A week after my first assassination trial, I went back to school. Apparently. The excuse was that I wasn't feeling fine. I wonder what the other students will think of me now, with the first incident in Greece and this one week absence. They must really think I'm a sickler who is close to biting the dust.
I went about the normal school activities as though nothing was wrong but I still wasn't feeling okay. It was unthinkable that I'm back in school after assassinating someone. Everyone was now pampering me in school thinking I have some kind of terminal disease, not knowing they could be my target one day.
As I was feeling gloomy and filled with thoughts, Olympus appeared in front of me.
"You look sour, what's the problem?" he asked.
"I thought you always knew what I'm thinking?"
"I just wanted to make small talk. You obviously aren't going to talk to anyone here about it."
I sighed and put my books into my locker. It was time for games and I needed to change in the locker room.
"Can we talk about it later? It's bad enough that everyone thinks I'm sick." I looked around "I wouldn't want them to think i'm batshit crazy as well."
"I see… well, if you want to talk about it, I'm always here."
Olympus took one last look at me before he vanished. I sighed, put on my game wear and stepped out into the field. Today, we were playing football.
"Hey Ash, pass the ball over to me." A team mate called out and I did
He dribbled some players from the opposing team and passed the ball over to me again. I pushed forward with the ball, meandering past some players and soon, I was face-to-face with the goalkeeper. As I was about to kick the ball, my eyes drifted to the side of the goal post and I saw the man I assassinated standing there and glaring at me. This made me lose focus and I kicked the ball so high in the air it went over the goal post.
"Hey Ash! After all that selfish dribbling, you still missed the goal? Come on!" One of my teammate called me out. There were complaints from other team members and I had to leave the field.
"Are you okay?" Daniel asked while walking up to me.
I hadn't told Daniel anything about my powers or Olympus and he didn't bother to ask.
"I'm fine just feeling a bit unwell. That's all." I lied
"Maybe you should take a break and relax." he suggested and I nodded.
"Hey Daniel," I called out as he was about to leave and he turned "How did you guys clean up my mess?"
Then he smirked and put his hand to his lips as though he was telling me to be quiet "Hi-mi-tsu" he said, and walked away.
Of course their methods were secret. Why would I even asked him that? They don't ask about our assassination techniques and we don't ask about their cleanup techniques either.
After thinking hard about it, I decided to consult Olympus for his opinion.
"Olympus, are you there?"
Suddenly, there was a whooshing sound.
"I'm always here. So what gives?" He asked and crossed his arms on his chest.
"I think I saw the man I assassinated just now. But it may be my mind playing tricks on me."
"Hmm. The mind is a very powerful weapon and sometimes acts on its own, but I don't think it was your mind this time."
Olympus' words sent a cold shiver down my spine and I cringed.
"What!? I'm seeing ghosts now?" I asked in shock.
"You do have the power of Hades, so it shouldn't be a surprise." Olympus said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Why do you look so relaxed? I haven't even awakened you yet. So how is Hades' power in effect?"
He Shrugged, "I don't fully know the details but that's how it is sometimes."
"You have got to be kidding me! An assassin's job is to kill people, you know that, right? What do you think will happen If I start seeing everyone I've killed?"
"You will go insane?"
"Are you asking me?" I was beginning to get annoyed. Olympus was acting too laid-back about this.
"Calm your horses. This is really not a complicated matter."
"It isn't? What do you mean?"
"For one, you can banish the lurking spirits into nothingness." Olympus said with a sly grin.
"Okay, what does that even mean?" I was beginning to feel sorry for the ghosts.
"It means destroying their soul, that way they can't move on to the other side."
At this point, my heart took a straight dive right into the depths of my stomach. I can't believe Olympus wanted me to kill the poor man for the second time.
"I can't do that." I said with a sullen expression.
"What do you mean 'You can't do that'? You think this is only going to end with you? Don't be naive!" This time, Olympus sounded pissed.
"Hey! what are you getting mad at me for?"
"Your house is a gathering zone for vengeful ghosts and right now, your powers are starting to give them manifestation."
"W-Wait, what? What do you mean?" This was starting to take a wrong turn.
"Have you asked your father if he has been able to sleep properly at night? A lot is going on around you Ash and you don't even have any idea."
"Hold up! Wait a minute. What are you talking about?" I was about inquiring more when…
"Hey Ash!" A voice called out from behind me and I turned to see the game master.
"Yes, sir?"
"What are you doing sitting there? If you are sick, go to the clinic."
Although I wasn't sick I just needed an excuse, so I thanked the game master and went to the clinic. When I got to the clinic, I told the nurse that I just had a slight headache, so she gave me a mild pain relief and I left.
The driver came to pick me up as usual after school. When I got home, I greeted my mom and asked her where my dad was. She said he was meditating in the secret room.
Meditating? My dad meditates there only when he has a mission. Ah, I see. So that's how it is.
I went down to the meditation room and silently opened the door. I grabbed a shuriken off the wall and flung it at my dad while he was still in his meditating position. But he caught it mid air.
"Hmm, your aim has improved." He said with his eyes still closed.
"You taught me well," I bowed sadly before continuing "I see you have a mission."
"Yes, and I'm taking you along with me."
"Huh? Me? You always go alone on missions, why now?"
He really took me by surprise. Why will he want to take me on an assassination mission?
"I just realized that I never really gave you a first-hand experience as an assassin. Think of it as a crash course."
"Isn't it a bit too late for that?" I muttered to myself.
"Hmm, did you say something?" he asked as his ears perked.
"Eh? Nothing!" I said nervously. He has unbelievably good hearing.
"I will show you what true assassination looks like."
I got carried away with the recent development that I almost forgot what I really wanted to ask him.
"Nna, are you sleeping well these days?" I was a bit nervous.
"Hmm…" He groaned and opened his eyes "Lately I've been seeing my victims in my dreams. It's as though they are haunting and tormenting me."
"Huh…?" I was shocked.
"Sometimes I wake up with scratches or intense body pains, it's really weird."
"So this has never happened before?"
My father shook his head "Not once! Never."
Olympus was right after all. My powers are indeed affecting the spirit realm and I needed to do something real quick
"Ash!" my father called me back to reality.
"Yes, Nna?"
"Go change up, we'll be leaving very soon."
Huh? What does he mean? It's just 2pm in the afternoon.
Umm...We'll be leaving soon? I thought it was going to be at night?
My Father laughed. I think this is the first time ever I've seen him laugh.
"Only amateurs assassinate people at night. The pros can assassinate someone in broad daylight."
Huh…" I responded slowly.
I huriedly took my bath, changed up left and in no time, we were driving through the city. In less than an hour, we arrived at Lokogoma and drove into one of the streets. We parked at a corner and came down.
We walked a little bit and turned the corner to a location where the street was full and people were walking up and down.
"Let's wait here." My dad said and we stood at the edge of the street
My dad kept on checking his time and looking into the crowd of people.
"There are a lot of people here nna, how exactly are you going to pull this off?" I was getting curious. If he makes a mistake right here, there will be no escape for him.
"Right about time." He said "Stay here and watch me. Let a pro show you how it's done."
"Huh, you're going already, huh?" I asked in panic as my dad stepped into the crowd.
I watched him closely as he avoided contact with every single person on the street except one man who he bumped into. It wasn't an aggressive bump, It was more of the walking in a crowded place kind of bump. But the man didn't seem to notice because he was in a hurry.
When the man got to the place where I was standing, he was sweating profusely, his movement became slow and he was staggering. I thought my dad had stabbed him in broad daylight, but there was no sign of a stab wound on his body. He clutched his chest and started screaming. Many people rushed to his aid, but there was little they could do for him. He collapsed on the spot and died.
I looked up and saw my dad signaling to me to come and I left the scene and went up to him.
"I've been trying to signal you for ages. Where the hell was your mind at?" he cautioned me.
"Sorry, I was carried away with what was happening in front of me."
"I've told you times without number that an assassin must be on alert every single time. Now come on, let's get out of here."
We left the vicinity and headed back to the car. As my dad was about to open the door, a cold feeling washed all over us.
"Hmm…What's this chill?" He asked cautiously "I'm getting a bad vibe. Let's get out of here."
Of course, my dad couldn't see the source of the chill, but I could see it clear as day. It was the ghost of the man he had just assassinated, hovering above him. I quickly got into the car and we drove off.
When we got home, I excused myself and quickly ran to my room.
"Olympus?" I called out but there was no reply "Huh. Olympus, are you there?"
"Yes, I'm here." He answered looking smug.
"Why didn't you answer the first time?"
"Because I can."
"Because you can what?"
"Don't you have something to ask me?" He changed the subject.
"Oh, yes! I think my dad is going to be in danger this night. This guy he just killed followed us home and has been muttering on how he's going to kill him this night."
"Well, he's not the only one who wants to kill your dad. He seriously needs to get in line." Olympus teased.
"Olympus!"
"Alright! Alright! Geez, someone cannot make a joke around here."
"I thought about what you said and I have decided that I will protect my dad, no matter the cost. Even if it means getting ghost blood on my hands."
"Ghosts don't have blood." Olympus said.
"That's not the point."
"Never mind that, I found another way to stop the ghosts rather than banishing their souls."
My eyes widened at the good news.
"Really? That's good news. What's the alternative?"
"Sealing them into shabti." Olympus said, dryly.
"Huh? Shabti? What the hell is that?"
Olympus sighed "I forgot you only read about Greek mythology. Shabti or Ushabti is a figurine used in ancient Egyptian funeral practices, but some God found a way to use it as a prison to trap souls."
"Ah! That sounds even worse." I said cringing.
"Is it though? This way you won't have to worry about destroying their souls."
I thought for a moment then asked.
"What happens to the souls trapped in the shabti."
"When the souls let go of their grudges and resentment, they will be freed from the shabti and cross over to the other side."
Olympus was right, this was a better option and I would feel less guilty about it.
"Alright, let's begin the preparations."
And thus, we started getting ready to seal some vengeful ghosts into shabti.