All is Fair

An extract from the journals of Sister Venerae

Superior Hotel, Pan City, POZ

September 8th, V26 - Morning

“You live in this one room, Madam?” enquired Parsifal politely, his eyes roaming over the hotel furnishings and plain decor.

“There is a bathroom ensuite as well” I retorted, sorting through my collection of spell foci. I was sitting on the bed, watching Parsifal poke about my hotel room with an inquisitive air. At least it was clean and tidy, not due to my efforts of course but the trusted cleaning staff here at the Superior.

He was checking the cleanliness of my shower cubicle and making disapproving noises when my phone rang. It was Longflower, for once using the phone network and not speaking through Parsifal’s mouth.

“Hi Longflower, what’s up?” I greeted her.

“Dear Venerae, I am sorry to bear sad tidings in this manner but I thought you should know immediately” said the Witch. “Millie has been kidnapped from in front of her old Orphanage last night”

My heart lurched in my chest. “How did you find this out?” I asked, controlling my breathing carefully.

“Her companion Twenty and that lovely little Novice from the Order have just arrived at my door. It seems Millie and Twenty were here in the city looking for you. They think Penny has taken her”

“I see. Thank you for letting me know, Longflower. Please take care of Twenty and Nata for me. I will be in touch soon” I ended the call and sat quietly on the bed for a few moments.

“Are you alright, Madam?” asked Parsifal politely from the bathroom doorway.

“I will be fine thank you Parsifal. My niece has been taken by Penny and her group and they will use her as a hostage to ensure my cooperation”

“You don’t seem surprised by this turn of events” he noted, narrowing his yellow eyes.

I picked up Threadcutter in its scabbard, contemplating the power and obligations it held.

“It was not unexpected” I answered. I stood and gathered the items I needed, then looked around the room I had lived in for many years now. Somehow I doubted I would return here, one way or another.

“Time to go, Parsifal” I told him and led the way to the door.

=====

Pan City Harbour, POZ

September 8th, V26 – Noon

I sat on the bench at the Marina, watching the boats bob up and down on the swell. Gulls circled and cried out overhead, a few coming closer in the hope I would feed them. It always amazed me that they looked identical to the ones from my homeland but were half the size.

Just like me, my home of Norway was a land of giants.

My coffee was nearly done as I had been sitting here for an hour, waiting for Penny to come and speak to me. I knew she was watching me, probably through the scope of a sniping rifle in one of the towers that overlooked the marina. Her minions (or maybe she had goons?) would have been checking I was alone and that I presented no immediate threat.

Which would not be true of course, as I had Ferro Mortis sitting in its scabbard across my back. Threadcutter lay against the bench to my side, also in its scabbard. Ready to draw it if needed but more as a statement to Penny and her master.

I glanced over to a large yacht moored in its pen, about fifty meters from me as the crow flies. Or as the raven flies to be more accurate. Parsifal sat in his raven form on the radar mast of the boat, watching me nonchalantly. Against all the white boats and with the white gulls hovering about, a lone black bird was hardly inconspicuous.

Still, if trouble did break out it was comforting to know I had support close by.

My idle thoughts were interrupted by the tread of rubber soled feet as a squad of Sentinels trooped across the paved harbour frontage. With AI driven precision they formed a circle around the bench I was seated upon, standing in a ring about thirty meters across. All of them faced towards me, their assault rifles held at the ready position.

The Sentinels were all marked in the dark blue of the Pan City Defence Forces but I doubted they were under the control of the Archimedes Network.

A softer sound of heeled shoes clacking on the paving followed. A woman strode confidently between their silent number and sat down on the bench at my side. She put a small paper bag on the seat between us, right next to the hilt of Threadcutter.

“Sorry I kept you waiting” Penny announced “I needed to pick up something first”

“Hi Penny” I said, turning to face her. My next words were lost as I gazed at her in profile, my heart aching suddenly at seeing her after so long. The resolution I had felt in coming here wavered and I was unsure that I could follow through with what I needed to do.

Penny turned and met my eyes, her lips curling up into a faint smile.

“You haven’t changed at all, Venerae” she said in surprise. “Actually I think you look even younger!”

“I’ve had a bit of help with that” I admitted, returning her smile. She disarmed me every time even when she was my enemy. I thought of Millie and that quelled the old emotions, replacing them with the rage I needed to feel instead. My smile vanished and my eyes narrowed.

“Give Millie back to me!” I demanded, catching her off guard.

“So the pleasantries are over?” Penny responded coolly. “Very well. My colleagues and I have your niece and she is currently unharmed” She drew a small stone on a chain from a pocket and placed it on the bench, next to the paper bag. “I am sure you recognise the Pathfinder stone you gave her? Proof we have her in case you needed it. You can have her back in exchange for one small thing”

“I can’t give you Jericho-Three” I snarled. “He is not going to willingly place himself in your line of fire”

“I just want you to negotiate a meeting, face to face” she said. “You bring me Jericho-Three and I hand Millie over. Nice and clean”

“He won’t do it” I told her.

“Then you will have to convince him. And there is a time limit on this request” she replied. “Millie has been infected with a Nano-virus. It is currently kept dormant by regular doses of a suppressant in her water. If it is not suppressed within 24 hours or the antidote given, it will begin replication throughout her body. It is not a nice virus either and will spread to the whole city given the opportunity”

My hand fell to the hilt of Threadcutter and I felt fury building inside of me. I struggled to hold it back, my head full of thoughts of Millie. Penny laid her hand on mine, cold and firm, placating me.

“It is not something I wanted to do” she said urgently, “But I needed you to know Millie was at risk. She is your only weakness Venerae, the only one I could exploit” She paused and leaned close to me, her artificial eyes boring into mine. “I am truly sorry for this, but you can save her. Just give me Jericho”

I looked deep into her eyes in return, searching for the Penny I remembered.

“Why are you doing this?” I questioned her, my voice revealing the ache I felt inside. Penny pulled back from me, releasing her grip on my hand.

“I can’t upgrade this body anymore” she said. I looked at her bare arms, revealed by the short sleeved blouse she wore. Fresh scars ran down her forearms, faint but unmistakeable.

“There is a new procedure available to the super rich” she continued, looking at her own arms, turning them this way and that in the sunlight. “They grow a clone of your body, whatever age you want, and can implant your brain into it. With enough money you can have a fresh body any time you want, keeping all your memories and thoughts intact. I won’t have to grow old and weak ever again. I can be immortal, just like you Venerae”

“It doesn’t work that way, Penny” I said sadly to her. “Living unchanging for so long is not the gift you think it is”

She shook her head in denial and I knew this was not something I could convince her of.

“Tell your master that if they persist in this scheme, I will come after them. With Threadcutter”

“No you won’t, Venerae” Penny said, smugly confident. “Because I know your secret”

She glanced at me from lowered eyes, a green glow visible in their artificial depths.

“Let me tell you a story, dear Venerae” she began. “While I was in Europe, after our last mission together, I wondered why you were so afraid to use the powers of the Norn. Why you were so reluctant to carry Threadcutter, surely the most powerful weapon you could wield”

“It took a lot of research but I found an old legend, recorded by a Norwegian Monk in the Thirteenth Century. He had fallen in love with the Skuld of his time, the Maiden of the Norns. It was a forbidden love, with him in a celibate Order and her the Maiden, an Adept and bearer of Threadcutter. The foolish girl revealed the secret of her power to him and the foolish boy wrote it all down”

“The secret was simple. The gods allowed tremendous power to be invested in the Norn Blade. It could utterly destroy any being, even a god themselves. It was the ultimate threat. But such power could not be allowed to be used without limitations”

“So the first restriction was made – the sword could only be wielded by the female line of the Norns. No man could use its power to conquer the world. Only the women of the line, willing to defend their own but not conquer others”

“The second restriction was even more important. Each Maiden who bore the sword could only use its power three times. It is a potent weapon, but the destruction it could bring would have to be carefully chosen by each Maiden”

“Finally is the last restriction. When the Maiden uses her third strike with Threadcutter, she must hand over the mantle of the Maiden to another young woman of her bloodline. If she does not, Threadcutter will take her life and the lives of every other living member of her bloodline”

Penny stopped and challenged me with her gaze. I nodded acceptance of her tale. I knew it was all true, it was what every daughter in our line was told about as soon as we were old enough to understand. It was why I had run away from home, to avoid such a future. Yet it had found me anyway.

“Finding out the legend was the easiest part” Penny continued. “I had to call in some favours to learn enough to make the final connection” I hung my head, knowing she had found the final truth.

“You have used the power of Threadcutter twice already, haven’t you Venerae?” she said, leaning in close, whispering into my ear. “If you use it once more, you have to hand on the sword to the next Maiden. Otherwise you, your little niece, your cousin the Mother, they all die”

I thought of trying to bluff, but if Penny had discovered all of this, she knew the truth.

“I can’t hand on the mantle. There are no daughters left in our line” I said, tears forming in my eyes. Penny had been my dearest friend and only lover. To have her find this out and reveal it to my enemies was more than I could bear.

“There is Millie” stated Penny, observing my tears with cold dispassion. “She may be Awakened, but she has the blood of giants in her too”

“I can’t, I just can’t!” I wept, uncaring of who might see me in this place.

“I know you can’t” agreed Penny, touching me gently on my shoulder. “That is why you have been the Maiden for thirty years. There was no-one to hand over the burden to, no-one until Millie was born. Even then, you refused to pass it on. You have carried it all by yourself far past the time any other Maiden has done”

“It is why you haven’t aged in all the years you have been the Maiden. The Norn Blade won’t let you go until you choose to pass it on or end it all”

“One way or another, I will be the last Maiden” I told Penny. I had never shared this with anyone. No-one in my family, what was left of it, and no-one in my Order.

Penny stroked my back, running her hand past Ferro Mortis in its scabbard. She understood at last why I used that sword only, never carrying Threadcutter into battle. If my life was in danger, like the fight with the Shadow Mare, would I use its power to save my own existence? Knowing I could doom Millie to face being the Maiden?

“If I have to, I will use it” I told Penny. My tears stopped and I found the courage I had been searching for inside of me. “If you stand against me, I will use Threadcutter to end your master”

I sat upright, Penny’s hand falling to her side, and faced her squarely.

“Tell them Penny. Tell them that I will destroy them utterly and without mercy”

“Very well” she agreed. “But they won’t allow me to return Millie without giving them Jericho. Think it over and call me when you have made a decision”.

She handed me a slip of paper with her neat handwriting on it. Her phone number. She was old school too at times.

Penny stood up, the sunlight making her gleam in my eyes. She was still so beautiful and I loved her despite the pain she caused me. Once more she was taking me into the fire, to be burned anew.

“I’ll miss you” I told her.

“Not if you aim carefully” she said with a smile and began to walk away.

“Penny!” I called out and she turned back, her long dark hair moving in the sea breeze, “What’s in the bag?” I pointed to the paper bag she had left on the bench beside me.

“Cookies” she replied. She walked away, towards the buildings lining the harbour frontage. Her Sentinels filed after her, their bodies moving in perfect unison.

Once she had gone and her watchers had withdrawn, Parsifal flew to my side and balanced himself on the back of the bench. I opened the bag and saw the cookies, looking exactly like the ones we shared in the café five years ago. She had remembered after all.

I took one and ate it, savouring the sweet crunchiness. They might be poisoned but there would be no point to that so I ate another without fear.

Seeing as how I did not feel like I was dying, I crumbled one in my hand and offered it to Parsifal. His yellow eyes regarded me for a moment, then he greedily pecked up the pieces and swallowed them down.

We sat together for a bit, enjoying the view and sharing the treats. My phone rang and I fished it out of a pocket, brushing crumbs off my coat.

“How did it go?” asked Jericho-Three.

“They asked to meet you in person” I told him. “In exchange we get Millie back”

“Just as expected” he replied. “I am sorry I had to drag Millie into this. They were always going to target her, knowing the connection she has to you”

“I know” I said, tears forming again in my eyes. I dashed them away with my hand and continued “I just wish she did not have to suffer so much because of me”

“We are family, Venerae. Together we will get her back safely and eliminate this threat to the Zone”

“Thank you Jericho. You are risking as much as any of us in this”

“Save your thanks until it’s all done. It can wrong in so many ways I can’t even count them”

“Just have faith in your Aunty Venerae” I said with conviction.

“Of course” he acknowledged and ended the call.

Parsifal looked at me intently, having heard both sides of the call.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised” I said to the Familiar. “You and Longflower probably knew from the beginning”

I stood up, knocked off the last few cookie crumbs and looped the baldric for Threadcutter over my shoulder. My hand shook only for a moment as I picked up Millie’s Pathfinder Stone, then I tucked it safely away. The last couple of cookies I threw to the waiting seagulls, much to Parsifal’s dismay, and balled up the paper bag.

Dropping the bag in a recycling bin I walked away from the Marina, Parsifal dipping and diving overhead like a black gull.

My enemies knew the truth of my power now. It was not unexpected and in a way I found it liberating. I quickened my pace, ready to resolve this and get my niece back. Once I had her safe, I knew it was time to tell her everything.

About me, about our bloodline, and about what her parents had created. What they had died for. The creation of the Jericho clones, using their own genetic material. Millie was not an only child like she had always thought.

She had brothers, three of them currently and many more as embryos awaiting activation. All with the shared bloodline of the giants running though their veins, courtesy of my brother Alex.

I could imagine her face when she found out that Jericho-Three was her older brother. Now that would be one hell of a scene. With another smile on my face I strode forwards, towards my future.