The Challenger

by Harlon Banks

  "Ugh, yeah yeah whatever I'm coming I'm coming." Jonath retorted with an agitated voice. He never got to just go an entire day and do nothing, did he? Still, this was the first time he'd ever seen Jeremy so dressed up and proper to go somewhere. He wondered what could be so important for him to suddenly do this? It probably wasn't his business, so he disregarded it. Jeremy would never tell him unless he wanted to anyway which unfortunately seemed to be a staple in the personalities of people in this land. Putting back on his boots Jonath stood up and stretched before walking past Jeremy to the front door. The old man limping behind him as usual after grabbing his cane he had propped up by the front door.

  "If you're still in the city a few hours from now you're free to swing back and spend the night, Jonath." Jeremy offered as the young man opened the door and stepped out before him. Jonath breathing in the night air of the bustling district with a nod as he responded. Jeremy locking the door and fixing his suit while he talked.

  "Yeah, thanks for that. I think I'll go see Wren while I'm out and about, get that over with." Jonath eye rolled. "You want me to walk with you to the train station, though? I'd feel bad letting an old man walk by his lonesome and fall and hurt himself." He sneered with a taunting smirk. Jeremy peering up at him with a furrowed brow of disbelief, did he really just throw shade at his age?

  "Don't make me beat you with this cane lil boy." He said gruff. Jonath and him both laughing in unison next as the former slid his hands in his pockets and kept the same pacing as Jeremy. This reminded him of their first meet in the forest.

  "But sure kid, I wouldn't mind the company. You're entertaining if anything, like a personal jester." Jeremy quipped. Jonath glancing his way again with another light chuckle before looking away to the upcoming elevator.

  "You have bad tastes in jesters then." He retorted. The two men having a playful and relaxing back and forth conversation all the way to the train station. After waving goodbye and watching the steam-powered train take off, Jonath closed his eyes and took another deep breath to calm himself. Now it was time to get back on track. Now it was time to get this all over in one go so he could move on with his goals.

  Now it was time to go have a talk with Wren...

  Leave of Absence

  A/N - Hey all sorry for the wait! Been trying to figure out a schedule for my writing because I plan on writing The Challenger simultaneously with my other work called Blighted. I'd appreciate if you gave it a read as well! Without further delay, enjoy!

  Light Chapter Forty-Six: Leave of Absence

  "Here we are, back where it all started, again." Jonath said dryly as he stood before the gates of the Archive Group. Begrudgingly reminiscing over everything that's happened right in this very courtyard. The blackout, meeting Liariana and Wren, meeting Dal and Kelarin, so much has happened. His eyes hazed over the students in uniform that traversed the neatly kept courtyard on the multi-structured grounds. This place was a bit larger than Blackwater, at least at a glance. The library to the left of him where he'd studied briefly on this realms history and general knowledge, the main building that led to Wren's quarters at the top of it directly ahead of him, and a few other lesser buildings to the right and a bit beyond them. Possibly the dormitories and classrooms and whatnot.

  Taking a deep breath and putting his hands in his pockets, Jonath took a step forward, looking at that stone statue atop the flowing fountain again in quiet admiration.

  "Jonath!" That all too familiar voice of a youthful pre-teen made the amnesic stop mid step and simply plant his foot back down. Not turning around as he couldn't help but let out a low chuckle as he closed his eyes; already hearing the kid's footsteps rapidly approaching him as the tan-skinned child moved to his front. "Hey Jonath! Been a while!" he exclaimed dressed in a simple white shirt with black shorts and shoes.

  "Hey, Kelarin." Jonath said with a light tone as his pale eyes looked down at the young kid. Kelarin's long dark hair tied up into a ponytail with bangs framing his face at the front. Hazel eyes wide with happiness as he seemed to have his entire existence brightened by Jonath's bring in front of him. Another pair of footsteps could be heard from behind, Jonath also figuring out who that most likely was as well. Turning to look over the shoulder right as Dal stepped around him with a light smile and a wave, before standing beside Kelarin. She was dressed in a black turtleneck sweater and jeans with a messenger bag, a pair of arm warmers along with her light blue hued hair styled different from normal. Multilayered with the shorter bangs only existing to frame her face, the layers getting longer the closer one got to the end of her hair that draped to her chest and mid back. She looked like she'd have cut it some, he could have sworn it was a bit longer.

  "Nice to see you too, Dal." Jonath added with a glance to her.

  "The moment we saw you Kelarin just had to run ahead and say hey, he really seems to have a fondness of you." She replied patting the kids head. Kelarin deadpanned at the pat, pulling away defiantly while holding the top of his head in protest, a light growl warranting a snort from Jonath. Kid was pretty expressive, that much was certain. Turning back to Dal about to ask about her hair, he paused. As much as he wouldn't mind having small talk now, he had more important things to discuss first. Ghostly pale eyes looking into light blue as he turned to gaze back up at the top of the building where Wren's quarters were.

  "Is the old man up there? I need to talk to him about something." He asked with a bit of a less than enthusiastic tone. He'd already begun feeling a tinge nervous about the talk he was planning to have.

  Dal blinked, hand reaching up to swipe away her bangs momentarily before she suddenly glanced down at Kelarin. The kid of course all up in their conversation with nosey intentions. He didn't seem to care Dal shot him a 'go away please' look either, or maybe he didn't understand that was the signal she was trying to give him? Either way, it didn't matter.

  "Kelarin can you go set up the library desk for me? I want to talk to Jon about something important and personal." Dal's words made both the boys furrow a brow at her. Jonath especially getting the vibes the answer to his inquiry was more complicated than a yes or no, go figure. Kelarin staring for a few seconds, occasionally looking between the two now looking at him, before a small smirk etched over his tanned expression.

  "Oh! You're gonna tell Jonath you have a crush on him and don't want me to be around?" He teased eyebrow waggling. Jonath and Dal both simply staring, Dal now having a dry deadpan look before sighing and just... face palming. The kid now looking annoyed when neither of them had anything close to the reaction he had wanted to see. Adults were really so boring, this was nothing like the shows he'd watched!

  "Kelarin, just do it please. This is something that's really important." She insisted again, her voice a little more stern, something Jonath had never seen from her before. There was a huff and then a dismissive hand wave of annoyance before Kelarin obliged. Shooting Jonath another wave before jogging off towards the library entrance as the both of them watched him run off. Once he was a far enough distance away Jonath sighed exasperate and then turned to Dal with the simple question of...

  "What happened this time?" Jonath said already ready to hear some inconvenience. Dal haphazardly rubbing her right arm as she took a deep breath. Her eyes looking off at the ground a moment causing Jonath to furrow a brow at her and hone his stare. Shortly afterwards her eyes met his once more and she let out a soft breath with her words.

  "He's missing. He's been missing ever since last night after I left him."

  Jonath's eyes widened as he suddenly found himself dumbfounded. Wren was missing!? His gaze rapidly looked over the courtyard behind Dal; everybody walking around and chatting as if their Group master didn't just vanish off the face of the planet!

  "Wait so if he's missing why hasn't anyone started looking for him!? No security, no investigation, nothing!?" Jonath couldn't believe nothing happened yet if this were true. Wren seemed like a pretty big deal around here, no way people just glanced over him
not being around.

  "No... You don't get it..." Dal raised a hand up to hush him as she lowered her head now much more bothered than before. Jonath falling silent as he softened his gaze at her as she hesitated, and then elaborated. "There won't be an investigation until after all the students leave the grounds tonight. Wren has rarely ever been seen by the students, his disappearance is nothing new to them because he usually keeps himself to his quarters. Yet if they were to find out he had vanished without a trace, maybe even kidnapped, it'd cripple the Groups reputation." She trailed off looking back at Jonath. The amnesic quiet, looking off towards the direction Kelarin had run off to next before looking back at Dal.

  "Any idea what might have happened? You think it was a kidnapping?" He asked calmly. Dal shaking her head, although her features showed doubt in her assertion. She knew far better than Jonath and anyone else, how cryptic and hard to understand Wren was. It could have been him simply vanishing of his own accord off into the night yet...

  She clenched the sleeve of her sweater as her eyes seemed to water. Jonath now visibly concerned by how emotional she were getting.

  "There were no signs of any struggle when I went to check on him this morning and saw he wasn't there. Still... Whenever he has gone off somewhere he'd always have told me beforehand or left me a note to keep that told me where he was going, and how long he'd be. There wasn't any of that this time..."

  Dal started to have tears streaming down her face as she fought from sniffling, Jonath gazing on her with high worry now. The young woman tightening the grip on her sweater sleeve as she blinked the liquid from her eyes and took a breath to calm herself some. Jonath could tell she had a very close relationship with Wren, like a grandfather to a granddaughter in a sense. Their relationship must've been deeper than Jonath had thought it was.

  "If he was kidnapped, and willingly went, he must have been black mailed to comply so easily. I can't help but think since it happened between the last time I'd seen him to this morning that..."

  Jonath had to cut her off before finishing that sentence.

  "Dal none of that is your fault, don't even try it." He scolded with a rather serious and to the point voice. Dal hitching a breath in her throat as she looked into his stern eyes again in silence. Sniffling a bit more before wiping away the tears in her eyes and hiding her face away in her sleeve. Jon was right, she was doing it again. The same thing Wren had scolded her about last night with blaming herself about things. She couldn't help it, it all felt like it was on her. If she'd never been close to Wren he never would have went missing now...

  "I get that the city doesn't want to cause panic with someone like Wren getting kidnapped so easily in the middle of the night; but you have to wait before you go jumping to any drastic conclusions like that. Who knows, he might show back up in a couple of hours you know?" Jonath sighed closing his eyes and lowering his own head in exasperation. Damn that old bastard, making a girl cry over his stupid actions. "He is rather old and a hermit remember? Probably having an onset of dementia or something so he forgot to put a note out for you. It's also probably why the law enforcement isn't acting with any haste." He paused to meet her eyes again. After a few seconds of fixing her face she'd shoot a warm smile back at Jonath with a teary-eyed nod.

  "Yeah, that's true. I have to admit I didn't think of it like that, haha. I'm pretty quick to get emotional, as you can see." She said chuckling lightly to herself before looking naturally content again. The only sign she'd ever been crying was the slight red of her eyes and a wet sleeve. The silver-haired man shooting a vague smile back at her before his expression shifted into one of a more disappointed and irked aesthetic. Damn, guess his conversation with Wren was going to be postponed indefinitely; especially if that old bastard was actually kidnapped despite his comforting words. Though, that only raised the question of who would be bold enough to kidnap someone like Wren... right out of his own Group?

  "At any rate, I have to get going." Dal's remark snapped the man out of his thinking as his stare focused on her again. "I have to make sure everything goes smoothly today with the help of the other teachers. They all know Wren is gone but the students don't, and I'm the one he trusts to keep everything in check." She explained. Jonath nodding twice and then shaking his head dismissively at her before exhaling tiredly.

  "Nah, don't worry about it; do what you got to do. Meanwhile guess I have to find something else to do then to kill time since I can't talk to Wren." He withdrew a hand to scratch at the back of his head while looking off to the side and moment. "Guess I'll go for a walk or something; find something to do for a few hours."

  "Oh, mind if I get your number?" Dal asked straightforward as she fumbled around her waist before pulling a teal colored smart phone from her pocket and activating it. Jonath shooting a look her way before blinking, then reaching to pull his own silver and black phone out.

  "Oh, yeah sure." He said nonchalant about it as he told Dal his number and she sent him a simple text so he'd get hers. Saving the contacts the two put away their phones and Dal shot another smile at him before walking backwards with a wave.

  "We should hang out some time; go see a movie or something together. I'm sure Kelarin would love to be around you more too so don't be a stranger!"

  "If I'm not dead in the next few days then sure." Jonath shot back with a bit of dark humor. Dal laughing lightly at his jaded joke and shaking her head as she waved again over the shoulder.

  "Well just don't die; I'll be mad if you do. Bye Jon!"

  "Later." Jonath responded with a head nod before standing by his lonesome and looking up at the sky. The full moon once again captivating his eyes for what felt like the longest few seconds of staring in his life. An eternal night, why was this a thing on Kynerva? As he stared at it he always felt this sense of familiarity that was as distant as it was close to a revelation. So many things going on; not nearly enough answers.

  Ring... Ring... Ring!

  "Huh?" Jonath pulled his phone out again to look at the screen. Who the hell was calling him? His eyes darting towards the caller ID before they widened and he tensed up. Swiping to answer the phone as he slightly turned around while pressing it to his ear.

  "What do you want, Melissa?" He said with a less than happy greeting. There was a fake gasp of hurt on the other side of the speaker as the woman then let out a chuckle.

  "That's a terrible way to greet a woman, should fix that. Anyway come to the Worker's District by the gates, I wanna talk to you." She said in a friendly tone. Though knowing her and how manipulative she was, Jonath saw right through that facade.

  "Yeah so you can try to kill me again? Thanks but I'll pass." Jonath eye-rolled hanging up the phone before Melissa could respond and stashing it away. He'd be damned if he let her continuously walk all over him without even trying to get something useful in return from her. Types like her irritated him the more he thought about it. As he started to walk off somewhere his phone would merely beep this time, instead of ring. No doubt Melissa texted him since he hung up on her, sighing heavily to himself as he took back out his phone and opened up the text.

  A little birdie told me you were a Black Label like me. I just wanted to talk about what you planned to do. Wasn't going to try to kill ya, cross my heart. Either way, a bit of helpful advice, make sure you aren't a liability if you do take the job with us. I doubt you'd trust me to save you. Buh bye!

  There was also a black heart emoji at the end of the text accompanied by a winking face. Jonath scoffing before just turning off the phone and putting it away in his pocket again. That girl was something else. Deciding to forget about It is for the moment and just take a stroll about the city, Jonath happened to pass two guys that seemed to have not noticed him as they walked by. Their whisperings usually not picked up by random passerby, but Jonath's naturally enhanced hearing couldn't help but pick up a remark that actually made him stop dead in his tracks and look at them as they continued on. A couple of them, actually.

 
"That Yelkath girl is getting so much special treatment, it's bullshit." One of the men grumbled while carrying what looked to be a satchel filled with junk. He looked rough too, probably homeless just like the other man he was walking with. "She also got two of my friends killed by those shit head mercenaries that came after her. Bitch needs to die."

  "Yelkath... Liariana Yelkath!?" Jonath repeated under his breath as he saw the two men disappear into an alleyway nearby... They said Yelkath, he knew he heard that right. Liariana was in the city still!? Mercenaries were chasing her? Was it over that guy she killed at the outskirts of the forest? Did she have something to do with Wren vanishing? Jonath wanted to walk away and forget he'd heard anything, yet...

  He looked down at his right arm, the numbness completely gone as he recalled those sinister flames she used to kill him, coupled with her strange attitude in general...

  "Dammit." He cursed to himself. He knew this was a bad idea.

  Jonath began tailing the two homeless men.

  The Sin of Jealousy

  The Challenger Chapter Forty-Seven: The Sin of Jealousy