He believed that. Egotism wasn’t high on his personal traits to the best of his knowledge.
“Trust me, Aryu, you are not him or any other that followed the path that brought Nixon to their door. You are a mortal man in command of a powerful thing. You create the path it takes, not the other way around. I don’t know you well, but I do know you well enough to see I’m right.”
It was a convincing argument, but with all the fear he harbored about the Power, he doubted it could ever become a reality. “Why tell me this?” he asked. “Why try? You know I can’t.”
She smiled her impish smile. “Because no one expects it of you. They never tried to take your power away like they did mine or Sho’s because they thought you had none. Nixon is a fantastic asset, but two of you! You can’t tell me they’d see that coming. What a tool to use against them!”
Another true statement. “So what do you propose?” He was curious but knew enough to keep her ideas at arm’s length. It was, after all, the reason he wanted to stay with Nixon and meet her. He also believed her and what she said about his character. He honestly and truly believed he was incapable of the kind of evils that would summon the phoenix to him, revenge against those that had wronged him notwithstanding.
“I propose that you listen to me and take whatever actions you deem necessary.”
Years of learning about the world and deep meditation had made her brain advanced beyond what any mortal could obtain in their meager years. She had the perfect ways to describe the process of what she was proposing to Aryu, in ways his young mind could absorb easily and quickly.
She started and Aryu listened, loving every minute of it.
-----------------------
When the time came to let HOME know the goings-on, Sharp went to his drab and lifeless post and contacted Izuku.
“They’re on their way. They should be arriving in a few hours.”
Izuku acknowledged but was clearly upset at the news. “You chose not to escort them? That seems somewhat foolhardy, Mr. Sharp.”
Sharp expected this answer but didn’t care. “They agreed to go. They wanted to. They gave me their word of honor that they would cause no fuss and go peacefully. My duty was fulfilled and carried out perfectly.”
“Don’t bog me down with semantics, Boroha. Do you really believe they would be so passive? What kind of a fool are you?”
“A fool who thinks their honor is to be trusted. You said yourself that’s the kind of people they are.”
“True, but I’d still like a pair of human eyes on them for the trip. This is reckless even for you.”
Sharp was not phased. Even if Izuku lost it entirely, he couldn’t do anything with that demon blade from so far away. Sharp’s lack of loyalty to Izuku was growing exponentially lately. He resisted using the High-Yields too much. They had hundreds in storage at HOME. Hit fast, strike hard.
“Did you at least secure Nixon’s and Sho’s weapons? Those were two things I’d very much like to see.”
Oh, you’ll see them, thought Sharp, but before he answered, he clued in to the specifics of the question. “Just those two? Not the other?”
Izuku, his smile seemingly glued to his face even at the worst of times, became dead serious. Sharp was instantly taken aback. If it was possible, it made Izuku so much more frightening. “What other weapon? The boy has no Power, and Crystal never had a weapon she cared to use and is long lost.”
It was then that Sharp realized that Izuku didn’t know what the boy was carrying. Could he have been so blind? All Embracers knew to fear two things: the wrath of the phoenix and the blade of the Four Winds. The fool had the strongest weapon of the ages arriving at his doorstep and he didn’t even know it. Sharp thought that was why he wanted the boy in the first place.
The pause in Sharp seemed to enrage the man on the other end. “What other weapon, Sharp?”
Sharp recovered from his shock (and amusement) at the situation he’d unknowingly created and turned back to the screen and the madman contained within it.
“The boy, he had a sword. A weapon of focus. Not strong like the other two, but still a Power weapon.” The lie was just a cop out. If they caused the ruckus he expected them to, he’d never be called on it anyway. Anything to escape this lunatic and his shortsightedness.
The news seemed to calm him, however. “Not as powerful, you say?” Sharp nodded. “Well, I’ll add it to the collection. Do you have them, Mr. Sharp?”
The moment of truth. Saying ‘no’ was guaranteeing Izuku’s wrath, should he survive whatever the four have planned. Saying ‘yes’ did the same, but gave him a chance to get some ground between himself and revenge.
“Yes, I secured them,” he answered, his mind already planning three moves ahead of where he was. “They’re stored within the plane they’re on, but nowhere they can access.”
Izuku smiled yet again. “Good. I look forward to getting my hands on the big phoenix blade, and I think I’ll hang the shield on my wall. I don’t need to tell you of its history?”
He didn’t. Someone like Sharp knew what it did (though how was still a mystery for the ages. It didn’t seem like anything special to him.).
“Well, carry on I suppose. Though, next time, try not to be so liberal with how you interpret
