Gaia's Champion Ch. 07

"I'm getting there bud. Still pissed that I didn't know what happened to Dominique. More so that she didn't tell me what happened," Luke groused.

"I get it, man. When we were going through those files, I half expected Sheena's initials to come up," Jason stated.

"She wasn't in there? I swear, a sister as fine as that woman you had, would have been a prime target for them. They got almost everyone else we knew who every guy wanted, teachers included," Luke growled.

"No man, she wasn't. I know I may sound like a jackass for saying this, but I'm glad she wasn't in there," Jason mumbled.

"You don't sound like a jackass at all, man. I get it, but it still makes me wonder about why she just up and left," Luke mused.

"You're not the only one asking that question. I ask it of myself all the time, wondering why she did that."

"I tried tracking her down over the years, along with Dominique. No matter where I look or how hard I search, I'm always coming up with fuck all. It kills me to not be able to find someone, especially in this day and age. It's like they vanished, without a trace," Lucas groused.

"Well, at least those two women left us with some good memories and made us better men," Jason offered, raising his pitcher.

"I'll drink to that! To the women who made us who we are today!" Luke toasted, and they downed the rest of their pitchers. Both men sat in silence for nearly ten minutes, reminiscing over the good times they enjoyed, before Jason broke the ice.

"Look bud, I know you're hurting, but maybe you should start looking to make some new memories."

"Oh? And who would I be making these new memories with? I'm a geek and a shut in, so it's not like the ladies are lining up to date my ass," Luke said with a sigh.

"I was thinking about someone that we've both met recently," Jason teased.

"You don't mean..."

"Oh, I do mean her! What, do you think she was staring at me the whole time?" Jason asked his friend.

"Why not, man? You're built, you look pretty damn fly and I've seen the looks we're getting, all of which are directed at you," Luke told him.

"No, I'm pretty fucking sure that those looks that Karla was giving us were being shot your way. Her looks at me were of mild disinterest. I'm guessing that she sees guys like me in her home country all the time. You, she was staring at you like you were a T-bone steak she wanted to devour," Jason said.

"Dude, don't yank my chain like that, OK? That shit's not funny."

"I'm not joking! When you go to see Ms. Van DerBrandt tomorrow, try talking to Karla and see what she says. Odds are if you don't ask her out, then she'll ask you out," Jason stated.

"All right. But if you're wrong, you owe me a twelve of beer and a six month WoW sub!" Luke said to him.

"And if I'm right?"

"If you're right... then I will owe you a twelve of beer and the pre-order of your choice," Luke offered.

"Deal!"

The men shook hands and went back to their nachos, polishing them off quickly. With their bellies full, Jason flagged down the waitress and they got their bills. Each of them paid in cash and left a generous tip for the waitress, as she had been busting her ass to get their food to them while it was still hot.

Luke decided to come and get his van tomorrow, when he sobered up. No way he was going to drive it now, even if he hated taking public transit. Jason went with him and sat with him the whole way to his place, not minding the long commute. He then got off and jumped onto a bus to his neighbourhood, arriving there shortly after ten PM.

Though he had made plans for the next day, Jason still needed some time to unwind, as it had been a long and explosive day. He booted up his computer and loaded his save file of Dragon Age: Inquisition and played for almost an hour. His body soon caught up to him, forcing his eyes to droop, letting the man know that he needed sleep.

Jason crawled into his bed, sighing as he closed his eyes and drifted into the peaceful oblivion of sleep. The last thing on his mind as he fell into the warm embrace of his bed, was about the block that was on him. Who put it on him, why they put it on him and how they were able to accomplish that.

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In the Marston home, Darren and his father Wayne, sat at the dinner table, conversing with Chad and his father, Dolph. On the table sat the tracking devices the Marston men had placed in Amy's laptop, which was put together rather well. Whoever they had helping them elude those than owned them, was a highly skilled individual.

"It's obvious that the man helping them has a great degree of skill with electronics. He also hides his tracks well, as there was no trace of fingerprints, anywhere," Chad stated.

"There was nothing?" Wayne asked incredulously.

"No, High Cleric. I dusted the whole package, from back to front and every which possible way. There is no trace of the man who put this package together," Chad reiterated.

"How is that possible? We have controlled the friends that Amelia is allowed to have, so how could she have found someone capable of doing this?" the older man asked.

"What worries me father, is that she was capable of breaking your will that you had imposed on her. Somehow, her obedience has been fractured, if she was to run away from us like this, like a thief in the night. Mother as well, which also has me concerned," Darren interjected.

"Your son makes a good point High Cleric. The fact that your hold over your wife and daughter is slipping is more than a little troublesome," Dolph stated, his concern infecting his tone.

"Could it be one of the other groups that know of our existence? They have always been jealous of the power we command. Surely one of them could have..." Darren started.

"None of them had any hand in this, I can assure you of that," Wayne told them.

"How do you know this, father?"

"I have spent much time cultivating cordial relations with members of the other societies and I have reached to those contacts. They have told me that no orders to move against us have been handed down from their elders. However this happened, this came from an outside source, one that we are currently unaware of," the High Cleric said.

"Then we must find out who did this and quickly! Our women breaking away from us so readily cannot be allowed to stand!" Chad piped up, before he looked down, chagrined at his outburst.

"On that, you are correct, young man. It cannot be allowed to stand, because it would make us look weak to everyone in our church. And we all know that..."

"... weakness is not tolerated," the men said together, like it was catechism. Wayne knew that Eva's and Amy's links to him had weakened. But, for the first time in living memory, he could feel them nearing their shatterpoint. If they ruptured the links that badly, they would need to be rebound and it was hard enough doing this the first time.

"I think that possibly, this 'Frank' was somehow involved. I doubt that Frank was his real name and though he seemed helpful, he almost seemed happy to see me get into my car and leave, now that I think about it," Chad stated.

"It has been nothing but line after line of bad news," Dolph said. "Is there any good news to be had?"

"I do have some good news," Darren began. "Chad and I have done some digging and though we have no idea who this Frank character is, we have the make, model and license plates of every vehicle in that parking lot. Chad was thoughtful enough to take pictures of the lot, in case my sister needed to be tracked down."

"Good forward thinking! Is it possible to track down everyone who might have been involved with wherever Amy had been?" Wayne asked.

"It is. I have an inside man at the DMV, who owes me a few favors. I'll have the names and addresses of everyone who was there, and we can eliminate them one by one," Chad stated proudly.

"Good. Then let us proceed with this and quickly. No one crosses the Sons of Caesar and walks away unscathed. No one!"

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And this is where this one ends! More things happening and more to come soon! Worry not, I'm going to leave you guy and girls hanging, as I know that you all enjoy my work! With another story chapter coming soon, I'm sure that everyone will be happy with getting four chapters this month!

Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read my work and I do hope that you've enjoyed it! I'm open to constructive criticism and will seriously consider any suggestions made about various story arcs. Please feel free to rate and comment on my work down below. If you like what I write, don't be afraid to follow and share, though your views, ratings and comments are quite enough for me. Check my profile page for updates.

In the meantime, this is C.H. Darkstrider, signing off to grab a beer and some quality time with the wife! ;) You will attain whatever you most desire, as long as you believe in yourself. Cheers!