It was a few years after Zacchaeus killed the heart of Minyak on Top, that he was with Maxx and Pultine on the sand watching the steam roll over the isles of Fumarole. Maxx spent a lot of time in reflection since returning to the surface of Bludon because there were no battles to rage.
Maxx, Zacchaeus and Pultine had coordinated plans of attack on the Minyak-infected islands as contingencies, but none had been enacted. Pultine had left Bludon and returned several times, hoping to be of some help. When she was on Bludon, the three seemed to brood together on the foggy beaches of Fumarole; they traded battle stories and did their best to relax under the trees with long, lithe trunks and large leaves that sprouted from the tops with large nuts that the Guardians enjoyed after roasting over open fire. Issac hadn’t returned from the Fonlands, but even his magic couldn’t reverse what happened to Bludon.
“Maybe you don’t need to stay here,” Maxx said to Zacchaeus. He looked mad out at the steam over the waters.
“Ain’t no leaving until this is done,” Zacchaeus said.
“You’ve been here for so long now,” Maxx said. “Will your home even be there when you return?”
“Crazy how shit work,” Zacchaeus explained. “It’ll be the same day I left if I leave now. We here until y’all safe, that’s the only thing that matter.”
“I just wish I had arrived earlier for the punchy parts of this mission,” Pultine said between mouthfuls of the roasted nuts. “Don’t get me wrong, vacationing on Bludon is nice, but I was hoping to do some heavy battling.”
“I should be grateful for this seeming peace,” Maxx said thoughtfully. “This is the most peaceful it has ever been on Bludon, but I feel so restless.”
“I would say we could all go adventuring to vent our frustrations,” Pultine said, “Yana was clear that Bludon is the place that needs us most.”
“I don’t know how you trust somebody that spend that much time with Owuo,” Zacchaeus said.
“I trust Yana,” Pultine said.
Maxx nodded and walked toward the dormitory. He was pensive, and when the large door of the front entrance swung open, it revealed a frustrated Coxx.
“Superguardian,” Coxx said and half bowed. “The Queen is in the command station in the Gymnasium. Prepare yourself, it is very bleak news that awaits you at the briefing.”
“Have we lost to Minyak, Coxx?” Maxx asked sincerely.
“Ain’t now way,” Zacchaeus said, shaking his head. “Ain’t no fucking way, not after what I been through. I killed Minyak on that planet ship.”
“We know that the Minyak still on Bludon is a disease that he left before the mutated form left the planet,” Coxx explained. He motioned for the three of them to follow him inside and they entered the entryway with the high ceiling that led to a main hallway with the large commonspace at the end of the hall and two main staircases that led to either side of the building. Coxx led them to the closed doubled doors of the Gymnasium inside of the hallway and he flung the door open to what looked like a large office space. There were desks with monitors and the Guardians buzzed around, exchanging information and monitoring things on the screens.
When the Queen Rowen noticed them, she made her way through the neat rows between the monitoring stations.
“What is your assessment?” Maxx asked her.
She shook her bulbous head slowly. “I’ve been studying all of this for some time now and it is evident that Minyak has created a third species of Bludonian, whether knowingly or not. The Minyak disease doesn’t cause death or sickness exactly, it alters the minds of the infected and causes the stunting of the growth of blu shells. Blues are not harmed by this infection, and everyone who opted to be vaccinated against it will not be infected. Minyak is a permanent part of Bludonian society now.”
Zacchaeus cursed loudly and many of the Guardians in the vicinity looked at him sympathetically; they had seen footage from years prior of the conflict on the Daemon asteroid and on the surface of Top, they knew what he had been through.
“I don’t think you should view this as a failure,” the Queen Rowen said to Zacchaeus. “I have been monitoring the minds of the infected blues over all this time and they have changed, they are not exactly the blues they were before the infection, but it’s similar to the way that any being changes over the course of their lives. It is as though they have rapidly matured a few years and their perspective is different. They are not necessarily violent, either. For those who were violent before the infection, it can amplify that, but it seems to make them less sentimental. They are not Minyak, they are in no way the creatures that the Guardians battled for so long. You did rid Bludon of Minyak. This is something else.”
“That all sounds ok, I guess,” Maxx said. “But I’m not convinced that something like this is benign. Even if things are better, I am worried about Minyak’s motives for infecting the population like this in the first place.”
“He planned all of this shit,” Zaccahaues said aggressively. “He knew he wouldn’t be able to wipe out all the Bludonians and he was trying to make compromises with the Needy. This is a long con, I know it is. Even if it seem like the blues that’s infected want it, we got to get rid of it before the other shoe drop. I’m telling you, at some point in the future, we gone wish we had cured as many blues as we could.”
The Queen looked to Maxx.
“All of the Guardians loyal to you are here on Fumarole and have not left since we discovered what was happening. We haven’t intervened in larger society, even though Coxx has maintained communication with the Ur Gang. They are skeptical of the Minyak disease and have forcibly cured or expelled infected members of their gang. They maintain the Chain Islands as an infection free island.”
“We do have a cure for this infection?” Maxx asks, and the Queen nods. “Let’s all sit down somewhere and talk this through.”
Issac has made a home of the Smiting Chamber, to the delight of Yana and the chagrin of Owuo. He creates a bed on the ledge overlooking the heptagon when he is tired and he has nor seen the sun in years. This has been less of an issue than he anticipated; the Smiting Chamber is a place of intense arcane energy and he doesn’t miss the experience of dwelling on the surface of a planet. The Chamber is large and frequented by familar faces, including Goldie whom he had met almost thirty years ago when he and his friends first arrived in the Smiting Chamber.
“This is definitely not my Chamber anymore,” Goldie says and she sits in the navy blue construct of the bed where Issac slept soundly. He opened his eyes casually and smiled at the hairy female with the bug mouth of razor-sharp teeth.
“The Queen doesn’t mind me sleeping here,” Issac says, his voice strained as he sits up in the bed. He clears his throat.
“I don’t either,” Goldie says and walks to the ledge. She smiles down as Issac disappears the best and suits up in all black with the flick of his fingers. “Especially because Owuo is so annoyed by your presence.”
“I think we’ve become friends after all these years,” Issac says facetiously.
They watch Yana in the Essence blue mist on the heptagon and Owuo stands in front of her on the Chamber floor.
“As soon as his debt to Yana is satisfied, he will throw you into his maze and torture you for the sport of it. Never trust that man, it will be the last thing you do.”
Issac figured that Owuo heard them talking about him because he turn and stated up at them on the ledge.
“Nice to see you!” Goldie yells and waves, then says under her breath, “It would be nicer to see you smashed beneath a boulder.”
“It would take more than a boulder,” Owuo says with a laugh. Despite his laugh and the distance they are from him, Issac can feel the Owuo’s anger that is so intense that he gives off heat. He turns back to Yana in the mist.
“I’m going down to see better what they’re monitoring,” Issac says.
“Word from Bludon,” Goldie says as he levitates away. “The Wazads have returned. They should be here soon to speak with you.”
Issac nods as he waves at Goldie. “Yana told me to expect them. It will be good to finally see Maria again.”
“I will return with them,” Goldie says. “You take care of yourself.”
“I won’t let death get the best of me,” Issac says with a smirk.
PRL Serials 