Bye Arsène

Chapter 4

I whispered to Artelo to give me the keys but he didn't understand what I was saying to him because I was speaking in a low voice. I didn't dare speak louder and didn't want to leave the door just in case. While I stood in front of it indecisive the knocks continued. Emma lost patience and came to the door ready to open it herself but I grabbed her wrist with force. She looked at me puzzled but I didn't say anything to her. Eventually the people behind the door lost patience and I heard a male voice say:

"Come on, let us in. We just want to talk."

My suspicions were confirmed. It wasn't Arsène. I let go of Emma's wrist and waved her to get back. Whether the door was open or not these people were going to come in. I knew their determination and I was ready to fight them to protect my friends.

What I predicted eventually happened. The knob turned and against all expectations the door was well locked. The stranger behind the door seemed little irritated by this. On the contrary, he seemed to be having fun as well.

"Oh well. She's not that stupid. It might be less boring than expected."

I immediately backed up and barely had time to reach the living room with my friends when I heard the front door collapse. Artelo and the others put their hands on their ears not understanding what was going on. I positioned myself between them and the door to protect them. It didn't take long for the strangers dressed in black to find us, and whoever had spoken to me through the door seemed quite disappointed.

"I've heard a lot about you, Atalante. Unfortunately the rumors are more interesting than the person herself."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm disappointed but hey. I guess it's my fault. I shouldn't have made too many stories up in my head."

I was starting to get used to being underestimated. It only made things funnier when they realized their fault. I looked around the place. I had to protect only four people and not a whole lecture hall this time, but the number of attackers had increased. They were no longer five but eight now. I bit my lip. I wanted to use my powers. I felt able to control them. I always wore the bracelet so I didn't have all of my powers either, but that was good. The little I had was more than enough and I could control them and therefore use them more effectively.

I motioned to my friends to step back. Unlike the attack in the amphitheater, they were quite talkative and started asking me questions:

"Who are these people, Atalante?

- What do they want from us? "

I did not answer focused on my mission. This made the man who had just underestimated me laugh.

"Oh the little one suddenly got serious. Don't look like that honey, you're going to have wrinkles."

I was ignoring him. I had never liked big speakers. There was never anything behind those words. He looked a lot like the boss, he wasn't the most intimidating one however. Now that I had assessed them all I was waiting for was them to attack me but they didn't seem to rush headlong. They also watched me, relying on intimidation. I decided to save time too.

"How did you find me?"

The chef laughed.

"With all this magic you give off it was just a childs play.

-And how did you outsmart my bodyguards? "

They laughed even more.

"Those poor guys wouldn't see a murder even if it happened right under their own noses. Or maybe they just wanted to get rid of you.

-Even if they wanted to get rid of me I don't think they would give me to the enemy knowing they need me.

-You score a point. Really you're not as stupid as I thought. So you know what, I'm gonna tell you something. For your own sake too, it would be better if you come with us. These assholes only think about their own interests. Before you know it, they're going to get rid of you for good. Certainly not by handing you over to us, but they will. "

He pointed to my bracelet with his chin.

"What do you think that is for?"

I looked at the object.

"My bracelet? I don't owe you an explanation."

The man threw his hands up.

"Look, I don't really care what you think. Personally I would rather take you by force but remember that everything they do is in their best interest. So I wonder why they have given you this bracelet. "

Suddenly I didn't know what to answer. I stared at my bracelet realizing that I gave these people my trust with a speed that didn't suit me. I had never been the type to trust easily. On the contrary. Had I let my guard down without realizing it?

"Hey, what's with that long face? You look like a smart chick so if you trust them I'm sur it's for a reason but just keep in mind what I told you."

The line between good and bad suddenly became blurry but I didn't have time to think about it as the leader lost patience and his seven men all attacked at the same time. I protected my friends with a shield of water I had slowly extracted from the kitchen tap and avoided them without difficulty. The chief hissed in admiration.

"Not bad at all. What's your favorite combat sport?"

I did not answer busy fighting. The spells followed one another and I concentrated on being able to respond too. I sprayed water all over the ground and sent an electric shock that paralyzed five of my attackers at the same time. The others had jumped in time including the leader and they avoided my attack. But now their numbers had fallen sharply. I decided to continue fighting by moving the water at my feet. I really liked to shape water. I found this element soft and at the same time incredible strong. Plus I felt like I was a water master.

I wrapped the head of one of my attackers with water and he passed out once he was out of air. I released him and focused on the last two. The chef wore a smile wider than ever.

"You manage to do all this when you're only five percent of your powers? I wonder what can be done on a hundred percent.

-If you knew what my bracelet is for then why did you ask me the question? "

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Question to make conversation."

I rolled my eyes.

"I have something to propose to you. How about we fight with our bare hands. I want to see what you are worth in battle now.

-I thought the rumors were going fast. They must have already told you how I fought in the last attack. I hadn't used magic.

-I don't really like rumors. They are often unfounded. I prefer to see with my own eyes.

-And why would I accept to bow to your little whims? "

He shrugged again.

"I don't know. Maybe because deep down inside you want to prove what you are worth."

I pursed my lips. I knew very well that I could beat them without my powers. I had managed without these for 19 years and I intended to continue doing so. I nodded which made the chef smile. His man moved into a fighting stance as he visibly wanted to watch from afar. I did not even  put myself in a defensive position and waited for the attack. I threw the assailant to the ground without any problem, so the chief began to applaud me.

"Not bad. But you know this guy wasn't the strongest either."

He stretched his wrists with a smile.

"My turn now.

-I can't wait for that."

He wasted no time and started with a direct punch to the face that I blocked at the last moment with my elbows. I immediately retaliated with two kicks, one of which was to the head. The seconde kick took him by surprise but he stepped back at the last moment.

He smiled even more. I gave him no time to attack and continued with a returned kick to the stomach. He blocked it with his arms but still found himself thrown against a wall. I didn't wait and threw myself on him but he ran away at the last moment so I hit the wall. I had reduced the power of the blow at the last second but still felt tingling all the way down my leg.

The chief took advantage of this to throw his right leg that I blocked without problem. Suddenly while still in the air he also threw his other leg at my head. Without thinking I blocked with my arm and the latter took the full brunt. I immediately winced as I felt a searing pain spread through my arm. The chef's smile widened.

"The difference between us, honey, is that I find out everything about my opponents before facing them. Obviously your arm hasn't recovered well since the last time."

I wasn't defeated yet and still dealt a few painful blows to my opponent. However, the latter continued thereafter to aim at my painful arm which was very difficult to defend with my other arm. I also had the option of not protecting myself with my arm but in this case I took the full brunt on the ribs. With a sore arm and a broken rib, I began to simply avoid the blows. I did well and broke several ribs myself of my attacker but I could not succeed each time and yet another blow to the arm made me fall to the ground biting my lip until I bled so as not to cry out.

The chief was destabilized by my fall so I took the opportunity to mow his legs and once on the ground I climbed on him preventing him from getting up. No longer having a free arm to hit him, I gave him a head butt that made him see stars. So I took advantage of this momentary dizziness and wanted to give him another whim. Except that he moved at the last minute and I hit the ground head on, seeing my turn blurry.

I realized that our places had been exchanged and I suddenly felt his hands on my neck. The lack of air brought me back to my senses and with a stroke of my pelvis I passed him over my head before getting on my feet. We were both out of breath so I decided to catch my breath while the chef got up too. He was obviously no longer amused by the events and wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. He wiped away the blood that ran from his nose and resumed his fighting stance in silence.

But noises outside caught his attention. I saw on his face that he was in a dilemma. He ended up sitting up in frustration before pointing a finger at me:

"We're going to end this fight someday. It's not over."

Without having had the time to hold him back, he jump through a window breaking it and flew into the night. Two seconds later Arsène appeared in the kitchen accompanied by other members of the institute. He immediately came towards me and he tried to control himself but he started to scream like he did the last time.