A FIGHTER'S SAGA
FIRST SAGA ~ ENCOUNTERS OF FATE
PROLOGUE
"It has been 100 years already since Omega Overwhelm occurred here, but by the looks of it, these people already moved on with their lives and left it behind. Generation by generation, they evolved and became stronger than before…or so it should have been at least" The man was thinking as he was looking at what used to be the ruins of a town not too long ago, but it was now rebuilt with the people's memories in mind. The whole city was covered in a grey color and the beautiful green of the forest around it was mostly gone. This was the first view that this man came to see once his feet reached the grounds of this city's surroundings. "Might as well go check it out, since I don't have anywhere to go anyway" were his final thoughts as he closed his eyes, sighed a little, smiled a bit and jumped from the high hill where he was, landing safely on the ground beneath. "Ok…let's see what's here to do…" the man thought as he looked around him before deciding to follow the path that was in front of him, a path that took him into a dark alley. What was in front of his eyes made him sigh loudly and it was not because of the dead end but because of the homeless people gathered there. It was a quite sad sight to see, as the people were wearing rotten, dirty clothes and were trying to cover themselves with cardboards but the chilly air of the night were going through these poor means of warming up. "Poor people…I wonder how did they end up like this…"the man thought and took off his jacket before walking over a little girl and covered her up with it
"This is not much, but at least is better than these cardboards" he said to her and gave her a small, gentle smile. The girl, although surprised by the man's gesture, she gave him a big, cheerful and thankful smile, nodding in a 'yes'
"Thank you mister" she said, cheered up now as just moments ago, she was crying while shivering from the cold and, just as the man was getting ready to leave the area, she suddenly got up" Mister…what's your name?" she asked, making the man stop and give her a smile "Sendyron" he answered before leaving.
The night has just started and, whether he liked it or not, he was in no position to wander around aimlessly. He needed to find a way to integrate himself into that community. "I should have studied about this world…but I never thought I would ever get here, not even in vacation" he sighed to himself and looked up at the dark blue sky "Not even the stars, nor even the moon feel like showing themselves tonight…my mother must be very sad about this whole thing…"he thought but didn't feel like remembering the reason why he got banned from going back home, the same reason why he ended up all by himself in a whole new location. Even so, Sendyron didn't have any regret for what he has done, nor he felt that what he did was wrong in the first place.
It was already past 3 a.m. when, after walking around for a while, he found himself in front of the same girl he gave his jacket to. Although surprised by the unexpected encounter, he smiled at her and caressed her hair in a gentle way.
"What are you doing here, little one?" he asked her" Kids should sleep at this hour" he added, asking her with his eyes about her reason of being there.
The little girl lowered her head a little before starting sobbing, ending up crying loud while now grabbing tightly onto Sendyron's shirt.
Even without the girl's answer, the man could pretty much understand that something terrible has happened to her companions and a quick glace of Sendyron's towards the area where the dark alley was confirmed his suspicions. Dark smoke was coming out of there, which was hard to see at first but, with minutes passing, it was becoming thicker and thus, visible even from far away.
"Go find shelter" he told her in a hurry before rushing back to the scene, scene that turned out to be of a terrible fire. And, by the looks of it, there was no way someone could still be alive, but Sendyron was hoping for survivors and that was exactly the reason why he summoned, right from his body, energy dragons that turned into water, keeping their form though and, by the command of their user, they rushed all at once, engaging into battle with fire, and managing to extinguish it moments later. "As I have feared. They are all…dead…" Sendyron thought and closed his eyes, calling back his dragons. Just as he turned around, ready to leave the area of the hideous sight, the man gasped in surprise, finding himself face to face with a teenager.
"I saw everything…wow…you're amazing! A hero!" he shouted in awe. Not just his words, but his eyes also, were contemplating the man with great admiration.
"Hero huh…I don't care for its meaning, but if you're saying that I'm some sort of savior, then you are either stupid or blind" Sendyron commented, closing his eyes and pushed the teenager aside, annoying with not just this encounter, but also of the fact that the boy's words were making him feel even more guilt for not being able to notice the smoke earlier and, thus, be able to save the poor people that died in the terrible fire.
The boy though was not ready to give up just yet, so, even if he ended up on the ground because of Sendyron's strength, he still managed to grab a good, tight hold on Sendyron's left leg.
"You're new here, right?" he asked with a big grin "I will show you around and tell you about how things go here" he added and even giggled with confidence.
Sendyron looked surprised at the boy and smirked a little, realizing that the boy could actually turn out to be of use to him.
"It seems your skull is not a complete emptiness as I thought it was" he commented and held out his hand to help the boy stand up, the kind of help that was greatly appreciated by the teenager as he got a good hold of the man's hand and smirked in a mischievous, childish way as, at the moment of the lifting, he made himself slip, ending up obviously in the man's arms.
"What are you doing brat?" Sendyron asked with a loud sigh, not appreciating much the boy's attempt of making body contact.
"Teehee, you're handsome" the boy commented with a wide grin on his face "You single?"he asked, not caring to hide the interest he had in Sendyron.
"That's none of your business brat" came Sendyron's harsh reply and pushed the boy away, this time in a not so harsh way so the boy would be able to keep his feet on the ground instead of his butt.
The boy made a pouting face by filling his cheeks with air but didn't complain further as he could tell that there was something troubling Sendyron"Might as well retry later. There's no hurry anyway" the boy thought and smirked wide.
Sendyron sighed a little, thinking the kid was weird, but nonetheless cute. For now though, he had other priorities and, for that matter, he turned himself to the boy with a question that was nagging him for some minutes.
"How did you know I was new here?" he asked as he looked deep into the boy's eyes, making the kid blush and look away to avoid more eye contact with the man that was making his heart beat fast "I…just assumed you were…because everyone here is self-centered…and no one would ever lift a finger to help another one…"he started to say and his voice was becoming sad with each and every word, but, noticing Sendyron's surprised look, the boy sighed a little and commented" Well…it's normal to be like this...since they all fear for their lives" he said and lowered his head, closed his eyes and made fists from his hands "All our lives…are being controlled by …The Grim Reaper" he whispered the last few words and clenched his fists in anger "I know…it sounds stupid...and totally unoriginal…but their means of doing evil deeds are the same as the ones of a Grim Reaper…"the boy continued his story with now tears falling down his face freely while Sendyron remained speechless, waiting first for the boy to finish his story even though he already made up his mind of what he was going to do once he would have found a place to stay. The boy didn't seem to pay attention to Sendyron's quietness and resumed his story" No one knows who its leader is…but the assassins he hired are all disguised as Grim Reaper… all wearing a hooded black cloak and…they are all using a scythe as weapon…"the boy started trembling and his voice was shaking so much now that he was unable to say another word.
Sendyron pulled the boy into a gentle hug and closed his eyes" You can tell me later…where I can find them" he said in a low tone and, although his voice sounded gentle, the boy could tell that Sendyron was serious about going against this organization. Realizing though that he was being too soft on this matter, Sendyron looked at the teenager, now making a fast correction of the facts.
"Don't get me wrong brat, I'm not doing this to be a hero or whatever you want me to be" he said and, although his tone sounded serious about it, the man was…quite bad when it came to faking his feelings" I just feel like having some action, I don't want to get rusty" he tried to explain his reasoning but it was already too late because the boy giggled.
"I bet"he commented in obvious disbelief, which earned him a soft knuckle in his glorious head"Hey now brat, show some respect towards someone who is going to lend you a hand" Sendyron commented and sighed a little.
"See?You just admitted to it…that you are going to help us out!" the boy said out loud and grinned wide also using his hands to for a double 'V' with his fingers" Easy victory!" he commented with a wider grin, but right after a sound of 'thud' and a small 'awwww' followed by some courses and sobs made it clear that Sendyron either disliked the boy's enthusiasm or he was having fun giving away free knuckles to the boy's head.
"Big boys don't cry" Sendyron commented with an amused smirk at the boy and decided to caress the top of his head in order to ease the pain a little" What's your name kiddo?" he then asked with a smile, deciding to be nice in order to compensate for the pain he caused to the teenager.
The boy made a small pouting face and crossed his arms on his chest before looking a way, pretending to be mad" Malaki…" he mumbled before shouting at Sendyron's face "…and stop calling me 'kiddo'! I'm 17 already!" and looked away again, pretending to be a tough cookie" …sheesh…."he mumbled.
Sendyron backed away at Malaki's shouting so he could protect his face from the…rain but couldn't help to laugh a little at Malaki's attitude" Oh, so now's you're going to tell me that you're a very bad boy?" he asked amused, obviously making fun of Malaki "Oh sorry, my bad, I forgot to get frightened by the scary look in your eyes and the …thing with spikes you're wearing around your neck" he added laughing more.
Malaki pouted and showed Sendyron the middle finger" Yeah, yeah whatever, I so what if I stole a dogs collar? Is still looks cool!" he tried to defend himself and even smirked trying to look tough but failing in a cute way, which made him sigh in the end" I so…hate you…" he mumbled before remembering something" Ah! You didn't tell me your name!" he suddenly made the remark.
"It's Sendyron" the man introduced himself to the boy after finishing laughing even though he was still finding his new friend to be an entertaining fellow.
"Ah!" the boy gasped in surprise" That's quite…the name you've got there" he commented and smiled" Where are you from? "he suddenly asked after a long moment of silence.
The boy's question shouldn't have surprised Sendyron, but the man was still lost in thoughts, unsure of what to answer. Cautious, he decided to first learn a couple of things.
"Is my name that strange?"Sendyron asked Malaki and looked deep into the boy's eyes.
Malaki blushed and looked away, unable to withstand Sendyron's beautiful light blue eyes that seemed to be able to pierce through someone's soul and read the truth.
"N…not really…but…I have to admit…that it's uncommon" Malaki was finally able to mumble something after a few moments of silence and closed his eyes.
"Ah, I see... " Sendyron thought to himself "I don't really feel like changing my name though" he sighed and turned his attention to Malaki, but, right at the moment he opened his mouth to say something, the girl from before jumped out of nowhere and gave a big hug to Malaki" Big bro!" she giggled happy and clung to his neck" Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" she complained and pouted a little, but right after she fell silent because she noticed Sendyron. Yet, as a child, her curiosity kicked in so she turned her attention to her brother and looked up at him" What's going on?" she asked.
"That's my line" Sendyron was quicker than Malaki in taking the word "Though I can pretty much guess what has happened" he commented and looked at Malaki "For some reason, she told you about me and you guessed where I was just by hearing what she had to say, which was why you decided on your own that I was a hero" Sendyron commented and closed his eyes "What I don't get is, why, despite being siblings, you two seem to live in two different worlds?" he asked Malaki directly, although he could not tell if he was curious or just angry with Malaki for allowing his sister to live such a life. By the look in Sendyron's his eyes though, Malaki was sure that it was the second option, which was why he sighed.
"I guess I owe you an explanation" the boy commented, cuddling his sister close" I will tell you everything because I trust you and especially, the serious look you have in your eyes. You have the eyes of someone who hates injustice above everything else…am I right?" he asked rhetorically with a small, but sad smile.
"Maybe" Sendyron replied and gave Malaki a soft knuckle" Kids should never lose their pure smile" he added with a smile on his own, a gentle one that made Malaki blush, even more than he did before.
"I…will leave you my home address…come by whenever you feel ready" Malaki suddenly said after being silent for about a minute and wrote his address on a piece of paper that he handed to Sendyron" See ya and thanks for being nice with my sis earlier" the boy waved as he took his leave.
Sendyron watched surprised how Malaki left in such a hurry and sighed a little "Weird kid" he thought and smiled before putting the piece of paper in the pocket "I might as well take on the kid's offer, but maybe I can find out more about this gang that call themselves The Grim Reaper. Last I've heard, Death works alone and doesn't have any relatives" Sendyron thought as he walked around town. But, because he had no clue were one is supposed to look for this kind of information, the man decided after a while to stall the process of information gathering and head to the address that Malaki gave him. There wasn't much left anyway from that night as the first ray of light from the sun was already starting to color the sky in vivid colors.
CHAPTER 1
~Revelations~
"So here we are…I wonder if the brat has already gone to sleep" Sendyron thought to himself while inspecting the house where the boy, Malaki, said he was living in, looking for any signs of someone still awake. The lights were indeed off and, just as Sendyron was preparing to leave, the door opened and Malaki gave Sendyron a big hug from behind.
"I knew you'd come!" was the first thing the boy said, and, by the sound of his voice, he seemed quite happy.
"And you also knew I was here" Sendyron sighed, obviously sarcastic about the boy's words.
"Ayup, 'cuz the awesome me has super extra sensorial powers!" Malaki bragged with a wide grin on his face, but despite his words it was more than obvious from the cheerful, joking tone in his voice that he wasn't serious.
"And what's with the opened window then?"Sendyron asked, closing his eyes and sighed a little before turning around to pinch Malaki's nose.
"Ouch!" the boy complained covering his nose with both his hands "That hurts, you know?" he mumbled but smiled afterwards" So, wanna come inside?" Malaki made the invitation to which Sendyron answered with a small nod before following the boy inside the house.
"So, are you living by yourself here?" Sendyron asked Malaki before accepting the boy's invitation of sitting down next to him on the sofa.
Malaki sighed at the question in what seemed to be sadness and looked away.
"Kind of…"he answered in a low tone before closing his eyes and made a short pause" I have promised you to tell you everything about me, my sister and what I know about that organization" Malaki resumed talking in order to tell Sendyron the whole story and looked at the man" Will you listen to what I have to say?" the boy then asked.
"Yes" Sendyron answered and his eyes became serious all of a sudden, having a feeling that, whatever Malaki will say, it would be of grave importance in understanding how what should have been a peaceful city was, in fact, a continuous battlefield, an everyday fight for survival for the civilians.
Malaki nodded and laid back on the sofa before raising his face up to look at the ceiling with eyes full of memories. He closed them the moment he felt them getting teary and, after a long moment of heavy silence where flashes of the past came back to hunt his mind and soul, Malaki reopened his eyes.
" Everything started….with my parent's death" Malaki started his story on a serious, low tone he has never had before "I don't know the reason, but they became targets of the Grim Reaper organization" he added and continued" Me and my sister were both taken to a foster care and put to adoption soon after" he added "I was the first to be adopted by the people I'm currently living with and, no matter how hard I have tried to make them adopt my sister Lina, they kept refusing it, saying that times are tough and cannot afford to raise and educate two children" Malaki kept talking without making any pause "Last year I've got news that the foster care where my sister still was has caught fire and there were no survivors "he added" The police ruled it as arson, but they never caught anyone" the boy sighed" And how could they, when the ones responsible for it are the reapers? The cold blooded murderers that forced this whole town to comply to their own rules?"
Seeing the boy becoming not only sad, but also angry, Sendyron pulled him into a gentle hug.
"I will destroy them…but I need to learn a few things about how things work here" the man said in a low, and somewhat gentle tone as he was now trying his best to comfort Malaki who started to cry, wetting Sendyron's shirt with his warm tears" As you've guessed, I'm new here so I need to know a way to get a job. Preferably one where I can make use of my fighting skills" Sendyron added and caressed the boy's face before placing a soft kiss on his forehead" Everything will solve in due time, calm down now, okay?" he asked of the boy giving him a gentle smile to which the boy answered with a small nod and wiped his tears away from his face and eyes with Sendyron's shirt.
"Sorry…I will give you another shirt" Malaki promised and smiled a little before taking a deep breath and smirked wide" Okay, so you're a fighter, cool!" he commented, seeming to have regained his cheerfulness "There are some small organizations that are trying to fight the Grim Reaper one but they lack strong people so yeah, they don't really try much to protect this town" he said "It would be nice though if they could use their brain and merge together instead of remaining as separated as they are now" Malaki commented and sighed a little.
"That can be arranged, just tell me where to find at least one of them" Sendyron said and smiled" By the way, how come you happened to be on the streets, looking for your sister? Did someone tell you that she was still alive? "he asked, still a bit puzzled about Malaki's actions few hours ago.
"Well, kind of" Malaki answered and also nodded" A strange dressed guy with short, blond and spiky hair showed up at my window, though I have no idea how he got up there, probably through some ninja technique…". At this Sendyron's eyes showed surprise, even shock" Could it be…Katashi? But why would he get involved in matters that are not under his jurisdiction? I may be wrong though…I guess I will have to investigate this matter sooner or later" Sendyron thought while Malaki kept talking" He has told me that my sister was alive and he also gave me information about her whereabouts"
"Tell me something" Sendyron said with a sudden seriousness in the tone of his voice" What else did you notice about this man?" he asked.
"What else…?"Malaki repeated and his face showed just how surprised he was not just with the question itself, but also with the way Sendyron was acting" I guess…the arm bands he was wearing caught my attention because of the tiger and the engraved words surrounding it" Malaki mumbled as he was trying hard to remember but no other detail came to his mind "Sorry…I don't remember anything else…"he whispered and sighed before looking at Sendyron. It was the moment his lips parted to release a loud gasp because of Sendyron's eyes that were icy" It was him then…Katashi…what is your purpose? No matter, as soon as I get in touch with you, I will drag the words out of your mouth if I have to" Sendyron thought and sighed a little when he noticed the fear in Malaki's eyes .
"Sorry kid, just someone that I happen to know" he explained and smiled" Anyway, do you mind if I'm going to take a shower?" he asked and Malaki answered with a nod" Sure" he also said and smiled wide "My parents are away from home and they won't be back for few more days" he then added "So feel free to stick around until then" he winked before getting up "The bathroom is on the left hallway, second door for the right" he explained the directions" Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to prepare some morning snacks" Malaki informed Sendyron while trying to mimic Sendyron's attitude, but ending up making Sendyron laugh.
"Kid…you are incorrigible" the man commented laughing before heading to where Malaki has told him that the bathroom was.
"You still owe me the truth about yourself" Malaki mumbled after Sendyron left the living room, sighed a little and smiled wide "Ah well, who cares? As long as he's an ally and stuff" the boy thought before going into the kitchen to prepare the breakfast, tea for him and his sister, a coffee for Sendyron and something to fill their stomachs, fried eggs, that turned out a little burned and toast, who has been kept a little too much in the toaster, with butter and jam.
"All's done now…now to wait for Sen to finish his shower and then I can go wake up Lina" Malaki thought with loud voice and giggled, happy with the result of his…cooking skills.
What Malaki didn't know though, was the time Sendyron was taking in a shower, which varied from 2 to 3 hours. And the reason was quite simple: he wasn't only taking a shower to clean himself, but he was also using this opportunity to train because water was his main element as an element fighter. Thus, Malaki had to wait for a good while to see Sendyron again and the wait, along with the tiredness from the previous night have taken the best out of the boy who fell asleep shortly before Sendyron's return in the living room.
"He's even cuter when he sleeps, almost like a girl" Sendyron thought to himself when he saw the boy sleeping on the sofa and smirked slightly "If he wasn't so troublesome…"but Sendyron didn't get to finish what he was thinking because Malaki yawned cutely and opened his eyes half-way, visibly sleepy.
"What was I doing? "he tried to remember "Ah yes…waiting for stupid Sento finish his looooong date with stupid shower" he mumbled in annoyance, not seeing Sendyron yet, but a sudden pain in the top of his head woke the boy up completely" Hey! My head is not your training sack!" Malaki complained about Sendyron's knuckle and his eyes were becoming teary form the pain" Stupid Sen…hitting innocent kids like me…" he mumbled.
"And kids should never use words like this when talking to someone older than them that, incidentally, were asked to help"Sendyron commented with a smirk, highly amused with Malaki's childish behavior, despite the boy's claims to be a teenager and not a kid. Or so Malaki claimed when they met, but things are not always what they seem to be at first glance, or how people want to make you believe they are.
"Booo, stupid Sen bullying cute, smart me all the time" Malaki though continued and even made the gesture of thumb down to strengthen his words, but it was obvious now that Malaki was having a great time in Sendyron's company, despite the knuckles the man was freely giving away "And you should get dressed, sheesh!" Malaki outbursted right after with a bright red face as he finally noticed Sendyron wearing only a towel around his waist "I'm going to wake my sis up!"he announced right away, ignoring Sendyton's laughter at his reactions and words and stood up before rushing up the stairs to wake Lina up, but the girl was already up and opened the door of her new room, stroking her eyes with her small fists" What's with the noise bro? " she asked in a sleepy tone to which Malaki replied with" All's Sen's fault!" before smiling and took her hand into his "Come now, let's go eat breakfast" he suggested.
Few moments later, the two siblings joined Sendyron in the kitchen and, to Malaki's big surprise, the man was already wearing a new set of clothes.
"Where did you get those?" the boy asked in obvious surprise, blinking a couple of times and pinching his arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"That's a secret" Sendyron replied with a mysterious smirk on his lips.
"Ah well, whatever, let's just eat. The food got cold already because of you" Malaki complained and sat down next to his sister "You still owe me the truth about you" he then mumbled close to Sendyron's ear so that Lina won't hear him.
"I don't remember ever making such a promise though" Sendyron replied with a taunting smirk while eating calmly from his food.
"Geez…stupid old geezer…" Malaki pouted annoyed but resumed eating and waited for everyone to finish eating breakfast before sending Lina back upstairs.
Sendyron walked over to the window and opened it to look outside and, when Malaki returned from having a last small chat with his sister, Sendyron closed his eyes.
"I'm not human and I don't have any mission here" he said to the boy, answering his request of telling him the truth "Though I suppose I am now, since my powers have been sealed" he commented with a small amused smile and looked at Malaki who was now speechless and was fixing Sendyron with a dumb expression on his face and a opened mouth "Whether you believe me or not, is all up to you "Sendyron commented, not really caring to explain himself further "While it is true that I didn't have a mission here, I accepted one of getting this city rid of the Grim Reaper organization "he said "Which is why you need to tell me more about it and, because I'm not from this world, I will need your help in learning about the things here" he explained a little better before falling silent and resumed looking out the window "For example…I have no idea what that thing is" he commented.
"That…thing..?" Malaki repeated puzzled of what Sendyron meant but trying his best to regain his composure, composure he lost with the shock of Sendyron's truth.
The boy approached Sendyron and was trying to understand where the man was looking at, but was unable to realize what the thing Sendyron was talking about was because everything that was outside was normal to him.
"That green thing"Sendyron said and even pointed at it.
"That…that's a car" Malaki explained surprised and with wide eyes before bursting in laughter "Oh man, where do you come from anyway?" he asked amused, even crying from how much he was laughing "Medieval age or something?" he asked.
"Yeah, you can say that" Sendyron commented with a small sigh, although glad that Malaki wasn't as sad as he used to be few hours ago.
"Take me sometimes to your place, because it sounds interesting" Malaki said and looked up at Sendyron with a big smile on his face.
"Maybe someday" Sendyron replied to the boy's sudden request" Anyway, what's that thing's use?" he asked.
"People use it to go from place to place" the boy answered before asking curiously "How do you move in your world?"
"Teleportation" Sendyron replied with a smile and looked up the window, leaving Malaki totally speechless, with a shocked expression all over his face.
"Anyway, I will go now and talk to one of the leaders from the other organizations" Sendyron suddenly said after few moments of silence" Where can I find them? "he asked and looked at Malaki.
"I will draw you a map" Malaki said after a loud sigh, regaining his voice that he lost because of the shock Sendyron gave him moments earlier "Leave it to me!" he added hitting his chest with his fist in a confident way while also giving Sendyron a big smile and rushed back to the living room, took a piece of paper and a pencil from one of the drawers and began to draw a rough map of a place that was not too far from the last location Sendyron has visited before deciding to call off the information gathering the previous night.
Sendyron sat down next to the boy and looked at the map as it was drawn and, sometimes, his eyes were moving from the piece of paper to Malaki's beautiful, feminine face and couldn't help but smile, finding that his wish of helping out the townsfolk was merely a pretext to lend Malaki a hand because the boy has asked for his help and because he felt the need to protect him. "this is…kind of getting out of hand…I wonder why I'm so fixated on making this kid happy…"Sendyron sighed but smiled "Falling in love was not part of my daily job though…but I guess is ok now, since I'm jobless and I don't care" Sendyron commented to himself, smirked and, just as Malaki was turning his head towards him to let him know that the map was done, he pulled him suddenly close, put his hand under the boy's chin to lift his face up and gave him a soft kiss on the lips before deepening it in a skillfully, passionate way.
"Whoa..wha…"the boy gasped, trying to talk, but he closed his eyes and didn't object to the kiss. Moreover, his face was now bright red and his arms were hugging Sendyron's neck, as to cling to him in a possessive way. Soft moans left his lips at first, but the more the kiss went on and the more passionate it got, the louder the boy's moans became and, even though he didn't try to kiss Sendyron back, Malaki's beautiful voice was enough for Sendyron who continued the kiss and, despite his past and personality, he didn't go further, breaking the kiss when he felt that the boy was becoming too aroused.
"I'll be going now" Sendyron said with a smile and stood up, took the map from the table and smirked glancing one more time at the boy who was now like frozen in place and with his heart beating fast and loud inside his chest, happy for what has happened and not wanting to wake up from what he has felt to be a beautiful dream.
CHAPTER 2
~Mister Byron ~
After leaving Malaki into a dreaming state, Sendyron started his search around town for the building that Malaki has indicated on the map he drew. He didn't take long to find it because, even if he didn't know the town, Sendyron had a great memory and his starting point was actually the last place he has visited before going to Malaki's place.
The building in question was camouflaged by a dense forest, one of the few green places that were still coloring that grey, half-dead city. It was your everyday house with three floors and wasn't standing out at all, which was why Sendyron was wondering if Malaki wasn't mistaken about the actual location of a gang's headquarters. After inspecting the house for a bit, he decided to press the button next to the large, metal doors that were separating the outsiders from the front yard and, eventually, from the house. The moment he touched the button though, an unknown person tried to sneak behind Sendyron and immobilize him, but Sendyron was quicker than him and moved fast behind the guy, grabbed his wrists and forced them behind the man's back".
"You're not quite qualified for guarding this place" Sendyron commented in a deep, cold tone not weakening his grasp one bit despite the man's efforts to free himself "That…if you're indeed supposed to be a guard" Sendyron added with a slight, cold grin.
"What do you know?" came the man's equally cold reply" I have nothing to explain to the likes of you" he then added and managed to get a hold of an army knife he was always keeping behind his back, under the belt.
"I'm not an enemy though" Sendyron replied in return to the man's words and decided to release him, but not before tightening the grip around the wrist of the man's arm, the same arm that was holding the knife, forcing the man to drop the weapon on the ground.
"I don't believe a word of what you're saying!" the man shouted and twitched his eyes in visible pain" You could work for the damned Reapers! And you have no way to prove that you're not!"
"The proof that I'm not one of them is that I didn't kill you" Sendyron replied with a sigh "If all of them are morons like this guy…there's no wonder why they never stood any chance against the Grim Reaper…" he thought to himself but his monologue was interrupted by a loud cough that was coming from the direction of the house.
"Now that I have your attention gentlemen…I would like an explanation" the older man who seemed to be in his 50's spoke from the door in a loud, clear voice, looking at both Sendyron and his guard in the same time.
"Allow me to explain then" Sendyron took the word, already annoyed with the other's man IQ, which he noticed as not being too high" I came to offer my services as a fighter and help you and the other organizations defeat the Grim Reapers "Sendyron then explained in short the reason of him being there.
"Then allow me to ask you your name before inviting you inside my house" the older man, who seemed to be the boss of that organization, asked of Sendyron.
"Sendyron" Sendyron replied and jumped over the fence, landing safely on the ground, a move that surprised the old man in a good way.
"You look like a promising fighter" the old man commented and smiled "My name is Bruce Byron" he introduced himself and turned around" Follow me Sendyron" he requested.
Sendyron nodded and followed the man inside the house, not seeing anything out of the ordinary though as he was doing a quick inspection of the house as he was walking behind Mr. Byron "I wouldn't be surprised if this house was just a façade and the real headquarters are behind a library or something" Sendyron thought to himself as this kind of hidden door was not news to him. His house also had this kind of hidden doors and the way they were hidden was different from one to another.
"We're here" Mr. Byron said at some point and opened the door to an office which was located in the house itself. Even if there was another house aside from this one, Sendyron wasn't going to see it, at least for the moment.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that you're not trusting me just yet and you are going to ask me a lot of questions "Sendyron commented as he walked in and smirked slightly "That's fine by me" he added and walked over to the desk, but didn't sit down on the chair.
"Trust is something that must be gained, my young man" Mr. Byron said, smiled a little, pleased with the fighting spirit that could feel all around Sendyron and walked over to his desk, sitting down, now facing Sendyron.
"How old are you Sendyron?" was Mr. Byron's first question, a question that surprised Sendyron as he wasn't expecting it.
"What the hell does it matter?" Sendyron thought and sighed a little "Now I'm starting to get to a conclusion of why these guys are so weak…"
"Not that it matters on the battlefield, but I'm 27"Sendyron replied and sighed.
"It matters to me, because I will never put a minor into a dangerous situation" Mr. Byron replied, explaining his reason of asking suck an awkward question" Where did you learn to fight?"
"It's official…he's an idiot. Either that, or he's too old for this job" Sendyron thought to himself, already regretting wasting his time in coming there to offer his help" On the sun" Sendyron gave his reply to the man with a serious look on his face.
"Oh…interesting" Mr. Byron commented, not bothered by Sendyron's irony "Well, whether you want to tell me or not is your choice but I was curious because I have never seen such accurate moves before" he commented, confessing through this statement that he saw the whole altercation between his man and Sendyron.
"I'm unsure whether or not I should allow this interrogation to continue, because I personally see no point in it" Sendyron commented.
"This is your choice and was always your choice to make" Mr. Byron replied undisturbed "You have great potential and not just as a fighter" he added "Your eyes are of someone with great determination and willpower" he continued and smiled" This is a job interview, so you shouldn't take it so harsh" he commented" Tell me Sendyron, what are your strong points as a fighter?" he asked.
"That's more like a job interview" Sendyron commented with a smirk and decided to give it a go and read into the man's eyes in order to see what's in his soul and decide once and for all what kind of individual Mister Byron was. Unable to though, Sendyron smirked and sat down on the chair next to him "Let's discard every ace we have and put them on the table" Sendyron said, keeping the smirk" I misjudged you, but you are a fighter yourself, and a quite strong one too" he commented, not yet answering to Mr. Byron's question.
"Interesting conclusion…but I wonder if you can actually prove it" Mr. Byron commented and a small smirk formed on his lips.
"It won't be too hard" Sendyron replied and, as he spoke, the energy that he formed under the man's chair dissipated, leaving behind a magic circle that glowed before releasing a water pillar all around Mr. Byron.
"An elemental fighter…interesting" he commented and smirked "I only know of two that can use their element well" Mr. Byron added, and, as he said that, the water pillar was being sucked into another magic circle, one that was surrounding the one Sendyron created.
"Oh…so you're one of them, I see" Sendyron commented and removed the circle just to create a dragon from his energy, one that, unlike those from the fire incident, was bigger and didn't take any form "I'm curious who the other elementalist is" he commented with a smirk and attacked Mister Byron with the dragon that went through the man's body, passing through the magic barrier that Mister Byron has created around him, in order to protect himself. It only took a second, but it was visible that the man was now in great pain and he gasped loud, out of breath.
"You are not…a normal elementalist…are you?" Mister Byron asked, now in a serious, deep tone and looked deep into Sendyron's eyes.
"Maybe" Sendyron replied with a smirk "Though let's just say that I will lend you my strength, no more questions asked" he added and stood up.
"I see…"Mr. Byron whispered and closed his eyes" You might…be able to defeat the other elementalist " he added, keeping his eyes closed "The leader of the Grim Reaper…Cantara" he added, now in a serious tone and looked up at Sendyron "He can use all 5 main elements, water, wind, earth, fire and lightning" he added.
"That makes things quite…amusing" Sendyron commented with a grin on his lips "I'm actually anxious of meeting him, mind telling me where I can find this Cantara guy?" Sendyron asked.
"Not yet…you're not fully ready yet…" Mister Byron whispered, barely able to talk now from the pain and it was quite clear that whatever Sendyron did to him with the energy dragon was of inner nature.
"I was born ready" Sendyron replied instead and grinned "A rival is hard to find, so for now I will lay in wait, hoping for the perfect opportunity to arise" he then said.
"I wasn't expecting anything less from a great fighter such as you are" Mr. Byron replied with a smile, visible pleased with Sendyron's strength.
"I hope you're still having a mission for me though" Sendyron commented with a smirk, anxious to start the battle against the Grim Reaper organization.
"Indeed I do" Mr. Byron replied and smirked" Do you have a car though?" he asked "I'm sorry about my awkward question…but I haven't seen one" he added, not sure anymore of his usual questions.
"A...what?" Sendyron asked puzzled at first with the question but he remembered right away what a car was and what Malaki has told him about it "No, I don't" he replied "Do I really need one?" he asked.
"Yes, in fact you need a car as you need air" Mr. Byron replied and sighed "I can see that you're not from around these parts" he commented "Otherwise you would have known that Grim Reaper was many headquarters spread around the country " he added "As a matter of fact…where are you from?"
"Damn, I should have asked that kid more about this crappy town…" Sendyron was now blaming himself for the little to none knowledge that he was currently having about this city, and well, just about everything that had to do with it.
"It doesn't matter" Sendyron replied, not feeling like telling Mister Byron the truth. The little he knew about him, the better, was what Sendyron thought. And another policy he had was to never stand out, or at least, as little as possible.
"I suppose everyone has their own secrets, I respect that" Mr. Byron replied with a smile, not bothered at all with Sendyron's secrecy "What car would you like to drive?" he asked "And also…do you have a driver's license?" he asked to be sure.
"Shit! How the hell am I supposed to handle this stupid geezer's questions? Really… I should have really asked Malaki about these things…" Sendyron thought to himself, blaming himself more for the lack of patience that he had in hurrying to come and meet this man without first knowing everything that he needed to know.
"Ok…this may sound…really awkward and stuff but…what the hell is a driver's license and how do I get it? And why do I need it in the first place anyway?" Sendyron asked with a loud sigh, having no choice at this point but to acknowledge to Mr. Byron that he had no idea how that world worked.
"Hmm…sorry to ask you but…are you from this planet?" Mr. Byron asked shocked "Anyway, you seem to be confused about many things which leads me to believe that you're not from this world, so find yourself someone that would tell you all you need to know about how things work here" he commented with a sigh.
"That won't be a problem" Sendyron replied "Anyway, my mission?" he asked in order to cut the conversation short.
"You will need a car, but your first mission is to kill all three of Cantara's lieutenants" Mr. Byron replied "I will have one of my men coming by your place tonight and give you all the information you need and a ride to their places" he added "Also, study the law as I will have you working as a prosecutor during the day" he said in the same serious tone as before "I have many connections there so as long as you know what you have to do, a prosecutor's place will be yours" he added "This is all for now, you may leave" he finished and closed his eyes.
"Okay, I will do that as well" Sendyron replied and smirked "Sorry about the injuries, they will heal soon though if you rest well" he added "Leave everything to me, you won't be disappointed" he finished with a smirk and closed the door behind him as he left the man's office.
"I could return to Malaki's place, but I rather go around town and find out by myself how this freaking place works. Damn technologization… makes things way fucking harder…"Sendyron though and sighed "Well then, time to see for myself how it goes as I don't seem to have any other option " he commented with himself as he was leaving the building "But this would sure be tougher than I thought…I wonder where should I begin from?" he asked himself as he was walking back towards the center of the town and, even if he was lost in thoughts, Sendyron's mind remained sharp to his surroundings and he was analyzing everything, every detail and he was even listening to the people's words, and managing, little by little, to understand a small part of how that world moved.
CHAPTER 3
~Mission~
It was a little after noon when Sendyron returned to Malaki's home and was surprised to find the boy in the kitchen with an apron on, still trying to prepare a decent meal.
"Wow, what happened here?" Sendyron asked as he did a quick inspection of the kitchen "Not even my dragons do such a destructiveness to a place when they're going on a rampage" the man commented blinking from his eyes in disbelief that such mess was possible.
"Yeay yeah, complain all you want, but I'll have you know that cooking is a hard job that requires lots and lots of preparations!" Malaki commented while continuining undisturbed to stir in the soup, quite proud of himself for being able to cook or at least, he liked to think that he was doing a good job in that field.
"I'm sure of that"Sendyron replied, half ironic, half agreeing with Malaki here "It was never my field, so whatever, do your best there" he added, smiled and gave the boy a quick kiss of encouragement before walking off to take a quick shower since the boy seemed to take some more time to finish preparing the lunch.
"I…will…"Malaki whispered with a slight blush in his cheeks after Sendyron left and sighed a little after a quick look around "But still…it seems I've gone and made quite a mess here…oh man…I feel so lazy now that I think that I should clean it all up…"Malaki sighed more and, being caught in his own thoughts he didn't realize that the potatoes he put to fry in the pan became quite…black, most of them at least.
"AHHHH!"Malaki gasped loud and hurried to remove the pan, forgetting through to grab a mitten which was why, the moment he lifted the pan he felt his fingers burning which led to a dropping on the floor of the pan and, as a result, all the friend potatoes were now covering the floor around Malaki.
"Oh man…I'm such a…"Malaki commented with a loud sigh while kneeling on the floor to put the potatoes back in the pan before throwing them away.
"Klutz" Sendyron commented leaning against the edge of the kitchen door with his arms crossed on his chest" That's ok though, I don't like potatoes much" he added with a smirk and walked over to Malaki to help the boy out.
"It's all your fault!" Malaki complained fast and made a pouting face" If you wouldn't have mentioned anything about the mess, I would have totally ignored it, you know?" he mumbled and sighed "Still…I so not feel like cleaning up…"
"One always must clean after their own mess" Sendyron replied and ruffled the boy's hair, smiling" I have many things to ask you, so take a break and let's talk" he suggested, noticing tiredness in the boy's eyes, sign that he most likely spent the whole morning in the kitchen.
"Alright, but only if you'll eat with me from this soup" Malaki nodded, conditioned Sendyron with a big smile on his face, sign that he was anxious to learn about Sendyron's verdict in regards to his cooking.
"Fine with me, as I'm quite hungry to be honest" Sendyron agreed with a smile and lent Malaki his hand for the boy to stand up.
"So, what was that you wanted to ask me?" Malaki asked Sendyron few minutes later when they started eating.
"Everything about this world" Sendyron replied and took a sip from the soup "And start from zero please" Sendyron then asked the boy and resumed eating.
Malaki didn't answer right away though. The way was puzzled by the way Sendyron has put his request. It was as if he knew nothing about this world, the earth so now the boy was wondering if it was him that was being paranoid, thinking that Sendyron was indeed not a human or that was indeed the truth. A quick glance at the man sitting in front of him helped him arrive to a conclusion because of Sendyron's eyes that were as serious as they could be. "I wonder where should I start from though…? Maybe with the basics" Malaki was thinking to himself while putting his thoughts in order and, after they were done eating, Malaki has finally opened his mouth to talk.
"Ok, I will tell you everything you need to know in order to properly function here, but on one condition" the boy said with a wide grin on his lips, falling silent though to wait for Sendyron's reply to his request.
"Oh, so you're only going to help me if I will help you first" Sendyron commented and he didn't look surprise din the slightest by Malaki's way of thinking" Shoot!"
"I want you to be my lover!" came Malaki's condition along with a wide smile the boy had on his face a she said it.
"Ok…what are they teaching you in school anyway?" if Sendyron wasn't surprised before, now he was having quite a shock "Lovers are called two people that love each other, so is not something that can be forced onto someone" Sendyron sighed, trying to explain in short and the best he could that well, you may love me kid, but I'm not feeling anything for you.
"Oh, that's ok" Malaki replied with a wider smile "Love is something that happens in time, so I'm not worried about it" he added "Bottom line is, do kiss me and hold me, I don't mind it one bit" Malaki added and he now gave Sendyron a very big, innocent smile.
"You really are…a kid" Sendyron commented and sighed, realizing that Malaki didn't understand much and he didn't care to either "But that's a very fitting condition for someone like me, so I accept" Sendyron added with a slight smirk.
"Great! Now carry me into the living room!" Malaki requested in a childish, demanding tone.
"Such a brat you are" Sendyron commented, smiled and walked over to Malaki to lift him up from his chair and carry him into the living room, short span that allowed Malaki to make himself comfortable in the man's strong arms.
"I may be a brat, but I'm an useful one!" Malaki replied proudly as he cuddled up to Sendyron once he sat down on the sofa with Malaki on his lap.
"I will be the judge of that" Sendyron replied and smirked "So let's hear what you have to say, I'm all ready for the all-in-one lesson about this world" he added and gave Malaki a soft kiss on the lips to motivate him.
"Gotcha! Leave it to me! I'll make sure you understand everything! " Malaki bragged with a blush on his face and a wide smile on his lips before starting the long, tiring process of telling Sendyron everything he needed to know.
Sendyron has listened Malaki for five long hours, but by the time the boy was done, Sendyron understood everything and he now knew what he needed to do in order to fit into the big picture.
"Thanks kid" Sendyron said with a smile and pulled Malaki close for a deep, passionate kiss, not just as a reward to the boy, but also something he felt like doing.
Although he has requested it earlier, Malaki didn't actually think he will get it, which was why his face, now red, showed a great deal of surprise and a beautiful moan left his lips the second the passionate kiss began "Sen…"
Sendyron smirked, pleased with the boy's reaction and deepened the kiss in a skillfully way, now also touching Malaki's side with his fingertips, probably wanting to please Malaki further, but he was forced to stop due to the ringing bell becoming noisy.
"Damn…"Malaki threw some curses, annoying with the interruption and went to answer the door and, after few words changed with the person responsible for disturbing them, Malaki looked back at Sendyron.
"Your ass is needed" the boy said, knowing well that, when someone was looking for a newcomer, it was always because they needed something out of that person.
"Time to go I guess" Sendyron commented getting up, and sighed to himself "These people are more impatient than even my old man". Regardless, Sendyron followed that guy after giving Malaki a one last kiss, telling him that he will be back later.
"Give me the details" Sendyron ordered the driver once in the car, without paying attention to him. In contrast with how he was around Malaki, Sendyron's attitude was now the one of an assassin. His eyes, calm and gentle moments ago, were having an icy cold shine in them while the face showed no emotions at all.
The guy who came to pick up Sendyron was indeed his driver, at least for the time being, but he was also his guide. He didn't answer whatsoever at Sendyron's question and just took off fast towards an unknown location. When they were exiting the town, the man has finally opened his mouth to talk.
"Mister Byron has appointed me as your driver, but I assume you already figured that one out" the man said and kept looking at the road" This is just a temporary arrangement because my boss is planning to subscribe you to a driving school and, after that, after you pass the tests and receive your driving license, to have you study the laws and some forensics" the guy continued to talk in a normal tone, yet with a serious expression all over his face" Mister Byron needs you to work undercover and being a prosecutor is a huge advantage in this type of field" the man explained and, this time, he looked at Sendyron who was quietly listening to him" 90% of the cases that occur in our town and in the neighboring areas have to do with the Grim Reaper, so being able to see the dead bodies, analyze the way they died, and talk with the police involved in those cases will be the best way for you to understand how they do things and learn more about them " the man also explained and looked back at the road before pressing harder on the acceleration" This mission is something Mister Byron has been having in mind for over 10 years but he postponed it due to its first and last failure" he added "All 50 men he sent, were annihilated. And they were his best fighters" the man added and fell silent for a moment.
"One or more of your relatives included, I assume" Sendyron commented in a tone that had no emotions and due to that fat it was hard to figure out whether or not he was feeling any pity for his temporary driver.
"I won't ask how you've figured that one out" the man commented with a small, sad smile" Mister Byron chose you for this mission for a good reason" he commented "Anyway, to shorten things as we're almost there, I will tell you what you need to know about the mission" he added.
"It was about time" Sendyron commented, looking back at the rood, preparing to listen to what that man had to say.
"Your mission is to kill all three of Cantara's lieutenants and, in order for you to succeed, they have to be all three together" the man replied" This way, there will be no escape for either of them, but this task is more difficult than it sounds" he added "They are now in a conference in one of the organization's headquarters and they are surrounded by 100 of the best fighters" he added.
"So?" Sendyron replied, cutting the man short" They will only be good for a warm-up, but I sure hope that their three leaders won't turn out the same" he added and looked at the man with a cruel grin on his lips " strong people…are more…entertaining to kill…don't you think so?"
"I…I…suppose…" the man gulped, quivering frightened with how merciless and cruel Sendyron was appearing to be in that moment.
"Well then, if this is all, I will be off now" Sendyron announced his driver with an amused, yet cruel grin on his lips " I kind of feel sorry for Byron if all of his men are like this wimp" Sendyron commented to himself as he closed the door shut and walked over to the big gates surrounding the entrance to the courtyard of a big building that looked like a fortress.
"And we have the first guests of the evening" Sendyron thought with a smirk, dodging a round of bullets before sending out his dragons towards the snipers, dragons that, by the time they reached the 7 men, had their energetic bodies changed into electricity which was powerful enough to kill them instantly. And while Sendyron seemed unguarded, 12 people wearing ninja outfit attacked him all at once with katana while 5 more were throwing waves of shuriken towards the man.
"Desperation is always the key…of losing" Sendyron commented to himself with an amused smirk on lips that changed into a cruel one as he called back his dragons instantly and created an energy shield around himself in which he also molded some air pressure which sent not only the attackers, but also the weapons away, without being able to touch him.
"Enough!" a strong, manly voice shouted and the order was most likely meant for his comrades because all of them stopped attacking Sendyron and kneeled, bowing in politeness to the man in question.
" A mere dog or one of the three leaders " Sendyron commented, making assumptions of the man's identity "It doesn't make any difference to me either way as I will kill all of you" he added with a cruel grin on his lips.
" A valiant attitude, matched by your awesome techniques " the man commented, praising Sendyron's earlier performance " You see though, I don't like seeing my men's dead bodies, which is why I have a proposal to you, one that will save you time and me, my men"
"I never make deals with my enemies" Sendyron replied "I may think about it though, if you're a worthy opponent" he then added, grinned and, as he was done talking, the ground beneath the other man suddenly changed into a moving sand that was now dragging him in.
" Hmm…I can see now that you're not a guy that likes to waste time" the man commented, realizing that, while they were having the conversation, Sendyron used his energy to raise up the water level from the underground and, with his energy, he created a powerful vortex that served as a catalyst for the moving sand to be created.
" Unlike you, who keep barking like the dog you are" Sendyron replied in an icy cold tone and walked over to the man, but mid-way he stopped and dodged something that looked like very thin needles who could only be noticed by very few people. But, despite seeing them, Sendyron was unable to dodge the ones that came from behind and a couple of them managed to slice through his shirt, injuring his arms and left side.
"Not bad...not bad at all" Sendyron commented with a pleased smirk and used his arm to parry another attack from behind, this time a sword that the man has pulled out after using Sendyron's slight distraction with the needless to pull out a chain and escape the send.
"Neither are you" the man replied with a smirk "So, will you reconsider my offer?" he asked now parrying an energy sword that Sendyron attacked him with.
"Once I defeat you, you will take me to your leaders" Sendyron replied, keeping his promise of reconsidering the man's decision when he turned out to be a worthy opponent.
"Deal" the man replied with a smirk "But if I win, you will change sides in my boss's favor" he stated his own terms and jumped backwards to dodge a series of ice spears that Sendyron had emerge from the ground.
"You have quite a high confidence there" Sendyron commented with an amused smirk and grabbed the man's sword, breaking it with his bare hand despite the big wound that was created on his palm in the process.
"Show me your true potential" the man demanded while he himself has done just that, raising the power level of his energy to the maximum to send Sendyron flying into a tree behind.
Sendyron smirked and, instead of getting up, he hit the ground hard with his fist which had a high amount of energy molded in it, creating a small earthquake which lead to a big crack and, as the man seemed surprised by how many elements Sendyron was able to use, and was trying to keep his balance, a big ice spear emerged from the crack impaling the man's right shoulder.
"A…combo…you're an interesting guy" the man commented in a painful voice and sat down on the ground after Sendyron released him from the ice spear " I cannot…come with you, but…I will tell you…where their room is…and I will make sure….that no one will interfere " he added, now holding his injured arm and closed his eyes "You are…a terrifying opponent…to be able to use…such a sealing technique" he commented with a small smirk.
" I will break the sealing spell after I'm done here" Sendyron replied and smirked " But really now… I'm disappointed in you, for not realizing that the last spear I threw at you had a sealing magic in it" he commented and walked pass the man to leave the area and resume the mission.
" Indeed…maybe I should have…but I lost concentration for a moment" the man whispered and opened his eyes to look up at the sky " Maybe it was for the best like this but…" he added and closed his eyes "I should have probably told him…about the leaders' abilities" he commented to himself and sighed a little "Though well, if he can defeat all three, then that means he is indeed a legendary fighter, one that is born only once in 1000 years" he finished his inner monologue before laying back on the grass to rest.
CHAPTER 4
~Confrontation~
Sendyron walked inside the building after the doors opened before him, probably manouvered by someone in front of a control panel, and ascended the stairs until he reached the first floor "Ok...now let's see where the map that guy drew for me leads me...I just hope it's accurate because this place looks like a labyrinth" Sendyron commented to himself, now looking at the map the guy form before drew for him. After looking on it for a bit while studying the surroundings, Sendyron went on the right side and took two right turns before taking a left on and eventually arrive at a dead end. There, he pressed 5 blocks and, when the wall moved upwards, revealing a new set of stairs, Sendyron took them , going upstairs to the second floor from where he took three more left turns and two more right turns before going inside a library. With the hints he recived from the man he defeated, Sendyron pulled out two books from the middle row, one from the upper left row and two more from the bottom left row while thinking to himself "These guys love number 5 way too much" and walked passed the opening that was created, descending into a room that made Sendyron wonder himself wether he was in modern ages or he actually ended up into the medieval times. The reason for that was that the chamber looked like one used for rituals by the medieval priests and that image was completed by the three men wearing black hooded cloaks with a big red cross on the cloak's back, the templars' cross. One of these three men was reciting verses from an old looking book that was written in an ancient language, while the other two were walking around a circle that they previously drew and were spilling on it various potions and. At some point, one of these two walked over a chest and opened it, taking from it a human skull. After he put it in a corner of the drawn circle, he placed a lighted candle on top. Few minutes later, the person reading raised his voice while talking faster, a moment in which the circle's edges illuminated in a dark light that became violet from a short red.
"I have a bad feeling about this" Sendyron commented to himself and decided to interrupt the ritual before it was too late.
"Is not in a human's job resume to play around with spirits and other entities that they cannot comprehend" Sendyron commented in a cold tone as he descended the final steps of the stone stairs and looked at the three man with his eyes that were having an icy light in them.
Although surprised by the unwelcomed guest, the three men didn't seem frightened at all. On the contrary, as one of them used a flaming skull that he created fast in his hand to throw it at Sendyron, who, instead of dodging the attack, used his own water dragon to try and block the attack, but the cultist's flames were no ordinary ones and Sendyron's skin felt it as, even if he did dodge it now, realizing that, it was too late and his left upper arm got severly burned as the flaming skull passed by it.
"So you have the ability to modify an element's properties...I see" Sendyron commented with a grin, not bothered at all by the pain as he was trained to take much more than that.
"I don't know how you got here, but it bears no significance" the man who attacked said in a cold, deep tone while preparing a second attack"Because this chamber will become your grave! " the man raised his voice as he threw two flaming skulls at once towards Sendyron.
"We will have to see about that...won't we?" Sendyron replies with a smirk and created a shield made of water and energy around him , succeeding in minimizing the damage from that powerful attack. And, as a response to the man's assault, he summoned three dragons at once, that attacked the cultist.
In response to this attack, the other two cultist joined their comrade and extended their arms while whispering a chanting. When the dragons reached the attacked man, two powerful magic circles, a violet one and a black one, appeared in front of them, absorbing all three energy the same instant, a powerful wave of magic energy was released from the center of these two magic circles, and sent back to Sendyron who was quick in creating another shield around himself, but the wave was so powerful, that it broke through the shield and hit Sendyron in full force.
"I'm surprised that you can still stand after this...I congratulate you" one of the three cultists commented in a cold tone "But this is as far as you will go!" he shouted extending his arm, getting ready to create a third magic circle.
"I should be the one...to congratulate...your performance" Sendyron commented and, even though heavily injured, he remained standing and even smirked in a confident way.
"Oh...you're still able to stand and talk so lively..."the man commented, looking surprised, but he wasn't able to finish the phrase.
"W...what..h..happ..end?" he gasped in shock and obvious pain and collapsed on the floor, unable to finish the third and last circle.
"One down, two more to go" Sendyron commented with a smirk while thinking"This situation...looks quite bad. I've already used up a lot of my energy and with my last attack, this was kinda it. Using my energy to create an explosion inside one's body requires more energy as a human that I initially thought it would. And those circles aren't normal, but the real problem seems to be the magic circle they've created prior to my arrival..." Then Sendyron closed his eyes "I hate to admit it, but I need to finish this in one blow and put an end to whatever they were trying to summon through that circle"
"If you are done with your inner monologue of despair, let me show you our true power" one of the two remaining cultists said and grinned as he noticed the shock on Sendyron's face "Impossible..they can read minds? But how? They are just humans...aren't they?" Sendyron thought, shocked indeed by that man's ability of reading into people's minds.
"We have long surpassed the human's borders"the man replied, keeping the grin on his face "We are the new order, the Gods of Death!" the man shouted and hit the ground hard with his palm, right in the middle of the circle and, in that instant, two lights, a violet and a black one emerged from it, passed through the two magic circles that the cultists used as shield and took the forms of a dark phoenix and a dark tiger as they were now attacking Sendyron.
"Negatives of the sacred beasts...interesting" Sendyron commented with a smirk and, although his energy level was close to zero, he still gathered it all at once to summon an energy dragon that took the other two dark beastss attacks full on.
"Interesting resolution...for a half-dead man" one of the cultists commented "But this is the end mortal!" he shputed and used the magic circles to power of the two dark beasts.
"This was what i was waiting for"Sendyron commented with a smirk, despite his dragon having been destroyed and the two beasts having done a number of deep injuries to his already injured body.
"It seems normal attacks don't work on you" the man commented calling the two beasts back and ignoring Sendyrons words "in that case, i will shatter your mind!" he announced him with a loud voice, sending the dark phoenix towards Sendyron who smirked and closed his eyes, allowing the dark phoenix to enter his mind.
What the dark phoenix was seeing now was what the cultist was able to see as well because the dark beast came from his heart. Therefore, the cultist closed his eyes in order to see any weakness that Sendyron had, and darkness in his heart and use it to destroy him.
The first thing he saw was a big castle and then there was a big door that seemed to be made of gold with a sun symbol on it. And then there was the face of a man with long, red hair and, when a light shone on this mans forehead, the scenery chnged, bringing a young Sendyron forward while in the middle of the training.
"Just..who is this man? And what was that castle..and who was the other man? They look...very alike" the cultist commented to himself, very surprised with what he was seeing and more, with the fact that he felt some hesitation in his heart. Something was telling him to stop, but his pride didn't let him so he pursued these visions further. Nothing was going to prepare him for what he saw next though. And the next vision his inner eye saw was Sendyron awakening and enslaving the legendary beast god Seiryuu. It was the moment the cultist gasped as he felt apain inside him and now he wanted to stop, but Seiryuu from the vision growled fiercely and the dark phoenix appeared in front of him.
"Now, dissapeaar along with your pathetic beast mortal!" Sendyron from the vision shouted and extended his arm "Seiryuu, obliterate!" he ordered the beast that created a mass of energy in his mouth and sent it in front of it, which would have been where the cultist's mind eye was placed.
The cultist let out a loud scream of pain before his eyes turned lifeless. He remained standing, but it would seem that the life in him has dissapeared completely.
"W..what...did you do?" the last cultist gasped, looking at his comrade with frightenes eyes. He was unable to look at Sendyron more or even think of his next move. What has just happened seemed so surreal to him.
"You have messed with the wrong person..and is time for you...to pay the price" Sendyron commented with a cruel, cold grin on his lips as he reopened his eyes.
"W..who...who are...you?" the cultist asked, shivering in fear and, when Sendyron started walking towards him, he backed off but his foot hit the other cultist's dead body and he fell on the ground "D...don't come any closer!"he shouted and looked at Sendyrons eyes.
"It's too late now for regrets" Sendyron replied and his eyes had a cold shine in them. A piercing look that send more cold shivers through the cultist's spine, making him now to be totally freaked out.
"N..no..p..p..please...s..stop!Just...stop!" the man was now pleading for him life and even tears started to fall down from his eyes. But the moment his heart turned human again, a pillar of dark energy surrounded him and the tiger's eyes shone in a red,fierce light. With a powerful roar, the dark beast suddenly attacked his former master by entering his body and tearing him from within.
"Not avery loyal beast...I see" Sendyron commented surprised with what has just happened and sighed a little"Normally...this will be a failed mission since there is no way now to learn more about these guys" he commented, ignoring completely the gruesome scene in front of him.
With the cultists now dead, the magic circle that they created on the floor glowed before vanishing completely and, with it gone, the whole mannsion started to crumble.
"Well, he wanted them dead anyway, so time to call it a day here and take our leave" Sendyron commented and rushed up the stairs but had to back down because the exit was blocked now by big blocks of rocks "As if this is enough to stop me" Sendyron commented and got ready to break them with his bare fist, but the injuries and the loss of energy and blood made him dizzy for a second, moment in which a massive block of concrete was about to hit him. Somehow though, he got teleported in front of Malaki's house.
"You owe me one bro" a guy commented form behind him and smirked wide.
"That clears out one of the many times I saved your ass, Katashi" Sendyron replied instead and smirked.
"Not really, but I will leave it at that" Katashi replied and crossed his arms on his chest "Fate has been pretty...bad to you" he commented with a smirk.
"Talks the brat who has always been his brother's shadow" Sendyron replied with a smirk, taunting Katashi.
"That will change soon" Katashi replied, obviously annoyed with his brother''s remark, knowing well taht this was the truth "Or rather, it already did since you've lost everything" he added with a defying grin.
"What I lost was something I never needed in the first place" Sendyron replied with a smirk and closed his eyes before reopening them and looked at Malaki's house "I've gained instead is something I've always been searching for" he commented.
Sendyron's reflections were interrupted though by a car's horn as the person using it stopped by their side.
"I don't know how you did it to arrive him all by yourself, but you did a magnificent job out there by taking all out by yourself" the man in the car commented with a big smile on his face, which was a sign of happiness.
"Details, details" Sendyron replied to his driver and smirked "More importantly, let me guess, you came here instead of waiting because you were told that I will be here, am I right?" he asked and glared at Katashi who grinned wide, a grin that made Sendyron sigh"I figured as much" he commented.
"True"" the driver said and nodded "But, more importantly, the boss needs to talk to you" he added and the man seemed worried with something the moment he said it.
"He does?" Sendyron asked surprised"Ok, I will pay the geezer a visit then" he accepted the invitation and got into the car.
"How are your injuries?" the man asked once he took off, worried about sendyron's injuries, now that he took a better look at them.
"I can manage" Sendyron replied"Do you know why he wants to see me?" he asked, looking at the man.
"No idea, but he seemed worried when he called me" the man replied and sped up"I don't want to be a negativist, but my instinct tells me that something bad either has happened or it will happen soon" he added and clenched his fist.
"If it's about the reapers, they can come with whatever they want, I will stop them as many times as I have to" Sendyron replied and smirked in a cruel way, not knowing that the bad feeling he too was having was well justified.
A little while ago, while Sendyron was still fighting against his first enemies, a door has opened inside a mansion and a butler walked in, and bowed in a polite way.
"Excuse-me master, but I came to inform you that the Alliance has made its first move" he said in a humble, yet cold, serious tone.
The man the butler was talking with was sitting down in a sofa with crossed legs and was holding a glass of red wine in his right arm. Being dark in the room, no one could see his face well enough to describe it, but his blue eyes were shining in a strange, cold light.
"So they have finally found someone worthy? Interesting" the man replied in a mysterious dark tone and grinned "But then again...you are one step behind" he commented "I have yet to decide what to do with you one of these days" he added in a tone that sent shivers down to the butler's spine.
"B...But.." the man tried to defend himself but the one that seemed to be the leader threw a card at him that cut through the butler's hair and inches away to his temple.
"Go to this address and bring me the boy" the man ordered in an icyy cold tone.
"Y...yes, right away sir" the butler replied fast, excused himself and left in a hurry while taking the car with him.
Moments later, he arrived at the address that was written down on that card and that was none other than Malaki's house.
The boy was in the livingroom, sulking and pouting "That bastard...keeps leaving me behind" the boy mumbled "Just you wait Sen, I will folow you next time and prove to you that I'm not the nuisance you think I am!" he added, now raising his confidence voice along with his fist in mid-air, but right after he gasped, looking fast at the door that opened. Not seeing Sendyron but instead, a stranger, his eyes widden up and was ready to either scream or ask him who he was, but the butler moved fast and hit the boy hard in his stomach, making him pass out as a result of the pain that he inflicted to him through that.
Sometime later, and a little before Sendyron finished his fight with the three lieutenants, Malaki opened his eyes, moaned in pain and sat up, wondering what has happened and where he was, but before he could realize that, soemone else talking by his side.
"You're finally awake...Child of Destiny?" the man asked with a smirk, the same man who ordered the boy's kidnapping.
"Who are you? And where am i? And..."Malaki kept asking, still in a daze, but knowing in his heart that he didn't belong there and that he should leave but the man covered Malaki's mouth and this time he put a smile on, a smile that, despite being a seductive one, it sent chills to Malaki.
"My name is Cantara little boy" the man replied "And starting now, this will be your home" he announced him and hit Malaki's neck with the side of his hand, making the boy pass out again.
"Now then, let's see how you will do now Sendyron" Cantara thought to himself and an evil grin appeared on his face "I do have...what you hold dearest on this world" he now laughed out loud in an evil, yet taunting way.
~To be continued~