity, sure that he was somehow responsible.

“The little lady saw how ugly things can really get on the battlefield, and is throwing a fit.”

Lorias’ words were like venom being spat at Leanna, and Prism would not stand for it any longer. He reached up his arm and grabbed the much-taller Lorias by the flexible collar of his armor. Prism held Lorias up off the ground for a few seconds before shoving him backwards a short ways onto his feet. Lorias looked tickled by the whole thing, and simply readjusted his collar. Leanna, on the other hand, was not amused at all.

“I don’t need you to defend me from him.” She barked at Prism. “This isn’t any of your business.” She added spitefully.

“I just want us to be kind to one another. Things are bad enough as it is.” Prism said softly, turning around to Lorias to include him in his statement of unity.

“What children you both are. Your feelings and desires have no place here. Perhaps if you’d both been singularly focused on our mission, then we wouldn’t be running from the storm of the century right now.”

Prism and Leanna looked coldly at Lorias, whose harsh words always contained a portion of truth in them. Leanna rubbed her sleepy eyes and let out a short groan.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am just too weak to cut it on RED-1. But I didn’t survive up till now to be snarked at by you, Lorias. You were there with me when the Sguvan woman escaped. Where were those amazing reflexes of yours then? And you stood by on the Sphingid and waited for three junior mercs to “do what needed to be done” without even lifting a hand to help. I see why you’ve got Srell wrapped around your finger. You’re a cruel, manipulative son-of-a-bitch. It must be in your blood.”

Leanna spit on the ground at Lorias’ feet before she jogged down the stairs, leaving Lorias and Prism alone. They heard the distant rumble of dozens of boots stomping below them, which made the silence between them only slightly easier to bear. Lorias glanced over at Prism, who looked back at him with derision and a dash of uncertainty.

“She was right; I haven’t been pulling my weight tonight. Perhaps that’s why I’m in such a foul mood.” Lorias said calmly, dropping his facade for just a moment.

“I don’t know much about you, heck, we don’t know much about each other. But I know that you’re wise, and I know that you’re incredibly good at your job. Those things can only come from many years of hard-won experience. All that she’s asking is that you share that wealth of experience with consideration and compassion. It may have been hard out there for you, but you can make it easier for everyone else around you, as a result of your struggles.”

Prism was measured and thoughtful in his speech, hoping to strike the right chord with his audience of one. But all Prism saw after he spoke was a face of absolute apathy. It was then that Prism understood what Leanna had meant about Lorias’ true nature.

“If it’s easy, then there’s no real growth, is there?” Lorias asked, though Prism knew it was rhetorical. “Let’s catch up with the others, Magical Boy.”

Prism tried to put Lorias’ snide response out of his head, but it bounced around his mind all the way to the bottom of the stairwell.