“We’re here,” Fida told Sana, Heer, Aiden, and Runa. Sana was now in front of Madame Naga’s tower along with the others. As Sana looked up at the tower, she noticed a strange glow coming from the window at the very top.
“Does that glow have anything to do with Rey?” Sana asked.
“Most likely,” Fida replied. “Ready?”
Sana drew out her wand, transforming it into her trishula. She plunged her trishula into the wooden door of the tower, knocking it down. The group jolted inside, unable to see much of anything due to the dark lighting.
“Follow me,” Fida ordered the others.
Fida led everyone up the staircase. They ran as quickly as they could until they reached further up where the purple glow became more prominent, leading the group towards a chamber room. Inside, Madame Naga stood beside Rey, who was restrained by shackles made of dark energy against a wall. He was still in his dark beast form and Madame Naga was holding the Shakti Orb before him while Neil stood by her side.
“Rey!” Sana shouted.
“So glad you all could join us,” Madame Naga smirked. “Even you, Fida. Looks like even cellars can’t hold all maniacs.”
“Watch it. I’m not in a good mood,” Fida replied.
“Doesn’t matter,” Madame Naga said. “I’m about to get everything I wanted.”
“Do you really believe we’ll let you go through with this?” Sana questioned.
“Of course. And believe it or not, I nor Rey will be the one to destroy you all,” Madame Naga said. “Neil, here’s your chance to finish them off.”
Heer, Runa, and Aiden transformed back into their human forms. Heer looked at Neil, still unable to believe he was capable of betrayal. Neil transformed his wand into his bow and arrow. And Heer paid attention to the arrow that he placed on his bow, which had a purple glow that she had never seen before.
“Neil, your arrow,” Heer said.
“It’s quite the upgrade, isn’t it?” Madame Naga said.
“Neil, please, you wouldn’t do this to us,” Heer pleaded.
“If you dare to turn against us now, you’ll be sorry,” Sana said.
“Your silly pleas are useless. I tapped into the darkness that lies within his heart,” Madame Naga said. “He’s no different from me. All he seeks is power. And now that I’ve given it to him, there’s no turning back.”
“Neil! Would you really turn your back on us?! On Heer, your partner?! Or even Rey?!” Aiden yelled.
“You all are starting to bug me. Finish them, Neil!” Madame Naga ordered.
Neil strung his arrow onto the bow, placing his target on Sana, Aiden, Heer, and Runa. Heer looked at him right in the eyes, still unable to believe that anything that was happening in the moment was real. As he pulled on the arrow, he swiftly turned around and fired it at Madame Naga, shooting her directly in her chest. He could see her eyes freeze as her body became trapped within a dark ice coffin. Neil turned to the others, who all seemed to share the same dumfounded look on their faces.
“You didn’t think I’d actually turned to the dark side, did you?” Neil smirked.
Instead of sighs of relief, Neil was welcomed with a smack from Sana, that made him land on the floor with a thud. He immediately got up and said, “What the hell was that for?!”
“You idiot!” Sana exclaimed. “What made you think it was a good idea to pretend to be on the enemy’s side?!”
“Not very smart of you,” Aiden said.
“Hey! I did it for you guys! Snake lady was the one who kidnapped me and tried to get me on her side,” Neil explained. “I knew you guys would show up anyway. So, I thought I’d play along till you all got here.”
“Playing along meant knocking out the guardsmen and stealing the Shakti Orb?” Aiden asked.
“Did you not hear me?! I said I had to play along! Getting the orb was the only way of ensuring that she’d trust me,” Neil said.
“Okay. So, what would you have done then if we hadn’t shown up in time?” Sana asked.
Neil pondered for a bit. And he said, “You know, I didn’t think about that.”
While Sana and Aiden were shaking their heads, Heer was feeling relieved. She knew her instincts about Neil were right.
“While all of this is amusing, you better focus on the boy now,” Fida said.
But before anything could be done, Sana noticed the ice coffin that contained Madame Naga was starting to glow purple. She noticed cracks beginning to form on the ice. Within seconds, the ice shattered with Madame Naga breaking free. From the look on Madame Naga’s face, she looked even more viscious than before.
“You’re going to wish you hadn’t done that,” Madame Naga said.
Before Madame Naga could attack, Fida struck her with a dark energy blast from the palm of her hand. The blast was so strong that it made her fall out the window of the tower. Unable to process what had just happened, Sana said, “What was that?!”
“That was me buying you time,” Fida said. “She won’t go down that easily.”
“We have to move quickly then!” Aiden exclaimed. “Sana, Runa, we’ll revive Rey. Heer, you and Neil go with Fida.”
“I don’t take orders from you!” Neil exclaimed.
“We’ll go!” Heer agreed.
She turned to Neil, who simply complied with her and the two jumped out of the window with Fida. The three of them landed on the ground before Madame Naga.
Heer, I know we weren’t able to train as long as you wanted. I hope you know what to do, Aiden thought. He turned around to see Sana and Runa attempting to get Rey down from the wall.
“Aiden, what do we do?” Sana asked. “Just touching these energy straps alone is dangerous.”
“Runa, the straps are made of dark energy. We’ll need you to break them,” Aiden said.
“Okay,” Runa nodded.
Runa raised her hands forward, focusing her dark energy within her palms. As her palms faced Rey’s body, the energy began to build up in them. Sana alternated between watching her and watching Rey at the same time.
Outside the tower, Fida, Neil, and Heer watched as Madame Naga got up from the ground. The three of them kept their guard up while Madame Naga looked at all three of them, annoyed by the unwanted disturbances in her plan.
“Fida, you insect. You have some nerve attacking me like that,” Madame Naga said.
“It’s not like I work for you anymore,” Fida said.
“You’re not going to live any longer when I’m through with you,” Madame Naga said, snapping her fingers.
“You two, jump!” Fida told Neil and Heer. The three jumped off the ground as a bunch of snakes popped out from underground, right at the spot where they first were. They landed just a few steps back to where they were safe.
“She has underground snakes?!” Neil exclaimed.
“There are hundreds of them surrounding the tower. They only come out by her command,” Fida said.
“You can’t run forever,” Madame Naga said, snapping her fingers again.
Fida, Neil, and Heer jumped again as more snakes popped out from underground. The three made their way at the top of a tree close by. They hid among the leaves to retreat safely.
“You can hide for as long as you want,” Madame Naga said. “My snakes will be waiting down here.”
“I should’ve predicted something like this would happen,” Fida said.
“The only way one of us can go down there is if we could create some kind of diversion,” Heer said.
“If only I could shoot all her snakes with one shot. I’d tire myself out if I had to keep up with all of them,” Neil said.
What Neil said struck a chord with Fida. She looked over at Neil, noticing he was still holding onto his bow. There were no arrows in sight, which led her to believe that his arrows were formed by his magical energy.
“Hey, do you use your energy to create your arrows?” Fida asked Neil.
“Well, yeah. My wand wouldn’t be able to turn into a bow and multiple arrows.” Neil replied.
“How much magical energy do you put into one arrow?” Fida asked.
“Why does that matter?” Neil asked.
“Just answer the question, fool,” Fida said.
“Neil, you must have some idea. Like a percentage at least,” Heer said.
Neil had to think about it for a moment. He never exactly considered how much energy he put into an arrow. Especially because in most battles, he would use no more than the one arrow he’d create when transforming his wand.
“I don’t know. Maybe like five percent?” Neil said.
“Wow, that’s even lower than I thought,” Fida said.
“Look, what’s the point of asking me this?! Have you forgotten were trying to figure out a strategy here?!” Neil exclaimed.
“I think that’s why she’s asking, Neil,” Heer said.
“If you were to increase the amount of magical energy you put into an arrow, you should be able to take out every one of those snakes with one shot,” Fida said.
“But I’ve never even tried that before. What if it doesn’t work?” Neil asked.
“Neil, you have to at least try. We don’t have a lot of time. This is the best option we have,” Heer said.
“Your partner is right,” Fida told Neil. “I can at least keep her busy for a bit while you build up power. It’s your best chance at this point. If those snakes get you, they’ll drag you underground and you’ll stay there for as long as Madame Naga wants you to. Do you get it? You have to try.”
Neil could feel the immense pressure he was under. All hopes of survival were on him. He wasn’t sure if he could handle it. But he looked at Heer, who seemed to be more determined than ever. The look on her face was enough for him to know that she believed he could do it. With that reassurance, Neil gave a nod to Fida.
Fida jumped out of the tree. She formed a dark energy beam from her palm and threw it towards Madame Naga. Madame Naga countered with a dark energy beam of her own. The two continued to fight while Madame Naga’s snakes remained put.
Neil began building up his energy, trying to focus as he held his bow. Heer watched him, noticing he was struggling to focus. As a result, the arrow that was forming seemed to have the regular amount of power that he would normally use.
“Neil, you need to try and focus.”
“I’m trying. I really am. I don’t know what’s holding me back.”
“You’re doubting your own strength. If you want, I can help you.”
“How?”
Heer placed her left palm right before the arrow that was forming against Neil’s bow. As she held up her palm, her own ice energy began to form, combining with the energy of Neil’s arrow. Neil watched her, amazed to see how easily Heer was able to control her energy.
“Is this what you’ve been learning from my brother?”
“Yeah. He’s been teaching me and Runa to control our energy. That way we can manifest it for attacks like what Fida and others can do.”
“So, how do I do that?”
“The key is focus. You’re doubting yourself and that’s preventing you from obtaining true focus.”
Me? Doubting myself? I really have fallen off the rails, Neil thought. All right. If its focus I need, I’ll focus.
As Heer continued to assist Neil with building up the energy in his arrow, he concentrated on his own energy. He looked at the arrow, using it as a target for him to focus on. The more he looked on the arrow, the greater his focus was. As he continued to concentrate on the arrow, he could feel the arrow’s power grow stronger. He continued to push himself further while Heer watched him. Seeing he was getting control of his energy, Heer backed her hand away, allowing for Neil to complete the transformation of the arrow. To her, it was bolder than ever. The arrow didn’t look like Neil’s usual arrows. This one was much brighter and far more powerful.
“You did it.”
“Well, you did help me.”
“You ready to fire it?”
Neil looked down, trying to lower his head enough for Fida to see him. In the middle of fighting Madame Naga, Fida caught a glimpse of Neil’s face, seeing he was ready. She stood by, seeing Madame Naga throw another dark energy beam attack towards her. As Fida tried to defend herself against it, Neil pulled back the arrow on his bow, aiming it near Madame Naga. He knew the best way to make sure Madame Naga couldn’t summon her underground snakes was to target all the ground surrounding her. Neil could feel the arrow’s power. The intensity of the arrow’s energy was so cold, but he could bear it. With his target locked, he fired the arrow. And Fida jumped back at the top of the tree in time. The arrow swiftly struck the ground, right before Madame Naga’s feet. Madame Naga stopped her attack and said, “For an archer, your aim is quite horrendous.”
But Madame Naga didn’t expect what she saw next. The ground surrounding her started to get covered in a sheet of ice, extending its way further down to the point that the entire area surrounding her was a land of ice. Neil and Heer jumped out from the tree onto the icy ground.
“Good luck getting rid of all of this ice,” Fida said.
“You may have been able to break the ice coffin from earlier, but it’s gonna take you much longer to break all of this to get your pet snakes,” Neil said.
These fools are wasting my time. The others might’ve gotten Rey down by now. I need to get back there, Madame Naga thought.
Madame Naga bent down, punching her arm through the ice into the ground itself. To Neil’s surprise, it looked like she wasn’t trying to break all of the ice itself. He was even more surprised to see what looked like blood on her arm. It took all her strength, but Madame Naga managed to pull Droh’s body out from the ground, breaking some more of the ice along with it. She was delighted to see how shocked Fida, Neil, and Heer were at this sight. She looked at Droh’s body, which was very much alive, but strained from the pressures of being dragged underground with her snakes.
“Wake up, Droh,” Madame Naga said as she lightly tapped Droh’s chest with a bit of dark energy from her finger as she held him by the collar of his shirt. Droh slowly woke up, exhausted but unhinged at the sight of Madame Naga.
“What do you want? Was the torture from your snakes not enough to please you?”
“Aww, Droh. I’m not that sadistic. All I wanted was to teach you a lesson.”
“You might as well put me back down under because I want nothing more to do with you.”
“Now, now. Don’t say that. We’re very close to fulfilling our goal. I just need you to take care of Fida and these annoying kids.”
“Why the hell would I do that after what you’ve done to me?!”
“Because I plan to reward you for your loyalty. I’ll make certain of it.”
Madame Naga released Droh from her grip and stood up. She looked at Droh and said, “I’m counting on you, Droh. Don’t disappoint me.”
As Madame Naga took off back to the tower, Fida shouted, “You’re not getting away!” as she threw a dark energy beam attack at her.
“Foolish wretch,” Madame Naga said as she struck back with an even stronger energy beam that hit Fida, Neil, and Heer at the same time. By the time they had been hit, Madame Naga was already making her way back inside, vanishing into gray smoke.
Fida, Neil, and Heer got up from the icy ground, looking at Droh. Droh slowly rose from the ground, ready to fight them. Neil stepped forward, but he was pushed aside by Fida, who stepped forward to take on Droh, transforming into her dark beast form. Droh transformed as well and the two began their fight.
Sana, I hope we gave you enough time, Neil thought.
Back inside the tower, Runa was getting close to breaking the energy chains on Rey. After she pushed herself a little bit more, the chains finally broke, releasing Rey from the wall as he changed into his human form. As Rey fell, Sana caught hold of him, seeing he was unconscious and seemingly unstable.
“Rey, can you hear me?! Rey!” Sana called out.
“Sana, look at the marks on his body,” Aiden said.
Sana was shocked to see the marks on Rey’s body were still glowing. She could see that he was sweating as well. It was as if his body was becoming erratic.
“What’s happening to him?!” Sana asked.
“From what I can tell, the dark energy that’s taking over is in combat with his fire energy. The R-gene is causing an imbalance of some sort in his body. If he’s not stabilized, we’ll lose him,” Aiden said.
“What do we have to do to save him?” Sana asked.
“I think I know. Runa, do you think you have any strength left?” Aiden asked.
“I think so,” Runa said.
“Then here’s what we’ll do. Runa, focus your magic on Rey’s body and try to control the dark energy inside him. Sana, you’ll have to control his fire energy. If both energies inside him are under control, he should be safe,” Aiden said.
“You won’t be saving him,” a voice from behind said.
Aiden swiftly turned to see Madame Naga was making her way towards them. He quickly launched a wind energy beam attack from his hands at Madame Naga, hitting her against the wall. Aiden waved his hand before Sana and Runa, creating a shield made of wind energy that surrounded the two. The wind within this shield was flowing consistently, acting as a barrier.
“What is this, Aiden?!” Sana asked.
“It’s a wind barrier. It should keep you safe for a bit. I’ll handle Madame Naga while you both stabilize Rey,” Aiden said.
Madame Naga got up and smirked at the sight of the wind barrier that was protecting Sana, Runa, and Rey. “You really think your wind barrier will give them time? I’ll be done with you soon enough,” Madame Naga said.
“Don’t be so sure,” Aiden said.
As Aiden commenced in his fight against Madame Naga, Sana focused all her energy on Rey. She tried to do exactly what Runa was doing. The energy in her palms began to build up. As it built up, Sana leaned closer to Rey, placing her hands on his chest, so that her fire energy would be transmitted to him. Once she did that, she felt like she was syncing with him.
Runa took note of what Sana was doing. To her, it looked like Sana was trying to communicate with Rey. She realized that she would have to try and hold back the dark energy inside him while Sana would hopefully wake Rey up. She focused harder on her dark energy, making sure it was stable, so that it could keep Rey’s dark energy under control.
Sana could feel her body go into a still state. Her mind became a separate entity as she found herself wandering in what looked like a void. There was absolutely nothing around her. It was simply dark and almost cold. As she kept wandering in the void, she could see something further away. That something looked like a boy. It looked like Rey. She could see he was floating, seemingly unaware of his surroundings.
“Rey!” Sana called out for him.
The sound of his name immediately woke Rey up. It wasn’t just the name, but the voice as well. He saw himself in the void and he saw the glowing marks were still on his body. As scared as he was, he was relieved to see Sana in the distance. He could see she was trying to get closer to him.
“Sana, where are we?!”
“I don’t know. I think…we’re in your mind.”
“How’s that possible?”
“I touched you with my fire energy. It must’ve connected us mentally or something like that.”
“Sana, I didn’t want you to see what I’ve turned into. I didn’t want you to worry about me.”
“I don’t care. As your partner…as your friend…I have every right to worry about you. And I’m sorry I didn’t act on my worries sooner. I was so caught up with trying to get stronger so you wouldn’t get hurt again that I lost sight of what was going on right in front of me.”
“Hey, we both are scared, all right. I may not admit it, but I am. I don’t know what this dark magic or these markings are going to do to me.”
“And that’s okay. You’re not a monster. I know you. And whatever this dark magic is, we’ll figure it out together. But right now, I need you back. I need Rey back.”
By the time Sana finished speaking, she was face-to-face with Rey. She could see that Rey was still scared. To calm him down, she extended his hand to him.
“Will you come back with me?” Sana asked.
Rey looked at Sana’s hand. He could see her fire energy was burning through her palm, just waiting to reach him. Even though he wasn’t certain of what would happen to him or come next, he knew that he could trust Sana to be there with him. And so, he gave her his hand. As he did, her fire energy transmitted to him, taking away his markings.
“Thank you, Sana,” Rey said, smiling.
Sana came back to reality, still holding onto Rey’s body. As she moved her hands from his chest, she could see the markings on his body were starting to fade away. As the markings faded, Rey opened his eyes, looking directly at Sana. Runa put down her hands, relieved to see Rey was okay. At this point, the wind barrier had been lifted. Aiden and Madame Naga paused their fighting to see Rey was conscious again.
“Rey, how are you feeling?” Sana asked.
“I feel okay,” Rey said. “A little out of it, but I’m okay. Thanks for saving me.”
“Oh, it wasn’t just me. Runa helped a lot,” Sana said as Rey sat up.
“Thanks, Runa. I owe you one,” Rey said as he patted Runa on the head, making her smile.
“How sweet. You’re awake,” Madame Naga said.
“Hey! You’re the ugly snake woman that we fought last time!” Rey exclaimed.
“Wow. At least your memory is sharp,” Sana said.
“You may have altered my plans, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still take your power for myself. I put my venom inside your body, which means every bit of your power is as good as mine,” Madame Naga said.
“Not without a fight,” Rey smirked.
“He’s right. The only way you can get to Rey is by defeating us,” Sana said.
Madame Naga cackled. “That’s all? Please. I’ve done it once. I’ll do it again,” she said.
“Are you both sure about this? It wasn’t easy for you the first time around. This time will be even harder,” Aiden said.
Before Sana could say anything, she noticed some commotion going on outside the tower through the window. She ran up to the window, seeing Fida fighting Droh. Fida looked like she was getting beaten very badly.
“Aiden, you need to go help Fida, Neil, and Heer. They need you,” Sana said.
“Even with his help, it won’t save them or anything,” Madame Naga said.
“Oh, shut up!” Rey exclaimed. “Sana’s right, Aiden! Take Runa with you, too!”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Aiden asked.
“Hell, yeah! We got a score to settle here!” Rey exclaimed as he stood up, smacking his fists together.
“Rey’s right. This is our fight now. You just help out your brother,” Sana told Aiden.
Aiden could see the determination in both Sana and Rey’s eyes. And with Neil, Heer, and Fida in trouble with Droh, he knew he had no time to waste. He looked at Runa and said, “Come on, Runa. We have to go.”
Runa nodded and followed Aiden, holding onto him as he jumped out from the window, landing on the ground outside the tower. Good luck, you two. Everything is on you guys now, Aiden thought.
Aiden and Runa turned towards Droh, who transformed back into his human form. Fida was on her knees, bruised and beaten. Aiden looked at Neil and Heer and said, “You two aren’t going to just stand here forever, are you?”
“What’d you say?!” Neil exclaimed.
“Stay back. I can finish him,” Fida said.
“You’re in no condition to fight any further. We’ll take it from here,” Aiden said.
“Runa, are you okay with fighting?” Heer asked.
“Ha! You’re telling me that useless brat is going to take me on? Don’t make me laugh,” Droh said.
“Don’t listen to him, Runa,” Aiden told Runa, patting her on her head. “You’ve been working hard to control your powers. Now’s your chance to show Droh what you’re made of.”
From the look of determination on her face, Aiden could tell Runa was ready. He turned over to Neil and said, “I know you don’t want to. But we’re going to need to work together if we want to defeat him.”
“Oh, please,” Neil scoffed.
“Come on, Neil. You have to put your rivalry aside this time,” Heer said.
“I’m getting sick of your talk!” Droh shouted, throwing a massive dark energy beam at the group.
Runa transformed and jumped in front of the others, countering with a dark energy beam of her own. She could feel the pressure of Droh’s energy beam pushing against her. But nevertheless, she continued to hold it off.
“Runa can’t hold Droh off on her own! We have to work together!” Aiden told Neil. “Droh’s strength is already a bit down from fighting Fida. But to finish him off, we have to work quickly. Do you understand?”
“Oh, fine! Just this once!” Neil exclaimed. “Heer, you ready?”
“On it!” Heer replied as she transformed into her beast form.
The dark energy beams exploded, leaving nothing but smoke that covered up the area, making it hard for anyone to see anything. Droh transformed into his beast form, taking advantage of the situation to launch an even more powerful attack. He opened his mouth, launching a dark energy beam attack towards the others’ way. But to his surprise, a gust of wind blew the energy beam back. As the smoke faded, Droh saw that the attack came from Aiden, who had transformed into his beast form.
“I say we wrap this up quick!” Neil exclaimed. “Runa, can you help distract him for a bit?”
Runa nodded. She and Aiden both charged at Droh, launching their own energy beam attacks towards him. As they kept him busy, Neil and Heer stood by, waiting to make their move.
“Okay, Heer. We did this before with Madame Naga and didn’t even get her. Let’s give it all we got this time,” Neil said.
Heer nodded. Neil and Heer ran towards Droh’s direction. They jumped up and Neil prepared the arrow for his bow while Heer formed an ice energy beam from her mouth. Blue auras surrounded the two as their energies began to sync with one another. I gotta give it all I got. This one shot must count, Neil thought as he continued to power up his arrow.
Seeing Neil and Heer were ready to do their equilibrium attack, Aiden moved out of the way and Runa followed him.
“This is it!” Neil shouted. “Ice Blast!”
Neil fired his arrow while Heer launched her ice energy beam. The arrow collided with the energy beam, creating what looked like an icy comet. And from the looks of it, Neil could tell the power from it was far different from last time. Droh tried to defend himself with another dark energy beam attack, but the power of the Ice Blast attack was too strong as it pushed through the dark energy beam, striking Droh like a bomb as it exploded into an icy-looking ash. Once the ash cleared, Droh was frozen solid in ice.
Neil and Heer landed on the icy ground. Heer, Runa, and Aiden transformed back into their human forms. Runa felt a sense of relief, seeing Droh was frozen and could no longer harm her. She looked at Heer, holding onto her by the skirt of her dress, getting Heer’s attention. Heer kneeled and said, “Are you okay, Runa?”
“I think so,” Runa said.
Runa looked at Fida, who was lying on the ground, still hurt. Seeing Runa look at Fida, Heer went over to Fida, bent down, and asked, “Are you okay?”
Fida slowly sat up and said, “I’m fine. No need to be so courteous.”
“Well, now that this is over, what do we do now?” Neil asked.
Aiden took out a blue pager that had a wide silver stripe on the back of it. He began to dial a code on it.
“What are you doing?” Neil asked.
“I need to get in touch with Tatia,” Aiden replied.
“Zayn’s mom?” Heer asked.
“Yes. Give me a second,” Aiden said.
Aiden looked at his pager screen, seeing Tatia’s face appear as she had finally answered his call. “Aiden, where are you right now?” Tatia asked.
“I’m with Neil, Heer, Runa, and Fida. Rey is okay now and is with Sana. They have stayed behind to take on Madame Naga.”
“You left them alone?!”
“Yes, I know it sounds reckless. But they wanted to fight her on their own.”
“That doesn’t mean you just let them do it. They could end up getting themselves killed.”
“I know it’s risky, but Sana has been training really hard since the last time she fought Madame Naga. We need to trust her. And Rey.”
“Fine. But don’t head back to the academy. I want you all to stay at least within the area of the tower. I’ll inform the council back at the society headquarters to dispatch a team to your location.”
“What for?”
“If anything goes wrong, we need to be prepared for the worst. Stay put. I’ll get Haruka to come over there.”
Once the call ended, Aiden turned to the others as they stopped in their tracks by some trees. Aiden turned back, looking directly at the tower. Heer asked Aiden, “Who’s Haruka?”
***
Right outside the barriers of Daredevil City, there was a grand building that stood so tall that it made townspeople look like ants. The building was of a beige color that had modern, yet somewhat traditional architecture that was almost castle-like. Right beside the building was a flagpole that had a bright orange-red flag with a black-colored emblem on it. This was the headquarters of the Ringmasters Society.
Inside the building, within the highest chamber room, there was a group of ten people. All of them were dressed in long, silver cloaks over their respective attire. They were members of the Ringmasters Society, but their cloaks were worn as they were part of the society’s council. Not all members of the Ringmasters Society were council members, but those who were, wore these silver cloaks in the middle of critical meetings. The council folk were in the middle of deep conversation until the ringing of a pager disrupted the room. A woman with long black hair styled in a high ponytail and violet eyes took out the pager and answered it. Tatia’s face appeared on the screen.
“It’s about time you called,” she said.
“Hi to you as well, Haruka.”
“So, what’s the situation now?”
“Rey has been stabilized. Madame Naga is still in the tower. Should anything go wrong, I need backup over there.”
“All right. We’ll be there soon.”
Once Tatia disconnected the call, Haruka looked at everyone in the room. Her eyes were particularly drawn to the man sitting all the way in the back. He had medium-length silver hair that curled slightly at the ends and hit right at his shoulders. He appeared to be completely out of it as he rested his head against the table and snored ever so quietly. He also reeked of a strong odor that hinted of booze.
“Shuto!” Haruka shouted.
The man immediately woke up while the others in the room turned towards him. “He’s out of it again? I didn’t even notice,” a lady said.
“What now?” Shuto replied.
“Why did you have to get drunk again, you moron?!” Haruka yelled.
“I can’t help the booze, you know. Can’t resist,” Shuto said, slowly sulking into his chair. “Oh, wow, the lights in here look so pretty today.”
“Your drunk of a brother does this every time,” one of the men in the room said. “It’s a surprise he’s still part of the society.”
“Just take him out from here! He reeks of such a foul odor,” another man said.
“God. I’ll drag his sorry bum out myself,” Haruka said.
Haruka got up from her seat and removed her cloak, revealing the pink kimono she had on. She walked over to where Shuto was seated and grabbed him by the hood of his cloak, pulling him away as he continued to snore. She shook her head as she harnessed the strength to take him out of the chamber. As she was about to head out of the door, a young lady entered inside, holding a tray with freshly brewed tea in several teacups.
“You’re leaving, ma’am?” the lady asked.
“Yeah, Mr. Madarame and I have business to attend to.”
“But how can he do anything in this state? Maybe some of my tea can help him sober up.”
“Oh, Lacey. I forget that you’re new around here. This here is nothing new. We’ll be on our way now.”
With that, Haruka walked out of the room, still tugging onto Shuto. One of these days, I’m going to lose all respect and dignity I have because of him, Haruka rolled her eyes.
Copyright © 2021 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 