We left the last carriage to investigate my missing family members. I needed to find my mom, dad, brother, and grandma. We would first check my home, seeing that's our only lead; then, we would continue investigating from there. We ran down ransacked, burning, and or destroyed homes—Humlide Inizio was crumbling. I remember previous events, both joyous and harmful. Everything was crumbling down rapidly. Eventually, all we'll have from this village are the memories we made here. It was heartbreaking. One of my biggest regrets is that I wish to create more memories with those around me who cared. I wanted to find my family to make that wish come true.
It took about five minutes of jogging, running, and sneaking. We finally reached both my houses. I lived close to the forest, so our backyard was the whole forest as a playground. The one that my brother and parents had been ransacking. When I went inside, I scoured the entire house for them or, at the very least, some clue as to where they went. With each room I entered, I became more anxious. I hoped they would be huddled together in one of the rooms, waiting for everything to be over, but I didn't find anything. Every room was messed up with papers, clothes, rags, accessories, and other kinds of room essentials you needed scattered everywhere. It took about another five minutes, and I came up with nothing. They were nowhere.
I went to the living room, where Adrien and Cynthia searched for anything to help us find my family. Lia was looking around. I'm assuming she was getting a read on the surroundings. She's a VIP, of sorts, so she must live in luxury. Compared to my place, her house is leagues better. However, I wasn't too keen on giving her a penny for her thoughts now. I had more important matters to see.
After even more searching, I couldn't find anything—not one thing, nada. I took my defeat to the couch, which I slumped onto. I looked up at the ceiling. It had a popcorn texture, which reminded me of my hunger. In turn, it made me grumpy. I couldn't think about eating while my family was, god knows, somewhere.
I let out a long, loud sigh as I rubbed my hands on my face. That's when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked over and saw Adrien, who had my favorite fruit in his hand, a pear. I found it in the kitchen and thought you would like one. He chimed as he sat down next to me. Thanks, I said before taking the pear from his hand and giving it one good chomp. The texture was like any other pear in its prime. It reminded me of when I lived in the same building with my family, everyone smiling and happy, before I was cursed.
I longed for those times to come back. It gave me a sense of motivation to keep going. After finishing the pear, I looked at the trash bin and threw the remaining bits into it. I got up from the couch with a fully charged influence and motivation. I'm going to check the other house. I'll be back. Adrien got up shortly. I'll go with you. We'll be back. Keep looking around here, girls. Cynthia and Lia nodded as they continued to search around the house. Adrien and I left through the back door and entered the other house. As soon as we arrived, the house looked almost identical to the other one we entered. They were both structurally the same and equally ransacked. We first checked the kitchen, seeing that we had entered through it. After we found nothing, we searched the living room, and that's when we discovered our lead.
A note was left on the messy coffee table. The note was addressed to me. The handwriting seemed like it came from my grandmother, albeit it looked like it was written quickly. Her handwriting is good despite her age. As I scanned the note, it read that they were leaving in a hurry and to meet them at the old cottage behind our house. That old abode hadn't seen a human touch longer than I've been born. Why would they go there and not with the police? I'm not sure, and I need to find out.
"There at the old cottage behind my house," I told Adrien, standing beside me.
"That old place? Why there?"
"That's what I want to know, too." I paused. "We should let the girls know."
Adrien nodded. As soon as we were heading out the way, we came in. A loud crash came from our left. It came from the other house, then yelling. We rushed to the previous home to see three men crashing in from the front entrance. They wore similar attire to the man we faced earlier, though their outfits looked more for grunts. The frontman had Lia over his shoulder. This girl is the one, boys! He yelled. The ones behind him cheered. Cynthia had a knee to the floor, trying to breathe. I yelled for their attention, and I received it. Looky here. More twerps. Are you hiding? The man in front looks at Cynthia; we'll gladly put them out of their misery for you.
Cynthia says nothing, only glaring. I begin to charge my unsteady flames, and Adrien crouches to the ground to summon pillars to smash these guys. One small pillar emerges from the ground for each grunt and hits them all below the chin. The first man drops Lia, and Cynthia jumps towards her to grab her and leave through the kitchen exit; we follow suit. I hear those men yelling, telling each other to go for us. Moments later, they rush out the door to chase us.
As the chase ensued, Adrien continuously summoned walls to hinder our chasers. At best, it stopped them from getting a meter or so closer. We continued this cycle for about three minutes before we were drawing out our breath. First came Lia, then me, then Cynthia, and Adrien. Lia also tripped over a branch, and we stopped completely. The men caught up to us as a result.
"Finally..." The man takes a second to catch his breath. Now, hand over that girl. He extends his arm forward like Lia is some object ready to be handed over. That's not happening. I said as I stepped forward. They found that amusing. Good, we preferred it this way anyway. They began to chuckle among themselves as they reached for their weapons. They all had some deadly weapon. One with a shortsword, another with an axe, the other with a dagger. They did something with their weapons, too. It's like they infused their powers into their blades. An ability I had seen when we fought the other man.
I readied myself to fight, and so too did the others. Lia stayed behind Cynthia. The goon on the left came straight at me and swung his axe. I wasn't going to let him hit me, so I naturally dodged out of the way. He seemed ready for that and went for another hard swing downward, which I escaped from again. That left him with an opening, so I countered with a projectile of mine. The man staggered before composing himself once more. The other two men went for Adrien and Cynthia. They were also helping each other out and fending off the men attacking them.
Stay still, you brat! The man yelled as he continuously failed to cut me. What? Can't hit a kid, huh? I retorted as I hit him with another firebolt. He somehow gained some motivation from my words, as when he went for his next swing, it created a cut on my upper bicep. It stung quite a bit. Though he wasn't satisfied. The man continued with his swings. I would dodge a couple and get sliced here and there. I would follow up with some attacks, but it didn't seem good enough.
My aggressor continued putting pressure on me, leaving little to no openings for a counterattack. I've never fought adults before, save for today. When I'm fighting kids my age, they are sloppy and unrefined. This man has been trained to fight. I can tell even as a novice myself. I was getting overwhelmed.
When my attacks did land, they caused only minor stress to him. I could feel my arms begin to twitch. With every shot I fired, my hands began to ache. I was building up to my limit again. I must find a way to stop this fight before I start to 'rage.' That's when I tripped behind a small tree and landed on my back. Even worse. You're done for, kid. The man says, holding his axe above his head, ready to bring it crashing down. This was it, I told myself. I needed to do something now, and that's when I remembered my trump card.
I grabbed some dirt and threw it at the man's face. He quickly removed the dirt from his face, allowing me to escape. As I was doing so, I charged up my flames for a big attack. The pain I felt when charging was incredible, but it was this or death; I knew I had to bear with it. He finds me within his vision once more and runs straight for me. Once he was close enough, he swung again. He missed me. I dodged and blasted him with all I had left. He yelled in pain as we both dropped to the floor.
I hit my head on a tree stump on the way down. My vision became all blurry as a result. I tried to look over at my friends, who were also struggling to fend off their attackers. It didn't take long for me to realize we were at the end of a losing battle. We could turn the tide if we had someone else to help us. I should have told them to stay with the officers. They wouldn't be in trouble if they did so. Their lives are in my hands. I began to plead, beg, and hope someone would come. But no one did.
Cynthia and Adrien both fell to the floor from their attackers. They, too, look almost exhausted of their powers. The other two men only chuckled. I used all my strength to sit up and charge another ball of fire. My ears flared, and my eyes began to surge with dark flames. The pain was immeasurable, but I knew I had to do it. The men started charging for their final attack, and I shot them with one final attack. I hit them dead on. Or did I? I saw something hit them, but I don't think it was my attack.
Both men recoiled from the blow and fell over. I looked behind me, hoping our savior was someone I knew, and it was. It was my father. My dad was tall and somewhat bulky. To put a comparison, he had the build of a heavy middleweight wrestler. His hair was short, unlike mine, and he had a small scar on his right cheek. He wore regular village clothes that were damaged everywhere. It looked like he had been in a constant conflict. My father wore a scary face, but it softened when he looked at me.
"Are you alright, son?"
"It hurts all over, pops, but I'm alive."
"Thank Gaia. You're still in one piece."
There was a pause, then the man whom my father dropped spoke from behind us.
"You bastard..."
One of the men proclaims as he's struggling to stand back up. The damage from my father's blast left a scorch mark on his left shoulder, torn through his uniform. My father only stared at them angrily. Cynthia and Adrien took Lia and ran towards us, behind my father. Was this round two or three? Either way, another fight was going to ensue. I gathered what strength I could stand, and that's when my dad gave me a green vial. Drink it. He said, and I obliged.
Moments after drinking from the vial, my wounds began to close up. I've never seen something like this before. I never knew it existed. It was like magic- precisely that—a magical healing potion made by the essence of elementals who use their powers for healing. The taste was quite good, too; it tasted like a candy apple.
I was ready to go and fight again, but my dad pushed me back. I stared up at him to see what was up. He didn't look at me as he spoke to me. "Run, get out of these woods." He says as he hides a letter behind him. I grab the letter and nod. I turned around to open it, which had the location of my mother and the rest of my family's whereabouts. I didn't want to leave my pop alone to fight these guys, but I knew we'd only be a hindrance to him.
Cynthia and Adrien also had the same thoughts before nodding to me to leave. Feeling guilty and regretful, I fled the conflict with my friends. At least, that's what I wanted. We were not even five minutes from my father before a spear came flying from us. Cynthia reacted fast enough to put up a barrier in front of us. The spear broke the shield instantly, but bounced off and hit a tree next to us. Fear set in for us all.
"Nice reaction, girl. Though it seems like you can't keep it up for long."
A feminine voice shot from a distance. A fog started to pick up, and I could make out the frame of a female body in battle gear. We four stood still. We didn't know what to do. We waited for the woman to show herself, and she did.
She came out of the fog holding a crimson whip, spotting the same battle gear as the other men before her. She was tan and wore a sinister face. As soon as our eyes met, my instincts told me to run. She was way more dangerous than the other men we faced. We won't be able to win against her. I grabbed onto my friends and yelled to run. They complied as we bolted right. We needed to get her off our tail.
"Come back, sweeties... Let your older sister take care of you~!" I heard that before I could see more spears being flung, just missing us. We dodged, rolled, jumped, and did everything possible to avoid her attacks. All of us were running low on stamina; we could only go so far now, and despite this fog, she still had her sight on us. "I can't... anymore...!" Lia yells, exasperated, before she falls to the ground. Tears are coming down like a waterfall. Cynthia also stops to try to grab Lia. "I know Lia... but we need to go! We... can't stop!" Cynthia also feels tired, running low on stamina, and is in her elemental state. Looking at Adrien, I can see he's feeling the effects aswell. Me? I'm also losing it, but we can't stop here.
"We finally stopped to breathe? Good, take one last good breath." The woman was right on our tail. She stopped just a few feet behind us and slowly walked toward us. Adrien, Cynthia, and I had just one instinct: to protect Lia. The woman caught a glimpse of Lia and stopped dead in her tracks. She then gave the biggest grin. "Found you. Lady Lia~" We were all confused. How does she know Lia? We looked at Lia, and she was just as confused. Cynthia put away her concerns and went to hit the woman. The attempt was in vain, for she swatted Cynthia away, roundhousing, and kicked her. Cynthia flew backward from the attack, landing next to a tree. She was knocked out.
All our eyes widened as we saw Cynthia now passed out on the floor. Adrien went to do the same thing, but covered his hands with a rock. The woman smiled as she used her whip and instantly broke the rock gloves. She infused her element into her whip. She then uses her weapon to tangle Adrien and lift him into the air to bring him back down. Adrien yelled in pain as he collided with the ground. She lets out a heinous laugh, seeing everything slowly dwindling in power. Lia is scared, and her eyes are filled with tears. I felt like tearing up, too. I couldn't do anything. I would get destroyed like the others if I tried anything, but the same thing would happen if I did nothing. I was utterly defeated. My legs gave in, and I dropped to the floor. I couldn't do anything but plead.
"Please! Please let us go! We just want to go home!"
"Sorry, but I can't do it, kid. Not when you three are trying to protect our target." I felt that she hesitated before she spoke. Does she not want to kill us? But she's been making constant threats against us? What is going on in her head, I wonder. The moment of hesitation made her vulnerable. I charged my flames and flung them towards her. The woman was able to protect her face with her forearms, but the fire did some damage to her gear. I used this moment to grab Lia and make a getaway.
"Erg! You stupid little kid!" She ran towards us, looking for anything. I was running out of options. I began charging for another Firebolt. I could feel the tension in my whole body. The pain of exerting too much of my power is getting to me. I collapsed to the ground. Lia falls with me. Devil! Get up! I can hear her say, dropping her cutesy, mispronouncing speech. I began to cough, first nothing, then blood. I could feel my eyes burn; a fiery, dark purple began to swarm around my eyes. The screams from multiple people and my violent coughing were all I could hear. "Wait... what? Another one?" I turn to the woman who is now above me. I couldn't speak, and my vision was blurry. Then, an overwhelming feeling of anger overcame me.
The feeling was so strong. Never in my life have I felt such a strong emotion. I felt more potent, more powerful. The woman was about to grab me before I slapped her hand away. She flinched back. "No way... you're turning!?" Turning? I was turning into something? I needed to stop it, but it was like my body was rejecting me, overcoming me to become something I wanted to prevent. It feels like this body of mine is no longer my own. I stood up and shot forth a wave of fire in front of me. I could feel myself burning up whenever I used my flames, but I didn't visibly show any signs of that. In fact, I was smiling... The woman was guarded in time, but her attire was getting more damaged. Her armor was dwindling to my element. I was strong.
Whatever inherent power I discovered in myself has allowed me to reach a new height. Something tells me it would take something from me, something I would never get back. My vision again started to blur; I couldn't make out her whole face, but seeing her sinister smile made me lose confidence. I missed my footing, and she took that opportunity to attack. Direct hit. She used her whip and slashed me straight across the back. I screeched out in pain. No matter the high I felt from using my power, the pain was more painful than anything I had ever experienced. She tried to go for another strike. This was it, I thought to myself. That was when a blast of energy darted from before me like a bat out of hell. I looked in front of me with teary eyes. It was Cynthia.
She stood there with her arm reaching out, pointing a finger at the woman. Her eyes were glowing maroon. She extended her aura out and condensed it to her finger. Shooting it out after building it up. The woman staggered behind me, seething from the pain. Cynthia shot out some more and knocked the woman on her butt. I retaliated with an attack as well. Sending a sucker punch to her face, putting her entirely into the ground. Adrien then covered her in a dome of stone. Lia, who was several feet next to me, fell to the ground, likely due to exhaustion. Cynthia ran over and picked her up. "We need to go! Now!" She exclaimed as she began to run again; Adrien followed suit. Exasperated, I get up and continue with them.
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Explosions. We continued to hear more of them as we continued forward. We've only been this deep into the forest once. We were fooling around and got scolded afterward. I remember the shack we found during that outing. The same one I saw as we were getting closer to where we needed to go. At that moment, I felt relieved. We were able to make it without serious injury, except yours truly. I was barely holding in the tears to cry. I saw my grandmother peeking out the window. She gasped as she spotted us and opened the door. I was overjoyed to know they were safe.
That feeling was cut short as a blast came from behind us. As I looked back. I saw my father running towards us. He was covered in bruises and other injuries. I stopped in my tracks. He stopped just a little bit before us and sighed.
"Are you all alright?"
"Danny's hurt, sir!" Adrien shouted.
I broke down in front of him. I couldn't handle it anymore.
"My dear boy," Father says as he walks to me and kneels before me.
He grabs a bottle from his pocket and opens it. "Show me the wound."
I turn my back on him and show him the vast wound. He didn't make a noise as he poured the liquid onto my back. It stings violently, enough to make me cringe. Eventually, the pain subsided, and I felt better. A healing potion that was more effective than the last one I had. After that, he hugs me one last time before standing back up. He turns to the others. "Alright, let me see the rest of you." They all let my father check up on them. Lia was the last one, and he kneeled for her. "Can I do a quick check on you, madam?" Lia nodded as my father checked her. It seemed he was about to pick her up until I heard some noise from behind. I heard yelling. When I channeled what I could to listen in, that's when I noticed. It was my father's voice.
"Stop! Get away from that man right now!" It was my father, sprinting towards us. I reacted quickly. The rest heard but didn't understand. This person who is now holding Lia is not my father. I promptly charged him with my flames, and the man quickly kicked me out of his way. Cynthia and Adrien both gasped. We were fooled.
The man I thought was my father dissolved a layer of himself, revealing his true identity. An older guy with a stoic face. He looks towards my birth father and approaches him. Lia flails, trying to escape the old man's clutches, but seemingly feels ineffective. My father gets close enough to stop before the man. They both lock eyes, staring each other down. "Ah, long time no see... adventurer." The old man recognized my father from his old adventuring days with my mother. It seems my father understands, too.
"I thought you guys were long gone." My father retorts.
"Fool. We've simply been lurking. Accessing when to strike."
"That makes sense. I always thought you'd lot didn't die out."
"There is still a chance for you and your family."
"Not a chance."
"...So be it."
Both men look ready to kill. The air was filled with tension and bloodlust. Then, suddenly, a blur passed next to me. I was barely able to react until I saw that blur, a woman who kicked the old man in the head from behind. The man didn't have enough time to dodge. The inertia of that kick caused the man to fly left and hit the ground hard. He lets go of Lia, and the woman grabs her. I knew this woman. It was my mother. She rushed out of the shabby cabin that they were hiding in. She then looked back at all of us.
"Thank Gaia, you're all relatively safe!" She yells as she runs over to us with Lia in her arms. My father detents and walks over to us as well.
"Mother..." I can feel myself ready to tear up as I run to her.
As soon as I got close to her. A faint light appeared from the ground. That faintness exploded into a powerful light, blinding all of us. As the light hit us all, I could feel my insides burning in dreadful pain. I screamed out before I felt myself dropping to the ground. I heard two other yells; both sounded like they came from Lia and Cynthia. I felt my hand tingle, and an eye appeared when I checked my palm. A scary and sinister-looking eye marked with what appeared to be my chafed blood. "What...? What is this?" Heavy rainfall begins.
My eyes began to tunnel, and my vision became distorted. I could feel myself brimming with anger. A deep-rooted rage was awakening against my own will. I felt a hunger for the taste of iron. My lungs felt like they were on fire, and I began to hyperventilate. My ears were ringing, and it attacked all my senses. Then, eventually, I gave up. Unable to recall what happened next. It was only later that I remembered bits and pieces and was told the rest—memories I never want to relive. These memories, however, will forever plague me and be the catalyst for my journey.