Chapter 30 : Ferrow!

Duri and the other students were out in the middle of nowhere, in a big grassy area, and a regular train was sitting on a set of train tracks. The train was red and black, and it had the words, "Yeah the Titans were here."

Duri thought, 'The Titans have a sense of humor I see.'

All the other students were laughing, besides Tek of course. Yeah, Tek was out there, reading a small black book.

Standing to the side were 4 of the 7 strongest Hosts: Tetsuya, Hanako, Kedarah, and Chaos.

Chaos pointed and laughed at the train, "Hehe, that's funny."

Hanako replied, "I didn't laugh."

Tetsuya asked, "Did the Titans really have to put the train out here?"

Kedarah smiled, "It's mysterious, I love it! And I can't wait to see how Duri performs! If Marshy and Duri are mad at each other, I can take Duri in to be my son!"

Hanako responded, "Foolish."

Tetsuya added, "We're not just going to be looking at Duri. We're going to be examining all the prospects. They all have potential to compete in the real power tournaments. We have to keep a close eye on all of them, since a lot of weirdness has been going on. I don't want any of them being hurt."

Chaos smirked, "Aww. Tetsuya is going into his caring phase again. Haha! He can't stand seeing someone hurt!"

"Sh-shut up. It's on and off. I've come to realize wounds are just a part of battle."

"Mhmmm whatever."

Tetsuya said out loud, "Everyone get on the train and find a room for yourself."

Duri thinks, 'A train with rooms? Enough rooms to fit all of us? Yeah this is definitely the Titans creation.'

Duri looked to the left, and he saw Seven. Duri and Seven locked eyes, and then Seven looked somewhere else.

Duri shook his head, then he saw Kazuma, Nine, Jiyu, and Ren-Ren walking with other people, laughing and chatting up conversations.

Duri thought, 'They sure look happy. They look happy pretending I'm not here. They really believe I'm a murderer, a person who kills just for fun or kills the ones who surrenders. They don't know they got tricked. This was Katai's plan all along.'

Duri and other students started getting on the train, and Duri was shoving people out of the way.

Duri said, "Get out of my way."

One student responded, "Don't push me!"

Duri turned around to that student with a sinister tone and look, "Or what?"

The student sweated, then ignored him, walking onto the train.

Duri was walking down the aisle of the train, but there were no seats. There were only doors on the side, with students walking into each one of them.

When the students walked into that room, the room had a bed, a TV on the wall, and the size of the room was 20 feet wide and 20 feet long.

"So cool!"

"I just woke up. Too much yelling."

"The Titans really are impressive!"

"I call this room!"

"No, I called it first!"

Duri kept walking forward, and walking in front of him was Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and some new friends they made.

Kazuma said, "I hope I got the biggest room!"

Ren-Ren said, "No. I shall get the biggest room since I'm obviously royalty."

"Noooo."

"It's inevitable. Accept it."

Some people were walking behind Duri, but they kept their distance, whispering things about him.

Behind them, was Seven and Nine walking together with a bunch of popular girly girls.

Seven commented, "My ass is going straight to sleep."

Nine yawned, "Same here. If people are going to sleep, I hope they don't mind me pranking them. I'm always on the go for that."

The girls said:

"Nine? Pranking people?"

"Hehe she really is different. And boyish."

Nine looked at Seven, asking, "You okay?"

Seven answered, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just my parents. They said they'd be watching me like a hawk to make sure I don't do anything lewd or start trouble."

"Sounds like them alright. No offense."

"What did your parents say?"

"They told me I better beat the hell out of everyone and finish the exams with an A grade. If I get anything lower than that, they'll take my phone away as punishment."

"Damn. Sounds like them alright. What's the passing grade again for the exams?"

"Anything lower than a C is a failing grade."

"Mmm. Then why don't they just take out the D grade?"

One of the girls answered Seven, "I heard it's for those who fail and want to take the exams again next year. Because they'll be grading all aspects of our performance. Those who fail can go back and see what they need to work on."

Seven and Nine said at the same time, "Ooooo, makes sense makes sense. Jinx. Jinx again. Stop copying me."

Duri kept walking, and he saw Jiyu. Jiyu was already in a room, and she had her duffle bag on the bed. She was pulling gadgets out of it, as students were "oohing" and "ahhing" to them. Jiyu explained her inventions with a smile, until she looked at Duri.

Duri and Jiyu looked straight at each other, and Jiyu stopped talking.

Jiyu said in a quiet tone, "Duri.."

The other students questioned:

"Duri? Why'd you say that killer's name? It's cursed!"

"Yeah, keep showing us the stuff you made!"

Jiyu replied, "Oh o-ok. S-sorry. Anyway, these gloves right here.."

Duri finally found a room he wanted, and before he could walk in, someone grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him backwards.

He was shoved into a room, and the door was shut behind him.

Duri turned around, saying, "Whoever did that is a dead-!"

Tek was the one who did, shutting the door.

"Calm the hell down, Duri."

Duri responds, "What the HELL was that for? Are you trying to get beat up, dude?!"

Tek sighed, "I said calm down. I believe you."

Duri calmed down, asking, "Believe me?"

"About Katai changing the senses of the crowd. But made sure you were the one who felt the bloodlust."

"...Why are you telling me this?"

"I understand a little of what's going on. With Harvest and everything."

"How? Or have you been known since the start?"

"The only thing I focused on was getting to my uncle. The man who used me to do his dirty work. But after the event last night, I was approached by a Centurion of Harvest. One of the leaders. Trying to recruit me."

"What does this have to do with believing that Katai was manipulating everyone's senses?"

"If you just be quiet and listen, you'll see why."

"...You said one of the leaders of Harvest approached you. What happened then?"

[Last night]

[FLASHBACK]

Tek was walking on the sidewalk, reading his black book as always.

People walked past him, saying to each other:

"Did you see when Duri killed Katai?!"

"Who HASN'T seen it? Katai wanted help and Duri just snapped his neck!"

"I didn't think Duri was like that!"

"He DID kill that Yoshida man, remember?"

"That was different!"

They tried talking to Tek, saying, "Hey, you're Tekeshi! The prodigy! The one who stopped a dozen mythical beasts from tearing down a church! What brings you out here?"

Tek replied, "Be quiet, human."

As he kept walking, a black car pulled up beside him, and the back window was rolled down.

Sitting inside of it was Ferrow.

He said, "Oi, oi, oi.."

Tek ignored him, and kept walking.

Ferrow continued, "You're scared of your uncle in reality. You're scared of dying before you can get close to him. You're scared of someone else killing him before you can do it. You're scared it would be a repeat of what happened to your family…you love being alone..that's why you live alone.."

Tek slashed a chain from his wrist at Ferrow's head, but Ferroe caught it with his finger.

Tek looked shocked, saying, "I'm surprised you reacted to my chains. Who sent you? Huh?! Did HE send you?"

Ferrow responded, "Your uncle? Oh no, no he didn't."

"You know shit about me…why is that?"

"I'm a leader of Harvest. A Centurion. We have the ability to know our target's love and fears. You love nothing but revenge, and you hate your uncle."

"Why are you telling me this? What do you want with me?"

"Get in."

"What? No."

Ferrow moved his finger downward, and the chain wrapped around Tek's body.

'How the-?! How the hell did he do that? He's controlling my chains!'

Ferrow continued, "I can make one of your fears come true now. If you don't get in the car, you will die. Choose. You have 3 seconds."

Tek gritted his teeth, and jumped back, making his own chains disappear.

Ferrow was counting down, and Tek thinks, 'The difference in our power is a great gap. I can't fight him here. Not now. Not by myself.'

Tek said, "Alright."

The door opened by itself, and Tek got in.

As soon as he got in, there was no one in the driver's seat. But the car began to drive by itself. Ferrow was controlling the car on his own.

Tek thought, 'This guy is controlling the car without even touching it. It's just how me and my homeroom class was in the dodgeball activity. We controlled the objects that we were touching. But this is on a whole 'nother level!'

Tek asked Ferrow, "What do you want?"

Ferrow responded, "Shh."

"Heh? Don't tell me to shush!"

"Chain users. Your family inherited that ability, dating back to hundreds of years ago."

"How do you know that?"

"We had people in our Harvest realm that were chain users, and they were the ones who were the second strongest people there. Everyone feared them like they feared the guardians, they are the ones who acted like cops in your world, but in our realm. The guardians set the law and order, your ancestors of chain users enforced it."

"...Really?"

"Yes. Are you amazed?"

"How can I trust you? How do I know what you're saying is the truth?"

Ferrow slammed his hand on Tek's forehead, and a bunch of memories began to shimmer in his mind. Tek saw multiple chains, saw people fighting and taking people down with chains, and even slaying ancient mythical beasts.

Ferrow removed his hand, and Tek took a heavy deep breath, in and out.

"...What the….?"

"Told you."

"You're doing all of this for a reason..what is your reason?"

"I will explain when we get to our destination."

"..."

(11 minutes later)

Ferrow and Tek stepped out of the car, and they were walking towards a large abandoned building in the middle of nowhere.

Tek asked, "What are we doing here?"

"You ask a lot of questions. It is quite understandable. But please stop asking so many or I will kill you."

"Go to hell."

Tek and Ferrow walked into the building, and there was nothing in it. There was some light, but that was from the moon. There was large rubble everywhere as well, with a few holes in the walls.

Tek said, "Disgusting place."

Ferrow replied, "We only used this place to harvest children for Reborn's hybrid army."

"Harvest children…"

As they walked deeper into the building, Tek saw 5 people. And those 5 people were wearing black robes with the hoods on. They all were standing on different rubble blocks.

Ferrow said, "These are the other 5 leaders of Harvest. The other leaders."

Tek could barely see their faces, but he could sense the malice and bloodlust and power in them.

'Their lust for violence is heavy..it feels like my heart is being weighed down just from the pressure.'

Ferrow continued, "We want you to become a Centurion, Tekeshi."

"Why me?! I don't even know who you guys are or what you guys do. The hell is wrong with you?"

"The chain users in the Harvest realm were second in command to the guardians. But they were all massacred in the invasion. Invaded by the Shadow and Arcane realm. We cannot locate any more chain users…but we found you. Our goal as Harvest, is to revive our leader Reborn who was killed by Earth's Hosts. And once we revive him, he will take control and take over all of the realms and earth, to make it just how the Harvest realm used to be. Our other missions for right now, are gaining followers for the cause, creating hybrids with the strong women on this earth, and causing havoc by giving our followers or random people beast blood to devour the earth; all to soften up this world so Reborn wouldn't have to do so much work."

"What…the…fuck..?"

"A war is coming, Tekeshi. We need you. You and that boy Duri. My son Katai will fight alongside you two as well, as he is from the Harvest realm. In earth years, he is 19, but in reality, he's way older. Hope you don't mind that."

Tek gasped, "Duri?! Katai?!"

"You two butt beads all the time I witnessed. With your chain ability and his hybrid Titan, Shadow, and human abilities, you two will be great assets as Centurions; as leaders! We can get you your uncle…we can get him to you in the blink of an eye. If you decide to join us, we can give him to you now."

"..I.."

"Many years of you trying to track down your uncle..can be solved in one easy step."

"You know too much.."

"When I showed you the chain users' memories in the car, I saw all of yours. I know everything. If you do climb on board, persuade Duri to join."

"Persuade someone like Duri? Are you kidding me? That kid is hot headed with a fierce ass attitude and doesn't take shit from anyone."

"How about this…you can't join unless you and Duri join at the same time. Reborn's brother, Zabel, wants to get his hands on Duri to control all of our minds and thoughts and emotions; we can't let him take Duri."

"...What.."

"Run along now, and get Duri. And do not tell anyone of our meeting tonight. I'll know if you do."

"...Tsk."

Tek turned around, and started walking away with his hands in his pockets.

'Join a bunch of villains? Hell no. Chain users? My ancestors were really that special? Persuade Duri? Impossible. They said they can give my uncle to me…I don't want that. I want to earn it by myself..I want to feel like I worked hard enough to reach the floor my uncle is on. I will not have it handed to me on a silver platter…'

[FLASHBACK END]

[PRESENT DAY]

[TRAIN]

Duri was leaning against the wall, and said, "They want me to? Are you kidding me?"

Tek responded, "No. I'm not."

Duri started walking back and forth, explaining, "Marshy told me a little bit of this Harvest and Reborn situation. Me and you are on the same boat of understanding it all."

"Zabel wants you. To control everyone else."

"Obviously."

"Have you talked to Zabel before?"

"All the time. In my head. How do you know Zabel?"

"Zabel is famous. Everyone knows him."

"Shit I forgot. Did you decline Harvest's offer?"

"I was considering taking it. But I declined silently. I want to earn my reward for finding my uncle. I didn't train as hard as I did for nothing."

"...Yeah."

"...And about Katai.."

"He was the son of a Harvest leader..and I killed Katai last night…"

"When that man was explaining everything to me, he must've not heard what happened between you and Katai. They might come after you."

"Then I have to leave if that's the case. If they come here, everyone else will be in danger. I don't need any more blood on my hands."

"Leave? If they come, they come. We have 4 Hosts here. They'll beat them easily.

"...You're right about that.."

In the hallway, they heard students walking by the door, saying, "They're serving breakfast for us?!"

"This is like a five star hotel!"

"I heard the cafeteria is huge!"

"We gotta hurry and find a seat!"

Duri and Tek looked at each other.

Duri and Tek said to each other, "Not a word about this to anyone."

[Unknown location]

[In the sky]

Ferrow was floating in the sky with his arms folded. He had tears in his eyes, and the 5 other Centurions of Harvest floated behind him with their faces still unknown.

Ferrow said, "Katai…my son…is dead.."

One of the Centurions/Leaders said, "By the hand of that Duri kid…hehe…hehe…"

Another Centurion responded, "Yawn. Let's just go kill that brat."

Ferrow said, "Shh."

One of the other Centurions, which was a female, implied, "This works out. The last ingredient we need for the resurrection ritual…is souls. But not just any souls.."

Ferrow finished, "Young souls. Now that I think about it…Duri's soul would make up a huge part in the ritual. Me and my legion of Prophets will ambush the exams, and collect souls for the ritual. I will kill them all. Especially…especially DURI! That murderer! I'll kill him! I'll kill him! I'll kill him! I promised to watch over Katai, I promised his mother! I let her down!! We can only use one body for the ritual…and that body is Reborn's.'

One of the Centurions asked, "Let us go with you."

Ferrow answered, "I'm strong enough to take down Hosts and those brats….I don't need you guys…I placed a power beacon on Teks head when I looked through his memories and gave him some. I can find the exam site by tracking Tek…me and the Prophets will kill and take the souls of all those students and the Hosts..but for Duri…I will use his soul to try and bring my son back."

"Umm…"

"Whatever will bring Katai back…I'll do it. Alone. This is my business."

"It's not guaranteed...doing it alone. The risks are higher."

"I don't care! I'm doing it!"

Ferrow vanished, leaving the Centurions there.

Ferrows POV : It didn't work when I tried to bring my wife back with the ritual. Maybe I did it wrong, but she's gone forever. My last attempt at doing it on my own, for Katai. I'll use only Duri's powerful soul to fuel Katai's soul and heart. Resurrecting rituals are a 50/50 chance of success. Since they are forbidden…if I do this…something will happen to me. I don't fucking care, as long as Katai comes back. Damn you, Duri!!!! For taking my son away.."