*Trigger Warning: This chapter may contain strong language and scenes that some readers may find either offensive and/or uncomfortable. You have been warned.*
"Dammit, Aaron! You can't be fucking serious?!" Mikayla shouted at the raven-haired teen with no small amount of anger on her face. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"It's not that big of a deal." Aaron replied in his usual stoic manner of speaking.
That comment seemed to make Mikayla even more incensed. "The Boss made herself very clear when she brought us in! Killing other sorcerers is off the table!"
"It's not like we haven't killed other sorcerers before."
"Those times were different, dumbass!" The 'bone magic' user shot back with ire. "Those were out of necessity. It's not the fucking same! You know that we're only allowed to kill others of our kind if there's any chance that it puts us in danger. You killed Freddy just because it would make your job easier. We're members of Iznana for fuck sake! This is not what we do!"
Aaron held his tongue. The young man wanted to argue that killing Freddy was out of necessity. However, he knew that any response to that effect would've been pointless right now. So, for the moment, he simply decided to allow Mikayla to continue her tirade.
"On top of that, he was a DPA agent! You know what this is going to do to us, right?! The agency doesn't take this kind of stuff lying down. They're already on our asses because of the heist. Now, they're about to put even more effort into hunting us down. Hell, Chief McKenna might even send the fucking Thunder God after us because of this."
Aaron was quick to counter that point. "The Boss already told us that he's going to be away for a while. He's not even in this part of the country right now. Mubele's still visiting his family and Zharia Owens down in Florida."
Mikayla honestly wanted to slap Aaron for saying something so stupid, but there was simply no point in doing something like that. That being said, the 'bone magic' user was already at her wits' end with this conversation. The longer she spent arguing with her friend over his mistake, the more likely she was to end up giving herself a migraine. So, the curly-haired brunette decided to just walk away and leave Aaron alone for the time being. She needed some time to cool her head and think about what to do next. With any luck, she would be able to come up with a plan for how to deal with the trouble they were no doubt about to step into on account of Aaron turning a DPA agent into ash in the middle of the city.
-(o)-
'Frost?' The mention of the name hit like a shard of ice right to the spine. It was clear to Cyrus that it was some sort of alias that the woman decided to use. One that obviously had something to do with why the room that he was in was so cold. "W-what do you want with me?"
Instead of responding, Hannah Donovan took a few steps closer to Cyrus before grabbing him by the bottom portion of his face and inspecting him for some unknown reason.
"Now, let's get a better look at you." She said sweetly, almost playfully. "Hmmm...plain, but still cute in the face. Nice body, too...slim, but nicely toned. The freckles and green eyes combo is also nice. Plenty of people love that kind of thing."
"What do you want with me, lady?!" Cyrus shouted while using his face to shake away the woman's hand. "Why am I here?!"
Since she was feeling particularly generous at the moment, Hannah decided to indulge the 'tree magic' user's questions. After all, it was only right to let the man know why they decided to snatch him up.
"You're here because I need you, Cyrus."
"For what?! What could you possibly need from me?!"
"Your magic, silly!" Hannah began to explain with a smile underneath her mask. "You have a unique variation of 'plant magic' that allows you to absorb mana through your creations! It's the kind of magic that people would pay top dollar for. We learned about your ability not too long ago, and I just had to grab you so that I can secure some of your DNA to sell off to whoever wants it."
'What the- Oh, fuck....' Cyrus thought once he finally processed the woman's words. It was in that moment that the situation the young man currently found himself in became all too clear.
These people, these Iznana operatives, were human traffickers. People who specialized in capturing sorcerers and using them to extract their magic. And the exact kind of people Cyrus had been warned about when he first awakened his powers.
Suddenly, the young man's stomach began to twist into knots. The exact nightmare that he was hoping to avoid had finally happened. Someone had captured him to use him for his magic's unique property.
Cyrus's breath then caught in his throat as his heart began to race. The already bitterly cold air in the room seemed to thicken, as though the frost itself had crawled into his lungs. Every instinct screamed at him to run away, but the mana-suppressing cuffs around his wrists and ankles kept him in place.
"Oh yes, you get it now, don't you?" Hannah then said, a glint of amusement in her haunting blue eyes. "The look on your face, that's my favorite part! When it all clicks. When my newest toy finally realizes that he's mine and mine alone!"
Once again, Cyrus tried to break free of his restraints, but to no avail. The young man couldn't even activate his mana. Something was strange about this. Even with the mana-suppressing cuffs, he should've still been able to at least somewhat manipulate his mana. But every time he tried to use his powers, they wouldn't respond. For a brief moment, he tried to figure out what was going on, but after a few seconds, Cyrus managed to somewhat put the pieces together.
"What did you do to me?!" The young man shouted at Hannah with a face full of rage.
"I took the liberty of injecting you with a mana-suppressant drug about half an hour ago." The strawberry blonde woman explained while making her way over to a nearby table. "It should be fully in your circulatory system by now, so you won't be able to use your magic for at least the next few hours."
That one statement pretty much let Cyrus know that he wasn't going to be breaking out of this place anytime soon. For starters, he had no idea where he was. Nor did he have even the slightest idea as to how many people were in the building. On top of that, he was completely out of seeds thanks to the fight he got into earlier with that 'fire magic' user. As of right now, Cyrus had no way of being able to escape. Something that made his heart sink into his stomach.
"Don't worry, though, I promise that I'm not going to kill you. No, no, no, you're much too valuable for something like that. Plus, I'm under strict orders not to permanently harm you."
Hannah then turned around to reveal to Cyrus a syringe full of an unknown substance. Some kind of green fluid that he couldn't recognize. The woman then walked over to the IV bag that was currently connected to the tube that was hanging out of the 'tree magic' user's arm. Hannah paused for a brief moment to give Cyrus an unknown look before plunging the needle into the rubber stopper at the bottom of the bag and pushing its contents into the rest of the solution.
"What the hell is that?!"
"A type of stimulant." The woman replied with a casual wave of the hand. "One specifically made for male sorcerers. Think of it as a super-charged version of viagra made especially for our kind."
'Oh my God....' Cyrus mentally groaned upon hearing those words. This was really happening right now, wasn't it? This crazy ass woman was seriously about to do this. This can't be happening. There was simply no way.
This had to be some sort of dream. Yeah, that's it. This was all just some weird nightmare. None of this was actually happening. It was all just a figment of his imagination. Any minute now, Cyrus was going to wake up back home, in his bed. He was going to get out of bed, get ready for work, hang out with Freddy and Ayako, and probably go on a mission to hunt down some cryptids. Yeah, that sounded about right. Any minute now, he was going to wake up from this nonsense and go about his day as usual.
That thought quickly pushed itself out of the young man's mind when he felt the temperature of the room suddenly drop even further. The cold chill shot through his entire body like a bolt of lightning. This woman, Frost, must've been an 'ice magic' user, just like that woman, Hannah. It was probably how she was able to keep the place like this.
Suddenly, Hannah walked over to the exam table and leaned herself directly over Cyrus. Because he couldn't see most of her face, the young man couldn't help but focus on the woman's icy blue eyes. Eyes that looked at him like a predator who was inspecting her prey.
"Since I'm a nice person, I'm going to do you the honor of explaining to you everything that's about to happen." Hannah then said while creepily caressing the man's face. "In about ten minutes, that drug I just put into the IV bag is going to start working. Once that happens, the fun will begin. Since you're a special guest of mine, I won't use any of my usual methods to get your goods out of you, for now. Oh no, you're going to get the special, VIP treatment!"
"W-what are you going t-to do to me?" Cyrus couldn't help but ask, even though he really didn't want to know the answer.
Underneath her mask, Hannah gave Cyrus a wicked smile. "On the other side of this bed, I have a few special toys that I'm going to use to get your goods out of you. Don't worry, I've been told that they feel quite good. Not as good as the real thing, though, but close enough to simulate the effect."
"You crazy bitch!"
*POW!*
The sound of Hannah's fist suddenly colliding with Cyrus's face echoed throughout the exam room. Almost immediately, Cyrus could feel a bit of blood begin to flow out of his nose. The force of the impact was enough to daze the young man for a second, but he quickly regained his wits when his captor once again grabbed his face.
'Fuck.'
"Now, now, be nice, okay!" Hannah said in some creepy attempt an alluring purr. "I don't want to hurt you all that much, but I will if you continue to speak to me like that, sweetie."
Hannah then took a moment to wipe the blood from the man's nose with the bottom part of her sleeve. After that, the woman proceeded to walk over to the far side of the room to grab the rest of her equipment. A few seconds later, Hannah once again reappeared, except now she was pushing a small metal cart in front of her.
From where his head was positioned, Cyrus was able to get a good look at what was on the cart. And to say that the sight made the young man's blood freeze would be putting it mildly. All manner of devices that he couldn't readily identify were now on full display before him. Most of them looked generally harmless, but a few of them made his skin crawl to the point that he wanted to avert his gaze.
Cyrus spoke up, trying to keep his voice his voice steady to avoid showing the woman any kind of fear. "You won't get away with this!"
"Oh, sweetie..." The woman smiled at him. "You really don't know how far behind you are, do you? I've already gotten away with it. You're just... late to the party."
Cyrus's jaw clenched. "You do realize that this plan of yours might not even work, right? 'Plant magic' is way too variable for it. The chances of any of this working are low."
Hannah paused for a moment as she thought about the man's words.
Cyrus did have a point. 'Plant magic' was one of the more unpredictable magical attributes out there. One that varied greatly between its users. It was extremely rare for close relatives to be compatible with the same type of plants that they could control. Basically, whatever plants a user could use might as well be totally random.
However, Cyrus was a unique case. Even if a new 'plant magic' user who was created through the use of his DNA couldn't create trees, all that really mattered was the mana absorption aspect. Anything else was secondary.
"Oh, I know, cutie!" The woman then said in a playful manner. "But what I'm after is the mana absorption. That's the reason why I went through the trouble of bringing you here. And there's a good chance that any offspring you have will inherit it."
Cyrus took the opportunity to ask a question that he probably should've asked before.
"How do you even know about that?"
"A few months ago, you and your DPA friends took out a cryptid that appeared near a lake. My brother was nearby and inspected the area after you guys had left. From what he told me, you left one of your creations behind in the cave where you guys killed the thing. That's when we first found out about what you could do."
'Is she talking about that beru that we killed before the summer?' Cyrus quickly surmized. That was the only time he had been near a lake since awakening his powers. 'Shit...I did forget to destroy my tree because we were so wrapped up in finding that egg. Dammit!'
Cyrus always made it a point to get rid of his creations as quickly as possible, mainly to avoid this exact thing from happening. The fact that such a stupid mistake was the root cause of all of this made him want to bang his head against a wall.
"After that, my Boss did some research into you and confirmed our suspicions. To be honest, I don't know how she was able to do it, but honestly, I don't really care. But once she did, she gave us the green light to come after you."
"And who exactly is your boss?" Cyrus then asked. He was trying to keep the woman talking to both get as much information out of her as she could while also giving him time to think. Although he couldn't do much right now, he knew that any info that he could get out of this crazy broad would be valuable later on.
"The newest branch head of Iznana." Hannah answered while fiddling with something that Cyrus couldn't see. The man then heard what sounded like a gas canister being turned on, but he was unable to verify his suspicions. "She's the one who took over after the Thunder God killed the last one. Me and my partners have been working for her for a while now. She's great. And she's the reason why I'm still alive."
Suddenly, Hannah walked over to Cyrus and slapped the man across the face without any warning. The woman then propped her knee up on the exam bed in a way that allowed her to give Cyrus a full view of her body. The woman was now holding what looked like one of those plastic respirator masks that you would see in a hospital in her right hand.
"Now, no more questions! We'll have plenty of time for that later." Hannah declared before yet again grabbing Cyrus's face and placing the device directly over his mouth.
Cyrus did all that he could to avoid breathing in whatever mystery gas that the woman was trying to force on him. But unfortunately, his efforts proved to be futile when Hannah abruptly kneed him in the stomach, causing him to suck in a breath as a result of the pain. The young 'tree magic' user once again tried to resist, only to get a similar result from another shot to the side of his abdomen.
Once Hannah was sure that her new captive had breathed in enough of the anesthetic gas, she removed the mask from Cyrus's face before giving him another slap. It always annoyed her when her toys tried to be difficult.
It was clear to the 'ice magic' user that Cyrus was going to be yet another tough cookie to handle. However, such a thought genuinely delighted her. She quite enjoyed it when her toys tried to resist her; it made the whole process all the more fun.
The ones who simply did as they were told were much too boring in her opinion. The real satisfaction, at least for her, came from the process of breaking down her toys and making them do whatever she wanted, regardless of their struggles. And she could already tell that Cyrus was going to give her quite a bit of fun during their time together.
"Oh, yeah...I'm going to have a lot of fun with you...."
Almost immediately, Cyrus could feel his consciousness begin to waver. Whatever that gas was, it was extremely potent. Potent enough to cause a sorcerer like himself, who was hardly affected by ordinary drugs, to start feeling its effects after only a few quick huffs. The young man tried to fight off the sleep, but such a thing became difficult with each passing second.
'Shit!'
This wasn't good; he needed to stay awake for as long as he could. Cyrus had no clue what this woman was going to do to him the moment he passed out. He needed to stay awake to try and defend himself. But the more he tried to resist the feeling of drowsiness currently overtaking his body, the faster he could feel its effects. It wouldn't be long before he was completely out. And he really didn't want to be at the mercy of this woman anymore than he already was.
The last thing that Cyrus felt before slipping into unconsciousness was Hannah placing her icy, cold lips on top of his. Why the woman decided to do that, he didn't know. Then again, there wasn't any point in trying to decipher the actions of a total psychopath like her.
"Sweet dreams!" The now-fading voice of Hannah said in a playful manner as the world grew dark around him. "I'm going to go ahead and get started, I want to try and get a few viles out of you now. But don't worry, cutie, I'll make sure to keep you awake for our next session...."
After that, everything faded to black.
-(o)-
[Unknown Location]
"Hannah and her little crew have secured the target." A man said to a woman sitting directly across from him after putting down his phone.
"How'd the mission go?" The woman, the leader of the group, asked in between bites of her dinner.
"Bad." The man replied. "That dumbass, Aaron, killed Freddy Price. On top of that, he left his body and his car at the scene without destroying them first."
"You can't be serious?" Another man quirked his eyebrow in confusion.
"Unfortunately, I am."
"This is the fourth time that idiot's killed another one of our kind without permission. I'm really starting to get sick of him failing to follow orders like this."
"I agree." The Boss said with a slight nod. "If he weren't so valuable, I would've had to get rid of him already."
Another woman spoke up before stretching her arms out and sitting on the first man's lap. "So, how long do you think until the DPA gets wind of this?"
"They'll know about it by morning, I can assure you of that. Besides, there's not much that we can do about it now. We'll have to wait until Hannah is done doing her job."
The second man then turned his gaze toward the Boss. "And then we'll be making our move on Cyrus right after that, right?"
"That's the plan. Once Hannah is done with him, that'll be my window to swoop in and bring him over to our side. He'll be in a vulnerable state, so he should be easy to convince. Especially when we offer to fix his body up and help him train his magic some more."
"Thank God we have an awesome 'healing magic' user at our disposal!" The second woman joked while throwing her arm around the first man's shoulders. "We'll be able to fix Tree Boy right up without any issues!"
"That's assuming Hannah doesn't work him over too much. We may have ordered her not to do too much damage to him, but I don't trust that lunatic not to go overboard. You guys know how much of a headache it is for me to treat frost-related injuries."
"I'll be sure to remind her." The Boss said before standing up from her seat and making her way toward the window of their group's hotel room. "In any case, we'll need to start our preparations as soon as we get back home. I want everything to be ready for when I bring our new friend in. That boy is the key to us being able to open the gate. I want to make sure that he's good and ready for when we finally put our plan into action."
"Understood." The other three members of the group said in unison.
It wouldn't be long now until their grand plan would be put into action. They had already come so far by this point, and everything was finally starting to move into place. Once they had Cyrus firmly under their thumb, the Boss and her crew of Iznana operatives would be one step closer to making their long-awaited dreams a reality.