"Question: What makes a family?"
…
"Who's there?" He asked rubbing his eyes because he was still tired from his nap.
"Hello Alexander. Longtime, no see. How is the life of a renegade Mage?" a familiar voice echoed in the air, behind Alexander.
He looked up and was blinded by the suns, all he saw was a dark shadowy figure. He raised his hand towards his forehead to block the suns and get a clear picture of who was talking to him. It was a young beautiful lady. She had on a white magic robe with a red cross emblem. She was dress like the rest of the recovery mages and that took Alexander of his guard for a few seconds, until he saw her eyes. Alexander's eyes widen in shock when he finally realized who she really was. Before he could react, a barrier was erected cutting them off the real world.
"Shit… it's you. WHY ARE YOU HERE! Ericka?" Alexander asked quickly jumping off the bench and on to his feet. "You may fool everyone here by changing your appearance, but I can see right through you."
"You finally noticed me, my darling Alexander." Ericka answered gently brushing the side of Alexander's cheeks, make him sweat nervously. "How have you been?"
"Don't act like you don't know. You probably know everything don't you?" Alexander took one step back.
"Oh my… you actually believe that?" She laughed, "Well it's true I already know everything. You had a date with Katherine," she took one step forward, "ran into your former Captain Hunter." She circled him like he was her pray. "Almost got destroyed by one of the Valentian mages," She stopped behind Alexander's back and wrapped her arms around him, "and almost died in the hands of a few shadow mages. Did I miss anything?" She kissed him on the cheeks. Alexander freaked out as his freed himself from her grip. He was blushing and his heart was racing, Ericka couldn't help but laugh at him. "You're blushing… how cute."
Ericka sat down on the bench, she patted the bench indicated that she wanted Alexander to take a seat. Alexander hesitated for a few moments before taking a seat. 'What does she want now?' he thought to himself. She grabbed his head and gentle placed it on her chest. She gently brushed his hair as if he slowly tried pulling away. 'Now what? Damn she's playing me'. He finally got free after a few attempts, deep down he probably enjoyed having a pair of busty breasts on his face.
"You're probably thinking 'what does she want now? Or damn she's playing' am I wrong?" she asked him as if she could read his mind.
"Damn how did you know?" Alexander's heart began to raced.
Alexander was afraid he already knew the answer. First Hunter now Ericka, he figured out that they may be after the same thing. Ericka is a mage born in the Kingdom of Narvarh and she is from a noble family. She also happens to be Katherine's older sister. She in terms of magic power and skill, she's on par with Hunter. Although their styles may be different, Hunter may have the upper hand in close combat but Ericka is more skilled when it comes to magic.
"So care to explain yourself, why are you here?" Alexander asked.
"You already know the answer." She got close to his face. "Didn't Hunter tell you? I want you to find the King's legacy."
"What is the King's legacy anyways?"
"I don't know… nobody told me, they only said it could help Narvarh win the war." She explained placing her index finger under his chin.
"Why don't you find it yourself? I mean you're already concealing your identity, you could be in and out before anyone notices." Alexander came to another conclusion. Ericka was hiding from Katherine; she didn't want here to discover her.
Ericka remained silent, she was thinking about Alexander's suggestion. She slightly smiled as if it was the greatest idea she ever heard.
"That's a great idea… but you know I can't." her smile faded away. Alexander could feel her mood changing. "I'm showing you mercy here, my darling Alexander." She grabbed Alexander by the neck and slowly started choking him. The situation started to escalate as her rage started to show. "I'm doing this for my little sister. You think I forgot what you did?" Alexander was struggling to breath, as he saw the rage in Ericka's eyes.
"Don't… blame me… for failing to protect your sister. It's been 12 years… get over it." Alexander tried to explain.
"LAIR! … LAIR! Don't try to blame me for this shit on me." Ericka exploded.
…
Before Katherine met Alexander, she was a prodigy in the Kingdom of Narvarh. She was a natural with magic at a very young age. In fact, her magic capacity was greater than anyone in history. She was kept close by her family, and every day she trained to master different types of magic. She is practically the opposite of Alexander. 12 years ago during the apex of the war, she was sent to the battlefield. The first few battles she out performed every mage involved, she turned the tide of war in favour of the Kingdom of Narvarh. You could say she was a hero for her Kingdom. Her family paraded her around like a trophy ever since then. When she was 12 years old, she fell from grace in the hands of Alexander. With Alexander's sword which can cut down magic, he returned the balanced the scale of war. The day during the Valentian massacre Katherine was captured by Alexander, it was more like they were the only survivors. Mages from the Kingdom of Samar were the first to arrive and Katherine became a prisoner of war. Efforts were made by the Kingdom of Narvarh, but none of them prevailed. The Kingdom of Samar couldn't afford to give away the one and only advantage the Kingdom of Narvarh had.
…
Alexander grabbed her hand and slowly tried to pull away.
"She was just a little girl but your family pushed her into this mess." Finally, Alexander escaped her grip.
"Listen here, you will find the King's legacy and you will bring my sister back!"
"12 years… 12 years Ericka. You never came for her not once. Instead you send your mages to bring her back."
"Is there a point?" her eyes began to glow and suddenly Alexander couldn't move. He slowly began ascending as Ericka used her magic to pick him up. "Mark my words darling Alexander I'm going to kill you."
Suddenly a female voice came from behind Ericka.
"Ericka? Ericka is that you?" Katherine asked as tears started to form in her eyes.
"Katherine? When did you…? But my barrier? We were cut off from the real world." Ericka accidently dropped Alexander hard onto the ground, she was shocked to see her. 'I shouldn't be surprised, she is my little sister, the prodigy blessed with infinite mana.' Ericka thought to herself. Ericka opened her arms as she tried to give her little sister a hug. Katherine was not interested in a family reunion, instead she proceeded to help Alexander.
"So much for disguising yourself, Ericka." Alexander said couching out blood. It seems that fall reopened his wounds.
Katherine began to cast a healing spell on Alexander and that infuriated Ericka.
"Oh… so it's like that? --." Ericka asked before being interrupted.
"Don't give me that, big sister. Where were you when I needed you?" Katherine interrupted.
"I'm here now. I'm here to take you back home."
The look on Katherine's eyes was not the look of hope or relief, it was a look of disappointment. Katherine knew she had no future if she went back now. For 12 years she was sheltered by her family, forced to train magic every day only to become a weapon of war. She had no friends, that's the curse of being born a noble and a prodigy. For her freedom, she was willing to betray even her own family.
"I'm happy here Big sister, more than I ever was when I was back home!" Katherine expressed herself.
Ericka couldn't take it anymore and she began casting a spell. She was planning to kill Alexander. Ericka was a more logically person then Hunter, but at that point her rage took over for a few minutes. She was moments away from releasing a devastating spell, but hesitated when Katherine stood in her way and acted as Alexander's shield.
Ericka didn't want to hurt her little sister, and she was left with no choice but to power down for the time being.
"Like I told you before Alexander, I going to kill you." That was Ericka's last words before disappearing.
The barrier that was concealing them disappeared alone with Ericka.
"That was scary." Alexander took a deep breath. "By the way how did you find me?"
"Don't you remember? We share a life together."
…
"Question: What makes a family?"
"Answer: Bonds"