Chương 121: Chapter 113-Chosen Regret

My blade rests a twitch away from his neck. The neck of a Purist. One of the men who burned down my home and killed… my mother. All that stands in my way is a simple slash, and he'll be dead. Who am I to stand in the way of what seems so easy?

"Are you going to kill me? Cut me down in public? It seems not even being The Chosen One can save you from animalistic instincts. Go on. Do it, my little Red-Eyed Devil," Alexander says with a hint of disappointment. My fingers twitch as I-"CJ, don't!" Blue yells in my head.

"Blue?"

"Blue, you idiot! You're not fully healed. Get back to resting," Brown says as The Chosen Blade hovers a hair's breadth away from Alexander's neck.

"I'll get back in a second. CJ, you need to think this through. That excuse for a man wants you to attack. He's taunting you. Look at him. Is that the face of fear? Remember… he bumped into you," Blue says with a hint of pain.

"Enough. Get back to resting and you… Don't be a fool," Brown says. My hand burns with eagerness. It yearns to cut this monster down, but they're right. A group of nearby students watches with silent whispers exchanged between them. I'm letting my emotions guide my hand, and I've seen what happens to people who do that. Killing him here and now will just end in my death, or worse, I might not even kill him. It doesn't mean I won't, but I'm going to be smart about it. Pulling the blade back, I sheath it.

"Apologies. I thought you were someone else. So, Headmaster? A very interesting job. I hope you don't end up like the last one," I [Lie]. With an almost warm smile, he gives a small chuckle.

"I see. Well, it is very nice to meet you, Chosen One. I hope to see more of you in the coming weeks. Oh, and don't worry about miscommunication. I thought you were someone else as well, but it seems I was mistaken."

"Odd how that can happen. Perhaps we should both be careful about the things we say lest someone decides to cut their tongue off," I say calmly. Alexander gives a small nod and then walks up to me. My body screams as he puts his hand on my shoulder. He dares touch me! As rage builds, I watch as a white string flows out of his chest. Another one?

"You're a very good liar, but that's to be expected from your kind. I hope this game we play will be worth my time. I'll be waiting for you, my little Red-Eyed Devil," he whispers and then walks away. As he walks away, the memories of the screams and flames echo through my mind. Grabbing the bite scar on my wrist, I begin to calm down. Maybe I should've just cut him down where he stood.

"That would've been interesting, CJ," a familiar voice says from behind me. A human man with brown skin, black hair, and a nice suit stands before me. He's tall and oddly familiar. Why do I know his voice? The man gives me a devilish smile.

"Who are you?" I ask with a hint of annoyance.

"Al Bulrick Rigon at your service. A candidate for the Headmaster role here at this lovely University. It is my pleasure to meet you, Chosen One," he says.

"Nice to meet you as well. Do I know you?" I ask as the anger from earlier is instead replaced with utter confusion.

"No, but I hope to get to know you and, if possible, if I could be so blunt, gain your support," he says, hiding nothing.

"Support in becoming the next Headmaster?" I ask as the crowd of students continues to grow.

"Yes. The support of The Chosen One goes a long way in this world. You are a respected and powerful figure after all," Al says without a hint of a lie.

"Ok. I only have one question," I say with a devilish smile.

"Go on. I'm waiting with bated breath."

"Who are the front-runners for this position?"

"That would be Alexander Argent and yours truly. There are other candidates, but truthfully, they don't have the political capital nor skills to be truly considered candidates," he says with a smile.

"Then you have my full support. I'll look forward to meeting you again," I say as I walk away. With a bow, Al says, "My gratitudes, Chosen One." A dark, dingy alleyway filled with trash and even more trash. Many would consider this disgusting or outright deplorable, but to me, this is just like back home. Minus the noise. The Capital sure is noisy. Kat walks in from the street with an annoyed grimace.

"Keep you long?" she asks. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Shorter than long and longer than short," I say.

"Don't be annoying."

"By your logic, I would never speak."

"Oh, please. Even without that mouth of yours, you'd still find a way to be annoying," she says as her cat tail sways.

"True. You manage to set up in the Capital yet?" I ask as we walk down the dark and dingy alleyway.

"Not as much as I hoped. These Gang Lords are right dicks. The rules they have in place are making it a pain to get anything going," she says as she rolls her neck. Passing further into the alleyway, we start to see the dark underbelly of the Capital. The Homeless line the streets. The majority are Human, but down here, that doesn't matter. What matters is whether you make it to the next day or not. At the edge of an intersection, there are large men with clubs that are seemingly patrolling the area.

From what they're wearing and based on where we are, they must belong to The Giants.

"A lot more people here than back home. Should make it easier to blend in," she says as we pass the armed men.

"The Capital is closer to the Blight. The closer to the Blight you are, the more Blight Touched there are," I explain as the sight of a guarded door comes into view.

"Sure does. So, what are you thinking? Flash and Cash?" she asks.

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of Talk and Walk," I say with a devilish smile.

"Of course. It is your favorite. Lead the way," Kat says with a hint of disappointment. Let's see. We have two thugs guarding the door. They don't seem like the brightest, but they do look mean. One small misstep and this will quickly devolve into a brawl. Chances are that Kat and I can easily handle it, but I'd rather not start a gang war. Seems like a pain. So, Talk and Walk should work perfectly here.

"Gods, really, Kat?! We're already late, and ya had to stop to fuckin take a piss?!" I [Lie] as we walk up to the door.

"That's rich coming from ya! Yer the one who spent half a fuckin hour messing with ya hair! Yer hair isn't going to distract from that excuse ya call a face!" She lies a little too eagerly.

"Hey, you can't-" One of the guards begins to say.

"Shut the fuck up and open the door, you asshole," I snap at him.

"What ya fuckin say to me?" he asks as he towers over me. Kat meets his gaze with her cat eyes.

"He said, open the fucking door. We have a meetin' with ya boss, and we're already runnin late. Ya wanna be the one he's gonna be pissed at when we don't show up on time?"

"I don't remember there being a meetin' today," the other guard says with suspicion.

"So, we should add incompetence to the list of things that we should mention to your boss. What kind of guards don't know what their boss's schedule is? Like, really, are ya dull in the head?" I [Taunt] as I tap the guard on the side of the head. His anger flares, but is quickly cut off by the other guard.

"Actually, I think I remember the Boss saying he was expecting company today. Maybe we should let them in."

"At least one of ya has some brain," Kat says as she rolls her eyes. The angry guard shifts to doubt.

"Fine. Let them in," he says with a sigh. As the door opens, we pass through into a long hallway that's dyed red by crystals. At the end of the hallway is a large room filled with a thin layer of smoke. Muscular men with tattoos and weapons are scattered throughout the room. Now this is a gang den. The kind of atmosphere I'm familiar with. Clearing my throat, I get the attention of the room.

"Hello there. I'm here to see yer boss." Kat covers her nose.

"Sure this a good idea?" she whispers.

"As good as any of my ideas," I whisper back. A thug walks up to me with a club in hand.

"Ya want to see the Boss? Who are ya and how'd ya get in here?" she asks.

"Didn't hear me? I said I want to speak to yer Boss!" I say loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I heard ya, but ya see us Giants don't listen to the words of little runts like ya," she says as she pokes my chest. Kat grabs her hand.

"Hands off!" she warns.

"Whatcha gonna-" the thug asks with a smirk. Kat snaps the woman's wrist, sending her to the ground.

"I don't repeat myself." The thugs immediately take their weapons out as the woman screams with a limp hand. Keeping my hand on the hilt of The Chosen Blade, I keep a cool face. Gods I hope this works. As the thugs take a step forward to attack, the door further in opens. The thugs freeze as Argus, the one-eyed man, walks in. Even the screaming thug stifles her voice in his presence.

"Would you look at that? If it isn't The Chosen One. I could've sworn I told you I wouldn't be as nice the next time you see me, didn't I?" he asks as his heavy footsteps echo in the room.

"Ya did, but I came here to talk business. Something that will benefit both of us," I say as I throw a pouch his way. One of the thugs grabs the pouch from the ground and hands it to Argus. He opens the bag and gives an odd nod.

"Where did you get your hands on some Black Orchid leaves?" he asks as he lights his cigar.

"Trade secret. That should be more than enough for ya to get something for me," I say without a hint of fear.

"Depends on the thing. What are you looking for?"

"A Unicorn horn and a real one. Not some third-rate fake. Can you get it for me?" I ask as Kat carefully keeps an eye on the thugs.

"I may have a lead, but I'm gonna need two more bags of this. After all, what you're asking for ain't cheap or easy to find," Argus says as he hands the bag to one of his thugs.

"Deal. You'll get them when I get my Unicorn horn. When you find it, send me a letter," I say as Kat, and I begin to leave.

"One question for you, Chosen One. Why are you asking me and not those high connections that you got?" he asks with a hint of curiosity.

"That would be a Trade Secret. Have a good one, Argus." As we leave the building and then make it back to the alleyway, Kat looks at me with concern.

"Why do you need this Unicorn horn?"

"My boss needs it," I [Lie]. If Kat knew that I broke my soul, she would kill me, or rather, she would be hellsbent on getting me out of this job as soon as possible. I just managed to convince her that I can't leave this job, but even I wouldn't be able to stop her if she found out why I really need the Unicorn horn. Kat's cat eyes narrow.

"This better be a good lie, CJ."

"Of course."