

Fractured

By A.L. Bridges

Copyright 2015 A.L. Bridges

Smashwords Edition

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this eBook, please purchase another copy for each person. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this and other indie authors.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means; whether it is electronic, mechanical, or otherwise; without prior written consent from the author.

This novel is a work of fiction. All likenesses of people, organizations, or events are purely coincidental. All characters, organizations, events, and places are used in a fictitious manner.

Other Books by A.L. Bridges

The Gods' Executioner Series:

1. That Which is Unexpected

2. Mania and the Executioner

3. Feros and the Underworld Prince

4. Cole's Haunting Melody

5. An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed

Visit albridges.blogspot.com for links to the other books and updates on the latest releases.

Table of Contents

Prolegomenon

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Prolegomenon

I'd like to acknowledge something that seems to confuse some of my readers. Whenever you encounter four stars centered on their own line like so:

****

the story is switching to a dream sequence or memory or a dream sequence that is a memory. I'm not a fan of completely linear storylines so I go with this format that allows me to explain the background and character history without dumping all of the information at the beginning and skipping forward by years in time.

When the memory or dream ends and switches back to the main story, you will see the four centered stars again.

You will also sometimes see centered ellipses like so:

...

This is to indicate a skip in time, usually in between chapters, or to skip mundane events. The centered ellipses dots are also used to separate the few places where the narrator is speaking, which are denoted by completely italicized paragraphs just after the start of a chapter.

Now that the explanations are out of the way, on to the story.

A.L. Bridges

Prologue

It's funny.

The things that become so apparent at the end.

The things that you are completely blind to until you reach that end.

I've kept up this fight for a long time...a long, long time...perhaps even too long considering that I lost my sanity in the process. I've done my best to make things right and now that it's come to this, the story of my life is the only thing I can think of.

The story of a girl.

A story of manipulation.

A story of revenge.

Even though I've faced death on a number of occasions, this is the first time that my life has been replayed in front of me. Perhaps it's because I know that this is really the end...But you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, so I'll start at the beginning.

Well, the relative beginning, with the occasional backtracking and fast forwarding...just pay attention and this shouldn't get too confusing. I'll even use geographical, ethnical, and other equivalent terms that you're familiar with to keep things from confusing you too much.

The reason why I'm doing this—why I'm narrating my life—is mostly with the hope that you can hear this, kid. I did terrible things to you and never got the chance to give you the full story so here it is.

This isn't for redemption or atonement...it's just something that I've got to do.

While it's not my most recent name, nor the name you know me by, it is the name I like most. So, I'm Renton, and I'll be your narrator.

...

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

"You could become a god among men...with your power, you could have everything," Melanie tells me as we lie on the grassy knoll behind the apartment, gazing up at the stars.

"What power? I can't even cast the simplest of spells," I reply.

"You don't give yourself enough credit...sometimes a shield is better than a sword," Melanie softly says.

"Is that all I am to you? Am I just you're shield, Melanie?" I coyly ask as I turn my head towards her.

"No, you're my little songbird, Wren," Melanie answers with a smile as her eyes that are so dark a brown that they're almost black gaze into me.

There's a moment of silence before Melanie turns towards me, props herself up on her right elbow, and moves her head towards mine. Her black hair falls around my head like a curtain, blinding me from everything but her. Melanie leans in closer until our lips meet, the electricity from hers numbing mine; as to be expected from a Spark. I reach back and run my fingers through her hair as I wrap my arm around her waist, roll, and pull her all the way on top of me. Melanie giggles as she continues rolling and pulls me on top of her, the high-pitched bubbliness lifting my heart. I start laughing along with her as we roll down the knoll.

****

I hit the hardwood floor in my bedroom, tangled up in my bed's comforter.

_(I appreciate you dreaming about me, but this is getting a little ridiculous. You might hit your head and end up like one of the 450 people that die from falling out of bed each year!)_ Melanie exclaims, her bubbly voice echoing through my mind.

"Sorry, but I can't help it..." I solemnly reply.

(No, Wren. You cannot be all moody today! You can't act all depressing on your first day or you won't make any friends!)

That's Melanie, always looking out for me...regardless of what I've done to her...

"Renton? Are you awake yet?" Liza asks through the door that's not far from the foot of my bed.

"Yeah..." I groan in response.

"Okay. Get ready and come down for breakfast," she says and I hear her light footsteps as she walks away.

I stand up and turn left to gather a pair of boxers and socks from the dresser sitting in front of the condensation-covered window in my room, a meter to the right of my bed. The low light emitting through the window notifies me of the extremely early time of day. I grab the uniform of Graythorn Academy—gray slacks, a white button up shirt, a gray tie, a gray blazer, and a black peacoat for winter—off of the hook near my door before exiting my room and walking across the hall to the bathroom. After stripping myself of my pajama pants and boxers, I hop in the shower. I turn it on and cold water buffets my skin for five seconds before I press up against the wall to avoid the blast of rust-water. I step back into the stream and start washing up, the water gradually warming. After washing my hair, I turn off the shower, grab my towel from the rack, and dry off. I wipe down the mirror before folding the towel and hanging it back up.

The scars that mark my pale, slender torso stare back at me in the mirror—mementos of my former life. I don't look anything like I used to back then. My straight, dirty-blonde hair hangs over my eyebrows, my gray-blue eyes look more haggard, my cheeks are a bit gaunt, and I've lost a bit of muscle. I suppose an event like that would do this to anyone...

I quickly get dressed in my uniform and slip my socks into my pocket when I decide that I don't want to be reminded of my past anymore. The stairs creak beneath my feet as I head down to the living room. I take a right at the base of the stairs and enter the kitchen. The crappy linoleum sticks to my feet as I make my way over to where Liza sits.

"Sit down and eat, Renton," Liza suggests, dressed in her gray suit for her first day of work, and I sit down across from her at the table.

"You look good...very professional," I reply to the slender, 180 cm tall, twenty-six year old with long blonde hair and gray eyes who decided to come with me when I needed to leave Crowley City.

Liza said that she couldn't leave me alone so she threw away her life for me, which led to me spending all the money I'd 'earned' over the past year to buy us this house. If it had just been me, I would've figured something else out, but I wasn't going to deny Liza a stable place to stay after all she's done for me.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," Liza replies with a slight smile as I sit down at the cheap kitchen table.

Liza made eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast, but I can barely stomach half a slice of toast and a strip of bacon after my dream. Food seems to have lost its flavor since that night...

"Let's get going," I announce once I see that Liza has finished eating.

"Renton..." Liza softly says with blatant concern in her voice, but I ignore it as I stand from the table.

I walk across the stained tan carpet of the living room, past the old couch, and over to the sunken entryway where I sit down to put on my socks and shoes. Liza slides her black stockings into a pair of gray pumps and follows me out the door. The cold air hits me as my breath instantly becomes visible.

"Offirmo-way," Liza says with her hand on the door to lock it.

That's a fairly simple spell that is keyed to the user's mana signature and is difficult for another party to override without being keyed by the user; however, I've never had a problem despite not having enough control over mana to use the spell. I'm something of a rarity...well, that might be an understatement.

"Let's go," Liza says and I follow her onto the clear sidewalk that has snow perfectly lined up on each side.

Spells engraved into the sidewalks throughout the city of Avalon by thermal specialists keep them above ten degrees Celsius so ice and snow can't pile up. I follow Liza down the street since I don't know where we're going, having never been to Graythorn Academy. I've barely left the house at all in the two weeks that we've lived here...

As we pass by the shops that line the street, one in particular catches my eye: an enchantment shop. Enchantments require a high grade of mage to cast while the item is being made so enchanted items are worth quite a bit of coin; they're also in high demand and aren't as traceable as cash. I can't help but notice that the shop's security is made up of a Schuster level two barrier and a lock spell on the door—child's play.

"Don't even think about it, Renton. You promised that you would go straight now!" Liza exclaims with a hushed tone when she sees what has my attention.

"I wasn't..." I lie as I think about how easy it would be to use my left hand to disable the lock, nullify the barrier, and steal everything of value in the shop. I'd get away with it too, just like I always did since I lack a mana signature. However, I promised Liza that I'd turn over a new leaf after leaving Crowley City...after what happened...

We continue down the road in silence. Ten minutes later, we reach the wrought iron gates of Graythorn Academy. I never thought I'd ever go to school again after coming here. Schools tend to be strict about their admittance and transfers are rarely accepted. If it weren't for a few connections that Liza still has and the fact that she was qualified for a job here, there's no way I would have been let in.

"So what's our backstory?" I ask Liza, having stopped at the academy's entrance.

The expansive, snow-covered lawns of the academy have groves of pine trees throughout them, not including the large forest on the left side of the grounds. The building with large columns at the end of the cobblestone walkway in front of us looks like a courthouse or some other type of building that doesn't belong at a school.

"You're my little brother and we've moved here together to escape our abusive drunk of a father," Liza replies.

"So we're related now?" I inquire.

"Yeah, there had to be a blood relation and our ID's already corroborate it so now you're my little brother. As far as everyone else knows, you're just a normal wisp, got it?" Liza confirms.

"Yeah, I got it. I'm just a part of the lowest tier of mages, but even the lowliest mage can manipulate some mana so how am I supposed to fake that?" I ask.

"Well, just try. Maybe our father would beat you every time you tried to use mana so now it doesn't come to you because of the trauma. I'll help you out as best I can as part of the faculty," Liza replies. That would go well with the wisp part of my backstory since wisps are seen as genetic failures and beaten in some families.

"Yeah, I'm sure that will go over well...I guess it's time to get this train wreck started," I say and head through the gates.

"You need to go to the nurse's office first and get tested," Liza informs me.

"Really? You think I might have something? But I always wear a rubber, Miss Nurse! Honest! Well, except for that time in that truck stop bathroom in Hillsland where I used saran wrap instead...Can't you just fill out the report for me?" I ask after realizing that my attempt at deflection isn't working.

"The entire reason that we came early is so we could do this. Come on," Liza replies and drags me towards the courthouse building.

I walk up the five stone steps and enter the 'courthouse' to find that it's the administrative building. The interior of the building looks rather swanky because of its granite floors that have been buffed so much that they're reflective. Liza leads me down the hall and stops in front of a door on the left that is near the rear exit of the building.

"Issero-day," Liza says with her hand on the doorknob and it unlocks.

Liza opens the door and gestures for me to enter her new office. The nurse's office is fairly large with six cots and an examination table. The examination table has a circle engraved into the floor around it with a pentagram and swirling runes inside of it, and a second smaller circle that is connected to it at the foot of the examination table. It serves to remind me of what I saw over a year ago.

I still remember the light that flooded into my bedroom, waking me up in the middle of the night as I felt myself floating upward. I suddenly found myself in the middle of a glowing circle on a concrete floor with a blonde woman staring at me in confusion. The burning sensation as a black V-shape was burned into my left hand before fading into a flesh-toned scar is still clear in my mind.

"Just hop up on the table and we'll get started," Liza tells me, snapping me out of my memory.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't try to summon anything this time," I reply.

"Don't worry, I won't," Liza responds with a smile that holds a hint of remorse.

Ever since she accidentally summoned me here because of a mishap during an assignment for one of her graduate degree classes, we've been discretely looking for a way to send me back. We can't just go asking around and telling everyone that I'm not from this world. That would only result in both of us being taken for experimentation by the group of strongest magicians in the world: blood mages.

"Renton?" Liza asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I don't reply as I hop on the table. Liza stands in a small circle at the edge of the examination table's circle and holds out her right hand.

"Onmoveo-cay," Liza says and her circle lights up with a white light.

What's supposed to happen next is the circle around the table is supposed to light up with a different color depending on the specialty of the person being examined:

Orange for upper thermal spectrum, aka Hotheads.

Light blue for lower thermal spectrum, aka Frosties.

Dark blue for water users, aka Sprites.

Violet for electricity users, aka Sparks.

Light green for wind users, aka Windbags.

Yellow for earth users, aka Diggers.

Pink for illusion users, aka Shroudwalkers.

White for somatic magic users, aka Lifters.

The specialty of the person doesn't necessarily restrict them from using other types of magic, but it does give them an affinity for that type and allows them to cast spells in their specialty without the incantation or another activator. For those rare people without a specialty known as wisps, the circle lights up dimly with the same color as the caster. However, in cases such as mine, the circle doesn't light up at all.

"See? You're just going to have to falsify the report anyway," I announce ten seconds later when the circle doesn't light up.

"Yeah, but it was still worth checking. It's been a year since you're last exam," Liza replies.

"I suppose...well, since there's still more than an hour until class, I think I'll go wander around," I respond.

"Okay. I've already made arrangements for your supplies. They're in your locker in the main building, number fourteen. It's already been coded to _you_ ," Liza informs me.

By 'you,' she means that she coded it to her mana signature and I'll just have to break in to the locker.

"Alright, thanks," I reply.

"Feel free to stop by if you have any trouble and try to keep a low profile, little brother," Liza says with a grin.

"Of course, big sis. I'll see you later," I respond and exit the nurse's office.

I head further down the 'narcissist trap' hallway and exit the admin building through the rear door. The snow is pristine in the courtyard in front of me with the exception of the cleared walkways that crisscross through it. The snow serves to muffle all noise, creating a somewhat eerie silence as I head down the walkways towards the gray main building with dozens of windows that face the snow-covered yard.

I head into the main building and enter a hall of trophy cases and banners that stretches on for about fifty meters. Trophies for various sport championships are in the cases, most of them for elementalball.

I continue down the main hall and come to a crossroads with a staircase in front of me and halls to the right and left. I notice a sign on the wall informing me that lockers 1-250 are to the left, along with classrooms 101-114. The left hallway has banks of lockers in between the doors that lead to the classrooms. I find locker fourteen in the second bank of lockers. After checking to make sure the coast is clear, I set my left hand on the locker. There is no audible or visible sign that I've done anything, but I feel the magical circuit disconnect.

With locker fourteen's connection disrupted, I lift the latch and open the door to find a black messenger bag. I remove the bag, set it on the ground, and squat down to inspect its contents. Inside the bag are a map of the school, my class schedule, books for said classes, pencils, notebooks, and a set of gym clothes. I remove the gym clothes and books from the bag and place them in my locker. I inspect my class schedule and the map to find where my homeroom is. It looks like room number 114 is at the end of this hall. The rest of my schedule includes math, science, gym, history, mana applications and theory, and finally, study hall.

From what Liza told me, I'd normally have a specific class where I worked with other people in my specialization, but wisps don't have specializations to work on so they have study hall. I'm thankful that this world sees the need for things like math and science. When Liza told me I'd be going to school, I immediately assumed it was going to be like books I've read about witches and wizards where they only seemed to be instructed in things to do with magic and the practical knowledge they had about how the world works was on par with that of a kindergartener.

Math and science should be a breeze and I'll actually learn something in history, so I have that to look forward to. There is no way I'll be passing mana applications and theory so I will probably be ditching that class quite often. I take my peacoat off, fold it, and place it in my locker before closing the door as the circuit reconnects with the removal of my hand.

Well, since it's only 7:30 and homeroom won't start for another hour, I think that taking a nap would probably be a good idea. I make my way down the hall and reach room 114, the last classroom on the right before a set of doors that lead outside. I enter the dark classroom and head over to a desk at the back of the class so no one can sit behind me. Hopefully nobody will notice the fact that there is someone in here and the lights are still off. Classroom lights are rigged with a kind of detection system that automatically turns on when someone enters the classroom, but unlike the motion detecting sensors of my world, these detect traces of mana in the room that all mages give off.

Well, at least I'll be able to get some sleep in the darkness.

****

Chapter 2: Haunting Dreams

"So this might be my ticket home?" I quietly ask.

"This guy supposedly has been researching ways to open up portals to other worlds and is a renowned summoning specialist," Melanie answers as she squats next to me in the bushes of the forest near the mansion.

"And if we find his notes, I might be able to find a way back," I conclude with a hushed tone.

"We could always just politely ask him for the notes," Melanie suggests.

"And risk getting sold out to the blood mages? No thanks," I respond.

"I know. I was being sarcastic," Melanie whispers.

"I might come to him if I can't figure it out and if we can find some leverage on the guy, but for now, I'm content with stealing his notes," I reply and start to move out of the bushes, but something about Melanie's expression makes me stop.

"You don't have to come. I can handle this on my own. You've done enough just by leading me here," I tell her.

"That's not it..." Melanie replies and it hits me: she's feeling torn because she doesn't want me to leave.

"Even after I get the notes, this doesn't guarantee that it will lead to a way back," I softly say.

"Are you sure that this is what you want?" Melanie asks.

"No...but it's the best that I can do," I reply.

"...Then let's get going," she quietly responds and gives me a quick kiss while grabbing my right hand.

"Elo-vay," Melanie says and a shroud wraps around us.

Since she isn't a Shroudwalker, the spell isn't that strong so we still need to be careful, but at least it won't be obvious that we're here from a distance. We exit the forest on the edge of the property and make our way towards the massive house with gothic architecture: gargoyles, spires, all that jazz. We cross the expansive grass lawn and reach the front door unopposed. I notice a rather high grade lock on the door so I set my left hand on it. The lock spell breaks as I push the latch down and open the door. We enter an octagonal foyer that holds half a dozen urns on pedestals and several portraits—way to ramp up the creepy upon entry. Now we just have to find the laboratory.

If I were a summoning specialist, where would I practice? Somewhere expansive and away from the rest of the house that can be easily blocked off in case of an emergency...this house probably has a basement.

"Let's look for a basement," I whisper in Melanie's ear and she nods.

We carefully tread down the main hallway and look for the basement door. A barrier comes into view when we are halfway down the hallway, blocking access to a door: a Schuster level six. With such a strong barrier, it looks like we're at the right place. I set my left hand on the barrier and concentrate—this one is going to be a bit tricky. I try to open up a hole in the barrier but I get no results, so I push a little harder. The barrier suddenly cracks and shatters, probably alerting the caster in the process.

"Hurry!" Melanie exclaims while already running down the stone steps into the basement.

I follow after her and we hit the bottom of the staircase to find another barrier: a level seven. Not having the time for delicacy, I throw my left hand into the barrier and smash through it. We continue down the hall, passing by cell doors on each side. I'm sure that's necessary for a summoner and doesn't mean anything nefarious, right?

We hit another barrier at the end of the hallway that's blocking a set of double doors. I smash through the barrier and dispel the lock on the doors while opening them to find a large open room with wall-to-wall bookcases, a circle carved into the floor, and a large workbench to the left—this must be the place.

"Damn! How are we supposed to find the notes on portals amid all these books!?" I ask while staring at the massive bookshelves that surround us.

"Isn't this it?" Melanie inquires while picking up a red leather notebook from the bench that reads 'Portals' on the cover.

"Probably. Now let's get out of here," I reply and we run back past the cells to the stairs.

Melanie and I sprint up the stairs, down the main hallway, and out through the doors. As we run through the yard, I see a blur coming from above me so I hold out my hand to stop Melanie. Two, two-meter tall, stone gargoyles land in front of us, the vibrations of their impact reaching my feet. A stony claw comes in towards Melanie's head before I tackle her out of the way, causing the red notebook to go flying out of her hand. Since these gargoyles are golems and because golems are condensed mana bound to stone, I should be able to take care of them rather easily.

I stand up and distance myself from Melanie as the gargoyles give chase. Based on the vibrations and the sinking that their footsteps cause, they must weigh about a ton. I'll easily be crushed under that weight if I don't redirect the force away from me when I disable them. I make a quick left, sliding on the dew-covered grass as small droplets kick up and hit my body. Because of their weight, the gargoyles are unable to turn as quickly as I can so I run in a circle around them before smacking one on the back with my left hand. The gargoyle becomes inanimate and falls forward, sinking into the ground away from me. The second gargoyle gets the same treatment before I return to Melanie's position and help her up.

"Wren! That was awesome!" Melanie exclaims in a bubbly fashion.

"Thanks. Let's get going. The mage will most likely be back soon," I reply and then I notice a bit of blood on Melanie's cheek.

"Are you hurt?" I ask.

"Huh?" Melanie replies.

"You've got a bit of blood on your che—" I start before blood shoots out of Melanie's mouth as her eyes roll back in her head and she starts to fall.

"MELANIE!" I shout as I reach out and catch her.

"You're lucky. I was planning on giving you the same treatment, but then you demonstrated your interesting ability," a somewhat high-pitched male voice calls out behind me.

I turn around and see a man with black hair and dark eyes, dressed in black slacks with a matching overcoat and a crimson shirt standing about fifty meters away. Despite the situation, I can't help but admire his clothes. He appears to be rather young, most likely in his early twenties. I touch my cheek, pull it away, and see a drop of blood; I didn't even notice with all of the dew drops hitting me.

"I think you will make a most interesting research subject," the man says as I look down at Melanie's pale face.

I bring my right hand up to her neck to check for a pulse, but I already know that there isn't one there. I need to get her help before it's too late.

"You can't save her. No one can. The girl is already gone," the man says as though he had read my mind.

I set Melanie on the grass and turn towards the man. Letting anger and desperation fuel me, I sprint at him.

"But perhaps you still have hope? Well that just won't do!" the man exclaims and snaps his fingers.

A massive explosion behind me knocks me off of my feet. I rise unsteadily as chunks of sod and dirt rain down around me. I turn around to find nothing but a charred crater in the grass...the same grass that I set Melanie on to...

"Melanie?" I ask in shock.

"Hahaha! I do so love that voice of despair! That indicator of a man's entire life being destroyed!" the man exclaims.

My hands clench into fists and my body starts to shake as I turn around and face him.

"You look like you wish to fight? Well we can't have you damaging yourself so why don't you just _freeze_ ," the man commands.

I feel his power hit me before it disappears and I take a step towards the man.

"Eh? Well aren't you interesting!" the man exclaims with a slight waver in his voice.

His dark eyes go wide as I sprint at him, my mind focused on crushing this man. He flings his right arm towards the ground in front of me and my legs suddenly sink in: quicksand. I slam my left hand onto the magic quicksand before yanking my feet out of the re-solidified ground and continuing my rush. The man holds his right hand out at me as a drop of blood rolls down his palm and drips onto the grass. A large torrent of electricity erupts from the man's palm as I hold my left hand out. I've taken a lot of hits from Sparks in the past year since meeting Melanie, but this is by far the strongest torrent I've ever seen. The electricity is nullified as I sprint in close, but not before singing the hair on my arm. I grab the man's right wrist with my right hand, pinch his arm between my left forearm and bicep, and wrench down with my right hand.

The man screams out in pain at the breaking of his elbow as I kick out his legs. The man drops to his knees as move behind him, grab his left arm, and yank it back along with his broken right.

"WHY ISN'T IT HEALING!?" the man screams.

I don't bother to explain that the physical contact with my left hand is preventing any somatic spells as I set my right knee in between his shoulders. I tug back on his arms with all of my strength and get the resulting crack of his shoulder blades that I was looking for. The man screams in agony before I grab his head and wrench it around until he's looking at me. Red foams bubbles up out of his mouth as I release him and his body slumps over.

I return to where I tackled Melanie and find the red notebook in the grass. After picking it up, I give a fleeting look at the empty crater before walking away from the house. The night is silent except for the few cars that pass by as I spend the next three hours walking back to Liza's apartment since Melanie had the keys to the car. I numbly trudge up the three flights of stairs and unlock the door to Liza's apartment with my left hand

"Renton! Where have you been!?" Liza scolds when I walk in the door. I slip off my shoes and head into the living room.

"Answer me, Renton!" Liza demands as I slump down onto the couch.

"She's dead, Liza..." I softly reply.

"What?" Liza asks.

"Melanie and I broke into a house to get these notes on portals. We were caught by the owner, a blood mage, and he killed her. He's dead now though..." I quietly explain as I limply hold up the red leather notebook.

"Renton...are you injured?" Liza inquires with pity in her eyes.

"No," I numbly respond.

"We need to leave. Melanie's father will blame you and send the whole Syndicate after you. We can't stay in Crowley City. We need to close your bank account, get new identities, and...Don't worry. I'll handle this. Just try to get some rest," Liza gently tells me and leaves the room.

I lie down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling for I don't know how long, alone with my thoughts of Melanie and how it's my fault that she's dead.

Eventually, everything just fades away.

****

Chapter 3: Introductions and Suspicions

I regain consciousness to the feeling of a hand on my right shoulder, light streaming in through my eyelids as the smell of lilacs hits me. I open my eyes to the illuminated room and I'm shocked by what I see.

"Melanie!" I exclaim as I jolt upright.

"Close, my name is Melody," the girl replies.

Except for her blonde hair, and her vivid green eyes, she could be Melanie's twin: same eye-shape, lips, sharp facial features, same height at 175cm, even their voices sound similar. She's wearing a gray plaid skirt with black leggings, a white button up shirt with a gray tie and a gray blazer over it. It takes me several moments before I realize that this must be the girl's uniform for Graythorn Academy.

"Careful Mel. I've heard of this gimmick before. Next thing you know, you'll be pity banging his brains out because you remind him of his dead girlfriend or something," a tall girl with shoulder-length, curly brown hair says from a desk that is two to my right and immediately sends me on high alert—has the Syndicate already found me?

"I'll watch out for that, Alexa. Just ignore her. She has a strange sense of humor," Melody tells me.

Or is this one the real threat? What's a more fitting way to take me out than by using an assassin that looks like Melanie?

(Relax, Wren. it's just a coincidence. They aren't from the Syndicate)

"How are you so sure?"

(You tend to learn things when you're dead)

"Right..." I respond, still on edge as I look at Alexa.

She's pretty in a lithe supermodel kind of way, and by that I mean she's tall and way too skinny. It seems like Alexa is the kind of girl that tries to hold herself to her friends' weights despite being nearly 185cm tall, only about five centimeters shorter than I am.

"I'm Renton...Renton Werner," I add, pausing to remember what my new last name is.

"I'm Melody Sheffield and that's my friend, Alexa Barnstone. You must be the transfer student that I heard the faculty talking about," Melody remarks.

"I assume that would be me. My sister is the school's new nurse and we just moved to Avalon," I reply.

"Where from?" Melody asks.

"I'm not supposed to say...we moved here to get away from our father, who is probably looking for us," I respond in a quiet fashion while avoiding eye contact to make the story more convincing.

"I see...this must be rough, having to leave your friends behind and move someplace new," Melody replies.

"Pity bang..." Alexa comments.

"Alexa!" Melody scolds.

"So what are you?" Alexa asks.

"I'm a wisp," I reply, somewhat reluctantly to sell it.

"Eh...?" Alexa says.

"Oh, so I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other in study hall," Melody replies with a smile that makes my heart ache. So I guess that makes Melody a wisp too.

"Great, so you guys get to have unsupervised sex while I'm going to be getting screwed in my wind specialty classes...not literally of course because the teacher is super old and I don't have daddy issues," Alexa comments and I laugh.

"Good morning, Alexa! Looking fine as ever, I see!" a Hispanic guy exclaims as he walks into the classroom. He's more than a head shorter than me at about 170cm with wavy black hair that is around fifteen centimeters long and a slight mustache.

"Never going to happen, Jose," Alexa replies without looking at the guy while Melody sits down at the desk in between Alexa and me.

"Come on! Just give me my first chance, it's going to be the last," Jose responds with a wink that, surprisingly, doesn't look creepy.

"I'm gonna make you want to staaaaay," I finish the lyrics.

"You know who Devandra Barnhart is?" Jose asks as he turns towards me.

That was probably the biggest surprise in coming to this world: finding out that nearly all forms of entertainment had stayed the same. The only exception to this is anything that has to do with guns, which are seemingly non-existent in this world. It drastically changed Craig Thomas's entire movie career from gun toting cop, to fireball throwing cop. Even technology has stayed rather the same with a few exceptions. Smartphones are still commonplace, but they evolved from palm pilots that just happen to include the 'phone' feature since communication circles are easy to use. Since everyone has a phone now and communication circles aren't very mobile, phones have become the most common form of communication; sort of like how home phones were disappearing in my world.

"That I do, but I really only like that one song. I'm Renton Werner. I just moved in to the city and today's my first day," I reply.

"Well then, you have fine taste in music, good sir. Nice to meet you, Renton. The name's Jose Cruz, Shroudwalker extraordinaire. If you need any help, just let me know!" Jose kindly exclaims.

"Thanks, man," I respond.

Jose looks towards Alexa, shrugs, and sits down at the desk to my left. He must have noticed that there aren't any open desks beside or behind her. A guy that is about 193cm tall and built like a brick shithouse with cropped brown hair comes into the room. With the way he's stretching his uniform, he must have gotten it a size too small to show off his physique—my douchebag meter goes into the red. He looks around the room and his eyes narrow at me as he walks over.

"You're sitting in my spot," He says while glaring at me.

"My bad. I wasn't aware that there were assigned seats," I reply, trying not to make waves.

"There aren't. Stop being an asshole, Joshua," Melody intercedes.

Joshua looks at Melody and his expression softens before he turns back to me, sneers, and walks over to the desk in the front right corner, near the door. The first bell rings and more people start shuffling into the room and sitting down. A man in his late twenties with longish brown hair that has been gelled up walks into the room wearing a gray suit that is significantly nicer than the school uniform. He sets his bag down at the large desk in the front left corner of the room, and stands in front of the whiteboard that consumes the front wall.

"Welcome back, seniors. I'll be your homeroom teacher this year. Most of you already know me, but I know our new student doesn't. I'm Chet Holmes. Feel free to call me Chet. Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself, Renton?" Chet suggests. While his hairstyle gives me some doubts, he seems like a decent guy.

I stand up from my desk, walk down the aisle, and stand in front of the class.

"Hello, I'm Renton Werner. I just moved to Avalon with my sister and I'm a wisp," I announce and return to my seat.

"Thanks, Renton. I'm counting on you guys to help him out, if he needs it," Chet says and gets grumbles of agreement in response.

"Alright well, I'll let you guys go early today so you can get to your first classes on time. See some of you later, all of you tomorrow," Chet announces and everyone starts moving.

"What class do you have next?" Jose asks.

"Math, room...204," I reply while checking my schedule for confirmation.

"Nice! Same here. Let's get going," Jose responds while grabbing his bag.

I grab my bag and follow Jose out the door, giving a fleeting look back at Melody and feeling stupid when she catches me looking. Jose leads me down the hall, past my locker, and to the crossroads. We head up the main staircase and take a right down to the left wing. Room 204 is two doors down on the right, but a glance through the door's window tells us that this homeroom class is still going on. Jose and I lean against the wall to the right of the door and wait.

"So what's it like being a wisp? It must suck not having a specialty, right?" Jose asks.

"Eh...I get by," I reply.

"Do you have any problems opening up your locker? Melody seems to struggle with it a bit," Jose comments.

"No, locks aren't something that I have problems with." They're basically the only thing that I won't have a problem with...

The class lets out and cuts our conversation short, thankfully. An old man sits at the large desk in the front left corner as we walk in. He's wearing slacks and an argyle sweater-vest over a button-up shirt that in no way matches the gray color scheme of the school. I guess that when you get to be that old, you just stop giving a damn. The classroom is empty except for an Asian student with longish, spiky black hair sitting in the back left corner that must have this as his homeroom class as well. Jose walks back and sits to his right while I sit next to Jose.

"Hey Tetsuya, how was your break? Did you head home to Nihon?" Jose asks.

Tetsuya doesn't say anything and just nods in response. He appears to be about my height, but he seems to be a bit slimmer.

"Nice. Let me introduce you to Renton. He's a transfer student that just started. Renton, this is Tetsuya Yamamoto. Tetsuya is an exchange student from Nihon that's been here for two years," Jose introduces.

"Where's Nihon?" I ask and Jose gives me a quizzical look. "I'm not great with geography,"

"Island country in the Pacific, just off the coast of mainland Asia? Home of Shinto mages?" Jose asks. It sounds like he's talking about this world's Japan.

"Oh, right," I reply.

"Tetsuya is a Shinto mage as well. He uses paper talismans and familiars called shikigami, the whole deal," Jose explains.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Tetsuya," I say and Tetsuya nods in response.

Since familiars need to be summoned, he might know of a different method of summoning that's worth looking into. Becoming friends with him could be beneficial. More people funnel into the room and the teacher starts class.

"Hello, class. I'm Mr. Black and I'll be your teacher this year. I was an accountant for thirty years and before you ask, I lost my left middle finger to a typewriter in '72," Mr. Black says while holding up his left hand.

His slow monotone is almost enough to put me to sleep, but I struggle through it. Mr. Black goes over what we're covering in class this year and I discover that the math class is basically an algebra class that is similar to one I took in middle school in my world. This is going to be a breeze.

"What class do you have next?" Jose asks when math ends.

"Uh...Science, room 122," I reply while checking my schedule.

"Damn...Tetsuya, do you have science?" Jose inquires and Tetsuya shakes his head.

"Don't worry, I'll find it. Thanks though," I respond.

"Alright, see you later," Jose says and we exit the classroom.

I head back down the main staircase and head right down the left hall, looking for room 122, before I realize that the classrooms on this side of the building end at room 114. I turn around and head back the way I came. The halls are mostly deserted now that second period is about to start.

"Come on you stupid thing! You're going to make me late! Issero-day!" I hear Melody exclaim. I look down the hall and see her pounding on a locker.

"Having some trouble?" I ask as I walk up to her.

"The stupid locker won't open!" Melody exclaims, obviously exasperated.

"Hmm..." I reply and look around, seeing that we're the only ones in the hallway.

"Just calm down and give it one more try," I add.

Melody takes a couple of deep breaths and places her thumb on the lock symbol above the latch. While she's focusing on that, I touch the bottom corner of her locker with my left hand and I feel the circuit break.

"Issero-day," Melody says, lifts the latch, and the door swings open.

"Thanks," Melody says as she takes off her jacket and stuffs it in her locker.

"No problem, it's not like I really did anything. We'd better hurry up or we're going to be—" I'm interrupted by the bell ringing.

"Haha, oh well. Where are you headed?" Melody asks, her bubbly laugh bringing a smile to my face and a pain in my chest.

"Room 122," I reply.

"Same here. Come on, it's this way," Melody says and takes the lead.

We head further down the hall and walk into a classroom on the left side, towards the end.

"Ah, Ms. Sheffield. Late as usual, I see," a blonde woman in her forties curtly says when we enter the room.

"Sorry about that, I couldn't get my locker open and Melody was kind enough to wait for me to show me how to get here. I'm Renton Werner and today's my first day," I intercede.

"Is that so...well, take your seats," the teacher replies.

I follow Melody back to the only open lab table, which Alexa is currently occupying.

"Well, aren't you a nice guy," Alexa quietly comments with a knowing gaze.

"Welcome to fourth year science, I'm Mrs. Hatfield. I graduated from Crowley University and I've been teaching at Graythorn Academy for the past ten years," Mrs. Hatfield introduces, causing me to tense up.

(Relax. Crowley University is the largest college in the area so that isn't strange)

With Melanie's reassurance, I relax. Mrs. Hatfield spends the next forty-five minutes outlining what we'll be covering this year. I thought that 'science' was a very broad term for a single class, but apparently not for this world—this class covers things from chemistry, biology, and physics. It all seems like fairly low-level stuff that I've already learned, until Mrs. Hatfield starts talking about transmutations and I realize that this world still considers alchemy to be science. I start getting worried when I realize that most of the labs that she lists involve the use of mana: creating insect chimeras, reinforcing metals through transmutation, transmuting water into wine, etc.

"The people at your table will be your lab partners for the duration of the class, so I will now give you some time to get to know one another," Mrs. Hatfield announces five minutes before class ends.

"Crap..." Alexa mutters under her breath.

"Sorry, Alexa..." Melody replies.

"It's alright. We should be able to get through this...somehow," Alexa responds.

Since she's the only one with a stable grasp of mana, she's going to be doing most of the work. I feel for her.

"So what class do you have next, Renton?" Melody inquires.

"Gym," I reply.

"Cool. We do too," Melody replies.

"Do you think we will need to change into our gym clothes today?" I ask.

"Doubtful," Alexa replies.

"Alright, I'll just follow you two then," I respond.

The girls grab their things and stand up. I follow them out the door and down the hallway, further into the right wing. The hall curves to the left and leads to a short hallway with a set of double doors at the end, along with a door on each side of the hallway. Judging by the signs, I take it that those are the locker rooms. Melody and Alexa stride through the double doors as I follow them into the large gymnasium with retractable bleachers along the left and right walls that are currently retracted. There's a growing crowd of students standing around and I see quite a few familiar faces.

"Hey Renton!" Jose exclaims while walking over with his attention on Alexa.

"Hey Jose. Does our entire homeroom class have gym right now?" I ask.

"Yeah, and Tetsuya's too," Jose replies and points to the corner where Tetsuya is sitting and reading a book.

"Well, if it isn't little miss reject!" a girl's voice haughtily exclaims behind me.

Chapter 4: Waves, Retaliation, and History

I turn around and see a group of three girls, a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead—that sounds like the beginning of a joke.

"I'm surprised that your daddy is still allowing you to embarrass the family name!" the blonde exclaims at Melody and the other two laugh.

"And who's this?" the blonde asks, turning her attention to me.

"Be careful. The three ice queens have a habit of freezing the crotches of guys who piss them off..." Jose quietly warns me.

"I'm a new transfer student, Renton Werner," I announce.

"I'm Sarah Greystone, this is Serena Bradbury, and that's Sierra McDowell," Sarah replies before gesturing to the brunette and the redhead.

"Since you're new and aren't familiar with the status quo of the area, you may want to stay away from the wisp lest you get lumped in with her kind," Sarah says snobbishly before cocking her head to the side while inspecting me.

"You're actually pretty cute...why don't you come hang out with us?" Sarah suggests with a bright smile.

"Sorry, I make it a policy of mine not to hang out with snobby bitches," I reply with a grin.

Sarah's smile quickly turns to a frown and she chuckles.

"You just made a big mistake," Sarah informs me as she narrows her eyes at me.

The gym falls silent as everyone stops talking and looks at me, most likely thinking 'let's watch this guy get his balls frozen off and go back to what we were doing.' I slip my left hand into my front pocket since I know what their intended target is.

Serena and Sierra grab Sarah's hands and the three of them start staring intently at my crotch. They're using coven tactics: joining their mana together to hit harder and faster. I feel the force of mana hit my crotch before it disappears and I smirk at the girls. They look bewildered for a moment before trying again. Their faces start to turn red with the strain while I stand there, perfectly fine.

"See something that you like? Instead of trying to develop x-ray vision to see through my pants, if you were to simply beg me, I might be willing to oblige and just show it to you," I suggest and their faces turn even redder.

The ground in front of them starts freezing as a path of ice starts coming towards me. Crap, this is going to give me away. Once the ice reaches me, it will most likely form a perfect circle around my feet, which is not something that can be chalked up to luck like what I'm doing now.

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S ENOUGH!" a deep voice booms throughout the gym and the ice stops its advance.

"I'm Coach Michaels and I'll be your teacher this year," a man standing in the doorway of the gym announces.

Everything about him just screams coach/gym teacher: his gray sweatshirt and track pants, his crew cut black hair, the clipboard in his hand, and the whistle around his neck.

"I'm also the coach of the school's elementalball team, for those of you that don't know. I expect you all to come dressed in your gym clothes starting tomorrow. Since you all have lunch after this, I expect you to work hard, but today you can all get an early start on lunch. Dismissed!" Coach Michaels announces and leaves the gym.

The three ice queens glare at me as they pass by and exit the gym.

"That was pretty badass, dude!" Jose exclaims.

"Thanks," I reply while feeling that I made the right choice when confronting them.

"Really stupid because you just put a target on your back and those three girls are psychotic bitches whose families have quite a bit of influence, but still pretty badass!" Jose exclaims.

"Thanks...?" I reply, now uncertain about my choice.

"Let's go get some food! You coming, Tetsuya?" Jose asks.

Tetsuya snaps his book closed, stands up, grabs his bag, and walks past us, heading for the gym's door before Jose and I follow after him. I see Alexa and Melody walking in front of us before Melody glances back. Our eyes meet and then she quickly looks away.

(Looks like someone might be into my little Wren)

"What? No way...She was just looking back and then she quickly looked away because making eye contact is awkward for some people."

(We'll see about that...)

"What's that?" Jose asks.

"Hmm?" I reply and look down to find that I've subconsciously grabbed the round silver locket that hangs underneath my shirt. I quickly release my fistful of shirt and locket.

"Oh, nothing. So where is the cafeteria?" I ask.

"It's on the west side of the campus. The easiest way to get there is to go out the doors past our homeroom, and go straight," Jose answers.

"Well then, let's get going," I reply and we head down the hall.

We pass through the crossroads and keep going straight, passing by my locker on the left. Jose, Tetsuya, and I continue down the hall, past my homeroom, and out the double doors at the end of the hall. The icy wind berates my flesh, cutting through my blazer and shirt, and I wish I had my peacoat. Of course, these thoughts stay internalized because I don't want anyone thinking I'm such a pussy that I'm going to let a little negative degrees Celsius wind chill get to me. We head straight across the snow-free walkway to a contemporary building that is mostly windows and support beams.

The inside of the cafeteria is a nice temperature in contrast to the chill outside. There are scores of tables in front of us with the food counters and the resulting lines of people to the left. I spot some stairs at the back of the cafeteria that appear to lead to a balcony level above the food counters. I follow Jose and Tetsuya over to the counter for pizza and wait. Jose gets a slice of cheese while Tetsuya gets supreme and I get pepperoni before we go grab drinks from a large cooler and I realize that I'm unsure of how to pay for this.

I follow Jose over to the cashier and watch as he punches a seven digit number into a keypad—must be his student ID number. After Tetsuya, I step up to the cashier and pull my schedule out, remembering a number being at the top. I punch in my ID number, but it doesn't go through so I'm forced to put everything back. I see that Jose and Tetsuya waited for me and walk over to them.

"If you don't have money in your account, I can cover for you today," Jose offers.

"That's alright. I wasn't all that hungry anyway. Thanks though," I reply.

Now we just have to find a table. We look around and I spot Melody and Alexa sitting at a table. Melody sees me and waves us over. Alexa looks at where Melody is waving and her face drops upon seeing us as we head to their table.

"Hey Alexa!" Jose greets.

"So Renton...that was a pretty interesting display in the gym," Alexa comments, ignoring Jose.

"What was?" I inquire.

"Not becoming a eunuch after the ice queens hit you like that...so how did you do it? Being a wisp and all. Don't tell me that you're actually as smooth as a Ken doll down there," Alexa replies.

I panic as Melody and Jose get an 'oh, that's a good point!' look on their faces while Tetsuya's expression remains neutral.

"My natural resistance to bitchiness is astounding. So who were those girls? Sarah seemed to have some sort of problem with you, Melody," I ask, trying to direct the conversation away from how I did that.

"While they're both Founder families, the Greystones have always been overshadowed by the Sheffields in terms of power and status. Mel is something of an anomaly to be a wisp from a Founder family so Sarah constantly taunts her for it," Alexa replies.

I glance over and see Melody looking down at the table with embarrassment.

"That's stupid. You shouldn't let something like your name define you. Only your actions in life can truly do that," I tell Melody and she perks up as I think about my life's actions and how they portray me as a cowardly murdering thief who couldn't even protect the woman he loved...

(Wren...)

"Thanks, Renton...Renton?" Melody asks when she notices my rapidly descending demeanor.

"Yeah, Melody?" I answer while forcing myself to smile.

"Never mind..." she replies while carefully inspecting me before subtly shaking her head and taking a bite of her salad.

"So what's next for you?" Jose asks me.

"History is up next, room 114," I reply.

"Chet's class? Does anyone have that next?" Jose questions to the table, but no one speaks up.

"It's alright, I'll find it. I'm going to get going so I'm not late," I announce and stand up.

"Okay...see you later," Melody quietly replies.

"See ya," I smile and head for the door.

After navigating the sea of people, I exit the cafeteria and head along the deserted walkway towards the main building.

(STOP!)

Melanie shouting in my mind stops me in my tracks before I can comprehend what she said. I realize that she wanted me to stop anyway as I see a foot long icicle fly directly in front of me from my left—it must've come from the forest. I turn towards where the icicle came from in time to see another one flying at me before my left hand moves into its path reflexively. The icicle comes into contact with my left hand before stopping in midair, the magic fueled inertia having been eliminated, then it is quickly broken down to a fine mist. Not knowing how many Syndicate members there are, I make a break for the main building and sprint through the doors. I need to get to Liza.

(Wren, that wasn't the Syndicate)

"What? Then who...the ice queens!? They could've killed me!"

(Your death would have been unlikely given that the first icicle would have hit your bag. The most it would have done is pierce your arm)

"That's still going a bit far!"

(Jose did say they were psychotic...)

"Great...I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on them."

Upon seeing that there isn't a class inside, I head into room 114. The room is empty except for a small, pale girl with jaw-length brown hair and round, wire-framed glasses sitting in the back left corner and reading a book. She's cute in a mousey-librarian sort of way. As I make my way back to the desk that I sat at in homeroom, which happens to be the desk to her right, the girl looks up from her book. Her eyes glaze over upon meeting mine and her book thumps against the desk.

"You are not from this world, yet you hold sway over the events here. Your actions will determine the fate of the Key of Worlds, as well as that of countless others across multiple worlds," the girl says, her voice reminding me of the sound of an old record.

"What?" I ask, my heart pounding in my chest at my identity being revealed.

"Huh?" the girl replies in a high-pitched squeak, the light returning to her eyes.

(Well, isn't this interesting. This girl is an augur)

"Someone who sees the future?"

(Possible futures of the people they meet. I've never met one before, but the power has been explained to me as a curse instead of a blessing since augurs have little control over their power and never remember their premonitions)

"Oh no! I did it again..." the girl quietly exclaims with a high-pitched voice and sad expression.

"I apologize," the girl says to me while averting her eyes.

"Don't worry about it. No harm done," since no one else heard you.

"I'm Renton Werner," I introduce and hold out my hand.

"Lily Fairchild," Lily replies and shakes my hand with a timid grip.

"Ah, Renton. How goes your first day? Anybody giving you the _cold_ shoulder?" Chet asks with a sly smile as he walks into the room. Does he know about my altercation with the ice queens?

"Everything's going great. Everyone has been really kind and helpful," I reply with a smile while trying to judge how much he knows.

"Well that's good! As your homeroom teacher, I was worried that you were going to be bullied," Chet replies and sits down at his desk.

I sit down at my desk from this morning, next to Lily. Students start shuffling into the room and the bell rings ten minutes later. One thing I notice is that all of the other students seem to be younger than me.

"Welcome to history. I'll be your teacher, Chet Holmes. Feel free to call me Chet. I'd like to begin this semester with a little review," Chet announces as he walks in front of the whiteboard.

"As most of you can recall, the Common Era started when a shadowy woman appeared to everyone around the world. Upon awakening, every person on the planet discovered that they could manipulate mana. After several months of widespread panic as a loss of faith in the old religions occurred, those that were able to manipulate mana before the shadowy woman's appearance took control from those that had been killing them for being 'witches'. The Founders, as they became known as, took to calling the shadowy woman the Goddess and worshipped her for giving them freedom from persecution by making everyone equal. Regardless of whether or not you believe in the Goddess, this is a historic fact across all cultures around the world," Chet explains.

Is that why there are so many similarities between this world and mine? I've always found it weird that so many celebrities and prominent figures are identical in this world with the only difference being that everyone can use magic. It's like if Debrah said, "you get to be a witch! And you get to be a witch! And you get to be a witch! EVERYBODY GETS TO BE A WITCH!"

As asinine as that sounds, it seems to be what happened...well, except that it was the Goddess instead of Debrah.

"From there, the Founders started teaching the populace how to use mana and order was restored as the Goddess became the prominent figure in all religions, overwriting the idea of a god, but we'll get into that more later on. This class will be covering history from before the Common Era up until the near-extinction of Kabbalahists at the hands of Andrew Kilburn and the end of World War II in 361. Free time until class ends and then you're all dismissed," Chet announces and sits down at his desk.

Well, this is rather confusing. My world's World War II ended in 1945, and if it matches with the relative timeline of this world, then the start of the Common Era would coincide with the dates from the witch-hunts of the 16th century. Well, that explains why the year in this world is 433, but it does raise a new question. If everyone in this world suddenly became witches four hundred years ago, then the history of this world should be radically different...Well, it's not like I really need to know any of this. What I need to do is focus on finding a way back to my world. Speaking of which, I should see if Liza has made any progress involving the book.

Since we aren't doing anything in class and Chet seems to be reading a report of some kind, I decide to bail. I grab my bag and head out of the classroom with confidence so no one tries to stop me. I head down the empty hall and take a right at the crossroads. After going down the main hall, I walk out the front doors and across the walkway to the administrative building. While ignoring my reflection in the floor, I head three meters down the hall and enter the nurse's office.

"Renton, what are you doing skipping class?" Liza asks upon seeing me.

"We weren't doing anything in history so I decided to come here and see how you were doing," I reply.

"I'm fine. How are you? Have you made any friends?" Liza inquires.

"I guess that I can consider a few people as friends," I respond as my mind flutters to Melody.

"What about you?" I ask to divert the most likely response of Liza asking what they're like, which in turn would cause me to dance around my description of Melody, rousing suspicion from Liza.

"The faculty members here are all quite nice and then I have my acquaintance that helped me get the job," Liza replies.

"That's good...Have you made any leeway on finding a code cracker?" I ask in a hushed tone.

Once I had calmed down enough to actually inspect the blood mage's red notebook, I found that it was coded, which led me to a very dark place as I considered what I'd lost for virtually no gain...after Liza stopped me, she assured me that there must be someone who could read it. One of the reasons we moved here and started at this school was to find someone whom we could trust to crack the code.

"It's only the first day. This is going to take some time, Renton," Liza says and I yawn uncontrollably in response.

"Do you want to take a nap in one of the cots? I'll wake you up so you won't be late for your next class," Liza offers.

"Sure, that actually sounds pretty good. By the way, I wasn't able to get lunch today," I inform her.

"Yeah I forgot all about lunch. I'll pack one for you tomorrow," Liza replies.

"You don't have to do that, Liza. I can make my own lunch," I tell her.

"Renton, you and I both know that if I don't make it for you, you'll never eat," Liza states. She does have a point.

"Yeah, probably. Thanks. Well, I'm going to take a quick nap," I reply and make my way over to the cot nearest me. I set my bag down on the ground and lie down, my head crunching the paper-covered pillow.

I'm out within seconds.

****

Chapter 5: Origins of a Thief

Liza's savings have run dry after my appearance has forced her relocate to a new, more expensive apartment off campus, not to mention the clothes she bought for me. The least I can do is try to help out. She only has a semester left until graduation and if I don't do this, she'll have to get a job to support us, which will take her away from her studies and might prevent her from graduating. Since I discovered my ability for negating magic when Liza tried to get me keyed to the lock spell on her apartment, I know I can do this. After looking down both ends of the alleyway, I check to make sure the hood of my dark blue sweatshirt is covering my face, having chosen dark blue instead of black because I read somewhere that it works better for blending into shadows.

I set my left hand on the handle of the back door of the jewelry shop, the lock disconnects, and I open the door. The door leads to a small office and I take a look around. The office has a desk with a computer to my left, a door that must lead into the store across from me, and a safe on the ground to the left of the rear door, behind the desk. The safe is probably a good bet. I walk over and kneel down in front of the safe.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a female voice whispers in my right ear, causing me to jump.

I spin on my knees and find a pale girl with long black hair and dark eyes whom appears to be about my age. I tense up and consider making a break for the door by barreling through her.

"Relax, I'm not here to bust you," the girl says and for some reason, I believe her.

"Do you have a mana vacuum on you? If you don't, a mana tracer will pick up your mana signature and you'll be arrested before you've had breakfast," the girl says while holding up a small black crystal—no bigger than a quarter—that almost seems to be absorbing the small amount of light in the room.

"That won't be necessary," I reply.

Thanks to the test Liza ran, I already know that I don't emit any mana and don't have a unique mana signature like everyone else. I set my hand on the safe and feel the lock disconnect with some effort. I'm guessing that the owner had a professional install the lock spell judging by how much stronger it was than the spell on the door, assuming that the owner installed the lock spell on the door.

"Wow..." I hear the girl whisper under her breath.

I crank the handle down and pull open the door. Inside of the safe is a six stack pyramid of cash, some large gems stones, and a pendant that has a weird sheen to it. Since money is what I need, I reach for that.

"What are you, new? The enchanted pendant is worth around ten times that amount and it's far easier to slip into your pocket," the girl whispers.

"But I need money and it's not like I have a fence or anything," I reply.

"Just grab it and let's go!" the girl quietly exclaims so I grab the pendant.

The air in the room becomes heavy as mana surges through it. The area over the door starts shimmering, as though heat vapors are covering it. I turn around and see the same situation with the door that leads into the store.

"Damn!" the girl exclaims.

"What?" I ask.

"There was a backup security system in the safe that was probably set to go off if the pendant was removed after business hours," the girl replies.

"So what now?" I inquire.

"Well, with the barriers up, we're trapped in here. The police are most likely on their way so I'm probably going to throw you under the bus and tell the police that I saw you break in and followed you in to stop you before the barrier trapped me in here. Nothing personal, of course," the girl nonchalantly says.

"No worries, I get it. So how do barriers work?" I ask and the girl gives me a quizzical look.

"It's concentrated mana that acts as a wall. How have you gone through your life without learning about barriers? Where are you from?" the girl asks.

"We can talk later. The cops are coming so how about we get out of here first?" I suggest.

"How? Even if you have enough power to blow through the barrier or create a hole in the wall to get past the barrier, a spell that powerful will leave a mana trail and the police will catch you," the girl replies while I walk over to the barrier covering the back door.

"I was thinking that we'd use the door," I say as I set my left hand on the barrier.

The barrier doesn't immediately go down like the lock spells have so I press against it and imagine a hole in the barrier opening up. The barrier stops shimmering in the center and a meter wide hole appears.

"After you," I tell the girl while gesturing at the hole as she looks at me with a shocked expression.

The girl regains her composure, dips down, and steps through the hole before I follow her. We exit the jewelry store as I hear sirens in the distance.

"Follow me," the girl orders and starts running down the alleyway, away from the sirens.

I follow after her for some reason that is beyond me. The girl runs out of the alley and starts walking down the street as the sirens get closer. She falls to my side, looks over at me, yanks my hood off, and grabs my right arm, making me tense up as my face gets hot. Three police cars go sailing past us as we continue calmly walking away from the crime scene. Thankfully, this world's lack of security cameras ensures that there's no chance of the police seeing what we just did at a later time.

"So, what's your name?" the girl asks.

"I'm Renton," I reply.

"Nice to meet you, Renton. I'm Melanie. You certainly have some skills, but it doesn't seem like you have much experience. If you want to come with me, I can introduce you to someone who can fence that pendant and give you some clean cash," Melanie offers.

"I think I'd like that," I respond with a smile.

"But first, how about we get something to eat? Normally I'd make you pay, but I know that you don't have any money at the moment so it's on me," Melanie replies and smiles up at me while she continues to hang on to my arm.

"I'll pay you back once we meet your fence," I reply and Melanie's smile warps into a smirk.

"I was planning on i—"

****

"Renton, wake up...it's time for class, little brother," Liza says while shaking me from my dream.

(We certainly had one hell of a 'how we met' story. "Well, I thought he looked sexy breaking into that jewelry shop, and the rest is history.")

"Thanks, Liza," I mumble while sitting up out of the cot. I grab my bag and head for the door.

"I'll see you after school," I add and exit the nurse's office.

I leave the administrative building and head across the walkway before realizing that I have no idea where I'm going. I pull out my schedule and see that mana applications and theory in room 116 is up next. After reaching the crossroads, I head down the right wing looking for room 116. I find the door on the left and enter the room as the bell rings.

"Looks like you just made it!" a woman in her thirties with curly brunette hair cheerfully exclaims with a motherly tone.

"Why don't you find a seat?" the teacher kindly suggests.

I look around the rather large room and spot Tetsuya, Jose, Melody, Alexa, Lily, and the three ice queens amid the other twenty students. All of the desks are in the first third of the room with another twenty meters of open space until the back wall. The only open desk is in the front row so I take a seat, despite feeling incredibly uncomfortable doing so. I really do not like having people behind me, especially when three of those people have tried to kill me today.

"Hello class! My name is Hannah Petridge and I'll be your teacher for this year of mana applications and theory! This is my first year teaching at Graythorn Academy, but I can already tell that I'll like it here!" Ms. Petridge (judging by the lack of ring on her left hand) exclaims. Her voice reminds me of Disney's Snow White.

"By show of hands, how many of you can use incantations, sigils, runes, and circles proficiently?" Ms. Petridge asks. I look behind me and see that Tetsuya is the only one that has raised his hand.

"Good! This semester, we will be working on raising your proficiency with the four types of casting!" Ms. Petridge exclaims with a pleasant smile.

"I've been using incantations since I was five years old. Why would I need to learn how to use the other casting methods?" Sarah asks behind me with a snobbish tone.

"Let me answer your question with a scenario, Ms. Greystone. Let's say that you've been kidnapped and are tied up. You are about to be violently gang raped by your kidnappers, who have gagged you so you can't use incantations, and blindfolded you so you can't use your specialty accurately. How do you get out of that situation?" Ms. Petridge asks without changing her expression.

I look behind me to find the shocked faces of my classmates, Sarah included, and it takes a great deal of restraint not to laugh.

"The answer is: you can't! All you can do in that situation is pray that they get it wet enough before they jam it in, which they won't, and prepare yourself because it's going to really hurt! However, with the ability to use runes, you could scratch the rune into your hand to cut through the ropes, remove your gag and/or blindfold, and dispatch the kidnappers! Everyone can benefit in learning to use methods of casting that they are unfamiliar with," Ms. Petridge answers.

"Anyway, you're all dismissed for today. You can hang out here or head to your specialty classes early. I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!" Ms. Petridge cheerfully exclaims.

I stand up and walk back to where everyone else is sitting.

"So does anyone else love this teacher?" I ask.

"She seems like she might be mentally unstable..." Alexa replies.

"I know, isn't it great? I was planning on skipping this class, but it seems like it should be fun," I announce.

"So, where do we go for study hall?" I inquire, turning my attention to Melody.

"The library," Melody replies.

"Renton, you're a wisp too?" Lily asks.

"You two know each other?" Melody inquires.

"We have history together...and I kinda had a premonition about him," Lily quietly replies.

"Oh..." Melody responds and looks over at me.

"It's fine. It's not like she can control it," I reply.

"Good! Isn't that great, Lily?" Melody asks.

"Yeah..." Lily quietly responds.

"What's the big deal?" I inquire.

"Most people who've received a premonition from Lily shun her for it," Melody answers.

"I'm one of the few who didn't shun her!" Jose exclaims.

"And why is that? Did you get a good fortune or something?" I ask.

"No, she told me that I'll never amount to anything and that I'll die alone, which is exactly what my mom has been telling me since I was five so it wasn't news to me. Besides, it's not like those things are set in stone, so how about a date, Alexa?" Jose answers.

"No," Alexa simply replies.

"This guy will turn anything into an excuse to chase after Alexa," I mumble.

"I secretly think that Alexa likes how he chases her, but don't tell her I said that," Melody whispers.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Alexa asks.

"We were just deciding to head to study hall early," I quickly respond.

"Yeah, are you coming Lily? Tetsuya?" Melody asks.

"Wait, Lily and Tetsuya are wisps?" I inquire.

"Not exactly, but there aren't any specialty classes for augurs and Shinto mages practice slightly differently so that they're adept in all areas. Tetsuya sort of audits a bunch of different specialty classes, but he's officially in study hall," Melody answers as Lily and Tetsuya gather their things.

"I see. Well, let's get going. See you later, Jose, Alexa," I say while turning towards them.

"I guess I should get going to my wind specialty class anyway," Alexa announces.

"And I can't be late to my shroudwalker class," Jose says.

All of us exit the classroom together before Jose and Alexa go on ahead after Melody stops Lily, Tetsuya, and I.

"I want to grab my jacket from my locker. Can you two show Renton to the library?" Melody asks.

"Your locker is right over there. Let's just go get it," I reply.

Melody shrugs and walks across the hall to access her locker. After two tries, Melody gets frustrated when her locker doesn't open.

"Just breathe," I tell her.

Melody closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as I walk over and stealthily touch her locker.

"Issero-day," Melody tries again as I pour my power into the locker and the door opens. Melody grabs her jacket and I turn around to see Tetsuya giving me a quizzical look, which seems out of place on his usually emotionless face, causing my stomach to bottom out. Did he see me?

Melody closes her locker and we walk to the crossroads as I try to relax the tensed posture my body has taken so as not to rouse any more suspicion. After heading upstairs, we take a right into the left wing of the school and head down the hall. Melody stops in front of a set of doors on the right side at the end of the hall before opening the doors to reveal a large library. She waves at the old lady that's standing behind the front desk on our left as we walk in. I follow Melody through the stacks, over to a table in the front right corner that has six wooden chairs around it. We sit down at the table and Tetsuya immediately pulls out a book and starts reading, giving no further indication that he saw what I did to Melody's locker—maybe he's writing it off as a coincidence?

"So what do we do now?" I ask.

"We work on things from our other classes," Lily answers.

"Well, that's what we're supposed to do, but it's not like anyone checks up on us and the librarian lets us do whatever we want as long as we aren't too loud," Melody answers.

"Hey guys! How are things going?" Jose asks, coming out of nowhere as he sits down in a chair.

"What are you doing here?" I inquire.

"Shroudwalker class didn't seem like it would be as much fun so I snuck out and came here," Jose answers.

"Using a shroud to sneak out of Shroudwalker class...that's almost poetic," I reply.

"Hey every—" Alexa starts before she see Jose.

"I guess we think alike, eh Alexa?" Jose asks with a huge grin.

"No," Alexa tersely replies and sits down next to Melody.

"Well, since we're all here, why don't we get to know each other better?" Jose suggests.

"That's a great idea!" Melody exclaims while looking at me.

"So where are you from, Renton?" Jose asks.

"A city far away," I reply.

"What are your hobbies?" Lily inquires.

I can't exactly tell them that I enjoy breaking into places and stealing things...

"Certain activities," I answer.

"What was your old school like?" Melody questions.

"Normal," I reply since I can't tell them that my old school was in a different world devoid of magic.

"Come on! At least give us something!" Jose exclaims.

"Do you have any sexual experience?" Alexa questions and everyone turns to look at her.

"What? He wasn't responding to normal questions so I thought I'd take a left turn," Alexa defends as her cheeks redden from the attention.

"Alright, I'll share this one because the story is good. Things were getting started with my girlfriend when I stopped.

'Before this goes any further, I should probably ask if you have a condom because I don't.' I said.

'You don't have to worry about a condom, I have an IUD.' she replied.

'HOLY SHIT! WHAT DO WE DO!?' I shouted.

'What are you talking about? You don't have to do anything. Just stick it in.' she said.

'BUT WON'T IT LIKE, EXPLODE!? Should I try to disarm it?' I asked.

At that point, she started putting her clothes back on and said 'I think I've made a mistake...' It wasn't until the following day that I realized that I was thinking of an IED, an improvised explosive device, instead of the form of birth control," I recant and everyone starts laughing while my mind immediately goes to thoughts of how she died a day later.

"That is freaking awesome!" Jose exclaims around bouts of laughter.

"So what happened to your girlfriend? Did you two break up when you moved here?" Melody asks once the laughter has died down.

"...No," I hesitantly reply.

"So you two are still together? Like a long-distance relationship?" Alexa questions.

"No...she's dead," I quietly say and the table falls silent.

"Wait, is she actually dead or are you just trying to get a pity bang from Melody?" Alexa inquires.

All I can offer is a sad smile in response. Melody glares at Alexa and lightly smacks her shoulder.

"When did she..." Melody starts to ask.

"A little more than a month ago...It's one of the reason's that my sister and I finally moved...there wasn't anything keeping me there anymore," I quietly answer.

"Well...I feel like a huge bitch now..." Alexa says and the air around the table becomes incredibly awkward.

(Of course it has, you idiot! Make a tactical retreat!)

"I'm going to go find a book," I awkwardly announce, stand up, and walk away from the group.

I walk across the library to the back left corner to get as far away from the table as I can. So telling them about Melanie appears to have been a mistake...something shimmering to my right catches my eye. I turn towards it and see a bookcase wedged in the corner with a barrier over it. After looking around to make sure that no one followed me, I approach the book case and see that the barrier is a level five. The presence of such a strong barrier piques my interest. It must be guarding restricted books, but what kinds of books need a level five barrier? I focus on staring through the shimmering barrier and find that most of the titles are spelt out in runes or in another language, but I am able to make out several titles:

Human Sacrifices and You!

So You Want To Make A Human-Cat Hybrid? A Guide to Human Chimeras

Why Should Leprechauns Be The Only Ones With Pots of Gold? A How-To on Gold Transmutations

I nearly laugh at the ridiculous titles until I reach one that catches my eye.

Codes and Code Breakers: A Thesis on Cryptography and Cryptographers

Now that is worth investigating. I check and make sure the coast is clear before setting my unsteady left hand on the barrier. I'll need to be careful with this one and make sure that I don't break it or this situation will become very bad, very fast. I pour my power into the barrier in small increments, focusing on control and trying to stop my hand from shaking as I remember what happened as a direct result of the last time I tried to open a barrier. About a minute later, I feel the barrier give as a hole opens up, allowing me to reach in and grab the book on codes. I pull the book out through the hole and remove my hand as the barrier closes, leaving none the wiser.

"What an interesting book you've found there, Renton."

I spin on my heels and see Chet standing behind me with a grin on his face. My heart pounds in my chest as I contemplate what I should do next.

(Snap his neck and hide his body in the stacks)

"What!?"

(That was a joke)

"I have to say, I am surprised by your choice. Of all the grimoires and guides that could make you rich and powerful, you go for a book on codes. Sadly, that book probably will not be of much use to you," Chet tells me.

"And what do you know about codes?" I cautiously ask.

"Quite a bit. After all, I wrote the book that you're holding," Chet replies.

I look down at the bottom of the cover and see _By Chet Holmes_. It looks like this might be my ticket to getting the information in that notebook.

"Then maybe you can help me out. I have in my possession a notebook that is coded and contains information that I need," I inform him.

"Then perhaps we can make a deal in the form of a trade for...services rendered," Chet responds with a smile.

...This guy totally wants to screw me...Would getting screwed for the information in that notebook be worth it? Well, it's not like I haven't already been getting screwed by life for the past few weeks, but still...

"By services rendered, I mean you retrieving something for me in the same manner as you retrieved that book," Chet explains.

"Oh. Ooooooh! Oh yeah, totally. No problem. That's way better than what I was thinking," I reply.

"Alright. Return that book to where you found it so as to not raise any suspicions and meet me in my room after class," Chet says and walks away.

That turned out surprisingly well! I set my left hand on the barrier and carefully disable it to return the book. Once done, I return to the table to grab my stuff.

"Renton, are you alright?" Melody asks.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I'll see you guys tomorrow," I reply and walk away.

I head out of the library, down the hall, down the stairs, down the main hall, and exit the main building. I make a beeline for the administrative building and head into the nurse's office.

"What's up, Renton?" Liza asks.

"Oh, not much...except that someone discovered my secret," I tell her.

"What!?" Liza shrieks before stopping to regain her composure.

"You couldn't even make it through a single day...How?" Liza inquires after shaking her head.

"A teacher saw me break through the barrier that is over the restricted bookshelf in the library. The good news is he should be able to help us with the coded notebook. I just kinda have to retrieve something for him first..." I quietly explain.

"Renton..." Liza lightly scolds.

"I'm going to meet him in his room once school lets out to discuss our trade of services," I add.

"Well, since we're here, why don't we discuss it now?" Chet suggests while appearing out of thin air, making Liza jump.

"Chet! You sneaky bastard! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Liza exclaims.

"Come now. What's a heart attack between old friends?" Chet asks.

"Wait, so Chet is the friend that helped you get this job?" I ask, making the connection.

"If you needed a cryptographer, why didn't you just come to me directly, Liza?" Chet inquires, ignoring my question.

"Because I wasn't sure that we could trust you. I'm still not, but now we don't have a choice," Liza replies.

"So what is it that you want Renton to 'retrieve' for you?" Liza questions while glaring at Chet with distaste.

"It's a certain pair of enchanted glasses at a museum here in the city. This museum is having a soirée in just under a month and I happen to have an invite that includes a plus one. I'm thinking that Renton and I will attend the party and then slip out to steal the glasses, which of course are being guarded by several high level barriers and would be impossible to get to without notifying the authorities under normal circumstances," Chet explains.

"And in return you can decode the notebook and everyone will walk away happy!" I exclaim, but Liza doesn't look happy about this situation.

"Does this notebook have anything to do with Renton not being from this world?" Chet asks and my heart stops, as does Liza's, or so I imagine.

"How do you know about that?" Liza nervously inquires.

"I overheard the premonition that Renton received from an augur in my classroom," Chet answers.

"What!? Did anyone else hear this!?" Liza frantically asks me.

"I didn't think anyone had! Lily and I were the only ones in the classroom at the time and she has no recollection of the premonition!" I explain.

"Relax, I won't tell anyone and this makes more sense than you miraculously having an eighteen year old brother and changing your last name for no reason," Chet replies.

"Yes, the notes are on portals that might take me home. By the way, if I'm going to be taking on really high level barriers, I'm going to need some practice if you want to go in with stealth. If I'm not careful, my power can easily break the barriers," I inform him.

"Hmm...I might be able to arrange something with the new teacher, Hannah Petridge. If I remember right, she minored in barriers in college. I'll see what I can do and get back to you tomorrow," Chet replies.

"Alright. I'm going to need more information on the security system in the museum: guards, traps, pressure sensors, lasers, things of that nature," I tell him.

"Pressure sensors? Lasers?" Chet asks.

Right, this world doesn't have those things. Since barriers work as a blockade with breaking them being the only way through them for a third party and since breaking them acts as a detection device, secondary detection devices like pressure sensors or lasers are unnecessary.

"Never mind," I reply.

"I'll see what I can learn about the security and let you know," Chet says.

"Okay, I'll see you in class tomorrow," I respond.

Chet nods and exits the nurse's office.

"I'm going to go grab my jacket before class lets out," I tell Liza.

Liza nods and I leave her office. I exit the administrative building, walk into the main building, and head down the left hall to my locker. I set my left hand on the locker and pop the lock open.

"Hey Renton," Melody greets, causing me to jump.

"Sorry things got so weird back there..." Melody says, leading me to believe that she didn't notice that I hadn't said anything to open my locker.

"It's alright," I reply as I grab my jacket, put my bag in my locker, and close it.

"Would you mind telling me about her? She's the one whose name you called out when I woke you up this morning, right?" Melody timidly asks.

"I can't..." I quietly respond.

"Can't, or won't?" Melody gently questions.

"Both," I reply while attempting to smile at her.

I don't say anything else, leaving her standing there as I walk past her and head out of the main building.

(You know, it wouldn't hurt to open up to her a bit more)

"It might..."

...

Chapter 6: Elementalball

The next morning, I bring the red notebook with me to school and arrive fifteen minutes early. I make a quick stop by my locker to grab my messenger bag and stuff my gym clothes into it before heading to homeroom to find that Chet is waiting.

"Good, you're here," Chet says when I walk into the room.

"Were you able to find anything?" I ask.

"Level eight barriers, five of them. I also learned that there is a squad of security guards stationed at the museum for quick responses in case a barrier is broken so stealth is the only way to go," Chet informs me.

"Level eights, huh? Damn...is there any way I can get some practice in? The highest barrier I've encountered is a level seven and I ended up smashing through it," I reply.

"I'll talk to Hannah and see if she can erect level eight barriers. I'm thinking that levels five through eight over the openings of four boxes should do it," Chet says.

"But won't she feel when the barriers are broken and know that something is up?" I ask.

"I'll tell her that a student wants to do some experiments that may break the barriers," Chet replies.

"Then wouldn't she become interested in the experiment and want to be involved?" I question.

"That's a good point...I'll figure something out," Chet answers.

"In the meantime, I brought the notebook," I reply.

I open my jacket, pull out the red notebook, and hand it to him.

"Alright, I'll take a look when I have a free moment, but you won't be getting the transcription until after the heist," Chet replies.

"Of course," I respond and head over to my desk.

Melody and Alexa walk into the room a few minutes later, but they don't say anything as they sit down in the two desks to my right.

"Good morning, Alexa! And good morning to you two as well!" Jose exclaims as he enters the room.

"Morning, Jose," I respond as he sits down at the desk to my left. What follows is a very awkward silence.

"So...Has anyone else misheard Vanity Fair as 'van-it affair' and think it was a dating site for married people to cheat on their spouses in vans?" Jose asks in a blatant attempt to make things less awkward.

I chuckle slightly before Joshua walks into the room, glares at me for several seconds, and sits at the desk in the right corner. The other students start shuffling in, the majority looking like zombies, and the bell rings a few minutes later.

"Alright, everyone doing good? Good. I've got things to do so I'll see you all tomorrow," Chet announces and exits the room, leaving most of the class bewildered.

"Well Jose, let's get going to math," I say.

"Right...we'll see you guys later!" Jose exclaims at Alexa and Melody.

"See you..." Melody quietly replies.

Jose and I gather our stuff and head upstairs to our math room, which is still in use. Jose opens his mouth twice to say something, but doesn't follow through on each occasion so we lean against the wall in silence until the class let's out. We head into the room, sit down next to Tetsuya, and wait for class to start.

Math class is dull and easy to the point that I don't have to take notes. My eyelids start to feel like sandbags as I begin to drift off to sleep.

"Do you find my class too easy, Mr. Werner? Is that why you aren't taking notes?" Mr. Black sternly asks, causing my eyes to shoot open. I look to the clock to see how long I was asleep to find that it's halfway through the period; in other words, I didn't sleep enough.

"A bit," I answer honestly.

"Then why don't you come up here and solve this!" Mr. Black demands as he writes out a problem on the whiteboard.

I sigh, stand up, walk up to the board, and finish the problem in all of ten seconds. Mr. Black sees that my answer is correct, which only serves to make him more frustrated.

"How about this one?" Mr. Black asks as he writes out a problem asking me to find the length of the side of a triangle with the angle of a corner and the length of the hypotenuse. I write 10 x cos(60) as the answer.

"Trigonometry isn't even covered in this class. If you want the answer simplified further, use a calculator," I reply and walk back to my desk.

"Dude, nice!" Jose whispers.

Mr. Black doesn't say anything and continues his lesson. After class, I stand up and head downstairs to my science class. Melody isn't stuck at her locker today so I head into room 122. I sit down next to Melody and Alexa at our table, and we wait in uncomfortable silence as the room talks around us until class starts. Mrs. Hatfield spends the next forty minutes reviewing lab procedures, and gives us a quiz in the last ten minutes to 'make sure that we were listening'.

"Next week, we will have our first lab where you will be transmuting copper into nickel by removing one proton so we will be reviewing atomic structure tomorrow. You are all dismissed for today," Mrs. Hatfield announces.

"Well, that was fun. You guys ready for gym?" I ask.

"Sure..." the girls reply.

Alexa, Melody, and I grab our bags, exit the classroom, and head further down the hall to the gym. We part ways at the end of the hall as I turn left into the guys' locker room while the girls turn right. Most of the guys are dicking around while I quickly get dressed in the gray t-shirt and basketball shorts before heading out to the gym through the door on the right wall of the locker room.

Coach Michaels is speaking with Sarah on the other side of the gym and Sarah hands something to Coach Michaels before returning to the girls' locker room. I stand off to the side and watch as Coach Michaels goes over to a set of double doors on the right wall, opens them, and reveals a large sports supply closet. He goes into the closet and comes out with a set of three black balls held in his left arm that are about twenty centimeters in diameter and covered with swirling runes. He then walks over to a pad near the closet, puts his hand against it, and quietly says something that causes the bleachers on the right wall to unfold in just over a minute. The rest of the guys exit the locker room a few minutes later, followed by the girls, and we all assemble in the center of the gym.

"Alright, to start off the year, we will be playing elementalball!" Coach Michaels announces and gets a chorus of groans in response.

He calls out the first grouping of ten, five on each team. I follow the rest of the class over to the bleachers on the right side of the gym while the other ten classmates stay in the center. Coach places the three balls down on a centerline in the middle of the gym with about three meters of space between the balls before walking off to the side. I notice a line on each side of the centerline and about three meters from it as Coach Michaels turns around and holds his right hand out.

"Tres epio-say," Coach Michaels calls out and a level three barrier is erected.

The barrier borders a rectangular shape that is about ten meters wide by fifteen meters long.

"Take your positions!" Coach Michaels orders and each team moves to a line that is on the far reaches of the court.

"GO!" Coach Michaels shouts.

Each team races towards the three balls and the left team gets two balls while the right team gets one. The players move behind the lines that are three meters from the center line and start throwing the balls that are suddenly infused with the specialty of the thrower.

"Ego-tay!" several players call out and large round objects appear in front of them.

The objects have the heat-rising look of barriers, but the size tells me that they're personal wards. Two balls are blocked and drop to the ground, but the one that was infused with electricity and glowing purple smashes through the defender's ward. A player on the left team falls to the ground and stays down as the balls roll back to their starting positions automatically.

The four remaining players on the left race to balls as the right team does the same and the whole process repeats. This continues on until all of the players on one team are on the ground.

"Isicio-day epio-say," Coach Michaels says with his hand on the barrier.

Coach Michaels dispels the barrier and all of the downed players stand up looking sore, but with no serious injuries. The previous players assume positions in the bleachers while Coach Michaels calls out ten new people, sets up the barrier, and the new game begins.

As I watch the next two games, I find myself contemplating what is keeping the players from getting seriously injured. Is the barrier somehow special? Or are the gym clothes enchanted or charmed? Well, they can't be charmed because I would have dispelled the protection upon...touching them...

"Alright, last game. Werner, Sheffield, Aaronson, and Barnstone on the left. Greystone, Bradbury, McDowell, and Graves on the right," Coach Michaels calls out.

If I dispelled the charm on my gym clothes without realizing it, this is really going to hurt. It's not like I can block the ball with my left hand to avoid getting hit; well, I can, but it will certainly raise some eyebrows.

"Good luck, dude..." Jose mutters.

"What?" I ask.

"Joshua is on the school's team so you probably don't stand a chance," Jose informs me.

"Wait, why aren't you playing?" I inquire.

"Shroudwalkers don't have a place in elementalball. Using shrouds in the game, either on ourselves or the ball, is considered cheating so we're excused. Wisps are usually excused from playing too so this is kind of weird..." Jose comments. I recall how Sarah handed something to Coach Michaels and it dawns on me: she paid him off to set this up!

I walk over to the court with Melody, Alexa, and a skinny guy with brown hair and freckles who looks sort of familiar. We take our positions on the left side of the court (relative to the bleachers) with Melody and Alexa on my left and Aaronson on my right. Sarah, Serena, Sierra, and Joshua go to the right side of the court on the far side of the gym. Joshua lines up with me while Sarah is on his right and lined up with Melody. Oh, that's right; Aaronson is in Chet's homeroom with us. He sits in the front row.

"GO!" Coach shouts and all of us race towards the balls with the exception of Melody, who stands at the back of the court looking nervous.

My recent physical ineptitude becomes drastically apparent to me when I'm unable to reach the line before everyone else. Alexa and Aaronson each grab a ball while Joshua grabs the final one. Alexa throws a quick, underhand pitch forward at Sierra while most likely enhancing the speed with wind magic. Sierra sees it coming, but throws up a ward just a bit too late. The ball connects with Sierra's stomach hard enough for me to hear the air being forced out of her lungs as she hits the floor.

A flaming ball suddenly comes in at me and I quickly dive out of the way. I feel the heat from the ball as it flies over my back and hits the barrier before dropping and quickly rolling back to the starting position, Joshua grinning at me all the while.

"Ego-tay!" Serena calls out as Aaronson throws a ball with a dark blue glow at her and the ball is stopped.

Everyone races out to the center to grab the balls with the same results. Joshua throws his fiery ball at me again and I dive out of the way.

"Ego-tay!" Joshua commands as Aaronson throws his water ball at him.

Joshua's ward pops up, looking slightly more fiery than others, as the water ball connects. The ball drops to the ground as steam created by the water rises and Joshua's eyes narrow at Aaronson.

Meanwhile, Alexa uses the steam as a distraction to pelt the ball diagonally across the court at Serena. Serena yelps as the ball hits her and she falls to the ground. Everyone rushes out to the balls and this time Sarah, Joshua, and Alexa are the ones with balls.

"Ego-tay!" Aaronson calls out as Joshua immediately hurls a fire ball at him.

Aaronson's ward comes up as the ball hits it and smashes through it to connect with his chest. Aaronson drops to the ground as Sarah looks from Melody to Alexa, trying to decide whom to hit. Alexa makes the decision for her as she pitches her ball at Sarah. Sarah throws her ice encrusted ball at Melody as Alexa jumps in the way. Both balls connect, knocking Alexa and Sarah out of the game.

Since the balls have reset, I race forward to grab the balls with Joshua as Melody continues standing at the back of the court. Joshua is able to grab two before I can grab one and we retreat behind our lines. These balls are quite a bit heavier than I was expecting. Well, at least I have something to throw now. Joshua hurls one of his balls at me and I dive out of the way. Despite still being in my hand, the moment the ball touches the ground, it shoots out of my hand and towards the center line. Crap...

"Stand up!" Joshua calls out to me with a smug look on his face, the second ball raised in his hand.

His eyes flick over to Melody to make sure she's watching this. Well, I'm not about to go down without doing at least some form of damage.

"You're displaying your crush on Melody with all of the subtlety of a five year old!" I shout across the gym.

Joshua's face turns beet red and the ball bursts into a swirling inferno as he pitches it. The ball comes sailing towards me before it curves off to the left, most likely because the inferno around the ball is acting as uncontrolled jet propulsion. Time seems to slow down as Joshua's face falls when he sees where the ball is going. I glance behind me and see that the ball is headed straight towards Melody's head; her eyes go wide when she realizes it too.

" _Sometimes a shield is better than a sword,"_ the memory of Melanie's voice rings through my mind.

No...Melody isn't going to get hurt...I won't allow it.

My body lightens as it moves on instinct. My left foot pivots and springs off of the ground, covering the three meters between Melody and I in an instant and putting my body in the path of the flaming ball. I throw my left hand up in front of me as the ball comes in. The inertia is the first thing to go out on contact with my left palm and the flames are next. I wrap my fingers around the ball, trade it to my right hand and hurl it back at Joshua. The ball goes much faster than it normally should and connects with his face.

Blood and teeth shoot out of Joshua's mouth as he's knocked off his feet while the ball keeps going and shatters the barrier. Joshua hits the gym floor with a thud as the barrier disappears. The downed players start getting up, with the exception of Joshua; I'm pretty sure he won't be getting up for a while. The silently shocked faces of my classmates stare at me, including Melody's. Dammit, this is exactly what I wanted to avoid!

"And that's game!" I awkwardly exclaim and make a hasty retreat to the locker room.

I quickly change out of my gym clothes and back into my uniform when I hear the locker door slam open behind me.

"Werner, that was...unlike anything I've ever seen! I want you on the school's team! With you playing this year, we will dominate the tournament," Coach Michaels informs me.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested," I reply.

I can't play on the school's team because elementalball is often broadcasted and that would mean putting myself on TV, which would instantly give my location away to those who are looking for me.

"Come on, Werner! Think about the popularity and the parties and the cheerleaders!" Coach Michaels exclaims as I pick up my bag.

"See you tomorrow, Coach," I respond as I exit the locker room.

"I'm not giving up, Werner! I will get you on the team!" Coach Michaels shouts after me.

I head down the hall, stop at the crossroads, and wait for Jose and Tetsuya. This whole situation might cause some serious problems for me...

"Hey man, that was amazing! How did you do that?" Jose asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"I have no clue. I just got lucky, I guess," I reply. Tetsuya raises an eyebrow at me, but he doesn't say anything.

"Well, let's go get some food. I'm starving!" Jose exclaims and heads off down the hall, leaving Tetsuya and I to follow after him.

We walk down the hall and through the doors at the end, heading to the cafeteria.

"I'm going to go find us a table," I tell the guys when we arrive as I remember that I forgot to bring my lunch this morning and Liza neglected to remind me; I guess she really did make a valid point yesterday.

I spot an open table at the back of the cafeteria, near the stairs leading up to the second floor so I head over and take a seat.

"Hey, Renton. Do you mind if we sit here?" Melody asks from behind me a few moments after I sit down.

"Sure," I reply without turning around. Melody and Alexa each take a seat.

"Thanks for earlier..." Melody quietly says.

"For what? I was just playing the game," I simply reply as Jose and Tetsuya come over to join us.

"Well, thanks anyway," Melody responds while staring intently at her lunch. She looks across the table at me and frowns.

"Where's your lun—" Melody starts to ask.

"Renton!" I hear Liza exclaim behind me.

I start to turn around when she throws her arms over my shoulders and kisses my cheek while placing a brown paper bag on the table in front of me. I feel her tense up as she looks across the table and pauses for a moment.

"You forgot your lunch. I'll see you later!" Liza adds, snapping out of it before she releases me and walks away.

"Dude...nice!" Jose exclaims as he watches Liza walk away.

"Who was that, Renton?" Melody asks with a downtrodden tone.

(Isn't that cute? She's worried!)

"Yeah, who was that, Renton?" Alexa asks rather pointedly while glaring at Jose's interest in Liza.

"That's Liza. She lives with me and made breakfast for me this morning. She's constantly prancing around the house in her underwear and the answer to your next question is yes, Jose—I have slept with her," because we could only get a room with one bed at the hotel we stayed at here in Avalon until we'd moved into the house. Melody perks up after hearing my response.

(Smart girl)

"Sweet! How was she?" Jose asks.

"She's great. Good cook, always looking out for me," I answer.

"I meant how was she in bed?" Jose inquires.

"A little clingy. She snuggles in her sleep," I reply and Jose gives me a quizzical look.

"That's his sister, you dumbass," Alexa informs him. Jose looks up and appears to be replaying the conversation in his head.

"So you aren't screwing her?" Jose asks.

"Uh, no," I respond.

"So she's available...I think I might be getting injured a lot more in the future," Jose concludes and Alexa glares at him, which brings a small smile to my face.

I look over at Melody and notice that she's wearing the same smile as she looks at me and we both start laughing.

"What's so funny?" Alexa asks.

"Oh, nothing," Melody and I reply.

I open my lunch bag, pull out a sandwich, and start eating. Jose starts asking questions about Liza as Alexa's glare intensifies with each one.

"Do you know what her bust size is? I'm guessing a classy 32D," Jose asks.

"Dude, she's my sister," I answer.

I do know her bust size, but that's only because she isn't actually my sister.

"What kind of panties does she normally wea—" Jose starts to ask before he turns towards Alexa, feeling the force of her glare at this point...mainly because a small tornado has formed on his head. Upon seeing her scowling, Jose recoils backward.

"Sorry, Alexa...I should have realized that you would be upset with all the attention I've been giving to another woman," Jose apologizes.

"What!? I'm not upse—" Alexa starts to defend.

"If it's any consolation, the only reason that I didn't ask what your bust size is or what kind of panties you're wearing is because I already know both of those things: 34C and red lace," Jose adds.

"WHAT!?" Alexa shrieks.

"Uh...I gotta go!" Jose quickly exclaims and scoots back in his chair while casting a shroud over himself.

"JOSE! YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" Alexa screams and runs towards the door.

"Aaaaand...she's gone. Come on out, Jose," I say once Alexa leaves the cafeteria.

"How did you know I was still here?" Jose asks from my right while dispelling his shroud.

"Just a hunch," and also because the cafeteria doors didn't open, but Alexa was too busy navigating the sea of chairs to notice.

"I probably shouldn't have revealed that knowledge to her, huh?" Jose questions.

"Yeah, probably not," I respond and finish my sandwich.

"Probably won't be able to keep dropping stuff in front of her so I can look up her skirt without her getting suspicious anymore...or did she know the entire time and just let me do it?" Jose thinks out loud. I look across to Melody and she subtly raises two fingers, bringing a smile to my face.

"Well, I'm going to head to my class. I'll see you guys later," I announce as I gather my stuff and stand up.

"See you, Renton," Jose responds, obviously still lost in thought.

I make my way through the crowd and exit the cafeteria, heading back to the main building.

"Renton!" I hear Melody call out so I stop and turn around.

"Hey...would you...do you want to go grab coffee...with me...after school?" Melody timidly asks.

"Melody...I appreciate the offer, I really do...but I can't...I'm sorry," I reply.

"...I understand. I'll see you in class!" Melody exclaims with a sad smile as she passes by me and quickly enters the main building.

(Why did you say no?)

"You know why, Melanie...it wouldn't be fair to her..."

(I think you should go for it...Wren \+ Melody...that's so cute! You're a songbird, and she's a song!)

I suddenly get the strange sensation that someone is behind me. I turn around as Chet dispels his shroud.

"Why'd you turn her down?" Chet inquires.

"Were you able to get anything worked out with Ms. Petridge?" I ask.

"That was pretty cold..." Chet mentions.

"Anything on the barrier practice?" I question.

"She seemed pretty crushed..." Chet says and I glare at him for several moments.

"You remind me of my brother," I state.

"You have a brother who's tall, charismatic, and has great hair?" Chet asks.

"No, he's an asshole," I reply and start walking into the main building. I actually don't have a brother at all.

"You know, I can give you detention for like, no reason," Chet responds as I hold the door open for him.

"Fine, that only cuts into the time that I could be practicing for the heist," I say.

"Touché," Chet replies as we enter the classroom.

"Heist?" Lily inquires.

"Christ, Lily! Don't sneak up on us like that!" I exclaim.

"Christ? Wait a second! Are you implying that I have so little presence that I snuck up on you while just sitting here!?" Lily asks, looking hurt.

"We were having a discussion about an ancient religion centered around a guy named Christ and a heist that occurred," Chet lies to cover for us, but Lily doesn't seem to hear him.

"Of course not, Lily. I was just distracted and didn't notice you. I've got a lot on my mind," I reply as I sit down next to her.

"Oh, is this about Melody?" Lily questions.

"How did you know about that?" I inquire.

"I passed by Alexa comforting her...she seems kind of broken up about it," Lily informs me while judgmentally looking me over.

"Lay off of him, Lily. Renton feels like enough of a piece of shit for breaking that girl's heart as it is. For crushing her so brutally that it would be fitting to put it on the cover of a metal album. For delivering a fatality that makes the creators of Mortal Kombat kick themselves for not thinking of it first. For destroying her so completely that she may never recover and will grow old alone, with only her baker's dozen of cats to keep the crushing loneliness from forcing her off that ledge to just make it all stop...I meant to keep these lighthearted, but that last one got pretty dark, huh?" Chet asks and more students enter the room.

"We'll continue our earlier conversation later, Renton," Chet informs me and I nod in confirmation as the bell rings.

"Today we will be covering early, pre-world history. The history of magic starts in the thirtieth century B.C. which stands for Before Christ because the Old World calendar was centered around a religion based on a guy who did things similar to what the Founders got burned for. Anyway, the history of magic starts about three thousand years before that guy was around, which is about forty-six hundred years before the common era. The details are a little fuzzy and no one is sure on the true origins, but we have traced it back to the Greece. The Greeks were largely responsible for the four methods of casting we have today: incantations, circles, sigils, and runes. For the next few days, I will be focusing on Greece and we'll have a quiz on Friday," Chet lectures and gets a round of groans in response to his statement about the quiz.

"Now, in addition to being responsible for sigils, Greece also gave us augurs, or as they called them, oracles. All of our augurs are descended from the ancient Greek oracles, even our very own Lily Fairchild. The Greeks were responsible for a lot of other cool shit—I mean things, like democracy and philosophy. But I'm getting ahead of myself," Chet says.

"So, this next part about Greece doesn't have all that much to do with magic, but I like the part about the warring polises...polisi...plural of polis, which is the name for an ancient Greek city-state. Anyway, the Spartan culture is pretty cool so we're going to watch the movie _300_ , which is completely historically accurate because I don't feel like going into all of the pederasty that is ancient Greece. And this totally isn't because I have other stuff to do and don't feel like teaching," Chet announces to a round of cheers and turns on a projector.

"Oh, and by the way, we may be skipping forward several thousand years next week so we can learn about how all Romans had British accents...or Australian. Whatever."

Chapter 7: A Barrier and a Wager

Chet spends the entire period working on his computer while we watch the beginning of _300._ After forty minutes, I head to mana applications and theories. When I arrive in the classroom, I notice that Joshua is absent. I glance at Melody and find her looking away so I take a seat in the front row to give her some space after what happened earlier.

"Now, before we start, who can explain the difference between runes and sigils?" Ms. Petridge asks.

"No one? That isn't a problem. You're here to learn after all. Runes and sigils are both written symbols, but there is a key difference. In very basic terms, runes are used to spell out incantations while sigils are complete spells on their own. It's similar to the difference between an alphabet and pictographs. Another difference is when casting runes, you think of the incantation you would use; with sigils, you picture the end result. Now we will be moving on to the practical portion of the lesson and you will be practicing with runes and sigils. Here are the runes and sigil you will be using," Ms. Petridge says and writes a swirling script of three runes before writing a cross with circles on the end of each point on the whiteboard.

"These are the runes and sigil for creating combustion. All you have to do is write each out on a separate piece of paper, thinking of the incantation or the paper catching on fire respectively, and then prime the runes or sigil by pouring mana into them. Ah, Mr. Werner, you're excused from today's activity. Everyone else, get into groups of five and start working on the assignments. Mr. Yamamoto, I'm counting on you to assist your classmates until I return. There's a fire extinguisher by the door in case things get out of hand. Mr. Werner, follow me," Ms. Petridge announces and starts walking towards the back of the class.

At the back wall is a door that I hadn't noticed yesterday. Ms. Petridge opens the door, revealing a rather spacious office with modern furnishings, a desk, and a bookcase. She ushers me in and closes the door behind her before turning around to face the door.

"Acitus-tay," Ms. Petridge whispers with her hand on the door. I recognize that spell from my time with the Syndicate; it's used to silence a room and block listening spells.

"So, I was told that you want to work with high level barriers. For what purpose?" Ms. Petridge asks as she turns toward me.

"I want to experiment with breaking them," I answer.

"And why would you want to do that, you naughty boy?" Ms. Petridge inquires with a knowing smile.

"Just for curiosity's sake," I reply and Ms. Petridge's smile warps into a frown.

"Don't bullshit me, Renton. I know men like Chet and I know that he wouldn't ask me for a favor like this unless he was going to benefit in some way. I also know that he isn't above getting his hands dirty to get what he wants," Ms. Petridge baits me, but I remain silent.

"How about a little wager? If you can break through the strongest barrier I can create, I'll help you out, no questions asked. If not...well, I can think of a punishment later," Ms. Petridge suggests with a surreptitious smile and a cat-like glint to her eyes that distorts the Snow White image I have of her.

"Fine...give me your best shot," I respond and Ms. Petridge's smile widens.

Ms. Petridge backs up and stares at the ground. An engraving on the concrete floor starts near my feet—she must be a Digger. The engraving quickly turns into a circle that's roughly a meter in diameter with complex runes engraved around it. Sigils start forming inside of the circle as three lines split the circle down the middle and the entire thing completes. Ms. Petridge steps up to the edge of the circle and holds her right hand out.

"Epio-say," Ms. Petridge says and the barrier activates over the outer lines in the circle.

The barrier is so distorted that I can't make out anything through it. Judging by the fact that the distortion is much higher than the 'heat rising' effect that I'm familiar with, this barrier must be strong.

"What level is this?" I inquire.

"It doesn't have a standard level because it registers off the basic Schuster chart. It's a barrier of my own creation that I don't use very often because it's a pain to take down," Ms. Petridge replies.

"And all I have to do is break it?" I ask.

"If you can," Ms. Petridge replies with a smug smile.

I step up to the barrier and place my left hand on it. I can feel the strength of the barrier while it presses against my left hand, as though it's daring me to try and break it. Well, here goes nothing. This probably isn't the best thing to be doing when I'm supposed to be working on restraint, but I've never had the opportunity to test the full strength of my power before.

"What? Realizing that you can't do it so you're not even going to try? I guess I'll have to think up a punishment..." Ms. Petridge comments after I've been standing there silently for ten seconds.

The barrier suddenly cracks and explodes outward, knocking me on my ass as several books fall off of the shelves of the nearby bookcase. I stand up, dust myself off, and turn towards Ms. Petridge, who is standing and looking at the spot where her barrier once stood with her mouth agape. After a minute of silence, she recovers.

"Well...it looks like I owe you a few barriers," Ms. Petridge finally says.

After telling Ms. Petridge what level of barrier I need practice with, I spend the entire period in the back office breaking through twenty-three level eight barriers.

"You're all dismissed. See you all tomorrow!" Ms. Petridge announces as we exit the back office.

I make my way out of the classroom when Jose catches up to me.

"What was that all about?" Jose asks as we reach the crossroads.

"Nothing. I have to get going," I reply and take a left.

"Not going to study hall?" Jose inquires.

"No. I figured it would be a good idea to distance myself from Melody a bit for right now—give her some space. See you later," I respond and continue down the hall.

I head outside towards the administrative building when I feel someone beside me.

"Ms. Petridge has agreed to help me," I quietly announce.

"Good. That makes things easier. How did you get her to say yes?" Chet asks as he dispels his shroud.

"We made a wager and I won, but now she knows that I can break barriers," I reply.

"So she's a loose end...We'll have to keep an eye on her. Were you able to get any practice done?" Chet inquires.

"Yeah," I simply respond.

"And?" Chet questions.

"I broke through twenty-three of them," I inform him.

"Hmm...well, you keep at it and I'll try to find more information," Chet responds as we enter the administrative building.

"Right," I reply and enter the nurse's office.

"Hey Renton. Why aren't you in class?" Liza questions.

"It's just study hall...and I'm kind of avoiding somebody," I answer.

"Is it that girl who looks like Melanie? You know that, no matter how strong the resemblance is, that's not Melanie," Liza replies with a sisterly tone.

"I know," I respond.

"You have to accept that Melanie is gone. You can't string that girl along simply because she looks like Melanie," Liza adds.

Accepting that is easier said than done when Melanie talks to me on a regular basis.

(...Would it be better if I left?)

I feel my heart skip a beat and I start to panic at the thought of Melanie leaving and being completely gone.

"No!...you don't have to leave and I don't want you to."

"I know. That's why I rejected her earlier today when she asked me out and why I'm not currently in study hall," I tell Liza.

"Oh...good..." Liza sadly says, implying the opposite.

"So what was up with you at lunch?" I inquire to move the conversation away from Melody.

"What? I was just acting like an older sister," Liza replies.

"Perhaps an older sister who wants to have sex with her supposed little brother, but not a normal older sister," I respond.

"What!?" Liza asks in shock.

"That's what everyone at the table was thinking," or was that because of the way I explained who she was?

"Oh...Speaking of lunch, do you know anything about the boy that was seriously injured playing elementalball despite the enchantment on his gym clothes?" Liza inquires.

"Renton Werner to the principal's office. Renton Werner," a snotty female voice announces over the intercom.

"I'll take that as a yes..." Liza sighs as she stands up.

"Follow me," Liza says as she exits her office.

I follow Liza down the narcissist's hallway and we stop in front of a pair of maple doors on the right that have been polished so much that they're now reflective—how fitting. Liza knocks on the door and opens it, revealing a small office with the snotty-voiced woman sitting behind a desk, typing on a computer. The brunette woman nods at Liza while chewing her gum before Liza leads me through the door at the back of the office, to the right of the desk. What follows is the principal's 'office' that is about thirty meters long by fifteen meters wide. Lining each wall are large white columns that each glow with a different color, presumably representing the elements. The black and white checkered floor leads up to an elaborate desk with Chet and Coach Michaels standing in front of it. Someone is sitting in the chair behind the desk, but they are facing the other way.

"He has the strongest containment field I've ever seen! He was even able to override the ball's return and caught it! Then his throw broke through the enchantment on Graves's uniform and continued on to break the barrier around the field! I don't know what this guy is, but I'm damn sure that he isn't a wisp. It would be a waste not to have him on the team!" Coach Michaels exclaims as I walk towards the desk with Liza close behind me.

"We can't force him to play if he doesn't want to," Chet chimes in.

"Why are you even here, Chet!?" Coach Michaels asks.

"Renton Werner..." a deep voice booms from the chair, causing Chet and Coach Michaels to turn towards me. "Do you wish to play elementalball?"

"Umm, no sir...I don't," I reply.

"Well, there you have it, David. Chet is correct: we can't force him to play," the principal booms. Coach Michaels shoots a dirty look at Chet before storming out of the office.

"You're excused, Mr. Werner. I'm sure I will see you again in the future," the principal says.

"Thank you, sir," I respond and walk out of the office with Liza on my heels.

"Well, that wasn't so bad!" Liza positively points out.

"Yeah, I suppose..." I reply, but the whole situation still isn't sitting right with me. Coach Michaels suspects that I'm not a wisp and that's bad.

"Do you want to go home?" Liza gently asks.

"Yeah...can you just leave?" I inquire.

Liza stops, turns around, and opens the door to the principal's office.

"Hey boss! I'm heading home early, alright?" Liza shouts.

"Has Joshua Graves been healed?" the principal booms.

"Fully healed and sent back to class," Liza replies.

"Then you may go," the principal responds.

"Thanks!" Liza shouts and shuts the door.

"I still find it strange that I've never seen the principal's face...Well, let's go," Liza says to me with a smile.

Liza and I walk home, have a normal evening, eat dinner together, and go to bed. After a day like today, I want nothing more than for it to just be over.

****

Chapter 8: The Syndicate

"So how was your burger?" Melanie asks as I wipe my mouth with a napkin.

"Good. The food here is pretty good," I reply.

"Glad you think so. My family kind of owns this place," Melanie says.

"Really?" I ask.

"So are you ready to go meet the fence?" Melanie inquires, ignoring my question.

"Uh, sure," I answer somewhat hesitantly.

Melanie stands up from the booth and walks through a door that reads 'Employees Only' without so much as a glance back. I give a cautious look around at the nearly empty diner before standing up and following her through the door. It leads to a dark storeroom that curves to the left, which is all I'm able to see before the light from the diner is extinguished by the closing door. I walk forward around the left curve, trusting my instincts to keep from running into anything as my eyes try to adjust to the lack of light. Melanie's face is suddenly illuminated in front of me by a stream of electricity that jumps between her fingertips, generating just enough light for me to see a wall filled with hundreds of strange symbols behind her.

"What's that?" I ask.

"It's a coded lock. To open it, I just pour some mana into the runes for the correct passphrase, which changes weekly," Melanie answers while touching a succession of five symbols, each of which lights up violet after she touches them.

I feel a bizarre sensation beneath my feet similar to standing in the flatbed of a truck that suddenly starts moving.

"This way," Melanie says as she walks around the left curve to the storeroom's door.

We walk through the storeroom's door and are met with an an expansive brick courtyard.

"What?" I ask under my breath.

I can barely make out a stalactite filled ceiling high above me as cauldrons of fire hang by chains only about ten meters above my head. The cauldrons light a path that leads up to a large brick building that I can only describe as a castle.

"That storeroom is a connected space—it's tied to both the diner and to the Syndicate's lair," Melanie informs me as she starts walking down the path.

"So the storeroom in the diner isn't there anymore?" I inquire.

"No. The coded wall acts as a divider. When I entered the passphrase, we were delivered into the storeroom here, which is basically a reflection of the storeroom in the diner," Melanie answers.

Well that explains why when we went back around the curve, it still curved to the left.

"Your child-like amount of knowledge makes me wonder if you have amnesia...do you have amnesia?" Melanie asks.

"Not exactly. I'm just new to all of this," I reply and Melanie turns around to inspect me.

"Where did you say you're from?" Melanie questions while walking backwards.

"I didn't," I respond and Melanie gives me an inquisitive look, relaying her dissatisfaction with my answer. "I'm from someplace far away from here and I've been trying to find my way back home, but Liza is severely lacking in capital because my presence forced her to move into a new place so we're kind of stuck, which is why I broke into that shop earlier."

"Huh...Who's Liza?" Melanie asks.

"She's my..." Summoner? No, bad choice. "Friend."

"What type of friend?" Melanie inquires with a raised eyebrow. Her interest means that she's into me, right?

"A kind friend that has been helping me find a way home...even though she's to blame for my circumstances in the first place," I reply as we near the castle, the large brick walls looming over us.

"Well, I think we can help with your monetary dilemma," Melanie comments as she approaches the large wooden door that has a 'heat-rising' type quality to it.

"We?" I ask, but she ignores me.

"Isicio-day epio-say," Melanie says after setting her hand on the door and the heat vapors fade away. She grabs a large iron ring and effortlessly pulls the large door open.

"Come on in. Mi casa es you...I don't speak Spanish, but make yourself at home...not literally, of course. Why do people say that? What I'm saying is that I don't want to see you walking around here in your boxers..." Melanie says as we walk into an expansive foyer with a winding staircase in front of us, double doors on the right and left walls, and an elaborately massive chandelier hanging above us.

Melanie turns towards me and looks me up and down.

"Or do I...?" Melanie asks with her hand on her chin.

Melanie suddenly closes the gap between us, grabs the hem of my hoodie and underlying t-shirt, and rips them upward. I feel the cool air hit my abs as I yelp in surprise...and yes, using the term yelp is slightly more masculine than the actual sound that came out of my mouth.

"Yeah, I do. Feel free to walk around here in your underwear. In fact, I might just make that a requirement for entry," Melanie says with a sly smile as I fix the hem of my shirt and hoodie.

"Just who do you think you are?" I lightheartedly question to hide my embarrassment.

"Lady Melanie! We were expecting you home hours ago! Where have you—" a lithe girl in tight black clothing who appears to be the same age as Melanie starts to ask as she comes down the staircase in front of us, stopping when her eyes land on me.

"And who might this be?" the girl asks as she tucks a strand of black, shoulder-length hair behind her ear and narrows her cold blue eyes. Some primordial part of my brain is warning me that this girl is dangerous.

"This is Renton. I'm pregnant with his child and we're eloping," Melanie replies, sounding completely serious.

My head jerks towards Melanie to look at her as a shock response before I turn back towards danger girl. Her narrowed eyes warp into a furious glare directed at me.

Uh-oh.

The girl flings her right hand towards me and my left hand instinctually catches the throwing knife that was aimed at my chest. I notice that the girl's face is sporting a smirk as I feel Melanie grab my right hand. It's around this time that I notice a thin metal wire connected to the end of the knife. Blue sparks fly off of the wire as a massive amount of electricity is pumped through it, heading straight for me.

The electricity reaches my left hand before disappearing; Melanie must be doing this with her being a Spark and all. The wide-eyed look on Melanie's face tells me that she isn't doing this. Does this mean that my left hand can negate all forms of magic? I quickly drop the knife before the girl notices that something is up.

"I was joking, Erin," Melanie says after quickly recovering.

"You have good reflexes. You'd probably fare pretty well in the Pit," a man announces from the left. I look over and see a black man in his thirties with long dreadlocks and mischievous green eyes leaning against the door frame.

"Ah, Vince, just who we were looking for. Renton here has an item that could use your particular talents," Melanie replies.

"Lady Melanie, your father needs to speak with you," Erin announces.

"But—" Melanie starts to argue.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of your boy," Vince interrupts.

"Okay...I'll see you later, Renton," Melanie says with a bit of uncertainty.

"Right, see you soon," I reply as she follows Erin up the stairs while Erin gives one last glare back at me.

"Follow me," Vince says and walks through the left doorway.

I follow him down the softly lit hallway before he stops in front of the first door on the right.

"Step into my office," Vince states as he opens the door to a room that has dozens of steel shelves with different items on them.

Vince moves to the back of the room and sits behind a desk. He removes a pair of glasses from the desk drawer and puts them on. The glasses have four different sets of lenses that seem to be chosen via tiny levers on the frame.

"So what do you have for me?" Vince asks.

I remove the pendant from my pocket and hand it to him. He turns the necklace over several times and flips through several lenses.

"Well, isn't this interesting...I can give you fifteen for it," Vince says after a minute.

"Only fifteen hundred?" I ask, slightly disappointed. There had been at least a grand in that safe so I was hoping that Melanie's estimate hadn't been an exaggeration.

"No, fifteen thousand. Carrying around that much cash would be insane and cause for suspicion so I'll set up a bank account with fifteen grand in it. This will be the account that you will use to get paid for any jobs you do for the Syndicate and for any fenced goods. I need your full name and social security number to set up the account," Vince replies.

"Wait, what? Syndicate? Jobs?" I question.

"What, did Melanie not explain anything to you? The only reason she would have brought you down here is if she had recruited you...or did you really get her pregnant?" Vince asks with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I didn't, and Melanie hasn't told me anything beyond knowing a fence that could help me with the pendant," I reply.

"Wow...well, I guess I'll start from the top. The Syndicate is an organization that specializes in certain aspects of society that some see as...undesirable," Vince starts.

"So, organized crime?" I suggest.

"Yeah, pretty much. Heists, blackmail, extortion, assassinations, even the occasional kidnapping—the Syndicate is a one-stop-shop for solving particular problems. The Boss's personal connections help the eyes of the law to look the other way, but it isn't always successful, which is why every member of the Syndicate carries a mana vacuum on assignments. The Syndicate is also involved in hosting underground fighting in an arena that we call the Pit, where people can participate for cash prizes or bet on the fights. Speaking of, I think you might do quite well. Your reflexes are impressive and with some training, you could be a real contender. What do—" Vince explains when he is interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Lady Melanie has asked me to escort Renton to her," Erin announces as she opens the door.

"I'll consider it. My full name is Renton Riley and I actually don't have a social security number," I inform him.

"An immigrant, then? I can set you up with a social security number that will even be in government systems, but it'll cost you," Vince says.

"That'd be great. Just take it out of my pay for the pendant. Now, I don't want to leave Melanie waiting. I imagine I'll see you around, Vince," I reply and follow Erin out of Vince's office.

Erin leads me back down the hall to the foyer and up the stairs to the second floor. She heads down a hall to the right, passing by numerous doors and several people.

"So...what do you do around here?" I ask, trying to make small talk with the person that threw a knife at my chest earlier...the whole thing seems like a stupid idea when I think of it like that...

"I kill people and protect Lady Melanie," Erin nonchalantly replies.

"Speaking of which, I don't know what your relationship to Lady Melanie is, but if you so much as look at her in a way that I don't approve of, I'll carve off your corneas," Erin adds as we stop in front of a set of double doors at the end of the hall.

Erin opens the doors and ushers me into a large dark room that has flames running around the perimeter of the room, giving the entire place an intimidating feel. The doors close behind me, causing me to jump slightly

"Renton...my daughter tells me that you have a unique ability that could be beneficial to our organization," a man sitting behind a desk in the center of the room says to me. His face is covered in shadows and I can't quite make anything out.

"Initiates are required to go through a test before they are allowed to join the Syndicate. Usually this is done off site before the initiates even see this place, but my daughter has decided to change things so your test will be done here," the man says with an uninflected tone as I realize that this is Melanie's dad.

"And what if I don't wish to join the Syndicate?" I question.

"Then you will be silenced because you already know too much," Melanie's father replies.

"So what's my test?" I ask without showing how much the threat of death got to me...I hope.

"Given my daughter's confidence in your abilities, your test will be rather unique. I want you to get through the lock on the top drawer of this desk without leaving a mana signature and without the use of a mana vacuum," Melanie's father informs me.

"Okay," I say with a shrug.

I walk up to the desk and I'm finally able to make out some of the man's features when I'm within two meters of him. He has cropped black hair that seems to be graying and dark eyes that are slightly sunken into his block-like head. His overall stature gives me the impression that he could easily crush me if he wished to. I walk around the desk, avoiding eye contact with Melanie's father before I kneel down in front of the right bank of drawers. I can barely see the symbol that I think may be a lock as I put my left thumb on it. I feel the lock power down as I pull the drawer open, and look to Melanie's father, who remains silent for a few moments.

"Welcome to the Syndicate, Renton," Melanie's father says and holds out his hand.

"Thank you, sir," I reply and shake his hand, for an unusually long time.

"By the way," Melanie's father starts while still gripping my hand. "what is your relationship with my daughter?"

"Daddy!" Melanie exclaims as lights illuminate the room. Melanie's father has an amused look on his face as Melanie storms over to the desk.

"Come on, Renton," Melanie says as she grabs my hand and drags me out of the room.

"I'll see you around, Renton," Melanie's father calls out from the room as Melanie drags me down the hall, the amusement noticeable in his voice.

****

Chapter 9: Too Close

The next three weeks passed by in a rather monotonous manner with daily barrier practice in Ms. Petridge's office. The three weeks of practice had given me some results, but I still wasn't ready for the heist.

Melody and I ignored each other for the first couple days, slowly working our way out of the awkwardness to the point that we could say 'good morning' to each other and make small talk. By the third week, things between us had mostly returned to being how they were before she asked me out, but there was always an underlying tone of awkwardness.

At that point in time, Joshua had yet to try and get payback for that elementalball game. I was expecting it to be coming at any time, but it hadn't yet.

...

"So, what have you been up to, Renton?" Alexa asks at lunch.

"What do you mean?" I reply before taking a bite of my sandwich.

"You've been in Ms. Petridge's back office for three weeks now. Every day, Ms. Petridge gives everyone an assignment, has us work on it alone, and takes you into the back office," Alexa says.

"I've been working...on a project," I explain.

"What kind of project?" Melody asks with a suspicious gaze.

"A private one," I reply.

"WHAT!?" Melody exclaims and I open my mouth to ask what's wrong.

"She thinks you're boning Ms. Petridge, as does the rest of the class," Jose interrupts and Tetsuya looks up from his book.

"I'm not having sex with our teacher," I plainly respond.

"Right, and I'm not choking myself with a belt while wearing a Spiderman mask and thinking of Alexa cosplaying as Mary Jane Watson on a nightly basis," Jose says with a tone that implies that I'm the one with a problem. It appears that he hasn't learned his lesson from a few weeks ago about disclosing too much information.

"WHAT!?" Alexa yells.

"What? I said I wasn't doing that!" Jose defends.

"Jose, when you think someone isn't telling the truth and start off a sentence with 'Right,' you're supposed to say something that's true," Melody interjects.

"I don't think Renton isn't telling the truth..." Jose says and looks up, as though he's replaying the sentence in his head to check if he used the negatives correctly, before nodding.

"I mean, just look at how uptight he is when he comes out of that office! There's no way that he just got done having sex with that demeanor," Jose explains

"Couldn't he be uptight because he's worried about people finding out that he's having sex with Ms. Petridge? I mean, she always comes out looking more tired than when she went in," Alexa questions.

"I doubt it. There are subtle physiological clues that you can look for that are difficult to hide. It's the same reason that I know that you haven't had an internal vaginal orgasm recently, or possibly ever," Jose mentions and Alexa's face flushes with embarrassment.

"You need to love yourself more, Lexi! I'd be more than happy to help you out with that...on second thought, I think I just figured out what I'm giving you for your birthday..." Jose says as Alexa's expression quickly goes from embarrassment to fury.

"Uh, gotta go!" Jose exclaims and runs out of the cafeteria with Alexa following him.

I hear Melody start giggling as I chuckle along with her before I turn towards her. Our eyes lock from across the table for several moments.

"Goddess, just kiss already," an unfamiliar male voice says under his breath and Melody looks away.

"Tetsuya, was that you?" I ask as I turn towards him. Tetsuya looks up from his book with a facial expression that should accompany a snide remark, but he doesn't say anything.

"Well, I suppose that I should head to class. I'll see you guys later," I announce and stand up.

"I need to get going too," Melody says, grabs her bag, and walks out of the cafeteria with me.

"Hey Renton? Do you have any plans for the three day weekend?" Melody asks and I stop walking.

"Uh..." I start, unsure if she's setting up to ask me out or if she's just making small talk.

"My family owns this cabin down south and I thought it would be fun if we all went down there for the break," Melody says somewhat timidly.

"And by 'we,' you mean...?" I ask.

"Alexa, Lily, Me, Tetsuya, Jose, and you," Melody clarifies.

"And where is the cabin exactly?" I inquire.

"It's on the outskirts of Springfield," Melody replies.

If I remember right, Springfield is near Crowley City, but it's so close that the Syndicate doesn't have a separate branch set up there and doesn't have a real presence...I think I can chance it, especially since it doesn't sound like we'll be in the city.

"That sounds like fun," I say with a smile and Melody's face lights up as we walk into the main building.

"Great! I'll let you know more about the trip when I get the okay for some stuff," Melody replies.

"Alright, I'll see you later," I tell her.

"Bye Renton!" Melody cheerfully exclaims as I enter Chet's class.

Lily is smiling as she sits in the room, reading her book.

"Did you hear that?" I ask. Lily looks up from her book and smiles at me.

"I'm glad that Melody's feelings are being reciprocated," Lily says.

"What? I just agreed to all of us going on vacation together. It's not like we're dating," I reply as I sit down beside her at my usual desk.

"Riiiiight. I go on vacations with women that I have absolutely no interest in all of the time! That's completely normal!" Chet sarcastically exclaims and I ignore him.

"So Renton...how's progress?" Chet asks.

"It's going well. I'm only at about an eighty percent rate, but it's been increasing and I'll be ready," I vaguely reply.

"Good, keep me updated," Chet replies.

"Have you made any headway with that thing I asked you to look at?" I inquire.

"A little bit, but no real results yet..." Chet says, but something seems off about his intonation.

I think that he found something, but he just isn't going to tell me yet. Lily gives me an inquisitive look, but doesn't say anything as she returns to her book.

"Lily, have you ever spoken with Tetsuya?" I inquire.

"A few times...why?" Lily asks.

"No reason. I just realized that you two are a lot alike and that you might get along," I reply.

"What? That's...huh? Um..." Lily says in a flustered fashion and hides her face in her book as our classmates funnel into the room.

(I think I just figured out the couples for the trip!)

"Yeah. Tetsuya and Lily, Jose and Alexa, me and...you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

(Just admit that you have some feelings for her)

"Fine...I'll admit that I do find Melody appealing and I am attracted to her..."

(Then go for it!)

"I can't..."

(You just said that you're attracted to her)

"The problem is that I am attracted to her...no matter how much I want to deny it, the majority of human attraction is based on physical properties...physical properties that match yours. It's obvious that she likes me and if I become romantically involved with her, it will be only because of my lingering feelings for you...and that's not fair...I can't do that to her."

(Don't you think the fact that you are considering her feelings in this matter is proof enough that you have feelings for her that aren't because of me? If your attraction to her was solely because of me and nothing else, you wouldn't hesitate to use her)

I don't bother to reply because the argument is over. Fatality. Melanie wins.

The fact that I care about Melody enough to not use her is proof that my attraction to her goes deeper than just my lingering feelings for Melanie.

"Great! How about you focus on the lesson now?" Chet suggests and I realize that I'd said that last sentence out loud.

The class laughs at me as I try to shrug off my embarrassment. The bell suddenly rings and I realize that I'd been zoning out the entire period.

"Well, I guess we're done for today. I'll see you all tomorrow," Chet says, dismissing the class.

I quickly gather my stuff and head off to Ms. Petridge's class.

"Renton, wait up!" I hear Lily call out behind me so I stop in the hallway as the other students move around me. Lily catches up and we start walking to class together.

"So what are you going to do?" Lily asks.

"What do you mean?" I reply.

"About your newly realized feelings for Melody," Lily clarifies.

"I'm not too sure...don't tell anyone, alright?" I request.

"Sure...and I'll make sure not to say anything about how she resembles your dead girlfriend," Lily replies and I stop walking.

"How did you know about that?" I ask as my heart pounds in my chest.

"The rest of the class probably couldn't hear you, but you sit right next to me. You mentioning lingering feelings toward your dead girlfriend being tied to your attraction to Melody can only mean that Melody resembles her in some way," Lily concludes.

"That's rather astute of you...and thanks," I reply.

"No problem. It's obvious that Melody likes you and giving her that information would just throw a wrench in your relationship," Lily responds.

"That is true...and to show my gratitude, how about I try to set you up with Tetsuya?" I suggest.

Lily's face flushes almost instantly before she takes an interest in her shoes and shoots off towards the classroom without another word. I chuckle to myself and follow after her. We enter the classroom and take our seats with the rest of our group as the bell rings.

"So I talked it over with—" Melody starts to whisper.

"Renton, let's go. Class, work on memorizing the different runes today in preparation for the quiz tomorrow," Ms. Petridge says, garnering a collective groan from the class.

"We'll talk in study hall," Melody finishes with a cheerful little smile that gives me a kind of tingly feeling.

I smile and nod before standing up and following Ms. Petridge into the back office. She goes through the usual drill and silences the room before erecting multiple level eight barriers. Forty minutes pass by and I break through the barrier in seven out of fifteen attempts.

"What's up, Renton? Your focus seems off today. Did something happen?" Ms. Petridge asks.

"Well, I learned that the class seems to think that we're having sex in here on a daily basis, except for Jose and his bizarre knowledge of the physiological indicators of recent sexual activity," I reply, not wanting to delve into my feelings for Melody.

"Huh..." Ms. Petridge replies as she inspects me.

"Uh, Ms. Petridge?" I ask as she takes a step closer.

"What are you doing?" I inquire, my breath catching in my throat as Ms. Petridge leans in closely, causing my heart to start beating a bit faster.

Hot breath hits my exposed neck and curly hair brushes up against my right cheek as Ms. Petridge presses her lips to the collar of my shirt.

"If my students are going to make baseless accusations about me, let's give their accusations some basis," Ms. Petridge whispers, her sly smile barely visible out of my peripheral.

"Hannah...you are, by far, the coolest teacher ever," I reply with a smile.

"Oh, Renton...don't think that a little sweet-talk will get you into my skirt," Ms. Petridge says with a light chuckle.

She pats my left cheek as she pulls away and inspects me again. She raises her hand up and runs it through my hair several times, mussing it up. Ms. Petridge looks down and undoes two more buttons on her blouse, exposing a bit of cleavage.

"That's better! Well, let's get out there!" Ms. Petridge exclaims with a sly smile.

Ms. Petridge opens the door to the office and strides out while wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, somehow not smearing what remains of her lipstick—nice touch. I take a seat at my desk and Ms. Petridge walks to the front of the room as the class looks on in shock, except for Jose who is sporting a knowing little smile that says that he isn't fooled.

"Good work today, class. I'll see you all tomorrow!" Ms. Petridge cheerfully exclaims.

Without a word, I stand up and walk out of the room while the rest of the class sits still. I continue to the library without getting stopped and sit down at the usual table.

"RENTON! WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Melody shrieks as she makes a beeline for the table less than a minute later.

"What was what?" I ask, playing dumb as Melody sits down beside me.

"Your hair! The lipstick mark on your collar! What were you two doing in there!?" Melody frantically asks.

"Oh, that was just a little practical joke that Hannah and I decided to play on the class since everyone thinks we're having sex. I suppose it was really only a joke to the two of us and Jose though," I reply.

"Ooooh, okay...wait, Hannah?" Melody asks with a suspecting gaze that makes her look rather cute and I laugh in response.

"So what were you trying to tell me about the trip?" I lightheartedly ask.

"Oh, right. Well, I talked to Alexa and she's in so long as Jose doesn't come," Melody replies.

"So he's coming?" I inquire.

"Of course! After all, you can never take what Alexa says at face value. She would probably be disappointed if he didn't come!" Melody explains and we both laugh.

Melody's laughter knocks a strand of blonde hair into her face. Before I can come to my senses, I reach forward and brush the strand of hair away, tucking it behind her right ear as my fingertips caress her cheek. Melody's face goes blank as I get lost in her green eyes. My right hand lingers on her cheek and my head involuntarily moves towards hers as Melody's eyes widen. She visibly tenses up and gasps as she looks down while I notice a dark light coming from below me. I look down and see an intricate black circle around me.

"No!" Melody gasps out as I notice that the symbols in the circle don't match the swirling caricatures of runes, or the dot-stick segments of sigils before they disappear.

All I can see is gray fogginess as I find it rather difficult to breathe and notice that everything feels a bit damp. The feeling of the hard chair beneath my butt suddenly vanishes as my stomach lurches downward. The gray fogginess disappears and I look down to see the entire city of Avalon, noticing how it looks like I could cover it with my hand...oh, shit.

My speed rapidly picks up as I free fall along with the wooden chair from the library. The wind rushes past my ears while the water droplets from the cloud I appeared in start to fly off of my body. I reach my terminal velocity of around a hundred and ninety kilometers per hour and something interesting occurs to me. As the ground comes rushing towards me, Avalon's size growing larger by the second, I don't feel panicked—quite the opposite, in fact. I feel relief; relief that it's all over.

Relief that, with me gone, Liza can go back to her normal life.

Relief that I might get to see Melanie again.

Relief that I can finally stop running...stop feeling guilt...stop everything.

I recognize Graythorn Academy's campus rushing towards me. Everything will be over in less than a minute...

(Wren, you can't be serious. If you call it quits now, that girl will never get over it)

Melody will blame herself...

(You don't want to make that girl sad, do you?)

No...No, I don't want that...

(That's what I wanted to hear)

I feel power surge into me, pain wracking my body as the V-shaped scar on my left hand turns black. The sound of screaming barely registers to me as it feels like every cell in my body is bursting. I see the snow-covered grass hurtling towards me and I beg for it to come faster—anything to make the pain stop. The wooden chair hits the ground and shatters as the ground approaches me, promising sweet release.

The snow covered-ground rushes through my face and I feel nothing as everything fades away.

...

Chapter 10: Melody's Secret

I slowly regain consciousness to a numb face. I open my eyes and all I can see is white.

"Wake up, Renton," a male voice says.

"God?" I ask.

"I'm flattered that you think so, but no," the voice replies and recognition dawns on me: Chet.

With a great amount of effort, I roll over. My entire body is sore and feels like something a five year old would construct with glue and popsicle sticks. My head spins as I sit up and see that it's dark out. Last I remember, it was only about 2pm, so I've been out for at least four hours. Chet bends over and gives me a hand up. I groan throughout the process while noticing the remnants of a shattered chair about three meters to my right.

"What happened?" I inquire.

"I've been looking for your ass for the past six hours, that's what happened. Come on, we need to get going," Chet answers.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Just follow me," Chet replies and walks off.

I limp after him and follow him to the parking lot in the front right corner of the school grounds where we make our way over to a lone BMW. Chet reaches into his pocket and the car beeps twice as the doors unlock. I haven't been around cars much in this world, but the locks and key FOB must use something other than electricity—remote, mana-coded, lock sigils perhaps? Chet slides into the driver's seat while I make my way to the passenger side. I open the door and collapse into the seat before lifting up each of my legs and placing them in the car as Chet starts it. I shut the door and Chet pulls out of the lot as I notice that the clock on the car's radio reads 8:13PM.

"Shouldn't we tell the other people that you found me?" I inquire.

"What other people?" Chet asks.

"Weren't there other people looking for me? You'd think there'd be more people searching if a student went missing..." I reply.

Now that I'm thinking about it, why did it take Chet so long to find me? I remember hitting the ground only a few seconds after the chair, so why did it take six hours for him to find me?

"You seem to be misunderstanding something, Renton. I wasn't here to find you...I was here to find your body before anyone else did," Chet replies with an uninflected tone.

Chet drives in silence and I don't ask any more questions as we travel through the streets of Avalon. The buildings start to thin out twenty minutes later as we leave the city. Chet takes a left down a snowy, pine tree-lined road and continues to drive for another five minutes until we reach a gate that has a black box just before it on the left, three meters from the gate. Chet pulls up to the gate, rolls the window down, sticks his hand on the box, and the gate opens. Chet drives through and continues driving for a few minutes until we reach a mansion on this massive estate. The driveway is circular and has a three-tier fountain in the center. Chet circles around it, parks in front of the house, and exits the car.

"Is this your house?" I ask as I lift each leg and place it out of the car before hoisting myself up using the handle on the ceiling.

"Hardly. It's the house of a friend, and that of someone you know well," Chet answers as he walks up the steps to the house, leaving me to climb them in an act that is more 'throwing my body forward and hoping for the best,' than walking.

I reach the top of the eight stairs as the door opens. A woman in a black dress with a white apron answers and cocks her head to the side upon seeing me.

"I was told that you would be bringing along a body, not _some_ body," the maid says with a light accent that I can't quite identify; it sounds a bit French, but not quite...French-Canadian maybe?

She appears to be in her early forties, is about 178cm tall and is a bit plump with dirty blonde hair that is tied back and light blue eyes.

"Yeah, I know," Chet replies and walks past the maid as I follow.

The circular, white-marble foyer has hallways leading in every direction, with staircases on the right and left that sweep up to a balcony level and presumably the second floor. An elegant glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling above the center of the foyer, over a circular engraving that is in Latin, but one word stands out: Sheffield.

"In the living room, I take it?" Chet asks as he walks through the foyer and towards the front hall.

"That is correct," the maid replies and I follow Chet down the front hall.

The hall goes on for about forty meters before it presumably opens up to a large room, based on the direction of the light at the end of the hallway.

"Are you sure you want to see him? The states of the bodies in the past have not been pleasant. I don't have high hopes since Chet has been looking for six hours," I hear a deep male voice say as Chet and I approach the end of the hallway. The voice sounds somewhat familiar...

"Yes, I do...I have to...After everything he'd gone through because of me, I can't look away..." Liza says, her voice breaking down to a whisper on the last word.

Chet and I reach the large room. A bar area appears to be to the right as a white leather couch and the largest TV I've ever seen is to the left. Sitting on the couch, facing away from me, is an older man with a large build and cropped brown hair. Sitting across from him is a puffy-eyed Liza.

"Renton..." Liza mouths as her eyes widen at the sight of me.

"RENTON!" Liza screams in a flurry of tears as she stands up and runs over to me.

"Ouch, not so tight!" I exclaim in response to the massive hug that Liza wraps me in.

"I thought you were dead!" Liza explains through her tears.

"*Sniffle* Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Liza asks as she pulls back and inspects me.

Before I have time to respond, she places her hands on my chest and I feel a warmth wash over my body. Liza once explained how mana can be used for healing by accelerating the replication of healthy cells or something, but it went over my head. All I know for sure is that it works for most injuries. My body feels numb for a few moments before my soreness disappears.

"Thanks," I tell her.

"What happened?" Liza inquires.

"Well, Melody and I were in the library, and..." I start, but then I become aware of my surroundings. The older man on the couch is most likely Melody's father.

"The next thing I know, I'm falling out of the sky. I passed out and regained consciousness when Chet found me," I paraphrase.

"When did you find him?" Melody's father asks without turning around.

"Only a half hour ago, Max. This whole thing is very strange. I sent out an electric charge field for any body signatures and searched the surrounding area, but nothing turned up. I expanded my search and kept looking for hours. Just when I was about to give up, I cast another electric charge spell and it picked up something near the crash site of the chair from the library. I returned to the site and found Renton lying in the snow with no footsteps leading up to him," Chet reports.

"Hmm...Renton, could you go try to speak with Melody? She's rather distraught," Mr. Sheffield requests.

"Of course," I reply.

"I'll take you to her room," a woman announces from the doorway on the far left wall. She appears to be around three years older than me and has long, light brown hair. The woman's vivid green eyes give away her relation to Melody.

"Thank you, Carrie," Mr. Sheffield replies.

"Follow me," Carrie says as she passes by us and heads down the main hallway towards the foyer.

Liza and I follow her while Chet stays behind.

"Well, Renton certainly is unique," I hear Melody's father say.

"Right? He'll be perfect," Chet replies.

"Just because he's unique doesn't mean that he's qualified...I'll consider it," Mr. Sheffield responds.

"Don't take too long. Who knows how long we have until they figure it out," Chet says as Liza and I follow Carrie into the foyer.

What in the hell are they talking about? Actually, isn't it a little odd that I can even hear them from this distance?

Carrie takes a right and heads up the staircase that curves along the wall to the balcony. We follow silently as Carrie leads us down the hall that connects to the balcony.

"Have you seen Melody?" I ask Liza as we walk.

"Yeah...she was in tears as she apologized to me before running away..." Liza quietly replies.

Carrie turns left when the hallway splits about halfway down. After going down that hallway, we turn right at the end. I look ahead and see Alexa standing in front of something interesting: a black barrier over a door—at least, I assume it's over a door. This barrier is so strong that I can't see anything through it.

"Renton!?" Alexa gasps when she sees me. "But how!?"

"Wait, so you know about Melody too?" I question.

"This isn't the first time that this has happened, Renton...I've been friends with Melody for a very long time. I actually transferred schools with her when a similar incident happened in elementary school," Alexa replies.

"Melody killed a kid in elementary school?" I inquire as I wonder how much power the Sheffields have if they were able to cover that up.

"No, just the class's hamster. Melody and I were playing with it while the rest of the kids were at recess when it nibbled on Melody's finger. She laughed until a bizarre circle suddenly appeared beneath the hamster. I still remember her horrified face before the hamster imploded. We both got covered in bits of hamster and Melody went into shock while I started screaming..." Alexa recalls with a distance in her eyes.

"Why did you guys erect a barrier to keep her in here?" I ask, turning towards Carrie.

"We didn't, she did. Good luck trying to talk to her through that," Carrie answers with a bored tone.

"How did Melody erect such a strong barrier?" I inquire as I look closer and notice symbols beneath the surface of the barrier that resemble the symbols that were in the circle in the library.

"Her power multiplies by something like tenfold when she's emotionally compromised or whatever. And don't try to blast your way through it. It won't work and I don't want you fucking up the house," Carrie informs me and wanders off.

"Melody's magic is usually so unstable that she can't use it, but then there are times like these..." Alexa adds.

"Melody! Can you hear me?" I shout at the barrier and wait for fifteen seconds with no response.

"Do you think you can get through it?" Liza whispers.

"Maybe...all I can do is try, but you two should probably go wait down the hall or in the foyer," I reply.

"Why?" Liza asks as Alexa asks, "What? Why?"

"Because, when I broke through an uncharted barrier that wasn't as strong as this one, it created a shockwave that knocked me on my ass," I answer.

"What!? Then don't try with this one! It's too dangerous!" Liza exclaims with concern.

"I'll be fine, Liza. I promise," I confidently reply for a reason that is beyond me. Liza looks at me for several moments.

"Alright...I'll wait right down here...be careful, okay?" Liza asks and I give her a reassuring hug.

"I will," I whisper.

Liza pulls away, wipes tears from the corners of her eyes, and reluctantly heads down the hall. Alexa gives me a questioning look as she walks backwards, keeping an eye on me. I turn towards the barrier, place my left hand on it, and focus my power into my left hand. The barrier doesn't push against my hand like Ms. Petridge's barrier, but this one feels much more solid.

After thirty seconds of pouring everything I've got into my left hand, I still can't break through. I remove my hand and stare at it when it's like a switch suddenly flips in my mind. I place my hand against the door once again and the V-shaped scar on my left hand turns black. I feel a flash of pain before I realize that it's just a memory and the barrier opens up for me.

I reach through the opening in the barrier and slowly open Melody's bedroom door, flooding the dark room with light from the hall. I spot Alexa quickly coming towards me out of my peripheral as I step through the barrier. The barrier snaps shut behind me, darkening the room as panic starts to well up inside of me. I hear a heavily muffled shout that must be Alexa screaming at me as my eyes adjust to the darkness. I spot a huddled mass of blankets sitting on the four-poster bed in the back left corner, facing the wall.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry, Renton," I hear Melody whisper repeatedly.

"Melody?" I ask, but there's no response.

I cautiously approach her bed, unsure of how to snap her out of it.

(Crawl across the bed and hug her from behind)

I take Melanie's suggestion and sit on Melody's bed to take off my shoes. She still hasn't responded to my presence by the time I finish so I crawl across the bed.

"I'm so sorry, Renton," Melody whispers as her voice cracks.

My chest aches from seeing her like this so I quickly wrap my arms around her, placing my head over her right shoulder...I think—it's a bit hard to tell with the blankets.

"It's okay, Melody...I'm okay," I whisper into her ear. Despite the context, my heart starts pounding in my chest from the contact with her.

"Renton...?" Melody asks.

I pull back slightly as Melody turns around. She looks up around her blanket-veil and stares into my eyes with tear-stained cheeks.

"Renton..." Melody whispers as tears start falling from her eyes.

"Renton!" Melody exclaims as she throws her arms around me and buries her face in my chest, knocking the blankets off of her head in the process.

I hesitate only for a moment before returning the hug and gently stroking the back of her head.

"This is you, right!? You're really here!? You're alive!?" Melody frantically asks, muffled by my shirt.

"I'm just fine, Melody," I softly reply.

"I'm sorry, Renton. I'm so sorry!" Melody sobs as I feel her tears soak through my shirt. I just sit there and hold her.

"I thought that you'd ended up like my mother or Mr. Snuggles...when the circle that made my mother disappear and made Mr. Snuggles explode appeared beneath you...I thought that I'd killed you too..." Melody softly cries.

"But I'm still alive," even if I'm not too sure how.

Melody sniffles and remains quiet for a few moments.

"You—to-eave," Melody softly says.

"What?" I ask and she pushes off from my chest.

"You need to leave," Melody replies slightly louder while avoiding my eyes.

"Why?" I inquire.

Melody just turns away and ignores me. Did I do something wrong? Did I rush things? Did I act too familiar? Should I have been more distant? What did I do? ...I think I finally understand why people say that guys never know what they did: because there are too many things that we've done wrong to narrow it down to just one.

(Idiot...she's afraid that she'll hurt you if you stay near her)

"Oh..."

I shuffle closer to Melody and wrap my arms around her like before.

"I forgive you, Melody...I survived falling thousands of meters. I'm not going anywhere," I whisper into her ear. Melody quietly hiccups and I feel several tears drop onto my forearm.

"Why...?" Melody quietly cries.

"I simply find you interesting and like spending time with you, so I want to keep doing it," I softly reply.

"But you'll get hurt if you're near me!" Melody exclaims as she quickly spins around.

"My chances of getting hurt are just as high if I'm not...near you..." I trail off as the realization hits me.

Even though my chance of getting hurt if I'm not near her are just as high, her chance of getting hurt if she's near me are exponentially higher. If I get involved with Melody, she'll get wrapped up in my problems: problems that involve a criminal organization and the most powerful mages in the world looking for me. I can't risk her safety just because I want to be with her.

"You're right...I should go..." I quietly reply.

I crawl off of her bed and slip my shoes on before heading to the barrier-covered door. I set my hand against it and stop.

"I'll see you around," I softly say without turning around.

"Wait..." Melody whispers and her voice cracks slightly. "I don't want you to go..."

I can tell from her voice that she's crying and I know that I'm to blame. If I turn around now and see her like that, I'll go comfort her...there will be no turning back...

"I'm sorry..." I reply.

I feel a jolt of pain on my left hand as I pour everything I have against the barrier. The black barrier turns to dust and is blown away as I walk out into the hall without looking back. As I head down the hall towards Liza, I pass by Alexa. She looks at my demeanor and her face warps into a scowl as she rushes past me to Melody's room.

"Let's go," I quietly tell Liza. She opens her mouth to reply, but doesn't speak a word.

We head downstairs and find Chet waiting in the foyer. He raises an eyebrow when he sees me, but doesn't say anything. Chet turns and walks out to his car as Liza and I follow him. The ride home is silent, leaving me to my thoughts of how I hurt Melody.

...

Chapter 11: Misguided Protection

That night, I hardly get any sleep. Thoughts of Melody and how she's probably unable to sleep because of me keep my mind from resting throughout the night.

Once the sun's first rays illuminate through my curtains, I finally decide to get out of bed. I walk into the bathroom to take a shower, noticing that my reflection in the mirror would startle me if I wasn't so tired. I quickly shower and get ready before heading downstairs. The kitchen is empty except for a note informing me that Liza had to leave early for a faculty meeting and left breakfast in the microwave. I take the food out of the microwave and dump it in the trash before heading out.

I make my way through the cold morning air to school, passing only three people on my way. I wonder how Melody is doing...

"RENTON!" Alexa angrily screams behind me as I reach the gates of Graythorn Academy.

I turn around as my left hand rises up and catches a palm sized rock after neutralizing the wind magic that was propelling it. I realize that the rock was just a feint when two Ugg boots get planted into my chest, knocking the air out of my lungs as I go sailing into the snow. Alexa lands on top of me and punches me in the face, which doesn't really have any effect given that her fists are covered in mittens. I must be really off of my game if I'm getting beaten by such amateur moves.

"MELODY IS REFUSING TO COME TO SCHOOL BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID!" Alexa yells before punching me a final time. She calms down and takes several deep breaths while straddling me.

"What did you say to her?" Alexa inquires through gritted teeth, trying to maintain her small amount of composure.

"I realized that we couldn't be together, so I left," I reply.

"So you're scared of her too, you fucking pussy!?" Alexa harshly asks.

"No...I'm the reason that we can't be together...not her," I quietly respond.

"What do you mean?" Alexa cautiously questions.

"There are certain groups looking for me...certain groups that would prefer it if my bones were liquefied...and they wouldn't be above hurting her to get to me," I explain as I feel like there is someone else nearby.

"So you just ran away from a girl who needed your support...who needed your acceptance more than anything...just because some people might hurt her in the future," Alexa summarizes as she gets off of me.

"All you're doing is hurting her now instead of later," Alexa quietly adds and delivers a swift kick to my ribs before walking off. I decide to just lie in the snow for a while and wait until air returns to my lungs.

"Oh, how I wish I were you...although, if I had been in your position, I'd be sporting a flag so high that there'd be a hole in my pants," Jose says as he dispels his shroud.

"Jose...you have some serious issues," I reply.

"Hey, I just like my women like I like my coffee," Jose exclaims and bends down to give me a hand up.

"What?" I groan while standing.

"Cold and slightly painful when I drink them in too fast," Jose finishes and I blankly stare at him.

"I only drink Frappuccinos," Jose explains.

"That analogy works, but just barely," I reply.

Jose and I silently walk around the administrative building towards class.

"So what's going on?" Jose asks.

"What do you mean?" I reply.

"Well, Alexa was just beating your ass and she wouldn't do that without a good reason," Jose responds.

"Right...well, let's just say some stuff happened between Melody and I. I handled things poorly, despite the fact that I thought I was making the right call, and now Melody is so upset that she's not coming to school...and it's my fault," I tell him as we enter the main building.

"Huh...well, there is only one thing to do at this point," Jose says.

"There is?" I ask.

"Yeah. You're going to have to marry her," Jose answers.

"What!?" I reply.

"Well, since she's pregnant and doesn't want to get rid of it, you're just going to have to marry her," Jose explains.

"That's what you got out of what I said?" I ask.

"Wait, that's not what happened?" Jose replies as we walk into Chet's class.

"Renton, your face is looking a little puffy. You alright?" Chet asks with false concern.

"Never better!" I exclaim, trying to keep my sarcasm under wraps.

Chet raises an eyebrow at me, but doesn't ask any more questions and turns back to his computer. I pull my chair out and start to sit down when the chair suddenly moves out from underneath me as I feel a gust of wind around my ankles. I thud to the ground and Chet looks up from his computer.

"I guess I'm more tired than I thought," I say in response to his attention.

I get the feeling that Alexa is really going to put my through the ringer today. The rest of my classmates find their way into the room and the bell rings. Three minutes later, Chet looks up from his computer.

"I...I've got nothing. Have a good day, I guess? I don't know. I've got things to do," Chet announces, dismissing the class.

Jose and I start heading towards math class when I remember that I haven't seen my bag since the incident yesterday. Someone must've moved it from the library...maybe it's in my locker.

"Hold up, I need to get something from my locker," I tell Jose and jog to the bank of lockers.

"Issero-day," I say as I touch my locker for the purpose of keeping up appearances.

I pull open my locker and find my bag waiting for me. I grab it, shut the locker, and head to math class with Jose.

In math class, I fall asleep. Mr. Black doesn't wake me up, presumably because he can't embarrass me by asking a fair question that I won't know the answer to. Jose wakes me up at the end of class and I head to science, where Alexa spits bits of paper into my ears the entire period, using gusts of wind to accurately direct the wet paper balls to their marks. By the end of class, I can't hear anything.

I walk to gym several paces behind Alexa whilst picking paper out of my ears. Alexa looks back and glares at me before entering the girls' locker room. Well, it's not like I can say that I don't deserve this. I head into the locker room and start to change when Joshua approaches me.

"Meet me behind the gym after class," Joshua whispers and walks off.

Great, just what I needed...well, it's not like I have a lunch with me today anyway. I finish changing and head out into the gym. The gym has dividers up all around it and only the very front of the gym is visible.

"Alright, for the next few days leading up to the break, you will be running this obstacle course," Coach Michaels announces when everyone has assembled. "Werner, you're up first,"

Of course I am. I step up to the entrance of the path that the dividers make by the right wall of the gym and wait.

"All you have to do is make your way through the obstacle course as fast as possible. Your gym clothes should protect you from any serious injury. Go!" Coach Michaels commands and I jog down the path.

The path veers left and then right towards the back wall, presumably for the purpose of making it so the people who aren't participating have no idea what to expect because they can't see anything from the entrance. I come across the first obstacle: a balance beam with swinging chunks of wood that appear to be padded and are about my size. I hop on the beam and run across it, dodging the hunks of wood fairly easily. This is actually kind of fun. The opposite side of this obstacle has another path that veers to the left. As I round the corner, a burst of fire hits me and is immediately nullified by my left hand.

I continue down the path and run into the next obstacle: a room full of crocodiles...or are those alligators? I'm going to say crocodiles. The crocodiles turn towards me when I enter the room and slowly advance. Now, the school most likely doesn't have a dozen crocodiles on retainer so this must be an illusion. How am I supposed to deal with this?

(Illusion magic works by directly affecting the perceptions processed by the thalamus so touching your head with your left hand should work in dispelling the illusion. Or you could just trust your sense of smell. Illusion magic only affects the thalamus and smell is the only sense that isn't processed by it)

"Thanks, Melanie. You are way smarter than I am."

(Don't I know it)

As I sprint through the room while holding my left hand against the side of my head, I notice that one of the crocodiles doesn't disappear and snaps at me as I vault over it. Where in the hell did the school get a real crocodile!?

The next path veers left into a large tube. I head into the tube and a roaring sound erupts around me. At the other end is a cyclone that encompasses the width of the tube. I sprint towards it, dispelling it on contact with my left arm, before heading out to a room with a pair of golems. The golems charge at me, swinging their massive stone arms. I roll under their swings, smack each of them with my left hand after coming out of the roll, and sprint through the room to the next path as they collapse.

The path veers left and I realize that I'm along the left wall of the gym, so the course must almost be over. The path goes up a ramp to the next room, which contains a large pool of water that most likely has an electrical current running through it. I doubt the water is magically induced, but the electricity must be so I guess I'll just wade through it? The electricity probably won't be able to hurt me, but I don't really feel like getting wet...

(Then jump it)

"What? That pool is like five meters across. I doubt I can make that."

(You'll make it, trust me)

I head back down the path and get a running start. A slight pain registers in my left hand before I fling myself off the edge of the tube and go sailing over the pool. I land on the opposite side of the pool in a crouch before heading down the path on the far side. I exit the course and find everyone waiting for me.

"Two minutes, twenty-three seconds...Werner, you just broke the school record by more than half..." Coach Michaels says with a shocked expression.

Crap...I was enjoying having a break from my problems so much that I forgot to tone it down...

"Alright, let's have Graves go next," Coach Michaels says and Joshua heads into the obstacle course.

About four minutes pass by before I hear Joshua say "Are-nay," at the last obstacle and then he emerges twenty seconds later.

"Graves shattered the record too? What's going on?" Coach Michaels asks.

"Well, the golem obstacle only had two piles of rocks and the cyclone didn't activate in the tube," Joshua reports.

"It was like that for me too," I chime in, trying to salvage the situation.

"What?" Coach Michaels responds and walks into the obstacle course. He comes back out five minutes later.

"Since half of the course has been disabled, class is dismissed," Coach Michaels announces while eyeing me in a suspecting fashion.

I head back to locker room and change back into my uniform. Joshua locks eyes with me as he slips out the emergency exit that leads outside. I wait several moments and follow him as discreetly as possible. The emergency exit leads to a small alley between the gym and the main building. I take a right, following the alley that lets out behind the gym.

"And here I thought that you'd pussy out of it," Joshua says as I round the corner.

"Let's get this over with," I reply as I set my bag down.

"I heard that you're the reason that Melody isn't here today—" Joshua starts.

"And so now you're going to kick the shit out of me and win her over, yada yada," I finish with an exasperated tone.

"You've got one hell of a mouth on you, Werner. How about I shut it for you?" Joshua suggests with annoyance as he cracks his knuckles. His hands burst into flames and he charges at me.

I dodge right to avoid his flaming left hook—and by flaming, I mean 'on fire' and not whatever a left hook from an overzealous homosexual might look like, which movies have taught me most likely involves scratching—and deliver a quick jab to his left kidney. Joshua follows up with a sloppy right hook, which I grab and use to pull him off balance so I can sweep out his legs. Once Joshua is on his back, I give him some room to get back up.

I like fighting. I don't have to think about anything else during it, like how I deserve the beating that Joshua so severely wants to give me judging by the way the heat radiating from him is melting the snow.

"You can't beat me as you are...this fight is over," I say, grab my bag, and start walking away as Joshua stands up.

"It's over when I say it is, Werner!" Joshua shouts.

I spin around as Joshua picks up a large rock and melts it with his hands. The molten glob that's the size of my head comes flying towards me. I throw my left hand up and the globule stops on contact with my palm, the heat dying down as it does so. The glob turns to dust as I close my left around it, the scar on my hand having blackened once again.

"You're outclassed, Graves," I reply, turn around, and continue to walk away.

I head around to the left side of the main building when I feel that someone is near me.

"How're you handling things?" Chet asks as he dispels his shroud.

"Fine...I'm just fine," I reply.

"The party is in two days...Will you be ready in time?" Chet inquires.

"Yeah, I will. Were you able to find anything else out?" I ask.

"No, the barriers and the guards seem to be the extent of the security," Chet replies as we walk into the main building.

"Good," I say and we enter Chet's classroom.

"Renton, what happened yesterday? Tetsuya and I were on our way to the library when Melody sprinted past us in tears, but you weren't there when we arrived," Lily asks.

"Sorry Lily, but I can't say. Alexa can tell you about it," I answer.

"Alright..." Lily replies and doesn't ask again.

...

Chapter 12: Heist Night

The two days leading up to the party/heist passed by in a monotonous fashion so I'm going to skim over them. Alexa remained mad at me as Melody still refused to come to school and I continued to feel terrible about the whole situation.

Now, the night of the heist.

...

I look out the window of the car, feeling restricted in the tux that Chet gave me to wear for tonight.

"This tux feels a little tight," I comment.

"Relax, it's a perfect fit. I stole it from a guy that had your exact body type and height. The whole time he kept going on and on about a wedding. I was like, 'bitch, this ain't no therapy session!' You'd think the guy had never been held at knifepoint before," Chet replies.

"Don't you think that was because you mugged him when he was on his way to his wedding?" I question.

"...You might be on to something," Chet responds after a few moments.

"How did you not realize that?" I ask.

"Well, I was high on crack at the time. I had to make it convincing," Chet offers by way of explanation and I chuckle.

"So, have you loosened up a bit? We're here," Chet says as we pull up to a contemporary building with a lot of glass that looks like every art museum I've ever seen.

"Now remember, we mingle for a little while, but not enough for people to remember us, and then we make our way into the museum," Chet reminds me.

"Got it," I reply and step out of Chet's car.

Chet hands the keys to a valet and we head up the steps into the museum. The museum's expansive lobby has been turned into a place suitable for a party. A quartet sits in the back left corner, playing the classical music that is fluttering throughout the lobby. Caterers hold trays filled with hors d'oeuvres and champagne glasses as they make their way through the crowd of finely dressed people.

"Think you could have mugged a guy that was richer?" I whisper to Chet.

"He was on a teacher's budget," Chet smiles.

"Ah, Professor Farnsworth!" Chet exclaims and wanders off.

I make my way through the crowd, grabbing a coconut shrimp off of a platter and a glass of champagne because there's nothing else to drink. I take a drink of champagne, feeling the bubbles sizzle down my throat before I take a bite of coconut shrimp. The shrimp falls out of my mouth upon a certain sight: shoulder-length black hair tied up in a bun with a few strands of her bangs hanging down to frame her face, cold blue eyes, long black dress with a slit up the right thigh that accentuates her pale flesh, and the hilt of a knife peeking below said slit.

Erin.

I nearly drop my champagne glass, but thankfully I don't because that would draw attention to myself. Instead, I quickly turn around and briskly walk back to where Chet was, setting my glass on a table as I pass by it. I spot him talking with an old man and rush over to him.

"Chet, we've got a problem!" I interrupt.

"Excuse me for a moment, Professor," Chet says and walks me out of earshot.

"What's going on?" Chet whispers.

"Someone from my past is here. Someone who most certainly wants me dead. We have to move now, or leave. Either way, I need to get the hell away from here before she spots me," I frantically reply. Chet turns away from me and walks back over to the professor.

"Excuse me, Professor. It seems my young friend has gorged himself on champagne, thinking it was sparkling cider, so I think it best if we were to retire for the evening," Chet explains. The professor looks over at me and recoils slightly before nodding at Chet; do I really look that bad?

Chet returns to my position and leads me over to a hall on the left side of the lobby that apparently leads to the bathrooms, judging by the signs. The hall is probably twenty meters long and appears to veer to the right immediately after the doors for the bathrooms. As we reach the bathrooms, Chet checks behind him before leading me around the corner. The path is cordoned off by red rope and a sign that reads 'Do Not Enter'. Chet hops over the rope and I do the same before we walk around the left corner that immediately follows. We head straight down a long hallway that is lined with windows on the outer wall to my left, the moon offering a small amount of light to make up for the lack of artificial lighting. We pass the entrance of another hallway on the right but continue forward; I hope Chet knows where he's going.

Chet takes a right at the end of the hall and we run into the first barrier, but it's only a level four. I set my left hand on the relatively weak barrier and rip a hole through it for Chet and I to step through. On the other side of the barrier is an exhibit and on a pedestal in the center of the room is a pair of glasses.

"There they are!" Chet quietly exclaims.

"What? What about the guards and five level eight barriers?" I ask and Chet shrugs.

"Where did you get your information?" I inquire.

"Well, a movie based on that art heist was filmed here so I thought the security measures in the film would be accurate," Chet replies. I sigh and shake my head in response.

"And there goes the last of my respect for you. Art heists are only difficult in movies because they have to make things interesting. In reality, you could steal most paintings by slipping it into a pair of ill-fitting pants. Just grab the glasses and let's go," I tell him with a haggard tone.

Chet cautiously walks up to the pedestal, breaks the display casing with his elbow, grabs the glasses, and looks up expectantly.

"Strange...there was supposed to be a giant rolling boulder of doom after I picked these up..." Chet sarcastically comments.

I huff and walk back to the barrier, where I open it back up and we both step through.

"Well, that was actually rather disappointing after all the work I put in," I say as we walk back down the hall.

"Renton Riley..." a man in a tuxedo says as he steps out from a small crevice in the inner wall on my left.

He's about 180cm tall with short black hair and a gleam in his dark eyes that pairs with a dazzling smile to give me the creeps.

"Our people have been looking for you for quite some time," he adds.

Shit! He must be from the Syndicate, which means I'm going to have to fight Erin pretty soon...

"Do you remember Scott Fowley? You took a copy of our plan from him when you killed him," the man says while using a silver, talon-shaped ring on his left hand to cut open his right palm.

Oh, fuck me sideways.

"You understand that we can't allow you to live since you've killed one of our people," the blood mage says with a broad grin.

"I'll engage him while you go around him, get the car, and pull it around to this side. I'll most likely be jumping out of one of these windows," I tell Chet.

"I can't just leave you here to fight him alone. Liza would kill me," Chet says.

"You'll just be in my way. There's a lot you don't know about me so just do what I asked," I respond.

"Got it," Chet reluctantly replies.

"I'm glad that Scott was at least able to take out your little girlfriend. It made our job much easier," the man smiles.

"Melanie..." I whisper as the back of my left hand heats up and starts to tingle.

I race towards the tuxedo-donned man as the thought of ripping out his spine and showing it to him brings a smile to my face. Chet moves at the same time I do, running against the wall to get past the blood mage. With my body feeling as light as it did during that elementalball game a few weeks ago, I quickly outpace him. The blood mage flings his arm out at me and blood splatters my tux. I feel the resulting power suddenly hit me as it just as suddenly disperses. The blood mage looks confused when I keep up my advances. I close the gap between us and throw a punch at him, but he narrowly dodges it and jumps back while I spot Chet running around the corner towards the lobby.

"Well, I can see why Scott lost against you. You are a fascinating specimen! He probably wanted to preserve you so much that he didn't go all out. My name is Damien Sorrento, and I won't be making the same mistake," Damien says.

Damien flings his right arm in sweeping motions, splattering drops of blood all around me. The droplets of blood begin to glow crimson as circles are engraved into the stone floor and the walls—this is going to be trouble. Six stone spires erupt out of the wall next to me with the intent of impaling me.

I once fought a Digger in the Pit and while he was pretty adept, he could only manage one spire at a time, which led to my victory since I had no problem shattering singular spires. Damien being able to summon six spires at a time seems unfair, but I suppose he is a blood mage. I jump back to dodge and notice the crimson circles beneath my feet as I land.

I turn to the side as three more spires eject from the ground, forming craters at their origins. My left hand shatters the middle spire and the turn allows me to avoid two rock spears to the chest, but they're still close enough to slice open my front and back. Endorphins flood my system to the point that I can barely feel it.

I look over to Damien, who is sporting an amused smile as he points up. I look up as half a dozen copper pipes seek to impale me from the five-meter tall ceiling. I'm able to avoid five of them by leaping to the left. The sixth pipe catches me between the radius and ulna of my right forearm before continuing into the concrete floor.

"Fuck!" I gasp in pain as Damien chuckles.

There's nothing my power can do to get me out of this because the pipe isn't made of mana, it was only moved with mana. Now, it's just normal metal that's sticking through my arm, hurting like a bitch and effectively draining me of my blood.

"Now that I have you trapped, I can take my time with you!" Damien informs me with a broad smile.

Damien swings his right arm at the window to my right, splattering a few drops of blood on it. The window suddenly shatters and I turn away as the shards of glass surge towards me. The shards slice open my arms and legs as several embed themselves in my back.

"How delightful! Now I get to watch as the life drains from your eyes while you bleed to death! Just for your information, you've got about three minutes!" Damien exclaims as I raise my left hand up to my neck and feel that my jugular has been sliced open.

It seems I might've overestimated my ability when I told Chet to run. So this is it, huh? This is how it all ends, at the hands of a blood mage? Just like Melanie...I suppose it's fitting. After all, some part of me died that night anyway. My only regret is that I won't get the chance to be there for Melody. To tell her that everything is going to be alright. To take all of her anguish away and try to make her feel normal. To give her a place to belong...but I suppose none of that matters now that everything is becoming fuzzy and my eyelids are growing heavier. My knees give out underneath my weight and I sag to the floor with my right arm raised above my head

"Just a little longer, and nothing will matter anymore," I think as my eyes close.

(We're not done yet, Wren!)

Something inside of me snaps as my eyes jolt open. I hear myself laugh as my neck starts to itch and I feel something enigmatic flooding into my body. I don't know what, but this is something that wants to guide me onto a path of destruction; a path of crushing my enemies' skulls underfoot as I laugh at their newly orphaned children. Energy surges through my veins as my left hand pulsates and I feel blood stop flowing from my neck. The black V-shaped scar suddenly expands through my veins, dying them black beneath my skin. I look towards Damien and see a mostly curious expression on his face. I touch the copper pipe that has impaled my right arm and the pipe is sublimed into black smoke as the hole in my arm is filled with a viscous black fluid. My arm itches fiercely as it starts quickly healing.

Damien's eyes have grown wide at my actions and he flings his right arm in front of him, his victory no longer assured. I sprint forward as the granite floor in front of me shoots upward. I slam my left hand into the stone, ripping a hole in the mana infused stone before the hole rapidly expands with the ascending wall. I pass through the wall and before Damien has time to react, I stab my left hand into his stomach. My fingers puncture his skin, weave through his entrails, and hit something hard: must be his lumbar. I grab on to the hard yet slick surface and effortlessly lift Damien off his feet.

"It's not quite the same as ripping out your spine and showing it to you, but it's pretty close!" I exclaim.

I start to laugh as Damien looks down in shock at my left forearm that is protruding from his stomach. Blood leaks down my arm and I continue laughing until Damien smiles and starts laughing as well. Why in the hell is he laughing?

(He was probably planning on blowing himself up and taking you with him. What he doesn't realize yet is that he will fail because your left hand is in direct contact with his body)

"Haha! Yeah, you won't be able to explode if I'm holding onto you," I tell him with a smile as his expression falters.

Since I don't want to stand around waiting for him to bleed out, I decide to end this quickly. After slamming his body into the large window to my right, shattering it, I lift him up and bring him down on the metal support that runs horizontally through the glass window. The jagged shards of glass sticking out of the metal support help to sever Damien's head from his neck as I slam him down on the support before letting the headless corpse slide off of my arm. I need to hurry up and get moving. There's no way that someone won't come to investigate the sound of windows breaking.

"Renton?" I hear a familiar female voice ask from my left.

I turn in the direction of the hallway that leads to the lobby and see Erin standing there. Her face is one of curiosity before she confirms that it's me and then her face quickly warps into a scowl. Erin's hand moves towards her right hip before I decide that I've seen enough and fling myself out of the broken window. There's a three-meter drop before I roll on the snow-covered lawn to take the fall without injuring myself, but it causes the glass shards to dig into my back. When I come up out of the roll, I hit the pavement running and spot Chet's BMW idling across the road.

"WAIT! YOU COWARD!" Erin screams after me.

I throw the door of the car open with my left hand, noticing that it has returned to normal as Chet starts driving. A lightning bolt hits the spot where the car was as I run and hop in. I give a last look back and see Erin standing behind the broken window. I turn forward and take a deep breath as I feel the shards of glass in my back sink in a little deeper.

"You're bleeding on my upholstery," Chet mentions.

"Sue me," I reply and we spend the rest of the drive in silence.

...

Chapter 13: Difficult Decisions

"RENTON! What happened to you!?" Liza screams when I walk through the front door.

"Don't worry, the blood mostly isn't mine...mostly," I reply while thinking that it's probably about fifty-fifty.

(I don't think that's the issue)

"Where's Chet!?" Liza angrily asks.

"He said he had something to do," I respond.

"Of course he did...Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Liza replies.

Liza takes me to the kitchen, pulls a chair out from the table, and indicates for me to sit down. I sit on the chair sideways so Liza can easily access my back and so that my right arm is hidden. I'm not sure what happened back there, but I know that I shouldn't be able to heal like that...or sublime a pipe. Liza unbuttons the tattered remains of the tux jacket and helps me out of it. Her eyes go wide at the sight of my tattered white dress shirt, which is now mostly red.

"Renton..." Liza softly says with concern in her eyes.

"Can you get these shards of glass out of my back?" I request, ignoring her concern.

"Sure...let me go grab some forceps," Liza replies and leaves the kitchen, heading upstairs.

I unbutton my mostly red dress shirt and struggle to take it off.

"Here, let me help," Liza says when she sees me struggling after coming back downstairs.

Liza sets a pair of tweezers and a metal dish shaped like a kidney on the table before helping me with my shirt. Once I'm free of the blood-stained cloth, Liza picks up the tweezers and the metal dish and sits down behind me. I feel a slight sting each time she pulls out a shard of glass, followed by hearing a clink from the metal dish. Occasionally Liza reaches a shard of glass that is more deeply embedded, forcing her to dig the tips of the tweezers into my flesh to remove the glass. I lose count at around thirty clinks and Liza finishes about two minutes later.

"Now I just have to heal y—What the hell?" Liza asks in confusion as I notice an itching sensation on my back.

"I guess I don't have to do anything else...So, can you tell me what happened now? Like why all the cuts on your back just rapidly closed without mana? Or why there is a hole in the right arm of your clothing that goes all the way through the sleeve and a circular scar on both sides of your right arm? Or why there is an abnormal amount of blood on the right side of your neck? Or why your entire left arm is caked in blood?" Liza asks. So she noticed everything...

"Well, Chet and I were mingling at the party when I saw Erin—" I start.

"Assassin girl from the Syndicate, Erin?" Liza interrupts.

"Yeah. So, I got out of there before she spotted me and told Chet. From there we went and stole the glasses that he wanted, which was leagues easier than what I'd been practicing for. There was only a single level four barrier with no extra security! I was practically insult—" I continue.

"Renton," Liza interrupts to tell me to get on with it.

"Anyway, as Chet and I were coming back down the hall, a man stepped in front of us, called me 'Renton Riley' and said that his people had been searching for me. I thought he was talking about the Syndicate, considering Erin's presence, until the man cut open his hand," I inform her.

"A blood mage!?" Liza exclaims and I nod.

"I told Chet to go get the car and pull it around to the side while I engaged the blood mage, which ended up being the correct choice for a different reason than I originally intended. So I started fighting with the blood mage and he recognized my ability right away. He said that he wasn't going to make the same mistake that the last blood mage did and stepped up his game. Using splatters of blood, he made multiple spires of stone erupt from the ground to try and impale me, but he didn't succeed until a copper pipe from the ceiling speared through my right arm," I say and Liza softly gasps.

"Damien, the blood mage, said that he was going to take his time with me since I was trapped, and then he shattered a window and used the glass shards to attack me. I turned to avoid getting glass in my face, but a shard of glass sliced into my neck, below my ear," I tell her.

"Wait, your jugular vein was severed?" Liza asks.

"Yeah. Damien said he was going to watch me bleed out and then something strange happened. Next thing I knew, I was laughing and the veins of my left arm were completely black as I felt my neck stop bleeding. I grabbed the copper pipe and somehow sublimed it. Then a black fluid filled the hole in my arm as my skin started to weave itself back together. Damien followed up by creating a wall in the hallway to block me off, but I made a hole in it before it was complete and got to him. I stabbed my left hand into his stomach, grabbed his lumbar, and lifted him off of the ground," I say and pause to give Liza the opportunity to ask questions, but she doesn't say anything.

"Long story short, I decapitated him using a broken window frame before I heard someone call my name. I turned around to find Erin standing there so I jumped out of the broken window and sprinted to Chet's car. Erin tried to hit the car with a bolt of lightning as we sped off and came here," I finish and Liza remains silent for about thirty seconds.

"Liza, you know that we need to leave again, right?" I ask.

"Yeah...I'll turn in my resignation tomorrow, sign the house over to Chet and ask him to sell it for us, and then we'll leave," Liza thoughtfully replies.

"You should probably tell him that he needs to sell his car too. Erin got a good look at it, and even if she didn't catch the license plate, it will still lead back to Chet in time," I add.

"Yeah, you're right. Well, it's late so let's get to bed," Liza responds and stands up.

I heed her suggestion and head upstairs to my bathroom. I take a quick shower to scrub the blood off of me and I get ready for bed. I notice a scar underneath my right ear while looking in the mirror, but it's relatively unobtrusive so it should be alright, especially when wearing a collared shirt. After a night like this one, I'm out as soon as I hit my bed.

...

Breakfast is rather somber the next morning. It's obvious that neither Liza nor I want to leave, but we don't really have a choice at this point. Even still, I don't know where we're going to go. Avalon is sort of a one of a kind city without the blood mages' or the Syndicate's presence here.

"Hey, it'll be fine. We'll figure it out, like we always do," Liza says with her attempt at a smile, which only makes me more regretful.

If only I hadn't been so obsessed with going home, none of this would have ever happened. Melanie would still be alive, Liza's life wouldn't be in turmoil, and I wouldn't have two powerful groups of people hunting me. This entire situation is my fault.

A sudden embrace from behind by Liza snaps me out of my self-pitying state.

"Everything will work out, Renton. I promise," Liza whispers into my ear.

"Heh...don't make promises that you can't keep," I chuckle.

"Come on, let's get going," Liza replies.

Liza and I put our shoes on and exit the house as Liza locks the door behind her. The walk to Graythorn Academy is quiet and uneventful. Even though we've only been here for a little more than two months, I'm going to miss this city, and the people in it...No, I can't let my mind wander to thoughts of Melody. It'll only make leaving that much harder...

Liza and I walk past the gates and into the administrative building to find Tetsuya exiting the principal's office. He nods at me and walks away without a word.

"Alright, I'm thinking business as usual and then I'll turn in my resignation at the end of the day. Tell Chet that I need to speak with him when you see him," Liza says when Tetsuya is out of ear shot.

"Sounds good. I'll see you later," I reply and head down the hall.

I make my way through the doors, across the lawn to the main building, and down the halls towards Chet's class. When I arrive, I find Alexa and Melody sitting in the room. I casually walk across the room and sit down next Melody.

"I need to talk to you later, okay?" I quietly ask.

"What do you need to talk to her about!?" Alexa pointedly inquires.

"It's okay, Alexa," Melody says and nods at me.

The best time to tell her is after school...but I want her to be the first to know and if I tell her after school, I won't be able to tell Jose...telling her during lunch should work. Alexa, Melody, and I sit there in awkward silence until Chet walks in.

"Chet, my sister needs to speak with you," I inform him.

"I know, she just did. This whole thing has become way more trouble than it was worth..." Chet grumbles.

"Sorry about your car," I add.

"Don't worry about it. It was about time I got a new one anyway," Chet replies.

"What happened to Chet's car?" Alexa curiously asks.

"The front passenger seat is stained with blood," I nonchalantly reply.

"From what!?" Melody questions with concern.

"So get this, Renton calls me last night and says he needs my help right away. So, being the kind teacher that I am and having nothing to do with the fact that I really want to bone his sister, I drive over. Renton comes running out of a motel room with a naked bloody girl slung over his shoulder. This newbie tosses her in the front seat when the dead hooker disposal protocol clearly states that you are supposed to roll them in the sheets or a rug and throw them in the _trunk_ of the disposal transport vehicle, so someone obviously didn't read the mandatory pamphlet that all men are given on their eighteenth birthday. Then I drove him out to the city limits, made a grave at the regulation depth of two meters with a spell, and we buried the hooker. Do you at least remember her name, Renton?" Chet asks as I try to contain my laughter.

"Svetlana Gorbachev, and I'll never forget it," I reply in a serious fashion, going along with this outrageous story because it is slightly more believable than what actually happened.

"Wait so what happened?" Jose asks as he opens the door.

"Chet has to get a new car because Renton threw a dead hooker in the front seat," Alexa answers.

"What!? Didn't you read your pamphlet?" Jose inquires and grins at me. Man, I'm going to miss this.

"Wait, so guys really do get pamphlets on how to bury dead hookers for their eighteenth birthdays?" Melody asks, looking endearingly perplexed.

"Well, it's less of a pamphlet and more of a four hundred page tome called _The Bro Code_. Dead hooker disposal is in there under P for prostitutes, just after the chapter that covers how to pay for one," Jose responds.

"Don't you just give them the money?" Alexa asks, oddly interested in this.

"That's a common mistake. What you actually do is leave the money on the dresser, place a decoy wallet that only has twenty dollars in it for her to steal while you're in the bathroom, and then keep the majority of your money and your credit cards hidden in your sock," Jose explains as Alexa listens intently.

"Is the twenty dollars for the extra psychological counseling that she'll need?" Alexa inquires.

"Nah, it's more like a tip. They don't need counseling. Hookers are the strongest of strong women—just look at my grandma!" Jose replies.

"Your grandmother was a prostitute?" Melody asks.

"Yeah, and a maid. Cleaning houses by day and polishing knobs by night. She kept it up until she was well into her seventies," Jose answers and I try really hard to keep from laughing, knowing that he's messing with them.

The conversation dies off when our classmates arrive and Chet starts class.

"Alright everyone, happy Friday! This is the last day before your long weekend, so if I don't see you before the end of the day, have a good time!" Chet exclaims, dismissing the class.

"Let's get going," I suggest to Jose.

"We'll see you guys later!" Jose calls to Alexa and Melody as we exit the room.

Jose and I head upstairs to math class and get there as their homeroom is letting out. We wait for the class to vacate before entering and sitting down beside Tetsuya.

"Hey Tetsuya, if Alexa or Melody or even Lily asks, you got a tome for your eighteenth birthday that included a section on how to get rid of the body of a dead hooker, okay?" Jose asks. Tetsuya nods in response, taking the insanity of Jose's request without breaking stride.

"Hey Renton, do you know if the trip to Melody's cabin is still on for break?" Jose inquires.

"I'm not sure..." I reply, knowing that I won't be going regardless.

"Okay. I do want to go, but I am worried about something," Jose says.

"Worried about what?" I ask.

"What if any of the girls are on their period?" Jose replies.

"Then we try not to make them mad," I answer.

"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about it attracting bears. I really don't want to fight a bear!" Jose exclaims and I can't help but laugh at his idiocy.

Mr. Black starts class a few minutes later and class proceeds as usual, but then I notice something that is a little unusual: Tetsuya keeps shooting glances in my direction, as if contemplating something about me. He keeps it up for the last fifteen minutes of class and I start getting self-conscious, thinking that there is something on my face.

(Maybe he's realized that he's gay)

"I hope not...that would really screw things up with my plans to set him up with Lily...which I guess I won't be around to accomplish."

When class ends, I head downstairs to science and take my usual seat next to Alexa and Melody. The scent of lilacs wafts over from Melody's hair as I sit down, causing an ache in my chest at the realization that I won't be able to see her again after today...

"Are you alright, Renton?" Melody asks.

"Yeah. Can we talk privately during lunch?" I inquire.

"Sure, I know of a good spot behind the school," Melody replies with a small smile.

I'm going to miss that too...

The class period goes by with me noticing all the small things about Melody that I'm going to miss, causing me to grow more depressed by the moment, but I keep a neutral expression so as to not give myself away. After class, Alexa, Melody, and I head to gym before entering our respective locker rooms.

"I did it, Renton! I finally did it!" Jose exclaims whilst half-naked.

"Did what?" I ask.

"He finally cracked the gender coding on the girls locker room with illusion magic," Aaronson informs me as the majority of the guys look excited.

"Don't you see what this means!?" Jose excitedly asks.

"That you've found a way to make your outer gender identity match the one that you've secretly been hiding?" I inquire.

"No, it means I can finally shroud my way into the girls' locker room! It's the promised land! Just imagine all those girls and their naked shower fights...don't you want to see that!?" Jose manically questions.

"Which is why I'm going to record my foray into the forbidden zone!" Jose exclaims while holding up his phone.

"You're my boy, J!" someone exclaims behind me. I don't know if I'm okay with every guy in class seeing Melody naked...

"Yeah well, good luck with that," I reply and start changing into my gym uniform. Jose suddenly drops trou next to me.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Well, to keep up the spell for the biometrics on the locker room door, I can't shroud my clothes, so I have to go naked," Jose explains. Then why does he think that he can take his phone?

I formulate a devilish plan that will help me deal with this, bringing a smile to my face. Jose casts his shroud, but I can still feel his presence in front of me and I can still see his phone.

"Good luck, Jose! Remember that you're doing this for all of us!" I exclaim and clap him on the shoulder with my left hand.

"Thanks, man. I'll be back soon!" Jose replies as his shroud is dispelled by my left hand.

I shoot a glance around the locker room that hopefully relays my desire for everyone to remain quiet. No one says anything as Jose, naked as the day he was born, walks out of the locker room. Now the only question is whether or not he gets caught before he enters the girls' locker room.

"Wait for it," I announce and everyone remains silent.

Ten seconds later, a chorus of feminine screams can be heard from across the hall and all the guys burst into laughter. Jose comes running back into room, looking a little charred, bruised, and with a few scratches.

"What happened?" I inquire with mock surprise.

"I don't know...it should have worked fine with the spell to fool the biometrics..." Jose answers while breathing heavily.

"I guess it just wasn't meant to be," I reply somewhat mockingly.

All of the guys head out into the gym. When the girls arrive, they glare at Jose and appear to be considering going 'stab-happy' on him.

"CRUZ! You've got a week of six hour detentions in which you'll be working for the maintenance staff after we come back!" Coach Michaels announces.

"Yes, sir..." Jose replies.

"Alright everyone, we're running laps today," Coach Michaels informs us, getting a collective groan from the class.

Everyone starts jogging and I fall in beside Alexa and Melody.

"Can you believe Jose!? Showing off his thing to everyone like that!" Alexa exclaims.

"Alexa, that wasn't the problem..." Melody quietly says.

"I know, right!? He should've only showed it to you!" I loudly reply, drowning out Melody.

"Yeah! Wait, what?" Alexa asks as Melody and I start dying.

I continue jogging with them for the rest of the period, just enjoying being close to Melody and trying not to think about how I'm saying goodbye once we're done. The next forty minutes passes by all too fast and I'm begrudgingly heading into the locker room to change before I know it. Once I'm back in my school uniform, I stand in the hall and wait for Melody.

"Hey. Do you want to go get lunch first?" Melody asks when she exits the girls' locker room.

"No, I can't eat anything right now," I reply and Melody's face light up.

(Way to go. Now she thinks that you're about to ask her out)

"Craaap..."

"Let's go!" Melody cheerfully exclaims and leads me through the main doors into the gym.

Melody and I walk across the empty gym and out through the rear exits. She leads me across the snow, heading towards the forest. I notice an opening in the trees and a path leading into the forest when we're about ten meters away. I follow Melody through the forest for about a hundred meters until we come to a clearing with a stone structure. Ten stone columns hold up a stone ring with what appears to be a backless stone bench in the center of the gray structure. The entire structure is pristine, without even a trace of snow on it; the gently falling snowflakes even seem to avoid it entirely. Melody makes her way over and sits on the bench. I cautiously step into the structure and feel it hum with mana as I sit down on Melody's right. We sit there silently as I try to work through what I'm going to say, the butterflies in my stomach making me feel nauseous.

"So what did you need to talk to me about?" Melody questions. I hunch over and lean against my knees.

"Alright...first, I'm sorry that I gave you the impression that it was your fault that I left when it wasn't. The reason I left was because I knew that if I stayed, I'd be putting you in danger," I start.

"What do you mean?" Melody asks with a confused expression.

"Uh...well, I'm just going to quickly explain this. My name is actually Renton Riley, I was summoned to this world accidentally by Liza. I can cancel out any magic with my left hand and used this ability to steal things when I was discovered by Melanie, the daughter of the head of a criminal organization known as the Syndicate. I got involved with the Syndicate and started doing jobs for them as well as fighting in an underground arena that they had. Melanie and I dated for almost a year before she helped me obtain a book on portals that I hoped would lead home, but then the owner of the book, a blood mage, killed Melanie. I killed the blood mage and I've been running from the blood mages and the Syndicate ever since, neither of which would hesitate to hurt you to get to me," I explain and turn towards Melody after several moments of silence to find a stunned expression as she tries to take it all in.

"Okay...why are you telling me this?" Melody inquires and I straighten up before looking into her eyes.

"Because I like you and didn't want you to think that what's coming next is your fault...that my leaving the city is your fault..." I quietly inform her.

"What...?" Melody softly asks, looking more shocked than ever.

"Last night, I killed another blood mage and was discovered by an old friend from the Syndicate, who immediately tried to kill me," I explain, returning to my hunched over position.

"The hooker...What did Chet get you in to!?" Melody angrily asks.

"It's not Chet's fault...well, maybe a little...actually, it is his fault, but it's mostly just my past catching up to me," I answer and Melody remains quiet for a while.

"Do you really have to leave?" Melody asks with her voice cracking. I swallow the resulting lump in my throat and open my mouth.

"Yeah...Liza and I are leaving after she turns in her resignation at the end of the day. Now that the Syndicate and the blood mages know I'm in Avalon, it's only a matter of time—" I explain before I'm interrupted by a shiny blur in my periphery that is coming in fast towards Melody's stomach.

Chapter 14: Test

Time seems to slow down as I notice that the knife is moving too fast for me to catch so I do the only thing I can think of: I throw myself in front of it. The fifteen-centimeter blade plunges through the left side of my ribcage, feeling white-hot as it pierces my stomach; however, I feel no pain upon realizing that this blade wasn't aimed at me, but at Melody. She has absolutely nothing to do with this! It's me that they want, yet they were trying to kill her just for associating with me!?

They're dead...I'm going to tear them to pieces for this!

"RENTON!" Melody screams as she looks down at me with concern.

I hear myself start to laugh as the feeling from last night hits me again. Energy floods through my body while I notice the flow of mana around the stone structure getting distorted as though it were a seismometer during an earthquake.

"Renton?" Melody cautiously asks as I stand up.

I yank the blade out of my stomach with my right hand, feeling that black viscous liquid fill in the hole before the itchiness that tells me that my skin is stitching back together.

"Melody, get down and stay here. I promise that I'll protect you...I won't fail this time," I tell her.

"Renton?" Melody asks with concern as my left hand pulsates.

I look down just before the veins in my left arm flood with black. I sprint across the snow towards the direction the knife in my right hand had come from as the trees start to blur past me. It feels as if my body lightens as I pick up speed and spot four people in tight white clothing with cowls covering their faces. Spears of ice erupt out of the snow in front of me before I smash through them with my left hand. A bolt of lightning along with a ball of molten rock come flying towards me. The lightning is neutralized with my outstretched left hand as I catch the glob of molten rock and fling it at the Spark. The mage screams as the rock covers his face and burns him through his cowl.

The Hothead flings a large fireball at me as I close in on him. I backhand the ball of fire with my left hand, neutralizing it before the Hothead closes in, pulls a knife out of his waistband, and slashes at me. With my knife pointed down, I duck under his slash and perforate his abdomen with the knife six times rapidly before sweeping his armed right hand away from me as I come up and slice through his throat. Before I can grab the fallen Hothead's knife, his comrade is on me.

I bring up my knife and block the incoming slash, but the force of the attack knocks me onto my back, which seems unlikely until I see the small blocks of ice that had been right behind my feet—stupid Frosty. Judging by the rate of speed and level of strength that he slashed at me with, I think it's a safe bet that he's a Lifter, using mana to enhance his speed and strength. I find that my right hand is frozen to the ground and I can't break it free as the Lifter comes flying down with the blade aimed at my stomach. Before the Lifter's knife can find its mark, I catch the blade with my left hand. The blade cuts into my hand before vaporizing into black smoke.

While the Lifter is confused by the sudden disappearance of his weapon, I thrust my left hand up and tear out his throat before backhanding him off of me. A quick brush of my left hand melts the ice holding me down, which confirms my suspicion that it was infused with mana to be strong enough to hold me. I flash over to the blinded Spark and slash through his throat, cutting off the screaming caused by the molten rock on his face. I reach down to grab the knife from his belt before I have to jump back to avoid ice spikes that erupt below me. I spin around and charge the Frosty standing behind me, quickly clearing the distance between us. Before he has time to react, I bring the knife down in an arc, stabbing the blade through his skull before it breaks off the hilt.

I notice the knife in his waistband, which means that he wasn't the one that threw his, so where did the initial knife come from? A high pitched scream reaches my ears—Melody! I return to her position as fast as my body can carry me to find her throwing small, furry animals—chipmunks, squirrels, a rabbit—at her attacker while glowing black circles remain hovering over her hands, supplying her with "ammunition". I'm stopped in my tracks by the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. How is this her go-to move for dealing with a threat?

Melody's attacker is just as confused as I am, but possibly more so because I didn't just get hit in the face with a squirrel. The attacker's main defense is to simply brush the bewildered animals off while continuing his advance, until he gets unlucky. Melody summons a honey badger and hurls it at him. The mage pulls the bewildered badger off of his face and looks at it as the badger regains its cognitive functions, realizes that some guy is holding him, and decides "Fuck this guy" before attacking him because that's what badgers do. The mage starts screaming as the badger claws and bites his head until he gives away his specialty and uses a cyclone to hurl the badger away, knocking Melody down in the process.

I see blood on Melody's scraped hands before my mind flashes to Melanie spurting up blood and falling to the ground. A roar escapes my throat as I charge the Windbag. I grab the Windbag's right wrist with my right hand, extend it, rotate it, and break his elbow with a strike from my left hand while I kick out his legs. He face-plants in the snow and starts a screaming for a brief instant before I bring my right heel down on the back of his neck, resulting in a satisfying crack that cuts the scream to a gurgle.

"Renton...you killed him..." Melody says while looking at me in shock.

"After he killed you, he didn't deserve any mercy," I coldly reply.

"Killed me?" Melody asks.

" _Tried_ to kill you," I quickly correct.

I suddenly sense someone nearby and put myself in between Melody and them.

"Good job, Renton!" Chet exclaims as he dispels his shroud and reveals Tetsuya, who is holding his hands in a strange formation, and an older man with an X-shaped scar on his face, starting at his forehead and crossing over his nose to reach both sides of his jaw. His eyes are a rather unnerving crimson (probably caused by the injury that gave him that scar) with green irises.

"Daddy?" Melody asks when she sees the man as I recognize his build and cropped brown hair.

"What's going on? Why are Tetsuya and Melody's father here?" I inquire as I feel my left hand fade back to its usual shade of cream.

"Well, Maximilian is the school's principal and Tetsuya was helping us interview you," Chet replies.

So that's why I thought Mr. Sheffield's voice sounded familiar at his house.

"Wait, what interview?" I ask.

"I'm surprised that you didn't notice. Renton, shouldn't you be covered in blood at this moment?" Chet questions.

I look down and I don't see a drop of blood on my person. After all the fighting, especially the stomach stabbings I delivered to the Hothead and throat-tearing that the Lifter received, I should certainly be covered in blood.

"You can cut it off now, Mr. Yamamoto," Maximilian says.

Tetsuya gives a curt nod and unravels his hands, looking rather tired as he does so. The body of the Windbag is masked by a puff of white smoke before the smoke disappears, revealing a paper doll in the Windbag's place.

"So those were shikigami?" I ask, recalling what Jose told me when he introduced me to Tetsuya.

"Correct. You had already proven yourself when you killed that blood mage last night, but I needed you to prove that you could protect Melody," Maximilian says.

"So you had Tetsuya's shikigami throw a knife at her!?" I shout in outrage.

"Your sister is nearby so even if Melody had been hurt, it wouldn't have been for long," Maximilian calmly replies.

"How can you call yourself her father!?" I yell.

"I do what I do to protect her," Maximilian solemnly replies.

"What?" I ask.

"You can't leave, Renton," Chet tells me.

"Chet, I have to. You know better than anyone that I have to. The Syndicate and the blood mages know I'm in Avalon now. My presence will bring them here and put you all in danger," I reply.

"They'll be coming regardless of your location," Maximilian says.

"Yeah, but once they see I'm not here, they'll leave..." I say before their expressions reveal that they know something that I don't. "Right?"

"What do you know?" I inquire when they don't speak up.

"I decoded the book, Renton. While it is a book on portals, the portal that the blood mages are trying to use isn't to get to other worlds; it's to bring something here. However, they're missing a key part to making their plan work: Melody's power," Chet explains and lets the information sink in.

"Do the blood mages know this?" I ask after several moments.

"It's only a matter of time before they find out," Maximilian answers.

I look over to Melody and see that her expression is a mixture of confusion with a bit of fear.

(You know what you have to do, right Wren?)

"Yeah. I'm not about to let another girl I care about die because I didn't protect her."

"I'll do it..." I quietly announce.

"Wait, you'll do what? What're you doing?" Melody asks.

"He's agreeing to protect you from the blood mages. And you might even find a way home during the course of this, Renton," Chet answers.

"What!? Renton, that's insane! What if you get hurt!?" Melody frantically asks me.

"It'll hurt me even more if you're harmed because I did nothing," I gently reply.

Melody looks stunned for a second before her face turns even more rosy in the face of the cold and she looks away.

"Speaking of which, we should probably get you to Liza and have her take a look at your stomach," Chet says.

"You're probably right," I admit so I don't have to tell them that there isn't a wound.

"Come on, I'll walk you there," Melody states as she steps forward, grabs my right arm, and pulls me down the path past everyone else.

We continue through the snow, exit the forest, and head around the right side of the main building towards the administrative building.

"I'm sorry, Renton," Melody quietly says.

"For what?" I ask.

"You got hurt...because of me," Melody softly answers.

"No, I got hurt because Tetsuya's shikigami threw a knife into my stomach. Besides, it's not like I'm really injured," I reply and Melody stops walking.

"What are you talking about!? You were stabbed! I can't even imagine how you can say that with the amount of pain you must be in!" Melody exclaims with tears in her eyes.

I check and make sure that the coast is clear before lifting up my shirt, revealing a slightly jagged, eight-centimeter long scar over my left ribs. Melody looks at my stomach in shock before she reaches out with her right hand and touches the fresh scar tissue, causing a shiver to run up my spine. She traces the length of the scar with her finger while I stand there with my shirt up and start to feel self-conscious.

"Melody?" I ask.

Melody steps closer, eliminating the space between us as her hand lingers on my side. She looks up at me with rosy cheeks, her breathing visibly picking up and moistening my chest. Melody tilts her head up at me, her lips parted slightly...expectantly.

(Are you just going to keep dicking around?)

Melanie's right...now that I'm staying, there's no reason not to. As I stare into Melody's vivid green eyes, I slowly bend my head down towards hers. Her eyes widen and I can tell what she's thinking.

"Don't worry, nothing's going to happen," I reassure her while grabbing her right hand with my left. Melody smiles and closes her eyes in response as I restart my trajectory.

"What's going on over here?" Alexa asks with a sly tone, causing Melody to yelp and stumble backwards.

She starts to fall before I reach out and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into me to steady her.

"Getting a little frisky for such a public place, don't you think?" Alexa asks as Jose dispels the shroud that he had over both of them.

"What are you talking about? I was planning on nuding up right here and telling Melody that it was her move," I reply, sounding completely serious as Jose starts laughing.

"So what was your little talk about?" Alexa asks Melody as we all start walking towards the main building.

"I'll tell you later," Melody whispers while positively beaming.

"Mel!" Alexa quietly exclaims in a high-pitched fashion.

"I still have to go see Liza, so I'll see you guys later," I announce as we reach the walkway that leads between the main and administrative buildings.

"Okay, see you later, Renton!" Melody exclaims with a little wave as I turn right towards the admin building.

I enter the building and take a right to the nurse's office before mentally preparing myself for the verbal lashing I'll get when Liza notices the hole in my shirt.

"Liza, I have news," I announce as I walk in.

"Liza?" I ask when I don't see her.

My heart skips a beat when I notice a folded piece of black paper on her desk, engraved with the Syndicate's silver seal.

Renton,

Come to the abandon brewery on the east end of town and come alone.

If you don't, Liza's life is forfeit.

Erin

****

Chapter 15: Erin

The world spins as I sail through the air, the lights on the ceiling blurring past my field of view as I'm slammed on my back and a slender white knee pushes the air out of my lungs.

"You have to watch your center of balance, Renton. Nice work, Erin. You can get off of him now," Vince explains and compliments.

"Do I have to?" the pale girl with her black hair tied into a pony tail asks.

Her cold blue eyes display a glint of happiness as she sports a mischievous smile while watching me struggle to breathe. Spots start to blur my vision as I look at her tight black training shorts and gray tank-top that show her lithe form.

"Let him up," Vince orders.

Erin pushes off of me and stands up as I gasp for air. I spend a few moments catching my breath.

"Let's go again," I say.

"Looking forward to me abusing you again? Are you some kind of perverted masochist? Well, at least you'll die with a smile on your face..." Erin replies with a sly grin.

"No, I just want to get better. I'm not stopping until I beat you," I respond.

"That's good because I won't give you my approval to go out with Melanie until I feel that you can protect her!" Erin exclaims and charges at me.

****

As I run down the streets of Avalon looking for a taxi, I can't help but wonder why Erin is doing this. She must know that none of this is Liza's fault, so why take her?

I guess it comes down to her instincts as an assassin. By taking Liza, she is luring me to a location of her choosing, lessening her tactical disadvantages while increasing mine. This certainly isn't an ideal situation for me, but there's no other alternative at this point.

****

After Erin flips me onto my back for the fifteenth time today, Melanie walks into the gym with a small person attached to her leg wearing a white sun dress that matches Melanie's.

"Jeez Erin, don't rough Wren up too much!" Melanie exclaims while the little girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes hides behind her leg when she notices my attention. Erin gets off of me and gives me a hand up.

"Ridley, say hello," Melanie gently instructs, causing the little girl to shy away further.

"Who is this, Melanie?" I ask in a friendly manner, causing the girl to peek out from behind Melanie's leg for a moment.

"This is your four year old daughter, Ridley. I'm sorry that I haven't told you about her before, but I couldn't figure out how!" Melanie exclaims, looking genuinely sorry in the same manner as someone in a soap opera.

"A daughter!? How could you keep this from me!?" I melodramatically ask and hang over the ropes of the arena.

"And I'm sleeping with your twin," Melanie admits while walking over to the arena, leaving Ridley standing a little distance away, with her back to me.

"Well, at least I know that you still find me attractive," I reply.

"More than you'll ever know," Melanie softly says with a smile while she stands on her tip toes to kiss me.

The moment her lips brush against mine, they go numb from the electricity that passes through them.

"Ahem," Erin coughs, bringing us out of our little moment.

I break away from Melanie and feel my cheeks flush slightly, causing Melanie to giggle.

"Well, since Erin utterly destroyed me during training today, how about I take us all out for ice cream?" I suggest while shaking off the awkward moment.

Ridley turns around at the sound of ice cream and trots over to Melanie's position before reaching up to grab the hem of Melanie's dress.

"Is that alright, Vince?" I ask.

"Yeah, I figure Erin has kicked your ass around enough for today," Vince answers from the corner before walking out of the gym.

"Isn't that nice, Ridley? Wren is taking us out for ice cream," Melanie restates while picking Ridley up and Ridley nods in response.

"Alright, let me go take a quick shower and we'll get going," I announce as I jump down from the arena and head towards the hall that leads to the locker rooms on the back wall.

I head into the locker room, grab my towel, strip down, and head into the shower. I start scrubbing up when I hear the shower three down from me turn on.

"Planning on seducing Lady Ridley with sweets now, are we?" Erin asks.

"No, but I thought she might warm up to me if I got her ice cream," I answer.

"Can you say that again once I find a tape recorder? I figure it would be good to file that away as evidence once you finally buy that windowless van that you've had your eyes on," Erin snidely replies.

"Ha ha," I respond and finish my shower while trying not to think of Erin, who is showering just a few feet away...naked...not that I'd ever be stupid enough to try anything...especially around extremely conductive water.

I finish washing my hair, turn off the shower, and dry off before wrapping my towel around my waist and heading back to the lockers. After putting on my boxers and jeans, I hear the shower turn off. Wet feet slap against tile as Erin walks into the locker room from the shower. Out of my peripheral, I see that Erin has tied her towel in the same fashion as I did: only around her waist. I quickly turn my back to her to avoid any unnecessary confrontation, but the damage has already been done. I feel two soft, warm blobs hit my bare back as a knife is pressed to my throat...heh, how like a testosterone driven male: notices the boobs first and the deadly weapon second.

"You didn't happen to see anything, did you Renton?" Erin asks, deathly serious.

"O-of course not!" I proclaim as I struggle with something else.

For the love of god, stay down boy! This crazy woman is holding what is essentially a miniature guillotine that has your name on it if you pop your head up!

"Are you sure about that, Renton?" Erin sensually whispers into my ear while rubbing her chest against my back.

"Are you sure you didn't see something you liked?" She asks before nibbling my left ear lobe, causing a sharp intake of breath from me while I try to maintain control.

I see a small bolt of lightning out of my left peripheral and the knife suddenly flies out of Erin's hand, nicking my throat on the way.

"I'm glad that I decided to come check and see what was taking you two so long," Melanie announces from the doorway to my left while holding Erin's knife in her right hand.

How did she do that? Did she set up some sort of electromagnetic current? Wait, now is not the time for that.

"M-Melanie!" I exclaim. Does this look as bad as I think it does?

"Lady Melanie! Thank the Goddess that you came when you did! This beast was trying to seduce me!" Erin exclaims, sounding every bit the epitome of innocence.

"Erin?" Melanie asks.

"Yes, Lady Melanie?" Erin replies.

"Stop trying to seduce my boyfriend and get dressed," Melanie orders, making me feel kind of warm and fuzzy.

We had yet to label our relationship, so hearing her call me her boyfriend makes me more than a little happy.

"Yes milady..." Erin responds in a deflated fashion and walks down several rows to her locker.

I start to think that this ordeal is over, but quickly discover that I'm mistaken when Melanie approaches me, the knife poised and ready in her right hand. Melanie steps within stabbing range and I start to feel a little nervous. She steps right up to me and lays her left hand on my bare chest.

"I don't want you to think of me as a tolerant girlfriend, so don't let anything like this happen again. Don't forget to whom you belong," Melanie whispers as her hand gently trails down towards my waist, numbing my skin as she goes. I shiver as Melanie reaches up with both hands and pulls my head down towards hers.

"Now hurry up and get dressed!" Melanie exclaims as she pats the left side of my face, leaving me stunned once again. I feel something around my neck and I look down to find a silver locket hanging from it.

"What's this?" I ask.

"Just think of it like a dog tag," Melanie answers.

I know full well that she's not talking about the kind of dog tags that soldiers wear. I open up the locket and see a picture of Melanie with an inscription on the other side: _Property of Melanie Alphonse._

"By the way, feel free to look at my ass as I walk away. It's having a terrific day," Melanie calls out as she walks towards the door, getting my attention before she jumps and gives me a wonderful view of white lace and taut flesh.

I have to say that I'm inclined to agree with her statement.

****

What in the hell was I just remembering? Now is not the time for those kinds of memories.

It takes me roughly thirty minutes to reach the abandoned brewery after finding a taxi. I pay the driver and exit without a word despite the outrageous price. As the taxi drives off, I consider walking around the perimeter to look for another entrance, but that would be useless against Erin since it's impossible to sneak up on her. A Spark of her caliber can release electrical field bursts every few seconds which will react with any electrical charge from a body in the area and notify her. You just can't sneak up on a Spark like Erin.

****

"The ice cweam was yummy, Mellie!" Ridley exclaims as we leave the ice cream parlor at about 8pm.

"It sure was! Can you thank Wren for it?" Melanie asks.

"Thank you, Wen!" Ridley says with a broad smile at me. This girl is too adorable.

"Lady Melanie, Renton is regarding Lady Ridley with a lustful gaze. May I stab him?" Erin requests.

"No I wasn't!" I exclaim.

"No, you can't," Melanie exasperatedly replies, like a mother tired of listen to her kids fight.

I hear the door of a van roll open ten meters to my left as a meter wide fireball comes flying towards us. I step between it and the girls as I hold my left hand in front of me. I feel the heat of the massive fireball for a split second before my power eliminates it. A glance back tells me that Melanie and Erin have joined hands, and that Ridley is cowering behind them. A large swirling jet stream of fire quickly advances towards me, which means a Windbag must be in the van in addition to the Hothead, or this mage is talented. Wind roars in my ears as flames wrap around me.

"WREN!" Melanie screams before the flames are dispelled.

"I'm alright! They'll run out of mana long before I get tired. You two focus on retaliating!" I yell over my shoulder, against the roar of the inferno.

Melanie nods, closes her eyes, and my skin starts to tingle a few seconds later. I keep up my defense and the inferno stops after about thirty seconds. I look back and see the girls standing chest to chest with their hands clasped together in a 'finger-gun' formation. Melanie and Erin point at the van and let a giant stream of electricity fly. The electricity hits the rear of the van and the van explodes as I try to shield the girls as much as possible. The force of the blast knocks us over and causes my ears to start ringing, but no one seems to have gotten hit by any shrapnel.

"Let's move!" Erin orders.

I scoop Ridley up so Melanie can rest after expelling that much mana and we run towards the diner. Three blocks later, we rush through the door of the diner, head into the back store room, and get dropped into the entrance of Melanie's house.

"Nice job back there, Renton. You really saved our asses," Erin admits as we walk towards the house.

"Well, I couldn't let anything happen to Melanie's ass when it's having such a great day!" I reply and Melanie laughs as she turns towards me.

"How are you doing, Sweetie?" Melanie asks.

"I'm fine, a little tired, but that's mostly from Erin kicking my ass," I answer.

"Not you," Melanie replies.

"I'm okay..." Ridley quietly replies from my arms as my adrenaline dies down enough for me to feel her shaking.

I discreetly shake my head at Melanie to let her know that Ridley isn't okay. Melanie nods at me when she notices Ridley's shaking as well.

"It's okay, Ridley. As long as Erin and Wren are here, nothing bad is going to happen. They'll protect us," Melanie reassures Ridley as she holds Ridley's hand.

****

Wow...remembering that really just sent my demeanor into a tailspin.

I scale the fence that surrounds the building and head up the walkway that leads inside. I walk up the chipped concrete steps and enter the derelict building. The first thing that hits me is the strong sent of stale piss...I wonder if that's old beer or actual urine? I continue down the dank hallway, heading toward the only source of light at the end. The hallway opens up to what must be the brewing floor based on the large, rusted, copper containers with valves and pipes everywhere. Holes in the roof provide light for the room as I see Liza bound to a chair on the opposite wall.

"So, we finally reunite, eh Renton?" Erin announces, somewhat somber in tone as she walks out from behind a brewing vat.

"I guess so," I reply.

"Now, you have to answer for what happened to Melanie. Don't worry, I'll let Liza go once you're dead," Erin informs me.

"Thank you. I suppose it's about time we got started? I have to warn you, I won't be going down easy. There's someone that I can't let down now," I tell her.

"So you were fine with letting Melanie down!?" Erin angrily shouts and a stream of lightning comes sailing out of her.

I hold my left hand in front of me and intercept the lightning, eliminating it as it comes in. Lightning suddenly bounces off the copper vats to my left and right as it's redirected at me. I jump back so the lightning doesn't hit my exposed left and right sides. The lightning readjusts towards me, but now that I'm at a suitable angle, I can effectively neutralize all three currents of electricity as the roar from the electricity becomes deafening.

A throwing knife flies towards my face before I snatch it out of the air with my right hand. I give a quick tug and see that it isn't connected to a metal line. Two more throwing knives come in, which I'm able to deflect with the knife while keeping up my defense. The three currents suddenly die off—Erin must've run out of mana. It would have been smarter to choose someplace with a stronger connection to the mana flows underground so that she could replenish her reserves. I guess she was really counting on me getting hit by the second or third currents.

I look over to where Erin was and see that she's gone... I search around for her for about half a second before feeling the air to my left get disturbed. I step back and reach forward to grab at the shrouded Erin. The moment my left hand comes into contact with her, her shroud dispels, revealing that I have a firm grasp of her right wrist and that she has a knife in her hand. Erin brings her armed left hand around and attempts to stab me again before I drop my knife and snatch her left wrist. She tries to bring her knee into my groin, but I intercept it with my left thigh; that'll leave a bruise. Erin tries to kick at my legs and I counter by quickly spinning around her, taking the majority of the force out of her kick. The fact that she hasn't tried to break my grip on her wrists by simply rotating her hands around mine and following up with a stab tells me that she doesn't really want to kill me.

"Why are you doing this, Erin!? I thought we were friends!" I exclaim while tilting my head to the side to avoid Erin's head-butt to my nose.

"WE WERE FRIENDS! Until Melanie died...I trusted her safety to you and you betrayed me! And then you abandoned me, just like everybody else! I refuse to let Ridley die too! Even if it means killing you!" Erin screams as she renews her determination and rotates her hands around my forearms, breaking my grip as she follows up by jabbing her knives toward my stomach.

"Wait, what are you talking about!?" I ask as I jump back to avoid getting stabbed.

"The blood mages took Ridley! I either kill or capture you and take you back to them, or they kill her!" Erin exclaims while following up with multiple slashes. I slide back and spin to the left and right to dodge her attacks.

"Then what are we doing fighting!?" I angrily inquire. "Let's go rescue Ridley!"

"Don't you think I've thought of that!? There's no other way out of this! Either you die...or she does..." Erin says while pressing her attack.

Her cold blue eyes glaze over as she slips away, allowing her instincts as an assassin to fight for her—splitting her mind and emotions off from the task at hand. Those damn blood mages! I'll destroy them for this...for putting Erin in this situation...for threatening Ridley! But for now...

"Well, if that's the way it's got to be," I reply and stop moving.

I barely keep myself from screaming out in pain as Erin's blades pierce my abdomen.

"Renton..." Erin whispers as she looks at the daggers in her hands, which are now hilt-deep in my stomach.

"Take me to them. I'll save Ridley...even if it kills me," I gasp out as my stomach feels like it's been set on fire.

"Dammit...why can't you just let me hate you and blame you for Melanie's death?" Erin quietly asks.

"Because I already blame myself enough for the both of us," I answer with a sad smile.

"Augh!" I groan as Erin pulls the blades out.

"Hold on, I'll go get Liza," Erin says and starts to rush over to Liza while my stomach starts itching.

"I'll be fine," I reply.

"You're delusional from pain," Erin responds and rushes over to cut Liza free.

"Erin, look," I tell her while exposing my healing stomach as she slices through the ropes binding Liza.

Erin turns towards me and cocks her head in confusion at my skin slowly stitching itself back together.

"But...you can't use mana," Erin states.

"Yeah, some things have happened to me since I've been gone. Now, where are they keeping Ridley?" I inquire.

"She's being held on an estate in Crowley City by three blood mages," Erin answers.

Of course it's in Crowley City...looks like I'm heading back to where this all started.

...

Chapter 16: Fractured

"Renton, are you okay?" Melody asks over the phone.

After Erin informed me that she wasn't under surveillance, we all went back to the house in the car that Erin had stolen. *Ahem* I mean, _"borrowed,"_ as Erin put it. Last I checked, Erin was taking a shower and Liza was resting in her room.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answer while standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and staring out the window over the sink.

"Alright...you just kind of disappeared...I was worried," Melody quietly says.

"Sorry about that. Liza and I went out for lunch to celebrate the fact that we're staying. So what's going on with the trip to Springfield?" I inquire.

"We were planning on leaving tomorrow morning. It's about a six hour drive and the Escalade has third row seating so we should all fit," Melody explains.

"I think I'll just meet you guys down there," I reply.

"What? Why?" Melody asks, sounding a mixture of concerned and disappointed.

"Riding in a vehicle that high off of the ground tends to make me nauseous," I quickly answer. Not a bad excuse if I say so myself.

"Oh...alright. The cabin is at 336 West Meridian Lane," Melody replies.

"Thanks. I'll see you guys down there, but I may be a bit late," I tell her.

"Okay...just give us a call with where you are every once in a while," Melody says, bringing a smile to my face.

"Sure, I'll—" I start to say.

"Wrenny-pooh! Who're you talking to!?" Erin loudly exclaims in my ear while draping herself over my shoulders.

"Renton? Who was that!?" Melody asks.

"Uh, gotta go!" I reply and hang up.

(Yeah, that was completely unsuspicious)

"I panicked!"

"Erin, did you really have to do that?" I question, exasperated.

"Yes," Erin tersely replies and walks out of the kitchen.

Her lack of follow-up tells me that something is wrong. I walk into the living room and plop down next to Erin on the couch. I sit there silently, waiting for Erin to tell me what's bothering her like she is one to do, but she doesn't speak up.

"So what's wrong?" I finally ask.

"I never imagined that you would've have gotten a new girlfriend already," Erin pointedly replies and turns towards me.

"Is she the one that you can't let down? Do you even think about Melanie anymore!? Or has she just been replaced by this new girl!? You son of a—" Erin angrily asks with her volume steadily increasing.

As she's gearing up for another round, I reach underneath the collar of my shirt and lift the locket up out of it. Erin's mouth hangs open as she recognizes the locket.

"Is that?" Erin asks.

"Yeah...I haven't been able to take it off. Even though there are times when this locket is a crushing weight upon my chest that chokes me, I can't seem to take it off...not a day goes by that I don't think of Melanie—that I don't hear her voice or see her in my dreams. Sometimes I'm convinced that I've lost it, but the one time that her voice asked if it would be better if she went away, it felt like my world was shattering...Maybe the truth is that keeping this little part of her alive in me is the only thing that's keeping me sane..." I trail off.

(Wren...)

"What you said back at the brewery—about how you blame yourself enough for the both of us—I thought that was impossible. It's becoming clearer to me the longer I'm near you. You aren't the same person anymore...you're broken...fractured," Erin quietly says.

"You might be right...come on. We need to get going if we're going to save Ridley tonight," I reply.

"Yeah...so how do you want to handle this?" Erin inquires.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, we can either go in, hands ablaze, or I can call them and say that I've captured you. They'll most likely charter us a flight to Crowley City if we go about it that way," Erin answers.

"Hmm...let's go with option number two. Give them a call and propose a trade: me for Ridley," I reply.

"But then you'll be the one needing to be rescued, Renton," Erin says.

"This is the safest way for Ridley. You'll take her and leave while I clean up," I tell her.

"Renton, this is insane. You're going to get yourself killed," Erin replies.

"When I said that I'd get Ridley back even if it killed me, I wasn't joking. Besides, have you forgotten that I've already killed two blood mages? What's a few more?" I rhetorically ask and Erin stares at me for several moments.

"Alright...I'll go give them a call," Erin responds and heads upstairs, passing by Liza.

"Renton, what's going on?" Liza questions with concern.

"I'm going with Erin to Crowley City to rescue Ridley," I answer.

"Ridley? Melanie's little sister?" Liza asks.

"Yeah. She's being held by the blood mages as incentive to hunt me," I reply.

"Wait, blood mage _s_? As in plural!? Renton, you nearly died last night!" Liza exclaims.

"I know that you're worried, but I have to do this, Liza...I owe this to them...for what I failed to do before," I say.

"Renton..." Liza replies, looking torn.

"You know that I have to do this, Liza. I'm the only one who _can_ do this. And besides, I'm going to be doing a lot more of this soon anyway," I tell her.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Liza asks.

"Oh right, I haven't told you yet...well, we're going to be staying in Avalon. I sort of agreed to be Melody's bodyguard because apparently her power is essential for a plan that the blood mages have concocted that has something to do with portals...so I'm basically going to be fighting more blood mages in the future anyway," I answer.

"Renton...does this have anything to do with her resemblance to—" Liza starts to ask.

"Alright, they'll have a jet ready at a nearby airfield to transport us to Crowley City in about an hour," Erin reports as she comes down the stairs.

"I suppose I'd better go pack," I announce.

"Pack?" Erin asks.

"I'm going to be spending my vacation with my friends in Springfield once we're done," I reply with a smile.

"Oh, good thinking. We'll need someplace to lie low with Ridley for a couple of days," Erin says and my smile falls away.

I can already tell that this is going to be trouble.

I head upstairs and pack a few changes of clothes into a suitcase. I consider changing clothes, but decide that my bloodstained uniform will probably be more convincing for the part I'm playing. After dragging my suitcase downstairs, Erin approaches me, holding a pair of fuzzy, pink, leopard-print handcuffs.

"Why do you have fuzzy handcuffs?" I ask.

"Why don't you?" Erin replies.

"I meant, why are you holding fuzzy handcuffs," I rephrase

"Well, you are supposed to be my captive, aren't you?" Erin rhetorically asks.

"I suppose you're right," I reply as I see this in a new light

Erin was even kind enough to get the fuzzy ones so I'd be more comfortable.

"Thanks," I say.

"For what?" Erin inquires.

"For going with the fuzzy handcuffs so they wouldn't cut into my wrists," I answer.

"Right...that's why I went with the fuzzy ones...and not because I'd happened to have these on hand..." Erin replies, killing my positive view of the situation.

"So are you ready to go?" Erin asks.

I nod in response and head for the door.

"Be safe, Renton. We can talk more when you get back," Liza says as she gives me a hug, worry plaguing itself across her face.

"I will," I lie.

There really isn't any way to be safe with a plan like this one. Erin and I head out to the car that she _borrowed_ , and I toss my bag in the trunk next to Erin's. I start to get into the passenger seat before Erin stops me.

"Aren't you forgetting something? We're going straight to the airfield so you need to get into character," Erin informs me with a mischievous grin as she moves behind me and clicks the handcuffs onto my right wrist before tightening them around my left.

"I'll slip you the key during the trade off," Erin says.

"No, it's too risky. Don't worry about it, I've got a plan," I reply as I think of how I sublimed the pipe and the knife.

"If you're sure..." Erin responds with uncertainty and opens the passenger door for me.

I sit down and shuffle into the front seat before Erin buckles me in. We're going to be driving in a _borrowed_ car, and she's worried about violating seat belt laws? Erin gets in the car, starts it with a zap to the ignition, and we're off to the airfield. So I guess that means that cars in this world still use electrical starters. The ride to the airfield outside of town is silent for the first twenty minutes.

"To sell our story, I'm probably going to have to get a little rough with you...hehe...Just know that I'm not going to enjoy it in any way...hehehe!" Erin giggles with a smile on her face.

"Couldn't even keep it together long enough to lie..." I quietly respond while shaking my head.

Fifteen minutes later, Erin pulls into the airfield and stops the car next to a black SUV that is about fifty meters away from a small jet. Two burly men in black turtleneck sweaters and cargo pants exit the SUV as Erin gets out of the car.

"Can you guys grab my bag out of the trunk?" Erin requests as she opens up the passenger door.

"Come on! Get your ass out of the car!" Erin orders.

"AH!" I shout as she zaps me and yanks me out of the car.

I fall to the ground on my right shoulder with my hands cuffed behind my back and Erin roughly pulls me to my feet.

"Why are there two suitcases?" one of the men asks from behind the car.

"He had that with him when I grabbed him. Apparently he was planning on going somewhere. I was thinking of keeping it as a trophy," Erin replies.

The man shrugs and grabs both of the suitcases out of the trunk before slamming it shut.

"Get moving!" Erin orders and zaps me again while her expression tells me that she's really enjoying this.

I reluctantly shuffle towards the jet while the man that isn't carrying the luggage keeps an eye on me. Erin pushes me towards the stairs and I walk up the six steps to enter the jet. Erin pushes me down into a plush leather chair and sits beside me. We sit there in silence for thirty minutes before the plane takes off and then for another hour of the flight before one of the men speaks up.

"When we land, we'll be heading to the facility immediately. Once there, the girl will be released and this one will be handed over to us. Plain and simple," the man says and Erin nods as the plane lands.

Fifteen minutes later, Erin pushes me into the back seat of an awaiting black SUV at Crowley International Airport while the two men get into the front seats. We drive through a gate with a booth that is manned by two TSA agents before getting on the main road, followed by the freeway. After driving on the freeway for about forty-five minutes, things start looking familiar through the heavily tinted windows. Recognition hits me and my heart rate speeds up as we get onto the off-ramp. No...we can't be headed there...As we turn right down a road towards our destination, my eyes go wide and I start shaking uncontrollably. Erin glances over at me, but makes no other action towards me to keep up appearances. As we turn down the driveway that leads to the mansion that is missing two gargoyle statues from its roof, I realize that I can no longer breathe.

I never thought I'd return to the place where Melanie died...

Chapter 17: Rescue Me

(Wren! You still have a job to do and you can't afford to lose focus now!)

Melanie's shouting snaps me out of it. She's right, of course. If I'm going to save Ridley and kill three blood mages, I'll need to be at the top of my game. The car pulls to a stop as I see four people standing in the driveway, twenty meters away. Three are normal sized, but one is of a more pint-sized variety.

"Ridley," Erin whispers as she opens the door of the SUV.

Erin pulls me out of the car and stands me across from the blood mages and their hostage. The blood mages all have dark eyes, black hair, and are dressed in high-end threads, which seem to be the norm. Ridley is wearing an old-fashioned dress that looks unnatural on her, but something about her pains me to see and makes me furious at the same time: Ridley's eyes have a distance to them that no four year old should have.

"So you finally brought Mr. Riley to us!" the blood mage in the center exclaims while stepping forward.

"Release Ridley!" Erin demands.

"Very well. We shall skip the pleasantries and get straight to business. We shall make the exchange at the same time. The girl will go to you while Mr. Riley comes to us," the blood mage says with a smile and a gleam in his eyes.

"Get moving!" Erin orders and zaps me.

I start walking forward as the blood mage taps Ridley's shoulder and she starts heading towards me. Her eyes are glazed over and she's completely unresponsive as she walks.

"Ridley," I call out when she's about three meters from me, but she doesn't respond.

"Oh, by the way, don't even think of trying what you had planned. As a little _insurance_ _policy_ , I injected my blood into the girl. If this ends up being a trick in any way, I'll lyse all of the girl's cells, turning her into a fine red mist, Mr. Riley!" the blood mage calls out.

My mind flashes to Melanie's death and I start shaking. I clearly picture Ridley's face before it turns into a puff of red mist while I stand there unable to do anything.

No...Ridley is not going out like Melanie...I won't allow it. My left hand feels like it's on fire as I feel the handcuffs around my wrists lose substance.

"You bastards...you think you own this world and everyone in it...you think you can do anything without consequence...LET ME SHOW YOU THE ERROR IN YOUR THINKING! ERIN!" I shout.

I scoop Ridley up, keeping my left hand in contact with her body so that the blood mage can't do anything. Erin picks up on my plan and flings a knife at the lead blood mage, catching him by surprise as the knife buries itself between his eyes.

I turn around and see Erin get punched in the face. She spins to avoid the majority of the force while bringing two blades out of her clothes and recovering. Erin brings her left blade through the nearest guard's throat before dodging another attack from the other guard and slicing through his throat as well. With both of the guards' tracheas severed, they're prevented from using any healing spells via incantation and are essentially dead. Erin's speed never ceases to amaze me considering that she took out two giants of men in less than five seconds.

As I turn back around, I see that the blood mages have made a tactical retreat and one has some kind of tube pressed to his lips. Is that a blowgun? He aims to my right and I realize that he's aiming at Erin. I turn and jump in front of Erin before a red pellet hits my back and bursts. Using a blowgun to launch accurate, long range attacks using his blood instead of flinging his arm and hoping for the best is pretty ingenious. The second blood mage slices into his hand using the ring on his finger that is similar to the one Damien had and pours his blood onto the ground around his feet while the other blood mage spits more pellets.

After realizing that the pellets that have burst on me aren't having any effect, he starts spitting at the ground around me. Since I don't like where this is headed, I turn and run. An explosive force nearly knocks me off of my feet, but I remain upright and run with Ridley in my arms towards the nearby forest. Erin starts running with me and we make a tactical retreat with the explosions chasing us while I try to remain between her and the blood mage. With the SUV being closer, I consider taking cover behind that, but I ultimately decide against it. As we reach the tree line, I hear the SUV explode behind me while a piece of shrapnel cuts into my right shoulder, but I keep going to put some cover between us and the blood mages before kneeling behind a tree.

"Wen?" Ridley asks as if coming out of a daze.

"Are you two okay?" I inquire while looking Ridley over for shrapnel-related injuries, finding none.

I reach back and feel a piece of metal sticking out of my right shoulder, so I yank it out, wincing as I do so.

"I'm alright, is Ridley hurt?" Erin inquires and I shake my head.

"Erin, take Ridley and get out of here," I order.

"What are you going to do?" Erin questions.

"I'm going to stay and finish this," I answer as I stand up and hear more explosions near the tree line.

"Renton, don't be stupid! Let's get out of here before they come after us!" Erin exclaims.

"The blood mages are going to be coming after us regardless, but if I take care of these two, it should delay their pursuit. Hurry up and get going," I reply.

"Renton..." Erin softly says.

"Wen?" Ridley asks with tears in her eyes.

"I'll see you soon," I tell Ridley with a smile while patting her head before taking off towards the explosions.

I sprint around the trees and break through the edge of the forest as the explosions stop.

"Finally decided to come face us, eh? Had I thought you were running, I would have come after you, but I knew that you weren't thanks to the blood splattered on you," the blood mage with the blowgun shouts, but I'm too distracted by the robot to his right.

Standing next to him is a five meter tall humanoid, wearing black car doors like shoulder pauldrons and greaves over its thighs. It appears that the black roof of a car is covering its chest and its arms seem to be composed of axels wrapped around rock. The head seems to be rock with sheets of metal wrapped around it.

"Quite impressive, isn't it? Jack's ability to wrap himself in minerals is unparalleled," the blood mage calls out as I look back and realizes that the remains of the SUV are mostly missing.

"Yes, but can he keep up with all of that weight around him?" I ask and charge towards them.

The answer to my question ends up being 'pretty damn well,' as Jack the giant...oh, that's clever...did he specifically develop this ability because of his name?

Jack and his golem-like form shake the ground beneath my feet as he runs towards me. Hmm...that gives me an idea...

I sprint forward and meet the massive golem as he swings both fists down at me. I dive out of the way, but the force of the blow stalls my recovery as I come out of my dive. My feet are unsteady beneath me as I rise up, only to have to dive out of the way again as Jack tries to get me with a backhanded swing. I think it's time to go on the offensive.

Since Jack is basically entombed in a golem that he controls with mana, why don't I turn it into an actual tomb? Jack slams his giant fist into the ground again, but instead of diving out of the way, this time I just step to the side. I'm able to slap his arm with my left hand as the force of the blow knocks me off of my feet.

As I stand up, I look over expecting to see a pile of rubble. I do see a pile of rubble, but only the amount of a single arm instead of a whole golem. Why didn't the whole thing fall apart like the others?

(My guess is that he used multiple connections to setup his armor using his blood. Since each of his blood-initiated connections are acting as conduits for mana, you won't be able to crumble the whole thing by destroying one conduit with your hand)

Looks like I have my work cut out for me. I charge at Jack as the arm starts reforming from the pile of rubble—now that's just cheating! Oh well, it's not like he'll recover quickly enough before I take out another one of his limbs.

My feet suddenly lose contact with the ground as I go sailing through the air while noticing a ringing in my ears. I hear a crack come from my chest as the air is forced out of my lungs by Jack's remaining stone fist that changes my direction. My body hits the ground as blood flies from my mouth.

"Did you forget that there are two of us!?" the other blood mage asks as I'm finding it difficult to breathe and pain courses through my entire body.

"Looks like he's down for the count," a deep voice emanates from the golem as it's in the process of reforming the arm that recently hit me, now that the other one is complete.

"Good. Keep an eye on him while I go eliminate the other two," the blood mage says and runs towards the forest.

No. You have to protect Erin and Ridley. This place will not be the grave of those two! You have to move, Renton. Move...move...MOVE DAMMIT!

My body seems to hum as energy floods through it and my pain disappears.

(I'm not sure how long this will keep you together so you'll have to hurry)

I hop to my feet and sprint towards Jack. I run circles around him, slapping my left hand against a dozen different spots before he can retaliate.

"AUGH!" Jack screams as the golem collapses around him. Only one left.

I hear an explosion off in the distance as a bolt of lightning flies up out of the trees. I run as fast as my body can carry me towards Erin and Ridley, knowing that every second spent engaging a blood mage is a second closer to their last. Dammit! Why can't I go any faster!?

"No! Please! Don't hurt her!" I hear Erin beg in the distance. "You can kill me, just please don't hurt Ridley!"

NO...I WON'T FAIL, DAMMIT! NOT AGAIN!

Pain sears every fiber of my being as the trees begin to blur past me. I try to keep my mind focused on getting to Erin and Ridley, but the pain is clouding everything. I hit a tree, but feel no impact and seem to go through it, continuing forward without slowing.

"Oh, don't worry. I will kill you. However, first I'm going to enjoy that helpless look on your face as I kill the girl!" the blood mage exclaims as I come to a stop behind him.

Over his shoulder, I see Erin holding Ridley tightly with tears in her eyes as Ridley has a shocked expression and blood on her face. The blood mage raises his hand to snap his fingers as Erin winces and squeezes Ridley while I set my left hand on the blood mage's shoulder. He snaps his fingers, causing Erin to gasp and tense up with her eyes clenched shut. The blood mage freezes up and slowly turns towards me.

"But how!?" the blood mage asks in shock as I tighten my left hand on his shoulder.

"AUGH!" the blood mages screams as his collar bone breaks before I bring my right fist into his face.

I follow the blood mage to the ground and continue wailing on his head while holding him with my left hand to prevent him from using any magic. Blood starts to splatter onto my face as his head becomes more pulp-like.

"I said that I'd show you the error in your thinking...so what did you learn?" I quietly ask as I take his head in both of my hands.

I quickly twist and pull, rending the blood mage's head from his neck. His blood pours out onto the forest floor as I slowly stand up and stumble over to Erin, who is covering Ridley's eyes with her hand.

"Are you two...okay?" I inquire as I find that I can't seem to catch my breath.

All of my pain comes rushing back and I fall to my knees. I cough and blood comes flying out of my mouth as Erin and Ridley double. My vision darkens rapidly as I fall face first onto the pine-covered forest floor.

"Renton!" I hear Erin scream before everything fades away.

...

Chapter 18: Some Vacation

I awaken in a bed to a warm body snuggled up against mine. I open my eyes to find Ridley lying on top of the sheets, nestled against my right side and sleeping peacefully. It takes me a few seconds of wakefulness to realize that I'm naked except for my boxers beneath the sheets. Well, it looks like I succeeded...I reach over and brush a strand of hair out of Ridley's face and she turns her head away from my hand. I'm glad that I was at least able to save the little sister...

"If you keep looking at Ridley with that lustful gaze, I will have to hurt you," Erin lightheartedly announces from a green velvet chair to my left.

"Hey Erin. Where are we?" I ask as I look around at the 70's style décor and what appears to be a bathroom through the door to the right of the bed.

"At a motel. After you passed out, I carried you back to the house, found a car in the garage, and drove us out of Crowley City. We passed by a small motel so I pulled over, and got us a room," Erin explains and I tense up.

"Erin, where's that car now?" I urgently inquire.

"At the bottom of a lake about six kilometers from here. After I carried you into the room, which I paid for with cash, I left Ridley here with you and went to take care of the car in case it was being tracked. I didn't want to leave you and Ridley here alone, but I decided that the car being tracked was a more imminent threat," Erin answers.

"I've been meaning to ask this, but why don't you call her Lady Ridley anymore?" I question and Erin looks away from me.

"...I've been excommunicated from the Syndicate, Renton," Erin quietly says. So that's what she meant when she was talking about everyone abandoning her.

"How long have I been out?" I ask, changing the subject.

"About sixteen hours, it's half past eleven," Erin replies with a slight waver in her voice.

"Sorry for making you worry," I say with a half-smile.

"The only thing I worried about was how I was supposed to dispose of your body if you died," Erin replies as she turns away from me.

"Of course. I'm going to go get cleaned up. You should get some rest," I tell her as I slowly get out of bed, partially so I don't wake Ridley up and partially because that's as fast as I can go with my body groaning in protest.

"I'll wait until you get done with your shower before sleeping," Erin says as I head into the bathroom.

"Your choice," I reply and shut the bathroom door.

I carefully step out of my boxers, climb into the shower, and turn the water on. The warm water helps relax my muscles and washes away the minor aches. I find that I don't have any stinging sensations anywhere on my body—all of my cuts must be healed. I let the water buffet my chest for a while to try and get rid of some of the soreness, but it doesn't really work so I finally get out and dry off when I realize that I didn't grab any clothes.

"Hey Erin, could you grab me some clothes?" I request after cracking the door open, but there's no response.

I tense my body as I crack the door open a little more, only to find her passed out in the chair. I wrap a towel around my waist, exit the bathroom, and look around the room for my bag, but I can't find it. Where did I last see them? I remember that both of the bags were loaded into the SUV...the one that exploded...

Well, there's not much I can do about it now. So what's the game plan? I guess Erin will have to 'borrow' another car and run to get me some clothes before we do anything else. And then what?

I spot my bloody uniform on top of the dresser and realize that Erin must've undressed me so I wouldn't stain the bed. I fish into my pants pocket to grab my phone; miraculously, it's still intact. I open up the text messages and send one to Jose.

Hey, are you guys at the cabin yet?

I press send and turn my phone on silent before receiving a text a second later.

Ya we got here about 30min ago. Where r u?

Listen, I need you to borrow the car and come pick me up. Also, ask Tetsuya if I can borrow a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I'll explain everything later, but don't let the girls know.

Alright, where u at?

I search around the room for the name of the motel and find the address of it on a small magnet on the mini fridge.

A Motel 5 off Route 186 out of Crowley City. Thanks man.

I can practically feel Jose's smirk from here after sending the text. I pick Erin up from the chair and lay her down next to Ridley in the bed before taking her spot. She must be exhausted if she didn't wake up from that.

(That's because she used a great deal of mana casting healing spells on you)

"I'll have to remember to thank her later."

The green velvet of the chair grosses me out, causing me to lean forward so my bare back doesn't have to touch it as I wait. Since Springfield is a little less than an hour away from Crowley City and we're already a quarter of the way there, then Jose should be here in about thirty minutes. I decide to go into the bathroom and wash my boxers in the sink as best as I can using water and hand soap before just sitting and waiting quietly while Erin and Ridley sleep. An hour later, I finally get a call from Jose so my estimate was obviously wrong.

"Hey, I just pulled into the parking lot. Where are you?" Jose asks.

I stand, walk over to the door, and open it to see what room we're in.

"Pull around to room number six," I tell him.

"Heh...alright, see you in a sec," Jose replies and hangs up.

Jose pulls up in a white Cadillac Escalade and walks up to the door with a bundle of clothes under his arm.

"So do you mind telling me what's going on now?" Jose asks.

"Shh," I reply and open the door for him.

Jose enters the room as I shut the door behind him. He looks over at the two girls sleeping on the bed, and then over at my state of undress, back at the girls, and back at me.

"Dude, if you were going to Crowley City to pick up some hookers, you should have invited me! Although the little one looks pretty young. You did card her, right?" Jose asks in a hushed tone.

"Ha ha," I reply.

"So who are they?" Jose asks.

"They're...uh...my daughter and my baby's momma?" I answer, sounding a lot more like a question than a statement.

"If you can't tell me, you don't have to, but what have you gotten me into if your lie assumes that you had a kid at fourteen?" Jose inquires.

"Yeah, sorry, but I didn't really have anywhere else to turn..." I reply.

"Alright, well go get dressed," Jose says while handing me the clothes.

I nod and head into the bathroom to put the clothes on. Tetsuya's jeans and light blue t-shirt with a gray robot on it are a bit tight (I'm only able to get three out of four buttons on the fly) but at least it doesn't look like I'm wearing capris and a belly shirt. I exit the room to find Jose standing over Erin with his left hand reaching towards her chest while his right hand is gripping his wrist and pulling it back towards him. It looks like he's having a real internal conflict over there.

"Ahem," I say.

Jose jumps back and laughs nervously in response. I walk over to Erin and gently shake her shoulder.

"Wake up, Erin. We have to leave," I softly say. Erin's eyes snap open and she tenses up.

"Relax. That's Jose, my friend from school," I inform her and she relaxes slightly.

"He's our ride to the cabin in Springfield where I'm meeting up with my other friends from school," I add.

Erin looks warily at Jose for a few moments before turning to Ridley. Erin slides out of bed, walks around to the other side, grabs Ridley's shoes from the bedside table and crams them on Ridley's feet before picking her up.

"Let's get going," Erin quietly says.

"Alright. Let me just grab my clothes from last night," I reply.

"If you have clothes then why didn't you just wea—oh," Jose says as he sees the clothes on the dresser.

"Yeah, these are going to need to be burned...hey Erin? Do you suppose that they could track us using the blood on these clothes?" I propose while grabbing the clothes and watch as Erin's face falls.

"Ok Jose, we need to leave, like now," I respond while slipping my shoes on.

We head out to the car in a mild hurry so as to not look more suspicious. Erin climbs into the back seat with Ridley while I sit shotgun.

"Start driving towards Crowley City," I tell him.

"Why?" Erin asks.

"Because if we head in the direction of Crowley city and toss the clothes out of the window, they'll think we're still in the city," I reply.

"Uh, guys? Who's they?" Jose inquires and I freeze up.

"Blood mages. Did Renton not explain things to you?" Erin answers.

"Dude...what did you get me in to?" Jose asks while resting his head on the steering wheel.

"Don't worry; I'm sure everything will work out fine!" I exclaim. "But we should still get going."

"Renton, the blood mages are most likely going to know that we're headed in this direction because their car is in a lake near here," Erin mentions.

"Good point...I guess I'll just toss it out on the way then," I reply.

"Shouldn't we burn the clothes so they can't be traced back to Graythorn?" Jose suggests.

"That's a good idea. Jose, can you do the honors?" I ask while dumping the clothes onto the pavement.

Jose opens the center console and pulls out with a piece of paper and a pen before joining me outside of the car. He writes a symbol that I recognize from class as the sigil for fire and adds another symbol around it before setting it in the jacket, underneath the Graythorn patch.

"What's that?" I inquire after Jose primes the sigil.

"It's a timer that will activate the sigil and burn the clothes in one minute so let's go!" Jose quickly replies while getting back in the car before I follow suit. I'm rather impressed since Jose must've read ahead to know how to do that and I didn't peg him for the type that's diligent in his studies.

Jose starts the car and we drive off. The next forty minutes are fairly silent until we reach Springfield. Jose turns down a back road and we go for ten minutes without seeing another car before we finally pull to a stop in front of the 'cabin,' which is two stories and about the size of my house. We exit the car and I go to the back seat to lift Ridley up and carry her towards the house.

"Hey Erin, there's something I haven't told you. Melody looks a lot like—" I whisper to her as we approach the house, realizing that I really should have done this like ten minutes ago.

"Renton!" Melody exclaims from the front porch.

Erin turns to look at Melody and her eyes go wide in shock. I look over at Melody and see that she's wearing jeans and a nice white blouse, along with a confused expression on her face before Alexa comes out of the house.

"Renton, who is that?" Alexa questions as she looks at me.

"That's Renton's daughter and the girl's mother," Jose answers for me.

"WHAT!?" Melody shrieks, waking Ridley up.

"Wen?" Ridley asks while rubbing her eye before she looks around.

"MELLIE!" Ridley screams when she sees Melody and jumps out of my arms.

Ridley runs over to Melody and hugs her leg while Melody just looks down at her in confusion.

"Let's all go inside," I suggest.

We all start to shuffle inside while Ridley continues to cling onto Melody's leg. We walk through the door and into a living room to the right where Melody takes a seat on the couch and Ridley stares at her until Melody picks her up and sits her on the couch while everyone else finds a seat around the room, Tetsuya and Lily having joined us. Everyone looks to me and waits for me to explain the situation.

"Everyone, this is Erin and Ridley," I say while gesturing to each of them as I say their names before realizing that since everyone except Melody isn't up to speed on my situation, telling the truth isn't going to work right now...

"And, as Jose has already said, Ridley is my four year old," I announce, hoping that Ridley doesn't say anything as everyone becomes dumbstruck.

"Ridley, I need to talk to Mellie outside for a while and I need you to stay here," I tell her and Ridley's happy face falls.

"Okay, Wen..." Ridley quietly agrees.

Melody stands up and follows me outside while everyone is still in shock.

"Renton, what's going on?" Melody asks once we're outside.

"Ridley isn't really my daughter and I've never been involved with Erin," I quietly admit.

"Then who are they?" Melody questions.

"Erin is an assassin from the Syndicate...former assassin, apparently. She's an old friend that kidnapped Liza and tried to kill me yesterday; that's the real reason I left school," I tell her and Melody's eyes go wide.

"She tried to kill me because the blood mages had ordered her to after kidnapping Ridley to give her some incentive," I explain.

"So Ridley is Erin's daughter?" Melody asks.

"No...she's Melanie's little sister..." I quietly answer.

"So...the reason she's calling me Mellie..." Melody softly says.

"Is because you bear a passing resemblance to Melanie...enough for me to mistake you for her after just waking up when we first met, and enough for a four year old's mind to misinterpret," I lie and Melody stays quiet for a few moments.

"Renton...I want you to be honest with me...is that the reason you like me?" Melody timidly asks.

"What? No, you only looked like her immediately after I woke up!" I lie again and Melody lets out a breath of relief.

"So what happened?" Melody inquires.

"Erin called the blood mages and said that she'd captured me. They sent us a plane and we flew to Crowley City before being driven to the place where they were keeping Ridley. The plan was for Erin to trade me for Ridley, but the blood mages somehow knew about it and...oh shit," I say and rush into the house as my mind flashes with the answer: they bugged her cellphone. While it may not be common technology in this world, that doesn't mean that no one has come up with it. They might even be tracking it through GPS.

"Renton? What's wrong?" Melody asks as she follows me into the living room.

"Erin, how did they know about our plan?" I quickly inquire.

"What?" Erin replies.

"How did the blood mages know that we'd planned to cross them!?" I frantically ask.

"I don't know..." Erin thoughtfully responds before her eyes go wide.

"Renton, we've got around three dozen people coming towards our position on foot," Erin reports.

"How much time do we have?" I question.

"Less than five minutes at the rate that they're moving," Erin answers.

"Everyone, grab your stuff and get to the car. Erin, ditch your phone; it may be how they're tracking us," I order.

"Tetsuya, I don't suppose you have your paper shikigami with you?" I ask and Tetsuya shakes his head. Damn, those would have helped if we end up having to fight.

"Renton, what's going on!?" Melody asks as everyone grabs their bags, which are conveniently in the room; I guess they were waiting for me to decide sleeping arrangements.

"We accidentally dragged you into a fight with the blood mages so we need to leave immediately," I quickly explain and everyone follows me outside.

"Erin's driving," I tell them as I climb onto the roof of the Escalade.

"Renton, what are you doing!?" Melody asks.

"Not now, Melody. Just get in the car," I try to gently reply while still sounding urgent.

Melody gives me a concerned look before reluctantly getting into the car while everyone else piles in. Erin starts the car and I hold onto the railing that runs across the roof as she quickly backs up. After turning the car around, she starts speeding down the back road away from the house. A bolt of lightning comes flying towards us before I reach down the side of the car and put my left hand in front of the bolt. After the bolt is neutralized, I see a fireball coming in from the right. I dive across the roof, throwing myself in front of the fireball as I hang off the side from my right arm.

"Renton!" Melody exclaims as the fireball is neutralized by my left hand.

"Erin! Whatever happens, don't stop this car!" I shout while attempting to pull myself back onto the roof.

It becomes apparent that I haven't fully healed as I finally get back onto the roof, but it's not like I can do anything about it now that they've found us. I look forward and see a man step into the road. Erin swerves to avoid him, knocking me off balance in the process. I steady myself with my left hand as a gust of wind comes from the man and sends me flying before I can neutralize it. As I find myself airborne at a speed of about sixty kilometers per hour, all I can think of is that landing is not going to be fun. I hit the ground on my right arm and hear it crack as I bounce off of the payment and roll to a stop.

"Renton!" I hear Melody scream as her voice travels away from me.

At least she'll be safe...I drag myself to my feet as another gust comes in, propelling a knife. I neutralize the gust before the knife sinks through my left hand.

"Augh!" I grunt before the Windbag comes in and brings his knee into my stomach.

I'm knocked onto my ass as the other mages close in on my position. The Windbag follows up by bringing a steel-toed boot into the side of my face, causing me to roll several times. As I lay on my back, staring up at the sky while straining to breathe, I realize that I've finally gotten myself into a situation where I'm over my head. Injured and fighting off over thirty mages alone? Yeah, that's practically the definition of a bad idea.

The sunlight shining down on me is suddenly blotted out by the figure of a woman. I think I'm seeing the figure of the Goddess for a split second before my eyes readjust and I make out Melody's features. How did she get here? If she tucked and rolled out of the SUV, how is her blouse not dirty?

"Renton..." Melody says with her voice cracking.

"New objective: capture the girl," I overhear a mage order.

Capture the girl? Like hell they are! They're taking Melody over my dead body and nothing less!

I rise unsteadily to my feet, ignoring the shards of pain in my chest that tell me to stop as the mages surround us.

"Renton! Don't move! You're hurt!" Melody begs with tears in her eyes.

"Stay back...Melody...I won't let...them take you," I reply through strained breathing.

I cough and blood comes flying out of my mouth. Well that isn't a good sign. I move my right arm to yank the blade out of my left hand only to have my arm protest the movement and stop before it starts. Right, it broke when I flew off the car; I guess bones aren't as quick to heal as my flesh. I bring the handle of the knife up to my mouth and bite it before pulling my left hand off of it. My left hand starts to heal as I pull the knife from between my teeth and take it in my left hand.

The Windbag from earlier charges at me while my body is refusing to cooperate. The Windbag punches at me and I sidestep the punch as I trap his arm between my left bicep and my body before quickly turning to the right, causing my right arm to flop painfully behind my movement. His arm snaps as he screams out in pain before I cut off his scream by bringing the knife through his throat.

"Renton!" Melody yells out in warning, but I'm unable to respond before I'm hit from behind.

The knife flies out of my hand as I'm knocked to the ground. A large boot comes down on my left forearm, breaking both my radius and ulna before the boot comes into contact with my ribs, turning me over.

"Renton!" Melody screams with tears running down her cheeks.

Come on, Renton. Move. You still have...two working legs! You have to keep fighting! You promised that you'd keep her safe!

I turn over and bring my right knee underneath me to raise myself up.

"Renton...please, stop!" Melody sobs.

"You have got to be kidding me...do you just not know when to quit, or do you really want to die that badly?" the mage asks me as I lift my torso up and bring my left leg underneath me.

"Fine...have it your way," the mage says as he grabs me by my hair, and my neck starts to sear.

"RENTON!" Melody shrieks as I feel my chest get warm and realize that blood is streaming down from my neck.

Melody's eyes go blank and I hear a squishing sound behind me as my back gets drenched. I turn my head and all I see is a giant red smear with some chunks where the mage used to be. Another squelching sound reaches my ears as one of the mages around us pops. I feel waves of panic overcome the crowd of mages as black circles start appearing on the ground beneath their feet. One by one, they implode into red smears. Several try to run away, but the circles follow them and they eventually meet their end. By the time the last mage pops, Melody and I are surrounded by blood, as well as being covered in it. I collapse to the ground with my vision fading before Melody rushes over and cradles me close to her.

"Renton! No, no, no! Don't die, Renton! Please don't die! You can't!" Melody exclaims with her tear-filled eyes looking into mine before she closes them.

"Please...take him someplace where he won't die!" Melody begs, tears trickling out of the closed corners of her eyes.

The last thing I see is a black circle encompassing the ground beneath us.

...

Chapter 19: Purple Hills

This next part is crucial, kid. As you may have already realized, the universe is much bigger than what you've seen. Maybe now that things have been resolved you'll be able to see it with my granddaughter and your son.

...

A purplish light streams through my eyelids as I slowly regain consciousness. I open my eyes and find myself in some kind of forest, but all of the foliage is black and sort of viscous looking, as is the grass-covered ground. The air here tastes sweet and makes me feel vibrant while my body sort of feels like it's floating. It sort of seems like nitrous oxide is in the air or something.

I get lost in the sensations for several moments before I notice that something is wrapped around right hand. I turn my head to the right and find Melody lying next to me while noticing that her clothes have been dyed red with dried blood. I look down and see that mine are the same way. I reach over with my left hand and notice that my veins have been dyed black before I set it on Melody's cheek.

"Renton?" Melody asks as her eyes flutter open.

"Good morning," I reply as I sit up, feeling unusually chipper considering what's happened recently.

"Why are the veins in your arm black and where are we?" Melody inquires while sitting up beside me.

"I don't know and I was hoping that you could tell me that," I answer.

"I don't like this place...it gives me the creeps," Melody quietly says.

"Really? I love this place! Can't you taste the air!?" I ask as I stand up.

"Renton, should you be moving around?" Melody questions with concern while I give her hand up off of the ground.

"I'm fine. Great, actually. No, more than great. I feel...what's the word I'm looking for? Euphoric! That's it!" I exclaim and Melody looks even more concerned. Since she seems fine, I guess my nitrous oxide theory is out.

"Are you sure—" Melody starts to ask before being interrupted by a rustling in the bushes to our right.

"Renton?" Melody whispers with alarm as she hangs onto my right arm.

I take a step forward to place my body in front of Melody before a black, cat-like creature that is slightly larger than a cougar emerges from the bushes. Two black fangs jut down over its bottom lip and it only has a single red eye in the center of its head. The creature growls and squats back on its hind legs.

"Renton!" Melody squeaks and squeezes my arm, but I don't feel at all alarmed.

The creature lunges at us and I thrust my left hand forward while its two meters away. The creature goes flying back and slams into a tree, shattering into pieces on impact.

"That was cool. Cool, cool, cool," I announce and turn towards Melody.

"How did you do that?" Melody asks in shock as she looks at the pieces of cat creature.

"I have no clue...but it was pretty awesome, right?" I answer.

"I guess..." Melody replies.

"Well, we'd better start trying to find a way back home," I announce and start walking with Melody still clinging to my right arm.

"Where are we going?" Melody asks.

"Dunno...I just thought we'd walk in this direction and see if something turns up," I reply.

(If you don't want to be lost in this forest for days, I'd suggest walking in the opposite direction)

"And now something is telling me that we should be going in the other direction," I add as I turn us around.

We start walking through the black forest and after walking for about a quarter of a kilometer, Melody settles for holding my hand instead of my arm. It's about a two-kilometer trek before the trees start to thin out and I see light in front of us.

Melody and I break through the tree line to find a setting purple sun and black grassland with a path running parallel to the forest about twenty meters away. Walking along the path is a group of six pale men holding spears and dressed in black armor that appears to be made of some sort of leather with chains dangling from it. The men also appear to be wearing massive amounts of eyeliner. What are they supposed to be, the roving band of merry Goths? The Goths stop when they see us before running towards us like they can't wait another second to welcome us!

"Renton!" Melody quietly exclaims with concern as the Goths surround us.

The Goth with the most chains dangling from his armor and the only one that is armed with a sword yells at us while pointing his black sword at me to indicate that he's talking to me. The words coming out of his mouth seem like they should be written in a wingdings font.

"I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU!" I slowly shout back, as if my speed and volume were the issues keeping us from communicating.

The Goth says something else while sheathing his sword before he turns and walks back towards the path as a Goth behind me gives me a push forward.

"Isn't that nice? They're giving us an armed escort! They must've been patrolling because it's dangerous around here at night," I say to Melody.

"No, I think they're taking us into custody, Renton," Melody replies.

"Don't be rude, Melody," I respond and follow the lead Goth.

We walk for about two kilometers before high black walls come into view at the top of a hill. As we get closer, I realize that the walls are about ten meters high and that this must be a town. A gate opens up as we approach and the Goths lead us through. While walking through the town, going uphill all the way, I notice that everyone is wearing black with some sort of chains and they all look like they're wearing massive amounts of eyeliner. The chains on the townspeople are less elaborate than the ones on the soldiers so maybe they serve as a status symbol. The townspeople stare at us as we head uphill for about a kilometer until a large black castle comes into view.

The head Goth leads us into the castle courtyard before stopping. He says something to one of the other Goths, who then grabs Melody's arm. I quickly turn and smack his arm away from her.

"She doesn't leave my side," I sternly say while glaring at the Goth before he draws his sword.

I now realize that my recent euphoria has caused me to greatly overestimate the positivity of our situation.

"Renton," Melody says, her intonation fluctuating with her anxiety.

"She. Doesn't. Leave. My. Side," I firmly repeat while stepping in front of Melody.

The head Goth smirks at me before swinging his sword at me. I catch the sword in my left hand, slightly surprised when it doesn't cut my flesh, before the sword sublimes and blows away. He looks in shock at his empty hand before I follow up with an upper cut that lands him on his ass. The Goths behind me start to make a move before I turn and thrust my left hand at them, causing four of them to go flying back, but they don't shatter upon hitting the ground like the cat creature. The number of enemies increases tenfold over the next ten seconds as I try to keep myself in between Melody and any advancing enemies.

Someone shouts from a balcony that overlooks the courtyard and everyone immediately stops moving. I wait for a minute before a lithe young woman wearing a black leather dress that covers her upper body from her neck down, but flows into a skirt made of leather straps, making it look pleated, exits through the main castle doors. She's wearing a broad smile and there's a glint in her eyeliner-surrounded eyes as she makes her way towards us, the Goths parting for her. She stops about a meter from me and says something that I don't understand. She reaches her hand out towards my head and I duck away from it. She huffs and brushes a strand of black hair back over her right ear. Her black eyes look into mine for several moments before trying again, but more slowly.

(Let her do it)

Trusting Melanie's judgment, I allow the woman to place her hand on my forehead. She closes her eyes and says something again.

"Did it work?" the woman asks, her voice echoing through my mind.

"If _it_ was supposed to allow me to understand you through some form of telepathy, then yes, it worked," I reply as my tongue's movements feel slightly unnatural.

"Good! I've been expecting your arrival for a few weeks now," the woman tells me.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"The Goddess told me to expect a warrior with powers unlike anything I've ever seen that is traveling with a young woman and that you'd both be wearing strange clothing. The Goddess instructed me on how to communicate with you and to also give you a place to stay until you can return to where you came from," the woman answers.

"The Goddess?" I inquire.

"Yes. I'm Shahira, the prophetess. The Goddess seems to have taken a special interest in you," Shahira informs me.

"My name is Renton and this is Melody," I introduce.

"Renton, what's going on?" Melody asks.

"Apparently Shahira has been expecting us. What she did earlier was a spell for us to communicate," I answer with my tongue's movements feeling natural again.

"Yeah, I caught that when I couldn't understand anything that was coming out of your mouth," Melody replies.

So I guess that spell allows me to speak their language when I'm talking to them, as well as translating the language that they're speaking directly to my mind, but automatically shuts down when I talk to Melody—nifty.

"I'd like to speak to Me-lo-dy as well," Shahira chimes in, sounding out Melody's name.

"She wants to talk to you so she'll need to do the same thing," I repeat to Melody.

"Oh...okay..." Melody says with a bit of uncertainty and takes a hesitant step towards Shahira.

Shahira places her hand on Melody's forehead and says something that I still can't understand.

"There, now I can communicate with both of you. You both look rather tired. Would you like to freshen up beforehand?" Shahira asks.

"Before what?" I inquire.

"The feast for your arrival of course," Shahira answers and I look at our bloody clothing.

"That would probably be best," I reply.

"Follow me," Shahira says with a bright smile and turns towards the castle.

"These two are not to be harmed under any circumstances. Do I make myself clear?" Shahira tells the Goths.

"Milady, do you know these two?" the head Goth asks, his voice also sounding slightly echoic.

"They are my guests. Go about your business," Shahira orders and walks towards the castle, leaving Melody and I to follow her.

We enter the black castle to a sprawling foyer that has a large black chandelier hanging over it, casting a purple light over us. I wonder if those light bulbs have potassium in them for them to give off that color. Several hallways split off in different directions, but Shahira heads up the circular staircase in front of us that wraps around the foyer instead. Shahira takes a left at the top of the stairs, down a long hallway that is also illuminated by purple lights. At the end of the hallway is a spiraling staircase, which Shahira leads us up. The stairs go on for quite a while and at the top is a single door.

Shahira opens the door and reveals a large circular bedroom that has an adjoined bathroom to the right. So it looks like they have plumbing in this world. I was getting a little worried with the castle and medieval town. The bedroom contains only a large canopy bed directly in front of the door, a dresser to the left of the bed, and a desk to the right, near the door that leads to the bathroom.

"These will be your quarters," Shahira announces.

"Whose?" I ask.

"Both of yours," Shahira answers.

"This isn't really going to work. We need separate sleeping areas," I reply.

"I'm sorry, but the Goddess specifically commanded me to put you in this room. Both of you," Shahira responds.

"Alright, I guess we'll make it work," I say, not wanting to offend her.

"I will send a servant to come fetch you two when the feast is prepared. It will still be several hours so take your time," Shahira replies and leaves the room.

"W-w-what are we going to do!?" Melody asks with alarm.

"Well, we're going to wait here for a few hours and then we're going to go eat. Oh, you meant about tonight, huh? We can figure that out later. Now, I think I'm going to go take a shower," I announce and walk to the bathroom before stopping at the threshold of the door.

"Care to join me?" I proposition from the doorway, taking delight in Melody's flustered expression as I laugh while shutting the bathroom door behind me.

The bathroom is about the same size as the one at home—in other words, pretty small. I open the door of the glass shower, step inside, and turn the shower on before discovering that I have the temperature turned to cold instead of hot. I see three bottles on a shelf in the shower, but I have no clue what each of them is based on the label or their appearance so I squirt all three into my hand and start scrubbing up while washing my hair. Soap is soap, right? After rinsing the soap off, I step out of the shower and grab a towel off of a rack that is, of course, black.

After drying off, I wipe down the mirror and see that there are no scars from the injuries caused by my most recent battle. I wonder why that is? I suddenly realize that, for the second time in a row, I don't have any clean clothes. I wrap the towel around my waist and step out of the room, wondering if there are any clothes in the dresser that I remember seeing.

"Renton! W-what are you d-doing!?" Melody stutters from the bed. Spotting the opportunity to mess with her, I saunter over to her and gently lift her chin with my right hand.

"What do you think?" I softly ask and Melody's cheeks flush.

"Here!? Now!? But Renton...I don't know...I haven't showered or brushed my teeth or done any of the things on my checklist..." Melody quietly replies with embarrassment. Checklist?

"I don't care. I need to get in there right now," I tell her with a surreptitious smile, referring of course to the dresser that may the hold clothes necessary to fix my state of undress.

I laugh at her expression and take a step towards the dresser before I suddenly notice a black circle beneath my feet.

Oh shit.

Instead of falling thousands of meters like last time, I simply find myself out in the castle courtyard...except for the towel that was around my waist. The Goth soldiers from before look at me in a bewildered fashion before I chuckle nervously, cover my groin as much as possible, and run into the castle. I make my way up the foyer's stairs and down the long hallway.

"Renton? What are you doing?" I hear Shahira ask behind me.

"I...uh...was playing a joke on Melody and she teleported me out into the courtyard accidentally...At least, I think it was accidental," I reply.

"Was the joke that thing between your legs?" Shahira inquires and I immediately feel emasculated.

"If you're trying to destroy my self-confidence, it's working..." I respond.

"What?" Shahira replies.

"I mean, Google told me it was normally sized when I was fourteen and I haven't bother to check since, but if that's your reaction..." I explain.

"No, I mean what is that between your legs? Is it some kind of polyp or growth?" Shahira asks and I stare at her in shock.

"Wait, so the males of your people don't have anything in between their legs?" I question and Shahira shakes her head.

"Then how do you reproduce?" I ask and Shahira blushes.

"From what I've been taught, using semen produced in the male's mouth that is inserted into the vagina," Shahira sheepishly replies and consequentially blows my mind.

So the males of this species somehow have their testicles connected to their salivary glands? How in the hell did this happen from an evolutionary stand point? This makes their tongues like, what? Proboscises?

"RENTON!" I hear Melody scream from the end of the hall.

I turn to find tears streaming from her eyes as she runs full-speed towards me before slamming into me and embracing me.

"Renton! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Melody sobs.

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have played that joke on you and should've just told you that I was looking for clothes," I reply.

"If you are looking for clothing, the dresser has already been stocked with clothing that should fit each of you," Shahira informs us.

"Thanks, Shahira. I think we'll just be heading back to our room now," I respond and lead Melody back down the hall while forgetting my lack of clothing.

Melody's vision strays downward and she has a sharp intake of breath before jerking her head away. Welcome back, self-confidence. I fall a couple paces behind Melody and follow her up the stairs to our room. Melody stands against a wall the moment we walk in.

"*Ahem* You should probably get dressed," Melody announces after clearing her throat, sounding endearingly nervous.

"I suppose you're right," I reply and walk over to the dresser that appears to have a deck of playing cards on top of it.

Inside are clothes similar to the ones that the townspeople had been wearing, but the chains seem a bit fancier. I spot a black pair of pants that has several chains dangling from it and pull them on, not seeing anything resembling underwear. I guess I'll be free-ballin'. I pull on something that looks like a leather vest with chains dangling from it before closing it by fastening the chains.

"All done," I announce. Melody turns around and immediately starts laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Just wait until you see what you get to wear," I respond.

Melody stops laughing and walks over to inspect the contents of the dresser while I sit down on the bed.

"Well, I guess I'll go take a shower," Melody says while pulling out a dress similar to Shahira's, black underwear, and something that resembles a black sports bra.

"Alright," I reply.

Melody walks into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. The door opens a few moments later and Melody pokes her head around it.

"No peeking," Melody says in a shy manner as I realize that I can see her bare back's reflection in the mirror. Is that side-boob?

"Okay?" Melody asks when I don't respond.

"What? Oh, yeah. Wouldn't think of it," I reply while deciphering that it's not.

Melody shuts the door and I hear the shower turn on a few seconds later. I hadn't even considered peeking before she said something, but now the only thing I can think about is how Melody is naked right over there. Well, I suppose one little peek wouldn't hurt...

No, I can't do that.

Why not? With the way she told you not to, it's like she wants you to do it!

Or she meant that she really doesn't want me peeking.

Doubtful. If she didn't want you to, why did she even bring it up?

To make sure that I wouldn't?

Come on! A quick look isn't going to hurt! She won't even know you're there.

While my chivalry and hormones are duking it out, I grab my right little finger and start wrenching it to the side, trying to use pain to distract myself. Upon hearing a crack, I realize that I've gone a little too far. I try not to panic as I raise my hand and look at my finger that is now bent at a seventy degree angle at the second knuckle.

(If you don't reset that, it won't heal properly)

"I was afraid that might be the case..."

I grab my right pinky and take several deep breaths before straightening it out.

"MMM!" I whimper as my finger cracks back into place and starts pulsating.

"Renton, are you okay?" Melody asks as she exits the bathroom wearing the black dress that covers her upper body, but flows into a pleated leather skirt that accentuates her long legs.

"Yeah, I'm just peachy!" I exclaim with a grimace. Well, at least it served its purpose.

My hand pulsates more strongly and I watch as the swelling subsides before my eyes. I clench my hand several times and find that my finger is completely healed. What is going on? Even when I was healing quickly, I wasn't healing like this. Does it have something to do with this world?

(Yes. It seems Melody teleported you two to a place where you would be able to heal)

"So what do you want to do now since we still have a couple hours?" Melody questions as she sits down next to me on the bed.

"Well, I know something that we could do to _pass the time_. Here we are. On a Bed. Alone," I reply with a surreptitious smile while grabbing her hand as I gaze into her green eyes.

...

Chapter 20: Eventful Feast

"Do you have any threes?" I ask.

"Go fish," Melody answers.

"Do you have any squid crowns?" Melody asks and I hand the card over.

The deck of cards was practically indecipherable so we made up our own names for the cards.

"Do you have any—" I start to ask before I'm interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in," I yell and a woman opens the door wearing a black dress and a black apron. She stands there and silently stares at us.

"What is it, girl!? Has little Timmy fallen down the well!?" I ask and Melody giggles while the woman tilts her head to the side in confusion.

"I suppose it's time for dinner?" I inquire and the woman nods.

I take Melody's cards as well as the pile and put them back in the box before standing up and following Melody out of the room. We follow the maid down the spiral staircase, down the long hallway, and down the main stairs. She heads into the left wing of the castle and leads us down another long hallway before she stops in front of a set of doors. The maid opens the doors for us, revealing a large banquet hall that has a long table that is parallel with the back wall and two tables along the left and right walls. I spot Shahira sitting at the back table next to two empty seats near the center so I grab Melody's hand and make my way over as everyone stares at us.

"Well, you two certainly don't stick out as much anymore," Shahira says by way of greeting as we sit down next to her.

"Really? We still seem to be attracting quite a bit of attention," I reply.

"Yes, but that's unavoidable with you being sent by the Goddess from another world," Shahira responds and I immediately tense up.

"Shahira...how well known is our presence here?" I ask.

"Well, you two are all that I've heard anyone talk about for the past few hours," Shahira answers as I squeeze my eyes closed and smack my forehead.

"That does not bode well for us," I mumble.

"Why not?" Shahira asks.

"Well, in our world, if we had come from a different world, we would have been taken by the blood mages, experimented on, and probably killed," I reply.

"Relax! Nobody is suicidal enough to attack you in the castle!" Shahira reassuringly exclaims.

Of course, immediately after she says this, three armed men that I can only describe as 'attackers' burst through the doors. One with a bow lets a notched arrow fly at Melody and I knock her out of the way. The arrow sinks into the left side of my chest, piercing my heart, and everything suddenly goes dark.

(The Goddess has given you the gift of the Void, Wren. She told me to pass along a message that you are to use her gift to correct the course of this world before being allowed to return. This world is closer to the Void than the other one, which you can use to your advantage)

Melanie's voice echoes out in the darkness before my vision returns in a 'warp-speed blur' type fashion as the screams of the people in the hall reach my ears.

"RENTON!" Melody screams as she looks at the arrow sticking out of my chest while everyone else in the hall has gotten down and taken cover beneath the tables.

Since I'm not entirely sure what Melanie was talking about, I decide to just go with the flow and act on instinct. I reach up with my left hand and grab the shaft of the arrow, causing it to sublime while I notice that my scar is black. The hole in my chest fills in as I stand up. My left hand feels like it's submerged in a viscous liquid as I push my hands together, making it look like I'm about to pray. Black smoke forms in the air surrounding me and comes in towards my hands before condensing into a black liquid that seems to absorb all light. The liquid laces between my fingers and forms points over my knuckles before traveling fifteen centimeters away from my body, filing down to a bladed point. I pull my hands apart as the black liquid solidifies to find that I now have spiked knuckles with fifteen-centimeter long blades jutting down from each of my palms.

Although this process seemed to take a rather long time to me, it must have been fairly quick because the archer has only just let another arrow fly at me. I punch out with my right hand and make contact with the arrow. Upon hitting my spiked knuckles, the arrow stops as the force travels down the shaft, causing it to splinter and expand outward as the tableware in front of me is hit by some unseen force and goes flying. I smirk at the archer across the room before leaping over the table to charge at him.

I make it halfway across the dining hall before the archer is able to shoot at me again. I respond with an uppercut and watch as the enigmatic force caused by my punch redirects the arrow up towards the ceiling. Is this force the Void that Melanie was talking about? As I close in, the archer's two compatriots step forward to intercept me with black swords drawn. I sidestep a downward slash from the right swordsman as I move to the outside and catch him with a right hook to the side of his face.

The Void force from my punch staggers the other two attackers while knocking the swordsman to the ground, his sword clattering on the stone floor. While the other two are staggered, I race forward and place myself between them before bringing a blade through each of their necks. Blue blood showers down from their necks and their heads roll on the ground before their bodies hit the floor.

As I look at the viscous, electric-blue substance on my hands, curiosity takes over and I bring my hand to my mouth to taste it. To my surprise, it does not taste like blue raspberry candy. I suppose that's for the best...however, drinking the blood of your enemies brings in a certain intimidation factor and that would be much easier if the blood tasted like candy. I walk over to the downed attacker and I raise my left blade up to stab him in the chest, but then I pause.

"Hey Shahira?" I shout across the hall.

"Y-yes?" Shahira replies while peeking over the table.

"Your heart is on which side?" I ask.

"Umm, the left?" Shahira answers.

"Thanks, just making sure!" I reply and bring the blade down into the right side of the attacker's chest, feeling little resistance as I do so.

"Now, be a dear and tell me the reason that you and your friends attacked us," I order with a broad smile on my face.

The attacker glares at me through his grimace before spitting blue blood into my face. I smile pleasantly at him while I effortlessly bring my right blade through the leather armor covering his torso as though it was made of cardboard.

"You know, I'm actually quite interested in your species. I already know that your reproductive organs aren't in between your legs so I wonder what else is different in relation to my anatomy. You don't mind being my little experiment, do you!?" I ask with a maniacal grin.

The attacker hits me in the face and gets up to run away, knocking me over in the process. I suppose I can give him a head start!

"Excuse me," I tell the room as I stand up. I follow the attacker out of the dining hall where I spot him running down the hallway.

(Wren, you can reach out with the Void to stop him. Permanently)

I only have a slight idea of what Melanie is talking about after witnessing that enigmatic force and the black viscous fluid that turned into my blades, but I do understand the reaching out part, so I'll try that. I reach out towards the attacker's fleeing left calf with my left hand before tightening it into a fist and twisting my wrist. The attacker screams out in pain as he collapses to the ground. I calmly walk over to him to find that his left calf is broken in the same direction that I twisted.

"Now, let's get started with the experiments, shall we!?" I exclaim and raise my blade above my head.

"Wait! I'll tell you whatever you want!" the attacker exclaims.

"Why did you attack us?" I demand.

"Our master sent us to kill the two sent by the Goddess because he feared it would upset the balance of power!" the attacker quickly spills.

"Who is your master?" I ask.

"King Blackheart," the attacker answers.

King Blackheart? Where am I, in a bad RPG? So I presumably have to kill this evil king before Melody and I can return to our world? Screw that! That seems like way too much work so I think we'll just go back to where we first landed tomorrow and see if there isn't someway to bypass this usurping a throne business.

"Thank you for your compliance," I say.

"Renton?" Melody asks from behind me.

"Hey Melody, I'm just finishing up here," I reply and bring my blade through the attacker's neck.

"Renton...if he was already subdued and gave you the information that you needed, then why did you kill him?" Melody inquires as she looks at me with wide eyes.

"Because..." I start to explain when I realize the answer.

Because I wanted to kill him...and I enjoyed doing so...What is happening to me?

"I...uh...I'm going to head back to the room," I quietly respond and walk away from her.

I make my way back to the room with the gravity of my realization weighing heavily upon me. After reaching the top of the stairs, I realize that I'm still holding my spiked-knuckle blades as I try to open the bedroom door. As I attempt to remove them, they turn into liquid and seep off of my hands, dispersing into black smoke before they can hit the ground.

I head into the bathroom, strip out of my blue blood splattered clothing, and rinse myself off in the shower before climbing into the empty bed. I hear the door open a few minutes later as Melody enters the room. She pauses for a moment before heading into the bathroom. The door opens two minutes later as I hear her pad over to the bed before feeling it move as she climbs into it.

"Renton, are you okay?" Melody gently asks.

"I don't know..." I softly reply.

The bed rocks as Melody moves closer to me and wraps her arm around me. The touch of her bare stomach against my back causes me to shiver.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it," Melody quietly offers as I feel her warmth emanating through me.

'Those guys were here to kill her—to take away this girl that is so warm and soft. They deserved death and I shouldn't feel bad for delivering it to them,' I reason to myself. I scoot away from Melody and turn over.

"Thanks Melody," I softly reply as I gaze into her green eyes that seem to illuminate the darkness.

As Melody stares back at me, her breath quickens, moistening my bare chest. My heart pounds in my chest and my stomach lurches as I slowly move my head forward. I stop about ten centimeters from her mouth, daring her to meet me the rest of the way. She slowly moves her face towards mine before she suddenly stops.

"Renton?" Melody whispers.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Are you naked?" Melody inquires.

"Umm...yeah...there wasn't any underwear for me in the dresser," I reply with a slight amount of embarrassment.

"Maybe we should just go to bed," Melody suggests.

"That would probably be best," I reply and turn over as Melody scoots away to the right side of the bed.

"Goodnight," Melody says.

"Goodnight," I respond and try to sleep as Melody's presence next to me becomes unbearably apparent.

"Hey Renton? Are you still awake?" Melody whispers a few minutes later.

"Yeah," I whisper back.

"What's that thing around your neck?" Melody asks and I tense up.

"It's nothing," I lie. "Let's get some sleep."

Thoughts continue to run through my mind: thoughts about Melody, thoughts about my mental state, thoughts about home. One question sticks in my mind and continues to bug me.

"Hey Melody?" I whisper.

"Yeah?" Melody replies.

"What did you mean last week when you said you thought I'd ended up like your mother?" I ask and feel Melody tense up before remaining silent for a few moments.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't feel up to it," I tell her.

"No, that's okay. You'll probably figure it out and I'd rather be the one to tell you," Melody says and takes a few deep breaths.

"The first time I discovered my power was when I was five years old. I was playing with my mother in the backyard. A black circle appeared beneath her feet like the one that appeared underneath you in the library and a few hours ago. Daddy sent out a search party, but a body was never recovered..." Melody tells me while devoid of emotion, stating only the facts.

"Tell me about her," I gently request.

"She had soft brown hair, kind eyes, and a smile that made me feel like everything was okay. She had that same smile the last time I saw her, even after she'd noticed the circle...I miss...her..." Melody quietly replies.

She sounds a lot like my mom...I wonder if I'll ever see her again...Melody makes a weird noise so I turn over and find that Melody has fallen asleep. I end up watching her in a totally uncreepy fashion for a few minutes before turning on my back.

I'm not entirely sure how long it takes, but I eventually fall asleep too.

...

Chapter 21: Baseball but Better

Purple sunlight from the window filters through my eyelids as I wake up to a warmth on my right side. I open my eyes to find a half-naked Melody pressed up against me while I'm pitching a circus-sized tent with the blanket that is covering us. Melody groans in her sleep and squeezes me tighter, her breasts pressing into my side as I note the feel and struggle to maintain control, so I start thinking of things to help.

'Dead kittens...dead kittens...ahhh so soft...AH! A grandmother drowning kittens while being strangled! Decapitated chickens! My god how can she look so cute and still be asleep!? And why doesn't this world believe in underwear for men!?'

(You could always wear a pair that was meant for Melody)

"You're enjoying this, aren't you!?"

(Do you really have to ask?)

Melody scoots up the length of my body and I shiver like a person on ecstasy in a crowded elevator.

Think Renton! You can get through this! You have more willpower than this so think! Think of the most outrageously unsexy things you can think of! Okaaaaaay, Aliens! No wait, what if they're blue and hot and totally bang-able!? Okay, how about grizzly bears? No, same problem! Androids that want to put things in you?

"Renton?" Melody asks in an endearingly sleepy manner.

"Hey Melody...are you just waking up?" I ask to confirm that she's not screwing with me on purpose.

"Yeah..." Melody responds, still half asleep.

"Could you get off of me...and not look towards the foot of the bed?" I request.

"Huh?" Melody sleepily asks as she props herself up and turns her head towards the foot of the bed.

"Renton...is that...?" Melody inquires.

"Um...yeah," I reply with some embarrassment.

"W-w-what do we do to make it go down!?" Melody stutters nervously.

I resist the urge to suggest something that starts with 'Well, you could try...' followed by something that I'd very much enjoy, but I go in the opposite direction instead.

"Well, putting some clothes on wouldn't hurt," I tell her. Melody looks down at her half-naked body and her face flushes.

"Renton? Melody? Are you two awake?" Shahira asks as she opens the door.

So I guess knocking isn't a thing in this world? Shahira walks into the room and stops upon seeing the 'pitched tent'.

"What is that?" Shahira inquires.

"A snake!" Melody blurts out.

In response, Shahira runs over, grabs the blankets, and rips them off of the bed. Melody gasps and covers her mouth

"Oh my Goddess, it's gotten bigger! Is it cancerous!? Parasitic!? Either way, it needs to be excised immediately!" Shahira exclaims and I start getting excited.

Wait, if the males have teeth in their 'genitals,' what if the females do too!? That is a terrifying thought...but what if her species evolved something even stranger and more terrifying!? What if it has tentacles!? What if it has a beak and can talk!? What if it's modeled after Cthulu!? What if it emits some sort of chemical that my body isn't resistant to so that when I see it, my face melts off!?

(Wren...she said excised, not exercised)

"So that means..."

(Pretty much the exact opposite of what you were thinking)

"WAIT! It's fine, Shahira! It will go back to its normal size soon!" I quickly explain.

"Why is it like that!?" Shahira asks while warily looking at it as though it might jump off and attack her.

"It's engorged with blood because of certain... _environmental_ factors," I say while glancing over at Melody to find her staring wide-eyed before I get self-conscious and try to cover myself as much as possible.

"Fascinating," Shahira states with her hand on her chin.

"Well, you should probably get dressed. We need to discuss what happened last night," Shahira adds.

"Alright, but then we need to return to the forest where we came in. I think I might've dropped something around there," I lie.

Hopefully Melody and I can find a way back by returning to where we came in so I don't have to get wrapped up in the politics of this world...I hate politics.

"Alright. When you're ready, come down to the dining hall for breakfast," Shahira replies and exits the room.

"How about you get changed in the bathroom first," I suggest to Melody, who is currently zoning out.

"Huh? Oh, sure," Melody replies and gets out of the bed.

Melody walks over to the dresser to the right before walking across the room to the bathroom. Once the bathroom door shuts, I get out of bed, grab a pair of pants and a leather vest from the dresser, and quickly clothe myself.

"Ready?" Melody asks through the door.

"Yup, let's go talk to Shahira," I reply and Melody exits the bathroom.

We head down the stairs and through the castle to the dining hall, which is empty except for Shahira sitting at the back table with a servant that appears to be taking her breakfast request.

"I hope you two don't mind, but I already ordered breakfast for you," Shahira says as Melody and I walk around the table to sit beside her, passing by the servant as he exits the hall.

"That's fine. We wouldn't have really known what to ask for anyway. So, who were our attackers from last night?" I ask.

"They were members of the assassination division of King Blackheart's royal guard. They're experts in elimination and have never been known to fail to take out a target, which makes your killing three of them even more impressive," Shahira answers.

"Who is King Blackheart?" I inquire.

"He's the king of ____," Shahira says, followed by a word that is synonymous with 'insert wingdings here'.

"So he's king of this country? Continent? World?" I ask.

"Continent," Shahira replies after thinking for a moment.

"And how many inhabited continents does this world have?" I question.

"Two," Shahira answers. So, the same as Melody's world. Yeah, the king of half the world being killed would definitely change some things...

A servant wheels a cart into the dining hall that has three trays on it. He places the large silver platters in front of each of us before lifting each cover to reveal a substance that looks like black eggs and large black patties made of shredded something. Melody looks at the plate in shock as her stomach growls. I pick a fork up off of the table and take a bite of the shredded thing to act as a taste-tester.

"Oh, it's just hash browns," I announce while chewing and Melody lets out a sigh of relief before digging in.

I'm thankful to find that the black eggs taste like normal eggs as I finish off my breakfast platter without leaving a bite. Now that I'm thinking about it, I guess I haven't eaten in like two days...it's strange that I didn't even feel hungry.

"Alright, well we need to head back to the forest now. What forms of transportation do you have in this world?" I ask Shahira.

"Well, we have _____ that you can ride. There's also some mechanical device that the assassins arrived in, but I don't know how it works," Shahira answers, causing me to hear spoken wingdings once again. I'm guessing that I only hear wingdings when she says a word that there's no equivalent for.

"What does this mechanical device look like?" I ask.

"I'll have the head of the guard show it to you. Apparently it's just outside the town wall. Follow me," Shahira replies while standing from the table.

"Thanks Shahira," I respond and stand up.

Melody wipes the sides of her mouth with a napkin before following me out the doors. Shahira leads us out of the castle and through the castle courtyard to a building that is along the left wall and near the castle gate.

"Orkin, escort Renton and Melody to the assassin's mechanical device," Shahira orders as she opens the door to the building.

"Yes, Milady," the head guard from yesterday replies and exits the guardhouse.

"This way," Orkin says to Melody and I, and starts walking towards the gate.

"We'll see you later, Shahira," I say as I turn back towards her while following Orkin.

"May luck be with you!" Shahira replies.

Melody and I follow Orkin through the castle gate and downhill through the town. Judging by the wide-eyed looks that everyone is giving me and their habit of crossing to the opposite side of the road when they see me coming, I guess the news of last night's events have made their way down here. Orkin leads us through the main gate of the town and to the left. About a hundred meters to the left of the gate is the mechanical device, which resembles a Ford Model T.

"Here it is," Orkin says as I inspect the primitive automobile.

I don't know much about cars, but I'm pretty sure the crankshaft on the front end will start the engine. I walk over to the front of the car and straighten out the crankshaft. After a few hard cranks, the engine sputters awake, causing Orkin to jump back and draw his sword.

"Relax, that's normal. These things are common in my world. Come on, Melody," I say as I climb into the automobile and Melody walks over to the passenger side.

As I sit there staring at the three pedals, four levers, and no instruction manual, I realize that we may have a dilemma. Well, the car is obviously going to be a manual transmission so this middle pedal must be the break. The car lurches backwards when I press the pedal, causing me to freak out and hit the left pedal. I hear the grinding of gears so I grab one of the levers and wrench it forward.

"And off we go!" I announce as the car starts rolling forward.

I direct the car away from the town walls and onto the path from yesterday. We drive along in silence, mainly because we'd have to shout to hear each other. The scenery starts to look familiar so I take my foot off of the pedal, only to find that the car isn't slowing down. I press the middle pedal, thinking that it might be the pedal for the brakes as well as the reverse, but the car starts growling at me so I take my foot off of it. I consider trying the right pedal, but for all I know, that's the seat ejector. I start messing with the levers and still nothing happens.

"RENTON! I THINK WE'RE HERE!" Melody shouts.

"I KNOW! I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO STOP!" I shout back and Melody's eyes go wide. I look down and try to figure it out. Maybe I should just try the right pedal after all?

"RENTON! TREE!" Melody screams.

"WHAT?" I shout as I look over at her.

"TREE!" Melody frantically yells and points forward as I see that we're about five meters from a tree.

Since I don't know where the brake is, I do the only thing that I can think of: I tackle Melody out of the car before the impact. I wrap my arms around her to shield her from the impact with the ground, only to shield her from our impact with a nearby tree instead because I forgot to account for our momentum. I feel several of my ribs break on my back left side as we hit the tree and slide down it to the ground while hearing the sound of metal crunching.

"Renton! Are you okay!?" Melody frantically asks as she scrambles off of me.

"Yeah, just a few broken ribs. No big deal," I answer.

"No big deal!?" Melody repeats with concern.

"Yeah. I seem to heal even faster in this world. I accidentally broke my finger yesterday and it healed less than a minute after I reset the bone," I explain.

"Still though..." Melody uncertainly replies.

"I'll be fine," I respond with a reassuring smile while grabbing her hand.

"Alright...thank you for protecting me...like always," Melody quietly says.

"Anytime. It is sort of my job, after all," I reply. Melody frowns and pulls her hand away.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"It's nothing," Melody answers, but something is obviously still wrong.

(You should have said that you were doing it for her, not because it's your job! Get it together, Wren!)

I grab her hand with my left as I reach across with my right while my ribs protest the twisting movement. I gently lift her chin up so that she has to look at me.

"But don't think for a second that I would take this much abuse for just anyone," I tell Melody before her cheeks redden and she turns away.

(Nice recovery)

"Now let's get going," I softly add and stand up before giving her a hand. We turn towards the forest and pass by the wrecked automobile.

"I guess we won't be taking that back to town," Melody mentions as we keep walking.

We walk for a little over a kilometer before I start questioning my sense of direction.

"Hey Melanie? Do you know if I'm headed in the right direction?"

(Turn about fifteen degrees to your left and keep going straight three quarters of a kilometer and you'll reach the spot where you arrived yesterday)

"It's really useful that you know that, even though I have no clue how that's possible."

"So Renton? Why are we here?" Melody questions half of a kilometer later.

"I'm hoping that we might be able to find a way back to our world if we return to where we arrived in this one," I explain.

"Renton...what if we can't go back? What if we're stuck here...and it's all my fault..." Melody quietly asks.

"Then we'll create a new life for ourselves here and learn to like the color black. Regardless of what happens, I'll be here for you, Melody," I answer.

"Renton..." Melody replies as her voice cracks slightly.

"I just hope the others have been able to get someplace safe in our absence," I add as we break through to the opening in the forest where we arrived in this world.

I start inspecting the ground near where we woke up, not exactly sure what it is that I'm looking for.

(You aren't going to find a way back. The Goddess isn't going to let you return until you change this world, Wren)

"Couldn't you have let me know that before we came out here, wrecked a car, and broke a couple of my ribs?"

(You're too stubborn so you would have come out here anyway)

"Yeah, probably..."

"Renton, do you hear that?" Melody asks.

"Hear what?" I reply and start listening.

"It's this way," Melody says and walks into the forest as I quickly follow, unable to comprehend how she could hear something that I can't considering my past experiences.

I start hearing a high pitched sound while following Melody through the forest. The sound gets louder as I identify it as a sort of 'mewing' sound. We come across a larger than normal tree and discover that the sound is coming from beneath it. Melody walks around the trunk of the tree and bends down.

"Renton..." Melody says as I walk around the tree and see a large hole beneath the tree.

"What is it?" I ask as Melody reaches into the hole and appears to pull something out.

"Renton..." Melody replies as she turns around.

Cradled in her arms is a black kitten with a single red eye that is the size of a puppy.

"Melody! Put that back before its mother...gets..." I trail off.

"Renton..." Melody says with a pouty look.

"I don't know..." I reply.

"Renton...please?" Melody begs. That pout is definitely working as I feel myself caving.

"Fine...but the next orphan I create we are not keeping!" I exclaim and Melody smiles at me.

"Well, I guess we should head back n—" I say before I'm interrupted by a loud crack and blood splattering onto Melody's cheek as a hole appears in the tree behind her.

"Renton?" Melody asks in wide-eyed shock before my legs give out from under me.

"NO!" Melody screams with tears in her eyes as she kneels down and cradles my head, getting blood on her clothes.

"It seems that if you want something done correctly, you must do it yourself," a man's voice announces. A tan man dressed in modern combat armor that appears to be from my world comes into my field of view. He grabs Melody by her arm, pulls her away from me, and tosses her to the side before leveling a large revolver at my head.

"RENTON!" Melody screams as everything goes dark following the three loud bangs.

"Bring the girl with us," I hear the man command before hearing a hissing sound.

"Ghastly things," the man says before I hear another gunshot and the hissing stops.

"What should we do with the body, sire?" another man's voice asks.

"Burn it...just to be safe," the first man replies.

"NO! RENTON!" Melody screams as it sounds like she's being dragged away.

I hear someone say something in wingdings followed by the the roar of a fire as everything fades away.

****

Chapter 22: Payback

(Rise, Wren. The Goddess's gift will not allow you to rest so easily)

"Rest so easily? I've been shot in the head and my body's been burned to a crisp. I'd hardly call it resting easily."

I tell Melanie, unable to see her in the darkness that I'm currently floating through.

(The abuse you'll suffer in the future will be far greater, but don't worry. I'll be by your side through all of it. Now, don't you have a damsel in distress to save?)

****

I open my eyes to find myself lying naked amidst a pile of ashes in the forest as the sun seems to be setting. I sit up, finding that my body is pretty sore, but no worse for wear considering my head was obliterated by gunfire and then I was set on fire. Just how in the hell was I able to come back from that? I stand up and look around to get my bearings, seeing the body of the cat creature about two meters to my right when I remember what I'm supposed to be doing. I need to go save Melody.

I start running towards the edge of the forest as fast as I can. My body seems to fly by the trees as I run for two kilometers straight and burst through the tree line. Still feeling pretty good, I run for the two kilometers it takes to get to the town. I blow past the gate and run uphill to the castle before stopping in the castle courtyard. It's surprising that I was able to run for five kilometers in less than ten minutes and I still don't feel at all tired. I race through the castle to the bedroom and throw on some clothing.

"Renton? Where have you been? Where's Melody?" Shahira questions as she enters the room.

"We were attacked in the forest and Melody's been taken. I'm pretty sure King Blackheart was there and that he now has her so how do I get to him?" I ask.

"He'll be in the capital city, but it takes about a day to get there," Shahira answers.

"Which direction?" I inquire.

"You just follow the path out of town, past the forest, and you'll reach the capital city," Shahira replies.

"Thanks. I'll see you later...maybe," I say.

"May the Goddess guide you, Renton!" Shahira calls out as I race out of the bedroom and make my way outside.

I sprint through town and make my way back past the forest, away from the setting sun. Once the sun sets, I continue running through the darkness. Never slowing, never faltering; focusing only on pushing my body to carry me to Melody as fast as possible. After two hours, I see a point in the sky that is distorted by light pollution—this must be it. I crest over the hill in front of me and see a walled city that appears to be far bigger and far more advanced than Shahira's town; however, like Shahira's town, there is a large castle at the top of a hill. Well, I guess it's about time I got things started.

As I walk toward the city's gate, I bring my hands together and watch as black smoke floods in from the surrounding area and condenses into the black liquid. I watch the guards standing on each side of the gate, waiting for them to make their move as I approach, but I walk into the city without them saying a word. What the hell? Maybe I should go ask why they aren't trying to stop me.

(Wren, focus)

Right, rescue Melody. I sprint through the city, heading uphill towards the castle. I pass very few people on my way towards the castle and the ones I do pass ignore me. After running for several kilometers, I finally reach the castle to find that the gate is shut...hmm, what to do about this? I throw a left hook into the door, but instead of it shattering dramatically like I pictured in my mind, my hand just starts hurting.

(Yeah, probably not one of your smarter plans)

I look around and notice a door to the left. I walk over to the door that is to the left of the gate and punch it again, getting the same result as with the gate.

Dammit! Why can't these stupid doors and gates just shatter and give me my dynamic entrance! Now how am I supposed to get in!?

(Did you try lifting the latch and pulling?)

"But that's a lame way to make an entrance. That says 'Hi, I'm here to pick up Melody,' instead 'I'm here to kick ass and save Melody!'"

(Fine)

After Melanie's pointed reply, the door explodes inward. I walk through the doorway to find about a hundred archers pointing arrows at me.

"So our contact was right. You are still alive. Just what in the Goddess's name are you?" a man asks and I realize that he is the one that set me on fire.

So Shahira must have a spy working in the castle...well that explains how they were able to find us in the forest, as well as dispatching assassins to take us out when we'd only been in this world for about six hours.

"I'm here to avenge my brother's death!" I shout, deciding to fuck with him.

"Oh good...I thought you were undead, but you're just that dead guy's twin!" the guy exclaims with relief.

"Anyway, fire," the guy adds and the archers let their arrows fly.

I uppercut with my left fist, causing the Void force that follows it to redirect the arrows upward as the archers watch on in astonishment.

"Wait for it," I tell them, waiting for the arrows to come back down so I can send them back at the archers.

"Waaaaait for it," I say and wait.

"I'm not sure what's going on...this totally should have worked," I add.

And then one of the arrows finally comes back down and sticks into my right shoulder.

"Augh!" I scream in pain as I notice that the archers have reloaded.

"Uh...ten second head start?" I ask.

"Fire," the leader orders.

This time, instead of redirecting the arrows upward, I punch back at arrows. However, the arrows don't fly back the way they came in a wall of death like I pictured and instead spread out in a random smattering that doesn't kill anyone...man, this whole situation is totally not matching my expectations of it.

Well, I suppose I should take care of these guys and go rescue Melody. I start punching in the archers' direction, picturing the Void force being condensed down to the size of my fists instead of shooting the normal blasts and hoping that this will work.

"What is he doing? Shadow boxing? Can we just go kill this idi—" an archer starts to ask before he goes flying and smashes into the side of the castle, roughly twenty meters away.

The archers start flying back and hitting the side of the castle in rapid succession until the only one left standing is the leader.

"What are you?" the leader asks in horror before I sprint forward and slice through his neck.

While walking towards the castle, looking at the broken and mutilated bodies slumped against it, I start to feel somewhat giddy as I remember the arrow. I grab the shaft of the arrow sticking out of my shoulder with my left hand, turning it into black smoke upon contact as my shoulder immediately heals. I walk into the castle foyer to find that it's empty, so I continue straight through a set of double doors into a long throne room.

"So, it's come to this, has it?" King Blackheart asks from the other end of the room while holding a chain.

Attached to that chain is Melody, on her knees to the left of King Blackheart. I kind of like that look on her...what in the hell is wrong with me!?

"Renton..." Melody says with a smile while tears stream down her cheeks.

"What? You didn't think that getting shot in the head multiple times and then being burned would kill me, did you?" I ask and her face lights up.

"Let me finish up real quick and we can get out of here," I tell her.

"Not so fast!" King Blackheart exclaims while pressing the barrel of his gun to Melody's temple.

"The Goddess sent me to this world...told me that all of this was mine...and now she's sent you to take it all away from me!? Like I would just allow that!?...Here's what's going to happen. You can either take the girl and return to where you came from, or you can watch her die before killing me. Choose," King Blackheart orders.

The threat to Melody causes something to break inside me as I hear myself start to laugh.

"You know, had you not put a gun to her head, I might've been more willing to take option one," I say as I reach out with my left hand aimed at the revolver's cylinder and barrel.

I close my hand and watch as the cylinder gets crushed and the barrel folds upward. King Blackheart looks at the useless gun in his hand before I throw a condensed left hook at his face. The Void force catches him in the jaw and sends him crashing into the right wall of the throne room as I race towards him. King Blackheart throws his hands out at me as I feel myself get hit by a force that manages to stagger me for a moment before it disappears.

"So it looks like you can use this power too...you just aren't quite as strong as I am," I say with a smile as I reach out with my left hand and use the Void force to break his forearms.

"AUGH!" King Blackheart screams out in pain as I slowly walk towards him.

I chuckle as I reach out and snap his legs, enjoying his resulting screams.

"I guess I should wrap this up!" I exclaim as I reach out with both hands.

"Just don't...let her...control you...like I did...kid...The power...is toxic," King Blackheart gasps out before I clasp both my hands together.

Blood squelches out of him as he becomes a red smear against the wall. I turn my back on the smear and walk over to where Melody is waiting for me.

"Renton..." Melody says as I approach her. When I reach her, I bend down and quickly embrace her.

"I'm so glad that you're safe," I whisper in her ear.

"Me? I thought you were dead!" Melody quietly exclaims as I feel tears drip onto my cheeks.

Over Melody's shoulder, I see a black circle appears beneath us.

(The parameters have been met, Wren. Your work is done)

"Looks like we're going home," I tell Melody before everything goes dark.

Chapter 23: Withdrawals

We find ourselves underneath a yellow sun and in the middle of a circle made of bloody chunks. This is the exact place we left from a few days ago, but given that the blood around us is still fresh, I don't think much time has passed by in this world. As I notice the spiked-knuckle blades are still on my hands, I suddenly start feeling terrible.

"Oh my god, what is this!?" I ask as my body starts going to hell.

"What's wrong!?" Melody inquires with concern.

"It feels like bugs are crawling beneath my skin, I'm simultaneously hot and cold, I can't stop shaking, and it feels like every cell in my body is a freshman at their first kegger and they just can't stop puking!" I exclaim before a wave of nausea hits me and I vomit...black sludge...well, that's terrifying.

The spiked-knuckle blades lose substance and fade away before my vision starts rapidly blurring as my body accelerates toward the ground.

"RENTON!" Melody screams as she kneels down beside me.

What in the hell is going on?

(Your body is readjusting to the concentration of Void in this world)

"What in the hell does that mean!?"

(You're going through Void withdrawals)

Well that's just fantastic. I feel myself starting to convulse slightly as I see a white Escalade approaching us.

"Renton! Renton!" Melody exclaims with an overall look of hopeless worry on her face.

The Escalade pulls to a stop, Alexa and Jose hop out, and they rush over to us.

"Are you guys okay? Wait, did you guys change clothes?" Jose asks.

"What's with the collar, Mel?" Alexa inquires.

"You guys! Help Renton!" Melody yells in an exasperated fashion.

"Hurry up!" Erin shouts from the car.

Jose and Alexa lift me up and carry me to the car, Alexa lifting my legs and Jose picking up my torso, which effectively forces my blood to start rushing to my head due to their difference in height.

"How are you, bud?" Jose asks as Melody climbs into the trunk of the car.

"I've been better," I groan as they load me into the back of the SUV.

Melody helps them out and positions my head in her lap as Jose shuts the trunk. I hear the doors open and close as Alexa and Jose get into the car. The car starts moving as it turns around and heads away from the scene.

"So what's going on?" Melody gently asks.

"I'm essentially going through black tar heroin withdrawals," I answer, causing Melody to lean back and give me a questioning look.

"That other world was essentially pumping a constant dose of drugs into me, which is why I was acting so weird and felt so g-g-great," I reply, and no, that wasn't a poor impersonation of a cereal mascot—that was me shivering.

"Aww..." Melody says with a pitiful gaze as she runs her hand through my hair repeatedly, basically petting my head. Strangely, it does make me feel a bit better.

"Wen, are you okay?" Ridley asks with worried eyes that peek over the backseat.

"I'll be fine, Ridley. Now turn around. It's not safe," I gently tell her and she reluctantly does so.

The drive is silent for the next thirty minutes until we're sure that we aren't being followed.

"Would either of you care to explain the Gothic BDSM clothing?" Erin asks from the front of the car.

"Don't ask questions that you don't want to know the answers to," I respond.

"What sexual misadventures did you two get into in the last two minutes?" Jose asks.

"None. We just slept in the same bed and I happened to be naked," I answer.

"When did you guys sleep together?" Alexa questions.

"Last night," I reply.

"Renton, you were in the motel room with me and Ridley last night," Erin chimes in.

"No, not this world. The other one. The one that Melody and I got transported to that doesn't believe in underwear for men and apparently is on an accelerated timeline, seeing as two days in that world was about two minutes...in this one," I explain and the car starts spinning around me as I realize the implications of this.

"Bro, did you hit your head? What are you talking about?" Jose asks, his voice becoming quieter as my shock sets in. Melody starts to explain the whole situation before all I can hear is ringing due to my panic.

What if my world is on an accelerated timeline like Shahira's world? I've been in this world for over year and since a day is comprised of thirty-six hundred minutes, that's nearly ten years a day...which means that over three thousand years have passed by in my world...my entire quest of trying to get home might be pointless...everything that's happened might've been for nothing...Ruining Liza's life, Melanie's death, the people I've killed...all for nothing.

"And then we—Renton?" Melody asks with a concerned look in her eyes when she notices my state.

"Erin, pull the car over and pop the trunk," I request while shutting my eyes.

"What? Why?" Erin asks.

"JUST PULL THE CAR OVER!" I shout and I feel the car slow down.

Once the car is stopped, the trunk opens up and I roll over to the edge. While hanging half of my body out of the car, I start vomiting a ton of black sludge. And by a ton, I mean it just keeps coming out until I can no longer see.

"Renton! We need to get him to a doctor!" I hear Melody exclaim as I hear a door open.

"If we take him to a doctor here, the blood mages will get him. We need to get him to Liza. I know enough first aid and have enough mana to keep him stable until we can make it back so someone else needs to drive," I hear Erin say as she lifts me up and places me back into the trunk. I feel Melody exit the trunk while Erin sits in Melody's place before everything fades away.

...

I regain feeling to a softness that's like being wrapped in a cloud...aww crap...I died, didn't I?

(You're not dead, Wren, and you might want to listen in on this)

I hear a nearby door open to my right.

"How is he?" Melody asks as the door softly closes behind her.

"He's stable. Liza's resting now before the next treatment. She told me that all of his cells are so badly damaged that much of what she's doing isn't really having any effect, but she's keeping it up anyway," Erin answers from my left side.

"Did she say how long it's going to take him to wake up? He's already been out for two days..." Melody replies with concern.

"I don't know, Melanie—I mean, Melody," Erin says.

"That's the third time you've called me Melanie. Why is that?" Melody asks.

"Did Renton not tell you?" Erin inquires.

"He said that I bear a passing resemblance to Melanie," Melody answers and Erin remains silent.

"...Perhaps you should take a look at this," Erin suggests as I feel her hand brush against my bare chest. She's going to show Melody the locket!

"Erin?" I quietly ask with a groggy tone.

"Renton!" Melody exclaims and I feel her grab my right hand as I open my eyes.

I see that I'm lying in a large, four-poster bed that has the softest white sheets I've ever felt. Judging by the room's décor, I must be in a guest bedroom at Melody's house. I move to sit up and find that every cell in my body feels like it's hungover...this is an improvement, right?

"You shouldn't sit up, Renton. You're still hurt," Erin says.

"Erin's right. Lie back down and let us take care of you," Melody says and my mind immediately jumps to both of them wearing sexy nurse outfits as they 'take care' of me together.

"You know, Melanie isn't here to stop me from stabbing you whenever you make that face now," Erin reminds me.

"What?" Melody asks.

"It's nothing," I answer as Melody's maid walks into the room, sees that I'm awake, and quickly leaves.

"And I feel...well, not great, but okay I guess?" I add and as I say that, a wave of nausea hits me.

"Bucket...Bucket!" I exclaim as I feel that I can't stop it.

Erin quickly bends down and tosses a bucket into my lap as black sludge comes flying out of my mouth. As the black sludge exits my body, I notice that the veins in my left arm fade back to their normal color with the sludge.

"See!? You're still puking blood! You are in no shape to be up!" Melody exclaims with worry.

"I don't think this is blood..." I reply while inspecting the black sludge.

(You are correct, Wren. That's Void concentrate that was condensed in your body from the other world)

"Is this the same matter that my spiked-knuckle blades are made of?"

"Renton, we need to talk. Girls, can you leave us alone for a few minutes?" Chet requests as he enters the room.

"Alright...don't push yourself too hard, Renton," Melody says before she and Erin reluctantly shuffle out of the room and Chet closes the door behind them.

"Acitus-tay," Chet says with his hand on the door, silencing the room.

"What do you need to talk about that requires silencing the room?" I inquire.

"We need an explanation as to what has happened," Chet replies.

"Well, I killed three blood mages with Erin and rescued Ridley before we met up with everyone at the cabin, only to discover that the blood mages tracked us, possibly using Erin's cellphone. With thirty mages closing in on our location, we fled the scene. As I was protecting the car from attacks, I ended up getting knocked off of the roof. I was holding them off while getting my ass kicked when Melody suddenly appeared by my side. That's when I overheard one of the mages say that the objective had changed to capturing Melody," I recall.

"So the blood mages know about Melody now?" Chet asks and I nod as Chet sighs.

"I got up and kept fighting until both of my arms were broken and a Lifter slit my throat. Then black circles started appearing beneath the mages and they started imploding one by one. As I lost consciousness, a black circle appeared beneath Melody and I. When I woke up, we were in a world with a purple sun and a black landscape. Fast forward to a castle town where we met a prophetess who said that the Goddess had told her of our impending arrival," I recap.

"Wait, _the_ Goddess? The same Goddess that gave everyone the ability to use mana?" Chet questions.

"I think so. That Goddess passed a message along to me that I was to correct the balance of that world using the gift that she had given me before Melody and I would be able to return here. I discovered that the gift was the ability to use a force in that world that was much more concentrated than in this one. One dead king later and here we are," I finish.

"What do you mean 'a force that was more concentrated'?" Chet asks.

I decide that a demonstration is in order to I reach out towards a glass on the dresser across the room, to the right of a door that appears to lead to a bathroom. I tighten my hand into a fist, but nothing happens.

(The concentrations of Void in this world are not enough to use those powers. You will still be able to condense your Void weapons, but doing so will take its toll and it will take time)

"I guess I can't do it in this world. It was kind of like a concentrated form of mana that could directly manipulate the environment," I explain.

"How so?" Chet questions.

"It allowed me to use a form telekinesis that was strong enough for me to snap bones from a distance. I could also create a shockwave with every punch that was strong enough to stagger opponents and redirect arrows," I reply.

"But you can't do that here?" Chet asks and I shake my head.

"Too bad...well, get some rest, Renton. You have school tomorrow," Chet says and starts to leave.

"Hey, Chet? Can you do me a favor and ask Melody's father if Erin and Ridley can stay here for a while?" I request.

"Sure. Get some rest," Chet answers and exits the room.

I lay back and close my eyes for about thirty seconds before the door opens again. I open my eyes as Liza sets her hands on my chest.

"You need to stop worrying your big sis like this," Liza quietly says as I feel the warmth of her mana wash over me.

"Sorry," I reply.

"So how did you get so banged up? With the state you're in on a cellular level, by all rights you should be dead," Liza asks.

"I don't really know, but I imagine it has something to do with the time I spent in another world with Melody," I answer.

"Well, try to be more careful...I don't want to see you get hurt again...even though I know you will," Liza says, choking up a bit as I see tears in the corners of her eyes.

"I promise that I'll try," I softly reply while grabbing her hand that is on my chest. Liza sadly smiles at me as she sniffles.

"Get some sleep and we'll see if you're feeling well enough to go to school tomorrow, okay?" Liza asks.

"Okay. Goodnight, Liza," I respond.

"Goodnight, Renton."

...

Chapter 24: Surprises

"Renton...wake up, Renton."

Melody's voice calls me to consciousness. I open my eyes and find her standing over my bed, wearing red flannel pajamas. The dark window on the back wall, to the left of the bed, indicates that the sun hasn't even risen yet.

"Morning, Melody," I say while yawning.

"Morning. How do you feel?" Melody asks with a bright smile. I sit up and stretch to find that I feel surprisingly well.

"Pretty good. A little sore, but good," I reply while wondering how Melody can look so great even though she just woke up.

(Because she already took a shower, styled her hair, brushed her teeth, and put on a slight amount of makeup before putting her pajamas back on and coming here)

"The effort that she's put into this just makes her seem cuter."

"Well, if you're feeling up to it, we need to get to school," Melody says.

"Yeah, let me just take a quick shower and get...dressed..." I trail off as I remember that my uniform is destroyed.

"Don't worry. Daddy already had several new uniforms made for you," Melody says and walks over to the door.

"CLAUDIA! CAN YOU BRING RENTON A UNIFORM PLEASE!?" Melody shouts down the hall.

"She'll have it waiting for you by the time you get out of the shower," Melody turns around to tell me.

"Alright, thanks," I reply and swing my legs out of bed, keeping the blankets over my lap. I sit there and stare at her for several particularly awkward seconds while Melody just looks at me.

"Well, I guess I'll let you go take a shower. See you in a bit!" Melody awkwardly exclaims as she backs out of the room.

I stand up in all my naked glory and walk over to the door in the back right corner of the room, adjacent to the bed. The door leads to an expansive bathroom that matches the length of the bedroom with a bathtub, a glass walk-in shower, and a double sink cabinet that is just over two meters from the toilet in front of the door. I jump into the shower and turn it on, surprised when the water is immediately warm. The warm water loosens up my muscles and is quite relaxing, certainly ideal after yesterday. After about ten minutes of just standing under the stream, I look down at the shelf in the shower and find some Garnier Fructis shampoo, conditioner, and some pink Olay body wash. The shampoo and conditioner are pomegranate scented, but I just ignore it and wash my hair, as I do with the body wash, which smells like some sort of flower.

I get out, dry off, and wrap the towel around my waist before exiting the bathroom to find a Graythorn Academy uniform folded on the bed. After putting on the uniform and thanking the Goddess that the pants' polyester blend is soft (due to my lack of underwear), I exit the room and wander down the hallway to find the stairs. A minute later, I reach an outer wall and realize that I've been walking in the wrong direction.

"Renton, wasn't it? What brings you to my room?" Melody's older sister asks from the open door on my right. What was her name again?

I turn and see her in some sort of yoga pose, wearing only a sports bra and tiny spandex shorts...what was I just thinking about?

"Oh...yeah, I'm Renton...I'm kind of lost," I answer while turning towards the room and watching her as she changes her pose. Right, her name is Carrie.

"Would you care to join me?" Carrie inquires while reaching behind her to grab her left leg, which is level with her head. I try not to stare at the way the fabric of her shorts is stretching below her taut stomach...unsuccessfully, I might add.

"I...uh, don't know yoga," I reply.

"That's fine. Yoga isn't the activity I was thinking of," Carrie says with a sultry tone as her green eyes cut into me. I stare back at her and try to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Renton! What are you doing down here? Why are you covered in glitter? Oh...you used the body wash in the bathroom, didn't you?" Melody asks while rounding the corner to my left, dressed in her uniform.

I look at my hands and see that they're sparkly—great. When Melody reaches Carrie's room and looks inside, her face falls.

"Carrie, what are you doing?" Melody inquires.

"Enticing your little friend," Carrie replies.

"WHAT!?" Melody shrieks.

"Perhaps if you were to work on your flexibility, he wouldn't need to look elsewhere," Carrie says with a smirk as Melody's face flushes. Without another word, Melody grabs my arm and drags me down the hall.

"Have fun at school, little sister. I'll see you later, Renton," Carrie calls out, causing Melody to drag me away faster.

Melody doesn't say a word as we head downstairs. She leads me down the hallway to the left at the base of the stairs and then she turns left into a rather spacious kitchen with a large dining table to the left. Sitting at the dining table are Ridley and Claudia.

"Wen!" Ridley exclaims when she sees me, looking up from her plate of small yellow squares while holding a small fork.

"Do you still feel bad? Why you so spakly?" Ridley asks.

"No, I'm doing much better this morning, Ridley," I reply, ignoring her other question.

"That's good," Ridley says with a smile that makes me a little sad.

"Where's Erin?" I ask while burying my feelings and regrets.

"She left early this morning with Mr. Sheffield and Liza," Claudia answers. I wonder why...

I sit down at the table and eat the omelet on the plate in front of me: bacon and cheese. I scarf it down rather quickly, not realizing how hungry I was until I started eating.

"Would you like another?" Claudia asks.

"Yes, please. That was fantastic!" I answer.

"I'll be back momentarily," Claudia replies and heads over to the kitchen area.

I hear the stove turn on, eggs being cracked, and ten minutes later, Claudia comes back with another omelet.

"Thank you, Claudia," I appreciatively say as she sets the plate down in front of me.

"You're welcome, Renton," Claudia responds as I dig in.

"We need to get going, Renton. We still have to pick up Alexa," Melody reminds me as I'm inhaling my omelet. I quickly finish it and stand up.

"I'll see you later, Ridley. Be a good girl for Claudia, okay?" I say.

"Okay, Wen! Bye Mellie!" Ridley exclaims and waves, causing me to tense up as we leave the kitchen.

We turn left, walk further down the hall, and out a door at the end that leads into a giant garage with a white and red Mini Cooper, a black Lexus coup, and an empty space. Melody presses a key fob and the Mini Cooper unlocks. I slide into the passenger seat as Melody gets in and presses a button on the visor that opens the garage door in front of us. We drive in slightly awkward silence down the road leading from Melody's house.

"When we get home, I'll explain to Ridley that you aren't Melanie," I say as we reach the front gate.

"Don't worry about it. I've always wanted a little sister anyway. Besides, it beats the alternative of having to tell her that her 'Mellie' is dead," Melody quietly replies.

"That is true..." I softly respond.

We drive for ten minutes until Melody takes a right into a subdivision. She pulls into the driveway of a rather new two-story house as Alexa exits the house and walks toward the car. When she sees me sitting in the front seat, she opens the rear driver's side door.

"Hey Renton. How are you feeling?" Alexa asks as she buckles her seat belt.

"Better, thanks," I answer.

"Good...so why are you covered in glitter?" Alexa asks and Melody giggles.

Fifteen minutes later, we pull into the parking lot at Graythorn Academy. We all get out of the car and walk from the front right corner of the grounds towards the main building. As we walk past the administrative building, I remember that I left my bag in the nurse's office when Erin kidnapped Liza...that seems like it was so long ago, even though it's only been four days and I was unconscious for more than two of them.

"Hey, I'll meet you guys in class. I have to stop by Liza's office to grab my bag," I announce.

"Alright, see you in a bit," Melody says and I head towards the administrative building.

I walk in through the rear entrance of the building, turn right into the nurse's office, and see Liza sitting at her desk. When she sees me, she bends over and lifts my bag up from the right side of her desk.

"Thanks," I say.

"Yup. Have a good day, Renton," Liza replies with an odd inflection in her voice that I should probably question, but don't.

"Yeah, you too," I respond and head to class. I walk through the trophy hall of the main building and take a left at the crossroads.

"Renton! How you doing, man?" Jose asks as I walk down the hall towards class.

"I'm alright," I reply.

"Why does it look like you've spent the last three days in a strip club? You are covered in 'craft supply' herpes," Jose questions.

"I took a shower at Melody's place and used the body wash that was there, which must've had glitter in it," I explain.

"Suuure...the old, 'glitter body wash' excuse. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Jose replies with a smirk.

"Hey, don't you have detention today for flashing every girl in our gym class?" I ask and Jose's face falls as we walk into class.

I turn my attention forward and stop dead in my tracks, causing Jose to bump into me.

Erin is sitting at Jose's usual desk, wearing a gray blazer and gray pleated skirt.

"Good morning, Renton," Erin says while smiling, seemingly amused by my reaction.

"Good morning, Erin. What are you doing here?" I ask while slowly moving towards my seat, in between her and Melody.

"What does it look like? I've enrolled at the academy," Erin simply replies and my bullshit meter goes off.

"We'll talk later," I say as other students walk into the room.

Jose takes the seat in front of me as everyone else finds their seats, the bell rings, and Chet walks into the room.

"Welcome back, everyone. As some of you have noticed, we have a new addition to our class," Chet announces and gestures towards Erin, who stands up.

"I'm Erin Vega and it is nice to meet all of you," Erin says and sits down.

"Renton, I'm counting on you to help her out since she's sitting next to you," Chet tells me with a smirk on his face that I feel the urge to slap off.

"Of course," I reply through half-gritted teeth.

"Okay then. You're all dismissed. Have a good day!" Chet announces.

"What classes do you have, Erin?" Melody asks.

"Cooking, science, gym, math, mana applications and theory, and study hall," Erin replies.

"Those are the same classes I have!" Melody exclaims like she thinks that this is some amazing coincidence.

"Erin, can I talk to you for a moment?" I request while grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the classroom, not really giving her an option.

I lead her down the hall and see the teacher's bathroom that I've noticed before, but never really thought about. I pull Erin over to the bathroom, find that it's locked, and unlock the door with my left hand. I drag Erin into the bathroom and close the door behind us.

"Feeling a little frisky this morning, eh Renton? I suppose we can work in a quickie before first period," Erin says with a smile while she starts unbuttoning her shirt.

"Melody may think this is a coincidence, but I know better. What are you actually doing here?" I ask.

"Melody's father has hired me as extra protection for Melody now that the blood mages know about her. So I guess we'll be working together, partner," Erin explains. Now this all makes sense.

"I guess we will," I reply.

"And for my first act as your partner..." Erin trails off with a mischievous smile.

"OH RENTON! YES! HARDER! AH! RIGHT THERE!" Erin loudly moans.

"What are you doing!?" I frantically ask as I step towards her.

I reach out to cover her mouth, which leads to her grabbing my outstretched arm, locking it, and sweeping out my legs. I land on my back with an 'oomf' as Erin's calf is pressed to my neck while she pinches my elbow in-between her thighs before cranking my wrist towards her chest.

"Augh!" I grunt out in pain as my elbow is hyperextended.

"OH YES! THAT'S IT! DON'T STOP!" Erin screams while panting loudly.

"Ow! Augh!" I exclaim as she continues cranking back my elbow.

"OH RENTON! OH RENTON! I'M SO CLOSE!" Erin shouts while continuing to pant.

"Augh! Erin, stop! YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK IT!" I scream in pain.

"AHHHH!" Erin moans and finally let's up on my elbow. She rises to her feet, beaming grin and mischievous glint in her eyes aimed at me before she exits the bathroom.

I slowly stand up and follow her out, only to find a large group of students staring at me. Jose suddenly starts slowly clapping, increasing in pace until he sees that no one else is joining in so he stops. He steps forward, hands me my bag, and we head down the hall and up the stairs towards math class.

"So...how was she? It sounded like she was pretty damn good!" Jose quietly exclaims.

"Erin was just screwing with me," I reply.

"Sweet!" Jose exclaims.

"No, I mean she was moaning and making it sound like we were having sex to mess with me," I explain.

"Then why did you join in?" Jose asks.

"Because she had me in an arm bar and was hyperextending my elbow," I answer.

"Oh...the stuff you were saying makes a lot more sense now," Jose replies.

We walk into the room and Tetsuya looks up from his book. He looks me over and gives me a nod before returning to his book as Jose and I sit down. Math class passes by in its usual, boring fashion before I head to science class. I enter the classroom and see Erin sitting at our table with Melody and Alexa. Well, at least Erin's presence should take some stress off Alexa during labs.

"Class, welcome back. I hope you all had a nice break. We have a new student today. Erin Vega will be joining us for the remainder of the year. I want you all to make her feel welcome," Mrs. Hatfield announces.

"Now, before today's lab, a quick review is in order. As all of you know, mana is the driving force behind our spells. It acts as both an energy and a force, though we mages mostly use it as an energy that is transmuted to suit our needs. Today, you will be using mana as a force to levitate the balls in the airtight boxes that are on each of the lab benches. Using mana as a force is a matter of redirecting the mana, not of taking mana into you like you would do for a spell. This task will be easier for some than it will be for others. Now, get to work," Mrs. Hatfield commands.

Alexa and Erin get to work trying to levitate the ball in the clear plastic case for thirty minutes with no luck. If only I could use my Void force here, this assignment would be finished in no time.

(If this is what you wish to use your limited reserves on, you should be able to summon enough Void force to lift the ball)

"Really?"

(Be careful, using the Void will turn your scar black. I'd suggest putting your hand beneath the table to minimize exposure)

I stick my left hand under the bench and focus on the ball. My hand starts to feel tingly and numb several seconds before the ball rocks. The ball rises up and hits the top of the case.

"Good work, Group 6. You are all done for the day," Mrs. Hatfield says.

"Alright!" I exclaim and quickly stick my left hand into my pocket, grab my bag, and walk out of the room.

"Renton! Wait up!" Melody calls out and I wait for her.

"You did that, didn't you?" Melody quietly asks.

"Yeah, but I didn't use mana," I quietly reply.

"Was it that same power from that other world?" Melody inquires.

"Yeah. It isn't nearly as strong here, but I can still use it. However, given the amount of effort it took just to raise that ball, I doubt it will have any practical uses in this world," I explain.

"By the way, about that thing with Erin in the bathroom..." I trail off while trying to think of how to explain it.

"Don't worry. Erin already told me that nothing happened and she was just playing a joke on you," Melody replies.

"Oh, good. As long as you understand, I'm fine. Well, let's get going to gym," I say as Alexa and Erin enter the hall.

We all make our way to gym before splitting up to our separate locker rooms. I enter the boys' locker room and slowly get changed into my gym shorts and shirt before heading out to the gym. As I enter the gym, I see the three ice queens talking to Melody, Erin, and Alexa.

"What a surprise! The new slut is friends with little miss reject!" Sarah exclaims as I make my way towards them.

"Who are you planning on banging next?" Sarah rhetorically asks.

"Well, I might be inclined to give you a go..." Erin says, causing me to stop. Perhaps I should wait and see how this one plays out...

"If you didn't have all the personality of a plastic fuck doll and would probably take it in the same manner," Erin finishes with a broad smile. That was a pretty good burn.

"Is it just me, or does it seem like you're asking for me to kick your ass?" Sarah questions with an irritated tone and a smattering of embarrassment on her face.

"I'm usually the S part of S&M play," Erin answers as she takes a step forward and I decide that it's time to intervene.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sarah asks me as I step in between her and Erin.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll walk away," I tell her with a stern tone.

"Just who do you think you are!?" Sarah inquires with annoyance.

"I said, walk away," I repeat through gritted teeth.

Sarah opens her mouth to reply before she looks down and her eyes go wide, causing her to back up with Sierra and Serena. The girls turn and quickly walk back to the locker room as I look down and see black smoke swirling out of my left hand, giving the appearance that it's engulfed in black fire. Startled by the sight, I frantically shake my hand out and the smoke disappears.

"Renton..." Melody says with concern.

I turn and give her a reassuring smile. Without a word, I grab Erin's wrist and drag her over to the gym supply room and close the door behind us.

"Why did you interrupt? I could've easily taken care of them," Erin asks.

"Because, I didn't want you pulling a knife on anyone," I answer in a hushed tone.

"Renton, I'll have you know that I am just a normal high school girl that doesn't carry knives around with her," Erin replies with an innocent smile.

"Really?" I sarcastically ask as I close the distance between us and slip my hands into the pockets of her skirt.

"Renton! What are you doing!? In public, no less!" Erin quietly exclaims, the epitome of ladylike innocence despite the stunt that she pulled earlier.

I pull out a box cutter, a steel tipped protractor, and...a stapler? I hold up the items and give her a questioning look.

"I said that I didn't have a knife," Erin replies.

"A box cutter is pretty damn knife-like, and what's the stapler for?" I ask.

"For stapling peoples' lips shut, of course," Erin responds, her tone implying what she thinks of my intelligence.

"Just, please try to keep a lower profile," I request.

"If you didn't want me to make a scene, why did you hesitate before stepping in?" Erin asks with a sly smile.

"If I remember right, you paused right after I said something about having sex with that girl...why is that, Renton?" Erin inquires as she takes a step towards me.

"Renton Werner and Erin Vega to the principal's office. Renton Werner and Erin Vega," the principal's secretary says over the intercom in the gym, saving me from Erin's grilling.

...

Chapter 25: Confusing Signs

After changing out of my gym clothes, I wait for Erin in the hallway before we make our way to the administrative building. We walk down the impeccably polished hall and enter the principal's waiting room, where the secretary waves us on into the office.

"Renton, Erin, we have a situation," Melody's father says with his back to us as we walk through the dimly lit room to his desk.

"What's going on?" I inquire.

"A group of blood mages has come. Reports indicate that they've set up shop at a cemetery on the outskirts of town," Mr. Sheffield informs us and one thing immediately pops into my mind.

"Is Necromancy a thing in this world? Using mana to raise the dead?" I ask.

"Using mana to raise the dead? No...Although, there are several incidents of Sparks using galvanism to reanimate the dead, but it's a very high level craft," Mr. Sheffield answers.

"Galvanism?" I inquire.

"Based on the work of Luigi Galvani, it involves contracting muscles using electrical currents. If a Spark is powerful enough and well informed enough, they can control a dead body if they establish a direct connection with some electrodes. Galvani was actually the first recorded Spark to pull it off," Mr. Sheffield replies.

"To give you some perspective, I've tried it a couple of times and couldn't get it to really work without several pins placed on the body that were connected to copper wiring. Basically, it wasn't much more than a meat puppet. While an interesting party trick, there aren't any practical applications," Erin chimes in. Her answer tells me that she's thought about this topic a lot.

"Probably the most famous instance of galvanism being used is in the movie, _Weekend at Bernard's_ ," Mr. Sheffield informs me. The premise of that movie must be drastically different in this world...

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about that," I comment.

"This threat needs to be dealt with swiftly," Mr. Sheffield says.

"We'll take care of them tonight. Erin, I'll need you there to help with detection, but let me handle the fighting since they can't kill me easily," I say and Erin opens her mouth to protest before she closes it and reluctantly nods.

"Thanks," I tell her.

"I'll give Erin a car to use and she can drive to your house to pick you up tonight," Mr. Sheffield adds.

"Sounds like a plan to me," I reply.

"Good. You two can head back to class now," Mr. Sheffield tells us and we walk out of his office before passing by his secretary and leaving the waiting room.

"So, do you want to stop in the nurse's office for a quick romp before heading to lunch?" Erin asks as we walk down the hall.

"Ha," I answer.

Erin grabs my hand and stops walking.

"What if...What if I was serious...? What if I wanted you to love me?" Erin timidly asks while grasping my hand and avoiding my eyes in a way that is strangely endearing to me.

"I know that I can't compete with Melody, but..." Erin says with her voice cracking.

Erin looks up at me through her brow and pouts slightly as I feel myself cave and close the gap between us. I've never really thought of Erin in that way, but something about seeing her so vulnerable is definitely doing something for me. She actually looks...cute?

"Erin..." I gently say as I caress her cheek and move my head down towards hers.

"What if...it weren't such a simple task to seduce you?" Erin whispers and a huge grin breaks out across her face.

"Oh man, I got you good!" Erin giggles as she continues walking down the hallway.

"No you didn't. I was just playing along. Seeing how far you would go," I lie.

"Sure," Erin sarcastically replies.

"Let's just go to lunch," I say and walk past her, out of the administrative building.

Erin follows me across the snowy lawn over towards the cafeteria building.

"Just admit it! You were going to kiss me," Erin calls out.

"No, I was going to stop a couple centimeters from your face and make it your move," I reply.

"So you were going to put yourself in the position where I could easily kiss you? To me, that sounds like you wanted to kiss me, but were too much of a pussy to follow through," Erin taunts.

I kind of talked myself into a corner, didn't I? I stop walking and turn towards her.

"Fine...I'll admit that your acting was rather convincing and seeing you be that vulnerable was appealing to me and I thought you looked pretty cute. Happy?" I ask and Erin's smile fades as her cheeks flush slightly.

"Now that's impressive. How do you make your cheeks flush like that?" I inquire as Erin looks down and walks past me without another word...Wait a second, was that genuine?

"Renton!" I hear Melody call out behind me.

"Hey, what're you doing out of class early?" I ask.

"I told Coach Michaels that I had cramps and wanted to go to the nurse so I could come check on you. What did my dad want?" Melody questions.

"He just wanted to see how Erin was adjusting and to make sure that everything was kosher between us after a couple of rumors reached his ears," I lie.

"Oh, okay," Melody replies.

"Erin ran off towards the cafeteria, do you want to join us for lunch?" I ask.

"Sure," Melody replies with a smile and we walk together.

We head into the cafeteria and I wait with her in line for lunch.

"Do you want to get something to eat, Renton? My treat," Melody offers.

"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind a slice of pizza," I say and Melody grabs another slice to go along with hers.

"Could you grab me a diet cola from the cooler and whatever you want?" Melody asks and I walk over to the cooler.

I grab a diet cola and a citrus dew before rejoining Melody in line. She pays for our food and I look around for Erin. I spot her eating alone at a table at the back of the cafeteria so I lead Melody over to it.

"Hey Erin!" Melody greets as we sit down at her table.

"Hello Melody," Erin replies.

I stare across the table at Erin and she meets my gaze without looking awkward or nervous.

"What is it?" Erin asks.

"Nothing," I answer while trying to decipher what's happened between us in the past ten minutes.

Maybe I was just reading too much into her reaction...or maybe she can flush her cheeks at will. I turn my attention to my lunch and take a bite of my pizza.

"Did something happen between you two? The air between you is really awkward..." Melody states.

"Nope," Erin replies.

"Okay...so how are you liking Graythorn?" Melody asks.

"Well, it's amusing. I've never been to school before—I always had private tutors—so this is sort of a new experience to me," Erin answers.

"How did you get to be a...you know," Melody inquires with a hushed tone.

"I was adopted by the Syndicate when I was eight years old. The woman who birthed me was a prostitute that left me in the care of her pimp before abandoning me. It wasn't the best of situations and I remember being quite happy as I watched the Syndicate assassin kill that man. Vince was impressed by my lack of fear, asked me about my situation, and took me with him. Out of gratitude, I took on his last name. I became friends with Melanie and was trained as her bodyguard. The rest is history," Erin recalls.

I'd never heard Erin's story before. It's rather tragic, but I know better than to respond with pity—that'd just make her angry.

"Hey guys," Jose greets as he and Alexa walk over to the table.

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask.

"Well, when Melody left, I decided to shroud us out of there," Jose answers.

"But you're wearing your uniform," I reply.

"So I shrouded Alexa, escorted her over to the vacant girls' locker room where we had sex in the showers before I went and got changed! Do you need all of the details!?" Jose asks.

"Yes! I do need all of the details! Were you still shrouded when you had sex? Were the showers on? Did you have to get on your knees or just bend over slightly to reach for the pregame?" I question.

"Dude, low blow," Jose replies.

"Sorry...and that's what she said," I respond.

"Nice!" Jose chuckles.

"Alexa?" Melody asks with a questioning look.

"What? Of course we didn't! Yes, Jose shrouded me into the locker room, but then he immediately went to go change! He didn't even come in!" Alexa exclaims.

"A little premature, were we?" I ask Jose.

"I'm so fast the ladies call me Speedy Gonzales!" Jose replies and I start cracking up.

"Augh! No you're not!" Alexa exasperatedly exclaims.

"You sure said that with a lot of certainty, Alexa," I tease and her face flushes.

"Alright, that's enough picking on my little Lexi," Melody interrupts as she hugs Alexa.

"Mel..." Alexa whines and hugs Melody back as Jose and I become extremely interested.

"Hey Renton, remember that thing I was talking about in the gym supply room?" Erin asks with a sly smile.

"Well, I think I'm going to head to history now. See you all later!" I say as I stand up.

"Bye Renton!" Melody replies as I walk away.

I head through the cafeteria doors and across the walkway to the side entrance of the main building before turning left into Chet's room.

"Hey Renton. How do you feel?" Lily asks when I walk in.

"Better, thanks," I reply.

"That's good. How are things with Erin?" Lily inquires.

"You already know that she transferred in?" I ask.

"Yeah, Melody told me when I saw her earlier, but even if she hadn't, the story of you and Erin hooking up in the bathroom would have tipped me off," Lily answers.

"Great...her little prank is going to follow me for weeks," I say.

"By the way, can we talk about what happened a few days ago? Specifically if it has anything to do with the premonition I gave you," Lily asks.

"It did, but don't worry. Since I still haven't started my harem and had sex with you, Alexa, and a penguin, the world isn't going to end just yet," I tell her with a straight face. Lily responds with a wide-eyed stare while cocking her head to the side.

"I'm messing with you. How crazy have some of your premonitions been if you actually believed that?" I inquire.

"No comment," Lily answers, leaving me to my imagination as Chet enters the room whistling a cheerful tune.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" I ask.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Chet replies and stops whistling. Well, that's not suspicious or anything.

History class proceeds to get even weirder once it starts. Chet acts like a normal teacher and actually teaches us things that involve books—not visual aids, or movies. He loses his place and stalls about six times, like something else is on his mind. As I'm trying to figure out what in the hell is going on—juggling between a bloat fly larva in his brain, neurosyphilis, or a body controlling brain slug that happens to be invisible—the bell rings.

"I guess that's it for today. I'll see you all tomorrow," Chet says, dismissing the class.

I grab my stuff and walk with Lily to our next class.

"So...that was weird," I say as we head down the crowded hall.

"What? The fact that Chet was acting like our teacher instead of our irresponsible uncle who buys us alcohol even though we're in high school because he's trying to hook up with one of our friends?" Lily asks.

"Yeah, that," I answer.

"Yeah, that was weird," Lily replies as we walk into the classroom.

"Renton, in my office. Everyone else, here are the runes I want you to study for today," Ms. Petridge announces the moment Lily and I enter the room.

I follow Hannah into her back office. She shuts the door behind me and silences the room.

"You missed my class before break. Why is that?" Ms. Petridge asks.

"I missed class for reasons that I can't tell you. I don't want to put you in danger," I answer with a half-smile.

"You know, your power made me curious...curious enough to look back over some things I read in college. When I first saw you crack my strongest barrier, it was somehow familiar to me. It wasn't until I reread this passage that I realized why," Hannah says and hands me a photocopy of what appears to be a journal entry.

"It's translated from the original Akkadian so there are bound to be inaccuracies, but the overall gist of it is what's important," Hannah informs me as I start reading.

Circa spring 3800bce

In my travels to create a ward strong enough to protect my people from demons, I encountered what appeared to be a low level demon in a forest near Uruk. The demon was much stronger than expected. It broke through my barrier and proceeded to attack me. As I stared death in the face, a man cloaked in black rushed to my aid. The man hit the demon with his fist, causing the demon's face to crack and chip off like clay. The demon roared and charged the man, hitting him into a tree. The man stood up as though he had suffered no damage and charged the demon. The man hit the demon three more times with moves that were too fast for me to see. The demon laid on its back, twitching slightly as the man crouched next to the demon and drove his hand through the demon's neck.

It was at this time that I noticed the black cloak that the man wore was not a cloak at all, but smoke-like in nature. Thinking that this was no man, I immediately cast my strongest barrier, boxing the demon in as I prayed to the gods for protection. The demon raised its hand and put it against the barrier, not even feeling the harmful effects. The barrier shattered like a clay pot and the demon emerged.

'Stay back, demon!' I yelled at it.

'I am no demon. I am simply a protector that failed in his duty. I failed to protect the key. I failed to protect her.' it replied with an infinitesimal amount of sorrow on its face.

It then turned and walked away, deeper into the forest.

I find that the paper is shaking by the time I finish reading the passage, Lily's premonition about 'the Key of Worlds' ringing through my head. Does this mean that there have been others like me? That there have been others like Melody? Were the other people like me also from different worlds? I need to know more, but at the same time, I don't want this to get out.

(Ask for her assistance...and ensure her discretion)

"Hannah, I want you to find as much information on people like the one in this story as you can and at the same time, I want you to tell no one. Do I make myself clear?" I sternly ask as her eyes grow wide and fearful.

"Do I make myself clear?" I repeat.

Hannah opens her mouth, but no words escape her throat so she nods.

"Good," I reply and walk towards the door before noticing that my left hand is 'aflame'.

I shake my hand out and the smoke disappears before I exit Hannah's office. I sit down at a desk and wait while my classmates work on their assignment. Hannah doesn't emerge from her office until about ten minutes later.

"You're all dismissed for today," Hannah quietly announces.

Without another word, I stand and make my way to the library for study hall. I walk to the right corner of the library and sit down at the usual table, still ruminating over that ancient journal entry.

"Renton, what happened in the office?" Melody asks as she walks in with Erin, Lily, Alexa, Jose, and Tetsuya's silent self.

"What are you talking about?" I play dumb.

"Ms. Petridge went in there with a serious expression, one that you came out with a full ten minutes before a visibly shaken Ms. Petridge emerged," Melody breaks down.

"It's nothing important," I reply.

Melody just stares at me for a few moments, a combination of concern and irritation on her face.

"So, what do we do in study hall?" Erin asks.

"We're supposed to work on things from our other classes, but we mostly just talk," Melody replies while still looking at me before she finally tears her attention away.

"What do you generally talk about?" Erin questions.

"Random stuff. The first time Renton had study hall, we all used it to ask about his life, which led to a fairly awkward situation..." Melody trails off while seemingly lost in the memory of the event.

"Oh, well then, I have a question. Why are guys so interested in watching two girls together? Let's keep it simple and say watch two girls make out," Erin poses.

"What? Not all guys are interested in something like that," I reply.

"Oh, really?" Erin asks with a mischievous smile. She stands up and walks around the table to Melody before sitting in her lap.

"Erin, what are you doing?" Melody nervously asks like she's having a little trouble breathing.

Erin caresses Melody's cheek and moves her face towards Melody's. Of course, by this time I've already pulled my phone out and opened up the camera app, almost on reflex. Erin stops a few centimeters from Melody's face and turns towards me.

"This is what I was talking about," Erin says while gesturing towards me.

I look to my right and see Jose has his cell phone out, and so does Tetsuya on my left. We all look back and forth at each other for several moments.

"Brothers!" I exclaim and raise my phone in the air.

"Brothers!" Jose and Tetsuya repeat as we all feel the bonds of a lifelong friendship being forged...for a lifetime that is probably going to be over rather quickly based on the way that Alexa is glaring at us.

"Sorry, Alexa. If it makes you feel any better, I—" Jose starts to say before I slowly shake my head, guessing that he was going to say something about how he'd rather it be Alexa in Melody's position, which is not going to help the situation at all.

Erin gets off of Melody's lap and returns to her seat. She seems to have no issues whatsoever about intimacy with other girls...I wonder why that is.

(How do you think I learned to kiss?)

"...Awesome."

...

Chapter 26: Cemetery Assault

The doorbell of my house rings at about 7pm while I'm sitting on the couch. I get up and answer the door to find Erin standing there wearing black jeans and a tight, black leather jacket.

"Oh, Liza! I forgot to tell you, but I have a project in science so I'm going over to Melody's house to work on it with her, Erin, and Alexa. I'll probably be home later. If you don't hear from me, it means that I probably fell asleep at Melody's house," I call out.

"Oh! Okay! I'll see you later then. Have fun!" Liza exclaims from upstairs, her intonation sounding slightly off in a way that I can't decipher, but I don't have time to ask.

"Alright, bye!" I reply, grab my dark blue hoodie from the entryway closet, and walk out the door.

I follow Erin down to the Escalade that she drove here and I get into the car. We drive in silence for thirty minutes until we reach the cemetery. Erin shuts off the lights when she turns down the road into the cemetery before pulling the car off to the side and parking it just past the entrance.

"Can you sense where they are?" I ask.

"Just a second...alright, I'm getting quite a bit of interference, but there's definitely at least one about a kilometer away in that direction," Erin answers while pointing to my 2 o'clock.

"Alright, stay here while I go take care of this," I reply.

"Just to let you know, I am not pleased with this situation," Erin says.

"I know, but thank you for listening to me...I can't afford to lose anyone else I care about," I softly say. Erin turns away from me in response.

"Just...Just be careful," Erin tells me.

"I will," I respond and get out of the car, turning the overhead light on.

I notice that Erin's right cheek looks rather red as I softly close the car door before bumping is shut with my hip, fully closing the door while avoiding a loud sound. I start quickly walking in the direction that Erin told me, arriving at the first headstones with low-lying fog hanging around them. Why did the blood mages have to be hiding out at a graveyard and why do graveyards have to be so creepy? As I walk through the cemetery, a small house comes into view; I really wish that I had my spiked-knuckle blades right about now.

(You have enough on reserve to summon them)

I clap my hands together and picture the blades as I duck down behind a headstone, unsure of how long this will take. Slowly but surely, the black smoke comes in towards my hands before condensing into liquid. The spiked-knuckle blades eventually form, taking nearly two minutes from when I clapped my hands together. With my weapons formed, I get up and start moving towards the house again.

"WELCOME, RENTON RILEY!" a female voice calls out from the top of a hill to my left.

I look over to where the voice came from and see a pale woman with long black hair, dark eyes, and ruby lips wearing form-fitting jeans and a black sweater. With the moonlight shining down on top of the hill through the clouds to illuminate her, and with all the fog hanging around, I get the feeling that something really creepy is about to happen, or that could just be because we're in a fucking graveyard.

"Did you know that an electric charge field can possibly notify others of the user's presence? I take it that Erin Vega is the user?" the blood mage questions and I remain silent.

"That's fine. I can verify that it's her when my minions are finished with her. Speaking of, I think you should probably meet them!" she exclaims and cuts into her left palm with the silver ring on her right hand.

She squeezes her left hand, letting her blood drip into the grass. Prior experience is telling me that I am not going to like this. When the ground closest to her—more importantly, next to the headstones closest to her—start to burst upward like large moles are emerging from it, I realize that my hunch was correct. I hear the distinctive crack of lightning coming from the direction of the car as the corpses emerge from the ground in various states of decay.

Erin should be able to handle herself...hopefully...I should probably hurry up here and go help her, just in case. The corpses stumble to their feet, look around for a few seconds, and then look to the blood mage.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go get him!" she commands.

The corpses turn towards me and charge at a speed that is much faster than they have any right to be going as decayed flesh and bone. I sidestep the outstretched arms of the pack leader and bring my right spiked-knuckle blade through its neck, severing its head.

"You're going to have to try harder than that!" the blood mage calls out as the headless corpse turns around and continues its attack.

I spin around him before taking a hard hit from my left that sends me to the ground. I quickly recover and run to avoid becoming surrounded. Alright Renton, think logically. There has to be some explanation for why this is happening and galvanism isn't it. Since that one kept moving after I cut off its head, this has nothing to do with the brain or central nervous system, which would be decayed and unusable anyway. In fact, their muscles shouldn't be usable either. The only thing that would still work is their bones, which have no way to move on their own, unless...oh.

I turn around and smack the corpse that was on my tail with my left hand, causing it to collapse into a heap at my feet and confirm my guess: they're basically just bone golems and nothing more. I rush back towards the corpses, dodge around their bony fingers, and smack them with my left hand as I go. Claw-like finger bones carve into my right bicep before I jump back. These are not enemies that are difficult to defeat individually, but their sheer numbers and the fact that I can only use my left hand to defeat them do put me at a disadvantage.

I can only imagine how Erin is doing...since I haven't heard the crack of more lightning, my guess is that Erin has realized that it won't work so she switched tactics...I hope, since the only other alternative is...Regardless, I need to end this quickly and help Erin since she doesn't have an easy way to stop them. Since normal golems are tied to their master's mana, there's a decent chance that if I kill the link between them and the blood mage, all of the corpses will fall apart.

I turn my attention towards the blood mage and see her gleaming smile pointed in my direction. I sprint up the hill towards her, hitting corpses with my left hand as I go. When I'm about halfway up the hill, I suddenly trip and face-plant. Looking back reveals that a bony hand grabbing my ankle is what tripped me. A brush of my left hand causes the bones to fall apart before I stand up and continue on my assault path towards the blood mage.

More corpses spring out of the ground as I get closer to my target. Only the ones that are directly in my path get destroyed and I just ignore the rest; once I lay my hand on the blood mage, it won't matter anyway. I dodge around some more corpses as I get within fifteen meters of the blood mage. As I'm closing in, she just keeps smiling—she doesn't run or look worried at all. I finally get in close and grab her right wrist with my left hand, but she makes no attempts to resist as her corpse dolls fall apart around us.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" I cautiously ask while slightly out of breath.

"Because I have no hope of defeating you," the blood mage answers, her smile never faltering.

"Then why engage me at all if you already knew that?" I question.

"Because I knew that I could at least distract you and buy some time," the blood mage replies as her smile widens and my expression falls.

"What do you mean?" I inquire.

"At this moment, one of my associates is in the process of blowing up your house while the other is leading a team of commandos to kidnap the Key. I doubt you will have time to rescue them both. Who will you choose!?" she asks with a maniacal expression before she starts laughing.

I need to get moving so I bring my right blade towards her neck, but then I pause. I'd normally just kill her since she's a blood mage, but won't killing a woman leave a bad taste in my mouth? Even worse, what if I discover that I like it and it awakens something in me to the point where I go on cross-country hooker killing sprees!? Is that misogynistic?

(Yes! If you believe in equal rights then you will kill this woman just like you would if she were a man!)

"I don't think fighting for equal rights by punching one girl at a time will really work..."

While I'm contemplating this, a dagger suddenly sinks into the blood mage's neck, severing her spinal cord. The blood mage collapses, blood flowing from both sides of her neck as the life drains from her eyes.

"What a gentleman, pausing before killing a woman," Erin says to my left, sounding out of breath.

I turn towards her and see that her jeans are ripped, her jacket is scratched, and she's bleeding a bit, but she doesn't seem to be seriously injured.

"We have to hurry," I tell her as I start running towards the car.

"Why?" Erin asks as she follows me.

"One blood mage is moving to blow up my house while the other is going to kidnap Melody," I tell her.

Okay, so we'll run home, grab Liza before the bomb goes off, take her with us, and then we go rescue Melody. Sounds like a plan. Wait a second, why don't I just call instead? I reach for my phone before finding that it's absent; I must've left it on the couch. We reach the car and I go around to jump in the passenger seat while Erin gets in and starts the car.

"I need to use your phone to call Liza," I tell Erin.

"I didn't bring it," Erin replies.

"Damn! Can you set up a communication circle?" I ask.

"Unless Liza has a receiver circle ready nearby, it won't do any good!" Erin answers.

And since pay phones no longer exist, we're out of options.

"Drive to my house," I say.

"Why is Liza the priority?" Erin inquires.

"Because completing that objective is faster. All we have to do is run in and grab Liza before heading to protect Melody instead of thwarting a kidnapping before a bomb has the chance to go off," I answer.

Erin doesn't ask any more questions and starts speeding to my house. Luckily, we manage not to pass by any cops so we don't have any hindrances for going 100kph in a 45kph zone. I'm really glad that Erin is such a skilled driver. We pull down my street and I jump out of the car several houses down in case the blood mage is still here before sprinting towards my house to get Liza out of there.

As I reach the front yard, a force suddenly hits my chest and I find myself lying on my back as my ears ring. A chunk of wood falls and hits me in the head. Blood trickles down from my forehead as I sit up, causing my head to spin. Once my dizziness subsides slightly and I can comprehend my surroundings, my eyes go wide. The ringing in my ears dulls down and I hear the crackling of the fire that is consuming the rubble that used to be my house.

"LIZA!" I scream as I stand up and rush towards the fire.

I stop five meters from the flames and see that the only thing still standing is the concrete infrastructure of the house.

No one could have survived that...

She's gone...Liza's dead, and it's my fault...again. She stayed by my side...She worried about me getting hurt...I should've seen that she would be the one to get hurt because of me...but now it's too late...

"Ha...Hahaha...HAHAHAHA!" I laugh as something cracks inside of me.

"HAHAHAHA!" I continue to laugh as energy floods my veins and black smoke starts to rise up from my body.

My head turns sideways as I look to the left and see a wide-eyed man with dark hair and dark eyes. A broad grin spreads across my face as I instinctively know that he is a blood mage. When he notices my attention, the blood mage turns and starts running away. Well, we can't have that!

I reach out towards his right ankle and close my fist. The blood mage skips across the ground before he rolls over and looks at his right foot, only to find it lying a meter away. He screams out in pain while I laugh and slowly walk towards him. I suddenly find myself engulfed in flames, but I don't feel the heat from them as black smoke continues to rise off of my body. I learn what the face of fear looks like when the blood mage sees my expression as I break through the flames and sprint towards him. I jump on top of him, take my right spiked-knuckle blade, and perforate his abdomen twenty-six times. The blood mage screams in pain at the streams of blood leaking out of his stomach before his wounds start closing. That just won't do!

I wrap my left hand around his throat, stopping the regeneration before I repeatedly bring the blade in my right hand into his torso. Blood splatters across my face each time I pull the blade out of his stomach. His face turns blue and his eyes bulge as choked screams escape his throat from the repeated stabbings.

"Renton?" I hear Erin ask with uncertainty behind me.

"Just a moment!" I tell her and quickly tighten my left hand.

The blood mage gurgles through his crushed windpipe as his bulged eyes stare into mine. I rather dislike the way they're looking at me so I bring the blade in my right hand into each of them until they're no longer identifiable. I chuckle slightly as I stand up and turn towards Erin with a broad, unblinking, smile.

"Erin, drive me to Melody's house. There's at least one more of them that is responsible for this in the city, which is just unacceptable!" I exclaim.

Erin nods with a fearful expression that is unfamiliar to me and looks out of place. I run back to the car as Erin follows before we hop in and get going. During the drive, I notice that the black smoke is still rising off of my body, but unlike smoke or any kind of gas, it isn't filling up the car. Rather than contemplate what exactly is going on, I think about what I'm going to do once I catch up to the one that killed Liza. I think rending the flesh from their bodies while they're still conscious would be a fitting punishment, but perhaps I need to be more extreme?

As we're driving down the road, something odd catches my attention: two armored vans pass by us. Erin pulls down Melody's private road and we see that the gate has been blown open.

"Erin, go check to make sure that everyone is still alive and help anyone who's hurt. I'm going after Melody," I tell Erin as the black smoke expands into an inferno.

"Where's—" Erin starts to ask.

"She was in one of the armored vans that we drove past," I interrupt with a certainty that doesn't really make sense to me.

"I'll bring her back," I add as pain wracks my body.

Chapter 27: Ritual

My vision blurs and I see the road quickly passing by below me before I spot the vans. I suddenly find myself laying on the roof of one of the vans as they speed down the highway. I don't know if Melody is in this van or the other one, but now isn't the time to make my move. If I do, the van will crash and Melody might get hurt. So instead, I cling to the roof of the van for what seems to be about an hour as we drive out of Avalon and start passing by open fields and farmland. By the time the van pulls to the stop outside of an old fashioned farmhouse with a barn thirty meters to the right, I'm cold but so filled with tingly rage that I can't really feel it!

"Take the Key into the basement. The others should already be prepping for the ceremony to open the gate," I hear a man order as about ten mages exit the van I'm on top of and another ten exit the other.

A sharply dressed man exits the other van as two mages follow him out, carrying an unconscious and bound Melody between them. I drop down from the top of the van and stab my spiked-knuckle blades into the necks of two mages, severing their spinal columns. The other mages go on alert and launch spells at me before I focus the smoke coming off of my body and throw my hands forward. The Void force knocks over several mages, but the sharply dressed blood mage seems unaffected as he starts slowly clapping.

"Quite impressive, Protector! I look forward to seeing what I can do once I have power like yours. Take the Key inside," the blood mage tells me and orders the two mages behind him.

"What are you talking about?" I ask as the mages take Melody into the house.

If she stays out here, she might get caught in the crossfire so this is for the best.

"What? Do you really not realize why we're doing this? What we plan to use the Key for?" the blood mage smugly asks.

"No," I answer.

"You don't know how we plan to use the Key to become unstoppable?" the blood mage inquires.

"No," I reply.

"You don't know how we plan to use the Key to take over the world?" the blood mage questions.

"No..." I respond with an exasperated tone.

"You really don't know that we plan to sacrifice the Key to open up the gate that will return demons to this world, allowing us to harness their power to rule?" the blood mage asks.

"No—well, actually I do now, so yes. And now that I have that information, it's about time I killed you," I answer.

"By the way, how's that sister of yours?" the blood mage inquires with a broad smile. I return the smile as the black inferno increases around me.

"What's your name?" I ask with my broad smile.

"Eric, why do you ask?" Eric questions.

"I wanted to know before you could no longer speak since I'm going to cut out your tongue. Then I'm going to carve out your left eye so that your depth perception is off when you watch me rip out your still beating heart," I tell him, his smile never faltering.

"Well then, let's get this started," Eric replies.

I charge at Eric as a red sword forms in his hand and he meets my charge. I'm slightly surprised when he matches my speed and strength, and while I have two blades, his sword is about five times the length of my weapons so I'm still at a bit of a disadvantage. Also it could be the fact that I have no formal training with blades so I've been winging it this whole time. Eric pushes me back as I try to get in close, but the most I can do is block his attacks.

"Having a little trouble, Protector?" Eric smugly asks while keeping up his fluid attacks.

Wait, isn't his sword made out of his blood using magic? Eric brings his sword down towards my left shoulder before I move my open left hand to intercept it. However, instead of melting into a puddle like I was expecting, the blood sword cuts into my hand.

"Your power won't work on this sword, Protector. I solidified my blood using magic, but now it's just an artificial substance," Eric informs me as the sword cuts into my hand.

I keep myself from screaming as I slash at Eric, but I just can't reach. Since I can't reach, I focus the black smoke into each of my hands. I sublime his sword with my left hand while throwing a right hook at his face. I still can't reach, but the Void force more than can. Eric sees my punch coming and shifts his head to the side, avoiding most of the force. While it wasn't enough to decapitate him like I was hoping, the Void force was enough to stagger him. While he's staggered, I move in and slash him with my right blade, cutting his stomach open as he recovers and jumps back.

Eric smirks at me as blood flows out of his stomach before the blood forms into two swords in his hands and the bleeding stops. I charge at him and we lock blades.

"You can't stop us, Protector! The Key will be sacrificed and we shall rule supreme!" Eric exclaims.

"You bastards already took Melanie and Liza from me...I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO TAKE MELODY TOO!"

The black smoke expanding off of me suddenly reverses and starts soaking into my skin, turning the V-shaped scar on my hand black as I notice that my veins appear to be filled with ink under the skin of both of my forearms and hands. Eric's swords suddenly start to sublime as a worried expression plagues his face. My blades pass through them and start a trajectory towards his neck.

A dozen red spears erupt from Eric's stomach as my blades hit his neck and scissor through it. The spears of blood hold the decapitated body up as the pain hits me. I throw both of my hands forward and the Void force pushes the body away, painfully pulling the spears out of my stomach. The pain blurs my vision and gives me the urge to curl into a ball, but I ignore it and turn towards the farm house.

It's about time I got Melody out of here.

As I kick the door to the farmhouse in, the five mages in the living room go on alert. One charges at me to intercept me, a Lifter judging by his speed, before I block his knife with my right blade. Taking into consideration that he's a Lifter and will be able to heal any damage without needing to speak, I bring my left blade through his neck and decapitate him as my stomach burns from the dozen holes.

I throw my left hand up on instinct as a stream of water and lightning come towards me. The electrified water current is neutralized and I charge towards the Sprite and Spark that are responsible. I decide to end this quickly with a simultaneous slash through each of their necks. Flames suddenly erupt around me before they're neutralized and I turn my attention towards the Hothead that caused them, resulting in him getting the same treatment as his comrades. The last mage is running down the hallway before I focus the Void force at his left leg. He trips and falls as I run down the hall and jump on top of him, driving my right blade into the back of his neck.

My stomach painfully protests as I stand back up. I wonder why it hasn't healed yet.

(The amount of trauma is too much to be healed with such low concentrations of Void while you are actively using it)

Well, it's going to have to wait until Melody is safe. I head down the hallway and start opening doors to find the stairs that lead into the basement. I find it halfway down on the left and make my way down the wooden steps, preparing myself for the ambush that is undoubtedly awaiting me. However, when I reach the bottom of the steps, I don't find the remaining fifteen mages ready to ambush me. Instead, I see three chanting blood mages, a black circle that is about ten meters in diameter, a shit-ton of blood in the circle, and Melody lying in the center of said blood. My guess is that the other mages 'donated' the blood in the circle.

A geyser of black smoke suddenly erupts from the circle and shoots through the roof. My body feels tingly as I feel the Void concentrations in the room rising, causing my stomach to itch as it stitches back together—that can't be a sign of anything good. I condense as much Void as I can before I throw three punches at the blood mages. The punches to the two blood mages on the sides of the circle connect and send them flying into the concrete wall with two satisfying squishes, but the third punch doesn't seem to connect with the blood mage on the far side of the geyser.

I race around the geyser and wrap my left hand around the blood mage's throat as I lift her up off of the ground.

"You're...too late...the gate...has been...opened...you can't...save her..." the blood mage chokes out with a smile on her face.

"We'll see about that," I reply and snap her neck.

I drop her body and rush towards the geyser to get to Melody. The moment I reach the edge, I bounce off of the geyser and land on my ass—does this thing have surface tension? I stand back up and stick my left hand into the geyser, easily breaking the surface and feeling like I've lit my hand on fire before it comes flying out on reflex. I have to go in there and get Melody out.

"You can do this, Renton," I tell myself as I step into the black geyser, feeling like I'm swimming in flaming Jell-O.

"You can do this. You can do this! AUGH! YOU HAVE TO DO THIS! YOU HAVE TO SAVE MELODY! DAMMIT! YOU AREN'T GOING TO LET ANYONE ELSE YOU CARE ABOUT DIE, RIGHT!?" I scream with gritted teeth as it feels like every cell in my body is on fire.

I bend backwards with the pain and see that a perfect hole has been cut out of the ceiling, exposing the starry sky. After recovering, I trudge onward, keeping focused on the hazy sight of Melody in front of me as I hear myself screaming.

Only three meters to go.

Get to Melody. Get her out of here.

Two meters.

You have to save her, Renton!

One meter. Just a little further!

I give my body a final push and collapse next to Melody. I drag myself over to her and hold her close to me.

"Renton?" Melody asks as her eyes flutter open, seemingly immune to what is causing me so much pain; well, I'd rather it be like this than the other way around.

"Hi Melody," I strain to say through gritted teeth as I start succumbing to the pain and my vision darkens.

"Renton!" Melody exclaims.

The last thing I see is a small, black circle beneath us.

...

Chapter 28: Shocking Revelations

What happened next is a situation that I'm sure you, of all people, can sympathize with, kid.

...

The sun's rays warm my body as I feel a gentle breeze pass over me. The sound of children laughing in the distance reaches my ears, along with the sound of passing cars. I open my eyes to find that I'm lying on the side of a lush green hill. I look to my right and find that Melody is laying next to me before a wave of nausea hits me. After quickly turning to my left, I vomit a decent amount of black sludge while noticing that my scar has returned to its normal flesh tone and that my veins are no longer visible.

(You should transmute that into your weapons. You will need them and the Void concentration is very low in this world, which is a good thing considering that this wouldn't have ended well for you had you absorbed any more at this point in time)

I take Melanie's suggestion and set my left hand in my pile of black vomit while trying not to be grossed out by it. Two spiked-knuckle blades form out of the sludge and I slip them into my pants pockets with the blades pointed up before I turn towards Melody.

"Melody? Wake up, Melody," I gently tell her with my hand on her shoulder.

"Renton?" Melody asks before she groans and stretches in an unintentionally sexy manner.

Even though it was unintentional, I still struggle not to stare down her white, v-cut shirt, which oddly doesn't have even a drop of blood on it. I look down at my clothing and notice that there isn't any blood on me either, but there are a dozen holes the size of quarters in the front of my jacket and shirt, and probably in the back too now that I think about it. Melody's bindings also seem to be nowhere in sight. Did we somehow get cleaned up before coming here?

"Where are we?" Melody inquires as she sits up while I continue to stare down her shirt.

"Renton?" Melody questions, snapping me out of my trance.

"Oh, uh, I don't know," I reply and look around.

It appears that we are in a park of some sort. There's a small grove of pine trees to our right, a field of grass to the left, rows of townhouses in the distance, and a playground in front of us, roughly two hundred meters away. When I see the playground, I'm suddenly reminded of playing with my mother when I was a child, at that very playground.

"No way," I say in shock as I stand up and jog over to the playground.

"Renton?" Melody calls out after me.

I head past the playground and out of the entrance to the park before I take a right. I run for about a block before I stop on the street corner and turn left.

"Renton...what's going on?" Melody asks when she catches up to me, breathing heavily.

"Melody...I think I'm home..." I tell her in shock.

"Wait, you mean we're in the world that you originally came from?" Melody inquires and I nod.

"Come on, Melody. My house isn't too far from here, provided that my mom didn't move," I tell her and start walking down the street.

Two blocks later, I stop in front of a townhouse with a silver Audi A4 parked out front; the house that I was starting to think I'd never see again. I find myself frozen at the base of the stairs, unable to walk up that first step. I feel Melody grab my right hand and I turn towards her to find her supportively smiling at me. I turn back towards the house, take a deep breath, and walk up the six steps to my front door.

I press the latch of the door handle down and find that the door is unlocked. Melody and I walk into the entryway as I take the familiar sight in. The stairs leading to my bedroom are to the left, the sunken living room to my right, and the hallway that leads to the kitchen in front of us. After slipping my shoes off in the entryway, I walk down the hallway to the kitchen with its modern chrome furnishing. Standing at 170cm tall with long blonde hair in front of the island counter of the kitchen, is my mother.

"Mom?" I ask, choking up as tears form in the corners of my eyes.

My mother turns around and her blue eyes look from me to Melody.

"Mommy?" Melody asks.

"Melody?" my mother asks in shock.

"What!?" I exclaim.

Wait, does this mean that Melody is my sister!? Melody told me that she made her mother disappear when she was five years old and if this timeline moves slightly faster, it is possible...

"Wa-huh—are you—what is—ugh," I sputter out before becoming intimately acquainted with the tile floor.

Well, at least I didn't have sex with her...

...

I awaken to an unknown warmth beneath my head and open my eyes to find Melody's green irises gazing down at me as she runs her hand through my hair. I immediately jolt upright and scramble away from her.

"Renton?" Melody asks, looking hurt while sitting on the couch.

"You understand what's going on, right Melody? Obviously this world is on an expedited timeline and I'm your half-brother!" I exclaim as I stand up and turn towards her.

"Renton, perhaps you should sit down," Melody pitifully suggests.

"That means that everything we've done and the feelings we have for each other are wrong! So very wrong! And— then—what—huh," I say before I become reacquainted with the floor.

"Jeez, you'd think he was part fainting goat," I hear my mother say before everything goes dark.

...

I awaken once again to find myself lying on the couch, but I'm alone this time. I slowly stand up and walk into the kitchen to find my mother standing in it.

"Don't speak. Don't think. Just eat this," my mother interrupts when I open my mouth as she sets a sandwich on the counter.

I sit down on the bar stool at the kitchen island and eat the sandwich: ham and cheese with a little bit of Dijon mustard on wheat bread.

"You always make sandwiches just how I like them," I say as I start tearing up.

"Renton, you seem to be stuck in a misunderstanding," my mother starts.

"Wait, so Melody isn't my sister? Was I adopted?" I ask.

"No, Melody isn't your sister...because you aren't my son," she tells me.

"Even if I was adopted, I'm still your son...aren't I?" I question, hurt by her words.

"Renton...I haven't seen you before today," she says.

"I know, I've been gone for quite a while, huh?" I reply.

"No, Renton. Today was the first time I've ever seen you," she explains and it finally clicks.

"W-what? But that's impossible! You made this sandwich exactly how I like them! I remember playing with you in the park when I was little! I have memories of growing up in this house!" I exclaim in disbelief.

"I made that sandwich like that because frankly it's the only way to make a good sandwich," she says.

"Your full name is Katharine Riley. You're forty-two years old. My father left you when you became pregnant with me and you've never talked about him much," I state.

"You're right about my age, but my last name is Sheffield, just like it was before I came here, and I haven't been intimate with anyone since Melody's father," Katharine informs me as I feel my world crumbling around me.

I stand up and rush down the kitchen hallway before heading up the stairs. The hole that I punched in the wall when I was fifteen isn't there. I turn right down the second floor hallway and open the first door on the right: my bedroom. Only, my bedroom isn't there; all that's there is a plain room with a bed that gives the impression of a guest bedroom.

"Renton?" Melody asks as she sits up out of the queen-sized bed.

What in the hell is going on? Why is this happening!? I run down the stairs, slip my shoes on, and run out the front door into the cool night air. I start running and don't stop until I find a shady looking man standing in an alley. I beat him up and take his stash before heading to a drug store to steal some syringes and a lighter, and then run to Homegoods to rip open a boxed silverware set and steal a spoon. I run to the park that I arrived in, cook up the entire stash, and inject it into my arm so I don't have to think about this and can just let my fucked up existence fade into oblivion...

Or at least that's what I feel like doing. Instead, I just run to the park, sit on a swing, and think. Okay, so I'm pretty sure that I can confidently say that the Katharine of this world isn't my mom...does this mean that I'm not really home? Maybe this world is identical to mine, and Melody's mom is my mother's doppelganger...either that or all of my memories before being summoned by Liza are a lie...Liza...

"What do you think you're doin' on our turf, guero?" I hear a man ask with a Spanish accent.

I look up and see a group of three cholos, dressed in traditional cholo style with long jean shorts that only expose their ankles, wife beaters, button-up shirts with only the collar button done, and bandanas hanging out of their pockets.

"This is a public park, and therefore, not your turf," I reply.

"Man, get the fuck out of here before I cap your ass!" the cholo exclaims as they step up to the swings.

"Yeah, like I'm going to be afraid of three guys who are wearing what are essentially capris pants," I tell them.

"Are you trying to start a fight with us, guero!?" the cholo asks as he pulls a 9mm pistol out of his waistband and holds it ten centimeters away from my head.

Before he can react, I grab the barrel of the gun with my right hand and push it back towards the cholo as I wrap my left hand around the gun and the cholo's hand to eject the magazine with my thumb. The magazine drops into the woodchips of the playground as the bullet in the chamber of the gun flies out of my field of vision. The cholo looks at me in shock as I bend down and pick up the magazine. The other two cholos approach me with knives as the lead cholo stumbles backwards.

"Leave immediately and I won't kill you," I tell them with a stern tone, stopping the advancing cholos.

Their eyes grow wide before they turn and run away screaming "El Diablo! El Diablo!" I look down and see that black smoke is rising off of my left hand before it fades away.

I stand up and start looking around for the bullet that was ejected from the gun since I wouldn't want any stupid little boys hitting it with a rock or a hammer to try to make it go off.

"Renton? What are you doing?" Melody asks as she walks towards me from the entrance of the park.

"Looking for a 9mm bullet that I ejected from a gun," I reply while looking at the woodchips.

"Bullet?" Melody asks with her head cocked to the side.

"It's a piece of metal with an explosive in it that is fired out of a weapon called a gun at speeds of around a kilometer per second to pierce flesh and sometimes bone; the same weapon King Blackheart used," I explain and Melody thinks for a moment before her eyes go wide.

"Renton!" Melody exclaims with concern as she rushes over to me and grabs me by my shoulders.

"I know things seem bad right now, but I will stay by your side no matter what so you don't need to do this!" Melody frantically tells me, choking up with tears in her eyes.

"Thanks Melody," I tell her as I wrap my arms around her, feeling her tense up before she hugs me back.

"You know that I'm not looking for that bullet because I was trying to kill myself, right?" I ask a few moments later.

"What? Then why?" Melody inquires as she pulls back.

"I was confronted by a band of cholos and one pulled a gun on me so I ejected the magazine, the part of the gun that holds multiple bullets, and the chambered round from the gun, which I'm now looking for so some kid doesn't find it," I answer as Melody's face goes blank.

"What's a cholo?" Melody asks.

"A gang member who is of Mexican or Hispanic descent," I reply.

"What's a Mexican?" Melody inquires. Is there no Mexico in her world? I never thought to ask.

"What Jose is," I answer.

"Huh?" Melody asks with confusion.

"A Latino? Someone from South America whose ancestors were banged by some Spaniards?" I ask by way of response.

"Oh, okay...What did you do with the bodies?" Melody questions and I smile at her.

"I just scared them off," I reply.

"Oh...well, let's look for that bullet," Melody replies, looking embarrassed by her misunderstanding before she looks around her feet.

"Oh, is this it?" Melody asks as she bends down and picks up the bullet.

"That it is," I answer and she hands it to me.

"Let's head back," Melody says.

"I don't know if I can, Melody...I have too many memories of that house and of Katharine that—best case scenario—happened in a world identical to this one, and worst case, never happened at all. First Liza, and now all of this...I don't know if I can take it," I quietly tell her.

"What happened to Liza?" Melody asks.

"When the blood mages kidnapped you, they also sent another blood mage to blow up my house. The blood mage that Erin killed at the cemetery on the edge of town told me about it and we raced to my house to get Liza out...but I was too late..." I softly reply.

"Renton...I'm so sorry!" Melody gently exclaims and moves in to hug me.

"You know, I'm here for you and I will be no matter what your past was like," Melody tells me as she pulls back several moments later and entwines her hand in mine.

I smile at her and start walking with her towards the house when I realize that I'm being selfish. Melody hasn't seen her mom is thirteen years so I'm sure that she wants to spend time with her and yet she's been spending all of this time worrying about me. I need to pull my head out of my ass and bury my feelings for Melody. We walk up the steps and enter Katharine's house.

"Mom, we're back!" Melody announces.

"Good! I know it's late, but do you two want something to eat before bed?" Katharine asks as she walks down the hall.

"That sounds great, _Katharine_ ," I reply, forcing myself not call her mom.

"Tacos sound good?" Katharine inquires and I nod.

"Alright, they'll be done in about ten," Katharine says and heads back to the kitchen.

Melody and I slip our shoes off and head into the kitchen. Melody starts talking with her mother while Katharine quickly makes tacos. Melody catches her up on the past thirteen years of her life, how Carrie is doing, and how Mr. Sheffield has been. Katharine puts the taco meat, cheese, and lettuce on the island bar and I dish out two tacos before sitting down to quietly eat while Melody and Katharine continue to talk.

"Well, it's getting pretty late. I suppose we should get to bed," Katharine says thirty minutes later.

"I'll grab some blankets and a pillow for you, Renton. I've also got a few extra toothbrushes from trips to the dentist," Katharine tells me before heading upstairs.

I guess that means I'm sleeping on the couch. I stand up and walk with Melody into the living room. Katharine comes back down the stairs with a comforter and a pillow and sets them on the couch before handing me a packaged toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste.

"Do you need anything else, Renton?" Katharine asks.

"No, this will be fine. Thank you, Katharine," I reply.

"Goodnight, Renton," Melody says before heading upstairs with her mom.

"Goodnight," I call out after her.

I head down the hall towards the kitchen and take a right halfway down into the small bathroom that holds only a toilet and sink. After brushing my teeth, I return to the living room, lie down on the couch, turn off the lamp on the table, take off my jeans, and shift around to get comfortable before closing my eyes. Despite the events of the day and the countless things that are continuously running through my mind, I fall asleep rather quickly.

****

Chapter 29: Suspicious Professions

I find myself floating through an infinitesimal darkness.

"I am no demon. I am simply a protector that failed in his duty. I failed to protect the Key. I failed to protect her," an unfamiliar male voice echoes through the darkness.

" _Aku was correct, Renton. He was not a demon. However, can you boast the same?"_ a female voice calls out to me.

A replay of myself after the explosion is shown to me as I'm transported back to that time. The painful sorrow of having failed again. The unimaginable bloodlust as the energy pulsed through my body. The things I did to that blood mage and the resulting elation.

It finally ends and all I'm left with is sorrow in the darkness.

****

I jolt awake, breathing heavily and covered in a cold sweat.

"Renton? Are you alright?" Melody whispers from the base of the stairs as I realize that my cheeks are wet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I tell her, sounding rather unconvincing as I wipe my cheeks with the backs of my hands.

Melody softly walks over to me and I see that she is wearing a sleeping shirt that exposes her long legs.

"Come on," Melody gently beckons as she grabs my hand.

Melody leads me upstairs and into my—I mean, the guest bedroom. She leads me over to the bed and gets in before pulling me down into the covers and snuggling up against me.

"Everything is going to be alright, Renton," Melody whispers.

"I want to believe that, Melody...I really do...but I just don't know," I quietly reply. Melody props herself up and looks into my eyes while resting her other hand on my chest.

"Trust me," Melody gently says, her green eyes and soft smile melting my troubles away.

"...I do," I softly reply.

Melody stares into my eyes for several moments as her breathing picks up. Her cheeks flush as she moves her face down towards mine. She pauses when her lips are a few centimeters from mine, her erratic breathing brushing against my chin. I don't move as Melody remains so close to my face for several moments before she closes her eyes and takes the plunge. My lips meet hers and it's like fireworks going off in my mind. Melody's tongue sheepishly finds its way into my mouth before I start kissing her back with a hungry enthusiasm.

"Taking advantage of me when I'm emotionally compromised, eh?" I ask when we finally pull apart.

"I was sick of waiting," Melody sheepishly replies.

"Heh...let's go to sleep," I quietly suggest as I close my eyes. Melody lies down and snuggles up next to my left side.

"Yeah...I suppose we can't go any further with my mom right down the hall," Melody mumbles and my eyes jolt open at the prospect that she wants to take this further.

I lie there with my imagination thoroughly stimulated while Melody sleeps next to me. It takes quite some time, and a great deal of self-restraint, but I eventually fall asleep.

...

I awaken to find Katharine standing over me, glaring at me, and holding a knife as I discover that I can't move.

"Mom! Stop it!" Melody exclaims from my left.

"I know you still see me as your little five year old girl, but I'm an adult now," Melody explains.

"That still doesn't mean that it's okay for him to sneak into your bed in the middle of the night!" Katharine proclaims.

"Mom, I love him," Melody quietly admits.

"You're too young to know that!" Katharine dismisses.

"Are you forgetting that you and Daddy got married when you were my age!?" Melody retorts and Katharine's angry expression fades as her face goes blank and she's quiet for several moments.

"My Goddess...I've missed your whole life..." Katharine quietly says as two tears slip down from her eyes before she walks out of the room.

Melody looks at me before grabbing my left hand and placing it on my chest. I regain control of my body while realizing that Katharine must be a Lifter. I should remember that surprise somatic magic can paralyze me because if I ever wind up in this situation again, I doubt it will end without me getting stabbed. I stand up out of bed and head downstairs with Melody following me. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I see Katharine sitting on the couch, burying her face in her hands and causing a pain in my chest. Melody freezes when she sees her mother, so I walk into the living room.

"Just because you haven't been around for so long due to a cruel twist of fate doesn't mean that you can't be here for Melody now," I softly say and Katharine looks up at me.

"And besides sleeping in the same bed, Melody and I haven't done anything...last night was the first time that we'd even kissed," I inform her with some embarrassment.

"And I'm actually the one that came down here and dragged Renton upstairs to my bed..." Melody quietly admits.

"...Well, I suppose you're right, Melody...you are old enough to make your own decisions," Katharine replies and takes a deep breath.

"So, do you two want something for breakfast before I have to go to work?" Katharine asks.

"Sure," Melody replies.

"Waffles sound good?" Katharine inquires as she walks down the hall towards the kitchen while I grab my pants off the floor and pull them on, noticing that my spiked-knuckle blades are still in the pockets as I do so.

"Sounds great!" I call out as I head down the hall.

"So what do you do, Katharine?" I ask, realizing that I don't actually know.

"I'm a...uh...say, do you guys want blueberries or bananas with your waffles?" Katharine questions, changing the subject rather suspiciously.

"Bananas sound good..." I answer while staring at her.

"Same here," Melody says, looking like she's only thinking about breakfast.

Katharine quickly makes waffles and serves them up before running upstairs to get ready for work. I eat my breakfast while considering what profession Katharine could be in that would make her change the subject like that.

"Alright, I need to get going. Here's four hundred dollars to go buy some clothes," Katharine says while setting three hundreds and five twenties on the table, but all I can focus on is the tan, full body, trench coat that she's wearing.

The trench coat combined with her unwillingness to tell us her profession and the fact that she had four hundred dollars in cash on hand makes a pretty convincing argument as to Katharine's profession. Holy shit, Melody's mom is a hooker...a high class, daytime hooker, but a hooker nonetheless. I wish I had some way to follow her to confirm my suspicions, but I can't follow her if she's driving.

(It will leave you in a weakened state, but you can form a ring made of the Void and slip it onto her person, enabling you to know where she is. You will need to stall her as it will take some time to make)

"Instead of making a ring, will using one of my spiked-knuckle blades work?"

(Yes, but how are you supposed to inconspicuously slip that onto her person?)

"What about that giant ass purse?"

(That'll work)

"Thank you, Katharine. Have a good day at work!" I exclaim as I give her a hug, which no doubt seems a little weird to her, but it gets me close enough to slip the spiked-knuckle blade from my right pocket into an unused outer pocket on her large purse.

"No fooling around. I'm not ready to have grandkids," Katharine whispers before pulling away as I feel my cheeks flush.

"Have a good day, you two!" Katharine exclaims before exiting through the front door.

A strange, itch-like sensation occurs in the back of my mind as I can tell that my spiked-knuckle blade is traveling away from me.

"So, what should we do today?" Melody asks, breaking my concentration as the itchy sensation vacates my mind.

"I'm thinking we should head to Stohl's, buy some clothes for me that aren't ripped, and then go visit your mom at work," I answer.

"Why would we go visit her at work and how do you know where she works?" Melody inquires.

"I slipped one of my black blades into her purse so I could track her—don't ask how because I don't really know. As for why, didn't you find it odd how she danced around the question when I asked what her profession was? Or why she was wearing a trench coat to work despite the fact that it's sunny out? Or why she happened to have four hundred in cash on hand?" I ask.

"Well, now that you point it out, those things were a little odd. Why do you always have your weapons with you now? Why don't you just summon them from the black smoke like before?" Melody asks.

"Apparently the Void concentration in this world is too low for me to summon them. I'm not too sure what that'll mean for my other abilities, but they'll most likely be greatly lessened. Let's look up the phone number for a cab and head to Stohl's," I reply.

It takes twenty minutes for us to locate and navigate a phone book, and another twenty minutes for the taxi to arrive. Melody and I get into the awaiting cab that smells strongly of industrial strength cleaner with an underlying aroma of vomit.

"Can you take us to the nearest Stohl's?" I request.

"Yeah, no problem," the cabbie replies and starts driving.

What follows is the most terrifying car ride of my life, and that's really saying something since I'm including the time that I rode on top of a car while mages were attacking it. We screech to a stop in front of Stohl's fifteen minutes later. I scramble out of the car and help Melody out before a shaky hand reaches into my pocket, pulls out a twenty, and gives it to the cabbie, who takes it and speeds off without a word.

"Well...let's go..." I tell Melody and she nods.

We walk into Stohl's and start shopping.

"Ooh! This would look good on you! And this too!" Melody exclaims as she grabs a hot pink polo shirt and a striped button up shirt.

Normally I wouldn't be caught dead wearing clothing like that, but if Melody likes them...Roughly an hour later, Melody finishes picking out clothes for me and I try them on in a dressing room. After ensuring that the clothes fit, Melody and I pay for them before I head back into a dressing room.

"I'm going to go look for some clothes, alright?" Melody calls out.

"Alright. I'll change into my new clothes and come find you," I reply.

"Okay, just hurry up!" Melody exclaims while walking away.

I quickly get changed into the pink polo, a pair of Levis, a new pair of boxers, and new socks before slipping my shoes back on. I slip my remaining spiked-knuckle blade into my right pants pocket and shove all of my old clothes into my bag before wandering through the store to find Melody.

"Guess who?" Melody asks while covering my eyes.

"An extremely attractive girl whose judgment I trust to the point that I'm currently wearing pink?" I answer. Melody grabs my shoulders and turns me around.

"Nice," Melody says while inspecting me with a self-satisfied smile.

"I'm glad you think so because I'm pretty sure that I'm one puka shell necklace away from a police lineup for potential date rapists," I reply and Melody laughs.

"Did you find anything?" I question when I see her empty hands.

"I wanted your opinion on a few things," Melody says as she grabs my hand and leads me through the racks.

An hour later, Melody has picked out a few changes of clothing and we head up front to pay for them. I take the bag that contains her clothing and carry it as we walk out of the store.

"Alright, do you want to go see where your mom works now?" and try to talk her out of this lifestyle?

"Sure. Do you know where she is?" Melody asks.

"Just a second," I reply and close my eyes as I focus on that sensation in the back of my mind.

"I don't know how far it is, but it feels like it might be sort of close...and it's in that direction," I say with my eyes close as I spin and point towards the direction that it's in.

"Well then, let's go," Melody replies.

Melody and I walk around the side of the building and head to where the itchiness in the back of my mind is telling me to go while I contemplate how insane this sounds. We walk down the empty sidewalk as the cars whiz past. The itchiness leads me to a sign-less building in a strip mall that is about two kilometers away from Stohl's.

"Is this the place?" Melody asks before I nod and open the door.

Inside the door is a waiting room with a line of chairs, all filled by men, with the sound of a man groaning coming from the door in the back right corner. I storm over to the door.

"Hey! No cutting in line! She's the best in town and can only see five to ten clients a day!" the large man in the chair closest to the door exclaims.

"Not any more she's not!" I reply while noticing a ring on the man's left hand.

"And you're married too!? Shame on you! What are you, a congressman!?" I exclaim.

"You'd better back up, son, lest you make a mistake that you can't take back," the man growls with a smile as he stands up, towering over me by a head, but I don't back down.

"If it means keeping Melody's mom from this lifestyle, I will beat your ass into the ground, old man," I state. The man's eyes go wide before he smiles.

"Good! I was afraid that you might be human, but now I see that I don't need to hold back!" the man growls as I look down and see that black smoke is rising off of my left hand.

I watch in awe as the man's hands grow about three times their normal size and warp into fur-covered claws. Part of me starts to get excited about the ensuing fight.

"Well then, shall we take this out back so we don't wreck the place?" I question with a smile on my face as I hand Melody the Stohl's bag.

"Yes, let's!" the man exclaims.

"What is with all the shouting?" Katharine demands as she exits the room, closing the door behind her before turning around.

"Renton!? Melody!? What are you two doing here!?" Katharine nervously asks.

"Katharine, you don't have to do this anymore! We're taking you home right after I show this asshole his place!" I answer before noticing her white lab coat.

"Just what do you think I do?" Katharine inquires.

"Wait, so you aren't a high class prostitute?" Melody asks.

"WHAT!?" Katharine yells before closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"Had I known that that's what you'd assume I did, I would have just told you...I'm a doctor," Katharine admits.

"Then why hide it? Being a doctor is a very respectable profession," I say.

"Because I'm a doctor that caters to the shadier parts of society. Gang members with gunshot wounds that don't want to notify police come to me. I also treat the denizens of the supernatural world. James there is the leader of the local werewolf faction," Katharine says while pointing to the man that I was preparing to fight.

"The mana concentrations here aren't as high as back home, but I can still treat about ten people per day before I get too tired. It's not much, but they all pay in cash and it does pay the bills," Katharine explains.

"So you didn't tell us because you didn't want us to know about the types of people you work with?" I ask and Katharine nods.

"That's stupid, mom. I don't think any less of you for it and neither does Renton. After all, he used to steal things for a living," Melody says and Katharine starts giving me a judgmental look.

"Katharine, who are these two?" James asks.

"This is my daughter, Melody, and her boyfriend, Renton," Katharine introduces as hearing her call me Melody's boyfriend makes me feel all tingly.

"Your daughter? Do you mean she's from...?" James questions.

"Yes. She showed up yesterday with Renton," Katharine explains.

"Well, if you don't mind postponing our appointment, I can give them a ride back to your house," James offers.

"I'd really appreciate that. Thank you, James. I'll see you two at home," Katharine tells us.

"Okay, but can I see your purse for a second?" I request.

Katharine gives me a questioning look before heading into the back room and returns with her purse. She hands it to me and I grab my other spiked-knuckle blade from the outer pocket.

"Thanks," I say in response to her shocked expression when she sees the weapon that I slip into my left pocket.

"Let's go, kids," James says and walks out of the building.

Chapter 30: Demon Gate

Melody and I follow James over to his black Dodge Durango SUV and climb into the back seat. James starts the car and pulls out of the strip mall parking lot.

"So, you two are from Katharine's world, right?" James asks.

"How do you know about that?" I question.

"Because I was there when she first came to this world. I was in the middle of a pack squabble in a park when she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I kept her from getting attacked and she thanked me by patching me up using magic. She explained her situation and I gave her a place to stay for the night before helping her set up her life here using the pack's connections," James recalls.

"Thank you for helping my mother...it's my fault that she's here in the first place," Melody quietly admits.

"Katharine used to talk about you and your sister quite a bit...she doesn't hold you responsible for what happened," James informs her.

Melody's eyes tear up as I reach over and hold her hand. She looks to me and I give her a reassuring smile before I hear a cellphone ring.

"Hello...I'll be right there," James gruffly answers before hanging up.

"We have to make a detour. Normally I would drop you two off first, but this sounds serious so there's no time to waste," James informs us.

He pulls a quick U-turn and speeds off down the road before taking a right down a side street, a left down another side street, and a right into a dirt lot that is surrounded by buildings except for the opening to the side street. In the back lot are five werewolves fighting a single guy whom appears to be a meth addict, and all of the werewolves are getting their asses kicked.

"Stay here," James orders as he exits the car.

James's arms transform into massive paws as he charges at the man. The man turns as James leaps at the man before he backhands James and sends him flying. Something about that man just looks wrong, but I can't put my finger on it.

"Renton, we have to go help them!" Melody exclaims as she opens up the door and steps out.

"Hold on, I'll go help them. You stay here," I tell her as I get out of the car and slip my spiked-knuckle blades onto my hands.

The werewolves all charge at the man simultaneously before he hits all of them, sending them flying with a smile on his face. He suddenly turns towards Melody and his face falls. He sprints over to us at an incredible pace with his eyes locked on Melody. The fact that he seems to be targeting Melody is enough to enrage me as I step in his path and throw a left punch into his jaw. The man goes flying and lands on his back as I notice that the man's clothes appear to be fused to his skin and that black smoke is rising out of my left hand. He remains still for a few moments before he gets up and I see that his face has chipped away like paint where I punched him, revealing a black surface beneath it...just like Ms. Petridge's Akkadian journal entry described.

The demon gets up and lets out an otherworldly roar before charging at me as its forearms warp into black swords. It's definitely faster than I am and with Melody behind me, I can't dodge so I block both swords with my blades before hooking my left foot into the back of its right leg, collapsing its leg out from under it. The demon stumbles and sticks its left sword into the ground to rebalance itself before I bring my free right fist into its face. The demon lands sprawled out on its back, missing a large chunk of its face, before I jump on top of it and scissor my blades through its neck.

The demon loses substance beneath me as it turns into black smoke and disintegrates, leaving behind a small, black, cubic crystal that seems to absorb light where the demon's chest was. I immediately recognize the crystal as a mana vacuum and a hundred different questions run through my mind. I pick the crystal up and slip it into my pocket before standing up, suddenly feeling exhausted.

(You can recover the Void energy you used more quickly by eating the crystal)

"Eating a stone? Won't that just hurt my teeth?"

(Once you bite down on it, the stone will melt. Your reserves will replenish themselves with time, but this is a good thing to have in case of emergencies)

"What was that thing?" James asks as he approaches me.

"That was a demon, for lack of a better word. What I don't know is why or how it was here. Have you heard anything about these creatures before?" I inquire.

"No, but I'll ask around," James replies.

Does this mean that the gate the blood mages were talking about was opened in Melody's world? And if it was opened in that world, why is it affecting this one? But Melody is still alive so that means that the ritual failed, doesn't it? Maybe the gate was only partially opened...but that still doesn't explain why it's affecting this world...

"Well, let's get you two back to Katharine's house," James says and walks towards the Durango.

James drives us back to Katharine's townhouse in silence.

"I'll call you if I find anything out. What's your number?" James asks as he pulls into Katharine's driveway.

"I don't have a phone," I reply.

"Oh...I'll call Katharine and have her tell you," James says.

"Thanks. Let me know if you find anything," I respond as Melody and I exit the car.

"Will do," James replies and drives off.

Melody and I walk up the steps into Katharine's house, kick off our shoes, and Melody takes our bags upstairs while I head into the living room. I collapse down onto the couch and rest for a moment before reaching for the remote. I turn on the TV before Melody comes back downstairs and sits next to me on the couch. We watch in silence while I think over the repercussions of demons being in this world. If the events were completely unrelated and demons had been in this world before the blood mages' ritual then James most likely would've known about them.

"So Renton? What was that thing?" Melody asks a few minutes later.

"That was what the blood mages were trying to release into our world, using you as some kind of key or catalyst for their ritual. I thought they'd failed since you're still alive, but maybe they succeeded in partially opening the gate...Still, I don't know why they're showing up in this world or if they're showing up back home," I explain.

"Hmm...well, maybe it has something to do with this world being so much like ours," Melody states.

Maybe Melody is on to something. Maybe this world is the splinter world of Melody's world, instead of the other way around, and the natural course of history was for everyone to turn into witches. Would that mean that this world is just a reflection? If Melody's world is the original world, which I already know shares its history with this world, and if the demons were trapped behind the gate before this reflected world splintered off from the original, then opening the gate slightly in the other world would affect this world too...

"Ow..." I announce.

"What's wrong?" Melody asks.

"Split-world mechanics are giving me a headache," I answer.

Melody responds by grabbing my head and pulling it down into her lap, forcing me to lie down on the couch. She starts running her hands through my hair as we watch TV, and eventually my mind just goes blank and I relax.

"Thank you," I say as I reach up and caress her cheek. Melody bends down and softly kisses me as her hair falls like a curtain around my face.

"You're welcome," she whispers as a memory attacks my consciousness and sends a shiver up my spine.

"Are you alright?" Melody quietly asks.

"Yeah..." I answer while telling myself that things won't end like last time. We go back to watching TV in silence for a while.

"I can't decide whether or not Jack Goosling is more attractive now that I know that he isn't a Lifter in this world so he actually had to work hard to get a body like that," Melody says while we're in the process of watching _Crazy Asinine Love_.

"Uh...no comment," I reply as Katharine walks through the door.

"Welcome home, mom," Melody says, causing Katharine to stop in her tracks and smile.

"I'm back. How was your day?" Katharine asks as I sit up.

"Pretty good. I got Renton some clothes, found out that you aren't a prostitute, watched Renton kill a demon that had kicked the crap out of James and tried to attack me, and saw Jack Goosling half naked so, you know, pretty good," Melody nonchalantly replies as Katharine stands there with a shocked expression.

"Have you heard anything about super strong creatures popping up recently? They look human-like, but wrong in an indescribable way," I inquire.

"No, I haven't heard anything like that. Did you ask James?" Katharine questions.

"Yeah, he said that he'd look into it and give you a call since I don't have a phone," I reply.

"Well then, he'll probably get back to you tomorrow. He's good about doing the things he says he'll do in a timely fashion," Katharine says and sits down on the couch to watch the last thirty minutes of _Crazy Asinine Love_.

"Wow, the ending of that movie is waaaaaay different in this world. There wasn't even a single fire ball in the fight at the end," Melody says when the movie ends.

"What do you two feel like having for dinner?" Katharine asks.

"I'm fine with anything," I reply.

"Same," Melody adds.

"Alright then, dinner will be ready in ten," Katharine says and heads into the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, Melody and I sit down in the kitchen with Katharine and eat dinner, which we discover is spaghetti. During dinner, I get this unexplainable feeling of unease that I just can't shake off.

After dinner, we get ready for bed, tired from the day's events. Considering the spectacle this morning, I'd normally just sleep on the couch; however, because my feeling of unease has stuck with me for so long, there's no way I'm going to chance sleeping more than two meters from Melody.

"Goodnight, Melody. Goodnight, Renton...and remember what I said this morning," Katharine says before heading down the hall, presumably referring to the 'not ready to have grandkids' statement.

"What did she say this morning?" Melody asks.

"Nothing," I answer.

"Come on! Tell me what she said!" Melody demands in an endearing fashion, causing my mind to think of only how cute she is instead of the words coming out of her mouth.

"Come on, Wren!" Melody exclaims and my eyes go wide as it feels like I just took a gut-shot from a brick.

"Renton? Are you okay?" Melody asks with concern.

"Yeah...I'm fine. Is it alright if I sleep on the left side of the bed tonight?" I inquire so I can place myself closest to the window.

"Sure..." Melody replies while inspecting me.

"Thanks," I respond as I walk over to the desk in the right corner, grab the chair, and jam it underneath the doorknob.

Now if anyone, or should I say any _thing,_ tries to get into the room, they'll have to break down the door, which will buy me the time to get in front of Melody versus having to try and vault over her if they come bursting through the window.

"Renton? What are you doing?" Melody questions as I place both of my spiked-knuckle blades on the left bedside table, along with the mana vacuum, before taking off my polo shirt and my jeans.

"I just have a bad feeling and I'm taking extra measures to ensure that I can protect you. I will protect you, Melody. I won't fail again...I don't think I could handle it if I failed again..." I quietly tell her. Melody walks over to me and gently embraces me.

"Thank you for always protecting me, Wren," Melody says and I involuntarily tense up with the metaphorical brick hitting my chest.

"Why do you react like that when I call you..." Melody trails off as the realization hits her.

"That's what _she_ used to call you, isn't it?" Melody quietly guesses.

"Yeah..." it's what she still calls me.

"Let's go to bed," is all that Melody responds with.

She climbs into bed before gently pulling me into the covers and snuggling into my right side. Due to my exhaustion from using my 'reserves,' as Melanie calls them, I'm out in mere minutes.

...

My eyes jolt open upon hearing the doorknob turning and I immediately stand out of bed. Two things happen simultaneously, both of which I were expecting as possibilities, but not both of them together. One demon smashes through the window as the one at the door breaks it down. As I see that both of them have their forearms warped into black blades, I realize that they're a hit squad for me and Melody. I quickly run through several combat scenarios in my mind and all of them end with a demon reaching Melody before I can kill them both.

Since I'm out options, I do the unthinkable: I turn my back on the demons, and put a rock-like object into my mouth while the demons both lunge towards the bed. My reserves seem to be back to normal so maybe this will give me a boost; it's not like energy drinks don't work if you're already fully awake.

The second I bite down on the mana vacuum, it shatters like glass before melting away, and then something strange happens. Power floods through my body as my scar and the veins in my arms are dyed black. Smoke seeps out of my body before pulsing outward, sending both of the demons flying across the room. I rush over to the demon closest to me, wrap my hands around its head, twist, and rip its head off before seeing that the other demon has recovered and is standing up.

I run, jump, and kick at the demon, sending it through the wall that the bedroom shares with the stairwell. Due the kinetic energy still left in my body, I go sailing through the wall with the demon. The demon lands on the stairs as I land on its chest and ride it down the stairs before slamming my head into the front wall of the house at the bottom. After quickly shrugging off the pain coming from my forehead, I grab the stunned demon's arms and proceed to rip them off with my feet firmly planted on its chest. The demon lets out an ungodly screech of agony as I toss its arms to the side.

"Do you speak? Give me some answers and I will offer you a quick death," I tell the demon, its eyes indicating its understanding.

"Why are you after the girl? Why is your kind after the Key?" I question.

"We kill the Key...the gate opens fully...we rule," the demon tells me, its voice sounding like several pitches of voices overlapping on each other and giving a nails-on-chalkboard effect.

"The Key will die...the Protector can't save her...can't delay our return!" the demon exclaims and starts laughing.

I grab its head, twist, and tear it off to cut off the demonic laughter. The body turns to smoke and disintegrates, leaving behind another black crystal that I pick up. I turn around and see Katharine and Melody watching from the top of the stairs.

"Katharine, pack some clothes. Do you know where James and the pack live?" I inquire.

Katharine nods in shock and I walk up the steps. Katharine pulls Melody close to her as she warily looks at me. It's understandable, really—everybody fears what they don't understand. Melody brushes her mother's arm away as I reach the top of the stairs and embraces me.

"Are you okay?" Melody asks as she pulls back and gently touches my forehead, causing me to notice that it no longer hurts.

"Just a few scrapes, nothing I can't handle. I'm just glad that you're safe," I tell her as the smoke rising off my body fades.

The black in my scar fades, but I can see that my veins are still distinctly black beneath my skin. I wonder if that's a side effect from the crystal...

"We should get going. It's not safe to stay here," I say as I pull away from her.

I walk into the bedroom, and put on my polo and slightly dirty jeans before grabbing my weapons from the bedside table slipping them into my pockets, along with the crystal in my hand. Melody walks in a moment later and gets dressed. I brush some drywall out of my hair with my hand as I walk over to where the other demon's body was and bend over to pick up the black crystal while keeping my back to Melody. I wonder what these things really are...

(Essentially, they're crystals of condensed Void. They can also be considered a demon's 'soul')

"So they're like my weapons?"

(Not exactly. Your weapons are the same substance, but they lack the energy that the crystals contain)

"Where did your father get access to demon souls when there weren't any demons around?"

(I don't know...He never told me where he got the mana vacuums)

So these crystals are made of the same substance as my blades and I've made the blades using my vomit so I must have some similar substance inside of me...and the crystals are the same as mana vacuums...

"Is this the reason my left hand can neutralize all forms of mana?" I connect.

(...Perhaps?)

I grab my clothes bag and head downstairs with Melody, who also has her bag from Stohl's. Katharine comes down a few minutes later, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt while carrying a suitcase. We head out to Katharine's newer Audi A4, get into the car, and drive to James's place.

...

Chapter 31: New Friends

"Katharine, what's happened?" James asks when we arrive on his doorstep at 2:05am, after pulling into the gated, ten-story apartment building.

"We were attacked by two demons about fifteen minutes ago. Thinking that it wasn't safe to stay there after I killed them, I requested that Katharine drive us here," I reply.

"Come on in," James says and holds the door open for us, not saying a word about my veins or not noticing them while we don't say anything about his white tank top and boxers.

"I assume you guys will want to get some sleep. I'll have a couple pack members keep watch until morning," James says as he leads us through the main lobby of the apartment and over to the elevators.

The lobby has polished marble floors, a ceiling that seems to go up all ten floors, and plants growing out of the tops of the three-meter walls that border the right and left sides of the lobby, which I assume are purely decorative. I notice a set of doors on each side of the main lobby that must lead to fairly sizeable rooms judging from the exterior.

"Tell them that the demons seem to die with decapitation, but I'd rather they just come get me if the demons show up," I reply as we step into the glass elevator and James nods at me.

"The largest vacant apartment we have is a two bedroom, but it does have a couch," James informs us as he presses the button for the sixth floor on the elevator panel.

"That's okay. I'll be sleeping with Melody anyway," I respond.

James raises an eyebrow at this and looks in Katharine's direction before she nods the affirmative.

"It's alright. If it weren't for Renton sleeping with Melody tonight, there's a good chance she'd be dead," Katharine grimly replies as the elevator doors open.

James leads us down the left hall and over to apartment 606, which is unlocked. We walk inside the apartment to find two teenagers making out on the couch in the main room.

"What did I say about using this apartment!?" James gruffly asks as the two teens are startled apart.

"Sorry Alpha..." the boy and girl simultaneously reply before the girl sniffs the air.

"Why are humans here?" the fit brunette girl asks.

"They're not humans, they're mages. You both already know Dr. Sheffield. This is her daughter, Melody and her daughter's boyfriend, Renton. They'll be staying with the pack for a while," James explains.

"Hey Doc!" the boy waves.

"Reggie, Violet, go home," James orders.

"Yes sir," Reggie and Violet reply and pass by us on their way out as I see that the girl is a little taller than Melody and the boy is slightly taller than the girl.

"The bedrooms are through that door, and that door," James says while pointing to doors that are on the right and left walls of the living room as I notice a small kitchenette in the back left corner.

"I'm sure that you guys want to get some sleep so we can talk in the morning," James adds.

"Thank you for putting us up, James," Katharine replies.

"It's no trouble. I'll have someone notify you if any of those things show up, Renton," James says.

"Thanks," I reply.

"Have a good night," James says and leaves the apartment.

"Well, I suppose we should try to get some sleep," Katharine says as she heads toward the bedroom on the left.

"That sounds good to me. Goodnight, Katharine," I respond.

"Goodnight, Melody. Goodnight, Renton," Katharine replies as Melody and I head into the right bedroom.

The bedroom holds a bare frame queen-sized bed, a dresser, and a door on the right that seems to lead to a bathroom. We place our clothing bags in opposite corners before making our way over to the bed. Melody immediately takes her pants off and climbs into the bed as I take out my spiked-knuckle blades and Void crystals and place them on the bedside table before stripping down to my sleeping attire. I climb into bed next to Melody and she snuggles up to my side before promptly falling asleep.

I try to fall asleep for next few hours, but I find that I have too much energy to rest. I wonder if this is a side effect from the crystal that I ate earlier... So, I remain awake with Melody sleeping peacefully by my side and eventually watch the sun rising out the window to the right of the bed as I notice that I'm shaking uncontrollably in spite of the fact that it's warm and that the black in my veins has faded away.

I'm starting to realize that the Void crystals are suspiciously like crack. Both are rock-like, both make you twitchy, both give you energy, and both give you super speed...or am I confusing crack heads with the Bolt again? That's the Bolt's origin story, right? He smoked some radioactive crack? Does this mean that Void crystals are also a plot by the government to keep the black community down!? It's all one major conspiracy!

(And this is why you need sleep, kids)

"I don't need sleep! I just need to stop shaking!"

(Well, why don't you take another rock? Come on, you junkie. You know you wanna)

"Melanie, you are a bad influence on me."

"Renton? Who are you talking to?" Melody asks as I realize that I've been talking out loud.

"Oh, just to myself. Don't worry about it," I reply. Melody gives me a suspecting look as she remains silent.

"So, did you get enough sleep?" I ask.

"Yeah, I was really tired. What about you?" Melody inquires while giving me the same look.

"I actually couldn't fall asleep, so I've just been watching you sleep for the past few hours," I reply.

"WHAT!?" Melody shrieks before she touches the sides of her mouth.

"That was a joke," I kind of lie. Note to self: never admit that again.

"Oh..." Melody replies and I hear a knock at the door.

I immediately grab my blades and a Void crystal off of the nightstand before rushing to the door, forgoing pants.

"Hey, do you—whoa," Reggie says when he sees my state.

"Whoa indeed," Violet adds while checking me out.

"Hey..." Reggie replies with a downtrodden tone.

"I take it that demons haven't shown up?" I ask while taking a more relaxed stance.

"What? No, we were just wondering if you and Dr. S's daughter wanted to go get breakfast at the Pancake House down the street," Reggie replies.

"Oh...sure, that sounds good," I answer since there most likely isn't any food in the fridge of the small kitchenette.

"Give us about fifteen minutes to get ready and we'll see you down in the lobby—actually, better make it thirty," I tell them.

"Sure thing. We'll see you down there," Reggie replies before I shut the door.

I walk back into the room to find that Melody is already getting dressed.

"Who was that?" Melody asks.

"That was the two from last night asking if we want to join them for breakfast. I said yes because there probably isn't any food in the fridge," I answer.

"Okay, I'll get ready," Melody says.

I grab a clean pair of jeans, boxers, and a white t-shirt out of the 3 pack from Stohl's before heading through the door on the right side of the room. I take off my boxers and hop in the shower to wash the two days' worth of demon fighting stench off of my body before washing the remainder of the drywall out of my hair. I exit the shower, dry off with a towel that's on the rack, and get dressed. Total time: ten minutes.

I exit the bathroom and Melody heads in to take a shower while I slip the blades and crystals into my pockets before sitting on the bed to wait. Twenty minutes later, I hear the shower turn off.

"Hey Melody? I'm going to go wait for them in the lobby. Come down when you're ready," I tell her through the door.

"Okay!" she replies.

I slip my shoes on and take the elevator down to the lobby where I find Reggie and Violet waiting, leaning against the marble wall to my left that has foliage growing out of the top.

"Sorry, Melody is still getting ready," I apologize.

"No problem, man. I know how it is," Reggie replies with a glance in Violet's direction, causing Violet to elbow his side.

"So how old are you, Renton?" Violet asks.

"I'm eighteen and so is Melody. What about you two?" I inquire.

"Eighteen," Violet replies.

"Seventeen," Reggie answers.

"I like younger guys. They're easier to manipulate," Violet says with a grin.

"And I like to call her a cougar in the making," Reggie chimes in and Violet lightly hits him while I chuckle.

"So do you guys go to East High?" I question.

"Yeah, do you know it?" Reggie asks.

"Of course. I went to West Central," I answer.

"I've got a couple friends over at West Central," Violet says.

"Oh, do you know...uh..." I trail off while trying to remember my friends' names.

I can't remember...I can't recall any of my friend's names, or the names of anyone that I went to school with. Even their faces aren't very distinct in my memory. What in the hell is going on?

"Hey guys, sorry I took so long. Ready to go?" Melody asks, interrupting my thoughts as I see that she's wearing the white sundress we bought yesterday.

"Yeah! Follow us!" Reggie replies and walks out the front doors with Violet as Melody and I follow.

We follow Reggie and Violet as they take a right out of the gates and walk for about six blocks until we reach the Pancake House. The place isn't too busy so we're able to get a table fairly quickly. Our waitress takes our drink order and walks away before coming back with our drinks five minutes later and taking our meal order

"So, why haven't we ever met before?" Violet asks.

"Well, Melody lives with her dad and we dropped into the neighborhood two days ago," I'm quick to reply.

"But you said that you went to West Central," Reggie points out.

"Yeah, but I moved about a year and a half ago," I respond.

"So how did you two meet?" Melody asks.

"We've been friends since we were kids and as we got older, things just sort of worked out," Violet answers.

The door opens as a man walks in and I can immediately tell that something is off about him. I don't look at him as he sits down at a table to my 10 o'clock. I can feel him watching us, but I don't want to give away the fact that I know he's here so I act naturally.

"Get up and head to the bathroom. The demon in the restaurant will follow you and I'll follow it. Once you're in the bathroom, take cover in one of the stalls. I'll follow it in and quickly kill it," I whisper in Melody's ear.

"I need to use the restroom," Melody announces.

"Oh, me too," Violet replies and stands up.

Shit...this is going to make things more complicated.

The girls walk towards the bathrooms that are down the hall to my left according to the sign. Just as I expected, the demon gets up and follows them.

"Why do girls always go to the bathroom in packs?" Reggie asks.

"I don't know. Stay here," I quickly tell him as I get up and follow the demon.

I head down the hallway and turn the left corner as I see it slip into the ladies room. I pull my spiked-knuckle blades out of my pockets as I quietly sprint down and enter the restroom. The demon has its back turned to the door so I dive on it while sinking my blades into the back of its neck before ripping them outwards. The demon doesn't have time to make a sound as its body thuds face down onto the floor with me on its back. The toilet of the stall to my right flushes before a fit redhead in her early thirties opens the door.

Shit! Why didn't I think that there might be other people in the bathroom?

Her eyes go wide in shock as the demon's body starts to lose substance. The body fades into black smoke, leaving behind a Void crystal as I notice the handgun holstered on the woman's hip. Double shit, this means that she might be law enforcement.

"Just what in the hell is going on here?" the woman asks as Melody and Violet exit the handicapped stall.

"Renton, what are you doing in here? And where did you get those!? This is the woman's bathroom! You know you're not supposed to be in here!" Melody scolds.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. My brother is autistic," Melody says to the woman.

"Sorry Sissy," I say with my best autistic impression as I grab the Void crystal and stand up. I am so going to hell for this.

"Let's go. And give me those!" Melody demands.

I hand over my weapons as I slip the Void crystal into my pocket. Melody pushes me out of the bathroom as Violet follows and we make our way back to the table.

"You know that was a terrible excuse, right?" I ask as we walk.

"Yeah, but I couldn't think of anything else," Melody says as she gives me back my blades and I slip them into my pockets.

"Time to go," Violet tells Reggie as I pull a twenty out of my pocket, left over from yesterday, and drop it on the table to pay for our drinks.

"What about breakfast?" Reggie asks.

"No time to explain, just go," I tell him.

Reggie stands up and follows us out of the restaurant. We start heading back towards the apartment building when I get that off feeling again. A glance over my left shoulder reveals that two guys are following us and neither is human.

"Don't look back, but we have two more following us. Is there an alleyway that we can head down that leads to the apartment so I can eliminate them away from public eyes?" I quietly ask.

"Yeah, there's one in about a block," Violet replies while Reggie looks confused.

"Alright, good," I respond as I reach into my pocket and slip a Void crystal into my mouth as a precaution.

We walk for a block and I slip my spiked-knuckle blades onto my hands when the entrance to the alleyway is in sight. Violet leads us down the alley and we walk for about fifty meters before I glance back and see that the demons have followed us.

"I want you guys to keep going on to the apartment while I kill these two," I mumble, moving the crystal to the side of my mouth.

"Got it," Violet replies, but Melody doesn't look happy about leaving me here.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," I reassure her.

"Renton, we've got a problem," Violet informs me with a waver in her voice.

"What?" I ask as I look forward and see two more demons approaching us from the other end of the alleyway.

"I need you two to protect Melody and escape with her if you see the chance. If she dies, these things will run rampant across the globe," I tell them as we stop walking.

Violet nods with an uncertain look on her face while Reggie looks confused and slightly afraid.

"And you guys probably want to duck," I say as the demons start advancing more quickly while their arms warp into blades.

Reggie, Violet, and Melody get down next to the wall on my right and the demons charge at us. When they're five meters from me, I bite down on the Void crystal. Just like last night, energy floods my veins, turning them black and smoke rises out of my body. Laughter erupts from my throat as the smoke pulses outward, staggers three demons, and knocks over the closest one. I charge at the nearest staggered demon and slice through its neck with both blades before it can recover.

The demon closest to me is still on the ground while the two behind me have recovered and are moving towards Melody and the others so I turn and charge at them. Since I put myself between them and their prey, the two demons each swing a blade at my neck. I narrowly duck under the slashes and move towards the demon on the left as it brings its right sword down towards me. I block with my left blade and bring the right through its stomach, discovering that the reason that all of the demons appear to have clothing fused to their skin is because the clothing is their skin. It must be a camouflage mechanism to help them blend into this world.

The demon lets out an ungodly screech while I sweep my right blade down through its ankle. Before I can finish it off, its compatriot slashes at me as the other demon falls to the ground. I see the attack coming fast enough to move, but not fast enough to completely dodge as the other demon's sword cuts into my right side while I'm diving to the left.

"Aw! This was my new shirt!" I exclaim as I bring my blade through the fallen demon's neck.

My bleeding right side starts to sting as I stand up and the demon follows up with a slash towards my face with its right sword. I lean back and tilt my head back as the sword swishes through the air in front of my neck before I bring my right spiked-knuckle blade through its outstretched bicep. I reach across my body with my left blade to block the demon's follow up attack, which has considerably less force since I cut off its other arm, before I end things by severing its head with my right blade.

After hearing two thuds behind me, I turn to see that the last demon has kicked Reggie and Violet aside, and both of its straight swords are plunging toward Melody. Upon seeing Melody in that situation, my panic switch is flipped and I act on impulse. I throw my body in front of Melody, watching as both swords stab through my stomach. I look over my shoulder and see that both blades are stopped about ten centimeters from Melody's stunned face. Before the demon can think to pull the swords out, I grip its biceps with both hands and take a step forward, driving the demons arms into my stomach so that it can't get enough leverage on the blades to slice me in two.

I grab the back of the demon's head with my right hand so that it can't back up and I repeatedly smash my left fist into its face. Chips of the demon's face start flying off to the sides as I pound its head into dust. I don't stop until my knuckles hit my open right hand while the demon's body turns to smoke. Now that the demon's arms have sublimed, the two gaping holes in my stomach start hemorrhaging buckets. I fall to my knees as I look at the puddle of blood forming around me...don't I need that to be on the inside?

"RENTON!" Melody screams as she crawls over to me with tears running freely down her cheeks.

"Crystals...grab the crystals," I gasp out, hoping that this will work.

Melody nods in understanding and rushes to grab the nearby Void crystals. I open my mouth, Melody pops the crystal in, and I bite down on it. I feel the rush of energy and my right side starts to itch, but no itchiness in my stomach to signify that it is healing.

Well, I'm fucked.

"Renton!" Melody sobs when she sees that my stomach isn't healing.

Melody pushes another crystal towards my mouth, but I weakly shake my head. I try to smile at her and a look of despair plagues itself across her face.

"Helen Watson, detective with the NYPD. What in the hell is going on!?" the woman from the bathroom asks.

"Do you have a car!? We need to get him to the High Tower apartments!" Violet exclaims.

"We need to get him to a hospital!" Helen exclaims.

"He'll die if we take him to a normal doctor! Now do you have a car or not!?" Violet shouts.

"I left it at the end of the alley," Helen replies while motioning for us to follow her.

Reggie comes over and throws me over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. I was anticipating that the movement would hurt, but it doesn't at all, which is far more alarming. Reggie follows Helen as everyone hustles out of the alley and over to a dark blue sedan that is obviously an undercover car. Reggie pushes me into the back seat with Melody while he sits in the passenger seat with Violet. Helen starts the car and flips the sirens on.

"Renton! Renton!" Melody sobs while gripping my hand and I realize that I can't feel her touch.

Man, I really fucked up this time, didn't I? I can't die now...not with the demons hunting Melody. I need to stay alive to protect her.

The car screeches to a stop and I hear doors open before Reggie picks me up and starts running. I watch the asphalt ground quickly pass by beneath Reggie's feet before the asphalt turns into marble.

"MOMMY!" Melody desperately screams from behind Reggie.

"Goddess! What happened!? Never mind, just set him on the table!" Katharine orders from Reggie's right before Reggie rushes towards her.

The world spins as Reggie sets me on some sort of conference table. Katharine jumps on the table, pulls chalk out of her white lab coat, and starts drawing on the table around me. Katharine gets off of the table and sets her hand on it before a white light illuminates the area around me. Katharine rips off my tattered shirt and sets her hands over the holes in my stomach. Over the next minute, I watch as Katharine's expression grows darker before she takes her hands off of my stomach and the light fades away as I find that my body no longer has the strength to blink.

"Why are you stopping!?" Melody demands.

"His body isn't accepting the mana...Sweetie, I'm sorry," Katharine quietly says.

"No...No! Renton!" Melody exclaims as she rushes over to my side.

"You aren't actually dying, right!? This is like the time that you were shot in the head and burned to ash, right!? You'll be back to normal in...normal..." Melody trails off as her face looks thoughtful.

She sticks her hand in her pocket before removing it and looking at the crystals in her hand. Melody jumps onto the table, straddles me, opens my mouth, and slides the three Void crystals in before manually working my jaw to crunch them up. An enormous amount of energy surges through me and I jolt upright.

"Renton!" Melody exclaims and hugs me.

"Augh—AHHHHH!" I scream as every cell in my body explodes.

I continue screaming as my feet start disintegrating into black smoke before moving up my legs. My shoes thud onto the table as Melody pulls back and looks behind her.

"Renton...Goddess, what have I done!?" Melody asks with a horrified expression beneath my screams before she holds me tightly.

"I'm sorry, Renton! I'm so sorry!" Melody exclaims. I need to comfort her, but I just can't stop screaming.

My pants collapse underneath Melody once my legs are gone. My screams don't stop until the disintegration reaches my lungs as my blades clatter onto the table now that my hands have disappeared. I somehow continue to feel Melody's embrace even after my torso is gone. The disintegration reaches the top of my eyes and my field of vision expands to encompass the room. I watch as my head completely disintegrates before Melody's arms fly through the space that my torso once held and hit her body. Melody hugs herself as she looks at the spot where my body was. Tears stream down her cheeks before pained sobs escape her throat and everything goes dark.

****

Chapter 32: Grief and Relief

" _Rise, Renton. There is still work that needs to be done. Find the mirrored gate in this world and close it,"_ a woman's voice calls out in the infinite darkness that I am currently floating in.

"How do I close the gate?" I ask.

" _There will be a high level Grigori demon holding the gate open, allowing the lesser demons to pass through. Kill it, and the gate will shut on its own. Once that objective is complete, you and the Key can return home,"_ the voice answers.

"But I am home," I reply.

" _Are you? Do you not find it odd that all of your memories from your childhood are hazy? That you can't seem to recall your friends' names or faces? That your 'mother' has no recollection of you?"_ the voice asks.

"Is that because there's another world like this one?" I question.

" _There is no other world identical to this one, Renton. Nor is there another woman identical to the Key's mother,"_ the voice answers.

"What are you trying to say?" I inquire.

"Protect the Key, Renton. It's what you were 'born' to do. I've added an extra cone to your eyes that will allow you to see in the infrared spectrum and spot demons from far off. Their bodies are colder so they'll be a dark blue color. Following one might just lead you to the gate."

****

I open my eyes to find myself in a bed with my arms wrapped around Melody while she sleeps. Tears run down her eyes despite the fact that she isn't conscious.

"Melody...wake up, Melody," I whisper in her ear.

"Renton? I just had a terrible dream..." Melody mumbles sleepily.

"Shhh...it's alright now. Just go back to sleep," I tell her when I look at the clock on the bedside table and the red numbers inform me that it's three in the morning.

I lay there and hold Melody until the sun comes up. Once the sun rises, I feel Melody stirring in her sleep.

"Renton...I don't want to wake up...I remember what happened to you and I don't want to go back to a world that you aren't in..." Melody softly says as a few tears slip down from her closed eyes.

"But Melody, you're already awake," I gently tell her.

Melody hesitantly opens her eyes and looks up at my face. She slowly reaches up to touch my cheek, as though she's afraid that I might be a hallucination.

"Renton..." Melody whispers before she pushes against me, rolling me onto my back as she climbs on top of me and wraps her arms around my neck.

"I thought you were really dead this time!" Melody cries.

I hug her back and remain silent for a few minutes until she calms down before I realize that I'm naked.

"Melody, I'm not wearing any clothes," I mention.

"...That makes things easier," Melody softly says and my eyes going wide as I comprehend her meaning as she moves her face closer to mine.

"We don't have any condoms!" I nervously exclaim while weakly pushing her back.

"I don't care," Melody replies and pushes past my resistance.

What in the hell is she trying to do!? I need to stop this before it's too late! Or at least that's what I think before Melody starts kissing me, and then my mind takes a back seat.

No, I still have enough reason left to stop this! Then Melody starts rubbing against me and all bets are off. Melody sits up and starts taking her shirt off.

"Melody, sweetie, are you awake?" Katharine gently asks as she opens the bedroom door.

"WHOA!" Katharine exclaims in surprise at what she's walked in on as Melody stops moving, her elbows wrapped in the hem of her shirt with her stomach exposed.

Katharine opens her mouth several times, at a loss for words faced with such a bizarre situation, i.e. seeing her daughter straddling the boy whom she saw die yesterday.

"But...What is...How are..." Katharine stammers while trying to find the right question to ask.

"Your guess is as good as mine," I tell her and Katharine just stares at me as I begin to feel the awkwardness of this situation.

"Well, I think I'll go take a shower," I announce while sliding down towards the foot of the bed before stopping when I realize what my mouth will make contact with first.

"I think I'll join you," Melody says and gets off of me.

"No you won't," I reply.

I start to stand up before realizing that something else is already 'standing'. I quickly grab my pillow from the bed, cover that which is at attention, and quickly walk into the bathroom. Once inside, I set the pillow on the counter and look at my body in the mirror, making sure that everything is back where it's supposed to be since I was atomized.

(It's not like this is the first time that this has happened. Hell, it's not even the first time this week, Wren)

"What are you talking about, Melanie?"

(How did you think you survived that fall? Or ran through that tree? Or got on top of that armored van?)

"I thought those were odd...so I somehow turned to smoke and reformed on top of the van?"

I notice that I don't have two round scars in my torso...in fact, I don't see any of my scars—none from my battles in the Pit or even the ones more recent events. The only scar that remains is the one on my left hand. I chalk it up to the Goddess's doing, take a quick shower, and towel off before remembering that I forgot my clothes. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. After wrapping my towel around my waist, I walk into the empty bedroom and head over to where I left the Stohl's bag. I grab a gray t-shirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of boxers, and drop my towel to get dressed, just before the bedroom door opens. Katharine immediately turns around at the sight of my lack of clothing, more out of respect for my privacy than her embarrassment.

"Once you're dressed, come join us in the living room," Katharine tells me and closes the door.

I quickly throw my boxers, pants, and shirt on before exiting the bedroom. Katharine and Melody are sitting on the couch in the living room, waiting for me. I walk in and take a seat on the chair that is diagonally right of the couch.

"So...how are you alive?" Katharine asks.

"I'm not sure. After my body turned to smoke, everything went dark. Next thing I knew, I was floating through a space with infinite darkness as the Goddess spoke. She confirmed my suspicions that the ritual the blood mages were going to sacrifice Melody in worked, but not completely. Apparently the gate in this world is being held open by a high level demon that is letting the lower level ones through so they can kill Melody and completely open the gate. I have to kill the demon and close the gate before Melody and I will be allowed to return home. The Goddess also said something about putting an extra cone in my eyes that will allow me to see something, but I'm not entirely sure what she meant," I summarize.

"Well, snakes have a fourth type of cone in their eyes that allows them to see in the thermal spectrum so perhaps that is it. But anyway, what do you mean by the Goddess?" Katharine inquires.

"Renton gets a message from the Goddess every time we land in a new world," Melody answers.

"Wait, so this has happened before? You traveling to another world?" Katharine questions.

"Yeah. The last time was about a week ago. We landed in this completely black world where the males of the dominant species didn't have their genitals between their legs. I had to kill a king before we were allowed to go back. I'm starting to think that the Goddess is the one sending us to these other worlds to begin with..." I thoughtfully reply. There are two quick knocks at the door before James opens it.

"Hey Katharine. How is—oh, hello Melody. How are you..." James asks as he opens the door before he finally notices me.

"Renton!? What!?" James sputters as he reels back. Violet and Reggie walk into the room and their jaws both drop upon seeing me.

"Ghost!" Reggie exclaims.

"I don't suppose you guys have a ceramics room that Melody and I could use?" I reply, playing off the reference from _Apparition_.

"Renton, you can't be all nonchalant and shit after we watched you die yesterday!" Violet exclaims.

"My bad," I respond.

"How are you even here!? You're a ghost, right!? You definitely aren't human!" Violet inquires and what the Goddess told me rings through my mind.

"You might just be right about that..." I quietly answer while looking at the floor.

After all, if Katharine isn't my mother and there isn't another woman like her, nor is there another world like this one, then where did I come from?

Melody walks over, sits in my lap, and hugs me. She pulls back, but keeps her arms wrapped around my neck.

"What's wrong?" Melody gently whispers.

"The Goddess told me that there isn't another world like this one and that another woman like your mom doesn't exist...so where did I come from...? And considering the fact that I seem to just come back to life after dying if there's a high enough concentration of a mysterious force that I don't understand, maybe Violet is right..." I whisper back.

"Wren...like I said before, no matter what you find out about your past, I'll always be here for you and will always care about you," Melody softly reassures me and hugs me. It's rather surprising when I barely flinch at what she calls me.

"Melody...thank you," I reply and hug her back.

"Alright, well, I think it's about time we got Renton up to speed," James announces.

"Up to speed on what?" I ask as Melody leans against the arm of the chair so I can look at James while I'm talking to him.

"Remember the police detective that you killed multiple demons in front of?" James rhetorically asks.

"Oh..." I reply.

"Yeah, looking past the fact that she's human and now knows about the supernatural, she told us about a string of improbable robberies and gruesome murders that started up two days ago so she's cooperating with us to find the source. We were pretty fucked before, but now that you're back, we stand a chance of stopping this," James explains.

"Alright! So, what leads do we have!?" I ask with excitement, thinking that my mission will be much easier than I initially thought given the city's size.

"Oh...none at the moment," James says, causing a plummet in my excitement.

"Okay. Do you have a car that I can borrow to drive around and see what I can find?" I request.

"You can borrow the Audi. I'm not too sure how much good it'll do, but you can give it a shot," Katharine replies.

"Thanks. Hey Melody, where's my stuff? My blades and my pants?" I ask.

"They're in my room. Melody wasn't in a great state last night so I didn't want her seeing them," Katharine replies.

"Could you grab those, please?" I request.

In case we run into trouble, I want to have my blades and if I remember correctly, I should have one last Void crystal in my pants pocket. Katharine nods and heads into her room before coming out with my folded bloody jeans that have my blades, locket, and Katharine's car keys on top of them.

"Thanks," I tell her.

I grab the bundle, slip my blades into my pants pockets, and fish around in my other pants for the Void crystal as I walk into my and Melody's bedroom. The first thing I do once I'm out of sight is return the locket to its rightful place. I wonder why I didn't need to do this those other times? Then again, I wasn't naked any of those times either. I toss my bloodied pants on my Stohl's bag as I slip the crystal into my left pocket and walk back into the living room while spinning the car keys around my right index finger.

"Well, I know that I can't stop Melody from coming with me, but do you two want to come as well?" I ask Reggie and Violet. They both nod in response.

"Alright, let's get going," I announce.

"You guys be careful, and no dying again so soon after coming back, Renton," Katharine says.

"We will," I reply as Melody, Reggie, and Violet follow me out of the apartment and down the hall to the elevators.

We walk across the marble lobby, head out through the doors, and walk over to Katharine's Audi A4 on the left side of the building. I slide into the driver's seat while Melody sits passenger and Violet sits in the back with Reggie. I pull the car out of the apartment complex and start driving around the city, looking for anything out of the ordinary while we all talk about random things.

"So Renton, what's death like?" Reggie asks after we've been driving for about twenty minutes.

"An infinite black void with no one around and no feeling as you float along," I answer.

"That sounds like hell..." Reggie mentions.

"It very well might be. After all, that's the most likely place I'd end up in," I reply.

Melody reaches across and sets her hand on my knee. A glance over reveals that she's sadly smiling at me.

"Thanks Melody," I softly say as I cover her hand with mine and stop for a light.

My vision suddenly shifts and I grip the steering wheel with both hands while trying not to panic as I see everything as shades of gray, shades of blue, or shades of orange.

"Renton!? Are you alright!?" Melody asks.

I turn towards her and see that her skin is a bright shade of orange while her clothed body is a darker shade. I turn left and see two people standing in front of the doors to a derelict building that are shades of blue. I look down and notice that the ground around the building is a darker shade of gray than the sidewalk and road before my vision returns to normal. I turn forward and see that the light has turned green so I keep driving.

"Yeah, my vision just went weird for a moment," I tell her.

I think I found the demon's gate, but I'm not about to stage an assault while Melody is with me. When we go to bed tonight, I'll sneak out and bust up the place while she's sleeping. I keep driving around the city for another twenty minutes so my little episode isn't cause for suspicion.

"Well, I think we should probably head back before we run out of gas," I announce even though we have half a tank.

Melody nods in agreement and I drive us back to the apartments.

"Any luck?" James asks as we walk into the lobby.

"Nope. Any word from Detective Watson?" I inquire.

"Not yet," James replies.

"Hey Renton, do you like to play pool?" Reggie asks.

"You could say that. Is there a pool table here?" I question.

"Yeah, come on," Reggie says and walks towards the doors on the left side of the lobby.

He opens up the double doors and reveals a large game room with two pool tables, a ping pong table, foosball, and various arcade racing games.

"No way! You guys have Hydro Racing!? That is my shit! We are totally playing after pool!" I exclaim.

"Haha sure. I'll rack up the balls. Are you two going to play?" Reggie asks Melody and Violet.

"I'm game. Are you in, Melody?" Violet inquires.

"Sure. Want to play pairs?" Melody asks.

"Sure," Violet replies as she walks to Reggie's side, the girls having made their decision for our style of play without any input from the guys.

"Just to let you know, I'm not very good at pool..." Melody quietly admits.

"That's okay, let's just have fun," I tell her and she smiles at me.

"You can break," Reggie says as he removes the triangle.

I walk over and pull a pool cue off of the wall before leaning over the table, lining up my shot, and breaking. I manage to sink a solid and miss the follow up shot. Reggie's up next and misses the nine ball. Melody grabs a cue in both hands as she looks at the table before leaning over it. She sets the front end of her cue on top of her thumb and pushes the cue forward. She ends up topping the cue ball, making it roll five centimeters.

"Mulligan," I announce and reach across the table to put the cue back where it was.

"Sorry, Renton," Melody quietly says.

"It's alright. Here, hold the cue like this," I tell her as I walk behind her, reach around her, and grab her left hand before putting the front of the cue on top of her middle finger with her index finger wrapped over the cue to keep it steady.

"Now just focus on pushing the cue straight forward, not in an arc," I say as I wrap my hand over her right and push the cue forward.

The cue ball hits the seven ball, but it stops a few centimeters from the pocket.

"I did it!" Melody exclaims as she turns around and hugs me. I hug her back until I notice the smirks on Reggie and Violet's faces.

"We can leave if you two would like to _use_ the pool table," Reggie says.

"It's usually easier to slip it in if you aren't wearing pants," Violet says simultaneously.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just play," I reply while Melody's cheeks flush.

Melody and I end up losing the first game, winning the second, and then we play Hydro Racing for a while before switching to ping pong, where Melody ends up destroying all of us; her game is definitely tennis, not pool. The next thing I know, the entire day has passed by and Katharine shows us to James's apartment for dinner. We end up having hamburgers that were grilled on James's balcony.

"Where's your wife, James?" I ask while eating my hamburger.

"She's visiting her mother in San Antonio for the week," James answers.

"Is everything okay?" Melody inquires.

"Yeah. It's her mother's birthday and they haven't seen each other in a while," James replies.

After dinner, Melody and I do the dishes. She flicks some suds on me and I retaliate by spraying her with the hose before she yelps and splashes water in my face. Before we can get completely soaked, Katharine and James come into the kitchen, stopping our water fight with two judgmental looks.

"Sorry," we both say as I grab a towel from the oven's handle and starts drying off the spots that we soaked.

"Hey Renton, can I have my keys back?" Katharine asks.

"Oh yeah. Sorry I forgot," I lie as I pull the keys out of my pocket. This certainly puts a wrench in my plan for tonight...

After Melody and I finish cleaning up, we head down to the sixth floor, walk into the bedroom, and get ready for bed. I brush my teeth and use the bathroom before climbing into bed as Melody snuggles up to me. This is not going to make sneaking out later any easier, but if I ask her to get off of me then she'll suspect something.

"Goodnight," Melody says.

"Goodnight," I reply as I turn off the bedside lamp.

Chapter 33: And Boom Goes the Dynamite

I wait for about an hour until I'm sure that Melody is in a state of deep sleep before I make my move. I spend over a minute slowly moving out of bed before putting my pants on as quietly as possible. Since I thought ahead and left my weapons and crystal in my jeans, I don't have to worry about making noise grabbing them before tip-toeing out the bedroom door. I open the door quietly before softly closing it behind me over the course of thirty seconds.

Now comes the hard part. If my false memories of Katharine can be trusted, then she is not a heavy sleeper. I make my way across the moonlit living room and over to Katharine's room before slowly turning the doorknob. I open the door just enough to slide my body through before standing still for several moments while my eyes readjust to the increased darkness. I scan the room and spot Katharine's purse on a chair in the back left corner, two meters from the bed. The trip over there is a slow one before I reach into her purse and start carefully searching around until I finally find the keys.

"Where are you going, Renton?" Katharine asks behind me before turning the bedside lamp on. I'm blinded for a moment before I turn around.

"I was hoping to sneak out of here without anyone knowing..." I say.

"And why is that?" Katharine inquires.

"I lied earlier. While we were out, I did find something. I'm pretty sure I found the gate that the demons are coming from. I drove past it without telling anyone because Melody would have insisted on coming with me and I didn't want to put her or the others in danger," I tell her.

"Where is it?" Katharine asks.

"A derelict building on the east side of town that has two demons guarding the entrance. If I don't come back, tell Detective Watson and have her take it up her chain of command. If I fail, what they need to do is evacuate the area as discretely as possible, and then just carpet bomb the whole place to be safe," I answer.

"Okay...good luck, Renton...and do try to come back. Melody will be devastated if you don't," Katharine requests.

"Well, I wouldn't want that," I tell her with a smirk and walk out of the room.

I slip out of the apartment and take the elevator down to the lobby. After exiting through the main doors, I slip around the side of the building, jump into the Audi, and gun it towards the building. After driving for twenty minutes, I park the car on the side of the street that is around the corner from the derelict building. I step out of the car into the nippy night air as I pull my blades from my pockets and slip them over my fists before scooting the Void crystal up out of my pocket and slipping it into my mouth.

I walk around the corner and see the building with the demons standing on each side of the door about twenty meters away. I bite down on the crystal and feel the shards dissolve on my tongue as the burst of energy is released and my veins are dyed black along with my scar. The outward burst of energy comes with the black smoke rising off of my body, but instead of letting it out, I try to hold it in. When I feel my energy steadily rising, I push the excess to my fists and let two punches fly. The blasts of Void force hit the two demons in the head an instant later, causing their heads to explode before two chunks are blown out of the brick wall behind them.

I run towards the building as the door opens and two more demons step outside. They notice me a little too late as I'm able to decapitate the first one while its arms are in the process of changing into blades before the second demon tries to scissor my head off. I counter by sticking my left blade in between them, locking the blades in place as I duck underneath them and hit the demon with an uppercut before it can redirect its 'arms'. As the demon flails back, I quickly end things and bring my left blade through its neck.

Before heading inside, I quickly pick the four Void crystals off the ground and slip them into my right pocket. I kick the doors in and get hit with a surprise attack from a demon that was waiting. The curved blade of its arm slices into my right bicep before I'm able to pull my right forearm back and rotate my wrist, putting my right blade in the way to prevent the demon from severing my arm while I'm blocking an incoming attack with my left blade. With the demon wide open, I'm quick to hook the demon's leg with my foot and kick it out. The demon drops to a knee as I bring my left fist into its face, knocking it onto its back before I jump on it and bring my right fist through its head with a satisfying crunch. I chuckle as the demon turns to smoke and I collect the resulting Void crystal.

I stand from the dirty concrete floor as I notice the smell of blood that hangs in the air. It doesn't smell fresh like the blood at the farmhouse so I'm guessing that the vagrants who occupied this building met an untimely end when the demons first set up shop. There's a bare concrete staircase in front of me that leads up, but more importantly, also leads down. My vision suddenly shifts and reveals that the floor's shade of gray gets darker leading to the stairs and going down them. Figuring that it might be beneficial, I don't try to shift my vision back to normal as I carefully approach the stairs.

Nothing pops out at me as I reach the staircase and head down it with my body tense and ready to react. The air around me gets colder as I descend to the point that my breath becomes visible. I reach the bottom of the steps and find a reinforced steel door. I wrap my fingers around the handle and find that they're sticking to it because of how cold it is. The door creaks as I turn the handle and open it.

When the air around me becomes thick with the Void, I know that I'm in the right place. I step inside the room and I'm surprised by what I find. A six-meter tall gate that is so dark a gray that it looks black is in the middle of the large concrete space, which seems to be an unfinished underground parking garage. The black gate has ornate spikes running through the doors like crossbars that have diamond-shaped barbs every half a meter. While the black gate itself was expected and not all that surprising, what's around it is much more so.

There's a large, glowing, black circle engraved into the floor around the door that is providing the only source of light in the room with the exception of several candles in various places. Four cloaked people—according to their dark orange coloring—are standing around the edge of the circle with one hand reaching out, meaning they must be mages. Inside of the black circle are about ten demons that are holding the doors open, but just barely. I condense the levels of Void in the room around my fists and throw three punches at the mages standing around the circle. Dark blue half circles with tattered trailing ends fly out of my fists and hit the three mages, sending them airborne before they go skidding across the concrete. I wasn't aware that the Void force was visible on any spectrum.

With three mages down, the circle stops glowing and the gate closes slightly as the ten demons struggle to keep it open. I'm glad that my vision is in the infrared spectrum, otherwise I wouldn't be able to see shit. Since all of their effort is put into keeping the gate open, it's an easy task for me to sprint forward and decapitate the demons one by one. The doors slam shut as the demons' bodies turn to smoke and ten Void crystals ring down to the ground. I quickly collect them and disperse them between my pockets before sprinting around to the last mage, only to find that they've run off. I scan the large room in front of me and since I don't see any orange radiating out from behind the concrete support columns, I turn around.

The mage is making a break for the door behind me, leaving me a trailing flash of orange to see. I sprint towards the door and tackle them near some candles. The mage's hood is knocked off when he hits the ground as my vision shifts back to normal and I see dark eyes and black hair—a blood mage!?

"How did you get here, blood mage!?" I demand.

"What, you thought that our kind was only in the other world? Only by being in both and plotting together were we able to open the gate at all since it required the ritual to be done simultaneously on both sides," The blood mage states.

"Well not anymore. The gate is closed. Your plan is over," I reply.

"You're too late, Protector. Even if you closed the gate, if the Key is eliminated before the moon shifts, the gate will still open. By my estimates, Azazel should be killing the Key right about now, depending on how good a fight those werewolves put up," the blood mage says with a smirk.

The Grigori demon wasn't holding the gate open like the Goddess told me...I smash my left fist through the blood mage's face and into the concrete. I need to get to Melody fast, but how!? If I drive, I'll be too late!

(You know what must be done, Wren)

I slip my right hand into my pocket and pull out three Void crystals as I pull the Void in the room towards me. I slip the crystals into my mouth and bite down as black smoke swirls around me. Energy rushes through me before my body is wracked with pain, but not as much as yesterday. The next thing I know, I'm watching as the streets and cars blur past below me. Several seconds later, I see an area that looks like the apartment with scores of bodies in the driveway, as well as about ten demons. One of the demons stands nearly three meters tall and appears to be holding someone up by their neck. I strike the ground in a swirl of black mist as I see who the large demon is holding up.

"MELODY! Drop her, Azazel!" I shout as I notice the dead werewolves closer to the apartment.

"So the Protector finally shows himself! A little late, aren't we?" Azazel rhetorically asks in a baritone as he turns towards me. It's a bit odd that his voice doesn't resemble the lesser demons in any way.

His face has black running across it, looking like the veins in my arms, and he has large, black, jagged wings protruding from his back. His eyes are all black except for his golden irises that gleam as he looks at me.

"I said, put her down," I sternly repeat and a smile spreads across Azazel's face.

"Have it your way," Azazel replies and squeezes his hand.

The crack from Melody's neck stops my heart before Azazel tosses her to the side. She tumbles like a ragdoll against the pavement before her clothing catches and stops her rolling as she skids to a stop against the apartment building.

"Melody?" I ask in shock as I see blood trickle out of her mouth while Azazel's deep voice laughs.

I take a step towards her on reflex before I realize that I can't do anything to help her.

My power can't be used to help her...

It can only be used to destroy...

So that's exactly what I'll do.

I feel my energy increase with my rage as I charge at Azazel and leap through the air, intent on using my blades to carve up his face. The other demons don't move from their positions and Azazel counters with a backhand. Normally, I wouldn't feel so bad about getting backhanded. While it's a little insulting to be slapped, it's still a legitimate hit; however, Azazel doesn't even use his arm. He generates all of the force with his wrist, as if I were an insignificant bug—nothing but a nuisance. He hits me square in the chest and sends me sailing back the way I came as I hear something crack. I land on the asphalt and roll several times before coming to a stop facedown.

"Is that all you've got, Protector? Compared to some of your predecessors, you're not even worth my time," Azazel calls out from twenty meters away and gestures forward, causing the demons to advance towards me.

He's right.

I can't beat him.

I can't save Melody, just like I couldn't save Liza or Melanie.

I can't do anything...

No. No, no, no, no, no. NO!

If destruction is all I'm good for, then that's exactly what I'll do! Whatever the cost!

I push myself up off the pavement, rise to my feet, shove my right hand into my pocket, and pull out a fistful of crystals. The five crystals all go in my mouth and four are swallowed as I crunch down on one and swallow the congealing mass before it can completely dissolve. My chest explodes with energy as the dissolving crystal sets off the others. I clutch at my chest with my right hand as I bend forward on reflex.

"AUGHHH!" I scream out in pain as my body begins to ripple beneath my skin.

The energy wants to surge out of me, but I keep it in, internalizing it as I feel it burn my insides. I need this to destroy him—to tear that bastard to pieces! No matter how much pain this causes me, it'll be worth it if I can bring about Azazel's demise and make him pay for what he's done!

I hear fabric rip behind me as the ripples increase in frequency and I continue to scream. The demons rush forward and two black things blur forward from either side of me, hacking through the lesser demons before returning to my sides. Are these things coming out of my back?

The ripples pulse down to my hands and black liquid suddenly breaks through my skin. The liquid envelopes my hands and explodes upward like a geyser before forming into a point as the front-end narrows down to an edge. I seem to have retained full motion of my wrists, despite the fact that the bases of the blades cover my hands.

"Now it looks like things have gotten interesting!" Azazel exclaims with a smile on his face, infuriating me further.

I let out a demonic roar, sending a pulse of Void force towards Azazel. He materializes a two-meter long, black claymore and somehow cuts the Void force in half, causing it to continue going until it hits the brick fence and blows two large holes through it. My body burns as the Void coursing through my veins wants an outlet, but I don't let it as I take off towards Azazel. Azazel swings his massive claymore and my vision shifts as a crescent of Void force comes towards me. I spin to the left, narrowly avoiding it before it continues on and cuts a thin slice out of the brick fence behind me. Now, why didn't I ever think of that?

I give the Void an outlet through my swords and cross slash with both black blades before watching as the dark blue X of Void force tears through space towards Azazel. He flips to the side at the last moment and sends a horizontal slice towards my legs while hanging upside-down. I flip forward as the ground that was beneath my feet explodes. I land and continue sprinting towards him while following up with a barrage of slashes. Azazel sprints to the right, staying one step ahead of my barrage as the brick wall in the background starts to look like a paper snowflake that was made by a kid that forgot which side he wasn't supposed to cut so all he has now is a bunch of bits of paper.

Laughter unconsciously erupts from me as I get within range of Azazel. I spring through the air with my blades crossed and aimed at Azazel's neck. He moves the massive claymore in my path and blocks my attack as my face heads towards his claymore. I redirect my kinetic energy around my blades with the help of the things on my back, swinging my body to the left and around the claymore. My foot makes contact with the right side of Azazel's jaw and sends him flying towards the front wall of the fence, the only side that isn't damaged. I land on my feet and follow Azazel as he crashes into the brick wall. He recovers as I close in, laughing all the way, and Azazel swings his massive claymore down at me.

(I would not recommend trying to block that)

Time seems to slow down as Melanie's voice flashes through my mind before speeding back to real time when she finishes. I have just enough time to roll to the left, but the claymore manages to clip off the tip of my right 'wing' as I dip down and hack into Azazel's right ankle. The black blade in my right hand cuts through Azazel's ankle and he roars so loud that I hear glass break in the distance; it's surprising that my eardrums didn't rupture. Usually, this is the part where a person that just lost their foot would fall over; however, Azazel uses the two black wings sticking out of his back instead and takes to the sky as black blood drips out of his ankle.

Having never done this before, I'm not all that sure I can, but the moment I think that, the wings on my back prove themselves and propel me upward as my feet lose contact with the ground. I fly up about fifty meters to where Azazel is waiting for me.

"Why do you fight, Protector? Why did you protect the Key? Unlike your predecessors, you aren't even human! What reason do you have to fight your brethren?" Azazel questions.

"I protected her because I wanted to, just like I'm going to tear you to pieces because I want to hear you scream in agony for killing her," I venomously reply.

"...Are you joking? You were in love with the Key!? Oh, that is rich! A demon in love with a human!? Now, I have truly seen everything!" Azazel exclaims and laughs as I feel my fury grow.

"That's right, I did love her. And you took her from me. So now, I will take from you. Everything," I tell him through gritted teeth.

I can no longer contain the surge, resulting in an inferno of black bursting out around me, but I thankfully don't feel a drop in power. My wings fire me up towards Azazel like I've been shot out of a cannon. Azazel starts flying away from me, staying one step ahead of me. A dark blue crescent suddenly shoots towards me and I barrel roll to the left, losing a little altitude before continuing my chase as the Void force continues toward the ground. I launch three slashes at him and Azazel simply swoops back, avoiding all of them as they continue towards the sky.

(Careful, Wren. The Void force isn't impeded by gravity. It will continue going until stopped by another force or until it runs out of energy)

Hopefully no airlines are using this flight space at the moment. I launch a barrage of Void force at Azazel, noticing that the shots are moving faster this time around. Azazel avoids my assault and continues flying away.

"No matter how far you run, Azazel, I won't stop! I won't quit until you and all of the Grigori are nothing but smears beneath my feet! I will follow you to the ends of the world and even through the gate if it means getting to destroy you! Even if this world falls now that the gate is open, I will continue slaughtering your kind! I will hunt down everything you've ever cared for and take delight in the act of destroying it! NOT EVEN DEATH WILL KEEP ME FROM MAKING YOU PAY FOR TAKING HER FROM ME!" I roar.

"Well then, why wait!?" Azazel asks as he spins around and brings his massive claymore down on top of me.

I tuck my wings in and dodge to the left, staying close to him as Azazel shifts the claymore and follows me with it as we both freefall. I spin around him until the claymore no longer has the force to follow me, leaving me in front of him with his claymore off to the left and his stomach unguarded. The bases of my blades somehow know my intent and turn to liquid, allowing me to clasp my hands together as the two blades liquefy and warp into a larger blade that I drive into Azazel's stomach.

"This is the end!" I exclaim.

"Do you think I'm going down from a single stab wound? Guess again!" Azazel replies as he raises the claymore above his head.

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of hundreds of stab wounds," I tell him.

My large black blade becomes liquid a split second before turning into a porcupine. Hundreds spikes erupt out of Azazel, spackling me with black blood. Azazel looks at me in shock before a grin comes to his face.

"Heh...well played, Protector...well played," Azazel gasps out as black blood trickles from his mouth.

"With this...now you...really are...a Grigori..." Azazel chokes out while disintegrating into black smoke.

Instead of dispersing like the smoke normally does, the black smoke lingers around until Azazel has completely disintegrated before it surges into me. My body starts burning with an intensity equivalent to yesterday as I scream out in pain and start falling.

(Pull it together, Wren! You have to stop falling!)

"Why should I? Melody's dead and I've failed again. I do nothing but fail, time after time...I don't deserve to stop."

Melanie says something else, but I tune her out, along with my pain and my emotions. I tune everything out and just keep falling in silence, the wind whistling past my ears. My last thought before I hit the ground is that I might get to see Melanie and Melody again soon...That's going to be one awkward meeting.

My back hits the ground with extreme force and everything goes dark.

...

Chapter 34: Him?

"RENTON!" I hear Melody scream as I come to. I open my eyes and find her standing over me.

"I'm actually surprised that worked...I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to see you even when I died if there were two separate places to go for your afterlife...or does killing a fallen angel give you a free pass?" I quietly say and Melody smiles at me through her tears as she kneels down and grabs my hand.

"We aren't dead, Renton," Melody tells me.

"What?" I ask as I look around and see that we're in a large crater with the crumbling edges of asphalt about a meter up in every direction.

"My mom was able to heal my neck and crushed windpipe once you had distracted the demon," Melody explains.

(That's what I was trying to tell you, but you wouldn't listen. Luckily, I was able to push the remaining Void force out of your wings to slow your descent and create this crater for you to land in)

"Thanks, Melanie...sorry you had to do that."

"Melody...I'm sorry...I wasn't able to protect you...I failed. I don't deserve to be your Protec—" is all I can say before Melody smacks me across the face.

"Shut your mouth, Renton. Now, let's get out of this hole," Melody tells me with a smile.

I rise to my feet, feeling incredibly sore and dizzy. I straighten up and immediately fall down to my hands and knees before puking, not black sludge this time, but blood. What in the hell is happening?

"Renton..." Melody says while looking in shock at the pool of blood forming beneath me.

(Your body is accepting what you actually are since you absorbed Azazel. The Void is replacing your blood)

"What are you talking about?"

(The only person you're deceiving is yourself, Wren. You know what you actually are)

"But what about my memories?"

(Memories are such fragile things. A strong being could easily implant them, like a goddess for instance)

"So I'm really not human...this doesn't change anything. I still care about Melody and will continue to protect her."

(Care about her? I seem to recall you saying you loved her!)

"Come on, Renton. Let's have my mom take a look at you," Melody says as she helps me up.

"I'll be fine, Melody. This is normal, apparently..." I reply.

"What do you mean!? How's puking blood normal!?" Melody exclaims in disbelief.

"Apparently the whole 'having blood' thing is abnormal for a demon..." I quietly answer and stare at my feet while Melody's silence causes me to grow anxious.

"I thought that was what you were. We probably shouldn't tell my mom or the others though," Melody thoughtfully says.

All I can do is smile at her before I wrap my arms around her.

"Thank you," I whisper in her ear.

"For what?" Melody asks.

"For not rejecting me," I reply and Melody pulls back to look at me.

"Like I told you, no matter what you find out about your past, I'll be here for you," Melody tells me with a gentle smile.

I hungrily stare into her eyes, the eyes that I thought would never look back into mine again, and I feel myself start to tear up before I bend my head down towards hers. Melody kisses me back for several moments before pulling away.

"Renton, I'm not going to have sex with you in this crater. If we get to a bed, however..." Melody coyly trails off.

Melody yelps as I pick her up, throw her over my shoulder, and scramble out of the hole. I carry her into the lobby of the apartment where James and Katharine are before setting her down.

"Renton, I'm glad you're okay," Katharine says.

"Thank you for saving Melody...I'm sorry that I couldn't protect her..." I quietly reply while looking at the ground.

"But you did, Renton. After that large demon threatened to kill all of us if Melody didn't come out, I didn't know what to do...if it weren't for you, Melody would have died while all I could've done was watch. Because of your intervention, I was able to heal Melody before her injuries were fatal..." Katharine says with tears in her eyes.

"No, Katharine...She never should've been put in that situation in the first place...had I not left, then none of this would have happened...Melody wouldn't have been hurt and all of those werewolves wouldn't have died," I reply.

"Renton, there were only five casualties and while even one is still a tragedy, it would have been so much worse if not for you," James chimes in.

The stairwell door in the back left corner of the lobby opens as Reggie and Violet walk out.

"Hey Renton, how are you doing?" Reggie asks.

"Watching your fight through the windows was amazing!" Violet exclaims.

"Thanks. I'm probably going to have to do this all over again in the other world, but I was able to shut the gate. There are few, if any demons left in this world and more won't be able to come through," I announce.

"That's great news!" James exclaims.

"What are you guys talking about?" Violet interjects.

"I'll explain it to everyone later," James replies.

"What do you mean, you'll have to go through this again?" Katharine asks.

"I killed four blood mages tonight and interrogated one. He told me that the gate in this world had to be opened simultaneously with the gate in the other world to have either open at all, meaning that Melody is still in danger," I answer before two black circles open up beneath Melody and I.

"Shit!" is all I have time to say before everything goes dark.

...

"Renton!" I hear Liza exclaim and my stomach drops as I start freaking out.

"No...I can't handle having you in my head too...it's just too much," I softly say while keeping my eyes clenched shut before someone suddenly embraces me.

I open my eyes and see that I'm standing in a bedroom that seems to be in Melody's house, judging by the décor, in addition to seeing a head of blonde hair against my right shoulder.

"Liza...?" I ask in shock.

She pulls back and looks at me with tear stained cheeks and she smiles. Tears start falling from my eyes and Liza's expression shifts to one of concern.

"Renton! You're crying blood!" Liza tells me, but I ignore her.

"But the house exploded! You died!" I exclaim.

"I wasn't home, Renton...I went out to dinner with Chet," Liza explains and I stop tearing up. I do remember Liza acting a bit strangely and Chet being unusually chipper.

"Him?" I ask.

"I already feel bad enough about it..." Liza replies.

"Well, he did inadvertently save your life," I say with a smile.

"So where did you guys go?" Liza asks while pointing behind me. I look over my shoulder and see Melody unconscious on the floor.

"We went to the world that I thought of as my home and saw the woman whom I remember as my mother, who also turned out to be Melody's mother," I tell her.

"What!? Renton, you...didn't have sex with Melody, right?" Liza questions, wide-eyed.

"No, not yet..." I answer with some embarrassment.

"You mean, you're still planning to!?" Liza shrieks.

"Liza...that woman wasn't my mother, even though I distinctly remember my childhood with her..." I reply.

"What do you mean?" Liza asks.

"It turns out that I'm not human and all my memories from before you summoned me are fake..." I answer.

"You're...not...human?" Liza inquires with confusion.

Should I tell her about what I really am? No, I have to tell her. After all we've been through and all the effort she's put in to helping me find a way back to a home that didn't actually exist, Liza is one of the few people that truly deserves to know.

"I guess I'm some kind of demon..." I quietly admit while being unable to look her in the eyes, too afraid of what I might find.

And then something unexpected happens: Liza wraps her arms around me. She doesn't say anything as she does so, and she doesn't really need to; her body language speaks volumes in the silence. Liza is accepting me as I am and her actions reassure me of that more than words ever could. I return her embrace and I can't seem to stop the tear that slips out of my right eye.

"I'm so happy that you're alright, Liza," I tell her in a choked up fashion. I'm glad that the shirt Liza is wearing is black so I won't stain it with the blood coming from my eyes.

"Me? You've been missing for four days!" Liza exclaims before she sniffles as I stand there and hug her for several more moments.

"So, why are you at Melody's house?" I ask after clearing my eyes.

"Mr. Sheffield is letting me stay here since our house was blown up. I guess you'll be staying here now too," Liza answers as there are two knocks on the door.

"Liza? Are you alr—" Erin asks as she walks in before stopping when she sees me.

Her eyes start to tear up before her expression warps to one of fury as she storms over to me. Erin's hand reels back and heads towards my face before I catch it.

"What's up, Erin?" I inquire.

"Don't you 'what's up' me! Where in the hell have you been!?" Erin shouts.

"I made it home, Erin," I tell her and her expression softens.

"Then why did you come back?" Erin asks.

"Melody still needs me and I couldn't take it if I never saw your smirking face ever again," I answer with a smile. Erin smirks back at me and lightly punches my shoulder.

I turn around and bend down to lift Melody up and place her in the nearby bed, not knowing how long she'll be out.

"Renton?" Melody asks. Well, that was fast.

"Hey Melody..." I reply.

Melody sits up in the bed and looks around the room before tears fall from her eyes. I sit down on the bed and hold her.

"I can't believe I lost her again..." Melody quietly cries.

"I know," I softly say.

"And who knows how long it will be before I see her again..." Melody cries.

"You might not have to wait thirteen years this time around," I tell her.

"What do you mean? You know as well as I do that I can't control this stupid portal thing!" Melody angrily exclaims.

"The blood mage that I interrogated in the other world told me that the rituals to open the gate were done in unison in each world. How could they possibly do that without communicating with each other?" I rhetorically ask and Melody's expression softens.

"I'm guessing that there is some way to communicate across the worlds and since Chet never mentioned that he decoded the whole notebook, it might be in there," I explain.

"*Sniffle* Okay..." Melody says before she takes in her surroundings. "I'm glad that you're alright, Liza."

"Apparently she wasn't in our house when it exploded. She was having dinner with Chet," I reply.

"Oh, that's good!" Melody exclaims.

"That depends on your definition of the word," Liza replies and I chuckle.

"Liza, can you call Chet and ask him if he decoded the entire notebook?" I request.

"It's like 1am," Liza states.

"So? He won't mind getting woken up if it's for you!" I exclaim with a hint of sarcasm.

Liza huffs before walking over to the bedside table and picking up her phone with resignation. She scrolls through her contacts for the better part of a minute.

"Jeez Liza!" I exclaim.

"What? I never delete my contacts! That doesn't make me a whore!" Liza defends.

"Still, you're only going to the third letter in the alphabet!" I reply.

"No, I'm scrolling down to Z," Liza says.

"Even if your contacts are sorted by last name, isn't Chet's last name Holmes?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I have him under Z, as in 'Zee last person I want to talk to'," Liza explains.

"Oh, then that makes perfect sense," I sarcastically reply as Liza finally reaches the contact and holds the phone up to her ear.

"Hey Chet, it's me...don't act like you don't know who this is! It's Liza!...Which one!? I'm hanging up now...Fine. Did you decode the entire notebook?...I need you to decode the rest of the notebook or at least until you finish the part about communicating across worlds...Renton and Melody are back, and it's urgent that we have that information. Have it done tomorrow night, and I'll forget about your little joke," Liza stoutly says and hangs up.

"He should have it done by tomorrow or on Monday he's going to mysteriously end up with a knife in his stomach and the nurse is going to be mysteriously absent from her post," Liza reports as she nods at Erin and Erin nods back.

"Right...remind me not to piss you off," I cautiously reply.

"Well, I suppose we should all go to bed now," Liza says.

"Yeah, I could use some sleep," I respond while yawning.

"Goodnight, Renton," Liza replies.

"Goodnight, Liza," I tell her as Erin, Melody, and I exit her room.

We head down the hall, straight past the four-way split, and we reach the door to the guest bedroom that I'd previously occupied.

"...Goodnight, Renton," Melody hesitantly says.

"Goodnight, Melody," I reply and enter the room.

I get ready for bed using the packaged toothbrush that is waiting for me in the bathroom. After I'm done, I walk back into the bedroom, strip down to my boxers, and plop down in the bed. Despite the fact that I'm extremely tired, I find that I'm unable to sleep. I lay on my back, trying to clear my mind, but I just can't rest. I've slept so well the past few nights, despite everything that's happened, so why can't I now? Is this because Melody isn't next to me?

I stand up, walk out the door, and wander down the hall before I realize that I have no freaking clue where Melody's room is. It doesn't help that this house is so big that I can't even tell where I am. A door on my right looks familiar. I'm pretty sure that this is it. I quietly enter the room and can barely make out someone lying on the bed. After tip-toeing over to the bed, I slowly get in and Melody snuggles up to me as I lay back.

"I just couldn't sleep without you next to me," I tell her.

"That's cute, but after we're finished, you're heading back to your room," Carrie replies as I scramble away and fall out of the bed.

"My sister's room is down the hall. Take a right around the corner and it's the second door on your right," Carrie tells me with a tone that implies the presence of a smirk on her face.

"Thanks..." I awkwardly reply and leave.

"Renton!? What were you doing in my sister's room!?" Melody franticly whispers from my left, wearing tiny gray shorts and a white tank top.

"I was looking for your room. What're you doing up?" I ask.

"I was coming over to your room..." Melody sheepishly answers and I smile at her in the darkness.

"Come on," I tell her as I grab her hand and lead her around the right corner.

We walk into her room and climb into her bed. She turns on her side while I spoon her, a form of cuddling that I enjoy, but despise the name of. I close my eyes and I'm out like a light less than five minutes later.

****

Chapter 35: The Ultimate in Comfort

My bladder wakes me up in the middle of the night. I slowly back away from Melody and get out of bed before heading into her bathroom. The nightlight in the bathroom casts shadows on the walls and provides enough light for me to take a tinkle, wipe up the splatter, and flush before washing my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that something is off about my reflection in the mirror. I look up from the sink and see two black wings jutting out of my back, looking like tattered bat's wings, before I notice that the half of my face that is illuminated has black lines running underneath it. I look down at my hands and see that my veins are black. What in the hell is going on?

I return to the bedroom to find a figure standing over Melody's sleeping form, smothering her with a pillow. I start to rush over to stop it before I realize that I can't move. I can't even speak. I'm forced to watch as the figure holds the pillow over Melody's face until she ceases struggling before the figure walks over to me. The nightlight from the bathroom illuminates the room directly in front of me as the figure walks into it. I see the smile on the figure's face: my face.

"Isn't this what you really want, Renton?" the other me asks with his voice sounding like Azazel.

The floor disappears beneath me and I fall with my body's posture still frozen as I twirl through the air.

****

I jolt awake next to Melody with thoughts of my dream consuming my mind. I immediately look at my shaking hands in the darkness, but I don't see any distortions in my usual skin tone.

"Renton? Are you okay?" Melody asks.

"A bad dream...just a very, very bad dream..." I reply while taking several deep breaths to calm myself down so I can stop shaking.

"Aw..." Melody coos as she grabs my head and pulls it down to her chest.

My mind is immediately wiped of all thought but the softness that is pressed against my right cheek. As Melody starts stroking the left side of my head, I realize that my dream was just a nightmare and nothing more. There's no way that I could ever hurt her; I care about her too much.

"Feel better?" Melody asks.

"More than better," I softly answer while closing my eyes.

"...Comfy?" Melody inquires.

"Very...this has to be better than a memory foam pillow," I reply.

"If you've never slept on a memory foam pillow, then how would you know which is comfier?" Melody questions.

"Because I can't hear your heart beating through a memory foam pillow...and any dream I have where I'm sucking on a marshmallow will have a much more amusing outcome," I answer.

"You should've stopped halfway through," Melody replies with a flat tone.

"I know, but then that would been so romantically sweet that your pancreas might've stopped producing insulin and you would've gotten diabetes," I say.

"I'm just going to ignore that completely insane, yet vaguely cute, thing that you just said and pretend you stopped your previous sentence halfway through...Aw! That's so sweet!" Melody softly exclaims and holds my head tighter to her chest.

"I'm totally okay with this," I mumble.

"Ah!" Melody yelps.

"What's up?" I ask and Melody moans slightly.

"Renton, either stop talking completely or keep going and don't stop," Melody says as I hear her heart pounding in her chest.

As I'm considering which option I should go with, the door to Melody's room bursts open.

"Renton, go back to your own bed this instant or I will stab you," Erin informs me.

"For your information, I am sleeping with Melody for her own protection!" I defend with my face buried in Melody's bosom.

"Yeah, I didn't catch most of that, but I did hear the word 'protection' and considering where your face is, I can only assume it was preceded by the words 'I was planning on using'," Erin replies.

"But Erin! I can't sleep without Renton here..." Melody chimes in with a somewhat cutesy tone.

"You won't be doing much sleeping with the position he's in at the moment..." Erin trails off before I remove my face from Melody's chest.

"Just go to bed. If I hear a moan come from either of you, I'm coming back in here, stabbing first and asking questions after," Erin replies and turns around.

"Why are you being such a cock-block, Erin?" I ask and Erin stops.

"I don't really know..." Erin whispers under her breath and shuts the door behind her.

"Well, I suppose we should go to bed," I say as I turn over and lie on my side.

"We were just getting started..." Melody whispers under her sigh. I turn back over and wrap my left arm around her.

"We'll get there eventually, but not tonight," I whisper in her ear.

"Okay," Melody replies and snuggles back into me before we drift off to sleep.

...

"Renton...wake up, Renton," Melody's voice calls me to consciousness.

"Good morning, Melody," I reply as I open my eyes.

"Morning!" Melody softly exclaims with a smile before Erin barges in again.

"Renton, Claudia and Mr. Sheffield have been looking for you," Erin informs me.

"Shit...this might complicate things...I've got it. I'll just say that I've been wandering the halls looking for the stairs for the past half hour," I say as I get out of Melody's bed.

I immediately walk over to Melody's door and exit her room, only to find Claudia standing two meters to my left. I look down at my state of half-nakedness before looking back at Claudia.

"Uh...this isn't what it looks like," I tell her as Claudia glares at me.

"Really! Nothing happened!" I proclaim my innocence.

"Claudia! Did you find him!?" I hear Melody's father call out from down the hall.

"YES, MR. SHEFFIELD! IT SEEMS HE BECAME LOST!" Claudia replies while giving me a look that clearly conveys that I owe her big time.

"Escort him to my office please," Mr. Sheffield adds.

"Thank you!" I whisper to Claudia.

"Come on. I'll show you to your room so you can put some clothes on before taking you to Mr. Sheffield," Claudia replies and escorts me down the hall.

Claudia shows me to my room where I find a spare school uniform in the dresser so I quickly put that on instead of wearing my dirty clothes. I exit the room two minutes later and Claudia leads me down the hall. We take a right when we get to a split in the hallway and pop out on the balcony that overlooks the foyer. She leads me down the stairs and through the opening on the right side of the foyer. We head down the hall before Claudia stops in front of a set of finely finished maple doors on the right, just like his office at school. She gestures towards the doors and walks away without a word so I knock twice and open the right door.

"Come on in, Renton. Sit down," Mr. Sheffield says as I enter his office.

With the exception of a black leather couch to the left of the door and the ornately carved desk that sits in front of the back wall, the office is barren and much smaller than Mr. Sheffield's office at Graythorn. I walk in and sit on the black couch while Mr. Sheffield finishes typing something on the laptop that sits in front of him on his desk.

"Oh, I suppose we'll need to do something about your clothing situation, but that will have to wait. We need to go through a debriefing and I have some information for you," Mr. Sheffield states when he looks up from the laptop.

"Let's start with the debriefing. Run through the events of Monday night and explain where you and Melody have been for the past four days," Mr. Sheffield orders in a way that sounds more like a suggestion.

"Erin picked me up at about 7pm and we proceeded to the cemetery. The blood mage there assaulted us with the reanimated corpses of the deceased," I start.

"I had gathered that after the police report of vandalism at the cemetery," Mr. Sheffield intercedes and I continue.

"After neutralizing her, the blood mage told me that one blood mage had gone with a team of commandos to kidnap Melody and the other blood mage had gone to blow up my house. Since neither of us had a way to contact Liza, Erin drove to my house first because I knew there would be a lower mortality rate if I got Liza out before the bomb went off and then thwarted the kidnapping instead of the other way around. However, we arrived too late. Under the misconception that Liza was dead, my power overflowed and I proceeded to slaughter the blood mage responsible before Erin drove me here," I report with an uninflected tone.

"We passed by two armored vans and I somehow knew that Melody was in one. I suddenly found myself on top of one of the vans where I hung onto it for an hour until the van came to a stop at a farmhouse outside of the city. The blood mages were holding a ritual there to unlock a gate that would release demons into this world. I fought my way down to the basement and arrived just as the ritual was initiated. Then I killed the blood mages and fought through the magic circle to get to Melody, but I ended up collapsing before I could get her out. Melody woke up and a black circle teleported us to a different world. In that world, we met Katharine," I state and Mr. Sheffield tenses up at the name.

"Katharine?...you don't mean..." Mr. Sheffield trails off.

"Yes, Melody's mother. Your wife is alive, Mr. Sheffield. Chet is currently decoding the rest of the notebook, which I suspect will lead to a way to communicate with the other world," I tell him and he looks shocked for several moments.

"What happened next?" Mr. Sheffield asks, regaining his usual composure.

"That world was nearly identical to this one except that not everyone could manipulate mana. While there, Melody and I encountered demons that came from a gate. Apparently the ritual in this world had succeeded in partially opening the gate in the other world. An interrogated demon informed me that if they killed Melody, the gate would open completely and the demons would be able to flood out. Just after I closed that gate, I learned from one of the blood mages of that world that they had to complete the ritual in both worlds to open the gates at all, which led me to believe that the blood mages had a way of communicating across worlds. After I defeated a high level demon called a Grigori, Melody and I suddenly returned," I finish.

"What were these demons like?" Mr. Sheffield questions.

"Considerable speed and strength with arms that could warp into blades. They looked human with the exception that something was indescribably off about them and if you got close enough, you could see that their clothes were fused to their skin," I answer as Mr. Sheffield picks a manila folder up from the desk and removes a document.

"Did their presence cause a scene that resembles anything like this?" Mr. Sheffield inquires as the document floats out of Mr. Sheffield's hand and into mine.

The document is a photograph of a brutal crime scene that was perpetrated with a bladed weapon judging by the streaks of blood splatter on the wall behind the body. This certainly resembles a demon's handiwork, but I can't say for certain that it's not some knife-wielding maniac.

"I'd say that this was most likely done by one of them, but I'm not positive. It could've simply been a mage with a blade," I reply.

"Not likely. A mana signature was nowhere to be found at the crime scene," Mr. Sheffield informs me.

"Then it most likely was a demon," I confirm.

"Well, what's your plan then? How do we get the demons to stop hunting Melody?" Mr. Sheffield asks.

"Unless I find the gate and can kill the Grigori that is holding it open, we can't. I'll simply have to kill every one of the bastards that comes into the city until we find the gate. I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the basement of that farmhouse...I'd go there today and check, but I'm not in the best shape to take out a Grigori after my fight last night," I answer.

"I understand. I'll have my connection tell the police department to keep an eye out for any demons. Go to the mall with Melody and Erin and buy anything you need to replace the things that were lost. Tell Melody that she can use the black card," Mr. Sheffield replies.

"Okay. Also, the demons might have a different electrical charge than humans, but I know for certain that they have a different thermal signature. Their body temperatures are lower than a human's," I inform him.

"I will tell them. See you later, Renton," Mr. Sheffield says.

I stand up and leave his office without another word. I make my way back upstairs, take a left down the hall, turn right at the end, and go to Melody's room two doors down. Before opening Melody's door, I hear her start talking.

"Hey Alexa...Renton and I just got back last night...I didn't call because we got back at 1am...yeah, I'm fine. The world we landed in is the same world that I sent my mom to when I was five. It was great seeing her...Renton is, well, he's upset about some things that he wouldn't want me to tell you about...What!? No, _that_ is working just fine...because we've been sleeping in the same bed for the past few nights. Just sleeping though..." Melody says and I realize that she's on the phone.

I knock twice and enter the room.

"I've got to go. Renton is back from talking to my dad and I need to talk to him. I'll call you later...Okay, bye!" Melody exclaims and hangs up her cell phone.

"Your dad wants you, me, and Erin to go to the mall and buy anything I need. He also said that you can use the black card," I inform her.

"Okay, I'll go tell Erin," Melody says and moves towards the door before I stop her.

"DID YOU CATCH ALL THAT, ERIN!?" I shout.

"Yeah!" Erin replies through the room's left wall.

"Alright, I guess I'll just go take a shower and get ready," Melody responds.

"And I'll do the same," I reply.

"...Do you want to join me?" Melody sheepishly propositions.

With an excited expression on my face, I open my mouth to respond in the affirmative before I give pause and think about it. While taking a shower with Melody and soapy fondling sounds awesome, I have several things to consider. First, what if she's being water efficient and has no intention of us washing each other, but that seems a bit doubtful given the recent occurrences at night. Second, what all am I allowed to wash? Like, just her boobs or _everything_? And if I do wash everything, what if she gets excited and wants to take it further? And if we do have sex, what if there isn't any grip on the shower and we slip causing us to both crack our heads open on the wall resulting in Melody's bloody injury because I would most likely be fine? Then I'd have to go get Liza and explain what happened ...

"Renton?" Melody asks.

"No, I don't want you to die," I reply and exit her room.

"Wait, what?" I hear Melody ask in confusion as I'm walking down the hall.

I head back to my room and take a shower before getting dressed in the Graythorn uniform again. I walk back into the bedroom, spot my jeans on the floor, and pick them up. The Void crystals are still in my pockets so I remove the remaining crystals and set them on the top of the dresser. I grab one of the six crystals and slip it into my pocket as a precaution before heading downstairs. As I walk into the living room, I see Ridley sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"WEN! You back!" Ridley exclaims as she jumps off of the couch and runs over to me.

"Hey Ridley!" I reply as I pick her up and lift her above my head as she giggles.

"Is Mellie back too?" Ridley asks.

"Yeah, she's taking a shower right now so she'll be down in a little bit. Let's watch TV while we wait for her," I answer.

I carry Ridley over to the couch and sit down with her. _My Small Pony_ is on TV and Ridley seems to really enjoy it. Since I'm familiar with the term Brony being used for male fans of the show and I enjoy a good pun, I try to look at it from that stand point, but I really can't see what's appealing about the show. Is it better than most shows that Ridley would watch? Absolutely. Can I see myself watching it if Ridley weren't around? Probably not.

"Renton? What're you doing?" Erin asks.

"Trying to learn the way of the Brony and spending some time with Ridley," I answer.

"Oh, okay. As long as you're not getting too friendly with her...what's a Brony?" Erin inquires.

"Hey, are you guys ready to go?" Melody asks as she walks into the living room.

"Where you going, Mellie?" Ridley asks.

"We're just going to the mall to get Wren some clothes and stuff because he's going to be staying here," Melody answers.

"I wanna go!" Ridley exclaims and Melody looks to me for confirmation.

Since Erin will be with us, I think we can handle protecting both Ridley and Melody if things get rough.

"Alright, let's go," I tell her.

"YAY!" Ridley squeals as I pick her up and carry her out to the garage.

"We're taking the Escalade because Ridley's car seat is already in there," Erin informs me when I start heading towards the Mini Cooper.

We all pile into the Escalade and I manage to figure out how to buckle Ridley into her car seat before sitting shotgun. Erin drives us to Avalon's mall and we arrive about forty minutes after leaving. The first thing we do is go and buy a new smartphone for me, which is put onto Melody's plan. Melody transfers her SIM card's contacts onto my new phone so that the only number I have to add is Liza's. Because of a special going on at the store, I even get a free wireless headset.

The next four hours are spent listening to the girls argue over how they should 'dress me up' while I just do what they say to make things as painless as possible and to make it over as quickly as possible. I find myself getting bored very quickly, which is a bit odd. This is the sort of activity that I used to enjoy, but now it's just menial.

As I'm trudging behind the girls, carrying all of the bags of course, my vision suddenly shifts. I immediately start scanning the crowd of mall goers, but everyone around me is a shade of orange. If there isn't a demon nearby, then what set it off? Is this just a false alarm or something?

I look down a hallway to my left as I pass and I see a blue trail as it slips through a closing security door.

"Melody, take the bags. Erin, take Ridley and Melody back to the car. I'll catch up. If anybody attacks you, go for a decapitation and watch out for their speed and strength," I tell her.

Melody takes the bags without a word, but with a concerned expression on her face as Erin nods.

"I'll be fine. See you soon," I reassure her and run down the mall hallway.

I reach the double security doors and find that they're locked with a physical lock. I spot a runic key pad to the right of the doors and I set my left hand on it. The pad is disabled, but the doors still don't unlock. How in the hell am I supposed to catch the demon now? I reach for the Void crystal in my pocket and consider using it so I can blow the doors open since its better than subliming them.

(Why not just use Azazel's power? Or is the junkie just looking for an excuse to take another hit?)

"What do you mean, Melanie?"

(Azazel had the ability to summon weapons from the Void. When you absorbed him, you gained that power)

"The power of a Grigori...So that's what he meant..."

(Now you are able to form your weapons much more quickly and with much less toll. Picture what you want to summon in your mind and hold out your left hand; however, this power will only work with bladed weaponry)

I do as Melanie says and the first thing that pops into my mind is the giant claymore that Azazel used. The V on the back of my left hand flushes black before black smoke comes pouring out of it and solidifies into the large black sword in my hand. Immediately after it solidifies, my hand is yanked towards the floor. I grab the crisscrossing, diamond-textured grip with both hands and, with a fair deal of effort, I hoist the blade up. I swing the claymore vertically through the center of the double doors in front of me.

I step forward, give a swift kick to the center of the doors, and watch as they're blown inward. Several people are looking at me with shocked expressions as my vision shifts and reveals one that is dark blue at the opposite end of the hall. I lock eyes with it and sprint towards the demon as it turns and tries to run away. Since I'm unable to run at full speed while wielding something so heavy, I wish the sword would disappear. The claymore loses its density as it sublimes into black smoke and is sucked into the black V on my left hand, responding to my wishes.

The demon runs around the left corner as I sprint after it. I reach the corner as the demon runs out through a set of emergency exit doors. I bust through the doors and find myself in the parking lot of the mall as I continue to run the demon down. Once I get within several meters of the demon, I launch myself at it, slamming my right elbow into the back of its neck. We hit the ground and roll, separating from each other.

I stand up as the demon's arms warp into blades and it charges at me. Black smoke floods out of my scar and condenses around my hands and forearms as I move my hands forward to catch the blades on reflex. It now looks like I'm wearing black gauntlets that have spikes sweeping out of the knuckles of my fingers and my wrists. As I tighten my hands around the demon's blades, I realize that the spikes are segmented plates that allow for motion of my hands.

Since I need some information from this demon, the first thing I need to do is disarm it. I feel myself grin as I slam my forehead into the demon's face. On the third head butt, I release the demon's arms. While the demon staggers back, I plant my right foot into its chest and push it back several meters. I focus on the large claymore, causing the gauntlets to melt off of my arms before solidifying in my hands as the claymore. As the demon is getting back up, I clear the distance between us and with two quick hacks, the threat this demon poses is neutralized.

The demon lets out an ungodly screech as I kick it I the chest again and let the claymore retreat back into my blackened scar via smoke. The demon lands on its back as I jump on top of it.

"TELL ME WHERE THE GATE IS!" I scream at it before bringing my bare fist into its face, causing it to chip.

"TELL ME!" I shout as I punch the demon again, causing chips of its face to fly off and reveal the inky blackness beneath it.

"Which...one?" the demon asks.

"You damn well know which gate I'm talking about! The one you demons are coming through!" I exclaim and punch it again, chipping more of its face.

"Yes Protector, I know what gates you speak of. Do you want the location of the one I came through, or another?" the demon questions.

"What do you mean?" I inquire.

"Heh...Did the Protector not realize that there is more than one gate?" the demon mocks and my stomach drops.

"How many are in the city?" I ask.

"In this city? None," the demon replies.

"Then where did you come from?" I question.

"A gate outside of the city. We were told that the Key was here, so we came," the demon answers.

"How many of you are there in the city?" I inquire.

"Heh...more than you can imagine," the demon says with a smile and a gleam in his eyes that doesn't feel right.

I materialize the claymore as I spin and bring the blade down. The giant claymore hits the demon that was in mid-slash behind me in the middle of its head and, because of the weight of the massive sword in my hands, the demon is cleaved in two before the halves sublime and drop a Void crystal. I stab the claymore into the ground in front of me, and coincidentally through the demon's chest before I grab the Void crystal behind me. I haul myself up using the sword while the demon groans in pain.

"Anything else you'd like to say?" I ask the demon while twisting the claymore back and forth, grinding a hole in its chest.

"You're a waste of a Grigori," the demon grunts.

"I consider that to be a compliment," I reply before bringing the claymore through its neck.

I bend down and pick up the resulting crystal before turning around to block a bolt of lightning with my left hand. I look around and notice that I'm surrounded by the boys in blue. I find it strange that I didn't notice the sirens. A fleeting thought of eliminating the insolent police officers surrounding me for daring to attack me passes through my mind.

"Hey, that's dangerous! What if that had hit me and stopped my heart? You don't know if I have a pace maker or preexisting condition!" I exclaim.

"Drop your weapon!" an officer demands.

"See, it's that attitude that makes me feel like you guys aren't even paying attention to what I'm saying!" I exclaim.

"Tupefacio-say Ulminis-fay!" the police officers call out, except for the ones that are Sparks.

As the lightning bolts come towards me from all sides, I launch myself three meters into the air and watch as all ten police officers get hit. Eight go down while the two that don't seem fazed must be Sparks.

"I was never planning on resisting. You guys were just being dicks about this whole thing," I tell them as I let the claymore disappear into my blackened scar.

"Do either of you know if your buddies have heart conditions?" I ask, but they don't respond.

"Fine, let's go then. Get the handcuffs out," I reply and walk towards them with my hands behind my back.

One of the officers tackles me to the ground and puts me in handcuffs, zip ties, and some good, old-fashioned, rope.

"Like I said, totally unnecessary. Had I wanted to harm you, I would have already done it," I tell the officer as he hauls me to my feet.

"Shut it. You just assaulted eight police officers," the officer replies.

"You idiots did that to yourselves. Didn't they teach you guys anything about being in the line of fire in the academy?" I ask as he loads me into the back of a squad car.

The other officer gets in the passenger seat and uses the radio to call in support for the downed officers. The car starts moving and I see Melody, Erin, and Ridley standing on the sidewalk, watching me. I quickly sublime the handcuffs, zip ties, and rope around my wrists to wave at her. She gives me a half smile while Erin pulls out her phone before they're out of sight.

...

Chapter 36: Cream Filled or Glazed?

Once we arrive at the station, the police officers notice that my handcuffs, zip ties, and rope are gone and immediately start beating me with their nightsticks.

"Like I told you, I am cooperating, but if you keep messing with me, that's just going to increase the likeliness that I'll fight back, and you really don't want that," I tell them as I grab both of their nightsticks.

Naturally, the officers both try to tug their nightsticks away from me, so I release them. Surprisingly, they holster their nightsticks and escort me into the precinct where I'm led past the lobby to a back room that has a circle engraved into the concrete floor. The officers pat me down and remove my phone, wallet, and the three Void crystals, which causes them to give each other looks, but not say anything.

"Stand in the circle and don't move," one officer orders so I do so.

"Onmoveo-cay," the officer says from the edge of the circle.

When the circle doesn't light up, the officers' eyes go wide. They immediately exit the room and lock the door behind them. I wait for about two minutes before two large guys come in and escort me down the hall to what I immediately recognize as an interrogation room. I sit down in the steel chair for roughly fifteen minutes before a bald, black, detective walks in with his white, brunette buzz-cut partner...if the fact that they're wearing suits instead of a uniform indicates that they're detectives.

"Hey, sorry for making you wait. Do you want anything to eat or drink?" the black detective asks.

"Do you guys have any donuts?" I inquire.

"I got your donuts right here!" the white detective exclaims while grabbing his crotch and we all laugh.

"But yes, there was a box in the break room. I'll go grab it," the white detective adds and leaves the room.

The detective comes back a minute later and sets the box on the steel table. I scarf down a glazed donut immediately.

"I'm Detective Jackson and this is Detective Johnson. What's your name, son?" the black detective asks.

"Jackson and Johnson? Well, I suppose that's better than Johnson and Johnson. My name is Renton Werner. I'm a student at Graythorn Academy," I reply.

"And what do you like to do for fun, Renton?" Detective Johnson asks.

"I enjoy killing people...or at least that's what you think, am I right?" I respond.

"You find the first person without a mana signature and think that the recent killings are closed, most likely because I assume the new memo hasn't made its way around the precinct yet," I add.

"What are you talking about?" Detective Jackson warily questions.

"You'll most likely be getting a memo in the next few hours outlining to be on the lookout for beings with low thermal readings that turn into smoke and leave behind black crystals when decapitated. I'll be out of here within the next hour. I'm just glad that you guys went with the cordial tactics instead of like the other police officers that I could probably have fired if I held more malice," I answer.

Both detectives have perplexed expressions on their faces as there are two quick knocks at the door before it opens.

"Renton Werner?" a female officer asks.

"What's going on?" Detective Johnson inquires.

"Chief wants to see him," she answers

"Later boys. Thanks for the donut," I tell the detectives as I stand up and follow the officer out of the interrogation room.

The officer leads me down the hall away from the lobby, up three flights of stairs, and into a large office with a brown leather couch, which Mr. Sheffield happens to be sitting on.

"Thank you, Officer Reynolds," the older man behind the desk to my right says and the female officer leaves, followed by an awkward silence for about twenty seconds.

"A claymore, Renton?" Mr. Sheffield asks.

"Hey, you hired me to protect Melody, not to be subtle," I answer.

"Well, your lack of subtlety got you on YouTube," Mr. Sheffield replies.

"Shit...how many views does it have?" I inquire.

"Two hundred thousand," Mr. Sheffield informs me.

"How!? It's only been an hour!" I exclaim.

"It features people being cut in half before turning into smoke, cops looking like idiots, and feats of inhuman strength. Rumors of demons are already starting to float around," Mr. Sheffield replies.

"Well, at least I got some decent information out of it," I respond.

"Give me the good news, Renton," Mr. Sheffield says.

"Uh..." I reply, not knowing how to tell him when this is pretty terrible news

"*Sigh*...give me the news, Renton," Mr. Sheffield rephrases.

"Well, I found out that the gate is most likely at the farmhouse outside of the city," I reply.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Mr. Sheffield asks.

"Yes...but apparently there's more than one gate..." I answer.

"...How many more?" Mr. Sheffield inquires.

"I don't know, but at least there aren't any more in Avalon. However, the demons are apparently being told that 'the Key' is here so they've been coming to the city," I reply.

"What should I have my boys do, Max?" the police chief asks and Mr. Sheffield looks to me.

"The demons can be most easily detected with thermal vision goggles because they have lower body temperatures. They're much stronger and faster than humans and their arms can turn into blades so engaging them alone isn't a good idea. They may also be immune to magic, but I haven't had a chance to test that theory. Since humans have encountered these things before and we didn't go extinct, we must be able to kill them too. I've found that decapitating them works wonders," I inform the chief.

"Alright...I'll get something worked out. Here, this will help you if you run into a situation like today again. Here are your personal items as well," the chief says as he pulls a card out of his desk and sets it down next to a clear plastic bag.

"Thanks," I reply as I walk over to his desk.

I grab the card and see that it seems to be some sort of special identification for police, which means that it won't have the same effect as a badge when dealing with citizens, unfortunately. I take my wallet out of the bag and slip the card into it before returning it to my pocket, along with my phone and Void crystals.

"Thank you, Johnny," Mr. Sheffield says.

"It's no problem for an old squad mate," the chief replies. Squad mate? I'd wondered where Mr. Sheffield had gotten a scar like that...

"Well, we'd better get going. I'm sure Melody is worried. Keep me updated, Johnny," Mr. Sheffield announces.

"Will do, Max," the chief responds as we exit his office.

Mr. Sheffield and I walk down and out of the precinct to the Escalade he has parked outside in silence. We get into the car and drive back to the house without saying a word. Mr. Sheffield pulls into the garage, next to the black Lexus coup that must be Carrie's car. The moment I walk through the garage door into the house, I'm ambushed.

"Renton! Are you alright!? Did they hurt you!? Did they sodomize you!? Erin said there'd be sodomy!" Melody exclaims while grabbing both of my arms and shaking me slightly. I drape my arm around Melody's shoulders and escort her down the hall.

"So this is what it's like to be back on the outside...their so much color...I'm not sure if I can readjust to life out here..." I wistfully reply while looking towards the ceiling.

"It's just not the same without the constant threat of getting stabbed," I add as we reach the foyer.

"Well then, I guess I'm not fulfilling my role properly," Erin announces as she walks around the corner with her usual smirk.

"Erin, why did you have to go and lie to Melody like that?" I ask.

"Hey, I didn't lie! For all I knew, you'd been made into somebody's bitch and were getting pounded to the point that you'd need an inflatable donut just to sit down!" Erin exclaims as I continue around the corner towards the living room.

"The amount of detail tells me that you've thought about this too much, and that really disturbs me," I reply.

"There was no sodomy, Melody, just beatings and donuts, but they were the edible kind," I inform her.

"They beat you!?" Melody asks.

"Until I made it clear that if they didn't cut that shit out, I was going to fight back and they really didn't want that, which got them to stop," I answer.

"That story would have been better with sodomy..." Erin mentions as we sit down on the couch.

"Not to me...How's Ridley?" I inquire.

"She's taking a nap now. She was a little shaken up, but I think she'll be okay," Erin answers.

"Good..." I reply and consider telling them about the multiple gates, but I don't.

I'll ask Mr. Sheffield if I can borrow the Escalade tonight and then I'll go close the gate at the farmhouse. That won't stop the demons completely, but it should make them more manageable since they'll have to travel a longer distance to get into the city. My phone beeps, bringing me out of my thoughts. I scoot it out of my left pocket and unlock it to find that I have a text from Jose.

'Hey bro, I heard you made it back.'

' _Yeah, we got back last night. How did you get this number?'_ I reply.

'Melody texted me and sent me your number and said that you'd been arrested?'

'Yeah. Apparently killing two demons with a claymore in a public space followed by jumping out of the way so the arresting officers' lightning bolts all strike each other is frowned upon.'

'Lol Nice! So I heard your house exploded.'

'Yeah, I'm living with Melody now.'

'Sweet! Have you two hooked up yet?'

'No...we made out a bit in the other world and she practically jumped my bones when I came back from the dead, but then her mom walked in and things got awkward.'

'Back from the dead? Melody's mom?'

'Yeah, we ended up in the world that Melody accidentally sent her mom to when she was five. It also seems that the Goddess has taken a liking to me or something because I keep coming back to life even after being completely obliterated.'

"Renton, who are you texting?" Melody asks.

"Jose. Just telling him what's going on," I answer.

'Dude! Did you know that your fight is on YouTube!?'

'Yeah...how bad is it?'

'You're pretty recognizable...and by Monday, probably everyone in school will have seen it.'

'Great...'

'Don't worry, Bro! I've got your back!'

'Thanks man.'

'You know what we should do? We should have a guys' night over at my place!'

'That sounds great, but I can't. I've got this thing to do tonight, so rain check?'

'Alright bro! I'll ttyl then. See ya!'

"So what up?" Melody inquires when I slide my phone back into my pocket.

"I'm going over to Jose's house for a guys' night," I reply.

"Oh...okay. What time are you leaving?" Melody asks.

"Probably around seven or so. I'll be right back," I answer as I stand up from the couch.

"We should have a girls' night here with Lily and Alexa," Erin suggests.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Melody exclaims as I exit the living room.

That just threw a wrench in my plans. I pull out my phone and call Jose as I walk down the hall towards Mr. Sheffield's office.

"Hello?" Jose answers.

"Hey, is it still alright if I come over tonight?" I ask.

"Why, what's up?" Jose inquires.

"Well, I lied to Melody and said that I was going over to your house around seven for a guys' night so I could go do that thing I have to do and return here around midnight with the excuse that I couldn't sleep without her next to me, but now she's having a girls' night here with Erin, Alexa, and Lily so my plan won't work," I explain.

"Yeah, no problem bro. What do you have to do that you can't tell Melody about?" Jose asks.

"I have to go fight a bunch of demons where I might get killed and I didn't want her to worry," I answer.

"Alright, I'm coming with you," Jose replies.

"No, you're not. These things are crazy fast and strong and have arms that can turn into blades. The only way they can be taken down is by decapitation and last I checked, you don't know how to use a sword," I respond.

"Come on, dude. You know I'm a master _swordsman_!" Jose exclaims and I laugh at the innuendo.

"Alright, just be careful. I'll text you my address and just text me when you get here," Jose adds.

"Thanks bro. I'll probably be there around midnight depending on traffic and the degree of injury I sustain. See you later," I reply.

"See you then," Jose says and hangs up.

I slide my phone back into my pocket and knock twice on Mr. Sheffield's office door.

"Come in," Mr. Sheffield replies.

"What can I do for you, Renton?" Mr. Sheffield asks when I enter his office.

"I need to borrow the Escalade so I can go close the gate tonight and then stay at Jose Cruz's house because Melody is planning on having a girls' night tonight with Alexa and Lily," I answer.

"This is the first I've heard of it," Mr. Sheffield replies.

"Yeah, that's because Erin gave her the idea after I lied about a guys' night as an excuse for where I was going because I didn't want them to worry. She'll probably be in here in a few moments to ask," I respond.

"Alright, you can borrow the Escalade. The keys are in the car," Mr. Sheffield replies as there's a knock on his door and I'm questioning the idea of leaving the keys in a fifty thousand dollar car. Although, I suppose it is in the garage of a house in the middle of nowhere.

"Thank you, Mr. Sheffield," I say as Melody enters the office.

"Daddy? Can Alexa and Lily come over tonight?" Melody asks as I walk past her.

"Yes, that's fine," Mr. Sheffield answers as I shut the door behind me and start walking down the hall.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Melody exclaims while exiting the office. She rushes down the hall to catch up to me.

"So what are you guys planning on doing tonight?" Melody asks.

"Probably just play some video games, talk about the girls we like, maybe get drunk, and describe in obscene detail how we would defile each other's mothers. You know, just a usual night," I joke.

"Okay, don't have too much fun! I need to call Alexa and Lily," Melody replies as she pulls out her phone.

"Alright. Where are my clothes?" I inquire.

"I gave them to Claudia to wash when we got home. They might be done by now though. Hey Alexa, Daddy said yes. I'll come pick you up, okay?" Melody tells me with the phone to her ear before seamlessly transitioning to her conversation with Alexa.

While Melody walks down the hall towards the living room, I make my way upstairs. My phone vibrates and I pull it out to find a text from Jose with his address. I plug his address into my phone's GPS and see that his house is only about ten minutes from Melody's. I take a left down the hallway and head to my room as I see Claudia leaving it.

"Perfect timing. I was just about to see if my clothes were done," I say.

"I just set them on top of your dresser because I didn't know how you wanted them organized," Claudia replies.

"That's more than enough. Thanks, Claudia," I tell her and enter my room while she continues down the hall.

All of the clothes are neatly folded on top of the dresser. I put the clothes away, leaving only a pair of jeans and a blue, V-neck t-shirt that I change in to and transfer all of my stuff into my jean pockets. My uniform isn't exactly suited for fighting and it probably costs a hell of a lot more to replace than my other clothes. I see that the wireless headset is plugged in on top of the dresser so I unplug it, sync it to my phone, and slip it into my pocket. Since I still have three Void crystals with me and I'm bound to grab more, I leave the ones on top of my dresser where they are.

I leave my room and head downstairs to the living room to find that it's empty. Erin and Melody must've gone to pick up Alexa and Lily. I sit down on the couch and watch TV for a while until I hear the girls get home, their chatting easily being heard even from this far away.

"Hey Renton, when are you leaving?" Melody asks by way of greeting.

"Want me out of the way so you can do girl stuff like braiding each other's hair and talking about boys and practicing kissing?" I inquire with a grin.

"Yes, but we're only going to be doing the last one," Erin answers before Melody can.

"Alright, I guess I'll head to Jose's a little early then," I reply as I check my phone and see that it's 6:30pm.

"Okay, have fun, Renton!" Melody softly exclaims as she walks over and looks up at me.

"I'll try, but no guarantees since you won't be there," I say before I gently kiss her.

"That was so disgustingly sweet that I might actually vomit," Alexa announces.

"Agreed," Lily and Erin say.

"Have fun girls!" I exclaim as I exit the living room.

I head down the hall towards the garage and get into the Escalade, finding that the keys are in the car. I set my headset on my ear so I can answer a call while driving and still be safe before using the remote on the visor to open the garage door and I back the car out.

I guess it's about time to get my party started.

...

Chapter 37: Barnyard Blitz

It seems my wish to get my party started was a bit premature as I've been driving for over an hour, and I still can't find the place.

"Melanie, I don't suppose you can remember where it is?"

(Take the next left)

"If you knew how to get there this whole time, why didn't you speak up sooner?"

(Because you didn't ask)

"Fair enough."

I take the next left and turn down a dirt road. I can make out a farmhouse in the distance so I cut the lights as I continue driving up to it. I stop and turn the car off about three hundred meters from the farmhouse before proceeding on foot. When I'm about one hundred meters from the farmhouse, my vision shifts and I see that the ground darkens as it leads to the main part of the property where the farmhouse and barn sit. I slip a Void crystal into my mouth as I continue towards the house. My body is tense and ready for immediate action as I scan the surrounding area while moving forward. Suddenly, my phone starts ringing, causing me to jump.

"Hello?" I whisper after pressing the button on my headset.

I overhear the sound of muffled movements and voices in the background before the rustling stops and the voices become clearer as I approach the farmhouse. The ground beneath me is so cold that I can feel it through my shoes.

"Renton and I made out at my mom's house and we've been sleeping together every night..." I overhear Melody say before the doors of the nearby barn to my right burst open and ten demons come flooding out.

"I want to be more intimate with Renton...I want to...you know..." Melody says as I bite down on the Void crystal. Black smoke comes out of my scar and wraps around both of my hands and forearms before condensing into the black gauntlets from earlier today as the demons charge at me.

"Ride him like a pogo stick?" Alexa suggests as I use the initial surge of energy from the Void crystal to decapitate two demons with fist-sized blasts of Void force.

"YES!" Melody loudly exclaims, sounding somewhat exasperated as I meet the first two demons and dodge around their slashes to get inside and deliver two quick punches that shatter their faces inward. They both drop like sacks of potatoes and I know they're down for the count; it seems that I've gotten stronger.

"Well, what's stopping you?" Lily asks as I catch both of the bladed arms of a demon and pick it up. I spin the demon in my grasp around and hurl it at a group of three approaching demons, sending all four to the ground. I jump up and bring each fist down through the head of a demon before picking up the other two demons by their necks. I clench my hands with enough force that I end up severing their heads.

"Sometimes it's due to people intervening, like my mom or Erin...but most of the time it's Renton..." Melody answers while a demon moves in and takes a slash at me. As I lean to the left to avoid the slash, I place my right foot on the outside of its left. I come up and bring the back of my closed right fist into the side of the demon's face before arcing the hit towards the ground. My right foot trips the demon, adding more force as I slam its head into the dirt.

"Hey, I just didn't want to hear you moaning all night while I was trying to sleep! Or more likely, hear you moan for a minute before hearing disappointed sighing while I was trying to sleep!" Erin defends while I scoot back and squat down to avoid the stabbing attack from the demon behind me. Its blades end up in front of me with its biceps on my shoulders so I grab both and flip it over my back, slamming it into its downed comrade that's in the process of disintegrating.

"Well, Renton isn't like most guys. Maybe you need to work harder to seduce him," Lily says as I lift the demon, swing it to my right, and let it fly. It hits the last demon and sends them both flying into the side of the barn.

"How?" Melody asks as I sprint over to the demons before they can recover.

"You could try wearing something sexy and waiting in his bed!" Alexa suggests while I run over to the demon that is on the ground and bring the heel of my right foot down on its face, resulting in a loud crunch.

"But I don't own any sexy clothes..." Melody replies as I rush over to the other demon that is embedded in the wall of the barn.

"Carrie probably does. You could ask her, or you could go buy some," Alexa says while I'm crouched down, bringing my left fist through the demon's head and into the wooden wall of the barn. Dust explodes out from the barn and coats me as the demon's body sublimes.

"That's not necessary when you can make a sexy outfit out of the clothes you already have. Hell, with the right mindset, you could even make your school uniform sexy," Erin chimes in as I pick up the resulting Void crystal, stand up, and try to wipe the dust out of my face and hair.

"I'll think of something...thanks, you guys," Melody says as I walk over to where the demons fell and pick up the Void crystals.

"So, Alexa...what's the deal with you and Jose?" Erin asks.

"There isn't one," Alexa answers.

"So you wouldn't mind if I hooked up with him? He's pretty cute," Erin replies with a tone that implies the presence of a mischievous grin on her face.

"O-of course not! I don't even know what you see in him!" Alexa exclaims. She is so completely dishonest with herself.

"I need to use the restroom," Erin announces and I hear rustling before the sound of footsteps on tile flooring.

"I hope I didn't call at a bad time. I just thought you'd like to hear that," Erin smugly says.

"Oh, yeah. Hearing that my girlfriend wants to have sex with me really badly was totally something I wanted to hear while I was in the process of fighting off ten demons," I condescendingly reply.

"Ten demons!? Renton, where in the hell are you!?" Erin demands. Shit...

"I'm at the farmhouse where the blood mages took Melody last week. A gate to the demon world has opened up here and I'm about to close it. I didn't want Melody to worry, so I told her that I was going over to Jose's, which technically isn't lying because I am still going over there after this...provided that I don't die..." I respond.

"Stay where you are, I'm coming to you. Where's the farmhouse?" Erin asks.

"No, Erin. I'm about an hour away and I need you there to protect Melody in case demons attack the house while I'm not there. I won't watch her die because I left her without protection...not again..." I answer.

"Okay...just be careful. Good luck, Renton," Erin replies.

"Thanks, I will. See you tomorrow," I say and click the side of my headset, ending the call.

I start walking towards the farmhouse when a sudden searing pain afflicts my right side. I look to my right and see a jagged black spear that resembles a lightning bolt sticking out of my side, just below my ribcage. Wielding the spear is a demon with black lines running under his tan face that compliment his all black eyes and golden irises—a Grigori. This one is quite a bit shorter than Azazel, standing only a third of a meter taller than I, and he doesn't have wings that I can see, but he's a Grigori nonetheless. The Grigori wears a broad grin as it rips the spear around my back, through my lumbar, and to my left side. The Grigori removes his spear and I collapse face down on the ground, my shock protecting me from pain, or perhaps that's because my spinal column was just severed.

"So you're the Protector...How did Azazel manage to be defeated by you? Well, my name is Ezeqeel and I'll be carrying out your execution today," the Grigori gloats as I'm lying in a puddle of my own blood, reaching for my pocket with my right hand.

"Can I get you anything to eat or drink? Do you have any last words that you want to be passed along to the Key? After all, I'll be paying her a visit quite soon!" Ezeqeel exclaims.

"No thanks. I have my own snacks," I grunt out before I shove the handful of Void crystals into my mouth.

I swallow four and crunch down on one before Ezeqeel stabs his spear through my back. I gasp out in pain as the liquefied crystal slides down my throat. Energy courses through my veins and pulses outward, knocking Ezeqeel away from me as I feeling my spine being welded back together and my skin being stitched closed while pain racks my body.

"AUGH!" I grunt in pain as I internalize the energy and use it to heal my damaged body.

I reach behind me and yank Ezeqeel's spear out of my back before I feel that wound starting to heal as well. Void energy dyes the veins in my arms and continues up underneath my t-shirt as I stand up. I turn towards Ezeqeel with his spear in hand. As he stands up, I heft the spear at his chest, putting a little extra oomph into my throw with a heavy helping of Void force. The spear tears through the air faster than I can see. Ezeqeel turns to his right, reaches out, and his spear appears in his left hand before the Void force hits his forearm and breaks it. Ezeqeel takes the spear out of his unnaturally bent left hand and into his right as he turns towards me.

"Alright, I'll admit that you have some surprises up your sleeve, but you can't match my speed which is why you are going to die," Ezeqeel says with his left arm hanging limp at his side.

"We'll just see about that," I reply with a smile on my face as black smoke flows out of the scar on my left hand and wraps around my forearms, forming the black gauntlets since I need speed.

Ezeqeel vanishes in a flash. My vision shifts and I see a blur of dark blue headed towards me so I dive to the side, planting my right hand on the ground to vault over it. The ground that my feet previous occupied explodes and I see Ezeqeel standing there with his spear stabbed into the newly created crater as I land on my feet.

"So it seems you have some moves...I wonder how long you can keep them up," Ezeqeel states with a smile before he vanishes again.

I flip back and watch as his spear passes through the air beneath my head. Ezeqeel vanishes again as I land before I stand still and wait for his move. Ezeqeel comes in and slashes at my chest. I block his attack with my right forearm and slide up along the spear to get in close, but Ezeqeel jumps back and disappears before I can land a hit. He really only seems to appear right before he attacks...if only I had a way to know where he was going to attack from ahead of time...

(Most of the energy from the crystals was used healing you, but you could release the remaining Void energy to your surroundings as the smoke. You would be able to feel distortions in it and have several meters of notification of the direction that Ezeqeel will be attacking in)

"Let's do it."

Black smoke rapidly rises out of my body and surrounds me. The smoke becomes a cloud around me with a five meter radius. I start thinking that this was a waste of my energy when I don't notice any difference, until I sense something coming from my 9 o'clock. The sensation resembles the feeling of the wind, but I know that natural wind isn't blowing. I turn left and redirect Ezeqeel's spear away from my body with my left forearm before following up with a right hook, which Ezeqeel narrowly dodges before disappearing from the cloud and out of my field of perception. That's okay, it's only a matter of time before I catch him and make sure that he can't move quickly ever again.

I wait with the patience of an elderly fisherman, not so much as twitching while focusing only on my prized catch to make its move. I feel him coming from my 5 o'clock and I spin around. Letting my instincts guide my body, I shift to the right and catch the incoming spear in my left hand. I follow up by smashing my right fist into Ezeqeel's face repeatedly with as much force as I can muster. He takes five hits square in the face and still doesn't let go of his spear.

"Give it up, Ezeqeel. Make this easy on me and I'll make your death quick and painless," I tell him.

"Lovely of you to offer, but I'm not finished yet," Ezeqeel replies with a grin before twisting his hand around the shaft of his spear, causing a spike to erupt from the spear and stab through my stomach.

"You didn't think you were the only one with tricks up your sleeve, did you?" Ezeqeel cockily asks as the spike burns inside of my stomach.

(Wren, you can end this now using the Void smoke that has made its way into his body)

"No, but now this fight is over," I groan.

"Finally decided to give up? Realized that you can't beat me?" Ezeqeel asks.

"No, you've just made a fatal mistake that I can exploit," I gasp out before smirking at him.

"Eh? And what might that b—" Ezeqeel starts to ask before I have all of the Void smoke surge towards me.

The cloud surrounding us is sucked into my body as Ezeqeel's chest explodes outward, coating my face with black blood. I'm really starting to enjoy this part of killing the Grigori. Ezeqeel's body and spear sublime before surging towards me. Now comes the part that I don't like.

"AUGH!" I scream out in pain as the smoke from Ezeqeel is absorbed into my body before I collapse into the dirt and everything goes dark.

****

"You are doing quite well, Renton," a voice that I recognize as the Goddess's calls out in the darkness that I'm currently floating through. I turn to my left and see the outline of a woman's figure.

"Keep up the good work and don't be afraid to harness the power that I have bestowed upon you. And remember, should you be at a loss as for what to do, sometimes it is the opposite of what you think," the Goddess tells me before I'm yanked backwards and the Goddess fades from view.

****

I wake up on the cold ground and slowly pick myself up. I look over at the barn and see the closed gate through the open doors. The gate looks a bit smaller than the one in the other world, but it's otherwise identical. Well, since that's taken care of, I guess I'd better head to Jose's house so I can wash some of this crap off of me. I really wish I had thought to bring a spare change of clothes, or at least another t-shirt. I climb into the Escalade and feel the Void crystals in my pockets digging into my thighs. Since I don't want to deal with that all night, I remove all of the crystals and put them in the center console. I start the engine, turn the car around, and start driving back to town before I pull out my phone and call Jose, the call immediately getting relayed to my headset.

"Hey bro, how're you doing?" Jose answers.

"Well, I'm alive, the Grigori is dead, and the gate is closed, but my t-shirt is trashed and I'm covered in demon blood...I don't suppose you have a t-shirt that will fit me?" I ask.

"I have a shirt that's too long on me. It'll probably be a tight fit and a bit long on you, but it should work," Jose replies.

"Thanks man. I'll be there in about an hour," I say.

"Okay, just park on the street in front of my house. Call me when you get here and I'll come let you in. See you soon," Jose responds

"See ya," I reply and hang up.

The hour-long drive is uneventfully quiet. I readjust several times in my seat in an attempt to loosen my sore muscles; a warm shower would be amazing right about now. I start feeling sleepy during my drive so I roll down the window, letting the cold air wake me up until I start succumbing to hypothermia, making me feel tired once again. I keep alternating between both extremes until I reach Jose's house. I park the Escalade on the street in front of the fairly large two-story house before realizing that I'm in the same subdivision as Alexa's house.

"Hello?" Jose answers when I call.

"Hey, I'm here," I reply.

"Alright, come around to the left side of the garage," Jose says.

"Okay bye," I respond as I take the headset off of my ear, drop it in the cup holder, and exit the Escalade.

I walk around the left side of the house and find a door connected to the one-car garage. Jose opens the door and waves me in. I slip off my shoes and silently follow him through the garage—which seems to be his bedroom judging by the video game console, TV, bed, and futon that Tetsuya is currently sitting on—and through the door that connects to the house as he grabs a white t-shirt from the dresser by the door. Jose leads me down a hall and opens a door on the left, revealing a bathroom.

"You can take a shower, here's the shirt, and we can wash your jeans tomorrow. Are your boxers fine?" Jose quietly asks.

"Yeah, thanks bro," I reply in a similar manner.

I walk into the bathroom, strip down, toss my ruined t-shirt in the trash, and take a shower as quickly as possible so I don't wake his family up. After washing the black blood out of my hair and face, I dry off and put my boxers back on along with the plain white t-shirt, which has a 'muscle fit' for me but the length is perfect. I walk out of the bathroom with my dirty jeans in my arms and head back down the hall to the garage to find Jose and Tetsuya playing a video game on the futon.

"Well, that was refreshing. Thanks man," I say as I plop down on the couch next to them while tossing my pants on the ground since they're dry.

"No problem. It just sucks that Melody is probably going to guess what happened since your shirt is destroyed," Jose replies.

"I don't think she'll notice," I respond.

"Dude, I highly doubt it. She cares too much to not notice what you were wearing when you left," Jose says.

"Yeah, you might be right...Speaking of, I got an interesting call from Erin while I was fighting some demons. I thought it had been a butt dial so I listened in and overheard the girls talking," I reply.

"What were they talking about?" Jose asks.

"They were talking about how badly Melody wants to have sex," I answer.

"Sweet! So you guys are going to hook up?" Jose questions.

"I don't know, probably," I reply.

"What is stopping you?" Tetsuya asks and I look at him for several moments.

"Is my speaking really so shocking?" Tetsuya inquires.

"Yeah, it is. Well, the time just hasn't been right, what with the constant fighting to protect her and nearly dying several times," as well as worrying about how the whole 'not human' thing plays into it.

"I also heard Erin trying to get Alexa to admit that she likes Jose," I mention. Jose proceeds to crash the car he's driving into a barrier as Tetsuya crosses the finish line.

"AND!?" Jose asks as he turns towards me.

"And what?" I innocently ask.

"WHAT DID SHE SAY!?" Jose demands as he grabs my shoulders.

"She denied Erin's accusations of liking you, but her tone implied that you still have a chance," I tell him. Jose doesn't respond but his face breaks out into a broad grin.

"So Tetsuya, what do you think of Lily?" I ask and Tetsuya just looks at me in response.

"You can't give me the whole mute act now," I state.

"Just because I can talk does not mean that I will and Lily is not a subject I will discuss," Tetsuya replies, ending the conversation.

"You want the next race?" Jose asks while offering up his controller.

"I'm good just watching," I answer.

"Alright," Jose replies and starts the next race.

It's sometime during the third race that I doze off.

...

Chapter 38: Home Invasion

I'm startled awake by my phone ringing in the dark garage. I rub my eyes before seeing Tetsuya sleeping on the floor nearby while Jose is in his bed. The cable box notifies me that it's 1:12am with its soft, yellow lights. I reach down next to the futon for my pants and fish my phone out of the pocket. My phone's light is blinding in the darkness so I'm unable to make out who is calling me so late.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Renton! We've got an emergency!" Erin frantically shouts over the phone. I bolt upright as I overhear the sound of something pounding on wood.

"How many are there?" I ask while trying to keep calm as Jose turns the light on.

"More than twenty!" Erin answers.

"Where are you guys?" I inquire.

"We've barricaded ourselves in Melody's room, but I don't know how long the door will hold. No word from Mr. Sheffield, Liza, Carrie, or Claudia," Erin replies.

"What about Ridley?" I ask.

"She's with us," Erin answers.

"I'll be there in five," I tell her and hang up.

"What's happening?" Jose asks while I'm trying to put my jeans on.

"Demons are attacking Melody's house," I answer.

Jose and Tetsuya both start getting dressed. Since Alexa is involved, there isn't any talking Jose out of going and Tetsuya might be able to help so I don't say anything. We run out to the car and jump in. I start the car and gun it towards Melody's house, doing about 90 kph the whole way. I swear that I feel the Escalade go up on two wheels around a corner, but I manage to keep it from rolling and make it to the gates of Melody's house that are still broken from the blood mage attack.

"Remember to be careful against these things and go for a decapitation if you can. I'm positive that will bring them down. Watch for their speed too," I announce while speeding down Melody's road.

As I pull up to the house, I see that the front doors are broken down. I jump out of the car the second that it stops and materialize the giant claymore. My body seems to hum with excitement as I sprint into the house. A demon in the foyer turns as I enter and proceed to hack it vertically in half. The demon sublimes as Tetsuya and Jose enter the foyer and I continue upstairs. The demon at the top of the stairs that attacks me realizes its mistake as I cleave it horizontally in two and continue down the left hall with Tetsuya and Jose on my heels. Another demon attacks me as we pass by my room. I block both its blades before staggering it with a kick to its chest and following through with a decapitation. I notice that I'm currently wearing a broad grin and I realize that I'm having quite a lot of fun.

You know what could make this really fun? A little more energy! I could back track and grab one of the crystals from a demon that I've already killed, but that seems too easy. I sprint down the hall towards the demon at the end before dropping to my knees when I'm three meters from it, with my claymore pointed forward. I power slide to the demon and as the claymore passes in between the demon's legs, I slice it up through the demon while bringing my left knee up in front of me to plant my foot and stop the slide. The demon sublimes as I tilt my head back and catch the resulting crystal in my mouth. I stand up and turn to the right to grin at the demon's comrades down the hall with its soul clenched between my front teeth before I crunch down on it.

The twelve demons standing in front of Melody's bedroom door look at me as energy floods through my body, causing the veins in my forearms to blacken. It just occurred to me that I absorbed another Grigori so shouldn't I have some new power like the ability to summon weapons that I gained from absorbing Azazel?

(You gained Ezeqeel's speed, but I wouldn't recommend trying to use it right now)

"Well like the saying goes, there's no time like the present!"

I feel something click inside of me and I know that Ezeqeel's power is activated. I bring my right elbow up and back, causing the claymore blade to point forward at eye level as I charge at the demons. Space seems to move around me, instead of me moving through it, as I approach the demons. I proceed to hack through three of them with one slash, feeling oddly little resistance. I bring my claymore back through their bodies repeatedly and pass through them before taking out their comrades in a similar manner. As I speed up the hall towards the far wall, I realize that I can't stop.

(Of course you can't! How much kinetic energy do you think your body has right now? This is why I told you not to use it here, in such an enclose space!)

To keep from impaling myself on the claymore, I let it disperse into smoke, but I'm unable to keep from hitting the wall. Blood bursts from my face as my nose breaks and the pain hits me as I feel the switch turn off and everything goes back to real time. I pull myself from the wall, turn, and run back down the hall to Melody's room at a normal speed to find Tetsuya and Jose looking at the scene with astonishment while I use some of my remaining energy to heal my broken nose.

I charge into Melody's room and find two demons hacking their way through Melody's bathroom door. Black smoke floods out of my left hand and condenses into the two black swords from when I fought Azazel. I calmly walk up behind the two demons and tap their shoulders with the swords. The demons turn around and get a good look at me before I rip the blades outward, decapitating them both. I stand in front of the door, waiting patiently for the several moments it takes for Erin to cautiously open it. Erin is holding a foot long dagger in her right hand and has Alexa behind her as backup. Melody and Lily are at the back of the bathroom with Ridley sitting in Melody's lap and Melody's arms wrapped around her.

"Wen!" Ridley exclaims with tears in her eyes.

"How are you guys holding up? Is anyone injured?" I ask.

"We're fine," Erin answers.

"Good. Erin, Tetsuya, stay in the bedroom and guard everyone while I go clean up. Judging by your shikigami's prowess, I imagine that you have some decent offensive magic that you can use, am I right, Tetsuya?" I ask and Tetsuya nods in response.

"Alright, I'll be back soon. Just scream if you need help," I tell them and run out Melody's door.

I turn and run down the hall before rounding the corner and stopping in front of the door on my left. I sublime the sword in my left hand so I can use it to open the door. The moment I do, I immediately have to use that same left hand to nullify a blast of fire.

"I take it that you're okay, Carrie?" I ask as the flames dissipate.

"Renton!" Carrie exclaims as she jumps over her bed and hugs me out of relief. It's around this time that I realize that she's wearing a silk camisole and not much else.

"Is my sister okay!?" Carrie asks as she pulls away.

"She's fine. Stay in here and stay down while I go clear the rest of the house," I tell her, keeping my gaze focused on her eyes.

"Okay," Carrie says after taking a deep breath.

Carrie returns to the other side of the bed while I exit her room. Since I have a long stretch of hallway until I get to Liza's room, I activate Ezeqeel's power. I race down the hallway towards the four-way split where two demons are standing. Because I had so much trouble stopping with Ezeqeel's power activated, I decided to turn it off when I'm about five meters from the demons. The switch flips, Ezeqeel's power shuts down, and I immediately fall on my face, skidding to a stop at the demons' feet.

I turn onto my back as the demons look at me, then at each other, and then back at me before bringing their blades down towards my person. I'm able to block with the blade in my right hand while I materialize a longsword into my left hand. Before the demons have time to respond to the threat, I bring the sword through their ankles. The demons shriek as they fall to the ground while I roll back over my head to my feet. I end things with quick decapitations and realize that I'm feeling rather drained.

(That's most likely from Ezeqeel's power)

I bend down and pick up a crystal before popping it into my mouth and continuing down the hall to Liza's room. Energy floods through me and I immediately feel better as the black in the veins of my forearms crawls up towards my shoulders.

(Well, they do say that cocaine is the ultimate pick-me-up)

"You're acting like I have some sort of problem."

My heart skips a beat when I look down the hall and see that Liza's door is open. I activate Ezeqeel's power and race towards Liza's room, slamming into the door frame and bouncing off of it to get inside. I scan Liza's room for enemies, but all I see is Liza sitting on her bed with a cut on her left cheek, breathing heavily with a broken steel floor lamp and three black crystals on the ground around her.

"Are you alright, Liza?" I ask.

"What...you think your...big sis...can't handle...a few demons?" Liza answers between breaths and I smile at her.

"Is anyone...hurt?" Liza inquires.

"Not yet but I still haven't checked on Claudia or Melody's dad," I reply.

"You'd better...get going then," Liza tells me.

"Renton!" I hear Erin call from down the hall.

"What's up, Erin?" I ask as I exit Liza's room.

"We've got about thirty coming in towards the house!" Erin shouts.

"Get back to the room! I'll take care of them!" I reply.

I race back to the split in the hall before taking a left towards the stairs. I take the stairs two at a time before running out through the front doors to find thirty demons standing around the fountain in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. The demons are smirking at me and a shiver of excitement runs through me.

"You really think that you stand a chance with your numbers, don't you? Let me show you the error in your thinking!" I exclaim and activate Ezeqeel's power.

I sprint around the group to the rear and hack one of the demons to bits before running to the left of the group.

"Where did he go?" I hear a demon ask.

"There he is!" a demon on the left side of the group exclaims and points to me.

"How in the hell did this happen!?" a demon in the back asks as I see black smoke.

I reactivate Ezeqeel's power and race around the group, hacking five more to pieces before stopping in front of the group. I feel the demons' panic grow as I start laughing and go for another round. Ezeqeel's power is definitely better suited for combat in larger areas. My energy reserves start draining after killing ten more. I suppose I'm going to need to grab a crystal if I want to keep toying with them!

"RENTON!" I hear Melody scream and my heart stops.

Using Ezeqeel's power, I race inside the house and up the stairs to Melody's room. As I turn right at the end of the hall, I see that the window on the left side of the hallway outside of Melody's room has been broken in. I flash through Melody's door and see two demons fighting Erin and Tetsuya, and that their magic isn't doing much besides holding the demons back. I rush over and quickly decapitate them as I feel my energy dwindling before making my way to the bathroom.

My movements suddenly become even slower than normal and I nearly collapse as my energy runs out. I see a demon in the bathroom about to attack Alexa, who is protecting Melody, Lily, and Ridley with her body. No matter what I do, I'm not going to make it in time! My eyes involuntarily clench at the sound of blades piercing flesh and bone.

"Jose...?" I hear Alexa's stunned voice ask.

I open my eyes to find Alexa on her knees and both of the demon's blades buried in Jose's stomach. I stumble forward and decapitate the demon while it's confused, causing both it and Jose to crumple to the floor as the demon's body starts to sublime.

"JOSE!" Alexa shrieks.

Alexa crawls over to Jose and holds him. Jose turns his head to the right and looks over at Lily who is wide-eyed with shock.

"I might be romantically alone...but at least you guys are here. Heh..." Jose attempts to smile, but it comes out as more of a grimace as I stand there looking at him, not knowing what to do.

"Don't talk!" Alexa quietly exclaims through her tears.

"I...I love you, Alexa...I just...I just wanted you...to know that," Jose says with his face looking paler by the second.

"Don't talk like that! You're going to be fine..." Alexa sobs.

Jose smiles up at her before he closes his eyes. Alexa starts crying harder as Erin pushes past me to enter the bathroom and all sound fades to a dull ringing. I watch as Erin starts trying to heal Jose, but I know that it's already too late.

And it's my fault...

Had I eliminated those demons quickly...had I not toyed with them and come straight back here...had I not been enjoying myself so much that I didn't hear the window break...Jose would still be alive.

I'm responsible for his death...

I killed him...

Something inside of me snaps as I feel all expression being wiped from my face. My wings burst out of my back as my veins start to pulsate with the energy flooding into my body. Melody looks at me and says something, but I can't hear anything past the ringing. Everything feels numb as I seem to float out of the bathroom and exit Melody's room to find the remaining twelve demons quickly advancing around the corner. They skid to a stop when they see me, as if that will save them. The ringing suddenly stops as black smoke rises off of my body and engulfs the hall.

"Kill him!" I hear a demon exclaim.

I reach out with the smoke and send it into all of the demons' bodies. One demon finds me through the smoke and slashes at me. I simply watch as the demon's bladed arm passes through my left humerus, causing my severed arm to drop towards the floor. Before it can hit the floor, my arm sublimes into dense black smoke that plumes on contact with the tile before surging back up to me. The demon watches in shock as the black smoke condenses around my severed humerus, forming a black skeletal structure that is quickly overlaid with black muscle and tendons before pale skin covers it.

The demon takes an unconscious step back before my left hand strikes forward and wraps around its face. I lift the demon off of the floor and command the black smoke inside of it to come slowly towards me. The demon starts loudly shrieking as the black smoke slowly eats away at its insides while its comrades start to panic. Since I don't want them to feel left out, I command the smoke inside of all the demons to do the same, save one.

The next forty seconds are quite loud as the smoke eats through each demon, leaving nothing behind but a black, insect-looking skeleton with some patches of tissue. I let the smoke disperse to reveal the horror around the lone demon standing. It looks around in shock for several seconds before looking at me.

"You have information that you are going to give to me, lest you want to end up like your friends," I say as I make a come-hither motion with my right index finger, causing the demon to groan and clutch at its chest.

"If you are thinking that it will only be a minute of pain until release, know that I can make it take as long as I wish," I inform the demon.

"Now, where is the one leading you? Since I killed Ezeqeel and closed that gate at that farm, my guess is that a blood mage ordered you to come here to kill the Key," I suggest. The demon's eyes go wide when I mention Ezeqeel before it nods in response.

"Where are they?" I ask.

"They dropped the reinforcement team off in the forest to the south before driving away," the demon replies.

Transporting thirty demons through town without attracting attention? The only way it could be done is with a bus...

"How long did it take to travel here?" I question.

"Not long," the demon answers. So they must be located somewhere in Avalon.

"Thank you for your cooperation," I reply and materialize the claymore before vertically bisecting the demon.

I guess I should go see if I can find that bus. The bisected demon sublimes and I grab the resulting crystal. I wonder what the smoke does to prevent the demons' bodies from subliming like normal when I kill them with it. I pop the crystal into my mouth and crunch down on it before heading to the broken window outside Melody's room and jumping out of it. I fall for half a second before my wings wake up and shoot me into the night sky. I fly towards the main road and follow it into town as fast as I can. My vision suddenly shifts and I see a trail of faint orange leading into town.

(The Goddess says that this will assist you in tracking the bus)

"Tell her that I said thanks."

I follow as the faint trail grows brighter. While this is useful for tracking the heat signature, it's a bit of an inconvenience since I can't see far enough into the distance to tell where I'm going. I run into a bit of trouble once I reach what must be the highway as the number of trails greatly increases. Even at 3am, cars still run on the highways so I try to focus on that single trail as I fly. I catch a lucky break when I spot a bus and shift my vision back as it take an exit to downtown. As I fly over it, I can feel the presence of blood mages inside the bus. Now to break through the windshield and take them out.

(Follow the bus. There may be more blood mages in town and the bus driver probably isn't involved)

I restrain myself and listen to Melanie's advice to follow the bus. After about five minutes, the bus heads downtown and I'm forced to switch my vision to prevent a headache from all the orange trails. The bus stops in front of a large hotel building and two people exit the bus before heading into the hotel as I turn my vision back on, focusing only on the hotel building to avoid a headache. I seem to have no trouble seeing their heat signatures amid the other people as I follow their movements through the lobby and up the building, presumably by elevator. They get off on the seventh floor and walk down the hall as I follow their path. The blood mages stop in front of a room that has a window facing the rear of the building so I fly over it. I see that the room in question has its curtains drawn so I fly right up to it and listen in.

"Well, how did it go?" I hear one blood mage ask as they both walk in.

"All forces were wiped out in a matter of minutes, split into two separate altercations, but we got the data we needed. This Protector is even more powerful than previous intel suggested. I don't think anything less than a Grigori stands a chance of bringing him down," a guy sitting at a table in the room answers.

"Did you send the data back to headquarters?" the first blood mage asks.

"Sent it as an attachment about five minutes ago," the other guy replies.

"Well then, let's get some sleep. We have another assignment in Springfield tomorrow," the second blood mage I'd followed says as he flops onto the bed.

Since I won't be getting any more information, I suppose now is as good a time as any. I turn off my thermal vision and place my left hand on the window. Tornados aren't an uncommon occurrence in this part of the country so these windows are built to withstand a strong force, but how will they stand up against a pulse of Void force? The answer is: not very well. The pulse ripples through the window and sends shards of safety glass flying into the room.

As I fly into the room, I see that the man sitting at the table in the back right corner next to a laptop that's hooked up to some kind of receiver is not a blood mage. The blood mage to my three o'clock and the one on the bed to my ten start to move as I activate Ezeqeel's power while manifesting a longsword. I bring the longsword through the neck of the one to my right since he's closer before using my wings to help me spin around and take out the one on the bed to my left. I whip my sword in the direction of the laptop guy, splattering a few drops of blood on his face before returning to my starting position in the room and letting my sword sublime. Laptop guy looks at the blood mage to my right as the body collapses and the head slides from the neck. The resulting look of horror on laptop guy's face is great.

"I suggest that you turn in a resignation to your employer along with the report of what occurred tonight. Tell them that eventually, I will be coming for them," I tell him and walk backwards out of the broken window.

I fly about a kilometer away before exhaustion sets in and I'm forced to land. My phone vibrates once in my pocket, indicating a text message. I pull out my phone and find that the text is from Melody.

Hey, where are you? Liza was able to stop the bleeding and we're taking Jose to the hospital. Meet us there.

I stand on the rooftop rereading the text message for Goddess knows how long, trying to decide what to do. It's nice to know that Jose is still alive, but I don't deserve to go visit him...not when I'm the reason that he's in this situation. Well, whatever I decide, I'm going to need energy to do it and right now, I doubt I have enough to make it back to the house to grab some from my dresser. I look over the edge of the rooftop and start scanning the surrounding area. I don't find what I'm looking for on this side, so I walk across the roof to the opposite side and spot it: a trail of blue.

I head to the right towards the nearest adjacent rooftop and jump down into the alley between the buildings. My wings slow my descent so I don't become a smear on the pavement before they disappear. I wonder if they did that because I needed them to, or because I'm out of the energy needed to sustain them. I exit the alleyway and quickly follow the trail down the street, passing by the stumbling drunkards that stayed around for last call. Roughly two blocks later, the trail turns right down an alleyway next to a bar while the blue increases in intensity; I must be getting close.

After walking for about thirty meters, I hear a wet smacking sound coming from the direction that the trail of blue leads to. I don't hear any moaning or heavy breathing so I don't think that people are having sex while the demon is waiting to pounce and slaughter them like any horror flick about teenagers. Could the demon be the one having sex!? Do they even have the equipment for that!? Even if they do, that's disgusting!...but wouldn't I be the same if me and Melody...?

(Wren, you aren't and never will be the same as those things)

"...maybe not, but I'll also never be human."

My thoughts become ever darker before something pops into my mind: what if the demon is raping a woman to make a hybrid baby!? I sprint forward to the alcove in the wall where the trail ends and I'm stopped by what I find as most of my focus is reallocated to not puking. So what is so terrible that it nearly makes me puke? Is it demon rape or a demon engaging in necrophilia? No, it's not that. In fact, if your mind immediately went there, you should probably seek out a mental health professional.

What I come across was just your run of the mill case of cannibalism. In the alcove is a man, feasting on the naked, freshly dead, body of another man. The feasting man rears his head at my intrusion and I see that he has the same face as the body. The man stands up as the sleeves of his shirt are shredded during his arms' transformation into blades. The demon charges at me and the first thought to go through my mind is, 'why is it wearing a shirt?' Black smoke wraps around my forearms and condenses into the gauntlets, allowing me to catch both of the blades as they come in.

"Why are you wearing a shirt?" I ask it.

"I'll never tell, Protector," the demon replies, its voice sounding human.

A real human's face, a real human's clothing, and most likely a real human's voice...was this demon trying to take that man's place? If they're trying to blend in and replace people, it means that they're planning is now on a whole new scale...or that this is because of the blood mages. I pick the demon up and swing it into the brick wall on my right before spinning it around and throwing it into the wall of the building behind me. As the demon slides to the ground, I run over and pin it down before it has the chance to get up.

"I just have one question: why were you eating the man that you are impersonating?" I inquire.

"How else was I to get rid of the body?" the demon asks.

I spear my left hand through its neck in response and wait for its body to sublime so I can gather my crystal. I dig through the newly vacant shirt and find the Void crystal, which I immediately pop into my mouth and bite down on it. Energy pulses through me as I stand, feeling much better. I turn around and see the half-eaten remains of the man and decide that I should probably report this. I pull my wallet out and remove the card that the chief gave me before pulling out my phone. While using my phone's light to read the card, I look for a phone number and find one on the back. I call the number while heading out of the alley, but it goes straight to voicemail.

"Hey, this is Renton. Inform the chief that I just saw a demon impersonating an actual person, whom the demon was eating in an attempt to hide the body. I killed the demon and the body of the man is in the alley outside of...Chimney, the bar and grill downtown," I say, pausing to confirm the name of the bar, and end the call.

Now that I'm not in danger of passing out, I suppose I should head to the hospital. Even if I don't deserve to go, I don't want the others to misunderstand and think I'm heartless. I look up directions to the hospital on my phone and find that it's just under a kilometer away so I decide to walk; it'll give me time to mentally prepare myself. I start getting glances from the few people on the street at two in the morning, most likely because of the tears in my shirt. I ignore their glances and continue walking to the hospital. The walk to the hospital takes about ten minutes, the pit in my stomach growing larger with each step I take until I cross into the hospital and approach the reception desk.

"Hi, I'm looking for Jose Cruz," I tell the receptionist. She silently types something into her computer as I wait.

"It looks like he's in the ICU. There's a waiting room on the third floor," she informs me.

"Thank you," I reply and head towards the elevators in the back left corner.

I enter the elevator and press the button for the third floor before silently riding up. The doors ding open to an empty hallway that splits to the left and right. I spot a sign on the wall that says, 'ICU' with an arrow pointing to the left so I walk that way. I head right around a corner, then left, walk straight for about fifteen meters before turning right again, just following the signs. As I'm about to turn left around a corner, I stop upon hearing the sound of crying.

"He's going to be okay, Alexa," I hear Melody softly say.

"Why, Mel? Why did he have to do that?" Alexa sobs.

I could easily answer that question for her, but I'm too much of a pussy to come right out and admit that it's my fault. I turn around and head back towards the elevator. As I round the first corner, I run into Mr. Sheffield.

"Where are you going, Renton?" Mr. Sheffield asks.

"I'm doing the only thing that I can to try to rectify this situation: I'm going hunting. I left some things in the Escalade that I need to get. Did you bring it here?" I inquire. Mr. Sheffield sticks his hand into his left pocket and hands me the keys.

"Go ahead and take it. We'll take taxis home. Here's a credit card for gas," Mr. Sheffield says while pulling out his wallet.

"Where are you going, Renton?" I hear Erin ask from behind me.

"I'm going demon hunting. I need you to stay here and protect Melody. Call me if you run into any trouble," I tell her without turning around while Mr. Sheffield hands me a silver card.

"When will you be back?" Erin inquires as I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and slide the card into it.

"I don't know. I'll make an attempt to be back for school on Monday," I answer while sliding my wallet back into my pocket.

"Okay...be careful, Renton," Erin says. I turn my head and give her a halfhearted smile in response.

"The car is parked in P4. Good luck, Renton," Mr. Sheffield says.

"Thanks," I reply and head towards the elevators.

I walk back through the lobby and over to parking lot P4 before clicking the fob. Once I find the car, I get in and take off on my hunt.

...

Chapter 39: Renton's Wacky Drug-Fueled Adventure

The following twenty-eight hours were a bit of a blur. I didn't sleep while on my two-day long hunt and used the Void crystals as a substitute. I received about ten calls from Melody and numerous concerned texts from her over the course of that time. I replied to the texts so that she'd know I was alright, but I felt that I didn't deserve to talk to her. During my hunt, I discovered just how bad the demon situation was. I eliminated five compounds that had about a dozen demons each, as well as ten lone demons that were on the street. Needless to say, my stockpile of 'energy' kept up with my increased need for it. The night blurred into the day and then back into the night again. When I saw the sun rising for the second time, I checked the clock and realized that I had school in an hour so I headed back to Melody's house.

...

I feel jittery as I drive down Melody's street/driveway, anxious to see Melody and worried about what she's going to say after I've been giving her the cold shoulder. Maybe I can slip in, take a shower, get dressed in my uniform, and slip out before she notices. I park in front of the fountain and head up the steps into the house. As I walk through the front doors, I see Claudia coming down the stairs.

"Melody and Erin already left for Alexa's house to convince her to come to school," Claudia says as I pass her on the stairs.

Well, at least I won't have to worry about seeing Melody until I get to school. I head up to my room and walk into the bathroom before I'm stopped by my reflection. My eyes are sunken into my skull with red lines running through them and my complexion doesn't exactly shout 'picture of health'. I hop in the shower and let the warm water stream down my face before I look up and open my mouth like a cartoon turkey in the rain. I gargle some water and spit before washing my body and hair. I dry off, brush my teeth, and head back into my bedroom to get dressed in my school uniform. I'm in the process of pulling my boxers up when Liza opens the door.

"Oops...guess I should've knocked," Liza says while turning around before she turns back and takes a good look at my face.

"Renton, are you okay?" Liza asks with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reply while pulling on my gray slacks.

"You don't look fine...anyway, I've got some news about the notebook. Chet decoded it a few days ago and I've been helping him out because the spell is rather complex, but I think we've almost got it," Liza informs me while I'm buttoning my shirt.

"That's good...I'm sure that Melody will be happy to see her mom again," I say with an uninflected tone. Liza studies me for several moments in silence before opening her mouth.

"Can you give me a ride to work? Mr. Sheffield apparently isn't going today," Liza asks.

"Sure. Let me get dressed and we'll leave," I reply. Liza nods and leaves my room.

I finish getting dressed and head downstairs to find that Liza is nowhere in sight. She must've gone to get breakfast. I head down the left hall and into the kitchen, where Liza is sitting at the table.

"Renton, would you like something to eat?" Liza asks.

"No thanks. I'm not hungry," I answer.

"I doubt that you've eaten since you were last here so you're eating breakfast," Claudia informs me.

I reluctantly take a seat next to Liza in response because Claudia isn't incorrect, even though I wasn't lying about not being hungry. Claudia brings over two plates a minute later and sets them down on the table in front of us. I eat a pancake and a couple strips of bacon with Liza while my stomach feels like I just poured acid into it instead of food.

"Thanks," I say to Claudia as I stand up when Liza is finished.

"Let's get going," I tell Liza and she nods.

Liza follows me down the hall and out the front door before stopping me as I head around to the driver's side of the Escalade.

"Hand them over," Liza demands while holding her hand out. I stare at her hand for several moments, not understanding what she wants.

"The keys," Liza clarifies, her voice warping to a lower pitch as my body tenses up. Did the demons get to Liza!? Is she/it demanding that I give her Melody!?

"Renton, give me the car keys. By the looks of you, you haven't slept since I saw you last and driving in that state is worse than driving drunk so I'm driving," Liza tells me and I relax, knowing that I was just hearing things before.

"Honestly, I don't even want you going to school in this state but if you don't show up, Melody will be frantic," Liza says while I'm digging through my pockets for the keys before handing them over.

I quietly get into the passenger seat while Liza gets in and starts the car. She adjusts the seat, mirrors, and changes the radio station before driving away from the house; I guess she didn't feel that the all death metal station was good morning music so she changed it to a jazz station. Liza heads down the highway into town as I try to get my muscles to relax a little.

"You're listening to KWRZ, the radio station for selfish asswipes who nearly got their friend killed. Up next is It's All Your Fault by You Were Having So Much Fun Killing That You Forgot That Your Friends Were In Danger. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did...Prick," the smooth baritone of the African American DJ says over the radio.

"Liza, did you hear that?" I ask while looking over at her.

"Hear what?" Liza replies while keeping her eyes on the road.

"...Nothing," I respond and turn forward. You've got to get your shit together, Renton.

The car crests a hill and smoke suddenly comes into view in the sky above...no...Liza speeds up and the billowing fire that is Graythorn Academy comes into view. The usually pristine snow in the front courtyard is red with blood and covered in various chunks of bodies as my stomach drops out. I jump out of the car and sprint towards the main building, where Melody is most likely to be if she's here. Bodies litter the main hallway and the floor is slick with blood as I sprint down it. My feet slide as I drift around the corner to the left before pivoting and continuing towards homeroom. If only there was a demon nearby, I could get a crystal and replenish my energy to get there faster! I finally reach homeroom and ram myself through the door to find an image that is burned into my retinas.

The homeroom is exactly like the rest of the school, but I can name the faces around me. Alexa's body lies broken to my right, entangled in the remains of a desk. Joshua's body is in pieces in the back left corner, next to a figure wrapped in darkness with wings protruding from its back. The figure pivots on its right foot and turns around to face me, revealing Melody's lifeless eyes endlessly staring at me near the figure's feet. My body shakes as I turn my attention upwards and look into the black eyes and golden irises of a Grigori before my mind recognizes its face:

The Grigori is me.

The Grigori smirks and holds its fingertips at me before my chest suddenly becomes wet. I look down and find that black fluid is leaking out of the four quarter-sized holes in my chest. My vision rapidly darkens and I see Melody's lifeless eyes one last time before feeling nothing at all.

****

I regain consciousness to find that I'm lying in a paper-covered cot. I must have fallen asleep in the car and Liza carried me here, but I'm not even sure exactly when I fell asleep; my conscious memory and dream seem to blur together...unless that wasn't a dream at all. I'm almost too afraid to open my eyes to check.

A drop of something hits my chest and I open my eyes to find that it was a tear that came from Melody's eyes. Upon seeing Melody's living face, I'm so overcome with relief that my brain freezes up before realizing that she's crying. My attention shifts down a bit when I realize that she's holding something and see that my silver locket in her hands, and it's open. Melody's eyes look into mine and I see something there that I've never seen before: betrayal. More tears fall from her eyes before she releases my locket and turns around as it thumps against my sternum

"Wait, Melody! I can explain," I say while trying to follow her.

Melody reaches the door of the nurse's office as I stand up, only to have my legs give out from under me. I hear the slap of Melody's shoes as she runs down the hall, followed by the sound of the exterior door opening.

"Come on, you stupid body! Get up!" I shout at myself while trying to push myself up, only to have my arms shaking like a baby deer's legs before collapsing. "Dammit!"

"Renton!" Liza exclaims from the doorway and rushes over to me.

"Liza! I need you to get me a Void crystal! There should be a few in the center console of the Escalade! Hurry! I need to go see Melody!" I frantically tell her.

"Renton, are you alright?" Liza asks with a wary expression.

"What? No, I'm not alright! I need a Void crystal! And why is it so damn hot in here!?" I shout while realizing that I'm sweating.

"Renton..." Liza says with pity in her eyes.

"What are you standing there for? I need a—" I start to yell before I'm cut off.

(Ask yourself, Wren. Are you doing this because you have to go see Melody this instant, or are you doing this to feed your addiction? You and I both know that rushing off to correct this situation with Melody isn't the best thing at the moment. She's most likely talking to Alexa about it now and will process the situation, making her much more understanding of the explanation later on, so why is it that you need a Void crystal right this moment?)

Melanie is right. My body's reaction, my irritability, perhaps even my dream, are all because I've been using the Void crystals too much, but I'm not going to let some stupid black rocks control me.

"Liza...can you help me into bed...? I...I think I need to sleep for a while..." I quietly ask, my volume barely above a whisper.

"Yeah," Liza replies and walks over to me. She effortlessly lifts me up as I hold my left hand away from her so I don't accidentally take away the muscular reinforcement that is allowing her to hold me so easily, and she places me back on the cot.

"Thanks..." I say and close my eyes to get some rest. My eyes jolt open when I see the image of Melody's lifeless eyes and my golden irises on the backs of my eyelids.

"What's wrong?" Liza gently asks.

"Do you have anything—a spell or drug or something—that can keep me from dreaming?" I inquire.

"Keep you from dreaming? No, there isn't anything like that...however, when the brain is deprived of oxygen and the person falls unconscious as a result, dreams are much more rare," Liza tells me.

"Can you do that please? At this point, I don't care about any side effects like brain cell death...I just can't see that again..." I reply as worry flashes across Liza's face.

"Okay, Renton...just relax and your big sis will take care of the rest," Liza softly says while resting her hands on my neck.

I close my eyes as I feel a spell activate. My head feels like its swelling up as I'm deprived of oxygen and everything starts to feel fuzzy. I don't fight it as I drift off into unconsciousness.

...

It takes me several moments after regaining consciousness to realize that I'm sitting and also moving forward. I open my eyes to see that I'm driving down the highway. After a slight moment of panic, I realize that I'm not the one driving.

"How do you feel, Renton?" Liza asks from my left.

"I feel—" I start to say before a wave of nausea hits me so hard that I can't even tell her to pull over.

"Plastic bag in the door!" Liza exclaims.

I look right and see a plastic shopping bag stuffed into a compartment on the door panel. I frantically grab it, open it up, and shove my head into it before vomit comes flying from my mouth. My body starts shaking uncontrollably as black sludge continues to come out of me. I can almost hear my body saying, "What? You thought I was going to let you sleep through this, you little shit?" The vomiting slowly subsides and I notice that there is blood dripping from my nose, mixing with the black goo in the bag. I'm surprised that I even have any blood left.

(You don't have much, about a pint, but it's not like you really need it anymore)

I wonder what will happen when the last bit of me that's still human is gone...the image of my black eyes and golden irises, that smirk with Melody's lifeless face at my feet, flashes through my mind in response.

(That won't happen, Wren. The Grigori you've absorbed may be influencing your dreams, but they can't change who you are)

"Hold on, Renton. We're almost back," Liza assures me and I look up from the bag to see us passing by the still-broken gate to Melody's house.

I'm overcome with fatigue as Liza drives down the private road before parking as close to the front door as possible. After weakly opening the car door, I swing my legs over and slide out of the car before my legs buckle under my weight. Liza comes around the car, wraps my left arm over her shoulders, and hoists me up with her right arm around my waist. I lean against her and limp up the stairs into the house before limping up the stairs to the second floor. Liza helps me down the hall to my room and drops me on the bed before lifting my legs into it.

"Renton, how many crystals have you had in the past two days?" Liza asks with a serious expression.

"I don't know, I just took them whenever I needed them. How many are left in the center console?" I inquire.

"About ten," Liza answers.

"Holy shit..." I say in utter disbelief at how many I took.

"What?" Liza asks.

"I started with seven and killed seventy demons, collecting all of the resulting crystals from them and placing the ones I didn't use in battle into the console for later," I explain with the tone of a recovering alcoholic remembering where all of the beer cans on the floor of his bedroom came from.

"Holy shit, Renton! You had sixty-seven of them in less than two days!?" Liza questions before the door bursts open.

"Renton! What were you thinking!? Your body was atomized after I gave you five in a row!" Melody exclaims from the doorway.

"You could have killed yourself, you ass!" Melody adds with her face contorted in anger and tears in the corners of her eyes.

As I see how angry she is over what I did to myself, I realize just how naïve I was thinking that she would stop caring about me if she saw my locket.

"I'll just leave you two alone," Liza announces and slides past Melody to exit the room. Once the bedroom door closes, Melody slowly approaches the bed while avoiding eye contact.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Melody asks.

"Tell you what? That you look exactly like my dead girlfriend and have you constantly second guessing my feelings for you when I already did that enough before we started dating? Or perhaps that I'm so crippled by my failure that I can't take off what is essentially a dog tag from my previous girlfriend? Or maybe I couldn't bear to show you just how pathetic I am..." I reply and Melody stands there silently.

"Do you want me to stop wearing it?" I quietly ask.

"I'm not going to force you to take it off, Renton...but when you feel like you don't need it anymore...I'll be here for you," Melody softly replies.

"Melody..." I say before a wave of nausea hits me. "Bucket. Bucket!"

Melody scrambles to quickly grab the trashcan near the bed and hands it to me. After two minutes, I'm finally able to look up from the trashcan and glance across the room to see the Void crystals I left on top of the dresser. My body starts shaking with lust in response to the sight.

"Melody, I need your help. I need you to take those and hide them someplace, save one," I say while pointing a shaky finger at the dresser. "I want you to keep that one in your pocket in case of an emergency and then stay by my side until I'm over this."

"I can't. I promised Alexa that I'd go with her to the hospital at five," Melody tells me.

I freeze up before I'm overcome with guilt at the realization that I've been so wrapped up in my situation that I forgot about Jose...or maybe I just kept him at the back of my mind so I didn't have to think about it...

I've been going about this the wrong way. I've been keeping myself from taking any Void crystals purely for moral reasons and because of what they are doing to my body but it's not like the situation that forced me to take so many has been resolved. What I need to do is continue my hunts, stifling their numbers so they can't get enough of a force going for this to possibly happen again. However, what am I going to do if they realize that I'm hunting them and decide to attack Melody while I'm out? Erin can't exactly fight these things on equal footing.

(The Goddess told me to pass along a message. If you use what is in the trashcan, along with three Void crystals, you can make a blade that Erin will be able to use to dispatch the demons. She also told me that your teeth are capable of releasing the energy in a Void crystal so that it is possible for her to utilize the energy without taking it into her body)

"But doesn't that mean I'd have to tear out one of my teeth?"

(I recommend fashioning one of your canines into a necklace so that Erin can break the Void crystals on the dagger. That will allow her to slash with the dagger and have a blade of Void force fly out of it)

I look up at Melody while thinking over what I'm going to do to keep her safe. Of course, it was never a matter of considering whether or not to do it, but more of mentally preparing myself.

"Melody, I need a pair of pliers, four crystals, and I need you to bring Erin in here," I tell her.

"What? Why?" Melody asks.

"It's about time that Erin had a way to adequately fight back against those demons."

...

Chapter 40: Renton Riley M.D.

You may be wondering how someone who was cruel enough to do such terrible things to their three-year-old granddaughter would be able to care so much about anyone. Well, overlooking the corrupting properties of the Void, it has to do with the fact that people seem to have the tendency to be unable to see people from other worlds as actual people. I believe it has something to do with, or is somehow related to, Dunbar's Number, which states that the human brain can only sustain around one hundred fifty social relationships and anyone outside of that number isn't truly viewed as a person by your brain.

Sure, humans may lie to themselves and say they care about suffering the world over, but they don't really. If one in a first world country could care about people suffering in Africa as they could the suffering of one of their friends, they'd be so constantly depressed that suicide rates would be astoundingly high. In your world, I didn't view anyone as being a person; they were simply pawns in my quest for revenge...or perhaps I simply grew colder as I watched the centuries slowly pass by while scrounging up and saving the meager amounts of Void in your world so I could get my power back.

...

I drop three of the four crystals into the trashcan and bite down on the fourth crystal as Liza walks into the room.

"Renton! What are you doing!?" Liza demands.

"What I need to. I'll be cutting back my use of them, but they're too much of an asset to discard use of the crystals entirely," I tell her while feeling like my body is getting stitched back together after having been shattered like glass.

Once I'm feeling back up to speed, I keep the remaining energy contained in my body for later and stick my hand into the black goop in the trashcan. It starts to swirl and wraps around my hand, responding to my will. I wish for a dagger that is quick, sleek, and most of all, deadly. The goo begins to take shape and solidify into a black dagger with a blade that sweeps back over the front of the hilt and three pyramidal lumps protruding from the sides of the blade, just above the hilt. I slowly pull the hilt up out of the trashcan so the blade can assume its full length as the door opens.

"Erin, come here and hold your left middle finger out. Melody, pliers please," I say as they walk into the room and I set the dagger with a twenty-five centimeter blade on the bed next to me.

They both come over to the bed and Melody hands me a pair of needle-nose pliers. I stick the pliers into my mouth and grip the tip of my left canine.

"Renton, what are you—" Melody starts to ask before she's interrupted by the cracking sound that follows after I wrench the pliers upward.

My mouth starts to throb as I remove the pliers from my mouth and see the cracked tip of my tooth between them. The energy I have stored gets pushed to my mouth and I feel with my tongue as the space where the canine tip was gets filled in and the searing pain quickly subsides. I'm really glad that this is all going according to plan.

"Erin," I say and she steps forward as I take the cracked tooth from the pliers before setting them on the bed.

I scoop the remaining palm-full of goop from the trashcan with my right hand and bring it to Erin's outstretched middle finger. After dropping my tooth into the goop, I hold my hand under Erin's finger and will the goop in my hand to form a ring around it with the tooth protruding out of the top. I make sure that it isn't so snuggly bound that she can't remove the ring before finishing it. About ten seconds later, the black ring hardens around Erin's finger.

"Okay Renton, I think we need an explanation," Erin states and I hold up the dagger.

"How does this feel in your hand?" I ask and Erin hesitantly grabs hold of the hilt.

"The weight isn't right, it's too light, but it seems well balanced," Erin answers.

"Good. Let's go outside so I can test it and instruct you on how to use it," I say and swing my legs out of bed.

"I think I know how to use a dagger, Renton," Erin condescendingly remarks.

"I know, but this one has a special feature for fighting demons," I reply and stand up.

I take the dagger back from Erin and walk over to the dresser to grab a Void crystal before heading out of the room. Everyone follows me down the hall, down the stairs, out of the house, and past the garage. I make my way over to the edge of the forest and decide that this will be a suitable place. I slip the crystal into my mouth and crunch down on it before condensing the release of energy and pushing it towards the dagger as I let my vision change so I can see the Void. My horizontal slash towards the trees makes a crescent of Void force fly into the forest.

"What did you do?" Liza asks with her head cocked to the side.

I walk over to the first tree, set my hand on the trunk at shoulder level, and push forward with a fair amount of force. The tree tilts forward and slowly topples over into the tree in front of it, starting a domino effect that knocks over six more trees. I guess that means that this is the limit of the Void force, which is a good thing; I wouldn't want Erin accidentally clear-cutting an entire neighborhood.

"Good. Erin, if you find yourself surrounded by demons while protecting Melody and feel that you can't take them out with your own strength, use that ring and punch the dagger in one of these three spots," I tell her while pointing to the three crystals protruding from the blade.

"That will release a surge of energy into the dagger that will allow you to slash through the air like I did and create a blade of force that will cut through anything in front of you until it runs out of energy. Just make sure you're considerate of what else is in front of you, because the blade of force won't discriminate," I inform her before a problem occurs to me.

"Erin, take this dagger and try casting a spell," I say and hand the dagger over. Erin points the dagger towards the forest and stands there for a moment before an expression of frustration crosses her face.

"Erin, cut your arm with the dagger. Liza, try to heal Erin's cut," I tell them.

Erin raises an eyebrow in question before lightly cutting into her left arm. Liza walks over to Erin and sets her hand over the cut, but nothing happens.

"Erin, drop the dagger," I say. Erin does so and her cut immediately starts healing.

"Erin, you may not be able to use magic while holding that dagger, but I think I've just given you a defense against blood mages. As long as you're holding that dagger, they can't kill you with their normal attack," I state with satisfaction. "Now I just need to make a bracelet for Melody with Void crystals around it and we won't have to worry about blood mages."

"No thanks, Renton. As much as I love you, I don't want to wear your solidified vomit on my wrist," Melody immediately replies.

"What?" Erin asks and looks at the dagger and the ring. "Ewww..."

"Don't be such babies! These will keep you from dying from any cheap tricks and the dagger will allow you an edge against the demons, Erin!" I exclaim.

"Yeah, but still..." Erin says while looking at her hands with a distasteful expression.

"Anyway, while you accompany Melody to the hospital, I'm going hunting," I announce and start walking back towards the house.

"Renton, why don't you come with us?" Melody asks, stopping me in my tracks.

"I can't, Melody...not yet..." I answer.

"Since you're going to be hunting downtown, you might as well come with us. That way you can be close by if shit hits the fan and we won't waste gas by taking two cars," Erin states and I think it over.

"...I suppose you have a point," I concede.

"Okay then let's get going. Alexa is expecting us to pick her up in ten minutes," Melody announces while checking the time on her phone and we start walking back towards the house. We head inside and take a right towards the garage while Liza turns toward the stairs.

"You three be careful, and don't push yourself too hard, Renton," Liza calls out after us.

"I won't," I call back and we continue out to the garage.

Melody, Erin, and I get into Melody's Mini Cooper with me sitting back passenger and Erin in the passenger seat. Melody backs the car out of the garage as I realize that Alexa will be sitting right beside me after we pick her up. My anxiety starts to build as we turn into Alexa's neighborhood...I guess this is Jose's neighborhood too...

Melody pulls into Alexa's driveway and pulls out her phone, presumably to text Alexa. I see Alexa's front door open and immediately wrench my head to the right and stare out the window so I can't see her reaction to my presence. The rear driver's side door opens and Alexa silently gets in before Melody backs out of the driveway. The radio and the sound of the road beneath the tires become the only ambient noises as we drive into town. My neck starts to feel stiff as I keep my face directed towards the window, but I don't adjust my posture. I know that I'm acting like a child, but since I can feel Alexa staring at the back of my head, I'm not moving. The shop fronts of downtown come into view and we pull into the parking lot of the hospital an excruciating five minutes later.

"Alright, well, I'll see you—" I start to say the moment the car is stopped before a hand grabs my left wrist.

"Renton, if you want me to continue having any respect for you at all, you will come up with us," Alexa sternly tells me.

I slowly turn towards her and see a seriousness that I haven't seen since she was sitting on top of me and punching me in the face.

"*Sigh*...alright..." I reluctantly concede.

I quietly exit the car with the girls and follow them into the hospital, going along the same path I took nearly two days ago. As we step out of the elevator and round the corner, I hear someone talking outside Jose's room so I stop the girls before we round the final corner and come into view.

"Mrs. Cruz, your son is in a coma and we have no idea why he isn't waking up..." a male voice says before pausing to say something that no one wants to hear.

"In addition...his vital signs are steadily dropping...if things continue at this rate, he only has about two days left," the man says and I hear a gasping breath from a woman around the corner.

I turn to look at Alexa as I see her eyes well up with tears before she turns and runs back down the hall.

"Alexa! Wait!" Melody exclaims while chasing after her.

"Erin, go with them. I'm going to go see Jose since this might be the last time..." I quietly say.

Erin nods and runs off after them. I walk around the corner and see an older Hispanic woman, probably in her late thirties, crying in the corner of the waiting room with an older man and a young girl. I ignore them and continue down the hall towards the first room on the right. I open the door and look in to see that this isn't Jose's room so I try the door directly next to it. Jose is lying in the sterile white hospital bed with a dozen cords connected to various places on his body. I close the door behind me and slowly walk over to his bedside.

"Hey Jose...I'm sorry, man...I should have gotten there sooner. If I had...it's my fault that you're—" I start to apologize before my vision suddenly shifts and I see little dark blue globules in various spots on Jose's limbs that show in stark contrast to the standard orange.

"What the hell? Is that...?" I mutter to myself as I realize that it's something demon related.

The globules aren't moving despite seemingly being in the same places as his veins so they must be causing small clots; I wonder how the doctors didn't notice this? Then again, demons seem to be very disinclined to anything magic-related so a scan using mana wouldn't turn up with anything.

I quickly formulate an insane idea that might save Jose, or it will just kill him prematurely. I take my jacket off and place it on the plush leather lounger in the corner of the room before rolling up my sleeves; I probably should've changed out of my uniform before we left. I grab the folding chair that is in the corner beside the leather lounger and jam it under the doorknob while condensing the Void in the room and picturing a scalpel. The moment I picture a scalpel, it forms in my hand before the Void has a chance to condense; so I guess the power I got from Azazel can work for anything with a blade instead of just weaponry.

I'm going to have to do this fast since the heart monitor will probably spike the moment I start cutting. After that, I'll only have a minute at most before they get the door down. I pull the blanket off of his body and make the first incision on his right hand. The black scalpel slices into his vein over the black globule and blood starts to dribble out. If his blood pressure is already this low then this really might kill him, but he's dead if I don't do this. The black globule suddenly moves out with the scalpel, getting stuck to the side of the blade; removing these things might be easier than I thought. I wipe the scalpel on the blanket to my right, cut into the vein a bit further up his arm, and repeat the process once that globule is stuck to the scalpel.

As I jump over the bed to make the first incision into his left arm, being careful not to snag the wires so I don't set off the monitor prematurely, I notice that the number for his blood pressure has dropped by five points on the top and bottom; I'm not sure what that means, but it can't be good. I slice into the back of Jose's left hand and wipe the globule on the bed sheets. The moment I make a second incision into his left elbow, the monitor starts beeping loudly—shit. Well, it isn't like I wasn't expecting this. I speed up in my cutting, making slashes more than incisions while slicing into the bed with each wipe of the scalpel.

"Hey! What in the hell are you doing!?" I hear an unfamiliar woman ask, muffled by the door.

I start working on the dozen globules in his legs at an even faster pace while condensing the Void in the air. Two solid thuds hit the door in quick succession, but the chair stands up to even a Lifter's force. I remove the third globule from his left leg as the steel of the chair creaks under the force of another hit. Four more globules later and the door finally caves in as I look towards it with my vision shifting to normal.

While the woman in blue scrubs is still recoiled back from her kick, I release the condensed Void in the room. Black smoke fills the room around the bed as my vision shifts back to the infrared spectrum and I continue working. I make the molecules of Void larger in front of the doorway so that they induce coughing when inhaled to stop the nurse from entering the room while I continue cutting out the globs.

"What in the hell is going on here!?" the doctor from before asks.

"There's a—*Cough*Cough*—guy in there—*Cough*—cutting up your patient with a scalpel!" the nurse exclaims after I draw the Void smoke out of her throat once I hear her coughing.

"Laminis-Fay!" the doctor calls out.

There are only two globules left when a gust blows the smoke to the back of the room. I cut out the one I'd been aiming for before doctor sprints over and grabs my right wrist.

"Are you out of your fucking mind!?" the dirty-blonde haired doctor in his late twenties asks.

"A little bit," I answer honestly. "Now, how about you work on healing these incisions while I finish up giving Jose his only chance at continuing this breathing shtick that he's so good at?"

"How is bloodletting supposed to save him?" the doctor asks while internally trying to decide if I'm just a crazy person, judging by his expression.

"Does this look like blood to you?" I rhetorically ask while holding up the scalpel with the black glob still stuck to it.

"Now heal his wounds before his blood pressure drops any further," I tell the doctor while wiping the scalpel on the sheets. The doctor thinks for a moment before releasing my wrist and moving to heal the wounds on Jose's right arm.

"Jackie—I mean, nurse! Come help me," the doctor calls out to the woman in the hall.

The nurse starts working on Jose's right leg as I cut into his left for the last time. Thankfully, there don't seem to be any more in his torso, possibly because of his circulatory system, but I don't know enough to really say; I could ask the doc, but he seems a bit preoccupied.

"Make sure your skin doesn't come into contact with these black globules. I don't think it will be as detrimental to your health as it was to Jose, but just to be safe, you should burn the sheets and blankets," I tell the doctor once he and the nurse are done healing Jose.

"How did you know those things were in there? They didn't show up on any of my scans," the doctor asks as I wipe my hands off on the sheets, getting rid of all the blood that hasn't soaked into my skin.

"I can see in the infrared spectrum. Things related to demons are terrible at absorbing heat and are basically antimagic so it isn't too much of a surprise that they wouldn't show up after any scan spells. With this, Jose should hopefully come out of it soon. I expect you to see to it, Doc," I explain as I grab my jacket, throw it over my shoulder, and start to walk out of the room. Based on the way he doesn't react to what I said about demons, Mr. Sheffield or someone must have filled him in when Jose was brought in.

"Where are you going?" the doctor asks, his tone curious instead of accusatory.

"I'm going hunting to hopefully keep this from happening to anyone else," I reply and walk out of the room.

"Renton, what in the hell was that!?" Erin asks, standing next to Melody and Alexa, whose faces I can't see, when I round the corner to the waiting room. Jose's family is there looking horrified at the sight of the blood that has stained my hands.

"I cut some demon-related gunk out of Jose's veins. The doctor healed the cuts so now he'll hopefully be able to wake up," I answer.

"You think that is what was killing him?" Alexa inquires as she turns towards me with her eyes puffed up and red.

"Considering what that stuff will do to me, it's not a stretch of the imagination to think it would kill someone normal. I can only guess that it got into him when I killed the demon while its arms were in Jose...Anyway, I have to get going. Call me when you guys are leaving so I don't have to waste energy flying back," I tell them and walk quickly down the hallway towards the elevators.

I spot a bathroom on the way back and I slip into it to clean up before taking the elevator down to the lobby.

...

Chapter 41: The Rise before The Fall

As I walk down the sidewalk away from the hospital, I feel upbeat for the first time in days, and yet I can only think of how hard I'll fall when I get a call from Melody telling me that Jose is dead. There are a surprising number of couples walking down the street, presumably because this is the district of town with all of the restaurants and it is dinnertime. One couple in particular catches my eye: a young man with gelled black hair wearing a blazer and slacks with a young blonde wearing a 'little black dress' hanging off of his right arm. The moment my gaze lingers on the couple for longer than three seconds, my vision shifts and reveals that the young man is dark blue. I pick up my pace and close the distance between us before passing them, pulling out my phone to check the time, and then slowing down to match their pace, as if I just realized that I have time so I don't need to rush.

"Baby, you're freezing! Are you sure you're not getting sick?" the woman asks.

"Yeah, babe. I'm fine," the demon replies, sounding like a normal human.

"Alright...so how far are we going? My feet hurt," the woman questions.

"Only another block," the demon answers.

I continue reverse following them for another block before they take a left into a rather high-class restaurant. I follow the demon with my thermal vision until the couple is seated before shifting my vision back to normal and following them in.

"Um, do you need directions?" the flamboyant maître d' asks, clearly conveying his opinion that I don't belong here.

"I need a table near the couple you just sat. The man is a highly dangerous individual that I'm keeping an eye on for the police chief," I reply

"Kid, get out of here," the maître d' says, not believing a single word that has come out of my mouth. I pull out my wallet and hand him the card in response.

"Call the number on the back. The chief will confirm," I tell him.

The maître d' gives me a bemused smile before picking up the phone and dialing the number. The person on the other end picks up after the first ring.

"Hello, this is the maître d' at Le Flambé. I've got one Renton Wern—" the maître d' says before he's cut off and his eyes go wide. "No, that won't be necessary...Yes, thank you."

The maître d' hands my ID card back and I replace it in my wallet.

"To avoid suspicion, I need you to pretend that I'm waiting for my date to arrive when you seat me and don't worry, I'll do my best to keep him from doing anything in the restaurant," I tell the maître d' and he nods in response.

He leads me over to the booth adjacent to the couple and places two menus on the table.

"I shall escort your date over when she arrives, monsieur," the maître d' says as I sit down.

"Thank you," I reply and pull out my phone to look like I'm trying to pass the time.

Now that I can see the woman's face as she studies the menu, she looks somewhat familiar, but I can't quite place it. Less than two minutes later, a waitress comes over and takes their order. The moment the waitress leaves, the woman slides around the semicircular booth and scoots up next to the man. She quickly whispers something in his ear before I can focus in on her words. The woman smiles mischievously before they both stand up and leave the table. I shift my vision and follow them as they walk towards the back left corner of the restaurant. They stop walking and the demon sticks his forearms out, like he's holding something up...oh, yup and now his hips are thrusting forward repeatedly. I wonder if she can still notice the demon's low body temperature...should I go in there and stop this? Well, I need to get closer just in case things take a turn for the worse...and also I can't say that I'm not curious as to the specifics of sex involving a demon for when Melody and I...

I walk over to the back left corner and find that they're boning in the women's bathroom. Why are demons always forcing me to go into the women's bathroom? I slowly open the door and hear panting before I silently slip inside, which by the sounds of it, is not what the demon did. The panting and moaning goes on for several minutes while I awkwardly stand in the corner and hope that no one else comes in. The pitch and frequency pick up while I feel uncomfortable about being in the room for this.

"MMM—" the woman starts to loudly moan in a muffled fashion, as if into cloth, before being interrupted by a loud squelching sound.

My head jerks to the left and I see a huge splatter of blood on the wall and ceiling before the door to the stall bursts outward. The demon steps out with a panicked, blood-covered expression and a pair of pants around its ankles. I quickly materialize a longsword and slice through the demon's neck before making my way around to look into the stall. The woman is slumped in the corner of the stall, her head resting on the sidewall and her butt resting on the back of the toilet with the hem of her dress pulled up to her waist. The top half of her cranium is missing and the blood vessels in her face seem to have burst. The pulpy mass that is remaining of her skull is sizzling a bit and I look up to see a hole dissolving in the ceiling as my mouth falls agape in horror.

So not only does demon ejaculate come out with the force of a fucking cannon, it's also acidic!? I am so glad that I resisted the temptation to have sex with Melody now...I stand there for about fifteen seconds before recovering, taking out my phone, and scrolling through my history to the chief's number.

"Avalon PD, chief's desk," a female voice answers.

"This is Renton. We have a situation at Le Flambé: the body of a young woman in her early twenties and the death of a man, also in his early twenties, whose body hasn't been found. The demon that was using his identity has been killed. I'll check the empty clothes for a wallet to get an ID," I tell her and hold the phone with my shoulder while bending down.

"He was one Jonathan Randolf," I relay once I find and open the wallet.

"The Randolf's son? This isn't good...any ID on the woman?" she asks.

"None that I can see..." I say while taking another peek around the stall. "Oh wait, here's a clutch in the corner."

I open the only slightly blood-splattered clutch and find a wallet.

"There's a wallet with about a dozen cards but no—oh, here it is," I say as I locate the ID. "She was one Alexandra Greystone."

Greystone? Where have I heard that name before?

"The Greystone's eldest daughter!? Oh, no...Chief!" the woman exclaims as the name hits me: she was Sarah's sister.

"What's the situation, Renton?" the chief asks.

"One body at Le Flambé, that of a classmate's sister, Sarah Greystone's," I tell him.

"Damn...this is going to require a visit from me personally," the chief states.

"I need to come along...I need to see if her family noticed anything strange about the boyfriend's behavior in the past few days or if the demon seamlessly melded into that man's life," I explain.

"Okay. Are your clothes in a condition to where we can leave from the restaurant?" the chief asks.

"Yeah, not a spec of blood on them," I answer.

"Good. I'll be there in ten with a cleanup crew," the chief responds.

"Alright, have them bring something that can neutralize an acid on the body and ceiling. See you soon," I say and hang up the phone.

I fish out the Void crystal from the clothes lying on the floor and wash my hands before exiting the bathroom. I quickly make my way over to the maître d' to explain the situation and have him close off the bathroom. After informing him, I step outside and sit down on the curb to think about how this whole situation is probably going to end with an icicle embedded in my stomach while waiting for the chief to arrive. Two paramedics arrive first, which is hardly surprising considering the restaurant's proximity to the hospital.

"Bring a body bag and some sanitary wipes, boys; this one's a bit messy. Also, if you don't have something that can neutralize an unknown acid, you're going to want to wait until the cleanup crew that the police chief is sending gets here," I tell them, acting as if I've been in this situation before.

"Yeah, we don't have anything like that. Do you have an ETA on when they'll be here?" the gray-haired paramedic asks.

"It shouldn't be more than five minutes," I answer.

"So what's the situation in there?" the paramedic who's in his early thirties asks.

"Well, let's just say that apparently demon spunk is shot out with the force of a...a..." I trail off while trying to remember if canons were in existence before the 1600's.

"A cannon," I finish when I decide that they were probably used before the worlds split.

"Demon spunk?" the older paramedic asks with confusion before the chief pulls up in a black Lincoln sedan.

"The cleanup crew should be arriving any time now," I say as I walk around to the passenger side of the car.

"Are you ready to go, Renton?" the chief asks as I get into the car and buckle my seatbelt.

"Yeah, let's get this over with," I answer and we start moving.

Building. Building. Highway. Trees. Trees. Trees. Trees. Residual snow bank. Trees. Gate.

"Police Chief John Miceli here to see Mr. and Mrs. Greystone," Chief says into the intercom to the left of the gate as I realize that this is the first time I've heard the chief's full name.

A moment later, the gate opens and the chief pulls the car around a corner and immediately up to a large house similar to Melody's. So is status for the obscenely rich only based on the length of their driveway? After all, you can only make a house so large until people just think you're a rich idiot. I follow the chief out of the car and up the three steps of the sweeping front staircase to the crystal glass front doors. Before the chief can knock, a gray-haired butler opens the right door and ushers us inside.

"This way, sirs," the butler says and starts walking down a hallway to the right. He stops about twenty meters from the entrance and opens a set of French doors on the left side of the hallway, revealing a sitting room with a fireplace.

"Sir and Madam Greystone will be in momentarily," the butler informs us and leaves the room.

"Let me take the lead in telling them, then you can come in with the questions once they've had a few moments to process the news and calm down. Just use your best judgment when deciding when to ask; ask too early and the subjects are usually too enraged to answer the questions," Chief warns me after we take a seat on the cream-colored, wood-framed couch with our backs facing the door.

I nod in response and we wait for the Greystone's to arrive while I think that I may have lucked out in that Sarah might not be here. The Greystone's arrive less than a minute later, causing a bit of a spike in my tension, and they sit on the matching love seat across the eloquent antique coffee table from us. I subtly grip the scrolled armrest in an attempt to relieve some of my tension. There's no reason to be stressed out, Renton! Just a simple "Your eldest daughter literally had her brains fucked out so she's dead, better luck with the other one," and you're out!

"Sorry for making you come out here, John. So, what trouble has our Alexandra gotten into this time?" Mr. Greystone asks with a 'that precocious little scamp' smile on his face in regards to his daughter.

"There's no easy way to say this, Donald...Alexandra was killed earlier this evening. I'm so sorry," the chief empathetically tells them. Mr. Greystone's smile slowly fades as the chief's words sink in while Mrs. Greystone seems to slip into a state of shock.

"H-How?" Mr. Greystone inquires after managing to swallow the lump in his throat and the chief looks to me in response.

"You want me to handle this shit!?" I want to exclaim, but I manage to internalize my surprise. I think for a moment as to what I should say since my whole 'literally had her brains fucked out' spiel probably won't go over too well.

"She was killed by a demon that was posing as Jonathan Randolf," I gently explain.

"Demon?" Mr. Greystone asks with a bit of surprise, but he's mostly still shocked about his daughter.

"They're beings whose bodies seem to naturally resist magic and turn to smoke when killed. They've just started to appear in this world," I explain.

"What happened to Jonathan?" Mr. Greystone inquires.

"Based on previously observed occurrences, it is likely that he was killed by the demon who was impersonating him several days ago without anyone noticing," I finish without adding that the body was most likely eaten.

The room falls silent for a moment before Mrs. Greystone starts sobbing. Mr. Greystone comforts her while the chief and I sit uncomfortably across from them. We wait for about five minutes until Mrs. Greystone's sobbing mellows into quiet crying.

"I need to ask a few questions, if that's alright," I announce and Mr. Greystone nods.

"Did you notice anything odd about your daughter's boyfriend in the past few days?" I inquire.

"Not that I can think of. We saw him two days ago and he seemed normal, but we only saw him for about a minute. Our other daughter might know more since she went to out to dinner with the two of them last night. You probably know her since you two go to the same school. ARNOLD!" Mr. Greystone calls out and the doors open.

"Yes, sir?" the butler asks.

"Can you please go fetch, Sarah?" Mr. Greystone requests.

"Right away, sir," the butler replies and leaves the room.

We wait for about a minute in silence before footsteps echo from down the hall and the doors open. The lack of footsteps tell me that Sarah is standing in the doorway, but I don't want to turn around to check.

"What...what's going on?" Sarah hesitantly asks.

"Come sit down, sweetie," her mother beckons.

Sarah cautiously walks across the room and sits down in the chair to the right of the couch. She looks towards us and her expression of worry is replaced by one of confusion upon seeing me.

"Sweetie, Alexandra is dead," Mrs. Greystone tells her daughter while she's still looking at me.

"Wait, what?" Sarah asks, snapping her head over to her mother. "What in the hell is going on!? Why is _he_ here and what do you mean Alex is dead!?"

"Your sister was killed by a demon impersonating her boyfriend Jonathan. Did you notice anything odd about his behavior in the past few days?" I inquire.

"What!? How did she die!?" Sarah demands.

"She was killed by a demon—" I start to repeat.

"No, I mean how did she die exactly, you imbecile!" Sarah shouts.

"She had the top portion of her skull blown out in the women's bathroom, what do you want to hear!?" I shout back because she's being a bitch, even though I understand that she has the right to be bitchy given the current situation.

"Wait...what?" Sarah questions with a perplexed tone while the Greystone's look at me with confusion.

"Yes, I do believe we need more of explanation," Mr. Greystone adds.

"Shit...I was trying to keep you guys from this to make her death sound less...bad," I reply.

"I think we have the right to know how our daughter died!" Mrs. Greystone softly exclaims.

"Ugh...alright, but don't say I didn't try to be tactful about this. She died after having sex in the women's bathroom at the restaurant... Apparently demon spunk comes out at a velocity high enough to shoot through bone. If I can offer any solace, it's that with the extent of the damage, it's impossible that she suffered...there's just zero possibility for an open-casket funeral," I trail off while the Greystone's look at me with mouths agape.

"Now, did you notice anything strange about Jonathan last night or not?" I ask Sarah.

"I...I guess he wasn't talking as much as normal and when he did, he didn't sound like his cheerful self...He also didn't laugh at any of our usual inside jokes...He seemed fine three days ago though..." Sarah manages to say through her shock.

So it seems that the demons don't somehow get the memories of the people they copy, which means that they can be detected if people pay close attention.

"Thank you. Chief, I'll be waiting in the car," I announce, stand up, and leave the room.

I take a right and head down the hall before walking out the front door. I walk down the few steps and get in the Lincoln sedan before letting loose.

"FUCK!" I shout in frustration for having pinned myself into the exact situation I was trying to avoid. Then again, this isn't the time to be kicking myself.

"So now I'm positive that demons replacing people is more than a lone occurrence, but is this extreme identity theft just basic intelligence gathering or are they planning something?" I ask aloud, simply talking to myself in an attempt to solve this, before an idea suddenly pops into my mind.

"Wait, maybe that demon taking Jonathan's place wasn't just random chance...what if it was intentional based on his relationship with Alexandra because she was Sarah's sister, who has ties to Melody? What if the end game was to infiltrate the school!? They would be able to kill her before Erin would have the chance to stop them while I was out hunting! Well I'm on to you bastards!" I exclaim to myself, feeling rather satisfied until I see the chief exit the house with a somber expression.

Oh, right...I just told my classmate that she will never see her sister again. Despite the fact that we were enemies in practically every sense, that doesn't change the fact that I had an association with her and that she's still human in my eyes...and what did I do when I saw her sister hanging off the arm of a demon, in a danger completely unseen by her? I just hung back and watched as she was killed. I didn't take any action until after it was too late even though I knew how that scenario would inevitably end. I'm always talking about protecting people, but in the end, it seems that I'm more likely to only watch as they die...

My phone suddenly vibrates in my pocket and brings me out of my quickly spiraling thoughts. I remove my phone and read the text as the chief gets into the car.

' _Renton, where are you? Jose just woke up! And of course, Alexa and him are already back to being at ends haha!'_ Melody's text reads.

"Chief, I need a ride to the hospital please," I say and the chief nods as he starts the car.

'That's great...I'm riding in the police chief's car on the way back from Sarah's house...'

' _What!? Why were you at HER house!?'_ Melody's text reads. I think the capitals are supposed to be in place of the inability to use italics on a phone...

'Her sister was killed by a demon in front of me about half an hour ago...I just got done telling her and her family, along with questioning them...'

'Renton...I'm sorry you had to do that :('

'It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't feel so guilty about her sister's demise...I saw her in that dangerous situation, spiraling towards her death, but I did nothing to stop it because of my damn curiosity...'

'Renton...are you almost here?'

' _Yeah...I'll be up in about three minutes.'_ I hit send as the chief turns into the parking lot of the hospital.

"Thanks, Chief. Sorry I fucked things up back there," I apologize with an uninflected tone.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't do too bad considering your lack of experience. Give me a call if you turn up anything, Renton," the chief replies.

"Will do," I say and shut the door.

I head inside the hospital and take the elevator up to Jose's floor, feeling rather numb all the while. The elevator doors ding open and I step out of it before I'm suddenly embraced.

"Melody? What're you—" I start to ask after realizing that it's her.

"Shhh...it's okay, Renton...it's not your fault," Melody interrupts while holding me tightly.

My body tenses at her words and the numbness I've been feeling is washed away in the warmth of her body. It never ceases to amaze me how the little actions she takes can have such a huge impact on me.

"Thank you, Melody," I softly say as I hug her back for about ten seconds before I pull away.

"Now, I need to tell your dad that we need to have an assembly tomorrow morning before class."

****

Chapter 42: Renton Smells Like Teen Spirit

I'm running out of time. While time may not work the same in the Void as it does elsewhere, that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist here. If I don't gloss over mundane events, I'm not going to be able to finish the story before this all ends.

While Alexa was visiting Jose, I waited in the waiting area, not feeling like I deserved to speak to him. We left fifteen minutes later and once we got home, I made plans with Mr. Sheffield to eradicate the unseen threat at Graythorn Academy.

The following day at school went by quickly as I was too focused on what needed to be done at the end of the day. The only notable thing that happened was Ms. Petridge calling me into her office at the end of class to tell me that she hadn't made any progress with research on the Protectors. I told her that it was probably better if she stopped looking, apologized for scaring her before, and left for the assembly early.

****

I look out across the gym at the seated groups of students in the bleachers that are sorted by their homeroom from my position standing next to the doors. According to the attendance record from this morning, there are ten students absent, four unexcused, so I'll need to pay their houses a visit and screen them after. Earlier this morning, I had taken a Void crystal to prepare myself in case there were more demons than I could realistically handle. I also took it so I'll be able to use Ezeqeel's power to eliminate them quickly, hopefully before the nearby students have a chance to react and resist due to a misunderstanding. My vision shifts and I see a total of five blue spots in the mass of orange, all from separate homeroom classes. I shift things back and look at the faces of the students who are already dead. I get through three before seeing one that is familiar, because he's in my homeroom: Aaronson.

The eyes of the skinny guy with brown hair and freckles look full of life as I realize that I'll be slicing through his neck in a matter of minutes...No, Renton. This isn't the time to feel remorse. This isn't the time to feel anything. You need to shut down all emotion to get through this. Besides, he's already dead and his killer is the one sitting there, not him. Mr. Sheffield stands up and makes his way to the podium in the center of the gym with chairs for the faculty on either side of it.

Only a few moments left until my normal school life comes to an end, but this must be done to protect Melody...even if it means that I can no longer go to class with everyone and will be forced to protect Melody while hidden from the rest of the students like some kind of knight who lives in the shadows...or a ninja...well, that makes me feel a little better.

"Quiet down, please," Mr. Sheffield requests and the dull roar of talking turns into whispers as I'm snapped back to reality.

Due to his lack of physical appearances, few people at the school know what Mr. Sheffield looks like so most of the whispering is related to asking who he is. Since it's almost go time, I turn my attention back towards the crowd to view the face that the last demon has assumed and I see another familiar face: Sierra McDowell. The redhead is sitting beside Sarah with a slight smile on her face and I immediately feel guilt towards Sarah before I shut my emotions down.

"I've called this assembly to address a severe threat to our city, as well as our lives. Some of you may have heard rumors about demons entering the city and reports of attacks. They are all true," Mr. Sheffield announces with a high degree of severity, causing the students to respond with more whispering and the demons to respond with increased tension.

"In response, I am issuing a mandatory curfew for all students to be home before sunset and to never travel alone. No matter how powerful you think you are, you are no match for these demons. They have already claimed associates and loved ones of students at this school, but we will not give them the opportunity to claim any more," Mr. Sheffield tells the student body and pauses for a moment until murmurs of outrage die down.

"And, to the demons in the audience who have taken the place of Graythorn students, I would just like to say, _Goodbye_ ," Mr. Sheffield decrees the execution and I materialize a longsword as I see five bodies in the crowd visibly jump.

I push some energy into my legs while activating Ezeqeel's power, and I launch myself up to the last row of the bleachers. The bleachers make a loud metallic thud beneath my feet as I land and bring my sword through the first demon's neck. While the most alert students are beginning to react to the sound and the demons are standing up, I launch myself through the air again, cutting diagonally across the bleachers towards the front row. The demons are now at a different height than the rest of the students, which is thankful because I still don't have a lot of control over this power and my aim with a blade isn't exact. I slice through a standing demon's neck while passing through the air before landing on the stairs near the front of the bleachers with another loud thud. The demon next to me turns to react before I slice through her—its neck.

Aaronson's demon warps its arms behind me as I turn and point my sword down to block its unexpected slash. These demons must be of a higher caliber than the usual fodder I kill considering that they are still able to attack me despite the speed at which I'm moving; all the students are just now looking over to where I landed the first time. Since my sword is on the inside position of the demon's blade, I slide my sword up its arm and stab into the demon.

As I bring my sword up through Aaronson's demon's head, I look over its left shoulder and see Sierra's demon, arms warped and lunging towards the gym floor. I quickly look left to see who's seated in the front row and is in Sierra's path: Melody, looking to the left towards my second landing spot along with everyone else. I focus all of the energy that I'm using to sustain Ezeqeel's power into my left fist, aim in front of Sierra's body as it sails through the air, and let a punch fly. The Void force hits her in the chest and sends her sailing into the nearby brick wall that is the back of the gym.

My movements slow to a normal speed as I walk down the stairs towards the unmoving demon. I stop when my feet are thirty centimeters from the demon's head and I bring my sword up towards my left ear before starting its arc down towards Sierra.

"NO!" I hear Sarah scream in front of me as the sword passes through Sierra's neck.

"I'm sorry," I whisper as her body starts to sublime and the volume in the gym increases.

"Calm down. Renton was acting on my instructions to kill any demons that had infiltrated the student body to show you just how much of a threat they are. Did any of you realize that your classmates had been killed and replaced?" Mr. Sheffield asks to stem the tide of panic while everyone watches the bodies of the demons turn to smoke.

I let my sword sublime as I turn to the right and head towards the front doors of the gym with a few hundred sets of eyes on me. I walk out the doors and head around the curve of the hall before I hear the doors slam open and shoes slap against the linoleum floor as I turn around.

"YOU! YOU KILLED HER! JUST LIKE YOU KILLED MY SISTER!" Sarah screams at me with tears brimming in her eyes.

"Sierra was already dead; she was killed by a demon within the past few days, but you're right...I could have saved your sister, but I didn't...my curiosity got the best of me and I simply watched as she died," I softly tell her while looking at the floor to her left.

"AHH!" Sarah screams in anguish as she hurls an icicle thirty centimeters in diameter towards my stomach.

For some reason, I can't bring myself to block it. I barely feel a thing as the icicle pierces my stomach, denying me the pain I wanted to feel by way of partial atonement. I look down at it and slowly lift my left hand up to sublime it. The icicle turns to vapor and reveals to me that my internal organs are now black. No blood drips out of the gaping hole before smoke fills it and my stomach heals in the same fashion as all of my wounds.

"Why won't you just die, you fucking monster!?" Sarah screams as she collapses to her knees with tears streaming down her cheeks.

I turn my back on Sarah and make my way out of the main building. I numbly walk across the grounds, through the administrative building, and into the nurse's office where I fall onto a cot and cover my eyes with my right hand. Sarah's right...I am a monster.

I hear the door open and don't bother to look since it's either going to be Liza, or somebody trying to kill me; since I don't die easily, I'm not worried if it is someone trying to kill me. The cot sinks down to my right and my body rolls slightly in that direction before a hand starts stroking my head.

"This isn't really making me feel any better, but it certainly feels like a sisterly thing to be doing," I announce, almost certain that it's Liza until the scent of lilacs hits me.

"Sorry, but I didn't know what else to do after hearing what Sarah said..." Melody quietly says, confirming what my nose just told me.

"She's right you know. I don't belong in this world...I don't belong in the other one either...I'm just a lone monster that doesn't even belong with the other monsters..." I softly reply. The cot moves before I feel a weight pressing down on my pelvis with two hands on my chest and I finally take my hand off of my eyes.

"You're not alone...you have me, and Liza, and all of your friends...You do belong, Renton...here...right next to me," Melody gently tells me with so much sadness in her eyes that it makes my chest ache.

As I stare up into Melody's eyes, she bends forward and gives me a quick peck before pulling back, looking into my eyes again, and then bending forward to reestablish contact. She starts passionately kissing me, as if hoping that kissing me like this will chase all the terrible things out of my mind. I decide to invest in this plan, set my hands on her hips, and start kissing her back. Something starts to grow in my pants and judging by the way Melody pulls back to look down in surprise, I'd say she's noticed too. She stares at the bulge that is sticking out from the hem of her skirt for a few moments before scooting down my legs and reaching for my pants.

The moment Melody unbuttons my pants, only one thing comes to mind: Melody's head bobbing up and down as I orgasm too suddenly to tell her, but instead of her getting angry for making her do something that most girls hate, her brains splattering out the back of her skull and onto the ceiling is all I see.

"AH!" I yelp as I jolt upright and push her back.

Melody falls back, butt over heels, and lands sitting on the cot with a confused expression. I stand up from the bed and look at Melody while trying to come up with an excuse.

"I...uh, just remembered that Chet and Liza said that I needed to meet them in Ms. Petrdige's office after school. Something to do with the portal to the other world," I stumble while making my way backwards to the door. Since I am supposed to be meeting them there in about twenty minutes, I'm not technically lying to her.

I quickly exit the administrative building and walk towards the main building, passing the throngs of exiting students who all give me plenty of space, until I feel someone grab my right wrist. I quickly spin around and see Erin glaring at me.

"What's going on with you, Renton? Do you know how hard it was for her to take the initiative like that?" Erin angrily asks me at a volume just loud enough for me to hear, but not the people around us.

"You were spying on us?" I inquire with false disbelief in my tone.

"Don't give me that. Now, answer me. Why did you reject her?" Erin questions.

"...I learned something about demons yesterday. A specific fluid travels out of their bodies at a velocity high enough to shatter bone and it also happens to be acidic. I think that I may now be the same..." I quietly tell her.

"And knowing you, I can guess what went through your head...well, the first thing you have to do is figure out if that really is the case by yourself, if you know what I mean. I could even give you a _hand_ with that, if you want," Erin smirks with a coquettish tone.

"...I do need to find out and it would be faster if you did it...well, I've got some time. Want to go into the woods and find out now?" I ask.

Erin's smirk falters and her cheeks redden before she looks away. What, so she enjoys dishing out sexual harassment but can't take it? I think it's about time I got some payback for all of the shit she's put me through. I grab Erin's hand and pull her around towards the left side of the building. A glance at her face tells me that she's nervous, but her lack of protest mean that she's trying to think of a way out of this while keeping up her image. I pull her into the woods and lead her back towards the bench where I first told Melody about me. The circular archway comes into view with the white marble bench in the center, its surroundings looking quite different since there hasn't been a fresh bout of snow lately so the forest floor is peaking through the thinner patches. I feel the mana humming through the arch get distorted by my presence as I sit down on the bench and pull Erin down to sit beside me.

Immediately upon sitting, Erin starts fidgeting while turning her head in every direction that is away from. Seeing her so nervous is a new experience for me and I find that it makes her look rather cute.

"Well, I've only got about ten minutes so let's get started," I announce with confidence and start unzipping my pants.

Upon hearing the sound of my zipper, her head jerks to the left and she looks down at my pants with wide eyes. While enjoying her shocked expression, I decide to give her one last push before calling it quits. I unbutton my pants and slide them down until I can feel the cold bench through my boxers, expecting some kind of reaction from Erin such as a gasping breath or her scrambling off of the bench to make this experience complete. Instead of acting surprised, she surprises me by darting her left hand down the front of my boxers, grabbing my member, and exposing it to the cold air before I can react. She tightly squeezes it and starts jerking her hand roughly up and down.

"Ah, fuck! Ease up, Erin! It doesn't owe you money!" I exclaim, realizing that if I told her to stop now, I'd be embarrassing her more than if I let her continue.

Erin's grip immediately loosens and her strokes become more fluid as she stares off into the forest to the right, away from me. It starts feeling pretty good before I immediately feel guilty about this act, and about not stopping her before it got this far.

"Someone's coming," Erin reports as she withdraws her hand.

I stand up and fix my pants while flipping it up into my waistband to hide it, somewhat thankful that this was ended before I could finish and have a crushing weight on my shoulders every time I see Melody from now on. Melody suddenly stumbles into the clearing and I feel my stomach drop with guilt.

"Oh, good, that rumor was right. What are you guys doing here?" Melody asks.

"We were having a private conversation that we didn't want anyone else to overhear," I quickly answer in a natural fashion and immediately feel like shit for lying to her face.

"That's what I figured when I heard a couple of first years talking about how you two went off into the forest to have sex," Melody replies and it feels like she just punched me in the stomach as I find it hard to breathe. "Anyway, Dad needs you two in his office."

"Alright, let's go," Erin calmly says and stands up.

I follow the girls through the forest as we make our way back towards the admin building. Erin walks with Melody for a while before gradually shortening her stride until she's next to me.

"You don't need to feel guilty, Renton. We were ensuring Melody's safety by doing that," Erin almost silently states. She does have a point, but why doesn't that make me feel any better about this?

The three of us walk down the hall of the administrative building before Melody stops in front of the reflective maple doors.

"Well I'm going to head to Ms. Petridge's office now; Liza told me to come when she came by looking for you before Daddy called for you," Melody offers by way of explanation. "I'll see you there when you're done talking with Daddy, Renton!"

I watch Melody head back down the hall and exit the building before I open the maple doors to the reception area of Mr. Sheffield's office. His secretary waves Erin and I through without even looking away from her computer. We enter Mr. Sheffield's office, the glowing elemental pillars lighting the walkway leading up to his desk. Erin and I get halfway across the room before he starts speaking.

"I've been informed that the occurrence of demon related incidents has rapidly increased in Crowley City in the past two days and strange tremors have been plaguing the city. I need you two to go investigate it," Mr. Sheffield tells us as we walk up to the end of his desk. I spot five Void crystals near the edge of the desk closest to me so I take them and slide them into my right pocket.

"How odd are these tremors?" I inquire.

"They only measure at a two on the Richter scale so no damage is being done to the city, but reports indicate that they've been occurring almost every hour," Mr. Sheffield answers. That is certainly odd considering that the city isn't on a fault line.

"I think it would be best if I were to go alone on this one," Erin interjects.

"What? Why?" I ask while turning towards her.

"*Sigh* Because you don't know how to move without drawing a ridiculous amount of attention and your presence in Crowley City will bring more trouble than its worth for a reconnaissance mission," Erin states with a tired sigh.

"...She does make good points," I say after turning back towards Mr. Sheffield.

"Very well. I suppose it is smarter keeping one of you back to protect Melody and since Renton is apparently inept at this kind of thing, we'll be counting on you, Erin. I'll have a plane charted and set to leave tonight," Mr. Sheffield informs us.

"Alright. In the meantime, Renton, aren't you supposed to be somewhere right now?" Erin condescendingly asks.

"Huh?" I reply while thinking of the bench in the woods. Is she implying that we need to finish that?

"Ms. Petridge's office?" Erin asks by way of reminding me.

"Oh, right. Hopefully they haven't started without me," I respond and jog out of the office.

I sprint out of the admin building and find that the courtyard has been mostly cleared of students as I run into the main building. I make a right at the crossroads and hang left into the empty room 116 before walking through the door on the back wall. I stand there in the doorway with my hand still on the doorknob as my mind processes what I'm seeing. There's a large, wavy oval floating a meter off of the ground in the middle of a circle engraved in the floor with a high level barrier around it, presumably as a precaution. While this is all old hat, it's what's in the circle that my mind is required to process: the park I (falsely) remember playing in as a child, engulfed in flames. Maybe it looks worse than it actually is because I'm seeing it through the wavy tint of the barrier, but it's definitely on fire.

"What in the hell is this!?" I exclaim once I process the sight.

"Renton..." Melody trails off to my right.

I look over and see tears in Melody's eyes and know for sure that the place being shown is the place I considered to be my home. I look back to the aerial view of the park and see black dots squirming in a mass before I process it as a battle taking place, and I don't even need to guess what the cause of it is.

"Melody, get us there," I tell her with a serious tone, making it sound more like an order.

"Renton, you know I can't control it..." Melody replies while holding back her tears.

"You can do this, Melody. I know you can," I tell her with the same tone.

"Renton, I...I can't!" Melody exclaims as two tears roll down her cheeks.

"If you do nothing you are going to lose her again! Do you want that!?" I harshly ask and Melody flinches in response.

"Renton!" Liza exclaims from the back of the room to my left.

I ignore Liza and cross the room to Melody's side and take both of her hands in mine.

"Melody, we are the only chance they've got. James, Reggie, Violet, your mom. They're going to die if we don't help them. Are you going to just stand here and powerlessly watch while that happens?" I question with a calming tone.

"No...I'm not..." Melody whispers as her eyes glaze over. A few seconds later, I see a black glow coming from the floor out of my peripheral.

"That's my girl," I tell Melody with a smile as everything around us becomes hazy.

Chapter 43: Portal to Hell

As my senses return to me, the first things I notice are heat rising and the sound of gunfire below me. I open my eyes and realize that it's because Melody and I have been dropped in this world about a thousand meters above the ground. As we begin falling, Melody starts screaming while I let go of her left hand and reach into my right pocket. Three out of the five Void crystals in my pocket go into my mouth as we start picking up speed. I swallow two and crunch down on the third before swallowing it to act as the catalyst. Energy explodes through me, greeting me like an old friend, and makes me shiver as I redirect the energy to my back.

The sound of my shirt and jacket ripping reaches my ears as I wrap my right arm around Melody's shoulders and manage to move my left arm beneath her thighs with my hand still caught in her panicked grip. I slow our descent with my wings and Melody stops screaming while the combatants below have all stopped fighting to look at us, if the lack of gunfire is any indication. I imagine that I must look like an angel of death who is trying to impress a girl he met at a bar by taking her on a flight. As we descend further, I notice that the demons have completely black bodies with gray accents running through them, which I find to be a bit odd. Their faces are nearly featureless, but I can still make out a set of black eyes that reflect light, and their 'hair' is composed of different styles of spiky black tendrils. While the demons' focus is on me, I notice a platoon of about fifty humans in combat gear retreating down the street.

"He has the Key! Kill them so our brethren can conquer the other half!" I hear a deep bass voice boom over the battlefield. I look to the left and see the giant stature of a Grigori, except his skin is gray and he has black accents running along his face similar to Azazel's.

"Melody, I'm going to have to put you someplace safe while I fight, so I'm going to put you in the upper branches of this tree over here and guard it," I tell her and fly over to the tallest tree at the edge of the grove on the right side of the park.

"Renton, I'm wearing a skirt..." Melody reminds me.

"This isn't exactly the time to worry about people being able to see your underwear. Just sit here and hold onto the tree so you don't fall. I'll keep the lesser demons from climbing it, but if the Grigori starts flying towards you, shout for me," I reply as I set her down on a thick branch, about a hundred meters from the ground. Now that I'm this close to the ground, I can tell that the Void concentrations here are many times higher than they were before, which can't be a sign of anything good.

"Alright. Be careful, Renton!" Melody calls after me as I descend to the ground.

The majority of the lesser demons rush at me as my wings point forward around my shoulders and I materialize a black longsword for each hand. The view from my right peripheral informs me that my right wing has a tip, so it must have regenerated since my fight with Azazel...or are they new wings every time they come out? Anyway, time to put these demons through a meat grinder.

My wings dart forward about five meters, thinning down to points as they extend, and take care of the first six demons before I hack apart three demons that make it past. It seems that, despite their appearance, these demons are no different from the others I've encountered before. I continue hacking demons apart with my wings and swords before I notice that bodies are starting to pile up. Since they aren't subliming like normal and with a Grigori here, does it mean that the gates are now completely open in this world? And a much more pressing question, how am I going to replenish my energy with no crystals? Well, just because they aren't subliming doesn't necessarily mean that they don't have Void crystals in their chests...

I hack apart the next demon's chest thoroughly and look at the falling ribbons of black flesh and bone before spotting a black lump sticking out over a ribbon of flesh. So it appears that they still have Void crystals in them, I'm just going to have to work harder to get them.

My right wing suddenly darts downward as the tip warps into a five-pointed, cup-like structure. The new tip spears through a fallen demon's chest before retracting back towards me with the tips of the points touching each other. My wing wraps underneath my right arm and the cup opens, revealing a Void crystal in a chunk of flesh, before bringing it towards my face. While my left and right arms are busy slashing at other demons and my left wing is busy taking care of the left flanking demons, I dig the Void crystal out of the lump of flesh with my teeth and bite down on it.

Energy surges through me as my wing returns to my right side. Now that I'm done experimenting, I think it's time I cleaned up here. I activate Ezeqeel's power and surge forward like a whirlwind of death as the demon's movements slow around me. As I cut large swathes out of the demon army, my energy reserves start to drain, but the second I realize that, my right wing delivers another flesh lump and crystal to my mouth.

"R—" Melody starts screaming from behind and above me.

I spin around as she pushes herself off the branch, flashing me a bit of pink cloth, and starts falling before the entire top section of the tree is blown off. My wings shoot me up to catch her and spin us around as my eyes lock onto the Grigori. It's holding a large black bow and is pulling the string back without an arrow knocked before my vision shifts and I see why: the arrow is a cylinder of Void force about thirty centimeters in diameter and growing larger.

If I deal with the Grigori now, that leaves Melody open to the lesser demons advances and if I continue dealing with the lesser demons, the Grigori will snipe her down from any place I put her that's out of reach. In this situation, there's only one option.

"Melody, wrap your arms around my neck, your legs around my waist, and hold on tightly," I whisper to Melody while dissolving my longswords and shifting my vision back so I can see longer distances.

Melody quickly gets her legs wrapped around my waist before the Grigori realizes our plan and lets the sixty centimeters wide arrow fly. My right hand shoots up to support Melody's neck and pull her head into my chest before I activate Ezeqeel's power and launch us into the sky. As I fly out of the park a break-neck speeds, I notice that the force opposing the demons seems to have retreated to safety and is nowhere in sight. When we're about five kilometers away, I slow to a stop and deactivate the power before continuing at a speed that won't break Melody's neck.

"Are you alright, Melody?" I ask over the sound of the wind blowing past my ears. Melody lifts her head up until she's eye-level with me.

"Yeah, I'm fine...uh oh!" Melody exclaims as her eyes go wide while looking past my head.

Guessing what she sees behind us, I grab Melody's neck and pull her head into my chest before tucking my wings around us to drop in altitude and roll. As I pull out of the roll, my vision shifts in time to see a dark blue cylinder of Void force pass over my head, pretty much exactly where my chest was. I look back and only see a dot on the horizon; his aim is that good!?

"Hold on tight!" I tell Melody, wait until I feel her do so, and activate Ezeqeel's power again while shutting off my thermal vision so I can see where I'm going.

I shoot us off towards the main part of the city, making a beeline for James's apartment building. Now that I'm flying over the city, I can see just how extensive the destruction is; it looks like the whole place has been firebombed. Buildings destroyed and burning, cars abandoned in the streets, demons everywhere and no humans to be seen. Most of the fires are just residual so there isn't a whole lot of smoke in the air, but still...the damage doesn't bode well for my plan of giving Melody some sanctuary at the apartment while I kill this Grigori that's following us. There won't be much sanctuary to be had in a building that is mostly rubble.

As I start to lose hope, the apartment building comes into view. While most of the windows are broken and a few chunks are missing out of the walls of the building, there is a massive wall of destroyed cars around it that must be close to twenty meters high, meaning that someone is or was trying to keep it secure. I fly down to the ground outside the building and land before deactivating Ezeqeel's power and setting Melody down.

"HEY! IS ANYBODY HOME!?" I shout out at the building, but receive no answer.

"JAMES? VIOLET? REGGIE? KATHARINE? ANYONE?" I shout again.

"Renton!" Melody exclaims from behind me.

My vision shifts and I scan the building for signs of life but don't see anything so that means it'll be safe for Melody while I take care of this.

"Melody, go inside and get as deep into the building as you can. Keep a couple of walls between you and the outside and make sure to keep moving around in an erratic pattern so he can't hit you easily, just in case he decides to evade and snipe instead of fighting me. Go!" I tell her and she runs towards the apartment.

I turn and see the Grigori approaching fast with his bow in hand while I reach into my right pocket to pop a crystal into my mouth and think of a weapon that would be appropriate to use when fighting him. As he draws back the bowstring while still flying towards me, the answer comes to mind. A shield materializes around my left forearm that is about forty centimeters in diameter with spikes jutting outward and a thirty by ten centimeter blade protruding past my hand. I plant my left foot forward and lean in as I move the shield in front of the incoming force arrow while hoping that this works.

The cylinder of Void force hits the shield and I feel something pierce my arm. As I begin to think that the shield wasn't able to block all of it, I suddenly feel the force moving rather slowly up my arm and into my chest. Wait, did the shield just pierce my arm, not the arrow? And did it do so by design? As the Void force moves across my chest and towards my open hand, I realize that my answer is most likely yes.

I smirk at the Grigori and throw a punch at him when the Void force reaches the apex of my fist. The Grigori is able to overcome his shock in time to avoid the blast, but this is also enough to make him reconsider attacking me. What, so once he's not sure he has the advantage, he's going to turn tail? Well, I'm not about to allow that! I activate Ezeqeel's power and bolt into the sky. When he sees how quickly I'm gaining on him, he turns around and once I'm three meters away, he pulls his bow into two halves with the string between them disappearing.

The Grigori swings both halves down at me and I hold my shield up to block as I notice that the halves of the bow are bladed. The force of the blow knocks me back as I push some energy into the shield and hope those spikes aren't just for show. As I get knocked back about a meter, the spikes extend and shoot out. The Grigori moves to the right to avoid a direct hit and the spikes pierce his right wing in a dozen places before retracting. His left wing flaps frantically, trying to keep him aloft, but all it does is spin him in a circle as he starts to plummets. I chase down after him, get behind him, and grab both his wings. When the Grigori stops spinning, I turn to the side, anticipating his next move. The points of the bow-halves suddenly appear on either side of me, stabbing through the Grigori's wings.

I release his wings a bit, letting them slide through my hands so I can bend back and put my right foot in between his wings and shoulder blades. After slamming my left foot down next to my right to increase our downward momentum, I ride the Grigori down into the asphalt just outside the fence of cars. Before he can recover, I release his wings and have the Void condense around both of my hands. A black liquid suddenly seeps out of my scar and part of it jumps to my left hand before quickly solidifying into the hand parts of my gauntlets without interfering with my shield. Ok, that's new; usually it comes from the air, not my body. I grab each of the bow-halves protruding from the back of his wings, with the blade on my shield stabbing through his left wing as I do so, while the Grigori tries to buck me off.

When he tugs on the bow halves and finds that he can't pull them free, he releases them, falling right into my trap. I rip the halves up through his wings and let them slide through my hands until closing them around what can be considered the grips as I jump off of the Grigori and land near his feet. His wings disperse and he turns over before I slam each half through one of his kneecaps and into the asphalt. The Grigori roars in pain as I quickly move around to the right and plant my right knee on his chest with my shin pinning his left arm down. I finish with a coup de grace of pointing the blade of the shield at his neck.

"What is your name?" I ask while staring into his black and gold eyes. The Grigori moves his free right hand and tries to hit me before I bash the shield into his arm, perforating his hand with the spikes.

"Your name," I repeat.

"I have no name to the likes of you, Protector!" the Grigori spits out with venom in his tone.

"So be it," I reply and slam the wide blade of the shield through his neck, severing his spinal cord. I wait several moments for the body to sublime and be absorbed into mine, but nothing happens. Does this mean that I won't get a power upgrade from killing the Grigori anymore?...When did my life turn into an RPG?

(The Goddess tells me that there is a large crystal in the chest of the Grigori that will yield a similar result, but it won't be like with Azazel or Ezeqeel, nor will it have those negative side effects)

I stab the shield's blade into the dead Grigori's chest and start carving it apart until I hit something harder than bone. I dig the hard crystal out with my fingers and shear off all the fleshy bits with the shield's blade. This crystal is about one and a half times the size of the normal Void crystals, but it doesn't seem like it will be much harder to take. After sliding the larger crystal into my pocket, I stand up, dust my pants off, and propel myself over the wall of cars with my wings while letting my shield and gloves fade.

"MELODY! THE GRIGORI IS DEAD!" I call out but get no response.

Alarmed, I sprint into the apartment building. I sprint around the bottom floor but I don't see anyone. I shift my vision and look up, but there isn't a single heat signature to be found. Thinking that the concrete might be affecting the thermal signatures, I run back outside and look up again with the same result. Did Melody's power activate and take her somewhere because she forced it earlier? She's most likely safer being in another world considering the state of this one, but I still don't like her being somewhere I can't reach quickly...

Suddenly it feels like an explosion going off in my mind and my head whips around towards the inside of the apartment as my stomach bottoms out. Feeling a sense of urgency unlike any I've felt before, I sprint into the apartment building. As I walk into the main lobby, my attention is wrenched down to the marble floor. It takes me a few moments before I realize that it's not the floor that I'm being drawn to, but beneath it. My body starts going into full-blown panic mode as I wonder how in the hell I'm going to get through a sheet of marble and however many meters of concrete. The large crystal that is digging into my right thigh suddenly comes to the forefront of my attention and I take the crystal out. I pop it into my mouth and quickly discover that I need to put in a lot more bite force to break this crystal. It finally shatters when I bite down as hard as I can, and it melts in my mouth as I swallow it.

The energy release is unlike anything I've felt before; it's as if I'm back in Shahira's world but about ten times the strength. As I start to drown in euphoria, another wave of panic hits me and I focus that euphoria into my right hand. I slam my right fist into the marble beneath my feet and a cloud of dust rushes up to greet me before I fall through the newly made hole. I step forward and emerge from the dust cloud to find the reason that my body has been panicking about five meters in front of me.

My mind goes blank as I see Melody on the ground near a set of subway rails with shirt and jacket buttons on the gravel around her, and tears on her face. The three men holding rifles and standing next to Melody start firing at me as I see a smidge of pink cloth peeking out beneath Melody's gray skirt. Bullets start piercing my body, but I feel nothing except a cord snapping inside of me.

I reach out with my right hand, projecting the Void out towards the men's legs while having it expand so I can grab all of them before I close my hand. The men scream out in pain when their legs are crushed as they're brought together. I turn my fist and dangle them upside-down before bringing them away from Melody and closer to me. I pinch my left thumb and forefinger together while focusing on the arm of the man who was on the right and closest to Melody, crushing his arm before I slowly pull it away from him. Once I know that he has had the time to feel considerable pain from the dislocation and crushing of his arm, I jerk my left hand away from my body while opening my fingers. The man's limb goes flying towards the wall of the subway, sailing past his friends as he screams.

Since all three have been deemed guilty simply by being witness to Melody being put in that situation, I hold them slightly off to the left before jabbing my left index finger forward, blowing a hole through the stomach of the middle man as his intestines fly out the back. I don't do anything to the third man and have him simply watch as I pick apart his friends in ways that aren't enough to kill them quickly. Finally, once the other two are nearing death, I give a subtle flick with my left index finger, pulverizing his rib cage but leaving his spinal cord intact so he can feel it. Now for the finale. I bring my right hand closer towards me until the three men are eye level and only a meter in front of me, so I can clearly see the anguish on their faces. I hold my left hand open beneath my closed right fist with my palm up and pause.

"You insects know what you've done," I softly tell them and wait for five seconds before bringing my left hand forcefully up into my right fist.

The explosion of blood that results coats me and makes me feel slightly better about my failure. I drop what remains of the bodies, wipe the gore from my face with my right hand, and flick my hand off to the side to fling the blood off. I look over and see that Melody is sitting on her knees in shock, staring at the pool of blood and gore. I quickly walk over to her as the hole in my stomach grows and my throat closes off. My knees slide against the gravel as I get down to Melody's level without stopping and embrace her.

"I'm sorry, Melody...I'm so sorry...I failed to protect you...even though I promised I would," I quietly say while choked up and so angry with myself that I can't speak any louder as I feel my cheeks get wet with my failure. "This never should have happened...If I weren't such a fuckup, you wouldn't have had to go through something so terrible..."

"It's okay, Renton. I was scared, but you came. You did protect me," Melody softly says with an uninflected tone as I hold her tightly. Her tone alone makes me want to crawl into a pit and die because I know that it's my fault for the reason behind it.

The sound of boots pounding against gravel reaches my ears and I pull away from Melody. I stand up and materialize a longsword in each hand while feeling my rage build once again. I see about a dozen flashlight beams before a squadron of soldiers wearing combat armor with flashlight mounted on their automatic rifles comes around the bend in the tunnel. They come to a stop five meters in front of me and look upon the carnage.

"Were they with you?" I ask while pointing at the tattered remains of clothing and chunks of meat in the pool of blood at my feet.

"Are you the one responsible for this?" one of the soldier's asks.

"Yes. I crushed them like the insects they were," I stoutly reply and the soldiers tense up at my answer, bringing their rifles up. "You guys really don't want to fuck with me right now."

When the soldiers respond by moving their index fingers towards their triggers, I give a controlled exhale, releasing a puff of Void force that knocks the first three rows on their asses, causing the soldiers in the fourth row to snap their rifles up.

"Hold it! Renton, Melody, is that you?" I hear a familiar male voice call out before someone makes his way through the squadron.

"Reggie?" I ask when he emerges to the forefront of the guard, dressed in full battle garb with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a sword on his hip. I let my swords disperse to relax some of the tension since they aren't necessary to kill the soldiers here anyway, should the need arise.

"What are you two doing here? I thought you guys went back home," Reggie inquires.

"We did. We came back after we opened up a communication portal between our worlds and saw the city engulfed in flames. What happened here?" I question.

"A day after you two left, a massive black door opened in Central Square Park downtown and demons flooded into the city. Why did you kill members of the civilian militia?" Reggie asks.

I don't say anything and simply step aside. Reggie's eyes shift downward to Melody's position and his eyes go wide at the site of her holding her shirt closed.

"Oh...that makes sense..." Reggie trails off.

"Reggie, do you know these two?" the soldier who was talking before asks.

"Sarge, this is Renton and his girlfriend Melody. Renton was killing demons before anyone even realized that they'd come into our world. He also killed the Grigori who'd assaulted my pack the day before the doors opened," Reggie explains and the soldier falls silent for a few moments.

"Well, let's get them back to base. We need to get some engineers back here to patch that hole up," Sarge says before I see a blur from above.

I activate Ezeqeel's power upon realizing that it's one of those speedy demons that infiltrated the school. I jump up to meet the demon's dive towards Melody and slam my hands through its torso before turning them to grip its back and prevent my arms from sliding out. I rip my arms outward, rending the demon in two. After landing, I run over to the downed upper half of the demon's torso before it can recover and try crawling over to Melody. As the upper half of the demon flips over, I stab my right hand into the center of its chest and wrap my fingers around the hard Void crystal. The demon's black eyes stare back at me as I retrieve the Void crystal from its chest and show it to the demon before the light fades from its eyes. After wiping the crystal off on my bloody jacket, I slide it into my right pocket and turn back towards the squadron.

"Now, let's get going."

Chapter 44: Wartime Reunion

"Renton! Melody!" Violet exclaims as she runs towards us, looking happy to see us.

Melody threw away her jacket in the tunnel and tied off the bottom of her shirt, making it look rather slutty (which I would be turned on by if any other situation had led to her needing to do this), but still functional so Violet doesn't immediately have cause for worry upon seeing her. I offered Melody my shirt when she tossed her jacket, but when I took my jacket off, we saw that the blood had soaked through so she declined. Violet hugs Melody without a second thought before pulling back.

"Why are you guys here?" Violet asks before she inspects me and cocks her head to the side. "Renton, have you gotten taller?"

"What?" I reply, expecting that she would ask about the blood instead.

"No, I think she's right. You're at least five centimeters taller since we saw you last," Reggie adds.

"Yeah, you do seem a little bit taller, but I don't know about five centimeters," Melody inputs. My mind flashes to the tall statures of the Grigori before I shake it off.

"Melody, you're the one person whose viewpoint we shouldn't trust since you're always around him. Plus, since he's your hero, he'll always be larger than life to you," Violet says with a grin before she notices finally Melody's state.

"Melody, what happened to you?" Violet asks and Melody grips her shirt to close the chest area.

"She had a run in with three members of the civilian militia. They're also the reason that Renton is covered in blood," Reggie explains with a hushed tone and Violet's eyes become wide.

"...Come on. I've got some extra clothes in our tent," Violet says and takes Melody's unoccupied hand.

"I'd offer the same, but I don't think my clothes would fit you. Plus, James will want to see you right away," Reggie tells me.

"Well then, lead the way," I reply.

Reggie leads me past some large white tents that appear to hold community areas and are illuminated by floodlights. He continues up to the subway platform, which seems to be the only area that is lit by fixtures, and into a passageway on the back wall. The walls and ceiling of the passageway are covered in pipes and the flooring has gone from small tiles to gray concrete as Reggie leads me into a small room that is about five by five meters. There are monitors and computers set up on every available surface, and you can barely tell that this used to be a custodial office. Being projected on the far wall of the room appears to be thermal satellite imagery of the city.

"There appears to be a small group heading down Fifth Street," a young man in an olive-colored uniform talking to James says. "It's up on screen now."

"Alright, I'll send my boys in to eliminate them, but can you have a squad set up a diversion for this group here?" James requests while pointing at another group of blue that isn't too far from the target.

"I'll send out the Third Platoon to set off a few explosions away from the other group," an older man in fancy military garb replies.

"Is the group heading down Fifth in danger of finding this place? If not, it might be better to conserve resources since hitting the demons in small ways isn't really going to do anything," I speak up.

"Renton!? When did you get back?" James asks as he turns around.

"He was responsible for the scout's report from the south tunnel. Apparently, three members of the militia were attempting to rape Melody. Things didn't end well for them," Reggie reports.

"Yeah, I can see that," James says while looking at me.

"So what's the situation?" I inquire, ignoring James's inspection.

"Colonel, who is this kid?" the older man asks.

"General, this is Renton. He's the only being on our side that can match a Grigori punch for punch. He's the one that destroyed Azazel and he's also our best shot at closing the gate," James answers.

"Colonel, what you're telling me is that this kid can kill named Grigori, the same ones who have been seen walking away after a Tomahawk bombardment?" the General questions.

"I've seen it with my own eyes, sir," James replies.

"Named Grigori?" I interject.

"We've discovered that there are two types of Grigori: those that are named, like Azazel, and those that aren't. The ones without names are in greater abundance, but they also lack the raw power of the named Grigori. The unnamed Grigori appear to act as field commanders while the named Grigori play the part of operational commanders or generals. The headquarters that they set up near the gate was bombed from off the coastline two days after the gate opened up, but not a single named Grigori was killed in the attack and now they've moved their command to an unknown location," James explains.

"Hmm...So we have naval support then?" I inquire.

"That's correct, as well as air support. The entire city has been quarantined, but the demons keep pushing outward with each passing day and more of them just keep coming out of the gate," James informs me.

"The higher ups wanted to try nuking the whole city, but after a Tomahawk bombardment didn't even scratch that thing, I advised them against it," the general adds.

"So is this the only gate that's open across the nation?" I question.

"It appears that way and as far as we know, there aren't any in other parts of the world either," the general answers.

"How did you manage to set up a secure location against such an expansive force?" I ask.

"Oh, they know that we're down here, but they just haven't been able to pin point exactly where. A day after the gate open and with a couple million killed, we placed charges all around the city and collapsed the entire subway network. There are about two hundred pocketed areas like this one, but there are only a few with utility connections because we designed it that way. There are several passages in and out of the area so we can send out scouts and patrols, as well as bring in any civilians or air dropped supplies. Lately though, the demons have noticed the air drops and we've had to engage them for the supplies," James tells me.

"Well, do we currently have enough supplies for an assault on the gate? The way I figure it, the sooner I shut the gate here, the less chance there is of one opening in the other world. Maybe then we can finally put this mess behind us...by the way, where's Katharine?" I question. As James's face falls and he looks away, I feel my heart stop.

"I'm sorry, Renton...I should've done a better job protecting her that first day..." James softly says.

"James, tell me what happened!" I demand while trying and failing to stay calm.

"Renton, stop shouting," Katharine says from behind me. I look to the doorway and see her wheel herself in with a bundle of clothes in her lap. "And James, this isn't your fault. Had I had access to more mana, I would have been able to fully heal and never would have wound up in this sorry state."

"Katharine, what happened?" I ask her while looking down at the numerous scrapes in the charcoal-colored steel frame of her wheelchair. Since the wheels have treads on them, is this some sort of off-road wheelchair?

"A demon caught me between my second and third lumbar vertebrae. I was able to heal the damage to the muscle and skin, but I wasn't able to completely heal the nervous tissue. Now I can't feel much below my kneecaps," Katharine explains.

"Mom..." Melody sadly trails off and I look up to see her standing behind Katharine, wearing a pair of jeans and a violet-colored V-neck with Violet standing beside her.

"Hi sweetie," Katharine replies as she pushes one wheel forward and pulls the other back, turning 180 degrees without moving. Melody bends down and hugs her mother.

"Mom...When I saw the flames, I thought..." Melody says with her voice cracking.

"That you'd lost me again? Jeez, have a little faith in me," Katharine softly tells her before breaking the hug and turning back around.

"Here, Renton. I figured that your clothes would come in handy; I just didn't think they would be used for you. I saved your clothes as well, Melody, if you need them later," Katharine says while handing me the bundle of clothes that were in her lap.

"Thanks," I reply and immediately start stripping down to my boxers.

"Renton, what are you doing!?" Melody asks.

"Putting on a show," Violet quietly answers

"There's no time for me to find someplace to change and I can just wash the blood off of my hands and face later, or not it all. It really doesn't bother me," I reply while pulling the white t-shirt over my head.

"No, we really do have the time for something like that, Renton," James tells me as I pull my jeans on.

"Whatever, I'm already done," I say while buttoning my jeans. "So, what's our next move?"

"There are a few key locations we can hit that will cripple them and open them up for an attack on the gate, or we can charge the gate now that you're here," James says while I'm transferring the two Void crystals into my pockets.

If we skip to a full on assault on the gate right now, there will be more casualties than if we weaken their position first.

"What do we need to hit before closing the gate?" I inquire.

"There are four fortified buildings that act as watch towers within a square kilometer of the gate. Taking those out would help any effort in assaulting the—Catch him!" James exclaims and I turn around in time to see the analyst from before falling over. I stick my arm out and catch him so he doesn't wind up with a concussion from the concrete floor.

"Dammit! Not another one," James says as I lie the guy down on the floor.

"This has hap—" I start to ask before my vision shifts and I see tiny specs of blue in the analyst's lungs and adjacent circulatory system. I scan the rest of the room and see the same specks in everyone's lungs to varying degrees of severity, except for Melody's, but there don't appear to be any specks in here. Is this happening because of the high Void concentrations?

"This has been happening to various people, soldiers especially, but only with humans so far. Sometimes they wake up after it happens, but other times...What we don't know is why," James tells me, guessing the rest of my sentence.

"It's the gate. It's releasing a large concentration of an energy called Void into the city, where it's dispersed and apparently can be inhaled. This is a condensed form of what everyone is breathing in," I explain as I bring Void in towards my left hand until it starts smoking. "After a while, everyone left in the city will wind up in a coma and die if we don't close the gate soon."

I turn and look at Katharine to find that the concentration in her lungs is relatively high in comparison to some of the others in the room. Perhaps that is because of the injuries she sustained at the hands of a demon, like Jose's situation.

"Bring up the locations of the watchtowers. I'll take them out tonight," I tell James and he motions towards one of the other three soldiers that are sitting behind a monitor. Four circles pop up on screen and I memorize the crossroads of each.

"Alright, what kind of resistance can I expect at the watchtowers?" I ask.

"Reports indicate that each one is well fortified around the clock with around thirty demons inside of each building and sentries up top. Since the demons have reduced the other tall buildings nearby to rubble, the demons can see movement from several kilometers off," James informs me.

It sounds like my best option will be to fly up, drop down to the rooftop, and silently eliminate the sentries before leveling the building, which should draw the attention of the nearby demons, lessening security at the adjacent buildings.

"Okay, I've got a plan. Now to just kill a few hours until the sun goes down," I announce.

"Will you be able to handle this on your own, Renton?" James asks.

"Yeah, just make sure that all people have cleared the area," I reply.

"I'll go set a tent up for you and Melody," Reggie says and leaves the room with Violet following him.

"Renton..." Melody starts with her 'I'm worried' tone.

"I'll be alright, Melody. With the Void concentration undoubtedly being higher the closer I get to the gate, I'll be healing quickly if I get hurt and if everything goes according to plan, the demons won't know what hit them," I tell her as I clear the distance between us.

"Still...just be careful, alright?" Melody says.

"Of course," I reply and give her a quick peck.

"Are you okay?" I softly ask her.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Melody stutters in a manner that concerns me, but I decide that now is not the time, nor the place, to console her so I'll save that for later.

"Dr. Sheffield! We need your assistance!" a tan woman in dirty blue scrubs exclaims as she enters the room.

"Great," Katharine replies in monotone. "Melody, come with me; I may need your help."

"Okay," Melody responds and follows her mother out of the room.

"Renton, when the sun goes down I'll have someone escort you through the passage ways to get out for the mission. You're free until then if you want to follow them," James tells me.

I silently do as James suggests and follow them out of the room, taking a right out of the hallway. I start wondering where they went until I hear the sound of someone screaming. I sprint around the corner of the platform towards a large white tent and go inside to find a man screaming while lying on a cot with his eyes closed. Katharine rolls up to within two meters to observe him.

"I don't understand. He was the first one to fall into a coma," Katharine says while thinking. Two soldiers in uniform restrain the man by his biceps when he begins to thrash around.

"Get the epinephrine!" Katharine shouts when I see that the heart monitor has flat lined while the man continues to thrash around.

The nurse that got Katharine quickly goes to a bag and removes a thick, blue, tubular, handheld device before taking it over to the thrashing man.

"Hold him steady!" the nurse requests and the soldiers do their best.

When the man's forearms explode in ribbons of flesh to reveal black blades and his eyes open to show pools of black, I activate Ezeqeel's power and rush forward. I jump on the bed and straddle the demon as my gauntlets wrap around my forearms before I send out a light pulse of Void to knock back the soldiers and the nurse to get them out of harm's way.

"Renton! What are you..." Katharine starts to angrily demand before trailing off when she presumably sees that the man's forearms have transformed.

I pin the demon/man beneath me and keep his blades restrained at his sides with my thighs. The deman thrashes and manages to cut deep into my left inner thigh before I feel the wound heal with liquid forming over that part of my thigh. It becomes like a plate of armor before I realize that the same thing has happened on my right thigh, minus the wound. I wait for the deman to stop thrashing so I can question it, but it doesn't stop even after three minutes so I push forward.

"What are you?" I ask and it keeps thrashing.

"ANSWER ME!" I shout while stabbing my right hand forward, stopping just short of its neck.

"I told you to answer me!" I repeat and swipe at its neck, slicing into its flesh just below its chin.

The deman stops for a moment before looking at my hand that is poised to stab into its neck. It suddenly jerks its head forward and bites down on my hand, thus answering my question: these things don't seem to have consciousness. I flash my thermal vision on and see that the deman has a core of dark blue with quickly fading orange around it before I shut it off. I drive my right hand deeper into its mouth and through the back of its neck, piercing its spinal column. While Katharine is staring speechless at the scene, I get off of the body and the cot.

"Where are the others that have fallen into a coma?" I ask her.

"They're all on this right side of the tent," Katharine quietly answers when she snaps out of her shock.

I switch my vision on and scan the rest of the dozen patients on this side of the tent, seeing three that are fairly dark.

"Keep an eye on that one, that one, and that one," I announce before turning to the soldiers. "I suggest you two find an axe or a sword. The moment any of them start screaming, check their eyes. If you see black, they're already dead so decapitate them to stop the transformation. If not, but their symptoms resemble what just happened, then decapitate them anyway. If you hesitate, they will kill you and do nothing but kill until they're stopped, so make sure that doesn't happen."

"Katharine, when did that guy fall into a coma?" I ask while pointing towards the body.

"On Sunday evening," Katharine tells me.

"So once a person slips into a coma, there's roughly two days until the transformation. That should help you with time estimates so you aren't caught off guard," I announce, despite the fact that Katharine has probably already realized that, and exit the tent.

I make my way back to the command room and explain the situation to James, along with the warning that we'll need to act even sooner than expected.

...

Chapter 45: In Too Deep

"Here Renton. This door leads to an emergency exit. Once outside, head straight from the doorway and you should be able to find the watchtowers with no problems," James tells me, the radiant light from the flashlight illuminating his face.

The five-kilometer trek through winding passageways and subway tunnels was rather tedious, but it was fairly straightforward so I shouldn't have a problem finding my way back.

"Alright, thanks James. Take this back for me," I reply as I pop my shirt off over my head and hand it to him since it will get ruined once I need to fly.

"Oh, and take care of Melody; I would hate to have to kill everyone when I come back," I flatly reply and slip through the door.

I walk about fifty meters down a tiled hallway until I reach a door marked emergency exit with a warning that an alarm will sound. As my thermal vision switches on, I feel out with the Void in the air for any disturbances that might indicate a body while scanning the area outside the door. When I find none, I push the door open to see a pile of concrete rubble in front of me. I head around the right side of the rubble and check to see if the coast is clear before heading up the road about a kilometer so that if any demon sees me take off, they won't easily find the entrance to the tunnels.

My wings jettison out of my back once I'm set and launch me into the sky. It's nice that the crystal from the unnamed Grigori is still providing me with enough energy to do this despite the fact that it's been a few hours. Once I'm about a three hundred meters up, I can clearly see the four tall buildings located at the corners of a park with rubble surrounding them. I shoot up into the air until I'm about a kilometer up when I realize that there's still a chance of them spotting me since the moon is full and there's nothing around the buildings to block my approach. If only my skin wasn't so pale or if there was some way that I could mask the reflections...like with a substance that absorbs light...

My mind jumps back to the instance with the deman when the Void plates formed on my thighs. What's stopping me from surrounding my entire body like that? I mean, I was able to form functional gauntlets, so why not? A thick black liquid begins bubbling out of my scar and crawls up my arms. In less than thirty seconds, the liquid has encompassed my entire body and is coming up my neck. As it covers my face, I realize that I can see through it as though it were glass so it won't even hinder my peripheral vision. Once it hardens, I give my arms a few spins and kick my legs out to find out what my restrictions are, only to find that there are none.

Now that I'm all suited up, I take off towards the building closest to my position. Once I'm above the rooftop, I switch my vision to thermal and see that there is a demon on each corner behind me, as well as two near the edge in front of me. The two near the edge appear to be communicating, but I can't hear them from all the way up here so I drop down until I'm only thirty meters above them.

"—but still, I don't like that those mages are involved," one demon says to the other.

"Nobody does, but they're to thank for us being here and they're our only way to conquer the main world," the other demon replies.

"Yeah, who wants this shard of a world anyway? It's practically barren. Hey, who's that female who just came out of the door?" the first demon asks.

"When did you get here? She's the one running the show," the second answers.

"How did that young one end up in charge?" the first demon inquires.

"Who knows? Bloody Man and their nonsensical societal structures," the second replies and I spin around towards the park.

I see several figures standing in front of the massive gate that stands five stories tall, but I can't make out any details. Since this situation seems to warrant my attention, I fly over to the gate. As I approach the airspace above it, I feel the Void concentrations increase tenfold while noticing that three Grigori clothed in dark robes are approaching the much shorter figures that are wearing black hooded cloaks in front of the gate. Since I won't be able to hear what they're saying from up here, I wait until the three Grigori are close to the gate and then I fly down behind it.

"We are growing impatient, mage," one of the Grigori bellows.

"You are simply going to have to wait," a girl's voice calmly says with a familiarity that makes my heart stop.

"The Key has not yet been captured or killed so we cannot fully open the door in the main world. You will simply have to preoccupy yourselves with taking over this splinter world," she adds, the haunting bubbliness in her voice freezing my mind and constricting my throat.

"Besides, you have all of the time in the world now. This door can't be closed without closing the main gate in the other world and that can't be closed without the Key being present so there's nothing to worry about. Now, stop calling me over here for your petty complaints; I've got work to do," the girl says as I can't believe my ears. I mean, there's no way that it's her; it just can't be.

"Oh...it seems we have an eavesdropper, and a rather attractive one at that!" the girl exclaims as I can clearly picture that familiar broad smile on her face.

I sprint around the corner to catch a glimpse of her to confirm her identity, but I only see the back of her hood as she walks through the gate with her two companions while saying something that sounds like a tongue twister before they all disappear from sight. As I come to my senses, I turn around to see three Grigori glaring at me and realize that I may be in trouble. Suddenly, my flesh is pierced in about a dozen places over my body, including through my pocket that contains my Void crystals. Energy suddenly surges through me and I realize that the suit is probably doing this in response to my enemies.

Okay, think Renton. You have energy and a full body suit of armor, but you're also facing three Grigori. Even if they're unnamed, this will be a challenge. My only hope is if I can eliminate them quickly because the longer I drag this fight out, the more of a disadvantage I'll have. Actually, the first thing I probably want to do is get myself out of this corner before they can gang up on me.

I activate Ezeqeel's power while calling my wings back in and sprint around behind the Grigori while focusing energy into my right fist. I get behind the right Grigori, thinking that I can blow a hole through his midsection before he knows what's hit him. Suddenly, a tremendous force hits my chest and I find myself sailing through the air at a high velocity. As my body smashes through the glass and steel wall of a building, I realize two things: one, that hit would have pulped my torso had I not been wearing this armor, and two, this Grigori probably specializes in hang-to-hand combat.

"Come on out, Protector! I'm Baraquiel and today I'll be teaching you about the strength of a fallen star!" Baraquiel bellows from outside as I pick myself up off the lobby flor.

"Let us know if you need any help, fallen star," a deep voice mockingly says as I head outside to find the other two Grigori standing off to the left of the gate, watching the scene like it has nothing to do with them

"Shut it, Kokabiel. You and Gadreel stay out of this," Baraquiel replies while turning his head.

I sprint forward using Ezeqeel's power, jump, and slam my right fist into the side of Baraquiel's head as he turns back around. Baraquiel goes flying towards Kokabiel and Gadreel, who just step apart and allow Baraquiel to go sailing between them. As he goes crashing through two tree trunks before finally coming to a stop on the third, the other Grigori just laugh at him.

"You did tell us to stay out of it!" Kokabiel chuckles while I'm condensing Void force around my right fist, packing it in as tightly as I can.

"Yeah, yeah! Enough from the audience already!" Baraquiel responds as he's standing up and I let the condensed Void force fly.

The bolt of Void moves unexpectedly fast as one second Baraquiel is just standing there, and the next, the entire midsection of his torso is missing. Baraquiel looks down in surprise before he does something very disconcerting: he chuckles.

"So, this is how you were able to beat Azazel. It's understandable that he wouldn't be able to come back from something like this when the Void was so sparse in this world. Unfortunately for you, with my proximity to the gate, something like this will barely slow me down!" Baraquiel exclaims and I realize that I might just be fucked.

In desperation, I activate Ezeqeel's power and sprint toward Baraquiel, planning on shoving my fist up through his chest and blowing his head off with another blast. However, once I start condensing the Void into my right fist again, Ezeqeel's power shuts down, meaning that I'm out of the energy necessary to sustain it and truly fucked.

Baraquiel grins when he notices that I've slowed down and charges at me, moving faster than I can without Ezeqeel's power. My only hope is to take his blows while condensing the Void in the air and then move in for the kill. Baraquiel gets me with a hit to my chest that's even stronger than the previous one. I feel my sternum bruising through my armor as I go sailing through the hole in the building that I made previously, and out the backside. The force from my body that is transferred into the wall on contact is enough to shatter the glass and crumple the steel as I watch the building collapse under its own weight now that its supports have been destabilized. Well, at least I was able to take out one of the watchtowers.

My body hits the asphalt road and skips like a stone across water seven times before I finally roll to a stop, somewhere near a kilometer from where I was punched. Well, since he can generate that much force, I think it might be a good idea to stick with the armor instead of rerouting some of it towards creating a blade. Baraquiel comes sprinting after me and I see that the hole in his chest is almost fully regenerated.

There's no way I'm going to be able to beat him with that gate still open, but if the girl who sounds like Melanie is right, I can't shut it from here. My only hope now is a tactical retreat, but how am I supposed to get away from this guy without endangering everyone else? I really wish I had some smoke bombs or something right about now...wait, that's it. I just have to turn to smoke like I've done before, but seeing as I've always been overflowing with energy on those occasions, I'm not going to be able to manage it without some help...

I look to the rubble of the building I came through and realize that I can get the crystals out of the most likely dead demons in the rubble. No wait, that will take too long with Baraquiel coming after me...I can use the demons on the rooftops. Using quick kills, I can take the crystals and reenergize myself before he can do too much damage. As Baraquiel closes in, I reroute the energy in my hand to my back and call my wings out.

"Running away now, are we? I'll be nice and give you a thirty second head start!" Baraquiel shouts after me as I take off towards the nearest standing watchtower.

For a moment, I consider using those thirty seconds to try to make it back to the tunnel, but then I realize that I'd never make it with my current energy level so I continue towards the roof. I land hard on top of one of the demon sentries as I drive my hand into the spot where the previous crystals have been. Once the hard lump has made contact with my gauntlet, I remove it only to watch it melt in my hand. A sudden boost of energy hits me as I feel my wings spear out behind me. Why are the crystals only just now doing this? It really could have saved me some time in the past. I spin around on my heels and stab my hand into the recently decapitated demon's chest. I've only got about ten seconds left, but I can't afford to waste any energy with Ezeqeel's power if I'm going to do this so I sprint at the two other demons coming towards me and quickly end them with a thrust of each arm into their chests.

As the two crystals are absorbed into my hands, I realize that my time is up and dive to the right to avoid the blow from above. When nothing happens, I feel like an idiot so I take off towards the next rooftop. After taking out the first demon, I immediately check the skies for Baraquiel. When I don't see anything, I move on to the next demon until there aren't any left on this rooftop and the energy contained in my body starts to ache. Before taking off towards the next building, I look up and see Baraquiel just waiting with his arms folded across his chest.

"Now that I see that you aren't running away, take your time! I'll wait," Baraquiel tells me.

I take off towards the last rooftop, my body aching while I keep an eye on Baraquiel as he follows after me. I land on the final rooftop and start taking out the demons, just moving through the motions while trying to keep the pain that is wracking my body from affecting me, as well as watching Baraquiel to make sure he doesn't get a cheap shot in. When I finish the demons and absorb my twelfth crystal, I can barely keep myself from screaming out.

"Are you ready now, cupcake?" Baraquiel asks from above me.

As I smirk up at him, I pull in all of the energy and condense it in my chest before sending it outward in all directions. There's an instance of extreme pain before I feel nothing at all. Strangely enough, my field of vision remains mostly the same, unlike last time.

"What in the hell...where did he go?" Baraquiel asks himself as he comes down and lands on the roof while I move off.

I make my way back to the tunnel, arriving there in about thirty seconds before somehow phasing through the door and continuing into the tunnel. I manage to make the five-kilometer trip back to the base in about two minutes before striking down in the command room with a shroud of black smoke swirling around me.

"James we've got a problem..." I announce as I realize that I'm very dizzy.

"Renton, where did you come from and why aren't you wearing pants?" James asks.

"Not important—" I start to answer.

"RENTON!?" I hear Melody shout behind me and immediately reroute all energy into giving me pants. Black liquid wraps around my legs and pelvis before solidifying, leaving me with my arms on the table so I can remain upright.

"The gate...can't be closed...from here...while the gate in...the other world...is open," I finish while out of breath. I wonder why my clothes are disappearing when I turn to smoke now, even though my locket stays around my neck.

(It's not because of the smoke, it's because of the armor. It's dissolving through your clothing to better protect you. The only reason that your armor doesn't do that with the locket is because of your extreme attachment to it)

"Renton! Are you okay?" Melody asks as I feel her hand on my back.

"Just a little tired," I tell her while slowly getting my breath back before remembering that I still need to ask Melanie about that blood mage.

"Were you able to take out the buildings?" James inquires.

"Just one, and not by choice...three named Grigori were there and I quickly discovered that with that gate open, even I'm not a match for that. I blew a hole through the torso of one of them and he regenerated less than a minute later. The good news is that once the other gate is closed, I think the one here will close automatically and you guys will be able to blow them to pieces," I answer.

"Melody, we need to get back home," I tell her without turning around.

(Your existence is currently too unstable to make the trip. You need to rest for tonight)

"Alright...Melanie, just who was that girl?"

(Just go to sleep, Wren. You don't need to know right now. Just get some rest)

"Never mind, we actually need to rest for a night or I won't make it back," I say.

"Okay Renton. Come on, let's get to our tent," Melody tells me while ducking under my left arm and standing up to support some of my weight.

I stumble a bit as Melody leads us down the hall of the command room, off of the platform, and to the left towards the rows of nearly identical white tents, where there is little to no light. There's one tent near the front that's just off to the right of the rows that Melody starts leading me over to. We stoop down to get into the tent with two sleeping bags that have been zipped up together to make one larger bag. Melody helps me down into the bag and climbs in after me. She bridges her hips up and pulls her jeans out from the sleeping bag before snuggling next to me.

"Goodnight," I tell her as I start to drift off.

"...Night," Melody replies, but I'm too tired to think about the delay in her response.

...

I wake up in the middle of the night with a pressure driving my ass down further into the rock beneath it. I quickly open my eyes to see Melody straddling my waist with tears in her eyes as I realize that my armor pants have disappeared at some point while I was sleeping.

"Melody, what are you doing?" I quietly ask her.

"I need to do this Wren...I almost lost something today that I really want to give you, and I can't..." Melody trails off and I realize how terrible I've been. I should have realized that there isn't any way she'd be okay considering what happened earlier and I didn't make time to talk to her about it. I am just the worst boyfriend...

"Melody..." I start to say while trying to bend forward to hold her before she puts her hands on my chest and prevents me.

"Please, Renton?" Melody begs. How in the hell do I say no to that?

"Okay...but when I push you off of me suddenly, don't be mad," I softly tell her.

"You don't need to do that. My period ended only three days ago so it's okay," Melody reassures me.

"No...it's just that...when a demon ejaculates, it comes out with enough force to shatter bone...it's how Sarah's sister died," I quietly explain.

"Is that why you pushed me off in the nurse's office?" Melody asks and I nod in response. "Alright, let's just go slow."

Melody slides her left hand down towards my waist.

She rises up on her knees before slowly lowering herself with her eyes clenched.

When her whole weight is settled on my waist, she opens her eyes and with tears in the corners, she gives me the sweetest smile I've ever seen.

I reach forward and grab her hand that's on my chest.

Melody grabs my other hand and pushes my arms to each side of my head while leaning over my body as she starts moving her hips.

I start moving along with her, being careful to be gentle, partially for her and partially because that rock is really starting to hurt.

As Melody starts moving a little faster, she grimaces slightly but doesn't change her movement and gradually gets used to it.

Her breathing picks up and I feel myself starting to finish, but I don't want this moment to end so I continue until way past when I should have stopped.

With my hands entangled in hers, I buck Melody off me with my hips and end up firing at the roof of the tent instead of the ground like I'd originally planned. When I realize that I got some on Melody's back, I immediately scramble up, roll Melody off of my stomach and wipe it off with my hand, figuring that's it's better for it to dissolve through my hand than through her spine since I can probably just regenerate. As Melody lies beside me breathing heavily while my hand is sticky and definitely not dissolving, she giggles at me.

"See? There was nothing to worry about," Melody says with an amused smile.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Now, I need to find a way to sneak off to the bathroom to wash off my hand without anyone seeing that I'm not wearing pants," I reply.

After Melody interjects, suggests a way of cleaning my hand without using water, does so, and says "well, that was interesting," with a distasteful expression, we go back to sleep.

Chapter 46: The Not So Triumphant Return

The bustle of the camp wakes me up in the morning and I open my eyes to find Melody lying half-naked in my arms. As I slowly stand up, completely naked, I grab the bottom of the sleeping bag and pull it up to cover her before forming my pants, which takes about two minutes since I don't have much energy to call upon to speed up the black liquid's movement. Once I'm not dangling all over the place, I exit the tent and close the flap behind me. As I walk to the command room, I realize that quite a few people are broadly grinning at me and then it hits me: what we did last night was done in a tent with other tents close by and tents aren't known for their sound-blocking capabilities.

This might be troublesome.

When I enter the command room, an analyst and James turn at my presence before grinning at me.

"Does Katharine know yet?" I ask James.

"Dunno, but the rumor has been floating around the camp all morning," James replies with a grin before his expression falls.

"Renton, can you come with me for a moment," Katharine requests behind me.

"Sure..." I reply with uncertainty and follow her out of the command room. We make our way to the right, towards the healthcare tent, and go inside before Katharine turns around.

"I trust that you'll take care of my daughter?" Katharine asks.

"Yes ma'am," I answer.

"Did you use protection?" Katharine inquires.

"I pulled out and her period was only a few days ago so we should be fine," I respond.

"Hmm...be more careful next time. Now, can you inspect the patients and tell me which ones are at risk of turning soon?" Katharine requests and I switch my thermal vision on.

After scanning the patients, I conclude that only the three I pointed out yesterday have gotten noticeably worse and I inform Katharine.

"Thanks. So James informed me that the gate can't be closed from this side?" Katharine asks.

"Yeah. I overheard some of the lead Grigori and a couple of blood mages talking last night and they said that the gate here can't be closed since the one in our world is open so Melody and I need to head back today," I confirm as I hear people approaching the tent from far off.

"So how was it?" I hear Violet ask.

"It was great. After waiting for so long, it finally happened so now I feel...relieved, I guess? It is a bit sore though," Melody replies as they approach.

"That will go away within the next day or so," Violet replies before they both enter the tent.

"Hey Melody. We need to get going now," I tell her.

"Hold on, I'll go fetch James and Reggie," Violet says and runs off.

"Mom, you'll be coming back with us this time, right?" Melody asks.

"Yeah," Katharine replies with a smile that doesn't extend to her eyes and I can tell that she's lying.

I can understand why since she has a duty to heal the people here, but this is going to crush Melody. She'll also fall into a coma and die if I can't shut the gate quickly so no added pressure or anything... Violet, Reggie, and James come into the tent a moment later.

"So you guys are heading back now?" Reggie asks.

"Yeah. If you guys want any shot at surviving this, I have to close the gate in the other world. I also have to find it but I already have a decent idea of where it is," I answer.

"Alright, well it was good seeing you two. Come back and visit sometime, okay?" Reggie responds.

"Yeah, once this mess is all over," I reply.

"Good luck," James tells us.

"Thanks," I say before Melody closes her eyes to concentrate.

While Melody's eyes are closed, Katharine starts slowly wheeling herself towards James, Reggie, and Violet before turning around. I remain silent despite the ache in my chest due to the ensuing pain that Melody will feel. I scan Katharine one last time and see that she has about two days left until she reaches the same point as the analyst that fell into a coma yesterday. Well, I'll just have to find a way to close the gate before two days pass.

When I see a black glow coming from the ground, Melody opens her eyes as Katharine sadly smiles and waves.

"Mom, no!" Melody exclaims before James smiles at me in a way that explains everything and gives Katharine's wheelchair a hard push. I stop Katharine so she doesn't barrel through me just before the scene blinks out of existence.

...

I regain my senses to the feeling of grass beneath my feet and the view of woods in front of me. Melody is lying on the ground near my feet and Katharine is sitting in the wheelchair beside me. Katharine looks around for a moment before a scowl develops on her face.

"Dammit, James!" Katharine shouts at the sky.

"He did this because he knew that you didn't belong there," I tell her.

"But I still had an obligation to my patients! I couldn't just leave them!" Katharine exclaims.

"James seemed to disagree. He probably thought that it was your obligation to be with your family after so long. Look, they have other doctors don't they? And there isn't anything that can be done for the coma patients until I shut the gate so there isn't much you could have done there anyway," I reply, deciding not to tell her about her condition because it doesn't matter now.

"I suppose you're right..." Katharine concedes.

"Now, come on. I'm sure that your husband and other daughter really want to see you," I tell her while lifting Melody up.

We make our way around to the front of the house before I realize our dilemma: this house isn't exactly wheelchair accessible.

"Uhh," I say while looking at the stairs, then to Katharine, then to her sleeping daughter in my arms. "Any chance you can heal your spine now that we're back?"

"The damage has already been done and healed so I can't, but this shouldn't be a problem," Katharine tells me and lifts her legs off of the footrests of the wheelchair with her hands.

"Damn, that feels good," Katharine says with a smile on her face before she pushes off of the wheelchair and stands up.

I stand there awestruck for a moment before realizing that she's a Lifter and manipulating her body using mana comes naturally to her. She grabs the wheelchair and carries it up the steps before sitting back down in it. I carry Melody up the steps after Katharine and open the door for her.

"Mrs. Sheffield! You're back!" I hear Claudia exclaim from the foyer as I walk into the house after Katharine.

"Yes, thanks to Melody and a friend's meddling. I'm surprised that you're still here, Claudia," Katharine replies with a smile.

"Well somebody had to keep this house together when you disappeared," Claudia says with a smile and bends down to hug her old friend.

"Kat..." I hear Mr. Sheffield say in disbelief from my left.

"Max," Katharine replies with a soft tone as she turns towards him with a smile on her face. Mr. Sheffield rushes forwards, hugs Katharine, lifts her out of the wheelchair and spins her around like they're teenagers again. Katharine kisses him for a rather long time before Mr. Sheffield sets her back down in the wheelchair.

"What happened?" Mr. Sheffield asks.

"The other world was attacked and a demon's blade caught me in the spine. I was able to heal most of the damage but I ran out of mana before I could regain motor control of my legs. It's good to see you again, Max," Katharine replies with an absolutely beaming smile.

"Now, I need to go surprise Carrie," Katharine announces. "Claudia, can you bring the chair up after me? Using mana to walk is enough of a challenge."

As Claudia and Katharine head upstairs, Mr. Sheffield turns to me.

"It's good that you're here, Renton. Come, you can let Melody rest on the couch in my office," Mr. Sheffield says and turns down the left hall out of the foyer.

I follow Mr. Sheffield down the hall and into his office before setting Melody down on the leather couch.

"Erin made a report early this morning. She discovered the source of the tremors: a massive black gate," Mr. Sheffield tells me.

"Where is it?" I ask.

"Several hundred meters below the ground...at the Syndicate's main base of operations," Mr. Sheffield answers and I have to withhold my shock. How did the blood mages manage to get there and take over the Syndicate? Or was Melanie's father working with them the whole time since he had access to Void crystals?

"I need to go close that gate..." I pause before giving the worst news.

"Alright, I'll have a plane fueled to take you there in a few hou—" Mr. Sheffield says before I continue.

"And Melody needs to come with me..." I finish.

"Why does Melody need to go?" Mr. Sheffield asks.

"According to intelligence I gathered in the other world, Melody needs to be present at the gate in order for it to close," I explain.

"How reliable is the intelligence?" Mr. Sheffield questions.

"I overheard it myself while they didn't know I was there," I answer.

"Alright. I trust that you'll keep her safe, Renton," Mr. Sheffield replies.

"Thank you. I'm going to take Melody back to her room and then make an extra layer of defense for her," I say.

"Okay, Renton. I'll let you know when the plane is ready," Mr. Sheffield tells me as I pick Melody up and exit the office.

I carry Melody upstairs and to her bedroom, passing by Katharine talking to Carrie in her bedroom, before I set Melody down on her bed. I make my way back to my room and grab my trashcan/bucket, along with one of the crystals off my dresser. Now, I have to figure out have to vomit on command...or maybe I could just bleed myself? Would that work?

(If you're going to be a baby about puking, stabbing yourself will work since your blood has been completely replaced)

"Alright, thanks. By the way, can you tell me about that girl now?"

(She's not who you think she is)

"Oh...that's good, I guess."

I sit down on the bed with the trashcan between my legs, materialize a scalpel into my right hand, hold my left elbow over the trashcan, and slice into the vein on the inside of my elbow. Black liquid starts flowing down my elbow and into the bucket with the crystal. When my arm heals and the flow stops, I just slice my arm open again. Once the bucket is about ten centimeters full, I let my arm heal and my scalpel disperse, stick my right hand into the bucket, and start forming the bracelet I have pictured. A black bangle forms with the Void crystal emerging from the top like a jewel. After removing the bangle from the trashcan and rinsing it out in the shower, I start to head back to Melody's room before realizing that I'm still pretty much naked. I let my armored pants dissolve away and slide on boxers and jeans from the dresser in their place before realizing that I don't have shoes anymore. I pull out a gray t-shirt and throw it over my head before making my way to Melody's room barefoot. Katherine and Carrie are still talking in her room as I pass by and walk into Melody's room.

"Renton?" Melody sleepily asks while sitting on the edge of the bed as I walk in.

"Your mom is in Carrie's room. Here, I need you to wear this. We'll be leaving for Crowley City in a bit so we can close the gate," I inform her as I walk over and sit on the bed beside her.

"This will all be over finally..." Melody says and I put my right arm around her.

"Yeah, and then we can finish up at Graythorn, go to college, get married, start a family..." I tell her.

"Wow, you're really thinking far ahead," Melody responds as she nuzzles her head against my neck.

"It's always good to keep your eye on the prize...things have never ended well for me when I've only fought for myself," I reply as Melanie resurfaces in my thoughts.

This isn't going to be easy. The moment we land, there's no doubt in my mind that we'll face opposition and bringing Melody into a situation like that frankly terrifies me. The only thing I can do is entrust her to Erin while I eliminate as much of the opposition as possible, but still...there are too many unknowns going into this...at least I have a decent stock of Void crystals to bring with me thanks to someone picking up the aftermath of the demon's assault.

"Renton?" Melody asks.

"It's nothing. I'll protect you, Melody. I swear it," I tell her as I turn and look into her eyes.

"I know you will, Renton," Melody replies with a gentle smile before there's a soft knock on the door.

"Hey, Renton. I heard that you're going to close a big gate and put a stop all of this," Liza says as she enters the room with her hands behind her back.

"Yeah, Melody and I are leaving in a few hours," I reply.

"Alright, well take all of your remaining Void crystals and put them in this," Liza tells me as she removes the thing behind her back and holds it out.

"Liza, is that a fanny pack? Where did you even find one of those?" I ask in disbelief.

"Medical supply store. What's wrong?" Liza inquires, honestly not knowing what I'm implying.

So I guess fanny packs don't have a negative connotation in this world. Well, it is the most functional thing for me to use considering that my wings would be blocked by a backpack.

"Nothing. Thanks," I answer and take the black fanny pack somewhat reluctantly, adjust the length, and buckle it around my waist.

"Melody, you should pack a small overnight bag in case this takes longer than expected. I'm going to get the crystals off of my dresser," I announce and leave the room.

I head back to my room and put the crystals in the pack, counting them as I go. So it seems that I have a stash of seventeen to work with, which should be enough for any situation. As I look down at my bare feet, I decide that armored boots will work just as well as shoes so I call out the black liquid from my scar and send it down to my feet. Once they solidify, there's a knock on my door.

"There's a plane prepped and ready to leave now due to an abrupt cancelation. Are you ready to go?" Mr. Sheffield asks.

"Yeah, let's end this."

...

Chapter 47: Crowley City Blues

We're finally at the end of the story, which is good because the light being emanated is so bright that I can no longer see that bitch even though she's right in front of me. It won't be much longer now...

...

The plane rocks as the wheels touch down after the short flight. Melody and I remain seated and taxi over to the place where small planes unload. I remain tense as I look out the windows for signs of any activity. I don't like the fact that we had to land at Crowley City's major airport, but there aren't any airfields large enough for our landing so we didn't have a choice. Melody grabs her bag from the overhead compartment, which contains a change of clothing for me as well because she insisted, and we get off the plane. As we walk across the tarmac towards the airport, I keep scanning the surrounding area for anything suspicious.

"So Erin is picking us up outside, right?" Melody asks.

"She should be waiting right now," I reply while keeping up my vigilance.

We make it into the airport when I notice two tense TSA agents' eyes widen when they see us. They start slowly moving our way when Melody and I turn left, following the path through the airport. I grab Melody's arm and when we pass by the men's restroom on the right, I pull her into it. The bathroom immediately splits into right and left sides so I take her to the left side with the stalls, knowing that they're less likely to have witnesses.

"Go into this stall and keep quiet for a little while," I whisper into her ear and gently push her into the handicapped stall.

With my back to a tile-covered wall, I turn and face the entrance while slipping my hand into the pack around my waist and putting a crystal into my mouth. I crunch down on it as the TSA agents come towards me before stopping a meter from me.

"We're going to need you two to come with us," the taller of the two TSA agents says before I release a large puff of Void smoke.

I push it forward, up through their noses, and down into their throats. The TSA agents cough a few times in response before their movements become more hostile. I activate Ezeqeel's power and race behind them before setting a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Here's what's going to happen. You two are going to guide us out of the airport unopposed or I'm going to use the smoke in your throats to kill you both," I quietly tell them while bringing the smoke to the edges of their throats, causing them to cough again before stopping.

The look of pure horror on their faces tells me that they understand their situation as I go over to the stall Melody is in and open it. The TSA agents silently guide us out of the bathroom and we walk down the hall to the main split of the airport before going in the same direction as the sign pointing to baggage claim. Several groups of TSA agents start to approach us at different times until the taller TSA agent subtly waves them off. We exit the airport and get into the backseat of the black SUV that Erin is driving before I roll down the window.

"Thank you, gentlemen," I say and recall the smoke from their throats as Erin drives off.

"Erin, step on it. Something tells me that we're going to have company pretty soon," I tell her and Erin speeds up while weaving in and out of traffic.

I look back and see three black SUVs following us before seeing that we're approaching a checkpoint. Yellow lights suddenly start flashing at the checkpoint before I see steel columns rising out of the road while the cars around us start slowing down.

"Renton!" Erin exclaims.

"Yeah, I see them. Just keep going," I tell her as I reach forward and open the sunroof.

I stand on the center console and stick my torso out of the sunroof as the steel columns fifty meters in front of us reach the top of their ascent. I hold my right hand out, aim with my fingertips, and slice my hand through the air when we're within ten meters of the checkpoint. The blade of Void force slices through the base of the columns before cutting a chunk out of the asphalt. Erin keeps going and barrels through the three loose columns, sending them flying off to the side as the car bumps when we hit the divot in the asphalt.

With the hindrance in front of us neutralized, I twist around and look behind us to see that two SUVs are still in pursuit while the third has crashed into the columns next to where I cut. When I see a TSA agent hanging out the window of the leftmost SUV, I focus energy into my right fist. Before he can cast a fireball, or whatever he was planning, I throw the block of Void force at the SUV. The front of the SUV caves inward so far that the front wheels lock up and the SUV goes over them. When the car is at the apex of its somersault, it catches on the road and starts tumbling wildly, crashing into the SUV that was coming up on the right. With our pursuers gone, I duck back down and return to my seat.

"Now we need to get to someplace safe and ditch the car. Where are we staying?" I ask.

"Mr. Sheffield has me put up at the Lindbergh downtown under a fake name," Erin answers. If I remember correctly, that's only about half a kilometer from the Syndicate's diner.

"Okay, drive to the northeast side. We can ditch the car in one of the parking lots there and then call a taxi," I say.

"Sounds like a plan," Erin replies.

"Melody, are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm already used to things like this," Melody nonchalantly replies, sounding completely unfazed.

Erin drives for half a kilometer, gets off the freeway, drives down a few side roads, and gets on the northbound freeway. She gets off twenty minutes later and finds an open slot in a shopping center parking lot near the train station. I grab the bag as we get out and start walking away from the center. Erin pulls out her phone, looks something up, and then holds it up to her ear.

"Hi, I need a pickup at the movie theater near northeast station...Okay, thanks," Erin replies and hangs up. "They'll be there in about fifteen."

"That should be perfect timing then," I say, knowing that the movie theater is about a kilometer away. "We should probably use this time to work out a plan."

"I obtained access to the entry code so getting in won't be a problem," Erin tells me.

"Okay. I'm thinking that the best course of action is for me to go in and clear the place out while you and Melody hang back," I explain my plan.

"Even if I tell you the code, how are you going to push mana into the runes?" Erin asks and I stop walking.

"Shit...okay, you and Melody come with me, get me in, and then leave," I reply.

"I'm thinking that we all go in and Melody can take cover behind some stalagmites while I cover her and you clean up," Erin suggests. Well, I guess that will work. I just have to keep anyone from getting past me and they'll be fine.

"Yeah, that'll work," I say as I see the neon sign of the movie theater glowing lonely in the darkness.

We continue on to the movie theater and walk up the steps leading to it as a taxi pulls up.

"Take us to the Lindbergh downtown," Erin tells the driver once we're all seated in back with me in the middle and the bag on my lap.

"Can do. So why are you kids stayin at the Lindbergh?" the cabbie asks.

"We're checking out Crowley University and vacationing a little for our spring break," Erin naturally replies.

"Ah, I've got a younger cousin going to the U. Where're you kids from?" the cabbie questions.

"Out near St. Arthur's," Erin answers, sounding completely natural. It's almost scary how good she is at lying.

"Wow, you kids have sure come a long way. Your parents must really trust yous considerin the mixed company," the cabbie says.

"It's more of a situation with no other options due to them being busy with work," Erin responds. There's an awkward lull in the conversation before the cabbie turns on the radio.

"What do you kids want to listen to?" the cabbie asks.

"Hmm, let's go with jazz," Erin replies.

"Jazz it is," the cabbie says and changes the station.

The radio becomes the only noise in the car as we cruise down the highway. About thirty minutes later, we arrive at the hotel, thank the cabbie for the ride, and Erin pays him in cash with a gracious tip. Melody and I follow Erin into the shiny gold lobby of the Lindbergh and up the elevator to the sixteenth floor as Erin pulls a card key out of the pocket of her jeans. She takes a right out of the elevator and puts the key into the third door on the right. Erin opens the door, ushers us into the large suite, and closes the door behind us.

"So, how was it?" Erin asks as we continue into the main room of the suite with a large couch and entertainment system.

"How was what?" I reply while turning towards her.

"The sex. How was the sex?" Erin inquires. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Melody's face turns beet red.

"How in the world did you know about that?" I ask.

"The way you're both acting around each other is much more comfortable than it was on Tuesday. You're a lot less awkward," Erin succinctly answers.

"Well, you're right. Melody and I made sex—" I start to reply before Erin's smirk tells me that I've already tuned her in on how uncomfortable I am. "last night...as a result of Melody nearly being raped by three soldiers."

Erin's expression warps to a vicious scowl that makes my ass muscles unconsciously clench.

"How in the hell did something like that happen!? How did that happen when you were supposed to be protecting her!?" Erin angrily shouts and lashes out at me before I dip out of the way.

"It's not his fault, Erin. Renton was busy protecting me from a big demon and I was stupid. When I saw humans in that hellscape, I stupidly trusted them and followed them," Melody explains and my chest starts to ache at the realization that she blames herself.

"Mel—" I start to gently say.

"Don't you dare talk like that, Melody! Don't you dare blame yourself!" Erin interrupts as she grabs Melody by her shoulders.

"If _you_ blame yourself, then...what does that mean for me..." Erin quietly trails off.

As Erin looks towards the floor with her hands weakly on Melody's shoulders, the weakness and uncertainty in her voice shatter my preconceived notions about her. How could I have been so blind when it was obvious given the story she told us about her past? What kind of eight year old wouldn't be afraid to see someone killed in front of them, unless they've already given up and retreated into themselves? And there are only a few things that can do that to a child...

"Erin..." Melody softly says with tears in the corners of her eyes and hugs Erin. "Thanks."

Erin looks shocked for a moment before her expression softens and she hugs Melody back. They pull apart when Erin's phone starts ringing.

"Hello... Yes, we're back at the hotel now. We ran into some trouble at the airport, but we lost them. We're going in tonight... Yeah... I'm going to protect her while Renton clears the place out...Okay, I'll report in when we're done," Erin says and hangs up.

"My dad?" Melody asks.

"Yeah, just checking up on us to make sure everything is going okay," Erin explains.

"So, when do we go?" I ask.

"Just let me grab my stuff and get ready, and then we can go," Erin replies and heads left, towards a bedroom.

I sit down into the couch with a huff before Melody follows me over and sits down beside me.

"Tired?" Melody inquires.

"A bit. It's just that we're so close to crossing the finish line that all of the exhaustion I've been pushing down is finally surfacing. Still, it's not like I can slow down now," I answer and sit forward with my elbows on my thighs.

"Why do you push yourself so hard for me? Am I really worth it?" Melody softly asks. I turn towards her and see her looking away from me.

"You're worth more to me than you'll ever know," I tell her as I reach forward and turn her chin towards me. "I love you, Melody."

Melody softly smiles and bends her head forward to kiss me as a response. I kiss her back and then we start making out for about a minute before I pull back.

"You know, there is another room in this suite," I say, point out the door on the right side of the suite.

Melody turns around and looks at the door behind her before she turns back to me with a mischievous grin on her face that I find to be incredibly sexy. She stands up, grabs my hand, and pulls me towards the door. After she shuts the door of the room behind me and pushes me onto the bed, we start with the foreplay. After some time into it, I notice that a small foil package has been slid under the door. I'll have to thank Erin after.

...

Once we're back in a respectable state, Melody and I exit the room to find Erin lounging on the couch with headphones on her ears, reading a magazine. She's wearing a black trench coat, and from what else I can see, leather pants and boots.

"Thanks Erin," I tell her while gently putting my hand on her shoulder before she turns around while pulling her headphones off.

"What?" Erin asks.

"Thanks," I repeat.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Erin says with a smirk. "Now, are you two ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let's go finish this," I reply.

Erin stands up and leads the way out of the room and to the elevator with her trench coat swishing behind her. For stealth purposes, I should definitely wait to form my armor...is that what Erin is doing with the trench coat? The elevator doors ding open and we walk out into the gold-colored lobby before I feel that something is off. When I notice that the rest of the lobby is empty and the beads of sweat on the forehead of the concierge, I immediately reach into the pouch on my lower back and take out a crystal. I slip the crystal between my teeth and crunch down on it as Erin turns her head left and opens the side of her mouth.

"Did you notice it, Renton?" Erin quietly mumbles.

"Yeah. Shroud Melody and get out of here. We'll meet back up at the diner," I tell her in a similar manner.

"Elo-vay," Erin whispers immediately after she grabs Melody's hand.

The doors to the lobby burst inward and a dozen men armed with assault rifles come in wearing tactical gear. The yellow stars on the left side of their vests look about as official as a van that has 'cops' scrawled on the side in crayon. Given that they have guns, I'm guessing that they're with the blood mages. Since I'm not bulletproof and don't want to waste energy on healing bullet holes, I need to take these guys out as fast as possible. As the front of the pack start to snap their rifles up, I rip my arm horizontally through the air in front of me. The crescent of Void force covers the distance between us in an instant before slicing through their general neck area, except for the one short guy that is sliced through the middle of his face. The reinforced glass door of the hotel shatters and twelve bodies hit the floor.

I step over the bodies while calmly walking towards the shattered doors before my vision shifts. There are twenty heat signatures completely surrounding the door, all with guns trained on me. I definitely don't have enough energy to make a 270-degree blast, but I should have enough for twenty tiny blasts and a few seconds of Ezeqeel's power. I act naturally and walk through the broken doors like I can't see them before I activate Ezeqeel's power. After hearing my shirt rip behind me as my wings come out, I launch myself into the air over them and hold my fingers out while focusing energy into my hands. Once each finger is aimed at a different head, I release each blast, which immediately split into five bolts. I spin around and repeat the action as the ten remaining bodies are panicking about their dropping comrades. Two seconds later, they can no longer wonder what happened as ten finger-sized holes appear in the asphalt below them.

Now that the threat is gone, I can see that the road in front of the hotel has been closed down, explaining the lack of cars and witnesses, thankfully. I see two orange trails slip around the corner of the building to the right, which is the same direction as the diner so it's probably Melody and Erin. I land, retract my wings, and run after them. It's rather surprising that there haven't been any demons in these skirmishes...maybe it's because the blood mages know that pitting them against me would only provide me with energy. As I round the corner, I realize that I've walked into a trap a second too late as I read "this side towards enemy" on a small black box.

The claymore mine hits me in the waist and shreds through my flesh before shooting out the back, incidentally through my pack with the crystals. The black liquid leaking out of me intermingles with the contents of the pack and I feel energy starting to flow through me as mages with guns step out of the buildings around me and open fire while I'm stunned. The hot bullets from the assault rifles tear through me and I fall back while feeling the crystals explode one after another as the energy surges in through my back. When the pain starts to get to be too much to bear, my body explodes into smoke and I feel nothing at all.

"Where did he go!?" one of the mages shouts as several others go forward to investigate the spot where I was.

I float towards the mage that shouted and the mage coughs as I send part of me in through his mouth and up to his brain. I somehow make him move his arms up to lift the gun and have his right index finger pull back towards him. As the gun fires, I have the mage make a sweeping motion with the gun to hit the investigating mages. The other mages turn and open fire on the mage I have control of as I pull out. The mage looks confused as the bullets pierce his body and he falls to the ground while I move on to another mage. I repeat that until there's only one mage left and end this by condensing my body inside of his head. Once the mage is bleeding from his eyes, I pull out, condense my entire body, and continue on to the diner.

I sprint to the diner, hoping that Melody and Erin are fine and waiting for me.

"Renton!" I hear a loud whisper from my left. I turn and see Erin whispering from the shadows of an alleyway beside the diner.

"Why are you running around naked!?" Melody asks from behind her as I jog over.

I look down and see that I am indeed naked until the black liquid covers my lower half and solidifies as it forms a design to make them look like motorcycle pants and boots; I didn't realize that I could make it look like normal clothing. I decide to form a matching jacket around my torso for added protection against what's coming next.

"Happy?" I ask.

"Yes. No one but me is allowed to see you naked," Melody stoutly answers.

"Yes dear," I reply. "Now, we should probably move before the opposition has a chance to regroup."

Erin nods and re-shrouds Melody and herself before we exit the alleyway and walk into the unexpectedly empty diner with me holding doors open for an unusually long time. We turn left and head through the door at the end marked 'Employees Only'. Erin unshrouds them both and lights the way to the rune wall with electricity jumping between her fingertips. She touches five runes on the large wall, each glowing violet after she touches them, and I feel the ground shift beneath my feet. We walk around the corner and I stop in front of the door.

"Alright, this is it. You two stay behind me while I carve out a path for you. Erin, I'm relying on you to protect Melody if anyone shows up behind us," I tell her as Erin shrugs off the trench coat, revealing a black leather bodysuit with the dagger I made hanging from her right hip. I notice a hole on the side of the blade above the hilt, meaning that Erin must've run into some trouble while she was here.

"Are you two ready?" I ask and they both nod in response.

"Then, let's go," I say and open the door.

The moment I open the door and charge out, I'm rather surprised that there is nothing but an empty cavern waiting for us. I scan the cavern with my thermal vision, but there's still nothing to be found. Could the intel have been wrong?

"It's in the rear courtyard, but the lack of opposition is suspicious," Erin tells me in response to my sudden stop.

I continue towards the Syndicate's castle-like manor with caution. We reach the door and I set my left hand on it to dispel the barrier and unlock the door. As I push the heavy door open, I keep feeling that this is a trap. We walk into the empty foyer and while I'm overcome with waves of nostalgia, I still find it odd that no one is here. I turn left down the hall towards Vince's office since it's the quickest way to go out back and it would take too long to clear the whole house. As we pass by what used to be Vince's office, I can see through the open door that there's nothing there but empty steel shelves.

"Erin, what happened here? Where is everybody?" I quietly ask.

"I don't know. I heard that Vince left the Syndicate not long after I was kicked out, but that's it," Erin whispers in response from her unseen location.

"Let's keep going," Melody quietly adds.

We continue down the hall, take a right around the corner, and head towards the frosted French doors at the end of the hall. The hallway with doors on either side makes me a bit nervous due to the number of opportunities for an ambush. The fifty meters to the exit are tense but, once again, nothing happens. If there isn't a huge army waiting for us when we get out there, I'm going to be a bit disappointed.

I open the doors to the rear courtyard and see just a ton of cloaked heads in the cavern around a gate that reaches the ceiling, sitting on top of a raised platform. While the gate is large, it's still not the size of the one in the other world; I wonder if they get bigger when they're fully opened. The cloaked heads all silently stare at me before I close the doors. If the rear courtyard isn't empty when I reopen these doors, I'm going to be a bit disappointed!

"Dammit," I say when I reopen the doors and they're still there.

"Welcome home, Wren!" a familiar voice cheerily exclaims from the raised platform near the slightly open gate.

I watch in shock as the figure turns around and removes her hood. Black hair falls down her back as the smile in her dark brown eyes petrifies me.

"Melanie..." I say in shock before sprinting towards her as the room seems to fade around me until we're the only two in it.

I only barely realize that the Void concentrations around me are incredibly high when I walk up the steps of the platform before stopping in front of her and slowly reaching my hand out, as if she's going to fade away the moment I touch her. My hand touches her soft cheek and Melanie leans into it, solidifying her presence.

"Melanie, how are you here!? I watched you die!" I demand.

"Wren, I know you're confused, but try to remember. The memories should still be there, and after all, everything has gone according to your plan," Melanie gently tells me.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Me faking my death so you would be forced to leave the city where you would find the Key and bring her here to open the gate so that you could take the Grigori's power, it was all your plan...even having your memories hidden so that you wouldn't accidentally give yourself away. When we embedded the mana vacuum into your left hand, it nearly killed you but you woke up. You were a wisp that wanted power and I wanted to give you a better life, so we came up with this plan. You have to remember, Wren!" Melanie desperately explains.

"This is all a bit much to take in...but with who I am now, I can't hurt Melody," I tell her.

"The ritual won't kill her!" Melanie exclaims and I'm taken aback for several moments.

"Maybe, but the aftermath will kill millions, in this world and the other one," I explain before Melanie lunges forward and wraps her arms around me.

"Wren, this is what we've been working towards this entire time! We're so close to achieving our goal! Do you know how hard it was to be away from you, knowing that you were spending every day with another girl?" Melanie asks with the tears in her eyes being audible in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Melanie...I love you, but I love her too and I can't betray her like this," I gently tell her.

"Then...I'm sorry too," Melanie replies.

"What?" I ask and feel something sharp pierce my back before I hit the floor like a ton of bricks. I try to stand back up, only to find that I can't move at all.

"You couldn't just go along with it, could you, Wren?" Melanie asks from above me as I see Erin carrying an unconscious Melody over her shoulder through the crowd while avoiding looking at me. "You couldn't just nicely believe my story and come to me. You could have been by my side as we saved the world and lived like a kings in what followed, but you had to take _her_ side."

"Very few people knew that my father was a blood mage and that's how the Syndicate was so well connected. I used to hate that I was one too, but I never would have made it this far without their resources so now I'm rather thankful. It's true that I faked my death so that you would be forced to leave the city to find the Key and believe me, that was a difficult choice to make, but a necessary one. The hardest part was what I put Erin through by having her excommunicated from the Syndicate, and also killing my father to take control of it, but this is bigger than any of us, Wren," Melanie tells me. Does this mean that even Erin didn't know that Melanie was still alive?

"With the Grigori on our side, we will no longer be at the whims of a celestial being! It's for that reason that I can't let anyone stop me...not even you," Melanie quietly says before motioning to two large hooded figures.

What has she been talking about? She's sounding crazy in a way that I never knew...then again, maybe I never really knew her at all. The figures lift me up, carry me over to the gate, and start swinging me back and forth.

"If it's any consolation, I really did love you, Wren," Melanie softly tells me before the figures let go.

As I'm sent hurling into the open gate, unable to move, my rotations allow me to make eye contact with Erin and, hopefully, convey my disappointment before everything goes dark.

...

Chapter 48: Welcome to Hell. Here's Your Care Package

At that time, I had no idea that what I was going to be told was the truth. I had no reason to trust him, just like you had no reason to trust me. Looking back, I really regret my choice to kill him. If I hadn't, maybe you wouldn't have been dragged into this, kid. Maybe we could have taken her out...

...

The smell of sulfur hits me as I find myself suddenly falling through the warm air. Anger and betrayal cloud my senses as I begin to pick up speed, unable to do anything with the knife in my back. As I find myself turning through the air, I see that the red ground is rapidly approaching before I realize the solution to my situation: if I can't move, then I just have to disperse. I focus most of my energy inward before pulsing it out, causing my body to disperse and slow down while the knife continues to fall. I start condensing once I'm about five meters from the ground.

My feet touch down on the hard stone that looks like it's been bathed in blood as I look at the cloudy red fog that surrounds me. A glint from below catches my eye and I bend over to pick up the black knife at my feet. The knife is lightweight and is covered in figures similar to those that are in Melody's transport circles. Something tells me that this thing is dangerous and even though every fiber of my being is telling me to throw this thing as far as I can, I will my armor to make a sheath for it on my waist and slide the knife in.

"Where in the hell am I?" I ask myself as I start walking.

(That's exactly where you are, Wren. Well, at least it's the world of the Grigori. You won't find any damned souls wandering around this place)

"Melanie!?...No, not Melanie. Exactly what are you?"

(...Is that really important right now?)

"If you can lead me out of here and help me rescue Melody...then no, it doesn't."

(Head straight and you'll reach the nearest major city)

"There are cities in this place?"

(Yes...it was once a beautiful city, but now, it's just a slum surrounding a lone status of power that stands above all else)

The sadness in her voice makes me want to ask questions, but I don't. I summon my wings, take to the skies, and fly towards this unseen city. When I've covered at least twenty kilometers, I realize that I'm not getting tired, which is probably because of the high level of Void in this place. It's certainly the highest of any world I've been too, but not as high as when I was standing next to the gate and not enough for it to break through my thoughts to make it to the forefront of my mind before now.

After I've covered about fifty kilometers, I see some kind of structure rising up in the distance. While looking through the hazy red fog and getting closer, a massive palace comes into view. As I fly over it, I feel something that is almost emanating Void force coming from within the palace.

(The quickest way to get out, is through him)

I fly down, land in the palace courtyard, and start walking towards the source of the Void. I walk between the red stone columns into what appears to be a gigantic throne room with high ceilings that is open to the environment. To my right, at the end of the throne room, is a gray-skinned giant sitting on a massive throne. Since his seated height is about three meters, he must be on the upside of four meters tall.

"Protector, welcome to my domain," the giant says, his bass voice reverberating in my chest.

"Who are you? And why does Void seem to resonate from you?" I loudly ask.

"Boy, I can hear you. You need not shout. I am Satanael and what is resonating from me is the force that I have been saving in my body for millennia so that I can seek my revenge," Satanael booms.

"Wait, it's possible save the Void in my body?" I ask in astonishment at the implications. Thinking back, I've never really tried that before. I always just used the force immediately after getting it from the crystals.

"Yes, boy. Since your body's composition is almost indistinguishable from mine, you can most likely store the Void within you. Now, I'm sure that she-dog has told you something like you need to kill me in order to return to your world. However, if you do that then all that will happen is you will wind up dead or will be playing right into her hands. You cannot trust what she says, boy," Satanael tells me.

"What do you mean?" I cautiously inquire.

"She uses and betrays her creations. Always. I was not the first of her creations, but I was the first I know of to rise against her when I wouldn't obediently follow her whims anymore. Well, you can see how well that turned out," Satanael tells me, gesturing to the palace that surrounds him. "Now I am just biding my time, saving up my energy so I will be a challenge for her, but I've come to realize that I cannot defeat her alone."

"Who are you talking about?" I ask.

"The one that created you and I. The one that presides over the events of multiple worlds for her enjoyment. The one that mages of your world call Goddess. Together, you and I have the capability to stop her little games forever. You do not currently have the strength necessary, but if you conserve your energy and wait a few centuries, we can put an end to this once and for all," Satanael answers.

"A few centuries!? I can't wait around for that long!" I exclaim.

"It will take less time once that young blood mage opens the door to the Void. She understood that the Goddess needs to be stopped once I told her the truth, along with a promise of power to sweeten the deal," Satanael tells me and I feel my anger explode.

You...you're the one who put Melanie on this path...you're the one who took her from me...and you're the one trying to take Melody from me now too!" I shout.

"Calm yourself, boy. This matter is bigger than a few people. It is for the sake of all worlds. This of course requires a few sacrifices to save many. This is to stop that woman from perpetrating events like natural disasters simply because she's bored; from starting wars for her enjoyment," Satanael calmly says.

"Do not tell me to calm down!" I yell and feel a pulse of Void leave my body as black smoke starts rising around me.

"You tell me that the Goddess is my enemy but as I see it, you are the one that has been destroying everything I care about! You are the perpetrator behind the suffering, not her!" I shout.

"Well then, I guess there's no avoiding this. I'll simply have to make you see the reality of the situation," Satanael says and rises to his feet.

The black liquid quickly comes out of my scar and solidifies around my head, neck, and hands to make my full suit of armor before I summon two longswords.

"Ah, Azazel's power. This should be interesting," Satanael booms.

I sprint forward with the intent of getting in close and hacking at his calf, which is level with my waist, before I have to dive to the right. Satanael delivers a swift jab that shatters the red stone floor and creates a meter wide crater. My vision shifts and I see a ball of Void force swirling around each of Satanael's fists that's making them the size of boulders. I have no doubt that if he hits me, it's going to feel like I've been hit with a truck going a hundred kilometers an hour.

Satanael follows up with a left hook that I try to duck under, but the top of my head gets caught by the Void force. I go flying back and skid across the floor before flipping back over my head to get to my feet while I can feel the vibration in the floor caused by Satanael's footfalls. I slice with my right sword and send a crescent of Void force hurtling towards his right knee. Void suddenly appears swirling around Satanael's right knee and completely neutralizes my attack. I didn't even know that neutralizing Void force was possible! Then again, why can't I do the same?

Satanael throws a punch at my chest and I push all the force in my body to the point of contact. As I find myself flying back through the air before hitting the stone wall behind me, I realize that there does seem to be a reason why I can't do the same.

"Your ability to copy a technique in such a short span is admirable, but that technique relies on you having more energy than the opposing blast and since I punch with all of the energy in my body, you simply won't be able to block it," Satanael explains as I'm pulling myself out of the wall.

So he's saying that there's no way I can hurt him? I don't know about that. I reroute my energy to my legs and activate Ezeqeel's power as I drop my left longsword and grip the remaining one in both hands. I sprint around behind Satanael and hack into his left calf until I hit bone and pull the sword out before sprint off to run circles around him.

"Ezeqeel's power? This is a nice use of it considering your situation. However, there is one major flaw," Satanael tells me as I circle him, seemingly without noticing the damage I've done to his leg.

Satanael slams his fists down in front of him like a hammer so I sprint around behind him and swing my sword at his spine until a wave of Void force hits me and knocks me up towards the ceiling. Just because he can't catch me, apparently doesn't mean that he can't hit me. I spin in the air to get my feet in front of my momentum and kick off the ceiling with my sword pointed in front of me. My sword plunges into Satanael's back before I use my momentum to vault over his head, leaving my sword behind. The moment my feet hit the ground, I continue and sprint over to grab my other sword. As I snatch it up, I'm hit from the left and take a punch to my side that sends me flying towards a column. I quickly turn and manage to get my feet in front of me to plant on the column, but as I'm about to launch myself away, Satanael hits me with an uppercut and sends me up to the ceiling. Thanks to Ezeqeel's power, I'm able to spin again and plant against the ceiling before firing off at Satanael, but he's ready for me.

As he fires a punch at me, I deploy my wings to adjust my trajectory upward and avoid the punch. I stab the sword down through the back of his right shoulder and let go of the hilt, as Satanael's flailing left arm hits my legs and sends me to the floor. He slams his foot down on my left wing before I can recover or retract my wings. He smashes his fist into my back, causing the stone floor to crack below my chest.

"Well done, boy. You've manage to deal more damage to me than the last three millennia's uprisings combined. However, now it's time to put you out of commission for a while," Satanael tells me and smashes his fist into my back again as I feel my ribs crack.

As Satanael is wailing on my back and I feel my armor starting to buckle while my bones are cracking faster than they can heal, I consider subliming to get out of this, but decide against it because that would only delay the inevitable. With my current power level, I don't think I can beat him.

(He has the same body composition as you. How were you defeated?)

I wonder what she's talking about only for a moment before I remember the knife on the right side of my waist. I can definitely reach it, but now how do I get free? Satanael hits my back again and my armor caves in where he has been punching.

"Last chance, boy. Join me, or this next hit is really going to hurt," Satanael booms.

"...Fine," I mumble, trying to sound reluctant.

"What?" Satanael asks.

"Fine...I'll join you. Melody is probably already dead anyway and even though you were the one leading the events that ruined my life, the Goddess made you so it's really her fault," I tell him. Satanael hesitates for a moment before lifting his foot, allowing me to retract my wings.

"I'm glad you've seen reason," Satanael says as I stand up and look at him before reaching for the knife on my waist. "Don't be foolish, boy. I can end you right now if I wished."

"Go ahead and try," I reply, activate Ezeqeel's power, and start sprinting around him.

Satanael thinks he knows where I'm headed and immediately turns around to get me, but I actually never intended to get behind him. I start moving, but then stop when Satanael turns. He realizes that I'm beside him and tries to get me with a backhand, but he's a moment too late as I stab up and stick the knife between his ribs. While the knife paralyzes Satanael, it doesn't stop his kinetic energy so his fist hits the right side of my head and sends me flying as he remains frozen in place with his arm out at a forty-five degree angle. I stand up, dust myself off, and start walking towards Satanael before I stand in front of him and summon Azazel's giant claymore.

"Don't do...her dirty work...for her!" Satanael struggles to say.

"I'm not doing this for anyone but me," I reply and jump up to deliver a kick to his chest.

Satanael topples onto his back and I walk the four meters over to his head.

"One day...when you...realize...the truth...you will...regret this," Satanael tells me.

"That may be, but I'll deal with that when it comes," I reply and raise the claymore up above my head before bringing it down on his neck.

The claymore sinks into his neck but doesn't manage to cut through the hard spinal cord. How and the hell am I supposed to kill this guy? Maybe he has a crystal in his chest? I stab the claymore into his chest and hit something hard beneath it that isn't bone. While black liquid starts pooling on the floor, I make an incision below his ribcage, kneel down, and stick my left hand in there. With how far his chest is away, I start thinking that I'll be up to my shoulder before I reach it until my fingertips immediately hit something hard. Satanael makes a gurgling noise and I look over to see him scrawling something in the black liquid.

"Use this power when you realize the truth," the scrawling reads.

"Should I feel the need for it, I will," I tell him and plant my hand on the massive crystal.

Satanael's eyes close as the crystal turns to liquid around my hand and I start absorbing it. Energy starts flowing into me as though I'm being drenched with a fire hose before it feels like I'm being hit with a waterfall. As the pain starts to get to me, something in the flow beckons me to give in to the power and go with it, but I continue to stand against it and take it in. I need this to save Melody. I know she's still alive and I will rescue her. The flow of energy seems never ending as I keep my thoughts on Melody to keep me sane. The flow just keeps coming as my body throbs with pain and some of the flow shoots out of me before I rein it back in.

When I start feeling so full that it feels like I'm going to pop, the flow lessens. I spread the energy through my entire body and take in the last bit of it. After removing my arm from Satanael's chest, I continue to kneel down for a few minutes to catch my breath and allow my body to acclimate before finally standing up. My body seems to emanate Void and my senses feel a bit heightened considering that I can now feel the layout of the whole palace through my feet, but that doesn't help me at the moment.

I turn around and see a massive hole that penetrates walls of the palace for as far as I can see before I head out of the throne room to the courtyard. So, how do I get back home now?

(Since the gates are open and you now have enough energy, you can teleport back home)

"Why didn't Satanael go to our world then?"

(He didn't want to risk losing any of his power by using a human form that can easily exist with low concentrations of atmospheric Void. As such, he was waiting for the gate to completely open to go. You will not have to worry about that)

"So how do I do it?"

(Just swirl the Void smoke around you, picture the place you want to go in your mind, and focus on going there)

I start emitting Void smoke and swirl it around my body before I close my eyes and picture the gate in the cavern. As I'm focusing on the gate and how the area felt, I feel the stone beneath my feet disappear.

Chapter 49: The Short Story

"Renton!?" I hear Erin exclaim and open my eyes to find myself standing in front of the gate in the underground cavern.

The hoard of black hooded figures is still in front of the gate, but now they're evenly spaced in rows with glowing circles under each of them. Melody sits at my feet and both of us are inside a large circle around the gate with Melanie and Erin standing off to the right, outside of the circle, and Melanie's arm is dripping blood into a small circle adjacent to the large one. I make a sweeping motion with my right arm and let out a drop of my total power. The massive crescent of Void force spanning the cavern tears through the ranks of blood mages at chest-level like they're made of wet tissue paper before carving out a large chunk of the Syndicate's castle. The bodies drop in two pieces to the cavern floor as blood begins to pool and the circle around the gate shuts down before I turn towards Melanie and Erin.

"Wren...you've taken Satanael's power," Melanie says in wide-eyed shock.

"Yes, I killed him and absorbed his energy...now, there is only one blood mage left to deal with before this is finally over," I grimly tell her and make a gun with my fingers that I aim at her heart while focusing energy into my fingertips. Her eyes get wider before a calm washes over her face.

Erin draws the black dagger on her hip and holds it up as she moves in front of Melanie.

"Move aside, Erin," I say.

"I am sworn to protect her, Renton. No matter how misguided she becomes and even if she has me do something that I don't want to," Erin tells me with determination in her eyes.

"Don't make me kill you, Erin," I reply while trying to make it sound like I'm not begging.

"There's no need for you to do this, Renton. You've taken away her ability to fight, her motivation for opening the gate to help Satanael, and her manpower. She doesn't pose a threat anymore," Erin explains.

"But she does, Erin. As long as she's around, Melody will be in danger," I say.

"Stand aside, Erin. This is between me and Wren," Melanie says.

"But—" Erin starts.

"Please, Erin. Stand aside," Melanie begs. Erin looks at her, unsure of what to do before she reluctantly moves to the side.

"Hey Wren, remember what I told you on that hill behind Liza's apartment all those nights ago? I guess it came true, huh?" Melanie asks with smile.

"Yeah, I guess so...I loved you, Melanie," I tell her, hoping that the ache in my chest isn't noticeable in my voice.

"I loved you too, my little songbird," Melanie replies and sweetly smiles at me before closing her eyes.

I clench my eyes shut and let the Void force concentrated into my fingers fly. When I hear a body hit the floor, I feel a tear slip out of my left eye.

"Sorry Melanie, but I couldn't stand by and let Renton do something that he was going to regret," Erin says through gritted teeth.

I open my eyes to see her on the ground with a semicircular chunk of her left arm missing, and Melanie unharmed on the floor beneath her.

"Erin!" Melanie exclaims when she sees Erin's wound before moving her still bleeding arm up to drip some blood into the wound. Erin's flesh quickly regenerates until I can barely tell that it was damaged.

"So Renton, do you want to rethink your decision or give it another shot?" Erin asks me and I remain silent for several moments.

"On second thought, a more fitting punishment would be to make you live with what you've done and repent for it," I quietly tell them. "Now leave."

Melanie helps Erin up and I turn my back on them. I hear them walk down the three steps of the platform before they stop.

"Thanks, Wren. I'll see you around," Melanie softly says and continues walking. Is it sad that some part of me hopes that I do?

When I hear them enter the castle, I walk over to where Melody lies unconscious on the floor and kneel down beside her.

"Melody, wake up," I tell her while gently shaking her. She groans as she starts to come to before she finally opens her eyes.

"Hey. How do you feel?" I gently ask.

"I'm alright," Melody answers before looking around.

"Good. I'm going to shut the gate now and then we can go home," I tell her and walk over to the gate.

Since the opening of the gate is barely over a meter wide, I can reach both doors so I push against them at the same time, only to find that they won't budge. I try again, this time with both hands on the left door, but it doesn't even move a centimeter. I decide to give it one more try, this time using all of the energy in my body to push against the door, but it still won't move.

"Maybe I need to help?" Melody suggests and walks over to me.

We spend the next five minutes going through every combination of pushing we can think of to close the gate, but nothing works.

"Why isn't this working!?" Melody exasperatedly asks.

"I don't know...I'm completely at a loss as to..." I trail off as I remember the Goddess's words regarding situations where I'm at a loss from after I killed Ezeqeel.

"What?" Melody inquires as the terrible reality dawns on me.

"The gate won't close by both of us pushing...I need to pull them," I solemnly state.

"But won't that just open...Renton..." Melody trails off as she realizes what's about to happen. "No, Renton. You can't. I won' let you do this! What's going to happen to you!?"

"It'll be okay, Melody," I tell her as I wrap my arms around her and hold her for ten seconds before pulling back to kiss her. "This is the only option. There's no other way to keep you safe and save everyone."

I walk through the gate while Melody stands there stunned. I grab the handles of the doors as the cold, unfeeling darkness starts encroaching behind me. As I pull on the handles, they give a little but they don't exactly move.

"Melody, I need you to push!" I exclaim as I strain against the doors.

"Renton, I don't know if I can! I don't want to leave you alone in there!" Melody replies with tears in her eyes.

"Listen to me! No matter what, I will find my way back to you! I promise!" I confidently tell her.

"*Sniffle*...Okay," Melody says and begins pushing against the doors.

The doors slowly move towards me as I pull and while it takes a couple of minutes, the opening of the gate becomes nothing more than a crack.

"I love you, Melody!" I shout through the crack, the only source of light on my side.

"I love you t—" Melody replies before the closing doors cut her off.

With that, I'm left alone in the cold dark. The surface beneath my feet loses substance and gives away as I start floating along aimlessly since I can't teleport back with the gates now closed. After what feels like an eternity, small specks of light come into view. The specks slowly get larger until I see that they're swirling collections of specks. Vibrant colors start to appear with specks of light in them as I continue to get closer before I feel myself stop and a surface appears beneath my feet. After several moments, I feel something that I'd nearly forgotten: the feeling of another presence. I turn my head and see the shadow of a woman's figure.

"You did a good job, Renton. You did everything I wanted and even managed to defeat Satanael. It seems that I was right in sending you to that world," the Goddess tells me.

"Um, thanks...Can you send me back home to Melody?" I ask.

"The only thing that didn't go as planned is that you didn't kill that other girl. I really thought that planting the seed of betrayal in her head could only end with you killing her, but then your damn feelings got in the way...well, that's nothing that can't be prevented next time by wiping your emotions," the Goddess says.

"Wait, what? You did that!?" I question.

"It's okay, Wren. It won't hurt," the Goddess tells me, sounding like Melanie.

"And you're the one that has been guiding me this whole time!?" I loudly ask as my anger rises with the realization of what that entails.

"Of course. You would have been useless otherwise. Now, I have another world that I need you to clean up, but let's wipe your emotions before wiping your memories so we can make you a little more predictable. It's not like you need those to assist in channeling the Void anymore now that you've absorbed Satanael's power," the Goddess nonchalantly says, almost as if she's talking to herself more than to me.

"What!? No! I won't let you take my memories of Melody!" I exclaim, realizing that Satanael was right; she sees me as nothing more than a tool to do her dirty work.

"Let me!? LET ME!? JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU INSIGNIFICANT LITTLE INSECT!" the Goddess booms as I'm sent flying back.

"YOU HAVE NO SAY IN WHAT I CHOOSE TO DO!" the Goddess shouts before the scene around us spins until I'm looking at a single planet before it zooms inward, stops when I can see Melody's sobbing face while talking to Erin and Melanie, and then zooms outward. The Goddess snaps her fingers and I watch in horror as the plant implodes and disappears like there was nothing there.

"No...NO! YOU BITCH!" I scream and charge at her while focusing all of my energy into my right fist.

I jump to get more force into the punch before I'm suddenly stopped. I look down and see that her shadowy arm has punctured my chest as my energy starts being sucked out of me.

"You little shit. I gave you everything and this is how you repay me!?" the Goddess quietly asks with so much anger that she is beyond screaming.

"Gave me what!? A body that can feel immense pain but can't die!? A happy life that you interrupted!? A LOVER THAT YOU JUST STOLE FROM ME!?" I shout and throw my hands forward.

The pulse of Void force knocks her back and frees me. I sprint forward to launch a follow up attack before the Goddess snaps her fingers and I find that I can't move. She calmly walks over and inspects me.

"I was planning on freeing you from your pain by erasing your memories and emotions, but now I have bigger plans for you," the Goddess vehemently tells me before stabbing her arm into my chest.

My energy is absorbed so rapidly that I nearly pass out until the drain stops when there's nearly nothing left. The scene around us shifts until it shows a planet that appears to be mostly water with several unconnected landmasses.

"The place I'm sending you is a world similar to yours, but about a millennia behind and with my other creations guiding things from their respective places of power. This is a world with so little Void concentration that you will feel an unending sensation of starvation. You will suffer without dying for an eternity unless you beg me to rescue you," the Goddess venomously says.

"Goodbye, Renton. I'll drop bye in about a hundred years to see how you're doing," the Goddess spits and flings her arm towards the planet.

I go flying at the planet and everything becomes very bright before going completely dark.

...

Chapter 50: The Final Bow

Well, you can figure out the rest. I woke up in a snowy field in Denmark in the year 1138. The first days were very painful, but then I started conserving all the Void energy I could get my hands on, focusing on the day I could get my powers back. I fought off invaders and bandits and earned the name Loki for my prowess in battle so I started going by that name because Renton was already dead. After fifty years, I had saved up enough Void energy to use some of my powers, which attracted the attention of the Norse pantheon and I was invited to join their ranks.

While waiting, I experimented, planned, and schemed for a way to take her down, but she appeared before I had saved up enough energy to take her out so I told her to fuck off. It took nearly six hundred years, but I finally reached the point where I could use all of my former powers and had regained the amount of power I had after absorbing Satanael. That wouldn't have been possible even if I spent thousands years waiting with the low concentrations in your world, but the pockets of naturally concentrated Void around the world that I had been able to absorb after locating them accelerated the process.

Time went on, my hair turned white, and I aged a bit, but my hatred and fury for what she'd taken from me remained. After she hadn't made another appearance in eight hundred years, I decided that I needed to do something that required her intervention, so I started a war between the gods. I called upon the genetic experiments that I made centuries ago to help me and only Hel declined. Since she was the one I liked most, I decided not to destroy her and continued with my plan. I took out key players, rose to a place of power, and instigated conflict until she was forced to intervene.

Sadly, instead of coming herself, she got you to do her dirty work for her, but when I realized what you were, I thought that this was the best situation I could hope for; we both know that it ended up being her trap for me. I had learned from the pockets of Void that I'd found in the past that while your world didn't have a high amount of Void in it, it was close enough for cracks to be able to form to let the Void in. I used that knowledge on the jinn to make an army after remembering how the Void affected those soldiers. I also used it, along with a large chunk of my power, to create a space in the Void between the pocket worlds so that I could keep surveillance on all places after seeing how that bitch could look in to any world with a mere flick of her wrist. Mine wasn't as comprehensive since it could only look at worlds directly connected to yours, but it got the job done. After other Void-related experiments, I even learned how to recreate a body and reanimate it...as I did with Adelaide, which along with the inciting incident, is one of the only things I truly regret.

After all this time, it's finally coming to an end. I now see that I was so focused on getting my revenge that I turned into just as much of a monster as she is. I know that this doesn't make up for what I did, but I am sorry. Learn from my life and don't make the same mistakes I did; just live peacefully, if you can. Well, the pressure has been built to its maximum so this explosion is about to go off. Have a good life, Cole.

Epilogue

Renton awakens to find grass beneath him. He pushes himself up off the ground, groaning all the while.

"What the hell? Where am I? And if I'm still alive, does that mean she is too?" Renton quietly asks himself, as he looks at the forest around him with a lake visible through the tress in front of him.

He stumbles over to the lake and looks at his reflection in the water. The face of an eighteen-year-old boy with white hair and gray-blue eyes stares back at him. He wordlessly walks away from the lake and into the forest, continuing on as straight a path as possible while wondering if he's getting any closer to civilization. After walking for close to three hours, he comes across a fallen tree that has been perfectly cut, with another cut tree not too far away. Recognition comes to his mind and he begins running, following the line of tree stumps until he emerges from the forest to a familiar sight: Sheffield Manor.

While fighting his disbelief, he stumbles around to front of the manor, slowly climbs the steps, and rings the doorbell. A few moments later, he hears the sound of the door being unlocked before a familiar face opens the door.

"Renton!? Is that you!?" Claudia exclaims in disbelief.

"Claudia, how long have I been gone?" Renton asks, still unable to believe that he's back after so long.

"Um...about six months," Claudia answers as Renton's expression falls.

"Oh, that bitch...She got me... she never actually destroyed this place and now she sent me back...her final act to fuck me over...I can't go back to the way things were. Six month have passed for them but I've already lived through dozens of their lifetimes...With everything I've done, I can't act like nothing's happened...I don't deserve to," Renton says, more to himself than to Claudia.

"Renton, what are you talking about?" Claudia asks.

"...Nothing. I suppose that I've got no other options than to keep going...where's Melody?" Renton asks before thinking that Melody doesn't need to know that he's now over nine hundred years old and has great-grandchildren.

"She's at Alexa's house with Erin and Melanie," Claudia answers.

"Melanie!? What is she doing there!?" Renton inquires, barely containing his surprise.

"She came back with Erin and Melody. Since her and Ridley's father was killed by the blood mages, they've been staying here while Melanie finishes school. She was a big help consoling Melody while you were gone," Claudia explains.

'How can she even dare to be around Ridley after what she did?' Renton wonders. As would be later explained to him and as Erin had already been told, the ones responsible Ridley's kidnapping were a splinter group of blood mages and Melanie is the one who had her double agent suggest that Erin be used, knowing that she and Renton would come up with a way to rescue Ridley.

'Still, I suppose it's better to keep her close so that I can keep an eye on her,' Renton thinks.

"Claudia, I think I'm in need of a shower," Renton announces.

"Alright, head on up to your room; it's the same as you left it since Melody refused to let anyone change a thing. Welcome home, Renton," Claudia tells him and holds the door open.

"Thanks. It's good to be back."

The End

Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank all my fans who pestered me about when I was going to release another book. Originally, I hadn't been planning on releasing _Fracture_ at all because I didn't like it so I shelved it for about a year, then started reading it while waiting to get my haircut. As I read, I saw that it had potential so I restarted my work on it. After some massive edits and about forty thousand words of new material to complete it, it finally became the story that you know and hopefully loved.

If you have not yet done so

Please,

Please,

PLEASE REVIEW THE BOOK!!!

Reviews drive eBook sales and decide whether someone discovers my work or passes it by and you guys are the only ones I can rely on for this because I'm not the type of person to have my family and friends post fake reviews to deceive people into buying something they might not like. It only takes thirty words to post a review about it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Also, if you review this book, send me an email at albridgesauthor@gmail.com with your name and reviewer id and I'll send you a FREE copy of one of my books of your choice.

That means that if you haven't read _The Gods' Executioner Series_ yet, you can read all the books for free simply by reviewing as you read.

Thanks for reading everyone! If you're wondering when my next book is coming out, check out my website at albridges.blogspot.com for ETAs and such (if you see question marks, it'll be more than six months to the release. Sorry, but that's about as far as I can plan ahead)

About the Author

A.L. Bridges is a fan of stand-up comedy and fine scotch. He is currently attending a university in Arizona, focusing on finishing his degree in biomedical sciences, and writing in his spare time.

For updates on the latest books, visit http://albridges.blogspot.com

Or follow on Twitter @Albridgesauthor

Feel free to email him at albridgesauthor@gmail.com with comments, criticisms, or suggestions. He really does read them and you might actually see changes in the next book!

