The Hero Is Unchained, But Not Free

By: Fox Under Fire

Chapter 6

I hadn’t even seen the man enter into the coffee bar, hadn’t heard the creaking of the door. He simply appeared, standing in front of the entryway as if he had just walked in to grab a cup of coffee. He was tall, broad, a mountain of a man wearing the same hooded coat as the shadow assailant and the mostly visible Uni. He withdrew the hood to reveal a sharp amber gaze that matched the hue of his single earring and leather gloves. His hair was cropped short, and the left side of his dark face was marred by a scar that reminded me of the one I had received after accidentally tussling with a man-of-war at the beach one vacation.

“Wars.” Satsuya sighed, some of the tension leaving his posture, though he remained on guard. The irony of the new Uni’s title (or power or whatever) wasn’t lost on me, considering what I’d just been thinking. “It’s been a long time. You must be pretty desperate if you came yourself. Not to be rude, but I was hoping I’d never have to see you again.”

The mountain of a Uni smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m not offended, Searcher, though I’m still confused. After all you’ve been through, I can’t accept that you’d just abandon us for them.” His amber gaze speared my way, and I was suddenly glad he didn’t have some fire ability, or I would have been set ablaze.

There was resentment in those eyes, hatred, as if I had done something to personally harm this Uni I had never met. Still, as I looked at him, I gained the impression that he seemed somewhat familiar, though I couldn’t place him. Maybe I had met him at some point before, and simply didn’t realize? But even if I had, I was sure I had never done anything to warrant this kind of anger.

“Wars.” Satsuya’s voice was filled with command, and the mountainous Uni looked back at him, forgetting me for the moment. “You don’t have to understand. It was my decision, and I made it. If you thought anything of me at all, you would respect it.”

The mountainous Uni scowled as he crossed his arms, muscles straining against the fabric of his sleeves. “I did respect it, Searcher—as much as I was able. We let you be for years. We sent Uni to remind you every so often, to give you a chance to rejoin us and forsake what’s been weighing you down. We were patient. But we can’t afford to be patient any longer.” His head tilted back, and he looked down his nose at Satsuya, lips pulled taut as he sneered, “It’s time for us to fight. The One’s brave new world must finally come to an end.”

His shot through me like a spear, catching in my throat so I had difficulty swallowing them.

He was insane—they were all insane, everyone in this ‘Conscious’ that Satsuya kept referencing. They wanted to take on The One, the ruler of the world, the establisher of the World Law? But why?

The One had brought peace out of the chaos that was the Greatest War. The One had changed everything, so that we all had a chance to coexist naturally—Uni and Typpe.

Sure, nothing was perfect—this town was proof of it, with its rundown streets—but we no longer had mass battles like we had had before, where entire sectors were almost wiped off the map simply because someone had made the decision to push a button. We no longer lived in a world where every sector (called ‘countries’ then) was different, fighting with other sectors (I mean, ‘countries’) over which was better or more deserving. Now, we all spoke the same language and ate the same foods and dressed the same way. Why would anyone want to change that?

According to my late grandmother, our current world culture was a mixture of the cultures from the world that had existed before. The most popular and beloved aspects of those cultures had been preserved and assimilated. But if we all had some of everything, wasn’t that good? Now no one could fight over whose history was better—because we had none.

Would I like to know more about the world my grandmother was born into, before everything changed in her youth? Sure. But curiosity is a small price to pay for the calm The One’s given us.

My grandmother would never speak of the Greatest War, but whenever I had the courage to mention it, an indescribable expression would come over her face. She would wilt, like a flower left out too long in the sun, dying slowly as the heat sapped it. Surely it was better to forget, to build something new, than to keep lamenting over the tragedies of the past.

Yet these Uni—this ‘Conscious’—wanted to erase all of that, including The One.

“It’s not so simple, Wars,” said Satsuya, practically reading my mind. He stood facing the mountainous Uni who had entered the coffee bar without a sound. Satsuya’s grip on the bar tightened, tension winding in his thin frame as Yuuki kept a firm hold on my arm to keep me from doing anything stupid. “No one even knows who The One is. How do you plan on finding them? Once the government knows you’re on their trail, they’ll start murdering your comrades. It happens every time a Uni acts out.” A dark cloud passed over his features as he all but whispered, “I’ve seen it too many times...”

Wait—murder?

Dizziness rushed in as my mind spun, and I fought to hold onto the thread of the world around me—the normality of what I had always known.

No, that can’t be right. They don’t kill Uni, they strip away their powers. They let them loose. Sure, plenty give into despair out in the wild, but surely some survive.

At least they’re given a chance.

But they weren’t murdered. No one was murdered, not even the people who committed crimes.

Everyone knew that.

So why were these Uni—why was Satsuya—acting as if things were different?

Why were they lying...or who had lied to them?

Yuuki’s hand squeezed my arm, and I shot the young girl a grateful glance as I fought to keep my cool. A cold sweat had broken out at the back of my neck, and as I turned my attention back to the tension-filled room, I felt as if I was slowly bleeding out, losing all feeling.

Something about this conversation—about this whole ordeal—wasn’t right. Never had I wanted to go home so badly. Heck, even my crummy new apartment sounded good right now. Anything to get me away from these Uni and the terrifying world they were talking about.

The mountainous Uni dubbed Wars beckoned his comrades, who rushed to flank him with eerie efficiency. His lips stretching into a too-wide smile that made my stomach churn. The striking familiarity I felt when looking at him was still there, but I sincerely hoped we had never met before, and that we would never meet again (though that was probably too much to ask for at this point).

Smiling that eerie smile, he said something that made my blood run cold, “You’ve got it wrong, Searcher.” He told Satsuya. “We aren’t going to find The One—you are.”

Wars leveled Satsuya with his amber gaze and reached out, pointing a gloved finger directly at the sunglass-clad man’s chest. “You’re the only one in this world who can destroy that monster that calls themselves The One, and you know it. So you’re going to find them, and kill them, and end this nightmare. And if you don’t,” his features twisted into pure rage, the force of it so strong I felt strangled, “then we will destroy everything you’ve come to cherish—people, places, memories, even the breaths you breathe. Our justice will be poured out on you until it drives you insane. There will be no way out.”

Tears leaked from the edges of my eyes as my body shook, and the tension that had built within Satsuya died all at once. Drawn to the shift, I looked at him, and saw a vision of my grandmother; he looked just like her then, wilted from the talk of war and death.

Now, he leaned on the bar for support. “And what happens after I kill The One?” He asked, eyes barely visible over the top of his glasses, all of their glow now vanished.

The mountainous Uni turned on his heel towards the door, throwing a chuckle over his shoulder. “I think you know the answer to that,” he said, stuffing his gloved hands into the pockets of his coat. “Oh, and just to make myself clear, your sister and girlfriend over there will be the first to go should we even suspect you will try to run. I’d keep a close eye on them, if I were you.”

Girlfriend?

Wait—me?

A squeak caught in my throat at his words, but forced my voice past it to stammer, “B-But I’m—I’m not—”

Yuuki’s hand flashed from my arm to my mouth, effectively shutting me up. I tried to push her away, but she wouldn’t have it.

No one seemed to hear my protestations, save maybe Satsuya. The now fully visible man and the shadow Uni exited the coffee bar as if they were regular customers, but the mountainous Uni halted at the door.

Wars turned to look at Satsuya one last time, and where his expression had been vicious and almost sadistic before, now there was a somber sadness. “I’m sorry, Searcher,” he said, sincerity in his words. “Truly.” He lingered for but a moment before he added, “You have five days to decide and make your way to headquarters.”

He allowed the door to fall shut behind him, and he and his lackeys walked down the street, vanishing.

With the Uni gone, the coffee bar fell silent, nary a sound to be heard save the erratic rhythm of three people breathing (one a little heavily, I might add—guess who). The light outside the window shifted as the shops across the way welcomed customers, the day progressing without us. Out there, it was as if nothing had happened.

But in here, a massive change had taken place.

I reached up, and Yuuki’s hand fell away from my mouth, giving me room to speak.The villains who had attacked us were gone, leaving chilling orders in their wake, but the only thing I could manage to say was, “Wh-Why did you allow them to think I was your girlfriend?” I sounded half hysterical, and that was probably because I was.

Hysterical because I had just narrowly survived an encounter with three evil Uni who had insane ideas about our world. Hysterical because now they thought I was someone special to Satsuya, whose decision would literally kill me if he chose not to murder The One.

Yuuki scoffed, crossing her arms as she glared. “That’s what you’re worried about? Their misconception is the only thing keeping you alive, you idiot.” Boy, she sure was mouthy for a little kid.

“But—but we’re not dating.” I felt stupid even saying it, but it was the most normal thing about this whole situation, so it was the only thing I could bring myself to talk about at the moment.

Yuuki’s glare only intensified. “Obviously you’re not dating. As if my big brother would ever pick someone like you! But if you want to live, you’ll just have to pretend. Those Uni hate Typpe—especially Typpe who have seen their powers. If they didn’t think you were connected to my brother, they would have already torn you apart. Although, if you’d like to correct them, I certainly won’t stop you.”

Satsuya’s hand shot out to wrestle Yuuki’s face, a playful gesture that felt oddly out of place in that moment. “Stop it, Yuuki,” he said, voice quiet, still looking at the door the Uni had exited through, as if he could see their ghosts.

Yuuki tried to slap his hand away and failed. “But she’s annoying! Why is she even here?”

“Yuuki.” Satsuya’s older sibling tone said there was no arguing, so the young girl stopped. Satsuya removed his hand to playfully ruffle the top of her hair, and Yuuki’s lower lip pouted, though she seemed to enjoy it.

Watching the siblings, I was strikingly aware that I was intruding on what should have been a private family moment—and not just that, but a family problem. Biting at my nail, I searched for what I should do next before I wobbled to my feet.

“Okay, well, that was—well.” My tongue tripped over the words I didn’t have as Satsuya finally looked away from the door and Yuuki glared yet again. The elder sibling’s glasses had fallen down his nose, and I caught a hint of concern in his blue orbs. “I guess I should be...um.” I bit at my nail again and looked at the floor. “Honestly, I’m not really sure what do ever again.”

So much had happened since I’d stepped into this town—into my apartment, into this coffee bar. My head hurt from the whirlwind of chaos, and my heart hurt from the lies. All I really wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry, or hide inside my new place and never come out. But I knew that if I wanted to survive, like Yuuki said, I would have to play along with...whatever this was.

“Ivy—” Satsuya began, but before he could finish whatever he was going to say the front door opened, and a voice called out, “I’m back!” I tensed, fearing it may be another Uni, but the voice was friendly—the kind of friendly that didn’t mean ‘I’d like to kill you, so give me some fun’.

A short, tan man stood by the front door, two large grocery bags in his arms. He appeared to be perhaps in his fifties, wearing a white fedora, a black tattoo poking out from the collar of his polo shirt.

He took one look at us, and said sheepishly, “I guess I should have bought more desserts, no?”