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“You? Young?” Cleo asked and snorted at the wrinkled angel sitting beside her.
The headmaster tapped his drink. “This is the secret to eternal youth,” he said. “It’s actually the answer to everything: If you’re tired, it’ll help you forget about your sleepiness. If you’re hungry, it’ll make you forget about your hunger. If you’re hurt, it’ll make you forget your pain.” He took a swig and winked at Cleo. “The higher-ups banned it because they didn’t want their secret getting out.”
Cleo furrowed her brow and reached into her space, pulling out one of the headmaster’s bottles. She pried it open and sniffed the rim. She reeled back and gagged while wrinkling her nose. The headmaster laughed and finished his drink, tossing the empty bottle over his shoulder. “Try some,” he said with a strange look in his eyes.
Cleo brought the bottle to her mouth and took a sip. Her tail stiffened as she swallowed. Her eyes widened as she dropped the bottle and made hurling motions. The headmaster burst out into laughter as he picked up the fallen bottle and began drinking some more. “That was disgusting!” Cleo said and spat a glob of spit onto the ground. She scraped at her tongue with her hands until the bitter, burning flavor was gone.
“You know what they say,” the headmaster said and raised an eyebrow. “The bitterest medicine is the best medicine.” He placed the bottle by his foot and straightened his back. “Alright. Seriously now, come to the west with me?”
Cleo made a face at him. “I don’t even know your name,” she said.
“What?” the headmaster asked, his eyes widening. “That’s impossible. Everyone knows my name—I’m famous. I’m Headmaster Hailing, but you can call me Headmaster. What’s your name, little lizardling?”
“Cleo the Magnificent,” Cleo said and crossed her arms over her chest, “but you can call me Magnificent. Headmaster’s too long.”
“You can shorten it to Master if you want.”
Cleo rolled her eyes. “What’s your first name?”
“Headmaster.”
“Your first name is Headmaster?”
“My parents were really into dwarven culture,” the headmaster said and sighed while spinning the bottle in his hand. “And they wondered why I drank.”
Cleo waited, but the headmaster didn’t say anything else. “You’re serious.”
“And you’re Magnificent. I’m glad we got to know each other better,” Headmaster Hailing said. “Does that mean you trust me now? Let’s go to the west, what do you say?”
Cleo frowned. “Palan and Raea are really to the west?” she asked.
“I lie pretty often,” the headmaster said. “But I’m not lying about this. I really think Raea and Palan are there as long as the rebel army is there.”
“Alright,” Cleo said and knit her eyebrows. “One more question.” She met the archangel’s eyes. A shiver ran down her spine—he looked like a wolf staring at a sheep.
“Ask away,” Headmaster said, playing with the bottle in his hands.
“Do you know what’s happening at the capital gate today?” Cleo asked. Although she broke off her relations with Linda, she couldn’t help but worry about Miriam’s words. Something was happening at the gate, and Linda could possibly be in danger. “I heard it was going to be a big event that’ll be dangerous. My friend might be there.”
The headmaster raised an eyebrow. “You’re a really nosy lizardling, aren’t you?” he asked. “Why are you dipping your toes into so many things beyond you?” He shook his head. “Slave to an archdemon with an ancient pact to an archangel. Friends with someone in a dissenting faction run by young, outcast scions. Luggage bearer of the illustrious headmaster of Hailing Academy.”
Cleo snorted. “What do you know about the dissenters?” she asked.
“A lot,” the headmaster said and nodded. “They’re part of the reason why I wanted to leave today. They’re going to attack the first sector, blame it on the rebel army, and rile up the people to storm the capital. The leaders are all scions who were removed from their families because they developed sins in the capital. Some of them have reached the level of archangel.”
“Miriam said it’d be dangerous if we didn’t go to the capital entrance,” Cleo said and furrowed her brow.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? They’re going to attack the first sector. Three archangels indiscriminately raining down their powers everywhere except for the entrance.”
“But,” Cleo tilted her head, “why didn’t they just join the rebel army then?”
“Are you kidding me?” the headmaster asked. “They’re scions. Halflings disgust them. They’d never lower themselves to work with beings they perceive as slaves.”
“Jeez. Not a lot of people like the capital, huh?” Cleo asked and scratched her head. Was the capital really that bad? Raea seemed like a nice enough person … before she turned crazy at least.
“Well, the people inside the capital think the capital’s the greatest place in the world,” Headmaster said.
“What do you think about it?” Cleo asked as the headmaster stood up and dusted off the back of his pants. She found herself standing as well. Had she decided to follow him?
“Terrible place,” the headmaster said and shook his head. “Not enough drinks.”
Cleo bit her lower lip. “Are the dissenters going to be able to break into the capital?” she asked.
“Can an elephant dance on its head?”
Cleo blinked. “I don’t know? Maybe? I’ve never seen one do it before,” she said.
“There’s your answer,” the headmaster said and closed his empty suitcase, hoisting it over his shoulder. “Do you know where your friend is? The one going to the gate?”
“No,” Cleo said and pursed her lips.
“Do you want to warn them?”
“We’re not really friends anymore, but I don’t want to see her die.”
“Well, I can guarantee if we head to the west right now and she goes to the gate, she’ll die, but you won’t see it. Out of sight, out of mind?”
“I’m a thief, but I’m not heartless,” Cleo said. “Linda was nice to me. She probably wouldn’t do the same for me, but I’m a bigger person than her.”
The angel sighed. “You’re not bigger than anyone,” he said and shook his head. “If I help you warn your friend, then you’re going to help me bring my stash through the border, alright? I’m going to sacrifice a lot to gain your trust here. You’re worth befriending rather than turning you into my puppet.”
“Why do you even need me to do that?” Cleo asked.
The headmaster stared at Cleo. “Do you know what the punishment is for owning even a single bottle of liquid courage?” he asked.
“Uh. Execution?” she asked. That seemed to be the angels’ punishment for everything.
“Correct,” the headmaster said. “I’ll be executed over forty-eight hundred times if they find my stash. I don’t have that many lives.”
“Huh?” Cleo asked. “But you only had like twenty bottles in the suitcase?”
“Let me have my secrets, alright?” the headmaster asked as a ten bottles of whiskey appeared on the ground in front of Cleo. Her eyes widened as another twenty bottles appeared. The headmaster furrowed his brow. “I’ll need at least this much to find your friend. Tell me, what’s she look like and what are her powers?”
“She’s a greater angel of greed,” Cleo said. “Her name’s Linda Bael. She looks—“
“I know Linda,” the headmaster said and raised an eyebrow. “You really do have your fingers dipped everywhere, huh?” He picked up a bottle and dug out the cork. A bloody smell wafted out and assaulted Cleo’s nose. “This is the fruit of my and my subordinate’s research: Five-percent altruistic blood. Twenty-percent gluttonous blood. Seventy-five percent alcohol. One-hundred percent ecstasy.” The archangel licked his lips and drank the bottle without pause, reaching for another with his spare hand before he even finished the first. Cleo’s jaw dropped as the angel’s stomach expanded with every drink, and soon, there were thirty empty bottles on the ground. The headmaster stumbled and slurred, “Climb on my back. Don’t let go.”
Cleo nodded and scrambled up the angel’s clothes, wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. “Ready,” the archangel said and took a step forward. He stumbled, but managed to balance himself before he fell. “Set.” His arms spread out as he leaned back as if he were trying to hug the sky. “Go.”
A wave of darkness rippled out from his body, consuming and painting the world black. Cleo’s eyes widened as everything, including the sky, was turned into an endless abyss. She could see herself and the headmaster, but it was as if they had walked into a void. There were no sounds or smells. The headmaster inhaled through his nose and held his breath. As he exhaled, he said, “Found her.”
He took one step forward, and the darkness disappeared just as quickly as it came. The surroundings had turned into the insides of a carriage. Linda was curled up on the floor clutching her chest while gasping for breath, her body spasming. If Cleo had looked around the first sector, she’d have seen thousands of angels doing the same. The headmaster clicked his tongue, his face pale. “Damn. Sober already. Have her drive us to the second sector at full speed”—he took out an orb and placed it inside Cleo’s space—“and keep that safe.”
Before Cleo could respond, the headmaster fell forward and passed out. Cleo stared at the headmaster, then turned her head towards Linda who was just beginning to stand. Something outside caught Cleo’s attention, and she dashed towards the window while tugging on Linda’s arm, forgetting they had cut ties. “What is that?” Cleo asked and pointed.
In the distance, above the capital’s walls, an avatar of black lightning—at least a hundred times larger than the one Melissa summoned against Palan—was taking shape in the air. A massive head with three eyes appeared. The avatar swept its gaze over the first sector, as if it were searching for someone. Cleo’s eyes widened as she suspected something and threw a blanket over the unconscious headmaster. After what seemed like an eternity, the avatar of lightning’s gaze stopped on the crowd of angels who had gathered in front of the capital’s gate. A massive palm made of crackling, black lightning materialized in the clouds above them. The avatar seemed to smile, revealing jagged teeth made of lightning. “How cute,” it said, the noise shattering every window within the first sector. “I hate cute.”
The palm slapped the ground.
“Well then,” Linda said, ten minutes after the avatar disappeared. She and Cleo were still standing at the window, petrified with glass shards by their feet. “It’s a good thing we didn’t go to that gate, huh?”