Burning Rose (A Cinder Fall Story)

Chapter 7

I listened as I heard the scroll ring a few times.

"Come on," I hissed. "Pick up!"

Finally, the ringing stopped and I heard Watt's voice on the other end.

"Yes?" he asked.

"It's me again," I said. "I've been thinking about this eye transplant. But first I'd like to know what this transplant will do."

"Well, you'll be finally able to see out of your other eye. Plus I've added some additional perks. You'll be able to see in darkness, be able to detect certain things while in combat. Like if someone were to use an illusion on you, you'd see right through it."

"Sounds very handy," I told him. "I might have to take your offer on that. How long will this operation take?"

"Two to three hours," Watts replied. "If everything goes smoothly."

"Excellent. We can set up the operation after I've trained Roman and Neo. I want to see if I can get the winter maiden powers beforehand."

"Sounds like a plan. Please update me on the progress," he said.

I nodded. "Of course. I'll talk to you later."

I hung up the scroll and walked back into the living room where Roman and Neo were.

"I've changed my mind," I told them. "We need to begin training now. Both of you meet me outside."

Neo followed me out the back door with Roman not far behind.
Once we were outside together, I bought out my sword.

"Neo, since you and I have similar weapons, I think it would be best if I'd train you first."

Neo nodded approvingly as she stepped forward with her parasol pointed towards me.

"What do I do?" I heard Roman ask.

"Watch and observe. Each fighter has their own fighting style. And you can use it to your advantage if you observe right," I told him.

Roman nodded, and hung back leaning his arm against his cane.

I turned to face Neo.
"Give me all you got."

Neo smiled sinisterly as she darted quickly towards me. She quickly pressed the button to unleash her sword and slashed at me. I blocked it with my own blade and pushed her back.

"A good start," I said. "But it's going to take more than that to—"

Before I could finish, Neo sent a strong kick to my side. I winced in pain and glared up at her.

"Nice trick," I said, before getting to my feet and slashing through her aura.

Neo cried out and fell to her knees.

"Neo?!" Roman sounded concerned as he ran to her.

"She'll be alright," I told him. "She'll just need more practice with her speed and agility. And since your weapon can be both a melee and long distance, training you shouldn't be too hard. You're familiar with hand-to-hand combat, right?"

Roman shrugged. "I've been in some fights. I'd say I'm not too bad."

I smiled. "Good. Then you should be fine training yourself. I'll work together with Neo and you can practice with your new weapon. Just do it somewhere...unsuspicious."

"Alright fine. I'd rather train on my own anyway than be trained by—"
I shot him a piercing glare and he stopped speaking.

"There's a back alley somewhere around here. Why not train there?" I suggested.

Roman nodded. "Yeah...sure."

I watched as he walked towards one of the dark alleys until I couldn't see him. I gazed down at Neo.

"You have excellent skill with the sword, Neo. But you still need to work on your reflexes and speed. Never forget to keep an eye on your opponent too."

Neo nodded and smiled before we resumed her training.

The training lasted for a few weeks. Until I was sure Neo could dodge and deflect attacks on her own. Roman had also trained with me a little after he learned how to use his weapon. He would have pretty powerful dust bullets with him to practice his aiming. It wasn't long after that when him and Neo were spending day after day training together.

One day, as I saw the two of them training outside, I walked out to join them. Once they noticed I was watching them, they instantly lowered their weapons.

"Oh. Hey Cinder. We were just training before the big event tonight," Roman said.

I nodded. "I see that. You two have grown into decent fighters and have made wonderful progress. Now it's finally time to infiltrate that facility..."

"Sounds good to me, boss. When should we head out?" he asked me. 

"We'll wait well into the night. Then we can sneak past the guards and hopefully get in through the back way. But if the time comes that we do need to fight, at least we'll be ready."

Neo nodded, looking at her parasol.

Roman had us hands gripped his cane.
"I wonder if there's going to be a lot of valuable stuff in that place..."

I smiled at myself.
Oh, there will be... I'm coming for your power, Felice.

We were ready to head out late that evening. Roman made sure to pack extra dust bullets. And Neo had sharpened her sword beforehand.

"Let's go quietly," I told them. "Don't make any sound and do not talk to anyone. Stay low until we've made it to our location."

They nodded in understanding and followed me into the cold night. The three of us walked together in the dimly lit streets where there was some pedestrians walking in various directions.

"Cinder," I heard Roman whisper.

"What?" I asked, trying to keep quiet.

"I know a shortcut to the facility. It's down this alleyway here," he said, gesturing towards the dark alley to our right.
"We can make the trip much faster. Plus the guards won't see us coming."

I nodded. "Sounds clever. Lead the way, then."

Roman dashed into the dark alleyway and Neo and I went after him. After taking quite a bit of turns, we arrived at a locked gate. It had a sign that read:

'Authorized personnel only. Keep out'

"Is this the place?" I asked, looking around. There were huge buildings and ton of guards near each one. But I could see the building where Felice was being held.

"Yep," Roman said. "Now all we need to do is break the lock to get in."

I walked up to the lock and held it in my hand. As my held went ablaze, the lock was becoming badly deforming. After a few more seconds, I heard a metallic click as it fell to the ground, allowing the gate to open.

"Do you think you two can handle these guards?" I asked them.

Roman grinned. "Oh sure. This won't be my first fight. And Neo here can probably land a hit on 'em before they've even had the chance to make a move."

I looked ahead at the building.
"Good. I'll be back. Try not to get killed."

I levitated toward the building and used a blast of wind to break the window glass. As soon as I flew inside the window, there were several guards looking at me, their weapons drawn.

"Who the hell are you?" one of them demanded.

I smiled at them maliciously.
"I'm you're worst nightmare..."