Kismet’s Tale

      Natalya entered a store she tracked through the use of her powers. She was confident enough to track this enemy,  and the store made it possible to confirm that Wendy was traveling with them.

She had deduced that they were taking her to the airport in Finia. From what the patrons, store owners, and the travelers were saying and the directions they told her. She carried a badge that allowed her to ask the area, and because of this she had been able to access their footage. Natalya had the advantage when it comes to knowing technology, she had nightmares, but she learned from those nightmares. The latest technology also made her curious enough, she had time on her hands, and fifty-seven years was enough for her to learn many things.

Natalya wasn’t juvenile enough to spend her time in wind or debauchery. Not that she had that in mind when she was busy enough for a lifetime managing Lazon, and making sure that the last of the Tomas Family still lives on. Though Wendy wasn’t part of the Tomas family nor she was one. She still was part of the family that she knew throughout the years. Maria Otto’s granddaughter, and a person that she had vowed to protect while she was the head of the company. Her family’s side had parted peacefully, and although she had connections to her older family, they did not have the bond that made her keep on living.

Purpose was the one thing that kept her going. It was through purpose that she could rescue her heart. To others, it was nothing more than a life. But to Natalya, it was a lifetime, another chance beyond the years that she was unable to see through those nightmares.

Although the first years were terrible and heartbreaking to Natalya. She persisted on, and even had done things she was not proud to do so. Even then, it was all for the sake of the family she wanted to be warmed. Duty and family was something she had upheld and throughout the years she started to accept her role. Of course, she hadn’t let go of her true name, other than make it so that she still existed. Of course, she wasn’t going to reveal that she was ageless because of the sparks. And even without the sparks, she would be able to retain her age after the sparks mutated her body to even match a matured Hound.

Being an ageless woman would undoubtedly take the attention of many, so she had assumed an identity that would at least last her for the century. Bellatrix, the name that she was called in the war, and De Ziba, the name of the rifle which she was fond of. Though it was stored safely in fear that it might break down. She didn’t want to destroy what she had carried.

Her name was her shield against those who held interest, but it doesn’t mean anything when she faces those who truly know her identity. The sparks had returned to the hands of man, and she had enough time to make sure that there was a pact that separated those who know of it and those who don’t. She pitied those who had been assigned to sort out of this, and although there are individuals that knows the magi and civilians aren’t as dumb about it. The sparks were only known to a few and people of the known continents believed it was nothing more than advanced technology. In a way, it was advanced technology, knowledge that they had no idea about.

They knew that the magiborne was made from the magi, but most of it were done through the bastardization of Ike and Martina’s work which Dr. Rene and Kristine had recreated without the proper formulas that made the Hounds strong. Of course, most of the Hounds are gone after fifty-seven years of conflict, and many have retired to spend the rest of their days in peace, though unable to travel in fear because of the government's interest of supersoldiers and genes that could slow down aging and cure diseases.

Most of the Hounds had been told that without the proper procedure, extracting their genes would only disrupt it, and without the tools, it would evaporate like water being under the sun for hours. Nonetheless, this design was because the master of the hounds didn’t want them to be harvested, and though there have been tests and repetition, they only made the magiborne, the unstable, drug-dependent supersoldiers. Natalya had most of the veterans of the Hounds after the war ended. And although their ranks made it impossible for them to take a field duty, some who prefer to be in the front are one of the deadliest people that she knew.

Nonetheless, why she was thinking this was because she was sure that none of the Hounds had betrayed her, and even the ones who had split from them weren’t responsible for this and they simply did not have the ability to evade footage.

In the footage that she reviewed, most of the footage of the person she was chasing was blurred, as if there was some force around him that made it impossible to capture his presence. It reminded her of one of Nuller's Sect cloaking techniques, however, this one was natural, and she didn’t see any of the sparks. It was different from the sparks, and it made her question even more who this third-party was.

Although the ‘vision’ she got from the Hill in Lazon had many things to say. Most of them were possible visions, and none of them happened at this time. Perhaps, if she had followed them, she would have become an Imperator, Ruler of the Magnar-Azia Continent. But she had no use for it when she saw what the possibility of it was.

Not to mention that if those ‘visions’ had any truth to it. Then her husband wouldn’t have been able to somehow defeat the Exiled One who descended earlier. Though she does admit that she had used those visions to further the progress of Lazon, and manipulate individuals into becoming her allies and pawns. The world had changed too much that she could barely recognize it sometimes.

Even the visions she saw did not allow her to see this era she was living in. Nonetheless, it’s why she was not so surprised about the ability of this one. There was an operator who was waiting for her to get out. She had obliged the operator, and walked out of the store. She spread her sparks once more, and decided to track Wendy again.

Although Wendy’s spark of life had been lessened, she did not panic and just thought that her opponent had been able to understand her intentions. Though she was quite impressed that her opponent was able to bounce her sparks, and redirected her. She was able to catch on them because of how the black iron works, and through the black iron nullifying her sparks that she would have a general idea where they had come. Of course, though she could track where the black iron was nullifying her sparks. She still had to moderate her use of sparks. She might not be able to fly faster than flier, but she could at least arrive at a location by semi-flying, and using the sparks to glide through the air instead of using it continuously to hover herself.

She found a place where she could hover, and launch herself above, just a few meters away from the clouds before she started gliding, letting the wind carry her. It was not as fast as true flight or stepping on the very air itself. But it does help in conserving the sparks while she travels long distances.

Spreading her limbs in the air, she gathered the sparks on her mark, and made the sparks bloom on the back of her hand before spreading it like a sonar would, detecting any traces that might lead to where the black iron was. She followed the tracks left behind by the black iron, and although the black iron nullifies the sparks around an area, it only lasts for hours before it is filled with the sparks again. She was able to find the places where the sparks were nullified because of how long the user of the black iron had stayed in that place.

After a while, Natalya landed on the last place where the black iron was. She scanned the area, before spotting a letter that was placed inside of a tree. The clean cut of the blade preserved the newly penned letter.

Natalya took the letter, and spread her sparks on it, only to realize that there was an unknown power that was blocking it. It was not a sparks spell, blood, or a nuller ability. It was something else. She frowned at this, plucked the letter from the envelope and read the contents.

      To Guardian,

  We believe that you are after Miss Wendy. From the speed that you are chasing after us, I must say that it would take about half a day to find this letter. Enough for you to spread your sparks and for me to receive it. I understand that you are protective of Miss Wendy. I shall answer that we are not your enemies. We are merely...individuals that care for the safety of a person who might cause a commotion if she were to die in Holmian borders.

  If I am right then you are chasing us after through how much the black iron nullifies the sparks around an area. I had realized this, and I shall not make the same mistake. Nonetheless, if you are not our enemy, and if you are concerned about Miss Wendy’s safety, then you shall meet us in the City of Flost. Spread your sparks, notify us that you are someone we can trust. We were originally going to escort her only in the airport, but our rats and birds have informed us that there are anti war sympathizers in the airport of Finia, waiting to get out. And thus, instead, we shall be using the continental train to travel to the city of Flost, and deliver her there. Of course, if you are her guardian, and are her ally, and you do not wish her harm, then you would let us know. If I do not feel your sparks within half a day, then I shall proceed to escort her back to the place where she would have the ability to return home, and has enough power that is not even the most desperate fools would take. Forgive me if I cannot possibly hand her over in the borders of Holmia with their situation.  How she had gotten through this situation, and how she had been harmed because of this, I shall not ask. Nonetheless, I hope for your understanding. I  pray to Jove that you are not an enemy, and if you are, I shall slay you as I did Elric, Minerva, and Arminus. But if you are concerned about her, then let us not misunderstand, and threaten another one’s life.

The letter was signed by Wendy. She recognized her signature clearly. Natalya looked at the letter for a second, before she gathered the sparks she could gather around this area and produce a pulse that could only be noticed by anyone who is sensitive to the sparks.

After a while, she realized that she couldn’t find any trace of the black iron any longer, and set aside the letter in her pocket. Taking out her communicator, she called Velea immediately.

“Big Sis?”

“I’ll be heading to Flost. Also, tell Colonel Vito that there are rebels in Finia’s airport.”

“What about Wendy, Sis?”

“She should be safe. The ones who are escorting her were kind enough to make me understand that they only want her safety through a letter.”

“A letter? Is that acceptable?”

“It is. And that I have no means to follow their traces now. Still, Flost City, that should be a long train ride for them. Get me a ride, I shall be heading back to Flost, please.”

“Should I send our forces to intercept?”

“No need. If they are kind enough to do this then I shall go in. But if they break their promises, I’ll rip apart the one who penned the letter to pieces.”

“I understand. Nonetheless, I shall have our birds watch for any signs of Wendy. Will that suffice?”

“Yes, it will.”

She turned the communicator off. She looked at the letter again. “Rats and birds...I haven’t read that in a long time.”

Pocketing the letter, she took a step and launched herself up in the air.