*Yuzuki*
[A few moments earlier]
I warped Hikaru and me next to the van. Eri was still slicing through the giant golem. The thing had been reduced into pebbles, but they continued to clump back together. Though it didn't look like my big brother was breaking a sweat.
I glanced at the unconscious Hika and sighed as I laid him down on the back of the car. Kun and Adela's words rang in my head. My brother was the reincarnation of one of the Rulers of Abyss? Were the rumors about my mom's clan true? Did we actually hail from The Abyss?
"Uncle fine?" Serein asked, worried.
I smiled at him. "He'll be fine. Take good care of him, okay? I'm going to go make sure that Lei and others are fine."
"Hope that Iah is," Azure said, frowning.
Elliot ruffled the kid's hair. "I'm sure that he is, sport! Iah's strong! I'm sure that some stupid golems won't stop him."
The little prince lowered his head. "That's not what I'm worried about."
He blinked. "It's not?"
"Yuzu? Why have you returned?" Eri asked as he looked over at us. His eyes widened as soon as he saw our unconscious brother. "Hika! What happened to him?"
"Look out!" I yelled.
Eri returned his eyes to the golem as its fist closed it. He formed a water barrier that eroded a hole into the stone, making up the giant's hand. "I'm tired of you," he said, glaring at the thing. "Begone!"
A giant blade of water tore through the golem and the ground, creating a large fissure on the floor.
Elliot whistled. "How much power is that brother of yours packing?"
I didn't even know the answer to that question. Brother did learn magic at an elite high school, the top magic academy in all of Xeleria. I'd contemplated following in his footsteps, but I preferred a place a bit closer to home. Even though said place and home were divided by a sea.
"Super strong Daddy!" Serein said, grinning.
Azure smiled. "Not as strong as mine."
Serein frowned. "Really?"
"I think that did it," Eri said, swinging his sword as he walked over to us. The thing dissolved into a bunch of water droplets before vanishing altogether. "Now, explain what happened to Hikaru."
"I'm not entirely sure," I said. "Hikaru was giving Adela his energy at one moment. There was a surge of power coming from the center of the ruins around the same time. It caused Hika to react strangely."
My older brother raised his eyebrow. "Strange in what way?"
I got out of the car and closed the door behind me, not wanting the kinds nor Elliot to hear. "Shadows were coming out of his body."
Eri's mouth dropped like mine had inside of the pyramid. "I see." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"Brother, is the rumor true? About what we are?" I didn't want to say abysmal with Elliot around. Sure, his sister had an idea, but there was no telling how he would react if he knew.
He averted his gaze. "Yes. It is. I managed to confirm it during the last war against those creatures."
I gulped. "I see."
"Wait a minute, you're saying that you're abysmals?" Elliot asked. He had his head pressed against the door.
Guess that the guy wasn't as dumb as we thought.
"Yes, but we're a bit different. At least our grandfather was," Eri said, lowering his head.
"You know who our maternal grandpa is?" I asked, baffled. Did he learn it from his history courses? Mom and Dad both came from ancient times. They only reunited in this era as they were frozen in time. None of us knew what had caused them to enter a state of slumber, though.
"Yes. It's the original owner of that necklace," he said, pointing at Serein as he stepped out of the car.
Serein glanced at the necklace and smiled. A light radiated from it.
"Wait, are you saying that thing is an abysmal core after all?" I asked. Adela had mentioned it before.
Eri nodded. "Yes. The core of the Chosen of Light. Our grandfather entrusted it to our dad."
"The Chosen of Light? That guy's a legend! Literally," Elliot said. "He's said to have died in a war against the abysmals. Had no idea that he was one of them too."
"Yes. His twin brother was the leader of the abysmals, but the two are said to never have clashed swords directly," Eri said. He narrowed his eyes at his son, who was walking toward the ruins. "Serein, where do you think you're going?"
My nephew stared at the pyramid the others, and I had descended into. "Something familiar is there."
"Yeah," Azure said, stepping out. His necklace was also glowing. "It feels lost."
Why did the two have cores that were glowing? Were the abysmals that they belonged to still alive? But that couldn't be. Grandfather had supposedly died years ago. Then, why was Serein's necklace still active?
Serein stared at me and smiled reassuringly.
Azure gasped. "Iah!" he yelled.
"Iah?" I said. "Did something happen to him?"
The kid's hands shook. "The familiar thing has taken him over."
The ground shook so hard that we were nearly thrown to the floor.
"Yuzu, watch over Hikaru and the kids. I'm going to go find out what's going on!"
"Wait, I'll go with you. Elliot, keep an eye on my brother and the kids for us. We'll be right back!"
Elliot nodded. "Sure can do!"
Eri tensed up. His eyes shifted toward the bottom of the cliff were on.
"What's wrong?" I asked. "Is someone watching us?"
He held out his hand and materialized another water sword. "Yes."
"Wait, please don't attack me!" a voice called out. Emerging from the ground was Xue.
"Xue?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Did she hear what we just said? "Since when did you arrive?"
"A while ago. I felt that Sir Iah was in danger. It seems that my assumption was correct."
"Come with us then," Eri said, lowering his sword.
She held out her hands. "Wait, don't get rid of it. Someone else is here other than me." She glanced over her shoulder at the bottom of the cliff. "I'd been trying to see who they are, but they appear to be on to me."
I bit my lip. "Could it be the Hierarchian troops?"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking. They must be after Lei again."
"Lei," Serein said, striding toward the ruins. Elliot grabbed him by the wrist.
"Hey, don't run off!" Elliot yelled. "I said that I would watch over you, and I plan to keep my promise!"
Azure ran past him.
"Not you too!" He put Serein on his shoulder as if he were a sack and dashed over to Azure, grabbing him by the collar.
"Let go of me! I need to go help my cousin!" Azure yelled, kicking the air.
Elliot sighed. "Yuzu, Xue, and Eri are going to do that. You're a kid. You got to stay out of harm's way."
Azure scoffed. "Is that why you have to stay with us?"
Elliot's eye twitched. "Why you little..."
The kid giggled.
Elliot sighed. "And here I thought Celeste was a brat."
"Trouble," Serein said.
Eri spun around and barely managed to block a giant paintbrush from crushing his head.
"There's an artist assassin on the loose?" Elliot asked.
"This is no time for jokes!" I said.
"Indeed." Eri narrowed his eyes at the woman standing in front of him. "Who are you?"
He jumped back and spun her brush. "Surprised that you managed to detect that. But you won't survive the next one." She vanished from view.
Eri blocked another strike from the brush, this time by creating a water shield.
The woman gasped.
"You're fast, I give you that, but my casting speed is faster," Eri said, grinning.
She nodded her head. "Was hoping to make quick work of you and retrieve the abysmal boy."
"If you're after Lei, then you're in big trouble!" I said, forming kunai in my hands.
"Yuzu, leave her to me! Get the kids away from here!"
"But-"
"No buts! It's too dangerous."
The woman raised her brush into the air. Black ink started to rain down from the starry night sky.
Elliot jumped back a blot of ink fell close by. A black monolith appeared where the ink had hit.
"What are those?" Elliot asked.
"That woman, she's an art mage," Xue said.
"That certainly explains the ridiculous weapon," Elliot said. He gasped. "Wait a minute, she's that lady that my siblings and I fought. The one behind the missile!"
She woman appeared behind him, jabbing him with the wooden tip of her brush.
"Serein!" I yelled. Azure and my nephew were sent flying off the cliff with Elliot, who still held on to them. I warped away and grabbed Elliot. His eyes had turned white. A lot of blood came out of his mouth. Though that was to be expected from being hit by an attack that flung him several meters away.
Serein stared at Elliot in horror. "He dead?"
"No, he's still alive," Azure said. He stared at the ground as he dangled from Elliot's hand. He could still grip him in that state?
"Yuzu. Watch... over the kids," Elliot whispered.
I teleported the four of us over to Xue. She was watching in awe as Eri unleashed torrents of water at the woman. The lady's flames evaporated Brother's spells.
Elliot stared at the woman with tired eyes. "Her primary... magic is fire. Even... Adela... was burned."
Shivers ran down my spine. A fire mage like Adela, who could melt even orichalcum was hurt by her flames?
"Don't talk, rest," I said, kneeling to lay him down.
"Wait, his back is injured. Laying him on his back will cause him excruciating pain," Xue said. Her hands flared up with a silver light. "Hold him. I'll heal him."
"T-thanks," Elliot mumbled.
Xue smiled as she pulled up his shirt to heal him.
The kids and the two of us gasped. There was a giant depression where the brush had struck him. How he could even remain awake was crazy.
Xue sighed and placed her hands over the depression. "Yuzuki, get us far from here. At least to the opposite side of all the pyramids. Or even inside of the ruins."
"The inside is filled with traps," I said.
Xue smiled. "All the better. They will buy us some time."
I sighed and warped us away. It was a good thing I did it at that moment, as the brush was flying straight at me.
My heart was racing incredibly fast. A second later, I would've been in the same state as Elliot, or worse.
"Why's mean lady after Lei?" Serein asked.
"Likely for his abysmal," Azure said. "She mentioned something about it."
"That's right," Xue said as she continued her work. Elliot was leaning his forehead against one of the walls. Hopefully, that wouldn't set up a trap.
I glanced around at where I had warped to. The globs of melted orichalcum on the floor told me that this was where we had encountered Adela. Though the room was cut in half. Had Kun stopped trying to push the rocks back? Or did something happen to him too?
"Kun?" I asked, walking over to the rocks. I tapped them lightly to see if there was a hollow beyond them.
"Yuzuki?" Kun asked. A pathway opened in the stones. "What are you doing here? How's Hikaru?"
I gasped as I remembered that I had left him behind. "Be right back!" I yelled, teleporting away.
I appeared in front of the van. Hikaru was sleeping in the back like I had left him. Though a barrier of ice surrounded us. Eri must've still been engaged in battle as some parts melted from the heat of the Hierarchian woman's flames.
I reached over for Hikaru. "Come on, little brother. Let's get you out of here." My breath left me as the ice barrier shattered. Another shockwave came from within the ruins.
"This is bad," I said, picking up Hikaru. Wait, if I take Hikaru back there, the shadows might start acting up again. I didn't want the darkness to take him over.
I glanced up and saw as the woman swiped her brush. Green paint splatted Hika and me. The verdant strands transformed into vines, which gripped Hikaru and me in their tight embrace.
I tried to warp away, but something was stopping me from doing so.
"Let me go!" I yelled.
The woman smiled. "You two are abysmals, aren't you? You give off the vibe."
I gave her a defiant glare. If she wanted to turn us into lab rats, then she had another thing coming!
"She said to let them go," Eri said, appearing behind her. He had his sword pressed against her neck.
"You're at a whole another level from these kids. You'll make a more interesting specimen for us!" She spun around and thrust her left palm forward.
Brother jumped back, but not before slashing the woman on the right shoulder.
She gritted her teeth. "Didn't expect a challenge would come from a man hailing from a backward country like Wahkan." Her blood floated toward her brush.
Brother scoffed. "This is why I hate people who claim to be progressive and modern. They're often some of the most backward people I've known, being blind to their own faults." A pair of yellow wings emerged from his back.
The woman smiled. "An angel? You really are an interesting one. Do you have an angel tool?"
"You wish to see it?" Eri asked as a blue aura flared around him, which shattered the ground underneath him and made even the stars above twinkle strangely. A second pair of wings emerged from his back. "If so, then that would be downright overkill."
Her smile vanished.
"So cool," I whispered. It was my first time seeing Third Heaven in action. I hadn't even seen Second Heaven at work. Both had been only part of stories to me up until now. Brother didn't want to show it to us for some reason despite learning how to use them a decade ago.
Eri smirked before stabbing the woman. The woman smiled before dissolving into a glob of ink. "A copy?" He glanced behind his shoulder and saw the woman floating in the air with a fireball in her hands.
"You're the strongest opponent I've faced in a long time, but it's over."
Eri jumped into the air, or so he tried. As soon as he did, he was pulled down by the black ink that'd formed the clone.
"Damn it!" He held out his hand and formed a sphere of electricity. "If you think this will stop me, then you're sorely mistaken. Raikiri!" A beam of electricity lit up the night.
The woman gasped and threw her fireball at the beam. The two spells blew up in midair, radiating a blinding light. I usually could stand intense light thanks to being the descendant of the archangel of light, but this was too much even for me.
"Brother!" I yelled.
"I'm fine, Yuzu. Hold on tight to Hika. I'll get you out of those vines." Something sliced through the vines. I rubbed my eyes and saw my brother smiling at me.
I formed kunai and slashed at the ink, freeing Eri from its grasp. If the spell was still active, that meant that the woman was still around. I peered behind my shoulder. No one was there.
Eri dashed in front of me. His second pair of wings shrunk, and his aura weakened.
"Is this Second Heaven?" I asked.
"Yeah. This is better for a drawn-out fight. Third Heaven and beyond are as draining as using space and time magic."
"Think that we should go grab Lei," I said. "Brother, take Hika away."
He stared at his aura covered hands. "I would love to, but this form's energy would hurt him."
I sighed. I couldn't leave Hikaru alone, but I had to go save Lei and the others too.
Brother formed a water barrier around the two of us. "Sorry, Yuzu. Please hold on for a little more. I'll root out that woman. Then you can go grab the others.
The ground shook again, this time more violently than the last.
"Please hurry, Eri!" I yelled. "Kun's trying to hold the place together, but at this rate, he might not be able to hold it!"
He nodded and dashed toward the ruins.
Wait, did the woman go inside?
I sighed and laid Hikaru on the back seat again.
"It's one thing after another tonight," I said, rubbing my forehead.
"Yuzu," Hikaru said.
I smiled. "Hika, you're awake!"
"Look..."
I peered behind me, but before I could see who it was, someone grabbed my face. It was the Hierarchian woman! My eyes widened as the black monoliths from before transformed into more copies of her.
Like I'd said, one thing after another...
**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter ^^. Will aim to have the next update on the 17th :)**