The Search for Xanar

Vet

Cas wiped his brow and took a deep breath to steady his nerves.

'One, just one more,' he thought, as he set the tablet down onto the table.

He had ran the simulation over and over, he was certain this was the perfect strategy needed for the securing a a city during a siege.

A tall shadowy figure loomed over him, Judging him with his cold Silver eyes.

The figure did not seem impressed, 'Your sister finished her's in 20 mins!' The man would probably say to Cas, 'You're too slow and too indecisive! Your Army would have died by then!' 

His trainer Victor, A man Cas could only describe as Cold... not just in the feeling sense, He was ice cold, Unmoving, Unfeeling, Unnerving.

Victor was what Cas would learn to be known as, A Mind Wraith.

Tall Dark Shapeless beings, that harvested  lost energy from people's misery!

Well not actual misery.... but that's exactly how Cas felt.

These creatures had been his, Cece's and any poor fool who managed to make it this far.

When Cas and Cece been introduced to Pariah's Chariot, there were hundreds of thousands of them, Some human others not so much.

He spied Cyclops, Triclops, Ogres and Centaurs.

Goblins, Demons, Orcs, Elves, Dark elves and Dwarves.

He saw people with Plentiful wings he mistook for angels, he saw giants with arms so many they made his large head look unimpressive in comparison.

He saw fire creatures and Ice beasts that haunted the halls of the large complex.

Many, Many vile.... no horrid creatures.

He and Cece were spooked! Scared shitless!

'Bah they'll all just people! Not like they're gonna try anything to us here!' his sister boasted, her eyes spoke something different though, she could not hide her fear and he didn't blame her.

Though thankfully their fears were misguided, the ones who were scary looking mostly kept away, completely apathetic.

The others were more confrontational met the twins during physical training, Hand to hand, Weapons, sharp shooting, Pilot lessons, war games!

The twins had the most fun in their lives during those early weeks, the ships were a dream for Cas, each moved at speeds he could only have imagined and the weapons and tech were light-years away from any earth tech.

Cas especially loved the weapons Fate Dealers bore.

His favourite had been an electro trident, a holographic trident that shot sparks of electricity at his opponents.

Cece chose a bow and arrow that shot streams of light at her targets.

Together the twins fended off their would be attackers.

They even managed to win their teams a couple of war games with their select team.

That won the twins some semblance of respect, however the theoretical classes were painful.

That's when many of  started to drop, by the end their semester, over half their course mates gone!

Cecelia had an easier time, 'This is just like my thesis!' She had said, she asked them easy enough.

Cas however had to wrap his head around concepts he was certain didn't exist anywhere in theoretical physics, if someone were to ask him, they looked more mystical than scientific.

To be fair the classes were called Meta Arts not science.

But the classes on war strategy and linguistics were better suited to him, Economics and Laws of different dimensions  he could give or take, Luckily for him they graded them based on buddy system and Cece had done an excellent job raising both their grades.

He felt bad for relying on her like this so he made up doubly for it in physical training.

"Your sister deserves a better Partner, Junior," Victor told him.

"I failed?"

"You passed, in flying colours,"

"Then wh-"

"In our line of business, one needs to be able to make snap decisions, on the battlefield or in the office, you're way too slow!" He spat, "Now leave! I don't wanna look at your sorry mug any longer than I have too!"

Cas stepped outside the examination room and met his twin.

"Took ya long enough, c'mon! Room 33 is  our final trial,"

The two bolted towards their next test, the room wasn't too far from here.

"What's-"

"Immortality.... we're supposed to convince some old geezer to extend his life,"

".....why though?"

"He's a business tycoon in his world, He'll be a great Business partner going forward,"

"He doesn't have any next of Kin?"

"Several potential candidates.... all dumbasses though, He left his kids to their own devices too long, they don't know the first thing about running his like of work!"

"Which is?"

"War profiteering!"

"....of course," He suddenly tasted bile.

"Grow up, there's no turning back now, Come on,"

Cece fished out a couple of rings from her bag, "Wear this.... it'll make us look more presentable before Mr Knotts," 

The rings looked nothing, they were made of gold and  had engravings on them but nothing special.

At least Cas foolishly thought at first, he looked up and discovered in his sister's place stood a bewitching beauty, a demoness that had Dark blue skin and a long unicorn like horn on her forehead.

She wasn't wearing her usual attire either, She was wearing a coattail suit, together with white gloves and black shiny shoes.

Though she didn't wear any pants for some reason, just a short black skirt and fishnets, her hair had turned platinum blonde too.

"Cece.... what.... what happened to you?" 

"A shaper ring, names us look one way when we look another, look!"

She pointed at a window, Cas looked over and saw he was wearing a similar attire, Save he was a male demon and was wearing pants.

"Why a demon though?"

"He's a war profiteer! He'd expect us to look more.... Demony!"

Cas frowned, he was certain she had alterior motives but he held his tongue.

The two made their way into the room, there they found another mind wraith.

"Evening kids," He said, "Mr Knotts don't have much time left, I'd get to it if I were you," he pointed to an oldman in a wheelchair staring into a mirror.

He wore a diamond crusted business suit, he had a lovely lush if white hair, his face was round and smooth, like a new born baby's, yet his hands were Gnarled and wrinkled.

'Probably from surgery,' Cas thought as he inspected his face.

"Can he see us?"

"What?" Mr Knotts spoke, turning in their direction and squinting his milky white eyes.

"I guess that answers our question.... Good evening Mr Knotts, My name is Cecelia and This is Castor my brother, We've come here to make you an offer," She produced a parchment from thin air.

"What....? where did you come from? and what's with that blue makeup? are you thieves? are after my life? take the money and go!"

"At ease...  no one means you any harm, as my lovely sister said, we've come here to make you an offer,"

"What ever you're selling I ain't buying!"

"You sure? I'm certain this one's up your alley, it's a once in a lifetime offer afterall!"

The oldman snorted, "Which is?"

"Immortality!"

"....I see... you're not thieves or business men, just loons! Get out off my room before-"

Cece snapped her fingers and the room shifted, Her, Cas and the oldman found themselves in the middle of church, there were people there, dressed in the most fancy clothes they could afford.

All of them paid no mind to the trio, Their eyes were fixed on a blonde woman in a white dress, Mr Knotts eyes widened.

"Maria...." he muttered.

"She's quite the looker," Cas whistled, "What do you think Cece?"

"Ah... I've seen hotter,"

"You shut your mouth!" Mr Knotts snarled, "That's my wife you're talking about!"

"Apologies, Apologies! I got a little jealous is all," Cece sneered.

"What.... what are you? are you demons? am I dead?"

"Hmmm.... We're whatever floats your Boat Andrew! And Death? Didn't I tell you! We're here to make you immortal! All you have to do is sign this piece of paper and boom! You don't have to worry about that anymore!"

".....what if I want to die? I ain't got much reason to live do I?"

"You've got your business, your money?" Cas chimed.

"I've got kids, they'll do just fine.... besides I just want to be with Maria again... once I die-" 

This time Cas snapped his finger, The room shifted again.

They first found themselves in a crack house, There Addicts littered all over the place, Cece pointed her finger to one of them.

"Freddie!"

The old man's face paled.

The room shifted again, this time it was in an alley way, A blonde hair man had pinned a lady down and was....

"Alex!"

Then they found themselves on a beach, then a pent house, then a department store, then an art gallery.

Cece kept up her routine of calling out Mr Knotts estranged children which seemed torturous to the Old man.

Showing him these scenes was only possible because of the Phantom projectors, devices in testing rooms that allowed users to display images from the victim's mind in real-time.

They were specific to an individual at a time but they accomplished their goals.

Their real selves never left room 33, and the old man is still in his bedroom.

The twins had taken advantage of this room to thoroughly break Mr Knotts into submission.

"Stop! STOP! ENOUGH!" He wept, "I get it my children are deadbeats and my legacy is in shambles...."

"It doesn't have to be.... if you're still here, then maybe your legacy would be secured," Cece brought the parchment forward.

The old man frowned, "What's in it for you? I doubt you're doing it from the kindness of your heart,"

Cece grinned, "Nope! You caught us! We've got our own agenda.... we want just three things from you,"

"Which are?"

"Your loyalty, You will ONLY perform this kind of business with us,"

He nodded his head.

"Recruitment! we desire more people, more powerful people to hear about us, to partner with us! You can handle that can't you? We prefer willing participants afterall!"

"and?"

"Your memories!"

"What?"

"That's the final payment, we want your memories, not all just some of them, they'll bind you to us, just incase you're planning on going back on

your word.... besides it helps us In providing more.... optimal products for you Incase you're in need," She winked.

".... will it hurt?"

"The immortality? Yes! a little bit! The memory? No.... you'll feel a sense of loss though!"

"Will you at least let me keep my Maria? She's... I can't lose that one!"

"No worries! You'll keep your bride, besides you won't be separated from her that long,"

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see soon enough...  now the contract,"

Cece bent over and handed the contract over  to the Oldman, he frowned but with Shakey fingers he pressed his signature to the parchment.

"Now what?"

"Now.... you rise," Cas waved his hands.

Mr Knotts looked perplexed but he did as they asked.... his legs were Shakey at first.... but slowly and surely he got up from his seat, before his eyes, his legs straightened, his wrinkles vanished and his white hair turned Coal black and there was a twinkle in his warm brown eyes.

"A pleasure doing business with you," Cece bowed.

Mr Knotts returned the gesture.

Cas and Cece moved towards the door, he spied the old man dancing in front of the mirror.

"I guess I'll take Freddie's place," He muttered.

The twins stepped into the hallway and immediately Cecelia collapsed to the floor.

Cas panicked and scoped his sister up, yelling her name over and over.

She finally opened her eyes, her pupils dilated, "More... more..." She whispered.