*Black Neon Headquarters, Private Apartnts Sector*
The night enveloped the floating city of Neon, plunging the paved streets into darkness disturbed only by the bluish glow of crystal lanterns.
Inside the dark stone manor that served as the heart of the Black Neon organization, the silence was heavy.... Eleanor advanced through the third-floor corridor with confidence, her high heels producing a regular clicking sound.
She wore a midnight blue velvet dress, so tight that it seed painted on her dark skin, highlighting her slender waist and the insolent curve of her hips.
Her short blonde hair was carefully styled, a thick fringe always hiding her left eye, while her right eye, a deep black, scrutinized the surroundings with cold intensity.
Since the disappearance of The Predator, Eleanor had officially taken the reins of the organization. In reality, she had always been the brain behind the intelligence operations and the managent of the various units.
Kaiser had always entrusted her with the managent of Black Neon in his absence, because he knew that her intellectual arrogance was matched only by her loyalty to their common objectives.
She stopped in front of a heavy door of carved oak wood and knocked three short tis
*Toc toc toc*
"Enter..." murmured a soft voice.
Eleanor turned the handle and entered the chamber. The room was vast, lit only by the moonlight that crossed the large window. Isabella Donoghan was seated on the ledge, observing the horizon of the criminal city.
Her flaming red hair fell in disordered waves over her shoulders, contrasting with the pallor of her skin under the moonlight. She wore a light silk nightgown that hid nothing of her slender silhouette, her marked waist and her wide hips that made her famous.
"You are not sleeping, Isabella..." noted Eleanor while approaching with elegance.
"It is difficult to find sleep when the world one knew has shattered into pieces..." replied Isabella without turning around, her amber eyes fixed on the void.
Eleanor placed herself at her side, her gaze capturing the reflections of the night. She remained silent for a mont, appreciating the tension that reigned in the chamber.
"I am here to transmit The Predator’s last wishes to you..." announced Eleanor in a neutral tone. "From today onward, it is you who takes the head of Black Neon..."
Isabella turned around abruptly, incomprehension and shock readable on her delicate face. She stood up, the silk of her garnt sliding over her shapely thighs.
" ? It is absurd... Eleanor, I am a prisoner here, a dead woman in the eyes of the world..." she exclaid, her hands trembling slightly. "Why would he choose , the daughter of a duke he despised ?"
Eleanor sketched an enigmatic smile.
"Perhaps he had a premonition... or perhaps he knew the intentions of the legendary families better than anyone..." explained Eleanor while crossing her arms under her chest, a gesture that accentuated her dominant posture. "Before his disappearance, he was very clear. If sothing were to happen to him, you were to be the one to wear the mask and lead the Wolves and the Jackals...".
Hearing these words, Isabella felt her heart tighten painfully. She thought back to that mysterious man, The Predator, who had kidnapped her and kept her captive. At first, she felt only hatred and fear, but over the course of their encounters, sothing had changed. The unexpected visits from this masked man, the discussions they had about the corruption of the nobility and the alienation of the people by the Holy Cathedral had opened her eyes to a reality she had always ignored.
The particular attention he paid to her, even in her captivity, had eventually engendered a deep trouble in her, a mixture of dependence and affection that she could no longer deny. It was Stockholm syndro, a psychological prison from which she no longer wanted to escape.
"He designated ..." she murmured to herself, a solitary tear beading at the corner of her amber eye.
"Have no regrets, Isabella... Feeling is a weakness we can no longer afford..." cut Eleanor, her tone becoming imperious again. "However, if you accept to take his place, you cannot remain as you are. You are weak..."
Isabella raised her head, a spark of pride shining in her gaze.
"I am a fifth-circle mage-warrior... I have mastered three movents of the Flaming Lion Art..." she recalled with firmness.
"That is nothing in the face of the monsters who lead the legendary families or the powerful of this world..." retorted Eleanor while taking a step toward her, reducing the space between their bodies. "To lead Black Neon, you must beco an existence that surpasses human limits. You must awaken your Pendragon lineage..."
Isabella frowned, skepticism taking over her emotion.
"Awaken my lineage ? Eleanor, if it were that simple, my brother Kris would not be the only one to have manifested this power, even my pure-blooded mother did not succeed..."
"It is a rare gift, linked to the blood and the will of the Seraphs. How could I force such an awakening ?" .
Eleanor let out a small lodious but dark laugh.
"The Predator never left anything to chance... He collaborated with the most brilliant sorcerers and alchemists of Babylon to create a solution..." explained the dark elf while taking out a small crystal vial from her dress, containing a liquid with shifting reflections. "Everything is already ready. The blood resonance potion is finished. "
Isabella stared at the vial. She felt that awakening a legendary lineage could be a violent process, capable of breaking an unprepared body. But thinking back to the masked face of the man she had learned to Lo...Appreciate ? she felt a new determination invade her.
Obviously Kaiser had intended to make Isabella the new Predator, but with his death, Eleanor had to take matters into her own hands as usual. Even if she would be the real boss of the place, Isabella would be the figurehead.
"Are you sure this will work ?" asked Isabella, her voice more assured.
"The Predator had absolute confidence in my abilities and those of my allies..." replied Eleanor while putting away the vial. "It only remains to know if you are ready to embrace your new destiny."
Isabella raised an eyebrow, observing the dark elf with mistrust. She understood that by accepting, she was definitively renouncing her past life. She was becoming an outlaw, a shadow leader, the successor of the predator of predators.
"I accept..." declared Isabella, straightening her shoulders and letting her fifth-circle mage aura manifest slightly around her. "I will beco the new leader of Black Neon..."
Eleanor nodded, satisfied. She appreciated this sudden mutation, this passage from the tearful young woman to the future regent of a criminal organization.
"Good... In that case, follow ..." ordered Eleanor while turning toward the door. "We have no ti to lose.
"Do you think he is really dead ? "
" What I think does not matter, Isabella. "
The two won left the chamber, crossing the corridors of the manor.
" Have you already seen his face without the mask ? "
Eleanor narrowed her eyes :" He was handso if that is what you ant."
"No, that is not at all what I was asking..." She stamred a little embarrassed.
In their heads as long as there was no corpse of Kaiser, he was not dead. Eleanor believed that firmly.
And Isabella certainly wanted to hunt the legendary families, the Spectrum and the Holy Cathedral...
’ Those who caused the disappearance of the man I considered as my first cru... Ravisher !’
User Comments
0 comments from readers