17 Years Ago, August 9, 2008
Explosion
"Protect Miss Christine!"
"Don't let them through!"
"Hold the line until Master Harold escapes with Miss Christine and the young lord!"
"Insolent fools, kill them all!" bellowed Viktor Drakov, a notorious figure in the underworld who had once been defeated mercilessly by Harold and Christine.
It was a long night, filled with bloodshed, death, fear, and despair. But we stood our ground, fighting waves of enemy combatants to protect the master as he fled to safeguard the family.
"Master Harold, quick! Take the young lord and Miss Christine with you. We'll hold them here."
"But I can't just leave you guys. I need to fight!"
"Yes you can! Our duty is to protect you and your family, the same way you protected us! now go!"
"I know you can fight them all by yourself but not this time... you're the one miss Christine needs be there for her..."
The master fled as he was told, though it hurt him greatly to leave his allies alone to fight the enemy, knowing he could have beaten the enemy forces. After a long run through the mansion's secret passages, he arrived at another safe mansion in the city by dawn. Though tired from the escape, he trusted his family to his strongest familiar and went back to battle.
"Ark, come forth! " he commanded.
A short burst of mana surged forward, a blue circle appeared on the floor, a man with sharp blue eyes, sharp triangular fangs for it teeth, appeared before him.
"Master?" he spoke.
"Protect Christine and James at all costs. I'll be back."
He left as fast as he could, so fast that he was gone before his wife and familiar could say a word.
He arrived to his mansion, it was all in ruin, fire, cracks, broken pavements, shattered windows, but that wasn't his concern, it was his comrades, to others, they're just his maids and butlers, to him, they were more than than that.
He had been gone for far too long, dozens of body's have already fallen, dozens of familiar faces, amidst the chaos a voice called out to him.
"Master Harold!" The head butler called out, exhaustion in the sound of his voice.
"Retreat." was all he said, his voice monotone, devoid of emotion
The butler dare not to question his master as this was not the first time this had happened, this was not the first time his master acted like that in battle, on the contrary he smiled the second he heard this command, the smile then turned in to a smoke as he begun spreading the masters order.
"Retreat!" shouted the butler.
This was it he thought to himself, "Those bastard's will die tonight, now i feel pity for them"
The second the mansion was cleared of his subordinate's was the second he released his mana, his terrifiying mana, the weaker fighters of the enemy collapsed the second they felt the pressure he released.
"Now, which bastard dare attack me and my family in my own home?" questioned harold.
"That would be me, Harold!" a man declared, arrogance in his voice, pride in his words.
"Viktor?" he questioned to himself, "I see one less arm wasn't enough, here to lose the other?" Harold spoke, mocking viktor.
Viktor Drakov, nicknamed The General, it was not the first time he and harold clashed, though the first time they fought wouldn't even be considered a clash, it was a one sided massacare, one where Viktor and his subordinates are nothing but prey to the hunter.
"Would you quit staring? if you wont start attacking i will!" declared Viktor
His assult begun with a fire ball launched from his hands, followed by another then another, Pyrokinesis was his ability, each ball of fire flew towards harold with great speed, each exploded on impact, though none of it connected with his body, the ground where harold was standing on was now nothing but debris and dust.
With a sigh Harold Spoke "Chill Down, you might burn yourself"
He began his own assult, his mana turned the whole property a freezing hell making the flowers and grass in the garden wither, leaves of trees to harden then fall, all of viktors flames vanished.
"I see that you trained for this moment, but you're still far too weak, your magic is childs play compared to my wife's"
He drew his knife and dashed towards Viktor, his movement's faster than the blink of an eye, in fractions of a second Viktor's ches had been cut, a deep wound covered in ice, the muscles that was stuck by harold"s blade froze to the touch, not just him, the vanguard he had that lead the attack on the mansion was no more than piles of ice cold bodies, their blood frozen solid.
"They call you the general because of your influence, b ut it seems youve influence no one but the weak" harold mocked viktor, a grin stretched accross his face.
Once again he vanished from Viktor's sight, he looked around him there was no trace of harold or anyh incoming attacks, Did he flee?, Viktor thought to himself, But then, screams and cries echoed from behind, NO, No way!, viktor's eye spread wide open upon the realization, He attacked the vanguard?, Viktor immediately ran towards the scream only to fall face first to the ground, his legs, he could'nt feel his legs, he flipped his body only to see horror, his legs were no longer attached to him, his eye's widen in horror then came the rush of pain, he let out a loud cry, a scream of agony.
"I took care of the rear, those longraged mages would've been annoying to deal with, i see your body finally reacted and realized what happend? You didn't realize i cut off your legs didn't ya?" he continued mocking viktor his voice sounding cheerful - it was psychotic - he proceeded to walk towards viktor and squatted down, placing his face just in front of viktors
"I cut off your arm back then now your legs, tell me are you satisfied?" mockingly , he proceeded to tap victors face, anger painted all over viktor's face.
An arrow flew towards harold at a speed that shouldve been impossible to dodge, and he didnt, he caught it with his left hand, a man then appeared behind him wielding an axe, and struck, making harold jump out of the way, the force of the hit shattering the ground beneath viktor.
"More unwelcomed guest?" he sighs, then asked "What's the deal with all of you, do you all have a deathwish?" questioned harold as he scratched his head from annoyance
"Viktor might have a deathwish, not us, we came for him not you, not just yet" a muffled voice replied to his questions, it was the man wielding the axe.
it was a tense stand off between him and the cloaked men, viktor had already been picked up from the ground by the second cloaked man, until the one that shot the arrow spoke.
"That building over there, that's where your wife is am i right? wait no forgive me, wife and child am i right?"
Harolds eye's widen in terror as the man conjured and shot a projectile made of mana, immense mana.
"If i shot you with that you would survive, bare even a scratch, but can your wife do that? can your familiar even do so as perceive that attack?"
Harold immediately left the property and ran back as fast as he could, the projectile was fast but he knew he was faster, but if the projectile was somehow an explosive, then his wife and newborn son is in great danger, those thoughts filled his headv as he ran towards the building, 5 seconds, that was all he needs, just five seconds.
He arrived at the building 2 seconds before the projectile hit the building, he immediately cast a mana shield as he took the projectile head on he didnt know how powerful of an explosion that projectile would cause so he gave it his all, layers of mana shields in front of him and the projectile, waiting for the impact was all thats left, then it conected, it hit, the first 3 layers of the mana shields shattered, the fourth one cracked, a grade 7 spell?, he murmered as he removed the mana shields, a loud cry was heard from the building , it was his son.
He rushed inside and slammed the door open.
"Christine! what happened?" he immediately asked concern visible from his eyes
"Harold" His wife called with relief on her face as she carried the infant in her arms
"Are you alright? what took you so long? what happened?" question after question.
Harold sat down beside the bed, next to his wife and son, then spoke.
"It's alright now, dont worry" reassured harold, as he kissed christines forehead and hugs both his son and wife.
...
17 Years Later (Present)
"Wake up, brother! Wake up!"
James woke up to his sister's call, reminding him of his responsibilities for the day.
"You're seriously still sleeping? You have a meeting. Have you forgotten you're the head of this company?"
"I don't want to meet them. The board directors are a pain in the ass, and you know best that I hate conversing with other people."
"You have no choice. You can't just keep dumping our work on John. He's already your butler, and you're one big pain in the ass. Now wake up, wake up, wake up, wake uuuupppppp!"
"Ahhhh, fine, whatever. I'll do it."
James got ready while complaining, ate breakfast, and left in a hurry. Though he was being driven by his butler, he continued to complain about things. After a while, he arrived at the board meeting.
"Everybody, Sir James is here," announced John.
Everyone rose from their seats to greet him cheerfully.
"Let's just get this over with," James exclaimed in an irritated, though low, voice.
"Good morning, Sir James. We wanted to discuss the current state of the company. Our quarterly profits have increased by 10%, but there are concerns about the upcoming product launch."
"Hmm."
"What Sir James means is that while the profit increase is satisfactory, he is aware of the challenges we face with the product launch. He believes we need to ensure all departments are aligned and working efficiently."
"Understood. We've also noticed a slight decline in customer satisfaction in the last month. Any thoughts on addressing this?"
"Fix it."
"Sir James suggests that we conduct a thorough review of our customer service protocols and implement necessary improvements. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining high customer satisfaction."
"Regarding our expansion plans, do you have any specific regions in mind for the next quarter?"
"Asia."
"Sir James has identified Asia as a key region for our expansion. He believes that the market potential there is significant and that we should prioritize our efforts in that area."
"Also, there's the matter of the new marketing strategy. Do you approve the proposed budget?"
"Yes."
"Sir James approves the proposed budget for the new marketing strategy. He trusts that the marketing team will execute it effectively to enhance our brand presence."
"Hmph, are you really the CEO of this company? You're only a young brat. We earned our spots here while you became the CEO just because you're Harold's son."
"Watch your tongue," John threatened.
"Come on, John. I remember when you were still a kid. You weren't like that. I've known you for a long time."
"Oh yeah? Well, pack your things and go. You're FIRED," James casually spoke.
"W-what? You can't just do that," he stammered, flustered.
"If I remember correctly, I'm the owner of this company, am I not?"
All of the board members sat in silence. As Michael tried to resist, he was dragged out of the office and escorted out of the building by security.
The meeting continued smoothly, with John interpreting James's brief and dry responses, ensuring that all points were addressed and understood by the board members. By the end of the meeting, the board felt confident in the company's direction, thanks to John's clarifications and James's decisive, albeit terse, input.
"Ahh, the atmosphere earlier was tough, huh?" one of the assistants said.
"Definitely. They weren't kidding when people called him the coldest prince. Though he's the youngest CEO there's ever been, he can back it up. I thought I was gonna die by that glare," another replied.
Jamie overheard them as she was walking to her brother's office. She approached the assistants with a cheerful demeanor.
"You better not talk like that in the halls if you want to last long in this game. People could hear you," she said, smiling. "After all, my brother can be quite ruthless."
"Oh really? Wait, what did you just call the CEO?" one of the assistants asked, confused.
"I called him brother. My name's Jamie Strider, younger sister of James Strider," Jamie replied with a cheerful yet sarcastic smile on her face as she walked off joyously to her brother's office.
The assistants froze in shock and embarrassment.
As the assistants were still frozen from fear and embarrassment, Jamie continued to joyfully walk to her brother's office.
She arrived at the door, opened it little by little attempting not to be seen by her brother
"Huh? Oh, Jamie, come on in."
Sighs. "Tell me, what stupid thing did you do again, brother?"
"What thing?" James asked.
"I heard you fired Michael, is that true?"
"Oh, that? Don't mind it, he deserved it."
"Deserved? What do you mean? He's one of the key members of the board!"
"I know what I'm doing here. Now leave, I need to prepare for the interview with applicants."
"Applicants?" Jamie questioned.
"Yes, applicants for my secretary. It's been vacant for a long time, and you said not to dump my paperwork on John. Now leave."
"I'm not leaving without an explanation! And why do you want me to leave? It's just an interview."
"Fine then, John, tell her."
"Yes, sir. Miss Jamie, with all due respect, Sir James did it for the better," John replied.
"Explain, what do you mean 'for the better'?"
"Well, you see, Michael was caught laundering money through the company. He was diverting funds into personal accounts and shell companies. That's why Sir James, being the CEO, had to fire him on the spot."
"What? He did that? How much?" Jamie replied, concerned and surprised, knowing that Michael was considered trustworthy and loyal to their parents according to their butler.
"Approximately over 50 million dollars, ma'am," John replied.
"That much, huh?" Jamie whispered with a hint of disappointment.
"If you think it's about the money, you're wrong. That's mere change for this company. It's his dishonesty. If he had asked, I would've given that sum to him, no questions asked, as we've known him our whole lives," James replied.
"If you say so, but like you said, we've known him since we were young. Doesn't it feel wrong to do him just like that?"
"TSK! You're too soft," James replied.
"JERK!J" Jamie shouted out loud as she stormed out of the room.
"Ah, Miss Jamie, please wait!"
"Let her leave."
"But sir..."
"It's alright, I'll make it up to her later. She needs to learn that in this world, not every day is sunshine and rainbows. There are snakes all around this seemingly beautiful meadow."
"Yes, even at my age, being given the position as the CEO of this company, I've already dealt with snakes," James thought to himself.
"If you say so, sir, but have you forgotten what she does when she's upset?"
"Hm? What do you mea— ... crap, tell the maids what happened before she does something stupid," James replied in a frustrated manner.
"Understood, sir."
"You're dismissed."
"Yes, sir, I'll take my leave."
He sat there pondering, thinking if upsetting his sister was the right move as he waited for the time of the interview.
Meanwhile, Jamie, annoyed, continued to complain about her brother.
"Ahh! That jerk! How can he be so harsh?! Doesn't he have a heart? Is he even human?!" Jamie shouted inside the car as she kept punching the seat.
"Uhm, Miss Jamie, if I may, you do know that you're talking about your brother. It seems you're forgetting something..." her maid commented.
"Of course I'm talking about my brothe— ... oh yeah, I'm talking about my cold, heartless, possessive, manipulative, self-centered older brother..." Jamie sighed at the realization that hit her.
Phone Ringing
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Boss, it's me, Michael."
"Yes, I know it's you. How did it go?"
"I was kicked out of the company, sir."
"That's alright. Staying for long would also raise suspicion. Keep the surveillance on James Strider... continue your weekly reports," the voice on the other end of the line replied.
"Understood sir"
SIGHS... "Michael, Michael, Michael,"
"John? what are u doing here aren't u supposed to be by James's side as guard?"
"He dismissed me early, may i ask who you're talking to?" James asked with a hint of bloodlust.
"Do you think you can take me down?" Michael arrogantly replied.
John stared at Michael with his eyes full of bloodlust.
"Yes, i can"
The two started fighting , Michael took the lead by swiftly drawing the concealed gun under is suit firing shots at John, John dodged all of the bullets by sliding side to side, John jumped on the walls of the ally side to side and attacked Michael from below using his legs to hit him from above, Michael reacted quickly as he dodged Johns attack and countered by swiftly drawing out is blade and striking John, John didn't get hit though is tie was cut in half, he quickly recovers , draws his pistols and fired at Michael landing one hit on Michaels arm, John charged in on Michael as he saw an opening, he strikes Michael with his concealed blades and proceeded to relentlessly attack Michael, unleashing a flurry of strikes with his blades, both of them used up a considerable amount of their energy but did not land a hit on the opponent.
"Your still pretty fast for an man on his late 50's master" John commented
"Oh, you call me master yet your trying to kill me?" replied Michael
"Your the one who taught me the basics of fighting as an assassin , but you're not who i serve!"
John began to attack once more, striking Michael from all directions leaving no room for rest, after a while John successfully landed a hit on Michael slashing strait in the stomach.
"Oh my, i might actually die here, you've grown stronger my student, this may be the last time we meet, farewell."
Michael started his escape avoiding all of Johns attacks, the chase lasted for half an hour, but Michael being more experienced managed to escape and leave Johns sight.
"TSK, damn old man you got me good" John commented.
Ringing)...
"What is it?"
"Sir. its time for the interview, should i let them in?"
"Let them in."
John gathered all of the applicants and let them in 1 by one, although the applicants before meeting the CEO was tested already and were surely good applicants ,there was over 340 applicants when the interview started and 127 got rejected in under an hour.
"That's the 128th applicant and its only been an hour..."
"How does the CEO process this kind of things?"
"We'll get ready for an earful later, we tested them to see if they qualify but i guess boss has a different criteria"
The workers chattered and commented as one after another was rejected ne by one and all we're seen to have walked out like they faced a fearsome monster and was in the brink of death another hour flew by and he was on the 277th applicant.
"NEXT!" John called out.
"Y-yes sir, "
"G-good morning Sir my name is Fujimoto Lily I'm 16 years old, i may be young but i already gradu-"
"Fujimoto? are u Japanese?" asked James.
"Ah, yes sir, i have Japanese lineage my father is Japanese and my Mother is American" Lily replied.
"And u said your only 16?"
"Yes, sir."
"When's your birthday?"
"September 13 2008, if i may sir why do u ask" questioned Lily.
"Nothing specific, i only have one test for you"
"Yes sir what is it?"
"Your rejected, now leave, "
" Eh? weren't you going to test me?" Lily replied confused.
James didn't say a word nor ordered John to make her leave instead he continued to give Lily a cold stare that makes people feel like they're facing a monster.
"Wait, test? oh yeah this is probably why the other applicants came out of the room with cold sweat, he isn't kicking me out, so this is the test?"
Lily thought to herself
After a few seconds of silence, James spoke...
"This is taking too long you're- " James was cut off in the middle of his sentence.
"WAIT!, This is the test right? you're trying to see if i would back out, right?" Lily interrupted, clearly nervous.
"You're sharp, The test is pretty simple, yet 276 other applicants did not understand it, how'd you realize? explain." James replied in a rather intrigued tone.
"Uhm, uh , well, you didn't say another word and so did your bodyguard if i was really rejected i thought and most logically he would do something about it if i stayed here even though you told me to leave" Lily replied.
"Very well, John tell the other applicants they can go home, because the position for my assistant is no longer open" James ordered.
"Understood sir"
"So i pass?" Lily asked
"Yes you did, that test is all i need, no further questions, plus u say you're also 16? you must be a prodigy then" James replied.
"Wait uhm, what do you mean also sixteen?"
"Oh? so you came into my company not knowing that the CEO is only Sixteen years old?"
"Uh, well i was born and raised in Japan I've only been here for a few weeks with my mother, AND WHAT?? YOU"RE ALSO SIXTEEN?" Lily replied.
"So, you're clueless huh? well i guess that's better , you start on Monday , you can go now you're dismissed."
"Oh ah, yes sir"
Lily left the room as she was told, happy that she got the job, while James watched her leave and thought.
"Fujimoto Lily huh? lets see how long you last with a grin on his face"
"Sir are you sure about choosing her?" John asked.
" I don't know but, there's something about her that tells me it is" James replied a with small smile on his face.
"Sir is taking interest on someone he just met? and his smiling about it? this is great news!" James though to himself.
"Oh yeah James, did you hear about what happened in the alley of the city? i don't know which street but, they said they heard gunshots"
"Yes sir i have, they said it was just some gangs fighting"
"I see, should we tighten up security?"
"There's no need to tighten the security sir as we have no enemies here, but it still would be best if we do, should i tell them to?"
"Yes"
"Understood sir, ill take my leave"
Ringing
"This is John, is miss Jamie with you?"
"Yes, she is , do you need to talk to her?"
"Yeah, its pretty important, its about his brother"
"Miss Jamie, John wants to talk to you, its about your brother"
"Oh, let me talk to him then"
"Miss Jamie..."
John explained what happened in the interview and about the secretary that James picked.
"WHAATT? You're only telling me this now?!? my brother is taking interest in somebody else that he didn't grow up with, plus you say its a GIRL?!?, what's her name? her contact? her address? give me all the deets!" Jamie replied excitedly
"Understood ill send her info, i need to go now i still have things to do for sir, pls don't do anything rash she doesn't even know Sir James's personality"
Call End...
After the call a man appeared behind john, a mysterious figure hiding in the shadow spoke
"Was it you who sent the message John?" the figure asked.
"Yes sire, i requested backup for sir James protection, because his new assistant, Fujimoto Lily is the daughter of the one and only Fujimoto Ryo, Master Harold's and miss Christine's NEMESIS..." John replied in a very serious tone
"Understood, we'll enhance his protection and look into why his daughter is here"
"Is it possible that he knows that this company is the front master used"
"Yes, most probably that's the case"
"Then why send his daughter here?"
"That's what we'll look into, ill take my leave"
"Alright, thanks for your work"
John went back to the office much more alert than usual, meanwhile Jamie on the other hand...
"Rose!! let's goooooo we need to meet her today, i need to meet that girl that my brother shows interest for!!" Jamie called out in a loud and exited manner.
"Are you sure you're not too excited my lady? you're seem rather happy, have u forgotten about his last assistant who quit on the first day? "
"I'm sure it's different this time now lets get going"
"Miss Jamie we've arrived"
"Woah, so this is the Fujimoto residence" Jamie said in awe, though having her own mansion seeing beautiful plants from the east along with the architecture left her stunned.
Their arrival attracted the attention of the security of the residence.
"HEY! who are you? what are you doing here this is private property!" the guard shouted
"Oh? us? we came to visit Lily Fujimoto Lily" Jamie replied, obviously exited
"What? how do you know miss Lily?"
"It's quite complicated she's my brothers new assistant i just wanted to see if she's okay cause my brother is quite the piece of work heh heh..."
"Your brothers assistant? WAIT! are you... Part of the STRIDER corp. ?"
"Not a part of the corp. but ... i am Jamie Strider so i guess i am a part? i mean its my family's"
"Oh I'm so sorry for my rudeness it's just that the strider family is quite secretive i didn't know what the daughter of the family looks like I'm so SORRY! " The guard apologized frantically.
"But could you wait for a bit i have to make a call to the house?"?
"Yeah, sure i don't mind waiting, what i need is to meet her" She joyfully said.
RINGING...
"Sir, there's an, uhmm, a guest for ma'am Lily"
"Huh? tell them if they want to meet her they need to ask in advance she's the daughter of a High ranking military officer her safety is a priority!"
"Yes sir i know but this one's special"
"Special?"
"It's one of the striders Jamie Strider the "Princess of the strider's"
"Wh-h-what? one of the striders?!?!?" The head of the security said.
"Y-yes sir it's one of the striders, and uhmm i kind of shouted at them earlier before i knew who they were...."
"Y-y-YOU SHOUTED AT THEM?!?!" the Head of security shouted in a concerned manner.
"Jinn"
"Yes ma'am?"
"Let them in" She said in a commanding tone.
"B-but, madam its the striders, they're one of the most elite families in the under world we can't just let the-" Jinn was cut off his sentence.
"Let them in, its their parents that are elite in the under world, the children they left are nothing more than harmless, they grew up without their parents, they don't know where they are now what is their past... even their maids and butlers have no idea, those two always operated alone well one of them did until Christine abandoned our government..."
"Understood"
"Let them in, accompany them to the lobby"
"Yes sir"
"Please follow me, you can park the limo inside"
"Ah? we're going in?"
"Oh, yes the madam is waiting for you inside"
Jamie and rose entered thru the gate and walked in thru the garden, Jamie being inside was once again distracted by the beautiful garden and architecture, after a few moments they reached the door...
"Come on in" the guard then opened the door for Jamie and Rose.
"Good evening!" the maids and butlers greeted out loud.
"Woah!" Jamie in awe of the hospitality
"Good evening , I'm Lilia Fujimoto, nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you to, I'm Jamie strider this is Rose, sorry for coming unannounced"
"Please, let's go take a seat"
"Oh, thank you but ill need to leave in a bit, ill just leave message for Lily, i wish i could've waited a bit longer to see her but my brothers pretty paranoid, anyways i came here because i was just surprised my brother actually picked a secretary even though he didn't agree with it and rejected the idea"
"May i know why?"
"Well i also don't know my brothers just been like that, i honestly don't know how that's the only thing that bothers me and I'm here to warn Lily tell her ... be careful about my brother, i know I'm his siter so I've never experienced it, but, my brother can be one of the most heartless people there is, he's possessive and manipulative, to everyone that isn't part of the striders, of course the maids and butlers count as a strider, i wish i could wait more but my brothers gets frantic when i go home late, oh yeah i almost forgot please relay my message to Lily ' If you really want to stay in his company just be pers don't let my brothers words get to you, he may be cold and everything but he's warm and caring to those he cares for so just get his interest then trust I'm sure he'll be the one to protect you if you do that' well then ill take my leave thank you so much for the company ill send an invite next time to our mansion i hope you'll accept"
Jamie left the mansion without saying another word, emanating disappointment and annoyance.
"Well, that was a rather quick conversation, Jinn it seemed she was on high alert when she came in here and she seemed disappointed that Lily isn't here" Lilia commented
Meanwhile in Jamie's car
"Miss Jamie, are you sure that was the right call?' Rose asked
"Yeah, I'm sure. Never am I going to let my brother be hurt again. They had the audacity to hide her." Jamie replied in a determined and protective tone, yet annoyed.
I swear ill never ever LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!
she said to her self...