Chapter 50: The Encounter

The twin moons hung low, casting elongated shadows across the cobblestone alley. Hiro and Ray stood frozen, their minds grappling with the unthinkable—the leader's body, now a gruesome mosaic of flesh and blood. The scent of blood filled the air, intertwining with the palpable fear.

Their main objective was to find Kai; but fate had other plans. With the view ahead, the whole world changed around them. Many questions ran in their mind; Who was she? Why did she kill him? And more such.

After a silence that seemed to stretch into eternity, Ray's anger ignited. He stepped forward, his voice trembling with barely contained rage. "Who are you?" he demanded, his fists clenched.

The girl remained unfazed, her dark eyes fixed on Ray. "Exchanging names already, are we~?" she replied, her smile enigmatic.

Ray's patience snapped. "Enough!" he shouted, "Why did you kill him!?"

The girl tilted her head, her gaze piercing. "Answers lie beyond questions," she said cryptically. "But you're not ready to face it."

"That's it!" Ray pulled out his gun: a compact arquebus, channeling magic energy into it. "Wait, Ray!!" Hiro tried to stop him, but it was too late. Ray had aimed and fired at the enigmatic girl. The gunshot echoed through the alleyway, and the moons bore witness to their deadly dance.

As the fire was about to hit her, it froze midway, just inches away from her. She smiled, her dark eyes locking onto Ray's. A cryptic smile curved her lips. "It's too early for that," she murmured, as Ray and Hiro stood shocked.

Slowly, the fire started to vanish in thin air, completely disappearing.

Under the low-hanging twin moons, Hiro turned to Ray, his voice barely above a whisper. "We need to tread carefully, Ray. There's something unusual about her."

Ray swallowed hard, his mind racing as he tried to formulate a plan. But before he could utter a word, the girl, unfazed, began to retreat.

"Your lives are valuable," she spoke up. "Better not make hasty decisions," her voice echoing in the desolate alleyway.

Hiro couldn't let her vanish without knowing more. "Wait!" he called out, causing her to pause and glance back at him. "Who are you?" he asked, desperation seeping into his voice.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, holding to his gaze for a moment before responding, "One should always be prepared for the unexpected." With that, she turned to leave again, but not before adding, "You can call me Trickster."

As she said her name, a thought struck to Hiro's mind. "Wait…Trickster as in," he thought to himself as he called out to her. "Wait! Are you-" but before he could, she had disappeared into the shadows. "She's gone…," Hiro whispered to himself.

But just then, her voice reached them one last time from the darkness. "By the way, your friend is lying over those boxes."

As they heard so, they finally recalled about Kai. Ray and Hiro exchanged a glance before frantically scanning their surroundings. They noticed a few boxes lying in a dark corner and rushed towards them. There, they found Kai lying unconscious.

"Is he alright?" Ray asked, his voice filled with concern.

Hiro checked on Kai and sighed with relief. "He's alright, just unconscious."

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Ray looked back to where the girl had been, the dark corner, leaving only the echo of her cryptic words. A mix of fear and curiosity playing on his face.

After sometime, Ray and Hiro, having found Kai, prepare to return. "…Eh?" Ray notices something on Kai but dismisses it, convincing himself he's overthinking. "It's probably nothing," he mutters to himself.

Later, they meet up with Sakura and Aiden. Seeing Kai in such a state, Sakura gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. "Oh, Kai…" she whispers, tears welling up in her eyes. Together, they carefully carry Kai back to their mansion, their hearts heavy with worry. Once they reach the mansion, they lay Kai down on his bed in his room.

As dawn breaks the next day, Kai finally regains consciousness. "That was a good sleep," he thinks to himself as he sits up. Upon rubbing and opening his eyes, he finds Sakura asleep on a chair beside him, her hand clasping his. Hiro is sprawled on a nearby chair, deep in slumber. A small smile graces Kai's face at the sight. He gently shakes Sakura awake.

Startled, Sakura's eyes flutter open. Upon seeing Kai awake, tears well up in her eyes and she throws her arms around him. "Kai! You're awake!" she sobs, her voice echoing in the quiet room.

The commotion stirs Hiro from his sleep. Seeing Kai awake, he quickly stands up. He calls out to Aiden standing by the door, as he instructs, "Call for our physician."

To his order, the physician, a middle-aged man with a stern expression, arrives promptly. He begins to examine Kai, his experienced hands moving deftly as he checks Kai's vitals.

Meanwhile, Sakura, Hiro, and Aiden stand to the side, their faces etched with worry. They watch the physician's every move, their hearts pounding in their chests as they wait for him to finish his examination.

Kai, on the other hand, seems surprisingly calm. He watches them from the corner of his eye, a faint smile playing on his lips. "They're getting worked up for no reason," he thinks to himself, finding their concern both touching and unnecessary.

After the checkup was done, the physician reports that Kai was alright. He should take good rest. With this, he takes his leave as Aiden guide him back.

Back to the couple, worried for Kai, asks him a lot of questions. "They are making a fuss again," Kai thinks to himself. He picks up his notebook from the table, as he writes to them.

"Don't worry, mom, dad. I am alright. So, you two should get some good rest too. I already caused a lot of trouble for you," he writes to them. As Sakura and Hiro reads it, they smile at him. "You did nothing wrong Kai," Sakura lowers her head, "it was a failure on our side." Just then, she recalls back, when she read his note and Kai had called her mom.

She looks at him again in surprise, when she sees Kai holding another note saying: "Sorry, it took me this long, mom."

As she reads it, she throws her arm around him, silently crying on his shoulder. Kai, not sure of how to react, hesitated, but slowly hugged her back. Hiro as well, reaches out to them and joins in, to a family hug. After sometime, Hiro picks up Sakura, who fell asleep while crying. "I will take her back," he says so as he looks over Kai. "You should get some more sleep as well," to which Kai nods, before showing him another note.

"Did you saw two girls with me, one around fifteen and the other around Eli's age?"

He asks, to which Hito smiles at him. "Don't worry, they are safe. They are currently asleep in the guest room. Mary is there to watch over them."

As Hiro speaks, Kai lets out a sigh of relief, his shoulders visibly relaxing. After a bit more conversation, filled with reassuring nods, Hiro exits the room with Sakura, the door closing with a soft click behind him. The moment the door shuts, the room plunges into silence. Hiro walks back with a sleeping Sakura in his arms.

Back in the room, Kai's expression undergoes a drastic transformation. The calm facade fades away, replaced by a serious, almost stern look. His eyes, which were a soft black just a few seconds ago, now blaze a bloody red, radiating an intense, almost eerie, glow.