"Erm... Doesn't Isabella seem too..."
"Pushy." Lavi completed Mary's sentence.
"Yeah, that's it." Mary said as she snapped her fingers, "By the way, which family is she from? I feel like I've seen her somewhere..."
"Isabella is from the Rosavale Family. They're well known for their wealth and they pretty much govern the whole Rosavalley." Ben explained, "We know them because the Oliver family and the Rosevale family are on good terms."
"Rosavalley?" Emily asked, she did not know any other place other than Fiore.
"Yeah, its one of the richer regions and it's located at the western part of this world." Lavi answered while wiping his mouth, "There are many other regions out there though."
"I see." She replied as she nodded her head for a couple of times until she realised the absence of Ethan, Jai and Anna. She looked around to find them, but they were no where to be found.
"Who are you looking for?" Ben asked with a raised brow.
"Um... Jai, Anna and Ethan." She replied as she returned her gaze at Ben.
"Well, Jai and Anna will be here shortly, they needed to do some things behind the scenes, you know? As for Ethan, he's on duty for guarding the castle." Ben informed as he grabbed a drink from the servant.
Just then, Mary shook her head and sighed, "Actually, he persisted to do so, even though he didn't need to force himself to. But, that's just how he is. He will probably pop up during the official declaration or the dinner later."
"Alright."
Emily looked over to see two well dressed females came up to Ben and started talking to him. He gave them a smile, that made the two blushed. In the next second, they were laughing. Basically, they looked like they were having a rather fun conversation.
"He sure is... 'sociable'."
Emily then shifted her glance to Mary and Lavi. The two were having their own conversations with some other people. Again, they smiled, laughed and started chatting right away. It was as if they were having a conversation with a distant relative... Or their soulmate.
"Maybe, good-looking people will get along with their own kind. Wow, I definitely don't fit in this stunning-looking-squad."
She grabbed her drink and walked away, to explore the huge ballroom. With every step she took, she felt as if there were people watching her every move from her shadow. That itself just made her felt anxious. She put on her relaxed face, even though her mind was going wild, "Calm down, Emily. They are just people."
Despite thinking of those words, she was still nervous. She walked on, pretending nothing was going on and hoping that she would not have a panic attack.
[Fiore castle, the entrance]
Ethan walked out to the entrance of the castle, he wanted to check on the guards on duty to make sure they were not slacking. "Even though the past few weeks were calm, we shouldn't let our guard down."
Once he reached the entrance, he paused as he saw something else, "...Dammit, I've jinxed it."
The four guards who were on duty were found lying on the ground, not moving.
He kneeled down next to them to check their pulses.
"They are still alive, just unconscious."
Suddenly, he felt someone walking behind him. He immediately gyrated to see no one.
Again, he had the same feeling. He whipped his head again, to only be greeted by nothing, "... Am I just thinking too much?"
A moment of deafening silence started to settle in... Or that was what he thought until a shadow quickly zoomed past him.
In the next second, his instincts kicked in and told him that an attack that was directed at him. He trusted his gut and quickly made a turn.
Thank goodness, he did.
He managed to block a blunt attack that was initially aimed at the back of his neck.
"Whoa, you're pretty fast, aren't you?" His attacker spoke.
Ethan had no idea who that guy was, he was wearing a beige cloak, that covered the upper part of his face, and also a white mask that had an eerie smiley face.
"Who sent you?" He questioned the guy, "And why are you here?"
The guy momentarily disappeared and reappeared behind Ethan to be at a safe distance away from him, "Man, isn't it obvious already? I bet this is not the first time things like this had happened, right? Do I seriously need to repeat that?"
Ethan did not respond, instead he gave a quick kick that was aimed for his attacker's face.
The guy swiftly blocked it with his forearm and huffed, "Heyyyyy. Come on man, I've just finished talking. Do you hate me that much already?"
He causally pushed Ethan's foot away with his forearm and continued, "Well, fine. I guess we can go against each other now. We need to do this sooner or later anyway."
The intruder lunged himself towards Ethan at an insane speed, skillfully throwing punches and giving kicks to him.
However, none of the punches or kicks made a connection with Ethan's body. After all, he saw them clearly and managed to block all of them.
His element was lighting, so he was able to fight at an unrealistic speed. To him, the speed of that guy's attacks did not mean too much to him.
"Wow, you're just like me." The guy commented as he was in the midst of attacking, "Lighting, huh."
That startled Ethan.
"Does this guy possessed lighting as well?"
The attacker gave his final punch and jumped back, backing away from the unharmed Ethan.
However, in a fraction of a second, the guy appeared right in front of Ethan, closing the gap between them. He was stunned when he saw how the guy was so much faster.
Out of no where, Ethan felt a heavy impact on his cheek, causing it to sore and the taste the metallic blood coated his entire mouth. Not even a second has passed when he felt another impact on his chest that sent him flying.
His body crashed against a pillar of the castle, making a loud 'boom' sound.
At this point in time, he could barely move. He was lucky that the pillar did not come crashing down on him, but honestly, he could see the difference between the pain he felt now and the pain he would feel if the pillar collapsed on him.
Well, his point was... Either way, he already felt like shit.
The guy appeared right in front of Ethan instantly and squatted down in front of him, "Sorry, it's unfortunate. My kind of lighting is a complete notch higher."
No... That was not the way he wanted to end it.
The attacked then stood up and grinned, "If you don't mind, I'll make my way inside."
...
He really did not have any idea if his bones were broken or not.
Did his lungs collapsed? He could not tell.
Did he tear any of his muscle? Who knows?
The one thing he knew was that he did not want to fail his duty. The princess trusted him enough to allow him to become a member... So, why was he giving up now?
No.
He did not want that.
He was not as strong as Jai, Lavi or Anna. Neither was he a noble like Yukiko, Ben or Beck. He could not even use his ability in emergency situations, like Mary.
Honestly, he was just average. Someone who does not stand out in a crowd.
But, why? Why is his body moving even though every inch of him was screaming in pain, prompting him to just collapsed, so the pain could just end.
Oh yeah, he forgotten.
His body does not want to give up yet. And...
Deep inside, he knew... He knew that it was too early to give up.
As long as he could move a limb, a hand or even a finger, he should not be giving up.
The only time he could give up is when his body has officially allowed him to rest.
Just as the intruder turned his back, Ethan got up and attempted to throw a punch at him, implying that he would not let him go in just as he pleased.
The guy obviously caught his slow punch and he gave him a hard knee to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
However, that did not bring Ethan down.
He swung his fist once more, in attempt to hit him, but the guy dodged it at a speed so quick, that actually gave him time to land another attack.
The guy landed a hard kick on Ethan's back, causing him to stumble forward and fall onto the concrete ground.
Seeing that he was on the ground, he immediately made his way to the castle.
However, once again, Ethan appeared right in front of him.
His eyes, which were almost covered by blood, were still not dead. There was still a glint of determination behind those naval blue eyes.
"This guy..." The attacker thought as a grin made its to his lips, "He's not giving up, what a pest."
Cocking his head, he asked, "You know, those wounds are pretty fatal, shouldn't you be resting by now?"
Ethan did not say a word. He could not. His lungs would not permit him to.
"Well, looks like I'll have to put you down the hard way." The guy said as he put out one of his arms. At first, there were a just a couple of tiny white spark dancing on his fingertips. But, suddenly, those sparks turned black and got more aggressive.
Instantly, those sparks crawled up his arm and coated his entire limb.
In a blink of an eye, he ended up in front of Ethan. With a swift movement of his hand, he managed to grab onto his throat tightly.
Once he made contact with his throat, the current that was running through his hand was injected into his body, shocking and tearing apart his flesh and bones.
In the midst of all of that, Ethan was trying to claw his way out of his grip, but it was futile.
Slowly, his body lost its strength and within a fifteen seconds or so, he could not move an inch. His arms fell to his sides as his vision blurred, before all he saw was total darkness.
The attacker let go of his flimsy body and let out a tired sigh, "That took wayyyyy too much energy than I thought."
"But... I admire you." He praised as he squatted down next to the now unconscious Ethan. "I would want to know your name, but you're already zonk out. No worries, I'm sure we will meet each other real soon."
With that, he could finally make his way into the castle.