Chapter 15: Best of Friends (Narrated by Danzel Lee)
Meng stared at me bewildered. I hope his brain cells would be able to process every single piece of information I just shoved him. We were sitting at one of our favourite spot at our favourite café, Nusantara Brew. The place was decorated like a loft, with elegant touch of Javanese arts for its interior and it offered the archipelago's best coffee beans with reasonable price. Besides that, they were also selling Indonesian traditional snacks and food. We frequented this place to hang out, since it was nearby our school. I glanced over my watch, it was almost four, and Megan would be here shortly. I asked her to go on a date with me today and I planned to take her to the movie. However, she still had another extra hour to finish her science project for the school's science club, so I said yes when Meng asked me to have a 'talk' with him, to resume our previous talk.
"Are you alright?" I asked and sipped my coffee.
"Yeah, why won't I?"
"You look stupefied."
"'Cause I am," Meng chuckled dryly. "So, let me get this straight. You and Megan are now officially dating."
"Yep," I made a toast with my cup of coffee.
"And she's a witch? Ken too?'
I sighed and threw a sympathetic glance to him. "Look, I'm sorry to break things out like this to you, Man. I know you have a crush for Ken."
Meng's face got red. He gawked at me as if I was some sort of alien. "Wh-How did you know?"
I gave him a pointed look. "I'm neither blind or stupid, Meng. I could see how you look at her, how you introduced her to me, as if she is a goddess of some kind… Please…"
My best friend blushed even more.
"But it's ended now," he sighed. "There's no future for us. Not that she knows my feelings toward her, anyway."
"Is it really impossible between you two?"
Meng nodded. "There's no way a Shaman and a witch could be together, unless I'm ready to be ex-communicated and would become a Necromancer, which I don't. It was one-sided love, anyway. When we were kids, we were close, Ken and I. And then she left abruptly, so that's maybe why the feelings linger. When she suddenly returned, I still see her as the little Ken. I should've notice her true self, actually. They're not that hard to spot."
"What's this Necromancer you mentioned? How's having a romantic relationship with a witch make you become a Necromancer?"
"It's the shaman thing. You do know that we are basically mere vessels for sacred spirits and gods, right? That's why we are the personification of 'my body is my temple' thingy literally. We are required to live a clean life, with all the healthy lifestyle. No drugs, smoke, free-sex, et cetera. And of course, for mating condition, we do need to mate with someone who's acceptable by our guardian spirit. Therefore, witches are certainly out of the question. If we insist, then our guardian spirit will leave us and the shaman community, too, will ex-communicate us. What's left for us? Our summoning spirit talent. That would be with us until the day we take our last breath. However, since we now couldn't call any sacred spirits, we could only call the impurity ones. We, then, became a Necromancer. Necromancers are feared and resented because sometimes the impurity spirits they called are malicious and would likely take control of their soul, make them turn evil."
"I see…"
Meng stared deeply, straight to my eyes. "Are you sure you're okay with a witch? They are complicated and smell of trouble, D'."
Say that again. I knew I've accepted Megan and decided to help her carry her baggage. I might lay down my life in order to do so too, but I don't care. I knew my heart and it wanted her.
My best friend raised both of his hands, surrendered to my strong-will. "Fine, if you're sure. And since you're my best friend, I certainly will not gonna let you get killed by any sorcerer, so I'm with you. We're in this together, 'Kay? What can I do?"
I smiled. "I knew I can count on you, Man. I only wanted to know if you have any information about Megan's Order, The Trevelyan? What happened to them? It's not like I could google it you know…"
"Trevelyan? You said they're from Western Europe? I'll try to check it with my Shaman friends from that region. They may have heard something… But dang, aren't they bold enough to come here for protection because they knew this archipelago have the most Shamans in comparison of any other region in the world?"
"That's make sense, you know. They're counting on your numbers, so their enemy would take that into consideration too, in case they're gonna go wild-wild west…"
"Yeah, but still… 'Kay D', I need to report this to my father, alright? I mean, I'm not gonna expose Megan, but I need to tell him that there're some refugee sorcerers came here for protection. We may get something faster about The Trevelyan too, if we let my dad in the loop."
I pondered. Meng was right. We couldn't do this without alerting the Han family. I couldn't let Meng cross-path with his family in order to help me and Megan. Moreover, as he said, I might get the information I needed faster if Uncle Han acknowledged the situation. Not to mention, the Hans could provide help if Megan's enemy ever got closer. Hence, I nodded.
"And there's your damsel in distress…"
The sound of the bell hung on the café door rang when Megan and Kencana walked in. They cast their gaze around, before they finally found us. Megan's smile flashed so radiantly when her eyes met mine. I smiled back to her and squeezed her hand gently once she reached our seats. If we weren't in public, I certainly would kiss her ever-inviting lips.
"Sorry, I'm late…," she whispered.
"It's OK, we still got time until the movie. Come, let's sit with Meng first. Do you want anything? How's the project, by the way?"
"It's a success. I can put it for exhibition by the end of this week. But I'm not gonna show up, I'll let Ken do that on my behalf. Right, Ken?"
Kencana was standing awkwardly next to Megan, before I realized that she was there. I glanced to Meng and found my best friend was looking at her rather intensely. Apparently, someone was still torn for his one-sided, platonic love. The tanned-skin girl nodded to Megan's words. She looked at me fiercely, clearly still disliking me and distrusting me with Megan.
"Megan said you two will go on a date?" She interrogated me.
"Yep, you got any problem with that?" I too, disliked her with all my beings.
"What time will you go back?"
"You're not her mother, Ken." Meng interrupted. "And D' has always been the responsible one. He'll take a good care of your best friend. I think you should start to accept that those two are dating now and we are the third-wheelers. So, why don't we go back home. I'll give you a ride back. Unless, you like the idea of double dating?"
Kencana glared at Meng, as did I. Megan seemed fine with the idea of double date, but I didn't want that tall and rude tanned-skin girl be around me for another minute. I didn't care if she was Megan's best friend or Meng's childhood friend. I just disliked her. Therefore, the idea of double dating was just horrifying. Fortunately, the feeling was mutual. Ken seemed hate the idea as much as I did, so she followed Meng.
"Call me once you get back, 'Kay?" She said to Megan. My girlfriend nodded. "Take care, Megs…"
"They're only going for a date, for heaven's sake…," Meng jeered from the distant.
"You knew nothing," I heard Ken hissed.
"Oh, try me," my best friend smiled smugly.
I tried not to smile. I could always count on Meng. Even after he knew there was no future for him and his childhood friend, he still offered himself to distract the girl so I could have a nice, alone evening with Megan. I would treat him with something nice after this.
"Did you tell Meng about me?" Megan pulled me out from my reverie.
I stared at her cognac eyes. "I need to, Megs. His family could help us…"
Megan sighed. "Okay, I trust you. If you say so, I'll trust you. But don't let Ken know that Meng knew, okay? She'll freaked out. I think she sees this whole hiding thing way too serious. I mean, yes, it's serious. My life is in danger, but I think she's over-reacted sometimes. You, on the other hand, keep it cool. I wish she could be like that too."
I laughed, couldn't help myself not to kiss her hand.
"What?" She looked bemused.
I shook my head. "Nothing, I just love you so much, Megan…"
Chapter 16: Two Sides of the Coin (Narrated by Abel Lee)
I was still on my train of thought when I walked into the portal that Campbell opened in the middle of our HQ. I just called Danzel to tell him I might not be able to go home for a while. Usually, my brother would be in rampage and start asking questions whenever I told him that. However, just then, he was totally calm. He thanked me for letting him know, but I swore I hear a girl's voice next to him. It was late already and he told me he was home. Did that boy bring his girlfriend home when I wasn't around? I would castrate him if he ever dared to do that.
A gush of cold wind snapped me out of my reverie. I looked around and found myself standing in the middle of vast prairie enclaved by the starry night sky with terrain of mountains at the far distance outlined it.
"What the-?!" I screamed. "After the desert, now the prairie with a minus hundred degrees Celsius' temperature?! I didn't get paid enough for this!!" I squeezed my arms to induce some heat for my body. Campbell did tell us to grab some jackets and I wore my thick hoodies. But still!!
Aeronwen, Shyu, Pats, Cody and Hannah chuckled upon hearing me complained, while Campbell glared fiercely to me.
"Stop over-reacting!" He scolded. "Even though we're in Northern Manchuria, but its lowest temperature is only about minus thirty degree, a far cry from Siberia. If it were a hundred degrees below zero, even your stupid brain would be frozen you idiot!"
Bastard, how dare he called me idiot! I stretched my long limbs to slice that foul-mouth of his, if only Aeronwen didn't stop me. The platinum-blonde haired commander tried to calm me down, while humour glinted on his sterling grey eyes.
"That's enough, stop complaining. Timofei had opened the portal so we could find his brother quickly and help Alexa and Tony. If you're really cold, stand next to me. I'll control the surrounding gas to correspondent with the cold and radiate some warmth to warm you a bit."
My anger went down immediately upon hearing the offer and I obediently padded over to stand next to my commander. This time, Aeronwen offered himself to be my temporary partner and join us for this time's trip, until we could find Alexa and Anthony. The said man called his power, adjusting the surrounding gasses to serve us warmth and soon I had felt warmer than before. It was really great to have an aero master as partner.
"Spoiled bastard!" Campbell hissed, but immediately stopped by a nudge from Cody to prevent another bickering session between his subordinate and me.
"Are you sure your brother is here, Timofei?" Shyu asked. He and Pats were walking side by side with their arms and shoulder tangled with each other to expel the cold breeze. Shyu had only wore his leather jacket, while Pats wore sweaters, clearly was Shyu's, since it was too big by two sizes for her. Beneath our jackets, we were only wearing outfits suited for sub-tropical to tropical climates. Campbell himself, despite his big talk, seemed quite taken aback by the cold. His wide slim shoulders were shivering whenever the cold wind blew.
"The orb opened a portal to this place. I've used my own blood to search that darned brat's location, so he must've been in the vicinity. What the hell is he doing here, that brat?!" He was cursing under his breath.
Vsevolod Order really was something. It seemed, not only that they fond of fighting among themselves, but even among family members, they weren't too tight also. Unless, they had habit of using curse words as 'terms of endearment'. I really didn't know whether I want to laugh it out or feel for the irony.
"Your family territory does not reach Manchuria, does it?" McAllen asked. He lighted up a fiery orb to give warmth for Hannah. His other free hand even had wrapped around the girl's shoulder. Like Shyu and Pats, they were also walking shoulder by shoulder and tangling their limbs to each other.
Campbell gritted his teeth and cast his eyes around. "Manchuria is that demon lady's territory. That's why, we also need to be careful. Don't let her notice our coming. Otherwise, it would be troublesome. That darned kid, what the hell is he doing here?!"
"Demon lady?" Hannah asked Cody, who had now grimaced.
Cody was about to explain, but a strong quake stopped him. I immediately turned on my radar vision and noticed that a ward had been erected on our left. No wonder we did not see anything, even though the quake was strong enough to be a mere coincident. I reported my findings before the second quake shook once more. This time, we all saw a silvery blink on the night sky. The ward was definitely there, and if there was that sort of strong ward to expelled any nosy 'civilian', then there must had been a battle behind it.
"Son-of-a-bitch, they are hiding inside a ward," Campbell cursed, as his hands shone.
"Campbell, hold on. If you take down that ward by force, the effect could be felt by any layman near this vicinity," Cody stopped him.
"Ask that Law girl to erect new barrier using her satellite," Campbell replied ignorantly, still busy with his Mandala to tear down the ward.
"Done that," Aeronwen interjected, pocketing back his connector. "Just tear that ward as you please."
Campbell grinned and shot his Mandala. The Mandala was golden-purple in colour and shaped like a blooming flower with interlaced patterns and fiery tendrils on each point of the petals. When it touched the edge of the ward, the Mandala looked like it was being swallowed in and dissolved. However, the next second, after a blink, it was erupted and ripped down the ward. Afterward, the destroyed ward's golden strands laced together with the new barrier erected by Miss B.
We were blinking rapidly as our eyes struck by silvery light that flashed from inside the torn ward. The view in front of us was the exact opposite with the one outside the ward. When we arrived at this prairie, it was night time, but inside the ward, it was daytime. The prairie lit up under the caress of the soft sunlight and she flaunted her beauty to the fullest extent. The brooks sparkling like glittery ribbons, cleaving the green grassland that were blushing orange from the sunlight. The landscape was truly breath taking.
However, as much as we wanted to savour the beauty scenery, we came here in a mission. Hence, we paced up to reach the top of the hills. Once we got there, we saw beneath us, there was a small wooden hut nearby a small brook. The wooden hut was of humble design, no sign of elaboration, but would definitely be a great hideout place to live for, if only the circumstances were different. At that moment, we saw dozens of sorcerers in yellow coat and black trousers surrounding the hut and ambushed it (or someone inside it) with their magic energy. They were trying to break through another magical barrier that was surrounding the wooden hut. It seemed, the quake was coming from clashes between the magical energies with the barrier.
"That coat…, they're that person's men, Cam…," McAllen whispered and grimaced.
"Who's inside that hut?" I was really curious. Judging from the strong barrier, whomever that person was, they must had been a powerful sorcerer. Presumably, the said person was another first class sorcerer. OR, these yellow aggressors were mere goons.
Campbell sighed heavily. His small eyes screwed shut and his thin lips pursed so tightly into a firm line. After a while, he opened his eyes again and yanked a strand of his dirty-blonde hair harshly.
"Damned brat!" He murmured. "All of his life he always wears this good kid appearance, yet now, once he got into trouble, he is messing up with that demon lady, that rotten bastard!"
After I saw how fluent Campbell was, cursing the individual inside the hut, I was sure that that person must had been the said brother.
"So, it's really your brother who's inside? Then, let's go! What are we waiting for?" I asked. I scanned around and made sure that most of the yellow sorcerers were, indeed, goons. Their magical energy index was so pathetic that it made me feel like we were going to bully them with our power. Especially if they got hit by Aeronwen. I was pretty sure they would curl on the ground and beg for their life in no time.
"Wait!" McAllen pulled me by wrist to stop me stepped down the hills and successfully made me lose control of my radar vision. "We need to be extra careful. They are 'that person's' men."
"Who the hell is that person?" I started to feel irritated since these two sorcerers kept mentioning a persona that seemed powerful yet mysterious, but reluctant to explain who exactly that person was. "I'm pretty sure he's very powerful, since he made two of the first class warlocks from two of the strongest orders pissing on their pants like this?"
Campbell threw a killing glare to me, but he stood still, while Cody grimaced once more.
"You don't understand…," said that Magellinian warlock. "That person is…"
"Ayesha Aisingioro, right?" Shyu interjected. "The demon lady…, she is the matriarch of The Yarhaci Order, the leading Order of Manchurian plain, one of the five strongest Orders?"
We all stupefied, caught by surprise since Shyu knew about it. Our small-built colleague merely flashed a faint smile. He offered his hand to Pats, asked her to start attacking the sorcerers who were charging around the hut. Pats looked a bit confused, but followed her lover, nonetheless. Before we could react, the couple had bombarded the assailants.
Shyu strummed his guitar, attacking the yellow sorcerers with his wind power. The attack was quite fierce, but we could see that our colleague was holding his real power. The goons that hit by the attack were only knocked out, without any significant wound. Pats herself was ready to attack full-force, but once she realized that her lover was holding himself, she, too, lessened the intensity of her attack. Nevertheless, their combination of power was more than enough to ward off most of the goons.
"Can't let them take all the fun part," Campbell hissed. His long legs had paced toward the battle zone. His geomancy magic had shot out all around the place to attack the assailants, and some of the yellow sorcerers were struck dead in instant when they got zapped.
"What a hot-headed warlock!" Cody clenched his teeth and barged into the battle to stop Campbell massacring another Order's sorcerers. Hannah promptly ran to follow Cody.
Since there were only the two of us left, Aeronwen and I also went along to join our colleagues. We followed them downhill and entered the battle. Because I had used my power today, and not sure whether the day had changed or not, I decided to use my gun. I needed to save my energy to help Alexa later on.
When Campbell saw me with the gun, he broke into laughter. He did not stop laughing although his hands were busy shooting geomancy waves. I shot him a killing glance, while resisting the temptation to shoot him on spot.
Without realizing, I had moved closer to the hut. Of course, I could not approach it further thanks to the barrier surrounding it. I decided to scan it from outside, to make sure everything was okay inside. My surroundings changed colour to green, as from inside the house, I saw two golden auras of sorcerer's energy shine brightly.
"I thought you only have one brother, Timofei? Why are there two people inside?" I asked.
I had not yet get my answer when a strong, magical, orange wave blasted in and broke the barrier cast around the hut, made me thrown from my spot for a couple of meters. I groaned from the pain on the back and tried to get up when the second attack come.
Cody and Campbell were ready this time. They had joined forces to hold that attack. The orange wave let out a very loud sound when it hit Cody and Campbell's shield.
We, the Espers, could only stand stupefied watching the new development. Before we could even react, from the other side of the mountain, there were four sorcerers in yellow coat and black trousers(just like the goons around us(carried a wooden carriage painted in golden red and was decorated elaborately. Their footsteps were so light as if they were flying despite the weight of the carriage itself. Those four sorcerers were stronger than the goons we were facing even though they wore the same uniform. Each of them had above average magical energy index. What surprised me the most was the individual they were carrying inside the carriage. The said person was radiating bright golden aura in my green world, with metal element, and had powerful magical energy. That magical energy was equivalent with McAllen's and slightly above Campbell's.
I turned off my vision because I felt intimidated by the sight. Now I saw the curtain in front of the carriage was opened and a middle-aged woman stepped out. Despite her almost half a century of age, she was beautiful and elegant. She was Asian, of Mongoloid descend, with high cheekbones and slanted eyes that curved up on both end. She wore bright red lipstick on her plump lips and styled her jet-black, long hair in tall beehive. She dressed herself in Manchurian style, yellow-gold, long coat with wide sleeves. Beneath the coat, she wore tangerine-coloured, long dress which end brushed the carriage floor behind her. Similar with Cody's and Campbell's, the woman's coat was also full with sewn Mandala complex patterns, sewn with Autumn-blaze coloured threads.
"Ayesha…," McAllen greeted her nervously. Now I understood why these two first-class warlocks appeared so afraid to offend the woman in front of us.
"Insolent!" One of the carriage carriers scoffed. "Call her The Queen!!"
Campbell laughed so hard upon hearing the comment. His tall and slender body trembled from his laugh. He even clutched onto his stomach.
"Queen? Yeah, right!" He strived to compose his breathing from all the laugh.
Ayesha slanted eyes, framed with apricot coloured eyeshadow, were narrowed when she studied Campbell.
"You are… from Vsevolod Order?" She said when she recognized the patterns on Campbell's purple coat. Her voice was high-pitched and sounded arrogant. "What's your relationship with Viktor Lyosha Timofei who is inside that hut?"
The hot-headed warlock had stop laughing, but his lips cracked a wry smile. "Viktor? Bastard is my baby brother. What's your beef with him? Have you fallen so low that you fight a brat in your leisure time, Queen Ayesha?" Campbell sneered.
The answer made the witch's pair of black eyes glinted with fury. Her hands shone, ready to shoot another energy wave to Campbell.
"Mother!" called a voice.
Our head turned toward the voice and found our eyes bugged out once more when we saw it was Shyu who's speaking. That short guy stared intensely to the witch and then, carrying his guitar in one hand and taking Pats' hand in the other, he walked approaching the middle-aged woman.
"Mother," he greeted again. "Long time no see."
Apparently, the witch was also surprised to see Shyu there. For a second, I thought I saw her eyes turn to a gentle gaze when she looking at Shyu, that kind of motherly gentle gaze. However, for the next second, those black eyes returned to their cold gaze, as cold and solemn as the night sky in winter time.
"Unfilial sons," she muttered. "All of these were that man's fault! None of his son is filial and upright! The two of them could only disappoint me! All are ungrateful and unfilial!!"
Shyu seemed shock to hear so much venom come out of his mother's lips.
"What do you mean, Mother? Hasn't Diyon always be so heedful and respectful to you? He's always be that filial son you like ever since he was little. Where is he now?"
The witch looked at her first born bemused. "Are you playing stupid or are you deliberately wanted to make me even more upset? How come are you here, despite all of your promises and oath to never again step your foot on my territory, if it wasn't for helping your beloved baby brother and that damnable lover of his?"
I felt extremely perplexed from trying to comprehend what this conversation was all about. Clearly, I wasn't the only one who feel that way since Shyu and Campbell demanded elaboration in turns.
"I really don't understand, Mother. My colleagues and I came here in search for Timofei's brother, not for Diyon..."
"Hey, Aisingioro! Why did you send your men to assault my brother in that hut? Is it because he trespassed your territory?"
The middle-aged woman glared from receiving so many questions in one time and looked indecisive on which she should acknowledge first. Eventually, she decided to pay more attention to Campbell.
"You!" She hissed with glowing hands. "I'll kill every single member of Timofei bloodline for disgracing my family, my clan, and The Yarhaci Order!!"
"Hold that thought, Ayesha Aisingioro!" Cody interrupted. He stepped in between Timofei and the witch. "Timofei clan is under my protection, Cody McAllen of Magellinian Order. Are you sure you would like to wage war against us?"
I rolled my eyes. Even in my wildest dream, I'd never dream to be entrapped in the middle of sorcerers' contest of fame.
Ayesha hissed again, yet her hands were still glowing. "Do you think I'm afraid of you or your Order, McAllen? In fact, for two Vsevolods, do you really want to be in transgression with us? Moreover, this time, it was that damnable brat of Vsevolod's fault!"
Almost abruptly, her words hung dead in the air. Her expression changed, from upset to a somewhat cunning. She even retracted her ready-to-shoot energy wave. Her opal-coloured eyes locked McAllen's gaze intensely. "That's right, aren't you the honourable Hegemony's leader? I should've ask you to be the judge for this matter."
"What matter?"
"I'd like to ask you, McAllen. According to our Concordat of Ethic, if there's a sorcerer insulted other Order's sorcerer, don't the insulted one have all the right to retaliate?"
McAllen frowned as his suspicion grew. He was trying to see where the question would lead to. When he threw a glance to his subordinate, Campbell also look dumbfounded. Well, none of us truly understand what was going on here!
The blonde sorcerer eventually answered. "True, the humiliated family has right to retaliate in order to gain back their reputation, and, as the Chinese might say: to save face."
The witch's plump lips had now twitched and cracked a sly smile. Her hands were glowing again. "Then, step away. Today, I'll take Viktor Timofei's head and dry his blood to wash clean my family's disgrace!"
"Mother, could you please explain to us first, what exactly had Viktor Timofei done, that made you should kill him for sure?" Shyu stepped up to face his mother.
Ayesha stared coldly to her firstborn. "Which part of my explanation that you did not understand, hmm? Now, move. I don't care if you're my son or not, if you don't want to move, I'll shoot you down as well. Don't you ever think that that man's Esper power, which he inherited to you would be able to stand against my magic. Listen to me and don't be stupid, Shyu. Unless, you insist to accompany your baby brother on the other side…"
I saw Shyu's face grow pale and he seem upset. Next to him, Pats immediately jumped beside Shyu once she heard the threat. The girl determined to protect her lover as best as she could.
"Ah…, is that cute girl your girlfriend? Huh, why does it be you who bring such cute and sweet future daughter-in-law for me and not that other unfilial brat?" Ayesha's voice turned gentle as she studied Pats and clearly satisfied with what she saw. "Now, could you move, or do you really want to accompany the two damned brats in there to hell?"
Shyu stood still, indifferent with her mother's threat, as well as Pats. Behind them, Cody and Campbell had prepared to make a ward as strong as they could, while Hannah had moved quietly to find the best spot to annihilate the witch's attack.
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