The Astral soul system-Chapter 231: Deal with the devil
"Talk about terrible timing"
She mumbled irritably
Immediately reacting, Xavier stomped over, grabbing her by her collar
"What did you just say?"
"Hey,touchy much? Relax already dude"
"Where’s Max?"
She groaned
"Why does everyone keep bringing that up"
She groaned, rolling her eyes
"Chelsea"
Zaine barked at her
"He’s fine,geez. He’s perfectly safe alright?"
Zaine growled
This wasn’t good. Whether it was because of the quest or the contract,he couldn’t let any harm come to Max. He didn’t want to know what would happen if he failed to uphold a contract of this nature and he wasn’t interested in finding out
"Where is he?"
Chelsea shrugged
"That’s part of the game"
That answer definitely set off the other two.
Impatient, Xavier suddenly slammed her back into the wall, fuming as he asked again.
"Where is he?!"
Zaine didn’t really respond and just swapped places with Zen. His,or rather their relationship with Maximilian and the rest of their roommates was pretty complicated, and they were honestly unsure if they’d go through this much trouble if the contract wasn’t in place. They still didn’t regret it though, since it was the only way to ensure his identity was safe with them.
Chelsea burst out laughing
"Intense, but maybe loosen up a little bit "
She said, suddenly suddenly striking his wrists and pushing at his chest. He only budged a little but it was enoughh for her to snake her way to safety with relative ease.
She smiled, looking at him mockingly and causing his anger to spike again in response
Zen’s eyes suddenly twitched and he felt like someone had thrown pepper in his eye. He suddenly felt a flash followed by a red...he didn’t even know what to call it.
He tilted his head curiously
Either he’d been hallucinating again or it had something to do with his cultivation
"Zen,who is this?"
Neo suddenly asked as Xavier was about to move, shockingly acting as the voice of reason
"This is Chelsea,an acquaintance"
Chelsea gasped with a look of mock hurt
"Zeni, I’m practically your sister. We literally grew up together "
He didn’t respond, instead asking
"What do you want?"
"Huh? I already said,I just wanted to come play"
"Fine then, what’s the game?"
"I didn’t pick it"
"... Crowley"
She nodded
"When we found out you got an ability it was like wow, congrats, unbelievable. I think he’s still kinda miffed at how everything ended, and honestly,I am too"
"... I’m not going back"
Chelsea scoffed
"Going back? Who was trying to get you to go back?"
His brow raised slightly at that question. Yes it wasn’t their style to blindly take orders, but
"Then why are you and Crowley here?"
"Oh. Just to catch up....to catch you up that is"
"..."
"You should have figured something out by now, right?"
Zen ignored her and opened up his watch.
Whatever it was Ava did was completed and the message had been sent from... his room?
He looked back at the open door
’Theia?’
"I detected nothing of the sort. I’m pretty sure that Ava girl scammed you"
Zen thought for a second but didn’t think it was likely. Why? No clue
"Zen?"
He looked up to see the other two shooting him worried glances,eyes occasionally darting to Chelsea.
He thought for a second before walking back in, looking around the suddenly eerie room for any sign that Crowley had been here
Halfway in he suddenly froze and looked to the right, seeing Crowley himself sitting on the chair opposite where he’d been staying a few minutes ago.
"Crowley"
"In the flesh"
Zen stepped forward, eyes glowing in the dim light
"Where is he?"
"Oh you know"
"I’m not joking Crowley"
"You see, that’s the funny thing. Neither am I"
Zen raised a brow, confused
Sighing, Crowley put his hand over his face
"How is it possible to have a near perfect memory and still forget things as much as you do. Maybe you just want to forget"
"..."
"But wh-"
"I don’t remember you talking so much"
"True"
"Tell me how to find Maximilian "
"Or what? You’ll kill me?"
"He’s important
"..."
"..."
He suddenly gestured to the opposite seat
"Take a seat. It’s your place "
Zen didn’t waste time and sat down
"Up for a game of cards?"
"..."
Crowley pulled out a deck of playing cards, lightly pressing his hand on it. His mark suddenly glowed faintly and like magic, the cards started shuffling themselves for a few seconds before dropping down,cards randomly dealing into both their hands.
"What are the stakes?"
At this point, the mark on the back of Zen’s hand was also glowing.
Crowley thought for a second, putting a card down as he did
"Your friends maybe?"
Zen raised a brow but didn’t reply or respond
He looked at the card Crowley played and pulled from the deck
"Are they your friends though?"
"..."
"I mean,i doubt you tell these guys about yourself. Do they know? You probably told them you were just another player huh? What about the anomalies?"
"What are you trying to prove"
Crowley shrugged 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
"Nothing "
As they kept playing
"You weren’t talking about them "
Zen suddenly said
"At the beginning, right?"
Crowley looked confused
He looked down at their game and they both only had a few cards left, and the deck was almost empty
"I should probably get to it"
He reached into his pocket, bringing out a strange golden coin. He flipped it once and showed it to Zen
For a second it looked like Zen was about to show an emotional response. His eyes were locked on the coin like it held great significance
"That’s -"
"Yours"
Crowley completed
"... what do you want?"
"Nothing... right now. Just be prepared"
Zen didn’t reply, just staring at the coin and then Crowley
"Don’t do something stupid"
"Oh I wouldn’t dream of it, but you might"
"..."
He suddenly got up, dropping the rest of his cards
"Lets drop things off here for now"
"What about Maximilian?"
"Oh, he isn’t with me. I can tell you where he is though"
Zen didn’t have any visible reaction to that
"What was the point of all this?"
Crowley sighed and walked closer to Zen until he was speaking right into his ear
"Just make sure you remember,all... this, won’t last. You can’t run forever"
"I have more problems than just you to see deal with"
"I’m sure you do"
Crowley said, walking away
"Wait, one more thing"
He said with a smile that was just a bit too wide for comfort
*******
Neo and Xavier finally managed to get past Chelsea, opening the door. When they did,all they saw was Zen standing in the center of the room,eyes focused on his hand
"Zen?"
He didn’t respond.
They got closer and finally saw what was in his hand was a strange gold coin that glimmered despite the low light.
"What happened?"
"...I know where Maximilian is"
They exchanged glances, still a bit concerned
"Is... that all?"
"That’s all that’s important "
He reached into his ring and pulled out a card. It wasn’t just any card. On the front, his player suit was illustrated completely. It gave off a strange feeling like you could just reach in and touch it.
"Where is he?"
"Downtown. He’s being held there"
"Then let’s bust him out"
Xavier said, fully ready for action
"Woah,hold on a minute. It sounds like he’s been kidnapped. Shouldn’t we just report this kinda thing to the school?"
Neo said, eye suddenly darting to Chelsea who was just standing there
"And I know we’re okay with you, but i still don’t feel comfortable with her here"
"Relax, I’m not staying"
She said, walking up to Zen
"I’ll be back. You guys go do your thing"
She said, taking one of Zen’s hands
"It really was nice seeing you again..."
Her expression suddenly fell,a nostalgic look in her eye
"And sorry I brought up Art"
"..."
She smiled, giving him one last hug before heading out the window
They all watched her leave with varying emotions,mostly confusion
"Dude, you’ve got some really weird relationships"
Zen didn’t reply. It was understandable, after all, the first thing he’d done when he saw her was try to kill her and the last thing she did when she left was hug him like they were best friends
"Xavier’s right "
He said, pocketing the card and coin
"We take care of this ourselves. Now"
Xavier smirked, cracking his knuckles
Sighing,Neo had no choice but to agree. It was two to one in favor of going
"Fine, but where exactly are we going. What are we dealing with"
"A gang"
Zen said flatly
Neo’s eyes widened
"Are you serious?"
Zen nodded
Neo had grown up on the streets so he knew about gangs more than anyone. The weaker ones were nothing special but the higher ranked ones were basically miniature versions of the major families.
They dealt in everything, money,death, and especially power.
He wouldn’t have been so shook normally but Zen had said that they were going downtown. There was only a single gang downtown, and Neo knew messing with them was a bad idea, especially with how Zen was right now
"Ok hold up hold up, slow down. There’s no way we can take hydra gang all on our own.
Zen paused for a second
"You’re right "
Neo sighed, thinking he’d managed to talk them out of this madness but his heart dropped when he saw Zen scrolling through contacts on his phone before selecting one that read "Sable "
Zen ended the call before looking back at Neo
"Okay, were good"
Neo could only stare back in shock. Didn’t he realize how serious this was? And why only Sable?
"Okay, fine, but shouldn’t we try calling the others. Zaria,Jade, Diane?"
"Jade is still recovering from the whole dying thing. Zaria’s helping her and she also has some... personal problems, and do you trust Diane to come?"
"..."
"We’re not trying to go to war with them, not yet at least. Go in,find Hunter,grab him,get out and try your best to remain unseen, and if someone sees your face, take care of them"
"Take care of them?"
Zen shrugged
"You want them to remember how you look so they can find you later?"
Neo sighed, giving up. It wasn’t like he wasn’t interested in saving Max, he was also impatient, but these guys were a major issue. Aether circuits were one of the most tightly guarded commodities in the galaxy, meaning they were hard to come across, especially above the halfway mark. Hydra had amassed enough resources to get one above that mark,at least that’s what he’d heard growing up,no one had actually seen proof, but no one was stupid enough to try and find out... until now at least.
Seeing Neo stop complaining, Zen nodded
"Get ready. Get rid of your uniforms and dress inconspicuous. Wear a mask if you have to"
*Beep*
Zen looked down at his watch
"She’s here"
Xavier was closest to the door so he opened it.
She walked in , dressed casually in a black full body jumpsuit and white blazer
Neo shot her a glance and asked
"Is that supposed to be inconspicuous?"
In response she took off the blazer and flipped it inside out, revealing it to be black on the other side and pulled up a hidden hood over her head and a mask that covered her mouth and nose, leaving only her eyes exposed
"I figured it’d be more conspicuous to be walking around the school like this"
She said, fixing it back to the way it was before
Neo just let out a "Hmm" and shut himself up
"And I see you guys aren’t even ready yet"
"It’s a mission not a fashion show
Zen was already wearing all black so he could just pull his hood up and get a mask if necessary though it probably wouldn’t be necessary since he wasn’t that famous. The incident with their abilities had brought him and Neo some clout for a while but they eventually faded back into obscurity.
They were still recognizable but not like Sable or Xavier were.
A few minutes later they all grabbed the essentials, packing light before heading out the window into the night.
The second they did, Zen got a sudden notification
