From Moving Crates to Killing Gods-Chapter 16: The Misfits

I stared at Mira, digesting her words. So we weren’t just exile fodder, we were pieces in some ancient rivalry between competing bloodlines of The Ones. The absurdity of it hit me like a punch to the gut, even here, outside the walls of Argent, with Corruptors hunting us, politics found a way to dictate our survival.

I caught Kira’s eye, and saw the same realization dawning there. Our lives, our abilities, our very existence had just been reduced to assets in a contest between two privileged children who’d never faced a day of real hardship until now.

"So we’re what, the misfits?" I asked, not bothering to hide the bitterness in my voice. "The expendable experiment?"

Mira’s jaw tightened. "No. You’re the team that has abilities Darien doesn’t understand, so he doesn’t value them." She glanced at each of us. Me, Kira, Phinyx, Yami, Petra, Rolen, and Coco. "What seems worthless at first glance often proves invaluable."

"Anyone want juice?" Coco muttered, his fingers nervously twisting the cap of his water canteen.

"See?" I said. "We’re the team you send in when the situation calls for a strategic application of fruit beverages. Darien’s team hits things. We confuse them to death."

"Not really." Mira said, her voice low and dry. "His team hits things. Our team is what you use when hitting things only makes the problem worse."

She surveyed the broken entrance to the mall, her light blade flickering briefly between her fingers before vanishing. For all her talk of subtlety, she was still our only combat asset... even if in front of a Corruptor she would only be a coughing baby against an exploding sun.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Darien gathering his team, Finn with his silver sensing, Ember with her fire, Gale with his wind manipulation, all the obvious power players. His voice carried across the rubble as he issued instructions, sharp and assured, like he’d been training for this his entire life.

Maybe he had.

His eyes slid over to our group, assessing, dismissing. The look he gave Mira wasn’t hatred, it was worse. It was the cold calculation of someone determined to prove a point, even if it cost lives.

"I’m sorry." Kira whispered beside me.

"About what?"

"Us. The team. I know you’d rather be with the people who can actually fight."

I considered this for a moment, my fingers working the yo-yo in a steady rhythm. "Not really. Fighting means noise. Noise means attention. And attention means death" I finished with a grim half smile.

Mira approached us. "We enter through the right stairs. Darien’s team will take the left stairs. We’ll move parallel, floor by floor, until we reach the roof." Her voice dropped. "Remember, emotional control is everything. Hope will draw them faster than any sound, and fear could also attract them."

She surveyed our questionable group, her gaze lingering on Phinyx with his vibes, Coco with his juice transforming ability, Rolen who could supposedly communicate with passive mobs, though we’d seen none to test this claim.

"Your abilities aren’t what they seem." she said finally. "Use them creatively. That’s our advantage."

Across the rubble, Darien’s team disappeared into the darkness of the main entrance. I watched the last of them vanish, Ember’s red hair like a final flash of warning before the shadows swallowed them.

"Now." Mira commanded, and we moved.

The stairs led us into a big room with multiple silver columns inside. Many metal frames held a few tattered remnants of vegetation like dead skin. The ceiling had partially collapsed, allowing that sickly green light to filter through.

"What is this place?" Yami whispered, her voice so soft it was barely audible.

"A clothing store." Mira replied, her tone flat and cool. "They didn’t just wear uniforms. They chose trophies to wear. A rebellion against monotony."

"Why would you buy clothing if the citadel provides you a jumpsuit?" Yami said, perplexed.

"They had choices we can’t even understand." Mira said, ending the discussion.

We reached a doorway that led into the main hallway of the first floor. Vegetation had colonized it too, thick vines draping down from the higher levels, creating a bizarre hanging garden effect.

And moving across the hallway, were the Corruptors. From this distance, they looked like tear drops in reality, distortions that bent light around them rather than reflecting it. They drifted rather than walked, flowing across surfaces without seeming to touch them.

"Don’t look directly at them." Mira cautioned. "Peripheral vision only."

We traveled close to the storefronts. Each was a tomb of forgotten purpose, displays showing items I couldn’t name. We passed what might have been a food court, tables still arranged as if waiting for customers who had died centuries ago.

"There." Mira pointed toward a stairwell at the far end of the hallway. "That will take us up."

As we moved deeper into the mall, Rolen fell into step beside me. He was a quiet guy, dark skinned with glasses that he constantly adjusted. "Something feels off." he murmured.

"Everything feels off." I replied. "We’re surrounded by reality warping monsters."

He shook his head. "No, something else. Like... a buzzing. Do you feel it?"

I didn’t, but I’d learned not to dismiss anyone’s perceptions out here. Reality had proven itself sufficiently strange.

We entered what had once been some kind of big store, this one with elaborate displays still partially intact. We threaded our way between the circular racks, dust stirring with every careful step. Ahead of me, Rolen suddenly froze.

"There." he whispered, pointing between two racks of ancient, disintegrating fabric.

At first, I saw nothing. Then, a slight movement caught my eye. Something small, translucent, floating about a meter off the ground. It looked like a jellyfish, maybe the size of my palm, but it wasn’t in water. It hovered in the air, its tendrils undulating gently.

"What is that?" Kira whispered, leaning in close.

"A passive mob." Rolen said, his voice filled with quiet wonder. "Like the ones I used to care for in the farm division."