Chapter 121: Alton Brantley Must Die Part 2 (2/2)
Alton snarled leaning back in his chair. ”Fine… What do you want to know?”
Bargaining thought long and hard before coming up with a question. ”I really only have one question for you, I suppose. If given the opportunity, would you become one of the five stages of grief?”
He stopped for a moment, unsure of what to think. Alton was left speechless. This wasn't nearly what he was expecting. ”Excuse me?”
”You heard me right. Answer the question.”
”A stage of grief? No… I couldn't even imagine… I would have to be pushed to the very limit to even think of such a thing. That would be going against everything I could ever stand for!”
”A pity. You would have made a good stage…”
Alton felt sweat trickling down his forehead as he cleared his throat. ”Now answer my question. What did you do to Zinnia?”
”Now, before you lose your shit, I should have you know this. My stage is to grant a contract with the chosen party. They are no obligated into agreeing and can turn down the offer all the same. So, remember what happened was entirely Zinnia's free will. I simply offered her the contract to protect the people she cared most about. I'll be sincere I didn't expect her to actually accept. I thought she would be smarter than that. After seeing the mental overloads and fighting Acceptance, it was a mere throwaway choice. I will hold up that end of the bargain no matter what, but she too must hold her side.”
”By killing me.”
”Can you blame me? A child of the Garden is right in front of me. I can't have you meddling with my plans.”
”Your plans? You said your plans, not theirs.”
Bargaining rested his arms on the table shrugging. ”I'll leave that up to your interpterion. It's up to you Alton you can stop Zinnia or let her kill you and fulfil the contract.”
”As if it's that easy… Say Bargaining… How about we make a deal.”
”Excuse me?”
Alton turned to him nervously taking the risk. ”I know there's no way to stop your contract unless through completion or death but if we were to make our own contract then you could cancel hers and save Zinnia correct?”
”Well, now you have my undivided attention. To answer that, why yes I most certainly could.”
”Then, Bargaining,” Alton whispered, building up the courage. ”I'd like to make a deal.”
”Very well. I'll put the cards on the table, shall I? I take it you want me to release my contract on Zinnia and leave her in peace.”
”Yes. Cancel the contract and leave her mind alone. That's my side.”
”That can be done. For my side of the deal, you have to do something for me first. I will only grant you that deal if you do one thing for me. I want you to join the five stages of grief.”
Alton flinched eyes twitching as he almost fell from his seat. ”You've got to be kidding me…”
Bargaining smirked knowing he had Alton right where he wanted him. ”This is no joke. If you want to save your precious friend, you must join our ranks and become one of the five stages. Whether that is Denial, Anger, Depression, or Acceptance doesn't matter. I'll uphold the contract once you join us.”
”Why?”
”To tell you the truth from the moment I first saw you, I could tell you'd make a good stage. I haven't quite worked out which one but nonetheless I see it. The ritual is fairly simple. Defeat a stage of grief and prove to the Gardeners you can harness the power you will be granted the influence of the Garden. Plus, it would be interesting to see what happens if a Child of the Garden was able to become a stage. So what is yo-.”
”I accept,” Alton stated cutting off Bargaining who looked shocked. ”If that is the way for you to stop corrupting Zinnia I'll accept.”
”My, my. It seems all you Rhapsody members are full of surprises I was sure you wouldn't accept. Things just got a lot more interesting. I must applaud you for such a turnabout to shock the likes of me is most impressive. As a token of goodwill, I will leave Zinnia alone… For now. The contract is still in place, and until you complete yours, she will be tasked to kill you. The next time I tell her too, she won't stop. I'll be interested in finding out how you get around to completing this task. As a final bonus, I'll leave you with a little gift.”
Bargaining clicked his fingers as Alton jerked back in his chair, feeling a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down at his hands, he felt freezing. ”The hell did you do?”
”I undid that seal the girl pulled on you. We can't have the Child of the Garden handicapped, now can we? I must say all of this is rather exciting now. I haven't been this excited about something like this for nearly 400 years. Who will come out on top? The hero of Rhapsody or the Blizzard of Hero's Might? The clock is ticking.”
”My powers are back…”
”You can thank me later… Now off you go before the Gardeners get back. If they knew you exist, well that would put quite the dent in my plan.”
The world began to fade away as Alton felt a pullback to the real world.
****
Alton woke still holding onto Zinnia. As she woke up, she was still entitled to fight him. With the seal broken Alton acted slamming the ground freezing everything around. Zinnia began freezing up shivering as her force was drained before she gave up falling over weak. Alton took a deep breath cold air leaving his mouth. ”The things I do for you girl…”
”Alton!” Scarlett yelled, running over before stopping a small distance from him. ”That power. What did you do?”
”What had to be done. The Garden has gotten to Zinnia. Make sure she's alright.”
”What are you going to do?”
”Adjusting my wish…” Alton clenched his fist tightly looking at Zinnia with a look of pity. ”Don't you worry Zinnia… I promise to save you.”
”This has all gotten much more interesting. It's almost time… It's almost time for the main event. Showtime!”