"The Sensei!" Emma starts to run after him. Ku turns around when Amy grabs the Captain by her cloak and throws her towards her comrades.
Smiling, Ku gives her a thumbs up then runs faster.
I am so sorry Amy for leaving this heavy burden on you...but I believe in you! You will pull through! Unlike me...I do not think I will...
Ku lets his cloak guide him slightly, already half knowing where Vada would be. He finds himself running past a familiar place.
The trees, the grass, the small town all the way wander. He spots the broken down arena ahead, once used for national and international games.
Oh Vada, Vada, Vada. Ku lets out a chuckle.
He reaches the arena and steps inside, walking through the snacks and seats. Everything empty and deserted.
Oh those days were nice...just simple training...Ku thinks in his head remembering how Vada first started using anti-magic magic. It was quite the memory to remember before facing his sister.
All around the place is closer to being completely forgotten than just rotting away. Ku draws in a breath, his nerves getting to him. Get a hold of yourself Ku! You can not screw up now! Mages are counting on you! Amy...that crazy lot...you can not let Vada beat you.
--
Vada anxiously waits in the cover of the darkness. Her eyes glance over the area, not finding a sign of her brother anywhere.
I have to fight him...I have to fight him and win so that I can avenge our parents and stay with Sasha, Emma, Emily, Beth and Becky.
The sound of the wind makes her jump, then relaxes, realizing it's only the wind.
Honestly. Am I that nervous? I can't be...yeah, Ku doesn't matter all that much, he doesn't matter at all. Just stick to that.
Vada finds herself remembering how she defeated the gangs and gained the Captains and Generals as the members of Destruction.
It wasn't all that inspiring or anything. Just a simple beat up and then them coming to work with her.
We've been through a lot, taking down other organizations, going head to head with some...those four won't be in much trouble if I fall but Sasha...oh that girl is going to be targeted all over, I'm glad she doesn't know but maybe she should know...
Worry overtakes Vada. It starts to become her motivation to win the fight against Ku. More hoping for Ku to let her go scot free but that wasn't about to happen.
"I've got this," Vada tells herself, confidence in her voice.
She looks up at the sky, the dome part of the arena completely cracked. The sun shines down at the overgrown grass. Her brown eyes follow the light and finds Ku standing at the center of the open arena, the wind blowing his beard making him look badass in Vada's opinion.
"You sure picked an interesting place," Ku calls out, gripping his staff with the golden pendant in it.
"I'm glad you agree. You remember all the times we trained here?" Vada comes out of the cover of the darkness and starts to walk towards him.
"How could I forget? Remember the first time you used anti-magic?" Ku chuckles, his eyes sad.
"Of course I do. It was the best day of my life...Mamma and Dad were so proud," Vada remembers the fond memory, her eyes turning sad as well. "You were too."
"I was...I truly was happy that you learned..." Ku's voice trails off as he looks at Vada who is now only a feet away from him.
"I was too...I could finally train with my prodigy older brother and now we're Prince and Princess of Magic," Vada recalls the bittersweet memory.
"A while after Mamma and Dad were murdered...we were named that...they would have been so happy..." Ku sighs sadly.
"They would have been. It's all because of that mage who murdered them. That mage robbed our parents of seeing that day!" Vada starts to angry, her eyes glowing with rage.
"Killing that mage will not bring them back. It will not change the days we have missed with them..." Ku lowers his tan hat to cover his tearing up eyes.
"But it will make him pay. No one has figured out who killed them. I want revenge...don't you care about them Ku?" Vada addresses him for the first time since they started talking.
"I do care about them. I care about them so I will not turn around and become the exact opposite of they wanted for us. Why are you becoming the exact opposite Vada?" Ku addresses her back.
"Ha. I'm not doing anything wrong, stupid. I am getting revenge, that's nothing against what Mamma and Dad wanted for us," Vada argues back.
"It is! They wanted us to be mages who helped from the sidelines...they did not want us to be in this sort of position right now! What do you think they are going through seeing us like this?!" Ku's eyes flash with anger.
"They're probably more disappointed in you! You their first child, doesn't even want to avenge them! He just sits around!" Vada lashes back.
"At least I am not going around killing and being a criminal mage! At least I am trying to keep our family's reputation! You their only daughter has completely tossed aside what they built for us!" Ku stomps his staff.
"I am trying to make sure that they didn't die in vain! I know we don't have kids but what do you think that mage is gonna do?! That mage must've been planning it for a long time! It's not easy to catch our parents like that!" Vada's hand glows black.
"I know that! Do you intend to fight me? Oh who am I kidding," Ku scoffs as he sees his sister step towards him.
"I do. Clearly you don't care about them like I do. You didn't love them even though they did so much for you!" Vada comes running, her fists blaring.
"Your first mistake in this fight," Ku steps away and she misses him.
"And yours as well," Vada reels back and almost knocks Ku off his feet but quickly moves away.
"What I am getting is that you are really set on getting revenge from a mage that no one knows the identity of yet," Ku shakes his head.
"That's why I need to be free! So that I can find out, I'm done waiting!" Vada raises her hands and black creatures rise up from the ground, she trusts her hands forwards and they head towards Ku.
"How to you expect to find them? It is actually ridiculous to think like that," Ku aims his staff towards them and bright white arrows slice through the black creatures.
"I am not all goody two shoes and never was. I won't be holding myself back for some morals. I'm going to find that mage and kill their parents!" Vada storms at Ku, her fists blaring.
"The whole point of morals is to make sure you will not do something you will regret!" Ku reminds her, using his hands to block Vada.
They get into a fight of strength, trying to push each other back, their eyes glaring at each other.
"Oh who the hell gives a shit about fucking morals?!" Vada rolls her eyes at Ku, keeping up with his strength.
"Literally everyone but you! Of course what should I expect from someone who just has no care for anything?!" Ku pushes back, keeping up with her strength.
"I do care! That's why I'm avenging them you fool! Why are you so stupid?! You're the fool! You won't even join me!" Vada spats in annoyance, she starts to push Ku back.
"Because I am doing what they wanted us to do! I am fulfilling their wishes for the both of us! I have been working twice as hard because of you!" Ku replies with annoyance in his voice, now he's pushing Vada back.
The siblings continue to push each other back, no one getting the upper hand anymore. Ku starts to glow silver, a wave of it appearing above him. Vada starts to glow gray, the wave of the color appearing above her.
With a huge blast, the siblings find themselves farther away from each other.
"I have never felt this disconnected from you Ku..." Vada looks sad, half of her wanting to hug her brother and letting go of her anger, but her other half still grieving and wanting revenge.
"Me neither...we were always so close...I know what distanced us. Sadly, we have different views..." Ku replies looking sad as well.
"Yeah, sadly. Why can't you see where I'm coming from? Don't you understand a child who saw their parents being murdered and wanting to get revenge?" Vada starts to feel desperate.
"I do know where you are coming from...I saw it too Vada. You are not the only victim here," Ku answers calmly.
"Ku, I don't want us to be fighting each other like this...why don't you just join me? Please? I don't think I can lose someone else..." Vada wipes a tear from her eyes.
"I can not as well...but you have picked the wrong side Vada, and I can not be a part of something Mamma and Dad did not want," Ku shakes his head, his own eyes tearing up again.
"Then you've proven where you stand. Against your only sibling. Against avenging your parents. Against our parents is how I'm seeing it," Vada sheds her tears, now they're angry.
"And you have proven your loyalty. Against your only sibling. Against us fulfilling our duty to our parents. Against our parents' wishes is how I am going to see it," Ku slowly stops his tears and looks at Vada calmly.
"I guess I don't care that much about you Ku," Vada shrugs, a sly smirk on her face.
"What do you mean?" Ku's eyebrows knit together in confusion, holding onto his staff anxiously.
"It's exactly as it sounds," Vada watches as the entire arena becomes a dark orb. Different memories play around Ku on the black orb.
"Y-you can do this..?" Ku closes his eyes, his hands going to the pendant.
"Yes. I can. Make you relive every terrible moment. Dark Arts involves breaking mages mentally and physically," Vada says darkly, the dark tint in her eyes making in scarier.
"Good thing it is sensitive to anti-magic," Ku eyes glow silver as he shoots around silver shards, his mouth moving to the words of the spell.
The shards stops one memory but then another pops up. Once it hits the black, sunlight comes through but it covers up as soon as it was destroyed.
"It may be...but Dark Arts is resilient. Besides, I am a anti-magic user too, I know what you're doing Ku. Now you're leaving yourself vulnerable," Vada grins and jumps towards Ku, who's eyes are closed.
Ku steps back only to see Vada missing him by a hairline. Ku opens his eyes and uses his staff to block a punch. He tries to trip Vada but she blocks him with her legs.
"Heh, who would've thought I could get the better of you?" Vada smiles darkly as she starts to land a few punches here and there.
She punches his stomach and Ku reels back, now in a fighting stance. Ku now runs towards Vada.
She puts up her fists, but Ku jumps over her. In the moment of confusion, Ku grabs Vada by her cloak that hooks onto his staff. He lifts it up with him and swings it forwards, sending Vada back and his staff in hand.
"You are such an annoying mage!" Vada stomps angrily then a strong sad memory pops up in front of Ku.
The Sensei shuts his eyes and a silver shard slices through it.
"You keep forgetting the fact that there is an easy way to protect myself from this," Ku's eyes glow silver again as he quickly mummers a spell under his breath.
A silver guard comes around Ku but before it could finish coming around Ku, Vada comes in and goes for his face to punch.
Ku grabs her wrist and and swings Vada to his side.
"It is not going to block you genius," Ku's eyes harden.
"You must mistake me for an uneducated idiot. I'm fully aware it's blocking my spell for memories," Vada then grabs Ku's wrist and twists it.
Ku steps on her foot, then Vada let's go of his wrist and then kicks his legs. Ku jumps up slightly and then finds his foot hooked with hers. Vada grins evilly and smacks Ku down onto the ground.
Ku jumps back up quickly only to be met with Vada's fist. He reels back again and then puts his hand up, quickly murmuring, he sends a wave of silver around.
Vada finds herself being sent back along with the wave, her black orb coming down. She stands once the wave stops.
"I tried so hard to make you understand Vada...where did we disconnect?" Ku asks, remembering all the times he told Vada what would be best for them...what they should do.
"I have no idea Ku. But clearly your words didn't matter no? I understood what you meant but didn't take it," Vada puts up her hand to Ku.
Ku puts his hand up as well. Narrowing their eyes at each other, silver and gray shoot out of their hands, meeting in the middle.
"So you know what I mean yet you choose to ignore it? How surprising. Is that not what everyone calls ignorance? You are full of it," Ku uses his other hand to send a barrage of silver shards to Vada.
She uses her free hand to block them off with a black shield.
"Why thank you. You are full of yourself Ku. Always so proud and arrogant," Vada shakes her head at him and then moves out of the way. She aims both of her hands at Ku and two black jets come out.
Ku aims his staff at it and a string comes out. It wraps around the jets of black and squeezes them until they disappear.
"Make me understand why you choose to ignore all that I told you. I do not get how you could just go against everything," Ku glares hard, having a clear view of Vada.
"It's simple really Ku, just think a little about it," Vada comes at Ku, her left fist glowing gray.
"I have thought about it all the time. Yet no answer has come to mind. Maybe I am choosing not to see it," Ku comes towards Vada with his right fist glowing silver.
Both of their fists collide, their eyes glowing in their respective colors. A huge blast of silver and gray go around, a wave of the colors spreading around them.
"Who's the Elemental Master of Darkness?" Ku asks.
"Sasha McAllester, the one I've raised as my own child," Vada answers.
After a minute, the two reel back, breathing heavily. That was a lot of magic energy to use for one attack.
"Maybe it's because I don't care about you. I started thinking Ku, deeply about why I didn't agree with you. Why I didn't take your words," Vada starts, her eyes closed for a moment.
"And what did you come up with Vada? I am quite curious to know why you turned out like this," Ku looks at Vada, letting her think about whatever she was thinking about.
"I came up with this. Compared to Mamma and Dad and you...I love our parents more. I care about them more. I don't care that much about you. I don't love you that much either. That's why I choose to ignore even though I understood," Vada continues, her eyes open now.
Ku's heart throbbed in pain, as if it was being snatched out and beaten. He starts to move his free hand towards his heart.
"Do I stay with my brother or get back at the one who caused me pain and made me lose my loved ones? What do you think I choose Ku?" Vada asks Ku, walking towards him. "Our parents...or you?"
With a painful breath, Ku holds his heart. It hurt to hear Vada say this to him directly. He couldn't even believe that Vada was saying this so freely. With not a care or even a drop of sympathy or anything.
"I picked them," Vada answers for Ku and a black wave sends Ku flying backwards.
I do not matter to Vada...I knew this when she started learning Dark Magic...when she stopped listening and never took the words I told her....I knew yet...Ku thinks.
He opens his eyes to see Vada then kicking him to the ground, he coughed up blood.
Yet I choose to ignore it. I really am stupid Vada...I do not know why I continued to think we still had our sibling connection...haha, I really am a fool. Ku finishes his thought and Vada starts to punch him harder and harder.
I have no will to fight back anymore...I have lost my only family left what do I even mean anymore? There is no point. She will win, she knows she will...I am nothing but a fool. Ku lets out a sigh, the punches nothing more than a fly darting around him. His thoughts scrambling his head.
"Why are you still?! Fight me like a Powers!" Vada yells in anger. "Stop showing love! Ku you fool! It makes this so much more confusing!"
"How can I not? I am your older sibling...I am here to make sure you feel loved not the opposite..." Ku coughs out more blood.
"Stop saying stuff that makes me want to hug you!" Vada growls, punching his face.
Ku holds his hands as she comes for another punch. He raises his head and gives Vada a smile.
"Ku..." Vada's voice trails off. Her hands shake a bit. "Why....why are you like this...?" She looks down at her shaking hands.
"Because I do not want to hurt you anymore," Ku squeezes her hands reassuringly.
Vada looks up at his face. The same reassuring smile...the blood on his face, the bruises and cuts...the tattered clothing and tiredness but he still smiles at her. Her brother...still smiled at her even though she was the one who did this to him.
----
Ku led Vada through the darkness of the forest in the night. He completely shrugged off Vada's cold behavior towards him. They walked through, brushing past many trees and bushes. Vada stayed deadly silent and Ku wasn't sure what to say.
Suddenly a mage covered in black jumps out and sends black creatures towards them. Ku pushes Vada behind him and puts up a silver shield.
The mage comes back for more, coming from behind, Vada froze in fear and Ku quickly turned and blocked the punch by getting hit himself.
Vada took the chance and punched the mage's stomach, anger pulsing through her veins.
The mage grabbed Vada and she quickly twisted to get out of his grasp, that gave Ku time to kick the mage's shins and caused them to stagger backwards.
Vada hands glowed a gray and she jumped towards the mage, hot tears fell as she attempted to punch the mage. That mage noticed and punched Vada backwards.
Ku caught her, his eyes turning dark. They held a cold hatred as Ku set Vada against a tree. He jumped at them and started to fight a series of physical fighting against the mage.
Ku was losing badly, punched in the stomach, coughed up blood, head was bleeding, and multiple cuts and bruises all over his body. Being shirtless didn't help but only worsen things.
"Ku!" Vada called out as the mage struck Ku from behind. He fell onto the ground, blood pooled out from his wounds. Ku tried to lift himself up, it was slow.
The mage then turned towards Vada, marching over as their hands glowed an ominous black. Vada looked determined, she was not pushover, she could take them on.
Vada got up and put her hands up as well. She watched the mage's movements as they made their way towards Vada. The mage sent black jets towards Vada and she effectively blocked them off with a gray shield.
Instead of disappearing, the black jets turned and hit Ku. Vada let out a scream of anger as Ku started to bleed harder. His own eyes watered.
"How dare you!" Vada screamed and white arrows attacked the mage. They jumped in front of Vada, her eyes widened in surprise.
Just as the mage was about to finish her off, Ku jumped in front, he hugged his sister close to him and covered her eyes to avoid her seeing something else disturbing.
The attack landed onto Ku's bleeding back. A flashlight shined in their eyes and the mage disappeared into the night.
Ku checked around, once assured, he let go of Vada but kept his hands on her shoulders. He lifted his head, Vada looked mad and was sobbing.
"Ku..! Ku, they almost killed you too!" Vada cried out. "We couldn't stop them!"
"It is okay now Vada...it is what older siblings are for no?" Ku smiled at Vada, a slightly tilted head.
"You are a freaking idiot!" Vada lightly punched his bare chest. "Older siblings don't get themselves killed for their little siblings!"
"You worry too much...it is all okay now. We are fine, we just...we will get through this and remember the lessons we learned," Ku smiled reassuringly.
"You are such a good mage Ku..." Vada hugged her brother as the emergency responders came out to help them.
----
"Why are you such a good mage Ku..?" Vada's brown eyes water. Her fading black hair gently rocks in the breeze. The two cloaks blowing towards each other as Vada and Ku try their best not to cry.
"I choose to be a good mage Vada...I want to make sure you are safe but I did not really do a good job with that huh?" Ku tilts his head with a goofy smile.
You say you do not care...but you just feel lost and lonely...you feel like you have lost everything...but that is not true Vada. You still have me, your older brother, till I am alive. Ku thinks as he looks at her with sibling love.
So do not feel as if you are alone...do not distance yourself from those who care about you. You are not alone Vada. Ku opens his mouth to say something when Vada starts to cry.
"I am a terrible mage..." Vada falls onto the ground. Ku continues to hold her hand, knowing now wasn't the time to help her up.
"You just got off with the wrong foot as a teenager. It is not your fault Vada...you just did what you thought was right for you," Ku pats her hands. "You just went about it the wrong way sadly."
"Ku...the Captains and Generals...they've lost..." Vada sobs.
Relief floods Ku, but then turns to worry as he remembers one question he had for Vada about them.
"What magic do they use Vada..?" Ku asks, afraid of the answer.
"They use Dark Matter magic..." Vada's voice trails off. "They probably really hurt Amy...they were going to kill her..."
"Oh my gosh!" Ku puts one hand to his ear piece and starts to talk when he hears a beep.
"Amy is trouble! Send emergency responders quickly! She has been contaminated with Dark Matter but I have no idea how much..." Ku panics.
"I should not have left her alone with four of them..." fear and worry overtake Ku's senses. "She is at Wysteria but I am not with her so I have no idea where she is now..."
"Ku..." Vada bites her lip.
"Vada...you knew. I can not believe you would do that..." Ku lets go of Vada's hands. "You know what it is like to have a child. Even if they are not our own. She is your niece!"
"I know! But it was what I had to do in order to get my accesses back here," Vada feels the guilt skyrocket within her. I shouldn't be feeling sorry...but I am...
The emergency responders and police arrive on the scene. With one last sad look, Ku turns and runs.
--
The teens find themselves out of the cave, the emergency responders found them and then took them to the hospital.
They run through the corridors even though the doctors are chasing them to treat their wounds.
A door with the patient name 'Amy Burns' is on the side and they quickly go into the room. Gasps went around the teens. Ava put a hand to her mouth. Urana put both hands to her mouth.
"Coach!" The teens call out in fear. Ku is sitting next to her with a guilty expression.
Amy is no condition to even open her eyes. A solid black consuming the right half of her face. Her arms and body all a solid black. On her right side, there is a huge wound with blood pooling even though there are multiple bandages. There are all sorts of things poked into her. To make it worse, her face is scrunched up in pain, as if she couldn't take it anymore.
Most of all...she was dangerously still, it just wasn't normal for the active fairy.
"I should not have left you there...I left you all alone...I am so sorry Amy..." Ku's eyes water again. "Four against one...what was I thinking?" He holds Amy's hand in his rough ones.
"Sensei..." The teens start, not knowing where else to go with it. He is wrapped up in bandages as well, the doctor treating him while he blamed himself.
The doctors catch up with the teens and start to tend to their wounds. Ku looks at them with such a sad look that it sends Alex and Ava crying silently. Brenton and Owen look away as Urana covers her face.
"Is she going to be okay..?" Alex and Ava question.
"What is all that black stuff..?" Owen and Urana ask.
"Are you okay..?" Brenton adds.
"I have no idea if Amy will okay. Dark Matter is a type of magic that is deadly to fairies and such...another weakness for Amy. She has too much of it in her blood stream...and I am not okay with myself. I left her all alone...and you guys! Oh, I am so sorry!" Ku covers his face with his hand.
"It's not your fault..." the teens start in unison. "You were right. It's Sasha."
"Oh you poor children...I am so sorry..." Ku opens his arms and they come over for a hug even though the doctors grumble at them.
"I will protect you from everything now. I will not let myself be distracted like that again..." Ku holds them close to him. He keeps one hand on Amy's hand.
Vada, the Captains and Generals have all been arrested...all facing life sentence time in prison...Ku thinks. But where did Sasha go?
--
Back in the place where Vada was cursed to stay in, the run down palace, looks as run down as ever.
The eerie silence making it seem perfect for some sort of jump scare. No one is in the vast halls of the once busy palace.
No trace of Vada living there is left except for the one picture of her, Becky, Beth, Emily, Emma and Sasha hanging in a hall full of pictures of other mages.
One of the pictures is of the older woman that Vada checked on multiple times during her stay in Wysteria. At the bottom of the picture, in the caption, is a name that is now a faded gold.
The faded gold letters read the name 'Wysteria'. The older woman has dirty blonde hair that is done neatly in a pulled back, high bun. Her eyes are a hazel color, that show everyone how important she is with a looking down upon everyone look.
The expensive and glittery jewelry she is wearing shows her huge wealth. The dress she is wearing is off of her shoulders, a dark velvet green that reaches down to her feet.
Wysteria is sitting in a velvet chair, showing off her velvet green shoes with a stunning emerald on each one. As if the dress didn't have enough of it.
The woman clearly had wealth, and was more or less healthy with a sly smile on her face.
In the room where a woman is lying on a medical bed, she looks the same as the woman in the picture but older, and wrinkles on her pale-ish skin.
The machines beep and boop, showing a steady heart beat and stable vital levels. Here, she is wearing silver armor that covers her entire upper half, including her arms and hands. The other half is covered with a white skirt.
It isn't obvious, but looking closely, the woman's breathing is steady, her chest rising and falling with each breath.
The room itself is just as run down as the rest of the palace. Except it has power to make sure the machines are working.
On her chest plate, there is a flower, the flower being a wysteria. Two things named after the same flower. The abandoned palace and the name of the woman lying on the bed with her eyes closed.
Suddenly, Wysteria's hazel eyes open wide. She jolts up and rips off all the stuff she's connect to.
-----
Author's Note: hey everyone! Just an update, since I have the entire series written and just need to do some editing and add in art pieces, I'll publish it book by book. This way it's not waiting on chapters. The updates between each book shouldn't take long, I'm thinking about two to four weeks to get each book ready for you all to read. Please stay tuned!
I appreciate every view! Don't forget to vote, comment and share! Thank you :)