27 Chapter 27

REEB

Leo's phone suddenly rang a few minutes to midnight, yanking him off his sweet dreams. A call in the middle of the night only meant one thing: emergency. It wasn't something to ignore. Yawning, he grabbed his phone, disconnecting it from the charger. The caller was Jipan, his cousin.

"What is it, J?", said Leo as soon as he answered,

"We finished the screening", answered Jipan, but from his tone, Leo could feel like more was about to be said,

"You found the bug?", he asked,

"Yes, yes we did man. We found the bug!",

Leo's adrenaline felt the fireworks. He could scream his joy across the room, but it was very late. His neighbors would think he's in danger, or worse, he went crazy. He jumped off the bed and paced back and forth, overwhelmed,

"What about the other thing that Kro asked us about? Did you find anything?", he proceeded asking Jipan

"Of course, and her suspicions were true. Kro's really a genius, there's no Fang among her new recruits, there's no anyone who has the name Fang in their family too. That guy is a fraud", Jipan said,

"I'm so relieved, man", Leo heaved an exhale, "I knew we won't be fooled; I knew it, I knew we'd be 10 steps ahead of them",

"I know right", Jipan chuckled,

Leo wiped his hand across his face,

"So, who's this bug?",

"Prepare to be shocked",

Leo's eyes widened, his jaws falling open with disbelief. He had to shake his head and ask again to make sure he heard him right. The bug was never in his list of guesses, not even a thought.

...

Morning

CC HEADQUARTERS

Meeting room

"I think she came to my house yesterday; it was a total mess!", said Sue, concerned, and anxious,

It was just the two of them in the room, her and Kro. Everyone else had already left after the meeting, but they needed to discuss about the issue. Kro didn't look as surprised as Sue thought she would after hearing the news

"I knew she would do that, that's why I asked to let Zoe stay with me. Humans are very predictable", Kro scoffed,

"Hu _ humans?", stumbled Sue, a bit amazed by the statement,

Kro quickly snapped. For a second there she forgot that Sue didn't know who she truly was. She kind of lost herself for a second,

"What I mean is, we, together as human beings are predictable. From how you described her, it was easy for me to know her next move, that's why",

"I see. Now I'm even scared of going home, what if I find her waiting for me? I don't think I'll be able to act clueless_",

"No Sue, you have to stay at your house, and if she shows up you have to no choice but to act clueless. Until we find a way to end this once and for all, you need to pretend like you have no idea of Zoe's whereabouts, that will make things easy for everyone",

"I'm not a good actress, I don't know what I'm supposed to do when she asks me where Zoe is",

"The first thing you're going to do is act confused, like 'You even sent my daughter to another school, how am I supposed to know where she is?', that type of confusion",

"What if _what if she's still unconvinced?", Sue stammers,

Kro slid the files aside and leaned forward,

"You look her straight in the eyes and say 'I want my daughter back, don't give me that shit. You were careless enough to lose her, I'm going to kill each and every one of you, I fucking swear to God!", Kro shrugged, "There",

Sue couldn't even imagine being a badass like her boss. She knew Kro was just acting, but even that looked bomb. She wished to have Kro's self-esteem. She needed to get her acting game together. Her mother-in-law was going to show up in front of her anytime, and she had to be ready. She needed enough practice.

Kro collected her files, pushed the chair back and got up. But Sue was still seated, lost in thoughts, in a blue funk,

"Don't worry Sue, I'm sure you don't see it, but you're one bad ass mother. If I had a child, I'd wish to be like you and more. I'm being serious, don't underestimate yourself",

Sue nodded with a faint smile. She still didn't trust herself, and her confidence just needed a little boost.

....

AZARADAN

BLOOD MOUNTAINS

For the first time after 25 years, Qin stood outside the witch's cave. It was time to begin with the execution of his enemies, or as what he liked to call them, obstacles. Despite the heavy, pounding heart, and blood rushing through his veins, there was no way back, he had to do it.

He took off his muddy boots and entered the cave, leaving his sword and fear outside. The witch's layer had changed, there were no piles of bones, or any stench released. The cave was surrounded by black, thorny roses, but the fire well at the center remained the same.

Qin took a deep breath,

"IT IS I, QIN, THE GENERAL OF AZARADAN'S ARMY, SHOW YOURSELF, OH THE GREAT WITCH OF THE BLOOD MOUNTAIN", mightily, Qin summoned the witch, "I need you",

A strong wind blew from the fire well, strong enough that it threw him to the wall. He winced after hitting his back so hard, but still managed to stand up straight again, not ready to give up,

"I, QIN, YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT, IS HERE TO FULFIL MY WISH. THE WISH I MADE 2 DECADES AGO, I'M HERE TO FULFIL IT! PLEASE SHOW YOURSELF!", he begged,

It became silent, but suddenly, each thorny rose, one by one started burning, the source of flames being unknown. The fire spread all across the cave in a short period of time, and in front of him now, everything was burning. The fire in the well became wild, releasing numerous sparks. The heat became unbearable for him, he was in a mini hell,

"QIN, APPROACH THE WELL", the witch's voice commanded him from the well,

But there was no way for him to survive the heat if he walked closer enough. It was a tough choice to make,

"ARE YOU SCARED?", the witch's voice asked again, mocking him,

"No, no _ I'm not", Qin shook his head, uncertain,

He was shocked when the witch appeared from behind him and wrapped her hands around his waist. Her head rested on his broad shoulder, sending shivers to the marrow of his bones. What astonished him more was the fact that despite the witch's whole body being in flames, his clothes caught no fire,

"If you're not scared, why aren't you taking a step forward?", the witch whispered seductively in his ear,

He could feel the heat, but not the burn.

"I _ err _ I thought I'd get burned", stuttering, Qin replied,

"That means you don't trust me",

"No, no I do!",

The witch let him go and walked ahead of him towards the well. The flames died slowly, the roses went back to their natural form, and the fire in the well became steady again, but her body was still in flames. She finally sat on top of the well fence, taking a good look at Qin,

"Where is she?", maintaining a natural calm, the witch asked,

"She'll be here. I'll send her myself", he tried to assure her,

"I see she still doesn't know the truth; you still haven't told her about her family, and certainly about this mission. Time isn't on your side, my patience is running low, Qin",

"I absolutely understand; believe me I do. I will tell her everything, for years now I've been training her for this mission, I know she will do it. But I need you to do something for me",

"I already know what you want, Qin, but are you sure it's wise? Are you sure there's no other way? You know I can just make him go crazy_",

"NO!", Qin stated, determined, "I want him to die before his son's coronation day! Bukka will be my first sacrifice to you",

The witch expected all that. Her lips were curved in a smirk, believing a saying which said humans are eviler than the devil. It was such a sight for her, seeing how greed was destroying more than 50 years of friendship. But who was she to judge? All she wanted was Kro,

"Are you certain that Bukka's death is what you wish for?", she asked again. For the last time,

"I've never been more certain, great witch",

"Very well. It is done!",

The witch watched as relieve invaded Qin's face, unfortunately she wasn't done talking,

"But here's something you don't know Qin", she proceeded, "If I manage to kill Kro, I'll take over your whole kingdom. But If Kro manages to kill me, the kingdom will be safe, but you won't",

Qin was taken aback, the smile on his face immediately died. Fear creased his face,

"Wh _what do you mean?", he asked, his tone shaking,

"I mean, your real enemy here isn't Bukka, it's Kro", she smirked, "Your wish has already been granted, in other words, no matter what you decide, you'll still die at the end",

"I'm sure there's a way to change that! Please, what is it?",

But the witch vanished into thin air. The fire in the well ended. Complete darkness filled the cave. Qin was in total frustration, he had to think and come up with an answer to his question by himself.

...…

CC HEADQUARTERS

As usual, Ukraine had gone to the lobby to pick up lunch for his team. He was in a hurry though. His team was starving, so was he. Halfway to the elevator, he suddenly heard someone calling his name. And turning back to see who called, he found a stranger who didn't quite feel so strange to him. He had heard of him from Misaki a couple of times, it was Leo.

Ukraine waited for Leo to get to him, maybe he had something he wanted him to give Misaki, that's what Ukraine thought. When Leo arrived, he stretched his hand out towards Ukraine,

"Afternoon. I'm Leo", he said,

Ukraine shook his hand,

"Nice to meet you", said Ukraine,

And they let go of each other's hand,

"Are you here to see Misaki?", Uk proceeded asking,

"No", Leo shook his head, "I'm here to see you, I actually have a question for you, may I ask?",

"Sure, what do you want to know?",

"The question goes like this _", Leo's expression became serious. He took a step closer to Ukraine, "What do you want from Kro?",

And just like that, Ukraine's heart missed a beat.

*****