Chapter 35 - Hot Pop Star(Part 3)

Point-of-View: Luna Castillo/Astra

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"Ohh, yeah...that makes two Outliers that I've snatched from Harmony's grasp!" He chuckled in glee, before glancing at the corpse with a frown, "Huh, I don't recognize this one. Tch, is she just some low Category ranked rando?"

Category? Oh, right, the dead chick mentioned that word too, I think she said...

"Hey, uh, I don't really get all this, but earlier, she mentioned something about being a Category 2 or something like that," I spoke up as I tapped his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, uh...," He responded, looking a bit taken aback before shaking his head and saying, "Ah, I see...tch, so she was just a Category 2? Well, that's disappointing, it'd have been more satisfying if she was at least a Category 1. Actually, on another note...you're awfully calm, kid, considering the situation."

Who does he think he's calling a kid? I'm twenty-two, and he looks like he's around eighteen at most! He's got medium length orangish dark blonde hair, deep crimson eyes, a fair complexion and a slender build, with above average height.

He wore a loose long-sleeve red t-shirt with a wide, high collar, navy blue cargo trousers and black boots. And he also had a dragon tattoo on his left cheek that went down to his jawline.

"Nah, I wouldn't say that I'm particularly calm. I mean, this is all so surreal that maybe it's not really sinking in. Just look at this...all this blood, there's so much of it, and from just one person! So freaking cool...the ones I killed all burned to death, so they didn't bleed," I sighed in disappointment, before adding as a slight smirk spread out across my lips, "I had no idea...that the sight of fresh blood was so beautiful."

"...huh. Okay, uh...that was fucking weird. Well, whatever. Now, then, I can drag you away by force, which I can assure you will be quite painful, or you can come along quietly and save yourself the agony. Your choice, girly," He stated bluntly.

"First, a question...the dead girl said that she was from Harmony or something, and that they would teach me how to use these powers more efficiently. What's your deal? Are you one of the 'enemies' she mentioned? And did you find me by my Aura or whatever too?" I inquired curiously.

"Man, I'd have thought that you'd be a lot more scared right now. Seriously, you're really throwing me off, kid. Alright, as a sign of respect for your lack of fear, I'll answer those questions, but any further questions will have to wait. I'm from Eden, an organization whose biggest enemy is Harmony. And yes, you'll be trained and taught how to properly use your powers. And finally, yes, I found you by your Aura...one of my allies, who happened to be attending your concert, contacted me and informed me of your immense, yet uncontrolled Aura, so here I am. Now, come on, we're leaving, kid," He concluded bluntly.

"Yeah, fine, I'd rather not be dragged away by force, and the way you suddenly appeared out of nowhere was pretty scary. But stop calling me kid, pretty sure I'm older than you," I remarked in response.

"Hm? Well, I'm twenty-nine, so you sure about that?" He responded, before grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards him, before lifting me up.

"Hey, what do you think you're-...!?" I began, before trailing off as our surroundings suddenly changed...and then changed again...and again...

Oh, I get it, we're teleporting. Also, wait a sec, he's how old!?

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Point-of-View: X

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"Ugh, seriously? Another one already?" I sighed with a frown.

"Don't give me that, careful not to get carried away just because you're not locked up anymore," Responded Trevor threateningly, before adding, "Don't forget that you're still nothing more than a tool of Eden, same as the Outliers."

"Hmph, you're a tool," I huffed in response.

"Stop pushing your luck. Tch, I suppose I've been too lenient on you lately," He frowned with an annoyed click of his tongue.

"Heh, you're cute when your face gets all scrunched up like that," I smirked teasingly.

"Wha-...!? I-I am not c-cute-...shut up! I'm leaving, keep an eye on the two captives," He muttered with a grumble, turning to leave.

"Yeah, what do you think I've been doing?" I sighed in response.

A couple of days had passed since I got here, Trevor had been training them in Aura control, and they were currently resting in their cells, and as before, I'm here to make sure they don't escape.

Though now that Ash's Conditions have been placed on them, there's really no need for me to be here anymore. But I'm not gonna complain, I'd rather not go back to being locked up in a cell myself.

Now, then, I'm feeling kinda bored, so I think I'll go hang out with Miraliz for a bit. I stood up with a sigh and headed out of my room, before making my way towards her cell and unlocking the door. I then pushed the door open and walked in...

"Hey, how's it hanging?" I greeted her with a cheerful wave.

"Oh, hey, X...it's nice to see you again," She responded with a worn out smile.

She was flopped down on her bed, and looked like she'd just taken a shower.

"I noticed that I can't feel your Aura anymore, looks like you've learned how to suppress it. Have you fully mastered Aura control?" I asked her, as I sat down at the edge of her mattress.

Trevor had been training her and Osian for two days now. Miraliz seemed to have made some pretty steady progress, but the sleazebag was struggling, I could still feel his Aura and it felt almost just as uncontrolled as it was before.

"No, not yet, but l should wrap it up by tomorrow," She replied, before adding with a groan, "But let's please talk about something else, I don't want to even think about training outside of it."

Oh, that's right, I took less than two days to complete the Aura control training, and I was pretty fed up with it within, like, the first fifteen minutes. My Aura capacity isn't very high, at just 280, so it was probably way easier for me than it is for her, so her rate is progress is way faster than mine was.

Larger Auras take a lot more effort to learn to control, while smaller Auras are easier to gain control over. Once she fully gains control, they'll measure her capacity, I'm quite curious and intrigued to see exactly how high the number will be...

"Fair enough. Anything in particular you wanna talk about?" I asked her in response.

"Actually, yeah...your power is called Nullification, right? The Condition thing, do you think it'll work even if your power is active?" She inquired, as a dark look appeared in her eyes.

This kid...even with the Condition placed on her, she hasn't given up. The higher ups were apparently not very happy with Trevor for agreeing to add a term to the Condition that allows her to kill the guy who killed her mother, but since he was only a low ranked nobody, they ultimately agreed to it.

"I don't think so, it never affected my Condition whenever I activated it, so yeah," I replied with a shake of my head.

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be that simple. Hey, that Ash guy, his Condition power is a Dark Skill, right? In which case, could someone with a Light Skill remove it?" She asked me.

Huh...I never thought of that. It's...not impossible...

"Hm, it's a definite possibility. But I don't know for sure," I answered honestly.

"I see...maybe if one of the next Outliers that are captured by Eden have the Light Skill-," She began hopefully.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but Harmony already captured the one with the Light Skill," I informed her apologetically.

"Oh, I see. That's too b-...huh, actually, wait a sec...that might be better. Think about it, if Eden captured the Light Skill Outlier, they'd probably place a Condition on him that'll prevent him from using his Light Skill for anything that'd be detrimental to Eden. We could cut a deal with Harmony, have their Light Skill Outlier or anyone else with a Light Skill to remove our Conditions, and in return we join them! Or something like that. Well, it's a long shot, first off, we don't even know if there is a Light Skill that can remove these Conditions, plus we probably can't get into a situation where we can negotiate with Harmony any time soon. Still, it's better than nothing," She surmised with a slight gleam in her eyes.

Hey, now...all this time, I just thought she was hoping in vain, but you know what, she's starting to seriously convince me...

"Wow...I'm impressed, you've really given this a lot of thought, haven't you? Not bad, none of this ever even occurred to me...count me in, I'm on board with this," I replied with a smirk, before adding, "Oh, I almost forgot...Eden has captured another Outlier, they'll apparently be here tomorrow."

"I see, wonder what they're like. On another note, it's so boring here...wish I had a phone or something," She sighed wistfully.

"You can ask, but good luck with that...I was only recently allowed to have a phone on me outside of missions, before this I was only given dusty old books for entertainment," I responded with a wry smile.

"That really sucks...well, at least you have a phone now. How do you usually spend time on it?" She asked me curiously.

"I watch random clips online and play some games, that's about it really," I replied with a shrug.

"That's it? Don't you go on social media?"

"Nah, I rarely got to use a phone before, so I didn't see any point in joining any social media sites."

"Well, you totally should now. I can download the apps and create accounts for you," She offered, clearly anxious to mess around with the phone.

"Sure, feel free to do whatever you want," I responded as I handed the phone to her.

She began installing a bunch of social media apps, and within a few minutes, had already created accounts in all of them. She looked pretty thrilled to be holding a phone again, her face is practically glowing.

"Okay, I'm done! Now, then, let's check out what's trending," She remarked with a giddy grin on her face, her fingers rapidly tapping away on the screen.

Well, guess I'll be lending her my phone whenever I come to hang out with her. I mean, I can't not do so, looking at her face. And it's not like I mind, I really don't use the thing all that much.

"Anything interesting?" I asked her, peering at the screen.

"Yeah, the top trending topic, it has a ridiculous amount of hits...check this out," She said with a look of interest, playing a video.

Hm? It looks like a concert or something, wonder what this is about...

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