Chapter 26. Project Ark.
It was morning in Ibiza, the sun shining on the resort’s windows and the guests enjoying their breakfasts. Birds sang in the trees. Inside the honeymoon suite, a blonde woman was lying in the king size bed, one would never guess she had been brutally beaten the night before, her skin was now as smooth as it was before her fight.
On her right was a silver-haired woman with green eyes, sipping her tea with a content smile on her lips, watching over Evelyn.
“Honey, she looks so peaceful like this,” Elizabeth commented as she put down her cup. “Almost like an angel, isn’t she?” She was clearly teasing him.
Silas was sitting on a chair next to the bed, leaning back. There was something he wanted to know about Elizabeth and this was a perfect time to ask it.
“Are you religious, Liz?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
His wife hummed for a second, contemplating the question. Her head tilted to the side and then back.
“I wouldn’t say religious but I believe there is a god out there somewhere. Why?” Liz took another sip from her cup, her gaze moving from her husband to Evelyn.
He scratched his cheek. It was an odd thought that came to him during the fight yesterday. The whole thing about Adam and Eve, the garden and the apple. A tale as old as time.
“Even with magic and monsters, we still haven’t seen or heard from God.”
She giggled and her emerald eyes twinkled as she leaned back.
“Maybe she has more important things to do than talk to us silly mortals,” Liz winked.
A smirk appeared on his lips.
“Speaking of monsters, apparently monster hybrids are a thing,” Silas casually dropped this bombshell, taking a sip from his own cup, black coffee.
Elizabeth’s smile faltered, “You lack tact honey,” she said, shaking her head. Her attention went to Evelyn as she processed this new information.
“Do you mean like catgirls or werewolves? Half humans half beasts?” she asked with a hint of morbid curiosity.
Silas nodded. The coffee was strong, the bitter taste waking him up fully.
A moment of silence passed as they both watched Evelyn sleep.
“With Haden dead, the only other person to know the truth is Henry Smith... I should probably visit him soon,” he sighed.
The sound of birds and the scent of sea salt were in the background, adding to the serenity of this situation. Liz looked at her husband, her eyes softening as she reached for his hand.
“You don’t have to stay until she wakes up. I’m not going to eat her,” she laughed.
He chuckled too, squeezing her hand.
“This day feels strange, don’t you think?” he muttered and felt something he couldn’t explain in the air.
A hum.
She thought for a moment and then shrugged. “Well, an S-ranker did just die. Mercury was turned into Swiss cheese, and now monster hybrids exist. So yes it is quite a weird day even by our standards.”
A buzz came from Silas’ pocket and he took out his phone. Seeing the name, a small curse escaped him.
Berlin.
“Someone’s in trouble~” Liz teased.
Silas gave her a mock glare.
“I’ll deal with you later.” He answered the call and walked out to the balcony, letting the warm wind hit his face. “Old man, to what do I owe the pleasure in this completely normal day, where everything is fine and nothing is exploded?”
A loud grunt came from the other side.
“Cut the crap kid. Mercury fucking cracked. I got news from the scientists and—”
“Yeah, yeah but I wasn’t responsible for that, it was the Everhearts. Which actually makes it your fault, old man, since you didn’t keep a close watch on your S-rankers. Shame on you.” He said in a cheery tone.
More grunting. This was always how their conversations were. Insults thrown left and right.
“You little shit... Did she kill Haden and Lucas? The Association is shitting their pants trying to keep it quiet,” Berlin asked, his tone serious.
He leaned against the railing.
“Yeah. They’re both dead and I have Evelyn with me now,” Silas replied.
Silence.
Then a chuckle came through the phone. The sound of a lighter and a cigarette being lit.
“Fuckin’ hell. Eve is with Elizabeth right now isn’t she? This is going to be good, the drama...ah, I can’t wait.” His voice filled with mirth.
Rolling his eyes, Silas just smiled and listened to the old man ramble on, watching a bird fly over the resort. He would wait until Berlin got it out of his system.
After ten minutes, Silas interrupted. “Cat girls, Berlin. Fucking catgirls exist.”
That made the other man choke on his cigarette. Good. He deserved that.
He coughed. “What do you mean catgirls? Like the Japanese ones?”
A minute later and Berlin had heard the full story from him.
“Project Ark,” Berlin said.
Silas raised his eyebrows in interest. That sounded ominous.
“A few years ago we found them in an A-rank dungeon. They spoke some fucked up language like ‘Omnes muros portae,’ walls? Gates? Shit like that,” Berlin explained, his tone grim. “Henry was the one that decoded it—"
“Are they dangerous?” Silas cut him off.
Berlin paused. “The hybrids? No. Whatever's on the other side? We don't know.”
That was the wrong answer.
“Anyways, Henry used those runes on the glasses to communicate with them and hide their identity. Haden was one of the few people tasked with going into dungeons and bringing them to our facilities.”
His breath caught in his throat.
“You sanctioned this?” he asked, disbelief in his voice.
Silence.
“I didn’t know the fucker was going to rape them, okay?”
“Fuck that! I am talking about a whole other world out there and you hid this information from me?” His hand was shaking. Space ripples started to appear on the railing, making the metal distort and creak.
“Calm your tits, you retired remember? You didn’t need to know this shit because it wasn’t important.”
Wasn’t it?
He stood there, the silence of the line pressing down heavier than any dungeon. Another world. A whole other world with intelligent beings, enemies he didn't know of and Berlin had filed it under not important.
“How does the rift open? Is there another space mage out there? Huh?” His voice was rising in volume.
Berlin didn’t reply.
The sun was high in the sky and the sea was calm. But the tension was boiling over. It wasn’t until a soft hand touched his shoulder that the anger simmered down.
He looked back. Elizabeth gave him a gentle smile.
Taking a deep breath, he spoke to the phone again, “Either you tell me or you’ll find Henry close to the sun before the end of the day.”
The silence stretched.
Berlin let out a long exhale. “I don’t know. It’s like an earthquake. Shit just happens randomly. We never found anyone controlling it. Not even after torturing the fuckers did we get the answer. they don’t even know.”
Random. No pattern, no mage, no key. Just a crack that opened when it felt like it. That was the problem. He could work with an enemy. He couldn't work with weather.
“Look, kid... put E on the phone,” Berlin suddenly asked.
His eyes went to Liz and she nodded, taking the phone and putting it to her ear. She had a sweet voice that could calm any beast.
“Berlin. Care to explain why you’re being a bonafide idiot?” Elizabeth said, her smile not fading. Then she listened. And listened. Silas tried to get some words in edgewise but she shushed him.
“Uhuh okay then. I’ll tell him. Goodbye, old man.” With a beep she hung up. Her face turned to Silas with a knowing smile.
His eyebrow twitched.
“You won’t be investigating Henry,” Liz poked her finger on his chest with each word.
“But—”
She pressed the finger harder on his chest, making him step back a bit. This was one of those rare times where he was actually scared of her.
“Uh, no buts. You won’t be going to another world and leaving me for a hundred years mister.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Berlin said that they sent out an expedition and haven’t heard from them since, so until they do or an army comes out of the dungeon, you’ll stay put, okay?”
Silas knew that tone. It was the one she used before she would grab his balls and squeeze them until he agreed. So he had no choice but to nod.
A sweet kiss on his lips was his reward for being obedient, melting the tension in his body and making his heart race.
Elizabeth pulled away with a satisfied smirk.
“Now that that is dealt with, we can spend time like a family. All of us.” She turned to Evelyn who had woken up at some point, watching them with curious eyes under the blanket.
Silas scratched his neck awkwardly as Evelyn blushed. She thought it was weird seeing Silas and Elizabeth from another perspective, not of jealousy but a sort of admiration for the love that was radiating between them.