Abbe’s POV

I don’t know what is Sora thinking …but we have been sitting in this store for thirty minutes or so…the secret police we so desperately tried to escape from has completely surrounded us.

“Sora-sama, we must escape from here. Sora-sama?”

Ever since I told him the truth about Enma, he seems to have frozen up. I really don’t understand this master, he is too fickle. However, I can understand his heart, if Enma and him were close friends then I understand….

“Abbe….we are surrounded…” Sora-sama finally spoke up.

Was this boy even listening to me? I have been telling him repeatedly that we must run into the crowded place….why did I listen to him and bring him here! My heart is too muddled to know whether his choices bring harm to him or benefit.

***

The secret police was no longer hiding in secret. Once, they realized that their cover had been blown, they openly chased after the Abbe and the person with him. At least thirty or so people in blue uniforms were cordoning off the streets to prevent “normal” people from interfering.

There were some uniformed soldiers on roof tops as well. Very well trained…

Sora calmly observed the situation around him. “I think I may have made a mistake. I completely forgot about our situation.” Sora clarified.

The Abbe was dumb founded; complete loss of words and emotions. How should he react?

“This world ….no the Empire …. Or maybe just Feladonia is very similar to my own home town.” Sora said as he looked at the store. There were many such stores like this in the real world.

“Groceries and take away?” Sora commented as he looked at the items available.

The store owner was sobbing as Sora took a few steps closer to him.

“Please don’t hurt me.” He cried.

“Abbe, why are they not attacking the store? Why have the surrounded us?” Sora asked curiously.

“Master, isn’t it because we have a hostage?”

“We do?” Sora asked while looking around in the small store for the hostage.

“Master, please don’t joke.” The Abbe said while slightly unsure whether his master was joking or being serious.

Sora went to the back of the store and came back out, “I don’t see any hostages…”

“Master the store owner!” The Abbe exclaimed.

“Him?” Sora looked at the sobbing human man who had disgracefully wet his pants.

The Abbe couldn’t understand his master. Did he have a plan or not have plan? Or has he gone mad?

“Well Mr. Store owner you are free to go but….haven’t you forgotten something?” Sora asked.

“…Wh…What?” The store owner asked as two waterfall covered his face. The store owner was certain that the cloaked man was mocking him and was going to kill him soon.

“You didn’t serve us anything, didn’t you say that we must order something?” Sora said.

The Abbe nearly lost his balance and hit the floor. Even the store owner couldn’t help but be surprised.

“I’ll have one your finest dishes. I want to eat a local delicacy.” Sora said.

“Master, we should think of a way to escape!” The Abbe hurried replied. “Why are you ordering a meal! This is no time to be eating!” The Abbe was panicking.

His only conclusion was “Sora-sama” had gone mad.

“Abbe…I think there is a mistake here.” Sora said as he watched the store owner calm down and begin cooking him some food. “Oye! Owner-san put more meat into it! Go all out!”

“Y…yess…” The store owner said. He was completely terrified by the blood thirst the man in the cloak was emitting.

“Sorry Abbe, I was completely distracted. As I was saying, I think there was a mistake in the whole wording of your sentence.” Sora said calmly.

The Abbe looked at Sora in disbelief. Is he serious? Grammar correction?

“It should be ‘I’ need to escape not we. They are after you not me.” Sora corrected the Abbe.

The Abbe frowned.

“You seem to be thinking I want to take part in your adventures, however that is not the case. You made this mess, you need to take care of it yourself.”

“Sora-sama…are you abandoning me?” The Abbe asked in disbelief.

“You forget Abbe, I made it very clear, if our cover is blown we must save our own arses. We will save people later.”

Why is Sora being so cold? The Abbe had no idea.

The store owner put a bowl of ‘local delicacy’ in front of Sora and handed chop sticks.

Sora frowned, he didn’t think his muscles were fine tuned to the level he could eat using chop sticks.

He picked up the fried pieces of meat with his bandaged hands and began gulping them in the most human looking way. Sora did all this while completely ignoring the Abbe.

“Master…” The broken old man said while looking at Sora eat food.

“You can’t have any.” Sora said as pulled the bowl closer to him.

“Master, why are you behaving like this? This is not you master…”

Sora stopped eating and looked at the soldiers, they seemed to have settled down and were shouting out something….what are your demands?

Sora seemed to be enjoying the situation. This became more and more like his own home world and eating such good meat after ages really made him happy. After living on rat meat for four months, normal stale meat from a rundown store tasted like heaven.

“Abbe, I think I know how we can escape…” Sora said with an evil smile.

The Abbe looked at Sora with hope and colour returning to his despair ridden face.

“But for my plan to succeed I need to know everything about your past. Who were your previous masters, how did they die and what were you doing in the Imperial Army as a spy.”

The Abbe fell back into his seat. “Was this what you were waiting for?” The Abbe asked angrily. “You purposefully drove me into a corner? So that I would be forced to tell?”

Sora looked at the Abbe dispassionately and said, “Yes.”

The Abbe lost his will, something was wrong with his master. This was not the master he knew in the desert. Ever since “that” incident, he seems to be acting stranger….no maybe it was ever since he was left waiting at the gates of Feladonia…something changed about him….

“We are running out of time, if they have been trained by my apprentice, they should have begun looking for the schematics of this building and would be breaking in soon.”

“The first master I had…was a human, he died a year into our world. He was killed because of my own incompetence…” The Abbe spoke slowly and full of emotion. It seemed that talking about his past was difficult for him. Tears began rolling down as the Abbe recollected the painful memories.

Sora frowned, he didn’t expect the Abbe to be so emotional about this.

“I don’t have time for this….what is the Alliance after? What does Enma have that the Alliance needs to beat him?” Sora while repenting bringing about a sad past.

“A Goddess.” The Abbe replied while trying to regain his composure. “A Goddess which will heal him again and again no matter how fatal the wound maybe, never let him age, never letting him die….as long as he has her by his side, he will forever remain the Immortal God…”

Sora motioned the Abbe to be quiet.

The Abbe could see displeasure on Sora’s face.

“Sora-sama?”

“Can you not feel that?” Sora asked the Abbe.

The Abbe waited for a second and then felt a blood thirst more overwhelming than his own master’s. The Abbe had never felt such an intense blood thirst and he could barely move from his spot. He wondered how could miss such a killer intent and how was his master still able to move? Surely, Sora was no stronger than himself?

Sora bit his lips, he knew this feeling very well; the black butler. If there had been any hope of them escaping it had been sealed. Sora no longer saw any possibility of ditching the Abbe and saving his own hide. I need to turn this into my favour…

The Abbe was bitter, because of his master's fickleness they were in this very bad situation. Had Sora listened to him, they would have been able to escape...

"I will surrender..." The Abbe said in resignation, realizing the situation was quite terrible.

"Surrender..." Sora said while lost in thoughts. “Abbe, listen to my instructions well now.”

The Abbe looked up at Sora.

“Take the opportunity to escape in the confusion and when all this is over, you must train Maylon and Gustav to become stronger than you ever were. Once their training is complete you three, must separate your path and come out and look for me.” Sora grabbed the store owner who was barely standing upright.

“Master where are you going?” The Abbe asked in distress.

“Look for anyone who surpasses the natural order that is when you know you have found me.” Sora said as he abruptly walked out the store.

The Abbe turned as white as sheet, did his master just turn himself in to give him a chance to escape?

“Sora-sama!” The Abbe got up to stop Sora. However, he stopped when he heard Sora yelling, “Obey my commands!....and Abbe thanks for everything! Remember my words!”

He was completely frozen in his spot and it took him a good two seconds to realize what just happened.

“Master…” Abbe said has he was overwhelmed with emotions.

“Sora-sama, I am unworthy to be your Guardian…” He was bitter that not for a moment he understood his master....his master was always several steps ahead of him....A master protecting his Guardian was unheard off...

"Goodbye" The Abbe said softly as tears trickled down the old man’s eyes.