Update!

Sorry it took so long!

I thought holidays were supposed to be long, but it's almost over already?

NO!

I'll try to finish this as fast as I can… =D

Anyway, on with it! =D


Chapter 4

Ace Grit: The first mistletoe

Ace continued down the trail he was following. The dark ambience all around him reminded him of his life as a mercenary.

Mercenaries were allowed to travel from one realm to another. They were like knights and mages, except they are not generally welcomed to the realm they enter to.

They are rarely supported or noticed by the leaders of the realms they reside in. That's why Ace considers this chance as a golden opportunity for the likes of him who is rarely noticed.

He was raised in the darkest areas of the Darkus realm. He had no memory of his parents, only the last name that they graced him with. Nevertheless, he was destined to become a mercenary from the time he was entrusted to the head of the mercenaries.

He was one of the youngest trainees. He was also one of the best trainees that ever came to existence.

His training was harsher than any of those in his age group. He was expected to have advanced and superior battle skills. He was expected to be perceptive as the situation requires. He was expected to learn easily. He was expected to do things accordingly, smoothly and in the right manner.

He never fell short of these expectations. He exceeded them for his sake.

He wanted to be recognized. He wanted to be loved. He wanted to feel important. He wanted to exist as Ace Grit and not as the genius child whose fate is sealed to be a mercenary.

And so he was. He was recognized. He felt important; significant. But his other two wishes were not acknowledged.

After his training, he was left out on his own. He decided to leave the Darkus realm and travel, exploiting his rights to travel in the process.

He traveled to all five other realms. He was satisfied by the results of his travels.

But one travel in particular caught his interest.

The Subterra realm had nothing special in itself. Ace found it to be sturdier than most of the realms, but he also found a very unusual thing.

He found a girl named Mira, Mira Clay. She was desperately searching for her brother.

"Where did you last see your brother?" Ace asked

"He used to live in the neighbor hooding realm." Mira replied "But right after the Apprenticeship ceremony, he disappeared without a trace."

"What is your brother's name?" asked Ace

"His name is Keith, Keith Clay." Mira replied

Ace gave her an assuring smile "Don't worry Mira; I'll help you find your brother…"

Mira smiled at him. At that moment, he didn't know if he was getting immature or if he was just plain stupid, but he could've sworn that his heart did a couple of back flips at the sight of her smile.

Since his encounter with Mira, he's been searching high and low for someone named 'Keith Clay'.

But to his utter dismay and disappointment, no one by the name of Keith Clay has been to the other realms.

He visited Mira for the last time before he was called by Master Exedra.

"I see…" Mira said sadly "So my brother hasn't been to the other realms too, huh?"

Ace saw the disappointment on her face so he decided to cheer her up "I haven't looked at the Darkus realm yet."

"You don't have to look for him…" Mira muttered

Ace turned to her quizzically.

"I can find him on my own." Mira said "After all he is my brother and he is my responsibility…"

"What are you saying all of a sudden Mira?" Ace asked

"I'm saying that I don't want you to help me anymore." Mira said with finality in her voice "I didn't expect a mercenary like you to help me anyway." An evident form of bitterness could be heard in her voice.

Ace stood up in fury "Do you have any idea how long I've spent trying to look for your brother?"

"I never asked you to help me look for him." Mira pointed out "You were the one who volunteered to look for him on your own."

"Well excuse me for being a nice guy for helping you out!" Ace retorted

"I guess mercenaries really are hot headed and arrogant…" Mira muttered

"What?" Ace shouted "I'm the one who tried to help you and now you look at me like that?"

"Enough!" Mira exclaimed "You will not visit the Subterra realm or me anymore!"

"You're not the boss of me." Ace said "I can come to this realm whenever I want. And don't worry, I'd rather chew my own tongue, spit it out and chew it again rather than see the likes of you!"

He laughed bitterly as he said "And to think that I was starting to like you…"

Mira looked away and said "Get real, I would never like a mercenary like you…"

Those words struck his heart like a deadly arrow. He turned away from Mira and said "Yeah… I knew that all along…"

He walked off with a heavy heart. As a mercenary, they could have all the rewards they'd ever want. They could demand as much as they wanted and no one would complain about it.

Ace wasn't a selfish mercenary. He never asked for more than what was agreed upon. He never asked if he knew that there was nothing to give.

It was the first time he was rejected in a very painful manner.

Never mind that!

Who cares what that self-absorbed girl thinks?

He came to an abrupt halt as he realized the answer to that question.

I do…

He gritted his teeth and walked off to the portal that led him back to the Darkus realm.

The next thing he knew, he was called by Master Exedra. He was one of the candidates for his apprenticeship.

Ace saw this chance, a chance to prove himself a worthy person, a chance to prove his existence as Ace Grit and not as the genius mercenary everyone thinks him to be; a chance to prove to Mira that he's something more than just a mercenary.

It was the first time he became selfish. It was the first time he ever wanted something so badly for himself. He wanted to become Master Exedra's apprentice.

But at this point in time, he was starting to doubt himself.

The excruciating headache he felt a little while ago definitely shook him up.

Stop it Ace!

You're doing this because you want to prove something right?

You're not supposed to get shaken by that pathetic little trick!

He nodded his head and that seemed to strengthen his resolve.

Spectra on the other hand, was waiting for Ace's timely arrival at his location. He had the mistletoe on his palm he thought of the possible things he could do with all five of it.

He knew that the mistletoes had something special in them and he plans to use them for his purposes.

Master Exedra will hand over the Darkus power to me…

He will have no choice, but to give it to me, once I have the other mistletoes…

He smirked. He could hear Ace's footsteps quickly approaching him.

He stood up and turned to his visitor.

Ace's eyes widened when he saw Spectra standing before him "Aren't you, Helios's inheritor?"

"Why yes…" Spectra replied "I see you paid attention to Master Exedra's briefing…"

Ace's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the tone of Spectra's voice, like he was belittling him and mocking him because he's a mercenary.

"Why the suspicious face?" asked Spectra

"I don't like your tone, buddy…" Ace replied "It sounds clearly mocking…"

"Well, I never did expect a mercenary like you to pay attention to anything…" Spectra grinned.

Ace's fists clenched as he brought his brows together "Don't underestimate me just because I'm a mercenary…"

Spectra raised his hands in defeat and revealed the mistletoe that hung from his wrist.

Ace's eyes widened at the sight of it.

"So you too, seek to get out of here?" Spectra asked

"Who wouldn't?" Ace asked "This place is too dark for my taste…" He put his hand to his back and held onto the handle of his sword.

"My, my…" Spectra put his hands down "Quite the rash one aren't you?"

"I wouldn't want to team up with the likes of you anyway…" Ace said "You're too cocky for my taste…"

Spectra drew out his sword.

Ace's eyes narrowed "Besides, you're not even a true Darkus knight, so there's no need for me to waste my time on you…"

Spectra grinned "Can't a man change his ways?"

Ace took his sword from his back. He held onto it with two hands and poised to attack Spectra.

"Tell me Ace, what are you going to do with that power from Master Exedra?" Spectra inquired

"I'm going to use it for my own personal interests!" Ace replied "I'll prove that I'm not to be underestimated just because I'm a mercenary!"

"But that's what you are… And a mercenary is supposed to be underestimated…" Spectra mocked

"That's why I'm going to bring you down!" Ace shouted

He charged at Spectra, but all of a sudden, Spectra disappeared.

"Too slow!"

Ace felt the wind rustling behind him. He swung his sword just in time to prevent Spectra from seriously injuring him.

"Quite the sharp one, I see…" Spectra grinned

Ace pushed him away, only to have him disappear from his sight once more. He kept his guard up.

He heard Spectra coming from behind him so he blocked that attack too.

"So much for your honor as a knight!" Ace mocked "Aren't you supposed to be a gentleman?"
"Oh please," Spectra said with disgust in his voice "That's just a pathetic excuse! I am no gentleman!"

"So your true colors came flashing out huh?" Ace grinned "Pathetic!"

All of a sudden, Spectra was right in front of him.

They locked swords and said "Sneak attacks weren't really my type of strategy…"

A long battle ensued. Many times, Ace was too close to hurting Spectra fatally, but Spectra would elude him every single time.

"What's the matter Ace?" asked Spectra "Have you had enough?"

Ace was enraged and he swung his sword wildly at Spectra. He missed by a few inches, but he split Spectra's mask in half.

His eyes widened with what he saw.

Of course… Why didn't I think about it before?

Spiky blonde hair and a shift from Pyrus realm to Darkus realm…

This guy, Spectra Phantom…

Is Mira's brother, Keith Clay!

Those blue eyes prove it!

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Ace Grit…" Spectra muttered as he shook off the fringe that covered his eyes "Perhaps you know who stands before you?"

"Keith Clay…" Ace muttered "Why haven't I thought about that before?"

"It seems that you do…" Spectra muttered

"So you're Mira's brother…"

"And you've also met my little sister… How coincidental…"

"Why did you move from the Pyrus realm to the Darkus realm?" asked Ace

"It's simple; I needed to gain the power of the Darkus attribute…" Spectra replied "Apollonir chose that brat Daniel Kuso over me so I chose to rebel against him. When I acquire the power of the Darkus realm, I can rule over Vestroia entirely!"

"You're crazy if you think that Master Exedra would give the power of Darkus to the likes of you!" Ace shouted

"And so you're the worthy one?" Spectra inquired with mockery in his voice.

"I'm not saying that I am!" Ace said "But I'm a better choice than you are you selfish creep!"

Spectra sniggered "Aren't you quite the comedian?"

"What's so funny?" asked Ace angrily

"You call me selfish when you're no different from me!" Spectra exclaimed as he wounded Ace's arm badly.

Ace wheeled back. His arm was bleeding badly and he was losing focus.

"Well, I guess it's time to say farewell to you, Ace Grit…" Spectra mocked "And I'll take your mistletoe as well…"

Ace tried to get away from Spectra, but his arm was bleeding badly and the pain took its toll on him.

"Don't worry, this won't last longer than it's supposed to…" said Spectra as he took out the mistletoe on his palm.

The mistletoe shimmered a dark purple light and Ace suddenly felt the excruciating pain he felt earlier.

Ace shouted in pain and agony and the mistletoe from inside his bag came out.

"No…" he said in vain.

Spectra bent down and picked up the purple leaf and placed it beside his mistletoe. The two mistletoes glimmered in synchronization as their stems met and became one.

"Ace Grit…" Spectra muttered as he glanced nonchalantly at Ace who was withering in pain "And my first mistletoe…" He dropped a card which revealed Ace's face; it was ripped in half as it fell onto the ground.

The pain still didn't disappear; in fact it was stronger than before.

"Farewell, Ace…" Spectra said "I'll tell my sister how pathetic you were even in the end…"

With that Spectra walked away, leaving Ace in pain.


OOOOOOH!
I hate Spectra here!

I mean he was so nice and kind in the story "You will always have me by you" but now he's so evil!

ARGHHHH!

Oh and pay no heed to my eccentric reactions… =D

Anyway, I'm sorry for the late update…

And please feel free to click on the REVIEW button and convey your deepest thoughts as I greatly appreciate criticism and violent forms of criticism…

Again, pay no heed to these eccentric whims…. =D

I'm just excited for some unknown reason… =D

chquine_harvinellisse