Chapter XXV
Veiled schemes
King Godwin walks back and forth in front of his throne, arms behind his back, his fingers tapping his hand; a distressed gaze that dissipates at the sound of the heavy doors of the entrance pushed open.
A man strode up near the short stairway to the altar of the king, kneeling down on one knee, his plain white hair sliding down his shoulders when he bent his head in reverence, metal rings with all sorts of dark-colored jewels shone on his fingers, the chains attached to his pants rattled, a small gemstone keychain attached to it shimmered through the room.
"Kalin, you've finally come! You don't need to kneel, get up!"
Obeying the command, he stood up, his short, sleeveless black jacket flapping to the sides, covering the hem of his belt and dark trousers. A dark-blue tattoo with the symbol of the kingdom imprinted in his chest.
"What about Misty?" the king rushed, bouncing his hand up and down as if demanding an explanation.
"She went ahead as part of the disguise to infiltrate the tournament."
"Have you tracked them yet?"
"They used Aki's powers to escape, eluding the guards. I've scouted which possible entry points they could've gone for, given their current abilities, do not worry, my King."
"It's easy to say this, but those kids," he clenched his fists together. "Please, you have to get them before the Empire even catches wind they're in there."
"We'll do our best," he swore an oath with a hand to his chest. "I'll give you the news once I find more clues of their whereabouts, but under those circumstances… I'm sure they'll be somewhere close to the grounds of the tournament, laying low."
"We shall not spend more time discussing those matters, go at once. I expect news soon!"
"As you command, my king," he bowed before swiftly taking his leave.
His eyes wavered watching the man leave the throne, wondering where his kids would be by now and hoping, from the bottom of his heart, that no one has found them out yet.
At the borders of Domino,
Two guards stood in front of a small security cabin made of grey concrete and a window, only a table, monitors and two chairs inside, besides a telephone on the table and a small trash bin; behind the structure, there was a huge fence dividing the inside and outside of the capital, a wasteland beyond the borders and a small train station, the luminance emanating from the lamp posts making artificial shade, the moon shone brightly above their heads as the howls of night animals echoed in the distance.
The guards flinched at the sound of loud voices bickering, approaching gradually:
"Are you sure you brought all your documents?" a distorted, annoying voice asked.
"What are you, my mom?!" the man complained irritated, his stomping became more and more audible the closer he got. "Why are you even out here, you flies?!"
"Aw, master Chazz," another distorted, but calmer tune spoke. "It's been so long we don't go out, we're just anxious and want everything to go well!"
"This isn't a field trip you dummies! Stop wasting my duel energy!"
Chazz's cloak flapped wildly when he stopped abruptly, in front of the guards who watched as he berated a small, floating yellow and green creature, just for a third one to pop out, and it was blue.
"Enough! I'm busy, get out!" he shoved his hand into the air, hitting them away, then clearing his throat, a sulky frown. "I'm here to leave the city."
"Haven't you heard the news? It's not allowed."
"I have special permission for a mission," he pulled a crumpled wanted poster from the pocket of his coat, flicking it open, the face of Mad Dog printed there. "He escaped the city borders and I must pursue him, he's a dangerous criminal."
The guards exchanged a glance, then bursted out in laughter, holding their bellies like he'd just made a comedy skit.
"Tell us another joke, this man was arrested already, he isn't outside town."
"Say what?!" he clenched his fists, flaring his nostrils. "But his bounty…"
"Look."
The man took out some sort of phone and scanned the barcode at the border of the wanted poster, an updated status appeared on the digital poster with a "captured" stamp in red over his face.
"No way…"
What's going on here? It wasn't like that this morning…
"Now, get out of here, summoner!"
The guards each took him by an arm, lifting him as his legs flailed, he cursed them and fussed, but was thrown away from the security cabin.
Massaging his backside and dusting it off after the kick on his booty, he gritted his teeth, perplexed.
Inside the glassy skyscraper,
A strong whack soars, Rie winced while entering the room. The layout was by far the most unique of Zane's apartment, wooden walls and wooden board floor, at the middle, some wooden dummies with multiple logs posing as arms and legs.
He concentrated, a frown between his brows as he hit the practice dummy, the wood had bloodied marks and darker areas from overuse as well as indented parts. For how long has he been using this? He stopped upon sensing her presence draw closer, she held out a water bottle and a towel to him.
"Thank you," he hung the towel around his neck and black tank top, wiping the excess sweat from his face before uncapping the bottle, his eyes lodging at Rie's wristwatch. "I didn't notice it was so late already, my bad. You must be hungry."
Shaking her head off, she replied with a tiny, happy smile. It's not befitting to interrupt his training when he's so dedicated to it. Before they can engage in any conversation, the doorbell rings.
They're both startled, Zane's scowl crinkles more on his face as he walks up to the door, he wasn't expecting any visit. Is it Syrus? Rie tags along, staying behind and peeking at the entrance from the corridor's intersection.
"Shroud?!"
He claims after checking the camera from the interphone. Opening the door with a huff, he scolds in annoyed mood:
"The agreement is you don't show your face at my doorstep, Shroud!"
"Oh my, it's not something I can convey via message or phone, someone could be listening. It won't last long, I promise."
Gaping the door open, he watched distrustfully as the man settled in, with that foxy smirk that enlarged as he got a sight of Rie on the corridor: kempt hair, clean clothes and a neat appearance, much more well taken care than most catalysts he'd seen, for sure. Isn't his summoner a true perfectionist?
"I see you kept your pet close, despite it being a risk."
She scrunched her lips in a sulky pout, her fists clenching at his disrespect, Zane glanced over at her swaying his head lightly in a sign she shouldn't pursue any talking back.
"For me the bigger risk is to leave a catalyst with high value in the market outside my line of sight, especially after my little show in the underground."
"Cautious as usual, or is there something else addling you?" his eyes narrowed in an open provocation.
"Enough mind games, Shroud, why are you here?" he folded his arms, standing in an imposing posture with his head lifted. "I'll kick your butt off my house if you don't give me an explanation in five seconds."
"It's about the syndicate!"
He raised his hands up, taking the threat seriously, as it should, Zane would not hesitate to do so if he explicitly told something, he's seen it happen to others, for much less than this.
"I bear good news," he assured, sighing in relief as Zane's intrigued gaze landed on him. "The high members of the syndicate got their eyes on all your moves, they're interested in giving you a better position in the underground world. You'll have more say for some decisions and your own personal group for management, besides me, of course."
"There's a catch isn't there?" he prodded his head, demanding more details.
"Indeed, to be able to meet them, they want to test you first, to make sure what happened when you fended off the member of the Shadow Riders it wasn't just luck."
"Which test is it?"
"Oh, don't you worry, it doesn't involve your beloved catalyst."
He snickered, glancing over to the side, Rie jolted, hiding more behind the wall, only half of her face appearing.
"They want you to infiltrate Genex, the tournament organized and hosted by the duel academy."
"That simple?"
"Oh no, the true objective in doing so is to find and retrieve something that's been hidden on that island, something the principal has been keeping secret for a long time…"
Zane doesn't like the sound of it, even less with how excited Shroud seems in telling him about the mission.
"I get it, let's see how it goes, then."
"You're doing it?!" he exclaimed in shock.
"I've been postponing a visit there for a long time anyways, but… About this object they want me to retrieve… What exactly is this?"
His eyes sharpened, fishing at the information easily given, Shroud but laughed holding his cane with both hands and tapping it to the ground.
"My king, surely you did not think it'd be this easy? I cannot tell you what it is, neither did they tell me, this is part of your test, find out what is it that's hidden and bring it back, if you fail, they'll be very disappointed."
"As usual, those people from underground… Are as dirty as ever. Me? A tool for them? Fine, so be it!" he let out a muffled, haughty laugh.
They think it's a test to him, but he's the only one testing them in the end, now things are finally heating up. Shroud left as swift and unannounced as he came, Zane was alone in his thoughts, that menacing smirk spread on his face as he put a hand to his chin, Rie did not dare approach him then, afraid of the consequences.
Syrus will love to hear the news… More work for him…
Far to the west,
Gusts of winds swept the sand into condensed tornadoes roaming around, the horizon was nothing but the yellow of the desert and the bright, scorching sun shining in the skies.
A temple-like entrance withstood the sand tempest, the grey, cracked bricks worn by time forming a ground that was half covered with sand, pillars supporting the ceiling made of rocks, and an entrance to a squared structure in which every millimetre was planned.
Inside there, someone tried to catch their breath, supporting themselves on their knees amidst the light of flickering flames from the standing torches on the walls.
"Jade, I told you to be careful, this place is ridden with traps!" Aqua Dolphin sighed and crossed his arms.
"I know, I know, but there was a gem there and-"
"And it's obvious it was a trap? We are not here to collect gems, we came here because a Neo-spacian Hero rebound to those old ruins, there has to be more to it than meets the eye."
"Yeah, Neos also came in this direction…"
Crinkling his nose, he determined himself, grabbing a torch from the wall and walking ahead. An eerie breeze flickered the flame, they exchanged a glance, Jaden got hold of the gem in his pocket.
The grains spread on the brick-lined ground crackled under his feet, until he stumbled ahead, his feet sinking in one of the bricks, his eyes widened as he jumped back, Aqua Dolphin could but gape, warning him:
"Jade, be careful!"
Forward on the way a bulgy, heavy rock rolled towards them, Aqua Dolphin prepare to blast it into smithereens, but Jaden ran a step back, another clicking sound of a tile dislocating soared, he gritted his teeth jumping from on foot to another clumsily:
"Aw, man!"
A trapdoor opened and he fell down, only his yell echoing in resonance with Aqua Dolphin's:
"Jaaadee!"
The voice got more and more distant. The torch plopped with multiple clacks, bouncing off the ground until it was snuffed out, the smell of smoke jolted him awake, he sat down on what seemed to be a more irregular floor, on top of the bricks, some rocks were scattered is what he concluded from exploring with his hands around in the pitch-black darkness.
He squinted his eyes, taking a gem out of his pocket, he lit it up with duel energy, the red sandy substance scintillated in the darkness, its brightness reflecting somewhere else.
"Burstinatrix!"
The gorgeous hero lady was summoned at his command, folding her arms as the flames burning around her illuminated the immediate surroundings, she looked down on Jaden in contempt.
"I can't believe you," shaking off her head, she helped him up. "I'm not a walking torch, you know?"
"My bad!" he clasped his hands together, giving an apologetic smile. "I got lost from Aqua Dolphin!"
"Anyways, which dangerous hole did you get yourself into now?"
Taking the torch from the ground she combusted its top with the slight touch of her inflamed fingertip, handing it back to her master.
"This is some temple, I guess."
"Or a sacrificial altar…"
She raised a brow, walking to the walls, filled with inscripts and drawings in a foreign language, among the figures carved in stone, there were human-like ones, being offered in a stone altar to a menacing, demonic looking armored creature, much larger than the humans depicted, sitting on a throne.
"But that's where one of the Neo-spacian heroes should be. Why would it end up here, though?" he stroked his own chin in a pinching motion, meditating on the fact.
"I say, find what you came here for, grab it and get the hell out of this place, it gives me creeps," she admitted, followed by a short shiver.
He swung the torch right and left quickly accessing the room, as he thought, there was so much rubble on the ground it was hard to walk, he couldn't even see all the walls or the ceiling, a testament of the size of where he just fell into; the center of the large room had a stone tablet, a huge creature, much larger than any human, his muscular silhouette clad in a sharp armor; his helmet with beveled horns like a demon; a semicircle connecting one shoulder to the other behind him and a cape whose cloth spiked to the sides, he sat on a throne, like a true king, ruby shining instead of eyes; six other figures with distinct silhouettes bowed before his feet, similar to the engravings on the walls.
Jaden gulped, looking up to see the amount of details adorning it, whoever did it, must really have venerated whatever this thing was. Is this a new monster? He should probably report this to the Industrial Illusions, or to Syrus at least and let him do the talking.
A whisper intruded his thoughts, like a devilish hiss echoing in the whole room. "All hail to the monarch."
His trance was disrupted by the voice of his lady companion, who shouted from farther into the room:
"Hey, Jaden, I found it!"
Lifting the card up high, she smiled, he rushed over, tumbling on the way and recomposing fast, frolic when he finally got a hold of it, Neo-Spacian Grand Mole.
"How did you end up here, buddy?"
From behind them, the wall was burst open, the rocks flying off, a cloud of dust arising, they prepared for a fight, until the familiar voice spoke:
"Jade!"
Aqua Dolphin darted into the room, but he wasn't alone, Neos followed behind him like a comet of light leaving a tail of luminescence. Everyone got out of the way, jumping to the sides, Neos stopped his own collision against the stone tablet, floating midair, somewhat entranced by it.
Next second, his head flashed towards Jaden and the card he held, the man tucked the card inside his jacket, not giving up on it so easily.
From his chest a light burst out, not hurting him, but shining through his clothes, a thread of sizzling brightness formed connecting the card on his chest to Neos' hand.
"Argh! Neos, you're not having it! We need to talk!"
He gripped his chest even harder, holding the card like his life rode on it. Neos pumped up his muscles with a shout, the whole structure of the place trembling, both Burstinatrix and Dolphin immediately rushed in front of their summoner, to protect him from whichever incoming attack he'd deliver.
"Grand Mole!"
Jaden called out, imbuing it with his own duel energy to fend off the sinister light trying to take it by force. Mustering enough energy to summon a few fusion monsters, he finally got a response as a mole-like armored being materialized, its shoulder pads made of drills.
"Who called me here?" the mole looked around, its gaze landing on Aqua Dolphin. "You?!"
"It was me, please, we need your help!" Jaden replied in a nervous tone.
Neos darted forward, but before he could reach, Dolphin came in the way, as Neos stretched his toned arms to push him away, Dolphin matched the challenge, their hands clashing together, one trying to overpower the other.
"Neos is acting strange, but if we can get your help and the others, you might knock some sense into his head!" he pleaded.
"I don't think we can do that now," he squeezed his eyes watching Neos slowly pushing his friend back. "But that said, I owe you one from summoning out of that cramped space! Dolphin! We're getting outta here!"
Gran Mole dunked shoulder down to the ground, its drills spinning at high speed, breaking the rocks apart, shaking the whole structure of the temple as clouds of dust formed and rubble fell covering the entrance of the hole he just made. Neos bellowed angrily, tautening his fists and dashing into the corridors as rocks cascaded down.
In that dark room, a wave of gleam swiped from left to right in the stony ruby eyes of the creature of the stone tablet, an ominous luster incited as the earthquake caused by the duel monsters shook the inner area of the temple, a bad presage.
Outside, sand wafted up, swooshing with a splash in the air as Grand Mole came out of the hole, dragging Jaden along, Burstinatrix and Aqua Dolphin followed right after.
Sand belched from the ground as Neos himself left the underground temple, hovering above the desert, looking at the group from above, then, turning away and darting at lightning speed to the horizon, disappearing as quick as falling star.
"Crap, is he going to the next one?!" Jaden messed up his own hair.
"We have to catch up!"
Aqua Dolphin urged, materializing a plank, jumping on it and surfing on the sand, bringing his summoner along.
Somewhere else,
Morning,
Syrus entered the apartment locking the door behind him gingerly, the emptiness of the living room and the quietness in the atmosphere were enough of a hint. Zane hasn't woken up yet.
He pushed his glasses up with an index, checking his wristwatch, nine o'clock, has he been to the underground again? No way, he'd said it was time for a break. Sighing heavily, he checked the training room first, sometimes Zane would spend the night in clear there, but not this time.
At patient steps, he confidently opened the door of the bedroom, flinching awake from the numbness, letting out a bawl that reverberated in the apartment.
Zane woke up with a jolt, squinting his eyes at his brother standing by the entrance while mumbling drowsily. "What's with yo-"
He staggered when his thumb brushed on something far softer than the mattress as he propelled his torso up, his head winding to the side, gawking stunned. Rie was nestled sideways beside him, her gown creasing more as his thumb unwittingly pinned it down together with the mattress, his arm crossed over above her. Despite the short sleeves of the gown properly covering her shoulders and the length of the dress coming just a bit above her knees, the plies all over it flattered her curves on the right places, sending his blood into a frenzy as Syrus just stood gaping as much as him.
Next second, Zane snapped out of the daydreaming, grabbed the first pillow in sight and pitched it at Syrus in a hurry, shouting out flustered:
"What are you looking at, twerp?!" he slid a blanket over Rie's silhouette.
"I-I'm sorry!" He stammered, the pillow hitting his face and sliding down.
"Do you not know how to knock on a door?!"
He closed the door with a shriek, shielding himself from the next attacks, Zane sat up straight, recovering his breath, in disbelief. With all the commotion and noise, Rie finally shuffled a bit before sitting up, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
At the living room, Syrus sat down at a padded chair, it wasn't until maybe a minute later when his brother came and also dropped into a seat across from him, leaning on the couch. Zane massaged his own temples for a while, given the phlegmatic nature of his brother, him becoming flustered was quite the sight.
"I know you're the older brother here and I shouldn't be the one saying this," he started, adjusting his glasses in a berating voice, whispering it so as to not be heard by her. "But aren't you going too fast with the lady?"
"Just because she was sleeping on my bed, it doesn't mean I'm sleeping with her!" he retorted, annoyed.
"Then what is going on here? You don't want to tell me she's climbed your bed to do nothing, right?"
"I do actually mean exactly that," he sighed, shaking off his head and muttering in hopelessness. "This isn't even the first time it happened…"
"Isn't she just being very obvious at this point? You should make things clear if you don't intend to correspond to her expectations, and maybe lock your door," he raised a brow at the last part. "Anyways, you shouldn't play with people's feelings."
"No, that's not it!" he slammed his own knees with a soundly clap. "If I lock the door, she'll just be sleeping on the couch, she's still scared of what happened with Inotsume last time, besides…"
"Besides?"
He sighed before continuing. "Rie notions of boundaries are all messed up thanks to her time in Bonaparte's mansion, so even if she doesn't mean anything by coming to someone's bed, she doesn't realize what she's doing has other implications… Teaching her that is still a work in progress…"
"Oh," he squinted his eyes slightly, compassionate for her. "If that's the case, you should sit her down and explain it properly."
"Well, how 'bout you try to explain those things to her if you're so much better at this?" he said with a challenging irony in his tone.
Syrus raised his palms flat, exempting himself from responsibility. "No, thank you, I have my hands full, plus she's under your wing."
Before they debated over it, Rie arrived into the room, covering her soundless yawn with her fingertips. Instead of the sleeping attire from before, she was dressed in a set of white shirt, black shorts and waistcoat.
"Rie, I'll be forward: why were you in my room?"
Taking the PDA, her fingers tumbled sleepily over the keys. "You had nightmares again."
"Even if I do have nightmares, we've talked about this before."
"I thought you were taking pills to prevent that," Syrus barged in, a slight furrow of distrust.
Rie swayed her head off in denial with droopy eyes and a blunt semblance. "He flushed those down the toilet."
Zane gasped, betrayed. "I can't believe you're snitching me to my brother."
Syrus huffed, asking in a chiding voice while crossing his arms. "He did what?!"
"The pills don't work!" Zane defended himself, raising a finger, then pointing it at Rie. "And that still doesn't explain how you ended up on my bed."
"You were screaming, so I went to your room to help, you flipped me down onto the bed and twisted my arm to my back."
Zane grimaced portraying the scene of himself almost breaking that slim arm, sharing the pain as if it were his own bones breaking.
"I told you I am a hazard while sleeping, Syrus here can tell you." he shoved his hand to point at his brother.
"But you stopped suddenly and grabbed my arm, you wouldn't let go, so I waited until there was a chance to sneak out thinking your grip might loosen, but I ended up falling asleep in the process."
Syrus didn't comment anything, astonished and marveled at them both. It's true he attempted to spare Zane from the nightmares by waking him up many times, but it never worked and it usually ended with him having bone pain, so he gave up. Perhaps he should've had a bit more perseverance then? Or is it something he could not have accomplished…? His eyes landed on Rie, she blinked at him, confused, his eyes flashed away to his sibling.
"Zane, I came here because of your last message. You got invited by the syndicate, right?"
"Yeah, they want me to be their errand boy before I get approval, it seems," he clicked his tongue in disgust. "The nerve."
"They're reluctant to decide who's gonna call you first because you have a bounty on your head from someone influential. Moreover, there are still those among them who do not support your behavior at the underground arena, for making enmity with the Shadow Riders…"
"Does that mean he's in trouble?" A screen suddenly popped up in front of Syrus, Rie asked with a concerned curl on her brows.
"It depends on how he fares at his task and how much he's keeping an eye on his surroundings, but you know Zane, any sign things are going south and he'll just wreck the whole place down," the last part was an assurance to her. "Also, I got news from Jaden."
"Is he still tailing Neos?"
"You bet. He found another Spacian Hero, but Neos set off somewhere else, so he followed, due to that he probably won't go to the Genex, which means if something happens, you'll have less support."
"Alexis is there, she can cover for me if necessary, I'm sure."
Curiosity sparked in Rie's gaze at the mention, staring at Zane with an inquisitive air. Who is this Alexis he's talking about? A friend? She heard the name coming up in conversations once in a while, but unlike Chazz, Syrus or even Jaden, she never got to either meet or see pictures.
Syrus cleared his throat, calling their attention. "By the way, how was the visit to that friend of Aster?"
Zane and Rie exchanged a glance, their eyebrows furrowing up worriedly, as he took the lead:
"It was strange, to say the least. But we did get information about her gem, I never expected it would be an eternal gem, though."
"I was thinking here," Syrus put a hand to his chin, perplexed. "Aren't those gems too rare? How did he know what one looks like?"
"He creeped me out," Rie's sincerity elicited a wry smile on Syrus.
"Well, it's a friend of our expensive, luxury needs Aster. The guy is a required gemologist, so it's not impossible he got to see one in his lifetime."
The summoner entered a deep, pondering stance while he watched Rie and Syrus have a silent conversation. While he tried to convince himself of what he just told Syrus, his instincts cried out to him that something was off about the gemologist and he feared the consequences had he not listened to it that day.
At the central plaza of Domino,
Garius adjusted the braided golden ropes adorning his uniform, flashes and snaps of cameras taking pictures abound around the stage he stood on, in front of a pedestal mounted there.
His blonde secretary came at quiet steps, but he noticed her presence nonetheless, tilting to the side, grinning and nodding as she spoke something to his ear. Straightening himself pompously by tugging at his collar and raising his chin, he delivered light blows to the microphone with his finger, testing it and luring the attention of all reporters, Mindy was among them, while others prattled loudly, she scowled at the man's haughty composure, taking notes with a grumpy pout.
"Estimated citizens of Domino!" Garius started with a clear, calm tone. "After the recent events of criminals defiling the peace in our lands, I come here today to announce great news! For as those criminals were found and justice will be delivered to them!"
The crowd chattered confused, startled when a holographic screen appeared behind Garius, above his head level so everyone could watch the images passing there: a list of face pictures and names among which Mad Dog was focused in the middle of the screen, with a bigger close-up than others.
"The leader of the criminals was captured earlier today, he will be interrogated and we will find out every one of his malevolent goons, Domino will see war and sorrow no more!"
The puzzled voices suddenly became a burst of people talking all at the same time with different questions as reporters stretched their microphones over in the hopes that Garius would concede them a speech, while the citizens in the background celebrated with cheers and clapping.
"And there is more to say, fair citizens! Thanks to all the efforts to capture the criminals, the Empire has deemed the city to be safe again! The martial law is lifted from henceforth on! You may leave the capital as you please and feel the comfort of security by your side! Rejoice!"
Mindy frowned upon the sight, looking around and disapproving of the cluelessness of those people as they praised ecstatic, Garius smirked, but to them it looked like a perfect smile that brought hope.
"Those criminals will be justly punished! And the peace will reign again in our capital!" He finished raising his fist up to the skies and stirring the throng more, causing the noise of the voices to hurt the ears of the reporter.
He continued to speak more and answer questions, with a confident smile. Little did they know, Mad Dog was nothing but another pawn set for the great artifice used by the Empire.
At the Imperium's palace,
Mad Dog arrives at the inner walls of the castle two guards in the imperial uniform stand in front of the wide door surrounded by grey bricks under the open air, letting him and the two others guards escort him through.
They cross the enormous fortification separating the gardens of the castle and palace from the outer zone. As soon as they're in, there's a pathway of cobblestone through the gardens, he looks right and left behind his shoulders.
Ahead, a winding way made of bricks and carefully planned arches to let air in, the shadows of the ceiling covers them as they enter, a dark wooden door ahead. The guards stretched their swords in front of Mad Dog, he stumbled before stepping back, frowning.
One of the guards walked in front of him, turning around and taking keys, releasing the handcuffs. The metal dropped with a hefty thud, he saved his feet from the impact and rubbed his bruised wrists.
"The Prince requests your services. Follow me."
The guard prodded his own head towards the door, calling him, he smirked and tagged along, wherever those gates take him, after the little façade to have him take the blame for the Shadow Riders and pretend everything is settled, now things are getting much better and he's in for the lot of money he'll get.
Somewhere in the city,
A lamp post's dim light flickered and buzzed on the dark alleys of the suburbs, a shadow flashed behind the lonely man in a brown hoodie walking there. He stopped, taking his hands out of his jeans' pockets, preparing for a fight.
His gaze swerved around, confused, there was nothing to be seen besides the ghostly alley. As soon as he turned around, the shadow appeared beside him, two pale hands with long nails grabbed his arms, a lush green hair floated around his face, he tried to scream and scuffle by grabbing the slim wrists and yank them away, but it was useless, her strength so notable she ripped his hoodie off and her two fangs pierced his neck.
His wail echoed as the pain subdued his senses, numbing him, his eyes rolling up as she slurped his blood soundly, his corpse dropped to the ground with a thud, she wiped her mouth with an arm, licking her lips, bloodshot eyes, her torn red dress flickered with the cold breeze darting by, her once beautiful face now drained out of life, wrinkled and old as though she had aged seventy years.
The face of the Hell Kaiser lit on her memory, his disdaining gaze, her fingers wrapped around the air, twitching, imagining his frail human neck there, how she desired to break him apart into smithereens.
Forced to live off this poor livestock of the lowest quality and suck out the energy of summoners until she recovers fully from her wounds and the amount of power she had to use to survive that immense blast during her underground fight. This is what it has been since their battle and it's all his fault, and of that overpowered toy he had.
Her protuberant teeth clenched on their own, she snarled. "Zane Truesdale, I'll make you pay for crossing my path!"
Swearing vengeance to herself, she disappeared in the night, just a few moments later, guards with flashlights appeared, investigating the scene after a few reports of strange noises, finding the dead man. The hidden darkness of the city swallows yet another life in this universe, full of dangers.
In the residential skyscraper,
Zane felt a chill run down his spine, he brushed his nape with the tip of his fingers, to send the sensation away. Three knocks on the door reverberated, startling him, he whirled around, adjusting the lapel of his dark cloak:
"You can enter."
Rie opened the door slightly, making sure she wasn't intruding, carrying a letter in her hand, offering it to him once they were close enough for the exchange.
"Do you know who sent this? I hope it isn't another hospital bill…"
She shrugged off her shoulders. He inspected the creamy-colored envelope, dreading the contents: it was sealed with an CS stamped in a fancy writing over blue wax. He gasped, realizing the owner and opening it at once by simply ripping the envelope apart.
Inside there was a letter and a Genex medallion, but unlike the other invitations which had a copy-paste plain text, this one had a personalized approach. All that was written there was:
"I am waiting for you at the summit. Come and take what's rightfully yours."
It wasn't signed, but even without a name he knew exactly the sender, Rie covered her mouth with both hands worriedly, after she witnessed Zane's calm expression turn into a thoughtful frown.
What an interesting timing… Another thread connecting me to that place, huh?
He sighed heavily, in a demotivated tone, concerning the catalyst even more for the unusual behavior. What could it be that bothers him so much?
No matter how much I try to avoid that place, this "destiny" Aster keeps babbling about always finds a way to drag me there… And I… cannot escape it this time.
Rie flinched at the sudden side glance he cast at her while he stood in place, her hands enlacing and her shoulders bulging up as though she was about to be scolded for loitering around too long.
"Hey, Rie," he called in his most collected voice. "Do you want to travel somewhere with me?"
He shifted his attention to the letter again as if there was much more written in that message.
"It won't be a vacation for leisure, though," he added bitterly.
She didn't understand how reading a seemingly senseless message would lead to him having a sudden job to fulfil, but it piqued her interest enough to ask:
"Where to?"
"To a place where every summoner has been to at least once in their life," his eyes narrowed annoyed. "The duel academy."
Thus, the decision was made. Lifting his ready suitcase from the ground, he glanced over the hollow apartment a last time, the specks of dust illuminated by the sun afloat while Rie finished her own preparations.
I won't be coming back any time soon…
Flicking his cloak back, he threaded towards the door, followed by the catalyst who carried her own small luggage, blabbering for him to slow down a bit, however his mind was far gone for any conversation as they left.
All the ploys are set into place, and now it's time to go back to the origins where this endless chain of battles and suffering started: the Duel Academy.