Destiny: by Nick Venom (top inspirational books txt) 📕

their number of customers stagnated. They were still new to the area and many families couldn’t take a chance on a new bodyguarding service over their tried and tested services. Echo and Ark’s Bodyguarding Service couldn’t compete with West Hanger’s Bodyguarding Service; the oldest bodyguarding service in town. West Hanger was trusted by the bigger noble families for bodyguarding with some rumors saying that the royal bodyguards came from West Hanger. 

Echo---irritated at the slow workdays---slumped over, his face resting on the desk. His bad posture didn’t help him either, leaning him towards the desk. His eyes were closed, sleeping on the job. Ark and Rogue were on the second floor. Ark was training Rogue, picking up as a stray cat and trying to turn her into a lion. 

“Hit me as hard as you can. Let me feel pain!” Ark told her. “You’re too weak.”

“I’m trying my best!” She exclaimed, pulling her arm back before launching her fist at his chest. Ark had trained his body thoroughly, feeling no damage from her punch. It felt like she was tickling him. 

“I need you to be stronger. Punch me with all of your might. Where you are now won’t get you anywhere, especially in the bodyguarding profession.” He declared, taking a small blow from Rogue. The blow wasn’t anything spectacular, annoying Ark again. He felt something within her, something mighty and powerful. She hadn’t realized it herself. She only saw herself as a weak Outsider. 

Ark continued her training, hoping to open the door that held her power. Even so, an hour in, Rogue was faltering in making progress. She was struggling with improving her strength, to the point that Ark had to end the session. Training her wasn’t going anywhere. He gauged her strength before throwing her into stretching techniques. He wanted her to be familiar with her body and understand its functions. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do it in a short span of time. instead, deciding to throw her into a fight and see how she’ll react. It was the best idea of jump-starting her true power. 

Meanwhile, Echo’s peaceful nap was disrupted by a brunette woman entering the building. She had her hair styled into a puffy ponytail. Her pale face matched with the near-tan color of her one-piece suit. 

She opened the front door, the chimes of the door’s bell waking Echo. He stood up quickly, watching as she approached the desk. 

“Good morning, ma’am. My name is Echo, what are you here for?’ He asked. 

“Good morning, sir. My name is Linda Van Don, the elder child of the Van Don Family and idol under the Bridgeton Center. My reason for arriving here is to ask for a bodyguard for a problem I’ve encountered.” Linda said, talking elegantly. Echo could tell that she came from a noble family based on her appearance and dialect. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked her. 

“I didn’t believe that it was true, but I had found out that a man has been tracking me down. I’m unsure of his purpose, but I could only believe that it’s malicious. I’ll need a bodyguard that can protect me from the stalker; possibly a large man with bulging muscles.” She started, going off into a rant about her fantasy man. Echo, on the other hand, ignored her rant. Instead, he was thinking of a plan to track down the stalker and expose him. 

“Ma’am,” He started, interrupting her rant. She left her fantasy world, returning to reality. “I have a plan that could drag out the stalker into broad daylight. However, I need your cooperation.”

“A plan? What could it be?”

“We make him jealous and let him expose himself. Easy as that.” Echo told her, standing up from the desk. “We should have a few more hours of sunlight, so let’s get this plan in motion.” Linda nodded, following along with him. Ark and Rogue were ordered down, meeting with Linda and being told the plan. Everything was being set.

They departed quickly, scrambling to fill their spots. Echo’s plan would see Linda sitting in a restaurant’s outside seats by herself. Then, Ark would go up to her and loudly flirt with her. Ark’s obvious flirting would lure the stalker out of the shadows, leaving Echo and Rogue to track him down before he reaches Linda or Ark. They would expose his stalker-tendencies and get him arrested. 

As Echo planned, Linda sat in an outside seat, sipping on a drink for a few moments. She glanced around her, searching for the man stalking her. Fortunately, she located him quickly; a man watching her from a nearby plot of shrubbery. He was watching her intensely. 

Linda then tipped her hat in the opposite direction of the man, signaling Ark to begin the next stage. He walked up to Linda, taking an empty seat next to her. He sat down and began flirting with her as loudly as he could. 

Meanwhile, Echo and Rogue were watching from the other side of the street, watching as the man hiding in the shrubbery grew agitated. The man stomped his foot on the ground and started whacking the dirt with his fists. He was acting out like a kid. Every one of Ark’s flirts were accompanied by flirtatious laughter. It was, of course, fake laughter but the man didn’t know this. Instead, he was growing angry and angrier as the laughter continued. He then decided to jump out of the bushes and charge towards Ark, hoping to get a punch in. 

Echo and Rogue noticed the sudden charge, sprinting to intervene. Fortunately, the overweight man wasn’t quick enough to punch Ark and flee. Echo had managed to tackle the man, bringing him to the ground. He wrestled for dominance, holding the man down as Rogue went to inform an officer. 

By this time, Ark and Linda had jumped up from the chairs, looking at the man. Ark rushed to help Echo hold the man while Linda disapprovingly shook her head. “What a disgusting man,” She remarked, glaring at the man. The man terrified her by his stalking, even afraid to leave her house in fear of being kidnapped by him.

The man stopped resisting, his limbs going limp. His lips quivered as the floodgates opened. Tears upon the hundreds streamed down his face, collecting in a puddle.

“I didn’t want to do this!” He exclaimed. “Take my soul, Jaguar. Consume me and kill those that embarrassed me!” He shouted, using his trump card earlier than expected.

“Jaguar?” Echo repeated. “Get everybody out of here!” He shouted, jumping off the man. Ark followed him, backing away from the man. 

“Rogue, take Linda and get out of here,” Ark ordered. Rogue nodded, grabbing Linda’s hand and dragging her away. Others near the scene dispersed, informing other people as they ran. Within a minute, the entire area was near-empty; except for Echo, Ark, and the man. 

It took the man a minute for his words to activate something within him. His body began changing into a beastkin-like figure, taking the appearance of a humanoid Jaguar. The monster that was created by the man---the carbon-black humanoid Jaguar---stood up, turning towards them. It was a crude combination of a human and a Jaguar; almost grotesque. 

Fortunately, before the monster could attack them, Echo had brandished a seven-bullet revolver and pointed it at the beast. “Goodnight,” He remarked before pressing the trigger and sending a bullet into the beast’s skull, ending its lights.

“How did you kill it so quickly?” Ark asked him. 

“This man transformed into a humanoid Jaguar, something that is quite rare. However, the transformation took too much time for him to become a threat. I simply pressed my gun to his head and pressed the trigger; nothing much for a disgusting stalker like that.”

“It seems like those three years apart changed you.”

“As did everything else.” He glanced away at the fleeting sun. “Unfortunately.”

 

TBC…

Chapter Four "Gone"

After the death of the humanoid Jaguar, a strange beast to ever be seen, everything went back to normal. Officers arrived and took the body away before people could see it. Everybody who witnessed the scene was informed that it was a man having a heart attack, not that it was a man turning into a Jaguar. 

As for Echo and Ark, they didn’t care for the glory of killing the beast. Instead, they decided to return and meet with Rogue and Linda.

With her bodyguarding mission wrapped up, Linda handed them twice the amount of payment---at two gold coins---before heading towards the door. On her way out, she told them that she’ll inform her friends of their service, which Echo was thankful for. He only wanted to grow his bodyguarding business and search for his parents. However, one thing plagued his long-term mission; his Destiny Slip. He would die young at the hands of a person named Canine. The identity of this Canine character was unknown. Echo was worried.

Unlike Echo’s gloomy slip, both Echo and Rogue received livelier slips. Ark’s slip told of him finding a true friend that’ll lead him to a life of prosperity. Rogue, on the other hand, told her that she’ll find her eternal husband at a young age. How young? She didn’t know. She only knew that she was two years younger than Echo and Ark---who was seventeen-years-old. Aside from her age, she couldn’t understand anything else about her Destiny Slip.

Their slips didn’t help Echo as his fate was always in mind. However, he wanted to power through and accomplish what he could. He had already reached half of his dream, opening up his bodyguarding business. The other half was waiting to be completed.

His business, since the incident with Linda, had been growing steadily. It wasn’t as famous as West Hanger, but it was still growing. He needed only a few years to pass them. Unfortunately, his clients were never from large noble families. Instead, he received missions from small noble families and the middle-class. 

Even so, he was okay with it. He didn’t need for the business to become the largest bodyguarding service in the world, only large enough to keep him happy - and at the moment, one building was large enough. 

That one building was lavish enough for a man, dressed in a tuxedo, to enter it. He went through the front doors, as the bells chimed, and approached the front desk. Echo noticed the man’s appearance, standing up to shake the man’s hand. 

“What can I do for you?” He asked him.

“My employer wishes for your appearance.” The man declared, handing Echo a sealed envelope. On the envelope was a familiar insignia, belonging to the royal family.

“The royal family wants me? What did I do?” He asked, tilting his head. 

“They will inform you once you’re there. I am nothing more than a messenger.” The man said. “Follow me and I’ll lead you to the castle’s gates.”

“Can I bring my friends with me? I’m not leaving without them.” He told the man. The man glanced away, sighing to himself, before agreeing to his condition. Echo nodded, calling out to Ark and Rogue. They arrived quickly, following the man to the castle. The man led them through the main gates and to the throne room where the king and his family waited for them.

“Welcome,” The king’s voice boomed as they entered. The trio kneeled in his presence, the king’s voice being more intimidating than they expected.