A man sat down gracefully on a chair which almost seemed like a throne fit for a king, the room was illuminated by the moonlight but the man's face wasn't visible, all that could be seen was his menacing shadow on the wall.
The man calmly picked up a set of what seemed like tarot cards but had a completely different set of cards and meanings, he spread the cards on the table and immediately felt a strong wind blow around him, and the man he had patiently been waiting for appeared.
"Claude... Welcome back", he said calmly still focusing on the cards on the table, the man hated being called by his real name and went by an alias. It had been so long since he mentioned his name it had become nothing but a faint memory, Claude had extremely strange beliefs which made him wonder at times how they worked together.
Many would think they had a master-servant relationship which was supposed to be the case, but Claude's loyalty had never lied with him. He wasn't even allowed to call his name and found it hard to make him bend to his will even with his powers. The man's loyalty lies with only one person, which Claude felt he belonged to, even the name Claude was from them.
He was getting a bit annoyed at the situation but Claude had been obedient and calm, until recently that is, he never knew where the man was off to but would be informed of everything after. He could believe he was being taught patience by a lower being.
He looked at the cards on the table he had always picked Shùnlì, and it had become a habit to check every day. He had never believed in picking a card to determine the future, but something was different about these. For one he could never tell which card was which, two something ominous always happened when he picked a bad card.
'Today is going to be the same again', he thought and sighed, his fingers traveled calmy over the surface of the cards. His curiosity was why he did this often, he didn't want anything ruining his plans and this set of cards would inform him of how things were going.
He finally picked up a card while the man in the room stood quietly watching, this had become a ritual and he was more than used to it. The card glistened in the moonlight and the man flipped it over to face him. He always read the cards and didn't believe today's result would be any different.
"Shù... Huǒ yàn!" Claude stated shock was evident in his voice as his face paled. It was such a beautiful yet ominous card, it was probably the most intricately designed of them all. Nothing good had ever come out of getting that card and he could tell his words had angered the man in front of him greatly.
"Claude... What's the meaning of this?" He said calmly but anyone smart enough could hear the anger seething beneath his words. Claude didn't know what to say, angering the man could bring chaos to his plans and put the most important person to him in danger as well.
"The card has a dual meaning, it means things are going to be on your side or the opposite. You could either burn or they do", he replied calmly, to his master he wasn't against anyone, he simply just wanted what was best for everyone. But his ideals were selfish and so was his goal.
He looked perplexed at the explanation, to him it just meant everything was not going according to plan anymore and the balance had been disturbed. He thought the red moon coming slightly earlier was just a gift that would hasten everything up but seems this would turn out to be a curse or an obstacle to him.
He glanced at the grey-eyed man, the man didn't even look a bit fazed by the reading. Claude knew very well what his goal was and not even the most powerful reading could stop him, this man would go against the gods if he had to and he would win. That was how determined he was. Long gone was the man he once saw as weak... All that was left was a monster who would destroy anything in its path.
"Keep a closer eye on them and let me know immediately if you find something", he stated, a commanding voice laced underneath, and the blonde just walked out calmly without saying a word. The city was already dark, probably very unsafe for a delicate-looking man like him to be walking around. The air was chilly but the cool breeze was rather calming.
"Ying Yue..." He muttered under his voice, what was going to happen now, his master only let her stay with Lui Feng because he believed nothing would change, so why did that have to happen now? It was funny how he always called him master but what he felt was far from it. He only referred to him as that in respect of his real master.
"Dam*it, Lui Feng!" He stated as he kicked a can on the ground, the man was nothing but trouble but he could kill him no matter how badly he wanted to, it would further disrupt the balance. They needed the balance. Besides she was probably with the man at the moment, going over would be a bad idea, so why did it sound so tempting to do?
He walked further down with no destination in mind, he recalled the night in the room with the fearful kitten, he remembered her state of mind, her thoughts which made him recall his former self making his eyes turn a light shade of blue making him even more annoyed. He was about to turn around when he noticed the presence of six men, they seemed hefty and it was obvious they didn't have pure intentions. He could hear them whisper loudly.
"What's a guy like him doing out so late"
"Seems like a big shot"
"Seems we've got a stroke of luck tonight"
"The pendant on his neck looks expensive"
Their whispers were annoying and filled with greed, seems like he was the one with a stroke of luck as he was given something to pass the time, he had passed the way multiple times without disturbance, and for some reason, he met them tonight of all nights. It seemed he would have to douse the flame his master had picked because it sure as hell wasn't on his side.
They gathered around him with hungry eyes and he stared at them nonchalantly but it seemed that wasn't enough to alert them that something wasn't adding up. People always had to learn the hard way.
They ran towards him with full force they intended to catch him in one quick strike but were all pushed back immediately landing painfully on the ground. The man's eyes still held no emotion and the alarm bells in their heads began to ring but he was too late.
Within seconds he caused both major and minor injuries to all of them, it was like he was attacking calculatedly so as to prevent them from dying or becoming crippled. He was toying with them!
Once he was done he just smirked and left, their groans were like music to his ears. Someone needed to teach them a lesson and they got unlucky, he hated greedy people the most.