Mystic Syn

The blades dissipated. Ji scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, sure. Add more people to the pile,” he muttered to himself, before looking up towards Elya. “Look, all I heard was my name called out and someone looking like they were going to attack one of our own. What else was I supposed to do?”

Ji didn’t say anything, only scowling further; however, his blades faded, becoming less solid as he put a little less concentration.

Ji’s head perked up. He strode towards the door, ignoring whatever Verim would say to him. Ji sighed to himself as he rested his hand on the doorknob for a second––mentally preparing himself for whatever Ne’ik wanted to tell him about how being a Mystic was wrong––then opened the door. He immediately frowned and narrowed his eyes as he saw the stranger. Ji’s gaze flicked from Ne’ik to the stranger, then back. It didn’t look like they were in kahoots together. Looks could always be deceiving. This could just be a trick from Ne’ik to kill them all; after all, Ji’d seen what he wanted to do them all. He had his reasons. Of course he would have close allies. Him being injured would be a deception so his more powerful allies would come to his side and wipe them all out. He’d seen something like this happen years ago, and he barely escaped with his life. Ji wouldn’t make the same mistake he made before. Veins glowing brightly, five diverse ghostly blade shot from Ji’s back, but not towards Ne’ik; instead towards the stranger.

Ji uncharacteristically raised a hand to his chin as he studied Elya’s slowed state. He walked around her once before making his way back to Verim. “Foreseer,” he confirmed with himself. “Slows the rate of how people move or react. My guess that Elya still thinks that she’s going to hit you, or she just saw you zip past her. You’ve just manipulated the time within her. Very interesting…” He blinked and went back to his normal scowl again. Ji lowered his hand. “So, that’s what happened to me earlier?”

This took longer than it needed to.

Haha, yeah. Totally.

“This is an abandoned hospital,” Ji said with a frown. “Just about everywhere is a dumpster.”

Q faced the swirling white portal in front of her. She couldn’t see beyond it, but she never expected that there would be anything to see where she was going. Taking a step towards the portal, she hesitated. Q looked down at her hand, seeing her hand soaked in blood for spare a moment before disappearing. It trembled and so did she. It’d been a long while since she’d actually been… nervous. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done this before, it was just… different. She found herself taking that step back, bringing her hand to herself. A hand held her shoulder gently. “Elysia…” Q started, flashes of her past flickering into reality. “I know,” Elysia Byrd said, sounding grim. “But Creed saw you. No one else.” She’s right, Krow piped up. And Q knew that. It still felt terrifying. She’s been through a lot, lost a lot, now she needed to leave what she did have for something Creed said was crucial. It didn’t take away the blood, though. Q still swam in it, drowning in it at times. It constantly lapped at her ankles, growing in size when she focused on it. It was hard to not focus on it, with all the bodies it brought: Bodies of those she loves or had once loved, and even those she’d worked with. It seemed that every time she fought, something new was added to the blood, and to what kept her up at night. What if this was going to go through like last time? What if she failed? What if she got close to more people, and they ended up betraying her or worse? What if–– Yulong, Mors said, penetrating her thoughts. Deep breaths. But what if the worst happens? Yulong argued, frantic. What if I can’t save them? What if I’m not the one? What if–– Deep breaths. Please. Taking in and exhaling a shaky breath, Q’s shoulders loosened and the blood retreated, for now. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to tell Elysia she was fine. Elysia’s hand lifted, letting her go. Q walked up and stepped into the portal, looking back to see Elysia wave farewell. . . . The Inbetween was empty, as usual. Her footsteps echoed off the non-existent walls, forever trapped in the endless white. The first time she’d been, it had been blinding, but it was only a squint away from adjusting. What was different about this time was that she wasn’t in those stupid robes and actually in the clothes she’d been wearing beforehand, everything in its place. Q raised her head, silently cursing herself. “Highness!” she called out, against her best wishes. “Highness, get your Lightn’ rear in gear and show yourself!” Not two seconds pass, and a figure formed in front of her. He, of course, had white robes on like any other normal person would Q scowled at the person, who only grinned back. “Yulong Qianshe. To what do I owe the pleasure?” His Highness said, his voice smooth. “Miss me already?” “Shut up,” Q seethed. “You know Lightn’ well why I’m here.” Highness waved his hand in the air, a swirling portal appearing off to the left; light blue this time. “Yes yes, whatever,” he sighed. “Just remember what I’ve said about love, no matter if it be in a platonic or romantic way. You know that everyone will betray you.” Q ignored him, marching towards the portal. “Don’t blame me when you come running back,” Highness called out right as she stepped through. . . . Q immediately begins scowling when she walks out of the portal. Of course there were already people here, but at the foot of a mountain? She couldn’t tell where in Ko’ad’s name she was, but it didn’t look like a place for her to be in right then. Instinctively, she ducked behind some cover, watching the people talk amongst themselves then pointing her gaze to what seemed like to be guards. She couldn’t pick out any weapons, but Q’s fingers were already itching towards her knives, but she stopped herself. Hmm, you remember what Creed said? I have a general idea. Then what’s stopping you? Q didn’t respond, continuing to observe the onlookers. She stayed in the shadows, feeling the darkness comfort her as she crouched lower. Q remained quiet, silently planning out her plan of action.

“Maybe? You won’t know until you’ve asked.”

“Foreseer,” he concluded. “Maybe has an area of effect?”

Oop, getting another one.

“Basically support, if you put your mind to it, got it.” Ji continued to tap his leg, his brow furrowed. “Depending on what Verim’s ability is, we could make a good team,” he muttered to himself.

Yeah, been staying up till 3am.. not my proudest moments.

Khusa nodded, looking up over Velen’s head. “Haro, start a new message,” he began. “I know you’re just doing your job, stop. But this is of an important matter and this will make both of our jobs easier, stop. A newbie is here and needed some help with these matters; I am simply helping them, stop.” He paused, waiting for Haro to finish tapping out the sentence. “I need you to clear the face of the assassin who killed Arke Espara, stop.” Haro finished tapping out the message, then began writing words on a piece of paper. It took a few moments, but she eventually held up the piece of paper. “We have their face,” she read. “This could be our biggest break yet. Don’t you know what that’s like?” Khusa clasped his hands together, the arrogance and laughter gone from his eyes in place of seriousness. “Alright, we’ll play your way,” he said to himself softly, before raising his voice in response. “Yes, I do know what that’s like, stop. But don’t think that you’re going to get off easily, Quentin, stop. Do you know how far away I am from messaging your boss about how you’ve been sleeping with his wife instead of your own, or how much more you’re embezzling compared to your coworkers, stop? You know you don’t want to be my enemy, stop. Why are you trying to get on my bad side, then, stop?” Silence from both ends. Khusa’s serious expression remained. Loss for words? he pondered, looking at Haro. Does he really think he can challenge me? Haro began writing, then placed the pen down. “Have it your way,” she read. “Their face will be cleared.” “Was that that hard,” Khusa said to himself. He leaned back a little bit. “How long will that take, stop?” A pen scratched against paper. “An hour tops.” Khusa nodded. “Your service is appreciated, stop. End conversation.”

Ji watched the deceased fly flitter to the ground, nodding in appreciation. He tapped his finger against his leg. “Have you tried helping others’ motions to be more precise, or is it just a self-power whatever?”

“No one said that you ‘needed’ me for it,” he put simply. “I’m just making it easier for you, so you can do your job without having too much work on my end. You don’t know how messy it can be to make sure that people doing the work that you or I do are getting off easy from the law. Really, I’m making both of our jobs easier. Now, please answer the question, my contacts only have so much time.”

I dunno how or why, but these new sketchbooks are doing me better than some of the ones I’ve had over the past few years.

“Clearing your name, at least enough where if you were to show your face, the police wouldn’t be right on your tail.”