September in Salus

September 19th, Pt. 5

Caelum watched Eli collapse to the ground. Immediately, Will Montgomery threw off his dark cloak and knelt beside Eli, pulling him into his arms. He stroked the sweaty hair out of Eli's eyes, and watched him with bated breath until his eyes fluttered open.

"Will," Eli gasped. He burst into tears.

Will held his brother tightly, wiping his tears away with his shirt sleeve. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to leave you, but I didn't have a choice."

"I- I thought- I thought you were..." Eli's voice dissolved into a sob.

"I know. But I'm not." Will glanced around at the stunned Salusians surrounding them. "I'll... I'll tell you about everything, but not now." His eyes caught Caelum's. "There is something I have to show you now, though."

"What is it?" Caelum could hardly force the words out.

Will pulled a small device out of his pocket. A memory chip. "Do you want to know what happened that day?"

Caelum gaped at Will. After so many years of trying to remember, was Will offering to show him what happened? Caelum felt lost. "I-" Of course he did. Yes. He did. "

Yes."

Will turned to the cafeteria's blank wall. He reached out a hand and the lights turned off and the blinds rolled down over the windows. There were startled exclamations from the crowd, but they faded as soon as an image projected onto the wall. Will had a chip clutched in his head, the one he'd been wearing on that fateful day.

Caelum realized that he was shaking. He wasn't ready for this. He looked at Victoria. Even in the dark, she could see the distress on his face. She took hold of his hand and squeezed it, giving him a reassuring smile.

Caelum felt a little better. He looked back at the wall. He recognized the scene. He still had memories of this- he and Will, walking down an empty street. They passed seedy-looking souvenir shops, boarded-up windows, and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. The recording device was attached to the collar of Will's shirt, and Will kept turning to check on Caelum. Caelum could hear Victoria stifle a sigh. He looked so young.

In the recording, Will and Caelum continued down the street. After a few minutes, Will stopped. "Feel that, Caelum? The magic? It's pretty strong."

Caelum's face scrunched up. He pointed to an alley to their right. "It feels like it's over there."

Will grinned. "Yup. Exactly. Whatever it is, we're close enough now that it can sense us. We have to be careful now. Let's do this, alright?"

"Right!" Caelum reached for the gun at his belt.

Watching the video, Caelum's stomach twisted. This was as much as he remembered of that mission. He felt a little sick, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the footage on the wall.

In the video, Will put a hand on Caelum's shoulder. "Remember, do exactly what I tell you. You probably won't have to do anything, but we're just getting you used to these missions right now." Will ruffled Caelum's hair. "And you're here if anything goes wrong."

Caelum nodded.

The camera angle swung from Caelum's face back to the street. Will's gasp was loud enough to be picked up on the recording. Standing in front of them in the street were five hooded figures, exactly like the ones who'd invaded Salus.

"Will Montgomery?" One of them said. "We've heard good things about you."

Will's face wasn't visible on the recording, but he held his charys gun in one hand, and pushed Caelum behind him with the other. "Who are you?" There was a barely audible tremor in his voice.