CHAPTER SEVEN – PRIDE (2/2)

School ended and Kiro and Alice headed out together. Alice hoped Erica would join them, but she didn't as much as make a move to. Alice was hopeful Erica would come though, something that Kiro took notice of. "You invited her, didn't you?" Kiro asked, as they walked towards Lucas's car.

"We need all the help we can get," Alice replied.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call Erica help. The guys won't be happy with it though."

"Well, they're going to have deal with it."

It didn't take long for them to get to 'The Grill Place'. It was quite the famous restaurant and they had gone ahead to reserve a table for themselves. The place could get full very fast. On getting there, they were told their reservation was transferred to someone else and their space was taken. They were in the middle of throwing a fit when a familiar voice spoke to them, "Calm down guys, I got us somewhere better."

"Leo?" Auron said, as she turned back to see who it was. He was a young man, tall and slim, probably not more than twenty-five years of age. But he was the head of PRIDE? Someone that young? "What are you---? Why are you here?"

"I thought we could talk," he said. No one was especially enthralled to see him though. "I won't take much of your time. I know you need to talk amongst yourselves. A lot has happened lately."

"Sorry, who are you?" Alice asked.

"Leo Armstrong, head of PRIDE. You must be Alice," Leo replied.

"Oh. How did you---?" Alice startled. But Leo simply smiled.

"I booked the entire upper floor. You have the place till the end of the day. That's a fair enough deal, right?" Leo asked. It sounded like a good deal, but it's not like they had the option of saying no. Without thinking too much, they finally obliged.

"So, why are we here?" Auron asked, when they were finally seated.

"The same reason why you went to Egypt. We want that energy source," Leo replied.

"You know what's there. Who's there."

"We can't afford to take the back foot. Eccentrics are spurring up daily, thanks to a certain someone. We're trying to rally as many as we can to our side. Or take out those who'd be a threat. That was the whole reason of working together. At the rate at which the gods and dragons are reincarnating, the god killers on our side won't be enough by an inch. We need more power," Leo said, emphatically.

"What does he mean by a certain someone?" Lucas asked.

"It's Alice. Or should I say, Heress," Erica said, as she walked in.

"Welcome, Erica. Took you quite some time to get here," Leo replied.

"How did you… why are you here?" Auron snapped.

"I invited her," Alice said. Auron was quite pissed at the moment, but she tried her best to calm herself down.

"I knew she'd be coming too. That's why they let her in. Have a seat, Erica." Leo added.

"You're working with Kai. And Goliath. Which means Esther is probably awake too. They are three of the five elder gods. All of whom worked with Roman, the hunter. And you think you can control them? Or worse, the hunter?" Auron questioned.

"I'm not here to convince you, Auron. I just came to tell you what I want. The rest is for you to talk with your group and decide how you're going to get it for me," Leo jeered. "This draws our meeting to a close." And Leo left after that.

"What do you mean, it's me?" Alice asked Erica.

Erica replied by simply staring at Auron. Long enough for Auron to know what that meant. "Fine," Auron sighed. "You're the reason we're in this mess. The seal that we used 5000 years ago, was supposed to kill all the supernaturals, remember? But here we are, because you wanted to save Heron and I. So, you created a small hole in the seal with your flame circle, which led to us being reincarnated. That was only possible because your mother was a gifted. You might have inherited your father's god powers but you could still affect ours. That's why Kiro and I were the first to be awakened."

"I did it to save you. She… did it to save you!" Alice exclaimed. She knew that Heress would give her life for them, ten times over and more. She genuinely just wanted those two to live.

"We didn't ask for it. We knew what we were getting ourselves into. And you completely made waste of our sacrifices. And now, we're back where we started," Auron sneered. "You created a path for everyone else to follow. To be reincarnated. And before long, we realized that others were awakening to their abilities partially. But the consciousness of the gods, whose powers they inherited, were still sealed. You were always born with your abilities and when I realized it was your ability that tampered with my seal, I took away your memory. What were the odds of you drawing a circle with a lit matchstick?"

"You had no right!" Alice snapped.

But Auron wasted no time replying. "You had no right either! You did what you felt you had to. So did I." Auron snapped right back. "To make matters worse, you regained your abilities because Erica told you about it. She decided she wanted to save us after betraying us in the first place. And who else to run to, except the person whose powers caused all this in the first place."

"I don't remember all that," Lucas said, turning his head towards Kiro, who also shook his head in ignorance.

"That's because she took those parts away too. She couldn't take mine of course. That was my perk," Erica said.

"Perk?" Alice asked.

"We all have perks. Just like some of the gods too. Same way your perk is teleportation, mine is immunity to other perks," Erica replied.

"What was I supposed to do? Besides, their memories returned later," Auron tried to defend herself.

"Because Alice drew a circle the second time. Drawing a circle on herself, which was what she did when she drew her circle in front of a mirror, almost completely shattered the seal. Every gods' consciousness and dragon returned. Save for the hunter's. That must be what the last part of the seal is still holding." Erica added. Finally, they were starting to understand why she did what she did.

"Now you see why I had her power taken. She's too much of a---," Auron held her hands over her mouth, as she realized what she had just said in a fit to prove her point. She knew there and then, that she had made matters a lot worse.

"You did what, Auron? You're the reason Heress is gone? She loved you. She…," Alice could barely muster the words. She felt distraught. And everyone else was shocked to find out that Alice had lost her powers. Even Erica this time.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kiro asked.

Alice was sullen. She couldn't bring the words together. After an eternity's worth of wait, she finally said, "I was attacked by Goliath. Heress destroyed her consciousness, since it was her, he was after. And my powers went with her. Instead, I gained her memories and experiences."

"I met Kai in Egypt. I trapped everyone there when they tried to make me free Roman. But he said he could take away your powers without killing you. That way, Roman would never be released," Auron said.

"I guess I should be grateful to you for saving my life then," Alice said, sardonically.

"Well I wouldn't have had to do this if Heress had possessed you immediately. She was taking way too much time. And if I don't have her power, then her trouble isn't worth it," Auron snapped. She noticed the semi-puzzled look on their faces. "You don't know, do you? Everyone that awoken possessed their hosts immediately. Save for Heron, because of the presence of his dragon in Kiro and you, because… I don't even know why."

"You're just like Roman," Alice lashed out.

But no one noticed Lucas's boiling rage. "Where is Auron?" He said, surprisingly calmly, like the calm before the storm. He stared Auron dead in the eye and his violent intent was apparent. "Answer me, Liana." He said again, still calm.

"Gone. A long time now," Auron or should I say Liana, said. In that moment of rage, Lucas attempted charging at Liana. Luckily, Kiro had anticipated it. Well, luckily for everyone else except Kiro himself. In a flash, he moved to restrain Lucas. But just as quickly as he touched Lucas, he found himself flung away, by just one of Lucas's arms, to the other end of the room. He was unhurt, as he hardened his skin right before he made contact with the wall. He was a dragon after all. But the wall sustained major damages. "We're leaving," Lucas said, as he got up. "Now!" he ordered, as everyone was still too shocked to respond. Without waiting for them to get up, Lucas took his leave.

"Lucas…," Liana called out, but it fell on deaf ears. Erica followed in Lucas's step.

Kiro got himself up after a few seconds. "Can't say I didn't see that coming. We have to leave too Liana. Maybe some other time," Kiro said casually. Alice got up to follow Kiro, without uttering as much as a word.

"At least say something Alice… Alice… Alice," Liana called out, but got no response. Not even as much as a look. Liana sank in her seat after they left. Everything she sought to protect, just walked out on her.

***

Later that evening, rain poured quite heavily. Heavily so, that umbrellas did the people no good. Hence, the streets had more cars than people. And even the cars were few. A phone booth stood out however and in it was Kai. He spoke with someone on the other end of the phone. "The group has been disbanded. Erica played her role well. We can move on to the next phase of the plan, Roman."