The Divided Guardian [Cursed Anti-Hero, Progression, Dark Fantasy]

Winter decided to remind everyone exactly why it ruled the coast. Rain hammered Thunderclap Port like an angry drummer, each thunderclap earning the town its name all over again. The group found themselves prisoners in their own inn room, watching sheets of water cascade past their window.

Neiva pressed her face against the glass. "This is insane! I've never seen it come down this hard back home."

"Novaria's storms are nothing compared to this." Sol cradled a steaming mug between his hands, savoring the warmth.

Angelo glanced at Red, who was poking through random objects scattered around the room. "At least you two can still train out there. Water doesn't really affect you, right?"

Red didn't bother looking up from whatever he was examining. "Why bust my ass when Blue's already cracked the code? His method works like a charm for our combo moves. Besides, we need all three of us for the real deal."

Angelo nodded like he'd expected exactly that answer.

Sol leaned forward, lowering his voice to barely above a whisper. "We should use this downtime to plan our next move. If we're really going after the Cliffhangers, we can't afford even the smallest mistake."

"YOU'RE DOING WHAT NOW?!" The muffled roar from behind their door made everyone except Red nearly jump out of their skin.

The door exploded inward as Joe burst through, eyes blazing with excitement. Brian shuffled in behind him, looking like he wanted to disappear into the floor.

"You're actually taking on the local gang?!" Joe could barely contain himself.

"Shut that door before someone hears you, you maniac!" Angelo hissed.

Brian quietly closed the door, cringing at every creak.

Red let out a bark of laughter. "Ha! I knew something was making the smugness levels spike today. Just figured pretty boy here woke up extra full of himself." He shot Sol a knowing grin.

Sol rolled his eyes at Red before turning to Joe, eyebrows raised. "Were you seriously listening at our door like some kind of creep?"

"What? No way, man!" Joe threw his arms up in an exaggerated X. "Do I look like a stalker to you? Come on!"

"He was absolutely eavesdropping," Brian said matter-of-factly.

Joe spun around with the expression of someone who'd just been stabbed in the back. "Brainy! How could you throw me under the bus like that?" He dropped to his knees in theatrical defeat.

Brian gave his shoulder an awkward pat. "There, there."

Angelo crossed his arms. "What's your excuse for playing spy, rock boy?"

Joe gestured wildly at the rain-soaked window. "You have any idea how mind-numbingly boring this place is? I came here expecting inspiration, maybe some creative spark for my music. Instead I get... this!" He waved at the dreary room. "My artistic soul is dying here!"

"He means he's bored out of his mind," Brian translated.

Neiva perked up. "Well, if you're looking for excitement, maybe you could help us with our side quest."

Joe snorted. "Side quest? What is this, some kind of video game?" Neiva's cheeks reddened slightly, but Joe was already moving on. "You know what? Screw it, I'm in. Give me the details!"

Sol glanced between Neiva and Angelo, who just shrugged. He sighed and turned back to Joe. "We're investigating a gem heist from ten years ago."

Joe and Brian exchanged confused looks. "Seriously? Why?"

Sol ran his hand through his silver hair. "It's complicated. Short version? I think solving my father's old cases might lead me to whoever made him disappear."

"Makes sense." Joe turned to Angelo. "What about you? What's your angle in all this?"

Angelo let out a tired breath. "Same boat, basically."

Red burst out laughing from his spot on the bed. "Only difference is we're stuck helping detective boy here because our better leads hit dead ends!"

Both Sol and Joe stared at Red in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Neiva blinked. "Oh right! We never told Sol about what we found in Ashford."

"Come on, Angel!" Joe made grabbing motions with his hands. "Don't hold out on the juicy stuff!"

Angelo looked out at the rain. "Honestly? There's not much to tell."

Sol chuckled. "Right. Your legendary Ashford expedition only gets brought up every other day."

Angelo turned to Red. "You want to handle this one?"

Red grinned wickedly. "What, the big bad Angel of Death can't be bothered? Fine by me. So it all started when this mysterious wizard appeared to us in a dream with an ancient prophecy—"

"Forget it, I'll do it myself." Angelo cut him off while Red snickered. "God, I don't even know where to start with this mess."

"Try the beginning," Sol suggested. "Why did you go to Ashford in the first place?"

"We went to find out who built the lab under my parents' house."

"And why did that matter?" Joe pressed.

Angelo's frustration was obvious. "Because we know basically nothing about them. Zero. Zilch."

Neiva moved closer to Angelo. "We figured if we could track down whoever built or hired someone to build that lab, we might actually learn something useful about his parents."

"Turns out the house got bought by that Shields guy," Red added from the bed.

"Ruel Shields," Angelo clarified, looking at Sol. "The same guy I contacted about the Auranium equipment."

"Ah, so that's how you knew him." Sol nodded. "So? Did you find anything good?"

"Ruel took us to this guy Bob. He handles construction stuff in Ashford. Told us some Infernian company did the work."

Joe, Sol, and Brian all looked puzzled.

"Obsidian something," Red said suddenly. "Construction company, I think?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"No, it was Obsidian..." Angelo stopped, realizing he'd forgotten the full name.

"Obsidian Foundation," Blue corrected through their mental link.

"Right, that one." Angelo nodded.

"What?" the others asked, not having heard Blue's comment.

Blue materialized, shaking his head. "Obsidian Foundation was the company name. The entire project raised red flags from the start—signed off by high-ranking government officials. However, the most peculiar part: someone recently claimed ownership of the property anonymously, then immediately relinquished it. That's how Ruel Shields was able to acquire it from Bob when it became town property."

"How is that even possible?" Sol asked, his detective mind spinning. "How do you claim ownership without identifying yourself?"

"Precisely my point. Which brings us to our second lead. The paperwork was signed by a high-ranking official based in Lumecent." Blue nodded.

Brian looked confused. "No offense, but if you have these other leads, why are you here chasing a stolen gem instead of following them?"

Sol and Joe turned to Blue expectantly, but Angelo answered first. "Because both leads are completely blocked right now. The construction company is in Infernia—not exactly tourist-friendly for Luminians during an active war."

The others nodded in understanding.

"And the entire government district in Lumecent got blown to pieces during the terrorist attack. Whoever this official is won't be back until they rebuild the place."

"Oh yeah," Joe nodded. "I remember seeing that on the news."

"Have you seen the photos?" Neiva said, eyes lighting up. "Whoever did it left this massive crater where the town center used to be."

"After watching that old sage lift an entire mountain range out of the ocean, nothing surprises me anymore," Red commented.

Brian leaned forward with gentle curiosity. "What made you decide to go to Ashford in the first place?"

Red laughed. "Angie-boy here definitely didn't want to go. But thanks to a certain redhead making a complete mess at some corporate building, we got our lead."

Neiva's face turned red.

Sol smiled. "What kind of mess are we talking about?"

Neiva stared at her feet. "I thought maybe a commission company would have records of past projects. Including that lab."

"Why are you so embarrassed about that?" Joe asked, clearly amused.

Before Neiva could answer, Red jumped in. "Because she got herself trapped in their archives room and had to be rescued by yours truly!"

"Stop it, Red!" Neiva protested, missing Sol's thoughtful expression.

Something clicked behind Sol's eyes. "Actually, that might not be such a bad idea."

"What isn't?" Neiva asked.

Sol walked over to Red, a plan forming. "Maybe we should investigate Hugo's mansion directly. Look for evidence, see what we can find. You interested?"

Red's expression shifted from curious to something that would make demons jealous—all teeth and zero warmth. "You son of a bitch, I'm in!"

Joe crossed his arms, his usual playful expression turning serious. "Still can't believe you're planning to take on an entire gang. That takes some balls."

Sol burst out laughing, catching everyone off guard. "You think the Cliffhangers are scary? Wait until you hear about case three. That one leads straight to Lumecent and the Luminati crime family."

Joe made a choking sound like he'd just swallowed something wrong. "Are you completely insane? Do you have some kind of death wish?"

Sol tried to keep his confident smirk, but sweat was already beading on his forehead. "Why?"

Neiva's voice shook slightly. "Are they really that dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" Joe's eyes went wide. "The Luminatis are one of the deadliest crime families in the entire underworld. Not just Luminia—everywhere."

All the color drained from Neiva's face as she turned to Sol. "Do we actually have to go there? Couldn't this gem case be connected to GHOST? Or maybe the next one will be?"

Sol considered this carefully. "Like I said before, I can't completely rule it out. But it's looking more and more like this gem thing has nothing to do with GHOST." He shook his head. "As for the next case, it's in some abandoned ghost town. We'll have to see what happens."

"First we need to survive this one," Angelo reminded them, bringing everyone back to their current danger.

Joe's trademark grin returned. "Well, if you actually make it through hell and live to tell about it, I'm gonna have enough material for a dozen songs."

Red snickered from his spot. "Leave it to our resident rock star. Speaking of which, what about that song you wrote about me? Perfect time to hear it."

Joe glanced at the rain pounding against the window. "Nah, maybe later. This weather's killing my creative vibe." He headed for the door with Brian right behind him. "Catch you later."

Once they left, the group started planning Red's infiltration mission. At midnight, red and blue smoke drifted up through the dark, rainy sky, climbing higher and higher until the houses of Thunderclap Port looked like tiny squares below them.

Blue's frustrated voice echoed in their shared mind. "I still can't believe you talked me into this ridiculous scheme."

Red's mental laughter rippled through their connection. "Come on, blueberry! This is going to be great!"

"Just stick to the plan and don't do anything stupid," Angelo thought firmly at them.

Sol and Neiva watched Angelo standing with his arms crossed, deep in concentration. Finally, Red and Blue materialized in the sky above them, falling for a moment before their powers kicked in. Blue created glowing energy gloves and boots, jets of power shooting from the boot soles to keep him airborne. An energy rope shot out to catch Red mid-fall.

Red chuckled while hanging in the air. "Showtime!" He stretched out his arms, red energy gathering between his palms and slowly forming into his puppet. Without warning, Red's body went completely limp. The puppet's eyes began glowing beneath its creepy mask, made a victory gesture, then dissolved into red mist that drifted down toward town and Hugo's mansion.

Red's wild laughter echoed in their minds, making Angelo wince. He tried to ignore the noise and turned to the others. "Mission is a go. Red's approaching the target."

"This is just like old times!" Neiva bounced on her toes excitedly. "Remember when Red had to get into that archives room where I was stuck?"

Since Red could hear everything through their shared senses, he couldn't help commenting. "Ugh, don't remind me about that nightmare place."

"Red can hear me, right?" Sol asked Angelo, who nodded.

"Red, remember what we're looking for. Anything about the gem, suspicious money transfers, financial records—anything fishy."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Stop being such a buzzkill—you're sucking all the fun out of this," Red thought back.

"He says he understands," Angelo relayed to Sol without much enthusiasm.

Red finally reached the mansion and easily found a small gap to squeeze through. After making sure no one was around, the puppet formed in the darkness, casting an eerie red glow over the walls and furniture.

"He's inside," Angelo announced flatly, making Neiva tense up and Sol focus intensely.

Red moved like a professional spy, checking around corners before entering each room. Then he heard footsteps approaching and quickly turned back into smoke, pressing himself against the ceiling in the shadows. Someone entered with a flashlight, sweeping the beam across the room.

"I could have sworn I saw something glowing," came a soft voice from below.

The light swept upward toward the ceiling, making Red scramble away in panic.

"Damn, that was way too close," he thought. "Why the hell would she check the ceiling?! What kind of paranoid security bitch is this?"

"Hmm, nothing there," the guard said to herself, turning to leave.

Angelo let out a shaky breath, which made Sol immediately ask, "What happened? What did he do?"

"Looks like the mansion has night security patrols," Angelo replied, clearly not happy about this development.

Neiva's eyebrows shot up. "Really? But why would they need that?"

"I'm guessing Hugo's more careful than he pretends to be," Sol said, rubbing his chin. "Can Red stay hidden and keep going?"

"You bet I can!" Red replied with unfiltered excitement, making Angelo simply nod to Sol.

Red moved to a different room—this one had a big desk and was packed with papers and file folders everywhere. The puppet formed in front of the desk.

"Man, being able to switch between smoke and solid form without having to go all the way back to Angie is so goddamned useful!" He started opening desk drawers randomly. "Now let's see what secrets we can find."

"Red," Blue's disapproving scholarly voice filled their mental space, "You are making a complete mess. They will know someone was here. In addition you're being remarkably loud."

The puppet just shrugged and shook its head. "Why do you care? Since when do you worry about how these sneaky missions go?"

Blue gave a dignified huff in response. But then through the puppet's eyes, he noticed light under the door. "Hide! Now!" Blue commanded, making Red dissolve into smoke again and press against the ceiling.

The same guard from before entered, flashing her light over the desk, walls, and finally the ceiling. But Red had already moved behind her, hovering above the doorway to avoid the light.

"Something's definitely wrong tonight. I know I heard something," she muttered to herself.

But when she turned around, her eyes met a pair of glowing yellow ones. Without warning, she was grabbed by the throat and lifted into the air.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Veronica hissed, looking absolutely furious.

"L-Lady Veronica!" the guard stammered, struggling in her grip. "I—I was just—"

"You were just what?" Veronica demanded. "What gives you the right to stomp around here, flashing everywhere and making all that noise?"

"I think someone else is in the building!" the girl burst out, making Veronica drop her like a bag of rocks.

Veronica looked out the doorway, her eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. "Could it be that fog monster again?"