-"The thunder rumbles as lightning flashes across the sky, shaking the heavens and earth."
*Lei*
A blond five-year-old boy ran up to Yen and me as soon as we entered our house.
"How was training? Who did you fight?" the kid asked as his eyes shimmered with curiosity.
"It was good, but I still got a lot more practice to do," I said, wiping the sweat off of my forehead. "I battled against Wanikiya, Yen, and Zelde. Sadly not against Hikaru, who was too tired after his match against Wanikiya. Seriously, that guy needs to work on his prana control."
"Did you win?"
I laughed. "Well, I did beat Wani."
Yen grinned and pointed at me with her right thumb. "Zelde and I beat him easily!"
I put my hands behind my head and narrowed my eyes at Sis. "You know, I'll beat you one of these days. You'll see."
Yen raised her right hand toward her lips to stifle a chuckle. "Would love to see you try."
I lowered my hands and took a deep breath. "Full of yourself, aren't you?" I ran straight to the wooden stairs and grabbed the metal rail. I stopped and glanced back at her. "Anyway, I am going to go shower and then head out."
"Where to?" Yen asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't recall the others inviting us anywhere."
I reached into the pocket of my pants and took out the I.D. I found. "I want to find this Nyima girl and return this to her," he said.
"Why now? It's already late," the five-year-old said as he followed me. He directed his electric blue eyes toward the window. The sky seemed as if it were on fire.
I turned around and messed up the child's neatly combed hair. "I'll be fine, Shandian. Don't worry! My lightning magic can light up the darkness of night."
Yen put her hands on her hips and shook her head before saying, "I'll accompany you just to make sure you don't end up getting lost. Plus, it won't hurt to have two of us searching for her."
"Sounds good," I said, putting my hands behind my head again and grinning. "But don't wander off too far. You don't have lightning magic like me. Nor fire or light for that matter."
She scoffed. "No need to tell me! I know. I plan to keep a close eye on you." She glanced at the card. "Doesn't that I.D. say where she lives?"
I glanced at the I.D. "Yeah, she lives on the other side of town."
"The other side of town? As in the western section?"
I nodded.
She whistled. "That girl must be rich then! Hey, think that she'll repay us for returning it to her?"
"Look at you, thinking of money," I said, waving the card. "I'm returning this because it's the right thing. If we get money as a reward, then that would be the icing on the cake, not the objective."
Yen scoffed. "Alright, I got it. I hope that she'll be there, or it'll be a waste of time."
I turned around and stared at her sweat-covered face. "You won't be taking a shower? You worked up as much of a sweat as me. If we're going to a fancy part of town, you might scare off the locals."
Her face flushed as she ran past me. "Of course I am! You think that I'm a pig?"
I averted my gaze. "Well, your habits kind of resemble one," I said in a low voice.
Wind danced around Yen. "I heard that, you brat. Honestly, you lack tact when it comes to speaking to girls."
I narrowed my eyes. "You aren't any better with guys. If you continue acting the way you do, you will scare off Hikaru."
"Hikaru?" she asked. This time it was her turn to avert her gaze. "He's just a friend. Plus, he's not even my type."
I followed after her. "But you are trying to turn him into your type, or do you think that I haven't noticed?"
"You two," Shandian said, laughing nervously. "Stop arguing! You sound like kids."
We looked down in shame, being told off by our five-year-old brother like that when it should've been the other way around.
"Think that I can accompany you two? Mama and Papa won't be arriving for several hours, and I'll be all alone. I mean, I was alone previously, but you two were outside so I could call upon you..."
"Sure thing!" I said. "It'll be like a family adventure. We should invite..." He gasped and looked away.
"Invite who?" Shandian asked, blinking.
"Never mind what I said," I said, rushing off to my room.
"I guess I'll use my parent's bathroom," Yen said, turning toward the left.
*Shandian*
I watched as the two walked away, an aura of melancholy swarming around the two. I turned my gaze toward my right. A portrait of my family from when I was an infant hung on the green-blue wall. Mommy, a woman with flowing purple hair in a blue dress, held him in her arms. A tall, muscular man who looked like an older version of me smiled at the camera with Yen, Lei, and another boy their age in the forefront, bearing wider smiles than our parents.
I stared closely at the boy who looked identical to Lei. The only differences between Lei and the boy were the boy's hair was parted toward the left instead of the right, and instead of wearing green, the boy had orange clothes.
"Did Lei mean him?" I asked, tilting my head at the picture frame.
*Lei*
My right hand crackled with azure lightning as we siblings flew through the night sky. Well, more like Yen and I flew. Shandian had to be held up by us.
"Are we almost there?" Shandian asked. He glanced down at the colorful city lights below.
Yen looked through her phone with her free hand. "Almost there. It's only a few more miles toward the northwest. Ahhh, it's around here!"
"You there, descend now and identify yourselves!" a voice roared from below.
I sighed. "Seems that security here is as tight as expected."
Yen shot me a look as if I were crazy. "If you figured that, why didn't you say so earlier?"
"You didn't?" I asked with widened eyes.
Shandian sighed. "Don't argue in mid-air while holding me, you two. I am too young to die."
I nodded. "Of course, we won't let you fall." I glanced at Yen, who nodded, and soon we descended to the ground. Waiting for us was a blue-haired man holding a relatively thick book.
We looked at the guy's clothes. He wore a button-up blue shirt and white dress pants.
"You aren't security," I said, giving the man a funny look.
"And you are a bunch of kids," he said, crossing his arms.
I grumbled. "I'm not a kid! I'm fifteen! I'll be turning sixteen in a few weeks."
"Is that so?" he said, turning his back to us. He snickered. "You two should be lucky that I discovered you instead of a real cop."
"Yeah, real lucky," I said under my breath.
"Lei," Yen said, yanking on the sleeves of my tai-chi shirt. "This is the location!"
I glanced up at the navy blue building, which glistened in the artificial light cast by the streetlamps. I looked at the man as he entered the apartment complex.
"Wait up!" I yelled, chasing after him.
He stopped and turned around. "Something wrong?"
I nodded. "I found this I.D." I held out the silver card. "I thought of returning it to its owner. Do you know where I can find a Nyima Taiyang?"
The man gasped and smiled. "Nyima, huh?" He extended his hand out toward me. "Here, I'll take it to her. I know exactly where her family lives."
"Really?"
He nodded.
I smiled and handed him the card. "Thanks a ton! I appreciate it. Please tell her that Lei, the future Magus Maximus, returned it."
Yen narrowed her eyes. "Oh, why do you wish for her to know your name? Fell for the girl? Here I thought that you only had eyes for Yuzuki!" She snickered. "It appears that you're a player."
My face reddened. "It's not like that!" I turned toward the man. "Tell her that Yen and Shandian also brought it alongside him."
The man nodded and tucked the I.D. into the pockets of his pants. "Will do." His blue eyes drifted down toward Shandian. "You all seem familiar. Where are you three from?"
"We come from the eastern part of town," Yen responded. She tilted her head. "But no idea as to why we would seem familiar."
He waved his hand. "Forget it. It's just that seeing that young one reminds me of a certain electric-blue-eyed guy with azure lightning."
I gasped. "Do you know my dad? His name is Feng."
The man snickered. "So you are the children of Harmonica and that guy. Those two were the neighbors of my wife back when she was around your age." He waved. "Well, I better get going. I have a lot of work to do! Be careful on your way back."
"Bye!" I said, waving.
"Wow, imagine us meeting an old acquaintance of our dad here," Yen said, crossing her arms. "Well, an acquaintance of an acquaintance, but still."
Shandian smiled. "The world is smaller than one thinks."
I ruffled the kid's hair. "True that. I wonder who else we'll meet in the next few days. I'm dying for the test to begin already! Gah, I should do more training!"
Yen shook her head. "You will train by finding us a way back home without getting detained for flying at night, unsupervised by an adult."
I grumbled. "Well, the only option is to run there. Hey, I got an idea!" I glanced around the street, which had several sports cars parked by the side of the road. As soon as no vehicles were driving, I signaled at the two. "Come, I'll tell you my idea on the way to the bridge!"
Yen sighed. "This better be a well-thought out plan."
Shandian snickered. "Got any suggestions, sis?"
I smiled at our sister. "Yeah, got any?"
She rubbed the back of her neck and scoffed. "It's easy for me. I can run at the speed of sound by..." She gasped. "Wait, is that your idea too?"
I snickered and nodded. "Yup!"
*Nyima*
[Dawn Tower-- Room 300]
"Welcome back home!" I said as a navy-blue-haired man holding a thick book entered the apartment.
"Daddy!" yelled a blue-haired girl around five years old.
The man smiled and squatted down to pat the young girl's head. "How have my favorite girls been?"
"We've been fine," said a red-haired woman as she came out of the kitchen holding a blue-haired toddler. "Though it seems that Nyima here lost her identification."
I scratched my head. "I can't find it anywhere. Have you seen it? Wait, I had it this morning after you went off to work, so of course, you didn't. Where could it be?" I raised a hand to my chin and lingered in thought for a few seconds before sighing. "Think I lost it while I was out looking for Mahpiya's location."
My father snickered and took out a silver I.D. from his pants pocket. "Here you go. A young man called Lei brought this back. Well, he was accompanied by his siblings Yen and Shandian too."
I snatched the card. "Thank the Goddess. I wonder how it ended up in their hands."
He shrugged. "No idea, but you should be more careful with your stuff. You're lucky that a nice group of siblings found it instead of someone sinister."
I glanced at the silver card and smiled.
'I will need to thank this Lei kid and his siblings if I ever get the chance to meet him,' I thought.
"Lei, you say?" my mother said, putting a finger against her lips. "That name, where have I heard it before?"
"He is Feng's child. It appears that he dreams of being the next Magus Maximus." He glanced at me, who smiled back. "He won't reach that title easily, though."
I scoffed. "I am thankful to this guy, but if he thinks that he'll one day be the emperor of this realm, then he is dearly mistaken."
'Though he sounds like an interesting youth. I wish to meet him even more now, this 'Lei'. If he seeks to become Magus Maximus, I'll undoubtedly run into him at the exam for Nine Petal Academy or at some other event. Ha. Will his name one day ring throughout the realm like a chorus of thunder ever echoing throughout the eons, or will it be but a mere squeak swallowed by the passage of time?'
**Character Section**
JaxCreation made the following image for me upon request (she has a request thread which is currently closed, but consider checking it out when she makes a new one for the new year ^^).
**Solar Note: What did you think of Nyima Taiyang? Think that she'll be one of the rivals that Lei desires to use as 'stepping stones' toward his dream?**