(Old Version) The Blood of the Covenant

Chapter Fifteen: Matthew

Matthew stood, frozen to his place as Pardus's words echoed in his mind.

    "We have a deal."

    He couldn't believe that after all this, after everything Cecilia and he had planned, she was so quick to throw it all away. Throw herself away. He thought back to the day he had taken off to find her, remembering the radio interview he heard as he headed down the streets.

    "Red Sun is innocent. He is just a boy. And he is my entire world. So if it's me you want, I'll gladly make the trade."

    It all made sense now. This wasn't a mission to save all the heroes, this was a mission to make a trade. A suicide mission. There were so many holes in their plan that he hadn't noticed until now. Like, for instance, that they hadn't accounted for the fact that there was no logical way for Matthew to have the stamina to single-handedly unfreeze Red Sun and all the captive heroes.

He couldn't believe he had been so stupid, so malleable, so ignorant. He felt so betrayed. So incredibly betrayed.

    "Vulpus," Cecilia called over to him.

    He frowned at her behind his mask, his fists balling.

    "Take Red Sun. He can't stand on his own."

    He refused to look at her, to speak to her, as she passed Red Sun over to him, allowing Red Sun to lean heavily on his right side.

    "Lotus?" Red Sun inquired, still delirious. "What—?"

    She kissed his hand as she let him go, and Matthew could see tears shining in her eyes. He had no pity for her. What she was doing was stupidly selfless. Reckless. Were all heroes programmed to throw themselves away like this? This certainly wasn't what mercenaries or villains or ordinary civilians did. This wasn't how he was raised.

    Matthew watched Cecilia turn and begin to head towards Pardus, who was smirking at her. He pushed off the wall and straightened, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his white trousers. That look—that look of triumph on his face was enough to make his blood boil. Fire filled his core, turning his face red and his hands shaky.

The last time he had ever been this angry was when Stephen and Fidel had locked him in his room, leaving him to wallow in the memories of his brother's screams. So many people had wronged him. So many people had ignored his pain. Thrived off of it.

    Even in his fury, he knew that Cecilia was not one of them. She had been the first person in his miserable life since he'd lost everything to pull him into the light, which was why he couldn't let her do this. He couldn't let her succumb to the self-sacrificing fate of all heroes. He wouldn't let her.

    And at that moment he realized that the fire in his core...it was not just fury. It was not just pain. It was Red Sun's idio. Warm, familiar, and raging. So Matthew reached inside of himself, grabbed ahold of that warmth, and welcomed that raging energy.

    He took Red Sun's arm off his shoulder and helped him settle to the ground before his hands lit up with yellow flames, his pale eyes glowing with the same color. He took a step forwards, then another, until he was stepping towards Pardus with his flaming hands balled at his sides. He hardly knew how to use Red Sun's idio. Hell, he didn't even really know what it could do. All energy manipulators were different. But if there was one thing he always trusted in this whole world, it was his instincts. And his instincts were driving him forwards. Onwards.

    The look on Pardus's face drained when he saw Matthew coming towards him. From there, it was as if the world was moving in slow motion.

    Cecilia turned and quickly moved out of the way, tripping over herself as she dashed away from the massive blast of yellow flames that was aimed in Pardus's direction. The sound of ice meeting heat exploded throughout the room, and Pardus fought desperately to shield himself with a wall of thick ice.