He knew the man’s name and appearance: Ploutonion, Knight of Saturn. If he picked around inside his mind long enough, he could remember running his hands through the Knight’s long, blue hair and sometimes stealing his glasses for giggles. Every memory he had was from when they were powered up together, and he knew that meant that the best parts had been lost in his corruption. It was certainly frustrating, but at least he remembered enough details for empty fantasies and wishful thinking, and he remembered that he cared deeply for the Knight. Somehow, that affection had survived his corruption.
Expecting to find him on the surveillance cameras around the city was truly wishful thinking. He was certainly smarter than to dare to enter city limits. Setting up surveillance outside of the city was more difficult, and the patrols and ambush squads were not always the best at relaying information on who they sighted or caught, at least not to him. Sometimes Cor Caroli wondered if Ploutonion even remembered him or missed him.
Today’s blank staring at the surveillance screens was interrupted by a Captain’s entrance into the room. “Cor Caroli. You’re being requested in the holding area.”
Ah, right, it was time to do the other half of his job. Powers that sapped the will to fight came in quite handy when it came to unruly prisoners, so occasionally he was called in to quell particularly troublesome ones. The irony of what he did was not lost on him; he knew that his powers would have been very useful on himself before his corruption.
He followed the Captain to the area with the holding cells and was led to one in particular. There, chained to the wall, was the young woman Lieutenant who had been so kind to him. The pang of shock hit his heart immediately. This woman was a nurse who just wanted to take care of everyone around her. What could she have done to merit being imprisoned?
There was a General in the cell with her. “Glad you actually made it,” he said, putting his dagger away. “Now do your thing.”
Cor Caroli knew better than to disagree with a General’s orders, even if he was technically (technically; there was always that bias against Corrupt senshi, no matter what the higher ups tried to do about it) of the same rank. He raised one hand towards the captive lieutenant, palm outward. Before he uttered his spell, he asked, “What did she do?”
“What’s it to you?” the General replied.
“Answer me.” The bold words surprised him even as they came out of his mouth. Ordinarily, he would have just gone through with his magic, no questions asked, but today something was different. Something had filled his usual emptiness, and he couldn’t process it enough to figure out what it was.
“Well, well, look who’s got a spine today,” the General said. “If you must know, we have evidence that she was seeking to purify and perhaps take a few others with her. A great big purification party. Does that do it for you?”
“Mm.” Cor Caroli looked into the woman’s eyes. He could tell from her silence that she knew she was done for, and yet the way she looked at him was also an entreaty, an expression of hope that he would spare her or even free her, or at least show some form of mercy.
It was a shame that he would have to crush that hope. “Broken Will,” he said, and he watched the alarm spread across the Lieutenant’s face as she felt her desire to keep fighting drop out from under her. It was an expression he had seen numerous times by now, and he knew that it meant that he had done what was asked of him. Some of the ones he had used his magic on begged to die or declared that they stopped caring about what happened to them. This woman said nothing and only cried silently.
“All right, I think we’ve got her,” the General said. “You’re dismissed.”
Wordlessly, Cor Caroli turned his back on the cell and started walking. He barely made it several steps away before he heard a piercing wail from behind him. When he turned around, the General’s hand was in the woman’s chest.
“What’re you looking at?” the General snarled. “You’re dismissed!”
Cor Caroli took a few steps backward, then just about fled from the scene. When he was a sufficient distance away, he stopped to catch his breath, leaned against a wall, and sank down to a curled-up sitting position. A shudder ran through him, and he burst into a sob. He tried to keep it down at first, but soon he approached an emotional crescendo that lead to him pounding on the wall with one fist in between sobs.
Perhaps, if he were different, he would have relished the opportunity to break others as he had been broken, or felt bitterness at how that woman planned to leave him when she was a rare source of comfort. Instead, for the first time in a long time, Cor Caroli felt truly angry at his circumstances. He didn't care if he didn't deserve pleasure or happiness anymore; he felt a spike of spitefulness in his heart. Even if he didn't deserve pleasure, he craved it now, and he wanted to go and claim it. He would greedily devour what he could, then go out how he desired before anyone could censure him for it.
There was one thing he could do to this end. Breathing heavily, he wiped his tears away and walked back into the holding area. He accosted a Captain who was standing around outside of an empty cell. “Do we have any Knights in custody?”
“Yes, we do,” the Captain said, looking puzzled. “Why do you ask?”
“Take me to one of them,” Cor Caroli said.
“Who are you to order me around?” the Captain asked, only to freeze up when Cor Caroli held up a hand palm-forward towards him.
“An Eternal-rank Corrupt Senshi. Now, take me to a Knight. Get someone to get me paper and a pen while you’re at it.” Cor Caroli knew he held the power in this situation; he could say the word and this Captain wouldn’t feel like being so obstinate.
“Okay,” the Captain said in a tone that indicated that he was acquiescing but not agreeing. “I’ll get the paper from the office before we go.” When the Captain left to grab the materials, Cor Caroli followed him to make sure he wasn’t running off. Fortunately, the Captain went straight to the office. “You didn’t have to stalk me, you know,” he said. “Now, follow me. We’ve got a Page of Earth in cell 12.”
“Do they have their signet ring?” Cor Caroli asked. He knew that he was getting dangerously specific, but if he didn’t let anyone report him before the letter was sent, there wasn’t much they could do (possibly).
The Captain sighed. “Yes, yes he does. Someone forgot to take it off him before they chained him up.”
“Good.” Cor Caroli followed the Captain to cell 12, where there was indeed a Page in the greens and browns of Earth. The look on his face was one of fatigue and defeat; he must already have been shaken down for information. “Unchain him. He’ll need his hands.”
“Yes sir,” the Captain said with just the right dose of sarcasm.
While the Captain fumbled around with the keys, Cor Caroli hastily scribbled out his message on the top sheet of the pad he had gotten.
To Ploutonion
I want you to meet me outside of the city tomorrow at noon. There’s a large tree on its own a short ways west of the western exit. I will be waiting there, and I want you to do me a favor. It should not put you at risk.
-Cor Caroli
The clinking of chains falling to the ground indicated that the Page was ready. “Don’t get excited. You’re not going free yet,” Cor Caroli said, holding the paper out to the Page. “I need you to send this for me. Do you know this Knight?” The Page shook his head. It was a minor disappointment; he didn’t expect much, but it was still disheartening that he could get no news of Ploutonion’s whereabouts. “Fine. Now send it.”
The Page pressed his ring into the paper, and it was whisked off through the mysterious ring mail pipeline to hopefully reach its intended target. “Good,” Cor Caroli said when it disappeared. “I’m done here. Do whatever you need to do.”
He ignored the Captain’s exaggerated “Yes, sir” as he walked out of the cell. He had made his choice to claim his final comfort, and he would follow through. All that was left was to wait and hope that his friend would not abandon him in his time of need.
Noir Songbird
Hijacked ring mail for Plouton!
