(A Mother's Embrace)

*April 15th, 1904*

*College of Arts and Perfection*

The mood was tense as Zorya walked across the hallway, sword in hand while Flynn quickly walked behind her with a concerned expression.

"Sister! Please don't take out your anger on.." Flynn pleaded to his sister; however, it was to no success as he saw his sister preparing to attack.

Zorya's expression was dark as she lifted her sword towards the door, ready to attack as she began to speak.

"Lunar Moon: Eclipse Slash" Zorya spoke in a dark voice, slashing her sword directly at the door with great speed.

A slew of crescent moon appeared from her sword and the attack instantly destroyed half of the interiors of the college as rubble and small smoke appeared.

"W-What in the world is this?! W-Why." Woggle-Bug uttered in shock as he saw Zorya approaching him, eyes filled with quiet rage.

Zorya carefully made her way through the rubble as she approached Woggle-Bug, pushing him to the ground while Flynn gasped in shock.

"Sister! Please stop this! It's not his fault.." Flynn pleaded with his sister as he continued to watch the heated confrontation, hoping his sister would stop.

However, this would prove to be useless as Zorya ignored him, focusing on her target instead.

"Explain to me, why can't I discover any cures to certain diseases. I thought the pill was meant to help those gain educational power, you better speak or else…" Zorya spoke to Woggle-Bug in a commanding voice as she pointed her sword at the fearful creature.

The sight of Zorya's quiet rage made Woggle-Bug's expression even more fearful as he quickly explained himself.

"T-The pills only contain knowledge recorded in my books, meaning that you gain knowledge that's within the books in this collage. I'm sorry if you didn't get the results you arrived for.." Woggle-Bug responded in a pleading voice as he raised his hands in the air, hoping that he'd get through to Zorya.

Unfortunately, this didn't help at all since Zorya's expression became angry.

"LIAR!" Zorya shouted at Woggle-Bug while she clenched her sword tightly, ready to strike him down.

Meanwhile, Flynn could sense the fear in Woggle-Bug's eyes and this caused him to quickly step in between his sister and Woggle-Bug.

"Zorya, stop it! He's telling the truth, please don't do something you'll regret. Let's head back home.." Flynn pleaded with his sister, hoping to find reason within her as he stared into her hurt-filled eyes.

This action caused Zorya's eyes to widen in shock before she eventually began to speak once more.

"Dear brother, why are you taking his side?! He's lying! Can't you see that.." Zorya asked Flynn in a voice filled with hurt as she carefully put her sword away, not wanting to hurt her brother.

"I'm not taking any sides here. I'm sure he won't lie to us, let's just head home.." Flynn responded to the claims as he looked at his sister with a pleading face, hoping she'd listen.

After hearing this, Zorya turned around and walked away, ignoring Flynn in the process.

As Zorya walked across the hallway, she played back the previous events in her mind, thinking of how she couldn't save Luna.

"Dear sister, I couldn't find a cure..I-I don't know what to do.." Zorya whispered to herself as she felt tears flowing down her face; however, she quickly fixed her face, not wanting to give up.

Zorya continued walking until she heard a voice, it was Flynn calling out to her.

"Ready to head back? We don't want Mother and Luna to worry too badly.." Flynn asked his sister in a soft voice as he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

The touch of her brother's hand made Zorya faintly smile as she nodded.

"Yes, dear brother." Zorya responded as she and Flynn connected their fists.

Once their fists touched each other, the pair was consumed in a brilliant flash of light, and they were immediately sent back home.

*Land of Ix*

Zorya and Flynn arrived back home, hoping to find everything in safe conditions.

However, to their horror, the house was ransacked with the windows, doors, and everything else being destroyed.

"N-No! MOTHER! DEAR SISTER!" Zorya screamed in horror as she quickly ran towards the house, hoping to find them in one piece.

Meanwhile, Flynn's expression was fearful as he quickly followed his sister, hoping that his mother and sister were okay.

"No! No! Please be okay!" Flynn thought to himself with extreme fear, his face sweating bullets as he ran alongside his sister.

Once Zorya entered the home, she quickly took a good look at her ransacked home, shocking her greatly.

There were broken plates on the floor along with small pieces of food scattered across the floor as well, the cabinets were broken and all of this shows there were signs of a struggle.

The scene was straight out of a nightmare and this made Zorya and Flynn dread the worst.

"Mother! Dear Sister!" Zorya called out in anguish, hoping to hear them as she looked around the house.

Eventually, her answers were heard as she heard a soft voice coming from the other room, it was Riona's voice.

Riona was sitting against the wall, too weak to move as she was dying from the injuries she sustained from the robbery.

"M-My..dear..c-h." Riona responded in a weak voice from the other room.

This immediately alerted Zorya and Flynn as the twins quickly ran towards the room, and there, they found their mother.

The sight of their mother in a critical condition caused Zorya and Flynn's faces to be itched with horror.

"MOTHER!" Zorya and Flynn screamed in terror as they knelt close to their mother, gently holding her hand for comfort.

Riona felt the warmth of her children's hands despite feeling cold due to the loss of blood; however, that didn't stop her from embracing her children in a warm hug.

"M-Mother?! Where's our dear sister?!" Zorya pleaded with her mother, hoping for an answer as tears fell down her face.

Riona's breathing became rapid due to losing blood: however, she continued to speak.

"S-She's o-okay. I-I've hidden her in my bedroom, she..she passed out b-but she's okay.." Riona responded weakly as she hugged Luna and Flynn tightly.

The news of Luna's well-being brought huge relief to Zorya and Flynn, a huge weight lifted off their shoulders.

Sadly, there was one single weight that remained, and it was Riona's impending death.

"M-My..d-dear children. I-I'm sorry. I-I wasn't strong e-enough..t-they.." Riona continued to speak weakly to her children, tears falling down her face.

The sight of her mother and hearing her weak voice was enough for Zorya to sob fully.

"B-Bandits. t-they wanted something…a-and they've tortured me for it..t-the Sword of Oz..I-I don't have it..b.."Riona continued to speak once more to her children; however, she wasn't able to finish her sentence as she coughed due to blood loss.

The words further struck Zorya to the core, what exactly was the Sword of Oz?

"I..I love you all so much, m-my beautiful triplets…d-don't…please don't…become..separated.." Riona pleaded to her children, taking her final breath.

Zorya's world was shattered in an instant, she felt numb at this very point.

The only sounds were Flynn crying, holding on to his mother which made Zorya emotional but still numb.

"I'll find them.." Zorya uttered in a monotone voice as she gently released herself from her dead mother.

Almost in an instant, Zorya blitzed outside the home, determined to find the people responsible.

"Bastards! I'll kill them all!" Zorya angrily thought to herself as she quickly ran across the forest, determined to find those responsible.

Zorya quickly ran across the forest, hoping to find the people responsible for her mother's death.

Each second felt like an eternity as Zorya continued to run, her breathing growing more rapidly due to her emotional state.

"They can't have escaped..I'll hunt them down.." Zorya uttered in an angered yet calm voice as she looked around her surroundings, hoping for something.

Luckily, her answers would be answered as she heard laughter coming from the east direction, it was cruel laughter that made Zorya angry.

"I've found them.." Zorya uttered with a smirk as she quickly ran towards where the laughter originated.

Zorya ran across the forest with great speed until she finally came across some bandits.

Once she saw them, her expression darkened.

The bandits were all sitting at their campsite, laughing amongst themselves after their morning robbery.

The bandits consisted of five men and the bigger one, whose name was Mutt, began to speak.

"Oh Flick, we got the jackpot with that lady! I bet we can trade in that pretty necklace for the Sword of Oz." Mutt spoke to the leader in a cocky voice while he gently played with the necklace.

This was followed by Flick chucking to himself as he began to speak.

"Exactly, I bet someone is willing to give up that sword for that woman's pretty little necklace, and who knows, we might be able to sell it for a high price!" Flick responded in a cocky voice as he continued to laugh while he looked at the necklace.

The entire conversation was enough to make Zorya snap and she quickly approached the bandits, ready to kill them all.

The presence of Zorya caught their attention; however, they weren't able to react quickly.

"H-Huh! W-Who.." Mutt uttered in shock before having his throat slit, the blood splashing on Zorya's face.

The scene shocked Flick and the others as they saw life fleeing from Mutt's eyes.

"Who the hell are you?!" Another bandit cried out in anger, ready to put an end to Zorya; however, this was to no success.

What followed was Zorya quickly stabbing him in the stomach, causing the bandit to gasp in pain before collapsing on the ground.

Zorya quickly moved over to slice the other two bandits in quick succession, their bodies dropping to the ground in an instant.

"Who the hell are you?! Those were my men!" Flick uttered in shock as he stared at the dead bodies of his comrades.

Zorya didn't say a word as she looked over at Flick and began walking closer to him.

For the first time, the bandit felt genuine fear as he tripped and fell against the bark of the tree.

"P-Please. Don't kill me. If you want this necklace then take it damn it!" Flick pleaded to Zorya as he threw the necklace at her, hoping it would please her.

Unfortunately, Zorya wasn't pleased as she knelt, getting close to his face.

"Look at me in the eyes, do you notice a resemblance, worm." Zorya asked Flick in a dark voice as she forcefully grabbed his chin to make him look at her.

Flick stared at Zorya's bloody face, taking a good look for a few seconds until he was hit with a revelation.

"Y-You're the daughter of the woman!.." Flick uttered in shock as he felt Zorya's hands grabbing his chin roughly.

"Yes, she was my MOTHER. You tortured her and I had to watch her die!" Zorya screamed in response, letting go of his chin as she pulled out her sword once more.

This made Flick raise his hands in fear, begging to not be killed.

Zorya smiled at this as she knelt once more, grabbing his chin roughly.

"Tell me about this Sword of Oz, I heard you and your little friends talking about it, tell me, now!" Zorya demanded Flick in a commanding voice as she waited for an answer. Flick nodded in fear as he began to tell her about the sword.

"I-I don't know much but it's a legendary sword, we were planning to find it and sell it, that's all I know.." Flick responded in a fearful voice as he stared into Zorya's eyes.

Zorya smirked at the response as she got up, ready to put him out of his misery.

"W-Wait! Please?!." Flick pleaded; however, it was to no success.

Zorya quickly slashed the sword across his chest, killing him instantly as his body fell to the side.

The scene was now quiet with the only noise being the soft wind as Zorya looked around, seeing the bodies of the bandits.

"Sword of Oz. I need to learn more about it.." Zorya uttered in a low voice.

With their mother dead, Zorya and Flynn unknowingly continue to head on separate paths..