95 Esper Rehabilitation Center (2/2)
”Damn manullium interference.” She grumbled again as she crossed her arms.
”Tell me, Feather.” Ed interrupted. ”Why did you want me locked up in the cage?”
”What makes you so sure I wanted that?” She scoffed, raising her head up proudly.
”At first, I wasn't.” He admitted. ”However, it made more sense the more I thought about it. Why come after the manullium supplies if not too hurt me? Sure, it's valuable, but there's plenty of ways someone with your communication network could obtain it. Thus, the value of obtaining it was in harming my overall power, as opposed to securing a meager supply of manullium. This brings me to my next point. Why not have Phantom and his group finish us off? At that stage, my preparations were nowhere near complete. If he participated, then his win was almost guaranteed. But instead, he only sent his men to cause minor damage before falling back. The only reason I can think of for all of these actions is that you believed I would win the war and get locked up as a result of it.”
”Wow!” Feather clapped her hands slowly. ”Such deductive reasoning. There's some jumps in logic here and there, but you're mostly on point. You should have showed this side of yourself at school. Maybe then you wouldn't have been so lame.”
”Funny.” Ed frowned. ”So, I know who you are and what you planned, but what I don't know is why? I can't think of anything I could've possibly done that would make you my enemy prior to the manullium incident.”
”Oh, Ed.” She slowly reached forward and gently brushed his cheek. Her calm face hinted anger as she furrowed her brows. ”You hurt the only thing I ever really cared about at the academy.” Her hand moved down from his cheek towards his neck and slowly squeezed. Fortunately, this void was imaginary, and so he felt no pain.
”Hurt the only thing you cared about?” Ed repeated as he thought of the possibilities. ”The only thing I hurt at the academy was Jake...” Suddenly, his eyes shot wide open from shock. ”You were in love with Jake?!” He questioned.
”Right.” She grinned as she placed her other hand on Ed's neck, squeezing both hands tightly. She slowly pushed Ed to the floor and sat atop him, madness covering her beautiful face. ”Jake was such a kind boy, yet you continually tried to hurt him!” She yelled as her hands trembled. ”You tried to turn the class against him, causing others like Mordy to shun him! Still, I was willing to forgive all of this. I didn't start Nexus as some sort of convoluted cliché revenge plot.”
”Then why?” Ed interrupted.
”Because you took it even further!” She screamed in rage. ”How could you blind my poor Jake?! What did he do to deserve it?! I swore at that moment that I'd use everything within the power of Nexus to make you suffer! I'd kill your friends and comrades, impede your every step, and become the obstacle preventing your happy life. But I soon discovered that you're even more of a monster than I thought. You cared nothing for your pawns you called friends and comrades. You performed inhumane experiments that would easily get you lynched if it ever leaked out. And you weren't even bothered a little bit by any of it! You're completely insane! So, I came up with a new plan. I'd take away the thing you value more than anything else.” She grinned as she started to chuckle ominously.
”My freedom and control.” Ed replied calmly, his eyes crystal-clear from understanding. He pushed Feather off, causing her to fall to the ground. He slowly stood up as a confident smile appeared on his face. ”It all makes sense now. Man, I really have shit luck. I always seem to inadvertently piss off the crazies somehow. I'm already having flashbacks about Luny.” He chuckled as a shiver went down his spine due to the memories.
The void flicked again, cracks beginning to appear within it.
He stared into Feather's eyes while still smiling. ”Unfortunately, you made one major miscalculation in your plans. I'll escape the cage and come out stronger than before. I quite look forward to the army I can build there.”
Feather's eyes trembled as she stared in shock. ”You're insane if you think you can escape when no one else ever has!”
”Maybe.” Ed grinned. ”But insanity is only a single step from genius.” His eyes turned vertical as scales covered his body. ”And my genius has given me something no one else in the world has.”
”You! You!” Feather's voice grew hoarse as she crawled backwards. ”You definitely won't succeed!” She yelled.
”Who are you trying to convince? Me? Or yourself?” Ed replied calmly as he looked up at the white void, more cracks appearing within it. ”Looks like we're out of time.” He smiled while glancing at her. ”You best start preparing. I'll be coming for you in the future, and as I'm sure you know, I can be quite scary when I have a lot of prep time.”
Feather's face froze in fear as the void shattered. Ed reappeared within a black void. His 7-colored mana-core shone brightly within it. Numerous gold threads danced around the core, so numerous as to form a small pool. However, there were two cracks on his mana-core, crisscrossing each other.
'There's no damage to my physical mana-core.' Ed rubbed his chin as he watched. 'This must be the soul damage I took from the soul absorption process. I wonder how it can be healed?' He tried to fly closer to the mana-core but failed to do so. The longer he flew towards it, the further away it felt. Slowly, the void faded away. Ed awoke within the quadcopter, still strapped within his seat.
”We're here!” The pilot's voice yelled as the quadcopter landed on the edge of a volcano island.
The hatch opened, and Ed walked outside. The freezing wind brushed past him, stinging his face and sending his curly hair into a tangled mess. He looked around at his surroundings. The island was snowy white, appearing to be completely deserted. However, an island wasn't a very accurate description, for at the center of the island was a tall volcano. Something resembling steam continuously wafted out from within it. 'Manullium?' He wondered as he saw the very slight purple hue the steam had within it.
He turned around and looked out towards the ocean. The sun was just barely visible on the horizon, giving off an eerie twilight that sparkled across the waves. 'Am I in Alaska?' He wondered. He turned his sights away from the sun, looking out towards the darker portions of the sea. It was difficult to make out within the night, but he saw what looked like roving purple fog covering the water.
”That's the manullium.” The pilot said as she exited the quadcopter, seemingly holding no fear for the esper in front of her. She wore a blue jean jacket and dark trousers. Her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail. ”That's one of the reasons no one's ever escaped from here. Not that many have ever made it this far.” She pointed her thumb back towards the volcano. ”Come on. I'm taking you to the cage.”
”And if I refuse?” Ed questioned as his eyes turned vertical. He was having a hard time controlling his mana, but his chimera abilities still came as naturally as breathing. He grinned. 'Hell, the quadcopter is right in front of me. I'd be a fool not to take it. Recruiting espers from the cage can always wait until a later time. Who knows when the next opportunity to escape will present itself?'
”They always want to do it the hard way.” The pilot sighed while shaking her head. She slowly took off her jacket, throwing it to the ground. It sunk straight through the snow and even managed to cause the ground to tremble. Next were her boots, gloves, and pants, each of which caused the ground to shake. She now stood within the freezing tundra, wearing nothing but a sports bra and gym shorts. ”Well, I could always use a good workout.” She grinned. She used her toes to repeatedly hop against the ground and rose her fists into the air. She threw forward a couple of mock punches as she prepared to start the fight.