Keeping the Flock in Line: Chapter 2 – No Soul Spared

Chapter 2 – No Soul Spared

My Castigators and I are in the city of Inheritance, where an office owned by a Dominion subsidiary is located. I’ve never been here before, much less the country center of the Columbian Union, where there’s not much around besides the odd small town and rural landscape. This office was apparently one of the first in the Dominion’s move to have its offices scattered around the country, and not just have them in the Solis and Meridian area on the east side of the country. It has a very steampunk, industrialized aesthetic that harkens back to the age when it was first founded and its golden age when it was most important to the country, as it supplied materials for inventions in transportation and medicine, weapons, and a safe place to live as the Columbian Union expanded Westward into unknown and uninhabited lands. Since it’s so interesting to be in, I have to treat Idelle to the sights and unique restaurants not found anywhere else.

It’s during this time that I feel bad for Zandro for not having a lover of his own. He’s just hanging around us like an awkward third wheel or a bodyguard, waiting for something to do.

“You’ll see some action. Trust me when I say that this is part of the plan,” I say to him.

“I don’t care if we’re doing something or not. I understand wanting to relax with your wife. Treasure every second of it. Have you planned when you’re going to have children after this?” Zandro says.

“We have. We’ll have our first after this assignment. Our families are excited to see grandchildren, especially Darcy, Timeo’s wife, and my ‘adoptive’ mother.”

“I’m still not used to hearing that. Darcy is a strange woman.”

“Well, Timeo is a strange man as well, so I guess it’s no wonder that a powerful and tactical man like him would attract a dominating woman like her. We should find you a woman here since we’re just lounging around.”

“No. I wouldn’t trust myself around a woman and child after ending the lives of my previous wife and children with my own hands.”

“It’s too soon then.”

“No. I may just embrace the consecrated single life that I’ve heard about in your faith.”

“It’s yours too, now that you’ve been baptized and received the sacraments.”

“Eh. I still don’t feel like I deserve it because of my actions.”

“Don’t we all?” Idelle asks, to which I say amen. “Our pasts are behind us, and we’re making up for wasted time through our actions today, so try not to let your regrets take hold of your mind and move on from them.”

“You’re right, Idelle. Thank you.”

“Heh. You’ve been giving sage advice ever since marrying me,” I point out.

“I have to. As your wife and a soon-to-be mother, I can’t just be good at violence. I have to be wise and kind, like my little brother.”

“You’re good in your own way,” I say as I kiss Idelle on the forehead. “Come on. We have more of the city to see.”

I sneakily plant a listening device under the table of the bar we’re at, which the allies of the Dominion will remove later. We plant more listening devices at the places we go to and listen in on what our allies and the civilians of Inheritance think of the current situation.

They say things like, “Giovanni got what he deserved.”

“He brought it on himself. It must be part of one of his schemes.”

“He’ll get out of jail easily. He has too much money and influence.”

“My support for him hasn’t been shaken in the least. Who else would willingly cripple his company, his allies, and himself for the sake of justice and the country, so both can better work for the people they serve?”

“He’s honest, too honest, in fact. It must’ve taken a lot for him to do that.”

“I hope the Castigators find every traitor and bring them to justice, dead or alive.”

While continuing our eavesdropping, we get pretzels and ice cream for lunch and take a break in a shopping center. We’ve signed some autographs and answered some of the questions of our fans before politely asking that they leave us alone, which they allow us. Idelle hangs on my arm like she usually does, and hasn’t been giving scary looks to girls who are mildly interested in me, and seems to be more interested in Inheritance’s history, the unique places to go to, and talking about our future.

When I see her watching a father, mother, and child happily being together in the park, I say, “That’ll be us soon.”

“Yeah,” she says.

“You don’t seem to be focused on the assignment at hand. Are you still worried about being the best wife and mother? You don’t have to be.”

“I know on both of those things. Even though we might not know where all the traitors are hiding, we’ll find them all, and they won’t be a match for us. I’m just trying to enjoy our time together until the big day comes, when I officially become a true wife, a mother. We don’t really get many moments like this, do we? It makes me miss being in Poca Bellezza.”

“Yeah. Where your brother grew up was a really nice place, and it was the only place where I saw Timeo completely at peace, as if he had found Heaven on earth. We have to bring you there sometime on our next day off, Zandro.”

“You don’t have to bring me along.”

“Of course we do. You’re one of the three main members of our group. Trust me, it’ll be a life-changing and rejuvenating experience for you.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The family Idelle is watching notices us and starts to panic and run away.

“Whelp. Time to get back to it,” I say.

Idelle and Zandro chase down our targets, while I shoot them as they flee. From our scouting and our contacts, we knew the traitors were around here, either in public places or their place of work, hiding in plain sight as if we didn’t know their sins. We already took care of the ones at work, in secret. The harder ones to pin down were the ones in public places like this park. Even the simple mother and father we were watching are among the traitors. The civilians around us flee as the fighting starts between us and the superhuman traitors, but because we got the drop on them, it isn’t much of a fight.

When the fighting ends, the traitors are rounded up, and members of the Dominion and law enforcement come to arrest them. Among those being detained, the family from earlier causes a scene, along with other families whose children or parents are upset about being taken away, and argue that they are innocent. Looking at them, I see all kinds of traitors, some deserving of death, others deserving to be jailed with heavy or light sentences. Some betrayed the Dominion by opposing groups or enriching themselves through theft of our wealth, armory, or research, while others did so because they were forced or out of fear for loved ones with opposing beliefs, criminal records, or lifestyles. Because there are many traitors in Inheritance, and I'm aware of some of their crimes, I take a few aside whose families are crying out for them.

I manifest my pistol and revolver, and say to them, “I know that the rest of the traitors are hiding in a secret and secure place, and that you hid them somewhere. Tell us where they are, and I promise that you won’t face jail time or be shot dead.”

I’m immediately faced with arguments and how my offer isn’t fair, so I bring judgment to three of the traitors and restate the consequences and the benefits of telling me what I need to know, adding that, “You’ll be fired from your jobs, but you’ll get a second chance somewhere else with a recommendation from the Dominion and the Coronamento Corporation, guaranteeing you a job where you will both work off your sentence and still be able to see and provide for your families. So, what will it be?”

Finally, the family members, both in cuffs and not, reveal the location of the hiding places of the remaining traitors, which are the basements of several houses, offices, and places of business.

After getting the specifics, I free the traitors, thanking them for the information, and say, “Don’t think about leaving the city or the offer will be null and void and you’ll face jailtime or worse. Some of you deserve to be shot dead, but your confession and the confession of your family members have saved your lives. I recommend not throwing away your second chance, or we will find you. I promise.”

With the locations of the remaining traitors known, the members of the Dominion and law enforcement separate into groups to pursue them. In addition to the information we received, we were told that if the traitors in public or one of the hideouts were compromised, then those in hiding would know and flee to another location. Quickly heading to one of the locations in a house, Idelle and Zandro go after the fleeing traitors, while I head into the basement of the house. Inside, I find mostly non-superhuman families like I did before, all of which beg for mercy and give excuses for their crimes. Regardless of what’s being said, I deliver mercy or death depending on what I see in the individual’s soul. A basement of twenty people is reduced to only seven being spared, and the rest are killed.

The remaining living family members yell at me for what I did, calling me awful, a villain, and not a true hero. Responding to them, I point my guns at them and say, “No one is safe from the harsh hand of justice. Give me an excuse and bring it down upon you all as well. I don’t want to hear you judge me for what I’ve done when you give excuse after excuse for your loved one's sins just because they benefited you, while harming your fellow countrymen in one way or another.”

No one says a peep as I leave the room and the remaining living traitors and their family members for the law enforcement to take in. With all the traitors in Inheritance cleaned up in one day, Idelle, Zandro, and I met up at the Dominion office we were staying at.

Zandro suggests, “We should head to the next location. The traitors will surely be on high alert, scattered, or may take drastic action to save their lives.”

“We could, but there are many other things we haven’t experienced in the city yet. I heard it really comes to life at night, so why don’t we stick around a bit longer? We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning,” I say.

“Sure. I wouldn’t mind,” Idelle says.

“Zandro?”

“Are you sure you want me along?”

“Yes. I’ve said it before. You’re one of the main members of the Castigators and a friend, so you have to hang out with us.”

“Except you can’t be around us when I need my…private time with Kane. Besides, on those occasions, feel free to be with us.”

“Heh. She’s possessive of me. Sorry.”

“Haha. I understand.”

“I am not possessive. Just dedicated,” Idelle says as she squeezes my hand.

“Sure, sure. Let’s head out while the night is still young.”

Heading out back into Inheritance, I enjoy the rest of the night with my friend and lover, in a city we’ve made safer and free from traitors. I hope that every place in the country will be like this, a safe place where everyone doesn’t have to worry if their friends and allies are fake or not, and where everyone works to make their home, country, and world better in the way God intended.