Chasing Treasures

by Yukito


11 - Radiant Hope

Radiant stared at Sombra in disbelief. It had been such a long time since she had seen her childhood friend, and had certainly never expected to see him again under such… circumstances. Her eyes settled on the chains restraining his straightjacket, and when she finally made her way to his face, she couldn't help but notice the gag hanging loosely to the side, ready to be fitted at a moment's notice.

"You've uh… changed, Sombie," Radiant said, earning a stifled chuckle from Cadance.

"'Sombie'?" Cadance teased.

"Sombra ignored her, though, his eyes burning into Radiant Hope's as he tried to read her feelings. She was scared. Of him? Or of the agents? "I failed," he said after a long, tense silence. "I was never able to make it into the CIA, so I settled with the FBI."

Radiant gave a quick, nervous laugh. "This some kinda new uniform you're testing out?"

Sombra simply grinned. "Yes. It is for special agents who place themselves above the law. Who possess powers that make humans quake in their boots." The grin turned cold. "The power of magic."

"Hey!" St. John warned, pressing the muzzle of his gun into Sombra's back. Sombra stopped talking.

"It's fine," Cadance said, motioning for St. John to back off.

Gilda, standing behind Radiant Hope, focussed her gaze on Sombra. "Don't tell her too much."

"With respect, it seems that she already knows too much," Sombra said, noting how unfazed Radiant was at the mention of 'magic', save for a momentary flicker of fear at the mention of the word. "I daresay you've experienced it firsthand."

"… So that's it." Radiant sighed. "You're looking for Tirek, aren't you? And… you know what he's planning?"

"But you don't," Sombra said, his tone accusatory as he bore into her shivering eyes. "… Why are you working for such people, Radiant? Of all the people I've ever known, you have always been most suited to the definition of 'innocent'."

"Maybe when we were kids. Things change."

"What things?"

"Things." Radiant saw that that wasn't going to satisfy him, and so, she braced herself, and said, "You moved."

Sombra eased his gaze, and he felt his heart sink. He hadn't felt that since before King Sombra's memories fused with his own. "Yes… I was bullied quite intensely, for being a foreigner. My parents moved me to a smaller school in the countryside."

"You left me all alone," Radiant said, clutching her chest as her eyes fell to the floor. She tried, but she couldn't stop them from watering as she remembered her painful past. "We spent all our time together before you moved, and so when you were gone, the other children turned to me to pick on."

"… I see. I did not know that." Sombra turned to Cadance, wondering if he should ask her for some advice. She simply stood there. She wasn't going to interfere in this one.

"When I got to middle school, I started dating the most popular boy in the school. He thought I was cute, and I thought I could use him to keep the bullies away. But, he was part of a gang." Radiant clutched her arm and turned away. "He taught me how to be 'bad'. I didn't mind. We just did minor things, like vandalism and petty theft, and I soon was strong enough to fight my own fights. But then, I should have left, but I didn't…"

"What happened?" Sombra urged.

"When we were in high school, we stepped up our game. We tried to hit a bank. Took a few safety deposit boxes using a drill one of our boys made in the lab. One of those boxes belonged to Tirek."

Gilda and Cadance both turned to Sombra at once, but Sombra himself was unmoving. He simply stared at the girl in anticipating silence, waiting for the rest of her tale to unwind.

"We thought we had evaded the cops, but I know now that Catrina bought them off. So that she could catch us herself, and get the box back without it being searched. Perhaps if we hadn't opened it, they might have been spared, but when we saw what was inside…" Radiant wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened herself, clenching her fists. "I was the getaway driver, so I was still in the car while they sorted the take. When everybody started dying, I drove. I spent the entire night evading her goons and taking makeshift roads.

"By dawn, I thought I had got away. But I didn't. Catrina caught me, and she was impressed with how well I had done. In exchange for not killing me, she told me that I was working for her now. And that was it…"

The silence hung over the room for a long while. Cadance held her breath, not wanting to speak before Sombra did. However, it was D'Coolette who spoke first. "What level of involvement do you have with her."

Radiant turned to Sombra, who simply said, "Answer the question. At this point, you are our prisoner."

"… I see…" Radiant looked at each of the people in the room, and then settled back on Sombra again. Swallowing, she gathered her courage, and said, "I will tell you everything that you want to know, that I can tell you, but there's something that I want, too."

"Let's hear it," Gilda said.

"Kill Catrina. Do not take her alive. Simply kill her, and set me free."