Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – Choice

It's been a day. After the purple aligment and after we came back from our date, leaving no evidence of anything suspicious behind us, we took another bath, mainly because of the blood I got on myself... Who am I kidding. Cause we had sex like crazy, fortunately at home since we manged to run back.

I really can't decide if I like purple alignment or not. It's a source of both ecstasy and immense embarrassment, because what people are capable of during that time is absolutely ridiculous. At the same time though the feelings fueled by the alignment make it all an amazing, unforgettable experience, which in turn makes it a source of embarrassment for ages... and that's how it goes.

Oh, and I sucked Ava dry, so there's that. Nothing bad happened, fortunately, and the good thing was that and the cracks in my soul healed completely. That most likely means I'll be getting another burst of vitality in the evening.

And we cuddled up and slept, having nothing more to do. It's s little... off putting, I guess? Normally we would spend a long time doing assignments and projects mainly from the Academy, sometimes meet our classmates and... let's say distant friends, but now? We could laze around for months on end and no one would bother us, be it because we are Touched, because they are dead, Touched, or yet something else.

I actually wonder if, and if yes, then who survived among our classmates. The ratio of one survivor per a few tens of people makes it unlikely for more than two people to survive from a class of thirty eight, but everything is possible. Hm. Not like we really have any reason to meet any of them, if they are still alive.

Anyway, in short, no one will be bothering us. Apart from Ava's parents, it seems.

We were preparing for our short trip to Palermo to see the ruins, as short as the preparations were with the changes to us, when we heard a ding from the communicator indicating that a message came.

"Ava?" I ask my girlfriend who went to receive it. "That's from your parents, right?"

"...Yeah, from my father." She replies after a moment in a kind of... trying to be emotionless voice.

I quickly finish dressing myself up and bounce to the study upstairs with worry in my heart. This reply will, more or less, decide our future course of action. I talked about with Ava a bit and I didn't need to convince her to cut herself off from her parents in the worst case scenario. Well, not exactly the worst, but point is that we won't hesitate to use drastic measures if they claim what's not theirs or try forcing us into something we don't like.

Not as drastic as yesterday, of course. I'm not a stranger to killing, it is, in fact, quite normal especially among Touched, but even if they turned out to be absolute scumbags, I'd hesitate before killing Ava's parents. I mean, yeah, with good enough reason I wouldn't hesitate, but Ava's feelings are at the forefront here.

So I arrive in the study to see my girlfriend standing beside the device with a heavy frown, and I immediately jump on her and hug her tightly.

"Don't worry, Ava." I mutter. "Let's get this over with, no point worrying over what might not happen."

"Mmm, yeah." She nods slowly and reaches out her hand to the panel. Her finger softly presses the button and a voice starts speaking.

"Ava, come to Great Talsi when you are able to. You'll go through the tests and we'll talk what to do now that you've been Touched and you have no stupid distractions. Your-"

And that's the moment when Ava smashes her hand into the speaker and breaks it with a small burst of Chaos coming from the broken Chaos stone inside.

The metallic clang of broken off pieces fill the silence along with the sharp breath I take when I realize what the fucker is talking about.

About me. A stupid distraction. Turns out he's a fucking liar and he doesn't care about me in the slightest.

...It's not a surprise, in a way. To him, I have no value, because I'm preventing him from doing what he wants with Ava. Heh. Like I'd let him.

Never, as long as I live.

I glance at Ava standing on my side and breathing heavily with her bleeding hand plunged into the device, and I immediately lean forward to gently pull her hand out of the disfigured metal.

The moment I do, I realize that the blood is only the remains, and the wound is already healed, so I place Ava's hand on the table delicately and slip to the front to hug her properly, standing straight on my legs to reach higher. I place one hand on the back of her head and another around her waist, and pull her head into my shoulder gently.

"I... hate him so much." Ava whispers, though I hear it clearly thanks to my hearing, and she reciprocates the embrace.

"...I'm not any less pissed off." I reply quietly. "But I don't think getting angry now will solve anything. We are not going to the capital, I assume?"

"No." My girlfriend chokes out sharply and raises her head slightly, but a moment later her body shakes. "I'm not giving him even that. If he wants anything from me, he'll be coming here... and begging." She spits out tearfully and angrily.

"Alright." I gently caress her head and stay silent.

Plotting murder, or so I'd like to say, but I'm not going to do that if the man doesn't give us a good reason. But if he does... he'll die.

"...Do we still go to Palermo?" I ask a while later when Ava has calmed down somewhat.

"Ah? Hm." Ava seems to snap out of a daze and looks at me, though still with a slightly absent expression. "...Yeah. I'd like to go. Some distraction would be nice now."

...

We walk calmly through most of the city, managing to arrive at the main road leading to Percula without problems. At this time of the day, which is before noon, it is packed with people and with Beasts, though it's not as bad as it would be in the morning or in the afternoon.

Nothing worthwhile happens on the way, and I'm starting to get the suspicion we were only needlessly concerned when we prepared ourselves in case someone attacked us like yesterday, but I can't shake off the feeling that we might be in danger. Not directly, but let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if our worries turned out to be true. The fact that I can't hear anything that would confirm my suspicions even with my new ears doesn't change much.

Though there's that one man who's following us since a while ago, who I hear thanks to my new ears and sense with my life sense.

The closer we get to the edge of the city, the more the number of people decreases, till we arrive at the point where only single houses remain and the street is mostly empty, save for the odd Beast and person that pass us in a hurry. And well, there is also that person walking just behind us. He is at fifth level in terms of his soul.

"Excuse me." Finally... finally?

Well, in certain way it's relieving that he finally speaks up. Always uncomfortable to have a man behind you, no?

"Huh? Yes? What is it?" Ava turns around and stops walking, showing surprise I doubt she felt. I also look at the man and take in his looks, which are rather unassuming. Short height, slightly chubby build, comfortable, but formal clothes, and at first glance Untouched, though I doubt it with the size of his soul. Much more likely that he's a Champion.

"Are you Ava and Vesper?" The man asks.

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Ava glances at me briefly and I shrug. "Those are our names, yes. Why do you ask?" She turns to the man with raised eyebrows.

"I see, that's good." He nods his head. "I'm called Harvin. I initially wanted to meet you in more... welcoming circumstances, but I understand it can't be helped. I belong to White Crows, you might have heard of us as a group that searches for and helps Touched with unusual powers who would be shunned or persecuted by most people. We happened to hear about your situation from one of our agents, and I'm here to give you a helping hand. Or an offer, if you prefer."

Hm. Sounds... not bad. But it sounds, and that's the problem, because that's a person, in this case even a group, that has knowledge about our abilities. And that doesn't sit right with me. Another who wants something from us like Ava's father, and I don't have a good feeling about him.

And another thing is that I've heard about White Crows. They help Touched with unusual powers, sure, but they are a large group that has quite a few unpopular stunts as well on their account. Like saving a Vespertilio, so a vampire, from a prison sentence he would have received for sucking twelve people dry, and claiming that it was not entirely his fault that he killed them.

I haven't met any of them, but my opinion about White Crows right now is hovering around 'dangerously covinced of their righteousness'.

"...Alright." Ava nods slowly and says, dragging me out of the rabbithole. "Let's hear it."

"To put simply, we will provide you food and other necessities, including any you might have because of the Touch, and in return we will ask you to use your abilities to help us. The details will obviously need to be worked out, but this in no suitable venue for that." Harvin explains calmy and points behind him with his thumb. "We have a vehicle prepared near Percula that would take you to our base. Or if you prefer, we could meet with my superiors in a location of your choice. If you are interested in the offer, that is."

"Vesper?" Ava looks at me with raised eyebrows and I stay silent for a long while. I notice she pulls her ears back for a moment, and I agree with that.

There is no damn difference between being used volutarily and being held captive or something. It's not that I'd prefer being a captive, but all that man says suggests that they would stop helping us if we refused to share our powers and use them for their benefit. Doesn't take a genius to realize what it means with Ava's power, and it's not that I think White Crows are the bad guys, but I simply can't trust them.

Shit, it all got so damn complicated when I was thinking things are calming down. First those three guys yesterday, now Harvin here.

"Would it be possible to give us a way to contact you?" I ask instead. "Your offer sounds interesting, but we would like to think it over, and we are in the middle of a trip right now."

"That's alright." Harvin nods with a smile and reaches to his pocket, taking out a small, round, black thingy he shows us on his open palm. "You might know this as a Chaos signaller. If you press that button, it will emit a pulse that will let us know you want to meet us, and we'll come as soon as we can to your location."

"Alright." I take the device and rotate it in my hand, noticing a small button on one side, hidden in a hole that would prevent pressing the thing by accident. "Thanks. Is that all?"

"Yes, that is all." The man nods with a smile. "Please contact us if you make up your mind. We'll be glad to offer our help. Goodbye, for now." He turns around and walks away slowly, and I continue on our way with Ava.

With nothing happening for a while, till the device in my hand sends a pulse of heat and somehow... ecstatic energy through my body, that jolts my body and almost causes me to fall over.

I notice something stinging my neck from the back and I immediately reach there and tear the thing away from my body, noticing it's a needle designed to inject the content into the target upon piercing the skin. It has that multicolored sheen specific to Chaos-infused metals, which means it's an anti-Touched weapon.

And it seems that's where our worries turn out to be correct.

I look to my side and notice as Ava staggers and almost falls forward, catching herself unsteadily in the last moment. Well, well, well. Someone seems not to value their lives.

Again.

I jump to my girlfriend and pull out another identical needle from her neck, steady her by grabbing her under her arms, then whip my head around to look for enemies.

And then I'm holding blazing, comforting flames that blind me completely. Huh? I blink away the afterimage and pull back and look at Ava still held in my hands... and at her red flames retreating into her body, leaving cyan and lime embers drifting around her. Wow.

"Vesper?" Ava asks. "What happened?"

Huh? Ah damn it it's not time to be amazed.

"Enemies, darts, with sedative I assume." I tell my girlfriend quickly and look around properly. "Behind us."

I turn to the woman standing behind us calmly as if waiting for us, Harvin with a frown standing behind her, and I'm joined a moment later by my girlfriend.

Yeah, should have seen that the bastard agreed too fast.

"Oh, I hoped it would go smoothly. But I guess it can't be helped." The man says and glances at the woman.

She is tall, dressed in a black cape covering most of her tall figure and not revealing anything about it. The only thing visible is her pale head, since her hood is pulled back, which looks unsettling in a way you would find a head of a corpse unsettling. It's completely expressionless, just like her voice, and it's quite beautiful in that creepy way with almost sunken cheeks, high cheekbones, and sharp features.

And her soul is on the sixth level, just a bit smaller than mine. That's... worrying, I guess?

"I don't think that's how I would define help." I tell Harvin, looking at him with raised eyebrows, and he makes that infuriating confident face of a person who believes he is completely right.

"I'm aware our actions might seem contradictory to you, but-"

"But you're helping us? By sedating us?" I interrupt him angrily. "If you want to help us, tell us what's the danger!"

"You don't understand-"

I abruptly suck in a deep breath at that and feel a vein popping up on my temple. Not sure if the metaphorical or actual one, though I'm leaning towards the former. Wow, how calm can I be sometimes, when I am absolutely pissed.

"Chaos Wretched." I hiss through my teeth. "Tell me. Do you intend on letting us go?"

Harvin stays silent for a long while before finally responding. "It is for your own good that I can't allow that."

"Then we don't need to talk." I say and dash forward.

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