Fighters of Dimicel: Annihilation

Chapter 4

Two warm drinks were placed on a table by Jae and Henry, their senses with a satisfying aroma of calming tea and heavy coffee. Jae went ahead to take a sip of his drink, sighing with satisfaction while Henry stares at his own tea while it was still too hot to drink, a herbal mix with an acquired taste only he enjoys.

"So how has life been treating you?" Jae asked, sparking up a conversation while he watched Henry stir his tea.

Henry looked up and shrugged his shoulders. He took a moment to think of his answer, taking a sip. "I'd say, pretty caught up with recent cases right now." Henry placed his cup down. "And what brings you here? I thought you went out of the country? Somewhere in Lucerna or something. Overseas missions... I heard."

Jae let out a soft chuckle, leaning back against his chair and crossing his arms. "Yeah, I went to Soleil to help out EIRENE there for a year or two." Jae sighed sharply. "But ended up returning early since the councils needed me due to recent events. Anyway... I heard you almost got killed."

Henry nodded his head slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. Jae's eyebrows creased when he noticed Henry's reaction, eyes displaying worry for the situation Henry was thrown into.

Henry took notice and cleared his throat, regaining his composure immediately leaning back and putting his hands up, forcing a smile. "I-I'll be fine. We are midway in moving into EIRENE's dorms because of it."

Jae did not like the response. He did not give a reaction, for he felt a problem in the air, yet unable to put a finger on it. He has known Henry for so long that he seemed to act like Henry's father. Jae was Henry's mentor after all. He knew Henry's behaviour better than the others.

All Jae knew for now, his gut told him to stay alert.

Henry got up bowed slightly. "I need to go. Thanks for the drink-"

Henry was abruptly stopped when Jae grabbed his wrist. Jae stood up and stared closer, an eyebrow raised. Jae's eyes displayed a sense of worry and concern  searching intently into Henry's own eyes, yet despite a strong gaze, Jae could not read Henry's thoughts.

"You've been looking disturbed, not like the last time I've seen you." Jae whispered. "What's wrong?"

Henry remained silent. It is true that he has been disturbed lately, everything is stressing him up. Noises felt like ringing in his ears, all of his senses feel heightened up. overstimulated. He does not know why his own body has been acting weirdly. But instead of telling the adult whom he trusts standing before him, Henry snatched his hand, bidding a hasteful farewell.

Jae stared from behind, watching Henry's figure disappear from sight. He shook his head slowly, a heavy escaping his lips, gazing at the floor in deep thought.

Henry, as usual, would go about his routine, punching away his worries in the training room. He did wish to tell to Jae about his problems, but cannot bring himself to do it. He was unsure why. To avoid Jae worrying? To avoid others bearing his burdens? All this weight, and in the end he chose to carry his issues alone.

Once opening the door, instead of the usual silence that greeted him, Henry heard grunts, with sounds of swishing of a fencing sword. When Henry finally entered, he saw the same person that bumped onto him earlier, whom Jae addressed as Kevin. Henry creased his brows and wanted to leave, but that plan was halted when a sword pierced a wall beside him, shaking violently upon impact.

Henry remained still. Not even giving eye contact.

"I was still pissed." Kevin spoke, aiming another fencing rapier towards Henry's direction. "So how about we play a game?"

"Waste of time." Henry uttered.

Kevin let out chuckle, lowering his sword. "C'mon, it'll be part of your daily training. I'm also curious about something."

A strong gust of wind was immediately felt. Out of instinct, Henry managed to jump to the side, almost losing his balance. He caught himself, quickly standing up.

"You are always known as a great, deadly marksman. I just wanna see how good you are..." Kevin frowned. "...at close combat."

Henry clicked his tongue and hurriedly fetched a nearby fencing sword, gripping it tightly. Kevin proceeded to charge forward, before jumping up to kick mid air. Henry defended with his arms, blocking the assault.

Henry knew this is not a simple training, but Kevin simply threw his rage and anger towards Henry. But to Kevin, it is more of analysing Henry's moves and abilities for his own personal plans.

Henry cursed under his breath, stepping forward as both rapiers clashed with each other. It was a fierce duel of equal strength. Though Kevin was at an advantage due to his air bending ability, stepping back and jumping from the ground to create a series of kicks in the air to send harsh swift winds toward Henry's direction. Henry felt himself being pushed back, and when he sensed Kevin approaching closer, Henry gritted his teeth, summoning a bright translucent shield from his hand, breaking Kevin's pursuit that he was sent back, falling on the floor. A perfect parry.

Kevin slowly got up, eyes widened in shock. "A shield?"

Everything went silent.

Heavy breathing escaped Henry's mouth, lowering his arms as the shield dissipates. Though before he could compose himself, a sudden and sharp headache made Henry gasp and collapse to his knees, bringing a hand to his head. It felt as though something in Henry broke out, eyes glowing a bright yellow hue and appearing as though being controlled by a puppeteer, his stance now changed, a whole new persona standing before Kevin.

Kevin's watched in disbelief when Henry proceeded to violently attack him with his rapier, thrusting it towards Kevin's direction. Kevin immediately evaded the attack by dodging to the side, grabbing Henry's arm and stepping forward before lifting and throwing him towards the ground. Henry proceeded to land a kick to Kevin's jaw, making him grunt. A golden glow shone at the corner of Kevin's eyes, and the next thing he knew, a huge impact caused Kevin to hit a wall on his back. The pain made him unable to move, panting as he backed himself against the wall.

"What the fuck?" Was all Kevin could muster.

Henry was always known as a marksman with excellent aiming. No one can escape his deadly eyes. Even in hiding, he knows anyone's position. Those yellow eyes are always sinister. But now, to Kevin's eyes, Henry is a totally different person. He noticed how blank those eyes looked, as if now with a purpose to kill.

Henry summoned a shotgun, the pieces materialising from thin air and assembling itself. He aimed the gun towards Kevin, a finger on the trigger, until it shook, hesitant to pull. The grip eventually loosened, with Henry finally snapping back to reality, eyes wide and panting as he looked at Kevin. The two can only watch each other in silence, unable to say any words, frozen on their own spot.

Henry felt his balance swaying, the young man gazing at doubling in vision.

"What's... happening to me...?" Henry asked, feeling himself falling to the ground as the world around him goes dark.