"He has made his move."The woman sat on to the windowsill of a small and dirty house, the rotten wood somehow still holding together in spite of the weight perched right on top of it. The woman was facing outside, letting her wild, mid-back length brown hair be ruffled by the cool afternoon wind and closed her emerald eyes while sighing in comfort. Her clothing looked loose-fitting, further enhancing the wild image her appearance suggested.
"I know." A man answered, tossing his coat aside and decided to wear a slightly better one. "Reported as missing person, huh... I wonder why the police kept taking cases related to Incarnation, while it"s obvious that they can"t even inconvenience a dedicated enough D-rank unless a member has an Incarnation of their own."
"Regardless of your opinion, what"s your next move, Terry?" The woman jumped back from the window, facing the white-haired man sitting on the deflated sofa, his left leg perched on the table, and holding a plastic container filled with coffee. "We can"t let him… no, them, run rampant as they please, can"t we? Remember the terms of our promise."
"I know, and I intend on honoring that." Terry sipped his drink, right after answering, and sighed as if the ice-cold bitter coffee was enough to cool the deepest recesses of his head. "It"s been some time since we did a phantom thief stint, don"t we?" Terry smirked. "Shall we?"
"Oh, I like the sound of that." The emerald-eyed woman sat on the sofa across him, her gaze twinkling with mischief and glee, and her shark-like teeth bared in a grin too large to be natural. "Such a confident statement. Forgot the catastrophic failure two years ago already?"
"Of course not," Terry narrowed his eyes. "I have another plan in place."
"Heh! Bold claim, bossling." The woman snorted. "Though, I can"t deny I"m very curious."
"Then, look forward to it." Terry winked and took a final sip from his cup, before throwing it outside through the open window.
The woman stood up and walked deeper into the house.
"Right or wrong, true or false... Oh, Emissary of Order, how empty and devoid of knowledge about your subjects you are... For the sake of the small haven I have created for them, I will ensure your downfall."
The woman muttered, as she slashed the air with her right hand. A spatial rift, pitch-black and filled with stars, opened in front of her and she stepped in, disappearing without a trace and leaving Terry to his thoughts.
"Well..." Terry mutterer, while holding a stack of paper with a photo of Oscar pinned on the left corner. "Time for a walk, I guess."
--
Claire looked up from her book, the old thing yellowed and full of dog ears, and stared at Luna and Venefica. Since the match, the two made sure to visit once every several days, in order to talk or even spend the night in Claire and Ivanna"s apartment.
The room looked much better overall, the place less messy and the shabby furniture replaced with new ones. The wooden table in the living room were replaced with brand-new table made of gla.s.s and metal, while the old decorations were cleaned or thrown out. The beds were already replaced with better ones, a single bed for Ivanna"s room and a double for Claire and Fiora.
Claire looked at the empty s.p.a.ce in the back corner, half considering to put a small bed there for the two guests if they end up visiting often enough.
"Missing? Are you serious?"
"I"m not one for jokes." Luna answered, while gripping the edges of her dress. "After the incident in the garden, no one knows where Deci and Oscar is. From what I"ve heard, they were last seen near the cl.u.s.ter of building around the residential area, before a blinding light took them."
"Blinding light took them?" Claire scrunched her eyebrows.
"Yep, as odd as it sounds, everyone said the two disappeared after the light subsided." Luna replied, her tone grave. "This isn"t good, there"s a chance that someone witnessed the fight, someone with the ability to bypa.s.s the measures Venny set in there. Another problem is the fact that this case has been reported, which means, more people will get involved… The death toll will get worse."
"Eh? As far as I know, don"t the law enforcement have some people contracted with Incarnation in their ranks?" Claire slammed shut the book on her lap.
"Yeah, but remember," Luna patted Venefica"s head, tousling the little witch"s black hair. "Venefica is a B-rank, which means, we are dealing with something similar or even higher than B, or possibly even a Divine."
Claire opened her mouth, about to answer.
"Do remember that your partner is an exception, not the norm, and so is Venefica, to a lesser extent." Luna cut in. "From what I know, there are few known Divine rankers, to the extent you can really only count them on one hand. rank is slightly more common, and the same applies for B, C, and D. From the information available on the forums, out of all Incarnation known from Death Match battles, incidents, or just discovery from dedicated stalkers," Luna curled her lips in distaste.
"Divines are 0.8%, rank are 11%, B-rank are 20%, and the rest are a mixture of C and D." She continued. "Though your partner is a bit odd even with standards of someone without a memory, her power levels can"t be denied. You"re one of the lucky few to partner with a Divine."
"Claire, are you finished with my 150 Hues of Yello-" Ivanna stopped upon seeing Luna and Venefica sitting in the living room. "Oh, h.e.l.lo, you two. What"s up?"
"Ivanna, we have a problem, call Ronan as soon as possible. I"ll give you the gist later, alright?" Claire gave the book back to her.
"Alright, Claire. Give me a bit." Ivanna nodded without hesitation and ran back to her room.
"And why are you two telling me this, exactly?" Claire asked.
"The short version is, to help you and..." Luna and Venefica glanced at the door. "To warn you."
"Big sister, we can"t say much right now, but something big is going on." Venefica stood up, approached Claire, and looked at the back, right towards the apartment window. "The only choices here are stay ignorant and know just enough to avoid stumbling upon it by accident, or be in the know and be dragged in a conflict that requires you to risk your life for a cause you may or may not believe in."
"How about your promise with Fiora?"
Luna shook her head. "We are here, safe with a semi-permanent shelter protected by a powerful Incarnation, that is enough. Asking you to risk any more would be a fool"s errand."
"All done, Claire. He"ll be here today, as soon as the situation allows it." Ivanna came back bringing a jar of cookies along with two tall gla.s.ses of water, and offered it to the two guests. "Plus, how many times did I tell you to bring out something for Miss Luna and Venny, or your guests in general?"
"Sorry, sorry. I keep on forgetting about that. Where"s Fiora?" Claire asked.
"Outside, she told me she wanted to look around, before jumping off from the window." Ivanna shrugged. "You were busy talking, probably you didn"t hear the window being opened."
"… Why didn"t you tell her to use the door?" Claire asked, incredulous.
"One, she jumped before I had the chance to say anything. Two, probably she doesn"t want to interrupt? Besides," Ivanna gave a slight smile. "If she can throw you around and take down a giant, a three-story building jump isn"t going to kill her. No offense, you two." Ivanna turned at both Luna and Venefica.
"None taken," Luna answered and gave Claire a meaningful smile. Meanwhile Venefica was busy munching the cookies while letting her legs move and dangle on the sofa. "Oh, by the way, please tell that friend of yours to be careful of the metal dragon."
"Metal dragon?" Claire and Ivanna looked at Luna, before looking at each other and raising their eyebrows.
"He"ll know, I"m sure. Now…"
Luna looked at Venefica. The little witch nodded and removed her chain, lifting up her spear as soon as it appeared. The smell of citrus permeated the air.
"Wait!"
"Do you need something else, big sis?" Venefica said, and the smell immediately dispersed.
"Can I…" Claire shook her head and looked at Luna. "Can we be in contact, at least?"
Luna sighed, considered it for a moment, and looked at her companion. Venefica nodded and lifted up her spear, creating a black string necklace decorated with a small, flower shaped pendant in the air. The small, vivid purple flower looked fragile much like a real flower, its four petals fading to a brilliant white near the base, and exuding a slight citrus aroma Claire has come to a.s.sociate with the pair.
With a wave of the spear, the necklace floated to Claire, before finally resting on her outstretched hand. The flower seems to radiate its own scent separate from the witch. Right as the necklace landed on Claire"s hand, Venefica sighed in relief, showing that the task was such a burden.
"This is a special necklace made with Venny"s condensed magic. With this, I will always know where you are, and help from afar to some extent if the situation requires it. If you really need us to come, take off one petal. We are not in a favorable position as of now, Claire, and thus, we can"t really provide anything more concrete than this as of now."
"Coming here is risky, for both of us and for you three, but we believe you won"t do anything… undesirable." Venefica added. "Big sisters, we have overstayed our welcome. See you later."
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The moment Venefica lifted her spear, both the witch and Luna disappeared from the couch, only leaving the necklace behind.
--
"An Incarnation that is capable of using light-type attacks, huh..." Ronan said, raising his eyebrows. "I don"t think there"s anything prominent from the past 6 Death Matches with the ability you described, though I"m not too sure myself… That aside, I"m more concerned about the disappearance. If there"s something similar, maybe I can understand this whole thing better."
Minutes after Venefica and Luna"s disappearance, Fiora returned to their room, thankfully choosing to enter from the door this time instead of entering through the window she jumped down from. Her return was followed with Ronan"s arrival, and the three proceeded to talk about the current problems.
"Also, another thing, in light of the whole Luna pairing incident…"
"Come on, Ronan, that was one time." Claire grimaced, remembering what felt like endless grief from Ronan when he discovered that she doesn"t know anything about her opponent. "Besides, you didn"t tell me their names. Who the heck talks like they"re relaying a code like that?!"
"But seriously, Claire!" Ivanna said, while sitting at the armrest of the sofa next to Claire"s. "A reasonable person would know to check their enemy profiles before, you know, the actual risking-your-life business?"
"Ven, you are not helping!"
"Information is power, and were your luck failed you, you would have suffered a serious disadvantage." Fiora added, her gaze even and nonchalant.
"Fiora, not you too." Claire snorted. "Alright, alright, I"m sorry okay? That wouldn"t happen again, I promise."
"Alright, for next round the names of your opponents are Jonathan Earhart and Lilien, a C-rank Incarnation with flight-related abilities… Well, maybe not quite. See for yourself."
Ronan offered his phone, and upon receiving it, Claire saw a paused video depicting a clear blue sky.
Fiora moved closer, and Claire decided to wait, only starting the video when the ashen girl settled on a comfortable position. The video depicted a blurry, blue haired girl jumping around the sky. Her movements were less of a flight, and more of a semi-parkour as the way she moved made it look like there were invisible platforms scattered around.
"It"s a C-ranker, listed as such in the Death Match community forums so I believe it"s pretty accurate." Ronan nodded.
"C-rank shouldn"t pose too much problems, at least." Ivanna added. "It"ll be less taxing than the other two."
"I do hope you two don"t jinx me..." Claire rubbed her forehead.