Sweet Odium - Chapter 32: Chapter 32

[Rune]
"Jane and Granny... I want you to take Celeste as soon as she can leave the hospital but leave this place today."
It was early in the morning the next day and after I had woken up in Raven's arms I had made a decision. It was my duty to fight back Peter and protect those who were in danger because of the gifted families. Raven and Vince were the only ones who could actually help with that though. And I really wanted Jane to stay but the shape she was in was still terrible... we had to protect her and the others first before proceeding with our plan.
The blue haired girl sighed.
"As much as it hurts me to say this, I won't go against you." Her shoulders were sunken in sadness when we sat at the breakfast table and I felt bad immediately. Raven patted my back softly and whispered that it was fine. After yesterday I still felt shivers whenever he touched me.
"We will make a detailed report." Vince winked at her making the girl smile sarcasticly.
Meanwhile granny seemed totally fine with the thought of leaving. She hadn't wanted to get involved into this so deeply from the beginning and yet she judged everything we did.
"I trust you three will be careful. I know you will try to stop the gifted families form attacking but that won't work so don't get your hopes up." She grunted while doing the dishes.
"You can never know." I said back with a smile being happy that they agreed on leaving. It was better like this.
"But Rune, are you sure you can take this much responsibility on your shoulders? You faught Peter once and you said he almost won if it hadn't been for Raven and Kate..." Jane remarked but I quickly assured her that I was certain that I had a chance to win. If I started doubting that now I would not be able to confidently fight. No matter how this turned out in the end, I would try the best I could.
In the afternoon Granny and Jane had packed their most important things and left to visit Celeste and find a place to stay for now. This area was still too close to the Mellontikos base for them to stay...
"Raven, your mother has arrived in London together with half of our soldiers troups and supporters from the Japan headquarters. Joining them will be the Hwang group, Ricardo group, Rainflower group, Ivanov group and Xerxes group." Vince reported to us after we had just seen off the others.
"So many..." I mumbled deep in thoughts and not listening to what they were talking about. Could Raven and I really convince that many people to stop slaughtering innocent people they thought of as terrorists? What if everything went the wrong way? Not now... not now that I finally was by his side. If it was my decision I might have sent Raven with Jane to secure him being save.
I knew it was selfish but he should not go against his family... but he still did it because I involved all of them in this.
"Hey, Rune. We are talking to you. Is everything okay?" I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt Ravens warm hand touching my cheek and for a second I looked up at him in awe. Right... I had to focus. There was no going back now so if this failed it was my fault for not trusting them.
"I'm good. What were you saying again?" I slowly responded and gave my attention to Vince who was observing us suspiciously.
"What is this? Raven, I've never seen you so caring. It's kind of scary." Vince faked a startled look and stepped back in fear.
"Oh, are you jealous? I can care for you anytime Vincent. Just come to my bedroom at night and I'll-"
"Ok stop, I wanted to know what we were talking about!" It felt like the right time to interrupt this before I had to witness these two taking it too far like that one time when their jokes ended up in a real fight.
Vince cleared his voice and closed his eyes for a second to calm down before adjusting his glasses.
"You were able to absorb gifted powers from a child of Hwang and in the past from a member of Falcon. Apart from that it never happened so we don't know much about it. The question is, can yoy use that skill as often as you want or are there limitations?" He started of and I was closely listening.
"What Vince is trying to say, is whether you'll be able to absorb the gifted powers from Peter. Because with the knife he can make use of a variety of gifted powers so you'll have to absorb every kind." Raven added and I followed his words closely. When I did it back at the base I felt sick right after but it hadn't been so bad that it was a serious problem. I wondered if it'd be different once I absorbed more powers.
"I'm not exactly sure, but I'll probably fall unconscious before I absorb too much so we'll have to see." I shrugged with a slight grin but Raven nudged my shoulder.
"That doesn't sound like it'll be safe for you." His eyes were narrowing as if he was angry but I knew he was simply worrying a lot. Of course it wasn't save for me but neither was it for them and I was definitely not more important than anyone else. We were going through this together.
"I promise I'll get out of there totally fine, okay?" I showed thumbs up but Raven flicked my forehead.
"If you break that promise I'll hunt you down." He grunted but in his voice there was amusement.
"I love how no one cares about me. What if I get hurt, huh?" Vince interupted our conversation with his childish comment to which neither of us responded. Again the curly haired boy cleared his voice.
"Anyways, before we go crash the gifted army's party I'd like to confirm something." Vince explained and kept his eyes focused on me.
"Would you please place your hand on the table and imagine your hand to be as heavy as a car?" he said this in all seriousness and for a second I thought he was joking. But apparently he wasn't because now both of them waited for me to follow his guidance.
"Uhm... ok?" I put my hand on the dining table and stared at it intensively trying to imagine it weighted so much that the table would break.
crash
as soon as I had played with that thought the wood suddenly parted in two and crashed to the floor with a loud noise.
Out of instinct I pulled my hand away but there was nothing wrong with it. Everything felt normal... but how did that table just break in two?!
I jumped back and stared at Raven and Vince in disbelief but just as me they were shocked.
"So I was right..." Vince finally broke the silence with a sigh and adjusted his glasses.
"When absorbing gifted powers you not only free others form them but you also acquire them for yourself..." he concluded leaving me in the slight shock of realization.
"So... in other words..." Raven continued the thought of Vince.
"If you manage to take enough gifted powers from Peter Falcon's men before challenging him, you have a much better chance at winning in a possible one on one battle." He took my hand in his and grinned widely like a child.
"That's it Rune. That's our way to get this done. I swear we would be doomed without Vince sometimes."
I laughed at that and mirrored his grin.
"Sometimes?" Vince wondered in the meantime and even I had to admit that he was indeed the biggest brain in our group.
However, what both of them said sounded easier than it was. How good would I manage to absorb others gifted powers if I had to fully concentrate? And what if I lost consciousness? Then again, I was not used to owning any other gifted ability than speed and there was no one here to teach me... Would I really be able to pull this of?
Would we even come that far?
"Chin up, yeah?" Raven silently whispered only for me to hear and I pushed my doubts back and straightened my posture. Right.... chin up.
[Raven]
A few hours had passed.
Me, Vince and Rune were in the back of a car provided by Inoue that had picked us up near the village.
Neil was sitting at the front and driving, me next to him while the others were at the back.
We hadn't talked since he had arrived to pick us up. Not a single word... no hello, no eye contact.
It was like a dark shadow was all over Neil and it made me go panic mode.
He was obviously totally stressed out... he failed to complete his mission and wasn't there when his comrades were attacked. On top of that even a blind man could see that despite his cold personality Neil had liked Celeste a lot. I didn't know if it was love but when I thought about how I had felt when we hadn't been sure if Jane was alive, a dark feeling overcame me.
At some point Neil started talking on his own. His voice sounded rough and I finally dared to look at him to see the dark circles under his eyes.
"We've located the basement of Mellontikos and the troops are mobilizing one kilometer south of it at the moment. You're gonna be let in on the strategy there." he explained and took a turn left through a small forest pathway until we arrived on a wide field with people standing around in groups everywhere. If I had to guess there were about a thousand of them.
"Who is first in command?" I wanted to know having in mind that we had a plan to follow.
For a moment Neil narrowed his eyes but it didn't seem like he suspected anything.
"Hyeonsu Hwang. The heir of Hwang group that helped us out when we arrived in London." He shortly answered and stopped the car.
Hyeonsu... not that arrogant prick again. He wasn't even leader yet so why did everyone agree to entrust this sudden fight to him?
I sighed in thoughts and tried to not let it get to me.
Instead I turned around on the seat after Neil had left the car and spoke to Vince and Rune.
The younger looked so unsure that I had to fight the urge to just drive him away from here but we had to pull through with this. There was a big weight on his shoulders that I could not lift...
"You heard what Neil said. Hyeonsu is leading the mission so our main goal should be to persuade him." I reminded them and earned agreeing nods.
"Raven, you know that this will not be easy. I have a feeling Hyeonsu already hates you for no reason..." Vince reminded me of how there was a slight tension between me and that guy but this wasn't about preferences but about war. So I had to pull myself together.
"And shouldn't we follow Neil to your aunt first?" Rune added but I shook my head.
"There's no time for that. From what I see here, these people are already preparing to advance forward so we need to be faster." I said back and signed both of them to come with me. In the process I slid my hand into Rune's tightly and gave him an assuring smile to make him calm down a little.
"I'm fine" he repeated but kept holding on close when we followed after Vince who searched for the way to the Hwang group's place here.
It wasn't difficult to spot Hyeonsu Hwang among everyone else because his bleach white suit stood out a lot.
He was currently talking to some other man when he noticed us comming his way in a hurry.
That grin plastered on his face made my blood boil already but I suppressed it perfectly fine.
"Raven Inoue and his cute friends... I see you made it out alive? But what else was there to expect from such a skilled guy?" He smiled to his eyes and bowed slightly as a greeting. Somehow everything he said sounded sarcastic but maybe that was just his way of speaking down on people.
"Mr. Hwang we need you to postpone your commands for a while." Vince got right to the point before I could say anything and soon all the eyes around us were directed toward the fancy looking Hyeonsu Hwang. He raised his eyebrow and I noticed how he had gotten ten times more serious than before in a matter of seconds. He wasn't a pushover after all...
"And why exactly... should I refrain from this carefully planned out mission against terrorists that killed hundreds in our ranks?" He put his words so that people would think we were betraying the gifted society... but that was something I already expected.
"Please, listen to what we have to say first." I spoke calm and collected while also making sure that the by standing people were able to listen. Hyeonsu was bound to give us a chance at least because of that.
"I'm all ears Raven but if you waste my time I'm gonna give you the fault for hindering this mission." The guy narrowed his eyes and kept looking me straight in the eye until I turned around to all sides to speak to the people.
"We know that Mellontikos has terrorized our people for more than a decade. And the hate you all must be feeling is something we deeply relate to... however, me and Rune have been there in the basement and it made us understand a lot. These people do not only consist of soldiers but there are families in there. Those who were not heard by our groups and abandoned for having wrongly developed gifted abilities are suffering in there because they can't be cured. Are you really willing to kill innocent people whose misery was caused by our gifted groups?" I voiced out the question to be yelled at by several people.
"So you're saying we should ignore all the people they killed?!"
"So we are the bad ones?! Who do you think you are to go against your own people?!!"
I took a deep breath and waited until they quieted down. Hyeonsu was watching the situation with an unreadable expression.
"We're not trying to justify their crimes but we want to prevent everyone from an even greater mistake. All the soldiers, terrorists and murderers of Mellontikos deserve to be punished, there is no doubt about that... but if we don't kill their leader first we have no chance of giving the innocents a chance to surrender. And if everything gets blown up in the end, not only people in our ranks will die but all the remaining cast outs in the world will be even greater infuriated and everything will repeat itself." There was a short silence after I finished that sentence and I used it to continue before more people would get the idea to yell at us.
"Mellontikos' leader... is a man called Peter Falcon."
There were gasps and whispers heard all around us and I noticed how Rune was holding his breath. It must not be easy for him... because all the things that were whispered by these people were disliking and hate toward the Falcon family.
"Please listen!" I continued. "Peter Falcon is in possession of the cursed dagger and has already obtained undefeatable power, so even this whole army could not harm him."
"And how exactly will you kill him then?" Hyeonsu interrupted my speech for a second with disbelief in his voice and crossed arms. I turned around to Rune to see if he was ready and the younger nodded. Right now, the most difficult part arrived. We were about to do something that could end up getting everyone of us killed.
I took Runes hand and made him stand next to me after he took off the contacts he had been wearing.
"We will kill him... with the help of Rune Falcon, the son of the leader family of the Falcon group... or in other words: The living creation of project 'Healer'"
As expected the crowd went dead silent. No cheers, no yelling... simply astonishment. How would they react, thinking that project healer had been said to be a weapon to destroy the gifted society? What would they do?
"Explain this immediately!" It was Neil's voice that was heard over the crowd when he stepped forward next to Hyeonsu with furious eyes.
That was something I had also expected... I basically lied to my whole group so the consequences were going to be a hand full.
"Everyone... please listen to me." Rune now spoke up sounding more confident and ready than ever even though his hands were shaking.
"Project 'Healer' was an initiative that my parents planned to take gifted abilities from those who suffer from them. They never intended to overthrow any other group but Peter Falcon spread that information leading to the masacre 17 years ago. I am not here to talk about that though, and I don't care whether you believe me or not... but I have the ability to take gifted powers from people without harming them. Peter Falcon uses the cursed dagger for that and has far more abilities by now than anyone of you could think about. The only way to bring him down is to get close to him quick enough to absorb his power." He stopped to take a breath.
"If I go first and take as much abilities from the Mellontikos soldiers as I can, we will be able to stand a chance against Peter Falcon. And once he is down... we can take care or those who still terrorize us and save those who are innocent. We-" he couldn't even finish his sentence when suddenly random objects came flying at him so fast, they could have killed him if he didn't dodge them.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Neil was faster than me to pull the three of us to the side where Hyeonsu brought us through the crowd to a small tent.
"What were you thinking saying this in front of everyone?! And how dare you side with the enemy Raven!?" Neil harshly pulled me to him before throwing me on the ground. I didn't even make an efford to fight back much because what he said wasn't wrong in his eyes. I deserved it as a member of Inoue... but as a human being I was not in the wrong... and neither were Rune or Vince.
"Let go of him." I stated calmly knowing that Hyeonsu was holding Rune like some criminal.
"I am afraid I cannot do this. Don't think I am stupid. If this person here is the son of the Falcon leaders then Peter Falcon is his uncle. What guarantee do we have that you are not trying to lure us into a trap. Neil, don't get emotional, we don't have time for this." He added and shortly glanced to my brother whose head had taken a slight reddish color.
I could not look him in the eye...
"If you'd let me answer this." Vince who still stood next to Neil just fine took the word but did not wait for them to agree.
"As we said Peter Falcon is mostly responsible for the Falcon masacre and therefore Rune's parents death. When Raven and Rune were trapped in their base, Peter tried to kill them and additionally both of you know how loyal and trustworthy Raven has proven himself in the past. We have no reason to side with them." He briefly explained and I thanked him in thoughts for staying calm in a situation like this.
"I don't doubt that your intentions are good but we cannot rely on the words of three youngsters who talk nonsense about being able to take on Peter Falcon by themselves." Hyeonsu said back with desperate eyes.
"We've wasted enough time already and now you've managed to bring chaos into the crowd..." He sighed and I noticed how the yells and noise outside hadn't stopped yet. What could we do at a time like this? I was sure, my aunt and the other leaders had already heard about it so it was only a matter of time until we were brought out of here and shut up.
"You are a disappointment Raven." Neil then stated right after I had gotten up from the floor. These words send shivers down my spine and my body froze like ice. How did he dare to say this... how did he dare to judge me after I've spent my life trying to be better than everyone.
"No... you are a disappointment. You are so self centered, cold hearted and intolerant that you couldn't even protect your own comrades!!" I could not hold back anymore and before I realized what I said it was already spoken out loud.
The way Neil's eyes became cold and his face fell was like a bullet to the heart. I should not have said this... now he must hate me for real.
"Stop!!" Rune raised his voice and made everyone look at him.
"Like Mr. Hwang said, we don't have time! So let me say these last few things before you make your decision." He looked at everyone before suddenly he grabbed Hyeonsu's hand and pushed it down until it hit the floor, while the older could not do anything.
"First, it is true. I do have the ability to absorb gifted powers and additionally I can use them for my own. Right now I'm using the same as you." He voiced out locking eyes with Hyeonsu who struggled getting away under the strong weight of Rune's hand. The flaw of the Hwang gifted ability was, that their weight enhancement only worked in direction of gravity but not in any other direction so he was basically caught.
"And secondly... I heard your brother disappeared some while ago. The brother with the disabled arm."
Hyeonsu's head shot up in alarm and he lost his calm in a matter of seconds.
"Where is he?!"
"Use your brain. Where do you think did I get the Hwang powers from?" Rune wondered and tilted his head.
"Your beloved brother... is one of the innocent people inside the base that we were talking about... what do you think will happen to him if your people charge in there? I doubt he'll make it."