Just minutes later, the entire squad arrived at the café.
"All right gang, listen up," Hugo said, as everyone grabbed chairs and gathered around. "Interrogations were fruitful. We have found something useful. Vincent gave us a name – Derek."
"Who's Derek?" Ella asked.
"He's what they call a 'tongue-man'… he sells information in the underground arcane markets. According to our prisoner escort, Derek is the most expensive tongue-man and has the widest array of information." Looking at Camille, he added, "That's where he bought info about our squad from as well."
As Camille slowly nodded, Neil asked, "So, how do we find this guy?"
Hugo scratched his head. "That's a bit more… ah… tricky."
"How so?"
"He is a wizard. And if we were to take Vincent's word for it, he can sense anyone approaching from a long distance out. So, he's impossible to find. Unless he's willing to meet you, of course."
"So, will we get him to meet us?"
"We won't. Vincent will."
With lines forming on his forehead, Neil leaned ahead and placed a hand on the table as he asked, "You are bringing him along again?!"
"I'm afraid we have no choice."
"But Master," Ella interrupted. "Don't you think that's a little too convenient? I mean, there's a guy who might know something and to meet him we have to bring Vincent along. How do we know he's not lying?"
"Hey, Marcus!" Hugo looked at the Sokidu.
"Yes, sir," he quickly replied.
"Where were you last night?"
"Ah… at my apartment… in the village. Why asking?"
Hugo looked at the others and said, "He was at Stella's apartment in Moscow. Ella saw me going into the Hall and alerted all her teammates. Otherwise, he would have still been there. Today was a day off for all of you."
Marcus gave a sheepish smile and looked down. The rest of the team looked at each other, puzzled. "Is there a point to this?" Neil asked.
"I can tell when someone's lying. He isn't lying." After a pause he added, "Granted mister Bernthal isn't the toughest nut to crack… but what I'm saying is that I can detect a lie by Ki patterns inside a person's soul."
"There are ways." Neil leaned back. "No one, including yourself, has been able to read him very well."
"Yes. There is a chance he may be lying and hiding it well. But that is exactly why we have him in ropes."
Neil shook his head. Camille enquired, "Where is he right now?"
"He's still in prison," Gina replied.
Hugo gave her a puzzled look. So, she explained saying, "I was briefed by Master Norma. I was at the Hall for filling the mission records you gave me."
"Ah, well, alright then." He looked around at his squad mates. With a shrug, he said, "Just wanted to let you guys know the details of the assignment before bringing him out…"
"So, tell us then," Neil said and crossed his arms.
Hugo leaned back then slid ahead and brought one leg atop the other. He looked out the window. The drizzle had now turned heavier as the wind blew just as before. "A little faith would go a long way," he said.
"With all due respect, Master," Ella said, "You have been keeping us in the dark here. You continually look like you're hiding something. Neil is second in command and yet you let the Seredums lead us. You've clearly been keeping Vincent around for a reason, but you don't feel the need to let us know why. And now you've called this meeting, and that too at the Zeta point. This is our space to chill, away from everything, where no one would disturb us. What's going on?"
Camille whispered, "A little faith could go a long way…"
His head dropped slowly. "Alright," Hugo said and looked back at them. "A year ago, a bunch of us Zaatsus and Mystics used to be out patrolling the southern outpost and the surrounding areas which were attacked by bandits. Do you guys remember that attack?" The team nodded. "Well, the Seear one day contacted me to let me know that the bandits were willing to surrender. So, obviously, the message came via a Seeker's scroll. They had sent a surrendering note to the Parliament I guess or maybe the Zaatsus or something. So, I decided to head back. But…" he paused and scratched his head as a waitress brought coffee for everyone.
Camille looked at the young girl and said, "I'm sorry, but we didn't order any."
"Yannick," said Hugo with a smile. The squad looked over. Behind the bar, the owner of the café, Yannick Delacroix, was sitting, smiling and smoking a cigar. He gave them a thumbs up and they reciprocated. The chubby man was an old friend of Hugo's and never shied away from proving his love for the man and his team.
"As I was saying," the Zaatsu continued picking up the coffee mug. "While I was packing up, my check-post was attacked. Luckily, my two partners who were there with me at the time – Ameen and Nicholas, both of whom were Zaatsus themselves, were still out on the lookout and I hadn't given them the news yet. I managed to sneak out and we survived the surprise attack almost miraculously."
Marcus asked, "How many were they?"
"More than thirty."
"Woah," Camille whispered as gasps went around.
Hugo nodded. "We redevised our strategy and quickly retaliated. They weren't expecting that. Some of them had already left while some ran away. We did bring down nine of them. The point is…" he paused. "They belonged to the same group of bandits who attacked the outpost before."
Ella tried to interrupt by saying, "Wait a minute…"
"Yes!" Hugo stopped her with a hand raised in front. "Yes, they were the same bandits. So, curious as we were, we captured one of them alive and questioned him. He revealed that no such letter was written by any of their members and accused us of lying. And that's not even the worst part…"
"What's the worst part?" Camille quickly asked.
"The so-called bandits claimed that they were not attacking, they were retaliating."
"Retaliating?"
"For continual attacks by members of the Eye on their villages." The team looked around as Hugo continued, "Adding to our… whatever you wanna call it… curiosity, frustration, confusion… was what happened when we got back to the Palace. The Seear told me he never sent me any message, and I was questioned for the debacle and for putting my teammates at risk!"
"That's absurd!" Marcus said. "We've never heard any of that."
"That's because we were told to never reveal it. And by the way, both Ameen Suleman and Nicholas Moro, died within two months of the incident."
"What?" and "How?" were the exasperated exclamations from the team.
"Ameen died in an accident," Hugo explained with air-quotes. "And Nic died on a mission. Ameen was with Beatrix Asimov when he died and Nic was with Sammy Lebeau."
Marcus raised his hand and said, "Am I going nuts here or are those two the same ones who…?"
"Yes," Hugo nodded. "The famous two Zaatsus who fought the White Bolt and survived. But in any case, after my friends' demise, I started digging and found a lot of similar discrepancies. Someone is playing a game confusing us here in the Eye, but we don't know who. And talking about faith, why don't you guys now tell me who put you up to this interrogation?"
The team, trying to look as oblivious as possible, looked around at each other before realizing what Hugo had explained earlier – he could tell when they were lying.
"The Parliament," Camille said and sighed. "Everyone is worried about you, bro."
"Didn't you ever tell any of this to the Parliamentarians?" Ella asked.
"Tell them?" Hugo said, with eyes wide open. "They knew about it all and I discussed the issues with them for months!"
"Well, everyone has just been worried about you. Especially since you brought Vincent along on that mission."
"Well, colour me flattered…"
Thereafter, Ella, Marcus and Gina were sent to fetch Vincent from the prison. Once they left, Hugo looked at Neil and said, "Hey, listen up."
He leaned ahead. "Hmm…"
"We might end up splitting again. No Seredums around this time. Can I expect you to lead the team responsibly?"
Neil's gaze narrowed. "What kind of a question is that?"
"You have been letting your emotions run rampant. You've had issues working with me, I understand, but just make sure you don't do anything to jeopardise this mission."
"I have been on many missions, leading my teams with a perfect record. Why would I falter? What's so special here? Maybe if you trust me for once you could see for yourself!"
"I trust you. I trust you both more than anyone else. And that is exactly why I'm asking you to keep your eyes and ears open." With both forearms on the table, he leaned closer. "The story I just told you guys… well, I left out one detail. After we took down the bandits and questioned the one we captured, we were paid a visit by a peculiar old man by the name of Mustaqeem Al-Gohari."
Camille, wide-eyed, quickly asked, "The Mystic?"
"Yes. The Emeritus Mystic… he's actually a Zaatsu too… but he's seldom been seen since the war ended. In fact, he has seldom been seen in the past two decades."
With a hand over her mouth, she slowly and softly said, "I saw him the other day…"
"What?!" Wide-eyed Hugo stared at his sister.
"When you were sparring with Vincent… he was there right behind me. We talked even."
"Mustaqeem Al-Gohari was here? Inside Ayn?"
"Yes."
"Do you even know what he looks like?" Neil asked.
"I do, actually." Camille nodded. "Ella once showed me a picture of him. He's a legend here, bro!"
Neil looked at Hugo and said, "Wait… complete your story. Why did he come to you?"
"He came to warn us," Hugo replied. "He told us that the Eye was no longer functioning as per its purpose, and that our ranks had been infiltrated."
"What does that mean?"
"Yeah. We asked him the same thing."
"And?"
"He didn't say… just left."
A few moments later, Hugo looked at Camille and asked, "Where did you see him?"
"He was standing right behind me," she replied. "I just felt a hand on my shoulder and when I looked, it was him, Master Al Gohari." After a pause, she added, "He wants you to keep an eye on Vincent. He said… ah… the bounty hunter has far more to him than has ever met the Eye."
"Great…"
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Neil asked.
Hugo shook his head. "I have no idea…" he looked at Neil, "Just please keep it together, Neil. I am going to need you guys on this one."
"Why don't you just let me be the one baby-sitting the bounty hunter this time?"
"No, no..." the captain shook his head. "Too risky. I would love it if you helped me out, not if you jumped into a pit of fire for me!"
"You said it yourself – he's in ropes. He's no threat to us."
"Currently, yes. No threat. But give him 40% charge and he may very well have enough to give you the slip."
Wide-eyed, the young Zaatsu leaned closer. "You think I can't keep him on a leash when he's not even capable of charging up to a half of his maximum capacity? What the HELL is wrong with you?!"
"Maybe you can. But that is not your responsibility."
"Maybe I am a part of the team! Dammit, Hugo! Are we not a team here?!"
Hugo dropped his head and did not reply. Camille placed a hand on Neil's wrist saying, "Hey."
"This doesn't concern you, Cami!" Neil shook her hand off.
"He's right." Hugo looked up, ran a hand through his hair, and looked at Camille. "This doesn't concern you."
Camille smiled. "You are my brothers," she said, "and I think I am a member of this team too, you know."
The conversation, thence, came to a premature halt as the trio kept sitting in the following awkward silence. The one and only thing that held the brothers together was Camille. They both loved her and cared for her deeply and in return she provided them, and perhaps the entire Zeta Squad, a gelling force to unite and get through their differences. She was the humanity in the machine of brilliantly functioning components.
The brains to see two to three moves ahead, the brawns to take down any opposition, the spells and tricks for every situation, and a defence nigh impregnable – it all needed something to make it work properly. It needed a mother figure to keep it from falling apart. And that was Camille Baylis.
Eventually, the trio returned with Vincent and met the Baylis trio waiting outside the café.
Camille noticed the bruising on Vincent's arms and face. She looked at Hugo with one eyebrow raised.
Hugo looked away.
That was answer enough.
The bounty hunter was still wearing the white shirt and brown pants that Camille gave him albeit they were quite dusty now.
Vincent asked Hugo to have the entire team change to something casual as they may encounter a need to infiltrate populated areas. Agreeing, the captain asked him to suggest a course of action for the mission.
"We will have to go to Canada first," the tired prisoner explained. His voice was weak and he spoke slowly. "I have a friend there. He will give us further directions."
It was the White Bolt then who led the teleportation sequence.
Bruised, bound, and barely standing – yet still the only one who knew where to go.
The squad formed the circle around him, and together, they vanished.