The bar would be closed for a while, but that didn't matter to John. He was a big fan of money, but if he'd wanted to turn a good profit from this business, he would've done a better job of running it.
No, the bar had always been something to keep him busy, a way of gathering information and keeping himself sane at the same time. He'd gotten more than enough money from the Demon Cultist Subjugation Squad.
So, he didn't need money. What he needed was time. And time was something he had in abundance.
He planned to work on Prota's abilities, helping her learn how to control the strange power she knew nothing about. Since it didn't seem like this was an ability they could just ask others about, the only way to learn would be through trial and error. Conveniently, it just so happened that he had a sentient soul that could resist Prota's ability and stop him from dying.
In this fashion, John was the perfect practice dummy. Her routine would be simple: make contact, extract Zero, control herself, and repeat until she can hold her own. It was a convenient set of circumstances. John was probably the only person who could ever train Prota like this. How simple.
Of course, when one thinks of how simple a plan is, it's never truly that simple.
"Um… nothing's happening," John said after placing his hand on Prota's head. "Hey. Zero. What's going on?"
"Hm… Why should I tell you?"
"Wow. What a great question. You just love making everything as hard as possible, don't you?" John grumbled, but he didn't push any further than that.
Just because he let it drop didn't mean everyone else would. Prota found herself agreeing with his words. Was Zero not here to help? It seemed like he knew what was going on. And why was John just letting the subject drop? This was the man who seemed to argue over even the most minor of problems.
She looked up at Zero, staring at him, pleading with her eyes. No words were said, but clearly, she was accomplishing something because Zero began to look uneasy.
"Eh… hey, Prota, I really can't say."
Prota continued to stare at him like a cat begging for treats.
"Ugh…" Zero held his face in his hands, trying to hide his discomfort. "Seriously, you're not gonna like the answer."
Prota wasn't going to take that.
"Really. John didn't like it either. He still doesn't like it."
"Just do it, Zero. We can just get through it, and then she'll learn, and then she just won't question it again after that."
Zero sighed, shrugged, and opened his mouth, a bored look on his face. John, too, looked disappointed, as if neither expected the soul to speak. Even after Zero spoke, though, Prota didn't understand what all the hype was about. What came out of his mouth were perfectly normal words.
"Prota's soul has been reacting to danger. Since we've established that you're not a threat, it's no longer reacting."
His eyes shot up in confusion, surprised by his own words. John frowned in confusion.
"Huh? What the hell? It works for her, but not me? What is this?" he exclaimed, eyes flaring up in rage.
"...this is weird," Zero said, frowning. "I swear it shouldn't be-"
"Every time I ask you a question, you answer with that stupid censor, but now, oh, now you're just the merchant of exposition, aren't you? What the fuck? I thought we were on the same side here! Seriously, you're a little bitch, you know that?"
"N- no, I swear, it's not intentional-"
"Not intentional, my ass!" John swore. "You always do this shit, I-"
"■■■■■■■■"
There was a brief silence, filled only by the sound of Zero's panting. He looked at John with sad eyes, trying to make him understand. And he did. John stood there, stunned. He sat down slowly, processing what had just happened.
"So I don't get any freebies," he said, laughing hollowly. "Right. Of course. What was I thinking?"
Prota looked at Zero in confusion, and it would be a lie to say there wasn't a little bit of fear there, too. The sound that came out of his mouth was a continuous beep, almost as if something was audibly blocking the words that were coming out of his mouth. The space in front of Zero's mouth had also distorted to prevent lip reading. In short, it was a full censorship of information.
"I'll explain later," John assured Prota as he looked back up, running his hands through his hair. "It's… it's complicated. Damn. I- whatever. Let's just keep going."
Once again, John's willingness to let the subject drop was far from contagious. Prota needed answers. What in the world had just happened? Her confusion, however, went unnoticed. He just kept going like nothing had happened.
"Anyways… it reacts to danger, so- wait. You said it's her soul?"
"Well, yeah. What else would it be?"
"Her mana core?"
"Would a mana core have sentience like that? No. That's her soul."
"Could you just… I don't know, explain her ability?"
Zero frowned. "I mean… I guess I could try. No point in giving up now, right?"
He took a deep breath, getting ready for the worst but hoping for the best.
"Prota has the ability to take mana from other beings. If they have no mana, she takes their soul instead, forcibly converting it to mana." He paused. "Hm. How interesting. Maybe the [Author] is just trying to make things easier?"
John just shook his head in disgust.
"You don't think this would be more interesting to read if it were, say, learned through fighting? I'm not gonna question it, dude. Just keep going. So, what? Is this soul sentient or something? How the hell is a soul doing this in the first place?"
"Well… it's probably a bit like me. It has its own "ego," so to speak, so it isn't consciously under Prota's control. However, right now, that ego is pretty weak. Whatever it's doing, it's doing it out of instinct." Zero shrugged. "That's all there is to it. She needs to learn how to control it because, as of right now, no one can control it."
They were talking like Prota wasn't there, but she didn't mind. If they could figure out something, anything, then it was the end result that mattered. It wasn't like she had anything to add to the conversation, anyway.
John got up and stretched. "Alright. She needs to be scared, right? So how about-"
He suddenly leapt forward, knocking her over as he grabbed her shoulders. It wasn't enough to harm her, but it was definitely enough to scare the crap out of her. Like before, time seemed to freeze, and Zero was once again extracted from his body.
"You could have warned me!" the soul complained, struggling again. "Do you think this is comfortable for me?"
"If I'd told you I was going to do this, it wouldn't have been a surprise," John pointed out. "Ok, Prota. Just like last time. Deep breaths. Focus."
Prota nodded, getting ready to try, but Zero had something to add. "Oh, one more thing. Prota. If you can, don't pull all of them back this time. Try to make it so that one tendril is still there."
She frowned, but she had no reason to deny Zero's request. Could she do it? She couldn't tell. She no longer had a grasp of what she could or could not do.
Those pointless thoughts vanished as soon as she started the herculean task of controlling her ability. Her mind quivered under the mental stress it required. It was like trying to read a book while juggling three balls at once. Each tendril required her attention, and pulling them back one at a time wasn't working. She needed to find a way to control them as a whole while maintaining each one as individuals.
Slowly, though, they started falling under her control. A sense of calm, a sort of elation as the tendrils stopped resisting her requests. They weren't quite obedient, but they were no longer rebellious. Somewhere deep inside, a flicker of hope began to rise. Squeezing her eyes shut, she did her best to keep that one tendril hanging on, stopping it from pulling back.
"Ah!" Prota gasped as she lost control, and the last tendril snapped back.
She flinched as if expecting the recoil to hit her, but thankfully, nothing of the sort happened.
"Hm… it doesn't look like she'll get it right away," John frowned, rubbing his chin as he watched Prota regain her breath. "Zero, what do you think?"
"It was pretty good for a first try," Zero nodded. "Do you know how hard it is to control a soul?"
"If souls are anything like you, then yeah, I think I've got a pretty good idea."
Zero sighed. "John. You don't control me. I'm sentient. You can talk to me, you can suggest things, but you don't control me. Prota's soul isn't quite at my level. She has to control it. It's not like you and me. Seriously. You don't get how hard it is."
"Can't be as hard as dealing with you," John muttered as he got up.
Zero, meanwhile, turned back to Prota. She was scared, but for the first time since John had brought her in, there was a sense of accomplishment in her little heart. The rope that tethered her to life had strengthened just a little more.
"Hey, Prota. Do you think you send those tendrils out on your own?"
"...?"
"I mean, do you think you can have them pull at me without John scaring you like that?"
"Mm…" her half-closed eyes shut fully at the question.
She rocked back and forth as she tried to figure out the answer. She took so long, in fact, that John began to grow bored, pacing back and forth. It wasn't that hard, just a yes or no question-
"...John," Zero whispered.
His eyes snapped open and was greeted with quite the curious sight.
The black tendrils were coming out of her chest, slowly snaking around. Prota's arms were out as if trying to feel the air around her, and the tendrils were slowly but surely making their way to John.
"Ha. Seriously. What was the [Author] thinking?" Zero whispered, trying not to break the small girl's focus.
"What? Is she not supposed to learn it this quickly?"
Zero snorted. "Of course not. Well, that's just my opinion. For her to learn something like this so quickly is surely unfair."
"Is the ability that broken?" John frowned.
The tendrils weren't anywhere close, leaving Zero to turn to John. The explanation wasn't as simple as the physical one had expected.
"In a way. Let me explain her ability again. I said she can take "mana." However, mana is a concept that exists only in this worlds like this one. If we were to move to another world without mana, it would be more apt to say she can take a person's "energy." What happens if they don't any have energy left, though? The soul is a source of energy. So she takes that. And so far, she's been taking it without restraint."
John wanted to think about that, but there was no time. The tendrils found their way to Zero, and the process began all over again. They tugged, but not as hard this time, moving curiously rather than defensively.
"She's making progress," Zero nodded.
The tendrils continued to pull at him, but they were more like a toddler trying to get his attention now. He sighed as he tugged, trying to pull away.
"Give it a week. Maybe two, actually. Regardless, it won't take that long. From there… well, you'll see."
~~~
Two weeks flew by in the blink of an eye. For once, John had something interesting to do. Even though the task was arduous, it was something different. No longer was he running the bar, day after day, with no goal in sight. Now, there was something to work toward.
As Zero had said, Prota had her ability almost entirely under control by the end of the time predicted. That didn't mean she knew how to use it well. It just meant that she wouldn't be killing people with a single touch.
"Well, now that that's under control… shall we go test it on a real test subject?" the soul suggested.
"You don't think this is going by all too fast?" John grumbled.
"Uh… I think this is just bad writing." Zero shrugged. "Aren't you the one who said that? Also, it's convenient. Don't look a mouth gift in the horse, or however that goes. Would you rather wait a whole year?"
John nodded. "Yeah. Fair enough."
Prota looked back and forth between the two of them. Writing? What? They were saying things she didn't understand. Wasn't writing something to do with archives and books? What did that have to do with their current situation?
"Uh… test subject, huh?" John frowned, going back to the original subject. "Like what? You want us to kidnap someone?"
"What? No!" Zero exclaimed. "Where is your brain? Right, you don't have one. Dude, just find someone who can keep a secret. Why is that the first thing you think of?!"
"...my bad."
Prota stared at John, who had a sheepish look on his face, but for a moment, she got the feeling that he'd looked genuinely excited to kidnap someone.
~~~
"You called?" Grey said down, looking around. The bar was nearly fixed, with only a few minor reparations.
Even in a friendly, light atmosphere, the assassin of the demon cultist subjugation squad had a dark aura to him. His hood stayed up, keeping his face hidden. He wasn't slouched nor upright, blending in, almost like a shadow, drifting in and out. Lose sight of him for one moment and he was gone the next. John hadn't bothered to see how trustworthy his teammates were individually, but Grey seemed like the best person to rely on for something like this. He wasn't worried about any of them spilling any secrets.
It was just that Grey seemed the least likely to question John.
"You never call first."
"I need a favour," John explained, beckoning his old teammate to follow him. "It's something I need to be kept as a secret, so…"
"My lips are sealed," Grey nodded. His footsteps were completely silent as the two walked up the stairs to John's room.
"Prota!" John called out before he opened the door. Grey frowned underneath his hood.
Prota?
As the door was opened, Grey saw something completely unexpected. Standing in the center of John's room, a little girl was waiting with a calm look. As far as he knew, John didn't associate with anyone-
"Prota, this is Grey. Grey, this is Prota, my, um, little sister."
"You have a little sister?"
"...something like that, yeah. Ok, I just need you to sit on the sofa, yeah? You might feel a little weak, but it'll be fine. I just wanna test something."
"Are you sure this is safe?"
"Oh, completely. I would test it on myself, only I don't have a mana core."
Grey bit his upper lip. John needed a mana core? And why had he never brought up this sister of his? Sure, John's past was somewhat secretive, but Grey found it strange that he'd never heard of this sister after all these years. He shook his head. John had saved his hide on more than one occasion, so it was only fair that he repay the favour. Doing as he asked, he sat down on the sofa and didn't question it any further.
"Ok, Prota," John said. "Time."
"His… his chest has a glowy orb. It's dark."
"That's great!" Zero said in John's mind. "That's his mana core. Alright, just like we planned."
John nodded at Prota, who knew what to do from that point on. Everyone in the room was still, but something was happening, and Prota was the only one who could see it. John watched as her eyes began to glow, a sign that mana was being absorbed.
"...!" Grey noticed something was off and leaned forward. "Hey, is this-"
"It's fine," John reassured Grey quietly. "If you really need to know, it's mana extraction. Calm down, you'll be fine."
"Mana extraction…"
John signalled for Prota to stop, and she stopped whatever she'd been doing.
"Alright, good stuff," John nodded.
The little girl went back to the bed, opening up a book she couldn't read. The two men went downstairs, talking in hushed tones.
"Thanks, Grey. I'll treat you to a drink sometime."
"John, what the hell?" Grey whispered. "What was that?"
"That was mana extraction," John shrugged. "What about it?"
"That's a demon art!" Grey hissed. "I thought the rumours were false!"
John frowned like he'd been accused of something insignificant. "They are false. What are you talking about? I told you, she's my sister. If she were a demon, wouldn't that make me a demon too? Come on, man, don't worry about it."
Grey pulled his hood off to reveal a troubled face.
"John, you're not that strong. You're smart. You're a fierce warrior. You're incredibly deadly. But you're not a mage. Power is determined by mana. If something happens…"
"Nothing's going to happen," John sighed. "Ok? If something happens, I'll take care of it."
"...that's what I'm worried about," Grey said, pulling his hood back up.
In a blink, he vanished into the shadows and was gone.
"Damn. I didn't think he'd react like that," John muttered, but there were more important things to worry about.
"It worked!" he exclaimed as he ran up the stairs, throwing open his door. "Prota! You did it!"
John knelt down and shook her shoulders, much to her displeasure. Still, he'd done it so quickly that she hadn't had time to react.
"Prota, think! You can live a normal life. You can go out and do normal people things. You don't have to worry about any of that anymore!"
Zero snorted. "Yeah, like you would know anything about normal people things."
"What does that have to do with anything? Just cause I can't do it doesn't mean I don't know what it is. Live a normal life. Isn't that the best for her?"
Prota ignored their talk, still struggling to escape John's grasp. Panic welled in her heart. She couldn't let herself make contact with anything, or else—
Wait a minute. This is what she'd been training for. She wouldn't kill people just by brushing by them. She wouldn't end the lives of those who didn't need to die.
The nightmares could stop.
As she realized that, she continued to allow herself to be shaken, only to discover that she quite enjoyed the warmth of an embrace. She'd been starved of the touch of another for far too long. Something as simple as a hug. A handshake. A pat on the head, or a pat on the back. They were things that seemed so insignificant. And yet, it'd been so long since she'd felt them that even John's hands on her shoulders was more than enough to ignite a flame within her heart.
Slowly, the walls that surrounded her began to crumble.
"I can send you to an orphanage. I'm sorry you won't have parents, but I'm sure you'll be fine…"
He turned away, hiding his face.
"Mm…" Prota muttered, looking down.
It still felt a little scary. It was hard to accept this strange, new feeling. She still wanted to hide away, to cower in a dark alleyway and hope that nobody would find her. The idea of living a happy, healthy life felt like a pipe dream.
But her desires outweighed her doubts.
"I'm gonna go clean up a bit more downstairs. Think about it, ok?"
John headed down the stairs, the smile on his face vanishing as soon as Prota could no longer see his face.
"Hey, John. Are you sure about this? Think about it."
"Zero. I approached her on the basis that she was someone important. But… you know, now that I think about it, I shouldn't get too involved, right? It's better to let them grow on their own."
"I thought you were going to give it a try."
"Oh. Yeah. I lied."
"Don't give me that bullshit," Zero frowned, popping out to face John. "Come on. What's going on?"
John turned away, hiding his expression. It was stupid, like a child covering their eyes in a game of peek-a-boo, but he didn't care.
"I don't have to worry about her anymore. She can go live a normal life. I can get rid of her, and then she doesn't have to be involved with me."
"Oh? And what's prompting this?
"There's no need to get involved with me. We both know how that ends up."
"What, and there's no merit to being with you either? What about everything you just did for her? The home you provided? The food you gave? The healing you offered?" Zero floated around, but John still wouldn't face his soul. "Do you understand what you're doing here? Do you understand what it means?"
"It doesn't matter. I thought it over. I can't afford to get attached. I learned my lesson. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, right?"
"John, that's not-"
"I don't want to hear it. Grey was right. She's dangerous, just not in the way he thought."
John spent some time in silence cleaning up the bar, then sighed and sat in a booth. A breeze came through the holes that still hadn't been patched up.
"What the hell am I doing…?"
You have to make a decision.
He leaned his head back, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. "Is this the punishment you were talking about?"
He was so entangled with his thoughts that he didn't hear Prota walking down the stairs. Only when she softly called his name did he realize she was there.
"Wha- holy shit, you scared me," John gasped, practically leaping out of his seat. "What's up?"
"I… I want to stay," Prota said quietly. "With John."
"Yeah, no problem, I- yeah, I'm sorry, say that again?" he frowned, shaking his head. "You want to what now?"
"I- I want to stay with John," Prota said. Her quiet voice somehow seemed stronger. "I don't want to go."
John was taken aback. She'd never acted this adamant about anything. The only time she'd been even remotely close to this level of determination was when John wouldn't let her eat more than two servings of dessert. What was up?
"Prota. Hold on, I don't think you get what's going on. I don't know if you figured this out yet, but I'm not just some random bartender. You're not just gonna get to live a normal, peaceful life. Do you get it? People like Aiden are going to show up a lot more often than you might think. I know I said I wouldn't just throw you out, but c'mon, think this through."
Prota squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. She seemed a little scared, but that just meant she was that much more resolved to stay with John. She wasn't staying with him because it was nice. She really was staying with him because that was what she wanted, even with all the risks.
That, and a little more.
Prota's voice trembled, afraid to ask the question, but she managed to get it out.
"So… can John help me one more time?"
"Huh? With what?"
Prota opened her eyes and stared deep into John's eyes.
"Please help me… save my sister."