The Last Conjura Chapter 22JARED"I knew it. My dogs could smell a traitor from a mile away" Raph clenched his fists. "If only they could smell a bitch too. Who knows, perhaps they would have accidentally mated wit ya" I smiled. "Watch your tongue, before I rip it out for ya"I sensed him getting angrier by the minute. "Still got a dead sense of humor I see. Something's never change, do they?""J… Jared" Ittetsu coughed out some blood and got s couple stains on my coat. "W… what is he—""Quiet" I swung my feet in his direction, and knocked the wind out of his lungs before he could speak. "You should be thanking me for not killing you myself. Tch. You look pitiful.""Somethings never do" Raph talked my attention back to him. This would only take a minute. Walking closer with my hands still in the pockets of my coat, "I don't want to have to kill you to teach you a lesson this time. Stand down, or better yet, surrender, and we'll find a way to sort this mess out already.""Like he
The Last Conjura Chapter 23 KENJI "Derecho is an ancient technique" I started. "It was believed that only the strongest protectors were gifted such power. I mean, for something that shows up once in a blue moon, it had to be bestowed on just about the strongest or most deserving protectors around." "What do you mean 'something'?" he asked, now audibly interested. "Is it as strong as a colossal technique?" "Stronger" I didn't hesitate for a single second. "As a matter of fact, even if you combined a simple, median, and colossal technique, it'd be nothing compared to Derecho." He was quiet. "I'm sure Gabby told you about Asgorath." His eyes lit up. "Derecho would destroy Asgorath" I said, not missing a sing word. "Asgorath was your brother's strongest technique." "His colossal technique." "But even Adachi apparently wasn't deserving of Derecho. You were." "You sound so sure. Why would—" "There are three phases of Derecho. One…" I lifted my index, "...the Dormant phase. The
Prelude RYUU “You planning on picking yourself up? For the seventeenth time today?” he said, while I laid writhing on the floor. “Come on now, get up. We don’t have all d—” “Shut Up!” I replied, wobbling to my feet, more tired than pissed. “Oh?” he tilted his head in shock. “This was supposed to be a sparring lesson. You’re supposed to be helping me.” My breaths were beginning to get louder. “Instead, you’ve been tossing and throwing me around for the past hour. You’re trying to—” *WHOOSH* Without warning, he sprinted towards me with the most devilish expression on his face. His arm swung so far back, he left no opening to dodge or duck underneath it. Only thing I could do, was brace for impact. *POWW* *THUD* “Watch that loud little mouth of yours now” his 6’3 frame towered over me while I winced on the ground. “We’re not mates.” “You’re twenty-four, shamelessly whooping a nineteen-year-old’s ass. You want an award for th—” *SQUASH* He planted his foot right on my bruis
Chapter 1 6 MONTHS LATER RYUU … I hate it here. “Well then why don’t you go ahead and resign? ‘Wong’s Books and Stationaries’ doesn’t even need your lazy ass. Hmm? Did she hear that? “You come in here every day, later than you came in the day before. You don’t clean, sort or look after anything. But at the end of every month, you come asking for your monthly bonus.” “About that, Miss Wong. November’s ending today. I was wondering if I could—” “Well I oughta—” “Ma’am, please take it easy.” The sixty-year-old was held back by a customer before she could reach me. “Sir, I think you should leave.” “Let me go. Let go of me” Wong kept screaming, trying unsuccessfully to claw at my face. “Yeah. You’re probably right.” “And don’t you dare come back. You hear me? Don’t you dare come back!” I pushed passed the transparent glass doors of the bookshop and they slammed behind me. Job seventeen… fired. 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Chapter 2 RYUU “Take it easy n—” “Get back” I said without thinking. “How did you do that? How… How are you alive?” I turned from Jared to Jennifer. Nothing made sense. “Oh?” “This is new” Jennifer said with a smile. “Something funny?” I turned my attention to her. “You might want to calm down Ryuu. We don’t have the time for all this. We’ve got to go—” “And what about the people who just died? Huh? Jennifer? They’re your ‘weirdo’s’ right?” “Wow. He’s all sentimental too” she annoyingly beamed an even harder smile. “Thought you said this one was gonna be different. He’s even worse than the rest of them. Remind me never to pair up with you on a mission again.” Mission? “Well the feeling is very much mut—” *CLATT* I picked a piece of ‘fusiform’ wood from the broken counter, and stood poised at both characters. “Someone better explain to me how your deep cut just healed up, and how a goddamn—” “Put that down before you hurt yourself.” “What’s going on Jared?” “Put the woo
Chapter 3 RYUU It was all too much. It was all too much to handle. The second she walked passed the door, I broke down. “Why’d he have to save me?” I crashed to the ground under my body weight and buried my face in my palms. After playing it off for six months, I couldn’t do it anymore. I just couldn’t. I wasn’t better than my brother. I wasn’t even half the man he was. “You left me here to deal with all of this, you dick!” I muttered while my tears seeped through. “I couldn’t do it when you were here. I couldn’t conjure it back then. How do you expect me to do it now that you’re dead, you moron?” I wept even more. It’s my fault. Katana didn’t kill him. I did. I DID! I’m weak. The fate of the Conjuras lied in my tear-drenched palms, and I couldn’t even conjure my— “You crying?” Hmm? My eyes were still soaked with tears when I rose my head up to glance at the source of that light and fluttery voice. “Let me guess, Jared?” She softened her gaze, and it was almost like her
Chapter 4 FLASHBACK: TWO YEARS AGO RYUU For the past ten minutes, all he’d been saying was floating into one ear and leaking out the other. Adachi would never give me a break during training. But I’d take a proper beat down over his annoyingly long three-hour lectures any day. “Are you listen—” “Yes, yes. I’m listening” I grumbled, crossing my legs underneath me. “Really? Then what was the last—” “The Jinzhen’s! One of the strongest paranormal forces in the universe. You were about to explain the way their power works.” I lifted my gaze off the floor of our training facility, and emotionlessly glared at him. “…right?” He sighed in response. Yup, I was right. “I actually said the Jinzhen’s are one of the most overrated paranormals in the universe” he crossed his arms in front of him. “You weren’t listening, were you?” “Just explain what you were gonna explain anyway.” He stared at me for a while, but eventually got going. “Most people would believe that the Jinzhen’s are a
Chapter 5 RYUU “But I don’t think he likes me” an unfamiliar feminine voice shoved the blanket of unconsciousness off my aching body. “To be honest, I’m not sure he likes anyone, and that angry mug he keeps throwing around proves it.” My eyes fluttered open, and my surroundings became clearer. Heart rate monitor? Hospital bed? Were my injuries that bad? The throbbing pain eating away at the side of my head answered that last part. “But I’ll build up the courage to say hi one of these days. If he at least acknowledges my presence, then I’ll take it as a green light.” “W… What are you talking about?” “Hmm? Ryuu?” My voice startled her a bit. “You’re awake already?” I sat up, and my feet dangled over the tiled floors. Why was I wearing a Johnny? “Don’t get up so quickly. You might—” “Could you like, shut up for a second?” I massaged my aching head. “Talk about disrespectful. That’s #9, you insolent brat” a familiar voice piped up. I lifted my head and traded glanc