Keeping the Flock in Line: Chapter 3 – No Mercy Given

Chapter 3 – No Mercy Given

“Idelle? Idelle!” I hear Kane saying to me while tapping on my arm.

“Hmm?” I sleepily grunt.

“Can you stop breaking my bones while holding me?”

“Hmm…” I loosen my grip a bit, but don't let go.

Kane’s soothing petting of my head makes me want to stay like this for another hour or so. He allows me the pleasure of enjoying the moment for a few more minutes before reminding me we have work to do.

“Okay…fine…”

“Hey, we’ll get our vacation together soon. Just hold out a bit longer, okay?”

“…okay…”

Getting up from our bed, I put on my armor and follow Kane out of the room. Today, we’re in the town of Oberon, a place that reminds me a lot of my rural hometown of Poca Bellezza. It’s quiet, patriotic, faith-focused, and so isolated from the rest of the world that it's like this place is its own universe. The Dominion placed an office out here to combat villains and criminals that set up their lairs in the middle of nowhere, and the Coronamento Corporation built offices, warehouses, manufacturing, and research facilities to offer opportunities for work for the local population. I look back at Kane, who is struggling a bit to get his armor and clothes on and appears to be a bit woozy, so I go to him and catch him as he stumbles.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to help you?” I ask.

“No, I’m fine,” he says in a nasally tone.

“Maybe you’re having an allergic reaction to the food we ate yesterday. Perhaps you should rest for the day with me.”

“No. I’m not allergic to anything. I’m fine, just a little tired.”

Kane has been sick since we arrived here two days ago. Again, he claims he’s fine and just tired, but it’s strange that he would get so sick from something so minor, considering his superhuman health. Our search for the traitors has so far turned up empty, making it seem like they've either left entirely or gone into hiding somewhere hard to find. The only clue we have is that some civilians and locals helped them in some way. It would have been easier if Kane’s illness hadn’t affected his ability to read the judgment on people’s souls, because at this point, I wouldn’t mind interrogating every civilian, law enforcement officer, and official suspected of collaborating with the traitors.

They had to have something to do with his condition, either poisoning his food or putting some kind of spell on him. I swear, I’ll tear them limb from limb if they’re responsible for his condition. No. I have to keep a level head. Even if the people here are sympathetic to the traitors, I can’t leap to conclusions just yet. Kane thinks the traitors forced them to help them, made them sympathize with them, asked them for a favor because of their previous help, or put them under a spell.

For now, the Dominion office has brought our attention to various lairs of criminals they’ve been trying to find, and tells us to check there for clues to the traitors’ whereabouts. With no other lead to go on, we head out to the location of those lairs, which are various small, abandoned settlements, farms, factories, and neighborhoods. Again, since Kane is sick, I force him to stay behind to get better.

I tell him, “If you’re not confident in your judgment of souls, you won’t use the correct gun or revolver on the right people.”

“Tch. You’re right. You probably don’t need my help telling who’s a bad guy out there anyway, so go out there with Zandro and be careful of traps. I’ll try to rest and do what I can here,” Kane says.

“Okay,” I say before kissing Kane. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

I know there’s no convincing Kane to rest completely, so I don’t bother to argue with him. Also, I know that it’d be better for him to be up, alert, and investigating what is happening, just in case someone is secretly affecting him and our separation is part of their plan. Not wanting to leave Kane alone for too long, Zandro and I use our superhuman speed to reach the locations we were given and immediately leap into action without a thought for strategy other than taking in the criminals, dead or alive. I tear to shreds everyone who attacks me, throw them around like ragdolls, use their own bodies as weapons against their friends, and beat them into submission with my fists and legs. At the same time, my snakes strangle people, stab themselves right through people’s heads, chests, or necks, and also use them as cover against the guns and powers being used against me.

The rush of violence is tempting me to indulge in it and not make me pull my punches, but I pray and do my best to ignore the feeling as I focus on finishing the fight as soon as possible. By the time Zandro and I got here, the fight began and ended in roughly ten minutes. Few survivors remain, and most lie injured or on the verge of death. I call the authorities to let them know this location is pacified, and I am about to head to the next location, until Zandro stops me by putting his hand on my shoulder.

“Yes? What is it?” I ask.

“You’re rushing this for Kane’s sake, aren’t you?” Zandro asks.

“Yes. We have to. We don’t know what plans the traitors have. They may be in league with these criminals or have their eyes on Kane since he’s by himself.”

“I know we’re dealing with a lot of unknowns and you’re concerned about your husband, but you shouldn’t let your panic get to you. It’s a way that sin can enter your heart.”

“I’m fine. Thank you. I have my emotions under control.”

“Do you?”

Heading back out, we go to the next location. I don’t let the humble, unassuming appearance of the small shops get to me, as I immediately tear through the area in my search for the criminals, going from house to shop, searching the buildings for hidden basements or tunnels. During my search, my rush to get back to Kane increases, and it’s now that I recognize some of the voices aren’t my own.

“Over here, Idelle!” Zandro says.

Zandro points me to a hidden doorway that I almost missed and asks again if I really have my emotions under control. I say I do and nearly prove him wrong by clearing the underground marketplace where the criminals are hiding, leaving fewer survivors and brutalizing many of our enemies. In the process of fighting, I accidentally hurt the people being trafficked here and have to rush to get them and the remaining criminals out of the underground, where I started a fire. The people on the surface, who faked a humble appearance, turn on us, forcing Zandro and me to fight, and this time, no survivors remain. I pause, take a breath, and hold out my hand to Zandro before he says anything to me.

“I know. Do you hear the voices as well?” I ask.

“Yes, I do. Both sides of me hear another voice trying to impersonate me to further tempt me to indulge in violence rather than spare the criminals here. They must know something that they don’t want to get out,” Zandro says.

Questioning the people here, they have no idea where they are; not even the criminals seem to know what they are doing here. Surprisingly, they say they were part of the Coronamento Corporation or Dominion and were trying to hunt down the traitors before some kind of fog fell over their minds. Now, this all really seems strange and has red flags all over it, so Zandro and I stop our hunt for criminals and go back to Oberon, only to find Kane fighting for his life by shooting at civilians and law enforcement, who are shooting at him and using their powers against him. We help defend him, and he’s thankful that we figured out something was off.

“This is all a setup,” Kane sickly says. “The people here are the traitors and are sympathetic to them. It took me a while to realize that the people in the Dominion office were wearing a disguise that made them look like different people, and there’s a superhuman with psychological powers here, distorting our minds.”

My anger grows exponentially because we were easily fooled and had done their dirty work, possibly killing and hurting our own. Kane and Zandro put their hands on my shaking hands, and tell me it’s okay and we’ll make them pay.

“You’re damn right we will,” I say.

Zandro and I cover Kane since he's still affected by the spell and his illness, then we head toward the Dominion office. There, we pacify and arrest every false ally and the reinforcements arriving from the rest of the town. Fewer are killed this time, mostly because they fight to the death or kill themselves to avoid facing justice. Once all the traitors and their supporters are restrained, we start questioning them. We discover they put something in Kane’s food and drink to make him sick, and their psychic superhumans mainly targeted him because they knew he would see through their disguise. They also control the people of neighboring towns and settlements; some were actual criminals, while others were allies and innocent people who unknowingly helped create the illusion of multiple criminal groups.

“No one was hurt or killed when we took over. People were killed and seriously hurt because of you and your Castigators,” they explained. “We had majority control and were simply trying to ensure the protection of our beliefs, our families, neighbors, and way of life. Isn’t that what the Coronamento Corporation and Dominion do for their own beliefs?”

“No. We value things differently and are justified in our view and actions, while you used manipulation to safeguard yourselves,” Kane says. “If you had opposing views to ours, you shouldn’t have joined in the first place.”

“What better organization was there to join in the country? We took the best choice so that we could protect ourselves and live peacefully in our isolated town.”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. You should’ve started your own or moved to a different country.”

“We have similar goals to protect our country. Shouldn’t we work together?”

“We have parallel goals, but the beginnings and ends of them are different, so no, we won’t work together, and your allies and you will be locked up for your betrayal.”

Through further questioning, we discovered that they knew Zandro and I would kill or seriously injure the people under their mind control, silencing witnesses to their crimes and betrayal. Once our true allies arrive from other cities, lock up the remaining traitors and collaborators, Kane, Zandro, and I take a rest in the park of the mostly deserted town, as most of its inhabitants have either been executed by justice or imprisoned.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t catch onto their trick sooner,” I say.

“I’m glad that you did before you did more damage and came back in time to save me. If anything, today has shown that you two can do just fine without me,” Kane says.

“Don’t say that. You’re our leader, and your skills are invaluable to us.”

“Without you, we’d be like a body without its head,” Zandro adds.

“Take it as a compliment, guys. I may be superhuman, but I’m not as tough as either of you. You might think that you’d both be significantly weak without me, but look at what you did today without much help from me. There will be scenarios when the success of the Castigators will rely on your particular skills, while I can only do so much. Remember, we’re the Castigators, not Kane and his two sidekicks.”

“Yeah…you’re right,” Idelle says.

“I promise not to let either of you down and will step up when I need to,” Zandro says.

“Thank you. Both of you. Now, I should reward you both for taking charge when I needed you most. What do you want?”

“Heh, is a day off out of question?” Zandro asks.

“Not at all.”

“Okay then,” I say as I grab and hold Kane’s arm. “I decide how we spend it and how long we cuddle together.”

“If it was up to you, it’d be all day.”

“So?”

Kane laughs as I tell him how serious I am and mention other things we could do, some of which I make sure Zandro doesn’t hear. I feel like I failed Kane because of the unnecessary loss of innocent and allied lives caused by me, but since we still succeeded, I can’t say today was a complete failure. In the days ahead, I hope to improve and see myself as positively as Kane and my brother do.