The Sanctum of Hunters (Done)

Chapter Two

"You should stay here," Mi-Kyung said as she watched me pack up my knapsack.

"I appreciate all of your help, Mi-Kyung," I told her, "but...I've got a job to do."

"Oh, really? What's that job?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Hey," she said, grabbing the back of my jacket as I tried to pass her, "I've taken care of you for the past couple of days. We've bonded. I want to know what's going on in that wacky little head of yours."

"It's none of your business. And we haven't bonded. I hardly know you." I tried to pull away from her, but she had a firm grip. "Come on! It's important business! I have to do this!"

She pulled me closer to her, "You have to do what?"

"I can't tell you!"

"If that's how you're going to be then..." I thought she was going to let me go, but instead, she swooped me up bridal style and carried me back into her bedroom and threw me down on the bed. "If you can't escape, you have to tell me what this 'job' is. If you can, I'll let you go."

I say just give up now and stay with her, Charles said.

"Shut up, Charles."

"That's not fair!" I said. "You can't keep me here against my will!"

"We haven't known each other for long, but I'm still worried about your safety, Reese. I don't want you going off and doing something stupid. I've experienced enough crap in my life to know that a stupid decision can have painful consequences."

I tried to roll off of the bed, but she caught me before I could get free. She dragged me closer so I was pressed against her body, "You ready to spill?"

"Let me go," I growled

"Hmm. I guess not." She reached under my jacket and started tickling me.

"Wait! Wait, wait, no! Stop, stop!" I twisted and turned. I wriggled and waggled. Nothing I did could make her stop.

"Okay! Okay, I'll tell you, just stop!"

She let me go and waited. I considered making a run for it while I was free but Charles said, She could become a potential ally, Reese. Just tell her.

He was right. She could help me in the future. So I explained to her what I planned to do: find the people who had killed my beloved Ronni (a.k.a Veronica Valentine). When Mi-Kyung asked who that was, I explained that she was the person who had accompanied me on my journey.

I didn't want to go into further detail about how she died but Mi-Kyung didn't ask me. What she was really interested in was my relationship with Ronni.

"Ronni was the only person I met when I first woke up that was kind to me," I said. "She made me feel like I was important. She would...comfort me whenever I had one of my nightmares. She was my best friend..." I clenched my fists, "So I've got to do this. She did everything in her power to keep me safe but I couldn't do the same. I-"

"Kid," Mi-Kyung interrupted, "that's nice and all, but you have a threat level of negative twelve. No way you're getting revenge like that."

I scowled, "You don't know that."

"Oh, but I do. You couldn't even get away from me. How are you going to take down an organization filled with people three times your size? I get it; you want to avenge your friend. But you can't do it like this without any thinking. Revenge takes time."

"Well, time is being wasted with me sitting here talking to you," I snapped.

"You're not going to get anything done the way you are now," she insisted. "Let me help you."

"I don't need any help." I was getting angrier with every word that came spewing out of her mouth. What did she know about me and what I could do? Nothing. She didn't know what I was capable of.

She was quiet for a moment before she asked, "Can you do magic?"

I hesitated. I've never tried to do it before. Ronni never had the time to teach me. "No."

"That knocks down your chances of winning by 100%. No, no. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because you quote-unquote 'don't need any help'." She got up and started pacing around the bedroom.

"You know how to fight?"

"No."

"Ooh, that doesn't help either. You have good social skills?"

No, Charles muttered.

"Um-"

"I'm gonna take that as a no. Do you have any sort of skill that could give you an upper hand?"

"I have hypersensitive senses—besides sight—and, um, I'm really agile. I can move really fast."

"Is that the only thing you've got going on for you? No magic, no friends, and no idea how to do close-combat fighting? Sure. Go right on ahead and face down this group of people and see where you end up."

My shoulders drooped. She had a point. "So I'm never going to win."

"It depends," she said. "If their leader is an idiot, then you might have a shot. Who-"

"Marcus Valentine," I interrupted. "That's who the man in charge is."

"Marcus Valentine...That's a bit surprising. But the man is a super genius. I'm sorry to say this but it looks like you're gonna have to scrap this plan."

I flopped back onto the bed, "What am I going to do, Charles?"

I don't know. He was mimicking my defeated posture and lying on his own bed that he had conjured. (I should mention that Charles has his own little personal space in the corner of my head. He could travel elsewhere but he preferred to stay there as he had complete control of whatever happened in that space.)

"I feel like a failure. I've come all this way and yet...I can't do a thing to help Ronni. What am I good for?"

"Hey, don't look so down," Mi-Kyung said. She laid down next to me, "You could always stay with me."

"What good would that do?" I muttered.

"Well, you'd have a place to sleep," she pointed out. "Food to eat. A working shower and toilet. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me."

"Would you teach me magic?" I asked.

"It depends." She leaned in close, "Are you going to use that magic to go after Mr Valentine?"

"That depends on how I'll feel in the future."

"Trust me, Reese. You're better off just learning for the fun of it. You get me?"

"I get you. So are you going to teach me or not?"

"Perhaps. But you're gonna learn more important things first. And maybe I'll sprinkle in a little magic here and there. Deal?"

Take the deal, Reese, Charles said.

"I know, I know," I said to him.  To Mi-Kyung, I said: "Deal."

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