"I need you to dedicatedly offer up worship to a messenger from Hell. His name is Acheron Charon. I can't guarantee he won't bother you, but all I can say is that you need to to continuously pay reverence to him."
Alex expected her to revolt, or to at least protest. But once again, she surprised him. Angelia relaxed as soon as she heard him say that. In fact, she almost looked relieved.
"Oh, okay then."
"What was that?"
"I said it's all good. We have a deal."
Alex wondered if he had missed something. Was she truly more comfortable with the thought of worshipping a prince from hell, than she was at the thought of having to do nothing?
"So, we're good then?" she asked eagerly.
There it was again, Alex thought; that eagerness. It took him a while to figure it out, but he finally did. The reason for this was simple; now that he had asked her for something in exchange, she was a lot more comfortable with following through with this deal. Her mind was twisted. But that was the way it was.
"Yes." He answered her; "We're good."
She shook his hand firmly, as if she had just taken advantage of a good deal.
"Good, with that out of the way, I think recounting my own side of the story is in order. Hold on to your ropes, you might need to relax for this one."
Alex did not move an inch. She began her own tale;
"See, it all began with the mage I just fought. He's called Silent Stab. Don't even bother asking whether it's his real name or not, that's just what everyone calls him.
Just as his name suggests, Silent Stab is a real menace, and he's at the top of the foodchain. I'm not talking B or A-class. I'm talking S-class! And of course, he just so happens to be a mage of the New Order. This scum is totally different breed from the rest of the bad guys at the New Order.
His entire job is centered on finding out girls with C-class potential and A-class demigod females. This was where I came in. Being part elf, it turned out I was just perfect for the job. I am very sensitive to the life force, and this put me on his radar. He found me, and one thing led to another, until he ended up threatening me into doing his job for him..."
The microwave's timer alerted her that her snack was ready. As she attended to it, she continued her narration;
"Needless to say, I excelled at the job, way more than other mages who had been given the same contract.. I was practically invisible. It was so much so that Silent Stab began to rely on me more and more with every day that passed. Of course, it goes without saying that I never found any S-class mage. They were at the top of the food chain, and were adept at masking their soul fluctuations. Therefore, they always remained hidden and out of range."
She took a break from slicing up chunks of the processed meat which she intended to use to make a sandwich, and wiped her hands on her kitchen towel, before edging her way towards her wardrobe. There, she extracted a list from a well hidden compartment.
"Here." she tossed it to him.
Alex collected the piece of paper. "What's this?"
"I kept a list of every single name that came up. The ones highlighted are those he specifically asked for."
Alex's eyeballs danced back and forth in their sockets as he flicked through the page. Of course, just as he had suspected, Catherine's name was on the list. Because of his powerful semen in her, the poor girl's name had ended up on the list of a psychopath. What had been a quickie for him had condemned her to a bunch of trouble that she was ill equipped for.
Truly, he felt bad for her. She might have been a terrible person, but she definitely did not deserve to be on Silent Stab's radar.
Alex was just about to conclude that that was all, when, at the corner of his eye, he saw a very familiar name that had been highlighted in bright orange;
"ZOOEY BAILEY SANCHEZ."
Alex froze as if a bolt of lightning had just torn through him. No way! Zooey?
He felt his pulse rise in response to his growing apprehension. This was not good! This was not good at all! Silent Stab was bad news for any mage. Especially now that he was equipped with a weapon that could kill not just the most powerful mages, but a demigod as well! He had to act fast. He had to move now.
Angelia, who had a cup of coffee in her hand, as well a full plate before her, was quick to notice the dark expression that had now taken Alex's face captive. No doubt, he had probably recognized a name or two there. She was literally about to open her mouth to tell him not to entertain any kind hope as his friends were likely dead.
But Alex disappeared even before her tongue could touch the cleft of her mouth. She shook her head sadly, it was probably too late already. She drew a long sip of her beverage and settled in to attack her sandwich. Consciously deciding to think positive thoughts as she ate, she wheeled her mind away from Silent Stab's drama, and instead focused on just how cool it must be for one to be able to teleport.
While Angelia welcomed positive thoughts, at that moment, Alex did not have that option on his plate. He had virtually walked into a ngihtmare.
A few seconds ago, only the thought of Zooey facing Silent Stab had been enough to drive him to teleport to her location right away. Now, seeing her bloodied body on the ground made the sight look like a nightmare.
But the real nightmare was standing menacingly over her still body, hovering over her like a killer drone. Alex only saw the man's back, but that enough to tell him that it was the same man from before who had casually wielded the godkiller.
Being an astute mage, Silent Stab sensed Alex the moment he very moment he appeared on the scene. With a wicked smile on his face, he welcomed Alex without even turning back to face him;
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the one who got away..."
But that was all the hospitality he had to offer.
There was a sudden chill and a drop in temperature, even before the man began to chant inaudible words. As the incantation slowly began to build into a rythm, the environment not only grew colder, it began to freeze up.
Alex did not know Silent Stab, but by heavens, the man was a sharp one. It seemed he had learnt his lesson from their last dance, and was determined to not let Alex get away. Hence, the spell.
Alex realized what it was a little too late. It was only when he thought of getting to Zooey and teleporting, that he understood. The spell was meant to keep him from doing just that. It was a spell that was directly calibrated to trap mages who could teleport instantly- such as himself in this moment.
Zooey, who had appeared to be too weak to move, growled angrily at Alex;
"What are you doing you fool??? Get out of here!"
Alex felt the space closing in on him. He sensed that if he was unfortunate enough to get locked in, teleporting would be impossible. Odds were he would likely be killed. His only option was as clear as day, he had to teleport right away.
As if to help him make up his mind, despite being weak, Zooey yelled at him with all her strength;
"GO!!!!"
Time and space responded as soon as Alex willed it.
Haunted by the image of the evil man standing over Zooey's helpless body, Alex appeared at the entrance to the school. For the first time ever, his re-entrance was not smooth. He staggered, very nearly colliding with a huge rock.
It was not his fault, he was distracted.
In as much as he would have liked to teleport into the school and appear right in the Mina's office, he could not. He had to re-enter The Guardians lair through the normal way- the matrix.