𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫'𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔩𝔩

Part 52

"You weren't listening to me, were you?" The boy sighed in annoyance as he pulled the towel away from Fyodor's head. What he didn't know was that he was so very wrong, Fyodor was listening more intently than he should have been.

"Aren't you scared?" The boy questioned. Fyodor smiled, knowing this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

"No, this room might as well be my own bedroom," Fyodor smiled slyly before continuing on, "My ability allows me to control consciousness and space."

The boy's surprised face was enough for Fyodor to momentarily remove Kate from his thoughts. When he left, Fyodor got to work to set up his traps for the executive called Ace. When everyone returned, Fyodor set his plan into action and challenged Ace to a game guaranteeing his freedom. As calculated, Fyodor won, gaining all the information he wanted and leading to Ace taking his own life.

Meanwhile, the boy was walking down the hallway of the ship, thinking about Fyodor. The Russian fascinated him and scared him but he had too much faith placed in his master. When he heard footsteps behind him, he turned and was met with Fyodor's approaching figure. The boy's eyes widened in fear and he froze.

"Y-Y-You! How did you get out? Where's Ace?" He asked, stuttering while Fyodor ignored his questions.

"Is this the vault Ace kept his gems in to avoid a market crash?" Fyodor asked as he stopped in front of a door right next to the boy. When he produced a set of keys and opened the door, the boy was even more scared than before.

"How did you get those keys?" He asked, knowing only his master had that set.

"It was simple. My ability isn't one that allows me to control consciousness or space." He revealed, only confusing the boy further. When he opened the door, the boy was unconcerned, only focused on Fyodor's words instead.

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" He questioned while Fyodor entered the vault.

"I lied. I expected the surveillance." Fyodor answered simply.

"Where's Ace?" The boy asked.

"People are quick to believe they are thinking of their own will. Whether it's the surveillance or the clock, we believe that everything we discover is valuable. We're loath to believe that our thoughts are being controlled. The method of escape he heard from the kidnapper was one that erases a person's consciousness from an ability space... But I gave that information to the kidnapper deliberately." Fyodor explained.

The boy's face paled before he ran back to check on his master. When he met the dead body, his knees began to wobble. He was stuck in place after taking a few steps forwards. If he moved again, he would surely fall.

The footsteps of the Russian intruder once again followed him, this time back into the cell that he had previously been kept in.

"Just before he returned to this cell, I destroyed the clock and communicator with wine. I stuffed bits of cork into the lock and pretended that we were in an ability space." Fyodor once again explained to the young boy, not because he owed it to him but because he wanted to. He was going to show this boy kindness, just as he received and just as he would have with Kate. Since this boy was similar to her, he couldn't help himself.

Meanwhile, the boy was frozen in fear, unable to comprehend the amount of thought that had been put into such an act. How could Fyodor have been able to pull it all off without anyone knowing? Not to mention this man was everything he could have wanted to become. In a way, he knew that Fyodor was his saviour, releasing him from Ace's control... perhaps Fyodor was listening to his story and ramblings.

"I enjoyed the card game we played together. He was mistaken from the beginning. In fact, I didn't win the game using my ability, I simply memorized all of the faint scratches on the surface of each of the cards. The rest is as you see it. He thought it through himself, and ended his own life. Crime is thought. Crime is respiration. He was freed from all of it." Fyodor finished as he stared at the man with an empty expression. It was clear that this was not his first time taking a life nor would it be the last.

"So it was part of your plan to be abducted?" The boy asked, wanting to be fascinated by Fyodor's brain once more.

"Is it the gems you're after?" He suddenly followed up, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Gems? I have no interest in such pebbles. I'm interested in the list he secretly compiled of the Port Mafia members' abilities. It even details the boss' top-secret ability. With this, I'll bring the mercy of death upon the evil of this world." Fyodor smiled as he revealed all to the boy.

It was then that this boy understood his master stood no chance against such a monster as driven as Fyodor. He understood that Fyodor was something beyond evil, something that exceeded a human's capacity for evil, he was something demonic.

"If the Port Mafia were to learn that their abilities have gotten out, this list would lose half of its value. Thus, I can't allow the events here to be known to the outside. Therefore, I will grant you the great silence." Fyodor explained patiently as he held his hand out towards the boy.

Fyodor knew it was kinder to kill this boy with his ability than to use any other weapon. He hated using something so sinful for such a heavenly task but he felt it was necessary at this moment. This boy who had cared for him in the same way that Kate did was special, he was worth more than a painful death by knife or gun wound. Therefore, Fyodor's sinful act would be out of mercy and kindness and was justified.

The palm of Fyodor's hand covered the boy's forehead, like a mother checking a child's temperature. A flash of white enveloped his palm and nearly filled the room.

"This is my true ability," Fyodor stated just before the boy's head was covered in blood.

"My angel will greet you at the gates certainly. She'll take care of you, I'm certain of it." Fyodor's voice was no longer stoic and flat as he talked, it was melancholic. The boy fell onto the floor face first.

Karma, the boy, experienced his last thoughts while his collar bounced off of the floor and away from him. He was finally free but this time forever. But this man who had played his God during the last moments of his life had promised him an angel. He couldn't wait to see her. He no longer felt any pain and the thought of this angel was enough relief for him to give in to the peace and euphoria he felt. A smile remained on his face, engraved there forever.

"May you be freed from the shackles of your crimes, and your soul salvaged... Next, the Port Mafia and then the Armed Detective Agency. " Fyodor thought out loud.

He couldn't always be so weak towards those who reminded him of Kate in the simplest ways but he feared that he might be. Oh, well, he was weak for her love like always.

The only thing that stood as both a reminder and witness of their love is the house that they had once shared. Her harp silently gathered dust in the room where he first heard her play it, his cello beside it. Her clothes still sat in the dresser, waiting for her to return for them. His bed that she made for him every morning remained unmade. The only thing that would remember this story as a lovely one was the now empty house. For everyone else, this story was a tragedy.