The Last Dainv

Chapter 281

January 26, 2070. Sunday night, 8 PM. A week after the shopping trip.

Gale sat on his wobbly chair, finishing the last bite of his second cheesecake of the night. Each one only took two bites, but each bite was worth every penny he had spent. Phone tap payments made going through the modern world so much more convenient.

However, there was one thing that stuck with him, rather the memory of it on his tongue. That seductive, sugary, coffee-y, milky, floaty, chewy beverage had clung to his brain ever since the first sip.

Rachel had treated him to three more cups after the Neutral Grounds evaluation. Different flavors each time. Brown sugar milk tea with extra pearls, taro milk tea that tasted the actual colour of purple, and his favourite, the strawberry pink one that was exactly as sweet as it looked.

She also gave him two Bueno bars for doing a good job of beating up William. Both of them were in his space storage as emergency rations if he ever somehow got sucked into a Class 0 rift again.

The next thing they went to was Uncle Testu's cheesecake factory, which had enthralled him when he got out of the twins' car. Now, only crumbs remained in the box they came in.

Most important thing to have again was the bubble tea. It was mission critical.

If he remembered correctly, the place was called Mixue Ice Cream. When he searched it up on gmaps, a lot of other bubble tea shops popped up on the map as suggestions.

There were Coco, Yifang, Gong Cha, Chatime, M Cha, Teabydo, Miao Cha... and more that Gale felt dizzy trying to decide which one to go to. But, the closest one to his place was a store called Coco.

Before he could go, he needed to ask the twins if sugar intake was a concern for Aurians.

[Gale: hey clyde, is sugar bad for awakened?]

[Clyde: hell no, we burn it just by sleeping]

That didn't answer Gale's question. How does sugar burn in the body? Clyde did say 'no,' which meant it was ok.

Once a week of bubble tea should be fine.

Materializing one of the hoodies he bought with Rachel, a thicker black one, and casual 'straight blue jeans', whatever that meant, he put them on.

No time to go to the elevator or the stairs. This was mission critical.

Gale phased through the wall of his apartment and dropped down, making sure to cushion his fall so it didn't make a noise.

The January air bit at his exposed face, which was immediately counteracted by the Ann Family ring.

At times, he did miss the bite of cold that winter provided. It reminded him of the times he cried to mom when it was too cold in the way northern parts of Canada. She'd even hug him to warm his face until he was satisfied.

Coco was west of his apartment, straight. A quick casual 15-minute jog of 5 km (as long as he had Distort on).

Running on the sidewalk, he dodged a couple of passersby, all of them getting a taste of the wind behind him.

In less than 12 minutes, he deactivated Distort as he stood in front of Coco and its glorious orange signage.

Walking into the store, this one was different from Mixue. It offered more choices of milk tea and some he didn't even recognize, such as 'Mango Yakult Green Tea.'

What was Yakult even? But it had mango in it, so it must be sweet.

Moving forward to the empty counter, the girl behind the counter looked up at him. "Welcome to Coco, how may I help you?"

"Can I get the mango one?"

"Which mango one? We have mango green tea or the mango Yakult green tea."

"The Yakult one."

"Sugar level?"

"100%"

"Ice level?"

"0%"

"Any toppings?"

"Bubbles."

"Tap when you're ready," the girl said, pointing at the machine.

Double tapping his phone's power button, Gale tapped his phone. Beep. The transaction was recorded.

Within minutes, she handed him a large cup filled with bright yellow liquid with the chewy black tapioca bubbles at the bottom.

Gale took it immediately, swiped a single big straw from the counter, and exited the store as quickly as he could. Stabbing the straw through the seal, he took a sip.

The drink came in contact with his tongue. Sweet mango liquid and a tangy sort of taste that was most likely the yakult flooded his senses into overdrive.

It was different from the milk tea in a way that it was more refreshing. Chewy stuff at the bottom was always a bonus.

It was good. So good that Gale saved this place on his gmaps on his phone. Whenever he was having a bad day, he'd make sure to go here again and try something else on the menu.

Realizing his legs were on auto mode, he stopped. Looking left and right, he didn't recognize where he was.

Presence Between scouted for his home ground, finding it northeast of his current location.

Suddenly, 4 entities tugged at his tendrils just up ahead. One attuned, two Awakened signatures, and one really faint signature that felt like it had just awakened a couple of days ago.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Gale moved toward the signatures, crossing through the back alley of an industrial complex building. The bubble tea stayed in his hand, his lips casually sipping it every 3 seconds.

Ending up in a dark parking lot of a low office building, there were barely any lights illuminating the area. It was perfect for those that lurked in the shadows to do their business.

In the corner of the lot at the darkest part, the three Awakened surrounded the faint Awakened signature. The fourth one looked just like a kid, just like him, probably barely even 20 years old from his baby-face like features.

"Kid, in this world, people go missing all the time," the biggest one of the three Awakened said. "And you snitched on Big Albert. Now tell me exactly why you shouldn't disappear?"

Listening to this line alone made Gale want to back off. This was none of his business. Last time this happened, he met Ollie and fought against the United Knights. Next thing he knew, he was basically dismantling a whole dust network in Ontario.

Was that really the priority right now?

Point 1: a bubble tea cup was in his hands. Point 2: he already met all his friends back from the Eclipsed apart from Annett. Point 3: Rachel said to keep low for a while.

All three points told him to just walk away.

Turning around, Gale started walking away confidently as he sipped his cup of mango yakult green tea.

"Wait!" the kid shouted. "I know the Blue Witches! You'll regret messing with me!"

Gale stopped mid-step.

Blue Witches. Wasn't that Lily's cohort? If he knew Lily or Marine or Jeanne or any of the other blue witches that he forgot the name of, then they'd be mad if he didn't help this kid, right?

Turning back around and leaning against the unlit light pole, he sipped his Mango Yakult tea again to see how this would play out.

The three men burst into laughter.

"The Blue Witches?" the Attuned one wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Kid, everyone these days thinks they're connected to the Blue Witches. How about we find out later to see whether it's true?"

"I'll prove it!" the kid scrambled for something in his pocket.

The laughter stopped. The Attuned nodded at the two other Awakened that flanked him.

They moved. Each one grabbed one of the kid's arms, pinning him to the wall.

"Kid," the Attuned said, stepping closer. "This isn't fiction. No one's got the time to wait for you to call."

He raised the knife.

"Hey."

All four of them turned toward Gale's voice.

He stood there, still leaning against the light pole, bubble tea in hand. The straw was in his mouth. He took another long sip.

"Let the kid make his call," Gale said. "I wanna see if he actually knows the Blue Witches."

The Attuned's face contorted the moment his eyes caught onto Gale. "Leave, kid. This is none of your business."

"The kid said he has a contact with the Blue Witches. Let's find out."

"What's it to you?"

"They're also my friends." Gale smiled mockingly. "What's it to you?"

The three men exchanged glances. Then they laughed again.

"Your friends?" the Attuned snorted. "Right. Another poser trying to play hero. Look around, kid. It's three against one. Buzz off before we make you disappear too."

Gale took another sip of his bubble tea.

"Is that a threat?" he asked in a menacingly low voice. He'd already dealt with Silver Lion cronies before. These guys were even more amateur.

The Attuned stopped himself before saying any more, then nodded at his two Awakened cronies. They released the kid and rushed toward Gale.

But before they could even start their first step at him, Gale dematerialized the bubble tea in his hand into his space storage.

In one breath, his foot broke the right kneecap of each of the Awakened in an instant.

The Attuned was just behind him now, pulling out something from inside his jacket. A gun, full of artificed runic etchings that glowed as his hand took hold of its handle.

Materializing back the bubble tea in his left hand and Erebus in his right, Gale took another sip just as his foot connected with the Attuned's right kneecap while Erebus cut the gun in half twice.

The Attuned fell to the ground with a suppressed shout. "Shit!!!"

"Stay," Gale said.

The man stayed.

Fight over. Total elapsed time: 3 seconds, and not a drop of Mango Yakult Green Tea spilled.

Turning to the kid, there was one thing he needed to check. Presence Between had already caught the lie from his heart's rhythm when the kid said he knew the Blue Witches. But he still needed to confirm.

"Do you really know anyone from the Blue Witches?" Gale asked.

The kid gritted his teeth. No response came from him.

"Answer."

"N-no," the kid finally stammered. "I don't. I was just... I thought if I said that, they'd—I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I don't know anyone."

"Buzz off," Gale said, standing up, eyeing the three on the floor. "I have business with these three."

The kid scrambled into a run, disappearing between the buildings and into the street.

Turning back to the three men on the ground, two were groaning while holding down their broken kneecaps. The Attuned was pinned down while Erebus was lengthened just enough to touch his neck. One wrong move from him, and he'd be the one that disappears today.

After taking another sip, Gale spoke. "Now then. Tell me about Big Albert and why he is in the Hunter's territory?"

"Big Albert runs a protection business in this area," the Attuned spat out. "We're just collecting what's owed."

"On whose authority?"

The Attuned's nose wrinkled. "Big Albert's going to fuck you up when he finds you. You're dead, kid!"

Erebus turned into a mist, shifting into an elongated flat bat. One swing connected to the Attuned's thigh.

The man shrieked.

"That's not what I asked." Gale took another sip of his Mango Yakult, almost half empty. "Whose authority?"

The Attuned gritted his teeth. No response.

Criminals. Always choosing the hard way, he sighed.

Walking over to one of the Awakened writhing on the ground, the man was clutching at his broken kneecap as tears streamed down his face. Since one good kneecap remained, might as well use that as bargaining terms.

Gale placed his foot on the healthy kneecap, slowly applying pressure. Cartilage crackled under the increasing force.

However, the Awakened was tough. His veins bulged as he suppressed a shout. Impressive for a third-rate nobody. Gale forgot that most Aurians were at least somewhat competent. But that didn't matter.

"You know me, right?" he said. "The Hunter?"

The effect was immediate as the Attuned's eye widened. "Alright! Alright, I'll talk!"

Gale eased the pressure on the Awakened's knee.

"Talk."

"There's remnants," the Attuned said. "Silver Lions. Contracted vagrants that got left behind after the whole thing went down. Like the Red Jacket crew that's still roaming around."

Red jacket. That one was familiar.

The Attuned continued, "Big Albert works for someone above him. A Resonant. Don't know the name, but he was some former contractor for the Silver Lions. The Anns spared him since he wasn't directly connected."

"What does the Ann family have to do with this?" Gale asked.

The Attuned stared at him for a second. "Have you been living under a rock?"

"I was in a rift for a month," Gale said. "Summarize it."

"The Ann family wiped out the Silver Lions," the Attuned blurted out. "Took about less than a month and no Aurian in their right minds left their homes. Now the war's done, three idiots trying to fight over territory not worth fighting for. Everyone's scrambling to take the scraps from Glory and the Lions."

Gale didn't really expect this would happen. Rifting Rachel was a really bad move for the Silver Lions.

This created a power vacuum. And typical criminal behaviour said that the moment the big boss falls, their lackeys start fighting for control.

Gale smirked. "One more question. You mentioned red jacket. Is Jackie still around? Blonde, usually wears a red jacket."

The Attuned's eyes darted left, then right. "Jackie... yeah, I know who you're talking about. Don't know where she is though. Rumour has it she's in Agincourt somewhere. That's all I got. I swear."

Agincourt. He didn't know where the hell that was. But, thanks to the power of gmaps, he could find out where it was. If it wasn't that far, he'd just run it.

Dematerializing Erebus, he took one long final sip of his Mango Yakult Green Tea that was already half empty until it was done, including the pearls. Tossing it over to the Attuned, he said, "Throw this in the trash for me. Make sure you don't litter. Remember, this is my territory."

The Attuned forced himself to nod.

"And tell Big Albert this. If I see one more of you threatening anyone," Gale said, low. "The hunter might just give him a visit. Capisce?"

The Attuned raised an eyebrow but nodded once more.