A/N: This is a long chapter - and this chapter consists of mini-stories of the one month time skip. I hope you enjoy it. R&R.
Chapter cover: A white armband with the Roman initials of VI, lay forgotten on the concrete ground with a spotlight shining on it.
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12.1 Milk?
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Location: Unknown, 10 000 feet above ground
Date: 11/9/ X643
"Eleventh huh…" Lea muttered to herself, the wind whipped her hair and face as she stood on the deck of Lumiere. She is a good airship – Lea admitted it silently to herself.
Lea has a blue scarf wrapped around her neck, personally supplied by Phantom and the clothes she wore were a blue cardigan, underneath it was a red T-shirt while the bottom half of her body was a loose jeans, held up with a belt – tailored especially for her by Phantom's maids.
And her feet are bare; she preferred to feel the cool surface of the wood on the deck and had left her shoes and socks beside the only entrance and exit to the deck of the airship.
Travels are common to Lea Stellar, especially when she has a mission with her squad. Fortunately or unfortunately, these days, there are no missions, which worried the squad leader.
A thought came to her mind – and she frowned – the 11th day reminded her of a tarot card – Justice.
Is Justice fair? Lea didn't know – because every judgment has its own sacrifice. Time…money…sometimes even the living.
All for the sake of digging up buried truths and breaking through deceits.
Lea patted her bandaged left arm. It was sore, but the nerves aren't frayed to the point she couldn't move them. The aftereffects of using her blood's ability…if it weren't for Phantom, she would be a wasting patient, lying on the bed, continuous bleeding and recovery...until her body went cold and rigid.
"Couldn't sleep?" A voice said, it sounded tired and old, but sharp. At the corner of her eye, she spotted the old butler and nodded in acknowledgement. There were dark circles around his eyes; even the monocle on his right eye couldn't hide it.
Like all servants, he wore smartly, except on his left breast was pinned with a badge – shaped like the raven mask of Phantom's fancy hat, which the butler wore with pride. At first glance, Lea thought the butler wore the exact same gloves as Phantom, but when she looked closely, the gloves are actually plain – pure white.
The butler was old, his white hair, and eyebrows, and his moustache – although faint, there was a little brown – and his wrinkled face told Lea.
"My apologies, my name is Gaston," the butler introduced himself, bowing in courtesy. His body is lean.
Lea hesitated for a moment before returning the bow.
"Thank you for taking care of me," Lea didn't raise her head yet and Gaston chuckled lightly.
"It shouldn't be me who you should thank, but our herbalist – Marguerite. She had a hard time because she refused to sleep; it is because of her dedication to help you made her like that."
Lea knew the butler didn't mean to accuse her, but her heart stung. "I apologize."
"Lift your head, child – we choose to obey our master." Gaston said kindly. Lea lifted her head and couldn't help, but reply cheekily, "Is your master a child too?"
The moustache twitched as the devoted butler gave her a small smile. "Yes.".
The butler stood beside her, loosening his dark blue scarf before he looked at the puffy clouds, and then at the crescent moon.
"It's a beautiful night." Said Gaston. Lea blinked at the old butler unsure what to say.
"It will be a pity if we sleep through this beautiful night."
Lea grunted in agreement, and did not say anything except gripping the cool railings tightly as the ship began to pick up speed.
Silence came, and lasted for minutes.
"I will head to bed now. Good night, Lea." The butler said before turning away from the child, who was still perplexed and figuring out Gaston's hidden intentions. She knew it wasn't a romantic gesture, but was he trying to be friends with her?
Was it under Phantom's orders or his will?
XXX
Once she felt she has enough fresh air, she entered the inside of the airship.
Lea spent most of the night exploring the airship, and familiarized the layouts herself. It took her two hours to remember each and every room, including the five suspicious guest rooms which include hers. Each of the guest rooms has the same furniture, and layout.
And they were at least one corridor apart.
The young girl entered a training room, inside were the monsters, slimes – sleeping.
She shut the door quietly, and bumped into one of the maids on night shift – unlike Gaston, their eyes were sharp and alert. Their eyes sent shivers down to Lea's spine. It reminded her of several watchdogs back at the main house of her family.
Unlike the maids, the watchdogs in the main house have dangerous weapons, to hack or shoot down the intruders – she had a taste of their abilities and was almost killed if it weren't for her previous squad leader to save her.
Lea stepped aside to allow the maid to pass through, but the maid stood there, head tilted to one side, the soft glow of the lamplight in her hands illuminated her face in a scary way.
They were both waiting for each other to pass, carefully observing each other, and breathing – structure of face, even the small habits like fidgeting.
Finally the maid broke the silence, the black curls of her hair stood out from her apron. "How may I help you?"
If Lea said nothing, it would be rude. "I was wondering if you could guide me around," In her mind, she added, 'Although I already memorized the place…'
The maid finally smiled, it was a soft one. "Certainly, madam." She turned back, holding the lamplight front first and walked without looking back. Lea had to jog to keep up.
It has been a long time since she was called madam.
For a reason, the maid led her to the kitchen – and Lea didn't mind.
"Hot milk?"
Lea nodded and the maid went and opened a fridge, taking out a carton of milk and took one of the hanging pots. "Sit, at the dining room."
Lea obeyed. Well, milk is good for growing…
And for insomnia too.
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12.2 The Petty Thief
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Three days later, Lea had an unpleasant surprise.
Lea was swinging a wooden sword, with both hands in a training room, with beads of sweat forming on her forehead when the call arrived. Phantom was sitting in the corner, watching her, as her muscle recalled the years of training.
"LEA!" and the girl turned around in time to get knocked down by a farmer boy, also known as a hardworking and gullible Dragon Master. His arms were around her waist and Lea tried her very best not to cringe from the contact, and patted his back once.
Lea glanced at Phantom who was definitely laughing – laughing at her face. She used her thumb and gestured at Phantom to prepare for death.
"Hey, Evan. If you don't mind, please let go of me."
Evan released her immediately and grinned. "So you met Phantom already?! Oops, that's a stupid question – sorry." He scratched the back of his neck.
Freaking innocent, damn innocent of Evan.
Lea averted her eyes away from Evan and approached Phantom who was doing some complicated maneuvers with his cane. Phantom grinned and swung his cane at Lea's direction.
"Evan, Lea will be helping you in your studies too!"
Lea glared at the thief. Phantom has an innocent expression, and the glint in his eyes – she should see this coming. Lea sighed and scratched the floor with the tip of her sneakers before she lunged at Evan.
Unprepared, Evan was palmed to his stomach and was pushed back. The dragon is huge, but small enough to enter Lumiere and one of its larger training rooms.
Phantom whistled, and continued his personal training.
"Prepare yourself, Evan."
Evan could only nod while his dragon growled, its horns glowed as the mana swirled inside the medium.
XXX
"Show me what you got –" Lea jerked her thumb to the dummy targets. The dragon's name is Mir – from what she heard from Phantom. When she thought the dragon isn't looking, she glanced at its onyx scales – it is beautiful, and yet, deadly.
Unfortunately, the dragon will ultimately will be the last of its kind – that is the future she foresaw in the Temple of Time.
Unless…
WHAM! WHAM!
There were two holes on the dummy, until the wall behind it was blacken. Phantom looked furious at the corner of her eye.
Lea clapped her hands and replaced the dummy. Evan used another magic – this time ice, and the dummy was encased in ice. They repeated the process for two hours – each with a different combination of buffs and magic.
Evan did every magic he could do with Mir and Lea felt proud. She always knew Evan has the magical potential, but never have the chance to use it – until he found Mir's egg.
It's strange to her, to think she instinctively knew about it. It's as if she has a past memory…
She shook the thought out of head – now's not the time. She felt the arms of her hair stand and her magical senses tingling.
Lea smoothly rolled over to the other side, narrowly avoiding the hazard and she dusted herself when she got up. Evan's jaw dropped and Lea used her right eye's ability to read the mana.
The source is…
Lea's head snapped to Phantom's direction, its red ruby was glowing, stored with mana.
"I thought you would go insane if you use your right eye…" said Phantom, looking thoughtful.
Was that payback?! How petty of Phantom!
Lea snarled like a wild animal. "That's only if I use my blood, and it's my last resort – so screw off."
The thief and the young girl never spoke about the matter after that.
On the same day, Lea sensed a second heartbeat inside her; it was beating the same time as hers. Except the heart…never exist physically – another source of mana is established.
The connection between the Black Mage and her is becoming more concentrated – Lea's expression turned grim.
And the nightmares became worse.
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12.3 I told you so!
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Date: 15/9/ X643
Lea was having one of those fitful nightmares when her almost out of battery phone rang.
"Let's drive them crazy, we'll overrun the point of no return, I know-"
Her eyes snapped open and she got up quickly, her legs tangling with the blankets as she did so and fell to the carpeted mat ungracefully.
She couldn't care less about her appearance and with a goal in her mind – get to her duffle bag. She crawled towards her duffle bag like a baby – and if she was conscious enough, she would have the sense to stand up and walk properly.
Still feeling dizzy, Lea dug her duffle bag and managed to have a grip onto the small metal object and flipped the phone open.
She pulled the phone out of the duffel bag, still ringing and vibrating in her hands. She swore once – something her late father would be proud of – before pressing the call button and placed it on her ear, now slightly alert, but with a mild headache.
"Hello?" said Lea professionally, erasing the sleep from her voice. She will kill whoever's on the other end of the line.
"Thank the Transcendents you're fine! Where the bloody hell are you?" came her older brother's voice – a worrywart. Lea chuckled and her killing intent was lessened, by a small margin.
"You wouldn't believe this."
"Oh?" There was a tone of disbelief in his voice, "Try me."
Lea raised an eyebrow, rearranging her blanket so it draped around her. "Lumiere, Phantom's airship."
There was a sound of spewing on the other end and a shout of outrage.
"Told you so." Lea muttered, and ended the call. She made a mental note to train her older brother to keep an open mind and throw away preconceptions.
"Stupid Jake. What a peaceful life I have." She added sarcastically. "It's already my fifth day in the air, awake. And I can't go back to sleep. Damn you Jake."
The airship was shaking, and it is noisy as the rain hit the airships like bullets.
Any amount of rain is enough to bother the child.
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12.4 Justice and Star
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Date: 17/9/ X643
Time: 06:09:13
Phantom and Lea were sparing for a good long thirty minutes when Gaston interrupted their dance. He bowed at them with practice and patience integrated in it and they returned the favour, except Phantom's was a small nod.
"It's just as you guessed Lea," Gaston began before handing the piece of paper he received from the intelligence deck. Lea took it and scanned the words, she flipped it around and stared at the blueprint, and placed her finger on a place which looked suspiciously where most of the energy – the minerals of Edelstein mine went to.
Even she never went that far, his hackers are crazy.
She should never, ever get on Collete's or Christiane's bad side – oh, and the maids too.
One should never mess a maid unless he or she is willing to pay a nasty price.
Phantom ruffled her hair and Lea grimaced – she can sense Phantom's intent for revenge.
Gaston gave her a sidelong glance, he was expecting her to stop him, instead, Lea just turned around, using her right leg as the pivot and muttered, "If you get into trouble, don't look for me."
Phantom smiled. "I won't."
Lea pretended she didn't hear that.
XXX
Approximately three hours after Phantom left Lumiere, Lea felt a pounding on the back of the head coming as Gaston repeated his request for the umpteenth time.
The fact Gaston lost contact with his master suddenly sent him into a panic mood – and it's not a territory Lea is unfamiliar with.
"I beg you, please, save Phantom from walking on the path of revenge." Gaston pleaded again, his head almost touching to the ground as he bowed deeply in front of Lea, who was about to infuse the wooden sword with her mana for her daily routine, but the plead is distracting.
Lea gave him a cold look. "I can't stop him, but if he is aware of the thorny, and bloody path he is walking – and refuses to step aside, I don't have the rights to ask him to jump aside or walk backwards – can I?"
"Besides, call Evan – he can help." She suggested as the image of the farmer boy came to her mind. She was confident enough Evan can handle the case.
Gaston shook his head. "You know as well as I do, we cannot." Lea sighed and leaned against her wooden sword. She missed her weapons, Etsu and Mraku. They may be heavier than the wooden sword she carried now, but their familiar weight is reassuring.
She understands their concerns – if she looked at it realistically, Evan is not ready for stealth missions.
"Fine. I did say only to Phantom not to ask for my help. Also – don't expect my help for free."
Gaston raised his head and his moustache twitched as he smiled. "Good business as usual."
"Let's hope it doesn't go under." Lea replied rather dryly. Gaston could only nod seriously.
XXX
Location: The royal garden, Ereve
Time: 20:05:04
Lea pulled on fingerless gloves and gripped her only dagger, still unsheathed – as she ducked underneath one of the glided pillars of Ereve. She sensed she was close to the Empress of the Maple World, but something is missing.
There were no guards – nobody to stop her, which worried the veteran child. Lea closed her eyes and used her enhanced her senses, especially hearing with her mana using reinforcement.
There were voices, it sounded close. There were two breathings – one seems completely normal and excited while the other is nervous, and afraid. Lea sneaked closer to the breathing, now able to hear their conversation, which was one-sided.
"Thank you for taking Evan under your wing, although it was through a letter. Neinheart was angry about it though, because we never really met face-to-face other than the…incident few months back."
Lea used the chance to approach closer until they are at her sight. Her heart was pumping blood furiously, so hard and so loud that she thought it would burst right out from her chest. Her grip on the hilt was slippery with sweat.
"I will call for some tea so stay right here, I will be back." Said the Empress cheerily and Lea heard some noises, suspiciously sounded like some straw sandals against cement. Without a doubt, that was the Empress's movements.
Lea peeked above the bushes and let out a soft sigh of relief. The Empress is fine now – clear of all worries and stress.
The Empress Cygnus wore her usual simple, royal dress, not much jewelry except for her necklace and the hair pin and she was smiling happily – eager to meet the famous Phantom thief.
In contrast to the Empress's aura, the veteran felt a scary vibe from him – it was sickening, murderous and angry. Lea facepalmed so hard that it echoed and alerted the Empress who turned around, with a puzzled expression.
On reflex, Lea ducked when she shouldn't.
That idiot!
All the more reasons to help the stupid thief – she better have a good pay for doing this job.
"Is somebody there?" The Empress called out.
Lea's blood froze – or felt like it. She swore she heard her alter ego laughed at her mistake, even slapping its own knee for a good measure.
The veteran directed the reinforcement to the unsheathed dagger and steadied her breathing, synchronizing with Phantom's pale ones. She was careful not to move any inch of her body, even when the Empress's eyes settled on the bushes where she was hiding.
Her job is simple, knock the senses into the stupid thief and run before she gets caught by anyone – and preferably not Neinheart and the Cygnus Knights.
A breeze came and whispered in her ears. 'Not yet, not yet…' said the voices.
Lea gritted her teeth; she has to obey the spirits of nature.
As if a switch has been flipped, Phantom charged, swinging his cane in a deadly arc as a pseudo sword point was formed at the tip of his cane.
'NOW!' The two voices of the spirits of nature and the wrym mingled with each other.
Lea somersaulted out of the bushes and in midair, unsheathed her dagger and clashed against Phantom's cane. Sparks flew as their weapons grated each other. Lea was using almost all her force, but Phantom's strength pushed her back. It was expected she would be pushed back, but unexpected that Phantom would be ruthless in his attacks.
The veteran and the thief deflected attacks, or dodged them, mana or no mana. However, Lea deflected them as she has to protect the Empress from further harm. If Phantom was any stronger, she would've resorted to her Imaginary Elements.
For her, it was time and chaos.
Lea slashed the air and Phantom aimed for her shoulder, but she rolled out of the way and quickly used her new surroundings to her advantage such as softening the earth enough underneath Phantom's feet to turn into quicksand. However, Phantom jumped away and threw one of the throwing stars using a thief skill he stole. The four shurikens glowed orange from Phantom's mana. Lea swiped them away, causing her right hand to bleed profusely as they dissipated.
Lea said nothing, but grunted or winced as the flesh knitted itself back together. She risked a backward glance. The Empress was supposed to run, but she hasn't – even if Lea bought her ample time.
Instead, she was far from behind her, now hiding among the shadows of the tall trees in Ereve, and watching their dance.
If only her Bishop brother is here now, it would help.
Lea created a triple point barrier when they were fighting using her feet. It wasn't easy because she has to use her remaining mana jewels, hidden underneath her sleeves of her T-shirt.
The barrier is only temporary though, the moment the possessed Phantom realized the hidden points of it, and it would be broken through.
But for now it served its purpose, Phantom used his cards as an explosive, and it met the barrier head one. There was a confused expression on Phantom's face, finally a switch from his stoic ones. It was strange though, Phantom normally has a smile on his face – even if he was perspiring like crazy.
And the veteran herself did not know she was smiling throughout the battle.
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The Empress Cygnus was confused, why would the Phantom thief attack her?
Her question was answered by the voices of her predecessors, 'There is something evil inside him, we can purge it, but the spirit is on guard against us.'
'Who is she?'
This time, a stronger, voice answered. If Cygnus were to describe the voice, it was gentle, but has an authority tone behind it. 'Our ally. Your ally, Cygnus. You should worry for her more than yourself – child. She has been walking for so long, fighting for our survival sakes and fulfilling her oath she made with me.'
'Oath?' asked Cygnus, watching the beautiful dance between the two fighters. The girl has a smile on her face even when fighting. Even with a slightly bloodied dagger – whose she couldn't tell – the girl fought as if she was born for this moment.
The One-Eyed Owl…could it be?
'She is the person who crowned me Empress, her names were lost in time, even the Dimensional Library does not have it anymore, and her name in this life too, will be lost or should I say…erase from the history.'
'Why? And how do you all this?!' Cygnus asked, half-screaming in her mind.
'I am Empress Ereve – the first Empress of the Maple World. She can't hear us…no…she can hear us earlier, but the sounds of battle are ruining our connection between us.'
'She can hear you?' Cygnus's jaw opened at the sight of the girl's flesh knitting itself together.
Suddenly, there was a sound of glass being shattered; it was the first time Cygnus hears a barrier shatter. Then, a scream as if the soul was struck down. It was the girl's scream, it sounded as if she was in pain, but she endured it and relentlessly fought back.
'She is my knight, and of course, at the same time, my old friend…' Memories of the past flashed before the current Empress's eyes. She felt as if a three ton truck had struck her head and Cygnus was on her knees, a hand on her head.
An image came to her mind.
A flowing purple cape, snow white haired, but instead of a ponytail, it was let down and it settled on her shoulder blade. There was something strange about her posture, until Cygnus realized it was a flying companion on her right shoulder. The sunset made the white hair burned red – it was a beautiful memory.
Then, it was gone.
Cygnus blinked, trying to get her bearings right, and she noticed there was no sounds of battle. Instead, the girl was comforting Phantom with low voices.
"I'm fine now…" said Phantom weakly. He was looking past the girl, behind her was Aria.
Empress Aria.
They looked almost the same except her hair was straight instead of wavy.
'I knew Aria's feelings for Phantom would come through…' said one of the spirits of the Empresses.
The girl chuckled and followed his gaze, a gasp escaped from her lips.
The spirit of Aria smiled at them and Phantom approached her with teary eyes.
"Thank you…child of twilight." Said Aria. Even when she opened her mouth, there was some echo in it. It was as if reminding the living she is dead, a point of no return.
The child of twilight scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed. Come to think of it, the girl had not uttered a word since her appearance. Cygnus came out from the hiding, and the child of twilight turned around and their eyes met.
Obsidian black against the pale blue.
"One...eyed owl?" Cygnus asked half-shouting, holding up her robes so she could run towards the Owl. The child of twilight could only stare at her and wait for her as she caught her breath from running.
"Yes." There was kindness underneath that monotone voice, even her eyes were glinting. "Let's give Phantom some space, shall we?"
The Empress could only nod as they distanced themselves respectfully from Phantom thief who looked sadly at his beloved. Once they were off the path, Lea wiped the blood on the grass – which was stained red. She looked pained and exhausted, pain from what?
The silence was heavy and Cygnus looked at her tired companion. The girl didn't look older than fifteen, and yet she fought well against Phantom. Even the new recruits wouldn't last a second against the Hero.
"Why did you scream?" asked Cygnus after a long silence. The girl looked up and shrugged. The Empress's eyes went to the girl's left, heavily bandaged arm. But earlier in battle, it could move everywhere – what is she hiding underneath?
The girl didn't answer immediately as she retied her loose bandage with her teeth and her right hand.
"Have you been taught the principle of magic? Every reaction has an opposite and equal reaction. You really should ask your Knights…Empress." Said her companion tiredly, looking lazily at Cygnus.
The Empress raised her hand. "Please, call me Cygnus." The child of twilight's eyes widened for a fraction, then a nod.
"Ah, what should I call you? 'Child of Twilight' is a bit long isn't it?" Cygnus clapped once as she said it.
"As long as you promise not to chase me down." Her new friend trailed off, looking at the clear blue sky, no fluffy clouds at all.
To the girls, it was a good sign, promises, absolutions…and new beginnings.
Cygnus held out her pinky finger. "I promise."
Her companion leaned in and whispered her name in her ear.
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12.5 Imaginary Lessons
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Date: 19/9/ X643
"Lea, why do some people can use Imaginary Elements?" asked Evan one day when they were both on their lunch break. Mir was chewing through the bones and meat of the turkey, crunching the bone. Once done, it swiped another one.
The girl in question and the Phantom thief exchanged looks. They changed their clothes because it was too sticky from their earlier sparing.
Lea opted for a black singlet and a track bottoms which has a single red strip at its sides while Phantom, surprisingly chose a plain T-shirt and brown slacks, still with his fancy ass gloves and hat.
They were sitting on their own chairs in the training room, eating their lunch, except for Mir as it was too tiresome to move their aching bodies to the dining room. There was a food cart nearby, personally delivered by Gaston.
"I tried." Said the purple eyes. Phantom cut a portion of the delicate roasted pork with his knife and fork.
"What a lousy teacher you are." Replied the obsidians and Lea snapped her fingers.
"Evan, you are already using one actually." She said just in time for Evan to spew his coffee all over the white tablecloth when he heard that. Phantom merely raised his eyebrows at Lea's statement.
They both waited for Evan to recover himself. Phantom was still chewing the meat while Lea stirred her mushroom soup – it's so good.
"Compliments to the chef." Lea muttered and Phantom nodded.
Evan asked once he was finished cleaning. "What kind?"
"All magicians – especially those under Grendal, must have learned to use the space to their will – although yours is self-taught." Lea said, before dunking a garlic bread into it. "But it's so common these days; it is sometimes debunked as not an imaginary element. Some people are stupid – it is still an imaginary element, whether they liked it or not. It is not easy to set up a portal, to anywhere – even with the current technology we have."
Lea licked her fingers clean from the mushroom soup and bread crumbs. "Phantom, you owe me. And I thought you said Koli will be here today."
Phantom pouted. "He hates Lumiere." And the thief did a dramatic sniff. Lea facepalmed while Evan watched the interesting twist of events.
"Everybody hates her. She's too fine, a good vessel. Plus, we already exchanged information – I don't see any reason why I should stick around."
"I can hire you." Phantom said. It was clear he was not going to let her go.
"Like you did with Koli the mercenary? I have other duties to attend to other than teaching Evan, and accompanying you and the…people in Lumiere."
"Fine, let's have a deal shall we? Weekends off, the pay depends on how well you do your job."
Lea sneered at Phantom. "Starting price?"
"1 million mesos."
Evan's eyes were bulging out of their sockets at the casual offer. Even Mir stopped eating and tilted its head.
Lea shook her head. "Cheapskate. Add another half. Oh, and add some bonus too!"
"Bonus?" Phantom asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion. He has the nerve to keep smiling.
"I get my free days off whenever I want – anytime, anyplace. Of course, if you can become our sponsor for my squad, let us do whatever shit we like. We won't be at your beck and call though."
"Squad?" said Evan in disbelief. "Did you mean the school?"
"Not the school! My personal squad, the sixth squad of the Stellar clan – pretty nice, eh?"
"SO COOL!" Evan was positively beaming. Lea made a gun gesture at Evan.
"You're the leader?!" Phantom looked calm when he said that. "How can that be missed by my Intelligence Deck?"
"'cause I am the unofficial leader – every squad has its own leader, but it changes every time. For example, if one of the squad members of the sixth squad – accepted a mission and called for our help, he or she will be the leader of the mission. And we don't use technology for that."
Phantom considered the offer. "Nice. I will be your squad's sponsor then. I'm filthy rich after all."
"We will make sure to use every penny of your stash."
Phantom grinned at the challenge. "You won't even use half of it."
"1.5?"
"1.5 million mesos with weekends off and you can have your free days anytime, anywhere – except when we are engaging with our enemies." Phantom offered an ungloved hand to Lea. Lea took it and shook it.
Lea turned to the Dragon Master and grinned evilly at him. "Review today's negotiation with a paragraph."
Evan let out a silent scream and Phantom gave her a knowing smirk. "I thought you would do that."
Lea gave him an innocent look. "That way, Evan will never forget he's the witness!" Deadpanned Lea.
"Evil." Phantom shook his head. "How sly you are."
"Thank you."
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Meanwhile, Koli was waiting outside his makeshift shelter with a scowl on his face. It is their rendezvous point – for today.
Unfortunately, Phantom had forgotten to pick him up until the next day which earned the thief a nice punch to the face once they were onboard.
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12.6 Illusions of Choices, Second move, Black Knight
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Date: 30/9/ X643
Lea charged her flip-phone. It was dead for five days straight as she barely had time to get on land and rushed into one of the electrical shops and paid for it.
She sent a quick text to her squad mates – their meeting point? Kerning City.
"I'm going off." Lea announced to the butler, Gaston and Phantom. They were just above Victoria Island, as per her request. Phantom raised an eyebrow at Lea's clothes.
"Are you sure you want to go like that?"
Lea looked down. She was just wearing a zipped up tiger-striped jacket and jeans – just a casual outfit.
"Do you have a problem with it or something?"
"It's just so…plain." Phantom muttered bluntly and his butler elbowed him for being rude. She mouthed the butler her thanks and distanced herself from them as Phantom prepared his forced teleportation.
She made sure to leave her phone behind as it was useless and Phantom sent her down with a card of his. And the black and purple mana enveloped her, and took her down, with thousands of cards blocking her vision.
She closed her eyes during the journey down and Phantom directed his teleportation magic to one of the taller cranes of Kerning City so she could look down at the lives of Kerning City. Almost instantly, two or three assassins under the eighth Dark Lord, Jin.
"Who are you?" One of them asked, her voice muffled by the face mask.
Lea sighed and scratched her cheek. "A friend – I won't fight you, and I admit, I have a flashy job of showing up. If it worries you so much, take me to him then."
The assassins had a silent conversation with their eyes, and with much consideration, they decided not to and wished her well before leaving her alone. Partly because they knew a real enemy wouldn't suggest meeting with the Thief Job Instructor of Victoria Island.
…
…
The Bishop arrived a few minutes earlier than the Rook. He entered the city without much trouble, and rearranged his red beanie he bought beforehand to blend in with the people.
Thank god he doesn't have to do his research today – or else he wouldn't make it for the sudden meeting.
Several people gasped when they saw a tornado of cards spiraled downwards, glowing orange and it disappeared along with as it has done its job. From here, he could see a lone figure, standing tall, but quickly surrounded by three people.
The loner meant no harm and the three people jumped off to the buildings and relayed the news. At the same time, the loner merely stood there, looking over the city and the morning sun which was beginning to rise.
Jake sensed another two different spots where teleportation magic was used. One west of the loner, another just the east of him. For a high-class mage as him, it was easy to pick out the mana source and followed the trail he wanted to trail.
As soon as he moved, he spotted the two familiar faces and smiled at them. "Yo, Crow and Kuan." The two aforementioned names turned around and smiled when they recognized the bishop.
Crow is his little brother, only thirteen years old, but already recruited by the Silent Crusade. He had a long red scarf, which was wrapped around his neck. Like his name, even the colour of his clothes were black, except for his the red crow insignia on his gloves.
Even though they are siblings, Crow inherited red-flame hair colour – a demon heritance from their mother while Lea and Jake have their mother's human hair colour, which is jet-black though Jake has a little brown highlights from their father.
Crow's hair was short, and spikier than Jake's. He gave the older brother a knowing smirk.
Crow has almond-shaped ink-black eyes, harsh and cold due to them forcing to mature fast. Unlike Lea's, there was no light in them – no hope. Which made Jake think twice about who is the one was tortured before. Since his little brother has more demon blood in his veins, his skin is twice paler than Jake's – which is something.
Even now, he stood out among the crowd, gaining whispers and stares from normal humans.
His partner, Kuan Stellar, is an albino girl. Her skin paleness was on par with Crow's, but her hair was whiter than their skins combined – with two twin bows hanging by her side – and like all albinos, she has crimson red eyes which sparkled with amusement.
Even though she looked like an eight year old child, her actual age is twenty. It may sound stupid, but no eight years old has old eyes like hers, and with wisdom that comes with age – questionable wisdom, Jake added mentally.
Her clothes consisted of frilly dresses, a wonder to Jake on how they don't tangle with anything when she fights. Unlike her previous dress, it was lacy, but not too revealing to be inappropriate.
If Jake was honest to himself, it looked as if she was ready to party – especially with the mascara on.
"Piggyback ride!" Kuan spread her arms, giving Jake a puppy look. Her voice was like a young child too with a hint of crafty intelligence underlying.
Crap – he's the target for today. But who could resist those eyes?
"Sure!" Jake agreed cheerily and scooped her into his arms, and Kuan giggled and poked his nose.
"Great, you're all here!" A familiar voice called out and the trio stared at their incognito leader who as usual, has a stoic mask on. It was frustrating to Jake – she used to show so much emotion, and now, it's as if Lea was a statue, a moving statue. Behind her was the golden boy.
Due to him looking androgynous – if Jake didn't know him well enough, he would have mistaken him as a girl with those soft cheeks, even if his hair was as short as Crow's.
He looked grumpy, and his hair was naturally bed hair – and blonde. His clothes were all rumpled, even if they looked clean. Even his beanie was turned inside out – was he that tired to make a silly mistake?
The golden boy blinked his baby blue eyes lazily at them – like a lion.
Everybody in the group except for Kuan and Crow wore casual clothes, as to not stand out among the crowd.
Crow gave her a curt nod tapping the sheath of his sword while Kuan giggled and jumped down from Jake's arms, the high heels hit the ground with a loud thud. "Smile."
Lea forced one and was wiped off just as quickly as it came.
XXX
They sat together in a private room in a seafood restaurant. Who could blame them for being hungry?
The restaurant has the reputation of delicious food, even if the insides weren't too bright. There was a curtain to tug, so they will have privacy, but for now, their incognito leader chose to leave it open, allowing her to peek outside the dusty window as they waited for their food.
Neither of them spoke about the missions, but how was their everyday life.
Kuan complained about Neinheart – too much for Jake's eardrums while Crow was busy contemplating about something. Lea, on the other hand, spoke about the Dragon Master's training and her interactions with the two boys, one whom she is living under the same…airship.
The golden boy sat there, listening to them like Jake, who was only observing Lea, who looked as if she was on another plane of existence.
Then, the food came and they ate – still talking, ignoring table manners at its finest.
Upon locking the door – they made sure there was a click – and tugging the curtains close, trapping them in the darkness which was temporary as Jake summoned a ball of golden light which danced around the room, illuminating part of the room – especially their table.
"By the way, I managed to convince Phantom to be our squad sponsor," But she was interrupted with a cheer.
"YAY!" Cheered Kuan.
"How?" asked Crow, peeling his prawns with ungloved hands. His broadsword was at the corner where he could keep an eye on it.
"Please, I'm me." Lea stuck her tongue out at Crow who hmped in response, twisting the tail apart.
"That's not the reason why you called us out here," Lyon said coolly, still haven't touched his food. "If you're willing to risk a text message where it could be intercepted anytime – I expected more from you…alpha."
His gaze was sharp, like a hunter about to bounce onto his prey.
"That's right," Lea spun the fork at him; her right hand popped an index finger. "It's our turn – Lyon, you should know what to do by now."
Lyon shrugged and cracked his fingers. "Search for the Transcendent of Life?"
Cutleries clattered to their respective plates in shock. Crow and Kuan had an incredulous look on their faces.
"That's what you want him to do?! Are you crazy?!" Jake exclaimed, equally shocked. "How can you trust him so easily?"
Lea gave him an evil eye. "You pay the bills Jake."
That was a dangerous tone and Jake knew better than to question her moves.
"Why now?" Crow asked, there was no trace of shock in his voice, instead it was curiosity.
Lea drank her orange juice instead of answering and they knew the matter was dropped.
Kuan tugged Jake's shirt and shook her head and the bishop reluctantly obeyed.
They resumed eating after that.
Did they even have a choice?
...
A/N: Any questions? Leave a review!