Beta

I paced around my office anxiously, waiting for the phone to ring. Keursio watched silently. After about a half hour, she spoke.
“So who was that guy?” she asked.
“Bill Dawson, “I said. “He was an bad guy.”
“So what happened with him?” she asked.
“Well, from what I know, he used to be an archaeologist in the field of Egyptology,” I said. “He disturb the tomb of some Nightlanders, and they attacked him.”
Nightlanders are the Fear of darkness. They're living shadows, obsessed with order. Only problem is, they have a twisted sense of what qualifies as order. And if you disturb their order, they don't respond to kindly to it.
“For some reason, they didn't kill him,” I explained. “They... sort of fused with him. Turned him into something called the Shadow Man. Dawson didn't like humanity much. The Nightlanders twisted that dislike into loathing. He became genocidal. He wanted to wipe out everyone, except the Fears and their servants. So he tried to recreate the plagues of Egypt, on a worldwide scale, with the Fears' help.”
“That's awful,” Keursio said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But some Fears didn't go for it. Neither did Daniel or Malkator. They stood against him. It was Malkator who defeated him. He tore him from the Nightlanders and left him for dead in the same ruins he had disturbed.”
“But he survived?” Keusio asked.
“That's right,” I said. “He was found by a rescue team. They transported him back to the U.S., where he found Silvermist.”
“She's... a Dying Man shard, right?” Keursio asked.
“Was, yes,” I said. “She was badly wounded. So was Dawson. So they joined forces. He let her possess him. And they started killing and absorbing other shards. Until Estren and HELLFIRE stopped them. HELLFIRE absorbed Silvermist, and they kicked Dawson into the river that flows through the Dying Man's domain.”
“And he survived that too?” Keursio asked.
“Looks like it,” I said.
It was silent for a few more minutes before Hideaki finally called back. I answered.
“Got my message?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “I know where he's based. Or, rather, where he was based before.”
He gave me the address.
“Thanks,” I said. “I'll check it out.”
“Be careful,” he said. “Beta is a dangerous man.”
“I'll be civil,” I lied.
I hung up.
“Come on,” I said. “We're going to Beta's place.”
“Okay,” Keursio said.
She followed me out the door, and made a bee-line for the car. I just kept walking. She noticed what I was doing and jogged to catch up to me.
“We're not driving?” she asked.
“Nope,” I said.
“Well, how far is it?” she asked.
“'Bout three blocks,” I replied.
“You're joking,” she said, baffled. I just smiled.
It didn't take us long to get there. I was only a couple houses down when I noticed a heavily bandaged man sitting on the roof, above the front door. He was about average height, and his bandages covered his torso, arm, and his entire head. Below that, he was dressed in a pair of black leather pants, with a tactical military belt.
The Fury.
As soon as he noticed us, he disappeared, and reappeared right in front of me. We would have been eye to eye if his eyes were actually visible. How the hell does he see with all those bandages.
He reached in his belt and pulled out a cell phone. He punched some stuff into it, and then my phone vibrated. I pulled it out, and found a new text saying “What are you doing here?”
“How'd you get my number?” I asked.
He texted me again. “Sources. Why are you here?”
“I'm looking for Martyr Beta,” I said. “is he here?”
Another text. “He is not.”
“Can you tell me where he is?” I asked.
“Negative.”
“Well, you're annoyingly unhelpful,” I said.
“Your face is ugly,” came the reply.
“Well...” I was about to say his face was ugly, but as I couldn't see his face, I went with “Beta's face is ugly!”
He typed something else into his phone, and then mine started ringing. Unknown number. I answered.
“The Fury tells me you think my face is ugly,” came Beta's voice.
I glared angrily at the Fury before responding.
“What do you know about Isiore?” I asked.
“Born April 8th, 1545,” he replied. “At the age of 26, she drank the waters of the fountain of youth, along with her younger sister, Keursio. They both barely survived the toxicity, and were help to recovery by the Wooden Girl. They both became servants to repay the debt. Isiore, for unknown reasons, began dressing in a manner that left her gender a mystery to others. She and her sister once found the Ace Of Chaos wounded, and nursed him back to health. He trained Keursio in the use of Mana before vanishing to continue his quest to combat the Fears. When Keursio was dragged into the Unclaimed Domain, Isiore broke all of her ties with the Wooden Girl, and began searching for a way to find her sister again.”
“That's... all, very interesting,” I admitted. “But I need to know her current location.”
“I know,” he said. “I read it on you and Daniel's blog.”
“You... you've read it?” I asked.
“I was notified the instant Daniel started that blog. I know everything you two have posted. I know Hideaki Kelterry called you not long ago to give you my address. I also know that you and Moss Garden have been stealing Archive data, and I want you to stop it.”
“Uh...,” I stammered.
“Now, I may be able to help you with Isiore, but I'll need you to help me with something.”
“What?” I asked.
“Not over the phone,” he said. “Dawson and his partner could be listening.”
“Dawson has a partner?” I asked.
“I'll contact you when I'm back in town. We'll talk then.”
And he hung up. Great...

-Tony Helioson, Signing out.