Ong Yit Sin's Misc Writings.

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Jason sent Philip home because he was drunk. He always gets drunk at parties. I will never understand why people who can't hold their liquor try to get drunk anyway. I know I can't hold liquor so I avoid drinking. Philip is the opposite. Maybe it's a guy thing.

Most of my other ex-classmates who were just here for the party had left. Ava and Emily lived a block from each other and went home together. Dean drove his father's car and helped Steph carry gifts back to her home. I would had liked to say that I helped, but I really only carried Steph's bag and helped her finish off a chocolate bar on the way back. I was short and I had just thrown someone into a wall...well, that was my excuse anyway.

It was nearly three at night after Steph was at home safely with her gifts. Dean and I stood outside her apartment, waiting for the lift. I remembered a time not long ago when we were alone in front of another lift. Sigh. Awkward.

He looked down at me. I hate it when he looks down at me. He is so god dammed tall, "Where do you live?"

"Why the hell should I tell you." It was a pointless space-filling conversation. He knew where to go. We did this routine every year, but we were never alone before.

I should probably have mentioned this sooner, but Dean and I have a history. Or rather, a lack of history. I had a huge crush on him in my final year and everyone knew about it. Nothing ever happened and I was never sure how Dean felt about it. We talked normally enough over the phone, but in school, with Jason and Philip teasing, we avoided the hell out of each other. Dean never teased me in my face, but my girlfriends had strongly suspected that he made fun of me behind my back. After I graduated, I had a boyfriend and he had a girlfriend. It was just one of those things that we're supposed to look back on after ten years and laugh about it. It's been six years and I suppose we're getting there since we can officially talk to each other in public now. Oh, and did I mention that we're both single now too? Not that it matters because my current lifestyle is not conducive to relationships. Certainly not with civilians, history or not.

The lift arrived and we got in. Then we got into his car. I guess we were both tired enough to avoid bickering.

He dropped me off at a bus stop near the apartment I shared with my sister. I never let anyone go near the building, let alone the apartment. It wasn't because of the building's ugliness or the tight security. The truth is, all the tenants in the building are Cathedrians. The apartment was part of my life that didn't include Steph and Dean. So I never brought non-Cathedrians near the building. Well, except Jeff. But then, he was a special case.

The walk from the bus stop to my apartment involved cutting across some abandoned train tracks and warehouses There's a road but I always use this shortcut since I don't drive. I had crossed the tracks when I felt something wrong. My spidersense was tingling which meant that someone who wasn't a Cathedrian was watching me.

.......
.......
.......
.......
.......

I poured all my energy and strength into my legs and charged with them contained in the strongest part of my body.

"DEAN DUCK!!!" I yelled as I let loose a roundhouse kick, releasing all my contained power at the moment of contact. The kick was completed and I collapsed onto the floor.

That was my ulti, my ultimate move. It's meant as a last resort as it turns me immediately into a weak lump of meat. It doesn't have to be a kick, but using all my power is a must. The more power I have left, the bigger the opponent I can down. It's also a single target skill so I'm useless against mobs. But one thing for sure, everyone I hit with my ulti went down, well, most of the time. I may not have the strength or stamina as others, but I can finish off any target in a fight. Only thing is, it's only one target and I need help after that.

Then Dean was there helping me up. He tried to let me stand on my own but my legs gave way. We both ended up on our knees.

"I'm okay...don't lift me."

He had the strangest look in his eye, "You need medical attention."

Yes, I did. There was no way to heal myself until I had slept like a piggie for six hours. But Dean didn't have to know that.

"Help me get my phone..."

"I got a phone." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his fancy gadget phone thingy.

I grabbed it from him.

"Hey!"

"It's not a good idea to call for an ambulance. Besides, my apartment is nearby. I have friends who can patch me up."

"You're nuts. You need a hospital. I think you broke something."

Truth is, I think I cracked a rib and my right arm was lined with cuts. I probably hit my head. He would be right if I was normal. But I'm not. I can heal myself in less than an hour and some of my friends can do it for me since I don't have any power now. Hospitals take weeks to release patients who have hit their heads. Been there, done that. Not fun.

I managed to find my phone and dialed. Zach, my wing man and best friend, answered with a "Yo."

"Zach, I need help. I'm at the warehouse near the tracks."

There was a click and the line went dead. That's the good thing about wing men, they never ask questions. Not like Dean...

"Who's Zach?"

"Your boyfriend?"

"Jeez that guy's out cold. I think you killed him."

"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?"

He gave me a look I was familiar with...the one that said I couldn't keep up with him, "I was following you to find out where you lived."

Oh. I truly didn't know what to say about that. To be honest, I don't think I've had anyone bother to try to find my apartment before. I had nearly zero social life outside my guild.

Thankfully, Zach arrived and saved me from answering. He took a look at the unconscious guy, then at me... also on the floor, "Babe, I don't like finding you in another guy's arms."

Great, fucking great. The guy decided to be funny. Now Dean was going to get the wrong idea. I scowled and gave Zach my best annoyed look. He laughed.

"You're Zach?" That was Dean. Zach nodded. Then Dean pointed at the unconscious guy, "Who is he?"

Zach rolled him over and pulled down the collar on the back of his shirt. Sure enough, there was a tattoo there on the back of his neck. A Tombstone. But only Zach and I could see it. Civilians cannot see guild tags. Both of us were a little shocked. There are rules, even among enemies. And one of those rules included not ambushing girls right in front of their headquarters. But that's another problem for another time.

Zach made a quick phone called then addressed Dean, "Can you watch this guy for a while? I called a couple of friends to pick him up. They'll be here in a few minutes, I'm going to take Jess back."

He lifted me, carefully avoiding my injured arm then started back towards the building. Somewhere between the first security check and the infirmary, I fell asleep.

***

I woke up to the familiar smell of the infirmary. I lifted my arms and saw that all the cuts were gone without a single scar. So I tried to sit up and determined that my head was also okay. There were no pains in my chest so I guess the ribs were taken care off too.

Alethea came in as I was trying to get into my shoes. If she had healed me, I had nothing to worry about. She had no offensive skills for the company but she specialized in healing. That was worth more than my ulti in my opinion.

"He was dagger. The bugger came out of no where," I told her.

She nodded, "They're questioning him now. You're okay, just make sure you drink enough water."

We both smiled. I have a thing about water. I hate drinking it. I'll take almost anything else such as sodas, tea, milk but I hate drinking plain water. And coffee. God forbid if someone offered me a coffee... I would hit him.

My shoes were on and I walked to the door slowly, "How long was I out?"

"Four hours."

"Not nearly enough."

"Yeah, you should go back to sleep after getting some food."

"My thoughts exactly."

She handed me my bag, "Take care."

"You too."

Then I left the infirmary and made my way to the single lift at the back of the building that leads to the apartments. The infirmary is on the first floor near the back of the building for emergency cases and the first six storeys of the building consists of offices and other facilities. All the apartments were above. Only one lift led to the apartments so clients, and enemies, would not stumble into them by accident. Not that it mattered because no one went anywhere without us knowing. Every single inch of the building is wired. Even the lifts and apartment halls. The interior of the apartment bedrooms were the only exception.

I had to stop at the lift to find my damm key. After rummaging through my bag for the third time, I found it and press the little button that activated the lift. I also found Dean's phone in my bag. I guess I must have been still clutching it when Zach carried me back.

I got out at my floor-lucky number thirteen. I suppose you could call the entire floor my apartment. Once you exit the lift, you're in the hall, the main living room. The center of the room is the TV area and there's a small kitchen beside the lift. The other three walls have four doors each, all leading to a bedroom. Those are our personal rooms. The best part is there's a bathroom for every two rooms. Which means that my room is connected to a bathroom which is connected to my sister's room. There are a total of seven people on this floor. I guess thirteen isn't a popular number.

I headed straight for my own room and headed for the bathroom. I had to get the blood off me. I hate blood. Sleep and food never take priority when there's blood.

I felt better after a shower and clean jammies. But I was dead tired. If I wasn't injured I would be weak but not tired. Healing makes me hungry and sleepy.

I lay down on the bed and shook all the contents out of my bag. Then I got my phone and called Zach. There was three rings then nothing. He rejected my call. Probably getting questioned too. I would have liked to say that the mini fridge in my room had food. But I already knew all there was inside was chocolate and Pepsi. I had enough chocolate so I got a can of Pepsi and went back to the bed.

Now that I was back safely, there were a few issues to take care of.

One-I needed food and sleep.

Two-I had to return Dean his phone. With the injuries he thought I had, I should probably meet him in a few days. Either that or meet him with my arms all bandaged up just for show and hope he never noticed any of the other injuries. Most of what I remembered was blood from the cuts on my arm anyway. I could get Zach to return his phone but I wanted to talk to Dean. Just to make sure he's okay. Well, and also to make sure he didn't suspect anything. I had to convince him that I was just randomly mugged not targeted.

Three-I had to find out why that guy attacked me. That Tombstone tattoo was all too familiar. It belonged to our biggest rival guild, Legion. Our world might be ruthless and bloodthirsty at times but there are always politics involved. Always. There are a few rules that are never broken. You never let civilians witness a fight and you don't start a fight that would fuck up guild politics. Our politics with Legion is more complicated compared to other guilds. Part of it is because we're definitely adversaries. Like the Empire and Rebel Alliance. Also, any alliances made with any other guilds generally revolve around the power struggle between light and dark side. Of course, they don't think of themselves as the dark side. But then, neither do we. Hell, that alone makes my point on the rules of engagement-no individual is allowed by their guilds to do anything stupid enough to start a war.

Then there's Jeff. He's a member of Legion. He's also my sweetie. Or rather, was. I'm not really sure where we stand at the moment. It's one of those time-out things. I didn't know his allegiance when I first met him and neither did he know mine, but we got to know each other pretty well before we found out. Maybe too well. There are some Legion members I would call my friends and it complicated the hell out of the enemy title. They may have a completely different philosophy on war than I do, but they aren't evil people. Don't get me wrong, Legion has it's fair share of fucking evil bastards, but I've met some decent guys and girls there too.

Eventually, it was our own loyalties that drove a wedge between me and Jeff. On official guild encounters things were simple enough as we were both adult enough to take our own sides and not take it personally with each other. Our private couple time was more than fine too. It was the gray areas in between that we couldn't figure out. Like when another of your colleagues tried to kill your girlfriend on her way home. But Jeff's a nice guy and a valuable asset to Legion. Which meant that I, of all people, should have been the least likely to get attacked by one of his own. Jeff wasn't anywhere dominant in that guild which operates like a wolf pack, but they needed him happy and willing. That was one of the reasons I wasn't tied to a chair and forced to join them. I had my loyalties and Jeff respected that. Even if Legion leaders didn't get that, they weren't going to force the matter. It did score a lot of brownie points with my management though.

There was a knock on the door and Zach poked his head in. Only my sister and Zach had a key to my room. I smelt cheese and my stomach gave a small sound halfway between a growl and a whine. A bowl of macaroni and cheese appeared in front of me and I began to tuck in as Barry appeared at the door.

Barry's one of the management. He's a nice guy too and cares more about his members than politics. He was on my side on the Jeff issue so I trust him more than some of the other management. That he was here meant that this was officially guild business.

"How are you feeling?" That was Barry, always with the pleasantries. I should also mention that he is one of our liaison officers, dealing with the political shit behind the scenes.

"Not good. Not bad. Mostly tired so you should get right to the point."

He nodded, we all knew how tiring healing could get, "He won't say anything. He's definitely new or we'll have seen him before. Maybe too new to know the rules. We've sent out requests to our allies. None of them have him in their systems."

"No one's too new not to know the fucking rules, " Zach said. He had a point.

Barry shrugged, "You know Legion, they'll take anyone. But we know for sure they won't do something this stupid. That a rookie decided to join them to take a potshot at us is the best guess we've got at the moment."

I wanted to point out that the potshot hadn't been to us, but Zach pointed that out before I swallowed my food.

"Yeah, that goes with the rookie theory too. A newcomer may not know about Jeff." Actually, not a lot of people know about us. Our close friends, some senior members on both sides, my management and his dominants, yeah, but that was about it. Jeff kept his work pretty private. It's why he's valuable to Legion. In our world of political, bloody guild games, Jeff's position is like a game master. He operated on his own like the Oracle in the Matrix. Fucking sacred. But it didn't mean that he couldn't take sides.

"Are you going to keep him locked up?" That was the most important question. I didn't want someone who wanted to kill me out on the street.

Barry shook his head, "No. You know we can't. We're not Legion."

"You can't let him loose. Not yet anyway," Zach replied.

Barry looked me in the eye, "Jeff can take this guy back to Legion on his way out." I guess he knew we weren't really talking at the moment. Everyone seemed to know my business.

I sighed.

"You need to talk to him," Barry said gently. I nodded, but I definitely lost my appetite.

Zach put his arm around my shoulder, he's my best friend. He'd been there for me when things broke down, "I'll come with you."

I shook my head. I had to deal with this on my own. Besides, this was official guild shit. It should be easier than personal stuff.

So I guess the question is...why does it feel so god damned personal?

***

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Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6