Troubled Paradise

Chapter 2 Return To The Present

He was half-conscious but could still feel the firm grip around his waist. He stared down into the endless pool of rushing water in a daze. Blood dripped from his nose. He couldn't even move, paralyzed by the pain the bullet had brought. The person holding him spoke, "Yeah, yeah. I got him. Just help me up."

Ferris felt himself being hoisted back up onto the bridge, laying down on the pavement as the others discussed various things. He could hardly keep his eyes open. His breathing was so low others would have thought he was dead. Ferris stared up into the sky for a while with his partly closed eyelids, green eyes darker because of his lack of energy. The pain was slowly drawing him into a deep slumber.

Rico looked at the young boy who refused to close his eyes and rest, but then again, he understood his standpoint. Falling unconscious while those who caused his injuries in the first place is never a good idea. Who knows what you'd wake up to? He turned away his gaze and continued.

Talking with the rest of his group. Bruno had already contacted their base and, now it was only a waiting game so they could bring Ferris back. Meanwhile, Ferris clenched his hand, feeling the powder gradually filling up. He didn't have a plan on how to escape but needed to at least try. His body suddenly froze when he remembered the sniper. It was as if they surrounded the whole bridge. There were no blind spots. He looked towards the group again. They were all facing him. He gave a cold hard glare while clenching his teeth. He would've looked intimidating if it wasn't for his opponents being of higher rank and his already battered appearance.

There was a new person he hadn't seen before, with brown hair and an inferior appearance when compared with the other two men. "He looks pissed."

His grip tightened. He felt his body heating up to display his anger; It was an unusual yet comfortable heat. The gazes the team showed were nothing short of confusion and surprise. Ferris huffed and looked down at his body. There was an unnaturally bright light coming from his chest, running up to his collar. From where Ferris was, he couldn't see it but, it had actually run all the way up to his eyes. It was as if molten lava had surfaced from his bloodstream, and the light it carried was nothing short of unique.

Ferris hadn't experienced anything like it before; If it was so, he couldn't remember at all. His hand that previously contained the g*n powder now only had a pure flame. It danced in his hand but, it didn't hurt at all. He was shocked stupid and didn't even notice the team approaching him.

"This is new to you?" Rico asked as he stared at Ferris. His eyes that were at first naturally green now looked mostly like orange with the green only around the outer edges. He looked up and stared at Rico that alone had given him his answer. His brows were scrunched up in confusion; he couldn't talk in his fit of surprise. Rico was curious about how Ferris had only just made a breakthrough. The longest time he had ever seen one take to make a breakthrough is in their mid-twenties and, although the youth in front of him had just barely graduated from that stage, he couldn't help his curiosity. He buried the thought. It wasn't his business as to why Ferris was so slow.

Ferris felt the fire around him was calm and relaxing; even so, he couldn't help panicking. He had thought he had already made a breakthrough but it appeared he was only doing it now. The fire stirred in accordance with his fright. Everyone around him noticed and quickly knew what was going to happen. Ferris's breathing became labored, he struggled for air, and his back was drenched in cold sweat. He didn't know what to do. He felt a sharp pain at the side of his neck, his mood immediately calmed. He turned his head to see Bruno putting away a needle. He felt an immediate wave of nausea and drowsiness take over. Soon, he lost consciousness.

The boy's body in front of them quickly cooled down, the 'lava' no longer visible. They all remained silent until a voice broke the silence.

"Come in, Karsyon. You got the kid?" A female's voice came from the receiver that the brown-haired man had. He fished it out from his side and replied, "Yeah."

Ferris' eyebrows scrunched together before the hint of green could be seen under his heavy lids. His head hung down to one side and, he could barely see the cuffs linking his hands together. He looked ahead noticing, the blurry figure of a person within his line of sight. He tried to adjust his position but was unable to do so. He stared at his wrist until his vision cleared, revealing iron cuffs around his hands.

Ferris let out a groan as his back protested against the movement but rejoiced when he stopped his struggle. He turned his attention back to the figure from before who appeared to be a middle-aged man. He had found the human version of 'looks could be deceiving.'

The male's decently outline face complimented his own dark eyes and seemingly professionally styled dark brown hair. At first, Ferris had to blink a few times to make sure he was had seen properly but now, he could clearly see the man seated across from him around the metal table. The man smiled as he realized that Ferris had finally come to his senses and quickly began introducing himself.

"My name is Dean Sallow, the current head of S.P.A.R. Nice to meet you, Ian."

Ferris, hearing his old name, stared at the man for a while before giving a small hoarse laugh. "Wish I was dead, but here I am. What do you want, old man?" Dean was shocked by his response, even feeling at his face for any presence of wrinkles. He then turned to look behind Ferris.

"Do I look that old?" It was only then that Ferris acknowledged the 2 presences behind him. Both walked forward and gave a bow of respect towards Dean. They then denied Ferris' earlier claims, saying the man looked as young as ever before. Ferris recognized the one on his left as a gauntlet bastard he has yet to know the name of but didn't recognize the woman with shoulder-length black hair. He stared at her for a while, taking into account her delicate but sharp features, even a mole underneath her lip and the same uniform that looked as if it was only adjusted to suit her short but plump stature.

He stared at the Crest that was right above her chest, a hand holding what seemed to be a golden core. He felt a sense of familiarity but, at the same time, had no recollection of it. He didn't get to stare too long as the woman noticed and quickly announced, "I am not interested in children." Not even sparing a glance to Ferris, who was now confused with her words before it sunk in and he got quite annoyed at her accusation,

"Miss, no disrespect but, I have no interest in those saggy shits you call boobs. You're getting ahead of yourself for thinking you were getting an ounce of affection from me."

He responded, glaring at her. She turned to glare at him as well, unconsciously bringing her hands closer to her chest, as if she took them as something quite important. He dismissed her glare and casually turned back to Dean, who had a look of disbelief. "Well?" He asked, tilting his head. Dean quickly adjusted his expression, coughing.

"Ah, yes. Ian Cloud, we'd like you to join us."

"Hell no." Ferris immediately responded. He didn't mind the use of his old name, but he wouldn't join S.P.A.R for anything.

"I thought that would be your answer. That's why I want to inform you of your older brother, Oliver Cloud." Ferris, who was previously trashing around, even putting up a foot on the desk, instantly froze by the mention of the name. At first, the room was silent then, Ferris took his foot off the table to answer, "What about him?" His tone was lower. Dean smiled, happy with the behavior change.

"We are aware that you were the one who put an end to him some years ago, but it seems that he didn't completely die." Ferris rose his voice, not caring about who he was raising it at,"I clearly killed him back then! What the hell do you mean he survived!?" His once bright green eyes were now a duller green with even a mix of red due to his anger and frustration. "I searched-" Ian stopped mid-sentence, not wanting to continue. Dean gave him a strange look but continued sharing the information.

He pushed a few pictures in front of him, each lined out perfectly to show each victim missing a part of their body or even their blood by their obviously pale face and the skin that held tightly to their bones.

"As you already know, your brother had been a hero before contributing greatly to us, but he took the wrong path that only resulted in his bad ending. These pictures are what we have gotten from the last 2 weeks to now."

After carefully scanning over the victims, he came across the last picture where it was only a message written in blood. His heart skipped a beat as he read the message, 'It's not me, it's him.' Ferris looked up in disbelief at Dean, who only wore a calm expression on his face, the complete opposite of Ferris' own paling face. He wanted to escape and run for his life, not wanting to meet that man again. "So, this is why you caught me? For bait?" He spoke in a serious voice that not even Rico thought he heard well. "Not exactly, simply providing some information and helping us in killing him once and for all," Dean answered. Not sparing a second, Ferris refused,

"I'm not getting involved with him again. If push comes to shove, then I'll move to another city." Dean sighed at Ian's stubbornness. "We are offering protection. Are you sure you can defend against him once again?"

Ian hesitated a bit but gave a positive reply. He didn't know if he could counter Oliver's ability since he had concluded that in their fight that it was just a fluke.

"We are capable people, Ian." Ian frowned at the familiar tone the old used.

"I don't care."

Dean sighed, closing his eyes for a while. He looked to be in pain just by trying to convince Ian.

"Then, is jail a better option?"

Ian raised a brow at his question. "Your crimes weren't forgotten. If you don't wish to join us, then we'll turn you in."

Ian's gaze turned cold as he remained silent. There were no causalities in any of his 'raids.' However, he didn't even know why he was doing it and, so he didn't recognize them as crimes at all. It was just something he did, not knowing if it was for good or bad. He rationalized the situation; if he went to jail, it would be difficult to escape since he could guarantee that he wouldn't be put in some low-class prison but staying with S.P.A.R was just as bad. He would be constantly surrounded by Lumins, probably no time for himself. Then there was Oliver.

He narrowed his eyes in deep thought and finally concluded. He didn't want to be fed cardboard in prison and therefore accepted Dean's deal. "Nice of you to join us. You made the right decision," Dean told him all the information relating to Oliver. He mentioned that almost all their men that he had sent out died, reducing their numbers. He still didn't understand how a top-tier organization like S.P.A.R would need his help; he just ignored it.

This wasn't protection at all but rather a suicide mission that could only go really well or really badly, and by the person, they were up against it in their favor. Ferris couldn't help but swear under his breath. If his brother ever got hold of him when he was alone, he would never see the light of day again.

Later on, was just Dean explaining some common rules to follow and their schedule. He introduced the gauntlet guy as Rico and, the woman who believed the world revolved around her was Dior. Ferris looked completely uninterested but still listened attentively for any valuable information since he would be staying under their care anyways. Half an hour or so passed and, he was being led to his room. S.P.A.R was not only just one huge building but rather a sort of community by itself. Outside of it were houses that all circled the main building. They weren't like the average house; a couple of stories tall could accommodate at least 10 people on one floor. To the west were shorter but wider houses, where he was led.

S.P.A.R had always been known as a rich organization and, so Ian wasn't surprised at all by all the dormitories on the large acres of land. The house he was led into was rather large but, the number of members still exceeded. Everyone was sharing a room. Ian was led towards the upper floor. A door standing in their way, it was opened by Rico, and Ian was greeted with a spacious living room.

"This is my team's floor and also where you will be staying." Although Rico sounded quite nonchalant, no one could miss the hints of annoyance in his tone. Ian couldn't agree more with him. Upon entering, he scanned the room to see there was an actual flat screen tv on the wall with someone seated on the couch. Ian, not interest to see who it was, glanced to his right to see the rather small kitchen, only 3 seats at the counter with the other usuals. Pass the kitchen was a door that Ferris could only assume led to one of the rooms.

"These two are for Dior and I." Rico pointed towards the closed doors. Rico then proceeded to walk up a small staircase that was just beyond the living room to the left, showing 3 more rooms. The narrow corridor held no sort of pictures or painting, only the blank cream color to match the previous floor. He pointed to the room on his left, "Karsyon's," then to his right, a bit further down, "Yours."

Rico pointed to the room that was at the end of the hall, "And that belongs to ice giant Bruno." Ferris didn't even glance at the door before entering his own room and glancing about. There were only a few things, a bed to one side of the room wrapped in white sheets, and on the other side of the room were empty shelves, a dresser, closet, and a mirror. There was also a white carpet underneath his bed, leading towards his closet that seemed oddly full of clothes.

While admiring his new room, Rico scoffed drawing, him out of his daze. "So even a kid like you still has this reaction to something new." He commented, hiding his smile with one of his hands as he looked down at Ian. "Yeah yeah, thank you whatever, go f**k yourself." And with that, he pushed Rico out of his room and locked the door. Rico was upset about his behavior but, when he realized that Ian had said 'thank you,' he immediately dismissed it as late puberty. Ian walked around for a bit until he felt his back start aching once more. He had forgotten about it and immediately decided he needed a shower and pulled off his torn, blood-stained clothes, throwing them in a nearby bin.

It would be better to burn them since he couldn't wear them anymore but, he left the decision for when he was finished bathing. Once in the shower, he casually washed his hair as if it was his own home, but he couldn't feel more uncomfortable. He was occupied with so much on his mind about what he ran through today and feared what the future now held for him. He groaned as he felt the wound on his back. He quickly washed it off then walked out of the shower, a towel around his waist and wet hair hanging down in his face. He pushed it back and walked over to the closet, scanning over the uniform that seemed it was duplicated over and over again. Ian sighed. He was sorting through the clothes when he heard a knock at the door but dismissed it as noise.

The knocking occurred again with even more strength than before, which caused the frustrated Ian to stomp over to the door, unlocking it and swinging it open. He was met with a slim, short figure with a first aid kit but, it wasn't the same for Dior, who was face to face with the chest of Ian. Black lines were all over her face in an instant. Ian didn't notice, however, and leaned to take the first aid kit; just as he was about to do so, he felt his stomach twist in pain from being punched. He stumbled a few steps back, holding his stomach. He looked at Dior in confusion until he noticed her dark face. He looked down, just now remembering that he was only wrapped in a towel.

"Let me put on some clothes." He turned, intending to search once more through the closet.

"It's fine. I can easily dress your wounds this way."

He laid down on the bed and allowed Dior to apply ointment to his wounds. Before, it had felt like he had broken multiple ribs and even head trauma. Now though, it was only the open wound in his shoulder.

"I'm able to alter forms of matter and energy. Rather physically or mentally."

Ian quickly understood what she meant, but after a few seconds of silence, he finally realized. "You're the sniper!"

Dior rolled her eyes, "Can be your fairy godmother too."

"Your aim was shit."Dior immediately applied more pressure towards his wound. Ian struggled to move from under the women's grasp.

Ian gave a cry of pain, trembling, and held the wound. It wasn't that the wound itself was serious but rather because it was a Lumin user that caused it. Ian clenched his teeth and held onto his sheets for fear that if he ever loosened his hold, he would descend into the pain even more.

Afterward, Dior stood up smirking, "Not such a tough boy now, huh?" She had finished applying the ointment then gripped onto Ian's shoulder, flipping him onto his back. "Wait, wait, isn't there supposed to be some mental preparation!?" He shouted, honestly scared of the snake-like woman. She gripped the gauze and alcohol in her hand, sitting on Ian's back, firmly locking him in place.

"Take it like a man!" She spoke in a s******c tone as she poured the alcohol onto the wound. Another scream of terror erupted from Ian, spreading through the upper floor. Both Rico and Karsyon laughed until their stomach burned upon hearing the once arrogant Ian begging for help.