บท 334: 340: A Plague of Phantoms: Reason to Reflect V
"You can't be serious about that Chase! It's inhumane!" Jane snapped. I glanced at her sideways then looked away from everyone.
"No…of course I'm not serious…" I said, sounding unconvincing even to myself.
"Chase, even I'm calling bullshit on this." Sin said. I sighed then scratched the back of my neck.
"Okay, I was serious but the plan wasn't really thought through. There fact Madilyn thinks it's too cruel says something." I replied.
"Hey!" Madilyn griped and slapped the ice that encased her legs.
"Before we decide how to monitor these two, we should probably work on dealing with the current plot against us." Iris spoke up, drawing attention to her. "Rainbow Sparkles just reported back to me. You were right Chase. He did go warn his conspirators. He wasn't subtle about it either, I know where they are meeting right now."
"Who are they and what governments do they belong to?!" I demanded.
"General Revi Sadawalki from Austria, Specialist Erik Voglia from Egypt, General Cassik Goz from the Neo-German alliance, and Princess Alicia Dewmond from Iceland." Iris replied.
"The splicers that tried to steal the Briar Lieons were from Egypt, Neo-German Alliance, Austria and Iceland. I remember their uniforms." Nate spoke up.
"That's enough proof for me." I said. "Jane get in touch with your father. We're going to need his help in dealing with this little plot."
"Got it...I have Ayia'liah with him now. She'll pass on a message." Jane replied. I arched a brow at that then nodded.
"Tell him about what we learned and let him know i want to meet up to stategize and deal with them." I told Jane. Jane nodded and I saw her eyes cloud and glimmer slightly as she communicated with her evo.
I channeled void attribute mana into my right foot and stomped it. A wave of dark mana flowed across the floor and disrupted the spells holding Anders and Reagan as well as the ice that encased Madilyn. They all looked startled for a moment then glanced at me apprehensively.
"Reagan, Anders, I can't say that I trust you right now with Chad's betrayal nearly causing Nate's death. I know now I have to be more selective in who I trust and who I take on as employees. You both completed the tasks given to you by us so it would be unfair to toss you out or kill you…so…I will need a guarantee that you will not betray us." I said looking at the two seriously. Reagan and Anders shared a questioning look then Reagan spoke up.
"What do you need?" The soldier asked.
I channeled mana into my void pocket then quickly pulled out my enchanted item crafting tools. The tool I needed in particular was the rhank pen I used to inscribe runes on my enchanted items. I took the pen out and held the point of the pen towards the lights, it gleamed darkly making Reagan and Anders shift uncomfortably.
"A blood pact. The ink in this pen is made with my blood, I will create a spell that binds you two to a oath to me. One that should you break it will result in your deaths." I replied. Reagan and Anders both looked terrified by this but didn't look unwilling.
"What is the oath?" Reagan asked.
"To never betray me and work for the future of Sho'lajah Artifact Company. You will fight for the lives of everyone in the company and in exchange will receive protection from the company and from me. You two will be my swords in the dark and deadly defenders." I replied. Reagan nodded silently for several seconds then crossed his arms.
"I noticed that you left out that we'd have to follow all your commands." Reagan commented, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You're allowing us to have the ability to refuse your orders…while simultaneously taking away any ability to leave."
"You only think that because you take those words at face value. I never said how long you two would have to work for the company or that you had to constantly be at my beck and call. You two can't betray me, have to fight for the lives of everyone in the company and be my swords in the dark. I never said where that has to be…the power of the oath is based on our combined perceptions. If you know the action you take would count as a betrayal then you will receive a warning from the oath." I explained.
"And if we ignore the warning?" Anders asked.
"The blood oath will go berserk and rapidly modify your genetic structure, forcing you to undergo excruciatingly painful transformation into a malformed monster that would be impossible to ever recognize as once being human." I said flashing Anders a smile. Anders blinked several times the sudden scurried backwards across the ground until his back hit the wall.
"I'D RATHER HAVE THE PARASITE!" Anders screamed.
"It's not that bad!" I griped. Feeling a hand on my shoulder I looked over that shoulder and saw Sin looking at me apathetically.
"Boss…its worse. I think you shorted Madilyn's brain out with fear." Sin said then pointed over to said woman who was standing in the corner and shivering like a tiny dog in the rain.
"…he made something worse…than a symbo…!" Madilyn muttered while running her hands through her hair.
"I suddenly feel like a monster." I said to no one in particular.
"Well I wasn't going for say anything…" Jane said. I frowned at her which earned a small smirk from her.
A laugh from Reagan, who was still on through ground, caught everyone's attention. Reagan shook his head then stood up and held his arm out to me, a determined gleam twinkled in his eyes.
"Let do this! I don't know the who story with that Chad guy but it sounds like he was into some sketchy shit before he joined you. You're nothing like your father or brother so I know you're not going go stable me in the back." Reagan said.
I arched a brow at Reagan's comment. Hearing those words helped with the heavy feeling that had settled in my chest after finding out about Chad's betrayal. While the feeling didn't go away it did lessen.
Steeling myself, I walked over to Reagan and grabbed his wrist then started writing runes over his forearm. The notebook that Grandma Lulu left had a section on writing blood oaths in it and outlined the exact wording needing to make them effective. All blood oaths were written the same the only difference was that the terms needed to be spoken aloud shortly before the oath is sealed. After I finished writing the oath runes on Reagan's forearm I popped my claws.
"What the fuck?!" Reagan exclaimed and jumped back.
"I need a dropped of blood to finish the oath." I said calmly, not understanding why Reagan was freaking out.
"What are you going to do to get it? Cut my arm off?!" Reagan exclaimed then pointed at the claws. "How the fuck do you have two bone claws sticking out your knuckles?!"
"Just add it to the ever-growing list of stupid bullshit that Chase can do." Iris said.
"I just need to prick your finger." I grumbled then poked the man's pointer finger, getting a drop of blood on the tip of my claw.
"Ow!" Reagan hissed then sucked on his finger.
I rolled my eyes and tapped the top of my claws with my Rhank pen over Reagan's marked forearm so the blood drop fell onto the blood oath markings. I quickly retracted my claws then grabbed his wrist and channeled mana into his arm.
The blood oath runes glowed brightly and then peeled off Reagan's arm and levitated a few centimeters above the skin. Reagan's eyes grew wide as he looked at the display. Feeling a slight tug on my mana I realized this was when I was supposed to recite the terms of the oath.
"Blake Reagan with this oath you will swear to never betray me and work for the future of Sho'lajah Artifact Company. You will fight for the lives of everyone in the company and in exchange will receive protection from the company and from me. You will be my sword in the dark and deadly defenders." I said calmly and clearly.
"I understand and accept." Reagan replied. The moment he said 'accept' the blood oath flowed onto his arm and formed a star shaped tattoo on the back of his right hand.
"That it?" Bo asked then walked over to look at tattoo only to get grabbed by his mom and yanked back to her side by his collar.
"Don't feel any different." Reagan said as he looked at the blood seal tattoo.
"That's because you haven't done anything to betray the terms of the seal. Until something like that happens you won't notice anything different. However that seal let's me know where you are at all times, even if you cut off the part of your body the tattoo is on the seal will just appear somewhere else."
"Scary…" Damon muttered.
I ignored Damon's comment and looked over to Anders. Flashing him a creepy smile which made the older soldier shiver visibly.
"Your turn Anders." I said in a oddly cheery voice.
"Please no…" Anders whispered. Reagan groaned and turned to look at his friend.
"Man up Ned. We're too deep to start having second thoughts. Everyone we know already thinks we're dead." Reagan said. Anders looked back to Reagan pleading with his eyes. Which just made Reagan roll his own. "You don't have to worry about turning into a monster unless you break the oath. So don't."
"You heard him Anders…but don't worry…" I said popping my claws again and holding them in front of my face. "…it'll only hurt for a moment…"
"I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A LIE!"
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Hutexa_The_Djinn
Hutexa_The_Djinn Splicer Fact: Blood oaths were a common practice among the noble and common folk tens of thousands of years ago. the practice fell out of use once knowledge of the runic language became more scarce. Members of the legendary villages are the only ones that still remember and actively teach the runic language and as such are the only ones that can use blood oaths in the current society.
HUTEXA_THE_DJINN HERE! Just a reminder that I will have a brief vacation starting the 11th of October to the 1st of November. During that time I will be working on more chapters and recuperating from work and the toils of the world. Just remember if you like the novel and want to support it, leave a comment, a like, power stone, or a review.
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