The countryside of New South Wales, Australia, is a beautiful place. The Blue Mountains, a historic area with heritage both man-made and environmental abound, is quiet and perfect for a getaway- or, in the case of Faith White and her mother, Catherine, a place for a new beginning. Not that Faith was ever happy about moving. A Melbournite by birth, leaving the Victorian capital was both annoying and an inconvenience. She was set to start high school soon and had hoped to stay in one place, but her Catherine, a painter and genealogist, had been employed at a library in Katoomba, and that meant that they had had to move.

“Do we really have to move?” Faith asked during the drive. 

Catherine smirked. “Unless you’d rather go to a boarding school, no.”

“But the countryside is boring!” Faith complained for the umpteenth time that week. “It’s all old houses and old people!”

“It’s not ‘old houses and old people’, Faith,” Her mother replied. “It’s history, it’s our national heritage! Besides, you liked Katoomba the last time we were here.”

“I was nine then.”

“So?”

“So my point is, it would have been nice for a holiday, but for the rest of our lives? I’d rather stay in Melbourne.”

“Of course you would.”

“It was interesting there.”

“It was too noisy.” 

Faith gave her mother a look. “Then why did you live there?”

“Because I had a job there, darling,” Sighed Catherine. “This one ever so happens to pay more than the last. Besides, maybe the mountain air will clear your mind of all those negative thoughts of yours.”

Faith huffed and crossed her arms. “I’m no pessimist, Mum.” 

“You certainly sound like one.”

“I’m a realist. I’m not one for fantasy or placing hope in what is pointless.” 

“That’s just a fancy word for a quitter.” Catherine reached over and ruffled her daughter’s hair. “Come on, give us some sunshine, Miss Stormy Skies!” But Faith just batted her mother’s hand away and grumbled, turning her attention out the window again. 

“Faith, stop being such a grump.”

“Stop being so cheery, then,” Faith snapped back at her. “It gives me a headache.” 

From there on out, the only sound in the car came from the radio and the occasional curse from Catherine to people on the road who apparently got their licenses from off the backs of cereal boxes, and Faith just kept her earphones in, cranking the volume up a bit every time a song she hated came on the radio (“You used to love this song!” “When I was five.”). 

Eventually, the two arrived at the two-storey house that had a nice view of the Jamieson Valley from the top floor and fashioned from brick in a pseudo-federation architectural style. More than likely, it was before it was renovated and refurbished, which explained why Catherine was adamant that she was going to paint the walls a different colour than white that a real-estate agent probably gave some needlessly artistic name. Said agent was there not long after Catherine had pulled the land rover into the driveway and Catherine proceeded to criticise every last thing she could about the house that was whitewashed or altered and the agent quickly turned to Faith for backup, but she quickly snapped at the greasy-haired man that she thought that the house was probably perfectly fine before everything was painted with white paint that was more than likely marketed as some artistic shade of grey and that whatever quarrel her mother had about the place was no problem of hers. After the agent was well chased out of the house, Faith dragged herself upstairs and flopped down on her bed in the room she was to call her own from now on. The glare of the sunlight on the white walls made her eyes hurt and she pulled the hood of her light-fabric hoodie over her head to block out the light. Real estate agents pestering her when she was in this frame of mind was, by no means, helpful and she was in no mood to go looking through all her stuff just to find her door sign that she’d made last year during their ‘last week of school’ arts and crafts time. She’d just taken a bit of driftwood she’d been keeping under her desk on her last trip to the coast and painted a skull and crossbones in one corner and the words “KEEP OUT” in bright red letters across the wood on one side and “COME IN” on the other with a bird carrying an olive branch, so it was nothing special, but it got the work done. Faith was just hoping that her mother got the idea that she wasn’t interested in talking right now. She knew what school she would be going to, some high school full of morons where no one could speak the Queen’s English for the life of them and already she was sure no one was going to like her, but that didn’t bother her much. Faith never really had friends to start with. Everyone said she was too bossy and too noisy and too much of a smarty-pants, so no one really wanted to talk to her, but Faith kept a stiff upper lip and just dealt with it, even if she did feel the sting of loneliness when she saw all her classmates dancing together during the graduation party in the school gym. Even her teacher had gotten so sick of her constantly correcting his spelling and calling him out for being sexist sometimes, he didn’t even wish her the best for the future when Catherine was taking her home, and Faith had been standing there in a nice green dress that she’d picked out for the dinner just feeling stupid. 
This was when Faith discovered the tears in her eyes and furiously rubbed them away. No two ways about it, she was tired as hell and really frustrated at everything. Her head was getting too noisy and she just wanted some quiet, just a little bit of shut-eye to get her mind back in order. Besides, it had been a long drive and there’s only so much one can take before cabin fever sets in and starts driving you insane. The birds twittered outside her window, and Faith found the birdsong to be far more soothing than silence. Her eyes soon fluttered closed and she dropped into the peaceful nothingness that sleep brought.

Catherine came in some time later and gently shook Faith back into consciousness. 

“Darling? Faith, dear, wake up…”

“What is it?” Faith asked, sounding almost like she was drunk. “Where’s the fire?”

“Just thought I’d come wake you up,” Catherine replied, helping her daughter to sit up a bit. “The sun’s just gone down and I thought I’d come wake you.” 

Faith sighed. “My head was so crowded,” She grumbled. “I really hope I don’t have to see that real-estate agent again.” 

“Don’t you worry, we won’t.” Both mother and daughter both had their similar disgust for the grease-ball and decided to sit on that for a while before Catherine suggested that Faith go and have a bath, to which Faith obliged. As she laid in the tub that came up to her shoulders when she sat in it, she watched the steam coil and twist in the air and she could only pray that tomorrow would be kinder to her. 

†††

Faith was dressed and ready early for school the next day, but dreaded it like the plague. She’d been told it was a good school, but she was sure it was going to be full of bogans with atrocious grammar and she had no desire to befriend any of them if they were just going to waste her time with pointless celebrity gossip or who won the rugby last night. She dreaded how things would be, come the State of Origin. Sport was pointless to her, and it often got her in trouble when she chose to sit on the sidelines and let her classmates run or play volleyball or soccer or whatever menial activity the teacher thought up. She had been suspended once for it, too, and once faced expulsion for not being involved in her classes because apparently “Just because you lost too many brain cells to even comprehend what a book is doesn’t mean I should, too” isn’t a good way to tell your teacher and your principal that you think P.E is stupid in front of your mother who is always cheerful until you open your cynical mouth and ruin everything (Catherine never said it out loud, but Faith knew it was what her mother thought of her).

One bowl of cereal, a glass of juice and a car ride to school later, Faith sat next to her mother through a long and boring assembly that was supposed to somehow make Year Seven look meaningful (when it was really much of the same as primary school until Year Eleven when you can finally drop sport and do something more fun, like have a free period where you can go to the library and have some peace and quiet). At the end of it, Catherine kissed her daughter’s cheek for good luck before holding her by her shoulders at just enough distance to look down into her brown eyes.

“Look, Faith,” She said carefully, licking her lips nervously. “Can you just…please…try to make this work? Be nice, make some friends?” Faith looked over at some of the students, a group of girls who were already chattering away like budgies in a cage and not even a day older than her who were already talking about pointless things like make-up and boys and gossiping. She quirked an eyebrow at them before looking back at Catherine again. “Yes, I know, they’re probably not your type, but please, darling, you need to make this work. No mouthing off to teachers? If you don’t mouth off to a teacher or get in trouble for calling someone names, then I promise I’ll take you somewhere nice.”

Faith gave no answer as her mother hugged her goodbye and she was chaperoned by teachers among a throng of students who tried to say hi to her and ask her questions. One girl, a black-haired Lebanese girl even came away from some of her friends and asked her if she wanted to hang out with them, but Faith bluntly said no. A boy with bad acne came away from his friends to ask her if she’d come and hang out with them and play some footy, but she told him to beat it. There didn’t seem to be a single intellectual among this group. Honestly, people were such idiots. The sooner she could just sit and read alone in the library, the better. 

Science, History, English- they instantly became some of Faith’s favourites despite the number of morons. Art, however, she hated. There was one quiet girl who liked Japanese cartoons who thought she was deep because she wasn’t like the other girls and didn’t listen to One Direction or watch Neighbours and Faith was unfortunately landed with sitting next to her while their art teacher was telling them about the joys of art and something about frames. Faith just pretended that no one in the class existed and ignored everything that was being said, instead just taking out a book she was reading and pretended everyone else didn’t exist for the rest of the class. At lunchtime, however, she did find someone in the library she could at least respect. She’d picked out a few books to read over her Caesar salad and was looking for a place to sit when she spotted a table near the window where an Islamic girl, who looked about a year older than her and very neat with her pristine white hijab and perfectly-manicured nails, sat with her nose in an Edgar Allen Poe book. She looked happy where she was, and being a fellow fan of Poe, Faith chose not to be rude. She cleared her throat a little to get her attention, and the Islamic girl looked up at her. She was very pretty, and her smile was prettier.

“First day?” She asked. 

Faith nodded. “Yeah,” She replied. “It’s a bit too noisy out there for me. Can I sit here?”

The girl cleared away a few of her things so Faith could sit down with her food in the chair opposite. “What’s your name?” She asked again.

“Faith White,” Faith replied, setting down her bag in the chair next to her and setting down her book.

“Faith? That’s a pretty name.” She held out her hand and Faith shook it. “Anum Hatem. Nice to meet you.” 

The two got to talking quietly about their choice in reading material. As it turned out, Anum was actually a year her senior, but they were in the same year group and they were both having a pretty boring first day, too. Anum lived with her grandmother and her two older sisters not far from Faith, as it turned out, and had moved there from the inner western suburbs of Sydney. She seemed hesitant to talk about her parents, though, so Faith didn’t press on that. As it also turned out, the two both liked Florence and the Machine and talked about their favourite songs before they were promptly shushed sharply by the crow-like librarian. Still, Faith felt happier. She’d actually made a friend. 

†††

After school, Anum got picked up by one of her older sisters and said her goodbyes to Faith, who walked to the train station from the school. On her way there, she stopped when she spied a huge gate, held shut by a rusty chain and a newer-looking lock, and through the bars and the thick foliage of the trees she could see a grand, old house that looked like it had been built in the late eighteen-hundreds by the look of the architecture. It looked like a small mansion, and seemed to have two towers sticking up out of it with the larger one having a dome-shaped roof. A chimney stuck out from the roof on another side, though there was no smoke coming from it, and the sunlight glinted off of the stained glass in the windows and the ornate lead framework that held it all in place. All the lights were off and she couldn’t see anyone in the house, and it looked like no one had tended to the garden for a very long time. Faith found herself a little curious; if the garden looked unattended to, and the gate was locked shut, then why didn’t the house look abandoned? There was no way anyone really had the money to keep a house like that, save the billionaires who owned the big businesses back in the city (and even then, they’d sooner have places like these torn down to make way for big box-like houses that only served to show all the little peasants just how rich they were). Faith almost felt bad for the house, and as she walked away, she could only hope that it was being cared for by someone and that it wouldn’t be ruined by vandals throwing rocks or jumping the gate just to tag the building. 

Faith stopped by the corner shop and bought some more milk and a chocolate bar which she munched on during her walk home. Today wasn’t that bad, she mused thoughtfully. Anum’s pretty nice, and she’s not a complete moron, which is a bonus. A smile crossed her lips for a bit. Anum was in the same boat as her, after all- forced to leave her hometown to go to school somewhere else just because her family felt like a change of scenery (though given the media representation of the Islamic community, Faith wouldn’t have been surprised if it was for reasons other than that, but it’s never a good thing to be making assumptions about people) and was unfortunately surrounded by stupid people. Knowing her friend was only about a few houses from her also made it better, too. Maybe she’d actually get to do all those things she’d wanted to do if she ever had a friend- sleepovers, shopping trips, exchanging friendship bracelets- all those things she saw the other girls talking about and doing at her old primary school back in Melbourne. It actually gave her some hope for her future life in this place and made her feel a little better about the move. However, Faith decided not to tell her mother yet. She never liked to admit she was wrong and she wasn’t about to stop now. 

…That is, until she walked in the door and saw her mother chatting with an elderly woman wearing a hijab who she recognised from a photo her new friend had shown her as Anum’s grandmother, Fatima. Anum, still dressed in her uniform and pristine white hijab, sat with her grandmother and Catherine at the kitchen table, drinking green tea. Anum looked happy to see Faith and waved to her. Catherine looked up from her tea and quirked a knowing eyebrow at Faith. 

“You took your time,” She remarked.

Faith held up the plastic bag she’d been carrying. “I stopped to pick up some milk because I knew you’d forget,” She replied a bit haughtily as she set her backpack down and walked over to sit between Anum and her mother.

“I could’ve asked my sister to give you a lift if you wanted it,” Anum told her. 

Faith smiled- actually smiled- and just shrugged. “You just met me today. I didn’t want to be a bother.”

Anum and Fatima stayed for a long time until they were picked up by Anum’s eldest sister and taken home. As soon as they were out the door, Catherine smirked down at her daughter. 

“Anum was telling me how nice you were today.”

Faith fidgeted. “Yeah, so?” She replied, a bit defensively. “I can make friends if I want to.”

Catherine crossed her arms and leaned back a bit. “Looks like not everyone here’s a complete idiot, eh?” 

“They are,” Faith snipped. “Everyone else was being completely stupid. Anum’s different. She’s smart and she’s nice and she said it wasn’t stupid that I read classic literature.”

“Woah there, I didn’t say I had anything against her,” Her mother chuckled. “Anum’s lovely and Fatima’s a wonderful woman and I’m glad you two are starting to be friends. What do you take me for?”

“I never take you for anything,” Faith sighed.

“So?”

“So what?”

“Are you going to tell me I was right?”

Faith scowled. “Not even after I’m worm-food.” 

Catherine just ruffled her daughter’s hair. “Never change, Faith,” She said through a mixture of a chuckle and a sigh as she walked back to the kitchen. “Never ever change.” Whatever that meant, Faith took it as a ‘yeah whatever’ and just went up to her room. Her new history teacher had decided to be downright cruel and gave them homework on their first day and she thought it best to get it out of the way before it became a bother.

2: Act One: The House on Salterly Road, Chapter Two

School the next day wasn't as unbearable as the day before, but it didn't come without its problems. During English while the teacher was off getting their workbooks, some thick-headed boy thought it a good idea to be a moron and tell Anum, "You're in Australia, not Afghanistan. Take off the tea-towel", and tried to pull it off of her. Faith was about to deck him in his stupid face when the teacher came back and berated the class for being so inconsiderate when Faith explained to him what had happened. Anum was pretty quiet for the rest of the lesson up until recess, but she threw her arms around her new friend and burst into tears when they were in the library and away from where she would be seen.

"I'm not doing anything wrong," She squeaked once she'd gotten a hold of herself.

"Of course you're not," Faith replied. "They're the ones who were wrong. People like that are the scum of the earth."

"Is that why you hate them?" Anum asked her. "Did they do something to you?"

Faith just shrugged it off. "I had rumours spread about me that I was secretly a serial killer once," She said casually. "And that I threatened to kill my Mum and make it look like self-defense if she ever told anyone I killed my Dad. Which I didn't, by the way. He was a firefighter and he died before I was born."

"But is that why you seem so callous towards others?" Anum asked again.

"No. People are idiots, that's why I don't like them." Faith smiled a bit at Anum. "But you're okay. You're smart and you're nice to me."

Anum gave a chuckle, which was nice to hear after she'd looked so scared and hurt before. "You say that like you've never had a friend before."

You're actually my first real friend were the words Faith wanted to say, but she just laughed with her. It was a subject for a later time; they had only been friends for only a day and a bit, after all, and as nice as she was, Faith wasn't about to go telling Anum her secrets like that just yet. The rest of the day went on as usual with no further interruptions or people acting up in class, and life went on as normal for the next few weeks. Anum and Faith became closer as friends in that time, and were even starting to plan their first sleepover in the coming holidays, and Faith had kept passing that house, sometimes catching sight of figures moving in the windows and in the garden out the front of the house, but she never saw any faces, and she was beginning to wonder if the local council could send her any history about the house with the owner's permission. She was never the kind to wax poetic, but there was something about that house that spoke of a fairytale Victorian life that could only have existed in the works of Wilde or Conan Doyle, like there was a mystery there that she alone was meant to solve- she allowed herself at least that much in terms of a fantasy. Anything else was just far too strange for her to even begin to think about.

However, after their first sleepover and the second term kicked in, Anum had to go back to Sydney for a little while because of family issues, but promised she'd be back before the end of the school year. She'd even woven a friendship bracelet for Faith and a matching one for herself and gave it to her along with the address of the place she'd be staying at before she left. Faith didn't take off the bracelet unless it was to shower, and wrote letters to Anum that were always replied to, though Faith was sure Anum was making friendships with more interesting people than herself by now. None the less, the bracelet stayed on Faith's wrist, perhaps in some foolish, desperate hope that she'd still have her friend by the time she returned.

Weeks passed and seasons changed, and a school trip to the Katoomba National Park for biology rolled around. Faith had long since managed to shake her partner, some airhead she could have cared less for, and was now wandering around the understory with her eyes pointed up at the evergreen emergent that created a pleasant roof that shaded out the sun in such a way that it dappled the wooden boardwalk with flecks of its light. The clean, crisp air of the rainforest was giving her lungs a new sort of freedom that could not possibly be found anywhere in Melbourne- no tobacco smoke or exhaust from cars and trucks and motorbikes or that funny smell you usually find at train stations. Though she'd never say it out loud, the lucid 'high' she felt from such clean air was almost too good to be true. Still, her thoughts were on that old house. What if the gardens were like the rainforest, with clean air all around and colourful little butterflies and birdsong echoing from the canopy? What would live in those gardens? What manner of flora or fauna grew and flourished behind those walls? Did the person or people who lived there have garden parties there? Faith quickly shook these thoughts from her mind. Where was she getting off, she scolded herself, thinking all these impossible things. It was time to put them to rest- she was going to go inside the gates.

As she was walking home from school that day, she came to the house once more. There it stood, stoic and stalwart and still- but this time, the gate was just slightly ajar. Faith steeled herself. She was no dreamer, no silly child with her head in the clouds. A quick look, then home again. There was probably no one home and the door would be locked anyway, and she'd close the gate for the occupants who had apparently neglected to do so. And so with shaking hands, Faith White pushed open the gate. A shudder ran up her spine as the gate creaked and moaned as the rusted hinges began to turn and came to a stop only when Faith had made space for herself to fit through. The front courtyard was overrun with foliage that clogged up the path and ivy hung in a curtain around a statue of the Virgin Mary near a concrete table that might as well have been an altar (though Faith was sure it had once been used for something else), and a rose-like flower grew wild along the path, tangling with other flowers and plants. When Faith saw the door, she noticed that it was wide open, and curiosity kept its remorseless grip on the reigns as she stepped through, her fingertips tracing along a panel that decorated it.

The halls were lined with paintings and antique weapons from axe to Zweihander, and as she passed by what she guessed was the drawing room, her fingertips disturbed the dust on a large globe as she dragged them gently along the surface of it while her eyes traced the glass pipes that glowed a soft, mystifying neon blue with whatever it was that flowed inside them. Eventually, she had somehow made her way out to the gardens by way of a double-door with windows in all of them that let in the sunlight, and Faith could see the huge trees and the plants outside. She quietly turned the handle on the door and stepped outside, marvelling at how well this garden was kept as she walked through a colonnade of arched trellises where climbing flowers of all kinds grew- some of these blossoms, she couldn't begin to guess the name of or if they were native or not. The colonnade led out to another courtyard, this one surrounded by fruit trees, from which grew apples and oranges, and the blossoms filled the air with the sweetest scent that reminded Faith of the coming summer and perhaps a song once sung long ago that had long since faded from memory but was starting to sound familiar again.

But the further Faith wandered into the garden, the more she was starting to be overcome with a feeling that she should turn back. This was still trespassing, open gate and door and curiosity or no, and she was more than likely going to get in a lot of trouble with the owner of the house or with the police or worse, both. She didn't need to be remembered as that one girl who broke into someone's house if her classmates ever heard anything of it, knowing how completely stupid they could be. A stone dropped in her gut at the thought of it- "Did yez guys hear? That new girl broke into someone's house!"- and she could feel the scowl that was forming on her face from the thought of them all spreading rumours. However, it was then that she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a man, a very tall man, shadowed in such a way that she couldn't see him all that well, standing some several metres away, adjusting his weight and shifting it from one foot to the other. Faith wanted to say something, but when she caught sight of the rifle in his hands. She gasped and took a step backwards, but then there was a very loud snap and the man whirled round to face her as Faith took off, back through the garden with the man on her heels and shouting after her. Back through the courtyard and back through the house until she finally just cleared the gate with a little less than a few scratches from the branches and pulled it shut behind her, and she didn't stop running until she finally got home and was safely in her room with the door shut and barricaded with her desk chair and her bedclothes pulled over her head. She would definitely not be going there again.

Sunday rolled around and it was back to boring silence again. Faith had just been out with her Mum grocery shopping and had promptly dragged herself upstairs to do homework that she promised herself she'd do yesterday (even though the work was completely unnecessary since she was the only one who took notes during the excursion). Soon, just a few short questions and a graph turned into 'I might as well finish my math homework because why not', and before long, she had wasted perhaps most of the morning and early afternoon on it. She could almost hear her mother's voice in the back of her head…

"Faith? Come downstairs, there's someone I want you to meet!"

Okay, she was probably counting on "You need to make some friends", but this was new. Faith got up out of her chair and walked downstairs and out to the living room…

…and her stomach bottomed out.

That same tall man was sitting in the chair across from her mother, the two of them sipping oolong tea, and Faith's mind started to race. What if he'd brought the rifle he'd been carrying, she thought. What if she was getting in trouble for trespassing? What if he'd threatened her mother somehow?

Catherine smiled at her daughter. "Oh, there you are, darling. I'd like to introduce you to someone." She gestured to the man in the chair, dressed in what seemed like the sort of clothes you'd see on your stereotypical "safari adventure" character, but they seemed to fit this man. He had a pair of well-loved brass goggles atop his head and was dressed mainly in khaki. His hair was white, along with his beard and he looked old enough to be her grandfather. He gave her a nod as she crossed over to stand beside her mother and watched her with wise, clever silvery eyes when Faith's brown orbs began surveying him carefully as her mother's hand took hers with a smile which was soon turned to their visitor. "Faith doesn't say much, Professor. She's no good with strangers." Faith fought so very hard not to roll her eyes. She hated it when her mother said that; she didn't mind people, just not all the time.

The 'Professor' just chuckled heartily. "Not a problem with that. Much like the tiger, eh?"

"Actually," Faith stuttered, quietly cursing herself for it. "My favourite animals are elephants."

The 'Professor' roared with laughter. "Ah! Yes! Elephants! Wonderful creatures! I've come across a few in my time!"

"Have you shot any?"

"Faith!" Catherine pinched her daughter's arm. "I'm so sorry about that, Professor…"

But their guest just laughed. "No, no, Catherine," He replied, holding up a calloused hand. "She has every right to ask." Then, with a jolly smile, he added, "No, young lady. I haven't killed elephants before. I worked with preserving the numbers of the creatures of Africa, great and small in my day."

Catherine cleared her throat awkwardly. "Perhaps we should get to introductions. Faith, this man is my mother's great uncle." Then, to answer her daughter's questioning glance, "She had me young, dear. Go on, you two. Make nice."

As if on cue, the 'Professor' stood with a proud look on his face. "With pleasure, Catherine!" He puffed out his chest like some sort of bird. "Professor Cuthbert Q. Berkley; Archaeologist, inventor and adventurer extraordinaire." He stuck out his hand. "At your service."

Faith hesitated before putting her hand in his and shaking it firmly. "Faith White. Nice to meet you."

"And how old are you, Faith?" He asked.

"I'll be thirteen soon, sir."

"Oh, there's no need for formalities, child!" Berkley clapped a hand on her back. "Now, tell me, Faith. How is school for you?"

Faith could see her mother's pleading look. Don't say anything callous. Don't be you. "Good," She told Berkley. "If you count the fact that I'm the only person who speaks the Queen's English in my entire year. Also, everyone else wouldn't know what an Archimedes' Screw is to save their lives." Catherine paled, but Berkley just laughed again and started asking more questions until Catherine excused herself to go and pick up a few things from the shops and left Berkley and Faith alone. The two sat and watched each other over their teacups. "If this is about what happened last week," Faith began. "I'm sorry. Curiosity killed the cat, I know, and I won't trespass again. Just please don't tell Mum, she's got enough on her plate as it is-"

Berkley held up a hand. "Curiosity may have killed the cat, Miss White, but satisfaction brought it back."

"Never heard that part before."

"That's because the saying was cut short to stop you young folk from finding out what's out there!" Berkley was still smiling. "Yes, trespassing on my property was wrong, but were you satisfied in knowing what was beyond my gates?" Faith nodded quickly. "There you are."

"Mister Berkley-"

"Just 'Professor' will do, my dear."

"Professor, then. You're not my real uncle, are you? You're just a stranger." Faith set down her cup. "Grandma passed away years ago. I never got to meet her, and as far as I know, Mum never mentioned any uncles or great uncles, especially not one that was an 'adventurer'." She made air quotes with her fingers. "Given the titles you gave yourself, Grandma probably wouldn't have been able to shut up if her 'Uncle Cuthbert' was so impressive."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Oh, gee- why don't you figure it out if you're so 'extraordinary'?"

There was some silence before Berkley replied again. "Adjusting to new places isn't easy, isn't it?" He said nostalgically. "We leave behind everything we know and wind up in a place we only try to understand." He looked over at Faith, who had pursed her lips in thought. "I know how it feels, Faith. I see a kindred spirit in you. No, no, not like that, dear; it's more in the sense that we're in the same predicament. Nothing makes sense to us here."

"What are you talking about?"

Berkley just gave a knowing smirk and checked his pocket watch. "Why don't you come by my house tomorrow, say about…half-past three at noon?" Faith nodded. It's not like she could resist anyway.

3: Act One: The House on Salterly Road, Chapter Three

After school, Faith came around at exactly three-thirty in the afternoon and was sure not to be late to find the gate unlocked and ajar, just as she'd left it when she'd bolted out of there like a greyhound after a rabbit the week before. The garden was exactly the same as she'd seen it the first time, still overgrown with flowers and foliage, ivy still hanging in curtains, the statue still there- everything as she left it. Faith supposed that this was because Berkley either forgot she was coming, or just didn't have guests around all that much in the first place and felt no real need to do anything about the garden. Besides, she'd already seen the gardens beyond the imposing structure of the house- surely the immaculately kept fruit trees and flowers were enough to win over any guest Berkley entertained, if he ever did at all. The door was, again, wide open like a dark, gaping maw, but the faint glow of the glass pipes lining the walls inside was enough to remind her that she had nothing to be afraid of. Besides, with a man who had the A to Z of weapons lining the entrance hall of his house, knowing she could pull a dagger off the wall if things got ugly made her feel much safer than she did when she first wandered in here.

She walked into the drawing room to find Berkley standing by the fire with a cherry-wood pipe in his hand, the fire at his feet glowing some sort of ethereal bluish-green, and it seemed like he was communicating with it, but with the next step she took, it was back to a cheery orange-red and Berkley greeted her with that same smile as he gave a hearty chuckle. "Ah, Faith!" He greeted. "So glad you could come." Then, he clapped her on the back and sat her down in one of the rather plush looking antique armchairs. "You're just in time. The boys have been dying to meet you!"

"The boys?" Faith parroted warily.

"Indeed! Come in, you three!" Then, three robots, eerily human in appearance, entered the room. One was tall, handsome-looking and made of a silvery metal, the second, a bronze robot who was not as tall, but still gangly, almost like a jack-in-the-box, and the third a portly fellow who seemed to be crafted from copper, though Faith could tell at a glance it was iron. All of them looked pleased indeed to see Faith, just as Berkley had said. "Go on, boys," He prompted, gesturing to them with the stem of his pipe. "Introduce yourselves."

"Of c-c-course, Professeh!" Said the bronze robot, and Faith would have smiled had she not been mystified as to how they were even talking like actual people, let alone how this one seemed to have a Bostonian accent. "M-my name's Springer!" He said enthusiastically, taking Faith's hand and shaking it so feverently, she was sure that her arm would fall off. "It's a pleasure t' be havin' ya! W-we haven't had a visitah in almost twenty years!" Okay, if her arm didn't fall off, then Faith was sure that, with how wide her eyes went, that they were going to fall out of their sockets.

"Never one for subtlety, are you, Springer?" The silver one quoted matter-of-factly as he approached with a gentlemanly bow. "Sprocket. At your service, ma'am." Sprocket had a southern drawl that was undeniably charming, and he even took her hand as if he were going to press a kiss to it with those black silicone lips of his, or at least that's what faith thought they were made of.

"Ooh! Ooh! Me next!" The portly robot hurried over and did a rather dramatic bow that nearly ended with him landing face-first on the beautiful persian carpet. "I'm Smokestack," He said, sounding almost like a child as he took Faith's hand from Sprocket and shook it just as hard as Springer had. "Or Smokey for short."

"Uh…it's…nice to meet you all," Faith said sheepishly. "I didn't know that Uncle Cuthbert had robot house-servants."

"The correct term is "automaton", sweetie," Springer corrected her.

"And we're not servants, either," Added Sprocket. "We work here of our own accord."

"Out of gratitude to the Professor!" Finished Smokey.

"Gratitude for what?" Faith asked them, looking to Berkley, who kept smiling.

"I think we'll take that discussion out to the garden," He said, shifting his weight a bit from one foot to the other. "Sprocket? Prepare an adequate lunch for my dear niece."

"Right away, Professor." Sprocket gave a curt bow, then walked off, telling Springer and Smokey politely to get back to work as he did. The other two automatons then walked off, Smokestack giving a cheerful wave as he plodded off to continue whatever work he'd been doing before Faith showed up.

†††

Out in the garden, the scent from the fruit blossoms nicely complemented the aroma of the earl grey tea and Faith was happy to munch on an apple in between sips of her tea. Berkley smoked his pipe, deep in thought as he puffed out slow steady streams of bluish smoke.

"I suppose I should explain myself," He said eventually.

"Oh, you think?" Faith returned haughtily.

"I'm not from this time period, you see," Berkley explained solemnly. "So you can understand why I told you that I can understand your position."

"Pull the other one," Faith said boredly, taking a bite of her apple.

Berkley just sighed. "I'm telling you the truth. I have never lived in the colonies and I have no desire to, but this time and place is what protects us from those who would otherwise do us harm."

"This coming from the man who has the complete unabridged dictionary of weaponry on his wall."

"If only they were of use to me." Berkley leaned in a little. "This enemy cannot simply be stopped with such simple things as an axe or a sword."

"Or that rifle of yours?"

Berkley had to chuckle. "It's a net-gun; Charlie didn't want to have his bath, so I had to go looking for him."

Faith's brow creased. "Who's Charlie?"

"A triceratops."

"Get out."

"It's true. I'll show you later, though. I have better things to speak to you about."

"Well, start at the beginning. And when you get to the end, stop." Faith set down her apple and crossed her arms like an abrasive parent who was allowing their child a chance to explain themselves.

Berkley took a sip of his tea, then began his tale.

"As you can probably tell, I did not build Springer, Sprocket and Smokestack. They are the creations of a man known as Jebidiah Radcliffe, and, nineteen years ago, the two of us belonged to an organisation known at the Order of Æther, a society of the greatest thinkers, inventors, scientists, sorcerers and even pirates and thieves that the nineteenth century had to offer. It was up to us to monitor the safe advancement of technologies, and to guard a substance known as Æther, the lifeblood of this planet- yes, the glowing substance in those pipes inside.

"Jebidiah was not my only comrade, though. My greatest ally and friend was a man named Ichabod Hollow, one of the greatest minds of the British Empire, and it is he who becomes our protagonist in this tale. Hollow was experimenting with Æther, and it was through this experimentation that he invented a deviant of Æther, Equinox. It was twice as powerful as Æther and provided new opportunities in many different fields. However, the residual energy was found to have severe narcotic effects, and the mice we used in the experiments went insane and started attacking each other. Fearing that this madness would upset the natural balance, the Order exiled Hollow from our society. We never heard from him again.

"Years later, it became apparent that Hollow had continued his research, but the Equinox had corrupted him as a price for his achievements. He created frightening war machines and turned them against the order, hunting its members down one by one. I am one of the few who have survived."

"So you travelled through time to find somewhere safe?" Faith asked.

Berkley nodded gravely. "This time period is far from where Hollow can find me. I fear for the others who may have survived, but I'm sure they have managed to hide themselves well."

"And I'm guessing that Springer, Sprocket and Smokey are here because Radcliffe's gone?"

"Jebidiah was one of the first to die, so I took his automatons with me by his request." The cheerfulness just seemed to have disappeared completely from Berkley's face. It didn't seem natural.

"And what happens if Hollow finds you?"

"Then I'll be dead and no one will be here to take care of the house, or the boys, or Charlie."

"Is that why you said you were my uncle?"

"I am your uncle, but that was not the reason, dear girl." Berkley emptied the bowl of his pipe and packed it with fresh tobacco. "Since we are both somewhere unfamiliar, I merely wanted to offer friendship. You have been past my house many times and I could tell you were only curious. We are family, my dear. I only want to help."

A little later, Berkley took Faith into the gardens where she had been last time, and whistled and called for Charlie. Faith just sort of stood there and shifted her weight uncomfortably. Weren't Triceratopses supposed to be as big as buses? However, instead of the earth-shaking sound of huge footsteps that she expected, Faith was soon presented with a scurrying sound, and a triceratops nosed his way out of the bushes, but this one was the size of a dog, not a bus. Berkley let him prop himself up against his leg and began petting the Triceratops, much to Faith's surprise. The triceratops was even panting and wagging his tail like a dog!

"So that's Charlie?" She asked.

Berkley just smiled at her as Charlie ran over to study this new person in his garden before he jumped up and licked her face. Eugh. "Would you look at that, he likes you," Chuckled Berkley, but Faith just glared at him and tried to get Charlie to get off of her, but the Triceratops refused to budge when she hadn't even given him pats yet. Eventually, he answered to a very strong and a very loud "OFF" from Faith and sat back on his haunches, making a noise akin to a very canid-like whine of apology. "Rather strong, don't you think?"

Faith started brushing off her uniform. "He's a puppy. You have to be strict with them or they'll never learn."

Berkley just shrugged. "Fair enough, I should think."

"Where'd you get him anyway?" Faith asked.

"That's...well…" Berkley cleared his throat. "Unfortunately Hollow brought more than just war machines into the world. It was rumoured that he was trying to bring the dinosaurs back from extinction. Charlie was brought to me as an egg, and I've taken care of him ever since." Faith gave him a 'pull the other one' look. "I'm telling you the truth."

"Yeah, you can say that so easily, but how do you bring back dinosaurs? Time travel?"

"That was the general gist of it based on our intelligence."

"Right, yeah. And there's such a thing as the Loch Ness Monster."

"There is."

Faith just rolled her eyes. "Okay, analogy wasted, but you get what I'm saying, right? There is no such thing as time machines."

Berkley laughed. "Time machine is such a loose term. Now, the word you would be looking for is 'Ætherial Door'. We used those to travel to different periods in history and to different places in the world, which is how we travelled often. The order did not just exist in the nineteenth-century, you know."

Faith nodded slowly. "Right…so that's how you got here. And that…Æther stuff you were talking about is what powers it…?"

"Right you are," Berkley replied. "It's a renewable power source, depending on what you use it for."

"And Hollow used it for the wrong reasons."

"Right again." Berkley gestured for Faith to follow, and she did so willingly with Charlie trailing at their heels. "Æther was never meant to be tempered with. That was a law that was set down by the founding members of the Order that it should never be experimented on or used for a reason that it should not be used. It's very potent stuff."

Faith's brow furrowed for a moment. "But if Hollow was able to make it like, twice as powerful, I don't think it would matter if you got radiated."

"It was considered at one point or another. But again, Æther is powerful enough on its own."

"How powerful exactly?"

"You recall the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?"

Faith shrugged. "I know about it. We probably won't cover it 'til Year 9."

"Then imagine if you will bombs similar to those that were dropped, but it was only one, and within that shell was the force of every kind of bomb on the planet." Berkley analogised. "Æther begins at the burning cores of the many planets and stars. Should all those planets and stars explode, reality itself could be undone."

Faith gulped audibly. "Okay, so you guys were playing around with something that's about as powerful as a black hole. Awesome."

"I am sure it will pose no threat to you, dear niece-"

"Let's get one thing straight here." Faith stopped and narrowed her eyes up at Berkley. "We can be friends, but I am not your niece. You're making this whole uncle thing up to convince my mother that you're to be trusted and no matter how much you try to convince me, I will not believe you until I have cold, hard evidence proving otherwise. Unless of course, my Grandmother never spoke of you to Mum because you were the "Black Sheep" of the family."

Berkley raised his hands in defense. "It is a delicate subject, I will admit. But in time, Faith, perhaps I will tell you."

"Good. I can give you time to make up a good story, but be warned- I'm a very good critic."

"P-P-P-PROFESSEH!" The two turned to see Springer running towards them. The poor Automaton looked like he'd had all the bolts and screws scared out of him. "Professeh, come quick!"

"Out with it, man!" Berkley told him sternly. "Whatever is the matter with you?!"

"Th-th-the Æthersphere!" Springer told him frantically. "It's goin' c-c-crazy!"

"Has Sprocket checked the angle of the radials? Are the Balancers in check?!"

"E-e-everythin's fine, we checked!"

Berkley's hands balled themselves into fists. "Let us pray this is merely a false alarm."

"What is?" Faith asked.

Berkley gestured for both girl and Automaton to follow. "There's a good chance that Hollow may have found us," He called over his shoulder as they all ran back through the gardens. "Let us hope I am wrong."

4: Act One: The House on Salterly Road, Chapter Four

The trio raced through the house and into the basement to find Sprocket and Smokestack anxiously checking the control panel and the various meters of all kinds that lined the walls. The entire room was completely bathed in blue light from the glowing wires connected to a huge sphere in the middle of the room that was roughly the size of a smart-car and there was a shrill, piercing sound in the air that was physically making Berkley look anxious as he looked at it.

“This isn’t good.”

“What is?!” Faith snapped at him. “What the hell is going on?!”

“The Æthersphere is reacting to a time distortion,” Berkley explained quickly. “Hollow’s on the move again.”

“To where, exactly?!”

Berkley strode past her and walked over to a huge machine that looked like a gigantic telescope lens that was hooked up to the Æthersphere, the lens decorated with a swirling blue pattern that seemed to be alive and moving around like the distorted images of a kaleidoscope mixed with the almost hypnotic dance of an amoeba under a microscope, and in this ever-changing dance of swirling smoke behind the glass, images were beginning to form, though there was really no sense to be made of the swirling shapes, at least from Faith’s perspective. “Hollow still has access to the Ætherial doors,” Berkley explained. “At least the ones he’s corrupted with Equinox.”

“He’s not coming here, is he?!”

Berkley sighed. “No, no…we’ve been lucky this time.”

Eventually things calmed down and Berkley told Faith to go home. Though she wasn’t too sure as to whether or not that was a good idea at the time, Faith could tell the man was a bit tired and needed to be alone, so she left. Still, the incident left Faith rather perplexed, to say the least. This Ichabod Hollow obviously had a plan and he’d more than likely come a bit too close to crossing through that weird, swirling glass. Whatever other surviving member of the Order that had the misfortune of being visited, however, was more than likely dead. It would make sense for Hollow to hunt down the rest of them to exact revenge, but to what purpose? Surely there was some method to the man’s madness, so to speak. Vengeance wouldn’t just be enough- there had to be something else behind that, some ulterior motive, though what exactly escaped Faith’s reach long before she could think of it.

Dinner came along and stir-fry was served. Faith hated stir-fry, but she stayed quiet and served herself, making sure the bits of chicken didn’t touch the rice. She wasn’t that hungry, anyway, and didn’t really make a dent in her food for a good while or speak a whole lot either, other than to say thanks for dinner to her mother before going up to bed. Even as she tried to sleep, the shrill sound she’d heard in Berkley’s basement echoed in her head and made her anxious as she tossed and turned in bed and tried to block it out. None of this had anything to do with her, so why, she asked herself, was she getting worried about this ‘Hollow’ character Berkley had mentioned? Even if he came to this time through the Ætherial door, it was Berkley and the ‘bots he wanted, not her! And, more importantly, why was she worrying about Berkley? Yes, she was interested in forging a friendship with him, but other than that, he was a complete stranger. It was Anum and her Mum that Faith thought it better to worry about; she actually knew and trusted them and they were people that she felt were worth worrying about. What if there were more people in Sydney that would try to pull off Anum’s hijab? What if Mum’s coworkers were bullying her? Those were the questions she should have been asking, but instead, she was asking herself if Berkley and the ‘bots and Charlie, bless his prehistoric heart, were still okay. With a defeated sigh, Faith decided that she might as well make sure that Hollow hadn’t found them. After all, the possibility of a madman from a hundred years ago who could command brainwashed dinosaurs ripping up the present if Berkley and his unabridged encyclopaedia of weapons couldn’t hold him at bay was not one she wanted to think about.

Faith went the very next day to Berkley’s, pushing open the gate that was still missing its lock and chain like it had been the day before and knocked on the door that was still attached to the doorframe and a thankfully intact house. No answer came, so she tried the doorbell, pulling down on the handle that Faith supposed was attached to a normal doorbell that would ring prettily and summon someone to answer it, but she was instead met with a great BONG, as if she were standing next to a huge bell in a cathedral bell tower. The sound was dizzying, and Faith stumbled backwards until she tripped down the steps to the door and landed on her backside, holding her spinning head.

Faith could hear Springer laughing from the door, steam puffing out into the air in erratic patterns. “Have a nice trip?” He cackled.

Faith felt her face turn red and she grabbed a stone from nearby and threw it at the automaton’s head, satisfied with the clanging noise it made when it connected with the copper plating. “Good to see you’re still alive,” She huffed as she pulled herself up and dusted herself off. “Is the Professor home? I’d like to have a word with him.”

“S-sure thing,” Springer replied grudgingly. “Y-y-ya know, ya could learn to t-take a joke every once in a while.”

 “I’m not fond of jokes.” Faith walked past him and into the house, thankful to find it still intact, but there was something missing off the wall where all the weapons were kept. “Did you have a break in last night?”

“We did,” Came another voice, and Sprocket came into the hallway looking a bit banged up. “We weren’t as lucky as we’d hoped.”

“Hollow?”

Sprocket shook his head. “No, ma’am,” He replied. “One of his agents came in the middle of the night to try and steal something from the Professor’s drawing room.”

Faith looked over at the drawing room, and it was a right good mess- shattered glass and scattered books and the globe had been knocked over. “What was he after, then?” She asked.

“I have a few ideas,” Came Berkley’s voice as he walked into the hallway. “But whatever it was, he didn’t find it here.”

“Tin-horned coward got away before we could get any answers out of him, too,” Grudged Sprocket.

“But I thought you said Hollow hadn’t found you!” Faith exclaimed. It was then that the ground started to shake, and all those present stood still, save for Faith, who stumbled back into Sprocket’s arms. The automaton helped her stand again once the shaking had passed, and Berkley balled his fists and set his jaw.

“Damn him!” He growled. “Faith, come with me. Sprocket, Springer; find Smokestack and fortify the house and don’t let anyone in except for Charlie!” He started to storm off, and Faith followed after him while the two automatons raced off to carry out their orders.

“What was that quake?” She asked. “This country’s nowhere near a fault line, there’s no way we should be having an earthquake!”

“That was no earthquake,” Berkley told her as they ascended the stairs. “That was a sign of a time distortion!”

“Wouldn’t the Æthersphere be going crazy if that happened?!”

“The Æthersphere in my possession only alerts me to Hollow’s movements through time. However, I can hear the Æther’s shriek whenever time is distorted or damaged!” As soon as they were at the top of the stairs, Berkley had pointed a large telescope at the nearby Jamieson Valley. “This is bad.”

“What’s bad?” Faith asked frantically. “Move over, would you?!”

Berkley stepped aside and let Faith see for herself what the problem was. “Hollow must have found another member of the Order who was hiding here without my knowledge, he’s started opening up Equinox Wormholes in the valley!”

Faith could see it- that same swirling pattern that looked like a kaleidoscope crossed with the wriggling dance of an amoeba, but there was no colour to it, just huge, swirling black clouds with lightning coursing through them over the canopy of the rainforest and spires of swirling black had plunged through the leaves and into the forest below. “Professor…? What’s happening?”

“He’s found us.”

Faith backed away from the telescope. “I have to get home, I have to warn Mum!”

Berkley caught her arm. “Don’t be a fool, girl!”

“But Mum works in the next town over,” Cried Faith. “From downstairs it looks like a thunderstorm, there won’t be enough time to evacuate! I have to warn Mum, now let me go!”

“Pull yourself together!” Berkley snapped at her. “You’ll be putting yourself and your mother in danger!”

“You’re putting everyone else in danger just because you want to run away!” Faith snapped at him, trying to wrench her arm away from him. “I knew I couldn’t trust you!”

“Would you just listen to me?!” Berkley had to grab hold of Faith’s other arm. “If you step outside those doors, you’ll be radiated by the Equinox that’s hanging around in the air. Listen, girl, listen--!” Faith listened, and there were air-raid sirens going off in town. Someone must have noticed a Geiger counter going off, thank goodness. “Faith, I know I may sound mad to you, but when I say you must trust me, then you must trust me!”

“Why should I?!”

“I’m your best chance if you want to live.”

Faith’s frantic mind managed to calm down just enough for her to start being able to think straight again, but it didn’t change the fact that she still didn’t trust Berkley. This was his fault, and she wasn’t about to change her mind about it, but there was the equivalent of a nuclear bomb going off in the Jamieson Valley and now really wasn’t the time to argue if the guy knew what he was doing. What use is anyone to anyone if they’re dead, after all. So, hesitant and still unsure if she was doing the right thing, Faith made her decision.

“If I go with you, are we going to find a way to stop Hollow and fix this?”

“We can try.”

“Trying isn’t good enough!”

“It’s as best as you’re going to get if it’s Hollow we’re talking about.”

That, Faith decided, would have to be enough. She stuck out her hand to Berkley. “Shake on it.”

Berkley took her hand and shook it firmly. “Good. Now, there’s no time to waste. We have to get moving!” He took off down the stairs with Faith at his heels and hurried into the drawing room, where he took a rifle and a pair of revolvers off the wall, then passed another to Faith, who didn’t even question why he was giving her a weapon (like it was even the time to be asking!). The two then hurried down into the basement, where the robots were hovering over the machinery. “Springer, Sprocket, Smokestack,” Berkley barked to them. “Make ready the Ætherial door- we’re getting out of here!”

“Professor, we don’t know if it’s safe--!” Springer began to object, but Faith cut him off.

“Just do as he says, you stuttering rustbucket!” She snapped at him. “We’re in a hurry! The valley’s filling with radiation and you’re worried if the exit isn’t safe?!” She had no idea why she was being this forceful, but she didn’t want to know what would happen if they stayed. The robots began preparing the machinery with Sprocket shouting the orders to the others. Soon, the giant glass began to glow and the blue substance behind it began to dance faster.

“We’ve set the co-ordinates for the nearest active door that can receive us,” Sprocket reported.

Berkley nodded, then led Faith over to the Ætherial door with the ‘bots behind them. “Everyone ready to jump?”

“Wait, jump?!”

But Faith’s remark fell on deaf ears as she was dragged through the door with the others.

†††

Faith had thought she’d feel like taffy on a puller, or socks in the washing machine going through that door, but she blacked out the second her head was through the glass, and she woke to muffled voices and a ringing in her ears, and an unnatural buzzing in her bones. How long had she been out? Where were they? Was there even a ‘they’ to be asking about? The most she knew was that she was absurdly dizzy and lying on a couch.

“What happened…?”

“Well brand my hide an’ call me Daisy, sugar!” Came a voice as a figure leaned over her, a woman with red lips turned up in a smile and long, wavy hair the colour of black coffee hanging over her shoulder in a long plat. “I was just about to get to reckonin’ you weren’t comin’ round!”

5: Act One: The House on Salterly Road, Chapter Five

Faith sat up slowly when her visitor decided to move back, rubbing her face once she was somewhat vertical to clear the last of the dizziness from her mind. Her visitor was a chatty one, unfortunately, and wouldn’t shut up about whatever it was she was yammering on about in that drawl of hers that was harder to understand than Sprocket’s.

“Imagine my surprise when y’all came a-crashin’ through my Ætherial door! T’ain’t seen Berkley in three years, but I ain’t never met you before, stranger. We ain’t had no strangers in Redpipe Township for a good long while now; well, not the bad kind. Them’s what I call trespassers- they’s usually the bad guys.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t return the sentiment,” Faith groaned. “Where did you say this was?”

“Ya must have sand in them ears ‘a yers!” Laughed the newcomer. “Welcome to America, sugar; this here’s Redpipe Township!”

That certainly shocked Faith into wakefulness. “What the hell am I doing America?!” She blurted out.

“Well, it’s like I said,” Said the visitor, still smiling that red-lipped smile as she watched Faith’s face curiously. “Y’all came through my Ætherial door.”

“Wait…right,” Faith sighed. “Sprocket said we’d wind up through the first door that could receive us…”

“And ya can’t find many ‘a those nowadays, sugar.”

“Please don’t call me ‘sugar’.”

The visitor chuckled. “Well, t’ain’t no help that I don’t know yer name.”

“You haven’t introduced yourself either,” Faith remarked. “So much for ‘southern hospitality’.”

“Well, if yer insistin’.” The visitor tucked her thumb behind a gold Sheriff’s badge that Faith had just noticed on her vest to make it stand out a bit in the light. “Name’s Petra Ironside, I’m the Sheriff ‘round these parts.” Petra stuck out her hand with the same smile on her face. “At yer service, ma’am.”

“Faith White.” Faith took Petra’s hand to shake, but she almost wound up with a broken hand when the older woman’s hand wrapped around hers like a vice and shook it violently.

“Pleasure to be meetin’ ya, Miss White!” Chirped the Sheriff. “An’ lemme say that I am pleased as punch to be welcomin’ ya. Lookit you an’ them fancy duds- you future folk sure dress awful strange!”

“I’d say that same thing if it were my time that you’d landed in,” Faith replied quickly. “And it’s just ‘Faith’.”

“If ya say so!” Petra let go of Faith’s hand and didn’t even seem to notice the younger of the two women quickly tucking it under her arm and nursing it. “I managed to go rummage up some old clothes ‘a mine that should fit ya,” She told her, pointing over to a table nearby where there was a small stack of folded clothes sitting on it. “Then again, y’all are much smaller than I am. Good thing my Mamma told me how to sew, or else we’d all be in trouble!”

“You didn’t have to,” Said Faith, still nursing her hand.

“T’ain’t nothin’,” Petra replied with a shrug. “But I figured that, since you’re wearin’ them fancy future clothes, you’d stick out like a sore thumb ‘round these parts. Thought ya might like to blend in.”

“What about my friends?” Faith asked. “There were four others with me; three automatons and a man named Berkley.”

“Berkley and the ‘bots?” Petra jerked a thumb in the direction of a nearby door. “They’re downstairs. I just came up to check on ya.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, I’d best be leavin’ ya to it.” Petra walked over to the door, the spurs of her boots jangling with each footstep. “Don’t take too long, sugar! We’re waitin’ on ya. Best be getting’ a move on if we’re to rope in the rest ‘a the gang.”

With that, the Sheriff left her, and Faith got up to inspect the clothes this new ally had kindly donated. There were two short-sleeved blouses, one slightly bluish and the other white, along with a pair of slacks, a pair of leather chaps, a belt, and a pair of boots that looked a size too big. Making a selection of the white blouse along with the slacks, chaps, belt and boots (that actually wound up fitting her), Faith started to get changed. As she did, her fingers brushed over the friendship bracelet Anum had made for her and she had to pause for a moment to run her thumb against the brightly-coloured beads. She hadn’t even thought twice about making calls to see if anyone was okay. What if the storms weren’t just happening in the valley? What if it was spreading towards Sydney? What if Anum and her family was caught up in it? She had just run away and hadn’t even thought about her best friend before she jumped through that portal. Needless to say, Faith felt like a complete idiot. Hopefully, she told herself, Berkley would keep his word and they were going to try to fix this. There had to be a way.

She came downstairs to find Berkley in the sitting room making hushed conversation with Petra, their voices kept low but serious with phrases like ‘shouldn’t be possible’ and ‘why didn’t we know before’ being mentioned. Faith just supposed they were talking about Hollow and paid it no mind for the time being. The ‘bots were nowhere in sight, though, which was a bit of a worry; maybe they had been damaged when they all went through the Ætherial door? Hopefully it wasn’t anything too serious.

Petra and Berkley’s conversation quickly ended the second that Berkley noticed Faith standing in the doorway. “Ah, Faith!” He gave her a smile. “Very sorry about the rough landing.”

“It’s alright,” Faith replied, shrugging. “We were kind of in a hurry. Where are the ‘bots?”

“They’re in my workshop downstairs,” Petra explained. “Oh, and y’all had a little stowaway when you came a-crashin’ in.”

“Stowaway?” Parroted Faith, but no sooner had she said those words, she was nearly bowled over by five tonnes of the Cretaceous Era she would have soon missed when Charlie came bounding into the room and skidded to a halt at Faith’s feet, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his tail wagging happily. Faith never thought she’d be happy to see the triceratops, but considering what had just had happened, knowing that everyone had made it through in one piece was a comfort.

“He must have noticed something was happening and tried to find us,” Berkley chuckled.

“Probably,” Sighed Faith as she gently petted the sauropod’s tri-horned head. Charlie just leaned his head against her leg affectionately in return for the attention he was receiving, completely oblivious to what was happening. “Who knows what would have happened if Hollow got his hands on him?”

“Hollow?” Coming from Petra, it sounded like she was spitting out something what tasted awful. The Sherriff’s fists were clenched dangerously, the leather of her gloves squeaking a bit. “That two-faced sunnuva…!”

“Yeah, he’s already attacked my own time,” Faith told her. “I went with Berkley to get out of there.”

Petra gave a long sigh through her nose and slowly unclenched her fists. “Apologies, hun, had to air the lungs a little. Hollow ain’t never meant good news ‘round these parts.” She shot a look at Berkley. “So ya dragged this poor young thing into our war, didn’t ‘cha?” Her tone was accusing and cold. “I warned ya, Doc. Wolfe and I dun’ tried to warn you that Hollow’d be back, but you an’ the Madam just kept beatin’ the devil ‘round the bush and ran off to hide somewhere. Considerin’ the Madam took her acorn-calf of a son with ‘er, she’d still be somewhere in her fancy-pants mansion.”

“No one knew that Hollow was going to come back!” Argued Faith.

“This don’t concern you, sugar.”

“It does now.” Berkley stood and took on a stern expression.

“Oh, I’m sure it does.” Petra stood with her hands planted on her hips. “Faith? Could I have a word with ya for a minute?”

Faith shrugged. “Sure.”

“In private.”

“Uh…” Faith shot a quick look to Berkley, who gave a wary nod. Telling Charlie that he was a good boy, she nodded to Petra and trailed behind her as the older woman led her away through the house. “So…what’s this about?” She asked.

Petra sighed. “Just wanna make sure ‘a somethin’. Won’t take us long.” They eventually stepped into the workshop, where Petra’s Ætherial door stood, still glowing and active. She seemed to wince a bit when they walked in, and Faith couldn’t blame her; she could still hear that shrill shrieking noise in the air.

“It’s pretty loud, isn’t it?” Faith remarked casually.

Petra looked down at her, a bit shocked. “I can’t believe you can hear it.”

Faith met eyes with the Sherriff, and her expression was one of pure confusion. “Wait, what?”

“Only folks like us in the Order can hear the shriekin’, sugar,” Petra took Faith’s hand and led her towards an Æthersphere in the middle of the room, just like it was with Berkley’s basement, then looked straight into Faith’s eyes as she put the younger woman’s hand closer and closer to the sphere, just barely above the rings spinning around it. Faith felt the shrieking starting to echo in her skull like church bells in a cathedral and her head began to pound. Her eyes began to hurt and she started to feel a ringing in her ears that was absolutely deafening. Wrenching her hands away from Petra, she stumbled backwards and fell into a sitting position not far from a recharging Springer’s legs. She panted heavily and tried to get her head in order.

“What…what the hell was that for?!” Faith snapped at her. “My head felt like it was going to explode!”

“Had to make sure ‘a somethin’, that’s all.” Petra stalked over to the younger woman. “Y’ ain’t supposed to be able to hear the Æther shriekin’, darlin’. Only folks like me n’ Berkley can hear it.”

“Why does it shriek, then?”

“’Cuz it’s bein’ polluted with every time Hollow’s been traipsin’ about between doors.” Petra offered her hand and helped Faith to her feet. “That man’s been awful busy lately. I don’t like it at all.”

“Did it really warrant you sticking my hands near that thing?!” Faith quickly tore her hand away. “What if I got some sort of weird radiation exposure?!”

“Relax, y’ ain’t some normal kid, anyways.” Petra gave a dismissive wave of her hand as she walked over to the controls. “You’ll be fine.”

The Sherriff’s words shocked Faith, who just stared at her like she was standing in the headlights of an oncoming truck. “What…what do you mean I’m not normal?”

Petra flipped a few switches and steam began to flood the room as the ‘bots came back online. “It means you’re not normal, sugar. Dunno what else yer’ wantin’ me to say.” She gave the younger woman a smile. “Yer smart, sugar. You figure it out.” And with that, she just walked off, leaving Faith alone with the ‘bots.

“Did we miss somethin’?” Asked Springer, scratching his metallic head.

Faith sighed and pulled herself to her feet. “No, Springer. You didn’t miss anything.”

The copper automaton walked in front of Faith and looked her over. “There’s somethin’ different about you.”

“Probably the clothes.”

“Nah, it ain’t the clothes.” Glowing eyes looked down into hers. “Are you wearin’ contacts?”

“N-no,” Faith stammered uneasily. “At least…at least I think I’m not.”

Springer just shrugged and walked off upstairs with the other ‘bots trailing behind him. Sprocket stopped in the doorway and looked over at her. “Are you coming, Miss White?” He asked.

“Oh, uh…” Faith cleared her throat. “Yeah, Sprocket, I’ll be up in a sec, just gotta check something.” She was thankful that the automaton bought the lie and left up the stairs. As soon as his shadow was out of sight, Faith scrambled over to a nearby mirror and checked her eyes. She almost screamed- her once-brown eyes had now turned silver! Questions raced through her mind, but the most prevalent one was “How”, and it was a very good question indeed. Her eyes turned to the Æthersphere. Maybe that had something to do with it? Then again, Petra hadn’t been too clear on her definition of ‘not normal’ and even someone as ‘smart’ as Faith couldn’t figure that out for the life of her. She found a chair nearby and sat down in it, holding her head in her hands. What was she going to tell Anum? What was she going to tell her mother?! Faith gave a tired sigh and trotted back upstairs. No use in standing around griping about the sudden change in eye-colour for now- it wasn’t going to fix anything, but she really wanted to trip up Petra for the unwelcomed headache that was buzzing about in her head.

As she came up the stairs and into the sitting room, she could hear a commotion from outside. Berkley and Petra were positioned by the curtains and looking out onto the street with guns drawn while the ‘bots and Charlie hid behind sofas and under tables. Faith gave them all strange looks. “Um…what are you guys--” She was promptly shushed by everyone in the room capable of doing so.

“Darlin’,” Petra said quietly. “Go over to the window in the kitchen and look out in the street.”

“Why?”

“Just do it!” The Sheriff hissed at her. Faith just shrugged and walked quietly into the kitchen and took a peek out through the curtains. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing- there was a small pack of human-like figures riding on the back of giant, reptilian mounts. More than likely, they were dinosaurs, and this was confirmed when they started getting closer to where she was looking out. Seven armoured, human-like creatures on the back of velociraptors that were wearing armour similar to their riders. Moving slowly away from the window, Faith silently shuffled back to Berkley and Petra and tried to stay out of sight.

“Hey, uh…” She swallowed nervously. “There’s like seven guys out there riding velociraptors…is that supposed to be happening?”

“Striderclaws,” Growled Berkley.

“Hollow knows yer here,” Petra sighed.

Faith gulped. She’d seen enough of Jurassic Park to know what would happen if those raptors got in. “S-so what do we do…?”

Petra took a deep breath and tried to give Faith a reassuring smile. “Maybe if we’re real quiet, they’ll go away.”

That’s when the first scraping and rattling noises came at the front door. Everyone froze in place and Faith could see Sprocket with his hands clamped around Charlie’s mouth to stop the triceratops from whimpering too loudly. There was a loud, reptilian snort, then silence, but before anyone even thought of saying anything, a loud thud came once, then twice, and on the third thud, there was the sound of wood starting to splinter under the weight of whatever was banging against the door. Faith could hear her heart pounding in her throat. Oh, God, she thought frantically. This is gonna be like Jurassic Park, isn’t it? I don’t even have the gun Berkley gave me! Oh my god, we’re going to die!

Petra, with gloved hands gripping her twin pistols with anticipation with fingers poised over the trigger, and Berkley, rifle tucked securely in his hands, were as still as statues. Another loud thud came, then one more, and the door burst open. A huge, saurian snout nosed its way into the kitchen while three of the human-like creatures marched into the house. They were all dressed in black with heavy-looking armour that didn’t seem to bother them much, their hands and feet gloved in steel-capped leather gauntlets and boots. They all wore welding goggles with glowing red lenses, and Faith wondered if they even had eyes. She saw Petra take a peek around the corner and the Sheriff took a steady, quiet breath and slowly moved her arm behind her so that the barrel of the gun was pointing around the corner at one of the figures. Giving a silent nod to Berkley, Petra closed her eyes and gently squeezed the trigger.

6: Act One: The House on Salterly Road, Chapter Six

The shot rang out through the eerily quiet house and there was a horrible screech from the owner of the reptilian snout that came nosing through the door just then, then a dreadful thud. The human-like figures looked to one another with panic before one of them gestured to something outside and the window above Faith shattered open as another Striderclaw burst through it and screeched when it noticed the three figures huddled up by the window. Suddenly, the ‘bots sprung out from behind the couch and tried to wrestle the raptor to the ground while Berkley shouted to Petra and the two grabbed Faith and climbed out the window with her in tow.

“That was probably a bad idea,” Said Petra, eying the other five Striderclaws that had just noticed them. She fired off a few bullets as they started running towards them, but they were too easily dodged and the three had to quickly dive out of the way of the approaching carnivores before they could get jumped on or snapped up by sharp teeth. Faith felt her heart jump into her throat as she hit the dirt and rolled out of the way of a huge, saurian foot. Another shot rang out and there was a loud screech as one of the Striderclaws nearby collapsed. Berkley had shot one of them and was already staring down another that was looking to strike. Petra stood with her back to his and had her pistols trained on the other two, neither of them blinking as the ‘raptors started to tentatively tread towards them. Suddenly, three metallic forms came tumbling out the window and into the dust as the Striderclaw the ‘bots had been wrestling burst out of the wall nearby. Faith called out to them and realised her mistake when the huge, pale saurian caught sight of her, but just as it had begun to charge, it was quickly knocked aside by Charlie, who had stuck his horns into the larger reptile’s leg and rushed over to Faith’s side with a triumphant huff as the ‘raptor fell on its side, unable to support itself on its injured leg.

“Good boy,” Faith breathlessly praised the triceratops as she patted his side. Then, as she noticed the ‘bots pulling each other to their feet, she gave a cry of warning as the riders came running into the fray. Faith quickly scrambled to her feet and ran at one of them, attempting to knock it over with a tackle-headbutt, but instead of flesh that would give way with blunt force, her target was hard as steel and didn’t even stagger when the girl tried to knock it down. Instead, it spoke in some garbled language to its comrades as it hoisted Faith up by the collar of her shirt and lifted her off the ground just enough that her feet dangled only inches from where she’d been standing just a second ago while the others went for Berkley, Petra and the ‘bots. Faith kicked and struggled and was rewarded with herself being thrown just out of reach of the downed Striderclaw’s maw and screamed as it started to snap at her in an attempt to grab at her legs, but help came again in the form of brave Charlie, who charged at the rider and knocked it over, then turned on the raptor and ran over its armoured neck. His heavy feet dented the metal enough for it to bend and crush the vertebrae in the Striderclaw’s neck. Springer and Sprocket had started taking on about four of the other riders in fisticuffs while Smokestack had hurried over to help Faith and Charlie, accidentally trampling the rider Charlie had knocked over not that long ago. The portly automaton helped pull Faith to her feet.

“That was way too close,” Panted Faith. More gunshots filled the air; Petra seemed to be almost dancing around the Striderclaws while Berkley fired off shot after shot at the Striderclaws, but they were too quick and the bullets either grazed their armour or didn’t land at all. In a shocking twist, the riders had managed to trip up Springer and Sprocket and tossed them like trash towards Faith, Charlie and Smokestack. By now, Faith’s heart was pounding in her ears again as fear ran cold through her veins. There was no way Petra or Berkley had enough bullets to stand against the Striderclaws much longer, and with those seemingly invincible riders walking menacingly towards them, she trembled at the thought that she might die here, even if the ‘bots had all put themselves between her and the riders in an attempt to keep her from harm. She felt like an idiot for not being able to help, for forgetting the gun Berkley had given her before they came here, and bit back the urge to scream. Screaming wasn’t going to help right now.  

Suddenly, there came a sound of what sounded like a low-flying biplane as a huge shadow crossed the battlefield. Faith saw Petra and Berkley glance up at it and give each other a look of confidence as a shout echoed through the air; “Take no quarter, boys! And give none either!” Faith looked up to see what looked like a giant ship in the sky hovering over the battlefield and the confident shouts of men and women came as people started parachuting out of it. The riders pulled out strange-looking guns and fired bolts of blood-red energy at the people descending from the sky, but they wound up with a face full of lead that tore away the coverings over it as they were bombarded with bullets. One by one, scores of these newcomers, looking almost like pirates, touched the ground and jumped eagerly into the fray with swords and pistols drawn. One among them, a tall, black-haired man who had a sort-of-fedora perched on his head with a large, red feather tucked into the ribbon that encircled it that matched the colour of his coat, gave a shrill whistle, and an owl’s screech soon followed as a grey blur swooped at the remaining Striderclaws’ eyes before a huge, grey and white barn owl came to perch on the man’s outstretched arm as he shouted his orders; “Give ‘em hell! Take ‘em down!” Faith found herself grinning in relief as she watched the pirates help with the fight, as the Striderclaws soon found themselves surrounded and quickly taken out with bullet and blade. Petra whooped for joy.

“Wolfe, you sunnuva Smith an’ Wesson!” She laughed breathlessly as she holstered her guns. “Fancy seein’ you here!”

Faith hurried over to Berkley with the ‘bots and Charlie in tow. “Are you okay?” She asked.

Berkley nodded, panting. “I’ve been through worse,” He replied slowly, still getting his breath back. “It’s a good thing that Wolfe and his crew showed up when he did, or else we might not be here.”

“I was just about to say the same thing, old man,” Called the tall man in red, who Faith supposed was Wolfe. His voice had a bit of a cockney accent to it, and his grin gleamed like his silvery eyes. “It’s been a while. I’m actually surprised that you ‘aven’t kicked the bucket yet.” Wolfe walked over to them with Petra in tow and looked over at Faith with that same grin. “Well, well, well…” He gave a chuckle. “Who’s the Youngblood?”

“I’m Faith,” Faith said quickly, before Berkley could go on about anything about her being his niece- which she still believed to be a lie. “Faith White.”

“And just how, Miss White, did you get here?”

“That’s my fault,” Berkley replied.

“Y’all can take this inside,” Said Petra. “I need to go ‘round and check that everyone’s alright.” Running a gloved hand through her hair, the Sherriff walked off to go and calm the townsfolk that had started pouring into the streets to see what had happened.

“Well,” Chuckled Wolfe. “This should certainly be an interesting little yarn.” Together, they all walked back to Petra’s house with Charlie and the ‘bots trailing behind them and went inside the wrecked sitting room. Wolfe nudged the dead Striderclaw with his foot. “Striderclaws. Hate ‘em almost as much I hates Terrorgliders.”

“Hollow’s on the move again,” Berkley explained matter-of-factly.

“You think I don’t know that?” Wolfe retorted. “Me and the crew have been trying to keep ‘is little pets off our backs for years now. What, now yer expectin’ me to just throw in with ya now that there’s all this commotion? The last time I was fightin’ off Sickleheads with me bare ‘ands, I hardly remember thinkin’ that I oughta come find you and ask you for backup.”

Faith hated to admit it, but Wolfe was right. Where had Berkley been all the years that his comrades were on the run from Hollow’s forces? Why hadn’t he taken action then?

“I had no way of knowing other than the fluctuations in the Ætherial door,” Defended Berkley. “All other means of communications were otherwise unavailable.”

“And yet you were able to go runnin’ off through your door and you never thought once about comin’ back to help?”

“What would you have had me do?”

“Anything other than sittin’ on yer ‘ands for nearly twenty years!”

Faith looked down as Charlie nudged at her leg. The triceratops looked like the argument was making him restless, but Faith just gave him a pat on the head and watched the men argue. Springer, Sprocket and Smokestack had moved off to go and try and clean up the sitting room enough for them all to sit down without sitting on splinters or broken glass. Eventually Faith decided that this wasn’t really going anywhere and decided to put an end to the argument herself.

“WOULD THE BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP?!” She blasted at them. “Who cares who did what first? What matters now is that we’re here, Hollow’s after us, and we have a chance to stop him and set things right!”

Wolfe glared at her. “You think I’m scared ‘a you, Youngblood?”

Faith crossed her arms and scowled. “Oh, yes, because I’m absolutely terrifying,” She deadpanned. “Of bloody course I don’t think you’re scared of me, but the most you can do is to stop being an idiot and start listening to reason!” Both men stood in silence before they both paid each other a glare and both went to sit on a sofa in the sitting room with Faith right behind them. “That’s better,” She huffed as she sat down with Charlie’s head in her lap. “Now, Professor, I think you promised Captain Wolfe here an explanation?” Faith hated it when she had to be the adult in a situation. Even as Berkley was explaining himself to Wolfe, Faith found herself thinking about how annoying it was to have to tell two grown men to stop being a couple of idiots, but she’d had to do it before and it drove the people she was telling off crazy. In truth, Faith hated yelling. She never sounded threatening when she yelled and it just made her throat sore and it made her feel exhausted. She was thankful when Springer put a glass of water in her hand and Charlie nuzzled the other one- it made her feel a little better, but still, the situation was starting to overwhelm her a bit. Still, she let Berkley talk and kept an eye on Wolfe as he listened, and the owl that was still sitting perched on his shoulder. The thing was starting to give her the creeps with those big, black eyes, and though Faith was never scared of birds (save for geese and magpies), she felt extremely uncomfortable with how the owl was looking at her. She kept sipping her water and kept her eyes on whoever took their turn to speak.

“You’re a stupid old man,” Wolfe sighed eventually. “But whatever. Youngblood’s right, we got ourselves some work to be doin’.”

“Then we’re going to need Soleila,” Berkley replied. “Don’t suppose you’re interested in carrying a few passengers to the continent?”

“From America?” Faith scoffed. “That’ll take months!”

Wolfe burst out laughing. “That may be, were I the captain of any normal airship!”

Faith gave him a look. “Airships don’t exactly qualify as ‘normal’ in the first place.”

Apparently, Wolfe didn’t hear that. “The Lostlight is among the fastest and the most powerful ship that ever sailed the skies,” He bragged. “And with my Isabella here to guide the way, there ain’t never been a time we’ve been lost.”

“I don’t think owls can survive at that altitude.”

“Isabella ain’t no ordinary owl.” Wolfe held out his arm and the owl, Isabella, hopped along until her serene, white face and gleaming black eyes were close to Faith, and she shrunk back a bit. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of owls,” The red-clad man chuckled.

“I’m not scared of her,” Faith snipped, still staring down the owl. “Or you.”

Wolfe gave her a grin. “Good, then she can sit on your shoulder awhile. She’s getting a bit heavy.” Faith gave a small cry of surprise as the bird flapped her great, silent grey wings and came to settle on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, she’s gentle.” Faith said nothing and tried to ignore the owl. She had never had come this close with owls of any kind, not even a Tawny Frogmouth that had been sitting outside her window on the night she was having a sleepover with Anum and wound up being hand-fed by her friend while she watched (That doesn’t count, she corrected herself, Tawny Frogmouths aren’t owls, they’re Nightjars). Isabella was indeed gentle, however, and didn’t sink her sharp talons in like Faith thought she would, and her feathers were welcomingly soft against her cheek, tempting Faith enough that she gave her a few gentle strokes against the feathers that adorned Isabella’s breast. The owl blinked and didn’t seem to mind the attention, instead looking like she welcomed it. Wolfe gave another chuckle. “See? Nothing to be scared of.”

Faith glared at him. “I’m not scared,” She repeated, but she didn’t think Wolfe even heard her as the man stood and offered his hand to Berkley.

“I’m willin’ to put aside the fact that you’re a right bloody coward,” He said sternly. “But if you go runnin’ off on us again, I’ll throw you overboard.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Berkley deadpanned. The two shook hands and began to make plans. They would leave for France first thing in the morning. 

7: Act One: The House on Salterly Road, Chapter Seven

After making sure that the town would be alright without her for a while, Petra had packed up everything she needed for the journey, and before dawn’s breaking, Berkley, Faith, Petra, the ‘bots and Charlie were all aboard the Lostlight and heading for the horizon. With a course set for France, Faith had given herself time to wander about the ship with Charlie at her heels. The past twenty-four hours had been more than what Faith thought she could bear, and it was starting to get to her. She’d had to run away and leave her mother and best friend behind, found out she wasn’t normal and that her mother had probably been lying to her all these years, and now they were all moving to fight off this megalomaniac that wanted them all dead. There’d been too much yelling in between all of that, accusations and filthy looks and disagreements, so Faith had decided to stay near Charlie or the ‘bots for now since Berkley, Petra and Wolfe weren’t looking like pleasant company.

Faith didn’t want this. She knew that this wasn’t what she had wanted. She wanted to just live a normal, quiet life, get through high school and get into a decent university hopefully in Sydney or back in Melbourne, not run around with a bunch of strange people that couldn’t even get along for love nor money. No wonder the Order of Æther fell to pieces, none of them knew the first thing about teamwork, or else they’d have dealt with this Hollow character and none of this would be happening. A scowl crossed her freckled features. These people had too much pride, so caught up in themselves that they didn’t know how to deal with anyone else, and what Faith hated the most is that it was probably going to get them killed. There was no little voice in the back of her head saying that she was wrong, no one to ask her if the change in scenery was helping at all, no one to tell her it was all going to be okay.

Sitting herself down somewhere on deck where there was basically nowhere around, Faith started petting Charlie’s scaly head that was starting to become a comfort to her. “What do you think, boy?” She sighed. “You think we’re gonna be okay?” Charlie just licked her hand. “Thanks.” Trust a dinosaur to have no idea what was going on, but at least he was trying to help her mood. “I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens. I doubt I’ll be patient enough to just wait and see. As is the fault in young people, or so the adults all say.” Faith rubbed at her eyes. “I want to go home now.” Charlie licked her cheek and nuzzled her hand while Faith just sat there in silence, stroking the triceratops’ scaly hide for the sake of whatever small comfort she felt she needed.

8: Act Two: Angels In London, Chapter One

As it turned out, or so Faith had come to understand, airships took a little longer than aeroplanes to reach their intended destinations, but they were effective nonetheless- the navigator had told them that, with the air currents they were having, they’d be in France within four days. Petra and Faith were impressed, though Berkley didn’t think much on it. The man had gone quiet since they had left Redpipe and hadn’t noticed Faith’s distancing herself. Petra had tried to keep quiet, too; turns out it was her first time on an airship and it wasn’t doing her a huge world of good at this point in time. The poor woman didn’t have her skylegs yet so she almost never left the cabin she shared with Faith for fear she’d be sick. Then again, if it wasn’t the dizzying feeling Faith felt when she was looking over the side of the ship, it was the unsettling feeling of Isabella swooping in from out of nowhere to use her shoulder as a perch, which would result in Faith making a rather embarrassing noise that made any nearby airship pirate break out into raucous laughter or coo over how ‘cute’ she was until she insulted them in such a way that they’d just stomp off sulking to themselves.

As for Berkley, Faith couldn’t tell whether or not it was stress or tension that had made the man so silent. It was almost starting to worry her- the guy was so jolly when she’d met him, so to see him so serious was a little too strange for her to deal with. He was still in talks with Wolfe, and it was obvious that they didn’t get along at all from the arguments that would echo from the navigation room. Faith almost wanted to agree with Wolfe- where had Berkley been all these years when the rest of the Order had needed him? Why hadn’t he been out there trying to save everyone he could if he was so ‘extraordinary’ and so brave? Why had Petra gotten so mad at him? And if the ‘Madam’ she had mentioned had gone running off to her mansion, then she must have been as much of a coward as Berkley, but Faith knew it was still too soon to jump to conclusions; she had only known the man perhaps a few days, it wasn’t really fair to go about judging him like that (Ugh, I’m starting to sound like my mother!).

The first night on the Lostlight came quicker than Faith thought, so she decided to go out to the deck for some fresh air after dinner. Night above the clouds is a very different place, or so Faith had heard, and she found this to be right when she stepped out to see the Lostlight’s sails glowing dimly in the light of the full moon, the velvet blue sky littered with stars. She could see more stars here than she could from her bedroom window at night and was almost starting to curse the fact that electric lights existed- she could swear she could see the milky galaxy just from where she stood on the bow and cursed the fact that she didn’t have a telescope. Anum had brought her telescope to their sleepover and they’d spent the evening watching the stars together and connecting the dots in the sky. Suddenly, Faith felt very lonely again. What would Anum think of her if she could see her now? Would she think she was a freak and not want to be her friend anymore? Her stomach tied itself in knots at the thought of losing her first-ever real friend and she rubbed furiously at her eyes to get rid of the tears that were welling up. She wanted her Mum, but her mum was oceans and centuries in the future and far from where Faith could find her.

Something nudged Faith’s leg and she turned around to see Charlie looking up at her in the way a dog would when expecting a pat since their human was in the same vicinity as them. Faith smiled a bit and sat down with the triceratops and began to pet his scaly head.

“Hey, Charlie,” She said quietly. “You don’t think I’m a freak, do you? You’re my friend, right?” And Faith had no idea if the tongue that left a trail of prehistoric slobber on her cheek meant ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but when a pet tries to cheer you up by painting your face with saliva or just sitting in your lap, then that usually means that they think that there’s nothing wrong with you and you’re still a good person in their eyes.

The second day came with another argument in the captain’s quarters between Wolfe and Berkley after dinner that Faith and Petra were fortunate enough to discover before things turned ugly between the two.

“If you hadn’t been so dead-bloody-set on finding Oswin,” Growled Wolfe, “Then maybe we would have been able to save more lives that day! We were all sitting ducks, we needed you out there!”

“We needed him!” Berkley argued. “He could have turned back Hollow’s moving fortress if he’d been there!”

“You’re a bleeding liar, old man!” Wolfe had grabbed hold of Berkley at that point by the front of his shirt. “I ought’a throw you overboard for your cowardice!”

Berkley swung a punch and the two began to trade blows. It was at that point that Petra stepped in and had to wrench the men off of each other. “That’s enough! The both of ya!”

“You were there, Petra!” Wolfe barked at her. “You know just how much of a coward the old man is, just as I do! Why not just toss him over the side and be done with it?!”

“Ah said enough!” Petra’s voice was raised a decibel higher than Wolfe’s, and it shut the men up right away. “There ain’t no reason fer this. Yes, ah know that Berkley wasn’t there when we needed him, but that was years ago now. As much as I hate to say it, I don’t think any of us could’ve had any idea that Oswin would just run off like that.”

“Who’s Oswin?’ Asked Faith.

“You don’t need to know that,” Berkley replied quickly.

“’e’s the old man’s student,” Replied Wolfe. “Oswin betrayed us.”

“He could’a just been captured by Hollow,” Petra reasoned. “Maybe he’s dead, we don’t know.”

“Oswin was near invincible,” Argued Wolfe. “Neither of ‘em ‘ad no excuse. Couple ‘a cowards, that’s all you two really are.”

Faith didn’t know if it was the look on Berkley’s face or something else, but she felt strangely offended. “Look, Petra’s right,” She piped up. “It was years ago and you don’t know the real reason why Oswin wasn’t there. No one’s ‘invincible’, not even near it. He might have died or been captured- whatever the reason, it’s done and it’s over and there’s no point in banging on about it.”

All the adults in the room went quiet, and the silence was eventually broken by a sigh from Wolfe. “Petra, Berkley,” He said tiredly. “Out. I want a word with the youngblood.” Petra assisted Berkley out of the room, giving a worried look to Faith before the two disappeared around a corner. Wolfe leaned on the table and looked down at the girl sadly for a reason Faith couldn’t comprehend. “Who was your father, youngblood?” He asked.

Faith gave him a questioning look for a moment before hesistantly replying, “I never knew my father. Mum told me that he was a firefighter, he died saving a lot of good people during a bad bushfire season.”

“Fire, eh?” Sighed Wolfe. “Shame.”

“Why did you ask?”

“Because you remind me so much of Oswin. The man never suffered a fool gladly, always the one to end what someone else started.” Wolfe dug into his coat pocket and brought out an ornate pocket-watch that seemed to have something carved into it from where Faith was standing, then handed it to her. “’ere. This was ’is once upon a time.”

Faith took the pocket-watch and turned it over in her hands. The casing was made of gold, but it had scores and scratches all over it and a dent in one side that she hoped hadn’t damaged the delicate clockwork inside. On the lid was the engraved image of what Faith could make out to be an intricate pattern with roses wound around two crossed keys. “It’s pretty,” She remarked.

“It was given to him by his lady love,” Wolfe explained. “I’ve been holding onto it for a long time. Maybe it’ll be more use to you.”

Faith nodded her thanks and left silently. As she laid in her hammock that night, she held up the watch to the wan glow of the moonlight that had trickled in from the windows. She didn’t know why, but for some reason it felt like she’d seen it before, perhaps once upon a dream. She had a lot of dreams, some recurring, and a part of her hoped she wouldn’t have any tonight- Lord knows she needed the sleep. She stuffed it into her pocket and tried to sleep, letting the hum of the turbines in the machine room some floors below bring her below the waters of consciousness and into the arms of blessedly dreamless sleep.

In the middle of the night, however, Faith found herself awakened by a huge booming noise that shook the ship down to its very skeleton. Startled, she fell out of her hammock and hit the wooden floor with a painful thud that woke her up better than any alarm clock. Screeches and shouts and gunshots echoed from up on the deck and Faith could hear Charlie cowering under Petra’s empty hammock- the sheriff must have already gone to see what the commotion was about. It sounded like a war up there, the men and women of the Lostlight shouting and cursing at their screeching attackers. Faith scrambled to her feet and raced out of the room, shoving past the shouting and cursing airship pirates who were racing to the cannons and turrets on her way to the main deck. It was a good thing she was short, or else she would have been squished in between some of the people passing her by. Soon, she could see moonlight and fire and bullets flying as she made it up on deck. There were more of those strange, black-clad riders swarming the deck and battling the pirates, who had to hose them overboard with turret fire. Hanging over them in the skies was a score of armoured pterodactyls that were spitting balls of fire at the hull and swooping down at the crew members and Faith saw one pluck one of the men in the seat of the turrets out of it and throw him overboard. She could see Berkley up on one of the masts taking shots at them with some of the other pirates, and Petra and Wolfe were helping the crew to fight off the riders with Isabella swooping around trying to take out the eyes of the riders. Faith couldn’t see the bots anywhere and ducked back inside to look for them, but was stopped by one of the pirates.

“Get to the turret!” She shouted. “We can’t let those Terrorgliders burn up the ship!” Faith tried to argue, but the pirate just shoved Faith in the direction of the turrets with a bunch of other crew members and she was bustled through the ship and up into the seat of one of the turrets. The barrels were huge, as big as the ones on any warship, and the female pirate who had ordered up there quickly showed her what to do before she ran off to occupy the seat of another turret and took aim. Faith hurriedly tried to get her aim straight and shot blindly into the skies, only taking out one or two Terrorgliders before she finally got the hang of the controls. At one point, she heard a scream from another pirate as a Terrorglider came darting at him, so Faith swung the turret around and riddled the thing with holes, but it had already upset the pirate from his seat, so Faith had to scramble over to the man to help him back into the seat.

Soon, another order was shouted from Wolfe: “No sail! Cut the engines and prepare to drop!”

Faith had just climbed back into her seat when she heard the order being shouted. In a heartbeat, a seatbelt had closed over her hips and restraints locked over her wrists and ankles- she couldn’t move, and neither could the other pirates, who looked calm and concentrated. She could barely see the folks on deck scrambling inside as the sails folded themselves in, and the ship began to drop from the skies as the engines cut out. Faith gritted her teeth together as the air rushed upwards and roared in her ears- she couldn’t even move her jaw to scream. The ship plummeted down hull-first through the clouds, and Faith could see the riders flailing about in the air as they were lifted off the deck, along with the few unlucky ones who hadn’t made it to safety in time. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, and soon, the ship hit the water with a huge splashing noise. Faith felt her stomach jump into her throat upon impact and almost slumped over the controls when the restraints unlocked and slithered away like black snakes into the seat. She could hear the sails unfolding and the crew starting to spill back out onto the deck.

“We’ve lost ‘em, lads!” Called Wolfe. “We need repair crews to the engine rooms and the living quarters- we got lucky this time!”

Faith felt sick, but relieved. She staggered out of her seat and stumbled back down onto the deck, where she was met with an exhausted Berkley. “Are you alright?” He asked.

Faith nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay,” She replied, leaning on a nearby railing. “A little more warning before we dropped out of the sky would have been nice, though. Where’s Petra?”

“Still below deck.” Wolfe walked over to them, looking a mix of angry and tired. “You land-dwellin’ folk. One drop and you think you’re at death’s door.”

Faith gave him a foul look. “We almost were, and not thanks to that stunt you pulled.”

“Aye, but for now, we’re alive and we’ll be back in the air soon enough.” Wolfe turned to Berkley. “I’m gonna want words with you, old man. I’ll see you in my quarters after we’re back on our way.” And with that, the captain stalked off and went below deck.

†††

By morning, the repair crew had managed to fix enough of the damage caused by the Terrorgliders to ensure no further problems until after they had arrived in France, but the atmosphere was so thick with tension you would need a battle axe to cut through it. As the Lostlight made its ascent back into the skies and the sea of clouds that was forming over the ocean, Wolfe and Berkley stood in complete silence- it was easy to see that they’d had another argument and were in no mood to deal with each other right now. Faith was starting to wonder just how many men Wolfe had lost since Hollow had lost his mind, how many others felt the anger that the Lostlight’s captain felt, how many others blamed Berkley for the lives lost maybe only hours before. The man had stopped speaking to anyone, and Faith was starting to get annoyed with the old man’s self-loathing. It wasn’t doing anyone any good and if there was one thing Faith hated more than anything, it was a martyr complex.

She followed him up onto the deck after dinner the following night and stood with him as he blankly watched the stars. After a while, she looked to him and said, “You know, no one’s blaming you for yesterday.”

“Wolfe is,” Huffed Berkley.

“That’s nonsense and you know it,” Snipped Faith. “Get over yourself. Christ, you just want something to mope about, don’t you?” She gave the man a glare. “You start getting your act together or I’ll make you do it. Enough of this bleeding heart crap, got it?”

“I didn’t ask for your attitude.”

Faith felt her face heat up. “Attitude?! I’m telling you to take whatever martyr complex bull-hockey you have stuffed in that dusty old head of yours and throw it overboard before you get tossed over. I’ve had it with this brooding hero schtick. I hate being the adult in these situations, especially with people like you, but for God’s sake just get over your damn self, you self-martyring primadonnna. Do us all a favour.” Faith stomped off to her quarters before Berkley could say another word. The nerve of that jerk! This is why she hated adults so much. So pompous and so up themselves, always thinking they knew what was best and God forbid a child tell them to snap out of it, goodness no. Climbing back into her hammock, Faith’s hand burrowed under her pillow and immediately found the pocket watch. For some reason, it was starting to become a comfort and the feeling of the cool metal in her fingers was strangely soothing to her heated nerves, and she still had no idea why. Still, Faith clutched it like a lifeline as her temper died down and her body finally felt like sleeping. Hopefully they would be in France soon and Berkley would have dealt with the monkey on his back already.

†††

The scent of roses and sweet summer wine was carried on the gentle, warm breeze that caressed Faith’s freckled face and tousled her hair. She smiled as her body drank in the warmth of the summer sun and her eyes looked around the beautiful villa garden that was alive with ruby-red roses, as if they had been dyed in blood. Her fingers reached out to gently brush against the petals and Faith felt at peace as her fingers caressed the blossom. She knew where she was, and she felt strangely at home as she drifted through the garden. She could see farmers working out in the hillside, harvesting the summer fruits and waving to her from where they worked, to which Faith grinned and waved back.

Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder and the clever, silvery eyes of a tall, dark-haired woman with browned skin gazed down into hers when Faith turned to face her. My Spanish lady, Faith thought. The woman, with her sad but beautiful smile, took Faith’s hand and began to lead her through the garden.

“The harvest is plentiful this year,” The Spanish Lady said in that enchanting, velveteen voice of hers. “Your friends have all gathered to share them with you. You’re just in time.”

“My friends…?” Faith looked ahead and saw a courtyard where a group of teenage girls and boys were gathered, all smiling and laughing. Among them, Faith could see Anum laughing with some of the girls, dressed in her pristine white hijab and a lovely full-length dress. She noticed her and waved her over.

“Faith! There you are!” She called. “Where have you been, silly?”

Faith beamed and began to walk over to them, when—

“Faith, wake up!”

Faith awoke to find herself not in a Spanish courtyard with Anum and her Spanish Lady, but in her cabin on the Lostlight, still clutching the pocket watch and being shaken out of sleep by Petra.

“What is it?” Faith asked sleepily as she looked up at the Sheriff.

“We’re here.”

Somewhere, off in the distance, Faith could hear church bells as she made her way up onto the deck. She could see the vast city of Paris on the horizon, the song of Notre Dame’s bells ringing clear through the early-morning air. They’d arrived.

9: Act Two: Angels In London, Chapter Two

France is a beautiful country. Hundreds of years of history and culture, home of grand cathedrals like Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur, birthplace of art nouveau, cinematography, Joan of Arc, Marie Curie, and artistic greats such as Charles de Gaulle, Cezanne and Monet. Her fashionable people and romantic atmosphere from urban to rural areas brings tourists from around the world, mainly to visit her capital: Paris, the “City of Love”. It’s a shame that their military achievements do not rival the greatness of their tourism industry.

It’s strange to think of Paris without the Arc de Triumph with the names of soldiers who served during the World Wars smack-dab in the middle of a road somewhere or the Eiffel Tower standing high above any other structure in the city, even more so when one visits during a time where it didn’t even exist or had even been thought about (Faith would never be able to look at a geography textbook the same way ever again). It got stranger when they all realised that the airship docking station had been destroyed and the surrounding areas damaged by what looked like cannon fire.

“Looks like Hollow was one step ahead of us,” Faith suggested.

“He didn’t get far,” Petra observed, pointing out where the damage ended- it seemed to end in a sort of clean-cut seam that only spanned the docking station. “Looks like the Madame caught word and came to lend a hand.” She huffed out a short chuckle. “Acts so uppity, but she’s got one hell of a bleedin’ heart.”

Faith held up a hand to stop her. “Hang on, hang on. It’s the eighteen-nineties, correct? You told me this ‘Madame’ lived in a mansion, and if I recall correctly about a hundred-odd years ago there would have been a big revolution. A tonne of people who were aristocrats got chased out of their homes and the Queen got her head lopped off. There’s no logical reason as to why she would still be in a big fancy house somewhere.”

“Well, from what ah heard,” Said Petra, “The Madame was in the good books with the commonfolk and helped ‘em out, so they left her alone.” Then, with a chuckle, she added, “Word was Napoleon was gettin’ awful sweet on ‘er until his missus had somethin’ to say about it.”

Faith was starting to seriously doubt anything anyone told her, but for now, she took it with a grain of salt. A mansion was starting to look like a good place to bunker down while they made battle plans, which was what she thought was going to happen next- it looked like the most logical step to take, right?

An hour or two was spent looking for another docking port- this time a little towards Mont Matre- and Faith felt a little annoyed that she wasn’t allowed time to properly drink in the sights and scenery while she, Berkley, Wolfe and Petra left the ship to find this ‘Madame’ they’d all been talking about. With Wolfe at the wheel of what Faith guessed was supposed to be a car, the four of them drove through town until they had gotten on a long road leading away from it and towards a huge house that was just peeking out on a hillside and loomed over tall, wrought-iron gates that were adorned with an ornate sun-shaped pattern. They pulled up outside the gates and were met by a youthful-looking manservant, at least in his late teens to early twenties, who trotted over to them with a polite smile.

“Excuse moi, Madamoiselles et Monsieurs,” He said, trying to look professional as he looked them over. “Do you ‘ave an appointment with my Mistress?”

“Oh, she’ll be expectin’ us, alright,” Grunted Wolfe.

“Inform your Mistress that some old friends of hers are here to see her,” Berkley told the boy. “There are urgent matters to be discussed.”

Suddenly, the gates slowly swung open without any sort of sign that someone had opened them from either side and the young manservant looked honestly surprised. “It seems my Mistress ‘as allowed you an audience.”

The group paid him no further attention as he led everyone inside through a beautiful and well-kept courtyard that was adorned with flowers of all kinds that grew almost every which way- around trellises, spilling out over the ground they were planted in, floating listlessly in the bowl of the huge fountain that had three statues of dancing maidens perched atop it. Looking up to a window overlooking the garden, Faith briefly caught a glance of a woman at the window who must have been watching them when they were at the gate. The manservant pushed open the grandly-decorated door and allowed the group to enter.

The interior was stunning- Faith had seen pictures of the Palace of Versailles, but this certainly took the cake. Lining the walls were paintings of events from mythology or beautiful landscapes from places Faith couldn’t put a name to, suits of armour that stood in silent vigil and marble statues, almost lifelike and made of the finest quality stone; the fact that these were in someone’s home and not in an art gallery was clearly the mark of an aristocrat, but one that was still this powerful during late-1800’s France? This was certainly going to be interesting. Berkley and the others had already gone on ahead some time ago, save for Faith, who would have noticed had her eyes not been caught by a portrait she had stopped to take a look at while they went to find the ‘Madame’. The canvas almost took up most of the height of the wall and depicted a beautiful woman with long, silky black hair that was adorned with white camellia blossoms. Her wise, silver eyes peered out from behind half-moon-shaped glasses that were perched in a very precise way on the bridge of her nose, and they held an almost ethereal quality to them that added to this woman’s air of mystery and intrigue that was added to by her elegant clothes that looked like silk or velvet judging by the shades of gold, silver, red and black that had been used. Her posture was alluring and aloof, as if this woman didn’t have a care in the world, and her lips, painted red as blood, wore a slight, flirtacious smirk, and coupled with the knowing look in her eyes, Faith was starting to feel a bit humbled and intimidated at the same time. Whoever this woman was, she must have aged in years by now, but she must have been well respected and very, very wealthy to have had this commissioned for her.

“I wonder how old she is now,” Faith mused absentmindedly.

“One ‘undred and eighty, to be exact,” Said a new voice, authoritative but rich as velvet and almost musical in its tone. “Well, almost, but who is really counting anyway?” Faith turned and almost did a double-take once she saw that this new person, a tall, black-haired woman, was the spitting image of the one in the painting, if not twice as beautiful as the woman depicted in paint. She was dressed elegantly in a dress of gold and black with solar decals embroidered into the fabric and her hair was put up in a high ponytail that allowed her jet-black locks to spill out around her shoulders. Faith didn’t notice that her jaw had fallen open until the woman used a slender, dainty finger to gently push it shut with a click. “Your name is Faith, correct?” The woman asked. Faith nodded dumbly as a bewitching smile crossed the woman’s lips that were painted blood-red; her heart almost skipped a beat. “Madame Soleila L’adore.” Her silver eyes seemed to sparkle like fresh snow and glow like moonlight. “Enchantée.” Soleila took her finger away and moved her hand to tuck a stray lock of Faith’s hair behind her ear. “Ah, you ‘ave your mother’s face,” She sighed dreamily. “But these…” She cupped Faith’s cheek and ran a thumb over her freckles. “These are definitely your father’s. I was wondering when I’d get to see you all grown up.”

“B-begging your pardon, Madame,” Faith finally coughed out. “I think you might have me mistaken for someone else.”

Soleila raised a slender eyebrow. “’Mistaken’?” She questioned.

“Y-yes,” Faith said with a nod. “I’m…I’m not from this time period, there’s no way you would know my parents.”

The elder of the two giggled musically. “Don’t be silly, I never forget a face!” Her giggling ceased and her smile faded away as she bent down to examine Faith’s face a little more closely. “Unless…ah. I see.”

“See what?”

“I am never mistaken,” Said Soleila. “I do not forget a face, even when that face was once an infant’s. But do tell me…who was your father?”

Faith thought long and hard before replying. “I don’t know,” She replied. “Mum never told me his name.”

This seemed to shock Soleila, who took a step back with one dainty hand, adorned with rubies set in golden rings, gently pressed to her collarbones and an almost hurt expression on her face. “Cela ne peut pas être.” She murmured nervously. “Ceci est son enfant, et pourtant...et pourtant elle se souvient de rien…?”

Faith just stood there, nervously examining the woman. “You know…you’re not the first to ask me something like this.” She was trying to be comforting, but somehow she felt that she wasn’t really helping at all right now. “Wolfe asked me who my father was, too…and he gave me this.” She dug out the pocket watch from where she’d tucked it into a pocket of the vest she was wearing and held it out to Soleila. “He said it belonged to someone called Oswin.”

They would have continued their conversation had Berkley, Wolfe and Petra not decided to show up at that moment. “There you are, Soleila,” Said Berkley. “We were wondering where you’d disappeared to.”

Soleila’s smile returned quickly to her angelic features. “What a pleasant surprise to see my old friends again!” She chirped, holding out her hand in such a way that she expected Berkley to kiss it, but instead he just shook it gently and accepted a kiss on the cheek from the woman, who was surprisingly almost as tall as him before she turned to Wolfe. “And mon capitane!” She went to embrace the man, but he took a step back and gave her a scathing look, much to Soleila’s confusion, but she shrugged it off and turned to Petra. “Petra, mon ami! So far from your little township, this is certainly interesting.”

“With good reason,” Petra replied, placing a hand on her hip. “We had a bit of a Striderclaw infestation for a bit, nothin’ Wolfe and his crew couldn’t help us out with.”

“We also had a run-in with some Terrorgliders,” Faith piped up.

Soleila’s expression darkened and her lips were tugged into a serious line. Berkley took a step forward. “You do know what this means, don’t you?” He asked her. “We saw what happened in Paris.”

“I know.” Soleila turned to face him. “Is that why you ‘ave come? To ask for my help?”

“Considerin’ you and he were close once upon a something or rather,” Said Wolfe. “How’s the runt?”

Soleila glared at him. “Dorian is not ‘ere. He left.”

Wolfe grinned. “Told ‘im the truth, did you? Must be shameful to know your Dad’s a lunatic.”

Faith wanted to say something, but she was already shocked by the fact that this beautiful woman had gotten with the man who betrayed and hunted his former comrades. Petra crossed her arms and squared her shoulders. “I doubt he’d be any danger to us. That boy was nuthin’ but skin an’ bones last I saw ‘im.”

“’is ‘ealth was poor as a child, but ‘e ‘as become stronger since then.” Soleila’s tone was strict and tense, as if she were expecting either Petra or Wolfe to put one more toe out of line. “Last I ‘eard of him, ‘e was working for a watchmaker in London.”

“It’s not important right now,” Berkley cut in. “London’s our next stop, but we’re going to need your help, Soleila.”

Soleila looked away for a minute or two, a thoughtful look in her eyes, before she sighed heavily. “If Dorian is still in London, I should find him before his father does.”

“How do you know that that’s where he’s headed?” Asked Faith.

“If Hollow’s forces attacked Paris with intent to find me and failed,” Explained Soleila, “Then they’ll go after my son next to draw me out.”

“So you’re just going to do what Hollow wants you to?”

The older woman just gave Faith a knowing smile. “I never said I would do this right away. This will take careful planning before we can make our move.” Soleila began to walk down the hallway and motioned for everyone else to follow.

Could you make any less sense? Faith wondered as she trailed behind the adults. The more I hang around these people, the less I seem to understand. And what was Soleila talking about earlier? She never knew my Mum. She gave a quiet, defeated sigh. Whatever, I guess it’s not important right now.

Soleila lead them to a large sitting room and took a seat on a large day-bed, lounging quite like a spoiled cat and eyeing her guests as they all took a seat and shooting a glare at Wolfe when he propped his feet on a coffee table that looked like it had been polished to a mirror-sheen not too long ago. Faith sort of just stood around awkwardly next to an armoire, casting her gaze towards the window to look out to the landscape beyond. She could see Sacre Coeur from here and wondered if she’d get a chance to see it before they all left for London.

“Quit yer lollygaggin’ over there, youngblood,” Wolfe snapped at her. “Come and sit down.”

“I’m quite happy to stand here, thank you very much,” Faith snipped back at him.

“Non, ma cheri. ‘e is right.” Soleila smiled at her and patted a spot next to her on the daybed. “Come and sit with me for a moment, there’s a good girl.”

For some reason, Faith felt more inclined to listen to Soleila at the moment and took a seat next to her with one hand tucked into her pocket to bring out the pocket watch that had not left her sight since they disembarked from the Lostlight so she could fiddle with it a bit. She hadn’t opened it up yet, but she couldn’t hear ticking coming from it, so Faith just supposed that it was broken.

“Are y’all sure we should be bringin’ Faith into this?” Asked Petra. “Ah mean, she’s just a kid.”

Finally someone gets it, Faith mused to herself.

“I’m not,” Said Wolfe. “But the old man sure looked pretty sure of it.”

Berkley gave a tired sigh. “This again, Tiberius?”

“Don’t try to weasel yer way out of it,” Wolfe barked at him, sticking a finger in Berkley’s direction. “You ‘ad to bring Oswin’s kid into this just for the heck of it, didn’t you? Berkley and Ericus, at it again, just like old times—”

And that was when Faith had finally had enough. “My name is Faith White, not Faith Ericus!” She shouted, rising to her feet. “Would somebody please explain to me just what I have to do with any of this?!”

The adults all looked to each other nervously, but no reply came from any of them. Berkley had a stern look on his face, mixed with some sort of guilt, and this was directed at Wolfe, who didn’t even look remotely sorry for his words, who was being glared at by Petra and Soleila, who were looking between their male colleagues and the girl who was giving them all accusing glances with her jaw clenched and her fists balled so tightly they were shaking and her fingernails were dangerously close to piercing four little cresent-shaped holes in each of her palms. No response came, however, and Faith just stormed off out of the room with the pocket watch clutched tightly in her hand. She’d heard enough and she didn’t want to be in that room any longer than need be.

She stormed through the house and out to a garden at the back of the house through a sort-of ballroom, eventually taking a seat on the edge of a huge, man-made pond with a fountain in the middle of it with her knees tucked to her chest. Tears began to well up in her eyes and Faith hid her face in her arms as she just let them fall. She’d had enough. She’d been sucked into a war, even if no one said that this was what it was, and now people were starting to say things about a father she never knew and a mother that she didn’t have. She didn’t care anymore- she was twelve, for god’s sake! Twelve years old and far from home with people suddenly saying all this stuff that didn’t make any sense and expecting her to suddenly be like this Oswin character. She didn’t even know who this Oswin was, let alone if he was really her father. My name is Faith Erin White, Faith told herself. My mother’s name is Catherine. My father was a firefighter and died saving people’s lives. I’m not a freak. I’m normal. I have a successful academic career ahead of me and it’s all going to be okay, Faith, it has to be, it has to be…! Faith’s tears came in rivers and she didn’t even bother to stop them. She needed this moment of weakness, if only for her own sake. She’d been through enough in the past week and she was in no mood to deal with any more of this insanity until she’d had a moment to get herself back together. 

10: Act Two: Angels in London, Chapter Three

An hour or so later, Faith had calmed down, but had decided against going back inside and sat by the pond to watch the koi fish that she had noticed were swimming around in it not too long ago. It had helped her mood a bit just to watch them and listen to the sounds around her and it reminded her of the Tianjin gardens back in Melbourne, but she was trying to forget everything, even home, at that moment in time. She didn’t want to think. Thinking was the enemy right now and it threatened to take apart the calm that she’d just built up around herself to keep the rest of humanity out. The adults were probably all still inside talking about their battle plans and strategies and stuff that she didn’t need to worry about. If the ‘bots and Charlie weren’t still on the Lostlight, she’d probably enjoy their company right about now, particularly Charlie’s since his cheerful canine personality had seemed to be able to remedy her darker moods before during the journey over to France.

The sound of footsteps soon broke the silence and a gloved hand hesitantly rested itself on Faith’s shoulder- she could tell it was Petra.

“You alright there, sugar?” She asked gently. Faith just looked at her for a moment before looking back at the fish. Petra sighed and took a seat in front of her with a small smile. “Ah know things must be pretty crazy for ya right now, bein’ so far from home an’ all that,” She explained, trying to be comforting. “An’ I’m sure that the Madame and Wolfe were just confusin’ ya fer’ someone else.” Faith looked up at Petra with a look that clearly expressed her doubt. “Ah know, Ah know. This whole thing’s scarin’ ya, yer’ miles from home and you’ve been sucked into somethin’ that you don’t understand- it’s okay to be angry if you think that’s how you should be feelin’ right now. Ah know it’s not the same as your situation, but ah know how you feel.” No response came from Faith, so Petra continued. “Ah became the Sheriff of Redpipe when I was eighteen years old. When they put that shiny star on my breast I thought my poor little heart was close to burstin’. I solved one problem and the whole town put me on a pedestal like some sort of hero when I was just doin’ my civic duty as any good man or woman would’ve done were they in my position.”

Faith gave her another doubtful look. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“I’m tellin’ you the truth. I know it ain’t the same thing, but I was just as scared as you are right now. Look, don’t let this stuff about Oswin bother you. I knew the man and I know he had a kid, but I don’t think that kid was you. It’s like I told Wolfe- we don’t know what happened to Oswin. Maybe he was captured, maybe he was killed and maybe the child died with ‘im. We don’t know these things and we can’t go a-jumpin’ to conclusions. It’s not gonna do anyone any good.” Petra stood up and held out her hand. “C’mon, let’s go back inside and we’ll talk somethin’ out. Please?” Faith looked at Petra’s outstretched hand and reluctantly took it as she pulled herself to her feet. She started to silently follow the Sheriff back inside the huge house, trailing not that far behind her as they wandered through the extravagant halls and back towards the sitting room, where only Soleila stood now, strangely enough, staring out the window. Petra cleared her throat and the eldest of the three women turned to face them with an apologetic smile.

“I apologise for earlier,” Faith said slowly, but a hand held itself up to reject it.

“I am the one who should apologise,” Said Soleila as she gestured for Faith to sit. “As Petra told us earlier, Monsieur Wolfe and I were jumping to conclusions far too early and it upset you. You have my sincerest apologies, mon cher.”

“Um…” Faith cleared her throat. “Thanks. Where is he, by the way? Did Berkley go with him?”

“Oui, back to the docking port.” Soleila made a rather graceful swish of her hand and, suddenly, a teapot appeared seemingly out of thin air along with some teacups. “It’s just us girls for now. Tea?”

“Please.” Faith gave a tired sigh as she sat down where Wolfe had been before and propped her head on her hand while Soleila poured her a cup of tea. French Earl Grey, from what the youngest of the three women could tell, and as much as she would have preferred a nice, steaming hot cup of oolong at that point in time, that wasn’t about to happen anytime soon and Faith was in no mood to be picky.

They all sat in silence as they drank, though Petra barely touched her tea. The Sheriff kept looking at Soleila like she expected the woman to say something relating to earlier while she stared into her cup almost impatiently. Faith noticed this and awkwardly rubbed her thumb against the rim of the cup, not knowing if she should even dare to bring up earlier, as much as it both frustrated and scared her to think about.

“Something on your mind, ladies?” Soleila asked, finally breaking the silence.

“I was thinkin’ about earlier,” Petra replied, setting down her cup at last. “Just what were you two talkin’ about before me an’ the others showed up?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Faith piped up. “Everyone’s been talking about this Oswin guy like I’m supposed to know who that is, and then earlier, Madame Soleila, you mentioned my mother, but you can’t have possibly known my mother if I’m from some one-hundred-odd years in the future.”

Soleila went quiet again, looking like this was some game of chess and she was considering her next move. “You reminded me of someone I used to know.”

“Nice try, but you recognised the pocket watch that Wolfe gave me.” Faith shifted a bit in her seat to get comfortable. “Why don’t you just tell me the truth?”

“I know that Oswin fled with a child,” Soleila explained carefully. “And its mother was an old friend of mine. I thought you were the child since you remind me so much of ‘er.”

“I doubt there’s been someone like me,” Faith huffed cynically. “I’d be kicked out of your fancy little inventors and adventurers only club in seconds if someone like me existed before.”

“You shouldn’t go sayin’ things like that.” Petra gave a sympathetic smile. “Yer’ still a kid and yer still findin’ yerself. Ya won’t be the way y’are forever.”

Faith’s sigh only prompted Soleila to speak up again. “Faith, cher…sometimes things are not always as they seem.”

“If you’re trying to say my mother’s been lying to me all these years,” Grumbled Faith. “Don’t.”

“I said nothing of the sort,” Was Soleila’s curt reply. “But maybe your father wasn’t a firefighter. Do you know his name?”

“Well…I…” Faith thought for a moment. “No…”

“’Ave you ever seen a photograph of ‘im?”

“N-no…” Faith shook her head. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m suddenly going to start thinking that this Oswin guy, as great as he sounds, is my long-lost father. That’s just ridiculous. If I had that mindset, then I would be calling every nice middle-aged man my Dad. You see where I’m going with this?”

There was silence before Soleila sighed and spoke again. “Why are you so negative? Don’t you ‘ave any dreams, Faith? A girl your age shouldn’t be ashamed of ‘aving ‘er ‘ead in the clouds every once in a while.”

“Only stupid little girls daydream.” Faith looked down into her teacup. “I’m too old for fantasies.”

“Who told ya that?” Asked Petra.

“A teacher I used to have,” Faith replied. “She was pretty strict, but that’s not a bad thing. It was the wake-up call I needed.”

“Sounds more like she robbed you of yer’ youthful wonder.” Petra smiled and leaned back a bit. “We all have those folk who tell ya to bring your head back down to Earth and get back to work, who tell ya that yer’ wrong for wantin’ to think of sand as pixie dust, or every mountain you see as ancient giants that are just sleepin’ ‘cuz they got so tired after they finished carvin’ out everything from the gulches to the valleys. Most of the time, those folk are the grown-ups who lost their sense of wonder a long time ago, and ya can’t let them take yer’ dreams away from ya. It’s our dreams that make us who we are.”

Faith actually considered those words, but she just shook her head and cast the thought aside. “How cliché.”

Faith expected Petra to get angry, but instead the Sheriff just sighed. “Ya grew up too fast, sugar.”

Faith would have said something, but she suddenly felt too guilty to speak. Soleila looked at her worriedly. “Faith, cher…” She chose her words carefully. “Per’aps, by the end of this, you will change your mind.”

“Or I’ll be dead.”

“Y-yes,” Soleila replied. “Or that. But we won’t let anything happen to you, won’t we, Sheriff?”

“Course not.”

Faith made no protest and instead just sipped at her tea to get rid of the lump in her throat. She was getting tired of this conversation. “What if my mother wasn’t telling me the whole truth?” She said slowly. “And if I am someone else’s daughter, why would I have been in the care of a woman from the twenty-first century?”

Petra shrugged. “Who knows? No one’s seen Oswin in a little over some nineteen years. His missus was killed not long before he went missin’.”

For some reason, that struck a chord somewhere in Faith’s mind. “That’s…too bad,” She said quietly before she took another sip of tea. “Did Berkley have something to do with it?”

“Of course not,” Soleila replied. “There was not many of us after Hollow’s initial attack, and tensions ran a bit higher than we thought. None of us could even be near each other without someone blaming someone else for something. But Cuthbert is not responsible for anything ‘e is accused of, I can assure you.”

“I see.” Faith took another sip of her tea. “Doesn’t mean I trust him, though. And I don’t trust any of you, either.”

Petra nodded. “I can see where yer’ comin’ from with that, sugar,” She remarked. “An’ I’d be surprised if you said otherwise, believe you me.”

“You really think I’m capable of being like you?” Faith asked, her tone more hopeful than she intended it to be. “Of inventing all this great stuff or having magic powers and stuff?”

Soleila chuckled. “I will admit you do have a certain…oh, je ne sais quois, but yes, I believe you are.”

Petra gave her a look. “Jay nay says what now?”

“Je ne sais quois,” Corrected Faith. “It means she doesn’t know how to describe it, or she just doesn’t know in general.”

“You speak French?” Asked Soleila.

“Not a lot,” Replied Faith. “Just enough to get around. So, what’s the plan?” Petra and Soleila gave her a shocked look. “Just because this isn’t my fight doesn’t mean I’m staying behind. I’d at least like to know what’s going to happen before we go running off to get killed.”

“We’re headin’ to London, then we’re gonna go lookin’ for Dorian,” Explained Petra.

“I just ‘ope my son ‘as not gotten himself killed.” Soleila gave a heavy sigh. “I love him as any mother would ‘er child, but ‘e drives me to the edge of my wits.”

†††

Night fell not long after Wolfe and Berkley returned and they all sat down to dine on roast pork, and dinner was eaten in silence with the occasional glance or glare shot across the table. Petra seemed to have lost her appetite, though, and barely touched her food. Faith just ate quietly, trying her best to not get too wrapped up in the fact that they were having the best roast pork she’d ever had and the temptation to just pig out on everything on her plate was almost too great to resist. She hadn’t noticed she was hungry until now, really, but then again, this was a welcome change from eating the galley grub on the Lostlight. She was privy to the occasional glances that Soleila would give her with that knowing smile.

“Enjoying yourself?” She asked, her tone only lightly teasing. Faith swallowed her mouthful and nodded at her perhaps a little too eagerly. Soleila just smiled and used her napkin to wipe away a stray bit of gravy that had somehow wound up on Faith’s cheek before she gave a smile and went back to her dinner.

“Don’t mother her,” Remarked Wolfe as he stabbed his fork into a chunk of meat. “She’s old enough to do that ‘erself.”

Soleila shot him a glare, but said nothing, and Faith just went back to her food, setting aside the crackling for last and moving onto the beans, potatoes and carrots. She didn’t even like carrots, but she would be damned if she just let anything on her plate go untouched. Berkley seemed a little more chatty and cheerful after he’d had a glass of wine or two, and soon, all of the adults were laughing and reminiscing, talking about their old adventures and the friends that were no longer with them, and eventually Oswin came up and Faith just sat to listen for a while as Wolfe recounted an adventure he’d had with the man in Constantinople while trying to ‘borrow’ something that the Ottoman military should not have had their paws on. He told them how they scrambled and ran like startled mice as Oswin brought the stone lions surrounding the barracks to life and turned them on the soldiers as they cried witchcraft and tripped over each other trying to get away while Wolfe, Oswin and the Lostlight’s crew made off with their prize. For some reason, Faith felt proud to know that this Oswin guy was so brave and cunning and the fact that he could send the armies of one of the most powerful empires of the era running scared made her feel even more so.

As Faith was guided to her room by the manservant that the group had met when they arrived here that morning, she stopped in front of a painting of a young man with strikingly handsome features and silver eyes. “Who is this?” She asked the manservant.

“That is Dorian, my mistress’ son,” Replied the manservant.  “‘e ran away two years ago.”

Faith hummed thoughtfully. “You think he’s still in London, like Soleila said?”

“I think so,” Said the manservant. “The butler tells me ‘e ‘as never been the type to stay in one place if there is not a good reason to do otherwise.”

“But London’s been pretty quiet, right?”

“Crime has increased, but not that much.” The manservant began to laugh a bit. “Why so many questions, mademoiselle?”

“Just wanted someone else’s opinion on the situation.” Faith sighed. “My room’s the next one on the left, right?”

“Oui, Mademoiselle.”

“Thanks.” And Faith walked ahead of him, effectively ending the conversation. Maybe this era wasn’t so bad, she thought to herself; at least the people had some good heads on them. The 1890’s were a time of revolutionary thinking and invention- maybe she’d get to have a look around London when they got there and see it all for herself.

When she came to the door of her assigned room, Faith turned the handle and pushed it open, admiring the grandeur of the interior, from the floral wallpaper to the huge four-poster double bed in the middle of the room. It looked too comfy to resist, and Faith was still pretty stiff from having slept in a hammock for nearly a week, so she walked over to the bed, took off her shoes and just flopped down on the mattress with a contented sigh. Finally, a decent bed. She could worry about everything else in the morning; with a full stomach and a back that demanded more luxurious comfort for her aching spinal column, Faith happily drifted off into sleep.

11: Act Two: Angels in London, Chapter Four

As much as the luxuries of Madame Soleila’s mansion almost begged Faith to stay, if only for the hot morning bath and the breakfasts in bed, the group had to get a move on if they were to get to London before the day was out. Luckily, Faith wouldn’t have to sleep in a hammock again, since France and England are so close to each other, and she was happy to see Charlie and the ‘bots again.

The skies of London were grey, as usual, and there was already a light downpour as the Lostlight came to rest at the docking station. Faith never really minded the rain, but it was just where in London they were going that was her only question at the time. Solemn looks crossed the faces of her companions as they walked through the city streets, avoiding the eyes of the people they passed who gave them looks and whispered among themselves. They’d had to leave Charlie and the ‘bots back on the ship since there had recently been an anti-automaton movement that had sparked a riot some days ago over jobs being taken away by robots and machines; to bring the ‘bots with them would be asking for trouble, and it wasn’t what they all wanted right now.

Petra had told Faith as they disembarked from the Lostlight to stay close and keep her head down, but even though she tried, Faith kept looking around and watching the people and the buildings they passed to avoid the feeling that this was starting to feel a bit like a funerary procession, nix the coffin and the hearse. They marched in a close group through to an alleyway between two houses somewhere in Westminster and stopped there once they were all shrouded in shadow.

“Were we followed?” Asked Berkley.

“No, not that ah could tell,” Replied Petra, her hand coming to rest uneasily over one of her holsters.

“Good.” Berkley turned towards the wall and felt about until his hand came to rest on one of the bricks, then gave it a gentle push. Glowing sigils suddenly formed on the bricks in an arch-shape as the bricks began to shift and seemingly just fade out of existence to form a doorway. The adults all began to walk through it with Faith tailing behind them into a dark corridor that once again covered them all in darkness when the bricks suddenly shifted back into their original positions, but a candle-like glow soon illuminated the faces of the people gathered together from a ball of flame that had gathered in Wolfe’s hand.

Faith’s eyes widened. “Woah.”

“Nothin’ ‘woah’ about it,” Grumbled Wolfe. “I don’t like usin’ it. Learnin’ to control this makes travellin’ easier. Can’t ‘ave a captain who burns up ‘is own ship, after all.”

They walked for what seemed like ages in complete silence before Faith broke it again with another question. “Where are we?”

“Nowhere, and yet, just where we need to be,” Was Soleila’s reply.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Soleila hummed thoughtfully. “’ow do I explain this…This is a tunnel of sorts that does not exist, and yet it does. Almost like a secret door.”

“And where does it end?”

“When we are where we need to be.”

Faith sighed. “So basically it’s a door to nowhere.”

“Not entirely,” Wolfe interjected. “It’s the most basic of spells we learn in the Order. You just walk for a while and you’ll be where you need to in a minute or two, as long as it’s somewhere you know.”

Faith nodded. That was certainly interesting. “Can you travel across countries with it?”

“Most of the time you’ll be needin’ an Ætherial door for that, youngblood,” Chuckled Wolfe. “It’s just a basic quick exit spell, you won’t get far.”

Oh well, Faith thought with a shrug. At least I asked.

Suddenly, another doorway appeared in front of them some several metres away and the group walked through it to find a huge foyer that looked like there’d been a massacre here. Bodies reduced to little more than skeletons by years of decay, some still in their now moth-eaten clothes were strung about amongst debris and some slung over the bannister of the grand staircases that lead up to another floor. Bladed weapons were still lodged in walls, unique-looking firearms lay abandoned on the cracked marble floor and the dark marks where blood had stained the old curtains and paintings still remained. Faith cowered behind Petra and Soleila with a sharp gasp and gulped down a lump in her throat.

“I still can’t believe we all just left ‘em to rot here,” Sighed Wolfe. “What a day that was.”

Berkley was quiet before he decided to lead on, stepping gingerly over the body of someone who looked almost like a soldier in his charred uniform and armour. The others did the same, save for Faith, who sort of awkwardly stepped around it, trying not to look into the hollow eye-sockets of the skull, whose lower jaw was still hanging limp as if the man had died screaming.

“What…what happened here?” She squeaked.

“Hollow,” Came Petra’s solemn reply as she hung back a bit to walk beside the younger woman. “Hollow happened. He came in with his Husks an’…” She gave a sad sigh. “Next thing we knew everyone was headin’ for their way out and a lot of people were dyin’.”

“We weren’t to blame, Petra,” Berkley told her.

“Ah know, ah know.” Petra drew her pistols and held them at the ready. “Just wish there was more we could’a done to stop this.”

Soleila just sighed. “We all could have done more.”

Wolfe gave a cynical huff of laughter. “Yeah, like puttin’ Hollow down the second we realised he’d lost the plot.”

“What did Oswin do? When this happened, that is.” Faith’s hand soon found the pocket watch and she clutched it like a lifeline, as if it was somehow supposed to make her feel braver.

“He was with his wife,” Explained Soleila. “Neither of them were anywhere near here and word got out to them perhaps a bit too late.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Berkley cut them off as they entered a huge room with a large Æthersphere in the middle of it that gave off a dim glow, as if it was losing power, its rings having long since ceased their rhythmic rotations. “We can begin again. The Order can be reforged.”

“Are y’all sure that’s a good idea, Professor?” Petra stepped over to the man with a stern expression on her face. “Ah mean, it’s a nice thought an’ all, but yer’ forgettin’ that there ain’t that many of us left. Fer’ all we know, we may be the last ones left- ya did say that Hollow was huntin’ the survivors.”

“The others will know what is happening here soon enough.” Berkley walked towards the Æthersphere and placed his hand against the glass. “They will come, and in time we will all stand strong once more and right the atrocities that Hollow has committed.”

“And that will come in time as well,” Soleila told him. “Cuthbert, we cannot…not ‘ere. It would be like dancing on the graves of our fallen friends- literally! All those poor souls out there, do you really think they would approve of this?”

“I hate to disagree with ya, Madame,” Wolfe said as he joined Berkley in placing his hand on the Æthersphere. “But we all swore an oath to do all we could to keep the Order standing strong. Without it, we risk everything humanity ‘as to gain from what we stand for.”

Petra sighed as she holstered her pistols and walked over to join the others, ungloving her hand and placing it on the glass. “When I became Sheriff, I swore I’d protect the people of Redpipe. This place is a lil’ out of my jurisdiction, but Wolfe ain’t wrong. We can’t risk Hollow spreadin’ his madness to the rest of the world now that he’s active again.”

Soleila looked from them, then to Faith, who just gave a shrug, before she sighed. “Very well, then.” She walked over to join the others and placed her hand on the glass. The four of them closed their eyes and Faith watched in awe as their fingertips began to glow, seemingly feeding power into the sphere. Slowly, its dim glow began to brighten, and soon, the adults took their hands away as the rings around it began to rotate once more and Æther began to feed into the glass cables running through the room and branching off into the ones on the walls. Soon, the whole place was illuminated by it, and the adults gave each other a proud look.

“It is done,” Said Berkley, seemingly out of breath. “The Order has been reborn.”

†††

The group agreed to keep their operations based solely in just this room, which Faith supposed now was some sort of generator room, and for now, it had fallen to Soleila to teach Faith how to make her own ‘quick exit’, as she remembered Wolfe putting it, while the others returned to the Lostlight by way of their own ‘nothing door’.

“With all due respect, Madame Soleila…what if I can’t do this?” Faith asked. “I mean, I’ve never believed in magic. What if that has some sort of effect on my ability to do the spell?”

“Petra said the same thing to me when I taught her how to do this,” Chuckled Soleila. “And it ‘ad no effect on ‘er ability, nor did it have an effect on anyone else who I taught this spell to. I am quite confident that you will be able to perform this spell just as well as everyone else.”

Faith took a deep breath and shook out her arms. “Okay, so what do I do?”

“Picture in your mind somewhere in London that you know,” Instructed Soleila. “Make sure you have a clear idea of it.”

“Isn’t that a bit far?” Asked Faith, but when Soleila gave her that knowing smile, she just sighed and shut her eyes, picturing in her mind the bridge near the Parliament Building that she had seen so many times in photographs, cartoons and television shows. It was easy enough to think of and to think of herself standing on that bridge overlooking the river Thames. “Okay, I think I’ve got it.”

“Tres bien. Now, place your hand against the wall.” Soleila helped Faith to place her hand against the wall next to them and took a step back. “Now, you must will yourself to be there. Picture yourself not trying to move the bricks aside, but instead pushing yourself through them.”

It took some time, but eventually, Faith finally heard the sound of bricks shifting and she opened her eyes to see that there was suddenly a dark doorway in front of her. She felt immensely proud of herself and laughed triumphantly, forgetting for a moment that she didn’t really believe in this sort of stuff. “I did it!” She cheered. “I…! I can actually do magic! This is insane!”

Soleila just kept that knowing smile. “I never had a doubt that you would be unable to achieve this. This is a very basic spell, almost anyone can do it.” She thought for a moment. “Well, only under certain circumstances, that is. You ‘ave ‘ad your awakening, you see.”

“Awakening?” Questioned Faith.

“Your eyes, mon cher.”

“Oh. That.” Faith’s attention went back to the door and she shifted awkwardly on her feet. “So, what do I do now?”

“Follow it,” Replied Soleila. “And when you get there, just try it again and instead picture me. You’ll find your way back easily enough.”

Faith nodded and gave the woman a lopsided smile. “Wish me luck.”

“You won’t need it,” Giggled the taller woman. “But do be careful, yes?”

“Sure thing.” Faith gave the woman a smile and walked through the archway, jumping slightly when she heard the bricks shift behind her to shut off the dim blue light she had been standing in seconds ago. Fearing what would happen if she turned back, Faith kept going, walking blindly through the darkness. She could feel no solid wall on either side of her and the only sounds she could hear was her own breathing and her own footsteps, though she could feel no floor beneath her feet.

It was a rather queer feeling, really, the feeling of walking on nothing. There was no wind against Faith’s face as she walked, so she had no idea whether or not she was going in the right direction. Had anyone ever been lost while doing this spell before? Soleila hadn’t exactly gone over any safety procedures before they started, but then again it was almost- almost- a welcome reprieve from having to continuously go over occupational health and safety in her technology classes at school.

Soon, a doorway appeared up ahead and she walked towards it. As soon as she was through, the bricks shifted back into place and she was standing outside the Parliament building. She could see people bustling past as if nothing was wrong, hansom cabs clattering by with an accompaniment of the hooves of the horses that drew them against the cobblestone, and she could hear the bells of Big Ben somewhere in the distance. Cautiously, she stepped away from the wall that used to be a doorway and began to walk towards the bridge at a leisurely pace. Sure she had places to be, but surely there was no shame in taking a quick look around before any of that had to happen. Tucking a stray lock of hair behind her hair, Faith stuck her hands in her pockets and walked towards the bridge, paying a couple of well-dressed gentlemen a smile as she passed them and exchanging a ‘good morning’ with another man who passed her by. Somewhere in the distance, she could see the beginnings of the Tower Bridge, all wrapped up in scaffolding and either end just barely touching the other. Just as it was in Paris, it was definitely strange to see London without the Tower Bridge or the Shard, or the London Eye, but right now, Faith didn’t really mind.

She walked and walked until she found herself coming through a high street, and she marvelled at the goods displayed in the shop windows- dresses, fine china, bread, cakes, meat- she even spied a bookstore that she made a quick mental note to visit the next chance she got. The high street was pretty busy today, and she saw quite a few cab drivers who already looked so tired from having to load up the boxes full of whatever their masters or mistresses had bought- Faith had to fight very hard to keep back a giggle. She found a shilling in the gutter and cleaned it off on her pants before she gave it to a newspaper vendor in return for a newspaper and went on her way looking at the headlines.

Soon, she decided it was time to head back and tucked her newspaper into the waistband of her pants as she ducked into an alleyway, making a note that she would definitely come back here another time to get a better look at things. She walked over to a wall and began to picture Soleila’s image in her mind, along with the ‘generator room’ with all its glass cables. Just as she had the image in her head and she was about to place her hand against the wall, Faith suddenly found herself interrupted.

“Leaving so soon?” Came a voice. Faith snapped open her eyes and looked out at the entrance of the alleyway. A young man, some several years older than Faith was and wearing a long trenchcoat stood maybe a few metres away from her, looking her up and down with striking silver eyes and a charming grin. “So sorry to startle you, Madam. I saw you out in the street and I thought to myself that perhaps you’d like someone to show you around.”

“Who are you?” Asked Faith, taking a step back.

“A friend,” The stranger replied with a shrug. “And considering that someone like you is here, then my dear mother must be here, too.” He took a few more steps forward and gave a bow as he took Faith’s hand. “My name is Dorian Hollow. Might I have the pleasure of knowing yours?”

He would have kissed Faith’s hand had she not quickly taken it back. “Faith White,” She replied curtly.

“Really?” Chuckled Dorian. “Because I think that’s not your real name. I never forget a face.”

Faith scowled at him. “I think you have me mistaken for someone else.”

“Oh, quite the contrary, really.” Dorian slung an arm around Faith all of a sudden and began to lead her out of the alleyway. “But more on that later, I should think. For now, I think you and I should go have a look around, do whatever looks fun to you.”

Faith started trying to politely remove herself from under Dorian’s arm. “Actually, I think I’d rather just go home.”

“Oh, come now, what harm could come of it?” Dorian brought Faith a little closer to himself. “There’s a lovely little coffee shop I’ve become quite fond of and I’ve been dying for someone to share a cup with.” Faith would have protested again, but suddenly there were screams and explosions from the high street. The two looked at each other with shock. “Perhaps another time?”

“Indeed.”

12: Act Two: Angels in London, Chapter Five

Dorian and Faith raced out of the alleyway towards the source of the noise, shoving their way through the scrambling crowd that was quickly filling the high street to escape from the explosions behind them. Debris flew everywhere and crushed the panicked citizens- one man Faith passed was knocked down and trapped under a girder that had once been part of a building and she would have helped him had a Striderclaw not pounced on the man from out of nowhere, but before it had a chance to bite down on the man’s head, there was a gunshot and the thing dropped dead. Faith looked around, expecting to see Petra somewhere, but instead it was Dorian who had fired the shot, still holding the smoking revolver as he pulled a sword from inside his coat and slashed the next Striderclaw that tried to take a chomp out of him.

An inhuman cry pierced the air and the pained, dying cries of horses and men echoed out through the high street. Faith tried to peek over the crowds and saw more dinosaurs joining the Striderclaws; Parasaurolophus, just as pale as the Striderclaws, with huge blades mounted on their heads that extended over them by some three metres that they swung around, cutting down men, horses and cabs. The Husks marching along behind them had already cut down a score and a half of police officers who had tried to shoot them down and Faith was starting to consider running when a horse pulled up next to her with Dorian astride it. He held out his hand with a smirk.

“Climb on up, M’lady.” Faith scowled at him, but took his hand and was helped into the saddle before they rode into the fray, Dorian slashing and shooting any Husk or dinosaur that tried to come at them. “First Paris, then London,” He mused in between swinging his sabre around. “Looks like my father’s been busy!”

“I’ll say! You should’ve seen what he did to my time!” This time, Faith remembered the pistol Berkley had given her and aimed it at a Striderclaw that was charging towards them and pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the pale reptile between the eyes, but the gun bucked violently in Faith’s hand and she almost fell out of the saddle with a panicked cry.

Dorian had to laugh. “I should think you need more practice!”

“And I should think you need to SHUT UP!”

Dorian kept laughing, even as he took the head off of another Husk. The wires in its next sparked with red arcs of electricity before it simply fell forwards with a heavy, metallic thunk. As they rode on, the remaining Husks began to mount the Striderclaws and the Parasaurolophus and started following Dorian and Faith. “We’ll lead them away,” Said Dorian. “We’ll send them over the bridge- not even a Sicklehead could survive it!” Faith hung on tight to Dorian’s middle as they raced through the streets of London towards the still incomplete Tower Bridge with their pursuers hot on their tails. She took a few wild potshots at any Striderclaw that got too close and kicked another in the face when it got too close to the side.

“They’re gaining on us!”

“I’m aware!”

“We’re not gonna make it!”

“Yes, we are!!”

Soon, the bridge came into view. The gap between the two ends was still far too wide and the scaffolding far too weak to support them all, and Faith felt a stone drop in her gut and fill her with fear the closer and closer they got to the gap. Dorian dug his heels into the horse’s flank and gave her a grin. “Hang on!”

Just as the dinosaurs and their Husk riders had only started to catch up, the horse made a great leap across the weak scaffolding just as it had started to collapse under the stampede they had been running from, bits of brick, wood, mortar and steel falling with the shrieking saurians into the dark and dirty waters of the Thames. The horse’s heavy hooves clattered as it made an astoundingly and seemingly impossible safe landing onto the other side and did not stop galloping until it was back on the cobblestone road, where Dorian pulled it to a stop and broke into a laugh as he dismounted. Faith almost fell out of the saddle and landed on her backside the second her feet touched the ground. Soon, she got her balance and kicked Dorian’s shin as soon as she could stand properly.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” She snapped at him. “We could have been killed!”

Dorian scowled at her. “Excuse you,” He snapped back at her. “I just saved your life! If I were you, I’d be a little more thankful!”

“Thankful?! Everything was just fine until you showed up, you creep!”

Dorian suddenly grabbed Faith by the front of her blouse where it was not covered by her vest and looked like he was about to really let her have it when the two could suddenly hear police sirens quickly approaching. He let go and pushed her behind him. “Get out of here,” He told her sharply. “Wouldn’t want to get arrested on your first day in London, would you?”

“What about you?” Asked Faith.

“I’ve broken out of jail cells before.” Dorian gave her a smirk. “This won’t be any different.”

Faith sighed, deciding it was better not to try and convince him otherwise. He seemed sure enough of himself, though Faith was still uncertain, so she decided to make a run for it and dashed behind the corner of a building, but she stuck out her head to watch as Dorian peacefully gave himself up to Scotland Yard as the police officers slapped shackles on his wrists. “Is this really necessary, gentlemen?” He asked smoothly. “I’m not going to start a row, seeing as I’ve just come out of one and saved London all over again.”

“Your activities are unsanctioned by the crown, Archangel,” Spat one among them, a rat-faced man in a bowler hat who only stood a foot shorter than Dorian. “Your vigilante nonsense ends here.”

“You can try, Inspector,” Dorian rebutted with a grin. “But you’ve never been able to hold me for long.”

“Not this time,” Said the Inspector. “Take him away, boys.”

Dorian was shoved into the back of a cab with barred windows and it drove away with two burly-looking officers at the reins. Faith wondered if she should go and explain what happened, but that thought was immediately overruled when she noticed the Inspector’s face turning to look her way and she ducked back behind the corner at the last minute, but it was a moment too late, and the Inspector had already called out and alerted the remaining officers. Faith quickly pictured Soleila in her mind, still standing in the ‘generator room’ and slapped her palm against a wall, thankful when the doorway opened and shut behind her the second she was through, much to the bewilderment of the Inspector and the other officers who found only an empty alleyway when they finally arrived.

†††

The second Faith reappeared in the generator room, she was greeted with a sudden weight on her shoulder and gave a startled cry before she realised it was just Isabella come to take her usual perch upon her shoulder. The others must be back by now, she thought with a sigh as she gave Isabella’s chin a gentle rub with her knuckle.

“You’ve been gone a long while, youngblood.” Faith looked up to see Wolfe walking towards her. “Heard there was a ruckus in town a little while ago. You weren’t part of that, were you?”

“In a sense,” Faith replied breathlessly. “I found Dorian while I was out, too. Where is everyone?”

“In the foyer,” Replied Wolfe. “We had to do a little, uh…’housekeeping’.”

“Good, I’ll explain what happened.”

The two walked out to the foyer, where the room had been lit by the torches and chandelier hanging from the ceiling- no doubt that was Wolfe’s work. Berkley, Petra and Soleila, joined by Springer, Sprocket and Smokestack, were all busy taking down portraits of those who had been part of the Order, save for their own, when Faith and Wolfe entered the room, and Isabella flapped off to take her perch upon a banister. Charlie, who had been sitting obediently near a few crates of ammunition, noticed Faith and ran over to her excitedly with a saurian version of a bark. Faith beamed and knelt down to greet him, giving him a scratch under the chin. “Yeah, I know, Charlie boy,” She chuckled. “I missed you, too.”

Springer was next to race over and scoop the girl up in an almost bone-crushing hug and didn’t let go until Sprocket called him off. Berkley took notice and walked over. “Where have you been?” He asked.

“Oh, you know,” Faith said with a shrug. “Out on the town, wandering the high street, running from more dinosaurs with Soleila’s son.”

“Dorian?” Soleila soon joined them with a hopeful expression. “Where is he? Where is my son?”

“Well, it was like this, you see…” Faith began to recount the events from earlier, from her casual little stroll down the high street to Dorian being arrested. “…I was going to tell him to come with me, but he looked like he knew what he was doing.”

Soleila sighed tiredly. “That son of mine. Dorian has always been too sure of himself for his own good.”

“He told the police he’d just bust out of jail,” Faith added, hoping that her words would be somewhat helpful. “I mean, if we were lucky to make an escape like that, then surely he’ll be fine, right?”

“Have you even been readin’ the papers?” Chuckled Wolfe. “Turns out the brat’s been embarrassin’ the Yardies for the past couple of years since he started this vigilante job under the name ‘Archangel’. They’re bound to have found a way to keep him locked up by now.”

“How original. Well, why don’t we go break him out?” Faith suggested. “Petra can go in since she’s technically a policewoman and say she needs him for some reason or another. I mean, it’s not like they’re going to hang him. He’d just be an annoyance to the Yard, right?”

“Vigilante-types act outside of the law, sugar,” Petra corrected her. “They take the law into their own hands, sometimes they even kill to do so, and when they do, innocent people almost always get hurt.”

“But we have to help him, right? What if Hollow gets to him first?”

“She’s right,” Soleila agreed. “Hollow will want to take Dorian for himself- it’s too dangerous to just leave him with the police. It would still fall in line with our plans if we there to save Dorian and corner Hollow in the act at the same time.”

Wolfe thought this over before giving a slow nod. “Aye, that’s true.”

“What if he has reinforcements?” Asked Berkley. “Faith said so herself, it’s not just Striderclaws and Terrorgliders anymore. What next after the Sickleheads? Hammers? Tyrants?”

“If ah remember correctly,” Said Petra. “We had a damn good time takin’ down the last Tyrants we all ran into.”

“We were all almost killed that day,” Berkley growled back at her.

“But we all got out alive, didn’t we?” Wolfe gave a grin. “’Sides, the Lostlight’s still got a lot of bloody holes in it from where those Terrorgliders gave us trouble. Someone’s gotta pay for damages.”

“I’m almost not surprised that your insurance doesn’t cover dinosaurs.” This earned Faith an odd look from Wolfe, while Petra burst out laughing.

Berkley gave a heavy sigh with a thoughtful look on his face, weighing up what they stood to lose and what they stood to gain. “Very well. We’ll wait until tomorrow’s evening paper to see what the courts have decided if Dorian hasn’t broken out by then.”

“Which he will, right?” Asked Faith.

“Keep tellin’ yerself that, youngblood,” Said Wolfe as he passed her by with a pat on her shoulder. “Keep telling yerself that.”

 

†††

Faith snuck out the next day while the adults were all busy, deciding that she felt like another stroll out in the city to see if there had been any other incidents beside the one she and Dorian had been in yesterday. The high street’s road had been cleared of debris, but shop windows had been boarded up with signs hung from the doors saying ‘CLOSED’ and passers-by gossiping about what had happened. “I heard that vigilante was right in the middle of it,” Said one. “Pulled a young man up on a horse and rode off- the Tower Bridge will take months before it’s done now!” Said another, and Faith felt rather insulted. Sure she wasn’t as lucky as other young girls her age to have experienced most of the physical changes of adolescence just yet, but to call her a boy because of her short hair and flat chest was just downright rude. Nonetheless, she kept her head down and avoided the eyes of the people she passed. Better she kept to herself, she had decided.

This time, however, she did have a little bit of money that Wolfe had thrown at her before she left, and she had decided to buy a small bag of sweets to eat while she sat down in Hyde Park to read a copy of the latest edition of the Strand Magazine. She had gotten halfway through reading one of Conan-Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories that had been published when a little voice piped up out of nowhere.

“Do you think he’s real?”

Faith looked up from the magazine to see a scruffy-looking six-year-old boy with dark hair and brown eyes looking up at her and pushed the boiled sweet she’d been suckling into her cheek with her tonuge.

“Do I think who’s real?” Faith asked him.

“Sherlock ‘olmes,” The little boy replied. “There can’t be anyone else like ‘im in the whole world, so ‘e’s got to be real, that’s what I reckon.”

Faith looked this kid over and found herself smiling a bit at the young, rosy-cheeked lad’s naïveté. “Well, Doctor Watson certainly makes him out to be real enough,” She said warmly. “He may seem cold- and there are a lot of cold people out there- but they’re just as human as you or me.” She patted the space beside her invitingly. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Colin,” Her young friend said with a smile. “What’s yours?”

“Faith,” Said Faith, holding out her hand. “You wanna help me finish off these sweets and I’ll read to you. How does that sound?”

So she sat for a while and read to Colin while the two of them ate sweets. Faith had never felt that, as an only child, she would ever want or need a sibling, and normally couldn’t stand people, but she did have a soft spot for young, bright-eyed children like this one sitting next to her and grinning up at her with his two front teeth missing from that cheerful smile. She may be a realist, but when it came to young children, she always felt the need to listen to whatever fantastical (albeit impossible) idea they wanted to share.

Eventually Colin had to leave when his brother, Jack, who was maybe about Faith’s age, came and collected him, and so Faith sent him off with a fond goodbye and a pocket full of the sweets they hadn’t eaten, then wandered back off into the city streets with her magazine rolled up and tucked away in her pocket. She turned down Baker Street and headed towards a couple of young men selling newspapers, thinking it best to get the paper to see what was happening with Dorian, but what they cried out made her heart sink to her stomach.

“Read all about it! Vigilante to face the gallows tomorrow evening!”

Faith quickly snatched one up, leaving some coin for the vendors and dashed into the closest alleyway, then opened up a doorway and made a run for it back to headquarters. She came through panting and breathless just as the others had come back from who-knows-where and held up the newspaper.

“I just got the paper!” She cried out to her astonished comrades. “They’re going to hang Dorian at sunset tomorrow!”

13: Act Two: Angels in London, Chapter Six

“Now you just hold on a second there, sugar,” Said Petra as she took the newspaper from Faith. She opened it to the article explaining the headlines and gave it a quick scan-through. “Oh. That’s definitely a bad thing.” She handed the newspaper to Berkley, and the man just stood in silence as he read through it.

“‘Guilty of murder’,” He read out, his tone quite unsurprised. “I had a feeling this would be the case.”

Wolfe gave a sharp hmph in reply. “Not surprised. Bloody yardies, can’t be thankful that the kid’s been doin’ ‘em a favour.”

“Who cares?!” Faith objected. “We have to go after him!”

“I agree,” Soleila added nervously, her voice full of concern. “There is a good chance that Hollow will have somehow found out what’s happening. We need to act now--!”

Berkley held up a hand to stop her. “We have until sunset tomorrow. I understand that Dorian is your son, but you’re allowing your motherly instinct to cloud your rationality.”

“Yeah, like that totally wasn’t sexist,” Faith rebutted sharply. “We don’t know if Hollow’s already on the move or not! Word would have gotten to him by now one way or another and we could already be out of time!”

“For once, I’m agreein’ with the youngblood.” Wolfe crossed his arms, Isabella shifting her weight on where she was perched on his shoulder. “We can’t afford to sit on our ‘ands anymore. The sooner we end this, the better.”

Berkley sighed. “Then what do you propose, Tiberius?” He asked. “That we just storm Scotland Yard tonight and risk having the police looking for us? That would mean more civilian casualties, more people against us than necessary.”

“I never said anythin’ about stormin’ the joint, old man,” Wolfe grinned. “We send in a scout, get ourselves a man on the inside to find the lad and break him out all sneaky-like.”

“And if that don’t work?” Asked Petra. “Ah can’t go breakin’ ‘im out without some kinda fancy warrant signed by the Prime Minister or the Queen or somethin’ sayin’ that I’m allowed.”

“I never said we were gonna be sendin’ you, Sherriff.” Wolfe relaxed his posture and set his hand on his hip. “I know someone who’s more than willin’ to be doin’ our dirty work on the inside. Isabella can deliver messages easy enough; wouldn’t be the first time, eh, love?” He gave the barn owl an affectionate pat.

“Then get her to your man on the inside,” Ordered Berkley. “Offer whatever he wants. Money if you have it.”

“In the meantime, I could go,” Faith suggested. All eyes were on her now. “What? I was just thinking I could pose as a family member, like his little sister or something. I might be able to help.”

Petra shrugged. “Sounds crazy enough to work.”

“And yet, still too risky.” Soleila gave a tired sigh and sat down on a crate. “If they catch you, Faith, then you’ll be sent to the gallows as well.”

Faith gave a nervous gulp. “They wouldn’t, would they?” She asked. “I’m twelve, they wouldn’t send a twelve-year-old girl to the gallows, surely not.”

“They wouldn’t,” Wolfe replied. “Kids your age don’t get hanged no more.”

“Somehow I still don’t find that any bit reassuring.”

“Enough, all of you,” Berkley cut in sharply. “Faith, you’re staying here. We’re going with Wolfe’s plan.”

Wolfe smirked. “I’ll be off, then?”

“Be quick about it.”

The younger man gave a half-hearted, mocking salute and walked off, disappearing through a ‘nothing door’.

“I don’t like this,” Sighed Petra. “This is startin’ to smell a lot like a trap.”

Berkley shrugged tiredly. “What other choice do we have, Petra?” He asked. “It’s just…once more into the brink, as always.”

“And always will be,” Finished Soleila, seemingly lost in some sort of nostalgic haze. Faith wished she knew what they meant by that; so far, anything said so far only told her that they were about to run off to get themselves killed.

†††

Faith was almost unsurprised to find herself sleeping in a hammock again, even if they weren’t on the Lostlight anymore. She’d spent the previous night curled up on a bunch of empty crates she’d organised into a suitable excuse for a bed while using a tattered curtain as a blanket, and considering the twinge she’d had in her lower back all day she far preferred sleeping awkwardly on her side and falling out of the hammock in the morning to waking up three times in the middle of the night because one of the crates had shifted out of position for the umpteenth time. She could hear Charlie’s soft, canine snoring from underneath the hammock and felt jealous of the tiny triceratops- at least he was getting some sleep, she’d been up half the whole night trying to get herself to sink into some sort of peaceful slumber, but thoughts crowded her mind and made it hard to think about sleeping; too many ‘what if’s and ‘but’s clouding her thoughts. For the sixth time in that hour, Faith sighed.

She dug her hand into her pocket and brought out the pocket watch, holding it up to her face. The room was dimly lit to the point where it might as well have been pitch black, but the wan glow of the glass tubes and the Æther essence flowing through it brought an almost soothing neon glow, and it faintly illuminated the engraved surface of the pocket watch, along with the scratches and scores and dents. Faith ran her fingers over it, feeling for the latch to open it. She couldn’t hear any ticking coming from it, though she could feel the gentle tap, tap, tap through the sliver plating that usually meant something was ticking inside of it. Watches always ticked- well, save the digital sort, they just sort of beeped incessantly every hour- so why didn’t this one? Eventually, Faith’s fingers came to rest over a button, and she pressed down on it. The lid came open with a soft click, and her face was suddenly illuminated by the soft glow from a ring of what seemed to be Æther that encircled the clock-face. Glued to the inside of the lid was a photograph of a woman Faith should not have been able to recognise so easily- it was her Spanish lady, and engraved into the lid beside it were the words, “Por Oswin; con amor, Isadora”.

“Isadora…?” Faith whispered. “So that’s your name?” She smiled. At least she could put a name to a face now, and any name she was tempted to give her just didn’t seem to fit. She must have loved Oswin very much to have given him such a pretty timepiece. Suddenly, Faith was starting to feel sleepy, and she allowed her eyes to close.

†††

Night had fallen over the garden, and people had gathered in the main courtyard to sing and dance and enjoy the grand feast laid out for them. Red, orange and gold lanterns were hung up on strings connecting between the trellises and the balcony above the gathered party guests, who called out to Faith as she skipped towards them. “Senorita!” They called. “Come and eat! Come and dance with us!”

Faith was practically skipping through the archways towards the table, doing a few twirls on the spot in time with the music. She laughed as an old man with a kindly face spun her around before he passed her on to the other men and women, who she spent some sort moments dancing with before she was finally at the head of the table and hand-in-hand with her Spanish Lady. “Am I late, Isadora?” She asked. Isadora looked surprised, but smiled nonetheless and shook her head as she sat her down.

“You’re right on time, mi amor.” Her smile was genuinely happy this time. “Feliz cumpleaños, my darling.”

The collective party guests raised their cups and cheered. “Feliz cumpleaños!”

†††

Faith woke in some early hours of the morning and sat up as best she could without rocking the hammock too much. She’d almost forgotten it was her birthday. In the middle of this whole ‘stopping a megalomaniac from destroying the world’ thing that she’d been so busy with, she’d forgotten that today was her special day, the day that was all about her, the day for birthday breakfast bacon and cake and presents and marathons of Sherlock Holmes over Chai lattes and coffee cakes, but today was going to be all about saving Dorian and hopefully being able to stop Hollow and his forces. Holding up the pocket watch, Faith smiled sadly. “Happy Thirteenth Birthday, Faith,” She sighed, but her smile soon dropped into a scowl and she laid back in bed to try and hide the fact that she was about to cry. “And you don’t even have a family or any friends to celebrate it with.” Tears eventually started to fall, though Faith didn’t dare to make a sound, didn’t dare to sob and risk waking someone. Only babies and small children were allowed to cry, not teenagers. She was thirteen now. That meant no more crying, even if you’d discovered that maybe you’ve been lied to your whole life about who you really are and your real parents are probably dead and you wake up on your thirteenth birthday with no one to celebrate it with when it was such a big moment to wake up to your first day of being a teenager and you realise that no one’s going to bring you a hot cup of oolong tea and a plate of pancakes and bacon on a tray while singing ‘Happy Birthday’.

“Faith?”

Faith sat up to find Madame Soleila standing in the doorway with a concerned expression on her face. “Madame Soleila?” Faith quickly rubbed at her eyes. “What are you doing up so early?”

“I thought I heard you crying.” The older woman gave a gentle smile. “What’s the matter, mon cher? You can tell me.”

Faith took a few deep breaths and swallowed a lump in her throat. “It’s…today’s my birthday. I’m thirteen now.” She looked down at her hands, almost shamefully. There was no way Soleila would care when her son’s life was at stake, but Soleila’s shocked expression that melted into one of motherliness with a warm, sympathetic smile as she walked over to Faith, humming a few bars from ‘Happy Birthday’.

“Happy Birthday, dear Faith,” She sang softly. “Happy Birthday to you~” Soleila took Faith’s hand, and cupped her cheek with the other, brushing away a stray tear. Faith had no idea why, but this small display touched her heart and knocked something down that let the tears flow free.

“Thank you,” She whispered, clutching the pocket watch. Soleila saw it and gently took it from her hands, opening the lid of it and smiling sadly.

“She was so beautiful,” The older woman sighed. “You look so much like her. Isadora would have given anything to be here to see you. As far as I know, she went missing around the same time Oswin did.”

“I dream about her sometimes,” Faith confessed quietly. “Do you really think she’s my mother?”

Madame Soleila looked like she was thinking very hard about something before she pressed a kiss to Faith’s forehead. “After we rescue my son, we’ll go somewhere nice and have a party for you. I promise.” She ran a hand over Faith’s gentle curls. “You can have whatever kind of cake you like and eat as much as you want.”

“If we survive,” Faith corrected her.

Soleila nodded. “We will. Be brave.”

†††

As evening came closing in and the sun was starting to set behind the horizon, the group had made their way to the gallows. Faith could sense the nervous excitement of the crowd as they all took a seat. In all honesty, she had no idea how coming to watch a young man being publicly executed was in any way entertaining, but they weren’t here to watch some ne’er-do-well hang- they were here to rescue said ne’er-do-well and hopefully defeat Hollow in the process; hopefully they could do both, and the thought that only one of the two could be achieved was sort of making the promise Soleila had made her about that party seem like it wasn’t going to help her mood at all. Soleila sat next to Faith, fidgeting with her hands as Dorian was brought out. A few girls in the crowd who were almost about his age cried out to him, declaring their undying love for their ‘Archangel’. Some older women were begging the police to let him go, joining in the largely female chorus. As much as Faith thought it pathetic that they would say such a thing, she wanted to join in and tell the police that he’d done nothing wrong, and from the looks of things, Soleila was about to start pleading for her son’s life. If it came down to the point where they wanted to avoid conflict, hopefully her influence could save Dorian before things had a chance to take a turn for the worst.

The rat-faced inspector stepped out, looking rather proud of himself, and Faith felt so tempted to punch the guy in the face. She hated how smug he looked as Dorian was led to the gallows by the other officers, one looping a noose around his neck. “Dorian Hollow, you stand accused of five counts of murder,” He announced. “You dared to take the law into your own hands, and this is the price you pay. Being a vigilante does not help anyone as you have claimed to have been doing. Have you anything to say in your defence?”

“Only that I have done this wretched country a favour!” Dorian looked to the crowd, to the swooning girls to the older women, and paid a glance to Faith and Soleila. “England is sick! Corruption has spread through it and turned many to crime to achieve their ends. I did what was necessary and I will not apologise or beg mercy from people like you, Inspector- people like you who have allowed their power to go straight to their heads!” He raised his voice, as if he wanted all of England to hear him speak. “From the streets to the palace, from the gutter to the throne, there is sickness! I am what this country needs! I am the cure for this sickness! Execute me now and you will have lost someone who really kept this city safe! You see in the audience those I have saved, those I have helped- to them, I will be their saint! Kill me now and they will surely rise against you!” The audience began to shout in agreement, saying how Scotland Yard had become too lazy, how it was better to kill the ones they pursued instead of risking the fact that a murderer or a rapist could escape their sentence too easily by destroying evidence or just handing over a few pounds to the right people, but the Inspector seemed to be having none of it.

However, just before he could give the order for the executioner to pull the lever, Soleila suddenly stood up and called out over the crowd; “Stop! He’s my son, he’s my son!!” The entire crowd went quiet, a few whispering to themselves as Soleila hurried out to the gallows.

“And just who might you be?” Snapped the Inspector, but he easily cowered under Soleila’s height and sharp glare.

“My name is Madame Soleila L’Adore- your Queen will know my name.” She pointed to Dorian. “That boy is my son, and if you do not release him this instant, I will do it for you!”

The people in the crowd began to gossip amongst themselves, and Faith caught sight of Wolfe smacking himself in the forehead from where he sat about a few rows ahead of her. The officers quickly released Dorian from the noose and from his shackles, not wanting to invoke the wrath of this fierce woman who had so daringly commanded that her son be freed, but before anything else could be said, there was an explosion and the nearby wall was reduced to little more than dust and rubble. A cloud of smoke and dust swept over the crowd and a chorus of coughs and panicked cries filled the air. It was as silent as the grave when they finally died away, replaced by the sudden boom, boom, boom as a huge shadow stepped out from the haze. When the dust finally cleared, a Tyrannosaurus Rex that towered high above all of the buildings in London stepped out from the rubble and let out a mighty roar.

Faith looked up in shock. “Oh, you gotta be kidding me!”

Striderclaws, Sickleheads and Terrorgliders filled and surrounded the arena, and they were soon joined by Pachycephalosaurus and Ankylodons that started smashing anything and everything that got in their way, from people to buildings. Soleila delivered the first blow when she summoned a huge chakram made completely of sunlight and fire and began a deadly, graceful dance that swept waves of fire throughout the arena. Dorian took the guns from a couple of dead policemen and started taking shots at a few Striderclaws. Berkley, Wolfe and Petra soon jumped into the fray, and, seeing as she had no other choice, Faith took out the revolver Berkley had given her and went straight in after them.

14: Act Two: Angels in London, Chapter Seven

It was chaos. Screams filled the air and joined the screeches and roars of the dinosaurs around them and people were tripping over each other trying to escape the arena and either wound up being crushed by the rest of the crowd or the Tyrannosaurus Rex or ripped to pieces by the Striderclaws. Faith had managed to get herself to Petra’s side when she couldn’t see Soleila or Dorian anymore and tried to get a clear shot in with her revolver, but she was so terrible a shot that it often fell to the elder of the two to deal with their enemies, passing over ammunition when it was needed on the rare occasion that Faith actually did hit something. Wolfe and Berkley soon joined them just as they were all backed into a circle with dinosaurs surrounding them on all sides, snarling and snapping and raking their feet along the ground as they grew ready to strike with an insatiable hunger for human flesh, raw and fresh off the bone.

Petra held both her pistols at the ready. “Trapped.”

“But not helpless,” Added Wolfe, holding his cutlass at the ready and summoning a ball of fire in his hand.

“I think you’ll find that you are,” Came a new voice, and everyone looked over to an ankylodon that had been allowed through the crowd of pre-historic destruction to see a man in a black cloak standing on its back. His face was covered by a gas mask and dark goggles that completely obscured his eyes, save for a small, eerie red light that glowed from within each of the lenses brightly enough to be seen. Everyone save for Faith tensed up and glared at him. “Cuthbert,” The cloaked man said, his voice making it seem as if he were smiling. “It has been too long, old friend.”

“You’re no friend to us, Ichabod Hollow!” Snapped Berkley.

“And yet you put on such a spectacle to save my son?” Hollow cackled. “Laughable, at best. You’ve only put Soleila and Dorian in harm’s way, and…what’s this…?” His gaze turned to Faith and he began to laugh. “Ah, you couldn’t resist, could you, Cuthbert? You had to bring in some unsuspecting innocent into your problems. How typical of you, always needing a shield like the coward you are. You look familiar, girl- tell me, who was your father?”

“I never knew him,” Faith replied.

“A shame. I was hoping you were the child I was looking for.” Suddenly, there was an avian screech and a huge firebird swooped at Hollow, but just wound up knocking him back a step before it came to land and burned away in white flames to reveal Madame Soleila, who stood in front of Faith protectively. Two gunshots rang out and knocked Hollow back another step, and Dorian quickly darted into view from seemingly nowhere to stand beside his mother. Hollow started laughing like a madman. “Ah! So, the guests have all gathered for the feast!” He cackled. “My pets shall dance to the music of your screams!”

Soleila summoned her flaming chakram to her defence just as the seemingly endless army of dinosaurs came rushing at them and, again, began to dance, swinging and swaying with the roll of the chakram, slicing down waves of Striderclaws that came rushing at her.

“Faith! Stay behind me!” She ordered after she cut down another three Striderclaws that were coming at them. Faith wasn’t about to dispute that order, but she did manage to fire off a few shots at a Sicklehead that was coming at her like a steam train and the thing fell with a low, moaning noise akin to a foghorn and crushed its Husk rider underneath its weight. She could see Dorian and Wolfe nearby working together to take down an ankylodon while a small pack of Striderclaws tried to snap their heads off. Dorian slashed at the throat of one of the Striderclaws, finishing his blow by driving the blade through the head of another before he wrenched it out of its skull and drove it into the head of the ankylodon while Wolfe fended off more that were coming to join the fray.

Petra and Berkley stood back to back, their movements limited considering the Husks that had surrounded them, yet still, they shot down the Husks one by one as if it were a shooting gallery. The hulking henchmen twitched and jerked about as red electricity coursed over them, then collapsed to the ground, and the two continued to fight their way out. Then, Petra holstered her guns and curled her hands into fists before bringing them down hard into the dirt. Eight stone pillars erupted from the ground and were hurled at the approaching Pachycephalosaurus, who were knocked backwards and buried in rubble with Berkley picking off the last two who had been lucky enough to dodge the pillars. Petra stomped down her foot and more sprung up from the ground, and she hurled more and more of these at the attacking dinosaurs, but more and more kept coming, seemingly from nowhere, and from where she was standing Faith hoped she could hold them back long enough for them all to escape alive.

Soleila spun just in time to take off the heads of a few Husks before they could come too close while Faith dug about in her pockets to get more bullets for her gun.

“We can’t fight them all!” Faith cried as she hurriedly took a shot at a Sicklehead that was starting to get too close. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

“I agree, but we just have to hold the line a little longer!” Soleila quickly turned in a quick pirouette and managed to cut down more of the dinosaurs. “We will live through this, just like I promised!”

Faith was seriously starting to doubt that with how crazy things were getting. More and more angry-looking dinosaurs just kept coming, as if for every three they cut down, nine more would spring up in their place. This is exactly why we shouldn’t bring back dinosaurs, her panicked mind tried joking to make things a little more bearable, but it really was not helping at all.

Huge, booming footsteps came towards them, and Soleila pushed Faith out of the way before the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s foot could come down on them and rolled away. The tyrannosaurus gave a terrifying roar, and Faith immediately scrambled to her feet to try and get away from it, even though she knew that was a terrible idea and wound up being chased by the giant as soon as it saw her scurry off as fast as her legs could carry her until she tripped over her own panicked feet and collapsed to the ground in a heap. She turned in time to see the Tyrannosaurus’ head descending upon her and quickly squeezed her eyes shut with her arms crossed over her face in some sort of feeble excuse for a way of defending herself from what could very much be her end, but then she felt something connecting to her fingertips; an odd, anchoring feeling, as if someone had her like a puppet on its strings. Energy hummed and buzzed around her fingertips and Faith suddenly realised that she wasn’t being used as the prehistoric tyrant’s chew toy. She opened her eyes to see that the Tyrannosaurus Rex had just frozen in place, and that it was suddenly connected by glowing blue lines of energy that were as thin as sewing thread to her own, glowing fingertips. She got to her feet and tried to get her balance, and noticed that the Tyrannosaur mindlessly copied her movement. She looked to what remained of a window and caught her reflection- her eyes were alight with energy that flickered and danced like bright blue fire. The stone lions in Constantinople, she reminded herself. A grin suddenly spread itself across her freckled features. Oh, yes. She was going to have fun with this. Taking a big breath of air into her lungs, she let it all out in a roar that the Tyrannosaurus copied, grabbing the attention of human and dinosaur alike. She started to run towards the other dinosaurs that were attacking her comrades and, taking a gamble that she had the basics down, swiped her hand downwards and clenched it in a fist. The Tyrannosaurus Rex leaned down and snatched up about five Striderclaws in its mouth and bit down hard, crushing them and dropping them about the ground like lolly wrappers. Faith made a huge stomp, and the Tyrannosaurus brought down its mighty foot, the impact sending dinosaurs flying left and right.

A cheer from Petra brought the others back into battle, though Berkley just watched in amazement as Faith roared, swiped and stomped through their enemies. Dorian started gunning and cutting down the fleeing saurian army, Petra threw more stone pillars and Wolfe and Soleila set them all ablaze. Faith gave one more mighty roar to send the last of their enemies running into her comrades, then clenched her fists and pulled them in across her middle, fascinated by the feeling of the connection between her and the T-Rex severing and the sudden fade of the buzzing and glowing at her fingertips, and watched as Soleila and Wolfe set the thing alight. The giant roared as it was quickly burned to a crisp, and then all fell quiet, just as the sky crackled with thunder and the first drops of rain began to fall.

“YEEEEEE-HAW!” Petra cheered and swept Faith up in her arms. “Sugar, ah ain’t never been more proud ‘a you than ah am now! That was amazin’!”

Faith gave a surprised yelp as Petra squeezed her too hard. “Th-thanks, Petra,” She managed through her limited air supply. “But…what did I just do? What happened? It was crazy!”

“That, youngblood,” Wolfe said with a proud smirk on his face. “Was your awakenin’. An’ I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the most amazin’ display of puppetry magicks I’ve ever seen!”

“Puppetry magicks?” Asked Faith. “Are you serious? Did I really just do magic?”

Dorian folded his arms. “Well, looks like you aren’t a complete disappointment. I would have thought you’d be just another tinkerer.”

Soleila decided to ignore her son’s comment. “I’m honestly almost surprised- I actually expected it to happen, but this soon?” She gave that same knowing smirk. “Incroiable. Many of us discovered our powers around your age- though I remember Wolfe’s was a bit, shall we say…‘explosive’?”

Wolfe gave her a dirty look and Petra just hugged Faith tighter. “Y’all know what this means! We’re gonna have ourselves a Forgin’ an’ a birthday party! Why didn’t you tell us, sugar?”

“Didn’t want to—ow! Distract anyone from the mission…” Petra finally let her down and she took a few big breaths to get her lungs working again. “What’s a ‘Forging’, anyway?”

“It is an important ceremony,” Explained Soleila, pulling back her collar enough for Faith to see a strange mark seemingly tattooed into her skin that was shaped like a stylised sun. “You will earn your mark that will allow you to control your power without risk.”

“That’s not a real tattoo, is it?”

“A’ course not,” Said Petra, taking off her glove so Faith could see her mark, three pillars hovering over a diamond shape. “It’s made by magic, not ink. It stings a bit, but you won’t mind it much.” The Sherriff was practically bouncing with excitement. “C’mon, y’all, let’s head back to base! We got a Forgin’ to git goin’ to!”

†††

Dorian invited Faith to take a walk with him around the old Sanctuary after they all returned, and she thought it alright to follow. They had just gotten back, and Soleila needed to prepare for the ceremony.

“What did you mean back there,” She asked, “When you said I wasn’t a complete disappointment?”

“Most among the Order, my mother once told me, were just inventors and pirates, simple thieves and mundane commonfolk,” Explained Dorian. “But you? Well…I knew there was something not so ordinary about you when I first laid eyes on you.”

“I’m thirteen, you creep.”

“I never said I was flirting with you,” Dorian chuckled. “Unless, that is what you would have me do?”

“If I don’t smack you with a folding chair, Dorian,” Faith snipped at him. “I’ll make you throw yourself down a flight of stairs if you keep that up.”

“Not likely,” Rebutted Dorian. “Knowing you, you’ll only be able to take control of machines, statues or golems, just like your father.”

“How do you know that?”

“That Tyrant was part machine. There’s a good chance that it was only because of that machine part of itself that you were able to control it. No shame, though. I hear your father was capable of the same thing.”

“I never knew my father.”

Dorian shrugged. “Neither did I, mind you. I bet you’ve been asking yourself why everyone asks you about him.”

Faith gave him an irritated look. “Because this Oswin guy disappeared years and years ago and I’m supposed to somehow magically know where he is because apparently I’m his daughter?”

“That could be one reason,” Dorian suggested. “But you like this, don’t you? You like having all this sudden mystery surrounding your past now that you’re all caught up in this war. I want no part in it, to be honest. I can tell that you don’t, either.”

“Yeah, I don’t,” Said Faith. “But I don’t really have a choice. Until Hollow’s been dealt with, then I can’t go home.”

“But what will await you there?” Dorian gave a knowing smirk that was perhaps a bit too much like his mother’s. “You’ve just learned that you’ve been lied to your whole life about who you are. Your name, everything about you- all a lie that someone made up for you. The one you’ve called mother your whole life might not really be your mother at all by the time you get to the end of all this, and it breaks my heart to see such a young beauty in dilemmas such as these. You are far too lovely to be worrying yourself like this- you’ll get wrinkles, mon lapin.”

Faith stuck a finger in the taller boy’s face. “Okay, you know what? Stop.” She scowled up at him. “You stop it right this instant. Do you hear me?! I’m thirteen. You’re like, what, eighteen at least? The flirting’s not even ironic or even the least bit amusing anymore. So cut the crap or I’m going to tell your mother on you.”

Dorian laughed. “Ooh, I’m just shaking in my boots! In this day and age, it’s completely acceptable for a man my age to court a woman of yours. My mother would think us a fine match.”

“Considering you’ve been out of her life for a year and didn’t keep in contact at all, I doubt it,” Faith rebutted. “And I’ve been here a little less than a week. Your mother barely knows me. None of these people know me all that well.”

“Perhaps I could be of assistance with that?” Dorian took her hand and raised it to his lips. “If you’ll let me, I could be your trusted confidant; your partner in crime. All you need do is say the word and I’ll be at your beck and call to hear almost anything you wish to speak about.” He pressed a kiss to her knuckles, and Faith was trying so hard not to slap him. She didn’t want to cause any trouble, but at the same time, she wasn’t too fond of random strangers giving her hand-kisses and it was just so tempting to deck him in the face, especially when he looked her in the eye and had the nerve to laugh. “Speechless, are we? I’m not surprised. It’s only normal for a lovely creature such as yourself to be rendered without that voice of yours when a gentleman gives you such attention.”

Faith quickly took her hand away and stared him down. “Do that again,” she growled, “And I’ll wreck that pretty face of yours- we’ll see who’s swooning over you when you’re missing an eye and two front teeth.” She pivoted on her heel and started walking again, trying to leave Dorian behind, but instead, he caught up with her and put an arm around her shoulders, proceeding to continue chatting her ear off until Wolfe came to fetch the two for the Forging ceremony.

†††

The three of them walked into the ‘generator room’, where Madam Soleila stood by the Æthersphere, her features illuminated by that dim, blue light. Petra, Berkley, the ‘bots and Charlie were all standing by with smiles on their faces as Faith was urged by Wolfe to walk over to Soliela. Faith started taking one slow step after the other towards Soleila, who held out her hands for Faith to take. Obediently, Faith put her hands in Soleila’s and looked the older woman in the face.

“Close your eyes.”

Faith did as she was told and shut her eyes. Soleila’s hands began to glow, and Faith felt a surge of power course up her arms. Her eyes were alight again with that same silvery-blue energy, and she felt a burning feeling in her hands, as if something was being carved into them, and she gasped in pain. A part of her mind was starting to wonder how her mother would react- she’d probably think she’d joined a cult if she saw this happening- but then again, it wasn’t very clear whether or not they were even related or not anymore, so whatever Catherine would think was sort of irrelevant right now.

Eventually, the pain subsided, and Faith began to feel the energy that pulsated around whatever it was that had been carved on her in time with her heartbeat. Soleila instructed her to open her eyes again, and Faith could see a glowing mark on the backs of her hands, much like Petra’s. Soleila smiled at her. “As you are part of this universe, it is a part of you,” She recited. “Its power is your power, its heart is your heart. From fire it has forged you, and fire you have become. Now your flame will shine forever, and whether it will inspire fear or admiration will be up to you to decide.” She took her hands away and the marks on Faith’s hands stopped glowing and faded to black. It looked almost like ink. The fire that lit up Faith’s eyes had flickered out, and now she stood in front of all her comrades as one of them at last. Strangely enough, she felt that this was how it was meant to be, that she was born for this; born to have these powers that she’d only just discovered, born to meet these people. Faith had never once believed in chance or fate, but for once, she felt as if this was her destiny.

15: Act Three: Chance and Fate, Chapter One

As Faith would soon find out, getting a hold on powers that required her to be able to control things like puppets was not something one masters after a one-off fluke fighting a cyborg-zombie Tyrannosaurus Rex. Lessons started almost immediately after the forging ceremony in a special training room that soon took on the appearance of a rocky plateau when Faith and Petra entered it. The others had decided the Sherriff was a better choice for a teacher since the elemental mastery of earth was roughly similar to that of puppetry magicks.

 Petra conjured up some stone golems that were around about the same height as a Striderclaw and set her hands on her hips with a sigh. “Wish ah could tell ya how this worked,” She told her. “Lessee, what can we start with…uh, what’d ya feel when ya first tried this?”

“Um…” Faith shrugged. “It was, like…” She stretched her arms outwards with her hands clawed towards one of the golems, trying to remember what it was like the first time she’d done this, but nothing happened. “There was this…buzzing at my fingertips and these strings made of energy…”

“Yeah, that’s just the physical part.” Petra crossed her arms. “But what did ya feel?”

“What do you mean, ‘feel’?”

“Powers that originate from Æther are based solely on emotions, sugar,” The elder of the two explained with a smirk. “So what were you feelin’ when that Tyrant was about to make you his chew toy?”

This puzzled Faith for a minute as she tried to remember what exactly it was she’d felt through all the adrenalin that had been pumping through her veins. “I was…kinda scared at first, but…but when I realised what was happening, I felt…happy. I felt brave, like…like I could…”

“Take on the whole world if you tried?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, with those marks on yer hands, ya shouldn’t have a problem feelin’ the same way all over again.” Petra pointed to the markings on Faith’s hands. “Y’ already got the power to do it. So, I’m just gonna help ya along.” She walked over to stand behind the stone golems and held out her hands. One of the golems twitched and suddenly came to life and made a gesture as if it intended to fight Faith. “This feller’s gonna get you goin’ a bit, and then yer’ gonna try to feel the same thing ya did last night.

Faith nodded. “Just make sure it doesn’t kill me.”

“Then git goin’!” Petra gestured with one arm and the golem started running at Faith. It threw a punch at her and Faith dove out of the way. Her heart hammered in her chest as she hit the ground and she scrambled immediately to her feet to avoid the next blow. The rubble that flew scratched against her cheek and actually left a cut. Faith felt fear and anger ignite in her chest and started to feel that same buzzing at her fingertips. “C’mon, sugar!” Petra called mockingly. “Ya can’t just be done already!”

One more punch was thrown and Faith was knocked back by the force of it before she could think of jumping out of the way. Finally, her eyes ignited with the silvery-blue flame from before and she got to her feet with her clawed hands outstretched towards her enemy. “ENOUGH!” She could feel the connections being made, felt the golem being torn out from Petra’s control and straight into hers. She turned to Petra and took a fighting stance, and the golem took the same pose as the Sherriff brought the other two to life.

“See? I knew ya could do it! Now let’s see how well you fight!” She sent one of the remaining golems heading straight for Faith and it ran at her with a fist raised, but Faith’s golem caught its punch and threw another one into the attacking golem’s face to throw it off its balance, then grabbed it by its head and brought it down on Faith’s golem’s knee. The attacking golem’s head shattered and it fell into little pieces of harmless rubble. The second one came and Faith made hers grab its arm and swing it up over its head and into the ground before ripping off the attacking golem’s arm and crushing its head under its foot. The feeling of satisfaction from a battle won was what cut the connection, and Faith’s golem crumbled to dust as Petra walked over to her. “Not bad for a first-timer.” She clapped a hand on Faith’s shoulder. “How’d that feel?”

“Pretty good,” Faith replied. “What’s next?”

“What’s next is, you and Dorian are headin’ out into the city for a lil’ recon.” The training room faded to its original setup of an empty, unused ballroom as Petra started to guide Faith along through the hallways of the sanctuary towards the generator room. “You might have blown out the candles on Hollow’s plans to kill us all last night, but you ain’t done yet. Besides, ah think it’ll do ya a world a’ good; you could stand to learn a thing or two from that boy.”

“But he’s a jerk!” Faith protested. “He’s so up himself! What could I possibly have to learn from that pompous, arrogant--!”

“Now, now, ma cherie- if you can’t say anything nice, then you’d best not say anything at all.” The sudden presence of the aforementioned boy’s voice made Faith jump almost a good foot in the air before she turned around to glare at him, standing there and looking very smug with himself. “The Sherriff’s not far from the truth. You could stand to learn a few things from me, so keep your pretty mouth shut and just listen to teacher, understand?”

Faith scowled and crossed her arms, fuming silently, but gave no protest, He wasn’t wrong, she did have a few things that it couldn’t hurt for her to learn, but she wasn’t about to admit that he was right. Petra just chuckled. “Ah’ll leave you kids to it. Take care, sugar.” She walked off and left Faith alone with Dorian, who was still giving her that smug smile.

“So, Faith,” He began, leaning down to meet her height. “How’s your training coming along?”

“We used some stone golems as a starting point, if that’s worth anything to you,” Faith replied curtly. “And it went just fine.”

Dorian quirked an eyebrow at this. “Ah, so I’m right then. You can only control statues and machines.”

“You don’t know that for sure, you pompous pretty-boy!” The younger of the two gave him a dirty look. “Not like you can do any better, all you’re good at is swordplay and flirting.”

“Oh, just you wait and see. I’m a considerably better marksman than you- that and much, much more,” Added Dorian, still smirking down at her. “Honestly, a gun should never be in the hands of someone like you, mon petite lapin.”

This time, Faith finally decided it was high time to knock some sense into him and slapped him when his face was getting in perhaps a little too close. “I am not your little rabbit, you pervert!” She snapped. “I’m not like all those stupid, swooning wilting flowers calling your name that you saw last night. I refuse to be like them because people like you do nothing but make me quite sick. I’m not interested in you, get it through that thick skull of yours already and don’t bother to ask me about it ever again!”

Dorian just chuckled. “I never said that I thought you were, cher, nor was I interested in that way, but I admit, I do admire strong women like yourself.”

Faith didn’t even bother to argue with that- better to not give him the satisfaction. Instead, she just rolled her eyes and sighed. “Look, let’s just get going before I decide to punch you.” She put her hands on the wall and visualised the high street, then took it away as the doorway opened. “We’ll discuss this later, now let’s go.”

The boy just shrugged with a confident smirk on his face. “Oh, I do believe we will.”

“Shut up.”

The two of them walked through the tunnel in silence, for the most part, until Dorian suddenly gave a soft chuckle. “You’re quite the feisty one, you know.”

“I said, shut up.”

“See? Feisty.” Dorian smiled down at her in the gloom. “You just love being antagonistic towards others to keep them away, should you not find them ‘worthy’ enough.”

“Or if I find them ‘annoying’ enough,” Faith snipped at him. “Now shut up and keep walking.”

“I’m not annoying.”

“Yes, you are. You’re a shameless flirt, you practically scream annoying, now shut up before I make you.” The two of them soon came out the other side of the doorway in an alleyway just off the high street they’d first met in. Things looked pretty quiet from where the two of them were standing, strangely enough. “You’d think after there was a horde of dinosaurs tearing up the street, people would be a little more on edge,” Faith commented. “There’s still a lot of people out and about today.”

“As is the stubbornness of the British,” Replied Dorian. “Even in dire times, they’ll just drink their tea and set their troubles aside until they’ve finished it.”

“You’re not far from the truth on that, I suppose.” Faith shrugged and turned to the boy. “Which way first?”

Dorian took a quick look up and down the alleyway. “I know a few people who could give us a hand, but it’s a bit of a ways off from here.” He smirked down at Faith. “Now’s a perfect time for you to start learning- observe.” Dorian took a few steps back before he became a blur and seemingly ran up the side of the building they were standing next to and stopped when he was some ways up and hanging off a drainpipe. “Come on up. We wouldn’t want to be late.” Faith looked at the drainpipe and swallowed nervously. She’d never really done this before and she knew drainpipes really weren’t that sturdy for climbing, but she supposed it was just one more thing she’d have to get used to quickly. She took a hold on the bars holding the pipe to the wall and started to climb, albeit slowly, with Dorian just above her. Eventually, she pulled herself onto the rooftop and took a moment to catch her breath. “Not bad,” Said Dorian. “But too slow. You can’t afford to amble behind like that.”

“I don’t amble,” Panted Faith. “I just climbed up a bloody building, leave me alone, would you?”

“Not for long. Come on, then!” Dorian started running off, jumping over rooftops and making some distance before Faith could even get back on her feet. For the first time, Faith found it necessary to utter a string of swears as she ran off after him, clumsily clambering over the rooftops and trying not to fall and hurt herself. She called out to him a few times to warn him that he was getting too far away, but it looked like he couldn’t hear her, and it encouraged Faith to try and run faster and jump further, and though her momentum was enough to keep her going, she wasn’t used to running for this long. After a while, she had managed to catch up, but just barely, and just before she could reach out and grab Dorian’s jacket to get him to stop for a second, he’d zip away before she could touch him, reappearing about ten metres away. Faith’s throat was burning by now, but she willed herself to keep going and stuffed a reminder somewhere in her brain to slap him again as she managed a long jump and almost fell off the roof if she hadn’t grabbed the chimney in time. As soon as she had her balance back, she almost lost it again when Dorian suddenly reappeared.

“I…really…really…hate you,” Panted Faith.

Dorian laughed. “No, you don’t. Besides, we’re here now.” He dropped down the side of the building they were standing on, and Faith shakily climbed down to meet him in the alleyway before following him into the building. It was a pub, full of grumbling, swearing sailors and builders and ladies of questionable reputation. There were a few airship pirates there from what Faith could see, but these men were obviously not from the Lostlight, and she could tell by the way they didn’t wave to her when she passed their table. She was still breathless and coughed a few times into the crook of her arm while trying not to trip over her own feet. Her lungs were still burning and she was thankful when Dorian got them a table and helped her to sit down. “There,” He said. “Better?”

Faith nodded, rubbing her throat in an attempt to soothe the burning. “Let’s just get what we came for and go,” She rasped. “But we’re taking a doorway back to the sanctuary this time, no more of this running across rooftops.”

“You looked like you could use the exercise,” Dorian defended himself innocently, and Faith made yet another mental note to slap him later. He ordered her a glass of water and a beer for himself, and they sat there a while until Dorian caught sight of a few surly-looking men and waved them over. “Gentlemen! I dare say it’s been a while. How’s the wife, Percy? Surely business has been good these days?”

“Better than usual, yeah,” Said Percy. “Bit surprised to see you ‘ere. I ‘eard you was getting’ hung.”

“Well, plans change. But, if I remember correctly, you still owe me a favour.” Dorian took a quick swig of beer and winked at Faith who just raised an eyebrow and went back to her water and didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the rest of the conversation. She didn’t care much for the company her companion kept, but she did care about the shady figures stalking around the back that looked suspiciously enough like Husks. One slowly started to turn its head towards her and Faith quickly looked away before it could make eye contact. She wanted to interrupt Dorian and let him know they had company, but it looked like he wouldn’t have listened if she’d tried to get his attention, so she kept a wary eye on the Husks. A stone dropped into her gut when she saw the publican walk over to them and ask if they wanted anything. He asked again when there was no reply, then eventually started to shout at them. This was when one of the Husks stood up and grabbed the man by his neck before hurling him across the room. The man went flying into a stack of barrels, startling the other patrons. Some started quietly trying to move for the exit, but then the other Husks stood and drew pistols and started shooting at them and the whole room flew into a panic. Patrons dove under tables and rushed for the doors and windows, hoping to get away. Dorian quickly flipped their table onto its side and he and Faith took cover. “This is ridiculous,” He growled.

“Looks like Hollow wasn’t happy about last night,” Faith exclaimed. “He must be looking for all of us now.”

“Indeed. We’ll need to take care of them quickly.”

Faith concentrated as best she could and felt the buzzing at her fingertips again as her eyes lit up with fire. “I’ll try and draw their fire, you just start slashing at them or whatever.” She got to her feet and took control of one of the Husks that had its back turned to them and turned it on its comrades, throwing one across the room and distracting the other long enough for Dorian to cut it down. She cut the connection and let Dorian take down the Husk she’d been controlling, and the two started to make a dash for the exit- better to let one get away to tell its master what happened, they reckoned- but just as they were about to clear the door, a barrel came out of nowhere and hit them hard. Dorian took most of the impact and tried to shield Faith as they went flying across the room and into the piano near the small stage. Faith was dizzy, disoriented, and her ears were ringing- she was sure that some of the wires had snapped and were digging into her back, but she hadn’t been impaled on one, thank goodness. She tried to call out to Dorian, but it was just garbled nonsense on her tongue. Everything hurt as she pulled herself to her knees, but then there was a sharp pain at the back of her head and the world went dark.

†††

Faith awoke to the strange sensation of her feet being dragged across the floor. She could hear the clinking of chains and she felt cold, colder than she thought it was- wasn’t it summer or spring in this part of the world right now? And why could she hear engines humming? The Lostlight was usually more crowded and noisier than this, even in the engine room. Her head was filled with a dizzying haze and it made it hard for Faith to concentrate on anything as she tried to figure out what had happened. She remembered fighting the Husks alongside Dorian and getting smacked into a piano by a barrel, but not a whole lot else after that, so there was the problem. Eventually she was thrown to the floor and Faith grunted as her body fell against the cold stone. Pulling herself to her feet, she could suddenly hear someone laughing.

“Ah, little girl. You don’t really know what you’ve gotten yourself into, do you? How very little you know about your ‘friends’ and yourself; surely that is enough to tell you that this is not a place that someone like you would belong.”

Faith recognised that voice and finally shook the dizziness from her head long enough to look up at her captor. Ichabod Hollow easily towered over her, and she swore she could sense him giving her a sick grin behind that gas-mask as he stepped closer. “Well, I know enough to know that wherever this place is certainly isn’t it.” She felt a stinging sensation where she’d been hit over the head. “I dare say I can’t like your hospitality, either.”

Hollow just laughed. “Do you really think your smart-talk is going to save you now, brat? Every member of that wretched Order that I’ve brought to this place has never left it alive. Serves them right- I could have lead them into a new age of progress- you have seen first-hand what my Equinox is capable of!”

“Uh, yeah. In the future we kinda had a three-part film series explaining why bringing back the dinosaurs was a really bad idea,” Faith replied. “If you keep this up, thousands- maybe millions- could die.”

“I don’t see how that’s anything to be worried about.” Hollow took on a confident stance. “If the world is wiped out, then I see no problem with it. This is the price they all pay for denying me.”

“It was with good reason!”

“Ha! Is that what they all told you? That it was for the greater good that they dared to exile me for my genius?”

“You mean your madness!” Faith rebutted. “Sure, Equinox is more powerful than Æther, but I was told that it was radioactive and had serious narcotic side effects. As far as I’m concerned, you threw a tantrum because of it and killed all those innocent people to get your revenge!”

“It was retribution!” Growled Hollow.

“It was murder!” Faith snapped up at him. “All because you let your own selfish pride blind you and make you into only a shadow of your former self. Now you’re no more than a textbook megalomaniac!”

Hollow struck Faith hard across the face, his clawed hands scratching against her cheek and leaving a few shallow cuts that started to bleed. “Children should be seen and not heard,” He sneered down at her, hate dripping off his words like poison.

Faith just scowled darkly up at him. “Thank God we outgrew that one quickly.”

“Put this one in a cell. Maybe she’ll learn a little respect for her elders after a proper time-out.” Hollow took a step back as Faith was lifted to her feet again by two Husks. “Don’t even think about using your power, girl. Those shackles have runes inscribed on them that will cut off the flow of Æther to your forge-mark. You’ll be causing me no more trouble until I decide how you should be punished for your rudeness.”

Faith kicked and struggled and tried to worm her way out of the vice-like grip of the Husks, but it was to no avail. Eventually, she was thrown into a cell and had only just gotten to her feet and cried out in protest as she ran to the door, but it had already swung shut and Faith’s body only crashed into cold, unforgiving steel, and the room was plunged into darkness.

16: Act Three: Chance and Fate, Chapter Two

Faith had already tried her best to throw her weight against the door, but she soon became sore and tired and had to take a break. It was now that she was starting to feel the pain from her damages, the bruises on her chest and the sting of the cuts on her cheek that had stopped bleeding maybe a minute or two ago, the tiredness in her legs that were only just managing to keep her vertical. She slumped to the floor, panting and holding her aching shoulder, trying to keep herself together. What had she been thinking, some scrawny fifty-kilo teenage girl throwing her weight against a tonne of metal and expecting it to give way or at least crack? Her hands felt cold from the shackles restricting the flow of Æther to her forge-marks and it just made her feel more frustrated with the whole situation. Shouldn’t have been so stupid, Sneered a voice in her head. Shouldn’t have come here; look where it’s gotten you, stupid girl. Now you’re going to die all alone here and you’ll never see your real mother or father, or even your fake mother or Anum again and no one’s going to miss you. Faith pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face in her arms as she started to break down into tears. She was cold, she stank of sweat and spilled beer, and what was worse; she was scared and willing to admit it for the first time in her life.

“Help,” She whimpered pathetically through her sobs. “Someone…anyone…help…”

“No point in praying, girl,” Said a new voice. “Not even God can hear you in here.” There were footsteps and the clinking of chains from the corner of the cell that Faith hadn’t yet noticed while she was banging on the door, and Faith turned her bleary eyes to look up at a man wearing a long cloak with the hood pulled over his eyes, but she could see a soft glow underneath the fabric. Judging by the lines on his handsome features, he had to be somewhere in his forties, at least as old as Wolfe. He knelt down next to her and gave her a gentle smile. “What’s your name?” He asked.

“What’s it to you?” Sniffed Faith, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. For some reason, this man felt strangely familiar, as if, somehow, she had met him before, but she couldn’t exactly tell just where and when that had been.

“I’m going to need to know your name if I’m to help you escape. How about I start, hm?” He offered his hand to her, and Faith could see the shackles binding his wrists. “Call me Oswald.”

Faith hesitated before taking his hand. “Faith,” She replied, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

Oswald’s hand closed gently around hers and Faith suddenly felt like an old connection that had been broken for almost a lifetime had just been remade. His hand was calloused, rough, but gentle; perhaps he’d been working with his hands most of his life? Still, it felt like her hand fitted perfectly in it, as if it was always meant to be there. “Faith.” Oswald seemed to be trying out the word. “You seem familiar to me somehow. Have we met before?”

“I don’t know,” Faith said with a shrug. “I was about to ask you the same thing; you seem familiar to me, too, for some strange reason…”

Oswald hesitated for a moment before he brushed a stray tear from Faith’s cheek and helped her to her feet. “We can discuss that later. Right now, we have to escape before Hollow comes back for you, and you don’t want to know what he’ll do to you next.”

“How long has he kept you here?” Faith asked, her voice filled with genuine worry that was coming from a piece of her heart that she didn’t even know existed until she’d held Oswald’s hand. She wasn’t falling in love, but it felt like she’d just found something she’d lost a very long time ago.

“Two years,” Oswald replied as he let go of her hand and started searching the walls for something. “Maybe longer. Long enough for Hollow to use his little party tricks on me.”

“He…he tortured you?”

“Yes. It’s taken a lot to keep myself alive.” Oswald removed a brick in the wall to reveal a small, four-pronged device. “The mental strain to fight back against the effects of the torture started taking its toll on me about a year ago, I think. I’ve lost too many memories trying to stay sane in here.”

“What kind of memories?”

“Fond ones, I think.” Oswald turned the device over in his hands as he walked over to the door. “I’ve tried to remember what, but every time I’ve tried, I felt…sad. Guilty. I think…I think I left someone behind. That’s what I reckon.”

Faith stepped over to Oswald to watch him work. “Who?” She didn’t mean to ask so many questions and she had no idea why she was, but a part of her felt as if it was absolutely necessary that she knew the answer.

Oswald just smiled politely at her. “I wish I could remember,” He sighed sadly. “I…I think I had a wife, and we had a baby girl together. I can’t remember them all that clearly. I don’t even remember their names anymore. Isn’t it ridiculous? When a man forgets the woman he loves and the child they were to raise together.”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” Faith told him, daring herself to gently lay a hand on his arm. “You were trying to survive, and sometimes that instinct is more powerful than anything. If anything else, I would think they’d be proud of you for staying alive for so long.” And for some reason, pride was exactly what Faith felt for this man.

Oswald cleared his throat and nodded before he held up the device. “Hopefully we can talk about this a little better after we’ve gotten out of here. I found this not long before those Husks threw you in here.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a portable doorway, from what I can remember,” Explained Oswald. “Problem is, it’s only got about a few uses left in it.”

“Then let’s hope we don’t need to use a lot of doors,” Sighed Faith. “I’m tired and sore, and I really just want to go home.”

“You and me both.” Oswald started fiddling with the device again. The prongs to the underside of it began to course with electricity and hum with power. Placing the device to the door, the prongs sank into the steel and began to extend outwards, pushing back the metal as if it were rubber, and soon a doorway was made that big enough for them both to fit through. Oswald helped Faith through the doorway, then followed right behind her before quickly plucking the device away from the door, and the metal rippled back into its original state. Faith had seen a lot of weird things during this whole adventure, but this once certainly impressed her.

“Well, that was interesting,” She remarked. “I could use one of those, it’d save me heaps next time we need a locksmith.”

“Not sure you’d be able to find one nowadays,” Oswald chuckled as the prongs on the device retracted and sparked before he tucked it away in his cloak. “Let’s see…we’ll need a keystone. Follow me.” The two started walking down the dimly-lit hallway, trying to stay out of sight as best they could, until they came to a door with a large, glowing stone that seemed to be part of the wall. “Here we are.” Oswald raised his shackled hands to the glowing stone. The runes on it all lit up at once, and soon, the shackles just fell off of his wrists with a heavy clank as they hit the floor. Oswald hissed through gritted teeth and held his hands close to himself and started to gingerly rub at his wrists. Suddenly feeling worried, Faith took hold of Oswald’s hands and rubbed and kneaded them gently to somehow help with the pain. It was now that Faith could see the forge-marks on the backs of Oswald’s hands, and they weren’t much different to hers; she began to wonder what kind of powers this new ally had, but her thoughts were soon interrupted when Oswald raised her shackled wrists to the glowing stone, and her shackles soon fell with a clatter as well. The sudden feeling of energy surging back into her hands hit her hard and Faith gave a sharp hiss of pain. It was like pins and needles, only it was more like someone had shoved her hands into a bucket of them instead of the feeling of accidentally touching the exposed points. She shook out her hands and shivered as the pain resided.

“Okay, let’s hope I never have to do that again.” She rubbed her shoulders, suddenly remembering how cold it was here. “On the plus side, hopefully the Husks won’t be much of a problem.” And speak of the devil, a gunshot sounded and Oswald quickly grabbed Faith and ducked behind a door. The bullet hit the door with a frightening bang, and the two peeked out to see a Husk nearby. Faith concentrated and tried to get her powers to activate, but it was no use. “Why aren’t my powers working?!”

“It won’t take long,” Said Oswald. “But since those shackles prevented you from using your power, it might take almost a day, given you haven’t been here long. I wouldn’t recommend it, anyway.”

“Yeah, maybe explain that part after we’re out of this!” Another gunshot rung out and the two hid behind the door again. “What do we do?”

“What else? Run!” Oswald grabbed Faith’s hand and took off with her right behind him.

†††

Dorian returned to the sanctuary a bruised and bloody mess, sporting a dislocated shoulder as he limped in through a doorway and dragged himself to the generator room. His mother noticed him first and hurried over to him.

“What happened?” She asked. “Who did this? Where’s Faith?!”

“Hollow,” Dorian grunted as he sat down. “Hollow happened. His Husks attacked us and I was knocked out before we could escape. When I awoke, the building was on fire, and I barely made it out alive.”

Wolfe, who was standing nearby, glared daggers at Berkley. “Well, what now, old man?” He asked. “Hollow’s got the girl, and there’s a good chance she’s dead. Happy now?”

“Now don’t you go startin’ anythin’, Wolfe,” Warned Petra. “Fer’ all we know, Faith could still be alive. Maybe Hollow will use ‘er as ransom, if we’re lucky.”

“Yeah,” scoffed Wolfe. “If we’re lucky. Unfortunately, luck hasn’t really been on our side this whole time, hasn’t it?”

Soleila shook her head and sighed as she started seeing to her son’s injuries. “There are some of our comrades Hollow captured that are still alive,” She reasoned. “Surely Faith will find one and find a way out with them. We could always use more allies in this fight.”

“And just how do you know that?” Wolfe barked at her.

“I can sense it,” Soleila replied. “I also sense that she is alive and well and escaping with one of our allies.”

“You’d better not be pullin’ our legs, Soleila,” Said Petra.

“I’m not.” Soleila’s hands began to glow and she put them against Dorian’s shoulder. “I have confidence that Faith will be just fine.”

“You can’t be serious!” Wolfe turned his glare on the Madame. “She’s just a pup- even if she’s got help, who’s to say she’ll get out on ‘er own?!”

“Wolfe…!” Petra stood and put a hand on the man’s shoulder, which was promptly shook off.

“Get your ‘ands off me, woman!” The captain growled. “If the rest of ya aren’t gonna go after ‘er, then feel free to sit with yer ‘eads between ya knees, just like you always ‘ave!” He stalked off to the near wall and placed his hand flat against it. “I’m headin’ back to the ship. We’re gonna find the youngblood and we’ll blow Hollow sky-high. If yer with me, make yer choice now, or keep yer traps shut an’ keep outta my way.”

A tense silence swept over the room, each of the adults looking at each other nervously, until Petra broke the silence first. “Won’t do no good t’ let you go on yer own. I’m in.”

“Thank you, Sherriff,” Wolfe gave a nod to the woman. “Good to see someone’s got their ‘ead on straight.”

Soleila stood next. “I made a promise. I intend to keep it.”

Wolfe looked to Dorian. “You too, brat. You got the youngblood in this mess.”

Dorian scowled at him, but shrugged. “She’ll be expecting me to, anyway.”

“What about you, Professor?” Asked Petra. “You brought ‘er here.”

“Never mind ‘im, Petra,” Spat Wolfe. “The old man won’t do a damn thing. ‘E’s a coward, and it’s all he’ll ever be.”

Berkley got to his feet and snatched Wolfe by the collar. “Believe me, pup- I’d like nothing more than to put you in your place, but I too made a promise.” He let him go and took his rifle from where it leaned against the wall, then cocked it. “We’d best not keep Hollow waiting.”

†††

After some time spent running, Oswald and Faith took refuge in what looked like an engine room and managed to hide in a side room filled with tools, having long since outrun their pursuer.

“That was too close,” Sighed Faith.

“Are you alright?” Asked Oswald.

Faith nodded her head, slumping against the door. “For now, at least. But what are we going to do?”

“We figure out what Hollow’s up to.” Oswald moved Faith to stand behind him, then took a peek outside the door. While his back was turned, Faith focused a little on the pounding of her heart and tried to get her powers to activate, but there was little more than just a fizzle. She sighed, disappointed, and then turned back to Oswald, who was looking at her strangely. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get my powers to work,” Faith replied sadly. “It worked twice, and I thought I was getting really good at it.”

“Maybe you can get your mark looked at?” Suggested Oswald. “Sometimes the runes can limit the flow of Æther.”

Faith eyed him suspiciously. “You say that as if you’ve seen this happen before.”

Oswald shrugged. “I think I have, actually. Once. Don’t remember when.” He motioned for Faith to follow him, and she did so obediently. “I think it was the first time Hollow was brought before the Order, but the magic in those was strong enough to cut off the flow permanently.”

“So he turned to that Equinox stuff?”

“That’s right.” Oswald looked back at her for a second. “I almost forgot to ask, how did you get here? I can tell you’re not from this time period.”

“It’s a long story,” Sighed Faith.

“We have time.”

“Well…it’s like this…” Faith shoved her hands in her pockets. “I live in the Blue Mountains, some hundred or so years from now, with my mother- though I’m not too sure that she’s my mother anymore, no thanks to what everyone’s been telling me.”

“And what have they been saying?”

“That I’m not really…well…me. That my father was someone called Oswin, and my mother is this pretty woman I see in my dreams.” Faith’s fingers found the pocket watch, and she pulled it out to show him, opening the lid to reveal Isadora’s photograph. “This is her- her name’s Isadora. I look nothing like her, though. I’m not pretty.”

Oswald took the pocket watch and stopped to look at the photograph with a look on his face like something had clicked in his mind, but he was silent for a while before he handed back the pocket watch to Faith and smiled. “I wouldn’t say that,” He said, clearing his throat. “I think you two are quite alike.”

“That’s what Madame Soleila told me.” Faith tucked the pocket watch back into her pocket. “Speaking of the good Madame, I think she could help with your memory. She mainly burns stuff, but I think she could probably do a little more than that…she is pretty old- don’t tell her I said that, though.”

Her companion snickered to himself. “Where’d this come from?” He asked. “You hardly know me.”

“Well, only members of the Order got locked up by Hollow as far as I know.” Faith shrugged. “Someone’s bound to remember you. Besides, we could always use more people to help us take down Hollow for good.” She smiled up at him. “Stick around. You never know what might happen next.”

Oswald put a hand on Faith’s head and smoothed it over her auburn curls. “Of course I will. Now, why don’t you keep telling me how you got here, and we’ll find our way out. Sound fair?”

Faith nodded and began to follow. “Well, anyways, everything was just fine until I found this house that looked really old and pretty, so I did the dumb thing and went inside the gates when they were open one day…”

17: Act Three: Chance and Fate, Chapter Three

“…And then that jerk has the nerve to try to flirt with me when he knows very well that I’m way too young for him, even if he is kind of handsome, I guess, but I’m thirteen, now’s not the time for me to be thinking about boyfriends, you know?” By now, Faith’s recount to Oswald had become more casual, and they were talking like they’d known each other their whole lives.

“Considering that you’ve told me that his mother is quite wealthy, it wouldn’t be a bad match,” Oswald mused aloud.

Faith laughed. “Oh, please. Me and Dorian? Not a chance.”

Oswald gave Faith a playful smirk. “You might change your mind,” He sang.

“No I won’t, you nutjob!” Faith hadn’t even noticed she’d used the word. “You wouldn’t catch me staring at boys, I’m too young for that.”

“What, never?”

“Not ever.”

“Not ever?” Oswald cocked his brow at her.

 “Okay, hardly ever.” Faith held up a finger. “But it was just once, and in my defense, he was quite charming.”

The man ruffled Faith’s hair with a warm chuckle, and the two looked quite happy together, despite the fact that they were trying to escape the lair of a megalomaniacal psychopath. “So, that red lightning you mentioned…?”

“Yeah,” Said Faith. “Berkley seemed to think that it was coming from something he called an ‘Equinox portal’, that was kinda like the Ætherial Doors. Maybe that’s Hollow’s plan? Send his dinosaurs through to the future so there won’t be one?”

“And the past so there will be no existence before it, and thus unravel time itself,” Oswald added gravely. “It seems we will have to leave quicker than I thought.”

Faith cracked her knuckles. “I can try to open up a doorway, get us both out of here. We can’t hope to even slightly sabotage any of Hollow’s machines or even try to stop him if it’s just the two of us.”

“Still adamant about me returning with you?” Oswald sighed. 

“You bet I am.” Faith gave him a serious look. “Say what you will, but you’re coming back with me, even if I have to drag you.”

“And what next?” Asked Oswald. “You save the world, stop the villain, but what comes next? You go back to your own time to continue living a life that you don’t even think is yours anymore?” He folded his arms and looked down on her with a stern look. “You’re not thinking this through. Your feelings are driving you far more than logical, rational thought should be, young lady.”

“Well, I’ll just cross that bridge when I get to it,” Faith replied curtly. “Let’s just get out of here first and we’ll figure out the rest after we’ve handled Hollow. Now, how would he be making enough Equinox to open up all these portals?”
Oswald was about to protest, but Faith could tell he could understand that she didn’t really want to speak about this while they were in the middle of saving the world. “Hollow would have generators to make enough Equinox to power his dinosaurs,” He suggested. “Destroy it, and they’ll shut down.”

“The Lostlight’s cannons can deal with them with the right aim,” Faith thought aloud. “Let’s find them.”

The two walked for a while, trying to keep out of sight of the Husk guards that were undoubtedly looking for them since they’d staged their little prison break and quickly ducking behind doors. “They should have an armoury somewhere,” Said Oswald when they had just come out of hiding from inside a closet. “The Husks would be storing weaponry for when they need it.”

“Maybe it’ll be closer to the generator room?” Faith suggested. “I mean, that’s probably the most heavily guarded place here since it’s where they make what they all run on and feed it into the rest of this place, right?”

“My thoughts exactly. Come on.” The two continued to sneak about towards the generator room until they spied a small group of Husks going into a room, but it seemed that only the Husks could get in using a mechanism attached to the door. “Damn,” Hissed Oswald. “That’s going to be a problem.”

Faith’s eyes suddenly lit up and she grinned as her fingertips started to glow. “Don’t worry. I’ll take it from here.” 

A Husk stepped from the armoury with its hands carrying some strange variants of shotguns and passed their hiding place, and when its back was turned, Faith reached out and took control of it. The Husk froze in place before it started walking over to them and handed them the guns. Oswald took them and hooked one onto Faith’s belt, just in case. Knowing they would need a shield to get down into the generator room, Faith kept her control on the Husk with Oswald guarding her back. They made a stop at the armoury to get the Husk another gun before they descended down into the generator room. The place was crawling with Husks, all of them inspecting and adjusting machinery connected to huge glass silos full of a substance not much unlike Æther, but it looked like ink and blood more than it did a tranquil blue smoke, and Faith was starting to get the idea that this was probably a really, really bad idea as she and Oswald quickly ducked into cover while she was still commanding the husk. “Okay, we’ll do as much damage as we can, and then we’ll make a run for it,” She whispered to Oswald. “Ready?” He nodded. “Showtime.”

She made the Husk draw its gun and fire on one of the machines. Immediately, chaos broke out amongst the ranks and the other Husks started firing on each other. With Faith controlling the Husk she already had, she made it dodge most of the shots so that the bullets would instead damage more of the machinery. Explosions rocked the entire room down to its foundations and Faith soon cut the connection to the Husk she’d been controlling before its head was blown off by another. Alarms began to sound and the two quickly made a break for it, running back up the stairs just as the Husks noticed them trying to get away and Oswald grabbed Faith’s hand to lead her along just as they opened fire. “At least that worked!” Faith exclaimed as they ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

“Where to now?!” Oswald called over his shoulder. 

“We need to get to cover so I can open up a doorway and get us the hell out of here!” Faith replied, ducking just as a bullet whizzed past over her head with a panicked yelp. More Husks were filling the corridors and gaining on them quickly, even when Oswald turned and fired off a few shots at them to try and slow them down enough as they rounded a corner. The alarms seemed to get louder and louder the more they ran and the adrenalin was making it hard for Faith to breathe, but eventually Oswald dragged her into a room with an open door and pulled it shut, pushing a heavy crate in front of it.

“That’s not going to hold long.” Oswald drew his gun again and faced the door. Coughing and panting, Faith tried to keep herself steady and stumbled over to the first wall she could see and thought of the first safe place that came to mind- the high street was bound to be the safest place right now- but the metal wouldn’t move no matter what she tried. Oswald saw her distress and pulled her away from the wall and back towards the wall just an awful banging and screeching came from the door. 

“Striderclaws,” Faith panted. “Why won’t the door open?”

“I was worried this would happen,” Said Oswin. “Neither of us are strong enough at the moment to make a doorway.”

“So we’re trapped?” Faith paled. “You’re kidding me!”

The screeching and banging continued until it came to a stop when it was overpowered by the sound of rifle and machine gun fire, then a blast of fire that made the tiny porthole window too bright to look at, and Oswald pulled Faith close to shield her eyes, squeezing his shut. The bright light soon subsided, but the crate blocking the door had been charred by the heat, and it was easy for whoever was on the other side to kick it in, and on the other side stood not a horde of Husks and Striderclaws, but Madame Soleila and Dorian, joined by Sprocket, whose right arm had shifted into a gun with a belt of bullets threaded through it and had an excited Charlie circling his feet, and a score of Wolfe’s men. Faith rushed to them, and Soleila hugged the girl close and immediately began to fuss over her, Charlie leaped up to lick her face, but when when Faith looked back, Oswald had disappeared. 

Sprocket put a hand on her shoulder. “Miss White?”

“Where’d Oswald go?” She asked. 

“There’s no one else in here but us,” Dorian replied, giving her a look that was rightly questioning her sanity. “Now come along, I’m going to need your help.” Faith was about to voice her protests when explosions made the whole room shake. “Before Wolfe blows this place to smithereens, preferably!”

“Go with him, Cherie,” Said Soleila. “Sprocket will cover the rear. I must take these men and destroy the cloning chambers so these prehistoric monstrosities will not follow us.” Faith nodded, then followed Sprocket and Dorian off through the scorched hallway. Soleila watched them go, a feeling of dread in her gut, but she pushed it aside as more Husks came up from the right. The pirates began firing shots at them, and Soleila’s forge marks began to glow, pure sunlight creeping up from her fingers towards her elbows as she turned to face the next wave. Summoning her giant Chakram, she commanded the pirates to duck down before she swung it with one hand, the golden ring cleaving white hot through the Husks, who fell to the floor in smouldering piles of scrap. The Chakram sang as it returned to her hand, and she held it effortlessly despite it being half the size of her. She commanded them onwards, conjuring up a shield of sunfire to protect them from more waves of Husks as they advanced.

†††

Wolfe could feel himself come alive as he hurled fireballs at the approaching waves of Husks, some astride Striderclaws or Sickleheads. Terrorgliders cirled overhead, slowly being picked off by the Lostlight’s turrets and sending them and their riders plummeting thousands of miles towards the ground below. It had been so long since he’d been in a real fight like this, and his fire burned brightest as it reduced their enemies to piles of smouldering metal and ash. Once, he had fought like this alongside his dearest friend in Constantinople, and he could fondly remember the stone lions tearing out the throats of Ottoman soldiers. There was a gunshot behind him, and Berkley was standing back to back with him.

“Can’t let you have all the fun, Tiberius.” He smirked. “And you need someone to watch your back, anyway.”

Wolfe just rolled his eyes. He would have made some kind of clever retort when he saw a Sicklehead coming at him. Gathering his breath, his throat and chest glowed before he let out a torrent of flame that reduced it, and everything else in its path, to ash. He smirked at Berkley. “Well look who you got watchin’ yours, old man.”

Berkley could only smile and shake his head before he took aim again, his forge-mark glowing. He wasn’t an avatar of the sun, and he didn’t have superhuman strength and conjure earth golems or shoot fire from his hands or mouth, nor could he move at inhuman speeds, but he considered his to be an invaluable ability. Every shot was precise and accurate, not a single bullet was wasted as he glanced down the scope of his rifle. 

He remembered his days in the British military as a sniper, and his commanding officer would commend him time and time again for his efficiency on the battlefield during the Napoleonic Wars- it was even said he made Napoleon himself quake in his wee booties when his soldiers would come back speaking of the Man with the Eagle’s Eyes. With Soleila’s help, Napoleon was overthrown and Berkley earned his place among the Order of Æther. Upon countless battlefields, he continued to prove himself the best soldier Britain had ever seen. Every shot would end with more enemies dropping dead, and with Wolfe and his pirates backing him up, the battlefield was starting to clear. This time, with the element of surprise and teams of pirates taking out his machines from the inside, they were drunk on the taste of imminent victory.

†††

Petra Ironside had never really been a woman who enjoyed conflict. As the sheriff of Redpipe, she had to be as down-to-earth as possible in order to keep everything fair, but there were times when she had no choice but to throw the first stone- and not just in the figurative sense. She had just grabbed a Bouldertail and hammer-tossed it into a swarm of Terrorgliders, and followed it up with gunshot after gunshot at the approaching Husks and Striderclaws. She didn’t exactly have Berkley’s eagle-vision, but she’d had a damned good teacher when she was a girl, and that same teacher’s white hat sat proudly atop her head, as pristine as the day he gave it to her. He was the best marksman the west had ever known, and the only family she’d ever had. He taught her how to tinker, how to shoot, and in her early days before the Order scouted her out, taught her to control her powers. Each lesson repeated in her head in every fight she had ever been in- mind your feet, watch your targets, don’t waste a bullet on a shot you won’t make- and they rang loud and clear even now. 

Suddenly, a Husk got a shot in and knocked the white hat from her head. Petra caught it before it flew away, finding the hole in the brim where the bullet had ripped through, and snarled angrily as she set it back on her head. Metal came from the earth, and with time Petra had learned to use it, and conjured pillars from the scrap metal that once were Husks before swinging her arm wide and flinging them towards her enemies, watching as they were speared through with a sense of satisfaction. It wouldn’t fix her hat, but they were the ones who poked the rattlesnake. She’d need to see someone about patching it up if she survived this. Sorry about your hat, old man.

†††

Feet hit the floor hard as Dorian led Faith, Sprocket and Berkley’s pet through the halls of Hollow’s fortress. With their target being distracted, this would give them the chance they needed to hit him hard and where it would hurt and give them the advantage they needed to make sure they would have a chance. Neither the tin can or Faith had any idea what this meant to Dorian- to him, this was a chance to get his revenge on the man whose very name had sullied his reputation from birth. Ever since he’d learned the truth of his father and his crimes against the Order, the lives he’d taken, he felt filthy, no better than the vile men he’d brought to justice on the streets of London. With every criminal he’d put to the sword, he’d hoped to somehow bring himself some kind of redemption for his heritage, and for the city progress had made impure. He’d killed clockmakers who dealt in the opium trade, politicians who worked against the Crown, factory foremen whose intention for the boys in their employ was questionable. Killing his father would be his greatest feat, and the Archangel would guard over London once more with a clear name.

Up ahead, another swarm of Husks were waiting with their guns drawn and firing off shot after shot as the group approached. The automaton wrenched a nearby door off its hinges and held it fast as a shield, bullets ricocheting off the tempered steel. Dorian wasn’t as surprised as Faith was- Sprocket and his two bumbling chums were built to work on railways, so if a train needed to be lifted off the tracks, he was certain any of them could lift it with a finger. The weapons were just an upgrade on Berkley’s part, and Sprocket fired off a round from behind the shield, but a bullet from one of the Husks dented the barrel into an awkward angle and the automaton had to pull his arm away before the rest of it could get blown off.

Dorian just smirked, his forge-marks glowing. “Never send a machine to do a man’s job.” And before Faith could retort, he’d darted out from behind cover with his sword, becoming no more than a blur as he shot through the Husks, cleaving them up into neat, sparking piles of scrap. What was the blink of an eye for an observer was mere minutes to Dorian- moving fast enough to slow down his own time definitely had its perks, and the moment he was done, he gave a casual flourish of his blade before sheathing it with a smirk to a wide-eyed Faith, whom he gave a bow. “Did that please you, mon cher?” 

Faith shoved him onwards. “Cut the pretty-boy crap and get moving!” She snapped. “And you can apologise to Sprocket later!”

Dorian just chuckled and walked onwards with the tin can and Berkley’s mutt in tow. She’d thank him later, he was sure of it.

18: Act Three: Chance and Fate, Chapter Four

Watching as the last remnants of the Order decimated his armies and feeling the rumbles from the generators exploding, Ichabod Hollow seethed with anger beneath his mask, eyes glowing intensely through the dark glass of his goggles. How, after all these years, had these dogs gathered the courage to fight him again after their last attempt had resulted in so many of their numbers being slaughtered? Hollow had expected grudges to end the Order for good and make it easy to destroy the survivors, but now they were actually putting up a fight. He cursed under his breath and began to pace off towards the generator room- his son and the brat would definitely be there.
Once, there was a time when he was among them, when he had friends and colleagues that respected him, but these fools made a mistake when they denied him the praise and glory that he so rightfully deserved for his work. All because of them- the witch and her righteous cur, Ericus. It was they who were the authors of the Order’s demise, not he. It was their own fault that this was happening, their fault that this world would rot forever in a state of Paradox, that the future would turn to dust, and all that would be left was this day- the day that this wretched world and all in it would come to an end.

†††

It was easy enough for Faith to lead Sprocket, Charlie and Dorian to the generator room. With the Husks all focused on the adults, they only had to set the tracking beacons for the Lostlight to train her cannons on. They were almost exactly like the devices Faith had seen in the movies, disk-shaped with a red light that blinked in time with a persistent, but steady beeping, and were magnetised for easy application- easy, and yet there were so many for one room.

“Why can’t we just put down one?” She asked, placing one against a wall. “Can’t be that hard to pinpoint it.”

“This particular room is deeper in this fortress than you think,” Dorian explained, placing two against the control panel of an Equinox silo. “There’s only so far through the metal the ship’s targeting systems can detect before it becomes impossible to lock on to anything.”

Faith just nodded and went back to placing more beacons. “Well, let’s hurry up, Oswald and I already did a number on this thing earlier. I don’t know if it’s still stable or not.”

“She’s right,” Piped up Sprocket from another part of the room. “My sensors are already detecting Equinox radiation at a steadily increasing rate.”

“Perhaps that is why your imaginary friend seemed so real?” Dorian remarked.

Faith just rolled her eyes. “Oh, just drop it, will you?!”

Two gunshots rang out and hit the wall between the two, and Faith immediately dropped the other beacons that she’d been clutching under her arm with a panicked yelp. Standing at the top of the stairs leading down into the room and staring at them through soulless black-lensed goggles, Hollow held a frightening weapon that looked like a shotgun, still smoking from the previous shot, but the smoke was as dark a red as the silos, and the ammunition clip had a similar red glow. “Yes, I do believe you will ‘drop it’.”

Faith felt her blood run cold for a moment as Hollow descended the stairs. There were Husks littering the floor, but not close enough that they would be good enough cover if Hollow opened fire again. Dorian, however, didn’t seem to think about this, and rushed at him with his pistol and sword drawn, despite Faith’s shouted warning, but he was caught by the throat and tossed into Sprocket, both of them crashing back towards a wall, leaving Faith defenseless. 

“I should have known something was amiss when we caught you, brat,” Hollow rasped. “Finding the Thorn Mistress’ favourite pet, and then you two years later? Your father should have hidden you better.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Faith snapped back at him. “I never knew my father!!”

“Perhaps that is for the best. He and your mother were a perfect match- both of them were nothing but jealous cowards- they should never have denied me my glory! The prestige I so rightfully deserved!” Faith saw the red lights behind the dark goggles intensify for a moment, and she started to slowly reach out to one of the Husks on the ground, but it took a mere gesture from Hollow and she was slammed up against a wall, held there seemingly by the force of this madman’s will. “I believe you are familiar with the term, ‘Sins of the Father’, Miss White? Or shall I call you by your true name, Renata?” Another twist of his hand, and Faith suddenly couldn’t breathe- the same force that held her pinned against the wall was now strangling her with a relentless grip. “Your parents- the Puppet Master, Maestra de Espinas D’oro- since they are not present to answer for their sins, you will have to suffice. I wonder what they would say if they saw their child- their hopes and dreams, the embodiment of their very futures- wither in the grip of Equinox!”

Faith could start to feel herself becoming light-headed when a shot rang out and she was dropped onto the cold floor, then swept up into Sprocket’s arms while Dorian started to fight back against his father, slashing with his sword and firing off shots with his pistol when he could find an opening. 

“Miss White!” There was genuine worry in the automaton’s optics. “Are you alright? Can you stand?” 

Faith gripped his arm. “Take Charlie,” She rasped, coughing as she tried to get her breath back. “Get the others, Dorian and I will cover you.”

“You’re sure?” 

Faith looked up at him. “It’s us he wants- we’re gonna need backup.” Charlie whimpered and nuzzled her leg, and Faith just gave him a pat on the head. “Be a good boy, Charlie.” Both automaton and dinosaur got away, and Faith reached out with her powers to get two Husks to their feet. They were damaged, but they at least were able to stand. Hollow had just thrown Dorian back with a telekinetic blast, the boy crashing into a wall and collapsing to the floor. Faith made the Husks grab Hollow by the arms and hoist him off the ground, holding him there in a death-grip before she cut off control and left them like that while she went to Dorian’s side.

An explosion ripped through the wall and shook the room- cracks started to form in the glass silos, Equinox leaking out of them at an insidiously languid pace, like an encroaching plague. Hollow struggled against the frozen Husks. “No! NO!” He shrieked. “This cannot be!!”
Another explosion shook the room to its foundation, and the cracks in the silo deepened and sirens blared at the increasing pressure in the silos and the damage that was causing its contents to leak. Faith started to haul Dorian up the stairs, but he was heavy and it was taking too long, but they at least got out of the way when a beam came loose, trapping Hollow beneath it, still livid and spitting curses at them as they escaped. “THIS ISN’T OVER!” He shouted up at her. His cloak had caught fire, the gas mask having fallen away and the lenses of his goggles smashed, revealing sunken eyes that might have once been handsome, but instead were black as pitch with red lights for pupils, and a scarred mouth that was twisted in a grotesque scowl. “MY FURY IS UNDYING! I WILL DRAG YOU TO THE DEPTHS OF HELL!”

“Give the devil my regards!” Faith hurried from the room with Dorian in her arms just as the silos exploded, and got clear of the door with Dorian as fire blasted through it. Soleila appeared, then, the group of pirates having retreated to the ship, and sank to her knees beside Faith, putting her arms around her and Dorian. 

“Hold on tight!” Her eyes blazed with white fire, and in a flash, they were out of the fortress and on the deck of the Lostlight, watching with the others as the fortress was enveloped in a great cloud of Equinox. Faith could swear she still heard Hollow’s screams from within that abyss, even as it cleared away in a great implosion, and was simply no longer there. 

“What happened?” She squeaked. 

“It’s stuck in Paradox,” Sighed Berkley. “We always knew Hollow would be swallowed up by his own anger, but this…”

“It’s what he deserved,” Wolfe spat. “We’re rid of ‘im now. The Equinox Storm in the future would be clearing up, and everything should be back to normal.”
Faith allowed her at least that sense of relief knowing everything would be fine when she returned, but it did nothing to soothe her frazzled nerves or her worries for Dorian. They hadn’t necessarily gotten out of there very quickly and he had been wounded when the Equinox silos started to leak- they’d both been exposed and it posed a threat to their health.

Petra ordered two airship pirates to carry Dorian down to the ship’s infirmary, Soleila following behind them, and Faith could only wonder if Dorian would make it. 

“Next stop, Mont Matre,” Wolfe sighed, setting a hand on Faith’s shoulder. “Take my bed, youngblood- it’s gonna be a long trip.”

†††

They returned to Madame Soleila’s mansion, where Soleila spent days tending to her son’s injuries until she eventually needed to be sent to bed to get some proper rest. Faith had taken over caring for him, and she kept looking at Dorian as he laid on the daybed, curled up with a warm blanket and deep in what she could only hope was dreamless sleep. After being exposed to that much Equinox, Faith didn’t really think any sort of dream would be worth it right now- they could be horrible nightmares for all she knew, or even the most disturbingly fantastical of fantasies and still would not have been worth it for love nor money. There was some strange feeling settling in her chest- a feeling that was oddly satisfying, seeing Dorian all beat up like this. She'd tried to warn him, and yet here she was, watching his bruised and battered form, and feeling somewhere between satisfied because she'd been right and worried because despite how much of a jerk he could be, Dorian was still her friend and he did save her life. If only, she thought silently as she noted the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, if only she'd been quicker.

Faith could picture a few things Dorian would do once he woke up. One, he'd probably do that sulky thing he did when he was getting upstaged; two, he'd make up some dumb line to make her blush and try really hard not to punch him, and; three, he'd ask what happened and it would all be very boring. Quite honestly, Faith would be okay with Dorian just saying anything at all at this point, same with Soleila. He'd been out for nearly the whole day now and without a single sign that he was going to wake up at any point, Soleila just wouldn't stop fidgeting about it all. Professor Berkley had told her to have courage, but Faith could tell it wasn't easy; "It's my job to worry about you, Faith," Catherine had said once. Just how mothers dealt with their worries, however, was beyond her comprehension, and for the fourth time in the time she'd been at Dorian's side, Faith sighed. 

"Something wrong, Miss White?" 

Faith looked to see Sprocket walking in with a fresh pot of tea with lemon slices and a small pot of honey on a tray and nodded. "I'm fine, it's this one here who needs the help." She gladly accepted a cup of the tea when the automaton offered and took a few sips of it.

"I'm surprised he's still alive," Said Sprocket. "With that much exposure..."

"I know," Sighed Faith. "But he made it. He'll be fine, won't he?"

“I’m sure he will. I mean, you’re fine.”

"Stop talking about me like I'm some kind of invalid." Faith nearly fell off the couch from the shock alone when Dorian finally spoke. She set her tea aside once it had worn off and moved off the day-bed so he could sit up properly, not realising that she'd been watching him carefully until Dorian did first and chuckled at it. "See anything you like, mon cher?"

Faith went bright red. "No," she snipped. "I was about to tell you that I told you so."

"Oh," Dorian scoffed as he took a cup of tea from Sprocket. "Well, I'm sorry I saved your life, then."

"That's not what I meant!" Faith was gripping her teacup so tightly she almost broke it with her own strength. "You were almost killed because you wanted to be the hero after I'd told you not to do it. Besides, it was me Hollow wanted anyway."

"And...?"

"'And' what?"

Dorian looked at her boredly. "Does this somehow have something to do with you sitting at my bedside?" He asked. "Surely you didn't come here just to taunt me." Faith had to restrain herself from throwing her tea at his face. She didn't want to talk anymore, so she just drank her tea and avoided looking at Dorian, who was smirking. "You can't deny it was you who was dragging me away," He said in that stupid matter of fact tone he liked to talk down to her with. "Come on, admit it." Then, he smirked. "You really are just another typical girl- you're head over heels in love with me."

And THAT is when Faith decided to dump her tea on Dorian's head. She would have dumped the whole teapot's contents on the boy had Sprocket not decided to just stand there, but ooh, she was just so close to murdering him. "Are you really that much of a complete moron?!" She spat at him. "I saved your life! Twice, need I add! And how do you repay me? Not with a thank you or by admitting that maybe you were wrong, but no. You wake up and immediately start acting like you're still the damn hero!" Dorian looked a little shocked. "I can't believe you! I really thought you were ready to change for once in your life, but no- you're just at it again running your stupid mouth without any sort of shame whatsoever, even when you could have died!! In fact, I wish you had!" Faith got up and stomped off angrily. 

"Careful what you wish for," Dorian said casually, reaching for a nearby towel to clean himself off. "You might just get it."

"Miss White has been awfully worried about you, you know," Sprocket informed him. "She feels responsible for what happened to you."

"I don't remember ever asking you, you worthless scrap heap!" Dorian growled dangerously as he dried off. Were he capable of such an act, Sprocket would have knocked him back out, but Dorian had already gotten up and was limping after Faith. He managed to catch her by the wrist and pinned her against a wall, holding fast against Faith's struggling. 

"What the hell are you doing?!" Her face was red and she was getting mad to the point where she was close to spitting at him. "Let me go!"

"It was rude of you to leave while I was still talking to you," scoffed Dorian. 

"You were insulting me!" Faith kept trying to get herself away from Dorian. There was something about him that felt off, and she hoped it wasn't the possible Equinox radiation he'd been exposed to. "I've told you before, I'm not interested in jerks like--!" Faith didn't get to finish her sentence. Dorian had pressed his lips to hers, and Faith felt the overwhelming need to strangle him. He'd stolen her first kiss. Faith stretched out her hand and took control of a suit of armour nearby and made it pull a smug Dorian off of her, but said nothing. 

"Speechless at last?" The vigilante smirked. "You really are a typical girl- one kiss and not a word comes out. Quite the miracle, nón?" Faith started fuming as she fought the urge to bury her fist in his gut and leave him there to suffer, but said nothing, just glaring daggers at him. "Now, now, ma belle péche..don't be like that..." Dorian's grin widened. "Else, you'll make me feel like a péchê, myself..."

"I thought I told you to cut it out with the nickname crap." Faith had the suit of armour dump Dorian in an undignified heap on the floor. "Let's get one thing straight. I'm not yours- I'm too young to be anyone's. I don't even like you. Besides, with all that Equinox radiation, you're probably not thinking straight." She looked away for a moment and sighed. "I respect you, Dorian, but that's as far as it gets. We're not anything. Not friends, not a couple, just acquaintances, and if you pull this crap again, I'm not gonna be against beating the daylights out of you." She made the suit of armour go back to its original spot and ran a hand through her hair. "Just...get better, okay?" She said no more and walked away, leaving Dorian in the hallway where she'd left him. 

The man began to chuckle, and soon, it became a bout of mad laughter as he covered his eyes with his hand and gazed off into space as he continued to laugh. "Perhaps, mon lapin...maybe it's you who is wrong..." He pulled himself to his feet. "Someone with your kind of power will lose control eventually. All strings tangle. And when they do, you will need me there to pull you out of it.