(Mira Oka)
This didn’t make any sense, I thought, running my eyes side to side to see the cast Anita had. My eyes stopped at Ace. He didn’t look satisfied. But that wasn’t the issue. Why was he here? Did I pin him for nothing?Is he up for round two? Quickly enough, I noticed Ace grabbing a large stone and throwing it in my direction. I swiftly moved to the side to avoid it. The blond person held Ace by the shoulders. “Calm down, okay?”
“You want me to calm down when she’s here?!” He yelled. Before the blond could respond, Ace turned to Anita. “Why did you bring her here?”
“I understand that conflict that happened not too long ago,” She replied. “But in the end, we’re all after the same thing. So we should be working together, right?”
“She’s right,” I agreed. “I am here to take down those borders.”
“No,” He replied. “You’re only here to kick ass without getting caught.”
I pursed my lips.
“Let Mira explain what she does,” Anita started, trying to change the subject. She turned to me. “By the way, the blond person is Vera.”
I nodded. “Let’s see. I created many hideouts around the city to help me transport from place to place without getting caught. Also, it improves my parkour skills since I have been practicing a lot. However, none of my hideouts were near the council building because there could be a chance I’d be caught. That’s why I thought this forest would do me some good since it’s quite near and I assume nobody stops by.”
“Well, there have been rumors about weird things in there the deeper you go.” Vera pointed out.
“I see. Can’t be that hard to fight them off, yeah?”
“Aside from that,” Ace started, waving his hand carelessly. “To summarize your point, you’re just a useless monkey swinging from tree to tree?”
I scowled at him. “At least I’m trying to do something about my issue. Unlike you, whose issue is so bad that it’s classified, and I doubt you’re not doing anything to stop it. So if you’re going to talk about terms being useless, we’re practically on the same level.”
His fingers curled into a fist and he pulled it back to swing it. “What did you say?!”
Luckily Vera had him by the shoulders and I took a step back.
“How about we calm down?” Anita suggested instantly. “We are a group after all, so we should get along. It makes sense to act like this due to a misunderstanding, but let’s learn from our mistakes and become friends, or at least pretend, okay?”
Ace crossed his arms and turned away.
Anita turned to me. “Since you have so many hideouts, you must have some sort of plan, right?”
“Well, it’s not like I know every place,” I responded. “Allurix is a large city, so I’m sure there are a lot of areas I haven’t covered yet. But I do know a few roads, passages, and even a healing centre. I don’t intend to face them head on. We’ll have to strategize this. I know a bit about the building itself since I’ve been temporarily captured before. But that alone probably won’t do.”
“The first thing we should do is create a hideout here, right?” Vera asked. “Because you said this place was the nearest to the building?”
I nodded. “In a sense.”
“Where exactly?” Anita asked. “Right here?”
“Probably near water and lots of trees,” I answered. “My abilities will only attract others, so it’s best if I don’t rely on them. They may be deeper in the forest. From there, we’ll formulate a plan.”
“Alright.” Vera replied with a toothy grin.
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The forest was deeper than I thought. Well, it wasn’t like I explored the whole thing. There was so much more to it, and it has only been about twenty minutes. I haven’t seen anything dangerous yet, but I should still keep it in mind. I looked down at my bag strapped around my shoulder. At least I have this. Bandages, weapons, and a tiny medicine bottle was contained inside. I walked further until I saw Ace. I paused to see what he was doing. He was holding a large thick branch and smashing it into the dirt repetitively.
I followed and placed my hand on my hip. “What are you doing?”
He turned, nose wrinkled. “I’m making a hideout, dumbass. What else would I be doing?”
“That’s a hideout?” I asked, trying to hold back a laugh. “More like a start for a mole’s habitat.”
Ignoring my comment, he turned back to the hole. “This is how I made my hideout.”
“Your hideout?” I asked.
“Yes,” He replied sharply, before continuing to smash the branch into the dirt. “The one you invaded.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t invade it.”
“Suuure,” He drawled. “And I’m sure you didn’t punch my stomach, right?”
I let out a sharp exhale. “God, you’re annoying.”
Still avoiding eye contact, he uttered an irritating remark. “Can you do a favor and stay at least ten feet away from me? I wouldn’t want to catch a rotten looking ankle.”
I felt my blood boil. Furiously, I picked up a pebble and threw it at his head.
He then turned to me shooting a glare and scratching his head.
“You’re the one who gave it to me you jerk!” I screamed.
“Ahhh!” A voice called from a distance, startling me.
He turned to the noise. It came from deep into the forest.
“What was that?” I asked. “We should check it out.” I followed the sound before he could protest.
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“Okay, now it’s getting darker,” He said after a while. “It’s getting harder and harder to see.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” I told him. “It’s not that bad.” As if it was on cue, my foot slipped off an edge. “Ah-!” I grabbed a hold of the edge, my body hanging.
Ace sat on the edge above me while I was trying to push myself up.
“Well, at least this takes care of one problem.” He said in an almost cheerful tone.
“And what’s that?” I asked.
He began to swing his legs. “If you let go, your issue will be resolved and I won’t have to worry about you being in my way ever again.”
My grip tightened. This piece of- I grasped his ankle and yanked him off the edge.
“Ahhh!” Both of his hands held onto my right ankle. “What’s wrong with you?!”
I gasped and used my left foot to constantly kick him in the face. “You creep!”
Despite my efforts, he wouldn’t let go. “Stop it! You’re going to kill us!”128Please respect copyright.PENANAc72s18OVzh
I pulled my leg back and kicked him in the face one more time. Harder.
“Arghhh!”
“Hah!” I laughed with a mischievous grin. My hand slipped off the edge.
“AHHHHHHHH!” Both of our screams echoed throughout the area.
I shut my eyes, wondering where we would land.
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…
…
Ugh…my head. I slowly opened my eyes, my head spinning. I blinked a couple of times, letting my eyes and mind process my surroundings. I was on dirt. A spacious area deep in the ground. There was no ledge, ladder, or rope to escape. Could this be used as a hideout? I heard the sound of groaning nearby. Ace was on the ground, pushing himself up, rubbing his head. He glanced around, then shot daggers at me. “Now look at what you did!”
“What I did?” I repeated. “I found us a pretty good hideout.”
“I mean how are we supposed to get out, you idiot?!”
“Says the guy who swung his legs carelessly over me,” I snapped. “And the fact you planned to ditch me there is makes you just as idiotic.”
“It’s your fault we ended up here in the first place!” He spat. “I mean, do you have to be curious about everything?!”
His question echoed. Silence followed. And after that silence, a rumbling sound occurred.
“What could that be?” I asked, darting my eyes around the place.
I looked down. My eyes wide in horror. Large sized worms with sucking lips erupted from the ground.
“What are these?!” Ace asked just as horrified.
“I've never seen these before,” I replied. “But they must’ve heard us argue.”
“I hate you.” I heard him mutter under his breath.
They swarmed around us. Not long after, I was drowning under their bodies.
I shoved my hand in my bag, searching for weapons to use against them. I pulled out a small knife and stabbed them. Some of them went limp, and I caught another one sucking on my leg.
I cringed as I felt its moisty lips on my leg. I plunged my knife into it and it gaped before going limp. I continued this process until there was none to attack. The remaining one dug themselves back into the dirt in fear.
Ace’s hands were on his knees as he was breathing hard. I found myself panting as well. I turned away. I should leave. I could easily use air from a tornado to escape. As for Ace, he should learn what it’s like to be ditched. “Well, it seems that you’ll have trouble leaving this hole. Maybe it will reflect on how much of a sack of shit you are!”
With a smug grin, I turned around to see his reaction. My face fell in surprise. He was gone.
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