Chapter 100 - Another World Burn : Part 5

"Lady Rune, please step back. They are dangerous." The lieutenant chimed in, glaring at the mercenary who was giving him a playful look back.

"You should listen to police boy, president clown." Kiaran did not divert his gaze away from Valerian as he spoke.

"I said, give my father back!" Rune quickly aimed her gun at Kiaran's head as her finger traced down the trigger. Adreanna quickly stepped in, pointing the revolver in her hand to the red hair.

"I'm afraid I don't have your dear father, president clown." Kiaran smiled from behind his mask and tilted his head ominously. "But maybe a certain scientist did. You should wait a little longer for the next scene to begin, you see."

"Speaking of the next scene," Kiaran paused and looked back to the lieutenant. "You might want to dodge back, police boy!" He shouted and waved his hand to give a sign for him to step back a little.

Valerian furrowed his eyebrows. The blond gripped the gun in his hand tight, concerning the mercenary's words over him. Something was crawling in his skin, telling him that a bad thing would happen soon.

Then he realized it was too late to notice the people around him. He gasped as he widened his eyes, jumping back at the last second when a big explosion occurred in front of him.

The explosion's impact sent some people away, but the blond managed to hold on. The ground trembled, crumbling as it made a big gap between him and the mercenary.

"No!" Rune shouted as she turned around, looking at the people behind her with terror in her hazel eyes. Her gaze fell into the gap between them and some corpses that had fallen inside the ground.

Rune gagged and staggered back, almost losing her stance. Then she gritted her teeth and spun around. The red hair pulled the trigger without a slight hesitation as the bullet went flying to Kiaran.

The mercenary raised his eyebrows, annoyed by her. He easily darted around her bullets when the girl kept trying to shoot him.

"You're quite annoying." He clicked his tongue and coldly stared at the girl.

Then something clicked inside the secondborn Vergessene's mind. His ocean eyes quickly filled with glee as he side-eyed the nervous boy that had not moved at all—probably falling into another pit of panic attacks.

This would be fun. This was going as planned, and it got even better that the president clown was here.

Kiaran let out an unhinged grin behind his mask while staring at his sister. "Adreanna, kill her."

"What?" Adreanna and Axel spoke at the same time. The two seemed to have the same doubt over Kiaran's words.

Kiaran raised one of his eyebrows at Adreanna's hesitance. Things were way more fun than he thought before.

"Don't forget the payment, Adreanna." He reminded, smirking for the fact that he had the upper hand of all the situations.

Her emotionless eyes seemed to go wide for a moment before turning into the usual cold gaze. She quickly aimed the gun at Rune with murderous intent. The latter aimed her weapon back at the assassin, still trying to be confident despite how she knew she would lose easily in this fight.

Then in a heartbeat, Axel stood in front of Rune, stretching his right hand as he shielded the girl protectively. "No." He spat, glaring at Adreanna with hidden guilt behind his eyes.

Rune looked at Axel with mixed emotions. The girl stared holes at the back of his head, and she quietly clenched her fists.

Adreanna did not waver at his action at all. "Axel, step away."

Axel bit his lip, almost gnawing it. "You promise-"

"No. Killing her was not part of the promise." Adreanna cut the words through, still obediently holding the gun.

"You said it's only the governments. You didn't even need to kill her. Why are you listening to him?!" Axel yelled.

Everything always turned out this way anyway. With Kiaran controlling the situation and Axel becoming the pawn of his play, the marionette on his brother's strings.

Everything in this place was in the palm of Kiaran's hand.

"She is part of a government. She abandoned you." Adreanna tried to justify her action. It was selfish, really.

But then again, Axel might be selfish too right now.

"You keep caring about her even though she hurt you." Adreanna continued, still trying to make Axel step away with words.

Because if this keeps continuing, then it would just repeat all over again. Axel and her would fight, and she would hurt him again. But that day, she was selfish. Today, she did not have a choice.

"You won't know why because you never had a friend, Adreanna." Axel growled angrily. A person like her would never understand his situation. It was foolish of him to hope that maybe, maybe they would be together forever.

"I had a friend," Adreanna muttered. But her words didn't get through Axel's ears for how soft they were spoken.

Though Kiaran caught it easily as he let an insane grin tug on his lips.

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"I'm Maera." The serial killer's long bob rebounded on her shoulders as she leaned over Adreanna.

"You can call me Mae." She grinned, causing her round glasses to drop down her little nose a little.

"What's your name?" She offered her hand to the assassin that quickly got ignored by the latter.

"Oh? not much of a talker, huh?" She deliberately retreated her hand. Maera put her finger on her chin before clasping her hands.

"Alright then, I'm going to call you ugly assassin." She smiled brightly before jumping off to another building. She waved to Adreanna on her way out and saluted the assassin.

"Nice to meet you, new friend! I hope to you see you soon."

Adreanna tilted her head quizzically. "Friend?" She whispered quietly.

✵✵✵✵✵✵

"If you are just going to betray me, then so be it." Adreanna pulled the trigger, and Axel quickly dragged Rune down.

"Betray you?" He asked with disbelief. "I'm the one who betrayed you?"

"You are siding with the enemy, Axel." Adreanna tried to aim at Rune again, but Axel was quicker. He managed to touch the gun in her hand and made it disappear.

Kiaran who was watching the scene did not even try to hide his amusement and pleasure. He just stood there, looking at the two in silence.

"Hah." Axel sneered, and his eyes finally became hard.

So it was his fault now. She needed something to blame, and it was easier to throw it to him, right? Everyone always did that to him. He would always take the blame.

"Rune, run to the lieutenant. He will protect you!" Axel quickly commanded, making the red hair hesitate for a second before running away. She still looked back one or two times to the boy with worry and guilt.

"The target is running, Adreanna. The clock is ticking." Kiaran hummed, enjoying the fight between his brother and sister way too much.

Adreanna finally stopped aiming at the girl and decided to handle her youngest brother first. She brought out another gun and rained bullets on Axel.

The boy quickly disappeared from her eyesight as bullets fell into the ground. He reappeared again with anguished and teary eyes. "I can't live like this, Adreanna! I don't want to fight!"

The bitter feeling in her chest had become heavier. The boy would throw her away to the point of facing her just to protect a person that already abandoned him. She accepted him, yet he would turn his back on her in a wink just for his ex-best friend?

She knew that he was abandoned by his best friend when he met him that day. Because when she tried to search for him after falling into a coma, Axel was staying in his best friend's house.

So she accepted him and gave him a home. But he would defend his best friend just like that? To the point that he was willing to fight her?

Her chest had become even heavier, and she did not like this unexplainable feeling at all.

So, in the end, there was no one in their family that could get along, it seemed.

Adreanna's usual softened eyes that she would put up for Axel quickly turned icy, piercing into Axel's surprised face.

"Then just die." She uttered without thinking.

Axel felt like his breath was taken away by her words at the moment. "What?"

The boy's eyes had become blurry as his hands trembled, shaking violently. "You promise-"

"The cage that you spoke about, I'll accompany you in it." Her words repeated in his head.

Turned out, he was just repeating the same circumstances. The same irony. The same white lies.

"I won't ever let him lay a finger on you."

And yet she was the one who laid a finger on him because Kiaran told her to.

"I'll protect you, I promise."

So why did she try to take him down? Why did she lie?

That blindfolded man was right. He was getting manipulated again.

"You promised!" Axel screamed and his body started to flicker. He yelled while charging to his sister. He did not even try to hold back the angry tears in his eyes.

But then he gasped when Adreanna easily grabbed his neck. She stared at him with a dull look. "Another lesson, Axel. Don't let emotions get in the way."

Axel did not even realize the crumbling ground behind him when Adreanna suddenly pushed him down, not letting the boy process what was happening. She watched him fall slowly to the hole before finally leaving him behind.

As the boy fell, there were too many questions in his mind. A million thoughts came to him. His hair harshly fought with the wind as his eyepatch slowly went loose, revealing his red eye.

Ah, so Adreanna manipulated and betrayed him too.

He betrayed her first so maybe it's alright.

He had expected to be left alone. He had already experienced this before anyway with Rune and Kiaran. It was not his first rodeo. He did not put too much hope into their relationship.

So it did not feel that hurt.

Why the hell did he cry though.

Pathetic.

"Ah, I really-" Axel smiled bitterly when his body had come closer to the ground, looking at the sky with defeat.

-really don't have anyone, in the end."

His body disappeared right before he hit the ground and reappeared to pathetically mock the boy that he was alone in the hole.