Chapter 480: Kindness

'I received a signal of distress from Éclair 30 minutes ago. The last images of the Goldberg mansion and their butler are clear to me, the lady has made her move. They want to exterminate those closest to Leonard. Talk about a bad turn of events.'

"Éclair, how far are we from them?"

"At the current speed, we should be there in another thirty minutes or so. I highly doubt them to be alive at this point."

"The killers, have you discovered their identities?"

"Yes, partly, I'm speculating their ranks to be Silver. You have no chance of winning against them – maybe one on one, that's still a far-stretch. You've trained but are weak to the wall of experience. I'd refrain from fighting."

"Thanks for the head's up, I'll see what I can do," switching gears to the last, the rebound nearly threw him off-balance. Over yonder as time passed, Juei's situation became nothing but void. Éclair tried hard to locate to no avail. The last 'ping' of Leonard's phone was half-way across the district. 

The suburban border of Juei held many scattered 'under-construction' buildings. The ruin-like appearance felt creepy to the sight, cloud hid and covered the moon-lit sky. The Pitch-darkness of the unlit area made it perfect for hiding. 

"Are you guys ok?" whispered Lampard laid atop the open roof of a two-story house.

"Yeah," coughed Rena, "-the dust from the concrete is asphyxiating." 

"Bear with it for now," mumbled Leonard peering down the staircase. He conjured a few detection barriers around the perimeter. 'I can't believe we've escaped them for more than two hours,' thought he with mana exhaustion. The earlier escape happened by pure luck, a heavy truck carrying rock-sand drove past. Earth Magic was used to conjure Earth-darts that flung and struck the assailants. The impact paralyzed the body momentarily giving time to escape. Time at the Magical Academy proved useful. 

"This a good idea?" wondered Rena clinging to a scared Jen.

"Who can say," sighed Lampard, "-we're on the run. I doubt they'll find us here – let's rest, Leonard, you deserve the respace after such a battle. I just wish we had our weapons."

"I appreciate it," he laid atop the rough roof – the unpleasant stinging felt nothing more than bug bites. Such trivialities were blocked by the mind, the body screamed for comfort yet the mind remained steadfast on resting. Around the hideout sprawled a block of unfinished buildings. The streets were also not ready, all and all, this part of town was blacked out from the rest. A black dot onto the "-picture-perfect holiday spot" a quote from one of the local newspapers. Shuffling of rocks below gave rise to caution. It made it unable to rest, Lampard constantly lifted himself strenuously to check the oddity. Say it so happened one was forced to stare death in the face, you know turning the corner, and it's guaranteed death. The pressure alone would have much faltered, the few who peeked the corner can never do so again – tis the situation Lampard experienced. The assassins might have guns, peering over would end his life. Constantly gathering courage, the visible worn expression came as the price for the other's safety. More often than not, the noises were rats darting from cats. 

"Lampard," whispered Rena, "-are you ok?"

"Why are you here?" returned he frowning, "-aren't you with Jen?"

"No," with a stomach to the floor, she rolled her arms and pointed, "-she's sleeping beside Leonard."

"I guess that's fine," he followed her arms, "-what about you?"

"I-I'm fine," their eyes met, "-just tired from running. You think we'll make it?"

"I don't know," he rolled over, "-Rena, I'm sorry you had to go through all of this. It's hard to deal with someone as indecisive as me."

"What do you mean?" her ears flamed.

"I know you've been in love," said he patting her head, "-I know it, I've known it for a long time now. I just can't see you be tormented anymore, Rena, I've always looked at you like family."

"And you've always ignored me," she turned her head, "-Lampard," a parting of the clouds had the darkened face illuminated, "-can't you see I've grown into a woman. I'm not the little tom-boy as I was before…" tears glistened over her eyes and made no effort in falling. Just then, reality hit. Her matured body, the long lashes, the thick and well-maintained brows.

'Rena's a lady. I've seen her as the child as she was back then. How could I have been so stupid.' 

"You've never even tried to look at me."

"Slow," he patted her head, "-Rena, I figured I'd face the truth. I've never had any feelings even if you're much prettier than before. I honestly want to become strong; I can't forget our past, there are things we need to do, and that, Rena, I'm afraid can't be changed," another passing cloud covered the moon once more. 'Why did I do that… I'm so stupid, why did I have to bring up the subject at this hour. I want to crawl and hide. Rena's tears, how long has it been?'

"Even so," said she, "-even if you don't look at me, I'll still try. Lampard, it's as you said, I've liked you for so long…" the words came at irregular intervals,"-I know you don't," she couldn't think, the mind spaced out to the point of forgetting one's vocabulary, "-I'll try. I don't care, I swore to be by your side."

"I'm thankful," said he, "-I won't promise anything."

"Didn't expect you to," a little laugh lowered the tension. Time went from 23:00 to 02:00, they hid, Leonard and Jen took as overwatch. 

'Where are they, I've been looking around without a purpose. How long has it been,' the lenses displayed everything save the information to their location. "Éclair, any leads?"

"Currently scanning the private cameras, give me a moment." The bike moved at a snail's pace, going on foot wasn't such a great idea. The assassins could strike, especially if nobility was involved, he was part of their group as far as concerned. 

*BANG, BANG,* two vaguely quiet shots came from behind, "-Is that them?"

"MOVE IT, IGNA, THAT'S THEM!" screamed Éclair, the interface showed masked men running after students. 

'SHIT!' the tires skid to a 180 and bolted forth, the acceleration forced a wheelie. 'Hold on guys, I'm coming,' the heart raced.

"Run, run," screamed Leonard, "-I'll conjure barriers. Go on," the bullets fired to end into the feeble looking barriers. 

"What about you?" halted Jen.

"They can't kill me, remember, GO, LAMPARD, TAKE 'EM." To which he reached to grab their waist and run, the barrier broke from the bottom, Jen's face froze – a bullet hit his legs. 

"LEONARD," she squirmed, "LET ME GO!" 

"No chance in hell," said he tightening his grip, "-we're leaving if that's the last thing I do."

"WE CAN'T KEEP THIS UP," panted Rena, "-LAMPARD, GO SAVE LEONARD, I don't think those are the assassins."

"What do you mean?" the terror was bordering the realm of nightmares. The mask figures had kicked Leonard to the ground and aimed a gun at his head.

"GO," screamed he, "-GO AND DON'T LOOK BACK!" 

"FUCKING DAMN IT!" as much as the gut said to help, as much as he gritted, as much as the fist clenched, a sacrifice had to be honored, and so, with tears of ire blurring the somber streets, Lampard ran. Jen didn't take it well, her nails dug into Lampard's arm and left blood. Rena followed with utter shame, so much for being fighters, so much for training so long. In the end, without weapons, they could but run away. 

'Please make it in time,' the roaring of the bike came so fast that all they saw was a blink and two of the four ended onto the building across, an explosion rattled the street. The remainder ate the pavement with cracked skulls and a dagger in another's throat. He jumped at full speed and use the men as a cushion. A deadly gamble that paid off, '-fuck sakes, I've broken my arms and a few ribs, it shows a hemorrhage, my lung's punctured. I can't breathe…' 

"Igna, is that you?" Leonard's expression said it all, "-why are you here?" the boy rested between two bloodied corpses.

"You sure you can talk with that broken mouth?" he laughed unable to move, the internal bleeding intensified. 

"Are you crazy?" he crawled over; "-I didn't see what happen…"

"Have you heard of bowling?" asked he out of the blue.

"Yeah?"

"It's like that but with living humans," the face turned pale, "-Leonard, I'm sorry I arrived late," the crunchy sound of shoes against the gravel path amplified.

"Leonard, are you ok?" cried Jen.

"Leonard, what happened?" said Rena tending to his wounds.

"Guys," added Lampard, "-that's Igna, right?" 

"He saved me," added Leonard wallowing in pain, "-he died."

"Fuck off," said Lampard checking for a pulse, "-you can't be serious…" the heat vanished, the body grew heavy and the pupils lost their vigor.

"We need to move, now," argued Jen, "-sorry Igna, we must run, the assassins should be after us," her mind didn't care for him, she wanted to protect Leonard. The selfishness, the greed of humankind, no amount of kindness could overturn the latent desire to have what one wanted. Rena collected the stray weapons. Leonard was holstered on Lampard's back and ran off into the distance without care. The explosion birthed a raging inferno, the crackling of wood soon spread to the neighboring houses. 

"Igna's been killed," displayed the lenses, "-estimated revival time: 60:00 minutes. Toggling Operation Swan." Somewhere in Hidros, a missile silo deployed automatically. A projectile shot for the sky's giving the impression of a meteor. "Éclair's duty is automated and separate, the task given is to ensure the safety of Phantom and the owner, Igna Haggard." A few minutes later, a capsule landed a millimeter from the lifeless body. Articulated arms controlled by the spirit injected blood, potions, mana, as well as drop a strongbox. "Estimated Revival Time - 02:00 minutes." 

Over yonder ran the Group, "-I would have been the sacrifice a few minutes earlier. Why didn't we take his body, why, Lampard, WHY MAN."

"SHUT UP LEONARD. I'm tired of having to run away while my friends die. Igna rescued you without a care for his life, I'm not going to let another sacrifice themselves anymore. It's done." 

"I understand, but why," he turned to Jen, "-why didn't we take him with us…" 

"It's our fault he got into this mess; I don't want to think about it anymore. What is done is done, he sacrificed himself to save us, I'm grateful, tis about it."

"How cold can you get," wondered Rena, "-I admit I'm not that good a person. What you did there was beyond shameful. You stole money from him and disrespected his body, how can you do that to a friend?"

"Shut up," bloodshot eyes glared, "-I don't want to hear about it." 

"Is this really how humane we are? cried Leonard, "-it's the second time we treated him like shit. I can't… I'm done, I wish I had died there."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP," *smack,* "-Don't be selfish," cried Jen, "-this is our fault. Move forward, I don't care, hate me, I'm going to save us. No way am I going to stay here and let you die for my sake, you HEAR?" 

"Revival complete," *cough,* '-my head,' the scorching heat felt pleasant. '-Where am I?' memories of the crash returned.

"Éclair, I'm alive, right?"

"Welcome back," said he, "-I'm ashamed to say the noble sacrifice amounted to nothing. The companions stole your money, luckily, the smart-phone is untouched. What is the plan now?" images of them scuffling across the empty roads came in waves.

"Going to help them of course. I'd have done the same, and have done so previously. I thought my regeneration took longer than an hour, it's been 10 minutes."

"Don't worry about the details. The strongbox contains a sword and a gun. Please take them for self-defense. As for the bike, there's another on the way. I'd guess in 20 minutes or so." 

"Mother's going to be mad."

"That she is," affirmed Éclair, "-the bike you broke cost around 50,000 Exa."

"EXPENSIVE!"