Somewhere – the inside of a room.
It was a very large baronial room. This room had several large pillars that kept the heavy ceiling from falling down. Everything, from the walls, to the floor, to the pillars and ceiling seemed to be made out of shinning gold. But the source of light in the room was not the shinning gold, but a small shinning orb floating close to the ceiling. The orb shone resplendently as it was floating in the middle of the room. Underneath the orb, stood a golden altar with a pitch-black cube on top of it. The cube was inscribed with ancient white texts on its surface. The texts didn’t seem to be from an existing language.
The value of the cube must have been unimaginable since it stood on top of a golden altar. But that wasn’t the only thing that described the value of the cube. The room was also very secure. Around fifty men equipped with golden armor were patrolling the room. They all wielded a golden Villanovan shield in one hand and a golden long spear in the other. All of them wore a muscle cuirass on their torso and greaves on their legs. The vascular, muscled arms of the guards were for all to see. The Thracian helmets on their head kept their faces clear, so that no intruder would escape their sight. The only things that were not made out of gold were the sandals on their feet and the red silk skirts around their waists. All of the guards were intimidating to the point that it could make anyone fall in to a cold sweat. They looked like a small ancient army you would only hear about in the old tales of Greece.
Suddenly the inscriptions on the cube started glowing.
None of the guards had noticed it. They were too busy scanning their surroundings.
The inscriptions started radiating more and more light until one of the guards couldn’t help but notice. The cube –– which now was not only glowing but also shaking –– made the guard’s mouth fall open.
Before the guard could react to what he was viewing, the cube started to elevate.
The pitch-black color of the cube was dripping of, as if it had been mere paint. The black droplets fell on the altar and disappeared in thin air. The glowing inscriptions detached themselves and started to circle around the cube. The underlying appearance of the cube was becoming more and more visible, until all the blackness was completely gone.
It looked like a box.
The box seemed to be made out of gold, with 1 gem on every surface. Each gem had a different color. As such, there were 6 different colors. Red, blue, yellow, green, white and black.
“MEN!....... The.. THE BOX HAS AWAKENED!”
The guard who had witnessed the whole process now was yelling with a voice full of panic. Drips of spit could be seen leaving his mouth as he tried to alarm the others.
The name of this guard was Heilas.
“Heilas, don’t be stupid. The box will be sleeping for another 430 years or so.” One of the guards said without paying much heed to what his comrade was telling him.
“Heilas, that’s not even funny.”
“Just shut up and do your job”
“Fool.”
The guards started rebuking their comrade Heilas one after another. What he said was something simply impossible in their minds. His words were illogical to the point it didn’t even made the guards look to see if he was telling the truth.
“Guys just look! You think I would joke around about something like that!?”
Heilas was frustrated by the reactions he had received from them, while he was only stating the truth.
A few of the guards started walking towards Heilas. They couldn’t stand his nonsense any longer. They had actually planned to punish Heilas as soon as they arrived at his side. But the closer they got to him, the more that thought seemed to fade away.
Their legs felt heavy upon reaching the location of where Heilas was standing. What they were looking at was too crazy.
“Dear gods!”
“How can this be.”
“Impossible!”
All of the guards couldn’t believe their eyes. It took them a few seconds to realize that what Heilas had been telling them, was indeed the truth.
A guard, with a red silk cape, appeared from behind a pillar and walked towards Heilas. –– The reason he was the only one with this feature, was because he was the guard-commander –– He grabbed Heilas by his shoulder and started speaking to him in a calm manner.
“Go to the ‘Apollo Family’ of the god Apollo and tell them that Pandora’s box has awakened.”
‘The Apollo Family!?’
Heilas quickly regained his composure after being surprised by the words of the guard-commander.
“Right away sir!”
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Amsterdam – West (Bortox Street)
“Ugh… where am I?”
Zack woke up in the middle of an ally which was filled with snow. The darkness of the sky was already fading away, and the chirping of birds could be heard echoing through the ally.
It was morning already.
Zack was mystified by the place he had woken up as he was wondering how he got here in the first place. As he tried to remember how he got here, he suddenly shot up and started feeling his stomach.
‘Huh… nothing?’
He saw the blood on his jacket, but there was no wound. It was impossible, he could have sworn that his wound was fatal. Afterwards he started fondling his face, but it was as smooth as the skin of a baby. The blows he had received last night seemed like an illusion.
‘Was I hallucinating?’
As he slowly got up, he felt that his body was very light. His sight was as sharp as ever, and with every breath he took he could feel the oxygen running through his blood system. He couldn’t remember the last time his body felt this good. As he was admiring the state of his body, he couldn’t help but wonder how much of what had happened last night was real.
The gangsters who robbed him and chased him. Were they real? The bright blue flames, the mysterious man, and the 2 supernormal murders he had witnessed. How much of it was real? For as far as Zack was concerned, all of it was illogical, so he chose to wright it off as a bad dream. Besides, he didn’t even have a scratch on him.
‘I probably got way to drunk and fell asleep on the street last night. Although… I don’t know how the hole and blood on my jacket came to be.’
Zack grabbed his cellphone out of his pocket to check the time. The screen had traces of dried blood on it.
[10:22]
“Dear lord! I’m Lucky It’s weekend.”
Zack dashed out of the ally, so that he could search for a public transport station. He felt very light on his feet while he was running.
Since he was not familiar with the area, he did not know where to start his search. After a short dash he realized that he would be getting nowhere at this rate. The most logical course of action would be to ask for directions.
Zack pondered a while about who he should ask for directions. It was not that the streets were empty, on the contrary, the streets were quite crowded for a regular morning in the weekend. But Zack was not someone who liked speaking to unfamiliar people. It was because he himself did not like to be bothered by strangers, that he felt this way.
After realizing that it was necessary to be a hypocrite in this situation, he chose to approach a man walking past him.
“Sorry sir, I don’t know where I am… could you tell me the way?”
The man analyzed him as if he was very suspicious. Zack was confused about the man’s behavior, but when he looked down he understood why the man was acting this way.
“Oh this?... This is eh.. fake blood. I just came from a play hahahahahaha”
Zack shot in to an awkward laugh.
‘What a bad excuse. Who would believe that?’
“Oh, is that so? Hahahahaha I was being suspicious for nothing. Where do you live?”
‘WHAT!? Is this man retarded?’
Zack was simply astonished by how quick the man standing before him had believed his lie. But he didn’t question the good will of the man and explained where he had to be.
~A hour later ~
Amsterdam - South (Zack’s room.)
His room looked like a typical student room. With a single bed in the corner of his room and a few clothes on the ground. Next to his bed stood a desk with a closed laptop on top of it. A half empty bag of chips could be seen lying next to the laptop. On his bedside cabinet stood a small night light which was giving off just enough light to make all of this visible.
*door opens*
‘Thank God Kemri’s asleep, he wouldn’t stop showering me with questions if he saw my jacket.’
Zack had walked to his room as stealthy as possible so that Kemri wouldn’t notice. Zack knew how nosy Kemri was and didn’t want to deal with him right now.
Zack took another look at the jacket he was wearing. He let out a deep sigh as he realized that he could count on one hand how many times he had worn it. While pondering, he took a glance at his bed and knew he needed to get some rest before worrying about buying a new jacket.
He took of his jacket and started changing. He put on small black shorts and a white shirt. This was basically his home outfit.
He threw his jacket under his bed, so that he could throw it in the trash at a later moment. His curly black hair had a nasty stench caused by dried sweat and dirty melted snow. –– The melted snow had come off the ground in the ally. –– He wanted to ignore the smell, but it was too strong.
He decided to head for the shower.
When he entered the bathroom, he could see his smooth facial skin in the mirror. He could remember he had a small scar and a zit on his forehead, but those were nowhere to be seen. The usual bags under his eyes had disappeared too.
He was too tired to pay attention to what he saw in the mirror and entered the shower.
*Pshhhh*
As the water was falling on his head, Zack started to think about his mom. He remembered the things de doctors had told him. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to deny reality again. Just as he was about to fall in denial again, he remembered the words of the blue-eyed man.
“Death is very real my boy.”
He couldn’t remember who these words were from, but he regained his composure because of them. He started to brainstorm about things he could still do for his mom within this week.
‘Maybe I could loan some money from someone…. A lot of money.’
But who could Zack possibly ask for money. Zack knew how to properly communicate with others if necessary but didn’t like the idea of making friends. For that reason, Zack didn’t really have friends, and neither did he have family. His mom had no brothers or sisters, and he didn’t know anyone from his dad’s family, let alone his dad. He didn’t know how he was going to get his hands on the money for the operation.
‘Maybe Mr. Han knows someone.’
Mr. Han was the owner of the restaurant Zack worked at. Mr. Han had many connections in town and was quite fond of Zack. That was because Zack was a hard worker. Zack knew that Mr. Han would surely know a lot of people with money. The question was, if any of them were willing to lend it to a poor student like him. He had to work today anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask. He held on to this thought as he was creating back up plans in his head.
After Zack finished showering, he studied for a while. He still had 1 test planned for next week. But as things were looking now, he would still be in a bad position even if he aced that test. Also, the stress he was feeling at the moment wasn’t helping him with his studying.
After studying for a while, –– or at least, trying to –– it was 14:00.
‘Time to head for work.’
After looking at the time, Zack changed his clothes, packed his bag and headed for the front door. He took one of his spare jackets of the coat rack and Before he got out of the house he could’ve sworn he heard Kemri shout something at him. But he had chosen to ignore it.
Zack felt the cold wind against his body. His spare jacket was not as thick as the one under his bed. It was a good thing that public transportation was still possible. He would’ve frozen if he had to walk.
Since the heavy snowfall of yesterday, trucks have been riding to salt the road. This caused all the snow on the road to melt instantly. This was the only reason why public transportation was still possible today.
As Zack was heading for the bus station, he couldn’t stop thinking about the strange dream he had last night. So many things were on his mind right now.
The bus arrived.
“Hello sir.”
“Hello, I want a ticket to the city-center.”
“Alright, that will be €4,-.“
“Hang on, one second”
Zack started going through the pockets of his jeans. He even checked his back pocket.
‘Where’s my wallet?’
A sudden chill fell on his body as he started thinking about his dream.
‘Calm down...it must be inside the jacket under my bed.’
Stolen novel; please report.
“Don’t worry about it, take a seat.”
He took the bus driver up on his offer. Zack didn’t like sympathy from others, but neither did he like being late for work.
“Thank you, sir.”
He took a seat in the back of the bus. He calmed his mind while riding to the center of the city, until he suddenly realized something.
‘How am I going to get back home?!’
Amsterdam - City-Center (Lotus Restaurant)
*opens restaurant door*
Zack could see Mr. Han standing behind the counter at the take-away. Mr. Han liked being on the work floor, so that he could see if the restaurant was running well himself.
“Good evening mr. Han!”
Mr. Han looked in Zack’s direction, at the same time a gentle smile appeared on Mr. Han’s face.
“Good evening Zacker”
‘Oh, he chose Zacker today...’
For some reason Mr. Han never called Zack by his normal name.
Mr. Han was a 50-year-old Chinese man. His stomach was chubby, but his arms and legs were thin. It was not your average body, so to say. He wore a white buttoned-down shirt, which he put inside his loose-fitting black pants. This made his belly stand out even more. His cheeks were slightly puffy, which resulted in his eyes seeming closed whenever he laughed.
Zack didn’t want to drop the bomb on him right away, so he chose to do it after work.
Zack headed for the kitchen where he had to do all kinds of chores, from washing the dirty dishes to cooking the dishes. His colleagues in the kitchen were all foreigners who could only speak Chinese. This made it easy for Zack to work hard, since nobody would strike a conversation with him.
The hours seemed to fly by as Zack was working his hardest in the suffocating heat of the kitchen. He did not even have the time to think about personal things. The restaurant was very busy today.
After Zack finally finished working, he changed clothes and left the kitchen.
He approached Mr. Han, who was sitting at a couch made for waiting customers.
“Zackery, thank you for your hard work today!”
“Anytime Mr. Han! By the way… can I ask you something?”
“Ofcourse Zackmaister”
‘Zackmaister?! Is this guy for real?!’
“Uh..uh yeah..., someone with such a big connection as you must know some loan sharks right?”
Mr. Han’s cheerful face suddenly went serious.
“Perhaps, why do you ask?”
Zack didn’t want to tell Mr. Han about his mom. He didn’t want Mr. Han to pity him, but he also didn’t want to lie to such a good person.
“Well... I..”
Mr. Han saw that Zack didn’t want to speak about it and he wasn’t planning to force him.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”
Zack let out a sigh of relief as Mr. Han continued speaking.
“But I have to disappoint you. The people I know can’t afford to loan money to... well.. a student who works at a restaurant. Unless you are asking for someone else of course?”
Mr. Han didn’t want to insult Zack, but he was speaking the truth. Loaning money to someone in Zack’s position would be a straight way to trouble.
‘I could’ve guessed this answer, but it was worth a try.’
“Yeah, you’re right Mr. Han, that wouldn’t make sense. Thank you.”
Zack answered in a light-hearted way, as to not let Mr. Han know that he was in a dire situation.
“Haha, don’t worry Zacko, I’ll higher your salary starting next week”
Even though that probably wouldn’t help him at all, Zack was relieved to hear Mr. Han react this way. It gave him the impression that his boss didn’t think much of his question about loaning money.
Zack headed home after paying goodbye to his co-workers. Since he didn’t have his wallet with him, he decided to take a sprint home. His body was feeling in top condition anyway.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Amsterdam – City-Center
Darkness had filled the sky, but the city lights kept the streets lively. The streets were filled with people either shopping or on their way to do a fun activity. This was the most popular region of the city-center. It was hard for cars to move through this part of town since the roads were so small, yet the sidewalks were enormous. Nevertheless, there were always cars trying to get through the thick crowd. This was a hard task since people tend to walk on the road, as well as on the sidewalk.
Three fancy looking cars were riding on this small road. Expensive cars were not a rare sight in the center of Amsterdam, but it still struck many with awe.
Inside the car that was riding in the middle, sat 2 figures.
“Compared to Apollo-city this human city is quite lacking, to say the least.”
These were the words of a young man sitting in the passenger seat of one of the expensive vehicles.
“Young master Marcus, to compare a human city like this to our capital-city is a bit too much don’t you say?”
The driver of the vehicle had responded to the young man in a formal tone. This was a middle-aged man wearing a black suit and an earpiece, which made him look like a typical bodyguard.
“Yeah, you have a point Boa.”
“It was simply my humble opinion young master.”
The young man called Marcus was quite displeased with the view outside the car window. He was someone who loved elegant things, but he could not find a trace of elegance in this city. Some of the old-fashioned buildings had caught his eyes, but they were ‘fairly alright’, at the most.
'Why do I always get send on missions like this? Father could have sent Gabriel or Victor on such a chore.’
After this thought his already displeased expression turned to one of annoyance, whilst his elegance remained.
When the driver saw the expression of Marcus trough his rear-view mirror, he moved his lips as if he wanted to say something. His mouth was somewhat open, but nothing came out. It looked like he was hesitating to speak. He closed his lips, braced himself, and chose to say it anyway.
“Pandora’s Box has awakened sooner than it should have, and the elders think that the owner lives in this city. Personally, I find it quite hard to believe, since this has never happened before in history. To top it all they have given young master Marcus the task of finding the owner of the box in this mediocre human city. With so many uncertain factors I find it quite distasteful that this task was given to one such as you. What are the young master’s thoughts on the matter?”
Boa had tried to say this as calm as he could, yet he could not hide the nervousness in his words.
Marcus’s expression took a change upon hearing the words of the driver. The words he heard from Boa were actually the same thing that had been on his mind since he was given this task last night. But to verbally agree to such words, would be the wrong thing to do in his position.
“I do not mind. If my efforts during this mission will be of value to my family, then I’m more than happy to oblige.”
“Of..Ofcourse! As expected of Apollo’s descended! Please do not mind the foolish words of my humble self.”
“It is okay. You mean goodwill.”
“You are too kind young master.”
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Amsterdam - South (Zack’s house)
When Zack finally arrived in front of his house, his forehead was moist. The only reason he wasn’t drenched in sweat, was the cold temperature outside.
‘I should run like this more often, it’s quite refreshing.’
From where Zack was standing he could see the lights in Kemri’s room were still on. This was a little strange since Kemri usually goes to the gym at this hour. But at the same time, Kemri also has a test next week, so it would be normal if he stayed to study.
He opened his jacket, so he could air himself out as he was walking to his door.
*mush* *mush* *mush*
‘Huh.. the door is still open. I’m sure I closed the door before leaving. — It must have been Kemri.’
*opens door*
“Hey Kemri! Watch the door next time, it’s freezing in here!”
There was no response.
‘Pff that guy must be wearing earplugs. Just wait till I get to your room you bastard.’
Zack took of his shoes and angrily headed for Kemri’s room. With all these things going on in his life right now, Kemri’s little mistake really rubbed him the wrong way.
As he took a few steps in the house, he heard a sound al of a sudden.
*Boem!*
It had come from behind. When he turned around to see where the sound had come from, he saw that it had been the door he had just come from. Next to the door however, stood a large man with muscular arms. The lights weren’t on, but you could see the man had a sinister grin on his face.
‘How did he get in? Because the door was open? Or was the door open, because he already got in?’
“Who are you?”
Zack tried to hide that he was alarmed as he asked this question.
However, he could no longer remain his composure when he saw 2 other figures appearing from out of the kitchen. The mere fact that strangers had snuck in to his house was already alarming enough, but what really made Zack jump out of his skin, was the familiar face he saw on one of these men.
It was Barry.
When he saw Barry, he realized the hopelessness of the situation. The only thing he was wondering, was as how he had gotten in this situation, and how much of what happened yesterday was real. Zack had many questions in his head but didn’t have the time to sort it out in his mind.
“Oh~? You’re looking pale boy… I’m surprised to see you’re still kicking.”
Despite his friendly way of talking, Zack knew that the person facing him was very cruel. Just thinking about what Barry did to him, made him extremely frightened. Zack held his stomach without realizing it, while the memories of being stabbed flashed through his mind.
“How..how did you get here?”
“Yeah you see… As long as I have this thingy here I can find anyone in this city.”
He pulled Zack’s I.D. out of his pocket while a smirk appeared on his face.
Zack felt very foolish for not checking his pockets when he had woken up in the ally. But it was too late for regrets now.
‘If this guy has my I.D., does that mean that everything that happened yesterday was real? No way, right?’
“Wh..Where is my roommate?”
When Zack asked this question, all of the men in the room seemed to laugh. This gave Zack a very bad gut feeling. What could’ve happened to Kemri?
Zack never liked Kemri, but he’d never want to involve a guy like him with bad people like this.
“Haha excuse us for laughing. We told him we were your friends and that we were just waiting here for you to come home, but he was asking to many questions. I don’t really have the patience to deal with people like him, so we roughed him up a little. – He should be resting in his room right now~.”
Barry talked like he was enjoying himself.
Zack knew that he had messed up big time. Not only did he get Kemri involved, Kemri might even be traumatized.
“Now let’s get down to business punk.”
Barry walked to the couch and made himself comfortable as the other 2 men were guarding the front door and kitchen. The only doors free, were the one to Zack’s room and the one to Kemri’s.
“Listen, that crazy friend of yours really f*cked us over last night. I don’t know how he did it, but he killed Dan and Franky. –– Not only did he kill them, he burned them alive. If you’re a local, then you must know what happens to people who mess with the Maharia. – He won’t die a slow death.”
Barry looked daggers at Zack as he continued.
“Gerald told me you two were talking together inside the pub. – Tell me where your friend is, and we’ll leave you alone.”
(Note: Gerald is the barkeeper in chapter 1)
That was an obvious lie. Zack knew that Barry wasn’t the kind of person to let people live after he messed with them.
Even if he told them the truth –– that he didn’t know the blue-eyed man –– would they believe him? These people weren’t the kind to take no for an answer. There really was only one option.
He had to run, there was no other option.
Without a moment of hesitation, Zack shot towards Kemri’s door at full speed.
When he opened the door, he saw a scrawny man with a knife with Kemri on his side. Kemri had bruises visible all over his body and one of his eyes was almost shutdown as a result of swelling. His breath was loud, for the reason that he couldn’t breathe through his bloody nose. Blood was splattered all over the room.
It was a horrific sight.
Zack was bewildered by the sight before him, but he couldn’t afford to stop his momentum. He grabbed Kemri’s arm and jumped out of the closed window, before the man with the knife could react.
*BAM!*
Pieces of glass spat out in every direction. He had been lucky that the windows in this house were made out of thin glass.
When Zack landed in the yard with some glass stuck on his shoulder, he picked Kemri up and put him on his back. Adrenaline was rushing through Zack’s body as he resumed his sprint.
He did not have time to look behind him to see if he was being pursued or not. His survival instinct told him that all he should think about was getting away.
During his sprint, he was experiencing something very weird. Somehow, Zack’s body still felt very light while he was carrying Kemri. Zack has always been athletic, but this was simply to astonishing. But in this situation, it was a blessing he did not have time to question.
Zack ran towards the large park in their neighborhood. He was planning to use the bad lighting in the park to lose his trailers.
*BBRRRRR!!!!*
The sound of starting engines came from behind Zack. He was feeling nauseous just by thinking about what the source of the sound could be. As he turned around he saw that it was as he feared. Barry and his men had come with motorcycles.
“Wooohoooo~ Keep running boyyy!”
Barry was yelling at Zack who was running at a fair distance. Barry didn’t care that this wasn’t his neighborhood. The Maharia had many connections, so he knew that if he would get caught by the police, he would be free in no time.
Zack heard that they were catching up, so he had to do something.
Focusing on the park ahead, he tried to run even quicker. He felt the wind whip his face.
‘What is this? How fast am I going?’
He still heard the motorcycles catching up, so he tried to kick it up a notch.
*WOOESH!*
Zack felt energy surging through his whole body. He quickened his steps until his steps became leaps. His heartbeat was accelerated and felt as if it would beat out of his chest. But Zack didn’t care, all he cared about was getting away as far as he could.
In the corners of Zack’s eyes, everything became blur because of the speed.
“Ey Barry, is that kid for real?! He could beat Usain Bolt with that kind of speed.”
(Note: Usain Bolt is the world’s fastest man known in sports.)
“Yeah, he’s fast alright! Too bad you can’t outrun a motorbike!”
The men were leisurely talking as they we’re chasing Zack and Kemri.
Zack had already reached the park but couldn’t afford to stop running. He continued to run at an astounding speed.
He was running like a mad man, as blood started to leave his nose.
Barry and his men were having a hard time avoiding the trees in the park. As such, it was hard to go at full speed. But with the speed they had at the moment, they could catch anyone who was on feet.
Or so they thought.
Zack was running through the forest side of the park on purpose. He knew the motorbikes couldn’t chase him at full-speed that way, because of the thick snow and trees. Even though that could be called a smart plan, he had absolutely no idea where he was running to.
The sounds of Barry and his men seemed to be getting closer and closer. They had adjusted themselves to the terrain and were avoiding the trees in an efficient way. The slips they were making on the snow looked controlled as they were using the momentum to avoid the trees. One could immediately see that these were experienced bikers.
As despair was catching up to Zack, he saw a huge fence ahead of him. This fence was made to show the end of the park. On the other side of the fence was the beginning of the city-center. That would mean a lot of people would be there.
Zack knew Barry was crazy, but he probably wouldn’t risk making a scene in the city-center. Zack knew he had to get on the other side, but the fence before him was 10 feet. There was seemingly no way to get to the other side quick enough.
“We got him Barry, it’s a dead-end over there!”
The words of one of Barry’s men had reached Zack’s ears. He could hear that they were very close, but he still refused to turn around.
He felt the warmth of Kemri’s body on his back and realized he was responsible for both of their lives.
He continued his dash without showing any signs of stopping. He pumped his legs, gaining momentum with each push.
*mush* *mush* *mush*
For the final push he lowered his waist and pushed of the ground with all his might.
*mush!*
“Woahh!”
The snow under his feet splattered in different directions as his body left the ground. His body kept going higher and higher and for a moment it felt like the thing called gravity did not exist for him.
When he looked down, he realized what had happened... but couldn’t believe his eyes.
He had taken a tremendous jump over the fence, with room to spare.
He could only be mesmerized over this feat for a split second, for his body was now going back down. Zack saw that the other side of the fence did not have any snow on the ground.
‘I’m gonna break my legs!’
*Bam!*
As his full weight landed on the concrete, blood shot out of his knees and ankles.
‘I can still stand?’
Zack didn’t feel any pain because of the adrenaline, and he knew he couldn’t stop here. Zack continued to run through the crowd in the center of the city. His speed was slowly diminishing as he was gasping for air.
Many people were shocked by the sight of 2 bloody youngsters running through the city, but nobody wanted to get involved.
He chose to go down an ally so that they wouldn’t be out in the open. This was considering the fact, that Barry and his man might still chase them. He put Kemri down in the snow and took a seat next to him.
He saw the terrible state Kemri was in and felt a surge of regret. He wanted to get him treated right away but he was not able to. He was barely able to move a muscle at the moment.
*pant* *pant* *pant*
Zack was out of breath and completely drained.
As small raindrops started falling out of the sky, Zack’s eyes became blurry. He felt his consciousness slowly slipping away until he heard something.
In the corner of his eyes he saw a silhouette of someone approaching him. He wanted to stand up, but he couldn’t control his body. All the energy he had surging trough his body not long ago, was now replaced with burning pain.
The silhouette came closer.
“Hey, you. –– Who taught you how to use Energeia?”
This voice belonged to neither Barry nor his men. This voice was too elegant to belong to one of them. Whose voice could it be?
“Can’t answer? No wonder… You used more Energeia then your body could handle. Whoever taught you must be an amateur.”
As the person was scolding him about something Zack had no knowledge over, the blur in Zack’s eyes was lessening. He now could see who was talking to him. It was someone he had never seen before.
It was a blonde adolescent who looked like a foreigner. His hair was sleek and swept to the side. He had fine facial features and eyes that looked like gold. This man looked like the personification of the word ‘handsome’. From his face to top-down this guy looked tidy, wearing a white coat, and expensive-looking white boots. He carried himself in a graceful way, which kind of made him look like a snob.
Before the mysterious visitor could continue speaking to Zack, another person appeared from around the corner.
“Daaaamnn~.. You really gave us a run for our money brat, but no one can escape the Maharia in this city.”
Barry had a bright smile on his face. He had enjoyed the chase. He found pleasure in feeding people despair. Money was only secondary to him. When he saw Kemri and Zack laying on the ground, covered in blood, he was more than amused. Since it meant that all of Zack’s efforts until now had been in vain.
The other 3 men, who were chasing Zack together with Barry, also came from around the corner.
The gold-eyed stranger looked at Barry from the corner of his eyes in an intimidating way.
“I am conversing with this boy at the moment. Leave, and I will overlook your insolence.”
“Leave? I’m meeting a lot of people who are full of themselves lately. – Listen punk, those guys over there are our prey, don’t meddle in our business unless you want to end up like that. I’m not really in the mood to discipline a sissy like you.”
The stranger, seemingly unaffected by the insults, pointed at Kemri who was laying on the ground.
“Are you telling me, that the injuries on this human were done by you?’
“Yes~, now beat it before I change my mind.”
The stranger looked like he had understood something as he furrowed his brows.
“No, I think that I changed my mind. None of you are leaving.”
He took an extremely fast dash towards Barry and his men.
He had closed the distance in an instance.
*Pow!* *Pow!* *Pow!* *Pow!*
Each of them had received a blow on their chin before they could even react. This made their brains shake and almost made them loose their consciousness.
Before they even realized what happened, the stranger put his slender fingers on top of his temple, which gave off the impression off him thinking very hard.
{ Python Burst }
An invisible wave came out of the stranger’s body and enveloped the whole area around him. As soon as the wave came in to contact with the body of Barry and his men, foam started coming out of their mouths and they collapsed in to the wet snow on the floor.
Once again Zack was laying in the middle of an ally while supernormal events were unfolding before his eyes.
The stranger took slow and graceful steps towards Zack.
“It seems humans never change.”
“Who are you?” *cought* *cough*
Zack used his last bit of strength to ask the question that had been swirling in his mind since the stranger had appeared.
“You use Energeia, one of the 4 styles of the Dao. Surely after my technique just now you should know who I am.”
He spoke with much confidence. But when he saw Zack’s puzzled face, he felt a bit of shame. He quickly composed himself.
*cough*
“I am named Marcus Meraculus Phoebus Apollo, 4th child and 3rd son of god Apollo.”