"I'd love it if it were longer," Mattheus replies with a scornful look.
The two men, both in full black face off each other again. Martyn's blue hair is of a much darker shade now.
"You must be wondering why I'm still alive. Well, I'd have died, if not for the black dragon's blood I drank before you caught up with me," Martyn continues.
"Devil's Blood?! You really are out of your mind!" Mattheus asks incredulously.
"No, I'm not. Power is but a means to achieve a noble aim, to ensure that people can enjoy their lives here on earth. Since Kai went to kill the black dragon, I might as well grab the opportunity offered to me to increase my power to face the Demonlord Nuriel."
"Noble aim indeed. I wonder what happens AFTER you defeat Nuriel. Anywayz, Nuriel is dead. Matthieu and I killed him after 'killing' you. We needn't you nor your powers to rid Silvenlore of him," Mattheus face is now grim.
"Well, apparenly you guys didn't put him down well enough. Nuriel has returned, roaming the earth building up his forces. I'm here to make a proposal. I don't know how or why he's back or why he came over to our world in the first place. What I do know is that we must kill him and prevent him from doing anymore harm. I've tracked him to a small island not far from here. I'd like you to help me defeat him. After which, I'll return to you the Relics of Edrea, so that you can return the power of Edrea."
Just then Martyn's phone rings. After a short acknowledgement, he tells Mattheus, "I've done what I came here to do. Do consider my proposition. I'll look you up again in a week's time for your answer. It cost 3 lives to find you, although it's for a noble cause, it's still best to avoid it. So don't run too far off."
Mattheus doesn't have time to reply, Martyn turns around, his long coat fanning out behind him as he does so. Moments later, he disappears to the roar of a metallic blue 'Raging Bull'.
**********
The hitman steps out of the building he had just holed up in for the hit on one of the four notorious crime bosses of the city. The crowds are still gawking at the wreckage. The crowds seem to be very surprised at the carnage.
"Are their lives really so peaceful? The four gangland bosses must either be pretty mild people in reality or live in remarkable peaceful co-existence," the professional killer thought to himself.
He didn't have much time to follow-up with this thought though. He suddenly senses the presence of two people giving off magical aura.
"They seem like GoDs, but their auras seem somewhat different. What are they doing here? Hmm, guess there's only one way to find out."
The hitman turns into an alley and slows down his footsteps.
Behind him, two men in long trenchcoats quicken theirs and follows into the alley. Their hands reach into their trenchcoats.
In the alley, the two men find their target walking very slowly just ahead of them. Swiftly, they draw their silenced pistols & fire.
The hitman jerks forward as the bullets hit him. Surprisingly, he doesn't fall, nor look to be hurt. Even more surprisingly, the two assassins find the bullets flying back at them, popping out from their target's back. The hitman had forced out the bullets and projected them back at his assailants. They are able to dodge some ofthe now magically-charged bullets, but as were surprised by the turn of events, they still cannot prevent their weapons from being knocked out of their hands.
"Who are you? And who are you working for?" the hitman demands, his back still facing the two.
"Who we or our master are is not of your concern. All you need to know is that you need to die," one of them replies as he conjures a pair of small axes. His partner has already armed himself with a pair of maces.
"Looks like I'll have to find out from you the hard way."
The hitman takes out a small stick, just a little longer than his clenched fist. Then the two men see a blue glow coming from him. The tips of what looks like a double-sided blade can be seen. They gasped as he brings his hand down to his side again. The weapon is crescent in shape. Two curved blades are on either side of the stick he earlier took out, bathed in blue glow.
"The Moonblade! You... you're the Bluemist!"
Fear grips the two assassins. Never did they expect that they will be making a hit on a Guardian, much less one of the most powerful one. One of them throws his axes at the hitman before turning round to run, followed behind by his partner.
Bluemist turns around too, throwing his Moonblade. It glistens in the sunlight, flying like a boomerang towards the two escaping figures. It cuts right through the axes that were thrown at Bluemist, not even slowed by them as it continues it flight towards its two targets.
The trailing man turns around just in time to see the Moonblade within four feet of him. Instinctively, he crosses his maces in front of him to block.
*PING*
A knife had blocked the Moonblade just a foot away from the maces. A greyish figure descends from the left as Bluemist catches the returning Moonblade. This tall figure is in a dark grey long robe. As he turns his head, Bluemist can only see a pair of glowing green eyes. It would have looked spooky to anyone else, but not to Bluemist.
The grey figure waves his right arm, covering the two assassins from Bluemist's view with his drooping sleeve. They are gone when his arm comes back down. Immediately Bluemist rushes forward, but the figure disappears in a wall of fire spouting from the ground around him, cutting Bluemist off and leaving him standing disturbed in the alley.
"Something is not very right. His aura is different from the normal Guardians or GoDs, but yet I find it so familiar. Looks like I gotta get back into the Guardians' loop again," Bluemist says to himself.
**********
"Penny for your thoughts?" Mattheus looks up to see a familiar face.
"Hey," Mattheus gives the lady a hug. She was dressed simply in long-sleeved tees and jeans which display her slim figure. In contrast to Mattheus' melancholic image, hers is like a cowgirl, free and cheerful, "you heard my conversation with Martyn I presume."
She grins, "I knew you'd have sensed me, probably Martyn too. You're worried about his motives?"
"I have not & cannot forget what he did back then in Silvenlore. But on the other hand, now that he mentioned it, I think he might be speaking the truth after all. Nuriel said he'd be back just before he died, although I don't quite know how he can do that. And IF Nuriel really is back, it'd be more helpful if Martyn is an ally & not an enemy. But I'd still have to worry about whether he has any other motives for co-operation and what to do if he doesn't return the Relics as promised."
"Well, maybe someone can help you."
Mattheus' eyes widens, "Who?"
The lady winks, "Follow me."
**********
Matthieu slumps onto the sofa. The midday sun is high in the sky, a ray of sunglight beams through between the curtains. Outside the waves beat gently, but steadily onto the sandy beach, creating a melodious rhythm that seems to sing Matthieu into a peaceful sleep.
"Hey, ge3ge2! How was the job?" a casually-dressed young girl bounces into the room.
"Hey, business as usual. But something happened after that, and I think I'll need to make a trip back. You wanna come along? I can finally show you how it looks like."
"Wow! Finally, I can see this beautiful place you've always been telling me about," the girl claps excitedly,
"But what happened? Why do you suddenly need to go back? I thought you said you wanna leave the past behind?"
"Wellz, sometimes the past catches up on you, Carine, and you end up having to deal with it anywayz,"
Matthieu replies with a weary smile, "We'll leave in the late afternoon."
"Okie, I'll go get ready," the girl says, quickly heading up to her room.
Matthieu allows himself a smile. Carine never fails to brighten him up with her cheerful and innocent demeanor. He had met her long time ago when he travelled to ancient China to retrieve one of the ancient relics of Edrea, which was rumoured to have surfaced there. Carine was a feisty girl who terrorised the more shady pugilists there. The pugilist fraternity however was not so approving of her, partly also because of her special abilities as a Guardian, which no one there had an understanding about. Recognising this, Matthieu inducted her into the life as a Guardian and helped her settle into the new responsibilities given to her at birth. Though the rumour turned out to be just rumours, he soon gained a friend who became close as siblings and they have been each other's family since.
"Family," Matthieu thinks to himself, looking at the ring on his right index finger given to him by his father. As he kisses the blue cross on the ring, his thoughts drifts to the last days of Silvenlore.
