No Choice

"How? I, uh... I just, you know, uh..."

Crap, I have no idea what to say. Both Riley and Kelly are looking at me questionably while the three remained ning Skellies are listening in out of curiosity.

"I hit them. How else?"

I turned my gaze down. It was obvious I was lying, but it was the best I could come up with. What would you say in a situation like that? Because of the insane amount of adrenaline that was in my system, I acted recklessly without giving anything too much though. Hell, I even forgot bits and pieces of what happened.

They stared questioningly at me for a few moments longer, but when I made it clear I wasn't going to elaborate, they backed off.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter how you did it. You saved me, and in my opinion, that's what counts. I owe you big time."

I only nodded.

"Now then, Kelly, what are we going to do? It's obvious that the negotiations broke down, which means the cafe could still be targeted. Not only that, but this is only the first day of the chaos! While the higher class are living just fine in their safe city districts with all of the guards, we have a full blown gang war! What are we going to do?"

"Riley, you need to relax. This isn't our first gang war!"

"It might not be our first, but it's the worst I've ever seen it! They sent thirty Reapers here to try and burn down everything! So many people were killed trying to defend their property, including some of the Skellies that Daniel let us borrow. If things keep up like this, we could end up seeing the military come over to try and stop things."

Military? That sounds great! Why does he make it sound like a bad thing if they come here? It would bring an end to the fighting and save lives! It could even being an end to the corrupt guards who are letting this happen.

"Why do you make it sound bad if the military comes?"

Everyone looked at me like I was stupid. Seriously. They all had their jaws dropped and seemed like they were about to smack their own faces.

"Do you really not know?"

Riley asked the question, dumbfounded by what I had said.

"Uhm, if I knew, I wouldn't have asked."

"I guess you're right. Well, let me explain. The military are bad news. Almost all of them abuse the power they are given. When employed, they are allowed to take residence anywhere they like. When asked to provide them with shelter, you must accept or be killed. When you give them shelter, you must do as they say or be killed. When they take up refuge in the city, they take over the city until they feel everything to be good. That means that if they want, they could control the entire city and we couldn't do anything about it. Most people leave the city as soon as the military show up to save themselves. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that if the military show up, it's game over."

WHAT!?!? That's horrible! What kind of ruler would allow something like this to happen? How is this country even still held together when things like this happen? You would think there would be revolutions to put an end to problems like this. Am I living in an oppressive country?

"Okay, I think I understand. So, I need to take care of this problem before the military makes an appearance, right?"

"What are you saying? You can't deal with something on this scale!"

Kelly tried to stop me straight away, but this isn't something I'm going to let happen.

"Just answer my question. All I need to do is put an end to the problem, yes?"

"Well, yes, that would be correct."

"Okay then. Let me see what I can do."

I'm outside before they even know what was happening. I can't let the military show up. If they do, I will lose the quiet life I've had here. That means that I need to take care of this problem, even if I have to do it myself.

I should go to Daniel to try and learn more about this gang war.

At that, I zoom off towards the Skellies base where Daniel would most certainly be. Even though it was the dead of night, noise could be heard everywhere. As I ran along the rooftops to move faster, I watched from above as people slaughtered each other below. Even though the fighting had come to a quick end by the cafe, other streets weren't as lucky. Just like by the cafe, fires were everywhere, but not just fires. People with magic had created disturbances in the roads with earth magic, had overgrown houses with plant magic, and houses had been blown over with wind magic. It seems like the gangs have many magic users within their ranks.

It wasn't long before I arrived at the base of the Skellies. The main entrance had a large battle happening right in front. Twenty two Skellies were fighting back against thirty eight Reapers who were clearly winning. The Skellies were outnumbered and under-armed, only barely managing to stay alive. The battle had clearly been going on for a while, as many bodies covered the floor. I need to bring a stop to this.

I jumped down from the roof that I had been watching from. Moving swiftly, I disarmed all of the Reapers as fast as I could, tossing their swords by the main entrance. Stunned by suddenly not having their weapons, they stood in a daze. The Skellies, however, didn't waste the opportunity. They quickly took care of the Reapers, bringing them to the ground and taking them prisoner.

Now, I need to find Daniel.