Abduction 5

“Crimson?! What are you doing here?!” Surprised, Raven asked wide-eyed.

“It’s a long story, but Dright sent me here saying his sister Quare is in trouble… And it seems that it wasn’t only Quare that needed help.” Crimson answered. Raven relaxed. Feeling relieved made her feet gave up. She then started to collapse, but then she felt someone catching her back. She looked over her shoulder was only to see Dright. Lia was behind him, carrying Quare on her back.

“Good job… now go get treated…” Dright genuinely praised Raven who stood her ground even though in her poisoned state. She protected both Lia and Quare despite her being at a grave disadvantage.

But then, Raven noticed something about Dright. Bloodstains can be seen on his mouth that reached his chin.

“What happened to you, Dright?!” Raven asked worriedly.

“Oh… He overdid himself. I told him not to overexert himself, but he still did… He can be quite reckless sometimes, huh…” Crimson said as he removed the gas mask and explained in Dright’s stead.

It was as Crimson said. Dright overexerted himself. Despite being injured, he forced himself to open up a portal for them. Dright was in a state where he shouldn't use his Blessing, but he still did recklessly. He made portals enough for transport which allowed them to get to Raven on time.

...

Several moments ago, Crimson and Dright were walking at their own pace by the time Raven and Lia escaped Hanzo for the first time.

Both Crimson and Dright now find themselves exiting the academy gates. About five minutes have passed since both of them started walking out of the academy. Their pace was slow because of Dright’s current condition. It was also around that time when Dright sent a message to Quare and wondered why he hasn’t received a reply yet from his sister, which he’d normally receive immediately. Five more minutes later, Dright’s phone suddenly vibrated as he took it out to check his notifications. It was a message from Quare.

“I’ll be waiting at the usual place.” That was the message.

“Something feels strange…” Dright said.

“Hm? What is?” Crimson reacted.

“Quare usually replies fast when I send her messages, but it wasn’t the case this time…”

Upon hearing Dright’s statement made Crimson look at him since people would normally think it weird when he’d say something as detailed as that.

“Aren’t you just overthinking it?” Crimson replied as he placed both his hands behind his head and leaned on it.

“…” Dright remained silent for a moment before deciding to call Ceda.

“I’ll have Ceda check just in case.”

Although Ceda mostly assists the Royal Phantoms, it wasn't a secret to the public since most people can contact it for assistance. Only the Royal Phantoms can access restricted functions and information.

“What can I do for you, sir Dright…”

Ceda’s voice rang through Dright’s earpiece.

“Tell me the status around Silvane Bookshop…” Dright commanded as he continued walking.

“Understood… Will bring you the answer in a few seconds…” Ceda replied as Dright brought his phone back to his pocket and fixed his gaze out front. Crimson chatted with him for a bit to kill time while waiting for Ceda’s analysis.

“Hey, Dright. How did you get poisoned?” Crimson asked, purely curious.

“… Did Maroon tell you that?” Dright answered after a short pause and let out a sigh. Crimson nodded in response.

“I guess it’s okay to say… it’s not like the Grimmers are a secret to the public…”

The Grimmers' existence is already known to the public. The Royal Phantoms coordinated with the media and spread knowledge and awareness to the citizens about the Grimmers since their activities were already out of hand. As such, the police were deployed to various stations to intercept the Grimmers if necessary. The police force guarded the citizens while the Royal Phantoms are in charge of eliminating the Grimmers in the shadows.

“I was chasing after a member of the Grimmers. Then something unexpected happened, and I wasn’t able to defend it, which got me that poison. That person is no longer human…” Dright said.

“I see… he must be quite remarkable for him to be able to injure you…” Crimson responded.

“No kidding… That was Hanzo… Hanzo Romacrova…”

Surprised, Crimson’s eyes widened as he broke his grip on his hands that he was leaning his head-on. Hanzo is also widely known to the public for his infamous doings and trickiness. There was one time when Hanzo purposely got caught by the police and then used his Blessing the moment he was about to get in the police car. By that time, Hanzo didn’t have those features that Drighth currently knows. Hanzo actually looked younger than what the mass knows. This was probably the reason why nobody recognized him when he was roaming the city before meeting Quare.

“You mean, THE Hanzo Romacro-?!” Crimson said but got cut off by Ceda as it spoke through Dright’s phone.

“Analyzation complete… showing report through hologram…”

Ceda reported as both Dright and Crimson stopped to watch. Dright held out his phone as a hologram was emitted from its screen and enlarged itself through the air. What Dright saw was unusual.

The hologram showed a radar-like map around the Silvane bookshop. It had the same cyan-colored glow as the one in OCEDA. But there was one thing that caught their attention. There was a gray circle that overlapped with the bookshop, road, and the buildings near it. Its center's location is on the other side of the shop. Strangely, there weren't any life signatures within the circle, unlike nearby places that have green dots representing life. Then the round gray area shrunk, allowing the bookshop to get free from it. A green dot immediately emerged at the shop. With it, Dright confirmed one thing. Signal jamming. It was the function of that gray area.

“What’s going on here…” Dright thought.

“Huh? What does that mean?” Crimson peaked as he saw the gray circle.

“I don’t know…” Dright answered.

“Show the surveillance cameras' perspective…” Dright commanded Ceda as he gritted his teeth in nervousness, hoping that his sister is safe.

“Understood…” Ceda answered and switched the display to what Dright wanted. What appeared on the screen was a bird’s-eye-view located at a pole near the shop. What Dright saw immediately was Quare’s bag on the floor by the entrance of the bookshop. Seeing the sight, he gritted his teeth.

“Who is that?” Crimson said as he pointed at a person that stood by the alleyway entrance where Lia hid previously. The person was topless and shredded fabrics were seen at the center of the road.

“That’s… Hanzo…” Dright answered.

“Huh?!” Crimson reacted.

Dright and Crimson watched the screen for a while longer. They observed the footage until Hanzo took a glimpse at the surveillance camera and smirked before entering the alleyway. It was as if he knew someone was watching him.

“Tsk…” Dright clicked his tongue in distaste.

Then, a short pause occurred until Hanzo left the scene. The hologram disappeared. Dright placed his phone back in his pocket as silence fell within them.

Then Dright silently opened a portal to his storage and took out a gas mask. He handed it to Crimson. Crimson didn't say a thing and silently accepted it.

Confused, Crimson asked a question.

“What are you planning..?”

“I… need your help…” Dright answered. He then immediately tried creating a portal that connects to the book shop but his efforts were futile. The portals he made disappearing to thin air. Dright was desperate as he was starting to feel weak as he stood unsteadily.

“H-hey! Don’t force yourself! I’ll go there myself!” Crimson said in an attempt to stop Dright.

Crimson said as he tried to support Dright on his feet. What Crimson said was true. He could get there fast enough, but to Dright, every second wasted was fatal. With Crimson’s speed, Dright estimated that it'll take him another three minutes since they were still quite far from it due to the academy’s wide space before the gates. But with Dright’s portals, they’d get there in an instant.

Dright paid no attention to Crimson until he was now able to maintain a portal steadily as he spat blood from his mouth. It took him less than a minute to procure one, but it felt like it took longer for him as tension built up.

“Hurry… please…” Dright begged as he panted heavily, maintaining the portal. Crimson said nothing as he nodded with a determined face as he jumped into the portal as Dright followed up.

They now find themselves at the front of the bookshop, and it seemed that the shopkeeper took Quare’s bag for safekeeping in the meantime. Dright breathed heavily as he wiped the blood off his mouth.

“Wait here!” Crimson said as he was about to position himself to dash towards the alleyway that Hanzo took, but Dright stopped him.

“Wait!” Puzzled, Crimson stopped as Dright said. In the meantime, Dright took out a bottle that contained a green liquid which he drank. His breathing then became much more stable than before.

“Over here!” Dright said as he started running towards a different alleyway.

“But-“ Confused, Crimson said as he had no choice but to follow Dright and match his pace. Dright ran as fast as he could, ignoring his current condition as Crimson followed behind. The green liquid that Dright drank seemed to have minimized the pain he was feeling.

Dright followed his hunch, and according to it, they should be able to meet someone if they kept running at the route that he chose. Someone that isn’t an enemy.

To Dright, being careful at this stage is crucial, so he had to think about things carefully. Otherwise, their rescue operation would pummel. After running for a while, Dright bumped with someone, as his hunch said. The sound of someone falling to the ground was heard. Dright looked for the source, and there he saw his sister, unconsciously being carried at the back of a girl he doesn’t recognize, who fell on her buttocks. Yet as he saw the familiar silver hair, he was now certain who that was and felt relieved.

“Lia, are you okay?” Dright said as he assisted her. Hearing Dright say that name, Crimson got confused.

“Eh?! Where’s Lia? Don’t tell me…” Crimson said as he pointed at the teen-aged looking girl in front of them, staring in disbelief since Lia had the stature of a child.

Dright then faced Crimson and nodded. Dright recognized Lia because he already saw an analysis of data about her and remembered the ‘Dragnapede’ part of the data, which some can rarely change their sizes.

“It’s one of her blessings…” Dright said as he lied about it being Lia’s “blessing.' It couldn't be called a Blessing since it was originally Oblivoid genes implanted in Lia, it was just an ability, not a Blessing.

“Wait, you know her? Oh…” Crimson asked, but as he remembered what Quare said at the cafeteria, he didn’t pry any further.

Dright nodded again as he squatted to match Lia’s eye level after confirming his sister’s safety.

“Lia, what happened?” Dright asked the panting Lia as he opened his storage once again and took out a similar liquid he drank. He held it near Lia’s mouth as he made Lia drink it. She was hesitant for a moment, but as she smelled the sweet scent coming from it, she decided to drink. After drinking it all, Lia felt somewhat calmer now.

“P… Please! Save big sister Raven!” Lia said while still panting.

Judging by Lia’s tone, Dright and Crimson felt it was very urgent. Dright immediately asked for details. Lia told them the most important one, which was Raven’s location and situation. Upon finishing, Crimson equipped the mask that Dright gave and rushed immediately towards the site that Lia told.

“Thank you…” Dright thanked Lia wholeheartedly for protecting his sister and patted her head. Lia had the same expression, but a hint of tears appeared in her eyes as her mouth twisted slightly upwards. She nodded and smiled genuinely.

Dright didn’t take over the task of carrying Quare as he concentrated once again to open three portals. He made one at the route that Crimson took and one in front of him, both leading towards the location that Lia pointed. Once again, blood flowed down from the edge of his mouth to his chin as he maintained the portal.

Crimson saw the portal as he jumped in immediately. There, he saw Hanzo launching his green mist towards Raven. He then pressed two diamond buttons from the two out of four cylindrical objects hanging by his waist. Afterward, the two capsules deconstructed themselves into plenty of small cubic pieces as it transformed to his twin Zed, the Twin Cycus Blades. Because of his speed, he was able to get to Raven in time as he leaped once again and landed at a safe distance in front of Raven. Everything looked so slow to Crimson, and with a bit of time, before the green mist reached him, he fixed his posture with the swords pointing upward with his arms spread out horizontally straight. He then prepared his stance and as the poison mist reached him, he activated his Blessing as his eyes glowed and used it as he spun rapidly in place, creating a tornado that sucked the poison gas like a vacuum.