VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!!!!!!
Firstly I would like to thank everyone who has supported this story and tolerated my strange updating schedules. I wish I could update the story more but time is something I really don't have around this time of year.
This will be the only chapter for the next few weeks, I know some of you are already enjoying your summer break but I'm still at school preparing for finals and diplomas. Up until now I haven't had a chance to log on to write/edit; in other words, please be patient with the future chapters!
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO SKIM THROUGH MY STUFF: while you guys wait for the new chapters I highly recommend reading the prologue again. You may or may not have noticed but I updated the early chapters to this story. I also added something to the prologue that YOU NEED TO KNOW as it will come into play in future chapters.
I'll probably get time to edit old chapters during exam week but I'm going to hold off on writing until all my tests are over. Also, don't have high hopes for new chapters during July and the beginning of August. I signed up for summer school this year and I'm also planning to balance a part-time job on top of everything, but I promise I'll find time to get you people some Yin Yang goodness :)
Thank you to everyone who read this far, you're the real MVP!
I woke up the next morning still in Chung's warm embrace while Yang slept a few feet away from us---grunting occasionally in its sleep. Chung was still asleep when I came to but I decided not to wake him up, he looked so peaceful in his slumber. I closed my eyes and rested my face on his steadily rising chest and to his soft breaths along with the birds chiming around us. At some point Chung finally awoke from his sleep and told me to get ready for the day. I was reluctant to move from my spot in his arms but I abide to his request anyways---if we stayed like that any longer Aisha might stumble upon us and spread rumour.
One thing we both noted upon awakening was Feita's seemingly endless dark skies. We were both fairly sure that it was morning but the sky kept its dark hue---it was unsettling to say the least.
Chung headed back to his tent while I lingered by the water to wake Yang and wash myself off. Once I had finished, I hurried back to my tent to find my tent mate still asleep, I quickly unloaded extra clothes and a few personal belongings onto my sleeping bag before heading out again.
Breakfast was held at the same fireplace we had dinner last night. Chung and I were the first ones to arrive thus we were responsible for cooking the food given to us by the hunters of the base. One by one our team awoke and joined us by the fireplace. We made small-talk with one another but our conversations were always cut short due to the early morning drowsiness.
I was in a fairly good mood during breakfast and willingly offered my food to Chung (something I hadn't done in a very long time). Chung was reluctant to take the food and allowed me to keep half of it---what a gentleman. Eve and Aisha took notice of my actions and wasted no time to tease us, normally I'd snap at them for making assumptions but I was in too good of a mood to do so. I shrugged off their comments and enjoyed my meal in blissful silence.
Everyone grew more energized once they had eaten, conversations bloomed left and right as we prepared supplies for the day's mission. Once the day's supply was delivered to our camp fire, Speka left the camp fire early to meet up with her team and asked that we waited for her to get us. We finished packing fairly early so we sat around the dying fire talking as we waited for our escort to pick us up.
"Sis gave me some information about the temple." Aisha said, pulling out a note book from her backpack. She flipped to a bookmark page with eyes skimming swiftly through its contents. "The building is fairly old and was built like an old winding tower, with various floors in between."
"Is it safe to go in?" Eve asked with Amos sitting on her lap.
"She said the tower is known to have some...loose ends." Aisha answered hesitantly. "Um she said it's not exactly a safe place for kids to be in."
Eve and Raven instantly exchanged worried glances. As if sensing his guardian's discomfort with the information Amos quickly piped in," don't worry, guys. I can play with that glasses kid instead of coming along."
Elsword snickered at the way Amos addressed Allegro.
"I hope Allegro doesn't mind," Raven mused. "Maybe we should speak with him before leaving."
"I spoke with him yesterday," Eve replied. "He--"
"He said he didn't mind looking after me!" Amos cut Eve off. "He even promised me he'll teach me how to make some cool potions."
"Just promise me you won't go try tasting some weird substance," Raven said, ruffling the young Ponggo's head. "We wouldn't want you to get sick."
"I'll be okay, Raven." Amos pushed his hand aside in a fit of giggles. "I'm not a little kid anymore."
"You look like it to me, little guy." Raven kept messing with Amos' head despite his protests.
"If you are so grown up I bet you can survive my secret tickle attack." Eve piped in. Amos burst in laughter and tried to squirm his way out but Eve and Raven refused to let him go---they were all laughing along with the young Ponggo.
I felt a tinge of pain in my chest upon seeing Amos' interaction with Raven and Eve. I knew Raven and Eve were not Amos' real parents but they sure acted like it, treating Amos like he was their own kid. Seeing them fool around reminded me of my family and the fun we used to have together. I pried my eyes away from them and gazed down on the burnt wood left behind from our fireplace; I had no doubt Chung noticed my change in mood.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting." Speka came running back to our circle with a large brown backpack hanging from her shoulders. "We're all ready to leave now..." Her eyes averted to the laughing trio. "Um am I interrupting something?"
"Sorry we got a little carried away." Eve said in between laughter. Amos rolled off her lap once his guardians had freed him from their "wrath".
"I'm free!" He shouted with arms raised in the air. "They'll never catch me now!" He took off running to the neighbouring fireplace where Allegro was at.
"Kids," Raven said with an eye roll. "How can they have so much energy?"
"Oh shush," Eve playfully slapped Raven on the arm---he winced from the hit. " According to my research, kids are supposed to be jumping with energy."
With loving parent figures like Raven and Eve who wouldn't be bursting with energy? I thought grimly to myself. He's so lucky to have such loving people to look after him, unlike me when I was his age. A lump grew at the back of my throat and grew uncomfortably large as past memories flashed through my mind.
Everyone dove into a conversation as we followed Speka to her team. I lingered at the back to avoid talking with anyone---I didn't want to talk to anyone yet.
"Hey," a hand rested gently on my shoulder. "You okay?"
I shook my head as my eyes burned from the reminders of the past.
"It must be hard," Chung wrapped an arm around me---thank goodness we were at the back where no one could see us. "Sorry, Ara, I don't know what to say."
"Y-you're here for me," I told him in a soft whisper. "That's enough."
And that wasn't a lie.
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From the outside the tower-like structure looked fairly new and well-kept, the entire structure was covered in what appeared to be circular windows, each gave off an eerie blue light---I felt my stomach twisting into knots as we approached the entrance. Its stone walls barely showed any signs of damage and there didn't seem to be any demons around to guard the entrance.
"Welcome to Feita Temple," Speka announced as we neared the entrance. "Inside you will see some dead bodies and demons, lots of demons."
"I-I'm getting goosebumps," Aisha stammered, at the corner of my eyes I could see her leaning toward Elsword.
"Yeah, it feels pretty awful here." He wrapped an arm around his girlfriend.
"It doesn't get better for you guys inside," Speka warned while summoning her staff out from dark purple particles. "For me the dark energy inside is beautiful." She added gently.
I sometimes forgot Speka was a Dark Mage especially since she acts so happy and kind now.
Yang snared as we took our first step into the building, I bit my lip and held back a growl Eun let out. I could see why my two companions felt so distressed, something about the temple put me on edge---the air inside seemed to weigh down on us.
A long and dark hallway stretched in front of the entrance, most of the space was filled with debris and decaying bodies of fallen demons. Stone pillars stretched along the short corridor of the temple, in the shadows I could see dark figures looming behind the pillars, the demons were obviously waiting to ambush us.
"There's stairs leading up to our former base at the end of this hall," Speka halted and held her arm out to stop us from proceeding forward. "Normally we could walk right in but lately the demons have been more sneaky with their attacks."
Speka pointed her staff down the seemingly empty and erupted a chain of fireball from it. The fireballs briefly lit up the path ahead as it went down the hall, the various demons lurking behind the pillars were revealed in the dim amber light. Our enemies snared at Speka's attack, evidently irritated that she had foiled their ambush.
"That was almost too easy," Speka grinned.
I hopped onto Yang's back as the dark figures emerged from their hiding spots," they're coming at us now," I warned.
"Ara, use Yang's fire to light up the path." Elsword commanded, I heard him unsheathing his dual swords.
"Yang, spit some fire down the hall." I ordered.
Yang grunted in response before taking a step forward. I felt its stomach rumble just as it spat out long breath of fire, its flame nearly lit up the entire corridor. The demons were caught off guard by our attack thus many were lit on fire. The hall dimmed once Yang had finished its attack but the demons who were caught in the flames were still burning in the fire---their burning bodies lit up portions of the dark hallway but it was enough for my friends to fight.
"My team, let's roll out!" Speka shouted, her friends cheered at the order and charged into the darkness.
"If they're going then we should too!" Elsword piped in with just as much energy. Without another word we charged into the battles behind our new allies.
Yang, Speka, and Aisha focused on blasting the enemies with fire in hopes of lighting up the hallway more and achieving a quick kill. Unfortunately the demons were now prepared and moved swiftly to avoid the flames. Yang tried attacking a few more times with fire before giving up and confronting the demons with an old fashion head to head combat. I helped Yang damage its opponents but it wasn't easy inflicting pain on these demons in particular. Many were equipped with armor which made it hard for our weapons to penetrate them and some even had weapons on them.
Every one of us were wounded in some way during the fight, and though many of the demons had fallen to Yang's initial attack, we were quickly being cornered by the enemies. If we hadn't taken down some of the other demons I doubt we would've lasted for so long.
"Speka, we're being overwhelmed." One of Speka's friends shouted. "We can't keep this up."
"I-I know," Speka answered in between breaths. "B-but we can't give up now. We haven't defeated so many demons before."
Wow, if it's this hard to defeat the ones at the entrance I can't imagine what it'll be like to fight the demons ahead. I thought as my spear finally broke through my foe's armor. I pulled my weapon out and allowed Yang to finish it off.
"M-maybe we should use it." Another friend piped in. "I-I've been practising on building up my magic concentration a-and--"
"No," Speka answered almost instantly. She surrounded herself with fireballs before dispersing them out. I quickly jumped to the side as one of the fire balls zoomed toward me. "No one is using that."
"W-what are you talking about?" Aisha piped in.
I perked my head up instantly at the soft footsteps behind me. Without a moment of hesitation I lunged my spear at the demon creeping behind me, they reacted quickly and collided their dagger into the blade of my spear---our weapons clanging mercilessly into one another. I withdrew my weapon and doubled back, Yang rushed forward and managed to catch the demon's small body in its jaw.
"Sis, you've been training for a long time." Speka went on hastily. "Y-you must have been trained to use the secret skill."
I had to look away as Yang's jaw tightened on its prey. The metal armor crunched under its fangs, the demon let out one last cry of pain before falling silent---I wrinkled my nose at the metallic stench adding onto the battlefield.
"Speka," Elsword was now interested in their conversation. "Don't tell me--"
"I never considered using it," Speka cut him off. "B-but I know friends who have used it."
What's this secret skill? I wanted to ask but decided it would be best if I stayed quiet and listened.
"Never mind, w-we need to focus of taking down these demons." Speka quickly added.
"We need to find a better way at taking these demons down," Raven piped in. "Eve and I can't fight any longer."
Speka cursed," but we made so much progress."
"We'll make more the next time we enter," Aisha pointed out. "We need a new plan of action---something that'll help us get through here faster."
Speka was silent for a brief moment before replying," f-fine."
"Speka and I are calling a retreat," Elsword shouted. Almost instantly the knights groaned and cursed but didn't complain any further as they ran to the only exit.
I hopped onto Yang's back and quickly directed us toward the exit. Many of the knights retreating stayed behind me and my mount as Yang spat fire out fire at any enemies blocking our path.
"Aren't they cute?" A little girl's voice sounded faintly behind us.
"I think you're cuter than those bugs." A male's voice piped in.
I snapped my head back to see two dark figures standing at the end of the corridor, even from a distance I could see one of them was a female and one was a male. The demons seemed to gather around them but not in a threatening way as none of them drew their weapons against the duo.
"I can't wait to see their blood stained on our floors." The girl giggled---her laugh sent chills down my spine.
"Now, now, that would only make more work for us." The male scolded. "I hate cleaning dead bodies."
"They make excellent fuel for our fireplace," the girl pointed out. "Besides, there's really no need to clean up after them when our army of hungry demons can deal with the remains."
They got out of ear-shot once we had exited the temple. I felt my breakfast threatening to make another appearance as I replayed their words through my head. I didn't know who they were but I certainly didn't want to cross their path anytime soon.
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When we returned to base Allegro quickly treated us with various healing potions. I sustained less sever injuries than most of my friends so Lento sent me out to patrol until the others were ready to discuss a new plan of action. I expected to be patrolling the base, like many of the knights I had seen, but instead of staying in the safe confides of the base I was sent to some place called Dead Man's Hill---luckily I was able to bring Yang along with me. He claimed the spot was sacred to the many knights working with him and was not a place he wished for demons to lurk; I wasn't too happy to be patrolling outside of base but once I had arrived I realized how important my job was.
Dead Man's Hill was littered with tomb stones, some broken and weathered while others stood unscathed with a fresh patch of dirt in front of it. The area was covered in an ominous purple fog, but despite its unusual hue the fog had no negative effects on us. At the centre of the massive graveyard was a lake with two angel statues standing guard on either sides of the body of water. The water was tainted with a purple colour, and as far as I could see, no fish lived in its tainted waters.
Despite the poor conditions I could see why the Feita Knights would want to protect it. This was the place where their friends were put to rest, a place where they can share stories of success and failure to those they lost on the battlefield. It may not have been important to me but I knew I had to put in my best efforts for all of Speka's friends.
I pulled Yang tightly along with me as I thread further into the graveyard, I didn't want Yang running off to some tomb stone and digging into it nor did I want my precious Phoru to go drinking in the lake's water. My patrol was fairly bland until I felt an all too familiar aura filling the area, Yang grew more hysteric as I approached closer to the aura's source---a petite figure began forming in the fog's blanket as I drew closer.
"S-Scarlet?" I squinted my eyes to get a better look at her.
"Ara?" The figure quickly came running toward me. A smile stretched on my face at the familiar red-head coming my way.
Scarlet was still wearing her black cloak with the addition of a small purse and a red scarf around her neck---I found myself smiling at her willingness to wear the scarf I bought her.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked, but just as I was about to take a step closer to her Yang jumped in between us. It stood defensively in front of me and bared its teeth at Scarlet; to my surprise Scarlet didn't scream nor run away. Instead she looked down at my furry friend and smiled.
"Hi there, big guy." She softened her voice and knelt down to meet Yang in the eyes. "You must care about Ara very much to be acting like this."
Yang snarled in response. Scarlet giggled and gently held her hand out toward it, Yang tilted its head away to avoid contact.
"Yang, be nice." I tried pulling Yang back but the Ancient Phoru refused to budge from its spot. "Sorry, Yang isn't usually like this."
"Don't be sorry," Scarlet answered with eyes still glued on Yang. "A monster's loyalty is often comparable to a dog's."
"Monster? Don't you mean demon?" I corrected.
Scarlet shook her head and attempted to pet Yang once more, but she quickly retreated her hand back as Yang tried to snap its jaw at it. "Monsters and demons aren't the same, Ara." Scarlet explained while standing back up again. "Monsters are more animal-like while demons can think with more complexity, like us humans. Many confuse the two definitions."
That would explain why Eun could talk but Yang can't. I wonder why Scarlet knew of such a definition, not even the Red Knights know that the two are different.
"Travelling can teach you a lot." Scarlet added with a wink. "Oh I almost forgot." Yang's body tensed as she dug her hand in the small purse, I pulled back on Yang's reins to keep it from lashing out.
"I managed to land myself a part-time job, I worked for months to save up for these." She said, pulling out two silk ribbons; one was pure black while the other was white with golden edges. " I spent all my money to get these, I thought they'd look cute in your hair."
"Scarlet," I gasped. "I-I can't accept such an expensive gift."
"Oh hush, it was nothing compared to what you bought me." She held the two ribbons out toward me. "Just think of it as my way of saying thanks."
If Mother was here she'd be yelling at me to let Scarlet keep the expensive gift, she was never fond of people spending large amounts of cash on us.
"I-If you insist," I hesitantly reached out for my gift. Yang kept its eyes glued on our hands during the exchange, but thankfully decided not to lash out on Scarlet.
"Seriously though, thank you so much for getting this scarf for me." Scarlet placed her hand gently on the red scarf. "You don't know how much this gift means to me."
"I'm glad you like it." I smiled. I gazed down at the two ribbons hanging from my hand, a part of me wanted to put them on while the other wanted to wait until we got home so it wouldn't be wrecked. I'd hate to meet up with Scarlet and have her see the ribbons ruined.
"Y'know, Ara, it's been a very long time since someone got me a gift." Scarlet began with a light chuckle. "Maybe the whole travelling thing wasn't such a good idea."
I wanted to stand closer to her but I part of me feared Yang would attack her if we got too close. "Um, do you ever get lonely?" I asked reluctantly.
Scarlet stared blankly into space before turning her gaze up to the darkened sky," I haven't thought of that until I arrived here." She whispered. "Something about this place makes me...sad. Like all the memories I've been trying to forget is coming back."
Now she had my interest. I told Scarlet to wait a minute before guiding Yang to a nearby tree. The Ancient Phoru snarled and trashed as I tied its rein to the thick tree bark. I whispered a quick apology to Yang before making my way toward Scarlet, Yang only grew more hysterical as I drew closer to her---luckily the tree stood up firmly against Yang's trashing.
"Sorry, Yang is acting really weird today." I glanced back at Yang who was now gnawing at its reins.
"It's fine," Scarlet waved her hand dismissively. "I think my magic might be making the poor thing uncomfortable."
"Maybe..."
A crow cawed somewhere in the graveyard before flapping its wings, my eyes absentmindedly followed dark feathered figure gliding above us.
"Ara, do you remember anything from your childhood?" Scarlet asked after a moment of silence. "Like do you remember the friends you had, the games you played...the family you grew up with?"
"Um y-yeah..." I found myself taken aback by her random question. "I remember my family the most."
Scarlet's eyes dimmed in response," how...nice." She shifted her foot uncomfortably. "Tell me, what's it like to wake up to a mom and dad everyday? To have food on the table and a roof over your head? Did you guys ever fight? What was it like to be mad at your parents? Oh and how did you choose which parent you preferred?"
I felt my jaw dropping at her unusual questions but it only took me seconds to realize what she was implying," Scarlet," I began, my fingers played feverishly with the edge of one of the silk ribbons. "I-if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your family?"
"I-I...I shouldn't be telling you this, Ara, I don't even know you that well yet." Scarlet smiled. "I-I don't even know why I blurted so much out to you."
"It doesn't matter how much you know me," I answered, her eyes widened at my response. "If you need someone to listen then I'll be more than happy to be that person."
"Ara..." Her seemingly perfect smile quivered. "Why are you so nice to me?"
"Because everyone deserves someone to listen to them." I softened my voice. "I understand if you want to keep it a secret though."
Her shoulders tensed," I-I can't turn down an offer like that...but p-please don't run away from me when I say it." She held out her pinky-finger to me. "You have to promise not to run away."
I wrapped my pinky-finger around hers and replied," I won't run away, Scarlet. I promise I won't."
"Thanks," she let her hand drop to her side. "I uh lost my entire village at a very young age."
I felt my heart shattering as the first sentence came out. I wanted to say something to her but decided to stay quiet and listen, just like Chung had when I told him my story.
"My parents gave me a backpack and told me to run as far away as I could." She sniffled. "I-I ran as far as my tiny legs would take me. S-somehow I got up to this giant hill which gave me an entire view of my home. E-everything I knew and grew up with was on fire, nothing was spared from the hate of my attackers."
She looked up and blinked her glassy eyes. I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"N-no one would help me. S-so I had to survive on my own." She began to cry. "I grew up hiding i-in various places, my least favourite place was in cities s-since I was forced to watch girls m-my age have friends and a l-loving family. D-do you know what it's like to see other people happy but know that you'll never get the same happiness as them?"
I pulled her into a tight hug and allowed her to cry on my shoulders; her body shook in my grip and tears soaked into my robe.
"I-I always wish I had a somebody to fall back on, but just knowing I'd never have that killed me on the inside." She went on. "I-I wanted a mom and dad to be there with me. I wanted a warm home, fresh food, and a soft bed to sleep on. W-what did I do to deserve such a horrible life?"
She's just like me, a part of me cheered that someone would truly understand but I was instantly filled with guilt as the thought sunk into my head.
"I did get admitted into an orphanage, a-and I'm grateful since they taught me so much." She hiccuped. "B-but nothing made me feel welcomed. I-I was a weird kid and no one wanted to play with me, a-and all the adults didn't seem to care if I disappeared or not."
"Is that the reason why you started travelling?" I asked, I felt her bobbing her head.
"I-if I could get away from society maybe then I-I wouldn't feel so bad." She explained in between sobs. "I-I liked learning about new things during my travels, b-but it didn't help.I could run to the other side of the world b-but that wouldn't get me away from...m-myself. I-I could never escape my past, m-my mind---my personal prison. B-but do you know what the worst part is, Ara?"
"What is it?"
Her body tensed," i-it's knowing no one would understand m-my pain." She bawled with arms gripping onto me tightly, like a scared child holding onto their mother---their only source of comfort.
I kept my arms around her and whispered small words of encouragement to her, all the while trying to keep myself from crying. I wanted to tell her so badly that I understood everything, the pain, the loneliness; the memories, but I knew better than to start talking about myself while she was still letting all her emotions out.
Once she had calmed down I broke the hug. We stood in comfortable silence, with only Yang's weakened protests to break the void.
"Sorry for dumping all of that on you." Scarlet finally spoke up. "I-I know it's impossible for you to understand, but thank you for listening to me."
"Scarlet, I-I know what it's like." I confessed hesitantly. She fell silent, I took this as a queue to continue. "The truth is, I also lost my entire village. T-the only survivor was me, but unlike you I was found by travellers who brought me to an orphanage."
"You had friends though, right?" Scarlet asked flatly.
"I had a few but I was never close to any of them." I admitted, a small smile crept on my lips at the blurred memories of my life after the attack. "I-I was grateful to even have friends, but I was still lonely. What hurt me the most was being around other kids but still feeling like I had no one to rely on."
"Oh, Ara." This time it was Scarlet who pulled me into a hug. I felt a few burning tears squeezing out from my eyes. "That sounds way worse than my situation."
"T-they're both equally as bad." I wrapped my arms around her again. "We both suffered through the same fate, b-but the only difference now is that we have each other to fall back on."
"Y-you really want to be friends with someone like me?" Her voice dropped to a weak whisper.
"Of course," I found myself unable to hold back the tears from spilling. "W-will you accept someone like me as a friend?"
"I do," Scarlet buried her face into my shoulder once again. "I-I'll be more than happy to b-be friends with someone like you, Ara."