Francine backed away from Sola as quickly as she could. Despite being critically injured from his last two fights, the Silver Bulwark was still more than capable of keeping up with the injured woman. In a flash he had her pinned against a tree with the shaft of his spear pressed against her neck. Francine stared into his glaring grey eyes as she struggled for air.
"Please..." She managed to say. "I won't tell anyone about what I saw..."
"You think that's the first time I've heard that?" Sola asked rhetorically. "The only people who've managed to keep my secret a secret are dead men,"
Though Sola said that and gave off the impression that he was going to kill Francine, he could not bring himself to do it. He had killed several other people before but all of them had been immediate threats to his wellbeing, not potential. He could feel his vision blur and his headache. His body had too little blood in it. If this kept on, he would die by exsanguination. In his state of light-headedness, he could no longer perceive his environment for what it was. For a moment, he was no longer in the forest but in a rocky area with stars and a giant blue planet filling the sky. He loosened his grip on the woman's throat, appalled by the fact he was trying to strangle her of all people.
"B-bisi?" He stuttered.
The illusion went as quickly as it had come. Francine gulped in the air as she watched the shell-shocked Sola, hoping that he had decided to let her go. Sola clenched his fists tightly around his spear. He did not want to kill Francine, even less so now. But he could not let her go scot-free. The best course of action he was left with was to put an insurance on her to make sure she never told anyone about his powers.
The spear returned to its liquid state before withdrawing back into Sola's body through his wounds. As it seeped into him, he could not help but feel he was avoiding death now only to court it later. That perspective was unfortunately not a priority. All the blood returned to him except a single drop on his finger. He focused all his thoughts on the blood, trying to place an imprint on it. The drop-shaped itself into a small orb and floated above his finger, indicating Sola's success. Sola grabbed Francine by the neck and put the finger with the orb near her ear.
"Don't fight it," He warned.
Francine obeyed and stayed as still as she could be. She felt the cool metal orb float into her, changing shape as it dripped down into her canal up her head. After a sharp pain near her temple, she could no longer feel the orb in her head, though she knew it was still there.
"That blood will react when it hears a certain combination of words from your voice regarding me and my powers," Sola explained. "If you say anything relating to it the orb will fly into your skull and destroy your brain, which will either kill you or make you a vegetable,"
"Then you're not going to kill me?" Francine asked.
"Not directly, no," The man replied. He let go of her neck and let her drop to the floor. "Now let's go catch up with the others,"
The two walked away from the cater, with Francine following Sola a good distance behind. He had spared her now, but she did not know how long his sudden mercy would last her. They continued deeper into the forest until the air became pungent with the smell of blood and smoke. Realising what might have happened, the two rushed to the source of the smell and found Fólórunsó's body in a pool of blood.
His skin was covered in cuts and a gaping hole was in his chest. Francine caught a glimpse of what looked like a heart and immediately felt her stomach churn. She was unable to hold it in and threw up on the floor. Sola stared at the corpse with eyes filled with shock. His eyes were on Fólórunsó's body, but his mind and ears were filled with the screams of a thousand people as they were burnt, only to have their voices silenced by the weight of something large crushing them to paste.
Sola quickly pulled himself from the memory and back into reality. Fólórunsó was dead and Jonathan was gone. He could only assume Darwin's partner was the one who killed him and took the kid away. But there was no way for them to track him. Sola screamed in frustration and punched the ground, sending a loud thud through it.
"Calm down, Sola there's still something we can do," Francine said as she wiped her mouth clean.
"And what is that?" Sola growled.
"We have to inform Jonathan's father about this incident. He'll immediately take action to find Jonathan's kidnapper and once we have him, you'll be free to do as you please with him,"
Sola looked at Fólórunsó's corpse once more, he wanted to take it with him and find somewhere to bury or cremate him, but that would have to wait. Preserving his body came second to getting revenge. He picked up the corpse and threw it into the branches of a tree to keep predators away from it. The heart was left where it was as neither of the two could compel themselves to touch it. Once secured, the two made their way to the Immortalis Manor.
As sound as they left, a dark haze began to swirl around Fólórunsó's body. The forest was filled with an unnerving sound that made all the animals want to stay hidden; the unnatural thumping of a disembodied heart.
Miles away from the Tru Forest, Jonahan arrived at the Immortalis Manor with Iku alongside him. His eyes carried a mad glint in his eyes as he smiled widely as if he were anticipating something that was going to happen soon. On their entry into the manor, they ran into a middle-aged woman standing in the main hall. Her dark hair was tied into a long ponytail. Her eyes were small and green. She was most likely in her late 40s but appeared to look several years younger. She dressed in a plain blouse and a pair of black pants, compounding with her features to give her an almost regal appearance.
"Good evening, Madam." Jonathan greeted with a bow, taking Iku aback. "I was not expecting to see you this late in the day."
"I was attending to business with your father." The woman said.
"Always working," He replied in disdain. "I hope you do not end up working him to 'death',"
"That's the plan,"
Iku could not help but wonder who this woman was. From her appearance, he could tell she was not a member of the Immortalis family but Jonathan's begrudging respect for her seemed to imply her importance in the manor. He could only conclude that she was a mentor or advisor of the sorts, which would explain her supposed closeness with the lord of the house.
"Where is Francine? Did she not go with you on your little expedition?" She asked.
"We ran into a series of incidents, and we ended up getting separated," The blue-eyed boy explained. "She'll return in due time. As for now, I would like to rid myself of the dirt that soils me. Would you entertain my guest in the meantime?"
The woman simply nodded, and Jonathan went upstairs and into his room. She turned her attention to Iku who was still pondering her significance.
"You look hurt," The woman said. "I could heal you if you would like."
"With Revel?" The assassin asked with disgust dripping from his tone. "No thank you,"
"Suit yourself," she said. "I hope you and that boy have not gotten yourselves into a matter too deep to escape from, or at least too deep for you to escape from,"
"I believe that is a matter best discussed between my employer and I," Iku spat out.
"If that is how you feel, then some be it,"
Jonathan stripped himself naked and pulled into the heat of his bathwater. The tub was the size of a pool and was filled to the brim with boiling water that turned his skin red on contact. The heavy steam made it hard for any regular person to breathe. However, the extreme temperature only seemed to exhilarate the boy.
As he showered, Jonathan's excitement could hardly be contained. He sat in the middle of the heat, holding himself with both hands and his smile had widened so much that he now bled from the sides of his mouth. The pain he was experiencing seemed recurring as his body continually healed itself, but he remained where he was, boiling himself alive.
"Sola," He smiled, his cheeks blushing red from both the heat and his excitement. "It won't be long till you come and when you do, I'll kill you;"
His words carried no malice or hate but rather bliss. Jonathan continued clutching himself tightly as he enveloped himself with the water and disappeared.