Chapter 3

One of the forbidden curses, the Curse of Restraint, is placed on Hadrian. And Hadrian had just received specific instructions concerning Ethan.

Aquamarine and Crystella jumped to the ring almost immediately, summoning their weapons, but Hadrian stopped them with his ability before they could do anything. Several bones were heard cracking as they screamed in pain.

Ethan wanted to slap his forehead. 'I can't do this right now,' he thought. There is a different aura around Hadrian that isn't his own. It would be useless to kill him, wouldn't it? He took a rock out of his pocket and threw it at Hadrian. It landed next to Hadrian, and he sank to the ground as a large crater formed around him, keeping him down.

'One,' Ethan thought. First Rank: Gravity.

Not powerful enough to kill Hadrian, but the gravitational force is strong enough to keep Hadrian down until Ethan releases the force or he breaks out of it by force. He then turned to the crowd. "Are you guys stupid? Are you waiting for one of you to die before you get out of here?" The crowd then began to panic and run out of the stadium in panic. 'Someone's going to die if they run out like that.'

He saw that Crystella and Aquamarine were released from Hadrian's grip, dropping to the ground. Ethan runs to them and says, "Great, you guys are still alive."

"It feels like he was trying to rip my bones out of my body," Aquamarine said.

Crystella breathed heavily. "Are you alright?" she asked Aquamarine.

Aquamarine nods in response.

Ethan felt weird for some reason, but he pushed it back. "What were you thinking when you decided to jump into the ring?" he asked harshly.

"I'm trying not to get you killed or whatever he was going to do!" Crystella said, sounding annoyed.

Ethan smiled mockingly. "And you did an awful job; congratulations."

Aquamarine laughs embarrassingly. "I am able to keep him down; although I can feel him trying to stand up, it won't be long."

A bloodthirsty aura was felt by Aquamarine, Crystella, and Ethan. "He is very strong," Ethan said, praising Hadrian.

"Do you have a plan on how to defeat him?" Crystella asked, preparing herself to fight.

"Unless you are ready to die, then you will give up. Neither of you will be able to defeat him. Normally Aquamarine's Siren's Control would work on him, but he's under the Curse of Restraint; it won't get to him, and the only other way is by killing him, which is a strenuous task," Ethan explained.

"Killing him?" Crystella asked.

Ethan laughs. "Oh, are you considering it, Miss. Arc of Focus?" he asked. Before Crystella could reply, he stopped her. "It won't work; before they defeated him in his past life, it took seven days and nights to weaken him, but even still he wasn't killed. He committed suicide in the end."

"Then what do you suggest we do? We can't let him do whatever it is he was commanded to do."

"But what was he commanded to do?" Aquamarine asked.

Ethan thought for a while. "We know it has to do with me," he said. "So why don't we hand me over to him?"

"Are you crazy?" Aquamarine asked, and Crystella looked at him in disbelief.

Ethan rolls his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get myself killed; I have a plan. Just hand me your phone; if I go missing and I'm not back in the next five days, it means I'm dead. Take care of Midnight for me; she's my familiar. Also, don't forget to search for my body." He said all of this while taking Crystella's phone, and she looked at him as if he wasn't being serious. "Just to make sure I'm dead and not sleeping in a ditch."

Hadrian broke free from Ethan's gravitational hold and prepared to attack again. 'Two, Three,' Ethan grabs Auamarine and Crystella as they disappear from that spot and appear outside the arena. Combination Second and Third Rank: Space-Time.

Once they got outside the stadium, Ethan threw up almost immediately. "I regret doing that," he said. "You guys get out of here and give this to Taegen; he'll be able to know what is going on with me," he said, giving Crystella a stand of his hair. "Don't question it," he said, before counting again, silently. 'One, two.' He jumped in front of Aquamarine and raised his hand when he saw a spear coming at her. Combination First and Second Rank: Black Hole.

The spear was absorbed before it got to them. "I'm sure that was made of someone's blood," Ethan said, smiling nervously.

Ethan felt his body freezing and floating in the air. "Run!" he said to Crystella and Aquamarine.

It is obvious they both didn't want to run away. They are arcs, some of the most powerful students in the school, but against someone who could control their blood cells? They are weak against that.

They ran away, and Hadrian didn't spare them a glance. Ethan smiled nervously. "I suppose this is where I hear the master plan now that everyone is gone?" he said.

But Hadrian was quiet. Then Ethan's vision began to blur as he slowly fell unconscious. "You are so boring," he said weakly before going unconscious.

--------------------------

"What do you mean he took Ethan?" A higher up shouted at Aquamarine and Crystella, whose heads were down while they faced the school's board.

"Give them a break, Ebenezer; you should be happy they are able to give us the report alive. How would we explain it to their parents if they died?" One of the higher ups said, jokingly.

Taegen was quiet for a while before saying, "I believe Ethan wanted to get taken."

"There's no way Ethan would have been able to defeat the reincarnation of the Bloody Tyrant on his own. We would even be lucky if we were able to find him alive."

Taegen shook his head. "Ethan wanted to be captured; if he didn't want to be captured, he would have used the combination of the First and Second Ranks to end Hadrian," he said. "After all, nothing can escape a black hole."

He then turns to Aquamarine and Crystella. "I'm sure Ethan gave you something to give me," he said.

Crystella raised her head slightly. Yes, sir," she responded.

"Can I have it?" he asked.

Crystella walks to Taegen's seat almost immediately; the eyes of the former higher ups were on her as she handed him a plastic bag with a single strand of hair.

Taegen smiled gently at Crystella and said, "Thank you for this; you may leave."

"What!" Ebenezer exclaimed angrily. "Why are you letting them go?"

"Will punishing them for something they wouldn't be able to prevent solve anything? You are as stupid as ever, Ebenezer," Taegen said blankly, sending Aquamarine and Crystella off. Ebenezer growled angrily.

"What are we going to do now about the case, Taegen?"

Taegen looked at the hair and said, "We do nothing for now; we wait until we get a signal from Ethan."

"You seem to know what he is planning," A higher up said.

Taegen huffed. "No, I don't know what he is thinking, but I have an idea of what he is thinking," he said in a low voice. "Also, if he isn't back here in five days, I'm not fetching his body from the ditch he's sleeping in."

--------------------

Ethan woke up groggily and looked at the ceiling. This isn't the ceiling of his room. 'Where am I?' he thought to himself as he sat up. He looks around the room, and it is plain. There's nothing here except a study table and a chair. Who kidnapped him?

He isn't chained up or anything. But there isn't any window for him to jump out and escape, and the door is made of metal and probably locked.

The door opens, and Hadrian walks in with a man behind him. Ethan then remembers what happened. 'That's right, I was kidnapped by him,' he thought. He looks at the man behind Hadrian and squints his eyes a bit. This person's aura is familiar.

"It seems like our little guest is awake," the man said. The man is quite old, with wrinkles on the side of his eyes and slicked back shoulder length black hair. His skin was extremely pale, his ears were pointy, and his eyes were dark purple. He looks like Death is waiting for him in the afterlife.

"He doesn't seem to be that impressive, though," the man said. Ethan was almost insulted by this.

He proceeded to say in his nicest voice, "Well, Taegen did tell me I'm not perfect, but you aren't very impressive yourself, old man."

The man's face didn't change, but his aura flared up a bit. A little stronger than the aura he was just wearing like a coat, making Ethan recognize it almost immediately.

He smirks. This is the person who is in control of the Curse of Restraint that is placed on Hadrian. What should he do about it?

"I am sure you are wondering why you are here," the man said, snapping Ethan out of his thoughts.

'And this is the part where he announces his master plan,' Ethan thought.

"You see, we need your help for something," the man said.

"We?" Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yes, we are in need of your help. My Master is interested in you for some reason and wants you alive to help him with the quest of retrieving the Staff of Nox," the man explained. Ethan raised an eyebrow. The Staff of Nox was a weapon that was gifted to the Son of Night by his creator. But the location of the staff of Nox is a dangerous journey, and only the most foolish minds would embark on this journey.

"Is your Master stupid?" Ethan asked subconciously.

Ethan felt himself getting suffocated, and he smirked. "Did that get you angry?" he asked. He was released and coughed a bit.

"It doesn't matter right now; you will know where the Staff of Nox is and you will lead us there."

Ethan was visibly confused. "I know where the Staff of Nox is?" he asked confusedly.

"Don't play pretend with me; we have evidence that you know where the staff is and you will lead us to it," he said.

Ethan rolled his eyes and said, "If you want information on the Staff of Nox, you'll have to dig into my brain to get to it because I'm not telling you anything about it."

The man smiled. "I never expected you to tell me willingly, and luckily, I am in need of another puppet."