Chapter 52: The First

"But," says Zahtan, snapping his neck back.

"I am not an unreasonable man," he says, walking through Daki's spear, chopping off his own head.

. . .

His body falls to its knees, and then to the ground.

"So, here. I have an offer for you," starts Zahtan.

"I have some questions I want you to answer, and vice versa, give and take?" he asks, his head on the floor.

Daki holds his spear back upright with his right and snaps his fingers with the left.

"System," he calls, "Purchase contract,"

A hologram screen displaying a contract appears in front of Zahtan.

"Read it, and sign it when you get your head re-attached," says Daki.

He raises his left arm and closes his eyes, he pinches the bridge of his nose and then massages his eyes. Then he pinches the bridge of his nose again, his eyes still closed.

. . .

"These rules on how to answer are harsh, I expected nothing less from you," says Zahtan.

Daki opens his eyes and looks at Zahtan, who is standing back up facing him, his suit back on perfectly.

"Thanks for the help, by the way," says Zahtan, fixing his suit.

"You have a deal," he says, pressing the yes button, and then signing the contract.

One bar appears in front of both of them.

"Well, the first thing?" starts Zahtan.

"Tell me all about the weapons Sheehan made that can kill in the best order you can,"

Zahtan opens his mouth to answer.

. . .

"I see. Your turn," says Daki.

"What do you know about the Creator?" asks Zahtan.

The instant that the last word leaves his mouth, there is a heavy shift in the air and Daki gets shivers down his spine as he senses powerful glares.

He glances and notices that One have stopped looking at each other and are glaring at them in silence, their eyes glowing lightly.

He looks at them for a mere second, the pressure he feels making him instinctively turn his head away, the air feels sharp and his tongue heavy.

"I ─ I have not heard of such a thing, personally. But maybe that is because you might use different terminology. Do you have any other names for the thing you are referring to?" asks Daki, shaking.

He looks over at Zahtan, who is also shaking.

"Never mind, I am satisfied with the result and answers," responds Zahtan.

As he says that, everything goes back to normal.

Zahtan and Daki look down and take a deep breath in, the air was so heavy before that they didn't realize that they couldn't breathe.

Daki pants, glancing slowly at One again, and they are back to looking at each other.

He looks back at Zahtan only to find him sweating.

"All the details about you gave the property to?"

Zahtan chuckles, breathing heavily.

. . .

Hiding in front of Haco's head, Neo is looking at Haco.

"By the way, love, before I leave," says Xzina.

"What is it?" asks Neo.

"It is very well hidden, the implant seems to be very sophisticated and seems to be difficult to get rid of," muses Xzina.

"Implant? What implant?" asks Neo in confusion.

Xzina places her hand on top of his chest above his heart.

"Although I was distracted, I myself can't believe I didn't notice it sooner. There is a device attached on your heart," explains Xzina.

Neo tsks in annoyance and lifts up his sword, attempting to stab his heart.

But his strike is blocked Xzina's hand and claws.

"Why did you stop me? I need to get rid of it, this is probably Zahtan's doing,"

"Your sword won't be enough to get rid of it,"

"Allow me to take full control and run my power through your body, that's the only way,"

Neo stays silent for a while, he grits his teeth, "Fine, make it quick,"

His right eye turns somewhat gold, but not like the left one.

Taking full control, Xzina hovers her arm over his heart with her left arm, thrusting her arm in and grabbing his heart. She pulls it out, holding it in her hand.

"How?" questions Neo, wondering why he hasn't collapsed.

"I am using my powers as a temporary replacement to all the functions of your heart and sustaining it," responds Xzina.

A misty ghost appears out from the back of Neo with the form of Xzina's original body.

Floating around, she hovers close to the heart, still being held up by the left hand.

She gets closer and her misty form gives the heart a kiss.

Zap!

The device starts to short circuit, malfunctioning. It becomes visible to the human eye, and its grasp starts to release, falling down slowly off the heart, piece by piece, until the whole thing is completely off.

Her purple misty form returns back to his body, and she puts the heart back in his chest. She then completely fixes him up, and she lays his body down on an inclined rock, the tails coming back, she closes his eyes, leaving completely.

Opening his eyes slowly, Neo raises his hand.

Weird, I am not as tired as before. Is it because of Xzina?

. . .

Neo gets up and starts walking towards Adora and Charlotte's direction.

Adora's body has fully regenerated but she is unconscious.

Charlotte, however, is conscious. Her eyes open, she looks at where the screen was, not uttering a word.

There is no smile, no expression, no sound, there is nothing.

Neo glances at her eyes for a second but can't help but look away.

He looks up to her and picks her head up again gently, holding it facing away.

"I am sorry . . . " apologizes Neo, his heart heavy.

. . .

Zooming out, someone is looking at Haco's dead body through a scope. The person is as still as a rock, he doesn't budge or move an inch.

A crow lands on his shoulder and starts pecking at him, it's almost as if he is perfectly still for so long, that the crow thought he is dead.

The man is in full focus and doesn't even notice the crow.

. . .

"I ─ I did it," he says all of a sudden.

"She's . . . actually dead," murmurs Aayn.