The Ace

by Majestroke

  “Quinton!” she exclaimed.

  Her brother stepped out from the shadows. Revolving around his arm were two Scavengers, each reflecting the face of Quinton contorted with rage.

  “I’ve had enough of your drama,” he growled. “You had the nerve to kidnap my little sister in the presence of me?”

  Ace, who was aiming the pistol at Diana, pointed it to Quinton.

  “Don’t be stupid enough to act so suddenly. I am quick with my hand. One second is enough for me to shoot both you and your sister.”

  “And one second is more than enough for me to throw these Scavengers away and pull your brains apart.” Quinton snapped.

  “I think time isn’t the matter here,” Ace pointed out. “I am currently holding your sister hostage, so I am at advantage here. Besides, I don’t see any fault in what I did. You were the sneaky one to bring out a fake copy of your father.”

  Quinton kept a step forwards. Ace followed suit and aimed his pistol back at Diana.

  “You think I’ll be crazy to send our old man to a psychopath like you?” Quinton snapped. “We are being hunted like dogs. And I don’t know the reason. Amid all of this do you think we’ll be bold enough to bring father into the open? If he’s dead all is lost.”

  “You are talking like you are the good person here,” Ace said. “Only I know what dirty tricks your old man pulls behind your back.”

  Quinton gritted his teeth and the Scavengers around him revolved around much faster. Diana knew her brother wasn’t stupid enough to attack with her in the nearby vicinity, but by the anger etched on his face, he wasn’t so sure.

  “Don’t you dare insult father-”

  “Or you’ll do what? Kill me?” Ace gripped Diana by her neck and pulled her closer to him. “Go on and try. Blast your sister with me you spineless moron.”

  “Q-Quinton,” Diana almost pleaded.

  Her brother at first seemed to consider the decision out of blind rage, but soon he retreated. He stepped back and the Scavengers revolving around his arm fell onto the ground.

  “Just tell me what you want from father,” Quinton held up his hands in defense. “I’ll try to do the best by assisting you in the place of him.”

  Ace released his grip on Diana. She fell onto the ground, her vision blurred and lungs choking for air.

  “Ask him a certain question. The orphanage fire—”

  Before he could speak another word, Diana pushed herself on top of him, releasing his pistol from his grasp. Both of them fell to the ground and Diana was greeted with a kick on her body, which sent her sprawling across the alleyway. Her brother rushed to her side, but by the time Diana had managed to get to her feet, Ace had risen up with the pistol pointed at them.

  Quinton opened his mouth to talk, but a shot was fired at them. Quinton let out an painful grunt as the bullet hit his shoulder, tearing his shirt and throwing him to the ground from the momentum.

  “Quinton!” Diana rushed to him. Another bullet whizzed past her and hit on the wall.

  “I don’t miss,” Ace said, heading towards them. “If I wanted to kill you that would’ve happened before you could blink your eyes.”

  Diana was losing her focus again. This was just like last time. Her brother was helpless and she was unable to do anything. If she only had……

  She blindly felt her brother’s hand gripping hers, and she felt waves of vibration flowing through her skin. Instantly, she figured out what Quinton was doing.

  He’s activating my magical crest.

  She felt the mana waves blowing through her again. Her eyes readjusted their focus.

  “Thank you Quinton,” she muttered as her brother’s hand went limp and fell down to the ground. “I won’t fail again.”

  “What are you saying?” Ace was only a few feet behind her.

  Ignoring him, Diana closed her eyes and directed all her energy to the inside of her body. The battle cries, her brother’s painful mutterings and Ace’s nonchalant voice faded from her ears to be replaced by the constant throbbing of her own heartbeat. She felt Ace’s pistol touching her head, but she kept concentrating. She felt her own soul - a mass of energy focused on the center of her body, the place where all her mana nerves connected themselves, the very essence of her.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Ace’s pistol poked harder. “I am not going to hesitate to shoot-”

  She blocked all signals from the outside and opened her third eye. From a much different perspective, she saw all three of them in the same plane. She felt each of their souls grasping their bodies like hooks, with Ace’s one more strong and steady. With all the energy Diana had, she directed her astral energy to Ace’s body and trapped his soul from her energy.

  She felt the pistol falling onto her lap, and as Diana opened her eyes Ace was desperately clutching his chest.

  “Do you know what my power is?” Diana spoke, her voice deeper and echoing with layers of mana. “I can control any person’s soul. I can even kill them.”

  She wished she could just do what she said. She hated Ace so much she simply wanted to tear him limb by limb. He nearly killed her brother twice, trapped her and traumatized her inside a cage and took her around everywhere like a newfound bitch……

  Ace knelt down, his hands desperately clawing for his body. Blood flowed down from the hood.

  Diana felt her taking control of his body, his muscles and even his very nerves and heart. She could pull out all the veins running to his heart and call it a victory but no matter how much Ace traumatized her, she didn’t want to cross the line. If she killed him, she’ll be a murderer, and that’s a path where she can never turn back from.

  “Never ever come hurting us,” she warned, snapping one of Ace’s arms. For her regret, she enjoyed Ace’s screams. They seemed to be more painful than the ones she threw out inside the cage. “Never again.”

  She threw his body like a sack of useless meat to one of the walls. Several bones crack from the impact, and Ace’s screams died along as he fell onto the ground without any motion.

  Diana felt her brother’s arm on her again.

  “We need to go,” he muttered, desperately trying to stand up. “The military will be here soon.”

  Diana lost her concentration and fell onto the ground. That was the risk of using her power. If she used too much, she had the tendency to get dragged in to the Soul Plane forever.

  “Are you okay?” she asked her brother, who was desperately clutching his bleeding shoulder.

  “This can wait. We need to move.”

  Diana looked one last time at the motionless figure of Ace. A pool of blood had already formed around him. His mask was half down but the hood covered his face.

  “I know what you are thinking,” Quinton nagged. “We don’t have time to see who he is. Let’s leave the authorities to find him. We are both in no state to fight, and I don’t want to lose you again.”

  Diana nodded and swung her hand around her brother’s free shoulder. Now that she had finished using her power, she felt waves of nausea drowning over her again. They moved their bodies slowly and staggered along the alleyway, leaving a nearly dead Ace behind.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Underestimation

  “Both me and Travis were worried,” Quinton said as they trudged along. They were a few meters away from the alleyway where Diana took down Ace. “After today, you aren’t keeping a step out of the house until all of this is over.”

  Diana didn’t want to argue. This was the longest time she had spent without her brother. She was kidnapped, trapped and used as an hostage within a span of twenty four hours, and now she was with her brother back again.

  “I think I learned something you know,” Diana said. “For the first time I had something other than walking around in the town.”

  “Diana—”

  “I know, it was bad. And I’ll never forget the last few hours ever in my life, but it taught me something. Living holed up in the house isn’t what provides me pr
otection, it’s experience that gives any mage the protection she needs.”

  Her brother let go of her arm, causing her to momentarily lose balance before regaining it.

  “Don’t you dare talk like that Diana!” her brother snapped. “We risked this so much to save you. Do you know how much skilled people we had to sacrifice because of your incompetence.”

  Diana’s sense of placidness was slowly fading away.

  “I may be incompetent but I had the power to take down Ace.”

  “Because I activated your magic crest again unlike the last time,” Quinton gripped her by her shoulders. “Anyone who knows about the mage seal also knows about our weakness. Any skilled mage can deactivate the seal in an instant and then there is no use of our powers. You think you are competent? Any competent mage would protect his main weakness first, but you panicked! And that led us into all this mess. Don’t be stubborn and listen to what I have to say. You aren’t ready yet, you are just some novice.”

  “You know what?” Diana mused, pushing away her brother’s arms. “I really wish that Ace guy came back and kidnapped me again.”

  Quinton stepped back from her. Diana had aimed for his gut and it hit really well, but at the same time she felt the guilt overcoming her. The only one she got cocky with was her brother and Travis, because those were the people she knew from her birth, and the very moment she goes a fiery argument with them, she feels the guilt overcoming her.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized, trying not to meet Quinton’s eyes. “I overreacted.”

  “Sometimes you really act like a four year old.”

  Diana remained silent. This wasn’t the best place to start a fight.

  “Were you two fighting again?”

  Diana turned to where she heard the voice. A few feet ahead of them was Travis with his blazing sword, but his appearance wasn’t the same as usual. His clothes were tattered and there was a deep cut in his knee, with blood flowing down from the wound. His right hand was hanging limp and the arm was twisted in a funny angle.

  “What in the name of hell happened to you?” Quinton asked, clearly shocked by the change of Travis’s appearance.

  “The girl who fought me was a demon,” he said, spitting away some blood. “I couldn’t defeat her.”

  Diana checked if she heard correctly. Travis accepting defeat wasn’t on her things-that-happened-regularly list.

  “But most importantly,” he looked at Diana. “You are safe.”

  Diana, without asking for Quinton’s permission, dashed to Travis and kissed him deep in his lips. His skin was drenched with sweat and his lips were hot as hell but it didn’t matter to her. When she was with Travis, she always felt more confident and strong, and right now, those were the two things she needed the most.

  As she pulled back, Travis let out a gasp.

  “What was that for?” he asked, a small smile visible in his face.

  “Nothing,” Diana said, blushing a little. “Just think it’s some sort of a thank you.”

  She had only kissed Travis once before, and she was never bold enough to kiss him again. But after all the events that happened she felt like she had to do something she wanted. Perhaps as a compensation to the pain she had to undergo.

  She heard Quinton clearing his throat.

  “I thought that was forbidden.”

  “Who cares?” Diana slumped her shoulders. “I did a lot of forbidden things recently.”

  Travis smirked. “Did these things finally give you some courage Harth?”

  “Do not motivate her,” Quinton snapped.

  “I didn’t exactly motivate her,” Travis said, pretending to sound a little offended. “But I guess we could store this argument for some later time. All three of us are alive, and we need to get out of here soon.”

  “How many?” Quinton asked.

  Travis’s expression darkened. “Too much. We’ve never suffered this so much causalities. All our previous attacks were done while hiding in the shadows, but this time it’s like that bastard called Ace handed us right into the military.”

  “Wait,” Diana stopped in her tracks. “You are saying we are the only survivors?”

  Travis didn’t reply.

  “Even Angelica?” Quinton’s face fell. “Even her?”

  “Yes,” Travis muttered. “That bitch who attacked me - she is the one who killed most of us. Even Angelica.”

  Diana felt like she was trapped once again. All of them sacrificed their lives to save her. Perhaps Quinton was right after all. She was inexperienced. She didn’t even have the guts to kill Ace, while the military slaughtered her friends like cattle.

  She felt Travis’s hand on her shoulder.

  “There’s no point in breaking down. We just need to avenge them. Every one of them.”

  Up ahead shots were being fired into the sky. They heard the cheers of soldiers - cheers of victory.

  “I’ll make sure each of them are avenged,” Travis said through gritted teeth. “Those cheers……soon they’ll be wails of misery.”

  Diana looked at Travis. His face was dark, and he wasn’t exaggerating.

  ◆◆◆

  Adrian limped out from the alleyway. The sounds of battle had already faded away. He heard cheers of victory but for him those were cheers for his failure.

  “Fuck it!” he pulled out his mask and threw it to the cold stone floor. “All those planning and deducting…… only to be thrown away like a useless sack of meat.”

  He took a glance at his broken arm. Using his free hand he gripped it tight and concentrated. It took him a few seconds to feel the place where the fracture had occurred. He closed his eyes and concentrated harder and within a few seconds he heard a SNAP and an eerie vibration passed through his body. Without looking around, Adrian fell down, doubled up and threw up onto the ground.

  Unable to stand up, he fell down onto his own vomit, his clothes soaking from the bile. Slowly he lifted the arm he had broken. There was no pain, and he was able to move it again.

  At least I’m in one piece.

  But he didn’t know how much longer he could endure the pain. The insides of his body felt like jelly - the impact on the wall had broken more than a few bones. He was lucky not to have broken his spine.

  What did I do wrong? After all these years of planning what the fuck was wrong with my plan?

  His over embarrassed self was too adamant to admit it, but he knew the reason for his failure was just one word.

  Underestimation

  Just like he lost with mother. His pride always underestimated his enemy. Just because Diana was acting all weak and girlish didn’t mean her insides were soft. What Adrian saw in those eyes were pure hatred and malice, the same eyes he had when he faced the mage who killed mother.

  Adrian got back to his feet again. His vision was slightly dizzy but it was trivial compared to the situation he was in. The mages may have retreated but they may come back again with backup, even if they didn’t that girl Minerva would be searching for him, trying to find some evidence to throw him away from his post.

  If she’s alive, that is.

  She was alive. The way she fought wasn’t of a novice, but a hardcore veteran. Adrian made a mental note to question Minerva after he meets her again.

  But now he focused on what was around him - anything that anyone could hold evidence against. That was priority number one in case the execution of the plan failed.

  There was his mask, a little shattered by the impact. Then there was the blood he had been dragging along from the alleyway to the cobblestone path and finally there was the shit he threw up.

  Everything can be changed, Adrian took another glance. Everything is within my power.

  It was all about speed.

  Adrian touched the trail of blood. Human blood was made out of two compounds - the plasma and the cells. The plasma contained water and salts.

  Touching the blood, Adrian concentrated on the particles of water inside the substance. His abi
lity gave him the power to alter a substance to one of it’s original forms. A few seconds later the red color of the liquid slowly faded away and Adrian felt the cold particles of water touching his fingers. The trial of blood was transformed to water, which was slowly soaked into the cobblestones.

  Next was the vomit. Unlike the trial of blood, vomit wasn’t homogeneous. Adrian didn’t eat the same food everyday. Besides, it had bile and blood, things that are totally different from one another. When those didn’t match, concealment was the best option. Adrian touched the cobblestones below the vomit and checked it’s structure. It was pure granite.

  Adrian concentrated harder and used the last bits of mana he had on liquefying the granite. Slowly the tar mixed with his vomit, sucking the excretion to its materials, and finally Adrian merged them back again and transformed the liquid back to solid granite.

  The road was clear as new, with no sign of the vomit that stained it a few minute ago.

  Adrian picked up his mask and donned it back once again. If anyone saw his naked face with the costume he was wearing, he wasn’t sure what he would get - General Talon’s beheading, or Minerva chopping him into pieces.

  He needed to head back to the alleyway and down to the maze back again. The sooner he gets to the Rat Hole, the better. But before that, there was one last thing he needed to check.

  ◆◆◆

  “You’re still alive?” Adrian kicked the burned body of Braun Kalides. “It’s funny isn’t it? You kicked me the same way not more than twelve hours ago.”

  The boy still had signs of life remaining in his eyes. His body didn’t move an inch, but his eyeball darted to and fro and from his mouth he let out a painful grunt.

  “Erlond,” his voice was crisp and came in broken. His body had taken a more serious damage than Adrian had expected. “You fucking fuck! You planned all of this along didn’t you?”

  Adrian let out a triumphant smile.

  “All of it didn’t go as I planned. But one of my plans was to kill you, and I can see that I have succeeded in it.”