Chasing Dreams (Dropped)

Chapter 164: The Truth About Home

"You want me to become the next Sawyer Vermillion?" Seth questioned suspiciously. At one point, Seth wanted nothing more than to live up to his ancestor. He wanted to become a hero known throughout the world as the greatest.

Michael waited silently. Seth was easy to read. Michael slowly rubbed his hands together. He knew a simple tug at Seth's ego would be more than enough to wrap him around his finger.

"But why me?" Seth frowned. He gave Michael a look as brittle as rusted steel. "Surely with your level of power fulfilling a role as grand as Sawyer's wouldn't be difficult."

Michael slowly smirked. "You are right." Michael's response was plain and simple, yet his smile never faded. "My reputation as a hero runs deep. Deep enough that even if I were to die tomorrow I know that my name will forever be cemented in history."

"However the difference between you and I is quite clear." Michael raised his finger and pointed. For Seth watching Michael lift, his finger felt like an eternity. Michael moved with perfect precision and with the utmost of grace. Even when Michael stopped, Seth felt as if he had been struck with a holy lance. "Your name grants you a power that I do not have. It is for that reason alone that you are special."

Michael noticed Seth's face shift. Beneath his hardened scowl, a thin smile emerged. Michael figured after everything Seth's gone through, his words would be the only light Seth could latch onto.

"Seth, I'm sure you're aware how important the Vermillion name is." Michael stood up and walked to the edge of his office and peered out the massive window. "But do you know why?"

"It's because of the age of heroes right?" Seth answered. "Sawyer ended the war between the founding families."

Michael glanced at Seth with eyes as aloof as clouds. "Astrid, Ruriko could you excuse us? There is matter I'd like to discuss with Seth alone." Astrid was the first to take her leave. She wore an uncaring expression. Historical talk never really pleased her.

"Good, things were starting to get boring." Astrid yawned.

Ruriko, on the other hand, wasn't as quick to leave. She glared at Michael with thundering eyes and a scowl as foul as garbage. Seth had only met Ruriko once, and when he did, he recalled Ruriko being one of the most charming heroes. She was well known for her warm smile and bubbly personality, making her reasonably popular with children.

However, since the beginning of their meeting, Seth hadn't seen Ruriko smile a single time. Instead, she sat on the sofa, cracking her mechanical fingers, pulling on them with so much force Seth worried they'd break.

"Ruriko, did you-"

"Where is she?" Ruriko interrupted. Her voice was as calm as the sea. The entire room fell silent until Ruriko turned her head towards Seth, threatening him with a glare as violent as hail. "Where is Natsumi Tachibana?"

Seth went quiet. He felt inclined to tell Ruriko, but not until he got what he wanted from Michael first. "Why do you want to know?" Seth questioned. "Aren't you a friend of Erica's? If I just told you, you'd just warn them wouldn't you?"

Lightning sparked from the ends of Ruriko's eyebrows. "I wouldn't warn them." Ruriko replied darkly. Her patience was running thin. "The last thing I'd do is anything to help those Lupus pricks..." she growled. "All I want is to get back at them for what they did to me." Ruriko cracked her fingers again.

Each time Ruriko cracked her fingers, it sounded like two gears grinding against one another. The sound was grueling and made Seth wish he was deaf.

"But to do that I need to know where Natsumi and Hippolyta are." Ruriko rose to her feet and floated to Seth. She wasn't taller than him, but her anger made it feel as if she were.