✨ Please, Take your time to read.. ✨
Leaving the Academy and walking a couple of blocks, Hades found Elena standing on the street corner.
With only two blocks between them, and just in case the boy was distracted, Elena raised her hand in greeting.
Hades returned the greeting in the same way. But instead of running towards Elena as anyone else would, the boy's steps became slower and slower. As the seconds passed, the smile on Elena's face faded until it vanished. —"What's wrong.?"— Elena asked, her brow furrowed, while Hades was still several meters away.
The boy wrinkled his face and looked away..— "Oh, what happened? Do you want to talk about it.?" — Hades listened to every word, only shaking his head a couple of times, without answering directly.
Elena sighed as she checked her bag. —"How about we go get something to drink?"— Then she pulls out her new hunter's badge. —"Look, look at this."—
Then she shows the holo-watcher on her right wrist. —"This morning, after you left, my body reacted to spiritual energy.—" This time, Hades looks at Elena with obvious surprise in his eyes and much more intently. She looks 10 years younger, her skin is clearer, her figure is much more defined, and those little rolls around her waist have completely disappeared as if by magic.
—"You look great."— the guy comments as if it were the first time they'd met, as of last night's sex has nothing to do with him.
Elena's cheeks flush so red they seem like part of her makeup, and that faint smile seems permanently etched on her face. —"Don't even mention it. I spent all morning under the shower." — She covers her nose and shakes her hand.
After a brief laugh, Hades comments,. —"That's why you want to celebrate."—
Elena, still smiling, continues to nod silently, and after a few seconds, she finally says, . —"No, it's not that. It's something else we need to talk about." —She ends up gesturing to both of them.
They don't walk far before entering the same café as yesterday. Once inside, Hades calls the waiter and orders food for four.
This time, Elena seems much more relaxed; she no longer has to worry about prices or whether she has enough money in her wallet. —"How was your day at the academy?"— A polite question, but one that makes the boy frown.
Seeing that he remained silent,
Elena became interested in the topic. —"Good, everything's fine, and I even had my first fight today."—
—"What.? So soon... the girls had their first fight almost six months after starting, and the fastest was after three months, and it was because someone tried to cut in line at the cafeteria."—
Although he wasn't 100% sure, Hades had several doubts and immediately told Elena what had happened at the academy while they waited for their food.
In this way, the boy began to see clearly some details that had gone completely unnoticed at first, such as the fact that there were several empty tables in the cafeteria, and although the lack of a uniform was a good excuse, no one in their right mind wants to be labeled the bully by the instructors, teachers, and students.
—"What if that person already knew you.?"— Elena asked.
—"What? What do you mean.?"—
—"What if it was all planned, like a kind of promotion or unintentional marketing.?"—
—"Like the academy is promoting a product.?"—
—"Sure, sure, but instead of an item, it's a person. You know that within the academy, everything revolves around talent, and you, having the highest talent of all the students, have it."—
—"Of course.!"— Hades shouts excitedly, as if he'd discovered fire, and suddenly adds, —"Eventually, everyone will know about my talent, no doubt about it. But with a fight beforehand, the rumor has a much greater impact. What no one anticipated is that the other Associations would get involved."—
Elena nods, eating a piece of bread. —"Hmph, though that alone will bring you more trouble than it's worth."—
Hades finally frowned. —"Like what, you mean.?"—
—"Everything has two sides, good and bad. On the good side, your fame and recognition will skyrocket. On the bad side, any Tom, Dick, or Harry will be after you, trying to steal that fame.."—
Hades suddenly remembered the opening ceremony and grabbed his head. —"Damn it, I think I have a pretty good idea why."—
—"Oh.,"— Elena says before looking at the boy. —"What's your plan.?"—
—"Are you going to play along.?"—
Hades shakes his head.— "For me, that kind of thing, like fame, validation, or recognition, is meaningless."—
Before they can continue, they're interrupted by the waiter bringing the first courses. —"Excuse me, here's your order,"— He says, placing the first courses on the table. —"The rest of the food will arrive in 20 minutes."— Both Hades and Elena nod to the boy.
—"What are you planning to do.?"— Elena asks, paying closer attention to his response.
Hades brings the first course closer, and before he starts to devour it, the boy remarks, —"I'll skip class tomorrow, claiming a stomach ache. Any other preparation would be completely pointless." —With that, Hades removes his holo-watch and puts it back in his ring.
This sudden action disconcerts Elena. —"What if someone else calls or an acquaintance wants to.."— It was at that moment that Elena understood his silly question.
In response, Hades smiled, happily devouring his first plate of food, much better than those sandwiches. Then he devoured another and another; in less than ten minutes, this boy ate enough as for three people.
Elena took out some documents and recounted in detail her morning's story, how she and her sister Sofia went to the Hunters' Association to register, and then to the public library to look at some records, avoiding the Association's archives so as not to attract attention.
The reason, though it sounded paranoid, had a solid motive.
—"Zefiro's madness." With that, Elena placed a document on the table. —"This is Zefiro's registration, a public document."—
The document detailed the boy's nane Zefiiro time at each stage. —"What this document doesn't tell you is his sexual preferences."—
—"You say Zefiro was gay."—
—"He's gay, because he's still alive. His substance abuse and addiction began after he became a Spiritual Master and coincided with his move to the presidential palace." Everyone knows that during that time, after his move, Zefiro was constantly taken to parties because of his status as a Talent [SSS]. At each party, there were lines and lines of women hoping for an audience.—
All those women only wanted one thing: to get pregnant. Having a boy or girl with superior talent in the family compensated for all the losses. What no one considered was that Zefiro didn't like women, and to cope, he consumed alcohol or drugs.
The outcome surprised no one. Zefiro was plunged into total madness. Many say he went crazy from alcohol, others blame the drugs, and still others blame his preferences or his excesses.
At the end of the day, Zefiro went mad, and since then, a special consent law for people with superior talent has been in effect.
Hades seems to remember something—"Ripper Law"—Elena nods and shows her next document. —"To be eligible, you must meet two requirements."— Elena shows her ID, pointing to the back, specifically where it says "Converted, not awakened." Having done this, Elena begins to explain her idea.
First, they must verify that everything is true, and to do that, they must ensure that what they say is true and document it.— "Three people must be converted." —Obviously, Elena counts as one.
—"Who are the other two.?"— Hades asks.
Upon hearing this, Elena sighs. For a moment, she thought Hades would refuse after hearing her idea. —" The second is Sofia, and the third is Carolina. They're the two most trustworthy people I know.." —
Sofia didn't awaken any kind of talent, which is why she's the perfect candidate. Besides, she's a single mother and Elena's sister.
—"Oh,"— Hades is surprised to hear the second name. —"What about Francis? Does he agree.?"—
Elena wrinkles her face at the mention of her son, Carolina's husband. —"Obviously, he doesn't know, or will try to gain any kind of advantage. That's why we need to get the Ripper Act. Once we have it, everything is easier."—
—"Do you have any idea how long we should wait.?"—
—"About six to eight hours."— Elena answers, confident in her answer, since it was past 10:00 AM when she woke up this morning.
—"I think once is more than enough, but you can do it two or three more times to be sure."— With that, Elena, more confident, begins to outline parts of the plan.
—"Because it sounds like an experiment.."—
—"Because it's an experiment, and if it fails, we need to discard some things before repeating the whole process."— What Hades doesn't understand is why Elena talks about sleeping with her sister and daughter-in-law as if she were grabbing fruit at the supermarket.
—"Okay, now all you have to do is finish eating, then go to the Penthouse,."— Elena said, pointing to the plates of food in front of Hades.
At this point, Hades already has a clear picture of Elena's plan. —"By the way, I rented a house inside the academy."—
After the comment, Hades can clearly see Elena's face go from happiness to sadness in a matter of seconds. —"Why that face.?"—
The boy asks, followed by a laugh. —"You and two other people can come with me. Actually, there can be more, but three is more than enough."— Elena's face suddenly brightens, to the point of smiling for no reason at all.
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Several kilometers from the restaurant, a recently purchased car pulls up in front of a house. A young woman, about 26 years old, emerges wearing a black dress that accentuates her figure and reaches mid-thigh. She has thick legs and wears high heels.
After the young woman approaches and gets into the car, while insistently trying to pull down the fabric of her dress to cover her underwear, she asks, "—Where are we going, and why all the secrecy.?"— Sofia doesn't answer; she simply hands over a copy of an ID.
— "Nothing's certain yet, but if everything goes well, I'll be the second person to have one of these."— Sofia finished, pointing to copy the ID card in Carolina's hand.
—"Why me.? Why not someone else.?"— Carolina asked.
—"You're the closest, most reliable person, and the one without any awakened talent. But if you don't want it, don't worry, I'll find someone else, even if it takes me five minutes.." — Having stated her opinion without holding back, Sofia pulled out her newly purchased smartphone..
At this point, Carolina stopped and took Sofia's hand, then the girl shook her head. —"That's not necessary."—
Sofia sighed and added as she started the car. —"Believe me, girl, you're not special, nor are you the prettiest, and certainly not the only woman with the best body. You think you have an advantage, but remember that out there are hundreds of thousands of girls, some worse, some the same, some better, but all of them are looking for a single opportunity."—
—"Okay, okay, I understand, I understand.," —Carolina says, now very embarrassed.
Sofia smiles. —"I'm glad you understand. Now let go of my hand. I need to call someone else, unless you want to cook." — Carolina, even more embarrassed, lets go of Sofia's hand, who immediately calls one of her neighbors.
—"Hi, how are you? I have a job for you. I need two cooks, $500 for four hours. Nah, no, no, nothing fancy, it's just a simple barbecue. You can even bring your kids so they can have fun in the pool for a couple of hours. Okay, I'll pick you up in a couple of hours."—
With that, Sofia ended her call under Carolina's watchful eye, who immediately asked, —"Aren't we going to my mother-in-law's.? It sounds like we're having a party."—
—"Because we're having a party. We need a record note and it'll count as a very good excuse. This is in case your husband or the Hunting Association ask questions later, and believe me, they both will."— Sofia commented with a half-smile before starting the car.
— "Now we'll go buy you some things for you and the barbecue, unless you don't want to. That saves us a lot of time, much more than you think.."— This time, Carolina doesn't answer and lowers her head again in embarrassment, remaining silent.
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After the meal, they both leave the restaurant and walk leisurely toward the building where the penthouse is located, greeting the two guards as they enter the parking garage.
Tommy was waiting in front of the elevator and greeted them enthusiastically upon seeing the pair arrive. —"Good morning, Mr. Hades, good morning, Mrs. Elena."—
They both nod. —"How are you, kid.?"—
Tommy smiles. —"Great, great, yesterday I finally managed to buy what I needed to eat at home."— Hades nods, takes out his smartphone, and transfers $100 with just one tap, patting Tommy on the back a couple of times. —"If you need anything else, you can call me."— With that, both Hades and Elena enter the elevator.
Elena pouts.— "Because you gave him money before I could., huh.?"—
Hades shrugs. —"I like the guy."—
This time, upon exiting the elevator, they don't stop on the terrace. Elena takes Hades' hand and says,. —"Time to take care of a few things." — With that, she pulls him inside the penthouse.
◈—◈—◈
To be continue...
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I'm writing several things, nothing official, just drafts. I'll include them in an additional volume; take a look when you can...
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