"You might think you saved her but in the state she is and given the speed of her travel, she'll find herself at the end of the world in the blink of an eye" The man called Zion grinned.
Zion was the most wanted man in the world deemed a dangerous criminal by all Federations on Earth. In fact, no one was interested in his arrest, all governments wanted one thing- his confirmed death.
His ability was still unknown and this made any confrontation with him all the more dangerous, but Aliyah was not afraid.
Refusing to comment, she stared intently at him, keeping up her guard and prepared to protect herself at any time should he make a move.
"Oh, but you don't care about her do you?" Zion squinted at her impassive expression giving her a side glance.
"You only care to catch her and bag another arrest"
Aliyah simply stared at the black-clothed Zion, she was inwardly amused at his attempts to stir up her emotions, if this was all he got then there was nothing to fear about him.
Zion meanwhile stared at the redhead, inwardly he was alarmed, not because his words weren't getting to her but because he couldn't figure out her ability either. He had heard about her, the infamous Tracker, anyone who was hunted by her either surrendered themselves or found themselves in a lot of pain.
But what truly alarmed him was how familiar she seemed, she felt like everything he was and everything he could be. It was like he was staring right at his greatest fear, he was standing in front of what he was afraid to become.
Aliyah took a step forward but suddenly lost focus, she closed her eyes immediately and when she opened them back up, Zion was gone and she was tied in a bundle in a corner.
Aliyah felt her mind explode at the humiliation as anger flushed through her entire system. How dare he humiliate her like this?
Unfortunately, no matter how angry she was, she was unable to move and could only stay there until someone came to free her.
***
Jace and Natalya found themselves in a thick forest, the air smelt murky and the ground was wet, tall trees surrounded them from all directions and vines crawled through the grounds. Natalya could swear that she could hear the sounds of insects and birds when they just arrived. Right now the place was eerily silent. The silence was disturbing.
"I think I know where we are" she muttered in a whisper, her whisper like rustling of leaves in a dead quiet night.
"West Unity Forbidden Laboratory"
Jace shivered and turned to her incredulously.
"How can you tell?" he asked.
Pointing at the ground a few feet away from them, she showed him a blue flower with the pollen forming a heart shape on its surface.
"Blue heart" Jace muttered its name.
"There's no way someone lives here, let alone a kid" he added.
"A kid?"
"Ah!" Natalya leaped startled by the foreign voice.
Jace adopted a combat stance and they both turned to the origin of the sound to see a beautiful white dove staring at them from a low tree branch.
Natalya relaxed and stepped closer to it, her expression full of curiosity.
"What are you?" she asked still approaching.
"Careful Nat" Jace warned in a low tone maintaining his stance. He was prepared to teleport away with Natalya at the first sign of danger.
"Not a kid" the bird seemed to snap.
Natalya was completely fascinated by what was happening before her.
"Are you human?" she asked.
"Is this an ability?"
The dove stared at her silently for a long time. Suddenly it flapped its wings and flew through between her and Jace to a clearing in the distance. While they regained their composure from the shock of the bird charging through them, the bird seamlessly turned into a person. A young boy, wearing a long white coat on black pants appeared in front of them. His irises were a tinge of red conflicting with his military cut hair.
"You are a strange person. I have never seen or met a person so in tune with their nature before" The boy's voice was deep and almost magical. It wasn't a grating base voice like one would expect from a shirtless muscle-toned youth, instead, it was steady and calm as if stilled with age.
"Me?" Natalya replied in confusion. His gaze on her sent her heart into a sprint. She had to use all her focus to prevent her eyes from wandering. Not because she wanted to maintain decorum but simply because he could still be dangerous.
"I heard your voice yesterday" the boy continued.
Natalya glanced at Jace in confusion and then back at the boy.
"My voice?"
"Yes you were telling me that someone was after my life" The boy tilted his head.
"She was nowhere near Unity yesterday, who are you?" Jace spoke up at this time, taking a step forward as if to protect Natalya.
"Forgive my manners. My name is Ananta, you can call me Anan" he gave a gentleman's bow.
"Ananta as in 'one with no end'"? Natalya asked in a low tone.
Anan's expression changed to one of surprise as he turned to her.
"The original language is long lost with the Old World. I'm surprised you know that" he said.
Natalya herself was surprised because, for the first time in her life, she had heard not only what was meant but also what was said.
[She heard, "Forgive my manners, my name is Ananta, (Meaning one with no end, I am immortal), you can call me Anan"]
"You are not a kid are you?" she asked taking a slow step forward from behind Jace.
Anan simply stared at her without saying anything.
"How old are you?" she asked, her eyes widened and her lips moving as if she was in a daze.
"Exactly a hundred today" Anan finally replied a smile playing on his face.
"That's impossible" Jace retorted, his expression unimpressed and his tone cold. As far as he was concerned this Anan was a dangerous person.
Anan glanced at him and smiled but that smile quickly changed into alarm as a bolt of light rushed at him from the distance. Instantly, he shifted turning into an ant and back into his form when it flew past. His shifting left a wave of energy in the air which the bolt of light passed through. Instantly it disintegrated and a person fell to the ground with an.
"Oommph"
"Interesting" Anan stared at the newcomer with fascination as she struggled to stand.
He stepped forward to help her when all of a sudden she slashed at his arm with a knife. He reeled immediately but not fast enough gaining a deep gash on his wrist. The girl immediately reached out under his wrist and the blood dropped on her palm soon disappearing into it. Her pale expression turned rosy in an instant and the girl who was struggling simply to stand now looked very energetic once again.
"I can't shift" Anan frowned.
He couldn't help but wonder who else would be coming. First, there were those two thieves and then this group of trouble. Fortunately, he could feel his body recovering, he would be able to shift again in a few seconds.
"Before I start killing people. I suggest you all tell me how and why you are here" his tone turned frigid as he ran out of patience. His wine-red irises now seemed like a wild creature, their mysticism gone like a phantom.