“Almost everything here is giving off a mixed Ki residue,” Ella said, looking around at the trashed place.

Hugo nodded then gathered everyone’s attention once more. “Alright, listen up,” he said. “Look for anything that could give us an actual trace. It’s quite impossible to track a Keeper but we can track their attackers. So, look for a trace. Any trace. And be thorough.”

The squad began looking around once more. They could now feel exactly what Ella was sensing earlier. Continuously turning around to find no one there, finding it hard to focus, and feeling a heaviness – the squad was uncomfortable inside the Post.

When Hugo walked back downstairs, Camille approached him and asked, “Can you please explain to us what these Keepers really are?” After a pause she added, “We are all having a real hard time here.”

“I can understand,” the captain replied.

“So?”

“I’ve already explained it, Cami. They’re one with nature.”

“What else? What do they do? Why is this place so… so… heavy and uncomfortable? It’s almost too hard to breath in here.”

After a long sullen silence, Hugo nodded. “Alright,” he said and began searching again. The squad followed suit. “A Keeper is a guardian of Earth,” he continued. “Giving ourselves these fancy names, we call ourselves ‘guardians’ while our counterparts, the Order, call themselves ‘saviours’. But these people are different. They don’t describe themselves like we do, nor do they announce their existence. They are custodians of knowledge that benefits us all but is not readily available or accessible. They are like a giant walking library that no one is meant to know about unless it’s appropriate. And it’s these same Keepers who also have the knowledge to understand who needs it and when.”

“Ah, bro,” said Camille, bent next to a burnt bookshelf.

Hugo, without looking, said, “Just let me finish first, Camille.”

She shot him a deadpan glance and turned her gaze away, only to meet Vincent’s amused eyes. He chuckled and looked elsewhere.

“With the knowledge that they possess, they look after a very different side of our world,” Hugo said and sighed. “They don’t care much for men waging war on the helpless or calamities wreaking havoc on the innocents. They are more worried about the metaphysical trouble… they look after the metaphysical plane of existence, not the physical.”

The group was still confused. But Hugo’s explanation had stopped.

Casually strolling about, the White Bolt broke the awkward silence. “They are students of Ayn, Zaatsu,” he said. “The metaphysical part of their syllabus was very conveniently skipped.” After a pause, he added, “Maybe because the teachers themselves never read it…”

Everyone stared at Hugo in anticipation.

“We are not the only ones who occupy the Earth, you know,” he eventually said, never taking his eyes off the rubble. “Apart from humans, Djinns are also residents of our world. Then angels come and go, and even Celestials and Demons sometimes escape through to our side.”

The captain finally took a quick look at Vincent. “Most of us only interact with the physical, which only forms a tiny part of our reality,” he said before glancing at his squad. Squatting next to a broken shelf, he said, “The rest, that invisible or metaphysical, does exist. It’s right here, it exists, and it affects us in more ways than we can know. To keep the balance, stabilize the boundaries between the two sides to this coin, and to deal with any mishaps, is the job of a Keeper.”

“They are keepers of balance…” Ella said, in a near whispering tone, and then asked, “So, are they Celestials?”

“No. These people are as human as anyone will ever be. Their expertise, their knowledge, is just in a different field and that is what makes them special… or… aaa… different.”

“And nobody knows their true identity?” Neil asked. “Nobody can meet them?”

“Not really. People do find them and learn from them. They have disciples and stuff, and for the last about 100 years, the Eye has been keeping a list of them as well albeit not a comprehensive one.”

“A list of all Keepers?”

“No, not all of them.”

“Why not all?”

Vincent giggled as he said, “Hu-hu-hu… boy, I love this! Tell em, master Baylis.”

Staring at him, Hugo said, “Keepers are supposedly divided into three tiers, with each tier smaller in number than the previous and all the more important.” He then looked away and said, “The Eye has a list of some Keepers, not all. But remember, we only know what they willingly reveal.”

Ella, standing close to Vincent, looked at him and asked, “And you know all this?” He nodded. So, she asked, “How?”

He shrugged saying, “Bought from the black markets.”

“I have a question,” Camille said. “What would someone gain by attacking these people when most of us can never even interact with them or the stuff they deal with?”

“The name ‘Keeper’ was coined by compatriots of the Sanctums of Prostasia, the Eye and the Order’s precursor movement of defenders. These people are guardians of many artifacts of importance to humans and other beings alike. One of which is the Scriptures of Dark Arts, written by Rasalhague himself.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

Gina then asked, “If the Eye only has a list of some Keepers, and I’m assuming they are the ones interacting with us, then how can we be sure that they are the only ones being attacked?”

Vincent sat down on a settee with a loud breath. “Rumours and calculated guesses say that there are 71 of them at any given time,” he said. “From these, 7 are top tier, most unreachable and unrecognizable. Then a tier of 17, a bit more reachable. And from the remainder you draw up a list at your Palace.”

Moving a step closer, Neil said, “How is that relevant to the question?”

“The list you have are of the ones willing to reveal themselves to you.” Vincent stroked his hair back. “If any of the others are getting attacked, there is a good chance that even other Keepers will not be alerted.”

“And where are you pulling this information from? The black markets?”

“Master Shimusa, the greatest master after the trinity and mentor to Lord Julias Ceasar himself, wrote a book once. The translated name of this book is ‘The Marauders of the Hidden’. He wrote in it the tales of his great adventures, in search of the chosen ones. Just a few copies of the book remain with some Cults, written in old, ancient Persian script. One has a translated copy as well, but it isn’t an authentic translation. In any case, everyone sites his work and gives the Keepers a total tally of 71. Even the Order, who say Keepers are covert operatives of the Eye, says there’re 71 of them.” After a pause, he shrugged and said, “Only one other person has ever talked about the Keepers in any detail and quite frankly, his works are far too controversial for you people to read.”

“Who is it?”

“A mystic by the name of…”

“Abnus Ali,” Hugo said, completing his sentence.

“God bless you,” said Vincent.

“Who’s that?” Camille asked.

“Exactly my point,” the bounty hunter quickly answered. “You never hear about him. He was a Mystic before Mystics were a thing, or at least that is what they say.” Hugo shook his head while Vincent further asked, “Do you people know of the war that laid waste to the Sanctum of Prostasia?”

“Of course.”

“Who led the victory charge?”

“Master Lasidan Yuba, the man who also established the Eye.”

“Right answer, but wrong detail. He won the war, but he never established the Eye. It was established 50 years after the war and 40 years after Yuba died. Anyways… Yuba and almost all his generals were graduates from the monastery of Abnus Ali who wrote an awful lot about the metaphysical world, or as he termed it, and I translate, the Cosmogenic World.”

“Master?” Camille said interrogatively, looking at her elder stepbrother. “Is this true?”

Rubbing his eyes, the captain said, “Abnus Ali has been described as a Sufi – a man with no material desires and a formidable connection with the Universal Ki – a concept still debated within the Palace Halls. But the vast majority describes him as nothing more than a sharp-witted vagabond. And by the way, there is no connection between him and the Sanctuary in recorded history.”

“Ah…” the bounty hunter gestured with a gasp and a smile, then dropped his head. “Interesting, isn’t it?” he said, then looked up. “Whosever shall record the events shall also have the liberty to distort the said events and bend the narrative to the prevalent bias.”

“Pardon?”

“Believe what you will, Zaatsu. No one can tell you otherwise.”

Vincent stood up, turned around, and looked the other way. But before the conversation could move on, he said, “By the way,” grabbing everyone’s attention once more. “You forgot to tell them a Keeper’s most important job…”

Camille looked on with a widening gaze. “Yeah?” she said. “And what’s that?”

“They provide us with the capacity to do what we do best… the ability to manipulate Ki.”

Standing with arms akimbo, Hugo looked at him and said, “That’s enough. Knock it off.”

Looking away, trying hard to not look bothered, Vincent added, “If they actually wanted, they could take our Ki manipulating abilities away for good.”

“Yes. And if a dog wanted, it would sprout wings and fly like a fairy… get back to work!”

An awkward pause followed as the Zeta Squad stood stagnant while Hugo and Vincent went back to searching through the debris. Soon, however, they too joined in.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the front door. The squad looked around at each other.

“Guys,” Marcus said. “Were we expecting anyone?”

“Not really,” Hugo replied speaking slowly and in a hushed tone.

The captain asked the Sokidu to check who it was while he ordered everyone else to remain out of sight. Marcus put his head gear back on and walked through the pathway corridor leading to the front entrance. The entire squad waited anxiously in the lounge at the other side.

The young Sokidu stopped about 2 feet from the door and called, “Who is it?”

Hugo smacked his own forehead with eyes closed and then a big crash was heard. Marcus came flying through the corridor. Gina caught him saving him from a painful collision with the wall on the other side as Neil and Hugo jumped in front of the corridor entrance. A trio of women came rushing in. They all had donned bright white ponchos over a full body suit and stiletto boots. Their faces and heads were also covered with just the eyes visible. They engaged the Zaatsus without hesitation.

Blocking the first attack, Hugo yelled, “Seredums wait! We are all masters from the Eye!”

The words had no effect. Neil took a hit and was pushed back. Hugo cried again to get them to stop. But they were not in the mood at all. Realising the situation could get worse fast, Hugo punched the ground with full force. The entire structure shook. Faint crackles of electricity went up the walls. The ladies stopped.

Hugo stood back straight and slowly opened his clenched fists. Tendrils of lightning snaked from his fingertips as the air shimmered with heat and static. Blue-white bolts surged from his body snapping through the air like whips of lightning, casting jagged shadows along the walls.

“Elemental Conduction,” one of the ladies said. “You are Master Baylis.”

His eyes flashed lightning. “Yes,” he said. “Now, can we stop the theatrics before someone gets hurt?”

Marcus, lying in Gina’s laps, whispered, “Someone gets hurt? The only ones getting hurt are the ones pissing Master Baylis off…”

The ladies calmed their Ki charge and put their guards down and took a good long look around at everyone. It had been observed of the Keepers to always have a small number of chosen disciples in their attendance. These close acquaintances of the Keepers were called Seredums.

“You have nothing to fear from us,” Hugo said. “Our motives are the same as yours. We just wish to find out what happened here.”

They did not respond to the Zaatsu but instead looked at each other. So, he again asked, “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, we are,” one of them eventually said. “Our apologies Master Zaatsu. My name is Erina. These are my sisters Eila and Eira.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

The Zaatsu dropped his Ki charge, and the sparks finally died down. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

The three women removed their masks. They looked like desert royalty – olive skin, hazel eyes, and long, caramel-toned hair – striking and serene, like orchids blooming in the heat.

“This is the Zeta Squad,” Hugo explained. “This is Zaatsu Master Neil Baylis, that’s Sokidus Gina, Camille, and Marcus and Ella over there.”

Eira moved to where Marcus was lying in Gina's lap and Ella standing guard. She crouched next to him and placed her hand over his burnt chest and within seconds he was heeled. “My sincere apologies, Master Marcus,” she said.

A stuttering Marcus thanked her and was up on his feet. “I’m going to need a new shirt though, love,” he said. The Seredum smiled and walked away. Marcus looked at Ella and let out a huge breath whispering, “Hubba-hubba.” She slapped his shoulder and moved away.

“Who’s he?” Erina asked looking at Vincent.

“He is a new recruit,” Hugo replied. “An informant.”

“What information does he have on our Lord?”

“None,” Vincent said, “past the fact that the perpetrators were able to take control of your Lord’s mind in no time and without alerting anyone. And I do mean no time.”

“Yes, any amount, no matter how small, would have been enough. Had our Lord even sensed them, us and the Parliament both would have been alerted.

The bounty hunter nodded and the Seredums once again looked at each other. “Master Zaatsu,” Eira said. “We wish to speak with you and your informant privately.”

“Why?” Hugo quickly asked. “Whatever you feel comfortable sharing with me, share with my team.”

She looked at him and added, “We either talk with you two alone or we don’t talk at all. Your choice.”

Knowing he had no other option, Hugo agreed. The Zaatsu captain of the Zeta Squad and the captive bounty hunter, thereafter, moved to a room in the back with the Seredums to discuss the matter in private.