Chapter Text
Since they were yet again out of ideas, the two of them simply resorted to wandering around, exploring the mansion.
Their journey was short-lived as it was interrupted by the sound of screeching tires. Zanka and Enjin were back. They ran instantly.
“YO!!! Took you long enough!” Riyo shouted.
“Did you get my phone?” Walking behind Riyo, Rudo asked.
Their excitement had quickly been replaced by confusion and concern upon seeing Zanka. Even prior to important exams, he wouldn’t have looked as worn out as he did at the moment. The little melanin his skin possessed had almost entirely vanished, giving him a sickly appearance. His breathing was as weak as he himself looked, to the point it seemed to hurt. It wasn’t clear right away if he was awake or not, but the question soon got its answer with Zanka opening his eyes. That’s when it hit them.
“You’re a...” Rudo said, almost instinctively. Beside him, Riyo was as surprised as he was.
“You really got it bad huh...” she added, hoping that how obvious it was would trigger Zanka’s usual sarcastic responses.
“Yeah no shit” and it worked. She was glad to see that he had enough strength to at least be himself.
After the brief exchange, Riyo jumped in to support Zanka until they got to the building. Rudo seemed to have forgotten about his worries regarding Regto, following the group closely by and offering help as well. Once they were inside, they rushed to the nearest chair to let Zanka rest.
“I'll go find Eishia, stay with him” Enjin said as he ran off.
The air was tense. It was clear that Zanka was actively in pain, but they had no idea how to help him. Grunting, he clutched his chest again, his short breaths suddenly more frantic.
“You good?” Rudo asked, even though the answer was clear.
“Yeah... It’s just- argh!” He hissed. He was getting worse.
The two hurried to stand beside him.
“Is this because of Typhine?” Riyo asked but Zanka couldn’t answer, leaving her with only a glance from him.
Realizing she won’t get an answer, Rudo said, “...It has to be.”
“Dammit... I was fine before we got here, what’s going on?!...” He thought to himself, the feeling in his chest still worsening. Even though no noise was being produced around him, he felt like he was going mad from the murmur he could hear. A minute or so passed and the pain was yet to be reduced.
“Enjin’s taking way too long...” Riyo broke the silence.
However, Rudo stood still, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of his own. His whole demeanor shifted as if someone had taken over him. He moved to stand behind Zanka, placing both his hands on his shoulders.
“Step back.” He closed his eyes, focusing on what he was doing and not bothering to look Riyo’s way. He hoped that she’d understand his intent, despite the fact that he himself wasn’t sure what he was attempting to achieve. And so, she moved. Although she was a bit puzzled, she didn’t question him. A moment of silence followed.
She was unable to further contain her curiosity, “So uh... What exac-” her eyes widened.
If it were Zanka who was in Riyo’s position, he wouldn’t have been as surprised at the sight before him. But for her, it was a first. Surrounding Rudo’s hands were shades of red mixed with black, almost resembling a flame. Initially, whatever Rudo was doing to him made Zanka wince, but his breathing seemed to have quickly stabilized.
“That’s nuts...” still taken aback, she said, but she wasn’t as worried. Amazement could be seen displayed on her face instead.
The sound of hurried footsteps, belonging to multiple people, was quickly getting closer. Enjin finally returned and alongside him were Eishia and Semiu.
“S-sorry we took so long...” Eishia immediately said, sounding as anxious as ever.
They all stopped in their tracks, staring dumbfoundedly at the sight before them.
“What the...” Enjin had to take a second glance to confirm what he was seeing, “YOU TOO-” before he could finish, Semiu’s elbow had flown directly to his side, along with a glare in order to signal for him to be quiet.
“Don’t interrupt him.” She whispered.
“Right, my bad...” he scratched the back of his head as he awkwardly grinned, “This is insane though, to think that all of them are just fine despite...”
“We still can’t be so sure.” Semiu replied, crossing her arms.
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"This sucks.” Jabber thought to himself as he stared at the ceiling, unable to do much. Just a moment ago, he had been so close to getting out of the shithole he was in. But now? He was locked in a small room that contained a single (and kind of depressing looking) bed. Talk about a rough day. Not only that, his ability to somehow ‘melt’ his way out, which he was hoping he hadn’t imagined, was now useless. His hands were bound together by chains he couldn’t reach with his fingertips, making it impossible to get out of. He tried ripping the root of the chains out of the wall, but his strength was no match. He was left with only his thoughts and no information about anything whatsoever. Where was he? Who were his captors? What did they want? He had no clue.
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Back at the meeting room, Zodyl was seated at the head of the table. Beside him sat Cthoni, Noerde and a few others.
“So, I assume you were finally able to identify them?” Zodyl started.
“That’s right.” Noerde carefully organized a few sheets of paper and handed them to Zodyl. “Due to Cthoni getting to see his face up close this time,” she glanced at Cthoni, “We managed to discover that all three of them go to the same Highschool. The one we’re certain is a giver, Zanka Nijiku, also happens to be in the same class as your new project.”
He looked over the files as Noerde spoke, stopping at Zanka’s, “Good work, however, they’re under the Cleaners’ protection now. It won’t take long for them to disappear into hiding with the rest of them. We’ll have to plan accordingly. The new asset might prove himself to be useful though now that he’s under my control. We can use him to get closer.”
Noerde frowned at the mention of Jabber, still agitated by their last encounter. The rest simply nodded in approval.
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"Holy shit dude that’s insane!” Riyo exclaimed once the glow that surrounded Rudo disappeared as Zanka had finally started to get better. By now, he returned to his usual self, somehow still grumpy despite it being a good thing.
“You okay, Zanka?” Rudo said in an attempt to hide how proud of himself he was.
“Mhm, just a little dizzy... Thanks.” Zanka replied, placing his palm on his forehead, “However, you still have more explaining to do.” He turned his head to Enjin, “Why are the Raiders after you? And more importantly, why were they trying to get me as well?”
Perplexity had suddenly appeared on Enjin’s face before he finally spoke, “What do you mean they were trying to get you too?” His tone grew serious.
“They could have easily gotten you and dipped since you were out cold, but the woman turned to me and made it very clear that you’re not the only target.”
“Shit... They probably saw you with me...” his hand brushed through his hair” That could only mean that neither of you are safe now...” He turned to look at all three of them, his eyes full of guilt.
“Why do they want you so much though?” Rudo asked.
Enjin turned his head to look at Semiu who seemed to have understood his question right away.
“It’s fine. I’m sure the boss wouldn’t mind, besides they’re a part of us now whether they like it or not.” as calm as ever, she replied.
“Boss?” Riyo too joined in with a question of her own.
“We don’t know much about him, but every giver you see that is associated with us was rescued by him. Some, such as Gris, willingly came by. He did offer his help in exchange for safety though. As I said, none of us know what his motives are, but it’s not spoken about nor questioned either. Everyone here owes him a great deal, so we all show great respect for him and his privacy.” he sighed as he continued, “Semiu had previously mentioned how every giver was Zodyl’s test subject so that’s why they needed rescuing. Some givers refused the boss’ help though, showing loyalty to Zodyl. Each of them has their own motive and reason, but a lot of them simply wanted power. Those who stayed soon became a part of a new underground organization, the Raiders. We should’ve told you more about them earlier and how dangerous they are... I’m sorry kid.” He turned his gaze to Zanka.
“Anyway,” he continued, “Only the boss has some ideas on what Zodyl is trying to achieve, but he likes to work alone and he’s away most of the time. He reassures the younger ones that he simply prefers to or makes more progress when he works alone, but really, he doesn’t want to endanger anyone.” he exhaled once again, “We’re still viewed as an organization of our own though, well by the Raiders at least. Most of us here don’t really consider us one, but they call us the ‘Cleaners’. Probably in a mocking way but I kinda like it!” he grinned, “Don’t get too excited though, we’re just a bunch of refugees relying on the boss.”
“However, don’t think that you’ll get to lay around doing nothing all day.” Semiu interrupted, “We do have missions of our own even if they don’t come up as often.” She could see Riyo getting excited which put a smile on her face. It wasn’t fully her intention, but she was glad to make her feel better. “Also, I’ve been analyzing you two the whole time Rudo’s been using his powers. As you could have guessed, he did something similar to how Eishia’s powers work. However, he didn’t need to use his own energy, instead, he gathered or rather created more for the sole purpose of transferring it to you.” She looked at Zanka, “But naturally, just using his abilities still exhausts his energy, although significantly less.”
“Sooo he’s a healer too?” Riyo asked.
“...Not quite. Sure, it does look like that but I detected that Zanka’s body seemed to have strengthened even more instead of just returning to the state it should be in. Besides, I’m not even sure if Eishia’s powers could help him much because this was a consequence of Typhine exposure, not an actual injury. It seems like Rudo’s ability, or rather the energy he transferred to Zanka, made him physically stronger which allowed his body to better handle the effects of Typhine.”
“Huh...” Rudo’s gaze shifted to his hands.
“And Zanka... Now that you’re alright, I can’t help but notice that there seems to be no further changes happening within you...” Her tone awkward as she continued, “For an example, Riyo still hasn’t used her signature ability, so her state is unstable, while Rudo has so for him it’s the opposite. As for you... you’re like Rudo.”
“So that means...” He softly said to himself.
“You haven’t used one, have you?”
There was a moment of silence before he finally answered, “I don’t think so.” He was already aware of what Semiu was about to say.
She could sense what he was feeling, not because of her own ability but because she knew how anyone would feel in this kind of situation. “You know what I’m about to say, don’t you?”
“What?” Rudo interrupted, having not grasped the situation.
Semiu exhaled, not wanting to say it out loud for Zanka’s sake, “Zanka doesn’t seem to have a unique ability of his own. I guess it was to be expected that something would go wrong though. Neither of you should have survived under any circumstances.”