Children of a Lesser God 160 Heading Home

Laz and Leona were a bit tired as it was already the early morning hours when Black Rose arrived to start cleaning up the warehouse. Even Ruby was feeling it a bit since she had been up just as long as them. As such, when the boring portion of the warehouse cleanout was going to take place, Ruby drove Leona and Laz back to the club to drop off Laz before going to bring Leona home. Laz offered to take her home on the bike, but since the car was so much warmer, she declined.

As Laz was getting out of the car, he suddenly remembered something.

"Ruby, make sure to give Leona your number. We're going to be doing this thing soon and you should come along," Laz said a bit vaguly.

"A thing? And why can't I get your number? Or give you mine?" Ruby asked, feeling a bit a put out.

"Well..." Laz brought out his cell phone which he had kept in his pocket. It was broken beyond repair and in fact, had a bullet still stuck in the middle of it that he had bothered to pull out.

Both girls saw the phone and couldn't help but laugh. After Laz said his goodbyes and walked over to the bike though, they couldn't help but look at each other,

"How did he not die?" Ruby asked, knowing Leona knew him better than she did.

"I don't know much about his ability or even what he is capable of. But I know he's strong. Far stronger than he has shown us," Leona commented while watching him walk away.

"How much do you know about him?" Ruby asked as she speed out of the parking lot.

"Some. More than most, but probably not everything," Leona answered honestly.

"He's a bit weird..." Ruby said, thinking out loud.

"Weird?"

"Yeah. I mean, you saw him today. You saw the mess inside the building and I showed you the random blood splatter and everything. It's like... he should have died, but he didn't. It looked more like a battle zone than a raid. I asked Lady Mathilda to do a reconstruction of what happened because I was curious. Turns out she was already going to do it anyway on Jade's orders. I guess our big boss is wondering just how far he has grown."

"And besides that, just that... feeling coming off from him..." Leona said, thinking back about it.

"That was killing intent. It's not something that normal people would feel or that normal people give off. It's only after you've fought and killed that you get a feeling for it. But his was quite overwhelming. I really don't know how many people he killed in there, but it got to him. It will take a bit before he gets used to it," Ruby said with conviction. Although she had been through quite a few jobs, she would normally knock out one or two targets max. You would only ever need to kill more than that if you somehow messed up.

"So he will be ok?" Leona asked. She felt like a child talking to an adult. Actually, she had felt this way for a while. Ever since she had met and interacted with Laz, she felt like she knew nothing of the real world. She was always so cold, thinking about how horrible her life was and the things that had happened to her, but only lately has she been able to understand how lucky she has been.

"Yeah. He'll be just fine. He just needs some time to clear his head. No worries little sis. We will check in on him in a few days. Besides, it sounds like he wants us to do something...I wonder just what kind of dirty thing that boy has in his head?" Ruby asked, rather playfully.

"It's probably some kind of training. He has been the one teaching me all about using my ability. Me and my brother and his girlfriend."

"Really? He's been teaching you?" Ruby asked while brightening up.

"Yes. He seems to know a lot about everything involving energy and the way abilities can be used."

"So... could he teach me?" Ruby asked, a bit interested.

"I don't see why not.... But arn't you from that special group? Can't they teach you?"

"Well, they know the normal way of killing. But when it comes to things like abilites... I get the feeling like they don't really understand it. In fact, from how I understand it, all of our info comes from the dealings that our boss has had with Laz..." Ruby said, thinking it over.

"He's that important to you all?"

"Strangely, most of the members of our group have developed abilites, including the boss. This was one of the reasons she wants us to be close to him. She feels like he will be the best source of information going forward, in ways that you can't find anywhere else," Ruby said in all seriousness.

"Amazing..." Leona got lost in thought again. She had known Laz for several weeks now and she thought she had a pretty good grasp on him. Yet it turns out that the knowledge and guidence he gave her and she took for granted was far more valuable than she thought. He felt more and more like a box in which surprises just kept popping out from.

"So... what do you plan to do?" Ruby asked Leona.

"About what?"

"Going forward. This thing tonight, that we just did. This isn't going to be a one time thing. But more than that, this world is changing. People like us... we are going to need to stick together if we want to stay safe."

"So...?"

"So... I'm saying... you should join us. Join Black Rose." Ruby had been thinking about it since she had seen Leona fight. She could tell that despite her relatively gentle upbringing, Leona had what it took to be a part of their organization. Although she would need to get approval from a higher up member, she didn't think it would be a problem if Jade knew about Leona getting training from Laz. If anything, Leona would be more valued because of it.

"But I, I'm not. I'm not like you..." Leona didn't know how to respond and got a little nervous, which Ruby felt was quite cute. It was a drastic change from the forward and agressive girl who had literally stabbed people through the heart when the situation called for it.

"You don't need to be like me, just be you. And it's not like you have to show up and start whacking people left and right. The idea behind an organization is to teach you everything you need to know to survive and give you the chance to use that to make money."

Although Ruby was thinking in a rather general way about recuriting someone she found to be like minded, Leona was truely tempted. It probably doesn't have to be repeated that she had been concerned about the future and this was giving her a direction to go in.

"What about Laz? Will he join?" Leona asked, trying to make up her mind.

"No... He won't."

"Why not?" Leona asked, confused. It seemed like he had a good relationship with the boss, so why not join something that you fit into.

"Well first, he's male. And second... Well, I'm not to sure about this part. But from what we were told, he's got things in his life that make it impossible for him to be tied down. He's like, a drifter or vagabond. You may run into him one day, but the next day he might be gone. He's not ment to stay in one place, at least not yet," Ruby explained as best as possible. These were actually the musings of Jade when she had addressed the group. People wanted to know who this mysterious guy was that seemed to be viewed as special and why he couldn't have been made to be used by the group. It was hard enough for Jade to convince them that it wouldn't be a good idea.

"So then, he will just leave?" Leona asked, looking a bit nervous.

"He won't just leave. But that doesn't mean he can stay either."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does. 'I hate to see you leave but love to watch you go?' That sounds about right?" Ruby tried to joke.

"UGH..." It was a bad joke, but Leona got the meaning. Laz wasn't just going to off and disappear one day, but he couldn't stay. Although she was sad hearing this, it also was an enlightening moment for her. The thoughts appeared in her head as she gradually arranged them. Seeing her be quiet and look out the window, Ruby couldn't help but smile at this little sister of hers. It seemed like she had come up with the same thought Ruby had realised a long time ago.

'You can't stop a blazing meteor or divert a raging tsunami. You can only hope to leave your mark on it so that it remembers you.'

Ruby continued to drive while Leona was thinking, however both of their thoughts had strayed away from the night at hand and instead had drifted towards the future and one young, pale skin boy. Neither could help but reach up and gentle squeeze the earrings in theirs ears before laughing to themselves. Of course the gesture was missed by each other, causing them both to break into fits of laughter.

...

Laz never bothered to go back inside the club. He just got on his old, somewhat rusted motorcycle and took off back home, his pockets lined with his share of the money from the warehouse. With this, he could live a little bit, but he wasn't going to stop working just yet. Once he got back to the appartment, he would have to boot up a new phone and call Leo with his new number. Thinking about what had happened, Laz didn't know how to feel. He was exicted that everything went ok, but it could have gone much worse. He would have died if it wasn't for his special link and the girls didn't have anything like that. And although he might be immortal at the moment, that was also fully dependant on the one at the other end of the link. If she decided to cut him off one day, he was screwed and wouldn't even know what happened.

The only solution was he had to get stronger. But even for that, he needed her. As helpful as Vivi was, she didn't know about human paths. Or maybe she didn't know things yet. Either way, Laz needed guidance that only she could give.

Thinking about Vivi gave him another headache though.

She was not going to be happy with how things had turned out tonight and more so about him doing something amazingly stuipid. They had talked before and she had warned Laz to treat that woman's power over him as a 'the world is already fucked up beyond all recognition' type of last resort. Despite that, he had used it today.

'Sigh,'

The ride which should have taken longer was over before Laz knew it and his trailer was sitting before him with all the lights being off. Walking along the dirt path to the main door, Laz couldn't help but feel like an unfaithful husband who had just returned home from a night of cheating.

As quiet as he could, Laz snuck inside, taking off his shoes and his jacket before stripping down to just his boxers. As expected, Vivi was already asleep on the bed as he crawled in, careful not to wake her. After listening to her even breathing he gently closed his eyes, thinking that maybe he would get away with it. Just before he was about to slip into dreamland though he felt a paw smack against his cheek a couple times, causing him to open his eyes. He quickly noticed the icey like blue eyes of Vivi a few mere inches from his own.

*You're going to tell me everything that happened when you wake up. And don't even think about lying to me!* She said with conviction.

"Yes mam," was all he could respond, knowing he was in trouble.

Vivi didn't say anything else and ended up laying down while curling up on his chest. She could smell the strong stench of blood and sweat on him and although for most, that would be off putting. But for her wolf like nose and character, it was the smell of her family having returned after a successful hunt. She knew he did something he shouldn't have, but that was something for later. For now, she just smiled and breathed in deeply, knowing that he was safe and had come home to her.

Chapter end