FINDING TRUTHS I (Ch. 64)

"It's nine o'clock, i should get going" Raven mumbles now donned in all black, his hoodies over a black shirt and trousers as well as boots, in his black bag are a few pairs of clothes, food and 'the book',

{Are you sure?, You wish to do this?},

"I have to know, i have to know the truth",

Raven heads out towards Ethan Raine's school, Obrien high, upon arriving there he notices nothing amis, 

"So far so good" he mutters, 

{No, someone's been here}, Silver interjects,

"Who?"

{It's a familiar presence but it's hard to pick out}, Raven frowns now heading past the gates, he steps into the hall only to exclaim, all the awards where gone, he races to Ethan's locker only to find it cleaned out,

"Jamison!" He growls, (what do i do?, Wait he should have classmates at least finding the name of one of them should give me something to work with, at least for now), Raven ponders, 

(should i get mom on this?, Maybe after she's back from Russia) he concludes, Raven searches vigorously through school even going through the upper classes where Ethan likely used as his homeroom, (Nothing!, Absolutely nothing!), He wonders aimlessly through the school grounds when he arrives in another if the upper classes likely to be Ethan's he spots a table with an inscription carved into the wood, 'Anya', (Anya huh, no surname?, Lucky it's not a common name but still, it's going to be far from easy to find her, this school's existence seems to have been all but erased, how the hell do i even begin?), Raven ponders silently still stepping around the table when he decides then makes his way towards the administration quarters of the school, 

(surely there has to be something at either the councilor principal or teachers office), Raven arrives at the councilor's office quickly noticing how clean it was in comparison to the previous rooms he'd searched, 

(i see, this sweep was rather resent), stepping around the table he stumbles on a blain blue booklet beneath the chair, picking up the slender booklet he's quickly suprised by the first thing he sees,

'If you're seeing this then your useful enough to be of assistance', the writer said,

(Assistance?),

'I'm sure for one reason or the other you're searching through the school to find such actions fruitless, it is, whenever you do see this make your way over to Atlas district specifically to club cardless and ask for the name 'Anya',

{As it would seem even that clue was...},

(Bait, they were thorough),

{Very},

(But as it would seem someone has ulterior motives),

{I'm sure we both have an idea who it could be},

"Well i have an inclination at the very least" he mumbles, Raven heads out of the school grounds to order a cab when he glances at the time, 

(I've been here four hours huh, i wish whoever this was had just made this obvious), Raven orders a cab and within minutes their we on their way back into town,

{Raven}, Silver calls,

(Hmm? What is it),

{Do you recall losing consciousness during your fight?},

(You mean against Jay?, I do, but i wasn't unconscious just.....muted, sedated... almost like i was)

{Suppressed}, Silver replies, {Even the most flawless of consciousness transmissions always has it's adverse effects, yours can easily be seen to be rather light though even then it potentially spells your death, your real death},

(Death?!, How?!, Wha...)

{Calm down} Silver interjects, {during that fight your subconscious took hold fighting Jay and the other combatant, that was a fragment from the previous user of the body as well as it's muscle memory and a fragment from your consciousness kicking in, the survival instinct, the more it takes over the more it will take from you, and eventually it'll become a new personality of the sorts, a new person and you'd cease to exist, a true death},

(Wait wait wait!, If what you're saying is a fact then why don't Shifter transmit their consciousness into stronger bodies),

{Excellent question, that brings me to why your current existence being erased is possible, the transmission was flawless, i'm ninety percent sure the one responsible did this knowing its effect, they want to erase who you are now, you see the stronger a Shifter the more resilient their psyche, if you put a Shifter too strong in mind in a weaker body it collapses under the weight, vice versa and the body tries to consume the mind and create a suitable mind, prior to being a Shifter....}

(I was just a normal highschool kid, i see, even though my real body is at the Bone control ultimately my mind still isn't strong enough, in fact given what we've read inthe book this body isn't actually at the Zone advancement anymore, but what happens now?, What do i do?)

{Your contract with me as well as possessing two bodies slows down as well as allows me to stall the....lets call it 'Corruption', whoever planned your entire situation most likely never dreamt you'd stumble across a familiar, it's honestly to coincidental to make sense, with me here we can solve this},

(If it's at coincidental as you say the how are you sure you aren't a part of this manipulation?),

{Why? That's rather simple, just a fragment of the information i possess is enough to be sure I'd have never ended up in your hands},

(Fair enough) Raven replies,

{This does give us a plan of action},

(A plan of action?),

{Simply put your manipulator seeks to eradicate your current consciousness and has probably accounted for the slowed rate caused by your original body, i've estimated it to take roughly a year or so under normal circumstances for their plan to take effect, he or she will most likely show at the very least signs of themselves when symptoms of your fragmenting mind becomes obvious a year from now},

(I see, you want to set a trap huh, but you still haven't told me how to actually solve this problem),

{I'll be honest, you need to achieve ZONE in your real body} 

(How the hell am i supposed to achieve that!, You yourself knows I'm only advancing this fast because this body is already at ZONE!) Raven exclaims,

{Well we'll need to make the impossible, and for that i already have several ideas, thank the gods your actually a rich scion, you'll need to come to terms with this fact Raven, you need to prepare yourself to work with your mother and inherit what she's built} Silver states,

(Specifically...)

{Pharmasec} Silver concludes, {make no mistake though, i intend to have you have it all, it seems your mother has influence in both Murim and the circular world, that saves us and our future plans a mountain of time but first things first we'll first need to destroy your advancement as a Shifter in your real body}

(What!, Why?!...i do...),

{Given the situation becoming one of them is the only realistic option} Silver interjects,

(One of them?) He questions curiously

{COLD SHIFTERS}

      It had taken an hour to arrive, Raven pays the fare having arrived outside club cardless, he pulls his hood up wearing a face mask before stepping into the club and surveying the surprisingly small club with guarded eyes, 

(This is definitely not a club),

{You're right, it's a hidden meeting place},

Raven walks up to the bartender who beams him a smile,

"What can i do for you today sir?" He inquires of Raven who shoots him a smile in response,

"I'm in search of someone" Raven replies,

"Oh?. And who might that be?"

"Anya" Raven replies watching as the bartender's expression falters momentarily before he shoots Raven a fake smile, 

"No need to worry i'm here at another's behest" he jokes watching as the man nods stiffly he takes a seat waiting patiently, several minutes later a woman in a blood red dress stoping mid thigh walks into the club, the bartender hurries past the bar as do the other employees to welcome her while Raven remains seated sipping on his bottled water, seeing the reverence on her employees faces he muses

(It's good i didn't buy anything from that guy, if he thought i'd meant harm he'd probably have poisoned me),

"Oh?. someone's looking for me?" She questions outloud turning to see Raven who remains unmoved, "I do believe it rude not to speak",

"Well i wasn't spoken too" Raven replies, 

"I should applaud you for at the very least knowing how our conversation will go",

"Is that so, i was told i could be of assistance"

"Assistance?" She questions,

"Ethan Raine" Raven replies forming an x guard blocking the kick aimed to his chest,

"You have ten seconds to speak before you die", Raven grins, 

"I very much doubt you're capable of accomplishing that" he replies matching her glare,

"Who are you" she begins, and to that Raven does the only thing he thinks impactful enough to turn the situation, he takes of his mask.