The Creator's Past | AnotherWorld: Original

Chapter 49 - Find The Solution

As Maven's fingers fumbled with the laces of his boots, he could feel the icy cold seeping through the thick material of his gloves. Nevertheless, he persisted, determined to ensure that his boots were securely fastened before he ventured out into the unforgiving Arctic wilderness. The ice mage turned to bid farewell to the townspeople he had grown to care for during his duty. As he made his way through the streets, he couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over him, as he took in the familiar sights and sounds of the town that had become his home with a heavy heart.

"Say hi to your fire sister for me!" The girl yelped, her little arm waved vigorously.

"I will!" Maven shouted back with a wide smile. Eventually, he parted ways.

Maven's heart sank as he realized something was off. He couldn't sense his sister, it was as if she had vanished into thin air. Immortals could be able to sense and locate other immortals' presence in a distance, but Maven was gifted way more as an elemental mage. He could sense if they were on the other side of the world, but right at the moment, he couldn't.

For sure, he had to leave the icy wastelands behind and travel to warmer climes to search for her. He knew it was going to be a long journey, but he was determined to find her. Maven never recalled the ways to her sister's realm, and that was a problem. Only he did remember it was in a thick forest near a village. Glad that he remembered the sacred password, a spell to open a portal to her realm.

It was not her idea, it was his. The little things that would keep his big sister safe and isolated, preventing her corrupt starting a rampage. There was no other way to remove the corrupt except death, but certainly, there were ways to tame it. Isolating, away from souls it reaps. Lights, disturb its senses and waver the efficiency. And, Ice, freezing its mind and putting it in place will falter its willpower.

Maven had a great deal of expertise when it came to corruption. Once, he had managed to control it, but it had put his life in danger. Thanks to his sister, Felicia, Maven was aware of the secrets of the dark. Felicia possessed an incredibly strong mind and could control the dark to a certain extent, a dosage. However, if there were any outside sources that she absorbed, she would lose control over herself.

A welcoming cafe was where Maven intended to ask about the village near his sister's realm, but the warm smell of chocolate had lured him to take a seat.

The elemental mage sat down, staring out the window at the warm scenery, and blooming flowers. His intellect attempted to form a plan to conceal his sister's dark heart if it erupted once again. In this case, his guts told him it was happening again, but he refused to believe.

A little brother should never see his sister sinking her razor-sharp teeth into a beating heart, with an unforgiving amount of blood and organs spilling on the floor.

No, anything but that.


He sighed, he never wanted to lock his sister up in ice for a month straight ever again. It almost killed her. In ordinary ice, an immortal sure survived, but ice produced by an immortal as its power will result in death, just like other powers from any immortal.

"A kind for a kind." 

The words played on Maven's mind, it sounded absurd to him. They implanted the motto, much like a warning, into the brains of every immortal to beware of their own powers. The first lesson, was to teach newly bestowed immortals, that they were just the same as their kind. Just like a mortal.

"I'm too young to be dealing with this." He sighed.

As Maven sipped on his hot chocolate, drowning in his thoughts. Suddenly, a man, a stranger. Sat at the empty chair in front of him. "I know, right?" The man raked his tanned fingers into his light brownish hair. He sighed as well. "Your sister made one of a hell time."

"Uh, excuse me?" pardoned Maven awkwardly. His body immediately recoiled back to the wooden chair, his light golden eyes scrutinizing the man. "Do I know you?"

"Ah! Ya, ya sorry. I ain't a rude person. Names Kylian. You know, super fast guy,"

"Didn't ring a bell bro." Maven raised an eyebrow.

"I'm Sarah's friend, ya know her!"

Eyes round, Maven almost choked on his hot chocolate. The mug was placed back on the coaster. He was suspicious and he knew it, he was never the type to deny his own feelings. What does this leopard-looking man want? Why did he mention about Sarah? What does he have to do with Felicia?

"I know your sister, well before she goes yada yada." Kylian emphasized, his hand fidgeting in the air. "They put a bounty on ya sister's head y'know?"

It all clicks. Maven's grip on the mug tightened, his skin chilled as the ice came to the surface. Eyes locked into Kylian leopard irises, "So you've been trying to get to her? You want the bounty?"

"Oh, so you knew?"

"I'm not dumb."

A call from the waitress interrupted them both, "Oops, hold on. My order!" Kylian excused himself. A zap of lightning flashed before the ice mage's eye, one second he was gone, and one second after he returned to his seat like normal. His hand once was empty now holding a vanilla sundae cone.

"So you're an elemental as well?" Asked Maven.

"Hell yeah!" He cheered, mouth munching on the soft, creamy texture of the cold sundae. "Okay! But- I'm here to make a deal." He wiped his mouth, finally revealing his true intentions.

"If you use me against my sister I freeze you to death." He snarled, ice started to appear on his neck, his exhaled breath turned into a cold fog.

"Chill out bro! Look, there's a relic, that can help your sister." Hands in surrender, Kylian backed a few inches from Maven on his chair.

"Yeah? What relic?"

"I'll explain to you if you make a deal with me."

"Bro, what?" He scoffed, "As if you think I'm reckless as my sister, you're wrong."

"Look, I ain't lying. I work as Sylvia's assistant, Anastasia. She informed me about the relic, it's legit. This ancient stuff can suck out your sister corrupt, it was made by a former creator like centuries ago I guess?" He explained.

Maven pondered, if the relic was really true, maybe it could cleanse his sister's heart. He never be burdened by her corruption again, and maybe he would never have to check up on his sister, worrying about her always. Maybe things would go normal as before. Maybe, just maybe, their eternal life will be free from evil.

"So, what do you need me for?" Arms folded to his chest, the ice mage decided to give it a chance.

"Ya! That's it." The leopard man rejoiced. "So the relic happened to be stuck underground."

"And?"

"Under the ice."

Maven groaned. He had to retrieve the relic from miles under the sea level, trapped in tons of glaciers. No one would dare to face the cold climate, let alone the unidentified dangers in the water. It was a perilous task. But as an ice mage, he was the only one up for it.

"What's in it for you?"

"The bounty duh!"

"I said I won't betray my sister!" he bellowed, his voice echoing through the cafe. His clenched fists crashed against the wooden table, producing a resounding thud. Cold, jagged ice spikes emerged from the floor, menacingly aimed at Kylian's vulnerable neck in split seconds. The younger brother's anger surged, fueled by the betrayal he witnessed his friends commit towards his sister, he never wanted to be a part of the scumbags. The weight of his sister's painful past, which he himself had witnessed, hung heavy in the air. It affected him. He, too, bore the mark of their agony under his left eye.

His past was his sister's, he was one of the Mark Holders, because of his sister. The sadness, the vulnerable feeling, the missing strength to help her own sister were never used to be there. A weak boy watching his sister crumble in the corner.

But now, it was different. He wasn't that weak boy anymore.

The people's heads turned towards them both, gasping at the possibility of someone getting hurt. Maven, however, did not back down his ices. Instead, the sharp points slowly pushed, getting closer each minute.

"Alright! Alright! I need to break from Naomi's curse!" The lightning mage shouted. His body was stiff, his neck craned back to its limits.

"You mean, that Naomi? That asshole who ruined my sister?" Maven's eyes widened.

"I heard- she's planning a big attack on Felicia, and y'know that she's gonna ruin the city! Her corruption is way stronger than Felicia's. Ya know healers, they are the weakest, but once they consume the corrupt, it's doomed!"

Maven couldn't bring himself to believe it; suspicion clouded his thoughts. Despite that, his ice spikes shattered to the ground and turned into dust of comforting snow, as he released Kylian from his capture. He did not bother the people in the cafe, what power did they have on him?

"I can't tell if you're bluffing and tryna to convince me."

"Look what she did to me!" Kylian pulled back his sleeve, revealing a purple, blistering rash that encircled his wrist. The skin was covered in a disgusting layer of bubbles. "She cursed me." He breathed.

"That looks...ew." Maven cringed, advert his gaze to the disgusting wrist to the beautiful nature outside.

"She's a fucking witch man." Kylian sighed. "Please, man." Kylian begged.

Maven's eyes returned to see his face.

"C'mon man, I don't wanna die like this, a mages' deal eh? You get your sister back and I'll live."

"So much for being immortal." Maven scoffed.