"Kyria."
That voice from behind was a voice that she knew too well. Kyria knew exactly who the voice belonged to even without having to ask. After retreating into the regular and starting over again as a student, Kyria never imagined that she would be the one who came looking.
Turning around with a wry smile Kyria's own peculiar sea coloured met with glittering turquoise jewels. "Damascus Morgernsten." Kyria closed her eyes for a moment, giving a small sigh as she collected herself. When they opened, the sea coloured orbs were bright and shrewd once again.
"That's the Kyria I know. And hello, I'm glad you remembered me." Damascus gave a small smile of her own. It had been almost eight years since Damascus had last seen her. "You haven't changed one bit."
"I can say the same for you," said Kyria, her tone going from coy to curt. "Let's do away with the formalities and small talk Danny. You want something from me. That's why you're breaking the deal we had."
Damascus retained her small smile despite Kyria's business-like tone. "Its your brother. Kyrien," causing Kyria to raise an eyebrow to signal for a further explanation. "He's with La Cruz now. And we all know what La Cruz is like around all speed core users. That man will obliterate your brother even if he's had my help in activating it."
It took a moment or two for Kyria to wrap her head around the information that she had been presented with. Damascus was saying that Kyrien is a Gaia user. And more specifically, he was a speed core compatible. She frowned. "You're telling me that you and Isaiah know that my brother is a Gaia user but me, his sister, knows nothing about it?"
Damascus fiddled with her hair. She could sense that Kyria was almost angry now and it made her skin crawl slightly. "They're probably in the middle of an engagement now. I heard that Isaiah promised your brother a position as his vanguard if he won. Though we all know that he's no match for the Tempest King. Their cores are not even on par to begin with. You of all people should know that." She was watching Kyria carefully for her reaction.
Kyria bit her lip, in an effort to control her rising anger and confusion. It was true that she knew nothing about Kyrien and where he went. By the time she was home, he would be asleep and he would still be asleep when she was ready to leave home. It was then that Kyria realised she barely knew Kyrien. All she was doing was earning enough to help them keep up with expenses and immersing herself in her studies all day. She could barely even recall the last time they sat down and had a real meal together, a meal that hosted a proper conversation.
"Kyrien's not going to make it. Isaiah is only doing this to get back at me." Kyria got out of her seat, pulling on her coat and boots. "Damascus, you're going to take me there. Now."
Damascus gave a satisfied smirk and curtseyed. "As you wish milady."
___
Kyrien took a second to gather his wits before the whole weight of Isaiah slammed into him. The blonde male was fast but Kyrien was able to keep with his him blow for blow. The surroundings became a blur to Kyrien and all he could hear was the pounding his heart in his ears. They were matched evenly now.
"You don't know who you're up against, kid." Kyrien caught a glimpse of a smirk on the blonde's face before Isaiah broke the deadlock that they were in.
It was only then that Kyrien realised how hard he was panting and Isaiah was barely breaking a sweat. He was almost in disbelief now. A whistling sound started up, followed by a sudden increment in the magnitude of the breeze around them. There was a crackling sound now, almost like static coming from Isaiah. Little wisps of lightning have stared to collect around both his fists and a crown-shaped halo of the same lightning forming around his head.
"Anemoi." It was barely a whisper that escaped Isaiah's lips before he vanished. Kyrien could no longer feel the blonde's presence, especially with the vibrations of the wind around him. There were just too many distortions.
At the very last second, Kyrien felt the pull coming from a forty-five degree angle above him but he knew that there was not going to be enough time to react and the best thing he could do was to throw himself forward. The strength of the blow that came next dwarfed his estimate by almost ten-fold. The force of it shattered the ground Kyrien had been on just a split second before Isaiah's fist left a crater. Kyrien was thrown back a few more feet from the sheer force of the impact and before he could regain his composure Isaiah was already ready to deliver the next blow. There was no way he was going to make it out of this. He could only control his speed but not enough to find out what kind of offensive power it possessed or even come up any offense tactics.
Kyrien could hear Arcadia's voice faintly in the back ground calling for Isaiah to halt but he knew that at that velocity and power that her brother was controlling, there was no way he was going to hear anything other than the roar of his own blood in his ears.
"Stop." The single word sliced through the air like a heated knife through butter and the clarity of the voice seemed to bring everything to a halt. Even the air was still at that command. Isaiah's crackling fist stopped, millimetres away from smashing Kyrien a new hole in his chest.
"Kyria." Isaiah whispered, his golden gaze fixated on the female was walking towards him now. Her eyes were like cold sea coloured tunnels that spoke of endless cold. Kyrien had never seen her eyes so dead and terrifying. This was not his sister that was standing before him and helping him to his feet. It was as if she was a completely different person.
Nonetheless, he took her offered hand and pulled himself to his feet. His Gaia gloves had already begun to recede, leaving only bare skin. As the core powered down from within him, the fatigue started to kick in and Kyrien felt more and more exhausted as the seconds ticked by.
"Kyria, I can-" Kyrien was cut off before he could finish his sentence.
"You should have never been exposed to the world of Gaia. You should have been a regular boy who went to school and graduated and move on to have a regular life." Her voice was cold and harsh, causing Kyrien to flinch slightly. His sister had never used a tone like on him before. Not once in his life was she this detached and angry even when he got himself into trouble at school. This was different from all the other times.
"Why couldn't you, Kyrien?" Before Kyrien had the chance to answer, Kyria rounded on Isaiah. This was also the first time Arcadia saw a flash of fear in her otherwise, fierce and invincible brother. "And you Isaiah, you know better than to be fighting my brother who just got himself a new core. You were always a bully. Not everyone starts out a prodigy at Gaia like you. And how. Dare. You." Kyria was mad now, jabbing Isaiah in the chest with every word she spat out.
"How dare you use the Titan Regalia on my brother?" Kyria was positively snarling now. "I am going to kill you."
Kyrien was flustered now. He wedged himself between the two, pushing them away from each other. "Calm down, Kyria. I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine." He tried to convince her but Kyria only trained her anger on him.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into Kyrien! If only you had just done everything the regular way!" And it left Kyrien guilty and dumbfounded. He knew how hard his sister had to work over the last few years so that he could go to school and lead a normal life.
There was a moment of tentative silence. It was Arcadia who spoke first.
"Are you really Kyria Shira?" Arcadia asked timidly. "Everyone knows you and I honestly never expected to meet you even if you were seeing my brother for a while, you're so pretty and wow - I've just heard so much -"
"Arcadia Heaven. I've seen you in Gaia fights. You're the Archangel." Kyria gave a wan smile and Kyrien was trying his best to grasp what they were saying.
"Archangel?" Kyrien blurted out and Arcadia gave a nervous laugh, turning to face Kyrien.
"I think I left out something in my introduction the other day." She straightened up and cleared her throat, her eyes bright with glimmer. "I am not only Arcadia Heaven, vanguard of the Nine Diamond, Lady of Babylon, but I am also known as the Archangel bearer of the Angel Regalia."
Kyrien felt his jaw drop. Two Regalia bearers surrounded him. What Shin and Jem would give to be in his shoes now.
"Your sister should introduce herself as well." Isaiah's growl seemed to pull Kyrien back to reality and they all looked expectantly in Kyria's direction, even Damascus who kept silent all this while.
Kyria gave a heavy sigh. She took a moment to herself before recomposing. The Kyria that appeared in the next second was a Kyria that Kyrien had never seen or felt before. She looked the same - only somehow she appeared stronger, fiercer, taller, both more terrifying and more beautiful than she had ever appeared to him.
"Kyrien, I wish I never have to tell you this. But since you're already in it, my name will protect you. I will protect you. Because you are the brother of Kyria Shira, and I am the First of the Seven Storms Alliance, Leader of Valkyrie," Kyria paused; it was a while since she last bore the weight of her titles.
"Also known as the Stardust Empress and bearer of the Astra Regalia. And the Astra Regalia can only borne by one who is one of the Genesis Children." It was Damascus who completed Kyria's sentence and turned her attention to Kyrien. "Which makes you and your sister both, Genesis Children."