Chapter 20 | A Simple Conversation

Polly stares into my eyes as I come and sit down. She laps up the blood running out of her nose and licks it clean. Her left eye was a bit swollen, and she couldn't keep it fully open.

We stare at each other for a minute, neither of us talking. She runs her eyes up and down my body, over and over again. Pinching her lips together in deliberation. I could tell that she was thinking hard about something. She eventually lets out a great sigh.

"As I thought… Sorry, I still want to kill you. I just can't shake off the feeling. Even if I wanted to."

I nod my head. It was something I already knew but I didn't know why. "Alright let's start there then, I don't recall doing anything to you, so why am I the target of your revenge?" I ask.

"Hold on! Before we begin. I want to have a little chat. Tell me more about the world you came from, I'm curious."

"That... seems like a strange topic to bring up right now."

"Don't question it, just start talking. I'll tell you everything I know soon enough."

"Um, alright. What do you want me to talk about then?"

Polly pauses and thinks for a bit."Sorry, I should rephrase that. Tell me more about yourself."

"Me?"

"No the person behind... Yea you." Polly begins with a sarcastic quip but pauses and corrects herself.

"Then..." I take a second to gather my thoughts. "Alright let me tell you a story. I used to live in one of the biggest cities in my world. It was called New York..."

I was sitting on a tree somewhere in the middle of Central Park, munching on some beef jerky I swiped from a convenience store nearby, unconsciously I fidget with my mask as I relax under the shade. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a gathering of people. I turn around to get a better look at what's going on.

"Get down from that tree now!" A loud shout runs through the forest, I look down to see a burly looking man dressed in police gear stare me down menacingly.

"Ahaha, my bad. What's going on?" I quickly hide the mask underneath my shirt, drape my long hair over my face to prevent him from accurately remembering me, and make my way down the tree carefully until I finally land on the ground safely."

"Hands up where I can see them!" The officer says, completely ignoring my question. I comply and slowly put my hands up. "I'm going to pat you down, don't resist." He says as he makes his way over to me.

"Why is this happening? I was just dozing off in that tree, is there something important going on right now?" He continues to ignore me and begins patting me down until he reaches the mask underneath my shirt.

He pulls it out and stares at it for a second before scoffing and throwing it to the side. He shakes his head and whispers, "Kids these days." Before roughly grabbing my arms and pulling them behind me, I hear the metal crackle of handcuffs being taken out.

"Alright, you, come with me. I'm going to take you to the station for some questioning, what's your name and date of birth." He said coldly.

A tiny vein of anger begins forming on my forehead, "I asked you a damn... question!" I push all my body weight to the side and then stomp on the officer's knee, he lets out a yelp of surprise before going down, and then grabbing my mask with my mouth, I run away escaping into the trees.

"Hold on, what are those ~police~ that you speak of? They sound like some really shady people." Polly asks me, saying police with a very strong accent that I was unfamiliar with.

Huh, that reminds me, what language do these people speak? It sounds like English to me but... there's no way that's true right?

"I have a little question, what language are we speaking right now?" I ask out of the blue.

"We're using the Anto system, why?"

"Uh... nevermind about that. The police, they're like the... Do you have a force that enforces the law? You know, catching criminals and stuff."

"Ohhh, so they're like the guardsmen and knights, so their ratty behavior makes sense." She nods her head in affirmation.

"Well... that wasn't exactly the case with that so called 'officer.'"

I was pissed off. I ran far far away until I was sure that I was going to be safe. I then flipped the mask onto my face and broke the chains of the cuffs with my raw strength. I then tear off the 2 cuffs still attached to my wrists and throw them into the lake.

Alright! I haven't had something big to do in a while, let's see what everyone is up to! I think angrily. I then turn around and begin running in the other direction, straight from where I just came from. I whip through the forest, my senses now on fire. I wasn't planning on doing anything big today, but it looks like a good opportunity to cause another ruckus again. raiding a gathering of people after a boy with a mask that looks exactly like the magician's runs away isn't the smartest move, but... Oh well, he probably didn't get a good look at my face. I can just cut and dye my hair or something afterwards.

But first I have to figure out what's even going on, do they have anything that would be hard or worth stealing? They might not even be going through with what they were planning after I made an appearance.

After getting a fair distance closer, I send the power from my mask to my head, amplifying both my hearing and sight. Footsteps... Footsteps... Leaves ruffling... Some conversations going on, what are they talking about I wonder? When I first started doing this, the world just felt like a mess of noise that blended together, but over time, I started being able to pinpoint the exact locations of people by noise alone.

"Let's make this deal quick alright? I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to."

"Agreed. Here are the products, you can check them if you want."

"Hmmmm, alright, these are the real deal, bring out the money as promised."

Eh? This conversation seems a little too sketchy for any sort of official business. Was that man really a police officer? I quickly make my way to the clearing where the conversation was taking place, making sure to avoid all the "officers" patrolling the area. Until I finally reach a bush to hide behind. I peer into the gathering. Staring at exchange going on.

Oh... So that's what's going on. I had found myself in the middle of an illegal drug deal. Everyone patrolling the area must be thugs disguised as police officers. It looked incredibly high profile, two very important looking business-people holding suitcases towards each other. One of them full of a white powder and the other full of hundred dollar bills… Well, at least I won't feel bad about it now.

How should I approach it then? Should I try to sneak in and... Ah screw it, I don't need to think very hard about it. The second I had that thought, I launch out of the bush bolting straight for the center of the group. It was quite a bit slower than my full speed, but I had to keep the mask's power distributed evenly across my entire body in case a bullet came out of nowhere and hit me.

I watch as their mouths open in slow motion as I tear through into the center of the gathering, knocking people up into the air like I was a bowling ball. I fly out of the crowd carrying the two suitcases and by the next second I was already out of there. Dashing through the forest, I could hear a single pitiful gunshot from behind me, however I was already gone by that time.

"And well, after that, I dumped the suitcase with the bad medicine into the ocean because I didn't want to deal with carrying something like that, as for the money, I took a couple for myself and gave the rest to a random person on the street."

...

"Oi, why are you telling me a story like this? I don't know if you thought otherwise, but that just makes you look worse as a human being." Polly says.

"That's just who I am. I don't really know much more about myself than that." I stretch my back and look to the sky. "I run around, having fun, caring for nobody other than myself as a thief. I didn't even know my name until a couple days ago."

Polly chuckles. "That isn't being a thief, that's just being a brute. Thieves steal things, you just take by force."

I also laugh along with her, "Well the end result is the same isn't it? I just like the word thief better."

We both have a small laugh for a couple seconds.

"Anyways, that's pretty much who I am, are you satisfied with that?"

"I pretty much get the gist of it. You and Dundee are two of a kind."

I immediately stiffen up upon hearing that, her anger seems mostly directed towards Dundee rather than me.

"However, You're not the same person, nor has done the same things as he has."

"Does that mean that you'll stop-" I begin excitedly.

"Nope, I won't stop. I will never stop until I get back at Dundee, and if killing you means that I can set him back in some way. I will gladly do it. But... I'll try to find another way in the meantime." She makes eye contact and genuinely smiles for the first time.

"You seem... a lot different from before." I say, slightly dazed by the change in attitude.

"Well, I was supposed to be an Agate after all, can't be going around making enemies."

"An Agate?"

"How should I explain this... Think of the Agate as a wanderer. The Agate travels through Shesu, resolving conflicts, wise and mature from all their experiences traveling, helping the needy, doing generally good stuff. My brother was the previous one, and I was supposed to follow suit, but..." Polly suddenly turns her head down as she was explaining the concept. "I'm sorry; I'm faking it. When I think of you with that mask on I just can't handle it. Please, I know this is selfish, but when I'm around don't let me see that mask."

I sense that we'd encroached on a touchy subject. "Did something happen to your brother?" I ask, aware that we were about to finally get into the truth.

"Yea, Dundee murdered him." She says with a bitter smile. "Well... I guess I should get going already and tell you a story myself."

"Wait." I interrupt her. "After this, let's promise to go our separate paths and never interact with each other anymore." I really didn't want to deal with her anymore.

"I can't, you're the only thing on left on this world that's related to Dundee in some way. So get ready for me to follow you around relentlessly, and always look behind your back, because you'll never know when I might decide to shove a knife into you." She says with a grin.

"But you don't want me to bring out my mask whenever I'm around you? I'm like an ant without my mask you know?"

"Yea, you don't have to listen to me. Just… I'm letting you know that every time I see you, my impulse is to murder you."

"Why can't you just give up and forge-"

"Don't finish saying that question." She immediately shoves her finger into my face. "You don't know how it feels, cause you've never had anything to begin with. I lost everything when he died, it's not something you can just forget. Don't ever ask that again."

I meekly nod. It wouldn't be good if I got her angry when I didn't have my mask with me.

She nods in response. "Good, now… It all started with the arrival of Dundee…"