Chapter XXIII: Elf Aura
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WITH A LOOK OF SUSPICION, Captain Papa Zola leaned his face towards a nervous Boboiboy Ice. His eyes were squinted, wondering why the said element was being used by Boboiboy. "Why are you transformed? Did I miss something while I was fast asleep?!" The Math Teacher questioned everyone in front of him. "Well, it's not like we were attacked or anything─" Ochobot got cutted off by Captain Papa who silenced him. "Oh, USHUSHUSHUSH! Let the young students of justice answer instead!" Captain Papa yelled, making everyone who was with him, flinch on their spots.
"Ish, he's being too loud in the morning," Gopal whispered to Boboiboy Ice with an annoyed look. "I'm still too sleepy to deal with this," Boboiboy Ice slumped his shoulders with a yawn coming out of his mouth, he looked very uninterested unlike last night. He looked more tired than he was supposed to be. Perhaps, the said ice element is not a morning person? "Explaining everything back from the top is such a hassle, Captain, maybe─" Fang started and tried to reason but once again, Captain Papa intervened.
"You can fight aliens but not explain this situation, what's the meaning of this!?" The said Captain complained again, making everyone sigh in defeat. Y/n didn't even bother listening to the conversation as she was busy summoning Echo for them to continue their journey since everyone just finished cleaning up. The female bird flew in front of Y/n as it studied its summoner before flying to the others who were busy arguing.
"JUSTICE DEMANDS FOR YOU TO─ Echo! Oh sweet little bird of justice, are you ready to hang out with Captain Papa?" The said captain's demanour shifted suddenly as soon as his eyes spotted the adorable transparent bird flying around them. The rest who stood with tensed bodies relaxed and let out a sigh of relief; mentally thanking Y/n for summoning the little bird right on time. "Thank you, F/n," Gopal placed an arm around the elf who looked at him in confusion.
"For what?" Y/n's eyebrows furrowed. "For saving us from death!" Gopal continued, crying dramatically out of nowhere as he tightened his grip on the nonchalant elf. "Uh... you are most welcome," Y/n responded to the Indian boy with a tone of uncertainty. "You know my daughter of justice would have loved to see you~" Captain Papa continued, admiring Echo. "Moving on, we need to continue the mission. We just need to visit the Centaurs for them to guide us to the artefact and then we shall be off," Y/n began.
"Don't we need to fight off the dark spirits the artefact have summoned?" Yaya asked the elf. "Not exactly, perhaps it just depends if the artefact did summon a dark spirit. I do not think all of the artefacts will summon one unless they are completely infected," Y/n turned to the gravity manipulator. "Currently, I smell no sign of dark magic. Hopefully, this goes on," Y/n informed everyone which made them feel relieved. "Sounds like we won't be fighting for a while. Not that I'm complaining," Gopal spoke, placing his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.
"I agree. Usually, I don't complain anymore when fighting but, for some reason I'm exhausted today," Boboiboy Ice added, scratching his cheek. "I wonder when you'll transform back," Fang placed a hand underneath his chin in wonder. "Beats me, all I know is that it's getting annoying. It's making me more tired than I'm normally am," Boboiboy Ice shrugged before sighing in defeat. "The fact that you're tired as the original Boboiboy makes it worse as Boboiboy Ice, huh?" Ochobot added.
"Oi, what are we waiting for? Let us commence forth!" Cosmo suddenly intervened, gathering everyone's attention. "Right, we should. Onwards," Y/n nodded her head in agreement to the pegasus.
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"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"Not yet."
"Are─"
"FOR GOODNESS SAKE WON'T YOU TWO JUST KEEP QUIET JUST FOR A SECOND?"
"─we there yet...."
Silence had invaded the atmosphere for a while before someone decided to break it once more.
"So... are we there yet?"
"..."
SMACK! SMACK!
Suddenly bumps were present on Gopal's head, making him cry in pain while caressing it. Gopal gave Ying and Yaya a glare. "Why didn't you smack Cosmo too?! He was also annoying F/n!" Gopal complained, fake tears building up from his eyes as he pointed to a certain pegasus who was completely unscathed. "It's F/n's decision since he's Cosmo's owner and plus, he's a lot nicer than you are," Ying defended theirselves. Yaya nodded her head in agreement. "You're lucky I was in a good mood," Yaya huffed.
"WHAT'S THIS FAVOURITISM!?"
"Ish, just shut up Gopal!" Fang and Boboiboy Ice countered loudly. "Even you two?! Even you, Boboiboy? But, am I not you're best friend?" Gopal turned to the ice element who seemed like who wasn't listening to him. The molecular hero stared at him with a dumbfounded look as he realised he was being ignored by the ice element. "You know what? I wish you can transform by now, you're snobby attitude is annoying," Gopal commented at his dino-capped best friend.
"It's not snobby. It's called 'Ignoring' to which I have an understandable reason on why I should do so," Boboiboy Ice turned to Gopal with a blank, unimpressed look. "That's the same thing!" Gopal argued. "You know Gopal, you should just relax. Let F/n do his thing, stressing can make you grow old faster," the ice element pointed out with a calm voice. "WAIT! REALLY!?" Gopal leaned to his best friend, wanting a confirmation. "Yeah, you should lessen your shouting. Who knows? Next thing you know you'll grow white hairs," Boboiboy Ice nodded his head at Gopal.
'How ironic' Y/n thought as he heard the boy's statement.
The Indian boy could only look at him in horror, not believing a single thing. "Hm... and oh! When you wake up, you'll get wrinkles and you'll become pale," Boboiboy Ice joked, hiding a snicker from forming on his visage. Gopal was horrified at what he had heard. Boboiboy Ice could only close his eyes in mischief, a slight smirk forming from his mouth. "Are you for real? If that's the case, I'll lessen my loudness," Gopal clenched his fist and moved forward, walking faster to catch up with F/n. The ice element slightly opened his right eye to watch Gopal leave before closing it again.
Yaya, Ying, Fang and Ochobot could only look at the boy with a dumbfounded stare. Boboiboy Ice was still walking calmly, a look of victory tracing his face. His eyes weren't opened as he sighed blissfully. "Finally... peace and quiet," he stated to himself which made the others who watched him sigh in amusement. "You said that just to silence him?" Ochobot questioned the ice element who was smiling calmly to himself. Boboiboy Ice opened his eyes to look at the power sphera.
"Yes and no."
"I said that because I wanted to see his reaction and yeah, my ears were hurting with his screaming so I did what I could do, thank me later," He calmly told the power sphera with a relaxed smile, his eyes not fully lidded as usual. "You're acting so weird," Ying pointed out to Boboiboy Ice who shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe because I'm too tired, I lack motivation to do everything," he frowned, slouching his shoulders once again. "But that doesn't sound so unusual, Boboiboy Ice is always tired," Fang scoffed.
"Hey!"
"At least describe me accurately, tired is just a one word," Boboiboy Ice shrugged earning a look from Fang. "I'm more relaxed and calm," Boboiboy Ice placed his hands from the back of his head in a casual way. "Haiyah, this conversation is pointless," Ying rolled her eyes. "Oi! We are approaching the Centaurs' home!" Cosmo announced which caught everyone's attention. "Are we? Oh finally, let's go young students of justice!" Captain Papa turned to his back, beckoning for the others to catch up and follow.
"Finally," Ying smiled, catching up to Y/n followed by the rest of the group. Their eyes darted from side to side, studying the new environment that they were in. A beautiful forest surrounded an odd den. It was quite unique and natural. The den looked dark an deep which will allow them to explore more. "Woah, that cave looks unusual," Gopal commented, his eyes never leaving the cave. "Is this it? Young assistant of justice?" Captain Papa turned to Y/n who soon nodded her head in confirmation.
"According to the direction Echo gave us, this seems to be the place where the Centaurs live," Y/n started. "Echo, little bird of justice! Good job! I'll make sure to give you any kind of food that you'll like!" Captain Papa cooed at the bird which soon sat on his head. "The cave seems scary," Gopal shivered slightly at the sight. "You have said that to every cave that we've been to, Gopal," Boboiboy Ice sighed in disappointment as he facepalmed. "But still," Gopal huffed, holding onto Y/n's arm to which the owner was unbothered at.
"So? Let's go in!" Yaya encouraged everyone but, only to see a grown man and an Indian boy latching onto a small elf. "Why now?" Fang commented with an unamused look. "Well... uh you see, the cave is too dangerous for me─ I mean for you kids, maybe we should turn back and─" Captain Papa was cutted off from his stuttering once Ying complained at his behaviour. "Come on, Captain Papa, this if for Echo. Didn't you say you're coming with us so that you can prevail justice? What happened to that?" Ying crossed her arms.
"Hehe, I guess that was temporary," Boboiboy Ice smugly chuckled before yawning widely. This provoked the captain as he realised what he was doing. "Justice is never temporary! It won't be temporary! Fine! Let's go," Captain Papa stood straight, leading everyone inside the cave but only to stop dead on his tracks, confusing everyone. "Oh uh... on second thought, you lead instead," Captain Papa pushed the elf forward so that she could lead instead of him.
The captain was still slightly scared but, with someone walking before him made him feel a tad bit relieved. The group walked inside the cave, there were no signs of light which made Gopal complain. The others agreed at Gopal for once since they couldn't see where they were going. Y/n immediately calmed everyone, saying that she could make a light for them. Without using a verbal spell, Y/n lifted her finger up to summon a light that was enough for them to see where they were going.
As they embarked through the dark but, silent cave, everyone felt uncomfortable. The silence was eerie, they felt as if something was watching them make their way deeper inside. The sound of their footsteps were the only thing echoing back-to-back through the cave.
Out of nowhere, as Y/n pointed out her finger to the very front, the only thing everyone could do was scream in horror. A man stood from in front of them, looking at everyone suspiciously. Y/n's eyes travelled downwards to study him only to find out that he was a centaur since his legs gave everything away. He had a horse as half of his body. "AHHHH! RUN F/N!" Gopal tried to pull Y/n away but, she just stood in front of the centaur as if they were having a staring contest.
"What are you doing, F/n!?" Fang asked the girl who didn't even listen to them. "Who might you all be? Enemies? Raiders? Hunters?" The centaur questioned which made everyone stop panicking on their places. "D. None of the above─ow!" Gopal answered but only got smacked on the arm by Ying, telling him to stop messing around on a situation like this. "Well, Mr. Centaur, sorry for the inconvenience but, we're actually none of those─we're the opposite rather," Yaya politely answered.
"Hmmm?" The centaur only hummed.
Everything from around them lit up out of nowhere. There were torches surrounding the whole cave and for some reason, the cave looked different. It was very spacious and voluminous, a perfect place for someone to stay in. Other than that, many Centaurs stood around them with curious eyes studying all of them. The TAPOPS team remained tensed on their spots, getting uncomfortable by the sudden gazes that were busy lingering upon them.
"Wow, they're so many and were so dead," Gopal whispered in panic but, got silenced by Yaya with a 'Shush'. "Mortals such as yourselves dare say you are not our enemies? How are we supposed go believe that? What if that is only a bluff?" The said centaur who talked to them earlier continued, circling them. "Do you think we would believe you?" The said centaur added with squinted eyes, studying everyone's troubled looks. "No one would just barge into a Centaur's den without a certain purpose," he continued.
"Or unless you are suicidal? What makes you think we will let you live? What is your proof that we are supposedly ALLIES?" The centaur's voice become scarier as he began to shoot many more questions, earning many nods of agreement from other cenotaurs who were watching the seen unfold. "PROVE YOUR STATEMENT," he finished loudly. The gang wouldn't lie, being confronted like that in front of many eyes was rather scary. The questions that he shot were getting more complicated and they were bothered.
Gopal, somehow couldn't take the pressure and did something he didn't mean to do.
"HERE! OUR PROOF! JUST STOP TALKING LIKE THAT, PLEASE," Gopal cried before he pushed Y/n forward who nearly stumbled onto the ground. Y/n turned to Gopal and gave him a glare which was followed by the rest of the group. "Pushing your friends like that is not nice, Gopal," Y/n started, dusting her pants as she was slightly annoyed. "Uh... s─sorry! I didn't mean to!" Gopal quickly apologised in panic, shaking his hands. "It is fine, I forgive you," Y/n calmly answered with her scroll which confused the Centaurs.
The centaur in front of them squinted his eyes at Y/n, studying her features despite the fact that she was mostly covered. For some reason, he noticed that she looked very familiar. It's like her appearance reminded him of someone. Someone from the past. "You remind me of someone..." the centaur mumbled. "Someone from thousands of vintajas ago," he continued which confused everyone. Y/n pursed her lips, she knew who the centaur was talking about. She knew he was comparing her to the one and only Eros Llumina himself.
The centaur leaned closer to her face as he finally noticed the most important feature of her race. It was her elf ears, it was a dead give away of who she really was. The centaur immediately knew who she was and her mission. Despite her disguise, he recognised her already. "ELF," he stated out of nowhere which made the other Centaurs perked their heads up in surprise. They began murmuring to each other, some may sound incoherent but, some were as clear as crystal. The bearer was finally here to take the artefact.
The rest of Y/n's group just stared in awe, what Ochobot said about elves being well acquainted with the Centaurs was indeed true. The effect by just saying their race brings every centaur into deep conversations. "Very well then, I ask for your forgiveness due to our inhospitality and hostility. We are just taking precautions for us to make sure we did not let an enemy invade our abode," The centaur bowed his head in apology. "It is fine. It was a reasonable action after all, it is never wrong to take redundant precautions," Y/n responded.
The centaur was quite confused at why she uses a scroll for communication, she was not supposed to be mute. There was no prophecy about her being like that, or was it perhaps just because of a personal problem? Being well-mannered as he is, he didn't ask further more. He didn't want to disrupt her plan. Could be useful, in the bright side. "Let us start over, shall we? I am Aldrudis, the leader of the Centaurs. I shall welcome you to our humble abode," Aldrudis introduced himself before gesturing to the cave.
"I am F/n and they are my companions," Y/n started with everyone following and introducing theirselves to the leader of the Centaurs. After the long introduction he showed everyone the cave and explained the way they lived. It was a quite interesting information, everything Ochobot said was true. They didn't have a monarchy but, they had a leader. Centaurs are known to be immortal, they had so many knowledge about everything and it was intriguing to say at the least.
"I assume that you are all here to get the artefact, am I correct?" Aldrudis asked the group. "Yes, since King Eros told F/n about everything and since he is the bearer of the artefacts," Ying answered with a nod. "I see, King Eros finally told you your mission? The Gem of Land has been on our hands for thousands of vintajas─" Aldrudis began. Gopal and Boboiboy Ice leaned towards Cosmo in confusion. "What's a vintaja again?" The ice element whispered in curiosity. "Yeah, what was it, Cosmo?" Gopal joined in.
"Oh, it means 13 lunarias. 1 vintaja is equivalent to 13 lunarias," Cosmo responded with a whisper which made the two's mouth turned into O's due to realisation. "Oh... so basically a year but with one added month," Boboiboy Ice tapped his chin as Gopal nodded his head at the younger boy's statement.
"─we have been protecting it from anyone who dares to land their hand on it," the two continued to listen to Aldrudis. "Did you somehow notice any odd things going on with the gem? Did it changed its colour?" Ochobot asked Aldrudis. "Well, most definitely not. The artefact has been healthier than ever, its colour did not even change," Aldrudis answered which made everyone's eyes widened in shock. "Is this the truth, Mr. Aldrudis!" Captain Papa questioned with a pose.
"Yes, I speak nothing but the truth, Captain Papa Zola," Aldrudis confirmed, his face remaining as serious as ever. "So that means it was never affected by any dark magic!? That's incredible!" Cosmo marveled out. "He speaks the truth. I cannot smell any traces of dark magic at all," Y/n confirmed with a single nod. "What a relief, we don't have to fight, for now," Boboiboy Ice leaned his back on a rock. "I know right? Especially with your condition," Gopal turned to the elemental hero.
"That alludes that you are the restorer, yes?" Aldrudis turned to Boboiboy Ice who was confused. "Restorer?" The elemental hero repeated in bewilderment. "Haiyah, he means that you're the one who restores the artefacts back to its normal state," Ying facepalmed at the said boy. "Oh really? Okay then, if you say so─then I am," Boboiboy Ice scratched his cheek in uncertainty. Yaya, Ying, Y/n and Fang looked at him with a blank stare, unamused by his reaction and responce.
"So tell me, did the other artefacts really get infected by dark magic?" Aldrudis questioned Y/n who nodded. "Yes, so far, the two artefacts did get infected by dark magic. We also had to fight off the dark spirits being summoned by each artefact," Y/n responded immediately. "That must have been grueling. I am glad you all succeeded, I wish you all luck in your future missions," Aldrudis encouraged everyone. Y/n smiled and bowed her head in gratitude to Aldrudis' blessings for them.
"We are grateful for your words of encouragement, we will save all the other artefacts and put a stop to the one who started all of this," Y/n held her hands together as she received smiles from her companions. "Well, you still need to get the Gem of Land, I will gladly take you there for you to continue the mission," Aldrudis gestured for everyone to stand up and follow him. Ying and Yaya smiled at each other, delightful at what they heard. "This will be an easy mission after all," Gopal stretched his arms in satisfaction.
"Well then, Mr. Aldrudis, show us the way to the gem!" Captain Papa pointed out with a determined smile. Aldrudis led the way towards the exit of the cave as he was being followed by the rest of the team from behind. They walked for a while before finally seeing the light from the Caecus. "We did not keep the artefact inside the cave since we usually get raided, we did not want them to take the gem resulting for us to hide it deep inside the forest," Aldrudis explained.
"We managed to find a safe place for it and we Centaurs still guard it despite already having a protection spell casted by King Eros himself. We had to watch it more ever since the dauna the Protection Crystal broke, it made it harder for us to defend it," Aldrudis added. "But, recently we have become fortunate. There were no raids which was a relief for us," Aldrudis finished. As everyone embarked deeper into the forest, with her eldian abilities, Y/n could hear distant sounds of footsteps that clearly didn't belong to any of them.
This slowed her pace, suspicious of the surrounding that they are in. Cosmo also stopped walking and soon approached Y/n who was clearly troubled of the situation. "Y/n? Is there something wrong?" The pegasus questioned his royal mistress. Y/n's eyes darted towards her pegasus guardian with a worried look before answering. "Cosmo, I can hear footsteps, they do not belong to us at all and it worries me. Somebody is following us, we need to be cautious," Y/n mumbled so that it would only be Cosmo who'll hear her speak.
"Following us? If that is the case, I am on it, I will help keep an eye out," Cosmo spoke sternly with a nod.
Y/n tensed as soon as she heard the same footsteps again, her heart quickened its pace as soon as the sound reached her ears. "Y/n?" Cosmo asked the girl who froze on her spot. Furrowing her eyebrows, she immediately let out a spell. "Solaria!" Her palm was pointed towards a tree, sending out a powerful beam of light which burned the tree from a slightly far distance, what she saw from behind the huge tree suprised her that it made her eyes widen.
A certain amount of cloaked figures appeared. Some teleported, magic particles surrounding them. Y/n's breath hitched at the scene. She mumbled something Cosmo couldn't hear. "Pardon?" Cosmo told Y/n. "Lluminarian Guards!" She breathed before slowly backing away. Her friends were nowhere to be found which was a bit of a relief. "ELDIAN! We have followed your light magic aura! We demand that you speak to us and answer why you are with the Princess Y/n's pegasus guardian!" One of them yelled.
"You released a powerful magic that only an eldian can conjure, cooperate with us and surrender yourself! You cannot run away from us now, your highness!" Another demanded which made Y/n grit her teeth. She was so dead. Y/n immediately hopped on Cosmo's back. "GO! COSMO! QUICK!" She demanded which was obeyed by her pegasus. "Affirmative, Ma'am!" Cosmo nodded and flapped his wings upwards to leave the place. "She is getting away! After her!" The leader of the guards commanded.
"Will do, sire!"
Y/n and Cosmo were flying away from the Lluminarian Guards. Her eyes darted from below to see if her companions were around, worried that they might get hurt because of her. There were no signs of them which made her nervous even more. "HOW DID THEY KNOW I WAS IN PLANET TERRA!? I HAVE NO IDEA WE CAN SENSE LIGHT MAGIC AURA?!" Y/n began to rant in anger. "Yes, I have not heard about elves being able to sense light magic aura. All I know is that you can do it with dark magic not light," Cosmo agreed.
"Your highness, something must be going on at Lluminaria while we are away," Cosmo started which made Y/n grit her teeth. "Indeed, I am worried of what Lunos have done. He must have used a spell for them to sense light magic aura and my stupid self had to use my eldian spells! Argh! I revealed my identity to them accidentally," Y/n groaned in frustration. "Princess, even if you did not use that spell they would still know since I am with you," Cosmo reasoned which made Y/n sigh.
"I guess it is both our mistakes, huh? All right, let us find everyone else, hopefully, we will lose the Lluminarian Guards," Y/n told the pegasus guardian.
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Boboiboy Ice stopped from his tracks once he noticed the missing presence of Y/n and Cosmo. Darting his eyes, from around the forest, he saw no sign of the two Lluminarians. "Hey, where's Cosmo and F/n?" He asked Yaya who was walking in front of him. "Eh? They're gone? Weren't they following us from behind earlier?" Yaya stopped walking which caught everyone's attention. "WHAT!?" Ying and Gopal shrieked in shock. "OH YOUNG NAVIGATOR AND APPRENTICE!" Captain Papa cried. "Aldrudis, we lost F/n and Cosmo," Ochobot told the cenotaur who's face turned serious.
"I am afraid that this would happen," He spoke to himself which caught the others' attention. "Happen what?" Everyone repeated in unison as they turned to the centaur. "I had a slight feeling that someone was following us, the two Lluminarians must have noticed it, especially the elf," The centaur frowned, slightly regretting his decisions. "Well we can search for the─" Boboiboy Ice stopped mid-way on his words once someone cutted him off, a blade was suddenly pointing towards his neck which made everyone gasp.
"Where are the eldian and the pegasus guardian!?" The mysterious cloaked figure asked, pointing a sword towards the ice element. He was surrounded by his allies, wearing similar clothing as him. They also had swords, pointing towards them if one of them will make a move. "Answer us, or in the name of King Lunos Llumina you shall be executed!" The figure demanded harshly, shoving the tip of the sharp metal, threatening them.
'Eldian and pegasus guardian?'
'Are they talking about F/n and Cosmo?'
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A/n: Aight so, now we Lluminarian Guards joining the fun. So much for having no dark spirit to fight when you have them.
Okay, I stole another two from pinterest because it's so adorable and funny.
Relatable Duri
Adorable, too adorable I can't─
Disclaimer: The illustrations and pictures above aren't mine. They belong to their original artists.