Longing Hearts part 8

Ch8: A plan to fight

Koro was frozen on the chair, waves of grief already crashing into his mind again and again. He frowned deeply, in disbelief of the solution their master had just blurted out. Two days went by, after Mainda had brought the situation in Sweden to their attention and Ikrov had decided to show up in the estate again. In the meanwhile, both males had been acting like beasts in a cage, wanting to act up, but unable to do so.

‘’Let me get this straight.’’, Tori spoke up, his character all over the place. ‘’Three masters will be brought together with their followers to fight this Yabu and destroy him in the expense of their followers lives.’’, he repeated Ikrov’s words in his own way and the blonde, elder male simply nodded. Koro felt sick. A sudden desire for his own death occurred. He didn’t wish to watch his sister and friend die once more, this time for real.

‘’Some of the followers will survive, but you must realize that masters cannot touch each other. We can only fight through our followers and only followers can touch masters.’’, he added and the two males glanced at one another. Mainda’s question about who could judge the masters had just found an answer. The blind faith the followers have makes them believe that there is no possible way for them to even come close to their masters, but they were actually the only ones able to act against them.

‘’And both you and Saika will use your apostles to their full extend.’’, Tori added with a steady voice, making no use of honorifics. Ikrov nodded with a frowned expression, clearly bothered by Tori’s tone. The tall apostle leaned back on his seat and gave Koro a glance. He was playing with his large fingers nervously, the serious expression on his face kept deepening with every passing second.

‘’Is it necessary for someone to die?’’, was his next question and a heavy silence followed. Ikrov sighed and lifted his brows.

‘’Possibly.’’, he replied and his blue eyes drifted away, focusing outside the window. ‘’Saika, Taika and I will try to avoid it, but we’ll probably end up losing a follower each.’’

‘’How many are you taking with you?’’

‘’Since I have an apostle I will take two more. There is a female in the estate with a great connection to me, as good as Koro. She will be ideal for the battle.’’

‘’Who…’’, Tori interrupted, his glare becoming even more aggressive. He seemed to be trying to figure out a way out of the situation.

‘’Nadia, she is called. I think you are in good terms with her.’’

This time, Koro was the one with the glare. Everything is taken away from me.

‘’Choose someone else…’’, the black haired male uttered under his breath and was barely able to stay in his seat. His master looked right at him and he knew he could read his mind as both his brows lifted.

‘’This is the fate of humanity we are talking about.’’, he spoke and suddenly the air grew thicker. ‘’You’re acting like children.’’ Ikrov stood from his seat, a deep wrinkle forming on his forehead. An immense force kept Koro immobilized and his mind involuntarily flooded by terror. There was no fear in his soul, but pure anger at the games fate played against him. Yet his master threatened him right then and there, expressing the full length of his powers against his followers. Koro’s body was weak, his muscles ached and his mind went fuzzy. He strived to hold onto his initial thoughts, but it was a struggle. He was unable to take his eyes from his masters as they turned crimson red.

‘’I am your master and you shall follow my command, or die.’’, he muttered and immediately released his powers, forcing the follower to take a deep breath. Exhaustion took over him, but his thoughts had returned to their normal and the pain was gone. He lifted his gaze to look at Tori who, panting and dragging his limbs, stood his height.

‘’Let it be me who will die. I beg you!’’, he managed to shout with his heavy voice and Koro wanted to object, to take his place, but he knew his body did not have the same value. Tori was an apostle and the only one with the largest capacity of power withholding from a master. Ikrov narrowed his eyes.

‘’You realize Mainda will ask the same.’’

‘’I don’t care. Speak with the other two. If someone has to die let it be me. Use my body to its full extend. Destroy it to destroy Yabu.’’

A full minute went by, excruciatingly slow and the only sound were the heavy pants of the two followers as they gradually regained their strength. Ikrov was not shifting his gaze from his determined apostle.

‘’I will do my best.’’

The two males walked out of that office in nervous silence. There was nothing Koro could say to Tori and nothing Tori could say to Koro to lighten the emotional burden they would have to carry once more. All they could do was enjoy each other’s company, become dependent in their presence and carry on with the day until the time to fight Yabu arrives.

That same night, Koro could see his friend’s face especially darkened while staring at his phone screen. He could tell that he had been texting Mainda through code and he was not happy with the conversation at all. The black haired follower did not even try to ask Tori what was going on, but expected him to talk on his own.

‘’Just like Ikrov said, she asked Saika to do the same for her.’’, he mumbled, a vein protruding on his forehead. ‘’Are we really going to our deaths voluntarily a second time? All because of the master’s inability to control each other.’’

Koro lowered his head in deep thought. There was no solution in sight.

‘’I need to see Saika, convince him to spare Mainda…’’, the taller male murmured to himself.

‘’Stop!’’, Koro yelled at him, unable to control himself any longer. Tori looked at him and his expression seemed to have softened. The black haired male sighed and rubbed his face with his hand before trying to speak. ‘’No one should die.’’, he said and pursed his lips in annoyance. ‘’But there seems to be no other way to defeat this man. I understand that both you and Mainda have started doubting your masters, but unless you can find another solution to this problem, there is no reason for you to fight about who is going to die in place of the other. I don’t believe you will actually have a say in it.’’

Tori blinked a few times, his grey eyes like a mirror, showing no emotion at all. He finally lowered his head and proceeded to type for a few seconds on his phone. Finally, he took a deep breath and his face was altered by his usual goofy smile, just like a react mechanism.

‘’Let’s go train.’’, he told him and Koro found himself smiling back and nodding.