Chapter 44: Blaze
A young girl with short black hair and feline-like emerald-green eyes sits in the middle of a burning room.
The child watches as the fire catches on to and burns the furniture in the room without moving or crying.
The door swings open and an old woman carrying a fire extinguisher races in and uses the device to put out the fire. Two other men soon rush in, each one of them holding an extinguisher. The woman turned to the girl, her expression turning sour. "Hell's bloody bells, how many times have I told you to stay away from my office!" She scolded the little child who ignores her, getting up from the ground and walking out of the office.
"She's a devil! She's the devil!" The woman shouted as the young girl returns to her room and stare through the window. As the girl looked on, a black SUV pulls up in front of the building. It wasn't the first time they had strange visitors but the girl wondered which one of the kids at the orphanage would be lucky enough to have such rich adoptive parents.
Her door swings open and the old woman walks through accompanied by two men in uniform. The woman points at the girl. "That's her, that's the little devil!"
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•Federal Republic of Brownvale
A short man with a visible belly pours himself a glass of wine and another in an empty glass next to his. "What's taking you so long in there?" He shouted.
"Just a second, the blouse is a bit too tight," a feminine voice shouted back.
"Of course it's tight, why do you think I asked you to wear it ... ha ha," the man mumbled more to himself swallowing the whole glass of wine before pouring himself another.
The door clicks open and a lady with purplish eyes, thin eyebrows, and long honey-brown hair enters the room. The girl was wearing a tight button-up shirt, a small skirt that barely covers the thigh, and frill stockings. "Hi," she said shyly.
"Oh this is going to be great," the man laughed mischievously.
"Line."
"Right," the man said clearing his throat. "I received word from your principal about your b --" the man coughs out blood. "What the ... *coughs,"
The purple-eyed girl's lips curl upward. "Oh honey, did you start the drink without me?" She said sarcastically.
He attempts to get down from the bed but stumbles to the ground. "Call an ambulance ..." He pleaded trying to catch his breath while stretching his hand towards the girl. Soon, his hand falls to his side and he lies still, unmoving.
The girl uses her feet to check for a pulse but found none, she smiles before moving to the side of the bed in search of her clothes.
There is a sudden knock on the door, "room service," the person said.
"Come on in, sis," the purple-eyed girl said.
The door opens and a girl with shoulder-length black hair and emerald-green eyes walks.
"Did you forget the code?" The emerald-green-eyed girl queried.
The honey-brown-haired girl shrugged in response. "Maybe." She turned to face her partner, "you don't look as happy as I thought you'd be leaving this hell hole," she said putting on a brown jacket.
"You could have asked me to wait outside," the brunette said, her gaze shifting to the body on the ground and back at the girl. "Oh shit, sorry. I didn't know he coughed up that much blood," the honey-brown-haired girl apologized before guiding her friend out of the room. "Whatever. You now owe me ice cream," the girl stated.
"Two for you once we're back at our snowy paradise."
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The emerald-green-eyed girl takes her ice cream while sitting on a bench watching as snow falls around her.
"Sis ... We should head back to the base," the purple-pinkish-eyed girl suggested.
"Just a moment more," the brunette requested.
"I'm afraid we don't have a moment," said the brown-skinned girl. "We've been asked to report to the base immediately. They have a new mission for us," she explained.
"I was hoping for an hour more of free time." She frowned, tossing the cone into a nearby waste bin.
...
The two girls arrived at their base where they are welcomed by their commanding officer who leads them straight to his office.
"I must commend you both for your work at Brownvale though I don't hear the local news reporting the chauffeur's death," the man stated.
The brown-skinned girl's eyes widen and she turned to her partner whose hands were behind her back. "That's my fault, sir," the brunette said, "he posed no real threat to the mission so I --"
"That's not your decision to make 00765!" The man said. "The chauffeur had driven 00567 and the target to the hotel, correct?"
"Yes sir," she nodded. "Then that makes it an absolute necessity for him to also be eliminated," he stated.
"Apologies sir, it won't happen again," she said.
"For your sake, I hope it doesn't," the commanding officer said, his tone suddenly softening. "You're one of our best agents Blaze, it would pain me to have you taken off the field," he stated before shifting his gaze to the honey-blond-haired girl. "And you too, Parasite Black, both of you are our finest and that's why you're both on this mission," the man stated.
"What is it, sir?" The brown-skinned girl asked.
"Our source tells us, some kid in Ingleland used chaos magic while on a school trip," the officer said moving to the other side of his desk and sliding a file to the girls.
"The kid is reportedly in custody currently but we have no way to confirm his status. I want you two to locate his position and status, you'd be given further instructions there," he stated.
"He schools at the Metropolitan School of mysticism so I'd suggest you start there." The man hands them both an identity card. The brown-skinned girl looks at her card, "I'm Elise, huh? Doesn't sound too bad." She turned to her partner, "what's your name, sis?" She asked.
"René."
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"You want to talk about what happened?" Elise asked René who shook her head, "what's there to talk about?" She asked.
"You spared a target ... Again."
"He wasn't a target, if he was I would have seen to it that he was eliminated," René responded.
"Sis --"
"Can we not talk about Brownvale now," René requested. "We're in the target city already, someone could be listening," she whispered.
They walked into their shared apartment, it was well arranged with a bed on each side. "Well, this is a downgrade from what we had at Brownvale," Elise noted. "The Ingleland fixer must be really broke," she added.
"Agreed; they got me a job at this place called Second Turn Mall where - get this - I don't even get to work inside the mall but at the cafe outside," René said while Elise laughs.
"I'm sure you prefer this to the Brownvale mission though, we don't eliminate anyone here," Elise says.
"How would you know that? We were asked to await further instructions when we find him," René said
"I doubt they'll tell us that if they wanted us to kill him," Elise stated.
"We'll see."
***
A few days later, René was working at the cafe outside Second Turn mall when she received a call from Elise. "Sis, update from command," the brown-skinned girl said. "Don't worry, the connection is secure," she added.
"What's the update?" René asked.
"Apparently the target has been released from wherever he was held and our source says he would now spend the weekends at some agency in New Lanes," she stated.
"That means he has been located. What now?"
"We're to get close to him for now. What approach would you like us to take?" Elise asked.
"Same as always," René said, "You engage I'm back up," she stated.
"Alright, talk to you later." The call ends and René's gaze shifts across the road where a
black Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta pulls up. René looked on, the passenger seat opens and her target, Hunter Heffernan steps out of the car. "There's no way."
...
René entered their apartment where she finds her partner seated on the bed occupied with some papers. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"Doing some research on the guy. He works as an exorcist - whatever that is - and spends a third of his earnings on bottled water," the brown-skinned girl stated.
"About that," René started, "I don't think you should do that anymore," said René.
Elise set down the papers and look up at her friend. "Why not?"
"Well," René set her bag on the table. "I ran into him earlier ... He asked for my number," she stated.
"Really? That's incredibly --"
"Lucky?"
"I was going to say unfortunate."
"You've got to be kidding me," René scoffed.
"Don't take it the wrong way sis. It's just ... You have never been the one to engage the target," Elise pointed out.
"That means nothing; we went through the same training," the emerald-green-eyed girl countered.
"It's the experience that matters more though. There are something's that I've picked up through those years that you haven't," she stated.
René laughs wryly. She stepped towards the purple pinkish eye girl, her cheeks suddenly turning red. "Can you do this?" She challenged.
The brown-skinned girl's eyes widen as she figured the dark-haired girl had blush on command. "No," she shook her head.
"I've got this," said René.
"Alright, what happened during your encounter," the brown-skinned girl asked.
"He was with this woman, they didn't look alike so I called her his aunt," she stated while Elise laughs. "And?"
"She asked about my accent," said René.
Elise raised an eyebrow, "you don't have an accent," she stated.
"But she could hear one," René said.
"She's a werewolf?"
"Vampire."
"Sis, I don't like this," Elise says.
"I'll be fine," the emerald-green-eyed girl assured. "Just let me do this my way and nothing would go wrong, I promise," she stated.
***
Hunter lie passed out in a puddle of his blood. "Is he dead?" Elise asked.
"No. His regeneration ability should kick in any moment now," René stated turning to her partner. "What now? We have been compromised," she said.
"Not a problem," said Elise, "our mission was just updated to capture the target," she informed.
"I see," René nods. "Tie him up and put a magic negation crystal around his neck, I'll let the brass know the target is in our custody so they can send in an extraction team."
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Hunter opens his eyes, taking in his surrounding. The sprite's cloth smelled like blood. His hand was bonded together behind a chair and his legs were also tied to the chair.
[Second time you're bonded to a chair, got something you're not telling me?]
'Not a good time.'
[Right. The necklace our friends left you with is supposed to cancel out your magic abilities. However, it's not strong enough to suppress your new magic]
Hunter closed his eyes, when he opens them again, they are white and a blue figure of the female mercenary he had fought almost two weeks ago is standing next to him with a blade in her hand.
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