And as Aiden began running away from the van, he briefly looked behind him, to see where the man was. To his surprise, he was quite far, but, there was somebody else. Two people were chasing him now, the man, and a shorter, young woman whose blond hair flew in the wind.
The woman seemed to be carrying two katanas, and just before they caught up to Aiden, she handed one to the man. Aiden ran and ran until he made his way to an empty beach below the highway. Running in the sand was difficult, each step sinking slightly, but he kept going. When he felt he was far enough from everyone else, he drew out his sword.
The two assassins soon followed behind, and they now stood across from Aiden, no one daring to make the first move. The waves hitting the beach gave this standoff an almost serene feel, and added an interesting rhythm to it.
Aiden took a step forward with his left foot, causing the attackers to immediately place their blades in a blocking position. However, Aiden's goal wasn't attacking. He kicked some sand up with his right foot, igniting it with Matchbox, creating a distraction. He quickly dashed towards the woman, pushing her away, before slashing the man, setting his clothes on fire. Aiden jumped back, his eyes keenly observing every movement. As the man rushed to remove his burning shirt, Aiden seized the opportunity and slashed him across the chest with a swift, calculated strike.
But, instead of cauterizing, the wound began profusely bleeding. "Finally, I learned to activate Matchbox on will, not on contact." Aiden thought, a grim satisfaction creeping into his mind.
The man, fearing another slash, jumped back, but, Aiden noticed his movement got faster now. The woman got up too, as they stood one next to eachother.
"Mikela, do you mind?" The man gestured at his thigh.
"Of course." Mikela now took her sword, and slashed the man across the leg, which began spouting blood out. Until, his leg began shining in a bright purple light that seemed to draw out the outline of the man's veins.
"Your power is a risky one, Conrad." Mikela said, as she threw her sword at Aiden, without even turning her gaze to him.
Aiden slashed her sword away with a swift parry, but Conrad immediately rushed behind it, using the distraction to close the distance and catch Aiden off guard. Aiden couldn't react fast enough, and Conrad slashed him across the chest. Pain flared across Aiden's abdomen as the wound gushed. He jumped back, trying to scope out the scene.
He turned his sword to the flat side and dragged it across his wound, igniting it. "Fuck!" he hissed through gritted teeth as the wound set alight and cauterized. "This hurts! How'd Kaji do this with a straight face!?"
Conrad smirked, his eyes gleaming with the thrill of the fight. "You won't last long if you keep using that trick."
Aiden's eyes darted between his two opponents, calculating his next move. The beach's open expanse offered little in terms of cover, and the sand made quick movements tricky. He needed to think strategically.
He kicked up more sand towards Mikela, but Conrad expected another distraction, and rushed to flank Aiden. But, Aiden was ready. He feinted a dash towards Conrad, before ramming his sword directly into Mikela's shoulder. With a blood-curdling scream, she grabbed onto the tip of the sword, smirking. Conrad rushed to seize the opportunity, trying to slice Aiden across the back, but Aiden quickly dragged his blade out, throwing himself directly into Conrad, before he turned around. He threw his sword to the side, freeing his right hand, before punching Conrad in the gut. He dashed to the side, dodging Mikela's overhead strike, and grabbed his sword again.
Aiden wasn't sure what Conrad's ability was, but it's clear it activated when he bled. He couldn't risk wounding him without cauterization.
But, suddenly, Mikela stabbed her sword in the sand, and sat down. She crossed her legs, and intertwined her fingers. Closing her eyes, and with a loud exhale, a long, blue string extended from Mikela's heart and began making its way to Conrad. Aiden bolted, trying to cut the rope, but, his sword just phased through.
"Are you sure about this, Mikela?" Conrad inquired, giving her a helping hand to get back up.
"No worries. I just need to dodge. The attacking part is all yours." Mikela now backed up, taking her sword out of the sand, and just began standing there, doing nothing. But, Aiden seemed to noticed something is off. Her shoulder wound… it's no longer healing. The faint blue glow when someone heals with Essence, it's gone.
"Hey, what is this?!" Aiden screamed.
"It's simple," Mikela began explaining. "My ability is Soul Weave. I've connected mine and Conrad's soul, and all my Essence, healing and durability goes to him. In short, he's now stronger than you in every possible way." Mikela grinned, her tone exuding a sense of arrogance.
"Mikela, you shouldn't have told him that!" Conrad screamed. "I thought I told you we need to keep our powers hidden."
"Well, Conrad, the boy at least deserves to know how he got so easily overpowered." Mikela was talking as if she felt she was invincible.
With a smile, Conrad immediately rushed at Aiden. Mikela wasn't lying, Conrad seemed much stronger now. But, there was a great flaw in their plan.
"Mikela is completely vulnerable now, meaning, if I attack her, Conrad needs to defend." Aiden was trying his best to think of a plan, while he kept parrying strike after strike from Conrad's heavy arm. Until, Khiara's words started ringing in Aiden's head. He remembered their conversation in the Medical Corps, waiting for Dr. Gabriel.
"So, Khiara, how did you beat both Cassius and Clara alone?" Aiden asked. "That power of his seemed terrifying. He killed a woman in front of my own eyes with it."
"Well, the element of surprise surely helped, however," Khiara lifted her hair to reveal her forehead, where a Roman "II" appeared. "It's called Swiftstride. It's hard to keep up, but basically, you just surge Essence directly into your brain. It helps with reflexes and reaction time, but, it's risky."
Aiden had to try it, somehow. His heart pounded, trying to tighten his focus enough to replicate the technique. He rushed behind Conrad, and towards Mikela, all while trying to surge Essence into his brain. He figured if he could ever learn it, now is the time he'd need it the most.
Conrad ran behind Aiden, kicking him in the leg and sending him tumbling past Mikela, all while she didn't even budge the slightest bit. He got up, and ran towards her again. He had to keep Conrad distracted from attacking, and force him to defend, until he figured Swiftstride out.
He kept attacking, each and every time being either cut and forced to cauterize, or being sent flying. Until…
Aiden got back up from one of Conrad's throws, a horrifying grin spreading at his lips. "I've done it!" he straightened his head, revealing the same Roman "II" that Khiara had. Conrad seemed startled when he saw that, and even Mikela seemed intrigued.
Aiden gently dragged his finger across his sword, setting it alight, before charging at Conrad. Dodging all of his strikes, he slid across the sand, and slashed his sword at Conrad's legs. He cleanly severed his foot, and not even a drop of blood was spilled. The slide turned into a roll, and he got back up on his feet and an alarming rate. But, then, the symbol on his head began fading…
Aiden collapsed on his knees, as Conrad fell to the ground and screamed, grabbing his now severed foot from the sand next to him. Mikela dismissed Soul Weave and got up, heading to finish off the disoriented Aiden.
"I wouldn't attempt that if I was you, miss." A gentle voice called out, freezing Mikela in place. Aiden barely managed to lift his head up and look, but he was relieved when he saw it was Monique and Synnove.
Mikela was only a few steps from Aiden, sword in hand, but the sudden appearance of his allies put her at a disadvantage. She could kill Aiden, but then they'd kill her, and she wasn't ready for that.
Monique bit her thumb without a second thought, and what began as a few droplets suddenly coalesced into a crimson blood spear. Monique threw the spear at Mikela, causing her to flinch and dodge, but, the spear disappeared. Monique recalled it before it hit, and reshaped it back into a new spear.
"Your comrade is wounded, and you're clearly terrified. Run. While I'm still giving you the chance." Monique gently smiled with the last few words, and she didn't even get to see in which direction Mikela ran off, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Conrad laid on the ground, almost beginning to cry. He tried hopping away, but, he wasn't fast enough, nor did he have enough balance, constantly falling back down.
"You, Aiden…" he called. "Please, kill me. I'll get thrown in a jail cell under the Oracle's care, and, if I ever get released, the Cult will probably hunt me down. I wouldn't be able to defend myself, and death by their hands is many times worse than by yours."
Aiden was weirdly intrigued by this prospect. Gripping his sword a bit tighter than before, he thought of Inherit.
"Tell me, that purple glow," he crouched down, closer to Conrad. "That's your power, right?"
"Yes… I call it Substitution. When I lose blood, that blood is automatically replaced by Essence, and the I get increased strength from it. When the wound closes, the Essence stops and, I need to be careful not to lose too much blood. But, it's useful." Conrad was looking up at the sky, not bothering to even turn towards Aiden. Almost as if he wanted to enjoy the sun one last time before getting locked up.
Every hair on Aiden's body suddenly stood up. He needed as many powers as possible, to defend himself from the mercenaries, "Why shouldn't I take it?" he thought.
Until, Monique came up and placed her hand on Aiden's shoulder. "Aiden, don't you even dare to think about it."
Hearing her words, he immediately let go of his sword, letting it fall to the ground.
"She's right, Aiden." Synnove chimed in. "Killing in self-defense is one thing, killing someone defenseless is not the same. That morality is the only thing separating you from people like Cassius."
Monique pulled out a phone from her pocket, beginning to dial a number. "She's right. And either way, scum like him belong behind bars. Death is too easy of a punishment for those who give up their morals for money and power."
"Hello? Yes, this is officer Monique Cosineau, Offense Corps #3. Please, forward me to Officer Tosseti." She was tapping her foot on the sand, waiting for the call to go through. "Hello, Fornicus? It's Monique. Listen, I'm with Aldegar's boy and he got attacked again. Two attackers, one caught, one got away. Yes, one second. What is your name?" she said to Conrad.
"Conrad… Conrad Herschel." he said as he sat up, a tear running down his cheek.
"Conrad Herschel, that's what he said. Alright, got it. Bye." she calmly returned the phone, before walking up to Conrad.
"Don't worry. You will be in prison, but we aren't savages. You'll have three meals a day, entertainment, a soft bed, a nice cell. You just won't be able to leave." she now turned to Aiden, and Synnove, who ran up to check if Aiden was wounded. "We'll be waiting here for a bit, Sorveil police needs to pick him up and take him to Dawnvale. I'm definitely not taking him with us…"