Ghost Town

The trio reappeared in an alleyway; Ciel is now equipped with casual clothing and not pyjamas. A second later Ciel’s phone beeps.

"Natoru says he sent us to his hideout, and we should be careful," Ciel said, looking through his phone, "and an emoji which I would rather not say out loud." Ciel returned his phone to his pocket. “For a man as old as he is, he can be so cringe,” he murmured.

“So what do we do next?” Trixie asked.

"I can fly above and look around," Hubris said before proceeding to levitate ten centimetres in the air.

“Can you go any higher by any chance?”

“I-It’s a work in progress,” he returned to the ground.

"How about we just walk around?" Ciel said. “Natoru said this is the place, so we should find something eventually.”

"Let's go with that then," Hubris said, realising his ability to fly wasn't impressing anyone.

With that, they began their walk. When they stepped out of the alleyway, they saw a ghost town. There was no sign of life anywhere and the buildings.

“It’s almost like someone dropped a nuke on this place,” Hubris pointed out.

"Well, you are half right." Ciel said, “From what Natoru sent, this is the product of a fight between two immortals.”

“You mean they are able to do this much damage?”

“The immortals that fought here were minor gods; that’s what Natoru sent, at least.”

The immortals that did this weren't even all that strong? Hubris said. "Oh yeah, about him, are you sure we should have left Natoru tied at the base?"

"Don't worry about that; if he wanted to free himself, he would." Ciel said, "If he didn't feel restrained, he would have handled it himself."

"Why are you and Natoru after this guy anyway?"

"He killed my mom," Ciel said. "She died right in front of me."

That's not the right way to continue a conversation. Hubris didn't know what to say after a reply like that, but he was saved by his instincts. Something's wrong.

"It looks like whoever caused the explosion was able to completely decimate this town." He must be fairly strong. Trixie said. "I guess this means he's onto us; it isn't safe out in the open. We shou—"

BOOM

It was sudden, but Trixie was quicker; the ground beneath them imploded and caved in. When the dust cleared, Trixie levitated in the air, holding both Hubris and Ciel by the collars of their shirts.

"I guess staying out in the open wasn’t the best idea," Hubris said while in the air. “It looks like he is able to cause explosions.”

"He must be watching us from somewhere." Trixie said, then waited. There are no explosions. "It seems he has no way of attacking us in the air."

"That bastard, I'm going to make him regret messing with us." Ciel said, punching his fist into his palm, "Hey Trixie, drop me; I'm going to find that bastard."

"How are you going to avoid his attacks?"

"I will figure that out once I'm on the ground."

Trixie sighed; it is obvious she is used to dealing with this stuff. "Just don't die before you get to him."

"I wasn't planning on it."

The moment Trixie let go of Ciel, his elemental powers became active; his entire body got covered in flames as he looked like a falling ball of fire. When it hit the ground, it dispersed, and Ciel was gone.

A diversion elemental trick—I have to learn one of those. Hubris made a mental note: "Will he be ok?" He asked Trixie.

"Don't worry about him; he has always been without the slightest bit of caution. This is nothing new."

After a moment an explosion could be heard in the distance. The Nisekami is now targeting Ciel.

Trixie set Hubris down and waited; there was no sign of an explosion.

"We have to find out where he's watching from."

Hubris looked around and gestured. "It's that building over there," he said, pointing at one of the destroyed buildings.

"How do you figure?"

"Because Ciel looked there before he left," Hubris replied. “Also, they are hiding it, but I can sense a presence in that building.”

“Wait, back up. What do you mean by ‘Ciel looked there’?”

“He was trying to hide it, but he had been looking there for quite some time; my guess is the enemy is there.”

“Of course he would go on his own.” Trixie came to the realisation that Ciel wouldn’t want her or someone he just met to be in something this dangerous because of him. “We have to go after him,” she said after a sigh, “and why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“To respect is a choice.”

Trixie reached into her pockets and tossed Hubris a potion. "It's untested, but I have high hopes for it." She pulled out a potion.

She's just trying to make me test another one of her potions. “What’s it for?”

“You can’t fly just yet, right? That potion will help with that.” Trixie said, “It’s a reproduction of my float potion; it’s more stable now. We should be faster with that.”

“Do I really have to?” 'Hubris', he said, holding out the potion.

“Yes, you do; we have to get there before Ciel confronts him. Ciel is currently the fastest of us three; flying should at least lower the gap.”

Hubris took the potion in one gulp, but nothing happened.

“Nothing’s happening.”

“I feared as much; it’s got a delay.”

“Can’t you just carry me?”

“What are you telling a girl to do?” Trixie looked at Hubris with a disappointed face. “I’m not the most physical anyway; carrying you and Ciel before took a lot out of me.” Trixie revealed, “Let’s just continue walking for now.”

Trixie was really keen on fighting, although she liked her occasional battle with some Nisekami with Natoru; after all, it gave her the chance to test her spells and potions, but this was different.

She had known Ciel since they were nine, and she believes she is the reason Natoru didn't get to his mother in time.

He never blamed her, not even once. He became her first friend [test subject] after Natoru took her in, so she thought she should return the favour by helping him with this at least.

***

At the top of the building Hubris mentioned, there was a man sitting on the roof. It was Ted, the man whom Ciel is after. He watched as Hubris and Trixie made an effort to get to him.

He turned on his back and said, "Aren't you going to wait for your friends? That will make killing you all that much faster."

"I would rather they didn't see your ugly mug." Ciel said, 'I've finally found him…' Haven’t I?… So why am I… so calm? Ciel wondered.