"What's going on Rachel?"
She pulled me out of the scene in a hurry, it was startling. I have never seen her like this before. Well we've not known each other for long but at least we are able to tell when something's off.
Rachel dragged me into one of the liquor stores in Terre Lane, she placed her hands on her knees and gasped softly for breath.
When she raised her head to face me, I already had my hands crossed and a slight grin which stretched my lips sideways.
"What was that all about Rachel?"
She placed her left hand on her right elbow and looked away with her eyes wavering, it looked like she was at the point of breaking down in tears. You guessed correctly, she did.
Rachel sobbed softly, however it was still audible enough to be heard around the store. I still had the smug look on my face that portrayed me as a villain and it cost me.
"Hey you! why'd you make that poor girl cry!?"
"Have you no manners!?"
"You need to be taught a lesson so you'll never disregard a woman's feeling ever again!"
My head was tilted in utter tiredness, my pupils was not visible at the moment because I tried to really think about what just happened. Once again the women wanted to beat me up or watch me been beaten up.
"What the hell is wrong with this town?"
Those words raced through my thoughts over and over again. Rachel met the women and explained everything and luckily I got off, but that didn't change the fact I was public enemy number one in this part of town.
"Now, are you going to tell me what's really going on or are you just going to get me into more trouble?"
Realizing my seriousness, Rachel wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks and put up a bold face. She grabbed both her elbows before responding to my question.
"A year before I met Xerxes, my parents were already dead by then. I needed help, I was just a little girl and I couldn't survive on my own. I ended up stumbling upon a bar."
My left eye brow was raised in a bit of confusion.
"A bar?"
Rachel nodded and proceeded with her backstory.
"It was the Delkon's bar, Delkon Itsuba. One of the most notorious crime bosses in my hometown. I was hungry so they offered me some food, shelter and clothing. I thought they were being kind, but the moment I overheard him and his gang conversing I ran away."
I crossed my arms as my curiosity had already been piqued, what was so bad that it made her run away? now that I realize it that's a stupid question seeing as he was a crime boss.
"They planned to use me for human trafficking, they thought that if they fed and took care of me enough, I'd be a valuable asset in their illegal activity in the nearer future."
"Human trafficking?"
It was astonishing, not to take side's here but those dude's got some sharp eyes. They realized once this girl grew up, damn...
"So, for you to react the way you just did.. that means.."
I turned my head to face the exit of the liquor store. I caught on quite easily although it was obvious after hearing the story anyways.
"Yeah..they are here, and they've found me."
When dealing with criminal organizations who plans to use you for a specific purpose and you managed to escape without fulfilling that purpose. They will track you even if it meant following you to the other side of the earth.
"Then Xerxes found me crying near the river, I thought they cared for me, but I was too naive to realize it was all an act."
I scratched the back of my head with my right hand and placed my left hand on my waist. I didn't feel worry in the very least after all I am a witness to Rachel's power.
"Well since your like, super strong now you can take them on right? It shouldn't be a problem for a student of Xerxes."
I closed my eyes tightly and smiled, I did what Rachel would do to me whenever I was in crisis, I let her know everything was going to be just fine. I gave her a thumbs off displaying my positivity but who was I kidding.
There's no such thing as a positive side of things whenever I'm involved hehehe.
The doors to the liquor store exploded and the shockwave sent me and Rachel off our feet and flying backwards. We crashed into a shelf filled with liquor and destroyed it upon impact. The bottles shattered and it's content spilled everywhere including on us.
I moved my body slowly towards Rachel and gasped trying to catch my breath a little. Even the customers were startled, they panicked and ran away from the back door which was supposed to be accessible only to staff members.
"Why do bad things keep happening to us. Heh...heh...heh"
I breathed heavily as my lungs tried to accumulate as much oxygen as possible to retain stability in breathing.
"Hello again, Rachel."
The voice of a man echoed through the smoke, I got up to my feet before helping Rachel get up on hers. She as well tried to regain her breath. Plus her hair was a huge mess.
"Delkon.."
Rachel's teary voice had a mix of fear and anger as she spoke, she recognized the voice which came from the smoke. The moment the man emerged from the smoke, Rachel's eyes widened in utter disbelief. As I saw this there was no mistake.
The man that stood in front of us was Delkon Itsuba, the most notorious crime boss the magic world has ever seen. Well according to Rachel that is.
"It seems you still remember me, that's good because I still remember you, Rachel!."
His rage emanated from his body as flames which was hot enough to make his men fall back a bit so they wouldn't get caught in his fury.
I placed my right hand on my stomach and my left on my forehead releasing a sinister chuckle from my mouth. Everyone who was present stared at me in confusion, did I not understand how serious this situation is? No it doesn't seem like I do.
"Rachel, this dude uses flames, should be easy for a water mage like you right?"
Rachel's hands were shaking, the moment I noticed it so was my confidence, her current state and inability to answer my questions made it deteriorate at a faster rate.
"Right?"
I questioned her again to make certain she heard me the first time. Delkon smirked with a slight grin on his face.
"You owe me Rachel, and for the huge losses I suffered because of you. You'll pay with your blood!"
Flame's spread throughout the store as his rage increased, which made things more dangerous than it already is seeing we were present in a liquor store.