SYNDROME still blames his brother Blake as to why he was seated at the backseat of the van beside the most talkative person he had met in his life– Aries. Had it not for his blasted brother, he would have been in Europe right now for the Summit– a very special gathering for someone in his position. And he happened to be a VIP in the kind of world he lived in.
Now he regretted not breaking at least one of Blake’s bones before he left the mountain. His brother wouldn’t die from a broken arm, would he? That would have been a good consolation for the misery he felt at the moment.
Annoying brothers could really tempt one to be a murderer.
“You know, Syndrome, it’s really an honor to work with you– the Hunter Clan Head,” Aries said cheerily while he was fixing his shoulder-length dark hair in front of the compact mirror in his hand. This laidback person was the Questor Clan Head and despite his carefree attitude, he held the same position and power as him. “I hope this mission improves the relationship between a Hunter like you and a Questor like me. You’re aware that people in our world think that our clans are rivals, aren’t you? I’ve always wanted to end that issue so I’m really happy that we get to work together–”
“Aries.”
“Yes?”
“I am very close to snapping your neck– you talk too much.”
If the person that pissed him off valued his life or had a functioning brain at least, then that person would shut the fuck up.
That meant Aries ignored his threat.
“Syndrome, Syndrome, Syndrome,” Aries said while smiling and gently shaking his head. “You haven’t changed at all– you’re still a stick in the mud.”
Instead of talking back, he just glared at Aries’ compact mirror. He released a small amount of aura enough to break the mirror using his mind. “If you don’t shut up, I will really kill you. I don’t mind getting imprisoned as long as I shut that big mouth of yours for good.”
Aries just rolled his eyes at him. With a simple flick of his fingers, the broken pieces of the mirror started to float in the air. Then the broken pieces came together to fix themselves. Except that the cracks were still visible. That flaw seemed to upset Aries because he threw the mirror away and turned to him with a frown. “If you’re going to kill me, at least let me kiss you first. Just one kiss, Syndrome. It will surely change your life.”
He just frowned at that. “You really have a death wish, don’t you?”
Aries just smirked, then winked at him. “I’m going to die one day for some reason anyway, baby. At least, I want my death to be worth it. I want to die happy.”
He just let out a sigh.
If a different Questor was in Aries’ place, that person would have surely been too scared of him to even utter a word. But his intimidating look did not affect Aries– a fellow Clan Head of the Fourth Order– the secret society where they came from.
But aside from sharing the same position and equal spiritual power with Aries, there was another reason why the Questors’ Clan Head wasn’t afraid of him: they had actually known each other since they were toddlers.
And most importantly, they were connected by a tragic past that molded who they were today. So no matter how annoying Aries was, it would never be enough for him to seriously injure him… well, he hoped so.
Geoffrey, the driver, cleared his throat to get their attention. The old man was a Medium and his job was to accompany them for that certain mission. “Boys, we’re here.”
“Finally!” Aries said in relief. “I can’t wait to meet my fans!”
Again, Syndrome just rolled his eyes. He suddenly felt sick in the stomach when he took a peek in the window and saw a crowd awaiting them outside the van. Worse, most of the people out there were girls– loud, screeching girls to be precise.
Unfortunately for him, the location of the shoot today was an elite academy. So of course, this place was filled with students. Actually, these students were close to his age but they were humans so naturally, he didn’t like them.
Anyway, Aries’ clan posed as teen TV hosts as a “front.” Today, the Questors’ Clan Head came with his other celebrity clan members: Althea, Therese, Gabrielle, and Calum. Together, the five of them hosted a reality show called Fearless.
The program was about the live “exorcism” of vengeful ghosts that posed as a threat to humans and would also damage properties sometimes. For most of the viewers, the show was only scripted. Most of the shows’ fans were only charmed by the good-looking young hosts.
What those idiots didn’t know was everything was real. Aries and his clan members really exorcised all the ghosts that had been “featured” in Fearless. After all, it was the job of the Questor Clan to exorcise harmful ghosts and evil spirits.
Aries was the Questor Clan Head but driving away ghosts and spirits wasn’t his only responsibility. The Questor Clan was known as the “PR Team” of the Fourth Order. Meaning, posing as young celebrities was one of their ways to bring money to their society. The producers and fanatics of Fearless never failed to give a hefty amount of donation.
Anyway, he was starting to get bored.
If only Blake’s “episode” didn’t end up in him injuring Aries, he wouldn’t have come down the mountain to accompany the Questor Clan Head in this mission. But someone had to take responsibility. Since his brother was unstable, he had to do it.
“Syndrome, listen to me carefully,” Aries said in a tone that sounded like he was talking to a child. “The kids out there are ordinary humans so please, calm down. You can’t throw them in the air or break them like what you did to my mirror just because they’re noisy. And if they ogle you, just endure it. I mean, I see you almost every day and I’m still obsessed with your face. What more those humans that would see you for the first time? So chill, okay?”
He just rolled his eyes at the Questor Clan Head. “Whatever.”
Aries just gave him a satisfied smile. When he flicked his fingers, the car door opened on its own. Then, he put on his oversized sunglasses before getting off the van. As soon as he stepped outside, he greeted his fans. “Hi, fans! I love you, too!”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
He just shook his head before putting on his own sunglasses. Then, he quietly and swiftly followed Aries. The human bodyguards were doing a good job making sure that Aries wouldn’t get mobbed. But still, he needed to be close to the Questor Clan Head. After all, it was his temporary job to keep him safe.
A few moments later, he noticed that the crowd grew quiet. But instead of getting relieved, he just got annoyed even more because he felt eyes on him.
“Who’s that new guy?”
“I don’t know. But he’s really hot!”
“I can’t believe there’s someone who’s better-looking than Aries!”
“Is he an additional host for the show?”
“He must be! He’s crazy handsome!”
Syndrome rolled his eyes. Damn these humans for being shallow. If only they could see what he could, maybe they would stop being superficial and focus their attention on more important things.
Like slaying demons, for example.
But on second thought, do they care?
His train of thoughts got cut off when Aries went to greet the human director of the reality show. They talked about work stuff that bored the hell out of him. Until the old man started to talk about him.
“Your friend is really good-looking, Aries,” the director said while giving him a once-over. “Is he interested to be a host like you? I’m sure he’ll be an asset to the team.”
Aries just laughed it off. “Nah, Director. He’s only here to accompany me. Plus, he looks good but his personality is bland. He’d just scare off the viewers if he joined the cast.”
Syndrome just frowned. But if they weren’t in front of humans, he would have thrown this idiot in the air.
Thankfully, the director left them alone and let them get to the tent without further delay. The tent was protected by a strong spell that wouldn’t let humans outside hear anything from the inside. It was meant to give them privacy.
Once they were inside the tent, Therese and Althea stood up to bow to them.
Then, the Questor Clan started to discuss the request they accepted from Bluebell Academy– the school where they were currently at. Apparently, a violent ghost would pester the graduating students whenever they practiced the march in the gym. The lights would turn on and off, and according to the reports, strange noises could be heard from the broadcast room.
“Have you checked on this violent ghost?” Aries cheerfully asked his clan members.
“Yes, Sir,” Althea answered politely. “We are positive that it is a poltergeist.”
Syndrome frowned. A poltergeist was a violent ghost. That kind of ghost had the power to physically hurt humans.
But as far as he knew, the poltergeists were under the protection of the Third Order. But since poltergeists had the possibility of turning into an evil spirit, the Questor Clan of the Fourth Order had taken it upon themselves to deal with it.
“We have faced the poltergeist,” Therese reported. “He was one of the students from this batch who died in an accident just last year. We tried to talk to him but he was full of hatred. Also, he was strong enough to send us away.”
Aries suddenly turned serious. “Is there a possibility that this poltergeist could turn into an Undertaker?”
“Yes, Sir,” Althea and Therese answered in unison.
Then, Aries turned to Syndrome with an overly sweet smile. “Then, we have to move fast. Let’s not wait for this poltergeist to turn into an Undertaker. We wouldn’t want a Hunter to steal the spotlight, would we?”
Syndrome scoffed. “You can shove the limelight you’re so hungry for in your ass, Questor. We, the Hunters, prefer to do our jobs in the dark, thank you very much.”
“Uhm, we think we need your help, Sir Syndrome,” Therese said with a frown. “Aside from the poltergeist, we have another problem.”
His forehead knotted in annoyance. “And what is it?” Just before anyone could answer his question, he felt a strong presence that made his skin crawl in disgust. “Oh, if it isn’t a Stray.”
Aries laughed at his sarcasm. “It’s our job to eliminate it before it evolves into a demon, Hunter. But since I have an official mission, let’s divide the task. My team and I will take care of the poltergeist while you deal with the Stray.”
“Yipee,” Syndrome said sarcastically. “I can’t wait to work while I’m on vacation.”
***
SYNDROME was in a bad mood while walking to the gymnasium where Therese and Althea apparently locked up the Stray.
The Strays were the kind of evil spirits that were very close to turning into a demon called Undertaker– the nemesis of the Fourth Order since time immemorial. As a Hunter, it was his job to eliminate anything that could turn into an Undertaker.
But it wasn’t the stray that pissed him off– it was a human girl.
According to Therese and Althea, a female student got in their way when they were about to exorcise the Stray. Apparently, this girl was protecting the evil spirit.
He stopped in front of the double doors of the huge gymnasium. Right on that spot, he could already feel the evil aura of the Stray inside. It was trying to break free.
Of course, he wouldn’t let that happen. He raised his right arm and touched the mark on the back of his hand using his index and middle finger.
He had a mark of a chain around each of his fingers which was all attached to the hilt of the sword tattooed on the back of his hand. The blade had a shackle around it as well, and this chain was tied to the tattoo around his right wrist.
Ordinary humans couldn’t see his tattoo. Aside from Hunters like him, only the Clan Head had the mark. And that mark was a “license” to wield a weapon called ‘Soul Extension.’ Not everyone in the Fourth Order had a strong spiritual power to create it. The mark in his hand proved that he had the ability to do so.
Anyway, he was about to pull out his sword from his mark when he felt the presence of a human, effectively halting his activity.
“What are you doing here?”
He was prepared to give her the most sarcastic answer he could muster at that moment but when he turned to her, he got tongue-tied.
Jesus, the girl with a fake vibrant red, curly hair was freaking gorgeous!
Her fitted white T-shirt and skinny red jogging pants also showed off her curves in all the right places. She was probably the most beautiful girl he had ever laid his eyes on. But aside from her crazy good looks, her ‘fashion signature’ was also interesting. She wore a fingerless black glove in her right hand. She looked so chic with that.
Now he was suddenly grateful to his brother that became the reason why he was sent here.
Leaving the mountain has now become worth it.
He was once again distracted when the girl crossed her arms over her chest, emphasizing her ample breasts.
“What are you doing here?” the girl asked in an annoyed voice. “I thought I made it clear to your crew that this place is off the limits.”
“Change of plans, babe,” Syndrome answered mockingly. “We need to shoot in the gymnasium now.”
Therese and Althea already sent the request to the school. Unfortunately, they were yet to respond. But this red-headed girl didn’t need to know that.
“According to your permit paper at the moment, you are only allowed to use the auditorium hall for your shooting,” the girl reminded him coldly. “You can’t enter the gym right now.”
He rolled his eyes at that. “My team members are already talking to the principal to grant us permission to use the gym. I just want to take a look inside. After that, I’m leaving. I just need five minutes, okay?”
“The principal won’t grant your request because I said so,” she said haughtily. “My daddy is the biggest benefactor of this academy so they will do whatever I say. Now get out of here.”
He raised an eyebrow at that. And damn, he almost smiled. Almost. “Babe, do I look like the type of person who follows orders from just anyone?”
“Excuse me?”
“Get out of my face,” he growled lowly, then he bumped into her shoulder before he walked past her. “I don’t care how pretty you are. I still hate girls who think the dudes should tolerate and forgive them all the time just because they’re beautiful. Just like you.”
“W-What?”
He felt her march toward him with a threatening aura so he turned around to face her. Just in time to grab her wrist because she was about to slap him. For a human girl, she was quick. But he wasn’t an ordinary human so he caught her before her hand landed on his cheek.
He was about to smile triumphantly when suddenly, he felt like he was struck by lightning. And the bolt of electricity he felt came from the girl’s hand.
Syndrome was burned so he immediately let go of her. When he gave her a questioning look, he noticed that she looked like she was in pain, too. She must have been electrified as well. “What the hell?”