The Source of All Evil

Chapter Ten

Michaela Walker.

“Yes, he kissed me, and I thought you were acting weird, but I brushed it off. . . He brought me here, scaring the wits out of me when I saw those paintings. . . Rafe, there were paintings of me from the other world! There was one of me in my fricking apartment!”

“Ay! Are you trying to crush me?!” She cried when Rafe’s grip tightened around her.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled under his breath with a blank glare on his face. Michaela, who finally noticed that something was wrong, gulping as she asked.

“How did you find me? How did you manage to get here?”

“I’ll tell you later,” he said, nodding towards a specific direction. Michaela turned her head to where he was looking, meeting the floating body of the Celestial Master. The latter chuckled darkly.

“I underestimated you. You managed to kill one of my best servants. I’m quite impressed.”

Rafe snorted, his head held high as a condescending grin appeared on his lips. “You consider that beast I fought one of your best? It only took me one move to wipe his existence off this world.”

The Celestial Master smiled some more, nodding. “You’re indeed impressive. It’s too bad that I have to kill you to get back what’s mine.”

“What’s yours?!” Rafe feigned ignorance, and Michaela nodded in his accord, glaring at the Celestial Master.

She has read about the Celestial Master’s accomplishments, and she knew that no one was akin to match his powers except for the Evil Master. Rafe wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight against him, but she hoped he could win by some miracle for them to leave this place.

“You come to my palace, break in, and try to kidnap my queen!”

“Who’s your queen?!” Michaela matched Rafe’s glare at the Celestial Master. You delusional beast, she seethed in her head. So you were planning to do something shameful to me. Michaela couldn’t believe the guts on this Master.

“You heard her,” Rafe let out a disdainful chuckle. “Are you planning to keep her here against her will?”

Michaela nodded in agreement with what Rafe said, gripping his shoulders tightly not to fall. “You tell him, Rafe!” She said encouragingly.

The other glanced at her and smirked. “How can she be your queen when she’s mine?”

“W-What do you mean by yours?!”

Michaela choked on her saliva, clearing her throat, staring with wide eyes at Rafe, feeling her ears deafening from shock. The other’s lips curved upward, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Would you prefer to be his?”

“None of yours. I’m not a damn object for you both to fight over.”

Rafe chuckled, lowering his voice as he said. “Don’t compliment yourself. I’m not interested in you either.”

Somehow, his answer filled her mind with a bit of disappointment as her heart thudded weirdly. She tried her best not to show it on her face, saying. “Good, then put me down. . . And you. . .” Her eyes darted towards the Celestial Master, demanding. “Where is Kirby?!”

She wasn’t about to leave without her adorable pet. Kirby was with her when she was at the marketplace, where she got charmed by whatever spell the Celestial Master put her under, making her lose consciousness, so he had to know where it was.

Rafe placed her on the ground, and Michaela fixed her shirt and hair, still glaring at the Celestial Master. The latter’s lips formed a frown, silently watching as Rafe knocked Michaela on the head and chuckled.

“I can’t believe that you followed a stranger after he offered you candy, and you even misplaced your pet?! You’re such a joke.”

Michaela just grimaced, rubbing the side of her head where Rafe hit her, impatiently glaring at the floating beast towering over them.

“So?”

“What’s Kirby?”

Michaela felt herself flush from the sudden heat that traveled to her cheeks, ears, and neck, getting embarrassed when Rafe and the beast snickered at her choice of names.

“My pink, cute pet. . . I mean, Squishy.”

“Squishy?!” The Celestial Master sounded confused, which drove her to fix her glare at Rafe.

“Don’t tell me that Squishy isn’t the name of that creature?!”

The mocking glare Rafe had diminished, looking away. Just how many lies did this jerk feed me? She wondered, feeling livid that he used her ignorance about this world in his favor.

Michaela swallowed down her pride for the sake of Kirby, saying. “I had this pink creature with me at the marketplace where you tricked me into believing that you’re this. . . that you’re Rafe!”

“Rafe," The Celestial Master let out a chuckle. . . You mean when he tricked you into following him by giving you candy?”

“You shut up, Rafe!”

“Are you referring to this?” The Celestial Master pulled a small cage out of nowhere, made from crystal-looking rods. Her pet seemed to have a similar temper to hers, looking furious as it gnawed with its small teeth on the cage to break free. “It’s this what you called 'Kirby'. . . No, 'squishy'?!”

The Celestial Master’s voice sounded strained as if he was trying to hold himself from laughing. Michaela blushed even more, sweating from shame, clenching her fists in frustration when she heard Rafe snorting.

“Yeah, so? Give me back my pet!”

She gritted her teeth when the Celestial Master chuckled in unison with Rafe. They both seemed to enjoy teasing her. “You come here, and I’ll hand it over.”

“I still want to live. So, no, thanks.”

The Celestial Master found her response amusing, smiling her way. “Love, you don’t have a choice. Either you stay with me, or I’ll force you to stay with me.”

Michaela glanced at Rafe as if expecting him to say something. The other looked indifferent about the whole situation, standing with his hands behind his back, staring at the Celestial Master.

She huffed. “You have to force people to stay with you? Just how unloved are you?!”

The Celestial Master didn’t seem bothered by her silly comeback, chuckling. “Why don’t you stay and shower me with love then? I bet you will have a blissful time with me. I’ll pleasure you better than that weak man.”

Michaela looked at Rafe, frowning that he wasn’t saying anything in return. “Rafe, he just called you weak.”

The other shrugged, looking bored as he lazily shifted his cold glare towards her. Only his gray eyes displayed the annoyance and anger that dwelt inside him. “Whether I’m weak or not is not important. What matters is that he was planning to rob you of your virginity if I weren’t here.”

“I’d only sleep with him if I’m too lazy to masturbate.” She snorted, and when she processed what Rafe said, she scowled at him. “How do you know that I’m a virgin? I mean. . . I’m not a virgin. I’ve been in relationships before. . . Besides, even if you didn’t come to get me, I would’ve defended myself.” She added the last part when Rafe chuckled at her obvious lie.

“Oh yeah, by jumping to your death?”

Not only was it Rafe who made fun of her, but the Celestial Master also let out a heartily laugh. It was true that she was still a virgin, but that was her choice. Michaela never experienced love. Though she once had a crush on Jason, a boy from her high school, she knew that was nothing but infatuation. She was looking for internal love, similar to that of her parents. Michaela was there when her mother cried to sleep over her father’s sudden death. She watched her mother cry softly, reminiscing the sweet and loving time she had with her husband. Michaela listened to her talk and talk for hours about how charming and loving her father was.

Michaela was looking for something as substantial as that, and when she couldn’t find it, she settled on focusing on her career instead of wasting time on fleeting relationships.

Michaela turned her frustration on the beast, saying. “Why are you laughing, you coward?! Why don’t you show your face? Are you that insecure about your looks? Maybe you’re so nasty-looking that your looks would scare a toilet.”

Rafe literally face-palmed, saying. “Why are all your insults sound like that of a twelve-year-old?”

Michaela was beyond embarrassed as both men seemed to agree on driving her mad. “I’m not good with words.” She justified her inability to come up with hurtful insults. She wasn’t an outspoken person, and she always envied those who could come up with a witty comeback on the spot.

“Aren’t you a writer?!” Rafe stared at her in askance. A sly grin played on his lips.

Michaela rolled her eyes at him, shifting her glare at the floating beast, who was still laughing. “Give me my pet!” She demanded and stepped back, almost cowering behind Rafe when the Celestial Master’s feet elegantly touched the ground.

He lifted the cage in the air, wearing an inviting grin. “Here, come and get it.”

Michaela turned to Rafe, saying. “You. . . You go get it.”

“Why should I?” Rafe said lazily, making her puff her cheeks in irritation. Kirby let out a whine, its big, bright eyes glazed with tears, begging her to save it.

Michaela made up her mind, taking a determined step forward, carefully approaching the Celestial Master. She reached with her hand for the cage while she kept her eyes on the smirking beast. As soon as she wrapped her hand around the cage pulls, a red beam shot past mere inches away from her head towards the Celestial Master. The latter was planning to grab her hand when she reached for the cage, but Rafe skillfully stopped him.

Too shocked to move, Michaela tried to process and cope with what she’s just witnessed. She placed the palm of her left hand on her cheek as if it would cool off the heat she felt when that red beam brushed past it.

She focused on not losing her mind, gripping the cage handle tightly with her right hand that her knuckles turned white. While she was doing her best to cling to the ‘reality’ of the situation, the two men hovered in the air, exchanging dozens of moves in a heated fight.

Kirby let out a loud whine, snapping her out of the frenzy of panic she experienced. Michaela looked up, staring with wide eyes at the beautiful yet frightening sight of two spiritual experts fighting.

“Not bad, not bad,” The Celestial Master tutted, grinning. “It’s been a while since I used my full powers to fight someone.”

After saying this, the Celestial Master moved his hands in a flowy manner in the air, performing intricate signs with his hands as a blueish-purple light started forming in front of him. The light has gotten brighter, morphing into a circle of unfamiliar symbols.

Michaela got awestruck, finding it breathtaking that her eyes tingled with tears, as no matter how she imagined a fight between spiritual experts before, this was beyond inconceivable.

She fixed her glare on the circle that was growing in size the closer it reached Rafe. Its aim was similar to that of a guided missile from her world. Her worry and wonder-filled eyes darted towards Rafe at remembering that the other was only a human transmigrated in a mere General’s body, and the other was a Celestial Master from this world.

Rafe stood no chance against an attack of this caliber.

Rafe, however, didn’t look scared nor troubled at all. Still hovering in the air with his hands behind his back, smiling in the face of danger. Michaela gasped when the formation exploded in front of Rafe, crying his name loudly in fear for his safety. A thick white smoke clouded the area where he was floating in the air.

Michaela called Rafe’s name more than once, her heart beating loudly in her ears, knowing that it was her fault that Rafe has gotten into a fight. Her eyes prickled with tears, her knees wobbled, feeling a sudden nausea hit. Michaela’s knees touched the ground, staring in horror at the white smoke and praying for Rafe to survive.

“Your voice is really annoying,” these words resonated in her ears, making her sigh relieved when the smoke dispersed and Rafe appeared unharmed. His gray eyes bored into her own. He had a smile she has never seen before adorning his face. “Do you need to be so loud?” He feigned annoyance, making a smile appear on her lips.

She was still shaking, but her heartbeat got regulated, matching her breathing. Michaela, whose mind got inundated with joy, felt the need to hug someone or something for reassurance. She quickly opened the cage for Kirby, taking it in her arms when it jumped happily towards her. The little pet started exuding its magical powers, making her feel more at peace.

“My turn,” Rafe said with a side grin, moving his hands forward as a red blaze shimmered in his right hand, and a black smoke ball appeared in the other. Michaela watched in puzzlement and amusement as Rafe brought his hands together and both spiritual energies combined, forming a sphere similar to the sun, enclosed by a cloud of black and reddish smoke. It was emitting a crackling sound, unlike the soundless move the Celestial Master used.

Though the fire sphere was small, Michaela could feel the heat it radiated caressing her face, frowning in wonder if Rafe was really a General in this world as he claimed.

Rafe smiled, and the fire sphere moved at an incredible speed towards the Celestial Master. Michaela held her breath, watching in anticipation and a bit of excitement.

The Celestial Master had similar mannerism to Rafe, as he didn’t even bat an eye, taking the hit straight on, and it looked like he absorbed the force of the power to Michaela.

She sat there and watched as two noble fighters took turns in showing off their skills, and you guessed it. Michaela got bored of how anticlimactic this looked. Of course, she didn’t want people to get hurt because of her. And by people, she was more concerned over Rafe’s safety. Yet, the fight was just too dull for her.

The Celestial Master seem to share the same sentiment as he clenched his jaw in what looked like irritation towards Rafe for managing to evade and counterattack his moves.

“I can’t believe that I have to shift into my real form to fight you.” He sounded patronizing and shamelessly conceited to Michaela, who bubbled in excitement at hearing the word ‘shift’. She has imagined what this Master looked like in his beast form, but she was sure that seeing it with her own eyes would be much more enchanting than expected.

Rafe chuckled in disdain, glaring at the Celestial Master. “Give it all you got because I’m not going to hold back.”

The magical veil on the Celestial Master’s face disappeared, and Rafe scowled in bewilderment, staring with a deep frown at the familiar face. “You! I knew it!” He trailed off as the other let out a laugh.

“You’re not the only one who’s keeping secrets. . . I wondered, all this time, why Michaela was traveling with you, treating you like a close friend. I realize now that she must not know the truth about who she is nor who you are, Evil Master.”

Rafe felt a sense of crisis, glancing, at the same time, as the Celestial Master looked towards the ground. The former felt concerned that if Michaela knew who he was in this world and the lies he had to fabricate would abandon him, while the Celestial Master looked confident that she’d stay with him, now that he has revealed his face.

However, the person in concern was nowhere to be seen. Michaela and Kirby seemed as if they have disappeared into thin air.

Michaela didn’t know what happened. One moment she was staring in anticipation for the Celestial Master to shift into his beast form, the next, something pink covered her vision, and she soon found herself in a dark space. The space was in motion as she struggled to stay on her feet.

Michaela called for help in the echoey area and gave up with a huff when she found out that there was nowhere for her to go, as four sturdy walls surrounded her. She focused on not falling on her behind, wondering if this was the Celestial Master’s doing. It could be, she thought. He must’ve distracted Rafe with that silly fight to take her.

Soon enough, she could see an opening and hear forest ambient of rustling leaves, hooting owls, and distinctive distant monstrous growls.

She carefully stepped out of the opening, anxiously looking around, her eyes widening to see Kirby in a larger form, batting its bright eyes at her.

“It was you?!” Her voice cracked, feeling a bit afraid of her cute pet that was in a giant form. She got more surprised when Kirby nodded as if he could understand what she was saying. And he must have understood her as it shifted to its small, adorable size, looking at its chubby feet like a kid getting scolded by their mother.

Michaela wrongly assumed that he didn’t understand human language before since she thought of him like a wild creature, forgetting that she was in a magical world where all beings had a spiritual perception.

“Why did you bring me here?” Her voice wavered, inundated by the eeriness of the environment she found herself in. Kirby, of course, replied by exuding its powers as if trying to make up for what it did. Its soothing powers sure helped calm Michaela, but she was still alert for being in an infamously vicious forest.

“You did this to save me?”

Kirby nodded, emitting an adorable sound, making Michaela smile its way. She felt the need to assure her pet that it wasn’t in trouble.

“You did good,” she said, still looking around. A thought crossed her mind, and a cold chill coursed up her spine, lowering her voice as she stared at her pet. “Don’t tell me this is the forbidden forest?”

Kirby nodded, closing its eyes and looking away as if it was expecting Michaela to snap. The latter felt grateful for Kirby’s powers, or else she would’ve lost her mind from paranoia and panic. She read about this forest, and it was the place where Princess Nirvana lost the few people that survived the Divine Masters’ sudden attack.

Michaela could only pray to survive. Rafe and the Celestial Master must be still immersed in their d**k fight to even notice she was gone, she thought.