Chapter 183 Chapter 183 Cool

Deliberately slurring his words- taking his time, he continued sagely;

"Take some time to prepare yourself- mentally, and physically. Being my disciple comes with a lot of sacrifices you know. . ."

His voice lowered a few octaves; ". . .and chief among them being; you must do exactly what I tell you- at all times- no questions."

Despite the coldness of the white space- a snuggling warmth budded inside Stacy's body. Kneeling in Nexus' shadow, she answered quickly;

"Of course sir!" she shrieked enthusiastically; "I will do whatever you say."

"Excellent," he let go of her chin, and pulled her up- taking her shoulders in each of his large hands;

". . .needless to say," he spoke; "Although, I'm not a fan of the world of assassins, I'm also not a big fan of snitches as well. . ."

Her eyebrows shot up immediately- as her attentive eyes burned into him;

". . .so you don't need to worry about me revealing you as the source of my information. . ."

On the girl's face, the apprehension began to dissolve- melting away like mist over the face of the land. It didn't strike her as strange- quite the opposite actually. It simply told her he had her back. That he prioritized loyalty over a false sense of justice.

Her hands trembled- and her glossy eyes melted in their sockets;

"Thank you–" she said; "–for not turning me in. I know it's the right thing to do, but you're–"

"It's nothing," he cut in; "You've promised you're done with that bit, and I believe you. Besides, you can now focus on other things in the future."

She nodded; "But what about my current contract? Leonard will certainly want feedback on this assignment. He seemed pretty intent on that woman dying."

Nexus' eyes flickered for a moment.

Leonard- he was starting to really dislike that name.

"I know," he adjusted his hat; "You can't just up and leave like that. He'll get suspicious. . ."

His eyes narrowed under the circumference of the broad hat- thinking. . .

". . .so, you need to tell him about me."

"About you?" she echoed in confusion.

"Yes, tell him you met me- a good friend of Selina's. And that you hope the Howard family will stay out of their way. Of course, I don't think he will be too pleased to hear that."

"True that," she sighed; "But I don't know your name. . .who do I say is this mysterious friend of Selina's?"

Nexus straightened his back.

And with the shadow of his hat hiding the mischief lurking in his eyes, he said slyly;

"The name's Yang–" he said; "Ni Yang."

The girl's eyes glittered like stars upon hearing his name. A look of awe blazed all over her face as she called his name over and over again in her head-

'That is so cool–' she thought; 'SO COOL. . .'

-----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, back at the herb garden, Selina's heart was basically in her mouth.

Refusing to blink for even a second- standing right behind Nexus (Ni Yang), and feeling the stabbing pain throbbing on her thigh, she stared at Stacy, watching the red girl carefully- planting her icy blue eyes on the younger woman.

Nearly ten minutes had gone by in the illusion.

But to Selina- barely a second had gone by.

From what she had seen, the red girl had closed her eyes- probably preparing for another diabolic illusion. And then, from the corner of her eye (she hadn't been paying attention to him at all), Ni Yang had whipped out a crystal ball thing.

Then the glow came.

White, bright, and invasive, it slowly licked up the sphere- lighting up Nexus' face.

Then suddenly, the red girl dropped to the ground in a sitting position- nearly causing Selina a heart attack! She didn't even have time to observe the paralyzed girl. In an instant, the blinding white light flashed from the orb.

She winced- instinctively raising her hands to cover both her eyes- hoping she hadn't been blinded by the creepy mini-moon.

In that moment of temporal blindness, she felt a tap on her shoulders.

Apprehensive, she jumped back- and thrust out her hand defensively, creating a pathetic ice crystal in the process;

"It's alright Selina," Ni Yang's warming voice boomed; "You can ease up now. We're all good here. . ."

Slowly dropping her hands, she let go of the ice crystal- watching painfully as her environment began to come into focus again. With her head tilted all the way up, her readjusting eyes roved from the clear blue sky above, to the familiar greenery in the landscape- before finally resting on the familiar sight of Ni Yang's young, comforting face.

"Gee," he teased her as he withdrew his hand; "You look like you're about to kill somebody. Relax okay?"

She opened her mouth to say something.

But then her eyes flashed- remembering the dangerous creature that had been seated calmly on the ground;

"Ni Yang!" she exclaimed; "The girl–"

He shifted out of the way- revealing Stacy behind him.

Selina's jaw dropped- and her blood curled. Terror stricken, she shot her head back at Nexus;

"She's up! Don't look in her eyes! Don't loo–"

Nexus slid back into the path in front of her- blocking her way;

"I told you Selina," he echoed seriously; "It's all over. We're all friends here, come look–"

But Selina's eyes were wild and desperate;

"Oh no!" she wailed; "She got you didn't you?! Damn it Ni Yang I told you not to look! I warned you about them eyes!"

Nexus might have actually laughed it this wasn't so serious. The fear in her voice drove her tone up to a squeal. Amused, he reached out to the tall shrub beside him- pulled out a fresh, ripe strawberry- and sank his teeth deep into its flesh- spilling it red juice;

"You know more than anyone else that the sense of taste does not exist in an illusion. . ."

He plucked a fresh one- and tossed it to her.

Selina, still with her back turned to Stacy, caught the tiny red fruit in the air.

"Here," he nudged her; "Try it. . .see if we're still in an illusion or not. . ."

Eyes twitching like a cornered animal- she clutched the piece of strawberry in her hands- eyeing Nexus suspiciously. Finally, she lifted it up to her mouth, and cut into its red skin. The liquid dribbled into her mouth- immediately sending tiny sparks of pleasure along her tongue.

Her eyes lit up.

Nexus smiled at her with his eyes- saying; I told you.

Right away, she spun around to the red girl, and Selina's eyebrows arched in surprise. Her cloudy eyes went round in shock, and the fruit slipped out of her hand.

Looking at her killer right in the face- it was like seeing a whole different person entirely.

The fire in her eyes- that hateful, mean, angry-at-the world fire, had gone out! Her previously scornful lips were now stout, and her face radiated a peaceful glow that definitely hadn't been there before.

"Stacy come here," Nexus ordered.

Selina tensed as the girl meekly trotted right over to Nexus' side- standing there like a whipped puppy. Her eyes were wide- but with a kind of eagerness.

Her hands were clasped together in front of her.

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