Enigmatic: Sapphire City Supers

Chapter 15: An Exceptionally Annoying Thing is Explained

The next day, I did another thing I thought I'd never do; I opened the door to find Gareth standing there, and didn't tell him to get lost.

"Kenna," he said, striding in looking as crisp as ever, "to what do I owe this pleasure?" I'd explained it to Seb the night before but he'd left it up to me to tell Gareth.

"Are you aware that there's a picture perfect clone of you running around town, calling himself Morgan?" I cut right to it to see how he'd react.

The normally smooth and polished Gareth froze, then gave me a peculiar look. "He approached you, did he?"

I scoffed. "That's one way to put it. Please sit," I said almost politely.

He obeyed, sinking down into the couch and rubbing his temples in a gesture of frustration and weakness that I'd have hardly believed him capable of.

"Who is he?" I asked. "He's obviously up to no good, in case you didn't know."

"What he is is a pain in my ass," Gareth said harshly. "I've tried for years to forget it, to hide it, to pretend as though he didn't exist, but clearly that's caught up with me now. Morgan is my twin brother."

"You have an evil twin?" I summarised incredulously. "Are you serious? What book are we in right now?"

He shot me a quelling look. "In many ways we're very alike, and he has the same abilities of persuasion and influence as I do, which, as you've mentioned several times before, you seem largely immune to. We chose different paths for our lives though. He's obviously been watching me and planning this for some time."

I couldn't resist getting a shot in."He had a file on me which looked awfully like the things you've collected over the years,. By the way, I was never happy with you keeping that, and this is a good example of why, Gareth." 

Gareth sighed, rubbing his temples again. "That is quite concerning, but I can't say I'm surprised. He is extremely good at getting what he wants. He's probably been going through my files and looking for someone like you."

"It seems as though he thinks I'd be particularly useful to him. I'm telling you this because, while I still have no interest in joining you, I have considerably less in helping him in any way. Even if I did, I don't take kindly to people kidnapping me and trying to force me to listen to their ridiculous schemes." Anger bubbled up again as I thought of Morgan's presumption. I was most definitely not a Villain.

"This particular 'scheme,' as you say, is a dangerous one. I'm very sorry that he kidnapped you, and I hope he didn't hurt you at all?" He looked genuinely concerned, and I softened a little.

"No, I'm fine. He was creepily polite, actually, though I may have threatened him just a little. And held him against a wall until he agreed to let me go..."

Amusement flashed across his face briefly, but his voice was stern. "Don't underestimate him, Kenna. As I said, he is very good at getting what he wants. I'm concerned to hear that it seems to be you at the moment. I think you and your brother probably need to know now what it is he's after."

"We already know it's the amulet," I offered, as Seb nodded.

"Yes, but why? And the amulet is only part of it; he also wants the tablet."

I thought back to what Ewan had told us at the opening of the exhibit. "They were found together; they think they're Mycenaean and much older than what they were found with," I repeated.

"Yes. These were important, even sacred objects that may have some information about the origins of Supers. But most importantly, they have a deep power that we don't understand, and that could be devastating in the wrong hands. The tablet is carved in Linear B, the Mycenaean Greek writing. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, that script has been decoded for half a century. The tablet says 'I hold the Gods' and a string of seeming gibberish sounds. When these sounds are decoded and read, and the amulet placed into a small, carved groove on the tablet, it has the power to amplify Super abilities and trigger latent ones in those with a seed of Super in them. Do you realise now why Morgan must be kept from obtaining these?" Gareth stared hard at both Seb and me.