QUARTET ALLIANCE: LEND A HAND (Wild Duty & Judgement)

Chapter 32: Exchange

Kou only hummed as he repeated the name under his breath, and then widened his eyes, "Vermiel?!" He slapped his hand on the desk, his tiredness flying away.

The girl only blinked and moved aside, "Yes."

"I heard that last name before," He looked at his co-worker, "Could you being me those papers you gave me in the morning?"

"Uh, sure," He said and went over to another table to grab the papers and then handed them to Kou, who eagerly snatched them from him and looked through them.

"Aha!" He shouted when his finger met a text he had in mind, "I knew it wasn't just my imagination, I've heard that name before...

...you're Zen Vermiel's sister, are you not?"
——

"What do you mean by 'sent him away'?" Rehan frowned.

"What I mean is that he's in the other dimension. The one you guys came from," Cesal flicked his wrist through the openings in the metal bars.

"Okay? What's the point? And why are you telling us?" Zen quizzed, a dismissive expression on his face.

"Figured you'd like to know about your friend's current status. Dead or alive," Cesal shrugged as he backed away.

Kazuo was about to speak when an authoritative voice boomed through the dark place.

"Cesal."

The blue haired boy seemed to freeze as color drained from his face. He blinked and slowly turned around to face no other than Prince Veldra. He was paralyzed to the spot, the menacing aura holding him in a tightening grip. Cesal gulped and looked everywhere, but into the Prince's two-toned eyes.

"Are you getting along with our prisoners?' Veldra titled the shiny, decorated stick on the ground. It shone beamingly in the dark place. His face was nonchalant, void of any signs of anger, but Cesal was still shaken to the ground as he looked up saw the prince's ice-cold eye stare back along with his dark one.

"I'm just messing around."

"Messing around? You already know what I said about that. There're more important things you should worry about, no?" The prince fixed his stick upright and then glanced at the cell.

"Yeah, sorry," Cesal's voice was barely above a whisper as he stared down on the floor. His hand was balled into a fist, but the gesture was nothing that signified his wish to strike the prince in any way as he shook lightly. He seemed to stiffen even more when Veldra started walking towards him. Eyes widened, breathing accelerated, pulse beat so quickly that it blocked out all other sounds. Cesal couldn't bring himself to move, his mind nor feet allowed him to. His stare on the ground premised him to the way the Prince's shoes moved slightly to the right, changing his prior direction that led him face to face with the blue head. He could still feel the deadly aura, feel the way his heterochromatic trailed over him as he walked by. His mouth was finally able to open, but only a shaky breath was released.

He found the courage to turn around after a few seconds and watched as Veldra looked at the three boys in satisfaction.

"Hey there, Rehan Tryiar. How are you holding up?" He said ever so casually as if he didn't knock the breath out of a young teen by just speaking and looking at him.

"Not so great, Veldra the douche," Rehan replied, looking straight at the prince.

That language. That defiance. That insolent glare. The way clueless peasants always thought they had some sort of power if they stared right into the prince's eyes, trying to prove they weren't scared, that they also held some authority as humans. After all, humans were all the same, right? They all breathed the same air, functioned the same way, and all bled red blood, right?

Wrong.

Humans weren't the same. That's what Veldra thought. He, a prince had royal blood, peasants didn't. He ruled the dimension and he made the rules, peasants didn't. He ate and dressed exquisitely and luxuriously, and once again, peasants didn't. So, whatever right did they have to stare right back at him? Like they were on the same level? Veldra only values what's precious and of use, anything other than that is useless, and he only gets rid of it. That sense applies normally applies to objects and such, but to Prince Veldra, it also applies to humans, not necessarily peasants, but humans in general.

Right now, the ash blond challenging him was of use. He wouldn't get rid of him without second thought, but still, defiance is what he hated most.

"Thank you," Veldra said dryly.

"Can we like shower or something?" Zen groaned, mind hazy.

"You will be able to wash up, indulge, and satisfy all your needs in one condition, Zen Vermiel," Veldra said, "There's something I'm going to offer and like most people would say, you have the choice to: take it or leave it," He continued, "The only difference is that, you leave it, you perish."

"So basically, we die if we don't agree with whatever offer you give us," Kazuo deadpanned.

"A simple way to put it, yes."

"Get to the point," Rehan rolled his eyes.

Veldra smile fell before he put it back on, "In this dimension, people have supernatural powers. It's an ordinary thing due to our magic system. Our dimension is called D.I.M one and yours is called D.I.M two. In D.I.M two, a magic system doesn't exist. It's bizarre, hence why it's not normalized. Now, why would a powerful prince like me capture some teenage boys from D.I.M one? If you haven't already caught on, you're not entirely 'normal'. Each of you have a supernatural power within you and my main goal is to help you master it. What your power feeds on is your spirit, it's the fuel for the power. You have a full, strong spirit, you're in full control and can utilize your power to its full extent. You have a weak, broken spirit, your power is useless, and you will not be able to master it."

Cesal looked down sadly.

Kazuo squinted his eyes suspiciously, "Help us master our power? I think you need to elaborate your approach of all things."

"I am powerful, not merciful," Veldra replied.

"Now, what's the offer?" Zen asked.

"You deliberately give up half of your spirit or I take it by force," Veldra said.

"You said the other choice was to die, though," Zen frowned.

"I am a man of honor, and I stick to my words. I never said your life will be guaranteed. Who knows? You might die along the way."

"Give up half of your spirit by a saying, that's what I ask for," He explained.

"Can you just take our superpowers away and let us go home?" Rehan said tiredly.

"It isn't that easy. Supernatural powers can only be accessed through the spirit," Veldra replied, "Once again, give up your spirit voluntarily, that will get the deal done immediately and no harm will be caused upon you. Refuse, I take it by force, and you don't want that hard way. Trust me. I will give you five days to decide, that's more than enough. I hope you choose wisely," He continued, "Cesal."

The boy perked up, "Yes?"

The prince turned around, his expression dark, "Come with me," and walked away, Cesal trailing behind.

Zen huffed as he watched them disappear out of sight then brought his knees to his chest and looked at the other two boys, "I barely caught on, but, which one of you fuckers is 'giving up their spirit?'