"If they keep trying to force me to guide with those foolish guides of theirs… I swear I'll tear this city down!"
Those were the words thrumming through the young man's head as he staggered down the dark street. The human crowds had long since fled since a gate appeared earlier, one of the strongest anyone had seen and wherever that gate touched, humans dared not linger. This neighborhood now belonged to espers and guides.
They had just come out of the gate. The high level Espers sent were a wreck....smashed cores, internal bleeding, blood flecking lips and teeth. Some lay dying. Others had already been carried off by high-level guides who waited outside the breach, hands steady and eyes cold. All of them had someone to look after them....everyone except one particular esper.
"Get him!" voices barked from behind, the sound came in jagged bursts, cutting through the night. He could hear the boots, the shout, the surge of multiple pursuers closing in. Still he ran, faster than his burning limbs should allow, fueled by a fury.
"Yeah....since this is what they want, then fine." He drew breath that tasted of iron. "I might as well burn the whole city down with me."
Dark energy pooled around him, thrumming and hungry. Only a high-level guide could bring him down now, if they could but he would not be guided by those they sent. Not by the government's puppets. Not by those whose loyalty bent to orders and quotas. Not by the guides sent through the number-two strongest esper in the city....an esper whose mind-reading ability made him a walking threat, an esper who could crawl into monsters' heads and bend them to his will. That ability extended, in practice, to people too, the guides who followed his orders were more like marionettes than mentors.
Those were the guides they wanted on Louise Ashford's case because they wanted access to his mind, because they wanted to bend him to the government's agenda, because they wanted the strongest esper to become their living instrument.
Louise's laugh was a ragged thing. He thought of the medicines that kept him steady, doses he made himself in secret, thin threads of alchemy and a monster core's pulse and how the government had methodically stolen those threads apart. The state had catalogued and appropriated every ingredient, declared them government property overnight. Monster cores that once belonged to espers, used to learn the nature of beasts, to fight them better next time, to siphon and purify fragments of their power had become sealed, catalogued, locked away in some unknown warehouse under the state's iron thumb.
He had tried to take them back. He had searched for years. He still had leads, scraps of knowledge, enough ingredients to cobble together a handful of doses but every monster core was now guarded, tracked, and unreachable. The warehouse itself seemed like a myth, he could never quite find the place.
Bang.
Louise unleashed the destructive thing he had been holding back. Concrete screamed. Glass exploded. He tore a government office from its foundations in a single, roaring arc of fire and fury.
"Get him!" The command rose again, sharper this time, a chorus of ordered voices.
*****
Meanwhile, the moment Orion walked into his room and locked the door behind him, a wide, unsettling smile spread across his face.
Edwards had finally allowed him to go and rest, postponing their "discussion" for the next day but Orion knew that day would never come. Not really. He wouldn't be here to see it.
The room itself wasn't too big or too small; it was precisely average, plain walls, plain furniture. Yet for someone like Orion, it felt like the perfect place to die.
Without wasting a second, he strode to the drawer by the right-hand side of the room and yanked it open, expecting to find a pair of scissors or maybe a razor blade. Something sharp. Something useful. Instead, it was empty....completely, depressingly empty.
"Huh?" His brows furrowed as he stared at the bare wood. Is this host so poor he can't even afford to stock his drawer with the things he likes?
He slammed the drawer shut and spun toward the main wardrobe. Two strides and he was there. He flung the doors open only to find two neatly ironed trousers and two shirts hanging alone in the empty space.
"Huh?" His voice rose an octave in disbelief.
Yeah, I'm not even bothered about how much property he has....that's none of my business. I'm more concerned about the fact that there isn't a single sharp object in this room. Hasn't he ever tried to unbox something? Cut open a package?
"Oh yeah," he muttered under his breath, "he's poor. That explains it. But still…" His hands balled into fists. "How could a room not have even one lousy pair of scissors?"
Growing more agitated, Orion stormed out of the room and toward the counter where Edwards was seated.
"Uhmm…" Orion began, swallowing hard as he approached. "I realized there's no scissors or blade in my room, and I need a pair to cut an outfit of mine." His voice was calm on the surface, but his knuckles were white where they gripped the edge of the counter.
"Huh?" Edwards tilted his head, an eyebrow arching high.
"The last time I checked," Edwards said slowly, drawing out each word, "you only had two outfits in that wardrobe of yours. The rest are at the dry cleaners. And those two? I ironed them myself. They're still new as hell. Why the fuck do you want to cut them?" A sly smile spread across his face, the kind that always irritated Orion.
"I need it for something else," Orion snapped, frustration etching itself across his features. His eyes darted around the counter, scanning for any hint of a blade, a pair of scissors, anything sharp. Nothing. Not even a stray paperclip.
"I'm not a fool, Orion." Edwards leaned back slightly, folding his arms. "You've always tried to kill yourself anyway. Why do you think I'd leave sharp objects lying around for you? I've hidden them all. Every last one. I know you, you're the stupid type who tries to end it whenever you're cornered." He smirked again, his tone maddeningly casual.
What?!
Orion's mind reeled. How come I didn't get any memories of that? Is this dude kidding me right now?
"Are you kidding me?" Orion demanded, glaring at him. "Why the hell would I want to kill myself?"
"If you've got something you want to cut," Edwards said coolly, "then bring it here. I'll help you cut it myself." His voice had lost its teasing edge, replaced by a flat, serious tone.
"What the actual fuck?" Orion hissed under his breath.
Oh yeah, his mind whispered darkly, shaving sticks are also sharp.
"Alright then," Orion said, resting his hands on his hips in a mock casual pose. "I want to shave my pubic hair. I'd planned to use scissors since it's… bushy. But fine....if there's a shaving stick somewhere, I'll take that."
For a second Edwards just stared at him. Then, without a word, he stood up, walked to a massive metal wardrobe behind the counter, and opened it. The door swung wide to reveal a hidden arsenal....rows upon rows of gleaming blades, scissors, razors, and every other sharp object imaginable. The sight sent a wave of shock and disbelief crawling up Orion's spine.
Edwards calmly reached inside, grabbed a single shaving stick, and then locked the wardrobe again. Orion noticed the keypad....six digits at least. So that's how he's been hiding everything…
"Well… none of my business," Orion muttered under his breath, forcing a smile. "Thank you," he said aloud, reaching forward to take the shaving stick.
But Edwards pulled it back out of reach.
Now what is wrong with this motherfucker?! Orion thought, teeth gritted.
"I'll help you shave," Edwards said cheerfully, the same infuriating smile plastered on his lips.
"Huh?!" Orion's eyes went wide. Is this fool kidding me right now?
"I've always helped you shave anyway." Edwards shrugged like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Lead the way. The last time I checked, your… public areas were clean. But now I'm curious how much it's grown in just a day."
What?! What the actual fuck?! Orion screamed internally. His lips parted, but no words came out.
Instead of wasting more breath on a fool like Edwards, Orion turned sharply on his heel, stormed back into his room, and locked the door behind him with a sharp click.
H...ho...that motherfuker!
"Oh yeah…" he muttered bitterly to himself. "I might as well just slam my head against the wall. That's still death."
He pressed his palms to the wall, poised to smash his skull into it when a figure leapt through the window in a single bound. The movement was so sudden, so silent, that Orion nearly jumped out of his skin.