Finally June is done and school is over! I just want to thank everyone for being patient, and thank you to everyone who has followed me and my stories! It makes me happy to see everyone enjoying my works.
Next I have some news that some of you may not like. Prepare yourselves guys.
I've been writing fanfictions for quite some time now, I had a blast writing for you guys and these stories have helped me improve quite a bit; the feedback I got from people also helped a bunch. Unfortunately, I will soon be discontinuing to write fanfictions. I'll leave every story up for you guys to enjoy and share with other. I will officially "retire" from this when I finish two more stories (hint: you guys voted for these on a poll). They might take some time to get finished but I promise I'll find a way to get them to you guys. I'll also come back once in a while to fix up a some stories, read a few stories, and maybe write the occasional one shot.
Thank you all so much for the support, and now I present to you the next chapters to Yin Yang.
And to those wondering where the other Elgang are, I don't always put everyone in the story. This is because working with a large cast is difficult, so I will leave certain characters out to help make it easier to write.
We spared poor Lucas the details of the elder's death, along with the disappearance of his father. The trip back was filled with silence, we managed our way back up the path without a single compliant - the silence simply added on to the thick tension. Stella was eagerly awaiting our return at Buch's front steps, concern filled her eyes at our appearance. No one spoke up once we reached her, our silence gave Stella enough information on the events which took place.
"That necklace." Stella stares at the necklace in Raven's arms. "I see Berauk entrusted you with it."
"There are many things we must discuss." Eve spoke up. Oberon stood beside her with the dead enemy Nasod in his hands. "In addition, I must ask you of a few things." Stella's face hardened at her comment.
"Buch is currently out." Stella sits herself down on the steps. "Shall we discuss things here?"
"Stella, does your village encounter Nasods often?" Eve questions bluntly.
Stella nods stiffly," far in the outskirts of our village lays a strange floating land. In the past we would send our men out to patrol, they would often report encounters with Nasods."
Eve lets out a gasp at Stella's explanation," could it be that someone is creating new Nasods?" She ponders at the idea. "Is it possible he could still be active?"
"So now we have evil mages and more Nasods." Elsword pipes in. "Eve, are you sure someone else is making new Nasods? What if those enemy Nasods were just survivors like you?"
"They are not of my design!" She snaps back with a slap; I cringed at the sound of Eve's loud slap. "I must study further into this case, as the Queen it is my responsibility to find some answers to this mystery!"
"Berauk . . . is his body still at Bethma Lake?" Stella stares blankly on the ground.
Our group exchange glances once again, breaking such a tragic event to Stella is not easy. Considering all the stress she's in I bet this event will only made things worse," h-he's still at the lake." Aisha finally spoke up for us.
"I see," she looks up to make eye contact with Lucas. Her eyes soften on the young lizard," Lucas, how are you doing?"
Lucas hops off of Yang's back. He runs into Stella's arms, embracing her tightly as he begins to bawl," I-I saw my dad!" He cried loudly. "T-the evil mage has control over him!"
Stella hugs him back," shh everything will be okay." She whispers softly. "Just let it all out you'll be fine after a good cry." She comforts the young lizard like a mother comforting her frightened child.
"It's confirmed that Speka isn't our target." Elsword adds on quietly, he seems hesitant to push forward. "The mage is a lizardman."
"A lizardman?" Stella's jaw drops slightly, her face draining of color. "Berauk and Buch are the only lizardmen who knows how to use magic."
"Stella, you know very well that is not true." Buch's unexpected voice causes Stella to jump.
I avert my eyes towards the approaching alchemist; Chung walked beside him with various baskets hanging from his hands - I'm assuming those are Buch's groceries. Buch's jaw tightens at the sight of the elder's necklace, without saying another word he gestures us inside.
"Go bring the Phoru back to the stalls." Stella orders Lucas gently. "Once you're done wait for me at home, I'll prepare some dinner for us later."
"O-okay." Lucas wipes his tear drenched eyes. Stella kisses him on the forehead before breaking the hug.
"Let us discuss this matter further inside." Stella helps herself back up. "Come we don't have much time to spare."
The silent group follows after Stella inside, I gently pet my Phoru's head before handing it over to Lucas. The small lizard exchanges a forced smile with me before guiding Yang back to the animal stalls.
It is a shame we could not save his father. I can hear the pity ringing from Eun's voice. I must admit it will certainly be tough for us to end his father's life.
'Let's not talk about this now, Eun.'
When we do face Lucas' father; how will any of us bring ourselves to ending him? In the end we are ending the life of someone's only parent, no matter what our reason may be it is still not a humane decision - but what other choice do we have?
"Tough day eh?" Chung jolts me back to reality, he holds out two baskets towards me. "Be useful and carry these for me."
"We fortunately didn't get a chance to finish off Lucas' dad." I began while taking the two baskets. "I wouldn't be able to face him if we had."
"Sometimes the job isn't easy." Chung slowly makes his way up the steps, as if waiting for me to catch up with him. "However, we must do what we can to complete the mission. Sometimes unfortunate sacrifices must be made."
I hesitantly follow behind Chung," how many of these sacrifices have you guys made?" I blurt out. "You seem to know a awful lot about this topic." Regret quickly follows as those words slipped out of my mouth - I mentally slap myself.
Chug stiffens at me question, his hands tighten around the baskets," enough," his voice sounding cold." We already made enough sacrifices. It's saddening how we must continue to sacrifice in order to get the job done."
"Chung." I bite my bottom lip; wishing I could take back what I had just said. "Sorry for asking."
He snorts; shrugging my comment off as if it was nothing," what's done is done." He opens the wooden door for me. "There's no such thing as a retry button in life. This world won't stop spinning just for anyone."
"Yeah." I reply in a soft whisper as I step inside. I take a quick glance to see everyone gathered around Buch's small living room, Stella and the alchemist sat on the couch while our team scattered throughout the floor.
"Just place the baskets down and come join us." Buch gestures to the team. Our team members turn their heads towards us, staring blankly while they wait for us to join them.
I decide to place my baskets down by the door, my stomach twists into knots as I make my way to the group. Hesitantly I sit myself down beside Elsword. Chung hurriedly sat on the other side of me; I am literally sandwiched between the person I cared for and the person I dislike - talk about awkward.
"May I see the necklace?" Buch asks Raven.
"Y-yes, sir." He hands the necklace over to the alchemist. Buch gently takes it into his hands and rests the beads on his lap. My heart clenched at the pain in Buch's eyes, I can understand his pain of losing a friend; a fellow villager.
"I hope your soul is at peace, Berauk." Buch gently strokes the round beads with a sad smile.
"He will be looking after us from the heavens." Stella attempts to comfort the heartbroken alchemist while failing to hide the pain in her voice.
Elsword clears his throat loudly catching the attention of both the alchemist and Stella. "Buch, Berauk wanted us to pass down some information to you. He believes you are the last lizard to be able to help us." He began hesitantly. "During the fight we learned the mage's name, if I remember correctly Berauk addressed him as Shaman Kayak."
Buch's jaw drops at the sound of the name," are you positive it was Shaman Kayak?" He questions shakily. The change in Buch's mood catches our attention.
Aisha nods," do you know of this lizard?"
Buch rubs his eyes," yes, Berauk and I thought he died a long time ago." He began. "Kayak has always be fascinated by the Sealed Dragon, he studied many summoning spells back in the day. He was no magician and often failed at his spells, the crazy ol' lizard often came to Berauk and I for assistance but we refused he request. Both the elder and I knew his obsession over this dragon is unhealthy and would be best for him to not know of its location. One day he went out on an expedition to sharpen his magical skills, he was never heard of again. Berauk and I were positive he was reckless and died from an accident."
"It appears Kayak has been busy sharpening his Dark Magic." Stella thought out loud with crossed arms.
"He was also searching for the location of the Dragon." Raven adds on. "He tormented the elder lizard with one of his puppets. Berauk didn't give in but the Dark Mage got enough information from his scrolls."
"He also managed to get Nasods by his side." Eve pipes in angrily - I hope she doesn't take her anger out on Elsword.
"All he needs is the dragon's power." Buch concludes with a deep frown. "Not even I know of its location."
"The dragon's power seems like a very important part in this puzzle piece." Chung jumps in. "The villagers at the time must've kept the power in Bethma. Entrusting the power to some outsider would be a dangerous move, I'm positive they would've wanted this power in the hands of Bethma's own people."
"If that is the case then this power must be in Bethma somewhere." Stella rubs her chin. "Perhaps it's in one of our landmarks or in some of the older buildings."
"Perhaps we can ask some families about items that have been passed down to them." Aisha suggests excitedly.
Stella claps her hands together," then it is decided, we shall search throughout Bethma for the dragon's power!" Her eyes lighten up at the new lead. "Our search will begin tomorrow!Tonight I will research possible places of the power's location. You kids have worked hard today and I believe everyone here deserves a good rest."
Some food and some relaxing time does sound like a pretty good deal, after today I'm looking forward to some slack - along with something to help clear my mind.
"Stella, now that we have confirmed who this Dark Mage is, I ask that you release the previous one you have caught." Buch's request causes Stella to freeze up - I can imagine Aisha stiffening up as well. "I will take the mage in, she must be tired and hungry."
"It doesn't change the fact that she uses Dark Magic!" Stella points out in a matter of fact tone. "This mage could be--"
Buch holds up his hand; cutting Stella off," I will take full responsibility if this mage causes trouble." Stella doesn't respond; she knows better than to argue with Buch.
"Are you sure?" This time it was Aisha to ask. "She really could be dangerous. Dark magic is not something to be taken lightly! Spe-- I mean this Dark Mage could end up killing us all!" I could see the hesitation in her eyes, Speka and Aisha may be on bad terms but I'm sure she still cares deeply for her.
Buch simply smiles warmly at her," she is still a human." He replies gently. " A human who can get hungry, tired, and lonely."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After much debate Stella finally gave in, Buch left with her soon after to fetch our new guest. Eve insisted we prepare something for her to eat shortly after they left, as a result, Aisha grew very bitter with Eve's decision; along with everyone else for agreeing with Eve. No one dared to confront the mage once she locked herself in the bathroom - Elsword's new head injury was enough to keep us away from her.
While Raven and Eve prepared the meal, I stared out the small window while my mind wandered through an endless tunnel of thoughts -- I'm such a helpful friend.
Eun and I talked a bit about this situation, Eun still believes this mission is a waste of time and insists on returning back to Elder. I on the other hand want to help this village out, seeing Stella stress over so many problems is painful to watch. I can't imagine the fear and stress the villagers must feel, knowing that at any second one of their own family member could fall under an unbreakable spell.
"Hey, ugly." Chung pushes me roughly to the side; forcing me back to reality. "What are you looking at; air particles?"
"Shut it." I punch him on the shoulder. "I'm just lost in thought."
Chung leans against the wall," Buch said I can fight along side with you guys soon. It's about time I return to the battle field."
"Oh goodie." I roll my eyes. "Then I get to see that face of yours some more."
"Don't you find this whole Dragon thing suspicious?" His unexpected question catches me off guard. "Buch told me all about the old legend while you guys were gone. Something doesn't make sense. How can three powerful wizards fail to take down a Dragon? Not to mention this dragon was still bursting with energy after days of combat."
I raise my brow at him," what are you getting at?"
He crosses his arms," a dragon with enormous amounts of energy and immunity to lava. When was the last time we ran into something with enormous amounts of power?"
Perhaps he is hinting us about the El Shard. Eun's statement causes shivers to run down my spine.
"Are you saying--"
"That the dragon's power comes from an El Shard?" He finishes with a smirk. "That's only my hypothesis."
"I guess it would make sense." I began to ponder on his theory. "The El Shards are scattered throughout Elrois. It would be foolish to think that all the El Shards could only be found in Elder."
"Of course this dragon could just be a very strong beast, but it doesn't hurt to ponder on that theory." I can literally see Chung beaming with pride at his thoughtful theory; I doubt he was smart enough to come up with that by himself.
"Looks like Eun will be more motivated to help now." I add on jokingly; Eun grumbles angrily at my remark.
"I guess we won't need to talk about today's events, Buch and Elsword already summarized everything for you." He winks. "No extra food for you."
I stick my tongue out," whatever I wasn't going to take from you anyways. Why would I take from someone who needs the food to heal?"
"I never knew you had a heart." He pretends to be amazed. "I thought fox ladies only cared about hunting for food."
I let out a low growl," don't call me a fox lady."
"Ohh foxy has some claws." He teases. "I'm so very scared." The sarcasm in his tone of voice sticks out like a sore thumb.
One of these days I'll rip this kid's throat out.
Before I could reply the front door opens up, Chung and I avert our attention to the front entrance. Buch steps in with a small smile formed on his wrinkled lips, he gestures our new guest to follow him in. Speka gingerly makes her way inside, she appears to be on high alert - probably scared that this is some trap set up by Aisha.
Speka looks more run-down since the last time I saw her. Strands of her purple hair are sticking out from her loose braids, dark bags hang under her lifeless eyes, and I can faintly make out the red markings on her wrists - those hand cuffs must've been a real pain.
"I smell fresh food." Buch comments blissfully, as if he's immune to the thick tension filling up his house. "Did you guys make dinner for us to eat?"
"We actually made this for Speka." Raven responds while trying to hide the discomfort in his voice. "Elsword's treating his head injuries in the guest room,and Aisha's uhh using the toilet."
"Sure she is." Speka glares coldly at Raven. "How long has she been taking a dump?"
Buch places a hand on her shoulder," make yourself at home, Speka." The Dark Mage's shoulders tense up.
"I have no home." She brushes his hand off. "I live on the streets, always have and always will."
"She's just a bit shy." Buch navigates his way towards the closed bathroom door. He gently knocks on the door. "Aisha, it's rude to hide from a guest."
"Tell Elsword that!" Her muffled voice snaps from the others side.
"He is tending his wounds the boy has an excuse." Buch knocks on the door again. "Aisha, we all know you aren't using the bathroom. Come out and say hi to my new guest."
Silence falls upon us like a thick blanket. Chung and I stood stiffly beside each other as we wait for Aisha's answer, Raven and Eve quietly finished cooking the meal.
Shivers run down my spin as the bathroom door slowly creeks open, an angry Aisha is revealed on the other side - her blood shot eyes emphasizing her upset state.
The two sisters glare at each other, both parties probably holding back the urge to fight one another. Aisha was the first to speak up," hi." Her voice sounding cold and emotionless.
"Hi." Speka mirrors her sister's tone.
"Is that a way to formally address each other?" Buch challenges. "A simple hi will not do, Stella has informed me about your relationships. You two are my guests, and I ask that you two behave and address each other formally."
I nervously nibble on my nails; who knows what this reunion will cause? Knowing their past it's safe to say that both sisters wish to fight each other - especially Aisha. Would it even be possible for them to forgive and forget?
Aisha clears her voice," hello, little sister."
Speka frowns," hello, big sister."