Addict (SetoSolace)

Five: "Careless"

"You imply that your disablement would slow me. I assure you, I will not risk the City's safety, nor my own, simply because you have fallen."

"O-Oh."

"On the other hand, I won't allow you to fall in the first place."

Brice glances over at me and looks me up and down appraisingly. "Thank you, Seto."

I avert my eyes. "Don't mention it."

We're both silent as I ninja us through the City walls, but Brice gasps when he sees the damage. There are houses burning with dark auras, there are people cowering in the streets with nowhere else to go. It's a total mess.

"D-Don't hurt me!" a citizen begs as I approach, and I raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not one of your attackers."

"Then who are you?" he asks in confusion.

"I am the Dark Sorcerer."

"Oh no," he groans.

"As a favor for a friend, I have come to restore the City."

His eyes widen. "W-Well- Thank you! But the City is so large, and there are so many Dark Mages-"

"And I shall have no trouble besting them all," I reply.

"That sounded so bamf," Brice whispers, giggling slightly, and I roll my eyes.

"Do you know a family with two children named Jenny and Danielle?"

"Uh..."

"My apologies," I snarl, "Jenny and Danny."

"O-Oh! Yeah, um, they live around the corner, that way."

"Thank you. Goodbye."

I spin around and walk calmly in the direction he specified, and Brice scrambles after me. "Hold on, are we just gonna rush in?"

"Yes. Objections?"

"Uh, no, I guess."

"Calm down. I'll protect you."

"I-I wasn't-"

"Yes, you were. Speed up, friend, I do believe this is the house we want."

I ease open the door as quietly as possible as I cast a quick cloaking spell on Brice and myself. Then I sneak inside and press against the wall, silently shushing Brice as I go.

"How long will we stay here?" asks an impatient male voice.

"'Till the boss gets here," answers another male, this one from somewhere in the house's upstairs area.

"Follow me," I mouth to Brice (he can see me since he's invisible, too). Then I dash into the next room, holding my cloak close to my body so it won't swish around and make noise.

"Well, I think this is dumb," the impatient Mage huffs as my eyes lock on him in the middle of the living room.

"Whatever. Is the kid still in there?"

"Yeah, obviously. How would she ever escape?"

So Jenny is somewhere on this floor, likely in a room that leads off of this one. Mentally, I cast a mimicking spell, and then I yell, "Good! Now get up here and help me with this!" in the second Mage's voice.

The first Mage grumbles and stomps upstairs, and I begin to walk around to all the doors, jiggling each doorknob as I go. Finally, I find one that's locked, and so I cast a lock-picking spell and barge in.

"L-Leave me alone!" Jenny whimpers, huddled in the corner of the room next to a bed with pink covers. But then I call off the invisibility spell, and her eyes widen when she recognizes me. Then she furrows her eyebrows angrily.