[Normal P.O.V]
Mia fixated her gaze onto the perplexing plastic cube in her hand. About three hundred squares of colors swirled around her head and twirled across her eyes. The 7x7 Rubik's Cube in her hand caused constant headaches in her head. She was barely halfway done but the amount of moves she had just done was overwhelming her brain. And she's doing all this because she's waiting for her secret patient who is later than ever. She had finished every Rubik's Cube other than the one she's holding right now and she's not even close in to completing it.
Three hours has passed since the normal deadline of her arrival and it's worrying the nurse. Usually, Ezra would arrive exactly on time or maybe even a little early. However, she was never late. Sure, she would rush back here as soon as possible without any thought of damaging property or herself. She once shot in through the window because she forgot to slow down her descent. Mia had to explain to the other agents about the blaring alarms and broken window that it wasn't an attack.
Finally giving up, the brunette stood up from her desk and flung the one pound plastic cube into the trash bin with a frustrated sigh, caused by both Ezra and the actual Rubik's Cube. She propped her elbow up on her desk and then placed her chin up on her palm, quietly whistling a small tune out of boredom.
Then all of a sudden, the doors of the infirmary slammed open and Mia jumped out of her seat. Already assuming who is at the door, a sigh of relief escaped her mouth.
"Thank the gods." She clutched the cloth of her coat above her chest, before turning to face who she thought to be Ezra. "I thought you were stuck in traffic or something-"
Mia had to swallow her words back down her throat upon witnessing that it wasn't Ezra. In fact, it was the complete opposite of her.
"Excited much?"
Jack arched an eyebrow in amusement, chuckling softly at his own joke. His hands were shoved down the pockets of his old jersey jacket as he walked relaxedly inside the infirmary. Mia was still frozen in shock to comprehend the fact that the only person she hated in Drakos was walking in her infirmary. His crystal-blue eyes wandered across the room, studying every object as if he hasn't seen it before.
After a few more seconds, she finally snapped out of her stupor and allowed the realization to sink in. Soon, her already bad mood turned even darker. She held back the urge to completely knock this guy to the ground and beat his handsome face into a pulp. Her clenched fist slowly loosened and she released all of her anger into one soft sigh.
Her eyes once closed, opened with a newfound calmness and order. A smile-a fake one, but a smile nonetheless, graced the nurse's lips and flashed him with a kind look.
"What are you doing here, Mr. Harth. It's past two in the morning. Shouldn't you be in your room?" She said in a cool tone, an obvious edge in her voice that Jack was able to pick up.
However, he was a bit distracted when she smiled at him. Unnaturally, he shifted awkwardly and smirked weakly. "Uh, did you forget? I was scheduled to have my weekly dose of meds today, right? For my arm?" He replied, tilting his head ambivalently.
Mia inwardly cursed herself for forgetting a very important time. All the nursing she did for Ezra was now contradicting with her work and it's kinda getting bad. However, she has no right to just up and leave. This was her choice and she's going to stick with it. Besides, she isn't the only medical agent in Drakos. She could ask a couple of others to take up her spot. But that would lessen her chances of being able to sneak back in the infirmary. Jack saw the nurse panic in her head and a new form of confidence swelled up in his heart.
"Nah, don't worry. I also forgot. That's why I was late." Jack waved his hand to dismiss it to impress her with his so called gentleman qualities.
The brunette's cold gaze met his arrogant ones, which completely erased the latter's. "I did not forget." Mia spat each word with rancor. "I'll make this quick so just sit by the bench." She quickly turned around to head towards the medicine cabinet as Jack sat down as instructed. Strapping a pair of rubber gloves and then opening the glass doors, she began searching for the right medicine when suddenly, Jack started speaking for no absolute reason.
"Hey, do you know that girl? From four months ago?" He asked out of nowhere. Mia had no idea why he wanted to start a conversation, but if it's going to help make him leave faster, then she'll be willing to sacrifice her voice. However, the question caused her stopped all of her movements and glance at the blond recruit, who was waiting patiently in the bench.
Already knowing who he was talking about, she decided to play dumb. "I have multiple patients a week, Mr. Harth. Please clarify your question." Mia replied coolly in a formal tone. The frosty edge of her voice would've sent shivers down anyone's spine. Jack either has selective hearing or outright stupid. The only thing he picked up on was how stiff and formal her words were.
The blond let out a hearty chuckle, throwing his head back exaggeratedly. "Come on. Drop that mister shit. Call me Jack."
The room's temperature dropped almost instantly and even Jack was ale to feel it. Goosebumps appeared on his arms. There's like a cold knife tracing down his back, waiting to strike. From what he's experiencing, he doesn't think that it's because of the actual cold.
Nurse Mia slowly and calmly shut the medicine cabinet, the bottle in hand and a syringe in the other. The needle felt like a weapon in her fingers. Her eyes traced along the the transparent plastic barrel and then transferred to the uncomfortable blond by the bench.
"I prefer to call my patients by their last name." Missing the cold tone in her voice once again, he opened his mouth to protest but Mia was quicker. She purposefully slammed the bottle on her desk harder than usual, earning her a flinch from Jack. "Thank you for understanding."
That prompted the blond to shut up but not without sending her a hateful glare, something that Mia didn't fail to notice. She then proceeded to prod the needle inside the bottle, sucking up a decent amount of golden brown liquid. Taking it out and flicking the syringe's barrel to check if the medicine was in the right amount, she walked over to Jack.
"Take off your jacket and shirt." She ordered.
After a raised eyebrow, he smirked and did his one final attempt to break her cold character. He took off his jersey jacket and slipped off his shirt rather smoothly, exposing his well-defined torso and rippling muscles. As a highschool star athlete, he participated in all kinds of sports; from volleyball to basketball to football and even tennis. He gained his athletic body during that time, but it wasn't until college where he really bulked up. Lifting 240 pounds of weight was child's play for him. So partner up his good looks and athletic body, he was able to score lots of girls who were willing to drop their panties for him. So he thought it would happen again in this organization, where there were tons of beautiful, athletic girls for him.
However, he was proven wrong. Mia, a simple nurse in Drakos' infirmary, didn't even blink an eye, let alone blush at his muscular bod. In fact, she even rolled her eyes and scoffed at him. Not even hesitating, she traced forefinger down his bicep, where he tried to flex it to impress her or at least earn him an embarrassed blush. But nothing happened. She finally found the vein she was looking for by merely following the thousands of anatomy projects. Plus, being muscular and veiny really helped her.
Without giving Jack a signal, she stabbed him in arm. It wasn't that painful, even if she intended to force the needle down harder. But the abrupt way she did it was what caused Jack to yelp in surprise.
Mia mistook this as a moment of humiliation from him and accidentally allowed a snort to escape her. Not liking the be the end of teasing or humiliation, Jack casted the nurse a sneer, all the while muttering, "Bitch..."
The nurse heard it but kept quiet, dismissing the insult as an act of child-like aggression from the former jock. Her temper was now more controllable and toned down after having her tiny revenge. She silently expelled the liquid into his veins and allowing the medicinal chemicals to repair any damage left in his arm. After pulling the syringe off, she carelessly slapped a Band-aid on top of the injected spot.
"Ow, what the fuck?!" Jack cursed out. The soreness immediately sinking in after that hard hit. His hand flew to his arm, rubbing it tenderly. "You're a shit nurse, you know that?"
"No, I didn't know that because I believe I'm capable of doing my job excellently." Mia replied sassily as she stripped her gloves off and tossing the to the bin. "Now that we're done her, please exit."
Jack refused to lose to a woman, no matter what it is about. He's always been the Alpha, the dominant, the apex predator. But in here, he was a mere recruit with lowest chance of scoring any girl in this organization. The women he tried to seduce so far, rejected him rather brutally. Plus, the guys who saw it jeered and made fun of him. Jack was appalled upon realizing that he was the outcast here, and he refused to believe that.
He stood up, smirking when he finally came up of a topic that would surely anger the nurse. He remembered the conversation he had with her four months ago. He was more certain that he will finally have the upper hand in this non-existing battle.
"Ah, now I remember. Her name is Ezra, right?" He said as he pretended to pick up his clothes to leave, but he was in fact, keeping a close on Mia's reaction. Just as he expected, the nurse froze in her steps and a shadow casted over her eyes.
A proud smirk curved up his lips at the satisfaction of irritating her. "Yeah, I haven't seen her around though. Is she living here or does she like just visit you?" He continued pamper her with everything he could come up to frustrate her.
Mia didn't reply but it was obvious that she wasn't happy. The obvious creak in her desk when she tried her best to hold herself down from lashing out. Her head was lowered and her face was hidden by her long brown hair, but underneath all that was Mia glaring darkly down her steel desk as if it the one who was talking.
"Could you ask her to come by sometime? Maybe I could her friend or something."
Screams of rage and fury bounced off the walls of her mind but she kept her mouth shut in order to stop them from getting out. Her knuckles cracked audibly from the intense grip she had on her desk. The steel table had already bent from her surprising strength but Jack was blind to see it.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll have my way with her if she's willing. She is oretty hot though."
Fuck it!
The first thing Jack felt was heat. Like a fire slowly burning stronger and hotter by the second. Something that would reach to the point of melting skin and muscles. Only he felt it at his back, specifically his head. Two burning hotspots began searing that part of his head but he felt no pain at all.
The next thing he felt was numbness. No, it wasn't mental nor emotional. His torso felt physically numb all of a sudden. The nerves running along his body silenced all at once and his neurons stopped transmitting its connection to that particular spot. His arms began fall limp as well. His shoulders felt like it's carrying two sets of dead weight. Then all of a sudden, his eyes began to blur. Black and yellow spots flashed across his vision. His nose started to flare and his taste buds experienced every taste receptor all at once. A constant ringing pierced his ear but all he could do was cringe and force his face into a grimace.
With his legs left the only body parts he had functioning, he used them to turn around. But he was met with fire. Burning, raging fire...
He first noticed her eyes shift. Her eyes flashed with indignance and anger, much like lightning on a pitch black night. He couldn't recognize her anymore. Swirls of raging lava boiled under her eyes, her face scrunched up into a disgusted sneer. Never in his entire life would he thought that he would be in the receiving end of a woman's disgust and hatred.
But when he noticed that her right arm was outstretched, he finally saw the cord-like tendrils snaking out of her sleeve. They were like thin, metal tentacles twirling around the air. A fine, narrow needle sat on the end of each tendril, so thin that it was nearly impossible to see. Each one began curving around him and aimed at a specific direction in his body.
A pale shade of white enveloped the blond's face in an incredibly fast rate. "Wh- what the fuck is all this?!" He exclaimed. He tried moving away but the numbness of his body failed to do him so. Instead, he fell back to the ground and his naked torso slammed against the porcelain floor.
Mia eyed the man carefully, not losing the disdainful look on her face. "First of all, Mr. Harth. Ezra is a minor so don't even think about it." She stated with a hiss, her teeth grazing each other as she talked. "From the day I met you, Mr. Harth, I always felt there was something off about you. I could already see from how you look and your attitude that you were a superstar athlete or something. In fact, I actually researched you for a little bit."
Mia took joy at seeing the horror crawl up Jack's face, who was petrified upon seeing the truth in her eyes. "Expelled from the NFL after they found out that you used chemical enhanced drugs to boost your strength during games. You wasted your money on girls and cars until you were left with merely a few thousand bucks in the bank." She announced as Jack's frown slowly contorted into a scowl. "Everything thing you have worked for disappeared because of your arrogance and incompetence. I have no idea why Drakos accepted you as a recruit. Maybe there's a chance that you might change."
All of a sudden, the tendrils clicked and lunged towards Jack, thrusting its fine needles inside his body. Although he couldn't feel it, the numbness started to flow through his body and this time, forcing his muscles to go limp. Two more tendrils coiled upwards and hovered above his face. He couldn't move his body. Not a small single cell obeyed to his command, let alone his arms. Not able to stop it, the tendrils struck and pierced Jack's cheeks.
The actual needle did nothing. But whatever flowed inside his body was what lit a surge of pain across his face. It's like there was a thousand tiny daggers stabbing through his cheeks and jaw. A phantom pain that he could not get rid of. Silence and muffled sounds bounced back his eardrum. All he could smell was his own body. His jaw fell limp and so did his vocal cords. His silent scream of agony was a sight to see. There was no way to express his pain other than release constant shaky, hoarse breaths. He felt like wearing a body-luike cocoon where there was no escape. Like he was trapped in his own body.
Finally deciding to end his suffering, Mia retracted her tendrils back to her sleeve, where a contraption strapped onto her wrist released a grinding sound as the tendrils snapped back to its original position. A gasp of relief and air immediately came out of Jack, his body now back to his control. His hands shook uncontrollably and his heart pumped faster than a cheetah. But other than that terrifying experience, he was unharmed.
Mia took a step forward. The sound of her shoe clicking against the floor alerted the blood and in a flash, he was on his hands and knees, scrambling away from her. However, the nurse continued her way towards him and once she was close enough, she leaned in and placed an icy, cold hand on his shoulder.
"Don't mess with me or Ezra again. Now run along."
It was a mere whisper. A soft vocal sound that almost seemed harmless and unalarming. But Jack took that as a warning. So he hopped to his feet and dashed towards the door faster than he ever did since his football days, carrying his clothes by his chest and pressing them against his bare chest out of fear. Once the door slammed close, Mia heaved out a euphoric sigh of relief.
"Gods, why can't I have just a single moment where nothing weird would happen?" She exclaimed loudly, running her hands in her hair in exasperation.
But as soon as she turned around to get back to her desk, her ears perked up. A slight tingle in her spine transmitted a piece of signal in her ear which then proceeded to grow louder and louder by the second. At first, she was baffled and a frown quickly came up her face. She cupped her ear and twirled around to try and find where that sound is coming from. She paced around the entire infirmary when she finally found it. She stopped and looked around to see if there was anything related to that sound. Her gaze wandered along the floor, the beds, the walls, and then finally, it landed on her window.
It took about a minute for Mia to finally understand. But when she did, all alarms in her head activated and all the blood drained from her face.
"Oh, fuck. Not again!" She released a string of curses before she rushed into action. She began pulling the other beds away to clear the area and taking down the bars and curtains. Next, she produced a large, soft mattress from the back room and dropped it on the floor. Squinting, she aligned the matress to the exact spot she think it'll happened. "I hope this works out."
It looked like she didn't need to wait long because the sound was now clearer than ever. Mia finally recognized it to be a scream, specifically a scream of excitement. She thought at first that it was Ezra who was screaming. Until she remembered that there's no way that she would scream out of excitement. No matter how much she liked flying, it doesn't come to her as the ultimate thrill ride. To her, it's like a jogger running and then screaming for the thrill.
Mia gazed out the window and saw the incoming comet of the Dragon. Her eyes widened upon seeing the wisps of flames around her. Quickly opening the window, she stepped out of the way as Ezra came in like a meteor and crash at exactly where the mattress was, flipping it over herself when she landed. Things and objects clattered around at the impact. Even the nurse flinched at the amount of force brought down to the infirmary. The landing was awful and hard but there was no harm during her descent. Mia closed the windows and locked before facing the young Dragon, who was enveloped by the matress and curled around her. Smoke hissed out of the mattress but the fire was already extinguished during the impact.
"Ezra. How many times do I have to tell you? Don't try to break the sound barrier or else you'll overheat." Mia said as she crossed her arms over her chest while the person in the mattress tried to shove the annoyingly, thick fabric case. "I don't care if you're a bit fire resistant. Your clothes aren't. So next you come in, use the fucking- oh, shit."
The gods seemed to be out for her because instead of Ezra coming out of the mattress, it was a petite, athletic woman dressed in a complete set of leather armor. It was Captain Camilla Boggs of Drakos. Apparently, Ezra's aunt and General Astrid Haddock's best friend. To summarize everything, she's in deep shit.
The blonde captain stepped off the mattress and placed her hand on her hips, sending the nurse a mock-glare. Although, Mia didn't know that.
"What were you talking about, Ms. Davis. Is there something about my niece that I should know?" Camilla purposefully made her tone hard and cold but inwardly, she was laughing her ass out.
Mia was caught off guard and became a spluttering mess. "I- uh, no! Wh- what? H- huh? No!" She stuttered out nonsense, chuckling nervously and awkwardly.
Then all of a sudden, a second voice joined in. One that was more familiar. "Hey, Aunt Cami. Don't give Mia a heart attack." Came Ezra's voice as she rose from the mattress, smoothing down her once messy chestnut-brown hair. Her scarf was clumsily wrapped around her neck, the end hanging down her chest like a strand of hair.
Mia's jaw dropped, her finger shakily raising and pointing at Ezra, then at Camilla. "H- huh? Wh- what is going on?" The nurse stared at the indecorously, absolutely dumbfounded at what was happening.
Ezra held back a laugh at her reaction. She cleared her throat and gestured her hand towards Camilla. "Aunt Cami would make sure that no one finds about it. In return, you report to her about my whereabouts. Got it?"
The poor, frightened nurse could only nod in response, the shock of the situation still not fading. But when it finally did, Mia's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body fell limp. Her body slowly fell backwards but Camilla was quick to move. She rushed towards her desk and rolled the swivel chair behind Mia as the nurse proceeded to land perfectly on the seat.
Camilla crossed her arms over her chest and studied the unconscious nurse. She never really took the time to acknowledge the nurse because she usually doesn't go the infirmary. But when she does, it's normally Gothi who treats her injuries. "She's easily scared isn't she?" She concluded.
"Oh, yeah. You should've seen Halloween last year. She counted fifty-six screams that time." Ezra remarked with a chuckle.
Camilla shared the laugh before putting her arms down to secure her khopesh strapped onto her waist. "I guess I should get going. It's pretty late and I think you should to. Zythid has been texting me about how difficult taking care of Noah is." She said.
"Mom's staying back here again, isn't she?"
Camilla glanced at Ezra, who was cleaning up the mess in the room with a smile. But the blonde knew better. That smile was obviously fake. Her cheeks were tense and her smile was unusually big, revealing her teeth in a very forced way. Behind that façade was just a lonely child in need of love.
Camilla knelt down beside the young Dragon and began folding the mattress along with her. "It's just that it's been pretty hard to work these days." She replied softly. "The crime rate is boldly growing and not even the image of Night Fury could slow it down. Plus, there are all these vigilantes like the Demon Killer, Silver, Quickfall."
This earned a snort from Ezra. "It's funny to hear these names all at once. I'm not even sure if the vigilantes themselves know their labels."
Chuckling, she grabbed the fallen tools off the ground and placed them back on the tray. "Yeah. There was even one that has multiple names. Many had different opinions about it but what caught on was Light."
Ezra frowned at that name for a second before standing up and folding the mattress. As she held the thick, pad of cloth, her mind drifted somewhere else. "What are the qualifications to be considered a vigilante?" She didn't know what prompted her to ask but she just wanted know.
"Things are different to us. Some like to think of it as people who put on a costume and save people. But for Drakos, we consider them very different. First is justice. Do they do it for their own benefit or justice alone? Or maybe alone?" Camilla replied as she picked Mia up in her arms effortlessly and laid her back down in one of the beds. "The second is their identity. If they hide it, then they're guilty about something. Which brings me to the third reason; kill count."
Ezra stopped fixing the straps on the mattress to glance at Camilla with a frown. "What do you mean?"
"Saving people is one thing. But when it comes to killing people, that's a different story." Camilla faced her with a solemn but firm expression. "I'm a killer, but I'm not a murderer. Us agents are licensed killers by the government—vigilantes are not. We have orders to whom we should take out. Vigilantes do what ever they want. Like the Demon Killer. More than five hundred were killed and thousands were severely injured. He has killed both innocent and the guilty. But we label him as a vigilante because we don't know any concrete information about them, therefore we can't judge them." She furrowed her eyebrows and hardened her gaze towards Ezra. "I know I called you a vigilante, but what are you really?"
Ezra froze at the question. The guilt immediately rose in her heart and pooled around it like a heavy bag of rocks. Her hands have been stained far longer than Camilla realizes. Before she was even a year old, Ezra had already drawn her first blood. It was an accident but it was a sure kill. Up until then, she had been forced to kill lots more. So when she does her nightly heroics, she never held back on her powers. Killing was normal for her and there was no trauma. She was raised to kill, but not enough to completely convert her into a ruthless killer. What she does now is considered vigilantism to Camilla, but is that good?
Camilla studied Ezra's frown and sighed. Something tells her that the young Dragon isn't capable of telling her the truth, even if she tried to. "You can give me answer next time." She waved her hand to dismiss it as she walked towards the doors to leave. But before she took a step out, she turned around and shot Ezra a comforting smile.
"Make the right choices, Ezra. Remember that. Don't let your emotions get over you. Shut your heart out in the field. Because once you stepped out of your comfort zone, there is no other choice but to go against your instincts. You have no other choice but to surrender yourself to your weapon... and let it control you."
"Ugh! Can't the General take it easy on us sometimes?" Phoenix complained, slamming his head against the table after a long day of training.
His twin brother laid followed his sibling and rubbed his face with hands, stretching his cheeks down. "I know right! I'm knackered every time we wake up in the morning."
Jack wrinkled his nose as he took a huge bite off the chicken burger he ordered from Popeye's. "I told you." He said with a mouth full of bread and chicken. "That bitch is taking advantage of us." He gulped it down and proceeded to inhale the rest of the meal.
The four recruits had just finished their training with Astrid and after experiencing another tiring and painful training class, they were forced to crash at the food court to refill their stomachs from all the throwing up they did a while ago. The food court was nearly full and exploding with chatter and laughter. It would seem quite hard to move around at first but in reality, Drakos operates as a single organism even outside of training and combat. If one person needs space, one would move and then the rest would follow. However, even if the food court was filled with noise, conversations could still occur and the tiniest words could be heard.
Slate perked up at Jack's remark and he agreed with his brother that it was tiring, but he knew that the general was just trying her best to toughen them up. It's not like she's purposefully talking them down like dirt or forcing them to do the training until they collapse. Although, he wondered if there is someone like that in Drakos. Someone who is worse than their superior now. Whoever that person is, if he or she even existed, he's thankful that he was never assigned under that person.
However, the second Cardinal wasn't as quiet. A frown plastered across Phoenix when he heard Jack's remark, just like his brother. But only he was much more braver to announce his opinion. "Oi, mate. Just because she kicked your arse and broke your arm doesn't give you the right to talk shit about her, you narky bastard."
Always being easy to anger, Jack rose from his seat and grabbed Phoenix by the collar, lifting him up from his chair for he is the more powerful one in this position. Luckily, he has his brother to back him up. Slate drew his blade faster than he thought he could and let it rest at Jack's neck. The blond's angry blue eyes shifted to the other Cardinal and then back at Phoenix. The owner of the Paragon smirked in amusement, regardless if the dangerous situation he is in.
"This is bloody brilliant! Now, we could solve the beef we had for the past months." He taunted as he dug the knife he was concealing under his sleeve all along at Jack's chest. "Let's have a standoff, shall we?"
These past few months had certainly improved the skills of the recruits in training. Astrid may be a harsh and strict teacher but she's a good one. Slowly but surely, they began to accomplish the tasks that they thought was impossible. Their weapons handling were far more precise and professional than their previous selves. But as much as their physical attributes improved like crazy, their attitudes never changed.
"Why should I? When I could just..." Jack grinned menacingly as he then proceeded to grab Slate's blade by hid chin and ripped it off of his hands and then lunged after Phoenix's wrist to twist the knife out of it. Successfully disarming the two, he threw the Hœnir's blade stuck in his chin and gripped the knife towards Slate, while his other hand yanked his bladed baseball bat from the strap on his back and swung it towards Phoenix's direction.
But the twins kept up with him and produced a couple more knives and placed them at Jack's body, hovering steadily above them but in a distance to quickly strike. The rest of the agents in the food court were far mote absorbed into their food rather than witness the fight. Plus, an argument is always happening and it soon became a normal occurrence. Somewhere in the building, the four former recruits of General Haddock are wrestling with each other.
However, there is one person who was sick and tired of her teammates always bickering and glaring at each other. Lyra's espresso eyes lifted from the book she's reading. Within the span of a second, both her arms extended out in the open as her fingers pulled back the hammer. A third pistol laid across the table but the three men knew that it wouldn't take long before it joined her hands.
Her eyes still not leaving the words she's reading over in the book, she propped her legs up to place it over them as support. "If you three don't shut up, I'll make sure you all will meet your ancestors in hell." Knowing they would comply, she nudged her knee forward to flip to next page.
As expected, the three sank back to their seats but not without holding a steely glare at each other. Lyra rolled her eyes at the trio and shoved her guns back to her waist holsters underneath her coat but left the third handgun on the table just in case. The months has certainly done Lyra good. Her fashion sense has also improved. From being a goth girl who listens to rock music to a leather-wearing badass who's quick with a trigger.
She dyed her hair once again, painting her locks dark blue with a shade of anthracite for her bangs. She knows sports a silver necklace around her neck, one that produced tiny spikes around the chain for defensive purposes. Almost never removing her gloves, she took her eyes off of her book for a second to take sip from her juice when she suddenly caught a familiar face.
Ezra was minding her own business, trying to find a seat where she won't have to hold a long conversation with anyone who she really likes to talk to. Not that she doesn't like catching up, it's just that she has another solo mission. It would fantastic if she could leave before dusk and return before her mother would return. She's slowly running out of excuses and it's painfully attacking her head, physically and emotionally. Then all of a sudden, she heard a voice through the noise in the food court.
"Hey, Ezra! Over here!"
Not knowing who to expect, she scanned over the crowded court and spotted a dark-haired woman waving her hand in the air with an awkward smile. Ezra didn't know whether to sigh exasperatedly or inwardly cheer. Because on one hand, her desire instantly faded. But then it also could be worse. It could be the Thorston twins who would probably drag her somewhere to test her powers. Last time she did, her late Uncle Scott fried his brains off because of their experiments.
With no other choice, she made her way towards the only person who she kinda connected with. To Ezra, Lyra is in between a friend and an acquaintance. Not too much knowledge on her to be called a friend but not so unfamiliar with each other to be call an acquaintance. But as she grew closer, she noticed that she wasn't alone.
The first thing she saw were clones. But when she shook her head and blinked multiple times, she instantly recognized them as identical twins-very identical. She almost mistook them as an experiment gone wrong but the more she leaned in, they were both separate but the same. Same features, clothes, body structure, and even style. But the only thing that differentiates them is their personalities. Twin one with the huge sword in the back was the confident one between the two while the other was the silent but deadly one. Ezra could pick up their personalities from their simple body movements.
Other than Lyra, she recognized one more person when she finally arrived on the table. His ridiculously shiny blond hair was styled too expensively, even for a guy like him. When he caught the sight of Ezra, his crystal-blue eyes widened.
"Oh." Was what Ezra said.
A grin formed in the blond's lips but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Ezra, right?" He asked, when he fully knew what her name was.
"Yeah." Ezra dumbly replied before taking a seat right beside Lyra. "And you're Harold, right?"
"It's Jack."
"Same thing."
She then set her tray down on the table and then popped open the plate filled with medium rare steak, steamed mashed potatoes, strings of bacon on top with a little dash of spice. Without hesitation, she began to devour the meal with little manners, surprising the bunch except Lyra, who already saw it once when they ate last time.
"That... is oddly natural and conventional." Phoenix quipped, blushing when Ezra shot him a questioning gaze.
Jack was even more astonished that a beauty like her wasn't even bothering to hide her hunger or display formal qualities like a normal girl would. It's almost as if she's unfiltered.
"So, Ezra. What's been going on with you for the past few weeks?" Lyra asked, trying to start up a conversation.
Usually, Ezra doesn't like opening up to strangers. But in a weird way, she always wanted to. Being closed off for a very long time could be tiring and stressful. Maybe she could change a few things up every once in a while. It couldn't hurt, could it?
"Nothing much. Tests has been on my ass for a while." She shrugged as she took a large gulp of Coke from her bottle.
"Tests? Are you perhaps in college?" Slate inquired.
Ezra shook her head in response. "Highschool. Doesn't it look obvious from my appearance?"
The three men blinked simultaneously. "Uhh, not quite." Slate rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "In fact, you look absolutely astonishing and mature for a young woman your age!"
Ezra stared at the man with an unseemly look. Her mouth was stuck in motion to bite on her steak when she received the strange compliment. "You Brits are very polite in everything, aren't you?" She suddenly remarked.
"Well, it's just our way of speaking. American's slang is also quite difficult but amusing for us." Phoenix explained with a small smile. "The word 'shit' has a lot of meanings if placed next to the right words."
"Tell me about it." Lyra rolled her eyes in agreement. "But what really interests me is how you two could talk about trash and still make it sound good."
Ezra grinned, already comfortable with the friendly atmosphere between them, even after only spending a few minutes with them. So much so, in fact that she gained the confidence to fully converse with people she doesn't know.
If only her past self could see her now.
The tension no longer existed between Ezra and the recruits. Instead, a warm atmosphere and a friendly vibe replaced it. For the first time, she actually felt that she had the opportunity to gain some friends. After all, she never really seemed the type to engage a conversation with others. It's not like she wanted people to have that impression on her. It's just that it's quite difficult to open up to people when she has no idea what their intentions are. She has been raised in captivity, trusting no one and relying on her abilities to survive. The habit of shutting herself off had return in her teenage years, probably due to the fact that she grew up and understood the world more clearly.
But now, words smoothly flowed out of her mouth faster than she realized. Soon, she had told the stories about her little brother, school, and even some of her soccer games. In return, the twins had shared their fair experience of football-as how they call it back in the Great Britain. The conversation felt lighter each minute that passed. So much so that Ezra forgot what she was supposed to do and when she did remember, she dismissed it as if it were a mere annoyance. Now, she has a real reason why she was late.
Jack watched the young Dragon enjoy her time with the rest of his team. He had no desire to form bonds with them because in the very end, once their training is completed, they'll go in their separate ways anyways. It's safe to say that Jack is not enjoying his time here in Drakos. Unlike most recruits, he expected the entire organization to flow differently. He certainly did not expect to be ordered around, feel belittled by the agents here, forced to do intensive training with a bunch of people he did not get along with. Back in the real world, as he likes to call it, he was praised to be a handsome, muscular player who could get anything he wanted. Here, people scorned him just because he told what he believes is the truth.
A proper punishment needs to brought down on these wannabes, is what Jack thought. A devious smirk played along his lips as a plan formed in his head. One that would teach them a lesson but won't get him in trouble—if he played his cards right. He made a move to stand up, which the rest did not notice because they were far too absorbed in the conversation, guffawing and chatting along with each other. However, one did notice.
As Jack left the table, she excused herself from the group as she brought her tray up with her to catch up with the blond. Shoving his hands in his pocket, the former football star was about to leave the food court but not without buying a couple of cigarettes from the nearest person, when she heard a feminine voice right behind him.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
He turned around with a scowl when he came face to face with the unimpressed expression of Lyra. He emitted a low growl with his throat, one that snarled and intents to scare away the woman before him. Again, Lyra shot him an arched eyebrow and crossed her arms over her leather-clad chest.
"What's wrong with you today? Actually, scratch that. What is wrong with you, every day?" Jack sneered at the dyed-haired woman, as he handed the seller a ten dollar bill for a solid black pack of cigarettes. "You look angry. Or... angrier.".
"I have no interest in sharing my personal problems." He replied coolly as he popped a red and black cigarette in his mouth. Flipping the pack upside down, he dragged the end of his cigarette on the flint-plated side of the pack, lighting it up with a small spark of a flame. "Besides, even if I did, it's not like we're friends." He took a long hit and then breathed out a cloud of claret red smoke from his mouth. It slowly formed into a series of shapes, flickering between stars and moons before fading away in the air.
Snorting, she quickly stole a random cigarette from Jack's pack, much to his protest. "Got that right. But you just admitted that you have problems." She studied the blue-striped cigarette between her fingers. "And it's weirding me out. You, of all people, is feeling troubled about something."
Taking another hit of the cherry-flavored cigarette, he pocketed the pack before Lyra could use it as he took the cigarette out of his mouth to blow out another cloud of red smoke, which proceeded to form into a solid shape of a knife. "I'm not. Stop bothering me." He seethed out as he whipped around to leave.
Lyra held the cigarette between her fingers as she began to follow the blond, passing a couple of the food stall on the way. The cooks were displaying the actual process of how their food was made, so every once in a while, a burst of flames would erupt from the front. Once one of the cooks lifted his pan to pour oil into it, Lyra stretched out her hand as the flames erupted from the stove, lighting the tip of her cigarette along with it.
Sensing someone behind him, Jack growled and craned his neck to the side, only to receive a full-blown billow of ultramarine bullet-shaped clouds of smoke across his face. His face reflexively contorted into a grimace, his hand waved the smoke away from his face. Once the smoke cleared, he glared at Lyra, who was watching him with amusement as she took another whiff from her blueberry-flavored cigarette but blew the smoke from the side of her mouth, much to Jack's relief.
"What's going on in your mind, Jack?" She inquired. "My first impression with you was that you were an arrogant asshole. But to my surprise, you were even a bigger asshole than I expected."
Jack grunted in response, obviously disliking the insults he just received. But before he could even think about leaving again, his nose took a whiff of gunpowder. All of a sudden, the sleek black barrel of Lyra's Glock appeared in front of his face.
"You're sexist towards women. You treat other people like cattle. You ruthlessly insult anyone who pisses you off. That thing in your pants has even less common sense than your real head." Lyra stated calmly, but anyone witnessing the scene could tell that she's anything but. "I've always wondered why people are like that. people. Arrogance is one of the reasons why the world needs Drakos. Yet someone like you is here. I don't have a clue why they would let someone like you in here. Call me a jerk but it's true. Jack Harth, former NFL quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, is on the road to cleanse the world from evil—a sentence I never thought would hear. Stop acting like a child. This ain't Hollywood."
And after one more blow of blue smoke rings, she turned around and left. The blond followed her form as it disappeared through the crowd. He twitched, his eyes gazing down to his hands that had instinctively curled up into fists. The veins popped out like road maps across his skin from the tightness of his hands. Dark thoughts clouded his mind, his heart slowly falling deeper into the black ocean of turpitude and degeneracy. The demons inside his soul had won a long time ago. But now, they were ready to take over. Like a wildire within his soul, it ate up every single bit of Jack's good consciousness. All that was left was a hollow shell of what he used to be, a dark embodiment of his sins and vile thoughts trapped in.
"You will all pay. Just you wait. The Harths will always be on top, no matter where they are or how we'll achieve it." Jack muttered darkly amongst himself, taking one last hit on his cigarette before flicking it to the nearest trash bin. Blood red smoke billowed out of his mouth, enveloping his face with his own. You could say it symbolizes an ominous warning before them. The smoke almost formed around his temple, creating curved horns that resembles the devil's. A fire lit up in his eyes, but it wasn't out of excitement. In fact, you could even describe it as... bloodlust.
"You made a mistake on letting me in."
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Next chapter, we'll go back to Nadia and then to Hayden, who you've been waiting for all this time.