Chapter One Hundred-One: Give Her Back
Silence.
After the transformed solar mage made his furious exclamation, no one said a word, not one word. But in their minds, questions were rising to the surface, however, in the minds of everyone barring Dante, Oxanna, and Sylvester, most of them were regarding the change the youngest Rossiu just underwent.
"How did he do that?! And why does he look…like an angel?!"
Granted, in the case of Richard, while he too was surprised by the change in Kenos' appearance, his mind wandered to another topic. "He's alive," the fear that had been plaguing him for the recent weeks had come true. But somewhere, deep inside, he could've sworn a part of him felt almost…glad to see his child not yet in death's clutches, but that small sense of relief was overshadowed a thousand times over from the fear his presence brought. Even though Zaxon failed, everything would still be manageable as long as the black bull never knew who sent him, and would be even better if the boy didn't tell anybody. "Y-Yes, I'm just worried over nothing. Everything's going to be fine, just-,"
He froze.
Kenos' head suddenly whipped towards the group of people, making Richard's blood run colder than usual. There was no denying it…he was looking straight at him, the eyes of the son piercing into those of his father's with a death stare he'd never once seen the boy make, to the point where it felt almost…wrong; it wasn't overly angry-looking, but the pure venom and disdain coming from it was palpable. Although no words were spoken in that instance, the solar mage's eyes said a clear sentence which the phantom mage understood.
"I'll deal with you later,"
"Um, why is he looking at us like that? It's kind of freaking me out," Sonia voiced what everyone was now thinking.
"I haven't the slightest clue," Richard replied, trying his best to not let his tone portray any sense of worry, but that was going to be hard as he noticed his other children side-eyeing him in his peripherals.
As for Yoveen, she was experiencing a sense of shock. This was the very first time, in either of her lives, that she saw anyone use the power of a Sacred One, a small part of her almost felt compelled to flee, but the greater part told her to stay put, so that's what she did.
"I won't ask you again, do you know these people too?"
"Why wouldn't I? This is my home, and you are NOT welcome here!" he replied with a furious yell. "Now, I won't tell you again, get the HELL out of Zuka, or I swear to you, you'll regret it for the rest of your SHORT life!"
"Kenos," a voice spoke in his mind.
"What is it, Emmanuel?!" he snapped back mentally, quickly regretting it. "My bad,"
"It's okay. Look, I completely understand why you're angry, but you need to keep calm. If you let your rage win, you'll get sloppy, and that won't only stop you from beating Yoveen, it can put everyone else in danger too," the angel said to him.
In response to that, the solar mage clenched his free hand tightly, but after some time, he loosened it, taking some deep breaths. "You're right, I'm sorry. It's just that I…I-,"
"You don't need to explain anything to me, partner, just promise me you'll try not to lose your cool,"
"...I promise," he thought back as his singular wing spread out and he flew forward, his feet not too high off the ground.
Yoveen quickly backed up to maintain the distance, but Kenos didn't persist, he stopped once he was next to Sylvester, bending down slightly to offer his cousin a hand. "How are you feeling?"
"Good enough for the time being," the lunar mage took his hand and was lifted up. He held his neck. "I gotta say though, it's the first time someone tried to choke me out, and I am not a fan. Nice threads by the way,"
"Thanks, and sorry I wasn't here sooner, but everything's okay now, I'll take down Yoveen,"
His cousin raised a brow. "Yoveen? Did Zuka change her name?"
"It's a long story, just know that that isn't Zuka, just some soul that's taken over her body," he gave the gist of it.
"Damn, and here I thought that stuff only happened in books," he commented before getting serious. "Kens, let's fight her together, we'll stand a better chance of subduing her without hurting her,"
Kenos shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't accept that, this is personal. Besides, and I mean no offense at all by this, Ves, but I think I might be…stronger than you now. Okay, maybe not stronger, probably close to the same level, or maybe I'm a little-,"
Sylvester put a hand on his shoulder, cutting him off with a chuckle. "Alright then, I know how important she is to you, but just remember," he shortly extended his fist. "If you feel overwhelmed, all you have to do is say the word, and I'll come rushing,"
The royal knight extended his own fist as they fist-bumped. "Good to know,"
With that, Sylvester retreated over to the others, but he was immediately embraced by his father. "Oh man, oh man, you're okay,"
"All thanks to Kenos," he broke the embrace, but immediately after, he felt a pair of hands turn him around, putting him face-to-face with the night mage. "I'm going to tell you something, are you listening?"
"Yes, mother,"
"If you ever scare me like that again, we will have problems,"
"Yes, mother, I'll make sure of that," he told her as his eyes focused on the upcoming battle before him. However, he couldn't help but think about something that was said. "Stronger than me now, aye?" he took out his grimoire, looking at it, zeroing in on the four-leaf clover in the center.
"You're good, in fact, I think out of all the humans here, you have the best potential…Yes, you have the most potential, but I can also feel that you're wasting it,"
Yoveen's recent words rang loudly in his mind. "I'm wasting my potential? No, that can't be, she must've just been trying to distract me. But…what if she wasn't lying? Has the life I've been living so far stopped me from being pushed far enough? If I was stronger, could I have even taken down Yoveen all by myself?" all those questions kept circling, but he silenced them as he smacked his own cheeks.
"Are you alright, Sylvester?" Nathan questioned.
"Y-Yeah, I'm just…making sure this isn't a dream," he lied.
"You have no idea how much I wished this actually was a dream," the boy nodded.
Kenos stepped forward, raising his sword at the elf. "Yoveen, I'm going to give you a chance to surrender, I'd rather not have to worry about hurting Zuka's body,"
The girl stared at her hand, noticing her weapon was gone. "Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" she exclaimed, making a new one as she returned the gesture. "You can forget it! My old life already ended too soon, I don't plan on letting the same thing happen here too! It's time I finished what I started earlier tonight!"
The angelic solar mage assumed a stance. "So be it," he said before picking up on a familiar sight in his peripherals. "Aunt Reyna,"
"What is it, Kenos?"
"Deactivate your wyvern spell. The boost would be a nice thing, but what's happening to Zuka is going on all over the kingdom, you all need to conserve your mana, things will only get worse before they get better,"
"If you say so," she heeded her nephew, removing her wyvern from existence.
"You weren't smart to do that, you'd need all the help you can get if you wanted to stand a chance against me," the possessed sparkle mage scoffed.
He returned the scoff with a smirk. "I wouldn't be so sure of that. Heaven-infused Solar Creation Magic: Sundial Buzz Saw!" he created the orange circular blade, but then nine feathers spawned at the edges before it started spinning and he launched it at her.
Yoveen was caught off guard by how fast it was coming, faster than she thought it would, but she was able to jump out of the way by leaping into a dive roll. "Too slow!" she retaliated with two large magic bullets.
Kenos was undeterred, weaving around one with a spin before using his sword to cut the other one in half. "If that's all you're bringing, this fight will end faster than I thought!"
"Unfortunately for you, that's not all I'm bringing!" she spat back as the two rushed toward one another, their immense speed closing the distance in a second, their faces mere inches from one another.
Kenos was now looking straight into Yoveen's eyes. Despite being a different person, her eyes held the same determination and fire he'd seen time and time again in the sparkle mage, and now, with his anger and confusion having subsided, that sight opened a floodgate of memories that rushed into his head.
"Nice to meet you, Kenos, the name's Zuka Glitenia,"
"Great idea, we'd make great friends, even though we're in different squads,"
"No problem, and I was right again, you really do look better when you're happy, what a relief,"
"...Whatever burden you find you can't handle by yourself, you can lean on me, and I will be there with you every step of the way, I'll listen, and I'll comfort you. I promise,"
"I want you to teach me Mana Charge,"
"Kenos…I like you,"
By the sudden look of surprise on the solar mage's face, he wasn't expecting that last memory to pop into his head when it did, and that suddenness did him no favors as he slowed down ever so slightly, allowing Yoveen to outpace him by a few milliseconds.
"Take this, bastard!" she swung her lance in a horizontal manner, the royal knight having no other choice at that range but to cross his arms, positioning it so his armored limb took the brunt as it slammed into him, propelling him back.
However, blocking it didn't mean it didn't pack a punch, and that punch forced him to one knee while he tried to soothe the throbbing sensation his arms were now enduring. "Kenos, what happened back there? You could've made the first attack," Emmanuel mentally communicated, puzzled by what occurred.
"I know, I'm sorry, it's just that I got distracted,"
"Distracted? By what?" the angel asked again before he pieced it together. "You were thinking about Zuka, weren't you?"
"...Yeah, you caught me. Now that I've calmed down, I see her just as much as I see Yoveen, and I guess seeing that worries me," he confessed.
Emmanuel sighed, giving an encouraging smile from within his space. "You don't need to worry, we will bring her back to normal, somehow, we just need to keep on pushing,"
"You're right," the noble now said aloud.
"Y'know, I felt something," a voice stated as a shadow loomed over Kenos, his eyes looking up to see Yoveen standing over him, her available hand clutching her heart.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, unworried by the sudden closeness.
"When I got close to you just then, I could feel something for a split-second, right here next to my heart. I know it's not from me, so that means it's from Zuka. It's a feeling of…affection, and it's strong…especially towards you. How adorable, and how stupid,"
"Shut up, you have no right to mock her for that," the solar mage retorted.
"Of course I do. When I first awakened, it was her interference that led to you still being alive now, and I'm not a fan of that. Her spirit is strong, I'll give her that much, but let's see how strong that spirit will be when she learns that her own hand was responsible for your death!" she exclaimed, raising her lance, ready to impale him as she had intended before.
Not on his watch though. The close proximity made parrying it with his sword in the position he was in nearly impossible, so Kenos took a gamble, dropping his sword and raising both hands, grabbing the sides of the lance, just managing to halt its movement.
"Damn, that was close," Sonia commented.
Yoveen wasn't expecting him to make such a move. "What the? Do you really think something like that is going to work?" she tried to wriggle her weapon free, but the enemy's grip was surprisingly strong.
"Yeah! I do think it's going to work!" Kenos harnessed his strength, throwing the lance along with the one holding it over his head, sending Yoveen a decent number of yards back, the elf landing butt-first on the grass.
"Nice move, Kenos!" Marcus cheered his nephew on before lowering his voice to continue talking. "Once that girl leaves herself open, we'll attack from different sides, she'll never see it coming,"
"No, that's not what we're going to do, dad," Sylvester shook his head. "Kenos says that he wants to take her on alone, and unless things start going south to the point where he can't win, we're going to respect his wishes. This is a personal fight after all,"
The chimera mage raised a brow. "Personal? Is she a friend of his? Well, that would explain why he was so angry when he first got here,"
It was his son's turn to be puzzled. "Huh?" he then remembered a crucial fact. "Oh yeah, you and mother have never met Zuka. Yes, she's a really, really good friend of Kens, and from what he told me, she's under some kind of mind control, so he's trying to knock some sense into her, it's all he can do for now,"
"I see, then best of luck to him," Marcus said before giving the lunar mage a look, though it wasn't directed at him.
"Is everything alright, dad?"
"Um, I suppose," he zeroed in on Sylvester's shoulder. "Though that depends, what's with the fly?"
"Excuse me?" the navy blue-haired Rossiu blinked rapidly. He turned his head to the left, and lo and behold, there was indeed a fly sitting there, eyes strangely glued on the battle.
Marcus lowered his head behind the insect, noting that it didn't fly away once its space was invaded, like it was ignoring him. "Hm, very strange,"
"Strange is right," his son nodded. "That's the second time a fly has bugged me recently,"
"Well, no shock there,"
"What do you mean?"
His father chuckled. "It looks like it's my turn to know something you don't. Not too many people know this, but from my study of animals for the creation of my chimeras, I've discovered that flies are attracted to certain colors more than others, and the color they're attracted the most to is blue,"
"Really?" Sylvester looked at his shirt, and then at a strand of his hair. "Well, it doesn't help that I have the most blue on than anyone else in the estate,"
Marcus scanned him. "Yup, all you have to do is change up your wardrobe and it shouldn't bother you again," he then inspected the fly from different angles. "Although, another fact intrigues me,"
"And that fact is?" he inquired.
"I've studied every animal in this kingdom from both books and personal experience, that research also extended to insects, but…I've never seen this species of fly before,"
His son's eyes widened slightly. "You haven't? Are you sure?"
"Positive. Wherever it came from, it didn't come from the Clover Kingdom," the chimera mage said before excitedly rubbing his hands.
"Why do you look happy?"
"Why? Why else? This must be some kind of rare fly that found its way here from somewhere, probably from the Heart Kingdom,"
Sylvester raised a brow. "The Heart Kingdom? What about the Diamond Kingdom or the Spade Kingdom?"
Marcus shook his head, eyes still fixated on the bug. "Nah, not likely. Spade would be far too cold for them to survive, as for Diamond, I'm not betting too much on them either, Heart on the other hand is full of cool natural stuff, or at least, so I've heard,"
The lunar mage held his chin. "The Heart Kingdom, aye?"
"I could be wrong though, I am just guessing after all. If it's not from any of the four kingdoms, it could've migrated from another continent, like the Land of the Rising Sun or something," he then said, taking out his grimoire. "Regardless of where it came from, this is an opportunity I can't pass up. Let's give it a look first, Chimera Magic: DNA Dossier,"
At his command, an orangish-red prism rose from his grimoire, emitting a vertical light scan of the same color that bathed over the fly, and then a square-shaped projection appeared with information. "Fascinating. There's no information on its species name, compatibility list, or its capabilities beyond those of a normal fly," the man said, but that only made his eyes light up more. "That means it's a total mystery, but that also means it can be an amazing wild card, I must have it. Chimera Magic: DNA Storage,"
The prism flattened itself out, becoming something akin to a petri dish as the mage pulled a pair of tweezers from his book, nearing the fly slowly. "Don't worry, little buddy, this isn't going to hurt at all, I'll just take one of your hairs, then your powers will be mine, and I'm especially excited to see what those powers are,"
However, before he could get any closer, the fly hopped off Sylvester's shoulder and flew into the night sky. "Drat, and I was so close," Marcus snapped his fingers, the petri dish vanishing as he put his tool back where he got it. "Son, would you do your dad a huge favor and not change your clothes until I get its sample? Hopefully, I won't have to wait for a super long time, I'd like to get it sooner rather than later,"
"Um, sure, no problem,"
"And that's why you're my favorite kid,"
Sylvester couldn't help but smile at his father's words, though it faded ever so slightly as he looked at the sky in thought. "A fly that isn't from here? Strange indeed," his eyes then fell back on his cousin's fight.
"Now's my chance," the angelic solar mage muttered as he grabbed a hold of his sword and rushed at her, but she was able to get up fast enough to block the attack with her lance. "Try this on for size!"
The two began a melee exchange. Kenos was the more aggressive one of the two, dealing strike after strike, weaving from side to side as he did so, Yoveen just barely able to keep up with his quickened pace. "Am I too fast for you?"
"Too fast? For me? Don't flatter yourself!" the possessed sparkle mage dodged one of the strikes, a chance to counterattack opening itself up, but to her shock and dismay, choosing to exploit that opening ultimately managed to do more harm than good as her opponent parried it and twisted their weapons around in a large circle motion, ripping hers out of her hand.
"I guess that wasn't just flattery," Kenos smirked. "You may be enhancing Zuka's magic, but you don't have her skills, that is unless your life as an elf had you using a lance,"
Despite what had occurred, Yoveen's expression portrayed no worry. "You're correct, I don't have her skills," she began, grinning confidently as she beckoned him to come at her. "But I do have mine,"
"Let's see if they're enough!" he accepted her challenge and charged in.
"Sparkle Magic: Dance of the Fluttering Fairy!" her feet glowed as she weaved around his attacks, but that wasn't it as she incorporated her hands into it, parrying what she could. It went without saying that making contact with his sword wouldn't end well for her, so she settled for blocking his armored hand whenever it was left wide open, the action often canceling the momentum he would build up.
Kenos' eyes went wide, he'd never seen someone engage with him that way before, as to do so would require extreme speed and accuracy with their bare hands. "You have impressive dexterity,"
"It's to be expected. You see, back in my old life, I took an interest in making clothes when I discovered it was what my attribute leaned towards. I'd practice for hours and hours every single day, and when I got my grimoire, I was able to take it to the next level,"
The royal knight reeled his sword for a vertical strike, but the elf was able to grab his fist with her own left hand while he was halfway down, holding it there. "The hands are a seamstress' greatest asset, and it only helped that my Cloth Magic didn't use traditional tools, allowing me to hone the strength of this asset to its highest potential!" she went from holding his hand in mid-air to moving it to the side, nothing getting in the way of launching a mean right hook into the boy's face.
The force of the punch was nothing to scoff at, Kenos could feel blood beginning to build up in his mouth. "Time for the second one!" Yoveen threw another punch, but the Rossiu quickly brought up his right hand to grab it, twisting it in order to free them both. The mages then distanced themselves, the male using the few seconds to spit out the blood.
"She unexpectedly turned that exchange in her favor. Do you have another plan by any chance?" Emmanuel asked.
"You better believe I do," his grimoire flipped to a page, accompanied by the familiar added white text. "Heaven-infused Solar Binding Magic: Sunbound Shackles!" he declared, shackles forming around her wrists and ankles, but an additional two white rings appeared, one around the elbow region of her arms with the other around the knee region of her legs, aiding in the immobilization.
He commanded his grimoire to flip to a new page quickly. "I'll try to make this hurt as little as I can. Heaven-infused Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!"
Even though the elf was immobilized, her grimoire wasn't as it came to her and flipped to the page of its sole defense spell. "Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Barrier!" it appeared, protecting her.
Kenos narrowed his eyes, staring at his sword. "This should have enough power to get past her barrier. Heaven Magic: Divine Scission!" he winded his weapon back, releasing a horizontal slash that hit it head-on, pleasing him as he saw that despite the defense still being there, a very notable crack was present.
"That's how it's done!"
"Hmph, don't celebrate yet," Yoveen countered as the crack began regenerating itself, much to her foe's shock.
"How in the hell did you do that?!"
"Just a little elven trick, nothing you humans could ever hope to grasp," she replied with a snicker.
"Then I'll just have to kick it up a notch," the angelic solar mage promptly closed his eyes.
The possessed sparkle mage would be damned if she'd waste the chance given to her, so she focused mana into various parts of her body, hoping to strengthen herself and break out of the shackles. "And just what the hell are you doing?"
"Just a little human trick, nothing an elf like you could ever hope to grasp," Kenos parroted her words as he opened his eyes and brought the beads to him, the color undergoing a slight change as white mixed with the orange. "I've never done this before, so it's time I start getting used to it! Heaven Magic - Mana Charge: Divine Scission!" he let loose the stronger slash, succeeding in destroying the barrier.
"Mana Charge?" Nathan repeated the foreign phrase.
"It's a technique Kenos created from scratch," Dante proceeded to explain. "He uses it to amplify the power of his spells,"
"Really? Oh my," Ellen gasped, placing a hand over her agape mouth. "Incredible, perhaps we should ask him to teach it to us. Don't you think so, Richard?"
The man ignored her, his eyes glued to what was happening, an unreadable expression plastered on his face.
"Uh, dear?"
He jumped a bit. "H-Hm? Oh yes, a very good idea,"
His wife raised a brow. "Is everything alright? You seem out of it,"
"Uh, yes, I'm fine. I'm just…thinking about Kenos,"
The steel mage's eyes fell on her son. "I know, I hope he'll be okay,"
"...As do I,"
"Let's try this again! Heaven-infused Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!"
"C'mon," Yoveen muttered, spreading her arms and legs out with all her might, managing to break the shackles in time to cartwheel out of the way. "There we go, get ready to feel the hurt, human! Sparkle Creation Magic: Shimmering Bow!"
The glitter condensed into the long-range weapon which she took a hold of, aiming carefully and firing three arrows one by one. Rather than engage with the projectiles, the royal knight chose a different approach, flapping his singular wing as he took to the skies.
"I have the high ground!"
"Not for long you don't!" Yoveen aimed up, firing more arrows in an attempt to shoot him down.
"Oh yes I do!" he evaded some of them, using his sword to deflect others, but he didn't miss his chance to counterattack with some slashes of his own.
The elf did her best to stay out of range of his attacks. While in a relatively safe position, she had her grimoire turn through pages, searching for something she could use, and she eventually landed on one. "This looks useful. Sparkle Magic: Glittering Star Shower!"
Kenos heard the spell's name, instinctually raising his eyes above him, seeing the multitude of silver stars about to fall on him. "I haven't seen that spell in a hot minute," he commented as he flew out of its range, but with that action came the consequence of them exploding in the courtyard, damaging the area.
"Oh no! Is everyone alright?!" he called out to those below.
"We're okay, Kens! Keep going!" Sylvester exclaimed back.
He sighed in relief before noticing another set of falling stars. "Not this time you don't! Heaven Magic: Divine Scission!" the blade glowed as he made multiple short motions, the attack expressing itself as a multitude of slashes that clashed with each star, destroying them.
He nodded. "There we go, now I can-," his mana sense flared, detecting an attack coming from behind him, and in a turning motion, he cut another sparkling arrow in half.
"Hm, trying to attack me while my back was turned, aye? Not-," he cut himself off as he stared down at the same spot where the attack originated, but there wasn't a single person standing there. "Where'd she go?"
"Kenos, watch out!"
"Watch out for what?" he soon got his answer as he felt a shadow looking over him again, and he looked up just in time for Yoveen to send him on a one-way trip to the ground with a vertical heel kick.
"Holy shit," he groaned as she landed right next to him.
"Tisk tisk, it looks like even having a Sacred One on your side won't make a human that much stronger," she taunted him. "Although, I wasn't expecting it to be this easy. Are you just that weak? Or…are you worried about hurting Zuka? It's probably both when I think about it, but it's pointless to worry, after all, you only want her body to not get roughed up because you think you can get her back, but that isn't going to happen. Her body is going to be mine until I die the right way,"
Kenos' fingers carved into the grass. "Not while I'm still breathing,"
"That can be changed," she cracked her knuckles, ready to strike him while he was down.
"Steel Binding Magic: Scattering Chains!"
"Phantom Curse Magic: Draining Shade!"
Yoveen's attention was diverted away from her angelic enemy and toward the direction where new sounds emerged, and with those sounds came two spells that were rushing her way at high speeds. "Huh?" she performed a pair of backflips, ending with a high leap backward to escape it.
Kenos used the opportunity to get back on his feet, but not before setting eyes on his brother and sister. "Didn't Ves tell you this fight is personal?!" he called out in a semi-plain tone, the other half of it slightly annoyed.
Oxanna rested her hands on her hips. "We heard him tell Uncle Marcus, but she was about to deal another big blow to you. You think we're just going to stand here and watch that happen?"
The brunet sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I suppose you wouldn't. Thanks for looking out for me,"
Dante gave him a small smile and a thumbs-up. "It's what we're here for,"
The possessed sparkle mage eyed the interlopers. "Now that I recall, you never did tell me how you know these people. You said this is your home, so I'm guessing that means they're your family? And based on the interaction, I'm further guessing that those two are your siblings?"
Kenos turned to face her. "They are. What of it?"
The elf slowly walked forward. "Y'know, I had a sibling of my own, a big sister. She was the kindest person I've ever known, kinder than even our parents believe it or not, she was also positive, talented, and supportive, but she was also selfless. When your wretched kind laid waste on my people, she was fully ready to sacrifice her own life just so long as I was okay, and in the end, I was forced to watch her die right in front of me. Those two look older than you, so I suppose I can commend them for wanting to protect their little brother, but they're not innocent in the matter," she suddenly accelerated into a sprint, about to close the distance with the two magic knights.
"It's your turn to watch the ones you love die before your very eyes!"
The pair of Rossiu siblings weren't slouches though, despite her amazing speed, both of their grimoires were already on new pages, prepared to combat her if need be.
Luckily for them though, there was no longer a need as their brother went into action. "Get back here! Heaven-infused Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Whip!" the weapon materialized in his armored hand, two feathers floating on opposite sides of the handle while a trio of large rings rested in the center. Reeling it back, he sent it forth, managing to wrap it around the girl's leg before pulling her back and swinging her around, launching her into a nearby pillar.
"Keep your hands off of them, bitch! Your fight is with me!"
Yoveen winced from the pain of the impact, but she had experienced far worse, it was nothing that'd keep her down for long. "Then I should finish you quickly so I can move on to the other ones," her grimoire came to her as it slowly flipped through pages, stopping on a particular one that caught her eye. "Hm, this spell looks like it will best support my fighting style, let's give it a try. Sparkle Reinforcement Magic: Rampage Force!"
Kenos sucked his teeth upon seeing her adopt the sparkling silver aura. "Oh crap,"
"Oh crap is right, this spell increases everything. Strength, speed, prowess, and magic, I should've opened with this," she punched her palm, already seeing that the boy had become airborne.
"Heaven-infused Solar Creation Magic: Rain of Solar Daggers!"
Yoveen could sense mana building up directly above her, her eyes looking up to see the enhanced daggers dropping down. "No problem," she crouched her legs and boosted herself at a diagonal angle, entirely dodging the spell, opting to go directly for the one who sent them.
She winded her fist back for a punch, but Kenos blocked it with the flat side of his sword, pushing her back, resulting in her landing on the roof. From there, he didn't decide to wait for her to make the next move, flying in himself, closing the distance.
"This should take her out safely," he once more utilized the flat side of his sword, attempting to bang it right onto the elf's head, hopefully knocking her unconscious.
However, to his dismay, she limboed before the strike could connect, and with the odd angle this put the royal knight in, the elf was more than free to land a powerful punch right in his gut, the air rushing out of his lungs, but that wasn't it as she followed it up with a surprisingly strong left hook, shooting him back on the grass.
"Damn it, she got me again," he said under his breath.
"Don't think you can relax!" she jumped into the air, positioning her legs for a dropkick.
The angelic solar mage was able to roll away just in time, avoiding the painful collision, but as she landed, he did a quick sweep kick, the move actually managing to connect. However, before the elf could hit the grass herself, she used her hands to aid in a backflip, putting her back on her feet. "Nice try,"
"It was worth a shot," he rolled away further, doing a kip-up as the two charged at each other.
Yoveen was the first to act, going for an uppercut, which her opponent backed away from, and with the increased distance, she launched a high and powerful side kick, but Kenos caught it with his right hand before it could land, putting a smirk on his face. However, a smirk soon formed on her face as well as she boosted herself up with her other leg, pulling off a side kick from the other direction, and striking him in the ear.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, letting go of her and backing up, holding his auditory limb, the ringing sound throwing him off.
"My my, human, you look rather discombobulated, it'd be a real shame if someone were to take advantage of that," the possessed royal knight smirked, already in motion.
"No, not now," Kenos made the rare decision to switch control of his heavenly sword over to his right hand so he could tend to his ear with the cold armor that coated his left hand. With that being done, the two engaged again in close quarters, the debilitation on the noble's part being easy to see from how sloppy his slashes were, the elf dodging each one with the most amount of ease she ever had.
"C'mon, the whole reason I used Rampage Force was to further get on your level, but now you're just making this too easy, it's really sad,"
"Oh shut up! Why don't you get hit in the ear?! Then we'll see how big that talk of yours is!" he fired back a retort, going for a wide vertical slash, but that ended up being a mistake as she quickly clapped her hands around the flat sides.
"Nah, I'd still whoop your ass," she twisted her hands and the sword at a 90-degree angle, taking advantage of the right hand's naturally weaker grip to disarm like he had done to her earlier.
"That isn't good," he said under his breath, but due to the closeness, she heard it as well.
"I couldn't agree more," she jumped, ascending only a foot or two above his head, she then used both of her legs to perform a devastating kick directly at his chest, the action also acting as leverage for her to do a backflip.
Kenos was sent back with a lot of force, landing with a thud, but Yoveen wasn't done, she was only getting started. "Sparkle Creation Magic: Shimmering Bow!" the arrow fired was noticeably stronger.
The Rossiu quickly stood up, readying his counter. "Solar Creation Magic: Amaterasu's Guard!" the Japanese sun goddess appeared to protect him. His good fortune continued as he could sense the ringing sensation in his ear begin to stop.
Yoveen sucked her teeth. "Okay then, was that not enough? Why don't I kick it up to the next level?" her grimoire turned to its strongest page. "Sparkle Creation Magic: Scintillating Aurora!"
The possessed knight summoned a goddess of her own, this one firing a strengthened blast that threatened to vaporize her enemy upon contact. "She's bringing out the ace. It looks like I have no choice but to do the same," Kenos thought as he mirrored her action.
"Solar Creation Magic: Wyvern of Helios!" the majestic beast formed behind, roaring and spreading its wings before it moved out.
This garnered gasps from those witnessing it for the first time. "Do the surprises never stop with this kid? First, he looks like an angel, then he makes his own technique, and now it turns out he also has unlocked his wyvern spell. That nephew of mine sure is something," Marcus commented.
"I certainly am surprised myself, but I'm proud to see that Kenos has finally obtained a wyvern spell to call his own, meaning all children of this generation have done it," Ellen added. "When this whole debacle is over, we should have a celebration,"
The slight jovial mood that built up broke apart in an instant the second the two powerful spells clashed with one another, beginning in a stalemate, the sparkling blast barring the wyvern from advancing despite its best efforts.
Kenos chuckled a bit. "Y'know, I've never had the chance to go against this spell before, it's pretty powerful,"
Yoveen raised a brow. "I suppose. What's your point?"
His eyes took on an expression of determination. "While the spell is strong, the one who brought it to life is even stronger. You say that Zuka's body will be yours until you die, but you couldn't be more wrong,"
She gave a smug grin in response to that. "Y'know, it's hard to believe that when she's made no further attempts to fight back, though that is thanks to my doing,"
"Screw your doing! Just you wait, when it comes to Zuka, she'll always defy expectations!"
"Hm, you're far too worried about this girl, you should be more worried about yourself," Yoveen said as both of them observed how the clash was going, and the stalemate continued. The elf wasn't pleased by this result, not one bit, but as she observed the attack she created, a plan came to her.
"More power!" she commanded, which Aurora obeyed, the wyvern beginning to get pushed back.
"Don't give up!" Kenos countered, adding power to his own attack, reestablishing the equality of force, but as seconds passed, both spells began to slowly dissipate, their attack duration reaching their end. The brunet grit his teeth. "Not yet,"
But despite his wishes, there was nothing that could be done, the clash would end with no winner.
Or would it?
"Cease!" Yoveen suddenly commanded, the goddess ending her blast, the wyvern now having nothing to impair its flying charge, but half of the creature's body was already gone, however, that was what the girl wanted. "Time to move," she broke into a sprint, building up speed before focusing mana into her legs and leaping high up, landing on what remained of the wyvern's back.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the angelic solar mage demanded.
"I'll tell you after I show you!" she replied, using the spell as leverage to boost herself forward. Meanwhile, the wyvern crashed into Aurora, successfully destroying her before it too ceased to exist, but not before covering the entire area in a thick dust cloud.
"I can't see a thing," Eleanor said before a loud crash was heard from afar.
"What's happening?! Did something?!" Ellen screamed.
"Relax everyone, I'll clear the dust," Marcus took out his grimoire. "Chimera Creation Magic: Summon - Frafdo!" the creature appeared, though no one could see it for obvious reasons, that fact though, was irrelevant to its maker. "Okay, Frafdo, do your stuff!"
The chimera flew into the courtyard, spinning itself around, conjuring a powerful tornado that dispersed the dust in no time, revealing the primarily white beast, sporting four wings, two from a swan, the others from a dove, its main body in the appearance of a bear and an eagle.
"Good work. Frafdo, I relieve you!" the beast nodded as it faded away, and with that problem dealt with, they could see the fight.
However, the sight sent chills down their spine. Yoveen was the lone person standing where Kenos just was, the boy was nowhere to be seen, but before they could fear the worst, their eyes fell on the east wing of the courtyard, partially destroyed, the nearby pillars broken in half, the nearby roof having collapsed and fallen over, burying anyone unlucky enough to be in the middle of it. Ironically, that only scared them more.
Nathan put his hand over his mouth. "No, please don't tell me,"
His worry was put to rest as the cracks began glowing a bright orange. "Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!" his voice was quiet, but raised in volume as he blasted the debris away and stumbled into view, a large bruise on his face. He tried to stay on his feet, but couldn't any longer and fell to one knee, using his sword to support him.
"You're still alive, I'm impressed," the possessed sparkle mage remarked.
Kenos coughed out blood, wiping it away with his sleeve. "A clever plan you cooked up. You let your spell lose on purpose, didn't you? When you saw that we were evenly matched, you cranked up the power on your end so I'd do the same, making our spells disappear faster,"
"And once that happened, all I had to do was give up so I could use your attack as leverage to launch one of my own, and it certainly helped that the dust would obscure me so you couldn't react in time. A great plan if I do say so myself," she finished.
The angelic solar mage breathed heavily, he could feel that Angel's Child wouldn't last much longer. On the sidelines, the young earth mage clenched his fists and stepped onto the grass, his mind was made up. "I'm going out there,"
His sister immediately held his shoulder. "What are you talking about? No you're not,"
"I have to. Kenos and Zuka are the only reasons we're here and not dead somewhere on the streets. When we first met, they fought to defend me, someone they didn't know, even if they stood no chance of winning, they didn't back down, now I'll do the same, I owe them that much," he freed himself and ran forward.
"Nathan!" the others yelled.
The boy kept running, but before he could get far, Yoveen extended a hand, not even bothering to make eye contact as she fired a magic bullet. In response, Nathan put up an earth wall, but it was a futile effort as it was destroyed with no problem and the kid was flung back dozens of feet.
"Shit, is he okay?" Sylvester was the first to rush to his side, but he stood up on his own.
"I'm fine, that was nothing, I have to go and-,"
"Hey! Little boy!" Yoveen cut him off, finally looking him in the eye, her glare dark and viscous, a look that felt wrong being on the sparkle mage's face. "That was a warning shot, and I'm not going to send another one. I've amplified my power temporarily, and even before that, I could go toe to toe with someone aided by a Sacred One, so if you or any of those other people so much as try to get in my way again, you will die,"
It wasn't hard to see that the boy was terrified by her threat, his hands were trembling, but he tried to not let it show.
"Nathan!" everyone's eyes fell on Kenos, still on his knee. "Listen to her, don't get involved!"
"B-But, I can't, y-you'll-,"
The Rossiu managed a weak smile, hoping to reassure him. "You don't need to worry, I still have one trick up my sleeve, and it's going to win me this," he channeled his strength and got back up. "Victory will be mine!"
Nathan relented, giving him a thumbs-up. "Then go on and win!"
Kenos returned the gesture as Emmanuel spoke in his mind. "Alright, lay it on me, what's this trick? Are you going to try pulling off some kind of double spell?"
"No. To be entirely honest, it's something I've never done before," he responded.
"If you've never done it before, how will you know it's going to work?" the angel questioned.
"It's from a common sense standpoint,"
"I see. So, what exactly is it?"
"It's something risky, something I'm not sure you'll agree with,"
"Kenos, quit leaving me in suspense. What is the trick?"
He sighed outwardly. "Alright. Emmanuel…I need you to give me more of your power,"
"You what?!" as he expected, his partner was shocked by his request.
"It's impossible to fight her alone without hurting her too badly using just 30%, if I had more power, I could subdue her faster and with less effort. You don't have to give me a lot, just an additional 5 or 10 percent should do," he explained.
Emmanuel didn't answer right away, there was a problem. "It's…not that simple actually,"
"What do you mean? What's not simple?"
"When an angel and their partner first meet, the angel proposes an amount of power for the partner to have as their base, and if the partner agrees that becomes their base. In our case, I proposed 30% and you accepted it. That's why every time you used Angel's Child, it manifested in its 30% form," he began.
"Does that mean I can't use more power?" Kenos inquired, his tone worried.
"You can, but at the stage you are now, I can only increase your power in multiples of your base," Emmanuel clarified. "You've only been able to access angelic power for a bit over a month. Regrettably, we haven't gotten to the point where you can safely practice Specific Percent Augmentations,"
Kenos was a bit confused by the phrase. "Specific Percent Augmentations?"
"It's a form of training that will allow you to not only use whatever percentage of power you desire, but can also change the percentage of your base,"
"I see. Going back to what you said earlier, you can increase my power by multiples of my base, meaning I currently can use either 30%, 60%, or 90%. Well, I guess that means I have to go with 60%,"
"Absolutely not! I was just explaining how your powers worked, I didn't actually agree to do it, you've already been transformed for too long, using all that power could be too much, there's a chance you might die,"
"But that also means there's a chance I won't, and as long as there is, I'll take it. I have to do what I can to save Zuka. Emmanuel, please,"
The angel thought it over, his partner could be stubborn when he wanted to be, so he decided to relent. "Fine, but don't stay transformed for any more than seven minutes, you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," he mentally replied as he smirked.
"You seem confident about this trick of yours, but you don't fool me. This is just some kind of bluff to not worry your family, isn't it?" Yoveen challenged his validity. "It's sweet, but ultimately pointless,"
"Oh no, this is no bluff, I'm serious," Kenos retorted as his grimoire flipped to the page of his transformation, the spell undergoing a slight change. It may have been a temporary one, but it still brought awe to his eyes. "Here we go! Heaven Magic: Angel's Child - Double Boost!"
In an instant, orange mana raged around him, he then waved his right arm, the mana concentrating in that spot as the same golden armor coated it. He then spun, doing a high kick with his right foot, leaving it suspended as mana traveled there as well, creating the same golden boot, upon putting it down, it then focused on the right side of his back, another white wing spawning. The mana then traveled to his right two fingers as he brought them to the back of his head on the right side before he curved them to the front, an orange line forming that completed his halo while at the same time, his other eye glowed brightly. Finally, he grabbed a hold of his sword, the remaining mana surging into it as he threw it above him, the weapon spinning violently in a circle as an orange light enveloped it, the circle splitting into two circles before they shot themselves down into the grass, the light fading to reveal two identical lodged swords.
Every eye who witnessed what he did widened in shock. "C-Could he always do that?" Sylvester felt compelled to ask.
"Beats me," Dante and Oxanna replied.
Yoveen was shocked too, but her shock was mixed with horror. "His magic power, it's…astounding, I've never felt something so powerful, not even…not even from Licht himself," she muttered, the prior urge she felt to flee was at an all-time high, but…she couldn't, she just couldn't. "I-I'm not scared of you! Even with your new power, I'll still take you down!"
"You're welcome to try,"
"Be careful, Kenos, remember that you only have seven or so minutes before the power kills you," Emmanuel warned.
"Then I'll make this quick,"
"Sparkle Creation Magic: Shimmering Bow!" she shot the arrow at full force, the power even pushing her back a bit. Kenos instinctively moved to respond with a spell, but then he stopped, staring at his now-armored right hand.
"I wonder," he said, standing still. As the arrow got closer, he merely used his hand to swat it away, as if it was nothing more than an annoying bug.
"What the?" the elf couldn't believe it. "T-Then let's see how you deal with this!" she jumped back over to a pillar and crouched her legs on its surface, focusing all the mana she should before rocketing forward, becoming a blur. While in movement, she flipped, positioning herself for a one-legged kick.
Like before, Kenos made no motion to react and contact was made, an enormous gust of wind following not far behind that obstructed the girl's vision, but before she regained her sight, she noticed that a strong force was acting against the bottom of her foot, keeping her suspended in mid-air. Had the knight grabbed his swords to block it faster than she could see? Well, once the wind fully died down, she caught a glimpse of what was responsible, and it made her heart sink and her blood run cold.
A finger. No spells, no swords, he blocked an attack of that magnitude…with a finger, and to add insult to injury, it was with his pinkie no less.
"Are you done yet?" he taunted her.
"Shut up!" she flipped back, she still had one option. "Sparkle Creation Magic: Scintillating Aurora!" her strongest spell formed once again. "Fire with everything you have!"
The goddess obeyed, firing an immensely strong blast, the power even scorching the grass beneath. Kenos was actually a bit surprised by the amount of magic it had, his eyes fell on the swords lodged in the ground as he picked them up.
"I wonder," he repeated the statement as he raised them both up, performing a low-effort vertical slash, his timing being early for the beam hadn't yet reached him. But that didn't matter, the mere force created was enough to slash not only the beam, but Aurora in half.
"No…way," she shook her head slowly, staring at the angelic solar mage, deciding to blink, but that was her biggest mistake. As she opened her eyes a split second later, her surroundings changed, she suddenly found herself tackled on the ground about a kilometer or so away from where she was standing, Kenos above her, holding her arms down. She was shocked by the predicament she was currently in, she didn't even feel that she was moving. Just how fast was he?
"Zuka!" he screamed.
"You know my name, human! Get the hell off me!" she shouted back.
"Shut up! I'm done talking to you!" his voice silenced her. "Zuka! If you can hear me, you need to fight, you need to fight hard! Please, come back to us! You mean far too much to far too many people! Oliver and Shauna, your mother, your squad, your village, your friends, my friends, and…and…,"
He quieted down, breathing heavily. There was one more thing he wanted to say. "...And me! You mean so much to me! So please, don't lose to her!"
Yoveen struggled to free herself, but it was no use. "I told you already, you're wasting your-," suddenly, she felt something inside of her. "What's happening? NO! NO! NO!" she exclaimed in her mind as her expression became blank and her eyes closed themselves shut.
The banging of metal.
Within a black space, that was the only sound, loud and constant. Only black was visible, but as the perspective changed, something was seen in the distance: a cage. Its silver color stood out like a sore thumb in the sea of umbra, but it wasn't the only thing that was worthy of note, after all, there was a person inside.
And that person was none other than Zuka, punching at the cage. She kept going and going, but there was no need for worry, the girl was in her headspace, she wasn't physical, there were no real muscles in her arms that could tire out, no real bones that would shatter from the constant action, but that also meant there was no progress to be made in escaping the construct. But that wasn't why she continued, she just needed to vent her anger.
"Why?! Why?! WHY?!" she finally came to a stop, sinking to her knees. The sparkle mage hated the situation she found herself in.
It all started back at Gravitos Stones, things were going fine until she started glowing out of nowhere and appeared where she was, but now another person was calling the shots, and that person tried to hurt her friends, and it didn't help that she could see everything that was happening so clearly. Zuka gazed intently at the cage she was trapped in, the construct coming to life after she managed to stop Yoveen from impaling Kenos with her lance; from there, she could only see glimpses of what the elf in control was doing. Glimpses of her talks with her brethren, glimpses of her fight with the Rossius and nearly killing Sylvester, but more importantly, glimpses of the fight she was having with Kenos.
That was what began her tirade of punches. She knew the solar mage would never fight with his all, and she knew that Yoveen would, and the thought of what that matchup could result in scared her, but more than anything, it infuriated her, it infuriated her because all she could really do was hope.
She clenched her fists. "I have to do something, anything. I was able to fight back before, so I should be able to do it again, whatever it takes to stop her from hurting him. No matter what, I can't let her kill him, I can't let her kill anyone, I just can't," Zuka tried to focus, but she didn't feel like anything was changing, the only change that did happen was her seeing another glimpse of the fight, the part where Yoveen threatened Nathan and the others.
"Damn it. It's…it's hopeless," her face grew disheartened, she hated to admit it, but…maybe it was time to give up.
.
.
.
"Zuka!"
Her eyes widened into attention at the voice that echoed throughout the space, it was undeniably her crush's voice.
"Kenos!" she shouted back, standing up.
"Zuka! If you can hear me, you need to fight, you need to fight hard! Please, come back to us!"
The girl shook her head. "But I've already given it all I have, I can't do it!"
"You mean far too much to far too many people! Oliver and Shauna, your mother, your squad, your village, your friends, my friends, and…and…,"
.
.
"...And me! You mean so much to me! So please, don't lose to her!"
Those words, it was those words that hit her the hardest. She stared at her hands as he grabbed two bars that were next to each other. "He's right, I was stupid to even consider quitting. If I give up to Yoveen, I'll be leaving everyone behind. Oliver and Shauna are a part of my friendship trio; mom already lost dad, I can't let her lose me too; the people of Hiroka and the Aqua Deer are important to me too…,"
"...But most of all…I can't lose Kenos, not before I figure out my love, not before we have the chance to be together!" she began pulling at the bars. "I want to see his everything! I want to see him smile, I want to see him laugh, I want to see him blush, I want to see him be strong! But that's not it, I want to be there when he's angry, I want to be there when he's sad or frustrated, I want to be there when he cries, I want to be the shoulder he can lean on, I want to be the one who's there to tell him everything's going to be alright and that I'll never leave his side no matter what, and I want him to do the same for me, and to see those parts of me! I want to be his rock, and him to be mine, to challenge one another, to help each other grow as people so we can become the best version of ourselves! That's why…,"
The entire cage began to crack, the cracks spreading until they broke apart entirely. "I CAN'T LOSE!"
Her breathing was heavy from her long outburst, but she was happy. "Yes, I'm free. Now what do I do? I guess I can start by-,"
"Why?"
Zuka immediately shut her mouth, her ears registering a faint voice that asked the same question she did, but she wasn't familiar with it. "Who could that be?"
"Why?" the voice asked again, it came from the west side, so the sparkle mage walked in that direction, the voice getting progressively louder as she got closer to its origin.
Eventually, she stopped, the person responsible now in her line of vision. It was a girl whose back was turned to her, she looked around her age, her hair white as snow, her ears pointy, and her clothes ones she didn't recognize.
"Is that…Yoveen?" she thought to herself.
It appeared that the commoner wasn't noticed as the elf went on like no one else was around. "Why? Why did I do all of this? I hurt those people, I almost choked that guy to death, and I threatened an innocent little boy. Why? I shouldn't be doing this. I…I just wanted to see my friends again, my parents, my sister, I didn't want to harm anyone. So why am I doing this?"
Zuka couldn't help but feel sorry for the elf, she looked conflicted, but that sympathy was short-lived as the cloth mage spoke again, her tone undergoing a massive shift.
"I know why, it's because of the humans!" she screamed. "We're the innocent ones, not them, they massacred our kind 500 years ago, this is what they deserve, yes, they deserve this, we mustn't show them any mercy!"
Her tirade came to an end as a hand was placed on her shoulder, surprising her as she turned her head back, only to be on the receiving end of a right hook that sent her to the black-colored ground. She touched her wound and winced, it actually hurt, but then she looked at the one who did it.
"You?! How did you escape?!"
The sparkle mage cracked her knuckles. "I'd like to, but I don't think you'd believe me. Now, if you'll be so kind as to give me my body back, I can be on my way,"
"Forget it!" Yoveen got up and tackled Zuka to the ground, throwing punches, but the aqua deer blocked each one. "This body is mine! I deserve it! Your kind robbed me of the chance to live a long and happy life, and now I have the chance to get it back, I won't lose it! I still have to find my sister!"
"Your sister?"
"Yes, I want to see her face after all these centuries! I wouldn't expect you humans to understand what losing her did to me! She was the kindest person I ever knew, she made my world brighter! You could never understand what it's like to lose someone like that!" she threw one last punch that Zuka caught, using it to twist her arm and throw her body off, giving her a chance to stand.
"I understand it more than you think," she said, walking over to the elf, grabbing her by her hair, she then extended her other hand and closed her eyes, focusing as a new cage with an open gate appeared in the distance.
Zuka began dragging the elf by her hair, Yoveen kicking and screaming, but the sparkle mage's grip was tight. "Oh, and by the way, you don't deserve anything, so don't give me that crap! What happened to you must've been bad, I won't deny that, but no one here did any of it to you and your people. Do you think that just because you were wronged, you can blame whoever you feel like and seriously be justified? Give me a fucking break,"
They were now finally at the new cage, the elf being roughly thrown inside as the rightful owner shut the gate. "No longer will you use my body to hurt the ones I care about," Zuka said, pointing her thumb at herself.
"From here on out, I'm back in control,"
The girl's eyes slowly opened back up, and to her joy, the first thing they laid on was Kenos' face, his expression cryptic, as if he was unsure of who he was currently looking at, so she decided to reassure him with the one thing she did best.
A smile.
"Hey there, did you miss me?"
The angelic solar mage was left speechless as they both got to their feet, it almost seemed too good to be true, so he closed his eyes and opened them, observing her mana beads. The dark pink was gone, it had returned to its usual silver color.
"It really is you,"
She winked. "That's right," she answered, noting his appearance. "You look different, I didn't know Angel's Child could look like that, you have some explaining to do," her eyes then gazed back at his face, but what she saw made them widen.
"Kenos, you're crying," there were indeed tears falling down, so she pressed her thumb against his cheeks, wiping them away. "It's alright, I'm right here,"
Without warning, the boy wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Thank you, thank you so much for winning,"
Zuka couldn't help but turn red as she held him just as tightly. "I owe it all to you. What you said at the end gave me the strength I needed. I couldn't have done it without you,"
"You're giving me way too much credit,"
"No, I'm not,"
From afar, the others watched what transpired. "They're hugging," Nathan stated. "That means she's no longer trying to kill us,"
"And that means Kens pulled it off!" Ves finished with a cheer. "I knew he could do it!"
Slowly, the royal knights separated from one another, but not before looking each other in the eyes for a few seconds, however, after that, Kenos gently pushed Zuka away before giving her his back.
"Is everything okay?" she inquired, a little concerned.
"Yup, just fine, I'm checking the damages," he made up an excuse.
But he had to. No matter what, he didn't want Zuka to see the notable blush forming on his face, not yet at least.
"Holy crap!" the sparkle mage observed the consequences of their battle. "I am so sorry! I'll personally pay for whatever damages I caused!"
Kenos giggled. "You're joking, right? This was Yoveen's doing, and only hers, rest easy,"
"Um, Kenos makes a fair point, we'll handle everything!" Richard called out to her, excusing himself from the rest and speed-walking towards his office. "I'll go assemble the servants and we can begin fixing-,"
He didn't get another step further as one of the angelic swords rushed by him, lodging into a wall. The phantom mage's eyes followed where they came from, his eyes landing on his son's, the look from before now on them.
"Not so fast, father, I wish to talk to you about something," he said, his tone cold and monotonous.
"He wants to talk to you as well. Did something go down?" Marcus asked them.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, something did happen," his nephew answered, not taking his eyes off of his dad's
Richard narrowed his eyes, so he did know after all. "Son, not here, and not in front of everyone, we can discuss this privately in my office," his tone shifted, becoming serious and composed.
It was Kenos who narrowed his eyes now. "Son? After what you pulled, you've lost your right to call me that ever again,"
Zuka was confused, but she could feel the tension. "Is there something I missed?"
"Yes,"
Dante stepped up, facing his dad. "Father, this matter cannot be handled privately,"
"He's right, no one outside those we trust has to know, but it should be known to the members of the family," Oxanna added. "Sorry dad, but you brought this upon yourself,"
"Ellen, do you know what they're talking about?" Reyna asked her sister-in-law.
"I'm just as confused as you are," the steel mage replied. "Kenos, just spill it already, what's happened between you two,"
Her son paused for a second before opening his mouth, his eyes never looking away from Richard. "Father hired a man named Zaxon, an assassin…and he hired him to kill me,"
Perspective shifted to every face that didn't know, horror and shock like never before were painted on each one. To no one's surprise, Marcus was the first to regain his voice. "Are you absolutely sure? I know he can have a bit of a temper at times, but my brother would never stoop to such a low,"
Kenos' eyes turned to meet his uncle's. "I didn't want to believe it either, but it's true. When I joined the Black Bulls, he viewed it as a problem due to how it would affect the family's reputation going forward, and indeed, people I've encountered have questioned it, but their number was so small to the point where it was negligible. However, in father's eyes, that was enough for my life to be forfeit,"
Eleanor put a hand over her mouth. "Oh my,"
Reyna looked over to her niece and older nephew, and saw no looks of shock. "Did you two already know about this,"
Oxanna nodded. "We do. Kenos told us during the Royal Knights Entrance Exam,"
Sylvester's eyes widened upon hearing that. His mind traveled back to that day four or so weeks ago; with the context provided, everything was starting to add up, Richard's call, his strange question, Kenos' breakdown, and his uncle's subsequent worries. "It can't be,"
"NO!"
All eyes followed the loud scream, and they landed on Ellen, the woman holding her head, violently shaking it. Reyna slowly approached. "Ellen…Leelee, are you-," she extended a hand.
The steel mage slapped it away. "Please stay back! It's not true! It's not!" she ran to her husband, looking at him with tearful eyes.
"Richard, tell me it isn't true and I'll believe you. Tell me this is just some weird inside joke you left me out of, please,"
The man couldn't look her in the eyes, his face showing tinges of regret. "I had to,"
Ellen backed away slowly, now staring at the pendant hanging around her husband's neck before bringing her gaze back up to his face. "How could you?" her expression gradually shifted from sadness to rage. "HOW COULD YOU?! TO YOUR OWN SON!"
Richard said nothing back, nor did he meet her gaze, no reason he could give would be enough to calm her down. At that moment, he couldn't look at anyone, well, almost anyone. Strangely enough…Kenos was the only one his eyes could meet, and all he saw in his son's eyes was rage and sadness, a wish that it didn't have to be this way.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Zuka was ready to charge at the man, but she was held back by Dante, Oxanna, Nathan, and Sonia. However, even with four people against her, she gave a hell of a fight. "I already didn't like you, but this, this is ridiculous! You're Kenos' father for fuck's sake! You're supposed to love him, support him, and have his best interest at heart! That's what a father does! Don't you know that there are people out there who aren't lucky enough to have their dads around?! There are people who'd do anything just to have them back in their lives, but you…you have that privilege and you're ready to throw it away just because of what others think! You disgust me!"
The sparkle mage's breathing became erratic as her tirade ended, but that didn't mean the words against Richard came to a halt. "She's right, you do disgust me," it came from Nathan who glared daggers at the man, an expression he'd only ever reserved for Levi. "I can't fathom how someone like you fathered an amazing guy like Kenos,"
"Yeah," Sonia fully agreed.
At that point, everyone had either spoken or thought of their peace, and even though tensions were at an all-time high, a moment of silence reigned, and that allowed a soft-toned question to be heard.
"Did you love me that little?" it came from Kenos, his expression softening ever so slightly. "Did you have that little love in your heart for me to commit such an act?"
"I…I-," he was about to say something, but that's when an explosion from nearby was heard, their eyes all diverting in the opposite direction.
"Shit, there are still the elves to worry about," the angelic solar mage cursed under his breath as their heads shifted back where they were, but to their shock, Richard was gone, the only thing remaining was the wisps of a ghostly wind located where he stood.
"He got away, damn it," Zuka said venomously. "I say we track him down, he's no spatial mage, he couldn't have gotten that far,"
Kenos shook his head in refusal. "As much as I'd agree with you, the kingdom comes first," he undid his transformation. "The two of us should get a little rest before-," he suddenly fell to one knee.
The commoner was already at his side, ready to help him up. "You okay?" she offered a hand.
He took it and stood back up. "Yeah, just a little dizzy. Emmanuel told me that using 60% of his power could have some backlash, but vertigo isn't too bad of a trade-off for-,"
He didn't get another word in as he lost all strength in his legs and collapsed, but that was just the beginning of it. "AHHHH! AHHHH!" he began screaming in agony.
Zuka knelt beside him. "Kenos, what's wrong?!"
"I…I…AHHHH! UGHHH!" he tried to answer, but the pain was too great. And as if things couldn't get worse, he suddenly began to convulse violently, like he was having a seizure.
In a matter of seconds, everyone was at his side, holding his limbs down as Sylvester placed a hand on his cousin's heart. "Kens' heartbeat is all over the place!"
"IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" he managed to scream at the top of his lungs. "AHHHH!"
His grimoire floated up and opened. "It's even worse than I feared," the angel said.
"What the? Is his grimoire talking?!" Marcus was flabbergasted.
"I'll fill you in later," Zuka said. "Emmanuel, what's wrong with him?"
"This is the backlash of using too much of my power, his body couldn't take it and is now reacting negatively to it," he explained. "Kenos, I'm sorry you have to go through this, but I warned you,"
"I had to!" he exclaimed, taking quick, exasperated breaths. "It was…the only way to save Zuka! AHHHH!"
The sparkle mage couldn't believe it. He was ready to put his body on the line like this…for her?
"Mother, we need to try using spells to heal him, perhaps that can alleviate the pain and help his body," Sylvester said.
"It's worth a try," Reyna agreed as they took out their grimoires.
"Lunar Recovery Magic: Half Moon Resurgence,"
"Night Recovery Magic: Bountiful Umbra,"
They both laid their hands on his chest, bathing him in a combination of blue light and black mass as Ellen held her son's hand. "It's going to be alright, sweetie, just hang on,"
About three minutes passed and his screaming stopped, the pain dying down until it stopped completely, Kenos now taking slow, deep breaths in relief. Zuka changed her spot, kneeling down behind his head. "Put his head on my lap, it'll be more comfortable than the grass,"
No one saw any issue in that request, so they obliged, lifting him a bit and backing him up into her, resting his head there carefully.
"How are you feeling, little brother?" Dante asked.
"Better than I was a few minutes ago, but I can't move my arms or my legs," he answered before letting out a weak chuckle.
"What's funny?" his sister now asked.
"I'm just thinking. Dizziness, immense pain, convulsions, an irregular heartbeat, and temporary muscle failure, I guess the backlash is a pretty bad trade-off for 60%," he replied as warm hands grasped his face, Zuka's hands. He looked up at her while she looked down at him.
"Hey,"
"Yeah?"
"Don't you ever do that again,"
Kenos blinked a few times. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me, don't you ever risk your safety like that again, not for me, or anyone else. You mean a lot to me too, I can't stand seeing you in pain, so promise me,"
He smiled. "Alright, I promise,"
She smiled too, but the calm situation finally let her mind catch up with her regarding the position the two were in. The royal knight did her best not to blush in front of everyone, and it actually worked. "Um, you don't mind where my hands are, do you?"
"Not at all, it's actually pretty soothing," he told her, closing his eyes in bliss.
"Is it now?" she gave a mischievous smile, removing her hands.
"Oh c'mon, don't be like that, put them back," the teen pouted, trying to lift his arms, but they still weren't obeying him.
"Okay, okay," she giggled, returning them to where they were.
Sylvester couldn't help but smile as well, the two of them were talking like no one else was around. "They really are cute together," he thought, but his train of mental thinking was disrupted as Ellen stood up, getting everyone's attention.
"Is everything alright, mother?" the solar mage asked, concerned.
"Um, yes, I think so. Since all is well over here, I should head back to my office, I have some things to take care of," she turned and speed-walked away.
Marcus and Reyna got up soon after. "We'll go talk to her," the former said, taking out his tome and flipping it to a spell. "It's best I leave her with you now. Chimera Creation Magic: Summon - Draglide the Swiftest!" a portal formed behind him and out flew out a large chimera. It was mainly red and blue, her head in the likeness of a dragon, her wings and claws in the likeness of a falcon, and she sported two lion-like tails.
"Draglide's lightning magic makes her my fastest chimera, once you heal up, use her to take you wherever you need to go,"
Kenos nodded to the best of his ability. "Thanks, uncle,"
"No problem…and sorry for what happened to you," he and his wife then left them.
The solar mage looked up at the night sky, imagining what battles were probably going on as he lay there. He didn't know how they were going, but he was optimistic, this victory here had given him hope.
"I know it, I just know it, we can win this,"