"It was like I had a second chance, a second try to reach out and change the outcome," Ren muttered, getting more and more downcast as he reiterated the words that had been haunting him.
At this point, Shelt's face had grown complicated, her expression showing both confusion and concern at the same time; she didn't know what to say to Ren. However, Shelt felt like she needed to say something; looking at Ren's state, it was like he was begging for some all-knowing voice to speak up, comfort him, and gently tell him how he can fix his mistakes from the past.
It was a lot of pressure, but yet, against this tide, Shelt was unfazed as she quickly regained her composure, knowing she'll need to figuratively prop up Ren, like a strong crutch that'll never waver.
"Ren... You'll be alright."
Shelt's words were short and simple, ambiguous even, but yet her voice sounded so strong and convincing that it felt like nothing, not even the universe itself, could go against her word.
However, even after that strong statement, it didn't look like it was enough for Ren to break out of himself. Though, it did successfully spark a tinder that can eventually be fanned into a gorgeous flame with the right amount of tempering.
Suddenly, a strong wind physically and mentally began to blow, carrying a voice and interrupting their conversation.
*EVERYONE PLEASE COME TO THE BACK OF THE RESONANCE HALL.*
Shocked by the sudden announcement, both Shelt and Ren were like deer caught in headlights.
Quickly after that though, Shelt tried to salvage their progress, but unfortunately, a mere tinder can never stand up against a gale of wind.
Almost like Ren was hypnotized, he dazedly walked away, following the orders given to him from the wind like it was a revelation from God. It was then his walls began to rebuild as he shaped himself up to get ready to interact with the other guests at the party, not wanting them to see his unsightly appearance.
"Haaah, Ren..." Shelt sighed, knowing she can't do anything more for Ren today, but now that this situation has been brought to her attention, she now has ample time to prepare a confrontation at a later date.
Seeing that there's no rush, Shelt stayed there for a minute, taking in what just happened, pinching in between her eyes in frustration.
...
Unknown to either of them, hiding behind a tree nearby, Kanum had been eavesdropping on their conversation this entire time.
He was just loitering around, looking at the decorations, proud of his son, who was the mastermind behind these decorations. Though he had help setting them up, it was his vision that Kanum really respected.
It was then Ren appeared, unknowingly announcing his presence to two people instead of one.
(Ren... What happened to him?) Kanum thought in concern.
Slowly approaching his wife, Kanum thought of what to do. He is a bit worried that Shelt might overdo it and get obsessed with Ren's predicament, so, as her husband, he had a duty to support her.
"Let's enjoy the rest of today for now; we can do some investigating on what happened to Ren later. Our son probably has some clues," Kanum said as he put both of his hands on Shelt's shoulders, surprising her.
"Haaah, you're probably right; today is going to be a big day for Shry." Not surprised at all, Shelt exhaled and calmed down, a smile replacing her frown as she thought about the surprise they had planned for Shry.
"Speaking of which, is the gauntlet ready? I don't want it to run away," Kanum joked, but on the inside, he's secretly anxious.
For the past 3 years, Kanum and Shelt had been working to create a gauntlet that will change their son's life, and today, after quitting and switching their jobs to a more suitable one 3 years ago, they're finally able to present a working version of the gauntlet, a game changer that can allow their son to utilize Node, albeit to a much lesser degree.
"We have plenty of time, and I have a feeling that Mr. Hytile's announcement is connected to our son." Shelt smiled, lightly teasing her husband.
"Yeah, we should go join him and cause trouble!" Kanum reciprocated Shelt's energy by 10 folds.
Successfully cheering up his wife, Kanum began to lead both of them to the back of Resonance Hall, where the pesky announcement told them to go, while Shelt followed behind him, scoffing but also smiling because of what Kanum said.
...
Arriving at their destination, Kanum and Shelt were immediately bombarded with cheers and chatter.
Pieces of metal shaped like crumbled leaves levitated in the air as an odd, melodic but nonrhythmic sound shook the air; the attributes of sequences but unlike any the people of this world had ever heard before.
However, to Kanum and Shelt, who just arrived, this sound is very familiar to them.
Since it is a subject their son is researching, they had to get familiar with it to make sure that it's safe; they've even dabbled in recreating the disks that Shry and Hytile created. In fact, they even contributed to the creation of some of the disks Shry carries around.
"So that was what they were working on. At this point, would he even need the gauntlet anymore?" Kanum blurted out his thoughts, impressed by how advanced their disks had become.
"No. Remember, he can't control them; they're essentially just Node weapons with better durability." Shelt reminded Kanum, giving him a technical answer to Kanum's joking remark.
Seconds after the pieces of metal appeared, they immediately fell, falling on Shry, but none of them even grazed him as he expertly dodged all of them.
Having gone through the Resonance Hall countless times, Shry's senses had been significantly enhanced, an unintended result of constantly being exposed to a sensory-deprived environment and navigating through it.
"I think I have it down now! I'll play with the wind disk later," Shry announced, looking at his friends with a cheeky smile, giving them a semi-mocking look.
At the same time, both Tiy and Cydel began cracking their fists in sync, emanating a ravenous aura while Yuwwe was sandwiched in between them, showing an uncomfortable smile as she looked pitifully at Shry, who started this.
Mr. Lustra, we're ready! Cydel and Tiy spoke at the same time, syncing and amplifying their voices.
(I should've given Shry the wind disk first...) Hytile thought with regret as he glanced at the 3 kids that would be sparring against each other.
Keeping his composure, Hytile coolly walked into the middle of the three main characters of this spar, raising his hand to get everyone's attention.
"Everyone, please clear the field and stand on the edge of the dirt patch until the spar is over!" Hytile raised his voice, expertly commanding everyone there with his hand gestures.
Quickly moving according to Hytile's command, everyone except for the main three stayed. Yuwwe took a good while to get out, as she was caught in their skirmish, but after being called by her big sister, she snapped out of it and quickly made her exit.
"Hey sis!" Yuwwe greeted as she took her place next to Estin.
Estin only nodded as a response to her sister, as she turned her focus back onto the field with the three kids that are about to duke it out.
Estin has grown extremely curious after watching Shry tinker with the disk. Estin is very connected with both the new and old scenes, but yet, even though it had been 3 years since Shry's ability was discovered, from what she had been told, there were no updates on their development or discoveries. How could something so momentous be hidden from the public and even the science, or at least to her knowledge.
The Resonance Hall research group is fairly small and obscure, so it is not uncommon that their reports just get dismissed or buried under more prominent discoveries.
"Are you part of Shry's friend group?" Suddenly, without either sister realizing, Shelt had crept up beside them, announcing her presence with a question to Estin, as she already knows about Yuwwe.
"No, not really... I'm Yuwwe's older sister and also Ren and Rekka's superior," Estin explained, feeling weird as she admitted her relationship with the main party boy, because she knows almost half of the people here, but that roster doesn't extend to the main boy, Shry.
"Oh! Sorry for suspecting you." Shelt held her mouth with her hand, surprised that the woman she's currently talking to is actually someone close to her nephews.
"Thank you for taking care of Ren and Rekka; we really appreciate that the guys in Vanish are so kind and accommodating." Kanum joined in, eccentrically showing his appreciation, while acting like the two nephews they were talking about weren't there.
Estin was slightly overwhelmed by Shelt and Kanum's opposite personalities. But as they talked to her, they seemed to remind her of a certain eccentric boy.
"You guys must be Shry's parents," Estin guessed, not showing any hesitance, like she already knew beforehand.
"Yeah, we are... Also, I need to ask for a favor," Shelt said to Estin with a sharp look, showing that she's extremely serious about her upcoming request.
Estin was just about to ask Shelt to elaborate when suddenly, Hytile's voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention back to the testing field.
"START!" Hytile yelled before flinging himself away with a gust of wind, having flared up his Node beforehand.
Cydel, Tiy, and Shry stood separate from each other, forming a triangle shape when the lines are connected between them as the points.
... Silence spread as Cydel and Tiy flared up their Node, both of their hands glowing with the color of their respective resonance paths, that being fire and ice, orange and light blue.
After that, with both of their hands glowing, Cydel made the first move, quickly hiding one of her hands behind, clearly scheming something.
(Of course she's doing that again.) Tiy scoffed internally, increasing his guard against Cydel.
Tiy stood back, observing Cydel's every move, and despite his best efforts, his eyes unconsciously drifted to Cydel's exposed hand.
The moment Tiy saw Cydel move, his hands twitched into a set position, and quickly, he began swerving from left to right around the testing field, making him a hard target to hit while he moved his fingers to follow the grade 2 sequence he talked about, getting ready to launch the first attack... or so he thought.
As soon as Tiy began moving around, Cydel, concealing her mouth movements, silently muttered the name of the sequence she's been setting up to activate it.
"Cold Mirage Volume 1"
Suddenly, out of sight, lumps of light blue particles hung in the air, aiming at Tiy as a cold, illusive melody followed the particles where Tiy couldn't hear.
Finished with his sequence, Tiy headed toward Cydel, both expecting and not expecting something to intercept him.
Suddenly, a barrage of snow projectiles came rushing at him, all at different speeds. The first one landed in front of him, immediately sending electrical signals to his brain.
"Hollow Flare volume 1!"
Tiy yelled out, and subsequently, an orb of fire encased him as a booming but hollow melody rang out. Slowly the second phase of the sequence activated, expanding the barrier of flame around Tiy outwards, stopping most of the snow projectiles before it disappeared, scattering into the air.
With the remaining snow projectiles, Tiy did his best to dodge all of them, but in the end he was forced to move his finger to conjure a non-empowered flame, creating a mess of noises.
Weakening the snow projectiles with fire, Tiy focused entirely on dodging while not noticing a figure dashing toward him as she wound up her right hand into a fist, and before launching it at Tiy's stomach, her other hand flicked, creating a noise before 5 flat ice pieces appeared in front of her knuckles.
Thinking that Tiy couldn't fight back, Cydel let her guard down for that punch, giving Tiy the chance he needed to launch his new grade 2 sequence that he had secretly been preparing with one of his hands when he was dodging.
"Red Streak vol 1" Tiy spoke.
A string of fire wrapped both of them as a fluctuating melody rang out, a complete victory for Tiy, until... A snow projectile more powerful than the rest suddenly revealed itself, pelting at Tiy.
A stalemate had occurred, with neither party able to escape their conundrum. Tiy was about to go out from an unstoppable object, while Cydel, the agile type, faced an invincible shield that blocked her.
But then...
"Did you guys forget about me?" Suddenly, an almost ghostly voice interrupted their exchange.
Without the melody that usually comes with a sequence or that comes with normal conjuring, dozens of softish metal that's crumbled up like a paper ball broke all of their progress, knocking away Cydel's fist, destroying the snow projectiles, and even interrupting Tiy's sequence all at the same time.
...
While Tiy and Cydel went after each other, Shry just stood back and watched their fight, trying to find the best time to jump in and join the fight.
And after numerous predictions, Shry set up a barrage against the two, biding his time until the perfect opening.
Suddenly, with Shry's surprise attack, it was like they were back to square one, but now, they finally viewed Shry as a threat, acknowledging his power.
____
Please support my broke ass if you can. I need to buy fire because I'm cooking
https://ko-fi.com/hodini
Much appreciated!