Bourne Chronicles Pt. 2

While some were bound by the chains of marriage, others were bound by… actual chains:

Bound in chains, I was being held in a filthy cell.

That other room where they were torturing me at least had a bed and a carpeted floor…

What a load of shit.

I heard noises — the guards rising as a light appeared outside the cell door.

"S-sir, why are you here?"

"Pleasure to see you too, Guard Russel."

"I… I apologize for my manners, sir. I just didn't expect someone of your importance here."

"It's all right."

The voice of the man who'd come in was oddly comforting. Unlike the guards' rough voices, his sounded like it had passed through some divine filter before it reached my ears.

I couldn't make out who he was. My face was too busted.

"What's the reason for the boy's arrest?"

"This kid's trouble. It's not his first time here, but it's his first arrest for violent acts. Let me grab his file." The guard fumbled for the papers. They were kind of filthy. "Assault, robbery, threats, contempt of authority. The boy's been going around handing out beatings to a bunch of smugglers and dealers."

I found a phone in my pocket. It was full of contacts. I checked most of them — they were the city's outcasts. I figured I must've been doing some kind of undercover thing until I got caught.

They all called me Bourne.

Yeah, definitely a fake name. If you ask me, it was because of it that I got caught. I could think of at least ten better names.

On my path I shattered countless bones, a slick trail of blood at my heels. Sadly, I learned nothing about my true identity or what I was actually infiltrating. Fighting felt embarrassingly simple — my body moved on autopilot, and, of course, I had all that magic power backing me.

I had to be a soldier. There was no way I was a civilian.

The chains hadn't nullified my power, but I was so tired it was impossible to fight the guards. The only way to escape was to convince them to let me go.

"I see. Let me speak with the boy."

The man barked an order and the guards flung the cell open.

A strange figure stepped inside. At first I thought my busted eyes were playing tricks, but no — it was real.

He wore an enormous glass pyramid over his head that completely hid his face. Inside the frosted glass all you could see was a blinking yellow light.

Without a word he placed his hand on my battered face. I felt the cold leather of the leather gloves he was wearing. The bastard didn't even want to get dirty with my blood.

At that touch I felt a weird connection for a moment. I tried to pull away, but the guards held me down.

"Let me go! LET ME GO! AAAAAAH!" I screamed and collapsed against the triangle man's chest.

"Soldier, look at what they've done to you. But it's okay, I came for you."

Huh? He called me "soldier"?

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, I know. You were my soldier, but you got lost on a mission. Fate was cruel to you, but fear not — I came to bring you home."

For a few seconds, I felt him invading my mind — stealing my thoughts. But it was too late, my consciousness was fading, I couldn't fight him.

As he ran his hand over my face, all the deformations, bruises and wounds peeled away. The metal plates stuck to my skin clinked to the floor. Even the spot that had been shaved filled in, my hair evening out to normal.

"It's all right. I know who you truly are. You want to rest, don't you? Then just shake my hand. Accept being my soldier again."

I was too exhausted to think. Reality felt heavy; all I wanted was to sleep. With my last strength I took that strange man's hand and passed out.

"Sir, did you make a contract with this scumbag?" the guard asked.

"This scumbag will be one of the new chosen. Take him to my stronghold — I need him alive," he said, ordering some of the soldiers. “Now tell me, what’s his name? His madness… it came from a curse. This curse carries a rather unique signature.”

"He's Bourne Zero, sir. From that noble family."

"Ah, yes. I know them well." The man snapped his fingers and two ninja-like figures slipped out from behind him. "I want you to follow every Zero, and send me a record of all their actions. There is a God among the people of Luminocity, and we need to make him show his wings before we can clip them.”

"Yes, Lord Oracle." The two vanished again.

"Congratulations, Guard Russel. It was you who made the arrest."

"Y-yes, sir I— Arghh."

The guard's head was caught by the enormous hand of the Oracle. Energy flowed from that hand through the man's body, making him visibly stronger.

"I'm officially promoting you to captain."

With his torn clothes, the guard had grown at least a foot taller; his muscles ballooned and trembled, blood leaking from his mouth.

"Lord Oracle, only higher-ranked officers can promote someone. Sir, despite your importance, you don't have that authority…" protested an older man — the local captain.

"Huh… Will you let him decide your fate, Captain Russel?" the Oracle sneered.

The enormous guard, his bones cracking with every step from muscles unaccustomed to such power, slowly approached the old captain.

“I-I was just joking… It can be the captain… I-I… NO!”

The guard, in his monstrous form, grabbed the captain's head and began squeezing it, turning it redder and redder, until...

“Stop! That's enough...” said the Oracle.

Lying on the floor, the old captain coughed.

“Who is the captain now?”

“He is, sir...”

“Good. I would hate to lose such a valuable member as you, Captain... I mean, guard. Well, if you'll excuse me.”

The Oracle stepped forward, facing the beautiful sky head-on.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star… Shine as much as you like, entity. Soon, you will be mine."