The Seeker | Volume 2

"That method sounds reasonable. It's safer than sending a living being." Shinso said, observing the variant conduct the ritual. 

The other Aizawa looked up as he chuckled softly. "It actually is living, Shinso. When the Oldest Creator fused with creation, his spirituality and divinity fused into everything as well. So everything from a slice of bread to a bottle of liquor is a living thing, even if it doesn't show the necessary traits to be classified as one."

He folded his hands and closed his eyes, the coin falling onto the floor. Ther second it hit the ground, all the candles in the room began to burn brighter and hotter, their flames expanding and contracting rapidly like a lung.

Suddenly, all the candles' crimson flames extended beyond the wick, gravitating towards the coin placed in the center of the room. The flames began to enter the coin, but they didn't burn its copper material.

The coin began to float in the air, spinning and turning in all directions faster and faster, then it disappeared.

All the flames in the room extinguished, sending the room into darkness once again.

…

After the Elkritcht left and ran back into the woods, Cheyenne sighed in relief. "Everything on this island is connected to the Apocalypse Routeway one way or another. The Elkritcht's are animals that harbor a few Apocalypse potion ingredients. You told me you digested your potion, didn't you?" He asked, turning to me.

I nodded. "Do you know the potion formulas?" 

Cheyenne nodded. "Only Orders 9 through 6. That's why none of us in the group are above Order 6." He explained, gesturing towards the group clad in red and black garments.

"Do you think you can help me advance?" I asked.

Cheyenne nodded. "Of course."

He reached into his pocket and took out a handful of red leaves, burning painlessly in his grip. 

"The leaves of these trees are a potion ingredient in themselves. The Elkritcht meat is another ingredient that we can gather rather easily, since they're abundant on the island."

I nodded, taking in Cheynne's information. "I suppose there's more? Usually Seeker potions have more than two ingredients in their formulas."

"Yes. The last ingredient is one you'd find often. It's your own blood, sweat and tears."

"Literally those?" I asked.

He nodded. "You don't have to cry to get your tears. I can just throw some soil on them, then you'll shed a few."

"You can get your sweat easily, you're probably doing it right now. And for your blood, I suppose you know already." Cheyenne said as he continued to talk through the plains, the group following close behind.

In the distance, the storm atop the mountain didn't have any signs of stopping or calming down, in fact, it seemed like a mini cyclone was forming above the peak.

Cheyenne's eyes flickered with worry and a little amusement looking at the scene.

"What's so funny?" I asked, confused by Cheyenne's emotions. 

He looked towards me and laughed. "It's not funny, I'm actually very worried."

"Then why did I see amusement in your expression?"

"Emotional reading is something all Seekers have in their abilities. But Masking is something else."

"Masking?" I asked.

Cheyenne nodded. "Masking is the ability one uses to conceal and manipulate their emotions. You should have gained it the minute you drank your potion, though I'm confused on why you haven't used it yet."

"Maybe I was unaware of its existence." I chuckled, walking over a fallen tree. 

"That may be true." Cheyenne said.

Suddenly a strike of crimson lightning tore across the sky, striking nearby. Cheyenne took a step back and looked into the sky. His eyes widened as he suddenly grabbed me, leaping back. Just then, another strike of lighting hit where I was just standing.

"Precognition is another ability that you have. I can sense you've used it, but your ability to dodge lightning or anything as fast as light hasn't been realized yet."

"You're saying I can surpass the speed of light? Nothing is faster than light." I exclaimed, taken aback by how Seeker abilities contradict scientific data.

"Nothing the eye can see is faster than light."

I suddenly felt a few drops of water hit my head. When I gazed up I saw that it was raining. But this rain didn't feel like rain, it felt thicker and hot to the touch. I pulled up the collar of my shirt to cover my neck and rolled down my sleeves.

"What's this rain?" I asked, covering under a nearby tree. I noticed that Cheyenne didn't react to the rain, in fact, he was standing in the rain as if it were normal water. 

"Acid. It's acid rain here. We all believe that it comes from the storm in the center of the island."

I nodded once again, taking in the information. "How long do you think it'll last?" I asked.

"Only about an hour. I can cover you if you want." Cheyenne said.

…

"I haven't been able to find him anywhere." Usagiyama said as she entered the hospital, meeting with the others towards Jake's hospital bed.

"It's not unusual for him to go off on his own, but not being able to find him for an entire day is deeply concerning. What if the Errican Gang tracked his whereabouts?" Jake asked, he didn't remember what happened last night.

"If those bastards did get him, we won't waste another minute!" Usagiyama exclaimed as she rolled up her sleeve.

After they all left the hospital, they headed downtown and went back to the initial location of the Harvest Gathering two days ago. The location had turned into a crime scene, with rope tied around four poles sitting adjacent to each other, forming a square. 

A group of police were gathered in front of the crime scene, investigating the corpse of the gang member. One of them, a broad man with a beard, pulled out what appeared to be an iron slab from his bag. On the slab were numerous engraved symbols that began to glow a dim blue color when they came into contact with the corpse. 

The pale, white fingers of the corpse began to twitch slightly. Upon this reaction, the slab began to glow brighter. 

"What's that?" Usagiyama asked. 

"A Scribe Tablet. A sealed artifact universal across all law enforcement in the north and south. Legends say they came from the Oldest Ones mind, they say it broke apart and formed into these slabs millions of years ago."

The Scribe Tablets symbols began to glow brighter as more and more of the desiccated corpse began to twitch and move, the sound of bones snapping and colliding was audible even from a few meters away.

Suddenly, the chest of the corpse began to glow with an ethereal, illusory light. With a sudden burst of energy, the tablet flew from the officer's hand and floated above the light in the corpse's chest.

The corpse was suddenly pulled upwards by what seemed to be invisible strings. The Scribe Tablet began to shake violently as strange symbols began to descend from the corpse's chest, conjoining together to form illusory spheres.

Jake, Usagiyama, Kaelin and Westly watched in fascination as the spheres grew in size. Then, a blurry and distorted voice rang in everyone's ears nearby. 

"Retrieve…Black-Ember…c-charm…" The voice seemed to be of a man with a deep and gruff voice. 

One of the illusory spheres glowed brighter. An image appeared in the sphere, it showed a man with pale white skin, black hair, black eyes, and two black horns sitting on his head wearing a gray pinstripe suit, smoking a cigarette. 

The officers watched as a name scribed in an ancient language appeared in the air, written in the same blue energy that encompassed the spears and was written on the slab.

"Valonik Vueresault…" Kaelin mumbled to himself.

"You know that name?" Usagiyama asked.

"I only know the name, but I've never met him in person. He's one of the 7 Crime Kings in the areas surrounding Dreknought Bay."

"Crime Kings?" 

Admiral Kaelin nodded.

"7 major gang leaders with prominent influence. They either get this way from illegal trade, gambling, betting on cage fights, killing competition or any way one can attain major amounts of money."

Usagiyama nodded. "But why would this bastard want the Black-Ember Charm?"

Admiral Kaelin sighed. "Torture. It's a torture device I found in a chest one time, I didn't know what exactly it did. If a Crime King wants a torture device it's probably for the purpose of eliminating competition."

Usagiyama nodded. One of the police turned around and caught sight of Usagiyama, his eyes widening. 

"That's her!" He said, drawing his handgun quickly, pointing it at her throat.

Usagiyama didn't flinch at the sight of the weapon, her lips only curled up as she suddenly kicked the officer in the stomach, sending him back with surprising strength. The other officers all drew their guns, but Usagiyama quickly leapt into the air, punching one of them across the face, sending them into the water.

She landed two more kicks on more officers, knocking the wind out of them. When all the officers in their area were either unconscious or in the water, Usagiyama approached the Scribe Tablet and picked it up, turning back towards the group.

"We can use this to determine their information. After all, it was able to extract major information from the mind of this man that not even divination would determine." She said as she tossed the stone slab to Westly.

…

Bakugo remained frozen. Izuku had totally transformed. Before him was a heap of flesh and blood, numerous warts sprouted from Izuku's form. A pair of massive black wings that seemed made of bones had sprouted from his back, and Izuku's hair had grown longer and more dense.

Izuku's hands turned into claws, his fingernails now as long as daggers. His emerald eyes had been washed over with some sort of malevolent energy. 

"I-Izuku…" Katsuki said, gripping the potion tighter in his grip. He ran over to Izuku's form and raised his head, parting his long and mangled hair. Izuku's expression looked as if he had just woken up, his eyes half lidded and his lips parted.

Katsuki pried open his lips, as he began pouring the Reversal Formula down his throat. Izuku slowly swallowed the potion, some of the illusory blue and green liquid running down his mouth, dripping onto the ground below. 

Izuku's body didn't show any signs of changing after the potion had been fully consumed. "Does this not have immediate effects? Damn it!" Katsuki thought to himself.

The green haired boy suddenly fell slack. Katsuki caught him just in time. Upon feeling his heartbeat he sighed in relief upon realizing that he was still completely fine internally. 

"You worry me too much, you damn nerd." Katsuki whispered.

Hazel entered the room. She covered her mouth with widened eyes upon seeing her fathers condition. She ran over to him and looked into his closed eyes.

"...dad…" She whispered, tapping his cheek. 

Izuku didn't respond. Katsuki looked towards the girl with a soft expression. "He needs rest."

Hazel continued to look at Izuku, her eyes filled with worry and a small amount of terror. "W-will he be ok?" She asked softly. 

Katsuki nodded slowly. "I'm sure of it."

The room was eerily silent as Katsuki continued to cradle Izuku's transformed and unconscious body. He smiled softly as he looked at his slightly parted lips. It was like holding a child.