Petty Theft

Connie climbed down the stairs of his old family house, rubbing his head while trying to shake off the lingering images of the cards. As he entered the kitchen, there was a man striking a conversation with his father.

'Never seen him before. With that fancy suit, he must be one of dad's coworkers'

He greeted the man like how he usually greeted any guest the Thorne family had over. With a polite smile and hand wave, which was promptly followed by a smack to the head from Jinah, as usual.

"I've told you thousands of times already, greet our guests with manners!"

"I forgot. I'm sorry"

Jinah forced him to give a proper greeting, which he did by a slight bow.

Thal laughed at their antics as usual, even though his wife was not a fan of this.

"Please excuse our dense son here. His name is Conrad, does he look like the person you're looking for?"

"That's fine. Mm. An average height, dark skin, messy hair and a forgettable face, with an attire consisting of a grey hoodie and jeans. Yes Mrs. Thorne, this description fits him perfectly"

The stranger said with a broad smile stretching across his face. Connie searched his face for any hint of recognition because he felt as though he had seen this man somewhere before.

And why was he looking for him.

"My name is Luxe, it's a pleasure to meet you, Conrad"

"Excuse me but what will you need him for?"

It was Thal who popped the question. He had a worried look on his face which suggested that he was picking up something off about him.

Connie did too but for a different reason.

Was he on to him? Luxe was a tall and slender man with slicked back hair. He had a casual but confident demeanor oozing from him. 

"You see. I recently lost something important to me, or rather it was stolen. The one who gave me that description, led me here to this address."

Connie's heart skipped a beat, the thought that this guy could be potentially one of the victims of the Talon Subway Station set his nerves on edge. He had always done a clean job and got away with it but was this really it?

This man had his description and address on top of claims of having something stolen from him. Yes, he was not the only pickpocket in the area, but that description matched him too perfectly.

Not to mention he knew his address.

'Shit! Is this really how mom and dad are meant to find out? No, I've already sold everything and threw away the evidence. This guy got nothing on me'

As Connie sat down, his mother sat next to him. Probably to keep him in line. She had a serious look on her face. Just like his father did as well. Their son is being made out to be a thief after all.

"Ok but what does that have to do with me? I've never seen you before and besides, there are a lot of people in this area who fit that description. Maybe you just got the address wrong."

A knot of unease tightened in his stomach, but he kept a stoic face. Upon hearing Connie's response, Luxe folded his arms.

"Do you perhaps know a pawn broker by the name of Aric Don Draven?"

"Nope, never heard of him."

Connie responded as quickly as he could without delay.

That confirmed it. This man is definitely one of his victims. Whatever he stole from him probably had a tracker on which Draven could not remove. That snitch also must have been the one to lead this man here.

Connie swallowed hard as sweat ran across his forehead.

From his pocket, Luxe pulled out a peculiar looking card and placed it flat on the table for everyone to see. But for some reason, he placed it faced down.

Connie could tell because he recognized the design of its rear to be the same as the ones he has.

"Moments ago, I had a deck of cards such as these. They had been in the family for generations. My entire life, I watched over them so they can be passed on to the next. So please, if you truly have them, I'd appreciate it if you could return them to their rightful place. I promise you that I will not press charges against your son"

He followed by flipping the card. And from it, there was a portrait of a figure holding a slender wand stretched out to the sky and he was dressed in a flowing white robe. Beneath it there was a title that wrote 'The Magician'.

This structure of design was exactly the same. So, he really meant those cards which he stole from-

Wait a minute.

Connie's heart raced and his stoic expression began to crumble. He knew for a fact that he did not swipe those cards from this guy, they were from her. Or it could be, that girl is the one who stole them from him, and Connie happened to return the favor.

'What an amateur'

Luxe's expression gleamed with something that looked like triumph.

He noticed that.

And so, Connie decided that he is going to bluff his way out of this one. But Jinah interjected with a voice filled with empathy.

"I know that look. Don't even think of lying to this man, Conrad. Please, don't put your father and I in that situation"

"I won't. I promise"

Connie could see his father's worried face staring right at him. He did not like lying to them about serious situations, a little white lie here and there never hurt anyone.

But the fact that this guy in a fancy suit went through the trouble of searching for them, meant that those cards are more valuable than he thought. They could be worth a hefty amount of nova.

He could even secretly sell them to this guy here.

"To tell you the truth. I've seen a deck of cards like that earlier today in Talon. A girl in glasses wearing a high school uniform had them. I think the school is, uh...Emberwind Secondary, yea, that's the one"

"Mm, she has a slim and youthful appearance. Turquoise eyes, black oval glasses, and long black hair. Does that fit her description?"

Connie was stunned whether to speak or not. That description perfectly summed her up, from what he could remember anyways.

His stoic expression completely broke down.

This man knew her.

Should he agree and potentially get that girl in a deep mess, or should he disagree and send this guy on a wild goose chase?

He could not decide in time.

"I see…"

He hesitated in answering his question. Luxe smirked as he began to chuckle. It appeared as though he had found his conclusion.

Luxe reached out a gloved hand over the card and pressed it down with a single finger.

"That's how it is. You people have certainly gone through a lot of trouble for this, truly admirable. Now that I know you are involved with them. I have no choice but to silence all three of you."

Something peculiar happened. Luxe's demeanor drastically changed and his whole body was suddenly bathed in a blue-Ish energy while the card on the table began to disintegrate into pieces.

"What the?"

Connie called out the thoughts of Thal and Jinah, who both rose to their feet. None of them could actually believe what was happening right in front of their eyes, was it a trick? It was difficult to say.

Luxe raised the hand formally on the table.

"Luxie, you should know better"

Another bizarre thing happened.

A tall man wearing a large trench coat suddenly appeared out of thin air. He held Luxe's wrist as if to stop him from going any further. By the look of the latter's expression, he did not take kindly to that.

This interruption reverted the card back to its normal state and the radiant energy that had engulfed Luxe had vanished.

"Fern Kael Akerman. Quite the risk Lysandra took to get here. Are the years finally catching up to her?"

"How's Khione doing?"

A vein popped out of Luxe's face as he forced his hand out of Fern's grip, then thrusted an opened palm towards the latter, prompting a wave of fire to ignite and burst forth. This wave destroyed half of the kitchen and continued to spread.

"Holy shit!"

The air around them began to rapidly shimmer with the heat. Thal immediately pulled Connie and Jinah closer to him. While he thought of a way out of this.

"Thal, what's going on!?"

Jinah screamed out while clutching to a stunned Connie. Their eyes were wide with fear. Thal's mind raced with thoughts on what to do. A man shot fire from his hands and another one appeared out of nowhere, potentially dead even. 

'Am not dreaming, am I?'

The home he grew up in and raised a family under was being set on fire right before his eyes, his family was in danger.

Thal snapped out of his gaze and made a break for it.

"There's still time to save it, if I can just reach for the fire extinguisher. Jinah, Take Conrad and get out of here quickly."

Jinah and Connie nodded and began to make their way towards the front door. So far, the only part that had been set on fire was the kitchen and it just so happened that it was close by, the problem was the fire that blocked their path.

Thal ran for the fire extinguisher under the sink. Stopping the flames now would guarantee that his family would still have a place to call home after this accident had passed, if not, would at least save their lives.

"You"

Suddenly, Fern appeared in front of Thal, completely unscathed.

"Wh-"

He did not even give the father enough time to give a proper reaction. Before Thal knew it, he instantly vanished from a hand touch. Shortly after Fern vanished as well before another burst of fire incinerated the place he stood in.

"Is running around the best you can do? I expected more from Lysandra's dog."

"Sorry, I'm just not the type to do what's expected"

Fern's voice came from his left side eye. At this point, the flames were spreading to other parts of the house. Luxe added to that amount with a burst of more flames from his palm. Of course, he knew that would not work as seen with the first two times, this was done to draw him in.

Fern emerged from his rear and thrusted his palm towards him. But his attempt to make contact was waded off by the crack of lightning that enveloped Luxe's body.

"You have good reflexes. Had you made contact your body would have been laying at my feet. But that can only take you so far. Risking your life for people you've never met before? I didn't take you for the chivalrous type!"

Luxe dispersed the lightning and then pointed his fist at the pair struggling to get past the obstacles of the crumbling house. Luxe's fist ignited with searing heat before blasting off another wave of flames towards Jinah and Connie.

As she saw this, she tightly embraced her son while acting as a human shield for him.

"You know me…"

Fern teleported in front of the pair and just as the flames were about to devour the three of them, they suddenly came to a halt. As if they were held down by an invisible barrier.

"I'm a total sucker for pretty women."

The halted flames abruptly changed their trajectory. They now rushed back to Luxe even bigger and more ferocious than they were. All he could do in that situation was conjure a barrier and brace for impact. The fierce flames devoured him completely, their carnage even blasted a huge hole through the Thorne family house along with the neighbor's.

"Shit, might have over done it there. I need to wrap it up and get out of here. Alright now you two-"

When he turned to look, they were gone.

"God dammit!"

Fern immediately looked at the direction of the door and spotted them disappearing into the smoke. Their figures silhouetted against the raging flames. He was a bit annoyed that they were running away from their savior, but he pushed it aside. His line of sight shifted from a burning kitchen to the rear of Jinah as she was about to jump for the front door.

Connie busted out of the death trap of a house and into the cold night air.

"We made it-"

Coughing and gasping for fresh air. He could not feel his mother's touch anymore. Neighbors were already gathered, and their faces illuminated the fire's orange glow. Some did their best to stop the fire by splashing buckets of water and hose pipe water.

"Mom!!!!!!"

When he looked back, he saw Fern behind Jinah. While screaming he mustered whatever force of power he had and sprinted towards them. He had no idea if his father was still alive or not, and due to his absence, it was up to him to protect her.

He was not ready to lose them, not yet.

Suddenly, the world had become an inferno of light and sound erupting in front of him. Followed by an ear-splitting roar that shook the ground beneath his feet and sent him hurtling through the air. The fiery blast had engulfed him with unbearable pain, it seared his entire skin, and the force of the explosion shattered his bones and tore off his flesh.

KABOOM!

***

It was a huge blast that covered about twenty yards.

Approximately 26 bystanders had lost their lives in that explosion and those who survived became permanently scarred both physically and mentally.

"Damn Sardes bastard"

Luxe ranted out as his body laid flat on the ruins of the neighbor's former house. His hand stretched out to the sky in a post snap posture.

By the looks of it, that explosion was his handy work, a last-ditch effort in finishing off the Thorne family. But since Fern was present, he wondered who he chose to save.

The Thornes or the innocent bystanders.

"Did you save them, Akerman?"

If he had not erected a barrier to protect himself. He too would have been caught in the blast.

After that stunt, he knew that the cards were no longer present in this place anymore. They were unclaimed and would naturally vanish in search of chosen individuals.

There was no reason for him to stick around. Facing a Phoenix Ranked assassin like Fern was not in his to-do list.

And so, Luxe fled the scene via teleportation.

***

'It hurts…Everything hurts'

Connie felt an overwhelming and all-consuming pain. Every nerve in his body screamed in agony as the aftereffects of the blast ravaged him.

His whole body was badly injured to the point that his skull was partially visible on his face. Both of his arms were gone, and his entire lower body was completely gone. 

'I... I can't move'

His limbs felt unresponsive through the maddening pain. His vision was completely blinded and all he could see was the black empty void.

The pain was too much, too intense, but the thought of dying here filled him with a cold dread.

He could feel his consciousness rapidly slipping away. With it, the intense pain was slowly fading.

'Is this karma? I should have known, stealing from all those people would come back and bite me. It's a shame I had to drag them down with me'

At that moment, past memories started to flash within the empty void. It was basically his life flashing before his eyes, sort of.

Clear and vividly, he could see everything that led to this moment.

'Mom, dad…I'm sorry. I turned out to be a bum after all'

Knowing all the horrors he has put his family through, resting in peace seemed too much a mercy to him.

Sudden rage erupted within him – no, it was more than that – it was hatred. He had read somewhere that the dead can return from the afterlife to seek revenge for an unnatural or unjust death against their murder(s), these are known as Vengeful Spirits.

If he had to become one to repent, then so be it.

Even though it seemed a bit farfetched.

'I swear it. I'll make them pay. Every last one of them will suffer'

The flames that burnt his home to the ground, and the merciless murders who took his parents from him. He swore at them relentlessly.

Even when his soul sank deeper and deeper. He spent his final moment hissing at them.

....

...

..

.

It responded.

Unbeknownst to him. His skin began to knit itself together, the torn flesh mended rapidly. His bones realigned and reformed new ones. Same went for vital organs and muscles that were ravaged by the explosion, even his lower body was regrowing.

Something bizarre was happening to his body.

It was regenerating.

Weak at first. His heartbeat grew stronger with each passing second. Connie began to feel his senses return to him again. His vision was blurred at first, but it became clear.

The darkness receded as the world came back into focus.

"Wh, whaa…What the hell?"

He spoke shakingly.

His mind struggled to understand what was happening. There was no pain, he examined his body and to his surprise. There was not a single mark or remnant of the incident, his skin was unharmed even though his clothes were completely burnt.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he began to panic. His hands swiftly surveyed his chest, abdomen, limbs and face.

Those gruesome injuries were all gone.

"Am, am I dreaming? That can't be right. The explosion felt too real to be a dream."

Connie remembered the moments of the blast. The sheer force that swept him away and shattered his bones. The scotching heat that destroyed his whole body. And the certainty of death and dreadful fear.

That was not a dream!

"I can't believe it. You actually survived that"

Connie jumped back in a sudden fright.

As he turned to look, he saw the same man responsible for the deaths of his parents, Fern. The youth's face twisted, expressing an enraged look.

"Glad you made it out in one piece. Now I don't have to go back empty handed. Thanks to you"

"Bastard!!"

Connie shouted at the top of his newly formed lungs.

However, Fern was all smiles. He was also unscathed, even though he was at the center of the blast.

He staggered to his feet; it was as if the ground below him was unstable. He felt a surge of nausea, a sickening dread that twisted his stomach. Once more, he found himself on his knees gasping for air.

"Why? Why did, why did mom and dad have to die? All for some stupid cards"

Backtracking a bit. Connie recalled how the root of the problem started when he stole those cards. How did things escalate so quickly? All for petty theft.

He lost his home, his family and possibly his humanity. Somehow, he was spared. Why was he allowed to live? It was all too much to bear.

"Your parents? Don't worry, they're safe in this"

From his hand, emerged a silver goblet. The top surface was turned over to Connie hopeful eyes. There they were -or rather, very tiny mini versions of Jinah and Thal- unconsciously submerged in a pool of water.

The water did not spill even when Fern held it like that.

"I had to drop Luxe so I can get them out of the way. This was meant for him, had I got there sooner. This wouldn't have happened. The old man is going to have a field day with me. At any rate, they are safer here"

"What the hell. What the hell are you people?!"

As he attempted to lunge at Fern, he suddenly felt heavy and fell to the ground. Just like that, he was out like a light.

Fern stepped closer to inspect his unconscious body. Next to Connie's hand, he noticed a card next to it. His usual smile broke for a moment and then returned to him, as a smirk.

"Looks like I didn't screw up too badly. She'll definitely be happy"