Andrew Luciel
__________
'I wonder how everyone's been.'
As I walked through the city streets, the odd sensation of not constantly having to halt national chaos just so the next world war wouldn't ensue, was foreign to me.
It was weird; unfamiliar to me, who had grown used to quelling the nations' behaviors.
There would obviously be no way I could immediately adjust to a new lifestyle after suffering three years away from "normal" life.
While I was distracted by my not so former past, I didn't realize I bumped into someone.
"Hey, jerk! Watch where you're going! Don't you have eyes?!" a person yelled from behind me.
Brought out of my thoughts, I paid what little attention I cared for to them. The loud guy was a lanky, annoying-looking dude that gave off the kind of aura that leeches do.
And another guy, who looked both humble but spoiled at the same time. He was decently built, and was obviously a rich kid, seeing the brand of clothing he wore alone.
"Sorry," I said, turning away.
But like a classic cliche, I was stopped by the lanky guy as he basically screamed in my ear.
"Don't you know who he is?! He could ruin your entire life with a simple phone call, and all you have to say for yourself is 'sorry'?!"
Irritated, I smacked his hand from my shoulder.
"Look, I'm really sorry for bumping into your friend, but I just got back from the military and all I want right now is to visit my family," I sighed, raising my hands in surrender, despite the rage I was slowly and surely failing to quell bit by bit.
The rich guy grabbed his lanky friend's shoulder as he looked at me.
"You heard him, Kade. Let him go."
"B-but-!"
His gaze hardened on the apparent Kade guy, an intimidating, yet commanding gaze.
"I wasn't asking."
The guy brought his attention to me once more, this time having a practiced smile plastered onto his face.
"I apologize about my… associate. He can be a bit of a loose cannon every once in a while. I'm Logan. Logan James."
He stuck his hand out in greeting, to which I returned it.
"Andrew. And that's James as in James Corp. right?" I questioned, recognizing his last name from one of my visits to a tech corporation during my time in service.
"Got that right. My father's the CEO. You seem to be familiar with him?" He looked at me quizzically.
I felt a certain energy about Logan, unawakened and docile, until it flared when my hand came into contact with him.
'He's a bit like me. It's weak and unrefined, but will grow eventually and aid him greatly.'
"You can say that, I guess. Your father's relationship with me is… how should I put it, closely distant in a way."
He chuckled amusedly. "Closely distant? What does that even mean?"
I smiled humorously, advancing into a slight chuckle. "I wonder, myself."
Our rounds of laughter continued for a moment as they died down.
Smiling brightly, almost refreshed, Logan gave me a card with his number on it.
"Andrew! This is my number. Call me anytime you need my help."
I backed away from him, keeping eye contact before turning.
"I'll be sure to," I said as I waved goodbye from behind me.
'Well, this certainly isn't a bad change.'
__________
Logan James
'I wonder who that man was.'
I walked through the city night with my lanky, annoying associate as I pondered just who Andrew was.
Who was he? How did he know my father?
'So many mysteries, so little discoveries. More questions than answers, more confusion than acceptance.'
The fact that he knew my father aside, there was also a strange energy about him that I found strangely dangerous.
Whether it was an instinct to preserve my life or a natural inclination to ally with the strong, I offered him my number, as well as my help if he may one day require it.
'Andrew… I wonder just who he is.'
As curiosity got the best of me, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.
"What?"
"I need your help, Truth." While it sounded like a simple request, my tone suggested something else.
"What do you need me to do?"
I need you to find me everything you can on someone I know. First name Andrew, last unknown. Military affiliation of some sort. I want information dating back to familial origins, if you can. Family, close friends, relationships, everything."
"You said that knowing full well what I'm capable of?"
"Of course I know what you can do, Truth. But I have a feeling this guy's a lot more than who he seems to be."
"I'll send the details ASAP."
"Thanks. How much will that cost?"
"If this guy's as mysterious as you say, I'll do it free of charge, since my curiosity is enough payment already."
I hung up the phone.
"Who was that guy, Logan?" Kade asked, curious to know as well.
"I don't know who this Andrew guy is. Hell, I've never even heard of him! Who could he possibly be to not only have a close relationship to your father, but to also receive your direct phone number?"
I stay silent, unable to respond.
"I don't know. He's a mysterious individual, I have to admit. Enough so that I fear even someone like Truth wouldn't be able to find much more than his name and family."
As if the timing couldn't be more impeccable, I got a message on my phone.
"It's Truth."
[You were right about this guy. He's… he's something else. It's like he's being protected by the government or something. All I could get before I got locked out of his file was his name and family.]
I continued, growing more curious as I read on.
[His full name is Andrew Luciel, the eldest son of the Luciel family.]
"Luciel?" There wasn't a man, woman or child in the country who didn't know that name.
"Did you say… Luciel?!" Kade exclaimed in surprise.
"We've greatly underestimated Andrew, it seems."
I couldn't help but chuckle, learning of Andrew's true name. The Luciel family was one of the biggest world figures.
Not only was their wealth among the greatest, they possessed some of the largest corporations ever known, and were some of the leading figures in several professions.
I read on, curious to know why the son of such a well-known family had excommunicated.
[I'm sure you know who the Luciel family is, but from what I could gather, they've been suffering from an extremely large debt lately due to the idiocy of his youngest brother Jacob.]
'Was that why they suddenly closed off operations of their companies?'
[Apparently, Jacob challenged the Reaper. He obviously lost and as reparations, the Luciel family paid for it with their assets.]
Now it was understandable. The Reaper wasn't someone to trifle with, let alone challenge.
His younger brother chewed off too much and paid the price for it.
Curious, I wanted to know if Andrew was aware of this.
"Does… Andrew… know.. about.. this?" I sent the message and waited for the response.
Almost immediately, a reply came.
[He shouldn't be. At the time of this incident, he still would've been in the military, so there's no way he knows about anything that's going on right now, unless he regularly got updates, which I'm betting otherwise.]
Oh, boy.
"It seems this situation is much worse than I expected," I said to nobody in particular.
__________
Andrew Luciel
"What in the world..?"
I was stunned at the sight of my home empty and dark with a giant for sale sign on the front lawn.
'What happened to my house? Wasn't it in my family's name? It shouldn't be for sale!'
I pulled out my phone and attempted to call my father. The call didn't go through and I was left with the option to send a voicemail message.
"Dad, it's me. I'm back from the military. I don't know why, but my house has been put on sale. Please contact me as soon as possible."
After that, I tried all of my other family members but to no avail.
My mother. Nothing. My grandmother. Nothing. My younger brothers. Nothing from either of them. I even resorted to calling the butlers and maids but I still got nothing.
"What the hell is going on here?" I stared at my phone in frustration.
Before my anger got the best of me, I removed my phone from the tight grip I had and slid it back into my pocket.
My house was under my family's name, so it shouldn't have been like this.
"I need to get my damn house back!"
I closed my eyes as I felt my consciousness leave my body, as if my soul had left my body and wandered through what I called the 'Astral Realm,' a dimension between the physical realm and the mental realm, from what I gathered.
My 'Astral Body' gravitated throughout the city as I searched for a nearby bank.
The world appeared frozen to me in the Astral Realm; nobody moved, nobody talked, lights didn't change, nothing.
About ten minutes went by as I continuously searched through the clusters of buildings.
I passed by several stores, jewelers and whatnot but I couldn't find any banks.
Until I passed by a giant building with a sign marked 'Polis Banking'.
"Yeah, that should do it."
My Astral form returned to my body and I began my trek through the streets as I retraced my Astral steps.
I walked the busy sidewalks as even the night had been bustling with life. It was common for the nights to be more active than the days, due to most people working mornings into the night rather than the opposite.
Several conversations filled my ears as I tried to somewhat catch myself up to date.
Pointless mentions of growing companies, old friends catching each other up after so long, and other such things was all I could hear.
As I caught a certain interesting conversation, I used the power I inherited to enhance my senses, more specifically, my hearing.
Conversations grew louder as my head began to throb, but I ignored it all and tuned everything out to hear the discussions a male and female were speaking of.
"Right, Dylan? I've heard about the Luciel family's downfall, but I didn't get why?" The girl spoke.
'Wait, what? My family lost power? Why? How?'
I was confused. A barrage of questions filled my mind, trying to reason why and how my family could lose their power.
"Yeah, Leah, it was strange to hear it at first, but after getting a little bit of information from one of my sources, I found out that Jacob Luciel apparently challenged the Reaper!"
'The reaper? And Jacob! Oh, that little bastard.'
Now it all made sense. Jacob was always the rebellious type, so chances were that he left our family's assets as a reward for his loss. I didn't need another reason for why he did it; it didn't matter.
I retracted my enhancements and my ears filled with noise.
In my silent rage, I didn't even realize I'd already arrived at the bank.
I walked over to the side of the building as I noticed the attire people wore, and fancy suits and dresses compared to steel toe boots, black jeans, a white shirt and jacket would not work in my favor.
'Shit. I might need a change of clothes. But with my family's assets taken and everything under their name removed, I couldn't come up with anything better.'
I sighed in frustration.
'First, my family's gone bankrupt and now, I can't even look presentable. Isn't this wonderful.'
I gave up and decided to just walk inside.
'Well… I've already had the worst of my day shoved into my face by complete strangers, so what could possibly be worse.'