Kylian sat next to his mother, and across from his little sister as they were being driven to the New Year's Ball. Mother had become terribly sick the year before, so they didn't get to meet the new mystery princess at the time. However, the 7 year old would've much rather preferred to stay home, where it was safe for Aimee. The one year old, however, was willing to do anything to meet this mysterious new princess.
Father was as stressed as Kylian was, but their female counterparts overruled their worries the day before through bribery. Not only did they make a sloppy cake which didn't taste right, but they also attempted to make what was supposed to be spaghetti and meatballs. Antoine and his son did their best to not gag and throw up at the sight of the meal as Kylian's mother and sister watched on with puppy dog eyes.
Antoine was quick to place the food in his mouth and strategically keep it in the corners of his cheeks as he tried to smile through the painful taste. Kylian, on the other hand, placed the food in his mouth and made the mistake of chewing the food. The saltiness of the food mixed with an unknown tanginess, sweetness, and spice factor confused his mouth. Fearing for his life, he got up and offered to get everyone water in the kitchen.
There, he spat the food out and checked for missing teeth after he felt himself biting into something harder than metal. He confirmed all his baby teeth were still intact before pouring four glasses of water and returning to seeing his father's face in his plate. He frantically asked his mother if he was dead, but he wasn't. At least not yet he was. If he ate one more spoonful, then he probably would've kicked the bucket.
While Kylian was gone, mother noticed how father was storing the food in his mouth and had Aimee ask him, "Daddy, when can I have a boyfriend?" The question startled him, and made him unwittingly swallow the questionable deductions, and fall into that sorry state. "We have enough for two days, you know," she signed to her horrified son, "So here's the ultimatum:" "Uwatum" Aimee repeated. "We go to the New Year's party and meet the new princess, or we stay home and eat this for two days." "Poo bays~" Aimee copied.
Kylian didn't think his mother would feed her toddler something so terrifying, but at the same time, she wouldn't give up the opportunity to meet a young royal. That was the only time of the year when the chancellor of Gallia and his family could meet the younger royals of the Southern kingdom. He agreed to going along with them, while mother and Aimee high fived each other as Kylian pointed to his father and asked if he would be okay.
She assured he would be as she sat him upright in his seat. She instructed Kylian to pick up Aimee from her high chair and sat in her husband's lap before telling Kylian to join in as she hugged him. He worried about the load, but Antoine resurrected and pulled his children onto his lap anyway. Apparently, the whole "father died while eating mother's cooking" was all a plot to convince Kylian to go with them.
Annoyed, yet entertained, he giggled as his family laughed in each other's embrace. There was nothing he loved more than his parents and little sister.
"Look out for Aimee. Don't let her run around too much." father repeated to Kylian as the two of them went to the royals they had played with every year. However, as they were weaving through the crowds of adults, Aimee let go of Kylian's hand and she got separated from him. He desperately looked for her, knowing how inconsolable she could be when she started crying, but he simply couldn't find her in the forest of suit pants and dress skirts.
He retreated to the other kids and told the royals what had happened. They thought about telling the adults, but Kylian didn't want his father to know he had disappointed him. After careful deliberation, Cheyton and Lameckus decided to take all the bigger kids to go find her, and left Kylian, Awan, Louis, and William in charge of the younger children. Kylian agreed to the plan, and sat down next to little Celestia as he began to wait.
Aimee's condition hadn't been very optimistic either, after all, she was really sick and no one told Kylian why. He believed he wasn't trustworthy enough for the adults to tell him, so he tried his very best to be the perfect, grown up child. The only thing was grown up, mature children like Cheyton or Crispus didn't just lose their sick baby sisters. Kylian was a bad child who would never be trustworthy.
"Oh, don't be like that, Ky." Louis explained. "Yea," William added, "It's not your fault. Both of you guys are super little, so it's easy to get separated in a crowd like this." It was true. The massive sea of adults was difficult to maneuver, but he couldn't shake the guilt off. He buried his face in his hands as he decided to ask the water god for help. He asked him where Aimee was in his head, and he replied, "In front of you, child."
His face shot up, out of his palms as he saw a young girl holding Aimee in her arms. "Um, Louis, William?" she asked. "We already told you," Louis answered, "Lou and Will work fine. You're older than us. Start acting like it." Six year old William smacked the back of Louis's head as he asked the girl what was wrong, but Kylian didn't care as he jumped down and took Aimee out of her hands. "Oh," the girl said, "You know her? I'm sorry, but she cried a bit earlier before I found her."
Her eyes were red. Aimee did cry, so how come she stopped? He asked the girl what she did to make her stop crying, but she didn't understand sign language. He turned to get his whiteboard, but he suddenly remembered he had left it at home. He tried acting out the question and got, "You wanna do a chicken dance?" from her. He stared at her seemingly innocent face as he made a dangerous decision.
He opened his mouth and tried to talk, but it was too painful. His hands flew to his throat as he kept on trying. William and Louis told him to stop, but he refused to give up. He tried and tried until he felt his throat straining to rip. Conk. Huh? He looked up to see Spencer knocking the girl on her head before saying, "What are you doing, Kia? Didn't we tell you there's a boy who can't speak?" Kia bowed to him as she apologized after realising how she had hurt him.
Jared told Kylian he would translate, so he signed his question. "How did you get her to stop crying? Is what he said." Kia furrowed her brow as she tried to remember how she did it, and all Kylian could think about was how adorable she looked doing it. "I don't know what I did exactly," she said, "but she stopped crying as soon as I picked her up." Kylian, astonished, simply thanked Kia as he introduced himself.
"I'm Kiara," she replied, "Nice to meet you." It was only until later in the year Kylian found out she was not only a princess, but the heir as well. Not that he cared. He didn't care about anything or anyone outside his family as he grieved for his little sister. She was supposed to be getting better, so why? Why didn't the treatments work? Why did it take his little sister and leave him? He couldn't understand why, but he did know he had to put on a smile for father and mother at the New Year's Ball.
After that day, He always thought of Kiara as a child, but he realized she was more mature than he could ever be the day he saw something he shouldn't have. It wasn't his fault he had gotten lost in the massive palace in the South, and it wasn't his fault he saw that gross old man touch Kiara. She managed to break free from his grasp and run out the door, but Kylian made the mistake of not running with her.
The man dragged him into that dark, scary room before asking him how his father's job was going. "It's going well, isn't it?" he asked creepily, "It would be a shame if something happened to him and his wife. For example, they tragically die in a car accident." Kylian trembled at the thought of losing his parents too as the man told him to forget everything he had seen. The 9 year old timidly agreed to the threat and ran to the bathroom to throw up.
It was a bad habit of his, he thought as he walked out with Kiara beside the door.
*****
They sat in silence for a while in that garden before she asked him, "You saw, didn't you? What uncle Mansa did?" He nodded quietly as he asked her what she was going to do about it, and she revealed a video tape. It was from the security camera in the room and she planned on telling her father about it. Kylian thought the odds would be in her favour since it was the king's daughter's word vs. his brother's.
"I was wondering if you could come with me. Father is pretty scary." she sheepishly asked, and Kylian held her hand as he agreed. He had heard King Winston was a terrifying man, but he had never witnessed it himself. He was confident in him and Kiara, and even planned on telling him about the threat from earlier. He sat on that small chair, clasping Kiara's hand as tightly as he could, hoping it would make his nerves go away. However, his confidence went right down the drain as the king walked in with his father, brother, and two eldest children.
Their mere presence changed the atmosphere in the room drastically. The air became so heavy Kylian couldn't even hear the words coming out of Kiara's mouth as she described what her uncle did to her. And like a knife, King Winston's cold, indifferent voice pierced through the air and straight into Kylian's ears. "You expect me to believe such an outrageous story? The dark creator's magician? Molested by my own brother?"
"It's true," she argued, "Kylian saw it too." Kylian's mind went blank at hearing his name being muttered by the King and his brother. He stared at his shoes below him, hoping and wishing this moment would end, and the thought of his parents dying turned him pale. "Is this true?" Chadwick asked the scared boy. He didn't hesitate to deny Kiara's claims as he met eyes with that disgusting, powerful, scary man.
"Kiara," Lameckus asked, "how could you lie about something like this?" She wasn't lying, though, and even pulled out the tape as evidence. Kylian felt a bit happier about Kiara succeeding without him until King Winston walked up to her and took the tape from her hands and gave it to Princess Mahogani. She stayed quiet for a bit before announcing, "There's nothing on this tape, father. She lies."
His eyes shot up as he heard the obvious lie, but they soon widened in fear as the King slapped his heir across the face and walked out of the room. Everyone else followed suit, and Kylian saw the first-born princess break the tape before leaving as well. He had seen the tape, and witnessed the crime. Her family didn't even look at the contents of the tape, and Kylian didn't tell the truth either.
He cried as he begged Kiara for forgiveness, but she somehow smiled as she patted his head. "It's fine. I did say father is scary." How could she just accept his betrayal and act as if everything was fine? Why did she smile so warmly at him? She should've hated him for betraying her, purposely distancing himself from her, and acting as if nothing had happened when they met in high school. That was why most of him believed Brandon when he said Kiara had changed.
However, the little part of him which believed she was still the same Kiara governed his reason and was what made him approach her the next Monday in school. It was harder said than done, though.
First he had to get close to her, but that was nearly impossible. There were crowds and paparazzi surrounding her car as she arrived at school, and they were too dense to go through. If it wasn't for Britney, Kylian would've lost more than a shoe while trying to meet with her. After all, she had announced her status as the Dark Creator's magician to the world. People were obviously approaching her to get onto her good side, and they willingly did so even with her stoic expression.
That was the first thing Kylian noticed. Kiara had forgotten her smile in Magiterra, so even though she was back, it didn't feel like she was. Others even speculated the truth behind her statement, but the story about the events at Chadwick's house came to light to back her title as the Dark Creator's magician and a hero to most of the world. The mystery princess was actually the Dark Creator's magician and she killed her own grandfather for the greater good of mankind.
Everyone wanted to get close to her, but she refused to speak to anyone or even so much as acknowledge their existence as she walked to the teacher's room. Kylian returned to his homeroom, defeated, but not ready to give up just yet. He had hoped she would get to class with a few minutes to spare, but the bell rang as she walked in. He had to wait for the class to be over, but luckily for him, it was a history lecture on his favorite subject, the Great Magicians' War.
*****
"Queen Elesius ended up marrying her childhood sweetheart, Noem Asle," Mr. Jones explained, "However, she had him take her last name of Myra and they had a son named Onyai, who would eventually go on to become the first born King of the South. The two allies, Nala and Jacob would later on be the start of the Meelia royal family as would King Elki of the West, and Emperor Sun of the East." Riing. "Remember to read over your notes because you have a test this Friday, and let me know if you need any materials, Kiara."
Kylian was mesmerized by how effortlessly Mr. Jones said Kiara's name. It was as if she hadn't changed at all. Like she wasn't the Dark Creator's magician, but a regular student in his class. Maybe she even smiled during the lecture while Kylian was busy taking notes. Maybe she was back!
With this new found confidence, Kylian walked up to the princess and crouched by her desk as everyone either left the classroom for lunch or came to the classroom hoping to catch a glance of the Dark Creator's magician. He asked her if she wanted to have lunch together, but she wanted to work on her missed assignments during the hour she had. Though a bit discouraged by her answer, he asked her if she wanted to hang out with him and everyone else after school, but she had a tutoring session for the midterms she missed.
He asked her when she was free the third time, and she said she didn't know. "After I make up my midterms, I have finals and college exams to study for." She didn't need to study though. Kiara was one of, if not the smartest, kids in the school and she never studied before. Why was she studying now? Wouldn't it be a waste of time for someone as academically talented as she?
"Well, I'm sorry I want to be treated like royalty for my achievements and not my birth" Kiara said angrily, "I already told you to stay away from me if you're still scared. You come close to me, hurt yourselves near my power, and blame it on me and call me the monster. Why can't you all just leave me alone?" Kylian lost his balance and fell onto his butt as he trembled in the hatred that replaced Kiara's warm eyes.
He found himself unable to move until Halley crouched down and hugged him while saying to the princess, "You didn't need to be so rude. We just wanted to hang out with our sister who's been missing for the last six months. Is that too much to ask?" Kiara lifted her hand up as it was curled up with a paper inside. He felt Halley flinch at the action, and he saw the hatred in her eyes turn to indifference as she got up from her seat and left the classroom.
The argument had garnered a lot of unwanted attention, but Rebecca and Louis picked up Halley and Kylian shortly after Kiara stormed out and took them to the others in the cafeteria. By the time they got there, the story had already reached William, Axel, Britney, and Brandon.
"So that confirms it," William said, "there's something wrong with Kiara." They mostly agreed as they started brainstorming what was wrong with her, and how to fix it. Kylian sat there and thought about everything. He had never seen Kiara angry before, but she wasn't just angry. That cold expression of hers as she walked out of the classroom was embedded into his brain and he couldn't stop thinking about how empty she looked. It was as if she was just a shell of herself, and not the Kiara he used to know.
"Guys," Britney started, "Remember how we learned about how the Dark Creator governs over all "dark" magic? What if Kiara is being influenced by it?" There was the possibility something happened between them while she was in Magiterra. It could've taken control of her while she was there. "I doubt it," Brandon said, "if the greatest source of evil took over Kiara, we would all be dead by now."
"Perhaps the barrier cracked?" Halley explored. "Do you think the Dark Creator has a barrier with Kiara?" Rebecca asked. Well, why not? It may have created everything, but that didn't necessarily mean it purposely bypassed the laws in contracting. After all, they were made to protect the magician from becoming a puppet to their Magi. However, if hers was cracked and dark magic was flowing through Kiara, they would need to cleanse it somehow.
Everyone nodded in agreement as Louis suggested, "Or we can just let her grieve in peace?" What? "She not only lost her grandfather, but she was the one who had to kill him for the greater good of Wisteria. People cope in different ways, so maybe this is her way of doing it." Kylian's mind cleared a bit as he thought about her uncharacteristic behaviour. It was possible Louis was right about her coping.
"That could explain it," Brandon said, "Considering how her parents are terrified of her and her older sister hates her guts since the throne was passed down to her." Really? "Yea! According to Daisy, she isn't even allowed to go near her little brother, she never gets to see her busy older brothers, and her little sister is missing. Chadwick was her only available family life line. In addition, why would the barrier crack now? After 16 years?"
It didn't add up for Kylian either, but she had changed too much for her to be "coping with a loss". She had become a completely different person than she was before. Could that really be depression? "What if it cracked earlier?" Axel questioned. "I'm not supposed to tell you guys this, but Winona told me Kiara is the reason behind Celestia's kidnapping." Louis stood up as he declared the statement to not be true.
"Think about it," Axel persisted, "If she was never born, the royal family would be at peace with Celestia still around and Chadwick wouldn't have become a terrorist either." Louis grabbed his collar and told him to repeat himself, but Axel didn't even flinch as Louis conjured up a fiery fist. He swung at his face, but Axel caught the punch and electrocuted Louis through his fist. He screamed in agony as Axel told him to "Cool your head", but Louis persisted and tackled him while his back was turned.
William and Britney ran in to break them apart as they threw fire punch after lightning hook. Britney ended up grabbing Louis by his underarms as William managed to pin Axel's arms to his back. However, Axel shocked William and tried to run at Louis, but the Vice Principal intervened and froze everyone in place. "Principal's office," she commanded, "All eight of you."
*****
Kylian stood in Winona's office, remorseful for what had happened. She was right to scold him and the others for just sitting around and waiting for the fighting to start, but they didn't want to intervene because of Axel. Granted he had never seen him angry before, Axel was also different. The Michaelangelo Kylian knew was not someone to say such things. He thought he and Kiara had some sort of special bond, but that apparently wasn't the case with the way he talked about her.
"Now," Winona said as she wrapped up her argument, "Apologize to each other and don't do this again." Louis declared he would apologize to Axel as soon as he apologized to Kiara for saying the world would be better off without her. "It's true, isn't it?" Axel replied on the other side of their lineup. "Why you!" Louis yelled furiously as he tried to lunge at Axel again.
Kylian asked Winona if what Axel said was true. Was Celestia's kidnapping really Kiara's fault? "Rather than the young heir," she explained, "Michael, you do realize your parents were more involved with Princess Celestia's and Soo-young Park's kidnappings." What? Kylian turned to Britney who was standing next to her boyfriend. She slowly backed away from him after hearing the news, but Axel tried to assure everyone he never knew.
The former queen backed up this claim, saying, "He was too young to remember such a thing. Though, I am curious. Why do you think Kiara's responsible?" They were trying to figure out when the crack in her barrier formed for her to become so detached from everything. Rebecca explained their hypothesis to her, but she thought it was a steaming hot pile of garbage.
"In order for a barrier to crack, the soul must be weak. Therefore, Kiara will never have to worry about such a thing." Winona informed them. "About the matter of her personality change, just blame it on stress and depression, and leave her alone for a while. You never know, she may be pushing everyone away for your own safety. Now get back to class. Your lunch break is over."
Just leave her alone? How long would they need to leave her alone for? They all needed Kiara in one way or another. She was the glue that held everyone together. How were they supposed to function without her? They couldn't. "We have to find a way to bring the old Kiara back," Brandon declared as they walked to class. "Why can't you guys just leave her be?" Louis protested, but they believed they were doing the right thing.
*****
Soon, the perfect opportunity to "cleanse" Kiara appeared one Saturday morning as Kylian, William, Louis and Kiara were all invited to a little get together amongst some of the royals. Jared didn't mind company, so they brought everyone else along with them to Lameckus's royal villa on an island in the Southern Ocean.
With Brandon and Louis showing up last, they flew from Olympia to the capital city of Xhosa, Roraima, and took a helicopter ride above the vast, salty waters below them to a lone island in the middle of the sea. The island's white sand made it difficult to land on the isle itself, so they had to hop out of it while being some 6 meters in the air. An easy task for Britney and William, and a time to show off for Louis.
He offered Rebecca a hand down, and luckily for him, she tripped while getting out and fell right into his arms. Why weren't they together yet? It was obvious they liked each other from the way they blushed in each other's arms. Kylian wondered what was holding them back as he helped Halley hop down and out of the helicopter. Britney helped out Brandon since he had a phobia of heights. Practically any place higher than 6 feet terrified him.
They all giggled a bit as Brandon overestimated the jump by comparing it to skydiving, but once the fun was over, it was Axel's turn. He had gone last in order to pass everyone their bags from above, but he seemed rather irritated as he tossed the luggage down without caring where they fell. "You, okay?" Brandon asked as Axel got ready to jump out of the helicopter. "Move." he said before jumping out and landing on Brandon.
Confused, Kylian asked him why he did that, but Axel didn't see anything wrong with what he did. "Mike, apologize." Britney pleaded, but he refused. "It's just a harmless prank. Besides, aren't we wasting time here arguing? We gotta go help Kiara." Axel refuted. He was right they had to go help Kiara, but there was also something off about Axel that Kylian couldn't put his finger on. He seemed different too-
"Welcome!" Lameckus said to them as he walked over to the kids. "I'm glad to see you guys all made it in one piece." "Some of us more than others." Brandon mumbled as William and Louis helped him onto his feet. Kylian thanked Lameckus for the invitation, but he reminded him how they were all practically a part of the royal family.
"I heard Kiara was also invited." Halley said as they walked along the beach to the rest of the party, and she had apparently teleported there hours prior. How convenient it must have been to have such powers, even if they were corrupting her soul. Kylian thought of his memories with the "real" Kiara and wondered when he would ever see her bright smile again. He could only dream of that day as they rounded a tree and got to see the smile they hadn't seen in what felt like years.
There Kiara was, laughing and smiling as she spoke to the Lady Chaeryoung as if she was the same person she was six months ago. That smile Kylian longed to see in his dreams and in real life. It was right there, and he found himself reaching out to her. However, the closer he got to that angelic smile, the faster a cold, detached gaze settled in its place. Kylian's hands trembled as he said hello to the blase princess, and she curtly returned his greeting before getting up to use the restroom.
William patted Kylian on the back before greeting Lady Chaeryoung, and introducing her to everyone else. "It's great to meet all of you," she said, "I am Oh Chaeryoung, Grand Duchess Ahn-Jong's fiance." "Not for long." a voice called from behind them. Kylian turned to see Grand Duchess Ahn-Jong, Prince Jared, and Prince Crispus walk into the party. "You will soon be my wife." she smirked.
They all bowed to the two heirs, and they received their courteous behaviour with bows. Why were all the heirs gathered there anyway? Weren't they busy with work and such? "That is precisely why," Prince Crispus replied, "Rest is essential to doing work well." "More like you're just a lazy bum." his little brother remarked as Kiara returned.
Her smile returned as she ran up to her fellow future monarchs and embraced them in a group hug before asking them what took so long. "We meant to get here earlier," Jared explained, "but he was having trouble with flying, so we had him teleport here a few minutes ago." He pointed to the man behind him, whom no one had seemed to notice until he was pointed out.
The tall, fair man with longish blonde curls paired with delicate grey eyes emerged from behind the prince and said, "Sorry I'm late." As Kylian was trying to figure out who this mysterious stranger was, Kiara latched onto him and didn't let go as Lameckus tried to introduce the man. "This is-" "Him!" Rebecca interrupted, "You're the man who helped me activate and control my Obrussia." Huh? "Me too!" Halley added, "I recognize that voice." What? Who was this guy?
He stared at the girls with a perplexed look on his face before his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Oh! Athena and Artemis! My, I barely recognized you two. You've grown so much." William ended up cutting into the conversation out of nowhere and asked him who he was and why he was so attached to Kiara in a rather irritated tone. "As I was saying," Lameckus finally continued, "This is Julian Myra. He is the Light Creator's magician and Kiara's soulmate."
What?! That guy is the Light Creator's magician? How did Kylian not notice him before? The more he thought about it, the more he realised Julian wasn't emitting anything that would entail royalty. Looking at him didn't feel much different from looking at a dormant.
William must've also noticed as he said, "The only guy here with no presence is the Light Creator's magician?" He claimed, "Trying to look important is too troublesome." Louis was up next for the interrogation, and asked him why his last name was Myra. He claimed he had been a part of the Myra family for longer than Kiara had, which made him older than her.
Was Kiara into older guys? Did she even have a type? And if she did, would it be someone of equal magical standing as her? Was it possible Kiara broke off her engagement to William because she fell in love with Julian while she was in Magiterra? It was possible, but it didn't seem like William liked that chance as his blood boiled every time Kiara smiled while she spoke to Julian. Her eyes were so full of love for the man that Kylian had to drag William away to play and relieve some of his stress.
Truth be told, neither of them even focused on their game. They just stared at Kiara as she smiled during all her interactions with the royals and Julian. Maybe Louis and Winona were right. Maybe Kiara just needed some time to heal around people who were similar to her. "Like I've been saying all along," Louis said as he and Axel watched William and Kylian stare at the princess. "Kiara will be fine if we just give her space and time to heal."
Axel butted in and implied how she may just, "push us further and further away from her as she heals. A person of her power level doesn't need to push people out of her life to heal. She's doing it on her own, and that doesn't sound like the Kiara I know." Louis tried to rebuttal, but William agreed with Axel as he broke his racket and walked up to Julian. Kylian thought William would do something stupid out of anger, but he didn't think he would challenge the Light Creator's magician to a duel.
"No, thank you." Julian Myra replied to the challenge, but William persisted on the challenge. "Winner gets Kiara." he boldly declared, which obviously didn't sit well with the Light Creator's magician. "Kiara is not something you can just bet on." he told the second prince, but William just twisted his words to make it sound like he was scared of him until Julian Myra agreed to battle William in a one on one.
Grand Duchess Ahn-Jong raised her hand while lying in her beach chair and transported everyone to a desert landscape along with whatever they were sitting on. She asked Jared for some shade as he used his own magic to elevate a stone ring underneath William and Julian Myra. He then flicked his hand in Kylian and Ahn-Jong's direction, making a stone shelf above them to protect them from the blazing sun.
Lameckus enthusiastically jumped up onto the ring and announced the rules of the duel: (1) First one out of the ring lost. (2) First one to concede lost. (3) Any and all magic was allowed, but if the referee believed the magic would hurt the audience, they had the power to end the match. Prince Crispus took Lameckus's place on the ring as the referee, and raised his hand while asking if the opponents were ready. "Begin!"
William's eyes immediately started to glow jungle green as the sand circled around and attacked Julian in the form of a spike. It was a quick decisive attack, and Kylian was sure he had gotten the Light Creator's magician, but as the dust in the air cleared, Julian was perfectly fine. In fact, he hadn't even moved a millimeter from his starting position. Everyone except Ahn-Jong, Crispus and Kiara went wide-eyed at the ineffectiveness of the attack, but William had one more trick up his sleeve.
"Ligo." The sand sitting on Julian started to clump up and soon, he was bound by it. The sand chains held onto Julian's wrists and ankles as William prepared for the final attack. His eyes glowed even brighter as he raised his arms and drowned Julian in a wave of sand. The massive upsurge reached high into the air before crashing down on its victim below.
"There's no way a man this weak can be the Light Creator's magician," William said to Prince Crispus, "So who is this guy?" Ahn-Jong called out to William with her eyes closed as she reclined on her beach chair. "Modesty is the best policy, Willy. And you should pay more attention to your opponents before you start celebrating too early." What? There was no way anyone could recover from that attack so quickly.
The sand binding the man's wrists and ankles was also simultaneously draining Julian Myra of his energy. With most of his energy gone, the wave was supposed to have been deadly to him, so why? Why was he standing there as if nothing had happened to him? And what was with that tremendous amount of magical power that came out of nowhere? Was that also Julian Myra's doing?
He simply walked towards William with nothing but a stern gaze. He wasn't doing anything. At least, it didn't look like he was doing anything, but William was still stumbling as he backed away from him. Was he using magic? No, his eyes hadn't changed at all. How was he intimidating the William Meelia so much then? William had the god of nature itself as his Magi, so why did he fall off the edge of the ring and lose? There was only one answer he could arrive at: This man was more of a monster than Kiara was.
He smiled gleefully at the princess as he declared he won, but his smile now seemed like a way to hide the fact he could destroy the world whenever he wished in the most painful way possible. Kylian trembled at the thought of Kiara becoming like this man as Grand Duchess Ahn-Jong transported them back to the island. Should he do it? It was no longer a question. Kylian had to save Kiara from ever becoming such a monster.
He pulled Axel, William, Brandon and Louis along to the bathroom as soon as they got back and didn't mention anything as he reviewed the necessary steps to cleansing Kiara's soul. "What's this about?" Louis asked, and immediately protested the plan of "cleansing Kiara. She's fine! All she needs is time to-" Time to what? Become a monster like Julian Myra? Were they supposed to sit around and wait around for that to happen when they had the power to prevent it? The Kiara out there was evil and they just wanted to cleanse all that evil out of her.
Axel, Brandon, and William backed Kylian up as they waited for Louis' support, but he simply said, "Yea, Kiara's changed in these last few months, but she's not evil. She's hurt and you guys are delirious for thinking otherwise. I don't want any part of this." He walked out of the bathroom, but Kylian didn't care. Louis was wrong about her, and he was going to prove it to him.
How? The Fountain of Purity. While searching for answers and ways to help Kiara, Axel told Kylian about a Fountain in Mytherra. It had the power to cleanse the receiver of any and all dark magic residing inside of them. "How are we supposed to get this fountain if it's in a made-up land?" Brandon asked. They only needed a little bit of its water, and luckily for them, Poseidon took some of the water with him during the Great Division, so they could get it from him.
"Kylian told me how he can get the water from Poseidon if he tethers his entire body to him." Axel explained, "However, if anything goes wrong, Kylian will go berserk, so this is an extremely risky plan." Kylian was willing to give up his life in order to save Kiara, and he wanted William and Brandon to promise they would dispose of him immediately after he went berserk. Both boys went silent as they tried to figure out if the risk was worth it. They would get Kiara back in exchange for Kylian's life.
Axel had already agreed, so Kylian wanted to ask them. He didn't tell any of the girls about it, fearing they would try to talk him out of it. He loved Kiara to death and back, and decided this would be the ultimate testimony to the love he had for his chosen little sister. "Yea, but I love you too, Ky," William said, "Aren't we also brothers by choice?" They were, which was why he was trusting his life in their hands.
"I'll do it," Brandon declared, "Not because I want to kill my little sister's boyfriend, but because I know you'll make it back." William quietly agreed and they started the ritual as they hoped for the best.
Kylian closed his eyes as he came face to face with the deity himself. "What you wish to do is dangerous." he warned, but Kylian already knew about that. He wished to hand his body over to the Magi, but he refused? What? How dare he refuse? He was the magician and he was the Magi! He was to obey him no matter what! Those were the terms of the contract! "You seem to forget the part where I can refuse if I believe we will both be in mortal danger."
Angered at his insubordination, Kylian called out Poseidon Olympios and reached out to grab the Magi as his eyes began to glow. He felt his body hovering above the ground as he held on while the Magi tried to fly away from him. Why wasn't it working? He just wanted to help Kiara. "We both know this is not the right way to go about this." He didn't care. This was the fastest way! He needed the water!Kylian, though, was thrown back along with everyone else onto the walls of the bathroom.
Good news was Kylian hadn't gone berserk, but bad news was the tethering didn't work either. Why didn't it work? It should've worked, so why didn't it? "You need a bit more power than that to tether anything." Julian Myra remarked from the supposed to be locked doorway of the bathroom.
"What do you mean 'more power'?" William asked warily.
Julian Myra walked up to Kylian and placed his hand right above his chest before asking him if they really wanted Kiara to drink the water. Yes, he did. He wanted the old Kiara back more than anything and was prepared to die for her. "I hope you're ready for the seeds you've sown with those words." he replied as he poked Kylian's chest and knocked him out.
Kylian opened his eyes to see endless stars above him as he floated in a black sea. He didn't feel anything as he floated along in the dark. He heard his name being called in the distance, but he ignored it as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the serenity of the quiet world he was in. "Kylian." Poseidon called out to the serene boy and he opened his eyes. What did he want from him? "I want to warn you." Warn him? About what? "You can't purify what's already pure."
What did that mean? Kylian never got to know as he woke up on the bathroom floor to see William, Axel, and Brandon above him. Julian Myra was by the door when he said, "I think you should reconsider. After all, you can't purify the pure." Him too? Was it a coincidence he and Poseidon said the same thing? It had to be since the tether had gone through, and they got the water.
They went to the kitchen and poured half the water into a glass of juice and headed towards the princess. The guilt began to sink in as Brandon and Axel started to lie about the intentions of the drink. Was he doing the right thing? What if it killed her? After all, it was magical water from a place that was thought to not exist. What if the magic there was more powerful than the magic in Wisteria? Would it kill her then? Why did she look so happy accepting the drink?
That smile! That smile he had longed to see was finally directed at him. The plan was working, so why did Kylian feel this way? It was that same gut wrenching feeling he felt the day he betrayed her the first time. Was he betraying her again? Anything, but that. Anything. No, wait. No!