Argent Eye III

30

Ronan went back several times to check that I hadn't left any incriminating evidence behind, including any camera footage or witnesses. He said he had to plant some thoughts in the police officer's heads, as well as some of the people who may have seen Fujio and I enter the street.

No sign of Fujio, though.

For now, we were sat in David's office, waiting for him to come back from whatever lecture or class he was taking. I was glad that when I let go of my Black Prometheum, it disappeared as it should have. I summoned it, just to make sure, and was relieved that it came back to me.

Immediately it dawned on me that Fujio would probably be after Adam next, and so I quickly dialled his number.

"Hello?" Adam answered on the second tone.

"Hey, Adam." I said. "Fujio just came after me, looking for the stone. I didn't tell him anything, but he's probably on his way to you as we speak."

"Wait, what? Are you okay?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But you won't be if he knows you have it." I said. "Did you hide it somewhere safe?"

"Yes." Adam said. I heard the door open behind me, and assumed it was David- currently I was pacing back and forth in front of the window. "It is safe. I will warn the others that Fujio may be coming."

"Okay." I said, and then hesitated. "Um, Adam?" I said.

"Yeah?"

I swallowed. "I think Fujio may have killed Koji."

There was silence on the other end. I mean, Adam only knew Koji from the stories Akio had told him. He'd only met him once. But there was still a huge feeling of guilt that I felt as well.

"Okay." Was all Adam said. "I guess we should have known Fujio would go after him."

I pursed my lips, not sure what to say. "Please be careful." I said.

"And you." Adam said. "Thanks for the warning."

"Anytime. "I said. "Bye, Adam."

"Bye, Mills." He said, and then hung up.

I looked up to see David there- he seemed a little surprised to see us in his locked office, but didn't say anything.

My phone buzzed again, and I looked to see Kate calling. I realised I'd told her I'd be in the lesson.

"Hey, Kate." I said.

"Woah, I was gonna ask if you'd gone back to bed but you sound stressed." She said. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really." I said. "Fujio found me- he wanted the stone."

Kate gasped. "Oh my god, are you okay?" She asked. "Did he hurt you?"

"What's happened?" I heard Irina's Russian accent in the background.

"No, it's all good." I said. "But I think he might be on his way to Adam. I just called him to warn him."

"Shit." She said. "Where are you now?"

"David's." I said.

"Oh, well we're on our way." Kate said. "How did you get away?"

I smiled a little, although Kate wouldn't have been able to see it. Ronan and David did, though. "For once, the explosions came in handy."

"Damn, girl." Kate chuckled. I could hear that she was walking quickly. "What was it this time? Earth?"

"Fire." I said.

"Holy shit." She said.

"Yeah, it left quite a mark." I said.

"That's not got anything to do with the breaking news notification I just received about a suspected bomb going off in London, is it?"

"Um, maybe?" I chuckled nervously.

"Jheez." Kate sighed. "Anyway, we're nearly at David's. See you in, like, thirty seconds."

"Alright." I said, and she hung up.

A few moments later, Kate walked in with Irina behind her. She immediately came over and hugged me, and I hugged her back.

"God, you're really hot." She said, pulling away.

"Why thank you." I said, and she laughed.

"Not like that, you idiot." She said, hitting my arm gently.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." I said, and held my hand out before summoning my Black Prometheum. It was still a relief to see the black sandy particles coming together in my hand, before my blade took its solid form. I held it, the metal still lighting up orangey-red under my grip.

"Oh, you got it back!" Kate exclaimed.

"Thank Christ for that." David muttered.

I laughed.

"You still look a bit manic, though." Kate said. "You sure you're not gonna explode again?"

I noticed that the fire was occasionally making an appearance in my veins. I guessed that it might still be alight in my eyes, too, but wasn't sure.

"I don't feel like I am." I said.

"Maybe dispel any fire you have in your body anyway." Ronan said. "Just in case."

I nodded- I knew the explosions could happen very suddenly. So, still gripping the Black Prometheum, I channelled whatever fire was still flowing through my system and into the blade. I could feel the heat make its way down my arm, and in turn, the metal glowed even brighter.

"Christ, I can feel that from here." David said from across the room.

Indeed, the air surrounding the knife was rippling from the heat. To save everyone the worry of the energy escaping, I dismissed the blade.

I then caught everyone up on the recent events.

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