Gertrude had scratched her cheek and responded dryly This isnÆt making me feel any less nervous about meeting him
Waving a hand airly Tatiana laughed Just know that Randidly Ghosthound does indeed possess the male trait that his ears are tuned to several specific subjects and very few others At the same time he is currently using his hands on knowledge to guide Kharon the Order Ducis and by extension the rest of the world to the use of images I understand that you are nervous about this meeting regarding the Academy Keystones but practically it means that Randidly will be very focused on the details of this project to further his own goals As long as you donÆt say anything outlandish his attention wonÆt actually be focused on you He will be very sure of his own ideas
As Gertrude considered this and nibbled on another sandwich Tatiana shook her head helplessly IÆll be honest by the end of it you might want him to focus on you a bit more The great Randidly Ghosthound has a habit of making broad and grand goals without considering the details of how such things will be accomplished I can assure you that your meeting will simply involve Randidly dumping a lot of work on your plate and then leaving to train
So despite her nerves regarding the meeting Gertrude Collins was having a great day She arrived five minutes early in the small terrace on the Western edge of Kharon where Randidly Ghosthound had agreed to meet her and was somewhat embarrassed to see that he was already there And true to TatianaÆs word he didnÆt seem to notice Gertrude until she arrived next to his table
Oh good you are here Sit down The Ghosthound said nodding toward a chair After she had sat the Ghosthound steepled his fingers His expression was serious and his eyes were bright as he looked directly at Gertrude As the Keystones will be the guidelines to shape a studentÆs paths they are critically important to Kharon AcademyÆs development The identity of the Keystones will shape everything that follows So what are your ideas for the ideological flaws to address here
Eh Gertrude Collins blinked She shifted slightly in her seat The combination of the intensity of RandidlyÆs gaze and her rising heart rate meant that it took a few seconds to catch up with what he was saying And in the end what he was saying was that Tatiana had been very wrong about this meeting
Some part of Gertrude Collins began to panic Why had she spent last night drawing up lessonplans
The Ghosthound reached up and rubbed the back of his neck Some of the tensenesses in the air fell away Unfortunately I was rather indisposed yesterday due to some of my training IÆve recovered now but I havenÆt had the chance to consider the issue fully yet So I thought a brainstorming session might be useful Have any ideas
Eh
Randidly sat and waited for Gertrude to gather herself well enough to answer Her mouth was very dry
YouÆve fought them before right And beat em the way I heard it WhatÆs eatinÆ ya then Hank drawled He leaned back so far that his chair was only on two legs with his cowboy boots up on the table Currently he looked entirely too pleased with himself
Alana didnÆt answer for a while instead pushing open the windows to the balcony of the small room they were currently sharing The cool winter air felt good on her skin pushing at her partially buttoned shirt and cooling her sweat Then she stretched a hand out the window and made a fist The surrounding air stirred with the weight of her image Even her fist had meaning
Twisting her arm Alana offered her palm to the sky and for a split second orange flames blazed upward Whether it was a signal or a way of channeling her emotions she didnÆt really know It simply felt good to blaze a little bit right now Then she clenched her fist stifling the fire
She turned away from the window and looked at Hank He flipped his revolver around gripped the barrel and tried to use the grip to hook the neck of the whiskey bottle that was just out of his reach Rolling her eyes she walked over and slid the bottle over to his side I feel fairly confident about beating them Which is why I find my attention straying toward Randidly Have you felt the edges of it His image
The one he keeps bottled up Hank poured two glasses and offered one to Alana
She took it and sipped at the liquid It burned her throat pleasantly reminding her of her life before the System To suppress those memories she shot the rest of the glass and set it back down on the table with a grimace Perhaps but it doesnÆt make it any less alarming for those that know what they are looking for Your image is too easy going about its interactions with other images you miss some obvious things
While the world below is a chaotic mess of image fragments flying around and impacting each other during the fights a third of the sky is unnaturally still I canÆt get that monstrous motionlessness out of the mind Just how strong has he become And thatÆs why IÆm worried about the match tomorrow
Because yur distracted Hank asked He nudged the whiskey bottle toward AlanaÆs empty glass with the barrel of his revolver
Alana shook her head and crossed her arms The cold air continued to slip through the open window and lightly brush her hair Not distracted not exactly Although I do think that Paolo and Kayle want to win more than I do precisely because I always beat them individually in the past But no the reason IÆm worried is about the story that we were telling the world In the past Randidly was always the gatekeeper of strength Donnyton tried to catch him and he trounced us
But now the Ghosthound has taken a step back And I was practically ordained by him to take his place as the strongest on Earth I have been ambassador and preacher to his use of image for years If there is a Path that the Earth can take toward strength I currently stand at its gates Paolo and Kayle will want to destroy that impediment for the sake of everyone They need to destroy it and shred the lock
Easing himself forward Hank soon sat with all four legs of his chair on the ground He took a deep gulp of his whiskey before he spoke You think yur loss here will be good for Earth But fuck em If they canÆt earn the victory themselves
Alana flicked HankÆs forehead playfully before he could work up a head of steam Oh shush IÆm not going to throw the match for the good of Earth I respect both Paolo and Kayle too much for that And as Randidly pointed out in the past it isnÆt always for the best for the planet to be universally confident in what it has been doing A world needs something sinister An obvious villain Or perhaps its better in this case what the Earth needs is a Cerberus
A gatekeeper Hank said quietly He took his time and enunciated every syllable Then his mouth twisted like a confused earthworm But why do ya worry cause of this image stuff
Alana simply nodded meaning to affirm his initial word Rather idly she reached over toward his repeater which was sitting on the table She picked it up and carefully measured the weight with her left hand Because IÆve left Donnyton I now work with you freelancing for the Orders I no longer stand at the pinnacle of martial privilege on Earth As I take another Path that image as gatekeeper weakens
TraininÆ with me dragging ya down Hank grinned at her with a bright spark in his eyes
Alana wanted to point the repeater at him and make a bang sound with her mouth but understood that he wouldnÆt find it as funny as she did he was very serious about gun safety in other peopleÆs actions to an insufferable degree Which was rather difficult to take considering that he regularly used the barrel of his revolver to adjust the jaunty angle of his hat
She set the gun down on the table My image is shifting But someone needs to act as a gatekeeper It might be accurate to say that my image wants my role as Cerberos to be slain so it can completely become the prophet of Randidly Ghosthound Right now the weight of the worldÆs eyes pins my image to Donnyton