Chương 84: Chapter 81-Chosen Gangs

Lu and Luna sit across from me as I continue to munch down on this carrot. Lu looks on in amazement as I finish my 100th carrot. Luna looks less than impressed.

"Hopper. We both know that you eat other things than carrots. You really need to stop doing this," Luna says.

"I don't know Luna. I think it's impressive that he's managed to keep this up for so long," Lupin says as he gives me a hefty slap on the back.

"It's fine, Luna. I can perfectly live on only carrots," I say.

"But, why? You love meat," she says. As we're having our little dinner, a Vashrin and a child of the sands run past the window.

"Was that The Chosen One?" Lu asks.

"Of course not. Why would he be running around like a madman?" Luna answers with a question. A small group of men passes our windows, seemingly chasing them down.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom real quick. I'll be right back," I lie. With Hopper here, luck has finally turned in my favor. Kicking one of the thugs square in the chest, I leave my back wide open. One of the thugs rushes to hit from behind, only to find an arrow through his arm. Spinning back around, I kick the thug in the balls.

"Good to see you, Hopper. What are you doing here?" I ask as I punch the shit out of a nearby thug.

"I was having lunch and saw you. I thought you might need some help," Hopper says as he shoots two arrows into the thug behind me. Grabbing one of the thugs' planks, I [Throw] it towards a trio of them as they rush me. The plank spins and curves, hitting them all on the head with a satisfying konk sound. The badly injured thugs writhe on the ground in pain. All except Stabby McStabberson, Victor, and Mr. Fire Bolt over there.

"Take Mr. Fire Bolt. Whatever you do, make sure you don't kill him. It'll be our asses if you do," I whisper, knowing full well that Hopper can hear me. Standing amongst the writhing thugs, I put on a smug smile.

"Well, Victor, it seems like you should really cut your losses." Victor looks down at my sheathed sword.

"Not gonna take that out?" He scoffs. A loud and voracious laugh escapes me.

"You really are an idiot. Of course, I'm not going to draw this. It'll kill ya."

"That's the point!" he says as he rushes at me. The tip of the knife slashes upwards, brushing right past my neck. Focus. He flips the grip of the knife and goes to stab down on my shoulder. I [Throw] a cookie, diverting his knife just enough for me to dodge. He continues his relentless assault. Slash, Dodge. Stab, Kick. Thrust, Cookie. With a lot of luck and skill, I barely manage to dodge all of the attacks with minimal injury.

"Dedric, what in the hells are you doing back there?!" Victor yells. Mr. Fire Bolt, or I guess Dedric, or maybe a more apt name is Mr. Pincushion. Mr. Pincushion groans on the ground as multiple arrows stick out of him. Seems Hopper is good at shooting somebody without killing them. With a devilish smile, I watch as fear dances in Victor's eyes.

"Seems Dedric is a bit preoccupied. Anything else you want to try, Victor?"

"Shut up, you fucking asshole!" he yells as he goes to stab me. Perfect. He's angry. I easily sidestep his attack. Trip him and wind up to hit him in the ba- A sudden chill passes through me. Turning around, I see a large, muscular man. He has an eyepatch and seemingly no weapons, but even from here, I can tell he's trouble. Hopper can also tell based on how he's holding his bow. Hells, even Mateo can sense it. The one-eyed man walks past the groaning thugs, past Mateo and me, and over to Victor.

"Are you going to tell me what the fuck you're doing here?" he asks. Victor freezes as he tries to find the words to speak.

"I… I'm sorry, Argus. I… didn't realize we-" Argus? Fuck. Argus, The All Seeing. One of three Gang Lords in the capital. When I was doing research on the area, his name came up frequently, usually with a warning. Never do business in his territory without permission, and whatever you do, don't lie to him. Argus looks over the area and then settles on me.

"Did you do this?"

"With help, yeah," I answer as I put myself between him and Mateo.

"Why?"

"I was teaching my brother something, and we got mixed in with these guys by accident. Then I found out they were messing with Blight Herb. That's around when they attacked me," I say, being very careful with my words. Argus looks down at Victor.

"Why didn't you draw your blade?" he asks me.

"He's not mine to claim," I say as I look down at Victor's knife.

"Not yours to claim? I see," Argus says as he lifts Victor by his neck. Victor chokes as Argus holds him up with one hand.

"Please, Argus. The kid's lying. I don't deal with that shit. I would never touch Blight Herb. You gotta believe me, man." Grabbing Mateo, I cover his eyes. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"I don't," Argus says as he snaps Victor's neck. The body limply drops. Argus looks down at me. Hopper's bow goes taut.

"Call your dog off before I have to," Argus says calmly.

"Hopper, relax," I whisper. Hopper relaxes the bow ever so slightly. Enough to hopefully satisfy Argus.

"Well taught. I like that. Now, where were we? Ah, yes, this," Argus says as he picks up the bag of Blight Herb.

"I didn't think you guys in the capital dealt in that," I say, testing the waters.

"We don't. Far too dangerous and not the controllable kind. Wouldn't want a Blight outbreak, now would we?" he asks as he looks down at my uniform.

"Can we go?" I ask.

"What's your name?" He ignores me.

"CJ."

"Ah, I should have known. The Chosen One. I've heard rumors about you, but I didn't believe them. I mean, a Vashrin being The Chosen One? I guess I've seen it all."

"Things always have an odd way of shaking out when you stab them. Don't they?" Argus breaks into a large smile.

"I see. I thought it was odd how you knew the rules, but it all makes sense. You're one of us. A Vashrin, a crook, and a Chosen One all in one. Would you look at that?" he says as he starts to walk away. Did that work? Argus walks past the moaning thugs and then takes one last look at me.

"As a professional courtesy, I'll let you go today, but if I see you doing business in my territory again… Let's just say I won't be as nice," Argus warns before decapitating the remaining thugs with one swipe of his hand. As soon as he leaves, Hopper hops down from the rooftop.

"What in the hells was that?" he asks.

"Trouble. One we won't have to worry about as long as we behave," I explain as we walk away from the carnage." Oi, Horned One, I'd like the ability to see eventually," Mateo says from under my hands.

"A little further, Kid. Hang on for a little further," I say as I carefully step around the blood.

"You don't seem fazed," Hopper says as his eyes keep darting to the carnage around us.

"I am. I just don't show it," I [Lie]. This is a common sight for me. Even if killing wasn't allowed by the Gang Lords. That obviously didn't apply to the sanctioned killings or even gang wars. Death was always around me in the back alleys. I was just lucky enough to avoid it most of the time. Unlike today.

"Should we tell the guard?" Hopper asks.

"It won't matter. A couple thugs killed each other. As far as they're concerned, somebody did their job for them," I say as we finally leave the carnage behind. Releasing my hands from Mateo's eyes, he immediately complains." By the Spirits, are your hands clammy as all hells. Consider investing in a handkerchief," he says. Hopper looks down at his watch.

"I need to go. Otherwise, Lu and Luna might think I've fallen into the toilet. Catch you back at the room," he says as he hops away. A long silence hangs as we make our way back to the cathedral." Horned One, was this all my fault?" Mateo asks.

"Nah. These things happen. You can't account for everything. You'll drive yourself crazy trying," I say from experience." Then what do you do?"" Improvise." Trudging through the door to my room, I realize how tired I am. Which is to say, dead tired. Without a second thought, I kick off my shoes, throw my jacket to the side, and plop straight onto my bed. Sweet dreams, here I come. BZZZ. Ignore it. BZZZ. Damn it! Rolling over, I begin to fish under my bed until I grab hold of The Chosen Blade.

"How can I help you?" I ask.

"Finally. Do you know how long we've been trying to get your attention?" Yellow asks.

"Ugh. I… was busy," I say as my eyes begin to drift.

"Busy? Did you leave The Chosen Blade unattended?" Yellow asks.

"No… of course not. I would never do that," I [Lie] as I start to drift to sleep.

"Do you know how important The Chosen Blade is? -" Yellow begins to rant.

"You're getting distracted. CJ, we've been talking, and we would like your help in finding The Chosen One, please," Pink says with a polite tone.

"I don't really have anywhere to start, and I'm kind of busy with classes, club, and being The Chosen One," I mumble to myself.

"What if we told you there was a reward in it for you?" Black asks. My head slowly pops up from my pillow.

"What kind of reward?"

"What else other than the feeling of having done something good?" Yellow says, causing me to plop back down immediately.

"Don't listen to him. We're prepared to tell you the location of the lost treasure of the 2nd Chosen One," Black says.

"Bullshit," I say, keeping my head firmly in my pillow.

"It's true, Vashrin," Brown says. I mentally note that Brown is likely the 2nd Chosen One. Based on the order of the gems, which goes White, Brown, Green, Grey, Black, Orange, Pink, Red, Blue, and Yellow. I think I have a general idea of their order. I'll have to look some of them up to get a better idea of which one is which, but at the very least, I know who Yellow is. He's the 10th Chosen One, also known as The Long Lived Chosen. He died, what…

almost seventy years ago, fighting, ugh, my memories are all over the place. I don't remember, and I don't care to. I'm sure it's not important.

"Let's say that what you're saying is true-""It is," Brown says.

"What exactly is this treasure?" I ask Brown.

"Gold. A lot of it. Definitely more than whatever you're going to make from this charade," she says.

"A tempting offer. One I'm greatly considering, but there's just one problem. I don't know where to start," I say, barely stopping myself from saying yes automatically.

"We can help with that. We've devised a foolproof plan," Pink says with enough confidence that I almost believe them.

"And what is this plan?"

"We need to speak to the Holy Maiden," Pink says.

"Hmm. Nope. Goodnight," I say as I slide the sword back under the bed and hit the hay. Foolproof my ass. Asking the Holy Maiden is the same as hanging a sign on my back that says 'Fake Chosen One' on it. I've limited my contact with her for a reason. A very good reason. The risk of exposing myself is nowhere near as great as that lost treasure… right? Ah! By the Gods! It's a bad idea, but- No buts. I'm not going to do it. Definitely not. Never.