Ezra turned deftly to see the one behind him.
Space warped, revealing a lady in purple armour with purple hair.
"What are you doing?"
Ezra's gaze went icy. His body was itching for action, he didn't have time to address her nonsense, neither did he want to.
He turned and walked away.
But then…Suup!
Valentine appeared in front of him.
"You didn't answer the question"
"Move aside" Ezra growled.
"But I was just ask-
Ezra ran towards her. 'This is taking too long'
-king a ques…"
Valentine's voice trailed off, feeling the cold edge touching her neck's skin.
Slowly, Valentine raised her head to meet Ezra gaze, and the moment she did, she swallows, her throat going dry by the second.
The boy she was accustomed to was nowhere to be seen, behind his dark eyes was the glare of a predator.
He oozed waves of murderous intent.
'W-What was this?'
Her heart pounded and her legs grew weak.
For the first time in her lifetime, powerlessness hit her like a storm.
"Leave"
She staggered in retreat, backing away but unwilling to let her eyes off the beast in front of her.
"Ah!"
As such, she didn't see a jutting rock and fell on her buttocks.
A bright light shone from her body, releasing a pressure that forced Ezra on alert.
'What now?'
Anger brewed within him, what should've been a quick and swift task was now been delayed.
The surroundings seem to cave in, and like Valentine's arrival, space warped, but at a bigger scale, and then…something came through.
Immediately, the sense of pressure rose a few notches, and Ezra took a fighting stance.
A murky blue smoke came through first, the surroundings becoming all the more quieter after which the silent taps of the earth were heard.
A figure was then revealed, speaking with a tone all too familiar.
"What do we have here?"
Elisa Kreel appeared with her grandiose yet graceful movements.
Dressed in a glimmering deep purple dress, a staff lay in her hand with her eyes alternating between Ezra and her daughter.
'Tsk!' Ezra was even more annoyed.
Masking his emotions, Ezra spoke. "Lovely evening, is it not?"
"It is" Elisa replied.
"I apologize for the nuance I've caused" he bowed. "I merely frightened her as a joke, but it seems I overdid it"
"Is that so?" muttered the old lady, taking a better look at the blade in Ezra's hands before turning to her daughter with questioning eyes.
Amidst her fidgeting, Valentine made out a nod.
"Then I must apologize for her rather impulsive behaviour"
"Unnecessary" Ezra waved it off. "It was but a misunderstanding" turned to face Valentine. "Well then, with dawn near, I shall take my leave"
He turns and walks off into his original destination, placing the swords back in the space ring.
___________
With Ezra out of sight, Elisa turned to her daughter, who kept fidgeting.
"What happened here?"
Her gaze was stern.
Her initial intent was to attack on sight, but she paused upon seeing her favourite student.
Moreover, the looks in his eyes didn't mirror lust, so she shoved away the thought of attempted rape.
Valentine shook, quickly getting to her feet while her gaze was lowered.
Then she ran to her mother, embracing her-much to Elisa's shock.
At this proximity, Elisa could feel her daughter shivering intensely as she reciprocated the hug.
Elisa's tone softened. "What happened?"
Valentine raised her head, revealing the look of fear she'd been concealing.
With a meek tone, Valentine spoke. "M-M-Mother. I'm scared!"
The last part had her burst in tears.
"What is it, my daughter? What are you so scared of?"
"Him" she muttered.
Elisa realized the person being spoken of immediately.
Elisa's motherly instincts kicked in. "What did he do to you?!" she demanded.
Valentine tears spilled even more. "H-he did nothing"
Elisa pulled her daughter's face and locked eyes with her. "You need not be scared of consequences. I will make him pay, just tell me, what did he do to you?!"
Valentine's expression became one of tranquil resignation. Holding the hands of her mother, she spoke. "He didn't do anything. That's the truth"
Elisa calmed, becoming even more confused. "Then, why are you like this?"
With her shaking hands, Valentine cleaned her tears. "H-He s-showed me a side of him. The B-beast residing within"
Elisa's brain turned gears, but she still couldn't understand.
'Oh mother'
Seeing her mother confused. Valentine decided to stop explaining and simply calmed herself, held her mother's hand, wiped her tears and said, "It's fine mother"
"But it's-
Elisa tried to deny her false pretense, but Valentine interjected.
"Can we go home Mother?"
While uneasy, unable to understand what exactly her daughter had seen. Elisa simply nodded. "Sure"
Elisa stomped her staff on the floor and it lit up with greenish blue marking.
Like broken glass, space itself caved in, opening an eclipse shaped doorway.
Stepping into it, the mother daughter duo disappeared.
________
'What a mess. Thankfully she was easy to persuade'
Ezra rather not make undue enemies, especially if they are formerly on good terms.
It was a stroke of luck that Elisa hadn't immediately attacked.
'I should talk to her later'
He pushed the matter to the back of his mind as he reached his destination, this time with slower steps.
A house, dark, damp and dilapidated came into view, while larger than houses built for villages, it was less than ideal for a hotel.
A placard dangled at its front, on it were the words 'Renovelle'.
The was the Renovelle orphanage, and more importantly, this was Marcus' abode.
Yes, the man was an orphan. A crucial detail that was for it had brought them together as close friends in his past life.
They both knew the cruelty of life better, and they bonded all the more for it.
'Only for him to stab me in the back!'
Ezra's killing intent rose as the painful memory resurfaced, but subsided just as fast.
'Calm down, calm down, calm down'
He couldn't lose his cool here.
Darkness was bent and melded, covering most of his figure as he walked into the doorless orphanage.
With the directions in hand, he reached Marcus' bed shortly.
There he was, sleeping soundly with his malnourished body in ragged clothes.
Ezra's eyes shone as the sight of his prey, but he channelled the rage bubbling up.
He arrived in slow steps because he was thinking all the way.
He realized that while his goal was clear, the details weren't.
He would have his revenge, yes, but how?
They were one thousand and one ways to inflict vengeance, Ezra sorted out which one to deal with his enemies.
Seeing Marcus' face, many other thoughts pronged up.
'Shall I simply end you here?' he thought, before shaking his head. 'That would be too merciful'
He tapped his chin, contemplating.
'Shall torture and dig out those eyes then?'
He shook his head again. 'With how malnourished he is, he'll die too fast'
The more he thought about it, the more sadistic his thoughts became.
As a Master with Darkness affinity, covering his presence to ordinary humans was beyond easy-like breathing.
Two hours hush by as Ezra contemplated over and over again, before reaching a conclusion.
'Since you're so good at betrayal, I'll let you feel what it's like-then I'll rip you apart'
He nodded.
Marcus was too malnourished to feel the pain as much as Ezra would like. Moreover, wouldn't it be simply wonderful to see Marcus' expression when dealt a deafening betrayal?
Ezra's smile reached the skies just thinking about it.
'I'm a genius'
Like so, Ezra picked Marcus up, placing him on his shoulder like a sack and walked out.
'Hmm'
A step away from exiting, Ezra walked to the caretaker, a young lady- surprisingly-who had fallen asleep on her rocking chair.
Ezra took out five pouches and placed them on the stool at her side, he then penned down a letter and held it down with the pouches, before leaving.
__________
Dawn struck, and the young lady, Renovelle, awoke with her usual yawn.
Stretching her rigid bones, she hits something off her stool.
The sounds of coins struck her awake and her drowsiness melted away.
Poor people like her recognized the sound of coins everywhere.
So, when she turned to look behind her-what she saw had her freeze.
A minute, and then two passed as she rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing it right.
For on the floor were glittering pieces of gold, scattered in all directions.
The third minute saw her stand, inching ever closer to the coins strewn about that she didn't notice the other pouches on the stool!
Slowly, she descends to her knees, her hands shaking as she reaches out to feel a coin.
Believe and disbelief ran amok in her head as her hand inched closer, until…*cling*
She tapped it, tapped it again, again and again, then took it in her hands, fidgeting even more as she felt it within her palms.
Her eyes grew watery as she comprehended the scene, and finally, she bit into it, hard.
Her brain paused as did her movements as tears streamlined down her face like a statue.
All of a sudden, she blew into tears.
Tears of joy, of unbelievable joy fell incessantly.
A miracle had descended, and she was the recipient.
She muffled her tone, making sure she wasn't heard, gathered herself and began picking the coins.
Her phase of naivety had long since expired, it would be the end of her and the children if anyone caught a glimpse of the money.
Placing it back in the pouch, she quickly stores it in her small shelf, her emotions turbulent with ideas running wild.
Clearly, she needed rest.
She sat back into the chair, only her eyes to pop out in deathly shock when she realised that five more pouches lay on her stool.
Rather happiness, she is overcome with dread, surely, she of all people knew she'd done nothing to deserve such.
Then, she saw the note.
Fishing out her glasses-the only intact item in her possession-she read through.
She released a gasp; someone had taken Marcus. He was also the person that dropped the coins.
In it were simple directions of how she should use the money-Renovelle couldn't help but be grateful, she'd been wondering what to do with such an astronomical amount.
Reading the last sentence, she fell back into her chair, the pressure on her chest had subsided.
Quickly, she checked through the pouches, fishing out the object the letter told her off.
A silver ring came into view.
Yes, it was a space ring.
She sucks in the pouches of gold, calming herself.
There was much to be done!
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