8pm.
The clock ticked.
00:00. The timer beeped.
[Interested Stellars will now make offers.]
“I don’t want…” Zeifar muttered to herself. In all honesty, she was not going to become anyone’s representative.
The sounds of her people being wowed by the deals rang in her ears. Good for them.
She had not gotten any yet. But the System, which now acted like a really smart pet, told, [There will be more chances for this. Please decide wisely, Master! (Of course, you’re always wise!)]
The System felt like that really chirpy newbie in the office who would run around bootlicking his seniors for a promotion.
Zeifar stayed inside her room to avoid her team’s excitement. She didn’t really feel like dealing with it.
Seeing them happy, acting normal, as much as it made her feel good, a part of her wondered how stable that happiness was. How long would it last? It may have sounded stupid, but for a girl who’s only resource was fiction, she knew one thing for sure, in stories like what they were living as reality, death was like the rain. It would come without much warning—and for the most part, you couldn’t really predict where it would rain, or simply saying, who would die.
She hoped she wouldn’t have to deal with that.
‘For someone like me, deaths really are nothing…’ she thought to herself, ‘But why does thinking of any of them dying fill me with so much anger?’
It was unexpected. She had been sure that she wasn’t that close to them. They had only been sticking together for the sake of manpower. Had she somehow grown an attachment to them too?
*****
“You’re the sole reason I’ve been so low on sleep. Why are you here again?”
“YOU IGNORED MORE THAN 25 STELLARS!”
“Well, did it cost you money, or earn you money?”
Mika became silent.
“It earned you money. Why’re you mad?”
“The Top-Levels are mad…”
Zeifar glared at him, “Mikhaenil Rainier. Who is more likely to kill you: Me or Anubis?”
The boy jumped, “Okay sorry—sorry—”
“Exactly, now go downstairs, tell all my teammates you’re, uh, what can you possibly be…” she considered.
“What?! Why all of a sudden?!”
“They get,” she yawned mid-sentence, “They get mad whenever I disappear. At least I can blame you.”
“But…” Mika sat next to her, thinking, “What do I tell them?”
“Hmm,” she began thinking, which was tough when she was sleepy, “Uh, say you’re some French dude named, uhh, Lunair.”
“I am French but—Lunair?”
“What’s wrong with it?” She knew exactly what was wrong with it: It sounded ridiculous.
“It translates to the moon??” Mika replied. Oh.
She sighed, “Okay okay, that’s what you are then. Go and tell them,” she shooed him away with her hand.
A bit confused, and a bit flustered, Mika asked, “And how do I know you?”
“Just make something up, pretty-boy. Go, shoo,” she pushed him out.
*****
“Your Highness, aren’t we technically tricking them?” the young voice asked.
“Not them, really. I wouldn’t even say its trickery,” the other voice, much older and refined, sighed, “But some things must be manipulated for the sake of order. We can’t let that child live now can we?”
“But…why not?”
The moment he’d said it, the young man regretted speaking.
Two eyes burning with rage glared at him, “Why do you think, hmm? Are you blind or dense? Do you not see the amount of lives being sold at sale because of that monster?!” Her was low, not even a bit of effort or strain, yet at the same time it was so loud it shook every being in the room to the core.
“We kill monsters. That is our job. Don’t you dare forget it.”
*****
[“Sorry, they’re scary,”] Mika apologized.
“So, Luney-guy, how do you know her?” Kazerin asked, as if she was interrogating.
“Uhhh,” he panickedly looked at Zeifar, tugging at her sleeve.
“Mm! No asking for help!” Adrian snapped.
“Seriously, you’re acting weird. Who are you, hmm?” Ethan leaned in threateningly.
They were interrogating the poor guy like he was a wanted criminal.
“Uh—where are you going,” he sobbed as Zeifar walked off to the kitchen, ‘Mademoiselleeee!’
“Oi, answer the question,” Raymond poked.
The heavy stress-inducing questioning continued for so long Mika wished to die, and his mademoiselle had disappeared off to the kitchen—Top 10 Anime betrayals!
It wasn’t until 20 minutes or so later that she returned, moving the psychos away from him and giving everyone bowls of fresh, steaming hot soup.
“Guys, let him be,” she gave him a look, “I didn’t think they’d be scary to you,” she commented.
‘OF COURSE THEY’RE SCARY WHAT DO YOU MEAN???’
“No, but who really is he?” Raymond asked, to which Zeifar’s facial expression suddenly became mischievous.
She gave Mika a bone-chillingly evil smirk, it was rather threatening, then with a dead look on her face said, “Engaged.”
Raymond choked on his food and looked up, the same bewildered look on all of their faces. Including Mika, who somehow looked the most horrified of them all.
“Oh my—oh dear,” Zeifar suddenly wheezed, “Goodness, take a look at your faces—I—” it was so stupid, she couldn’t even hold her laughter back and doubled over, unable to stop, “Oh my…” she wiped a tear, “I…I didn’t think,” she laughed a bit more, “You’d take it seriously.”
The rest of the faces in the room instantly turned red, “YOU SOUNDED SERIOUS!”
“Oh god,” she shook her head, “He’s just a business partner, gosh,” it really was so stupid.
****
After they calmed down, Mika began eating again, still a little shook, but normal.
Until two glaring orange eyes, as fiery as the sun itself, looked directly into his,
[“And why did you look more horrified than them, hmm?”] calmness was always scarier than any sort of yelling.
[“Uh…”]
Just before he could come up with an excuse, a loud crash from the drawing room interrupted them.
****
“Cyrus, I know I told you to use the main door if you drop by but,” the door had been kicked open.
“It’s important,” he answered, slamming it shut. Not a very calm boy.
“Sit down,” Zeifar sighed, looking at Zac who had come with Cyrus for some reason, and then turning to the rest, “You’ve all eaten. Go to your rooms.”
They left without a question, though they all gave Zac odd looks.
“I know it’s nothing, but…” Raymond peeked over the side of the hallway, “What are they talking about?”
From the angle he was standing, or perched like an owl to let Xavier see as well, Raymond could only see Zac and the pink-haired candy-boy. The sofa Zeifar was sitting on made her back turned towards their direction.
“What brought you here so late?” Zeifar asked.
Cyrus had an annoyed look on his face, “I was tracking them.”
“And?” her eyes landed on Zac, her face expressionless.
“That other one switched sides,” Cyrus continued, then glared at Zac, “I’m not so sure about him.”
“What do you mean?”
Zac flinched. Zeifar’s eyes on him felt sharp, like needles piercing into his conscious.
“He seemed to get cold feet at the last moment. But I could be wrong, maybe he’s a double agent.”
“And Danielle completely left?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah.”
Zeifar’s voice didn’t sound that surprised. Raymond knew this news was coming, but he’d expected her to sound a bit more surprised.
“You aren’t mad,” Cyrus noticed as well, raising his eyebrows. Even Zac was surprised.
She shrugged and answered, “I knew most would leave at some point, they were only staying here because they weren’t sure where to go. Not because…” her eyes were still on Zac, and the light falter in her voice was subtle. It was so subtle that it would’ve gone unnoticed, but she was someone whose voice never faltered,
“It wasn’t…necessarily because we were friends,” she sighed, rubbing her temples. What a headache.
“But didn’t you guys work together?” Cyrus asked.
“I only joined last season, I’m still a stranger to them right, Zac?” she laughed.
Zac flinched, his eyes never leaving the floor.
The look on Cyrus’ face was concerned and weirded out. Wasn’t working close to someone for 8 months still quite a lot of time? He was sure the Royale racers were all on good terms with each other, so what was it?
“Anyways. You,” she motioned to Zac, “Room.”
Zac left without a word. He didn’t have anything to say.
“Right, and you wanted something,” Zeifar stood up, a knife glitching into her hand—that was how objects appeared from your personal inventory, or storage.
The knife was more of a dagger, with a pearly pinkish blade which sparkled unrealistically. The hilt and handle were gold, standard design, yet its color and sparkle gave it a sort of intimidating feel.
“You asked for help to be stronger, right? I’m not sure if I can do that completely, but here,” she handed it to him with a smile, ‘Really Zeifar, giving a child a dangerous weapon, what’s wrong with you?’
“Let me know when you learn to use this to its full power.”
Cyrus stared at it in his hands and replied, “I will.”
There was determination in his eyes as bright as stars.
Zeifar smiled, a bit proud, “Alright then. Goodnight,” she said, locking the door after him.
[Stellar: ‘Lover of Beauty’ is touched by your caring act.]
‘Of course you are, I just helped your representative,’ she thought to herself, “Damn, I really hope Cyrus can use that to max level…though that could make him the strongest.”
There was a little mischief at the corners of her mouth. She knew what most of these Top-level Stellars wanted—after all, that is what made them Top-levels—they wanted their own representative to be the Strongest. A tricky way of getting more power out of the apparently organized Galactix system.
It was also the perfect key— ‘I make your child the best, you give me backup. In the process, I stay alive too’ it was a fair deal in her opinion.
She knew the Stellars agreed too.
****
By the point Zeifar had returned to her room, Mika had already fallen asleep. The cameras were off, but Stellars could still send messages thanks to their slaves/representatives. Luckily, Zeifar didn’t have one.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
She sat at her desk while Mika dozed off to La-la-land, writing down her teammates’ Stellar choices.
She hadn’t checked all of them but,
[Adrian: Raziel]
“Stereotypical.”
[Kazerin: Marya Morevna]
“Eh?” Zeifar muttered, “I thought she would go for the witch.” She’d expected Kazerin to go for Baba Yaga—not a warrior Stellar, Kazerin’s sub-Category was witch, after all.
“Wow, most of them picked based on stereotypes.”
Ethan had Princess Bari, and so on. And she also had Cyrus, with Aphrodite.
“Dammit, just when I needed to know their Stellars,” she really wanted to know Danielle and Lauraleith’s Stellars, “…” It made her remember that they’d left.
Of course, it truly did not matter that much. In a broad perspective, she was a stranger to them; they were not close to each other, they had only maybe bonded a little due to the terrible experiences of almost dying together. Zeifar knew they probably found her behavior and tactics apathetic, maybe even heartless and weird—who wouldn’t find an underworld-company’s boss weird? Someone who could kill that easily, she wasn’t likable anyways.
Still, an annoyingly loud and childish part of her felt mad. It wanted to scream at them, as why they would leave—why they wouldn’t just tell her what the problem was. Why did they have to leave like this? She really wanted to know. But she couldn’t do that, at least not when there were still so many people relying on her.
“Are you alright?” a sleepy voice asked.
She looked up at Mika, who was squinting at her notebook with his eyes still half asleep.
“Mhmm, perfectly fine,” she answered, turning the table lamp off, “Go back to sleep, it’s fine.”
“You don’t seem fine,” he replied, staring at her.
“…I don’t?” she asked, distastefully, “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“I heard most of the things that guy said, so why’re you acting?”
She gave him a tired stare without answering for a while. When she did answer, all she said was, “I just need time to process it,” and returned to work.
Mika frowned. Overloading yourself with work to distract the mind from emotions, it was a really stupid coping mechanism. Nothing about this woman ever made any sense.
He flicked the lamp off again, “You should sleep.”
“Don’t order me around,” Zeifar sighed, switching it back on.
“I’m not. It was advice,” he replied, turning it off again.
“Alright, I heard it, now go back to sleep.”
“Mademoiselle, why must you be so difficult? If you die before the next Rounds, do you know what a big loss that would be? And from lack of sleep, at that, you’d become a joke!”
Zeifar gave him a confused look and replied, “Who said I’ll die?”
He took in a deep breath, “If you keep on staying awake, nobody will need to say it, you’ll die before they can!”
“Huh…” she sighed, “I really won’t.”
Mika was on the verge of giving up, “You can’t keep overworking yourself like this. Isn’t the whole reason you’re holding back your emotions because there are people relying on you? What’s the point if you get yourself sick?”
“…I don’t know either,” her voice became quieter,
“I don’t even know if they’re relying on me or not.”
“What do you mean?”
Her eyes glowed even in the dark, but they looked tired, “To be reliable, you need to be strong…I doubt I’m like that.”
She doubted if she was even worth being kept as a teammate. What had she really even done to help anyone?
“Your worth isn’t decided by how useful you are all the time you know,” he sighed, trapping her in a hug out of nowhere, “If you have no self-worth, it won’t matter what others think.”
“…self-worth?”
“Honestly, why do you even care about so many people’s opinion?”
She didn’t reply for a moment.
Why would she not care for them?
“Why does it matter what anyone besides you thinks about you?”
“It doesn’t,” she answered, not letting go.
“Then what’s making you act like this?”
“Well…I…” she didn’t know what to say.
Mika held her face up, eye to eye, “Zeifar Nadir.”
“…yes?”
“Is that what your name is?”
Two deep, emerald green eyes looked right into hers, glowing like something divine almost.
“Yes?” she replied.
“You don’t sound sure enough.”
“It’s my name.”
“There is nobody more important than you. No one.”
Zeifar blinked.
“…not even you?” there was now a smirk on her face.
“Not to me.”
“But I can’t say the same,” it took Mika exactly 5 seconds of processing to realize what she was doing.
“Mademoiselle…” as red as his face was—could she not do that when he was just saying good things??? Why was she so unserious??? He wanted to cry.
“What? Keep saying the praises, I like them,” two amused orange eyes leaned closer, “Go on.”
“You—seriously,” he couldn’t even move away. Not when those eyes of hers were holding him in place.
And words had suddenly become very hard to pronounce.
“Pff,” Zeifar moved away, “You’re cute, pretty-boy.”
“Ah…” could she really not? He wanted to quit his job really badly all of a sudden.
Mika sighed.
He’d lost all of his sleep.
“What? If you keep looking at me all cute I might have to kill you—it’s distracting.”
‘WELL IF YOU STOPPED FLIRTI—’
****
The name on the call glowed lightly in the dark room, ‘09’.
“Number 11, did you get in?” the woman on the call asked.
He sighed, “I did.”
“Good. Were they suspicious?”
“I’m not sure. I can tell you tomorrow, after I meet all of them.”
“Don’t forget your main job—”
“To kill. I know, I know.”
“Good.”
****
Danielle sat in her room, lost in thought.
She really had run away. There was no going back now, so there was no point in sulking anymore. A part of her still felt the guilt,
“But we were strangers anyways,” she sighed, pouring herself tea.
The new team, or guild, was much more different than how she had been living during the 1st Round. The make-shift team they had been in was not really a team, it had nothing standard about it. There weren’t even any rules.
Even her room felt more like her own.
It certainly didn’t have all the comfort of a room in an expensive mansion where maids would do all the work—but the hotel was far more advanced and felt less annoying. She really couldn’t understand Zeifar’s obsession with sticking together, it was a complete waste of time.
Yes, Zeifar had definitely been caring, which this place lacked quite a bit. Nobody spoke out of work related topics, and Danielle and Lauraleith were rarely included in any conversations. But other than that, most of the things here felt much more comfortable. And much more beneficial, considering they actually paid her for things.
And to Danielle, Zeifar felt like someone hiding under a mask—the girl didn’t feel like a real person. She couldn’t be a real person. Everything Zeifar did felt like an act, something filled with hidden intentions—and in most cases, it had turned out to be quite so.
‘She knows too much, I wonder just how much that is,’ Danielle wondered in the silence.
It made Zeifar an annoyance, too.
“I suppose that makes the job easier,” she sighed.
*****
“What now?” the voice asked over the phone.
“Mo—no wait, you know—uh,”
“Cyrus, what is it?” Zeifar asked, sighing. Why did so many people think of her as a mom?
“I think those morons are living in my neighborhood.”
“…okay, so?”
“No, it’s weird. I’ve been seeing them outside the café for days now! Usually, whoever comes around stays or drops by for some food, but they never enter, they only glance inside. Though they’re clearly living here!” he rambled, “That’s weird, right?”
Hearing a 16-year old boy complain about people not going into his café was rather funny. But it wasn’t just that. Zeifar walked around the front of her house, the front garden, watering the plants, “Did you see any of them around you when you were leaving the café the day you visited?” she asked.
“Ah, I’m not sure,” Cyrus answered, “But maybe?”
“That’s the most likely. They probably figured out you know me,” she said, “Lauraleith always said I have a habit of collecting important things.”
“You’re making me sound like a collectible card,” he mumbled.
Zeifar only laughed and hung up, going back to watering the plants.
The situation in Dubai had calmed down a bit—it didn’t mean there would not be more Rounds, but it was somewhat better. The reason could have been either that the people had adjusted, more than half the population were gone, or both.
It was probably both.
Ever since the declaration that Danielle had left, the house had been silent. Her team’s reactions made it clear that they had expected something like this, so she couldn’t really understand why they were avoiding interactions so much. Were they that worried about stressing her out?
“That’s kind of sweet though,” she smiled to herself, staring at the daisies in front of her. Daisies were very pretty flowers.
Her phone buzzed again. This time it was a text from Mika, who didn’t really text much, but since he had a fake persona now, it was best to get used to it.
‘Cameras back on.’
That was it, that was the entire text.
‘Ok’ she typed back. Seen.
‘Rude.’ He replied.
‘What????’
Instead of any further explanation, he sent her the emoji of a cat.
“…” was he really a grown man?
Zeifar sighed and typed, ‘watering plants ttyl’
‘you look after plants too?’ he asked.
‘ ‘Too’?’
‘children and plants’
“WHY DOES EVERYONE REFER TO THEM AS MY CHILDREN?!” she yelled out loud.
[Many Stellars are laughing hysterically.]
“It’s not funny!” she pointed at the sky, not really sure where the cameras were but they were somewhere for sure.
The System managed to answer her frustration with something somehow much worse.
[Master, it is because of your Skill!]
‘What now?’
[Your Skill of ‘Mirror Void’!]
‘What about it?’
[One of its automatic effects makes those you care about see reflections of the people they love most!]
She froze.
“Huh?”
****
“She was okay until now…” Adrian muttered.
Ethan took a bite from his sandwich and stared at the locked door upstairs.
Zeifar had been normal, but something felt off when she had returned from the garden.
“Did you do anything to anger her?” he asked.
“What? No, why the hell would I? We’ve all been making sure she doesn’t get mad,” Adrian answered. It was true, they had all been acting extra careful to make sure nothing angered Zeifar—an angry Zeifar was the last thing they needed.
Adrian sighed and took a car key from inside a cupboard.
“She keeps them in a cupboard?” Ethan asked.
“There’s too many, so,” Adrian made a face, “I suppose a cupboard is suitable.”
Ethan looked into the little place. Just how many could it be to need a cupboard? 10?
He felt his jaw nearly on the floor.
There were so many his eyes hurt—and they were color coded.
“This…” he felt like he was having a stroke.
Adrian smirked, “I don’t think I should take you to the garage.”
****
This feels more like a car show-room, not someone’s garage.”
“We’re taking this,” Adrian pointed at a black limo, “It’s,” he yawned, “The easiest to drive.”
“How many cars does she have?” Ethan wondered, as Adrian drove out through the house’s gates.
“Dunno’, she’s a big fan of them, but apparently some belong to her sister,” the other answered, “She once…bought my mom one.”
“Huh?!” Ethan asked.
“For my mom’s birthday,” Adrian awkwardly said.
How did she have that kind of money?
Adrian glanced at Ethan, he knew what the other was thinking.
“It is what you think, there’s nothing we can do,” he sighed, “Honestly, I think it’s good. Guaranteed safety, you know.”
Ethan nodded a little skeptically, “But safety as well as danger, isn’t it?”
“How so?”
“Well, what if someone who wants to hurt her targets us?” Ethan asked.
“I doubt it’ll happen,” Adrian replied.
Ethan gave him a questioning look.
“We’re too strong for that,” the blondie laughed, “Besides, she’s not the only one with brains in our team,” he had a very concerning grin, “We’re here, let’s go.”
****
Cyrus had been living in peace even through Rounds, the café was still in business too—but he never expected his ‘master’s’ random minions to show up.
“Why are you two…” he made an annoyed face, “Oh, it’s for my stalkers.”
He wasn’t completely sure he remembered their names, all he remembered was that the blondie was strong and the tall one was Korean and unreasonably attractive. Unlike his twin sister, who was a Royale fan, he used to be a Mantis fan.
“You’re smart for a Mantis fan,” the Korean snorted.
“Hey--!” he could not even argue.
The blondie rolled his eyes, “Drop it, Ethan.”
‘Ok, Korean guy is Ethan,’ Cyrus thought.
‘Nah I don’t want to,’ was the look on Ethan’s face, but he sighed and accepted it.
“How did you know I’m a Mantis fan—well, I was,” Cyrus corrected.
“I saw you back when I was in Mantis,” the blondie answered.
Cyrus squinted. If he was a Mantis racer, he definitely knew this blondie…his eyes opened wider, “Wait, are you Adrian???”
“…you just noticed that?” Adrian asked, but the candy-hair boy in front of him was suddenly too hyper to answer, “OH MY GO—SIGN ME!!!!” he shoved a pen and paper to him.
Adrian blinked, extremely confused by the reaction.
Signing the page, he looked at Cyrus, “How did you not recognize me?” he asked.
“Oh well,” Cyrus motioned to Adrian’s face, “You used to look more…how do I put it…” he waved his hands around in the air, “…more cutesy?”
“Eh?”
“No…more timid? Like,” Cyrus just really couldn’t find the right word for it, “Yeah, you were more, like, softie.”
Adrian stared at the boy, open-mouthed with a disgusted look on his face, as he could hear Ethan snickering next to him— “Ow!” Ethan hissed, the guy had kicked him on the ankle.
****
“Were you softie, Adrian?” Ethan asked, clearly making fun of him.
“No, it was a fake persona the company gave me to play because apparently I have the looks to be an actor,” Adrian monotonously answered. Ethan made a face as he sipped his coffee, “It’s almost like the K-pop industry man, you’re a singer but the company wants you to do everything, but here instead of singer you’re a racer.”
“Wait, seriously?” Adrian asked. The other nodded “But fortunately there aren’t stalkers here,” he sighed in relief, to which Adrian gave him a ‘tf’ look, “What do you mean there aren’t stalkers here?”
Ethan stopped mid-sip and looked at Adrian, alarmed.
“Some chick broke into my hotel room through the balcony once,” Adrian casually laughed, then noticed the look on Ethan’s face. Then the realization hit him, “Oh right, you’re terrified of being stalked…”
Cyrus interrupted their conversation, “Uhm, I don’t know what you guys are talking about but…I see them,” he said, putting a plate of macarons in front of them.
The other two turned around at the same time.
It was best to stay out of it, Cyrus decided, after seeing the sudden flare burn up in their eyes,
“I’ll…be here if you need anything,” he muttered as he watched them walk out, “Oh gosh.”
****
Danielle blinked, a little surprised.
“So, how’s the job, Dan?” Adrian asked, his face blank.
“…pretty good,” she replied, sharing a look with Lauraleith.
They had gotten caught while tailing—it wouldn’t be easy getting out.
And with the looks on Adrian and Ethan’s faces, they doubted this would end easily.
“That can’t have been all you were here to say, Adrian,” Lauraleith sighed, her voice without a hint of emotion. She didn’t even want to speak.
“It wasn’t, but…” Ethan looked them up and down, “I don’t think it’s necessary anymore,” he said distastefully.
Lauraleith nodded, starting to get a bit annoyed, and spoke into an earpiece, “Number 08, need backup.”
Ethan gave Adrian a look and mouthed, ‘Number 08?’ The other had a complicated expression on his face.
“Backup here,” a tired male voice said.
Ethan turned around—he was face-to-face with a man shorter than him, but somehow scarier.
It wasn’t a funny sort of scary. This man had an aura of intimidation around him, someone who seemed too strong to be any normal person with abilities.
Sparks of bright purple surrounded Ethan as he stepped back, his eyes wide, “You’re not from here.”
He smiled, a smile which didn’t reach his eyes, “Just noticed?”
A blur of black shoved into his shoulder before Ethan could even blink.
‘WHAT THE FU—’
He looked at his arm.
The guy had hit his arm, quite accurately too.
Then he noticed.
Adrian was nowhere to be seen either.
‘BANG!’
His eyes shot up—oh.
Right at the middle of the road, it looked less like a road and more like a war-front. A war in which Adrian was somehow fighting two people and still managing quite well. But how long would he?
“Well,” Ethan sighed, calming himself down, “I hope Zeifar will forgive me.”
****
A hand grabbed Agent 08’s face from behind.
“My apologies, sir,” a loud thud followed the words, and the world began to spin violently. Through blurry vision, the last things he saw were two electric, emotionless purple eyes surrounded by sparks.
“What the…” he mumbled, nose bleeding, “They only said the girl was a problem…”
Nobody had said anything about two boys.
Ethan wiped his hands on his jacket, his face blank again, “The other two?”
“Ran off,” Adrian answered, breathing heavily.
It hadn’t been easy, but it had ended fast.
“He’s alive right?” Cyrus asked, watching the two tying a masked man, dressed in all black, to a street lamp.
“Yeah, but he’ll be out of it for a while,” Adrian answered, “You really could’ve gone easier on him,” he told Ethan.
Ethan remained silent.
He didn’t know why he had gone so overboard either.
It had felt like a rush of adrenaline so strong he could get drunk—it was like getting charged by lightning. Bright adrenaline, electricity at its glory. As if his powers had completely taken control of him…
Ethan stared at his hands.
The powers had not taken over anything. They had simply gotten to his head.
A simple human suddenly getting ‘supernatural’ powers—becoming full of yourself was easy. Even he felt like he could do whatever he wanted, especially with the intensity of his abilities increasing after the Rounds had begun.
“You okay there?” Adrian asked him, worried.
“How the hell exactly did we get these abilities before the Rounds?” he asked.
Adrian made a face, “I’ve never thought of it…”
“There’s no one who would know either,” Cyrus sighed, not really understanding either.
Adrian nodded, “Let’s go home. I got a somewhat idea of the situation.”
****
“You said we only need to worry about the girl, Number 12,” 09’s voice was cold, piercing even on a call.
Lauraleith flinched, “My apologies, I did not know they both had such abilities.”
“What I saw from here, even a child would be able to tell how inferior you are to even the likes of those two boys. That tall one, he took down Number 08. Do you know what that means?” The voice got even colder.
Danielle sighed, taking the phone from her, “We know what it means, 09. We apologize for the lack of competence.”
“There’s no point in acknowledging your incompetence now, Number 14. I need to call the seniors,” 09 sighed, hanging up.
They both knew why 09 sounded so stressed.
If Ethan could take down 08, he could take down most of them. After all, the numbering system was based on how strong you were.
If 08 was down, 09 was nothing.
And everything above 08 was considered a higher-up in their guild, it would cause trouble to get them involved.
09 sighed, rubbing her temples, “13, get me another glass,” she waved her glass to a junior.
She watched as 13 took the glass and poured more wine into it. He was rather young, a pretty good face too.
“Say, what was your actual name?” she asked.
13 smiled shyly, his face looking even nicer with a smile, “I don’t think it’s that important, ma’am.”
“Oh, come on now, I simply asked to get to know you better,” 09 urged, “It isn’t that personal, right?”
13’s shy smile got shyer, “Well…it’s a really basic name so…” he cleaned a glass with a towel. Ever since joining, he’d basically been a bartender for these people—never really showing much abilities.
“Well, what is it?” 09 asked, getting woozier from her countless glasses of wine.
Her vision got blurrier, she was falling asleep on the bar-table, whether from the wine or something else…that nobody knew.
13 continues cleaning glasses, his eyes now locked onto the half-asleep 09, the shy smile had faded off.
“Tsk,” oddly white teeth grinned out,
“Dam…hmm,” he sighed, “My name’s Damian,” he whispered, in a foreign language.
09 couldn’t see much, her vision was too jumbled.
As the last bits of consciousness disappeared, the last things she remembered seeing were two deep, terrifying orange eyes.
*****