CHAPTER 35 – Healer Heist

Pain and more pain, as I bleed more and more. Did I had enough blood to survive this day?

But at this point… this feels addictive, and I doze away, into some place. So when I open my eyes…

"Hey," an adult man, right in front of me, says. "Take deep breaths."

I shudder while feeling the pain on my body, and the guy holds my shoulders, while I try to jerk him away.

"It's okay. I'm here to help you," he says, gritting his teeth, with concern. "I'm Max, the first dragon. And I know about your plight with that… thing."

"It hurts!" I say, holding my face, and feeling scars on my hand.

"I'm sorry. That can't be stopped. Just keep healing yourself, using the gem."

"What?"

"The Kohinoor. You're its owner right? It can't stop the pain, but you… will be healed. We need to stop it from turning people, or it'll be bad."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, and move away from him.

As I move, I find my sister, and she supports me, to run away.

.

.

.

"You really do doze off weirdly," I hear Scelesthe. "Wrap was right about that."

I find myself still in the hotel room, and on the chair I was sitting a while back, before the vision started.

I check for the time… 07:12 P.M., that wasn't too long I had gone for. Some visions took time away from me, while others were instant. It was hard to figure them properly.

"We are going for O tomorrow right?" I ask.

"Only me-"

"Can I come too?"

Scelesthe scales me up and down.

"Can we talk, Rusk? Really something is happening, isn't it?"

Can you read minds, Scelesthe?

Scelesthe just continues staring at me, and I just close my eyes.

"You know that I have the gem of the first dragon, Max, right?" I scoff.

"Doesn't make you bigger than danger," Scelesthe says.

.

.

.

"Okay, how do I stop it?" I ask this, Max, after coming in contact with this Dream-core monster.

"You came back-"

"-firstly, how do I use this… Kohinoor?"

"You are its owner, you should know," Max quickly answers.

"I'm not. But I have it by me, and it's broken."

"Broken?" Max asks, with shock. "So it got released…" he goes into deep thought, with a frustrated look, and scans me. "You don't have scars here… but it could be because this is not your time, or maybe it is your mind, in your case. But you still feel the pain, and not dead. So it must be protecting you."

The thing in my hand, or the thing trying to kill me?

"Can I touch you?" Max lifts his hand towards me, and freezes.

"What?" I step back.

"Not inappropriately. I need to know some-"

"-No!" I say.

"Okay… uh… what's your favourite animal? What'd you feel like if that animal is hurt? Think of yourself as that, and feel that urge on yourself. Since Kohinoor is already keeping you intact, it shouldn't be so hard."

I try to think of it that way and… my wounds disappear, except for the spot where I was being continuously attacked at right now.

I nod to Max, while feeling a sting in my arm.

"Okay, what you are facing is my greatest enemy. It shouldn't be hard for you, technically, not even as hard as it was for me. But… Kohinoor is broken. And the problem is, it was the thing's prison."

I give a confused look. "Okay. But Kohinoor also is helping me heal. So how does that work?"

"It is basically impossible to kill that thing. So I had to instil it into a… chamber of sorts. Where it still lives, but can't do any harm. So the aura of a white gem, is the best for it. And I forged it into purest form of diamond… oh, you don't know what a white gem is?"

"No," I shake my head.

"A bit far-fetched but… you have to-"

.

-

"Ugh," I hold my head.

"Hey Rusk, wake up. It's time for heist," Scelesthe says.

I rub my eyes and sit up.

"Healer heist," Wrap mumbles, besides me.

Why did I always end up besides him? He wasn't even needed here, exactly.

"We are here," Lost-Bird says.

Wrap and Lost-Bird… I still feel like only one, being here, would have been fine. But both insisted on being good nurses for the unconscious and wounded Witch and Thunder.

At least the van was not full with everyone and, Psyand's mom and Forcerer, without complaining, stayed back at the hotel from before. Though, in a weird and creepy phrasing, Scelesthe said that it was wise to divide the humans this way. But I guess she meant about their safety.

The rest of us three, get down from the van.

"This place is at least said to be funded by either of those two organisations we know. So just be on the lookout for the worst," Lost-Bird says to us, as we stand together, near the van.

A huge building, firming as a police station. Of course, everyone knew that a powered-individual was here. So for her and everyone's safety… this had to be the case.

It couldn't be Saturn Organisation's… funding right? Or O would be dead already. We wouldn't know then. It's not like the people kept getting updates about her. O could have or be going through this… theme of survival of the opportune, for all we know.

"Remember, break the cameras," I say to Psyand.

"Yeah, we both have a important task for ourselves. Not you," Scelesthe says.

"Yeah, why are you even coming, Mr. Rusk?" Psyand asks.

"Okay, from when did I qualify as a mister?" I ask.

"Really? That's important?" Scelesthe asks, and looks at me, so I stop talking. "You are causing a distraction, go."

"But I can locate her," I say.

"Then tell us where exactly-"

"It's not as easy as that," I say, and silence fills the van. "Just follow this."

Scelesthe holds a little white gem in her hand, and looks at me to nod.

"What's that?"

I just avoid that and walk towards the building.

"Hi sir," I greet to a passer-by officer, right as I enter. He just stares at me for a while, still walking, and goes away. "Bit rude."

I go towards the desk, to find a guy sitting there. How did this place work?

"Hello, excuse me," I say to the person.

They look at me, and then pick up their phone.

"Sir… I think it was true… Yes, of course." Putting the phone down, he looks at me. "Please enter in, and find the room of Mr. Yjale Shred, on your right."

My mind goes blank, and I feel a sinking feeling. I was here to cause a distraction but… what was this exactly? I didn't even… did they know me? Or worse… us?

***

"Is letting Rusk alone that way, fine?" I ask to Scelestha.

"He has those force fields, he'll be fine even if they shot towards him," Scelestha replies.

"Will we be fine then? Cause we aren't bulletproof."

"I have the armour and… you have me." Scelestha says with a smile, and successfully opens the window. "Ju-"

I climb up and into the building, before getting instructions, and break a camera which I detect. Scelestha follows my inside, and pats on my back.

"Is it okay if the camera catches a glimpse of me?" I ask.

"Well, that's why we have these," Scelestha says, pointing at our masks and fully covered outfit. "But don't get lazy."

"I'm not lazy!"

"Just a way of saying."

We scale the walls, with our backs, and carefully go ahead.

We could risk two encounters, Scelestha had said. As long as they didn't have head-gear, that was.

But besides Scelestha's specification of things, I was curious about… the little pearl which Rusk had given her. And how could we find O with that?

I drag an officer from far, while covering his mouth. As he gets close, Scelestha hits him unconscious.

Well, I could have done that.

The piece of glass, which Rusk had given us, floats above my hand, making me feel a push towards a certain direction. The direction to which it points towards, doesn't change, even when I move my hand in different ways.

"Ms. Scelestha, how does this work?" I ask.

"That seems to be a piece of gem from the white dragon, O."

"How did Mr. Rusk get this?"

"I'd rather let him explain himself."

"So you know," I think out loud.

Scelestha looks at me for a moment, with a weird look. "Firstly 'Mr. Rusk', and then 'Scelestha', nice."

"Well, I thought you preferred that."

"I do," Scelestha laughs. "Thank you."

I give a confused look, even when I slightly understand. Scelestha moves towards the direction we were pointed towards, by the gem-piece, after having placed the unconscious guy to a blind spot.

We go through the hallway, for a long time, and finally the gem points towards a door.

Scelestha gives a satisfied expression, and goes closer to the door, to listen in. And we slowly open it up, to get inside, as it really is empty.

But that sure was not the end, as the room in itself was big, and the gem pointed away again, towards… two doors next to each other.

I move my hand upward, to try and grab the gem-piece. It floats above, but I catch it.

"Psyand," a deep voice says.

My head spins, but I try to see into the dark, ahead of me.

"Kill O," something says. "Then you can be strong enough to kill him."

I jump, as I feel a hand on my shoulder. But Scelestha makes sure I don't even squeak out a voice. And gives a, 'it's me' expression. Followed by a confused and concerned look.

"The voice," I say, ever-so-quietly.

Scelestha concentrates to listen to anything at all. But that is not what I meant. Scelestha puts a finger up her lip, and makes me walk forward, while moving herself too. I could slightly, barely, hear voices now.

Thinking back on what I heard… wasn't O the one we were going to save now? The voice I heard was so random… right?

An alarm goes off, as we set foot closer to the two doors, and the gem finally points to one door, confirming where we had to go.

Scelestha looks to the sides, and seemingly spots something, which frustrates her.

"They have these here?" she asks. "Psyand, I'll make them think it is only me. Please be careful."

Scelestha goes closer to the right door, but opening the other one, she pushes me into it. She turns her back to the door and shuts it behind her. And I hear many footsteps running, and other door…s opening.

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Author's note:-

Have been a bit busy these days, so I couldn't update properly at all, I'm sorry. Will update in the usual "every two-three days" manner now. But will take a week or two hiatus after volume 1 ends, whose finale will be next!