//------------------------------// // 196 - Deciding to Disbelieve // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// “Cast your spell now,” ordered Lex imperiously. Aria resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They had literally just crossed into Vanhoover proper a second ago, and although he’d said that he wanted her to use her tracking spell as soon as they got here, she hadn’t thought he’d meant it quite so literally. “Shouldn’t we wait until we get closer to where they were going?” Although she hadn’t given it a lot of thought, that just seemed like the better idea to her. But Lex shook his head. “We already know their intended destination, so if something has waylaid them there then we’ll find them anyway, since that’s where we’re going,” he explained. “If, on the other hoof, something forced them to deviate from their intended course, whether on their way to the bank or returning from it, that could make finding them much more difficult. As such, it’s better for you to use your spell now while we’re attempting to retrace their route.” That made sense, but for some reason Aria didn’t feel mollified. “You know I can only cast this spell twice today, right? And that it only lasts for a few minutes each time?” “Then we’ll need to move quickly and not waste time,” replied Lex curtly. “Now cast your spell.” “Just don’t blame me if I don’t find anything,” she whispered, only to frown as she realized that the words hadn’t come out with the acerbity she’d intended. Fighting down a sudden feeling of awkwardness, she focused on casting her tracking spell, closing her eyes as she whispered the words and performed the necessary gestures. It took only a few seconds to complete, and she opened her eyes as she felt the effect fall into place. Aware that Lex was watching her closely, she slowly turned her head one hundred eighty degrees, encompassing the entire city. “Well?” asked Lex impatiently. Not turning to look at him, Aria shook her head. “I don’t sense her.” “‘Her’?” Lex shot back, a sharp edge in his voice. “Who?” “Cloudbank. I cast the spell so that it would find her.” Lex opened his mouth to rebuke her, only to change his mind and close it a moment later. Given that the ponies they were looking for consisted of three pegasi and two earth ponies, it would have maximized their chances of finding someone if Aria had set her spell to detect pegasi in general. But that distinction will likely make little practical difference. They’d have been beyond foolish to split up, so finding any one of them should locate them all. And since he’d lent Severance to Cloudbank, and it had yet to return, that all but guaranteed that she was still alive to be found. Nodding crisply to himself, Lex turned into a shadow as he moved past Aria and into the city. “Follow me, and alert me immediately if you detect her or otherwise notice anything unusual.” He was already scanning the buildings on either side of them as he spoke, floating upward until he was several feet off the ground as he passed over the center of the road. This time Aria did roll her eyes. “Gee Aria,” she whispered sarcastically, “thanks for helping me find my friends. I’d have to spend a lot more time searching this awful place if you didn’t happen to have the perfect spell for this situation. What would I ever do without you?” But if Lex heard her mocking his ungratefulness he gave no sign of it, instead floating into the city at a pace slightly faster than a trot. Heaving a sigh, Aria cast another spell, and a moment later floated up off the ground as well, swimming through the air as easily as if it were water as she followed Lex. The next few minutes followed a pattern. Lex led the way, flying a few dozen feet ahead of Aria as he followed the main road. He’d proceed several blocks before stopping and turning his green-and-purple eyes – the only part of him currently visible – at Aria silently, who would then shake her head at him, not having detected anything. Then they’d repeat the process. Minutes passed, and Aria knew that her tracking spell was coming dangerously close to the end of its duration. For that matter, so was her flight spell, but she could renew that one a few more times before she was completely tapped out. Even so, this bank had better be close, she brooded as she noticed Lex come to a halt ahead of her. She waited for him to give her the same questioning look that he had before…only it didn’t come this time. Instead, he hung in the air, his eyes looking at something around a corner, out of her current field of vision. “No…” The single, strangled word that came from him then was enough to make Aria stop in mid-air, the horrified tenor of his voice filling her with sudden trepidation. “What is it?” she whispered, making sure to stay well back from where he was. But that plan backfired a moment later as he suddenly rushed forward, leaving her sight entirely as he rounded the corner and left her alone. “Wh-, hey!” she whispered as loudly as she could. “Wait for me!” Rushing forward, she grit her teeth as she prepared herself for what was about to come into view… An empty, garbage-strewn street. Blinking at the anticlimactic sight, Aria couldn’t help but frown in confusion. This was what had gotten Lex so worked up? She could see him now, rushing over the debris toward what looked like more rubbish on the far side of the pile. Following after him, Aria couldn’t help but look down at the mess she was passing over. From what she could see, it was all just junk; broken lamps, ruined books, crumpled boxes, tattered clothes, and all of the other trash you’d expect to find in a dump, strewn across the street haphazardly. So what was the big deal? She got her answer a moment later as she caught up to Lex. He was hovering over the street a little past where the mound of trash ended. Except it hadn’t entirely ended, as there were some things lying on the ground. There was a small cart lying on its side, and several burlap sacks were scattered around. A few of them had opened up, and spilling their contents onto the ground, the sunlight making them glint as Aria flew over to them. Coins, she realized, glancing at Lex. But he wasn’t looking at the coins. He was looking at the bloodstains on the ground. Scattered around the cobblestones, the dark brown patches – five of them, Aria noted uneasily – couldn’t have been anything else. She had smelled blood too often when she was living with the sahuagin not to recognize the stench of it now. And while she was no doctor, the sheer size of each stain made it very clear that the ones who’d shed them had lost too much blood to possibly survive. Even if that conclusion hadn’t already been obvious, the bloody hoofprints around each of the dried puddles made it undeniable. The prints were scattered around the puddles in a chaotic fashion, crowding around each of them from all sides as though their owners had been swarming the owners of the spilled blood. It was enough to make Aria shudder, remembering the ghouls Lex had unleashed on her and her companions during their fight. They hadn’t been strong creatures, but they had fought as a pack, trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers before realizing that it wasn’t working. But apparently it had worked here… Wonderful, she groused to herself. Those idiots got themselves killed, and now I get to be at ground zero when Lex goes off. A glance to the side showed her that Lex hadn’t moved, simply hovering in place and surveying the scene in silence just like she was doing, and she cautiously put some more distance between the two of them. After how he’d previously reacted to her mentioning the mere possibility that they might be dead, she was in no hurry to see his reaction to what was, to her, incontrovertible proof of their demise. Maybe I could make a break for it, she thought nervously. Head back to the camp and let Sonata know what happened. She’s his girlfriend, she can take the brunt of his wra- Her train of thought derailed as she felt herself suddenly lose altitude, giving a silent yelp as she hit the ground. The impact wasn’t a violent one; quite the opposite, she touched down as softly as a feather, and it took her a moment to realize that her flight spell had run out, the built-in slow-fall effect kicking in as it expired. Letting out a sigh of relief, Aria looked up…only to find that Lex was looking right at her. Freezing in place, Aria couldn’t help but grimace, waiting for the explosion. “Did you detect anything?” “Wh-, um, no,” she whispered frantically, caught off-guard for the second time by his tone. It didn’t have the furious anger she’s been expecting, or even his usual sardonic inflection. Rather, it sounded hollow. Emotionless. As though the only thing he felt was bored. Somehow that frightened her worse than if he’d started screaming. “N-nothing.” “I see.” Alarm bells were going off in Aria’s head at how calm he sounded, and she stayed silent and still as he flew back down to the ground, resuming pony form a moment later…away from the dried pools of blood, she noted. A moment later he telekinetically reached into a saddlebag that he’d apparently been carrying beneath his cloak – a different one from that single-strap backpack he always seemed to wear – and pulled out what looked like a crumpled black cloth. The sight was unexpected enough that it took her a moment to recognize the hair tie that Sonata usually wore. That’s right, he wanted her to give it to him before we left. But what’s he want with it now? She got her answer a moment later as Lex telekinetically moved it over to her. “This is an extradimensional storage receptacle,” he explained in that same unnerving monotone. “Use it to collect all of the coins here, and then go back to the camp.” “Go back to-, you mean alone?!” She should have been happy to hear that, she knew, but for some reason it only freaked her out more, almost causing her to drop the black cloth as she took it in her hooves. Lex nodded, heedless of her feelings. “If Sonata asks, tell her that I’ll be back once I’ve uncovered what really happened here.” Aria’s eyes widened at that, worried that he’d completely lost it. “What really happened here?” she echoed, unable to stop herself. Nodding again, Lex pointed a hoof at the bloody tableau. “This is an elaborate deception,” he declared. “Someone wants me to think that Cloudbank and the others were killed by ghouls here, but that’s not what happened.” “R-really?” Then why do you sound like you’re a robot right now? “Of course,” continued Lex blithely. “Severance’s absence puts the lie to this chicanery, even if it wasn’t highly implausible a majority-pegasus group wouldn’t have been able to grab their comrades and escape into the air if the ghouls had boxed them in. They all knew that these bits,” he swept a hoof out to encompass the fallen coins, “weren’t worth their lives.” He shook his head as he considered the scene again. “No, someone has carefully manufactured this bit of fiction.” He adjusted his circlet then, narrowing his eyes a moment later. “Someone who knew better than to use magic to do it.” “Okay…” Aria trailed off, not quite sure what to think. What Lex was saying almost sounded plausible, since it was somewhat hard to believe that the pony that slew the Great Lord of the Deep would end up as ghoul chow. But if he’s right, whoever did this did a seriously good job of faking their deaths. “So what’re you going to do?” In answer, Lex pointed across the street, and it took Aria a second to realize that some of the bloody hoofprints led that way, the markings leading toward a side street before growing too faint to follow. “That seems like the most obvious clue to follow.” Aria’s eyes slid between Lex and the side street. “You do realize that if you’re right, that’s probably a trap?” But Lex merely snorted. “I truly hope so. When I break through it, it should be easier to find out what happened to everypony.” He was already walking across the street as he talked; apparently the conversation was over. For a second Aria chewed on her lip, before blurting, “I don’t think this is a good idea!” “I don’t care what you think,” answered Lex without breaking his stride. “Now do what I told you.” And then he disappeared down the side street without so much as a backwards glance. Aria sat there for a moment, staring at where Lex had vanished…and then quickly began to gather up the fallen coins.