Chapter 16 - Confrontation

Back at Marcus' apartment, the glowing white screen of a phone illuminated the tiny corner of Sarah's bed, her face reflecting the light in the otherwise dark room. She was laying down, holding the phone by her side as she stared at it worryingly.

She had texted Fable the moment she had arrived back home over thirty minutes ago, asking what was going on and if he was okay, but the message still hadn't been seen by him. Usually, it would have been delivered, read, and replied almost instantly,

'What the hell is going on," She thought, getting up from her chair to grab a glass of water to calm her nerves.

"You okay there?" Marcus looked up from the living room couch, seeing Sarah leaving her room with a concerned face glued to her phone.

"Hm?" She looks over in surprise to see her brother staring at her. "Oh yeah," She put on a weary smile, putting her phone in her pockets and entering the kitchen. "Where's mum?"

"She went to work," Marcus replied, frowning at her avoidance of the topic. "That friend of yours's not answering his phone?" He guessed,

"How-?" Sarah flinched as she looked up from the counter, the water jug in one hand.

Marcus pointed at the TV and waved his hand above the control panel to increase the volume.

"-eparing to enter the mysterious green gate. The S ranked Fable and Rein is accompanied by a new friend." The news reporter's voice called out from the TV.

"May I ask for your name, ma'am?" The reporter walked up to the trio, holding out the microphone to Mally.

"Mally Neilion," She smiled, giving the camera a small wave.

"Are you also an S-ranked hunter?"

Mally nods, presenting her staff, "S Ranked Sorcerer at your service."

"Why is this gate green? A different color seen by previously seen gates?"

"We suspect it's a higher level gate but we have no definitive answer to that question," Mally answered with a straight face,

"How are the monsters leaving the gate and how may this new finding affect the future of the human race?"

"I-" Mally stuttered, not knowing how to answer the question.

"How long do you think it would take to clear this gate?" The reporter continued to question, the microphone pushed up uncomfortable close to Mally's face.

"Lady. Stop pushing that damn thing in front of us." Rein spoke out, making his way up to the reporter and smacking the microphone out of the reporter's hand. "We're about to enter the gate. Stop rambling on and save the question till we come back. Is the only purpose you're here to annoy us or what?"

He slowly swaggers over to the reporter with an irritated look, planting his face right in front of her, creating an intimidating air to surround him.

"Now piss off," He whispered, flicking her forehead and walking back over to Fable, grabbing the surprised Mally along with him.

"Those are your friend right?" Marcus turned towards Sarah, pointing at the television. "No wonder they looked and sounded so familiar."

"Fable!" Sarah muttered walking over to the couch, staring at Fable's face shown on by the news station.

"Is he the guy who made you join the raid?" Marcus confronted her, his arms crossed.

"He- He didn't make me do anything. I chose to join the raid of my own accord," Sarah turned around in surprise at Marcus' sudden shift of tone.

"But he's the reason you join the raid. Am I right?"

"I-" Sarah stuttered, looking away.

"Even after I said no," Marcus muttered, looking down and sighed, "That friend of yours. I don't want you to see him again after today."

"Why the hell should I listen to you?" Sarah stared at him with surprise,

Marcus looked back up at her with a serious face, a tiny amount of killing intent escaping his body, "If I ever see you with him, I swear I'll break both his legs and torture him the worst way possible."

"B-But!" Sarah flinched, seeing him standing up and heading back to his room.

"But he's my friend. I can't just leave him with no context!" Sarah shouted after him in desperation.

"He sounds like more than just a friend," Marcus scoffed, looking over his shoulder with a dark look she had never seen him have before, causing her to remain still in surprise.

His room door slammed shut a short second after, allowing her to slowly move back to her room in confusion.

'What was that?' Sarah shivered, cautiously making her way back into her room with the glass of water. 'He's changed. Marc would have never spoken to me like that before. He seemed colder, more distant.'

The Marcus that she had known and grown up with was always a soft-spoken person. Even with the top marks in high school, he'd always remain a kind and humble attitude, never raising his voice, and would treat everyone with an equal amount of kindness.

'The trauma from his gate experience must of put a number on him,' Sarah thought, remembering the article regarding the gate opening in an elementary near them.

"I wonder if he needs to see a psychologist..." She muttered, not taking his words seriously due to her knowledge of the true personality of Marcus.

"Fable. Please be safe," She whispered as she gripped her phone in one hand and searching up the news to get a live feed of the gate.

The news page flashed open as the news reporter could be seen, once again holding her microphone in one hand, explaining the current situation.

'The hunters have just entered the gate. The only thing we at home can do now is sit and wait. We'll all pray for their safety and for the future of our species. We will continue our live feed here for another 48 hours and await the returns of our heroes.' The reporter explained, smiling as the transition screen appeared and another angle of the gate was displayed. Soft background music played as the live video with a viewer count and a timer on the top left corner.

From now the treacherous wait begins.