My mom's unconscious body was laying on the long couch in Cloud's living room. Cale and Calum were knelt beside her, hands above her body, healing her wounds and whatever damage Azra did to her physically and mentally. Theirs eyes were closed and a white light surrounded theirs hands.
Not so far from them, Nova was sat on a single couch, drinking red wine in a big glass. Frederick was standing near the doorway alongside with Rain. The latter was on guard and his body was tensed. I knew that it was all because of Alexandro's presence in the room.
My eyes were fixed on my mom. I was sweating and my hands were slightly trembling and I could not figure out why. Maybe it was because of the fear that I felt. Despite the fact that my mom and I were now in a more safe environment, that was Cloud's house, I still feared for her life. And maybe it was also because of the news that Alexandro threw at my face about one hour ago.
I was no longer human, he had said. Now, I was wondering how that was possible. I was sure that when I woke up this morning, everything was normal about me. I wanted to believe that it was still the same right now, that I did not have any powers but I could not deny the fact that I felt...different.
When I realised that my mom was at the verge of death, when I saw that she was in pain, I was feeling so hopeless and weak. I wanted to do something. I felt so angry and scared. And when Azra annonced that only one second remained before my mom would be dead, something just exploded inside of me.
I could not explain it. I just knew that it happened and I could not control it nor stop it. Was it my sudden new powers breaking free? That was so unbelievable, I could not grasp that idea, I could not process the news.
So many things happened already, so many crazy and shit things. I accepted all of them at some point but that, having powers, somehow I could not accept it. I liked being human, being normal. My whole world changed unexpectedly but I was glad to be still myself. Though, now it was different, I was different.
The twins finally opened theirs eyes and they stood up. I looked at them, impatiently waiting for them to say something.
"She should be fine now," Calum told me at last, "We healed all of the damages caused to her body. Now she just needs to rest for some hours."
"Thank you so much," I told them sincerely as I went to sit beside my mom. I touched her bloody face and then took her hand before placing a kiss on it.
"Whatever happened to her, someone should erase her memory before she wakes up," Cale advised me and I nodded in agreement.
"Let me do it," Alexandro suggested.
"No way," Frederick protested before I could say something, "You are not touching my aunt and you are surely not getting in her head. Rain will do it."
"I am not the enemy," Alexandro reminded him, "I am here to help. I'm on your side."
"Your dad is our enemy," Frederick exclaimed, "Sorry if it is hard for me to trust you so easily."
Alexandro remained quiet and he just stared at my cousin who gave him a hard look. Rain walked to my mom and placed his hands on her head. I watched him attentively as he started to erase my mom's memories of the day. What was I going to tell her when she would wake up? I knew how it was to have your memory erased. It was like having a blank space in your head. I would have to create a fake story and also, take some safety measures.
I needed to protect my mom, my parents. God, now that I realised it, I hoped that my dad would not get home so soon. Alexandro and I left the house in a complete mess. It would be bad if my dad saw all of that.
Staying away from them might be the solution. I did not want them to get hurt because of me. I was going to ask the twins to place a protective barrier around the house, like they once did at the party. I did not know how that thing worked but I guessed that it should be similar to the spell Azra used to prevent Alexandro from entering the living room at my house.
"Done," Rain said at last, "I erased all of her memories of the entire day. I hope that it's okay with you?"
"Yeah, it's for the best," I told him and at the same time myself.
"Goody," Nova exclaimed, standing up, "One strong man brings her upstairs to my room. I'm going to change her clothes and remove the blood on her face." She walked to Cale and placed one hand on his shoulder. "Sweetheart, can you do it for me?"
Cale nodded and I stood away so that he was able to take my mom in his arms. He walked out of the living room and I thanked Nova. She smiled at me before planting a kiss on my cheek unexpectedly and then she left the room.
"Okay, now can someone explain to me what the hell happened?" Frederick questioned and he gave me an impatient look, "Luffy, you were supposed to be with Cloud but how is it that you came back here accompanied by Alexandro Vins and your unconscious mom?"
"I asked Cloud to return me home," I replied to him, "Isn't he here?"
"No," Rain replied, "I don't know how many times I called him already but he's not replying to his phone. I thought that he was maybe too busy with you but here you are without him."
I was slightly worried at that but I tried not to let the feeling of worry consumed me completely. Cloud was a big guy. I was sure that he was strong enough to protect himself in case of an eminent danger. Though, he dropped me off home hours ago, I thought that he would return at his place but guess not.
"I don't know where he went after he left me at my place," I told Rain and he seemed frustrated then. I quickly continued to talk, "Well, that girl, Azra, a witch who worked for the Vins apparently, she was at my house and my mom was tied to a chair, motionless. I fell unconscious after Azra hit me by surprise and when I woke up, I was tied to a chair too. Azra, s-she was going to kill my mom. She was going to kill her and I couldn't do anything about it, except from watching."
Frederick quickly came to me after my words and he hugged me tight. It was then that I realised that I was crying. After everything that happened, I was crying once again. It hurt so much. I was in pain.
"She almost died, Fred," I cried out loud in his arms, "She was going to die right in front of me and I could not do anything to protect her. This is all my fault."
"No, it's not your fault, little cousin," he tried to reassure me and I shook my head.
"It's because of me that she almost died. I know it. I brought the danger into her life," I told him.
"You have nothing to do with that," Alexandro protested and they all looked at him in surprise. "You did not choose to have an evil being trapped inside of you and Azra was torturing your mom to get me, not you. I was the one who was not fast enough to follow her order, so if your mom had to die today, it wouldn't be your fault. You are the last person to blame."
I knew that he was right but I could not stop myself from feeling guilty. True, I never wanted things to turn out this way but still, I had to take my responsibilities. I couldn't let the others continue to reassure me and let them deal with everything while I sat around doing nothing.
"I don't understand. What part did you play in that story?" Rain asked Alexandro.
"My dad is searching for me," he admitted, "He doesn't love the idea of me helping his enemies. Azra was sent to capture Luffy and she tried to get me at the same time. Luffy's mom was just trapped in the middle of all of this."
He did not mention the sword. Maybe he wanted to keep the story short or maybe he did not want the others to know about it. In both cases, I was not going to say anything about it.
"You saved them?" Frederick questioned, staring at Alexandro.
"No," he replied, "It's Luffy who saved us."
"What?" Calum exclaimed, totally lost and I stepped out of Frederick's arms. I was not crying anymore.
"What are you talking about?" Rain wondered.
"He has powers," Alexandro clarified and the shock could be seemed on everyone's face.
"I don't have any powers," I continued to deny it.
"He is human," Frederick added.
"Maybe he was human but he no longer is," Alexandro said, "He canceled all of Azra's magic in a matter of seconds. Yeah, I was maybe the one to kill her but if Luffy was not there, it would not have happened. He saved us."
Me? A savior? I wanted to laugh at that.
"But it's impossible," Calum said with a frown, "A human can't receive powers out of nowhere."
"Exactly," I agreed with him and I looked at Alexandro, "Heard Calum? I am human so it's impossible for me to get powers."
"You seem to forget that you are no ordinary human," Alexandro reminded me, "Stop denying it. Be thankful instead. It's those powers that prevented your mom from dying on the spot."
He did have a point. But how could I be thankful for something that I did not even control? I did not even know where those powers came from.
"I think that I would have already noticed if I had strange powers," I said.
"You did not notice them because they were not here before," Alexandro explained, "You recently received them."
"It doesn't make sense," I protested.
"Maybe it does make sense," Frederick said, capturing everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" I questioned him and he sighed.
"A few minutes before you arrived here with Alexandro, Estella called saying that she found the replica in Paris," he told me.
That was fast to find him.
"That's good news then," I said but Frederick shook his head.
"Luffy, the replica is dead," he made it clear and I stared at him in shock, "Estella and Storm were too late. They found him dead in his apartment. They think that it's the Vins who are behind this."
Oh my god. He died. That was some news that I did not expect. I did not know that guy but I felt sad for him, because in some way, we were similar. We did not ask for this life, we did not ask to be trapped in that shit mess story. I realised that it could have been me in his place. And the Vins, those horrible monsters, they thought that they could just take our lives without any care.
They were going to pay for this.
"So my theory was right," Alexandro stated.
"What theory?" I asked him.
"The theory of how you got your powers," he replied to me, "You are the only human replica but the others, they all received part of the powers of the original being. If one replica dies, his powers won't disappear, they will return to their true owner and that owner is sharing a body with you currently, Luffy. As you are the one in control, you are the one who can use the powers."
"Hold on a second," I exclaimed in disbelief, "You are telling me that if all the other replicas die, all of theirs powers will come to me."
He nodded and I was speechless.
"But why is that even possible?" Calum wondered, "The person who divided the powers, couldn't have put a safety measure in case one of the replicas dies?"
"He did," Alexandro informed us, "It functions a bit like with the oracles. When one replica dies, another one is born to hold the powers. It continued like this for centuries."
"But what's different now?" Frederick asked.
"The seal is broken. It had double function. First it was to trap the original being and second, it was to prevent his powers from returning to him. Though, now that the seal is broken, the powers are attracted to him like a magnet," Alexandro explained and it was silence in the room for a few minutes.
That was one crazy story. That system seemed so complicated. What did the original do? What did he want in the past? Why was it necessary for people to imprison him? Was he really that evil and dangerous? And now, why was Vance trying to free him?
So many questions without answers like always.
"So I am really no longer human," I said at last, staring at my feet. I felt like a puppet, a puppet which had powers of someone more powerful flowing inside of him.
"I am afraid yes," Alexandro agreed and then he sighed, "Though, I can't figure out how my dad found the replica. Before I left the clan, they were all clueless about where the replicas were."
"Your clan is a powerful one. I'm sure that it was easy for your daddy to find one of them," Calum said but Alexandro did not look so sure.
"This is not so easy," he protested, "My dad has been searching for those replicas for centuries. You heard that? Centuries! The replicas were so well-hidden but now, my dad is getting near his final goal and it won't be pretty for any of us if we let him win."
I was starting to have a headache. Too many information were coming to me. Too much pressure. This time having a break would be of no use, I was sure of it.
"How did your clan find that replica then?" Rain asked but before any of us could say something, we heard a loud scream coming from somewhere else in the house.
"Who was that?" I asked, worriedly and we heard about scream. Calum groaned.
"That was Nicolas. He must have surely wake up," he said, "That boy can't remain quiet when he is awake."
Nicolas. I nearly forgot about his existence.
Calum left the living room, surely to go see what was going on. Alexandro frowned before following after him and that made me confuse. Where was he going? Frederick and Rain were in the same confused state as me and without one word, the three of us went after them.
Once upstairs, Calum stopped in front of a room and opened the door. Nicolas' shouting could be heard more clearly now and Alexandro pushed the guardian out of the way to step inside and we all did the same. Nicolas was laying on a bed to which his hands were surprisingly tied to.
"Oh fuck! Shut up!" Cale, who was already in the room before, exclaimed angrily.
"Help me! Someone please help me!" Nicolas continued to shout and I must say that it was not pleasant for the ears.
I glanced at Alexandro and saw that he was staring at Nicolas with a strange look in the eyes. I was troubled by that. It was then that a look of determination suddenly appeared in his eyes and I just got a bad feeling.
"No!" I shouted with widened eyes when Alexandro walked to Nicolas. He was so quick to move. In a matter of seconds, he was standing near the bed, his fingers pressed against Nicolas' forehead. The latter immediately stopped shouting and he just stared into space, motionless.
"Wow! Watch out man!" Cale exclaimed in surprise.
"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked Alexandro and I went to grab his arms to push him away from Nicolas who seemed to be no longer in the same universe as us. "What did you do to him?"
"I confused his mind. He is trapped in his head right now," Alexandro replied and I was lost for words.
"Why did you do that?" I asked him, not understanding anything and he replied to me with an unexpected answer.
"You need to kill him."
I blinked.
"Why the hell does everyone want to kill Nicolas?" I exclaimed, incredulous.
"Because he is a nuisance to this earth," Cale suggested.
"Shut up, Cale," Calum scolded him, like always.
"He should die," Alexandro said once again, "He has to."
"Nobody will kill Nicolas," I told him firmly, "I don't want anyone to hurt him."
"Do you even know who that boy truly is?" He asked me and he got no answer. Nobody had an answer to that question actually. He rolled his eyes before ordering, "Okay, everyone get out here."
Everyone was confused but we still did as he ordered. Cale, who was the last one to come out, closed the door behind us. Alexandro glanced at all of us.
"You really have no idea who you are keeping under your roof," he realised, "For how long has the boy been here?"
"He is here since yesterday," Cale replied slowly.
"And when did you find out where the first replica was?"
"Yesterday," Rain replied this time with a frown, "What exactly is your point?"
Alexandro let out a laugh of disbelief. He then said, "Now that explains everything. That's how my dad knew where to find the replica." He pointed at the door, "That boy is a guardian."
"I knew it," Cale exclaimed and he elbowed Calum, "I told you but you did not believe me."
"This was uncertain," Calum said and then he asked Alexandro, "But if Nicolas is really a guardian, how is it that he doesn't have a twin nor any powers? He doesn't even know what a guardian is."
"Believe me, he has a twin and that twin is alive and well and that's the main problem," Alexandro told us and everyone was confused. He did not take long before lightening us on the subject, "His twin, Nike, works for my dad."
Why?
Why each time I thought that I could not be more surprised than I already was, something needed to happen to make me more shocked than I ever was before?
"What the actual fuck!" Cale exclaimed angrily, "Guardians form part of heaven. We are not evil and unless we are forced to, we would never work for the bad guys."
"Well, sorry to say but Nike joined my clan on his own will," Alexandro made it clear to us, "Heaven did not bring any good to him."
It was then that he told us about Nicolas' story, about his past. Nicolas and his twin brother, Nike, had to protect a girl, a great oracle, named Mila. Somehow, Nike fell in love with her and the feeling was mutual. At this point of the story, Calum informed us that it was illegal for guardians to fall in love with their oracle because it could affect the oracle's mission which was to predict great disasters. And that exactly what happened with Nike.
He loved her so much. He knew that she was going to die so he tried to find a way to save her. He found a bracelet which had the power to block all of her visions. Nobody knew about it but after some time, Nicolas noticed that something was wrong and he finally discovered the secret relationship of his brother with Mila.
Nike begged him to not say anything about it but Nicolas couldn't do as his brother wanted so he betrayed Nike. The bracelet was taken away and Mila died soon after when having a vision. Since that day, Nike started to hate them all, heaven and his own brother. He became bitter.
That was when the two brothers came upon Vance Vins. He made an offer to them and that was to join his clan. Of course, Nicolas refused right away but it was not the same for Nike. Now it was his turn to betray his brother. Nicolas tried to stop him but it was useless.
Years passed and Nicolas searched for his brother until finally he saw Nike again. He tried to make him return to the good side but in vain. They ended up fighting. Nicolas who was trying to hurt his brother as less as possible, lost the battle because of his hesitation. Then as a trophy of victory, Nike absorbed all of his powers.
That explained why Nicolas did not have any guardian power anymore. Nike captured him and whenever he was bored or in a bad mood, he would torture Nicolas. He kept Nicolas alive for many years until one day, Vance gave him a new way of torturing his brother. Nicholas' guardian life was erased from his memory and he was cursed to be reborn as a weak and pathetic human being who would only experience pain all his life.
"Nicolas was one of the most powerful guardians that was ever created. Now imagine it, Nike has all his powers. He is a monster. Actually, he ressembles more the devil than an angelic being," Alexandro finished the story and I took some time to absorb all of that.
"If it's Nike who is bad, why do you want Nicolas to die?" I asked him and it was Calum who replied.
"Because each guardian is connected to his pair twin," he said, "I am connected to Cale. I can feel what he feels, see what he sees, and hear what he hears. Even though, Nicolas is not really a guardian anymore, his brother still is. So that means that when you were talking about the replica, Nike could hear everything you said through Nicolas."
"Even if the idiot was not in the same room as you, Nike heard everything in the house," Cale sweared under his breath, "Damn it! He must surely be listening to us as we speak."
"No, like I said, right now Nicolas is trapped in his own head and that will prevent Nike from using him for awhile but that won't be permanent," Alexandro explained, "If you don't want to kill him, find a way to block Nike's connection with Nicolas. My dad must not find those replicas."
Everyone silently agreed on that point but one question still remained in my head.
"Why is your dad trying to free the original?" I asked Alexandro, "What good would it bring him?"
"I'm sorry, Luffy," he apologised unexpectedly, shaking his head, "But I can't answer your questions."
"What? But you said that you are here to help us," Frederick reminded him.
"I'm going to help you but I won't betrayed my dad more than I already did by telling you about family secrets. You want answers to your questions, find them yourself," Alexandro declared and he walked away.
Me who thought that I was going to finally get some answers to my questions. I should have guessed that it would have been too easy.
Alexandro suddenly stopped walking and he looked back at us.
"If I were you, I would hurry up," he said, "Because when all the other replicas will be dead, Vance will come for Luffy and nothing is going to stop him from getting what he wants. He will be finally able to free the devil in person."