Aftermath

"It is over. Finally."

After a long fight, Jason finally breathe with relief. Seeing Joseph's dead body was, upsetting but after what he has done, it wasn't heavy for him. There were remains of the innocent workers around them. This was much worse than Joseph.

"Are you okay?" asked Oscar. He was worried about Jason. After seeing the dead body he vomit on the ground.

"I am fine. Just upset stomach."

"Fine..."

"Nevermind me. Are you okay? You just killed someone."

Oscar fell silent. He clenched spirit stone in his hand. He fight with someone before, beat him up but not enough to kill him. It was Adam. The kid that died after his fight with him. That night someone came in between them. When he left the two together, Adam was alive.

But now, he killed someone with his own hands. Heck! He was holding his heart in his hand now. He thought he would feel disgusted with his very own self but strangely he was calm. Not even his heartbeat quickened. Was it this easy, he thought.

'Nora, I took the life of someone. He wasn't innocent but still, he was human. At least before. Am I a bad person now? I wish you could help me with this one.'

"We should leave," said Aiken. Police sirens could be heard easily. They were already at the docks.

"You are right. Let's hurry."

*

*

*

They left the docks right before anyone could see them. After escaping from there they arrived at the forest. The only place that was calm now. Because of the explosions and the lightning, almost all of the city was awake now. Oscar took a deep breath and stared at Aiken.

"Wha-"

Before he could say anything Oscar caught his throat and slam him to a nearby tree. Both Aiken and Jason are shocked because of the sudden change of Oscar. He looked at Aiken with his golden eyes.

"You had a magic all this time."

"So this is what it is about."

"Answer me. Why did you get close to us? What is your goal?"

"I want to make a deal with you. If you release me we can talk."

Oscar observed him in case he was lying or preparing himself to attack him. After observing him for a minute seeing that Aiken was doing nothing he released him.

"This is better."

"Now talk. The note you give me, is it about this deal of yours?"

Aiken glanced at Jason. He was silently watching everything. He was surprised at first but still didn't intervene Oscar. Aiken took a deep breath. His heart beating louder than ever. After all these years he finally has a chance to heal himself and his family.

"My family have a strange disease. Doctors can't identify it. Most of us die before we reach twenty. I want you to heal me and my sister."

'A strange disease? Doctors can't identify it... Somehow it reminds me of Lydia's mother. Can it be about mana? I want to help people who are in front of me but will Aiken stay as an ally?'

"Oscar..."

Jason was moved after hearing Aiken's story. He wanted to help him but he knows he can't. The only one who is good at healing is Oscar. Remembering the good days he wants to help people nut seeing Oscar fall silent makes him nervous.

"I want insurance. I don't want to have you as an enemy."

"Understandable. Then heal my sister first and leave me for later. As a sign of my goodwill, I will tell you what I mentioned in that note."

Oscar gulped nervously. What could it be? A bad feeling gripped his heart.

"The one who killed her... and his friends they will be released."

*Snap*

Both Aiken and Jason heard something snap. But there wasn't any sound. Both of them looked at Oscar anxiously. His golden glowing eyes turned crimson red. The only expression on his face was shock. But somehow seeing it gave them chills.

"Do you know why?" asked Oscar. His voice was strangely calm and devoid of any emotions. His eyes locked on Aiken.

"The killer... Alex, the charges against him dropped. I heard that his father bribed some higher-ups."

"So it's because of money."

Oscar took a deep breath and deactivate his eyes. The power he felt a second ago left his body. His mana which he turned into the spirit mana return to its original form.

Aiken and Jason were relieved when Oscar stayed calm and didn't attack anyone. Although Jason felt anger and hatred when he heard everything, he still didn't want to lose himself those emotions.

What both of them didn't know was Oscar was anything but calm. He was boiling with hate! He just saved the city from dangerous spirits with the help of his friends but the people in the city, especially the rich ones were corrupting it. The justice had been served but now they threw it to the side. Why? Because of their god damn money! Why are they this selfish?

'Do you want to get revenge?'

His eyes gained a dark glint when he heard this strange voice in his head. It wasn't his or Kairi's voice. It was the voice that came from the necklace.

*

*

*

It was right before Oscar and Aiken's talk in the woods. A woman was sitting alone in a room. She was wearing a long dark suit. Her dark blue hair was gathered in a ponytail. Her green eyes were looking at the files in front of her.

These were the files that will cover what happened at the docks. According to the files, one of the old ships was damaged from the fuel tank. While workers changing it by an unfortunate accident the fuel caught fire resulting in several explosions that turned the docks into a place from hell.

"Sigh... I hope something like this never happens again. We have to stop The Rebellion before he joins them."

She released a tired sigh. Ever since she descent into the Human Realm, she was busy covering the deeds of The Rebellion. The Council lost its former might while trying to stabilize Spirit Realm. The moment The Guardian Spirit started to die, Rebellion showed its fangs.

She massaged her temples. It was Amaris' idea to depend on a human to solve this. She was mostly neutral about this. It's because Oscar Williams is someone special. More correctly his grandfather was. The Hex Master. He was a mere human yet he stopped the civil war of the Spirit Realm. Council was betting on their lives in the hope of Oscar inheriting his grandfather's will.

"!!!"

Suddenly she felt the entire world around her shook. Everything lost its color and crumbled away. Only the darkness remained. Before she could gather her thoughts she floated in darkness.

"Again? How can fate change this quickly?!"

Her eyes locked on the only thing other than darkness in this space. It was a golden tree as big as a planet. It was made out of thousands of fate strings. The main body of the tree was glowing with all of its glory. But branches were glowing much less.

"The Tree of Fate?! Is it this serious?!"

While she was shocked because it's her first time seeing the tree this close, something terrible happened.

*Snap!!*

With a snap sound, main body of the tree breaks off. The part that breaks free quickly disintegrates into an uncountable amount of golden strings. But what was terrible wasn't this. It was what happened to the rest of the tree. It turned crimson and glowed with rage. Oscar's rage.

"Oh no... we are doomed."