The following day June 19th, at 8 am, Zeke finishes up a potion at his desk. Knock! Knock! Zeke gets up to open the door, and Owen is waiting on the other side.
“Sup, kid?”
“Owen? What do you want?” Zeke walks back to his desk. Owen enters the room and lays down a piece of paper.
“I picked out a mission for the girl.”
The paper reads:
Missing Black Cat
Location: City of Ovidinia, last seen at the city park
Rank: Rookie :)
Reward: 2,000 Gems
“This is a child’s mission. She’s basically an adult.” Zeke says, turning his chair to Owen.
“Yes, but she has never lived outside that Daunt base.” Owen sits on Zeke’s bed. “She will start with simple missions like this to experience the world from a new perspective. And to also enhance her heka abilities.” Owen explains.
“Well, then, better for me. She’ll definitely be fine on her own with this one.”
“I told you, kid, you’re in charge of her. That means you go with her on missions too. It wouldn’t hurt to have some company, ya know.” Owen says, leaving.
Zeke picks up the paper and accepts his role. He grabs his jacket and leaves to find Rue. He knocks on her door, but no answer. Nora walks by and sees Zeke.
“Hey, Zeke. Whatcha doing?”
“Have you seen Red?” Zeke dismisses her greeting.
“Um? I think she’s with Nash in the medical center.”
He says nothing and immediately walks away.
“Sigh. I wish he were more friendly.”
Zeke walks around the corner in the medical center. Bump! Zeke and Rue run into each other head-on.
“Ouch,” Rue looks up. “Oh! H-hi Zeke!”
“You need to watch where you’re walking, Red,” Zeke says, rubbing his chin.
“I’ll try too. Well, see you later.” Rue attempts to avoid Zeke. He turns and grabs her arm.
“Wait! Don’t you have any manners?” he says, getting annoyed. Rue jumps as he suddenly grabs her. She flinches and says,
“Oh right, sorry for bumping into you.”
Zeke notices her flinching and backs up. She turns and begins to walk away.
“Wait. I’m not done.” He hands her a piece of paper that Owen gave him. “Look.” Rue takes the paper and attempts to read it.
“What's this for?”
“It’s a mission for you. You have to start small to rise up the ranks, remember?”
“Oh, right! Ok, so when do I start this?”
“Technically, now,” he says with a straight face.
“Now? As in now? Now?” she asks, confused.
“Yes, right at this moment, Red.”
Rue still looks confused, and Zeke shakes his head in disappointment.
The two head to the park, the black cat's last location.
“So all I have to do is find this cat? Then I will be rewarded with Gems?”
“Yep, that’s how it works.” Zeke sits down on a bench.
“Says here the cat likes to hang around this park.”
“That means he must be around?” She says with hope.
“He’s possible here, somewhere else, or even dead.”
“Um… Are you going to help?” She starts to get nervous.
“Nah, I’m only here to make sure you complete your mission,” Zeke yawns.
Rue’s unsatisfied with his answer and begins to walk around the park yelling for the cat.
“HERE, KITTY, KITTY, KITTY! WHERE ARE YOU!” She walks by a group of kids playing as adventurers.
“I’m the leader. So we go where I want. Let’s head over to the ruins, boys!”
“No, I wanted to be the leader! You ruin everything!” the kids begin to argue. Rue stops in her tracks and gets flashbacks of Shura calling her Ruin. Zeke appears behind Rue and pokes her shoulder.
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“Red?” he softly says. Rue screams loudly.
“It’s not my fault!” she drops to the ground. The people and kids around the park stare at her.
“Let’s play elsewhere. She’s ruining the mood.” One kid says, leaving.
“I-I don’t r-ruin,” she says quietly. Zeke bends down, looking into Rue's eyes.
“Let’s sit over there and take a break, huh?”
Zeke takes her over to the bench. He gives her a bottle of water. She takes a sip feeling a little better.
“I gotta question.”
“Yeah?” she responds.
“Why did the Joker call you that? Ruin?” he asks.
“Joker?”
“Ya know the crazy scientist guy?”
“Mr. Shura? Oh, right,” she pauses. “He said it’s my fault my parents left me. He always told me I ruined their lives by being born,” She pauses again. “I never knew my parents or even their faces and names. So for a while, I believed him. I don’t know. Maybe he’s right about me.”
“Maybe he is,” Zeke responds. She looks at him, surprised. “Or maybe, he’s not. At the end of the day, it’s not up to him to decide. You control the path you follow. Whether that be light or dark, you have the power to decide for yourself.” Zeke says with encouragement. Just then, the missing cat jumps onto Rue’s lap and rubs against her chest.
“Look at that. You finished your first mission.” Zeke stands up, ready to leave. Rue sits for a moment, thinking about what Zeke said to her. She stands up, holding the cat.
“Thank you,” Rue says softly so Zeke can’t hear.
The two head over to the owner's address that was given on the flyer.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I missed my baby!” the cat owner says, kissing their cat. Zeke nudges Rue to say something.
“I-it’s no problem! Glad I can help,” Rue says with an awkward smile.
“Here, take it! Thank you again, sweetie,” the cat owner says, handing the Gems to Rue. After receiving the reward, Zeke and Rue head back to Lost Haven. Rue is prancing around like a child because she completed her first mission.
She looks at Zeke and says,
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he responds.
“Why do you call me Red?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Rue looks at him, confused.
“You have red hair,” he says bluntly.
“Well, yea, but I have a name you can use too. The same amount of letters and everything.” she pouts.
“Red suits you better,” he replies.
Rue turns away, and her face feels hot. As they walk, two bandits appear.
“Looks like we hit the jackpot.” Bandit One says. They surround Rue and Zeke.
“You look like you got some Gems. Wanna share?” Bandit two says. In a blink of an eye, the two bandits were defeated and tied up to a pole. Zeke finishes tying the knot and walks back to Rue. All she felt was a gust of wind. No heka was visible. She questions how Zeke took out the bandits that quickly.
“You see that? I-it’s a Lost Haven emblem!” Bandit two says, scared.
“L-L-Lost HAVEN!” Bandit one yells. Zeke turns back and says,
“Haha, you guys are so pathetic.” He writes a note for the Stalwart Soldiers.
“Wow! You’re fast. I didn’t even see them coming, let alone you defeating them that quickly,” she admires Zeke.
“They’ve been following us for quite some time, actually,” he sees Rue's shocked expression. “Don’t worry, Red. You’ll be able to sense others' heka's sooner or later. Just practice.”
“I don't even know where to begin learning how to do that,” she says, looking down.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give you some lessons.”
Rue jumps with excitement and replies, “Yes, please!”
Zeke smiles for a moment as the two head inside Lost Haven.
The following morning, Zeke looks at the mission board and decides on a rookie mission.
“She needs more of a challenge.”
Meanwhile, Rue is with Nash at the medical center getting her daily check-up.
“A few more sessions, then we’re all done here,” Nash says, removing his gloves.
“Can’t wait to be fully fixed,” Rue jokes. She gets up to leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow! Thanks again.” Nash waves bye, and Rue walks to the dining hall. She sees Zeke and attempts to walk to him. Elliot appears and stops Rue.
“Hey Rue, how are you feeling?”
“Oh, Hi-” she pauses. What was his name again? “Um, I’m feeling better. It’s hard getting used to being here, though.”
“Yea, these people are a weird breed. If you need any assistance, you can always come to me. I can relate to what you’re going through.”
“ELLIOT, LET’S GO!” an association member yells.
“Sorry, Rue, I gotta go. I’ll see you later.” he waves bye.
“See ya!” she waves bye and looks for Zeke.
“Huh? Where did he go?” she looks around the dining hall, but Zeke isn’t in sight. He instantly shows up right behind her.
“Red!” he yells purposely in her ear.
Rue jumps and turns to Zeke.
“Ah!! How did you?” she questions, rubbing her ear.
“If you could sense heka, you would’ve known I was behind you,” he says cockily.
“Ugh. How can I learn to feel other heka when I can’t control my own?”
Zeke stays silent for a second and thinks,
Can’t she control her heka? Interesting.
“Alright, Red, today is a training day.” Zeke leads Rue outside where the training grounds are.
While Zeke starts Rue's training, Owen is in a meeting with the Great Council.
“There’s no need to worry. I have one of our best looking after the girl.” Owen says confidently.
“You mean Zeke Herlana? Are you sure he can be trusted? His history says otherwise,” one Council member says.
“I trust that kid with my life. You don’t give him enough credit. He’s stronger than ya think,” Owen smirks.
“How can you be sure he’ll keep the girl safe? We will step in,” another council member claims.
“It is fine, fellow councilmen. We will continue to watch over your team ‘Captain Owen’. Until the next meeting.” With that said Owen leaves the meeting.
They’ve been watching us, huh? I wonder for how long. Oh, Zeke, don’t mess this up for us. Owen thinks to himself as he heads back to Lost Haven.