Pittacus Lore - The Fall of Five

“Amazing,” remarks my dad.

“We’ve been using this room to train. Nine says that Sandor had a bunch of traps and obstacles hooked up at one point.” He taps a panel on the wall where it looks like something should shoot out, but nothing happens. “Except, Nine threw a temper tantrum and smashed the controls. Now it only sort of works.”

“Sounds about right,” I say. It’s definitely not hard to picture Nine flying off the handle.

“That thing,” he says, waving to the chair. “It’s called the Lectern. If we could get it working again, I think we could really improve our training.”

My dad is already kneeling down before the Lectern, picking at frayed wires and bent steel plating. “This is very impressive work,” he says.

I examine the machinery over his shoulder even though I have no idea what I’m looking at. “Can you fix it?”

“I can try,” he says, turning back to John. “I’ll be of service in any way possible.”

“Me too,” I say, giving John a quick salute. He chuckles.

“I know you just got here,” John says. “I hope I’m not being pushy. Honestly, it’s just really good to have you here. And, not to get all sappy, but I’m glad you guys found each other.”

When John talks about me and my dad, there’s a bit of longing in his voice. I wonder if he’s thinking about how we could’ve had this conversation in Paradise, my dad and Henri dorking out about technology together, if only things had played out a little differently.

My dad shakes John’s hand again, patting him on the arm as he does. “We’re glad we found you, John. I know it’s been hard for all of you, but you’re not alone in this. Not anymore.”

Marina really goes overboard with the dinner spread. There are dishes heaped with rice and beans and fresh tortillas, an iced bowl of gazpacho, some kind of fried honeyed-eggplant dish, and like a dozen other Spanish dishes that I don’t even know the names of. I’ve forgotten how good home cooking can be and I eat wolfishly, going back for seconds and then thirds.

We’re all seated beneath the glittering chandelier in Nine’s banquet hall of a dining room. John sits at one end, my father at the other, and the rest of us in between. I sit next to my father and Nine.

“Crazy,” Nine mumbles as he scoops a tortilla into his mouth. “Never had so many people at this table.”

Everyone is relaxed, just chatting and joking around. Five eats a lot, but he doesn’t say much. Next to him, Ella picks at her food, looking tired yet still smiling and laughing whenever someone cracks a good joke. Six is sitting right across the table from me. I try to play it cool and not stare at her too much.

When the meal is over, John stands up and gets everyone’s attention. He glances at Sarah and receives an encouraging smile. He clears his throat and I can tell he’s given a lot of thought to what he’s about to say.

“It’s really incredible to see everyone come together like this. All of us have come so far to be here, and gone through so much. Being here—it gives me hope that we could actually win this war.”

Nine lets out a high-pitched woop woop noise that makes everyone laugh, even cracking John’s serious speech-giving face for a moment. Five looks around at everyone, a quiet smile on his face like he’s finally starting to feel more comfortable.

“I know some of us have just met for the first time,” John continues. “So, I thought it might be helpful if we went around the table and told our stories.”

“There’s a fun topic,” mutters Six.

John is undeterred. “I know some of the stories—okay, probably all of them—aren’t really the happiest. But I think it’s important for us to remember how we got here and what we’re fighting for.”

Looking over at Five, I understand what John is doing. He’s hoping that by telling their stories, the Garde might get their newest member to open up a little.

“Speaking as one of the new arrivals, I’d really like to hear what you’ve all been through,” says my dad.

“Yeah,” Five chimes in, surprising everyone. “Me too.”

“Okay,” says John. “I can start.”

John launches into a story that’s more than familiar to me. He starts during his arrival to Paradise, after years on the road. He talks about meeting Sarah and me, and how it became harder and harder to keep his Legacies a secret.

John concludes his tale with the battle at our high school, Six’s nick-of-time arrival and Henri’s death. We’re all quiet after that, none of us sure what to say.

“Oh damn,” Nine says. “I almost forgot.”

Nine reaches under his chair and produces a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket of ice. I shoot a quick look at my dad, but it doesn’t look like he’s in the mood to play responsible adult. Instead, he holds out his glass. Quickly, Nine circles around the table, pouring for everyone. Even Ella gets a little bit.

“Where did this come from?” Eight asks.

“My secret stash. Don’t worry about it.” Finished pouring, Nine raises his glass. “To Henri.”

Everyone raises their glasses and toasts Henri. He keeps it together well, but I can tell John is touched by the gesture. He looks down the table and gives Nine a small nod of thanks. Hell, even I’m a little surprised by Nine—between this and our little heart-to- heart in the doorway earlier, I might have to upgrade him from total douche bag to minor tool.

“Maybe you guys should recruit the entire town of Paradise to fight for us,” Five says. “It sounds like a real alien-friendly place.”

“We should get that on bumper stickers,” I say. “‘My Honor Student Fought Aliens at Paradise High School.’”

“I can go next,” Six says. She keeps her story quick, starting with her capture with Katarina, moving on to their imprisonment and jumping quickly to her escape.

“To Katarina.” This time, it’s John leading the toast. Everyone raises their glasses again and we drink to Six’s fallen Cêpan.

“And that’s why you don’t post shit on the internet,” Nine says, referring to Six’s story, but aiming a sharp look in Five’s direction. Five gazes back at Nine, saying nothing.

“You were both close with your Cêpans,” Marina speaks up. “My story is a little different.”

Marina tells us about growing up in Spain, how her Cêpan Adelina basically neglected her, not giving her the training or knowledge that the other Garde take for granted. I’m kind of stunned that a Loric would behave that way. It’s never occurred to me that they could shirk their responsibilities. It could be a really bitter story, but the way Marina describes it is sadder than anything else. Her voice gets warm when she talks about Hectór, the human who took it upon himself to protect her. In a weird way, the story almost has a happy ending, with Adelina finally accepting her duties even if it meant dying. I guess that’s not super happy, actually, but the way Marina tells it makes it at least seem heroic.

Eight raises his glass. “To Hectór and Adelina,” he says.

Nine goes next. Apparently, it was Nine’s fault that everything fell apart in his life. He fell for a human girl who was secretly working for the Mogadorians, and she led him and his Cêpan into a trap. Nine glosses over what happened to them once they were captured. Having some firsthand experience with the horrific things that go down in West Virginia, the dark look in Nine’s eyes when he finishes doesn’t surprise me at all.

“To Sandor,” John says.

“To Sandor and his champagne,” adds Eight, which gets a smile out of Nine.

“I guess you really got lucky,” Five says to John, jerking his thumb in Sarah’s direction. “She could’ve been a Mog spy too.”